The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1912-09-05
WINGED RASCALS.
Birds That Are Accomplished and
Daring Thieves.
HOW A GULL R0BS A PELICAN

tho Lightning like Frisate Bird-Vh-
Iainy of the Butcher Bird.
The system of living at the expense
of somebody else and In turn affording
a 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 lifeblood, is in its
turn preyed upon by a 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 lazter eagle.
for the eagle can catch its own fish
and does so when II cannot steal
them
But a much more interesting case Is
that Of the flying fish. Pursued by its
enemies in the water, 1t 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-
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 a fish out Of
the pouch.
The gull, knowing this and being a
lazy fellow. watches the clumsy and
rather stupid pelican until It goes
ashore to feed. Then the gull. with
the impudence which comes 80 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
the hungry throat Of the pelican; but,
alas for II, the fish Is already In the
jaws Of the gull, which, with wild
scream. has mounted aloft to enjoy It's
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 a stronger and quicker
bird than itself darling toward 1t
like an arrow. With a shrek Of dis
gust the fish is dropped, and with
graceful swoop 1t is caught by the
last thief Of all.
A sneak thief Is the owl. It lies
concealed all day and only ventures
abroad when its victim Is asleep and
when its movements cannot be seen.
It's body and wings are covered with
downy feathers, so that as It 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 its prey before the latter is
aware of its presence.
There is a little bird called the
shrike, which for its cunning and ac-
complishments deserves a high place
in the rogues' gallery. 1t is not swift
enough to catch many Of its feathered
fellows In fair pursuit, 80 1t sits In
ambush and initiates the cry Of
distressed bird until tender hus-
band or solicitous wife flies to the
spot to lend the aid supposed to be
ture pounces on the beguiled bird and,
II 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 q bee to
come along. But IL none should come
the cunning fellow has still a chance
left, for here comes a more industri-
Gus bird with bee in its bill. Now
Is the rascaps opportunity. The mo-
ment the newcomer is near 1t 1t flies
up with a cry as II pursued by
hawk. The newcomer Is Immediately
put in a fright, drops its prey and
scuds away for safety. The thief
then picks up the bee and enjoys 1t ut
leisure.
It 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 depraved fellow
w hO otCuib hOI thc luh Va Vic VI
these Is the wolverine. 1t is very fond
Of following a trapper at safe dis
lance 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 II from the trap. eat as much
as It 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 q
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 IL would shoot
the disturber. The next morning he
visited his trap and found all the cords
bitten through and the bait gone.