VAGATORES. n^\NDERERS. 485 



beats, and capable of being much protracted. They nestle and 

 rest in high places, never on the ground, although sometimes 

 under it, in the holes of rabbits and other small animals. Their 

 nest is generally rude, frequently nearly flat, but of various 

 forms according to the species. Both sexes incubate. The eggs, 

 which vary from three to ten, are never covered when the bird 

 leaves them. The young bird is born blind, at first thinly 

 covered with down, and in many genera has its first plumage 

 similar to that of the adult. 



The genera of which this order is composed are Buceros, 

 Corvus, Pica, Garrulus, Fregilus, Nucifraga, Buphaga, Gra- 

 cula, Ptilonorhynchus, Sturnus, Pastor, Paradisea, Lamprotor- 

 nis, and several others. They pass into those forming the next 

 order, of which the genera Turdus, Oriolus, Cinclus, Sylvia, 

 and Saxicola are examples. 



In several respects the Vagatores are to be accounted among 

 the most perfectly organized birds. Their digestive organs 

 enable them to derive nutriment from a great variety of escu- 

 lent substances, the stomach being intermediate betw^een the 

 membranous or thinly muscular kind peculiar to the carnivo- 

 rous families, and the gizzards or extremely muscular kind 

 characteristic of those strictly ph}i;ophagous. Their gressorial 

 powers are in accordance with this character ; for their mode- 

 rately long and stout tarsi, with their proportionally developed 

 toes, of which three are equal in length, enable them to search 

 the fields and pastures, and with the aid of their arched, com- 

 pressed, and acute claws, to perch with perfect security on trees, 

 as well as to make their way among the branches. Their 

 wings are of that form which ensures a powerful and regular 

 flight, steady without being heavy^ and buoyant without waver- 

 ing, for they are broad, of moderate length, and either rounded 

 or not pointed. The tail, which is chiefly useful for enabling 

 birds to execute rapid turns, is short in the species wdiich seek 

 their food entirely on the ground, and long in those which re- 

 side chiefly in trees and bushes. Their sight is keen, and 

 their observation not confined to objects at short distances. 

 From their habits, they are exposed to numerous enemies ; 

 and both for this reason, and because they require to visit a 



