CURIOUS WAYS OF GETTING FOOD. j^j 



of its skill as a si^ortsman. An air-gun with a drop of water for a 

 bullet ! It is said the Japanese amuse themselves by watching their 

 captive chretodons shoot the flies presented to them. 



Fig. 7. — Tue AugIj^r (^Lophius 2}iscatorius). 



Most reptiles use teeth for prehending food, like the fishes. Some, 

 however, as the toad and chameleon, employ the tongue, which, being 

 rooted in front and free behind, besides being very extensile, is thrown 

 out and over with great quickness and precision. A sticky saliva 

 causes the insect to adhere. 



Poison-fangs of serpents are helps to procure food as well as weap- 

 ons ; and the power of charming is a very strange and effective way 

 of obtaining food. 



The alligator will approach a large animal which may be standing 

 at the water's edge, and, by a quick blow of its powerful tail, knock 

 the unsuspecting creature into the water. In deep water it is at the 

 mercy of the reptile, which kills it by drowning. The nostrils of the 

 alligator and crocodile are so placed as to be out of water, while the 

 prey held in the jaws is beneath the surface. 



Birds have not great variety of organs or methods of prehension. 

 Beaks, claws, tongues, and keen senses complete the list of means. 

 The woodpecker drills a hole into the tree to secure the larva which 

 by some myterious power it knows is buried there ; and its barbed 

 tongue is used to draw the worm from its hole. The slender, forked 

 tongue of humming-birds is used to grasp and draw minute insects 

 from the depths of flowers. The long beaks of some birds are used 

 to penetrate the sand or mud in search of worms. Birds of prey grasp 



