54 THE DISPERSAL OF SHELLS. 



The beaks and feet of birds sometimes have earth 

 adhering to them/ and this in the case of those 

 frequenting the muddy edges of ponds and streams 

 may sometimes have young molluscs, and even full- 

 grown Pisidia and other small shells sticking to or em- 

 bedded in it. A top-knot pigeon {LopJwlaimiis antarc- 

 tica), shot by Mr. Musson in New South Wales, had a 

 small ball of earth surrounding each leg, just clear of 

 the ground, " no doubt accumulated as the bird 

 wandered about on the muddy margin of some water- 

 hole/^ ' and Mr. Darwin once received a woodcock's leg 

 from a friend with a little cake of earth, weighing nine 

 grains, attached to the shank. ^ Mr. Hardy and Mr. 

 Standen both call to mind instances of snipe shot 

 with clayey mud clinging to their feet and legs, in 

 sufficient quantity, they think, for the retention of 

 Pisidia, etc., and no doubt many observations of this 

 kind might be got together. As is well known, seeds 

 of plants have been found in the earth thus adhering, 

 but I have not heard that shells have been dis- 

 covered in it. It is worth mentioning, perhaps, that 

 Mr. Darwin once found a pebble, as large as the seed 

 of a vetch, and, therefore, as large as some full-grown 

 Pisidia, in a little earth removed from the foot of a 

 partridge. ■* 



^ " Origin," p. 345. 



2 C. T. Musson, " Proc. Lin. Soc. N.S.W.," (2), iv. (1889), 388 ; one 

 of the legs of the pigeon, and the accompanying ball of earth, 

 weighing nine grains, were exhibited at the Society's meeting. 



* " Origin," p. 328. 



* " Origin," p. 328. 



