HINTS TO ORNITHOLOGISTS. 991 
to judge of a bird’s powers of perching by an ex- 
ternal admeasurement of its feet and claws. Our 
speculation is unprofitable, and our judgment is of 
no avail whatever; for, after we have laid our rule 
and compasses down upon the table, and have left 
the house to take a walk into the fields, with a full 
conviction that we have learned our lesson from 
the dried skin of a bird, we find that the habits of 
one bird are utterly at variance with those of 
another, although the proportional anatomy of 
their feet and claws be exactly the same. Thus, 
we observe the ring-dove sitting up aloft on the 
slender branches of the towering elm: but the dove- 
cot pigeon is never to be seen in so elevated a situ- 
ation. Still, the feet of these two birds are alike. — 
Our pheasant will sleep both upon the ground, and 
upon the branch of a tree. But the partridge of 
England is never known to resort to the trees, 
although its toes differ in nothing but in size from 
the toes of the pheasant. It requires an effort in 
birds to keep their toes straight; and -an effort in 
man to keep his fingers closed. 
Thus, from the study of internal anatomy, we 
learn that man can never be safe upon the branch of 
a tree, except when he is awake ; and that a bird 
is perfectly secure upon it, even in the profoundest 
sleep. 
The barn owl has been singled out as a specimen 
of pre-eminence in perching ; and we are informed 
that, as it represents the insessorial or perching 
order, its powers of grasping ought to be more 
than ordinary. We consequently find, continues 
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