152 
ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 
dinary direction is in front, although not equally so for 
the external toe (c) has a more sidelong direction than the 
‘ j«st as we see in the owls, the 
structure of whose foot we have already 
described: so far from this toe being 
su -versatile^ it cannot be brought 
even a quarter way round (d) without 
an unnatural effort, so that its orilin. 
ary position («) would be about dou- 
ble that distance from the middle toe, 
which is between the middle and the 
inner one. In support of this opinion 
we hnd that this outer toe is actually 
connected to the middle one by a 
.1 ™®™*>''*‘n‘‘,asiftopreventit 
from having that versatile power which is seen in the 
cuckows (>^ 82.), where this membrane is completely 
wan mg. Other writers, unacquainted, apparently, with 
the time struc ure of the have im^ined 
tiiat these birds connected the order Jiasores with that of 
but we see nothing to justify this opinion, 
and very many facts and considerations against it. The 
eet are evidently a union of the percliing and the aber- 
rant scansonal characters, without any of the rasorial. 
(.1.81.) Having now attempted to define, with that 
precision which the present state of science demands 
the numerous modifications in the form and functions 
of the feet in those groups belonging to the Insessorial 
order, we shall but slightly touch upon such as are 
peculiar to the others : we have done this brieflv firs7 
because the variations are much fewer, and ^’ornfiv 
because the student will not have the same faciliSf 
comparison, except m such species as are indSu/ 
Very many of tlie Rasorial, Grallatorial, and Nafatoriai 
genera are composed of very large birds, whose size 
excludes them from private collections, and which can 
only be seen through the glazed cases, -often placed 
in bad hghts, and unfavourable situations, — of public 
museums. Where, as in this case, the greatest accuracy 
