6 iNTRObijCTORV* 



home. They breathe pure air, they look round them 

 on fields and hills and sky, and they see the beasts 

 and man himself crawling on the ground beneath 

 them. Conditions such as these modify the charac- 

 ters of nations and it would be foolish to suppose that 

 they are without effect on birds. It is from these 

 surely that they draw that joy of life which is their 

 richest inheritance, which opens the eye to beauty 

 and the ear to music, which expresses itself in all 

 grace of form and movement, and inclines spon- 

 taneously to love. And so, though beasts rank 

 above them anatomically and physiologically, birds 

 have in many respects a higher nature. Their wits 

 are quicker, their thoughts sweeter, their tastes finer 

 and their passions and appetites less gross. With 

 respect to manners and morals they stand on a higher 

 plane altogether. The institution of the family, 

 which is the most sacred thing in our own social 

 system, is almost unknown among beasts, but it 

 exists among birds in its purest form. The great 

 majority of them indeed are monogamous during the 

 nesting season, and many pair for life and become 

 devotedly attached to each other. Brides are won 

 by courtship. 



In their personal habits birds are particularly tidy 

 and clean. Much of their time is spent in the duties, 

 or pleasures, of the toilet. Many of them bathe 

 regularly in water, while others prefer a dust bath : 

 some, like the common Sparrow, indulge in both as 

 they have opportunity. Nature gives them an entire 

 new suit every year, sometimes two, in which case 

 the summer and winter suits are often different. If 

 there ib any difference between the sexes it is the 



