BIRDS — SPECIAL HABITS OF FEEDING. 285 



tte air, or lie in wait for the boobies as they return tc 

 rest. 



In antithesis to this habit of plundering other birds 

 I may quote the following from 'Nature ' (July 20, 1871), 

 to show that the instinct of provident labour, so common 

 among insects and rodents, is not altogether unrepresented 

 in birds: — 



The ant-eating woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)^ a 

 common Californian species, has the curious and peculiar habit 

 of laying up provision against the inclement season. Small 

 round holes are dug in the bark of the pine and oak, into each 

 of which is inserted an acorn, and so tightly is it fitted or driven 

 in, that it is with difficulty extricated. The bark of the pine 

 trees, when thus filled, presents at a short distance the appear- 

 ance of being studded with nails. 



The following may also be quoted : — 



It is the nature of this bird (guillemot), as well as of most 

 of those birds which habitually dive to take their prey, to per- 

 form all their evolutions under water with the aid of their 

 wings ; but instead of dashing at once into the midst of the 

 terrified group of small prey, by which only a few would be 

 captured, it passes round and round them, and so drives them 

 into a heap ; and thus has an opportunity of snatching here one 

 and there another as it finds it convenient to swallow them ; 

 and if any one pushes out to escape, it falls the first prey of the 

 devourer. The manner in which this bird removes the egg of 

 a gull or hen to some secui'e place to be devoured, when com- 

 pared with that in which a like conveyance is made by the 

 parent for the safety of its future progeny, affords a striking 

 manifestation of the difference between appetite and affection. 

 When influenced by affection, the brittle treasure is removed 

 without flaw or fracture, and is replaced with tender care ; but 

 the plunderer at once plunges his bill into its substance, and 

 carries it off" on its point. ^ 



Speaking of the feeding habits of the lapwing, Jesse 



says : — 



When the lapwing wants to procure food, it seeks for a 

 worm's cast, and stamps the ground by the side of it with its 

 feet. After doing this for a short time, the bird waits for the 



* Couch, Illustrations of Instinct, pp. 192-93. 



