60 VARIED USES OF FEET. 



siting of the eggs j in others, again, thev are used as 

 a sort of hands in climbing, in which operation they 

 are in some species assisted by the bill ; and in others 

 still they are occasionally used in conveying the food 

 to the mouth, or in holding it while it is preparing 

 for swallowing, by the action of the bill. They are 

 also varied to suit the kinds of surfaces which are 

 frequented by the different tribes ; and they serve as 

 stilts for wading, and as paddles or oars for acting in 

 the water. The general characters of the foot and 

 leg of a bird are so well preserved through all their 

 almost innumerable varieties of form, that there is no 

 danger of mistaking them for the feet of any other 

 class. The feet of some of the reptiles resemble 

 them the most ; but still the shape, the articulations, 

 and the covering, even in the part of the bird which 

 is not feathered, are all or each sufficient for distin- 

 guishing the one from the other. 



The feet of birds are the organs of one of their 

 most important motions ; and thus they are made 

 one of the grounds of that very imperfect classifi- 

 cation which science has been enabled to make of the 

 feathered race. As the bill is a sort of guide to the 

 species of food ; and the wings to the kind, style, and 

 partially to the purpose of flight ; so the feet are a sort 

 of guides to the home and habitation of the bird, and 

 also to the place of its feeding, if its habit be not to 

 feed on the wing; and whether that is its habit or 

 not, can, in some degree, be determined by the 

 characters of the wings and the bill. Birds which 

 habitually feed on the wing have, in general, pointed 

 wings, and can wheel and turn on the tips of them, 

 whatever may be their other characters ; and they 

 have generally either a wide gape or a powerful and 

 rapid action of the mandible, so as to catch their 

 prey by snapping. 



