The FUijhl (I lid AiKitoiiiy of Birds. 41 



The following objects were exhibited : — 



A collection of stuflPed specimens of some of the most remarkable British 

 butterflies and moths (water betony, whittlcsea ermine, swallow- 

 tail, peacock, small elephant hawk, drinker moth, &ic.) 



By the President. 

 An Etruscan vase. 

 Vegetable substance from the interior of an iron waterpipe. 



By W. Jeh.yll. 

 Nest of the Cteniza or Trap Door Spider of Corfu. 



By R. T. Davidson. 

 A Cuckoo's egg found by the exhibitor in a Yellow Hammer's nest. 



By T. G. Rooper. 



The Hon. G. O. M. Bridgeman read the following Paper on 

 " The Flight and Anatomy of Birds." 



THE FLIGHT AND ANATOMYOF BIRDS. 



In speaking of the formation of the various members of birds, 

 one thing, which must at once strike the most casual observer, is 

 the wonderful adaptation of each of these members to the bird's 

 general habits ; and perhaps it is on a bird's manner of feeding on 

 which their formation chiefly depends. Birds, as animals, have 

 little to think of but how to feed themselves, and almost their 

 whole time is spent in seeking for food; it therefore becomes very 

 interesting to examine how accurately all their members and 

 faculties fit together to enable them to accomplish this end. The 

 parts of a bird which we will now examine are the eyes and the 

 wings. 



First, then, of the eyes. Of these there is less, perhaps, to be 

 said than of the wings, as they do not vary so nuich in different 

 birds ; for almost all birds are very keen-sighted, though some of 

 course are more so than others. All those birds that feed on 

 insects, and especially that catch them on the wing, must have a 

 wonderfully keen sight, as any one must have noticed who has 

 watched the rapid dash of a swallow, and heard the click of his 

 beak as he closes it on an insect so small, perhaps, as to be 

 scarcely visible to us at all ; or who has seen the bottle-tit as it 

 flits quickly about among the branches, and finds on the smooth 

 bark its particular food, where nothing is perceptible to the naked 

 eye, though insects can be detected there with the aid of a micro- 

 scope. All the eagle and hawk tribe are also gifted with wonderful 



