88 
RAPTORES. 
procuring specimens, from their shy dispositions, 
and the inaccessible and wild nature of their 
haunts, it is more than probable that several 
modifications of form yet remain undiscovered, 
whose appearance would release from difficulty 
the attempts which are made “ to place them all 
in order.” 
In the theory of representation, which we have 
seen has been lately so much insisted on, the 
rapacious birds and carnivorous animals are 
strikingly typified by each other. In the prin- 
cipal forms of each we have the strongest crea- 
tures in existence, and both are generally of a 
large size. Their dispositions are fierce and 
daring, and we see the whole frame suited for 
swift pursuit or powerful action. The sight is 
remarkably aoute ; in some groups more pecu- 
liarly so by night, and in these the sense of hear- 
ing is also delicate. The organs of mastication are 
fitted for tearing, as may be seen in the powerful 
canines of the Ferae, and the strong and toothed 
bills of the Falconidae. The claws are large, 
curved, sharp, and retractile. No portion of the 
world is without Raptorial animals, and accor- 
ding to the all-wise constitution of the laws 
which regulate animated nature, no other system 
could long exist, saving that which produced a 
salutary check upon over production, and a 
balance of power between all creatures. But, 
