Excerpt from The Structure and Life of BirdsThe aim of this book is an ambitious one. It attempts to give good evidence of the development of birds from reptilian ancestors, to show what modifications in their anatomy have accompanied their advance to a more vigorous life, and, after ex~ plaining, as far as possible, their physiology, to make clear the main principles of their noble accomplish ment, ¿ight, the visible proof and expression of their high vitality. After this it deals, principally, with the subjects of colour and song, instinct and reason, migration, and the principles of classification, and, lastly, gives some hints as to the best methods of studying birds. The field is a wide one. But this is not in every way a drawback. Specialisation has its evils as well as its advantages. Many of our best ornithologists write admirably of the life and habits of birds, but leave out of sight their anatomy and physiology. Thus they separate things which in nature are mutually dependent. The anatomists and physiologists, on their side, limit themselves sternly to their own departments. Their works.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.