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XXXI. Oil the Use of the Pedes scansorii of Birds; in a Letter to 



the Rev. Williain Kirby, F.R.S. and L.S. By the Rev. Revelt 



Sheppard, F.L.S. 



Read June l6, 1818. 

 My dear Sir, 

 Happening a few days since to take up Ray's Wisdom of God 

 in the Works of the Creation, I was particularly struck with the 

 passage where, speaking of the Woodpecker tribe, he says, " Their 

 toes stand two forwards, two backwards ; which disposition (as 

 Aldrovandus well notes) Nature, or rather the wisdom of the Cre- 

 ator, hath granted to Woodpeckers, because it is very convenient 

 for the climbins; of trees." 



The attempt to prove this assertion, adopted by so many and 

 able naturalists, to be altogether unfounded, must appear to sa- 

 vour of presumption in one who has so little of the philosopher 

 about him : nevertheless, I hope to convince you that such dis- 

 position of the toes in the Woodpecker tribe was intended by the 

 Author of Nature for a very different, though equally wise pur- 

 pose. I know of but six genera, viz. Psittacus, Cucuh/s, Pious, 

 Ramphastos, Trogon, Bitcco, that are furnished pedibus scansoriis, 

 i. e. with two toes before and two behind ; and of this number 1 am 

 acquainted with the manners of the three first only. 



To begin with Cucuhis : — I speak only of our common species : 

 Here is a bird furnished with two toes before and two behind, and 

 yet is actually never known to climb at all ; a convincing proof 

 that such conformation does not necessarily bring with it the power 



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