Tag: NYPLDG

I used to see and hear nighthawks with some regularity here at Schloss FatChance, but it has been several years since I’ve observed one in the neighborhood. Tonight, just as dusk was closing in, I heard that old familiar sound of a nighthawk on the wing, hunting insects high overhead in the last light. I hope it means they are back to stay.

Image: John James Audubon’s rendering of nighthawks (Chordeiles minor), from Birds of America, 1840. From the New York Public Library Digital Gallery. 

You can hear a recording of the common nighthawk’s distinctive peent call by clicking here. 

According to blissandzen , orb-weaving spiders use the radial threads of their webs for travel, which is why they aren’t sticky like the spiral threads.

I’m sure there’s a former graduate student out there somewhere who gave years of her life nipping apart spider webs to analyze the chemical structure of the various web components. Thank you, anonymous unheralded scientist.

And thank you, blissandzen!

Image: Illustration from an 1860 edition of Harper’s Magazine, from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery. 

According to blissandzen , orb-weaving spiders use the radial threads of their webs for travel, which is why they aren’t sticky like the spiral threads.

I’m sure there’s a former graduate student out there somewhere who gave years of her life nipping apart spider webs to analyze the chemical structure of the various web components. Thank you, anonymous unheralded scientist.

And thank you, blissandzen!

Image: Illustration from an 1860 edition of Harper’s Magazine, from the New York Public Library Digital Gallery. 

Ye Pirate Bold. Illustration by Howard Pyle, 1903. 

The inscription reads: "It is not because of his life & adventure and daring that I admire this one of my favorite heroes; nor is it because of blowing winds nor blue ocean nor balmy islands which he knew so well; nor is it because of gold he spent nor treasure he hid. He was a man who knew his own mind and what he wanted. Howard Pyle"

From the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.  

Ye Pirate Bold. Illustration by Howard Pyle, 1903. 

The inscription reads: "It is not because of his life & adventure and daring that I admire this one of my favorite heroes; nor is it because of blowing winds nor blue ocean nor balmy islands which he knew so well; nor is it because of gold he spent nor treasure he hid. He was a man who knew his own mind and what he wanted. Howard Pyle"

From the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.