BIRD'S-EYE MAPLE 



747 



BIRDS OF PARADISE 



Apteryx 



Cassowary 



Emu 



Bustard 

 Francolln 

 Grouse 

 Guan 



Guinea Fowl 

 Jungle Fowl 

 Lyre Bird 

 Mound Bird 



Albatross 



Fulmar 



Gannet 



Gulls 



Kittiwake 



RUNNERS 



Ostrich 



Rhea 



Road Runner 



SCRATCHERS 



Partridge 



Peacock 



Pheasant 



Prairie Chicken 



Ptarmigan 



Quail 



Tragopan 



Turkey 



SEA BIRDS 

 Petrel 

 Scissorsblll 

 Skua 

 Tern 

 Tropic Bird 



SWIMMERS 



Auk Goose 



Brant Goose Grebe 



Canada Goose Guillemot 



Canvasback Merganser 



Coot Penguin 



Diver Puffin 



Duck Shoveler 



Eider Duck Swan 



Gadwall Widgeon 

 Gallinule 



WADERS 



Adjutant Oyster Catcher 



Avocet Plover 



Bittern Rail 



Crane Ruff 



Curlew Sanderling 



Egret Sandpiper 



Flamingo Snipe 



Heron Spoonbill 



Ibis Stilt 



Jablru Stork 



Jacana Turnstone 



Killdeer Woodcock 



Lapwing Yellowlegs 

 Night Heron 



WEAK-FOOTED BIRDS 



Goatsucker Swift 



Humming Bird Whip-poor-will 



Night Hawk 



BIRD'S-EYE MAPLE, a beautiful form of 

 the wood of the sugar maple, which shows a 

 variation from the straight grain by having 

 numerous small, round spots that resemble the 

 eyes of a bird. When smoothed and polished, 

 this wood is highly valued in furniture making. 

 The hard and red maples are the varieties that 

 most frequently yield bird's-eye wood. It is 

 especially prized in the manufacture of choice 

 writing desks and bedroom furniture. 



This peculiar formation is the result of an 

 irregularity in growth. When the bark of the 

 maple is injured, the trunk usually starts to 



sprout, and a multitude of little twigs ap- 

 pear that have just about enough vitality to 

 keep alive. Each twig is the center of a 

 series of wood rings which give to the wood 

 its characteristic appearance under the skilled 

 hand of the finisher. Special methods of saw- 

 ing are necessary, that the beauty of the grain 

 may be preserved; a typical method consists 

 in taking short lengths of log to a saw which 

 pares off a thin layer from the surface as the 

 log revolves, a layer 100 feet in length some- 

 times being thus cut off before the heart of 

 the wood is reached. 



Curled Maple. This is another variation 

 from the straight-grained wood, and it is quite 

 as beautiful as bird's-eye. Here the wood fibers 

 lie upon each other in ripples, and are some- 

 what longer than those of the ordinary wood. 

 When polished, curled maple presents most 

 beautiful effects in light and shade. The reason 

 for the formation of curled maple is not known. 

 Beeches and birches also are subject to this 

 irregularity. Aside from its use for furniture, 

 curled maple is prized as a wood for stocks of 

 guns, as it combines lightness and beauty with 

 great strength and durability. See MAPLE. 



BIRDS OF PARADISE, a family of birds 

 that are equaled only by the humming birds 

 in their splendor. There are between forty and 

 fifty species, in forests of Australia, New 

 Guinea and other Pacific islands. Strangely 

 enough, they are related to the family of crows, 

 which are as remarkable for plainness as their 

 famous cousins are for beauty. The name 

 was given them by early travelers, who wrongly 

 supposed that they were without feet and lived 

 in the air, always keeping their eyes turned 

 toward the sun, and never touching the earth 

 till they died. Europeans first saw specimens 

 of them in the sixteenth century, when they 

 were carried to Europe by the sailors who 

 made the voyage around the world in the 

 Magellan expedition (1519-1522). In their na- 

 tive haunts they live almost entirely in the 

 tree-tops. There they build their simple nests, 

 and run and play about the branches, a grace- 

 ful and agile company; the gorgeously-attired 

 males sit and plume themselves to attract the 

 more soberly-clad females. 



The brilliant plumage of the males presents 

 a bewildering variety of form and color, re- 

 minding one of Thoreau's statement that Na- 

 ture made their feathers to show what she 

 could do. Among the larger species is the 

 twelve-wired bird of paradise, so called because 

 out of its short, square tail twelve long, wire- 



