DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANISMS. 209 



regions, it is obliged to make use of the nests of other birds, 

 which it finds ready built. What is worthy of notice, it 

 employs the nests of its own nearest relations, the larks, pipits, 

 finches, sparrows, &c., an arrangement we may suppose to be 

 connected in some way with the early history of the whole 

 group of species a family or clan sacrifice, as it were, for the 

 benefit of a less fortunate member. Thus, it will be observed, 

 when we take the whole group together, as only variations pro- 

 duced by certain natural laws from one stock, the parasitical 

 reproduction of the cuckoo sinks into that character which alone 

 we can reconcile with the rest of the providential scheme, a 

 trivial exceptive evil in the midst of much that appears, and 

 undoubtedly is, very good, 



The Jay is said by Professor Macgillivray to connect the 

 crows with the Tits (Paridce), a varied genus of notedly crow- 

 like characters. 



From the Nutcracker, another of the smaller crows, come the 

 "Woodpeckers (Picidce), which present merely a modification of 

 the corvine structure to suit an insect-eating life amidst grow- 

 ing timber. The Woodpeckers, for this purpose, have turned 

 back the outer toe, so as to be able to climb and cling to the 

 stems of trees ; the beak has been at the same time elongated, 

 to enable them to search in the crevices of the timber for in- 

 sects. They are spread into all the quarters of the globe. It 

 is interesting to observe the kindred nature of the parent 

 species : the nutcracker is often observed to climb the bark of 

 trees : it uses the beak to split open nuts ; and, as in the 

 woodpecker, the middle feathers of the tail have been found 

 worn in consequence of its climbing habits. In near affinity 

 to the woodpeckers, but perhaps only in cousiuship, not in 

 descent, we must place the Creepers (Certkiadce), nuthatch, 

 hoopoe, wren, &c. ; smaller birds, which have the toes in the 

 usual arrangement, but are not less dexterous in making their 

 way along the bark of trees, and searching it for their favourite 

 food. The Trogons of India, Africa, and America, and the 

 kindred Todies, of the first of these countries and Jamaica, 

 also appear to be of the woodpecker connexion. If we might 

 judge by the structure of the tongue, we should place the 

 Humming Birds of America in the same branch of the corvine 

 genealogy : they eat insects, although they are certainly more 

 peculiarly fitted to draw an innocent aliment from the juices 

 of those flowers whose dyes they themselves rival. Corres- 

 ponding to them in the Old World are the Honey-eaters of 



p 



