Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-15

| w to Australia and New
H T Guinea, which build on
| ~ the ground regular play
houses to amuso them
| selves in. These play houses have nothing to
| do with their nests, but are constructed usually
| in the shape of covered archwEys of little
boughs two or three feet long, eighteen inches
| or so high and about as wide. The birds APP
pear to use these structures simply for the pur-
pose of amusement, as if they were club
houses, congregating in them and larking
about 1oyously. Furthermore. they are accus-
toned to decorate them with bright-colored
feathers, shells and all sorts of such things
There are certain birds i'll New Guinea,
cousins OF the bower birds. which build play
houses also and decorate them outside by
actually planting i'll the soil young shoots of
growing things and seeds as well, which, spring
ing up, are identifying. Another species o. the
same bird adorns its play houses with pretty
flowers. which it gathers and hangs in gar
lands In the early morning over the little roof.
When the garlands are faded il gets fresh ones
and with them replaces the Old. These birds
or the bower kind seem to have n liking for
curlos. They are fond of making museums of
their play houses collecting for the purpose
all sorts OF such attractive things as bits of
SHINING object teeth OF dead animals and SO on.
THE BUTCHER BIRD.
"One OF the most extraordinary feathered
creatures in the world is the butcher bird,
which is common to northern ATTITUDES in
America, Europe and Asia. 1t lives by proving
upon mice and other small animals birds and
insects. The funny thing about it is that it
impales Its victims upon thorns of bushes or
other plants, very often simply catching them
and spearing them in this way without any
| seeming purpose TO eat them 1t would ap-
pear, indeed, as if its intention was merely to
wantonly kill. However. its reason for i'm
paling its prey upon thorns is primarily that it
has not claws sufficiently powerful to tear it
apart as an owl or other bird of prey does, with
out some purchase Therefore i: fastens it to
a thorn in order to dismember the unfortunate
at leisure. group is now being prepared for
exhibition at the Smithsonian showing a pair
or butcher birds in an Usage hedge with a big
Srasshopper, sparrow and field mouse stuck
on thorns III the neighborhood of their nest,
from which three little ones arc crying for
food.
REMARKABLE HONEY BIRDS.
Among the most remarkable birds in the
world are the African honey birds, which
though entirely wild watch for opportunities to
accompany the natives in their expeditions in
search Of honey. The honey bird seems to rec
ognize, by its equipment or otherwise, party
that IS starting out after honey. 1t immed-
ately joins such an expedition and flies in ad-
vance as the party proceeds, attracting by loud
cries the hunters to the place where it knows a
bees nest is There is apparently perfect IN
derstanding between the honey birds and the
natives and the former is invariably given a
portion of the honey when the hive is opened
and Its contents are distracted.
MOUND FOWLS
"In Australia and New Guinea live the So
called mound fowls, which, instead of making
nests, construct for the reception of their eggs
heaps OF decaycd leaves and other such matter
In the mound thus made the eggs are laid
and covered over with the same material. The
warmth engendered by the decomposition of
tho stuff causes the eggs to be Matched and the
young In due timo burrow their way out to life
and the open air. These newly Matched mound
fowls differ from the young of any other
species OF bird III this one respectively are
able to fly at once upon coming out of the
eggs, their wings being perfectly developed
when they chip the shells. When grown they
look something like ordinary brown hens with
unusually big feet.
There are certain birds-some Of the cuck-
oos of the old world and the common cow
blackbirds' OF America-which never build
nests of their own, but lay their eggs in the
nests of other birds and leave them to be
Matched by foster mothers. This is a particu-
larry unfortunate imposition upon many of the
smaller birds, inasmuch a young COW black
bird. for example, is 80 big upon being Matched
and grows so rapidly as to soon crowd the
young ones which belong there out of the nest
altogether, thus getting all the room and all
the care themselves.
sHEEP-EATINd PARROTS.
Cautiously enough there seems mover to have
been any animals existing in New Zealand in
early days, save a sort of bat thai presumably
flew across from Australia. There was parrot
which could never in those times have had any
opportunities for flesh feeding on this account.
and its diet was composed of fruits and seeds
When the country became settled by the whites
and sheep herding was made big industry
there. something happened that puzzled and
worried the shepherds greatly. They found
many of their sheep wounded or dying from
unaccountabe sores in their backs. and it was
not for a long time that they discovered the
cause. 1t seems that during one winter, which
was very unusually severe. most of the fruits
and seeds upon which the parrots had been &C
customed to depend were destroyed and the
birds were driven to seek other means of
sustenance. This discovered by those of
them which survived in the carcasses of
slaughtered sheep. They found certain parts
of the meat to their taste and acquired a liking
for it so thoroughly that they never cared to
go back to a vegetable diet Consequently,
they made business in subsequent seasons of
attacking the living flocks and biting out the
flesh of the beasts with their strong beaks
choosing the portions in the neighborhood of
the small OF the back, where the fat about the
kidneys was especially succulent When this
was found out bounty was set upon these
parrots, and it still remains at a liberal figure
in the colony today.
I'm New Guinea and certain outlying islands
there small bat parrokeets,' which sleep
hanging by the feet head downward. Our
Carolina parrokeets do just tho opposite hang
ing at night by the hooks on the ends of their
bills. which they stick into crevices or wherever
may be convenient.
wEAvERs.
"You may perhaps have seen in cages tho
weaver birds, which seem to be fond of making
enormous nests merely for the purpose of ex-
ercising themselves in the art of construction
and not to breed in at all much of the time.
Supply them with as much string and straw as
you please and they will use it all up faster
than you could imagine possible in weaving
composing their fabric with q perfection and
elaborateness simply astonishing. In some
parts of the world it is the custom for q whole
colony of weaver birds to join together and
build one great big tlat-topped platform two or
three yards across. which is so admirably put
together as to shed the ram as well as any roof
could do. Under this roof they make indi-
vidual pocket-shaped nests The tailor birds
instead of weaving their nests inclose them
in big leaves and stitch the latter together
with plant fbers, just as you would sew pieces
Of cloth.
CROCODILE AND BUFFALO BIRDS
"Maybe you know about the crocodile bird,
which feeds on the ticks and leechcs that infest
the mouths of the crocodiles of the Nile. 1t il
really fact as you may have heard it stated,
that the great reptile is accustomed to lie on q
bank with its mouth wide open and permit the
bird to run about between its jaws and peck