Page:The Common Birds of Bombay.djvu/22

6 home. They breathe pure air, they look round them on fields and hills and sky, and they see the beasts and man himself crawling on the ground beneath them. Conditions such as these modify the characters of nations and it would be foolish to suppose that they are without effect on birds. It is from these surely that they draw that joy of life which is their richest inheritance, which opens the eye to beauty and the ear to music, which expresses itself in all grace of form and movement, and inclines spontaneously to love. And so, though beasts rank above them anatomically and physiologically, birds have in many respects a higher nature. Their wits are quicker, their thoughts sweeter, their tastes finer and their passions and appetites less gross. With respect to manners and morals they stand on a higher plane altogether. The institution of the family, which is the most sacred thing in our own social system, is almost unknown among beasts, but it exists among birds in its purest form. The great majority of them indeed are monogamous during the nesting season, and many pair for life and become devotedly attached to each other. Brides are won by courtship.

In their personal habits birds are particularly tidy and clean. Much of their time is spent in the duties, or pleasures, of the toilet. Many of them bathe regularly in water, while others prefer a dust bath: some, like the common Sparrow, indulge in both as they have opportunity. Nature gives them an entire new suit every year, sometimes two, in which case the summer and winter suits are often different. If there is any difference between the sexes it is the