- Eating Stand for the Children
Yoshi-san and his Grandmother go to visit the great temple at Shiba. They walk up its steep stairs, and arrive at the lacquered threshold. Here they place aside their wooden clogs, throw a few coins into a huge box standing on the floor. It is covered with a wooden grating so constructed as to prevent pilfering hands afterward removing the coin. Then they pull a thick rope attached to a big brass bell like an exaggerated sheep-bell, hanging from the ceiling, but which gives forth but a feeble, tinkling sound. To insure the god's attention, this is supplemented with three distinct claps of the hands, which are afterward clasped in prayer for a short interval; two more claps mark the conclusion. Then, resuming their clogs, they clatter down the steep, copper-bound temple steps into the grounds. Here are stalls innumerable of toys, fruit, fish-cakes, birds, tobacco-pipes, ironmongery, and rice, and scattered amidst the stalls are tea-houses, peep-shows, and other places of amusement. Of these the greatest attraction is a newly-opened chrysanthemum show. - The Sho
The instrument called Sho is blown with the mouth, and corresponds to the Chinese Cheng or Mouth Organ. The pipes are made of wood, with reed mouthpieces, and the notes are made by stopping the holes with the fingers. In some ways the construction is like that of a harmonium, but it is much more troublesome to play, and the performer, having to use his own breath to make the sounds, cannot sing at the same time. Unlike a harmonium also, it is difficult to keep in tune, and Miss Bird, a well-known traveller, tells of a concert at which the performer was obliged to be continually warming his instrument at a brazier of coals placed near. Some years ago a Japanese Commission was appointed to consider which of the national instruments were most suitable for use in schools; it rejected the Sho because its manufacture was troublesome and its tuning even worse. - Japanese Birds
- Birds in a tree
Birds in a tree - On the Watch
Bird watching a butterfly - Baby and Blackbird
Little toddler pointing to a blackbird - Osprey and Grakles
Osprey landing in its nest with food for its young - Boy and Girl
A mother bird is feeding her babies and a boy and a girl are looking at them. - The Two White Birds
The Two storks - Boy and Girl encouraging their bird to come back
Boy and Girl looking out the window encouraging their bird to come back after escaping from its cage - The wild geese had come north, but this fact alone was not proof that winter had gone
- The Cat and the Pigeon
Affection for one of the feathered race was shown by a cat which was rearing several kittens. In another part of the loft a pigeon had built her nest; but her eggs and young having been frequently destroyed by rats, it seemed to occur to her that she should be in safer quarters near the cat. Puss, pleased with the confidence placed in her, invited the pigeon to remain near her, and a strong friendship was established between the two. They fed out of the same dish; and when Puss was absent, the pigeon, in return for the protection afforded her against the rats, constituted herself the defender of the kittens—and on any person approaching nearer than she liked, she would fly out and attack them with beak and wings, in the hope of driving them away from her young charges. Frequently, too, after this, when neither the kittens nor her own brood required her care, and the cat went out about the garden or fields, the pigeon might be seen fluttering close by her, for the sake of her society. - Happy Family
Cat and birds - Bird C
Bird C occurs on a black and white bowl that measures ten inches in diameter, five and one-half inches in depth. The figure occupies the circular zone in the middle of the bowl and is enclosed by parallel lines which surround the bowl near the rim. The top of the head, which is globular, is white in color, the beak projecting and the eyes comparatively large. The body is likewise globular and is covered by a square geometrical design the details of which are considerably obscured by the hole in the middle of the jar. A number of parallel lines of unequal length, turned downward, hang from the rear of the body and form the tail. The long legs suggest a wading bird, and the widely extended claws point to the same identification. - Vultures
- Bird B
Bird B is painted on the interior of a food bowl of black and white ware, ten inches in diameter by five inches deep. Its body is oval, the head erect and undecorated, and the tail twisted from a horizontal into a vertical plane as is customary in representation of lateral views of birds from Pueblo ruins. - It had a long curved beak
One morning, having come to the field quite early, I grew tired of my play before my grandmother had ended her work. “I want to go home,” I begged, and I began to cry. Just then a strange bird flew into the field. It had a long curved beak, and made a queer cry, cur-lew, cur-lew. I stopped weeping. My grandmother laughed. “That is a curlew,” she said. - Bird A
The figure shown is represented by two designs, practically the same, repeated so far as appendages go, but quite different in the ornamentation of their bodies. One of these has the same geometrical figure on its body as on one of the quadruped pictures, the second has a different design. Both birds have wings outspread as if in flight, in which the feathers are well drawn in detail, especially the wing on the side turned toward the observer. That on the opposite side is simply uniformly black. The feathers of its companion on the other side of the bowl are indicated by parallel lines. The tail is long and forked at the extremity, suggesting a hawk, and is decorated for two-thirds of its length with cross-hatched and parallel lines. - Bird F
The bird shown is different from any of the above and is distinguished readily by the four curved lines on the head suggesting the quail. The pointed tail is marked above and below with dentations, formed by a series of rectangular figures which diminish in size from body attachment to tip. The body itself is marked posteriorly with parallel lines, rectangular and curved figures suggesting wings. - Brown Cachalote
Brown Cachalote - Horse and chickens
Horse and chickens - Chat-like Tyrant
Chat-like Tyrant - Birds waiting for feeding time
Birds waiting for feeding time - Mother hen with her chicks
Mother hen with her chicks - Wild Birds
Girl Feeding some wild birds - Australian Goshawk
Astur approximans The Australian Goshawk is a bold, powerful, and most sanguinary species, feeding upon birds, reptiles, and small quadrupeds. It may often be seen lurking about the poultry-yard of the settler, and dealing destruction among the young stock of every kind; daring when at large, and morose and sullen when captured, it never becomes tame and familiar like the true Falcons, but retains its ferocity to the last. - American Indian Picture-Writing
Specimens of American Indian picture-writing No. 1, painted on a rock on the shore of Lake Superior, records an expedition across the lake, in which five canoes took part. The upright strokes in each indicate the number of the crew, and the bird represents a chief, “The Kingfisher.” The three circles (suns) under the arch (of heaven) indicate that the voyage lasted three days, and the tortoise, a symbol of land, denotes a safe arrival. No. 2 is a petition sent to the United States Congress by a group of Indian tribes, asking for fishing rights in certain small lakes. The tribes are represented by their totems, martens, bear, manfish, and catfish, led by the crane. Lines running from the heart and eye of each animal to the heart and eye of the crane denote that they are all of one mind; and a line runs from the eye of the crane to the lakes, shown in the crude little “map” in the lower left-hand corner. - Raven
Raven - Kestrel
- Sad girl holding a bird
Sad girl holding a bird - Frogs and Birds
Frogs and Birds. Black and White Ware. Diameter about 12 inches. Oldtown Ruin - Owl
- Boy with bird
Boy holding a bowl with bird on it - Cow-bird
Cow-bird - Woodpecker drilling a hole for a nest
The woodpeckers are carpenters; they not only bore holes in trees in search of food, but they also chisel out deep holes in which to deposit their eggs and rear their young. They generally build their nest in May, selecting an old apple tree in the orchard; the boring is first done by the male, who pecks out a circular hole; as the work progresses, he is occasionally relieved by the female. They both work with great diligence, and as the hole deepens they carry out the chips, sometimes taking them some distance to prevent discovery or suspicion. The nest usually requires a week to build, and when the female is quite satisfied she deposits her eggs, generally six in number and of a pure white color. - Skeleton of an Extinct Flightless Toothed Bird, Hesperornis
The bird was five or six feet high, something like a swimming ostrich, with a very powerful leg but only a vestige of a wing. There were sharp teeth in a groove. The modern divers come nearest to this ancient type. - A Clever Humming-bird
- Nests of the Bottle bird
Nests of the Bottle bird - The cat which died of grief
A lady in France possessed a cat which exhibited great affection for her. She accompanied her everywhere, and when she sat down always lay at her feet. From no other hands than those of her mistress would she take food, nor would she allow any one else to fondle her. The lady kept a number of tame birds; but the cat, though she would willingly have caught and eaten strange birds, never injured one of them. At last the lady fell ill, when nothing could induce the cat to leave her chamber; and on her death, the attendants had to carry away the poor animal by force. The next morning, however, she was found in the room of death, creeping slowly about, and mewing piteously. After the funeral, the faithful cat made her escape from the house, and was at length discovered stretched out lifeless above the grave of her mistress, having evidently died of a broken heart. - Nests of Social Weavers
The social weaver is found in the south of Africa. Hundreds of these birds, in one community, join to form a structure of interwoven grass containing various apartments, all covered by a sloping roof impenetrable to the heaviest rain, and increased year after year as the population of the little community may require. - Many-coloured Ground Finch
Many-coloured Ground Finch - Jean slipped her hand into the cage and drew out Goldie
- Red-breasted Plant-cutter
Red-breasted Plant-cutter - American Merganser, Male
MERGANSER Mergus merganser americanus Cassin Other Names.—Shelldrake; Goosander; Fish Duck; Sawbill; American Merganser. Description.—One of the largest of the ducks; bill long and narrow, with teeth on both mandibles. Adult male: Head and upper neck greenish black; lower neck, patches in wings, and underparts white; belly suffused with salmon-pink, noticeable in some individuals; back, shoulders, and wings black; rump and tail gray; bill and feet red; eyes bright red. Adult female: Head, with two large crests, and neck rich brown, marked with white areas in front of eye and on chin and upper throat; upperparts ashy gray; patch in wings, and breast and belly white. Length: 25 inches. Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common and regular migrant along the larger waterways and sometimes on the smaller streams from about March 15 to April 20 and from October 1 to December 1. It frequently occurs in winter when the water is free of ice. The mergansers are all expert fishermen and like to fish in swift water. They dive easily and their serrate bills help them to hold their slippery prey. The female Merganser is difficult to distinguish from the female Red-breasted Merganser; in the present species, however, the white area on the chin and upper throat is sharply defined, whereas in the Red-breasted species the chin and throat are not white, but of a brownish color, paler than the rest of the head. - Bridges’s Wood-Hewer
Bridges’s Wood-Hewer - Shrikes
Shrikes 1 Ochre-Headed Greenlet-Shrike 2 Deep-Billed Greenlet-Shrike - White-Capped Tanager
White-Capped Tanager - Peregrine Falcon, and young ones
As you doubtless know, however, some young birds, like young rooks and sparrows, thrushes and skylarks, when they leave the egg, are perfectly bare, blind, and helpless, and have to be fed and brooded by their mothers for a long time. Other young birds, like young owls, falcons, and hawks, also leave the egg blind and helpless, but their bodies are covered with long woolly down. - Saw-whet owl
Saw-whet owl, by Bob Hines of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. - Mother Robin
- The Cormorant, the Fishing Bird of China
The cormorants are great fish-eaters, so much so that it is common to call any large eater a cormorant. There are many species, some small, some large, living on the shores of islands and in some cases along rivers. The way in which this bird is of service to man is in its being tamed and trained to catch fish for him. This used to be done in England and is still done in China. How it is done may be told in a few words. The bird is easily tamed by the Chinese fishermen and is trained by them for its new duty. While being trained a string is tied to its leg so as to control its movements. Then small fish are thrown out and it springs after them. In time it learns to go into the water when a whistle is given and to come back when it hears a different whistle. After three or four weeks of this training the bird is ready for duty and no longer needs a string to hold it. - Schulz's Dipper
Schulz's Dipper - Chickens
- Ostrich
Ostrich "What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider."—Job xxxix. 18. - Skeleton of a Vulture
1, Cranium 2, face 3, cervical vertebræ 4, spinous processes of the dorsal vertebræ 5, coccygeal vertebræ 6, sternum 7, keel 8, superior ribs 9, inferior ribs 10, clavicle 11, coracoid bone 12, humerus 13, radius 14, ulna 15, carpus 16, hand 17, ilium 18, ischium 19, pubis 20, femur 21, tibia 22, fibula 23, osseous nodule, which some anatomists think represents the calcaneum; it is the sole vestige of the tarsus 24, metatarsus 25, foot 26, first toe - Canada Goose
Other Names.—Wild Goose; Honker. Description.—Size large, about that of a domestic Goose, with about the same proportions; sexes similar. Head and neck black, a broad band under eye, and across throat, white; upperparts brownish gray, the feathers margined with a lighter shade, giving a somewhat scaled appearance; breast and sides gray-brown, more or less as in back; belly white; rump and tail black; upper tail-coverts white. Feet and bill black; eyes dark brown. Length: About 3 feet. Range in Pennsylvania.—A regular and sometimes common migrant from mid-February to early April and from October 15 to November 30, sometimes occurring in winter, even when ice covers the lakes, at which times the great birds stand about on the frozen surface. As a rule, Canada Geese do not stop long in Pennsylvania; most flocks do not linger here at all, merely passing over. - The Starling. One of the Talking Birds
Have you ever seen a Starling and heard one talk? If not you have missed a treat, for this bird has fine powers of speech. He can whistle, croak and talk and is one of the choice delights of many a cottage home in Europe. He has lately been imported into this country. The common starling is a very pretty creature, clad in brown, with purple and green hues, and a buff-colored tip to each feather which gives the bird a fine speckled appearance. In its wild state it has a soft and sweet song, and in a cage is a pert and friendly house pet, one that mocks the songs of others, learns to whistle tunes, and can talk as clearly as many of its keepers. I must tell the story of a pair of very cute and lively starlings, as it is told us by the gentleman in whose house these birds were born and brought up - Skylark, and young ones
The fact that many young birds which are quite helpless are now reared in nurseries on the ground, as in the case of young skylarks, is a fact of interest; for it shows that the parents have chosen this nesting site comparatively recently, and are of course unable to lay large eggs, which shall produce active young, like young chickens, at will. They have acquired the habit, so to speak, of laying small eggs, and cannot alter it by changing their nesting-place. - Tern, with young one
When young birds live in the open, as on shingly beaches, then their down is mottled. How perfectly this harmonises with the surrounding stones only those who have tried to find young terns, or young ringed plover, for example, can tell. - Ringed Plover, and young ones
When young birds live in the open, as on shingly beaches, then their down is mottled. How perfectly this harmonises with the surrounding stones only those who have tried to find young terns, or young ringed plover, for example, can tell.