﻿ON THE 



NATURAL HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION 



OF 



BIRDS. 



PART L 



ON THE STRUCTURE AND NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS 

 IN GENERAL. 



CHAPTER I. 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. PECULIARITIES OF THE CLASS. — 



ITS RELATION TO THOSE OF REPTILES AND QUADRUPEDS. 



ITS PRIMARY DIVISIONS AND ORDERS. 



(1.) If elegance of form, beauty of colouring, or 

 sweetness of voice, were peculiarities which constituted 

 the superiority of one class of beings over another, we 

 should unquestionably assign to Birds the highest 

 station in the scale of the animal creation. No shadow 

 of fear mixes with those pleasurable sensations with 

 which they are viewed ; and those feelings, moreover, 

 are heightened by the ethereal nature of the creatures 

 themselves. In a moment they may spread their 

 wings, launch into boundless air, and be seen no more. 

 We almost view them as beings of a happier world, 

 alighting upon this u dim spot called earth,' 7 more as a 



B 



