THE BEAK. 29 



necessary provision, to make amends for the increased quantity 

 of power necessary to give the mandibles equal and uniform 

 strength. 



The Puffin is another bird with a strangely large and dis- 

 proportioned bill, something like a Parrot's, whence it is some- 

 times called the Sea Parrot : it is also very powerful, and a 

 bite from one of them would inflict a serious wound. When 

 once they seize an object, they are with difficulty induced to 

 leave hold of it ; and, as they grasp it with great force, a 

 singular mode of catching them is practised, which we shall 

 notice when we come to speak of these birds. 



Again, the longer tapering bill of the Snipe and Woodcock 

 tribe is the precise instrument wanted for penetrating deep 

 into moist earth, from whence they extract their food. In 

 this case strength is not requisite, and would have been quite 

 out of character with the slender neck of this family, as well 

 as unnecessary, for the purpose of collecting small worms ; but 

 length was indispensable, and nature has provided accordingly. 



Woodcocks and Snipes are such shy birds, that their modes 

 of feeding can rarely be observed ; but sometimes opportunities 

 have occurred which prove the truth of what is here said. A 

 couple of Snipes were, by means of a good telescope, actually 

 seen thus boring with their slender beaks in soft mire for their 

 food. They were feeding close to the edge of a lake, pushing 

 their bills into thin mud, by repeated thrusts, quite up to the 

 eyes, then drawing them back again with great quickness, and 

 every now and then shifting their ground a little. 



The bills of Ducks and similar birds, which live partly by 

 suction, and partly on small fish, or aquatic animals, merit 

 particular notice from their peculiar adaptation to that office ; 

 the inside of them towards the edge, being thickly set with 

 rows or lines of short, strong, sharp-pointed prickles. These 

 might be mistaken for teeth : this, however, is not their 

 purpose, which is merely to act as a sort of filter. Observe a 

 Duck in a brook, crushing, with that quick motion of his head, 

 soft weeds and other substances mixed with the mud. The 

 operation is thus carried on : by plunging its flat bill into the 



