i6o 



The Bird 



surprising; in its num])prs and 

 extent. El very class of living 

 heings a|)])ears, at certain ])hases 

 of its existence, to check or come 

 into inlim.'ite contact with other 

 unrelated groups, radically affect- 

 ing^ the most isolated, in ways 

 too sul)ll(^ for our observation. 

 A little green flycatcher snatch- 

 ing a tiny gnat from its hiding- 

 ])lace beneath n leaf seems 

 a trivial incident, and yet 

 the effects of accumulated 



Fig. 122.— Red-tailed Hawk 

 (the watcher) an active 

 hunter. 



events no more miportant than this are felt around the 

 world, so delicate is the balance ofXature. 



Oddities of Birds' Diet 



To give any adequate idea of the vagaries of the diet 

 of birds would require a volume by itself, but certain changes 



in feeding habits, due to 

 some increased pressure in 

 the struggle for existence, 

 are too interesting to be 

 passed by unnot iced . They 

 show IIS how plastic and 

 ada]itive birds as a whole 

 are, — how, often, instead 



Fig. 123.-Red Squirrel (the watched), of giving tip and becoming 

 food of hawks and owls. 



(R. H. Beebe, photographer.) extmct, a Certain race will 



