Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1905 — LOST IN THE AIR. [ARTICLE]

LOST IN THE AIR.

Bird* at Timea Get Confused and Lose Their Bearings. Boys are frequently lost In the woods, and it is a singular fact that birds are sometimes lost In the air. This might seem strange to almost any one, but the average man Is a superficial observer of little things. In the far north, and particularly along the ocean coasts, birds are frequently storm driven and lose their bearings, so that many of them are lost at sea. They keep floating in the air, aimlessly striving to live until exhaustion compels them to drop into the angry waves, which engulf them. There is a well authenticated case on record of an ocean liner bringing into New York on a winter's day a large white owl which had dropped to one of the forward spars in an exhausted condition more than 800 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. It was nearly dead from cold and fidnger and almost too weak to eat anything. It had. become much emaciated and trembled in its distress when it tried to swallow the first morsel of meat which was placed within its beak. The captain and sailors were all interested in it, and under their nourishing care it slowly recovered and became entirely well and healthy and strong. It willingly remained with the ship afterward. It was evidently a land bird which had been blown off from the coast of Newfoundland by strong west winds, had become lost, merely drifted before the gales, kept out of the water, almost starved to death and made Its last Intelligent effort to reach the ship and there fell In exhaustion and collapse. Old sailors narrate many other Instances of finding birds that have been lost in the air.—St. Louis Republic.