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THE WONDER WORLD
OF BIRDS
by Marie Neurath
Birds, with their lively singing,
bright plumage and graceful
movements are a_never-failing
source of interest and curiosity to
children. A walk through the
spring woods or a visit to the zoo
releases a flood of questions.
Where does this bird build its
nest? How does that one sleep at
night? Where have those birds
been all the winter?
The answers to questions of this
kind are given here in the form of
true stories about the lives and
habits of birds of many lands:
These birds with no nests hatch
eggs on their feet—The tailor bird
stitches a cradle of leaves—The oe a
fishing party of the pelicans—
When the cockatoo watchmen
sound the alarm—The umbrella
town of many nests—Preparing to
fly six thousand miles— When the
hedge sparrow hatches the
cuckoo’s egg.
Marie Neurath’s simple, direct
text and gay one-idea-at-a-time
pictures appeal not only to the
children; soundly based on
thorough research, they will also
satisfy the discerning parent.
ALL AGES
See back flap for other titles
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See bTHE WONDER WORLD OF
BIRDS@ ISOTYPE SET AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY GRAPHIC
REPRODUCTIONS LTD LONDON — COPYRIGHT 1953 Max Parrish London
LIST OF CONTENTS
The Biggest Birds of All 5
Beaks which are Slender, or Strong, or Sharp 6
How Each Willow Warbler Wins a Place of His Own 8
Choosing a Mate to Share the Nest 10
The Dance of the Ruffs 12
The Umbrella Town of Many Nests 13
The Tailor Bird Stitches a Cradle of Leaves 14
Painters and Decorators: The Bower Birds 15
He Shuts up His Family to Keep it Safe 16
These Birds with No Nests Hatch Eggson Their Feet 18
When the Hedge Sparrow Hatches the Cuckoo’s Egg 20
Protecting the Young Ones Before They can Fly 22
Hatching the Brush-Turkey’s Eggs 24
Some Strange Ways in which Birds Sleep 25
Diving Birds which Live by the River 26
The Swift-Flying Falcon which Soars and Swoops 28
When the Cockatoo Watchmen Sound the Alarm 30
The Fishing Party of the Pelicans 32
Preparing to Fly Six Thousand Miles 34
Arrows of Geese that Fly from the North 36
The Biggest Birds of All
{
Not all birds are like those we see and hear in our gardens. All
over the world strange birds with strange habits are to be found.
Look at these ostriches. They cannot sing and cannot fly. They
are swift, powerful runners, twice as heavy as a man.Beaks which are Slender,
or Strong, or Sharp
Humming birds are often
no bigger than a man’s finger.
With beaks like curved needles
and long, slender tongues,
they can sip the nectar
from flowers, just as bees do.
The woodpecker uses
his chisel-like beak
to bore holes into
the solid wood of
growing trees.
With head upside-
down, the flamingo
fills his beak with mud.
Through spines in his
beak, he sifts out
small water creatures
which he can eat.Here is another bird whose bill The macaw’s powerful beak
sifts food, Can you see why it can crush nuts which a man
is called a spoonbill? would needa hammer to crack.
In its big, striped beak, the The vulture’s beak can strip
puffin carries several fish at the flesh from a dead animal’s
once to feed its young ones. bones and leave them white.
How Each Willow Warbler Wins a Place
of His Own
In March the willow warbler
= cocks leave sunny North
Africa and fly northwards to
a bushy thicket in Europe.
That part he claims
as his own. His song
warns the rest to
stay out or he will
fight them.The willow warbler hens,
which begin their long jour-
ney a little later than the cock
birds, arrive a week or so
afterwards.
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She flies to his part of the wood and
becomes his mate. She builds her nest
nearby and lays her eggs; then she and
her mate rear their family together.Choosing a Mate to Share the Nest
In early spring the cock and hen treecreeper live in separate
trees. The cock sings his song to the hen.
After a while
the cock bird
searches for grubs.
When he finds one
S he takes it to the hen.
If she accepts, the two will become mates and live together.
10a>
From a distance, the male and female grebe wave their crested
heads at one another. Then they swim closer and touch beaks.
Sometimes they twine their long necks together.
The cock frigate bird puffs his
chest out big, to show what
a fine fellow he is, -
and waits for a mate.
IlThe Dance of the Ruffs
Ruffs have large outdoor gatherings at
whi ch the males show
off their fine ruff-feathers, The females, or
reeves, stand by.
ms,
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The males s pread their ruf
f-feathers and make rushes at
each
oth er. Some are driven away. Th
e others win the reeves.
12The Umbrella Tow n of Many Nests
The sociable weaver birds of
South Africa build huge um-
brella-shaped “towns” in the
boughs of a tree. When they
have made the “ thatching”
from bits of coarse straw, they
tunnel into it from beneath to
make many separate nesting
chambers.
13The Tailor Bird Stitches a Cradle of Leaves
The tailor birds of India and
China make a cradle of leaves
to hold theirnests.
They choose
two or three big, fleshy leaves
hanging side by side and make
a row of tiny holes round the
edges with their beaks.
4
Then they find bits of hairy
stuff and draw them through
the holes to hold the leaves to-
gether. Each “ stitch” has to
be made separately. Inside the
cradle they build a soft, woolly
nest for their eggs.
uaePainters and Decorators: The Bower Birds
Using twigs for the base and long sticks for the walls, these
Australian bower birds are building their playground.
When it is finished, they paint the inside with juice from berries
and arrange shells, flowers and feathers round it.
He Shuts up His Family to Keep it Safe
The hen hornbill of India makes her nest and lays her egg inside
a hollow tree. The cock helps her to seal up the entrance witha
plaster made from the bark of a tree and saliva, leaving only a
small slit. Then, for weeks, he searches for food and feeds his
imprisoned mate through the slit.
16
When the young one hatches out it is helpless, and the mother,
who loses most of her feathers, cannot protect it. But inside
the prison no harm can come to it from monkeys or hungry
snakes. When the time comes to break down the “wall,” the
father is thin and tired, but his family are well fed and safe.
17These Birds with No Nests Hatch Eges on
Near the icy South Pole, where they live, there are no twigs or
grasses for building cosy nests. The mother penguin rests her egg ga
on her webbed feet where it is covered by a pouch of skin and
kept warm. Father also takes his turn at carrying it.
The young birds, hatched out at the end of winter, are small
with soft fur-like coats. But, well fed by their parents, they
soon grow and get their first fluffy feathers. By next winter they
are big and strong enough to face the biting cold.
18
——————————— leTheir Feet
sea, using their wings as paddles and steering with t heir tails.
SS)Protecting the Young Ones
Before They can Fly
When her owlets are in
danger, the mother owl takes
them one at a time in her
strong beak and, flying silent-
ly across the night sky, carries
them to a safe place.
Although small, the mistle-
thrush will attack and drive
away any bird which threat-
ens her young ones, even if it
is as big as this magpie.
22The ringed plover builds a
rough, almost flat nest on a
a | lonely part of the seashore.
gat
y Her chicks are coloured
if Wy . rather like the rocks and
IR f stones about, and it is not
a \/ WE. 3Y at all easy for an enemy to
S\/. oo Te see them. \
\/ eee a
Sl oe e®
a °be @ePe ene is ex. VV
- 2° \/
@ °-\/ oe &
When the dog is far from the nest she flies back.
23Hatching the Brush-Turkey’s Eggs
pile
Brush-turkey cocks, which
live in eastern Australia,
build a huge pile of dead
leaves and grass where the
hens lay their eggs.
Once the eggs are laid, the
hens fly away. The cock
birds cover the eggs and
stand guard over them,
leaving the heat of the pile
to hatch them.
When the shells break, the
young chicks already
have
their feathers. Within an-
hour or so they can
fly
away.
28Some Strange Ways in which Birds Sleep
The little grebe falls asleep
floating on the water.
Head tucked under wing, the
wren sleeps perched on a twig.
The treecreeper presses beak, The marabou goes to sleep
toes and tail to a tree-trunk. standing on one leg.
2)Diving Birds which Live by the River
Below the bough where the young kingfishers sit is a tunnel.
There they were brought up in a nest made of fishbones.
When they grow up they make their own tunnels, and live
always by the river. They watch the water patiently, then
suddenly dive. In a flash they catch a fish and are out again.
26
These two grebes both carry their young ones on their backs.
A falcon comes, and both must protect their chicks. The crested
grebe, neck held over her babies, hides in the reeds. The little
grebe dives like a submarine, her chicks clinging on.
The Swift-Flying Falcon which Soars and
These young peregrine falcons
live high up on a mountain. Their
mother, from a tall rock, watches
over them. Their father, back
from hunting, brings them food.
When they first try to fly, a fall from such a great height would
mean death, Sometimes the mother stays nearby, watching.
28Swoops y,-)
/ The grown falcon is a master of
flight. He soars high above his
prey, then swoops, killing it in-
stantly with his sharp claws. After
it has fallen he retrieves it and
carries it off.When the Cockatoo Watchmen Sound the
—Alarm
A few fly there as watchmen to make sure there is no danger.
The watchmen, seeing all is well, have given the “safety ”’ call.
They sound the alarm and the flock fly off to the wood.
The Fishing Party of the Pelicans
Pelicans fish in groups. Wading shorewards in line, they drive
the fish into shallow water and catch them in their beaks.
32
The pelican stores many fish
in the big pouch of skin under
its beak. The baby, not big
enough to go fishing, feeds
from the pouch.
33Preparing to Fly Six Thousand Miles
In June, the parent swallows built
their nest under the eaves,
In July, their first family of chicks are learning
to fly.
The parent birds go back to
their nest and rear a second
brood of chicks.
The first family, almost grown
up now, fly away.
34The second brood stay with The first, with others, then fly
the parents until September. _ off to warmer lands.
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Parents and babies go later. They may fly 6,000 miles (from
Alaska to Brazil, or England to Africa) with only short rests.
3D)Arrows of Geese that Fly from the North
Soon after the swallows go, arrows of wild geese fly south from
the Arctic. Wherever we live there are interesting birds for us
to watch, all the year round.
36
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The Wonder World
of Nature
To the unsophisticated eyes and
minds of children the living world
around us is a world of wonder.
The animals, birds and insects of
field and hedgerow, the trees and
flowers of wood and garden, the
shells and fishes of the seashore all
evoke the sharpest curiosity. The
Wonder World of Nature series is
designed to foster this interest and
delight by relating many of the
marvels of living things in words
and pictures that young children
can understand and enjoy.
ALREADY PUBLISHED
THE WONDER WORLD
OF ANIMALS
Teeth that fell trees, paws that
build dams—A lonely giant
becomes a servant—The strangest
animal of all—Forest animals too
young to climb—The battle to be
leader of the herd—It looks like a
mouse, it flies like a bird.
THE WONDER WORLD
OF INSECTS
The parasol ants which grow
mushrooms--Keeping the cattle
on an insect farm—The weaver
ants whose children spin—The
still watch of the fighting mantis
The insect lamp which shines in
the dark The slave ants which
feed their masters.
Ready soon
THE WONDER WORLD
OF THE SEASHORE
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