Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-10-15
1ANDBIRDs FAR AT SEA.
r,nr n on a steamship geo Miles
From Land.
80 a. ~ York 81.

t-Om the est inuless HioNeu up lhS 4'0'i
IS thrA DAYS ago stranger dropped
scor the Eesseps side and struck out
,,j5lv though the water for the Staten
,.1an5 spre. 1t was a shy little thing,
a,od in todest olive brown, and loved
- crlh bs immoderately. Ithad taken
..ass,ye porthward unexpectedly, and
- on ,oard knew its history prior TO
~. time. when in midocean and with
-1-,r,l Kindred other immigrants, II had
,od = in were. from the clouds upon
HotpE 4 the Clvde. The Clyde lett San
; o,, UT kitv on Sept. 49, The follow
w., story Il told by person who was on
board ..,,,,,o ,h, ,oo.,s,
ION lbt Monday evening the nearest
,5vasthe northeast end OF the island
10 inaela. and this was 260 miles south
a., by Vast. The Bermudas were 420
Is dishnt. and Turks island 440 miles.
Tbore wax no vivid or sea, and rain was
+,,line hcNlly. Almost all of the passen-
,srs we're assembled in the smoking room
smids1ip5 The room was small, and the
Snor had zen left open for ventilation.
suddenly little bird iluttered in through
be open dor, darted against the lamp.
md fell ipon the floor. Another and
,notber Slowed. Twittering was
asrd outside, and we found
r decks covered with hundreds Of
Gged creatures. They seemed to come
III, n every sde, attracted by the steamers
Ma Is. In a 'ew minutes more than fifty
N entered the smoking room, and be
opol gIed it'll, wretches they We're. Their
4 ghts had used them up. We could
them uplike so many blocks. We
10 all that entered the smoking room
La For
rev night. Outside their comrades
u'ssAed on the rigging and covered the
mVu,, Great numbers OF them were
SlAll by fying against the stateroom
gU!' sws. Their little bodies were scat
I tlsn all about the ship. While we
Hla' attending TO the birds IN the
Lal ing room some larger birds that had
9eI led on the rigging were caught by
W w, rs of the ship. Among them were
NJ hawks. one OF them OF the smallest
~ wn variety, the kestrel, and the other
> bmmon men hawk. Hawks are usually
/. but 50 tired were these TWO that they
Owed themselves to be captured. The
q z one. however, made savage fight, and
owe his ta,ons nearly through the palm
his capt0r's hand. We kept him for
20 DAYS, but be would not eat, and
lDally be escaped.
'DtSiutb ttt nav MS wv NdlGl ais
gere caught, and some birds that resem-
bled our cat-bird, but they were larger
and had brown wings. They were prob
kby a species of jay. The small birds
we're a little larger than canary, and of
three varieties. One kind was yellow
another brown, and the smallest and
most numerous were gray, with verv
sharp beaks. In the morning we found a
knedsher perched in the rigging. He
was rested, and we could not catch hun.
He wOnld circle about the ship few
times when started. and then aligbt
somewhere else on the ship. There was
3 little owl, too, That kept the kingfisher
company, but be soon disappeared.
We intended to keep some OF
the birds that were Gagged in the smoking
room, but when the boy entered to clean
cut in the morning he saw the hats there,
and, gathering them up, to his surprise a
flock Of birds suddenly f1uttered about
Tim and then flew out OF the open door.
Iney were very tame and perched all
about the vessel. The officers of the
warch said they could hear birds flying
against the side lights OF the ship and
dropping into toe sea all night. 1t Is ev-
dent that there were thousands of birds
dying that night. We treated our visitors
as we'll as possible and gave them plenty
10 eat, but thew did not seem to appreciate
iur hospitality and by noon almost all Of
.hem had left us.
slow TO account for the appearance of
these birds is a question. There were
men on board VINO nave travelled about
the world forty years and never had heard
Of such a phenomenon, much less seen it.
There was no wind. For two days before
and after the. birds appeared you could
have pulled a shell in safety on the ocean.
Our theory IS this: Abacoa, one OF the
Bahamas, is cell brated for birds. You
may always know Of its proximity by the
birds that fly about the ship. Now, the
BIRDS that came on board Oh Monday even
ng were Bahama birds, aud they are
ound all about the island of AbacOa. We
concluded that there was a local whiri-
Wind, or tornado, that took up all the
and birds of certain district, and that
llerward, by an upper current OF air,
ney were swept out to sea. There was
osurface wind or we should have felt it.
The storm could not have been general,
On the effect of the win9 at sea is felt
lIen IN the swell of the ocean, when
mere IS no apparent air current. We get
fle swell of storms hundreds OF miles
way, bu: on this occasion there was no
q veil. SO the tempest must have been
N re, there must have been an upper
hFrent that swept the birds along alter
shsy we're taken up, for its a physical i'm
Of slbility for many of the birds we found
h uy 200 miles, the distance Of the near
g.l land. ] de net believe the small birds
m aided could have done IL. Any one
eso has hunted raj birds knows that
n. d bird could not 1v halt the distance.
he rail is a marsh bird. He loves T.
IN ibie in the mud along shore where the
ma dS and rank grasses offer cover. II be
united he takes 70 his legs and quickly
,es himself. His wings are IL fitted for
= Fights and he seldom rises. Now,
I1 oi these shore-iOving railsran against
ul -o0 miles from land. Mother Carey's
'A ekens are often found IN midocean, but
az 4 are peculiarly water fowl. The
Si We saw were all land birds-neVer
'A, ID so far at sea unless by some accl-
au9 This theory is strengthened by the
WI " rslty in the birds. They were nine
pies; three varieties OF small birds.
n p.., OF hawks, an owl. a kingfisher, sort
.EF y. and the rails. You sOuldn't md q
~s!s heterog neous lot.
seems plain that some force col
crpd them and drove them 10 sea. We
low some OF them IN the boats until Oh
Gu coast, and then liberated them. There
10 fe two rails--a male and female. The
Ri le escaped day out OF New York, and
lc' female was the bird that made OF for
hp ten Island when we we're ia the Mar
% VS.. do not believe that any OF the
small birds that left US IN mid-Ocean got
I'd land. Tney had n nights rest, II is
true, hut they were desperately tired FOR
ssii mat, and bad no wind 10 help them