CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 17 
the chrysalis, or the eggs. These are possessed of 
extraordinary agility in hopping about from twig to 
twig in search of food. Some birds of the order 
Incessores live on seeds and nuts ; such are furnished 
with a strong short beak, quite thick at the base; 
the two mandibles sometimes working together like a 
pair of scissors. To this class belong the Finches, 
Sparrows, Crossbills, with many more. 
The third division, Scansores, or Zygodactyli, com- 
prises the family of Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, Parrots, 
etc. In this division the arrangement of the toes is 
peculiar, two before and two behind, which enables 
the bird to grasp with a firmer hold the bark or the 
branches, while climbing from one part of the tree 
to another. To the Woodpecker this arrangement is 
of peculiar service, almost its whole life being spent 
in clambering over the rough surface of trunks and 
branches of trees. 
The case is much the same with the Parrots, al- 
though their climbing propensities are confined more 
to the smaller branches, in which they make good 
use of their strong hooked beak, hanging on with it, 
while taking a fresh foothold. 
In the fourth division, Rasores, we will notice a 
marked change, the whole bird differing widely in 
form and appearance from the preceding ; the body 
becomes larger and less buoyant, the wings less am- 
ple, and consequently the flight restricted, the bill 
adapted to picking up seeds and berries or to the 
cropping of tender herbage, while the feet are formed 
for walking on the ground and the claws for scratch- 
2 * B 
