Beaks and Bills 



249 



natives of New Zealand — in which not only is the hill 

 of the species designed for a s|)ecial metliod of j)rocurin<!^ 

 food, but the bills of the two sexes are very dilferent in 

 form and use, and complement each other's methods. 

 Concerning the peculiar use of the bill in the Huia biids, 



Fig. 193. — Bill ol Purple Finch and fmsshill compared; the latter specialized 



for extracting seeds irotn [nne-cones. 



Professor Newton writes: "Its favourite food is the grul) 

 of a timber-l:)oring beetle, and the male bird with his short 

 stout bill attacks the more decayed portions of the wood, 

 and chisels out his pre}', while the female with her long 

 slender bill probes the holes in the sounder ])art, the hard- 

 ness of which resists his weapon; or when lie, having 

 removed the decayed portion, is unable to reach the grul). 



