The Food of Birds 159 
instantly swooping down and regaling himself on the 
yolk pouring out through the crack in the shell. His 
beak being too weak to break the shell, he has learned 
to adopt this effective method. A similar remarkable 
habit is related of the Black-breasted Buzzard of Aus- 
tralia, but in this case it is an emeu which is the victim. 
After breaking a hole in the thick shell, this bird inserts 
its foot and carries the egg to its nest. 
Perhaps every Order of the higher warm-blooded 
animals may be included in our list, from the sloth which 
mutely resigns itself to the terrible grip of a Harpy 
Eagle to the human child which is powerless before the 
attack of some bird of prey frenzied with hunger. In 
certain districts eagles and hawks have been shot 
smelling strongly of skunk, but whether that fearless 
animal really figured in their diet remains to be proved! 
If any entire group of mammals is to be excepted from 
the birds’ bill of fare, it is only that of the whales, although 
indeed, when one of these leviathans dies from any cause, 
his blubber and oil furnish food for sea-birds of many 
kinds. 
The small gnawers of wood, the rodents, suffer most 
heavily, and untold thousands are devoured by hawks 
and owls, while cranes, shrikes, and ducks make away 
with their share. 
This brief and very imperfect review of the vast 
variety of substances eaten by birds is at least instruc- 
tive in revealing vividly the complex interrelations of 
all organic life on the earth. A counter-list of animate 
creatures which cause the death of birds would be as 
