28 



FORM AND HABIT: THE FEET. 



water-loving Divers, Auks, Gulls, Cormorants, and Ducks. 

 In the wading Herons and marsh-inhabiting Kails and 

 Gallinules the web is absent, but it reappears in the form 

 of lobes on the toes of the aquatic Coots of the same 

 family. 



Some shore-inhabiting Snipe have the bases of the 

 toes united by webs, but the Phalaropes, of two species, 

 have lobed toes not unlike those of the Coots, and are 

 true swimming Snipe living on the sea for long periods. 



Length of foot is largely dependent upon length of 

 neck. This is illustrated by the Herons, and is particu- 

 larly well shown by the 

 long-necked Flamingo, 

 which has a foot twelve 

 inches long. Its toes 

 are webbed, and it can 

 wade in deep water and 

 search for food on the 

 bottom by immersing 

 its long neck and its 



head. 



In the tropical Ja- 

 canas the toes and toe- 

 nails are much length- 

 ened, enabling the bird 

 to pass over the water 

 on aquatic plants. I 

 have seen these birds 

 walking on small lily 

 leaves, which sank be- 



Fio. 14. Flamingo, showing relative length . , . . , 



of legs and neck in a wading bird, neath their weight, giv- 

 ing one the impression 



that they were walking on the water (see Fig. 10). 



Many ground-feeding birds use the feet in scratching 



for food ; Chickens are familiar examples. Towhees and 



