3b THE BONES. 



in domestic fowls, they are very small in proportion to the 

 size of their bodies ; and in the Penguins, which, as has been 

 observed, live almost entirely on the water, and, in diving,, 

 may be said to fly beneath its surface, they are remarkable for 

 their flattened appearance, as if they had been pressed ; approach- 

 ing more to the form of a fin than a wing, much resembling 

 the flappers of a turtle. 



The last bones which remain for consideration, are those 

 composing the legs and feet, which are the more worthy of atten- 

 tion, inasmuch, as to a certain degree, upon these, and of the 

 feet more especially, depends the division or classification of 

 birds. 



It is not, however, our intention to enter into an expla- 

 nation of what is called the anatomical structure of these 

 limbs, further than to point out wherein they resemble or 

 differ from our own, and correct a very common mistake into 

 which inexperienced observers are apt to fall. We give two 

 figures, No. i representing the leg of a man ; No. 2, that of a 

 bird ; in which the corresponding divisions of each are marked 

 by similar letters. 



Here we see the legs both divided into three parts, exclu- 

 sive of the actual foot : the first from a to B ; the second from 

 b to c ; the third from c to d. Now, without attending care- 

 fully to these divisions, we might be apt to conclude that 

 birds have one more division than human beings ; but this is 

 not the case — the mistake on our part arising from the pre- 

 vailing opinion that the part c d in the bird's limb is the part 

 which corresponds with what we usually term the leg, namely, 

 B to c, that is, from our knee to our ankle ; whereas, the bone 

 b c in the limb of the bird is, in fact, its real leg-bone. For 

 its thigh we must look still higher, hidden as it usually is 

 amongst the feathers, and probably, by many, scarcely known 

 to exist. The great difference between the limbs of birds and 

 human beings consists in this, that what we are apt to term 

 the leg of a bird is, in fact, the part which answers to our 

 ankle. This will be easily seen by a little closer examination. 

 Let us look, then, at the joint b in the two figures : in the 



