BIRDS IN THE NURSERY 97 



Birds which live most of the time on the 

 ground, and build their nests there, have 

 downy, lively young ones which run or swim 

 about almost at once, and as such birds perch 

 only now and then, or not at all, they do not 

 need a large hind-toe so as to take a good hold 

 or move about easily among boughs, and so 

 we find their hind-toe is small and hardly 

 touches the ground, or not at all. Such toes 

 you will see in fowls and ducks ; and some 

 wild birds have gone further, and have no 

 hind-toe at all, such as the golden plover, 

 which never perches anywhere. 



You can see this difference quite well even 

 in the web - footed birds ; the cormorant's 

 foot is different from the duck's, as it has a big 

 toe behind, which makes its foot suitable for 

 perching as well as for swimming, though 

 there is a loose web stretching from the back 

 toe to the front ones. Among the wading 

 birds, the heron perches and builds its nest in 

 trees, and people often wonder at this, for 

 wading birds generally keep to the ground 

 and shallow water. But if you can get a look 

 at a heron's foot, you will see that it is as 

 well suited to hold on to a perch as a crow's 



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