44 BRITISH LAND BIRDS. 



its own size, and I believe, indeed, that it was 

 principally through him, though purely in his 

 own defence, that the robin had been reduced to 

 the deplorable condition in which I saw him. If, 

 therefore, we take from the prior claims of a robin, 

 beauty, tameness, song, sagacity, and natural 

 amiability, we shall find we cannot err in attri- 

 buting our love for him solely to his having in 

 the first instance loved us." 



But I am exceeding due limits, and though, in 

 order to attain anything like a perfect knowledge 

 of this interesting subject, it would require a 

 volume instead of a few pages, I must be content 

 to leave it here, only observing, that the greater 

 attention we pay to the various powers and facul- 

 ties of animals, the more we shall be convinced 

 that there is much yet to be learned as to the 

 extent of those faculties. That there is a high 

 degree of intelligence to be observed in them, and 

 which is exhibited in very remarkable ways, is 

 indisputable. Can we doubt, after watching them 

 attentively, that they give proofs of being endowed 

 with the feelings of memory, joy, gratitude, love, 

 sympathy, jealousy, and many other impulses 

 which might be enumerated ? Surely, the study 

 of nature is well calculated to impress us with 

 kindly feelings. Creatures susceptible of impres- 

 sions produced by our actions are objects of bene- 



