42 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



which, like the forbidden fruit, proved more pala- 

 table than that which was provided for them by a 

 bountiful Nature. The result is, they have be- 

 come a menace to sheep farmers, and are, on this 

 account, in danger of extinction. It has, how- 

 ever, been denied recently that the damage 

 inflicted is anything like so serious as this, 

 and the latest evidence to hand has done 

 much to clear the kea's character. Kea is the 

 name bestowed by the Maories on this bird. 

 Specimens of the kea, provided with mutton 

 chops, can be seen at the Zoological Gardens in 

 London every day. 



The stork and plover tribe and the humming- 

 birds furnish us with some admirable illustrations 

 of the outcome of a gradual modification to suit 

 the demands of a peculiar diet ; and give to their 

 possessors an advantage over their neighbours, 

 a sort of monopoly over certain kinds of food. 



In the avocet a nearly extinct British bird of 

 the plover kind the beak is awl-shaped, being 

 turned upwards, and produced into a point of 

 extreme thinness. With this the bird is enabled 

 to feed on minute aquatic animals, otherwise im- 

 possible of capture. The wry -bill plover has 

 the bill turned sharply to one side, enabling the 

 bird to pick out small Crustacea, and the like, 

 from under stones. The scissor-bill, a kind of 

 tern found in the tropics has the upper and lower 

 jaws compressed from side to side, to the thinness 

 of a knife-blade, the lower being considerably 

 longer than the upper. The bird flies just above 

 the surface of the water, with the lower elongated 

 portion of the beak thrust just below the surface. 



