liiitlfs. 
AVe have now arrived at the typical family of the 
Conirostres, or that group of birds whose hill assumes 
in the greatest degree a conical form ; namely, the 
Finches, Fringillidce. They are the most extensive in 
number, as well as the smallest in size, of any in the 
whole tribe. They inhabit all parts of the globe, 
feeding principally upon the seeds of plants, or the 
kernels of fruits, which their peculiar organization 
enables them to procure and devour with facility. 
Their grand office in the economy of Nature appears 
to he to assist, and that in no small degree, in keeping 
down the excess of certain forms of vegetation, sub- 
sisting as they do, in many instances, on the germs of 
life so copiously and abundantly distributed by various 
plants, chiefly of the composite and cruciform races, 
the extreme and exuberant fertility of which would 
otherwise enable them to usurp dominion over every 
other, and so monopolize the soil as to render it 
unfit for cultivation. The adaptation, however, as in 
all similar cases, is of course mutual, and the apparent 
superfluity of seeds wliich are annually produced, 
thus enables thousands and millions of beings to 
enjoy existence, to enliven and diversify the face of 
nature with mo\dng life, and to cheer the still monotony 
of vegetable beauty by their lively and inspiring songs 
of joy and happiness.* 
* “ British Cyclopaedia.” 
