Both the male and female generally assist in this interesting concern. They each bring materials to the place, first sticks, moss, or straws for the foundation and exterior, then hair, wool, or the down of animals or plants, to form a soft and commodious bed for their eggs, and the bodies of their tender young when hatched. The outsides of the nests bear in general so great a resemblance in colour to the surrounding foliage or branches as not easily to be discovered even by those who are in search of them.

This act of nidification is one of those wonderful contrivances of nature that would compel us, however we might otherwise be inclined to doubt it, to believe that we, and every other part of the creation, are ever under the protection of a superintending Being, whose goodness knows no bounds. Without this what can we suppose it is that instigates a creature, that may never before have had young, to form a hollow nest to contain eggs (things that as yet it knows nothing of,) and to concentrate a proper portion of heat for the incubation? Without this what can we suppose it is that dictates to it the necessity of forming the outside with coarse materials, as a foundation, and of lining it within with more delicate substances? Where do these animals learn that they are to have eggs, and that these eggs will require a nest of a certain size and capacity? Who is it that teaches them to calculate the time with such exactness that they never lay their eggs before the receptacle for them is finished? No one can surely be so blind

as not to discern by all these acts, that the care of a Supreme Being is immediately employed in the preservation, the support and comfort of even this inferior order of his creation.

This class of the Animal Creation may be divided into LAND BIRDS and WATER BIRDS: the first division containing the Linnean orders of Rapacious Birds, the Pies, the Passerine, and Gallinaceous Birds and the second the orders of Waders and Swimmers.*

The characters of these orders are principally taken from the manner of life, and the natural resemblance of the external parts of the animals, and particularly of the bill.

LAND BIRDS.

1. Rapacious Birds.-The bill is somewhat hooked, having the upper mandible either dilated. a little towards the point, or furnished with a toothlike process the nostrils are open. The feet are stout, and armed with strong hooked claws, three forwards and one backwards.-The animals of this order are the Vultures, Eagles, or Hawks, and Owls they live by preying on other animals, in consequence of which their flesh is too rank to be eaten. They associate in pairs, build their nests in lofty places, and usually produce four young at a

Accipitres, Pice, Passeres, Gallina, Grallæ, and Anseres.

brood. The female is generally both larger and stronger than the male.

2. Pies. The bill is sharp-edged and convex on its upper surface. The legs are short, pretty strong, and in some species formed for perching (that is with three toes forward, and one backward,) in others formed for climbing, with two toes forward and two backwards, and in others for walking, that is without any back toe. The principal genera are the Shrikes, Crows, Rollers, Orioles, Grackles, Humming-birds, Parrots, Toucans, Cuckoos, Woodpeckers, Hornbills, and Kingfishers.-They live on various kinds of food, and are in general reckoned unfit for the table. Some of them associate in pairs, and others congregate. They usually build their nests on trees, and the male feeds the female during the process of incubation.

3. Passerine Birds.-The bill is of a conical form, and pointed at the end: and the feet are formed for perching and hopping, the toes being slender and divided, with slender, bent, and sharp claws. Of this order the principal genera are the Finches, Grossbeaks, Buntings, Thrushes, Flycatchers, Swallows, Larks, Wagtails, Titmice, and Pigeons. While breeding they live mostly in pairs, building, in various situations, nests that are in general of singular and curious construction. They feed their young by pushing the food down their throats with their own bills. Most of them sing. Some live on seeds, and others on insects: the former are reckoned good food, but the insect eating species are never eaten.

4. Gallinaceous Birds. The bill is convex, the upper mandible lying in an arch over the lower; and the nostrils are arched over with a cartilaginous membrane. The feet are formed for running, without a back toe, and the toes are rough underneath. The principal genera are, the Pheasants, Turkies, Peacocks, Bustards, Pintados, Grouse, and Partridges. They live mostly on the ground, scraping the earth with their feet, and feeding on grain and seeds, which are macerated in a crop before digestion. They associate chiefly in families, consisting of one male and several females, forming their nests, with very little art, on the ground; and the females lay a great number of eggs: these generally lead their young ones very early in quest of food, which they point out to them by a particular call. Their flesh is much esteemed.

WATER BIRDS.

5. Waders.-The bill is somewhat cylindrical. The thighs are feathered only half way to the knees; and the legs are longish, and formed for walking. The chief genera are the Herons, Plovers, Snipes, and Sandpipers. They live for the most part among marshes and fens, feeding on worms, and other animal productions that they meet with there: they form their nests on the ground, and live, some in pairs and others promiscuously. Their flesh is generally reckoned delicate eating.

6. Swimmers. The bill is smooth, obtuse at the point, and covered with a membranaceous skin.

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The legs are short and compressed, and the feet formed for swimming, the toes being connected by a membrane. Of this order the most familiar genera are the Ducks, Auks, Penguins, Petrels, Pelicans, Guillemots, Gulls, and Ferns. These live chiefly in the water, feeding on Fish, Worms, and aquatic plants. They are for the most part polygamous, and make their nests among reeds or in moist places. The young, though soon able to seek their own food, are for some time, at first, led about and protected by the mother. The females lay many eggs, and are fed by the males while sitting. The flesh of many of the species is eatable, but that of some of them is rank and oily.