SO Introduction. 



created beings. We see in their formation the hand of a boun- 

 tiful Creator ; in their endowments the wisdom and goodness of 

 Providence displayed. A knowledge of their structure, and an 

 insight into the wonderful organs with which they are supplied, 

 cannot but raise them in our eyes, as worthy of deeper investi- 

 gation and closer attention than they usually receive ; and raise 

 us at the same time, as should be the case after all our re- 

 searches into the pages of nature, * from nature's works up to 



nature's God.' 



' Thus the men 



Whom nature's work can charm, with God himself 

 Hold converse : grow familiar day by day 

 With His conceptions ; act upon His plan, 

 And form to His the relish of their souls.' 



ON THE BEAK. 



I now desire to call special attention to the beaks of birds, 

 than which nothing in their whole structure appears to me to be 

 so perfect, so suitable to the end for which they were formed, so 

 interesting and worthy of close examination. I have cursorily 

 alluded to them in a former page, but I would now devote a 

 short space to a more close examination of these very useful 

 organs, which are generally the implements or tools wherewith 

 their owners supply themselves with their every-day food. 



Every bird is furnished with a beak, composed of two parts, the 

 upper and lower mandible, formed of horny substances ensheath- 

 ing the jaws. It is analogous to the lips and teeth of quadru- 

 peds ; it is (as I before stated) seldom employed in mastication, 

 and its chief employment is in taking the food on which the bird 

 subsists ; but as the nature of that food varies so much, accord- 

 ing to the habits of the different species, so does this organ vary 

 extremely in form as well as in size, and so presents one of the 

 most distinguishing features for ascertaining the proper position 

 in classification which the bird is entitled to hold ; indeed, if we 

 examine the beak alone, this is quite sufficient to indicate at a 

 glance the order and tribe at least, if not the family and even 

 genus, to which the specimen belongs. But now, however varied 



