Transcriber's Notes:
Some presumed printer's errors were corrected. The following is a list of changes made from theoriginal. The first line shows the original text; the second line is the corrected text as itappears in this e-book.
A. E p. viii
A. E.
and. thou p. 105
and, thou
resemblance p.126
resemblance.
Page 14 p. 315
Page 74
Don Jean Footnote 29
Don Juan
THE BIRD.
THE BIRD
BY
JULES MICHELET.
WITH 210 ILLUSTRATIONS BY GIACOMELLI.
LONDON:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW;
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.
1868.
To Madame Michelet.
I dedicate to thee what is really thine own: three booksof the fireside, sprung from our sweet evening talk,—
THE BIRD—THE INSECT—THE SEA.
Thou alone didst inspire them. Without thee Ishould have pursued, ever in my own track, the rude pathof human history.
Thou alone didst prepare them. I received fromthy hands the rich harvest of Nature.
And thou alone didst crown them, placing on theaccomplished work the sacred flower which blesses them.
J. MICHELET.
Translator's Preface.
"L'Oiseau," or "The Bird," was first published in 1856. Ithas since been followed by "L'Insecte" and "La Mer;" thethree works forming a trilogy which few writers have surpassedin grace of style, beauty of description, and suggestivenessof sentiment. "L'Oiseau" may be briefly described as aneloquent defence of the Bird in its relation to man, and a poetical