246 Notes, iv. 12. 



A writer in the Penny Cycl. (x. 163) makes the following remarks, how far accm-ately 

 I cannot say, concerning the Falconidse. "The nails or claws to be available must be 

 sharp ; and in order that they may be kept in this state and fit for duty, there is a 

 provision to enable the bird to prevent them from coming in contact with the ground 

 or other foreign hard bodies. For the claws are retractile, not indeed in the same 

 manner as those of the cats, which have the power of withdrawing or sheathing theirs 

 within the integuments, but by a conformation which gives the bird of prey the power 

 of elevating its claws at pleasure. The claws of falcons, when sitting on stones or large 

 branches of trees, have often a cramped appearance. But this arises in most instances 

 from the care of the bird so to arrange its talons that their points may not be blunted 

 against the perch." 



18. Because the earthy matter has not been used in any other manner, and must be 

 disposed of in some way or other. 



19. Cf. Note 8. 



20. Cf. iv. 13, Note 12. 



21. Cf. iv. 10, Note 14. 



22. This is erroneous. The number of phalanges is the same in the several toes of 

 Waders as in other birds, though the toes are as a rule longer. 



23. Cf. Introd. p. x. 



24. " These water birds fly with their legs stretched out behind, using them in place 

 of a tail to steer their course." In the heron, for instance, the tail is short, and the long 

 legs, stretched out in flight, " seem, like the longer tails of some birds, to serve as a 

 rudder" {BewicKs Birds, p. 11). 



25. Any one who has watched a hawk swoop down on a pigeon will recognise the 

 truth of this description of the position in which it holds its legs. 



26. The heron in flight rests its very slender neck and head on the back, so that the 

 bill appears to issue from the chest; while the stork, the ibis, the goose, etc., fly with 

 the comparatively stout neck outstretched. 



27. The term "ischia" is used by A. sometimes for the fleshy part of the buttocks, 

 sometimes for the bones which we know as "ossa innominata." It is owing to this 

 double meaning that in some places he speaks of birds as having no ischia, i.e. no 

 buttocks ; while in others, as here, he says that they have peculiarly long ischia, i.e. 

 pelvic bones. The pelvis of a bird is remarkable for its great elongation, both anteriorly 

 and posteriorly. It is thus described elsewhere {H. A. ii. 12, 2) : "Birds, moreover, 

 have an ischium which is long and resembles a thigh-bone, and is united {^mth the 

 vertebral column) as far as the middle of the belly, so that when it is separated from 

 its connections it looks like a thigh-bone." See also De Incessu, xi. $. 



28. Cf. iv. 10, 10—15. 



29. Cf. iv. 10, S3. 



30. This is a general but not universal rule. In some birds, as the great bustard, the 

 Otis of Aristotle, the toes are reduced to three by suppression of the hallux, as in the 

 ostrich they are reduced to two by suppression of both hallux and second digit. 



31. The hind toe varies very much in its development in Waders. Usually it is short, 

 as A. correctly says, but sometimes it is as long as, or even longer than, the others. 



32. The Crex was doubtless some bird that derived its name, as does our corn-crake, 

 from its note. But it is uncertain what exact species was thus designated. It was a 

 pugnacious bird {H. A. ix. 17, l), much of the same size as the Ibis {Herod, ii. 76); with 

 a sharp and notched beak [Schol. to Aristoph. Aves, 1060); and, as this passage shows, 

 it had a stunted hind toe. 



