184 BIRDS IN. GENERAL. 



and by their talons, which are sharp, crooked, and cal- 

 culated for tearing their food. Birds of thepie kind, 

 the hill of which differs from the former, and rather re- 

 sembles a wedge ; their legs are short, and calculated for 

 walking ; their body is slender, and they eat promis- 

 cuously of every kind of food. Birds of the poultry 

 hind, which have their bill rather convex, for the pur- 

 pose of picking up the grain ; they make their nest upon 

 the ground, without any art, and show excessive fond- 

 ness for their young. Birds of the sparrow kind, in 

 which are comprehended all that beautiful and vocal 

 class which enliven our groves and fields ; their bills 

 may be compared to a pair of forceps that catch 

 hold of every thing : they live chiefly in trees, and are 

 remarkable for parental and conjugal affection. Birds 

 of the duck kind use their bill as a kind of strainer to 

 their food ; their legs are short, their toes webbed ; 

 they live in water, but generally build their nests upon 

 land. Birds of the crane kind have their bill calculated 

 for the purpose of searching to the bottom of pools ; 

 their legs are long, and formed for wading ; their toes 

 are not webbed ; their thighs are half naked ; their 

 body slender ; they live in lakes, and chiefly build their 

 nests upon the ground. 



This plan of Linnams, as far as the division goes, we 

 shall follow, though we shall not arrange the birds in 

 the same order, for he has combined the humming- 

 bird, the raven, the rail, and the ostrich, all under the 

 same class. But before we enter into a systematic de- 

 tail, we shall beg leave to give the history of three or 

 four birds that do not well arrange in any system \ 

 these, from their great size and incapacity of flying, 

 lead a life which differs from the rest of the feathered 

 race. 



