The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1920-07-09
A BIRD DENTIST.


"Many hundreds Of years ago the
ancient historian Herodotus travelled
through the land Of Egypt and wrote
about a queer bird he saw there that
acted as a dentist to the CROCODILE"
writes Gene Stone in Boys Life for
July.
"He tells us that the crocodile lives
chiefly in the river. and that the in
side of his mouth is infested with a
kind of worm called the leach. When
the crocodile basks on the sand, he
opens his great mouth toward the
western breeze and a little bird takes
this opportunity to hop into it and
pick it's teeth and jaws of these I'M
pleasant intruders. The old writer
adds that the crocodile is so pleased
and helped by this attention on the
part of the bird that he takes great
care not to hurt it.
"This story was told over and owe
for centuries. One writer would tell
it one way and another would recount
a different version of it.
"People in olden times believed it
unquestioningly, but the modern per-
son is much more critical and so it
began to be doubted and even laughed
at as a sort of fable that a bird should
actually be allowed to enter the jaws
of the monster of the River Nile
and get out alive. 1t seemed too alb
surd to be true for it was known that
the crocodile was very greedy for birds
and if he could find one that had been
hurt and could not get away he would
make short work of eating it. Even
a full grown vulture had been found
in a dead crocodile's stomach. So the
story was discredited.
"Another old chronicler who relat-
ed this odd tale of the crocodile-bird
said that when the little creature was
cleaning the crocodile's teeth the mon
ster would go to sleep, when the in
dustrious little dentist would remind
him to open his jaws by piercing the
roof of his mouth with "a prickle which
groweth on the birds head Then
the crocodile would open his cavernous
jaws again and Doctor Bird could get
out. This addition to the old tale only
increased the doubtfulness of it, for
what was supposed to be the prickle
on the head of the bird known as the
crocodile bird was found to be only
a little crest of feathers.
"a man named Mr.. John NJ. Cook
has already set the matter at rest. He
. tells us hat while travelling on the
Nile, he and his brother saw a number
of large crocodiles and crocodile-birds
on a sand bank and decided to watch
i, them to see if there was really any
truth to the old story. The two mer
were very careful to conceal them
= selves in a pit at daybreak where the!
could see the sand bank. About nool
' two crocodiles went out upon it to SUI
themselves when several birds began
to fit near and about them. Mr.. Cool
; and his brother watched them through
opera glasses and saw n of the bird
go straight up to a crocodile. TIL
~ great creature at once opened it
mouth, the bird hoped in and tn
crocodile closed It again. One woul,
suppose that was the end of the bird
But it was not. In a few moments
y Mr.. Cook says, the ugly jaws opene
e again and out came the bird, whic'
Is hurried down to the waters edge
IS What it did there could not be mad
le out, but having finished, it went bac
IS to the crocodile, entered its mouth
is was shut in again, came triumphant
lie out and FASTENED once more to tn
I'd water. Three times they saw the bir
do this.
l. "Mr. Cook shot two of these bird
n which he tells US are the spur-winge
lie p%lover. They are grayish, about tn
If size of a small pigeon, and provide
ic with a sharp spur upon the wrist
joint of the wing. 1t is probably thi
weapon used by the feathered dentis
that causes the crocodile to reopen hi
enormous mouth and let his busy lii
;" tie friend depart"