CHAPTER II

BIRDS

THE birds, by general consent, form the next great
class of the animal kingdom, not that they are in any
way inferior to the lower mammals, but that they
seem to. have reached a higher stage of development
than the reptiles, the amphibians, or the fishes. The
birds, in fact, are almost the equals of the mammals
in organisation and intelligence. ‘It is only,’ as
Arthur Thomson well says, ‘because we recognise
in mammals a higher degree of brain development,
and a closer organic connection between mother and
offspring, that we venture to place them above the
birds.’

Among the mammals we have seen how the
typical skeleton was modified in the cases of the seals
and whales for life in the water; among the birds
we have the same general plan podies to suit a life
in the air. Not that all birds fly, for some of them
run, but speaking generally, birds are flyers, and to
them belongs the kingdom of the air. Looking at
a bird’s bones individually, you will find that they are
much lighter, bulk for bulk, than the bones of a
mammal; looking at them when placed in their