THE WEAPONS AND WINGS OF BIRDS.
By Fkedekic A. Lucas,
Curator, Department of Comparative Anatomy, U. S. National Museum.
A more accurate, if not a better, title for this article would perhaps
be " Some weapons of birds, " for the weapons to be considered are
mainly such as are very evidently designed for ofteiisive i:>urposes, and
a peaceably disposed bird might very well disi^ense with.
This paj)er does not treat of the beaks, claws, and ordinary spurs of
birds, not only because they are pretty well known, but because peculiar
modifications of bills and claws usually have more to do with preserv-
ing than destroying life, being related to some peculiarity of food or
feeding.
The toothed beak of the falcon has, of course, a double purpose: to
preserve the life of the falcon by destroying that of its prey, aiid the
same is true of the spear-like bill of the heron, but the curious, crossed
mandibles of the crossbill, the bent beak of the crook-billed jdover, and
the open bill of Anastomiis all have to do with the mere procuring of
food. Neither will we say anything of the ostrich, cassowary, and other
big birds which strike with their feet, for although the feet are formi-
dable Aveapons, they are designed rather for running than for fighting,
except in the case of the cassowary, whose long, straight, sharp inner
toe can inflict a serious wound. Leaving out all these birds, we are
practically restricted to such as carry their weapons on their wings, and
not only fight " tooth and claw," but buffet an adversary abont the head,
and have their spurs where they seem best adapted to do mischief.
Rather strangely, it does not appear that birds with wing spurs are any
more combative than those without, for, while the jacanas are said to
fight well, Hudson, who studied them long and carefully, describes them
as noisy birds, more given to scolding than to actual fighting.* Neither
are the spur-winged plovers, which are also querulous and vociferous,
said tobe particularly pugnacious, although Gould says that io^iraweZto
personatus uses its wing spur with good effect to repulse the attacks of
birds of prey.t By no means all birds which fight with their wings
have spurs upon them. The swan has none, audyet beis a famous fighter,
and can deliver a tremendous blow, although the force and effect of a
stroke of his pinions have undoubtedly been much exaggerated.
* Hudson, W. H., The Naturalist in La PLita.
i Birds of Australia, II, p. 221.
655
656 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1«93.
The common pigeon is anotlier bird which nses its wings with good
efi'ect, and althongh the dove is lield np as the type of gentleness, there
are few birds of more quarrelsome disposition, and more given to pick-
ing upon their weaker neighbors. The company manners of thepigeon
are unobjectionable, and the members of a flock will tly irnd feed abroad
in harmony, but, once within the shelter of their own loft, woe betide
the bird which dares put foot on his neighbor's territory, for he will be
set uj)on and cuffed without mercy.
The pigeon, too, is a skilled boxer, feinting and guarding with one
wing and striking with the other, the blow being delivered by the wing
farthest from his opponent, the intention being that the wrist, which
is the most effective part of the wing for striking a blow, shall strike
the adversary about the head. While this mode of combat is not
peculiar to pigeons, it is eminently characteristic of the group, so that
they may be called pugnacious in the strictest sense of the term; the
Latin verb j>«y/ho meaning sjiecially to tight with blows of the fist, or,
as we say, to come to fisticuffs.
Pigeons, according to our ideas, do not fight quite fairly, and if they
have no positive spur upon their wings, they certainly come very near
it. If one will carefully part the feathers on the outer edge of a
pigeon's wing near the bend, commonly called shoulder, but really the
wrist, he will find a small bare spot and a blunt, well-marked promi-
nence, often covered with integument so thick and hard that it can
almost be called horn. In some wild pigeons this tubercle or boss is
well developed, especially in the curious Samoan DidunciiJns, while at
least one extinct species was provided with a sort of natural slung-
shot that must have added not a little to the effectiveness of a blow.
This bird was the fat and flightless Solitaire, of Rodriguez, a near
relative of the dodo, and, like it, a great, ungainly, aberrant member
of the pigeon family, taller than a turkey.
All that we know about the Solitaire has been gathered from the
journal of Francois Leguat, who tells us that, while the birds were
nesting, they would not sufl'er any other bird of the same species to
approach within 200 yards of the jilace. He writes
—
But what is singular the male will uever drive away the females, only when he
perceives one he makes a noise with his wings to call the female, and she drives the
unwelcome stranger away, not leaving it till it is without her bounds. The female
does the same to the males and he drives them away. The combats between them
on this occasion last sometimrs pretty long, because the stranger only turns about
and does not tly directly from the nest.
Leguat says, furthermore, that ''the bone of their wing grows greater
toward the extremity and forms a little round mass under the feathers
as big as a musket ball. That and its beak are the chief defense of
this bird."
"As big as a musket ball " very aptly describes the swollen bone at the
base of the metacarpus (fig. 1), and this, swung by the short, stout little
THE WEAPONS AND WINGS OF BIRDS. 657
wing, must have beeu capable of hitting a pretty liard blow, even if, as
is probable, it was surrounded by thick, callous skin. The outer end
of the forearm (radius) is also rough and swollen, and it looks very
much as if this enlargement of the bone had originally been brought
about by the solitaire's combative habits, the wrist joint having beeu
banged and bruised until that diseased outgrowth known as exostosis
Fig. 1.
PART OK WIN(J OF SOLITAIKE, PEZOPUAPS SOI.lTAKllS.
Showing outgrowth of bone on radius auil iiietacarims (natural size).
C.it. .No. IMliSl, U. S. N. .M.
took place, and tinally became a constant character of the bird. Dr.
Weismann might object to this, but to a Xeo-Lamarckian the thing
seems quite i)lausible.
The true game birds, fowls and pheasants, which have spurs on their
legs, have none on their wings, although, as everyone knows who has
seen a quarrel in the barnyard, they use their wings in fighting. Some
of their Australian cousins, however, the mound-builders, or megapodes,
which have no leg S])urs, have blunt tubercles on their wings, very much
like those found among pigeons.
Although the swan, as we have seen, has no wing spurs and trusts
to the sheer force of its wing stroke, some of its near relatives, the
Fig. 2.
OUTEK POKTIliN OK WIN(J OK SPUR-WINGED GOOSE, PLECTItOI'TEKt'S OAMBENSIS.
KedlK't'll.
African Spur-winged Geese {Plccfropteri), have a very peculiarly armed
pinion. The peculiarity lies in the fact that while in most spur-winged
birds the spur does not occur n\)on the wrist itself, but upon the meta-
carpus, or next row of bones, in the Spur-winged (loose (fig. 2) that
one of the wrist bones known as the radiale projects quite beyond the
other bones and is capped with a sharp spur.
The majority of spur-winged birds are plovers, nearly related to the
common Lapwing, Vanellus cristatKs, and ])laced by different system-
atists in various genera and subgenera named from tlieir spurs or the
H. :\lis. 184, ])t. 2 42
658 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893.
face wattles which occur xu some si>ecies, Hojdopterus, Belonoptems,
Lohi vanel Ins, and Sarciopliorus. A curious fact about the wattled species
is that there is a direct relation between the size of the wattles and
the size of the spurs (fig. 3); when the spur is long the wattles are
large, and when the spur is short the wattles are small. There is also
in those species where the spur is small-an increase in its size during the
breeding season, so that it then becomes fully available as a weapon.*
There are no wattled lapwings in the l!Tew World, and only one
species straggles northward beyond the latitude of the Himalayas.
Africa, south of the Sahara claims half a dozen species, while seven
Fig. 3.
WATTLED PLOVER, LOBIVANELLUS ALBICEPS.
Rediicefl.
more are found between southern Asia and New Zealand. Spur-winged
plovers without wattles occur in South America, Africa, and parts of
Asia, but none come from Australia. A small and quarrelsome species
[HopJopterus.spinosus) belonging to this latter group is very abundant
in northeastern Africa, and its restless habits—for night and day it is
continually on the move—are explained by the Arab tradition that on
account of former laziness it was condemned to live in a state of
perpetual unrest.
The largest and finest of the South American spurred plovers is
BelonopieruH chiJensis (fig. 4), a species ranging southwards to Patago-
nia, and armed with a. long, vicious-looking spur just at the base of the
metatarsus. I was about to say "thumb," but it seems quite probable
* Jordan, Birds of India, iii, 648.
THE WEAPONS AND WINGS OF BIRDS. 659
METACARPUS OF SPUR-WINGED PLOVER,
BELONOPTERUS CHILENSIS.
Cat. No. IS.Wti, U. .?. N. M.
that birds long ago lost tlieir thumbs, and that the middle finger lias
come to do duty in its place. However, this digit has been termed thumb
for a long time, and since it is one by analogy, we will still call it so.
There is a curious instance among the gigantic extinct group of rep-
tiles, well named Dinosaurs,* where the thumb itselfhas become changed
in function, and instead of aiding the
other digits to lay hold of things, has
become transformed iuto a long, sharp
sjjike. This occurs in the Iguanodons
(fig. 5), and among them the species
particularly noticeable is I(juano<Jon
heruissartensis, one of nearly two score
that were haj)pily swept iuto a con-
venient Jurassic gully and there re-
mained for long ages, until brought to
light by the picks of the coal miners of
Bernissart. That in this case the spike did duty as a weapon is a little
uncertain, and it may have served no more harmful purpose than that
of ripping oft" the husk of some fruit or vegetable which formed part of
the food of these great herbivorous reptiles.
When these pointed thumb-spikes were first found, they were not
associated with the fore limbs, and so in restoring
the Iguanodon he was figured with the spike on
the end of his nose, something like a rhinoceros.
The late Dr. W. K. Parker, in a memoir on
the morphology of the duck and auk tribes,
rather hints that the thumb of Iguanodon and
the spur of Chauna chavaria are, morphologically,
not so far apart, t
Another group of spur-winged birds is the
Jacamdfv, a family of small birds related to the
rails, having such long slender toes that they
run as easily over lily pads and tloating vegeta-
tion as other birds do over drv land. These little
birds, which are found in th6 warmer parts of
America, Africa, southern Asia, and Australia,
like the spur-winged plovers, have a spur on the
metacarpus, although it is not so large as in those
l)irds. As in the spur-winged i^lovers we find
si^urs associated with wattles for the African and
Asiatic species which have no wattles, have only
while the American species which have wattles
FOREARM OF IGUANODON.
IGUANODON KERNISSARTEN-
SIS.
Rediiced.
rudimentary spurs
have well-developed spurs
* Dollo, Note 8ur les Diuosaurieiis de Bernissart.
Beige., 1882-1884, 1. 1, PI. ix, t. ii, PI. viii.
t The ^Morphology of the Duck aud Auk Tribes.
Roj-al Irish Academy. No. vi, pp., 55, 95.
Bull. Mils. Rov. d'Hi.st. Nat.
Cnnuiiigham Memoirs of the
660 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893.
Till' Jacuiiii, like the Iloactziu and Mouud Builder, acquires its full
activities at an early date, and Hudson says
:
While I was looking- rlosely at one of the eggs lying in the iialni of my hand, all
at once the cracked shell parted, and at the same moment the yonng bird leaped
from my hand and fell into the water wliere it swam rapidlj' to a small mound and
escaping from the water, concealed itself in the grass, lying close and perfectly
motionless like a yonug jilover.
lam quite sure that the young bird's sudden escape from the shell was the result
of a A'iolent effort to free itself, inspired by the loud persistent screaming of the
parent birds Avhich it heard while in the shell.
In the jacanas belonging to the genus Metopidius the spur is much
reduced in size, but the bone of the wing itself is so modified as to
become available as a weapon,
being flattened and widened so
as to be a scimeter on a small
scale (fig. 6). The apparent draw-
back to this weapon lies in the
fact that, like a two-edged sword,
it must cut both ways, and unless
the skin immediately over it is
particularly dull and insensible
rig*5- Metopidius can not strike an
FOREARM OF AFRICAN TACANA, METOpmius jidvcrsary Avithout feeling theAh RIC ANUS. *' C3
Katinalsize. ctiectS Of the blOW hiuiSClf.
CM. N„. 18785, 1, s. N. M. Whether or not this tends to pro-
mote peacefulness we do not
know, but from what we know of bipeds, who claim to be higher in
the scale of life, it may be presumed that Metopidius does not mind
being hurt himself provided the "other fellow" is hurt still more.
Largest and most formidable of all spur-winged birds are the Screamers
{Anhimida;), three species of birds related to the ducks, although they
do not look it, and restricted to South America.*
These birds have two si)urs, instead of one, upon the outer part of the
wnig (fig. 7), the outermost a short affair, the inner an ugly three-sided,
stiletto-like blade, about an inch and a quarter long and almost as sharp
as a needle. In fact, it is not unlike part of one of those large needles
used by sail-makers known as roping needles, and it would seem quite
capable of being driven completely through a man's hand by a stroke of
the screamer's i)owerful wing. And yet we are told that the screamers
are peaceable birds, associating amicably in large flocks, so that this
array of spurs, like our modern ironclads, is strictly in the interest of
peace.
* South America is particularly rich in anomalous birds, remnants or relics, one
luiglit say, of a bygone avifauna. The Hoactzin, Opisthocomiis cristatus, forms au
order by itself, and the three species uf screamers, Anhbna anhima, Chaiina chaiuuia
and C. derbhia form another. So do the Tinamous (Crypfuri), while the Trumpeter
(Psophia crepitans), Cariama (Cariama cristata). and Guacharo Bird {Stcatontis cari-
pensis) each and all are isolated forms.
THE WEAPONS AND WINGS OF BIRDS. 661
From spurs to claws is an easy transition, since tlie only difference
between them is in their location, claws being at the ends of toes and
fingers, while spurs are placed on or near the ankle and wrist. While
the claws on a bird's wing, for claws as well as spurs are found there,
serve no purpose as weapons and are seemingly of no use at all in old
birds, they have a great deal of interest attached to them.
One who has had the good fortune to see the purple gallinule in its
native swamps may have seen the little ones climbing out of their nest
and scrambling over the branches very much like four-footed animals.
Or, if not the purple gallinule, he may perhaps have seen the young of
its humble relative, the Florida gallinule, pulling itself up some little
incline by its wings, something as a bat hooks himself along.* If the
Fig. 7.
OUTER PORTION OF WING OF SCREAMER, ANHTMA ANHIMA.
Reduced.
observer has investigated he will have found on the outermost finger
of the wing a small, sharp claw, and may have wondered what this
claw was doing there.
Tliis claw is of very common occurrence, and is especially frequent
among water birds, or those which are lowest or most generalized in
their structure. Sometimes this claw is so small as to almost escape
detection, and again, as in the turkey buzzard, it may be so large that
it can be found at once. Occasionally, very occasionally in fact, there
is a second minute claw, or rudiment of a claw, hidden among the
feathers at the very end of the wing bone, but this needs to be care-
fully looked for. Without a knowledge of fossil birds, it might be diffi-
cult to satisfactorily explain the presence of this useless claw, but if
we regard rudimentary organs in existing forms as shadows of the past
and vestiges of complete useful parts in extinct animals, the reason for
its presence is clear, and we will look upon the little wing claws of mod
ern birds as reminiscences of well-clawed ancestors. The earliest bird
with which we are at present acquainted is the well known Arclmop-
teryx, from the lithographic states of Solenhofen, Bavaria, and this form
seems not only to have had wings for flight, but hands for climbing.
*Nuttall Bulletin, 1882, p. 124, and The Ibis, 1889, p. 577.
662 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893.-
[Jnfortunately there is still some doubt as to the exact struetnre of the
wing of ArclKvoj^teryx, and it seems probable that it is misrepresented
in most text books.* One thing, however is undeniable, there were in
this wing 3 well-formed, clawed fingers, and if only 2 of them Avere free,
ArcJucopteryx could certainly climb about very readily.
It seems quite a transition from the long-tailed, toothed Archceopteryx,
with its three clawed fingers, to the ordinary birds of to-day, the more
that very few of the intermediate stages have been brought to light.
Fortunately, however, there is a bird still living, and not uncojnmou,
in parts of South America, which goes some distance toward bridging
over the gap between gallinule and Archwopteryx. This bird, which
on account of its many peculiarities,
stands quite alone among modern
birds, and is looked upon as the sur-
vivor of a great grouj) of birds which
has become extinct, is Opisthocomns
cristatns. From the unpleasant odor
of its liesh, acquired from its food of
wild arum leaves, the bird is more
commonly known as the stink bird,
or stinking pheasant, while what
Dr. Cones would term its "book"
name is Hoactzin or Hoatziu.t
The adult birds not only have no claws upon their wings, but their
thumbs, even, are so poorly develoi)ed that one would hardly suspect
that in the nestlings we have the nearest approach to a quadruped
found among existing birds. Mr. J. J. Quelch, who studied them in
British Guiana, f tells us that soon after the hatching of the eggs the
nestlings begin to crawl about by means of their wings and legs, the
well-developed claws on the pollex and index being coustantljnn use for
holding and hooking to the surrounding objects (fig. 8). If they are
drawn from the nest by means of their legs, they hold on firmly to the
twigs both with their bill and wings ; and if the nest be upset by means
of a rod liushed uj) from below, they hold on to all objects with which
they come in contact by means of bill, feet, and wings, making con-
siderable use of the bill, not only to reach objects above them, but also,
with the help of the clawed wings, to raise themselves to a higher level.
When the parent bird is driven from the nest, owing to the close
approach of a boat, then the young birds, uidess they be only quite
recently hatched, crawl out of the nests on all fours, and rapidly try to
hide in the thicker bush behind.
WING OF YOUNCi HOACTZIN, OPISTHGCOJICS
CRISTATL-S;
Natural size.
Mt. No. isftM. r. s.
* Biological Theories, vii. The Digits in a Bird's Wing: A Study of the Origin
and Multiplication of Errors, by C. Herbert Hurst, Ph. D. Natural Science, Octo-
ber, 1893, pp. 275-281. Also, The Wing of Archa-opteryx. W, P. Pycraft, M. B. O. U.
Natural Science, November and December, 1891, pp. 353-360, 437-148.
t Given to the bird by Buft'on, who considered it to be the bird mentioned under,
that name by the Spanish writer Hernandez.
X The n)i8 "for 1890, pp. 327-335.
Report of National Museum, 1893 Lucas Plate 1
.
Young Hoactzins.
Sliglitly reduced in size.
Cat. No. 18523, U. S. N. M.

THE WEAPONS AND WINGS OF BIRDS. 663
Oue curious feature noticed with a nestling whicli liad been upset into
the river was its power of rapid swimming and diving when pursued.
As soon as the hand was placed close to it, it rapidly dived into the
dark water, in which it was impossible to see it, and would rise at dis-
tances of more than a yard away. Owing to this power, the little
creature managed to evade all attempts to seize it, taking refuge
eventually far under the bushy growth where it was impossible to pur-
sue it. The prolonged immersion which a nestling will thus instinc-
tively and voluntarily undergo, or which an adult bird will bear in an
attempt to drown it, seems quite remarkable.
The nestlings, even when quite small, are frequently found far away
from any nest, climbing by the help of their clawed wings, after the
parent birds during their feeding time.
Not the least of the many interesting features of the Hoactzm is the
rapid change which takes place in the fore limb during the growth of
the bird by which the hand of the nestling with its well-developed, well-
clawed fingers, becomes theclawless wing of the old bird with its abor-
tive outer finger. It gives us, as it were, an epitome of the past history
of birds, and as the events of a century are summed up in a page of
history so the slow progress of birds from the Jurassic Archa'opteryx
to the thrush of to-day is represented by a few weeks in the life of the
Hoactzin.