Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-04-17
ODD WAYS OF BIRDS
SUBJECT OF MIGRATION A MOST
INTERESTING ONE.
HOW DO DUCKSs SINK?
INDECENT Cuckoo Takes Other
Birds Nests-Social Episodes in
the Lives of Some Denizens of the
Tree Tops.

1t is not without Significance, says
Oliver Thorne Miller, that the Sphinx
lis represented with wings, for the
bird, with the marvels and mysteries
o. his life, is still a wonder to US.
Early in any really close study OF his
life and habits one is struck with
this fact. Years of careful Observa-
ton and study without a gun" will
be necessary before we shall be
familiar with his many extraordinary
ways, and still more before we shall
be able to understand the ec7
centricities Of life which appears at
"a casual glance as simple.
The whole subject OF migration. for
example, is wonderful and full of
problems which have furnished
material for miles of manuscripts and
bushels of books and are still I'M
solved. And Herr Gatka has added
one more, having discovered that the
birds always travel with perfectly
empty stOmachs
The remarkable feat OF sinking the
body in water to any desired depth
and holding it there without motion
and without clinging to anything is
another unexplained secret. Geese,
ducks, sandpipers, and cOrmorants
arc all expert in this maneuver.
The air would naturally appear to
be the domain of winged creatures,
yet many of them are almost equally
al home in the water. A fish itself
might envy the speed and ease with
which the penguin and ouzel dash
about in its native element. Hardly
more than a fish does that strange
creature, the petrol, need to come to
land; eating and sleeping on the
waves. his only tie to earth is the
necessity Of a cradle for the helpless
young. Whole families OF sea birds
pass their lives in and on the ocean,
and come TO the shore only for the
| nesting season
We smile at the IDEA OF a sea
bird. which is as much at home on
the water as on land, either needing
or wishing TO ride, yet the tropic bird
is said occasionally to vary his wing
exercises by alighting for a sail on
| the back of a tortoise which he finds
! floating on the surface. And Major
! Bendine tells OF a little owl at the
west caught riding on the back of an
unwilling gopher, with an air of such
cOmpOSure that the observer was con-
vinced that 1t was a common exploit
| OF the bird
II it seems strange to think of
birds spending their lives on the
water, il is almost as odd to know or
whole families that spend theirs in
| the air and never come to the ground.
In some OF the tropical forests where,
| trees are between 20 and 80 feet in
| kclght, the upper branches and the
all above them are the home OF
countless birds and insects and
monkeys. More that 200 feet from
the earth below, they find not only
light and 2ir but food in plenty, and
even water in the various reservoirs
OF the giant plants and creepers.
Birds have many extraordinary
habits with which we arc so familiar
that we fail to realize their
Slngularity. The strange habits OF
Ihe european cuckoo, skirking the
! pains and pleasures of nestmakine
and rearing family. and even in the
cradle. it is said, eviciting the right
! tui nestlings to secure exclusive
care: the hOrnbilI. waIling nm his
mate, with her assistance, during the
| process Of broOding and feeding the
young, and many others.
Some persons will perhaps scof al
the idea of a birds polite manners
and We shall hear again the old com.
plant OF those who have no real ac
0uaintance with birds in their homes
that We make them too human, but let
me present a few trustworthy facts
/ -eNplain them who can. Many OF
our winged fellow-creatures welcome
the approach OF their mates by a sud
"en opening AMI closing of the