Gentlemen, just like the SQL language has a "LIMIT" operator, so also does find need a -limit (and xargs a --limit) option.
You might ask can't one just use e.g., $ find|sed 3q $ some_command|sed 3q|xargs ... and e.g., $ find -print0 | perl -0nwe 'print; exit if $. == 3;' | xargs -0 ... if needing to use nulls. Well yes one can, but 1. at least give the null example on the man pages. 2. wouldn't it be much more efficient if the commands stopped output themselves? Like $ find -limit 3 -print0 | xargs -0 ... or $ any_command | xargs --limit 3