USE OF THE TABLES. 
25 
By way of showing the utility of the preceding 
Tables, a few instances, explaining the manner of 
applying them, may be acceptable. 
Suppose then, that a person entirely ignorant of 
Ornithology, finds a bird, and wishes to know its 
name or character. He will first turn to Table I., 
where the number of hind-toes appear as the dis- 
tinguishing guide for further observation. His speci- 
men, for instance, has only one hind-toe; he is then 
directed to the character of the anterior, or fore-toes, 
the two exterior or outer of which, in this case, he 
finds to he very slightly connected, and for a moment, 
without further rules to guide him, he might he at a 
loss whether to consider his specimen as belonging to 
the orders Rapaces, Grallse, or Passeres : the charac- 
ter, however, of the claws and beak will at once 
point out the propriety of considering it as of the 
Rapacious Order, marked as No. 1. For further in- 
formation, he is then referred to Table II., where the 
eyes are to be his guide. He finds them on the side 
of the head, and pursuing his line of direction, sees 
that it is feathered about the neck, and he accordingly 
turns to Table IV., where the lower-jaw, or mandible, 
as it is called, of the beak, is the distinguishing 
feature. This lower mandible, in his bird, is not 
furnished with either bristles or tufts like a beard, 
neither is the tail considerably lengthened out by 
feathers projecting one beyond the other, like the 
Snake-eaters, or Magpies, for example. 
Having proceeded thus far, his attention is turned 
to the first feather of the wing, which he finds to be 
