Rana

“ Remarks.—Rana nigromaculata is the most abundant ranid in central Korea and, in a general way, the ecological equivalent of Rana pipiens in temperate North America. The species is associated with most aquatic habitats, from rocky streams to rice fields and large impoundments. In the vicinity of Seoul the din of large breeding congresses was heard more or less continuously from mid-April to mid-May. ”

“ The skin in this, the typical genus, is smooth; the hinder legs are very long, muscular, and formed for leaping; the toes of the hind feet are connected by a web; there are teeth on the upper jaw, and on the palate; the gape is very wide; the tongue, broad, soft, notched at the extremity, is folded back, the anterior portion lying ordinarily on the posterior; the eyes are brilliant and prominent, and elevated above the forehead.
The Common Frog (Rana temporaria, Linn.) is familiar to every child. ”

“ So I was thinking, 'What in the world will these fish do now?'"
"Yes, indeed, sir! what are we to do?" said they.
"If you will only do as I bid you, I will take you in my beak to a fine large pond, covered with all the kinds of lotuses, and put you into it," answered the crane.
"That a crane should take thought for the fishes is a thing unheard of, sir, since the world began. It's eating us, one after the other, that you're aiming at."
"Not I! So long as you trust me, I won't eat you. But if you don't believe me that there is such a pond, send one of you with me to go and see it." ”

“ Standing on one leg, he began to think: 'These fish would be a lawful prize. But they are quick; they are likely to escape if I attack them too hastily. I must use cunning Poor fish! They are so uncomfortable in this dried-up pool! And over there is that other pool, full of deep, cool water, where they could swim about to their heart's content!' A fish saw the crane deep in thought and looking as solemn as a hermit, and he asked, 'What are you doing there, venerable bird? You seem immersed in thought.' 'I am meditating, O fish,' said the crane, 'yes, indeed, I am meditating. ”

“ The Raven is omnivorous, its food consisting of small animals of every kind, eggs, dead fish, carrion, shell-fish, insects, worms, nuts, berries, and other kinds of fruit. I have never seen one attack a large living animal, as the Turkey Buzzard and Carrion Crow are wont to do; but I have known it follow hunters when without dogs, to feed on the offals of the game, and carry off salted fish when placed in a spring to freshen. It often rises in the air with a shell-fish for the purpose of breaking it by letting it fall on a rock. ”

“ The personal names more frequently refer to the Raven, their most honored crest, as they claim to be the first family of this phratry, and it is the more conspicuously displayed on the totemic headdress and ceremonial paraphernalia. They claim and use a great many other emblems as the whale, frog, wood-worm, silver salmon, hawk, owl, moon, starfish, and in their house carvings and painting they illustrate the hero deeds and conquests of their ancestors in their early struggles with mythical animals and supernatural beings. ”

“ And to cap the climax, an occasional flock of ducks might be seen, startled away by our approach, also a crane feeding in a cluster of trees, or a bold fish-hawk pursuing his prey, while the senses were almost oppressed by the fragrance of blowing flowers, which met the eye on every side. ”

“ There, through the clear and rarified atmosphere, the Raven spreads his glossy wings and tail, and, as he onward sails, rises higher and higher each bold sweep that he makes, as if conscious that the nearer he approaches the sun, the more splendent will become the tints of his plumage. Intent on convincing his mate of the fervour and constancy of his love, he now gently glides beneath her, floats in the buoyant air, or sails by her side. ”

“ For my part, I admire the Raven, because I see much in him calculated to excite our wonder. It is true that he may sometimes hasten the death of a half-starved sheep, or destroy a weakly lamb; he may eat the eggs of other birds, or occasionally steal from the farmer some of those which he calls his own; young fowls also afford precious morsels to himself and his progeny;—but how many sheep, lambs, and fowls, are saved through his agency! The more intelligent of our farmers are well aware that the Raven destroys numberless insects, grubs, and worms ”

“ The crane, the turtledove, the eagle, the raven, the stork, the ostrich, the lion, the wild ox, perhaps the elephant and the rhinoceros, as well as most of our common domestic birds and other animals, frequented these environments. ”

“ Once upon a time, a crane, which happened to pass by, conceived the idea of preying on them, and stood on the brink of the lake. But it saw the fish going away from it shaking with fear, and so it said:—"I very much regret your going away from me in the belief that birds of my order make you their prey, and that I would do the same. But I have not come here with such an object in view. I, following others of my kind, have killed a good many fish, and became a sinner, but I am now grown very old, and have renounced the world. ”

“ Lurking in the dense reeds, or tangled herbage that grows rank and teeming at the edges of rivers in hot climates, or under the mangroves that interweave their myriad roots in arches above the water, or concealed among the bleaching trunks and branches of trees that have fallen into the stream, these huge reptiles watch for the approach of a living prey, or feed at leisure on the putrid carcases with which the waters daily supply them. ”

“ Ducks and geese and swans have struck the trail, and snipe, stork and heron, crane and flamingo have rolled up their trousers and are wading in. Even the fish-hawk, the osprey and the eagle find it worth while to look beneath the wave. ”

“ The tops of lofty trees are favoured localities for the nest, and so are old towers, the interior of caves, and clefts in lofty precipices. The nest is large and clumsy, and the bird, trusting in the inaccessible character of the locality, troubles itself very little about concealment. The Raven is a peculiarly domestic bird, and a pattern of conjugal affection. It pairs for life, and both male and female take their share of sitting on the eggs and nurturing the young. ”

“ We 189 are obliged, with the greatest surprise, to acknowledge, that those huge animals, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the lion and the tiger, inhabiting the same woods, are still vastly his inferiors, and that the appearance of this small insect, nay, his very sound, though he is not seen, occasions more trepidation, movement, and disorder, both in the human and brute creation, than would whole herds of these monstrous animals collected together, though their number was in a tenfold proportion greater than it really is. ”

“ A ram, a bull and a lion besport themselves upon the shore, enormous birds sit on the bushes, and the sea is already full of every kind of fish; slender pink clouds are in the sky, and the distant hills on the horizon have faded into shades of blue-green, like the landscape of an Umbrian picture. ”

“ When at length we reach the thicket of reeds the smaller birds become more conspicuous, the larger forms being more effectively concealed. The crane, which breeds on the most inaccessible spots, the great white heron, which fishes on the inner margin of the thicket, the spoonbill, which forages for food on the shallowest stretches among the reeds, all these keep themselves as far as possible in concealment, and of the presence of the bittern in the very heart of the reeds we are aware only by his muffled booming. ”

“ And this body which is subject to sickness and decay, with its mind as fickle as a shrimp fish, is hourly watched upon by inexorable death, as the old crane lurks after the skimming fish for his prey. ”

“ There is in this country a bird as large as a crane, which has no wings wherewith to fly, but runs on the ground with the swiftness of a deer, and, of the small feathers of this bird, the natives make hair for their idols. ”

“ Dogs and black vultures will feed together on a carcass. But if the dogs crowd the birds too much, the vultures will hiss at them. These black vultures do good service by eating up alligators’ eggs.
Another of our brigade of flesh-eating birds is the raven. The raven is a handsomer bird than the others. His glossy black feathers have blue and green tints on them. Ravens are often found in sea-side cliffs and trees. They feed on dead fish. ”

“ The water-fowl swarm in countless numbers: fleet-winged travelers such as ducks and geese, long-legged dignitaries of the crane and heron tribe, gay-colored birds that flash by and out of sight before the eye can identify them, and bitterns, like town-criers, booming the river news for miles up and down the shores. ”

“ They are decidedly carnivorous in their appetite, feeding on fishes, aquatic reptiles, small mammalia, mollusca, worms, and insects. The Cranes, however, are more terrestrial than the others, and join with an animal diet, grains, seeds, and herbage. The legs and feet in these birds are long and slender, as is also the neck, which is very flexible: the beak is long, straight, sharp-pointed, firm in texture, and very powerful; in some genera it is of great thickness and strength. ”

“ On the llanos the Indians use masks made of the head and feathers of the crane, then, imitating the actions of the bird searching for snakes and other reptiles among the reeds and grasses of the river bank, wait until the unsuspecting deer come down to drink, when they form an easy target for their arrows. ”

“ The Raven is like a very large Crow, length 24 inches, but has the feathers on the neck lengthened and stiffened. Their habits are similar to those of the Crow, but more dignified, and they remain mated for life. Besides grasshoppers and worms, they feed largely upon animal matter such as lizards, shell fish, frogs, eggs and young of birds, and carrion. They nest on ledges of high inaccessible cliffs or the tops of tall trees, making largo nests of sticks lined with smaller ones and hair or wool ”

“ Story of the Crane, the Snake and the Mungoose.24
Once on a time a snake came and ate the nestlings of a certain crane, as fast as they were born; that grieved the crane. So, by the advice of a crab, he went and strewed pieces of fish from the dwelling of a mungoose as far as the hole of the snake, and the mungoose came out, and following up the pieces of fish, eating as it went on, was led to the hole of the snake, which it saw and entered, and killed him and his offspring.
“So by a device one can succeed; now hear another story.” ”

“ The cranes sit upon their nests like other birds, with their feet drawn up close to the body. The mound- shaped nests are built of sticks, grass, and mud, and usually placed in a shallow pond or partially submerged swamp, while at times a grassy hassock furnishes the foundation of the structure. In the saucer-shaped top of the nest two eggs are deposited, upon which the bird sits most assiduously, having no time at this season for aquatic amusements, such as paddling about with her nest. ”

“ We need only recall the immense variations they offer within the mammal class. We have the slender legs of the deer and the strong springing legs of the kangaroo, the climbing feet of the sloth and the digging feet of the mole, the fins of the whale and the wings of the bat. ”

“ In the whale the flesh unites the huge bones of the fingers and produces a broad, oar-like fin; in the tiger the nails become retractile talons; in the bird some of the fingers are atrophied, while others are elongated to support the feathers which are to offer resistance to the air in flight; in the horse the bones of the fingers are consolidated, and the united nails appear in the hoof. ”

“ The descriptions of him do not give him entirely the form of a bird, but rather of some combination with the human form; in what he resembles a bird he seems to partake of the eagle, the vulture, and the crane. ”

“ In seas and lakes and swampy pools strange fishes swam, up from the salt waters odd reptiles crawled to sun themselves upon the sandy shore or make their way through the dense jungles of the swamps, and out where the ocean waves were dashing, fierce monsters of the sea darted on their prey, or churned the water into foam in savage fights with each other. ”

“ Birds of the Crane kind, which seek their food among the waters, having no web-feet, are supplied with long legs for wading, or long bills for groping, and usually both: these are admirably adapted to the shallow pools of water, or sides of rivers, which they frequent. ”

“ Thousands out of the swarms either fall into the rivers where they are greedily devoured by the fish, or are captured by birds of all sorts and sizes, from the tiny fledgling that can scarce hold them in its claws, to the great cranes and eagles that can consume them wholesale. ”

“ These tricks in no way offended the good-natured dog. He showed a remarkable instance of his affection, when on one occasion the raven happened to tumble into a tub of water, just beyond his range. Seeing the poor bird struggling, he exerted all his strength, and dragged his heavy kennel forward till he could put his head over the edge of the tub, when he took the raven up in his mouth and laid him gently on the ground to recover.
The Arctic Raven.
Ravens vie with our brave Arctic explorers in the wide circuit they make in their wanderings. ”

“ These fins or paws are much more flexible and free in their movements than those of the cetæ, and are sufficiently prehensile to enable the animal to gather food between the palms or inner surfaces of both, and the female to hold her young one to her breast with one of them. Like the whales, they are warm-blooded mammals, breathing by lungs, and are therefore [Pg 43] obliged to come to the surface at frequent intervals for respiration. ”