The birds of America : a familiar natural history of the feathered tribes of the United States / by William L. Baily ; revised and edited by Edward L. [i.e. D.] Cope.

  • Baily, William L.
Date:
[between 1860 and 1869?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The birds of America : a familiar natural history of the feathered tribes of the United States / by William L. Baily ; revised and edited by Edward L. [i.e. D.] Cope. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the chrysalis, or the eggs. These are possessed of extraordinary agility in hopping about from twig to twig in search of food. Some birds of the order Incessores live on seeds and nuts ; such are furnished with a strong short beak, quite thick at the base; the two mandibles sometimes working together like a pair of scissors. To this class belong the Finches, Sparrows, Crossbills, with many more. The third division, Scansores, or Zygodactyli, com- prises the family of Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, Parrots, etc. In this division the arrangement of the toes is peculiar, two before and two behind, which enables the bird to grasp with a firmer hold the bark or the branches, while climbing from one part of the tree to another. To the Woodpecker this arrangement is of peculiar service, almost its whole life being spent in clambering over the rough surface of trunks and branches of trees. The case is much the same with the Parrots, al- though their climbing propensities are confined more to the smaller branches, in which they make good use of their strong hooked beak, hanging on with it, while taking a fresh foothold. ^ In the fourth division, Rasores, we will notice a marked change, the whole bird differing widely in form and appearance from the preceding; the body becomea larger and less buoyant, the wings less am- ple, and consequently the flight restricted, the bill adapted to picking up seeds and berries or to the cropping of tender herbage, while the feet are formed for walking on the ground and the claws for scratch- 2* B