7. The hawk and the eagle seize their prey, not with their beaks, but with their talons. They drive their long, sharp nails into the flesh, and the chicken or rabbit is dead in a few minutes. 8. They carry their prey to their nests, and there they hold it in their talons, and, with their beaks, tear off the flesh, which they eat, and feed to their young. 9. Both the hawk and the eagle have sharp eyes, and they can see a long distance. If we should see an eagle in a cage, we would find that its eyes are bright and a deep yellow in color; but they look wild and cruel, and we do not like to go very near it. 10. The fish-hawk preys upon fish. He sails slowly over the water until his sharp eyes see a fish, and then he dives down so straight and swift that he rarely misses. 11. Sometimes, when he comes up from the water, an old eagle that has been on the watch pounces upon him. The hawk tries to get away, but the eagle soon overtakes him. 12. With an angry scream the hawk drops the fish, and the eagle swoops downward so quickly that he catches the fish before it reaches the water. With his prey in his talons, he then soars away to his nest in the tree-tops, or high up among the rocks on the mountain-side. LESSON XXII. _LONG LEGS WITH FEATHERS._ [Illustration] 1. We have here the picture of a heron, a very curious bird. It has long legs, a large body, a long neck, and a long pointed bill. 2. Its toes are long and pointed, and when spread out they cover a large space. It can turn its neck and bill so that sometimes it looks as if it would wring its own neck off. 3. The heron lives on frogs and fish. With its long legs it can wade out in the shallow water, and its toes spread out so it does not sink in the mud. 4. When ready for breakfast, it wades in where the water is half-leg deep. Then it stands so still that the fish, the frogs, and the water-rats will swim all about its legs. 5. All at once, as quick as a flash, down plunges the beak, and up comes a frog from the water, and down it goes, whole, into the long throat. Another comes along, and goes the same way. [Illustration] 6. When it has had enough, it steps ashore, cleans its feathers with its long bill, and goes to sleep standing on one leg. Its middle toe has a double nail, and with this it scratches off the down that sticks to its bill after cleaning its feathers. 7. The heron flies high in the air. When flying, its legs extend out straight behind, and its neck curls over and rests on its back. 8. The stork is another bird with long legs that wades in the water and eats frogs and fish. In Holland, the stork is so tame that it lives in the farm-yard, and often builds its nest on the house-tops. LESSON XXIII. _BO-PEEP AND THE ROOK._ [Illustration] Little Bo-peep sat down on a heap Of hay--she was tired with running; When up came a rook, who at her did look, And nodded his head and looked cunning.