A STUDY IN BIRDS' BEAKS. 



BEAK OF SPOONBILL. 



THERE are a great many people nowadays who take notice 

 of a brightly plumed bird which for the moment calls forth 

 their admiration but how many are there who know the diver- 

 sity which exists in birds' beaks, other than the cultivated Ornitho- 

 logist? Moreover, there are a great many of the latter who 

 have not studied the beaks of birds to any extent, and by not 

 doing so it is certainly a positive loss to them, for the reason 

 that a bird's beak is often the one and only distinguishing mark 

 from that of another variety. That is to say, there are some 

 birds which are almost 

 similar in plumage, and 

 their only characteristic 

 difference is in the beak. 

 I have picked out at 

 random the beaks of some 

 twenty-six birds for the 

 purpose of this article, and 



these will be sufficient to show the variations which exist in 

 regard to their construction. Birds' beaks present an almost 

 endless variety of form, which is associated with an equally 

 diversified use. It is interesting to note in passing that there 



is no bird at present existing which 

 lacks a beak, but in some species, 

 long since extinct, the beak was 

 absent. In this case, teeth took 

 the place of the beak, which is 

 well described in an article on the 

 anatomy of birds in Hudson's 

 "British Birds" as simply a horny 

 tract of skin, which has become 

 hardened by its special uses. 



It is one of the most wonderful examples of Nature's work- 

 ings, this adaptation of so many various builds of beaks, the 



BEAK OF EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 



