. The bird, its form and function. Birds. I50 The Bird night-hawks brush them into rapacious maws, if per- chance they have succeeded in reaching the upper air. In tropical forests, where insects are everywhere abundant, the birds seemed to have reaUzed the fact that to each is apportioned certain phases of insect life, and that by hunting in large flocks, instead of competition resulting between birds of different species, they play into each other's hands (or rather beaks). It is of such a flock that Hudson writes: "The larger creepers ex-. FlG. 116.—Squid. plore the trunks of big trees
. The bird, its form and function. Birds. I50 The Bird night-hawks brush them into rapacious maws, if per- chance they have succeeded in reaching the upper air. In tropical forests, where insects are everywhere abundant, the birds seemed to have reaUzed the fact that to each is apportioned certain phases of insect life, and that by hunting in large flocks, instead of competition resulting between birds of different species, they play into each other's hands (or rather beaks). It is of such a flock that Hudson writes: "The larger creepers ex-. FlG. 116.—Squid. plore the trunks of big trees, others run over the branches and cling to the lesser twigs, so that every tree in their route, from its roots to the topmost foliage, is thoroughly examined, and every spider and caterpillar taken, while the winged insects, driven from their lurking-places, are seized where they settle, or caught flying by the tyrant- ; The Wattled Starlings or Locust-birds of South Africa live in flocks of thousands, and so dependent are they on locusts as food, that their habitat and place of nest-. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Beebe, William, 1877-1962. New York, Holt
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1906
