. The bird; its form and function . Fig. 294.—Foot of Snowy Owl. leg is feathered all the way down to the toes in this eagle,for some unexplained reason, while in almost all its rela-tives, as in the Bald Eagle, the legs are covered withscales. The feet and toes of the Harpy Eagle, Fig. 204,are probably the most terrible of their kind in the world: 37^ The Bird certainly they are the strongest. When once they haveclosed on an object, and remain clutched, nothing shortof severing the birds leg will avail to loosen the fearful. Fig. 295. —Foot of (!olden Eagle. grip. Besides capturing their food
. The bird; its form and function . Fig. 294.—Foot of Snowy Owl. leg is feathered all the way down to the toes in this eagle,for some unexplained reason, while in almost all its rela-tives, as in the Bald Eagle, the legs are covered withscales. The feet and toes of the Harpy Eagle, Fig. 204,are probably the most terrible of their kind in the world: 37^ The Bird certainly they are the strongest. When once they haveclosed on an object, and remain clutched, nothing shortof severing the birds leg will avail to loosen the fearful. Fig. 295. —Foot of (!olden Eagle. grip. Besides capturing their food, birds of prey carrythe sticks for their nests in their talons. When, instead of killing its prey, a species of birdfeeds upon carrion, the change in its habits is reflected Feet and Le gs 377 clearly in the appearance of its feet. Compare the feetof a vulture (Fig. 296) with those of one of the true birdsof prey (Fig. 295). The muscles are weaker and the clawsare shorter, more blunt, and, as a result, the toes have losttheir clasping power, while the hind toe is higher and so
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1906
