By the Rev. A. C. Smith. 



171 



The " Hawfinch" on the other hand, which lives upon the seeds 

 of the hornbeam and the kernels of haws and stone-fruits, is armed 

 with a massive and horny beak, capable of cracking the strongest 

 shells, and of inflicting a severe bite, as I once experienced, by 

 offering my boot to a specimen which I had wounded ; and it was 

 astonishing with what pertinacity the powerful little fellow held 

 on, and again and again returned to the charge. 



The handsome but rarely seen Hoopoe stalks about in moist 

 places, with his head erect and his long, curved beak, searching for 

 worms and insects — just as Ovid described him so many centuries 

 ago:— 



"Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum." 



The Puffin with his singular and gaudy-coloured, but powerful 

 and sharp -edged bill, burrows out deep holes in which it breeds. 



The Oyster-catcher with his straight, long, wedge-shaped bill, is 

 enabled to wrench open the oysters, muscles, and shell-fish, which 

 form his food; to detach them from the rocks to which they adhere, 

 and to scoop them out of their shells. 



The Cormorant with his long straight powerfully hooked bill can 

 kill its finny prey by the squeeze it is enabled to give. 



The Petrels with their compact and hooked bills can break the 

 skin of the floating whale, and gorge themselves with blubber to 

 repletion. 



Such are some of the many forms of beak displayed by the 

 British birds. From this we can judge (as Yarrell remarks) what 

 "singular modifications of this organ nature sometimes exhibits, as 

 if to show the many diversities of form which can be rendered 

 applicable to one purpose." Man, with all his boasted mechanical 

 skill, would fail to contrive implements so perfectly adapted to the 

 end for which they were devised ; some fitted to tear in pieces the 

 yet warm and quivering bodies of the recently killed prey; others 

 to rip up and consume the putrid carcase, some fitted for devouring 

 insects and worms, some for breaking up hard seeds and grain; 

 these massive hard and tough, formed for strong and laborious 

 work; these slender, light, and pliant, suited to the gentle uses to 

 which they are applied : some adapted for securing and holding a 



