BIRDS AND POETRY. 
429 
is not of the most brilliant description; tlieir nocturnal 
representatives we regard with a certain amount of 
wonder, though not with aversion. To the plumage of the 
song bird we pay not the slightest attention, though our 
favourable impressions are strengthened if, in addition to 
a line song and graceful movement, it possesses other 
charms. The Woodpeckers with their quaint dress 
attract us in no small degree. The Humming Birds 
charm everyone who has seen them, and make a poet 
even of the naturalist. Among the numberless soft- 
billed birds there is scarce one that does not exact 
our admiration. Pigeons and gallinaceous birds become 
household pets; and marsh and swimming birds are 
almost without exception favourites, and valued by us. 
It is clear that such attractive beings possess a greater 
amount of influence over the uneducated mind than over 
the minds of such as are thoroughly conversant with their 
history: the uninitiated can observe, though unable to 
explain what he sees, and on this account the bird 
appears to him a wonderful, if not supernatural, being; 
and as his actual knowledge is ,at fault, poetry steps in to 
his aid and embellishes. The bird when used as a type 
is chosen according to its nature and character, flight as 
well as force being symbolical: old symbols are still 
retained by reason of their selection being a happy one. 
Poetry placed the Eagle by the throne of Jupiter, holding 
in his talons the thunderbolts which the Deity was 
supposed to rain down upon this hapless earth of ours : 
the allegory is apt, for the Eagle, himself a mighty king, 
dashes upon its prey, like a flash of lightning, with 
resistless power. The Eagle still presents to our mind a 
splendid picture of strength and nobility : the body raised 
proudly erect; the stiff pendant tail; the ruffled lance- 
