ORNITHOLOGY. 



4. Gallince; or Gallinaceous Birds; or such as arc 

 more or less allied to the common domestic fowl, and con- 

 sequently containing the Pheasant and Partridge-tribe, the 

 Turkey, Peacock, and several other birds. 



5. Grallce; or Waders: consisting of all the Heron 

 tribe, the Curlews, the Plovers, &c. having lengthened legs, 

 and chiefly inhabiting watery situations. 



6. Anseres; or Web-footed Birds : as the Swan, Goose 

 and Duck tribes ; the Gulls, Penguins and many others. 



Out of these six Linna?an Orders, some Naturalists 

 have instituted a few others in order to give a greater degree 

 of precision to the arrangement ; nevertheless it cannot be 

 considered as absolutely necessary. Thus the Pigeons have 

 been sometimes considered as properly forming a distinct 

 order of Birds, under the title of Columba;, or the Colum- 

 bine Birds instead of being ranked among the Passeres of 

 .Linnaeus. The Ostrich, Cassowary and Dodo have been 

 supposed to constitute a division called the Struthious Order, 

 instead of being placed with the Grallae or Gallinae of the 

 former writer. 



Birds are distinguished chiefly from other animals by 

 the following; singularities. In the circumstances of their 

 anatomy they may be described according to the ancient 

 method, as a two-footed, feather'd animal : the breast bone 

 is solid and shaped like the keel of a ship, for the purposes 

 of greater security and cleaving the air; the arms (as they 

 would be called in other animals) are covered with long fea- 

 thers, and answer to the design of Nature in their winged 

 flight ; the mouth is triangular and projecting ; the tail 

 spread out more or less in a feather'd extremity ; the down 



