384 The Bird 



toes, the latter to distribute their weight as they walk 

 over the soft muddy bottom, the former to lift their bodies 

 above the surface of the water. Such, broadly speaking, 

 are the plovers and sandpipers and herons. Let us see 

 how the feet of these birds reflect their habits. With 

 the exception of the tribe of plovers, almost all have four 

 toes. The plovers have but three, and these are slender 

 and not webbed, for although they usually feed on aquatic 

 forms of life, yet their food is gleaned from the upper 

 part of beaches, or from the sand-flats when the tide is 

 out, and they therefore seldom have occasion to swim. 

 The sandpipers venture into the shallows and are some- 

 times lifted from their feet by a small inrushing wave. 

 But the majority even of these go through life unwebbed. 

 One, the Semipalmated Sandpiper, shows a beginning of 

 this in the half-webbed condition of the toes, but the 

 group of phalaropes are actually sandpipers of the sea. 

 I have seen them in flocks of thousands, resting upon 

 the surface of the ocean, scores of miles from land. Yet 

 when ashore they have need to be as active as other mem- 

 bers of their Order in order to find sufficient food; so, in- 

 stead of being hampered with a confining web, each toe 

 has a series of broad scalloped lobes, serving admirably 

 as water propellers, j^et allowing the toes freedom of motion 

 when the owner is scurrying over the sand. 



I have observed Great Blue Herons almost hip-deep 

 in the breakers along the Florida beaches, yet this is not 

 a usual haunt for members of this group of birds. They 

 usually prefer quiet inland waters, where they wade and 

 watch — ever striving to satisfy their insatiable hunger. 



