﻿EXTERNAL ANATOMY. TOES. 121 



(111.) We may now pass on to those feet which are 

 furnished with four toes, where we have three distinct 

 variations from the ordinary position : 1 . when there 

 are two before and two behind ; 2. when the exterior 

 toe is more or less versatile, and may be brought for- 

 ward if required, although it is usually directed back- 

 wards ; and, 3. when all the four toes are directed 

 forward. Of the first there are several important modi- 

 fications, as seen in the trogons, parrots, and wood- 

 peckers ; the second structure is versatile, and is 

 general among the puff birds and the cuckows ; the 

 third is of rare occurrence, and is only seen in the 

 swifts, the colys, and the cormorants. It has been 

 customary to call all feet Scansorial, which have the 

 toes placed in pairs, that is, two before and two behind : 

 hence has originated the error, fallen into both by MM . 

 Cuvier and Temminck, of classing many birds with 

 the true climbers, which have not, in their natural 

 economy, the least affinity with the Scansorial tribe. 

 There are, in fact, no less than five different variations 

 in those feet which have the toes disposed in pairs, each 

 being accompanied by a corresponding difference of 

 function. It is important, therefore, that these should 

 be named and defined. First, then, we have a pre- 

 hensile foot, as seen in the parrot family : here the 

 soles are remarkably broad, and the toes divided to their 

 origin ; the two exterior toes are the longest, one of 

 which is decidedly in front, while the other, although 

 almost always directed backwards, can nevertheless be 

 brought half way in front, so as to make a curve out- 

 wards ; thus, if a parrot was to grasp a perfectly round 

 fruit, its four toes would hold it at four points of its 

 circumference, and at four equal distances : thus it is 

 that these birds have the most varied powers of pre- 

 hension in their feet of any of the Scansores ; for when 

 assisted by their bill, they can not only climb, but feed 

 with their feet, this latter faculty being denied to all 

 other groups. The toucans, cuckows, and puff birds, 

 have the arrangement of the toes like unto the parrots, 



