FEET OF LONG-WINGED BIRDS. 297 



out occasioning the least splash or disturbance of the 

 water ; whereas those birds which feed on or in that 

 element, and use the wing only in journeying from 

 place to place, always make a splash when they 

 alight, and have some trouble before they get on the 

 wing. The length of the tarsus is the principal cha- 

 racter of the foot, by which those of different habits 

 may be distinguished. It is, of course, longest in those 

 which walk most on the ground, whether inland or 

 along the beaches, and gradually shorter in propor- 

 tion as they are more exclusively occupied in skim- 

 ming over the surface of the sea. 



The gulls have it the longest, but it is slender, and 

 a portion above the tarsal joint is bare of feathers. Their 

 front toes and webs are of moderate length ; but the 

 hind toe is very short, without any web, and articulated 

 higher up than the front ones. The feet are placed 

 considerably forward ; and although there is an obli- 

 quity of the tibiae which throws the tarsal joints a 

 little outwards, the birds walk with less of a rolling 

 motion than any of the swimming birds. 



The skuas have the feet nearly of the same form ; 

 but the hinder toe is a mere tubercle, articulated on the 

 same plane with the front toes. They also have the 

 claws considerably hooked, which agrees with the 

 raven-like habit of the birds, which displays itself in 

 eating carrion, and plundering the nests of birds which 

 build in the banks ; and which they have in addition 

 to their peculiar and more characteristic habit of 

 attacking other birds (gulls chiefly) and making them 

 deliver up the contents of their stomachs. The length 

 and crookedness of the claws might lead to the sup- 

 position that the skuas, which are very bold birds, use 

 these instruments as hawks do ; but such is not the 

 case, though they may assist the birds in holding-on 



