CHARACTER. 
97 
friends, is discontented ever, ill-humoured and sullen, 
and apparently always at variance with himself and the 
world at large; his character is like his form—nocturnal, 
in the gloomiest sense of the word. Other night birds 
are more melancholy still, as the Tawny Owl (Syrnium 
Aluco ), the Scissor-billed Tern, and the Night Heron 
(Arelect mjcticorcix). All their movements are slow and 
measured, their voices either loudly plaintive or a hoarse 
screeching; their spirits seem to stir as heavily as their 
bodies. 
There are, however, some diurnal birds which are 
stupid and sad in their character; almost all carrion-, 
lizard- and fish-eating birds are silent, serious and still. 
This demeanour on the part of the first-mentioned, 
sextons by profession, does not seem out of place; but 
why the generality of snake-eating Eagles and fishing 
birds should assume the doleful it is difficult to say. 
Possibly the first do so through their continued inter¬ 
course with the ugliest creations of the earth, having 
become somewhat tinged with their hideous natures ; the 
others, like anglers, go to prove that fishing is indeed a 
stupid employment. The birds we have mentioned would 
appear, however, to be almost the only ones not blessed 
with happy dispositions. All others, on the contrary, 
seem scarcely able to express the intense happiness of 
their existence; the inquisitive Starling continually 
seeking new movements and new sounds, as though 
he would thereby show the world his joyous frame of 
mind. 
Usually, though not always, birds of a bright disposi¬ 
tion are sociable, while, on the contrary, the serious and 
melancholy seek solitude. Most birds like to associate 
with others of their own species, either in flocks or in 
