Imperial Valley press., 1911-11-28
WINGED 2ASCALS,
Birds That Are Accomplished and
Daring Thieves.
HOW A GULL R0BS A PELICAN


the Lightning like Frigate Bird-Vii-
Iainy of the Butcher Bird.
The system Of living at the expense
Of somebody else and in turn affording
living for another parasite Is as COM
mon in the animal world as among
men, and as a chance example Of 1t
we may take the mosquito, which.
feeding on mans lifebiood, 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 it cannot steal
them.
But a much more interesting case is
that of the 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
fish it wings its way to land and pro-
cceds to eat. The pouch is bag of
skin hanging from the under mandible.
and in order to get fish out of it the
bird must open it's mouth and by a
toss of the head throw a fish out of
the pauch.
The gull. knowing this and being
lazy fellow. watches the clumsy and
rather stupid pelican until It goes
ashore to feed. Then the 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 a scGly morsei, wide gapes
the hungry throat of the pelican; but,
alas for it, the fish is already in the
jaws of the gull, which, with wild
scream, has mounted al0ft 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 it sees a stronger and a quicker
bird than itself darting toward it
like an arrow. With shrek of dis
gust the fish is dropped. and with
graceful swoop it is caught by the
last thief Of all.
A sneak thief Is the owl. 1t lies
concealed all day and only ventures
abroad when it's victim is asleep and
when it's movements cannot be seen.
Its body and wings are covered with
downy feathers. so that as it goes
through the air It makes none Of the
rushing noise which characterises 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 it's cunning and ac
complishments deserves a high place
in the rogues' gallery. 1t is not swift
enough to catch many of it's feathered
fellows In fair pursuit, so Ii sits in
ambush and initiates the cry Of
distressed bird until a tender hus-
band or q solicitous wife flies to the
spot to lend the aid supposed to be
wanted, whereupon the wicked crea-
ture pounces on the beguied bird and,
if not hungry enough to make a meal
at once, impaleS its prey on a thorn.
Almost as great a villain as the
butcher bird, as the shrike is usually
called, is the bee eater Of Africa. 1t
is very fond of bees, but Is some
times too lazy to hunt for them. 1t
sits on bush and waits for a bee to
come along. But if none should come
the cunning fellow has still a chance
left, for here comes more industri-
Gus bird with q bee in its bill, Nov
is the rasca's opportunity. The mo-
ment the newcomer is near it it dies
up with cry as II pursued by a
hawk The newcomer is Immediately
put in a fright, drops its prey and
scuda away for safety The thiot
then picks no the bee and enjoys IL a'
leisure
1t must be said for most animals
that they rob or murder for the puT
pOsA Of getting food, but here and
there is thoroughly depraved fellow
who steals for the fun Of 1t. One Of
CIlcSe lS Cue WOiNcTeuc IL III very lOLV
Of following trapper at safe dis
tance and after the man has carefully
baited all his traps to steal all the
bait quite as carefully. Sometimes 1t
will wait until fox has been caught
} and then coolly walk up and kill the
fox. tear 1t from the trap. eat as much
as it wishes. bury the rest and 60 on
to the other traps. OF course the trap
pers hate the wolverine and try to
catch 1t. 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 a
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 1t would shoot
the disturber. The next morning he