FORM AND IIAI'.IT: TIIM lULL. 



33 



])le, wliich l)ettcr enables tliein to <i;rasp olnocts while 

 probinu:.' In the Avocet the bill is curved upward, and the 

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

 its seareli for food. The New 

 Zealand AVrybill has its bill 

 turned to the riglit for the ter- 

 minal third, and the bird uses 

 it as a crooked probe to push 

 under stoues in hunting for its 

 prey. The Siberian Spoon) (ill 

 Sandpiper has a most singular 

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

 Hat-ended forceps. The Roseate Spoonbill, an entirely 

 dilferent 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 Spoonlnll Sand- 

 ])ipL'r. (Natural ^^ize.) 



Fig. 22. — Curved bill of female, straip:ht 1)111 of male Ilula-bird. ( i/^ natural 



size.) 



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

 nished by the lluia-bii-d of New Zealand. The male of 

 this species lias a comparatively short, straight bill, while 



