. The bird, its form and function . ^ 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. Fig. 296.—Feet of Vulture. (E. R. Sanborn, photographer.) small that it is of no use even in perching. Such is thecondition in the condor of South America. WTien in captivity an eagle is given a piece of meat, itseizes the food in its talons and flies to some favouritespot to dev
. The bird, its form and function . ^ 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. Fig. 296.—Feet of Vulture. (E. R. Sanborn, photographer.) small that it is of no use even in perching. Such is thecondition in the condor of South America. WTien in captivity an eagle is given a piece of meat, itseizes the food in its talons and flies to some favouritespot to devour it, but a condor transports its meal in 378 The Bird its beak, then holding it down firmly with one of its feet,it pulls upward and so tears the meat. So exactly correlated are these changes of habit andof feet that in the Caracara, a Mexican bird of mixedhabits, partly rapacious and partly vulturine, the toes andclaw^s are correspondingly midway between the two groupsof birds. This bird lacks sufficient grasping power toenable it to lift its prey from the ground after the mannerof a true Hawk; but it will overcome this difficulty bycarr}dng up the object in its beak, and then reaching for-ward with its feet, while in full flight, and taking a carefulgrip with its talons. In South Africa is a bird known
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1906
