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 claps its wings ; the barn-door fowl, after. The 
pheasant never elaps 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 ; and^ 
when I am barefoot in the forest, I can make use 
of them in picking up sundry small articles from 
