The Bird Book 



A plea JQI\ the birds on the ground of useful- 



; fcess wj$,:]ttlst; not be out of place in a book 



t which aims at enabling many to recognise their 



Teailjefed; friends whom to know is to love. 



Moreover, many state that the bird's attack on 



fruit is solely owing to thirst and maintain that if 



a small pond were provided in fruit gardens, the 



fruit would be left untouched. The scheme is, at 



least, worth a trial. 



But, returning to the definition with which we 

 started, one of the first things we notice about 

 bird-life is the variety of organism. Our interest 

 and admiration are aroused as we see how com- 

 pletely Nature has furnished each family with the 

 structure most suited to the successful pursuit of 

 its particular prey. The long legs of the waders, 

 the webbed feet of the swimmers, whose legs are 

 placed so far back as to render the birds positively 

 awkward on land, the wonderful vision of the 

 birds of prey, the hard bills of seed-eating birds 

 and the soft bills of those that live on insects, are 

 but a few cases in point. 



The Woodpecker affords one of the most strik- 

 ing examples of the way in which the whole 

 structure is made subservient to the object of pro- 

 curing food. His prey lies concealed behind the 

 bark of ancient, decaying trees. Consequently 

 he is furnished not only with a powerful beak, 

 with which to drill and prise off the bark ; but 

 with a tongue capable of being extended to a 



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