90 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



spoon-bill shaped for dabbling in the water; that is 

 to say, a wide, round beak ; but there are palmipedes, 

 notably among sea-birds, that live on prey, on fish, 

 and consequently are equipped with the crooked 

 mandible appropriate for a predatory life. Such, to 

 take but a single example, is the albatross, of which 

 I here show you the picture. By its ferociously 

 hooked beak it can easily be recognized as a sea pi^ 

 rate, an insatiable devourer of fish." 



"I certainly don't like its looks, " declared Emile. 

 "But tell me now what name they give the heron 

 on its tall stilts." 



"The heron belongs to the group of stilt-birds or 

 wading-birds. That is what they call all birds 

 mounted on long legs for traversing the marshes." 



"A bird on stilts is a stilt-bird; it would be hard 

 to improve on that. It is just the kind of name I 

 like." 



"Instead of allowing ourselves to be turned from 

 our theme by the heron and its stilts, let us come 

 back, my little friend, to the palmipedes, the swim- 

 ming birds. Clothing made expressly for the pur- 

 pose is required by the bird that passes the greater 

 part of its time on the water. It is indispensable 

 that this clothing should keep out both cold and 

 wet. Well, the plumage of an aquatic bird, espe- 

 cially in very cold countries, is a marvel of deli- 

 cate precautions. The outside feathers are strong, 

 placed very accurately one on the other and glossed 

 with an oily varnish that water cannot wet. Have 

 you ever noticed ducks as they come out of the 



