Wlarvels of the Universe 721 
powerful, and will shear through even the hardest nuts with but a very slight effort. Beaks for 
tearing living flesh vary in shape somewhat. But the most efficient forms are such as are seen 
in the Falcons, where, in addition to the sharp, hooked point, a tooth is developed on the 
cutting edge. 
So far, all the beaks of which we have spoken play an important part in securing the daily bread. 
But there are some birds which may almost be said to be able to dispense with a beak. In the 
Night-jar, for example, this is little more than a horny knob at the front edge of the rim of 
the mouth, which is enormous, being cleft back to beyond the eyes. Now the Night-jar does not 
capture its prey—beetles and other insects—by means of its beak, but gulps them down as they 
fly, his open mouth forming a remarkably capacious bag. 
The number of birds which have acquired peculiarly-shaped beaks as aids to wringing subsistence 
from the waters that cover the face of the earth is legion. One of the most remarkable of these, 
the Scissor-bill, we have already described ; but another, surely no less curious, is that of the 
“ Open-bill,”’ of which one species is Indian, one African. Herein, the jaws display a great gap 
along the middle. Now this most curious organ is apparently used for the capture of shellfish, 
though in what it proves more serviceable than the more typical beak of, say, the Oyster-catcher, 
which also lives largely on shellfish, it is difficult to say. The Pelican, the Merganser and 
the Shoebill are all fish-eating birds, and their beaks display most surprising diversity. But the 
Pelican loves to thrust his capacious jaws into a shoal of fish, pouching his victims within a most 
capacious bag suspended from the lower jaw. The Merganser chases his victims under water, 
holding his captive till he reaches the surface by means of the horny, tooth-like edges of his jaws. 
In the White Pelican, by the 
way, the ridge of the beak in 
the male develops during the 
courting season strange, horny 
excrescences of an_ irregular, 
oblong shape. They are pro- 
bably “sexual adornments,”’ 
but of a kind quite unique. 
The Avocet and the Spoonbill 
present us with very diverse 
types of beak, yet which are 
used for a similar purpose— 
skimming small animals from 
the surface of smooth water. 
In the Avocet the beak is 
curved upwards and drawn 
out to a fine point; in the 
Spoonbill, on the other hand, 
it has become transformed into 
a pair of flattened, spoon- 
shaped blades. The Shoveller 
Duck and the Flamingo, again, 
feed on similar food—that is 
to say, on minute vegetable and : 
animal organisms, which are [By B. M. Antoniadi. 
caught by passing a large quan- nee 
: 9 This sdrawing of Marst*by M. Antoniadi’ shows many variations in light and 
tity of water rapidly through shade when compared with his beautiful water-colour, which is reproduced as a 
the mouth and straining off coloured plate. 
