FORM AND HABIT: THE BILL. 



33 



ble, wliicli better enables them to grasp objects while 



probing. In the Avocet the bill is curved upward, and the 



bird swings it from side to side, scraping the bottom in 



its search for food. The Xew 



Zealand AVrybill has its bill 



turned to the rio-ht for the ter- 



niinal third, and the bird uses 



it as a crooked probe to push 



under stones in hunting; for its 



prey. The Siberian Spoonbill 



Sandpiper has a most singular 



bill, which is much enlarged at the end, suggesting a 



flat-ended forceps. The Roseate Spoonbill, an entirely 



different bird, has a somewhat similarly shaped bill, a 



striking instance of the occurrence of the same form in 



families which are not closely related. 



But probably the most remarkable instance of relation 



Fig. 21.— Bill of Spoonbill Sand- 

 piper, (^iatural size.) 



Fig. 22. — Curved bill of female, straij^ht bill of male Iluia-bird. (i/g natural 



size.) 



between the form of the bill and feeding habits is fur- 

 nished by the Iluia-bird of 'New Zealand. The male of 

 this species has a comparatively short, straight bill, while 



