Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1894-06-23
BATTLES OF THE BIRDS.
MANY OF THE rEATHEREp
TRIES ARE FIGHTERS.
some OF Them Are Armed With slung
shots. While Others Garry beauiS
Stilettos aud Have sharp spurs on Iher
wings The Dinosaurs spike.

their wings buffet the adversary ABOUT
the head The swan is a famous
fighter, and can deliver q tremen-
dous wing blow. The common pigeon,
though held up MS q type OF gentle
ness, uses ITS wings in conflict with
much effect. In fact there are few
birds OF more quarrelsOme DISPOSE
tion or more given to picking upon
their weaker neighbors.
"rhe pigeon is skilltul boxer,
guarding with one wing and striking
with the other 1t strikes its adj
versary about the head with its
,wrist'-that is, the part which peo-
pie who are not auatomists call the
shoulder II you will carefully
part the feathers on the outer edge
OF 4 pigeons wing near the bend you
find a small, bare spot and blunt,
well-marked. horny prominence. u
is with this that the blow Is In
tlicted.
San extinct species Of pigeon was
provided with 4 sort OF natural slung
shot, which must have added not
little to the effectiveness of the blow.
| This bird was the fat and fightless
solitaire OF Rodriguez Island. to the
north and east OF Madagascar, II
was a near relative OF the dodo and
| like il great, ungainly, abcrrent
member OF the pigeon family. All
| that we know about the solitaire has
/ been gathered from tho journal oi
| Francois Leguat who says that
/ while the birds were mating they
woul not permit any Of their own
kind to approach within 200 yards
/ The male OF the pair would drive
/ away the males. while tho female
would fight OIL the females.
The sluug shot arrangement
I which served the solitaire Us YEA,
! pom was simply an enlargement Of tho
wrist bone. brought about by tho
combatige habits OF the birds The
/ joint having been banged and bruised
/ until the sort % diseased uutgrowth
termed ,exostosis took place. in the
course Of generations tho swelling
became constant characteristic OF
the animal
There are some geese III Africa
! which have pinious peculiarly armed
| One o. the wrist bones projects con
sidcrably beyond the other aud is
capped with sharp spur Flowers
are particularly remarkable for the
spurs on their wings, In some So
cics, which have small spur. the
weapon increases IN -ze at tho
| breeding season, 40 as To- become
available for lighting 4 small and
4 quarrelsomc kind 81 ployer Is very
abundant in Northeast Africa It's
/ restless habits Tor night and day lt
is parp tualiy on the move are ex
pIaiucdtb IN Arab tradition Ia the
effect that on account Of former lali.
ness il has been condemned TO live
In a state oi eternal unrest
"Ibc largest 81 the South Amerf.
can 7purrcd pinyecs ranges south.
ward to Patagonia, and is armaI
with long. lOolEiuy apur
just az the base Of the metatar4us
was about to say thumb but ii
seems probable "a ! shall presently
explain to yOu. that birds long ago
lost their thumbs. ard that the mid.
die finger has come 90 do duty IN g..
place.
Among the gigantic extinct grOur
Of reptiles called dinosaurs the
thumb itself changed in function.
and, inst I'D % aiding the other dig.
its 20 lay hold Of things, was trans.
formed into long. sharp spike.
This occurs in tc iguauodons par.
Ecularly in species ~ these mon.
sters. two score ot which were by
uulueky chance swept into q gully.
whore they remained for long agna
until brought to light by the pick. oi
the coal miners Of Bcrnissart That
in this case however the spike aid
duty as weapon Is uncertain. and
IL may have served no more harmful
purpose than that Of Apping of tho
husk Of some fruit or vegetable
which formed tho food ot those
mighty herbivorbus lizard5
Among the most remarkable of
the spur-winged birds are the iacann4
"a family of small birds related Ia
the rails. They haze such long aud
slender toes that they run as easily
over lily pads and floating vegeta.
tiou as other birds do over dry land.
One popularity 81 theirs Is the &c.
tivity which they exhibit on coming
into tho world On this subject
will read you passage from tho
writings Of the naturalist Hudson.
| He says:
While ! was looking closely n,
one Of the eggs lying on tho palm oI
my hand. all at once the cracked
she'll parted, and at the same mo.
ment the young bird lcapol from NV
hand and fell into tho water. I.
swan rapidly away TO a small mound.
and, escaping from tho water. con.
cealed itself IN the grass. lying close
and perfectly motionloss like a
Young plovcr | am quite sure that
the birds sudden escape was the re-
suit q violent effort TO FREQ itself
inspired by the loud and persistent
screaming Of tho parents. which /,
heard while IN tho she'll
"lhc South American ecreamcra
are the most formidable Of spur.
/ hinged birds They arc related 70
.ho ducks. though they don't look
". They have two st,tr4 nm nn,t,