The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-11-16
STRENGTH OF BIRDS
rhE EAGLE CAN CARRY THREE TIMES
ITS OWN WEIGHT.
an Oxtpich Can Break IL Mans Thigh
or the hcH Of IL Horse With II Kick.
Wonderful Speed of the Winged
NaVigauOrs of the Air.
No. g..


Wonderful Speed Of the Winged
NavignrOrs of the Air.
We despse the struggling, futtering.
Quarrelsome sparrow as good fol-
nothing street arab; yet the sparrow Is
In many respects mans superior. Its
blood temperature is considerably high
er than that of man or any other mani
NAL: it is far more active, capable Of
much greater cXcrtion. 1t can do with
less sleep, can live where man would
starve. Its plumage is so beautifully
adapted to all acquisitions that it acts
as warm blanket in winter, dust
coat in summer, and in wet weather,
owing to the oil glands at the bases Of
the feathers, as a macintosh.
The same and more is true Of birds
as class. In some ways they are the
highest of all vertebrate creatures
They have, of course, the inestimable
gift of fight which not only enables
them to escape most of the dangers to
which earth crawling creatures are
subject, but also to speed at will over
the whole earth
AS architects birds far surpass all
other wild creatures. \ few animals
and Il number of insects and fish build
dwellings for themselves and their
young, but what can compare with the
dainty, bottle shaped nest of the long
tailed tit. the swinging home of the
gold crested wren or the carefully plas
tered mud dwelling of the swallow?
The Indian tailor bird goes further
still. 1t does what man cannot dot
sews without needle or hands. Using
Its beak. it sews together leaves Of
trees with living fibels of other plants,
forming Il cone which it lines with
very soft material.
Birds are possessed Of enormous
muscular power, far exceeding in some
cases that of any other warm blooded
creature. There is an instance on rec
ord of an eagle weighing no more than
fourteen pounds lifting and carrying
off a young pig which weighed no less
:Aan fortytwo pounds. How many
men could even stagger along the
ground carrying three times their own
weight in their hands?
The kick of an ostrich is a fearsome
thing. 1t will break mans thigh *
even the leg of Il horse. The ostrich,
toe, is, for a short distance, the swift
est runner of any creature. The top
speed Of a horse is about thirty-fve
miles an hour. An ostrich. it Is esti-
Tod fg ~ 1, II
at about forty-seven miles an hour.
The speed of birds in the air Is q
miracle which man rarely takes the
trouble to consider. A swallow which
had a nest in the gable of the railway
station at Antwerp was taken thence
and sent to Compicgne, in France,
distance of 1401a miles, and then re-
leased. 1t was home again within one
hour and eight minutes. Its speed was,
therefore. 1882 miles an hour.
More than equally marvellous Is the
way in which migrating birds Of all
kinds find their way in sunshine and
darkness through uncounted miles of
the high atmosphere, arriving year by
year with most absolute accuracy at
cuckoos leave England after their par
ents and find their way unaded to Al
RIGA How do they do it?
Birds are wcathcrwise beyond all
creatures. Swans and other water
birds seem to have some sixth sense
which tells them when a wet season Is
coming. Before such a time they build
their nests higher than usual above
water line. so that if flood comes the
nest ana eggs will not be washed
away. The peacock knows overnight
what the weather will he. His harsh
scream before he goes to roost is GER
tain sign of rain before morning.
Some migrating birds have the curl /
Gus faculty Of avoiding places infected
by pestilence. Swallows, for instance,
will never build wbo-e plague, cholera
or yellow fever is raging. St Au-
gustine long ago noticed this and ex-
horted his followers to "shun wicked
ness as swallows shun pestilent
places"
We speak Of dainty persons having
mo more appetite than bird" No
less appropriate phrase could be used.
The bird tribe have, one and all, enor-
nous appetitcs. heron weighing
four pounds has when shot disgOrged
two trout-onc of two pounds. one of
one and a half pounds.-London An
swers.