Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-07-14
The Mysteries of Birds.

The Mysteries of Birds.
Is it not a marvel that mere bird, that
is much inferior in intelligence to an ele-
plant or an ape, can find Its way back to
its residence of last summer, even though
it be six or eight or even nine thousand
miles distant :? And yet. such is the fact.
Every year, as spring approaches, we see
birds coming from the tropical regions,
passing by us OF stopping but a short time
and then we soon hear of their arrival ip
the colder regions of the n orth, where they
have gone to lay their eggs, and to .tarry
until they are Matched, and their young
partly grown.
Now it is only by careful calculation,
| and by constant watching of the sun, moon
and stars, and by carefully measuring dis
tances, that mariners can find their way
across the ocean. And so travellers on
| land, where the country is new and unset
/ tied, have to use very much the same
means to keep in a particular direction, or
they will soon be lost But here are these
birds, without charts OF compass, or any
way marks op the ocean to guide them,
without any knowledge of astronomy, and
yet they find their way over the trackless
sea and forest, and often even occupy
again their old nests. The Creator has
mereifully given them this remarkable
power, which we call instinct, and this Of
ten serves as Il safe and perfect guide il
other matters, as we shall see.
In my last article spoke Of the bones Of
birds being hollow, especially of those that
fly, and of their having numerous air-sacs
over their bodies, which are inflated like a
balloon, so that they are lighter, and can
more readily sustain themselves in the air
and fly.
These air-sacs are both filled and empti-
ed at pleasure by the bird, as occasion re-
quires. When they wish to descend rapid
ly to the earth, like the eagle or hawk, to
seize upon some living animal, the instinct
of the bird leads it to contract the muscles
connected with these sacs so as to expel or
squeeze out the air, and thus the buoyancy
or lightness Of the body is lessened, and it
falls more swiftly to the ground. The same
instinct leads the bird at such times to fold
its wings as closely as possible to it's body,
thus reducing still further it's bulk.
All this will now help you to understand
how the same bird that can soar so readily
up for many hours high in the air, can al
so plunge like an arrow into the water, and
move so swiftly in 1t that it easily catches
the Wift-moving fish in it's own element.
The Solan goose has been caught in fishing
net more than 200 feet under water, where
it had gone for it's prey. These air vessels
are so completely contracted at such times
that all the air is expelled, and thus the
body of the water fowl is much reduced in
size. But this is not all. The air in the
bones is also removed, and so the buoyancy
is still more diminished. To prove that
the air in the bones is in connection with
the lungs, the experiment has been tried Of
breaking the leg Of a bird, and also of ma
king hole in it so that the air could es-
cape, and it was found that the bird could
not then fly. So also when the bird was
thus broken, the ao5nd-pipe Of the bird was
closed by the eXperimenter, so that it was
impossible to breathe through its throat,
and yet the bird was able to breathe for
some time through the OPENING in the bone of
the leg, showing that these various recep-
tacles of air are all in communication with
the regular breathing apparatus of the bird
that is, it's lungs. l..,.f'-.,...
How plainly do we here see the skilful
hand of the Creator in not only giving to
the bird these different air-holders, but al
so the instinct to use them at the right
moment, and use them also in ways so diff
ferent and so wonderfully adapted to it's
wants; contracting them all when it wish
e to descend and expanding and initiating
tt lem when it desires to rise. How absurd
tc' suppose that bird could educate itself
to do all this So then we see that the AL
mighty condescends to teach even little
bill dis what it is needed for them to know;
and shall we not suppose that he has also
taught us, who are created in His own i'm
age ,s....,