. Elements of zoölogy. Zoology. 246 BACKBONED ANIMALS. ities of the eagle, being a bird of prey. The beak is sharp and curved, the claws at the tip of the webbed toes are sharp and talon-like. They prey upon the prions and other birds, dragging them from their holes, or hunting them after the fashion of the hawk. In general color they are brown. They are so ferocious as to even attack man.* In the penguin-streets of Tristan da Cunha the nests of skuas are seen on mounds, surrounded by well-picked skeletons of prions. The eggs are large and two in num- ber. The northern skua {Lestris parasitica
. Elements of zoölogy. Zoology. 246 BACKBONED ANIMALS. ities of the eagle, being a bird of prey. The beak is sharp and curved, the claws at the tip of the webbed toes are sharp and talon-like. They prey upon the prions and other birds, dragging them from their holes, or hunting them after the fashion of the hawk. In general color they are brown. They are so ferocious as to even attack man.* In the penguin-streets of Tristan da Cunha the nests of skuas are seen on mounds, surrounded by well-picked skeletons of prions. The eggs are large and two in num- ber. The northern skua {Lestris parasitica) is equally pred- atory, attacking other birds, sucking the eggs of the eider and other ducks often to such an extent that they can not fly away. It breeds on the unsheltered rocks, forming no nest, the eggs, two in number, being per- fectly protected by their resemblance to the ground. If, however, an enemy ap- proaches, the skuas shuffle off as if wound- ed, and thus avert the danger. Order IV. Steganopodes {foot-cov- ered}. General Ch a racteristics.— The birds of this order are aquatic and characterized by short, partly- hidden, completely webbed feet, and an unfeathered pouch beneath the FIG. 282.—Brown pelican (Pelecanus fuscus). bill capable in some of extraordinary expansion. The tropic birds, gannets, darters, and cormorants, are representatives. * Professor Moseley states that at Kerguelen's Land and other localities they had to beat them off with clubs, and that when a duck was shot the skuas would often pounce upon it, so that two shots were reauired to obtain a single 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 Holder, Charles Frederick, 1851-1915; Holder, Joseph Bassett, 1824-1888, joint author. New York : D. Appleton and company
Size: 1581px × 1581px
Photo credit: © Paul Fearn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
