ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AXD — 



OOLOGIST. 



$l.UU JUT 



Annum. 



Kstablisiu'd, Mui-cii, 1^75. 



Single Copy 

 10 Cents. 



VOL. XIII. 



BOSTON, MASS., JULY, 1888. 



No. 7, 



The Wood Thrush. 



in .IAMi:S It. I'LHtDV, IM.VMOI 111, Mllll. 



The W'ootl Tlirusli is singing from llic lU'pIli ui ilu' 

 Klen, 



ilift t'leiir, bell-like music so pleasing to rne, 

 In the fair luontii of May, wlnni all natni-e look.s gay; 



Tlu!y vie with eaeh otlier Irotn bi-iar ami tree. 



In a (leep shaile<l nook, whei'e tile woodbine en- 

 I wines, 

 And Ihe tiark, gloonij- forest coi^eals them from 

 view; 

 By a clear, winding brooklet, o'er tangled with vines, 

 His dear mate is guarding Iier treasures of bine. 



Though dark be Hie weather, and gloomy the morn, 



And other birds in the forest are still; 

 And Ihi^ sad face of nature, all dreary, forlorn, 



His clear, midlow notes through the drooping 

 woods thrill. 



In the evening, when nature is seeking repose. 



And liis dear little malt; has repaired to her nest; 

 And the last rays of sunbeams are ki.ssing the rose. 



It is then that his song is the sweetest anil best. 



Oh, man, why repine, and be downcast on your way. 

 As through the long years you are journej'ing ou; 



For the sadiler tins morning, ami gloomier the day. 

 The happier and sweeter is the wood thrush's song. 



How Birds Breathe. 



WITH A I'liCUMAU IN.STANCK, II.LUSTHATING 

 THE I'LNCTION Iti AN ABNOUMAL CONDITION. 



UV SCOI.OI'AX. 



.Many people deeiii the wing as tin; (;hief 

 chai-tuaeristie or feature in lh(> sepiinitioii of 

 birds from otlier divisioii-s of animals, notwith- 

 stamliiio; the fact that the bat, a maiiiiiial. as 

 well as some tish known a.s tl,\ ing fishes, can 

 maintain theinsolves in spaee by means of a 

 meiiil)ranous wing and long (ins. To carry the 

 lioint further, it is well known that .itnit/dous 



i,.,io „,>-r,„„ f • 1 1 i • uisseetion, numerons small sacs H 



j^li (IS, as the o.sti leh and cassowary, cannot raise | ue seen between the tissues of the 



themselves from the ground, merely u^ing their 

 breviated pinions to increase their speed iu 

 running. Others, as the Apte.ryx, a word mean- 

 ing witliout wings, have the wings so rudimen- 

 laiy, that they cannot be discovered with- 

 out close inspection. These peculiar orders of 

 birds rank therefore lower in the scale of ani- 

 mals that can maintain their weight in space, 

 than the flying squirrel, the Hying fox, .and even 

 a species of frog that can sail from an altitude 

 to the ground by means of exiiansive membran- 

 ous webs on its feet. 



What distinguishes the bird in general classi- 

 fication is not the wing. In birds, the dia- 

 phragm, a membrane separating the throax 

 from the abdomen, the function of which is to 

 arrest the air, thereby assisting in respiration in 

 the mammalia, is almost entirely wanting, and 

 air inhaled passes to all jiarts of the body ; the 

 bones are filled, that is, many of the long bones, 

 while numerous small sacs lying between the 

 muscles and fucue, are expanded with air.* 

 Figuier in his excellent work on Reptiles and 

 Birds, says: "The external air penetrates into 

 every part of the body by the respiratory tubes, 

 which rarity the whole cellular tissue, the in- 

 terior of the bones and the feathers, even be- 

 tween the muscles, their bodies dilated by the 

 air inhaled, lose a proi)ortionate amount of 

 weight; balloon-like they float in the air, and 

 from their peculiar forms, they can swim, so to 

 speak, in any direction in the gaseous element." 



These peculiarities to the division of birds 

 had been known to me for many years, when 

 an incident occurred which seemed to fully 

 confirm all 1 had read, and furnished a most 

 valid illustration of the peculiarities of bird 

 respiration, viviilly showing convincing proof 

 why birds can swim in space. 



Tile time of year was about tin' middh' of 

 May, tlie season of 1879. While on a collecting 



*II a recently killed l)ir<l, still wai-m, is expert. 

 nuMited upon, by forcibly inllaling Ihe lungs and se- 

 curely preventing e,\it of air bj' Ihe wintlpij)!', upon 



body. 



Copyright, 1888, by F. H. Cakj'Enteb and F. B. Webster. 



