318 | Animal Lite 
recorded in which a winged Great Northern Diver was seen to rise and run for some 
distance. The idea that Grebes are as helpless as divers is quite a mistake, as I have 
been able personally to observe in the case of five species; but it must be admitted 
that the large grebes are able only to walk a little way at a time, which makes the 
awkwardness of the similarly built but still larger divers easy to understand. 
Quadrupedal progression is very rare in adult birds, but is exemplified by the 
Penguins, which, when they wish to travel fast, will go on all fours, using their flipper-like 
wings as fore-legs, and the New Zealand Mountain-Duck (Hymenolemus malacorhynchus) 
in its native torrents is stated to aid itself with its wings, which are armed at the bend 
with a blunt knob, when climbing up slippery boulders. 
With regard to the ordinary locomotion of birds which walk or hop on their toes 
a good many discrepancies are observable, and these are not always easily accounted 
for on structural grounds. Broadly speaking, it may be said that most groups of birds 
walk, although this gait may vary from the speed and grace of the ostrich to the 
laboured waddle of the diving grebe and the flying swallow; for birds which spend 
most of their time in the air are as awkward on the ground as the most aquatic 
species. It has been stated that birds of prey can only hop, but this is quite wrong, 
although their walk is usually neither easy nor graceful, their long talons probably 
encumbering their movements. Some remarkable differ- 
ences of locomotion are found among the Parrots, the Lories 
hopping, while other parrots walk or waddle; in the King- 
fishers, which usually waddle, the largest of the family, the 
“Laughing Jackass” (Dacelo gigantea), nevertheless hops ; 
while among the Nightjars I found that a large Indian 
species (Caprimulgus macrwrus) hopped, while a smaller one 
(C. asvaticus) walked, as does also our Hnelish species. In 
these cases all the birds con- cerned are short-legged, but 
among the Cuckoos, Rollers, and Hornbills, the ground- 
frequenting species, which walk, have longer legs than 
the tree-haunters, which hop. It may be mentioned that the 
bigger Tree-Hornbills are the largest birds which affect this 
mode of progression ; as a rule ee Sp birds which hop do not exceed 
a pigeon in size (Fie. 4). if See a Among the Pigeons we 
encounter another curious in- Fig. 3. Guillemot in plantigrade consistency. The Ground- 
Pigeons certainly have longer ity legs than the arboreal species ; 
yet all walk as a rule, though some of the Green-Pigeons (Treronine), which are strictly 
tree-birds, are inclined to hop when on the ground. 
The Passerine birds, as everybody knows, usually hop; but the typical Crows (not 
the Jays, nor most of the Pies) walk, as also do the Wagetails, Larks, and most of 
the Starlings. Many of the tree-haunting starlings hop, however; but, on the other 
hand, some Passerine birds which live mostly on the ground always hop, such as 
the Chats and Pittas. These, however, travel rapidly and gracefully, very unlike 
the awkward action of many hopping birds. Some Passerine birds, such as the 
larger Thrushes, have a ‘curious habit of frequently changimg from the walking or 
running action to the hop, and the gait of the Chaffinch and Hedge-Sparrow is a 
curious compromise between a hop and a walk, a sort of shuffling blend of both. 
Passerine birds, as a rule, do not close the toes of the foot which is bemg lifted as 
they walk, although the Oven-Bird (Fwrnarius) does so (see Fig. 9 on page 199, Vol. II. 
of AnmmAu Lrrk), and the same peculiarity is found in the gait of some birds of 
prey and waterfowl. As a rule, of course, the action of lifting the foot closes the 
toes automatically. 
