Bird anatomy Birds have a four-chambered heart, in common with mammals, and some reptiles (mainly the crocodilia). This adaptation allows for an efficient nutrient and oxygen transport throughout the body, providing birds with energy to fly and maintain high levels of activity. A ruby-throated hummingbird's heart beats up to 1200 times per minute (about 20 beats per second). Many birds possess a muscular pouch along the esophagus called a crop. The crop functions to both soften food and regulate its flow through the system by storing it temporarily. The size and shape of the crop is quite variable among the birds. Members
The Language of the Birds food and clothing and asked what he wanted. The father asked him to take him as a servant. Ivan told him that the song of the nightingale had come true, and provided for his parents. A similar tale is attached as a legend to Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland, in which a lord gave his son the power to speak with birds by making his first sip be from a raven's skull. There is a Portuguese tale collected by Francisco Adolfo Coelho, "The Little Boy and the Moon," that unfolds in a fashion largely analogous to "The Language of the