14 T- HB ALUsD.U BON 3B Udi arr eeles 
Outstanding among the mammals as scavengers undoubtedly are the 
hyenas and jackals of southern Asia and Africa. The hyenas, though 
cowardly animals, have enormous strength of jaws and teeth and feed 
mainly on carrion, but will occasionally take sheep, goats or dogs. The 
jackal also will take living prey, but feeds largely on carrion and refuse 
of all kinds. They are nocturnal and quite frequently invade the streets of 
some cities in India where open sewers still exist. Another source of the 
jackal’s food is the remains of carcasses left by lions and tigers after 
gorging themselves. 
Central and South America are the homes of several varieties of 
armadillos, one of which, the nine-banded, comes as far north as Texas. 
They feed not only on insects, but on vegetable and animal food of almost 
every kind which by decomposition or otherwise has acquired sufficient 
softness. Some prefer the vegetable food, while others delight chiefly in 
carrion. 
These creatures of land and sea, of which we have named but a repre- 
sentative few, are not the whole story. The birds of this and other lands 
also have their very large part among Nature’s scavengers. 
While the hawks normally feed on their own kill, we have all seen them 
rising from the roadway where they have been feeding on rabbits, gophers, 
or other small animals killed by passing automobiles. On a trip through 
western Canada a few years ago we were struck by the great number of 
Swainson’s hawks perched along the roadside that had acquired this habit. 
We were told that for perhaps 20 miles back on either side one probably 
could not find a hawk. Caracara is the Brazilian name of certain large 
vulture-like hawks of South and Central America. They walk about on the 
ground feeding on carrion, and where food is abundant gather into large 
flocks. They are of much service as scavengers in the cattle herding regions 
of South America and have increased greatly. In Argentina one species, 
the carancho, is called the “carrion hawk.” 
Our own National Bird, the bald eagle, secures a good share of its food 
from the dead fish that it finds along the shores of streams and lakes which 
it frequents. But most of us are more familiar with the flocks of gulls 
patrolling the beaches for anything edible, and when not finding it there 
adjourning to the city dumping grounds to satisfy their appetites with 
anything in sight. No one who has once seen the swirling, screaming mass 
of gulls that congregates over a Gaspe beach when the refuse from the 
cleanings of a day’s catch of codfish is thrown out will ever forget it, or 
cease wondering that so many hundreds of birds could maneuver in such a 
congested area without constant collisions (which, however, never seem to 
occur), or fail to recognize that here is one of the most efficient among 
Nature’s scavengers. 
Some of our small bird neighbors can be credited with some effort toward 
the removal of refuse in our streets and alleys. The English sparrow and 
the grackle are seen so commonly at it that we seldom think twice about 
them; but observers in Springfield, Ill., reported in the Christmas census a 
flock of at least 5,000 starlings gleaning a living from the city dumping 
ground. Sometimes we find the habit occurring in most unexpected places. 
