Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-29
THE FEET OF BIRDS
CHARACTERISTICS DEVELOPED
BY THEIR USE.
The Hand of Man Very Often lnd1-
Gates His Occupation-So With
Claws Of Fowl.
From the Hartford Times.

From the Hartford Times.
If we examine the hands Of man we
can usually tell in a general way the KIM
of occupation in which he is engaged Inc
horny thick-nailed fists Of the blacksmith,
the knotted fingers of the base ball player
the calloused finger tips OF the Vlolinist'
the Intelligent hand Of the artist ana the
sensitive, thin skinned fingers OF the pro-
fessional card sharper, each tells the story
of Its adaptation to particular purpose
So II Is with the feet of birds, only their
characteristics have been developed, not
in a lifetime, but during thousands of years.
The moment we see bird with feet which
are webbed or partially webbed, we shall
be safe in coming to the conclusion that
he gets his living in or about the water
Grebes and looms, gulls and terms, alpa-
trosses and petrels, gannets ana pehcahs,
ducks geese and swans ana many otner
birds which have more or less swimming TO
do have their toes we'll provided with lobes
or webs The webbed foot Is to these bros
what the oar Is to the rover, what the
paddlewheel or the screw Is to the steam
ship When the foot moves forward through
the water it is folded up, thus onerlng the
least resistance, but when the backward
stroke is made the toes are separated, the
web is extended like section or an open
umbrella and grips the water with force
which drives the feathered bark along.
Some water birds can swim win great
speed. l have known wounded herring
gull to distance two stout rowers IN hSnl
boat and other species are faster still.
But these webbed feet are OF many pat
terms The feet of grebes and phaiaropes
are not fully webbed. the ENDS OF the Toes
being provided with flaps or lobes. Looms,
gulls ducks geese and others have only
the three front toes fully webbed, while
such birds as gannets, cormorants ana
pelicans have all four toes connected py
webs Certain ships, sandpipers. plovers
and other birds which get large part
Of their food in wet, muddy or sandy piaces
have their toes very slightly lobed or weo-
bed Other birds which frequent similar
localities have neither webs nor lobes, put
are provided with very long toes, wnich
keep their feet from sinking too deeply into
the mud. Some Of the herons and bltterns
are examples OF this class.
Turkeys and Quail.
The feet Of turkeys grouse and quail, like
those Of domestic hens. are stout ana
strongly made, and the toes are PROVIDED
with strong, blunt claws. These birds OBJ
tain much Of their food by scratching. ana
their feet are fitted for this rough work.
The foot of a bird Of prey (other than a
yulture) may be recognized at once py us
four muscular toes, each armed with
sharp, curved claw or talon rms IS the
instrument of death with which a haWK or
owl strikes down his living prey ana the
wise in which he holds 1t while ne tears II
to pieces with his hooked bill. Sucn rect
are rough, like coarse SdnupdpeT, pSic@
that they may not slip when once they
have seized victim. 1t Is difficult to pc
lieve what effective weapons the taions are
unless one has actually seen them IN opera
ton 1 once saw a mans hnger cut open
as with a scalpel by single claW OF a
small but angry hawk which he attempted
to lift from the ground and Know man
who almost lost his hand from Wouhu III ,
flicted by a captive eagle, which put lis
taIons right through his palm. The vul-
lures, though birds of prey. live upon car
rion and do not kill the animals they de-
YOUR. Their feet therefore, are far less
formidable than those or the hawks anu
owls, the claws being blunt and the hlno
toe comparatively small .oo.
The parrots have very interesting 1eet'
With two toes behind and two In front.
This arrangement makes 1t easy LOT the
birds to climb and swing head downwaru'
II also enables them to use their ieet 10
hold food while they dissect 1t with their
- Toes of Woodpeckers.
woodpeckers also have their toes ar
ranged two front and two back TO enaple
chem TO climb trees and hang from the
branches. Unlike parrots, however. they
cannot use their feet to grasp their FOOD
Such birds as nighthawks, swifts ana
humming birds have very small and feeble
feet, and for the very good reason that they
have little use for any limbs except their
wings They have no large prey to strike
down or hold, and they feed while In the
air. 1t was once common belief among
ignorant and unobservant people that
swifts had no feet at all, since they were
never seen to alight other birds do. The
less any limb or organ Is used the weaker
Il becomes; that is why people who insist
on taking the cars for all distances over
half a block cannot walk and run the
American Indians used to do
The feet of most of the perchlng birds,
such as orioles, vireas and warblers, are
slender, but much stronger than they APP
pear to be. They are fitted for grasping
the twigs and branches of the trees and
bushes where the birds spend SO much Of
their time. Crows, jays and some others
of this order also use their feet to hold their
food when they cannot manage it with
their bills alone. Jays will thus hold nuts
and acorns while they hammer them to
pieces with their bills and / saw crow
put a piece of bread into the water and
then hold It with one foot while he de-
voured It piecemeal.
Every one knows how the domestic roos-