THE AUK: 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 



Vol. xxvi. April, 1909. No. 2 



THE POSITION OF BIRDS' FEET IN FLIGHT. 1 



BY CHARLES W. TOWNSENP, M. D. 



The flight of birds is generally so rapid that our impression as 

 to the position of their feet is often a confused or conventional one, 

 and not always correct, unless our attention has been particularly 

 called to this point. This is shown, for example, in the taxider- 

 mist's soaring dove, whose feet are carefully drawn up in front, 

 an erroneous position, as we shall see. In the case of many birds, 

 however, it is not difficult on close observation to see clearly the 

 feet, and to be sure of their position. In others, long study is 

 necessary before the point is clear. The subject has interested me 

 for some years, and I have accumulated a certain number of notes 

 from my own observations and from literature, both of which are 

 briefly summed up in the following paper. All studies of this sort 

 are interesting in themselves, and may be of help in determining 

 relationships. 



Birds may be divided into two classes: I, those that habitually 

 carry their feet stretched out behind during flight, and, II, those 

 that carry them drawn up in front. 



I. Birds that carry the feet behind. 



As far as I know all water-birds habitually carry their feet behind 

 in flight, but a few observations on the different orders may be of 

 interest. 



1 Read at the Annual Meeting of the American Ornithologist Union, November 

 18, 1908. 



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