File:The British bird book (1921) (14569144277).jpg

Identifier: cu31924022566420 (find matches)
Title: The British bird book
Year: 1921 (1920s)
Authors: Wood, Theodore, 1862- Pycraft, W. P., (William Plane), b. 1868 Green, Roland, 1895-
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: London : A. & C. Black
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
d a small claw. By hatching time theclaw of the first finger will have disappeared, but it is stiUretained in the case of the duck and the water-hen. In theadults of all three you will rarely find more than the claw ofthe thumb : and this now serves no useful purpose whatever. Indeed, there seem to be only two tribes which have anyuse for wing-claws during nestling life. One of these isrepresented by the gaUinules, that is to say, the coots, andwater-hens, and their kind. You may test this whenever youhave the good fortune to capture a young water-hen. Placehim outside the nest, and especially if it happens to be alittle raised, you wUl see him make his way back, using feet,wing-claws, and beak. His wings, it wiU be noticed, at thisstage are used as fore-legs. The other tribe is representedby that strange bird the hoatzin of the Amazon. Here thetwo claws are really large, and they play a quite importantpart in his early life. For the young hoatzin is hatched in a nursery—a crude 254
Text Appearing After Image:
Grouse nest of sticks—placed on the boughs of a tree overhangingthe water. As soon as hatched he begins to chmb about thebranches. Shovdd he fall, by some mischance, into the water,he promptly swims to the bank ; and by the aid of his longfirst finger, and wing-claws, and his huge feet, soon climbsback. But the most wonderful part of his story is yet tocome. So long as these youngsters can only scramble about theyare in constant jeopardy. A wing-surface at least big enoughto break the force of a fall is an urgent necessity. And sothe growth of the quiU-feathers is, so to speak, pushed forwardwith all possible speed. But if aU the feathers grew at thesame rate, there would speedily come a time when the outer-most feathers would make the claw at the end of the fingeruseless, while the wing-surface, as a whole, would be insuffi-cient. To obviate this difficulty, the development of theoutermost feathers is held in abeyance tiU the inner feathersof the hand, and the outermost of the fore

Note About Images