70 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 



How admirably formed are the eyes of the birds 

 of night for seeing better when the sun is below than 

 above the horizon. Those of the poultry kind are 

 not furnished with hooked bills and formidable ta- 

 lons, or wings calculated for long flights ; and while 

 the solitary Eagle or Hawk pay us a transient visit, 

 unaccompanied and alone, these surround our dwell- 

 ings in numerous flocks. Those of the Grouse kind, 

 who feed on moor-berries and the tops of heath plants, 

 have their habitations assigned them in the most bar- 

 ren and uncultivated tracts where their favouritefood 

 abounds The hooked bill of the Parrot is well 

 contrived to assist him in climbing. Ducks, Geese, 

 and many others, have long broad bills to enable 

 them to grope for their food in water and mud ; on 

 the contrary, a thick, short, and sharp edged bill, is 

 as necessary to those who have occasion to husk 

 and flay the grain they swallow. The Wood-peck- 

 er's bill is sufficiently strong to dig holes ; that of 

 the Swallow is slender and sharp pointed, and he 

 is also furnished with a very wide mouth, to enable 

 him to catch the winged insect in its flight; and the 

 ease with which Sea pies raise their favourite food 

 from the rocks, by means of their long, narrow, and 

 compressed bills, is astonishing. Even Limpets, 

 which adhere so firmly to the rocks, as not to be ea- 

 sily separated by a knife, these birds find no diffi- 

 culty to raise with the instrument Nature has pro- 

 vided them with for the purpose. 



The long legs and necks of birds of the Crane 

 kind, together with their sharp pointed bills, are 



