INTRODUCTION. 
V 
Gloomy dells secluded from the haunts of man ; the tops of the highest 
trees in the darkest recesses of the wood ; or the summits of the lofty 
rugged rocks and precipices, which nature has reared in barren solitude, 
they love to frequent. Such scenes are congenial with their dispositions, 
and by withdrawing them from society, increase their natural savage- 
ness of manners. The granivorous birds form the middle link of the chain. 
They are more placid, generous, and gentle, in their actions, than the 
rapacious kinds : yet some of them are bold and courageous, to an extreme 
degree. Like the harmless Rhinoceros, and Hippopotamus, though they 
are conscious of their powers, and formed for war, they rarely seek the 
combat. Their weapons, and their strength, are only exerted for their own 
security, in their own defence ; and not for the destruction of others. 
They shun not society, their disposition renders them tractable, and fits 
them for domestication ; and their prolificacy is, to man, a fountain flowing 
with a delicious, and almost inexhaustible repast. The Sparrow tribes are, 
in their manners, still more mild. Nature has forbidden them to prey on 
their fellows, and denied them the strong, and powerful talons, the firm 
and formidable bills, and that muscular strength, which she has bestowed 
on the carnivorous tribes ; and having made them incapable of resisting 
their powerful foes, she has planted in them a timidity, that warns them to 
avoid danger. In general, they do not hide themselves from the sight of 
man, or live retired from his habitation ; they love his vicinity, claim his 
protection, and as they destroy those pernicious swarms of insects, that 
riot on the bud, and cover the vegetable creation with their nauseous fceces, 
they render essential services to their benefactor. Compared with the rest 
of animated beings, on the grand scale of nature, birds hold a middle sta- 
tion. Inferior to man, and the quadrupede ; superior to the fish, reptile, 
and insect. Inferior, more in their conformation and intellectual powers, 
than in the senses, — the prime movers of the living world. For birds are 
pre-eminent in sight and hearing ; some of them, such as the Vulture, the 
Raven, and the Wild Duck, excel also in smell ; and, though touch has 
been deemed that sense in which man exceeds all other animals, it still 
