Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-08-27
The Animal Kingdom.

The farmer lives in the midst of the ami
NAL kingdom; has the beast and the bird as
his companions. lie is familiar with many
Of the creatures which lnhabit tho air, the
earth and the water, and why should he not
aim to know more of their habits and char.
acter ? The domestic and the wild have at.
tracted his attention from early childhood,
and yet he may be comparatively ignorant
Of the pecuiarities Of each species.
We propose, therefore, in a series Of brief
articles to trace the history OF some of the
animal kingdom.
The history Of birds-what an illustra.
ton of creative wisdom and intelligent de-
sign The form of their bodies, the struct-
ure of their bones, quilts and feathers ad-
mirably fit them for their peculiar mode Of
life, and completely answer the purposes for
which they were evidently made. Their
bones and quilts ere cylindrical and hollow,
that they may be strong and light. Their
lungs are large, and in some species the air
cells communicate with the bones Of their
legs and wings, fitting them to be borne into
the air with ease. Their heads are small
their breasts smooth and boat-like, their
wings fat and their legs so placed as to offer
little resistance to the atmosphere. Their
feathers are the lghtest of all substances and
Il ~ 40 nj nd
lection from rain and cold and aid them IN
flying And it is worthy Of remark that
the pecuiarities of each family Of birds fit
them for their own mode of life.
The common mode Of classification gives
us land birds and water birds. The land
birds are again separated into two orders,
viz: granivorous and carnivorous birds
The water birds are distinguished as waders
and swimmers.
| The graniyorous birds live on grain, seeds
and insects. These are taken into the stom-
ach whole, and, after being soitened by
warmth and moisture, they pass into the
gizzard and are ground to powder. This
gizzard has wonderful power over substances
thrown into it; the hardest seeds are crushed
to atoms by its action. To aid in this work
the bird instinctively swallows gravel and
cannot live in healthy condition without
it.
Let us mark here some Of the peculiari
ties of this class OF birds. They have short
straight bills, small nails on their toes which
are divided to their ends, and fitted fo
scra tching and grasping The hen, the par
fridge, the canary bird and the sparrow are
examples of this kind. And why have they
Just such feet and bills and stomaohs Evi
IDENTIFY to adapt them to their peculiar mode
Of liie-to enable them to procure such iooC
as their stomach is fitted to digest. Thi
class of birds is mild, gentle and compare
lively harmless.
Carnvorous birds live on animal food ant
are ferocious and warlike 10 their disposition
and habits. They have strong claws 70
Selling and holding their prey, and sharp
hooked bills for tearing it 10 pieces. Thes'
birds, like savages, live by war and plunde
and devour all such animals as they can mas
ter. Eagles falcons, vutures and the like
have very long and powerful wings, whicI
seem to be designed to enable them to over
take other birds in their fight. This elias
have no gizzard, but instead, a stomac
adapted to digest only flesh. Hero agai
see evidence OF design and wise adaptation
Strong claws, hooked bill, peculiar stom
ach and fierce disposition, adapting ther
to this peculiar kind of food and mode
life. Suppose the carnivorOus should ex
change places with the granivOrOus, hO'
would they get on in their new way OF liV
ing.