248 On the Ornithology of Wilts. 
principal characteristics whereby to distinguish the position birds are 
entitled to hold, and their habits, I propose to consider this subject 
separately, in a future paper, so for the present pass it by. 
Again they are furnished with tongues, which are not only 
organs of taste, but partly also of prehension: these too differ 
exceedingly in form, according to their requirements, being some- 
times short, rounded, and thick; sometimes long, thin, and pointed; 
and some tribes make considerable use of these members in securing 
their prey, as we shall hereafter see. 
Their organs of voice too are very various; some most melodious, 
charming man by their continual, and often exquisite song: others 
harsh and unmusical: notes they have of alarm, whereby they 
signify to one another that danger is at hand; notes of distress, 
whereby they proclaim the pain or terror they feel; notes of love, 
whereby they show their affection; notes of communication, whereby 
they signify their intentions to each other, and act in concert, and 
so continue their migrations on the darkest night without danger 
of parting company. The notes of the different species too are as 
various as are their forms; some are able to imitate those of others, 
but seldom do they step beyond their own limits: for each is content 
to communicate with his congeners in the language peculiar to its 
own species. 
Such then is an outline of the structure of birds, and such are 
some of their faculties and characteristics. The subject is one 
which might be pursued to an unlimited extent, until such a 
knowledge of the anatomy of birds was gained, that like Buffon 
and Cuvier of late time, and the present Dean of Westminster and 
Professor Owen of the College of Surgeons of our day, from seeing 
one single bone we might be able to describe accurately the whole 
bird to which it belonged, and its habits; though of a species never 
hitherto seen. To such an intimate acquaintance however with the 
structure of birds we shall not probably aspire. The present 
communication possesses only a general consideration of their for- 
mation and faculties, but we have seen enough to prove to us how 
admirably birds are formed for the position they hold in the scale 
of Zoology. Their bodies light and buoyant, furnished with wings 
