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This sense was supposed to have reached its highest 

 point of perfection in the vultures and other carrion-birds. 

 Poets and philosophers have dwelt on the ' delight' with 

 which they 



.... snuff d the smell 



Of mortal change on earth 



Sagacious of the quarry from afar.' 



But, according to the experiments of Audubon (and they 

 were made with a species which has obtained a reputation 

 for great sagacity in this way), the nostrils do not seem to 

 have been of the least assistance to the birds in directing 

 them to their prey ; while the eye, even when the birds were 

 far above human sight, appears to have been infallible. This 

 conclusion has been, indeed, disputed : but the facts stated 

 by Audubon are very strong. 



Taste. Though all birds possess a tongue, it is probable 

 that but few find enjoyment in the organ as ministering to 

 their taste, and in those it is soft, thick, and covered with 

 papillae. Some of the birds of prey, some of the swimmers, 

 and the parrots generally, have such a tongue, and there 

 can be no doubt that these taste food of a soft or fluid na- 

 ture, and select that which they like best. But in general 

 the tongue is horny and stiff, and appears unsuited to con- 

 vey such impressions, though as an organ for taking food it 

 becomes of the highest importance. In the humming-birds 

 and other honey-suckers it is a tubular pump, and in the 

 woodpeckers it is an insect-spear. In both cases it can be 

 protruded and retracted at pleasure ; and the simple but 

 beautiful machinery by which this act of volition is per- 

 formed, is adapted with the most masterly fitness to the 

 motion required. Upon examining the tongue of the com- 

 mon green-woodpecker, we shall find that, instead of being 

 very long, as it is erroneously supposed to be, it is really 

 very short, sharp-pointed, and horny, with barbs at its sides. 

 Behind this lies the singular tongue-bone (os hyoidcs), 

 slender, and with two very long legs or appendages (crura). 

 This is made up of five parts, consisting of a single portion 

 and two pairs of cartilages. Let us suppose the tongue to 

 be at rest, and then the single piece lies in a fleshy sheath, 

 capable of great extension. To this piece the first pair of 

 cartilages, which are situated at the sides of the neck, are 

 joined, while the second pair, springing from these, run 

 under the integuments completely over the skull, and, ad- 

 vancing forwards, converge in a kind of groove, terminating 

 generally in the right side of the upper jaw. This second 

 pair, by their elasticity, become the springs which set the 

 whole in motion. When the organ is to be protruded, the 

 anterior pieces are drawn together, and enter the extended 

 sheath of the single piece : the tongue is thus elongated as 

 it were, and the bird can thrust it far forth. 



[Os hyoides of woodpecker.] 



The sense of touches applied to external objects, must 

 be, generally speaking, very obtuse in birds. Feathers, 

 horny beaks, and scaly skin, do not offer a satisfactory me- 

 dium for conveying impressions by contact. But in those 

 birds which search for their food in mud (ducks, for instance), 

 where neither sight nor smell can be of much avail, the 

 bill is covered with a skin abundantly supplied with sensa- 

 tion by nerves from all the three branches of the fifth pair, 

 in order that they may successfully feel about for their 

 hidden sustenance. 



Duration of Life, Reproduction, Migration. 

 That the animated machine which we have endeavoured 

 to sketch is formed for strong resistance of decay is proved 

 by the very long life which many birds are known to have 

 attained. The evidence of this fact does not rest upon tra- 

 dition only, which has invested the ' annosa comix' with 

 such venerable length of years ; for there are not wanting 

 well-authenticated instances of birds which had seen out a 

 century ; and yet the period of incubation in no instance 

 exceeds a few weeks. 



The continuation of the species is carried on by eggs, 

 which are laid in a nest more or less artificial according as 

 the nestling i more or less capable of gathering its own 



ibod at the time of its exclusion from the egg. Of those 

 birds whose young possess this capability in the highest 

 degree, the male is, for the most part, polygamous, and does 

 not pair ; but among those whose helpless young depend 

 for some time on the parents for their sustenance, one male 

 confines his attentions to one female, as long at least as the 

 season of love, incubation, and parental anxiety endure. To 

 the first and second of these seasons we, in great measure, 

 owe that outpouring of melody which renders our groves 

 and gardens so musical in spring. 



' There is every reason,' writes Montagu, ' to believe it is 

 necessary there should be native notes peculiar to each spe- 

 cies, or the sexes might have some difficulty in discovering 

 each other, the species be intermixed, and a variety of mules 

 produced ; for we cannot suppose birds discriminate colours 

 by which they know their species, because some distinct 

 species are so exactly alike that a mixture might take 

 place. The males of song-birds, and many others, do not 

 in general search for the female ; but on the contrary, their 

 business in the spring is to perch on some conspicuous spot, 

 breathing out their full and amorous notes, which by in- 

 stinct the female knows, and repairs to the spot to choose 

 her mate. This is particularly verified with respect to the 

 summer birds of passage. The nightingale, and most of 

 its genus, although timid and shy to a great degree, mount 

 aloft to pour forth their amorous strains incessantly, each 

 seemingly vieing in their love-laboured song before the 

 females arrive. No sooner do they make their appearance 

 than dreadful battles ensue, and their notes are considerably 

 changed; sometimes their song is hurried through without 

 the usual grace and elegance ; at other times modulated 

 into a soothing melody. The first we conceive to be a pro- 

 vocation to battle on the sight of another male ; the last an 

 amorous cadence, a courting address. This variety of song 

 lasts no longer than till the female is fixed in her choice, 

 which is in general in a few days after her arrival ; and if 

 the season is favourable, she soon begins the task allotted 

 to her sex.' 



We entirely agree with the writer of this animated pas- 

 sage, that ' Tis love creates their melody," and that the ear 

 is a principal guide to the hen-bird in her choice of a mate ; 

 but we cannot entirely exclude the eye, when we remember 

 what pains have been taken in most instances to distinguish 

 the sexes by the colour of their feathered garb, and even in 

 many instances to prepare a nuptial dress (plumage de 

 noces of the French) for the male, which fades when the 

 season of love has passed away. 



We must not dwell here upon the wonders of birds'-nests, 

 their admirable structure as places of comfort and conceal- 

 ment, and the exquisite workmanship of some of them, 

 that of the goldfinch, for instance. In those snug re- 

 ceptacles the eggs are deposited and hatched. Then 

 the old birds feel all the parent within them and entirely 

 forget their own safety and wants in protecting and pro- 

 viding for their helpless nestlings. This parental love 

 changes the timid at once to the brave ; for birds of prey, 

 cats, dogs, and sometimes even man, when he approaches 

 the sanctuary, are attacked and followed with angry cries. 

 For some time after quitting the nest this care continues, 

 till the nestling is able to provide for itself. Then the whole 

 scene changes. The young bird still lingers about the old 

 one, and approaches it when it finds a worm or insect, ex- 

 pectant of the morsel. At first the young bird is unheeded 

 and treated coldly ; but if it does not take this hint and 

 perseveres in its solicitations, the parent, which but a few 

 days before would have braved a hawk or a cat in its de- 

 fence, and would have been content to suffer hunger rather 

 than have seen it without food, gives it a buffet, and thus 

 compels it to rely on its own resources. 



Few phenomena have attracted more attention than the 

 migration of birds. That some of our delicate songsters, 

 with no great power of wing, should cross the seas periodi- 

 cally, returning, as they undoubtedly do, to those spots 

 which they have before haunted, and which are associated 

 in their memories with the pleasing cares of former years, 

 excites our admiration, if not our astonishment. As regu- 

 larly as the seasons of which many of them are the har- 

 bingers, do these little travellers visit us, and as regularly 

 do they take their departure. The immediate cause of 

 migration is no doubt to be found in temperature and food, 

 particularly that which is adapted for the sustenance of the 

 young; and the instinct of the bird accordingly leads it 



from one climate to another. 







