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eleven bones : the bones are strongest in the rapid flying 

 Carrier Pigeon, though the Crowned Pigeon is three times its 

 size. The ring of the Dove is small and the bones feeble. 



I have a specimen of each of the Struthious birds ; the 

 Ostriches have each fifteen bones ; the Cassowary and Emew 

 thirteen each ; the latter affords a beautiful example of the 

 interlocking of the bones into each other. 



I have nine specimens of Grallse : of these, one is imperfect ; 

 one has thirteen bones ; five have fourteen ; and two have 

 fifteen. In the soft-billed birds of this class the rings are small 

 and feeble, and larger in the sharp-billed specimens, though not 

 so strong in these as in some other classes. 



Of Scansorial birds, I have seven specimens : of these, five 

 have twelve bones, and two have thirteen. The Parrot, Macaw 

 and Cockatoo have the rings particularly small and feeble ; 

 owing, I presume, to the skulls of the Psittacidse being provided 

 with perfect bony orbits, which, I believe, no other class of birds 

 possess. The Woodpecker has the ring as strikingly large ; 

 indeed it has, with only one exception, a larger portion of the 

 eye protected by the sclerotic ring than any other bird I have 

 met with in proportion to its size, and as I find nothing in its 

 mode of flight, or in the altitude at which it flies to make it 

 require this etxra protection, I am induced to think that it is 

 intended to protect the eye from injury from the small chips of 

 wood which it scatters in all directions when searching for its 

 insect prey, or boring the tree for the construction of its nest. 



Here are seven specimens of swimming birds : one has 

 twelve bones ; one fourteen ; four have fifteen ; and one has 

 sixteen. The Ducks, Geese and Swans which seek their food 

 at or near the surface of the water, have the rings remarkably 

 weak and small ; while the Gulls, which descend into the water 

 with some degree of force, have them considerably stronger. 



I have ten specimens of diving birds, including the Pelican, 

 which though not strictly a diving bird, I have included in this 

 group on account of its affinity with the Gannet ; of these, two 

 have twelve bones ; three have thirteen ; three have fourteen ; 

 and two have fifteen. In the Pelican, which takes its food 



