BRITISH BIRDS. 



BILL long, compressed and cuneated at the end; 

 nostrils linear; tongue scarcely a third of the length 

 of the bill; toes, three in number, all placed for- 

 ward, the outer ones united to the middle toe by a 

 strong membrane, as far as the first joint. 



This genus of birds, of which there is but a single 

 European species, though no where numerous, is 

 widely dispersed over the globe, being met with in 

 every country. Their solicitude for the safety of 

 their young is very great, and their shrill piercing 

 cries, uttered for that purpose, are a source of 

 annoyance to the fowler, by alarming and putting 

 on the alert other birds of which he is in pursuit. 

 They moult in the spring and autumn, but the 

 plumage undergoes very little change. 



