314 HINTS TO ORNITHOLOGISTS. 



of the tree, where it remains in a standing posi- 

 tion ; and it will fall asleep in that position, if not 

 disturbed. 



We shall never know why some birds prefer to 

 sleep on the ground, and why others select the 

 branch of a tree whereon to take their repose for the 

 night. That the formation of the feet and toes has 

 nothing to do with their choice appears evident from 

 the different habits of the ringdove and the com- 

 mon pigeon, the partridge and the pheasant. 



By the way^ though the pheasant will unite with 

 our barn-door fowl, and produce a progeny, still 

 there is a wonderful difference in the habits of these 

 two birds. The pheasant crows before it shakes 

 or claj]ls its wings ; the barn-door fowl, after. The 

 pheasant never claps or shakes its wings except in 

 the breeding season, and when it is on the ground ; 

 but the barn-door fowl will clap its wings, either 

 on the ground or on the roost, at all times of the 

 year. 



Should our grave doctors of zoology decide that, 

 by the study of external anatomy alone, we can be 

 enabled to point out those birds which are supposed 

 to be pre-eminently gifted with the powers of 

 perching and of grasping; and should these our 

 masters recommend that this novel study be ap- 

 plied to quadrupeds, and to bipeds, as well as to 

 birds ; I respectfully beg leave to inform them 

 that I have been gifted by Nature with vast powers 

 of leg and toe : I can spread all my five toes ; andj^ 

 when I am barefoot in the forest, I can make use 

 of them in picking up sundry small articles from 



