HOW A BIRD FEEDS. 53 



To return for a moment to the sense of sight 

 in procuring food. How keen must this sense 

 be in the hawks and eagles. Take one of our 

 commonest birds of prey, the little kestrel. 

 Who has not admired its wondrous poise 

 high in air with quivering wings, yet never 

 moving from the same spot, till suddenly there 

 is a downward plunge, sw^ift as an arrow, 

 and we know that a mouse has gone the way 

 of all flesh : in one sense at any rate ! Yes, 

 though the bird is so high up as to appear 

 little more than a speck in the sky, yet he has 

 discerned, and secured, from that high altitude, 

 a prey so small ! This keenness of vision de- 

 pends upon the beautiful power of compensation 

 which the eye possesses : like a telescope, only 

 infinitely easier, it can be focussed to suit near 

 and distant objects at an instant of time. 



The kingfisher of our river sides, the osprey 

 of our lakes, and the gannet of our coasts, all 

 discern their prey — fish large or small — from 

 a distance, and seize it by a quick lightning-like 

 plunge below the surface. The force with which 

 this is done is well seen in the gannet, though by 

 a cruel experiment. Sailors often tie a fish to a 

 plank and set it adrift near these birds, suddenly 

 there is a wild plunge, the fish is struck and the 

 bird — is slain. The force with which it strikes 

 the wood breaks its neck. 



The cormorant, like the penguin and the 

 darter, is a most deadly fisherman. The Chinese 

 take advantage of its skill, turning it to their 

 own profit. They train, and set it to catch 

 fish. That it may not swallow what it catches, 



