THE BUILDING OF A BIRD 43 



the limp body from the terrier's mouth. " It is quite 

 dead. I am sorry, but it might have nibbled some of 

 my birds. Besides, this is exactly what I wanted to 

 teach you something about. Who can tell me the 

 difference between a mouse and a Sparrow?" 



" I can ! " said Dodo ; " it's all difference ; a mouse 

 hasn't any feathers, or any wings, and it has four feet, 

 and a long tail and whiskers and teeth — " 



^' That will do, little girl, for differences ; do you 

 see anything alike between a Sparrow and a mouse, 

 Rap?" 



"I think the fur is something like feathers, Doctor," 

 answered Rap ; '' and you told us how a beak was like 

 a mouth without any teeth or lips; then a mouse has 

 four feet and legs ; but a bird has onl}^ two feet, 

 and two wings instead of four legs and feet like a 

 mouse." 



"That is just what I want you all to think about," 

 said the Doctor. " Now listen. If a Sparrow has 

 a pair of feet that correspond to a mouse's hind feet, 

 what do you think a Sparrow's wings correspond to in 

 a mouse ? " 



" I should think they would be something like a 

 mouse's fore feet," answered Rap, after thinking a 

 moment. 



" That is exactly right. Birds and beasts are alike 

 in many respects. They have heads, necks, and bodies ; 

 they have tails ; and they have limbs. Beasts have two 

 pairs of limbs. We call them fore legs and hind legs. 

 People have two pairs also. We call them arms and 

 legs. So you see our arms correspond to the fore 

 legs of beasts, though we never use them for moving 



