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GENERAL DEFINITIONS. 



leg of a quadruped as far down as the ankle-joint. 

 The first joint which appears is one the convexity of 

 which looks backwards ; this is the ankle-joint. The 

 slender, naked, and scaly part thence downward, is 

 anatomically the foot of the bird, ending in the toes, 

 on which latter alone the bird rests. Recalling the 

 appearance of a fowl as usually brought to table, the 

 reader will perceive that the whole/00/ of the bird has 



a 



FIG. 4. FEET, c, ordinary passerine foot (tarsus and toes), with tarsus scutellate in 

 front, " booted " on the sides and behind. 6, foot of Pigeon, scutellate in front, 

 reticulate on sides, a, foot of Plover, entirely reticulate. 



been removed ; the "drumstick,'' as it is called, is that 

 part of the limb between the ankle and the knee, cor- 

 responding to the " shin " of man, while what is known 

 as the " second joint " in carving, is the thigh, or that 

 part between the knee and the hip. The terms " leg " 

 and "foot" are very loosely applied to birds. In some 

 birds, especially the Waders, the lower part of the leg 

 or shin is naked, and protrudes from the general cov- 

 ering of the body ; but ordinarily the whole leg, as 

 well as the thigh, is hidden in the feathers. 



