niRus. 



Upon tiie whole, liowever, they are inferior to quadrupeds in do- 

 cility ; and seem more mechanically impelled by all the power of 

 uistiiict. 



CHAP. III. 



OF THE DIVISION OF BIRDS. 



Though birds are fitted for sporting in the air, yet as they 

 find their food upon the surface of the earth, there seems a va- 

 riety equal to the different aliments with which it tends to sup- 

 ply them. The flat and buiuiing desert, the rocky cliff, the ex- 

 tensive fen, the stormy ocean, as well as the pleasing landscape, 

 have all their peculiar inhabitants. The most obvious distinc- 

 tion therefore of birds is into those that live by land and those 

 that live by water ; or in other words, into land birds, and wa- 

 ter-fowl. 



It is no difficult matter to distinguish land from water-fowl, 

 by the legs and toes. All land-birds have their toes divided, 

 without any membrane or web between them ; and their legs 

 and feet serve them for the purposes of running, grasping, or 

 climbing. On the other hand, water-fowl have their legs and 

 feet formed for the purposes of wading in water, or swimming 

 on its surface. In those that wade, the legs are usually long 

 and naked ; in those that swim, the toes are webbed together, 

 as we see in the feet of a goose, which serve like oars to 

 drive them forward with greater velocity. The formation, 

 therefore, of land and water-fowl is as distinct as their habits, 

 •xnd nature herself seems to offer us this obvious distribution, 

 in methodizing animals of the feathered creation. 



However, a distinction so comprehensive goes but a short 

 way in illustrating the different tribes of so numerous a class. 

 The number of birds already known amounts to above eight 

 hundred ;* and every person who turns his mind to these kind 

 of pursuits, is every day adding to the catalogue. It is not 

 enough, therefore, to be able to distinguish a land from a water 



* Since Goldsmith's time, nearly three thousand species of birds liavc 

 been ascertained, and many of the species have several varieties. 

 III. C 



