xiv Introduction. 



3. Scansores, or climbers. These birds have two toes before and two 



behind. This construction gives them such great power of 

 climbing, that they can ascend the perpendicular trunk of a tree. 

 The principal birds in this order are the parrots, the cuckoos, 

 and the woodpeckers. 



4. Rasores, or gallinaceous birds. These birds have the head small in 



proportion to the body. The bill is generally short, with the upper 

 mandible somewhat curved. The nostrils have usually a pro- 

 tecting fleshy membrane. The tarsus, or lower part of the leg, is 

 long and bare, and there are four toes, those in front being united 

 by a slight membrane, while that behind is generally higher up 

 the leg, and smaller than the others. This order comprises most 

 of the birds used as food, and includes the peacock, the turkey, 

 the common cock and hen, the partridge, the pheasant, and the 

 pigeon family. 



5. Giallatores, or Waders. These birds are characterised by their 



long and slender legs, and by the thighs being more or less bare. 

 There are three anterior toes, more or less united at the base by 

 a membrane, or rudimentary web. The hind toe is wanting in 

 some members of the order. This order contains the ostrich 

 family, the bustards and plovers ; the cranes, herons, and storks ; 

 and the snipes and woodcocks. 



6. Palmipedes, or web-footed birds. These birds have the legs and 



feet short, and placed behind, with their fore toes united by a 

 thick and strong membrane. The neck is much longer than the 

 legs, and their bodies are covered with a dense layer of down 

 beneath the outer plumage, which is close, and imbued with an 

 oily fluid that repels the water. The principal birds in this 

 order are the grebes, the auks and penguins, the petrels, the 

 pelican and cormorant, and the swans, ducks, and geese. 



By many ornithologists the pigeons and ostriches are con- 

 sidered to form distinct orders, called respectively Columla and 

 Cursores. 



THE KEPTILIA, 



Or Reptiles, have neither hair, wool, nor feathers, and their bodies are 

 either naked, or covered with scales. Some lay eggs, and some bring 

 forth their young alive. Some have gills, and others lungs, but the 

 latter have only a portion of the blood passing through them ; and 

 thus the blood of reptiles is cold, as it is respiration which gives the 

 blood heat. The senses of reptiles are dull, and their movements are 

 either slow or laborious. The following are the four orders into which 

 this class is divided : 



1. Chelonian Reptiles. These animals have four legs. The body is 

 enclosed in an upper buckler, called the carapace, and an under 

 one, called the plastron. They have lungs which are much ex- 

 panded ; but they have no teeth, though they have hard horny 

 jaws. The females lay eggs covered with a hard shell. The 

 principal animals belonging to this division are the tortoises, 

 which live on land or in fresh waters, and the turtles, which 

 inhabit the sea. 



