[Illustration:
“The bold little fellow defended himself with the sickle in his hand.”
Page 14.
]
TALES ABOUT BIRDS,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THEIR
Nature, Habits, and Instincts.
BY
THOMAS BINGLEY,
AUTHOR OF “STORIES ABOUT DOGS,”—“TALKS OF SHIPWRECKS,” “STORIES ABOUT
HORSES,” ETC., ETC.
EMBELLISHED WITH ENGRAVINGS.
SECOND EDITION.
LONDON:
CHARLES TILT, FLEET STREET.
MDCCCXL.
CLARKE, PRINTERS, SILVER STREET, FALCON SQUARE, LONDON.
PREFACE.
Birds are such universal favourites, and the Stories connected with
their Habits and Instincts so varied and interesting, as to make me feel
confident that the Volume now offered to my young readers will meet with
a ready acceptance and approbation.
The Engravings, which have been executed by Mr. Landells, from Drawings
by Mr. W. B. Scott, will, I hope, be found faithfully and spiritedly to
embody the incidents of the Stories which they severally illustrate.
T. B.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLE, AND NARRATES VARIOUS
STORIES ILLUSTRATIVE OF ITS FEROCITY AND POWER Page 1
CHAPTER II.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT THE OSPREY, OR SEA-EAGLE, AND ABOUT THE
WHITE-HEADED OR BALD EAGLE OF AMERICA 25
CHAPTER III.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS SEVERAL INTERESTING TALES ABOUT THE FEROCITY
AND TENACITY OF LIFE IN THE VULTURE, AND ABOUT THE GREEDINESS
WITH WHICH IT DEVOURS ITS PREY 50
CHAPTER IV.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT THE VARIOUS KINDS OF FALCONS, AND
DESCRIBES THE SPORT OF HAWKING, AS ANCIENTLY PRACTISED IN
ENGLAND 69
CHAPTER V.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT OWLS, AND OF THE CURIOUS PECULIARITIES
IN THEIR STRUCTURE, WHICH ENABLES THEM TO SEEK FOR AND SECURE
THEIR PREY DURING THE NIGHT 98
CHAPTER VI.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT THE HERON, AND ITS PLACE OF RETREAT; AS
WELL AS ABOUT THE AFFECTION AND GENTLENESS OF THE STORK AND
THE CRANE 122
CHAPTER VII.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT SOME INTERESTING PECULIARITIES IN THE
HABITS OF THE OSTRICH AND THE EMU, AS WELL AS ABOUT THOSE OF
THE TURKEY IN ITS NATIVE FORESTS 143
CHAPTER VIII.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT PARROTS, THEIR SEEMING INTELLIGENCE,
AND RELATES SEVERAL CURIOUS STORIES OF THEIR POWER OF
IMITATING THE HUMAN VOICE 169
TALES ABOUT BIRDS.
CHAPTER I.
UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLE, AND NARRATES VARIOUS
STORIES ILLUSTRATIVE OF ITS FEROCITY AND POWER.
Uncle Thomas had scarcely finished his last series of Tales, when he was
gratified by a visit from the Mama of his young auditors, to introduce
her two little Girls, who, having heard their Brothers speak so much of
the delightful Stories which he told them, had prevailed on her to come
with them to request that Uncle Thomas would be so good as to permit
them to accompany their Brothers when they came to visit him.
“I am afraid, Uncle Thomas,” said Mama, “that we already trespass too
much on your kindness, in allowing the Boys to intrude upon you so
frequently; but they seem always to be so much delighted with the
Stories which you tell them that, during the hours in which they are not
engaged in the school-room, I seldom hear them talk of any thing else.
‘Don’t you recollect the story which Uncle Thomas told us?’ cries one,
in enforcing some controverted point. ‘Ah! but,’ exclaims another,
‘Uncle Thomas said so and so.’ And I have come at the request of their
Sisters to beg that you will allow them to form part of your little
circle of listeners.”
Uncle Thomas declared that he was delighted to hear that the Boys were
interested in the Stories which he told them, and that he would be still
more gratified to be honoured with the company of the young ladies.
Mary and Jane, who during Mama’s long speech had been carefully noting
the various articles with which Uncle Thomas’s little room was
furnished, were almost overjoyed to hear that they were to be admitted.
Mary intended to have thanked Uncle Thomas for this kindness, but while
some other conversation, which it is unnecessary to repeat, took place
between Mama and Uncle Thomas, her attention had been directed by Frank
to a glass-case which stood on one side of the room, containing a
variety of fine specimens of Birds. So completely was their attention
engrossed by what they there saw, that they did not observe that during
a pause in the conversation Uncle Thomas had advanced to the table at
which they stood, and was listening to their remarks and to the
questions with which Mary plied her brother.
“Ah! I see,” said Uncle Thomas, “it is about Birds I must tell you next.
I can tell you many interesting stories about Birds; but Mama waits; we
must not detain her at present.”
“When shall we come again then, Uncle Thomas?” asked Frank.
“When you please, Frank,” said Uncle Thomas. “Suppose we say to-morrow
night; perhaps that will suit the convenience of the young ladies.”
“Oh, quite, Uncle Thomas!” said Mary; “it will be quite convenient for
us whenever it is so to you.” Mama having given her assent to this
arrangement, the little party, full of smiles, bade Uncle Thomas good
morning.
* * * * *
On the following evening, accordingly, they again met, and when they had
duly greeted their kind old Uncle Thomas, and seated themselves round
his elbow-chair, he began:—
“Birds, my dear children, of which I promised to tell you some stories,
are perhaps the most interesting class of animals in creation, whether
we consider them in regard to their habits or to the curious structure
of their bodies, by which they have been fitted by Nature for the place
which GOD has assigned them, or to the Instincts which have been
implanted in them. In most minds their recollection is associated with
all that is most beautiful and romantic in natural scenery. We meet with
them in our walks, chirping and frolicking among the village hedgerows,
or see them soaring, with almost untiring wing, high above the mountain
tops, or hear their solitary voices as they make the wide-spreading and
desolate moor seem even more lonely with their harsh and far-sounding
notes. Wherever we direct our steps we are sure to find Birds enlivening
and cheering the scene, or adding fresh interest by their varied and
characteristic occupations. There are few indeed who cannot say with
Cowper:—
“Ten thousand warblers cheer the day, and one
The live-long night; nor those alone whose notes
Nice-fingered art must emulate in vain;
But cawing rooks, and kites, that swim sublime
In still repeated circles, screaming loud;
The jay, the pie, and e’en the boding owl,
That hails the rising moon, have charms for me.”
“Birds,” continued Uncle Thomas, “have been divided by some naturalists
into Land and Water Birds; but more recent and systematic writers have
introduced a more extended classification. Cuvier, an eminent French
author, divides them into Birds of Prey—such as the Eagle and Vulture;
Sparrow-like, or hopping Birds—such as Jays, Thrushes, &c.; Climbing
Birds—such as Parrots; Poultry Birds—such as Turkeys, Pheasants, &c.;
Running and Wading Birds, which are easily distinguished by their long
legs; and Web-footed Birds—such as Ducks, Geese, Swans, &c.”
To this long and rather uninteresting detail Mary and Jane listened as
patiently as possible. But no sooner was it finished, than the latter
seized the opportunity to ask Uncle Thomas whether the Eagle was not the
largest Bird in the world, and whether it was a native of Britain, as
she had heard a story lately of one having carried off a child to its
nest to feed its young?
“The largest of the Birds of Prey, undoubtedly,” said Uncle Thomas, “is
the Golden Eagle. It inhabits all the wilder parts of Europe, and is
also found in other parts of the world. They are, however, only to be
found among wild and savage scenery, preferring for their place of
habitation the lonely and elevated peaks of the highest mountains,
where, from their great power, they harbour secure from the storm and
the tempest.”
“Are they very large, Uncle Thomas?” asked Jane—“Larger than this bird?”
pointing to a fine Falcon, which occupied a prominent place in the
little museum already referred to.
“Yes, dear!” said Uncle Thomas; “they are much larger, very much larger
than that. Like all other animals, they are of course subject to
variations in size; their development in some measure depending on the
plentifulness or scarcity of their food during the time they are in the
nest, and indeed during the whole period until they arrive at their full
growth; but the average size of the mature Bird is usually about three
feet in length, measuring from the point of the beak to the tip of the
tail, while the wings from point to point measure between six and seven
feet.”
“They must be very powerful animals, Uncle Thomas,” remarked Mary.
“So strong, that they frequently carry off lambs and other small animals
to their nests,” said Uncle Thomas; “and it is said that they have even
occasionally carried away children. About a hundred years ago an
incident of this kind is said to have occurred in Norway. While a boy
about two years old was passing between his father’s cottage and a field
at no great distance, in which his parents were at work, an Eagle
pounced upon him and flew off with him. His parents, attracted by his
shrieks, saw their dear child carried off to an inaccessible rock, and
notwithstanding all their efforts, they were unable to rescue him.”
“And was the poor dear child killed, Uncle Thomas?” asked Jane.
“It appears from the story that he was,” said Uncle Thomas, “and
unfortunately it is not the only instance of a similar kind. In one of
the Feroe Islands, which lie between the north of Scotland and Iceland,
an Eagle stooped down and carried away an infant which its mother had
laid on the ground, close by the place where she was at work. It flew
direct to its nest, at the point of a high rock so steep and precipitous
that the boldest bird-catchers had never ventured to scale it. But the
strength of a mother’s love overcame all obstacles; she climbed to the
nest, but alas! she reached it too late. She found her poor child dead
and partly devoured—its little eyes torn out by the cruel bird!
“I am happy to say, however,” continued Uncle Thomas, “that all attacks
of the kind do not terminate so fatally. A child which was carried off
by an Eagle in the Isle of Skye, in Scotland, was borne by the huge bird
across a lake on the banks of which it sat down, probably for the
purpose of feeding on its prey, which it perhaps found too heavy to
carry farther. Fortunately however, it happened that the bird alighted
at a short distance from some people who were herding sheep, and hearing
the infant cry, they hurried to the spot, frightened away the Eagle, and
rescued it uninjured.”
“It was very fortunate they were so near,” remarked Harry.
“It was so,” said Uncle Thomas, “and the parents were in this respect
more fortunate than those of another child which was carried off by an
Eagle from the side of its mother, who was at work in the fields. She
saw the huge bird pounce down on her little darling, but before she
could run to its assistance it was carried off, and she heard its cries
as it was borne out of her sight, and she saw it no more. This took
place in Sweden.
“Though the Eagle has long had the character of being a very bold and
courageous bird,” continued Uncle Thomas, “it really does not deserve
its good name. It is sometimes called the King of Birds, and if the term
is limited, so as to convey only an idea of its great size and strength,
it may be permitted; but we must not allow ourselves to be misled by a
mere name. It is in truth almost the least courageous among birds, and
is frequently put to flight by those of less than half its size.”
“Do they ever attack men?” asked Frank.
“Unless when they are forced to put forth their strength in
self-defence, which is an instinctive operation which even the weakest
animals display,” replied Uncle Thomas, “they never attack man; at least
the only instance which I recollect of their threatening to do so is
related by Captain Flinders, in his account of his voyage to New South
Wales. While he and some of his officers were walking on shore, a large
Eagle, with fierce looks and out-spread wings, was seen bounding towards
them; when it arrived within a few yards it suddenly stopped and flew up
into a tree. They had hardly got rid of this one, when a second flew
towards them as if to pounce upon them, but it also stopped short when
quite close upon them.”
“I suppose they were afraid, then,” said Mary.
“Captain Flinders imagined,” said Uncle Thomas, “that the Eagles had at
first mistaken him and his officers for Kangaroos; and as the place
seemed then quite uninhabited, he conjectured that the Eagles had never
seen a man before; and he observed that they fed on those animals, as on
the appearance of one, the Eagle stooped down at once and tore it in
pieces in an instant.
“That the Eagle can defend itself very vigorously, however,” continued
Uncle Thomas, “is proved by an adventure which a young man had with one
in the Highlands of Scotland. He had gone out very early one morning to
shoot Rock Pigeons, accompanied by a Dog of the terrier breed. As he
stood watching the Pigeons, an Eagle came floating over the brow of the
precipice. He took aim and fired, and the bird fell to the ground with a
broken wing. He attempted to master it with his hands, but it fought
with great determination, and lacerated his hands so that he was obliged
to desist. He then caused his Dog to attack it, but though well
accustomed to fight with Badgers and with Otters, it soon found that
they were weak foes compared to the Eagle, and ran yelping away. The
sportsman was at last compelled to knock it on the head with the end of
his gun, nor was it killed till it had received about a dozen heavy
blows. He described it as having legs as thick as his wrist.”
“It must have been a very strong Bird,” remarked Jane.
“It is perhaps only under the influence of extreme hunger, or in defense
of themselves or their young,” continued Uncle Thomas, “that the Eagle
ever attacks human beings. Probably to the former of these is to be
attributed the attack of one on a little boy of which I will now tell
you:—
“A few years ago, as two boys, the one about seven and the other five
years old, were amusing themselves in trying to reap during the time
that their parents were at dinner, in a field in the neighbourhood of
New York, a large Eagle came sailing over them, and with a swoop
attempted to seize the eldest, but luckily missed him. Not at all
dismayed, the Bird alighted on the ground at a short distance, and in a
few moments repeated the attempt. The bold little fellow defended
himself with the sickle in his hand, and when the bird rushed upon him,
he struck it. The sickle entered under the left wing, went through the
ribs, and proved instantly fatal. On being measured, it was found that
from the tip of one wing to that of the other, was upwards of six feet!
Its stomach was opened, and found to be entirely empty. The little boy
did not receive a scratch.”
“He must have been a bold little fellow,” said Jane.
“Do you think you should have fought as determinedly, John?” asked Mary.
John was, however, too modest to return an answer directly in the
affirmative. He merely said mildly, “I don’t know, Mary; I hope I
should.”
Uncle Thomas, seeing that this story of the valiant defence of the
little boy excited so much interest among his little auditors, produced
a portfolio, in which he kept a few choice prints, one of which
contained a representation of the boy defending himself against the
Eagle. When they had done admiring it, Uncle Thomas continued:—
“Powerful as the Eagle is, it is frequently vanquished by the animals on
which it seizes. It has been observed while soaring into the sky with
its prey suddenly to falter in its flight, and then to fall to the earth
as if pierced with a ball by some skilful marksman. A gamekeeper to a
Scottish nobleman, who witnessed a scene of this kind, hurried to the
spot, and found the Eagle quite dead, and a Stoat, an animal of the
Weasel kind, severely wounded, struggling by its side. The little animal
on being seized by the Eagle had with instinctive sagacity seized upon
and ruptured one of the principal arteries in the Eagle’s neck, and thus
brought his enemy to the ground.
“I wonder such a large and powerful animal as the Eagle did not kill the
little Stoat before it had time to seize its neck,” said Harry.
“Recollect, Harry,” said Jane, “that Weasels are very nimble creatures.
As we were walking through Langton Wood lately, we saw one running
about, but it soon got among some loose stones and concealed itself.”
“Perhaps,” said Uncle Thomas, “the Eagle had missed its aim when it
pounced upon its prey, and thus held it insecurely, for so powerful is
the force with which it darts upon its object, that it usually kills its
victim at one blow. When it fails to do this, a contest generally
ensues; and powerful as the Eagle is, it does not always come off
successful. On one occasion, one was observed to pounce down upon a Cat.
The latter darted its sharp claws into the Eagle and clung so that it
could not be shaken off. It mounted into the air, but still puss held
securely, and on descending to the ground the struggle continued, until
some persons who witnessed the attack came up and captured both of the
combatants.
“A contest, somewhat of the same kind,” continued Uncle Thomas, “was
observed between an Otter and an Eagle. It was witnessed by a party of
gentlemen who were enjoying the amusement of fishing in one of the
Scottish Lakes. An Eagle, hovering over the lake, descried an Otter
sleeping on the sunny side of a bank near the water’s edge, and pounced
upon it. Thus attacked, the Otter stood on the alert, and prepared to
give battle to its assailant, when another Eagle appeared, and joined in
the attack. The unfortunate Otter, finding himself assaulted on both
sides, immediately retreated to his favourite element. On reaching the
water, it attempted to dive, but was powerfully withheld by one of the
Eagles, whose talons had been fixed in his skin, which made him redouble
his exertions for life and liberty. In this way the combat was long and
amusing, till the Eagle, finding his claws fairly disengaged, and little
used to combat on such an element, precipitately beat a retreat, and
retired with his companion to his native mountains.”
“I have heard Mama say that there is a tame Eagle at —— Castle; I wonder
how such a wild creature can be tamed!” remarked Jane.
“There have been frequent instances of the Eagle being tamed,” said
Uncle Thomas, “and sometimes even when taken after having arrived at
maturity. One of this sort, which was taken in Ireland, had its wings
cut, and was put into a large garden, where it soon became domesticated.
Its wings gradually grew again, and the Eagle sometimes flew away for a
fortnight at a time, but always returned. The children of the family
frequently met it in their walks about the garden, but it never offered
them any molestation. It once, however, attacked its master; it is
supposed in consequence of his neglecting to bring its accustomed supply
of food. After living ten or twelve years in this manner it one day
quarrelled with a large mastiff. The fight must have been long and
obstinate, but no one witnessed it. The Eagle was killed, and so
severely was the Dog wounded that it died almost immediately afterwards.
“In Norway,” continued Uncle Thomas, “the people represent the Eagle as
very sagacious, and as using the most curious devices to secure its
prey. It is said, for instance, to attack and overcome Oxen in the
following manner. It plunges into the sea, and after being completely
drenched, rolls itself on the shore till its wings are quite covered
with sand. It then rises into the air, and hovers over its unfortunate
victim, and, when close to it, shakes its wings, and throws stones and
sand into the eyes of the Ox; and, having thus blinded it, terrifies the
animal by striking it with its powerful wings. The poor Ox runs about
quite desperate, and at length falls down completely exhausted, or
dashes itself to death by falling over some cliff. The Eagle then feasts
undisturbed on his prey.”
“It is a very sagacious stratagem indeed,” said Mary; “I really do not
see how it could proceed more efficiently if it was endowed with reason.
“But is it true?” asked Harry.
“You are right Harry,” said Uncle Thomas; “that ought always to be the
first consideration. So much fable has been mixed up with the accounts
of the habits of animals that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish
the true from the false. In the present case, for instance, the fact
rests on the statement of a traveller named Von Buch, who assures us
that the circumstance was related to him, in nearly the same terms, at
places distant from each other. But, on the other hand, it is so
contrary to the general habits of the Eagle that it seems most unlikely
to be true; besides, if the Eagle were to suffer its feathers to be
drenched in the way described, it would be unable to fly, and would soon
suffer for its hardihood by being drowned.”
“Would it, indeed, Uncle Thomas?” asked Jane; “Swans and Geese go into
the water, and are not drowned.”
“No, my dear, they are not,” said Uncle Thomas; “because their habits
rendering it necessary for them to spend much of their time in water,
the Creator has furnished them with an abundant supply of oily matter,
with which they cover their feathers, so as to prevent the moisture from
penetrating them; but Birds which are not intended to inhabit the water
are not so provided, and would soon become unable to fly, even if they
remained exposed to a severe shower of rain, without seeking shelter.
The Osprey, or Sea-Eagle, which feeds upon fish which it catches in the
sea, is provided in this manner; but then it could not be true of the
Osprey either, because for this reason, the water does not saturate its
feathers, and the sand would not adhere to them.”
“Is it not true, then?” asked Mary.
“I do not say that it is absolutely untrue,” said Uncle Thomas; “because
the person who relates it states that it was confirmed to him by various
witnesses, in different places; but I think it is very unlikely, to say
the least of it.
“However much we may differ as to the sagacity of the Eagle,” continued
Uncle Thomas, “there can be but one opinion as to its affection for its
young, and the valour with which it defends them against all assailants.
Ebel, in his work on Switzerland, relates a story of a chasseur, or
hunter of that country, which illustrates this fact very strikingly.
Having discovered a nest belonging to one of these terrible birds, and
having killed the male, the hunter, by name Joseph Schoren, crept along
the jut of a rock, his feet bare, the better to keep himself firm, in
the hope of catching the young ones. He raised his arm, and had already
his hand upon the nest, when the female, pouncing on him from above,
struck her talons through his arm, and her beak into his loins. The
hunter, whom the smallest movement would have precipitated to the
bottom, lost not his presence of mind, but remained firm, rested his
fowling piece, which fortunately he held in his left hand, against the
rock, and with his foot directing it full on the Bird, touched the
trigger, and she fell dead. He brought away the Eagles, but the wounds
which he had received confined him for several months. M. Ebel adds,
that these hunters are men of whom the savages of America might learn
lessons of patience and courage in the midst of danger and privation.
The greater part of them come to a tragical end. They disappear, and
their disfigured remains, which are now and then found, alone intimate
their fate.”
Uncle Thomas went on to say that he had not yet quite finished all his
stories about the Eagle; but as the evening was now far advanced, it
would be necessary to delay them till their next meeting.