. Natural history. For the use of schools and families. Zoology. 140 NATUKAL HISTOET. flexible, with long and slightly-curved claws. The legs of these birds are not stout, for they are most of the time on the wing; and, on the other hand, the wings and muscles are very large in proportion to the size of the body. The plumage varies much, but, on the whole, this order excels all the others in the beauty and variety of its colors. The male is commonly larger than the fe- male, and its colors are usually more gay. The perchers live in pairs, and build their nests in trees and bushes with some few
. Natural history. For the use of schools and families. Zoology. 140 NATUKAL HISTOET. flexible, with long and slightly-curved claws. The legs of these birds are not stout, for they are most of the time on the wing; and, on the other hand, the wings and muscles are very large in proportion to the size of the body. The plumage varies much, but, on the whole, this order excels all the others in the beauty and variety of its colors. The male is commonly larger than the fe- male, and its colors are usually more gay. The perchers live in pairs, and build their nests in trees and bushes with some few exceptions, showing considerable skill in their construction. The singing-birds belong chiefly to this order, the only other singers being among the Scan- sores. As the characteristics of birds are most fully de- veloped in this order, it is the typical order of the class. 236. There is much variety in the food of the different kinds of perching birds, and their beaks present difier- ences corresponding to the nature of the food. Taking the form of the beak as the basis of division, there are four groups in this order: 1. Conirostres (cotius, a cone, and rostrum, a beak), cone-billed birds, or birds having a cone-shaped beak. The greater portion of these are omniv- orous, § 93, but some are exclusively granivorous. The Crows and Finches are examples of this group. In Fig. 116 BUI of a Gi-oBbeak. 116 is a representation of a cone-bill, the bill of a Gro» fceak. 2. Dentvrostres {dens, a tooth, and rostrum), tooth-. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Hooker, Worthington, 1806-1867. New York, Harper & Brothers
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1883
