Feathers cover a bird’s body and no other animals have them. According to many scientists, birds developed from reptiles millions of years ago. So, reptiles’ scales became feathers. Tiny hooks hold together the feathers on a bird’s body. At least once a year birds are molting. Feathers are very important to survival. Different kinds of feathers have different purposes. Straight, stiff feathers give birds their ability to fly. Tail feathers help with steering, balance, and braking. Small, fluffy feathers, keep a bird’s body from getting too cold or too hot, and its skin from getting wet.
People in many cultures decorate hats, clothing, and jewelry with colorful feathers. Feathers are also good filling for clothing and pillows for softness and warmth.
The owl’s feathers are designed in such a way that their flight is noiseless. This allows birds to hunt in the dark.
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Rabbits and hares are mammals with long ears. Hares have longer ears and longer legs than rabbits. There are about 28 species of rabbit and about 30 species of hare. They have short tails, large eyes, strong teeth, and sensitive noses. Many hares turn white in the winter. Rabbits’ coats are the same color year-round. Hares and rabbits can be found on all continents, except Antarctica.
Rabbits live together in warrens. A female makes a warm and deep nest to keep the babies safe. Little rabbits are born blind and helpless and stay with their mother for about three weeks. Hares don’t build warrens. Their homes are shallow holes that they dig in the grass, under trees, or in brush heaps. Hares may have two to three babies each year. The newborns have open eyes and can hop within minutes.
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Watermelon is an annual herbaceous plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. Its fruit is the largest berry. It can be spherical, oval, flattened or cylindrical. The rind is from white and yellow to dark green with a pattern in the form of bands and spots. Its flesh can be pink, red, white and yellow.
The native land of watermelon is South Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Cape Province, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-Western Province, North Cape). The cultural and wild watermelons originate from a common ancestor – perhaps Citrullus ecirrhosus, which grows in the Kalahari Desert and is an important source of water for Bushmen.
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The oranges along with lemons, limes, grapefruit, and tangerines, are citrus fruits. The first citrus fruits probably grew in the tropical regions of Asia, especially in the islands of Southeast Asia. Today oranges are grown in India, Africa, the Mediterranean regions, the Americas and Australia.
The orange is a round fruit with a fragrant, leathery, oily peel and juicy flesh. It grows on beautiful trees that stay green throughout the year. Orange trees have glossy, green leaves and small white flowers. The branches often have small thorns. A tree bears fruit for 50 to 80 years or even longer.
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Ikebana as an art formed about six centuries ago. Compositions began to be created by masters not only in temples, but also in the palaces of the emperor and the nobility for various events.
Japanese Ikebana (literally flowers kept alive) is a lot more complex than just flower arrangement. There are many schools and Ikenobo, Sogetsu and Ohara are the most popular.
Ikenobo is the oldest school of ikebana, founded by Buddhist priest Ikenobo Senkei in the 15th century. He is thought to have created the rikka (standing flowers) style. This style was developed as a Buddhist expression of the beauty of nature. The school is based in the Rokkakudo temple in Kyoto.
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A dragon is awesome, reptilelike beast. It appears in the folklore of nearly every country. Dragons prowled the earth, devoured hapless villagers, received periodic sacrifices of young maidens, spread terror into the hearts of all, and were thwarted only by courageous knights. For years, children have been read tales, seen motion pictures, and heard songs of reluctant dragons, kindly dragons, affectionate dragons, magic dragons, and timid dragons.
The image of the dragon in world mythology appeared already during the Sumerian culture. It’s hard to say what caused the birth of an amazing creature – whether something like that existed in fact, and then died out with dinosaurs and mastodons, or an ancient man wanted to connect heaven and earth, and then a mysterious beast emerged from the depths of the imagination.
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Most of the birds of the parrot family are known for their colorful feathers, noisy calls, and curved beaks. They are among the world’s most popular pet birds.
The tiniest parrot is the pygmy parrot, which is only 8 centimeters long. The largest member of the family is a type of macaw that can be as much as 100 centimeters long.
Their unusual feet help them climb trees and grasp their food. Parrots eat mainly seeds, nuts, and fruits.
Parrots are found in most tropical regions of the world, especially in rainforests. These birds can live for 30 to 50 years.
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