0
Is That
Ever been tickled silly?
Then perhaps you know how
a bird may feel when it's anting.
Anting? you ask. What's that?
Anting is the placing of live
ants by the bird in its own wing
and tail feathers perhaps to aid
in its toilet, perhaps to stimul
ate it. And, somewhat as with
human tickling, the results are
o overpowering that the bird
seems transported into a state
of ecstasy in which fellow
it'
1-28-5-6
rivalry, domination and enmity
are often forgotten.
Strangely enough, as common
and clownishly funny as bird
anting may be, it took an observ
ant youngster, Peter Bradley, to
bring bird anting to the atten
tion of the world's bird experts.
And now, scarcely a score of
years later, thanks to him, it
is commonly recognized among
bird experts.
Watching starlings pick up
ants and stow them beneath
their wings, Peter reported this
at once to an authority on Aus
tralian birds, A. H. Chisholm.
0 Although doubting the boy's
eyesight, Chisholm in turn re
ported it in a bird magazine
and soon afterwards received
confirmation from bird observ
ers in four continents corrobor
ating the small boy's observation.
Because the performance is
usually extremely rapid it is
most difficult to follow . . . with
a resultant confusion among ob
servers as to just what is going
on.
Observer! Agree
But upon this, all observers
agree: the gyrations a bird goes
through in anting can be hil
ariou? to watch. To place the
ant under the wings, the tail
is sometimes brought so far
under and forward that the
bird steps on itp and then he
may tumble qver or even make
a complete somersault.
Among wild birds observed
taking this anting treatment,
q have been a flock of 30 gross
beaks essentially quarrelsome
birds taking turns, one at a
time, occupying a small two by
two-foot ant-occupied area; at
another time, a pair of starlings
settled themselves into an ants'
nest and then threw the ants
over their feathers with every
sign of solid enjoyment. Tame
jays, crows and thrushes have
been se$ too the latter some
times taking 25 minutes for the
ant-toileting. But more than
these, robins particularly seem
given to anting in one report,
a robin drove off a second from
the ant bed; and he was replaced
by a third who occupied the
favored spot for a few minutes;
and then the three birds took
"turn and turn about."
To make a thorough study of
this curious behavior, H. Roy
Ivor, a Canadian ornithologist,
scattered a shovelful of earth
containing several hundred ants
over part of the floor in his
aviary and then stretched out
on the floor close to birds at
times within 16 inches to watch
(Jheir reactions. (Some actually
anted in his cupped hand.) In
16 experiments, 20 to his 31
species anted.
Add these 20 species to 20
others which have been report
ed and wt have a total of at
least 40 species which antt
Pleasure Accompanies
With his laboratory study,
Ivor confirmed what others had
reported: the birds picked the
live ants up with the tip of
their bills and placed the ants
on the undersides of the primary
feathers of wing and tail. Evid
ently, great pleasure acconpan-
ied the act because the birds
often closed their eyes and re
, mained quiet, minutes at a time.
(A procedure not unlike that of
some humans when they have
their back scratched.)
Apparently, anting is instinc
tive: at least when young starl
ings and a baby dipper were
first presented with ants, they
promptly seized them in their
beaks and passed them through,
their feathers.
Why ant? -
Some bird experts say the
the ants crawling over the skin
stimulates it. Or, that the small
nipping the ants may do is ex
hilarating. Or, that the formic
acid ants give off is a skin
stimulant. Or, the formic acid
is a pleasing . odor. Or, it has
antiseptic properties. Or, the
ants rid the birds of parasites.
As for me, I'd just as soon
believe that it's a mild form
Buy
At
Builders Supply
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gy EUGENE BURNS
Rjnger-Nituralitt
of tickling or back scratching
the ants get at areas of the wing
and tail which the bird cannot
reach with beak or claw.
But whatever, this act which
was first called to 'the . world's
attention by a smal boy may
well remain an ornithological
mystery. And isn't that just as
well?
(Copyright, 1956,
by Eugene Burns)
(Released by McClure
Newspaper Syndicate)
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IS THAT SO! co Medford Mail
Tribune, Box 575, Sausalito,
Calif.
FORWARD PROTEST
Vienna, Austria (U.R) Austria
Friday forwarded a strong pro
test to Hungary over the viola
tion of Austrian air space by two
Communist jet fighters last Saturday.
Lawsuit Asks Grants Pass
To Be Declared Railroad
Portland (U.R) Federal
court here has been petitioned
by three Grants Pass business
men who want the city of Grants
Pass to be declared a railroad.
Some 40 years ago the city
built a" now abandoned 144
miles railway leading out of
town. The road was surrendered
to. the California and Oregon
Coast Railroad company and was
taken over by receiver C. H.
Demaray in 1925.
The federal court complaint
states the road was "revested" to
the city in 1952 "subject only to
the receivership and the obliga
tions thereof" by the Josephine
county circuit court.
While the road was abandoned
by the city in 1954, the com
plaint charges the abandonment
was illegal because it was with
out Interstate Commerce com
mission approval.
The S.H.&W. Lumber com
pany, Chapman Lumber com
pany and John Bakshas of
Grants Pass claim that abandon
ment of the line has damaged
them and forced them to use
trucks.
The city of Grants Pass as
serts, however, that it is not a
Sunday, January 29, 1958
t
railroad and has no legal liabil
ity to the businessmen.
Defendants, besides the city,
are the California and Oregon
Coast railway and Demaray.
SICN CONTRACT
Klamath Falls (U.R) A con
ract caling for a 4Vi per cent
wage increase and fringe bene
fits was signed Friday by rep
resentatives of Klamath Basin
Pine Mills Co. of Klamath Falls
and the - International Wood
workers of America local, ac
cording to Hal Geiger, union
business agent. The agreement
affects about 350 employes and
was similar to agreements reach
ed with five associations in the
fir industry.
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