THE FOOT OF A SWIMMING BIRD. 



How do birds swim? Why do some swim better than 

 others ? 



We must not think that in order to swim a bird must be 

 web-footedo The phalaropes, with only a little border of 

 webbing along the toes, are expert swimmers ; so are the 

 gallinules, with round toes entirely un webbed ; the sandpipers, 

 with their long, slender toes, can swim when it is necessary, 

 and the water ouzel, a near relative of the cat-bird, plunges in 

 boldly and dives and swims fearlessly. In the palm house 

 of Lincoln Park, Chicago, there used to be a number of little 

 rails wandering freely among the tropical plants and swimming 

 in their little pool, a proof to any Chicago child who watched 

 them that webbed feet may be a convenience but are not a 

 necessity to a swimming bird. 



Yet for birds that live much in the water, and especially for 

 those that fly poorly, it is scarcely more important to be able 

 to swim at all than to be able to swim well. Speed is essential. 

 Therefore, because it is the simplest device for securing swift- 

 ness, the webbed foot is the typical swimming foot. We find 

 the webs of all shapes and extent from the scalloped lobes of 

 the coot and the narrow web of some terns to the extra-ample 

 webbing of the gannets, pelicans, and cormorants, where all 

 four toes are connected by the membrane. 



If we wish to understand how a bird swims, we should think 

 of a boat. Let us say that the bird's body is paddled by his feet 

 just as a man paddles a boat, and we shall understand how the 



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