io8 Our Bird Friends. 



journey in search of food, so she planted herself 

 in such a position as to be able to drive off' any 

 dark snatcher Hying in the line of her offspring. 



The young of birds of prey have a curious habit 

 of defenchng themselves by turning over on their 

 backs and striking upwards with their powerful 

 feet. This odd method of warfare sometimes leads 

 to awkward results; for men in want of young 

 Peregrine Falcons, for instance, do not trouble to 

 descend a cliff* for them, but lower a bundle of 

 wool on the end of a long ro[)(' to the ledge 

 whereon the fierc-c creatures are sitting. As soon 

 as tbe wool conies near them tliey roll over on 

 their baclss, and, striking upw.ird viciously, bury 

 tlieir talons deeply in tbe mass, and being unable 

 to extricate them on account of tbe iKxtkcd (diar- 

 acter of tlieir strong claws, are drawn up entirely 

 helpless. 



Despite all tlie wat(dd"id care and vigilance of 

 mother biids over their broods, tbousands upon 

 thousands of promising young mend)ers of the 

 feathered world ]icrish every spring. 



A Sbelduek will bring a family of ten or a dozen 

 beautiful children from a dark tunnel in which they 

 have been hatched and proudly paddle out on 

 to tbe brown waters of some lonely loch with 

 them. She tries her very best to keep them near 

 lier, but all in vain: some venturesome sj)ii'it will 

 persist in wandering a little, and sooner or later 

 down swoops a hungry Gull and carries off' the 



