A HISTORY OF 



different kinds that admit of a history, or re- 

 quire a description. 



Linnaeus divides all birds into six classes ; 

 namely, into birds of the rapacious kind, birds 

 of the pie kind, birds of the poultry kind, birds 

 of the sparrow kind, birds of the duck kind, and 

 birds of the crane kind. The four first com- 

 prehend the various kinds of land birds ; the 

 two last, those that belong to the water. 



Birds of (he rapacious kind constitute that 

 class of carnivorous fowl that live by rapine. 

 He distinguishes them by their beak, which 

 is hooked, strong, and notched at the point; 

 by their legs, which are short and muscular, 

 and made for the purposes of tearing ; by their 

 toes, which are strong and knobbed ; and their 

 talons, which are sharp and crooked; by the 

 make of their body, which is muscular; and 

 their flesh, which is impure: nor are they 

 less known by their food, which consists en- 

 tirely of flesh; their stomach, which is mem. 

 branous; and their manners, which are fierce 

 and cruel. 



Birds of the pie kind have the bill differing 

 from the former: as in those it resembles a 

 hook, destined for tearing to pieces; in these 

 it resembles a wedge, fitted for the purpose of 

 cleaving. Their legs are formed short and 

 strong, for walking; their body is slender and 

 impure, and their food miscellaneous. They 

 nestle in trees ; and the male feeds the female 

 during- the time of incubation. 



Birds of the poultry kind ihave the bill a 

 little convex, for the purposes of gathering 

 their food. The upper chap hangs over the 

 lower; their bodies are fat and muscular, and 

 their flesh white and pure. They live upon 

 grain, which is moistened in the crop. They 

 make their nest on the ground, without art; 

 they lay many eggs, and use promiscuous 

 venery. 



Birds of the sparrow kind comprehend all 

 that beautiful and vocal class that adorn our 

 fields and groves, and gratify every sense in 

 its turn. Their bills may be compared to a 

 forceps that catches hold; their legs are formed 

 for hopping along ; their bodies are tender ; 

 pure in such as feed upon grain, impure in 

 such as live upon insects. They live chiefly 

 in trees; their nests are artificially made, and 

 their amours are observed with connubial 

 fidelity. 



Birds of the duck kind use their bill as a 

 kind of strainer to their food; it is smooth, 

 covered with a skin, and nervous at the point. 

 Their legs are short, and their feet formed for 

 swimming, the toes being webbed together. 

 Their body is fat, inclined to rancidity. They 

 live in waters, and chiefly build their nests 

 upon land. 



With respect to the order of birds that be- 

 long to the waters, those of the crane kind have 



the bill formed for the purposes of searching 

 and examining the bottom of pools ; their legs 

 are long, and formed for wading ; their toes 

 are not webbed ; their thighs are half naked ; 

 their body is slender, and covered with a very 

 thin skin ; their tail is short, and their flesh 

 savoury. They live in lakes upon animals, 

 and they chiefly build their nests upon the 

 ground. 



Such is the division of Linnaeus with res- 

 pect to this class of animals ; and, at first 

 sight, it appears natural and comprehensive. 

 But we must not be deceived by appearances : 

 the student, who should imagine he was mak- 

 ing a progress in the history of Nature, while 

 he was only thus making arbitrary distribu- 

 tions, would be very much mistaken. Should 

 he corne 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 is desirous to know, is to see it; and that 

 curiosity very few have an opportunity of gra- 

 tifying. 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, there- 

 fore, now attach myself to a more natural me- 

 thod ; and still keeping the general division 

 of Linnaeus before me, enter into some des- 

 cription of the most noted, or the most worth 

 knowing. 



Under one or other class, as I shall treat 

 them, the reader will probably find all the 

 species, and all the varieties that demand his 

 curiosity. When the leader of any tribe is 

 described, and its history known, it will give a 

 very tolerable idea of all the species contained 

 under it. It is true, the reader will not thus 

 have his knowledge ranged under such pre- 

 cise distinctions ; nor can he be able to say 

 with such fluency, that the rail is of the os- 

 trich class ; but what is much more material, 

 he will have a tolerable history of the bird he 

 desires to know, or at least of that which most 

 resembles it in nature. 



However, it may be proper to apprize the 

 reader, that he will not here find his curiosity 

 satisfied, as in the former volumes, where we 

 often took Mr Buffon for our guide. Those 

 who have hitherto written the natural history 



