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CHAPTER II. 

 STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE. SKELETON. CHARACTER OF BEAK. 



BONES, THEIR LIGHTNESS. SOLIDITY OP BACKBONE. 



BREASTBONE, USE OF. WING-BONES. LEGS, PECULIARITIES 



OF. WHEN RESTING ON ONE LEG, WHY BIRDS DO NOT FALL. 



WE shall now proceed to give a few details con- 

 cerning the structure and peculiarity of their forms 

 and characters. 



In examining the skeleton, we find the head ter- 

 minating in a beak, composed of a horny substance, 

 in form and structure and hardness, as intimately 

 connected with the habits and general character of 

 the bird, as jaws and teeth are with those of man 

 and other animals. Thus in Eagles, Hawks, and all 

 birds which tear their prey, as well as in Parrots, 

 which hare to bruise hard substances, or procure 

 their food by piercing the bark of trees, as Wood- 

 peckers, the bill is extremely hard and powerful. 

 Whereas in those which feed on worms, and sub- 

 stances equally soft, or live by suction, or swallow 

 their food, as Woodcocks, Ducks, &c., the hardness 

 is gradually diminished. 



A philosopher need not go further than this in- 

 strument, in search of a proof how well the provi- 

 dence of God fits the means to the ends. 



The hooked tip and sharp over-hanging edge of 

 the upper mandible, in the birds of prey, acts like a 



