BRITISH BIRDS. 
Perching Birds. Order Passeriformes. 
T HE first Order oi Birds, the Passeriformes, contains a larger number of 
species than any of the others, and we find that quite a third of the British 
species belong to the Perching Birds. The characters by which they are distinguished 
from the members of other Orders are not so easily explained as might be imagined 
by any one who compares in his mind a Rook or a Canary with a Duck or an 
Owl ; for although the external differences between the various Orders of Birds 
may be obvious enough, the characters for their recognition are deep-seated 
and often anatomical. Thus the principal feature which distinguishes a Passerine, 
or Perching, Bird is to be found in the form of the palatine bones, where the vomer is 
truncated in front, and is not connected with the maxillo-palatines. The arrangement 
of the tendons of the foot is also peculiar and is characteristic of the Order. As 
regards external form, the Perching Birds present us with every possible variation — 
strong bills, weak bills, hooked bills, flat bills, wings, powerful, weak, pointed, 
rounded, and so on through every character. Those characters which are of 
service in classifying the larger birds, such as Hawks, Ducks, or even Wading 
Birds, fail us when we wish to define the Order Passeriformes, nor are the 
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