KNUCKLE-DUSTERS AND SPEARS 297 



The spurs of the great Spur-winged Geese are 

 certainly very formidable weapons, for it has been 

 found possible to leave these birds out in the 

 open at night at the Cairo Zoo, although jackals 

 and wild cats visit this at night. Similarly at 

 Calcutta, where similar quadruped foes were to be 

 feared, Sarus Cranes, White Siberian and Man- 

 churian Cranes (Antigone antigone, Anthrofoides 

 leucogeranus, and Grus viridirostris) could be left 

 out, as well as Adjutant and Marabout Storks 

 (Leptoptilus dubius and javanicus) and Jabirus 

 (Xenorbynchus asiaticus), while the smaller Storks 

 and Cranes had to be shut in. The bayonet-like 

 bills of these birds are formidable weapons, and 

 they are not antagonists which man himself would 

 wisely attack unless armed at least with a stick ; 

 no doubt there was some truth in the classical 

 legends of pigmies being defeated by Cranes, 

 especially if by this title, as I have elsewhere sug- 

 gested, one of the great carrion- eating Storks was 

 meant. In the fights of the Adelie Penguin it 

 has been noticed that the males " fight fair " with 

 their flippers, but hens bite like suffragettes. 



Those most redoubtable fighters, the birds of 

 prey, whose daily food is often gained only by a 

 fight, rely mainly on the terrible stroke or grip of 

 their talons, and use their beaks but little, though 

 the Falcons often break the neck of the quarry 

 with the bill after bringing it down. When cor- 

 nered on the ground, they go over on their backs 

 to fight, as do Herons also. Often Hawks and 



