The clearest case is that of the woodpecker finch of the Galápagos Islands. _Camarhynchus pallidus_ is its proper name. It is one of a group of dull-colored finches restricted to the Galápagos Islands. Before it became known that one species used a tool, the chief claim to fame of the group was that it, along with some other Galápagos Island animals, such as the giant tortoises, had a great influence on Darwin's thinking which resulted in his working out the theory of evolution as set forth in his _Origin of Species_. The woodpecker finch feeds largely on insects it gets by searching and probing on the ground, and on the trunk and leaves of trees. In searching crevices the woodpecker finch is handicapped by its rather short, thick bill, and to offset this, it picks up a slender, short length of stick, or the spine of a prickly pear, and with this in its bill, pokes into crannies. The insects, disturbed or driven out, are seized. Sometimes the woodpecker finch digs into the tree trunk and then gets a stick to probe with; sometimes it carries its probe about with it, poking in crannies until prey is disturbed. Then the stick is dropped and the food seized. We have seen how several birds are perhaps borderline cases in using tools. They use certain special aspects of their environment in preparing their food, and use it time after time. It's probably instinctive behavior, but learning is shown in the gulls and crows coming to recognize and use a hard-surfaced road in breaking open their shellfish. The use of a probe by the woodpecker finch is a clear and unique case of tool using by a bird. BIRDS AS BRIGANDS [Illustration] Anti-social activities of humans such as those of brigands who plunder their fellow men find their parallels in the bird world. The bald eagle is one of the best-known of the birds that practice such brigandage. Fond of fish, and capable of capturing it himself upon occasion, it is a common practice for the eagle to take fish from the osprey, plunder the osprey has just caught from the water. The osprey, with a fresh-caught fish, flies heavily. The watching eagle quickly overtakes the smaller, heavily laden bird and forces it to drop its catch, then dives down and usually catches the fish before it can strike the land or water. Rarely does the osprey escape with its food under such an attack. It is recorded that an eagle made several dives at one fish-laden osprey and, when these were not successful in making it lose its hold on the fish, the eagle dived under the smaller bird, turned over on its back, and with talons outstretched, snatched the fish from the grasp of the osprey and sailed away with it, as successful a pirate as ever sailed the seas.