226 
BIRD-LIFE. 
accounted for in this manner. This same Goose might, 
if it had thought of it, just as easily become a Wood¬ 
pecker had it tried to climb, or possibly changed into an 
Eagle had it given way to bloodthirsty reflections ! 
That this remark is no distortion of an intelligent 
postulate or assumption is shown in Mr. Darwin’s 
celebrated work on the ‘ Origin of Species.’ This natu¬ 
ralist, it must be admitted, also takes into consideration 
the effect of climate, but, on the whole, dreams in a 
similar manner; and, bribed by an appearance of proof, 
the world accords belief to this dreaming. If we allow 
ourselves to be guided by him, we should be in a position 
to trace out not only one single primitive form or arche¬ 
type of aquatic bird or other animal, but also the radical 
form of animated creation in general, even up to the first 
monad. By this course of argument the miracle of 
creation is narrowed, without reaching any fuller or final 
explanation. Mr. Darwin still remains in our debt. We 
might as well, on the other hand, assume, and with as 
much reason, that Nature, in all her richness, gave to 
each creature its especial form, and fitted it for its work, 
from the very outset. 
Every living creature—as we may observe in the case 
of a duckling hatched under a hen—learns in an 
incredibly short space of time how best to make use of 
its bodily gifts, thereby fulfilling its mission on this 
earth. The young Falcon soon learns of itself to pursue 
its quarry, the Swallow to catch insects, the Chicken to 
scratch for food, the Woodpecker to climb, and the 
water-bird to dive and swim. Each is compelled, by the 
actual construction of its body, to carry out the end for 
which it was created. It is therefore the adaptation of 
the structure which decides the means of existence, and 
