BILLS AND FEET OF HINDS. 



99 



rial use for large, strong, well-developed 

 feet, with sharp nails, so we find them 

 possessing mere apologies for feet, which 

 are barely able to support the weight of 

 the body while the individual is resting 

 (fig. 9). Instead of sitting up straight 

 with legs extended, both species sit with 

 their bodies close to, if ^psxr-^. 



not actually resting on the /a jd;&^ J ^-* 

 limb, the nighthawk al- fin**' 

 ways lengthwise. _ () Foot of the 



Everyone is acquainted Nighthawk. 

 with a few species of the 

 family Fringillid<r, sparrows, finches, gros- 

 beaks, etc. The same general type of bill 

 exists in every species of this, the largest 

 family of birds, namely, the short, stubby 

 bill, operated by well-developed muscles 

 and capable of comparatively great crushing 

 power for cracking seeds and other hard sub- 

 stances (figs. 10,11,12). In autumn spar- 

 rows and finches feed almost 

 O £^ exclusively on the seeds of 

 obnoxious weeds along fences 

 and in the fields. As a rule 

 10 Bill of the the nutritious material is cov- 

 Spar?ow g ered by a shell varying in 

 hardness. A few species of 

 other families, as the horned larks, black- 

 birds and meadow larks, eat the seeds 

 without cracking them. They have longer 

 bills, which are better adapted for other 

 purposes ; but the sparrow must crack his 

 seed and eat only the choicest morsel with- 

 in. Thus he possesses the short, stout bill 

 most useful to his manner of eating. As we 

 look from sparrows to finches 

 and from finches to gros- 

 beaks we find this type much 

 exaggerated, reaching its cul- 

 minating point in the grosbeaks, 

 where it is nearly as thick at 

 its base as is the skull. Gros- 

 beaks are often seen crushing 

 frozen buds in winter, to get 

 worm or larva form within, 

 times they may be seen among the 

 conifers extracting the hard seeds from 

 the cones. Our resident grosbeaks dur- 

 ing spring and summer seem to prefer 

 certain hard-shelled beetles for a diet. 

 In all of these cases the short, stout, 

 hard bill renders valuable 

 service. In one species of 

 this family, the crossbill, 

 we find a special form of 

 bill. This irregular wan- 

 derer, disobeying all rules 



J n B i 11 T? f ^ he of migration, whose reap- 

 Purple Finch. & ' . 1 x 



pearance can not be tore- 

 told by the most learned philosophic orni- 

 thologists, possesses a bill admirably adapt- 

 ed for extracting saeds from the cones ol the 

 pine. (fig. 13.) In late winter when the 

 food supply of the birds has been consid- 

 erablv diminished, it is not a rare sight 



ir. Bill of 

 the Gros- 

 beak. 



at some 

 At other 



<§> 



13 Bill of 

 the Cross- 

 bill. 



m certain localities to behold the Ameri- 

 can and white winged crossbills shearing 

 off the ice-coated buds of the maple and 

 elm trees, perhaps in search of small 

 worms, since the most tender parts of the 

 buds are strewn about on the 

 snow beneath. 



As a rule the bills of birds 

 which search damp meadows, 

 lawns and sometimes swamps 

 for worms, are longer than 

 those of the seed eaters, for a 

 certain amount of probing must be 

 done before the food is secured. They 

 must also do much scratching to un- 

 cover certain choice bits. For this rea- 

 son nature has provided for them strong 

 legs and feet with rather long, sharp 

 claws. (Fig. 14.) This type is character- 

 istic also of the perching birds (order 

 Passeres), which 

 spend the greater 

 part of their exist- 

 ence among shrubs 

 and trees. 



A highly special- 

 ized form of bill 

 (Fig. 15), is pos- 

 sessed by the Am- 

 erican woodcock 

 ( Philohela minor) and 

 Wils on's snipe 



(Gallinago delicata), the former inhabiting 

 swamps and alder thickets, the latter, damp 

 meadows. The bill of the woodcock is 

 slender and nearly 3 inches long. That of 

 Wilson's snipe is about x / 2 inch shorter. 

 The structure of the bill is peculiar in that 

 it is flexible and that the tip of its upper 



14- 



Characteristic foot of 

 the Passeres. 



15. Bill of the Woodcock. 



mandible can be moved independently of 

 the lower one, enabling it to act as a finger 

 and thus assist the bird in drawing its food 

 from the ground. 



Another highly specialized form of bill 

 is that of the 

 skimmer. On 

 the Atlantic 

 coast this fam- 

 ily is represent- 

 ed by but one 

 species, inhabiting the warmer regions. 

 The skimmers ,are unique in their manner 

 of feeding as well as in the form of their 

 bills, In shape the bill is similar to a long 



16. Bill of the Skimmer. 



