256 



GENERAL ORNITHOLOGY 



PART II 



palate halves together. The nasal chambers are unusually simple ; 

 there are peculiarities of the tympanic cavity and quadrate bone. 



" All these things being eonsidered," says Parker, in conclu- 

 sion, " it will seem contradictory now to assert the great uniformity 



of the skulls of Birds, 

 and indeed of Birds 

 themselves. Yet so it 

 is, and the countless 

 modifications that offer 

 themselves for observa- 

 tion are gentle ia the 

 extreme. One form is 

 often seen to pass into 

 another by almost in 

 sensible gradations. . . . 

 In the rest of the 

 Birds' organisation 

 abundant evidence of 

 the same specialisation 

 will be seen. The mind 

 fails to desire more 

 beauty or to contem- 

 plate more exquisite 

 adaptations. An almost 

 infinite variety of Ver- 

 tebrate life is to be 

 found in this class. Of 

 its members some dig 

 and bury their germs, 

 which rise again in 

 %; *!"*'"' "'"' "'"'"% \ '^jl full plumage, whilst 



Fig. 80.— Saurosmaiftoiis skall of nestling Pwiis minor, x 4 ceSSantlv 

 diameters, after Parker. Pa:, premaxillary ; d^a;, its dentary - "^ 



process ; ;ppa:, its palatal process ; sw, septonasal ; ^a, pala- 

 tine ; j5ma:, peculiar palatal plate of maxillary of a wood- 

 pecker ; 71/, nasal turbinal ; ma:, maxillary ; i^a, interpalatal 



'paj 

 ilai 



others watch and in- 

 feed their 

 tender brood in the 

 shady covert or 'on 



spur of palatine bone ; ma^), rudimentary maxillopalatine, flip rrnaa nf tVip rnnt 



scarcely reaching palatine ; sma;, septomaxillary, in several """^ ^^"^S" "^ ''"'= '■^^^ 



pieces ; v, right vomer, its fellow opposite ; jjc, lower border and the strong place, 



of perpendicular plate of ethmoid, between vomers ; ejro t i i* 



ethmoidal (inner) plate of palatine; mjia, mediopalatine ; -lH iOCOmotlOU SOme 



W, pterygoid ; i, foramen for internal carotid ; 8, for vagus wnllr nflioro riin rir 



nerve ; 9, for hypoglossal nerve. waiJi, Otners run, or 



they may wade, swim, 

 plunge, or dive, whilst most of them ' fly in the open firmament of 

 heaven.' " {Ency. Brit. 9th ed. Art. "Birds," p. 717.) 



