I would like to pound them all," said Dodo, striking her fists together, as Nat did sometimes, not making it clear whether it was pie or people she wanted to pound.

"But uncle, it is right to eat some birds--Ducks and Chickens and Geese and Turkeys." "Yes, Dodo, they belong to another class of birds--a lower order that seem made for food--not singing nor helping the farmers; but even these should not be shot needlessly or in their nesting season.

But the higher order--the perching Song Birds--should never be shot, except the common Sparrow of Europe that we call the English Sparrow.

His habits are wholly bad; he meddles with the nests of useful birds and is a nuisance to his human as well as bird neighbors.
"To prevent confusion Heart of Nature has divided the habits and appetites of Birdland, so that instead of a great many families all building in one kind of tree, or eating the same sort of insects or seeds, each has its own manners and customs.

Thus they divide among themselves the realms of the air, the water, the trees, and the ground.
Some birds, as the Swallows and Flycatchers, skim through the air to catch winged insects.