23 r 



Some . of these little birds are extremely beautiful, 

 nor can any thing he more rich or variegated than 

 their feathers : but it must be owned, that all orna- 

 ment must give place to the finery of the peacock ; 

 upon which God has plentifully bestowed all the 

 riches which set off the rest, and lavished upon it with 

 gold and azure all the shades of every other colour. 

 This bird seems sensible of its advantage, and looks a* 

 if it designed to display all its beauties to our eyes, 

 when it stalks along and expands that splendid circum- 

 ference which sets them all in open view. 



But this pompous bird has of all others that are 

 kept tame, the most disagreeable cry, and is a proof 

 that there may be a shining outside^ when there is little 

 substance within, 



In examining the feathers of the rest, I find one 

 more circumstance very observable. That feathers of 

 5. wans and other water fowl are proof against tho water> 

 and accordingly they continue dry, though the creature 

 swims or dives ever so long ; and yet neither our eyes 

 nor all our art can discover wherein they differ from 

 others. 



i know not how to conclude this chapfer without 

 adding a few more reflections. 



All the universe is replenished with life, and every 

 part of it with its proper aaimals : but would one ex- 

 pect lo see them in the air ? Nothing seems more na- 

 tural to our eyes ; but nothing is more astonishing to 

 our reason. The fact is certain, and yet might seem 

 to be altogether impossible. A bird in lii^i-t is a mass 

 raised aloft, in spite of tue gravity oi the air, and tne 

 tendency of all bod-es to the earth : tins mass is raised 

 not by any foreign force, but by a movement su.u d 

 to the purpose* of the creatuiv, an-1 which sustained it 

 ifi the ah j for a considerable tinu^ with a peaceful 

 vigour, 



M 6 



