140 THE ZOOLOGIST. • 



Egyptian Kites of the Nile, and also by myself* with regard to a 

 large Hawk of uncertain species which I observed in Germany. 



In 1898 some important notes were published by Mr. Frank 

 Finn,f in which he remarks that it may be taken " as fairly settled 

 that Waders and Waterfowl, Game-birds, Pigeons, and Birds of 

 Prey, carry their feet behind when in full flight, irrespective of 

 the length of those members." Of the short-legged Parrots and 

 Picarice, he gives in detail some interesting observations, and 

 concludes " from these experiences .... that, supposing the 

 same habit of carrying the feet to run through a family, the 

 forward position of the feet in flight probably characterizes 

 Hoopoes, Woodpeckers, and Barbets, and the backward one 

 certainly obtains among Kingfishers, Rollers, Hornbills, Cuckoos, 

 and Parrots." 



Mr. Finn's account of what he saw bears the stamp of reli- 

 ability. He is particularly careful to describe the difficulties 

 which beset the man who attempts to see the legs — or rather the 

 feet — of even a moderately large bird while in flight ; but he 

 took great pains, when unable to satisfy himself out of doors, 

 to let loose a tame bird indoors for purposes of study. 



The most important item of Mr. Finn's paper is, I think, his 

 record of the fact that in some species the position of the legs 

 may be varied so as to occupy either the forward or the back- 

 ward position. Thus, whereas Domestic Fowls, the Crow- 

 pheasant {Centropus sinensis), the Koel (Eudynamis honorata), 

 and Pigeons in general usually carry their feet forward during 

 their short flights, or, in the case of the latter birds, when 

 starting, they stretch them out behind them when well under 

 way. Lastly, Mr. Finn remarks that since he has " never met 

 with any bird which first extends its feet behind and then draws 

 them up," he considers that when he has once seen a bird with 

 its legs in the backward position his observations are " sufficiently 

 conclusive for the species in question, if not for their allies." 



Incited in the first instance by the notice of Mr. Hartert's 

 paper in the ' Ibis,'! I have during my travels accumulated a 



* ' Ibis,' 1895, p. 166. 



f ' Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' March, 1898, pp. 105- 

 107. 



% ' Ibis,' 1894, pp. 557, 558. 



