394 B I 



most rapid flexures of the neck do not in the least 

 disturb the spinal cord or the circulation in the blood- 

 vessels. Neither does it, generally speaking, inter- 

 rupt the breathing by the windpipe ; though, as will 

 be explained in another section of this article, the 

 breathing of birds is not wholly performed through 

 that organ. 



As the bill of very many birds has to perform the 

 functions both of a mouth and hand, it becomes neces- 

 sary that the neck should be, in some respects, an 

 arm ; and it is a very convenient and efficient one. 

 The extent to which it can bend, not only without 

 injury to the bird, but with perfect ease, is proved by 

 the fact, that most birds repose either with the neck 

 doubled back upon the shoulders, and forward again 

 on itself, or with the head placed under the wing. 

 Many of the long-necked birds carry a fold of their 

 necks upon their shoulders while they are in ordinary 

 flight, though they stretch them out in case of alarm. 

 The rapidity of motion, both in long necks and in 

 those of moderate length, is exemplified in the strokes 

 of the heron and the bittern, and in those of the 

 woodpecker, which follow each other so fast, that the 

 eye cannot see them, or the ear count their sounds. 

 The rotatory motion of the joints of the neck is seen 

 in the wryneck, which can turn the head quite round, 

 till the chin and point of the bill are in the same line 

 with the middle of the back. 



The head and neck of birds, taken together, may, 

 in the average of the class, be considered as the 

 working apparatus, in the finding of food, the con- 

 structing of nests, and, generally speaking, in all 

 mechanical operations. Their forms are of course as 

 varied as the habits and haunts of the owners, being, 

 in all cases, the best adapted to them ; and therefore 

 they do not admit of general description, though they 

 are good characters of tribes and species, as indicating 

 how and where the food is obtained. Independently 

 altogether of their uses, in enabling us to obtain a 

 rational knowledge of birds, they are valuable subjects 

 of contemplation, as perfect models of mechanical 

 arrangement, and most striking proofs of purpose, and 

 the perfect accomplishment of purpose, in creation, 

 which, labour as we may, will always present us much 

 beyond our power of imitating, and may well command 

 our admiration. And here we cannot help pausing 

 to remark (for though the remark would occur to the 

 reflective reader, we are unwilling that he should rob 

 us of the pleasure of making it : as enough remains for j 

 him, and what we state may lead the unaccustomed to 

 reflection) how superior the models which we find 

 in nature, are to those of human contrivance. We 

 study the latter ; we soon find out all their principles ; 

 and there, in so far as we are concerned, instruction, 

 and with that mental pleasure, ends, so that, be it 

 the steam engine, the chronometer, or any other chef 

 d'aeuvre of science and art combined, the mental 

 Improvement and pleasure are soon at an end ; and 

 we have nothing but the cold consideration of money 

 value and utility, which, however necessary to our 

 bodily existence and comfort, is always blight and 

 mildew to the mind when uppermost there. Or, if 

 we carry our observation further, we find faults and 

 imperfections which we cannot remedy, and these 

 spoil our enjoyment. 



But when nature is the model, we find no fault or 

 imperfection, and we never can exhaust the informa- 

 tion which it affords. The Macedonian conqueror is 

 said to have wept when the world was won ; but if 



RD. 



he had followed out the path of his tutor the Stagyrite, 

 so far as to study the mechanism of the head and 

 neck of a bird, he would have found, in that single 

 specimen, a world of wisdom which he never could 

 have conquered. There is not a projection or a hol- 

 low in all their curiously-shaped bones, or a tube, or 

 membrane, or a fibre, in all the soft parts with which 

 they are invested, but has its use, and is more 

 beautifully adapted to that use, and fashioned with 

 more perfect economy, than the most finished produc- 

 tion of human skill. The motions which the point of 

 the human finger can perform (see ARTICUI.ATA) are 

 almost infinite to our arithmetic, but they are nothing 

 compared to those of the point of the bill in some 

 birds ; and when we consider that, by the aid of its 

 other mechanism, and without any apparatus but what 

 God has given it in its own structure, it will strike 

 prey under the birch in Lapland, and again perform 

 the same feat under the palm by the bank of the 

 Niger, before the same spot of earth has thrice seen 

 the sun, it is passing wonderful, and should, even 

 under the worst of the little casualties of life, make us 

 grateful to God for giving us such things for our 

 contemplation. 



The body of birds,that is, the dorsal and the lumbar 

 portion of the spine, upon which the body or trunk 

 may be said to be articulated, has no specific action 

 to perform in what may be termed the working 

 motions. Hence, though it is composed of vertebrae, 

 and by that means less liable to fracture than if it 

 were a single bone of the same substance, the vertebrae 

 admit of little motion, most of them are soldered 

 together, and some of the junctions in time become 

 ossified. It is the same with the sternum or principal 

 bone on the under part. That is very large, and 

 consists of five bones, which are closely united from 

 the first, and ultimately soldered into one. One of 

 these occupies the centre, two the sides anteriorly, 

 and two posteriorly, the latter being forked at their 

 posterior edges, though in some species the termina- 

 tions of the forks are united by bone. The sternum 

 in birds is a very important bone. One of its uses is 

 to support the muscles which move the wings in fly- 

 ing ; another to protect the contents of the body from 

 injury or pressure from beneath, and a third to give 

 support and firmness to them. From the number and 

 importance of these uses, the sternum of birds is of 

 no small value in the distinction of the different 

 tribes ; and on that account we shall have to revert 

 to the notice of it in another section. 



The furcal bone, or " merry-thought," formed by 

 the union of the clavicles, and attached to the two 

 projecting processes of the coracoid bones, keeps the 

 shoulders apart from each other, and in their proper 

 places during the powerful action of the wings in 

 flight. The more powerful the flight of the bird, the 

 more completely does this bone form an arch, so that 

 it resists that compression which might otherwise 

 take place in the throat and chest. Its form and 

 strength vary much with the habits of the different 

 tribes. 



The bones of 'the pelvis advance considerably 

 forwards ; but they are open in the rear for the pas- 

 sage of the eggs. They and the bones of the rump 

 are closely united together. The ribs, too, have 

 very little motion, so that the operation of breathing 

 alters the form and capacity of the body much less 

 than in the mammalia. The greater part of the 

 body may be regarded as a sort of box formed of 



