Birds In Their Little Nests Agree

DESCRIPTION: "Birds in their little nests agree; And 'tis a shameful sight When children of one family Fall out, and chide, and fight." Fragment of a song beginning "Whatever brawls disturb the street, There should be peace at home...."
AUTHOR: Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
EARLIEST DATE: 1715 (Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language For the Use of Children; the 1715 date is from various Internet sources although the Google Books version is dated 1832)
KEYWORDS: bird fight
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 109, "Birds in their little nests agree" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Isaac Watts, _Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language For the Use of Children_ J. G. & F. Rivington, 1832 (available on Google Books), Song XVII (pp. 19-20), "Love Between Brothers and Sisters" (1 text)
Roud #25519
NOTES [105 words]: For more on Isaac Watts, see the notes to "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." The "Birds in their little nests agree" line (the first line of the second verse in the Watts poem) has apparently become proverbial. It is quoted by Laura Ingalls Wilder in chapter 14 "Sent Home from School," of Little Town on the Prairie.
It's also quite wrong. Baby birds compete like crazy to get the last available bit of food from their parents. In some species, it's worse than that -- when there are two baby eagles in a nest, the larger eagle generally pushes the smaller to its death so as to monopolize parental care. Evolution is not pretty. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: KSUC109A

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