218 



A YEAR WITH NATURE. 



BEAK OF YOUNG 

 BARN OWL. 



more so because those species which require an instrument 

 entirely different from their fellows have it so graciously supplied. 

 In the beaks of the Duck tribe one need not be particularly 

 well educated in matters ornithological to see that it is admir- 

 ably suited for dabbling in soft mud, in the 

 same way as the beak of an Eagle, Falcon, or 

 Owl is formed to tear to pieces its prey. 



We have a beak of the first mentioned class 

 of bird in that of the Spoonbill. This beak 

 aids the bird very materially in sifting the 

 mud at the bottom of pools and rivers. The 

 singular form of the beak at once arrests 

 attention : it is long, powerful, gradually 

 flattening from a stout base, and at last 

 expanding into a rounded, shovel-like termina- 

 tion. It is not until the third year that the young assume the 

 colouring of the adult; and the beak which is covered with a 

 vascular membrane gradually acquires its full dimensions and 

 hardness. The Spoonbill is like the majority of large birds 

 somewhat shy and retiring in its habits, and lives in society in 

 wild wooded marshes, where it searches with the aid of the 

 wonderful spoon-like bill for such 

 food as fish, molluscs, small reptiles, 

 the larvae of aquatic insects, etc., 

 and it has a sedate walk. 



A very formidable beak is that 

 of the Egyptian Vulture. In 

 October, 1825, one of these birds 

 gorged with food was shot near 

 Kilve, in Somersetshire. The 

 functions of this Vulture in Egypt 

 and other parts of the East, in 

 clearing the streets of filth of 



every description for which, it will be observed, the beak is 

 so admirably adapted - are tasks which they undertake in 

 common with the Pariah dogs, and the value of which cannot 

 be over-estimated. Nor were its services less valued in ancient 

 than in modern times ; it was among the sacred animals, of 

 Egypt, and is often accurately represented on their monuments. 



BEAK OF WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 



