The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-11-17
WINGED RASCALs.
Birds That Are Accomplished and
Daring Thieves.
HOW A GULL ROBS A PELICAN


sy Victim and Is In Turn Fleeced by
the Lightning Frisate Bird--viI-
islny Of the Butcher Bird.
Tho system of living at the expense
of somebody else and In turn affording
living for another parasite Is as com.
mon In the anim.l world as among
men, and ms chance example of Ii
we may take the mosquito, which,
feeding on mans lifeblood, Is In its
turn preyed upon by tiny insect
which sometimes causes its death.
One of the most common instances of
living by robbery In the animal world
is that OF the osprey. which Is de-
spoiled Of Its fairly caught fish by the
more powerful but also lazier eagle.
for the eagle can catch It's own fish
and does so when 1t cannot steal
them.
But n much more interesting case Is
that of tho flying fish. Pursued by Its
enemies In the water. It leaps into the
air and is caught by the pelican. When
the pelican has got Its pouch full OF
ceeds to eat. The pouch is n bag of
skin hanging from the under mandible,
and In order TO get fish out of It the
bird must open Its mouth and by
toss of the head throw fish out OF
the pouch.
The gull, knowing this and being
lazy fellow, watches the clumsy and
rather stupid pelican until 1t goes
ashore to feed. Then tho gull. with
the impudence which comes so natu-
rally to villainy, actually perches on
the long head of the pelican and waits.
Open yawns the great mouth, flip
comes up scaly morsel, wide gapes
tho hungry throat Of the pelican; but,
alas for It, the fish Is already In the
jaws Of tho gull. which, with wild
scream has mounted aloft to enjoy its
stolen meal.
But the sharp eye OF the lightning
like frigate bird has been watching
the whole game, and the moment the
laughing gull has thought to begin its
feast 1t sees n stronger and quicker
bird than itself darling toward II
like an arrow. with n shrek of dis
gust the fish Is dropped, and with a
graceful swoop It Is caught by the
last thief of ALL
A sneak thief IL the owl. 1t lies
concealed all day and only ventures
abroad when Its victim Is asleep aud
when Its movements cannot be seen
It's body and wings are covered with
downy feathers, 30 that as 1t goes
| through the air It makes none OF the
rushing noise which characteristics the
swoop of the hawk, and therefore its
sharp talons are buried deep into the
body Of It's prey before the latter is
aware Of It's presence.
There is little bird called the
shrike, which for its cunning and ac
compllshments deserves a high place
In the rogues' gallery It is not swift
enough to catch many of its feathered
fellows In fair pursuit, 80 It sits in
ambush and initiates the cry of a
distressed bird until tender hus
band or soicltous wife flies TO the
spot TO lend the aid supposed to be
wanted, whereupon the wicked crea
ture pounces on the beguiled bird and
IL not hungry enough to make n meal
at once, impales It's prey on a thorn.
Almost as great villain as the
butcher bird, as the sbrike is usually
called, Is the bee eater of Africa. II
Is very fond OF bees, but is some
times too lazy TO hunt for them. II
sits on bush and waits for bee to
come along But if none should come
the cunning fellow has still chance
left, for here comes more industri'
Gus bird with bee In its bill. Now
Is the rascal's opportunity. The mo
ment tho newcomer is near II IL files
up with n cry as II pursued by n
hawk. The newcomer is Immediately
put in fright, drops It's prey and
scuds away for safety. The thief
then picks up the bee and enjoys 1t M
leisure.
IL must be said for most animals
that they rob or murder for the pur
pose OF getting food, but here and
there is a thoroughly deprayed fellow
who steals for the fun of It. One OF
these is the wolverine 1t is very FOND
of following trapper ut a safe dis
lance and after the man has carefully
baited all his traps to steal all the
bait quite MS carefully. Sometimes II
will wait until n fox has been caught
and then coolly walk up and kill the
fox, tear 1t from the trap. eat as much
as 1t wishes, bury the rest and go on
to the other traps. or course the trap
pers hate the wolverine and try to
catch It, but It is an expert trapper
that can do 1t. All sorts Of devices
have been tried, but the wolverine
seems to know all about traps and
how to avoid them One man made
most elaborate and complicated series
of traps, laying cords about the ap
proaches to the bait so that the most
wary man would have been sure to
stumble on one and pull the trigger OF
a gun placed so that It would shoot
the dlSturber. The next morning he
visited his trap and found all the cords
bitten through and the bait gone