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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1956)
Is That So? These are the nights when the mystery is compounded: mammals, birds and insects are again making their fantastic an nual migrations, mostly by dead of night. These nocturnal trips, under taken even when the moon is dark, the stars are cloud-covered and the ground is hidden by fog, are unexplainable. Consider: a mother tern arises in the night, disappears in the fog bank, flies to the water and within a few hours returns from her gyrations over the sea with a crop full of fish to disgorge to her ravenous, clamorous young. Mind, return ing through darkness and fog to the exact square foot for there are countless other nests near by, most containing equally clamorous, ravenous young. As snow moves down the sides of the Rockies with the coming of winter, so too do the elk herds move down little by little each night to winter-feed in the bot toms. In Canada's northland, lemmings may be making their suicidal westward drive, on and on, again mostly by night, down the valleys, through the tundra, past the spruces, all in one mighty frantic rush. Not one will come back; but the popula tion will start again almost from scratch parented by a few stay-at-homes. . i'rom somewhere in Central America, no one knows where the cotton worm moths fly by night to arrive in our southern states and after breeding for several disastrous generations, fly on again by night to the north reaching as far as Canada in such numbers as to slow traf fic. Of these millions, not one survives. Bst Migration But greatest of the mamma lian overland migrators is that of some of the bats which both feed and migrate at night. They go trippingly, stopping here and there, over day and eating and drinking on the wing. But the most amazing migra tions of all if no more than reckoned in numbers and kinds are our birds. Of the migrants, the majority are night flyers, among them being shore birds, rails, flycatchers, orioles, most of the great family of sparrows, wood warblers, vireos, wrens, thrushes, in fact almost every one of the small birds. With some of these night fly ers, adults depart first to be fol lowed in a fortnight or so by the By EUGENE BURNS Ranger-Naturalist young-of-the-year who have con cealed within themselves full -directions for joining their par ents in the southland. Why fly by night? Perhaps be cause their vision is limited by night. If they were to migrate by day, settle in early evening and rest for a short time before starting to eat, the night would be upon them and they would be shut off from their food sup ply of seeds, fruits, insects, and little fish. Physical exhaustion without the lift of a full stomach would be fatal. So, night-feeding insectivorous birds such as night hawk add whippoorwill migrate by day; and day-feeding insecti vorous birds, such as phoebes and flycatchers migrate by night. Migration Speeds Vary How fast are these migrants? They vary. A lone goose tracked by radar for 90 minutes aver aged 35 miles an hour. Radar has proved another thing: until recently it was believed that most migrants flew at about 15, 000 feet. In flying over moun tains, radar shows that they may exceed even 20,000 feet but im mediately after they have crossed, they tend to descend to their normal traveling altitude which is well below 3,000 feet. In crossing oceans, many fly only a few feet over the waves, apparently in an effort to avoid adverse winds. The moon, of course, is a great help in observing bird move ments at night. By fixing on its light, an observer equipped with a telescope or field glass can see the silhouetted migrants. Unlike their daytime flockings, now most seem to rest in the early evening, spiral upward and strike out in the proper di rection well after dark. In fact, the greatest number are migrat ing by midnight. Before dawn most settle down to rest before daylight. With light, they feed preparing for their next hop. (Copyright, 1956, x by Eugene Burns) (Released by McClure News paper 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 question on nature and wildlife a complete 30-volume set of this world-famous refer ence work in a handsome Seal craft binding. Each week, new questions will be considered. Sorry, I simply can't answer your many friendly letters. Please address vour questions to: IS THAT SO! c'o Medford Mail Tribune, Box 575, Sausa lito, Calif. Klamath Falls 1U.R) About 200 Klamath basin lumbering workers will be out of work for an indefinite period beginning tomorrow when KalDine Ply- ' wood Company shuts down. READ What the Editor of the Ashland Tidings Has to Say About Tom Reeder Reprint from Issue of October 20 The results of a preferential poll taken among members of the Jackson County Bar association to de termine their opinion on the candidate best qualified for the office of district attorney reflects most favor ably on Thomas Reeder, the Democratic nominee. Mr. Reeder received 36 votes while the incumbent Walter Nunley, candidate for re-election on the Re publican ticket, received 15. The ballot was conducted by secret vote with almost all members of the legal profession in the coun ty sending in their ballots so the result may be accept ed as fully representative of the opinion of members of the Jackson County Bar association. This perferential poll, with its very conclusive vote in favor of .Mr. Reeder, is likely to have consider able bearing on the decision reached by many voters who have not yet made np their minds on how they will vote for district attorney. It indicates that a sub stantial majority of the members of the legal profession in this county do not believe that Mr. Nunlev has done a good job as district attorney and that they feel the office would be better conducted under the direction of Mr. Reeder. There are. In the bar. as in any profession, groups and cliques and undoubtedly some of the attornevs tak ing part in the preferential poll have tangled with the district attorney in court. This could account for some opposition to his re-election, but certainlv not for the preponderance of opposition shown by the ballot. Mr. Reeder, who has made several visits to Ash land in behalf of his campaign, has made an excellent impression with those he has called on and he is likely to pick up a good many Republican votes in this end of the county for his evident sincerity impresses those he contacts. ELECT A Responsible District Attorney THOMAS J. REEDER SEE, HEAR TOM REEDER TONIGHT KBES-TV - 7:30 Paid Adv. Jackson County Democratic Central Committee fmiKIMil HmkWtWIIliM , .1 ll lllNI r L.v li taw" I 1 K'' , i 1 .'!' SPECIAL VALENTINE Actress Jeanne Crain gets a special "Steve Canyon" type valentine from cartoonist Milton Caniff. Caniff made the drawing in Washington, where he was ap pointed by the Treasury department to the cartoon eommittee of the President's People-to-People campaign. "Steve Canyon'' appears in the Mail Tribune daily and Sunday. Comijiunify Solves Protection Problem Houston, Tex. (U.R Hunt ers Creek, a pint-size commun ity west of Houston with only one paid policeman, has solved its problem of getting police calls at all hours without straining the taxpayers' pocketbooks. Marshall Parker, the one-man police force, now pushes a but ton on a recording machine. "Help!" comes a yoice from the machine. "A dog is digging up our flowerbed." The voice adds a name, address and tele phone number. " "Somebody just knocked down our mailbox with a brick," com plains another voice. And an other: "Someone just stole the hubcaps off my car." And anoth er: "I want to make a com plaint . . ." Parker listens to all the voices, takes down the names and calls the people back. "Sometimes a voice will add 'urgent' and I take right off for that address," Parker explained. Here's the way it works: Incoming calls are answered mechanically and a voice tells the caller Parker is out but will be back in a few minutes. Then the caller is asked to state his problem, name, address and tele phone number. Friday, October 26, 19S6 MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE THHEB Products, Services Fair Due in Chicago Chicago UP.) A Chicago fair featuring exhibits of products and services created in the Chi cago area will open in the Inter national amphitheater early next June, it was announced by John W. Evers, Association of Commerce head. The fair is also designed to acquaint young people with the job and career opportunities in the Chicago area. Thomas H. Coulter, chief exec- AL LITTRELL'S 36 Years of dealings With the people of Jackson County have given him a keen insight into the problems of our area. Pd. Adv. Al Littrell for Rep. Comm. utiye officer of the Chicago As sociation of Commerce and In dustry said conservative esti mates show that five years from now Chicago will need 513,000 new workers. He said that much of the in dustrial expansion will be due to increased shipping activity after the St. Lawrence Seaway is completed. Use Tribune Want Ada DON'T JUST SIT THERE Wander around, see and enjoy the Dome Observation Lounge, the Redwood Cocktail Lounge and the glamorous Astra Dome Diner. In spacious luxurious Pullman or economical Coach accommodations your pleasure is assured. y if E I J1l Call or writ CITY OF PORTLAND TO CHICAGO w UNION PACIFIC FRED LINGENFELDER, GENERAL PASSENGER AGENT 751 Pirtock Block Phone CApitol 7-7771 Portland 5, Oregon A beoofiftf Ww of Chevy's bo.'rf mw gWiit. Tfi.f h thm Bet Ait 2-Doo Sedoa with Body by fishar, of court. HERE IT COMES AND HOW IT GOES ! New tryiing that wins going owoyf ff'i thm fit' Arr Sport Smdon ont of 20 beautiful w Chevrofafi. '57 CHEVROLET-SWEET, SMOOTH & SASSY ! Now Chevy brings yoi a bold new departure in design, plus a velvety new V8, new Triple-Turbine Turboglide automatic drive, and even fuel injection! Come see it! Chevy .is the real astonisher this year . . . packed brimful of big surprises. Like the new Turboglide automatic drive with Triple-Turbine take-off (an extra-cost option). Or the wide new choice of engines including a new V8, fuel injection, and Chevrolet's famous .six with horsepower options ranging up to 245. Like the bold front end that combines bumper and grille in one beautiful unit, the 14-inch wheels for lower, softer riding tire pressures, the scores of smart details like the ventila tion air intakes that cap the headlights. There's too much to list here ... so come see it all for yourself 1 engine also available al extra cost. Also Ramjet fuel injec tion engines with up to 283 h.p. in Corvette and passenger car models. Ninth and Bartlett Streets Only franchised Chevrolet dealers AtiXw display this famous trademark CMEW&dDILIETr Phone 2-6115 Medford
