



[From the American Naturalist, December, 1868.] 



c 



BIRD'S-EYE VIEWS. 



BY DR. ELLIOTT COUES, U. S. A. 



Birds alone, of all animate beings, may be trnly said to 

 "fall asleep" in death. When the silver cord of a bird's life 

 is loosened, the "windows of the soul" are gently closed by 

 unseen hands, that the mysterious rites attending the divorce 

 <^)f the spirit from the l:)ody may not be profaned by prying 

 looks. With us, the first ofiice rendered by sorrowing 

 friends to one departed, is to close the e3'es, to hide from 

 view the mockery of life that looks out from between mo- 

 tionless lids. And when any mammal expires, the eyes 

 remain wide open. With all, the stony stare of the glazed 

 ball is the sign of dissolution. Only birds close their eyes 

 in dying. 



This is one of the differences between birds and mammals. 

 Beautiful and wonderful as birds are in this respect, which 

 comes to the reflective mind fraught with significance, we 

 shall find them scarcely less beautiful and wonderful even 

 as regards the material, physical structure of their eyes. Let 

 us look into a bird's eye. Though the flash and glow of life 

 be gone, and only dead tissues left, we shall still find more 

 than we can fully comprehend, and everything that we see 

 will excite interest and admiration. 



