The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-19

an atmosphere so heavily freighted with
moisture, it is not difficult to understand
how it is tha. an Irish rain possesses
great wetling properties.
Inc other characteristic of an Irish
rain is the peculiar chilly sensation
which it produces. There is kind of
Spring weather which, in our Southern
country, is sometimes called the "whip-
poorwill Storm" that will enable the
reader to form an idea of what is meant
ny the chilliness of an Irish rain. Il
makes an individual feel cold all over.
This damp, chilly atmosphere of Ire.
land contributes largely to the comfortof
its inbabitanis, as we'll as to the fertility
of its soil. While the dampness of the
atmosphere retards the drying of wet
clothes and adds to the horrors of wash.
Jay, it also gives durability to clothes.
| sa" linen sheets, which, was credibly
informed, had been in constant use for
more than fifty years. They were manu-.
factuted- by hand and bleached on
green, and not by chemicals. 1t may be
added that these sheets showed no signs
OF age, aud with the same care bestowed
upon them in the future that they have
received in the past, there seems to be
40 reason for doubling but that they will
last, without rent, for century.
Another advantage derived from the
cold, damp atmosphere of Ireland is the
great facility with which meats are pre-
served at any and all times of the year.
Hogs are slaughter.d d at all times of the
year, and the most luscious bacon that
ever entered the mouth cured in the
month of August. A slaughtered nut.
ton will hang in the sun for more than
day without the least sign of putrefac-
tion. In several places saw, during the
last days of June, when the sun rose at
Il few minutes after three and set at few
minutes before nine, butchered hogs
hauled through the streets at noon.
saw the same thing again later in July.
Were such thing attempted in our
country, flies by the thousands would be
there to du their fatal work and the huz.
yards would he at the butcher pen before
the hair was removed from the carcases.
In Ireland there are few flies. saw
none aud the buzzard has no existence
On the island. Its scavenger duties are
performed by the crow.
AS l am committed to no order and
have no plan, l may rs well say here as
elsewhere, thai the crpws are numbered
by the hundreds Of thousands, I almost
said millions, in Ireland. The same is
true of both England and Scotland, hut
think they are more plentiful in Ire.
land than in either of the other places.
Connected with nearly all the landlord
castles there are large groves or forests :
IF trees. These trees have all, or nearly
al, been planted nut, and are generally
comparatively small. They are not
large-bodied and tall trees, such as are
seen in the native forests of our country.
They consist of several varieties Of trees,
but the most numerous are firs-a species
of pine. In one of these groves--that
forming part of The premises of Lord
Waveuy-I saw, I dare not say how
many, crows; but will dare to say /
yaw more crows nests than are in several
counties in the State of South Carolina.
am prepared to say, as | believe, that
there are more crows on Lord Waveny's
estate than are in the whole State of
South Carolina. will not say that
SAW crows nest on every tree in his
premises, for did not see every tree, hut
saw what never saw before, and never
expect to see again until | 60 back to
Ireland. I saw rs many rs half dozen
crows nests on one tree. The strangeSt
thing of all about this is the fact that
Waveny's castle is in CLOSE proximity to
Ballymena, town OF some nine thousand
Inhabitants American town boys would
enjoy a glorious time in crow shooting,
were these ruokeries as near any of our
towns. 1t was evident of the crows, not
only on Lord Waveny's castle grounds,
but in all parts or Ireland. that they
never, or at least very rarely, are shot at.
There are two other birds in Ireland
that deserve to be noticed. So far as |
know they are not found in America, at
least not in the Southern States. But |
make no pretension to any great knowl.
edge of ornthology. The two birds to
which I refer are the cuckoo and corn
crake. Abput the latter there is, SO far
AS I know, nothing remarkable except
that it frequents corn fields (oat fields)
and may he heard u.tering a strange
craking note like no other sound that
ever | heard, and although the bird
seems, frnm the sound. tn be near Ivy. it
is very difficult to get sight of it. In
size and general appearance it resembles
somewhat som our partridge. The cuckoo is
real wonder, in size and general appear
ance especially. When it is on the wing
it resembles small hawk. 1t is not,
however, a bird of prey. Its principal
food is the caterpillar. So far, the cuckoo
may be regarded as beneficial.
The cuckoo, like our whip poorwill,is is
a bird of passage. 1t tspends from about
the middle OF July to the first of April
in Africa and the remainder of the year
in insular and continental Europe. The :.
males come frs, in Spring, and in few
days after their arrival the females come.
Only the males sing or'give utterance to
the sound from which the name of the
bird is derived. Soon after its arrival it
ceases to sing entirely, but again for
short time prior to its departure it begins
tn sing again, but in boarser voice and
at The same time doubling the first sylla-
BILE, thus cuck cuckoo. This seems to be
the signal for its departure. The cuckoo
does some very strange things. The
female, it is said, lays only one egg, and
this always in the nest of some other
bird. 1t is claimed that the egg is, in
color, always like the egg of the bird
in whose nest it is laid. The cuckoo
often, if not always, deposits its egg in a
nest so small that it can not sit upon the
nest as other birds do when laying.
Such being the case it lays its egg Oh the
ground and then taking it up in its bill
deposits it in the nest of some other bird.
Having laid the egg and deposited it in
the nest of another bird, the cuckoo com.
mits the whole matter of hcubation and
feeding the young bird, wien it is hatch.
ed, to the bird in whose nest The egg was
d posted. So soon AZ the young cuckoo
crreps from the shell it places its wings
under the other young birds in the nest
ri s,,otipf,