VARIETY IN SIZE AND FORM. 11 



effort : few have thought sufficiently of the fine silky 

 plumage which gives that richness as well as delicacy of 

 effect so remarkable in most birds ; of the complex and 

 yet simple steering apparatus, and nice machinery of bones 

 and muscles, and sinews and horny shafts, and webs, by 

 which the motions of the creature are rendered so facile 

 and truly graceful : of these we shall have to speak 

 more at length presently. Let us now say a few words 

 about the wonderful variety of size, and form, and habits, 

 which only a cursory study of ornithology opens to our 

 view. We behold the tiny Humming-bird, no bigger than 

 a humble-bee, hovering over a flower, and inserting its long 

 bill into the calyx in search of its sweet food ; we see the 

 lordly Eagle, with its spread wings, measuring perhaps eight 

 feet across, soaring far above the mountains, and darting 

 on its prey with a rush like that of an avalanche. The Os- 

 trich, ten or twelve feet high, stalks over the sandy desert, and 

 lays its eggs in a slight hollow to be hatched by the burning 

 sun. In the depths of the tropical forest dwell the bright- 

 hued birds of the Parrot family, and many others, bedecked 

 in plumes as glowing and various as the rainbow; and 

 about the northern isles congregate vast flocks of aquatic 

 birds, whose harsh notes seem a fit accompaniment to the 

 sound of the breakers among the rocks, and the whistling 

 of the winds around the heads of steep precipices. In our 

 own green woods we have feathered songsters mostly of 

 sober plumage, whose sweet melody amply compensates for 

 their want of gay attire. In all places and situations we 

 find Birds, beautiful Birds ! They brave the rigours of the 

 coldest climates, and the greatest heat of the tropics seems 

 only to heighten their beauty, and sense of enjoyment. In 

 anatomical structure they differ as greatly as they do in 

 their habits and modes of life, although in all these respects 

 there is, to a certain extent, a similarity between them ; 

 the differences being only such as are requisite for the per- 

 formance of the work which they have to do for all are 

 workers part of the industrial population of this our 

 universe. Theirs is a very busy life, and it would be well 

 for man if he performed the duties assigned to him with 

 as much zeal and energy as do the Birds. When Mary 

 Howitt sings 



