TRADES AND PROFESSIONS OF BIRDS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10671, 21 January 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

TRADES AND PROFESSIONS OF BIRDS.

The birds of the air have their trades, it. seems, .as well as their nests. Sonic, are skilful unisons, some are clever carpenters, others arc careful gardeners; while in France the fly catchers act as a police force, ever alert to catch the feathered malefactor. Mr G. Rous describes in La Revue (Paris) some of these professional activities of the air. Several species of birds, he tells us, are particularly distinguished ■by their devotion to their chosen calling. Among the mason-birds, which build their nests of stones, in many cases cemented together with care-fully chosen materials, there are several varieties of the sparrow. One, which the, Spaniiirds of Malaga call pedrero (stonemason), "builds its nest with the skill of an accomplished architect," choosing a hole in a trunk or other excavation, and after laving solid masonry foundations erects at the entrance a well-ce-mented wall:" "It prepares mortar ot the best quality —sand and lime —and lays it as well as the best mason could do. The: pedrero is a past master in the building trade. Colonel Howard Irby, author of an ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar, has seen one of the birds at work from start to finish. The bird uses at once its little grey feet and its long beak to dislodge the stones. It carries them quickly to the desired place and piles them methodically, cementing them layer by layer. . • •Asmany as 350 stones may be employed in all. Some.;.weigh as much as two ounces, and the force exertecT is sur-_ prising." ' - ■ -. . The instinct, almost intelligence, according to Mr Rous, which, guides these birds in their..choice of location and, materials," is most remarkable. He "■oes on- to give anr account of some.ofa the other- biixl grades, ; which- we marise:; ;" <); .<-,■ ',■ ■;.•"■■. ■ ■■>;' i "With thermasbifcibirds we may;com-s pare ihe;carpenters 1 ; chief :*>f which is! the woodpeckerr This cliinber, which" lives on trees, clings to them, with its claws, and strikes the bark with_its beak to drive out..the. insects on which it feeds. It is a hard worker; it puts, its nest together ■'■ with, great patience,* digging it in some rotten.- trunk three; yarcte above theH after ascertaining previously- thei state of. the tree.. TieLbird properfpart,biit.3ie goes high enough up to be able" to descend if necessary, and he makes another hole lower down when; the former shows the effects of age. If on the contrary, he finds the wood, too hard, he gives up his task and goes elsewhere/- The crossbill also work-in', wood, but in a special way, without constructive ideas. .They exploit nrs, and pines to their profit. The seed of, the pine has a characteristic taste, that recalls that of a Brazil nut.soaked.: mg turpentine; it is the favorite, tit :bit; or> this swallow. • ->' •_ :'" '■: <■'■; A "Certain birds are gardeners, bucn is the lapwing, whose best qualities appear when it is entrusted with the care of borders or .parterres, f Nothing.- is more-interesting than to see.it running,, to and; fro, losing sight,of no worm or' snail,-'and cleaning, up :the plants■with unremitting conscientiousness. :■■_ ?• "One of the strangest professions in the bird-world is that of policeman.The fly-catchers are charged with this duty in France and in Central Europe.: They perch on the telegraph wires andlook the .country over. Where there, are none, they sit on any convenient; post or on a branch, or -even- on .a. Sow's back. They live by hunting in- ; sects. All the inhabitants of the air, respect this guardian of the .peace, and, those that are most enterprising m the j pillage of nects abstain when they espy?! .""Such police-birds owe their authority to their courage. _ liven tue most timid in appearance give prooihot this, witness the partridge, which scarcely, ventures into the open; .yet when she has young, her nature seems. to change all at once.. She faces all-, perils for them; when they are scarcely out of the egg she. ™t °vw thera : with constant anxiety. If they are. threatened she defends them with maternal courage. No aerial policeman equals her in these circumstances.