290 FEET WITH ENTIRE WEBS. 



the tarsus, which assist in the curious twisting motions 

 of the feet, which of course increase as the wings 

 become less efficient as organs of support and balance. 

 But the most curious motions of these birds are all 

 performed in the sea, and under water, so that they 

 are rarely seen, and the subject is one upon which it 

 is by no means safe to speculate, as we have not upon 

 land any analogy to which we can trust. The fol- 

 lowing is a sketch of one of the feet ; but we should 

 not be able to illustrate the mode of action, even if we 

 gave ever so accurate a figure of the bird itself. 



Diver. 



The feet which have been now described, or rather 

 simply noticed, carry their owners down into the 

 depths of the ocean as far" as winged creatures can 

 descend ; and as the knowledge of them is nearly as 

 dark and downward as the places of their resort, it i> 

 rather pleasant to escape from them, and once more 

 visit the sun and the sky, the cheerer and the abode 

 of the more typical birds. 



ENTIEE WEBBED FEET. 



We have, next in order, to notice those feet which 

 are entirely webbed, that is, which have the hind toe 

 included in the web as well as the three front ones. 

 At first, one would be apt to conclude that these, as 



