File:Stories about birds of land and water (1874) (14727816046).jpg

Identifier: storiesaboutbird00kirb (find matches)
Title: Stories about birds of land and water
Year: 1874 (1870s)
Authors: Kirby, Mary, 1817-1893 Kirby, Elizabeth, 1823-1873
Subjects: Birds -- Juvenile literature
Publisher: Hartford (Conn.) : American Publishing Co.
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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emies. When the snake is small enough, the bird snaps it up, and carries it off tothe top of a tree. Then he lets it drop, and follows it, as it descends, Avithmuch adroitness, so as to be ready to strike it when it lies stunned on theground. He does not always strike with his wing, but with the sole of hisfoot. He always kills his prey before he devours it. Serpents are not his only food, for he preys upon lizards and tortoises andinsects. The hot unwholesome marsh is full of insects, and the secretarybird thins their number; so that every way he is useful. He and his partner make a large nest, in which two eggs are laid. Hedoes not choose his partner without fighting a great many battles. Yet hehas not at all a fierce temper, but rather otherwise; and after the choice hasbeen made there are no more quarrels. THE VULTURE. 29 THE VULTURE. Almost everyone dislikes the vulture. His very name is thought to express^cowardice and gluttony, and every unpleasant quality. He is not to be com-
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niK VULTURE. pared to the eagle and the other birds of prey, and his place hardly seems tobe among them. His head and neck are bare of feathers, and his plumage is coarse and illkept ; his eyes are prominent, and his claws shorter. Indeed, he cannot carryhis prey through the air as the eagle does, but is obliged to stay and devourit on the spot. STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. His prey consists of dead creatures, and he has not the courage to attacklivhig ones. Unless, indeed—and this fact shows his cowardly nature—unlessthe poor creature is either wounded or dying, and can offer no resistance. His family are spread all over the world, but are more abundant in hotcountries than in cold ones. Happily we have no vultures in England, andnone are w^anted. They are wanted in many places, for people in tropical towns and citieshave not very neat habits. They allow heaps of rubbish to lie about in thestreets, and dead creatures are thrown there in a way that would not betolerated in England. But th

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