PHASES OF BIRD, LIFE. 201 
the growing brood. With all his pirouetting in the 
air, he carries in his bosom an anxious heart, as you 
will quickly see if you go too near his snuggery in 
the grass. The wild scramble in which birds of all 
kinds often have to engage, in order to secure a 
refractory insect, proves that there is ample room 
for the play of their best energies. ‘Thus we see 
that the birds have plenty to do besides rollicking, 
singing, enjoying gala-days, and taking excursions 
to gay watering-places. Like their human brothers 
and sisters, they must toil patiently on ‘“ through 
the every-dayness of this work-day world.” ‘They, 
too, may have their literature — unwritten, however 
—on the “dignity of labor.” 
VW: 
BIRD PLAY. 
How strange it is that animals never laugh! If 
you watch a group of monkeys playing their antics, 
you will find their faces as sedate as a judge’s, save, 
perhaps, a merry twinkle of the eye. Comical as 
their gambols are, one would think they would break 
into convulsions of merriment. ‘True, animals have 
various ways of giving vent to their exuberant feel- 
ings, but this is done very slightly by means of facial 
expression. ‘Their risibles must be meagrely devel- 
oped. What has been said in regard to animals in 
general is also true of birds, whose eyes often 
twinkle and are intensely expressive, but whose 
