290 HINTS TO ORNITHOLOGISTs». 
quent them are in the habit of fabricating’ their © 
own nests, or of using a natural cavity. 
We are gravely told it cannot be expected that 
field ornithologists should risk life and limb, in 
order to ascertain such points. This is melancholy 
doctrine, and he who is determined to follow it 
must be content to remain in ignorance. 
I cannot admit that the mere art of preserving 
the skin of a bird is sufficient to answer every 
scientific purpose; and I disagree with him who 
will not allow the study of internal anatomy to be 
the basis of the zoological system. 
We may measure the feet of preserved bird-skins 
with rule and compasses, and then draw the con- 
clusion, from external appearances, that this foot, 
forsooth, is gifted by Nature for grasping, and that, 
for perching: but it will not do. Internal anatomy 
must be consulted. It alone can let us into the 
real secret, why all birds which frequent the trees 
can grasp a branch with the utmost facility, and sit 
securely there, without any fear of falling from it. 
See the barn-door fowl walking before us! No 
sooner does it lift its foot from the ground, than 
the toes immediately bend inwards. From this na- 
tural tendency to contract we draw the conclusion, 
that a bird is in absolute security when it perches 
upon a branch. By means of this admirable pro- 
vision of Nature, the little delicate golden-crested 
wren can brave the raging tempest, on the top of 
the loftiest tree, in as perfect safety as the largest 
bird of the creation. 
Nothing can be more illusory than an attempt 
