386 The Bird 
ereat pads of water-lilies, which in places cover miles of 
water, over whose trembling surfaces the birds are able 
to run or walk. To enable them to do this without sink- 
ing, both the toes and claws are remarkably long and 
slender, so that in a bird which stands but ten or eleven 
inches in height the weight is distributed over an area 
of some fifty square inches. This makes it possible for 
them to feed in places too deep for wading birds and too 
Fig. 302.- Gatliule holding food in Its foot. 
tangled with aquatic vegetation for swimmers readily to 
make their way. This is but another forceful example of 
the successful adaptive radiation of birds. 
Gallinules have found that their long toes can be made 
useful in other ways besides locomotion, and we find that 
they are well-nigh as skilful as a parrot in grasping and 
holding. One of these birds perhaps spies a tuft of 
water-soaked reeds. He clasps it firmly, draws it up, 
and, holding it in the air near his bill, picks the small 
worms and snails from among the stems, finally discarding 
