1 86 Gambles witb mature Stu&ents 



The water- rail and moorhen appear to be links 

 between land and water birds ; they can swim 

 short distances by means of a membrane on each 

 side of the toes, but their lives are mostly spent 

 in threading their way through the sedgy herbage 

 which grows on the margin of ponds and lakes. 



The true swimmers (natatores) 

 include all such birds as swans, 

 geese and ducks ; we can see 

 how easily they propel them- 

 selves in any direction by means 

 of their webbed feet, which 

 so admirably fit them for 

 their aquatic life. 



I possess the 

 feet of a curious 

 foreign bird, the 

 jacana, which fre- 

 quents Brazilian 

 lakes, where 

 water-lilies 

 abound, and by 



means of its long 

 OWL'S FOOT. ., ,, 



toes it can walk 



upon the leaves and find its insect diet. 



The light weight of the bird is spread over a 

 considerable area, so that it is borne up on the 

 leaf-covered surface of the water much in the same 

 way that a traveller in Arctic regions is supported 

 on his journeys by means of his wide-spreading 

 snow-shoes. 



A ptarmigan affords us a specimen of a bird 

 well protected against the effects of cold by having 

 its feet thickly furred to the very claws. Its plumage 



