The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-04

wings were lowered and extended so as
to partly protect the breast. Suddenly
the snake struck at one of the birds,
when the reason, for the bracing was
at once evident. Like flash the road
runner leaped straight upwards, avoid
ing the snakes AIM and when 1t come
down, appeared to come beak first, and
instantly grasped the snake by the
neck just behind the head, the move
ment being so rapid that the eye could
scarcely follow it. Then began quick,
terrier-hke shaking from side to side
with all the birds strength. the snake
then being dropped. 1t lay stunned,
and in a moment was seized by the sec
ond road-runner, who treated Is en-
tirely differently shaking 1t as a per-
son would piece of carpet, standing
with feet graced far apart and giving
long, deliberate shakes up and down,
with a force which made the snake APP
pear like long ox-whip. This shak-
ing killed the snake in few moments,
dislocating its vertebrate, and is evil
IDENTIFY the typical road-runner meth
cd. The first frantic lateral shaking
was probably only to stun the snake so
that a deliberate killing hold might
be obtained.
The snake birds attract a good deal
of attention on account of the big glass
water tank attached to their cage in
which they dive after fish, which is
fed them at II a. m. and p. m. daily.
1t is a beautiful sight to see them
covered with silvery bubbles of air as
with curving necks they swim from
end to end and top to bottom of their
tank Their webbed feet alternate like
the blades of a propeller and curve
around on the backward stroke as II
grasping something substantial, and
the rapidity with which they are able
to go through the water is wonderful.
Rising buoyantly to the surface. they
swim about with the whole body sub
merged. and their long, undulating
snake-like head and neck renders the
reason for their common name very
apparent After leaving the water
they invariably turn their back to the
sun, and Speeding their wings as
widely as possible, wave them gently
to and fro. with a tanning motion, I'M
til they are dry.
Leaving out of consideration their
evil-looking eyes and villainous char
acter they are beautiful birds,
especially as regards their plumage.
This is very thick on the body, and,
there being no barbs to the feathers, II
is exactly like long silky hair. Jet
black in the male and brown on the
head and neck of the female. Silvery
white feathers on the shoulders and
wings add to their beauty.
Snake birds always present an I'M
comfortable appearance, the peculiar
crook in their neck looking like dis
location, and the prominent hyoid bone
in their tongue giving the impression
of a fish-bo stuck crosswise in their
gullet Their vocal efforts. too. are in
fitting with their other peculiarities,
their voices being creaky. But their
oddities of form all serve useful pur-
poses, the crook in their neck being
a kind of trigger arrangement which
enables them to shoot out their beak
and spear a fish like lightning, and
their throat formation allowing them
to swallow fish of surprisingly large
size. These birds are peculiar in that
they shed the lining of the stomach at
least twice year. Occasionally, 1t
has been found in the tank almost en-
tire, like a small bag, with the glandu-
lar surface on the outside showing
that 1t must have been turned inside
cut and disgorged. At certain times
every flight feather or primary of the
wings is shed. the bird being perfectly
unable to fly until the new ones grow
out and reach their full size.
c. William Beebe,
Assistant Curator of ORTHODOXY.