202 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



they are immediately killed by the strong beaks of 

 the birds. Soon the top of the water is covered 

 with dead fish and frogs, and the fishers eat to their 

 hearts' content, and march out. 



There is a large group of fishing owls and, as 

 might be expected, they fish only at night. The 

 African fish owls feed chiefly on wild guinea-fowl 

 and fish; the brown fish owl of India, Ceylon, and 

 Burma, lives in deep forests near the sea, and sleeps 

 during the day. But when night comes it emerges 

 from its dark retreat and goes in search of crabs 

 and fish. One of the most interesting of owls is 

 the snowy owl. Its home is in the Far North, and 

 it usually feeds on wild game, but occasionally it 

 goes angling. And, unlike other owls, this it does 

 in daytime as well as at night. Audubon speaks of 

 seeing one of these northern owls fishing near Louis- 

 ville, Kentucky. Evidently the owl had gone South 

 for a vacation. 



It is interesting to note that among the fishing 

 birds the beak is used as a shuttle, hook, shovel, 

 gimlet, auger, pick, hammer, wedge, spear and even 

 a needle ! With such an assortment of fishing tools 

 it is easy to see what a vast number of fish these 

 birds catch. It is claimed that the gannets of St. 

 Kilda consume over one hundred and six millions 

 of herrings each year. There are hundreds of wa- 



