272 THE REASON WHY : 



44 The cock, thai is the trumpet to the morn, 

 Doth with his lofty and shrill sounding throat 

 Awake the god of day." &BAKSPKHX. 



the birds undergoes a triturating process in the gizzard, befort 

 passing into the stomach ; thus it submits to a double digestion, 

 somewhat analogous to the triple digestive action of 

 the ruminants. 



858. The gallinidse have, generally speaking, three stomachs, and their intestines 

 are more lengthened than those of most birds, and furnished with two caecai 

 appendages, about six inches in length. These three stomachs are : the craw, or 

 pouch, into which the food is taken, as into little more than a simple store, where 

 it is sent gradually to the other parts of the digestive apparatus. In this viscus the 

 food undergoes very little change, though it may be partially softened. The craw 

 >pens laterally from the gullet. The second stomach is a dilatation of the gullet 

 itself, and is furnished with glands which secrete a peculiar fluid , and it is here, 

 also, that the drink of the bird mingles with its food. The third stomach is the 

 gizzard, the texture of which is very strong and muscular, and the inner coat so 

 hard and compact as to have the appearance of firm cartilage. The gizzard can 

 exert a very powerful action, so much so as to grind down glass and metals hi" a 

 very short tune, without appearing to sustain injury. 



859. IVhy do the gallinaceous birds lay and hatch their eggs 

 m nests upon the ground ? 



Because, being indifferent flyers, their young after incubation 

 are thus enabled to reach their proper habited without the risk 

 of injury. 



860. Why are the legs of gallinaceous birds developed at 

 a very early stage of their existence? 



Because they are ground birds ; feed upon their feet ; and pass 

 the greater portion of their lives in walking and scraping. 



861. The newly-hatched birds require these organs developed very early, 

 being less provided with a formal nest than the yo*uig of any of the preceding 

 orders. 



862. Why has the cock a streaming and elegant tail? 



In all probability this appendage, which is useless to him in 

 flying, while it adds to the dignity and importance of his bearing 

 in the eyes of his mates, assists and balances his body y which it 

 largely developed on the breast. 



