68 
A BIRD'S DAILY LIFE. 
perforins his ablutions ; or, when water is wanting, to cleanse himself 
with sand, or dust, or even snow. Then he indulges in a brief repose, 
and allows a few minutes for digestion ; prunes his plumage ; and once 
more takes to the wing. In the evening he returns to his accustomed 
perch, where he is rejoined by other individuals of his species. This is 
the time when Nature's songsters put forth all their powers, and endeav- 
our to outvie one another in the variety and fulness of their strains. 
" The thrush 
And wooJlark, o'er the kind-contending throng 
Superior heard, run through the sweetest length 
Of notes ; wlien Ustening Philomela deigns 
To let them joy 
The blackbird whistles from the thorny brake ; 
The mellow bullfinch answers from the grove ; 
Xor are the linnets, o'er the flowering furze 
Poured out profusely, silent." 
It must be added, however, that bad weather interrupts the 
harmonious order of the bird's daily life ; and that some of the singing- 
birds are comparatively silent in the latter part of summer. 
The bird is everywhere : we meet with him on the very threshold 
of the Frozen World ; we find him dwelling on the rocky cliff that 
overhangs the melancholy sea ; he frequents the inaccessible precipices 
of the mountains ; even in the heart of the sandy desert his presence 
and his song encourage the weary traveller. Still, for the majority, as 
