﻿INSESS0R1AL TRIBES. ANALOGIES. 



343 



Tribes of the Orders of 



Insessores. Analogical Characters. Birds. 



C Superior powers of prehension, as shown') 

 Conirostres. < in the structure of the foot^ notch of > Insessores. 



C the bill small. Omnivorous. J 



> Raptores. 



f Bill short, much curved at the tip, which ^ 

 Dentirostres. < is distinctly notched. Rapacious, and > I 

 C feed on animal substances. 3 

 f Head large ; mouth very wide ; feet} 



Fissirostres. ) s c m - a11 L the tOGS w! co ^l e± Cnatatores. 



* 1 Seize their prey during flight, which is l 



(. very quick. ) 



TenuirmtrP* f BiU ver >' lon S» slender > and slightly flexi- 1 Grallatores 

 lenmrostres. £ ble . mQUth yery gmali j Ltrallatores. 



TBill short, thick, hard; head conspicu- 1 

 Scansores. s ously crested ; feet very robust ; head > Rasores. 

 C. small. Remarkably docile. 3 



(283.) Let us now compare each of these groups more 

 particularly with that which stands opposite to it. First, 

 then, we have the Conirostres as analogous to the In- 

 sessores, an analogy which becomes indisputable, seeing 

 that the first is the pre-eminent type, or representative, 

 of the insessorial order. The Dentirostres and the 

 Raptores have the strongest-toothed bills, a necessary 

 consequence of both being the most rapacious birds in 

 their respective groups ; and every one knows that the 

 shrikes are the falcons of the insect world, just as much 

 as the Raptores are the devourers of the feathered crea- 

 tion. The most imperfect footed birds among the 

 perchers belong to the Fissirostres ; and this is pre- 

 cisely tbe leading distinction of the swimming, or 

 natatorial, order. The humming-birds, typical of the 

 Tenuirostres^ have the longest and most flexible bills 

 among their congeners ; just as are the snipes, wood- 

 cocks, and sandpipers, among the Grallatores. Finally, 

 the Scansores (and their representatives) are almost the 

 only crested birds in the whole order of perchers : they 

 have the tail, in one form or other, highly developed ; 

 and they contain those which show the greatest aptitude 

 for domestication. All these characters and traits are 

 well known to be the leading distinctions of the order 

 Rasores, In one group we have the whole of the par- 

 rots, and the beautifully- crested woodpeckers ; in the 

 z 4 



