Ornithology. 13 



stomach, where it is farther diluted, after which it is transmit- 

 ted into the gizzard, or true stomach, consisting of two very 

 strong muscles, externally covered with a tendinous substance, 

 and lined with a thick membrane of prodigious power and 

 strength, in which organ the food is completely triturated, 

 and prepared for the operation of the gastric juices. In order 

 to ascertain the strength of these stomachs, Spallanzani had 

 recourse to a great variety of ingenious experiments. Tin tubes 

 fullof grain were forced into the stomachsof turkeys, and after 

 remaining 20 hours, were found to be broken, compressed 

 and distorted in the most irregular manner. In the space 

 of 24 hours, the stomach of a cock broke off the angles of a 

 piece of rough, jagged glass, though, on examining the gizzard 

 no wound or laceration appeared. In a ball of lead were 

 fixed 12 strong needles, with the points projecting about one- 

 fourth of an inch from the surface. Thus armed, the ball was 

 covered with a case of paper, and forced down the throat of 

 a turkey. The bird retained it a day and a half without 

 manifesting any symptoms of uneasiness, and the points of all 

 the needles were broken otT close to the surface of the ball, 

 except two or three, of which the stumps projected a little. 

 The same interesting observer relates, that he fixed 12 small 

 and very sharp lancets, in a similar ball of lead, wliich was 

 given in the same manner to a turkey cock, and left eight 

 hours in the stomach, at the expiration of which the organ 

 was opened ; but nothing appeared except the naked ball, 

 the lancets having been broken to pieces, and the stomach 

 remaining sound and entire. Hence we may infer, the stones 

 so often found in the stomachs of many of the feathered 

 tribes, may powerfully contribute to the pulverization of grain 

 and other hard substances which constitute their food. 



Granivorous birds partake much of the nature and disposi- 

 tion of herbivorous quadrupeds, agreeing with them in the 

 number of their stomachs, the quality of their food and the 

 gentleness of their manners. Content with the seeds of plants, 

 with fruits, insects and worms, their principal attention is 

 directed to procuring food, hatching and rearing their oflf- 

 spring, and eluding the snares of men and the attacks of 

 predaceous animals. As they are generally tractable and 

 easily domesticated, man has selected for his own advantage 

 those which are most prolific and profitable, which form a 

 valuable store of rich, wholesome and nutritious food. The 

 stomachs of carnivorous birds are smaller than those of the 

 granivorous kinds, and their intestines are much shorter. 

 Many species of birds possess a reservoir for food, called a 



