I. THE ROBIN. 23 



21. It is this need of the beak's being a mecha- 

 nical tool which chiefly regulates the form of a 

 bird's face, as opposed to a four-footed animal's. If 

 the question of food were the only one, we might 

 wonder why there were not more four-footed crea- 

 tures living on seeds than there are ; or why those 

 thg.t-'do — field-mice and the like — have not beaks 

 instead of teeth. But the fact is that a bird's 

 beak is by no means a perfect eating or food- 

 seizing instrument. A squirrel is far more dexterous 

 with a nut than a cockatoo ; and a dog manages 

 a bone incomparably better than an eagle. But the 

 beak has to do so much more ! Pruning feathers 

 building nests, and the incessant discipline in mili- 

 tary arts, are all to be thought of, as much as 

 feeding. 



Soldiership, especially, is a much more imperious 

 necessity among birds than quadrupeds. Neither 

 hons nor wolves habitually use claws or teeth in 

 contest with their own species ; but birds, for their 

 partners, their nests, their hunting-grounds, and their 

 personal dignity, are nearly always in contention ; 

 their courage is unequalled by that of any other 

 race of animals capable of comprehending danger ; 

 and their pertinacity and endurance have, in all ages, 

 made them an example to the brave, and an amuse- 

 ment to the base, among mankind. 



