Birks at­tend­ed Trin­i­ty Coll­ege at Cam­bridge, where he be­came a Fel­low. He took Ho­ly Or­ders in 1837, then be­came Rec­tor of Kels­hall, Hert­ford­shire, in 1844; Vi­car of Ho­ly Trin­i­ty, Cam­bridge, 1866; Ca­non of Ely Ca­thed­ral, 1871; and Pro­fes­sor of Mor­al Phil­o­so­phy at Cam­bridge, 1872. His 25 works in­clude Bib­li­cal, as­tro­nom­ic­al, sci­en­tif­ic, pro­phe­tic, and other sub­jects. He al­so wrote the Mem­oirs of Rev. E. Bick­er­steth (his fa­ther-in-law), 1851. He wrote about 100 hymns; some ap­peared in Bick­er­steth’s Christ­ian Psalm­o­dy, 1833, others in his Com­pan­ion Psal­ter, 1871.

• Julian, pp. 143, 825, 922, 932, 1582

1. Except the Lord Do Build the House
2. Heavens De­clare Thy Glo­ry, The
3. Lord Him­self My Por­tion Is, The
4. Mighty God, the Lord Hath Spok­en, The
5. O Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord
6. O King of Mer­cy, from Thy Throne on High
7. O Taste and See That He Is Good
8. O When from All the Ends of the Earth
9. Thou Art Gone on High, O Christ
10. Whom Have I Lord in Hea­ven, but Thee