•- Oi "s-s •«>: 



The more I reflect upon it, the more clearly I per- 

 ceive that the bird, unlike the insect, is not an industrial 

 i^^t ' 1 animal. He is the poet of nature, the most independent 

 ^ iw ' \' of created beino-s, with a sublime, an adventurous, but 



on the whole an ill-protected existence. 



Let us penetrate into the wild American forests, and 

 examine the means of safety which these isolated beings 

 ^|i {} invent or possess. Let us compare the bird's resources, the 

 s^slrl V efforts of his genius, with the inventions of his neighbour, 

 man, who inhabits the same localities. The difference does 

 honour to the bird; human invention is always acting on the 

 )' -\ offensive. While the Indian has fashioned a club and a toma- 

 ' hawk, the bird has built only a nest. 



P'or decency, warmth, and elegant gracefulness, the nest is in every 

 respect superior to the Indian's wigwam or the Negro's hut, which, 

 frequently, in Africa, is nothing but a baobab hollowed by time. 



17 



