Show A FEATHERED GHOST what Is supposed to have been an iguls falaus proves to be a luminous horon heron san francisco Tran Pran cuco cisco some years ago bald said an old hunter 1 I wai was spending a few weeks with a friend in one of the southern states who waa was particularly fond of hunting and find is as a natural consequence wo we passed nearly every day either with the rod or pun gun or both my friend was an old southern planter who had bad a highly big lily developed I 1 W 1 I 1 I 1 li lc i I 1 41 1 1 I 1 1 liking for coon hunting hunti ng at night a pastime which I 1 did not especially enjoy but I 1 pretended to on big his account one night after we had bad been after coons my companion and host boat 1 proposed that wago we go home by a certain tx 1 path which would lake take ua us ly by a cera marsh rah where we thought we might fee pee a possible deer ilia colored boy followed with ith a rifle and we soon reached the eide side of the pond where we pat fat down to enjoy a smoke and wait a while for the possible jeer weba we had d been there ten minutes I 1 should judge when the boy touched my arm and told me to look in iua a certain direction I 1 could see nothing and told him film BO so in trembling tone he then said that the place was haunted by a man who had been murdered there and that he be saw the ghost or spirit flut fluttering terin g about 1 I wanted to laugh out at the boyi boyn evident fright but fust just as I 1 was about to reply I 1 caught a glimpse of a light gleam fleaming plea ming irig in the marsh or on the be water and then it moved bee see dat marsel marse whispered the to terrified darkey ita its a firefly I 1 answered mighty big firefly the boy and I 1 thought so mydell as the light appeared to be as large as a mans closed palm perhaps it Is an ignie fatrus 1 I 1 suggested what asked the boy in a whisper the ignis fatute I 1 repeated stifling a laugh was he a white man marsel marse again asked the trembling attendant who a white mani man I 1 said 11 aby dis mr matchus Fat chus my 1 laugh a ugh evidently startled the light i a as g it t disappeared is appeared for a few moments then reappeared it cant be a boat there remarked my friend as the mud is within eix six inches of the water suppose p you try a shot at it he added ac acting ting upon n his suggestion I 1 t took ok the gun and aiming at sit the spot which was so bright I 1 could see the sight eight against it fired the discharge was followed by a number of weird sounds coming from animals which were alarmed then the light disappeared we heard heard a flattering sound and immediately something fell in the water near us and began to flop in shore your ghost is a bird sam I 1 said said to the boy and so it proved sam ran to the edge of the marsh coming back in a few moments with a good sized white heron the wing of which I 1 had broken the bird wag a savage fellow it its eyes gleaming like diamonds and its sharp bill a weapon that brought blood at every stroke I 1 took it from the boys hands and immediately noticed upon its breast a pale light spot at first I 1 thought it was my imagination but by holding it at a little distance there it was and no mistake a light pure and simple it was about as large as my fist and was the light we bad had seen in the marsh the colored boy was n now w convinced that something was wrong wrong and told us a story about the spirits of men going into birds but the heron was a very lively spirit and wounded us all before we got through I 1 examined the spot carefully and found that it was wag what is known as the powder down spot rqn seen on the breast 0 of I 1 many birds beneath the feathers waa was a yellow mass apparently of ekin skin which exuded an oily substance that covered toe feathers and probably produced the light which appeared brighter when seen at a distance 1 I killed the bird to edat gift it out of its misery and carried it home ome but the light soon disappeared and I 1 assumed that it was dependent upon the life of the bird 1 I made many inquiries among people round about regarding the light and found that several eld hunters huntera had been it and know that it was on the breast of the bird and later on I 1 observed the light again we crept up to the awa swamp m pone one warm and baw several 1 gleams dotting burbace eur Bur face which might well be taken for ignis batutis the birda birds were standing in shallow water occasionally moving A splash suggested that they were feeding as herons are well known to doat do at night and by shooting one I 1 found that such was the case what then wag was the nee use the light on the breast this difficult to answer but I 1 came to conclusion that it was a decoy it well known that fishes and animals are attracted by light and believe that the heron stands in water and that minnows and various various fish are attracted by it and a as swim up are gobbled up by the bird that light attracts fish is known the tile electric light when lowered beneath the surface is seen to surrounded by fish while a phosphorescent bait has been used with no little luccese cese tho the light on the bo herons breast is phosphorescent and while the writer has never observed fed it he has received from sever several a I 1 pr pir descriptions of it which would team reella to settle the question and that the powder down spots are luminous at times it is probably du due 0 to the decomposition of the oily secretion that is so prominent a feature of these spots in various b birds fact that a bird emits light is singular but some cf the higher are supposed to be more or less luminous at times deunger Ile Re unger a well known naturalist tells tha following curious story lie ile was on a hunting trip in south america traveling through a region in which there were many monkeys he ile was particularly interested in securing new now species and so indefatigable was he lie that be he worked day and night one eve evening ning wh while lie pushing through the brush he beard heard a noise near him and then caw faw what he supposed to be two large fireflies there was something eom ething peculiar about their appearance and as he lie looked it dawned upon him that he lie was gazi gazing ng at a pair of eves eyes that were ere like coals of fire they moved as h he moved and suddenly disappeared as II 11 I 1 the animal wa was turning away etwas it a night intensely inte neely dark and ove overcast 1 r el i so that there was not the slightest 11 9 h t t possibility of it being the gleam a ot of a cat the spot for a few moments he took aim and fired heavy body came crashing down from the branch a cry or series 0 of I 1 cries more than human followed and he pressed fur forward ward almost believing that be he had bad shot a man but instead a monkey the one known as or monkey the animal was not de dead 1 and the fiery gleam was still via visible b ille in its eyes presenting a most remarkable spectacle that man himself Is luminous certain conditions is an established fact some years ago a it woman rushed into the streets t a of rome from her home crying out to the passers that her mistress reas was on fire people followed her into t the house and to tha the room indicated and there found a a lady in dark surrounded not by fire but by a aeu rols of light which gave her a ghostly and sepulchral appearance investigation showed that the servant had been robbing her mistress when suddenly she noticed the peculiar light apparently patently ly emanating from her body and thinking that she alle was behrig being consumed bad had rushed out on t of the house jouse this instance was in all probability rob ability electric in other cases people eople have been seen to emit light ight and a welt well known case in an irish rish town excited no little comment the man being avoided bs by the tile people who going to bis his hut an and seeing the stran strange D light 0 about bis his 1 face ace in the o dark ab became e panic stricken the invalid would have died from neglect had not the case been call d to the attention of the medical fraternity of a neighboring city the phenomenon in this instance ine tanco was dug do to some soma disease from which the man was 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 L i A aias 11 I 1 I 1 P I 1 I 1 1 I 1 ferine faring many strange instances can be cited of light emitting among the higher animals which have eur par priced and astonished even tho troea eup UP posed to be familiar with euch such phenomena 0 F I 1 HOLDER |