The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-25

SlStpllA On a llNnD or III some utttk corner
of cave or building and lets the work OF
digestion proceed. As digestion proceeds
the hair, fur, feathers. bones, and fins. or
whatever the owls meal might have been
are separated from the other parts of the
food and raised into its throat like a cows
cud. and thrown out of its mouth
Other birds, on the contrary, pluck and
skin their prey with the skill of a taxider-
mist, The hawk, for instance, will pluck
every feather from a chicken and it will
skin rabbit or a rat to a nicety, and re-
move the bones as sklfully as surgeon.
Sometimes you run across strange nests
in the woods. I heard Of case up near
Charlottesville where hunter found
nest in which there were a number of
eggs. He took them home and Matched
them out under a hen and got two part
ridges, a horned grebe. a hen hawk, and
a whippoor-will He raised a great rum
pus by his find, because he had accidently
run upon the cache of naturalist who
was stopping in the neighborhood and
robbed--him of his specimens.
"Have you ever noticed q high-holder
or a big red-headed woodpecker run up
a tree? Wen. he IS very spry about rum
ming up, but he cannot climb down. When
he wants to begin at the bottom of the
tree again he's got to run up to the limbs
and fly down TO the ground. Talking
about high-holders did you ever smell of
one of their nests? Phevl I've heard of
Chinese eating birds'-nest pudding and
soup, but l wish they would try a high
holders nest once, and l think that would
cure them Of their desire for birdsnest
deliCacies.
MANY birds Of the woods live entirely
on fish. The loon is one of these, but the
man who saw a loon eat don't live. The
loon dives and catches fish, but swallows
them so quickly that they are in his stom-
ach before he comes TO the top of the wa
ter. Then he goes into the reeds and
squalls for more The kinghsher also lives
on fish, but he only catches those which
swim near the top of the water. Perched
on a dead limb near the edge of a lake. he
sights a perch or some other small fish
swimming near the surface, when he hops
down into the water and catches his prey
crOsSWayS of his beak. He retires then TO
his perch to enjoy his meal. rarely eating
the head. The crane and all other wadng
birds however, adopt other methods of
fishing. They wade out into the water and
stand on one leg, with their head sideways
and one eye on the water. Suddenly you
Will see them make a jab down into the
water with their long, bayOnetlike beak,
and up it comes with a squirting FISH or
frog, not in the beak but impaled by it.
Then they fly off to their perch and. hav-
ing pushed the fish or reptile off their beak
with their foot they proceed TO bolt 1t
down, when they are ready for another
try. crane was caught by some brick
yarders who were fishing up near Blue
mountain a few days ago, when I was
over to PalenVlle that had eight big bull
frogs in its stomach, every one of them
with the bayonetllke thrust of the cranes
bill through its body. l saw "a crane once
up a Furlough lake. before George Gould
built there, spear four-pound pickerel
and fly away with him.
Nov, the osprey or fshawk, is an ideal
fisherman. He win soar above a lake or
pond for hours, when suddenly like fall
ing star, he win drop into the water, and
with scream OF triumph he viii rise
from it with a fish in his talons When you
hear an osprey scream then look out
for an eagle, because, if there is one in
the neghbOrhoOd he will at once give
chase to the osprey aud rob him OF his
prey. The eagle will swoop down below
the tishhawk and drive him upward I'M
I'll the poor hawk gives one scream of pro-
test and drops its fish, which the eagle
catches on its way downward through the
air and flies away to his retreat TO enjoy
his stolen game and wait for the foolish
osprey TO give warning by his scream that
he has caught another fish
'The tame cat is proverbial for its lik-
ing for fish, and ! have learned in the
woods that every kind of wood cat is just
as crazy for fish as the tame house cat.
When you hear a wildcat scream along a
body Of water you may know he is fish
ing. They always fish at night, when the
fish come along shore to catch bugs and
gnats. He uses his paw, and no fish ever
escapes those terrible barbed claws, which
he strikes into them with the rapidly Of
lightning. II the wood cats can catch
plenty of fish they win never stand for a
human being or larger animal. 1t is only
when they are famished with hunger or
wounded chat they win show fight When
natural food is plenty they will ways run
when chased by a dog. OF course they
will fight at any time when. cornered.
Have / ever killed a bear? Yes, a few.
But the most bears killed through the
Catskills are killed by newspaper repor-
ters with lead pencils and sheets Of paper,
but for a fact probably have killed TWEEN
ty bears during my life in the woods.
Bears aren't very plentiful in spite of the
fact that thrilling adventures with bears
are found printed in the papers every day,
/ think the newspapers have killed more
bears in the Catsklls this summer than
there have actually been in the mountains
for one hundred years.
Il never had a fight with bear, be-
cause, you know, a wounded bear even
If he has been peppered with only bird
shot is one of the greatest sprinters in
the world He will run for dear life, and
as long as there Is a clear course for him
to run he will keep 1t up, even IL the
dogs are biting at him every jump As
a matter of fact, the bear IS the most
coWardly of all animals, and will never
fight except when cornered, and then he
will fight as towards always fight when
compelled to-like a whirlwind. ] have
heard of some Of the boys having tussles
with the bruies, but I never saw one.
Every bear have ever done business with
have shot dead or caught in a trap"
The old man then told how, when he
was a boy, long before the war, the PEG.
pie up on the Westknls were terrorized
by a strange animal that appeared in the
woods Several persons saw 1t and de-
clared it was as big as a horse, but after
several sheeDfolds had been devastated q
hunting party was organized and the
strange and terrible animal was surround
ed and captured 1t proved to be an
ordinary gray wolf which had either
strayed down from the Adirondaeks on
up from the mountains Of Pennsylvania
where at that time there were still plenty
Of wolves in the woods. This was the
last gray wolf known to the Catskill
mountains. He declares that the actual
! truth is that bears are about are scarce
In the Catskills as wolves.
Ola Cartwright is without question the