454 



COLLEGE ZOOLOGY 



Figure 326. Great horned owl. 1 here is evidence that the owls have a keen sense of hearing, 

 which helps them in locating prey at night. The tufts of feathers around the large external ear 

 openings of the great horned owl probably aid in collecting sounds. In captivity, great horned 

 owls have lived for 68 years. 



an excellent runner. Its main food is lizards 

 and snakes. 



The hummingbirds (Fig. 329), which are 

 confined to the New World, have been ap- 

 propriately called feathered gems, or accord- 

 ing to Audubon, "glittering fragments of 

 the rainbow." Six hundred eighty-eight spe- 

 cies and subspecies are known. 



The belted kingfisher lays its 5 to 8 white 

 eggs at the end of a tunnel about 6 feet long 



in the bank of a stream. The kingfisher cap- 

 tures small fish by hovering over a stream 

 and then plunging into the water and secur- 

 ing the unsuspecting prey with its bill. 



Woodpeckers use their chisel-shaped bills 

 for excavating holes in trees, at the bottom 

 of which their eggs are laid, or for digging 

 out grubs from beneath the bark. Most of 

 them are of great benefit because of the in- 

 sects they destroy; but the yellow-bellied 



