Dipper

       The dipper, a remarkable little singing bird, closely related to the thrushes, but resembling the wrens in appearance, especially in its up-tilted tail. It is covered with very close, water-proof plumage and lives about streams, often in the vicinity of waterfalls, into which it dashes in a perfectly fearless manner. At times it goes entirely through a cascade and finds in the crevices of the rocks back of the water, dry places where it can build its dome-shaped nests and rear its young. The dipper is a rather dark bird with a white breast, and as it moves about it jerks its tail upward and bobs its head downward. There are several species of dippers found in Asia, northern Europe and the high regions in the western parts of the United States and Canada.

Flounder

       The flounder is one of the most common of the flat sea fishes, found along the shores  of almost all countries. The body, which is extremely flattened at the sides, has the upper side dark and spotted and the under side white. Both eyes are on the upper side; and one is set lower than the other, giving the face a twisted appearance. The flounder is esteemed for its flesh.

Facts About Flounders by Deep Marine Scenes.

Duck-Billed Platypus

Platypus by the river's edge.

Platypus rolled up.

       The duck-billed platypus also called ornithorynchus, the lowest of the mammals, a peculiar creature, living in the quiet streams of Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. It is about twenty inches long, rather slender and covered with brown hair. Its head is small  and instead of a nose it has a horny bill, resembling a duck's with nostrils, however, at the extreme end, enabling the animal to breathe with only the tip of his bill out of the water. The male  has on each heel a sharp, horny spur, which he uses for defense. Duckbills usually live in large colonies in the banks of streams, each pair inhabiting its separate burrow. The food consists chiefly of insects and worms, which the animal comes out to get at night. On land, duckbills walk about very clumsily on their short legs and webbed feet, but in water they move very rapidly.

More About Platypus From The Web:

• The Strange Platypus
• 7 places to see platypus in the wild
• Rare platypus at San Diego Zoo

Paper Church Silhouettes

       These paper cuts or silhouettes of the front and back of a church, plus stained glass windows would look lovely in any Sunday School. I've restored them for students and teachers, enjoy.

• Find more stained glass windows to color at Color The Bible
• Craft stained glass windows from melted crayons

Egret

       Egret, the name of a species of wood herons. The feathers on the rear part of the bird's back are long, reaching to the end of the tail, and even beyond at certain seasons. They are more beautiful than the feathers of the common heron. The American egret is about thirty-seven inches long, has soft plumage, a smooth head and twelve trailing feathers. It is one of the most beautiful of the native birds. In the past, the egrets have been so much hunted for their white flowing plumes, which women wear for ornament, that they were endangered. Laws now prohibit the wearing of egret feathers.

More About Egrets from The Web:

• The Great Egrets of Missouri
• 10 Egrets and Herons Found in North America

The Great Egret During Nesting Season 

by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Fish

       Fish. Among the vertebrates (back-boned animals), the fish are lowest in order of intelligence, but among the most important from an economic standpoint. From earliest historic times men have used the flesh of fish as food, and today there is hardly a country in the world whose people do not include it in their diet.

How to fish swim in harmony? by TED-Ed

19 Characteristics of Fish:

1. Fish constitute the class Pisces, which is divided into about 13,000 species. 
2. All are back-boned animals, living in water. 
3. Notwithstanding the numerous species, fishes show a remarkable uniformity in appearance, for the greater number have elongated, compressed bodies, tapering toward both ends, with paired fins to take the place of limbs. 
4. This form of body is well adapted to meet the pressure of water. 
5. The body is generally covered with scales or bony plates, though a few species lack such covering.
6. With the exception of a small family of fresh-water fish, which possess both lungs and gills, fish breathe wholly by means of gills, which are designed to extract oxygen from the water.
7. They have cold, red blood, which is pumped through the system after being purified by passage through the gills. 
8. The backbone is composed of vertebrae, and is so loosely jointed that the body can be turned and bent freely in all directions. 
9. Fish possess in their air bladder, or swim bladder, an organ peculiar to themselves, which they are able to fill or empty at will. This bladder enables the fish the ability to control their buoyancy.
10. The skeletons of some families of fishes are not of bone, but of a strong, thick cartilage.
11. Geological investigations show that there have been many thousands of species of fish now wholly extinct, but those that survive are distributed throughout almost all the waters of the earth. 
12. Those in temperate or tropical waters are more brilliantly colored and strikingly marked than the inhabitants of colder waters. 
13. In most species the colors increase in intensity and beauty during the breeding season, much as the plumage of a bird grows bright. 
14. Some fish feed on both animal and vegetable matter, others are flesh-eaters, and some eat only vegetable food. 
15. They reproduce by eggs, these being laid in shallow water. 
16. The eggs are usually left uncared for, though some species, like the stickleback, gather the eggs in nests and protect and care for their young. 
17. Millions of eggs are laid by a single fish, but the young are preyed upon by so many enemies that relatively few survive. 
18. In size fish vary from tiny minnows, an inch or so in adult length, to man-eating sharks thirty-five feet long. 
19. Whales (which see) are mammals, though they bear certain resemblances to fish. 

More About Fish from The Web:

• Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium
• Tennessee Aquarium
• St. Louis Aquarium
• Chicago Aquarium
• National Aquarium

More About Fish from Our Blogs:

• "F" is for fish" alphabet coloring page
• Color these fish in a bowl

Falcon: 8 Fun Facts

A falcon is a hawk famous for its strength, symmetry and remarkable power of flight.

8 Fun Facts About Falcons:

1. Its claws are sharp and hooked, its short, stout legs are heavily feathered and its curved beak is armed with a sharp point. 
2. The peregrine falcon was the one most used in hunting game (see below), but there are several other species that are almost equally powerful and graceful. 
3. The Greenland falcon is one of the best-known.
4. Falconry, or Hawking, is the pursuit of game by means of trained falcons or hawks. 
5. The birds are trained to seize tlieir prey and return with it to their masters. 
6. In the Middle Ages falconry was the favorite sport of princes and nobles; and, as ladies could engage in it, it became very prevalent.
7. In France it reached its height under Francis I, whose grand falconer had under him an establishment of fifteen nobles and fifteen falconers, costing annually about 40,000 livres. 
8. In Britain it was practiced among the Anglo-Saxons, but grew still more in favor after the Norman Conquest, only to decline in the seventeenth century, when firearms came into general use. However, it has never wholly died out in Europe.

Paul Manning talks about the art of falconry.