52 
THE STOMACH. 
Geese and Fowls, which are rarely without the means of 
supplying themselves, have been known to remain a sur- 
prising length of time in a fasting state. A favourite hen, 
which had been missed for upwards of four weeks, was for- 
tunately found at the bottom of a deep well, by a person 
who went down to repair it: the poor bird, when discovered, 
was perched on a small piece of timber floating on the water, 
and when taken up was in a very exhausted state, hut soon 
recovered. 
A Goose was accidentally shut up in a shed, and sup- 
posed to have been carried away by a fox, when, at the 
expiration of three weeks, it was discovered alive ; for a few 
days it continued in a weak state, hut gradually resumed its 
strength. 
Having taken a short view of the frame-work and internal 
construction of a bird, with reference to the disposal of its 
food, we shall next consider some other of the vital functions, 
commencing with those of breathing and voice. The lungs 
of men and animals occupy, as is well known, a large portion 
of the chest, whereas, in birds, the space occupied is not only 
much smaller, hut the lungs themselves are of a more firm 
and compact texture. At the same time they are most plenti- 
fully supplied with air-cells, communicating with other cells, 
profusely distributed over every part of the system, by which 
their bodies are in a manner blown up and rendered buoyant; 
a considerable portion of the skeleton, moreover, as we have 
shown, being formed into receptacles for this light and 
elastic fluid, of which birds partake in so much greater a 
degree than most other portions of the creation. In fact, a 
bird, destined as it is to live in air, may he almost called an 
absolute air-vessel, so completely does air fill up and circulate 
throughout its whole frame. While men and other land 
animals breathe-in air through the nostrils alone, a bird 
respires through a variety of other channels. A wounded 
Heron was observed to live a whole day, breathing solely 
through a broken portion of the wing-bone.^ Other experi- 
* See Linncean Transactions , vol. xi., p. 11. 
