NATURAL HISTORY 



Wright Pierce 



Adaptations of beaks of birds for 

 food -getting. 



different kind of food. Carnivorous 

 mammals have sharp teeth fitted for 

 tearing and holding prey ; herbivorous 

 mammals have flat, corrugated teeth ; 

 rodents, gnawing or chisel-like teeth ; 

 while snakes, which swallow their prey 

 whole, have pointed, needlelike teeth 

 to hold their food securely. More 

 striking adaptations for food-getting 

 are found in birds whose beaks and feet 

 both give clues to their food habits. 

 The flesh-eating birds have hooked 

 beaks and curved claws ; aquatic 

 birds have feet shaped like paddles 

 and scooplike bills for straining out 

 small organisms from the water ; wad- 

 ing birds display a remarkable variety 

 of highly specialized beaks and feet ; 

 and the smaller land birds show 

 equally interesting adaptations for se- 

 curing food. Bizarre adaptations for 

 procuring food characterize the giraffe, 

 with its long neck that enables it to 

 reach up to feed on branches of trees 

 fifteen feet from the ground, the ant- 

 eater, with its sticky tongue, and the 

 walrus, which digs bivalves with its 

 tusks. 



Scavengers 



Some forms of life are not only om- 

 nivorous in their diet, but are actually 

 scavengers, living on dead organic ma- 

 terials. The bacteria,^ smallest of all 

 plants, feed upon or destroy millions 

 of tons of organic wastes which other- 

 wise would make life on earth impossi- 

 ble. Think of a world without decay. 

 Land and water would soon become 



' See pages 165-166. 



