474 ORDER RASORES; GENERAL CHARACTERS. 



pairs, they are polygamous, that is, each male is surrounded 

 by several females. The male takes no part in the construction 

 of the nest, or in the nurture of the young ; and these are hatched 

 with their eyes open, and with their bodies covered with soft 

 downy feathers, and are generally able to walk about in search 

 of their own food, as soon as they leave the shell. The Birds of 

 this order are for the most part domesticable ; but they show a 

 low degree of intelligence. Of all the feathered tribes, they are 

 the most useful to Man ; affording him a large quantity of 

 wholesome and delicate food. In their domesticated state they 

 multiply with great rapidity, if kept well supplied with nourish- 

 ment. The plumage of the males is generally gay, and often 

 possesses a degree of brilliancy rivalling that of the most splendid 

 among the Perchers ; they are frequently distinguished, also, by 

 possessing crests, or other ornamental appendages to the head. 

 The females, however, are of much more sober aspect. 



427. There are many interesting analogies between the 

 Rasorial Birds, and the Ruminant tribes among Mammalia. In 

 the first place, the food of both is vegetable ; and in both there 

 is a peculiar provision for moistening it and reducing it, before it 

 is submitted to the true digestive process. The crop of the 

 Fowl is strictly analogous to the paunch of the Sheep ; both 

 being mere dilatations of the oesophagus, to receive the food as fast 

 as it is swallowed, and to retain it whilst it is being thoroughly 

 saturated with fluid. Again, these tribes correspond in their 

 low degree of intelligence, and in the facility with which they 

 are brought under subjection to Man ; we find in them by far 

 the greater number of the domesticated species, in their respective 

 classes. Further, they are alike in regard to the bulk of their 

 bodies, and the degree in which this may be increased by an 

 extra supply of food. They resemble each other, also, in the 

 tendency to variation which they exhibit, under the influence of 

 varieties in external circumstances ; giving origin to numerous 

 different breeds. And, lastly, they correspond in the possession, 

 by the males, of appendages to the head; which are rarely 

 possessed by Birds or Quadrupeds of other orders. 



428. The family of COLUMBIA, or Pigeons, differs in many 



