Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1892-08-13 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

SOMETHING FOR YOUNG FOLKS.  A CEYLONESE BIRD HUNTER.  "Scorpions!" and my friend started from his chair and began to examine the floor. He was visiting me in Florida, and it was our Custom to move our easy chairs out upon the veranda every evening. The occasion of his exclamation was a crunching sound, followed by a scratching on the matting.  "I thought so," he continued, shifting his chair; then,taking a stick, he lifted the remains of a great scorpion that had been rocked upon. Not a pleasant object, with the claws of a crab, the body of a cockroach without wings, and behind all a snakelike tail that twitched to and fro, hurling the sharp sting first into its body and then into the floor. After stinging itself violently it died. This action is the so-called suicide of the scorpion, and the story is often told that the creature, when in an awkward fix, destroys itself to end its sufferings. This however is an error. It merely stings itself in its agony, just as a man tears his hair when in great suffering, so that death is only the accidental result.  "I have a decided dislike for scorpions," said my friend, tossing the unfortunate over the rail in the direction of a favourite ants' nest, "owing to a very remarkable experience I had with them in Ceylon. "While there I visited the bungalow of a German friend at Belligain, and a more delightful spot you cannot imagine, but one of the drawbacks to this earthly paradise was the scorpions. "On the first morning after my arrival I saw my native boy shake a scorpion out of my shoe, and later I found that among the many servants about the place, the most appreciated was the shaker, whose duty it was to devote his entire time to shaking clothes and airing them; also shoes, and all articles of wear, to remove the scorpions, lizards, centipedes and snakes that may have crawled in during the night. So you may be sure that the shaker had my hearty co-operation. "The scorpions from their great size attracted my especial attention, and I lost no occasion in studying their habits and ways. The house sccirpions rarely were over seven inches in length, including the tail, but those that I found in the wood were gigantic, often twelve inches, and doubtless some of them attained a still greater length. The magnifi. cent garden was a famous place for them. "One day I was the unseen witness of a most remarkable bird-hunt, in which a scorpion was the chief actor. I was sitting under a great palm-tree rar ly surrounded by vines when I heard a rustling qun e near at hand, as if some animal was crawling rz,r dried leaves, and turning my head, I saw a liu2e scorpion coming out of some dried wood and moving along towards a rock that stood near. A ncurre disagreeable object can hardly be imagined; its great jointed sting was curved over its back, and its two liab-like claws were held aloft—the very picture of aggressive warfare. "In a few minutes it reached the rock, that was under and almost in the midst of a rich flowering shrub, and stretched itself upon the surface in the broiling sun, evidently, as I thought, for a warming up after the damp night under the dead wood. "But the object of the giant was very different from what I had supposed. In a few moments I noticed a number of small honey-birds, the beautiful creatures that seem to take the place of our humming-birds in the East, darting about from flower to flower.  _ "As they approached the scorpion, it seemed to shrink closer to the stone, and if I had not seen it take up its position there,l should not have noticed it, and I assumed that the birds were not aware of their danger as they darted over it,seemingly without fear. But this confidence, if such it was, was wholly misplaced. "Suddenly, to my astonishment, I saw the great insect raise its claws and seize one of the birds by the wing and tail, and then both insect and bird seemed engaged in a convulsive struggle, the bird attempting to fly away, beating the monster with its wings, dragging it along, picking at it with its sharp, delicate bill, and shewing every evidence of alarm and fear.  "The scorpion merely clung to its prey, hanging on to it with its claws, and spreading out its other legs, thus offering the greatest resistance possible. Very soon the bird became exhausted, and at the first evidence of weakening,the scorpion seemed to make an effort to raise it, at the same time striking at, it with its tail or sting. For several moments these attempts were made, and every time the bird managed to flutter beyond the reach of the deadly sting  "These continued endeavours, however, resulted in the ultimate death of the bird, as finally, by a vigorous effort, the great insect threw itself upon its prey,and the swinging tail struck the bird fairly in the breast. The effect was electrical, and fully demonstrated the poisonous character of the venom. Almost immediately the victim became rigid; its strength ceased, its eyes closed,and the unfortunate bird fell limp and dying, half covering its destroyer."—C. Ho LDER, in the Youth's Companion.  TO A