The Opelousas courier., 1896-04-25
VIBRATIONS OF BIRDS.
Rate of Flight Sometimes Reaches Incon.
cetvable Speed.

ceiSaDie SpecE.
With regard to rate of migration
flight, Gatke has arrived at some strik-
ing results. 1t appears that some
birds observe regularly, not only the
seasons, but ever their hours of flight.
Thus it is noted that the vanguard OF
the long flight of hooded crows migrat-
ing westward leaves Helgoland about
eight o'clock in the morning. arriving
on the opposite point of England's
east coast at II, while the rear guard.
leaving about two, arrives there at five
o'clock. This gives a rate of about 25
miles an hour. Do they get hotel quar-.
ters ordered in advance, or is the food
supply of the neighborhood equal to
the emergency? For the northern
blue-throat Gatke arrives at the much
more rapid rate CT 20S miles an hour.
On the supposition that this bird
which breeds up to latitude 81 degrees
north, and winters by the Nile and in
{ central Africa performs the whole
distance of 1000 geographical miles
during a single spring night of nine
hours, the rate of $50 geographical, or
20s British, miles al hour Is etven. Still
more rapidly, according to Gatke, must
the Virginian plover speed over the wa.
tiers on it's migratory journey. Breed
ing in Labrador, this bird migrates to
northern Brazil for the winter.
Now on the supposition-which OBJ
%servation renders probable - that it
often performs this journey in one un-
interrupted flight, and with the assump-
tion-which appears reasonable-that
the longest time is IS hours, the enor-
nous rate of 245 miles an hour is given.
In the case of species which migrate
at considerable heights-and the great
er number seem to do so-the less dense
strata of the atmosphere through
which they move must assist the We
locity of flight. Thus the migrating
swarms frequently pass Helgoland far
beyond the reach of human vision,
sometimes still making their presence
known by their cries, at others not even
thus perceptible. But the height
seems to depend on the weather, and
under certain conditions they break
their journey and alight on Helgoland.
Temple Bar.
An Inside Coat Pocket.
There is nothing more handy to have
than an inside pocket in ones jacket.
Every woman has noticed how nice it
seems and convenient for the male
folks of her acquaintance to have all
inside coat pocket into which may be
slipped q pocketbook OF note that
wants to be particularly well cared for.
The shallow little outside pockets of
coats will hardly hide a pocketbook
from the sight of a pickpocket, and are
thoroughly unreliable for holding
things generally. If you wear a jacket,
take a piece of silk a little more than
twice as long as you want your pocket
deep, sew ont end of it into a point
and in the other run a deep hem. Then
sew this into the shape of a bag, allow
ing the pointed end, of course, to ex-
tend above the hemmed end and fal!
over in a flap, in which work a but
tonhole and sew a button to the
hemmed part. Tack this securely into
the left side of your jacket, just far
enough back so as not to show when |
you leave your coat unbuttoned, and
just low enough down to be gotten at
handily. In fact, put it just about in
the same position as you will find a
mans inside pocket.-Detroit Free
Press.
Ad,nf.syor to tho co~,,n .-.
1t is not a community of writer's, but
u community of letters. One gets adj
mission, not because he writes-write
he never SO cleverly, like a gentleman
and a man of wit-but because he is
a true initiate into the secret
and mystery of letters. What
that secret is a man may know, even
-