Birds and Nature Vol. 11 No. 5 [May 1902]

The great herds are divided into families, each family led by a stallion who is sole ruler, taking the best of care of his subjects, but permitting no irregularity. These herds wander from place to place, usually running against the wind, and their keen sense of hearing warns them of approaching danger. The stallions do not fear beasts of prey and will sally forth against wolves and beat them down with their fore-hoofs.

The earliest representations of Horses and the fossil remains of the prehistoric animals show them to be of rather small size and not unlike the tarpans, suggesting the idea to some minds that the tarpans were the ancestors of the modern domesticated breeds, but the facility with which the Horse will resume its wild state makes opinions of little value.

The South American wild Horses, called “the wild Horse of the Pampas,” were all descended from a few domesticated Horses left in the town of Buenos Ayres, which was abandoned some time after the year 1535. These Horses are called cimarrones. They roam in immense herds and are considered a nuisance, as they consume good pasturage and also lead away the domestic Horses. The mustangs of Paraguay, although domestic Horses, vary little from the conditions of the wild Horses of the pampas, as they are much neglected, live out of doors all the year around and really degenerate for want of care.

A. von Humboldt gives an interesting description of the life of the Horse in the Llanos, the great grassy plains lying further to the north. When the never-clouded sun turns the grass to dust, the Horses and cattle roam about, pressed by hunger and thirst, and by inflating their nostrils endeavor to discover by the damper air currents localities where the water has not yet evaporated.

The Mules, using more intelligence, beat with their fore-feet the prickly exterior of the melon cactus and quench their thirst with the watery pulp.

When finally the rainy season begins, the Horses still meet with danger and trouble, as the swelling rivers surround their grazing places and the colts are frequently drowned. Jaguars often lurk in the tall grass and crocodiles are a constant menace. Even among the fish there are dangerous enemies. The electric eels “can kill the largest animals by means of their powerful discharges if their efforts are concentrated upon certain portions of the body.”

The Horses are often their own enemies. Becoming frantic with terror, in a frenzy of fright, they destroy themselves by dashing against rocks or rushing over precipices.

There is much that is interesting in regard to the half-wild Horses of North America. These are all descendants of imported varieties, and while owned by the various ranchmen, they have the freedom of the range or prairie. Ofter they are seen by their owners only at the annual “round-up,” when they are driven into the “corrals” in order that the colts may be marked with the brand of the owner.

One can spend much time studying the instructive facts in regard to the interesting wild and half-wild Horses of the globe, and still feel that much remains unlearned. Yet all will admit that the most beautiful and perfect types of Horses are those bred under the direct supervision of man.

Of those which attain the greatest speed, most prominent are the English thoroughbred, the American race horse, and the Trakehnen Horse, the finest Horse of German breed.

These are all the result of many years of careful selection, each finding among its ancestors the noted Arab steeds, “praised as the noblest animal of creation by the naturalist, the expert and the poet.” The Horses of the Levant and the Barbary have also aided to render the English thoroughbred the greatest race horse of the old world. The American trotters have not been behind, for as far back as 1889 the maximum recorded pace was one mile in two minutes and three and three-fourths seconds.

For the practical uses of life there seem to be as many breeds of Horses as are necessary to meet the varying requirements of an industrial civilization. We find all kinds and sizes, from the heavy and powerful Percheron or Clydesdale cart Horse, standing sometimes over six feet in height, to the smallest Shetland pony which may be even less than three feet at the withers, and we find Horses of various colors, of various lengths of mane and tail, and of varying degrees of intelligence.

While all Horses are not well treated, yet no animal is so respected and loved by man and no other animal has become so close a companion. While many nations as a whole have loved and cherished their Horses, the Arab steeds have been most appreciated and have entered closest into the daily life and thought of their masters. Only when it has attained its seventh year do they consider the education of the Horse complete and meanwhile it has been the constant companion and friend of its master.

In the extravagant and poetical language of the East, one Arab thus speaks of his beloved Horse: “Do not tell me that this animal is my horse, say that he is my son. It runs more quickly than the wind of a storm, more swiftly than the glance that sweeps the plains. It is pure as gold. Its eye is clear and so keen that it sees a hair in the dark. It overtakes the gazelle in its course. To the eagle it says: I hurry on like you. When it hears the shouts of girls it neighs with joy, and the whistling of bullets rejoices its heart. From the hands of women it begs for alms; the enemy it beats in the face with its hoofs. When it can run to its heart’s desire, it weeps tears. It recks not whether the sky be clear or the blasts of the desert obscure the light of the sun with dust; for it is a noble steed and despises the rage of the storm. There is no other in this world that could vie with it. Swift as a swallow, it courses on; so light is its weight that it could dance on the breast of your beloved and not annoy her. It understands all like a son of Adam, and all it lacks is speech.”

    John Ainslie.

A MELODY

Afar and near, afar and wide,
The murm’ring chant of a running stream,
Across the rocks to the brimming tide
Of the shining sea, its waters gleam.

Low in the beeches, hid from sight,
A robin is singing a song so sweet,
Its rapturous melody seems a flight
Of song from Heaven’s own azure deep.

O fateful river, now gleaming, now dark,
Like my checkered life of shadow and sun,
But always through it the song of my heart
Like the robin’s vesper, to God is sung.

But ever the river rolls along
With manifold crews of human souls;
And ever, the robin’s clear, sweet song
Is heard afar as the river rolls.

    – Amanda M. E. Booth.

THE VERBENAS

“Hallowed be thou, Vervain,
As thou growest on the ground,
For in the Mount of Calvary
There thou wast first found.”

The name Verbena in the language of flowers signifies enchantment. It is an ancient Latin name for a common European Vervain. As a classic name, however, the name Verbena was applied to any branch that was used in the celebration of religious rites. Though the Vervain of our illustration belongs to this genus it is not the same plant that was held in high esteem and as a sacred herb by the Greeks and Romans, yet it is generally believed that the “herba sacra” of these ancient peoples was a Vervain. And even to-day the name “Herb of Grace” is sometimes applied to the common wayside flower which we illustrate.

Virgil and other classic poets speak of the Verbena as used in altar decorations and as a garland for beasts led to the sacrificial pyre. Virgil, in his Eclogues, refers to it as a charm by which to recover lost love. Plinius states that no plant has been more honored than the Verbena among the Romans. Mr. Knight, in his biography of Shakespeare, says: “Some of the children said that a horseshoe over the door, and Vervain and dill, would preserve them, as they had been told, from the devices of sorcery.”

The genus Verbena includes about one hundred and ten species, often of a weedy character. They are chiefly American. In fact, in 1836, Loudon spoke of the Verbenas as “a genus of weedy plants.” At the present time this statement is not true of many species, for under the florist’s influence they have been brought to a high degree of perfection and they are well thought of as ornamental plants. Even in Loudon’s time there grew on the prairies of South America several species of great beauty which he would not have classed as weeds had he been familiar with them.

The Blue Vervain is one of the weedy members of the genus. It is common along our waysides and with its erect form and long spikes of blue flowers would be quite attractive could the flowers all mature at the same time. It has frequently been placed under cultivation, but has but little value as a garden flower. But in the waste grounds of roadsides it is a pleasing sight even if its leaves are gray with dust.

This plant is sometimes called Simpler’s Joy. It was given this name because in years gone by it was a popular herb with the “simplers,” or gatherers of medicinal plants.

THE BLUE SPRING DAISY

(Erigeron pulchellus.)

Daisy-like and modest, is not the name the Blue Spring Daisy much more appropriate for this hardy little plant than Robin’s or Poor Robin’s Plantain, by which it is often known? What has it to do with the robin? To be sure it sends forth its stems and blossoms in April when the birds are happiest, yet the robins appear much earlier. Then, too, the robins are not poor, for they are the best cared for among birds. Its flowers are often of a bluish cast, though they may be violet or even nearly white; they appear in the spring and are daisy-like.

The botanist knows this plant of the hills and banks as one of the species of the genus Erigeron. This name is indicative of one of its characteristics. It is from two Greek words meaning spring and old man. Old man in the springs or early old is an appropriate name, for the young plants are quite hoary and this hairiness remains throughout its life.

The Blue Spring Daisy is not alone, for it has about one hundred and thirty sister species widely distributed throughout the world, but they are more abundant in the Americas, nearly seventy of these occurring in North America.

This unassuming plant frequently grows in large patches, yet does not crowd its fellows; often it grows in localities which the more delicate and brilliant of the early flowers are wont to shun. This may have been the theme which inspired these lines of the poet:

I love the lowly children of the earth!
I linger ’mid their artless ways
To feel their kinship and their fragile worth,
And catch their speechless praise.

Though the species of Erigeron are coarse growing and unpretentious plants, they lend themselves readily to garden cultivation. They are easily propagated and make good borders, for they are much more beautiful when massed than when allowed to develop as single plants. The forms vary greatly in color – orange, creamy, white, rose, violet, purple and bluish illustrate the range of color. The yellow centers heighten the color effect.

The flowers resemble those of the asters and the Blue Spring Daisy might be mistaken for an Aster. But few of the Asters, however, blossom earlier than the month of August and none before July, and the Spring Daisy does not blossom, as a rule, later than in June.

Miss Lounsberry says: “What strange idea filled the pretty head of Robin’s Plantain when it decked itself out to look like an Aster we do not know, but its deception is very transparent and we readily discover that it is not one of the Asters.” May we not look upon it as the harbinger of the true Astors?

THE LITTLE FEATHERED BOYS AND GIRLS

In fragrant fields where graze the herds
And all along the old highway,
The boys and girls among the birds
Call each to each the livelong day.