The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1896-07-24
CARRY THEIR EGGS.
LARGE BIRDS DISCOVERED Bv ex-
PLoRERS THAT DO THIS.
The Nest Of the Aibatross and Some 9th
ers IL Where They sat Down-An Island
In the Antarctic Rsgions-The Expe-
riencs of Audubon.

rfencs Of Audubon.
Some time ago small party Of ex
! plorcrs landed ON one Of the apparently
barren islands just ON the borders Of tn
antarctic regions and found il inhabite,
by remarkable colony Of birds tina
ranged from large Mother Carey lik
birds To penguins Of all kinds and de
grecs The island was fairly covere,
with the feathered inhabitants. and. a
the boat ran ON 10 rock that apparentl,
afforded landing. the birds. instead o.
moving away, seemed determined Il
resent the intrusion and stood Their
ground, viciously attacking the men,
who, though they knocked the bird.
aside with clubs and oars, made no ap-
preciable inroad upon their numbers
The party then formed compact
body, and. armed with boathooks 10
push the khrieking throng aside, moved
up what apparently was street here
and there dotted with singular stool.
like objects about 3 feet in width.
larger nj the top. These were the nests
Of the albatross. and, as the men were
especially desirous Of obtaining a set Of
eggs. they observed the nests very care
fully, but in every instance the bird
when approached shuffled clumsily
away, and no eggs were found, though
the birds Were supposed to be sitting
upon them.
Finally nest was found containing
an egg but just as the men drew near
the bird alighted and took her place
upon it. eying them with suspicion and
uttering a curious half Kissing sound.
They watched her for few moments
and then forced her from the nest when.
to their amazement, the egg had disap-
pcared as completely as though it had
been swallowed up. The nest was ex-
amined closely and finally torn apart.
the men thinking that possibly the egg
might have slipped into it in some mys-
terious way, but without success.
One Of the party attempted to catch
an albatross, and while he was follow
ing the bird in a ludicrous chase over
the stubble an egg suddenly appeared.
dropped by the running bird. which had
all the time been carrying it, not under
her wing. as she is supposed to do at sea
by superstitious sailors. but in pecul- \
lar sack in the skin provided by nature
for this very purpose
The albatross is famed for it's power
OF flight, following vessels hundreds of
miles Yet when nesting it apparently
[orgets that it has wings. as il can be
handled and pushed about in the nest.
making no attempt to fly or move un-
less driven away by blows This may
DC due to tho fact that the egg is held
N the curious sack and the bird in
knows that il cannot fiy off
With it; SO ii resists.
This sly bird is called the molly
nauk- And its cousin, the great alba {
ross, has a similar habit, the egg,
which is five inches in length, almost 1
s large as that of a swan, being held Z
n perfect incubating pouch.
On Marion island the explorers found q
ne great king penguin bird which J
lands half as high as man, with its r
Ill pointing directly upward instead OF p
Ut. as with other birds. As they landed .
nd approached the singular creatures, 8
'hich had been standing about, they II
opped away slowly, but not an egg p
ould be found, a set Of which was the o
bject Of the visit. 81
The birds had a peculiar movement. 81
instead OF walking and moving one foot
tier the other. or alternately. they "
ED them close together and hoped. u
his excited the laughter Of The men, a.
no finally toppled a bird over, where al
pom the egg rolled out upon the sand. &C
The king penguin was also an egg o.
lrrier, not only holding it while stand IA
Y still. but carrying the big egg about e,
18th IL by placing il in a pouch for the p
lrpose, holding it in with the broad IL
ebbed feet that are kept closely to- W
'ther. This explained the curious hop IA
ng motion OF the birds, as they could al
u move their feet without dropping OF
e egg. but the moment one was forced 81
give up the prize it ran away, using In
'th feet, like ordinary birds NJ
This remarkable habit does away with III
G necessity Of nest, as the bird car 10
~ Its egg with il as il moves about
these instances the birds rarely trans
ri the egg to great distance. II un-
sturbed, they probably remain about a 20
rtain locality, but there are birds M
hich have been known to transport WI
cir eggs from one place to another.
orally flying away with them. When
idubon first heard this story Of the II
ghthawk. called Chuck Wills widow. I'M
thought it q story Of the negroes. wa
me insisted that the bird carried the 70
< away under its wing; others that it ioi
lied the egg over the ground. To de- III
mime the truth Audubon concealed re'
nself in the woods under nest. hay- esl
first handled the eggs. and waited in'
see what the old bird would do. The UP
It bird to arrive appeared very de- 'e'
ted at the discovery that the secret
me had been found. ruffling mp its ~
'thers and uttering a moaning cry nj
4 audible to the listener Then the an
tie arrived. and. after various move '"
'nts indicative Of alarm, each bird
* an egg in its capacious mouth and
" softly away coa
Le valiant the French naturalist. 49,;
lcrved the collarnd uo,tsucLcr ~ tha