we can read of wonderful nests made by those in foreign countries. Perhaps
the most clever nest-builder is a tiny Indian bird, called the "Tailor,"
because it actually sews leaves together, using both its bill and its
feet, to make a safe hiding-place for its eggs, no bigger than peas, where
neither snake nor monkey shall find them. It first chooses a plant with
large leaves, then sews a dead leaf to the side of the green and living
one, and in the space between the two, it lays its tiny eggs. It gathers
cotton from a shrub, and with its long bill and slender little feet works
away until it has spun a thread; then, using its bill for a needle, it
pierces holes through the leaves, and sews them securely together. Should
you not like to see such a wonderful nest, and still more to watch the
little tailor--more like a bee than a bird in size--at his work?
[Illustration: TAILOR-BIRD'S NEST]
I will tell you of one more nest; it is of a very different kind, and is
made by a swallow which lives in the islands east of Asia, and is generally
called the Java swallow. The other day I was reading how one of our princes
was entertained in China, and among the dishes on the table "birds'-nest
soup" was mentioned. It made me think of how, long ago (when, as I told
you, I was so foolish as not to like to ask questions, for fear the
grown-up people should think I knew nothing at all), I heard of this kind
of soup, and thought how disagreeable it must be to meet with bits of hay
and moss in one's soup, and what queer people the Chinese must be not to
mind it. Now I know that these nests, which are sold in China for their
weight in silver, are made of a clear jelly which comes from the swallow's
mouth. The nests are built against the sides of rocky cliffs, so that it
is very dangerous work to procure them. I do not know whether the Duke and
Duchess of Connaught liked the soup, but it was offered them as a very
great delicacy.
Chrissie and his brothers have a canary, and a very loud singer he is. No
doubt he was born in England. but his family are foreigners, as you know,
and come from Madeira and the Cape Verde and Canary Islands. But if, as I
have heard, they were brought to this country so long ago as the time of
Queen Elizabeth, we cannot be surprised that they are so much at home with
us now, and will lay their pale blue eggs, and hatch their yellow broods,
and live even thirty years in their pretty cages, in which they certainly
seem to be as happy as the days are long. I hope if you have a canary
of your own, you are very careful to give it its seed and water quite
regularly, and to keep its little house as clean as a new pin; for how sad
it would be to neglect the happy little creature who is entirely dependent
upon you for everything!
I once knew a little girl who had a present of a canary when she was seven
years old. I think she was realty too young to have the care of a bird, but
she was very, very fond of her Dick, and used to bring him home groundsel
and chickweed when she went out for a walk, and often had the pleasure of
standing upon a high chair and putting a lump of sugar between the bars of
the cage as a special treat for her pet.
All went well until one morning, when she opened the cage door and saw,
instead of the pretty, pecking, chirping birdie hopping from his perch to
greet her, just a soft yellow ball of feathers lying at the bottom of the
cage. Ah, the sad story was soon told--her pet had been starved to death,
and she had been the cause! This was what nurse told her, when she ran
sobbing to her with the poor dead bird in her little hand. "It is very
cruel of you," she said; "you just went to your play, and forgot all about
your poor little Dick, and now he is dead; you will never hear him sing his
sweet song again."
The poor child was too sorry and too frightened to say anything, and yet
in her heart she knew she had not forgotten her birdie; she was quite sure
that she had filled his glass with seed and given him fresh water, only the
day before. This was quite true; but I will tell you what she had done, and
then you will see why I said I thought she was too young to have the entire
charge of any living creature. After filling the glass with seed, she had
put it back again, as she thought, into its place, where there was a round
opening for the bird to come and peck at the seeds. But she had turned the
glass round, so that the back of it was towards this hole, and the open
part right away from her poor Dick, who might peck and peck against the
hard glass, but could not get one seed. I think if nurse had known just
how it all happened, she would not have said this little girl was cruel
for neglecting her bird; but she was a very careless child, and this
thoughtless act cost her pet his life, and his mistress many a bitter tear.
Now for one more true story, and then we must finish our chapter about
"feathered fowl." You remember the little girl who was so nearly carried
off by a great eagle; this story is about a man whose life was saved by an
enormous sea-bird, whose wings when spread out measure about twelve feet
across. It is called the "Wandering Albatross," and often follow ships in
the southern seas a long way, looking very beautiful and majestic as it
seems to float in the air. One of these huge birds had been following a
ship on board of which was a regiment of soldiers, on their way home to
England. Among them was one man, who, though he seemed to care for nobody,
and always laughed at those who read the Bible, was very, very unhappy.
God's word says that there is no peace to the wicked, and this poor man
never had any rest or comfort, and was constantly disobeying the officers
and getting into disgrace. He had no fear of God, and so one morning, when
no one was near him, he suddenly jumped over the ship's side into the sea,
thinking that he would put an end to his life and his misery.
But just as he sank beneath the waters, God put it into the heart of this
poor sinner against his own soul, to cry to Him for mercy; and then in a
moment, in His great kindness, He sent the answer to that despairing cry.
The great albatross, always ready to pick up anything which was thrown
overboard by the sailors came sweeping by. The drowning man put up his hand
and caught it by the leg, and such was the strength of the bird that it was
able to bear his weight until a boat from the ship came and rescued him. I
do not think I should like to tell you this story, which has such a dark
and sad beginning, but for its bright ending. It was a long time before
this poor soldier recovered; but when he was able to walk about the deck
again, all was changed for him. He knew that God had not only, in this
remarkable way, saved him from drowning, but there was great peace in that
heart which had been so full of trouble; for he had learned to know the
Lord Jesus Christ as the blessed Saviour who had loved him and given
Himself for him--so I think this is really a very beautiful story.
You will find many of the Flying Fowl of which we have been speaking
mentioned in this poem, which reminds us of how God cares for the wildest
as well as the weakest of them all.
"WHO PROVIDED FOR THE RAVEN HIS FOOD?
"All the world lay still and silent in the morning grey,
And at once a thousand voices hail the glorious day;
For the great Sun, glowing crimson, rises o'er the sea--
'Welcome Day!' they sing together, 'Day that is to be!'
Oh, how glad and sweet and joyous is that morning hymn!
Whilst the golden day is stealing through the valleys dim--
Thrush and blackbird, lark and linnet, doves that coo and hum
Wild delight and soft rejoicing, for the day is come.
Not a thought, of care or wonder what the day will bring,
For the Father careth for them in the smallest thing.
There upon the pathless mountains is their table spread,
All by God are known and numbered, by His hands are fed.
Some in deep and tangled forests where the berries glow,
Some, where children's crumbs are scattered on the garden snow,
Some where, through the river sedges, Mayflies glance and play,
Some where mountain tarns lie gleaming in the hollows grey.
For the wild and hungry eagle, for the wren so small,
All is ready--food and gladness, free to each and all."
FRANCES BEVAN.
Taken by permission, from _Hymns by Ter Steegen and others_. Second Series.
THE FIFTH DAY.
CREEPING THINGS.
"_His hand hath formed the crooked serpent._"--JOB xxvi. 13.
"_The Lord thy God ... who led thee through that great and terrible
wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions._"--DEUTERONOMY
viii. 15.
"_The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw
like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord._"--ISAIAH lxv. 25.
The "_creeping things_" which God caused the earth to bring forth on the
Fifth Day are so unlike each other in many respects that we might at first
sight wonder that they should have been grouped together; but the more we
study Reptiles--so called from the Latin word _reptilis_, creeping--the
more we see that there are many things which this great family of
vertebrate animals have in common.
There are four chief divisions of the Reptile family--Tortoises and
Turtles, Crocodiles, Lizards, and Snakes.
Most reptiles have a tail and two pairs of limbs, but, as you know, Snakes
are destitute of limbs, and seem to move along by a motion from inside, so
that they have been said to walk on their ribs. Serpents are covered with
horny scales; Crocodiles and Tortoises have a bony covering.
The Tortoise--so called from its twisted feet, or its crooked way of
walking--has, as you know, an upper and an under shell which covers its
body like a coat of mail, protecting it from every enemy except man. This
strong shell is, like that of the snail, a house for the tortoise to live
in; but this house is formed by arched bones, and is part of the creature
itself. The four feet of the tortoise or turtle, and a curious mouth rather
like the beak of a bird--without teeth, but with jaws hard enough to make
a bite from it very painful--and a little scaly tail; these are the only
parts of the animal not covered by the shields of its bony shells.
The Lizard has both limbs and teeth, but no shell. Lizards are wonderfully
active, darting away at the least alarm, so that it is not easy to catch
them.
We may think of the Crocodile of the African, and the Alligator of the
North American rivers, as enormous lizards; though they are now placed in a
class by themselves, on account of their horny covering, which is so strong
that it is almost impossible to pierce through it, and so smooth that a
bullet will glance off from it. Serpents have neither shell nor limbs.
Their vertebræ, as you will see, if you look at any skeleton of a snake in
the Museum, fit very beautifully one into the other; and owing to this they
are able to glide swiftly along the ground, to coil their shining length
round trees, and to dart their heads in every direction.
In one respect Tortoises, Lizards, and Serpents are alike--they all lay
eggs, only the shell is not made of lime and earth, but is soft like
leather. They are also cold-blooded animals, like fish. Of tortoises, some
live on land, some in marshy places, some in rivers; turtles live in the
sea, their lungs being so made as to enable them to remain under water
without breathing.
The common tortoise, often kept in gardens, is found in the south of
Europe, and is generally not more than nine inches long. Its upper shield
is exceedingly strong. My brothers and sisters and I used often to stand
upon the back of a pet tortoise which lived in our garden; it did not seem
to feel our weight, but I remember finding it no easy matter to keep my
feet together upon its smooth back, and none of us could perform this feat
unless the tortoise was pleased to stand still while we balanced ourselves
upon him. I can, in imagination, see this little tortoise of ours now, not
larger than a crab such as you see at the fishmonger's, with its short
legs and feet, and its little tail, all covered with scales, sticking out
between its upper and under shells. How we used to laugh, when we saw him
draw in his head and feet under the shelter of the shell: the only sign he
gave of being annoyed at all our pranks! We were told that our tortoise
might not die for a hundred years, and I have heard that some have been
known to live twice that time; it is a slow sort of life, but we must not
forget that, in the poem about the Hare and the Tortoise, it was "slow and
steady" that won the race.
I cannot remember that we ever gave our tortoise anything to eat; it must
have catered for itself in the garden where it was so fond of burrowing
and hiding away, that we had many a hunt for it when it was supposed to be
lost. Mr. Wood speaks of a small one which he used to feed with bread and
milk. He kept it, not in a garden, but in his own room, where its favourite
place was the rug: for it enjoyed the heat so much, that it made many
attempts, with its short legs and heavy shell, to climb over the fender in
order to get nearer to the fire. I don't remember that our tortoise ever
made any noise; but this one, shortly before it died, went about mewing
like a young kitten. Far from living to be a hundred, Mr. Wood's pet died
so soon that he had no opportunity of seeing whether it would in time get
to know him; but a story is told of a tortoise who did take a fancy to one
person, and, though he would attend to no one else, would come creeping
along at her call, and tap the boot of his favourite with his beak, in
token, we may suppose, of his regard. One lady, who had a long-standing
acquaintance with a tortoise, having fed him for thirty years, said he
would come to her, and to no one else; which looked rather like "cupboard
love," you will say.
You may have often admired the tortoise-shell of which combs are made, with
its beautiful wavy lines and markings; it is taken from the outside of the
shell of the turtle or sea-tortoise, which is caught not only for the sake
of its shell, but because its flesh is so good to eat. You may perhaps have
seen, as I have, a small turtle at the door of a shop, and wondered where
it came from, and what brought it there. You may be quite sure that it has
come a long way, and that the poor creature is soon to be made into soup.
Very awkward it looks, poor thing; for its proper home is in the water, and
not on the hard pavement; its feet are rather like fins, so that it may be
able to make its way rapidly through the water, and it only comes ashore
to make its nest in the sand, where it scoops out a great hole with its
paddle-like feet, and then covering its eggs over safely, leaves them for
the sun to hatch.
I have heard that as many as two hundred eggs have been found in one of
these sand-nests; but not all laid by one turtle; for those who hunt for
the eggs have watched a crowd of animals come ashore, and have seen one
of them dig a deep pit with its broad paws, lay its eggs, and cover them
over; then another has done the same, until there have been several layers
of eggs: such a nest is a lucky _find_; for turtle eggs are said to be
delicious food, though some I tasted were very "strong" and nasty.
[Illustration: TURTLE.]
The turtles common in Jamaica, and other islands of the West and East
Indies, are great creatures five or six feet long, but they are not
difficult to capture, for when once they have been turned over on their
backs, the shell is so heavy that they cannot, owing to the shortness of
their legs, turn themselves back again, but lie helpless on the sand.
Of Lizards, the second division of the Reptile group, I doubt if you have
seen any, except in the Reptile-house at the "Zoo"; for although there are
two kinds of these active little creatures in our country, they do not
often court our society. The common lizard, about six inches long, with
very bright eyes, has a tail which is so brittle, that if you were to catch
hold of it, it would break right off, and its late owner would dart away to
its hiding-place, leaving the old tail in your hand; itself growing a new
one.
The Sand-lizard, also found in England, is about twice the length of the
common lizard: it lives on sandy heaths, and like the turtle, lays its eggs
in the sand, to be hatched by the sun. But neither of our lizards is so
pretty as the little green one so common in the warmer countries of Europe.
It may be seen on walls, or by the wayside, basking in the sunshine, and
now and then darting at a fly. The whole species are, like the butterflies,
summer creatures, and hide themselves safely underground before winter
comes.
In the Reptile-house of the Zoological Gardens, I have often stood to look
at the largest kind of lizard; for the Crocodile, that huge animal with its
green glaring eyes, and its armour made of bony plates with sharp ridges,
is but an overgrown lizard. If you wish to form some idea of what it is
most like, you can look at one of the beautiful little newts which live in
some pond or ditch near you, and fancy it magnified many, many times, and
then you will not have a bad notion of the crocodile, the lizard of Africa,
or of the Cayman or Alligator, the great lizard of the New World.
[Illustration: CROCODILE.]
The word crocodile means a creature which dislikes saffron; so it would be
of no use, I suppose, for us to offer that lazy-looking animal floating
in his tank, looking as lifeless as the trunk of a tree, with his nose
and a little ridge of his mail-clad back alone appearing above the water,
a saffron bun--to say nothing of his being a creature whose appearance
does not seem to invite us to come to close quarters, or to hold any
communication with him. But we have little idea of what these enormous
reptiles are really like, when we see them so far away from their native
haunts. It is thought by some that the "_leviathan_," spoken of in the
book of Job, whose "teeth are terrible round about," is the crocodile; for
its mouth is larger than that of any other animal, and is armed with very
sharp teeth. Dr. Smith tells [Footnote: "Nile," _Dictionary of the Bible_,
p. 621.] us that crocodiles were once so plentiful in the East, that the
great river of Egypt swarmed with them, and the Egyptians, who made almost
everything into a god, worshipped them and made mummies of them, as they
did of birds, cats, and snakes.
I have often thought that when the mother of Moses long ago laid that child
who was "fair to God" in his bulrush cradle among the reeds by the river's
bank, her heart must almost have failed her as she remembered the terrible
crocodiles; but she had faith in God, and He suffered no wild beast to
molest that little ark. The crocodile feeds upon fish, and any animals
which he can catch, when they come to the banks of the Nile and other
African rivers to drink. Though it is clumsy in its movements on land, it
makes its way swiftly through the water by means of its tail; sometimes it
opens its terrible jaws, gives a great yawn, and then shuts them again with
a sound which is heard far away. Mr. Arnot, a missionary in the heart of
Africa, tells us that the crocodiles in the great river Zambesi drag the
game which they catch under water, and so drown them, and then hide them
under the river's banks. He says, "I used to watch these animals come up
with perhaps a quarter of an antelope, and by firing at their heads I
compelled them to drop their supper, Which my men picked up from their
boats." The crocodiles' eggs are about the size of goose-eggs, and are said
to be good to eat.
Herodotus, the "Father of History," tells a curious story about the
crocodile and the Nile bird. He says, "When the crocodile takes his food in
the Nile, the interior of its mouth is always covered with flies. All birds
with one exception flee from the crocodile: but this one bird, the Nile
bird, far from avoiding it, flies towards the reptile with the greatest
eagerness, and renders it a very essential service. Every time the
crocodile goes on shore to sleep, and at the moment when it lies extended,
with open jaws, the Nile bird enters the mouth of the terrible animal and
delivers it from the flies that it finds there. The crocodile shows its
recognition of the service by never harming the bird."
I have heard that the flies which molest the crocodile are gnats, and their
devourer a kind of plover.
Near Karachi, in India, there is a swamp caused by hot springs, which is
inhabited by crocodiles. There are over two hundred in the tank, which has
been walled in, as they are considered sacred creatures. Buffaloes stand
in the water unharmed, but any other animal which came within reach would
be instantly devoured. A rash young Englishman once made the tour of this
tank, alive with crocodiles, by walking on their horny backs!
Alligator is only the Spanish name for all lizards, so called in allusion
to their having legs like arms. The great American lizard, known by this
name, is not so large as the crocodile; it loves heat, and will bury itself
in the mud in cold weather. It feeds mostly upon fish, and will drive them
before it in a shoal, until they have got into some creek or narrow bend
of the river, and then stun them by blows of its great tail. Mr. Waterton,
who knew the South American rivers so well, tells us that he once came
upon what he thought a pretty sight--a number of young alligators, about a
foot long, playing about on the sand like so many rabbits. He also tells
a story, which might have had a sad ending, saying [Footnote: _Life of
Charles Waterton_, p.56] that when he was anxious to secure an alligator,
which he much wished to stuff, with its tough skin uninjured, he would not
allow his men to shoot at him, but actually jumped upon his horny back and
rode him along the sandy river-bank until the poor creature was tired out,
and the daring rider secured his prize. I daresay yon would like to see the
picture which one of his friends made of him, riding upon his dangerous
steed.
We may form some idea of this naturalist's feat from what he tells us in
another part of his book about his "wanderings." "One Sunday afternoon,"
he says, "when a good many people were standing about on the banks of the
Orinoco, never dreaming of danger, a great Cayman came suddenly out of the
river, seized a man, and carried him off beneath the water, so that he was
seen no more."
How sad it would have been had Waterton shared a similar fate, in his
effort to get the alligator's skin! Life is a precious gift from God, and
no one has a right to risk his life in a rash foolhardiness, which is very
different from the true courage which does not shrink from facing danger if
the life of one more helpless than himself is in peril.
But while we know that no one has a right to give up his life unless at
God's desire, and that it is wicked in His sight for anyone to risk losing
his life unless at God's command, we must not forget that there is no risk
for those who count not their lives dear to them for Christ's sake. He
spoke some solemn words about "loving" and "hating" life, which His
servants should ever remember.
You will be interested to know that the alligators' eggs are laid in a
nest made of grass on the banks of a stream, and that they often travel
for miles across forest or prairie from one stream to another. The nest
is raised higher and higher by a fresh layer of grass, cut with the great
water-lizard's sharp teeth, every time more eggs are laid, until it is as
high as a cock of hay. The eggs take a month to hatch; but as soon as the
young alligators are out of the shell, they are quite able to run about and
get their own living.
A gentleman who was looking after some building in a lonely part of South
America,
"Where on the mighty river banks,
La Platte and Amazon,
The Cayman, like an old tree trunk,
Lies basking in the sun."
caught a baby-alligator, and made it so tame that it would follow him about
the house like a dog.
It must have been a strange sight to see this little creature, born in a
rushy swamp, scrambling upstairs after his master; but stranger still to
see him lying on the rug before the fire, with his head resting upon the
cat, of whom he had become so fond that he was restless and uncomfortable
when she was not near him.
He was fed on raw meat and milk, and was shut up in cold weather, like the
tame swallow, in a box lined with wool; but, alas! one frosty night the
poor little pet was forgotten, and next morning found him dead, killed by
the cold. How often we find that the stories of pet animals, especially
wild ones which have been made unnaturally tame, have had a sad ending!