Oct. 3i, 1908.] 
717 
lieved by many persons that if the grosbeak 
bites a human being the bird will die, and the 
captive grosbeak is very apt to tweak any finger 
that comes within his reach. 
Gilbert White speculated much as to whether 
certain birds now well known to be migratory 
did not hibernate in their summer habitat, and 
White’s suspicion is widely held for a fact in 
some country districts of the United States. 
Now and again there are reports of hibernating 
bluebirds found unconscious in February, and 
brought to life by warmth. They are probably 
early migrants overcome by the cold. Like 
stories are told of other birds. 
In parts of the country where the turkey 
buzzard is numerous, mainly south of Phila¬ 
delphia, there are some curious beliefs touching 
these obscene birds. The usefulness of the 
creature in its capacity of scavenger is prob¬ 
ably responsible for the notion that it is un¬ 
lucky to kill a turkey buzzard. There is a be¬ 
lief also that it is unsafe to walk beneath a low- 
flying buzzard. His powers of flight are prob¬ 
ably exaggerated, and the subject has been 
scientifically investigated at great pains. The 
late Hamilton Gibson once watched the flight 
of turkey buzzards for two hours without being 
able to detect the motion of the wings by which 
the soaring bird ascended and descended, and 
it is popularly held that their ascending flight 
is accomplished against gravitation, and without 
the exercise of any power by the wings. As a 
matter of fact, there may be currents of air at 
great heights which enable the bird by imper¬ 
ceptible adaptations of the wing planes to ascend 
•in its characteristic long and slight inclines. At 
slight elevations the buzzard is seen to use its 
wings freely and pretty rapidly. 
Popular opinion entertains no doubt as to 
the power of snakes to charm birds. It is 
probable, however, that curiosity or hatred has 
much to do with the apparently reckless hover¬ 
ing of birds over a snake that one sometimes 
sees. The fact that birds often hover in the 
same curious way about strange or brilliant 
feathered strangers seems to show that the ele¬ 
ment of curiosity may have something to do 
with their interest in snakes. A scarlet tanager 
is sometimes really embarrassed by the ob¬ 
trusive admiration or curiosity of sparrows. An 
owl straying about by day will attract other 
birds from all directions, and an eagle has been 
seen perched in careless majesty upon a tree- 
top with a flock of crows hovering or perching 
about him. 
It is commonly taught to country children 
that a wild bird will desert her nest if a human 
being so much as lays hands on one of her 
eggs. More probably, when a bird deserts a 
much visited nest it is because she has seen the 
human visitor. As a matter of fact some wild 
birds are singularly indifferent to the visits of 
human beings. A robin, nesting one season 
under the eaves of a suburban cottage, hatched 
and reared her brood, although three children 
climbed ladders and looked into the nest almost 
daily. The game birds are supposed to be es¬ 
pecially sensitive to visits to their nests. On 
the other hand, partridges are so tame or so 
stupid in the Adirondack woods that they per¬ 
mit a human being to approach within a few 
feet of them, and after rising will settle in full 
sight and only a dozen yards away. Director 
Hornaday noted the same things of partridges 
in the Canadian Rockies. The crow is the sub¬ 
ject of many curious beliefs. It is commonly 
held in regions where crows are plentiful that 
they can tell a gun from a stick, and it is often 
said that the crow can count. The crow’s bite 
is believed by the colored people of the South 
to be poisonous. The number of crows seen 
when one first looks out in the morning is held 
to be significant. "Three black crows, joy,” is 
the. saying. 
Waterside folk in the Chesapeake region 
have many strange beliefs as to aquatic 
fowl. The wild goose, unlike his domestic 
congener, is credited with much intelligence. 
It is commonly said that wild geese can count 
two, but cannot count three. Hence when a 
man wishes to shoot geese from a blind he 
should take two companions with him in row¬ 
ing out to his ambush, and send both back. It 
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