The Syracuse Journal, Volume 4, Number 37, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 11 January 1912 — Page 6

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HE greater battalion of the army of the birds is in the southland for the winter. The warblers were the pioneers in the march to escape the cold. The naturalists of the world would give much to know’ what it was in the torrid time which told these daintiest of the feathered creatures

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that they must be moving on. There Is a puzzle for the. scientists even more complex than that offered by the spectacle of migration. It Is to get the solution of the problem of why some birds with the recurring autumns invariably seek warmer climes while others apparently much more poorly fitted by nature to withstand cold weather conditions, stay about the familiar nesting scenes" ’when the snow lies deep and the cold is like that of ""St. Agnes Eve." The titmouse, the Concord chickadee of Emerson, is a little feathered gem which looks as though a breath of cold would set it all a-shiver. Yet this little fellow’ sticks by his Northern friends all through the winter, when bigger, more heavily feathered, and apparently more hardy species have sought out the orange and the magnolia groves of the gulf. There are scores of other birds which remain with us to pipe a cheerful note over the snow wastes while their southern-flying friends are silent amid their congenial surroundings. One of the most interesting bird studies is that which leads to a personal knowledge of how the feathered species care for themselves during a time when exposed man, even though heavily clothed, at times freezes to dath. It is a question if many people know how the despised English sparrow, w’hom we always have with us, manages to pull through a Northern winter without offering himself up as a sacrifice to Jack Frost. It is a matter of current but mistaken belief among those who have noticed the great bulky nests which the sparrows have built in almost every tree that these bunches of straw, dried grass, and feathers form the abiding places of the •parrows during the coldwinter nights. As a matter of fact, a sparrow set-

loin goes near a tree nest tn winter. If he has found a lodging for his summer home in a cornice of a building he may go there to sleep away the long, cold nights, but the tree nest is deserted from the moment the last brood ds hatched. If one wishes to know "where thousands of the eparrows sleep in winter let him on some cold night take a stout club and rap with all his might upon an electric light pole that is fitted with an overhanging hood. There is a little

platform In some of those hoods directly over the Class globe. Upon this as many sparrows as can conveniently crowd together rost throughout the cold weather nights. A club rapping experiment an an, electric light pole at a Chicago avenue corner near the North Side water works lot during a howling blizzard one winter night resulted in the dislodgment of twelve frightened sparrows*. They fluttered about in the storm and hung like so many fascinated moths. When the pounding ceased they made their way back to their resting place and doubtless remained undisturbed until morning. Their flat was certainly modern in its appointments, for it was heated and lighted by electricity. Take a trip through a thistle field Hn July and there will be seen scores of goldfinches feeding on the seeds of the prickly plants. These little creatures have the appearance of the birds of the tropics. It would seem that barely a breath of ■the north wind would send them scurrying southward. In truth, however, these birds, frail though they appear, stay with us all winter, yet not one person in fift y outside of the ranks of the bird •.students knows the fact. ’ Trf late August the goldfinch drops his gold and ‘■black livery and puts on a sober sparrowlike ••garb. This is the reason why people think that the little thistle seed lover has left them and that another bird has taken its place. In the Chicago Achdemy of Sciences there is pathetic evidence of how the goldfinch keeps warm during the winter nights. The curator has there an •oriole’s nest from the outside of which hangs the • body of a goldfinch caught by the neck and literally hanged by One of the cords with which the oriole has fashioned its home. The goldfinch has sought j'efuge in the nest from the weather nnd on leaving it in the morning has thrust his head through the fatal noose. These birds utilize the deserted homes of all their brethren who build deep nests. The goldfinches return night after night to a nest which an oriole had swung . from the tips of an elm in Western Springs, 111. The chickadee of which something has been eaid, builds its nest somewhat after the manner of the woodpecker, but if observation goes for much; the bird does not use this absolutely safe and warm retreat for its winter night lodging. They pave been startled time after time just after sunset on cold nights ffom the vacated nests of many species of birds, the chickadee simply burying itself in the warm Hirings In which the summer before the young of its friends had been cradled. By mid-September the swallows one and all had disappeared. It may be that if the appearance of one, swallow does not mfkke a summer, the absence of the entire tribe may not make an autumn, but it is certain that the birds must feel something that bids them begone, for they go in a body and they go in the twinkling o£ an eye. The swallows live uporApects, and there is no reason as far as concerned, why they should not stay at leaar two weeks longer, for their homes are in sheltered nooks. The humming birds, despite its delicacy, stays longer than the swallow and complains not. If one can catch sight of a saucy little woodpecker going into a hole in a tree on his lawn at this season of the year he may hope to have an Interesting neighbor during the entire winter. All the downy woodpeckers remain in the north th® years through. Some of the red heads stay too, but most of them go a few score of miles to the south. All of these birds that remain pass their nights in holes in trees, and at the time of the first fall month they are busy locating proper cold weather habitations. If enough interest in

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crowned kinglets. The kinglet, smaller than any of our birds, save the ruby throated humming bird alone, manages to live through all the cold Northern winter and be all tfie while as cheerful as a robin in April. The kinglet, as far as the experience of one petson is concerned at least, prefers to get his summer food in the thick bushes, and seemingly has . a preference for those which are near clambering vines. The kinglets cast about for likely places In which to pass the winter. As far as can be ascertained they simply get into the heart of some thickly twigged bush through which run vine branches and there all night long they defy both cold and snow. The great northern shrike, which is due in the northern states from its sumrfier home in the British possessions about October 1, spends his nights close to the bole of an evergreen tree. There is a little clump of evergreens well within the limits of the city of Chicago where a half dozen of these birds roost nightly from October to March. Inasmuch as they live on a diet of English sparrows and spend all the daylight hours in the laudable vocation of killing the imported feathered pest, the exact location of their roosting place will not be given for fear some champion of the sparrow might disturb the rest of these feathered friends, whom many are unkind enough to call butcher birds. As a matter of fact one need feel little anxiety for the welfare of the birds that stay with us in winter. The nursery ditty of “What will the robin do then, poor thing?” is tear-cpmpelling, but the robin, the bluebird, the jay, and the chickadee will all care for themselves and will feel no envy of man in his steam-heated flat. « During the bitter weather of winter while people with hearts in the right places are scattering crumbs and seeds at their doorsteps for the little' ' feathered land visitors, the great city of Chicago, as a whole is doing its best to feed the stormblown birds of Lake Michigan. Not all the sewage of the city, notwithstanding the completion of the drainage canal, is sent towards the Mississippi. Some little of it still finds it way into the lakes with its burden of garbage, and there the gull scavengers, by eating much of the output that from their point of appetite is edible, do their best to aid in purifying the water supply. In the dead of winter when the cold is so intense that it seems' that no exposed creature can ’ live, the waste of water between Chicago and St. Joe, Mich., is peopled with strange feathered visitors, who shun the same water stretches when the wind blows soft out of the south. ,A storm which once rose, and preceded a “spell” of zero weather brought with it from the north scores of strange, beautiful arctic visitors known as long-tailed ducks. They may be seen all through the winter well out into the open water of Lake Michigan. They fairly revel in cold weather and in cold water. It Is highly probable that they would never come to the great lakes at all were it not for the fact that everything northward is frozen solid. The male “long-tall” is a beauty, with his strongly contrasted black and

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the woodpecker is felt to keep him as a companion throughout the winter a piece of suet bound firmly to the limb of a tree and occasionally renewed will insure his presence as a guest as long as the snow flies, and with him, tempted by the suet, will be a goodly company of jays, chickadees, and golden

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white plumage and the two great sweeping tall ; feathers that give him his name. With his wife he does not lack other names, and they are I known in various places as “old injun,” “old wife,” “old molly,” “old granny,” “old squaw,” and “old south southerly.” Because of the oily nature of their flesh these dubks are unfit for food, and yet the gunners on the Chicago breakwaters and on the government pier used to kill dozens of them in the pure wantonness of sport. When the sloping stone abutment that protects the outer Lincoln’Park driveway, Chicago, from the waves is piled high with ice during the , winter the venturesome person who will scale i the side of the pile may see in the dark water only a few yards beyond one of the most beautiful ducks known to the bird kingdom. The golden eye, or whistle wing, frequents the cold ; waters of Lake Michigan all through the winter, I and comes close to the shore. It is seldom that i more than four or five are seep together, and , oftener a single pair will be found. If the protection which the male apparently tries to extend to the female during all times of the year be a basis for judgment, these birds remaiii mated for life. , The golden eye almost invariably places himself between his gentler companion and danger, and when they are <, swimming or flying to new foraging places he invariably leads, the way. i The movement of their wings is so rapid that •it produces a musical whistling audible at a great distance. Because of the rapidity of their flight the Indians call them spirit ducks, believing that some supernatural aid is given them to add to the swiftness of their journeyings. The best of the bird scavengers acting as the ■ allies of the Chicago health department in win- > ter are the herring, the ring-billed gulls. The i herring gull is a big grayish creature, almost I pure white if he is three years old, with black . tips to his wings. The young of the first year j are mottled gray, entirely different in appearance ■ from their parents. The result of this difference ! is that people looking at a winter flock of the gulls think that it contains several species. The lagoons in Jackson and Lincoln Parks are often fairly covered with these birds, provided a heavy storm is coming-in from the eastward. A delicate-looking bird is the kittewake gull. It does not look as if it could stand the rigors of lake winter weather for a day, and yet neither storm nor cold succeeds In chilling its optimism or in abating its industry. The kittewakes have been In the lake off (Chicago In winter, and here they doubtless have remained until March. A bird lover considers It an z ornithological epoch when he sees a great black-backed gull. The persistent and careful observer who cares nothing for weather conditions may find this rare creature, perhaps the largest of our gulls, if he will but keep a constant watch along the lake front. The bird has been seen here on several occasions In winter. Its name gives a good description of it. It is sometimes known grewsomely as the “coffin carrier.'

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HIS CHEEK WAS UNREWARDED Expert Sponger’s Eyes Glistened as He Read an Advertisement, but He Failed. “Try our patent razors! Best value .In the world! Two shillings and sixpence post free, from Strop & Co., Sheffield." Thus ran an advertisement, and. ! seeing it, an expert eyes : glistened. A strop patent razor he j must have, though the finding of the : half crown was,a practical impossibility, ,so he wrote: “Gentlemen —I have pleasure in inclosing a postal order for two shillings and sixpense. Please send me one of your patent razors by return. P. S.— As I don’t possess the shilings and sixpence at the moment, I cannot send* It. However, I have no doubt you will send the razor. In a large concern like your one postal order or less will not matter.” Messrs Strop & Co., replied as fol- ■ lows: “Dear sir: We beg to -forward you ; the razor and thank you for your esteemed patronage. P. S. —Our packer has carelessly forgotten to inclose the razor. To one with a cheek such as I yours, however, one razor more or less ; will not ‘matter.”—London Tit-Bits. Distinguished. I “But,” she complained, “you ought, before you marry, to do something worth while. I think every man owes it to himself to make an effort while he is still free, to gain some kind of distinction.” “Well, I’ve done that,” he replied“Oh, have you? In what way?” “I wvas at a meeting last night i where I was the only man who didn’t have a degree from some college.” —Judge. j . Hot Stuff. j “Your husband is writing another novel, I presume,” observed the caller. “Not today,” said Mrs. Borfis, wife of E. Will Borus, the struggling auI thor. “I think, just for a change, he is contributing something to the cooking department of one of the papers. I ■ heard him say when he went into his room that he had to do a pot boiler.” Might Have Been Embarrassing. *T dare say there are a great many ! persons in this country who are glad ' the scheme for annexing Canada fell j through.” “Politicians, you mean?” “No; gentlemen occupying positions of trust who are planning to skip across the border.” LONG SERMON. \WwPI7 istZaaaSßg ■ Mrs. Collier Down (in church during ' the sermon) —Don’t you thjnk the : preacher is a polished speaker? i Mr. Collier Down (wearily)—Yes;. ■ nt it looks to me as though he’s j never going to be t a finished one. A Dangerous Weapon. “Do you really think the female of the species is rhore deadly than the male?” “Only when she gets busy with a latpin. Under those circumstances in entire county would hardly afford ne as much room to move about in is I would desire.” The Root of the “Evil.” Lover—Darling, I am the sole heir as a rich uncle. All this wealth . I lay at your feet. Will you marry me? Girl—No, Archie. But tell your ancle IT considersuch—ee a proposal from him.” —Judge. Just Wondering. “Mrs. Pipper won’t look at anything that isn’t recherche.” “Good heavens! Do you mean to tell me that she never looks at Mr. ’Pipper?”

WEALTH IN VERMONT STATUE Cy Southbridge’s Daughter Married Rich Man Because He Was Possessed of SIOO. Fred Emery was visiting in the mountains of Vermont last summer, when he met on the road a long whiskered and talkative old man. There ensued the following conversation be tween the and Emery: “Be you acquainted in these partsT’ “I sure be.” 7 “Be you acquainted with Seth An- ' derson?” “I sure be. I know Seth well. He lives up on the valley road.” “Waal, waal! Be you acquainted | with Cy Southbridge?” . “I sure be. He lives down on the mill road.” “Waal, now’! Be you acquainted with Cy’s daughter?” “I sure be. She’s a mighty fine looking girl?” “Waal. Mary is married to a wealthy man—an all-fired wealthy man!” “.You don’t tell me!” “An all-fired wealthy man! Why, hen husband is worth $100!” —Twice-a ; Month Popular. Proof Positive. “See here, Mr Casey,” said Pat tc I the tax assessor; “shore and ye knofi | the goat isn’t worth eight dollars.” “Oi’m sorry,” responded Casey; “but that is the law.” And, pro ducing a book, he read the follow ing passage: > “All property abutting on Front street should be taxed at the rate of two dollars per foot.” The Same Thing. “And he said he was willing to die for me?” “Not exactly those words, but that was the impressoin he was evidently trying to convey,,” “What did he say?” “He said he was ready to eat your cooking any time you said the word.” THESE DAYS. awßsO tain W I Mrs. Uptydate—Marie, have you finished bathing the dog? The Maid —Yes, ma’am. Mrs. Uptydate—Did you tie a pink ; ribbon around his neck? ’ Maid —Yes’m. -7 Mrs. Uptydate—Then you can gc and see what baby’s crying about. Shy on Gash. “Why wasn’t your Bohemian res j taurant a sdccess?” “People wouldn’t enter into the Bo hemian spirit of the place.” - “Wouldn’t they talk lap epigrams or sing?” “Oh, they did all that; but they ' wouldn’t spend over 50 cents a head.” 1 ' ! . The Victims. First Maine Deer —I am so glad the hunting season is on. Second Ditto—Why, isn’t it a dangerous time for us? First Maine Deer —Not a bit of it. They’ll mistake human beings for us. A Fitting Pair. “Jinks and his wife are well matched.” “In what way?” I “She can’t cook a dinner without burning something, and hb can’t sit down to one w ithout roasting some body.” f J Splash. Reta —Did you know the police wouldn’t let a man take a header off the Brooklyn bridge? Roger—Yes, it’s the only kind of a dive the police don’t allow in New York. —Princeton Tiger. Pessimistic. “Cheer up. Opportunity may yet knock at your “Shucks! If she ever does, it will "be just my luck for her to knock when I’m taking a bath.” Recrimination. He—My deal", you spend too much money in false hair. Look at your puffs. She—And you spend too much money in cigars. Look at your puffs. Easily Told. “To what tune are the public at present dancing?” “Considering the proximity of Christmas, I should say it was the turkey trot” Spoiling the Fun. “A Georgia judge says it is unlawful to kilK an umpire.” “That will be sad news for anybody with a drop of sporting blood in his veins.” / The Puzzle. Jinks—Figures won’t lie. Binks —And often they won’t steal. What are you going to do about it?

PULLED IN DIFFERENT WA¥6 Ordinary Man on the Street Some--7 what Puzzled by Seeming Business Contradictions. I “Life is full of contradictions.** I “Yes?” 1 ' ’’'"For Instance; about six months ago a life insurance agent got after ' me, and hounded me nearly to death. I told him at the start that I had all the Insurance I was able to carry, but j he kept right on trying to persuade ; me that 1 needed more and, finally, in sheer desperation. I consented to take i out anotb >r policy. Then the comj pany’s do *tor began trying In every > w-ay he could think of to make it 1mI Possible for me to get the insurance. He acted as if I was voluntarily try- ; ing to beat, the company in some Uray, I and when I failed to pass the examination both he und the agent appeared to think I had wronged them by taking up their time.” "That’s nearly as bad as my ease. Several months age representatives of a piano house got rnter me for the pur--1 pose of persuading me to buy a piano lon the installment pian. ‘JList to get rid of them I at last, agreed to buy. ; Now they’ve got a corps o£ wen out 1 | trying to dig up proof that I n»r-»r J I could or would pay for the piano If I they were to let me have it Business Is a great thing.” Jones Admitted IL Jones and Brown argued as they always did when they had thne enough. They had dined together, and as Jones lived at a distance and It was very late Brown offered! to put him up for the night On the way home they fell to discussing the strategy of the Civil war as indicated by the campaigns of Lee and Grant The topic was elastic enough to keep them going for half an hour, a&d reached its height as J they neared the Brown house. ; Then .Brown lost his temper. < j “Jones,” said he (> “if you don’t admit ‘ that Grant was a greater general than Lee, you can’t sleep here.” I It was then two o’clock in the morning. and Jones was eight jniles from ■ home. —Chicago Post. Expensive Possession. A small applicant for Christmas i cheer was being interview’ed by the , charity worker. “What is your father?" asked the ' latter. “ ’E’s me father.” ; “Yes, but what is he?” “Oh! 'E’s me stepfather.” “Yes, yes, but what does he do? Does he sweep chimneys or driie ’busses, or what?” < “O-o-w!” exclaims the small applicant, with dawning light of comprehension., “No, ’e ain’t done nothin’ since we’ve 'ad ’im.”—London An- ; swers. Constipation causes and aggravates man; ! serious diseases. It is thoroughly cured by j Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets. The favor--1 ite family laxative. 1 You need expect .no quarter from 1 the footpad until you give up yodr ! last cent TO CUKE A COLD IN ONE DAY j Taka LAXATIVE BKOMO quinine Tablet* lirugjd sts refund money if.it fails to cure. B. W ! tiRO Vlfi’S signature is on each box. 25c. A woman falls in love, gracefully, ! but a man usually stumblds Into IL

Knees Became Stiff Five Years of Severe Rheumatism The cure of Henry J. Goldstein, 14 Barton Street, Boston, Mass., is anothez victory for Hood’s Sarsaparilla. This great nledicme has succeeded in many cases where others have utterly failed. Mr. Goldstein says: “I suffered from rheumatism five years, it kept me from business and caused excruciating pain. My knees would become as stiff as steel. I tned many medicines without relief, then took Hood’s Sarsaparilla, soon felt much better and now consider myself entirely cured. I recommend Hood’s.” Get it today in usual liquid form ca chocolated tablets called Sarsataba. i'’ MSSSS FREE OFFER I Diamond Ring, I (jolfl Watch, 20- Yr € : 5 Gold Lockets, 5 Fancy Gold Stick Pins. r° A \8 k X. Ji j/ DIRECTIONS Draw two straight lines across the dis! or I face of watch dividing it into three parts : each part to contain numbers adding up M. i For the neatest correct answer we will 1 give the Diamond Ring. ! For the next neatest correct answer we i will give the Gold Watch. * ■ I For the next five neatest correct answers we win give each a Gold Locket. For the next five neatest correct answers we win give each a Gold Stick Pin. For the next twenty-five neatest correct I answers we will give a credit check for ! $50.00 which can be used in the purchase of S person sending in an answer to this puzzle will be sent a beautiful birda-eye-view of Jacksonville, Fla.. FREE. X* _.r Don't fail to try and win dhe of these vab nstble Prizes. All answers roust beintrar hands not later than January 25th 1912 and the decisions of the Judges prizes must be accepted by the contestants Remember this contest is FREEmake this liberal offer to Grand Boulevard. Jacksonville s close-in building addition. Write name and address plainly and MAIL to « I Grand Boulevard Investment Co. Biabee Bldg.. JACKSONVILLE.