Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-07-28
BIRDS LEGS AND FEET.
Organs Second Only to the Beak il
the Variety of Their Uses.

Organs Second Only to the Beak in
the Variety of Their Uses.
William Beebe, Curator of Ornithol-
ogy, New York Geological Society, in
Newport, R. l., News.-Second only to
beaks, in the variety o. uses which
they subserve, are the feet and legs of
birds. Compared to the rest OF the
birds body, these portions have under
gone the least change in appearance
since the era of toothed birds and the
reign of the ArchaeopteryX, that an
cient connecting link, half-reptile, half
bird.
No matter whether the tiny limbs of
humming bird or the gigantic shank
of an ostrich are considered, all are
covered with scales, most emhathic
reminders of the reptilian ancestry Of
both these extreme forms of feathered
life. The real foot of bird, as the
word is used in speaking of other ami
mails, extends to the backward bend
ing joint, or heel so that part OF the
lower leg is concealed by the feathers
and skin, while the upper leg, or thigh,
is sometimes wholly within the body.
Although birds are descended from
five-toed ancestors, yet the fifth toe
has entirely disappeared. The dispo-
sition of the remaining four, three or
two toes, as the case may be, is al
ways in accordance with the habits of
the respective bird. When an animal
in
leaping, the tendency is for one toe to
become greatly enlarged at the ex-
pense of others, as in the case of the
horse and kangaroo. The ostrich shows
this very plainly, and it's two mighty
toes, one much the larger, enable it to
run with remarkable swiftness. The
other extreme is found in any bird
which keeps so much on the wing that
it's feet have fallen into disuse; thus
the very small feet and toes of the
chimney swift show how little use feet
may be in some birds.
In the cages and aviaries of the New
York Geological Park, we may see
many interesting ways in which birds
make use of their feet. The burrow-
ing owls make their little round bur
rows with only their toes for pick and
shovel. They kick little circular hOl-
low in their pile of sand, then work
downward, making trip after trip from
the entrance as deep as they have
dug, kicking the dirt behind them at
each step. Their cousins, the owls
which nest in hollow trees, use their
sharper talons only to catch their prey,
and then to hold it firmly while they
tear it tC pieces with the beak.
Parrots use their feet for more
different purposes than any other kind
Of bird-they are the monkeys of the
feathered world. They cuimb wires OF
branches one step after another, their
beak taking the place Of third foot
in this style of locomotion They pick
up food, such as banana or nut, and
hold it while eating, turning it from
side to side, as we revoive an apple in
our hand. With their feet they preen
their plumage and push each other
aside when too closely crowded, and
not the least remarkable is the habit
!
by the feet from the top of their cage
when asleep.
The peculiar formation OF the foot
two toes in front and two behind
which is found in parrots and owls is
adapted to many other uses. The
woodpeckers have it, and here it en-
ables them fairly to defy gravity
hitching up perpendicular tree trunks
while road runners, a variety of ground
cuckoo, with this same arrangement
of the toes, can run with wonderful
rapidity, often ,distancing a horse, fol
several hundred yards.
Perching birds have, as a rule, three
toes in front and one behind They
have a most admirable Arrangement