52 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



should a camel in a caravan fall out to die on its 

 way through the burning desert, the fact seems to 

 be communicated to every vulture in the country 

 as if by magic, and lo ! in a short while they have 

 gathered for the feast, and wait — ghoul-Hke — for 

 the end. It is supposed that the prospective 

 meal is discovered in the first instance by perhaps 

 a single bird soaring, as they are wont, at an 

 enormous altitude. The movements of the bird 

 are watched by a second at an equal elevation 

 but yet further off, and thus by a third, and so on, 

 till one becomes a crowd. This has been beauti- 

 fully expressed by Longfellow in "Hiawatha." 



Some birds, like our common British snipe 

 and woodcock, and the New Zealand apteryx, 

 find their food by the sense of touch, or in the 

 case of the apteryx perhaps by smell also. In 

 both cases it is hidden from view, inasmuch as 

 it has to be obtained by thrusting the beak down 

 into soft ground in search of worms and such- 

 like animals. But for the sense of touch it is 

 obvious that feeding from such a source would be 

 impossible. The beak of the snipe, if examined, 

 will be found very soft and pliable ; dissection 

 shows it to be lichly supplied with nerves. 



Tradition has it that snipe and woodcock live 

 on "suction." Consequently, they are cooked 

 without the removal of the intestines or "trail." 

 The cookery-books bid us " toast and butter a 

 slice of bread, and put it under them for the 

 trail to drop on." It is doubtful whether, if it 

 were known that this trail was stuffed with more 

 or less digested earthworms, this fashion of cook- 

 ing would be so religiously followed ! 



