INTRODUCTION. 3 



how shall lie lift a substance heavier than the air ? And how 

 guide its progress through the air ? Show him the weighty 

 body of an Eagle or a Swan,* tell him their living history, 

 and he may reasonably doubt your fact, and deny that these 

 things could be. 



There is one difficulty in the use of wings that any one 

 may ascertain for himself. Let him take the smallest sized 

 boy's kite by the narrow end, and wave it up and down at 

 arm's length ; he will instantly perceive how great is the 

 resistance of the air, and how obvious the inability of his 

 muscular strength to produce anything like the rapid motion 

 of a wing. And yet, in order to possess the powers of a 

 bird, he must be able to construct and move artificial wings, 

 in superficial extent, in some cases measuring several of such 

 kites, with the additional difficulties, which mathematical 

 knowledge would prove to be proportionally increased at 

 every step in his progress. How all these seeming impos- 

 sibilities are accomplished is perhaps the most interesting 

 part of the following pages. 



But the study of Ornithology has other charms, in a great 

 measure confined to itself, and recommending it to the at- 

 tention of a large class of readers ; namely, that of its being 

 within the reach of all who take an interest in the proceed- 

 ings of the natural world. Quadrupeds, generally speaking, 

 are few in number, and so difficult of access, that in fact, 

 beyond the limited families of our domestic menageries, few 

 can have an opportunity of investigating their habits. Out 

 of eighty genera of four-footed animals, about fifteen only are 

 to be met with in the British islands ; of these, many live 

 so remote from man, that accident alone can gratify his 

 curiosity, and of that greater portion scattered over the 

 earth, few, comparatively speaking, ever fall under the obser- 

 vation of the most inquiring traveller. One-half of the 

 characteristic features of the lion and tiger tribe we collect 

 from the analogous habits of one of a similar genus, namely, 

 the cat, which harmlessly purrs by our fire-side: while the 



* The wild swan weighs 25lbs. 

 B 2 



