Chatterbox Stories of Natural History

Stories of Natural History, by
Anonymous

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Title: Chatterbox Stories of Natural History
Author: Anonymous
Release Date: August 26, 2007 [EBook #22408]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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CHATTERBOX STORIES ***

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[Illustration]

CHATTERBOX
STORIES OF
NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK R. WORTHINGTON 770 BROADWAY.
COPYRIGHT,
1880,
By R. WORTHINGTON.
New York: J. J. Little & Co., Printers, 10 to 20 Astor Place.
* * * * *
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Transcriber's note: There was no Table of Contents in the original
book,| |and one has been provided for this version. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
THE KING OF THE CASTLE. ZEBRA AND YOUNG. MRS. BRUIN
AND FAMILY. LITTLE OWLS. AUROCHS. THE KANGAROO.
THE PEACOCK. SWANS. THE SEA LION. A--THE ASS.
BADGERS. THE BIRD'S NEST. THE CHAMOIS. JACKO WITH
PUSSY'S BONE. MEMBERS OF THE POACHING FRATERNITY.
A COW WORKING A PUMP. CARRIER PIGEONS. THE SIASIN,
OR ANTELOPE OF INDIA. THE COMMON SNIPE. D--THE DOE.
MRS. BUNNY AND FAMILY. THE LYNX. THE SWAN AND THE
DRAKE. THE BEAVER. LIONESS AND CUBS. A PET JACK. THE
SWALLOW'S NEST. THE BRAVE DOG OF ST. BERNARD.
G--THE GIRAFFE. MOTHER-DEER AND BABY. WHOOPING
CRANE. THE ELK. TOYS FOR ANIMALS. THE SUCKING-PIG.
BELL-RINGERS. THE GUINEA-PIG. J--THE JAY. WAITING. THE
ARGUS. THE YOUNG MONKEY. THE CLEVER FOX. TESTING
HIS STRENGTH. A WISE DOG. M--THE MANDRILL. SPRING.

SUMMER. TIMOTHY. THE BRAVE COCKATOO. HARE TAKING
THE WATER. AUTUMN. WINTER. OUR WILD BIRDS. P--THE
PELICAN. BLACKBIRDS AND YOUNG. A USEFUL PILOT. JACK.
S--THE SWALLOW. A SINGULAR HABIT OF THE WOODCOCK.
THE SKY-LARK THE STORY OF A SEAL. THE KING OF THE
MOUNTAINS. THE BEE. V--THE VULTURE. MOTHER AND
PUPS. THE FRIENDLY TERNS. Y--THE YAK. SHEEP AND
LAMBS. THE CAPTIVE SQUIRREL. A STROLL IN THE
COUNTRY. THE OTTER. THE MASTIFF. THE CUNNING
WOOD-PIGEONS. SEA REPTILES. SWISS MOUNTAIN
SCENERY. PARTRIDGE AND YOUNG. THE KINGFISHERS'
HOME. RATS CARRYING EGGS UP STAIRS. A HERON
ATTACKED BY A HAWK. A HORSE GUARDIAN. BATTLE
BETWEEN A FOX AND A SWAN. TOUSY.
* * * * *
[Illustration: CARLO.]

THE KING OF THE CASTLE.
As the lion is called the king of beasts, so the eagle is called the king of
birds; but except that it is bigger, stronger, and swifter than other birds,
there does not seem much reason for the name. It is a mistake to
attribute noble or mean qualities to animals or birds, or to think they
can do good or bad actions, when they can only do what God has
created them to do, and as their instinct teaches.
The most powerful of the eagles is the Golden Eagle, so called because
of the rich yellowish-brown bordering to its feathers. It makes its nest
in the clefts of the rocky sides of the mountains, and seldom on a tree,
unless where one has sprung up in between the clefts, and the tangled
roots make a sort of platform. This the eagles cover with sticks, and
here they make their house, living in it always, and not only when they
lay eggs or have young ones.

If there are eaglets in the nest, the food is at once carried home to them,
and the skinning and eating done at home. Eagles are very attentive to
their young, and feed them with great care until they are able to take
care of themselves.
[Illustration]

ZEBRA AND YOUNG.
Mrs. Zebra, standing with her baby by her side, asks proudly of the
lookers-on, "Did you ever see such a likeness?" and certainly mother
and child are very much alike, striped all over their bodies, from head
to foot, and from nose to tail, with the same regular marks of black.
Strong and wild by nature, the zebra family are left very much to
themselves, which is a source of great happiness to the mother and
child in the picture before us. "No! no! my baby is not going to become
as tame as the donkey, or to draw carts and carriages like the horse; it is
to have its freedom, and go just where it likes all over these large
plains;"--so says Mrs. Zebra, and she means it too, for if anybody took
the trouble to go all the way to the hot country of Africa, where Mrs.
Zebra is at home, and tried to carry off her baby, they would find