The Portland daily press., 1895-11-16

to be used, but with curved necks,
arched in evident pride. the two birds
sailed towards each other and grappled
with the wings. Occasionally one seemed
to be forosd beneath the water by fear
full blow, and then the turn of the other
came for punishment. Receding they
swan round and round, as if taking
breath, and then the fight was renewed
in the same way. AT length they sepa-
ated, ruff1ed and still angry, slipping
away from each other as it were, Kissing
and arching their snake-like necks as
proudly as ever.
Ostriches have powerful beaks with
which they can deal heavy blows but
their chief protection seems to lie in kick
ing An ostrich's kick is noarly as bad
as mules. 1t would seem as If the
habit belonged to the relatives of the os-
trich also, for the emu has it. often
used to watch a domestioated emu which
a friend had about his farm The bird
was very timid and retiring, and at the
sight Of anything unusual would quietly
stalk to the other side of the field. One
day lady brought terrier to the house,
and as the dog had never seen an emu, it
set to work barking and following the
bird about. For long time the emu
took this very calmly, merely retreating
to other parts of the field. The dog grew
bolder, and once-once only-got too near
the birds legs. One flew out-I never
could satisfy myself, from an anatomical
standpoint, how the thing was done-r
and the dog was thrown with such vio-
lence on the ground that for several sec
onds he was dazed. and when he got back
his wits he was wiser dog, for he went
home. This kicking, or striking with
the feet, is not uncommon, one would
imagine, in certain genera of birds. The
domestic fowl generally use this method,
as can be seen in an impromptu main
near the barn-door. 1 have seen grouse
use the same means of defence, but the
closest watching of the smaller birds has
failed to show that they practise it.
Perhaps one of the most interesting.
as well as the most inexplioable, means
of protection with which nature has
provided any animal is that OF electricity.
NV attention was called to this some few
years ago in England on the occasion OF
O visit to the aquarium at Brighton. An
electric fish was on exhibition; in the
same room was family of young alliga-
tors. The tanks were side by side, and
some miscreant. unobserved, managed to
drop an alligator into the tank OF the
fish. The consequence was the utter pros
tration of the reptile.
There are three genera of fishes which
possess the power of delivering an electric
shock: the torpedo, the electric catfish
or electric sheath-flsh and the electric
EEL The torpedoes are rays, and are dis
tributed over the Atlantic and Indian
Ocean 1t is said that individuals reach
the weight of eighty and even hundred
pounds. The electric catfish or sheath
fish belong to the Siluridae class, as also
does the catfish of America streams, is a
native of tropical Africa, and attains a
length of four feet. The electric eel, or,
to call it by a less misleading name, the
gymnotus, is native of the marshes of
Brazil and Guiana. The electric apparatus
extends down each side of the lower part
of the tail, and the shock delivered by
one of the largest fish, five or six feet in
length, is capable of killing the most
powerful animal Humboldt has graph
cally described his experience nth these
strange creatures, and reports that GER
tain roads were abandoned because of the
number of horses destroyed by the fish
in the pools ON the route. The Indians
secure them for food by driving horses
into the water, and on these the fish ex-
haust their power, often killing the horses
by their shock. When the faculty of de-
livering an electric discharge is exhaust,
ed, the gymnotus draws near to the bank
to avoid the plunging quadrupeds, and
falls an easy victim to the Indians har
pooh.
| Such are some of the strange Emeans re
sorted to in the animal kingdom for thai
protection without which the balance O.
| life could not be maintained. Soon,
suppose, the animal whose habits called
| up these jottings will be almost extinct
Man can kill suddenly and at a distance
and SO the creature with reduplicative
name-Mephitis mephitica-hoists his
danger signal too often in vain.