HUNTING — FISHING — WARS AND EXPEDITIONS. 43 



is soon seized by the shark, while living men who 

 fall into the water have great difficulty in escaping, 

 and are often drawn up horribly mutilated and half 

 dead. 



Sea-gulls also follow vessels when they approach 

 the coast It is a pleasant sight to see the noisy band 

 animating the monotonous splendour of the ocean ; 

 they arrive as soon as a vessel is one or two days' 

 journey from land. Henceforth they do not leave 

 her, flying behind and plunging in her wake; they 

 profit by the disturbance produced by the gigantic 

 machine to capture the stunned fishes. 



On land exactly the same kind of chase is carried 

 on by Rooks, Crows, and Magpies, who follow the 

 plough to seize the worms which the ploughshare 

 turns up in the open earth. In autumn they cover 

 the fields, animated and active, pilfering as the furrow 

 is hollowed out. 



Certain rapacious birds who are awkward in 

 hunting, especially Kites, make up for their lack of 

 skill by audacious impudence. Constantly on the 

 watch for better hunters like the Falcon, they throw 

 themselves on him as soon as he has seized his prey. 

 The proud bird, though much more courageous, 

 stronger, and more skilful than these thieves, usually 

 abandons the prey either because the burden em- 

 barrasses him in the struggle, or else because he knows 

 that he can easily find another. These highway robbers 

 of the air often unite to gain possession of a prey 

 already taken and killed, and ready to be eaten. A 

 handsome Falcon of the Southern States of North 

 America, the Caracara Eagle {Polyborus cheriway), 

 frequently steals fish from the Brown Pelicans on the 

 coast of Texas. When the Pelicans are returning 



