The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1914-01-16
BIRDS KEEN SIGHT
Rapid Motion and Powerful
Vision Go Together.
Eagle Has Telescope Eyes-Even the
Familiar Robin and the Jay Have
Been SineularIy Endowed by
Nature in This Respect.

Chicago.-The eye in the bird king
dom is telescope, with the fish it is
in the mole rudimentary,
The eagle and the vulture have the
faculty of adjusting the eye to dis
Germ objects at great distance. The
eagle from the far off mountain sees
the flock in the valley below and &C.
curately surveys the situation for his
descent AS he swoops nearer and
nearer to his victim the lens in his
eye steadily readjusts itself to the de-
creasing distance and when he strikes
the lamb already chosen for his dinner
the long distance vision has narrowed
down to the scope of few yards.
The vulture is equal to the eagle in
vision as he is in flight. Every farmer
knows If he kills blue racer and
leaves it by the roadside a vulture
soaring overhead comes down and ap.
propriates it. In South America,
where the condor lives, the hunter OF
wild animals dares not leave his game
long exposed and unprotected. At first
ly dark speck appears IL the upper
air and it grows larger and is soon fol-
lowed by another and another, until a
score of condors have descended to
the feast. These have the telescope
eye. From the height of a mile or two
these birds survey the earth beneath
and observe the movements of all
creatures below Mankind can equal
such vision only by artificial aid,
which is an application of the pro
cesses of nature. The eagle possessed
a telescope before Galileo's invention.
Any farmer boy who has ever at
tempted to come within gunshop of a
crow or hawk perched on the dry
limb of a tree can testify to the sharp
vision of these birds at long distance.
Cookers hawk is the greatest enemy
to the poultry yard. Soaring high in
the air, this bird of prey sees the tiny
chicks, and he comes like rocket to
seize the one he has chosen as tar
get. Even the common birds about
the lawn-the robin and the jaybird-
have this same eaglelike power of
vision modified to their requirements.
The jaybird will detect very tiny
worm or insect in the grass from dis
lance of forty or fifty feet and will de-
scend upon the object with unerring
aim of beak. The seed eaters, meadow
larks and sparrows, need no such vi
sion, and are therefore denied its pos
session.
The eye of the owl is especially de-
signed for short distance vision. This
bird can see imperfectly but a few
yards away. The eye of the owl is ar.
ranged to concentrate a great diverg
ence of the rays of light whereby the
bird can discern near objects in q
faint light The owl can see very well
at a short distance even in thick
darkness. The owls eye is somewhat
dishlike and fiat, so that much light
may enter. This arrangement per
mits too much light to enter the pupil
in the daytime, and therefore owls are
almost blind in the glare of the sun.
There is correlation between
swiftness of wing and range of vision
The owl is exceedingly slow of mo
swiftness of wing and range of vision
vision, while the longer sighted ami
mails are swift of foot. Fleet animals
such as the antelope and deer anC
others living on boundless prairies
can see a long distance and are swift
in movement. Animals living in The
woods have no need of such lont
vision nor swift movement. All crea
lures living in spacious regions anC
strong light move rapidly and will
clear vision, as instance the fly catch
err, the king bird and the Gimme.
swift, which take their food on The
wing. The motions of these birds ar,
exceedingly graceful as well as rapid
Their vision is both telescope and mi
croscopic.
Whether birds have the power o
discriminating between different col
ors Is an open question. An old bee
keeper holds that the bee knows on,
color from the other, and he Therefore
paints the hives in various colors as
guide to the weary, heavy laden work
err returning from the fields. Other
wise the bee might mistake anothe
hive for his own.