Part 47

The flamingoes are birds of powerful flight, and fly like geese in strings or wedge-shaped flocks. They also swim in deep water, but the legs are too long to be well adapted for this purpose. They are habitual waders, and the webbed membrane of the feet helps to support them on soft, muddy bottoms. Hundreds feed and nest together, and, being large and richly colored, form a brilliant assembly, their exquisite pink plumage sometimes making a striking contrast against a background of dark-green mangroves.

The nests are mounds of mud, from eight to fifteen inches in height, gradually raised year after year, and built at distances of three to four feet apart. The nesting occurs about the end of May, the hatching about a month later. There is usually only one egg.

=Grebes= (_Podilymbus_).--The grebes are much sought after for their plumage, but their shyness and their great agility in diving and swimming under water render them extremely difficult to shoot. One species known throughout all America is the Dabchick (_Podilymbus podiceps_). Several of the American species have tufts of feathers called “horns” on the head--a feature of the large European Crested Grebe.

The Western Grebe is the largest American species, being from two to two and one-half feet in length. The Horned Grebe and the Eared Grebe are common in America.

=Gulls= (_Laridæ_) are water fowl, mostly marine. In color they are white to pearl gray, with dark upper parts; those with black heads lose this color in winter. The feet and bills are red or yellow, the sexes alike, but the young are more dusky than the adults. The Mackerel Gull has the habit of robbing the Oyster Catcher (_Hæmatopus_) of the food secured. Ross’s Gull breeds in the unknown regions about the North Pole. This bird has red feet, black bill, and a narrow, black collar.

=Pelican= (_Pelecanus onocrotalus_) is a native of southeast Europe, Asia and Africa. It is the largest of all swimming birds, and is found on the lakes and rivers of the continents mentioned. There are a number of species, chiefly tropical. The birds have a tail of twenty-four soft feathers, and a long bill, beneath the mandible of which is a distensible pouch for carrying fish. The Pelican of North America goes north into temperate regions in summer, at its breeding time.

=Penguin.=--The most remarkable peculiarity of these birds is the flattened wing, which is clad with flat, scale-like feathers; the whole limb, unfit for flight, is admirably suited for swimming. The feathers of the penguin--instead of being disposed in feather-tracts, separated by intervals (_apteria_) upon which no feathers grow, as is the case with all other birds, not excepting even the ostrich and cassowary--form a continuous covering to the body. The penguins are entirely confined to the Antarctic and to the south temperate regions--Patagonia, Cape of Good Hope, Australia and New Zealand. In some situations they are extremely abundant, and make their nests in a common area. The nest is little more than a hole in the sand in which the female deposits a single egg. The stupidity of these birds is perhaps due to the inaccessibility of the rocks and shores where so great a number live and breed; having been comparatively little interfered with by man, they show no terror at the sight of him. The plumage of the neck is valued by furriers for collars and tippets; and large numbers of “Johnnies,” as the sailors call them, are slaughtered annually.

=Swans=--See Domesticated Animals.

=THE RUNNING BIRDS= (_Cursores_)

This group is characterized by a considerable sized body, long neck, flat beak, powerful legs and strong, two or three-toed running feet. The bones are heavy; the wings are stunted, and useless for flying; and the plumage is scanty on the head, neck, legs and abdomen.

=Cassowary= (_Casuarius_).--A bird of ostrich affinities, living in New Guinea, and other Malay Islands, and Northern Australia. They have rudimentary wings, live in dense forests, head protected by horny helmet, have blue, red and yellow wattles, three-toed feet, the inner toe with powerful claw, used as weapon, eat large quantities of miscellaneous articles, including indigestible ones; and can be tamed. Their cry is a loud croak. Their eggs, five in number, are laid in August and September, in nests on ground, covered in brush. The young are brownish, but gradually become blacker. The helmet is not full-grown until the fifth year.

=Emu= (_Dromæus_) is closely akin to the cassowary family. There are two species, both Australian--the Common Emu and the Spotted Emu. They differ from the cassowaries in several marked features--e.g., the head and neck are feathered except on cheeks and throat, there is no “helmet,” nor are there wattles on the neck, the bill is broad, and the claws of the three toes are almost of equal length. The emu is a large bird, standing about six feet in height. The plumage is like that of the cassowary; the color is predominantly dull brown, darker on the head, neck and middle line of the back, lighter beneath. The naked parts of head and neck are grayish blue, the bill and feet brownish. The young are striped with black. The wings are of course rudimentary, but the legs serve the bird well both in running and kicking. Timid and peaceful in character, the emu trusts to its speed for safety. It is valued on account of its beef-like flesh, abundant oil, and edible eggs, but is unfortunately being destroyed with too great carelessness.

=Ostrich.=--See Domesticated Animals.

=Rhea=, also called Nandu and American Ostrich is a South American bird, which form a somewhat isolated group, though nearer to the ostrich than to any other bird. They are incapable of flight, but the wings are rather better developed than in the ostrich. As in the ostrich and the apteryx, the feathers have no aftershaft, and the color of the eggs is white. The male bird incubates. Three species have been described.

=GAME BIRDS= (_Gallinæ_)

The members of this order are ground-birds, with strong, blunt-clawed feet adapted for scratching up the ground in search of food. The beak is nearly always shorter than the head, and has projecting edges; the wings are generally short, and rounded off; the legs are armored with callosities. All these birds build their nests on the ground, and their young are nest fledglings, leaving the nest on the same day. A number of our domesticated fowl belong to this group.

=Bobwhite= (_Colinus virginianus_) is known everywhere by the clear whistle that suggests its name. It is loved by every dweller in the country and is better known to more hunters in the United States than any other game bird. It is no less appreciated on the table than in the field, and in many states has unquestionably been hunted too closely. Half the food of this quail consists of weed seeds, almost a fourth of grain, and about a tenth of wild fruits. Although thus eating grain, the bird gets most of it from stubble. It feeds freely upon Colorado potato beetles, chinch bugs, cucumber beetles, wireworms, billbugs, clover-leaf weevils, cotton-boll weevils army worms, bollworms, cutworms, and Rocky Mountain locusts.

=Chicken or Fowl.=--See Domesticated Animals.

=Grouse= is a name applied to many game-birds, including quail and partridges. They are well known to be large, plump, somewhat heavy birds, usually short-tailed, and with beautifully variegated plumage, which must often be protective. The largest American grouse, however, is the Cock of the Plains or Sage Cock. The RUFFED GROUSE (_Bonasa umbellus_) is distinguished from other grouse by the broad black band near tip of tail. It is found in the northern two-thirds of the United States and in the forested parts of Canada. The Ruffed Grouse is famed as the finest game bird of the northern woods. It is usually wild and wary and well understands the attacks of hunters. Wild fruits, mast, and browse make up the bulk of the vegetable food of this species; and it is very fond of hazelnuts, beechnuts, chestnuts, and acorns and eats practically all kinds of wild berries and other fruits.

=Guinea=--See Domesticated Animals.

=Partridges= (_Tetraonidæ_).--The most common of the Old World is the Gray Partridge. The Snow Pheasants of the heights of the Himalayas may exceed six pounds in weight. The Gray Partridge of India is not palatable as food, but, being very pugnacious, is kept for fighting; the male has two spurs on each foot. There are upward of fifty species of American partridges, among which are the Mountain Quail of California, the Bobwhite (which see), while the Ruffed Grouse is called Partridge in the North and Pheasant in the South. It is shy, forest-loving; the male makes a drumming sound by vibrating its wings. Its tarsus is feathered half way, the head crested, and plumage variegated.

=Peacock.=--See Domesticated Animals.

=Pheasants= (_Phasianidæ_).--About forty species of pheasants inhabit southeastern Asia. They are brilliantly colored and have long tails and crests. The males generally are pugnacious; the male of the Blood Pheasant, dwelling on the heights of the Himalayas, has four or five spurs on each foot.

The pheasant exhibits a remarkable readiness to hybridize with other like birds. The Ring-necked Pheasant is a native of the forests of India and China. It is distinguished by a white ring almost surrounding the neck, and is of smaller size than the common pheasant, somewhat different in markings, and has a shorter tail. It is the common pheasant of the Celestial Empire. Among other species of pheasant may be mentioned Diard’s pheasant, a native of Japan; Soemmering’s Pheasant, also from Japan, one of the most beautiful pheasants known, but terribly pugnacious; and Reeve’s Pheasant, a native of the north of China, in which white is the prevailing color, and the tail is of extraordinary length.

Of somewhat different type are the Golden Pheasant and the Silver Pheasant, both natives of China. The Golden Pheasant is one of the most splendid of the tribe. It has a fine crest, and a ruff of orange and black, capable of being erected at pleasure. The tail is very long. The Silver Pheasant is one of the largest and most powerful of the tribe. The Impeyan Pheasant is a native of the East Indies, and known as the “bird of gold.”

=Ptarmigan= (_Lagopus_), a bird nearly allied to the true grouse, differs chiefly in having the toes as well as the legs thickly clothed with short feathers. They are natives of the northern parts of the world, of elevated or of arctic regions. With the exception of the Red Grouse, the species change color on the approach of winter, assuming a white or nearly white plumage. All are esteemed as food.

The Common Ptarmigan is now resident in the Lofoden Island, in Scandinavia, on the Ural and the Altai ranges, etc., and also on the Alps and the Pyrenees. The winter plumage is pure white, except a black band above the eyes of the male, and some black on the under feathers of the tail. In both sexes the wings are always white, but have dark shafts to their quills. In summer the males are predominantly grayish brown above, with blackish head, shoulders, and breast, with white belly, with black tail-feathers tipped with white. In the female a tawny color predominates. In autumn, again the plumage is different, with numerous streaks of slate gray on the upper parts. The white winter plumage is doubtless protective amid the snow, and may be the result of the cold; the summer plumage is not less harmonious with the surroundings.

=Turkey.=--See Domesticated Animals.

=Quail.=--See Partridges and Bobwhite.

_THE REPTILES_ (_Reptilia_)

LIZARDS, CHAMELEONS, SNAKES, CROCODILES, TORTOISES AND TURTLES

The reptiles are vertebrates which are supplied with a horny or bony skin; they have red, cold blood, breathe by means of lungs, and generally lay eggs; many of them have no feet. When limbs are present, however, they do not raise the body far off the ground, for the elbows and knees are turned outward. Some reptiles pass the winter in sleep.

=TORTOISES AND TURTLES= (_Chelonia_)

These animals have a wide body, which is enclosed between the arched shell of the back and the flat shell of the stomach. There are land, sea, and river tortoises. In some the head and legs can be retracted inside the shell. Over the outside of the case are horny plates which, in the hawkbill turtle are of value, as they afford the tortoise shell used for combs, etc. Turtles never have teeth, the edges of the jaws being covered with horny material. Most of the species are carnivorous. The largest species are the marine leather-backs of the tropics, which occasionally drift north to New England, and the giant species occurring on the Galapagos Islands, off the west coast of South America, and on some islands in the Indian Ocean.

=Land Tortoises= have a high arched shell under which the head and feet can be retracted. The feet have separate toes, and are adapted for walking. They are strictly herbivorous. Examples of this family are the large and strong Gopher-tortoises of the Carolinas, which burrow in the earth, the massive Amazon Tortoise, used for food by the natives, the Galapagos Tortoise, and the small Garden Tortoise.

=Mud Tortoise= (_Emys lutaria_) is frequently seen in Italy and the south of France. It inhabits lakes and slow-flowing waters, and feeds upon small fish, spawn, frogs, water insects, etc. It lays its eggs in a hole, which it digs in the bank. Its flesh is edible. Small specimens are frequently kept in aquariums, and fed with meat, bread, lettuce leaves, etc.

=Sea Turtles= have flat shells between which the flipper-like feet and huge head cannot be retracted. There are no nails or separate toes, and the fore feet are much the larger. The Green Turtle (_Chelone midas_) is much esteemed as food, with its eggs. It lives in or near the Gulf Stream, feeds on the roots of eelgrass, comes ashore at night, during May, and lays nearly one hundred eggs, which hatch in six weeks; the laying is usually repeated several times every two weeks, near the first nest. This Turtle may attain a weight of over eight hundred pounds. The Logger-head Turtle, so-called from its huge head and neck, ranges from Brazil to Massachusetts, attains a weight half that of the Green Turtle, and feeds on fish, crustacea, conchs, etc.

The Hawk’s Bill (_Eretmochelys_) has pointed plates that supply the “tortoise shell” of commerce. A large specimen may yield as much as eight pounds of the “shell.” The beautiful mottled color and semi-transparent characters of this material are well known. Its manufacture is carried on in the East, a fine tortoise-shell being exported from Celebes to China.

=Snapping Turtle= is a large voracious turtle, common in North America along stagnant waters and along the southern Mississippi where it sometimes reaches the weight of thirty pounds. It lives on fishes, frogs, and shells, and occasionally water-fowl. It has great strength of jaw and snaps when it bites. When fattened, its flesh is often esteemed as a delicacy. It is sometimes known as the Alligator-terrapin or Alligator Turtle.

=Terrapin= is the popular name of many species of fresh-water and tidal-water tortoises, native to tropical and the warmer temperate countries. About twenty fresh-water species are found in the United States. But the terrapin _par excellence_ is the Diamond-back Salt-water Terrapin, highly prized as a delicacy for the table. It is caught in salt marshes along the coast from New England to Texas, the finest being those of the Massachusetts and the northern coasts.

=CROCODILES AND ALLIGATORS= (_Crocodilia_)

These inhabitants of the rivers and estuaries of tropical regions are somewhat lizard-like in appearance, but in structure they are in many ways much more specialized. They have a scaly, tough skin on the back, four powerful feet, and a long tail. They live chiefly in the water, and only go to the banks to bask in the sun. The jaws are armed with powerful interlocking teeth, which constitute a deadly trap. The valvular nostrils are so situated that the animal can drift along with most of its body submerged, and at the same time breathe quite easily.

=Alligator= (_Alligator mississippiensis_) is found in the southern states of North America. It is as voracious as it is bloodthirsty. Should it perceive an unfortunate mammal drinking or browsing on the edge of the bank, it sinks below the surface, and rapidly swims toward the victim by strokes of its powerful, flattened tail. Then comes a sudden snap, aided, perhaps, by a lash of the tail; should the attempt prove successful, the prey is held under water till it is drowned, if too large to be forthwith swallowed. No bullet will pierce the hide on its back. It deposits its eggs in a kind of nest, which it builds with grass and mud on the banks, and defends with great fierceness. It deposits about one hundred eggs in this nest. The alligator is captured in various ways, but there is danger in hunting it.

=Crocodile= (_Procœlia_) is found in both hemispheres, but especially in Africa; they swarm on the Upper Nile. The crocodile of the Nile is a well-known species, not now found farther north than Thebes, but occurring abundantly farther south and east. Some two or three score of eggs, with delicate, rough, limy shells, about the size of those of geese, are laid in sandy cavities in the bank. The crocodile is now hunted for the perfume of its musk-glands, and also for its skin and fat.

=LIZARDS= (_Lacertilia_)

These may perhaps be described as the most average of existing reptiles, and have a very wide distribution. Examination of a lizard or its skeleton enables us to grasp very clearly some of the average characters of reptiles, such as the sprawling limbs and long tail. Some of the tropical lizards are of very considerable size, attaining a length of as much as six feet, as in the iguanas of America, some of which are esteemed as food. These are among the climbing members of the order, other examples being the geckoes and chameleons, both of which are animals of small size.

=Chameleons= are proverbial for the way in which they rapidly change color if placed among fresh surroundings, so as to harmonize with them. This variable general coloration is protective, because it makes the chameleon invisible to its foes, and also aggressive, as the insect prey of the little lizard are thereby lulled into a sense of false security. The digits are bound together into two groups, and a tongs-like grasping organ of great efficiency is thus constituted. The chameleon is also notable for the relatively enormous distance to which it can suddenly shoot out its sticky club-shaped tongue, for the purpose of seizing insects or other small creatures.

=Flying Dragon= (_Draco volans_) is found on trees in the island of Java. It generally frequents the trees along the banks of great rivers, in the leaves of which are numerous insects, upon which the flying dragon feeds. As it is as green as the leaves of the trees, it can only be recognized by an experienced eye. It is hunted for its delicate flesh, and also for the eggs, which are found deposited, often fifteen to twenty at a time, in a hollow in the ground.

=Gecko= (_Hemidadylus maculatus_) is a native of the East Indies and China. At dawn these reptiles creep out of their holes, and with dilated eyes look around for prey. As soon as they catch sight of it, the clumsy creatures spring upon it from a distance of four to six inches, with all the violence and rapidity of an animal of prey. Sucking pads on the feet of the gecko enable it to cling firmly to the most slippery surface, and to crawl about without slipping; its claws, which are sharp and retractile, are also useful to this reptile.

=Iguana= (_Iguana tuberculata_) is found in the East Indies and in South America. It lives in trees along the banks of rivers, feeding upon the insects. Its usual color is dark olive green. Its flesh is considered a delicacy, being tender and very much like that of a chicken. The eggs, of which the female deposits from four to six dozen at a time, are also eaten.

=SNAKES OR SERPENTS=

have elongated bodies, covered with plates or scales, and no feet. Many kinds have no poisonous fangs in the upper jaw. Serpents reproduce their species from eggs, and feed upon living animals; those found in colder regions sleep through the winter.

HOW THE SNAKE TRAVELS

The vertebrae are very numerous. With the exception of the most anterior (atlas), all bear ribs, which are very freely movable and are the snake’s main organs of locomotion. Snakes are capable of moving with great swiftness. The body undulates from side to side--not up and down--in a wriggling or writhing fashion. The extremely flexible backbone permits of this, but to guard against dislocation the vertebrae are connected by extra locking-joints, which only permit a certain amount of play. It is, however, comparatively easy to break the back of a snake by a sharp blow with a stick or whip.

MOUTH AND SENSE ORGANS OF SNAKES

Snakes are typically carnivorous, and many of them are furnished with powerful poison fangs. The tongue is forked, can be rapidly protruded and retracted, and is an efficient sense organ. Upon it and the well-developed nostrils the snakes largely depend, for neither sight nor hearing is very acute. There are no eyelids, the eyes being covered over by a transparent convex scale. The whole skin is covered with scales, which are folds of the epidermis, continuous with one another. In consequence, when the snake casts its coat--which occurs several times in the year--it casts it in one piece, this being a complete replica of the snake.

THE ORGANS OF CIRCULATION

The heart is four-chambered, as in mammals and birds, and not three-chambered, as in other reptiles and amphibia. The pure and impure blood do not, therefore, mix inside the heart; but as such blending takes place outside, owing to imperfect separation of the great vessels, the net result is much the same as in the lizards.

HOW SNAKES SECRETE POISONS

In venomous serpents some of the glands opening into the mouth secrete a poisonous fluid, which is introduced into the blood of a bitten victim. The largest amount of specialization is found among the vipers, where the teeth are reduced to a pair of hollow “fangs” in the front of the upper jaw, and there are two large poison-glands, one on either side of the head, giving it a characteristic resemblance to the ace of spades. In a state of rest, when the mouth is shut, the poison-fangs are pressed against the roof of the mouth, with their tips directed backwards. But when the snake opens its mouth and “strikes,” the fangs are rotated forward so that their sharp tips can be brought into action. The poison flows into the upper end of the tooth-canal and, in vipers, enters the wound by a small hole on the side of the tip. Were it at the end a blockage might result. We have, in fact, an anticipation of the device used in the construction of the needles employed with hypodermic syringe.

WHY SNAKES ARE COLORED