JJ4 



LAMELLIROSTRES. 



it are imperfect, and some are obviously faulty ; but the 

 imperfections are much more easily felt than amended, 

 and the faults much more easily seen than corrected. 

 These imperfections and faults are also of the less im- 

 portance, inasmuch as it is in the individual genera, 

 or, at all events, in groups much smaller than most 

 of those which have been mentioned, that the real 

 history of birds must be studied. We shall now, in 

 three successive chapters, shortly examine and com- 

 pare the bills, the feet, and the wings of birds, as the 

 foundations of their leading characters. 





