The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1873-06-07
CHILDREN'S COLUMN.
Bird, of the Sea.
by THOMAS W. KNOX,

before him, there Is, perhaps, no
greater mystery than the movements,
and lives, and habits of sea birds.
Their breeding places are generally
on rocky islands or cliffs, remote from
the habltatlons of men, though it some
times happens that the birds make
their nests and resting places quite
near to fishing villages and other settle
ments. There were formerly many sea
birds on the rocks and cliffs near San
Francisco but they have gradually
retreated to the Farralone Islands,
which lie out in the Pacific ocean, about
thirty miles from the Golden Gate
Hundreds of thousands of these
birds-sea gulls, comics and many
the Farralone Islands, and Jay their
eggs there III the spring of the year
The eggs are an Important article of
traffic III the San Francisco market,
where they are sold in great numbers
Parties go out from San Francisco to
collect these eggs as regular business
and almost every year it happens that
they fight for the possession of the
| islands. Occasionally man is killed :;
| but this does not prevent another fight
| the next year.
! was one day visiting friend who
lived on one of the hills overlooking
the bay of San Francisco. As we went
out of his house to visit his garden, he
pointed to an adjoining garden, where
man was at work
" have long wanted, he said, "to
buy part of that garden, but the
| 0Wnpr would not coll n P,,{ I l.
shall get it now; he went away one day
last week with n party of men TO get
eggs at the Farralones, and next night
he was brought home dead, having
been killed III fight. A party was
there ahead of them, and they used
their rifles to defend their rights"
Going up the Pacific coast from
Panama to San Francisco, one will see
great many sea-birds. When | made
the voyage, the passengers used to
spend great deal of time Watching
the birds; and after dinner we used to
give them whatever was left on the ia
BILE that they would eat. Somehow
they seemed to know when it was din
ner time, as they always appeared then
| III greater plumbers than between meals.
| When a crumb of bread Was thrown
| into the water, they would dive for if,
and If we threw large piece, there
would be a great struggle to get it.
One day we persuaded the cook to bake
a loaf very hard, and when the birds
were thickest just behind the
steamer we threw the loaf in
to the water. There was
great rush for the bread, and for a
few minutes the birds looked like a
flock of pigeons settling upon a tree.
They dashed at the bread, but it was
SO hard that they could not seize it
and as the steamer was steadily going
forward, we left them struggling for
their food. They probably continued
striking it until it was soaked and
broken by the combined action of the
water and their bills In the evening
we organized court, and tried one of
the passengers for wasting our provi-
sions by throwing them away upon the
birds. He was convicted, and sen.
fenced to pay for the loaf lie had
wasted, but the Judge ordered that the
sentence should not be executed until
the birds that had eaten the bread
could be arrested.
1t IS rather odd to talk about sen
birds getting sea-sick, but such is really
the case. There are several varieties
Of birds that suffer from the motions
of a ship, Just as people suffer who are
not accustomed TO the water, although
they viii settle down upon the water
and appear perfectly comfortable on
the rocking waves.
One day the sailors caught white
gull, covered him with red paint, |
and then released him. His compan
ions at first avoided him in astonish
ment, but only for Il minute; then
they chased him, and he flew out of
sight, with the whole flock following
him. The captain told lie tile gulis
always do this when a bird has been
painted, or anything is hung to his
neck; and that Ii it does not fly faster
than they, or rids himself of his
lncumberance in some way, he
IS IN danger of being killed
If L had known this be-
fore the bird was caught, II
should have begged the sailors not
to trouble him, and SO cause him to
be avoided or put to death by his
friends. After all, gull nature is not
unlike human nature there are many
men ana women who treat with the
greatest cruelty those OF their fellow
beings who have been unfortunate, or
whose characters have been stained
through no fault Of their own.
The largest sea-bird is the aIbatross,
which is chiefly found in the Southern
ocean. Notwithstanding its great size,
it can fly long distance from shore.
and Is frequently seen two or three
hundred miles from the nearest land or
other resting place. Around Cape
Horn the albatross is found in large
numbers, and at their breeding places
there are sometimes many acres cover
ed with their nests, which are simply
little depressions in the earth.
Another bird peculiar to the South
ern hemisphere is the penguin, which
has small wings and short legs The
legs are set very far back, so that when
he walks he stands erect like a dog on
his hind feet. The penguin can not fiy.
but,he dives and swims very fast. When
1T Is swimming 1t uses its wings as if
they we've fins. Many thousands of
these birds are frequently found to-
gether, and when they have made their
nests and deposited their eggs. the
ground seems to be paved with them.
The noise made by the screaming of the
birds Is very great, aud enough To
deafen person whose nerves are SEN
sitIve.
There is a small bird like swallow.
only much larger, which is called the
L. ~