So much for the wings. Now we will examine Plate IX., which shows heads and--what is the most important part of them--bills. We will take the illustrations in their proper order. 1. The bill of the Woodcock is shaped like a turner’s auger, the end greatly resembling the tip of a finger. With this the bird gropes for its food, and draws it out of the loose earth. 2. The bill of the Merganser has a hook at the point; it is toothed at the side, and is so well adapted to its purpose that no fish, however slippery, can escape. 3. The bill of the Hawfinch is conical, thick and strong, capable of cracking the hardest cherry stones. 4. The pretty Water-Wagtail has an awl-shaped bill, formed by Nature for the catching of gnats and other insects. 5. The Grey Heron has a bill which cuts like a knife. Woe to the most slippery tench if once caught within it! 6. The Curlew penetrates into the mud with its sickle shaped, slightly curved bill, and brings out of its depths the worms it feeds on. 7. The bill of the Long-tailed Tit is but a little point compared with those mentioned above, but all the same it is quite suitable for the bird, for only with such a tool could it pick the tiny insects out of the smallest cracks in the boughs. 8. The bill of the Goatsucker or Night-hawk is small, but the opening of the mouth is comparatively gigantic: it forms a yawning abyss, which, in the twilight and darkness of night, engulfs unwary insects. [Illustration] 9. The bill of the Woodpecker may be compared to the adze which the Carpenter uses for chipping beams of wood. It is only by means of hard blows that this bird can get at the worms which it finds in decaying wood. 10. The Duck’s bill, on the other hand, is flat toothed at the side, exactly formed for straining the food which it gets out of the water. 11. The bill of the Gull is so formed that it can easily take up food from the surface of the water. Where Gulls arrive in large flocks, they eagerly follow the plough in the fields, and are then of great benefit. 12. The bill of the Crossbill is a valuable tool, with which he is able to pick out the seeds from between the scales of the fir cones. 13. The Ortolan splits hard seeds with the arch and the notch in its beak, as it were with nut-crackers. 14. The bill of the Avocet is in shape the opposite of the Curlew,--that of the former curving upwards, of the latter downwards. Thus we see that as with the wing, so with the bill,--each bird is furnished with the kind that is most suitable to its nature and habits. The general law of adaptability to its purpose is also strikingly exemplified in the formation of the foot. Let us look at Plate X. 1. The foot of the Fieldlark has a spur-like nail on the back toe which is nearly straight, so that the bird can easily rest on the ground. 2. The Pheasant’s foot is just like that of the Hen; which enables it to walk and run.