CHAPTER V 



THE FOOD OF ANIMALS — BIRDS WHICH FEED ON 

 INSECTS AND OTHER SMALL CREATURES— SCAVENGERS 



Insectivorous birds of various sorts are abundant, among 

 which the wide-mouthed Swallows and Swifts are remarkable 

 for their powers of flight, to which their long wings and forked 

 tails are adaptations. The Night-Jar or Goat-Sucker {Capri- 



Fig. 346. — Night- Jar [Caprimulgits Europ^tts) 



mulgus Europceus (fig. 346) is a soft-plumaged bird, which flies 

 something like an owl, and takes up at dusk and during the 

 night the work which Swallows and Swifts carry on by day. 

 Its widely-gaping mouth is fringed with stiff bristle-like feathers 

 which are no doubt of use in the capture of prey. The following 



