BIRDS. 
27 
can be held or torn with it, as with the hooked bill 
of the vulture; in others it assists in climbing, as 
in the parrots. Some bills are pointed, so that small 
seeds and insects may be picked up by them ; others, 
being flat, like the duck’s bill, serve as both a shovel 
and a strainer; others, again, as in the waders, are 
very long. 
8. “ As a bird has no teeth, it needs some other 
means of grinding hard food. The gizzard serves 
this purpose. It is a kind of bag, or stomach, with 
a very tough lining. Into it the grain-eating birds 
swallow small stones, and these help to grind the 
food as it is rolled about by the movements of the 
hard walls of the gizzard.” 
BIRDS.— II. 
1 . “It is chiefly by comparing their bills and toes 
that we are able to group birds into orders,” said 
Mr. Johnson. 
“ The first order includes all the Birds of Prey. 
The vulture and the buzzard, which you see here, 
will serve as examples.” 
2 . The boys saw how well fitted for seizing and 
tearing flesh were the hooked beaks and sharp 
talons of these birds. 
3. “ The Percliers form the largest and most- 
numerous order of birds,” continued Mr. Johnson. 
