Bird Notes and News 



exemplified by Gulls, Ducks, and Moor- 

 hens, paddle their feet alternately. The 

 webs of the feet are expanded during the 

 stroke, but quite contracted and bent up 

 when the foot is brought back again. 

 Ducks, having large feet, paddle fairly 

 slowly, and do not bend the joints between 

 the toes and legs much. But Moorhens, 

 Coots, and to a smaller extent, Gulls, bend 

 their joints more and paddle faster. 



In order to steer, birds either paddle with 

 one foot more strongly than with the other, 

 or with one foot only. I have seen Gulls 

 doing this ; and one in particular which I 

 watched seemed to be able to bend its 

 joints at any angle required. It was idly 

 swimming in the water, and gently moved 

 one foot occasionally, to keep its position 

 or change it slightly. Besides moving one 

 foot more than the other, it also moved the 

 feet further out from the body or nearer 

 in to it, as required. 



(vi.) Diving. 



The actions of birds in diving can be 

 admirably seen when the diving-birds are 

 being fed at the Zoological Gardens. In 

 Cormorants the action of the feet in diving 

 is chiefly the same as in the surface- 

 swimming of other birds. But they direct 

 their feet more up or down, according to 

 whether they wish to ascend or descend ; 

 the feet push upward when the birds wish 

 to descend, and vice versa. Once I saw a 

 Shag, when in a hurry, ply both feet 

 simultaneously for some distance. Pen- 

 guins, in diving, use the feet only for pro- 

 pelling themselves ; and feet and wings 

 combined, in steering. Though not 

 strictly to be described as diving, the 

 actions of a Sheldrake when feeding at the 

 bottom of a pond are worth noting. The 

 bird paddles its feet fairly slowly, moving 

 them upwards, in order to maintain its 

 balance. A Swan which I watched did the 

 same thing, but moved its feet more 

 slowly, 

 (vii.) .4s an aid to flight. 



Their legs and feet are also a great 

 assistance to birds in flight. They are 

 used in balancing, steering, rising, and 

 alighting. Birds which have long legs or 

 webbed feet usually have small tails. Some 

 birds are compelled to have long legs for 

 wading purposes, and as these would 



hamper the steering movements of the tail 

 in flight, they take its place to some extent. 

 But, the legs being inferior to the tail as a 

 rudder, long-legged birds are rather clumsy 

 steerers. Webbed feet are probably used 

 a little by birds in steering, but not very 

 much. 



The mechanism of a bird's foot is all 

 arranged to give good jumping power. 

 The bird must get a good push-off from 

 the ground, to give free play to the wings 

 in starting. A Sparrow can be seen 

 crouching right down to the ground in 

 order to get a better push-off. The Heron 

 gets up in a way somewhat different from 

 this, since, owing to the greater expanse 

 of his wings, and his greater weight, he 

 has to rise much more slowly. Most heavy 

 birds have rather long legs, to enable them 

 to rise more easily ; and such birds as 

 Condors are said to be much handicapped 

 by their comparatively short legs, while 

 Swifts can barely rise at all from level 

 ground. Coots, also, may be seen running 

 along the surface of the water when they 

 wish to rise, as they cannot easily do so 

 otherwise. 



In alighting, the legs are used in a some- 

 what similar way, but merely for gaining 

 a footing, as the real stopping is done by 

 the wings. Gannets, however, and some- 

 times Gulls, are said to paddle with their 

 feet in alighting in order to correct their 

 balance. 



Next comes the second class of func- 

 tions : prehension. The most important use 

 consists, of course, in perching. 

 (viii.) Perching. 



To give extra security when grasping 

 a branch, there is an elaborate locking 

 apparatus in a bird's leg. A tendon in the 

 tarsus joins another, which passes on the 

 outer side of the knee-joint. Then, since 

 the knee-bending and toe bending tendons 

 are one, when the leg is bent on the thigh, 

 the toes are automatically locked by the 

 bird's own weight. Therefore, the bird 

 cannot fall off its perch when asleep. The 

 feet of perching birds are admirably con- 

 structed for utility on the ground as well 

 as in perching. When on a fairly slender 

 branch, a Robin's toes form a complete 

 circle, as it were, so that it seems as if the 

 bird must fall off ; yet I have seen the 



