070 The Bird 



We have seen that in perching birds the arrangement 

 is three toes in front and one behind; and now turning 

 to the woodpeckers we are struck with the excellent 

 toe arrangement of these chmbing birds,— their claws 

 spreading so that they point almost to the four points 

 of the compass, thus forming an admirable grapple or 

 vise, which makes a vertical position as safe for a wood- 

 pecker as a horizontal one for a percher. 



Woodpeckers, the world over, have feet and toes 

 which are remarkably alike; but in Canada and the most 

 northern parts of our own country, and in certain por- 

 tions of the Old World, there are several woodpeckers 

 which are unique among the birds of this Order in pos- 

 sessing but three toes. For some unknown reason their 

 first, or great, toe, which in all other woodpeckers points 

 backward, has disappeared, leaving but a vestigial trace 

 beneath the skin, while the outer toe is reversed to take 

 its place. We may see one of these hardy three-toed fel- 

 lows sliding and hitching up a pine-tree, pounding and 

 hammering vigorously, the loss of an entire toe evidently not 

 handicapping him in the least. In such fashion does Nature 

 occasionally upset our hard-worked-out theories, leaving 

 us confused and baffled before her inexplicable surprises. 



Is it not rather disconcerting to find that this same 

 arrangement of two toes in front and tw^o behind also 

 holds good for the other Orders of birds mentioned above, 

 the parrots, cuckoos, and owls, — their toes all arranged 

 in pairs, fore-and-aft? This is an excellent example of 

 what is called parallelism, or the independent develop- 

 ment of similar structures. 



