HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1925-01-15, Page 3Fatties of the Birds
y of trier number to gain their point by
r• I continual pestering, As an .example,
Of I once saw a tree swallow on an •eleo-
-'I trio wise, with an .English sparrew on
A, each side. Both leaned toward' the
t- sw:all'ow and squeaked for all 'they
were worth, but neither dared- to at-
e' tack him, so '1 left thein herd • at it,
with several other sparrows as inter-
n' ested spectators.
1 Hawk and Swallow.
So much is written about the poetr
oe •bird life, of the dove, which pei
love, of the gentle bluebird
heavenly wing, that it is . rather re
freshing to know that these winge
voyagers possess other very human a
tributes, persecute • one another on oe
rasion or even indulge hi duels to th
Beath.
The robbery ot the fish hawk, o
osprey, by the bald eagle, is wet
known. Indeed, the lordly bird
superior wing is said to subsist almo
entirely, in some localities, on its
enatclied in air from. the fish hawk
Which is attacked while carrying it t
its nest.
Wilson,. the great ornithologist, des
tribes graphically an attack by a
eagle.
Elevated on a -high, dead limb o
some gigantic tree that commands
wide view of the neighboring shor
and ocean, the eagle seems calmly t
•contemplate the motion of the varlou
feathered tribes that pursue their bus
avocations below — the snow-white
gulls slowly - winnowing the air. th
busy teras coursing along the sands
trains' of ducks streaming over th
surface silent clamorous crows, an
all the winged multitude that subsis
by the bounty of this vast magaziu
of mature. - -
Victorious Eagle.
High. over all these boxers on
whose -action instantly arrests one'
whole attention..,, By -his wide curve
ture of wing and sudden suspension i
air, he knows him .to be the fish haw
settling over some doomed victim o
the deep.
His eye kindles at the sight, and
balancing- himself, with ' half-ope
wings, on the branch, he watches the
result.
Pow's, rapid as an arrow from beav-
en,.descends the distant object of his
attention, the roar of his wings reach
ing the ear as it disappears in th
deep, making the surges foam around
At thismomentthe eager rooks o
the eagle are all -ardor, and, levelin
his neck for flight, he sees the fis
hawk once more emerge, struggling
with his prey,' and mounting in the air
with screams of exultation.
These are the signals for our hero,
who, launching into the air, instantly
gives chase, and soon gains on the fish
hawk. Each exerts his utmost to
mount above the other, displaying in
these encounters the most gracefu
and -sublime aerial evolutions.
Thed' uuincumbereeagle rapidly ad
varices and is just on the point o
reaching his -opponent when, with a
sudden scream—probably of despai
and honest execration—the latte
drops his- fish.
The eagle, posing himself for a mo -
meat, as if to take a inose certain aim,
descends like a whirlwind, snatches it
in his. grasp ere it reaches the water,
and bears his booty silently away to
the woods.;
Aerial Duals.
Real' aerial duels are not uncommon
among numerous smaller birds- J. H.
Bowles; the naturalist made an inter -
of "One morning, While trying , to
st identify a small bird, ]" was disturbed
h by' the excited chattering of a barn
swallow overhead.' The cause was a
O sharp-shinned hawk, which hadd prole:ably attacked it and made it extreme-
"' ly
xtreme"'ly angry.
n i j"It did not try to avoid an attack by
r keeps}ig above, but stayed a compara-
f tiyely short distance below; and •al-
a 'ways to one side,-`bir.cling around' so
e swiftly that the two were always in
o the same relative positions, the hawk
s , never squarely facing the swallow.
Y ; ` "The former turned around a num-
ber of times. Twice it started - to
e leave, but each time the swallow rose
above and flew toward the hawk, dart -
e ing like lightning to its original post-
d tion when the hawk turned.
t ; "The third time the hawk started
e I off, theswallowrose and flew, with a
rather constrained motion, straight at
its back, apparently striking it, for the
e hawk made a sort of a jerk, as a crow
s does when a kingbird is about to
strike, probably an attempt to dodge.
e This time the hawk was quite satis-
k fled and promptly left the field of ac-
e tion, while the swallow mounted high
into the air and then returned to the
barn, apparently considerably, ex-
hausted.
e
f
Attacked a Kingfisher.
"I will conclude by describing an
entirely unprovoked attack made by
a barn swallow upon a belted king-
fisher. The latter started to fly across
a smal pond, perhaps a third of a mile
wide, when the .swallow bait its useful
occupation of entomological colecting,
g and with a singe blow knocked • the
h -belted knight prone upon the water.
"I was fishing at the time, but drew
in my line so that the none too plenti-
ful fish should not seize the oppor-
tunity in order to distract my •afteii-
tion from such .an .,interesting en_
counter. + +•: i. n: .
"The swallow was a picture of in-
nocence, flying about, industriously
1 feeding, until the kingfisher had re-
covered himself and flown a few yards,
- when the latter was obliged to dive
f wholly under the water by his merci-
less little persecutor. This act was
✓ repeated five distinct times before the
esting study as to which among the
bird tribes may be 'consideree the
champion duelist. He writes:
"For some years after commencing
the study of- ornithology, the kingbird
seemed to me to be the ne plus ultra
In this respect, the red -winged black-
bird, however, giving him a close race
for first honors.
"The former is undoubtecly a bully,
for 'have seen him attack and knock
to the ground robins and other birds,
while the red wing is seldom or never
known to attack any bird that is not
several times larger: than himself`"
"Of course, students of birds have
all seen innumerable encounters be-
tween kingbirds or red -winged black-
birds and crowsor hawks, but it is sel-
dom that the smaller birds unite to
indulge the more brutal tastes" in one's
nature, unleds in occasional disputes
in the vicinity of their nests.
"In . none of the cases here given.
oould nesting have had the least in-
' fluence. The first, and almost the most
interesting, came to my notice while
driving to the station one morning. A
tree swallow was sitting pluming him-
Self on a telegraph wire, when sudden-
ly, , and without any apparent cause,
a kingbird made a vicious onslaught
upon him, Much •to my surprise, the
nwallow rose, and bad `Tyrranus' in
the -middle of the road, before he fully
realized that he had caught a Tartar.
"Seldorn have I seen such grace and
quickness of motion as the righteously
angry swallow showed in his attack,
Which was continuous and from above,
not a 'foot from his opponent at any
time, and lasting no longef than a
quarter . of a minute. Thfs put the
kingbird into •second place. .•
"The next instance was one with
which, I imagine, few of us :have been
favored. It was merely a skirmish,
basting perhaps a minute,;, ,but Some
idea of the extraordinary beauty may
.be given when ]' say that,,the two, eon-
testants.. were both males of the rose-
breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager.
occurred directly over my head in
{tis ripple tree alone in a large tract of
Alder's, the tanager taking the offen•
eve and easily out -pointing, with his
r rapicsi••lflce bill, his bluff though strong-
'.beakc •1 opponent.
"The brilliant flashes of color, with
,eest leaves for a background, can
ore easily be imagined than ties
teethed.
"'Me English s ar r7Vhs,e. s
to
i•
►live a sort of alone clanship among
f1tentselves, end "when a bird comes
: uftg that Otos" Celina drive away by
> liekleg,,;titeyes c n itli elogottetttvotai
opposite shore was reached, the fisher
staying in the water Ionger- every
time he dove. -
"When he finally landed, • he fell,
rather than ,lit, ` upon a branch that
fortunately was close at hand, giving
none of his usual lively rattle. The
swalow continued gathering material
for supper -at least, I concluded it
was that .meal, -.it being exactly six
o'clock P.M. when I turned and put on
a fresh bait."
An 'instance of pure malicious frolic
in which our sprightly little sparrow
hawk took the prominent part was
once witnessed by the writer; I had
been watching the little falcon grace-
fully circling in the air, when' it sud-
denly darted down, and, skimming be-
tween the rails of a low fence into a
lot where there were some chickens,
struck a big rooster squarely upon the
back, when it rose lightly and quickly
passed on, doubtless enjoying its lit-
tle joke and the wild consternation it
had caused among the fowls.
The little shrike, or butcher bird,
which impales its victims on thorns
and barbed wire fences to devour
them at leisure, is more pugnacious
than many large hawks, and has been
known to attack and kill quarry much
larger than itself.
The Supreme Faith.
There is something back of all that is
more than passing fate;
There is something back of all that
will set the matter straight;
1 There is something through all sor-
row and all trouble and all eare
That will sometimes take the measure
of our needs and treat us fair.
There is something back of all that
has meaning and has will
To put back the growing shadows and
• o'ercome the growing i11;
There is something back of all that
we need not •doubt or dread,
And it speaks the final judgment, and
life lives by what is said.
There is ,soinet'lring back 'of all with
a. •meaning deep and . true,
And it iso not meet „for .me'and it is not
- meet for you
To go questioniiigi events or in giving
voice to doubt
"—
There is something back of all that
will put the shadows ctxt.
Difficult Breathing, , •
Reggie (awaiting innchee le--"1'nl
so empty, Miss Sharpe, I cawn't
breathe, doncher know."
Mise' Sharpe ---"It is always difficult
bring in. :ai vaot bin, wriittu sa ii '. .
1 —AND THE WORST IS YET TO COME
1 _____
.,„. ee
... .0 yF4 !r:.
'TOOTH.
The Living Dead.
We count it sad that we forget the
dead—
Give
them no grieving through our
busy days,
Banish their memories - from our
crowded ways,
And scarce recall the wisest words they
• said;
Of fickle haste our modern lives are
bred,
And we, who once staked all on some
loved friend,
Now at a newer shrine our fancies
bend, -
Even remembrance of old sorrow fled..
.Yet, far more tragic is it whenwe
as„
Unrecognizing, one who has been s donemore th methntal
hands controlais e quired
part so more meatal is required
Of outworn interests of head and and skill,. results. 'Thus' each worker
depends upon his own brain and in-
ventshis own methods of producing
results, anti executes his own ideas.
Art, he tells us, is that which is pro-
ducecr by the hands, brain and heart.
Thus, painting; sculpture and music,
are on a higher plane because they re-
quire the co-operation of thehen,,d, and
heart (s, -'•. or spirit, some mal prefer
to call it Nothing can he called real
art syhieleseisleeirocInced only by the
hand . an tad;: although it may be
^ise 'or- -skillful. '` It
a1—•the appeal of
Ruskin on "Art."
In one of Ruskin'•s essays he talks
about art, and points out the difference
between manufacture, .,craft and art.
How would you define them? What.
does "manufacture" mean? You know
from your music lessons as well as
from you' Latin lessons, that "manus"
mean/eland, hind, and "facto" means do, or
make. `herefore, manfacture is to
shake with the hands- Nowadays,
however,timachines have been invent
edto help the hands, and thus more
can be made in a given time. The fine
work of the brain is not required but
is left to sethers, who show the workers
what .to -do.: -
Craft, sue tells us, is any thing that
heart
In hours forgotten now as last -year's•
grass;
The buried dead reek not disloyalty,.
But, oh, how hurt the living dead
must -be.
—Charlotte Becker.
--42._
The Mystery of Meteors.
The late summer and . autumn
Months are generally marked by the
appearance of large numbers of, so- very 'tile'.
called "shooting stars." They, are not lacks O°
1 stars at all, but meteors, solid 'bodies the heart;
of varying size which enter the earth's Is your''emusie a manufactured `pro- A remarkable new method of pro- !
' atmosphere from outer space, to be duct, with no inteligence behind, it? pelting ships has been devised. The' Egypte. Monster Pyramid.
rapidly consumed by intense' heat ;Or es. it "a craft; with intelligence be- ordinary masts and sails of a sailing The Gr•eat Pyramid 'of Egypt was
caused byfriction. 'vessel are< replaced . by windmYlls, erected more,. than 6.000 years ago,
generally starts about the tenth ' of Art? based upon ,., so-called Magnus feet . _mechanically
August and continues into November, •
Millions of meteors are consumed I • Pennies
by our atmosphere every year, ` but Now that the wrens are sleeping
only the larger ones- show that long-- . Down 'the.tdx;gtov'e lane,
streak of vivid light which every one 1 And flitter 'eaioths are creeping
has seen on a starry night when the i On th•e window; paste,
air is clear. Visitors to Ilse NaturalCome, . my little housewife,
History Museum at South Kensington, ' Lay your dpiion;by,
London, may examine .at their leisure And we'll go fi@Ii- for the pennies
many meteorites • which the atmos- • They have s lied in the Eastern sky.
phere has Palled wholly to consume, e.,and which have 'Seep. found buried in Sometimes they're• bees among blue-, in efficiency of the dynamo -Motor sys- walls• a foot thick, each possessing 20
tem must be considered. '' -a •vteeteee f§ ete Or if the contents
With honey saes at their hips, Against these may be set edit th ' d theif •vifst 'striecture were laid down
Many people think that the un= Sometimes' they're yellow snail -shells, 'fact that a very small crew is requ red .11 a line tefoot in breadth and depth,
raveled mysteries of disappearing' Sometimes, damson pips— to look after -this semi-automatic pia e line Retitle a nearly 17,000 miles
ships at sea may occasionally have But I canalways•catch them as compared with thenumber require iii len t'L ° - iii P
been caused by a big meteor. striking In the'. tangled net..of your hair to mnipulate the sails of an ord1i1ai-' '4 Hexdtld1il tel us that 100,000 risen
a vessel and sending it to the bottom.
When a :cloud is .dripping moonbeams sailing ship. were engaged in its construction for
el
A sea captain not very long ago re- Through the twilight -dusty air, ...._____ese_._ e. in r °of twi4I.ty years, and modern
ported, on arriving at Falmouth, that Wireless In the Backods. se ars do cot think this, estimate an
his ship had been struck.by something So come, now the crickets are singing,, a.' ��@,lgra ,onq,,,
In British Columbia lumber worlitl'iis'x ' l ` • �_ '•
which had exploded with the sound of I've a nest of whinny gold,.._____,..0.______.
a cannon, and that the ship was in Where we'll watch the cliques go wing. "and other lonely individuals are instal, a
' ing wireless sets., which enable thnme.r-..".m+„e: w.'wa..„. "
consequence partially disabled, • ing � hih "ll
• As recently as 1917 a -stone weigh- Homeward, slow and oleicto catch news acrd concert progrilri S u" +" t i _•`� i AI ,+u, sailor, home front
Mg 38 pounds' fell near Pertp, and the Till the stars come out a-tivinkle, ' from the great broadcasting stationu a ee ` eetlie"
historic store at Mecca, which Moh-ani• And dance on: the liquid air, •Vancouver, and even'from the distant Coffers of gold and of ivory?
cities of Portland and San Francisco. I Ju r-. i
medans hold in greatest reverence. is .'Then 1'll buy a'kiss .with the pennieti c��?, � ,
a meteorite. e f The Indians also have takeny i"
.That l hatch in the strand of your � t �.:tiwen;t to sea as a .lad
---'� hair, thusiastically to wireless. irides
—Tames I. Sweeney:: many ways the Red Indian is becom- 1
• ing up-to-date.. He cuts his wood t i
a petrol -driven sate, and it is only.
.' s:;:.... ?h e, oorest of the tribesmen who do not To tee coas-cs
r'town their own rooter -propelled boat'i,,I ', et
There is' scarcely an Indian hors
A41.4 `' '1,ri a
•.,
which does not possess a gramophone Well, still I've got my old jack-knife.
el f some sort.. When the Indians leati, t - `9 � ... • in Wet r r iter
eir villages to go fishing they take , Gazette, ,
choir musical instruments with them. -- . e=- _._
• .1 They start the machine in rule mornee -
frig' and only turn it off as tee last. eV,'"
the household s+teee into bed. •-
IAT' MAKES TIE SKY BLUE?
rhe ancients imagined theheavens
to be transparent solid matter, whirl-
ing round the earth in animal nal revolu-
tion, and carrying with it the stars,
which were supposed to be fixed in its
substance, • The atmosphere surrounds
the earth like a blanket at a distance
of from :fifty to 209 miles,. Beyond the
atmosphere in every direction is
IspaTce,
here are dust particles, even in the
purest air, and these cause the blue
, sky by scattering, dispersing, and re -
fleeting the light from the sun.
The air is invisible, but it has
weight and force, It was left to the
Nitrogen 'does not support life, but
oxygen is the greatest life -supporting
pewee on cath. It is the breath of
life, but nitrogen dilutes the oxygen
and =Ices. normal .and comfortable
life possible. 'With every breath we
take in oxygen and give out carbonic
acid, Man and annuals exist on oxy-
gen. Trees and plants live on carbonic
acid and give out oxygen: A grown
man consumes 400 gallons 01 oxygen
daily.
The atmosphere tempers and retains
the heat of the sun, for without the
atmosphere the heat which falls on the
great Florentine, Galileo, to discover earth would be quickly radiated into
the 'gravity. of the atmosphere, but space. It 1s the atmosphere In mo-
ti'on which causes the waves on the
thirty centuries before his time Job seaand these aerate the oceans.
declared that God had assigned weight ,
to the winds. It is said that the at- Atmosphere carries the clouds along
niosphere which surrounds the earth and the latter are composed of atmos-
is equal in weight to a globe of lead pheric dust and moisture, which even -
sixty miles in diameter. One cubit tually "drop fatness on the land."
foot of air weighs 1y4 oz. Clouds also accumulate electricity and
The atmosphere is composed essen- produce the violent discharges, known
tially of two gases, oxygen, one-fifth; as thunder storms.
nitrogen, four -fifth, with a small mix-
ture of carbonelioxide and wherever
Certain chemical compounds found
air is found this marvelous balance is in vegetables are produced by the
thunder storms, and without these
preserved. Without the atmosphere compounds human •and animal life
we could not breathe; we could not would be impossible on'the'earth.
light a match or candle; sound could
By the us.a of lr.ydro-filsounding
balloons with qlf ear. ' meteor-
ographs it has been possib e to explore
the atmosphere to a heig it ot over . -
twenty miles. One of the,; r•e'ls is ,
if anyone lived on the moon, instead to show that the atmosphei ijiety be
of the blue sky he would see the black- divided into two regions ers. l
rises of space, and the stars and the The lower layer extends six or seven ,k
planets would be visible in the day- miles and in it the temperature falls
time. regularly as we ascend. In the upper :
Nitrogen does little positive work layer the temperature is believed to
in comparison with oxygen, but rather remain constant.
acts as a drag or make -weight on its Ten miles up the cold is so intense
more active companion. It is an in- that if it could be brought down to the
visible gas without odor or taste and earth we should all• be frozen to death
neither burns nor supports combus- Ten miles down the heat is so great
tion. It dilutes the oxygen and makes that if it could be brought up to the
it suitable for respiration, surface we should all be roasted.
not travel • and aeroplanes oould not
fly.
The absence of air would mean the
absence of the sky. As there is no air
• on the moon there can be no sky, and
Bank -Note Secrets. Education Defined.
Greater privacy surrounds the mak- To many of us commas and semi-
ing of notes for the Bank of England co -Ions are among the smallest things
than almost any other undertaking in our language, yet someone has de -
connected with that great institution., i. fined en educated man as one who
The paper on which the notes are =knows when to use a semi -colon. If
printed has been made in the same this marks the difference between the
factory, at Laverstoke, Hampshire, for educated and the illiterate we must
over two hundred years. It is pre- have a much larger percentage of il-
pared entirely by hand from speoially literacy than even the World War re -
selected rags, and is washed in spring . vealed. At any rate, there is nothing
water used for no other purpose.' so small in life that it may not help
The formula of the ink used Mor hinder us. The misuse of commas
printing the notes is known to only , and semi -colons ofteu have very seri-
half a-duozen people. The chief in- ous results, •
gredient is charcoal obtained by in answering a telegram as to
smoke -drying the wood of Rhenish whether an agent should make some
vines. Each note costs the - Bank big purchase for them, the firm wired,
roughly a penny to produce, and the "No, price too high," But the comma
average period of circulation is two was omitted, which changed the mean -
and a half months- .About 60,000 of ing of the message to "No price too
the notes are printed daily, while high." Of course the agent made the
every year nearly 20,0e0;000 old notes purchase and nearly ruined the firm
are collected and destroyed. -' because he •:tklought they wanted the
goods` at amay':price.--0: S. M.
Sailing Ship i
S s Without Sails.
—the influence of wind on a rotating feet has'ever been built. In massive.
mass. A schooner fitted with this in- ness of construction it. far exceeds
vention has made a successful trip to. "anything that any nation, ancient or
the Baltic. I modern, has ever attempted.
It is rather early to attempt to judge 1 Its original height was just over 480
the merits of the device, but in making. ,rest, _and. the, Length of each side at
any comparison with ordinary sailing the base 764 feet. Its cubical contents
ships the complication, maintenance, exceeded 8-09,000,000 cubic feet, and
and relatively high initial cost of the the-•ivefg'it" of its niass 6,840,000 tons:
electrical equipment, the need ter Its original cubical contents would
skilled operators, and the double lass : have.iijuilt a city of 22,000 houses, with
the earth in different parts_ of the bells
world.
Our Mixed Language.
When the Normans conquered Eng-
land and dispossessed the Anglo-Sax-
ons of their lands they spoke what is
known as Norman-Frenoh. This con-
tinued to be the official language for.
many years. ;
Ono of the most remarkable, though
often unnoticed, results of this dual
language in the same country is the
deffei'ent names we give to the dead
and living animals used as food:' I
The Saxon was the serf who tilled
the soil and tended cattle; the, Nor-
man was the overlord who ate tile'
meat thus provided While we call
the living animal .it ed. , ,we call the
deed animal beef, the first word beingle
Saxon acid the second Norman.
Shiiilaily, the *.s Gres yatjedr the living
animal a sheep, tettewheni�. was 1
served on the barofi's table it ;was
Mutton. In the seine way deer b'e- '
canie venison,, calf became veal, and
the hog ,became pork.
Date Sook Needed -
She woes twn llottrS late for her are
•
p ointment. -
"Yeti should cari'y tt watoh'f lie said
"i always break them, dear,-,•sof e ale•
piainecl, <
"Well, you might t at any tate-carry
eliLettlet,"^ ar li'ed, saticast cai1 —
�i c nife wee all 1 had;
for fifty years aria
of gold and ivory.
o trof a lucky life --
s.: Tho Aelleree, Railway,
,Already Conquered by the camel and• er
`r ,t e1nioEor ear, the Sahara desert will`s
ee ...be • tre x'ersnd : by rant,' passenger a etP'
fiteight trailis, if plans - being made less''-
dereneh,oigiri ails t bridge the shiftet'
ing i sands;S �vt lie Vti Ihroad Si sttceess e,•
fui The line 11I}he•i,000 miler; longi
and will lextecl • tient the Algerian
Sire of Oran to Wagadugu - in the
f noh eitdan, •elliiciS+ stpital of the fes; .:.
tilg IYliliee;Vette, ,',region, ane convecei .;r .,
ntly eititated tor the;: eetablishmem . eats
c ``i11tit,11 W she eleueloneK
lbs. '1W. •r
Plano. &tie ' r „s;' +.r
.l idest son -of the late Karl leitesbub'g,
Former •otu,,{{e>`or of Austria k
and .in g
1'
riflltingary. There is. ,a inllvoitteat
afoot in el'itngary to place the twel•re-
yeai:-old sacs nn the throne as king.
He present is an .exile in Spain with'%
his tt'otlfi',-lib
A Waded Agrl.cultura.l Oensu at all alike,"''
The International' Insulars of Agri. Cite Aft ii rib
culture at ,Romeplans a world-wide they're both, printed `bis W
�'rittl loch, ,. ,
g +,uta► d'.t t'ki �BsD, a, ak:e•tiio�"' A�ilishe • �u' x:l3i% `
�" tot � p f
k
did You
- iiib
Rlee1 yeti of the
bolt They're not
er- "Nty, but
Sante F
8 t ,ep t]eg
.4