14 



Birds & Nature Magazine 



Portrait of Hooded Merganser Duck 



A Halo of Delicate Feathers for Ornamentation 



Only. 



tropical flycatcher, which has a beautiful 

 red and purple transverse crest, the evidence 

 of this novel use seems fairly well corrobor- 

 ated. 



As the antithesis to this condition, we 

 find many birds which have the head partly 

 or entirely bare of feathers, such as the vul- 

 tures and some of the waders. In the 

 former group this lack of feathers is doubt- 

 less of value in enabling the birds to avoid 

 soiling their plumage, when engaged in their 

 scavenger work. The great Condor of 

 South America has, just below this naked 

 area, a necklace of the whitest of fluffy 

 down, and in addition the male has a large 

 wattle of skin upon the front of the head. 

 Wherever the skin of the head and neck is 

 partly bare, ornamentation often takes the 

 form of many-shaped and often highly col- 

 ored whistles, such as we see highly devel- 

 oped in a King Vulture. 



The length of the neck of birds is often 

 correlated with that of the legs — a long- 

 legged bird of necessity requiring a long 



neck to permit its bill to reach the ground. 

 Geese and swans are an exception, and in 

 their case we find that the long, mobile 

 neck is of great use in making up for the 

 awkwardness of their waddle when on land, 

 and in allowing them to reach beneath 

 them while floating in shallow water, thus 

 feeding along the bottom. 



Herons are uniformly so light of body 

 that they would have diflficulty in steadying 

 themselves in the air, were it not that, when 

 in flight, their necks become compressed to 

 an incredible thinness, thus acting as does 

 the cut-water of a ship's prow. The per- 

 petual crook in the necks of these birds is 

 significant of their method of fishing — a pa- 

 tient watch until the prey comes within 

 striking distance. In the snake-bird this 

 crook, or Z-shape, has, by the adaptation of 

 three of the neck bones, become a veritable 

 trigger, by the springing of which the bird 

 literally spears the fish. 



A realization of the more immediately 

 practical uses of such structures as the casso- 

 wary's horny helmet, the feather shield of 

 the Ruff, perhaps the crest of the King- 

 bird, and many others as yet unknown, will 

 impel amateur observers to further efforts 

 in the investigation of the life-habits of 

 birds. — ''The Bird." 



Portrait of an Adjutant 



A snake eating crane, a nati've of India. 

 Notice the enormous pouch at his throat. 



