those birds that spend most of their time 

 on the ground is generally short and 

 raised from a quarter to a half inch 

 above the level of the other three, this 

 evidently to facilitate walking. In the 

 Kildeer, Plover and some water birds 

 this hind toe is absent. These birds do 

 not perch and hence three toes serve 

 their purpose as well as four. In En- 

 gland there is a Swift, with all four toes 

 pointing forward. Nature, we will 

 suppose, found it more expedient in this 

 case to turn the hind toe forward than 

 to remove it when it was no longer 

 needed behind. No other bird has lived 

 closer to the ground than the Ostrich, 

 and so his foot has lost all semblance 

 to a bird foot. Hoof would be a more 

 appropriate term. 



We may rightly conclude from the 

 foregoing observations that the absence 

 of claws and toes indicates the bird's 

 progress in the journey of evolution 

 from, or may be toward, the arboral 

 life. 



The Woodpeckers, Parrots, and other 

 birds whose habit it is to cling to the 

 trunks of trees, have two toes pointing 

 forward and two backward. It will be 

 seen that such an arrangement is the 

 very best adapted for clinging. We need 

 not read in books to know considerable 

 of the life of any bird we may happen 

 to see with toes so arranged. 



In the Owls there are two toes for- 

 ward, one backward, and one sidewise — 

 a foot particularly adapted for seizing 

 and holding small prey. 



There are two distinct classes of 

 water birds — namely, waders and swim- 

 mers, and how well each is adapted to 

 his particular enviroment will readily be 

 seen. The swimmers have short legs 

 and webbed feet, while the waders have 

 very long legs, but the web being un- 

 necessary is accordingly absent. The 

 American Coot and Florida Gallinule, 

 birds half swimmers and half waders, 

 have what are called lobed toes — a sort 

 of imperfect web. Evidently these birds 

 have been true swimmers and are becom- 

 ing waders, or have been true waders 

 and are becoming swimmers. 



The Auks, Grebes and Loons are 

 strictly water birds, that is, they do not 



fly from the water as do the ducks and 

 geese, and so thoroughly are their short 

 legs adapted to the swimming habit that 

 they are practically helpless on land. 

 The waddle of our domestic duck and 

 goose is a mark of their lowly origin, 

 and is a striking example of the ugliness 

 of ill-adaptation. 



I think I need not go further into this 

 discussion to prove that the foot of the 

 bird presents to the student some in- 

 teresting problems, and that out of an 

 almost infinite variety of modifications 

 may be discovered some general truths. 



Interesting as the foot of the bird may 

 be, the bill is scarcely less interesting 

 when viewed in the light of the principle 

 of adaptation. Birds of prey have the 

 hooked bill and it needs no keen ob- 

 server to discover the appropriateness of 

 such a bill. In the parrot, it will be 

 observed this hook is unusually 

 prominent, because it serves a two-fold 

 purpose, this bird having the peculiar 

 habit of climbing and supporting itself 

 by means of the bill. In the wild state 

 it is often found suspended by the bill 

 from the branch of a tree, fast asleep. 



The bill of the Woodpecker is very 

 large and strong, nothing less would so 

 well answer his purpose. He is some- 

 times called the carpenter among birds. 

 His bill is, therefore, his hammer, his 

 saw, his plane, his chisel, his bit. 



The Finches, a family of seed eating 

 birds, have short thick bills, and the ease 

 with which they crack seeds and extract 

 the kernel is sufficient proof of their 

 splendid adaptation. 



The appropriateness of the long slen- 

 der bill of the Hummingbird is at once 

 obvious. The long bill of the Snipe 

 is equally important to him, for it en- 

 ables him to search down in the grass 

 for grubs and tender rootlets, with more 

 safety to himself, since his eyes are thus 

 at a height to do respectable guard duty. 

 It might here be added that the pliable 

 rubber-like structure of this bird's bill 

 makes it more sensitive to detect the 

 presence of food. 



That most singular bill of the Red 

 Crossbill is evidently the result of ages 

 of twisting at the cones of the pine 

 which furnish the principal part of its 



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