The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-19

Visit of Immense Quantities of Mi
GratOrY Birds in Winter.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
In no other land are the buzzards so
numerous and so useful as they, are in
Cuba. They hover over mountains and
valleys. circling about aud ever watchful
for a moyse and ii must be said that they
have no diflicursy in finding all they want.
They are the great scavenger force of
every city, ana it is well that they are
SO Industrious in their calling; for other
wise much of the filth in the towns and in
The country surrounding would be left
where it lay. One town near the north
coast in Santiago province is called La
Ciudad de las Auras.' which means "city
of buzzards, and it is correctly named,
100, for there The buZzards are more num-
erous than the inha bitants and share with
the latter their domiciles, taking the places
of dogs cats, chickens, and other domestic
creatures. There is no law against their
destruction, and yet no one thinks of
disturbing or injuring them They are
as much at home about a human dwelling
as the owners themselves.
Among the migra tory birds that visit
Cuba in winter are the green-winged teal
the pin-tail, whistler, wood duck and coot
Great sport can be had with these birds
if the sportsman is properly equipped. Pei
leans, water turkeys, fish-ducks, herons of
all varieties and colors, cranes, eagles
flamingoes, hawks and owls of several
kinds including the rare white owl, wood
peckers, especially the ivory bill, the ibis,
and along the shores gulls and sea birds
innumera bic are seen. One beautiful bird
of the interior deserves especial mention
Owing to the distance a which it was
SEEN the writer was unable to Identify 1t.
Ii was a TAN handsome creature, and was
walking lightly on the lily pads. Its color
above was beautiful spectrum blue rad
ing into a creamy white on the sides and
bursting into a brilliant scarlet on the
breast end lower body. It's legs were green
bill orange. and the head was crowned
with a coronet similar to that worn by
the California quail. II was not web-footed
but had three broad toes branching to the
front and one to the side, which indicated
the wader rather than the swimmer
Fifteen species of the numming bird are
peculiar 10 the island, the largest of which
IS the long-tailed hummer, measuring ten
inches from tip of back to end of tail
and the smallest, the vervain, which
weighs but twenty grains. This birding
has head no longer than pea, and legs
hardly longer than those of good-siZed
MOSQUITO It's entire measurement from
tin to tip IS an inch and quarter. Strange
as il may seem these tiny creatures are
easily tanned and it is not unusuaf to see
pets of this kind enjoying the same free
dom in a household as a parrot that, has
been domesticated. At one howell, presided
over by mistress as hdeously ugly as
the. pet was beautiful, the writer saw
tiny vervain contentedly taking its food
from quill inserted in toy cup filled
with juice of the sugar cane, and both
were held in one hand of the woman.
The pink-tinted ibis is one Of the deni-
zens of the cenaga swampS, and here this
BIRD may pe found wading in the mud
deIving with its long, sabre-shaped bill
into holes and drawing therefrom what
ever prey it may chance to discover 1t
loves to roam over recently inundated
lands and in places where heavy rainfalls
have turned the dry soil into a marsh it
may often be seen prodding for worms and
snails
OF the cormorants little need be said, for
these INDECENT flyers are common in almost
any land and especially so in the Southern
states of our own country. In Cuba il was
astonishing 10 find one mahogany-hued in
dividual who had sufficient ingenuity to
nut these creatures to some useful purpose
Among the saVannahs Of The Nipe on the
north coast lives a man with his family
who has built his hut on stills near the
edge of a vast cienaga swamp. Fishing is
coed i'm the neighborhood but the man
never could muster up energy to use hook
and Tine so he has trained a few of these
corrlorants TO do his angling for him. The
birds roost about the hut, on the ewes,
ratings or stunlps in the water and every
now and then some member of the colony
will make a sudden dash a the surface,
the result being fine, fat fish which is
dutifully brought and laid on the platform