At Home with Wild Nature 



linnet by one of its toes, and there are instances upon 

 record of lapwings wading the brinks of streams having 

 their toes entrapped between the closing shells of such 

 lusty bivalves as the fresh-water mussel. 



Instances are upon record of white-tailed or sea 

 eagles being drowned through plunging into the water 

 and driving their talons deeply into the backs of 

 salmon too large and heavy to be lifted. 



The common cormorant is occasionally choked by 

 attempting to swallow a fish too large even for its 

 capacious gullet, and a heron was once slain by its 

 captive, but in a somewhat different manner. This 

 bird impales its prey by a lance-like thrust of its 

 formidable bill, shakes the victim off, and swallows it 

 head foremost. Spearing a large eel through the head, 

 the bird was unable to shake it off, and the captive coil- 

 ing its body round the neck of its captor strangled it. 



Herons upon rare occasions have been choked 

 through attempting to swallow large trout; a toad has 

 killed an eider duck, and bullheads, or " millers' 

 thumbs," have proved too much for the swallowing 

 capacity of water rails, little grebes, and kingfishers. 

 A member of the last-named species was upon one 

 occasion discovered unable to fly but for a short dis- 

 tance, in a Cambridgeshire ditch, and upon being caught 

 and examined was found to have a young pike protrud- 

 ing from its gullet. Directly the fish which measured 

 no less than four and three-quarter inches in length 

 was removed the bird flew away apparently none the 

 worse for its curious experience. 



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