MOVEMENT IN BIRDS 



were fishing. When one of the ducks rose to the 

 surface with a fish in its bill, the gulls descended 

 upon it and forced it to give up its prey. Al- 

 though not strictly angling, the habit of gulls and 

 crows of ascending in the air and dropping mussels 

 from a height to the rocks beneath with the 

 deliberate intention of breaking the otherwise 

 impenetrable shells, may be touched upon here. 



Superintendent Jenkins, of the Lancashire and 

 Western Sea Fisheries Committee, recently stated 

 that he saw certain gulls of the walls of the 

 Ribble estuary, collecting mussels on the walls. 

 If the shell broke the gulls at once descended and 

 devoured the mollusc, but if the wind carried the 

 mussel over into the water they made no attempt 

 to follow. 



Roughly the avian anglers may be divided into 

 two classes : the surface fishers, and those which 

 follow their prey in their native deeps. The 

 heron is a typical fisher of the first school, he 

 exhibits the patience of the true Waltonian, em- 

 ploying craft rather than violence, and striking 

 only when his quarry comes voluntarily within 

 reach of his bill. 



The method of the kingfisher is not altogether 

 dissimilar. He too, watches quietly from an 

 elevated vantage point, and using the whole of 

 his short body as a missile, hurls it down upon the 

 unsuspecting fish beneath. 



On some rare occasions a kingfisher may be 

 seen resting on the shingle at the river-side, 

 striking at minnows when they come to the edge. 



57 



