Page:Bird-lore Vol 08.djvu/80

56 different. These are true horny-handed sons of the soil, and their claws are stubby, short and blunt. Sharp edges would soon be dulled by scratching, and elongated ones would break. So, with his blunt claws, our Chicken and his family are well provided for.

The most interesting feet among these gallinaceous birds are those of the Grouse. This ruffed drummer of our woods walks about in summer on slender toes over moss and logs; but when soft, deep snows come, his weight would make it difficult to keep from being buried at every step. So Nature provides him with snow-shoes. From each side of each toe there grows out a broad, horny, comb-like fringe, not a web of skin, which might soon freeze, but rows, as of a myriad extra claws. This distributes his weight so that he trots merrily over snow, through which a fox sinks deep and flounders awkwardly at every step.

But what of the Ptarmigan, that snow-white Grouse of the far North, whose home is amid those frigid, barren regions? This bird is more of a walker than is the Snowy Owl, and its feet would surely freeze during the long, long winters, were they bare of feathers. So we find that scarcely a claw is visible beyond the thick covering of feathers over legs, toes and soles.

The pugnacity of the males of this order of birds has become proverbial; almost all are "fighting cocks," and yet their beaks are not fitted for defence or for offence, nor can they clutch and tear with their claws. Therefore we find spurs widely developed on the tarsus, or upper foot, in fowls, Turkeys, Pheasants and Peacocks. These spurs they use in their battles and with remarkable skill. In structure, these outgrowths are identical with the horns of antelopes and cows, consisting of a bony projection over which grows a sheath of horn.

We now come to the water-loving birds, and we find that the varying associations of birds with this element have wrought many interesting changes in their feet and legs. Those birds which are content to wade along the shallow margins of ponds and streams require long legs and long toes, the latter to distribute their weight as they walk over the soft, muddy bottoms. Such, broadly speaking, are the Plovers, Sandpipers and Herons. Let us see how the feet of these birds reflect their habits. With the exception of the tribe of Plovers, almost all have four toes. The Plovers have but three, and these are slender and not webbed; for although they usually feed on aquatic forms of life, yet

foot of coot, from life