Today's Quotations – JOY:

Central America
Complicated Relationships

Because life in the tropical jungles is severe and dangerous, many different relationships between and among animals and plants. One such relationship is an involved one with oropendolas and the giant cowbirds.

The oropendolas are bird black, crow sized birds with a loud cry that sounds as if it comes from under water. They build very elaborate hanging nests. These nests are pendulous objects that hang from the branches of trees. They are up to four feet long and shaped like elongated gourds. The oropendola will deposit two eggs,a usual clutch, in each of the nests.

The giant cowbirds of Central America build no nests of their own. They scatter their eggs in the beautifully constructed nests of the oropendolas, usually after the oropendola has deposited the first egg of the normal clutch. The presence of the cowbird egg inhibits the oropendola from laying another egg of her own. The cowbird egg hatches before the oropendola egg. The cowbird chick is aggressive and older and deprives the oropendola chick of some of its food. Clearly, the oropendola is the looser in this arrangement.

The actual situation is, however, much more complicated. There are two distinct behaviors exhibited by the oropendolas. In some colonies, the male oropendola will drive the female cowbird away before she deposits an egg. If, in this behavior, the cowbird is successful in depositing her egg, the oropendola will destroy the cowbird egg before it hatches. The other behavior, exhibited in some oropendola colonies, the oropendolas do not prevent the cowbird from laying her eggs. The oropendola dutifully raise the young, parasitic cowbird chick as their own.

What is the reason for the two distinct behaviors? The question was answered by the observations of Neal Smith. After years of studying colonies of the oropendola in Panama, he was able to solve the mystery of the giant cowbird that parasitizes the nests of the oropendolas. Smith learned that the major cause of mortality of the oropendola chicks is the larvae of botflies. The oropendola chicks are born without a protective downy coat, and the flies lay their eggs directly on the skin of the newly hatched chicks. The larvae eventually burrows into the young birds flesh and kills the chick. Now the situation becomes very complicated. Botflies do not like to be around wasps and bees. They will not be found near a swarm of buzzing bees. The colonies of oropendolas that live near bees and wasps will prevent the hatching of cowbird eggs in their colony. They are not bothered by the botflies due to the presence of the bees or wasps.

In the colonies of oropendolas where the cowbird chicks are not prohibited from hatching it was discovered that the young cowbirds themselves control the botflies. Like all adult birds, the adult oropendolas make no effort to preen the their young. The lively baby cowbirds preen their oropendola nestmates. They snap hungrily at any tiny moving thing. The baby cowbirds gobble up the botflies and their larvae, thus providing protection for the baby oropendolas.

God in his wisdom has provided a complicated, but very successful way of protection for the oropendolas. The cowbirds are a threat to the survival of the oropendolas, but they are less a threat than the botflies. Given the choice between botflies and cowbirds, the oropendolas choose the cowbirds. If wasps or bees are present there is no danger from the botflies and the oropendolas will not tolerate the interloping giant cowbirds.

Tomorrow another look at an interesting relationship
 This one between an ant and an acacia tree.

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."

Joseph Addison

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Q. How did Adam and Eve Feel when expelled from the Garden of Eden?

A. They were really put out.

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Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived
in Eden?

A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.

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Joe the lawyer died suddenly, at the age of 45. He got to the gates of Heaven, and the angel standing there said, "We've been waiting a long time for you."

"What do you mean," he replied, "I'm only 45, in the prime of my life. Why did I have to die now?"

"45? You're not 45, you're 82," replied the angel.

"Wait a minute. If you think I'm 82 then you have the wrong guy. I'm only 45. I can show you my birth certificate."

"Hold on. Let me go check," said the angel and disappeared inside. After a few minutes the angel returned. "Sorry, but by our records you are 82. I checked all the hours you have billed your clients, and you have to be 82..."

From Lorne Strang

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A tourist in Vienna is going through a graveyard and all of a sudden he hears some music. No one is around, so he starts searching for the source. He finally locates the origin and finds it is coming from a grave with a headstone that reads:

Ludwig Van Beethoven
-----1770-1827-----

Then he realizes that the music is the Ninth Symphony and it is being played backward! Puzzled, he leaves the graveyard and persuades a friend to return with him.

By the time they arrive back at the grave, the music has changed. This time it is the Seventh Symphony, but like the previous piece, it is being played backward. Curious, the men agree to consult a music scholar. When they return with the expert, the Fifth Symphony is playing, again backward. The expert notices that the symphonies are being played in the reverse order in which they were composed, the 9th, then the 7th, then the 5th.

By the next day the word has spread and a throng has gathered around the grave. They are all listening to the Second Symphony being played backward. Just then the graveyard's caretaker ambles up to the group.

Someone in the crowd asks him if he has an explanation for the music.

"Don't you get it?" the caretaker says incredulously. "He's decomposing!"

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A spokesperson for the U. S. Mint announced that a new fifty-cent piece was being issued to honor two great American patriots. On one side of the coin would be Theodore Roosevelt and on the other side, Nathan Hale.

Asked why two people were going to be on the same coin, the official replied, "Now, when you toss a coin you can simply call, 'Ted's or Hale's'."

AdamsCathy@aol.com

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Browsing in a nursery, I overheard a young couple contemplating the purchase of a blooming plant. The wife obviously wanted the plant, and pleaded for her husband's approval. But he was quick to cite the recent demise of a similar flower she had owned. Nodding her head in agreement, she continued down the aisle. When she was a safe distance away from him, I saw the young man lean over the flowerpot and whisper, "You don't know how lucky you are."

AdamsCathy@aol.com

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TRUE FACT ...

Humans begin laughing at two to three months of age. Six year olds laugh about 300 times per day, while adults laugh from 15 to 100 times per day.

SOURCE: NYT, Dr. William F. Fry, Stanford University

Corduroy pillows: They're making headlines!

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~ The Grape Stem ~

Once upon a time there was a little grape stem. This stem was so glad to be alive ...She drank water and minerals from the soil and grew and grew She was young and strong and could manage quite well ... All by Herself But then, the Wind was cruel, the rain was harsh, the snow was not one bit understanding, and the little grape stem suffered She drooped, weak and suffering.

It would be so easy to stop trying to grow, to stop trying to live. And the grape stem was poor! The winter was long, and the stem was weary.

But then the little grape stem heard a voice. It was another grape stem calling out to her ... "Here, reach out ... hang on to me." But the stem hesitated. "What would this mean?" she thought For you see, the little stem had always managed quite well, ... All by herself.

But then, every so cautiously, she reached out towards the other grape stem. "See, I can help you" it said. "Just wind your tendrils about me and I will help you lift your head." And the little stem trusted ...and suddenly she could stand straight again.

The wind came ... and the rain ... and the snow, But when it came, the little grape stem was clinging to many other stems. And although the stems were swayed by the wind ... and frozen by the snow, They stood strongly united to each other. And in their untired strength ... they could smile and grow.

And then, one day the little stem looked down and saw a tiny stem, swaying, frightened. And our little grape stem said, "Here, hang on ... I will help you." And the other stem reached up to our grape stem... And together all the stems grew ... Leaves budded ... flowers bloomed ... And finally, grapes formed And the grapes fed many.

Author Unknown