158 The Bird 



The most unpleasant items in the bill of fare of the 

 bird kingdom are birds themselves, although few, if any, 

 hawks or owls feed exclusively on members of their 

 own Class. The most systematic cannibal among birds 

 is the Peregrine Falcon or Duck Hawk, and, where birds 

 are abundant, this fastidious gourmand merel}^ eats the 

 flesh of the head and neck and the eyes of each victim, 

 leaving the remainder of the body untouched. Occa- 

 sionally, as among other animals, a bird of strictly vege- 

 tarian habits will attack another bird, even one of its 

 own kind, and kill and eat it in the most matter-of-fact 

 way. 



Owls are the terror of many birds, from the tiny Elf- 

 Owl which sometimes finds a sparrow too great a match 

 for him, to the great Strenuous Owl of Australia, which 

 snatches full-grown Lyre-birds from their perches. But 

 these birds of the night are ever ready to vary their 

 diet; as we read of certain owls in India feeding chiefly 

 on fish and crabs which they snatch from the water. In 

 that same country, too, bats form a large part of the 

 Barn Owl's diet. 



The eggs of birds are delicacies which many feathered 

 robbers, such as jays and crows, can never resist. There 

 are two birds, however, one a raven and one a hawk, 

 which well deserve the eggs which the}^ steal, — so inge- 

 nious is their method of obtaining them. In South Africa, 

 on an ostrich-farm, when a female bird has left her nest 

 for a few minutes, a black form will often appear and 

 hasten toward the great white eggs. Hovering over 

 them the raven will let fall a stone into their midst, 



