

THE COMMUNITIES OF BIRDS., 



ESSAYS AT A REPUBLIC. 







THE more I reflect upon it, the more clearly I per- 

 ceive that the bird, unlike the insect, is not an industrial 

 animal. He is the poet of nature, the most independent 

 of created beings, with a sublime, an adventurous, but 

 on the whole an ill-protected existence. 



Let us penetrate into the wild American forests, and 

 examine the means of safety which these isolated beings 

 U invent or possess. Let us compare the bird's resources, the 

 efforts of his genius, with the inventions of his neighbour, 

 man, who inhabits the same localities. The difference does 

 honour to the bird ; human invention is always acting on the 

 offensive. While the Indian has fashioned a club and a toma- 

 ' hawk, the bird has built only a nest. ' 



For decency, warmth, and elegant gracefulness, the nest is in every 

 respect superior to the Indian's wigwam or the Negro's hut, which, 

 frequently, in Africa, is nothing but a baobab hollowed by time. 



17 



