The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1870-11-30
Birds.

ION 8s IOvers "a the alr, that has
been given by men to nO other
class OF animals rs powers of the
earth and water. We wender at
their powers Of flight, and their
migrations. Nowhere
can we get away from tlie birds. -
We ascend a iigi, mJndment, and
tire birds arc as mnch at home as
upon the ground. We scale
cliff, and the birds glide over the
ledge Of it, and reform again /;
willie we studder as We creep to
the edge, and .glancc over. Far
away Mt sea we meet tho birds ca.
reering over the waves, and ap.
pearing to enjoy their fight, while
perhaps the trail vessel in which
we are sailing labors along with
creakiRg, tlmbers and tapping
sails. We cit alone in our most
private chamber, and a little bird
hops impertinently npon the bal
cony or window.si!l, and peeps in
to the .reoni. Nowhere are we
safe from the birds, and hence the
'aneients believed that they pos.
sessed q rare knowledge Of human
affairs. As they were continually
flying about, they we're supposed
to observe and pry into mems most
secret actions, and know all their
doings. The idea, indeed, passed
into, a proverb among the Greeks.
to the effect thar, when, they were
engaged in any secret action, no
one know what passed, "except,
indeed, some bird" A like cx.
preston has como down to our
own times, inasinnch as we say,
when We wish 10 affect mystery as
to the trne source Of our informa.
tion, "a little bird has told INC {"
SO and so. 89r-
Color in birds is intended not
merely for beauty II is, IN fact, a
mode of cnncealment, the most
universal of all means Of defence.
and one that appears in every race
of animals. As the strength, the
weapons, and the velocity are all
on the side Of the pnrsuer, color
is much more resorted to for the
defense Of birds than of any other
creatures. In the partridge, the
quail, the woodcock, and the snipe,
the likeness Of their colors to the
brown earth on which they move,
is such as often to conceal them
from cverv eye, not excepting the
piercing sight Of the hawk or the
kite. The hovering toe may be
observed above during the chase,
though the victim has not escaped,
deceived also by smaller birds,
even when the accordance in color
is not great.
The cuckoo has Some odd tricks
which, have seldom been noted
For instance, she seems to find ont
some small birds nest, say in
hole in the wall, too small by far
for her to enter. In this case she
sqnats upon the ground, lays her
egg, and then, witt, bill and claws,
takes it up. aud pokes it into the
hole. after which she flies away,
shrieking her awfully monotonons
song. In o forest in France, we
used day after day to watch this
smoky blue traveller, as, in the
dawn Of a summers morning, she
flew across the leafy glades, or
down the glen, resting her weary
feet for a moment on some giant
bough, and then shooting away
through the soft green light, re-
tpeating her STRANGE and ofninous
cry. What is the offgInnf country
Of The cuckoo3 HIS She any orig.
inal cruntrys Or is she one of
those wretched cosmopolites who
know no attachment 10 any hal
lowed spot, no love or knowledge
Of parents, having been brought
up by strangers, who REGARDED ',cr
from birth as an ugly c.angeling
thrust By some evil spirit into their
nest2 Surely tire cuckoo is to be
pitied, since she knows no home,
has never seen q hearth. or expe.
rieDced the soft care of fabricating
a nest or Matching an egg.
800 s.