THE BODY. 
15 
end of the instrument. The strength and flexibility of 
the tones depend entirely on the fulness of development 
of the organs of the voice. 
The organs of reproduction lie hidden in the interior 
of the body. The ovaries are originally produced in 
pairs; hut the one on the right side soon wastes away, 
and that on the left only becomes fully developed: it lies 
close to the left kidney, and is composed of two 
membranous plates, in whose folds numerous eggs will 
be found developed in the form of small bladders. From 
the ovary a duct passes to the rectum. The genital 
organs of the male are similarly situated. 
The organs of the senses, to which we finally turn our 
attention, much as they, in general, resemble those of 
the mammalia, are subject to many partial and very 
considerable differences. The most important are those 
which relate to touch or feeling. It is only among a 
very few families of birds that the beak ever serves as an 
organ of touch; with others the tongue, and possibly the 
feet also serve the same purpose: these, however, are 
the only members of a bird’s body which can commu¬ 
nicate such outward sensations to its understanding 
Against this assertion we may notice that all birds 
appear to possess a very delicate perception of exterior 
action. Every bird feels the abstraction of the smallest 
feather, the slightest touch even; and it is highly 
probable that its prescience of changes in the weather is 
attributable to its extremely delicate susceptibility to 
atmospheric influences, as it feels heat and cold most 
easily, although able to bear both extremely well. 
The sense of taste seems to be developed in only few 
families. By far the greatest number of birds possess a 
tongue very much stunted in its development, which is 
