.png)
Redgum Caught In The Act Torrentl
Redgum Caught In The Act Torrentl ->>->>->> https://bytlly.com/2thO7E
Anything like sociability is unknown to this bird; each lives for its mate or its family alone, andcarries on a constant warfare with all its neighbours. Strange to say, however, if taken young fromthe nest they soon become extraordinarily tame, and learn to obey and follow those who feed themwith all the fidelity and devotion of a favourite dog. Carrion, beetles, larvæ, caterpillars, ants, andmany other kinds of insects are devoured by the Common Hoopoe in large numbers, its long beakenabling it to search for its victims in any hole or crevice into which they may have crept. Largebeetles are killed by repeated blows, and by crushing them against the ground until the wings and feethave been broken off. The morsel is then tossed aloft and dextrously caught and swallowed. Theyoung birds are at first unable to perform this rather difficult feat, and, therefore, require to be fed bythose who may wish to rear them. It would appear that but little care or fastidiousness is exhibitedin selecting a spot suitable for building their nests: trees, fissures in walls, houses, or holes in the[15]ground are indiscriminately employed; and Pallas mentions having found a nest containing sevenyoung in the thorax of a human skeleton. Dry grass, roots, and cow-dung are the materials employedin the construction of the nest. The brood consists of from four to seven small elongate eggs, with adirty greenish white or yellowish grey shell, occasionally finely spotted with white. The female alonebroods, and the young are hatched in a fortnight. Both parents assist in the task of feeding theircharge, and tend them with much affection; this care, however, does not extend to clearing awaysuch daily accumulations as are usually removed, and the consequence is that before the family arefully fledged the nest has become a mere mass of seething flies and maggots, giving forth a stenchfrom which the birds themselves are only freed after having been exposed for many successive days tothe pure winds of heaven.
\"The first place I observed the bird at,\" says Wilson, \"when on my way to the South, wasabout twelve miles north of Wilmington, in North Carolina. Having wounded it slightly in the wing,on being caught it uttered a loudly-reiterated and most piteous note, exactly resembling the violentcrying of a young child, which terrified my horse so much as nearly to have cost me my life. It wasdistressing to hear it. I carried it with me under cover to Wilmington. In passing through thestreet its cry surprised every one within hearing, particularly the females, who hurried to the doors andwindows with looks of alarm. I drove on, and on arriving at the piazza of the hotel where I intendedto put up, the landlord came forward and a number of other persons, all equally alarmed at what theyheard. This alarm was greatly increased by my asking whether they could find accommodation for[33]myself and my baby; the man looked blank and foolish, while the others stared with still greaterastonishment. After diverting myself for a minute or two at their expense, I drew my Woodpeckerfrom under the cover, and a general laugh took place. I took him upstairs, and locked him inmy room while I went to look after my horse. In less than an hour I returned, and on opening thedoor he set up the same distressing shout, which now appeared to proceed from grief that he hadbeen discovered in his efforts at escape. He had mounted along the side of the window, nearly ashigh as the ceiling, a little below which he had begun to break through. The bed was covered withlarge pieces of plaster. The latter was exposed for at least fifteen inches square, and a hole openedlarge enough to admit the fist close to the weather-boards; so that in less than another hour he wouldcertainly have made his way through. I now tied a string to his leg, fastened him to the table, andagain left him. As I re-ascended the stairs I heard him again hard at work, and on entering hadthe mortification to find that he had almost ruined the mahogany table, on which he seemed to havewreaked his whole vengeance. While engaged in taking a drawing of him, he cut me severely inseveral places, and, on the whole, displayed such an unconquerable spirit that I was frequentlytempted to restore him to his native woods. He lived with me nearly three days, but refused allsustenance, and I witnessed his death with regret.\"
Mr. Gosse gives the following interesting account of one of the many attempts he made to reartwo young males of this beautiful species. The subjects of this experiment were not confined in a cage,but kept in a room with doors and windows close shut. \"They were lively, but not wild; playfultowards each other, and tame with respect to myself, sitting unrestrained for several seconds at a timeon my finger. I collected a few flowers, and placed them in a vase on a high shelf, and to these theyresorted immediately; but I soon found that they paid attention to none but Asclepias corrassavica.On this, I again went out and gathered a large bunch of asclepias, and was pleased to observe that onthe moment of my entering the room one flew to the nosegay and sucked while I held it in my hand.The other soon followed; and then both these lovely creatures were buzzing together within an inchof my face, probing the flowers so eagerly as to allow their bodies to be touched without alarm.These flowers being placed in another glass, they visited each bouquet in turn, now and then flyingafter each other playfully through the room, or alighting on various objects. Although theyoccasionally flew against the window, they did not flutter and beat themselves at it; but seemed wellcontent with their lot. As they flew I repeatedly heard them snap their beaks, at which time theydoubtless caught minute flies. After some time, one of them suddenly sank down into one corner,and on being taken up seemed dying; it lingered awhile and died. The other continued his vivacity.Perceiving that he exhausted the flowers, I prepared a tube, made of the barrel of a goose-quill, whichI inserted into the cork of a bottle, to secure its steadiness and upright position, and filled it withjuice of sugar-cane. I then took a large Ipomea, and having cut off the bottom, slipped the flowerover the tube so that the quill took the place of the nectary of the flower. The bird flew to it in[71]a moment, clung to the bottle's rim, and bringing his beak perpendicular, thrust it into the tube. Itwas at once evident that the repast was agreeable, for he continued pumping for several moments; andon his flying off I found the quill emptied. As he had torn off the flower in his eagerness for more,and even followed the fragments as they lay on the table to search them, I re-filled the quill, and put ablossom of the marvel of Peru into it, so that the flower expanded over the top; the little toper foundit again, and after drinking freely, withdrew his beak, but the blossom was adhering to it as a sheath.This incumbrance it got rid of, and then returned immediately, and, inserting his beak into the barequill, finished the contents. It was amusing to see the odd position of his body as he clung to thebottle, with his beak inserted perpendicularly into the cork. Several times in the evening he hadrecourse to his new fountain, and at length betook himself to a line stretched across the room forrepose. He slept, as they all do, with the head not behind the wing, but slightly drawn back on theshoulders. In the morning I found him active before sunrise, having already emptied his quill ofsyrup. After some hours, he flew through a door I incautiously left open, and, to my great chagrin,escaped.
The Merops apiaster is an occasional visitor to this country, and somewhat resembles theSwallows in its habits. Like them, it captures prey on the wing. It devours bees and wasps in largequantities, and that without experiencing the least inconvenience from their sting, which it probablygets rid of by frequently pressing the body between its mandibles, until the sting is either extractedor rendered harmless. In the island of Crete these birds are caught by boys, by means of a cicadaattached to a pin or fish-hook fastened to a long thread. In many parts of Europe the flesh isesteemed as an article of food. The voice of this species is rich and pleasing.
The usual nesting-place of this Roller is in some hollow tree, and its nest is usually constructedof roots and straw, lined with hair and feathers; in the south of Europe it not unfrequently buildsin rifts and chinks in old walls, or even excavates for itself a hole in the ground, much in the sameway as the Bee-eaters. The brood consists of from four to six white and polished eggs. Bothsexes co-operate in the work of incubation, and so assiduously do they maintain their post whensitting, that they may be sometimes caught with the hand while upon the nest. The young are fedupon insects and grubs. They soon learn to fly, but remain with their parents, and accompany themin their winter migrations.
The Common Cuckoo may be regarded as the most flighty, restless, and lively member of thissprightly family; from morning till night he is constantly on the move, and is as hungry as he is activeand clamorous. His flight is light, elegant, somewhat resembling that of a Falcon; but no soonerhas his journey come to an end, than he alights on a thick branch of the nearest tree, and at oncebegins to look about him in search of food. Should an attractive morsel be in sight, he swoops uponit in an instant, and having caught and devoured it, by a stroke or two of his powerful wings heagain returns to the branch he has just quitted, or else flies off to a neighbouring tree, immediately torepeat the same performance. It is, however, only in his powers of flight that the Cuckoo iseminently gifted; he walks upon the ground with difficulty, and is quite unable to climb. In spring-timehe is indefatigable in making heard his well-known notes, \"Cuckoo, cuckoo,\" which occasionallyhe will change to a softly-uttered \"Quawawa,\" or \"Haghaghaghag,\" while the voice of the femalesomewhat resembles a peculiar laugh or gentle twitter, but poorly represented by the syllables\"Kwikwikwik.\" It was well-known, even to ancient writers, that the female Cuckoo, instead ofbuilding a nest for the reception of her progeny, lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, to whomshe altogether entrusts the rearing of her young ones. 153554b96e