CLEANLINESS. 1138 
A great number of birds are fond of washing their 
plumes, by throwing water over them with their 
beaks, and even dipping their bodies in ponds or 
streams. Mr. Knapp mentions the linnet (Linaria 
LIinota) as the cleanliest of birds in this respect, 
since it delights to dabble in the water and dress its 
plumage in every rill that runs by; but we do not 
think the linnet washes more frequently than any 
of the other smaller birds (Sylvicole, Virittot). The 
linnet, the chaffinch, and all the seed-eating birds, 
indeed, we have remarked to wash less frequently 
than the slender-billed birds (Sylviade, Vicors), to 
which washing seems almost as necessary as food 
and air. 
The largest birds of prey are no less fond of wash- 
ing, though they care so little for water to drink that 
it has been erroneously asserted they never drink. 
“What I observed,” says the Abbé Spallanzani, “‘is 
that eagles, when left even for several months with- 
out water, did not seem to suffer the smallest incon- 
venience from the want of it; but when they were 
supplied with water, they not only got into the ves- 
sel and sprinkled their feathers like other birds, but 
repeatedly dipped their beak, then raised their head 
in the manner of common fowls, and swallowed 
what they had taken up; hence it is evident that 
they drink. For the eagle it was necessary to set 
the water in a large vessel, otherwise, by its attempts 
to drink, the vessel was sure to be overturned.” 
Did these birds require to oil their feathers after 
every washing, an immensely larger gland than any 
of them are furnished with would be indispensable 
to supply the requisite quantity ; while it would pre- 
vent their feathers from being wetted at all, though 
this seems to be their aim in the operation, for the 
purpose, among other things, of getting rid of para- 
site insects. The head, however, which they cannot 
reach with their bill, and which cannot, therefore, be 
daubed with the oil, is the most liable to be thus in- 
K 2 
