loose, and of every possible variety and brilliancy of colouring; wings mostly very short, (compared with size of body,) rounded at the sides, and hollow beneath, with the quill or flight feathers weak, and the bone upholding the shoulder only imperfectly developed, thus rendering the organs of flight weak, and the act itself both laborious and difficult, if not almost impossible; the limbs at once large, muscular, and powerful, the foot-bones of the legs (which are covered with strong, tough, leathery scales) terminating with three toes in front on each; immediately above and at the back of these a fourth or hind toe springs, this latter being both by its length and its position shorter than the fore toes, only just resting on the ground in the action of walking; these toes are bound or united together at the bases by a sort of membraneous ligature; claws curved downwards and strong, well adapted for scratching on the ground in search of food, &c.; the legs of the male birds usually furnished with strong, horny "spurs,' employed as weapons for fighting; head and neck small (rather) and symmetrical; the former, in a greater or less degree, adorned with a crown or crest consisting of an upright, naked, fleshy excrescence; patches of a similar substance extending backwards over the cheeks to the ear-lobe, with wattles of the same drooping from the under bill beneath the throat; bill short and stout, the upper one more or less curved on the outer ridge; tail con

sisting of from ten to eighteen feathers, in the male often highly coloured, and so large as to encumber the bird and add to the great difficulty of flight. The food consists of grain of all kinds, roots, insects, &c., which the birds of this order eat indiscriminately; they are polygamous in their intercourse, and very prolific, producing numerous eggs, and hatching large broods of young at a time; these latter make their entrance into the world partially fledged or covered with down, and are at once able to run alone.

The family of Columbida, now generally included in or attached to the Rasorial order, must be excepted in many important particulars from even the general characteristic points enumerated above: many of the birds of this family, for example, (as the carrier pigeon,) possess very remarkable powers of flight, are monogamous, attaching themselves, if they are allowed, to one solitary mate through life, lay but two eggs at a time, and the young are hatched blind and perfectly unfledged, requiring the most anxious care of the parent birds, who are also compelled to feed their young for some time after hatching, thus presenting some very striking points of difference between their general economy and that of the other members of the Rasores.

The Natatorial or aquatic genus comprehends many subdivisions, of which it will only be necessary to describe the general characteristics of the Anatidæ or duck tribe. The body large and boat

shaped, well adapted for floating upon water; the plumage or feathers are of close texture and possess a sort of water-proof or repellent property, casting water off as soon as it touches it; the wings of moderate size, the first quill of nearly the same length as the second; but, with few exceptions, little or no powers of flight; the legs are short and strong, but so set or drawn backwards to the belly, as to give the bird an exceedingly awkward gait, familiar to all as a "waddle,” and giving the fowl the appearance of being almost overbalanced by the fore or anterior portion of the body not receiving support; the legs terminating with three fore toes on each, which are wholly united together by a thick membraneous web; a fourth or hind toe detached from the others, and joint higher up the shank of the foot bone; neck rather long, and arched, or inclined backwards; the bill large, straight, and powerful, generally depressed in a greater or less degree towards the point, which is round and blunt, and sometimes very broad: the bill is covered with a tough skin or membrane furnished with sensitive nerves; at the base of the upper one are the nostrils, appearing like oval lateral slits, half closed by the membraneous covering; the edges of the bills are supplied internally with rows of tooth-like lamina, serving as a sort of comb or strainer, through which the bird is enabled to drain off the water and mud from the pools it inhabits, retaining the worms, insects, and veget

able substances: like the gallinaceous fowls, they produce very many eggs, sometimes, it is said, more than they can hatch at one sitting; like that order also, the young are hatched partially fledged, or covered with down: they devour greedily almost any description of garbage, or animal and vegetable matter, also slugs, aquatic insects, &c. Though some live almost entirely in the water, and others partially on land, some, like the goose, scarcely ever resort to the watery element unless as a refuge from anticipated danger. Nevertheless, the old English proverbial query of "Can a duck swim?" sufficiently expresses their general habits and love for water.

Having thus briefly sought to lay before our readers a sketch of the natural history of our domestic poultry, divested of any assumed scientific diction, and sufficiently popular to be practically useful in rendering perfectly intelligible the descriptions of the various wild and domestic species, which follow in course, we proceed next to offer some observations upon the classification and nomenclature of the inhabitants of the poultry-yard, with a few suggestive remarks as to the colours of their plumage and the mode of describing them.

It is a remarkable evidence of the undeserved neglect in which our domestic fowls have been suffered so long to remain, that no systematic arrangement or classification of the species has yet been determined on, nor indeed even attempted.

It is true that various artificial plans have been proposed, but these have rather been urged with the apparent object of carrying out some particular crotchets of the originators, than with the view of satisfactorily determining the order in which they should be classed; thus we have had fowls assigned places either according to the size of their combs and wattles or the length of their tails, whilst even their legs and spurs have been also by turns pitched upon as the distinguishing marks by which to separate a group of fowls: to most of which, however, the objections must be obvious to all who are acquainted with the subject. It is probable that no accurate classification can be devised at present, with our scanty knowledge of the wild species of our poultry, (more especially of the genus gallus,) among which we believe the types or originals of most of our distinct domestic breeds might be discovered.

In the mean while the order we have pursued in describing the different species may be found at least as useful and easy of reference as any of the random classifications (if they can indeed be termed so) hitherto adopted by writers on the subject; whilst at the same time it will throw no difficulty in the way of the reader in tracing out any supposed resemblance, or in marking the distinctive features and characteristics, of the numerous species and varieties into which the poultry family are split up.