ACCIPITRES. 113 



or crepuscular feeders, are distinct, so that the one 

 cannot, in any species, be mistaken for the other; 



Barn Owl. 

 and though, especially in the diurnal division, there is 

 a very considerable gradation in all the leading 

 characters, so that those at the one extremity differ 

 much from those at the other, yet there is enough of 

 general resemblance preserved, in the beak, the feet, 

 the wings, and even the plumage, to distinguish them 

 from the birds of every other order. 



PASSERES. 



This is a much more numerous order than the 

 birds of prey, and by no means so natural. This 

 might be expected from its extent, and also from 

 the name, which being that of one genus, or species 

 of bird, that of the sparrow, can have little meaning 

 as descriptive of an order. 



The five sub-orders or tribes, into which it is 

 divided, improve it a little, but still they are far from 

 perfect, as they bring together in the system, birds 

 whose structures and habits are very different from 

 each other. These five sub-orders are, Dentirostres 

 (toothed bills), which are, generally speaking, feeders 

 upon insects or moUusca, though some of them occa- 

 I 



