. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders : with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Birds; Reptiles. 190 INTEODUCTORY CHAPTER. size. Tlie Crane, Grus cinerea (Fig. 64), lias the bill rather longer than the head, strong, straight, compressed, and pointed at the extremity ; the sides of the mandible deeply channelled with nostrils, and closed backwards by a thin Fig. 64. In the Goose, genus Anser (Fig. 65), we find the bill short, not longer than the head, conical, covered at the base with a cerous skin, with under mandible smaller
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders : with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . Birds; Reptiles. 190 INTEODUCTORY CHAPTER. size. Tlie Crane, Grus cinerea (Fig. 64), lias the bill rather longer than the head, strong, straight, compressed, and pointed at the extremity ; the sides of the mandible deeply channelled with nostrils, and closed backwards by a thin Fig. 64. In the Goose, genus Anser (Fig. 65), we find the bill short, not longer than the head, conical, covered at the base with a cerous skin, with under mandible smaller than the upper. In the Spar- rows, Passerina (Fig. 66), the bill is strong and conical, the upper mandible slightly curved, the lower compressed and smaller than the upper ; nostrils lateral, basal, round, and partly con- Fig. 66. Fig. 67. cealed by the short feathers at the base of the mandibles. In the Goatsuckers, Caprimulgus (Fig. 67), the bill is remarkably small and weak, the sides inflexed and sometimes gaping. The tongue, like the bill, however, is only an accessorjr to the digestive apparatus ; for while the beak serves the purpose of prehension and trituration, the tongue assists in deglutition or swallowing. Digestion is so active in some birds, that thev "•et fat in an excessively short space of time. The Ortolan Bunting, Eriiheriza hortidana, and some others, are fattened for the table in. 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 Figuier, Louis, 1819-1894; Gillmore, Parker. New York : D. Appleton
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectrep
