On the Ornithology of Wilts. 291 



are entirely clothed with them; some are plated as it were with 

 scales, others are smooth; some are thick and strong, others are 

 light and delicate; but all harmonize exactly with the feet with 

 which they terminate, and these present still greater points of 

 variety than the legs. The foot of a bird, unlike that of a quadruped, 

 is never composed of more than four toes ; this is the most general 

 number, and of these the first is usually directed backwards, though 

 in some cases the fourth is also associated with it: there are other 

 families, which have but three toes, and in that case all of them are 

 directed forwards, the first or hind toe being the one deficient : again 

 there are birds, which have but two toes, but as none of these last 

 occur in this country, we need not stop to consider their peculiarity ; 

 and again, the toe may be united by a membrane, and that either 

 entirely, or in part; or they may be wholly unconnected; but they 

 are always terminated with claws, which present the varieties of 

 long and short, straight and curved, sharp and blunt; but these, 

 together with many other points of difference, and the reasons of 

 them, and the suitability of the exact form of foot with which every 

 bird is provided, we shall more clearly see, as we go on to consider 

 the orders and families in rotation. 



The "Birds of Prey" present a great general similarity in the 

 formation of the foot; it is always strong and muscular, furnished 

 with four powerful toes, and armed with claws more or less hooked, 

 and often of very formidable size, strength, and sharpness. In the 

 family of vultures, the talons are not so much displayed, as the 

 habits of these ignoble birds require no weapon for striking a blow 

 to obtain their food, and no powers of grasping for bearing it away 

 in their feet to their young: content with the putrid carcase of 

 some fallen animal these unclean birds stuff themselves with carrion, 

 and carrying it to their nests in their craw, there disgorge the 

 unsavoury mess. But the falcons have by their own prowess to 

 secure their living prey, and so in addition to very powerful limbs, 

 and great muscular strength, are provided with sharp and generally 

 much curved claws, enabling them to strike down and hold securely 

 the victims they have seized. Like the carnivorous quadrupeds, 

 these rapacious birds can pounce so fiercely and with such exceeding 



