THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN 



51 



Photograph by Dr. A. A. Allen 

 LOOKING OUT ON THB WORLD FROM A MOSSY NfiST 



Mr. and Mrs. Kite, of the swallow-tailed kites, built their home in the top of a tall tree 

 near a watercourse. Dry twigs, sticks, hay, and moss were used. The birds of this family breed 

 over a wide range of territory and incubation may start any time from March to June. 



cipally to mice and rats Therefore, they 

 are in the main beneficial, as they destroy 

 large numbers of rodents that are injuri- 

 ous to crops and orchards. 



VULTURES AS "bONE-BREAKERS" 



The bearded vultures of the Old World 

 are said to carry turtles and large bones 

 from the carcasses of dead animals to a 

 great height, in order to drop them on 

 rocks, where they break open so that the 

 bird can eat the marrow. From this habit 

 the Spanish call these birds quebranta- 

 huesos, signifying "bone-breakers." The 

 ancient naturalist Pliny relates that the 

 Greek poet ^schylus (who died 456 B.C.) 

 met untimely death when one of these 

 vultures, mistaking his bald head for a 

 stone, dropped a tortoise on it from the 

 air! 



Some species of hawks, particularly cer- 

 tain forms that range in the Tropics, eat 

 snakes as their principal food. There is 

 one group of species found in India and 

 adjacent regions in which this habit is so 

 constant that the birds are known as "ser- 

 pent eagles." The osprey and some of the 



sea eagles confine their attention mainly to 

 fish, which they capture alive by plung- 

 ing after them as they approach the sur- 

 face of the water. 



As their name implies, the peculiar bat- 

 eating hawks (Machaerhamphus alcinus) 

 from the East Indies and Africa feed on 

 bats. Since these hawks capture their prey 

 on the wing, they are abroad in the evening 

 and early morning, being at least partly 

 nocturnal in habit. The honey buzzards 

 of the Old World (Pernis) are fond of 

 honey and of the immature stages of bees. 



Swainson's hawk, a bird of large size, 

 feeds extensively on grasshoppers, the 

 broad-winged hawk is fond of frogs, the 

 everglade kite subsists on large fresh-water 

 snails, and the powerful harpy eagle feeds 

 regularly on monkeys. 



Possibly the strangest food in the group 

 is the repulsive carrion eaten by the vul- 

 tures. These birds spend the daylight 

 hours soaring in the air, while they scan 

 the earth below them in search of dead 

 animals that may supply food. Small ani- 

 mals, dead fish, and birds are bolted entire 

 or are torn into suitable fragments. The 



