INSESSORIAL TRIBES. ANALOGIES. 
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Tribes of the 
Insessores. 
C&nirostres. 
Dentirostres. 
Fissirostr(^$. 
Orders of 
Analogical Characters. Birds, 
r Superior powers of prehension, as shown T 
< in the structure of the foot; notch of Mnsessores. 
C the bill small. Omnivorous. 3 
(■ Bill short, much curved at the tip, which t 
< indistinctly notched. Rapacious, and > Raptores. 
C feed on animal substances. 3 
(■Head large; mouth very wide; feet^ 
\ sumtl; tbe toes more or l«ss confined 
"i Seize their prey during flight, which is f 
C very quick. J 
Tenuirostres. 
BUI very long, slender, and slightly flexi- J 
ble ; mouth very small. J 
Scansores. 
Bill short, thick, hard; head conspicu-^ 
ously crested; feet very robust; head S Rasores. 
smaSl. Uematkably docile. J 
(283.) Let us now compareeach of these groups more 
particularly with that which stands opposite to it. t irst, 
then, we have the Conirostren as analogous to the In- 
sessores, an analogy which becomes indisputable, seeing 
that the first is the pre-eminent type, or representative, 
of the insessorial order. The Dentirostres and the 
Raptores have the strongest-toothed bills, a necessary 
consequence of both being the most rapacious birds in 
their respective groups ; and every one knows that the 
shrikes are the falcons of the insect world, just as much 
as the Ruptures are the devourers of the feathered crea- 
tion. The most imperfect footed birds among the 
perchers belong to the Fissirostres ; and this is pre- 
cisely the leading distinction of the swimming, or 
natatorial, order. The humming-birds, typical of the 
Tenuirostres, have the longest and most flexible bills 
among their congeners ", just as are the snipes, wood- 
cocks, and sandpipers, among the Grolhtores. Finally, 
the Scansores (and their representatives) are almost the 
only crested birds in the whole order of perchers : they 
have the tail, in one form or other, highly developed ; 
and they contain those which show the greatest aptitude 
for domestication. All these characters and traits are 
well known to be the leading distinctions of the order 
Rasores. In one group we have the whole of the par- 
rots, and tlie beautifully-crested woodpeckers ; in the 
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