VI 
INTRODUCTION. 
is doubtful, whether the Goose, and the Crane kinds, are not endowed with 
it in a far superior degree. It is seated certainly in a different instrument, 
and is more limited and confined ; but that exquisite sensibility of feel- 
ing which we remark in those species of the feathered race, which seek 
their food beneath the water, or the earth, and by which they discern it 
from surrounding substances, even when hidden from the sight, at least 
gives them a pretension to rival man in that sense, in which he is 
commonly supposed to he pre-eminent. 
But birds possess one qualification which admits of no competition, — 
the power of flight. This enables them to soar above the clouds, to range 
through every climate, ' and to wander, wherever led by the impulses of 
inclination, or necessity. 
