The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-12
ANIMALS EXIST ON
WATERLESS ISLAND
Curious Isle Has Colony of
Total Asstainer.
No Water

Recent Investigations on the little
known and rarely visited Henderson or
Elizabeth island have led to the dis
covery of a complete and curious lit
tie colony of geological total abstain
ers. The island which is inhabited
is situated about 120 miles northeast
lof Pitcairn island-itself sufficiently
out of the way. but famous as the home
of the descendants of the mutineers Of
the Bounty. says London dispatch
to the New York Sun
There is no water on it, not even q
swamp. and it is only six miles long,
yet it harbors quite a menagerie-a
kind of a rat, lizard. described as very
abundant, and no fewer than four kinds
of birds, all peculiar to the island.
These are fruit pigeon. lorikeet or
honey eating parrakeet. little rail or
crake and red warbler The strange
thing about the inmates of this curious
little natural aviary of coral rock. sur
rounded by waves instead of wires, is
that two of its inmates are birds, one
especially associated with wa.er-the
rail and the warbler.
Yet 1t Is evident that these, like the
rest. must do without drinking. unless
the dew can slake their thirst, or they
have acquired liberation for sea water
as a beverage. A similar case Is that OF
the peculiar and very handsome wild
goose of the Sandwich islands. Which
frequents the barren lava flows, where
there is no permanent water supply.
but 1t feeds on juicy food, such as ber-
ries and SOW thistle. Here we get an
even more aquatic type of bird ma
rooned on dry land. but the Sandwich
island goose takes to water readily
enough when kept In Europe.
las to the existence Of animals with
out drinking, 1T is well known that
many have the power of sustaining
themselves in this way, and the phe-
nomenon occurs irrespective of their
diet being vegetable or animal at any
rate In some cases." says the standard
in commenting upon Henderson island
life. Rabbits as Is well known can
live without water If given plenty OF
salad and so can parrots If supplied
with sop; yet both will drink on oc-
casions. So will hawks and owls, but
these birds can subsist for long periods
without drinking in captivity; in fact,
under the old management at The zoo
the owls never had any water given
them. Neither did the curious horn
bills. which are by nature chiefly fruit
eaters, receive any. They have the
opportunity of drinking now, but do 1t
SO aWkWaruly trylng TO peck up the
water with their great bills that the
habit hardly seems natural.
'Tt has been recorded that a great
bustard lived for months in captivity
without drinking, although the species
does drink occasionly; and it may b.
suggested that the bustards are FAM
lily of birds accustomed to frequent dry
places and hence have acquired power
of abstinence.
But setting aside the facts that the
great bustard is often found near water
this explanation would not serve in the
case of parrots and hornbills, which are
as a rule forest birds: moreover the
family of birds most especially associ-
ated with desert conditions---the sand
grouse--do not show any tendency to
dispense with drinking. Indeed they
are very dependent on water tying to
their drinking places twice daily and
watering their chicks by soaking their
own under plumage In the fund which
is afterward sucked off by the young.
"The camel itself. proverbial for Its
adaptions to the desert and endurance
of thirst. Is equally in need of drink ng.
although on account Of the water stor-
age arrangements In bis stomach 1t can