Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-25
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BIRDS.
Those That Can swim as Well As FIy-The
Curious Snake Birds.

Those That Can swim = Well As Fly-The
Curious Snake Birds.
Professor BiCkmore began his lecture with
a few wOl ds about feathers, which, he ex-
planned, were di ided into contour OF out
line feathers, and down or the riuiy pro
tective feathers Without further introduc-
ton he plunged into Il description Of the
more prominent birds of the class selected
for discussion One Of the rsre-t birds OF
which a specimen is kept at the museum l.
the great aux, VIII is about the size uf
goose is found north Of Cape cod, and i
not ii for its thin, grOvei bill These birds
We're plentiful in Nova Scotia when the
settlers first landed that they were knOCked
over with sticks and tn IT breasts slit OIL t.
extract oil, but it is most difficult now t. oh
tain one or the anne general species l. the
putin, lGr-e cOnmun ties Of which are
found in rocky places on the east coast of
Maine. The puhn has thin razor like
bill viii h appears enormOu, from the slIe.
Among the group OF birds all Of whose
toes are united 10y web the pelican is prom
Inent This ge ial creature goes through
the water scoopug into Its large sack under
the bill all the fish viii h 1t can conyen
lently hold II then rests until lunch time
when it tips la its head and allows such
quantity Of fish a. it wi hes to drop down
its throat Then there is the snake bird,
which travels long distances apparently IN
der water all the way, but which in reality
Aeeps tine tip Of one nOstril just above the
surface. III little trOpic bird, too. is a Gu
RIO ity Until lately his home was never
known and he was supposed to live and die
a way arer. But in ,ealIty the trUpic bird
has very comfortable quarters III the soft
rock ellis in Bermu u. where the female de
pOsits each yea one gy. The troplc bird
Ias two long tail feathers, which are many
times the length of his body, and he Is cred
tied with particularly sharp and dlscord-
ant cry. Like the gulls and Mother Carey ;
chickens. the trOpIC birds are met with al
sea and follow vessels. waiting for some
thin. to pi X up These birds neN er appear
to rest, AS they are generally on the wing
but they do, in reality, rest Another birI
of this sort is the albatross, whose great ex
tent OF wing enables it to put out sails, as it
were, and ty without apparent effort
The cor norant, greves, and mergansers
are also sea-faring birds, living on fish and
exhalIng a very strong and unp. .eesant OdOr
The greves ha 9 their toss lObed and sepa
rate, and Inc meTSansers nave a peculiarly
Of bill, there being series Of projections
which tit into each other and allow the bird
TO sift its food
The professor next described the will
ducks and geese, tie pursuit of which Is the
delight of sportsmeu The eye Of the can
vas back duck is We y near the top Of the
head, while the Gre / Of the red head mak-s
its eye COM abo-t in the middle Of it,
head The she.dr AXE is a very gayly-appar
eled duck, and the Labrador duck, twenty
five years ago 50 plenty, is now rarer bird
than the great aux, The elder duck has
that beautiful down at her breast which j
SO much sought after for quilts, Wien tn
first quantity OF this in the nest Of the
young is stolen by natl, es, the female de
taches the down from her breast to keep the
young warm This, too, is stolen, and then
the male detaches his-New York Herald