ON THE 
NATURAL HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION 
OF 
BIRDS. 
PART L 
ON THE STRUCTURE AND NATURAE HISTORY OF BIRDS 
IN GENERAL. 
CHAPTER I. 
TRELIMINAEY REMARKS. PECULIARITIES OP THE CLASS. 
ITS RELATION TO THOSE OP REPTILES AND QUADRUPEDS. 
ITS PRIMARY DIVISIONS AND ORDERS. 
(1.) Ip elegance of form, beauty of colouring, or 
sweetness of voice, were peculiarities which constituti'il 
the superiority of one class of beings over another, we 
should unquestionably assign to Birds the highest 
station in the scale of the animal creation. No shadow 
of fear mixes with those pleasurable sensations wdth 
which they are viewed ; and those feelings, moreover, 
are heightened by the ethereal nature of the creatures 
themselves. In a moment they may spread their 
wings, launch into boundless air, and be seen no more. 
ITe almost view them as beings of a happier world, 
alighting upon this “ dim spot called earth,” more as a 
B 
