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LONDON:

PETTER AND GALPIN, BELLE SAUVAGE PRINTING WORKS,

LUDGATE HILL, E.C.

BODL

INTRODUCTION.

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UMEROUS and diversified as are the animals of the Class MAMMALIA, to which the two preceding Volumes of "CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY" were devoted, it is remarkable that the bat alone is endowed with the power of flight; a flight which is strong, rapid, and marked by sudden evolutions and turns, executed with astonishing celerity.

In the next Class, AVES, which demands our consideration, the body is invariably covered with feathers, and the anterior extremities are organs of flight alone. As the plumage, in its endless modifications, is intimately connected with the habits of the species, these variations are studied by Naturalists, not only as demonstrative of consummate design on the part of the Great Creator, but as an index to the manners of birds, and as a clue to a natural

arrangement.

The entire mechanism of the body, indeed, corresponds precisely with the organs of flight. Long and slender, like a snake's, the central point of gravity would have been wanting for maintaining an even, steady course; while, had it been round, there could have been no cleaving of the sky, like that of an arrow in its course. But the body is beautifully boat-shaped; the prow being formed of the small head and pointed beak, and the rudder by the broad, expanded tail; so that the resistance of the air may be effectually overcome. If, too, the plumage and the skin be removed, how fine, how large, how powerful will the muscles appear, expressly destined for the motion of the wings, constituting, as they do, the solid mass of the whole chest, and being more in volume than all the others put together.

The destined tenants of the upper air, birds, borne on rapid wings, transport themselves from place to place, and even from one country to another, with ease and safety. Familiar with the tempest, they rise till lost amidst the clouds; and, from their lofty pinnacle, look down on the outspread earth, with its seas and rivers interspersed on its surface. Yet are they not restricted to the regions of the air; the land and the waters are theirs also; some traversing the fields, some trooping around the dwellings of man, some wading the treacherous morass, some scouring the sandy desert, some living in the umbrageous shade of the sequestered thicket or the lonely forest, and some diving and sporting on the ocean billows.

The appearance of birds is a special attraction to every intelligent observer. As Thomson

says:—

"The redbreast pays to trusted an

His annual visit. Half afraid, he first
Against the window beats; then brisk alights

On the warm hearth; then, hopping o'er the floor

Eyes all the smiling family askance,

And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is;

Till more familiar grown, the table crumbs
Attract his slender feet."

Who can look on the peacock, arrayed in gorgeous plumes of azure, purple, green, and gold, spread out to the bright rays of the sun, without being filled with admiration at the spectacle? The lark, that we may see far aloft in a country walk; the goldfinch, the yellow ammer, the swallow, the wren, and a number more of which we may occasionally catch sight as we pursue our way; the swan, conspicuous for its beauty and the elegance of its attitudes, which seem as if purposely intended for display, gliding over the water with arched neck, and the plumes of its wings proudly expanded, like sails, to catch the breeze; and others, far too many to be now enumerated, have each a charm for the eye and the heart.

The music of birds arose towards heaven before the creation of man. Adam and Eve could not have heard their melody without lively emotions, and from their days to ours multitudes have felt with the poet, when he said:

"A few, with melody untaught,

Turned all the air to music, within hearing,
Themselves unseen; while bolder quiristers,
On loftiest branches, strained their clarion pipes,
And made the forest echo to their screams
Discordant. Yet there was no discord there,
But tempered harmony; all tones combining,
In the rich confluence of ten thousand tongues,

To tell of joy, and to inspire it. Who

Could hear such concert, and not join in chorus?
Not I."

Coleridge says, as he asks the nightingale to repeat her strain:

"My dear babe,

Who, capable of no articulate sound,
Mars all things with his imitative lisp,
How he would place his hand beside his car,
His little hand, the small fore-finger up,
And bid us listen."

Not that all birds are musical; on the contrary, they are remarkable for a very great variety of tones and qualities of voice, from the cawing of the rook, the croaking of the raven, and the monotonous scream of the eagle, to the rich and varied modulations of the nightingale. Each species has a note peculiar to itself, and it is only to certain tribes that the power of melody is given. A voice capable of rapid inflections and full of harmony was not wanted by the rapacious tyrants of the air, by the birds that play and dive among the billows of the ocean, by the wild swan, and the host of water birds that make the marsh or the dark morass their home, nor yet by the feathered tribes that yield food for man. These, therefore, only emit sounds desirable for themselves; and it is to a multitude of smaller birds, the tenants of woodlands and groves, that we must listen, if we would hear a thousand voices swelling, in mingled harmony, the hymn of praise.

In a savage state of society man hunts the timid for food, and contends with the ferocious for safety; but his influence is limited; the effects are scarcely appreciable; and the loss occasioned by the destruction he makes is speedily supplied. As he advances in civilisation he extends the field of his operations. Some desert tracts excepted-some regions where the excessive cold militates against human enterprise; man, wherever he spreads his race, gradually

INTRODUCTION.

modifies the surface of the earth, its state of irrigation, and the proportion of vapour dissolved in the atmosphere, thereby materially affecting the botanical and animal productions of such localities. As the forests are gradually cleared, and give way to cultivated fields; as swamps are drained, and meadows assume their place; as mountain wastes become clothed with corn by his labours, the primitive tenants gradually recede, and others take their place. He introduces plants of various kinds, and with them their parasitic insects, and other animals which depend on them for subsistence; and thus, while, within certain bounds, the zoological features of such districts become perceptibly modified, he extends his influence to the most remote regions.

Man, whose mental energies have brought so many of the Mammalia under subjection, and whose influence in changing the condition of a country, as it regards even the brute creation, is manifest wherever he takes up his abode, has made a successful conquest over the birds of the air. Bending the falcon tribes to his will, he has effected a permanent subjection over such as minister to his necessities, and whose flesh yields him wholesome and nutritious food. Still, it is manifest that other triumphs await him over "the feathered fowl;" surpassing, perhaps, any that have been hitherto achieved.

Never were there such shows of birds remarkable for beauty and song as those with which only recently we have become familiar. In a late report we are told that the classes exhibited were very superior. In those of Belgium, vast improvement is described as very discernible, so that there was scarcely a bad bird among them-a striking contrast to those submitted to inspection in former years. So nice has the difference in the shades of colour become, that it could only be discovered by taking the birds out of the cages, and bringing them into close proximity. The feathers were of a most brilliant gold colour, and the green markings almost black. The goldfinch mules are said to have been of themselves a show, while various British songsters presented a first-rate appearance-delighting the eye, as well as gladdening the ear.

Of birds called GALLINACEOUS, no fewer than 346 species have been enumerated, yet of all these we have, as yet, only made eight available for domestication; while, at least, 230 actually inhabit sufficiently temperate regions to admit of their being, more or less, acclimatised in Europe. All are able to live in confinement, and what is more, they are prolific and eatable. Hence the attempts at acclimatisation which are being made by the Zoological Society of London, especially in connection with the game birds of the Himalaya. Similar efforts are being carried on in France. The common pheasant is a comparatively modern accession to the coverts of England, and is not naturally more adapted to our climate than several other species of true pheasants which are known to inhabit Mongolia, China, and Japan. The birds brought home by Mr. John Reeves, in 1838, bred in the Society's collection without difficulty, and were only lost by the accident of their number being insufficient to guard against casualties. Those splendid birds, the Cheer, the Monal, and the three Kaleeges-the Horsfield, the Whitecrested, and the Black-backed-all breed abundantly in the Zoological Gardens. The Society has always paid great attention to collecting water-fowl, which, from their general hardiness, are adapted to acclimatisation in this country; and no fewer than forty-seven species are mentioned as observable by visitors in their last "Guide."

The science of Natural History is therefore becoming of increasing importance; and to its advancement the descriptions and engravings of the present Volume, like those of the two preceding, and the one on which we shall immediately enter, will be regarded, we trust, not

merely as a popular, but a truly valuable auxiliary. of a poet:

"Ye birds that fly through the fields of air,
What lessons of wisdom and truth ye bear;

Ye would teach our souls from the earth to rise;
Ye would bid us all grovelling scenes despise.
Ye would tell us that all its pursuits are vain,
That pleasure is toil-ambition is pain-
That its bliss is touch'd with a poisoning leaven,
Ye would teach us to fix our aim on heaven.

"Beautiful birds of lightsome wing,

Bright creatures that come with the voice of Spring;
We see you array'd in the hues of the morn,
Yet ye dream not of pride, and ye wist not of scorn!
Though rainbow-splendour around you glows,
Ye vaunt not the beauty which Nature bestows;
Oh! what a lesson for glory are ye,
How ye preach the grace of humility.

Well may we now adopt the genial word

"Swift birds, that skim o'er the stormy deep,
Who steadily onward your journey keep,
Who neither for rest nor for slumber stay,
But press still forward, by night or day-
As in your unwearying course ye fly
Beneath the clear and unclouded sky;
Oh! may we, without delay, like you,
The path of duty and right pursue.
"Sweet birds, that breathe the spirit of song,
And surround heaven's gate in melodious throng,
Who rise with the earliest beams of day,
Your morning tribute of thanks to pay,
You remind us that we should likewise raise
The voice of devotion and song of praise;
There's something about you that points on high,
Ye beautiful tenants of earth and sky!"

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