Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1893-12-20
seeking a YARN Roost.

Nearly all the native American sum-
mer birds make migratory journeys
southwark at the approach OF winter. A
few of the varieties, such as the swallow
family, leave as early as the latter part
of August. AS soon as tho young are
able to leave the nest much time is spent
on the wing by those birds that have the
fall journey 10 make, and when the
breeding time is we'll over they bunch
into troops, having holiday time, feast
ing on new crops of seeds aud enjoying
the find weather. Children are grown
up, no household cares, the young rejoic-
ing in the use of their developing pinions,
they frisk and futter, scour the surround
ing country, but no one sees them leave.
Singularly enough, says the Pittsburg
Dispatch, the warblers make these jour
neys in the night, The noisy and now
unwelcome and voracious pet, the Eng
lish sparrow, is not migratory, so far as
autumn journeys pertain to migration
They we're imported to this, strange eli
mate to them. and have not learned to
leave with the approach of winter
Whether or not they are an insectivorous
bird in their native isle, they certainly
could not be otherwise than granivorous
here in winter. They are hardy, pugna-
cious and aggressive, we'll typifying the
peculiar character of the Briton.
A puzzle to the scientist is to solve
the problem of where the energy can
come from to sustain the expenditure of
force involved in many occasions Of bird
fight. That diminutive bit of stom-
ach charged with few seeds as fuel,
should generate force to cleave the air,
continuously bearing the body forward at
rapid rate for hours and sometimes
days. seems Incredible No land or water
locomotion can compete with it. A
goose, swan or duck may start from Lab
rador aud sooner than an express train
could do the distance, may reach the
Everglades of Florida. And this proba-
oily done in less than the equivalent Of
half peck of corn. We understand the
physics oftheir motion, we can grasp both
the mathematics and the mechanics in.
volved in the wing movement, but how
this necessary energy is conserved is a
matter that simply confronts our re.
Searches with defiance.
One versed in ornithology should know
the kind of bird in its flight and walk, as
well as if in hand. Each family of birds
has wing stroke peculiar to its class
Buzzards and the familiar chicken hawks
flying in circles, with the wings out
stretched and still much of the time
The crow affects peculiar swagger in its
walk. A quail and pheasant cannot sus
tain long flight. Owls have a light
bounding movement, as if much lighter
than the air. Nearly all small birds fly
by jerks, aud, of course, rise and fall, aud
these also hop when on the ground. Wood
peckers open and close their wings when
they fly, the line being series of rising
and falling curves. Larks walk. The kill
deer is runner and when not on the nest
is never at rest The humming bird has q
wing stroke almost as rapid as that of some
insects, but THIS cannot be much prolonged
The grain and grass eaters are the specifies
and sustain the longest flights. Birds Of
prey all have a wide base of brain, large
combatativeness aud destructiveness, and
very few are the kinds that deserve destruc
tion.