a National Museum. 309 



fVhale. Feeds on myriads of medusse, which it drinks 

 in with the sea water. These and other small fish 

 are entangled in parallel hairy laminie, of which 

 about 700 adhere to the upper jaw. The water is 

 ejected through two orifices near the middle of the 

 head. When attacked it strikes with the tail. 

 The sound from the stroke of the tail on the water 

 is said to exceed the report of a cannon. 

 Cachalot. — 

 Dolphin. — _ 



CLASS II. AVES. 



Heart and blood as in the former class. Oviparous. 



Latham's Arrangement. 



DIVISION I. Land Birds. 



Order I. Accipitres. 



Relations, &c. 



Rapacious. Hooked bill ; superior mandible near the base 



extending beyond the inferior. 



« Birds of prey, by their talons and beaks, are quali- 

 fied to seize and devour many species, both of other 

 birds and of quadrupeds. The constitution of the sto- 

 mach agrees exactly with the form of the members. 

 The gastric juice of a bird of prey, of an owl, a falcon, 

 or a kite, acts' upon the animal fibre alone, not at all on 

 seeds or grasses." — Paley. 



Order II. Pic^. 

 Pies. The parrot is of this order, remarkable for the com- 

 pensatory motion of the upper bill. — PaUy, 301. Bill 

 convex, compressed. 



Order III. Passeres. 

 Sparroiu tribes. Conical sharp pointed bills. Migration of 

 swallows. 



Order IV. Columbk. 

 Piaeon tribes. Long nostrils covered with soft loose mem- 



U 3 brane j 



