THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 11^ 



ornamental head-dresses. The practice of disembowelling 

 them, in conjunction with their being deprived of feet, 

 led to another singular fancy that, having no need of 

 food, they lived wholly upon dew and vapours. 



There is a British bird the Swift (Cypselus murarius) 

 which has, at least in name, been represented as "foot- 

 less"; but, though its legs are exceedingly short, the 

 structure of its feet is admirably adapted for their uses. 

 The shortness of the legs and the great length of the 

 wings render it very difficult, if not impossible, for it to 

 rise from any even surface, and, as if conscious of this 

 inability, it is never seen to alight on the ground. 



The peculiar conformation of the foot distinguishes the 

 swift from the swallows, and, indeed, from all other 

 known birds ; for, though some species have the power of 

 turning one of their toes either before or behind, none 

 but the swift can turn all the four toes of the foot forward. 

 The smallest toe also consists only of a single bone, while 

 the other three toes have only two bones each a structure 

 adapted to the habit of the bird of clinging to the per- 

 pendicular face of walls and rocks and eaves of houses, 

 aided by its strong, sharp, hooked claws. 



The feet in swallows, though not quite so short as in 

 the swift, are very small, but peculiarly adapted to the 

 bird's habits. In the capture of its prey, for example, it 

 does not employ its feet. In fact, the great requisite in 

 the foot of the swallow is that it shall be formed without 

 those qualifications which are such wise provisions in the 

 feet of most other birds, for what is a perfection in them 

 would be an imperfection in it. 



The Kingfisher (Alcedo tspida) is another British bird 

 whose legs are exceedingly small and not well adapted for 

 walking, which, familiar as we are with the species, we 

 never saw it attempt. In this it is singularly different 

 from its fellow-fisher, the Dipper (Cinclus aquaticvs), 

 which can not nnlv trip along the edge of a rock, but can 

 walk, as we have repeatedly witnessed, directly under 



