October Twenty-fifth
Grebes are expert swimmers and divers. Before the invention of smokeless powder, the adult birds could easily dive at the flash of a gun and were beneath the surface of the water when the shot struck. On land these duck-like birds push themselves over the ground on their breasts, or waddle along in a very awkward manner. They cannot rise from the ground, and even when rising from the water they must flutter over its surface for a long distance before they are able actually to take wing.
October Twenty-sixth
A strong aversion for snakes prevails with many of us. Most people think that the majority of snakes are poisonous. In reality the only dangerously venomous snakes in the United States are the rattlesnakes (fourteen species), the moccasin, and the copperhead, and they are not so aggressive as is generally supposed.
October Twenty-seventh
How often the osprey or American fish-hawk is mistaken for an eagle! The fish-hawk is the only hawk that will poise in the air and then plunge into the water for its prey. Unlike the kingfisher, of which of course it is no kin, it carries its food in its talons instead of in its beak. In captivity it may be confined in an aviary with pigeons, quail, and other defenceless birds, and will not molest them.
HORNED GREBE.
Winter Plumage.