18 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



one. It is easy enough to see why most of 

 them fly so little ; in a wild state a bird must 

 fly well or it may easily lose its life, but this is 

 not so when it is protected and looked after, 

 for then a lazy bird which does not use its 

 wings has a better chance of being kept than 

 one which flies about, because when people 

 are killing their poultry they would naturally 

 make sure first of those which were likely to 

 fly away if they could catch them ; and if the 

 birds could not be caught they would simply 

 go back to the wild state, and so again those 

 that did not fly would remain. It is natural, 

 too, that such birds and their young ones 

 would be more inclined to get clumsy and fat, 

 and that is why most tame birds look so 

 awkward beside the wild ones, as you may 

 often have a chance of seeing with tame and 

 wild ducks, since both sorts of ducks are 

 common here. 



The reason why tame poultry are of so 

 many colours is very similar ; it comes about 

 through their living under our care. We may 

 be sure that the colour of the wild bird is the 

 best it can have as things go. It may be 

 harder for enemies to see, or it may be the 



