402 Mr. N. A. Vigors 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 Birds of Prey {Accipi- 

 tres, Linn., Raptatores, 111.), at once distinguish them from all 

 others. The strong and ambulatorial feet of the Gallinaceous 

 Birds (Gallince, 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 Web-footed Birds 

 {Anseres, Linn., Natatores, 111.) 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 effiect 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 

 Wading Birds {GrallcB, Linn., Grallatores, 111.) 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 



