AOTJATIC BIRDS. 103 



Progress of the incubation. 



-conformation, to be lifted upon stilts above itt 

 food, without being furnished with an instru* 

 ment to reach it. 



If we consider the natural power of this class, 

 in a comparative view, they will seem rather in- 

 *ferior to those of every other tribe. Their nests 

 are more simple than those of the sparrow ; and 

 their methods of obtaining food less ingenious 

 than those of the falcon; the pie exceeds them 

 in cunning; and though they have the vora- 

 ciousness of the poultry tribe, they want their 

 fecundity. None of this kind, therefore have 

 been taken into man's society, or under his pro- 

 tection; they are neither caged, like the night- 

 ingale ; nor kept tame, like the turkey ; but lead 

 a life of precarious liberty, in fens and marshes 

 at the edges of lakes, and along the sea shore. 

 They all live upon fish or insects, one or two 

 only excepted ; even those that are called mud- 

 suckers, such as the snipe and woodcock, it is 

 more than probable, grope the bottom of marshy 

 places only for such insects as are deposited 

 there by their kind, and live in a vermicular state, 

 in pools and plashes, till they take wing, and be- 

 come flying insects. 



" All this class, therefore, that are fed upon in- 

 sects, their food being easily digestible, are good 

 to be eaten; while those who live entirely upon 

 fish, abounding in oil, acquire in their flesh the 

 rancidity of their diet, and are, in general, unfit 

 for our tables. To savages indeed, and sailors 



