Birds and all Nature, Vol. IV, No 4, October 1898

<h2><SPAN name="IN_THE_ANIMAL_WORLD" id="IN_THE_ANIMAL_WORLD"></SPAN>IN THE ANIMAL WORLD.</h2> <p>The organs of smell in a Vulture and a Carrion Crow are so keen that they can scent their food for a distance of forty miles, so they say.</p> <p>The wings of birds are not only to aid locomotion in the air, but also on the ground and water. One bird even has claws in the "elbows" of its wings to aid in climbing.</p> <p>The Elephant does not smell with his trunk. His olfactory nerves are contained in a single nostril, which is in the roof of the mouth, near the front.</p> <p>Humming Birds are domesticated by placing in their cages a number of paper flowers of tubular form, containing a small quantity of sugar and water, which must be frequently renewed. Of this liquid the birds partake and quickly become apparently contented with their captivity.</p> <p>Rightly considered, a Spider's web is a most curious as well as a most beautiful thing. When we were children, the majority of us supposed that the Spider's web was pulled out of its mouth, and that the little insect had a large reel of the stuff in his stomach, and that he could almost instantly add feet, yards, or rods to the roll. The facts are that Spiders have a regular spinning machine&mdash;a set of tiny tubes at the far end of the body&mdash;and that the threads are nothing more nor less than a white, sticky fluid, which hardens as soon as it comes in contact with the air. The Spider does not really and truly "spin," but begins a thread by pressing his "spinneret" against some object, to which the liquid sticks. He then moves away and by constantly ejecting the fluid and allowing it to harden, forms his ropes or wonderful geometrical nets.</p> <p>Birds have separate notes of warning to indicate whether danger is in the shape of a Hawk or a Cat or a man. If a Cat, a Hawk, or an Owl is on the move, the Birds, especially Blackbirds, always utter a clattering note, constantly repeated, and Chickens have a special sound to indicate the presence of a Hawk. But when disturbed by man the Blackbirds have quite a different sound of alarm and the Chickens also.</p> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</SPAN></span></p> <table class="sp2 mc w50" title="TUFTED PUFFIN." summary="TUFTED PUFFIN."> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3"><span class="ac w100 figcenter"> <SPAN name="i_037.jpg" id="i_037.jpg"> <ANTIMG style="width:100%" src="images/i_037.jpg" width="448" height="600" alt="" /></SPAN></span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences.</td> <td class="x-smaller ac w40">TUFTED PUFFIN.<br/> &#8534; Life-size.</td> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">Copyright by<br/> Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</SPAN></span></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />