106 HOW HE IS MADE 
First, a foot that can be used like a hand to 
clasp a perch, a “ perching foot.” 
Second, one that is good to use as a foot, but 
not at all like a hand, called a “scratching 
foot.” 
Third, one that is like neither hand nor foot, 
but a paddle, called a “‘ swimming foot.” 
The birds who have the first kind, the “ perch- 
ing foot,” have usually three toes 
turned forward and one turned 
back. They can grasp a branch 
or a twig as tightly as if with a 
hand, as all our common little 

of prey, such as hawks and owls 
se (Fig. 9), hold in them live mice 
Foot of Hawk and squirrels and the other little 
animals they eat. 
Some birds with perching feet have the toes 
placed another way. Woodpeckers 
have two turned forward and _ two \ 
turned back, so that they can hold bet- 
ter to a tree trunk (Fig. 10). Bar 
A strange thing about the perching ,,., 
toes is the way they are made to hold = Wooa- 
on, so that the birds can sleep on a ana 
perch, and not fall. Inside the toes are tendons, 
something like cords, which act like elastic rub- 
birds do. And the large birds 
