Song Birds and Water Fowl 
composed the Spanish Armada could never be 
called cowardly because they were no match 
for the little English corvettes in dexterity of 
naval evolution. It was their very superiority 
in point of size that made them an easy prey 
to their diminutive but more lively enemies. 
An insignificant horse-fly will goad the very 
noblest of four-footed creatures to madness and 
flight ; and, in precisely the same manner, the 
very hugeness of the eagle makes him vulnera- 
ble to the nimble assaults upon his back of a 
minute and vicious enemy. If any one thinks 
it would be more praiseworthy for the august 
bird to stand still, and let his microscopic foe 
assail him at will, it can only be replied, if to 
flee in such case is cowardly, to stand still is 
both cowardly and imbecile. 
Just a word ought to be said in regard to 
that ill-sounding name, ‘ birds of prey.’’ In 
a single aspect it is accurately descriptive of a 
large division of the feathered kingdom; but 
otherwise it is a most unfair reflection upon the 
group, which are thus permanently reviled for 
following out their instincts, and sustaining life, 
it is true, by the destruction of their fellow- 
creatures, yet by a method imposed by nature, 
perfectly legitimate and blameless. I know of 
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