MEANS OF FLIGHT IN THE OWL. 39 
Did our young readers ever see such a collection, or think of 
it? Perhaps the answer will be “ No;—and if we had, what 
would it have to do with a book about Birds’ eggs?” I will try 
and show that I have a purpose in mentioning Birds’ merry- 
thoughts, and that it may have something to do with such a 
book as this, and its subject. 
We have already agreed that classification is a useful and 
necessary thing; that nature herself leads us to it, and shows us 
how to fashion and contrive it; nay, that the very eggs of birds 
are, speaking generally, such in their shape and markings as often 
to suggest the formation of a group out of such and such 
different species producing them. But the merry-thoughts and 
the bones they are immediately connected with, the keel-like 
breast bone and the side and wing bones,* will be found to do 
the same thing, with respect to the collection of three or four 
(or more) such groups of birds, as I have just called them, into 
what is termed a Family. Thus, if our readers could get the 
opportunity of looking at the merry-thoughts and breast-bones 
of half-a-dozen different Hawks, they would find, with a degree 
of variation according to the various species selected, a very 
obvious and striking correspondence or resemblance. The 
breast-bone, in every case, would show great depth of keel and 
strength of substance; and the merry-thoughts would be seen to 
be firm and strong, and of great or considerable substance 
Next, if the corresponding bones of about the same number of 
birds of the Owl-kind (S¢rigide), were taken and compared with 
those of the Falcon-kind just spoken about, while the mutual 
resemblance of the Owl-kind bones was seen to be quite as great 
and obvious as in the case of the Hawks; the difference between 
the said bones of the Owls and those of the Hawks would ke 
* I don’t give the scientific names of these bones, for obvious reasons. 
