Feet and Legs 381 



true horny-handed sons of the soil : their claws are stubby, 

 short, and blunt. Sharp edges would soon be dulled by 

 scratching, and elongated ones would sliver and break. 

 So, with his blunt claws, our chicken and his kind are 

 well provided for. 



The most interesting feet among these birds are those 

 of the grouse. The ruffed drummer of our woods walks 

 about, in summer, on slender toes over moss and logs, but, 

 when soft deep snows come, his weight would make it 

 difficult to keep from being buried at each step. So 

 Nature provides him with snowshoes. From each side of 

 each toe a broad, horny comb-like fringe grows out; not 

 a web of skin which might soon freeze, but rows of horny 

 projections, as of a myriad extra claws. This distributes 

 his weight so that he trots merrily over snow through which 

 a fox sinks deep and flounders awkwardly at every step. 



But what of the ptarmigan, that snow-white grouse 

 of the far North, whose home is amid those frigid barren 

 regions? This bird is much more of a walker than the 

 Snowy Owl, and its feet would surely freeze during 

 the long winters if they were bare of feathers. So we 

 find indeed that scarcely a claw is visible beyond the 

 thick feathers which cover legs, toes, and soles. Such 

 a provision against cold is evident and reasonable enough, 

 but how are we to account for the feet and toes of the 

 House Martin of Europe, which are densely feathered to 

 the very claws? It breeds in Iceland and Lapland, but 

 only in summer, when it would need no such protection 

 against cold, and it is also true that it breeds upon the 

 cliffs of Persia and southern India. 



