POLLY THE GOURMAND 23 



swallow its food whole, and its bill deserves study. 

 In birds generally the upper mandible is more or 

 less joined to the skull, leaving only the lower jaw 

 free to move. But in the parrot the upper mandible 

 is also hinged, so that each plays freely on the other. 

 The upper, as we all know, is hooked and pointed ; 

 the lower has a sharp edge. The tongue is thick, 

 muscular, and sensitive. The whole makes a won- 

 derful instrument, unique among birds, for feelingly 

 manipulating a dainty morsel, shelling, peeling, and 

 slicing, until nothing is left but the sweetest part 

 of the core. Of all gourmands Polly is the most 

 shameless waster. 



Long before land, trees, and air had been exploited 

 the primitive bird must have discovered the harvest 

 of the waters, and here the competition has been very 

 keen indeed. Yet the form of bill most in use is 

 very simple — just a plain pair of forceps, long and 

 sharp-pointed like scissors. This is evidently hard 

 to beat, for birds of many sorts use it, handling it 

 variously. The kingfisher plumps bodily down on 

 the minnow from an overhanging perch ; the solan 

 goose, soaring, plunges from a " pernicious height " ; 

 the heron, high on its stilts, darts out a long and 

 serpentine neck ; the diver, with similar beak and 

 neck, but different legs, pursues the fleeing shoals 

 under water ; to the swift and slippery fish all are 

 alike terrible in their certainty. 



There are, however, other varieties of the fishing 

 bill. Some have a hook at the point, as that of the 

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