v4 THE -STORY-OF THE, BIRDS. 
Odor is a very low form of being either offensive 
or agreeable among animals, and the birds are ahead 
of us in getting away from it; for, with the exception 
of the musk duck, no bird secretes a specially odorous 
substance for any purpose. Man, the parasite of the 
parasites, yet robs every creature of its perfume when 
he likes it, and hints his kinship backward in musk 
and unguents and such things. It seems not improb- 
able that he may have once passed through a state 
when he was free from the necessity of its use before 
the dawn of soap, since clean little babes have an agree- 
able odor; but his betterment, like that of the birds, 
lies in a less use of perfumes and a larger use of water. 
Of course, in every organism there is some odor 
as the result of food, necessary excretions of the skin, 
ete., but in some there are specially significant odors 
connected with glands for their secretion. We can 
not stop to discuss these latter, interesting as they are, 
since they lie outside of the class of birds. From the 
suppression of the pores of the skin at the base of the 
feathers, corresponding to those which open at the 
base of the hairs in mammals (to oil them), birds have 
less of these incidental odors than most creatures. 
This suppression is compensated for in them by open- 
ings in the oil gland, whereby a special oiling and 
waterproof substance is emitted which the bird ap- 
plies, as needed, to its plumage. 
It is remarkable, however, that this should be free 
from noticeable odor, since in some mammals where 
similar special openings occur, the secretion, to phrase 
it mildly, is rather redolent, 
