92 



BIRD WORLD, 



anyway, and that you used your hands more than 

 your feet. 



Neither do you scratch for seeds or worms, like 

 the hen, nor perch, like the sparrow. 



An ostrich should, at any rate, sympathize with you, 

 for she uses her toes mainly to walk on, as you do 

 yours. 



None of the birds, however, have as many toes as 



Fig. i6. — Ostrich Foot. 



Fig. 17. — Foot of Song Sparrow. 



you have. Four is the largest and commonest num- 

 ber, usually arranged so that three toes point forward 

 and one back. This arrangement is best suited to 

 perch with ; as one writer says, it makes the bird's 

 foot a kind of hand, the hind toe acting like your 

 thumb, which would help very little if it could not be 

 brought up under your fingers. 



In the hawks (see Fig. 46, p. 187) the toes are wide 

 apart, so that a large object can be clutched and held 

 firmly. The Fishhawk, which has to seize a very 

 slippery prey, can turn one toe sidewise, and all the 



