Birds and all Nature, Vol. IV, No. 3, September 1898

Robins Abundant – Not for many years have these birds been so numerous as during 1898. Once, under some wide-spreading willow trees, where the ground was bare and soft, we counted about forty Red-breasts feeding together, and on several occasions during the summer we saw so many in flocks, that we could only guess at the number. When unmolested, few birds become so tame and none are more interesting.

THE GRAY SQUIRREL

EAST of the Missouri River the Gray Squirrel is found almost everywhere, and is perhaps the most common variety. Wherever there is timber it is almost sure to be met with, and in many localities is very abundant, especially where it has had an opportunity to breed without unusual disturbance. Its usual color is pale gray above and white or yellowish white beneath, but individuals of the species grade from this color through all the stages to jet black. Gray and black Squirrels are often found associating together. They are said to be in every respect alike, in the anatomy of their bodies, habits, and in every detail excepting the color, and by many sportsmen they are regarded as distinct species, and that the black form is merely due to melanism, an anomaly not uncommon among animals. Whether this be the correct explanation may well be left to further scientific observation.

Like all the family, the Gray Squirrels feed in the early morning just after sunrise and remain during the middle of the day in their hole or nest. It is in the early morning or the late afternoon, when they again appear in search of the evening meal, that the wise hunter lies in wait for them. Then they may be heard and seen playing and chattering together till twilight. Sitting upright and motionless on a log the intruder will rarely be discovered by them, but at the slightest movement they scamper away, hardly to return. This fact is taken advantage of by the sportsmen, and, says an observer, be he at all familiar with the runways of the Squirrels at any particular locality he may sit by the path and bag a goodly number. Gray and Black Squirrels generally breed twice during the spring and summer, and have several young at a litter. The young mature in August and September.

We have been told that an incident of migration of Squirrels of a very remarkable kind occurred a good many years ago, caused by lack of mast and other food, in New York State. When the creatures arrived at the Niagara river, their apparent destination being Canada, they seemed to hesitate before attempting to cross the swift running stream. The current is very rapid, exceeding seven miles an hour. They finally ventured in the water, however, and with tails spread for sails, succeeded in making the opposite shore, but more than a mile below the point of entrance. They are better swimmers than one would fancy them to be, as they have much strength and endurance. We remember when a boy seeing some mischievous urchins repeatedly throw a tame Squirrel into deep water for the cruel pleasure of watching it swim ashore. The "sport" was soon stopped, however, by a passerby, who administered a rebuke that could hardly be forgotten.

Squirrels are frequently domesticated and become as tame as any household tabby. Unfortunately Dogs and Cats seem to show a relentless enmity toward them, as they do toward all rodents. The Squirrel is willing to be friendly, and no doubt would gladly affiliate with them, but the instinct of the canine and the feline impels them to exterminate it. We once gave shelter and food to a strange Cat and was rewarded by seeing it fiercely attack and kill a beautiful white Rabbit which until then had had the run of the yard and never before been molested. Until we shall be able to teach the beasts of the field something of our sentimental humanitarianism we can scarcely expect to see examples of cruelty wholly disappear.

AH ME!

I killed a Robin – the little thing,With scarlet breast on a glossy wing,That comes in the apple tree to sing.I flung a stone as he twittered there,I only meant to give him a scare,But off it went – and hit him square.A little flutter – a little cry —Then on the ground I saw him lie.I didn't think he was going to die.But as I watched him I soon could seeHe never would sing for you or meAny more in the apple tree.Never more in the morning light,Never more in the sunshine bright,Trilling his song in gay delight.And I'm thinking, every summer day,How never, never, I can repayThe little life that I took away.– Sydney Dayre, in The Youth's Companion.

THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER

MORE than a score of Sandpipers are described in the various works on ornithology. The one presented here, however, is perhaps the most curious specimen, distributed throughout North, Central, and South America, breeding in the Arctic regions. It is also of frequent occurrence in Europe. Low, wet lands, muddy flats, and the edges of shallow pools of water are its favorite resorts. The birds move in flocks, but, while feeding, scatter as they move about, picking and probing here and there for their food, which consists of worms, insects, small shell fish, tender rootlets, and birds; "but at the report of a gun," says Col. Goss, "or any sudden fright, spring into the air, utter a low whistling note, quickly bunch together, flying swift and strong, usually in a zigzag manner, and when not much hunted often circle and drop back within shot; for they are not naturally a timid or suspicious bird, and when quietly and slowly approached, sometimes try to hide by squatting close to the ground."

Of the Pectoral Sandpiper's nesting habits, little has been known until recently. From Mr. Nelson's interesting description, in his report upon "Natural History Collections in Alaska," we quote as follows: "The night of May 24, 1889, I lay wrapped in my blanket, and from the raised flap of the tent looked out over as dreary a cloud-covered landscape as can be imagined. As my eyelids began to droop and the scene to become indistinct, suddenly a low, hollow, booming note struck my ear and sent my thoughts back to a spring morning in northern Illinois, and to the loud vibrating tones of the Prairie Chickens. [See Birds and All Nature, Vol. IV, p. 18.] Again the sound arose, nearer and more distinct, and with an effort I brought myself back to the reality of my position, and, resting upon one elbow, listened. A few seconds passed, and again arose the note; a moment later I stood outside the tent. The open flat extended away on all sides, with apparently not a living creature near. Once again the note was repeated close by, and a glance revealed its author. Standing in the thin grass ten or fifteen yards from me, with its throat inflated until it was as large as the rest of the bird, was a male Pectoral Sandpiper. The succeeding days afforded opportunity to observe the bird as it uttered its singular notes, under a variety of situations, and at various hours of the day, or during the light Arctic night. The note is deep, hollow, and resonant, but at the same time liquid and musical, and may be represented by a repetition of the syllables too-u, too-u, too-u, too-u, too-u." The bird may frequently be seen running along the ground close to the female, its enormous sac inflated.

Mr. Murdock says the birds breed in abundance at Point Barrow, Alaska, and that the nest is always built in the grass, with a preference for high and dry localities. The nest was like that of the other waders, a depression in the ground, lined with a little dry grass. The eggs are four, of pale purplish-gray and light neutral tint. It is sometimes called Grass Snipe.

EYES

By W. E. WattWhy was the sightTo such a tender ball as th' eye confined,So obvious and so easy to be quenched,And not, as feeling, through all parts diffused;That she might look at will through every pore? – Milton.

"But bein' only eyes, you see, my wision's limited." – Sam Weller.

THE reason we know anything at all is that various forms of vibration are capable of affecting our organs of sense. These agitate the brain, the mind perceives, and from perception arise the higher forms of thought. Perhaps the most important of the senses is sight. It ranges in power from the mere ability to perceive the difference between light and darkness up to a marvelous means of knowing the nature of objects of various forms and sizes, at both near and remote range.

One the simplest forms of eyes is found in the Sea-anemone. It has a colored mass of pigment cells and refractive bodies that break up the light which falls upon them, and it is able to know day and night. An examination of this simple organ leads one to think the scientist not far wrong who claimed that the eye is a development from what was once merely a particular sore spot that was sensitive to the action of light. The protophyte, Euglena varidis, has what seems to be the least complicated of all sense organs in the transparent spot in the front of its body.

We know that rays of light have power to alter the color of certain substances. The retina of the eye is changed in color by exposure to continued rays of light. Frogs in whose eyes the color of the retina has apparently been all changed by sunshine are still able to take a fly accurately and to recognize certain colors.

Whether the changes produced by light upon the retina are all chemical or all physical or partly both remains open to discussion.

An interesting experiment was performed by Professor Tyndall proving that heat rays do not affect the eye optically. He was operating along the line of testing the power of the eye to transmit to the sensorium the presence of certain forms of radiant energy. It is well known that certain waves are unnoticed by the eye but are registered distinctly by the photographic plate, and he first showed beyond doubt that heat waves as such have no effect upon the retina. By separating the light and heat rays from an electric lantern and focusing the latter, he brought their combined energy to play where his own eye could be placed directly in contact with them, first protecting the exterior of his eye from the heat rays. There was no sensation whatever as a result, but when, directly afterward, he placed a sheet of platinum at the convergence of the dark rays it quickly became red hot with the energy which his eye was unable to recognize.

The eye is a camera obscura with a very imperfect lens and a receiving plate irregularly sensitized; but it has marvelous powers of quick adjustment. The habits of the animal determine the character of the eye. Birds of rapid flight and those which scan the earth minutely from lofty courses are able to adjust their vision quickly to long and short range. The eye of the Owl is subject to his will as he swings noiselessly down upon the Mouse in the grass. The nearer the object the more the eye is protruded and the deeper its form from front to rear.

The human eye adjusts its power well for small objects within a few inches and readily reaches out for those several miles away. A curious feature is that we are able to adjust the eye for something at long range in less time than for something close at hand. If we are reading and someone calls our attention to an object on the distant hillside, the eye adjusts itself to the distance in less than a second, but when we return our vision to the printed page several seconds are consumed in the re-adjustment.

The Condor of the Andes has great powers of sight. He wheels in beautiful curves high in the air scrutinizing the ground most carefully and all the time apparently keeping track of all the other Condors within a range of several miles. No sooner does one of his kind descend to the earth than those near him shoot for the same spot hoping the find may be large enough for a dinner party. Others soaring at greater distances note their departure and follow in great numbers so that when the carcass discovered by one Condor proves to be a large one, hundreds of these huge birds congregate to enjoy the feast. The Condor's eyes have been well compared to opera glasses, their extension and contraction are so great.

The Eagle soars towards the sun with fixed gaze and apparent fullness of enjoyment. This would ruin his sight were it not for the fact that he and all other birds are provided with an extra inner eyelid called the nictitating membrane which may be drawn at will over the eye to protect it from too strong a light. Cuvier made the discovery that the eye of the Eagle, which had up to his time been supposed of peculiarly great strength to enable it to feast upon the sun's rays, is closed during its great flights just as the eye of the barnyard fowl is occasionally rested by the use of this delicate semi-transparent membrane. Several of the mammals, among them being the horse, are equipped with such an inner eyelid.

One of my most striking experiences on the ocean was had when I pulled in my first Flounder and found both of his eyes on the same side of his head. All Flat-fish are similarly equipped. On the side which glides over the bottom of the sea, the Halibut, Turbot, Plaice, and Sole are almost white, the upper side being dark enough to be scarcely distinguishable from the ground. On the upper side are the two eyes, while the lower side is blind.

When first born the fish swims upright with a slight tendency to favor one side; its eyes are on opposite sides of the head, as in most vertebrates and the head itself is regular. With age and experience in exploring the bottom on one side, the under eye refuses to remain away from the light and gradually turns upward, bringing with it the bones of the skull to such an extent that the adult Flat-fish becomes the apparently deformed creature that appears in our markets as a regular product of the deep.

The eyeless inhabitant of the streams in Mammoth Cave presents a curious instance of the total loss of a sense which remains unused. These little fishes are not only without sight but are also almost destitute of color and markings, the general appearance being much like that of a fish with the skin taken off for the frying pan. The eyes of fishes generally are so nearly round that they may be used with good effect as simple microscopes and have considerable magnifying power. Being continually washed with the element in which they move, they have no need for winking and the lachrymal duct which supplies tears to the eyes of most of the animal kingdom is entirely wanting. Whales have no tear glands in their eyes, and the whole order of Cetacea are tearless.

Among domestic animals there is considerable variety of structure in the eye. The pupil is usually round, but in the small Cats it is long vertically, and in the Sheep, in fact, in all the cud chewers and many other grass eaters, the pupil is long horizontally.

Insects present a wonderful array of eyes. These are not movable, but the evident purpose is that there shall be an eye in readiness in whatever direction the insect may have business. The common Ant has fifty six-cornered jewels set advantageously in his little head and so arranged as to take in everything that pertains to the pleasure of the industrious little creature. As the Ant does not move about with great rapidity he is less in need of many eyes than the House-fly which calls into play four thousand brilliant facets, while the Butterfly is supplied with about seventeen thousand. The most remarkable of all is the blundering Beetle which bangs his head against the wall with twenty-five thousand eyes wide open.

THE HUNTED SQUIRREL

THEN a valley, centuries ago,Ranging the hedges for his filbert foodSits pertly on a bough, his brown nuts crackingAnd from the shell the sweet white kernel taking;Till with their crooks and bags a sort of boysTo share with him come with so great a noiseThat he is forced to leave a nut nigh broke,And for his life leap to a neighbor oak,Thence to a beech, thence to a row of ashes;Whilst through the quagmires and red water plashesThe boys run dabbing through thick and thin.One tears his hose, another breaks his shin;This, torn and tattered, hath with much adoGot by the briars; and that hath lost his shoe;This drops his band; that headlong falls for haste;Another cries behind for being last;With sticks and stones and many a sounding holloaThe little fool with no small sport they follow,Whilst he from tree to tree, from spray to sprayGets to the woods and hides him in his dray.– William Browne,Old English Poet.