134 



THE NIDIOLOGIST 



In short, each family of birds has its own 

 characteristic bill, which may be thick or 

 slender, hard or soft, curved downward, 

 straight, or curved upward, but in each and 

 every case it is marvelously adapted to the 

 needs of the particular wearer. 



Every extreme 

 peculiarity of con- 

 formation is sure 

 to be accounted 

 for by some ])e- 

 culiar habit of the 

 bird. Thus the 

 enormous beak of 

 the Hornbill is a 

 trowel for ])laster- 

 ing up the open- 

 ing in the hollow 

 tree where the fe- 

 male broods her 

 eggs, while its nar- 

 rowness in hor- 

 izontal section en- 

 ables the male to 

 hand in — or, rath- 

 er, hill in — food 

 to the patient 

 mother through a 

 crevice in the plas- 

 ter that will not 

 admit the body of 

 the dreaded ser- 

 pent. Yet this 

 great bill is very 

 light, and is no 

 burden in flight. 

 The heavy spade- 

 like bill of the 

 Pufifin enables the 

 bird, in nesting, to 

 burrow to a safe 

 depth into the 

 earth, yet does not 

 obstruct its neces- 

 sarily rapid i^rog- 

 ress through the 

 water in pursuit 

 of fi s h. The 



enormous pouch of the Pelican is a wonderful 

 scoop net, as it expands to ladle up a mess of 

 fish; but it contracts till it is quite out of the 

 way when not in use. The Heron's spear, the 

 Hawk's recurved double scimiter, the mud 

 probes of Woodcock and Curlew, the Wood- 

 pecker's chisel, are all examples of marvelous 

 adaptations of the bill to jjeculiar ends. Most 

 remarkable of all, jjerhaps, are the slender 

 tubes of some Hummingbirds, which are 

 especially formed to reach the nectar cups of 

 flowers of such peculiar shape that no 



1. HORNED LARK. 



2. BLUE JAV. 



3. BALTIMORE ORIOLE. 



4. RED-POLL LINNET. 



5. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK (IMMA- 



TURE SPECIMEN). 



6. FOX-COLORED SPARROW. 



7. SCARLET TANACER. 



8. BARN SWALLOW. 



9. CEDAR WAXWING. 



10. WHITE RU.MPF.D SHRIKE. 



11. SOLITARY VIKEO. 



less perfectly adapted tongue could find them 

 out. 



A very different jnirpose is served by the 

 thick, strong bills of the great family of 

 Finches. Ability to crush a seed is the first 

 recpiisitc here. That this end may be attained 



most efficiently 

 and with the least 

 effo r t, a little 

 horny knob has 

 been ])rovided 

 within the bill, to 

 press into and 

 crack the seed 

 case. The prin- 

 ciple of the short 

 1 e \' e r ] > r e v a i 1 s 

 e\ery where in this 

 family, but it is 

 carried to an ex- 

 treme in the case 

 of the Grosbeaks, 

 and especially in 

 those species that 

 winter far to the 

 north, as the Even- 

 i n g Grosbeak . 

 The seeds of these 

 northern climes 

 have thick cover- 

 ings, and weak- 

 ness of bill would 

 mean starvation 

 for the Grosbeak. 

 But that great con- 

 ical beak is fitted 

 to cope with al- 

 most any seed 

 case; and, indeed, 

 it does not often 

 fail its owner. Just 

 how strong it is, 

 no one appreci- 

 ates so well as the 

 bird collector who 

 has incautiously 

 handled a wound- 

 ed Cirosbeak. 

 Allied in manner and habit to the Cirosbeaks 

 is a bird whose bill seems, to casual observa- 

 tion, an actual deformity. The bird's name. 

 Crossbill, describes the very peculiar conforma- 

 tion of its mandibles, one of which actually laps 

 far over the other, instead of accurately meet- 

 ing it, like the mandibles of almost all other 

 birds. Of course there is purpose in this, and 

 we are told that the crooked bill pries open 

 the plates of the pine cones and extracts the 

 seeds with a deftness which no straight man- 

 dibles can approach. Neither Grosbeak nor 



'3 



MAGNOLIA WARBLER. 

 CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. 

 HOODED WARBLER. 



15. AMERICAN PIPIT. 



16. BROWN THRASHER. 



17. LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN 



18. BROWN CREEPER, 

 ig. RED-BELLIED NUTHATCH. 



20. BRIDLED TIT. 



21. GOLDEN-CRESTED KINGLET. 



22. BLUE-CRAY GdAT-CATCHER 



23. HKRMIT THRUSH. 24. BLUE BIRD. 



