THE CRANE KIND. 295 



other birds, and in some finely fluted on every 

 side ; while at the point it is possessed of extreme 

 sensibility, and furnished with nerves for the 

 better feeling their food at the bottom of marshes, 

 where it cannot be seen. Some birds of this class 

 are thus fitted with every convenience ; they have 

 long legs for wading, long necks for stooping, 

 long bills for searching, and nervous points for 

 feeling. Others are not so amply provided for ; 

 as some have long bills, but legs of no great 

 length ; and others have long necks, but very 

 short legs. It is a rule which universally holds, 

 that where the bird's legs are long, the neck is 

 also long in proportion. It would indeed be an 

 incurable defect in the bird's conformation, to be 

 lifted upon stilts above its food, without being 

 furnished with an instrument to reach it. 



If we consider the natural power of this class, 

 in a comparative view, they will seem rather in- 

 ferior to those of every other tribe. Their nests 

 are more simple than those of the sparrow ; and 

 their methods of obtaining food less ingenious 

 than those of the falcon : the pie exceeds them 

 in cunning ; and though they have all the vora- 

 ciousness of the poultry tribe, they want their 

 fecundity. None of this kind, therefore, have 

 been taken into man's society, or under his pro- 

 tection : they are neither caged like the night- 

 ingale, nor kept tame like the turkey, but lead 

 a life of precarious liberty, in fens and marshes, 

 at the edges of lakes, and along the sea-shore. 

 They all live upon fish or insects, one or two 

 only excepted : even those that are called Mud- 



