pensations of the Creator; for if the little wren in winter were to wash in cold water instead of dusting, it must perish from the chill *."

The largest birds of prey are no less fond of washing, though they care so little for water to drink that it has been erroneously asserted they never drink. "What I observed," says the Abbé Spallanzani, "is that eagles when left even for several months without water did not seem to suffer the smallest inconvenience from the want of it; but when they were supplied with water, they not only got into the vessel and sprinkled their feathers like other birds, but repeatedly dipped their beak, then raised their head in the manner of common fowls, and swallowed what they had taken up; hence it is evident that they drink. For the eagle it was necessary to set the water in a large vessel, otherwise, by its attempts to drink, the vessel was sure to be overturned t."

In books of falconry also directions are given for furnishing the birds with water to bathe. "Having weaned your hawk," says Willughby, "from her ramageness, she being both ways lured, throughly reclaimed, and likewise in good case, offer her some water to bathe herself in, in a basin, wherein she may stand up to the thighs, choosing a temperate, clear day for that purpose. Having lured your hawk and rewarded her with warm meat, in the morning carry her to some bank, and there hold her in the sun till she hath endued her gorge, taking off her hood that she may preen and prick herself: that being done, hood her again and set her near the basin, and taking off her hood, let her bathe as long as she pleases; after this take her up, and let her pick herself as before, and then feed her. If she refuse *Notes to White's Selborne, Letter 12, edit. 8vo. 1832.

+ Dissertations, i. 173.

the basin to bathe in, show her some small river or brook for that purpose. By this use of bathing she gains strength and a sharp appetite, and thereby grows bold; but that day wherein she batheth give her no washed meat. If you would make your falcon upwards, the next day after she hath bathed get on horseback, either in the morning or evening, and choose out some field wherein are no rooks or pigeons; then take your lure well garnished on both sides, and having unhooded your hawk, give her a bit or two on the lure, then hood her; afterwards go leisurely against the wind, then unhood her, and before she bate or find any check in her eye, whistle her off from your fist fair and softly*

Did these birds require to oil their feathers after every washing, an immensely larger gland than any of them are furnished with, would be indispensable to supply the requisite quantity; while it would prevent their feathers from being wetted at all, though this seems to be their aim in the operation, for the purpose, amongst other things, of getting rid of parasite insects. The head, however, which they cannot reach with their bill, and which cannot therefore be daubed with the oil, is the most liable to be thus infected; and accordingly we often see cage birds content themselves with wetting their heads, without touching the rest of the body. They may also be frequently seen combing or scratching their heads with their claws, no doubt with a similar design. This circumstance has given rise to a curious discussion concerning the intended use of the claws of some species, among which are the night-jar and the herons, that are furnished with small teeth like a saw or comb.

* Ornithology, by Ray, p. 402.

Wilson remarked that in specimens which he procured of the night-heron (Nycticorax Europeus, STEPHENS), the middle claws, serrated on the inside with from thirty-five to forty teeth, contained "particles of the down of the bird, showing evidently from

this circumstance that they act the part of a comb, to rid the bird of vermin in those parts which it cannot reach with its bill*.' With respect to the night-jars Wilson gives a similar statement. His night-hawk, for instance, he says, has its "middle claw pectinated on its inner edge, to serve as a comb to clear the bird of vermint." Again he says, "the inner edge of the middle claw of the whip-poor-will, another of the night-jars, is pectinated; and from the circumstance of its being frequently found with small portions of down adhering to the teeth, is probably employed as a comb to rid the plumage of its head of vermin, this being the principal and almost only part so infested in all birds t." He further proves this in the case of the Carolina night-jar, or chuck-will'swidow, by actual observation of the fact; speaking of which species he says, "reposing much during the heats of the day, they are much infested with

17

CHAPTER II.

BANK-SWALLOW.

MINING BIRDS. THE

THE BEE

EATER. THE PETREL. THE PUFFIN. THE PEN-
GUIN.

ALTHOUGH the notion that man derived the first hints of mechanical contrivance from the lower animals, may at first view appear plausible, it will be found, when traced circumstantially, no more to accord with the actual origin of inventions than the once popular fancy of tracing the origin of all human knowledge to the Iliad of Homer, or, as the Turks do, to the Koran of Mahomet. Pope, who was essentially the poet of good sense and reason, doubtless believed that some arts were thus acquired, when he said, "Learn of the little Nautilus to sail,

Spread the thin oar and catch the driving gale;" but the fact itself appears very questionable, inasmuch as the various species of Nautilus (Nautilida) are not only of rather infrequent occurrence even where they are indigenous; but, being confined to the locality of warm latitudes, they could not have afforded any hint of boat-building to many tribes, such as the Esquimaux or the New Zealanders. We

might, apparently with as good reason, attribute the invention of paper-making to wasps: but the recorded history of paper would disprove the theory; for the manner in which wasps make paper was not known previous to 1719, though Réaumur had endeavoured to discover it for twenty years.

Following up the principle of ascribing human inventions to the inferior animals, we might in a similar