402 Mr. N. A. Vicors on the Natural Affinities 
beaks and talons; the retractile nails, analogous to those of the 
typical Carnivorous Mammalia ; the muscular bodies, the rapa- 
cious habits, and animal food of the Birps or Prey (Accipi- 
tres, Linn., Raptatores, Ill.), at once distinguish them from all 
others. The strong and ambulatorial feet of the GaLLinacrous 
Binps (Galline, Linn., Rasores, 111.), adapted to the region 
where they chiefly resort for their food and the purposes of in- 
cubation; their toes and nails peculiarly formed for scratching 
up the grains and seeds which constitute the main part of their 
subsistence ; their short wings, and the weakness of their pecto- 
ral muscles, which cause the heaviness of their flight,—a defici- 
ency which is counterbalanced by the strength of those muscles of 
the thighs and legs that contribute to their powers of running ; 
their gregarious, and, generally speaking, polygamous habits ; 
the ease with which they are domesticated; their wholesome 
flesh, together with many striking peculiarities in their anatomy, 
serve equally to distinguish them. The Wrs-roorep Brrps 
(Anseres, Linn., Natatores, Ill.) are no less set apart from the 
remainder of the feathered tribes by the existence of the mem- 
brane connecting the toes, which assists them in swimming, and 
gives them the command over that element whence they derive 
their food. ‘Their downy bodies serving alike to defend them 
from the effect of the waters and to buoy them up in their na- 
tural element, and the shortness and backward position of their 
legs, which contribute to their powers in swimming and diving, 
but incapacitate them from walking on land,—are equally cha- 
racteristic of their peculiar economy and station in nature. The 
Wapixe Birps (Gralle, Linn., Grallatores, 11.) living on the 
land, but deriving their support from the water,—are no less 
strongly pointed out by the form of their legs and bills, which 
are exclusively adapted to their amphibious nature. Their 
long legs naked above the knee, by which they are enabled to 
enter 
