THE OSPREY. 



63 



In New En<j-land this bird is known as the 

 "Bobolink", in Maryland as the "Reed Bird", 

 and in South Carolina as the Rice Bird. Plan- 

 ters will risk a frost in spring or in autumn to 

 avoid the ravages of the pests. They come in 

 millions and are ravenously fond of the tender 

 young rice plants. For each sprout picked out 

 of the ground four stalks are lost, for each seed 

 produces four stalks. The stalk has an ear like 

 the head of a stalk of wheat. Each ear of rice 

 contains from 140 to 200 grains. Thus one 

 little peck of his bill causes a destruction of 

 over 600 grains of rice in the embryo. As there 

 are such m3'riads of these nomadic and jieripa- 

 tetic pests, the damage is enormous. 



"Up to within the last few years all the birds 

 put on the market were killed with shotguns, 

 but the negroes above Georgetown have adopted 

 a new method and one more profitable to them- 

 selves. The hunter climlis the tallest cypress 

 tree on the edge of the marsh and spots the 

 droves of birds as they settle for the night. 



"About 9 o'clock the hunter paddles his boat 

 into the marsh and approaches as near as possi- 

 ble to the roost. Hisonlj' armament is a bundle 

 of pine fag'ots and a g^unny sack. Lighting a 

 fagot, he approaches the roost, which is always 

 in a growth of tall weeds or reeds. The birds 

 perching- on the branches of the rushes are 

 blinded by the light and make no attempt to fly. 

 Beginning at the bottom of the reed, the hunter 

 picks off the birds as he would fruit from a tree. 

 The birds bring 15 cents per dozen and twenty- 

 tive dozen is considered an average night's 

 work". — C/iicaiio Inter Ocean. 



The Turkey Buzzard's Flight. — In a re- 

 cent ramble, I took special notice of the flight 

 of the Turkey' Buzzards. Without the flap of 

 a wing they sailed around and around, one of 

 them raising higher and higher until he was a 

 mere speck in the skj'. A brisk breeze was 

 blowing at the time, so that the birds in flj'ing 

 in one direction at least must have moved 

 against the current, and yet, so far as I could 

 detect, they soared with the same ease and dig- 

 nity in one direction as another. 



By and by two of them decided to sail off to 

 the northward. This they did in an almost 

 straight course, gliding along withotxt a move- 

 ment of the wings that I could see. While they 

 seemed to move rapidly, but had an air of ex- 

 treme leisureliness, yet their flight must have 

 been swifter than was apparent, for in a very 

 short time, perhaps a minute or a minute and a 

 half, they had gone over a mile, and were circle- 

 ing over the city in which I live. 



In contrast with their poising flight, I observ- 

 ed the labored locomotion of a crow, which was 

 compelled to flap his wings constantly as he 

 flung himself over the river bluffs. Of covirse, 

 there are still some unsolved problems on the 

 subject of avian flight, as Dr. Coues has indi- 

 cated in his valuable "Key". It has seemed to 

 me that some competent ornithologist might 

 make some special investigations in this line, 

 and thus do a service to this cause of science. 



For my part, I cannot bring myself to kill and 

 dissect birds, but some one who understands 

 bird anatomy and has access to a large collection 

 of skins and mounted specimens might, it seems 



to me. make a special comparison of the buz- 

 zard's and the crow's wings, and determine the 

 difference in their anatomical structure, their 

 form, the position and shape of the pinions, and 

 so on. In this way he might be able to tell us 

 why the crow must flap its wings so vigorously-, 

 while its larger relative, the buzzard, is able to 

 glide forward with little or no apparent effort. 

 Would not that be an interesting study. Of 

 course, the point is not how the buzzard can 

 maintain itself in the air, for that is evident, 

 but how it can move about, even against an air- 

 current, without a movement of its wings. 



I have wondered whether the buzzards and 

 other sailing birds do not have some way of 

 moving their pinions that is imperceptible to 

 our ej'es, so that they may adjust them to the 

 air curretits, just as the human mariner sets his 

 sails. There maA' be nothing in this view, but 

 if there is, a careful examination of the wings 

 might reveal it. — L,EANDER S. Keyser, Atchi- 

 son, Kansas. 



A Man Killed by a Wounded Loon.- The 

 Loon, or great northern diver, is a powerful 

 bird. The following instance of one of them 

 killing a man happened a few years ago. 



A young Micmac Indian, living at Grand Lake, 

 Nova Scotia, wanted to get the skin of one of 

 these beautiful birds to present to his mistress 

 on her birthday. 



One day the youth, who was an adept at imi- 

 tating the peculiar sobbing- cry of the Loon, 

 succeeding in calling a bird within shooting 

 distance. His shot, however, failed to kill out- 

 right, and the bird, although so severely wound- 

 ed that it could neither swim nor dive, yet re- 

 tained sufficient life and streng'th to remain 

 upright in the water. 



The boy, thinking that his game did not need 

 another shot, swam out to retrieve it; but when 

 he approached near enough to seize the bird, it 

 made a dash at him, sending- its head and neck 

 out with a spring like an arrow from a bow. It 

 was only by a quick duck of his head that the 

 Indian succeeded in evading the blow. He swam 

 about the Loon several times, attempting to 

 dash in and seize him by the neck, but the wary 

 bird succeeded in foiling each effort by contin- 

 ually facing- him, and lunging out with his 

 powerful neck. 



The Indian then swam out within a few feet 

 of the bird, and diving under him. with consid- 

 erable skill caug'-ht him by the legs. He carried 

 him under, and althougii the bird strugg-led 

 fiercely, managed to retain his hold. But 

 when they both rose to the surface again, a 

 battle royal began, the Indian seeking to carry 

 his prize ashore, and the bird attempting to 

 regain his freedom. The bird, however, was too 

 much for his foe, and before the Indian had 

 covered a yard on his shore-bound course dis- 

 abled him with a vicious blow from his beak full 

 on the naked chest. 



The effect of this blow was almost instantane- 

 ously fatal, for the beak penetrated close to the 

 3'outh's heart. — Exchange. 



Brunnich's Murre has again made its ap- 

 pearance in the neighborhood of Washington, 

 D. C, two specimens having been recently 



