The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-04-15

oeautl1r-I to see the welcome which the
,lrd gives to the man, and to hear her
low, loving gable as she rubs her head
against him, or takes his hand gently in
her beak. He has taught her several
tricks, as, for example, to take off his
hat at the word of command. She Is a
beautiful creature; and If the sense OF
humor were not quite so strong she
would be an admirable bird. Unfortu-
nately, she has an unappeasable relish
for practical jokes, especially against
human beings, looking quite soft and
gentle until they are within reach, and
then driving her long, sharp beak at them
with the rapidity of serpent's stroke.
On one occasion her sense Of humor
was developed to such an extent as to
cost the loss of her liberty.
The garden in which she lives is also
inhabited by great number of aquatic
birds, principally gulls and ducks, and
they have way of laying their eggs in
different parts of the garden. One day
learned and respected neighbor went
into the garden, and, seeing some ducks
eggs on the ground, stopped down to ex-
anime them As he was thus engaged,
the heron stole up softly behind him, and
delivered so tremendous blow that she
fairly knocked him on his face.
The unfortunate gentleman, knowing
that the heron has an unpleasant way of
pecking at eyes, crouched as closely to
playground as he could, sheltering his
eyes with his arms, and calling for help
as loudly as he could in such a position.
1 The heron, enjoying the joke immensely,
mounted on his back, and triumphantly
maintained her post there until assist
ance arrived and she was driven off.
Since that explicit she has not been al
lowed to run loose, but has been confined
in roomy cage, in which she can run
about Even under these circumstances
she delights in enticing people to come
near the cage, and then darting her beak
at them between the bars-a joke which
she has several times played at my ex-
pense. The distance to which she can
project her beak is quite marvellous, and
it is no difficult matter for the bird to de-
coy too confiding persons within her
reach.
The following account of bird humor,
as displayed in practical joking, is taken
from Hardwicke's Science Gossip of
March, 1872:
az have imbibed many of the tastes of
Gilbert White; but that which engrosses
me most, and which / may call my
hobby, is the natural history of the swal-
low tribe.
81 have read that swallows will mob
and put to flight kestrel-hawk. This
was rather skeptical of until lately,
when my doubts were removed by that
most convincing of proofs, ocular
demonstration. l had gone to see an old
castle in the neighborhood, which was
built on the only hill for miles around,
and was therefore tolerably certain to be
the haunt of pair or two of hawks. l
accordingly kept my eyes open in the ex
pectation Of seeing one, and was soon
rewarded by the appearance on the brow
of the hill of bird which by its grace
full form and the lowering motion of its
wings l knew to be kesuel.
ellis active little enemies, the swal-
lows, flock of which were disporting
themselves close by, had been as quick
to see him as l. These at once advanced
to meet the intruder, and, with the ut
most audacity, brushed past him in all
directions, one from one quarter and one
from another, each wheeling after it had
swept by, and returning to the charge,
while the hawk made futile dashes now
and again, but was always too late to
do any damage to his nimble little op-
ponents.
cat last, tired of waging an unequal
war, and obliged to own himself con
quered, he beat hasty retreat. He ewas
not, however, allowed to get off so easily,
but was followed up by his victorious
foes; and the apparent mystery Of such
little birds proving more than a match
for such idable-looking antago-
mist, armed literally cap-a-pie, as he was,
was quite cleared up; for as he made
off, evidently at his best speed, the swal-
lows, with the utmost ease, when left
at an apparently hopeless distance be-
hind, fetched him up, then passed him
| lin what appeared to me most dangerous
proximity, wheeled round, met him on
their return Journey, and then, taking
another sharp turn to the right about,
repassed him, and continued repeating
these maneuvers dozen times or more.
"The solution of the mystery lay in
their extraordinary power of flight. The
way in which the swallows made straight
for him, apparently bent on personal
encounter, and then, when the kestrel
was reckoning on clutching them in his
talons, gliding away at a tangent, was,
though no doubtitantalizing to the hawk,
none the less amusing and interesting
to me.
ITO crown all, when the others had
left off the chase, presumably not think
ing it worth their while to pursue any
farther, it was curious to watch one soli-
tary individual carry it on alone with
such seemingly unrelenting vigor that
he seemed actuated by feelings of the
direst revenge. However that might be,
the swallow certainly effectually pre-
vented the discounted foe from pausing
in his enforced retreat. watched
them until pursuers and pursued both
vanished from my sight. l dare say
the little swallow continued the pursuit
until he had wearied and exhausted the
hawk.
son another occasion l witnessed lit
tie incident which has, to the best of
my knowledge, the merit of novelty; and
so hope you will excuse my telling it.
l saw hare running across large park
by the wayside, and was looking about
to see what had started it, but could not
imagine what it could be, as neither man
nor dog was in sight. 1t started again
for it had stopped and sat in listening
attitude), and then saw that the dis
turbers were flight Of swallows, who
were following it up like pack OF
hounds; now one and now another
skinned past the hare's ears along the
ground, while the poor, timid creature
was putting its best leg foremost; but
all to no purpose, for its relentless tor.
mentors seemed to take pleasure in its
fright, and to enjoy the sport of teas.
ing it.
II followed the little group until an
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