108 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



between the wings of birds and the fore-legs of quadrupeds. 

 The joints are similar, and in both the upper part of the 

 limb consist of a single bone, and the lower of two. 



The brain in birds is larger in proportion than that of 

 quadrupeds. The eyes are so large that there is no brain 

 between them, but only a thin plate of the skull. The 

 organ of smell lies at the root of the beak. The tongue 

 in most birds is gristly, and not formed for any delicacy 

 of taste. In the parrot it is thick and fleshy, and also in 

 the duck and goose. They have no outward ear like 

 quadrupeds, but an opening covered with feathers. 



Birds of prey are known by their bent beak and crooked 

 talons, very powerful weapons, which they employ to take 

 other birds, and even weak quadrupeds and reptiles ; they 

 have all four toes ; the nail of the hind toe and that of the 

 internal toe are the strongest. They form two families, 

 the diurnal and the nocturnal. The former have a quick 

 and piercing sight ; a membrane called the cere covers the 

 base of the beak, in which are placed the nostrils ; they 

 have three toes before and one behind ; the two outward 

 toes are almost always united at their base by a short 

 membrane ; the plumage is close ; the feathers are strong, 

 and the flight powerful. 



It is easy to imagine that long-winged birds such as 

 cuckoos, swallows, swifts, curlews, sand-pipers, crows, 

 thrushes, and blackbirds are capable of sustained flight, 

 but it must be confes c ed it is perplexing to understand 

 that such feathered mites as tits, gold crests, and the 

 short-winged warblers cover immense distances. One 

 would consider it in the light of an absolute impossibility 

 for these little creatures to wing such long flights unaided. 



From observation I have noticed that whilst in this 

 country the smaller warblers never cover more than from 

 a hundred to a hundred and thirty yards at a stretch. 

 Nevertheless these tiny creatures do really perform long 

 aerial journeys and we are bound to recognise the fact 

 with this proviso, viz., the lengthly migrations are taken 

 bit by bit and not in a continuous flight. The old 

 writers had a way of inventing possibilities, such as 

 larger birds hiring themselves out to carry the smaller 



