Facilities Smell. 29 



organs of taste, but partly also of prehension. These, too, differ 

 exceedingly in form, according to their requirements, being some- 

 times short, round, and thick, sometimes long, thin, and pointed ; 

 and some tribes make considerable use of these members in 

 securing their prey, as we shall hereafter see. 



Their organs of voice, too, are very various ; some most melo- 

 dious, charming man by their continual and often exquisite song ; 

 others harsh and unmusical ; notes they have of alarm, whereby 

 they signify to one another that danger is at hand ; notes of dis- 

 tress, whereby they proclaim the pain or terror they feel ; notes 

 of love, whereby they show their affection ; notes of communica- 

 tion, whereby they signify their intentions to each other and act 

 in concert, and so continue their migrations on the darkest nights 

 without danger of parting company. The notes of the different 

 species, too, are as various as are their forms. Some are able to 

 imitate those of others ; but seldom do they step beyond their 

 own limits, for each is content to communicate with his congeners, 

 in the language peculiar to its own species. 



Such, then, is an outline of the faculties of birds. The subject 

 is one which might be pursued to an unlimited extent, until such 

 a knowledge of their anatomy was gained, that, like Buffon and 

 Cuvier, of late time, and Professor Owen, of the College of Sur- 

 geons, of our day, from seeing one single bone we might be able- 

 to describe accurately the whole bird to which it belonged, and 

 its habits, though of a species never hitherto seen. To such an 

 intimate acquaintance, however, with the structure of birds we 

 shall not probably aspire. Our present purpose has in view only 

 a general consideration of their formation and faculties ; but we 

 have seen enough to prove to us how admirably birds are formed 

 for the position they hold in the scale of Zoology. Their bodies 

 light and buoyant, furnished with wings enabling them to pass 

 rapidly through the air ; provided with air-cells, as an additional 

 assistance to them ; endowed with astonishing powers of sight, 

 hearing, and smell; possessed of organs of voice as varied as 

 they are remarkable ; and with many other faculties not inferior 

 to these, the feathered tribes claim a high position in the scale of 



