The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1904-11-03

I, > '''iohdi PROJECT ever
ttoHSht II Elimination.
'~t;F ID se' i':,tk to North Carolina
','''i5- iie-e Are the fishers-the pn,,s
~ terms or pointed bill puIls- tho
looms ana gannets, the last huge white
p-fds. The feet are the distinguishing
features of these birds. The cor
mofant has an extra spread Of woh-
Ding between his four toes he;no Z,
Tue language of the natural history.
totlpaimate. or full webbed, while the
EreDes are merely lobe footed-a LITTLE
"eDDlnS On each toe. Even In lower
animal life nature bestows abundance
on some Of her children and hapdicans
others.
Here, too. is the jaeger, or hunting
Slll, not j fisherman, but living on f1sh
winch lie obtains in the same way as
some men obtain living-by taking
IL from others. When he sees the
usher gull rise from the waters with
a 1--we morsel he gives chase till the
rightful owner drops it; then he dashes
down and grabs it midair before II
can strike water. The bald eagle here
is the same sort Of bird. He sits on a
limb TIL fishhawk makes a catch.
then on swift wing soon claims the
mouthful for himself. No doubt he
goes home and tells what great
fisherman he is. A highwayman usual
y has other faults. Therefore, my chill
dren, give no credence to fish stories
told by bald eagles.
Did you ever connect aigret. that
beautiful and delicate Elementary
White feather which stands I'D SO
straight III milady's hat, with egret, the
white heron: In North Cardinals ex-
Eibit Of terons are the great white
eSret and the little egret, or snowy her
on. Aigrets were in such demand that
these beautiful birds became almost ex-
tinct. Egrets are now protected by law
IN North Carolina and ere again seen
with more frequency. All herons have
aisret decorations of some sort some
where, but the white ones are most
sought after.
| cannot drop the herons till l call
your attention to the bigness Of the
Eeron family, from the big blue heron
three feet tall, with q wing spread Of
six feet, to the least bittern but ten
inches high and weighing but an ounce
Or two Eleven kinds are here shown
il one case. The wood ibis is a full
yard high and finely feathered.
was an intense admirer Of the sand
piper when small boy. He Is feet OF
foot and quick OF wing and the best ex-
ample of alertness that one meets along
the shore. He has an ungraceful bob,
and his legs are SO thin as to be almost
invisible at the distance which he
deems safe, but he is trim and 1.-the,
and his little piping note lends romance
to shore life. One does not easily for
get his boyhood associates, these birds
of the beach AID marsh all reminiscent
Of boyhood and vacation days, the
SnipeS and rails and the blackbirds
with scratchy notes-counterfeit notes,
in fact. The purple gallinule has per-
haps the richest plumage Of the Caro-
lima birds. color note that would be
brilliant on any landscape.
The oyster catcher is SO named be-
cause he has not merely d taste for
shellf1sh, but a chisel bill with perpen-
dicular blade with which to open-not
oysters, but the weaker bivalves The
turnstone is beach bird which gets its
living by turning small stones along the
shore and eating the insects that
thought themselves safe in such seclu.
sion
If you have had sora on toast at any
| swell restaurant or cafe you will at
once recognize this one among the Car
DINA birds. Though quite unlike the
reedbird or bobolink, their names of
ten get mixed on the menu, as their
bodies do in the chefs kitchen.
| Here are two of the larger rails-the
| clapper rail in gray of the salt marshes
whose notes are a succession Of reso
nant clippings, and the brown king
! rail of the fresh marshes.
| Perhaps we need no warning that We
| do not always get canvasback ducf
| when it is on the bill of fare. Nortf
| Carolina, one of the favored homes o
! this epicurean delicacy. includes TWEEN
| ty-four kinds of ducks in her game
bird display, but the canvasback il
| king among them. the best and, O.
| course the scarcest one Of the highes
priced edibles found in an American
market.
Five varieties Of wild geese are il
this exhibit, and the whistling swan
large and beautiful, in the favored at
titude of taxidermy, makes one rub hi
eyes and wonder why he has not him
self seen these great wild birds in life
Fair Grounds, St Louis.