BRITISH BIRDS. 137 



THIS very numerous family is composed of a 

 great variety of kinds, differing" in size from the 

 Nightingale to the Wren, and not a little in their 

 habits and manners. They are widely dispersed 

 over most parts of the known world ; some of them 

 remain with us during the whole year; others are 

 migratory, and visit us annually in great num- 

 bers, forming a very considerable portion of those 

 numerous tribes of singing birds, with which this 

 island so plentifully abounds. Some are dis- 

 tinguished by their flight, which they perform by 

 jerks, and in an undulating manner; others by 

 the whirring motion of their wings. The head in 

 general is small ; the bill is weak and slender, 

 and beset with bristles at the base ; the nostrils 

 are small, and somewhat depressed : and the 

 outer toe is joined to the middle one by a small 

 membrane. 



VOL. i. 



