ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FEET OF BIRDS, AS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THEIR HABITS 

 AND HAUNTS. 



Page 



Clutching Feet. — Character of these feet — Feet of Falcons 

 — Fishing eagles — Action of their feet — Feet which resem- 

 hle these .... 241 — 244 



Ground Feet. — Different kinds— Feet of ostriches — Emu 

 —Plover— Bustard .... 244—248 



Feet for Grassy Surfaces. — ^Their peculiarities of struc- 

 ture—Example of the foot of the skj'-lark . 248 



Feet for Aquatic Plants. — Their general structure — Feet 

 of gallinules— Of coots . . . 248, 249 



Walking and Scraping Feet — Their general characters 

 — Instanced in the gaUinidse . . . 249 — 251 



Walking and Perching Feet. — Their form — Their own- 

 ers — Action of the birds that have them — Perchers, like 

 swimmers, known by their walk — Instances, the rook and 

 blue tit . . . . . 251, 252 



Feet better for Perching than for Walking. — Cha- 

 racters of these feet — Instances, as being nearly the ex- 

 tremes of their character — Birds which have such feet 252 — 254 



Syndactylic Feet — Character — Instance in the kingfisher 254 



Crab Feet — Peculiarity of their structure — Birds which have 

 them — Peculiarities of these birds — Habits of the birds — 

 Detailed account of their structure and action — Feet of the 

 swallow tribe .... 254 — 264 



Anisodactylic Feet. — Characteristic of their owners — 

 Their structure — Instance in the creeper — The nuthatch — 

 simplicity of natural mechanics . . 264 — 269 



Scansorial or Climbing Feet. — Their form — The wood- 

 pecker — Action of its foot — Parrot — Remarks on prehensile 

 organs— Difiaculties in studying them— Farther account of 

 the parrot ..... 269—278 



SwiMMiMG Feet.— Their varieties— Their natural gradation 

 — Grebes — Geese — Swans — Swimming ducks — Diving 

 ducks— Divers .... 278— 290 



Entire-webbed Feet. — Characters— Birds which have them 

 — Peculiar action of these feet — Instance in the gannet — 

 Some notice of the structure of that bird — The strength of 

 nature is in simplicity— The proper mode of studying na- 

 ture ..... 290—295 



Feet of Long-winged Water birds. — Their structure and 

 action— Gulls— Skuas— Terns— Petrels . 295—300 



