The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-10

with the way In which Il keeps intruders
AT "a distance from the nest or from the
taWuy brood Of cyguets which u leads
IN and out OF the reeds. Certainiy there
are occasionally Weil-delivered blows OF
the formidable bill. but that member Is
mostly used IN kissing. But woe betide
the QOg which receives blow from the
terrible wing. AS a weapon Of defense,
ana Offense also, il may De questioned
whether there Is anything known among
birds equal TO the wing or the swan.
Ii is said that a single stroke VIII break
a mans arm. on one occasion Wit
messed a tight between two swans, ana
have rarely seen anything so terrible as
their anger, unless u was q cenpat
saw between two stays. The rapid blows
from the wings reverberatcd over the
lake, and the water for a cousidefaDle
space was dashed into foam. The bills
seemed never 20 be used, but with curved
necks. arched In evident pride, the Two
grappled with the wings pccaslohaLy
one seemed TO be forced beneath the
water by a fearful blow ana laeh the
turn Of the other came Tor punlsnment-
Receding, they SWAN round ana round,
as II taking breath, and then the nBIt
was renewed in the same way Al
length they separated, rufiled ana sun
angry, slipping away from eacn other
as it We're, 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 10 lie in kick
ing. An OstTich's kick is nearly as pad as
a fAailt s. IL MOull seem as II AAAE 4AaiAf-A
belonged TO the relatives of the ostrich
also. for the emu has IL. ! often used 10
watch dOmestiCated emu which friend
had about his farm. The bird was very
timid and retiring. and al the sight of any
thing unusual would quietly stalk TO the
other side Of the field. one DAY a lazy
brought a terrier TO the house. and as the
dog had never seen an emu IL SCI 10
work barking and following the bra
about For a long time the emu TOOK this
very calmly, merely retreauug TO other
Of H#H#N doc no N.NH
and once-OnCe Only-gOt too near the
birds legs. one flew out-I never could
satisfy myself, from an anatomical stand
point how the thing was dOnc-anQ the
dog was thrown with such violence oh
the ground that for several seconds he
was dazed, and when he got back his
wits he was a wiser dog. for he went
home. This kicking. or striking with the
feet, is not uncommon, one would mag
inc in certain genera of birds. The do
nestle fowl generally uses this method,
as can be seen in an impromptu main
near the barn-dOOr I have seen grouse
use the same means of defense, 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 ineXplicable, means OF
protection with which nature has pre-
vided any animal is that Of electricity.
My attention was called to this some few
years ago in England on the occasion or
a visit to the aquarium at Brighton. An
electric fish was on exhibition; in the same
room was a family Of young ailigatOrs
The tanks We're side by side. and some
miscreant, unobserved. managed to drop
an alligator into the tank of the fish. The
consequence was the utter prOstration or
the reptile.
There are three genera Of fishes which
possess the power of delivering an cleo
trio shock; the torpedo, the electric cat
hah or electric sheath-hsh, and the cleo
trio eel. The torpedoes are rays, and are
distributed over the Atlantic and Indian
oceans. II IS said that individuals reach
the weight of eighty and even 100 pounds
The electric catfish or shcath-hsh be-
longs to the Siluridae as also does the
catfish of American streams, is a ma
tive OF tropical Africa and attains a
length of four feet. The electric eel,
or, to call IL by a less misleading name
the gymnOtus, is a native Of the marshes
Of Brazil and Guiana. The electric APP
paratus 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 graphically described his experience
with these strange creatures, and re-
ports that certain roads were abandoned
because of the number Of horses de-
stroyed 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 eXhause their power, often
killing the horses by their shocks. When
the faculty Of delivering an electric
discharge Is exhausted, the gymnOtus
draws near to the bank to avoid the
planging quadrupeqs, and falls an easy
victim to the Indians harpoon.
Such are some of the strange means
resorted to in the animal kingdom for
that protection without which the bal
ance of life could not be maintained.
Soon / suppose, the animal whose hab-
it's called up these jottings will be al
most extinct. Man can kill suddenly and
at a distance, and so the creature with
p reduplica tive name-Mephitis mephit-
ica-hoists his danger signal too often
in vain.