. The bird, its form and function. Birds. Feet and Legs 387 it for another footful. We cannot imagine a heron per- forming such an action. Although the toes of gallinules are so long and slender, yet, when the necessity arises, they can swim quite rapidly for a short distance, working their feet with such effort that the whole bod}' bobs in concert. Their cousins, the coots, resemble the phalaropes in having broad lobes of skin along each toe, so that, although they and the gallinules are often seen feeding in the same locality, yet the nata- tory' ability of the coot allows it to venture beyo
. The bird, its form and function. Birds. Feet and Legs 387 it for another footful. We cannot imagine a heron per- forming such an action. Although the toes of gallinules are so long and slender, yet, when the necessity arises, they can swim quite rapidly for a short distance, working their feet with such effort that the whole bod}' bobs in concert. Their cousins, the coots, resemble the phalaropes in having broad lobes of skin along each toe, so that, although they and the gallinules are often seen feeding in the same locality, yet the nata- tory' ability of the coot allows it to venture beyond the reserves of the other species. The toe-lobes also serve an- other important func- tion in permitting the coots to feed upon soft mud, thus keeping them from sinking below the surface, just as the horny ports it on the snow. Herons are furnished with a comb-like edge to one of the claws, similar to that on the claw of the whippoor- will, but as yet we have no clue to its use. Although differing so greatly from hawks in their method of feeding,. Fig 303.—Foot of Coot. 'snowshoe" of the grouse sup-. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Beebe, William, 1877-1962. New York, Holt
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1906
