Page:Darwinism by Alfred Wallace 1889.djvu/130

 more vegetarian diet, eating seeds as well as insects, and feeding on the ground as well as among trees. The delicate little blue titmouse (Parus cœruleus), with its very small bill, feeds on the minutest insects and grubs which it extracts from crevices of bark and from the buds of fruit-trees. The marsh titmouse, again (Parus palustris), has received its name from the low and marshy localities it frequents; while the crested titmouse (Parus cristatus) is a northern bird frequenting especially pine forests, on the seeds of which trees it partially feeds. Then, again, our three common pipits—the tree-pipit (Anthus arboreus), the meadow-pipit (Anthus pratensis), and the rock-pipit or sea-lark (Anthus obscurus) have each occupied a distinct place in nature to which they have become specially adapted, as indicated by the different form and size of the hind toe and claw in each species. So, the stone-chat (Saxicola rubicola), the whin-chat (S. rubetra), and the wheat-ear (S. œnanthe) are more or less divergent forms of one type, with modifications in the shape of the wing, feet, and bill adapting them to slightly different modes of life. The whin-chat is the smallest, and frequents furzy commons, fields, and lowlands, feeding on worms, insects, small molluscs, and berries; the stone-chat is next in size, and is especially active and lively, frequenting heaths and uplands, and is a permanent resident with us, the two other species being migrants; while the larger and more conspicuous wheat-ear, besides feeding on grubs, beetles, etc., is able to capture flying insects on the wing, something after the manner of true flycatchers.

These examples sufficiently indicate how divergence of character has acted, and has led to the adaptation of numerous allied species, each to a more or less special mode of life, with the variety of food, of habits, and of enemies which must necessarily accompany such diversity. And when we extend our inquiries to higher groups we find the same indications of divergence and special adaptation, often to a still more marked extent. Thus we have the larger falcons, which prey upon birds, while some of the smaller species, like the hobby (Falco subbuteo), live largely on insects. The true falcons capture their prey in the air, while the hawks usually seize it on or near the ground, feeding on hares, rabbits, squirrels, grouse, pigeons, and poultry. Kites and buzzards, on the