The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-08-08
SHORT LESSONS IN ORNITHOLOGY.

Half million wild ducks are annually killed
in southern Louisiana, and sent to the New
Orleans market
Thomas Cary. of Fishkill Hook, n. Y, says
be has a hen turkey which lays one egg every
day except Sunday. On Sunday she lays two
eggs
A mountain-grouse pursued by hawk, few
through pane of plate glass three-eighths of an
inch thick which In the window of a Lake
City, COL, store. The pane was worth $40.
A blue crane, measuring six feet from tip to
tip, was recently captured in fsh-pond near
Gainesville, Ga. A carp, eight inches long. and
weighing quarter of pound was found in its
stomach.
A farmer near Fort GainesG Ca, says that buzz
yards attacked litter of ten little pigs and bit
their ears and tails, making the swallow fork
and under bit" in each ear, which composed this
farmers private mark for his hogs.
A pair of sparrows recently attacked a house
cat at Streator ILL.,, and with their little bills
succeeded, after hard-fought battle of several
minutes, in totally vanquishing pussy, who ran
under the house to escape her tormentors.
A North Carolina crow found guinea hens
nest in hedgerow. After trying in vain to
break an egg with it's beak the crow cutched
one with its claws and flew up fifty feet in
the air. Then it let the egg fall. breaking the
shell.
Professor Treadwel of Massachusetts, has
proved that half-grown robin will daily de-
your more than one and half times its own
weight in caterpillars and beetles. A young
brood cannot live on less than seventy or eighty
worms day.
A train hand in the Selma railroad yard on a
hot night heard chickens peep coming from
freight car. He went in, and among q lot of eggs
found one through which chick had stuck its
head. The little fellow was removed, and now
thrives at the train hands home.
Squire Barrett, of Peoria, lost his tall black
hat. He procured another headcovering. Sew
eral days later his friends led him to neighbours
stable where his missing hat was found, full of
hay and chicken eggs hen perched on
top of the eggs, trying to hatch them
A hawks nest was broken up by some boys
who were attending temperance campmesting
at Spring Grove, N Y, When the old hawk dis
covered that her nest had been ruined she swept
down into the crowd of temperance workers,
seized a straw hat from mans head, and few
away with it.
A chicken was Matched near Upper Sandusky
that had four perfect legs and four wings The
legs were not grown together but were separate
and distinct, as were also the wings. The chick
lived for several hours after being Matched out
and In fact walked about. It has been preserved
in alcohol
man of Day county Minnesota, lives on the
bank of a large lake whore wild ducks make
their nests He hunts up the nests and replaces
the eggs with eggs from his hennery. The wild
ducks have Matched out number of fine broods
II
sitting around.
A hail-storm in Benton county, Indiana.
drove hen from her nest in the grass and
smashed the eggs. The hen went back as soon
as the storm was over, and began trying to hatch
the hail-stones that filled the nest. She didn't
find out her mistake until her feet were very cold
and her feathers very wet.
An Arrowsmth (1ll.) citizen recently captured
two young hooking birds, and put them into
cage and hung it on the outside of the house,
where the mother bird f& them until one day
last week, when a meadow sparrow whipped her
away, ard has since taken maternal care of the
little fellows. feeding them as her own.
A nearly lifesize chrome of cat was placed
out of doors where the birds could sec it.
cat-bird, coming up from behind, alighted on top
of the picture, IN spite of the warning of other
birds. which were in state of great excite
| ment. CHANGING to look down, the cat bird saw
the cat beneath it's feet, and, with scream, it
turned a back somersault and flew away.
Mrs Burchard's parrot was sitting in the
open window at Kankakee, ILL.,. when hawk
swooped down on it. The two fell to the earth
and sharp fight followed in which the hawk
found his match. The parrot as he fought
called for help and Mrs. Burchard came to the
rescue of her pet with a potato masher, and
mashed the hawk The parrot was none the
worse for wear, and said at once, "Polly wants
cracker"
gentleman driving past small pond near
Monticello N. T., saw a great commotion
among number of swallows which were flying
over the water. Presently a large black crow
came flying along, and its presence seemed to
quiet the other birds The crow few down to
the surface Of the pool and then rose with large
watersnake in it's bill The snake had caught
swallow by the Leg but in trying to free itself
from the crow it allowed the smaller bird to es-
cape. The crow few away with the snake