BIRDS IN GENERAL. 



THERE is no class of animals, a knowledge of whose 

 habits and manners, is so much calculated to make us 

 admire the wisdom, the goodness, and the design of 

 the Creator, as the Birds. The forms of their bodies, 

 and the structure of their bones, quills, and feathers, 

 are so admirably adapted to their modes of life, and 

 so completely answer the purposes for which they 

 were made, that they can hardly be examined without 

 a reference to Creative wisdom and intelligent design. 



The bodies of birds are clothed with feathers, one 

 of the lightest of all substances, and these are so ar- 

 ranged as to lie over each other, like the shingles of a 

 house, so that they are a complete protection against 

 the rain, and the cold. 



That they may glide easily through the air, their 

 heads are small, their breasts smooth and gradually 

 swelling, their wings flat, and turned backwards, and 

 their legs so placed, as to make little resistance, 



Their bones and quills are round and hollow ; their 

 lungs are large, and in some kinds, the air passes from 

 them into the bones of the legs, and wings ; thus mak- 



With what are the bodies of birds covered ? 



How is this covering arranged ? 



What is the use of this covering ? 



What is said of the bones and quills of birds ? 



2 



