'to it, and are not bigger than straws, but in such quantities, that they have been taken up with sieves 'by the country people, pressed together into cakes, ' and so boiled and eaten; but those who escape get 6 up into lakes and brooks, and grow up into their full 'perfection, which may be about two feet in length; 'then in the dark of September moons they come down again, and it is reported by credible per" sons, that whenever the light appears, they stop, sink to the bottom, and remain there till it be dark again. They are taken in eel-weirs, and ⚫ sometimes are found plaited together in lumps like a mat. When they get to the sea, they remain there, and I could not learn that they ever return, but their fry come up, as was observed before, in the spring.' 'From thee the feather'd natives of the plain, Ir has often afforded me much pleasure to observe the care which a kind Providence has taken for the better preservation of its creatures, while at the same time we are shown that there was no want of an Almighty power to create everything, if it was thought right to do so, with the most exquisite beauty. This is observable in many varieties of birds, the males of which are furnished with plumage of the most beautiful description, while the females are of a dull and earthy colour. It is not difficult to assign a reason for this, and one which always gives me pleasure to reflect upon, for if so much care is taken by our Heavenly Father in the preservation of an insignificant bird, may we not, with the utmost confidence, look to the same source for protection, if we rightly and sincerely apply for it. If hen birds, who sit and are exposed to the view of beasts and birds of prey and of man, had the same gaudy colours as the male, they would presently be discovered and destroyed; whereas by having plumage of a dull brown, or earthy colour, they can scarcely be distinguished from the ground on which they sit, and thus escape observation and destruction. This is particularly shown in the pheasant, peacock, and duck tribe. What can be more beautiful than the male bird of the golden pheasant, while the plumage of the female is so dull that it appears to belong to another species. Again, the males of the duck tribe are remarkable for their fine plumage, and the females for a brownish one; and the distinction between the peacock and peahen is still more conspicuous. The same observation applies to the chaffinch, yellow hammer, and many other birds that might be mentioned; while the plumage of the male and female of the falcon, swan, raven, owl, and other species of birds who are able to defend themselves, is the same. The same protecting care is shown in the order of plumage of birds who are much preyed upon, such for instance as the common partridge and lark, whọ are not easy to be distinguished from the earth on which they are sitting, or as Mr. White calls it 'cowering and squatting,' while a marauding hawk is hovering over them. The common house and wood pigeon would fall an easy prey to that bird if it were not for the amazing strength of their wing, which enables them to outfly and get away from it, while swallows, trusting to their wonderful agility, mob the hawk with impunity. Warblers, such as the nightingale, redbreast, fauvette, wren, &c., on the contrary, are pretty secure from its attacks, by sheltering themselves in thick hedges and bushes, and the quail and corncrake E 50 by seldom leaving the long grass and standing corn. One would almost suppose that, in this beautiful economy for the preservation of the weaker birds, the hawk would be unable to procure its food; but when one examines the wonderful symmetry of its shape, the beauty and brilliancy of its eye, and the swiftness of its flight, it will no longer be a matter of surprise that some birds and animals should be unable to make their escape from it. The hawk sails over heaths and moors, and preys upon young hares and rabbits, as well as snipes and other small birds, and I believe frogs and lizards; and sometimes he hovers in the air for a considerable length of time till something has disturbed a bird, which he immediately pounces upon, and generally seizes. In examining the formation and habits of the kanand the nature of the country in which it is garoo, found, we shall be forcibly struck with the truth of what has been remarked respecting the beneficent provisions observable throughout the animal kingdom for the preservation of the various creatures which compose it. The kangaroo inhabits a country where there are enormous tufts of the coarsest grass growing in swamps or marshy ground, each tuft being several feet in height, and at a considerable distance from each other, or else they frequent rocky or bushy ground. By means of the great strength of their tail and hind feet they can even make bounds in suc cession of from twelve to twenty feet in length, and several feet in height, from one tuft of grass, or from one rock or bush, to another, and thus escape from their pursuers. Nor is this all; for such is the strength and rankness of the grass in New Holland, or at least in some parts of it where the kangaroo most abounds, that if they produced their young in the manner usual with other quadrupeds, they would either wander and be lost in the high grass, or, in case the dam was obliged to leave them to provide for her own safety, it would not be easy for her tó find her young again. By means, however, of an abdominal pouch, in which the young reside, and which they only occasionally leave either for exercise or amusement, they share the fate of their dam, who can make her escape, with her young in her pouch, in the manner already described. I have, however, been assured that those kangaroos which have been domesticated and bred in this country are gradually losing the use of the pouch as a place of refuge for their young, that the size and strength of the tail is diminishing, and that they more frequently use all four of their feet in running. If this is really the case, I cannot but consider it as a strong illustration of what has been brought forward in this paper in regard to the care taken by a beneficent Providence of its creatures, in furnishing them with the means best adapted for their relative conditions and situations in the protec |