xiv Introduction. 
3. Scansores, or climbers. These birds have two toes before and two 
behind. This construction gives them such great power of 
climbing, that they can ascend the perpendicular trunk of a tree. 
The principal birds in this order are the parrots, the cuckoos, 
and the woodpeckers. 
4. Rasores, or gallinaceous birds. These birds have the head small in 
proportion to the body. The bill is generally short, with the upper 
mandible somewhat curved. The nostrils have usually a pro- 
tectingfleshy membrane. The tarsus, or lower part of the leg, is 
long and bare, and there are four toes, those in front being united 
by a slight membrane, while that behind is generally higher up 
the leg, and smaller than the others. This order comprises most 
of the birds used as food, and includes the peacock, the turkey, 
the common cock and hen, the partridge, the pheasant, and the 
pigeon family. 
5. Gtallatores, or Waders. These birds are characterised by their 
long and slender legs, and by the thighs being more or less bare. 
There are three anterior toes, more or less united at the base by 
a membrane, or rudimentary web. The hind toe is wanting in 
some members of the order. This order contains the ostrich 
family, the bustards and plovers ; the cranes, herons, and storks ; 
and the snipes and woodcocks. 
6. Palmipedes, or web-footed birds. These birds have the legs and 
feet short, and placed behind, with their fore toes united by a 
thick and strong membrane. The neck is much longer than the 
legs, and their bodies are covered with a dense layer of down 
beneath the outer plumage, which is close, and imbued with an 
oily fluid that repels the water. The principal birds in this 
order are the grebes, the auks and penguins, the petrels, the 
pelican and cormorant, and the swans, ducks, and geese. 
By many ornithologists the pigeons and ostriches are con- 
sidered to form distinct orders, called respectively Columlce and 
Cursores. 
THE KEPTILIA, 
Or Reptiles, have neither hair, wool, nor feathers, and their bodies are 
either naked, or covered with scales. Some lay eggs, and some bring 
forth their young alive. Some have gills, and others lungs, but the 
latter have only a portion of the blood passing through them ; and 
thus the blood of reptiles is cold, as it is respiration which gives the 
blood heat. The senses of reptiles are dull, and their movements are 
either slow or laborious. The following are the four orders into which 
this class is divided : — 
1. Chelanian Reptiles. These animals have four legs. The body is 
enclosed in an upper buckler, called the carapace, and an under 
one, called the plastron. They have lungs which are much ex- 
panded ; but they have no teeth, though they have hard horny 
jaws. The females lay eggs covered with a hard shell. The 
principal animals belonging to this division are the tortoises, 
which live on land or in fresh waters, and the turtles, which 
inhabit the sea. 
