184 INCESSORES, OR PERCHERS. 



Synoptical Table of the Incessores— Continued. 



ORDER IT. 



The incessores or perchers in this classification comprehend 

 all the birds distinguished by Linn?eus and other early orintho- 

 lo^ists nnder the orders piece and passeres ; and form the typical 

 order of all birds, taken as a whole — in their lightness of wing, 

 sprightliness, power of song, ingenuity in construction of nest, 

 interesting habits, greater brain development, and those end- 

 less attractions which make our feathered friends so interesting 

 to man. But the division of this order into two separate ones 

 was too rigid and artificial, and not justified by the internal or 

 external construction of the species so classed ; hence was 

 rejected by modern systematisers, with the great French 

 naturalist, Cuvier, at their head, who saw no reason for such an 

 absolute division, either in structure, habits, or anything else — 

 these leading authorities showing that an unbroken chain of 

 affinity runs through the whole of these birds, which chain 



