It is impossible to read many of Prévert's verses without becoming aware that he takes considerable interest in animals. Paroles contains a poem about a whale, a poem about two snails, and four poems about horses. But the author is not so much concerned with animals as he is with birds. Birds are spoken of in many of his poems, and in half a dozen a bird would appear to be the central theme. It seems to me, indeed, that his fondness for birds amounts very nearly to a sort of cult.

Prévert is not, of course, a sentimental poet. Though he is fond of birds he is never, under any circumstances, sentimental about them. He likes them because they are self-respecting creatures, he likes them because they are gay, or he likes them merely as symbols. (p. 450)

["Les Oiseaux du Souci"] expresses very well the...