SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY FOB. TEACHERS. 49 



ferences are very wide. We thus place our Bird in this great division. 



Next, to what Branch does it belong of the two, the one-celled or many- 

 celled animals ? There is still no difficulty in deciding, so we place it with 

 many-celled. 



Of Provinces we have several, but still as we know that the Bird has a 

 back bone, we at once place our Bird with the Vertebrates. 



Of the Classes in Vertebrates, Fishes, Batrachians Reptiles, Birds, and 

 Mammals, we unhesitatingly place it among Birds. 



Next comes Order. As there are over twenty Orders among Birds, we 

 might be puzzled where to place our Bird, were it not for the fact that we 

 find that it possesses two characters not shown by Birds in other Orders ; 

 namely, it has three toes in front and one behind, and the hind toe is level 

 with the front toes. Thus it is a Percher, and we will suppose that by dis- 

 section, we learn that it has a complicated singing apparatus, so we do not hes- 

 itate to place it among the Singing Perchers. 



To ascertain to what Family it belonged, would require a little know- 

 ledge of ornithology, but its well proportioned form, and above all, the fact 

 that its tarsus had one unbroken scale from the heel very near the toes, 

 would lead us to consider it a Thrush. 



Genus next. An American Thrush, brown or brownish above, with 

 spotted breast, must belong to the True Thrushes. 



Species. To determine to which Species of Thrush the Bird belonged, re- 

 quires still more knowledge of ornithology, but if we examine it, we find 

 that it is tawny above, with a reddish tail. When we come to consult the 

 ornithologies, we find that this one of the Hermit Thrushes. 



Sub-species. Further examination of the books, shows us that there are 

 three forms of Hermit Thrush, differing from one another in comparatively 



Fig. 24. 



Head of Hermit Thrush. 



