Diver: 7 Facts About

       A diver is a water bird related to the grebe. The name is commonly applied to any bird that is a skillful diver.

7 Facts About The Diver:

1. The true divers live chiefly in the Arctic regions, that come south in winter. 
2. The great northern diver and the red-throated diver are the most common species. 
3. The former has a white breast and a black back and wings, marked by white spots that present a checkerboard appearance, while the head and neck are glossy black and green, the latter with a collar of white streaks. 
4. The red-throated diver is duller in its coloring. 
5. In Scotland this bird is called the rain goose, while in the United States and Canada the great northern diver is generally called the loon. 
6. The loon migrates as far south as the Great Lakes, and most of the small lonely interior lakes of that latitude have one or two pairs of loons a season. Their cries are peculiarly noisy ones, some of their notes resembling rough, jeering laughter. 
7. If suddenly startled, especially when they have young in charge, they go through the most astonishing antics on the surface and below the water, trying evidently to distract the attention of an enemy.

More About Diver Birds From The Web:

• Bird Protection of Quebec
• Grebe diving for food under water by Pang Quong

Eider Duck

       The eider duck is a species of duck found both in America and Europe. The birds abound in Norway and Iceland, where their favorite haunts are solitary rocky shores and small islands. The eider duck is about twice the size of the common duck. The male is for the most part black, but has a white back and head, with a black crown. The female is reddish, and spotted with black, and has two white bands on the wings. The nests are usually formed of drift grass and dry seaweed and are lined with down, which the female plucks from her breast. Eider down because of its warmth and lightness was in great demand many years ago for beds and coverlets. One female produces about half a pound of down.

More About Eider Ducks from The Web:

• Nesting Eider Ducks on The Coast of Iceland
• The Unusual Markings of Male Edier Ducks 
• Royal bird visit "King Eider Somateria Spectabilis Praktejder

Frog: 14 Fun Facts

A variety of frogs from a 1892 print.

       A frog a small, tailless animal, belonging to the same class as toads, newts and salamanders. 

14 Fun Facts About Frogs:

1. These creatures, the amphibians (which see), start life as water animals, and in a mature state can live both on land and in water. 
2. Frogs differ from toads in having teeth and in possessing a less bulky body than their near kin (see Toad).
3. Frogs are common in all parts of the world except Australia and South America.  
4. There are many species, and they inhabit widely different regions, but usually prefer swampy places and the shores of lakes and streams. 
5. The young frog, which is known as the tadpole, bears no resemblance to the parent. 
6. It has neither mouth nor limbs, but has branching gills and a long tail, with which it swims about. 
7. Its body looks like a roundish lump of dark jelly. 
8. But soon the mouth develops, the gills disappear and. as the days go on, the hind legs appear. 
9. The fore legs follow, the tail is gradually absorbed and thus the animal changes into the frog. 
10. It is an interesting transformation which any person may observe, if he will keep a few of the tadpoles where he can see them daily.
11. The mature frogs breathe by lungs and cannot live in water without coming to the surface for air.
12. They swim with great rapidity and move by long leaps, being able to jump many times their own length. 
13. In the tadpole stage, frogs live chiefly on vegetable matter, but the mature frog lives on insects, slugs, snails and the like. 
14. The flesh, especially that of the hind legs of certain species, is considered very choice food, and in France, particularly, frogs are bred for the market in large numbers.

More About Frogs From The Web:

• Frog Eggs and Tadpoles
• 3 Reasons Why Frogs Are So Important to the Ecosystem

sub-phyla of the Chordata: animals with a notechord.

Cardinal

A nesting pair of cardinals by Jo Alwood

       The cardinal or redbird, a showy North American finch, with fine red plumage and a crested head. A black patch is conspicuous on each side of the bill. The cardinal whistles beautifully, and his clear, ringing note is a great favorite, especially in the Southern states, where the bird is often kept in captivity.

       The birds are found in Southeastern Canada and in Eastern United States from New York to Florida. They are permanent residents of certain districts south of the Ohio River, and have been charmingly written about by James Lane Allen in his Kentucky Cardinal. They are easily tamed, and in city parks often learn to come to the call of people, who feed them with nuts.

More About Cardinals From The Web:

• Cardinal Rule - Keep Feeding FYV
• Bird of the Month - Northern Cardinal
• Mr. Cardinal Wants His Peanut!

Ferret

       The ferret is a flesh-eating animal, closely allied to the polecat, about fourteen inches in length, of a pale yellow color, with red eyes. It is a native of Africa, but has been introduced into America and Europe. It cannot, however, live long in a cold climate. Ferrets are used for hunting rabbits and for killing rats and mice. They rarely devour the animals which they attack, but kill them and suck their blood. Their slender bodies enable them to enter burrows, but unless muzzled the ferrets are apt to leave their victims behind after sucking their blood.

More About Ferrets From The Web:

• Ferrets are Funny Than Cats and Dogs
• Black-footed Ferret vs. Prairie Dog
• Adorable Ferrets! A Big Mosstake

Eland

       Eland, the Dutch name for a large African antelope. It is the size of a full-grown horse. The animal is hunted for its hide, which is used for harness, and for its flesh, which is suitable for the table. It is gentle and easily captured, and consequently is threatened with extinction.

Africa's largest antelope, the eland by PHALANX47

Dormouse

Dormice are becoming rare.

       A dormouse is a small rodent, common in Europe, its name means "sleepy one." These little animals inhabit temperate and warm countries and subsist entirely on vegetable food. Their pace is a kind of leap, but they have not the activity of squirrels. While feeding, they sit upright and carry the food to the mouth with their paws. The dormice pass the winter in a torpid state, reviving only for a short time on a warm, sunny day, when they take a little of their hoarded stores and then relapse into sleep. Among the different species are the fat dormouse and the garden dormouse.

More About Dormice From The Web:

• 10 Things You Didn't Know About Dormice
• Dormice are thriving in Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserves
• Dormice In Danger!