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Show 124 MACLEA Y SYSTEM Oi' wings designed to scarcely raise them off the earth; and, farther, by a general domesticity of character and useful· ness to man. . h Now, the most remarkable circumstance, IS, ~hat t ese organic characters, habits, and m~ra~ prop~rttes, were found to be traceable more or less d1shnctly In the corresponding portions of e~e~y- other group,_ even ?f those belonging to distant subdiVISIOns _of the animal ~1ngdom, as, for instance, the insects. The IJ?Cessore~ (typacal ~rder ~f aves) being reduced to its constituent circles or trabes, 1t \Vas found that these strictly represented. the five . orders. .fn the conirostres are the perfections whtch belong to the incessores as an order, with the consp icuo~s e~tern~l feature of a comparatively small notch In the~r bills; 1n the dentirostres, the notch is strong and toothltke, (hence the name of the tribe,) assimilating them to the raptore~ ; the fis1irostres come into analogy with the natatores In the slight development of their feet and their great powers ot flight · the tenuirostres have the small mouths and long soft bills of the grallat01~etJ. Finally, the scansores re~~mble the rasores in their superior intellis-ence _and doc1h~y, and in their having strong limbs and a b1ll entire at the tip. This parity of qualities becomes clearer when placed lh a tabular fornl :- Or«kn of Bi1·ds Character&. Tribe• of ~nctstof'tl ~ Most perfect of their circle ; { Conirostrea lncessorcs • • { notch of bill small - -S · · Raptores · Notch of bill like a tooth • Dentirostres. Natatores • • ~Slightly d~velop~d feet; { F.issirostres. { strong flight • • • • S Grallatores • • Small mouths ; long soft bills Tenuirostres. ltasores, • • ~ Stron~ feet, short w!ngs ; { Scansores. { docile and domestic • • 5 Some comprehensive terms are much wanted tc. des\: ribe these five characters, so curiously repeated through· out the whole of the animal, and probably also the vegeta · ble kingdom. Meanwhile, Mr. Swainson calls therr~ .typical, sub-typicai, natatorial, suctorial,* and ras~nal. Some of his illustrations of the principle are exceedtogly .,. This is preferred to grallatorial, &.!l more comprehensively ~&t scriptive. There is the same need for a substitute for ;r;;.-.n1al• which. is only applicable to birds. • . ANIMATED NATURE. 12:S interesting. He shows that the leading animal of a typical circle usually has a combination of properties concentrated in itself, without any of those preponderating remarkably over others. The sub-typical circles, he says, "do not comprise the largest individuals in bulk, but always those which are the most powerfully armed, either for inflicting injury on their own class, for exciting terror, }'roducing injury, or creating annoyance to man. Their dispositions are often sanguinary, since the forms most conspicuous among them live by rapine, and subsist on the blood of other animals. They are, in short, symbollically types of evil." This syn1bolical character is most conspicuous about the centre of the series of gradations:- Kingdom . Annulosa. Sub-kingdom · . Reptilia. Class (Mammalia) Ferre. (Aves) . . . . . Rapt0res. In the annulosa it is not distinct, although we must also remember that insects do produce enormo11s ravages and annoyance in many parts of the earth. In the reptilia it is more distinct, since to this class belong the ophidia, (serpents,) an order peculiarly noxious. It comes to a kind of climax in the ferc:B and raptores, which fulfil the function of butchers among land animals. As \Ve descend through tribes, families, genera~ species, it becomes fainter and fainter, but never altogether vanishes. In the dentirostres, for instance, we have in a subdued form th~ hooked bill and predaceous character of the raptores; to this tribe belongs the family of the shrikes, so deadly to all the lesser field birds. In the genus bos, \Ve have, in the sub-typical group, the bison, "wild, revengeful, and showing an innate detestation of man.'' In equus, we have, iri the same situation, the zebra, which actually shows the stripes of the tiger, and is as remarkable for it9 wildness as its congeners, the horse and ass, are for their docility and usefulness. To quote again from Mr. Swainson, " the singular threatening aspect which the caterpillars of the sphinx moth assume on being disturbed, is a remarkable modification of the terrific or ev1l nature which is impressed in one fonn or another, palpable or remote, upon all sub-typical groups ; for this division of the lepidopterous order is precisely of this denomination. In the pre-eminent type of this order of insects, the butterflies, (papilionides,) our associations little prepare us for |
