BIRDS IN GENERAL. 181 



bird can move its wings with a degree of strength 

 which, when compared to its size, appears incredible. 

 The flap of a swan's wing would break a man's leg 

 asunder; and a less violent stroke from an eagle, stretch 

 him lifeless on the ground. The sense of smelling in 

 birds is remarkably acute, and they are known to pos- 

 sess it in so eminent a degree, that those who are in 

 the habit of attending decoys make a point of keeping 

 a piece of turf burning near their mouths, upon which 

 they breathe, lest the ducks should smell them and fly 

 away. Their legs and feet likewise are admirably cal- 

 culated for the different purposes for which they are 

 designed ; light and elegantly formed, they are rather 

 calculated to assist than to retard their flight : the toes 

 of some are webbed to fit them for the waters, whilst 

 others are constructed for their security upon trees. 



To this animated and entertaining race of creatures 

 the return of spring is the season of delight ; for those 

 vital spirits, which the severity of winter had locked up, 

 then begin to break forth and expand ; vegetables and 

 insects supply an abundance of food ; and the bird, 

 having more than a sufficiency for its own maintenance, 

 is compelled to transfuse life, as well as to maintain it : 

 then those warblings, which had been hushed during 

 the intense severity of the cold, again begin to animate 

 the fields, and every grove and bush resounds with the 

 alluring notes of love. Then it is that these affectionate 

 little animals fondly combine together in pairs, and 

 evince towards each other such marks of attachment 

 as might serve as lessons to the human race ! How 

 pleasing is it to watch the happy pair anxiously em* 

 ployed in making preparations for their young, and fre- 

 quently plucking the down from their own breasts to 

 defend them from the severities of the cold ! With what 

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