135 



THE BIRDS OF THE GARDEN, 



Januarn. 



FOUR-FOOTED 

 beasts are usually 

 classed next to man 

 and above the birds, 

 on the ground of 

 their superior organi- 

 zation. To express 

 it in a manner worthy of the closing quarter of the nine- 

 teenth century, the "differentiation of function," or "phy- 

 siological division of labour," is carried further in them. 

 If this is as true as it deserves to be, then I hold that 

 birds are amply compensated on the moral side of their 

 nature, with respect to which they occupy a platform much 

 above beasts. I mean that the cunent of their thoughts 



