A Bird’s-Eye View 
same confession is made by the best authorities 
concerning the current anatomical groups. 
In devising this scheme for water fowl, my 
best assurance of the propriety of presenting it 
to others is the fact that it has been so service- 
able to myself in affording the easiest and most 
interesting method of bringing a great variety 
of species, many of them quite inaccessible to 
personal study, into distinct, lively, and com- 
prehensive review. 
According to the scheme, I present the land 
birds in three main groups—eézia/, arboreal, 
and ferrestrial; and the water fowl in six 
groups—warsh, shore, swimming, diving, swim- 
ming-aérial, and aéria/. This forms a com- 
plete circle of habitat that is at once apparent 
from the following chart. As applied to the 
water birds, the scheme may be expressed in a 
word, by saying that it is based on the princi- 
ple of their gradual approach to, and departure 
Srom, the water. 
In the great majority of birds, their passage 
on the wing is only a means to an end ; that is, 
flight is a practical matter, chiefly a transit, in 
order to get somewhere. Amid all their activ- 
ities, and almost incessant motion throughout 
the day, this fact is clearly evident. But there 
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