158 DEATH. 
The flattened skull is the degrading sign of these murderers. I 
trace it in the most extolled, in those whom man has the most 
flattered, and even in the noble falcon; noble, it is true, and I the 
less dispute the justice of the title, because, unlike the eagle and 
other executioners, it knows how to kill its prey at a blow, and 
scorns to torture it. 
These birds of prey, with their small brains, offer a striking con- 
trast to the numerous amiable and plainly intelligent species which 
we find among the smaller birds. The head of the former is only a 
beak; that of the latter has a face. What comparison can be made 
between these brute giants and the intelligent, all-human bird, the 
robin redbreast, which at this very moment hovers about me, perches 
on my shoulder or my paper, examines my writing, warms himself at 
