Chatterbox Stories of Natural History | Page 4

the Alpine roses bloom, there they
make their home! There they spring up over the snowy slopes to those
heights to which man cannot climb. They rest upon the glittering ice,
the snow does not blind them, neither does it cool their hot blood.
Carelessly they stride across the snowed-over crevices, and when the
terrible storms, at which men are so alarmed, hurl down rocks and
avalanches from the summits, the Chamois do not fear them. They find
their way safely through the thickest mist and darkest clouds. Agile and
light-footed, gentle and peaceable, proud and courageous, they lead a
happy life among the mountains, as long as man does not molest them.
[Illustration]

JACKO WITH PUSSY'S BONE.
Jacko is a bird called a Macaw, and has fine feathers--scarlet and
yellow and blue. Jacko can talk a little. He says, "Come along, Jacko,
come along;" and when you come, as soon as he thinks you near
enough, he pecks at you with his great beak. When he is in a good
temper he will say, "Poor, poor!" He will sit upon the ivy all the
morning and talk to himself, and he will call the gardener, and he will
cough and sneeze, and crow and cackle, in a very funny manner. If
Jacko sees sparrows picking up a few crumbs, he will rush up,
sweeping his great wings along the ground, and take their meal for
himself. If he sees poor Pussy picking a bone, he takes great delight in
creeping down from his ivy, helping himself down with beak and claws,
and at a sight of Jacko's approach Pussy darts away, leaving the bone in

Jacko's possession. Pussy, of course, does not like this, but stands at a
respectable distance, and with curved back and flashing eyes shows her
indignation at Jacko. Presently Jacko retires to the ivy and Pussy
resumes her feast.
[Illustration]

MEMBERS OF THE POACHING FRATERNITY.
Among the various wild animals which inhabit the earth, it is difficult
to decide which are really friendly and which are really hostile to man's
interests. The actual fact appears to be that there is neither hostility nor
friendship. If farmers and gardeners kill off too many birds, nature
revenges herself by sending a plague of insects which the small birds, if
alive, would have eaten. Gamekeepers ruthlessly shoot hawks and kites,
or snare stoats and polecats, with the result that their game grows up
too thick for its feeding ground, sickly specimens are allowed to linger
on, and a destructive murrain follows. The rook, no doubt, is fond of
eggs; but nevertheless he does the farmer good service when he
devours the grubs which are turned up by the plow; and as the salmon
disease, which of late has proved so destructive, is attributed by the
best authorities to overcrowding, that glossy-coated fisherman, the otter,
is really a benefactor to the followers of Izaak Walton's gentle craft.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: NEDDY'S BREAKFAST.]

A COW WORKING A PUMP.
My informant writes me as follows: "We have a wonderful cow
here--about ten years old, and very clever at opening gates and
breaking fences. There is an Abyssinnian pump about three feet high in
the center of the field, near my house, over a trough, which is, or ought
to be, filled daily. It was on a hot day, when my man had omitted to

pump the trough full, that the cow was first observed to help herself:
the way in which she managed to pump was by pushing the handle up
with her head and then forcing it down with her horns. Very little
elevation of the handle is required to get water, and she would work it
for five minutes together, and sometimes drank from the spout, and
sometimes from the trough."
[Illustration]

CARRIER PIGEONS.
The carrier pigeon is remarkable for the degree in which it possesses
the instinct and power of returning from a distance to its accustomed
home. In Eastern countries it is the practice to bathe the pigeon's feet in
vinegar to keep them cool, and to prevent it from alighting in quest of
water, by which the letter might sustain injury. Pigeons intended for
this use must be brought from the place to which they are to return,
within a short period, and must be kept in the dark and without food for
at least eight hours before being let loose. The carrier pigeon was of
great service during the siege of Paris in 1871, and conveyed many
important messages. It goes through the air at the rate of thirty miles an
hour, but has been known to fly even faster.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE GOLDEN EAGLE.
THE STORK.
THE VIRGINIAN HORNED OWL.
THE CRANE.]
[Illustration: THE WHALE.
THE ELEPHANT.

THE WHITE RHINOCEROS.
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, OR BEHEMOTH.]