USE OF NATURAL INSTRUMENTS. 421 



employs its tail as an umbrella against rain a circumstance 

 taken advantage of by the Indians, who rustle the forest 

 leaves in imitation of a shower, 'and whilst he is putting 

 up his umbrella kill him' (Wallace). 



The beaks or bills of birds are used in a great variety of 

 ways. The tailor bird employs its bill as a needle, its thread 

 being the fibre of a tree bark, by means of which needle and 

 thread it sews a series of leaves in an intricate fashion, so as 

 to form a waterproof cover for its nest (Baker). Hens comb 

 out the feathers of their chickens in this way, and Romanes 

 gives the case of a foster hen doing the same to the hair of a 

 brood of young ferrets consigned to her care. Various birds 

 carry their young in their beaks, as in the case of a landrail 

 mentioned in the ' Animal World.' A common wood pigeon 

 a ring dove tapped at a certain window till it was opened 

 (Jesse), and a swan tapped at a door ' at a certain hour every 

 afternoon ' to intimate that it had come for its food supply 

 (Carpenter). Eobins and other birds frequently thus tap at 

 windows or doors for admission, or to attract notice. The 

 woodpecker taps the bark of trees for other purposes, as well 

 as excavates, with its beak. The hen chases away stranger 

 chickens by blows of her beak. The parrot, too, gives blows 

 with its beak, and this organ is commonly used as a weapon 

 of offence or defence in combats between various bird indivi^ 

 duals or species. A goldfinch tied with a string a weak 

 branch to a stronger one in her nest-building (Watson). A 

 performing cockatoo beat time with a drumstick held in its 

 bill (Buckland). Beaks are commonly used among birds as 

 instruments for picking or breaking up food, fruits, and 

 grains. Crows steal cocoa-nut oil from railway carriage 

 boxes by prizing open the spring lid with their beaks (Wood). 

 A raven, magpie, or jackdaw by the same means turns over 

 and over for examination as deftly as it could with a hand 

 any object that excites its curiosity. A raven untied knots 

 in string and undermined the bars of its cage, while it also 

 tested the strength or weakness of wire all in order to- 

 escape from its cage (Wood). 



Many birds feed their young or each other by passing 

 food from beak to beak. By means of their beaks they 



