The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-22
THE FEET OF BIRDS,

If we examine the hands of man we
can usually tell, in a general way, the
kind Of occupation he Is engaged in.
! The horny thick-nailed fists of the
blacksmith, the knotted fingers of the
baseball player, the calloused finger
tips of the violinist, the intelligent
hand of the artist and the sensitive,
thin-skinned fingers Of the professional
| card sharper, each tells the story of
its adaptation to particular porpose.
So it is with the feet of birds, only
their characteristics have been devel-
oped, not in 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 con-
clusion that he gets his living In or
about the water. Grebes and looms,
gulls and terms, albatrosses and petrels,
gannets and pelicans, ducks, geese and
swans and many other 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
birds what the oar Is to the rover,
| what the paddlewheel or the screw Is to
the steamship. When the foot moves
forward through the water, 1t is folded
up, thus Offering the least resistance,
but when the backward stroke is made,
the toes are separated, the web is ex-
tended like section of an open UNI
brella, and grips the water with a force
which drives the feathered bark along.
Some water birds can swim with great
speed. I have known a wounded her
ring gull to distance two stout rowers
in light boat, and other species are
faster still. But these webbed feet are
of many patterns. The feet of grebes
and phalaropes 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 wehbed, while
such birds as gannets, cormorants and
pelcans have all four toes connected by
webs. Curtain, snipe, sandpipers, plo-
vers and other birds which get large
part of their food in wet, muddy or
sandy places, have their toes very
SltBILIy lObCu VA WcUUSu. olHSI blIuS
which frequent similar localities, have
neither webs nor lobes, but are provi-
ded with very long toes, which keep
their feet from sinking too deep in the
mud. Some Of the herons and bitterns
are examples of this class.
The feet Of turkeys, grouse and quail,
| like those of domestic hens, are stout
and strongly made, and the toes are
provided with strong, blunt claws.
These birds obtain much of their food
by scratching, and their feet are fitted
for this rough work.
The foot of bird of prey (other than
a vulture) may be recognized at once
| by its four muscular toes each armed
with a sharp, curved claw or talon.
, This is the instrument of death with
| which hawk or owl strikes down his
| living prey, and the wise in which he
| holds it while he tears it to pieces with
his hooked bill. Such feet are rough,
like coarse sandpaper beneath, that
, they may not slip when once they have
seized victim. 1t is difficult to believe
what effective weapons the talons are
unless one has actually seen them in
operation. I once saw a mans finger
cut open as with a scalpel by single
claw of small but angry hawk which
he attempted to lift from the ground,
and I know a man who almost lost his
hand from a wound inflicted by a cap
tive eagle, which put its talons right
through his palm. The vultures,
though birds of prey, live upon car
rion and do not kill the animals they