Feet and Legs 



387 



it for another footful. We cannot imagine a heron per- 

 forming such an action. Although the toes of gallinules 

 are so long and slender, yet, when the necessity arises, 

 they can swim quite rapidly for a short distance, working 

 their feet with such effort that the whole body bobs in 

 concert. Their cousins, 

 the coots, resemble the 

 phalaropes in having 

 broad lobes of skin 

 along each toe, so that, 

 although they and the 

 galUnules are often 

 seen feeding in the same 

 locality, yet the nata- 

 tory ability of the coot 

 allows it to venture 

 beyond the reserves of 

 the other species. The 

 toe-lobes also serve an- 

 other important func- 

 tion in permitting the 

 coots to feed upon soft 

 mud, thus keeping them 

 from sinking below the 

 surface, just as the horny "snowshoe" of the grouse sup- 

 ports it on the snow. 



Herons are furnished with a comb-like edge to one of 

 the claws, similar to that on the claw of the whippoor- 

 will, but as 3-et we have no clue to its use. Although 

 differing so greatly from hawks in their method of feeding, 



Fig. 303.— Foot of Coot. 



