Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-01-09
"FOTLS On THE AIR.
OaEIIHOLeGY OF TEE BIBLE, OR GOD AMONG
THE BIRDS.
Habits and Intelligence Of the Feaihsrei Tribe-Ihs
Dove Bringing Noah hiings of Dry Land
Birds Nests Compared With aOlses-Dr.
Talmaga Speaks Eloqusnty to
An Interested Throng

my OF the Bible, o., God Among tine
Stars aud the Chronology Of the
Bible; or, God Among the Centuries, ="
this morning he discOursed on the
"Ornitbology of the Bibles" or, God
Among the Birds" The text was,
Matthew 6:26- Behold the fowls Of the
air.
There is silence now in all our Janu-
ary forests, except as the winds whistle
through the bare branches. Our north
ern woods are deserted concert halls.
The organ lofts IN the temple OF nature
are hymnless. Trees which were full
Of carol and chirp and chant are now
waiting for the coming back OF rich
plumes and Warbling voices, solos, du-
pts. ouarrels, cantatas, and TIE DeumS.
But the Bible is full OF birds az all sea-
sons, and prophets and patriarchs and
ppostles and evangeliSts and Christ
himself employ them for moral and re-
ligiOus purposes. Ny text is an extract
from the Sermon on the Mount, and
perhaps IL was ata moment when q flock
OF birds few past that Christ waved his
hand toward them, and said: Behold
the fowls Of the air." Aud so, In this
course of sermons on God Everywhere,
I preach TO you this third sermon con
corning the ORTHODOXY OF the Bible,
or God Among the Birds.
MOST OF TIE OTHER SCIENCES
YOU may study or not study as you
please. Use your own judgment, eXer-
else your own taste. But about this
science Of ornithology we have 20 OPP
ton. The divine command is positive
when 10 says ia my text, Behold the
fowls of the air." That is, study their
habits. Examine their cOlOrs. Notice
their speed. See the hand OF God 10
their construction. 1t is easy for me
30 obey the command of the text for 1
VAS brought up among this race or
wings and from bOyhOOd heard their
mathis az sunrise, and their vesperS at
unset. Their nests have been to me a
fascination, and my satisfaction IS that
I never robbed one OF them, any more
shan I would steal child from acradle,
Tor q bird Is a child Of the sky, and its
nest is the cradle. They are almost
human, for they have their loves and
hates, afinities and antipathies, under
stand Joy and grief, have cOnjugal and
maternal instinct, wage wars and en-
tertain jealouSies, have a language OF
their own, and powers OF asSOcia-
ton. Thank God for birds and skies
full OF them. It is useless to expect
TO understand the Bible unless we study
natural history. Five bundled and nine
ty-three times does the Bible allude to
the facts OF natural history, and / do
not wonder that 10 makes so many allu-
sions pathological. The skies and the
caverns Of Palestine arg friendly to the
winged creatures, and SO many fly and
,rSgss, and nest, ans hatch in that region
that inspired writer's do not have far to
20 TO get archaeological illustration of
divine truth. There are over forty
species of birds recognized In the
Scriptures. Oh, what variety Of wings
lp Palestine! The dove, the robin, the
eagle, the cormOrant, or plunging bird,
hurting itself from sky to wave and
with long beak clutching its prey, the
thrush which especially dislikes a crowd,
the partridge, the hawk, bold and ruth
less, lowering head TO Windward, while
watching for prey, the swan, at home
among the marshes, and with feet so
constructed
IT CAN WALK ON THE LEAVES
Of water plants, the raven, the lapwing,
malodorous and in the Bible denounced
as inedible, though it has extraordinary
head-dreSS, the stOrk, the oSsifrage,
hat always had a habit of dropping on
ltOne the turtle it had lifted and so
Killing 10 for food, and on one occasion
nistook the bald head of Eschylus, the
Greek poet, for q white stone and
dropped a turtle upon it, killing the
famous Greek, the cuckoo, with creast-
ed head and crimson throat and wings
snow-tipped. but too lazy to build its
own nest and so having the habit OF de-
posting its eggs in nests belonging TO
other birds, the blue jay, the grouse,
the plover, the maybe, the kinghSher,
the pelican, which is the caricature Of
ali the feathered creation, the owl, the
gOldfnch, the bittern, the barrier,
the bulbul, the osprey, the vul-
ture, that king or scavengerS, with
neck covered with repulsive down in
stead of attractive feathers, the quar-
reisome starting, the swallow flying a
milea minute, and sometimes ten hours
in succession, the heOD, the quail, the
peacock, the ostrich, the lark, the crow,
the kite, the BAT, the blackbird and
many Others with all cOlors, all sounds,
all styles OF flight, all habits, all archi-
lecture Of nests, leaving nothing want
ing In suggestivenssS. They were at
the creation placed al around on the
rocks and in the trees and on the ground
to serenade Adams arrival. They took
their places on Friday as the first man
was made on Saturday. Whatever else
he had or did not have, he should have
music. The first sound that struck the
human ear was birds voice.
YEA, CHRISTIAN GEOLOGY
(fOr you know there is q Christian geolO-
gy as well as a infdel geology, Chris
tian geology comes in and helps the
Bible show what we owe TO the bird
creation. Before the human race came
into this world, the world was occupied
by reptiles, and by all styles Of destruc-
tive monsters, millions Of creatures
IoathesOme and hideOus. God sent huge
birds to clear the earth Of these crea-
lures before Adam and Eve were Great
ed. The remains of these birds have
been found imbedded TO the rocks. The
skeleton Of one eagle has been found
twenty feet in height, and fifty feet
from tip of wing to tip OF wing. Many
armies OF beaks and claws were neceS-
sary TO clear the earth Of creatures that
would have destroyed the human race
with one clip. like to find this har-
mOny Of revelation and science, and to
have demonstrated that the God who
made the world made the Bible.
Noses, the grestest lawyer Of ali time,
and a gentleman for facts, had enough
sentiment and poetry and musical taste
TO welcome the illumined wings and the
voices divlnelT drillad into the first