Ubuntu :: Copy A Sample Set Of Files/pictures To A Directory On Desktop?

I'm trying to copy a sample set of files/pictures to a directory on my desktop. For my sample from /home/user/pics containing 7,000+ pictures, I have a desired list of:

Code:

user@computer:/home/user/pics$ ls | tail

I use that to generate a list of a few files that I'd like to move to my desktop. I tried:

Code:

user@computer:/home/user/pics$ ls | tail | cp /home/user/Desktop

I thought that might dump the tail list of files for an argument in the cp command, but no luck. I then tried:

Code:

user@computer:/home/user/pics$ ls | tail | cp . /home/user/Desktop

"ls | tail" output, but no luck.