THE ANIMAL WORLD.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2644, 4 September 1906, Page 7

THE ANIMAL WORLD.

ITEMS THAT WILL INTEREST | YOU. £ An Ashington State fisherman had a unique experience with a flock (if seagulls recently. He reached Nanairno in an open boat containing two tons of herring. While he was uptown the seagulls took possession of the boat. On his return ai 1 hut. , sixty flew away. That nuir.'je;" huu so gorged themselves with herring that they could not lly, V.ut l opped about in a state of helplessness. Ihe fisherman finally ; climb?d into the boat and lifted them overboard. They were able to swim villi an effort, and most of them went, ashore ! to recover from the effects of their feast. Edward 11. Hadley, assistant cashier of the Farmers' Bank, Morrisville, lnd., last summer raised a. beautiful white pigeon, which is a great pet. The pigeon began to follow him to the bank every day. going home with him to meals. If the pigeon happens to be 'late and misses its owner, it flics to the bank and beats against the window with its wings till the floor is opened ; or else takes its station on an Indian cigar sign nearby and watches for a patron to enter the bank, when it alights on the man's shoulder, rides into the bank and seeks a position near Mr. Hartley. ****** On Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, troops of wild horses are to be found. The original stock is believed to have landed from a Spanish wreck early in the 16th century. Twenty-five years ago it was estimated that these horses numbered 600, but at present there are scarcely 200. Sable Island is an accumulation of loose sand, forming a pair of ridges, united at the two ends and enclosing a shallow lake. There are tracts of grass in places, as well as pools of fresh water. ****** Of all the land-frequenting fish, the most famous is the climbing perch ' of India, which not only walks out | of the water, but also mounts into i trees by means of sharp spines situated near iis head and tail. It has a peculiar breathing apparatus, which enables it to extract oxygen from the water stored up within a small ! chamber near its gills, lor use while on land. ****** What is believed to bo the tiniest horse or pony in the world is the property of an Indian nobleman, who makes a speciality of breeding dwarf horses on his estate in Lombardy. The diminutive creature barely measures 19iu. at the withers, scarcely the size of a large dog. The owner possesses many such equine dwarfs. ' 4 " *'*■** * * The municipality of Nice has organised a troop oi dog scavengers for the cleaning of the sewers. Some of the sewer pipes are too small to allow the passage of men. The dogs have been trained to draw a coid with a brush at the end of it from one end oi the pipe to the other. The svstein is meeting with success. *** * * * The voracity of the eagle is a wellknown fact, but it has been lett to ;l Swiss hunter to define the variations which take place in its dail.v menu. In a nest in the Alps, side l,v side with an eaglet, he found a hare, freshh killed ; 27 rabbits' fret • lour pigeons tee'. •>" pheasants' feet. 11 I"''"'* "f 1S heads of grouse, and the remnants of rabbits, marmots, and squiiiels.