The Food of Birds 159 



instantly swooping down and regaling himself on the 

 yolk pouring out through the crack in the shell. His 

 beak being too weak to break the shell, he has learned 

 to adopt this effective method. A similar remarkable 

 habit is related of the Black-breasted Buzzard of Aus- 

 tralia, but in this case it is an emeu which is the victim. 

 After breaking a hole in the thick shell, this bird inserts 

 its foot and carries the egg to its nest. 



Perhaps every Order of the higher warm-blooded 

 animals may be included in our list, from the sloth which 

 mutely resigns itself to the terrible grip of a Harpy 

 Eagle to the human child which is powerless before the 

 attack of some bird of pre}^ frenzied with hunger. In 

 certain districts eagles and hawks have been shot 

 smelling strongly of skunk, but w^hether that fearless 

 animal really figured in their diet remains to be proved ! 

 If any entire group of mammals is to be excepted from 

 the birds' bill of fare, it is only that of the whales, although 

 indeed, when one of these leviathans dies from any cause, 

 his blubber and oil furnish food for sea-birds of many 

 kinds. 



The small gnawers of wood, the rodents, suffer most 

 heavily, and untold thousands are devoured by hawks 

 and owls, while cranes, shrikes, and ducks make away 

 with their share. 



This brief and very imperfect review of the vast 

 variety of substances eaten bj' birds is at least instruc- 

 tive in revealing vividly the complex interrelations of 

 all organic life on the earth. A counter-list of animate 

 creatures which cause the death of birds would be as 



