BIRDS — SPECIAL HABITS OF FEEDING. 285 
the air, or lie in wait for the boobies as they return to 
rest. 
In antithesis to this habit of plundering other birds 
I may quote the following from 6 Nature ’ (July 20, 1871), 
to show that the instinct of provident labour, so common 
among insects and rodents, is not altogether unrepresented 
in birds: — 
The ant-eating woodpecker ( Melanerpes formicivorus ), a 
common Californian species, has the curious and peculiar habit 
of laying up provision against the inclement season. Small 
round holes are dug in the bark of the pine and oak, into each 
of wiiich is inserted an acorn, and so tightly is it fitted or driven 
in, that it is with difficulty extricated. The bark of the pine 
trees, when thus filled, presents at a short distance the appear- 
ance of being studded with nails. 
The following may also be quoted - 
It is the nature of this bird (guillemot), as well as of most, 
of those birds which habitually dive to take their prey, to per- 
form all their evolutions under water with the aid of their 
wings ; but instead of dashing at once into the midst of the 
terrified group of small prey, by which only a few would be 
captured, it passes round and round them, and so drives them 
into a heap ; and thus has an opportunity of snatching here one 
and there another as it finds it convenient to swallow them ; 
and if any one pushes out to escape, it falls the first prey of the 
devourer. The manner in which this bird removes the egg of 
a gull or hen to some secure place to be devoured, when com- 
pared with that in which a like conveyance is made by the 
parent for the safety of its future progeny, affords a striking 
manifestation of the difference between appetite and affection. 
When influenced by affection, the brittle treasure is removed 
without flaw or fracture, and is replaced with tender care ; but 
the plunderer at once plunges his bill into its substance, and 
carries it off on its point . 1 
Speaking of the feeding habits of the lapwing, Jesse 
says : — 
When the lapwing wants to procure food, it seeks for a 
worm’s cast, and stamps the ground by the side of it with its 
feet. After doing this for a short time, the bird waits for the 
Couch, Illustrations of Instinct, pp. 192 93. 
