THE TOILET OF BIRDS 



Not the least remarkable of the peculiarities 

 which mark out the birds as the most refined 

 class of living things is the attention they pay 

 to their toilet. They are the only creatures 

 which bathe for cleanliness' sake ; beasts may lick 

 themselves, or wallow luxuriously for pleasure — 

 in mud as readily as in water, or often more so 

 — but deliberate washing in water is purely a bird 

 custom. It is true that some groups content 

 themselves with a "dry polish," rolling in sand 

 or dust, such as larks and the whole pheasant 

 family, but this indulgence is sought as eagerly 

 as the bath, and no doubt is an excellent sub- 

 stitute. Very few birds both dust and wash, 

 among them being Philip Sparrow, who is quite 

 au fait with every indulgence which can make 

 bird life enjoyable, with the exception of song — 

 probably too refined a form of amusement for his 

 sensual tastes. 



But in addition to external sources of personal 

 beautification, birds have on their own persons 

 toilet requisites of a very interesting kind, 

 although it is given to comparatively few to 

 enjoy all of these at once. There is, in the 



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