A STUDY IN BIRDS' BEAKS. 



219 



Hence the appellation of Pharaoh's Chicken. As will be seen 

 from my drawing, the bill is slender and straight, abruptly 

 hooked at the tip. For the benefit it confers on the people 

 of the East, the Egyptian Vulture is still protected, and rightly 

 so, because of its being such an industrious 

 searcher for carrion and a Veritable scavenger. 

 It is a constant attendant on the caravan 

 as it pursues its way from town to town. 

 The beak of the Owl is excellently suited 

 for the purpose to which it is so often 

 put. The young Barn Owl is a curious BEAK OF LAMMERGEYER. 

 and interesting little fellow, and when a 



mouse is handed to him he generally ejects the well-known 

 pellet before swallowing the tasty rodent. An Owl has been 

 known to put away nine mice one after the other until the 

 tail of the last hanging out of its mouth pointed to the fact 

 that he was " full inside." Not long after, 

 he has been quite ready for a further half- 

 dozen 1 It is amusing to watch an Owl with 

 a mouse. He takes it in his foot which 

 also serves as a hand looks at it in the 

 wise and cunning manner peculiar to the 

 species, gives a sharp peck or two into it,; 

 a snap of the bill, and it is gone. 



It is said this bird never drinks, but being a 

 prowler of the night when the air is moist - 

 he probably takes a sip or two at the glistening dew-drops as 

 he glides along the meadows in search of mice, moles, rats, 

 and reptiles, an occupation in which his beak so ably assists. 

 The White-Headed Eagle is a noble bird, and is the one 

 emblazoned on the National Standard of 

 the United States. It has a very powerful 

 and strong beak, and it is extraordinary 

 the heavy carrion and the like which is 

 carried by it. It is stated on excellent 

 authority that one has been seen flying with 

 a lamb ten days old, but which from the 



violence of its struggles it was obliged to drop at the height 

 of a few feet from the ground. It is very fond of fish, and 



BEAK OF DODO. 



BEAK OF GREAT AUK 



