Hindwing

“ My white hind is free to play in the woods and over strange meadows, but should it ever happen that a huntsman would try to catch you, should it happen that a huntsman would tempt you from my meadow and set you in his own, and teach you to eat out of his hand—then, my white hind, would I prove that you are mine, I would tear you from his grasp at the very moment he made sure of his prey. ”

“ We see the little creature hopping along the boughs of the yet only budding oak, and know that it is as usefully employed for man as agreeably for itself. It tells us, in effect, that sunny days, [68] flowers, and sweet airs, and the music of a thousand other birds, are coming. We revert to the time when, tracing the wood-side or the bosky dingle in boyhood, we caught sight of its rounded nest amongst the screening twigs of the low bush, and the bleached bents of last year’s grapes. ”

“ In the first place, the Hind, a wild animal that could find food where less active creatures would starve, was reduced to such straits that she was obliged to remain in the fields at the time when her young was born, instead of retiring to some sheltered spot, according to her custom. ”

“ Rising to a height of forty or fifty yards, he suddenly dashes in a zigzag, downward flight, with a violence and rapidity unsurpassed by even the most aërial species in their maddest moments, and, turning like lightning when almost touching the surface, he rises, to repeat the action again and again. The heavy appearance and slow, flopping movement, and the marvellous wing-feats, are in strange contrast. ”

“ Everybody who has ever carved, at his dinner-table, a grouse, partridge, pheasant, duck, or other fowl, must be aware of the enormous mass of flesh which is associated with the wings. If we bare the breast and remove the pinion bones from any bird which flies— (it is necessary to make this proviso, for such as the dodo, the aptéryx, the ostrich, emu, and others, have wings which are only rudimentary, and not used for flight) —we find but a very meagre body remaining behind. ”

“ The old fire-hangbird confidently used to come and go,
As if she were indifferent to the bandit horde below!{41}
And sometimes clinging to her nest we thought we heard her chide
The callow brood whose cries betrayed the fear that reigned inside:
“Hush, little dears! all profitless shall be their wicked quest—
I knew my business when I built the old fire-hangbird’s nest!”
For many, very many years that mother-bird has come
To rear her pretty little brood within that cozy home. ”

“ Fish-hooks, baited with meat, are good to catch these sorts of birds.
Catching with the Hand.--Ducks.--We hear of Hindoos who, taking advantage of the many gourds floating on their waters, put one of them on their heads, and wade in among wild ducks; they pull them down, one after another, by their legs, under water; wring their necks, and tie them to their girdle. But in Australia, a swimmer binds grass and rushes, or weeds, round his head; and takes a long fishing-rod, with a slip noose working over the pliant twig that forms the last joint of the rod. ”

“ I told about magic I had witnessed in Benares, and about imaginary old women who could turn a man into a crow, the crow into an alligator, the alligator into a fish, and the fish into an insect, after which the insect could be trodden on and squashed by the first hoof that happened along—evolution vice versa, as it were. ”

“ By day they suspend themselves from the highest branches, hanging by the claws of the hind-legs, with the head turned upwards, and pressing the chin against the breast. At sunset taking wing, they hover, with a murmuring sound occasioned by the beating of their broad membranous wings, around the fruit-trees, on which they feed till morning, when they resume their pensile attitude as before. ”

“ Whether by night or day, nothing can remain hidden from their bright yellow eyes. I would see a vague motion, as of wings, emerging from the silver radiance or melting away into it, like gleams and shadows in the eddy of a river under the moonlight. The wings would vanish going I knew not whither; but far and wide forest and lake and caribou barren would all be ringing to the heron’s challenge, Quoskh? Quoskh-quoskh? And I understood then why Indians call this bird the night’s question. ”

“ During these manœuvres the flapping of their many thousand wings causes a reverberation suggestive of distant thunder. When at last settled upon the ground, they industriously search among the fallen leaves for the acorns and the beech-mast, the rear flocks continually rising, passing over the main body, and realighting. ”

“ In all the wings which I have examined, whether in the insect, bat, or bird, the wing is recovered, flexed, or drawn towards the body by the action of elastic ligaments, these structures, by their mere contraction, causing the wing, when fully extended and presenting its maximum of surface, to resume its position of rest and plane of least resistance. ”

“ The tail of the hinny is much more like that of the horse than is the tail of the mule, and this is generally accounted for by the males of both species transmitting with greater power this part of their structure ”

“ The more the figure resisted, the tighter the evil bird held, its claws and beak fast sunk in the wood. So fearful were its struggles that the earth about the root of the tree heaved, and it seemed as if the roots would be torn out bodily. Then finding that it could not move the thing, the bird made to fly away, but its talons and beak were held by the wood as if in a vise. ”

“ Their almost incessant hink, hink, hink-hink, is heard at every hop they take, but less loudly sounded than the notes of the Brown-headed species, the male being more prodigal of noise than the female, which, however, now and then answers to his call. ”

“ The lower mandible, as thin as a paper-knife, is put into the water while the bird skims along the surface, and scoops up any little insects it meets. It has great length of wing, and can continue its flight with perfect ease, the wings acting, though kept above the level of the body. ”

“ In these species it is the hind toe that is lacking, their three digits all being in front, where they are of the greatest service. There is another class of birds that have hind toes, though very much reduced because their owners do not perch, but scuttle about on the beach. ”

“ In general activity and restlessness few birds equal the species under consideration. Not a nook or corner of his domain but is repeatedly visited through the day. Now he sings a few times from the top of some tall willow that leans out over the stream, sitting motionless among the yellowish foliage, fully aware, perhaps, of the protection afforded by its harmonizing tints. ”

“ In those wings which, during the period of repose, are folded up beneath the elytra, the mere extension of the wing in the dead insect, where no injection of fluid can occur, causes the nervures to fall into position, and the membranous portions of the wing to unfurl or roll out precisely as in the living insect, and as happens in the bat and bird. ”

“ These masses were larger, and consisted of the hair of seals and of land animals, of the scaly feathers of pinguins, and the bones of birds and small quadrupeds. Possibly the constructor of the nest might be an enormous owl; and if so, the cause of the bird being never seen, whilst the nests were not scarce, would be from its not going out until dark; but from the very open and exposed situations in which the nests were found, I should rather judge it to be of the eagle kind; and that its powers are such as to render it heedless of any attempts from the natives upon its young. ”

“ In a short time their curiosity tempts them to approach slowly and cautiously towards the two feet, which are performing every variety of strange evolution. Near enough, they too soon discover their error; the twang of the string and whistling arrow, that goes up to the feather-end in the chest of the foremost male, warns the others to fly, and leave their leader and king a prey to the wily redskin. ”

“ These rules, which are applicable generally, are subject to variation, for a severe winter will retard the shedding of the horns. The hind has no horns, and is less fitted for being hunted than the stag. She takes the utmost care of her fawns and secretes them in the most obscure thickets, lest they should fall a prey to their numerous enemies, as the wolf, the dog, the eagle and the falcon. When the hind has young she defends her offspring with the most resolute bravery. ”

“ When thou seemest to be gone, the white bird will leave his perch, and assuming his man's form, will go into the stable, and saddle his dappled grey steed, and ride to the festival as usual. Then come thou out of thy hiding-place, and burn his perch, and cage, and feathers; so will he have henceforth to wear his natural form." Thus the ancient woman instructed the wife of the white bird. ”

“ Grey-headed and red-breasted flycatchers, minivets, bush-chats, rose-finches and swallows pour into the plains from the Himalayas, while from beyond those mountains come redstarts, wagtails, starlings, buntings, blue-throats, quail and snipe. ”

“ The importance of the twisted configuration or screw-like form of the wing cannot be over-estimated. That this shape is intimately associated with flight is apparent from the fact that the rowing feathers of the wing of the bird are every one of them distinctly spiral in their nature; in fact, one entire rowing feather is equivalent—morphologically and physiologically—to one entire insect wing. ”

“ I have observed, on a previous occasion, that the Vedic Indras assumes in the Hindoo poems a sinister, and sometimes even a diabolical aspect. In the Râmâyaṇam, [396] a crow attacks Sîtâ with wings, beak, and claws; Râmas hurls an enchanted dart at it; the bird, by divine grace, does not die, but as it flies rapidly, between drop and drop, whilst it rains from the cloud, it sees nothing but darts and shadows of darts in the air. ”

“ Even had no such invasion been permitted, life would have reached this isolated nucleus through the flight and migration of birds who might readily enough, as pointed out by Darwin, Wallace, Lancaster, Leidy and others, have carried the embryos of fish, the shells of molluscs and the larvae and bodies of insects hither, and the winds themselves may have assisted in this involuntary transit. ”

“ No one unacquainted with the habits of this class of birds could have believed, to see them flapping along on the sands on their stomachs, every now and then falling head over heels and lying quite still for an instant, as if altogether exhausted, that this was all a piece of consummate acting intended to divert our attention from their nests. ”

“ Stints and sandpipers whirl hither and thither, and graceful black-and-white avocets, with their singular, upturned, slender bills, and long, red-legged stilt-plovers, haunt the shallows. Upon the plain some small birds have been afoot some time. ”

“ The red hind, like the rock hind, frequents rocky places and feeds mostly on small fishes. It grows to a length of about eighteen inches, and is an excellent food-fish. Not much is known concerning its breeding habits, though it probably spawns in the spring. The same tackle recommended for the rock hind, and the same baits, will do as well for the red hind, as they are found together. ”

“ I had not advanced more than two hundred yards when I felt oppressed by a most sickening stench, and saw the trees swarming with birds of prey, buzzards perched upon their branches, ravens sailing amongst their boughs, and clouds of carrion crows flitting about, and poising themselves in the air in a stationary position, after the manner of that most nauseous of all birds, when it perceives, or thinks it perceives, some object of prey. ”

“ Yet to suppose that every individual one sees or hears—every Lapwing on the meadow, or Nightingale in the withy bed—is in that particular spot just because it happens to alight there as it roams from place to place, is to take a view which the observed facts do not support. ”

“ In windy weather, when wading through the reed-beds, I have seen nests, with both old and young in them, blown nearly to the surface of the water; but the birds fix their claws firmly to the sides of the nest, with their heads to windward, and thus ride as securely in their cradle as a sailor does in his cot or hammock. ”

“ During the open day, but more especially in the evening, these birds may be seen in every direction standing frequently by pairs on the hillock near their burrows. If disturbed they either enter the hole, or, uttering a shrill harsh cry, move with a remarkably undulatory flight to a short distance, and then turning round, steadily gaze at their pursuer. ”

“ The Hirundine Birds, or Swallows, form a very distinct group; they have slender bodies, and large, powerful wings, which enable them to fly with great velocity, skimming over the moist meadows, where their insect food most abounds, and wheeling and circling about trees and buildings in a swift and easy manner, which appears to be the very perfection of motion. ”

“ D. Hind claw much the largest; decidedly less curved than the middle anterior one. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. Lateral toes equal; reaching about to the base of the middle claw. Hind toe as long or longer than the middle one. Bill very variable; always more or less curved and blunted. Palate somewhat tuberculate; margins of lower jaw much inflexed. Tail slightly emarginate or even. Wings one half longer than the tail. First quill as long as the second.
Plectrophanes. Colors black and white. With or without rufous nape or elbows. Much white on tail. ”

“ It is well known that several birds, belonging to different Orders, and inhabiting oceanic islands, have their wings greatly reduced in size and are incapable of flight. I suggested in my 'Origin of Species' that, as these birds are not persecuted by any enemies, the reduction of their wings has probably been caused by gradual disuse. ”