226 CLASS III. AMPHIBIA. 



by an oval spot near the end of each of the first three 

 quill-feathers, and another on the two exterior feathers of 

 the tail. 



The goat-sucker flies chiefly by night, and continues but 

 a short time in this island ; appearing about the end of 

 May, and retiring from every part of Britain by the end of 

 September. Its notes resemble the noise of a large spin- 

 ning-wheel, and the sound is very shrill and loud. It re- 

 ceives its name from its fancied property of sucking the 

 teats of goats; a vulgar error, as ancient as the days of 

 Aristotle, and to which some writers among the moderns 

 seem to give countenance. 



CLASS III AMPHIBIA, OR AMPHIBIOUS 

 ANIMALS. 



THIS class, though certainly the least valuable and ex- 

 tensive of any, contains animals very dissimilar in their 

 habits and conformations ; and some of the most formi- 

 dable enemies of man, the objects of his constant dread, 

 and frequently the cause of his destruction. Against their 

 efforts caution cannot always protect them, and both 

 strength and dexterity are frequently unavailing. 



The essential characters of the animals which are thrown 

 together under amphibia are, that they have either a naked 

 or scaly body; that they are destitute of grinders, and 

 have all their teeth sharp or pointed; that they have no 

 radiated fins ; or that the heart has only one ventricle, and 

 that they respire through the lungs. 



In the Linnaean arrangement they constitute four 

 orders : 



I. REPTILES, including the tortoise, lizard, and frog 

 kinds. 



II. SERPENTS, or animals that proceed by an undulatory 

 motion ; many of which are poisonous. 



