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shores, whither the fishes resort for their food. A 

 long neck and bill qualify him for pursuing and seiz- 

 ing his prey at some distance : and the jaggs of his 

 bill enable him to hold the fish, which would other- 

 wise slide away. In fine, his large wings, which 

 seem incommodious to a bird of so small a body, are 

 absolutely needful for his making so great movements 

 in the air and conveying such burdens to his nest, 

 which is frequently two or three leagues distant from 



the place where he fishes. 







The imperfections therefore which we imagine we 

 discover in this (as in many other animals) in reality 

 belong only to our own understanding^ and all our 

 censures of the works of nature, are in truth, only so 

 many indications of our own ignorance. 



6. The Stomach (especially of granivorous birds), 

 is of a peculiar structure. First, there is a glandulous 

 receptacle, wherein the grains are kept for some time. 

 They are then received into another stomach, con- 

 sisting of two muscles, and a callous membrane. One 

 of these moves obliquely downward, and the other up. 

 ward. Hereby the shell of the grain is broke, and the 

 meal expressed and mixed with proper juices. The 

 aliments thus prepared, fall into the bottom of the 

 stomach, where they are purged again from the re- 

 fuse : to which end that part is a little raised, that 

 the corn may not pass out too soon. There is also a 

 partition, which divides what is already digested from 

 the rest. 



As birds have no bladder, in the room of urine, 

 a whitish excrement is discharged from the kidneys 

 into the rectum. 



7. The generation of birds is not well known in 

 the ovary, placed Between the liver and the back- 

 bone, a great number of yolks are contained ; one 

 of which when impregnated, passes through the ovi- 

 duct into the womb, where it receives the white and 



VOL. i. L 



