100 FOOD OF BIRDS. 



light us with their song, are granivorous, and may 

 be seen busily pecking the thistle and groundsel 

 when ripe ; whilst the yellow-hammer, the bunt- 

 ing, and the reed-sparrow, run along the ground, 

 collecting the seeds of the different kinds of grass. 



Carnivorous birds have very different habits 

 from the granivorous. Their manners and dispo- 

 sitions are, in general, fierce and unsocial towards 

 each other, and they are rarely seen in flocks 01 

 companies. Each pair build themselves a separate 

 habitation, either on the top of some lonely rock, 

 or in the depths of thick woods, and suffer nothing 

 else to dwell near them. Many, as the eagle and 

 the hawk, have strong and active bodies, a power- 

 ful sweep of wing, and are armed with curved bills 

 and strong talons. Their heads are commonly 

 large, with a short neck ; and they possess very 

 acute senses of sight and smell. The hawk may 

 be observed soaring at a height so great, that it 

 appears only a speck, when, all at once, it will de- 

 scend like an arrow, and pounce upon its prey ; 

 perhaps a poor wren cowering amongst the grass, 

 and hardly visible ; and the vulture, when a piece 

 of carrion is exposed, scents it at an amazing dis- 

 tance. 



The condor, which is the largest flying bird, 

 is carnivorous. It is a very powerful creature, 

 frequently standing a yard high, and its wings 

 measuring six or eight feet from the tip of the one 

 to that of the other. It is capable of carrying 

 away an ox, just as an eagle would carry away a 



