284 ACTION OF THE GOOSE'S FOOT. 



the motion is very slow and the bill in contact with 

 the ground, as is the case in feeding, the goose swings 

 along with not a very graceful motion. Besides, 

 though geese in their domesticated state are not much 

 in the habit of flying, they are birds of long-continued 

 and moderately rapid flight when in a state of nature. 

 From this combination of feet and wings, and adap- 

 tation of the feet both to walking and to swimming, 

 these birds have their muscles distributed over the 

 body much in the same way as common poultry, and 

 thus neither their feet nor their wings are very 

 remarkably characteristic. The foot is a swimming 

 foot of the simplest kind, and may be understood 

 from the annexed figure. 



Common Goose. 



All merely swimming birds, which float along witli 

 part of the body above water, have the motion of the 



