The Dickinson press., 1901-08-03
FEAYHERED FREAKS.
BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS AND eiRpe
WITHOUT soNo.

BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS AND eiRp,le'
WITHOUT SONG. II
RE Penguin Il Blra Tket walk
ana ssvims, but Does Not sFly-A
Bird That Can Run Faster Thansths
Sviftest Horse-The TAILOR Blr1.
Birds without wings are found In
New Zealand and Australia. Kiwri Ii
the name Of one species. Beautiful
mats are made Of the feathers Of the
white variety. but 1t takes ten years
and more to collect enough feathers ia
make even a small mat which would
sell for about $50.
Birds without song belong to- Ha.
wall. In Honolulu one secs q bird
about the size OF the robin, an indie.
pendent sort Of fellow, that walka
about like. a chicken, instead OF hop.
ping like a well trained bird Of the
United States. and 1t PAS; no SONG.
"a bird that walks and swims, but
does not fly, fs the penguin. No nests
are made by penguins, but the one egg
laid ut a time by the mother is carried
about under her absurd little wing OF
under her leg.
The largest Of fight birds is the Call.
fornia vulture or condor, measuring
fromtipto tip 911Aa to 10 feet and exceed.
ing considerably in size the truercondol
Of South America. The bird lays but
n egg each se,son-large, oval. ashy
green in color and deeply pitted, 50
distinctive In appearance that It Gun.
not be COMPOUNDED with any other.
The California condor Is rapidly ap.
preaching extinction and museums all
oyer. the world are eager to secure
living specimens. 1t Is believed that
there is only one in captivity.
Another large bird Is the rlinoceros
bird. which Is about the size OF a tur:
key. One recently shot on the island
Of Java had in it's crop a rim from q
small telescope and three brass but.
tons. evidently belonging to a British
soldiers uniform.
A bird which is swifter than q horse
is the road runner of the southwest.
Its aliases are the ground cuckoo. the
lizard bird and the snake killer, snakes
being a favorite diet. In northern
Mexico, western Texas and southern
Colorado and California II. is found.
The bird measures about two feet
from tip to tip and is a dull brown in
color. Its, two legs are only about ten
inches long. but neither horses with
their four legs nor hounds nor electric
pacing machines are in 1t for swiftness
when it comes to running.
Most curious are the sewing or tailor
birds Of India-little yellow things not
much larger than ones thum. To
escape falling a prey to snakes and
monkeys the tailor bird picks up q
dead leaf and flies up into a high tree.
and with a fiber for a thread and its
bill for a needle sews the leaf on to q
green one hanging from the tree. The
sides are sewed up. IN opening being
left at the top. That q nest is swing
Ing in the tree no snake or monkey or
even man would suspect
Many a regiment cannot compare In
perfection Of movement with the flight
Of the crlrlews of Florida winging their
way to their feeding grounds miles
away. all in uniform lines IN nnbrokcn
perfection. The curlews are dainty
and charming birds to see, some pink.
some white.
Birds in fight often lose their bear
ings, being blown aside from their
course by the wind. In this case they
r Is badly OF as a mariner without
q compass In q strange e Oh q. star
less night.
All very young birds. by wise pro-
vision Of nature. are entirely without
fear, until they are able to fly. The
reason of the. delayed development Of
fear is that, being unable to, 6y, the
birds would struggle and fall from
their nests ut every noise and be killed.
Suddenly. almost In a day. the birds
develop the of fear. when their
feathers are enough grown 80 that
they can fly.
1t is Always q source of wonder, to
arctic explorers to- find such quantities
Of singing birds within the arctic cir.
Gle. They r abundant beyond belief.
But the immense crop Of cranberries,
crowberries and cloudberries that
ripen in the northern swamps accounts
for the presence Of the birds.
A stick Of wood seven inches long
and a quarter Of an inch In diameter
was once taken from a wren's nest. It
is very singular that SO small and deli
cate a bird should use such rough ma
terial with which to construct its nest.
II an eagle should use material pro-
portioned to its size, Its nest would be.
made up OF fence rails and small saw
logs.
The extraordinary situations In
which nests are found occasionally al
most give one the impression that birds
must be endowed with a sense of hui
NOR. For instance, q wren built its
nest upona scarecrow, a dead sparrow
hawk, which a farmer had hung up to.
frighten away winged rangers Of his
crop. In the pocket Of an old jacket
hanging in a barn a bird, also a wren,
made its nest, which when discovered.
contained five eggs. It was q robin
that raised a young family ina church
pew and q robin that built Its nest In
the organ pipes Of q church. Places of.
worship have always been favorits
building places for birdie.
Pretty Far on.
a summer resident in a New Hamp-
shire village, a lady who, In Horace