: VERTEBRATA. 99 
they have little power of flight, and seek their food on the ground. Many 
do not even perch on trees. They derive their name Rasores from 
their habit of scraping the ground in search of worms and insects, a 
habit which is scarcely found in any other birds. To this order belong the 
common fowl, the turkey, pheasant, quail, partridge, grouse, &c. Pigeons 
are also generally ranked in it.—The order Cursores! is a very peculiar 
one, distinguished by the shortness of the wings, which are not adapted 
for flight, and by long and strong legs, suited for rapid running on the 
ground. The species of this order are few; but all are birds of large 
size. The ostrich, cassowary, and emu belong to it—The Gralle or 
Grallatores,? are birds with long shanks and long toes, adapted for wading 
or for walking on sand or mud. The whole figure is generally slender ; 
the neck often long. Many birds of this order have also long bills. 
Some of them feed on vegetables; others on insects, molluscs, small 
fish, &c. Most of them inhabit marshy places or the banks of rivers and 
the sea-shore. Some seek their food by inserting their long bills into 
mud. Herons, cranes, storks, bitterns, snipes, and woodcocks are 
examples of this order.—The order Natatores* is characterised by webbed 
feet, that is, by having the toes connected by a membrane, so as to be 
especially adapted for swimming. The bill varies very much in form, 
according to the habits and food of different kinds. Some, as penguins, 
have very short wings; others are long-winged birds of very powerful 
flight, as albatrosses, petrels, and other oceanic birds. Swans, geese, and 
ducks belong to this order; also gulls, terns, and sea-fowl in general. 
Mammalia.—Mammalia or Mammals‘ are the highest class of animals. 
In them the brain assumes its most perfect form, and the highest degrees 
of intelligence are displayed, although in these respects there is much 
diversity in the different groups, the greatest perfection being reached in 
man, who, considered with regard to his mere animal nature, must be 
ranked in this class. The name refers to a characteristic of the class 
altogether peculiar to it, that the females suckle their young. All the 
Mammalia are viviparous, although the young are produced in very 
different stages of development. The skin of the greater number of 
mammals is covered with hair, a kind of covering peculiar to this class of 
animals. The limbs of some species are adapted merely for locomotion 
and for the support of the body; those of others are also organs of pre- 
hension. Marine species have them modified into paddles; and in the 
Cetacea (whales, &c.) the fore-limbs are represented by fins, whilst the 
hinder limbs are altogether wanting. 
The class Maman is divided into three principal pas Si according 
1 Latin, ‘runners,’ from curro, cursum, to 3 Latin, ‘swimmers,’ from ato, natatum, to 
run. swim. 
2 Latin, ‘ stilt-walkers,’ from gralla, stilts. 4 From Latin mamma, a teat. 
