110 FROM BLOMIDON TO SMOKY. 



sure to crush the skull, sometimes eating the 

 head separately, then to pull out the stiff feathers, 

 and after feeling of the wing joints, to swallow 

 head foremost. A hermit thrush thus prepared 

 is about the limit of their single swallowing 

 power. They sometimes, especially with larger 

 birds, devour the contents of the abdominal 

 cavity before swallowing the trunk. When an 

 appetizing mouthful has been started on its down- 

 ward journey the expression of gluttonous enjoy- 

 ment thrown into their half-closed eyes and dis- 

 tended mouths is something beyond words. One 

 seems to see them taste the morsel all the way 

 down ! If a mouthful sticks at first, they jerk 

 their bodies up and down with considerable force, 

 literally ramming it in by concussion. Some- 

 times the tail of a warbler thus being lost to 

 sight remains in one corner of the owl's mouth. 

 The owl's practice then is to turn his head 

 towards it far enough to twist the unwilling 

 feathers into the middle of his tongue, and then 

 to swallow violently, always with effect. 



With great interest in the result, I placed nine 

 live perch and bream in the owl's tank one morn- 

 ing when they were about three months old. 

 They had never seen fish before. As the light 

 played upon the red fins and bright scales, the 

 birds' excitement was amusing to see. In a 

 very short time, however, they plunged feet fore- 



