246 



FIRST LESSONS IN ZOOLOGY 



woodpecker, with two toes projecting- in front and partly 

 yoked together, and two similarly )-oked projecting' be- 

 hind. Note the webbed swimming-foot of the aquatic 

 birds ; note the different degrees of webbing, from the 

 totipalmate, where all four toes are completely webbed, 

 palmate, where the three front toes only are bound to- 

 gether but the web runs out to the claws, to the semi- 

 palmate, where the web runs out only about half-way. 



Fig. 200. — Young ostriches just frim ei;g, at ostrich-farm at Pasadena, 

 California. (Photograpli from life.) 



Note the lobate foot of the coots and phalaropes. Note 

 the long, slender, wading legs of the sandpipers, snipe, 

 and other shore-birds ; the short, heavy, strong leg of the 

 divers; the small, weak leg of the swifts and humming- 

 birds, almost always on the wing ; the stout, heavily nailed 

 foot of the scratchcrs, as the hens, grouse, and turkej's ; 

 and the strong, grasping talons, with their sharp, long, 

 curving nails, of the haw ks and o^v•ls, and other birds of 

 prey. In all these cases the fitness of the structure of 

 the foot to the special habits of the bird is apparent. 



