OHDERS. 
11 
to size, or it is highly ornamented, or it is of some par- 
ticular or unusual structure. The bill, in the most typical 
examples, is short and thick, not conic, like the perchers, 
but having the upper mandible more arched than the 
under, and the nostrils covered with a hard or horny 
substance : such, at least, are the characters found in 
the order which more especially represents this type; but, 
in other groups, the bill is modified, so as to point out 
the secondary analogies of the birds. A much more 
general characteristic is the great size of the foot in all 
its parts and proportions. Hence we find that the birds 
in question live merely upon the ground ; and that in 
proportion to the strength of their feet, is the shortness 
of their wings : their food also is more restricted to the 
vegetable world than any other birds, and they scratch 
the ground in search of seeds with their strong feet, and 
are assisted in the same operation by their robust bills. 
AU the groups which represent this type, in some mode 
or other, evince either attachment or confidence towards 
man ; and they are peculiarly susceptible of being tamed 
or domesticated. 
(13.) The recapitulation just made of the chief 
characters of the primary types of the animal kingdom, 
as they appear in the class before us, wiU he sufficient 
to recall the attention of the student to what has been 
said upon the same subject on a former occasion*; 
when the definitions of these types were extendetl to all 
animals. The further modifications to which they are 
subject in the different groups, will be noticed as they 
occur. Bearing in mind, however, the foregoing indi- 
cations, the student will be prepared to understand more 
readily those definitions of the primary divisions of the 
class, w'hich we shall now enter upon. 
(14.) All birds belong to one or other of the follow- 
ing orders: — 1. Raptobes, or rapacious birds; 2. 1n- 
SEssoBEs, or Perchers ; 3. Rasobes, or Fowls ; 4. 
Grallatobes, or Waders; 5. Natatobes, or Swim- 
mers. We call these divisions Orders ; hut it is more 
• Classification of Animals, p. 257. 
