SQ THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE, 



veloped a huge fin, as also has the back, and 

 the ears have been cut off. The transforma- 

 tion is complete. The proud mammal has 

 been brought to the level of the lowly fish- 

 lizard, the conger eel and the shark. 



Some other animals there are which have 

 been more fortunate. The old sea-mother has 

 succeeded in binding them to herself, but yet 

 allows thetn to spend a part of their time on 

 land, wherein the duties of the nursery may be 

 attended to ; for food they remain absolutely 

 dependent upon her. These, too, have had to 

 surrender more or less of their original char- 

 acters and take upon themselves in exchange 

 others more in harmony with their changed 

 habits. 



We have three such cases. One of these is 

 furnished by the lowly reptiles, another by the 

 more well-to-do birds, and a third by the aristo- 

 cratic mammals. 



The reptiles have given us the turtles ; the 

 birds, the penguins ; the mammals, the seals, sea- 

 lions, and walruses. 



In the first mentioned, all four limbs have 

 been thrust into fingerless gloves ; in the second, 

 only the fore-limbs or wings. In the mammals 

 the hands and feet are gloved, so to speak, but 

 the fingers remain distinct — not separate. They 

 are united one to another by a sort of web. 



These flightless birds then have much to 

 tell us if we only read Nature's lessons aright. 

 They make us think, and look about, and tell 

 us much of the world around us that we had 

 previously never suspected. They teach us to 



