. Wild neighbors: out-door studies in the United States. Animal behavior. 78 WILD NEIGHBORS it exists perfectly in the quaint little sea-horse (Hippocampus), which is a poor swimmer, and rests by hooking its tail around a bit of sea- weed or coral, or through a hole in a broken shell, thus an- choring itself securely. A service of the same nature is per- formed by the tail of many birds that are accustomed to climb about the trunks of trees, and cling to upright rocks, etc., in- stead of walking on the ground or perch- ing upon the branches. Familiar examples are the woodpeckers, nut- hatches,
. Wild neighbors: out-door studies in the United States. Animal behavior. 78 WILD NEIGHBORS it exists perfectly in the quaint little sea-horse (Hippocampus), which is a poor swimmer, and rests by hooking its tail around a bit of sea- weed or coral, or through a hole in a broken shell, thus an- choring itself securely. A service of the same nature is per- formed by the tail of many birds that are accustomed to climb about the trunks of trees, and cling to upright rocks, etc., in- stead of walking on the ground or perch- ing upon the branches. Familiar examples are the woodpeckers, nut- hatches, creeping- wrens (Certhiadse), and swifts. Whenever these birds rest a moment they press the tail hard against the bark or other surface to which they cling with muscular toes, and lean upon it. Such a leverage is very important to enable the woodpeckers and nut- hatches to deliver their sturdy and repeated blows; and without such a support the swift could hardly hold itself, as it does for long periods, at rest. Prehensile Tail of the 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 Ingersoll, Ernest, 1852-1946. New York, The Macmillan company; London, Macmillan & co. , ltd
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectanimalbehavior, booky
