38 THE BONES. 



instance, where the wings are little more than fins assisting 

 in diving, or the Ostrich and Cassowary, where they are so 

 small and insignificant as merely to assist in balancing their 

 bodies when they run, the keel of the breast-bone is entirely 

 wanting, or the furcula or merry -thought very imperfectly 

 developed. On the other hand, in the Eagle and Hawk 

 tribe, they are proportionably strong, conspicuous, and well 

 defined. 



The bones of the wings next come under observation ; and 

 these, as may be expected, in birds of prey, and some others, 

 which have to carry their food frequently to a considerable 

 distance, or live much in the air, are of great length; 

 whereas, in domestic fowls, they are very small in propor- 

 tion to the size of their bodies ; and in the Penguins, which, 

 as has been observed, live almost entirely on the water, and, 

 in diving, may be said to fly beneath its surface, they are 

 remarkable for their flattened appearance, as if they had been 

 pressed ; approaching more to the form of a fin than a wing, 

 much resembling the flappers of a turtle. 



The last bones which remain for consideration, are those 

 composing the legs and feet, which are the more worthy of 

 attention, inasmuch, as to a certain degree, upon these, and 

 of the feet more especially, depends the division or classifica- 

 tion of birds. 



It is not, however, our intention to enter into an expla- 

 nation of what is called the anatomical structure of these 

 limbs, further than to point out wherein they resemble or 

 differ from our own, and correct a very common mistake 

 into which inexperienced observers are apt to fall. We 

 prefix two figures, No. 1 representing the leg of a man ; 

 No. 2, that of a bird ; in which the corresponding divisions 

 of each are marked by similar letters. 



Here we see the legs both divided into three parts, 

 exclusive of the actual foot : the first from A to B ; the 

 second from B to c ; the third from c to D. Now, without 

 attending carefully to these divisions, we might be apt to 

 conclude that birds have one more division than human 

 beings; but this is not the case the mistake on our 



