INTRODUCTION; 
BEING 
A CURSORY ESSAY 
ON THE 
Habits^ Economy^ and Maniiers of Birds, 
CHAPTER I. 
The treasures of Nature lie open before Man ; they invite him to their 
contemplation, and promise, that the pursuit shall mingle amusement with 
instruction, enrich his imagination, and strengthen his mind. Placed in 
a conspicuous part of the scene of Creation, blessed with luminous gifts, 
and endowed with extraordinary powers, — still, the Lion excels him in 
strength; the Lynx in vision ; the Hog, and the Vulture, in smell; the 
Squirrel in agility, and the Deer in swiftness : and, even in mental endow- 
ments,' he is, in many particulars, far surpassed by numerous races of the 
brutes beneath him. Aided by various instruments, the fruits of laborious 
reflection, he, slowly, and fearfully, ventures over the stormy abyss ; 
while the tropic bird, trusting to its natural powers alone, and reckless of 
danger, seeks its prey, with the rapidity of lightning, upon the bosom of 
the ocean, unalarmed by its terrors, and unterrified by the wild of unskirted 
waters surrounding it. With unerring certainty, the Eagle, after the 
lapse of seasons, returns to her ancient habitation ; the Swallow discovers 
