The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-11
NEWS ABOUT BIRDS.
MEN WHO MAKE FEATHBRED
CREATURES THEIR STUDY.

MEN WHO MAKE FEATHBRED
CREATURES THEIR STUDY.
Eggs That are Dangerous Explosives
and Others Which Were Laid by
Giant Reptiles Long Ago-Odd Uses
of Eggs and Egg Shells-FeAthers
for Out-of-the way Purposes.
From the Washington Star.
The ornithologists in convention here
recently said more interesting and remark
able things about eggs AID feathers than
ordinary people have ever dreamed of. For
example, who would have imagined that
any kind of eggs could be dangerous to
human lifel Yet they declare that ostrich
eggs sometimes explode like bomb
SHELLS. Not long ago Dr. Bauer at the
Smithsonian Institution was the victim of
such an accident. An ostrich egg In which
he was boring hole for the purpose of ex-
tracing the contents had become very much
added and the gases generated inside caused
1t TO blow up in his hand, the flying frag-
ments of shell cutting HIM severely. On at
least two occasions similar occurrences have
resulted in the serious woundtng Of persons.
1t should be remembered that the she'll Of
an ostrich egg is more than a quarter OF an
Inch thick and extremely hard.
THE MAMMOTH ROC EGG.
By the wav the most interesting egg at
the Smithsonian Institution discounts the
egg of the ostrich in point of SIZE being of a
bigness equal to las hens eggs 1t is the
egg of roc, such as Slnbad the Sailor de-
scribed. Though his account of IL was
somewhat exaggerated that bird did actu-
ally exist only a few hundred years ago in
Madagascar, whence accounts Of it were
brought by voyaRing Arabs. It is known
TO science as the eplronls, aud it stood ten
feet high in its bare feet, its leg bones being
as large and heavy as those of a horse
Many OF the eggs of this gigantic fowl have
been taken from the graves Of native chiefs,
IN which they were buried.
EGGS OF GIANT REPTILES.
But, the ornithologists say, it would be a
great mistake to suppose that the egg OF the
roo is the biggest that has ever been known.
Most, il not ALL of the giant reptiles OF the
mesozoic epoch laid eggs. Imagine how
great in bulk must have been the egg Of
such a creature as the atlantosaur, which
attained length or 100 feet from its nose to
the end of its tail. The mosasaurs of that
wonderful period, which were actual sea
serpents eighty feet long and more, were
egg layers. Science is rather inclined to
think that such sea serpents do in reality
exist at the present day. How very
interesting it would be if an
egg Of one of them should be
discovered. Doubtless the eggs of
some of these mighty reptiles Of the past
we're least three feet long, and they must
have had soft shells, like the eggs Of modern
reptiles. Presumably they were laid where
they could be Matched by the heat of the
sun. One might imagine such a huge egg,
in shape nearly cylindrical and purely
white, lying on the shore OF a cretaceous sea.
Presently it opens and out crawls some
4,fo Nkaa f.nh
q fsw years later will have q length of thirty
feet, being clad in an armor Of massive
bony plates and possessing brain in its tail
ten times as big as that In its skull.
THE MOST VALUABLE EGG.
The Smithsonian Institution, under the
auspices of which the ornithOloglsts held
their convention, possesses the most valuable
egg in the world. 1t is an egg of the great
aux, which became extinct about fifty years
ago. The value of 1t is nominally 81, 800,
but it could not be purchased for that sum
Most people do not realize that there are
other eggs besides those Of hens which have
enormous commercial value la England
sO-called "plovers' eggs" which are really
those Of lapwings, are sent to the city mar
kets from the rural districts by hundreds of
thousands. They are esteemed great dell
caey and fetch very high price, the use Of
them being for that reason confined almost
luxurious persons. Being only about the
size of pizeons' eggs good many OF them
are required to make dish. Men make a
business of gathering them from the nests
in marshes and wet fields A very exteu-
sive trade exists in the eggs Of certain sea
fowls, chiefly the INJURIES ana guillemots.
which congregate il vast numbers about
| Iceland, Greenland, Labrador, the Hebrdes
and elsewhere ia the North Atlantic as well
| as il the North Pacific. Fleets of vessels,
known as "egRers, are regularly employed
| in gathering these eggs, which are
as good to eat as those laid
| by hens. thouRhs the flesh of the birds is
too fishy to be edible. Much of what is
! known as egg Glbumen," used by bakers
and others for cooking purposes, is manu-
! featured from the whites Of these eggs and
sent to market In the shape of dry crystal
| liked product resembling fine glue In ap'
| pearauce. These sea fowls eggs have one
remarkable popularity. They are nearly
! conical in form, broad at the base and
sharp at the point, 80 that they will only
| roll in a circle. They are laid on the bare
lodges Of high rocks, from which they
would almost surely roll off save for tbi;
happy provision of nature.
THE PRAIRIE COCKTAIL.
| One of the ornithnologists at the conven
| tion spoke with high praise of what he saio
| was known in the west as a "prairie cock
TAIL" 1t is very much in favor with army
| officers, who declare that il is the most eff
| fective of all bracers after a too free indul
| gance in stimulants over night. The pre-
scrption is simply one raw egg dropped il
a glass, foated in enough vinegar to cover
it with pinch of salt aud dash OF pep
per, and swallowed at q gulp. Referring K
the commercial uses OF eggs it is worth men
| tioning that factory was established few
/ years ago at Gloucester, Mass, for the pur.
poseof making albumen for Photographic pa
per from Goldfish. Most people have seen the
beautiful jewel boxes which are made ou
Of the dark green eggs of the emu The
| japanese turn out kind of lacquer war
with a mosaic surface composed of pieces o.
egg shell. 1t is an old story, by the way
that the Chinese bury eggs for a year anC
then dig them up. when they have obtaineC
flavor which renders them much priced a
delicacy. People all over the Unite(
States send freak eggs to the Smithsonian
Institution, which has several specimens
each containing a smaller egg complete
while others resemble crook-necked squashes
with necks like jug handles. Eggs with tw,
yolks are not uncommon, and sometime
! they bring forth Alleged chickens Their,
Is in Africa a species of tree snail which
lays eggs resembling those of pigeons, abou
the same size and with hard shells.
BIRD FEATHERS.