BIRDS OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. 129 



benevolent hand for support, comfort and as- 

 sistance. 



I was led into these reflections, by the perusal 

 of the following passage in Captain Fitzroy's nar- 

 rative, already referred to : and it contains an 

 interesting illustration of what has been said. 

 Speaking of the Galapagos islands, all of which 

 are of volcanic origin, and the lava, of which they 

 are chiefly composed, excessively hard, he informs 

 us, that all the small birds found upon them have 

 short beaks, very thick at the base, like those of 

 a bullfinch. This appears, he adds, to be one of 

 those admirable provisions of Infinite Wisdom, by 

 which each created thing is adapted to the place 

 for which it was intended. In picking up insects, 

 or seeds, which lie on hard iron-like lava, the su- 

 periority of such beaks over delicate ones, cannot 

 be doubted ; but there is, perhaps, a further object 

 in their being so strong and wide. Colnett, in his 

 voyage to the South Seas, says, page 59, that 

 " they observed an old bird in the act of supply- 

 ing three young ones with drink, by squeezing the 

 berry of a tree into their mouths. It was about 

 the size of a pea, and contained a watery juice, of 

 an acid, but not an unpleasant taste. The leaves 

 of these trees absorb the copious dews which fall 

 during the night ; the birds then pierce them with 

 their bills for the moisture they retain, and which, 

 1 believe, they also procure from the various plants 

 G 2 



