38 



SORTATION. 



And we have left in for further treatment certain species of 

 Scolopacidse and Passeridas. We have not said much of our sample 

 bird as yet, for it is evident from his portrait that his feet are not 

 webbed at all, and consequently we have been dealing with groups to 

 which he could not possibly belong. 



Neither can he belong to our next group in 

 which the feet are webbed to each other in 

 peculiar lobes. The best example of a lobed foot 

 is that of a Grebe. It is so unlike anything else 

 that the Podicipedida are as easy of recognition as 

 the Pelecanidas. 



This broad flat foot is the paddle by which the 

 bird propels itself when under water ; for, unlike 

 the Alcidse, the Podiclpedidse do not use their 

 I wings in their sub-aqueous explorings. There are 

 no representatives of either of these families that 

 dive as men dive; the Auks really fly under 

 water, the Grebes really swim, keeping at any 

 depth, and working in and out among the sub- 

 merged plants as expertly as a Duck does among the leaves that rise 

 above the surface. In both families the legs are placed so far back 

 that the bird stands upright like a Penguin. 



There are only three families in which lobed 



feet are found, and it is only in the Podicipedida: 



that the peculiarity is common to every species. 



Among the Rallidce there are two genera, each 



with a single species, which have lobed feet. 



These are the Coot and the Moorhen, the former 



of which has the lobes in broad scallops, a foot so 



remarkable that it cannot be mistaken for that of 



any other bird on the British list. The Coot has 



two marks which make his recognition the easiest 



of tasks. If you do not know him by his broadly 



lobed foot, you will know him by the white shield 



on his forehead, which a facetious naturalist has 



described as being as useful as a brass plate. 



The other representative of the Rallidae, and the last 



of the birds with lobed feet, is the Moorhen. In this 



case they are not so well marked as in the others, but 



narrow as they may be they are clearly distinguishable, 



and not likely to be mistaken for the membranes we 



have previously noted. And they are unlike the 



narrowly denticulate lobes oiPhalaropus, which is the 



only genus of the Scolopacidas that comes into this 



group. 



We have now to deal with the four-toed birds 

 which have their feet entirely divided from the base. 

 These naturally fall into three groups : — 

 ■I. Having four toes in front. 



2. Having two toes in front and two behind. 



3. Having three toes in front. 



And to the last — the "three fingers and a thumb" brigade- -belong 

 our most familiar birds, including our example. 



