The Savannah morning news., 1900-12-26

| IKE That or ore Of those creature Of
! mythology. the harpies which had tine
/ mead ana face Of woman and the body
I ~ olfd - prey. Ia Grcciau ytnology
Y we naifrs We're ravcning creatures, de-
I ming every thing they souched and carry
Z ing away human beings 70 deyour them
VINO knows Perhaps. after all. the harpy
myth was not entirely a myth Perhaps
| To earlier times the harry eagle may have
existed iu Greece and through IN. course
( OF the ages tradition magnined the bird
/ INTO The obscene and fierce creature OF
mythology Some Of the stories the south
I American Indians tell of the harpy eagle
I would not need 20 be- cmbelllshed much
70 NJ the Greek description 81 che harpy
I There are those who not only demand Sec
ond place for the hustarl. but are Inclined
[ 70 give to him first place among the birds
that ny. Even such nm eminent author
I ~ as }. r Harting OF London seems 10
| Incline that way. But the blgEcs, bus
I tard Mt HartluE cites D. the Seville bus
l tard. with q weight % thirty pounds ANA
the biggest authentic spread Of wings ne
! cites is only feet inches The Ger
man naturalist. the younger Naumaun.
[ tells OF hustards weighing thirty-two
l pounds. and says that he has been as-
sured o. the former existence % spcci-
mems OF the bird Weighing 80 Or - pounds
/ From the earliest times the flesh OF che
| bustard mas been the delight 81
I epicuros. which will account Tor iis eN-
/ tinction lr me British Isles and inc fac;
/ that o. b row not common ia Northwest.
eru Europe Il is "a shy bird. and lives
/ largely OF vegetable diet. When ON the
I wing its flight b. a. majestic as that ~
! the eagle. In the last century the hustari
I began 70 be extremely rare iu England.
and IN the early part OF the century the
. .Ha rfHaN|
/ IN out OF the way places. What were the
/ LAST two recorded British bustards OF tHa
| old stock were killed in Norfolk len lSS
I but hardly mouth passes without q rc-
port from some one in some par of Eng
| land who believes that he has seen ono
/ OF these immense creatures Naturally
/ the thought OF 80 huge q bird living in
! q crowded country like England appeals
I 60 al that b romantic Ia man. Several
/ Imported hustar,iH have recently been
! turned out on an estate iu Norfolk tthN
/ county from which they disappeared
/ with the intention OF making the breed
| again common - q game bird lea England
I but they have no. thrivcu well. England
[ seems 20 be- populated too thlckly Cor toe
| liking OF the hustard which Is fond Of
l the solitude Of deeply wooded and little
/ fequentesl regions.
Phantom Bustard.
! popular English belief among certain
| classes Is that OF the phantom bustard OF
| Hampstead Heath. After the bird had
disappeared from England in HE proper
! form a mysterious phantom bustard used
/ 20 fiil az night across the fayorlte resort
/ Of AIRY and 'Arriet and may possibly
/ DO SO now though 90 has NOT got into the
/ papers Of late This phantom hustard Of
! Hampstead Heath even engaRel the pen
! oi Charles Dickens. and was for hong
/ time a pare % tho folklore Of London.
! Perhaps lt was not folklore and phan-
/ tom. Perhaps solitary hustard hiding
| somewhere during the day. did really run
/ about Hampstead Heath az night the last
/ Of tine bu1tarls revising the glimpsys Of
I The moon and waiting for death 90 cnd
/ it- race Here is q chance fos Ernest Sc
I ton-Thompson 20 write "a story "Thc Last
/ of the Bustard-' which shall b. as great
I Boz as way as The Last o. the Barons."
in speaking OF big flying birds. the Rlli
I swan should not be- forgotten This bird
/ sometime attaius Co "A weight 0f twenty
I ive pounds. and has an eNpanse Of wing
Of seven feet The albasrosS sometime
weighs seventeen pounds aud has four
/ teen feet eXplnse Of wing.
! Tn. laemmergcier. the great BEARDED
/ vuiture Of the Alps. Be- the BIRD told 90
most frequently ln song aud story as o.
/ doubted by the best authorities lf tse
I nemmergeier ever Stops TO any but
/ carcass. Nevertheless. there have been
I pretty vet established cases ~ it having
] carried on young lambs aud Kids. and one
/ has been -hot while eating a rabbit. which
I 3, bad Just killed. let one naturalist who
I watched the laemmergeler Tor twelve
| years never once saW the bird attack any
/ thing alive The hemmerseier sometimes
] 81 aa. HHa
cxpAu-e Of over nine feet. II S. thought
I that ih,. depreda lions ~ eagles have given
4 20 tne lee emtuerx cicr as bad name by get
/ ding thelr exploits mixed up with his.
a harpk eagle could carry OF small
I baby u 10 felt 90 disposed, and u golden
eagle oan carry on small lawn o. "a kd
or w.lt turkey, aud does it when or
portunlts offers. The latter sometimes
weighs twelve pounds. and mas an eN-
pause % wing OF seven ana half fee'.
No i capable or enduring extreme cole
aud Is immensely strong for ils size. The
p-cy which 10 kills and carries on fre-
quently exceeds it's weight. with its
remarkablp keenness % vision 90 esplcs
lbs prey from a great hight. aud falls
upon % with tremendous velocity and uu-
.rrlng precision The bird Is common in
this country. but seldom seen IN the East
eru Ttatee II lives 20 extreme age ~ q
meets no mishap, nud there Is an nu-
tbentlc record OF one living for over q
century ia captivity. The American eagle
Tint b.. the so-callei haid-headed eagle.
which i not bald-hcadcd ~ ali-is a fish
eating bird generally. though it viii not
dis.iain fiesh when q can get o.. and often
attacks small quadrupeds and smaller
birds According 10 Audubon the naid
EAGLE can ascend until % disappears from
view. without any apparent motion 81 its
wings Or tall. n grows 10 b. about twelve
pounds in weight
An eage which though smaller than
any OF those mentioned. b. dreaded most
thoroughly because 81 It's fearlessness ana
nerccness Is the savage and powerful
Alpine eagle. known In Switzerland rs
the steinader tstoue oaglel. Matthias
schmld. the famous painter OF scenes in
the Tyrol. witnessed the taking 81 chih
bv one - these terrible creatures, ana
pafnted the scene in picture which is
being exhibited nov iu Germany. poor
peasant woman had lsid her sleeping child
In what she thought was safe place. 10
one OF .he sparse grass patches high up
ON a mountain. while she moved the
grass she was only a few feet away
from the baby. suddenly a great shadow
sWept along over the sunny val OF The
mountain. and even as she turned there
reeounded q murdcrous cry that struck
terror into her heart ln the next instant
, great steinadIcr stopped and seized the
child Before she could cover the shore
Bi~tancc the bird had begun 10 rise flap
ming heavily Then she tainted. Az 81