1. Raptores (Preying) Eagle, Owl, &c.
2. Insessores (Perching), divided into 4 tribes, viz:—
1. Dentirostres (Tooth bill) Thrush, Butcher-bird.
2. Conirostres (Cone bill) Raven, Crow, Finch.
3. Scansores (Climbing) Parrot, Wood-pecker.
4. Fissirostres (Split bill) King Fisher, Goat-sucker.
3. Rasores (Scraping) Poultry, Pheasants, &c.
4. Grallatores (Wading) Heron, Crane, &c.
5. Natatores (Swimming) Goose, Duck, &c.
1. The Raptores, as the Eagles and Falcons, are furnished with hooked beaks and strong sharp talons (fig. 53), they prey upon all small animals, as birds of less strength, rabbits, &c., and some of them upon fish, as the Osprey, others feed upon dead flesh and offal, as the Vultures, and are very useful creatures in hot countries, where they are generally respected, they hover about the towns, feeding upon almost everything capable of being swallowed; it is not certain whether these birds detect the presence of food by smell or sight (both of these senses are possessed by them in perfection), but it is certain that in the desert, when any animal dies, these birds soon make their appearance, although a few minutes before not one could be seen for miles around. The Owls are nocturnal, their plumage is downy, and their eyes placed so that both shall look forwards, the pupils close, similarly to a cat's eye, and their vision, like the cats (their companions among the Mammalia) is extremely sensitive, so that the expression "as blind as an Owl," has no more sense in it than "as blind as a Cat" would have; they feed upon rats, mice, insects, &c.
FIG. 53.—BEAK AND TALONS OF EAGLE.
2. The Inessores include some that live by catching insects in the air while they fly, as the Swallows (fig. 54); these are furnished with great powers of flight and rapidity of movement; others (the Scansores) which climb and hold by the branches of trees, feeding upon nuts and fruit, as the Parrot; others live upon insects, but seek them in the crevices of old trees and other similar places, as the Woodpeckers (fig. 54). Some live entirely upon fish (King-fishers), which they catch from the streams on the banks of which they live. This order includes all the singing birds, and by far the greater number of birds of passage; this propensity to migrate is one of the most wonderful of all the instincts of Birds, the Swallow leaves England in the Autumn to take up its abode for the Winter in Africa, or the Islands of the Archipelago, and returns again in the Spring, year after year, to the same nest; these journeys are accomplished at the rate of 40 or 50 miles an hour. Pigeons also have the wonderful faculty of returning home from almost any distance, appearing to know by instinct the right direction; as, after a turn or two, they take a straight course to their destination.
FIG. 54.—1, SWALLOW (Hirundo rustica); 2, WOODPECKER (Picus viridis).
FIG. 55.—1, DORKING FOWLS (Gallus Domesticus); 2, PHEASANTS (Phasianus colchicus)
3. The Rasores include the common Fowl (fig. 55), Pheasant (fig. 55), Partridge, Turkey, &c.; they feed principally on grain, but occasionally on insects and worms, which they scrape up with their feet; they live chiefly upon the ground, on which they build their nests, but generally roost on trees. Most of this order supply excellent food, the Turkey is famous as a Christmas dish, and is often of a great size; this bird is very plentiful in Central and South America in a wild state, and often attains a large size, weighing 30 or 40 pounds; the natives have a simple and curious method of catching these birds, which are extremely shy, never allowing any one to approach near to them. A sort of cage is built of twigs, large enough to contain many, and having holes close to the ground all round, of a size just sufficient to admit a Turkey when its head is bent down; leading to each of these holes a train of corn is placed, but none within, the birds coming to pick the corn, follow up the line of corn with their heads down, till they are within the inclosure, when finding no more, they raise up their heads and cannot get out, for they have not the sense to stoop their heads, so as to allow of their exit.