Birds and all Nature, Vol. IV, No. 6, December 1898

A unique and beautiful sight was a group of Cacti blooming in a Colorado garden, where the owner had spent much time and expense in gathering together many varieties, and one was made to realize how remarkable a thing Nature had lavished upon us: for, as Mr. Grant Allen has said: "The Cactuses are all true American citizens by birth and training, and none of them are found truly indigenous in any part of the Old World."

MYTHS AND THE MISTLETOE

On Christmas Eve the bells were rung;On Christmas Eve the chant was sung;That only night in all the yearSaw the stoled priest the chalice near;The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;The hall was dressed with Holly green;Forth to the woods did merry men goTo gather in the Mistletoe.

THE Mistletoe, particularly that which grows on the Oak, was held in great veneration by the Britons. At the beginning of their year the Druids went in solemn procession into the forests, and raised a grass altar at the foot of the finest Oak, on which they inscribed the names of those gods which were considered the most powerful. After this the chief Druid, clad in a white garment, ascended the tree and cropped the Mistletoe with a consecrated golden pruning-hook, the other Druids receiving it in a pure, white cloth, which they held beneath the tree. The Mistletoe was then dipped in the water by the principal Druid and distributed among the people as a preservative against witchcraft and disease. If any part touched the ground it was considered an omen of some dreadful misfortune.

In the Eddas of mythological Norse lore, Loke, the evil spirit, is said to have made the arrow with which he wounded Balder (Apollo), the son of Friga (Venus), of a branch of Mistletoe. Balder was charmed against everything which sprang from fire, earth, air, and water, but the Mistletoe, springing from neither of these, was fatal, and Balder was not restored to the world till by a general effort of the other gods. In some parts of Germany and Switzerland it is believed that by holding in the hand a branch of Mistletoe one will be enabled not only to see, but to converse with departed spirits.

The Druids, partly because the Mistletoe was supposed to grow only on the Apple tree and the Oak, and also on account of the usefulness of the fruit, paid great attention to its cultivation. Many old rites and ceremonies, in connection with the Apple, are practiced to this day in some parts of England. On Christmas Eve the farmers and their men take a huge bowl of cider, with a smoking piece of toasted bread in it and, carrying it to the orchard, salute the Apple trees with great ceremony, in order to make them bear well next season.

The wassail bowl drank on Christmas Eve, and on other church festivals, was compounded of old ale, sugar, nutmegs, and roasted apples, of which each person partook, taking out an apple with a spoon and then a deep draught out of the bowl.

Under the Mistletoe of Christmas, the custom of kissing has been handed down to us by our Saxon ancestors, who, on the restoration of Apollo, dedicated the plant to Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. It was placed entirely under her control, thus preventing its ever again being used against her in future ages. —E. K. M.

THE FLYING-SQUIRREL

WITH the exception of Australia, Squirrels are found in all parts of the globe; they extend tolerably far north and are found in the hottest parts of the South. As a family they are lively, quick, and nimble in their movements, both in trees and upon the ground, Flying Squirrels alone being ill at ease when upon the surface of the earth. In compensation for this, however, they are possessed of a faculty which enables them to make exceedingly long leaps, which they take in an obliquely descending direction.

The nocturnal Flying Squirrels, says Brehm, differ from the diurnal Tree Squirrels mainly in having their fore and hind legs connected by a wide flying-membrane. This membrane acts as a parachute, and enables them to execute considerable leaps with ease, in an inclined plane from above downward. This membrane consists of a stout skin, extending along both sides of the body, thickly grown with hair on the upper side, while the lower one shows but a scanty covering. A bony spur at the first joint of the fore-legs gives especial strength to the membrane. The tail serves as an effective rudder and is always vigorous, though it is not of the same conformation in the different species, one group having it simply bushy, while the other has the hair on it arranged in two lateral rows. There are also slight differences in the structure of the teeth.

The Flying Squirrel of North America, Assapan, is next to the smallest variety of the whole species, the Jaguan, or East Indian, being the largest, nearly equaling a cat in size.

The fur of the North American Flying Squirrels is exceedingly soft and delicate. In captivity they suffer themselves, by day, to be gently handled, making no effort to bite with their little sharp teeth as other Squirrels do. Overcome with sleep they lie curled up in their cage, as much hidden from view as possible, rarely bestirring themselves before nine o'clock at night. Then, "on the upper edge of the sleeping-box, which one must give them as a substitute for their nest, a round little head becomes visible; the body follows and soon one of the little creatures sits on the narrow edge of the box in a graceful Squirrel-like attitude, the flying membrane half folded against its body, half hanging down in a soft curve. The small, expanded ears move back and forth as does the bewhiskered muzzle, and the large, dark eyes inquisitively scan the cage and surroundings. If nothing suspicious is visible, the Assapan glides down like a shadow, always head first, whether the plane be inclined or vertical, without any noise, without a perceptible movement of the limbs, the greater part of which is covered with the membrane. It proceeds on the woven ceiling of the cage, back downward, as if it walked on level ground; it rope-dances over thin twigs with unsurpassed precision and agility at a uniform speed; spreading its membrane to the full, it darts through the whole space of the cage like an arrow, and the next instant seems glued to the perch, without having made an effort to regain its balance.

During all this moving about it picks up a crumb, a nut, a grain of meat from its dish; drinks, sipping more than it laps, washes its head with saliva, combs its hair with the nails of its fore-feet, smooths it with the soles of its small paws, turning, stretching, stooping all the while, as if its skin were a bag in which its body sits quite loosely.

After hunger and thirst are somewhat appeased, and the toilet over, a playful humor succeeds. Up and down, head upward or inverted, along the ceiling, or the floor, running, jumping, gliding, soaring, hanging, sitting, rushing ahead as if it could move a thousand joints at once, as if there were no such thing as gravity to be overcome."

HUMMING-BIRDS

IF these exquisite little creatures are called Humming-birds, you little folk may ask, why wasn't the Bee called a Buzzard because it buzzes?

Well, really, that is a question which I will not attempt to answer, but the fact remains that no other name would have been so appropriate for these jewel-like birds but the one above, on account of the humming sound which they produce when hovering in their curious fashion over a tempting blossom, and feeding on its contents while suspended in air.

There are four hundred and sixty-seven species of these little birds, and no two of them, 'tis said, make precisely the same sound, one producing a noise exactly like the whizzing of a wheel driven by machinery, while that of another is very like the droning hum of a large Bee. But no two voices in even one human family, you know, are alike, so it is not amazing that the rule holds good among the birds.

You can capture and tame these lovely little creatures, too, though I wouldn't advise you to keep them in a cage very long. They will pine away and look very doleful if you do. Rather, after you have accustomed them to your presence, and fed them regularly upon the honey and syrup and other sweets which they dearly love, open the cage door and give them their liberty. A gentleman once did this and was delighted to see them return to their old quarters in a very little while. By watching them the next morning after setting them free again, he found they had been pining for a nice fresh garden Spider which they had been accustomed to daintily pick from the center of his web. He had provided them with Spiders and Flies, but they wanted to flit about and search for themselves. For dessert they liked the sweets which he gave them, so back they went to their cage, instead of extracting it from the flowers with their long bills, as they were wont to do.

A Humming-bird one summer built its nest in a butternut tree very near a lady's window. She could look right down into its nest, and one day, as it began to rain, she saw the mother-bird take one or two large leaves from a tree near by and cover her little birdlings with it. She understood how to make an umbrella, didn't she?

"Minutest of the feathered kind,Possessing every charm combined,Nature, in forming thee, designedThat thou shouldst be"A proof within how little spaceShe can comprise such perfect grace,Rendering thy lovely fairy raceBeauty's epitome."

IT has been said that what a beautiful sonnet is to the mind, one of these fairy-like creations is to the eyes. This is true even in the case of mounted specimens, which must necessarily have lost some of their iridescence. Few can hope to see many of them alive. The gorgeous little birds are largely tropical, the northern limit of their abundance as species being the Tropic of Cancer. They are partial to mountainous regions, where there is diversity of surface and soil sufficient to meet their needs within a small area. The highlands of the Andes in South America are the regions most favored by a large number of species. They are most abundant in Ecuador, the mountain heights affording a home for more than one hundred species. Columbia has about one hundred species; Bolivia and Peru claim about ninety-six; then follow, in consecutive order, Central America, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Guiana, the West Indies, and the United States.

The eastern part of the United States has but one representative of the Humming-bird family, and only seventeen species have been found within the limits of the country. As ten of these really belong to the Mexican group, we can claim ownership of only seven, most of which, however, migrate far south in winter. Only one of these, the Anna, spends the winter in the warm valleys of California.

Most of the Hummers are honey-lovers, and they extract the sweetest juices of the flowers.

The "soft susurrations" of their wings, as they poise above the flowers, inserting their long beaks into tubes of nectar, announce their presence. Some of the Warblers and Kinglets will sometimes poise in this way before a leaf and peck an insect from its surface, but it is not a regular habit with them. The Hummer's ability to move backwards while on the wing is one of the most wonderful features of its flight, and this movement, Mr. Ridgway says, is greatly assisted by a forward flirt of the bird's expanded tail.

The nests of the Humming-birds are of cup-shape and turban-shape, are composed chiefly of plant-down, interwoven and bound together with Spider webs, and decorated with lichens and mosses. Usually the nest is saddled upon a horizontal or slanting branch or twig, but that of the Hermit Hummer is fastened to the sides of long, pointed leaves, where they are safe from Monkeys and other predaceous animals.

"Dwelling in the snowy regions of the Andes are the little gems called Hill-stars," says Leander S. Keyser, "which build a structure as large as a man's head, at the top of which there is a small, cup-shaped depression. In these dainty structures the eggs are laid, lying like gems in the bottom of the cups, and here the little ones are hatched. Some of them look more like bugs than birds when they first come from the shell. The method of feeding the young is mostly by regurgitation; at least such is the habit of the Ruby-throat, and no doubt many others of the family follow the fashions of the Humming-bird land. The process is as follows: The parent bird thrusts her long bill far down into the throat of her bantling, and then, by a series of forward plunges that are really terrible to witness, the honey food is pumped from the old bird's craw into that of the youngster. So far as is known the babies enjoy this vigorous exercise and suffer no serious consequences from it."

CHRISTMAS TREES

FRED. A. WATT

OUR Christmas tree is a relic of the old heathen times and came down to us as a part of the Yule festival. It seems to have originated in Germany and can be traced back as far as the year 1604 with certainty, and as it was an established custom at that time it is evidently much older.

How the early man conceived the idea is open to dispute, but in my opinion it is due to an old superstition which has some believers even to this day. It is said that any maid who is not kissed under the Mistletoe at Christmas will not be married during the year following. I have no doubt that the anxiety of the young ladies to be always found under the Mistletoe on that day has led to the profuse green decorations, from which it is only a step to the Christmas tree.

It was introduced into the Court of St. James in 1840 by Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Cobourg, and the custom spread rapidly through the aristocratic families of London and was almost immediately adopted by all classes throughout England.

It was introduced into the court at Paris in 1830 by the Duchess of Orleans and is now a French custom.

It seems, however, that in our own country it has taken deepest root. Here, by reason of the democratic nature of the people, it may be said to be distinctively American, as the German who first introduced it undoubtedly became an American citizen long ago and his successors are probably numbered among our best citizens even to the present time. Our people of all nationalities have adopted it and we find it installed in our churches, our family gatherings, our schools, and private clubs. Our nineteenth century inventor has even tried to change it into an affair of cast iron, through whose hollow trunk and branches gas pipes are conducted and gas jets among the branches take the place of candles. One of the results of all this is that the demand for Christmas trees and Christmas greens has grown to enormous proportions in our larger cities and furnishes employment during the latter part of September and through November and December to a number of people who make a business of gathering the gay green branches and transporting them to market.

While traveling through the southern part of Maine a few years ago, I was struck by the symmetry and beauty of a tract of Evergreen Trees and remarked that they would make good Christmas trees. I afterward found that such was likely to be their fate, as men who make a business of "clam-whopping" and fishing during the summer months turned their attention during the fall to the business of gathering these trees and shipping them to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.

In looking the subject up to determine what became of all these Trees I found an industry which I had not dreamed of. I find that the Christmas greens for New York City were first shipped from Keyport, N. J. That as the demand for them assumed larger proportions the raw material was exhausted in that neighborhood, but the inhabitants having become interested in the business, and finding it a source of profit, have continued to advance into the surrounding country, little by little, until now they are gathering Spruce from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, Princess Pine from Vermont, White Pine from Michigan and even Wisconsin, Laurel and Holly from the South, and in fact they can now gather only Balsam on the home grounds in paying quantities.

In addition to the above-named evergreens, quantities of Ground Pine, Cape Flowers, Fir, Hemlock, the plants of the Club Mosses, berried Black Alder, Quill Weed, and Mistletoe are sought out and gathered wherever found and shipped – the Christmas trees to New York where they lie piled up by thousands along West street facing the dock lines, for several weeks before the holidays, and the other greens to Keyport and vicinity where they are made up into stars, anchors, crosses, wreaths, hearts, triangles, horseshoes, and miles of roping for decorative purposes.

For the entire length of Monmouth county the families within a mile of the bay shore are nearly all engaged in the business of making these decorations at this season. Four miles from Keyport is the town of Keansburg which now surpasses the former place in this industry. Neighbors are referred to as "making" or "not making" and numbers of new faces appear in the town, attracted by the industry from the north, south, and west. The wages paid are not high but anyone who can "make" can always find a position during the busy season.

The small villages along this strip of country now present a pretty appearance. The houses are almost hidden behind stacks of evergreens of all kinds. A peep into a detached summer kitchen will disclose a group of girls gathered around a long table piled high with evergreens, and at first glance they appear to be principally engaged in pleasant conversation, but you will not have to watch them long before you are aware that their busy fingers are turning out Christmas decorations at an astonishing rate. Or, if you should happen to look in at night, you might see the tables and evergreens pushed to one side and gay groups of girls and young boat-builders, oystermen, and fishermen engaged in a lively neighborhood dance.

Materials other than evergreens are used in this industry to a considerable extent; laths are used to make frames for the stars and crosses. Willows are gathered in quantities from the marshes with which frames for wreaths are made, but the trade in rattan is probably the most benefited, as nothing else will give such satisfaction in making the frames for hearts, anchors, and other decorations of this kind.

The completed decorations are shipped to New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, but not to Chicago. In Chicago we find a different state of affairs. We are so near the evergreen forests of Wisconsin, where Christmas trees may be had for practically nothing, that the cost of transportation alone from New Jersey would be greater than the price realized would amount to.

Numbers of hulks of condemned vessels lie in and around Chicago which are practically worthless. These boats are taken in the fall by seamen who are out of employment up along the Wisconsin coast and there loaded with evergreens, are brought back to the Chicago river and docked, and lie there until the load is disposed of to the holiday trade. The decorations are mainly manufactured in the city in the store-rooms of the dealers.

That the business of bringing these trees down from the north is not without serious danger and hardship is evidenced by the wreck of the schooner S. Thal, which occurred off the coast near Glencoe, Ill., a short time ago, in which five lives were lost. Five lives yielded up that our children may enjoy an hour of pleasure!

Do they ever think of the cost?

A WINTER'S WALK

Gleamed the red sun athwart the misty hazeWhich veiled the cold earth from its loving gaze,Feeble and sad as hope in sorrow's hour —But for thy soul it still hath warmth and power;Not to its cheerless beauty wert thou blind;To the keen eye of thy poetic mindBeauty still lives, though nature's flowrets die,And wintry sunsets fade along the sky!And naught escaped thee as we strolled along,Nor changeful ray, nor bird's faint chirping song.Blessed with a fancy easily inspired,All was beheld, and nothing unadmired;From the dim city to the clouded plain,Not one of all God's blessings given in vain.– Hon. Mrs. Norton.

THE SILK-WORM

THE Caterpillar, or Silkworm, is at first of a dark color, but soon becomes light, and in its tints much resembles the perfect insect – a circumstance common in Caterpillars. Its proper food is the Mulberry, though it will likewise eat the Lettuce, and some few other plants, on which, however, it does not thrive equally well, and the silk yielded is of a poor quality.

The Silkworm is about eight weeks in arriving at maturity, during which period it changes its skin four or five times. When about to cast its skin it ceases to eat, raises the forepart of the body slightly, and remains in perfect repose. In this state it necessarily continues for a time, in order that the new skin, which is at this time forming, may become sufficiently mature to enable the Caterpillar to burst through the old one. This operation is performed thus: The forepart of the old skin is burst; the Silkworm then, by continually writhing its body, contrives to thrust the skin back to the tail and disengage itself; this is difficult, however, since it is no uncommon occurrence for them to die from not being able to free themselves.

When full grown the Silkworm commences spinning its web in some convenient spot, and as it does not change the position of the hinder portions of its body much, but continues drawing its thread from various points, and attaching it to others, it follows that after a time its body becomes, in a great measure, enclosed by the thread. The work is then continued from one thread to another, the Silkworm moving its head and spinning in a zig-zag way, bending the forepart of the body back to spin in all directions within reach, and shifting the body only to cover with silk the part which was beneath it. In this way it encloses itself in a cocoon much shorter than its own body. During the time of spinning the cocoon the Silkworm decreases in length considerably, and after the work is done it is not half its original length. At this time it becomes quite torpid, soon changes its skin, and appears in the form of a chrysalis. In this state the animal remains about three weeks; it then bursts its case and comes forth in the imago state, the moth having previously dissolved a portion of the cocoon by means of a fluid which it ejects. The moth is short lived; the female in many instances dies almost immediately after she has laid her eggs; the male survives her but a short time.

China was the first country in which the labors of the Silkworm were availed of, and Aristotle was the first Greek author who mentions it. It was not until the fifteenth century that the manufacture of silk was established in England. The raising of Silkworms in the United States has been attempted with success in the Southern States, and especially in California. As the Silkworms in Europe are affected by disease, immense quantities of eggs are sent from this country.

Reeling from the cocoons is only performed in countries where the silk is produced. In plain silk-weaving the process is much the same as in weaving wool or linen, but the weaver is assisted by a machine for the even distribution of the warp, which frequently consists of eight thousand separate threads in a breadth of twenty inches. The Jacquard loom, invented by a weaver of Lyons, has been the means of facilitating and cheapening the production of fancy or figured silks to an extraordinary extent.

The Pan-American delegates during their tour through this country were presented with silk flags by the Woman's Silk-Culture Association of Philadelphia. The flags were made from material produced in the United States.

The eggs from which our photograph was taken are "live eggs," and if properly handled will hatch out in the spring. In order to bring about this result care must be taken that they do not become too warm; freezing will not hurt them, but heat or dampness will cause them to hatch or spoil.

Forty thousand eggs weigh about one ounce, and when hatched will produce about one hundred pounds of fresh cocoons.

ANIMALS' RIGHTS

That there is pain and evil, is no ruleThat I should make it greater, like a fool.– Leigh Hunt.Never to blend our pleasure or our prideWith sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.– Wordsworth.

A GOOD man," said Plutarch, "will take care of his Horses and Dogs, not only while they are young, but when old and past service."