CHAP. IV.
Of the Incubation of Birds.
Another Thing relating to the State of this Tribe of Animals, is their Incubation.
And first, the Egg it self deserves our Notice. Its Parts within, and its crusty Coat without, are admirably well fitted for the Business of Incubation. That there should be one Part provided for the Formation of the Body[a], before its Exit into the World, and another for its Nourishment, after it is come into the World, till the Bird is able to shift for, and help it self; and that these Parts should be so accurately brac’d, and kept in due Place[], is certainly a design’d, as well as curious Piece of Workmanship.
And then as to the Act it self, of Incubation, What a prodigious Instinct is it in all, or almost all the several Species of Birds, that they, and only they, of all Creatures, should betake themselves to this very Way of Generation? How should they be aware that their Eggs contain their Young, and that their Production is in their Power[c]? What should move them to betake themselves to their Nests, and there with Delight and Patience to abide the due Number of Days? And when their Young are gotten into the World, I have already shewn how admirable their Art, their Care, and Στοργὴ is in bringing them up until, and only until, they are able to shift for themselves.
And lastly, when almost the whole Tribe of Birds, do thus by Incubation, produce their Young, it is a wonderful Deviation, that some few Families only, should do it in a more novercal Way[d], without any Care or Trouble at all, only by laying their Eggs in the Sand, exposed to the Heat and Incubation of the Sun. Of this the Holy Scripture it self gives us an Instance in the Ostrich: Of which we have an Hint, Lam. iv. 3. The Daughter of my People is become cruel, like the Ostriches in the Wilderness. This is more plainly expressed in Job xxxix. 14, 15, 16, 17. [The Ostrich] leaveth her Eggs in the Earth, and warmeth them in the Dust, and forgetteth that the Foot may crush them, or that the Wild-Beast may break them. She is hardened against her Young ones, as though they were not hers: Her Labour is in vain, without Fear. Because God hath deprived her of Wisdom, neither hath he imparted unto her Understanding. In which Words I shall take notice of three Things, 1. Of this anomalous Way of Generation. It is not very strange, that no other Incubation but that of the Sun, should produce the Young; but ’tis very odd and wonderful that any one Species should vary from all the rest of the Tribe. But above all, 2. The singular Care of the Creator, in this Case, is very remarkable, in supplying some other Way the Want of the Parent-Animals Care and Στοργὴ[e], so that the Young should notwithstanding be bred up in those large and barren Desarts of Arabia and Africa, and such like Places where those Birds dwell, the most unlikely and unfitting (in all human Opinion) to afford Sustenance to young helpless Creatures; but the fittest therefore to give Demonstrations of the Wisdom, Care, and especial Providence of the infinite Creator and Conservator of the World. 3. The last Thing I shall remark is, That the Instincts of Irrational Animals, at least of this specified in the Text, is attributed to God. For the Reason the Text gives why the Ostrich is hardened against her young Ones, as though they were not hers, is, Because GOD hath deprived her of Wisdom, and not imparted Understanding to her; i.e. he hath denied her that Wisdom, he hath not imparted that Understanding, that Στοργὴ, that natural Instinct to provide for, and nurse up her Young, that most other Creatures of the same, and other Tribes are endowed with.