HlSTOfcY OF 



flesh of each other ; so, among birds, some live 

 upon vegetable food, and others by rapinej de- 

 stroying all such as want force or swiftness to 

 procure their safety. By thus peopling the 

 woods with animals of different dispositions, 

 nature has wisely provided for the multiplication 

 of life; since, could we suppose that there were 

 as many animals produced as there were vegeta- 

 bles supplied to sustain them, yet there might still 

 be another class of animals formed, which could 

 find a sufficient sustenance by feeding upon such 

 of the vegetable feeders as happened to fall by 

 the course of nature. By this contrivance, a 

 greater number will be sustained upon the whole ; 

 for the numbers would be but very thin, w r ere 

 every creature a candidate for the same food. 

 Thus, by supplying a variety of appetites, nature 

 has also multiplied life in her productions. 



In thus varying their appetites, nature has also 

 varied the form of the animal ; and while she has 

 given some an instinctive passion for animal food, 

 she has also furnished them with powers to obtain 

 it. All land birds of the rapacious kinds are fur- 

 nished with a large head, and a strong crooked 

 beak, notched at the end, for the purpose of tear- 

 ing their prey. They have strong short legs and 

 sharp crooked talons for the purpose of seizing it. 

 Their bodies are formed for war, being fibrous 

 and muscular ; and their wings for swiftness of 

 flight, being well feathered and expansive. The 

 sight of such as prey by day is astonishingly 

 quick ; and such as ravage by night, have their i 



