THE BONES. 43 



sides of the fore parts of this bone, two others pro- 

 ject, called clavicles, from the extremities of "which 

 a bone, in the form of the letter V, is projected, 

 called the furcula, though better known by the name 

 of the merry-thought. Our attention is more par- 

 ticularly directed to these three bones, on account of 

 their great importance in facilitating the powers of 

 flight; since it is by the clavicles that the \vings are 

 connected with the breast-bone, and it is by the 

 forked-like furcula, or merry-thought, that the wings 

 are kept at a proper distance in flight. Accordingly 

 we shall find, that in proportion to the bird's neces- 

 sities, will these bones be strong or weak. Thus in 

 the Penguin, for instance, where the wings are little 

 more than fins assisting in diving, or the Ostrich 

 and Cassowary, where they are so small and insig- 

 nificant as merely to assist in balancing their bodies 

 when they run, the keel of the breast-bone is entirely 

 wanting, or the furcula or merry-thought very im- 

 perfectly developed. On the other hand, in the Eagle 

 and Hawk tribe, they are proportionally strong, 

 conspicuous, and well defined. 



The bones of the wings next come under obser- 

 vation; and these, as may be expected, in birds of 

 prey, and some others, which have to carry their 

 food frequently to a considerable distance, or live 

 much in the air, are of great length; whereas, in 

 domestic fowls, they are very small in proportion to 

 the size of their bodies; and in the Penguins, which, 

 as has been observed, live almost entirely on the 

 water, and, in diving, may be said to fly beneath its 

 surface, they are remarkable for their flattened ap- 

 pearance, as if they had been pressed; approaching 



