﻿68 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION OP BIRDS. 



strong claw, and is somewhat analogous to the talons of 

 an eagle, by being struck into the prey. It certainly is 

 not used, like that of the true rapacious order, for tearing 

 the food in pieces, for it is well known that pelicans, 

 in a state of confinement, preserve their natural habit 

 of swallowing their food entire, and we have evidence 

 to prove that the whole of the cormorant family do the 

 same. Indeed, the great expansive power of the throat 

 of both these genera, manifestly constructed for receiv- 

 ing food in such a state, places the fact beyond dispute. 

 The owls, which represent the Natatorial order (wherein 

 this structure is only found), show it in its incipient 

 state ; for, although their upper mandible is greatly 

 hooked, there is no appearance of the notch so universal 

 among the falcons. 



(63.) II. A cuneated, or wedge-shaped bill, is 

 altogether confined to the woodpeckers and the nut- 

 hatches : we can only look for its full development, 

 however, in the genus Picus as now restricted. A 

 glance at the bill of the Picus robustus (fig. 35. a) will 

 convey, much better than by words, a just idea of its 

 general shape : both mandibles are of such an equal 

 size and thickness, that when closed the commissure (or 

 line made by the joining of the two together,) is pre- 

 cisely in the middle ; the bill gradually becomes smaller 

 from the base ; and its circumference would be cylindrical 

 were it not for certain ridges, which form little pro- 



these birds can break through and demolish the hardest 

 wood ; so that in their native regions, the base of the 

 trees where some of the larger species have been at 



jecting angles, so that its 



H section ( b ) appears nearly 

 % hexagonal : the end has not a 

 jSj sharp point, but a perpen- 



®* dicular edge, like that of a 

 wedge or hatchet. By this 

 most beautiful mechanism, 

 aided by uncommon strength 

 in the muscles of the neck, 



