258 
BIRD-LIFE. 
facility of fish over a foot long; the Lammergeir does the 
same with large hones; Vultures also gorge immense pieces 
of flesh. Birds with smaller mouths take smaller pieces, 
as they find necessity. Others again, like the long-billed 
Waders, throw the pieces into the air with the end of their 
beaks, catching them as they fall in their widely-extended 
gape; and, lastly, some swallow with the assistance of 
the tongue, just as mammals do. The casting up of 
indigestible matter in the form of pellets is an operation 
necessitating great exertion, and is accompanied with 
such rolling of the eyes, and other gestures, as to 
betoken anything but comfort. An old Owl thus engaged 
is the cause of no small amusement to the looker-on: it 
twists and turns its head and eyes in every conceivable 
direction, hops from one foot to the other, straining 
spasmodically in its efforts to rid itself of the disagreeable 
morsel, and unmistakably evinces signs of anything but 
good humour under the infliction. Some birds preserve 
the remains of a meal, or lay up stores against the 
winter time. The Bed-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) 
spits beetles on thorns, and devours them when bad 
weather sets in; the Jay lays up acorns; the Nuthatch, 
nuts and beech-mast; one of the American Wood¬ 
peckers perforates entire aloe stems, wherein to secrete a 
store of hard fruits against winter time. 
When drinking, some birds wade into the water, and, 
bending the head down, take a mouthful, then throw the 
head back, and allow the water to run down their throats. 
We see this exemplified every day with Geese and 
Fowls: others, like Swallows and flying Sea-birds, drink 
on the wing, taking a mouthful as they pass while 
gliding over the surface of the water; some, again, hover 
over the water and take a draught. I have seen the 
