Northern Observations of Inland Birds 115 



of no special value to the stag that wears them ; their 

 annual growth saps his strength, and he would be better 

 able to vanquish his foes without them. But these same 

 antlers, be it noted, are of great value to the species 

 because they betray the stag afar, and he thereafter 

 becomes the object of the chase, while the hinds, on 

 whom the race depends, escape to safety. And well 

 the stag knows that he is marked out in no mean measure, 

 for he will run with his head held low under the flanks 

 of the hinds, driving them before him, and slashing at 

 them mercilessly when danger is at hand. 



Among fishes we have the herring and the mackerel 

 as examples of the type which exist chiefly as a natural 

 prey for others, and it is specially to be noticed that the 

 flesh of such fish is very rich and sustaining as food, 

 and in order to obtain the maximum benefit from it it 

 must be eaten slowly. Nature has seen to this by providing 

 them with a truly bewildering bony structure, which 

 serves to retard the digestion of the birds and other 

 fishes which swallow them whole, while obtaining the 

 same result in forcing the more dainty feeder to devour 

 them slowly and with due respect. 



It might be safe to class the moorhen under the heading 

 of natural prey — hence the double meaning of the white 

 tail. Like the white tail of the rabbit, like the white 

 rump of the deer, like the black ear-tips of the Alpine 

 hare, and the black feathers of the ptarmigan and snow 

 bunting, Hke the flashing flanks of the dainty mirror fish 

 of Indian streams, the feature is destructive as well as 

 being protective. The moorhen, however, was never 

 intended for wholesale massacre. It exists more as a 

 safe stand-by for times of great scarcity. It lives in one 

 place ; every creature knows that it is there, yet its flesh 

 is not sufficiently dainty to be really tempting except 

 when hunger presses. Finally the bird is easily caught. 



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