158 The Bird 
The most unpleasant items in the bill of fare of the 
bird kingdom are birds themselves, although few, if any, 
hawks or owls feed exclusively on members of their 
own Class. The most systematic cannibal among birds 
is the Peregrine Falcon or Duck Hawk, and, where birds 
are abundant, this fastidious gourmand merely eats the 
flesh of the head and neck and the eyes of each victim, 
leaving the remainder of the body untouched. Occa- 
sionally, as among other animals, a bird of strictly vege- 
tarian habits will attack another bird, even one of its 
own kind, and kill and eat it in the most matter-of-fact 
way. 
Owls are the terror of many birds, from the tiny EIf- 
Owl which sometimes finds a sparrow too great a match 
for him, to the great Strenuous Owl of Australia, which 
snatches full-grown Lyre-birds from their perches. But 
these birds of the night are ever ready to vary their 
diet; as we read of certain owls in India feeding chiefly 
on fish and crabs which they snatch from the water. In 
that same country, too, bats form a large part of the 
Barn Owl’s diet. 
The eggs of birds are delicacies which many feathered 
robbers, such as jays and crows, can never resist. There 
are two birds, however, one a raven and one a hawk, 
which well deserve the eggs which they steal,—so inge- 
nious is their method of obtaining them. In South Africa, 
on an ostrich-farm, when a female bird has left her nest 
for a few minutes, a black form will often appear and 
hasten toward the great white eggs. Hovering over 
them the raven will let fall a stone into their midst, 
