THE OOLOGIST 



103 



and though but an inch wide when rest- 

 ing, may easily be spread to four or tive 

 inches. It is my idea that the bird 

 when fishi g for small prey on the sur- 

 face, and by plunging, merely opens its 

 bill as it strikes the water ard scoops 

 up the minnows in its pouch. I have 

 frequently seen the Pelicans feeding so 

 near me that I could distinguish the 

 small fish jumping about in the pouch 

 of its captor just after the bird arose 

 from its plunge. Anobserver is enabled 

 to do this when the bird flies between 

 the wharf and the rising or setting sun, 

 as the pouch is almost translucent and 

 the jumping form of the little nsh may 

 be easily distinguished. Of course when 

 larger fishes are caught the principle of 

 capture is different. I have seen two 

 pound mullet taken from a Pelican's 

 gullet and have been told by a reliable 

 man that he had seen oo« of a weight of 

 over three pounds removed from a fish- 

 ing Pelican. 



The Gulls and Terns feed almost en- 

 tirely from the surface and are graceful 

 in all their movements, dropping to the 

 water in bold plunges and skimming 

 above the surface like the wind-driven 

 foam. The Petrels and Skimmers course 

 over the sea, tacking and veering in 

 their search for food. These birds snap 

 up their prey when on the wing as with 

 nearly all the sea biids. The Geese 

 rarely go beneath the surface while 

 feeding, and I have never seen a Swan 

 more than plunge its head and neck 

 under water. Geese and Swans always 

 feed where the water is shallow when 

 on lake or stream, while the sea Ducks 

 feed from deep water. I have no doubt 

 that many species of Ducks feed from 

 the bottom where the water is twenty or 

 more feet deep, and I have found some 

 feeding on fresh water that had the 

 crops filled with crustaceans and aquatic 

 seeds, which were only to be found at 

 the bottom and in fifteen feet of water. 

 The Mergansers, which come very near 

 to being exclusively fish feeders, secure 



their prey as do the Loons, ly ] ursuit 

 and snapping up the fish. This habit is 

 followed at times bv nearly all species 

 nf Ducks, and well kn^wn river Ducks 

 not rarely partake of a feast of small 

 minnow-i when they can be fonnd in 

 shallow watf r and are not difficult to 

 secure. 



The Herons feed largely upon fish, 

 but they vary their diet and are even 

 known to eat grasshoppers, while they 

 are very destructive to the larval forms 

 of the dragon fly and other aquatic in- 

 sects. This is especially true of the 

 Least Bittern and Green Heron, which 

 are very beneficial to man in their 

 choice of food, though they are also de- 

 structive to the small fry, efpecially the 

 Fly-up-the creek or Green Heron, a 

 great poacher on the trout fry. I have 

 watched the Herons and Bitterns as 

 they waded ybout and have seen the 

 lightning like thrusts of their beaks as 

 they stabbed at their prey. Among the 

 fishes that are preyed upon by the 

 Heron family is the bullhead or horn- 

 pout, which is known to have three 

 erectile fin spines — one on the dorsal fin 

 and one on each side. The wild birds 

 are generally well aware of the danger 

 in swallowing one of these dangerous 

 fishes, whole, and they usually destroy 

 the hinge that works the set-trigger 

 spine before swallowing the fish whole. 

 I once had the pleasure of watching a 

 Greater Bittern dissecting out the dan- 

 gerous dorsal and pectoral fin spines 

 from a good sized bullhead, preparatory 

 to making a meal of him. The scene 

 occurred on thw edge of a marsh and the 

 thunder-pumper was so much engaged, 

 that it failed to note my presence and I 

 had a good opportunity to observe the 

 operation. The bird placed thecsplur- 

 ed fish on the marsh grass between its 

 feet and with sharp stabs destroyed the 

 attachments of the spines. The work 

 took some time t<s the fins of the cat- 

 fishes are strongly connected with the 

 bony frame-work. The bird was flushed 



