Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-02
THE SPORTS OF ANIMALS
4 Naturalist Tells of Pastimes He Has Seen
Them Enjoy.
Others That Made n Slide From which
to Dive Into River-Tleas-
ures of Birds.

| but l believe that animals Of all kinds
| know very much more than they get credit
| for. l have been off a trip for several
| months collecting. and have paid especial
| attention to what might be called the sports
and games of animals and II they don't
| pay after the manner of children then I
| am very much mistaken.
| Il was particularly struck with the offers
| which / saw. l found in my travels IA
| nous place for them. and made my
| plans to study them which l did by hiding
in some brush in the side of little stream.
watching them with glass. 1t was a most
| fascinating sight Nearly all of the half
| dozen animals which saw were playful
| as kittens, rolling over and over, pretend
ing to fight. and engaging in graceful and
enjoyable pastinies- one of the sports
| which struck me most interesting
| a slide The descent to the river at this
| point was perhaps ten feet. and the ami
| mails had formed regular slide at angle
of about forty-fve degrees. An otter would
| start few feet back and run, twisting
| himself on his back when he struck the
slide. going down the slippery place like an
| arrow, entering the water head first and
| disappearing for a second. to rise and swim
| in and try it again. Sometimes two
| three would go sliding down at once with
| feet up in the air, and once two. by some
| error in Judgment. became entangled and
struck the water in heap. rolling over and
over. This entertainment was kept up for
|
| times during the day. The slide, which
| examined later, was smooth and nicely
made.
"The sea otter is also very interesting
Some years ago 1 was travelling along the
| coast of Washington when / came to
| town of shacks occupied by sea otter hunt
| ers. On a long point of land which ran
out into the a tall pole mast
with an old ships ladder leading up on to
| it, and on top place where the hunters
| hid. The sea offers lived in the kelp beds.
| .1,@. e.
enough shot them or signaled boat
| went out in the latter. doubeender.
| which lay behind point of rocks waiting
| for an otter to appear. When one came l
| had an opportunity to see this rare animal
| free. Its cat-like head showed first, the
! eyes glancing about in a suspicious man.
| ner. Then l saw it swim out where the
| surf was rolling in just beyond the edge Of
| the kelp. Here 1t turned on It's back and
rode the waves like boat, and saw that
| it held between its legs little one, sup
porting 1t as a swimmer would child. 1t
| was a pity to kill such an affectionate crea-
| ture or break up perfect family party,
| but the ring Of the hunters rife sounded in
few moments and the old otter rolled
over dead.
THAT birds have games as perfect as
| those of children Is well known. They not
only play. but have play hours; This is par
| ticularly true of the bower birds of Aus
| tralia. have been fortunate in seeing one
| in confinement and the habit was so
strongly impressed upon it that even in a
cage it took the various things offered and
attempted to decorate the floor and walls.
| In short time this bird had nearly
bushel of rags of brilliant colors, pieces Of
| shining tin, bones. sticks colored stones
and shells. all of which 1t used in its games.
| In playing such things are picked up and
carried about by the male bird. dropped
here and there, and changed about
doubleday to attract the attention of the
female
II have seen one of these play houses in
Australia that was five feet long" contin-
ued the traveller. 1T had nothing to do
with the nest of the bird and just
| much of play house as any possessed by a
child The bird has been watched in the
act of making one. Sticks were first
lected two or three feet in length. and
| placed in the ground. the large end first SO
| that they fell over and met other sticks on
the opposite side, which thus formed tent
shaped structure. In it the birds danced up
and down. affecting mincing airs, hung
their toys on the branches and scattered
others about on the floor.
1.-The perfection of this playhouse habit
is found in one of the great islands south
of Malay, where little bird known as am
bliopsis erectS a perfect house, the work
showing that In constructive abilits it is
ahead Of some human beings. The first one
ever seen by white men was found by Bac-
carl an Italian naturalist, who was travel
ing in the heart of Borneo. He suddenly
came upon 1t in little clearing, and for
some time could not be convinced that it
was not the work of native children: but he
was taken aside to watch. and finally saw
the birds about the play house, which was
perfect hut with a peaked roof. The birds
had cleared away a spot about small tree
which was denuded of verdure on its lower
part, and then a fast-growing orchid was
selected as timber and leaned against it:
the birds being careful to leave door OF
opening. The orchids soon grew together,
forming a roof, and in front of the house
lawn was made, the birds picking out the
undesirable weeds The grass was dotted
with howers, collected from far and near,
and at the back of the house was heap of
withered blossoms, fresh ones being pro-
vided every day.
What might be called a cakewalk has
been observed several times among the
little birds known cocks of the rock.
They resemble pigeons, but of blood
red hue. The feathers are especially valued,
and In the early days of Brazil We're used
only for the emperor his robe of office
being entirely composed of the richest
plumage. The birds are very rare and their
habits little understood but some years
ago a naturalist traversed Brazil with the
express purpose of studying them, and II
was his good fortune to catch them at
their sport. He had number of native
scouts, who reported anything Of interest,
and one day he was called to witness what
they called meeting of birds. He was
conducted some distance through. the
brush, finally coming to a little opening
which he reached by crawling through the
thick brush on hands and knees. Standing
in almost perfect circle about five feet
across was a flock of cocks of the rock,
each bird shoulder to shoulder with its
mate, head pointed to the center, all evil
IDENTIFY gazing at a bird which If it was not
going through cakeWaik was at least
doing an II restng imitation. 1t was
bowling to the audience, dipping its head
to the ground. turning round and round
and bobbing this way and that. its every
motion being carefully watched by the
lockers on The bird would hop
leg lower its wings and strut like a tur-
key cock. and by its grotesque movements
showed that it was undoubtedly giving
exhibition. The dance was continued until
the bird was exhausted, when it fell back
into the ranks and another took its place.
repeating the strange antics. AS near as
the naturalist could judge each bird was
vying with the others in dancing or per-
haps making a display Of its attractions.
"In Africa certain birds have a decided
realization of what constitutes comfort. A
naturalist was travelling through the coun-
try when he came upon a flock of storks,
each bearing on its back a copper-colored
bird about the size of robin Three storks
were hunting for grasshuppers and when
they found them the little bird riders would
fly down have feast and then fly back
and ride on.
81 have seen fishes repeatedly jump over
a stick in a game of leap frog. I once
kept a small hawk-bill turtle and with II
vyere q number of O. fishes which