290 HINTS TO ORNITHOLOGIST^. 



quent them are in the habit of fabricating their 

 own nests, or of using a natural cavity. 



We are gravely told it cannot be expected that 

 field ornithologists should risk life and limb, in 

 order to ascertain such points. This is melancholy 

 doctrine, and he who is determined to follow it 

 must be content to remain in ignorance. 



I cannot admit that the mere art of preserving 

 the skin of a bird is sufficient to answer every 

 scientific purpose ; and I disagree with him who 

 will not allow the study of internal anatomy to be 

 the basis of the zoological system. 



We may measure the feet of preserved bird-skins 

 with rule and compasses, and then draw the con- 

 clusion, from external appearances, that this foot, 

 forsooth, is gifted by Nature for grasping, and that, 

 for perching : but it will not do. Internal anatomy 

 must be consulted. It alone can let us into the 

 real secret, why all birds which frequent the trees 

 can grasp a branch with the utmost facility, and sit 

 securely there, without any fear of falling from it. 



See the barn-door fowl walking before us ! No 

 sooner does it lift its foot from the ground, than 

 the toes immediately bend inwards. From this na- 

 tural tendency to contract we draw the conclusion, 

 that a bird is in absolute security when it perches 

 upon a branch. By means of this admirable pro- 

 vision of Nature, the little delicate golden-crested 

 wren can brave the raging tempest, on the top of 

 the loftiest tree, in as perfect safety as the largest 

 bird of the creation. 



Nothing can be more illusory than an attempt 



