FISSmOSTRES. 



115 



because the characters apphcable to one part of it 

 could not be applied to other parts without so much 

 modification as would render them almost entirely 

 new. 



Nightingale. 



The Fissirostres, or open bills, are much better. 

 They are but few, and though some of them are 

 nocturnal, and others diurnal, yet they agree tolerably 

 well in their general habits. Their bills are all very 

 broad at the base ; they are very wide in the gape ; 

 and they do not close in the length of the tomia, so 

 as to cut or bruise hard substances. The whole 

 division are consequently insect-feeders, and feeders on 

 the wing, as this form of bill is not adapted for picking 

 food out of crevices, or even off the ground. 



Goatsucker. 

 The Conirostres, though not quite so vague as Den- 

 tirostres, are still by no means well or generally 

 described bv the name, as any one will perceive upon 



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