Is That So?
Although most of us think of
birds as accomplished fliers, not
a few are masters of the water
magnificent divers and sub
surface swimmers. In fact, one
flightless penguin makes lone
submarine migrations, traveling
swiftly, and alternately diving
and leaping with the grace of a
porpoise.
Of diving birds, and there are
many, surely none can exceed
the gannet. From a height of
100 feet he may sight a "fish
dcrp in the turbulent water
no small accomplishments
suddenly close his wings and
plummet with the speed of a
falling stone.
Increases Velocity
Should a deep dive be neces
sary to catch the prey, the gan
ret will increase his velocity
by propelling himself down
ward with powerful wing thrusts
and then, the instant before he
strikes the water at around 100
miles an hour, close his wings
tightly. So great is the . force
of his dive that the momentum
will carry his streamlined body
downward 90 feet. In such a
power-dive, a gannet hit a board
six feet below the surface so
hard that its beak was imbed
ded and it broke its neck.
As the gannet is the unexcel
led diver, so surely the penguin
of the Antartic is the all-time
swimming champ of the bird
world. Its short legs trailing and
short paddle-like wings driving,
this expert can arrow through
the water at speeds exceeding
22 miles an hour faster than
most fish including trout.
The penquins underwater
speeds are great enough to shoot
him out of the water and on to
a ledge of ice five feet above
the surface.
There are other great swimmers
and divers among birds. Among
the best in both fields are the
loons, actually more at home in
the water than the air. So
smooth k their diving that they
can 'sink below the surface with
out leaving a ripple and once
below they can swim fast enough
to outmaneuver most fist. As
for the depth of their submarine
operations, they have been
caught in fishnets 180 feet be
low the surface.
Escape Under Water
Grebes, landlubbers as well,
excel in both entries. When pur
sued by canoe they usually pre
fer to make good their escape
by swimming under water. (A
remarkable feature of these un
derwater experts is that their
stomachs invariably contain a
ball of their own feathers. Even
baby grebes begin to swallow
bits of down as- soon as they are
hatched. The purpose? Perhaps
to act as a fish-bone strainer.)
Ducks are so much at home
in the water that we easily for
get that they are splendid fliers
mallards and canvas backs ex
ceed 50 miles an hour and the
green - winged teal has been
credited with speeds from 70 to
160 miles but the last figure)
surely, calls for a strong tail
wind. As for diving, the old
squaw duck of the Great Lakes
perhaps goes deepest for ducks
it has been caught in gill nets
150 feet below the surface.
For all these underwater
birds, special adaptations have
been made. To bear the shock of
its tremendous 100-mile-an-hour
power-dive, the gannet has de
veloped an extremely heavy
skull and tough neck. But that
isn't all. The breastbone is
strengthened by one of the
bones of the shoulder girdle be
ing tilted forward and the tis
sues of the breast contain large
"air cushions" air sacs which
are connected to the lungs and
can be emptied and filled at will
to lessen the shock of the im
pact. Its external nostrils can be
closed to hold out water.
All divers and swimmers are
waterproof copious amounts
of oil being secreted by oil
glands. So good is this proofing
that some birds like ducks can
tnpn r a whnlf nioht nn thf wat-
ci without so much as becoming
moist below the surface feath
ers. For that matter, the guil
lemot which spends almost its
whole life on the water will
even ride out the wildest of
ocean storms.
Feathers Resemble Scales
The oily feathers of penguins
which can be Dressed tight
against their bodies, resemble
scales much more than feathers,
quills being absent entirely.
With all these underwater ex
perts, as far as I know, legs are
placed far back on the body
where they can be trailed or
used like propellers. Most have
short legs, usually with big feet
By EUGENE BURNS
Ranger-Naturalist
in which toes are connected with
a web. Brought forward, the
feet close to flat blades; when
pushing they open wide like
paddles.
As for paddles, that under
water champion, the penquin.
has modified its wings once
used for flight to make side
saddles which it uses vigorous
ly. Several other birds such as
the puffin, cormorant and some
ducks also use their wings un
derwater to build up their top
speeds to overtake their prey.
Few underwater swimming
speeds have been clocked and
those may be far from top
speed: the -great crested grebe,
4.5 miles (man's best is 4.1) per
hour; the black shag, a cormor
ant, 12, the Magellanic penquin
13; the Magellanic flightless
steamer duck, 15; the blue pen
quin 18; and our champ, the
Gentoo penquin, 22.2 miles per
hour.
(Copyright. 1955, by
Eugene Burns)
(Released by McClure
Newspaper Syndicate)
Free: By special arrangement
with the editors of the Encyclo
pedia Americana, my panel of
judges will award each week
to the reader who sends me the
best true-life nature adventure,
or the best nature observation,
or the best question on nature
and wildlife a complete 30
volume set of this world-famous
reference work in a handsome
Sealcraft binding. Each week
r.ew submissions will be con
sidered. Sorry, I simply can't
answer your many friendly let
ters. Please address your letter
to IS THAT SO! co Medford
Mail Tribune, Box 575, Sausali
to, Calif.
Leever Motors Co.
Sold; Name Altered
Leever Motors company has
been sold to R. R. Parsons, Rose
burg, it was announced Satur
day. The long established Med
ford motor firm. 315 East Fifth
St., is the local Dodge-Plymouth
automobile and Dodge truck
agency.
Parsons is moving here from
Roseburg where for the past i
eignt years he has been a part
ner in Barcus Sales and Service,
Dodge dealers. The new Fifth
st. agency will be known as Bud
Parsons Motors.
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Leever and
Mr. and Mrs. Dick Leever are
planning to make their homes in
Phoenix, Ariz.
Mr. and Mrs. William Leever
and family plan to stav in Med
ford for a while, and he will re
main with Bud Parsons Motors.
Lakeview Uranium
Ore Above Average
Lakeview U.R) Bob Ad
ams, part owner of the "Lucky
Lass" uranium mine northwest
of here, Saturday said he had
received confirmation of his ore
samples.
Adams said the mines ore av
eraged 0.68 per cent uranium
when graded by the U. S. Bur
eau of Mines at Albany. This
was slightly higher than the av
erage recorded for the White
King mine, at 0.66, which touch
ed off a full-scale uranium hunt j
in the Augur Creek area two i
weeks ago.
State geologists have report
ed that the White King, oper
ated by John Roush and party,
produced high grade selected
samples rated at 1:37 per cent.
The average was considerably
lower, however.
More than 500 prospectors
were reported in the region, 14
miles from here.
Cushman Legislator
Injured in Accident
Redmond (U.R) State
Representative Earl Hill, 64, of
Cushman, was hospitalized here
today with a cerebral concussion
suffered in an auto accident on
the Sisters-Redmon highway
Friday.
Hill said his car skidded off
the road and tumbled down a
short distance into Deep Canyon
when a front tire blew out as
he rounded a curve. He was able
to crawl from the wreckage.
Hospital attendants said the
state legislator's condition was
not believed to be critical.
Dead line for Sunday Classified is
at noon Saturdav.
GRAIN WANTED
WHEAT BARLEY OATS
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NEW CLUES in mysterious disappearance of Stephanie Bryan, 14-year-old Berkeley Cal.,
schoolgirl are studied by Dr. Paul Kirk (left), University of California criminologist, as he
examines automobile owned by Burton Abbott (center). Purse belonging to missing girl,
books, and other personal belongings were found in basement of Abbott home in Alameda,
Cal. Police Lt. R. T. Sherry (right) uses tongs in handling articles dug up from basement
so as not to disturb fingerprints. Abbott is questioned by police. (International)
Sunday, July 24, 1955
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE CTYE.
Eagle Point Youth Escapes
When Horse Drowns in River
Bill Caldwell, 18, Eagle Point,
escaped uninjured when the
horse he was riding was washed
downstream in the Rogue river
near Union Creek recently.
Caldwell was on a fishing and
camping trip with Kenneth Bit
terling, 18, also Eagle Point, the
week end of July 4, when the
two attempted to ford Rogue
river near Natural Bridge. Cald
well's horse, which was the first
to enter the river, went into a
hole.
Washed Down Stream
Caldwell was washed down
stream and toward the river bank
where he escaped onto a rock.
The horse was unable to get out,
became lodged between rocks
near Natural Bridge and
drowned.
Bitterling did not cross the
river.
The horse was removed from
the river late last week. The
body had to be dynamited from
between the rocks, and was
pulled out downstream, where
it was buried.
Several tourists complained to
the county court about the horse,
members of the court said, but
removal of the horse was de
layed until the owner could be
located by forest service person
nel, who helped remove it.
The average depth of the Gulf
of St. Lawrence is 417 feet.
Use Mail Tribune Want Adt
Taipei (U.R) The Nation- j
aiist Air Force has added a new
wing of U. S. F84 Thunderjet
fighter-bombers, it was revealed
here yesterday.
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