Zoological Society. 231 



tunity of settling on the land or water, not on trees ; it never takes 

 wing for recreation or food, but simply as a means of moving from 

 place to place : it is polygamous in its habits ; the number of females 

 predominating over the males : the males are pugnacious, they accom- 

 pany the females only until incubation has commenced, and abandon 

 the duties of incubation and the care of the young solely to the 

 females : the females make little or no nest, a depression scratched on 

 the surface of the soil generally sufficing : the eggs are large in com- 

 parison to the size of the bird : neither sex sings, or attempts to imi- 

 tate the voice of men or animals. Birds included in this division 

 approach more nearly to mammals than do those vrhich it excludes : 

 for instance, the habitual use of land or water for progression, the 

 swiftness of foot, the strength and muscular development of the legs, 

 the polygamous habits, the want of the extraordinary instinct of nest- 

 making, are characters which, while they seem to degrade these birds 

 as birds, certainly raise them in the list of animals, because they are 

 thus brought nearer those animals which suckle their young, and which 

 are always placed at the head of the animal kingdom. In an econo- 

 mical point of view, and considered in reference to man, the flesh of 

 these birds is wholesome, nutritious, and is generally considered highly 

 palatable. The division comprises the following orders, in each of 

 which partial exceptions to one or other of these general characters 

 occur : — 



1 . Gallinae, or the Poultry order. 



2. Brevipennes (Cuvier), or the Ostriches. 



3. Pressirostres (Cuvier), or the Plovers. 



4. Longirostres {Cuvier), or the Snipes. 



5. Macrodactyli (Cuvier), or the Rails. 



6. Plongeurs (Cuvier), or the Divers. 



7. Lamellirostres (Cuvier), or the Ducks. 



2. Gymnogenous Birds. — In these, when the shell is broken, the 

 chick makes its appearance in a state of helpless infancy : it is naked, 

 blind, and incapable of locomotion : it cannot distinguish its parent 

 by means of its senses : it gapes for food, but does not distinguish 

 between proper food offered by its parent, and a stick or a finger held 

 over it : it cannot feed itself, and would die were not food placed in 

 its mouth : it rapidly attains its full size, often before leaving the 

 nest. When full-grown it uses its wings rather than its feet : it flies 

 with a succession of deliberate and easy strokes : it takes wing for 

 recreation and for food, and not merely for the purpose of moving 

 from place to place : it is strictly monogamous ; the sexes being 

 equal in number : males share with females the cares of incubation 

 and feeding the young until these are able to shift for themselves. 

 Birds possessing these characters build elaborate nests in trees, and 

 perch in trees rather than on the ground : many of them sing melo- 

 diously ; others imitate, with wonderful facility, the voice of man or 

 of animals. As an economical character in connexion vrith man, their 

 flesh is bitter and unpalatable, often offensive and disgusting ; hence 

 man has never domesticated them for purposes of food. These are 



