INTRODUCTION. 
7 
The pie kind are known by their hoarse, chattering 
voices. Their bills are sharp-edged, and convex on the 
upper surface. To this class belong the raven, parrot, 
magpie, &c. 
The poultry kind are well known and highly prized, 
furnishing the most delicate of animal food in great abun- 
dance. The most prized are the turkey and hen, also the 
peacock, partridge and quail. 
The sparrow kind includes nearly all the smaller birds, 
as the nightingale, robin, swallow, and humming bird. 
The waders have a roundish bill, fleshy tongue, and 
very long legs. The stork, heron, spoonbill, water hen 
and coot are examples. The swimmers have broad bills, 
covered with a membranous skin. Among this class are 
the swan, goose, duck, &c. 
3. FISHES, in their construction, modes of life.* and 
general design, are perhaps more astonishing than the 
inhabitants of either land or air. Most of them have the 
same external form, sharp at each end, and swelling in 
the middle, by which they are enabled to move with the 
greatest ease and swiftness. Their tails and fins are con- 
structed so as to open and shut like a fan, and, by means 
of these machines, they are able to keep their bodies in a 
right position, and to move with almost any degree of 
speed. 
Fish seem to have been the model from which men 
took the idea of the fastest sailing vessels, but the prog- 
ress of a ship with a favourable wind is far inferior to that 
of a fish. A ship might sail at the rate of twelve miles 
