166 
NATURAL HISTORY 
with black. Ducks lay from eight to twenty or more. 
Penguins but one. Of the pelican genus, the gannet 
lays but one. Shags or cormorants, six or seven, all 
white; the last are the most oblong of all eggs. 
Naturalists have divided birds into six classes, viz. 
the rapacious, the pie, the poultry, the sparrow, the duck, 
and the crane kind; the four first, comprehending the va- 
rious kinds of land birds; the two last, those that belong 
to the water. 
Such is the division of Linnaeus, with respect to this 
class of animals; and at first sight it appears natural and 
comprehensive; but should the young student enter into 
this naturalist’s plan, he would find birds the most unlike 
in nature thrown into the same class. We shall there- 
fore* endeavour to observe a more natural method; and, 
keeping the general division in view, enter into some 
description of such birds as are most noted, or most 
worthy of observation. 
Under one class or another, as they may be treated, the 
reader will probably find all the species; and when the 
leader of any tribe is described, and its history given, it 
will convey a very tolerable idea of all the varieties con- 
tained under it. 
By the rapacious kind is to be understood that class 
of carnivorous fowl that subsist by rapine. They are 
distinguished by their beak, which is hooked, strong, and 
notched at the point; by their legs, which are short, mus- 
cular, and adapted for the purposes of tearing; by their 
talons, which are sharp and crooked; by their flesh, which 
is impure; and by their manners, which are fierce and 
cruel. But before we enter into a systematic detail, 
however, we beg leave to give the history of three or 
four birds which do not well range in any system: as, 
from their size and their incapacity of flying, they lead 
a life materially differing from the rest of the feathered 
creation. The foremost of these are, 
The Ostrich. ( Struthio . PI. 23.) In taking a survey 
of the feathered tribe, the first animal that demands our 
attention seems to unite in itself, the class of quadrupeds 
