The Washington herald., 1911-07-23

TO It's perch, resumes its nonchalant attitude
and awaits the appearance Of its next victim
There could scarcely be a greater contrast
OF methods than there is between that of this
bird and that of birds of the swallow tribe,
though both exist on the same kind of insects,
and both capture their prey when on the
wing. Birds so limited in their feeding range
as the hycatchers must of necessity move
their ground in accordance with climatic con-
ditions, and SO it happens that they move
North in great numbers during dry, warm
summers, but in colder seasons remain mostly
in the sunny South
FISHING BIRDS.
Terms or sea swallows are slender, elegant
creatures, and their method of capturing
their prey, which consists of small fishes or
other marine animals of small size, is pecu-
liarly interesting.
The bird moves silently through the air
with its buoyant, irregular, but leisurely
fight, between forty and eighty feet above
the water. The head may be seen working
from side to side and the large bright eyes
out like fan and brought down vertically,
so as to be at right angles to the body. The
birds stops suddenly in its flight and drops
like stone into the water.
Sometimes it comes up with small fish
in its beak, sometimes without. But even
if successful it is not always secure of the
rewards of its labors. As soon as it rises
from its plunge into the water every other
tern or gull about goes for it" often COM
pelling it to drop its prey, which is seized by
one Of the. plunderers sometimes before 1t
reaches the water.
It is no wonder that sea.fowl are such per.
feet specimens of their kind, as only such can
survive the fierce struggle for existence which
they must constantly wage. ..
Buntngs-yellow whammers-and some other
birds that feed principally upon seeds have
a hard knob of a horn substance within the
upper mandible Against this knob the seeds
are pressed and broken. The bird then elects
the hard outer portions. swallowing only the
kernel or soft part OF the seed.
THE STATELY HERON.
Herons when fishing in shallow water usual
ly stand perfectly still and wait the approach
Of their prey When a fish comes within
reach the closed beak descends like lightning
and trans6xes it as with bayonet. This,
however, is not always the method adopted,
with an open beak.
When after trout in a small shallow river
or brook the heron proceeds upstream with
the slow, dignifed movement OF gamecock,
and as trout always lie with head upstream,
he has the advantage of attacking them from
the rear. The heron is beautiful bird, but
the mischief he can do in trout stream is
enormous, and his beauty fails TO atone for
his offenses in the eyes Of keepers or preserv-
ers. He has one :edeeming feeture1he also
consumes a large number OF eels, fish not
usually desired in trout streams.
Snipe feed mostly by night. 1t was for
merly believed that these birds lived upon
Observation-Disclosures that might be. Modern
snipe feed on small worms and grubs, for
which they diligently probe with their long
beaks in the soft mud and bog of their wells
known haunts. They also bore through the
fat patches of cow-dung on the meadows in
search of the grubs that lie underneath, and
in stormy weather seek shelter and food in
turnip fields, where the heavy foliage keeps
the ground soft and moist.
The idea that snipe fed on Suction" prob
ably arose from the fact that when being
dressed for the table the stomach is always
found to be empty. This may be accounted
for partly by rapid digestion and partly by
the fact that they are nearly always shot in
the daytime, when they are not feeding.