AVES. 



warmth, and a few become torpid in win- 

 ter. The generic characters are taken 

 from the bill, tongue, nostrils, cerae, carun- 

 cles, and other naked parts. See Plate I. 

 Aves 



Fig 1. a. Spurious or bastard wings : 

 b. lesser coverts of the wings, which are 

 small fe:.thers that lie in several rows on 

 the bones of the wings; c. greater wing 

 coverts or feathers, that lie immediately 

 over the quill feathers; d. scapulars, 

 which take their rise from the shoulders, 

 and cover the sides of the back ; e. pri- 

 mary quill-feathers, thac rise from the 

 first bone ; / secondary quill-feathers, or 

 those that rise from the second bone ; g. 

 tertials, which likewise take their rise 

 from the second bone, forming a con- 

 tinuation of the secondaries, and seem to 

 do the same with the scapulars that lie 

 over them ; these feathers are so long in 

 some of the scolopax and tringa genera, 

 that, when the bird is flying, they give it 

 the appearance of having four wings; h. 

 rump ; i. tail-coverts , k. tail-feathers ; I. 

 shoulders; m. crown ; n. front ; o. hind- 

 head; />. nape: q. chin; r. throat ; s. 

 scrag or neck above; t. interscapuiar re- 

 gion ; u. vent. 



Fig. 2. a. Upper-mandible ; b. lower 

 mandible ; c. a tooth-like process ; d. 

 frontlet; e. front; f. crown; . hind- 

 htad; h. nape ; i. lores,- &. temples; I. 

 cheeks ; m. chin ; n. bristles at the base 

 of the bill. 



v Fig. 3. a. A bill with the upper man- 

 dible hooked at the point, and furnished 

 with a tooth-like process ; b. the cere or 

 naked skin which covers the base of the 

 bill, and in which are placed the nostrils ; 

 c. orbits, or skin, which surrounds the 

 eye : it is generally bare, but particularly 

 in the parrot and heron. 



Fig. 4. A flat bill, pectinate at the edges, 

 and furnished at the tip with a claw or 

 nail. 



Fig. 5. A foot formed for perching, 

 having three toes before and one behind. 



Fig. 6. A walking foot, having a spur 

 on the heel. 



Fig. 7. A climbing foot, having two 

 toes before and two behind. 



Fig. 8. A palmate or webbed foot. 



Fig. 9. A semi-palmate or half-webbed 

 foot. 



Fig. 10. A pinnate or finned foot. 



Fig. 11. A lobate foot. 



There are six orders of birds, each of 

 which contains several genera, that will 

 be noticed in their proper places. The 

 orders are, 



1. Accipitres or rapac'ous kind, 



2. Pic<e or pye kind. 



3. Anseres or duck kind. 



4. Grallae or crane kind. 



5. Gallinae or poultry kind. 



6. Passeres or sparrow kind. 



We may observe, with regard to this 

 class of animals, the admirable contri- 

 vances, throughout the whole of their 

 structure, for promoting their buoyancy 

 in air, for enabling them to move with 

 celerity, and for directing their course. 

 Their covering; is of the lightest kind ; 

 yet the down with which they are sup- 

 plied under their feathers is the warmest 

 that could be devised; for, in conse- 

 quence of the air entangled as it were in 

 its interstices, it is one of the slowest 

 conductors of heat. The outer feathers, 

 by their slanting disposition, and their 

 natural oiliness, form a complete shelter 

 to ihe body from wet; and the hollow 

 structure of the wing feathers, by increas- 

 ing their bulk without increasing their 

 we : ght, renders them more buoyant in 

 the air. 



The whole form of the body is adapted 

 to its flying with ease and celerity ; the 

 small head and sharp bill for diminishing- 

 the resistance of the air ; the greater 

 muscular strength, as well as an expan- 

 sion of the wings, for impelling it; body 

 forward with celerity ; and the broad fea- 

 thers of the tail, tnoveable in almost every 

 direction, for steering its course, like the 

 rudder of a ship. 



The disposition of the lungs along the 

 back-bone, and their communications 

 with the cells in the bones of the wings, 

 thighs, and breast, by admitting air in al- 

 most every part of the body, increases 

 the buoyancy of the whole,, and enables 

 the bird to exist longer wirhout breath- 

 ing, which must be in a great measure 

 impeded, if not suspended, during some 

 of its rapid flights. 



It has been observed, that the brilliancy 

 of the plumage in the feathered tribe is 

 only to be looked for in the warmer re- 

 gions of Asia, Africa, and America. This 

 remark is, as a general one, perfectly cor- 

 rect; but whoever has seen the beautiful 

 king-fisher dart along the shaded brook, 

 cannot allow that our own country has 

 nothing to boast in the brilliancy of its 

 birds. The crimson crown of the wood- 

 pecker, the beautiful bars of black, blue, 

 and white, on the greater wing-coverts of 

 the blue-jay, and the elegant plumage of 

 the pheasant, as well as the extreme 

 beauty of the flicker, or gold winged 

 wood-pecker, and the waxen chatterer, 

 or cedar-bird, the cerulian tints of the 

 blue-bird, and splendours of the ruby- 

 throated humming-bird, prove that na- 



