AVES. 
fcody, they are mostly monogamous, or live 
In single pairs, and migrate into milder cli- 
mates, upon detect of food or warmth, and 
a few become torpid in winter. The generic 
characters are taken from the bill, tongue, 
nostrils, ceras, caruncles, and other naked 
parts. See Plate I. Aves. 
Fig. 1 . a. Spurious or bastard wings ; 
b. lesser coverts of the wings, which axe 
small feathers that lie in seveial rows on the 
bones of the wings ; c. greater wing coveits 
or feathers that lie immediately over the 
quill feathers ; d. scapulars, which take their 
rise from the shoulders, and cover the sides 
of the back ; e. primary quill-feathers, that 
rise from the first bone ; /. secondary quill- 
feathers, or those that rise from the second 
bone ; g. tertials, which likewise take their 
rise from the second bone, forming a conti- 
nuation of the secondaries, and seem to do 
the same with the scapulars that lie over 
them ; these feathers are so long in some of 
the scolopax and tringa genera, that when 
the biid is flying, they give it the appear- 
ance of having four wings ■ , h. rump ; 
i. tail-coverts ; k. tail-feathers ; l. shoulders ; 
m. crown ; n. front; o. hind-head ; p. nape; 
q. chin; r, throat; s. scrag or neck above; 
t. interscapular region; u. vent. 
Fig. 2. a, Upper mandible; b. lower 
mandible ; c. a tooth-like process ; </. front- 
let; e. front; /. crown; g. lxind-head; 
h. nape; i. lores; k. temples; /.cheeks; 
m. chin; n. bristles at the base of the 
bill. 
Fig. 3. a. A bill with the upper mandible 
hooked at the point, and furnished with a 
tooth-like process; 6. the cere or naked 
skin which covers the base of the bill, and 
in which ax e placed the nostrils ; c. orbits, 
or skin, which sxiiTounds the eye : it is ge- 
nerally bare, but particularly in the parrot 
and heron. 
Fig. 4. A flat bill pectinate at the edges, 
and fxxrpished at the tip with a claw or 
nail. 
Fig. 5, A foot formed for perching, hav- 
ing three toes before and one behind. 
Fig. 6. A walking foot, having a spur on 
the heel, 
Fig, 7 . A climbing foot, having tvvo toes 
before and two behind. 
Fig. 8. A palmate or webbed foot. 
Fig. 9, A semi-palmate or half-webbed 
foot. 
Fig. 10. A pinnate or finned foot. 
Fig. 11. A lobate foot. 
There are six orders of birds, each of 
which contains several genera that will be 
noticed in their proper places. The orders 
are 
1. Accipitres or rapacious kind. 
2. Picae or pye kind. 
3. Anseres or duck kind. 
4. Gi'allce or crane kind. 
5. Gallium or poultry kind. 
6. Passeres or spaiTow kind. 
We may observe with l-egard to this class 
of animals, the admiiable contrivances 
throughout the whole of their structure, for 
promoting their boyancy in air, for enabling 
them to move with celerity, and for di- 
i-ecting their course. Their covering is of 
the lightest kind; yet the down with which 
they are supplied under their feathers is the 
warmest that could be devised ; for in con- 
sequence of the air entangled as it were in 
its interstices, it is one of the slowest con- 
ductors of heat. The outer feathers, by 
their slanting disposition, and their natural 
oiliness, form a complete shelter to the 
body from wet ; and the hollow structuie 
of the wing feathers, by increasing their 
bulk without increasing their weight, ren- 
deis them more buoyant in the air. 
The whole form of the body is adapted 
to -its flying with ease and celerity; the 
small head and sharp bill for diminishing the 
resistance of the air; the greater muscular 
strength, as well as an expansion of the 
wings, for impelling its body forward with 
celerity; and the broad feathers of the 
tail, moveable in almost eveiy direction, 
for steering its course like the rudder of a 
ship. 
The disposition of the lungs along the 
back-bone, and their communications with 
the cells in the bones of the wings, thighs, 
and breast, by admitting air in almost every 
part of the body, increases the buoyancy 
of the whole, and enables the bird to exist 
longer without breathing, which must be in 
a great measure impeded, if not suspended, 
duriixg some of its rapid flights. 
It lias been obsei-ved, that the brilliancy 
of the plumage in the feathered tribe is 
orxly to be looked for in tiie warmer re- 
gions of Asia and Africa ; but whoever has 
seen the beautiful king-fisher dart along the 
shaded brook, cannot allow that our own 
country has nothing to boast in the bril- 
liancy of its birds. The crimson crown 
and variety of colours of the great wood- 
pecker, the beautiful bars of black, blue, 
and white on the greater wing-covei ts of 
the jay, and the elegant plumage of the 
pheasant, as well as the extreme beauty of 
the roller, and the Bohemian chatterer, 
