FUNCTIONS. 
213 
and fruits, which they either pluck or shake off trees and 
bushes, extracting the seed from the husk : they rob nests 
as well, and even catch fish like the Terns, or birds and 
small mammals like the Falconidce. Their extraordinary 
intelligence is doubtless productive of such versatile 
talent. Besides this they are thieves from their birth, 
recognize no infringement on their profession or guild as 
such; and, moreover, they are also well able to take care 
of themselves under all circumstances ; when pressed by 
dire necessity they act the part of beggars in towns and 
villages, when scraps from the kitchen or the stable do 
not come amiss. It is owing to this activity and versatile 
talent that one rarely finds a member of that family 
starved to death through over-scrupulousness. 
The Honey-suckers ( Meliphaga ) bear a certain resem¬ 
blance to the insect-eating birds in their method of 
feeding. These singular creatures perform, amongst the 
flowers, the work of the Woodpecker, inasmuch as they 
invade the secret folds of the same with the points of 
their laminated tongues, using them, so to speak, like 
a brush or broom, with which they capture the insects 
concealed there. 
Of those birds which capture their prey on the wing, 
the Flycatchers occupy the lowest grade. Many amongst 
these only follow the insect-swarms for a short distance, 
and then dart down upon their prey; others—take, 
for example, our Spotted Flycatcher—make longer 
flights from the post or branch on which they take 
their stand, and also rise high in the air in pursuit 
of their prey. The King Crows ( Edolius , Dicrurus , &c.), 
cousins of the above, which inhabit both Asia and Africa^ 
pursue the same method, but to a greater extent. The 
Bee-eaters, again, are still greater adepts at this airy 
