. Text-book of zoology for junior students. Zoology. 300 VEKTEBIiATE ANIMALS. Pigeons and Doves, this sub-order includes also the remarkable extinct bii'd the Dodo, which was of gigantic size, comparatively speaking, and inhabited tlie island of Mauritius up to the com- mencement of the seventeenth century. OllDER IV. Sl'ANSUKES. The order of iScansores or C'lindjing Birds is very shortly and easil}' defined, having no othei' distinctive and exclusive peculiarity, except the fact that the feet have four toes, of which two are turned backwards and two forwards (tig. 214, B). Of the two toes whi
. Text-book of zoology for junior students. Zoology. 300 VEKTEBIiATE ANIMALS. Pigeons and Doves, this sub-order includes also the remarkable extinct bii'd the Dodo, which was of gigantic size, comparatively speaking, and inhabited tlie island of Mauritius up to the com- mencement of the seventeenth century. OllDER IV. Sl'ANSUKES. The order of iScansores or C'lindjing Birds is very shortly and easil}' defined, having no othei' distinctive and exclusive peculiarity, except the fact that the feet have four toes, of which two are turned backwards and two forwards (tig. 214, B). Of the two toes which are turned backwards, one is the pro])er hind-toe, and the other is the outermost toe. This arrangement of the toes enables the Scan- sorial birds to climb with gi'eat ease and readiness. Their powers of flight are usually very moderate, and below the general average, and their food consists of insects and fruits of various kinds. Their nests are usually made in the hollows of old trees, but some (Cuckoos) have the remarkable habit of depositing their eggs in the nests of other Viirds. They are never polygamous, and the young are born in a naked and helpless Fig. -M.âA skull f 1 Pin t (/ in n er/lliri us) B, Foot of the same : a Hallux ; Mnlux iMiUletje d Outtr i r ring toe. (After Blanchard.) Upon the whole, we must regard the order of the Scansores as an artificial assemblage, comprising birds which have little in common save the adaptati(.iiis which fit them for an essentially scansorial life. Bearing this in niind, we may include in the Scansores the following families: 1. Tlie CiiniUilip, or Cuckoo family, conipiising the true Cuckoos and some allied birds. They are jemarkable for the tljat of them are " p:uusitic " ; that is to s,ay, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. The yellow-billed Cuckoo (C. americaims), however, of the ITnited States, builds a nest for itsi-lf and brings u]i its own young, as do others of the fami
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1885
