236 SCANSORES. 



ORDER III. 



SCANSORES. 



THE Scansorial or Climbinf^ Birds are distinguished by the 

 structure of their feet. Ihe outer toe is turned backward, 

 so that the foot exhibits two toes in front and two behind.* This 

 is really the only character common to all the birds placed in the 

 Order Scansores ; the structure of the other parts from which dis- 

 tinctive characters are usually derived, varying greatly in different 

 members of the group, so that it includes species of very different 

 aspects and modes of life. It will, moreover, be observed that in 

 many of the Passerine birds, the outer toe, although not perma- 

 nently reversed, is capable of assuming the Scansorial character 

 —adding not a little to the difficulty of drawing a clear line of 

 demarcation between the two Orders. 



The structure of their feet enables most of the Scansorial birds 

 to cling with great tenacity to the branches and trunks of trees, 

 and to climb up the steepest surface. Few of them are possessed 

 of great powers of flight ; they spend most of their life among 

 trees, and find on them their favourite food. In some of the fa- 

 milies this consists of berries and other fruits ; in others almost 

 exclusively of insects and grubs. Most of them rear their young 

 in the holes of rotting timber, simply depositing their eggs among 

 the debris of the wood, without any nest. 



The Scansores are divisible into four families, of which the Tou- 

 can, the Parrot, the Woodpecker, and the Cuckoo are familiar 

 examples. 



See "Animal Creation," page 331. 



