Song Birds and Water Fowl 



composed the Spanish Armada could never be 

 called cowardly because they were no match 

 for the little English corvettes in dexterity of 

 naval evolution. It was their very superiority 

 in point of size that made them an easy prey 

 to their diminutive but more lively enemies. 

 An insignificant horse-fly will goad the very 

 noblest of four-footed creatures to madness and 

 flight ; and, in precisely the same manner, the 

 very hugeness of the eagle makes him vulnera- 

 ble to the nimble assaults upon his back of a 

 minute and vicious enemy. If any one thinks 

 it would be more praiseworthy for the august 

 bird to stand still, and let his microscopic foe 

 assail him at will, it can only be replied, if to 

 flee in such case is cowardly, to stand still is 

 both cowardly and imbecile. 



Just a word ought to be said in regard to 

 that ill-sounding name, " birds of prey." In 

 a single aspect it is accurately descriptive of a 

 large division of the feathered kingdom; but 

 otherwise it is a most unfair reflection upon the 

 group, which are thus permanently reviled for 

 following out their instincts, and sustaining life, 

 it is true, by the destruction of their fellow- 

 creatures, yet by a method imposed by nature, 

 perfectly legitimate and blameless. I know of 



