﻿26 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



part of all these divisions of the foot are more or less 

 defended by scales. Some ornithologists term the anterior 

 or fore part of the tarsus, acrotarsum, and the hind part, 

 planta; and hence we find, in generic characters, acro- 

 tarsum scutulatum. But this character is altogether su- 

 perfluous, since it is one of the most universal in the class 

 of Aves ! Out of thousands of birds which we have seen, 

 not one has been met with, whose tarsi, if naked, were 

 not protected in front by scales ; and even the very few 

 that are booted, or clothed with feathers in this part, 

 have scales upon the front of their toes. This is suf- 

 ficiently apparent among many of the owls, the buzzards, 

 and the ptarmigans. Thus far for the nomenclature of 

 birds, which, however dry, must be learned by every 

 student. We shall now trace in what manner these 

 several parts are found to vary. 



(34.) We have already remarked that a bird, like 

 most other animals, is composed of three parts : 1. Head ; 

 2. Body ; and, 3. Members, or Limbs. Life is soon 

 extinguished if the first or second is in any degree 

 mutilated ; but a slight injury to the limbs is not at- 

 tended with such fatal consequences. Nature herself 

 repairs the wound, if it is not too severe to prevent the 

 bird from procuring its food. We have seen a toucan, 

 whose bill bore evident marks of having been shot 

 through, and even fractured, long before the bird met 

 its ultimate fate ; while the wings and legs of other 

 birds have been found injured and healed in a similar 

 manner. 



(35.) The parts of the head comprise the eyes, ears, 

 nostrils, and mouth ; to the last of which belong the bill 

 and tongue. The head itself is sometimes remarkably 

 large, as in the owls, for the purpose of containing cer- 

 tain chambers, or cavities, connected with an unusual 

 development of the sense of hearing : this additional 

 faculty given to the birds in question, is highly advan- 

 tageous to their nocturnal search after food ; and it is 

 very probable that the superior size of the head which 

 so often distinguishes other fissirostral types, as the 



