THE BEAK. 33 



wings and legs (still holding the little bird in the same position) 

 with his bill, taking the limbs therein, and giving at the same 

 time a strong lateral wrench. He continued this work with 

 great dexterity, till he had almost reduced the body to a 

 shapeless mass. He at first ate all the soft parts, leaving the 

 larger bones to the last, which seemed to give him more trouble, 

 particularly the beak and legs. 



In the Buceros or Hornbill, the beak is equally strange, 

 and rendered still more disproportioned by the addition of a 

 large naked bony protuberance on the forehead. As yet no 

 satisfactory explanation has been given for these enormous 

 protuberances. In the Toucan, indeed, it has been suspected 

 that the bill is capable of feeling pleasure or pain, and not 

 altogether insensible, like the horny bills of other birds, and 

 the nails and claws of animals; it is also supposed that the 

 bird is enabled to reach the various fruits and berries 011 

 which it feeds by the aid of its singular bill. 



The Pelican's beak is also very large, and the under jaw or 

 mandible furnished with a vast pouch, in which it can convey 

 a considerable supply of food for its 

 young. The Avoset, a bird of the 

 wading tribe, which collects its food 

 in shallow water, or moist sandy 

 places, has a very different sort of 

 beak, of singular construction, resem- 

 bling flexible flat pieces of whale- 



*~ Head of Pelican. 



bone, and not bending downwards, 



as is usually the case, but turning upwards; with this it 

 scoops up spawn, worms, or soft water insects. One other 

 beak only shall be mentioned, — namely, that of the Spoonbill, 

 which, in its food, partaking of the nature of the Heron 

 and Duck tribes, is provided accordingly ; its interior part 

 being furnished with rough projections which prevent the 

 escape of such slippery things as small fish, while its wide 

 spoon-shaped end enables it to crush and sift mud and weeds 

 for worms or soft vegetable matter. 



The bones of birds, like those of animals, are for the most 



