DIVISIONS OF BIRDS. 



275 



They are defined by Owen as follows : " Legs slender, short, 

 with three toes before and one behind, the two external toes 

 united by a very short membrane " (Fig. 136, A, B). 



" The Perchers form by far the most numerous order of 

 birds, but are the least easily recognizable by distinctive char- 

 acters common to the whole group. Their feet, being more 

 especially adapted to the delicate labors of nidification " 

 (building the nest), "have neither the webbed structure of 

 those of the Swimmers, nor the robust strength and destruc- 

 tive talons which characterize the feet of the JBirds of Rapine^ 

 nor yet the extended toes which enable the Wader to walk 

 safely over marshy soils and tread lightly on the floating leaves 

 of aquatic plants ; but the toes are slender, flexible, and moder- 

 ately elongated, with long, pointed, and slightly-curved claws. 



FIG. 136. Insessores. A, Foot of Yellow "Wagtail; B, Foot ofWater Ouzel; C, Oonirostral 

 beak (Hawfinch) ; D, Dentirostral beak (Shrike) ; E, Tenuirostral beak (Iluruniing-bird) : 

 F, Fissirostral beak (Swift). 



" The Perchers, in general, have the females smaller and 

 less brilliant in their plumage than the males ; they always 

 live in pairs, build in trees, and display the greatest art in the 

 construction of their nests. The young are excluded in a blind 

 and naked state, and are wholly dependent for subsistence 



