Bill unciform; seize upon the Sarcozoa with their claws.
B. SARCOSE BIRDS—NESTFLÜCHTER.
3557. Run about soon after being hatched, and nourish themselves. Bill and feet very varied, the former being mostly obtuse.
These Birds do not fly much nor hop, but walk, run, or swim. In them are found all the diversities of bill and feet; the latter are mostly placed far back, so that the body is usually directed upwards.
Their food also is very varied, consisting of seeds, grass, fruits, worms, and flesh.
Order 4. Sarcose Birds.
3558. Neck long, i. e. much longer than the head and bill, frequently longer than the body.
Fam. 10. Fish-Birds, Natatores.
Natatory feet short.
Mostly large Birds, which live upon fishes, worms, and many of them even upon herbs. Their bills are so varied, that they could represent several families, a fact which likewise speaks in favour of their higher position. It may be regarded as an instructive hint, that animals occupy a higher rank, if in them a richness or variety of forms is to be perceived. This is the case throughout the Thricozoa. The Natatores, through the structure and posterad insertion of their feet, through their closely-set plumage, which frequently presents short and scale-like feathers, by their swimming and diving, and lastly, through their fish-catching, approximate as closely to the structure and mode of living of Fishes as it is possible for a Bird to do, while still retaining the characters of its class. Many row even with the wings, and consequently use them as veritable fins.