THE LIBERTY STATUE AND THE BIRDS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1767, 15 February 1888, Page 3

THE LIBERTY STATUE AND THE BIRDS

("Leslie 1 * lliuo rved P.per. 1 ') The toroh-ba »ricg G iddeu of BedloeV I*Und, New York harbor, does n »t tri*n her hat with humming -birds, nor adon> h«r robe* witi the bright plumage oi fathered creatarei She m, aeveribele-s an lti<>oo«*Dt o»nie of death to a fc r e*i uany birds, of all a z>s sod colon, and representing ouweroui Bpeoleu witbon' iscrimin* ion The fatal instroment of dtftoj Md deatrooion ie the vast oluiter of eleoteto light* which ihe hold* aloft m her right hxnd, 300 ft above tha waters ot the »c* t aad wu »c powerful rays are visible to the human eye, at & d stance of neatly forty miles. Thii is \ha saa^n of migration ; and the number of winced waoderewof the air that d- ah tbeonelvee against the deceptive beacon, and fail back stonoed or d*ad, is almost incredible One morning, reoently, af'><r th> fist cold wave hud set the birds 1/ig •• irhward, tbe cffijtrs oq the is and picked op no le«e than 1375 do«ny htMt de"d bodies. Maoy of them were beautful creaiurci, end tie sight wta piifu There were am^ng them spto'mens «f more than one hundred distinct epeoieß The largest bird was a Canadian wood pecker, maturing thirteen inches from wi»m to wtng. Tbe smallest was an exqiisite little hamming bird, one inch long. A.n examination Droved that the heat of the li^ht h«d blind, d the unf»r innate creatures la nome oasns their' brains were nota*l!y roasted. 0 >mparatlvt>iy few of th»m were dashed to death, out nearly all were fatally burned »nd blinded There will, no doubt, be more. t» lesa vlotros ail through the season. Oolontel A. O. Twain, the commander of th* mi itary posr, does not dispose of. the bodi b to tbft miiineri, as he might JQ» Uvor* toienc'tn perferenoe to f tshlon, and lends the speolmana to the museums As ty tb» oeqasionnl g*m-birds, their d estfag is no doubt c«i rided to that P'M ioal kitchen taxidermist, the met* CUOtv