498 HINTS TO ORNITHOLOGISTS. 



him who will not allow the study of internal anatomy to be the basis 

 of the zoological system. We may measure the feet of preserved 

 bird-skins with rule and compasses, and then draw the conclusion, 

 from external appearances, that this foot, forsooth, is gifted by nature 

 for grasping, and that for perching : but it will not do. Internal 

 anatomy must be consulted. It alone can let us into the real secret, 

 why all birds which frequent the trees can grasp a branch with the 

 utmost facility, and sit securely there, without any fear of falling from 

 it. See the barn-door fowl walking before us ! No sooner does it 

 lift its foot from the ground than the toes immediately bend inwards. 

 From this natural tendency to contract, we draw the conclusion that 

 a bird is in absolute security when it perches upon a branch. By 

 means of this admirable provision of nature, the little delicate golden- 

 crested wren can brave the raging tempest, on the top of the loftiest 

 tree, in as perfect safety as the largest bird of the creation. Nothing 

 can be more illusory than an attempt to judge of a bird's powers of 

 perching by an external admeasurement of its feet and claws. Our 

 speculation is unprofitable, and our judgment is of no avail whatever; 

 for, after we have laid our rule and compasses down upon the table, 

 and have left the house to take a walk into the fields, with a full con- 

 viction that we have learned our lesson from the dried skin of a 

 bird, we find that the habits of one bird are utterly at variance with 

 those of another, although the proportional anatomy of their feet and 

 claws be exactly the same. Thus, we observe the ringdove sitting 

 up aloft on the slender branches of the towering elm ; but the dove- 

 cot pigeon is never to be seen in so elevated a situation. Still, the 

 feet of these two birds are alike. Our pheasant will sleep both upon 

 the ground and upon the branch of a tree. But the partridge of 

 England is never known to resort to the trees, although its toes differ 

 in nothing but in size from the toes of the pheasant. It requires an 

 effort in birds to keep their toes straight, and an effort in man to keep 

 his fingers closed. Thus, from the study of internal anatomy, we 

 learn that man can never be safe upon the branch of a tree, except 

 when he is awake ; and that a bird is perfectly secure upon it, even 

 in the profoundest sleep. The barn-owl has been singled out as a 

 specimen of pre-eminence in perching ; and we are informed that, as 

 it represents the insessorial or perching order, its powers of grasping 



