CLIMBING FEET. 427 



claws tighten the hold of the foot. The foot of 

 the parrot offers an- 

 other excellent illus- 

 tration of a climbing 

 foot. The two front 

 claws are bent sharply 

 back, and, being ex- 

 tremely strong, they 

 readily hook on to 



twigs or branches, and thus enable the bird to 

 maintain its hold on these parts, while the 

 wings are partially opened to maintain the 

 balance of its body. If we were to search for 

 an example of a good walking foot among birds, 

 we should perhaps find the best in the ostrich. 

 This foot, however, has only two toes, but these 

 are both thick and strong. In walking it is lifted 

 high off the ground ; and that it forms an excellent 

 instrument either for walking or running we have 

 sufficient evidence in the fact that it requires the 

 fleetest Arabian horse to hunt these birds with 

 success. The wings are very useful in running to 

 the ostrich, acting, as before remarked, like sails. 

 The foot of the common fowl is both a good 

 walking and scraping foot, and its mechanism is 



