. Bird-life: a guide to the study of our common birds . Fio. 12.—Lobed foot of a Coot, aswimming bird of the Eailfamily, (/s natural size.) Fig. is.—Lobed foot of a Phala-lope, a Bwimming bird of theSnipe family. (Natural size.) matic action of certain tendons the birds are locked totheir perches while sleeping. A webbed foot implies abil-ity to swim, and we find this character present in all the 28 FORM AND HABIT: THE FEET. water-loving Divers, Auks, Gulls, Cormorants, and the wading Herons and marsh-inliabiting Kails andGalHnules the web is absent, but it reappears in the formof lob
. Bird-life: a guide to the study of our common birds . Fio. 12.—Lobed foot of a Coot, aswimming bird of the Eailfamily, (/s natural size.) Fig. is.—Lobed foot of a Phala-lope, a Bwimming bird of theSnipe family. (Natural size.) matic action of certain tendons the birds are locked totheir perches while sleeping. A webbed foot implies abil-ity to swim, and we find this character present in all the 28 FORM AND HABIT: THE FEET. water-loving Divers, Auks, Gulls, Cormorants, and the wading Herons and marsh-inliabiting Kails andGalHnules the web is absent, but it reappears in the formof lobes on the toes of the aquatic Coots of the samefamily. Some shore-iahabiting Snipe have the bases of thetoes united by webs, but the Phalaropes, of two species,have lobed toes not unlike those of thfe Coots, and aretrue swimming Snipe living on the sea for long periods. Length of foot is largely dependent upon length ofneck. This is illustrated by the Herons, and is particu-larly well shown by the. loTvg-^iecked Flamliiffo, Fig. 14.—Flamingo, sliof legs and neck(Much reduced.) ring relative lengthn a wading bird. which has a foot twelveinches long. Its toesare webbed, and it canwade in deep water andsearch for food on thebotto|n by immersingits long neck and itshead. In the tropical Ja-canas the toes and toe-nails are much length-ened, enabling the birdto pass over the wateron aquatic plants. Ihave seen these birdswalking on small hlyleaves, which sank be-neath their weight, sjiv- ing one the impressionthat they were walking on the water (see Fig. lo). Many ground-feeding birds use the feet in scratchingfor food ; Chickens are familiar examples. Towhees and FORM AND HABIT: THE FEET. 29 Sparrows use both feet in searching for food, jumpingquickly backward and throwing the leaves behind them. Parrots use their foot as a hand. Some Hawks carrynesting material in it, and all birds ofprey strike their quarry with theirstrongly curved claws, which are thenused to carry, or hold
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