HOURS WITH NATURE. 



and signs of labour and man's pursuits were on every 

 side. There was the fisherman's fragile dinghi paddl- 

 ing about, the steam launch ploughing the water below, 

 and the kites and crows sailing in the air aloft. Present- 

 ly, a few yards ahead of us and close to the starboard 

 side of a vessel, we noticed a great commotion among 

 these birds ; on nearing the scene, we found that a buck- 

 etful of garbage and kitchen refuse had just been 

 thrown overboard, and the excitement was due to the 

 struggle among the crows, kites, and the gulls for the 

 possession of a morsel apiece of this early breakfast. The 

 crows were by far the most numerous and fussy, but 

 while they spent much time in cawing and circling about, 

 a kite would quietly swoop down, secure a bone almost 

 before it had time to drop on the water and triumphantly 

 carry it away to pick the flesh at leisure. We were in an 

 observant mood, and did not fail to notice how the birds 

 effected changes in the plane of their wings according as 

 they wished to sail right or left, upwards or downwards ; 

 how the kite with its comparatively large wings could 

 hover with ease, while the crow had to sustain its flight 

 with much flapping. But what struck us as most curious 

 and novel was the manner in which the crows secured 

 the falling or floating bits of food with their claws, very 

 much after the fashion of raptorial birds. 



Our attention was suddenly diverted by a tumbling 

 sound in the river close to our boat, and on looking to- 

 wards the spot we just caught a glimpse of something grey- 

 ish black in colour and smooth of skin disappearing in 



