106 
BIRD-LIFE. 
strength, but also Kites and Buzzards; besides which, 
it will kill and devour relations of all grades: the 
wife the husband, the daughter the father, the mother 
the son, or the reverse. I have known a Buzzard devour 
two Barn Owls, which it dragged through the bars of 
the cage, although it had already had enough to eat; 
my tame Parrots would kill other cage birds, even their 
own species; Tomtits would peck out the brains of little 
birds, if they could only get at them. The most savage 
of all birds is the Harpy Eagle (Harpyia destructor ), as its 
name implies; its character, its form, and the expres¬ 
sion of its countenance are so exceptionably ferocious in 
appearance, that a human being involuntarily shudders 
at this bird’s glance. “ The inconsiderate visitors at 
the London Zoological Gardens,” says Poppig, in his 
4 Natural History of the Animal Kingdom,’ “ appeared 
frightened at the glance of a full-grown Brazilian Harpy, 
and quite omitted the petty bullying with which they had 
treated the tiger: sitting upright and motionless as a 
pillar hewn from the solid rock, it scares the most daring 
by a single glance of that brilliant eye, rigid, menacing, 
and expressive of silent rage; it appeared incapable of 
fear, and to look upon everything and everybody around 
with sovereign contempt. A fearful spectacle, however, 
presented itself to the looker-on when this motionless 
aspect, disturbed by the appearance of the animal 
intended for its consumption, suddenly changed to the 
most violent movement: with irresistible fury the bird 
rushed on its prey; the final struggle, however, never 
lasted longer than a few seconds; the first blow of its 
talons, directed at the back of the head, instantly 
paralysed, and a second blow—tearing the flanks and thus 
reaching the heart—generally caused instantaneous death 
