224 Bird - Lore 



legs; indeed, such legs would be a hindrance to them; but water-birds do need 

 feet that will serve as oars or paddles, and consequently, we find a variety of 

 web-footed birds. Species that live much on the wing, whether finding their 

 food in the air or the water, have less need of strong legs and feet ; so we are 

 not surprised to find that in such species as the Gulls, Terns, Swifts, and Frig- 

 ate-birds, these parts are comparatively small and weak. 



It would take much time and space to catalogue all the uses of a bird's 

 legs and feet, but it will be wise to learn first their general plan and later to 

 observe the perfection of their adaptation to special uses. A bird's hind-limb 

 is made up of a thigh-bone, a knee-joint, two fore-leg bones, a double row 

 of ankle-bones, an ankle-joint, foot and toe bones, claws and scales. The 

 ankle-bones, however, appear only in the embryo. In the adult bird, they 

 become fused into the fore-leg and foot bones. If we should spread out a set 

 of these bones arranged correctly with reference to their jointing, and spread 

 out beside them a similar set made up from the hind-limb of reptile Uke a 

 lizard, we should be greatly surprised to see how nearly the plan of one resembles 

 that of the other. A flying bird in full plumage does not show much relation to 

 a crawling, scaly reptile; but, stripped of its covering of feathers, its bony 

 framework, or skeleton, tells the secret of its ancestry. 



In birds, the thigh-bone is short, as compared with the greatly varying 

 length of the fore-leg. The knee-joint is hidden by the feathers in a rather 

 confusing way, while the ankle-joint is apparently where the knee seems to be. 

 Take chicken or turkey-bones, again, as a familiar example by which to learn 

 parts of a bird's hind-limb. 



The short "second-joint," or thigh-bone, is next to the long "drum-stick," 

 or fore-leg, while the feet and toe bones which are covered with scales and 

 tipped with claws are never sent to the table. If you can learn to tell where the 

 knee and ankle-joint of a living bird are, you will be able to observe and 

 understand more correctly the uses of the hind-limb. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Are all web-footed birds water-birds? 



2. Are there different kinds of webbed feet? 



3. Can birds without webbed feet swim? 



4. What birds have lohed toes? Can they swim? 



5. Of what use are long legs to some birds? 



6. Do the claws of birds grow as our finger-nails do? How can birds keep their 

 claws trimmed? 



7. What birds have combs on their claws? 



8. How do some birds walk on snow? 



9. Which birds run? hop? walk? walk and hop? 



10. How does a Parrot use its feet? 



11. What birds use the feet to help in nest-building? 



12. How many toes have birds? How are they arranged? 



13. Which toe is the longest? 



