CHAP. V. DEFENCES OP BIRDS. 143 



paces' distance: they all entered the body; he was 

 wounded in the neck, chest, and belly, but still re- 

 mained on his feet: a fifth ball struck against the 

 femur, and, rebounding, fell back on the ground ; nor 

 was it in less than half an hour after all these wounds 

 that the bird died. Ulloa also affirms, that in the cold 

 region of Peru the condor is so closely furnished with 

 feathers, that eight or ten balls may strike against his 

 body without one piercing it. But it may well be 

 questioned whether many of the eagles the Aquila de- 

 structor, for instance are not as completely armed 

 as is the condor. The claws of all the eagles and 

 falcons are sickle-shaped, and both in form and effect 

 may be compared to steel hooks ; with these the prey 

 is struck, and the bill is only used to separate the food. 

 The owls have a singular mode of defence. A com- 

 mon barn owl, which we endeavoured ineffectually to 

 tame, when under a suspicion of being handled, would 

 make a loud hissing, like what we should imagine 

 would proceed from a serpent ; it would then throw 

 itself on its back, and begin fighting with its claws : 

 these are such formidable weapons, that even in so 

 small a bird they would penetrate the flesh to the depth 

 of an inch. 



(162.) There are few very striking peculiarities at- 

 tending the defensive habits of other birds ; nor are 

 there any which so far as man and their own class 

 are concerned can be termed very offensive. The 

 wings and the bill are almost their only weapons ; and 

 these are alone formidable when the bird is of a large 

 siee. In the gallinaceous tribe, however, we find strong 

 and very acute spurs affixed to the legs, as in the Argus 

 pheasant, the common cock, and many others; and 

 with these, as it is well known, they fight desperately. 

 The same appendages are found on the wings of many 

 plovers (Charadriadce) and waterhens (Parra); but 

 We know not the particular enemies they are intended 

 to repel. It seems uncertain, also, whether the horny 

 excrescences on the heads, or rather the bills, of the 



