196 BIRDS

America, with which we need trouble ourselves no
further.

The carinates without teeth are the great aerial
army, ranging from the perchers downwards, That
the passerine birds should head the army is admitted,
but which of them it is not easy to decide. The
birds of prey, headed by the vultures and eagles, have
been deposed from their once proud position, and
the most favoured candidates for the vacancy are the
thrushes and warblers and the crows. Ifthe honour
is given to the crows, the raven will naturally lead
the van; but if we vote for the thrushes, on the
strength of their all-round capabilities, we shall
apparently have to decide between the nightingale
and the missel-thrush, who are each strongly sup-
ported. As a third candidate, if one is wanted to
take off a few votes from the party nominees, we are
half inclined to propose the dipper. There is nothing
that birds do that he cannot do. His feathers are
of the best, and yet he is the only passerine bird
with down. He builds a beautiful nest. He can
fly in the air, and he can fly under the water; he can
run, he can walk, he can hop, he can float, he can
swim, he can wade, he can dive, he can walk under
water, he can sing, and he can fight. And he is a
good-looking fellow into the bargain, with quite
an artistic feeling for a lovely home’ beside the
rippling and falling water. But as it is really of no
consequence which we begin with, let us follow one
of the ordinary tracks, contenting ourselves with an
example here and there.

Once upon a time Daines Barrington and Patrick