BirDs—Bills

ragged

woodpecker

prey

snipe

dirty

sparrow

hooked

diff’er ent

parrot

notice

eagle

strainer

1. Have you ever thought how many uses a bird makes of its bill?

In the first place, the bill is its mouth. The bird uses the hardedges and sharp point as you use your lips and teeth.

2. A bird does not like to have its feathers ragged or dirty. It cleans and smooths and oils them every day, using its bill as brush and comb.

3. A bird also uses its bill in place of hands, to pick things up and to carry them about. You may notice how abird flies about with bits of straw andgrass in its bill when building its nest.

4. The bills of birds are always suited to their food and habits. The duck could not get on at all with a curved bill likethe hawk’s, and the woodpecker would find it hard to do his workwith the sparrow’s short bill.

5. Sparrows and many other birds which eat seeds and berries have short bills.

6. The hawk, eagle, and other flesheating birds also have short bills, but not like the sparrow’s. They are much stronger, as they are used for tearing prey to pieces. The upper part is curved like a hook, and is bent down over the lower part.

7. Parrots, too, have hooked bills, which they use in climbing. Sometimes they sleep hanging from a tree by their strong bills.

9. The woodpecker drills holes in dead trees to get the worms and insects he likes to eat. The two parts of his bill fit together, making a good drill.

8. Have you ever noticed what big mouths swallows have? Most insect-eating birds snap up the insects in their bills, but swallows dart through the air with their mouths openlike traps to catch flies and other insects.

10. The woodpecker works away until he comes to an insect; then he opens his bill, and shoots his long, sharp tongue like an arrow into the insect.

11. Snipe and some other water birds feed on the worms in the mud at the bottom of streams. These birds need long, sharp bills.

12. Other water birds get food in a different way. Some ducks eat insects and plants which live in the water.Their bills are long, but broad and fiat.At each side there is a kind of strainer, which holds back the food, but lets the mud and water pass through.

1. Draw a picture of the swallow’s bill; of the parrot’s bill; of the snipe’s bill.

2. Name some birds you have seen and tell what kinds of bills they have.

girl

earn

work

burn

bird

learn

world

turn

dirt

heard

worm

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