308 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Madeira, the stomach of a Kestrel was found to contain " nothing 

 but seven Snail shells (Helix pisana), which had been swallowed 

 whole."* As Darwin enquires, "Can a more striking instance 

 of adaptation be given than that of a Woodpecker for climbing 

 trees and seizing insects in the chinks of the bark ? Yet in 

 North America there are Woodpeckers which feed largely on 

 fruit, and others with elongated wings which chase insects on the 

 wicg."f The Great Titmouse (Parus major), by its larger size 

 and stronger bill, is adapted to feed on larger insects, and is even 

 said sometimes to kill small and weak birds. The smaller and 

 weaker Coal Titmouse (Parus ater) has adopted a more vegetarian 

 diet, eating seeds as well as insects, and feeding on the ground 

 as well as among trees. I It has been stated that "on Cocos 

 Islands, when the Boobies are not nesting and have consequently 

 left, the Frigate birds (Tachypetes aquila) are unable to procure 

 their ordinary food, which consists of fish taken from the Boobies, 

 and that they then swallow seeds of Guilandina and beans, which 

 they find floating in the sea, and on flying to the land vomit them 

 up again, apparently merely using them to fill up temporarily the 

 empty crops." § Mr. Watson, in describing the effects of illegiti- 

 mate fishing in our own country, writes, " In one outlying village 

 during last close season poached Salmon was so common that the 

 cottagers fed their poultry upon it right through the winter." || 

 " After Hunter had fed a Sea Gull on grain for a year, he found 

 that the inner coat of its stomach had grown hard, and its muscles 

 had thickened, thus forming a true gizzard, although the Sea 

 Gull normally has a soft stomach, as it lives upon the soft flesh 

 of fishes." 1T 



Dr. Vosseler, in making some experiments on young Sala- 

 manders (Salamandra maculata), inadvertently left some in 

 an aquarium for over a year unfed. " Investigations showed 

 that these creatures, which usually fed on worms, all kinds 

 of larvse, &c, had nourished themselves with Algce together 



* Hon. Cecil Baring and W. E. Ogilvie Grant (' Zoologist,' 3rd ser. 

 vol. xix. p. 403). 



f ' Origin of Species,' 6th edit. p. 141. 



I A. R. Wallace, ' Darwinism,' p. 108. 



§ G. Clunies Ross, • Natural Science,' vol. viii. p. 190. 



|| ' Sketches of British Sporting Fishes,' p. 127. 



H Cf. Brooks, ' The Foundations of Zoology,' p. 57. 



