INTRODUCTION. 
XXXV 
In them is exceedingly large. Although birds do not possess the cartila- 
ginous portal, or outer ear, yet their organs of sound are delicate. 1 he 
Jay, the Magpie, the Bullfinch, the Parrot, and the Starling, repeat whole 
sentences with exactitude of pronunciation, and some of them whistle 
tunes wfith equal precision. But, in quickness of hearing, the Owl tar 
exceeds all others of the feathered race. Nature has adorned some birds 
wdth a crest of long feathers, as the Lapwdng and Peacock. Others arc 
enabled to raise the feathers on the back-part of their heads, as the White- 
throat, Flycatcher, Chaffinch, Yellowbunting, Skylark, Woodlark, and 
Blackcap. Some are ornamented with a fleshy protuberance, called the 
comb, as in the Cock ; others have a horny projection, as the Rhinoceros 
bird, and the Emeu ; and some have a crest extending far down the back 
of the neck, as the Umbre. The wings of birds are almost as different as 
the forms of their bills ; some have large, concave, hollow wings, as the 
Heron ; others long-extended ones, as the Swallow and the Goatsucker ; 
some have narrow wings, as the Waterouzel, Kingfisher, and Nuthatch. 
The wings of others are pointed, as the Sanderling and the Wagtail ; wdiile 
those of many other birds are rounded at the margin, like those of the 
Owl, the Partridge, and the Quail. In most, the secondary quill feathers 
are very short in comparison with the primary ones ; but in the Sanderling, 
the Plovers, and the Rail, the primaries are but a little superior in length ; 
and in the Goldenplover, the secondary feathers are indented, or serrated. 
Most birds are furnished w ith wings as instruments of flight ; but there 
are some to which nature has denied the flag feathers, which assist their 
aerial motions, as the Ostrich, the Cassow^ary, and the Penguin. Still 
further to increase the speed of birds, or to render their motions more 
versatile, some possess long spreading tails, such as the Sw^allow, the 
Wagtail, and the Magpie. On the other hand, the Nuthatch, and the 
Waterouzel, the Partridge, the Rail, the Kingfisher, and most of the Duck 
tribe, have scarcely the appearance of them.®“ In some birds, the feathers 
Willugliby contends, that the tail of birds principally conduces to steer their flight ; but 
Borelli asserts, that the bird turns in the air more from the inclination of its head and motion of 
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