CHAPTER VI 

 THE FOOD OF BIRDS 



HE organs and physiological functions of a bird, 

 as of animals generally, are so interrelated and 

 intimately dependent on each other that it is a 

 rather difficult matter to consider any single one by 

 itself without being led into another's province. For 

 example: we have for the subject of this chapter the 

 food of birds, and unless we are very careful, we shall 

 overstep the bounds of our theme. To limit our subject 

 clearly we will consider only adult birds. 



We have all seen the pestiferous sparrows picking 

 up grain in the chicken-yard; we have admired the skill 

 which the red-breasted robin exhibits in spying and 

 extracting earthworms on our lawns; our memory re- 

 calls the osprey dropping upon his fish, and the wood- 

 pecker chiselling to the wood-borer; but did we ever stop 

 a while and attempt a "bird's-eye view" of all the classes 

 of substances which birds find good as food? 



The ways in which this food is sought and caught, 

 killed and prepared are wonderfully varied, and some 

 idea of the remarkable variety of substances laid under 

 contribution as food by birds of different orders may 



be had from a brief review of the principal divisions 



142 



