'Talons. Yes, they would carry off a rabbit very easily.'
'Do they!' cried Esther, horrified.
'I don't doubt that fellow has carried off many a one, as well as hosts of smaller fry—squirrels, mice, and birds.'
'He looks cruel,' observed Esther, with an abhorrent motion of her shoulders.
'He does, rather. But he is no more cruel than all the rest.'
'The rest of what?' said Esther, turning towards him.
'The rest of creation—all the carnivorous portion of it, I mean.'
'Are they all like that? they don't look so. The eyes of pigeons, for instance, are quite different.'
'Pigeons are not flesh-eaters.'
'Oh!' said Esther wonderingly. 'No, I know; they eat bread and grain; and canary birds eat seeds. Are there many birds that live on flesh?'