The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-08-07

passed. OH the sulphur bouquet grew to
such an extent that 1 sent man down
tho well to SEQ what gave the water
this peculiar flavor. After pulling out
20 barrels of water wo camo to q small
duck i'll the cold embrace of death.
own white drake called Sir Fran
els, named for Sir Francis Drake. This
beast discovered that the cistern at tho
barn could be entered safely, and so he
had for the past year been in the habit
OF taking plunge there and ENJOYING
himself, trusting to the hired man to
come and bail him out when the horses
were watered at eventide In June q
new brood of little yellow ducklings
came forth under the management of q
plain and comparatively unknown hen
These ducklings seemed to inherit
some Of the peculinrities of Sir Francis,
for one of them, seeing glimmer of
water 103 feet below him one day while
strolling around the we'll, took a notion
to cool his little red feet in the dark
tide He found large knothole i'll the
we'll curb and descended deity to the
bottom.
AS he went down his whole life doubt
less, covering a period of three weeks, was
unrolled before him like panorama
and whom he reached the water his sonl
had Quilted its little tenement of clay.
When we took him out, his still feath-
ers showed no signs of pain, but he lay
peacefully i'll the old oakcn bucket, for
ever ut rest
1t was almost pathetic to know how
even i'll death he had called our atten-
70 l.,
all by himself. Instinct perhaps, you
will say, but does it not almost approach
actual intelligence?
The hen turkey is doubtless for her
size the most successful ornithological
ass known to science. She is poorly fit
ted for parent, rs every one knows who
has studied her. She becomes thought
ful and preoccupied III the month Of
May, and You may sec her strolling Off
by herself at times as if studying ma
ture. She soon after becomes nonres-
1dent, and just as you decide that sho
has been yielded up us sacrifice to tho
colored revival near by she suddenly ap-
pears OH tho scene with nine small edi-
tions of herself each with little Wa
tcrbury tick of its own.
Sho exhibits these specimens of her
handiworl1 about twice and then dis
appears She takes offcnso at any at
tention, though sometimes she prefers
to go up a tree for tho night, leaving
her little ones i'll wide eyed wonderment
to put i'll the night in the grass
AT early dawn she comes down and
starts off through tho wet, icy weeds in
search of food Tho little chaps, broken
of their rest and heavy eyed with loss
Of sleep, arc dragged IS or 30 miles
through the tall wet grass till they are
soaked and chilled to the heart. Then
they are given each q hard, indigestible
grasshopper or hunting case beetle for
breakfast. Then the hot sun comes pour
ing down upon them, and when you
meet the old idiot two weeks later she
has one little bobtail, moth eaten tur.
klet for whom Thanksgiving could have
no horrors.
The hen turkeys morbid desire to in
cubate is peculiar and powerful She pre-
fers for this purpose the primeval forest.
There she selects the dead tree top of q
prime giant oak and deposits hatful
of freokled eggs. To see her on her nest
at suoh a time one would think she was
preparing an article OH tho tariff, but
as one approaches her a dangerous light
seems to come into the gentle eyes, and
one passes by on tho other side.
A hen turkey is no more fitted for
mother, however, than the soubrette of
road company. She is a great pedes-
trian, and of course after her long sed-
entary spell naturally wants to exercise,
so she starts off the day after her fami-
ly has broken the she'll, and stepping
about two feet at q time expects her lit
tile folks to keep up with her. When
they fail to do so, she curses them bit.