INTRODUCTION 



TO THE 



WATER BIRDS. 



WE now enter upon the second grand division of our subject, 

 WATER BIRDS; and on that particular class, or order, usually 

 denominated Grallae, or Waders. Here a new assemblage of 

 scenery, altogether different from the former, presents itself for 

 our contemplation. Instead of rambling through the leafy laby- 

 rinths of umbrageous groves, fragrance-breathing orchards, 

 fields and forests, we must now descend into the watery morass, 

 and mosquitoe-swamp; traverse the windings of the river, the 

 rocky cliffs, bays and inlets of the sea-beat shore, listening to 

 the wild and melancholy screams of a far different multitude; 

 a multitude less intimate indeed with man, though not less use- 

 ful; as they contribute liberally to his amusement, to the abun- 

 dance of his table, the warmth of his bed, and the comforts of 

 his repose. 



In contemplating the various, singular and striking, peculi- 

 arities of these, we shall every where find traces of an infinitely 

 wise and beneficent Creator. In every deviation of their parts 

 from the common conformation of such as are designed for the 

 land alone, we may discover a wisdom of design never erring, 

 never failing in the means it provides for the accomplishment of 

 its purpose. Instead therefore of imitating the wild presumption, 

 or rather profanity, of those who have censured as rude, defec- 

 tive or deformed, whatever, in those and other organized beings, 

 accorded not with their narrow conceptions; let it be ours to 

 search with humility into the intention of those particular 

 conformations; and thus, entering as it were into the designs of 



