PREFACE. 
net and fome Herons; or pectinated, as in the Duck; or denti- 
culated , as in the Mergansers ; but always deftitute of real teeth 
immerfed in fockets. 
The bafe in Falcons is covered with a naked fkin or Cere 
(Cera ;) in fome birds with a carneous appendage, as the Tur- 
key ; or a callous, as the Curasso. 
In birds of prey, the bill is hooked at the end, and fit for tear- 
ing : in Crows, ftrait and ftrong, for picking : in water-fowl, ei- 
ther long and pointed, for ftriking; or (lender and blunt, for fearch- 
ing in the mire ; or flat and broad, for gobbling. Its other ufes 
are for building nefts; feeding the young; climbing, as in Par- 
rots ; or, laftly, as an inftrument of defence, or offence. 
Nostrils.- (Nares) the nice inftruments of difcerning their food, are placed 
either in the middle of the upper mandible, or near the bafe, or at 
the bafe, as in Parrots ; or behind the bafe, as in Toucans and 
Hornbills : but fome birds, as the Gannet, are deftitute of nof- 
trils. The noflrils are generally naked, but fometimes covered 
with briftles reflected over them, as in Crows ; or hid in the fea- 
thers, as in Parrots, &c. 
Parts of the The forepart of the head is called the Front ( C'apifirmn ; ) the 
■fummit ( vertex ) or the crown: the hind part, with the next 
joint of the neck ( nucha ) the nape : the fpace between the bill 
and the eyes, which in Herons, Grebes, &c. is naked (lor a) the 
(traps: the fpace beneath the eyes ( genae ) the cheeks. 
Orbits, ( Orbit ae ) the eye-lids ; in fome birds naked, in others covered 
with fhort foft feathers. 
Birds have no eye-brows ; but the Grous kind have in lieu a 
fcarlet naked (kin above, which are called fuper cilia ; the fame 
word 
