Natural History of the Beaver in Canada 353 



described. A North African rodent, known as the 

 "gondi" (Ctenodactylus) , has rows of cleaning bristles 

 arching over the claws of the hind-feet. Referring to 

 this genus, the Swedish zoologist, Tycho Tullberg. in his 

 systematic monograph of the Eodentia (Upsala, 1899, p. 

 152), says that the four claws of the hind-feet are very 

 small, thin, and sharp ; above them there are numerous 

 curved, stiff bristles arranged in rows, which serve the 

 same purpose as corresponding structures which are 

 found in the Chilion rodents, Chinchilla and Octodon, 

 namely, to comb the soft fur. 



Cleaning claws are known amongst birds. In the 

 heron family (Ardeidas) which includes herons and 

 bitterns, the claw of the middle toe is serrated along its 

 inner border. The nearly related families of the storks 

 and ibises are without any serrated claw. An exactly 

 similar kind of serrated claw on the middle toe is found 

 in the members of the Nightjar family (Caprimulgidas) ; 

 while the nearly related Frogmouths (Podargidae) are 

 without it. Again we meet with it in the Barn Owls 

 (Strigida?), but not in the nearly related Horne'd Owls 

 (Bubonidaa). 



A serrated claw is found in the same position in 

 several small families of the order Steganopodes or Toti- 

 palmatoe (all four toes connected by a web), including 

 the Cormorants, Darters, Gannets, and Frigate-birds 

 [see British Museum Catalogue of Birds, Vol. XXVI]. 

 Leaving these out of consideration for the sake of sim- 

 plicity, we may fix our attention on the fact that the 

 serrated middle claw, an exceptional feature in the class 

 of birds, occurs identically in three entirely distinct 

 families (Ardeidoe, Caprimulgidas, Strigidaee), whilst it 

 does not occur in the nearest relatives of these families. 



Such observations as have been made touching upon 

 the use of the serrated claw indicate that it serves to 

 clean the rictal bristles near the mouth and the adjacent 

 feathers of the head. In Gilbert "White 's ' ' Natural His- 

 tory of Selborne," edited by E. Bowdler Sharpe (Lon- 



