16 
BIRD-LIFE. 
really not used for taste at all; the palate also is hard, 
and apparently devoid of sensation, yet, in spite of this it 
cannot be denied that all birds are, in some degree, 
possessed of the sense of taste. 
The sense of smell, however, stands incomparably 
higher than those of feeling and taste; in no way, 
however, so much so as has been imagined. No one bird 
is capable of detecting an odour at so great a distance as 
a scenting mammal can. It has been thought that 
Vultures could discover a carcase many miles off by their 
powers of smell. I have, however, after long and careful 
observation convinced myself of the fallacy of the idea. 
The outer nostrils consist of simple holes placed on 
either side of the top ridge of the upper mandible, and 
are devoid of all muscular action. They are of different 
forms. With the Corvidae they are covered and protected 
by a ring of stiff bristles or hairs; while in the Petrel 
they are of a lengthened tubular construction. In some 
birds they are oval, in others they take the form of a 
cleft or slit; some are covered with a lid, others are 
perfectly open; most are separated by a partition from 
one another; others, the reverse. A single instance is to 
be found where they are situate quite at the end of the 
bill; and this is the Kiwi ( Apteryx ) of Australia, a 
nocturnal feeding-bird. They are connected by a common 
duct with the internal nostril, where lie the organs of 
scent: three thin, bony, or cartilaginous laminae, often 
wound round one another; these are covered with a thin 
shining membrane, and afford room for the expansion of 
the extremity of the olfactory nerve. 
The sense of hearing is excellent, though the external 
ear is wanting. The mechanism of this apparatus 
resembles that of the crocodile. It is only among very 
