The Weapons of Birds 



183 



Fig. 2. Spur of the Spur- 

 winged Plover 



the Nest. However the others do not forsake it till they have quite driven 

 it out of their Limits." 



This same keep -off -my -territory trait is as strong in the common Pigeon 

 as in his extinct relation, for if one Pigeon trespasses on the breeding box of 

 another he will be set upon and belabored without mercy. And while no 

 existing Pigeon has the bony knob of the Soli- 

 taire, some wild species have a rudiment of such 

 a weapon ; and if any one will part the feathers 

 on the outer edge of a Pigeon's wing, near the 

 bend, he, or she, will find a small bare spot and 

 more or less trace of a little prominence covered 

 with tough skin. 



Most birds, indeed, are compelled to get along without any special 

 weapon, and some, the Swans for example, are said to give very severe blows 

 with the unaided wing; although one may reasonably question the statement 

 that even this bird can break a man's arm with a stroke of its pinion. 

 Nearly every one has seen the rough-and-tumble fights of those ill-bred little 

 feathered gamins, the English Sparrows, and know the vigorous manner in 

 which they hammer one another with beak and wing. 



The writer does not know whether or not such well-armed birds as 

 Gannets or Herons quarrel among themselves; but if they do so this should 

 result in serious damage, for the beak of the Gannet is wonderfully keen- 

 edged, while a thrust from the bill of such a bird as the Blue Heron would 



be powerful enough to kill an 

 adversary of the same species. 

 Such as these need no adventi- 

 tious aids; neither do such hard 

 kickers as. the Ostrich and his 

 relations, who are well able to 

 take care of themselves. But 

 many of the game birds, as we all 

 know, make up for any lack of 

 size and' strength by the spurs 

 with which their legs are provided, 

 while still other birds wear spurs 

 upon their wings ; and it is to be 

 noted that these are such as have 

 weak legs or have uses for them 

 that would render spurs upon their 

 legs more or less inefficient as weapons. Several species of Plovers found in 

 South America, India and Africa, distributed among the genera Hoplopterus, 

 Belonopterus, Lobivanellus and Sarciopborus, have these wing-spurs, and very 

 sharp spurs they are, too, and seemingly very effective. None of these 



Fig. 1. 







The Wattled Plover 



