n I am so far excelled in voice by such a little
russet-feathered wretch as that!' And, by retiring, he gave up all claim
to the contended-for preference.

The nightingale was so delighted with having got the better of the
peacock, that he exerted his little voice, and was so lost in the
conceit of his own melody, that he did not observe a hawk, who flew upon
him, and carried him off in his claws.

The eagle then declared, 'That as the peacock's envy had taken away all
his claim, so no less had the nightingale's self-conceit frustrated
all his pretensions; for those who are so wrapped up in their own
perfections, as to mind nothing but themselves, are forever liable to
all sorts of accidents.' And, besides, it was plain, by the exultation
the nightingale expressed on his imagined glory over the peacock, that
he would have been equally dejected on any preference given to another.

And now the owl, with an affected gravity, and whooting voice, pleaded
his well-known wisdom; and said, 'He doubted not but the preference
would be granted to him without contest, by all the whole assembly for
what was so likely to produce happiness as wisdom?'

The eagle declared, 'That, if his title to wisdom could be proved, the
justice of his claim should be allowed; and then asked him, how he could
convince them of the truth of what he had advanced?' The owl answered,
'That he would willingly appeal to the whole assembly for their
decision in this point; for he was positive nobody could deny his great
superiority as to wisdom.' Being separately asked, they most of them
declared, that they knew no one reason, either from his words or
actions, to pronounce him a wise bird; though it was true, that by an
affected solemnity in his looks, and by frequent declarations of his
own, that he was very wife, he had made some very silly birds give
him that character; but, since they were called upon to declare their
opinions, they must say, that he was ever the object of contempt to all
those birds who had any title to common understanding. The eagle then
said, 'He could by no means admit a plea, which as plainly appeared
to be counterfeit, as were the jay's borrowed feathers.' The owl, thus
disappointed, flew away, and has ever since shunned the light of the
sun, and has never appeared in the daytime, but to be scorned and
wondered at.

It would be endless to repeat all the several pleas brought by the
birds, each desiring to prove, that happin