Page:Bird-lore Vol 08.djvu/79

 Legs and Feet of Birds 55 toes. The feet and toes of birds are, in zero weather, their most vulnerable points, and they are most liable to be frozen. In the black wastes of the frozen boreal regions, the Arctic Owl is able to defy the intense cold, by means of a furry covering of hair-like feathers, which extends to the very claws; even the soles of the feet being thickly covered, so that the skin of the bird is never in contact with the snow and ice on which it roosts. The Osprey,* or Fish Hawk, can, like the Owls, reverse its outer toe; but all typical Hawks and Eagles have the perching bird arrangement. The talons of the Osprey are immensely strong, and the scales on the soles of its feet and toes are hardened and roughened to such a degree that they are almost spike-like. A more efficient fish -trap cannot be imagined. The Golden Eagle has a splendid foot, with great curved talons, which, when they have once clasped an object, never let go. Besides capturing their food, birds of prey carry the sticks for their nests in their talons. When, instead of killing its prey, a species of bird feeds upon carrion, the change in its habits is reflected clearly in the appearance of its feet. Compare the feet of a Vulture with those of one of the true birds of prey. The muscles of the Vulture are weaker, the claws shorter, more blunt, and, what is the most important change of all, the toes have lost their clasping power, while the hind toe is higher, and so small that it is of no use even in perching. foot of golden eagle, from life Such is the condition of the South American Condor. So exactly correlated are these changes of habit and of feet, that in the Caracara, a Mexican bird of mixed habits, — partly rapacious and partly vul- turine, — the toes and claws are correspondingly midway between the two groups of birds. This bird lacks sufficient grasping power to enable it to lift its prey from the ground after the manner of a true Hawk; but it will overcome this difficulty by carrying up the object in its beak, and then reaching forward with its feet, while in full flight, and taking a careful grip with its talons. Quail, Grouse, Pheasants, Turkeys and all the fowl-like birds are scratchers, according to the old classification, and they well deserve the name ; for scratching, first with one foot and then with the other, among the leaves and soft dirt for insects, is a very pronounced habit of them all. The arrangement of toes is the same as in the perching birds, but the claws are
 * See cut in Educational Leaflet beyond.