12 



BIRDS 



be able to perform their service for us. 

 Under persecution they cannot do their 

 best, even if they remain to do anything 

 for us. Persistent persecution will either 

 drive them away or destroy them alto- 

 gether. Since we cannot do without 

 their services even for a oingle year, it is 

 clear that we must agree that they do 

 have the natural right to the pursuit of 

 happiness. 



We are ready, then, to concede to the 

 birds as natural rights what we long ago 

 declared were the natural rights of man- 

 kind, — "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of 

 Happiness." We might properly discuss 

 the question, What do w^e owe to the 

 birds? but "that is a separate topic for a 

 later time. 



STRUCTURE AND HABITS OF BIRDS. 



From a lecture by Frank M. Chapman, April, 1900. 



HOW HAVE the various types of 

 "bird life come into existence? To un- 

 derstand this we must study the wings 

 •of the creature to learn its evolution from 

 the early reptile-like type of bird. The 

 most primitive use of the wing is as a 

 hand, by which the bird may climb about. 

 In contrast the albatross has the finest 

 developed wings of any species which are 

 fourteen feet acros§. The man-o'-war, 

 however, is even a better example, per- 

 haps, for although having a body no 

 larger than a hen, it has wings which 

 spread apart to a distance of seven or 

 eight feet, enabling it to soar in the air 

 for several days without touching the 

 €arth. 



By intertwining the outer feathers of 

 the wings some birds can remain station- 

 ary in the air for hours at a time, not 

 once moving a wing. The razor-billed 

 hawk is the nearest living representative 

 of the extinct great hawk, a bird which, 

 "having small wings, could not fly, and 

 soon became extinct. The penguin, with 

 its flippers, can fly only on the water, and 

 has to waddle when on land. Certain 

 grebes which find their food in lakes have 

 also lost their power of flight. This is 

 true of some pigeons, auks, parrots, 

 grebes, ducks and other birds which have 

 not found it necessary to obtain their food 

 by flying. 



Wings are also used to express emo- 

 tion. Many young birds, of which the 

 oriole furnishes an example, cause their 



.vings to quaver in supplication. Certain 

 oirds also make use of their wings as a 

 musical, organ, as is evinced in the whist- 

 ling sound produced by the woodcock. 

 Our nighthawk makes a booming sound 

 with its wings by extending its outer 

 quills as it dives earthward. A weapon 

 is also found by some birds in their 

 wings, the pigeon, hen and other of our 

 common birds using their wings to strike 

 with. 



The foot shares with the wing the du- 

 ties of locomotion. Birds with highly 

 developed wings have poor feet. The 

 swallow, an aerial bird, is an example. 

 The chimney-swift has a tiny foot, but 

 enormously developed wings, and if 

 placed on a flat surface is unable even to 

 support itself. All aquatic and terres- 

 trial birds have excellently developed 

 feet. The loon is so thoroughly aquatic 

 that it cannot walk on land without the 

 support of its breast and wings. The sea 

 >nipe has a foot especially fitted for swim- 

 ming, and can be found a few hundred 

 miles off the Atlantic coast in flocks of 

 hundreds of thousands, perfectly at home 

 in the water. 



The foot is generallv related to the 

 length of the neck. The flamingo wades 

 out into the water, and is able to duck its 

 head and secure its food with the aid of 

 its particularly constructed neck. In se- 

 curing prey the foot also plays an im- 

 portant part. The great horned owl and 

 the duck hawk have enormous grasping 



