ECLECTIC READINGS j HALF HOURS Switit i | REPTILES AND BIRDS i ri a : a Picaca | a NEW YORK: CINCINNATI - : : OMPANY | MERICAN - BOOK - C Cornell University Library Hew Work State College of Agriculture BF RBWF on Aimee. 8806 a University Library iii Half hours with fis i I HALF HOURS WITH FISHES, REPTILES, AND BIRDS BY CHARLES FREDERICK HOLDER AUTHOR OF “ELEMENTS OF ZOOLOGY,” “STORIES OF ANIMAL LIFE,” “LIFE OF LOUIS AGASSIZ,” ETC. NEW YORK -:- CINCINNATI -:- CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY CopyRIGHT, 1906, BY CHARLES F. HOLDER. EnTereD at Stationers’ Hatt, Lonpon FISHES, REPTILES, AND BIRDS. Wease Pi 32: PREFACE AT the present day education is not complete without definite courses of nature study. We are living in an age of strenuous business life and activity, where the best equipped students along the various lines secure the best positions. Time was when zoology, botany, and kindred nature studies were classed with music and the so-called dead languages, and were taken up as incidentals or were employed in “mind training”; but to-day there are a thousand branches of trade and commerce which require knowledge that can be obtained only through nature study. It is not necessary that the student, unless he intends to be a teacher of science or a professional naturalist, should be able to pass examinations in the abstruse clas- sification of animals or delve into difficult anatomical studies. What the average student needs is a broad and general idea of animal life, its great divisions, and notably the relationship of the lower animals to man in an eco- nomic sense, the geographical distribution of animals, etc. It is vastly more important for the coming lumber mer- chant to know the relationship which forests bear to the water supply, and to have a general idea of forestry and the trees which make forests, than to be able to recite a long formula of classification or analysis, of value only to the advanced student or specialist. The future merchant who is to deal in alpaca, leather, dye, skins, hair, bone products, shell, pearl, lac, animal food products, ivory, whalebone, guano, feathers, and countless other articles 3 4 PREFACE derived from animals is but poorly equipped for the strug- gle for business supremacy if he is not prepared by nature study, nature readings, and other practical instruction along these lines. It is believed to-day by those who have given the sub- ject the closest attention that the initial move of the teacher should be to call the attention of the child to the beauties of nature, the works of the Infinite, and thus early inculcate a habit of observation. The toys of the kindergarten should be fruits, flowers, shrubs, trees, peb- bles, and vistas of mountains, hills, lakes, and streams, and nature study in some form should be continuous in school life. In the following readings the story of lower animal life has been presented on broad lines, divested of technicality, and at almost every step supplemented by forceful and explanatory illustrations as ocular aids to the reader. The subject has been divested of dry detail, and I have intro- duced notes and incidents, the results of personal obser- vation and investigation in various lands and seas, and have given attention to the often neglected fauna of the Pacific coast as well as that of other regions. While the volume is a supplementary reader, the matter is so arranged that it can be used by the teacher as a text- book, and the pupil who undertakes the various “half- hour readings” of this series will have covered in the main the ground of the ordinary text-book for interme- diate grades in the form of readings. In a word, I have endeavored to make this volume a popular combined re- view and supplemental reader on the fishes, reptiles, and birds. CHARLES F. HOLDER. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, CONTENTS FISHES PAGE THE BIRDS OF THE.SEA . ; ‘ ‘ a 3 3 7 A LivinG MACHINE . ; : : R ° . ° » £5 THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISHES . , : Z 3 , 2 21 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA. : : 5 25 YOUNG FISHES . : : ; : : ‘ ; : S342 THE NEST-BUILDING FISHES. ‘ * 5 : ‘ - 46 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. ‘ ; ‘ F ‘ : go) GT THE SHARKS AND Rays . : é ; : : - 58 DRY-LAND FISHES. : : Q 2 : 7 Z + 63 WEAPONS OF FISHES . : ; : ‘ 3 5 ‘ . 68 FLYING AND LEAPING FISHES . ‘ ‘ : : . s- 93 THE VALUE OF FISHES TO MAN : : 3 : 5 OD. REPTILES THE SALAMANDERS . - : : : $ é é . 80 FROGS AND TOADS . ; ‘i z a ‘ ‘ : » 87 THE SNAKES. : : . : . . . : - 96 THE LizaRps_ . : : ‘ < : : : . - 103 THE TURTLES . A : ‘ ‘ e . A 2 - II4 THE CROCODILES : 5 : é ‘ : : : < 123 BIRDS THE BIRDS a ‘ 3 ‘ : ‘ 3 5 ‘ » 129 ANCIENT BIRDS . : ° . . ° . : : . 136 LivinG GIANTS . : : . F ° s ’ : . 142 6 CONTENTS PAGE In A PENGUIN ROOKERY . ‘ ° . ° . , - 149 THE AUKS AND THEIR FRIENDS ‘ . . . : «E52 SOME OCEAN FLYERS ‘ . . . : . . - 157 THE PELICANS AND Ducks 2 : : . 7 c - 167 SOME WADING BIRDS ; : . * 7 . * 2176 SOME SCRATCHING BIRDs . : . . . . . . 189 Birps oF Prey . ‘ : : . . . . . - 200 THE OWLS AND PARROTS 5 . . . . . - 207 WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, FTC. ‘ . . . . . 211 SOME PERCHING BIRDS _ . : : . . : . e223 THE FINCHES AND SPARROWS . : : . . . + 235 TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS . . . . - 238 BIRD MIGRATION : . ‘ . . . . . + 250 INDEX . 7 . . . . . . ° . + 253 HALF HOURS WITH FISHES, REPTILES, AND BIRDS FPISELES THE BIRDS OF THE SEA FisHEs are the birds of the sea. How true this is can be appreciated by imagining that the ocean is the atmos- phere, not a very difficult feat if we glance down into it from a glass-bottomed boat or watch the graceful play of fishes in an aquarium. The water seems to be the air through which the fish flies. See how it poises, the fins or wings waving to and fro with a gentle undulatory move- ment, preserving its balance perfectly ; when alarmed, the fish darts forward with the velocity of an arrow and dis- appears. The habits of fishes carry out the resemblance to birds. Some are the larks of the sea, as the sardines, menhaden, and bluefish. They are always in midwater, rarely resting upon the bottom, and probably sleep poised. Others re- semble the land birds, as the domestic fowl, quail, turkey, and other poor fliers. Such are the flounder, which al- ways lies on the bottom, the little toadfish, the horned shark, which coils up among the rocks and apparently goes to sleep, and many of the rays. Fishes recall the birds in their habits of migration. They move north and south, in and out of deep water, 7 8 THE BIRDS OF THE SEA according to the season. The bluefish and many others swim off shore in winter. The dogfish appears on the New England coast in vast schools, without warning, in summer. On the coast of California the migrations of fishes are equally wonderful; the shore line is a great highway up and down which the vast schools move in spring and autumn. The yellowtail appears in March and remains until December, when it seeks deep water off the great submarine plateau. The flying fish moves north in April, and goes south in September, and many fishes migrate with all the regularity of birds. In their food-taking habits the fishes resemble the birds. The sharks and dogfishes are the eagles and hawks of the sea. The mullet and sturgeon, groping in the mud for their food, recall the ducks. The stately barracuda poises in one spot just as the man-of-war bird rides the gale, holding its position for hours. The fishes build nests very similar to those of the birds. The nests of some, as the sunfish, resemble those of gulls, being mere hollows in the sand. Other fishes, as the paradise fish, with its bubble nest, remind us of the building habits of grebes, while the little nest of the stickleback is almost as complicated at times as that of the oriole. Are not the fishes as beautiful as the birds? Observe the common goldfish or the blue or green parrot fishes. The plumage of the golden pheasant is not more resplen- dent, while the birds of paradise have gorgeous counter- parts in the angel and coral fishes of the tropics, bedecked in lines of red, yellow, green, and many combinations of color and tone which make them the most conspicuous creatures of the sea The fishes resemble the birds in THE FRAME OF THE FISH 9 many other respects, and are often as wonderful in their structure; that they are not so thoroughly appreciated is probably because they are not so well known. THE FRAME OF THE FISH It has been seen that fishes resemble birds in many ways, yet this does not indicate an actual relationship. If FIG, 1. —SKELETON OF THE COMMON PERCH (ferca fluviatilis), fp, pectoral fin; v, one of the ventral fins; a, anal fin, supported upon interspinous bones (2); ¢, caudal fin; d, first dorsal fin; @’, second dorsal fin, both sup- ported upon interspinous bones; 22, interspinous bones; 7, ribs; s, spinous processes of vertebrae; 4, hzemal processes of vertebrae. the skeleton of a bird is compared with that of a fish, but one striking point of resemblance will be found, —the backbone. Birds and fishes belong to the same great branch, the vertebrates, or backboned animals. The reader has learned by experience that when eating fish he must avoid the bones. There are so many of them, they are so fine and so sharp, that one can almost believe that they must be a source of discomfort to the fish itself, yet on glancing at the skeleton of a fish (Fig. 1) 10 THE FRAME OF THE FISH it will be seen that there are not too many. It is a very easy matter to obtain the skeleton of a fish by boiling one thoroughly; the flesh can then be picked away, leaving the skeleton lying on its side very much after the fashion of the one shown. The fish is a backboned animal, its skeleton being made up of a number of bones joined one to the other. On tak- ing up one, it is seen to be cuplike on each side, and to have several spinelike projections. Those extending down- ward, sharp and slender, are ribs (Fig. 1, 7); those pro- jecting upward are spines to hold the flesh firm. On the top of each of these joints, or vertebrze, will be noticed an arch oraring. These rings protect the spinal cord, which extends from the tail to the head, where, enlarged, it be- comes the brain. As fishes have backbones, they are included with the other backboned animals in the great branch of the animal kingdom known as vertebrates. If we examine the skeleton carefully, and then make a drawing of it, it will be seen that the fish has many pecul- iarities common to other animals. The fins (Fig. 1, f) on each side are the fore limbs of the fish, corresponding to the wings of birds, the fore feet of the elephant, and the arms of man. One would hardly expect to find the hind limbs so near the front pair, yet they are represented by the often almost immovable ventral fins (Fig. 1, 7). So the fish has four limbs, but being a water animal its fins are adapted by nature for use in this element. Observe the numerous fingers or rays of each fore fin. They constitute the framework of the hand of the fish, are connected by a web, and so become paddles or fins like the blade of. an oar, powerful organs of locomotion. THE FRAME OF THE FISH II These pectoral fins, as they are called, are not merely “oars '’ by which the fish rows itself along, but they are also balancers, like the wings of birds. The fins which aid in giving the fish an upright position are the dorsal fins, and these are attached to a series of spines, which, from their number, resemble a second backbone. This top or dorsal fin, or balancer, is sometimes continuous from head to tail, as in the ribbon fish; sometimes it is in two sections, as in the perch, in which case the last is called the second dorsal. In nearly all fishes the dorsal fin can be raised or de- pressed at will, and in the perch or rock bass it is a very expressive organ, as when the fish is alarmed or excited the fin stands erect and threatening and gives the fish an aggressive appearance. In the horse mackerel it can be lowered out of sight into a perfect scabbard. In the angel fishes its rays are long, plumelike objects, and in the rib- bon fish, as bright scarlet pompons, that rise near the head and turn backward in graceful curves. Beneath the second dorsal fin we find another balancer, the anal fin with its rays and spines. The fore arms are important locomotive organs in some fishes, as the sheepshead, in which they can be seen to wave regularly as the fish swims. The little sea horse also employs them and its dorsal fin in locomotion; but in the large mackerel, the bonito, and the great majority of fishes these fins are of little use except as balancers. In the horse mackerel they fit into depressions in the skin. In nearly all fishes the tail is an important locomotive organ. It is a broom-shaped series of rays, the backbone repre- senting the handle and the spines the straws.. In the 12 THE FRAME OF THE FISH perch the tail is made up of an upper and lower blade of compact spines, which in the living fish are connected and webbed, forming a powerful organ, a perfect pro- peller which, in the case of the flying fish, with a screw- like twist hurls it into the air, and enables the active horse mackerel to take marvelous leaps. The tail is one of the most interesting organs of fishes, and it is well to note the remarkable difference in shape in various fishes. Perhaps the most singular is that of the sunfish (Fig. 2), which appears to be a mere rim of flesh; yet I have seen this fin twisted with a powerful screwlike motion, forcing the fish along. In some fishes the lobes are equal, as in the perch; but in the Californian flying fish the lower lobe is the longer; in the sturgeon it is the upper lobe, the backbone extending out into it, as in fishes that lived in the very early days of the world. Each fin has its peculiar office, the dorsals FIG. 2. — SUNFISH. and anals being centerboards or upright balancers to pre- serve the equilibrium of the fish. The pectorals or side limbs are balancers and locomotive organs, — actual feet in the case of the fish Periophthalmus (Fig. 39). The caudal fin or tail is a propeller and balancer, while the THE FRAME OF THE FISH 13 hind legs or ventral fins, often immovable, are also bal- ancers, or used as rests when on the bottom, or creepers, as in some sculpins, or suckers, as in the lumpfish and others. The head or skull of the fish is made up of a compli- cated series of bones. The ear is internal, and over the mouth are found the nostrils; but the fishes can not breathe through them, as dogs and other animals can. They are for smelling alone, aiding the fish in discovering its prey. The orifices for the eyes are often large; the mouth is capacious, and in many instances capable of great distention. Around the jaws are the teeth. In the perch, the mackerel, and many fishes, they are very minute; in others, as the shark, in rows of twelve or more, all the rows except the outer being movable, so that when not in use they lie flat. Each tooth, in most species, has sawlike edges. The teeth of fishes display a wonderful variety. Some, as in the Californian sheepshead and the hogfish, resemble those of a sheep, and project outward. Others, as in the great sunfish, form several long or ivorylike biting organs. The parrot fishes have veritable beaks. The rays have crushers; the morays have fanglike. teeth, recalling the snakes, while some low forms, like the lamprey eel, have a mouth which isa mere sucker (Fig. 3). The heads of Fic. 3.—MourH or 423 % LAMPREY EEL. fishes present remarkable variations in the different kinds. In the Vomer, angel fishes, and others, it is very large in proportion to the body (Fig. 4), while the mouth is small. In the swordfish the upper jaw 14 THE FRAME OF THE FISH is developed into a long mandible or sword, which can be thrust through the oaken sides of a ship. In the garfish both jaws are long, and armed with fine teeth. The upper jaw of the paddlefish is a spatula-sshaped object. That FIG. 4. — LAMPREY CLINGING TO A ROCK. of the sawfish is a veritable saw, while the little Belone has its lower jaw elongated for some unknown purpose, and the snipefish has its mouth at the end of a long tube. A conspicuous feature of the head is what we may call the cheek, really the gill cover, a movable series of bones which cover and protect the gills (Fig. 6). Such, briefly described, is the frame of the fish. When clothed in the skin and fresh from the water the bones are concealed, the only suggestion being the rays which, cov- ered with a delicate integument and connected by a web: of flesh, appear in the fins. They look like delicate radi- ations or branches. The observer is first attracted by the scales which cover the fish, overlapping one another like shingles on a roof, forming a perfect armament. They appear to grow out of little pockets very much like finger nails. The peculiar slime with which fishes are covered exudes from beneath the scales, while a dark line which extends on both sides of the fish from head to tail, indi- A LIVING MACHINE 15 cates larger scales which are special lubricators or slime producers. The scales of fishes, like the feathers of birds, give them beauty and their wealth of color (Fig. 5). In many they are of dazzling silver below, and blue or green above. b FIG. 5. — SCALES. In the tarpon the scale is larger than a silver dollar, and has the appearance of molten silver. In the fresh-water garfish the scale resembles a china or flint plate. In the mackerel family they are very minute, while in the shark no trace of scales is seen, the animal being enveloped in a thick skin resembling sandpaper to the touch. A LIVING MACHINE If fishes are carefully watched in an aquarium, the cheek (Fig. 6) or gill cover, is seen rising and falling gently, while the mouth is kept slightly open. ‘ If one is taken from the water, this motion increases ; the mouth opens in gasps, and the gill cover gapes wide, showing the red gills or lungs S of the fish, “At such: times: fishes um--P'S5— Hen oS FISH, SHOWING GILL doubtedly suffer. CovER. 16 A LIVING MACHINE This gentle opening and closing of the gill cover is the breathing motion of the fish, and may be compared to the rise and fall of the chest in human beings. The chest expands as we take air into the lungs, and the gill covers rise as water, laden with air, passes from the mouth to the gill chamber. By lift- ing the gill cover, the gills (Fig. 7) can be seen — long slits with rough-toothed edges, to which are attached folds of vivid red flesh. The color is caused FIG. 7.—GILLS OF A FISH. by innumerable blood vessels which permeate it and lie near the surface. The gills occupy a little room, its roof, the gill cover, and its doors, the gill opening and the mouth. In birds and other higher animals air is taken into the mouth and nostrils, reaching the lungs directly ; but the fishes, though air is necessary, do not require so much, and take delicate globules from the water. When the air supply in the water is exhausted, the fish dies. The fish in an aquarium rises to the surface, gasps, and shows its distress. Now, if air is forced beneath the surface, it immediately recovers. To obtain air, the fish inhales water continually through the mouth and forces it in a never ending flow over the red gills and out at the gill openings; so there is a con- stant stream flowing into what may be called the gill room. Now what occurs? In answer glance at the A LIVING MACHINE 17 specimen, if one is at hand, or in default, at a drawing (Fig. 8). Here all the principal organs are seen. The one intimately connected with breathing is the heart, c, which is a marvelous pump, forcing the blood through various channels to the gills, d¢, where it comes in contact with the air-laden water, absorbs the oxygen or air, and is purified or freshened. The fish takes air and water in at the mouth and its heart pumps the blood to the gills to Fic. 8. — ANATOMY OF A FISH. meet it, so that there is a constant flow of purified blood passing through the fish. If it were possible to see the heart beat, it would be noticed that its motion is much more deliberate than that of the human heart. This is because the latter is a powerful four-chambered organ, while the heart of the fish possesses but two chambers, and forces the blood through the veins and arteries very slowly. The temper- ature of the blood, in consequence, falls very low in both HOLDER, F. R. & B.— 2 18 A LIVING MACHINE reptiles and fishes, in striking contrast to the rapid circu- lation in man and other mammals. Watching a fish poised in its native element, rising or falling with the greatest case, the observer may wonder that it does not sink, realizing that it is heavier than the water. The reason for its apparent buoyancy lies in a provision of nature,—a veritable balloon possessed by fishes, which so adjusts their specific gravity that they float with the least exertion. This balloon of the fishes is called the air bladder, and is a long, silvery tube readily found and recognized (Fig. 8, vz). This balloon is filled principally with nitrogen in fresh-water fishes, and mainly with oxygen in the salt-water forms, and the gas can be increased or diminished as occasion demands, the air bladder having an opening into the intestine in some fishes. The balloonlike air bladder is generally located between the backbone and the intestines; it varies in shape and size in the different varieties, and is entirely absent in some. The rays and sharks, which as a rule live on the bottom, have no air bladders. This singular organ has another even more remarkable office, namely, that of a lung, enabling such fishes as the Amia and Polypterus to live out of water. In the fish last named, the air bladder opens into the throat or esophagus and is covered with blood vessels which take up oxygen directly. By this means the climbing perch (Fig. 37) migrates overland. The Periophthalmus (Fig. 40) wan- ders along the dry shore in search of food, breathing in the open air by the means of this wonderful organ, which in the water is an air bladder and out of it a lung or breathing organ. A LIVING MACHINE 19 The brain of fishes is very small and their intelligence is to a certain extent limited. The spinal cord extends from the tail, with many branches to fins and other organs, passing through the arches of the backbone to the skull, where it enlarges and finds protection as the brain. Nerves pass from it to the eye and various other organs. The eye is an interesting organ, ranging from a large and singularly beautiful object in the fishes of the open sea to the minute and almost useless white dot in the blind fishes of caves. The ears are internal, yet the fishes hear distinctly, and it is supposed that the air bladder has still another office, that of aiding in increasing the sound waves —in brief, making the hearing of the fish more acute. The chamber of the ear proper contains in some fishes little bodies called otoliths. Sometimes these are simple chalklike bodies, but those taken by me from the Cali- fornian grouper were found on each side of the brain and were really beautiful objects, opal-hued and highly polished, and very hard like stones. They were fringed or serrated, and each was a little over an inch in length. They are the “lucky stones” of fishermen, very few of whom know that they have any connection with the ear of the fish. Among fishes the pursuit and capture of prey appears to be the chief object in life, and to enable them to ac- complish it, nature has given them an arrow-shaped body, easily propelled through the water, powerful fins as loco- motive organs, bright eyes to see their prey, and teeth or crushing jaws to seize and hold it. In the pursuit of food many fishes display the greatest voracity. I have 20 A LIVING MACHINE stood in water knee deep in Florida and seized “ jacks,” a large fish allied to the mackerel, and thrown them on FIG. 9. — THE ANGLER (Lofhius). the beach where others had leaped in their excite- ment. They were feeding upon sar- dines and were oblivious of my presence. Some, as the mackerel, bluefish, sharks, and others, are wandering hunt- ers. Others, as the great Lophius (Fig. 9), crouch upon the bottom. The active tuna leaps into the air and often strikes its prey, a flying fish, in mid air. The FIG, 10, — THE STURGEON. sturgeons (Fig. 10) suck their food into their mouths, while the rays crush it. Fishes do not chew or prepare their food. They tear off small portions or devour it whole, while the fishes \ THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISHES 21 of prey swallow their victims alive. One of the most remarkable of fishes is the black swallower that devours fishes five times its own weight, its abdomen expanding like an enormous pouch, while the jaws are capable of great distention. Food so captured is swallowed with no preparation, and the amount which fishes will eat is almost beyond belief. It passes into the stomach and is there digested very rapidly and becomes the fuel of this wonderful living machine; the nutritive portions are absorbed and go to replenish blood, bone, and tissue. Undoubtedly fishes suffer pain when injured, and it is manifestly cruel to subject them to useless agony. The sharks suffer the least, and a large one has been observed to feed when repeatedly cut through the head with a lance. Some of the large game fishes repeatedly take the hook. I once hooked a yellowtail twice within twenty minutes, the fish at the time bearing several hooks which it had taken within a week from various anglers. In this instance the jaws of the fish, though lacerated, probably gave it little inconvenience. On the other hand, fishes like the sardine, anchovy, and the beautiful ribbon fish are so sensitive that the slightest wound undoubtedly causes them pain and often kills them. THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISHES The movements of fishes, their singular changes from fresh to salt water, from deep to shallow, is an interesting and absorbing study. Certain fishes are adapted for life in fresh water and inhabit streams, rivers, and land- locked lakes; others have originally been salt-water forms 22 THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISHES and have adopted the fresh-water life from choice, while many more change from salt to fresh water at certain seasons with marked regularity. The salmon (Fig. 11) lives in the sea a portion of the year, then runs hundreds of miles up fresh-water rivers to deposit its spawn. So with the shad, that is found along the shores of the South Atlantic States in winter, and in the rivers of the North at the approach of spring. Sharks are supposed to FIG. 11. — THE SALMON. Z, lateral line. be strictly salt-water animals, yet one form is found in the lakes of the Fiji Islands and in Lake Nicaragua. Fishes have found their way over the entire globe, wherever man has reached. Within the borders of the Arctic Circle there are fishes adapted to the intense cold, while the rivers of all tropical countries swarm with their finny populations. How fishes reach high altitudes and mountain pools is often a mystery; but trout and salmon have remarkable jumping power, and clear dams and falls that are seemingly impassable. A trout has been seen to pass up a spout of water that was issuing from a knot hole in a dam; and salmon make extraordinary jumps, so passing from pool to pool. THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISHES 23 Inland and land-locked lakes are provided with fish in various ways. Fish spawn is carried in by birds, raised aloft by water and wind spouts and borne along for miles, then dropped to populate mysteriously a lake or pond that has been devoid of life. Fishes make their way up large rivers, follow the branches, and at periods of overflow, as in the Amazon, pass over miles of country, and reach depressions that are but lakes at other seasons. In this manner the world has been provided with a marvelous assortment of fishes, their geographical distribution being FIG. 12. — BLIND CAVE FISH. almost complete. They appear in the strangest places. In the Philippines, there are fishes which hop along the shore like frogs, even refusing to take to the water when followed, preferring the muddy flats. Some live in the deep sea, where the water is just above freezing and the pressure is enormous. Others affect an intermediate region, others again live in the mud of the shallows like the hogs; others again burrow in the sand, as the flounder ; while many more are essentially surface forms, as the garfish and flying fish, never venturing below the surface and leaving the water when followed, rather than seek safety in the greater depths. 24 THE DISTRIBUTION OF FISHES Certain fishes, having discovered the deep pools of caves, have remained in them and become adapted to the sin- gular surroundings, and are now ghostly, almost eyeless creatures (Fig. 12). A very interesting example of this is the little fish Lucifuga, of the caves of Cuba. Its nearest relative is a salt-water fish found commonly in the Indian Ocean. The sightless cave fish was perhaps at one time a swimmer in the ocean, but was raised above its home when Cuba was thrust upward, and gradually changed, until to-day it is the solitary fish of its kind. In the Southern States many of the subterranean rivers abound in fishes, and in Africa they have been taken from the deepest wells. There is hardly a region in the great world of the ocean not populated. There are the stay-at- homes in the tropics, wonderfully colored fishes which live about the coral banks from year to year, and the ramblers, as the bluefish, which move in vast schools from place to place. In this class are many of the best-known fishes. They school or congregate in vast numbers and move, a devastating army, preying upon smaller fry. The dogfish, a small shark, schools in the same way and often sweeps in from the deep sea in summer, a starving horde which carries all before it. I was fishing off the Maine coast, one August, when these voracious creatures appeared. One day cod, hake, and other fishes were plentiful off the banks, and the men made large hauls; the follow- ing morning, in the same spot, not a fish could be found, The water was filled with a throng of starving dogfishes which devoured everything. They even bit at the oars, and a sail which had been dragging overboard was lacerated by their teeth, THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 25 Many fishes prefer brackish water. Fishes have been found in water intensely salt, and some forms have been discovered in hot springs where the temperature of the water was 114° and 122° Fahrenheit. THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA While explorers are penetrating Darkest Africa, and attempting to reach the north and south poles, others are with equal interest trying to probe the caves and depres- sions of the deep sea,—the vast mysterious region that comprises nearly three fourths of the earth’s surface. Its waves beat on every shore; its menace comes with every wind that blows, man crosses it, lives upon it; yet to-day it is the one region on the globe which really defies him; the one world which he is forced to acknowledge at the onset he can not enter. The very depth of the sea is a barrier unsurmountable. Two hundred feet is the limit of possible endurance of the skilled diver; yet beyond are six, possibly seven, miles of water, comprising the realm of the deep sea; a region as fascinating and alluring to the zoologist as the pole has been to geographers. The very fact that the greater depths are unattainable has spurred men on to surmount the difficulties and to devise methods to wrest the secrets from the deep. At the beginning of the past century the deep sea was comparatively unknown. I well remember when Agassiz the elder, with my father, dredged in Massachusetts Bay and considered the results in one hundred and fifty feet of water remarkable. That man could reach the greater depths was not believed possible, and in a general way it 26 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA may be said that all that has been learned of the ocean bed, and particularly of its inhabitants, has been discov- ered within the last third of a century. As has been seen, diving was impossible. The diving bell was one of the first inventions, and it was supposed that this would enable man to descend toa great distance; but the pres- sure of the water, which amounts to fifteen pounds to the square inch at the surface, rapidly increases as one de- scends, being equal to a ton weight upon every square inch of surface for about every mile of descent. It was soon found that it would be impossible to invent armor to withstand this pressure, and the inventive genius of man was now directed to dredges with which to trap the deni- zens of the ocean. America, England, Germany, France, Italy, and Sweden were among the first to send out ships to explore the deep sea. The work of the A/datross is well known. The Challenger, of England, made the tour of the world to map the deep sea, and magnificent volumes have been issued — the simple story of this voyage alone, the combined results of the investigations of the naturalists of the world to whom the specimens were consigned. Italy sent out sev- eral ships, France the Tvaveler, and there have been many more. Space will not permit a description of the methods of work, and it is sufficient to say that the dredge is the instrument used—a machine like a huge bag, twenty feet or more in width, and as many in depth; the mouth held out by a boom which rests upon the bottom. This drag net, or dredge, is lowered overboard by a small cable wire, and to it are attached various instruments to test the depth, density, and temperature of the ocean. To THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 27 lower so cumbersome an instrument is in itself a problem, and often to obtain the greatest depth several hours are required, and then it is often difficult to determine whether bottom is reached. Assuming this is accomplished, what chance has the dredge to perform its work? Imagine the possible inhabit- ants of Mars to have solved the problem of crossing space between them and the earth. They reach with their bal- loon within seven miles of the surface of the earth and plainly see cities and other large objects; but they find that the atmosphere is too dense to enable them to de- scend. Yet their mission is to take away some of the inhabitants of the earth. They lower from their balloon a dredge, attached to a wire eight or ten miles long, which they slowly drag over the fields of the earth several hours before it is hoisted up. It is very evident that the rabbits, birds, and all the active animals will easily evade this clumsy trap, and all that are caught are earthworms, plants, a turtle perhaps, and an assortment of animals which could not move out of the track of the dredge. In a word, dredging is very discouraging work, and well illus- trates the chances which the modern naturalist has of making an adequate study of the life of the deep sea. The dredge is dragged along the bottom of this unknown land beneath the sea, up the sides of hills, over plains, plowing through the mud, naturally capturing only those forms which are concealed in the ooze and are too slug- gish to escape; yet by these crude appliances all that is known of the deep sea has come to us, the specimens are few in numbers, comparatively speaking, but so re- markable as to make this department of zodlogy one 28 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA of the most interesting and important at the present day. Before referring to the results of these investigations a glance may be taken at the ocean bed to note how care- fully it has been mapped by the various expeditions. The ocean is before us day after day, hence its beauty or its meaning is not always appreciated; but the murmur in the sea shell, the booming of the waves, the wild crash of the surf on hidden rocks, are the voices of the deep sea, full of poetry, full of mystery; telling of this world of the abysmal sea. It is a marvelous, incomprehensible thing, this ocean. It is nearly three miles deep on an average; so very deep in places that it is ten miles from the top of the highest mountain to the bottom of the deepest cave or abyss that ocean bears. I once crawled into the dry bed of a subter- ranean river, three miles beneath the outside world; when in the last tunnel, which was fifteen feet across and two hundred feet high, the guide blew out the light that ab- solute darkness might be realized. The deep sea, six miles from the surface, is, in places if possible, darker than this. At a depth of three or four hundred fathoms plant life ceases, which means that sunlight is exhausted. I once attempted to descend the face of a perpendicular coral cliff, on the Florida reef, to determine, if possible, how deep the coral grew. Holding a heavy weight in my hand, I allowed it to drag me down rapidly. I could at the time remain under water over a minute, and estimated that I could descend thirty feet in safety. At the word the men released the weight and I was dragged downward, but parted company with the weight before I had reached THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 29 thirty feet. I well recall the disagreeable sensation of the marvelously rapid loss of sunlight, and the sudden cold at even twenty feet. The deep sea is a realm of silence so profound that the mind can not realize it. It is also intensely cold, vary- ing from one degree below freezing to several degrees above. That life, and prolific life, can exist in such a re- gion does not seem possible; yet there is every reason to believe that every mile, every acre, of this weird region is inhabited. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the ocean is its depth; only about seven tenths of its total area is under six hundred feet deep; of the rest sixty-two per cent is over two and a half miles; and there are nearly fifty places known, where the water is more than three miles deep, and many where it is four and five. It has remained for an American to find an abyss, off the coast of Guam, 5260 fathoms deep; and from this dark recess, ten miles below the summit of Mount Everest, life has been taken. Up to within a few years it was supposed that when the deep sea was explored early forms of life would be found; but the consensus of opinion to-day is, that the animals are those which have been driven by enemies, or by the force of circumstances, into the depths and there adapted to the strange conditions, and that they are more or less degenerate forms. The abyssal regions of the ocean, the regions of greatest depth, cover seven million square miles of the ocean bed, and all are named, as are our deserts on land. Thus the Sigsbee Deep indi- cates a vast depression south of Nova Scotia; the Aldrich Deep one east of New Zealand; the Ross Deep the vast 30 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA Antarctic depression. There is no law relating to their situation; they occur everywhere. In descending into the ocean the area within six hundred miles of land is, as a rule, more or less affected by it; gravels washed from rivers being commonly dredged, as the bed descends or drops away. Beyond this depth the dredge finds clay and mud—red, blue, and green—made up of minute shells, the remains of countless millions of animals, the famous Radiolarian ooze, the ooze of the diatom, the quicksand of the deep sea. Beyond this, on the slopes of the deeps, from two to five miles, the dredge shows that the shells have been dissolved, and the floor of the ocean — certainly one half of the entire expanse — is covered with a soft red clay, camposed of the wreckage of meteors, pumice from submarine volcanoes and cosmic dust. Vertically the ocean is divided by Agassiz into three zones: first, that of two hundred fathoms — theoretically the belt of sunlight; second, the azoic—a belt of dark- ness; third, the deep sea, into which in imagination the reader may descend. He may well believe that the inhabitants of so peculiar a region must be peculiar in themselves, and it may be said that nature, in adapting these animals to their en- vironment, has produced forms which defy adequate de- scription, so weird and grotesque are they. It would be impossible in the limited space to mention more than a few of the types, but there is one feature which amazes the scientific investigator and challenges the attention of the layman; that is, the illumination of the deep and sunless sea. Almost all of its animals are light givers, living lamps, flashlights of the deep; fishes provided with THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 31 a wonderful system of illumination. The reader may well ask, how can delicate fishes withstand the enormous pres- sure? Nature has changed the deep-sea fishes into seem- ing living sponges; in a word, the water permeates their entire system. The bones are so loosely connected that it is almost impossible to lift one of these fishes without its dropping to pieces. The bones are cavernous and fissured, filled with holes and crevices; a pin can be thrust into them anywhere, and the slightest movement will bend them. The muscles are thin and weak, and the fish is apparently a perfect sponge, offering little or no resistance to the water bearing upon it from all sides. The imaginary observer may well be fascinated by the weird forms of fishes which swim by, or lie partly buried in the ooze. Nearly all are light givers. Some are ablaze over their entire surface; others have eyes of seeming fire; in others, again, the light flashes from barbels, decoys, signals, and reflectors, which, in tints of green, orange, and yellow, cover the bottom of the deep sea. Beyond, a cloud of light takes shape in which hover multitudes of luminous fishes, many of which possess a system of illumination of two distinct kinds and of a marvelous nature. A long eel-like shark swims by, followed by another, equally strange. They are, particularly the latter, ablaze with light from head to tail. Its existence is not mere theory, as several specimens have been brought to the surface, notably by Agassiz and Bennett. The latter says: “ The entire anterior surfaces of the body emitted a vivid and greenish phosphorescent gleam, imparting to the creature by its own light a truly ghastly and terrific appearance.” 32 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA Nearly all of the large fishes possess a peculiar mucilag- inous system supposed to be the seat of this light. The wildest flight of the imagination fails to conjure up more remarkable creations than the grotesque figures which glide by, project from the ooze, or, startled by the intruder, dart into it. Many of these fishes, which are not lumi- nous over their entire bodies, have a system of lights, lures, lanterns, and flashlights of various colors and shapes, all taking the form of special organs. Sometimes they are merely lights or signals by which the fish may be recognized by their fellows; and again, as in the case of the fish Ipnops, the flashlights fairly cover the head, form- ing two reflectors, which are also eyes, or their equiv- alent. With such an array of lights, enabling the fish not only to envelop its prey in its light, but to throw a halo about it, and also see it, what imagination can pic- ture the scene when two of these living reflectors are chasing and surrounding a victim? Pursued by enemies so equipped, escape would seem impossible. The witness of these marvels, were he a careful observer, would note that the lures are of different colors; that in some they imitate some small animal wriggling and coiling, and emit a flashing tremulous light, and attached to perfect fishing rods on the back of some veritable monster con- cealed in the ooze. Out of the gloom comes a strange light giver — the cul- mination of nature’s efforts, apparently, in the direction of the flashlights, as this fish has four lights which undoubt- edly assist it to capture its prey. Two of these lights are above, and two below, the upper emitting a yellow or orange-colored light, while the lower, just over the mouth, THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 33 glow with green tints—a strange disposition enabling Malacosteus not only to throw searchlights around its victims, but to lure them within reach of its terrible fang- like teeth by the display of various colored gleams. The Stomias, with its ferocious, dragonlike head and teeth, has rows of flashlights along its lower surface, which mark it in golden lines against the dark background. The hideous, almost square-shaped Sternoptyx floats by, with twenty or more flashlights along its lower surface; three higher up and three higher still, like the open port- holes of a ship, from which fitful gleams are streaming. Argyropelecus (Fig. 15) is ablaze with lights, which cover its lower surface, and the same is true of a host of others. Long, eel-like fishes, with enormous mouths, swim by. The mouth opens downward, and is filled with re- curved fangs, and from the lower jaw depend several tangles or lures, which being luminous possibly attract vic- tims from below, while in double rows all along the slender body are seeming countless pearls, each a reflector of the mysterious light. The array of fishes with lights placed in different posi- tions is amazing. One has them dotted over its sides; another has three blazing on its cheek, three long ones on the under jaw, while in the blunt-headed Diaphus the three lower head lights are of large size and throw the gleams downward. If these are remarkable, what can be said of the school now passing by (Fig. 13)! One strange fish has lights along its sides, and the entire front of the head seems to be a flashlight, or reflector, which throws the blaze of light directly ahead, after the fashion of a locomotive. HOLDER, F. R. & B.— 3 “JOO aUO ‘suzagorg ‘g ‘yey Be pue JOO} auO ‘xfwag ‘g ! YyOVUIO}S S}I UI s”zagoI7S YIM JOO} aUO ‘snpowsviy) ‘b Sjaay xis ‘sxporsnjg ‘E :sayout xis ‘yonp Aequiog 10 ‘wopoduvgy ‘11 ‘oI ‘6 ‘% ! BuO] JOoy auO ‘swpornvyD ‘I ‘VaS ddaq AHL AO SHHSIA SNONIWAY — “EI ‘Oly ~ THE DEEP SEA F n ~ fx) ~ < ie * LIGHT THE 34 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 35 Following it, in the glare of its own light, comes another fish, with its enormous mouth filled with fangs, while a group of mud lovers slink away from another terrible creature as it swims by, dangling a bulb of light from its lower jaw. A group of fishes which can not fail to attract attention have mouths so enormous that they can swallow a victim half as large as themselves. Every step taken in the ooze, which here and there emits a greenish spectral light, startles fishes which live in or about it. One seems all mouth, literally a living sack (Fig. 13, 4) which lies in the mud engulfing its prey. An- other illustrates the perfection of mimetic mechanical appli- ances ; its enormous mouth opens upward. At the surface of the ooze and directly over the fish, by the aid of a long fishing rod, dangles a bulb, or bait, that is phosphorescent and made to simulate a living worm, or some small crusta- cean. But the most extraordinary sight, perhaps, to be witnessed here, is that of the electric bulb fish. It is a shapeless horror. Its mouth, which is a third of its entire extent, is armed with teeth of extraordinary length. From the tip of the upper jaw rises a perfect electric bulb so far as appearances go. This is a lure perfect for its work, emitting a bright light, and standing above the mud in which the fish is totally concealed. Over the bottom these green lights are scattered, far and near, exemplifying the most extravagant efforts of nature in the direction of illuminated fishes. Another remarkable and grotesque fish has a mouth which opens back a third of its length and is armed with a luminous bait. Its side or pectoral fins are placed far back, near the tail, while two fins, longer than the entire body, rise from above and below. 36 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA As if this were not enough to mark this fish unique, it is supplied with wormlike, light-emitting barbels of flesh, which rise from its head, back, and sides — effective lures, if such is the intention of nature. Fic. 14.—A LuMINous FIsH. Many of these fishes are covered with a peculiar mucus, and nearly all have simple colors —black or sil- very. Many are dotted along the lower surface, upon their sides, and upon the head near the eyes with singular spots like mother-of-pearl (Fig. 14). Some, especially those on the head, are elliptical in shape; others are globular (Fig. 15), and all are sup- posed by some naturalists to be luminous organs, while others are believed to be organs of vision to FIG. 15. — LIGHT-EMITTING : oi . ORGAN OF A FisH. aid the fish in seeing in these dark depths of the sea. A remarkable small-eyed, deep-sea fish is the Bathy- ophis, which has no common name and is rarely seen. Its home is a mile or more beneath the surface. Its THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 37 eyes are so small that they can scarcely be seen. It is like a blind man groping in the dark; its canes two slender feelers almost as long as the fish, rays of the side or pectoral fins having at their tips delicate sense organs or feelers. When the fish swims, they are trailed FIG. 16. —GRouP OF LIGHT GIVERS. behind, but they can be thrown forward to investigate the ground as it advances. The ventral fins also bear two long feelers. These singular “ fingers’ thus, Eustomias, a hideous black creature, has a very ’ are found in various places; long finger pendent from its lower jaw, which it uses in 38 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA its search for food eight or nine thousand feet from the surface. Stomias, another form, with dragonlike head and fierce teeth, has a_ short-branched, fingerlike ten- tacle hanging from its lower jaw, and rows of gleaming lights along its entire lower surface. From the depth of Fic. 17. — THE PELICAN FIsuH. two miles the naturalists of the Cha/lenger took the fish Bythites, and from three miles still another form, while the A/batross has secured equally interesting fishes seven- teen thousand feet below the surface of the sea. The lights with which these fishes are provided to enable them to secure their prey in a region of the deepest THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 39 darkness, are among the most wonderful provisions of nature, showing that everywhere animal life is adapted to its peculiar surroundings. The large black velvet-hued fish Echiostoma has two lights just below its eyes. The little fish Sternoptyx (Fig. 16), when it first came up in the dredge, gleamed like a coal of fire, the light being dis- tinctly seen by the German naturalist, Dr. Suhm. I have before me several remarkable little light-giving fishes which I found at the Island of Santa Catalina, California, where they were washed up by a storm. Light has been seen to gleam from the large phosphorescent spot near FIG. 18. —THE MACKEREL. the eye of this fish, which resembles Figure 15. This spot is supposed by some to possess the properties of an eye and a light-giving organ. The light is believed to be pro- duced at the bottom of the back chamber of the organ and distributed in many directions ; in other words, after the fashion of the convex glass of a bull’s-eye lantern. Besides the luminous organs on the head of Sternop- tyx, whose mouth is so large that it stretches from “ear to ear,” it has thirty-three “light spots” along the lower surface, facing downward: six in front of the ventral fins, six more between the ventrals and the anal, and twenty- one between the front of the anal fin and the base of the 40 THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA tail, — enough, if all are luminous, to mark the little crea- ture as a blaze of light against the water. Many of the deep-sea forms have enormous mouths, and literally haul themselves over their prey as a glove is drawn on the hand. Such an one is the black swallower, Chiasmodus (Fig. 13) that has been found with a fish in its stomach several times larger than the swallower itself, due to the remarkable expansion of the saclike stomach. The large-mouthed forms find their most remarkable example in the pelican fish (Fig. 17), that is almost liter- ally all mouth. It was taken from the bottom of the sea in seven thousand feet of water, and undoubtedly feeds by swimming along and blindly engulfing all the animals in its path. , None of these fishes have common names. The fish Chauliodus (Fig. 13) is a fierce and ravenous creature. Bathyophis resembles a salmon, but has wonderful feel- ers, which it throws out ahead — sense organs of some kind. The strange Dibranchus simulates a moss-covered rock, as it crouches in the ooze. Over its upper lip is a small light or lure, which attracts prey to the monster. Other strange fishes are Cyclothone, with mouth filled with fangs, Astronesthes, with a bulb like that of an electric light dangling from its lower jaw; but more won- derful than all is Linophryne, a shapeless horror, fairly cut in two for a third of its length by its mouth, which is armed with fanglike teeth of extraordinary proportions. From the lip of the upper jaw rises a bulb of light —so far as appearances go, an electric bulb. This fish un- doubtedly hides in the 00ze or mud, with the bulb of light gleaming above it, attracting prey, which is suddenly pounced upon. THE LIGHT BEARERS OF THE DEEP SEA 41 The most vivid imagination fails to depict creatures which equal the simplest animals of this weird region, ranging as they do from the splendid Malacosteus with its many colored lights to the strange two-horned angler, with enormous head, small eyes, and feetlike fins, which throws forward a jointed rod as long as its body, on the end of which is a blazing lure. Small fry approach this bait, which is gradually lifted, until they are over the cavernous mouth, which suddenly opens and engulfs them. The reader will wonder how these fishes, four or five miles down, obtain air. The fishes at the surface are provided with oxygen by storms and wind which beat the water into foam, so aérating it or forcing glob- ules of air downward. But such an explanation will not apply to the deep sea; the surface storm is not felt even a thousand feet from the surface. It is believed that a very sluggish current creeps along the bottom of the ocean from the poles to the equator, there rising to return again at the surface, and it is supposed that this silent river conveys air in sufficient quantity to sus- tain life in the deep sea, where all the animals have become adapted to the strange conditions and are able to exist upon the very limited supply of oxygen. Some of the deep-sea fishes are very snakelike; others are eel-like, as certain sharks, and it is supposed that in the deep sea exist certain huge forms which occasion- ally ascend to the surface, giving rise to the theories of the sea serpent. 42 YOUNG FISHES YOUNG FISHES It is a popular belief that fishes roam about over the sea without regard to time or place and have no home life, no love of locality, as the terms are understood among birds and other animals. This is not. strictly true. There is every reason to suppose that even the roaming fishes descend to favored regions in the deep sea year after year, and have localities of their choice. Before glancing at individual instances of home makers among fishes it may be interesting to observe the young and their struggle for life. The fishes increase in sev- eral ways. The majority deposit eggs, while in a few instances, as Ditrema, one of the Californian surf fishes, the young are born alive. Many of the fishes have a sense of parental responsibility. Others devour their own eggs or young; such are the herrings, sardines, barracuda, bluefish, and mackerel (Fig. 18), which in most cases undoubtedly deposit their eggs on or near the surface, to become the prey of many animals. As soon as the young fishes appear, sea birds observe them, and from then until they attain the adult stage they are followed by scores of predatory animals, their lives being preserved only by a constant struggle to evade some watchful enemy. It is evident, then, that very few fishes comparatively, escape or live to reach the adult size, and were it not that they deposit vast num- bers of eggs they would soon become extinct. Thus, the common eel deposits 8,000,000 eggs. It is estimated that each female codfish deposits 9,300,000 eggs, which rise to YOUNG FISHES 43 the surface and afford food for many fishes. Others famous for their vast numbers are as follows :— WEIGHT OF SPAWN | EsTIMATED NUMBER FISH IN GRAMS OF EGGs Haddock — 1,839.531 Carp . 2571 500,000 Conger Eel 8 lbs. 3,300,000 Flounder 2200 1,357,400 Herring . 480 36,900 Mackerel 122 546,681 Perch 765 28,323 Pike . 5100 49,304 Roach 361 81,586 Smelt 149 38,278 Sole . 542 100,362 Turbot 5 lb. 9 oz. 14,311,200 Cod. . — 9,300,000 Lumpfish — 400,000 Halibut . —— 3,500,000 Sturgeon — 7,635,200 Fish spawn as a rule resembles an enormous mass of minute spheres, ranging from those almost invisible in the water, to others as large as the head of a pin. Some are deposited singly, others in bunches, some fastened by strings of mucus to seaweed. Others are buried in the sand or among the rocks, and many finny egg layers, to be referred to later, are remarkable nest builders, ranking among some of the birds in this respect. Among the interesting egg layers are certain sharks and rays. One, taken from the waters of Santa Catalina Island, is the Port Jackson shark, the egg of which is almost as large 44 YOUNG FISHES as the hand of a child, inclosed in a thick, black, leathery case coiled in a perfect spiral and so remarkable in its resemblance to the seaweed or kelp in which it is laid by the fish, that it is perfectly protected. Some of the dog- fishes lay an egg that in shape is like a barrow with four handles which wind about the weed and swing in the current, — perfect mimics of the surrounding weed (Fig. 19). This is true of the rays; and the eggs of the singular fish Chimera are deposited in thick, leathery cases. The egg case of the fish Callorhynchus is mar- FIG. 19. — BARROW-LIKE EGG OF A SHARK. velous in its mimicry, resembling, almost perfectly, in color, shape, and movement, the leaf of the fucus, to which it is attached. Equally interesting is the egg of the hagfish, Myxine, that is found enveloped in a bundle of mucus. The eggs are oval, fifteen millimeters long and eight milli- meters broad, enveloped in a horny case. From the ends extend masses of threads, each of which ends in a triple hook that serves as an anchor to hold the egg to seaweed or other objects. These eggs are rarely noticed by preda- tory animals. They are deserted by the parents, the young YOUNG FISHES 45 breaking their way out when fully developed, and being exposed to all the dangers to which young fishes are sub- jected. — Among the fishes which care for their eggs none adopt a more remarkable method than the Aspredo, a South American catfish which when depositing the eggs settles down upon them like a hen upon her young. But here the resemblance ends; as the Aspredo rises, could the reader follow, he would see that the eggs were all clinging to her, being carried about in this way until they are hatched. This fish with one other, Solenostoma, is the only well-authenticated instance known where the mother fish cares for the young or displays any solici- tude for them, the responsibilities all devolving upon the male parent. The Chromis, found in Lake Tiberias, shows its solicitude for the eggs in a singular way. As soon as they are deposited, the male fish seizes them in his capacious mouth and carries them carefully, not only until they are hatched, but so long that finally the grow- ing youngsters force his large mouth and gills open, giving him a ludi- crous appearance. Pro- fessor Agassiz found a little fish in South America that protected its eggs and OEE in FIG. 20.— THE SEA HORSE. this way, and it is be- lieved that there are several others. The little sea horses (Fig. 20) and their allies have a method of protecting their eggs which recalls the kangaroo, although it should be 46 THE NEST-BUILDING FISHES remembered that it is the male, not the female, that has the pouch into which the eggs are received. In others of this group there is no pouch, the eggs being merely attached to the abdomen. In the Solenostoma from the Indian Ocean, a pouch is formed in the female by the folding of the ventral fins, and in this the eggs are held in place by long fleshy filaments. This is the second instance known to me where the mother displays any solicitude for her young. THE NEST-BUILDING FISHES A few fishes resemble the birds in their skill in build- ing nests for their young. The salmon and trout may be compared to the gulls, as the nest which they are sup- posed to form in the sand is merely a depression where the eggs are deposited. Certain birds, like the brush turkey, erect large mounds of earth and leaves in which their eggs are deposited. This method finds a counter- part in the Semotilus, a fish common in many Northern streams. Once in poling a boat along in one of the shal- low bays among the Thousand Islands, I ran aground on what appeared to be a miniature mountain of pebbles, which ranged in size from a small marble to that of a walnut weighing two ounces. There were thousands of stones, and the heap must have weighed nearly a ton. Each stone had been brought to the spot in the mouth of a patient Semotilus, and the heap represented the accumulation of many seasons. It was the nest of the fish, the eggs deposited upon it sinking into the crevices, THE NEST-BUILDING FISHES 47 which would afford protection to the young. Several of these nests were scattered about in the little bays near Westminster Park, and were not supposed to be nests of fishes by the dwellers thereabouts. FIG. 21. — STICKLEBACK AND NEST. The lamprey eel builds a similar structure for the pro- tection of its eggs. One nest observed in the Saco River was sixteen feet in length by four in height, and was formed of stones ranging in size from that of a nut to that of half a brick. These building materials the ]am- preys brought down the stream in their suckerlike mouths 48 THE NEST-BUILDING FISHES in a very ingenious fashion. In the case of a heavy stone they would attach themselves, sometimes two eels to a stone, and by a convulsive movement wriggle themselves upward from the bottom; then they would allow the cur- rent to carry them down to the nest, where the stone would be dropped. At this nest many eels worked until it as- sumed almost the proportions of a dam and constituted a rocky fortress, protecting thousands of young lampreys. One of the best known of the nest builders is the stickle- back, nearly all of the family being nest builders (Fig. 21) and some displaying great ingenuity in the-construction of the home. In those kept by the author the males per- formed all the work. These fishes were at this period tinted with pink, especially about the head. They would collect small bits of grass and weed, reminding one of birds gathering material for their nests. These objects were deposited in some corner of the aquarium until a little mound that had been molded into a definite shape was the result. The fish had a bobbin-shaped body and would dash into the nest, sometimes passing completely through it, as shown in the illustration drawn from some pets of the author; again rubbing itself against it, then darting off, savagely attacking some enemy that had the temerity to approach. The movements of the fish about the nest will not be understood unless they are carefully watched. It is binding its building material together by a magic and glasslike cord which it takes from a pore on the lower side of its body. If observed closely, it can be seen rubbing itself against the weed, the peculiar secre- tion sticking wherever it touches, and hardening into a cord or thread, which binds the nest together as com- THE NEST-BUILDING FISHES 49 pletely as if it had been wound about with strings. When the nest is finished, the eggs are placed in or attached to it and there find protection. There the little fishes live until they are large enough to stray away. The mother fish does not exhibit the slightest solicitude for the eggs or young, and deserts the nest as soon as the eggs are deposited. But the male takes her place and stands guard, at- tacking all comers, and even darting at a fin- ger when it is pointed at him. When the little ones appear, his labors are greatly in- creased, and he is repeatedly observed to draw wandering fishes into his mouth and expel them vio- lently into the nest. FIG. 22. — PARADISE FISH AND NEST. Finally, however, they grow too large to be herded, they gradually separate, and the nest is broken up. One of the most attractive nests that I have seen in course of construction was that of the paradise fish (Fig. 22), a beautiful creature found in Chinese and East In- dian lakes and streams. This fish has a rich green tint, with long, plumelike fins which reach out behind, giving it a particularly graceful appearance. The nest is of air bubbles, and is formed very much after the soap-bubble HOLDER, F. R. & B.— 4 50 THE NEST-BUILDING FISHES fashion. The male fish rises to the surface, and with a distinct clicking sound fills its diminutive mouth with air, which it holds for a few seconds and then releases, the air escaping as a silvery bubble, which rises to the surface and remains there. The air bubble has in some manner been surrounded by a delicate envelope, so that it is really a miniature balloon. To this the fish soon adds another and another, until a raft of bubbles as large as a dime is observed floating on the surface. This is added to until there are two rows, and the entire mass is a double-decked raft of air bubbles the size of a watch. In this floating nest the eggs are deposited, and there the young paradise fishes find their first food. | In Californian waters are found the egg mass of the blue perch fastened to the kelp by strings of some secre- tion, there evidently being an attempt to fasten them to- gether in a rude nest. The most perfect nest of this kind is that of the little fish Antennarius, common in the Gulf weed. Like the stickleback it has a pore from which it takes a glutinous secretion which turns white as soon as it touches the water, and soon becomes very strong. This secretion is wound around masses of floating weed until a compact nest as large as a Dutch cheese is the result. In_ this the eggs are placed, FIG. 23. —TOADFISH. resembling little rubies dotting the branches. Here they remain until hatched, the young fishes feeding upon the delicate growths which abound, until they are large THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE 51 enough to care for themselves. A number of South American fishes are nest builders, notably the Acara. The East Indian Gourami, which came originally from Co- chin China, forms a nest from mud and grass, building the structure in a week. In this the eggs, numbering about one thousand, are placed. The Ophiocephalus, an allied fish, has a similar habit; and many similar instances could be Fic, 24.— THE DACE. cited to show that the fishes have more intelligence than is generally accorded them and possess no little building or constructive ability. The toadfish (Fig. 23) forms a simple nest for its young, and the common black-nosed dace (Fig. 24) builds a mound-like nest. THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE Having observed the habits of the parent fishes in their egg laying and nest building, it may be interesting to go a step farther and follow the young fishes in the struggle for existence which marks every stage in their lives. At the hatching time—-March, April, May, or June —the waters often seem filled With small fry, and birds and larger fishes snap them up by thousands. When the young first appear, they are almost invisible and are then food for the small fishes. Their numbers are soon 52 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE decimated, for the school is followed day and night by a marauding horde. Often these enemies are the fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of the young fishes, as, in a family of millions, ties of relationship are lost sight of, and the family of a preceding season greedily devours those of the following, and even their own progeny. The great majority of fishes, as the cod, flounders, hake, young shark, herring, bluefish, and their allies, are at once thrown upon their own resources and but a very small percentage escape. The Acara, previously referred to, carries its young for some time in its mouth. The lumpfish, which has a singular sucker on its ventral surface by which it can anchor itself, is followed about by its progeny as chickens or ducks follow their parent, though in this case it is the male that stands by the family. He it is that builds a nest for them, and when they are hatched he must face a most remarkable proposi- tion. The number of eggs is estimated at from two hun- dred thousand to four hundred thousand, and the few survivors very soon fasten themselves to the father fish and are carried about by him. The lumpfish or sucker is called the hen and chickens, as it is often seen swimming slowly along, followed by its numerous young. The young of the great armored gar- fish have a peculiar method of protection. The eggs are large and easily attach themselves to any rock or stick. The young, when they first appear, have little or no resemblance to the parent. They have large mouths over which is a row of suckers by which the little gar- fishes attach themselves to the rocks. Later these arrange- ments disappear. THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE 53 The fish in the Jordan known as Halch and several of its allies have a peculiar habit of carrying their young in their mouths. If we could watch some fishes when they first appear, it would be seen that they bear little or no resemblance to the parent. So marked is this in some instances that the young fishes have been FIG. 25. — YOUNG SwoRDFISH. described as en- tirely different individuals. The swordfish, regarding whose breeding habits very little is known, is supposed to deposit its eggs on the high seas. When the young appear, they are very strange little creatures, with enor- mous eyes, two beaks, equal in length (Fig. 25), and many other points in which they differ from the adult. Many young fishes have strange ornamental fins which disappear when they attain their full growth. Such is the Fierasfer, which has a dorsal fin that mimics a vine. Another has what resembles two plumes over the eyes. But the most marvelous change is seen in the little flat- fishes or flounders. When very young they swim upright, have an eye on each side, and to all intents and purposes resemble other fishes, as the archer fish. But as they grow older they assume the wide flounder shape, and soon seek the bottom of sandy flats and develop a tendency to lie down. This brings one side against the bottom and renders the eye useless. The latter seems to resent this, as it begins to move over to the upper side (Fig. 26), the mouth gradually twisting itself into a shape to conform to 54 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE the new position. In time the eye completes its travels, and ,we find it on the upper side, having passed com- pletely around the upper or dorsal edge of the fish. Fic, 26, —SHOWING THE JOURNEY OF THE EYE OF A FLOUNDER. After Agassiz. When this is accomplished, the dorsal or top fin grows forward beyond the level of the eyes. An exception to this is found in the flounder, Plagusia, in which the dorsal fin grows to the snout, while the fish has an eye upon each side. The fin appears to form a barrier to this wonderful trav- eling eye, which seems almost to have an_ intel- ligence of its own. But it is not to be foiled, and instead of FIG. 27. — A FLOUNDER. attempting to pass the fence-like dorsal fin or frill, it sinks into the soft tissue and comes out upon the opposite side. Finally we see the flounder hugging the sand, with its two eyes on top moving about independently, while the mouth is screwed and twisted out of shape to conform to the new condition of affairs. THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE 55 A Japanese naturalist, Mr. Nishikawa, has discovered another method, intermediate between the two, where there is a distinct hole formed by the dorsal fin and the head, through which the wandering eye passes in its journey to the upper side. Many young fishes are armed with curious spines which disappear later on. Young fishes soon assume the habits of their parents. The sharks separate in all directions; the sardines and _ herring (Fig. 28) cling together from the very first and form schools, which are HERRING. > FIG, 28. — followed by predatory fishes without cessation. I have seen a school of young sardines, composed of tens of thousands, so intimidated that they formed a seemingly solid ball about ten feet across. Around this swam a seal, occasionally dash- ing into it and seizing a mouthful, then darting away to prevent the escape of the school. This seal succeeded in keeping the school in almost the same position for over half an hour. Soon other enemies gathered; loons, cor- morants, and other diving birds were swimming beneath the water, darting into the midst of the frightened fishes and devouring them by the score. On the outskirts hungry yellowtails hovered about and picked up the stragglers, and the complete destruction of the school seemed about to be accomplished. The young flying fishes, which I have observed dart- ing out of the water like grasshoppers, form an illustra- tion of fishes which do not school closely. A thousand might spread themselves over many acres, while the sar- 56 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE dines and herrings generally swim in close file, massed in great silver bodies that to the animals below them must present the appearance of a silver sky. It is very evident that did not nature prevent it, almost complete extermina- tion would be the result of the depredations of the large fishes. But nature is a perfect care taker. The little flounder drops to the bottom and is enabled to disguise itself by imitating the object upon which it rests. When FIG. 29.— A SEA HORSE THAT RESEMBLES SEAWEED. on white sand, it is very light; when on a brown bottom, its flat, broad back is brown, and almost perfectly pro- tected from observation. This power of concealment is called protective resemblance or mimicry, and is possessed by many fishes. The young sculpin is a marvelous mimic, and can hardly be distinguished from the rocks among which it hides. The little Antennarius, the nest builder of the Sargasso Sea, mimics its surroundings in shape and THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE 57 color; and that the protection is not accidental can be shown’ by changing the fishes from a light to a dark bottom and back again. One of the sea horses mimics seaweed (Fig. 29). The changes are produced by lights and colors which create certain impressions that are car- ried from the eye to the various pigment cells, making some contract, some expand, producing the changes. That the eye is the medium has been shown by sever- ing the optic nerve on one side; the result would be a fish striped on one side and light brown on the other. Nearly all the bottom fishes are thus protected. Young fishes often find safety in strange places. Many of the large jelly fishes, especially in the tropics, afford shelter to minute fishes, usually allied to the mackerels, which dart about beneath the crystal-like umbrellas and mimic the tentacles or streamers of their protectors so perfectly that it is almost impossible to distinguish them. In a large number of jelly fishes I have examined on the Florida reef there was rarely one that did not have at- tendants in the guise of young fishes. Even the beautiful yet deadly Portuguese man-of-war had several attendants, marvelous in their mimicry, as each fish (Nomeus) was the exact tint of the blue tentacles of the fairylike animal. The rate at which fishes grow and the age which they attain, are interesting subjects of study. Some grow very rapidly, especially the herrings, which appear to be full grown in five, eight, or nine months; others require several years to attain full growth. The temperature of the water and the food supply are important factors which must be considered. The rapid growers, such as the herrings, which soon attain a certain size and then 58 THE SHARKS AND RAYS stop growing, are believed to be short lived. Those which slowly and steadily grow, as the pike and carp, Fic. 30. — THE PICKEREL. undoubtedly attain a ripe old age, passing the century mark. Sir John Lubbock gives the age of carp as one hundred and fifty years. THE SHARKS AND RAYS The sharks and rays differ very materially from fishes in general, in the fact that they have no bones, the so- called skeleton or frame being formed of cartilage, easily bent, twisted, or cut with a knife. Not- withstanding this, the sharks (Fig. 31) are among the fierce ma- rauders of the ocean, ; the tigers of the sea, Pic. 31 THE SHARK ny preying upon — all forms of life, not hesitating to attack man if a favorable opportunity is presented. The dogfishes are small sharks THE SHARKS AND RAYS 59 which swim in droves, carrying devastation before them; but the large sharks move about individually and are met with all over the world, even in fresh water. One is found at Bagdad three hundred and fifty miles from salt water. Another lives in Lake Nicaragua. The largest shark is the great Rhinodon, which in the Indian Ocean attains a length of sixty or seventy feet. It is a harmless creature with minute teeth, showing that it preys upon very small animals. In American waters there is a cousin of this giant in the basking sharks which attains a length of from fifty to seventy-five feet. These sharks have a peculiar habit of lying at the surface, or basking, and at such times can be harpooned. During the last century an important fishery was carried on at Cape Cod. A large school of these sharks was discovered off Monterey, California, in 1898, and their capture attempted by some skillful Jap- anese fishermen. But a fish which was supposed to be dead having suddenly revived, destroying two boats and killing several of the men, the fishing was given up. The greater number of sharks prey upon other fishes and are scavengers, feeding upon dead animals after the manner of buzzards and condors. The large, so-called man-eater sharks attain a length of thirty-six feet or more, such a specimen having been taken in Australia. I have taken sharks of various kinds, ranging up to thir- teen feet in length and have a high respect for this animal’s strength and activity. One which I kept in an inclosure for some months towed my boat several miles before it was captured. It seized the keel in its jaws and shook it as a cat would a mouse; and it required 60 THE SHARKS AND RAYS twenty men to haul it into the inclosure. A hammer- head shark which ,I hooked and caught at Santa Catalina towed me out to sea and was not stopped until four rowboats were fastened to it. The hammerhead is a remarkable creature, its head being a perfect hammer in shape, the eyes located upon the extremities. It isa bold and active animal, and the largest specimen ever taken, twelve feet in length, fol- lowed the fishing boats and robbed them of fish despite a combined attack against it. Equally remarkable is the thresher shark (Fig. 32), the upper lobe of the tail of which is almost as long as the body of the fish. It is said to use this whiplash’ to kill small fry and is known to beat the water with it when FIG, 32. — THRESHER SHARK. making its attacks. It is assumed by many that the so-called sea serpent is a deep sea shark, such an eel-shaped creature having been found in Japanese waters. Among the small sharks one is luminous over its entire surface; the dogfishes have a spine in front of each dorsal fin, while the little Port Jackson shark, common about Santa Catalina, California, has a peculiar pink nail-like spine in front of each dorsal fin. This shark lies coiled up among the rocks much of the time; its egg is a spiral, leathery object, that is a perfect mimic of the weed in which it lies. These sharks have several kinds of teeth, those in the back resembling crushers. THE SHARKS AND RAYS 61 Among the large forms is the great blue shark, which attains a length of twenty-five or thirty feet. The white shark is even larger, and like it is to be dreaded in the open sea. A huge helpless shark twenty feet long, with minute teeth is common in the Gulf of California, where it is supposed to feed upon kelp. The large sharks often Fic, 33. — THE SKATE. follow vessels at sea, eating the refuse that is thrown over. In dissecting a huge shark I took from it several tin cans of meat, that had been partly opened, con- demned, and thrown over, three or four hoofs of beeves, an old rope, and part of the skull of an ox with a remnant of the horn attached. A large man-eater caught in Indian waters contained the almost com- 62 THE SHARKS AND RAYS plete body of a horse, —an indication of the shark’s enormous appetite. The rays (Fig. 35), the broad flat fishes with winglike fins and long, slender, whiplike tails, often guarded by spines, are closely related to the sharks. Nearly all live at the bottom of the sea and prey upon the animals found there, as flounders, crayfish, lobsters, and others, which they crush with their singular pavement-like teeth. Most of the small rays settle down upon their victims and endeavor to prevent escape with the enormously developed FIG. 34. — THE SAWFISH. side fins which move like wings. The mouth is then pro- truded and the prey crushed and eaten. The whip rays, black as jet, with a long tail like the lash of a whip, pre- sent a very graceful appearance as they glide away over the white reef. In the sawfish the head is prolonged into a sword (Fig. 34), the edges of which have ivory teeth. In capturing its prey the sawfish dashes into the school, striking from side to side, impaling some, cutting down others, then deliberately picking up the pieces. In some instances the saw is six or seven feet in length and twelve inches across, making the animal one of the most formi- dable of all fishes. One of the rays, the torpedo, is a powerful elec- trician, fishermen having been knocked down by its shock. Some are giants and among the largest of fishes. DRY-LAND FISHES 63 Such is the devil fish or manta (Fig. 35). One taken in South American waters weighed two tons. Another at Barbadoes required fourteen oxen to drag it ashore, and a naturalist de- scribes one wider than the ship from which he observed it. Specimens from fifteen to twenty feet wide have been observed in the Gulf of Mexico, and small vessels have been towed by them. Fic. 35. — THE GIANT RAY, In nearly all, the young are born alive, but some rays deposit curious barrow-shaped eggs of a black, leathery consistence with four filaments which clasp the weed. Allied to the sharks and rays is the strange Chimeera. I have dredged these fishes in deep water in the Santa Catalina channel and kept them alive for a limited time. Over the mouth is a curious clasping organ, and the eye is a most beautiful object, large, clear, and a blue only comparable to that of the water in which the fish lives. The eggs of some of these forms are remarkable for their resemblance to seaweed. DRY-LAND FISHES Among the fishes none are more interesting than those which spend part of their time out of the water (Fig. 36). When the story was first told of a climbing perch, a fish O4 DRY-LAND FISHES that crawled out of the water and remained out of. its native element for hours, it was denounced as the fabri- cation of a practical joker; but now it is known that this little fish not only climbs logs and trees, but migrates across country from one pool to another at will. In Fic. 36.—1. WALKING FISH; 2, CLIMBING PERCH; 3. CATFISH. South America. South America the fish known as Doras leaves the water and by the aid of its pectoral fins, which now ap- pear to serve as legs, it wriggles along in bands of such numbers that they are often followed by birds and other animals, and even the natives capture them at such times. DRY-LAND FISHES 65 The migrations of the Doras are for the purpose of securing a better water supply. If the pool in which they live begins to dry up they immediately desert it and wan- der across the country until a fresh pool is found into which they plunge. The migrations of the climbing perch are undertaken, in all probability, for the same reason, and scores of these fishes have been observed struggling through the grass, wending their way overland. In the climbing perch the gill cover can be moved easily and the spines upon it are used by the fish to aid in its travels. The gill chamber is larger than in other fishes and has gills proper and singular chambers for the re- ception of air (Fig. 37). The fish can not live upon the air it re- ceives from the water alone. When it is in the water it breathes by its gills, but when it is on land, or when it rises to the surface, as it often does, it fills the little chambers with air which is taken up directly by the blood vessels. So it might be said that Anabas has lungs for breathing air directly, and gills to take it indirectly from the water. FIG. 37.— GILLS OF CLIMBING PERCH. In many parts of the tropics, notably in Africa and Australia, there is a dry season. Pools, lakes, and ponds disappear and with them every trace of animal life. What has been the bottom of a pool, alive with fishes and other animals, becomes a dust-swept, barren depression. Should HOLDER, F. R. & B.— 5 66 DRY-LAND FISHES a heavy rain come we might well imagine that fishes had been rained down, as the water is soon filled with them. But there is another explanation. The fishes which lived in the pool were hibernators ; in other words, when the water began to disappear they burrowed deep into the mud, formed a case about themselves, smooth and polished upon the inside, by the aid of their mucus, and there, in what is in all probability an air- tight case, they slept during the dry season (Fig. ~ 38), only awaken- ing when the wel- come rain came again and dissolved the cell. The Pro- topterus, found all over tropical Africa, is an eel- like creature, at- FIG. 38. — LUNG FISH AND ITS BURROW. taining a length of six feet, its four fins resembling legs or flippers. The Australian Ceratodus is a similar fish which at times leaves the water and wanders through the rushes on the dry land. In Brazil another form, the Lepidosiren, is found with similar habits. The air bladder in these fishes seems to have taken on the functions of a true lung by which they breathe when DRY-LAND FISHES 67 out of water, but when swimming they breathe by gills with which they are also supplied. These fishes will live in a moist place out of water a week, and cases of hiber- nating fish have been sent to England in a trunk. In these instances the fishes are to a certain extent forced from what would seem to be their.native element; but in the Mauritius Islands and Western Africa certain fishes called gobies (Fig. 39) are found that deliberately leave the water and wander along the muddy shores in search of food. At this time they use the greatly devel- oped side or pec- toral fins as feet and hop along so rapidly that, ac- cording to Colonel Nicholas Pike, United States con- sul at the Mauritius, it is very difficult to catch them. He secured his specimens, as he would birds, with a shotgun. There are several varieties of these land- FIG. 39. — FISHES THAT LEAVE THE WATER. affecting gobies. All have blunt heads and prominent eyes, and all feed along the muddy shores and are seen resting upon the dry roots and trunks of the mangrove trees. Nearly all these fishes require fresh air and are often observed, as the armored gar, rising to the surface; if forcibly kept below, they would doubtless suffocate. 68 WEAPONS OF FISHES WEAPONS OF FISHES The methods of defense with which nature has endowed many fishes afford an interesting study. Mention has already been made of fishes which escape detection by mimicking the bottom, as the sculpins and flounders; there are countless others which are provided with a Fic. 40. — THE SWORDFISH. defensive armament, more or less effective. One of the most conspicuous is the swordfish (Fig. 40), whose upper jaw is prolonged into a sword which the fish often drives through its enemies, and sometimes through the oak-bound hulls of ships. Scores of instances could be given, show- ing the ferocity of these fishes. It is probable that when they strike a vessel, they believe it to be a whale or some other enemy. The force with which this sword is wielded is terrific, and a single illustration will suffice. The ship Fortune, having sprung a leak at sea, was obliged to put into port. When the cargo was unloaded the sword of a large sword- fish was found piercing the hull, causing the leak. It had WEAPONS OF FISHES 69 penetrated (1) the copper; (2) an inch board undersheath- ing ; (3) a three-inch plank of hard wood, (4) twelve inches of solid white oak timber, and (5) the head of an oil cask where it stopped, not allowing a drop of oil to escape. The swordfishes fight one another, and I once found a specimen which had been run through and through. They kill their prey with the sword by slashing from side to side, cutting the small fry into pieces, then leisurely picking them up. After a charge of a swordfish into a school of mackerel barrels of wounded fish have been col- FIG. 41. — ELECTRIC CATFISH. lected by fishermen. The sawfish, one of the raylike fishes, has a terrific weapon in its sword which has some resem- blance to that of the swordfish, and bears upon its sides ivory teeth, which lacerate fishes under the heavy side blows which the fish makes when charging a school. One of the rays, an eel, and a catfish (Fig. 41) are pro- vided with an electrical apparatus that is an effective armament and protection. The moment the torpedo ray is touched, its curious eyes are depressed and a powerful shock is given, so vigorous a defense that fishermen have been knocked down by it, the shock passing up the handle of the spear which the men were using. The electric batteries of this fish lie on each side of the 70 WEAPONS OF FISHES head and resemble vertical hexagonal prisms crowded together, each being a little cell filled with a clear jelly- like substance. Eight hundred of these cells have been counted, and remarkable experiments made. The electric current from the fish will magnetize a needle and can be made to produce a spark. When a circuit is completed, including the fish, powerful shocks can be given to a num- ber of people. When the powers of the fish were first discovered it was publicly used as a cure for many dis- eases and hundreds of persons received the shocks. The upper surface of the battery is posi- tive, the lower negative. In all about fif- teen different vari- eties of electric rays are known, and they are sometimes the FIG. 42,— THE ELECTRIC EEL. cause of the tem- porary disablement of fishermen. By its batteries the ray is able to benumb and even kill its prey. The batteries are also used in defense, as the moment a shark attempts to seize one of these rays, it receives a stunning shock. The Gymnotus or electric eel of South America (Fig. 42) is provided with an electric armament even more dangerous. The batteries are two pairs of organs just below the skin: one pair back of the tail, and the other near the anal fin. The cells are very small, as many as two hundred and forty being found in a square inch of surface. In the lakes and streams where they abound these eels have been caught at WEAPONS OF FISHES 71 times by driving wild horses into the pools. The rushing and stamping of the horses cause the eels to resent the attack with such powerful shocks that they are soon ex- hausted and can be handled. Some of the eels are six feet in length, and the slightest attack by an enemy is sufficient to bring out this wonderful muscular action which takes the form of a violent electric shock. When white people first visited tropical Africa, they found that some of the natives used a singular test to dis- cover the guilt of suspected persons. The accused party FIG. 43. — THE PORCUPINE FISH. Inflated. was obliged to hold a small catfish, and if he could do so without displaying pain, innocence was assumed. The catfish is now known as an electrician and is employed by the natives as a medicine. The entire body of the little fish is covered with electric cells, and the shock is com- pared to that of a Leyden jar. In some fishes the scales are developed to constitute weapons of defense. This is well illustrated in the porcu- pine fish. The first specimen that I caught was in the Gulf of Mexico. When taken from the hook it was about a foot in length, and was covered with long ivory teeth 72 WEAPONS OF FISHES or spines, all pointed backward; but in a moment it began to swell, and very shortly was a perfect balloon, as shown in the accompanying illustration, with spines which, like those of the hedgehog, extended in an outward direc- tion. Another fish was dotted with short spines and puffed up in an equally singular manner (Fig. 43). Many of the fishes are provided with long sharp spines which prevent them from being readily swal- lowed. The little cobbler fish (Fig. 44) bears such a jagged spine upon its back. The dogfish has a spine in front of each dorsal fin, while the Port Jackson shark is armed in a similar manner. The 7 4 jagged, saw-toothed darts in the rays are placed at the base of the tail, one above the other, the longest being four or five inches in length and a formidable weapon. The little stickleback is armed with spines projecting in various direc- tions, while the catfishes have an armament of spears which every “fisherman has discovered. The “ weaver fishes have spines on the FIG. 44. — THE COBBLER all covers, which are very sharp, and while without poison sacs, are very dangerous. The spines of all fishes are their weapons of defense, while their scales, or plates, like those of the armored gar, or sturgeon, and their teeth, are features of their defense which enable them to hold their own in the great struggle for life in which all fishes seem to be involved. FLYING AND LEAPING FISHES 73 FLYING AND LEAPING FISHES To enable many fishes which have no _ particular methods of defense to escape, nature has given them marvelous soaring powers, so well illustrated in the different kinds of fly- ing fishes found all over the world. I have seen, at Santa Cata- lina, as many as forty or fifty flying fishes (Fig. 45) rise from the water at once; caught by. a heavy wind, they were raised many feet into the air, where they glis- tened like birds and soared away, some disappearing in the distance before they plunged back into the water. This was the Cali- fornia flying fish, the largest of its kind, and capable of soaring a fourth of a mile. The Californian flier is about a foot in length. Its side fins are developed into enormous winglike organs, the rays connected by a delicate web which in the sun resembles glass. The ventral fins also form wings, though very much smaller, so the flying fish really has four wings. But does it fly? I have watched hundreds of specimens during many years, have observed them pass over my boat, have been struck by them, and have seen my companions on more than one occasion hit 74 FLYING AND LEAPING FISHES by these living missiles, yet I have never observed the fish move its wings after it had fairly cleared itself of the water. The tail of the fish is an extraordinary organ, the lower lobe being much longer than the upper. When the fish is alarmed, it darts upward, impelled by a violent screwlike movement of the tail. So energetic is this action that it appears to impart a wriggling motion to the body, in turn imparted to the fins, giving them the appearance of being flapped. This lasts for but two or three seconds, then the fish assumes a position, two or _ three feet above the water, with its four wings or fins fixed and motionless and moves rapidly along, soaring, not flying. Having covered five hundred feet or more, its tail begins to droop and soon touches the surface, and if the fish desires to return to the water, it drops tail first; but if it is followed by its enemy, the tuna, or dolphin, the tail is seen to vibrate and whirl furiously, and the fish is again impelled into the air, assuming its original position and shooting along, upheld by the parachute-like wings. This act is repeated again and again, the fish soaring often for a fourth of a mile without returning to the water. At Santa Catalina Island, California, people and boats have been struck by them, and their motions can be watched at any time during the summer months. The wind aids them, and their power to turn depends almost wholly upon it. In the Atlantic there are ten varicties of flying fishes, all very much smaller than the one above mentioned. They are beautiful objects as they leap from wave to wave. In tropical and temperate seas is found the “ flying sea FLYING AND LEAPING FISHES 75 ’ robin,” one of the gurnards (Fig. 46), in which the side fins are enormously developed, enabling the fish to soar away over the water. The head is protected by a _ hard cuirass, and a blow from this flying fish is suffi- cient to knock a man down. They occasion- : ally blow aboard ships, FIG. 46.— THE SOARING SEA ROBIN. and are most common where large patches of weed float upon the surface of tropical or semitropic seas. They are richly colored and resemble brilliant insects in the air, the wings being sufficiently large to enable them to escape many enemies. Many fishes which can not fly have the power of leaping to a marvelous extent. I have often seen the small gar- fish or needle fish dash out of the water and skim along the surface for one hundred feet or more, and the large garfish of the tropical Pacific is accounted a dangerous fish from this habit. Natives have been impaled and killed by it, and one of the officers of the Challenger expedition was struck upon the head by a leaping garfish, its sharp bill striking his cap. The ordinary fresh-water pike has been known to leap from the water and seize young birds perched on an overhanging branch. Nearly all the mackerel tribe are famous for their leaping power, the tuna or Pacific horse mackerel making the most extraordinary exhibi- tions. The tuna follows the flying fish and rushes up from below, attempting to seize it in the air, which it 76 FLYING AND LEAPING FISHES sometimes accomplishes. I have séen one fail to seize a fish, but strike it such a violent blow three or four feet in the air that the flying fish went whirling upward like a pin wheel, to fall dead upon the water. Floating in the path of leaping tunas, I have seen scores of these fishes in the air at the same time, from four to ten feet above the surface. The leap is the picture-of grace, the tuna rising directly upward, turning and plunging into the sea head first, in marked contrast to the leap of the swordfish which, while hurling itself three feet from the water, invariably drops clumsily tail first. The per- formances of the leaping tuna are among the most exciting and beautiful exhibitions to be seen at sea. At Santa Catalina Island I have seen them driving the flying fishes into the air in flocks. The affrighted creatures soared in dozens under and over the boat, crouching beneath it in fear of these tigers of the sea. The latter swept in like arrows, now in the air, now lashing the water into foam at the surface, following the flying fish with unerring eye and leaping so near the boat that there was danger of one landing in it. Had this occurred, there could have been but one result. The tuna, six feet in length, weighing one hundred and fifty or two hundred pounds, would have crashed through the bottom. The vision of the tuna is remarkably acute. I once saw a flying fish coming toward me, watched it pass over the boat within three feet of my face, while the tuna passed beneath the boat in its wild race and caught the unfortunate fish as it struck the water fifty feet beyond. The tuna also leaps in play, and its only rival as THE VALUE OF FISHES TO MAN. 77 an acrobat is the giant herring, the tarpon or silver king, one of the most beautiful of all fishes, with enormous scales which seem covered with molten silver. The tarpon is found along the Atlantic coast, rarely as far north as New York, being most common on the Gulf coasts of Florida and Texas. It has been seen to leap ten feet into the air and thirty feet in a horizontal direc- tion. When alarmed, a tarpon has been known to leap aboard of a steamer in the St. John’s River, and in Texas a large fish leaped into a small boat, passing completely through it. The most persistent and beautiful leapers are the sal- mon and salmon trout. The former in ascending falls to deposit their spawn, leap high falls and rush up water ways, showing remarkable agility. The steelhead, a large trout, has been known to leap six or seven feet into the air when hooked, and it often takes high leaps when in play. THE VALUE OF FISHES TO MAN The fishes which throng almost every body of water have a decided value to mankind. Aside from what is called their commercial value they have their various offices to fill and duties to perform in the plan of nature. The fishes are the direct support of thousands of people all over the world, and the amount of money invested yearly in boats, nets, lines, hooks, rods, and sinkers, if expressed in money, would represent an enormous sum. Fishes constitute an important food item the world over. In some countries fish is the chief article of diet,and in all 78 THE VALUE OF FISHES TO MAN lands the demand for fish on Fridays alone means the ex. penditure of millions. To capture this fish supply fisher- men have invested their all, and capitalists have formed companies, with thousands of dollars at stake. Some of the most remarkable fisheries are the Ameri- can cod (Fig. 47) fisheries on the Grand Banks, several hundred vessels and several thousand men being employed. Gloucester, Massachusetts, is said to be the city of widows and orphans, due to the fatalities on the Grand Banks, as every year there are many wrecks and accidents. The FIG. 47. — THE Cop. cod-liver oil industry alone is one of stupendous propor- tions, involving thousands of dollars. On the northwest coast the salmon canneries employ hundreds of men, and at various points along our coast and that of England we find sardine and other canneries. The skin of small sharks or dogfish is made into leather or shagreen, and the oil from the liver is employed in machinery. The natives of the South Pacific islands use sharks’ teeth as edges to their swords, while in China shark fins are in demand for the gelatine they produce. From Kurrachee alone the fins of forty thousand sharks are shipped annually, and in one year Bombay has sent - THE VALUE OF FISHES TO MAN 79 to China eight thousand hundredweight of fins alone, to take which, large numbers of professional sharkers are employed. The little candle fish of Alaska is used as a light, being fastened to a stick, and when lighted burning with a clear flame. The sturgeon fisheries of Alaska are very valuable, while those of Russia alone afford employment to a hun- dred thousand persons. The flesh is eaten, while the eggs as caviare are shipped all over the world. The mackerel fishery is one of the most important, affording a direct living to a large number of persons on the New England coast. Fic. 48. — THE REMORA. The salmon fisheries of Alaska are of enormous pro- portions, and in one year the owners received from the rest of the world nearly $3,000,000 in exchange for their catch of salmon, which goes to the support of seven thousand persons in Alaska. In the north the fishes produce food, and the skin of the air bladder of some is used as glass, the bones and teeth in buttons and orna- ments, and the oil as light, food, and medicine; in every land men, women, and children are found obtaining a living directly from the fishes. The swordfish fishery is a valuable one in New England, where a fleet of vessels follow the swordsmen of the sea. 80 THE SALAMANDERS The harpooner stands upon the end of the bowsprit and plunges his lily iron into the fish as the vessel sails over it. (. pe FIG. 49. —CATCHING TURTLES WITH REMORAS. A strange use to which fishes are put is illustrated by the remora or sucking fish, which has a peculiar sucking disk upon the top of its head (Fig. 48), by which it attaches itself to sharks, and I have seen it hold- ing on to a large turtle. The fisher- “men of _ tropical waters are said to capture turtles by fastening a ring about a remora’s tail, then by using a long cord releasing it in the vicinity of aturtle. True to its instinct, the fish attaches itself to the sleeping animal, which is slowly hauled in (Fig. 49). REPTILES THE SALAMANDERS Some years ago I found myself deep in the great north- ern forest which covers the Adirondack country, having strayed from the beaten trail. All about rose pillarlike trees, moss-grown and ancient, the leaves and branches of which had fallen for years and remained ‘undisturbed. THE SALAMANDERS 81 Great trunks lay prostrate, matted with a carpet of green, up through which the fronds of ferns and. brakes pro- truded. The air was soft and redolent with the odor of pine and spruce. Everywhere there was something to attract the eye, yet the noticeable feature of this forest was the silence; hardly a sound broke the stillness save when the soft wind rose and some vagrant branch played upon a neighbor, or the needles of the pine swept the air like vibrant strings. As I listened, there came “om-omm-om-m-m,” a peculiar, deep, booming sound from far away. It might have been the defiant note of the moose, but there were none of these animals here. Again it came, and I turned and followed it as well as possible for an hour, finally coming to a small lake, to find that the mystery was a ponderous bullfrog * could be heard at least two miles with the wind, so penetrating was the remarkable whose resonant croak or “ bellow’ sound. This pool was a veritable wonderland, with its snakes, turtles, frogs, and the many curious forms which popularly pass as salamanders. On one side the water was covered with pond lilies, a beautiful contrast to the verdure which surrounded the pool. Among them was found a jellylike mass (Fig. 50, c ), dotted with black spots, —the eggs of a frog, possibly of the kind that had lured the stroller through the forest. Some of the jelly was carried back to camp and placed in a little nook of a large lake, where the various stages in the transformation were watched, from an egg to a tailed animal breathing air in water like a fish, to a perfect amphibian, living on land and breathing air after the fashion of land animals. In the half hours devoted to fishes the great difference HOLDER, F. R. & B. —6 82 ~ THE SALAMANDERS between the habits of the sardines, as an example, and the Amia and Lepidosiren must have been noticed. The former rely so completely upon water that a few mo- ments without it are sufficient to kill them, and so with FIG. 50.— FROG EGGs AND ‘YOUNG. the majority of fishes. But with the Amia and others it is entirely different. They seem to be pioneers of a new movement in fish life. One might almost believe that dis- content with marine life was taking place and that the THE SALAMANDERS 83 fishes were determined to leave the water and climb out upon dry land; and practically this is what is happening, as certain fishes leave: the water and crawl along shore, being especially adapted by nature for the change. These fishes remind us very much of certain reptiles whose lives illustrate the remarkable fact that Nature in her onward march has seemingly prepared the way for the land animals by producing the marvelous group which now may be glanced at, animals which live on the land or in the water ; in a word, areamphibious. The changes which these animals undergo, from the egg to the adult, tell so many remarkable stories, disclose so many secrets, that it is well to follow them. The little egg mass (Fig. 50, c ) seems but mere jelly, but day by day it changes, and a minute, long-tailed creature can soon be seen in the egg, looking beneath the glass very much like a fish. Daily it grows, becoming more active, until, in a week or two, it breaks from its jelly prison and appears upon a new scene, and is known as a tadpole (Fig. 50, 1). It has two small suckers behind its mouth with which it clings to bits of weed, the common attitude being shown in the accom- panying illustrations. Now the wonderful transformation begins. Nature is the magician; she waves her wand, and presto! there comes, day by day, the change by which a water animal slowly but surely becomes a land animal, or one which is adapted to both land and water. The first change is the appearance of little tufts on each side of the head, shown in Figure 50, 2, which call to mind the gill tufts of some young sharks, which appear while the young is in the egg. Curious changes now occur. The mouth is provided with hard nipping jaws, 84 THE SALAMANDERS and slowly the outside gills, with another whisk of Nature’s wand, disappear, and the tadpole presents the appearance shown in Figure 50, 3, more like a fish than ever, with a long tail, breathing by means of six little slits in its throat, very much like those of the lamprey. As it wriggles along, almost any observer would say that it was a fish, but Nature again waves her wand, and as the tadpole grows, something is seen upon each side of the tail, and presto! the tadpole has hind legs (Fig. 50, 4), the first step in be- coming a land animal. The tadpole now presents a ludi- crous appearance, with its enormous tail and hind legs. In eight or ten days minute fore legs are seen, and the tadpole begins to realize that it is not a water animal after all, so drags itself upon a leaf (Fig. 50, 5) and looks around. It still has the ponderous tail, which would be an incum- brance upon land; but this grows smaller, wonderful to relate, shrinks daily, and many other changes are taking place to prepare this fishlike creature for life on shore. It now continually comes to the surface, emitting bubbles of air like the fish Ceratodus, and taking in a fresh supply, which passes to a fishlike air bladder by a convulsive gulp which it cften gives. Our tadpole then has lungs for breathing air out of water and gills for breathing it beneath the surface. The change continues; and if one could peep into the little animal, he would see that the lungs are receiving all the attention, the blood vessels to them are increasing in size and number, and the gills are being neglected. The result of this is that the gills finally disappear, the fishlike heart of two chambers is changed to one of three cham- bers, and the tadpole crawls upon the bank a perfect frog, THE SALAMANDERS 85 a land animal pure and simple, having in a few days passed through marvelous changes (Fig. 50, I-7). Such is the typical childhood of a batrachian, though there are many exceptions. In the Solomon Islands there is an interesting example of a frog whose young pass through all the stages of development in the egg; they breathe by the aid of certain folds of the skin which are formed in each side of the belly. There is much in this little creature to call to mind the birds. When the hatch- ing time approaches, the young are seen to be provided with an egg breaker, after the fashion of young chickens, a little nob or cutter on the end of the nose, which the frog pushes against the shell to break it. Even more remark- able is a frog which deposits its eggs be- neath stones. The young pass through the tadpole stage within the egg, have an enormous tail for FIG. 51. — THE SIREN, swimming, but no water to swim in; hence the observer might imagine that Nature was at fault. But by no means. The big tail of the imprisoned tadpole is supplied with blood vessels to an extraordinary degree and is the breathing organ. There are equally curious exceptions among other forms. Thus the siren (Fig. 51) is a long, slender, snake- like creature with permanent outside gills, fore feet, but no hind legs. One form is three feet in length, a most 86 THE SALAMANDERS disagreeable creature. Another, the Proteus (Fig. 52), has exterior gills and two pairs of legs. The salamanders were supposed by the old writers to be able to pass through fire without injury. This fiction originated in the fact that salamanders are covered with a slimy secretion which would enable them to resist burn- ing longer than a bird or other animal. The great Japanese salamander is the largest of the tribe, a bulky creature over three feet in length. The most interesting FIG, 52.— THE PROTEUS. American salamander is the Amblystoma, many species of which are known in America, nearly all of them inhabit- ing the western portion of the continent. They undergo a marvelous change, and the young or larval stage is so different from the adult that the two were for a long time considered separate and distinct animals. This is well shown in the illustration (Fig. 53), the lower figure being the young, the upper the perfect form. In Mexico the animal is called the Axolotl, and there, for a long time, the FROGS AND TOADS 87 imperfect form only was known. It lives in the water, breathing by external plumelike gills. Finally some one took some Axolotls to Paris, when, to the amazement of the keepers of the Jardin des Plantes, their gills disappeared, FIG. 53. —THE AMBLYSTOMA AND YOUNG. and the animals came out of the water in the guise of perfect Amblystomas. The secret was that the dry air of Mexico was not favorable to their perfect development, and the Axolotls therefore retained their larval form. FROGS AND TOADS “Oom o-o-m,” comes the deep sound through the forest, the note of the bullfrog far away. “ Chirrup — chirrup ” comes from beneath the house, while down by the pool 88 FROGS AND TOADS among the willows the piping, whistling, and booming rise on the night air in a volume of sounds. The frogs are merely talking, singing, or laughing. It is true that. they repeat the same notes over and over, and these become very monotonous, but every stroller can remember that when in the forest the pipe of a frog was a welcome sound. There is great variety in the notes of these talkers, singers, and whistlers. The tree toads are particularly noted for their loud cries. One of the first sounds of spring is the high and shrill piping of Pickering’s Hyla, and by placing several in a tin boiler the body of sound can be fully appreciated. A curious, gruff, clacking sound is heard in places, as though some one were clap- ping two clam shells together. This is sure to be the little green frog Acris, that sits on a lily pad all day long. Another recalls the scraping of a horse comb. As the season progresses, other voices are heard, — shrill pipings, low rumblings, notes like the sound of the click in a fish- ing reel, lonely pipes which might be uttered by some bird, — but all the songs of frogs. In the Mexican forest may be heard a hyla uttering a strange cry, which has been compared to the bleating of goats, while Faber’s Hyla says “clink — clink —clink,” a marvelous imitation of a small hammer dropping upon an anvil. Whata babel of sounds would be produced could the myriads of frogs and toads of even this country be collected in one small pond! It would be an amphibian band, indeed. The common toad, with its urr-r-r-r-r, the spade foot, with its loud and dis- cordant note, equal at times to a steam whistle, according to Dr. Abbott; the big, bass-singing bullfrog — these FROGS AND TOADS 89 would be the soloists of this frog aggregation, while the “ eoie — eoie,”’ or the “chock — chock,” and deep resonant “chung — chung” of others, would add to the volume of remarkable sounds. Frogs and toads have been found in nearly all parts of the world where ponds and pools exist. In some places, when they are overtaken by the dry seasons, they burrow down into the earth and lie dormant until the rain comes again. The sudden appearance of frogs in such places has often given rise to stories of miracles, but it is merely due to the rain, which soaks out the frogs that have been lying in the baked ground, and they at once begin piping in joy at their release. The frogs are animal feeders, subsisting mainly on insects, which they capture with their wonderful tongues. In turn they are preyed upon by snakes, and, being defenseless little creatures, Nature has given them a marvelous protection; namely, colors which so resemble the objects amid which they crouch that it is almost impossible to see them. The green frog mimics the trunk upon which it rests; the toad resembles the dusty path on which it is often found. In California is seen a wonderful mimic, a little tree toad (Fig. 54). It is especially common in a canyon leading into the Sierra Madre Mountains. In Fic. 54.—Tue TREE TOAD. the center isa stream filled with polished stones of varied colors, and on these stones the tree toads live; but so remarkable is the mimicry that one is rarely seen before it is touched. Those on white stones are very light ; those on granite bowlders are rere) FROGS AND TOADS speckled black and white; some are brown, some red- dish, some gray, others black: all are perfectly secure from birds and snakes so long as they do not move. To test the powers of these little mimics to change color or adapt themselves to the color of surrounding objects, I once arranged a num- ber of pens or inclos- Fic. 55. —THE TOAD. ures, with bottoms formed of stones of different tints or colors, ranging from black to white quartz. Into these were released a number of tree toads, which presently secured positions upon them with their little sucker-provided toes. In half an hour they all bore a remarkable resem- blance to their surroundings, it being difficult to distinguish them except as lumps upon the rocks, and when changed about they rapidly assumed the protective garb. The common toad is not the stupid creature it appears to be. The eastern toad is Fic, 56, — THE BULL-FROG, fairly active, but the common one in California (Fig. 55) is very heavy, slow of motion, almost unable to hop, dragging its clumsy body along the ground. In sharp contrast to it is the bullfrog (Fig. 56), which FROGS AND TOADS gI makes extraordinary leaps of ten or twelve feet, by means of its powerful hind legs, thus evading its enemies. Ap- proach a pond and. shout; the clatter from hundreds of throats sometimes ceases. Draw nearer, and splash — FIG. 57. — SOARING TOAD. splash go the frogs, while from various logs roll and tumble clumsy turtles. The little tree toad is a famous jumper, but the most remarkable member of the tribe in this respect is the so- called flying tree toad of Borneo (Fig. 57). This little creature is not a flier, but soars like the flying fish and the 92 FROGS AND TOADS flying squirrel. Its toes are webbed, forming perfect para- chutes. With these the toad leaps from tree to tree with perfect ease, swooping downward, rising to alight again, repeating this as often as an enemy ap- pears. The habits of frogs and toads are ex- ‘A FIG. 59. — FRoG’s tremely inter- "6. esting, and their development from the egg (Figs. 58 and 59) to the adult has been referred to. The skeleton (Fig. 60) shows the long legs and enormously developed fingers, FIG. 58.—FRoG’s Ecc. which are booms for the sail-like webs by which the frog swims, and of all the skele- tons it is apparently the simplest. In collecting these animals — which is an easy matter —and in studying their habits, one is impressed by the fact that the most remarkable feature about them is their method of car- FIG. 60.— SKELETON OF A FROG. ing for their eggs and young. The little Alytes of Europe strings the eggs and winds them about its body, and so protects them until the young appear. An FROGS AND TOADS 93 African frog deposits its eggs on the under side of leaves, so that the rain may wash them into streams, water in nearly every instance being necessary for the various changes from egg to frog or toad. There is a remarkable exception to this in the island of Guadaloupe. Here there are no swamps, and the young appear directly in the adult form. In the Island of Martinique the stroller through the forest may see a tree toad carrying its young in the tadpole stage, clinging to its back, the little tails wriggling in every direction. In South Amer- ica a toad carries its young in a sac on its back. But == the strangest FIG. 61. — SURINAM TOAD. method is that of the Surinam toad (Fig. 61). When the eggs are laid, the male places them upon the back of the female, where they become lodged or fixed in little cells, each of which has a covering, the back of the toad being covered with them, varying from fifty to one hundred. Here they remain until they hatch and the young toads are com- pletely formed, when they leap out, as shown in the illustration, and thereafter care for themselves. A North American form, the obstetrical toad, winds the egg masses about itself and carries them until they are hatched. 94 FROGS AND TOADS Some of the frogs are nest builders. A Brazilian frog burrows beneath stones and forms a hole the size of a base ball. This is almost filled with a white froth which the frog produces in some way, and in this the large yel- low eggs are placed. The nest is always formed near a pool which overflows its banks; by the time the tadpole stage is reached, water floods the nest and the young ones swim away to complete their growth in more favorable situations. Another Brazilian frog places its eggs in a froth mass and surrounds it with willow leaves, a perfect nest, open at one end, being the result. In this swinging hammock, high upon some lofty tree top, the young prob- ably pass their tadpole days. Still another frog from Paraguay forms its nest among leaves over the water, the first rain washing them down into it. A little Japanese frog builds a subterranean nest which she fills with a mass resembling fine soap bubbles, mixing it up to form the damp, air-supplied medium in which the young are to pass the important stage of their lives. When the young are hatched, the foam or bubble mass is changed into water, runs out through the crevices, carrying the small fry into the outside world, where they reach the open water. In some pools in Brazil where the mud is near the surface, little circles, like miniature craters, are often seen. These are the nests of a tree frog, //y/a faber. The circle is often a foot in diameter and has been heaped up by the odd little hands of the frog. In the interior the eggs are placed, the young being inclosed by the mud fence which the parent has built about them. These are examples of nest builders, but there are some forms, like the Surinam toad, and the obstetrical toad FROGS AND TOADS 95 referred to, which have been termed nurses. A Ceylon tree frog carries the eggs about in a little mass attached to its belly. In the Seychell Islands there is a very atten- tive nurse frog, probably the male. When the eggs are laid, he keeps them moist and watches them until they are hatched ; then, in some manner not known, he places them on his back, where they adhere during all his perambula- tions among the tree tops. In Dutch Guiana a tree frog carries its tadpoles in the same way. Sometimes there are twenty carried “ pickaback”’ and, strange to say, the tadpoles are in two rows facing each other, with their long tails out. A Brazilian nurse carries its eggs on its back, which are held in place by a ridge of skin. One of the most remarkable of these tree-frog nurses is a very small specimen from Chile, not over an inch in length. When the eggs are laid, the male takes them in his mouth, where a large sac is developed for the purpose, and there they are carried until the young appear. The frogs and toads are valuable to man, devouring many insects injurious to vegetation—the frogs forming a valuable article of diet, especially in France. The little flyla arborea has been used as a barometer, by placing it in a tall but narrow bottle or jar provided with a miniature ladder. If the weather is fair, or going to be, the little toad climbs the ladder; but if the signs, only discernible to itself, are for rain, the weather prophet lies snugly in the bottom. Many remarkable superstitions are associated with frogs and toads, as the jewel supposed to be found in the toad’s head. The most enduring story is that of the toad em- bedded in solid rock. In an effort to prove the impossi- 96 THE SNAKES bility of this a naturalist had a series of rocks arranged in which the toads could be sealed up. The experiment was carefully carried out, but in no instance did the animals live beyond a few weeks. The fable arose from the habit of toads and frogs hibernating or entering a winter sleep. At the approach of cold their food supply is cut off, and they are threatened with the rigors of winter; so these little animals burrow deep into the earth, the former going down into the mud of ponds, the latter burrowing in the ground anywhere, or entering the burrows of other animals. There they literally go to sleep; their functions are all in abeyance; they do not eat; breathing is almost imperceptible, and they are said to be in a state of hiberna- tion. In this condition they pass the cold months. The frogs of the tropics enter a similar state when deprived of water. Frogs incased in dry earth, hardened almost to stone, have been found at various times, and the story at once circulated that a toad had been taken from the solid rock, when, if water had been poured upon the latter, it would have dissolved and relieved the toad that, instead of having been a prisoner for a thousand years, entered its seclusion the previous season to avoid a drought or cold weather. THE SNAKES In half hours spent from time to time in the forest or along some well-wooded stream the stroller may chance to observe some of the most dreaded of reptiles, the snakes. Nothing can be more attractive when color is considered, yet of all the animal kingdom they are THE SNAKES 97 held in‘least respect, and it seems to be instinctive in man to place his heel upon a snake. This dislike is due mainly to prejudice, the result of years of super- stition, which has produced the milk snake, the hoop snake, and others which exist only in the imagination. The snakes are in the main valuable allies of man, particularly the farmer, as they devour incredible num- bers of mice, gophers, and squirrels which prey on grain. The non-poisonous snakes should never be killed, and there is no reason for the wanton destruction of rattle- snakes in open and _ barren regions unless the country is being settled by mankind. In some instances the snakes are so deadly that organized warfare is made against them. This is the case in India,. where annually nearly twenty thousand natives lose their FIG. 62.— THE COBRA, lives by cobras (Fig. 62). In our own forests the harm- less snakes are usually the ones seen; as the little green snake which mimics the verdure and resembles a vine; or the striped snake, almost invisible along the roadside. These animals are true reptiles, and are a decided advance upon the batrachians, — the frogs, toads, and salamanders. The features which attract attention are the long, cylin- drical body, covered with fine scales, and the absence of limbs. In the poisonous’ varieties the head is flat HOLDER, F..R. & B. — 7 . 98 THE SNAKES and diamond shaped, as in Figure 63, B, while the non- poisonous forms have a long, slender head, as that of the common garter snake (Fig. 63, A). FIG. 63. — HEADS OF SNAKES. The wonderful mechanism of the snake can best be observed in the skeleton (Fig. 64), which is made up of many vertebra, often three or four hundred, joined on the ball-and-socket plan. This explains the flexi-

=> c Cr e. ES Po \ (The Zh } iv 2X} (In Sy “iy oy =\f my STEP v WES f On TITY i trax Prem meer V7 Drm 5g (MIN rv ai VT CR IN ni UU it TP aT NG { FIG. 64. SKELETON OF A SNAKE. THE SNAKES 99 bility of all snakes and the facility with which they wind about their prey, forming remarkable folds and knots. yy pana TTI AY Fic, 65.— HEAD OF A NON-POISONOUS SNAKE. An examination of the head (Fig. 65) explains why it is possible for a snake to’ swallow animals so much larger than itself. The secret is that the lower jaw is not firmly at- tached to the upper, as in man, but the jaws can be stretched apart to an incredible width, permitting a python (Fig. 66) to swallow a small deer. This is owing to the presence |¥/ of a quadrate bone on each side, between the upper and the lower jaw, which is movable, permitting the jaws to FIG. 66. — PYTHON. 100 THE SNAKES distend. The teeth in a non-poisonous variety are small, sharp, and conical and point backward. They are used only for holding prey, not for masticating, as the snakes swallow their food entire. The tongue is long, slender, and forked, and is darted out in a rapid manner, especially when the snake is enraged. The eyes have no movable lids; hence the stare of the snake and its expressionless, stony appearance. Without limbs except rudimentary ones beneath the skin in some, the snakes are among the most rapid movers, darting out of sight with inconceivable rapidity. Some live among trees, swing from them to secure their prey, and suffer no disadvantage by their lack of limbs, Théy move by successively advancing the large lower scales, the rapid action sending the animal along with great speed. In obtaining their food snakes glide quietly through the verdure, climbing trees for birds or eggs, entering the water for small fishes, and occasionally spending much time in it, as the water snakes, in which the tail is a paddlelike organ. When the prey is seen, they dart upon it with great velocity and endeavor to encompass it in their folds, literally tying themselves into knots about the victim, and crushing it to death. In a few seconds a python or boa constrictor will in this way crush the bones of a small deer. In the case of poisonous snakes the victim is rendered powerless by the poison which issues from a poison sac at the base of the fang (Fig. 67). When the rattlesnake or cobra strikes, the mouth closes, certain muscles press upon the gland, and the poison is forced into the wound. The rattlesnake has a rattle which it sounds: this serves PDUVEAU (VaAlUure Study, THE SNAKES IOI CORNELL UNIVERS Ithaca, N. ¥. as a warning’ to man Rady beast. In the Northern States the snakes, as well as the lizards, hibernate during the winter, often being found rolled in balls, coming out in early spring in a famished condition. Ot, The snakes lay “ASS. eggs, either burying 35 them in the soil or FIG, 67. — FANGS OF A RATYILESNAKE. sands, or forming a ; nest on the surface. ul Une oescres The latter has been observed in the rock python, the snake coiling itself about the eggs, which hatch in about fifty- six days. Various snakes when alarmed will receive their young into their mouths. Colonel Nicholas Pike in- formed me that he had witnessed this act in several snakes, among which were the moccasin, rattlesnake, and garter snake, the reptiles being in a box where he could watch them at short range. In their habits the snakes are very interesting. The green tree snakes are attractive creatures, mimicking vines and climbing into trees, in search of birds and their young. The activity of these snakes is marvelous. They are usually very long and slender and richly colored, green being the prevailing tint. One of the most beautiful is found in Borneo, where it is a pet in many native households, the children being seen with the reptile wound about their necks and arms. This snake is at home in the highest trees, and rushes through the tree tops in search of prey, swinging from 102 THE SNAKES limb to limb and from tree to tree like an animate vine. Many snakes live in and about fresh-water ponds and streams, feeding upon small fishes and swimming readily. The sea snakes, as their name implies, are perfectly at home at sea, possessing a flat, paddlelike tail by which they swim. These snakes are found in many seas (Fig. 68). The largest snakes are the pythons and boa constrictors, which at- tain a length of twenty feet, while specimens much larger have been reported by naturalists. Such an animal would be more than.a match for a strong man, assuming that its folds Fic. 68. — A SEA-GOING SNAKE, were thrown about him. As a rule snakes are harmless and inoffensive, rarely attacking human beings unless disturbed. The cobra, one of the most deadly of snakes, is, curi- ously enough, handled with impunity by the Indian jugglers, who carry several snakes about in flat baskets, giving entertainments with them. They lift them out of their baskets, and by whistling on their crude musical instruments induce the terrible reptiles, whose bite is almost certain death, to rise and go through a so-called dance. It has been supposed that there was some trick- ery about this performance, that the fangs had been removed, but careful investigation has shown that the snakes had not been tampered with. The secret of the safety of the men appears to lie in their perfect confidence. THE LIZARDS 103 The snakes doubtless know that the performers have no fear of them, and permit themselves to be handled, even roughly, without attempting to strike. THE LIZARDS In a number of months spent on the slope of the Sierra Madre Mountains I often found no little entertainment in watching the lizards which abound there in surprising numbers. Some live in the brush or chaparral of the foothills, others in the deep canyons which wind into the range, while many more affect the warm, dry mesa. Every pile of stones seems to be a lizard’s castle, and dur- ing warm, sunshiny days of a Southern Californian winter scores of these little creatures can be seen. A very common form is a dark, slate-colored lizard with very sharp, beadlike eyes. It is four or five inches in length, and upon its throat it bears a spot of iridescent blue. Upon approaching it the lizard invariably raises itself quickly, repeats the action, and flashes the color spot as though to dazzle the observer. This, it is supposed, is to frighten the enemy or is a fetish shaken at him; but when it is found to have no effect, the lizard adopts an entirely different method, crouching flat upon the rock, which it so resembles in color and tint as to cause it to be almost invisible. This ruse would deceive a bird perhaps, but one day, moving quietly on, I reached out my hand, and suddenly grasped one of these little mimics. It sprang to the ground and darted away, leaving what ap- peared to be another lizard leaping about upon the sand. Capturing this derelict, it was found to be the tail broken 104 THE LIZARDS off evenly at one of the joints and now seemingly, pos- sessed with independent life. By the watch it leaped and squirmed nearly a minute. Time and again this experiment was made, the lizards, when violently startled, tossing off their tails, a move undoubtedly intended to attract attention to the leaping tail, while the body ran away. This body would not be FIG. 69. — HEAD OF THE GECKO, tailless for evermore, but would grow another tail in a few months. Among the collection made of living lizards there were some with tails of all sizes, from stumps to those almost completely grown, the original tails having been lost in all probability while endeavoring to deceive some enemy, and doubtless many a road runner had been forced to put up with a tail instead of a lizard. The little gecko (Fig. 69) throws off its tail at the slightest warning, and as it THE LIZARDS 105 strikes the ground, leaping and tumbling about, its owner has been seen to turn, rush at it and devour it, thinking it a worm possi- bly, paying a tribute to the success of its own device of tail throwing. The lizards are remarkable for the rapidity of their move- ments, and when in a tree it is almost impossi- ble to follow them, so quickly do they move or adapt them- selves to the color of the limb or leaf upon which they FIG. 70.— AMERICAN CHAMELEON, rest. This is par- ticularly true of the lizard shown in Figure 70, the American chameleon. I once kept several of these little creatures, and the marvelous tints and colors of green and brown they would assume were a constant delight. They became very tame, ate flies and various insects from 106 THE LIZARDS the hand, and ran over me with impunity. One would sometimes rest on my hand as I wrote, its cunning eyes watching every movement. The skeleton of the lizard is shown in Figure 71, and an examination will show that it is decidedly an advance upon that of the snakes. The jaws are not extensible as in the latter, hence the lizard is confined to small insects, which are crushed by its sharp conical teeth. The tongue FIG. 71. —SKELETON OF A LIZARD. is long and snakelike, often forked. With few exceptions the lizards deposit eggs, and despite popular prejudice all, with the exception of the Gila monster or Heloderma, are harmless. The Gila monster is foundin Arizona, New Mexico, and Lower California. It is about two anda half feet in length and very sluggish, specimens when handled often refus- ing to move even when pushed along. They seem to prefer the hot, burning sands, and live upon such insects and small animals as they can capture there. That the bite of this lizard is dangerous has been proved on many occasions. An acquaintance of mine had tied a specimen to the back of his Mexican saddle, when, throwing his arm around, the creature seized his thumb in a bulldog-like THE LIZARDS 107 grip. Release without assistance was impossible, and the victim made a heroic ride to the nearest town, having a narrow escape. Animals, as rats and rabbits, die in a few moments after being bitten by the heloderma, the poison, unlike that of the rattlesnake, paralyzing the heart. The teeth have fissures ; but poison ducts have not been found. One of the most attractive lizards is the blue-tail, which I have often found along the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Its body is brown and green, the tail a beautiful turquoise-blue, a most conspicu- ous object. This ‘ : f FIG, 72, -THE CHAMELEON. lizard is so rapid e and agile in its movements that it is rarely captured. The tail in nearly all lizards is a very conspicuous object, generally long and snakelike, often aiding the lizard in mimicking a vine; again, as in the chameleon (Fig. 72), acting as a fifth limb, clinging to branches and serving the same purpose as that of the ringtailed monkey. These lizards are very slow of motion, relying for protection upon their marvelous power of changing color. Quite the reverse is the Iguana, one of the swiftest and largest of 108 ; THE LIZARDS all lizards, attaining a length of five feet. Its tail is its weapon of assault, the animal when enraged swinging it around with force sufficient to inflict severe injury. FIG. 73. —IGUANA CROSSING A RIVER. Observed by John G. Bell. In Figure 73 is shown a drawing made from a sketch after a description given me by the late John G. Bell, an old friend of Audubon. Mr. Bell, to illustrate the rapidity of motion of the iguana, stated that he once FIG. 74. — THE SKINK. startled an iguana on the side of a river, and that it dashed into the water and crossed it literally upon the surface, holding itself in the position shown by the rapidity of the movements of its feet. The toes of the iguana are extremely long and slender, very unlike those of the little THE LIZARDS 109 skink (Fig. 74), which are short and of little service. On the other hand, the geckos (Fig. 75) have toes provided with adhesive plates by which they cling to walls, having a seemingly marvelous faculty of running along overhead. This is true of many lizards, nearly all having delicate ak plates or disks which act BiG Bs te Gee. like suckers, some exuding a sticky secretion by which they readily run along, even on the polished surface of glass. The foot of the chameleon (Fig. 76) is adapted to clasping, and resembles some mechanical contrivance. Indeed, the entire animal has little or no appearance of life. Clinging to the limbs, its staring, unmovable eyes looking into space, FIG. 76. — TONGUE OF CHAMELEON, it seems to be a weird caricature of an animal, but suddenly out of its mouth shoots an extraordinary object, almost as long as the chameleon, — its tongue, — which strikes and secures its prey with absolute surety. An interesting mimic, though not in the sense of rapidly changing its color, is the so-called horned toad, which is really a lizard. The animal is seen in Figure 77 as one 110 THE LIZARDS usually observes it from above, a curious flat object seem- ingly covered with spines, those on the head being par- ticularly long. The lizard is brown, yellow, and white in color, adapting itself to the tint of its surroundings. When touched it flattens out, and is not a pleasing object, yet it is perfectly harmless. The spines are not used, and the little lizard makes an interesting pet, if the term can be applied to mere possession. I have experimented with them in the manner described at the beginning of this chapter, placing them in different compartments, where they soon adapted themselves to their surround- ings. They do not assume black or white tints, but the change is sufficient to afford them abundant protection. On the mesas of Southern California they are not uncom- mon objects of the roadside, those in the road resembling its dusty hue, while those among the brush are of a brighter tint. In the spring they deposit their eggs in the sand and desert them, the young appearing later, darting here and there among the verd- ure, minute editions of the parents. FIG. 77. — HORNED LIZARD. The horned lizard has no defense if one remarkable performance may be excepted. I noticed it first when my dog, a fox terrier, had caught one. The dog was rub- bing his nose in the sand and evidently annoyed, if not THE LIZARDS III hurt. The lizard had done something, but what? The dog was urged to approach it again, when the little lizard lowered its head and with a convulsive movement threw from its eyes or the eyelids a dark, bloodlike fluid. At first it was difficult to tell positively where it came from, but the eyes of the lizard were suffused with blood, or bloodshot. A piece of paper was then held up before the lizard, which soon discharged a volley of the fluid from its eye or lid, striking the paper with some force, a distance of a foot. On several occasions this was observed. A dealer who has handled thousands of lizards stated that he had seen them eject the fluid a distance of five or six feet. Whether this is intended as a defense or not it would be difficult to determine, but in effect it was sufficient to demoralize a dog, and in the meantime the lizard, by a curious side-shuffling movement, disappeared beneath the sand. Lizards are interesting pets. Those I have kept in con- finement displayed no little cunning. They often pretended to be dead; the eyes would be closed, the legs drawn in, and the lizard could be lifted and dropped upon the sand without movement. The deception was perfect. There was but one weak point. The lizard was very ticklish, and when scratched, it immediately gave evidence of life, lifting that side higher and higher until it presented the comical appearance of standing upon its side with two feet in the air. At other times, when it thought it was not ob- served, it would dash away with the greatest speed, stop- ping the moment it was discovered, trusting then to its resemblance to the soil. Running constitutes the principal movement of the 112 THE LIZARDS majority of lizards, but a few appear to soar and have an especial arrangement which enables them to sustain them- selves in the air. This is particularly true of *the flying gecko, which has winglike expansions on its sides, includ- ing the head, body, and tail, a sail which expands when the animal leaps into the air, holding it up like a parachute after the manner of the flying squirrel. These lizards are very attractive in shape and color, and when darting through the air they resemble gorgeous insects. A better adaptation for soaring is seen in the dracos (Fig. 78), commonly called flying dragons. They have a-veritable pair of wings extending on either side of the body, as shown. These are folded when the animal is not moving or lying, as is its custom, on a limb; but does an insect appear, the lizard bounds into the air, one of the most gorgeous objects of the East Indian forests, and with FIG. 78. —FLYING Draco. wings extended it soars from tree to tree in pursuit of its prey, resembling a bird of radiant plumage. One of the lizards most remarkable for this is the frilled lizard of Australia, which has a curious frill beneath and around the head, which it raises when alarmed. Another lizard, the moloch, is completely studded with enormous spikes or spines, the porcupine of the group. An illustration of the wide distribution of lizards is seen in those of the Galapagos Islands, near the equator, about THE LIZARDS tr five hundred miles west of South America. Of the two kinds found there, both live on vegetation; but one lives along the shore, rarely leaving it, feeding on seaweed, while the other never approaches the ocean, and subsists on cactus. The sea lizard can remain an hour below the surface, is black in color, and about three feet in length, an inoffensive creature. The land form of the same lizard is very sluggish; it lives in caves, and when feeding has been known to drop asleep and _ allow birds to perch upon its back without ob- jection. Among the giants of the tribe are the true water lizards found in Asia, Africa, and Australia. The Indian water lizard FIG. 79. — THE GLass SNAKE. is often four feet in length, the tail being long and very slender. It frequents the river banks, and is hunted by the natives, who have dogs trained for the purpose. When cornered it often turns on its pursuers and makes a desperate resistance. The monitor, one of the largest, attaining a length of five feet, is found along the Nile, where it preys upon the eggs of crocodiles and does much to keep these dangerous animals in abeyance. Among the lizards are the so-called glass snakes (Fig. 79), which have no feet. Popular fancy has endowed them with miraculous properties, one of which is that when at- tacked the animal breaks in many parts and separates HOLDER, F. R. & B.— 8 114 THE TURTLES to join later on. It is needless to say that this belongs to the realm of fiction. The strange double walkers (Fig. 80) are lizards without feet, which have a singular habit of running backward with all the ease which they display in wriggling ahead. Nature seems to have been profli- gate in the multi- tude of forms with which these ani- mals are endowed, ranging from the Iguana to the help- F1G. 80.— THE DOUBLE WALKER. less Chirotes, with the body shaped like a worm with two miniature limbs near the head. THE TURTLES The first impression obtained by looking at a turtle is that it lives in a box, especially if the example is the com- mon box turtle (Fig. 81), which goes lumbering along until touched, when it drops heavily from its pedestal of feet, the latter, its tail, and head all disappearing as though by magic beneath a domed shell, which is a barrier and protection against almost every enemy. THE TURTLES 115 The boxlike nature of the turtle is better shown in the skeleton (Fig. 82), in which the frame of the animal is seen. A marked differ- ence isobserved between the skeleton of the turtle and that of the lizard. The latter is light, and the bones are slender, but that of the turtle is short, the Fic. 81.— THE BOx TURTLE. FIG. 82.— THE SKELETON OF A TURTLE. 116 THE TURTLES bones are not only heavy but nearly all seem to be con- nected, or fused together, giving the animal great solidity, so that it can not bend its back in any way, the only movable portions being the limbs, head, and tail. In a word, the turtle ap- pears to be boxed up. Over its back it has a shell formed of scales of a horny consistence, as in the hawkbill (Fig. 83), often of great beauty when polished; or the shell is soft, as in the soft-shelled turtle. The ribs, instead of being light and flexible, are broad and joined together and in turn FIG, 83.—THE HAWKBILL TURTLE, covered by the shell, the entire upper portion being called the carapace. Below this are the intestinesy which are protected by another box cover, a large horny breastplate called the plastron. The position of the latter is seen in Figure 84, which shows the plastron made up of ten plates fitting together FIG. 84. — THE LOWER SHELL OF A TURTLE, into the shell, or cara- pace, of a box tortoise, The head of the turtle is wedge shaped, the powerful jaws being toothless, but provided with horny beaks like those of birds, with which they do great execution. The eyes are provided with an upper and a lower lid, and THE TURTLES 117 a third like that of birds, called a nictitating membrane, which is semitransparent and moves over the eye asa FIG. 85.—THE ATLANTIC GREEN TURTLE. protection possibly from the glare of the sun. The lungs are well developed, air being gulped down, and the other FIG. 86. — SECTION OF A TURTLE. The turtles are widely distributed, being found in the desert, in secluded pools, and far out to sea. The marine forms are the largest. They have well-developed flippers for swimming and are entirely at home in the water. The 118 THE TURTLES flippers of a swimming turtle are shown in Figure 85, while those of a land form are seen in Figure 86. In this figure is also shown the position of the neck bones when the turtle withdraws its head, being doubled in a U shape. Among the sea turtles the green turtle (Fig. 85) is the most valu- able. It is a large and vigorous animal, weighing from two hundred to eight hundred pounds. In early spring, or May, they come ashore at certain islands to lay their eggs, selecting moonlight nights. If the coast is clear, they climb up the beach to a point above high water, and there dig a hole with their flippers two or three feet deep, in which the eggs are laid, covered, and then deserted. The turtle displays more or less skill, as she never returns to the water directly from the nest, so that she can be trailed, but crawls along the sands and de- scends a hundred or more feet away. At such times I have lain on the sands with a companion, waiting until the turtles reached the high beach, then springing out to seize them. Once on their backs, the animals are helpless. Figure 85 gives an excellent view of a certain green turtle as it crawled along the beach. The moment the enemy was observed it turned and scrambled for the water. Seizing it by the ridge of the shell between the flippers, the turtlers tried to lift it, sometimes upsetting it at the first trial, again being knocked over or dragged along by the powerful animal, which finally escaped, as a seven- hundred-pound turtle can carry two men or more upon its back. I have struggled with many in this way on the beautiful moonlight nights among the Florida Keys, but never was bitten, nor did I ever see a green turtle display the slightest anger or resentment. The animals devoted THE TURTLES 119 their energies to escape, beating the sand with their flip- pers. On a certain island a large one escaped from a party of three. On the reef the green turtles were served as “beef,” and dozens were kept in corrals until needed. The prevailing method of taking green turtles on the open reef is by pegging. The turtles are found sleeping on the bottom of shallow lagoons, standing out in high relief, or feeding upon certain seaweed, occasionally rising to breathe. The boatman sculls his dinghy carefully up to the animal and, as it rises, hurls his long-handled spear. The latter is a three-sided, pointed peg; this enters the shell and is retained by suction, the turtler holding by the long line to which the peg is attached. This method of taking the animals is harmless, as the turtles are uninjured. Many of those shipped to the North as food are caught in this way. The eggs of the green turtle, as those of all the others, are hatched by the sun, and the little ones immediately make their way to the water, where many of them fall victims to predatory birds and fishes. The baby turtles, though not over an inch or so in length, have no little intelligence. I once kept twenty or thirty on the floor of a room, one end of which overhung the water, from which led a door. The turtles in some way knew that this was the “ water end,” as they congregated about it, all ready to fall overboard when the door opened. When they were taken away, they immediately returned. The green turtle ranges from Brazil to Cape Hatteras and on both sides of the continent, but its home is in the warm waters of the tropics, a favorite nesting place being Loggerhead and other keys of the Tortugas group. 120 THE TURTLES Uglier than the green turtle and built on clumsier lines, is the loggerhead, often taken on the Florida reef. This turtle is the bulldog of the tribe, and will bite when en- raged, but it has little chance with the large sharks. One specimen, which was caught, had all its flippers bitten off in a struggle with the marauders of the Gulf. Its habits are similar to those of the green turtle, and it is turned on the beaches at the same time; but it is a flesh eater, as is the hawkbill (Fig. 83), though not entirely. A specimen that I kept as a pet would eat conch meat and seaweed with equal avidity. This specimen was found floating on the surface of a lagoon on the outer reef, its head wound with the blue tentacles of the physalia or Portuguese man-of-war, which had stung it so severely that it was helpless and apparently paralyzed. In the illustra- tion the large and beautiful scales may be seen, which are often taken from the living turtle — a cruel operation — and later made into combs and the many objects in which tortoise shell is employed. This is the turtle that is caught by the fish remora, re- ferred to in a pre- vious chapter. The rarest and most interesting among the sea Fic. 87, — LEATHERBACK TURTLE, forms is the leatherback turtle (Fig. 87), which lives on the high seas. It is the giant of the tribe, attaining a weight of THE TURTLES - 121 over one thousand pounds. Its back has a leathery ap- pearance, is without scales, and has pronounced longitudi- nal ridges which add to its singular appearance. The animal is rarely seen. Some years ago a specimen six feet in length was captured in Burmah, but not without a struggle. It dragged six men down to the water’s edge from its nest, where it had been surprised, and was con- quered only when twelve fishermen seized it. The nest, when examined, held one hundred eggs, each being one and five eighths inches in diameter. With the exceptions above mentioned, the turtles are confined to fresh-water streams and pools. Stealing through the trees and carefully approaching some pond, one may watch the turtles of various kinds, some upon the muddy shore, but most upon submerged logs or masses of vegetation, where they have crawled to bask in the sun. Many are richly marked in yellow, red, and black; some have light domed shells, like the box turtle; others are flat. The soft-shelled turtle is an interesting example of the latter, its shell being soft and reminding one of India rubber. These have long necks and pointed noses, which are often seen moving to and fro above the mud, not unlike the heads of snakes. Specimens which I have taken in the St. John’s River, on a common fishing line, were over fifteen FIG. 88. —SNAPPING TURTLE. inches in length, vicious creatures, calling to mind the snapping turtle (Fig. 88), the most aggressive of the tribe. One kept in confinement 122 THE TURTLES displayed the most vindictive disposition. Its long, snake- like neck was miraculously curled in the shell, but when the animal was angered or disturbed, out would shoot the extraordinary head, the ferocious jaws biting with all the vigor of those of a bulldog, taking pieces out of the oar or stick that happened to be in the way, and holding on with a tenacity born of brute strength. Turtles undoubtedly live to a great age. One, a box turtle (Fig. 81), marked in 1760, or about that year, was found on the same estate one hundred years later, the marks or initials still being visible. Similar instances are well known. The terrapin is one of the most valuable of the small turtles; the musk turtle is the most disagreeable, as it possesses a strong musklike odor. This little creature is almost always covered with a growth of long green grass, which has the appearance of hair and which serves to con- ceal it. The common gopher turtle is found far out on the Florida reef, four or five specimens living on Garden Key. A similar form is found on the arid Californian desert, where it lives on cactus and other vegetation, probably rarely seeing water. This turtle, though not over eighteen or twenty inches in length, has not only borne a man’s weight, but carried one along the floor. South America, especially the swamps of the Amazon, is the land of turtles. Here they are found in vast num- bers, some attaining a length of three feet. So plentiful are they that they constitute an important feature of the food of the natives, regular weekly hunts being organized, each house having its turtle corral. Nearly all the turtles are protected by their resemblance to their surroundings, THE CROCODILES 123 even the desert tortoise resembling a rock. But the most remarkable example of a protected form is seen in the bearded turtle, Chelys matamata. Its shell is made up of remarkable pyramids ; its neck is very long and snakelike, and covered with excfescences which resemble plants, the head is pointed and recalls that of a guinea hen more than anything else, having a pointed, beaklike nostril and curious, earlike appendages. This queer turtle conceals itself in the mud or bushes, with its head standing upright among the vegetation, so cleverly imitating it that few animals would detect the imposition ; but if a young bird or small animal pass within reach, the strange plant shoots out at it with great velocity and with a fatal result. The turtles are all valuable to man. Many serve. as food, while the greater number are scavengers, many a forest pool being kept pure by the little turtles that inhabit it. THE CROCODILES The crocodiles are so associated with the Nile and the Ganges, where they attain an enormous size, that it is a FIG. 89. — HEAD OF A FLORIDA CROCODILE. 124 THE CROCODILES surprise to some to learn that there is a true crocodile in Amer- ica, especially interesting from the fact that it is partly a salt- water form, having been seen out on the reef evidently on a fishing expedition. The head of one of these reptiles is shown in Figure 89, taken from the photograph of a specimen which caused the captor no little trouble. The animal was fourteen feet in length and was speared and hauled into the boat. It was so large that the seat was taken out and placed on its body, on which the harpooner sat as he rowed to 90.— SKELETON OF AN ALLIGATOR, camp, delighted at taking so large and fine a specimen. But the FIG. crocodile was “playing possum,” as it suddenly renewed its life and activity, and with a single sweep of the tail cleared the boat, tipping it over, only to be caught again after much difficulty. The crocodiles are water animals, with powerful jaws, in which the large teeth are firmly fixed; the tail is long and powerful, well shown in the skeleton (Fig. 90), a perfect swimming and defensive organ; the four legs are adapted for cither walking or swimming, the claws being THE CROCODILES 125 more or less webbed, as shown in Figure 89. The body is incased in a skin made up of plates, as seen in this figure. The heart has four chambers; the eyes and ears are pro- tected by movable lids. Thus endowed with powerful teeth, prodigious strength, and a long and powerful tail, the crocodiles are animals to be dreaded. They are found in the tropical and semitropical regions of many countries and are divided into three distinct classes which are readily recognized. First comes the gavial (Fig. 91), the most dangerous of the race, with long, slender muzzle filled with sharp and powerful teeth. This reptile attains a length of twenty feet, and in many of the rivers of India.is a veritable man-eater. Crocodiles are found in FIG. 91. — THE GAVIAL. almost every continent, even in some of the great islands, as Hayti, but they are at home in the Nile and around the equator, where, in places, they literally swarm, the muddy banks of streams being cov- ered with them, of all sizes up to twenty feet. They lie in the water by the banks, with their noses just above the surface. When an antelope or other animal approaches, the reptile sinks and swims beneath the water, then with a rush seizes the unfortunate creature by the nose and ‘hauls it under. Human beings are sometimes seized on the river bank, and children have been knocked into the 126 THE CROCODILES water by the crocodile’s tail, while men swimming streams at night are sometimes victims of the man-eaters. I once observed the method of attack of a large alligator, which illustrates that of the entire group. A man approached it from behind, when, without warning, the animal struck him a violent blow just below the knees, hurling him in the FIG. 92. — OPEN MOUTH OF A CROCODILE. direction of the wide-open mouth, which was turned to meet him. The man was not bitten, but it is easy to con- ceive that he might have been knocked into the animal's mouth. The crocodile lays eggs which it deposits on the moist banks of swamps, where they are often hunted (Fig. 93). An interesting bird is associated with the crocodile of the Nile. It is called the Nile bird, and performs a valuable service to the great animal; that is, ridding its mouth of the flies which infest it. When the crocodile comes out THE CROCODILES 127 to feed, its unsavory prey attracts millions of flies, and after the feast the animal opens wide its jaws, which appear asin Figure 92. The little bird, Plwvdanus egyp- ‘cus, hops into the dreadful mouth which spares no other creature, and begins to.devour the troublesome insects, rarely or never being molested by the crocodile. The West Indian crocodiles, or caymans, have been known to attack people, but they are by no means so ferocious as the In- dian and African species. They were formerly very com- mon in the West India Islands, but rarely attained there a length of over twelve feet. The eggs were deposited in the sand and cov- ered, the female watching them _ to some extent, and at times uttering a cry like the bark- ing of a dog, especially when the young were appearing (Fig. 93). In Jamaica crocodiles eighteen feet in length have been measured. A certain ranch at St. Thomas had been devastated at times of its small live stock by a cayman, and every method had been tried to kill it, but to no FIG. 93. — YOUNG CROCODILE LEAVING THE EGG. purpose. It was reported to be the largest one ever seen on the island, and had become very proficient in snapping up birds. The animal was shot several times, but always 128 THE CROCODILES escaped. One night an African met the crocodile face to face, and probably having in mind the reward which had been offered, sprang at the animal before it could turn, landing fairly upon it, seizing its fore legs and lifting them over its back. This threw the cayman’s nose into the sand and rendered it helpless. In vain it struck powerful blows with its tail and endeavored to leap. The man kept his seat and resolutely held the helpless animal until help came, when it was shot through the head. The alligator is the third type of crocodiles, and a familiar animal in America, being found in numbers in the FIG. 94. — THE ALLIGATOR. Florida swamps, where it is so assiduously hunted for its skin that its extinction is only a matter of time. In general appearance it resembles the crocodile, and twenty years ago I saw the shores of the St. John’s River dotted with them, where now they are almost unknown. The alli- gator is found in the swamps of the Gulf States, lying on the shore during the day, with its head toward the water, ready to slide into it at the slightest warning. Much of its time is spent basking in the hot sun, but at night it is active, swimming about after its prey, the various small animals and fishes. So active is the alligator that it can capture large fishes with ease. It is very partial to THE BIRDS 129 dog meat, and it is said that the barking, yelping, or whining of a dog will attract alligators from far and wide. When the prey is seized, the alligator holds it firmly and sinks to the bottom, allowing the animal to drown, and then devours it. ; BIRDS THE BIRDS Of all the animals the birds appeal to man as the most beautiful and companionable. This is due to the fact that they are always before us, the most humble dooryard being the resort or home of one or many different kinds. The birds are the companions of man and serve a benign purpose, beautifying the forest glades with their tints and colors, and filling the air with the melody of their song. Birds are found almost everywhere, from the equator to the farthest north, or the shores of the Polar seas, and are everywhere valuable allies to man. They have many resemblances to the reptiles, but differ from all other animals in a single particular—their bodies are covered with feathers instead of hair. If we hold a bird and some other animal of the same size in the hand, we are at once impressed with the difference in weight; the bird is much the lighter. To explain this we must glance at the skeleton of a typical bird (Fig. 95); here we see that the skeleton appears to be built for lightness. The bones, which in the mammals are filled with marrow, are hollow — so many air chambers to aid in floating the bird in the air. The spine is light. The bills, except in certain extinct HOLDER, F. R. & B.—9 130 THE BIRDS forms, are toothless, and adapted to the wants of the owner (Fig. 96). Some are short; some long, like those of the humming bird; others curved and powerful, as in the vulture. In moving the lower jaw of a bird we find that it FIG. 95. —SKELETON OF A SPARROW. g, quadrate bone, peculiar to reptiles and some amphibia ; b, breastbone ; #7, merry- thought or collar bone; c, coracoid bone, over which the tendon works to pull up the wing; ~, plowshare bone, on which the tail grows. Wing bones: a, upper arm; e¢, elbow; fa, forearm; w, wrist; 7, thumb; Za, hand. Leg bones: ¢h, thigh bone; &,knee; /, lower part of leg; 2, heel; / foot. is not attached to the skull as in the mammals, but to a bone (7), called the quadrate —in this resembling the reptiles. The neck is made up of from nine to twenty-four separate bones or vertebrz, so deftly connected that it can be twisted in almost any direction. This remarkable pro- THE BIRDS 131 vision of nature,enables the bird, having no hands, to preen its feathers on any part of its body, and explains the faultless neatness noticed in almost all birds. The dorsal vertebrze, which constitute the back, are joined together in the flying birds, thus giving stability to the body. In the non-flying birds, as the emu and ostrich, their bones move one upon another. The tip end of this chain of bones is oS W A 4 —¥ — mi © ~ I2 ja = . I - |. ) +B 13 I4 15 16 FIG. 96.— BEAKS OF BIRDS, called the tail, and the bones which connect the backbone to the tail are joined together, being called the sacrum. This,» joined with other bones, forms what is called the pel- vic arch, which, assuming that we are following the parts of the skeleton in order, leads us to the limbs, which are attached to it. The fore limbs of birds, which correspond to the arms of man, are adapted to flight and as weapons. The thigh is 132 THE BIRDS attached to the pelvic arch; then comes the tibia and its small fibula. The knee(/)is very high. The foot (/) has two, four, or five toes. The latter vary even more than the bills, ranging from the clutching claws of the eagle to the swimming foot of the duck, and from the clinging claw of the hawk to the scratching apparatus of the hen. Some of these claws or feet in their variety are shown in Figure 97. How a bird can cling to its roost or perch and sleep would be a mystery did we not know that it has a peculiar FIG. 97. — CLAWS OF BIRDS. arrangement of muscles, which, when the bird is resting, draw the claws tightly about the perch. The bird’s tail ends in the plowshare bone (Fig. 95, 7) and supports a wonderful array of feathers, resplendent in the peacock or trogons, and sometimes six or eight feet long in the cock ; a specimen in the American Museum having a remarkable tail many feet in length. The breastbone or sternum (4) is one of the largest. To this the wing mus- cles are fastened, and in the flying birds, where great muscu- lar power is desired, it is said to be keeled to offer a greater THE BIRDS 133 surface ; but in the birds like the ostrich, which do not fly, it is flat. The “lucky bone” is formed by the clavicles (m) and near them we see the arm, or wing bones. The elbow is at ¢, the wrist at w, and there is a rudimentary thumb which supports what is called the false wing. This portion of the wing corresponds. to the hand, and three rudimentary fingers may generally be found, agreeing with the first and third fingers of a man’s hand. But the “hand”’ is now used for an entirely different purpose. It is provided with soft, pliable, fanlike objects called feathers, by which the birds dart through the air and sustain themselves during long journeys. Without feathers the bird would be a pitiful object; but clothe it, and we have one of the most beautiful of all animals. The feathers are colored, with a marvel- ous array of tints and shades, each feather being a study (Fig. 98). Each one grows from a little sack — Fic. 98. A FraTHER. which holds the quill (2). Then a, quill; 4, shaft; c, vane; comes the shaft (4) which is horny, Be Ue: grooved, and filled with seeming wood pith. From the sides of this spring barbs, all of which unite or join to form a flat surface when the bird attempts to fly, in which we may 134 THE BIRDS observe one of the most wonderful appliances of nature. Each barb has numerous little barbules (Fig. 99), which hook into those on the opposite barb. birds are seen ‘“oreening.” they are often oiling their feathers, which Fic. 99. BARB From a thus become a GOOSE QUILL. P| oe water-tight roof to protect the Showing the hooklets highly magnified. sensitive body. It is not necessary for birds to have food prepared for them, as their digestive apparatus (Fig. 100) accomplishes this work. Food, as seeds, is eaten whole and passes into a crop (c), and from here into the true stomach, then reaches the gizzard (g), where it is ground up as thoroughly as though teeth had been employed. Many birds aid in In some birds there are no barbules, and the feathers are called plumes, as those of the ostrich. This won- derful coat of feathers sheds water, being provided with oil which the bird takes from a gland near the tail. When FIG. Ioo. DIGESTIVE APPARATUS OF A BIRD: ¢, crop; g, gizzard; illustrating passage of food from the mouth. this by swallowing pebbles and sand. The birds are warm-blooded animals. Their hearts are four-cham- bered. They breathe by taking in air at the nostrils. THE BIRDS 135 The lungs are two in number. The latter are filled with large air passages which lead to air sacs, and these in turn connect with the bones, so that the bird can literally inflate itself like a balloon. The air passes down the trachea, enters the lungs, and there aérates the blood, then passing into the air sacs to lighten the bird in its flight. In this manner the bird is enabled to change its specific gravity at will. There are nine of these balloons or air sacs in almost every bird: two in the abdomen, four in the thorax, and three near the lucky bone. The brain of birds (Fig. 101) is larger than that of reptiles, and it-has none of the convolutions which we shall ob- FIG. ror. serve in the mammals. f : I, brain of a bird; 2, eye, The eyes of birds are wonderful showing nictitating mem- brane. organs. Vultures and hawks have remarkable vision. The eye of the owl is so keen that it can distinguish small objects at night, while the eagles can stare at the blinding sun without winking. No more striking object can be imagined than the eye of some birds. All possess a third eyelid, and many have a ring of hard plates by which they can adjust their vision to objects near or far. The birds increase by eggs (Fig. 102), which are hatched either by the male, female, or both, or by the heat of the sun. More or less elaborate nests are built for the young. Some of these are in trees; others are in or on the ground; sometimes the eggs are even buried in the sand. Asa rule the young are very helpless at first, as in the case of chickens; but the young of the maleo are able at once to 136 ANCIENT BIRDS take care of themselves, and can almost fly at the moment they are hatched. FIG. 102. — LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF HEN'sS EGG BEFORE INCUBATION, a, yolk, showing concentric layers; a’, its semi-fluid center, consisting of a white granular substance —the whole yolk is inclosed in the vitelline membrane; 6, inner dense part of the albumen; 4’, outer, thinner part; c, the chalaze, or albumen, twisted by the revolutions of the yolk; @, double shell-membrane, split at the large end to form the chamber, /; e, the shell; 4, the white spot, or cicatricula. In all, about seven hundred species of birds are known in America north of Mexico; and throughout the world over eight thousand species have been recorded. ANCIENT BIRDS There is no more fascinating pastime for young or old than the study of fossil or extinct animals. Almost every section of the country produces certain rocks which ages ago were the shores or beds of streams or the bottoms of oceans, now hardened into rock, yet bearing the impres- sion upon their surfaces of the footprints of every animal that walked or crawled over them, preserving the shells ANCIENT BIRDS illustrates this, as here is a section of a mud flat which ‘gS ee ‘ poy Np f hi \ ‘ =m, ee ; Se q " ‘ a i Fite) a H re ey : 4 , ma t - ie : oe ) . ol Ml o os pe a yy 138 ANCIENT BIRDS served in this way, and within a few years some remark- able discoveries have been made showing that the birds of former ages differed very much from those of to-day and resembled the reptiles. One of the most interesting (Fig. 104) is called the archzopteryx, its remains being found in the odlitic rocks of Germany. The bird died, fell upon the muddy flats of some lagoon perhaps, and was covered by layer after layer of mud which in time hard- Fic. 10g. — ARCHAOPTERYX, Tail and detached bones. ened, preserving the bones so perfectly that experts have little difficulty in making a picture of the bird or a resto- ration showing it exactly as it appeared in life. It was a most remarkable creature, differing from all living birds by possessing on the wing two free claws by which it could cling to trees or rocks. The most extraordinary feature was the tail, which was like that of a lizard, made up of about twenty-one vertebre ; in other words, it was long, like that of the anolis. Each bone supported a pair ANCIENT BIRDS 139 of quill feathers, so that the tail resembled a huge feather, and was in reality the rudder of this strange living craft, the oldest form of the bird known. This singular creature ee ira, FIG, 105. SKELETON OF Hesperornis regalis, RESTORED. (After Marsh.) A bird with teeth. About one tenth of the natural size. had teeth like those of a reptile, and preyed upon small animals. Western North America many years ago possessed strange birds with teeth (Fig. 105). The hesperornis was 140 ANCIENT BIRDS a gigantic diver as tall as a boy of ten years of age, or about five feet. Its wings were small and useless, showing that it was a diver and swimmer. The tail was shorter than in the long-tailed archzeopterix, and the jaws were armed with sharp teeth set in sockets. These strange creatures preyed upon the countless fishes in the shallow seas, whose remains are also preserved, and were among the most remarkable forms of a literal age of wonders. The ostrich is considered a giant (bird to-day, but it is a dwarf in comparison with some of the strange birds of yesterday. In the Eocene of Paris has been found a bird called gas- tornis, which attained a height of ten feet, its colossal size being well shown when com- pared with that of a man (Fig. 106). It was a link be- FiGh s66 — ReSRORMHON ow Gm. UWeen the waders and the tornis eduardsii. (After Meu- ostriches. The largest and nier.) . 5 heaviest of the birds have © been found in New Zealand and are supposed to have lived with the early human beings of that country of strange inhabitants. The bones of the moa, as the bird is called, have been found beneath old camps, showing that they had been charred, and it is mentioned in the native legends. ANCIENT BIRDS 141 The remains of the moa (Fig. 107) were found in what is known as the Quaternary period, and their discovery created great excitement in the world of bird lovers. The very first accounts of the birds were related by the natives, and finally, in clearing out an ancient swamp, some bones were found which proved that feathered giants FIG. 108.— Dinornis givanteus, X gg. From a photograph of a skeleton in Christchurch Museum, New. Zea- land. had indeed lived there not so very long before. The FIG, 107. — WINGLEss BIRDS or NEW dinornis, as one was called, ZEALAND: THE GIANT MOA (fa- ‘ k lapteryx) AND THE TINY APTERYX. WaS twelve feet in height The moa is no longer to be found alive. (Fig. 108), and its colossal 142 LIVING GIANTS “drum stick,” which was five feet long, was as ponderous as the thigh bone of a large horse. In Madagascar another huge bird, the epinornis, has been found. Its egg was six times the size of an ostrich egg, hence one would have been a burden for a strong man and could have afforded a meal for twenty or thirty men. These giants became extinct but a few years ago, com- paratively speaking —a fact proved by the discovery of the feet with the dried skin still clinging to them and huge eggs with the gigantic chick still in them. Many rumors have been circulated to the effect that these birds still live in Madagascar, and several expeditions have gone in search of them, but the eggs alone have been found to tell the story. LIVING GIANTS The days of giant birds have not passed. In Africa, and now successfully introduced into America, lives the largest existing bird, the ostrich (Fig. 109), one of the most interesting animals. Tall, powerful, fleet of limb, beau- tifully adorned with plumes, the ostrich stands as an ex- ample of the largest living bird. It lives near the edges of the desert, and is so fleet of foot that it can be caught only by natives who run it down on horseback. When seen in confinement the ostrich presents an ab- surd appearance. Its huge body, balanced on long legs, conveys the impression of a very clumsy animal, while the walk, a tilting, teetering g, mincing gait, but adds to this impression. The neck is long, the eyes are large, with a peculiarly guileless and innocent staring expression. The LIVING GIANTS 143 head is extremely small in proportion to the size of the bird, and when fully raised stands eight or even nine feet from the ground. This may be considered the greatest height the bird attains. Indeed, it is vastly different from the robin or the birds that fly. Its bones are colossal, filled with marrow instead of air. It has no keel for the FIG. 109. — OSTRICHES. wing muscles, as the wings are not used for flight, but merely as sails when it runs, or to toss dust and gravel over itself. The ostrich has a peculiar foot, bearing but two toes, one longer than the other, and a sharp claw. This is its chief weapon, and I have seen a large bird strike so fiercely that it almost crushed a heavy board fence, and such blows have more than once been fatal to natives. The 144 LIVING GIANTS blow is given forward, and is a front strike, the reverse of that of a horse, and having a downward tendency is a cut as well, often disembowcling the enemy. The bird can also strike a powerful blow with its beak. It has a most remarkable appetite. Within a rifle shot of my home in Southern California there are over one hundred ostriches of all ages, of African parentage, and the ostrich farm has taken its place among the important industries of the State. The birds are fed upon alfalfa grass and vegetables, and have an especial fondness for oranges, which they swallow whole, the large fruit being seen passing down the long and narrow throat. I have seen an ostrich feeding from a plank platform about which scores of English sparrows were crowding. When the food was exhausted, the ostrich began picking up the sparrows, swallowing them, feathers and all, half a dozen disappearing in this way before the birds noticed that their numbers were being depleted, so cleverly did the giant pick them up. At the Pasadena ostrich farm, the birds have been known to swallow many kinds of objects from screws to pocket knives, while one bird snatched a lighted pipe from the hand of a man and swallowed it. The speed of the ostrich is proverbial. Only a fast horse can overtake it, the bird covering thirty miles -an hour when hard pressed. The eggs are large, weighing about three pounds apiece. The nest is a mere depression in the sand in which about thirty eggs are deposited. During the day in their native wilds the sun heats them, but in Southern California, where the heat is not tropical, the birds sit, the male and female taking turns; the female, sitting during the day, being relieved by the male at night. LIVING GIANTS 145 The voice of the male is so resonant, so like the roar of a lion, that it is heard over a mile distant. The young ostriches or chicks soon after hatching are comical objects, apparently covered with bristles. They are carefully cared for by the mother, being fed at first upon the spoiled eggs if there are any. | The ostrich is one of the most valuable of birds. The plumes are the feathers of the wing or tail which are not connected by the little barbules referred to, so are loose or fluffy. The plumes are made up into various articles for wear, and are the only feathers that should be worn, for their use does not necessitate the destruction of the bird, as in the case of others, the plumes being merely pulted out or carefully cut off about the time they are ripe or ready to be shed. At such times the bird is driven with others into a narrow pen; its head is covered with a bag so that it will not kick, and the plumes are removed with the greatest care. The strength of an ostrich can be compared only to that of a horse. In Southern California two birds have been harnessed to a buggy driven by two men, while a single bird carried a full-grown man upon its back with perfect ease. The ostrich is represented in America by the rhea or South American ostrich (Fig. 110), a much smaller bird found in the great Pampas districts. It is about three and a half feet in height, and has three toes instead of two. The head and neck are covered with downy feathers, there being none on the tail as in the true ostrich. Many of its habits are similar to those of the true ostrich, and it has the remarkable faculty of swimming rivers when chased. HOLDER, F. R. & B. — 10 146 LIVING GIANTS A large and singular bird, the emu (Fig. 111), is found in Australia, where it is hunted by the natives, also by the wild dogs. It is jet-black, the feathers resembling wiry hairs made of whalebone. Its body is almost as large as that of the ostrich, but its legs are shorter, so that the bird is not over seven feet high. It also has three toes upon FiG. 110.— RHEA AND YOUNG, each foot. The wings are rudimentary or useless in flight; yet the bird has been observed trying to place its head beneath them, a habit which holds ae with all birds having large wings. Attaining a height of five feet, is the cassowary, a large, powerful ostrichlike bird of the island of Ceram and others of the East Indian archipelago. Its feathers are hairlike LIVING GIANTS 147 and black, the wing being represented by a long series of fine cylindrical shafts with which the bird when enraged can strike a heavy blow. The head of the cassowary Fic, 111. EMu. appears to be ornamented by a crown, in reality a large horny helmet. The eggs, which are valued by collectors, are large and of a green grayish color. 148 LIVING GIANTS Allied to these birds is one of the most peculiar of the entire tribe, the little apteryx (Fig. 112), a noctural or night- wandering creature, found in New Zealand, and most unbirdlike in general appearance. In some respects it resembles a pelican; but it is covered with a thick growth of hairlike feathers, and has small, useless wings entirely FIG. 112.— APTERYX. hidden by them. It has no tail; its legs are short and powerful. Its bill is long and snipelike, and at its extrem- ity are the nostrils. It hides by day, wandering forth at night in search of insects, which constitute its food. Its nest is placed in a burrow in the ground, where a single eggis laid. While the apteryx is very shy, it is very help- less, and is doubtless doomed to carly extinction, as are all IN A PENGUIN ROOKERY 149 the large and conspicuous birds upon which a value is placed by man. The ostrich would doubtless long ago have disappeared, had not the ostrich farm been founded for its preservation, as it was the custom of natives in the early times to kill the birds in their attempts to capture them for the feathers. IN A PENGUIN ROOKERY When the first navigators visited the Antarctic regions, they reported seeing at various points armed and uniformed men, who sometimes stood at rest, and again appeared to be moving in rank and file. Later exploration showed that the inhospitable regions about the South Pole were unin- habited, and that the supposed sol- diers were penguins. The penguins are very fishlike in their appearance and habits. They are more at home in the water than on land, and when plunging from wave to wave are easily mistaken for fishes or porpoises. When standing on the rocks, they resemble statues. The beak is pointed upward FIG. 113. — PENGUIN. (Fig. 113), giving the bird a laughable and supercilious air. The feathers are very fine, like scales. The wings re- semble the fins of the albacore, are entirely useless in flying, and are employed as fins to aid the webbed feet in forcing them through the water with remarkable velocity. 150 IN A PENGUIN ROOKERY The king penguin, the largest, stands three and a half feet in height, and from a distance appears to be dressed in a black coat and white vest. The back is dark; the breast is white. The face, as well as the wings, is dark, two narrow bands of bright yellow in front giving it a sin- gular appearance. The bird lives in what are literally bird cities on the various islands of the Antarctic region ; and their houses are among the wonders of bird creation. The rookeries are localities selected by the birds near the sea, and are generally divided into two regions with dis- tinct boundaries. In one, the old birds stand erect, by hundreds and thousands, with bills pointed upward; in the other the young, living in what is to all intents and pur- poses the nursery. There is no nest, the penguin carrying the green and white egg in a pouch between its legs for seven weeks, when the young appears. When carrying the egg, the penguins hop along the rocks, hence acquir- ing the name “rock hopper.” When not bearing the egg they walk as do other birds. One of the most remarkable rookeries is that of the rock-hopper penguin (Eudyptes) found on the island of Tristan da Cunha. It is smaller than the first mentioned, and has a feather tuft on each side of the head, of a bril- liant sulphur-yellow, which resembles a quill pen thrust behind the ear. The wings are finlike, and used as such in the water, where the bird, so far as its habits are con- cerned, is virtually a fish. The rookery here is densely overgrown with a stout tussock grass which bears some resemblance to standing corn growing in clumps higher than a man’s head. This vast tract is the home of thousands of penguins, which are attractive creatures with red bills. IN A PENGUIN ROOKERY I51 Various roads or paths lead down from the rookery or city, up and down which the birds are continually passing and repassing, plunging off into the water to swim head first after the fashion of fishes. The rookery is a maze of streets, alleys, and byways, confusing to man or beast. Once in this strange city of birds, the view is entirely cut off by the high grass; the heat is intense, and the odor almost unbearable; while the nests are placed so thickly along the roadway that it is difficult to avoid stepping upon them and the eggs. On each nest sits a bird screaming, “caa, Caa, Caa, urr, urr, urr,” and driving its sharp beak into the flesh of the passer-by. So resolute are the attacks of the myriads of birds that officers of the Challenger who tried to pass through the city were obliged to defend them- selves with clubs; but where a dozen birds were struck down a hundred sprang forward to the attack. Moseley says :— “But you make miserably slow progress and, worried to death, at last resort to the expedient of stampeding as far as your breath will carry you. You put down your head and make a rush through the grass, treading on old and young haphazard, and rushing on before they have time to bite... . I always adopted the stampede method in the rookeries, but the men usually preferred to have their revenge, and fought their way every foot.” The nest of these birds is a mere shallow depression in the mud, lined with grass, in which is laid two greenish white eggs, upon which both male and female sit. The rookery at Inaccessible Island is even larger and more remarkable. The penguins remain there from July to April, then make 2 singular migration, utterly disappearing, swimming 152 THE AUKS AND THEIR FRIENDS doubtless to some region farther to the south. The males return in July, the females in August. THE AUKS AND THEIR FRIENDS What the penguin is to the Antarctic regions the auk is to the North. It bears a strong resemblance to that singular bird, and is one of the least valuable to man. The auks are particularly in- teresting from the fact that the giant of the tribe, the great auk (Fig. 114), has become extinct since the discovery of America. Three hundred years ago it was very common, and near Iceland was killed by the boatload; and that it ranged the coast as far south FIG, 114.— GREAT AUK. as the coast of Maine is shown by the presence of bones in the shell mounds of that State. The great auk was a fine-looking bird, standing about Extinct. three feet in height. Its wings were rudimentary and useless, hardly four inches in length. Its beak was sharp and powerful; its back black; its breast was white; while its feet were large and webbed. It laid but a single egg about the size of that of the swan, spotted with small but irregular blotches. So rare is this bird to-day that not over a dozen good specimens are known, and all are valued at from one to two thousand dollars apiece. One THE AUKS AND THEIR FRIENDS I was purchased by the American Museum of Natural His- tory a few years ago at a cost of six hundred and fifty dollars. The eggs are equally rare, and each specimen of bird and egg is as well known as any one of the rare and beautiful diamonds of the world. There are a number of smaller auks, the little auk being but a few inches in length, a beautiful and interesting ) creature. Unlike its relative, it can fly with great rapidity, though it is more at home in the water. Its small bluish white egg is ‘laid on the rocks or even e ice in northern Norway, where FIG. 115.— RAZORBILL AUK. : its cry, “rott, tet, tet, tet,’ is often heard. Another beautiful bird is the razorbill auk (Fig. 115), which has a peculiar bill crossed by white bands. Nowhere is bird life so well represented as in cer- tain regions on the borders of the Arctic Ocean. There the lofty cliffs are often covered with sea birds . FIG. 116. — GUILLEMOT. of all kinds, most of them famous divers, as the auks, puffins, and others. The guillemots are attractive forms (Fig. 116). I have often 154 THE AUKS AND THEIR FRIENDS had single specimens play about my boat when fish- ing, and have seen them flying under water using their powerful wings as they do in the air. The murre (Fig. 117) is a beautiful bird, the head of graceful shape, calling to mind some of the terns. Among the myr- iads of sea birds we shall find the puffins (Fig. 118). The tufted puffin has a singular crest of yellow, silken feathers above the eyes, which gives it a peculiar jaunty appear- ance. The common puffin, or sea parrot, forms a_ burrow for its nest, in which the single -egg is placed. This tun- Fic, 117. — MURRE. nel is often taken by a rabbit that insists upon bringing up its family in the same den. Among the most skill- ful divers are the loons (Fig. 119), which have been caught on lines FIG, 118. — PUFFIN. thirty or forty feet from the surface in the Great Lakes, where this remarkable bird can swim a quarter of a mile without coming to the sur- THE AUKS AND THEIR FRIENDS 155 face. There are but five species, all richly marked, stand- ing upright much after the fashion of the penguin, the legs being placed at the extreme end of the body. The adult specimens have a dark back with regular blockings of white. In the winter they come south and are found in the temperate regions; but in summer they migrate to the Arctic zone, where they nest and breed. In diving they use the power- fully webbed feet alone, and so rapidly do they swim that few fishes escape them. The red-throated loon and the black-throated loon are well known. No_- more graceful birds in the water can be imagined. On the Pacific coast I have watched them following up schools of small fry, dashing in among them with great FIG. 119. — LOON. rapidity, and rarely failing to secure their prey. I have seen three loons so de- moralize a school of fishes that they formed an almost solid ball and remained perfectly stationary while the loons dashed into them, at the same time so encircling the mass as to prevent their escape. In this work of destruction they were soon aided by several cormorants, and later by a seal. Among the really beautiful birds of the sea are the erebes (Fig. 120), common in many countries. The foot 156 THE AUKS AND THEIR FRIENDS of the grebe differs much from that of other swimming birds, having lobes upon three of the toes, but not uniting FIG. 120.— GREBE. cunning, often coming to the surface with only the tip of the bill exposed, thus giving the impression that they re- main below for an indefinite period. A little grebe kept at Santa Catalina was almost helpless on land, making scarcely any effort to fly, but once in the water it was a type of activity. The nest of the crested grebe is formed of rushes, and is a veritable floating island, upon which the eggs, from two to seven, are laid. them as in the duck, where the web connects the toes. The western grebe ‘and the pied-billed grebe (Fig. 121) are attractive forms, the heads especially be- ing beautiful and jaunty. The grebes are famous swim- mers and are very FIG, 121.— PIED-BILLED GREBE. The nest of the Castanean grebe, according to a French naturalist, is SOME OCEAN FLYERS Tee paddled about by the bird, which sits upon it with one foot overboard at such times. These birds are all valuable for their rich feathers, which are used as furs and trimming. SOME OCEAN FLYERS PETRELS AND GULLS Among the grebes and sea birds there are many others with long, graceful, pointed wings—the gulls and their allies. These are among the most attractive of birds ; not for their colors, as they are almost always gray, white, or black, but the contrasts of tint are so marked, and their flight is so well sustained that they are famous the world over. On the Florida reef the laughing gull (Fig. 122) is a very common form, its victorious “ha ha” being heard at all times. Its black head and lighter body are con- FIG. 122, LAUGHING GULL. spicuous objects far away. It follows the patient peli- cans about the reef, and when the latter secure a catch, drops down upon them, alighting on head or back, and snatches the fish from the very mouths of the stupid peli- 158 SOME OCEAN FLYERS cans just as they are prepared to swallow it. The laugh- ing gull then rises and utters the loud ‘‘ha ha, ha ha.” Often this cry is immediately interpreted by the man-of- war bird, which comes plunging down from the empyrean, where it has been soaring, to begin a contest in the air that fully demonstrates the marvelous power of flight pos- sessed by these two birds. Higher they climb until al- most out of sight; then they come plunging downward, living arrows, the larger bird invariably forcing the gull to give up its prey, which ._ the swift man-of-war bird catches before it touches the water. At Santa Cata- lina Island the gulls follow the steamer to Avalon and back, nearly sixty miles, every FIG. 123. — SABINE'S GULL. day. Some rest a few moments on the gilt ball at the topmast, but nearly all fly the entire distance and are often fed by the passengers, who toss bread and cfackers at them, which are sometimes caught in the air. The ivory gull is a beautiful creature, pure white, and found in the far North. Its bill is yellow and its feet are black. The American herring gull is also white, with the tips of the wings dark, while Sabine’s gull is a rare and graceful form (Fig. 123). These gulls and their allies are of great value to man. All along shore they are the scavengers, eating dead : SOME OCEAN FLYERS 159 fish and other objects which drift ashore, and in almost all localities they are protected from the vandals who would shoot them for the skins. Of all the tribe, the alba- tross (Fig. 124) is the most remarkable flyer, being rarely if ever seen near land, except when it breeds. It has earned a reputation for long journeys which, while per- haps somewhat exaggerated, exceed that of any other bird. These birds are usually met with in the southern seas, being rarely seen in the United States. Several, however, have been observed at Santa Catalina, California, and in Florida. The albatross looks like a gigantic gull. The male bird is snow-white except the tail, which is dark; the females FIG. 124. — ALBATROSS. are sprinkled with gray. These birds nest at Marion Island among other places and dot the plains, their great white bodies being conspicuous objects. The nests are made of moss or grass raised from the ground about a foot; they are conical, with broad bases and much earth packed and beaten in, so that when the birds are not on the nest the latter resembles a seat. The egg is not laid in the nest, but is held in a pouch by the female. It is nearly five inches long, white, speckled with red at the larger 160 SOME OCEAN FLYERS . end. When the female is on the nest, the male stands or sits beside her. At this time they will not rise when ap- proached, but merely snap their bills. The male is very devoted and evidently tries to amuse his mate. Professor Moseley suggests that he is singing to her. In any event, he stands close beside her, raises his wings, spreads his tail, tosses his head in the air, and all the time sways his neck up and down, uttering a curious cry. His mate responds in a similar strain. Then they press their beaks together, repeating this laughable performance by the half-hour. These birds followed the ship Challenger for five hundred miles south of Heard Island, but left her when two hundred miles from the Antarctic barrier. Some of the large gull-like birds, as the Antarctic skua, are fierce and dangerous creatures, preying upon other birds of all kinds. The naturalists of the Challenger were obliged to beat them off at times, and when shooting other birds it was often NEES SaDy to shoot a skua i before it carried off the game. The penguin cities are favorite nesting —_ places for these fierce birds, their nests being surrounded with piles of bones, suggestive of their cannibalistic habits. There is a northern skua(Fig. 125), a large, powerful bird, which attacks other birds, sucks the VIG. 125. — NORTHERN SKUA, eggs of ducks and various sea birds. The mollymauk, SOME OCEAN FLYERS 161 a smaller albatross, builds a columnar nest more than a foot in height and fourteen inches across. Its egg is also held in a pouch. Closely allied to the gulls are the terns. These are graceful, swallowlike creatures, long and delicate of limb, types of all that is beautiful or | graceful on the wing. They are found with the gulls, but rarely venture far from shore. When fly- ing, they hold the bill pointed down- ward, as though carefully scanning the water. If a fish FIG. 126. — Sooty TERN. appears, they plunge after it like a kingfisher. In a word, the tern is a hunter, while the big and clumsy gull is more of a scavenger. I once kept a sooty tern (Fig. 126) asa pet, the dainty little creature soon learning to eat from my hand. All the terns are beautiful. One of the most remarkable sights I have witnessed was at Bird Key on the Florida reef, where many thousands of terns similar to Figure 126 congregate to lay. The terns laid their speckled eggs upon the sand without any sem- blance of a nest except a slight depression. Upon my first visit to the island it was almost impossible to walk without crushing them. Almost every foot or yard was preémpted, and we collected them in flour barrels, placing a layer of leaves of the bay cedar and then a layer of eggs, and found them excellent. When I landed, the terns rose HOLDER, F. R. & B. — II 162 SOME OCEAN FLYERS in a body uttering discordant cries in such volume that it was a babel worse confounded, and to make my compan- ion by my side hear, it was necessary to scream. This had a singular effect upon the birds, as no sooner did they hear the unusual sound, than every bird ceased crying, a perfect silence ensuing for two or three seconds, then the crash and turmoil caused by thousands of voices again broke the stillness. This would be repeated indefinitely. Among these terns were many noddies, dark brown birds with white crowns. They built a rude nest of twigs in the bay cedars, upon which they laid an egg almost as large as that of a hen and almost white, while the egg of the tern was blotched. When the young noddy appeared, hatched out partly by the terrific sun, the mother brought it fish, which it fought for with throngs of marauding crabs. How the mothers of these unnumbered thousands found their own young was a mystery, as in crawling through the hot stifling bush the young would rush away, exchange positions a score of times, and were so plentiful that I could pick up a dozen without moving. Yet I never saw a dead bird; each one was fed by some one of the cloud of terns which hovered over the green-crested key. So great was the number of birds that from a distance of a mile they appeared like a cloud hanging over the island, and half a mile distant I could hear the distinct and rasp- ing roar of their cries. When they were not disturbed, very few were seen. Every year this vast concourse gathered on this island and East Key, and on no others, though there were six or seven keys. They gathered from far and near, flying perhaps hundreds of miles to find the particular spot upon which they were born. How SOME OCEAN FLYERS 163 they found this key of but fifteen acres, over a wide waste of waters, it would be difficult to explain. Still another in- | teresting bird of this type is the skimmer( Fig.127), whose bills are like knife blades. To obtain its food it skims along the water, with its FIG. 127.— SKIMMER. lower jaw just under the surface, thus picking up various small fry. I have watched these beautiful birds on the outlying islands of Texas, and wondered at their inexhausti- ble fund of patience. Those who go down to the sea in ships, and many who do not, are familiar with the graceful Mother Carey’s chicken, or stormy petrel (Fig. 128). As soon asa ship gets well out from land, these little voyagers join her and follow in her wake for hundreds _ of miles, a never ceas- ing entertainment to * passengersand crew. FIG. 128. STORMY PETREL. The latter have an especial regard for them, amounting in some instances to a superstition that ill will befall the ship that permits a petrel to be caught. I well remember the indignation 164 SOME OCEAN FLYERS of an old quartermaster when I caught one by tying a piece of meat toa cord. I wished to see the living bird, and released it unharmed; but the old sailor predicted a storm as a result of the deed. This little bird could not fly from the deck, and only regained its freedom when I tossed it into the air. They spend the greater portion of their time at sea, following vessels for the food thrown over, resting upon the water. At Kerguelen’s Land the petrels nest on the ground, forming long tunnels six inches in diameter at the end of which is a small room FIG. 129. — SHEARWATER. where the nest is built. The giant petrels prey upon gulls, and certain ones are famous divers. The shearwaters (Fig. 129) are hand- some _ birds. At Tristan da Cuna they honeycomb the soil with their bur- rows. In certain parts of Europe Fic, ea BIRD. they deposit their eggs in rabbit burrows. Resembling them is the fulmar, often the attendant of fishermen, following their boats. Among the really beautiful sea birds is the yellow-billed tropic bird (Fig. 130), with its long tail and graceful flight. SOME OCEAN FLYERS 165 Those who have visited Florida will recall the very stupid and ungainly bird called the booby which permits the man with the gun to approach it so closely that it can almost be touched. An allied form is the gannet, which bears some resem- FIG, 132. —CORMORANT. FIG, 131. — SNAKE BIRD. blance to a goose, and possesses the latter’s stupidity. In the swampy regions of Florida is found the snake bird, or water turkey (Fig. 131), its long and slender neck suggesting a snake. Itis adanger- _ ous creature, the bird invariably striking a vicious blow at the face when wounded or resisting capture. Near relatives, and resembling them, are the cormorants (Fig. 132). They have long necks, stout bodies, and hooked 166 SOME OCEAN FLYERS bills. They stand erect, supported by the stiff tail. They are among the most remarkable of all swimmers, chasing sardines, anchovies, and other small fry with such speed that they are a factor to be considered. Two or three species are common off the islands of the California coast, and I have climbed to their nests on Santa Cruz Island. They nest in almost inaccessible localities on the face of cliffs, the nests, which are made of seaweed, in the case of Brandt’s cormorant, being filthy in the extreme. Many of the young die by falling into the surf before they are large enough to swim. At San Nicolas Island I saw a vast flock which gathered every morning. The birds be- gan to arrive at about eight, coming in small bands of a dozen or more, and all alighting in a flock in smooth water near shore. Suddenly all headed in a given direc- tion and swam in. Then, as though ordered, they turned, gabbling and uttering the strangest sounds. No one could witness this performance and not be impressed with the belief that it was a bird convention of some kind. All these cormorants had certain resting places at Cata- lina, at the north end of the island,on Ship Rock. Inthe morning they flew away to feed, going twenty miles. They returned at night, the long lines of ‘‘shags” appear- ing like some gigantic sea serpent winding its way over the ocean. I have watched them feeding, darting into schools of small fry, dashing along the bottom twenty feet deep with marvelous speed, easily capturing the agile fishes, and have often hooked them when fishing at this island, in winter when they are very tame. In China the cormo- rants are trained to fish for their owners, who place about their necks a band of leather sufficiently tight to prevent THE PELICANS AND DUCKS 167 them from swallowing the fish; then they are released, the birds bringing their catches to the surface, for which they are rewarded. THE PELICANS AND DUCKS The boobies, the cormorants, and the gannets have cousins in the pelicans — the long-beaked, pouched crea- tures of solemn mien, found in almost all tropical regions. In Florida the brown pelican (Fig. 133) is the common form. On land it is very clumsy, its short legs being poorly adapted for locomotion, yet with their wide webs excellent paddles. The pelican has an extraordinary pouch beneath the lower jaw, which is really a huge dip net, to aid the clumsy bird in the capture of food. Although a large bird, it is extremely light in the air, on account of ‘the presence of air sacs under the ~ me skin. It is particularly buoyant on the surface of the water, which is the position of its choice. The birds move in FIG. 133. — BROWN PELICAN. flocks, paddling slowly. along with bills lying close to their breasts, giving them a very dignified appearance. At such times the birds are resting, but when hungry they rise and fly with heavy beating of the wings forty or fifty feet above the water, eagerly scanning the surface. When a school 168 THE PELICANS AND DUCKS of fish is observed, the pelican turns and plunges down, head first, like a catapult, opening the mouth wide just before it reaches the water. As the fishes can not see up- ward, it engulfs scores in its capacious pouch, out of which the water drains, leaving the fishes, which are afterward swallowed with an upward, tossing motion of the head. I found the pelicans nesting in mangrove trees on Bush Key. The nests were the rudest piles of brush imaginable, on the top of which the eggs were placed. The young were strange creatures, and not particularly agreeable neighbors, with their insistent, asthmatic voices. I kept several as pets. They followed the boat over the reef, alighted on it at times, and roosted on the side of a fisher- man’s hut when ashore. The fisherman, by fastening a strap about their necks, obliged the patient birds to fish for him. On the upper Florida reef the pelicans nest in vast numbers, and hundreds may be seen standing on the partly submerged sand banks, resting after their fishing excursions. Their flight is particularly graceful after get- ” ting “under way.” They come down within a few inches of the water and move a long distance without any motion of the wings—the perfection of soaring; and when the momentum is exhausted, they rise to plunge down again. I have seen my pet pelicans soaring in this manner not five feet from my boat, where it was plain that no motion was made. In California the brown pelican has a similar habit; but in diving, it often disappears entirely from sight for afew seconds. The appearance of these graceful birds along the shore at Santa Catalina and San Pedro formerly added much to the attractiveness of the locality, as the THE PELICANS AND DUCKS 169 birds were exceedingly tame; but an order came from a Chicago milliner for pelican skins, and the birds were shot down by the boat load. A law was finally passed making the killing of these birds and of gulls a penal offense, and so they were saved. Every reader of these lines should see that the birds of his locality are protected, as there is a price upon the head of almost every bird, which can only result in their extinction. I visited an interesting pelican rookery at Anacapa Island, opposite Santa Barbara, and found a lofty, sloping mesa on the south side of the island covered with birds, which rose in the air in a vast cloud as we approached. The nests were all upon the ground. One of the most interesting of this group is the white pelican, a large, finely formed bird, pure white except the primary feathers. These do not dive for their prey, but swim along the sur- face, striking at it with their powerful bills. The white pelican is an inland species as a rule, found in Nevada, Utah, and many inland States. During the breeding season both sexes develop a peculiar, horny crest upon the beak, which is afterward cast off. A naturalist visited a nest- ing place of these birds in Nevada, and in the nesting month found the ground strewn with the rejected crests. In Santa Barbara a fisherman has a pet white pelican which he caught several years ago. At the breeding sea- son this fine bird disappears, going perhaps hundreds of miles to join its mate and then returning to the back yard of Larco. Year after year the bird has returned, being perfectly tame, playing with boys, dogs, and cats. The pelicans have no enemies except the laughing gulls, which, as we have seen, systematically rob them. 170 THE PELICANS AND DUCKS Closely related to the pelicans is the man-of-war hawk (Fig. 134), which in my estimation is one of the most grace- ful of all flyers. There are but two_ species, found mainly in semi- tropic waters. They are lithe and powerful, with an enormous spread of wings. The tail is forked and black in color. The legs are weak and small; the beak strong and pointed. The bird, being virtually a hawk in appearance and a thief by habit, robs the gulls and other birds. Few if any birds have a greater power of flight. I have seen them lying almost motionless in the air six hundred feet above Garden Key, Florida, during the heaviest gales. The birds faced the wind, their broad FIG. 134. — MAN-OF-WAR HAWK. wings extended and immovable even when examined through a glass. They were seemingly tilting on the wind, retaining their position for hours, or as long as the gale lasted, enjoying the commotion of the elements that had driven every other bird to cover. I have watched them off the islands of Texas, where their girations could not fail to arouse admiration. They nest among the man- groves of the low-lying islands or keys in the tropics, and when not hunting for game or soaring high in air, roost in the low trees. But does the victorious cry of the laughing gull announce that it has robbed a patient pelican, the great man-of-war bird rises, and in a few seconds is in vigorous pursuit, affording me on many occasions a mar- THE PELICANS AND DUCKS I7I velous exhibition of the possibilities of flight and activity in mid-air. The eye of the bird is fierce and striking, and beneath the throat is a vivid vermilion patch which gives it a martial and striking appearance. In the Ascension Islands it builds its nest in the guano beds, while those FIG. 135. — DUCKS. found at Fernando de Noronha are upon the very edge of steep precipices. The nest contains but a single egg. In the islands of Australia there is a species which forms its nest of twigs in low bushes. The bird has a peculiar musklike odor, which once experienced will not be forgotten. Among the most familiar of all birds, partly because of their domestication, are the ducks and geese, embrac- ing about two hundred species (Fig. 135). The ducks are essentially surface swimmers and have webbed feet. They 172 THE PELICANS AND DUCKS have soft down, beautiful feathers, richly colored, while the beaks are, as a rule, flat bills provided with ridges, or fine serrations, which serve as strainers when feeding. There are fish ducks, river ducks, sea ducks, geese, and swans, all differing materially, but having many features in common. The fish ducks are large, powerful birds, richly colored. They are skillful divers, the hooded mer- ganser (Fig. 136) being particu- larly attractive. Perhaps the most beautiful duck after the famous mandarin duck of Japan, whose beauties of feather can not be adequately described, is the American wood duck (Fig. 137), with its marvelous combina- tions of tint, color, and tone. The bird builds in holes in the trunks of trees along FIG, 136. — HOODED MERGANSER, the edges of streams, and when the young are hatched, carries them down to the water in her bill. Among the ducks FIG. 137. — Woop Duck. particularly valuable to man are the blue-winged teal, the green wing, the black duck, the mallard that is domesticated, the red THE PELICANS AND DUCKS 173 head, the canvasback, and many others. The eider duck (Fig. 138) is one of the most valuable of the tribe on account of the delicate down it provides to line its nest, this being collected to form pillows and cushions. The river ducks feed upon vegetation of various kinds, which they dive for in the bayous and lagoons along shore, and they are not averse to grain. The fish ducks go to sea and prey upon small fry, while the sea ducks are found in rivers, bays, and the open sea. The waters of Chesapeake Bay are a famous place for the canvasback. I have seen the surface covered for acres with these and other fine game ducks. Few birds are so valuable as the ducks, as from one end of the country to the other the swamp lands are owned by clubs devoted to the sport. These often have aes 138. — EIDER Duck. expensive club houses, to maintain which thousands of dollars are expended annually. In Los Angeles County, California, almost all the swamp and lagoon land is reserved in this way, and along the Sacramento River thousands of acres are so utilized, giv- ing employment to many persons, while the birds killed are all used as food. The geese (Fig. 139) are fine, large, handsome birds equally valuable. The snow goose, as its name implies, is 174 THE PELICANS AND DUCKS pure white, except the tips of the primaries, the bill and feet being red. = — Fie FIG. 139. — WILD GOOSE, of winter. The barnacle goose is a well-known bird, found most plentifully in the Eastern Hemi- sphere. Our most common form is the Canada goose (Fig. 140). The ducks and geese migrate each year, covering long dis- tances, summering in the far North, often on the shores of the Arc- tic Ocean, returning south at the beginning These migrations, particularly those of the geese, are very interesting in Southern California. The birds follow’ the Sierra Madre range and make _ their presence known by loud “honking.” The flock is seen to be V-shaped, led by a single bird, and they literally slide downhill either te the north or south. I have seen a flock Pic. 140. — CANADA GOOSE. of hundreds not five hundred feet up at the base of the Sierras, evidently in the greatest confusion, but they THE PELICANS AND DUCKS 175 rapidly took the form of a great spiral, and in vast whirls went winding upward, rising higher and higher, now dis- appearing, and then as the sun struck their backs, flashing out like silver dollars against the sky to disappear again. So upward the flock climbed into the empyrean until it at- tained an altitude of a mile, above or even with the sum- mits of the Sierras. Then the leader turned to the north, and after a few violent flappings of its wings, spread them out and soared away. It was followed by the flock, which lined out with unerring precision. I have watched them as far as the eye could reach, and the wings were not flapped, the geese sliding downhill, moving on with great rapidity for several miles. When they reach a dangerously low altitude, at a signal from the leader in all probability, they break up and for a few seconds seem involved in con- fusion. Then they rapidly fall into line and begin another ascent, which carries them high into the air again, when another aérial tobog- gan slide is begun. In this way some geese doubtless move several hundreds of miles in a short time with a minimum amount of exertion. Of all this group of birds, the swans FIG. 1441. — SWAN. (Fig. 141) are the most beautiful. They are types of grace and ease when on the water, seemingly designed to orna- ment ponds and other artificial bodies of water. Owing to the fact that they are easily domesticated, they are always 176 SOME WADING BIRDS found in preserves where animal life is desired to intensify the beauties of woodland streams. The swans are so heavy that most of their time is spent on the water, where they feed in the shallows by thrusting their heads below the surface and probing the muddy bottom for animal and vegetable food. The swan is a graceful and swift swimmer, having broad webs which force it along over the surface like a beautiful barge. The black swan of Australia is an attract- ive bird, in sharp contrast to its white cousin. I have seen its nest in Central Park, New York, where it is com- pletely domesticated. The period of incubation is about six weeks, the male assisting its mate in the nesting process, taking her place when she goes abroad for food or recreation. SOME WADING BIRDS Diving and swimming birds, as we have seen, are adapted by nature to the kind of life that they lead. Among them are many with long legs which enable them to wade along the shallow flats and secure the food of their choice without diving. I well recall the first flamingo I saw, standing with a scarlet ibis on the submerged outer reef, the rich vermilion color making the group a con- spicuous feature of the landscape. The two birds stood like statues, each posing in a different position and_per- mitting me to approach so closely that I could easily have brought them down. When they did rise, it was with a heavy, lumbering flight, using the long legs to beat the water, so that they appeared to be walking off into the air. SOME WADING BIRDS 177 The legs did not assume the trailing position until they were well above the surface. The flamingo builds a nest of mud, in very shallow water, from one to three feet in height, on which it sits with legs drawn up. There is a large rookery on one of the Bahama Islands where, in the nesting season, hundreds of the vermilion-tinted birds can be seen appearing from a distance like a pink cloud. I once kept a flamingo( Fig. 142) as a pet, and its dignified strut and continual posing made it most interesting. It had a singu- lar habit of thrusting its head upside down between its legs, as though to look backward, and took so many odd positions that I should not have been surprised at any time to have found its neck tied in a bowknot. The flamingo’s body is small, its legs and neck are inordinately FIG. 142.— FLAMINGO, long, so that the head can be twisted about in a most remarkable fashion. The flamingo is the king of the waders, its stiltlike legs serving it well, as it wanders along the shallow lagoons. Its feet are thoroughly webbed, as complete swimming organs as those of the duck; yet I never saw a flamingo swim, though doubtless they often do so. A companion of the flamingo is the roseate spoonbill HOLDER, F. R. & B, — 12 '178 SOME WADING BIRDS (Fig. 143), a delicate, rose-colored bird, with a bill so broad- ened at the tip that it resembles a spoon. I have seen them standing on the reef alone or with the ibis (Fig. 144). The latter, especially the scarlet ibis, is a beauti- ful bird of brilliant plum- age and really a native of South America, though common in Florida. The ibis was a sacred bird in Egypt years ago, and its mummy is often found in FIG. 143. — ROSEATE SPOONBILL. the ancient tombs. The bird is a familiar object along the Nile or on the Delta. The white ibis is a striking form, found mostly in the interior on land. It has a sharp sicklelike bill and bears so striking a resemblance to a curlew that it is often mistaken for it. The white-faced ibis is still another, while the wood ibis, a poy : . FIG. 144. — SCARLET IBIS. large, striking bird (Fig. 145), leads us to the storks, the largest of the wading birds. These strange birds (Fig. 146) have a wide range, the SOME WADING BIRDS 179 most interesting being found in Europe and Asia, where in many cities they are pro- tected as are the buzzards in South Carolina, where they perform the duties of valuable scavengers. In Holland it is not unusual to see storks nesting on the tops of FIG. 145. — Woop IBIs. chimneys (Fig. 147), the birds being supposed to bring good luck to such houses and their occupants. The migration of the stork is an interesting spectacle. One of the most valuable of the storks is the marabou, from which the beautiful ————._* feathers of that name are taken. The birds have but a single representative in America, the South Ameri- ae can jabiru (Fig. 148). It is a large, powerful bird, with Fic. 146. — STORK. 180 SOME WADING BIRDS FIG. 147. STORKS AND NEs?. scratched its ponderous head. The stork is often kept by planters as a sort of watch dog, sometimes doing valua- ble service in driving off in- truders. An ally of the stork is the curious adjutant bird, a gro- tesque figure either sitting or standing. It is easily recog- nized by the curious pouch- like object under the throat. It stands five feet in height, an enormous bill, slightly curved upward. The head and neck are bare with the exception of a single patch like a wig at the back of the head. The head and neck are dark and set off by a necktie-like band of vivid red. In South America this bird is often tamed. One with which I was acquainted was extremely docile and would stand silently by my side as I ae eis easel Fic. 148.— JABIRU. SOME WADING BIRDS 181 and when walking slowly along has a most grotesque and dignified appearance, its wan and skinny visage giving it the appearance of a very ancient bird. It is con- sidered a valuable scavenger, having but one bad quality, that of not distinguishing between friend or foe. One has been known to pick up and swallow a kitten and a puppy belonging to its master, not to mention divers young chickens. Indeed, I have heard of an adjutant bird that swallowed a small cat, and there is apparently no limit to its appetite. The whale-headed stork is another allied form, its beak being so large that it might be easily mistaken for a wooden Dutch shoe. Twenty years ago one of the charms of Florida was its flocks of cranes and herons. They dotted the sides of rivers and marshes, and were seen in every lagoon and all along the coast. Even in New Jersey their nesting places were discovered, but it was found that their feathers were valuable for decorative purposes, and war was begun against the most beau- tiful of birds. Hundreds of men went out and shot them by thou- sands, and the places that knew FIG. 149. — WHOOPING CRANE. them once in countless numbers know them no more. One of the most conspicuous of the group is the whoop- ing crane (Fig. 149), found in the Gulf States in winter and far to the north in summer. I have often watched its 182 SOME WADING BIRDS migration, large flocks moving along in regular order, their long legs dangling behind. Quite as striking is the sandhill crane, a large, powerful bird of a slate-brown color, famous for its peculiar antics. I once saw a flock in Florida, and by much maneuvering and creeping through the brush, obtained a position within fifty yards of them unobserved. There were possibly twenty or thirty birds standing in an irregular circle, and as I reached the spot a single bird was leaping up and down, raising its wings and trotting around in a circle, going through a variety of maneuvers. When fatigued it dropped back, and another bird took its place, stepping with mincing gait, jumping into the air, thrust- ing its head down close to the ground and running in a circle, each bird evidently FIG. 150.— AMERICAN BITTERN. trying to exceed its prede- cessor. These “dances” occur in the spring, and are supposed to be a feature of the courtship of the birds. The herons appear to be small cranes. They have sharp bills and long legs and are found in meadows and swampy places, where they prey upon small reptiles and fishes. No animal has an eye more fierce or uncom- promising than the heron. It is fiery, staring, and totally devoid of expression. The invader may be assured that the sharp bill will be driven full in his face if the oppor- SOME WADING BIRDS 183 tunity offers, for these birds, especially when wounded, are extremely dangerous. I have kept several as pets, but always found them treacherous. This is particularly true of the American bittern (Fig. 150), whose peculiar booming notes are often heard a long distance. The bird is very cunning. Upon one occasion I came upon one in a deep glen in the White Mountains and was so near the bird that I could have struck it with a stick. It evidently thought that I did not see it, and pointed its bill directly upward, holding its position as rigid as a limb of the tree. It bore such a close resemblance to one that I should have passed it by had I not accidentally dis- covered it. As far as I could see in passing, the bird held its position. - One of the most beautiful of the group.is the great FIG. 151. —SNOWY HERON. white heron, which is a con- spicuous object on the Florida reefs, where the snowy heron is also seen (Fig. 151). In the breeding season this beautiful heron has fifty or more rich plumes upon its back, which tip upward, giving the bird a jaunty appear- ance. It also has a white, lacelike crest. This radiant bird, one of which I have kept in confinement, is almost extinct, having been destroyed for its feathers. The American egret also has almost disappeared. 184 SOME WADING BIRDS Among these birds the great blue heron is one of the most striking (Fig. 152). I have often taken it on the Florida reef, where it is called the golden heron, and fre- quently eaten. The prevailing tint is dark steel. It has a graceful crest. Its eye is beautiful but fierce. When wounded, the bird fights with great ferocity, inflicting a severe wound with its sharp bill. All these birds have peculiar powder-down spots on the breast; these are oily, and seem to secrete a yellowish pow- der. A sportsman _in- formed me that in shoot- ing the black-crowned night heron, or an allied form, the powder-down spot was phosphorescent, emitting a distinct light as the bird stood in the water, so that he fired at the ; : ear * light, killing the bird. As FIG. 152. — BLUE HERON, he held it in his hand the light gradually faded, dis- appearing as the bird died. Several other observers told me similar stories regarding the light on the heron’s breast, which they supposed was reflected upon the water, attract- ing victims to the silent watcher. So far as known, no naturalist or trained observer has seen the light. The yellow-crowned night heron is a beautiful bird, and solitary in the strictest sense. SOME WADING BIRDS 185 One of the most attractive birds I have ever kept in confinement was the Carolina rail, or sora. I often found them on the outer Florida reef after storms, blown in shore, and so weary that they were eas- ily captured. The eye of this little bird is the antip- odes of that of the heron, a beauti- ful brown, very ex- FIG. 153. — PURPLE GALLINULE. ; pressive, mild, and gentle. The little birds are easily domesticated. With them I often caught the Florida gallinule and the purple gallinule (Fig. 153), the latter one of the most attractive of the marsh birds. It is bril- liant purple in hue; the back is olive-green, the bill red, and the legs are yel- low. The toes are extremely long, and the bird runs over the leaves of the water plants with ease. Allthese birds run a long dis- tance before taking to the wing when chased, and are difficult to capture FIG. 154. —AMERICAN Coot. The American coot (Fig. 154) is a common form better 186 SOME WADING BIRDS known as the mud hen. It is the familiar of every pond or swamp, having little fear of man, as it is seldom or never shot. Duck hunters are familiar with the peculiar grunting note of the Virginia rail (Fig. 155), and the bird is in great demand by sportsmen. Even more remarkable are the notes of the limpkin, or crying bird, a large, grace- ful bird found in Florida, in whose swamps its mourn- ful note is often heard. The rails are rarely seen, as they are very clever in hiding in the brush at the water’s edge, and so resemble their surroundings that they often escape observation though directly under the eye. In walking or FIG. 155.— VIRGINIA RAIL, riding along any shore, flocks of delicate birds in gray tints and with long legs are ever rising and wheeling away, alighting a little farther along, running quickly and thrusting their long bills down into the sand in search of food. These little birds are the small waders, avocets, sandpipers, and others, all adding materially to the charm along the great Atlantic or Facific highway of sand and dune. One of the most SOME WADING BIRDS : 187 interesting localities for them I found at the beach of Amelia Island, northern ‘Florida. This is a wide, hard - stretch of sand, upon which it was my cus- tom to ride, and as my horse ran along FiG, 156. — BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. the sands, countless hundreds of these beautiful creatures arose, resembling falling silver dol- lars flung into the FIG. 157. — WILSON’S SNIPE. air, as they whirled along. Among them was the plover (Fig. 156), the valued golden plover, the killdeer, with its shrill “ £2//-dee,” often repeated, the piping plover, singing ‘‘ peep-peep,” and many others, all pos- sessing special attractions. Among them was Wilson’s snipe (Fig. 157), the long- Fic. 158. —- WILLET. 188 ‘ SOME WADING BIRDS legged stilt, sandpiper, and the sanderling. Occasionally the shy and rare willet would rise (Fig. 158), or the ruff, famous for its pugnacity. In this interesting throng were the black- necked stilt and several phala- ropes — delicate, dainty little crea- tures, active on the wing, and among the most beautiful of this vast throng. One of the larg- est of these birds is the long-billed curlew (Fig. 159), which I have found on the dry mesa, two miles from the Pacific, at Santa Monica. They were so actively engaged in picking up grasshoppers that by keeping behind FIG. 159. — HUDSONIAN CURLEW. my horse and walking in a constantly de- creasing circle I came within a few yards of them, and had an excel- lent opportunity towatchthem. The famed wood- cock, now so rare in this country, and in such de- mand by epicures (Fig. 160), belongs with these birds, and might be called a snipe of the Be Beas WOU C ORK: woods. Its habits are very interesting. At night it is known to take remarkable spiral flights, going through many pe- SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS 189 culiar gyrations. The nest is very cleverly placed, and the mother has been seen flying off with a small young one between its feet.. In all, there are over one hundred species of these interesting long-legged birds, from snipes to godwits and beyond. ‘ SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS A familiar sight in any backyard is the common hen. Scratching violently, throwing the soil behind her, and clucking vigorously, she utters words, notes, or calls which are readily understood by her young. This habit of scratching 1s so pronounced that it has given the name to a large and very valuable group of birds, including the fowls, _ partridges, FIG. 161.— SCALED PARTRIDGE, turkeys, grouse, and many others. They are all comparatively poor flyers. They have short but strong bills, powerful feet, and claws adapted to overturning the earth. The partridges (Fig. 161) are familiar examples, included in a family having one hundred or more species of attrac- tive birds of small size, found in almost all parts of the world. They prefer the ground, and will run a long dis tance rather than fly. When hard pushed they rise and move with extreme rapidity, accompanied by a loud whir- 190 SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS ring sound that has demoralized many a novice with the gun. The California valley partridge is one of the most attrac- tive, having upon its head a tuft of feathers which gives it a jaunty appearance. It is found in California in vast flocks, especially in the highlands near the mountains. It is a social little creature. As I write I can hear its sweet call in the arroyo, not a gunshot distant. It forms its nest beneath the cactus or brush, and when dis- covered often rushes away with drooping wings, pretending to be wounded, to attract attention from its nest % or young. Another attractive species with longer plumes is found in the mountains. Bobwhite (Fig. 162) is one of the best- known game birds in FIG. 162.-—- BOBWHITE, America; it is found in flocks among the grasses, its note sounding like the name. It is often called quail or Virginia partridge. Equally important as a game bird is the prairie hen (Fig. 163). It is a large bird, mottled, with a short tail, having upon the sides of its neck a tuft of ten or more stiff feathers, beneath which is a bare spot capable of inflation. In spring, numbers congregate, uttering remarkable booming sounds which can be heard a long distance. SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS Ig! The ruffed grouse (Fig. 164) is another large mcmber of the group, the male of which produces an extraordinary drumming noise by beating the air rapidly with its wings. The scaled partridge, dusky grouse, Canada grouse, willow par- tridge, and prairie sharp-tailed grouse are others of this interesting group of birds which afford sport and game for thousands of hunters in various parts of the United States. The nests of these birds are very deftly con- FIG. 163. — PRAIRIE HEN. cealed, and are more often found by acci- dent than by vigor- ous hunting. In the winter some of this tribe show a decided change of color, ap- pearing in a garb of pure white. This is particularly true of FIG. 164. — RUFFED GROUSE. the ptarmigan, whose plumage varies with the seasons. Others change but little, and are readily seen upon the snow. In China is found the smallest of the 192 SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS family, a creature so minute that years ago it was sold for a very singular purpose, wealthy Chinese using them as hand warmers, holding the dainty birds in their hands. The wild turkey (Fig. 165) is the largest of the scratchers, a noble bird becoming rarer every year, but so thoroughly domesticated that ] it is in no danger of becoming ex- tinct. The pheas- ants are among the most beautiful members of this group of birds. The argus pheas- ant (Fig. 166) is one of the most gorgeous creatures possibletoimagine, its wing and tail feathers being cov- ered with striking eye-spots in browns and neutral tints. FIG, 165. — WILD TURKEY. The bird itself is not much larger than the ordinary fowl, but its splendid plumage. gives it a length of five and a half feet and an appearance of large size. The impeyan pheasant (Fig. 167) is a re- splendent creature, ornamented with a brilliant array of bronze tints which in the sunlight glisten and glow like real metal. SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS 193 If the ordinary peacock (Fig. 168) was not so common, it would be the wonder of the world in its display of gorgeous plumage. The white peacock is equally beauti- ful, while the common guinea hen (Fig. 169) is a very attractive bird. All these birds have voices that are in- tensely disagreeable, especially that of the peacock. The male is the more beautiful. The female of all the pheasants is a demure bird, generally garbed in ,inconspicuous browns, a_ strange contrast to the proud, resplendent, and vain- glorious male, which in the peacock and turkey typifies the sum of vanity. The Chinese pheas- ant is one of the most beautiful of all birds, bearing among FIG. 166.— ARGUS PHEASANT. other colors a fiery yellow difficult to describe in its many hues. Pheasants have been successfully introduced in America, particularly in Oregon and Washington. Among the scratching birds none are more remarkable HOLDER, F. R. & B.— 13 194 SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS than the so-called mound builders or brush turkeys of New South Wales. The mottled tallegallus is almost as large as a turkey and resembles this bird to some extent. Te oe Beis ‘Lay, ‘ehh SPN at Ce FIG. 167. —-IMPEYAN PHEASANT. Strangers traveling through the country have been as- tonished at the singular mounds found in various places, formed of vast accumulations of refuse, seemingly thrown up by human hands. They are really the nests of these SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS 195 peculiar birds, which hatch their eggs in in- cubators instead of sitting upon them. The mound (Fig. 170) is formed in the spring and is of pyram- idal shape, the birds making it by standing with their backs to the place selected and hurling refuse at it, which they grasp in their powerful feet, so that they not only scratch, but throw. Some of the heaps are four feet in height. The mass soon ferments, pro- ducing heat, and in it the eggs of the birds are laid. They are covered Ti ny Nh i FIG. 168.— PEACOCK. up fifteen inches deep, being placed in a circle nine or ten inches apart, an opening being left in the center as a FIG. 169. — GUINEA HEN. sort of ventilator to gov- ern the temperature. Here they lie, the birds sometimes uncovering them on very warm days, for thirty days, when the young appear. The latter remain in the mound for about twelve hours after they are 196 SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS hatched. On the second night they return in care of the male, and in three or four days are able to fly and care for themselves. The nest or mound of the ocellated leipoa of Western Africa is made of fine gravel mixed with grass and leaves. Fic. 170. — BRUSH TURKEYS, One has been measured that was forty-five feet in circum- ference and almost five feet in height. The temperature in the center was 89°. Even larger than this are the mounds of the megapodius of Australia, some of which measure one hundred and fifty feet in circumference and are twenty feet in height. Some of these large mounds are the result of continual work during a number of sea- SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS 197 sons, the mounds growing a little under the yearly system of repair. Even more remarkable are the habits of the interesting maleo, found in the island of Celebes —a bird which can almost be compared to a turtle. In appearance the bird resembles the guinea fowl. In August or September the male and female dig a hole four feet in the dry volcanic sand of the seashore. There a single reddish egg of re- markable size is laid. About two weeks later the bird returns, and another egg is deposited, until six or eight have been laid, several hens using the same nest. The eggs are then deserted, the heat of the sun hatching them. The young birds break the shell and crawl upward like turtles, when they are able to fly immediately and care for themselves. Allied to these are the strange curassows. The pigeons well illustrate what man can do by selec- tion. All the wonderful varieties — pouters, fantails, barbs, and others —are but mere variations of the wild pigeons. Of all these, the carriers are the most interesting and valu- able, possessing the homing instinct remarkably developed. Mr. Otto Zahn of Los Angeles trained his pigeons so that for several years they constituted the telegraph sys- tem between the island of Santa Catalina and Los An- geles, a distance of thirty miles. When any one wished to send a telegram, a bird would be selected, and the message, written on very fine paper, was wrapped in tin foil about its legs. Then with two other birds it was released, The distant mainland was often hidden by fog or cloud banks, but the birds would rise upward to a height of fif- teen hundred feet, then take a straight course for Los Angeles, inspired by their marvelous and unerring instinct. 198 SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS They would reach the city in about an hour. As they alighted on the platform and entered their coop, an elec- tric signal was sounded in the adjacent house. The owner came out, released the paper, telephoned the message to the telegraph office, and then fed the birds. The birds were returned to the island the day following on the steamer. To perfect this system, two flocks were main- tained, one at Santa Catalina, that had lived in Los Angeles, and another in Los Angeles that rec- ognized Santa Cat- alina as its home. The famous dodo (Fig. 171), which became extinct within historical FIG. 171. — Dopo. pees umes Was a gi gantic pigeon in- capable of flight. It lived upon the island of Mauritius and was as large as a swan, having a large, hooked bill and rudimentary wings. There are over three hundred species of pigeons and doves found in different parts of the world. Many of the doves are very beautiful. They have one habit which marks them as peculiar. Nearly all birds when drinking insert the bill, take a very little water, and holding the bill upward, let the liquid run down the throat; but the pigeons and doves plunge the bill into the water and drink SOME SCRATCHING BIRDS 199 like other animals. Some make a peculiar whistling sound as they fly, and the notes of many are very mournful. The passenger pigeon (Fig. 172) is one of the most inter- esting of the group, existing in such vast numbers early in the nineteenth century that flocks of them often darkened the sun. How many birds were in- cluded in these flocks is not known, but it is FIG. 172. — PASSENGER PIGEON, estimated that a single flock contained as many birds as there are people upon the globe. Wilson estimated one of these flocks at two trillion birds; and gave it as his opinion that they con- sumed seventeen mil- lion bushels of corna day. A famous roosting place was on Green River, Kentucky ; and Audubon has described the sight as they arrived, breaking down the branches of FIG. 173. — MOURNING DOVE. trees and creating a deaf- ening, roaring sound. To-day the passenger pigeon is almost extinct. The mourning dove (Fig. 173) is an interesting form. As I write, a pair resting in a eucalyptus tree near my gar- den are uttering their loud and mournful call, ‘ coo-coo-o-6.” The nest is in almost every instance poorly made, a few 200 BIRDS OF PREY twigs being thrown together in a most careless manner. Perhaps the handsomest birds of the tribe are the crowned pigeons of New Guinea, which are of a rich blue tint, with a remarkable set of plumes upon the head, giving them a most fantastic appearance. The feet of the doves and pigeons are small. These birds are valuable agents in transporting seeds from one part of the country to another. Pigeons have been killed in New York State with fresh rice in their crops which must have been obtained seven hundred miles away in Georgia. When the Dutch de- stroyed the nutmeg groves on all the East India islands except Great Banda, they found that the pigeons carried nuts to the various islands faster than they could pick them up and destroy them. BIRDS OF PREY The dove, of all birds, forms a sharp contrast to the fierce birds which live by preying upon others, dead or alive. The very appearance of the hawk or eagle suggests rapine. The eye is fierce, the beak is powerful and curved (Fig. 174), and the claws (Fig. 175) are sharp and capable of grasping prey and holding it with a most tenacious grasp. FIG. 174. — HAWk’s BRAK. They are rarely amenable to kindness. I have had several sparrow hawks which I attempted to tame. They fed from my hand, but were always ready to turn on me. A condor was more amen- able, allowing me to scratch its head; but a so-called pet, BIRDS OF PREY 201 a monkey-faced owl, never failed to strike at me with its terrible claws, all the while uttering a diabolical asthmatic sound. The visitor to Charles- ton, South Carolina, will be interested in the tur- key buzzards (Fig. 176), which are protected by law and are the scaven- gers of the city, eating all the refuse thrown them, an altogether disgusting bird, yet valuable in warm countries. Their sense of smell is wonderfully acute. In Southern Cali- fornia dead or dying ani- FIG. 175. — CLAWS OF HAWKS. mals can always be found by watch- ing the buzzards, which can detect seemingly the slightest evil odor. The South American con- dor (Fig. 177) is the larg- est of all flying birds, specimens having been seen, according to Byam, with a spread of wing of fifteen feet. This splen- did bird makes its home in the Andes, and is often seen high in air over the FIG. 176.— TURKEY BUZZARD. loftiest peaks, It doubt- 202 BIRDS OF PREY less ascends to a greater altitude than any other bird. Its flight is graceful, a marvelous spectacle of balancing and soaring, the bird moving for hours without perceptible motion of its wings. Its powers of vision are so remark- Tic. 177. — South AMERICAN CONDOR, able that it can recognize animals at a long distance. Its nest is built of twigs and sticks on some inaccessibie cliff. Closely resembling this bird is the California condor. formerly common from Sacramento south. TI have seen it BIRDS OF PREY 203 roosting on the oaks of the San Gabriel valley, near Pasa- dena, and its nest has been found near the canyon of Santa Monica. Of the European vultures the lammer- geier is the largest, having a_ spread of wing of eight feet. Many stories are told of these birds carry- ing off animals and children. They are unable, however, to hold large objects in their claws, as are the FIG. 178. — BLACK VULTURE. eagles; but several large California vultures have been seen to drag a young grizzly bear several hundred feet. The black vulture (Fig. 178) is a com- mon form in the Southern States and South America, being more common along the seashore than in the interior. The hawks, so far as their habits are concerned, are immature eagles, preying upon smaller birds and animals, as rabbits, squirrels, fowls, and sparrows. They have grasp- ing claws, terrible weapons which not only grasp prey but penetrate it , like knives. The pigeon hawk (Fig. FIG. 179.— PIGEON HAWK. 179) is a familiar form, rapid in 204 BIRDS OF PREY flight; while the duck hawk, which preys on these birds, is larger. The American osprey (Fig. 180) is an interesting bird, always found near the water, preying upon fish, which it catches, and of which it is frequently robbed by the bald eagle. The nest is often built in a conspicuous place. I once watched a pair of these birds build a nest on Santa Catalina Island, upon the top of a derrick which was in frequent use. Near the same place were several bald eagles which systematically robbed the osprey of its hard-earned game and in turn were mobbed by the ravens for pure amuse- ment. The fish hawk, as this bird is also called, catches the flying fishes at Santa Catalina. These fishes when chased by the insatiate tuna soar sometimes for over an eighth of a mile about a foot above water. The hawk perceives them from high in the air, and with partly Fic. 180.— Osprey. folded wings, darts down, swift as a thunderbolt, stops with marvelous. skill, and grasps the fish from above. Then it rises with victori- ous cries which attract the attention of the thieving bald eagle. The hawks are quickly recognized as an enemy by fowls, which utter a peculiar warning, understood at once by the young, which quickly run for cover. Yet I have seen a sparrow hawk so mobbed by the smallest of birds that it made every effort to escape. A hawk of this kind which I had chained to a tree in my yard created great BIRDS OF PREY 205 excitement among the mocking birds and blackbirds that were nesting in the orange trees. They gathered in groups and formed a ring or circle about the hawk and loudly expostulated against its appearance so near their young. The falcons are interesting birds (Fig. 181) from the fact that in olden times they were used in the sport of falconry, the birds being trained to follow herons and other birds, while some of the larger forms were trained to follow antelope or deer. At least nine different species of falcons have been so trained.. This sport was known as early as 400 B.c. During the reign of Edward III it was punishable with death to kill one. Kublai Kahn, in 1290, owned ten thousand falcons. In the seven- teenth century the king of Persia employed them to hunt the wild boar, wild asses, foxes, and ante- Fic. 181.— Gray GYRFALCON. lopes, and the sport is still carried on at Abasheher, Persia. Falconry has been attempted in America to a very limited extent. The bald eagle, the most distinguished member of the bird tribe is a sad thief, robbing other birds and rarely hunting for itself. I once counted thirty of these fine birds in sailing fifteen miles up the coast of Santa Catalina. Occasionally they have been known to attack sheep. I have seen them pick up dead fish near my boat, easily carrying off a thirty-pound yellowtail; but I never saw 206 BIRDS OF PREY the eagle attempt to catch a living fish. I have found their nests on the summit of inaccessible cliffs. The birds are extremely vicious at the nesting time and have made Fic, 182. — GOLDEN EAGLE. savage attacks upon men who attempted to rob the nest. There is a nesting place near Avalon, and another on an isolated rock on the north end of the island which is added to year after year. THE OWLS AND PARROTS 207 The golden eagle (Fig. 182) captures animals of various kinds, as hares, rabbits, and squirrels, though it will also eat carrion. Its nest is similar to that of the bald eagle, being built on the edge of cliffs out of the reach of a possible enemy. As a rule, the stories of children being carried off by eagles are exaggerations. The golden eagle has been seen to carry off a young deer and kids and even to lift a fox. This eagle has a spread of wing in large specimens of seven feet eleven inches. That of the sea eagle is seven feet. Such birds weigh from eight to sixteen pounds. THE OWLS AND PARROTS Doves in their flight make a remarkable whistling sound, yet the largest owls may pass within a foot of a person’s head at night and not be discovered, so noiseless is their flight. This is due to their feathers, which are plumelike, soft, and downy, and enable the large birds to approach ‘their prey without noise. They are characterized by sharp bills and claws like the hawks, and large, piercing eyes which enable them to see at night. During the days they hide in trees, but as the sun goes down they may be seen flying across country to the fields and pastures of their choice. Skimming over the ground noiselessly, they seize rabbits with their terrible talons and carry them off. There are about two hundred species of owls, of which the great horned owl is perhaps the most remarkable. The ordinary barn owl (Fig. 183) is a very singular creature in appearance. The monkey-faced owl of Cali- 208 THE OWLS AND PARROTS fornia is a strange creature nesting in the old oaks. I have attempted to tame this bird, but found it an irre- claimable savage. When I fed it, I was obliged to wear heavy gauntlets, as the “pet” would stop eating, and strike at me with beak or claw in the most ferocious fashion. The little burrowing owl (Fig. 184) is interesting from its habits, living in the deserted caves of prairie dogs, and, in California, in the burrows of the ground squirrel and cottontail. The snowy owl is found in the north. It is often pure white, and when resting on the snow difficult to see (Fig. 185). It frequently haunts the ptarmigan fells in Spitz- bergen, where, unnoticed by these birds, FIG. 183. —BARN OWL. it easily seizes them. The notes of the owls are uncanny and disagreeable. The barred owl has a call, “whod, whod, whoo, whoo,” which can be heard over a mile with the wind, while the oN great horned owl “ee utters a similar cry, ee ae FIG. 184. — BURROWING OWL. “ wh600660,”’ terrify- ing to many. The hawk owl cries on the wing, while the pygmy owls which I have kept hiss violently, and THE OWLS AND PARROTS 209 when approached bow repeatedly before taking to the wing. The eye of the black leopard has always seemed to me to.be the most remarkable in its blaze of yellow light, but the huge eye of a large owl is almost as menacing. The parrots are essentially climbing birds. They per- form the most remarkable feats by means of their power- ful claws, which, it will be noticed, are arranged in pairs, two in front and two behind. They have powerful beaks, like the hawks, but with one excep- tion are not flesh-eaters, living upon seeds and fruit. They have peculiar fleshy tongues which can be moved in almost any direction, and many parrots can be taught to utter words and sentences. They have no intelligent understanding of such words, merely imitating what they hear and have been FIG. 185.— SNOwy OWL. taught. But so well do many of their phrases fit to time and occasion, that it is almost im- possible to believe they are not using language after the fashion of man. One which was kept in a house adjoining my own learned to imitate the mocking birds so perfectly that it was difficult to distinguish between them. It also imitated the grewsome bellow of the burro, or donkey. It caught the cries of the itinerant street dealers, and spent much time crying at the top of its voice, “ Old rags, old rags, bottles, old rags.” HOLDER, F. R, & B. — 14 210 THE OWLS AND PARROTS In North America we have but a single (ae native parrot (Fig. 186), the Caro- lina parrot, and this is very rare. F1G. 187. — COCKATOO, WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. 211 In the tropics they are the most brilliantly colored and vocif- erous of all birds. Over four hundred species in all are known. They range from the beautiful little paraquets, or love birds, which are successfully reared in Southern California, to the great African macaws and cockatoos (Fig. 187), that look as though they had been painted for dazzling and grotesque effect. An interesting member of this group is the flesh-eating parrot. It is found in New Zealand, and has developed such a taste for sheep that it is being exterminated. The parrot alights upon the back of sheep, and with its sharp beak tears away at the flesh, killing the animal. At one station on the Matataahn nineteen sheep were killed in a single month by these small birds, and in another flock of three hundred and ten lambs, two hundred and five were killed in five months. The sheep owners were forced to organize against the parrots, and men were hired to shoot them wherever found. The owl parrot of New Zealand appears to resemble both birds, having the face of an owl but the body of a parrot. It is altogether a singular appearing bird. WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. The Indians of certain tribes in California weave beauti- ful baskets which have a reddish, cloudy effect. Examina- tion will show that this effect is due to the fact that the red feathers of the California woodpecker have been woven in the basket. The woodpeckers are valuable allies to the farmer, de- stroying a vast number of insects injurious to vegetation. 212 WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. The feet are strong. The toes are arranged two in front and two behind, so that the birds can readily climb trees. The bill is strong, powerful, and a ae POInted. The tongue (Fig. 188) is long and hooked to reach into holes FIG, 138. — TONGUE OF A WOODPECKER. aud Snare No more attract- ive birds are seen in the forest than the richly hued wood- peckers, running about the trunks and limbs, and tapping the bark as they move. They discover at once by the sound the lurking place of an insect or grub, and then pound the bark until it crumbles away and the grub is secured. About three hundred and fifty species of these birds are known, the flicker (Fig. 189) being one of the most familiar. In the eastern United States a striking and conspicuous form is the pileated woodpecker (Fig. 190), with a red crest and a peculiar white streak from the long, sharp bill downward. A few years ago this bird was very com- FIG. 189. — FLICKER. mon, but for some reason it is gradually disappearing. The ivory-billed woodpecker is a strikingly beautiful bird found in the Gulf States with the dainty hairy woodpecker. WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. 213 The woodpeckers as a rule build in trees, selecting some decaying knot hole and working it out until a perfect cave in the tree is the result. Here grass and leaves are placed and the white eggs laid. In California the traveler will often notice trees and woodwork of various kinds, as the walls of houses, studded with acorns. This is the work of the woodpecker. At the entrance of Mirimar, a beautiful home at Santa Barbara, stands a large oak almost completely riddled with holes, each of which has been made to hold an acorn that has been so tightly driven in as to make it almost impossible to remove it. The theory is that the acorns contain grubs which are to the woodpecker’s taste, and which can be taken as occa- F1G, 190, — PILEATED WOODPECKER. sion demands. That the birds travel long distances to secure the acorns is shown at Mt. Pizarro, where many acorn storehouses are seen, all the seeds having been brought from the mountains, thirty miles distant. Each acorn required this long flight, besides the labor of boring the hole the exact size. A valuable bird to the orchardist is the yellow-billed cuckoo (Fig. 191), which destroys vast numbers of worms injurious to the trees. It is a large, conspicuous bird with FIG. 191. — YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. 214 WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. a sharp, powerful beak. The nest is a rude affair formed of twigs, and is generally placed in an apple tree. It contains three or four greenish blue eggs. When the latter is threatened, the mother bird will often feign lame- ness to attract attention from the nest. The cuckoos of the Old World have a singular habit of avoiding the labor of nest building by depositing their eggs in the nests of other birds. Thus they escape the arduous work of incubation, which must be very monoto- nous and tiresome. The surprise of some small bird to find that it has an egg three or four times as large as its own, and that it has hatched a veritable giant, can be imagined, as the cuckoo often lays its egg in the nest of very small birds. In the case of an Australian cuckoo, the bird thus thrust upon another and innocent community appears to know that it is an interloper. As soon as the legitimate children of the nest are hatched, it deliberately bundles them out, thus securing all the food from the much-deceived parent birds. The Indian cuckoos place their eggs in the nests of crows. An allied form is the road runner, a beautiful and inter- esting bird which I have followed on horseback, finding it difficult for a while to keep up with it. It runs very rapidly, always keeping to the road, and flying only when the horse is almost upon it. It lives upon lizards, eating a prodigious number, and builds its nest beneath clumps of cactus. In Florida and southward to Brazil is found the ani, often seen standing upon cows and sheep, or clinging to their heads. They run over these animals like wood- peckers, in search of parasites of various kinds, which they WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. 215 deftly remove. They are whimsical birds, and have a singular habit of tossing up the long tail and assuming queer postures. The ani is as peculiar as the cuckoo in its nest building. Instead of each bird having a nest, a number join forces and build one in which all the eggs are placed, the birds taking turns in the incubating process. This is certainly a labor-saving plan. Bearing a close resemblance in form and feature to the woodpeckers are the kingfishers. These birds are of small size, with large heads and _ powerful beaks. They subsist upon fishes, which they obtain by plunging into ponds and streams. The belted kingfisher (Fig. 192) is a well-known form found in North America. It has a prominent crest < ; FIc. 192. — BELTED KINGFISHER. and is a very showy bird, uttering a harsh cry as it rises from its plunge. This bird builds its nest in a tunnel which it excavates in a bank, the former being often six feet in length, in which the six clear white eggs are placed. The largest and most conspicuous of the tribe is the laughing-jackass kingfisher of Australia. In listening to the remarkable vocal sounds which it produces one could hardly believe that they came from so small a bird, the sounds being like the loud, uproarious laughter of a demo- niac native. The racket-tailed kingfisher (Fig. 193) is perhaps the most beautiful, with racketlike tail feathers. FIG. 193. — RACKET-TALLED KINGFISHER, WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. One of the most attractive birds, so far as brilliant plum- age is concerned, found on the North American continent is the trogon (Fig. 194), a bril- liant, long-tailed creature with red under feathers and coat and tail of lustrous metallic The tail feathers in resplendent green. the are three times the length of the bird. Seen in the tropical forests of South America, it is one trogon of the most gorgeous The generally placed in a tree, the eggs resem- bling those of the pigeon. objects to be imagined. nest is hollow In studying birds one would naturally believe that those provided with huge and power- ful bills were the most aggres- sive, but almost exactly the The tou- cans (Fig. 195) have most ex- bills, So far as appearances reverse holds true. traordinary long and heavy. go, they would seem to be a menace to all other birds; yet this big-beaked creature is one of the most harmless of birds, WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. 217 preying only upon young birds or eggs. Indeed, so far as known there is no rational use for the huge and menacing bills except to _— steal young birds from deep nests. Instead of being heavy, the bill is very light and porous. The hornbills are even more remarkable. They have a double bill filled with air cells, and in reality not the ponderous object it might be supposed, although it is ten inches in length, and the bills are, serrated. The nesting habits of this quaint bird are almost beyond belief. A tree is selected, hav- ing a_ crevice which is en- larged until it NS will hold FIG. 195.— TOUCAN. \ \; * the female. The moment the nest is complete the Mi) &? male flies off, returning with mud, FIG. 194.—TROGON. with which he walls up the orifice, 218 WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. making his mate a prisoner. Many trips are necessary before this is accomplished, but finally the feathered mason completes the work, leaving a small orifice through which the female extends her bill to receive the food which he brings. Here the eggs are laid and the young are reared. The mother is released when the little horn- bills are able to leave the nest, sometimes before. Very much like the owls, so far as their silent flight is con- cerned, are the night hawks (Fig. 196) They are night flyers, feeding upon small in- sects. They dart about, as silent as the bats which keep them company, only the snapping of their triangular bills being heard as they feed on the wing. As might be expected, their mouths Fic. 196. — Nicut Hawk. are enormous. Not long ago, ignorant farmers believed that they milked cows and goats, the name Caprimulgus refer- ring to this supposed habit. The whip-poor-will is one of the best-known birds of this class. It is a solitary, grayish hued bird, with the sin- gular mournful cry suggested by its name. The nest is very simple, the eggs finding protection in their resemblance to the leaves. Audubon observed a parent bird take its egg in its capacious mouth and fly away; and Dr. Brehm saw both the male and female night hawk save their eggs by this expedient. In darting through the air they use the WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. 219 enormous mouth as a trap to engulf insects. They have a peculiar arrangement of bristles on the roof of the mouth, in which the insects possibly become entangled; in any event, it aids in the capture of many which otherwise might escape. About one hundred species of night hawks are known. Some of the largest prey upon small birds, perhaps think- ing that they are insects. It is known that humming birds and small spar- rows have been eaten by the large species. Beautiful and attract- ive birds are the swifts (Fig. 197). The family contains seventy - five species, found in almost every land. I have seen their nests in the great painted cave of Santa FIG. 197. — SWIFT. Cruz, twenty miles off . the California coast. They are famed for their marvelous powers of flight and endurance, spending the greater part of their time on the wing in the search of the insects which constitute their food. Their wings are long and pointed. Their feet are very weak, and they eat, drink, and bathe on the wing. The chimney swift, so named from its habit of gluing twigs to the sides of chimneys, is a common form, of social habit. The most interesting and valuable member of the tribe is the edible-nest swift (Fig. 198), which forms a glue- like nest used by Chinese epicures in making a soup, and 220 WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. so highly valued that the business of collecting the nests is one of much importance in China. The nests are built, as a rule, on the face of a cliff, in a most dangerous position. The men who gather them are lowered down by ropes. Lives are frequently lost in this dangerous occu- pation. The nest building is very re- markable. The bird, having selected a site, presses saliva against the wall, repeat- ing this day after day and week after week, adding a mere drop at atime. The saliva hardens and resembles light amber, FIG. 198. — EDIBLE-NEST SWIFT. pure at first and attractive, but soon discolored by the birds. In this gelatinous nest the eggs are laid and the young reared. The nests are extremely valuable if newly made, and are sold in all grades of age and griminess to the Chinese, who cleanse them. In every well-conducted Chinese grocery or drug store this stock for soup can be had by the pound or ounce. WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. 221 In Guatamala an interesting swift builds a tubular nest, three or four feet in length, along the face of a cliff. The humming birds are the smallest of birds. More than four hundred species are known, all confined to North and South America (Fig. 199). The ruby-throated hummer is one of the best known throughout America, a very small, long-billed creature, the male having a splendid, ruby-red gorget. It is a common formin my garden at Pasadena, California, its peculiar hissing, chirping note being frequently heard. By planting the abutilon in the vicinity, I have FIG. 199. ~ HUMMING BIRD. encouraged these atoms until they are constant visitors, winter and summer, and they often nest in the orange trees. Here at times one may see specimens of no less than six species of humming birds. On Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands a beautiful racket-tailed humming bird has been observed. These little creatures live on the minute insects they find in flowers, and doubtless suck some of the liquid sweets found there. At least a young humming bird, which I have tamed and which feeds from my hands, is very fond of sweetened water. The birds in my garden spend at least half of their time on the wing, supporting themselves in the air when feeding. When weary they go to a certain limb or branch to rest, almost invariably selecting the same spot. They bathe after the fashion of other birds when water is provided, but the rufus often prefers to bathe in the very fine spray from the hose which I turn on. The little creature will 222 WOODPECKERS, CUCKOOS, ETC. sometimes dart through it, displaying great pleasure and delight. Some of these birds are so tame that I can almost touch them. The nest (Fig. 200) is a beautiful object made of the downy material from seeds and of delicate moss or the wool of sheep. I find them in orange trees, eucalyptus, and others, and they so resemble the color of the limb that it is almost impossible to detect Fic, 200.— HUMMING BIRD them. Two young humming sa birds brought into the house became very tame; feeding from the hand, following me from room to room, and awakening me in the morning with demands for food. The courtship of many of these birds is a remarkable sight. The male rises upward several hundred feet, then dives down like an arrow, making a loud humming sound, to rise again. He repeats this indefinitely for the enter- tainment of the demure female perched on a limb hard by. The South American humming birds are beautiful beyond description, the metallic tints prevailing. Small as are the humming birds, they are very pug- nacious. Those which habitually live in my garden attempt to drive out all others. They often combine and attack large birds, especially hawks, putting these birds or even butcher birds to flight by striking them with the ut- most fury. In combats among themselves, they often kill one another, dashing together like furies. At the corner of my house a spider built a web so SOME PERCHING BIRDS 223 strong that I found a ruby-throat completely entangled, not only caught by a web, but bound hard and fast by the big spider, which doubtless supposed that it had caught a large insect of some kind. SOME PERCHING BIRDS By far the largest number of birds are included in this group, distinguished for its rare singers and the individ- FIG. 201. —SCISSORS-TAILED FLYCATCHER. uals valuable to the agriculturist. Their feet are quite different in arrangement from those previously observed, having three toes in front and one behind. The beak is an important factor in determining the various subdivisions into which birds of this group are separated. The flycatchers are familiar birds, of great variety, with broad, tri- angular-shaped, abruptly hooked bills. The scissors-tailed flycatcher (Fig. 201)is a beautiful creature, with a deeply forked tail and scarlet patches on the side of the body. In the king- birds (Fig. 202) are familiar forms, while the phcebes and the peewees are all well known and well beloved by those who frequent the woods and forests. The nests of these birds are models of ingenuity, that of the kingbird being made of many different ob- jects, and the great-crested flycatcher has a singular habit of using snakeskins which have been discarded to entwine 224 SOME PERCHING BIRDS about its nest. The eggs of the kingbird are six in num- ber, reddish white, with brown streaks; the male is a type of bravery, driving off the large birds, including hawks and even eagles. The flycatchers, as their name indicates, are very clever in cap- turing insects, their sharp bills being perfectly adapted to this pursuit. Allied to the flycatchers is the beautiful lyre bird of New South Wales, whose tail, in the male, in its graceful shape re- sembles the lyre (Fig. 203). The male of this bird builds, aside from the nest, a dome-shaped, Fic. rasan moundlike structure upon which it poses and postures. Of all the song birds, the skylark (Fig. 204) is con- ceded to be the most attractive, the type of thoroughly joyous nature. It sings as it rises high into the heavens, its melody faintly dying away with ever in- creasing sweetness. The streaked horned lark is often found in flocks near the seacoast and is called the shore lark. The crows and ravens are among the birds of more than ordinary interest. Who does not remember “Grip” and _ his Fic, 203.— LYRE BIRD. SOME PERCHING BIRDS 225 ” “Polly, put the kettle on and we'll all take tea (Fig. 205), and other phrases which the ravens learn to utter under skillful instructors ? The raven is a handsome bird, clothed in jet-black garb with metallic re- flections. It is some larger than the crow. When I first visited Santa |, sy Catalina Island, Cali- ra —, fornia, I found the Sagi “ ravens very common and social, watching the fishermen and stealing fish if the opportunity offered. When the wind blew heavily, the ravens gathered in flocks and began a FIG. 204. —SKYLARk. remarkable series of lofty tumbling, sweeping down in great curves and turning repeated somersaults as they flew. I saw this repeated again and again. No moreclever thieves could be imagined than those Santa Catalina ravens. Sev- eral would approach a brood of young turkeys; one bird would hop up and down on one side, thus attracting the attention of the mother; FIG. 205. — RAVEN. then, as she rushed in that direction, another raven would dart forward and seizea young bird. In this way the brood would HOLDER, F. R. & B.— 15 226 SOME PERCHING BIRDS be depleted by the scheming DAZ and clever birds. The nests of the ravens were built on almost inaccessible cliffs. The crow is much smaller (Fig. 206), and its “caw-w, caw-w’’ is a familiar note all over the country. During the day it forages for food, re- turning every night to the same roost, often a veri- table crow city. Along FIG. 206.— CROW. shore the crows are very clever, opening clams by dropping them froma height. At Ocean Point, Maine, I saw them BiG, 207.— BIRD OF PARADISE. SOME PERCHING BIRDS 227 break open echini in the same way, the rocks being covered with the shells. Closely related to the crows are the gorgeous birds of paradise (Fig. 207) of New Guinea, whose beauties and remarkable decorations are almost beyond adequate de- scription. The male is the more beautiful, the female being a very demure bird in a suit of brown. They fly in flocks. The emerald bird is the best known, the king bird of paradise (Fig. most strangely marked. These birds were long supposed by some to be footless, but this was due to the fact that the natives invariably cut their legs off before they sold them. So for yearsa bird of paradise _ with legs was never seen. . The mouse birds FIG. 208.— KING BIRD OF PARADISE. (Colius) resemble swallows, but their feathers are so fine that they are like hair. The feet are bright red, the four toes all extending forward. The wiriwa, as the natives term it, is found in thick vines darting in and out at times like a mouse. Accord- ing to Vaillant these birds roost like bats, clinging one to the other, with the head down. They are fruit eaters. The jays (Fig. 209) are among our interesting and highly ornamental birds. The blue jay is a large, crested 228 SOME PERCHING BIRDS bird of much personal beauty, but of many bad habits. Its worst fault, perhaps, is that of devouring other birds and their eggs. It is a great mimic and rivals the magpie (Fig. 210) in the dis- cordant notes it can utter. Among the allied birds of interesting habits are the ox- biters, African birds resembling the star- lings, with strong bills and hooked claws. There are FIG. 209. — JAY. several species, and nearly all have the habit of running over animals — oxen, camels, and others—to find the various insects which infest them. They have been called guardian birds, as upon the appearance of a foe they rise, uttering loud cries, thus warning the animal. In my garden grows a tall, graceful Abyssinian banana, its leaves at least eight fect in length and a foot in width. In the spring, a beautifully colored bird, yellow and black, comes and tries to take pos- FIG. 210, — MAGPIR. session. It takes a long cord or thread from a dragoon palm in the front of the house, and, using its bill as a needle, sews in and out the side SOME PERCHING BIRDS 229 of the leaf to the midrib until it has a cornucopia-like shape, and in this it builds its nest. In a neighbor’s yard FIG. 211. — NEST OF THE ORIOLE. it started one in a bayonet palm, then gave it up and built another directly over it. A human being can not sew more deftly for the purpose than this charming 230 SOME PERCHING BIRDS Bullock’s oriole, so famous for its pendulous nests (Fig. 211). The Baltimore oriole (Fig. 212) has a costume of orange- red, its head black, also the upper back andwings. Thetail isorange and black. Its note is melodi- ous and as striking as its general appearance. The blackbirds (Fig. 213) are interesting creatures. Some nest in FIG. 212,— BALTIMORE ORIOLE, my garden 7 orange trees, in May. The red-winged blackbird is the common form in the great swamps along the Pacific. These birds roost in the tulle swamps, and I have watched them rising at sunrise, a most interesting per- formance. They appeared to be in bands of from five hundred to one thousand. At a seeming signal, a band would rise and fly FIG. 213. — BLACKBIRD. away to some inland feeding ground. Two minutes later, another flock of -about the same size would rise, uttering loud cries. And this would be repeated until scores of battalions had gone forth for the day’s work. I once saw a large drove of black pigs with one or two blackbirds standing upon the SOME PERCHING BIRDS 231 back of each pig, and searching for pests —a work which the animals did not resent. One of the very common birds in California, and one whose note is very sweet, is the meadow lark (Fig. 214). Its song is very singular, almost ventrilo- quistic. The little cowbird (Fig. 215) has a habit similar to that of the Euro- pean cuckoo; it refuses absolutely to build a nest, and deposits its eggs in that of some other bird, watching its opportunity. Some birds dis- cover the cheat and throw the intruder out; others, again, desert the nést or build over it, refusing to pyq, ov, —Meanow Lane. be a party to the fraud. The bobolink is one of our common meadow birds of charming song two months in the year. The male makes two changes of plumage annually; in other words, it molts twice, at each time having a very different appearance (Figs. 216, 217). In Australia we find several remarkable cousins of these FIG. 215.— COWBIRD. birds. Notable among these are the bower birds (Fig. 218), which erect houses or bowers very much as men build ballrooms or art galleries; in a word, entirely for pleasure, 232 and distinct from the nest proper. SOME PERCHING BIRDS The satin bower bird is about as large as the magpie, and builds its bower by FIG. 216, — BOBOLINK. stones, and scatter them about as ornaments. the birds dance and hop is completed, around and through the every delight. up the various ob- bower, with evidence They pick jects of art and carry them about, rear- ranging them with every evidence of pleasure. of uN / selecting twigs of suitable size and arranging them in a plat- Then long twigs are selected and planted, or thrust into the ground in lines, so that the tops fall over, formlike shape. forming a more or less perfect ‘arch. Thus a cabin is formed, much more complete than that er made by the lowest human This is the work of the male, and is an art gallery or tribes. playhouse, pure and_ simple. Upon its completion, the birds from far and near bring shells, bones, twigs, and highly colored When this — MALE BOBOLINK. Autumn, SOME PERCHING BIRDS 233 Another bower bird makes a different playhouse, and one in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy in Cambridge has over half a peck of decorations made up FIG. 218. COURTSHIP? OF BOWER BIRDS. of the most extraordinary lot of refuse it would seem pos- sible to collect, yet all beautiful to the eyes of the birds. Most of the objects were the white shells of a snail, four hundred of these alone being counted, showing that here, 234 SOME PERCHING BIRDS indeed, was a feathered conchologist. The rest was made up of shining stones, agates, brightly hued seeds and pods, white bones, skulls of small animals, and countless small objects which might catch the eye of a bird or a young child. FIG, 219. — GARDENER BIRD. Even more remarkable is the gardener bird of the island of Papua (Fig. 219), that builds a perfect hut or house, and lays out a garden simply to gratify its love for the beauti- ful and that of its mate. When the first white men visited this island, they heard from the natives strange stories of a bird that built such a home. They did not believe these stories, but so insistent were they that an Italian naturalist made a special search for it, and was finally repaid by finding the bird and seeing it in its house. THE FINCHES AND SPARROWS 235 The latter is entirely separate from the nest. In making it, the bird selects a small tree, and about a foot from the ground attaches a bunch of moss. This is to form the support of the roof. It now selects a fast-growing orchid, and placing the large end of the twig about a foot and a half from the central tree, allows it to fall over so that the top rests upon the moss ball. Scores of others are placed side by side until a circle is completed, and we have a tent-shaped structure, an opening or door being left at one side. The orchid grows rapidly and the roof interlaces and forms a solid covering. In front of the door delicate, rich green mosses are planted until the space has the ap- pearance of a green lawn or meadow. Finally, the re- markable bird scatters bright flowers of all kinds, which are carried away as soon as they fade and replaced by others. THE FINCHES AND SPARROWS Among the best-known birds are the sparrows, many of which remain all the year in the North and lend a charm to winter by their frolics in the snow. The sparrows, finches, and grosbeaks, and their cousins (Fig. 220) represent over five hundred and fifty species. Among them are some of the most charming and interesting birds found anywhere. In this group are the canary, of sweet- FIG. 220. — VESPER SPARROW, 236 THE FINCHES AND SPARROWS est melody, the song sparrow, with its wonderful notes, and a great variety of other birds. The doughty English sparrow is, sad to relate, a well- known figure in this group. It was introduced from Eng- land, some years ago, in the hope that it would rid the trees of the canker worms, but the birds proved to be seed eaters as well, and in large cities like New York have proved themselves such nuisances that they have to be killed off periodi- cally. They have increased in a mar- velous fashion, spreading over the country, many going west on grain cars, until & they now have a P very wide distribu- FIG, 221, — SONG SPARROW. ~ tion in America. They are the best known among the common birds of the garden and forest adjacent to towns and cities. The nests of these birds are often wonders of architectural skill. The house finch, or linnet, a very common bird in Southern California, nests in the tecoma and other vines that cling about my house. They are so tame that the entire operation of nest building and bird rearing is THE FINCHES AND SPARROWS 237 easily observed from the window. Under a neighbor’s porch is a plant in a pot swinging by a wire; a finch has taken possession and built its nest. In my garden, which con- tains orange trees, palms, pines, and a numbér of other trees, a variety of these small birds nest, and in the spring add materially to the beauty of the garden. There are goldfinches, wild canaries, song sparrows (Fig. 221), and others. Oc- casionally a western evening grosbeak is seen. The cardinal grosbeak (Fig. 222) is one of the most inter- esting of birds of the East or South. In Florida I found them very social. The common cage birds are splendid songsters and beauti- FIG. 222. — CARDINAL GROSBEAK. ful in appearance, having fine red crests and bills. Winter does not drive them away in the North- ern States. In the trees covered with snow they present a FIG. 223. — INDIGO BUNTING. charming contrast. The buntings (Fig. 223) are interesting birds, especially the indigo bunting, with its bright blue colors. The 238 TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS painted bunting, the lark bunting, and the blue grosbeak are allied forms of great beauty that is exceeded only in the goldfinches (Fig. 224), the European form of which has been introduced into America, and is now fairly com- mon near New York and Boston. It is a welcome ad- dition, far different FIG. 224.— EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH. from the irrepress- ible English spar- row, which has preémpted half the United States and invariably drives out other birds. TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS One of the charming birds of the canyons of the Sierra Madre in California is the Louisiana tanager, with its crim- son head, yellow body, black wings and tail (Fig. 225). The scarlet tanager << aoe is the best known in the East, its fiery red % plumage making it a con- spicuous object wherever seen. Three hundred species of tanagers are known, and they are among the most charm- FG, 225.— LOUISIANA TANAGER. TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS 239 ing and useful of all birds, enlivening forest and glade with their songs, distinct aids to nature in beautifying the world. Aimost everywhere we may find the swallows, which FIG. 226.— SWALLOW AND NEST. seem to be preéminently social and the companions of man (Fig. 226). They have long, slender, pointed wings, short, broad beaks, pointed tails, and very small and deli- 240 TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS cate feet. Their nests, as a rule, are at the end of tunnels. Many build extraordinary mud tunnels, carrying the mud from pools in their mouths and plastering it in the desired shape. In a mud pool near my stable I have seen a flock of swallows carrying off mud to an old building, while among them were scores of mud-dauber wasps, also tak- ing mud to carry into the same building for a similar purpose. An Australian mar- tin builds a remark- able structure bearing a resemblance to an inverted bottle fas- tened to the cliff at its base. There are about eighty species of swallows, which Fic, 227.— WAXWING. pass much time in mid-air, feeding on the wing, catching gnats, flies, and a variety of insects. They are all remarkable for their flight and for the vast number of miles they must traverse every day. Among the birds of greatest beauty are the waxwings (Fig. 227). The crested waxwing, known better per- haps as the cedar bird, with its rich brown coat, and tail feathers tipped with yellow, is a familiar form in America. The peculiar red, waxlike dots on the wings make it a marked and beautiful object. In early spring I have seen flocks filling the pepper trees in California, eating the red berries with avidity, then moving on in their migration. Among the California birds the shrikes are noticeable TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS 241 (Fig. 228). They are gray-backed, powerful birds, with all the ferocity of hawks. They prey upon other birds and various small animals, and display an amount of ferocity that is almost un- paralleled among birds. I noticed them particularly at the foot of the Sierra Madre in California, in the San Gabriel valley. They would dash at a bird cage when hung out, cling to it with one claw, and reach for the frightened canary ; with the other, sometimes Fic. 228. — SHRIKE. securing the bird, while it was utterly demoralized by the attack. One dashed violently at my window in its attempt to secure a bird within. They havea singular habit of impaling lizards upon the thorns of orange trees, and I have found four or five bleaching skele- tons on a single tree. The butcher bird will attach bright- colored cloth or FIG. 229. BLUE-HEADED VIREO. string to the branches of trees in the same way; hence the object is not always to eat its prey. The notes of these birds are often heard in the chaparral. HOLDER, F, k. & B. — 16 242 TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS The vireos (Fig. 229) are beautiful little creatures and with the warbler represent a large group of small but charming birds. The latter occur in seem- ingly endless variety (Figs. 230, 231). One hundred species of wood warblers are known. They are small but brilliant birds, loving thickets and dense FIG. 230, — YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER. shrubbery, and all insect eaters. I have noticed that they are learning to eat the peculiar scale insects, the pest of the orange grower. Many of these delicate birds fly twenty or even fifty miles to the islands off shore. I have seen several at Santa Catalina Island. The dusky and Audubon’s_ warbler, ‘iiaa the dwarf hermit thrush, the wren, the cedar waxwing, the shrike, the towhee, and numerous spar- rows are all seem- ingly at home and FIG. 231. — HOODED WARBLER. contented in_ this mountainous island twenty miles off shore. One of our rarest and most melodious singers, accord- ing to Dr. Coues, is the pipit (Fig. 232). He says: “No other bird music heard in our land compares with the wonderful strains of this songster; there is something not of earth in the melody coming from above, yet from no TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS 243 visible source. The whole air seems to be filled with tender strains.” Few birds are better liked than the wrens (Fig. 233). These minute and attractive little creatures are found Fara Cite Bie in many dooryards. The home wren in particular builds its nest in old boxes or hollow posts provided for it (Fig. 234). The party-colored wren builds a beautiful cone-shaped nest which is fastened to reeds in swampy places. In South America we find the cock of the rock (Fig.235),abrilliant, ’ yellow bird with a very FIG. 232. — AMERICAN PiPiT. prominent crown or crest. The coat is so = rich in color’ that years ago it was used to make the official robe of the emperor of Brazil. These birds have a peculiar habit at times of forming in rings or circles, one bird at a time entering and FIG. 233.— WREN. going through a regular performance, leaping into the air, jumping up and down, and evidently trying to outdo its predecessor. 244 TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS The weaver birds (Fig. 236) are among the most ingenious of the feathered tribe. The oriole is a mar- velous worker with its needlelike bill; but it is outdone by the weavers. The social weaver birds live in a regular bird city, a joint nest having a perfect thatched roof being often built, which looks as though made by human hands. Others are FIG. 234. NEST OF THE WREN. suspended from reeds over streams in the most skillful manner, proving the weavers to be among the most remarkable of their kind so far as constructive , ability is concerned. I have often “# ( en watched these birds E WB building their nests LM with wool and threads & LS provided them, and the % wi ingenuity displayed is ye astonishing. FIG, 235.— Cock OF THE ROCK. TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS 245 The strange umbrella bird (Fig. 237) has what is virtu- ally an umbrella over its head—a large crest. Another remarkable form is the bell bird, that bears upon its head a seeming horn, its peculiar bell-like note being so pene- FIG. 236. — NEST OF WEAVER BIRD. trative that it is heard a long distance over the solitudes in which it lives. Among the remarkable builders is the hanging tit (Fig. 238), whose nest is a bag-shaped structure with a perfect door. The tailor bird of India (Fig. 239) is still more striking, sewing leaves to a larger one to form a sheet or pocket, in which its nest is built and the young reared, 246 TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS swinging in the wind. Some of the South American humming birdsform a similar nest, utiliz- ing a pointed leaf, the nest so resem- bling the latter that itcan hardly be seen. In reviewing the birds in a general way, we have looked upon them in an ascending __ series. FIG. 237.— UMBRELLA BIRD, We now approach the very high- est forms— the robin and thrush and \ their cousins. The mocking bird LRN (Fig. 240) is a well-known form, espe- cially in the East and South and in \ California. There are several nests in my orange trees and in the gold of Ophir rosebushes over the door. Several birds can always be seen, making the lives of dogs and cats miserable by chasing them about and_ peck- ing at them, or following one about the garden. They havea habit of perching on chimneys and singing in the loudest tones all night long, imitating F!G. 238.— HANGING TiT AND NEST. TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS 247 over and over sounds or notes they have heard. The powers of mimicry of this bird are marvelous. = In fact, all the notes of the mocking bird appear to reflect something that it has heard. Closely allied is the catbird (Fig. 241). Its notes are more melodious FIG. 240.— MOCKING BIRD. FIG. 239. — NEST OF TAILOR BIRD. than those of the mocking bird, but when disturbed it utters loud, discordant protests. A rich giver of melody is the brown thrasher, that sings loudly and openly to all the world, and seems to glory in its song. The water ouzel is an interesting bird, Z whose nest is found by os AE coer ae streams, and which has a rt peculiar habit of flying FIG. 241. — CATBIRD, 248 TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS into the water, using its wings and walking along the bottom, searching for food. Of all the singers, the nightingale of Europe is perhaps the most famed for the rich quality of its melody. Both sexes sing. It is a shy bird, rarely seen; yet the burst of song which sometimes breaks forth from some roadside shrubbery tells the story of one of the most glorious of all singers. The nest is carefully made, and is one of the most perfect of all bird structures. Among the most beautiful forms of the feathered tribe are the bluebirds, small blue-backed little creatures, charming in every sense. Once the commonest of birds about American homes, they have literally been driven away by the pugnacious English spar- row. In my garden, the western blue- bird nests. In the spring of 1903, four or five young appeared, and _be- came so tame that I could almost take FIG. 242. — THRUSH. them in my hand. The mountain bluebird is also com- mon in Southern California, being seen in the arroyos in small flocks. What can be more beautiful than the thrushes (Fig. 242), with their sweet notes? The wood thrush, Wilson’s, the hermit thrush, and the dwarf hermit thrush are common on the Southern California islands. The robin (Fig. 243), a typical bird, is common in the East, being the messenger of spring. This bird migrates hundreds of miles, yet often returns to the same dooryards and rebuilds, or builds over, TANAGERS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHERS 249 the old last year’s nest. Its place is taken in California by the western robin. I have seen flocks of hundreds filling the pepper trees in Pasadena, causing a shower of berries, to fall from the § well-filled trees. The eastern robin is a very social bird, every garden being preémpted by one FIc, .— ROBIN. ormore. The apple a trees are especially to their liking for nest building, and no bird is more essentially identified with the home life of theaverage Amer- ican in the country than this red or brown breasted little creature. Without great powers. of song, it is undoubt- edly the favorite bird of the masses. These birds and their cousins (the thrushes, Fig. 244) are among the most appreciated and beloved of all the birds, and unusual efforts are being made to protect them in various parts of the East, where aliens, especially Italians, look upon them as game birds and kill them off. FIG. 244. — HERMIT THRUSH. 250 BIRD MIGRATION BIRD MIGRATION The birds reviewed in the present volume represent but a fraction of the vast army of feathered songsters known. Only a few examples of the most important families have been referred to, but sufficient to show that they do not lack in interest when compared with other animals. With their brilliant colors and their beautiful songs, they add to the charms of the forest and woodland and make the world more beautiful. They are also a great aid to the farmer in reducing the number of insect pests, with which the trees are well supplied. The birds have varied tastes. Some, as we have seen, are flesh eaters, some eat their own kind, others prefer tainted flesh, others insects, while a vast number are seed-eaters. It is evident that many birds are threatened with extinc- tion during intensely cold weather and the absence of food. The crows, certain sparrows, birds of prey, owls, and others do not mind the changes, and eke out a living in the most rigorous seasons; but the vast majority of birds recognize the approach of winter as a closed season for them, and a vast movement begins all over the country. As though a signal had been given, the birds by tens of thousands turn to the south and fly to countries where the winter is open and the food supply sure. How birds find their way over vast wastes and seas is somewhat of a mystery; but instinct and memory play a prominent part, and from lofty heights the birds certainly remember the great landmarks. Mountain ranges, like the Rockies, the Coast Range, and the Andes, are lines of migration. So also are the great valleys and rivers, as the BIRD MIGRATION Mississippi and other natural highways. The birds from the smallest hummer to the large herons and geese, fly twice a year, one of the smallest humming birds making its way from Central America to a point near the Arctic Circle. Many of the birds fly at night, which makes their prog- ress even more remarkable. Astronomers studying the moon have seen birds at a great height, flying across its face. The magnitude of this night migration is shown at the large lighthouses along our coasts, especially the light at Helgoland, between France and England, where on stormy nights the sight from the light is a strange one. The birds appear to be bewildered by the glare, and fairly fill the air about it. Then, as though fascinated, they plunge into it as a moth into a candle, and fall dead or dying to be picked up by scores in the morning. The lights are often endangered by large geese or ducks which crash into it. The keepers of these lights keep a record of the birds so killed; nearly all kinds are represented. Many birds fly directly across the Gulf of Mexico from South America. This is shown by the fact that in the spring I have found warblers, rails, gallinules, herons, cuckoos, and many small birds resting in the mangrove trees at the island of Tortugas, sixty miles west of Key West. The birds would rest a few days or hours, and then continue their flight northward over the Gulf without a point in sight to guide them. In crossing the Mexican Gulf, in 1903, a number of birds came aboard ship. A flicker spent one night in my stateroom, leaving when we sighted land, and several hawks followed the ship across the Gulf, occasionally alighting on the yards. 252 BIRD MIGRATION Many birds make but a partial migration, while others fly from the tropics to the farthest North and back every year. The migrating of the small birds is not often noticed; but that of the ducks, geese, cranes, and herons is a splendid spectacle, the birds stretching out in a long line, led by a single individual. Acara, 52. Adjutant bird, 180. Air bladder, 18. Albatross, 26, 159. Alligator, 128. Amblystoma, 87. Amia, 82. Anabas, 65. Angler, 20. Ani, 214. Antennarius, 50. Apteryx, 141, 148. Archzopteryx, 138. Argyropelecus, 33. Aspredo, 45. Auk, 152. Avocet, 186, Axolotl, 87. Barb, 134. Barbule, 134. Barrow egg, 44. Bat, 218. Bathyophis, 36. Beaks, 131, 200. Beryx, 34. Bird of Paradise, 227. Bittern, 183. Blackbird, 230. Bluebird, 248. Bluefish, 42. Bobolink, 231. Bobwhite, 190. Booby, 165. Bower bird, 231. Box turtle, 114. Brain of bird, 135. Breastbone, 132. Bulb, 35. Bullfrog, go. Bunting, 237. Buzzard, 201. INDEX Candle fish, 79. Canvasback duck, 173. Caprimulgus, 218. Carp, 43. Cassowary, 146. Catbird, 247. Catfish, 64, 69. Cave fish, 64, 69. Ceratodus, 84. Chameleon, I05, 107. Chauliodus, 34, 4o. Chelys, 123. Chimeera, 44. Chirotes, 114. Chromis, 45. Claws, 132, 200. Climbing perch, 63, 65. Cobbler fish, 72. Cobia, 97. Cockatoo, 210. Cock of the walk, 243. Cod, 43. Colius, 227. Condor, 200, 202. Conger eel, 43. Coot, 185. Cormorant, 155, 165. Cowbird, 231. Crane, 181. Crocodile, 123. Crop, 134. Crow, 224, 226. Cuckoo, 213. Curlew, 188. Cyclothone, 4o. Dace, St. Deeps, 29. Detrema, 42. Dinornis, 141. Dodo, 198. | Doras, 64. 253 Down, 133. Dredge, 26. Duck, 171. Eagle, 200, 206. Edible-nest swift, 219. Eel, 69. Eggs, 135. Egret, 183. Eider duck, 173. Electric fish, 69. Emu, 131, 146. Epinornis, 142. Eudyptes, 150. Eustomias, 37. Falcon, 205. Feather, 133. Fierasfer, 53. Finch, 235. Fish, 8, 17, I9, 22. Flamingo, 176. Flicker, 212. Flounder, 43, 54. Flycatcher, 223. Flying fish, 73. Fossil footprints, 137. Frog, 81, 92. Gallinule, 185. Gardener bird, 234. Garfish, 75. Gastornis, 140. Gavial, 125. Gecko, 104, 109. Giant ray, 63. Gila, 106. Gills, 15. Gizzard, 134. Godwit, 189. Goldfinch, 237. Goose, 171. 254 Grebe, 156. Green turtle, 107. Grosbeak, 235. Grouse, 189, 191. Guillemot, 153. Guinea hen, 193, 195. Gull, 157. Gymnotus, 70. Gyrfalcon, 205. Haddock, 43. Harpodon, 34. Hawk, 200, 218. Hawksbill, 116, Heron, 181. Herring, 43, 55. Hesperornis, 139. Hornbill, 217. Horned lizard, 110. Horse mackerel, 75. Humming bird, 221. Hyla, 88, 94. Ibis, 178. Iguana, 107, 108. Ipnops, 32. Jabiru, 179. Jay, 227. Jelly fish, 57. Kingbird, 223. Kingfisher, 215, Lammergeier, 203. Lamprey, 13. Lark, 231. Larva, 86. Leaping tuna, 75. Leatherback turtle, 120. Leipoa, 196. Lepidosiren, 82. Limpkin, 186. Linnet, 236. Linophryne, 4o. Lizard fish, 103. Loon, 154. Love bird, 210. Luminous fish, 34, 37. Lumpfish, 43. Lumpfish sucker, 52. INDEX Lung fish, 66. Lyre bird, 224. Macaw, 211. Mackerel, 43. Magpie, 228. Maleo, 197. Man-of-war hawk, 170. Marabou, 179. Meadow lark, 231. Megapodius, 196 Merganser, 172. Migration, bird, 250. Mixne, 44. Moa, 141. Mocking bird, 246. Mollymauk, 160. Monitor, 113. Mother Carey's chicken, 163. Mouse bird, 227. Murre, 154. Musk turtle, 122. Nest builder, 49. Night hawk, 218. Nightingale, 288. Ocean, 30. Oriole, 229. Osprey, 204. Ostrich, 131, 143. Owl, 135, 201, 207. Ox-biter, 228. Palapteryx, 141. Paradise, bird of, 227. Paradise fish, 49. Paraquet, 211. Parrot, 2I0. Partridge, 189, I91. Peacock, 193, 195. Peewee, 223. Pelican, 38, 167. Penguin, 49. Perch, climbing, 9, 43, 63, 69. Periophthalmus, 67. Petrel, 163. Phalarope, 188. Pheasant, 192. Phoebe, 223. Phosphorescence, 25. Pickerel, 58. Pigeon, 197. Pipit, 243. Plagiodus, 34. Plover, 187. Plowshare bone, 132. Plume, 134. Porcupine fish, 71. Proteus, 86. Ptarmigan, IgI. Puffin, 154. Python, gg. Quail, Igo. Quill, 133. Radiolarian, 33. Rail, 185, 186. Rattlesnake, 100. Raven, 224, 225. Razorbill auk, 153. Ray, 62. Remora, 80. Rhea, 145. Road runner, 214. Robin, 248, 249. Ruff, 188. Rufus, 221, Salmon, 79. Sanderling, 188. Sandpiper, 186. Sargasso Sea, 56. Sawfish, 62. Scales, 15. School, 33. Scopelus, 34. Sculpin, 56. Seal, 55, 155. Sea horse, 45, 46, 56. Sea parrot, 154. Sea robin, 75. Semotilus, 46. Shaft, 133. Shark, 31, 44, 58, 60 63. Shearwater, 164, Skate, 61. Skink, 108. Skua, 160. Skylark, 225, Smelt, 43. Snake, 96, 98. Snapping turtle, 12, Snipe, 187. Sole, 43. Solenostoma, 45. Sora, 185. Sparrow, 235. Spawn, 22. Spoonbill, 177. Starling, 228. Steelhead, 77. Sternoptyx, 39. Sternum, 132. Stickleback, 47. Stilt, 188. Stork, 178. Sturgeon, 20, 43. Sucker, 52. INDEX Sunfish, 12. Surinam toad, 93. Swallow, 130, 239. Swan, 175. Swift, 279. Swordfish, 53, 68, 79. Tailorbird, 245. Tallegallus, 194. Tanager, 238. Teal, 172. Tern, 161. Thrasher, 247. Thrush, 248, 249. Tit, 245. Toad, 90, gf. Toadfish, 50. Toucan, 217. Tree toad, 89, 95. Trogon, 216, 255 Tropic bird, 164. Tuna, 75. Turkey, 189, 192. Turtle, 80, 114. Umbrella bird, 245. Vane, 133. Vireo, 241. Wader, 186, Warbler, 242. Waxwing, 240. Weaver bird, 244. Willet, 187. Wiriwa, 227. Woodcock, 188. Woodpecker, 211. Wren, 243. Yellowtail, 8, 21.