38 HISTORY OF 



in lakes upon animals, and they chiefly build 

 their nests upon the ground. 



Such is the division of Linnseus with respect 

 to this class of animals, and at first sight it ap- 

 pears natural and comprehensive. But we must 

 not be deceived by appearances : the student who 

 should imagine he was making a progress in the 

 history of nature, while he was only thus making 

 arbitrary distributions, would be very much mis- 

 taken. Should he come to enter deeper into 

 this naturalist's plan, he would find birds the most 

 unlike in nature thrown together into the same 

 class ; and find animals joined that entirely differ 

 in climate, in habitudes, in manners, in shape, 

 colouring, and size. In such a distribution, for 

 instance, he would find the humming-bird and 

 the raven, the rail and the ostrich, joined in the 

 same family. If when he asked what sort of a 

 creature was the humming-bird, he were told 

 that it was in the same class with the carrion 

 crow, would he not think himself imposed upon ? 

 In such a case, the only way to form any idea of 

 the animal whose history he desires to know, is 

 to see it, and that curiosity very few have an op- 

 portunity of gratifying. The number of birds is 

 so great, that it might exhaust the patience not 

 only of the writer, but the reader, to examine 

 them all : in the present confined undertaking it 

 would certainly be impossible. I will therefore 

 now attach myself to a more natural method ; 

 and still keeping the general division of Linnaeus 

 before me, enter into some description of the 

 most noted, or the most worth knowing. 



