298 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



Eagles fight in mid-air, grappling with the claws 

 and spinning round and round ; but they generally 

 let go in time to avoid a fall. Quite innocent- 

 looking little birds may however forget to do this ; 

 I once picked up in the Calcutta Museum buildings 

 a couple of House- Swifts (Cypselus affinis) so tightly 

 clenched claws to claws that it was quite difficult 

 to pull them apart. No doubt it is loss of presence 

 of mind owing to over- excitement like this that 

 makes Sea-Eagles and Ospreys hang on to too 

 strong prey till they are drowned, since under the 

 fear of man they can let go their grip of their 

 quarry quickly enough. 



Some birds rely almost entirely on biting, such 

 as Gulls, Shrikes, and Parrots, the last of which 

 can of course do great execution ; but Parrots have 

 a silly-looking habit of trying to ward off a foe with 

 one foot, which looks like asking for trouble, for 

 both they and some stout-billed Finches, such as 

 Weavers and Java Sparrows, make a point of biting 

 the adversary's feet, like hyaenas among mammals. 



It is curious, by the way, that birds seldom aim 

 at the throat of their enemy, the back of the head 

 being the part attacked in most cases. The weak- 

 ness of their necks, always comparatively long, puts 

 them at a great disadvantage in contests with 

 beasts, but on the whole they " get a good deal of 

 their own back," and large numbers of the smaller 

 and younger carnivorous mammals fall victims to 

 birds of prey ; I have heard of a case of the Nepal 

 Eagle-Owl (Huhua nepalensis) killing a full-grown 



