294 



THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



Beak of the Gmneafowl. 



Rostrum of a Crow. 



which feed on tender substances, or which have occasion to 

 probe for their food in muddy or sandy soils such as ducks, 

 snipes, or woodcocks. 



The short conical and vaulted beak of the Gallinaceous birds 

 serves to pick up with due rapidity the 

 vegetable seeds or grains, as well as the 

 worms or grubs they scratch up out of the 

 ground; while the bills of the small In- 

 sessorial or Passerine birds present every 

 gradation of the conical form, so as to cor- 

 respond with their various habits. The 

 short and strong-billed crows and finches live on seeds and 



grains; the beaks of the shrikes 

 and flycatchers are more or less 

 notched, curved, or emarginated at 

 the point, so as to be able to dis- 

 member the small birds, mice, or 

 insects on which they feed ; the 

 hummingbirds have an extremely long and slender bill, with 



which they extract ants, flies, or 

 nectareous juices from the very bot- 

 tom of the long tubular corollas so 

 common among the tropical flowers ; 

 and the goat-suckers and swallows, 

 who are in the habit of catching and 

 devouring insects on the wing, have 

 a very short and very deeply-cleft 

 beak, which enables them to receive 

 their prey in full flight into the 

 cavity of their mouth, while fre- 

 quently a viscous exudation within, 

 and a strong fence of vibrissse on the 

 exterior, assist in securing the victim. 

 In many cases the bill presents a 

 strange anomaly of form, as if Nature 

 had indulged in some wild vagaiy 

 or caprice ; but on a closer inspection 

 it will almost invariably be found that these deviations from the 

 ordinary types are of great use to their possessors. 



Long-tailed Hummingbird. 



