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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Nesting Time, by Olive Thorne Miller
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: In Nesting Time
+
+Author: Olive Thorne Miller
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25292]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN NESTING TIME ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robin Monks, Joseph Cooper, Leonard Johnson
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+IN NESTING TIME
+
+BY
+
+OLIVE THORNE MILLER
+
+[Illustration]
+
+BOSTON AND NEW YORK
+HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
+The Riverside Press, Cambridge
+1893
+
+
+Copyright, 1888,
+BY H. M. MILLER.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+_The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._
+Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company.
+
+
+_"Very few people have the least idea what wild creatures are like.
+Their notion generally is to shoot them, and then pick them up for
+examination; which is the same thing as if some being of superior race,
+seeing children at play, were to shoot a few at long range, and then
+turn them over and describe them and consider himself learned in their
+structure, habits, and appearance."_--JEAN INGELOW.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+The sketches of bird manners and customs in this little collection are
+the record of careful observation, and scrupulously true in every
+particular. The facts may not all be new to Science, but since they are
+genuine studies from life, and each bird whose acquaintance I make is as
+truly a discovery to me as if he were totally unknown to the world, I
+venture to hope that lovers of birds may find in these pages real, live,
+individuals in feathers, honestly "brothers of ours."
+
+OLIVE THORNE MILLER.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+I. BABY BIRDS                                                        1
+
+  Purple Crow Blackbird. _Quiscalus quiscula._
+  Redwing Blackbird. _Ageloeus phoeniceus._
+  Yellow-Throated Warbler. _Dendroica dominica._
+  Baltimore Oriole. _Icterus galbula._
+  White-Bellied Nuthatch. _Sitta carolinensis._
+  American Robin. _Merula migratoria._
+  Phoebe. _Sayornis phoebe._
+
+II. BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE                                  19
+
+  Great White Heron. _Ardea occidentalis._
+  Bald Eagle. _Haliæetus leucocephalus._
+  Wilson's Tern. _Sterna hirundo._
+  Ring Plover. _Ægialitis hiaticula._
+
+III. THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST                                        33
+
+  Mocking-Bird. _Mimus polyglottos._
+
+IV. A TRICKSY SPIRIT                                                65
+
+  Mocking-Bird. _Mimus polyglottos._
+
+V. THE "WISE BLUEBIRD"                                              95
+
+  Bluebird. _Sialia sialis._
+
+VI. THE GOLDEN-WING                                                113
+
+  Golden-Wing Woodpecker. _Colaptes auratus._
+
+VII. A STORMY WOOING                                               129
+
+  Orchard Oriole. _Icterus spurius._
+
+VIII. FLUTTERBUDGET                                                145
+
+  Brown Thrush, or Thrasher. _Harporhynchus rufus._
+
+IX. "O WONDROUS SINGERS"                                           159
+
+  Wilson's Thrush. _Turdus fuscescens._
+  Gray-Cheeked Thrush. _Turdus aliciæ._
+
+X. A BIRD OF AFFAIRS                                               173
+
+  Blue-Jay. _Cyanocitta cristata._
+
+XI. THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN                                             189
+
+XII. VIRGINIA'S WOOING                                             205
+
+  Virginia Cardinal. _Cardinalis cardinalis._
+
+XIII. FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS                                       221
+
+  Scarlet Tanager. _Piranga erythromelas._
+  English Goldfinch. _Fringilla carduelis._
+
+XIV. THE ROSY SHIELD                                               237
+
+  Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. _Habia ludoviciana._
+
+XV. THE BIRD OF MYSTERY                                            251
+
+  Birds of Paradise. _Paradisæa._
+
+
+
+
+BABY BIRDS.
+
+                        And oft an unintruding guest,
+      I watched her secret toils from day to day;
+    How true she warped the moss to form the nest,
+      And modeled it within with wood and clay.
+    And by and by, like heath-bells gilt with dew,
+      There lay her shining eggs as bright as flowers,
+    Ink-spotted over, shells of green and blue:
+      And there I witnessed in the summer hours
+    A brood of Nature's minstrels chirp and fly,
+    Glad as the sunshine and the laughing sky.
+
+    JOHN CLARE.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+BABY BIRDS.
+
+
+"Ears have they, but they hear not," may be said of all the world.
+Tragedies and comedies go on continually before us which we neither see
+nor hear; cries of distress and prattle of infants, songs of love and
+screams of war, alike fall upon deaf ears, while we calmly discuss the
+last book or the news from Borriboo-lah-Gha, as completely oblivious as
+if all this stirring life did not exist.
+
+To be sure these things take place in the "upper stories," as Thoreau
+says, but they are none the less audible, and one is tempted to believe
+that bird voices are on a scale to which the untrained ear is not
+attuned. Once learn to hear, and nature is full of life and interest.
+The home affairs of our little neighbors whose modest cottage swings on
+a branch of the elm beside the door are more attractive than those of
+our fellow creatures in the house across the way partly because they are
+so open in their lives that our attentions do not seem intrusive, but
+more because their ways are not so familiar. We can guess how men and
+women pass their time, but we cannot guess why the cat-bird always sings
+from the middle of one particular shrub, nor where he has hidden his
+dusky spouse and nest full of babies; and after we know him we are eager
+to discover.
+
+Upon reaching the charming home of a friend in Massachusetts last June,
+almost the first thing I saw was a pair of purple crow blackbirds in
+trouble. First arose a medley of queer husky tones, clamorous baby
+cries, and excited oriole voices, with violent agitation of the leaves
+of a tall elm, ending with the sudden exit of a blackbird, closely
+followed by a pair of Baltimore orioles. The pursued flew leisurely
+across the lawn, plainly in no haste, and not at all with the air of the
+thief and nest robber he is popularly supposed to be. Clearly the elm
+belonged by bird custom to the orioles, for their pretty swinging
+hammock could be seen partly hidden by leaves, about halfway up the
+tree, and what business other than that of marauder had the sombre-hued
+enemy upon it?
+
+Now the blackbird has no secrets in his life; the whole world is welcome
+to know his affairs, and in fact he proclaims them loudly himself. It
+was easy to see that he had anxiety enough of his own just then,
+without thinking of disturbing his neighbors, for he was engaged in the
+task of introducing his young family to the world, and every bird
+watcher knows that is attended with almost as many difficulties as is
+the same operation in what we call "society."
+
+If the youngster escape the dangers peculiar to the nest, the devouring
+jaws of squirrel or owl, the hands of the egg thief, being shaken out by
+the wind, smothered by an intrusive cow-bunting, or orphaned by the gun
+of a "collector;" if, neither stolen, eaten, thrown out, nor starved, he
+arrives at the age that his wings begin to stir and force him out of the
+leafy green tent of his birth, a new set of dangers meet him at the
+door. He may entangle himself in a hair of the nest-lining, and hang
+himself at the very threshold of life--a not uncommon occurrence; or he
+may safely reach the nearest twig and from there fall and break his
+neck--not a rare accident; he may be attacked by a bird who questions
+his right to be on the tree; he may fly, and, not reaching his goal,
+come to the ground, an easy prey to any prowler.
+
+In this blackbird family one of the little ones had taken his first
+ambitious flight to the oriole's tree, where he must and should be fed
+and comforted, in spite of the hostile reception of its gayly dressed
+proprietor. The father took upon himself this duty, and many times
+during the day the above-mentioned scene was reënacted, loud blackbird
+calls, husky baby notes, the musical war-cry of the oriole, and a chase.
+
+A second infant had wisely confined his wandering to his own tree, one
+of a group of tall pines that towered above the roofs of the village.
+This one could be easily watched as he stood on one branch for an hour
+at a time, sometimes in the nest attitude, head sunk in shoulders and
+beak pointed toward the sky, again looking eagerly around on his new
+world, turning his head from side to side, changing position to see the
+other way, and showing himself wide awake although the yellowish
+baby-down was still on his head, and his tail was not an inch long. Now
+and then the mother was heard calling in the distance, and as she
+approached he became all excitement, fluttering his wings, and answering
+in the husky tones of the family. A moment later, after a quick glance
+around, but without alighting and reconnoitring the whole neighborhood,
+as the robin does, she came down beside the eager youngling,
+administered to the wide open mouth what looked like two or three savage
+pecks, but doubtless were nothing worse than mouthfuls of food, and
+instantly flew again, while the refreshed infant stretched his wings
+and legs, changed his place a little, and settled into comfortable quiet
+after his lunch.
+
+The urchin in the enemy's tree was not the most unfortunate of the
+nestlings. One already lay dead on the ground under the nest where it
+had fallen, and another came down during the day, though happily without
+injury. This one was not very bright, or perhaps his baby wits were
+dazed by his sudden descent. He made no objection to staying in my hand
+as long as I liked to look at him, and when I placed him on a low
+branch, as a hint that it was safer there, he declined to accept my
+advice, but flew off and came to the ground again. He was a scraggy
+looking, rusty black little fellow, the most unattractive young bird I
+ever saw. Shortly after this he clambered up on a pile of brush about a
+foot high, without so much as a leaf to screen him, and there he stayed
+all day, motionless, being fed at long intervals; and there I left him
+at night, never expecting to see him again. But in the morning he
+appeared on a low shrub on the lawn, and about nine o'clock he took
+courage to launch himself on wing. He flew very low across the street,
+and dropped into the tall grass at the foot of a lilac bush. Why the
+parents considered that less safe than the open lawn I could not see,
+but they evidently did, for one of them perched upon the lilac, and
+filled the air with anxious "chucks," announcing to all whom it might
+concern--after the fashion of some birds--that here was a stray infant
+to be had for the picking up. Perhaps, however, the hue-and-cry kept off
+the quiet-loving cat; at any rate nothing happened to him, I think, for
+in a day or two the three young birds became so expert on wing that the
+whole family left us, and I hope found a place where they were more
+welcome than in that colony of house and orchard birds.
+
+Not so quiet in their ways are the babies of another blackbird
+family--the redwings; restless and uneasy, the clumsy little creatures
+climb all about the bushes and trees, and keep both parents busy, not
+only in filling their gaping mouths, but in finding them when the food
+is brought. They are always seeking a new place, and from the moment of
+leaving the nest show in a marked way the unrest, the impatience of the
+redwing family.
+
+Quite as erratic is a much smaller bird, the yellow throated warbler,
+whose baby ways I have seen at the South. One of these bantlings no
+bigger than the end of a thumb will easily keep its parent frantically
+busy rushing about after food, and hunting up the capricious wanderer on
+its return.
+
+The wood thrush, on the contrary, is patience itself. A youngster of
+this lovely family sits a half hour at a time motionless and silent on a
+branch, head drawn down upon his shoulders, apparently in the deepest
+meditation. When he sees food coming he is gently agitated, rises upon
+his weak legs, softly flutters his wings and opens his mouth, but
+never--never cries. Should one put a hand down to take him, as seemingly
+could be done easily, he will slip out from under it, drop to the
+ground, and disappear, in perfect silence.
+
+The cry-baby of the bird world is the Baltimore oriole. As soon as this
+fluffy young person appears outside of his nursery, sometimes even
+before, he begins to utter a strange almost constant "chrr-r-r." He is
+not particularly active of movement, but he cannot keep silent. One
+little oriole mother whom I watched in Massachusetts had no help in
+raising her brood, her mate spending his time on the upper branches of
+the tree. He could not be blamed, however; he was, so far as I could
+see, perfectly willing to aid in the support of the family, but Madam
+actually would not allow him even to visit the homestead. When the young
+were out he assumed his share of the labor. The first yellow-haired
+bairn mounted the edge of the nest one morning, and after a little
+stretching and pluming, tried to fly. But alas he was held! Two or
+three times he renewed the attempt, his struggles always ending in
+failure, and I feared I should see a tragedy. Half an hour later the
+mother returned, and whether she pushed him down, or merely advised him
+to go back and try again, I cannot say. The fact is that he did
+disappear in the nest, where he remained for two or three hours, for it
+is probably safe to assume that the urchin who came up later was the
+same. This time, without delay upon the brink, he climbed upon a twig,
+hopped about a little, and before long flew several feet, alighting on a
+small branch of the same tree. Hardly had he established himself safely
+and resumed his ordinary call, when down upon him from above came a
+robin, who, strange to say, had a nest in one of the upper branches of
+the same tall maple. This robin had always recognized the right of the
+oriole parents to their share of the tree, but the young one was a
+stranger, and he fell upon him accordingly. He knocked him off his
+perch; the unfortunate little fellow fell a few feet, then gathered
+himself, fluttered and caught at the outside of a clump of leaves on the
+end of a twig, where after frantic struggling he managed to secure a
+hold. Perhaps the robin saw his mistake, for he paid no more attention
+to the new-comer, who did not stay long on the tree after this second
+disaster.
+
+The next morning came up out of the nest quite an unnatural oriole
+baby--he did not cry. Silently, he stepped out upon a twig, and looked
+about in the new world around him. He carefully dressed his feathers,
+and often rose to his full height and stretched his legs, as if it were
+legs and not wings he needed in his new life. The third scion of the
+household had also a marked character of his own. Having planted himself
+on the threshold, and found it a convenient place to intercept all food
+on its way to the younger ones still unseen, he remained. Every time the
+mother came with a mouthful, he fluttered and coaxed, and usually got
+it. It was too good a situation to leave and he seemed to have settled
+for life; but his wings overpowered his inertia or greed, about four
+o'clock in the afternoon.
+
+So long had the third young oriole occupied his position, that the
+fourth made his appearance almost immediately, as though he had been
+waiting. There does appear to be some regulation of this sort among the
+orioles, for in all that I have noticed, no two ever came out together
+(excepting once, when both went back almost instantly, and one returned
+alone). This late comer had not the whole long sunny day to loiter
+away, and he flew in an hour. The fifth and last came up early the next
+morning evidently in haste to join the scattered family, for he bade
+farewell to the native tree in a short time. No more orioles appeared
+upon the maple from this day, but for two weeks I saw the little party
+about; the father, whom I had missed after the flight of the first
+infant, working like a drudge, with two or three hungry urchins wherever
+he went, excepting when he sought food in the new-cut grass on the
+ground. He gave us no more songs, but his sweet, low call sounded all
+day on the place.
+
+Another family of little folk came upon the maple after the orioles were
+gone, a nuthatch tribe. There were three or four of them exactly like
+the mother excepting a shorter tail, and they followed her like a flock
+of sheep, over and under branches, around the trunk, up or down or any
+way, never pausing more than an instant, not even when she plumped a
+morsel into a waiting mouth. She led her little procession by her
+querulous-sounding "quank," while they replied with a low "chir-up" in
+the same tone. It was a very funny sight. They could fly nicely, but
+never seemed to think of looking for food, and it was plain that the
+busy little mother had no time to teach them. It was interesting to see
+her deal with a moth which she found napping on a fence. She ran at
+once to a crack or some convenient hole in the rough rail, thrust it in
+and hammered it down. When it was quiet she snipped off the wings,
+dragged it out, and beat it on the fence till it was fit for food, the
+family meanwhile gathered around her, clinging closely to the fence, and
+gently fluttering. These nuthatches were remarkably silent, but some
+that I once saw living near the top of two or three tall pines were
+quite noisy, and I spent much time trying to see what they were forever
+complaining about. There always seemed to be some catastrophe impending
+up in that sky parlor, but it never appeared to reach a climax.
+
+Charming to watch is the bluebird nestling; cheery and gentle like the
+parents, he seems to escape the period of helplessness that many birds
+suffer from, perhaps because he is patient enough to stay in the nest
+till his wings are ready to use. The mocking-bird baby has a far
+different time. Victim of a devouring ambition that will not let him
+rest till either legs or wings will bear him, he scrambles out upon his
+native tree, stretches, plumes a little in a jerky, hurried way, and
+then boldly launches out in the air--alas!--to come flop to the ground,
+where he is an easy prey to boys and cats, both of whom are particularly
+fond of young mocking-birds. These parents are wiser than the crow
+blackbirds, for not a sound betrays the accident in the family, unless,
+indeed, the little one is disturbed, when they make noise enough. They
+keep out of sight, no doubt closely watching the straggler until he gets
+away from people, for although he has proved that he cannot fly, the
+young mocker is by no means discouraged; he trusts to his legs, and
+usually at once starts off on a run "anywhere, anywhere, out (in) the
+world." When far enough away for them to feel safe in doing so, the
+parents come down and feed and comfort the wanderer, and it is a day or
+two before his wings are of much use to him.
+
+The most imperious young bird I know is the robin. He is perfectly sure
+he has a right to attention, and he intends to have it. If he is
+neglected too long and gets hungry, he calls loudly and impatiently,
+jerking himself up with a ludicrous air of stamping his feet. Even when
+he does condescend to go to the lawn with mamma, it is not to seek his
+food--far from it! It is to follow her around, and call every moment or
+two for something to eat. The idea that his individual exertions have
+anything to do with the food supply seems never to occur to him. He
+expects the fat morsels to fall into his mouth as they always have, and
+why should they not? He will soon be taught, for even baby-birds have to
+be educated.
+
+We have assumed in our easy-going way that birds "toil not" because they
+"do not spin," because they have not surrounded themselves with a
+thousand artificial wants, as we have. But the truth is that nobody can
+work harder than a pair of robins, for example, with four or five hungry
+mouths to fill, and every mouthful to be hunted up as it is wanted. No
+one would guess what an ever-yawning cavern a baby robin's mouth is,
+till he has tried to bring up a nestling himself. I once kept two small
+boys busy several days at high wages, digging worms for one young bird,
+and then I believe he starved to death.
+
+The training of our winged neighbors is most interesting, but so
+cautiously carried on that we rarely see it, though we may often hear
+the robin, oriole, whip-poor-will, and many others receive instruction
+in singing. I have once or twice surprised young birds at their lessons,
+as for instance, a pewee family learning to hover over the daisies, a
+beautiful operation of their parents which I never tired of watching. I
+was behind a blind when they came, a little flock of five or six. They
+were very playful, and kept near together, flying low over the grass,
+alighting in a row on the edge of a pail, coming up on the
+clothes-line, banging awkwardly against the house, and in every way
+showing ignorance and youth. I studied one for a long time as he
+balanced himself on the clothes-line and looked off at the antics of his
+brothers trying to learn the hovering. One of the parents flew out over
+the tall flowers, poising himself gracefully, his body held perfectly
+erect, legs half drawn up, turning his head this way and that, hanging
+thus in the air several seconds in one spot, then suddenly darting off
+to another like a humming-bird. The little ones in a row close together
+on a low branch of a shrub, looked on, and in a moment two or three
+sallied out and tried the same movement. They could fly well enough, but
+when they tried to pause on wing the failure was disastrous. Some
+tumbled out of sight into the daisies, others recovered themselves with
+violent efforts and returned hastily to the perch, complaining loudly.
+Then the parents brought food, and this went on for some time, while all
+the time the air was full of gentle twitters and calls, much baby-talk,
+and a little parental instruction no doubt.
+
+A delightful field of work awaits the young naturalist of to-day. Our
+predecessors have devoted their energies to classifying and arranging.
+They have dissected and weighed and measured every part of the little
+bodies; they know to a fraction the length of wings and tails; they have
+pulled to pieces the nests, "clutched" the eggs, and blown and mounted
+and labeled and set up in cases the whole external of the little
+creatures. All that can be learned by violence, all the characteristics
+evolved by fear and distress are duly set down in the books. You shall
+find a catalogue of the robin's possessions in the shape of feathers and
+bones, pictures of his internal anatomy, illustrations of his work in
+nest building, and specimens in all stages, but in the whole world of
+these books you shall not find the robin. The soul of the robin has
+escaped them, it is not to be taken by force.
+
+I do not find fault; it needed to be done, but happily--let us hope--it
+is done, and a more enticing field is now open, namely: to make personal
+acquaintance with the birds, find out how they live, their manners and
+customs, and their individual characters. This is one of the most
+charming studies in the world, but much more is required than a gun and
+a little or much scientific knowledge. There is infinite patience,
+perseverance, untiring devotion, and more,--a quick eye and ear, and a
+sympathetic heart. If you do not love the birds you cannot understand
+them.
+
+This is the pleasant path opening now, and in some ways it is
+particularly suited to woman with her great patience and quiet manners.
+Once interested in the lives in the "upper stories," you will find them
+most absorbing; novels will pall upon you, fancy work seem frivolous,
+society duties a bore, and talk--loud enough to interfere with
+listening--an impertinence.
+
+
+
+
+BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE.
+
+                He loved the ever deepening brown
+    Of summer twilights on the enchanted hills;
+    Where he might listen to the starts and thrills
+    Of birds that sang and rustled in the trees,
+    Or watch the footsteps of the wandering breeze,
+    And the bird's shadows as they fluttered by,
+    Or slowly wheeled across the unclouded sky.
+
+    RICHARD WATSON GILDER.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE.
+
+
+The most interesting experience in several years of bird-study was a
+trip to a Southern State for the purpose of making acquaintance with the
+mocking-bird.
+
+Adventures began before the lights of New York sank below the horizon;
+adventures more strange than agreeable, for the journey was by steamer.
+Hardly had we passed out of the bay when there began a gentle roll which
+speedily sent passengers to bed. When we passed Long Branch the motion
+was a steady rock from side to side, that made one feel like a baby in a
+cradle, and before bedtime it was a violent swing that flung one about
+like a toy, and tossed the furniture around like doll-house belongings.
+
+Holding on to the side of the berth with both hands, I passed the night
+listening to the labored strokes of the engine and the crashing of the
+loosened freight in the hold, and entertained by the eccentric conduct
+of the loose articles in my state-room, a trunk, chair, life-preserver,
+plate, saucer, and teaspoon, which with one accord, and in spite of all
+I could do by most ingenious wedging, joined in a peculiar dance between
+the outer wall and the inner partition of my room. At one moment they
+rested quietly in their several ways, against the wall; the steamer
+lurched, and all started madly across the floor, the heavy things first,
+and the lighter bringing up the rear, each banging violently against the
+partition, with thump, rattle, or jingle according to its nature, then
+in a moment dashing back so furiously that I feared to see the thin
+planks yield and my trunk go out to sea by itself. Not that I cared for
+my trunk--my life was the subject that interested me at the time.
+Outside, too, the doors and blinds rattled, the tiller-chain chattered
+and wailed and sobbed like a woman in distress, and above all other
+sounds rose the dismal fog horn, for a pall of mist had settled over us.
+
+Day differed from night only in being light, for the sole prospect from
+the guards was one moment the fog above, where the sky should be, the
+next the depths of the sea yawning as if to receive the ship into its
+bosom. In this manner, during two days and three nights, we rolled on to
+our destination, and for days after my feet touched blessed Mother Earth
+I reeled and staggered like a drunken man.
+
+After the storm, the calm. There followed upon this rough voyage weeks
+of quiet, delightful bird-study, whose long sunny-days were passed in
+the fragrant depths of pine groves, under arching forest of sweet-gum
+trees, or on the shore of the salt marsh; but wherever, or however,
+always following and spying out the ways of the feathered world.
+
+The bird of the South--the mocking-bird, was the first object of study.
+By day he was watched and noted, during the long twilight he was
+listened to, and at midnight sleep was often banished by his wonderful
+and enchanting voice. Gray and inconspicuous in coloring, we all know
+him in the cage; but how different in freedom! how wild and bewitching
+his song! how wise and knowing his ways! how well worth weeks of study
+is this one bird!
+
+Here were dozens of other birds also. What keen delight to one fresh
+from the town, to look over the marsh where
+
+    "Leagues and leagues of marsh grass, waist high, broad in the blade,
+    Green and all of a height, and unflecked with a light or a shade,
+    Stretch leisurely off in a pleasant plain
+    To the terminal blue of the main;"
+
+to watch the great snowy heron sweeping over with broad white wing,
+tripping gracefully about on the edges of the channels, and toward
+night betaking itself to a line of trees in the distance, that looked as
+if full of snowy blossoms that moved and changed about and at last
+settled for the night; to see the bald eagle catch a big fish and call
+his mate to help him eat it; to watch the lesser tern hover with yellow
+bill pointed downward and sharp eye fixed on the water, and at length
+stiffen his wings and dive head first into it, bringing out his prey,
+and filling the air with cries in a complaining, squealing tone that
+always reminds one of a young pig; to gaze fascinated at the bewitching
+flight of the ring-plover, sweeping low over the water in a small flock,
+now almost invisible as the sombre-colored backs turn toward you, now
+suddenly flashing bright as silver when the breasts come into sight,
+moving in perfect unison as if impelled by one will. More, many more
+birds of the marsh attract and draw one, but inland is the mocking-bird,
+and after a walk along the shore, always my feet turned to the groves
+and the fields where the matchless bird lives his life.
+
+To see, as well as hear a wild mocking-bird sing, is worth a journey,
+even over the rolling deep. I passed hours in a pleasant grove beyond
+the gardens and fields, watching and listening to one bird whose concert
+hall it was. The grove was the audience room where one might be in the
+shade and not too conspicuous in watching him. His chosen place was in
+the sunshine, for this bird is a sun-worshiper. I always found him
+singing when I reached the spot. Perhaps on the top spike of a young
+pine-tree, balanced on one, or sometimes on two adjoining top
+twigs--which of course stand straight up--stood the singer, madly
+shouting his most peculiar medley. He looked at me as I passed near his
+perch, but did not pause in his song. After I had taken my seat he
+flew--singing as he went--alighted nearer, on the upper sprig of a
+cedar, turned his eyes upon me, and treated me to another performance,
+while I looked and listened enchanted.
+
+Nor was I the only listener. Ever and anon while absorbed in the
+entertainment, or waiting, breathless, for a new note, I was startled by
+a rustle, and a low "Good evenin' Missis," and glanced up to see a negro
+stealing along in a stealthy way. It might be a woman with a big bundle
+or basket on her head, possibly a slouching young man or "boy" with an
+air of interest in my eccentric proceedings, or a group of youngsters
+with nothing particular to do, but one and all perfectly silent in
+movement. No wonder they know all about the birds, and lay violent hands
+on eggs, nests, or nestlings as they choose, creeping around as they do
+without a sound. It is only surprising that a bird is left in the State,
+so persistently do they rob the nests. Naturally the mocking-bird, for
+which they can always find purchasers, is the most desirable, and white
+as well as black persecute that bird unceasingly.
+
+"You can't keep them from the negroes," said a young white man. "I've
+often been watching a nest to get the young ones myself, but some nig
+was sure to take it before me."
+
+Speaking of negroes, I never saw so many idle men and grown boys. Not a
+spot could be found so secluded that one or more did not soon make his
+appearance. Selecting the quiet yard of a summer cottage, a
+deserted-looking place not yet opened for the season, in which to study
+the ways of the birds in peace, I was often disturbed by a negro passing
+across the lawn, taking no heed of fences, for there's no sort of a
+fence in that country that they will not pass over as if it were not
+there. Of course this always put to flight the dramatis personæ of my
+study. One day an interesting (or interested) person of color appeared
+on the scene equipped for white-washing, and proceeded to adorn tree
+trunks, fences, buildings, etc., etc., relieving his labors by
+questioning me about northern manners and customs. On another occasion
+when I was looking anxiously to see a certain family of nestlings make
+exit from the nest, a building that I supposed to be a shut-up
+store-room was thrown open, a wash-tub appeared before the door, and I
+found that a family of eight, including four children, had moved in, not
+thirty feet from my chosen seat, and of course to the utter destruction
+of any seclusion.
+
+I could not select a single spot in the neighborhood, favorable to quiet
+study, without having it made desolate or turned into a thoroughfare.
+The loveliest place I found at all was a footpath passing for about
+fifty feet through a fringe of low cedar, sweet gum trees, and shrubs
+loaded with pink lily-of-the-valley shaped blossoms. Across the path ran
+a brooklet, a mere thread of water, so shallow that small birds stood in
+the middle to bathe, though it deepened into a pool below, where frogs
+croaked and plunged. It was cool; it was quiet, far from the everywhere
+present negro hut; there was no sound but the trickle of the streamlet
+as it fell into the pool, and the softened roar of the ocean beyond the
+wide salt marsh.
+
+To this nook I went every day, always trying to surprise the birds at
+their usual occupations, but never quite succeeding; for steal in
+quietly as I might I always heard low remarks, a slight flutter of
+wings, and usually saw a dark form or two departing near the ground
+behind some shrub. Slowly and quietly, however, I took my seat on a bank
+close under a thick bush,--while the silence around me was as profound
+as if no wing had ever fluttered there,--and became as motionless as
+circumstances would allow, for beside the birds there were other tenants
+not half so shy.
+
+After a few moments, when the ripple I caused had died away, sounds of
+life began again; unknown water creatures made queer noises in the pool
+below, low bird tones, unfamiliar scraps of song fell on the ear,
+ordinary ways were resumed.
+
+In this pleasant place I made acquaintance with the painted-finch, or
+nonpareil, who was least frightened of the small birds, and stood
+patiently on a cedar twig till I became quiet, then came down in plain
+sight, waded up to the tops of his firm little legs in the water, and
+deliberately took his bath before my very face. Here also I had a call
+from Bob White, who cautiously lifted a striped cap and a very bright
+eye above the grass tops to look at me. He did not introduce himself;
+indeed, after a moment's steady gaze his head dropped and I saw him no
+more, but I heard him rustle in the grass on the way to the
+strawberries, of which he demands--and gets--his share.
+
+Ruin fell upon this charming retreat in this wise. One day on my
+approach I saw commotion in the shrubs and two negroes at work chopping
+great branches out on each side of the path, letting in the sun to my
+bank, and turning it into a hideous wreck. I protested.
+
+"Why is this? What are you doing?"
+
+"Oh, we're just cuttin' some pea-poles!" they replied calmly. They had
+been too lazy or too indifferent to step ten feet on one side into the
+thicker copse, and leave the pretty path in its beauty, and the mischief
+was done, and after all it was not my business. I passed on.
+
+Bird-study has other annoyances in that part of the world beside the
+human beings of whom I have spoken. Next, perhaps, are the sufferings
+which wring the heart all the while. John Burroughs has written the
+tragedies of the nests; he could add a chapter more tragical than all,
+should he visit the haunts of the mocking-bird. Nothing can be more
+dreadful than the systematic and persistent war made upon this bird, of
+which nevertheless every Southerner is proud.
+
+Lastly, the hindrances which Dame Nature herself throws around her
+mysteries. There are the prickly pears, sowed broadcast over the land so
+thickly that one can hardly avoid stepping on them, with thorns sharp as
+needles, and as long. One of an inch in length that I had the curiosity
+to examine had forty-five thorns, equal to two papers of number six
+sharps, that stuck out in every direction, and would pass through an
+ordinary shoe with perfect ease. This interesting vegetable has no local
+attachments whatever, and readily clings to any part of one's garment.
+
+Then there are the mosquitoes with which the same careful mother peoples
+the groves, even in April, industrious little creatures not in the least
+enervated by the climate. But her grand dependence, judiciously settled
+indeed, is on the sand flies. Wherever there is not a howling
+gale--there are the flies in millions, most indefatigable and maddening
+of pests. And finally, to take home with you, to remind you pleasantly
+of her hospitalities when you have reached your own room, is the tick!
+
+Ties from the outer world began at last to draw. The birdlings in the
+nest were not ready to come out, and growing impatient I drew upon the
+knowledge--or rather the ignorance--of the residents and heard some
+surprising statements, which further observation, however, did not
+confirm. That the mocking-bird baby lives for three weeks in the nest;
+that part of that time the parents carry the nestlings about on their
+backs; that when old enough the young are pushed out of their nest, and
+always fall to the ground.
+
+And the authors of these fables were grown-up, and had passed their
+lives among the mocking-birds. I curbed my impatience, stayed another
+week, and saw all the nestlings out, and the nest deserted.
+
+Another charge also fell to the ground on careful observation. The
+farmers complain--as farmers are apt to complain of their best friends,
+the birds--that the mocking-bird eats strawberries. I set myself to
+watch a fine patch full of ripe and tempting berries, several times when
+no one was near. Many birds came about, mocking-birds, crows, kingbirds,
+orchard orioles, and others. The mocking-birds ran down between the rows
+of vines catching grasshoppers, the crows did the same service, walking
+with dignity. The kingbirds chased flies, the orioles searched the fruit
+trees for insects. One and all were working in the interest of the
+strawberry grower. And while I watched, an hour or more at a time, not
+even for dessert after filling their stomachs with insects, did one take
+a berry, which I am sure they might be considered to have earned.
+
+I know one lady--would there were more like her--who owns a garden on
+Long Island, and when her gardener comes in and says something _must_
+be done to prevent the birds destroying fruit, calmly says: "Certainly,
+set out another row of plants. Let us have enough for the birds by all
+means, and for ourselves too."
+
+
+
+
+THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST.
+
+    Whate'er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say.
+    Then down he shot, bounced airily along
+    The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song
+    Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again.
+    Sweet Science, this large riddle read me plain:
+    How may the death of that dull insect be
+    The life of yon trim Shakespeare, on the tree?
+
+    SIDNEY LANIER.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST.
+
+    "Superb and sole upon a plumèd spray
+    That o'er the general leafage boldly grew,"
+
+
+as literally as though Lanier had sketched that particular bird, stood
+the first free mocking-bird I ever heard. His perch was the topmost twig
+of the tallest tree in the group. It was a cedar, perhaps fifteen feet
+high, around which a jasmine vine had clambered, and that morning opened
+a cluster of fragrant blossoms at his feet, as though an offering to the
+most noted singer on our side of the globe. As I drew near he turned his
+clear, bright eye upon me, and sang a welcome to North Carolina; and
+several hours later, when the moon rose high over the waters of the
+Sound, he completed his perfect performance with a serenade, the like of
+which I fear I may never hear again. I chose to consider his attentions
+personal, because, of all the household, I am sure I was the only one
+who listened, and I had passed over many miles of rolling and tossing
+ocean to make his acquaintance.
+
+Nothing would have been easier, or more delightful, than to pitch one's
+tent in a certain pine grove not far away, and pass days and weeks in
+forgetting the world of cares, and reading favorite books, lulled at all
+hours of day and night by the softened roar of the ocean and the
+wonderful bird
+
+    "Singing the song of everything,
+    Consummate sweet, and calm."
+
+But it was not merely as singer that I wished to know him; nor to watch
+his dainty and graceful ways as he went about the daily duties of
+food-hunting, singing, and driving off marauders, which occupied his
+hours from dawn to late evening, and left him spirit enough for many a
+midnight rhapsody. It was in his domestic relations that I desired to
+see him,--the wooing of the bride and building the nest, the training of
+mocking-bird babies and starting them in the world; and no loitering and
+dreaming in the pine grove, however tempting, would tell me this. I must
+follow him to his more secluded retreats, see where he had set up his
+homestead.
+
+Thoreau--or is it Emerson?--says one always finds what he looks for, and
+of course I found my nests. One pair of birds I noticed through the
+courtship, the selection of the site, the building and occupying of the
+nest; another couple, already sitting when discovered, I watched
+through the incubation and nursing of the little ones, and at last
+assisted in giving them a fair chance for their lives and a start in the
+world. It may be thought that my assistance was not particularly
+valuable; the birds shared this opinion; none the less, but for my
+presence not one of those birdlings would be free and happy to-day, as I
+hope and believe they are. To the study of these two households I gave
+nearly every hour of daylight, in all weathers, for a month, and of the
+life that went on in and around them I can speak from personal
+knowledge; beyond that, and at other times in his life, I do not profess
+to know the mocking-bird.
+
+The bird whose nest-making I witnessed was the one whose performance I
+chose to consider a welcome, and his home was in the pine grove, a group
+of about twenty trees, left from the original forest possibly, at any
+rate nearly a hundred feet high, with all branches near the top, as
+though they had grown in close woods. They were quite scattering now,
+and lower trees and shrubs flourished in their shade, making a charming
+spot, and a home worthy even of this superb songster. The bird himself
+was remarkably friendly. Seeming to appreciate my attitude of admiring
+listener, he often perched on the peak of a low roof (separated only by
+a carriage drive from the upper "gallery" where I sat), and sang for
+hours at a time, with occasional lunches; or, as Lanier, his most ardent
+lover, has it,--
+
+    "Then down he shot, bounced airily along
+    The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song
+    Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again."
+
+Whatever he did, his eyes were upon me; he came to the corner nearest me
+to sing, and was so intelligent in look and bearing that I believe he
+liked a quiet listener.
+
+His wooing, however, the bird did not intend me to see, though two or
+three times I surprised him at it. The first part that I chanced upon
+was curious and amusing. A female, probably the "beloved object," stood
+demurely on one of the dead top branches of a large tree down in the
+garden, while her admirer performed fantastic evolutions in the air
+about her. No flycatcher ever made half the eccentric movements this
+aerial acrobat indulged in. He flew straight up very high, executing
+various extraordinary turns and gyrations, so rapidly they could not be
+followed and described, and came back singing; in a moment he departed
+in another direction, and repeated the grotesque performance. He was
+plainly exerting himself to be agreeable and entertaining, in
+mocking-bird style, and I noticed that every time he returned from an
+excursion he perched a little nearer his audience of one, until, after
+some time, he stood upon the same twig, a few inches from her. They were
+facing and apparently trying to stare each other out of countenance; and
+as I waited, breathless, to see what would happen next, the damsel
+coquettishly flitted to another branch. Then the whole scene was
+repeated; the most singular and graceful evolutions, the songs, and the
+gradual approach. Sometimes, after alighting on a top twig, he dropped
+down through the branches, singing, in a way to suggest the "dropping
+song" so graphically described by Maurice Thompson, but never really
+falling, and never touching the ground. Each performance ended in his
+reaching the twig which she occupied and her flight to another, until at
+last, by some apparently mutual agreement, both flew, and I saw no more.
+
+A remarkable "dance" which I also saw, with the same bird as principal
+actor, seems to me another phase of the wooing, though I must say it
+resembled a war-dance as well; but love is so like war among the lower
+orders, even of men, that it is hard to distinguish between them. I
+shall not try to decide, only to relate, and, I beg to say, without the
+smallest exaggeration. The dances I saw were strictly _pas-de-deux_,
+and they always began by a flash of wings and two birds alighting on the
+grass, about a foot apart. Both instantly drew themselves up perfectly
+erect, tail elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees, and wings held
+straight down at the sides. Then followed a most droll dance. Number one
+stood like a statue, while number two pranced around, with short,
+mincing steps and dainty little hops which did not advance him an inch;
+first he passed down the right, then turned and went down the left, all
+in the queer, unnatural manner of short hops and steps, and holding
+himself rigidly erect, while number one always faced the dancer,
+whichever way he turned. After a few moments of this movement, number
+one decided to participate, and when his partner moved to the right he
+did the same; to the left he still accompanied him, always facing, and
+maintaining the exact distance from him. Then number two described a
+circle around number one, who turned to face him with short hops where
+he stood. Next followed a _chassé_ of both birds to the right; then a
+separation, one dancing to the right and the other to the left, always
+facing, and always slowly and with dignity. This stately minuet they
+kept up for some time, and appeared so much like a pair of
+old-fashioned human dancers that when, on one occasion, number two
+varied the performance by a spring over the head of his partner, I was
+startled, as if an old gentleman had suddenly hopped over the head of
+the grand dame his _vis-à-vis_. When this strange new figure was
+introduced, number one proved equal to the emergency, hopping backward,
+and turning so dexterously that when his partner alighted they were
+facing, and about a foot apart, as before. The object of all this was
+very uncertain to a looker-on. It might be the approaches of love, and
+quite as probably the wary beginnings of war, and the next feature of
+the programme was not explanatory; they rose together in the air ten
+feet or more, face to face, fluttering and snatching at each other,
+apparently trying to clinch; succeeding in doing so, they fell to the
+ground, separated just before they touched it, and flew away. O wings!
+most maddening to a bird-student.
+
+It was not very long after these performances, which seem to me to
+belong to the courtship period, when I noticed that my bird had won his
+bride, and they were busy house-hunting. The place they apparently
+preferred, and at last fixed upon, was at an unusual height for
+mocking-birds, near the top of one of the tall pines, and I was no less
+surprised than pleased to see them lay the foundation of their home in
+that spot. I congratulated myself that at least one brood in North
+Carolina would have a chance to come to maturity and be free; and so
+persistent is the warfare waged against this bird--unfortunately
+marketable at any stage from the egg--that I almost doubt if another
+will. The day after they began building a northwest storm set in, and
+for three days we had high winds and cold weather. In spite of this, the
+brave birds persevered, and finished their nest during those three days,
+although much of the time they made infrequent trips. It was really most
+touching to watch them at their unnatural task, and remember that
+nothing but the cruelty of man forced them to it (one nest had been
+destroyed). Their difficulty was to get up against the wind, and, having
+little experience in flying upward, they made the natural mistake of
+starting from the foot of their chosen tree. Sometimes, at first, they
+flew with the body almost perpendicular; and afterwards, when they held
+the body in proper position, they wished to go so directly up that they
+turned the head back over the shoulder to see where they were going. The
+wind, too, beat them far out of their course, and they were obliged to
+alight and rest, occasionally being forced to cling to the trunk of a
+tree to recover breath and strength to go on. They never attempted to
+make the whole ascent at once, but always stopped four or five times,
+perching on the ends of fallen branches, of which there were eight or
+ten below the living part of the pine. Even when no wind disturbed them,
+they made these pauses on the way, and it was always a hard task to
+reach the top. They learned, after a few days, however, to begin their
+ascent at a distance, and not approach the tree till at least half as
+high as they wished to go, which simplified the matter very much. It was
+beautiful to see them, upon reaching the lowest of the living branches,
+bound gayly up, as though over a winding stair, to the particular spot
+they had fixed upon.
+
+During the building I missed the daily music of the singer. Occasionally
+he alighted on the roof, looked over at me, and bubbled out a few notes,
+as much as to say, "You must excuse me now; I am very busy;" but all the
+time I hoped that while sitting was going on I should have him back. I
+reckoned ignorantly; I did not know my bird. No sooner was he the
+possessor of a house and family than he suddenly became very wary. No
+more solos on the roof; no more confidential remarks; no more
+familiarities of any sort. Now he must beware of human beings, and even
+when on the grass he held himself very erect, wings straight down,
+every instant on guard. His happiness demanded expression in song,
+certainly, but instead of confining himself to the roof he circled the
+lawn, which was between two and three hundred feet wide. If he began in
+a group of cedars on the right, he sang awhile there, then flew to the
+fence next the road without a pause in the music, and in a few minutes
+passed to the group of pines at the left, perched on a dead branch, and
+finished his song there. It was most tantalizing, though I could but
+admit it a proof of intelligence.
+
+Another change appeared in the bird with the advent of family cares: he
+was more belligerent; he drove the bluebird off the lawn, he worried the
+tufted titmouse when it chanced to alight on his tree, and in the most
+offensive way claimed ownership of pine-trees, lawn, and all the fence
+bordering the same. Neighboring mocking-birds disputed his claim, and
+many a furious chase took place among the trees. (So universal is their
+habit of insisting upon exclusive right to certain grounds that two
+mocking-birds are never found nesting very near each other, in that part
+of the country. This I was assured, and found it true of those I
+observed.) These little episodes in his life kept the pine-tree bird
+from dullness, while his mate was engaged in the top of the tall pine,
+where, by the way, he went now and then to see how she was getting on.
+Sometimes his spouse received him amiably, but occasionally, I regret to
+say, I heard a "huff" from the nest that said plainly, "Don't you touch
+those eggs!" And what was amusing, he acknowledged her right to dictate
+in the matter, and meekly took his departure. Whenever she came down for
+a lunch, he saw her instantly, and was ready for a frolic. He dropped to
+the grass near her, and they usually indulged in a lively romp, chasing
+each other over and through the trees, across the yard, around the
+garden, and back to the lawn, where she went on with her eating, and he
+resumed his singing.
+
+While I was watching the pine-tree household, the other nest, in the top
+of a low, flat-topped cedar, perhaps twenty-five feet high, and
+profusely fringed with Spanish moss, became of even more interest. I
+could not see into the nest, for there was no building high enough to
+overlook it, but I could see the bird when he stood upon the edge.
+Sitting, in a warm climate, is not particularly close work. Although the
+weather was cool, yet when the sun was out the sitter left her nest from
+six to eight minutes at a time, and as often as once in twenty minutes.
+Of course in rain she had not so much liberty, and on some days left
+only when her mate was ready to take her place, which he frequently did.
+
+On the ninth day of my watching (I had not seen the beginning of the
+sitting), the 3d of May, I found work was over and the youngsters were
+out. There was much excitement in the cedar-tree, but in a quiet way; in
+fact, the birds became so silent and so wary in approaching the nest
+that it required the closest watching to see them go or come, and only
+occasionally could I detect any food in the beak. I discovered very soon
+that mocking-bird babies are brought up on hygienic principles, and have
+their meals with great regularity. For some time both parents were
+exceedingly busy, going and coming almost constantly; then there came a
+rest of a half hour or more, during which no food was brought. Each bird
+had its own way of coming to the tree. Madam came over the roof of the
+cottage where I sat, and was exposed to view for only a few feet, over
+which she passed so quickly and silently that I had to be constantly on
+the alert to see her at all. The singer had another way, and by rising
+behind a hickory-tree beyond the cedar managed to keep a screen of
+branches between him and myself nearly every foot of the way. I could
+see them both almost every time, but I could not always tell whether
+they carried food. Now the bluebird, honest soul, always stops in plain
+sight to rest, with his mouth full of dainties for his young brood, and
+a robin will stand staring at one for two minutes with three or four
+wriggling worms in his beak. It is quite a different affair in the
+mocking-bird family, as is certainly natural, after the persecution it
+has endured. No special fear of me was the cause,--it is a marked
+peculiarity of the bird; and I think, with a little study, one could
+learn to know exactly the moment the eggs hatch by the sudden silence
+and wariness of both birds. Poor little creatures! a sympathetic friend
+hates to add to the anxiety they suffer, and he cannot help a feeling of
+reproach when the brave little head of the family alights on the fence,
+and looks him straight in the eye, as if to demand why he is subjected
+to all this annoyance. I had to console myself by thinking that I was
+undoubtedly a providence to him; for I am certain that nothing but my
+watching him so conspicuously that every negro within a mile saw me,
+saved his family to him, so low and easy of access was the nest.
+
+The day those nestlings were one week old they uttered their first cry.
+It was not at all a "peep," but a cry, continued a few seconds; at
+first only when food was offered to them, but as they increased in age
+and strength more frequently. It was much like a high-pitched
+"[=e]-[=e]-[=e]," and on the first day there was but one voice, which
+grew rapidly stronger as the hours went by. The next day another and a
+weaker cry joined the first, now grown assured and strong. But the music
+of the father was hushed the moment the youngsters began; from that time
+until they had left the nest, he sang not a note in my hearing. Perhaps
+he was too busy, though he never seemed to work so hard as the robin or
+oriole; but I think it was cautiousness, for the trouble of those
+parents was painful to witness. They introduced a new sound among their
+musical notes, a harsh squawk; neither dog nor negro could cross the
+yard without being saluted with it. As for me, though I was meekness
+itself, taking the most obscure position I could find, and remaining as
+absolutely motionless as possible, they eyed me with suspicion; from the
+first they "huffed" at me, and at this point began to squawk the moment
+I entered the gate. On one occasion I discovered that by changing my
+seat I could actually see the nest, which I much desired; so I removed
+while the birds were absent. Madam was the first to return, with a
+beakful of food; she saw me instantly, and was too much excited to
+dispose of her load. She came to my side of her tree, squawked loudly,
+flapping her wings and jerking herself about. I remained motionless and
+did not look at her, pretending to be absorbed in my book; but she
+refused to be mollified. It evidently did not please her to have me see
+so plainly; she desired to retain the friendly screen of leaves which
+had secured her a small measure of privacy. I could not blame her; I
+felt myself intrusive; and at last I respected her wishes and returned
+to my old place, when she immediately calmed down and administered the
+food she had held till then. Poor mother! those were trying times. Her
+solicitude overpowered her discretion, and her manner proclaimed to
+every one within hearing that the nestlings were out. Then, too, on the
+eighth day the little ones added their voices, and soon called loudly
+enough to attract the dullest of nest-robbers. I was so fearful lest
+that nest should be disturbed that I scarcely dared to sleep o' nights;
+the birds themselves were hardly more anxious than I was.
+
+The eleventh day of the birdlings' life was exceedingly warm, without a
+breath of air stirring, suffocating to humanity, but preëminently
+inspiring to mocking-birds, and every singer within a mile of me, I am
+sure, was singing madly, excepting the newly made parent. Upon reaching
+my usual seat I knew at once, by the louder cry, that a young bird was
+out of the nest, and after some searching through the tree I found
+him,--a yellowish-drab little fellow, with very decided wing-markings, a
+tail perhaps an inch in length, and soft slate-colored spots, so long as
+almost to be streaks, on the breast. He was scrambling about the
+branches, always trying to get a higher place, calling and perking his
+insignificant tail in true mocking-bird fashion. I think the parents
+disapproved this early ambition, for they did not feed him for a long
+time, though they passed him to go to the nest. So far from being
+lightened, their cares were greatly increased by the precociousness of
+the youngster, and from this moment their trouble and worry were
+grievous to see. So much self-reliance has the mocking-bird, even in the
+nest, that he cannot be kept there until his legs are strong enough to
+bear his weight, or his wings ready to fly. The full-grown spirit of the
+race blossoms out in the young one at eleven days, and for several more
+he is exposed to so many dangers that I wonder there is one left in the
+State.
+
+The parents, one after the other, came down on to a bush near my seat to
+remonstrate with me; and I must admit that so great was my sympathy, and
+so uncomfortable did I feel at adding in the least to their anxiety,
+that I should never have seen that young family fledged, only that I
+knew perfectly well what they did not, that I was a protection to them.
+I tried to reassure the mother by addressing her in her own language (as
+it were), and she turned quickly, looked, listened, and returned to her
+tree, quieted. This sound is a low whistling through the teeth, which
+readily soothes cage birds. It interests and calms them, though I have
+no notion what it means to them, for I am speaking an unknown tongue.
+
+The baby on the tree was not quiet, climbing about the branches every
+moment that he was not engaged in dressing his feathers, the first and
+most important business of the newly emancipated nestling. After an hour
+or more of watching there was a sudden stir in the family, and the
+youngster made his appearance on the ground. He was not under the side
+of the tree on which he had been resting, so, although I did not see the
+passage, I knew he had not fallen, as he is popularly said to do, but
+flown as well as he was able. I started slowly down the yard to examine
+the little stranger, but was absolutely startled by a cry from the
+mother, that sounded exactly like "Go 'way!" as I have often heard a
+negro girl say it. Later it was very familiar, a yearning, anxious
+heart-aching sound to hear.
+
+The youth was very lively, starting off at once on his travels, never
+for an instant doubting his own powers. I saw his first movement, which
+was a hop, and, what surprised and delighted me, accompanied by a
+peculiar lifting of the wings, of which I shall have more to say. He
+quickly hopped through the thin grass till he reached a fence, passed
+down beside it till a break in the pickets left an open place on the
+bottom board, sprang without hesitation upon that, and after a moment's
+survey of the country beyond dropped down on the farther side. Now that
+was a lane much frequented by negroes, and, being alarmed for his
+safety, I sent a boy after him, and in a moment had him in my hand. He
+was a beautiful little creature, having a head covered with downy dark
+feathers, and soft black eyes, which regarded me with interest, but not
+at all with fear. All this time, of course, the parents were scolding
+and crying, and I held him only long enough to look carefully at him,
+when I replaced him on the grass. Off he started at once, directly
+west,--like the "march of empire,"--went through the same fence again,
+but further down, and, as I could tell by the conduct of the parents, in
+a few moments was safely through a second fence into a comparatively
+retired old garden beyond, where I hoped he would be unmolested. Thus
+departed number one, with energy and curiosity, to investigate a
+brand-new world, fearless in his ignorance and self-confidence, although
+his entrance into the world had not been the triumphant fly we might
+look for, but an ignominious "flop," and was irresistibly and
+ludicrously suggestive of the manner of exit from the home nest of
+sundry individuals of our own race, which we consider of much greater
+importance.
+
+The young traveler set out at exactly ten o'clock. As soon as he was out
+of sight, though not out of hearing,--for the youngster as well as the
+parents kept the whole world of boys and cats well informed of his
+whereabouts for three days,--I returned and gave my attention to number
+two, who was now out upon the native tree. This one was much more quiet
+than his predecessor. He did not cry, but occasionally uttered a
+mocking-bird squawk, though spending most of his time dressing his
+plumage, in preparation for the grand _entrée_. At twelve o'clock he
+made the plunge and came to the ground in a heap. This was plainly a
+bird of different disposition from number one; his first journey
+evidently tired him. He found the world hard and disappointing, so he
+simply stayed where he dropped in the middle of the path, and refused to
+move, though I touched him as a gentle reminder of the duty he owed to
+his parents and his family. He sat crouched upon the gravel and looked
+at me with calm black eye, showing no fear and certainly no intention of
+moving, even indulging in a nap while I waited.
+
+Now appeared upon the scene several persons, both white and black, each
+of whom wanted a young mocking-bird for a cage; but I stood over him
+like a god-parent and refused to let any one touch him. I began to fear
+that I should have him on my hands at last, for even the parents seemed
+to appreciate his characteristics and to know that he could not be
+hurried, and both were still busy following the vagaries of number one.
+The mother now and then returned to look after him and was greatly
+disturbed by his unnatural conduct--and so was I. He appeared stupid, as
+if he had come out too soon, and did not even know how to hop. It was
+twenty minutes by the watch before he moved. His mother's calls at last
+aroused him; he raised himself upon his shaky little legs, cried out,
+and started off exactly as number one had done,--westward, hopping, and
+lifting his wings at every step. Then I saw by the enormous amount of
+white on his wings that he was a singer. He went as far as the fence,
+and there he paused again. In vain did the mother come and scold; in
+vain did I try to push him along. He simply knew his own will, and meant
+to have it; the world might be strange, but he was not in the least
+interested. He rested in that spot fifteen or twenty minutes more, while
+I stood guard as before, and preserved him from cages of both negroes
+and whites. At last he did manage to squeeze through the fence, and,
+much relieved, I left him to the old birds, one of whom was down in the
+lot beyond the garden, no doubt following up his ambitious first-born.
+
+Whoever, meanwhile, was left in the nest had a poor chance of food, and
+one was already crying. It was not until six o'clock that the birds
+seemed to remember the nestling; then it was well fed, and left again.
+Nothing would be easier than to follow the wandering youngsters, see how
+they got on and how soon they were able to fly, but this so disturbed
+the parents I had not the heart to do it; and besides I feared they
+would starve the infants, for one was never fed while I was near.
+Doubtless their experience of the human race forbade their confiding in
+the kindly intentions of any one. It was well that only two of the young
+appeared in one day, for keeping track of them was so serious a matter
+that two parents could scarcely manage it.
+
+Number three differed from both of his elders; he was a cry-baby. He
+was not bright and lively like number one, and he did not squawk like
+number two, but he cried constantly, and at six P. M. I left him calling
+and crying at the top of his voice. Very early the next morning I
+hastened to the scene of yesterday's excitement. Number three was out on
+the tree. I could hear number two still crying and squawking in the
+garden, and from the position and labors of the male I concluded that
+number one was in the next lot. It was a dismal, damp morning, every
+grass-blade loaded with water, and a heavy fog driving in from the sea.
+I hoped number three would know enough to stay at home, but his fate was
+upon him, and no rain was ever wet enough to overcome destiny. At about
+eight o'clock he stretched his little wings and flew to the ground,--a
+very good flight for his family, nearly thirty feet, twice as far as
+either of his predecessors had gone; silently, too,--no fuss about it.
+He began at once the baby mocker's hop with lifted wings, headed for the
+west fence, jumped upon the lower board, squeezed through and was off
+down the garden before the usual crowd of spectators had collected to
+strive for his head. I was delighted. The parents, who were not near
+when he flew, came back soon and found him at once. I left him to them
+and returned to my place.
+
+But silence seemed to have fallen upon the cedar, late so full of life.
+In vain I listened for another cry; in vain I watched for another visit
+from the parents. All were busy in the garden and lot, and if any baby
+were in that nest it must surely starve. Occasionally a bird came back,
+hunted a little over the old ground in the yard, perched a moment on the
+fence, and saluted me with a low squawk, but their interest in the place
+was plainly over.
+
+After two hours I concluded the nest was empty; and a curious
+performance of the head of the late family convinced me it was so. He
+came quite near to me, perched on a bush in the yard, fixed his eyes on
+me, and then, with great deliberation, first huffed, then squawked, then
+sang a little, then flew. I do not know what the bird meant to say, but
+this is what it expressed to me: "You've worried us all through this
+trying time, but you didn't get one of our babies! Hurrah!"
+
+In the afternoon I had the nest brought down to me. For foundation it
+had a mass of small twigs from six to eight inches long, crooked and
+forked and straight, which were so slightly held together that they
+could only be handled by lifting with both hands, and placing at once in
+a cloth, where they were carefully tied in. Within this mass of twigs
+was the nest proper, thick and roughly constructed, three and a half
+inches in inside diameter, made of string, rags, newspaper, cotton
+wadding, bark, Spanish moss, and feathers, lined with fine root fibre, I
+think. The feathers were not inside for lining, but outside on the upper
+edge. It was, like the foundation, so frail that, though carefully
+managed, it could only be kept in shape by a string around it, even
+after the mass of twigs had been removed. I have a last year's nest,
+made of exactly the same materials, but in a much more substantial
+manner; so perhaps the cedar-tree birds were not so skillful builders as
+some of their family.
+
+The mocking-bird's movements, excepting in flight, are the perfection of
+grace; not even the cat-bird can rival him in airy lightness, in easy
+elegance of motion. In alighting on a fence, he does not merely come
+down upon it; his manner is fairly poetical. He flies a little too high,
+drops like a feather, touches the perch lightly with his feet, balances
+and tosses upward his tail, often quickly running over the tips of half
+a dozen pickets before he rests. Passing across the yard, he turns not
+to avoid a taller tree or shrub, nor does he go through it; he simply
+bounds over, almost touching it, as if for pure sport. In the matter of
+bounds the mocker is without a peer. The upward spring while singing is
+an ecstatic action that must be seen to be appreciated; he rises into
+the air as though too happy to remain on earth, and opening his wings,
+floats down, singing all the while. It is indescribable, but enchanting
+to see. In courtship, too, as related, he makes effective use of this
+exquisite movement. In simple food-hunting on the ground,--a most
+prosaic occupation, truly,--on approaching a hummock of grass he bounds
+over it instead of going around. In alighting on a tree he does not
+pounce upon the twig he has selected, but upon a lower one, and passes
+quickly up through the branches, as lithe as a serpent. So fond is he of
+this exercise that one which I watched amused himself half an hour at a
+time in a pile of brush; starting from the ground, slipping easily
+through up to the top, standing there a moment, then flying back and
+repeating the performance. Should the goal of his journey be a fence
+picket, he alights on the beam which supports it, and hops gracefully to
+the top.
+
+Like the robin, the mocking-bird seeks his food from the earth,
+sometimes digging it, but oftener picking it up. His manner on the
+ground is much like the robin's; he lowers the head, runs a few steps
+rapidly, then erects himself very straight for a moment. But he adds to
+this familiar performance a peculiar and beautiful movement, the object
+of which I have been unable to discover. At the end of a run he lifts
+his wings, opening them wide, displaying their whole breadth, which
+makes him look like a gigantic butterfly, then instantly lowers his head
+and runs again, generally picking up something as he stops. A
+correspondent in South Carolina, familiar with the ways of the bird,
+suggests that his object is to startle the grasshoppers, or, as he
+expresses it, to "flush his game." I watched very closely and could not
+fix upon any theory more plausible, though it seemed to be weakened by
+the fact that the nestlings, as mentioned above, did the same thing
+before they thought of looking for food. The custom is not invariable;
+sometimes it is done, and sometimes not.
+
+The mocking-bird cannot be said to possess a gentle disposition,
+especially during the time of nesting. He does not seem malicious, but
+rather mischievous, and his actions resemble the naughty though not
+wicked pranks of an active child. At that time he does, it must be
+admitted, lay claim to a rather large territory, considering his size,
+and enforces his rights with many a hot chase and noisy dispute, as
+remarked above. Any mocking-bird who dares to flirt a feather over the
+border of the ground he chooses to consider his own has to battle with
+him. A quarrel is a curious operation, usually a chase, and the war-cry
+is so peculiar and apparently so incongruous that it is fairly
+laughable. It is a rough breathing, like the "huff" of an angry cat, and
+a serious dispute between the birds reminds one of nothing but a
+disagreement in the feline family. If the stranger does not take the
+hint, and retire at the first huff, he is chased, over and under trees
+and through branches, so violently that leaves rustle and twigs are
+thrust aside, as long as the patience or wind holds out. On one occasion
+the defender of his homestead kept up a lively singing all through the
+furious flight, which lasted six or eight minutes,--a remarkable thing.
+
+To others than his own kind the mocker seems usually indifferent, with
+the single exception of the crow. So long as this bird kept over the
+salt marsh, or flew quite high, or even held his mouth shut, he was not
+noticed; but let him fly low over the lawn, and above all let him "caw,"
+and the hot-headed owner of the place was upon him. He did not seem to
+have any special plan of attack, like the kingbird or the oriole; his
+aim appeared to be merely to worry the enemy, and in this he was
+untiring, flying madly and without pause around a perching crow until he
+took flight, and then attempting to rise above him. In this he was not
+always successful, not being particularly expert on the wing, though I
+have two or three times seen the smaller bird actually rest on the back
+of the foe for three or four seconds at a time.
+
+The song of the free mocking-bird! With it ringing in my ear at this
+moment, after having feasted upon it and gloried in it day and night for
+many weeks, how can I criticise it! How can I do otherwise than fall
+into rhapsody, as does almost every one who knows it and delights in it,
+as I do! It is something for which one might pine and long, as the
+Switzer for the Ranz-des-Vaches, and the more one hears it the more he
+loves it. I think there will never come a May in my life when I shall
+not long to fold my tent and take up my abode in the home of the
+mocking-bird, and yet I cannot say what many do. For variety, glibness,
+and execution the song is marvelous. It is a brilliant, bewildering
+exhibition, and one listens in a sort of ecstasy almost equal to the
+bird's own, for this, it seems to me, is the secret of the power of his
+music; he so enjoys it himself, he throws his whole soul into it, and he
+is so magnetic that he charms a listener into belief that nothing can be
+like it. His manner also lends enchantment; he is seldom still. If he
+begins in a cedar-tree, he soon flies to the fence, singing as he goes,
+thence takes his way to a roof, and so on, changing his place every few
+minutes, but never losing a note. His favorite perch is the top spire of
+a pointed tree, low cedar or young pine, where he can bound into the air
+as already described, spread his wings, and float down, never omitting a
+quaver. It seems like pure ecstasy; and however critical one may be, he
+cannot help feeling deep sympathy with the joyous soul that thus
+expresses itself. With all the wonderful power and variety, the
+bewitching charm, there is not the "feeling," the heavenly melody, of
+the wood-thrush. As an imitator, I think he is much overrated. I cannot
+agree with Lanier that
+
+    "Whate'er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say;"
+
+and that the birds are jealous of his song, as Wilson says, seems
+absurd. On the contrary, I do not think they recognize the counterfeit.
+The tufted titmouse called as loudly and constantly all day as though no
+mocking-bird shouted his peculiar and easily imitated call from the
+house-top; the cardinal grosbeak sang every day in the grove, though the
+mocker copied him more closely than any other bird. He repeats the
+notes, rattles out the call, but he cannot put the cardinal's soul into
+them. The song of every bird seems to me the expression of himself; it
+is a perfect whole of its kind, given with proper inflections and
+pauses, and never hurried; whereas, when the mocker delivers it, it is
+simply one more note added to his repertory, uttered in his rapid
+staccato, in his loud, clear voice, interpolated between incongruous
+sounds, without expression, and lacking in every way the beauty and
+attraction of the original.
+
+The song consists entirely of short staccato phrases, each phrase
+repeated several times, perhaps twice, possibly five or six times. If he
+has a list of twenty or thirty,--and I think he has more,--he can make
+almost unlimited changes and variety, and can sing for two hours or
+longer, holding his listener spellbound and almost without consciousness
+that he has repeated anything.
+
+So winning and so lasting is the charm with which this bird enthralls
+his lovers that scarcely had I left his enchanted neighborhood before
+everything else was forgotten, and there remain of that idyllic month
+only beautiful pictures and delightful memories.
+
+    "O thou heavenly bird!"
+
+
+
+
+A TRICKSY SPIRIT.
+
+    Bright drops of tune, from oceans infinite
+    Of melody, sipped off the thin-edged wave
+    And trickling down the bank, discourses brave
+    Of serious matter that no man may guess,
+    Good-fellow greetings, cries of light distress;
+    All these but now within the house are heard:
+    O Death, wast thou too deaf to hear the bird?
+
+    SIDNEY LANIER.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+A TRICKSY SPIRIT.
+
+
+For bird-lovers who know the mocking-bird only as a captive in our
+houses he has few attractions: a mere loud-voiced echo of the
+inharmonious sounds man gathers about his home,--car-bells, street
+cries, and other unpleasing noises,--and choosing for his performances
+the hours one wants to sleep. Unfortunate is the neighborhood in which
+one is kept. Such was my feeling about the bird before I knew him in
+freedom, where he has a song of his own. But in my search for native
+birds I often saw the mocker, was surprised to notice his intelligence
+of look and manner, and at last took one into my bird-room, resolving
+that the moment he began to "mock" he should be given to some one who
+liked having the street in his house. My bird was very obliging in the
+matter; six months I watched him daily, and he was kind enough not to
+utter a sound, except an occasional harsh "chack." Probably he had too
+much liberty and too many interests about him; whatever the reason, I
+thanked him for it, and heartily enjoyed the study of his manners.
+
+The bird was perhaps the most intelligent one I ever watched, the
+cat-bird being his only rival in that regard. Fear was unknown to him,
+and from the moment of his arrival he was interested in everything that
+took place around him; looking at each bird in succession; making close
+study of every member of the family; noticing the sounds of the street,
+including the sparrow broils on the porch-roof; in fact, extremely
+wide-awake and observing. To the goldfinch's song he gave attention,
+standing motionless except for a slight nervous jerk of one wing,
+looking and listening as intently as though studying the notes for
+future use. The freedom of the birds in the room surprised him, as he
+showed plainly by the eager glances with which he followed every
+movement and marked each act. Upon joining the party of the free, he
+took note of pictures in a newspaper, distinguishing objects in the cut,
+which he tried to pick up, as a small wheel and a bar. In colors he had
+a choice, and his selection was red; from a vase of roses of many hues
+he never failed to draw out the red one to pull it to pieces on the
+floor.
+
+Liberty the mocking-bird emphatically enjoyed, and at once recognized a
+string attached to his door as a device to deprive him of it; after
+vainly trying to pick it apart, he betook himself to another cage, and
+refused to go back to his own. In any strange cage he stood quietly
+while I walked up to him, and made no attempt to leave his quarters,
+knowing perfectly well that I did not care to shut the door upon him;
+but when at home I could not lift my hands, or make the slightest
+movement, without causing him to dart out of the cage instantly. Having
+contention with his room-mates about the bits of apple put out for all
+to enjoy, he often carried away a piece to eat at his leisure. From
+habit he flew first to the top of a cage, that being his favorite
+perching place; but he evidently appreciated that, if he dropped the
+morsel, he should lose it through the wires; and after looking one side
+and the other, plainly satisfying himself of this fact, he went to the
+table with it. I never before saw a bird who did not have to learn the
+treacherous nature of cage roofs by experience. He appeared to work
+things out in his mind,--to reason, in truth. One cold morning in
+spring, when the furnace fire was out, a large, brilliant lamp was put
+by his cage to take off the chill, for he felt changes keenly. He seemed
+to understand it at once, and though, no doubt, it was his first
+experience of warmth from a light, he drew as near it as possible, and
+remained there perfectly quiet until the sun warmed the room and it was
+removed. Fear, as I said, he knew not, coming freely upon the desk, or
+even upon my lap, after apple or bread, or anything he fancied.
+
+It was plain to see that this bird's first week with us was one of quiet
+study and observation. Not a movement of bird or man escaped his notice.
+He wished to understand, to take measure of his neighbors, to be master
+of the situation. This was manifested not only by his thoughtful manner
+and his wise and knowing looks, but by his subsequent conduct. During
+this period, also, he submitted to impositions from all the birds, even
+the smallest, without resentment. The wood-thrush easily drove him away
+from the apple; the little goldfinch chased him from his perch. He
+appeared to be meekness itself; but he was biding his time, he was
+making up his mind.
+
+The first time the mocking-bird's door was opened he was not in the
+least surprised; no doubt, seeing others at liberty, he had expected it.
+At any rate, whatever his emotions, he instantly ran out on the perch
+placed in his doorway and surveyed his new world from this position. He
+was in no panic, not even in haste. When fully ready, he began his tour
+of inspection. First, to see if he really could reach the trees without,
+through those large, clear openings, he tried the windows, each of the
+three, but gently, not bouncing against them so violently as to fall to
+the floor, as more impetuous or less intelligent birds invariably do.
+Having proved each to be impassable, he was satisfied, and never tried
+again. Next, the ceiling interested him, and he flew all around the
+room, touching it gently everywhere, to assure himself of its nature.
+Convinced thus in a short time that his bounds were only widened, not
+removed, he went on to investigate closely what he had looked at from a
+distance; every bird-cage, inside as well as outside, if the owner
+happened to be away, every piece of furniture, pictures, books, and the
+pin-cushion,--where he was detained some time trying to carry off the
+large black heads of shawl-pins. The looking-glass absorbed him most
+completely on the first day; he flew against it, he hovered before it,
+slowly passing from bottom to top, alighted on top and looked over
+behind. I think he never solved that mystery to his own satisfaction, as
+he did that of the window-glass, which must have been quite as
+inexplicable, and it was never without a certain charm for him. He had
+no trouble in finding his way home: standing on a cage next to his, he
+saw his own door-perch, recognized it instantly (though he had been upon
+it only once), and, being hungry, dropped to it and ran into the cage.
+
+The new-comer soon made thorough acquaintance with all his surroundings,
+and had leisure to turn his attention to a little matter yet unsettled;
+namely, his position in the small colony about him. The first few days,
+as already noted, he submitted to impositions; allowed himself to be
+driven away from the slices of apple on the matting, and turned from the
+bathing-dish on the floor. This was, however, the calm before the storm;
+though after all that is hardly a correct comparison, since there was
+never the least "storm" about his manner; he was composure itself.
+Having calmly and patiently considered the state of affairs, he suddenly
+asserted himself and took the position he felt was his right,--at the
+head. It soon became evident that he was prepared to defend the
+situation by force of arms. He conducted his conquests systematically,
+and subdued one after the other, beginning with the least.
+
+The English goldfinch had been very saucy, scolding and flying over him
+as he went around the room, in the small bird's way; but one day it came
+to a sudden end. The goldfinch in his cage scolded the stranger for
+alighting too near his door. The mocking-bird turned, looked sharply at
+him, ruffled up his feathers, and jumped heavily to the top of the cage,
+turning one eye down upon his small foe with an air that said, "Who is
+this midget that insults me?" The finch was surprised, but did not fully
+appreciate the significance of this change of manner until he was let
+out, when he found at once that his amiable neighbor had suddenly become
+an active enemy, who chased him around the room till he panted for
+breath, and would not allow him a moment's rest or peace anywhere. This
+was strange experience for the little fellow, for heretofore none of the
+large birds had ever disturbed him. He scolded furiously, but he went;
+no one could stand against that determined approach. If the goldfinch
+wished to bathe, his persecutor took his place on the nearest perch, not
+a foot away, thus driving him to the floor with the intention of using
+the big birds' bath. He circled around the edge, but it did not suit,
+and he returned to his own, looked at his enemy, spattered a little,
+went back to the big dish, returned again, and thus vibrated between the
+two for several minutes, while the mocking-bird stood motionless, not
+offering any molestation, but plainly wishing to worry him. The final
+act occurred when both chanced accidentally to be in the same cage, not
+the home of either. The mocking-bird, without provocation, dropped from
+the upper perch upon the finch, who uttered a sharp cry and darted away.
+Two or three little feathers flew, though no hurt could be seen; but the
+smaller bird panted violently for a half hour, as though frightened, and
+for four or five hours sat quietly on a perch, neither eating nor making
+a sound,--a very unusual proceeding for the lively chattering little
+fellow. This proved to be a declaration of open war, and was so
+vigorously followed up that before many days the larger bird's door was
+not opened until his victim had had his outing and returned to his home.
+Teasing never lost its attraction for him, however. He delighted to
+alight on the cage and worry his little foe, or to stand near his door
+and stare at him. On one such occasion a curious scene occurred. They
+stood three inches apart, with the wires between them, when the finch
+suddenly began reaching upward as far as possible; taller and taller he
+stretched up, till he fairly stood on tiptoe. The mocking-bird, not to
+be outdone, imitated the movement on his side of the bars, of course
+towering far above his copy. It seemed to afford both of them great
+satisfaction; perhaps it expressed contempt more fully than was possible
+in any other way.
+
+The largest bird in the room, a Mexican thrush, was considerably
+stronger and fiercer than our native wood-thrush, and it seemed absurd
+for the mocking-bird to measure swords with him. So it would have been
+but for the fact that the Mexican, having lost part of his wing
+feathers, was clumsy, unable to fly readily, and no match for his
+active, agile antagonist; he always conquered when hostilities reached
+the point of a personal encounter, but he was soon soured, and declined
+to meet the enemy. Two or three times they flew up together, like
+quarrelsome cocks, but the decisive and final dispute was over the
+bathing-dish. It happened that morning that the Mexican came out before
+the goldfinch was shut up, and hence the the mocking-bird's door was not
+yet opened. He flew at once to the top of his neighbor's cage to dress
+his feathers and shake himself out. It looked like a deliberate insult,
+and the captive in his cage evidently so regarded it; he crouched on the
+upper perch and opened his mouth at the enemy, who calmly went on with
+his operations. The moment the finch was safe at home I opened the door,
+and the mocking-bird came out in haste. Pretending not to see the
+Mexican, he descended to the bathing-dish, doubtless to cool his heated
+blood. The first splash, however, interested the enemy on his roof, and
+he flew to the floor; but the bather paid no apparent attention to him,
+and went on with his business. The Mexican approached slowly, a step at
+a time, with a low, warning "chack," which meant, "Make way there, I'm
+coming." The mocking-bird, manifestly hearing him, did not take the
+hint, nor look at his assailant, but serenely continued his splashing.
+The Mexican advanced to within six inches before he was convinced that
+force would be necessary. When he decided upon an attack, he manifested
+it by a grotesque little hop a few inches into the air, but this not
+alarming the enemy he drew near to the dish. Now at last the bather
+condescended to notice him. He stood up in the water and faced his
+adversary, bowing rather slowly and with dignity, feathers ruffled, and
+beak opening in the curious way usual with him,--stretching it wide,
+then closing it, and constantly repeating the operation.
+
+After looking a moment at this peculiar display, the Mexican hopped upon
+the edge of the dish, and in the same instant, as though moved by the
+same machinery, the mocking-bird sprang backward out upon the floor. The
+usurper paid him no further attention, but proceeded to bathe, while his
+discomfited rival took a stand on the edge of the disputed dish, which
+was ten inches in diameter, and fanned his wings violently. I cannot
+otherwise name this extraordinary movement, the wings raised high above
+his head, and moved quickly back and forth with a fanning motion. The
+Mexican turned suddenly to him and he flew. Two or three times he
+repeated the performance, but was each time forced to fly before the
+large, strong beak wielded by his opponent, who finished his bath, and
+retired to a perch to dress his feathers. Now the mocking-bird resumed
+his splashing; but when thoroughly wet, the thought seemed to strike him
+that he was not in good fighting trim, and must dry himself as quickly
+as possible to be ready for war, which he at once did by flirting and
+shaking himself, bounding from one end to the other of a perch, as
+though he had suddenly gone mad. He was soon in order, and more than
+ready to resume hostilities. The enemy still occupied his favorite
+position upon his roof. Two cages stood side by side on a shelf, and
+across the tops of them, with great noise and tramping of feet, the
+Mexican delighted to run, thus amusing himself an hour at a time. Seeing
+him off his guard, the wary fellow watched his chance, and when his foe
+was at one end of the course he suddenly alighted on the other. The
+Mexican ran madly at him, clattering his bill furiously, when he
+gracefully rose from his place, flew over, and perched on the other end.
+The run was repeated, and the mischievous bird continued the annoyance
+until his victim was exhausted, panting, and in great excitement. From
+that day the Mexican gave up the contest with his too lively antagonist,
+and refused to come out of his cage at all; so that in fact the stranger
+reduced the colony to submission.
+
+With the wood-thrush, the encounters differed from both the preceding.
+This bird had opened hostilities when the mocker first appeared,
+presuming on being the older resident, and the only bird who cared much
+to be on the floor. The disputed object, as already mentioned, was the
+apple, which they received on the matting, two pieces being placed at
+some distance apart. Seeing the thrush engaged with one, the
+mocking-bird quietly dropped to the other, when instantly the thrush
+deserted his own, ran hastily across the room, and claimed that piece.
+As he approached, the mocking-bird lifted himself into the air by a
+beautiful and graceful movement; he did not seem to fly, but to simply
+rise on wing. The thrush being occupied with that piece, the new-comer
+descended upon the abandoned slice; but the inhospitable bird wanted
+that also. Even when three or more pieces were at their disposal, the
+thrush tried to monopolize them all, though the plan of collecting them
+in one place never seemed to occur to him. After a little of this
+contention, the mocker generally succeeded in carrying off a bit to some
+quiet place, where he could eat at his leisure. Wishing them to live
+peaceably, I placed a slice of the fruit on a high gas-fixture, where
+the stranger was fond of alighting and no other bird ever went. He
+understood at once, flew over to it, and ate his fill. The Mexican
+observed this, and tramped over his cages (it was before he had retired
+from the world) in a rage, seeing "good times going on," and feeling,
+evidently, unable to fly so high. Somewhat later the thrush noticed the
+excitement, flew heavily up, with difficulty alighted beside the apple,
+snatched it off, and carried it to the floor.
+
+Settlement of difficulties between these two birds was no chance
+happening; it was, to all appearance, a regularly planned campaign, and,
+like a savage, the aggressor put on his war paint and danced his war
+dance. It was extremely interesting to watch, although painful to
+realize that a bird could be animated by emotions so--must I call them
+human? He selected, for the declaration of his intentions, a moment when
+the thrush was in his own house and the door open. The approach to this
+cage was by a light ladder, the top round of which, about a foot in
+length, rested perhaps four inches from the cage, and level with the
+door. Upon this round the mocking-bird executed what has been called his
+war dance, shaking himself, shuffling (or moving along without raising
+the feet), and agitating his feathers in such a way that they rustled
+like stiff new silk. After a few minutes of this performance he flew
+away, returning presently to repeat it. This he did again and again, and
+his motive was plain. "You've domineered long enough," his manner said:
+"now come out here, and we'll settle this matter at once." The bird in
+the cage, though plainly surprised at this sudden exhibition of spirit,
+received it like a thrush--in silent dignity. He paid no attention to
+the demonstration further than to keep his eye upon the enemy, unless he
+appeared to think of entering the door, when he turned his open bill in
+that direction. A long time having passed in these manoeuvres, the
+thrush, apparently tired of waiting for the belligerent to vacate his
+front doorstep, retired to the upper perch, and the mocking-bird
+immediately entered below, took his stand by the food-dish, and defied
+the owner, who came with open beak to dispute him, but after a few
+moments' silent protest returned to the high perch, leaving the intruder
+to eat and drink as he chose.
+
+Another point to settle was the possession of the apple. The next time
+the thrush, not warned by previous operations, hurried up to claim a
+slice of the fruit which his foe had marked for his own, he was met by
+resistance. To avoid the rush, the mocking-bird lifted himself a few
+inches, but came down on the same spot. The thrush, astonished, but
+thrush-like to the last, stood motionless where he had stopped, his body
+drawn to a point, bill slightly open and turned toward the bold
+intruder. That bird ignored his attitude and placidly went on eating,
+and three similar experiences ended that annoyance.
+
+One thing still remained unsettled: the mocking-bird decided to change
+his residence. No reason was apparent, but he preferred a special place
+in the room, a certain end of a particular shelf; and no matter what
+cage was there, he insisted on taking possession. The day he determined
+on this removal, he went in while the resident--the thrush--was out,
+and, having eaten, proceeded to the upper perches, and began jumping
+back and forth on them, as if at home. In due time the owner returned,
+visited the food-dishes, and started for the upper regions, but was met
+by a threatening attitude from the bird already there. He seemed to
+think the matter not worth quarreling over, since he readily settled
+himself on the middle perch, where he made a most elaborate and
+deliberate toilet, dressing every feather with care, and spending a half
+hour over the operation. All this time the invader stood on the top
+perch, backed against the wires, his long tail on one side like the
+train of a lady's dress, invincible determination in his manner. The
+calm indifference of the house-owner evidently did not please him, and
+the long drawn-out toilet was irritating; he grew thirsty, and dropped
+to the floor to drink, when the thrush remonstrated by a low, rapid
+"chook, chook, chook," and the mocking-bird made an impatient dive at
+him. This silenced but apparently did not hurt the bird, who stayed as
+long as he chose, and then quietly came out. From that moment the
+usurper claimed the cage, and the amiable owner easily contented himself
+with the one the other had deserted.
+
+When the mocking-bird had thoroughly established himself in every right
+and privilege he chose to consider his own, I hoped there would be
+peace, but I had not sounded the depths in his character; he began to
+tease. Not content with complete victory, life seemed dull without some
+object to worry. I really think it was his amusement; he certainly went
+at it as if it were. I noticed him one morning, standing on the ladder
+before his door, apparently working himself up to something. He first
+looked at me,--I had a book, and pretended not to see him,--then at the
+thrush, who was on the floor as usual; he jerked his body this way and
+that, puffed out his feathers, especially on the throat and breast, held
+his tail on one side and turned upward at an angle of forty-five
+degrees, which gave him a wicked expression. He looked full of life to
+the tips of his toes, and greatly excited. The other birds observed him;
+the Mexican in his cage rustled his wings, jerked his body, and at last
+gave his usual cry. Even the little goldfinch was impressed and looked
+on with interest.
+
+All this agitation did not escape the notice of the bird on the floor,
+who stood silent, plainly understanding, and waiting for the next move.
+Finally the mocking-bird started, gracefully and without haste. He first
+flew easily and lightly to the desk, in a moment to the back of a chair,
+then deliberately to an arm, next to the seat, and lastly to a round; at
+each step pausing, shaking himself, and threatening. When he reached the
+floor, he ran a few steps toward the thrush, stopped short, erected
+himself very straight, and puffed out as big as possible; then another
+little run, and the operation was repeated. He proceeded till within a
+foot of the thrush, when he alternated the upright position with a
+lowered head, and bill pointed toward the foe, changing from one to the
+other very suddenly. When he came so near, the thrush crouched flat on
+the floor, with beak turned squarely against the approaching bird, and
+thus awaited the onslaught.
+
+In that attitude the mocking-bird did not apparently like to attack him.
+He threatened a long time, then retreated gradually, making feints,
+turning, running a few inches, and bringing up suddenly with a half turn
+back. In this manner he moved away for some distance, then flew to the
+round of the chair, the seat, the arm, the back, and so on till he
+reached the ladder again. Then for the first time the thrush changed his
+position and rose to his feet, when, without the least warning, the
+mocker flung himself madly after him, and the thrush, unprepared, ran,
+with a sharp cry. Obviously the mocking-bird, finding the first method
+of attack, which was probably his usual one, a failure, decided to try
+another, as the event proved, successfully. The excitement of this
+performance evidently gave him pleasure, no doubt helped to pass away
+the long hours, for be often indulged in it, always making his approach
+in the same deliberate way, tripping daintily a step or two at a time,
+examining everything in a careless way, tasting a piece of apple-skin,
+lifting a bit of thread, toying and dallying to all appearance, as he
+moved, still always advancing, and never turning aside from his purpose
+till he reached the distance of a foot from the thrush, crouching
+motionless with crown feathers erect. At that point he often stood a
+moment, looking grimly at his victim, then gave a quick, exaggerated
+jump which carried him forward not more than an inch, but sent the
+thrush, in a panic, running half across the room, where he brought up in
+a heap,--his claws sprawled as they slipped on the matting, every
+feather standing up,--and made no attempt to draw his feet together. A
+slow, formal attack he could meet, but a sudden rush was irresistible.
+Then the assailant turned, slowly, gracefully, the personification of
+tranquillity, his air saying, "Who's done anything?" yet taking a direct
+line for the enemy, approaching in the same way, by easy stages, but
+relentlessly drawing nearer and nearer, till he ended by a quick plunge,
+which sent the thrush off with a cry. In a moment he began again,
+teasing, following, tormenting; so wily, so wicked, so determined!
+
+The motions of this bird were most bewitching; his flight the perfection
+of grace. He never flew straight across the room as if on business, but
+always in a dancing, loitering, easy way; hovering to examine a picture,
+slowly pausing on wing to look at anything, turning, wheeling, up or
+down or any way, buoyant and light as the air itself. It was his delight
+to exercise on wing about the room, diving between the rounds of the
+ladder, darting under a stretched string or into a cage full dash. His
+feet found rest on any point, however small,--the cork in a bottle, the
+tip of a gas-burner, or the corner post of a chair; nothing was too
+small or too delicately balanced for his light touch, and he never upset
+anything. He enjoyed running up and down a ladder six feet long with six
+or eight rounds, passing over it so rapidly that he could not be seen to
+touch it at any point, yet not using his wings he must have stepped upon
+every round. He always used his legs with a freedom rarely seen in a
+bird, not moving them together as usual in his kind, but handling them
+with astonishing independence of each other.
+
+The body of this bird was capable of wonderful expression, not only in
+the free use of each member, but every feather seemed under his
+voluntary control. The spasmodic movement of the wings in excitement,
+common to many birds, was accomplished in an original manner by holding
+the wing slightly away from the body, and spreading or opening it a
+little at each jerk, without changing its position toward his side. His
+tail seemed as loosely connected with his body as if it were hung on
+wires; it moved even with his breathing, and the emphatic flirt of the
+member was an insult which every bird in the room understood. Intense
+interest in any sound was indicated by raising the feathers over the
+ears alone, which gave him the droll appearance of wearing velvet "ear
+muffs." In expressing other emotions he could erect the feathers of his
+chin, his shoulders or his back, either part alone, or all together, as
+he chose. A true bird of the south, he did not enjoy our climate, and if
+the room became too cool he made his opinion known by drawing his head
+down into his shoulders, with every feather on his body fluffed out,
+even to the base of the beak, till he looked as if wrapped in delicate
+gray furs to his nose, and almost burying his eyes.
+
+The mocking-bird's emotions were so intense and so originally displayed
+that he was a constant source of interest. A hand-glass lying face up
+gave opportunity for an amusing exhibition one day. Leaning over it, he
+puffed out every feather, opened his mouth, and tried the glass with his
+beak at every point. Meeting no satisfaction, he turned to leave it, but
+first peeped slyly over the edge to see if the stranger were still
+there, no doubt unable to get over his surprise at seeing a bird in that
+position and ready to meet his bill at every point. The same glass
+standing up brought out a different demonstration. He stood in front of
+it and swelled himself out, while the feathers of the shoulders and
+breast were erected. Then he opened his mouth wide and attacked the
+reflection, but was astonished to meet the glass. He touched the bill of
+his double with his own, and moved all the way to the bottom of the
+glass, not taking it away, but apparently trying to seize the one which
+opposed his. He lowered his head as though to take hold of the enemy's
+foot, then pulled himself up as straight as a soldier, wings and tail
+constantly jerking with excitement. After indulging for some time in
+these proceedings, he dodged around behind the glass, plainly expecting
+to pounce upon his opponent, and surprised not to do so. Several times
+he drew himself up, swelled out his breast, and blustered before the
+glass. Once he flew up with the reflection in the manner of a
+quarrelsome cock, and upon reaching the top of the glass, naturally went
+over and landed behind, without an enemy in sight. Upon this he stared a
+moment, as if dazed, then shook himself out, and flew away in evident
+disgust.
+
+The deliberate, leisurely dressing of plumage, with which many birds
+pass away the dull hours, is an occupation in which the mocking-bird
+never had time to indulge. He was a bird of affairs; he had too much on
+his mind for loitering. A few sudden, thorough shakes, a rapid snatching
+of the wing and tail feathers through the beak, or, after a bath, a
+violent beating the air with both wings while holding tightly to the
+perch with his feet, sufficed for his toilet. Notwithstanding his
+apparent carelessness, his plumage was soft and exquisite in texture,
+and when wet the downy breast feathers matted together and hung in
+locks, like hair. Through a common magnifying glass each tiny barbule
+was seen to be ringed with gray and silvery white, so finely that the
+rings could hardly be seen.
+
+The most beautiful and peculiar attitude this bird assumed was when
+conducting an attack upon a small object. Seeing one day a steel
+pen-point black with ink, he stood before it at a respectful distance,
+and raised both wings over his back till they almost touched each other,
+holding the tail on one side. In two or three seconds he lowered the
+wings a moment, then raised them again, while his tail leaned the other
+side. After half a dozen such feints he delivered a gentle peck, and
+instantly hopped back out of the way. Seeing that it did not move, he
+took it in his bill and flew to the floor, where he soon satisfied
+himself that it was not a new variety of beetle. This was always his
+method with any new object of small size.
+
+Not only did this doughty warrior vanquish the ordinary birds about him,
+but when a gray African parrot made his appearance in the room (on a
+short visit) he boldly attacked him, in spite of his size and strength.
+The parrot had a temporary perch before the window, and on the cage
+nearest to him the mocking-bird took his place, and after posturing and
+threatening, stooped to a crouching position, and then darted past him,
+trying to hit him as he went. The first time this occurred the parrot
+whirled on his perch and cried "Whoo!" and after that greeted every
+charge with a very good imitation of a policeman's rattle, probably as
+the loudest and most terrifying noise he could make. So determined was
+the belligerent fellow to subdue or annihilate the larger bird, and so
+reckless were his attacks, that I had to keep him a prisoner during the
+few days the parrot was in the room, for hospitality must not be
+violated. It is interesting to note that so great was his variety of
+resource that he had a distinctly different method of warfare in each of
+the six cases mentioned.
+
+A dignified composure was so natural to my bird that he was never
+startled out of it, not even when suddenly enveloped in a shawl, a
+proceeding that greatly alarms birds of less self-possession. It was
+necessary on one occasion to catch him to return him to his cage, where
+he might be protected from the cold of the night. All the usual ways
+were tried without success, so lightly did he slip away, so gracefully
+and calmly did he flutter around the room, not in the least disturbed or
+confused by the darkness, and quite willing to play hide-and-seek all
+night. No other way availing, the last resource was tried--throwing a
+shawl over him as he stood crouched on the top of the cage, ready for
+instant flight. Not a flutter nor a cry arose, and it seemed that he
+must have escaped; but on looking through the cage from below, he was
+seen flattened against the wires, but perfectly quiet, submissive to the
+inevitable, like any other philosopher. He was gathered up in the folds
+and carefully uncovered before his own door, when he simply hopped to a
+perch and coolly returned the gaze of his captors, not a feather out of
+place, not in the smallest degree disconcerted.
+
+Amusements were not lacking in this interesting life aside from the
+pleasures of worrying and teasing, which plainly were entertainments for
+him. He indulged in other performances which distinctly were play.
+Especially was this true of the habit he imitated from the
+Mexican,--tramping across two cages heavily, with as much noise as
+possible, and then with an extravagant jump landing on another cage,
+where he was received with a scolding, which apparently pleased him as
+much as any part of it. A specially quick flying-run rattled a paper
+fastened against the wall, which delighted him greatly; and when the
+cages were covered with paper, to put an end to the proceeding which
+annoyed the residents, he regarded it as a particular attention, and
+enjoyed it more than ever, doubtless because it enabled him to make a
+louder noise. Often he diverted himself by a mad frolic in his cage;
+from place to place he went half flying, and scarcely touching anything;
+back and forth, with great flutter of wings and great noise; up and
+down, under and over and around his perches, in the same wild way, so
+that it seemed as if he must beat his brains out. Then suddenly, when
+most riotous, he alighted like a feather, the image of serenity and
+repose. Sometimes he was seized with this sort of fury of play when out
+of his cage, and then he flung himself about the room in the same
+frantic manner, scarcely touching a perch, diving under a table, between
+the rounds of a chair, over a gas-fixture, behind and through any
+openings he could find. Should some bird in the room disapprove of this
+behavior, and scold, as the finch was quite apt to do, the mocking-bird
+instantly alighted beside him, humped his back till he looked deformed,
+sidled two or three steps towards him, stopped, and stared at his
+critic; then two or three steps more, stopping again, and in every way
+acting more like a mischievous monster than a bird, till the astonished
+finch was reduced to silence, and as meek as poor Mrs. Quilp before the
+antics of her malicious little spouse.
+
+In all these actions, even in his contests with his room-mates, no anger
+ever appeared on the part of the mocking-bird; everything seemed done to
+amuse himself and pass away the weary hours, rather than from desire to
+hurt his neighbors. In fact, he never did positively touch a bird, to my
+knowledge, though he always acted as though he intended to annihilate
+them. He could hardly be called malicious; rather (shall we say?)
+mischievous, and like Ariel "a tricksy spirit."
+
+
+
+
+THE "WISE BLUEBIRD."
+
+    Never was sweeter music--
+      Sunshine turned into song.
+    To set us dreaming of summer,
+      When the days and the dreams are long.
+
+    Winged lute that we call a bluebird,
+      You blend in a silver strain
+    The sound of the laughing waters,
+      The patter of spring's sweet rain,
+    The voice of the wind, the sunshine,
+      And fragrance of blossoming things.
+    Ah! you are a poem of April,
+      That God endowed with wings.
+
+    EBEN. E. REXFORD.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE "WISE BLUEBIRD."
+
+                         "A wise bluebird
+    Puts in his little heavenly word."
+
+
+The characteristic air and expression of the bluebird, and his
+enchanting little warble, could not be better described in a page of
+writing than the poet has here done in a couplet.
+
+Who has not seen him in his favorite resting-place, the lowest branch of
+an apple-tree, standing up very straight, crown feathers erected, honest
+little countenance squarely facing one, motionless and silent, looking
+the embodiment of wisdom!
+
+A pair of bluebirds lived in my house for nearly a year, and the calm,
+imposing manner of the male I have never seen disturbed. In the presence
+of birds much larger than himself he never lost his equanimity, paid not
+the slightest attention to any one, went about his daily duties and
+pleasures exactly as though there were not another bird, except his
+mate, in the room. Quite otherwise was his little spouse: quick,
+nervous, easily frightened, yet assuming the responsibility of
+everything, even her lord's comfort and safety. Her very attitude was
+different; she held her body horizontal, never perpendicular, as he did;
+and she was more lively in movement. She was a brave little soul, too.
+Even when greatly annoyed by a larger bird, she never failed to stand
+upon the defensive, open her mouth, and sometimes remonstrate in low,
+gentle talk. Nor did she--after she felt at home--allow a stranger to
+enter her door. She boldly faced the largest bird in the room, and
+always forced him to retire, while her mate stood calm and cool and
+"wise," on the upper perch. More than this, she seemed to feel it part
+of her duty to defend and protect his lordship, as though he were too
+fragile to come into contact with the rough side of life. Nothing could
+be droller than to see her stand guard while he bathed in the common
+dish on the table, and fly furiously at the grosbeak, or any bird coming
+too near her precious idol, who meanwhile placidly proceeded with his
+bath in the most matter-of-fact manner, as though expecting to be
+protected. I have seen similar conduct in a wild pair: the female
+defending her nestlings against some fancied danger, scolding, flying
+around the intruder, and taking the whole care upon herself; while her
+spouse occupied the topmost twig of the tree on which his family was in
+trouble, uttering at short intervals his musical cry of distress, one
+rich, loud note.
+
+I did, however, on one occasion see a male bluebird excited in the
+defense of his young. It was in North Carolina, where a nestling chanced
+to alight on the favorite resting-place of a mocking-bird, and the
+latter a moment afterward came to his usual perch not a foot from the
+wild-eyed youngster. Then arose a great outcry from both bluebirds, and
+one after the other swooped down at that mocking-bird, coming so near I
+thought they must hit him. Again and again they returned to the charge
+with loud cries, while the mocking-bird stood quiet, crouched as though
+to dash into the little one, and jerking wings and tail in a wicked
+manner. It lasted but a moment, for the nestling itself was scared and
+flew to another branch, upon which the attack came to an end, and the
+mother went to the baby, but the father stood on a perch near the enemy,
+and scolded for some time.
+
+Perhaps this individual bluebird had learned to assist in the family
+defense, for they had other troubles. The nest was in an unsafe spot,
+the hollow dead limb of a tall pine-tree, about seventy feet above the
+ground. The opening was in the lower side of the sloping branch, making
+it very easy for a nestling to fall out, and that is what I think
+happened the day before the little scene above described.
+
+Hearing cries of distress from the pine grove, I hastened down to see if
+I could be of any assistance. Both bluebirds were on a low tree, about a
+foot apart, uttering constantly the mournful notes I had heard.
+Evidently a tragedy of some sort had occurred, and I thought at once of
+a falling little one. I looked carefully around the tree while the
+parents came down near me, much disturbed. I found nothing, but a gale
+was blowing and a little bird might easily have been driven far away. It
+was a serious matter plainly, for the cries went on without intermission
+the rest of the day.
+
+During that time I saw a curious and interesting attempt at consolation
+on the part of the male. He flew away, and returned in a few moments
+with something in his beak. Alighting near his mate, he began a low,
+tender twitter, at the same time offering the morsel to her. She moved a
+few inches away; he followed, still coaxing. She flew to another branch,
+refusing to look at it. He followed, still asking her to accept it. At
+last she flew away, and he seemed astounded, stood as if he did not
+know what to do next, hesitated several minutes, when a bright thought
+seemed to strike him, and he carried it to the nest.
+
+The pair in my room were a most affectionate and gentle couple; no
+disputes, not even the smallest difference, arose between them. If one
+wished to bathe while the other was using the bath-tub, he stood on the
+edge till his turn came. In the same way one usually waited for the
+other to finish a lunch before going down himself, though on rare
+occasions they descended together for a social meal. If she were
+alarmed, and went to the floor, as at first sometimes happened, he at
+once appeared in the door, looking anxiously after her, and calling
+tenderly. If she did not return, he flew down himself, ran about till he
+found her, and, after talking in a low tone for some time, started for
+home, when she followed him, showing that she was reassured. They always
+sat on the same perch, and on cool days as near each other as possible,
+first one and then the other "hitching" a little nearer. After bathing
+they sunned themselves together, even when in the cage, where the
+sunshine came only into one corner, and they crowded so closely that
+there was not room to spread out. Even that discomfort never elicited a
+harsh word, though he enjoyed spreading himself very completely, bending
+his legs, resting his breast on the floor, and opening his wings to
+their full extent.
+
+This bird's anxiety when his mate was out of his sight did not, however,
+compare with her unrest in his absence, for her affection seemed to be
+of the motherly or protecting sort. Before they became familiar with the
+room, and learned that, though unseen, the partner was not lost, the
+moment he disappeared from view she began running around the cage
+excitedly, looking everywhere, and calling loudly. At first he answered,
+but, deciding to try his wings, he swept around the room, came--as some
+birds do--against the window, and fell to the floor, when instantly both
+were perfectly silent. She looked out apprehensively, and as soon as he
+recovered breath he flew to the top of their own cage. Then her
+solicitude turned to annoyance; she went to the top perch, and gently
+nipped his toes (which she never did to strangers) as a slight reproof.
+He became accustomed to going out and in sooner than his mate, for she
+was shy and inclined to stay at home, and she suffered much anxiety;
+before long she too grew accustomed to freedom, and expressed no further
+fears when he was out.
+
+Making arrangements for the night was an interesting event in bluebird
+life. They always selected the highest perch in the darkest end of the
+cage, and placed themselves so close together that they looked like a
+wide ball, or two balls that had been almost pressed into one when in a
+very soft state. In the morning the feathers on the side next the mate
+were crushed flat, requiring much shaking and dressing to give them
+their ordinary appearance. What was curious, the female took the
+outside, no doubt with the motherly motive of taking care of him. To see
+them settle themselves was pleasing. Being more quiet and less nervous
+than his spouse, the singer generally retired first, some time before
+she was ready, and composed himself in a moment in his corner, for they
+were never restless at evening; she followed when she chose.
+Occasionally, however, she went first, taking her place about as far as
+usual from the wires, and leaving space for him. But if he went to his
+place, there was not room to turn around, facing the middle of the cage,
+as was their custom; and he seemed to appreciate the difficulty, for he
+hopped up on the outside, or the wrong side of her. Instantly she jumped
+to a lower perch, when he sidled up to his regular place, and she at
+once returned and took her usual position beside him. One night
+something startled them, and both flew wildly around the cage. I
+produced a light to show them the perches, so they might quiet
+themselves again. The male readily did so, but she remained on the lower
+perch. I went close to the wires and began to speak soothingly, to calm
+her, and induce her to resume her place, when, to my surprise, she began
+to reply to me, every time I spoke, standing less than a foot from me.
+She stared me full in the face, not at all disturbed, and answered every
+word I said with her musical call, in a low tone, as if to tell me the
+story of the fright. We kept up the queer little chat for several
+minutes, and she did not return to his side that night.
+
+One advantage of studying two birds of a kind at the same time is to
+observe the talk between them, which has great interest for me. This
+pair were exceedingly talkative at first, uttering not only the usual
+musical three-syllable warble or call, which Lanier aptly calls the
+"heavenly word," but often soft twittering prattle, of varying
+inflection and irregular length, which was certainly the most
+interesting bird-talk I ever heard. When they could not see me they
+indulged in it more freely, with changing tones at different times, and
+after they became accustomed to the room and its inhabitants it was
+neither so frequent nor so earnest. Often at night, when one--perhaps in
+a dream--fell off the perch, I heard much low, tender talk, almost in a
+whisper, before all was quiet again; and when another bird flew wildly
+around the room, there was always a remark or two in an interested tone.
+The male did most of the talking, carrying on, often for a long time, a
+constant flow of what sounded marvelously like comments and criticisms,
+while his mate replied occasionally with the usual call. Certain notes
+plainly had a specific meaning, even to the others in the room. One in
+particular was peculiar and low, but upon its utterance every bird
+became instantly silent and looked at the cage, while the bluebirds
+themselves were so absorbed, gazing apparently into blank space, that I
+could easily put my hands on them before they observed me. For several
+minutes this low note would be repeated, and all the birds stare at
+nothing, till I began to feel almost uncomfortable, as I have done at
+similar staring at nothing on the part of animals. One can hardly resist
+the feeling that these creatures can see something invisible to our
+eyes. On one occasion, when the male uttered this note, the female was
+just about to eat; she stood as if petrified, with head halfway down to
+the food, for two or three minutes.
+
+What I have called talk was a very low twitter in a conversational tone,
+on one note, not at all in a singing tone, like the usual warble or
+call. I have also heard it from wild bluebirds, when I could get near
+enough. From the first, as said above, the male did most of the talking,
+and the habit grew upon him, till he became a regular babbler, standing
+on the top perch, and keeping it up persistently all day long. I think
+it arose from the fact that the greater number of birds in the room were
+thrushes, who sang very softly, without opening the mouth. With this
+gentle ripple of song the bluebird's voice harmonized perfectly, and he
+almost entirely discontinued his lovely song, while indulging himself in
+talk by the hour. Strange to say, I soon noticed that his mate did not
+approve of it, and would not stand on the perch beside him while he
+continued it. At first she turned sharply towards him, and he showed
+that he understood her wishes by ceasing for a while; but as the habit
+grew, and he was not so easily silenced, she more and more deserted his
+side, and after two or three weeks I heard occasionally a gentle
+remonstrance from her. I do not believe a really harsh tone can come
+from a bluebird throat. One day they were taking their usual midday nap
+on the same perch, when a thrush across the window began his low song.
+That started the bluebird, and he added his chatter, which awakened his
+mate. She endured it for about five seconds, and then she suddenly
+stretched the wing nearest him so far that he was obliged to move away,
+when she instantly hopped down herself.
+
+The two bluebirds differed in intelligence. The female was quicker to
+take an idea, but the male sooner conquered his fear. The first time I
+offered meal-worms to them she was so lively as to secure more than her
+share; but he learned in a day or two that worms were to be had outside,
+especially on my desk, when he at once flew over to me and demanded
+them, in the funniest little defiant way, looking at me most
+significantly, and wiping his bill ostentatiously, then jerking himself
+with great show of impatience. Words could not be plainer. Neither of
+them had difficulty in telling me their food-dish was empty; they stood
+on the edge and looked at me, then scraped the bill several times,
+making much noise about it, then looked at me again. I knew in a moment,
+the first time, what they wanted. When the male found out that another
+bird alighted on a stick I held out to him, and was carried off upon it,
+he seemed to be seized with curiosity, and the next time I offered it he
+jumped upon it beside the other, and allowed himself to be lifted to the
+desk. At one time, in flying around, he caught his feet in the coarse
+net curtains I hung before the windows to keep strange birds from trying
+to fly out. I went at once to him and took him off. He scolded,
+fluttered, and pecked, and, when I had released him, flew directly
+against another curtain and caught again. I went over to him, and this
+time he understood that I was helping him; he neither struggled nor
+pecked, and flew quietly when I set him free.
+
+The bluebird never showed any curiosity about the room or the world
+outside the windows, but sat on his door perch for hours, with a sharp
+eye to the worm supply. The appearance of the cup that held them was a
+signal for him to come down and beg for them, but his little mate never
+dared trust herself on the desk, though when I threw a worm on the floor
+she invariably secured it. So fond was she of this delicacy that she
+once played a saucy trick upon a scarlet tanager. Having received a
+worm, he went into the first open door he saw,--which happened to be the
+bluebird's,--to find a place to manipulate the morsel, which he never
+swallowed whole. Madam stood on the perch just above the entrance, and
+as he came in she leaned over and snatched it out of his mouth,
+swallowed it, wiped her bill, and turned to him, ready for another. His
+stare of blank amazement was amusing to see, but he quickly made up his
+mind that it was not a safe place to eat, and when I gave him another he
+went to the roof of the same cage. She instantly mounted the top perch,
+put up her bill and seized the worm; but he held on, dragged it away,
+and then retired to his own cage with it. She positively could not
+resist this temptation, and even from her own cherished spouse she would
+sometimes snatch the desired tidbit.
+
+The bluebirds' method of bathing differed from any I have noticed. They
+put the head under water, and held it there, while spattering vigorously
+with wings and tail. On leaving the bath the female fanned herself dry,
+holding tightly to the perch and beating her wings with violence, while
+dancing back and forth the whole length of the perch, in a bewitching
+manner. Her mate fanned himself also, adding a very pretty lateral shake
+of the wings, and raising the feathers on the crown and throat till he
+looked twice as big as usual. But he was very fond of sunning himself
+dry, in the attitude already spoken of. That position, by the way, was a
+not unusual one with him; he often hopped the length of three feet
+before a blind which stood against the wall, his legs bent, head nearly
+touching the floor, and tail thrust almost straight up. A droll figure
+he made. After hopping to the end of the blind, he would dash around
+behind it, as if he expected or hoped to find something.
+
+After moulting, the birds feathered out beautifully, and their spirits
+rose in proportion. They delighted in flight, making long, sweeping
+circles around the room, again and again, without stopping. A few weeks
+later, as spring approached, they grew somewhat belligerent towards the
+other inhabitants of the place; driving every bird away from their cage,
+even following them to their chosen resting-places, insisting on their
+right to every perch in the room. Then, too, began signs of courtship
+between the lovely pair. The first thing I noticed was at worm-feeding
+time. One day I had given each of them their portion. The female
+swallowed hers instantly, and I turned to another cage, when I heard a
+low, coaxing cry many times repeated. I looked around. The male stood on
+the upper perch, still holding his worm, which he usually dispatched as
+quickly as his mate did hers; and she was on a lower perch, looking up
+at him, mouth open, wings fluttering, asking for it. While I looked, he
+hopped down beside her, she opened her mouth wide, and he fed her as if
+she were a nestling. He was more amiable than a wild bluebird I once
+saw, who had brought up a long earthworm, and was beating it on top of
+a post preparatory to swallowing it, when his little spouse--who was
+sitting at the time--came to the fence rail below him, and asked in the
+same way for a bit. So far from sharing it with her, this greedy bird
+simply took a fresh hold of his prize, flew to a tree, and gobbled it
+down with difficulty himself. Not so my generous captive. The next day
+he complied with her request again, and after that it was he who did the
+tender coaxing, begging her to accept the slight offering of his love.
+Soon, too, she grew coquettish in manner, often turned a cold shoulder
+to him, opened her mouth at him, and scolded in the sweetest and softest
+voice; and one night, after they had settled on their perch, I heard
+gentle talk, and saw a little peck or two on her part. He did the
+talking, and she delivered the playful peck or push as reply. Now, too,
+in his desire to manifest his affection, he could not always wait for
+worms, but picked dainty bits from the food-dish, and tendered them in
+the same pretty way. She always accepted, though often she went at once
+to the food-dish and ate for herself; for with all this sentiment and
+love-making her appetite did not fail. Once she was outside and he
+inside the cage, when he began to call and offer her something out of
+his mouth. She did not wish to go in, so she flew to a perch that ran
+through the cage, and stood close to the wires, while he went to the
+same perch inside, and fed her through the wires.
+
+About this time, too, the bluebird talk nearly ceased, and instead of it
+the lovely song of three notes was heard all day, and a little change
+they made in it--throwing in a "grace note" between the second and
+third--greatly added to its charm. Now, too, spring had really come, and
+I waited only for warm days to let them go and set up their homestead in
+freedom. The first mild day in May the window was opened for them. The
+female flew first to a tree in front of the house, where she was greeted
+in the rudest manner by the bird-tramps which infest our streets,--the
+house-sparrows. They began to assemble around her, no doubt prepared for
+attack, when she gave a loud cry of distress, and out flew her valiant
+knight to her aid. After a moment's pause by her side, they both flew,
+and we saw the gentle pair no more.
+
+This true chronicle began with a quotation from Lanier; it shall end
+with one from Harriet Prescott Spofford:--
+
+    "A bit of heaven itself, he flew,
+    When earth seemed heaven with bees and bloom,
+    South wind, and sunshine, and perfume;
+    And morning were not morn without him.
+      Winging, springing, always flinging,
+      Flinging music all about him."
+
+
+
+
+THE GOLDEN-WING.
+
+    The high-hole flashing his golden wings.
+
+    WALT WHITMAN.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE GOLDEN-WING.
+
+
+One of the special objects of my search during a certain June among the
+hills of northern New York was a nest of the golden-winged woodpecker;
+not that it is rare or hard to find, but because I had never seen one
+and had read attractive stories of the bird's domestic relations, the
+large number of young in the nest, and his devotion and pride. Moreover,
+I had become greatly interested in the whole family, through my
+attachment to an individual member of it in my own house.
+
+I soon discovered that the orchard at the back of the house was visited
+every day by a pair of the birds I was seeking. One was seen running up
+and down a trunk of a large poplar-tree, and the next morning two
+alighted on a dead branch at the top of an apple-tree, perching like
+other birds on twigs, which seemed too light to bear their weight. But
+they were apparently satisfied with them; for they stayed some time,
+pluming themselves and evidently looking with interest and astonishment
+at human intruders into what had no doubt been a favorite haunt of their
+own. I watched them for several minutes, till a sudden noise startled
+the shy creatures and they were off in an instant.
+
+After that I saw them often at the bottom of the orchard. They always
+flew over the place with rather a heavy business-like flight, alighted
+on a low branch of the farthest apple-tree, and in a moment dropped to
+the ground where the long grass hid them. There they remained five
+minutes or more before returning to the tree. Unfortunately it was a
+little farther than I could readily see with my glass, and the most
+cautious approach alarmed them. I heard them call nearly every day in
+loud, strong voice, "Pe-auk! pe-auk!"
+
+Being thus baffled in my plan of following them home, I resolved upon a
+regular search in the small piece of woods where they always
+disappeared, and every morning I spent two or three hours in that lovely
+spot looking for any birds, but especially for the Golden-wing. In all
+my search, however, I found but one nest, which may have been his, where
+apparently a tragedy had occurred; for from the edge of the opening the
+bark was torn off down the trunk, and in two or three places holes were
+picked as though to reach the nest which had been within.
+
+Whatever the drama enacted in that mysterious home, I was too late to
+see, and I have not been able as yet to make close acquaintance with the
+free Golden-wing.
+
+The bird that had so interested me in his whole family I found in a bird
+store in New York in the month of November. He was a most
+disconsolate-looking object, and so painfully wild I could scarcely bear
+to look at him--poor, shy, frightened soul, set up in a cage to be
+stared at. I rescued him at once with the intention of giving him a more
+retired home, and freedom the moment spring opened. The change did not
+at first reassure him, and he was so frantic that his cage was covered
+to shut out the sights till he was accustomed to the sounds of a
+household. Gradually, an inch or two at a time, the cover that hid the
+world from him was reduced, till at the end of three weeks he could
+endure the removal of the last corner without going absolutely mad.
+
+On the first day an opening a few inches wide was left in his screen, so
+that he might look out if he chose, and I took my seat as far as
+possible from him, with my back to him, and a hand-glass so arranged
+that I could see him. As soon as the room was quiet he went to the
+opening and cautiously thrust his long bill and his head as far as the
+eye beyond the edge so that he could see me. I kept perfectly still,
+while he watched me several minutes with evident interest, and I was
+glad to see that it was simply fright and not idiocy that caused his
+panics.
+
+Many emotions of the bird were most comically expressed by hammering. In
+embarrassment or alarm, when not so great as to drive him wild, he
+resorted to that diversion, and the more disturbed, the louder and
+faster his blows. If in utter despair, as when I set his house in order
+for the day, he dropped to the floor on the farthest side, put his head
+in the corner, and pounded the tray with great violence. Every wire in
+the cage in turn he tested with taps of his beak, thus amusing himself
+hours at a time, sitting, as was his custom, crouched upon the perch or
+on the floor. In this way, too, he tried the quality of the plastered
+wall behind his cage, and was evidently pleased to find it yielding, for
+he bored many holes and tore off much paper, before he was discovered
+and provided with a background of wood to exercise upon.
+
+The unhappy bird had a serious time learning to eat mocking-bird food
+with his long, curved beak; he never became very expert at it, but was
+as awkward as a child learning to feed itself. He first thrust it like a
+dagger its whole length into his dish, took out a mouthful, then turned
+his head sidewise, shook it and snapped his bill one side and the other,
+making a noise as if choking. When this performance was over, he scraped
+his beak against the wires and picked off the fragments daintily with
+the tip. When he had eaten he left a straight, smooth hole in the food,
+like a stab, two inches deep and perhaps half an inch in diameter. In
+drinking he made the same movements, filling his mouth, throwing back
+his head, and swallowing with great efforts.
+
+All of the Golden-wing's attitudes were peculiar; as, for instance, he
+never liked to face one, but always turned his back upon spectators and
+looked at them over his shoulder. In sleeping he changed his position
+often, and was as restless as a nervous old man. Sometimes he slept on
+the perch, puffed out into a ball like other birds, head buried in his
+feathers, tail broad-spread and curled under the perch, as though it
+needed something to rest against. If he began his night's rest (or
+unrest) in this position, in a few hours he would drop heavily to the
+floor, scramble about a little, and then climb to one of the supports
+that kept the wires in place, ten inches from the bottom of the cage.
+There he settled himself comfortably, head buried again, tail pressed
+against the wires, and looking more like a spot on the wall than a bird.
+
+He often took naps in the daytime on the floor with his head in the
+corner, like a bad boy in punishment, his head drawn down into his
+shoulders and his bill thrust up into the air at an angle of forty-five
+degrees. If this tired him, he simply turned his bill down at about the
+same angle, and tried it that way awhile.
+
+He was an exceedingly early bird, always settled to sleep long before
+any other in the room, and he slept very soundly, being not easily
+wakened and breathing in long, steady respirations like a person in
+sleep. Indeed he startled me very much the first time I noticed him. The
+breathing was regular and strong, equal in duration to my own as I
+listened, and I was sure some one was in the room. I hastened to light
+the gas to look for the burglar, and it was not until I had made
+thorough search that I discovered who was the guilty one. He dreamed
+also, if one may judge by the sounds that came from his cage at night,
+complaining, whining, almost barking like the "yaps" of a young puppy,
+and many sorts of indescribable noises.
+
+The Golden-wing was extremely fond of hanging against the side of his
+cage on the support spoken of above. Not only did he sleep in that
+position, but dress his plumage, turning his head back over his body and
+sides, and even arranging the feathers of his breast, each one by
+itself, with scrupulous care. Like many others this bird objected to
+having his cage used as a perch by his neighbors. He expressed his
+sentiments by quick jerks, first of the shoulders and then of the whole
+body, and if the intruder did not take the hint, he opened his enormous
+bill and took hold of a stray toe, which usually drove away the most
+impertinent.
+
+The door of the cage was opened to my captive as soon as he became quiet
+and happy within it. After his first surprise and dismay at finding
+himself in the big world again, he enjoyed it very much. Being unable to
+fly through the loss of some wing feathers, his cage was placed on the
+floor, and he ran in and out at pleasure. He was more than usually
+intelligent about it, too; for although the door was small, and he had
+to lower his head to pass through, he was never at a loss for an
+instant.
+
+One thing that shows a bird's characteristics and that I have never seen
+any two do in exactly the same way, is to explore a room when first
+released from a cage. This bird, like his predecessors, had his own
+peculiar notion, which was to go behind everything. He squeezed himself
+between a trunk, or a heavy piece of furniture, and the wall, where it
+did not seem possible that one of his size could pass, and showed so
+great an inclination to go through a hole in the open-work fire-board
+that I hastily covered it up. After a while he tested the matting and
+carefully investigated, by light taps of his bill, each separate nail.
+His step was heavy, and he did not hop, but ran around with a droll
+little patter of the feet, like a child's footsteps.
+
+Having exhausted the novelty of the floor, he turned his eyes upward,
+perhaps noticing that the other birds were higher in the room, where
+they had taken refuge when he made his sudden and somewhat alarming
+appearance among them. He did not try to fly, but he was not without
+resources; he could jump, and no one could outdo him in climbing, or in
+holding on. After a moment's apparent consideration of the means at his
+command, he ran to the corner and mounted a trunk by springing up
+halfway, holding on a moment in some mysterious manner, and then by a
+second jump landing on top. From that point it was easy to reach the
+bird's table, and there was a ladder placed for the benefit of another
+that could not fly. This ladder he at once pounced upon, and used as if
+he had practiced on one all his life.
+
+I shut the cage-door at the upper end to keep him out of his neighbor's
+house, while the owner, an American wood-thrush, stood upon the roof,
+looking ruefully at this appropriation of his private property. Upon
+reaching the closed door the traveler jumped across to another cage
+nearly a foot away. This was a small affair occupied by an English
+goldfinch, who was then at home and not pleased by the call, as he at
+once made known. Golden-wing, however, perhaps with the idea of
+returning past insults from the saucy little finch, jerked himself all
+around the cage, inserting his long bill as though trying to reach
+something inside.
+
+Having wearied of annoying the enemy, he sprang back to the ladder,
+descended by the table and trunk to the floor as he had gone up, without
+a moment's hesitation as to the way, which proved him to possess unusual
+intelligence. He did not take the trouble to climb down, but put his two
+feet together and jumped heavily like a child, a very odd movement for a
+bird. It was his constant habit in the cage to jump from the perch to
+the floor, and from one that was two inches above the tray he often
+stepped down backwards, which I never before saw a bird do.
+
+When after three hours of exploration he returned to his home, the door
+was closed and the cage hung up. He was satisfied with his first outing,
+and refreshed himself with a nap at once. But the first thing the next
+morning he came down to his door and pecked the wires, looking over at
+me most intelligently, plainly asking to have it opened. He never
+mistook the position of the door, and if knocking had not the desired
+effect, he took hold of a wire and shook and rattled it till he was
+attended to.
+
+It was interesting to see how familiar he suddenly became, when no
+effort had been made to induce him to be so. I never had so much trouble
+to win the confidence of a bird, but when won, the surrender was
+complete. He came up to me freely and allowed me to catch him in my hand
+without resistance, which is very uncommon. (Perhaps I ought to say that
+I do not try to tame my birds.) He displayed a child-like, confiding
+disposition, both in his unreasoning terror at first, and his
+unquestioning faith at last.
+
+These investigations were conducted without a sound, for the bird was
+entirely silent while awake. But there came a day when he made a curious
+exhibition of his ability. It was the ninth of February, and the
+goldfinch was calling, as he often did. The woodpecker sat on his perch
+with wings held tightly against his sides, "humped" up as though he were
+high-shouldered. The plumage of his breast was puffed out so broadly
+that it came over the wings, and in a front view completely hid them,
+while the feathers of his shoulders were erected till he resembled a
+lady with a fur shoulder cape. Withal, his head was drawn down to his
+body, and his beak pointed upward at an angle of forty-five degrees. In
+this peculiar and absurd position he began a strange little song,
+ludicrously weak and low for a bird of his size. The tones were
+delivered in a sharp staccato style, like "picking" the strings of a
+violin very softly, several notes uttered with queer sidewise jerks of
+the head, and eyes apparently fixed on the goldfinch. After a phrase or
+two he scraped his bill violently and then began again.
+
+This performance he varied by bowing his head many times, swaying his
+whole body from side to side, flirting his tail and shaking his wings.
+It was an extraordinary display, but whether his manner of making
+himself agreeable, or of expressing contempt, I could only guess. The
+goldfinch looked on with interest, though I think he understood it no
+better than I did; he seemed surprised, but rather pleased, for he
+repeated his calls, and the Golden-wing kept up the strange exhibition
+for some time.
+
+I became greatly attached to my beautiful bird, which appeared, in the
+presence of his wise and wary room-mates, cat-birds and thrushes, like a
+big, clumsy, but affectionate baby. It was solely on his account and
+principally, I must confess, to try and surprise a wild bird at the
+above described entertainment so as to determine its character, that I
+wished to make acquaintance with its free relations, study their ways
+when at liberty in their own haunts, and have a glimpse if possible of
+the Golden-wing babies.
+
+A year later I had the opportunity I so much desired of making
+acquaintance with the young of this family. I was sitting one morning on
+the edge of a deep ravine filled with trees, deeply engaged in the study
+of another bird, when suddenly a stranger came with an awkward flop
+against the trunk of a tree not ten feet from me. I saw in an instant
+that it was the infant I had looked for so long. He was exactly like the
+parents, with a somewhat shorter tail. I should hardly have suspected
+his youthfulness but for his clumsy movements, and the fact that he did
+not at once take flight, which a Golden-wing more experienced in the
+ways of human-kind would have done instantly. He seemed somewhat
+exhausted by his flight, and clung to the trunk, with soft dark eyes
+fixed upon me, ready to move if I did.
+
+I did not; I sat motionless for half an hour and watched him. When
+somewhat rested he dodged around the other side of the trunk, and peeped
+at me through a fork in the branches. Then he scrambled upon a small
+branch, where he perched crosswise. But he had trouble to keep his
+balance in that position, so he climbed about till he found a limb fully
+two inches in diameter, on which he could rest in the favorite flicker
+attitude--lengthwise. Then with his head outward to the world at large,
+and his tail turned indifferently toward me,--whom he doubtless regarded
+as a permanent and lifeless feature of the landscape,--he settled
+himself, crouched flat against the bark, for a comfortable nap.
+
+All this time I had been conscious of low Golden-wing talk about me; the
+familiar "wick-up! wick-up!" almost in a whisper, a softened "pe-auk!"
+from the ravine, and the more distant "laugh," so called. The infant on
+the tree heard too. He moved his head, listened and looked, but whether
+or not they were words of caution and advice from the wiser ones of his
+race, he refused to be frightened and did not move till I rose to leave
+him, when, greatly startled, he took flight across the ravine.
+
+
+
+
+A STORMY WOOING.
+
+    Not an inch of his body is free from delight,
+    Can he keep himself still if he would? Oh, not he!
+    The music stirs in him like wind through a tree.
+
+    WORDSWORTH.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+A STORMY WOOING.
+
+
+If, as Ruskin says, "the bird is little more than a drift of the air,
+brought into form by plumes," the particular bit shaped into the form we
+call the orchard oriole must be a breath from a Western tornado, for a
+more hot-headed, blustering individual would be hard to find; and when
+this embodied hurricane, this "drift" of an all-destroying tempest, goes
+a-wooing, strange indeed are the ways he takes to win his mate, and
+stranger still the fact that he does win her in spite of his violence.
+
+In a certain neighborhood, where I spent some time in the nesting
+season, studying a bird of vastly different character, orchard orioles
+were numerous, and in their usual fashion made their presence known by
+persistent singing around the house. For it must be admitted, whatever
+their defects of temper or manners, that they are most cheerful in song,
+the female no less than the male. First of the early morning bird chorus
+comes their song, loud, rich, and oft-repeated, though marred in the
+case of the male by the constant interpolation of harsh, scolding notes.
+Anywhere, everywhere, all day, in pouring rain, in high wind that
+silences nearly every bird voice, the orioles sing. One could not
+overlook them if he wished, so noisy, so restless, and so musical. Nor
+do they care to be unseen; they make no attempt at concealment. No
+oriole ever steals into a neighborhood in the quiet way of the cat-bird,
+silently taking an observation of its inhabitants before making himself
+obvious; on the contrary, all his deeds are before the public, even his
+family quarrels. He comes to a tree with a bustle, talking, scolding,
+making himself and his affairs the most conspicuous things in the
+neighborhood.
+
+Many times he is most annoying. When following some shy bird to its
+nest, or moving down toward the grove where are the brooklet and the
+birds' bathing-place, no matter how quietly one may approach, footsteps
+deadened by thick sand and no rustling garments to betray, the orchard
+oriole is sure to know it. He is not the only bird to see a stranger, of
+course; the brown thrush is as quick as he, but he silently drops to the
+ground, if not already there, and disappears without a sound; the
+cardinal grosbeak slips down from his perch on the farther side and
+takes wing near the ground; the cat-bird, in the center of a thick
+shrub, noiseless as a shadow, flutters across the path and is gone;
+others do the same. The orchard oriole alone shouts the news to all whom
+it may concern in his loudest "chack! chack!" putting every one on his
+guard at once, and making the copse in a moment as empty as though no
+wing ever stirred its leaves.
+
+On first noticing the ways of the birds about me on the occasion
+mentioned, I saw that there was some sort of a disturbance among them;
+scarcely ten minutes passed without a commotion, followed by a chase
+through the branches of a tree, one bird pursuing another so hotly that
+twigs bent and leaves parted as they passed, the one in advance often
+uttering a complaining cry, and the pursuer, a loud, harsh scold.
+Something exciting was evidently going on; some tragedy or possibly
+comedy, in this extremely sensational family. I was at once interested
+to see what it might be and how it would end; and in fact, before I knew
+it, I was as much absorbed in oriole matters as though no other
+feathered life was to be seen.
+
+There were in the party two males, one in his second year, and therefore
+immature in coloring, being olive-yellow on the breast, brown on wings
+and tail, with a black mask over eyes and chin; the other was older, and
+a model of oriole beauty, being bright chestnut on the lower parts,
+with velvety black hood coming down on the breast. With them was one
+female, and though far from being friends, the three were never
+separated. The trouble seemed to be that both males were suitors, and
+notwithstanding the pretty little maid appeared to have a mind of her
+own and to prefer the younger of her wooers, the older plainly refused
+"to take no for an answer," and was determined to have his own way,
+bringing to bear on his courtship all the persistence of his race. In
+that particular quality of never giving up what he has set his heart on,
+the oriole cannot be excelled, if indeed he can be equaled in the bird
+world; for a time, and a long time, too, he is a bird of one idea, and
+by fair means or foul he will almost certainly accomplish his desire,
+whatever it may be.
+
+Life never grew dull in the party mentioned; they were always talking,
+singing, or going for each other in the mad way already described.
+Sometimes the chase was between the males, but oftener the female flew
+for her life apparently, while the rough wooer followed closely with
+great noise and confusion. The affair ended occasionally with a cry of
+distress as though somebody was pecked, but several times she stood at
+bay and defied him with mouth open, feathers bristled up, wings
+fluttering, and every way quite ready to defend herself. Like other
+blusterers, on the first show of fight he calmed down, and the matter
+ended for the time. Peace lasted from ten to twenty minutes, during
+which they hopped about the tree, or hung head-downward on the Spanish
+moss, talking in low tones, though the male never omitted delivering a
+scolding note with every two or three pleasant ones. Her voice was
+charming, in a tender call, a gentle chatter, or a sweet song, unspoiled
+by the harsh tones of her partner. She was also a very pretty bird,
+bright yellow below, olive-yellow on the back, no black about the face,
+and legs and feet blue as the sky, and she was as graceful as she was
+beautiful.
+
+Repose of manner was unknown to the orchard orioles. One was scarcely
+ever seen sitting or standing still. The song was given while moving,
+either flying or hopping about on the tree. If one did pause while it
+was uttered, the body jerked, and the head turned this way and that, as
+though he really was too restless to be perfectly quiet for a moment.
+
+The most tempestuous times were when the younger suitor put himself
+forward and persuaded the fair yellow damsel to show him some slight
+preference. The venerable lover was not slow to resent this, and to
+fall like a hurricane upon the pretender, who disappeared like a dead
+leaf before the blast, and so quickly that he could not be followed--at
+least by anything less rapid than wings. Once, however, I saw a curious
+affair between the two suitors which was plainly a war-dance. It
+followed closely upon one of the usual flurries, conducted with perhaps
+louder cries and more vehemence than common, and began by both birds
+alighting on the grass about a foot apart, and so absorbed in each other
+as to be utterly oblivious of a spectator within ten feet of them on the
+balcony. No tiger out of the jungle could hold more rage and fury than
+animated those feathered atoms, bristled up even to the heads, which
+looked as if covered with velvet caps. They paused an instant, then
+crouched, jerked their tails, "teetered" and posed in several attitudes,
+ending each new movement with a solemn bow, perhaps equivalent to a
+handshake among larger fighters. What one did the other exactly copied,
+and both seemed to be trying to get one side of the opponent, so as to
+secure some advantage. To prevent this, each kept his face to the foe,
+and moved as he moved. Thus they passed down one side, then back, down
+the other and return, neither able to get the slightest superiority of
+position. It was extremely grotesque, and was continued several
+minutes, while I eagerly watched to see what would happen next. What did
+happen was entirely unexpected, a unique anti-climax, quite worthy of
+the undignified character of the bird. On a sudden, as by one consent,
+both flew opposite ways; both alighted in low trees about thirty feet
+apart, and each one sang a loud joyous song, as of victory!
+
+In this turbulent way life went on for two or three weeks; I could not
+tell how long, for it was in full progress when I came. There was always
+a vulgar broil, often a furious encounter, stopping just short of coming
+to blows, and it seemed really doubtful if the orioles would succeed in
+settling their matrimonial affairs before summer. The third member of
+the belligerent party, the demure little object of all this agitation,
+was meekness and gentleness itself, never aggressive, but always flying
+before the furious onslaught of her would-be spouse. Why then did she
+not select her mate and thus end the trouble, which, according to the
+books, it must do?
+
+Turning away from the more conspicuous males with their endless
+contests, and watching her closely, I saw that she was trying her best
+to do so. She plainly preferred the younger and less quarrelsome suitor,
+and often followed him off, bringing down upon herself in consequence
+the wrath of the elder, and instant pursuit, which ended in the
+disappearance of her chosen hero, and a forced endurance of the tyrant's
+presence, till it appeared that she would have to "marry him to get rid
+of him," as our plain-spoken grandmothers characterized a similar
+situation in human affairs.
+
+When these birds could spare time from their own absorbing matters, they
+were very inquisitive in the affairs of their neighbors. After the
+mocking-bird babies were out, the orioles often visited them, while the
+parents were absent, for no reason that I could discover but to see what
+they were like, and how they got on, for nothing about them was
+disturbed. If, however, an oriole was found by one of the old
+mocking-birds perched on the edge of the nest, he was driven away with a
+piece of mocking-bird mind on the subject of meddlers. Likewise they
+frequently paid visits to a nuthatch colony at the top of a tall
+pine-tree. Whether more aggressive among these smaller birds, or not,
+could not be seen. But the facts were that upon an oriole's disappearing
+through those heavy pine branches, away above our heads, there instantly
+arose a great outcry in the querulous nuthatch voice, and the intruder
+returned to the lower world with some precipitation, while gentle,
+complaining sounds came from the invaded territory for some time. So,
+too, in different degree the birds showed interest in me, peering down
+between the leaves of the tree in which they spent most of their time,
+and making remarks or expressing opinions, climbing--which they
+literally did--to the end of a twig, stretching up tall to look over the
+top and stare at me, or when flying slowly past, hovering a moment just
+in front of me with perfect fearlessness and earnest attention to my
+pursuits.
+
+At length the crisis in the oriole matters came, as come it must, and
+not long after the war-dance that has been described. The season was
+advanced and nesting time already begun. In fact, it was ended in
+several families; mocking-birds were about ready to fly, young chipping
+sparrows peeped from every tuft of grass, baby bluebirds were trying
+their wings at their doors, the yellow-throated warbler was stuffing her
+youngsters on the next tree, and the late kingbirds had nearly finished
+their nests. Whether a pitched battle at last settled the dispute,
+whether the modest little dame united with her chosen mate against the
+common enemy, or whether perchance--though this is not likely--the elder
+bird tired of his useless warfare, will never be known, for the whole
+matter was settled before we mortals were out of bed, in the magic
+morning hours when so many interesting things go on in bird and beast
+life. When I came out, I saw at once that a decision had been reached.
+The younger bird had won his bride, and with much talk and love-making
+the happy pair were busying themselves about a building spot. This first
+day of their honeymoon was not, however, very peaceful; old troubles are
+not so soon forgotten, and the discarded suitor found it hard to believe
+that the repulse was final and he really should not have his own way. He
+frequently made his appearance in the old scenes, making himself
+agreeable in the usual way; but the newly wedded were now a pair, and
+when both flung themselves upon him he recognized at last the
+inevitable, no longer resented it, and left them in peace.
+
+With much talk and discussion the tree that had been the scene of the
+stormy wooing was selected for the homestead, and the young wife at once
+set to work upon the foundation, while her spouse in his new rôle of
+lord and master stood on a higher twig and gave his opinions; much
+advice, no doubt, and plenty of instruction. I doubt his mastery,
+however, for I noticed that, though meek, madam had a mind of her own
+and an orchard oriole's persistence in carrying out her plans. He
+talked, it is true, blustered and strutted around, but she worked
+quietly, steadily, and in a business-like way, utterly oblivious of him.
+
+During this day, too, even this first day, not five hours after he had
+tried to coax the bride away, the elderly suitor came back from some
+unknown quarter, with a brand-new wife of his own; precipitation worthy
+of the vulgar house-sparrow of our city streets, which these birds also
+resemble in their constant broils. That naturally put a complete end to
+further dispute over sweethearts; but they could not change their
+nature, and I observed that each young husband had a vast amount of
+fault to find, much scolding and grumbling. Happily it did not seem to
+disconcert the little wives; they sang as sweetly, and worked as
+steadily as though they were used to it, and expected nothing better,
+which was well for them.
+
+The elder oriole and his mate soon settled in another place, and I saw
+them no more, but I was sorry to see upon what tree the young pair
+decided to build, for a kingbird had an unfinished nest in one of the
+lower branches, and two families so aggressive would make a lively
+neighborhood no doubt. Hostilities began indeed on the first day.
+Watching the oriole at her building, I caught the pretty
+innocent-looking creature stealing material from the kingbird's nest,
+while her virtuous spouse perched himself on the upper branch of the
+tree, exactly as if on the watch for returning owners. In a low tone he
+talked to her as she entered the uncompleted nest, worked busily a
+moment, then appeared on the edge with a soft white feather, gathered it
+into a convenient shape, and flew with it in her beak to the upper
+branch. Twice afterward I saw that performance repeated, and each time
+it was a white feather taken. On one occasion the kingbird was at home.
+There was a sharp cry of distress, a bustle, and in a moment Madam
+Oriole flew off with a feather, while the outraged owner stood on a
+neighboring branch and uttered two or three plaintive cries. Considering
+the size and the belligerent nature of the kingbird, I was astonished,
+but exactly thus it happened.
+
+I greatly wished to stay and see the result, for I had confidence enough
+in the bravery of the kingbirds to be sure that the end was not yet.
+Also, I longed to watch the restless pair whose ups and downs I had
+found so interesting. I should like to see the orchard oriole in the
+rôle of a father; a terribly fussy one he would be without doubt. Above
+all, I most desired to see the infant orioles, to know if they begin
+their quarrels in their narrow cradle, and if their first note is a
+scold. But the troubles of this courtship had, like the wars of Augustus
+and Arabella in a three-volume novel, consumed so much time that there
+was none left for post-nuptial chronicles, and I was obliged to leave
+them with a neighborhood quarrel on hand which promised full employment
+for the head of the family while his little mate was sitting.
+
+
+
+
+FLUTTERBUDGET.
+
+    O hark to the brown thrush! hear how he sings!
+      Now he pours the dear pain of his gladness!
+    What a gush! and from out what golden springs!
+      What a rage of how sweet madness!
+
+    D. A. WASSON.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+FLUTTERBUDGET.
+
+
+"Flutterbudget" is the one expressive word that exactly characterizes a
+certain brown thrush, or thrasher, the subject of a year's study. This
+bird is perhaps the only restless creature that bears the name of
+thrush, and he is totally unlike the rest of his family, having neither
+dignity, composure, nor repose of manner. My brown thrush, however, was
+exceedingly interesting in his own way, if only as a study of perpetual
+motion, of the varieties of shape and attitude possible to him, and the
+fantastic tricks upon wing of which he was capable. One never tired of
+watching him, for he was erratic in every movement, always inventing
+some new sort of evolution, or a fresh way of doing the old things, and
+scarcely a moment at rest. A favorite exercise was flying across the
+room, planting his feet flatly against the side wall, turning instantly
+and flying back. This he often did a dozen times in succession. His
+feet were always "used to save his head" (contrary to our grandmothers'
+teachings). When he made the usual attempt to fly through the window on
+his first outing in the room, he went feet first against it, and thus
+saved himself a bumped head. His movements were abrupt in the extreme,
+and always so unexpected that he frequently threw the whole feathered
+family into a panic, apparently without the least intention of doing so.
+Standing beside the cage of another bird, he would wheel quickly and
+face the other way, absolutely nothing more, but doing this in a manner
+so startling that the occupant of the cage scolded roundly. He specially
+delighted in clambering all over the cage of a goldfinch, acting as if
+he should tear it in pieces, and greatly annoying the small bird. He
+often flew up the side of the window casing, as though climbing it like
+a ladder, his feet touching it now and then; and he did the same on the
+curtains of coarse net. Again he flew across the room before the three
+windows, turning to each one in turn, planted his feet squarely on the
+linen shade, as on the wall above mentioned, and without a pause passed
+to the end of the room, and touched it with his feet in the same strange
+way. Often when standing for the moment perfectly still before a window,
+he suddenly flew up, put both feet in this unbirdlike way against the
+window-shade, turned and went to his cage. In like manner he came in
+contact with a cage, the books on the shelves, the back of a chair, or
+any piece of furniture, taking from that point a new direction. When
+startled he instantly bounded into the air as though the ground were hot
+under his feet, and often turned a corner or two before he came down. In
+the middle of his most lovely song he was quite likely, without the
+least warning, to make a mad dash somewhere, turn a sharp corner, dive
+in another direction, and alight on the spot he had left a moment
+before, and all in so spasmodic a way that every bird was
+panic-stricken.
+
+The thrasher was exceedingly wary, and nothing was droller than his
+manner of approaching anything, whether a worm I had thrown on the
+matting for him, or the bathing-dish. In the case of the worm, the
+moment he saw his prey--which I selected for its liveliness--he came to
+a nearer perch, and stood there a few minutes, posturing, shaking his
+plumage in great excitement, looking at me and then at the tempting
+object. Very soon he dropped to the floor and started towards the worm
+in the funniest way; running a few steps, stopping short and turning
+half round, ready for instant flight, flirting his feathers with a
+great rustle, turning an anxious eye on me, then on the wriggling
+attraction, running a step or two, and repeating the performance. In
+this way he advanced very gradually till near enough to half encircle
+his prey; or to run and hop sideways as though to describe a circle,
+turning away at each pause as before, all the time jerking and
+fluttering in intense agitation, and always keeping an eye on me. Not
+that he was in the least afraid of me; it was simply his sensational way
+of doing everything. When he finally came within reach of the worm, he
+snatched it, and ran as though the enemy were upon him.
+
+His performances before entering the bath were even more amusing. The
+bathing-dish, a broad, deep plate, stood upon a towel on a table. The
+bird alighted on the table, and began first to peck the towel, pulling
+the fringe, working at any loose thread he discovered, and industriously
+enlarging any small hole he chanced to find. In doing thus he often
+turned over the edge, when he sprang back as though he had seen a ghost.
+Recovering from the shock, he circled around the dish with little hops,
+occasionally giving a gentle peck at the edge of the dish, or a snip at
+the water with his beak. Thus he waltzed around the bath perhaps forty
+times, now and then going so far as to jump up on the edge, make a dash
+at the water, and back off as if it were hot, or to give a hop into the
+middle of the water and out again so quickly that one could hardly
+believe he touched it. When, after all this ceremony, he did go in to
+stay, he made most thorough work, splashing in a frantic way, as though
+he had but a moment to stay, and in one minute getting more soaked than
+many birds ever do. After this short dip he dashed out, flew to a perch,
+and in the maddest way jerked and shook himself dry; pulling his
+feathers through his beak with a snap, and making a peculiar sound which
+I can liken only to the rubbing of machinery that needs oil.
+
+The brown thrush was never so violent and eccentric in movement as just
+after his bath. Allowing himself often but a moment's hasty shake of
+plumage, he darted furiously across the room, startling every bird, and
+alighting no one could guess where. Then, after more jerks and rapid
+shakings, he flung himself as unexpectedly in another direction, while
+at every fresh turn birds scattered wildly, everywhere, anywhere, out of
+his way, bringing up in the most unaccustomed places; as, for instance,
+a dignified bird, who never went to the floor, coming to rest under the
+bed, or a ground-lover flattened against the side of a cage. All this
+disturbance seemed to please the thrasher, for he had a spice of
+mischief in his composition. A never failing diversion was teasing a
+goldfinch. He began his pranks by entering the cage and hammering on the
+tray, or digging into the seed in a savage way that sent it flying out
+in a shower, which result so entertained him that I was forced to close
+the door when the owner was out. This the thrush resented, and he next
+took to jumping against the side of the cage, clinging a moment, then
+bouncing off with so much force that the cage rocked violently. Then he
+placed himself on the perch by the door, and pounded, and pulled, and
+jerked, and shook the door, till, if the owner were home, he was nearly
+wild. Having exhausted that amusement, he jumped on the top and in some
+way jarred the cage roughly. To protect it I made a cover of paper, but,
+contrary to my intentions, this afforded the rogue a new pleasure, for
+he soon found that by tramping over it he could make a great noise, and
+he quickly learned the trick of tearing the paper into pieces, and
+uncovering the little fellow, who, by the way, was not in the least
+afraid, but simply enraged and insulted, and when outside stood and
+faced his tormentor, blustering and scolding him well.
+
+Tearing paper was always amusing to the brown thrush. I have seen him
+take his stand near the wall, peck at the paper till he found a weak
+spot where it would yield and break, then take the torn edge in his bill
+and deliberately tear it a little. It was "snatching a fearful joy,"
+however, for the noise always startled him. First came a little tear,
+then a leap one side, another small rent, another panic; and so he went
+on till he had torn off a large piece which dropped to the floor, while
+I sat too much interested in the performance to think of saving the
+paper. (The room and its contents are always secondary to the birds'
+comfort and pleasure, in my thoughts.) A newspaper on the floor
+furnished him amusement for hours, picking it to pieces, tearing
+pictures, from which he always first pecked the faces, dragging the
+whole about the floor to hear it rattle and to scare himself with. A
+pile of magazines on a table made a regular playground for him, his plan
+being to push and pull at the back of one till he got it loose from the
+rest, and then work at it till it fell to the floor. He never failed to
+reduce the pile to a disreputable-looking muss.
+
+The bird was as fond of hammering as any woodpecker, on the bottom of
+his cage, on perches, on the floor, even on his food; and his leaps or
+bounds without the apparent help of his wings were extraordinary. Not
+infrequently I have seen him spring into the air just high enough to
+see me over my desk,--three feet at least,--probably to satisfy himself
+as to my whereabouts, and drop instantly back to his work or play.
+
+This amusing bird was also intelligent. He understood perfectly well
+what I wanted when I spoke to him; that is, he had a guilty conscience
+when in mischief that translated my tone to him. Also he recognized
+instantly a bird out of place, as, for instance, one on the floor which
+usually frequented the perches and higher parts of the room; and having
+taken upon himself the office of regulator, he always went after the
+bird thus out of his accustomed beat. When I talked to the thrasher, he
+answered me not only with a rough-breathing sound, a sort of prolonged
+"ha-a-a," but with his wings as well. Of course this is not uncommon in
+birds, but none that I have seen use these members so significantly as
+he did. His way was to lift the wing nearest me, sometimes very
+slightly, sometimes to a perpendicular position, but only one wing, and
+only after I made a remark. This exhibition was curious and interesting,
+and I often prolonged my talk to see the variety he could give to this
+simple motion. His wings were always expressive, in alighting in a new
+place, or where he suspected there might be danger or a surprise; the
+moment his feet touched he lifted one or both wings quite high, dropping
+them at once.
+
+A more lithe body than that of the brown thrush I have never seen in
+feathers; he could assume as many attitudes as he had emotions. He often
+stood on a perch and postured for a long time, as if greatly excited and
+meditating some mad deed, and I must confess he usually carried out the
+intention. Not only was he able to put his body into all possible
+shapes, but he had extraordinary command of his feathers. He could erect
+them on any one part alone, on the top of the head, the shoulders, the
+back, or the chin. He often raised the feathers just above the tail,
+letting that member hang straight down, giving him the appearance of
+being chopped square off.
+
+The song of this bird is well known and quite celebrated; indeed, in the
+Southern States he is called the French mocking-bird, as only second to
+the mocking-bird proper. My bird never sang above a whisper, one may
+say; that is, he never opened his mouth to let out the sound, though he
+was extremely fond of singing, indulging in it by the hour. He hardly
+paused for eating, or flying, or hopping around on the floor, but
+dropped sweet notes in between the mouthfuls, and kept up the warble
+through all movements.
+
+As dusk came on the brown thrush began a wonderful series of postures,
+more peculiar and varied than one would suppose possible to so large and
+apparently clumsy a bird. Sometimes he stretched up very tall, then
+instantly crouched as if about to spring; one moment he turned his head
+downward as though to dive off, then wheeled and faced the other way;
+now he drew his body out long to a point, head and tail exactly on a
+level, then head and tail thrust up, making his back the shape of a bow;
+at one time he threw his head back as though about to turn a back
+somersault, then scraped his bill, shook himself out, and made the harsh
+breathing I have spoken off; in another moment he spread his tail like a
+fan, and instantly closed it again; then turned his head on one side
+very far, while his tail hung out the other side, and in this odd
+position jerked himself along by short jumps the whole length of his
+perch. Between the postures and on every occasion he scraped his bill
+violently. Next began movements: first he ran down his three perches,
+across the floor, and hopped to the upper one from the outside, touching
+his feet to the wires as he went, so rapidly that my eyes could not
+follow him; then he alighted on the perch with a graceful flop of one
+wing, sometimes also bowing his head several times, and uttering the
+breathing sound each time. Again he jumped from the upper perch to one
+directly under it, and returned the same way by a very peculiar motion:
+standing on the lower perch, he turned his head over his shoulder, and
+sprang back and up at the same time, landing in exactly the same
+position on the perch above, with perfect ease and grace.
+
+Nothing pleased the thrasher more than watching other birds; he observed
+them closely, especially liking to stand on top of a cage and see the
+life below,--an agitated life it was apt to be when he was there. Thus
+he sometimes stood on the goldfinch's cage and noticed every motion with
+great interest, yet with an indescribably ironical air, as if he said,
+"My dear sir, is _that_ the way you eat?" He showed particular interest
+in seed-eating birds, apparently not understanding how they could enjoy
+such food. Though full of bluster and pretense, he was as gentle as any
+bird in the room, never presumed on his size as the biggest, and, though
+liking to tease and worry, never really touching one. The smallest only
+needed to stand and face him to see that it was all bluster and fun.
+
+All this until spring began to stir his blood and tempt him
+occasionally, after long posturing and many feints, to deliver a gentle
+dig at a neighbor's ribs. Now, too, he began to show interest in
+out-of-doors, standing on the window sash and looking out, which is a
+familiar sign that a bird's time to depart has come. In his case I did
+not consider it necessary to carry him to the park to liberate him, for
+I was sure he could take care of the sparrows and protect himself--and
+so it proved. When he found himself suddenly on a tall tree in the
+street, and before he recovered from his surprise, those disreputable
+birds gathered around him to see what he was like. They soon found out;
+he quickly recovered himself, made a wild dash that scattered them like
+leaves before the wind, and then planted himself on a branch to await
+another attempt. But sparrows, though saucy, are knowing, and not one
+came near him again. They had quite satisfied their curiosity, and after
+a few moments' waiting the brown thrush went on his way rejoicing.
+
+
+
+
+"O WONDROUS SINGERS."
+
+    In the swamp in secluded recesses
+    A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Sing on! sing on, you gray-brown bird!
+    Sing from the swamps, the recesses, pour
+        Your chant from the bushes;
+
+    O liquid and free and tender!
+    O wild and loose to my soul!
+        O wondrous singer!
+
+    WALT WHITMAN.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+"O WONDROUS SINGERS."
+
+
+I feel considerable reluctance in approaching the subject of my small
+thrushes. None but a poet should speak of them--so beautiful, so
+enchanting in song. Yet I cannot bear to let their lovely lives pass in
+silence; therefore if they must needs remain unsung, they shall at least
+be chronicled.
+
+There were two: one the gray-cheeked thrush, the other the veery or
+Wilson's, and they passed a year in my house, filling it with a
+marvelous rippling music like the sweet babble of a brook over stones;
+like the gentle sighing of the wind in pine-trees; like other of
+nature's enchanting sounds, which I really must borrow a poet's words to
+characterize:
+
+    "O liquid and free and tender!
+    O wild and loose to my soul!
+      O wondrous singer."
+
+The gray-cheeked, most charming in every look and motion, uttered his
+notes in a free sweep or crescendo, which began low, gathered force as
+he went on, and then gradually died out; all in one long slur, without a
+defined or staccato note, making a wonderful resemblance to wind sounds,
+as Emerson expresses it:
+
+    "His music was the Southwind's sigh."
+
+The song of the veery was quite different, low, rapid, interspersed with
+a louder, wild-sounding cry, or, as aptly described by a listener, like
+the gurgling sounds made by blowing through a tube into soft water, with
+occasional little explosions. The soft, whispered warble of a brown
+thrush added a certain under-tone which combined and harmonized both
+these, forming with them a rhapsody of a rippling, bubbling character
+impossible to describe, but constantly reminding one of running streams,
+and gentle water-falls, and coming nearer to "put my woods in song" than
+any other bird-notes whatever. Neither of the performers opened his
+mouth, so that the trio was very low, a true whisper-song.
+
+It was somewhat curious that with one exception all the birds in the
+room through these months sang whisper-songs also, without opening the
+bill. There were six of them, and every one delighted in singing; the
+three thrushes, a bluebird, a female orchard oriole, and a Mexican
+clarin. To the thrushes, music seemed necessary to life; hour after
+hour they stood on their respective perches across the room, puffed out
+into balls, "pouring out their souls," and entrancing us not only with
+their suggestive melody, but with graceful and poetical movements, and a
+beauty of look and bearing that moved one deeply. During the aria both
+birds stood motionless, one with wings drooping, and accenting every
+note, the other with tail slightly jerking for the same purpose.
+
+In character no less than in song the birds differed; bright, active and
+high-spirited, the gray-cheeked delighted in the freedom of the room,
+feared nothing, came upon the desk freely, and calmly met one's eyes
+with his own, brave free soul that he was, while his _vis-à-vis_ was
+timid and shy, could not be induced to leave the shelter of his home
+though the door stood open all day. He never resented the intrusion of a
+neighbor, nor disputed the possession of his own dish.
+
+Almost as interesting as his song was a bewitching dance with which the
+gray-cheeked charmed every one fortunate enough to see him. His chosen
+hour was the approach of evening, when, with body very erect and head
+thrown up in ecstasy, he lifted his wings high above his back,
+fluttering them rapidly with a sound like soft patter of summer rain,
+while he moved back and forth on his perch with the daintiest of little
+steps and hops: now up, now down, now across the cage, with gentle noise
+of feet and wings. No music accompanied it, and none was needed--it was
+music itself. Not only did he dance away the long hours of twilight,
+till so dark he could not be seen, but he greeted the dawn in the same
+way; long before any other bird stirred, before the hideous morning call
+of the first sparrow in the street, the soft flutter of his wings, the
+light patter of his feet was heard. In the night also, if gas was
+lighted, however dimly, dancing began and was continued in the darkness,
+long after the light was out and every other feather at rest. A sudden
+light stopped the motion, but revealed the dancer agitated, stirred,
+with soft dark eyes fixed upon the observer. This dance was not an
+attempt or indication of a desire to escape, as I am sure for several
+reasons. I can tell the instant that longing for freedom sets in. It was
+a fresh sign of the strange, mysterious emotion with which all thrushes
+greet the rising and setting of the sun.
+
+The singular use of the feet by this bird was very peculiar, and not
+confined to his dancing hours. While standing on the edge of the
+bathing-dish, longing, yet dreading to enter the water, on alighting
+upon an unaccustomed perch, or venturing on to the desk, many times a
+day he took the little steps, lifting first one, then the other foot
+very slightly, and bringing it down with a sound without changing his
+position. It seemed to be an evidence of excitement, as another bird
+might exhibit by a quivering of the wings. The veery was also a dancer,
+but in a different way. He fanned his wings violently and moved back and
+forth across the top of a cage, but always in daylight, and then only on
+the rare occasions when, by placing his food outside, he was coaxed from
+his cage.
+
+Bathing was--next to singing--the dear delight of the gray-cheeked's
+life, yet no bird ever had more misgivings about taking the fatal
+plunge. His first movement on leaving the cage was to go to the bath,
+around which he hovered, now this side, now that, one moment on the
+perch above, the next on the edge of the dish, plainly longing to be in,
+yet the mere approach of the smallest bird in the room drove him away.
+Not that he was afraid, he was not in the least a coward; he met
+everybody and everything with the dignity and bravery of a true thrush.
+Neither was it that he was disabled when wet, which makes some birds
+hesitate; he was never at all disordered by his bath, and however long
+he soaked, or thoroughly he spattered, his plumage remained in place and
+he was perfectly able to fly at once. It appeared simply that he could
+not make up his mind to go in. Then too, it soon became apparent that he
+noticed his reflection in the water. He often stood on the edge after
+bathing, as well as before, looking intently upon the image. Before the
+glass he did the same, looking earnestly and in a low tone "uttering his
+thoughts to the ideal bird which he fancied he saw before him." Indeed,
+I think this ideal thrush was a great comfort to him.
+
+Once having decided to go into the bath he enjoyed it exceedingly,
+though in an unusual way, fluttering and splashing vigorously for a
+moment, then standing motionless up to his body in the water, not
+shaking or pluming himself, not alarmed, but quietly enjoying the
+soaking. After several fits of splashing alternated with soaking, he
+went to a perch and shook and plumed himself nearly dry, and just when
+one would think he had entirely finished, he returned to the dish, and
+began again--hesitating on the brink, coquetting with the "ideal thrush"
+in the water, and in fact doing the whole thing over again.
+
+My bird had a genuine thrush's love of quiet and dislike of a crowd,
+preferred unfrequented places to alight on, and was quite ingenious in
+finding them. The ornamental top of a gas-fixture a few inches below the
+ceiling, which was cup-shaped and nearly hid him, was a favorite place.
+So was also the loose edge of a hanging cardboard map which, having been
+long rolled, hung out from the wall like a half-open scroll. This he
+liked best, for no other bird ever approached it, and here he passed
+much time swinging, as if he enjoyed the motion which he plainly made
+efforts to keep up. His plan was to fly across the room and alight
+suddenly upon it, when, of course it swayed up and down with his weight.
+The moment it came to a rest, he flew around the room in a wide circle
+and came down again heavily, holding on with all his might, and keeping
+his balance with wings and tail. He enjoyed it so well that he often
+swung for a long time.
+
+Later he found another snug retreat where no bird ever intruded. He
+discovered it in this way: one day, on being suddenly startled by an
+erratic dash around the room of the brown thrush, which scattered the
+smaller birds like leaves before the wind, he brought up under the bed
+on the floor. The larger bird had evidently marked the place of his
+retreat, for he followed him, and in his mad way rushed under when the
+gray-cheeked disappeared. The bedstead was a light iron one, high from
+the floor, so that all this was plainly seen. No one being in sight, the
+brown thrush came out and turned to his regular business of stirring up
+the household while the little thrush was not to be seen, and perfect
+silence seemed to indicate that he was not there at all. After some
+search, aided by an indiscreet movement on his part, he was found
+perched on the framework, between the mattress and the wall. This narrow
+retreat, apparently discovered by accident, soon became a favorite
+retiring place when he did not care for society.
+
+This interesting bird, with all his dignity, had a playful disposition.
+Nothing pleased him better than rattling and tearing to bits a newspaper
+or the paper strips over a row of books, although he had to stand on the
+latter while he worked at it; and notwithstanding it not only rustled,
+but disturbed his footing as well, he was never discouraged. A more
+violent jerk than usual sometimes startled him so that he bounded six or
+eight inches into the air in his surprise, but he instantly returned to
+the play and never rested till he had picked holes, torn pieces out, and
+reduced it to a complete wreck.
+
+All through the long winter this charming thrush, with his two
+neighbors, delighted the house with his peculiar and matchless music,
+and endeared himself by his gentle and lovely disposition. No harsh
+sound was ever heard from him, there was no intrusion upon the rights of
+others, and no vulgar quarrels disturbed his serene soul. But as spring
+began to stir his blood he changed a little; he grew somewhat
+belligerent, refused to let any one alight in his chosen places, and
+even drove others away from his side of the room. Now, too, he added to
+his already melting song an indescribable trill, something so spiritual,
+so charged with the wildness of the woods, that no words--even of a
+poet--can do it justice. Now, too, he began to turn longing glances out
+of the window, and evidently his heart was no longer with us. So, on the
+first perfect day in May he was taken to a secluded nook in a park and
+his door set open. His first flight was to a low tree, twenty feet from
+the silent spectator, who waited, anxious to see if his year's captivity
+had unfitted him for freedom.
+
+Perching on the lowest branch, the thrush instantly crouched in an
+attitude of surprise and readiness for anything, which was common with
+him, his bill pointed up at an angle of forty-five degrees, head sunk in
+the shoulders, and tail standing out stiffly, thus forming a perfectly
+straight line from the point of his beak to the tip of his tail. There
+he stood, perfectly motionless, apparently not moving so much as an
+eyelid for twenty minutes, trying to realize what had happened to him
+and in the patient, deliberate manner of a thrush to adjust himself to
+his new conditions. In the nook were silence and delicious odors of the
+woods; from a thick shrub on one side came the sweet erratic song of a
+cat-bird, and at a little distance the rich organ-tones of the
+wood-thrush. All these entered the soul of the emancipated bird; he
+listened, he looked, and at last he spoke, a low, soft, "wee-o." That
+broke the spell, he drew himself up, hopped about the tree, flew to a
+shrub, all the time posturing and jerking wings and tail in extreme
+excitement and no doubt happiness to the tips of his toes. At last he
+dropped to the ground and fell to digging and reveling in the soft loose
+earth with enthusiasm. The loving friend looking on was relieved; this
+was what she had waited for, to be assured that he knew where to look
+for supplies, and though she left his familiar dish full of food where
+he could see it in case of accident, she came away feeling that he had
+not been incapacitated for a free life by his months with her.
+
+One more glimpse of him made it clear also that he could fly as well as
+his wild neighbors, and removed the last anxiety about him. A
+wood-thrush, after noticing the stranger for some minutes, finally
+braved the human presence and made a rush for the little fellow about
+half his size. Whether war or welcome moved him was not evident, for
+away they flew across the nook, not more than a foot apart, now sweeping
+low over the grass, then mounting higher to pass over the shrubs that
+defined it. A hundred feet or more the chase continued, and then the
+smaller bird dropped into a low bush, and the larger one passed on.
+
+Then lonely, with empty cage and a happy heart-ache, his friend turned
+away and left the beautiful bird to his fate, assured that he was well
+able to supply his needs and to protect himself--in a word, to be
+free.
+
+
+
+
+A BIRD OF AFFAIRS.
+
+    But now the sun is rising calm and bright;
+      The jay makes answer as the magpie chatters,
+    And all the air is filled with pleasant sound of waters,
+      All things that love the sun are out of doors.
+
+    WORDSWORTH.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+A BIRD OF AFFAIRS.
+
+
+One of the most interesting birds I have studied was a blue-jay; I may
+say is, for he stands at this moment not six feet from me, his whole
+mind intent upon the business of driving small corks through a hole
+which they snugly fit. He takes the cork, as he does everything,
+lengthwise, and turns it about till he gets the smaller end outside;
+then pushes it into the hole and pounds it, delivering straight and
+rapid strokes with his iron beak, till it is not only driven up to the
+head, but, since he has found out that he can do so, till it drops out
+on the other side, when, after an interested glance to see where it has
+fallen, he instantly goes to the floor for another, and repeats the
+performance. Hammering, indeed, is one of his chief pleasures, and no
+woodpecker, whose special mission it is supposed to be, can excel him;
+in excitement, in anger, when suffering from _ennui_ or from
+embarrassment, he always resorts to that exercise to relieve his
+feelings. I have thought sometimes he did it to hear the noise and to
+amuse himself, in which case it might be called drumming.
+
+Not only does my bird occupy himself with corks, but with perches and
+the woodwork of his cage, with so great success that the former have to
+be frequently renewed, and the latter looks as though rats had nibbled
+it. The deliberate way in which he goes to work to destroy his cage is
+amusing, lifting the end of a perch and quietly throwing it to the
+floor, or pounding and splitting off a big splinter of the soft pine and
+carefully hiding it. To give him liberty, as I have, is simply to
+enlarge the field of his labors, and furnish him congenial employment
+from morning to night, the happiest and busiest member of the household.
+He tries everything: the covers of cardboard boxes, always choosing the
+spot that is weakest at the corner, and pounding till it is ruined; the
+cane seats of chairs, which he selects with equal judgment, and never
+leaves till he has effected a breach; a delicate work-basket, at which
+he labors with enthusiasm, driving his pickaxe bill into it and cutting
+a big hole. It is most curious to see him set himself to pick a hole,
+for instance, in a close-woven rattan chair, or a firm piece of matting
+stretched upon the floor. Selecting, by some esoteric wisdom, the most
+vulnerable spot, he pushes and pounds and pokes till he gets the tip of
+his beak under a strand, and then pulls and jerks and twists till he
+draws it out of its place. After this the task is easy, and he spends
+hours over it, ending with a hole in the matting three or four inches in
+diameter; for he is never discouraged, and his persistence of purpose is
+marvelous. Books are a special object of his attentions; not only does
+he peck the backs as they stand on the shelves, till he can insert his
+beak and tear off a bit, but if he finds one lying down he thrusts the
+same useful instrument into the edge, slightly open so as to enclose two
+or three leaves, and then, with a dexterous twist of the head, jerks out
+a neat little three-cornered piece. Thus he goes on, and after a short
+absence from the room I have found a great litter of white bits, and my
+big dictionary curiously scalloped on the edges. He is able to pound up
+as well as down, crouching, turning his head back, and delivering
+tremendous blows on the very spot he wishes, and so accurately that he
+easily cuts a thread, holding its strands under one toe.
+
+But hammering, though a great pleasure, is not his dearest delight. The
+thing for which, apparently, he came into the world is to put small
+objects out of sight,--bury them, in fact. No doubt the business for
+which Nature fitted him, and which in freedom he would follow with
+enthusiasm, is the planting of trees; to his industry we probably owe
+many an oak and nut tree springing up in odd places. In captivity, poor
+soul, he does the best he can to fulfill his destiny. When he has more
+of any special dainty than he can eat at the moment, as meat, or bread
+and milk, he hides it at the back of his tray, or in the hole already
+spoken of in connection with the corks; and when outside, nothing can be
+droller than the air of concern with which he goes around the floor,
+picking up any small thing he finds, left purposely for him, a burnt
+match, a small key, stray pins, or a marble, and seeks the very best and
+most secluded spot in the room in which to hide it. A pin he takes
+lengthwise in his mouth, which he closes as though he had swallowed it,
+as at first I feared he had. He has no doubt about the best place for
+that; he long ago decided that between the leaves of a book is safest.
+So he proceeds at once to find a convenient volume, and thrusts the pin
+far in out of sight. A match gives him the most trouble. He tries the
+cracks under the grooves in the moulding of the doors, the base board,
+between the matting and the wall, or under a rocker; in each place he
+puts it carefully, and pounds it in, then hops off, giving me one of
+the
+
+            "sidelong glances wise
+    Wherewith the jay hints tragedies,"
+
+attempting to look unconcerned, as if he had not been doing anything.
+But if he sees that he is observed, or the match is too plainly in
+sight, he removes it and begins again, running and hopping around on the
+floor with the most solemn, business-like air, as though he had the
+affairs of nations on his shoulders, the match thrust nearly its whole
+length into his mouth. The place usually decided upon is an opening
+between the breadths of matting. It is amusing when he chances to get
+hold of a box of matches, accidentally left open, for he feels the
+necessity and importance of disposing of each one, and is busy and
+industrious in proportion to the task before him. It is not so pleasing,
+however, when, in his hammering, he sets one off, as he often does; for
+they are "parlor matches," and light with a small explosion, which
+frightens him half out of his wits, and me as well, lest he set the
+house afire. The business of safely and securely secreting one match
+will frequently occupy him half an hour. He finds the oddest
+hiding-places, as in a caster between the wheel and its frame; up inside
+the seat of a stuffed chair, to reach which he flies up on to the
+webbing and goes in among the springs; in the side of my slipper while
+on my foot; in the loop of a bow; in the plaits of a ruffle; under a
+pillow. Often when I get up, a shower of the jay's treasures falls from
+various hiding-places about my dress,--nails, matches, shoe-buttons, and
+others; and I am never sure that I shall not find soft, milk-soaked
+bread in my slipper. But the latest discovered and most annoying of his
+receptacles is in my hair. He delights in standing on the high back of
+my rocking-chair, or on my shoulder, and he soon discovered several
+desirable hiding-places conveniently near, such as my ear, and under the
+loosely dressed hair. I did not object to his using these, but when he
+attempted to tuck away some choice thing between my lips I rebelled. I
+never expect to find a keyhole that he can reach, free from bread
+crumbs, and the openings of my waste-basket are usually decorated with
+objects half driven in.
+
+The jay shows unbounded interest in everything. Every sound and every
+fresh sight arouses him instantly; his crest comes up, his feathers
+fluff out, and he is on tiptoe to see what will come next. He is
+remarkably discriminating among people, and takes violent likes and
+dislikes on the instant. Some persons, without any reason that I can
+discover, he salutes on their first appearance with an indescribable
+cry, like "obble! obble! obble!" At others he squawks madly. On one
+occasion he took an intense dislike to a lady, of whom birds generally
+are very fond, and he made a peculiar display of rage, squawking and
+screaming at her, raising his crest, stamping, snapping his beak, giving
+vicious digs at the side of the cage, as though he would eat her if he
+could reach her. And although he often saw her, and she tried her best
+to win him, he always showed the same spirit, going so far, when out of
+his cage, as to show fight, fly up at her, peck her savagely, and chase
+her to the door when she left. Again, a lady came in with her baby, and
+he at once singled out the infant as his enemy, fixing a very wicked
+glance on it, but in perfect silence. He jumped back and forth as if mad
+to get out, and sat with open mouth, panting as if exhausted, with eyes
+immovably turned to the baby. He would not pay the slightest attention
+to any one else, nor answer me when I spoke, which was very unusual,
+till they left the room, when the moment the door closed behind them he
+began rapidly, as if to make up for lost time. Some visitors whom he
+fancies, he receives in silence, but with slightly quivering wings; only
+the very few he loves best are greeted with a low, sweet, and very
+peculiar chatter, which he keeps up as long as he is talked to.
+
+Investigating everything in the room is one of my bird's greatest
+pleasures, and most attractive of all he finds the drawer of my desk, on
+the edge of which he stands, delighted and bewildered by the variety
+before him. Great would be the havoc if I were not there; and the
+curious thing about it is that he will pull things over carelessly, with
+one eye on me, to see if I object. If, on touching some particular
+thing, he sees that I do not approve,--and he recognizes my sentiment as
+quickly as a bright child would,--that thing, and that only, he will
+have. At once he snatches it and flies away across the room, and I may
+chase him in vain. He regards it as a frolic got up for his amusement,
+and no child ever equaled him in dodging; he cannot be driven, and if
+cornered he uses his wings. I simply put my wits against his, follow him
+about till he has to drop his load to breathe, when a sudden start sends
+him off, and I secure it. If I cover up anything, he knows at once it is
+some forbidden treasure, and devotes all his energy and cunning, which
+are great, to uncovering and possessing himself of it. He opens any box
+by delivering sharp blows under the edge of the cover, and hides my
+postage stamps in books and magazines. He hops around the floor in a
+heavy way, as often sideways as straight, and holds his toes as close
+together as though he had worn tight boots all his life. If startled, he
+bounds up into the air in the oddest way, a foot or two, or even more,
+generally turning half round, and coming down with his head the other
+way. If much alarmed he will bounce up in this way half a dozen times in
+quick succession, and should he happen to be on a table at the time, he
+usually ends by landing on the floor. His alighting after any flight is
+most singular: he comes to the floor in a crouching position, legs
+sprawled, body horizontal and nearly touching the matting, looking like
+a bird gone mad; then instantly springs up six or eight inches, half
+turns, and stands upright, crest erect, and looking excited, almost
+frightened. If much disturbed he comes down with wings half open, tail
+held up, and every feather awry, as if he were out in a gale, uttering
+at the same time a loud squawk. He is a most expert catcher, not only
+seizing without fail a canary seed thrown to him, but even fluttering
+bits of falling paper, the hardest of all things to catch.
+
+The blue-jay is a bird of opinions about most things, and able to
+express himself quite clearly; as, for example, when he found himself
+under a chair without rounds, on which he likes to perch, he stood and
+looked around on every side, and made a low, complaining cry, plainly a
+protest against so unnatural a chair; and again, when he scolded at the
+rain that came in sudden gusts against the window, or charged furiously
+at the crack under a door when he heard sweeping outside. In general he
+is very quiet when one is in the room, but the moment the door closes
+behind the last person his voice is heard,--whistling exactly like a
+boy, calling, squawking, and occasionally uttering a sweet, though not
+loud song, which is varied by a sound like rubbing a cork against glass.
+The most quiet approach silences him. When under strong emotion he may
+squawk or scream before spectators, but he never whistles or sings when
+he knows any one is in the room. When out of his sight and so long
+silent that he has forgotten me, I have now and then heard the song.
+
+The funniest thing this knowing fellow does is to stamp his feet, and it
+is a genuine expression of impatience or displeasure. When I take
+something away from him or he thinks I mean to do so, or refuse him
+something he wants, he stands still and jerks his feet in such a way
+that they stamp with a loud sound, as if they were of iron. It is very
+droll. In serious anger, he adds to this, bowing and curtsying by
+bending the legs, snapping the bill, pecking, and jumping up with the
+body without lifting the feet.
+
+It may be that the jay in freedom disturbs other birds, as has been
+affirmed, but among a number smaller than himself my bird has never once
+shown the least hostility. He is interested in their doings, but the
+only unpleasant thing he has done is to shriek and scream to stop their
+singing. In spite of his natural boldness, always facing the enemy,
+always ready to fight, and never running from danger nor allowing
+himself to be driven anywhere, when he is not quite well he is a timid
+bird. In moulting, this spring, my jay lost his entire tail, and was
+extremely awkward in getting about, almost helpless, in fact; and at
+that time he was afraid to hop to the floor, and refused to come out of
+the cage. (I should have said, by the way, that he feared hurting
+himself; he was quite as spirited as ever, as ready to show fight.) To
+get him out of the door I offered him the greatest inducements, with the
+cage on the floor, so that he could not fall far. He would stand on the
+lowest perch, three inches from the floor, look at the meat or whatever
+treasure I placed in the open doorway, and cry a faint, low, jay-baby
+cry, yet not dare descend, though plainly aching with desire to get the
+object so nearly within his reach. Even since he is entirely recovered
+and the possessor of a beautiful long tail, he dreads the one little
+step and has to be coaxed out and in his cage every day, as we coax a
+startled child.
+
+Nothing ever interested the jay more than a piano, though he is fond of
+any music. The first time he heard one he quickly hopped across to the
+player, pulled at the hem of her dress, flew up to her lap, then her
+arm, and mounted to her shoulder, where he stood some time, looking and
+listening, turning his head this way and that, raising his crest,
+jerking his body, and in every way showing intense excitement. Finally
+he took his last step, to the top of her head, where he was more pleased
+to be than the player was to have him. She put him down; and the next
+time he tried a different way, mounted to the keys, and thence to the
+cover, crouching and peering under the lid to see where the sounds came
+from. Satisfied about this, he returned to her head, which he evidently
+considered the best post of observation. Every time she played she
+received the devoted attentions of the bird, and he could not be kept
+away.
+
+My blue-jay is now a beautiful creature, in perfect plumage, with breast
+and back plumes so long that often in repose, just after he has dressed
+them, the violet blue of the back meets the light drab of his breast, on
+the side, covering his wings completely, and making a lovely picture.
+All through the spring excitement, when the other birds, one after
+another, grew uneasy, belligerent, or unhappy, and one after another
+were returned to freedom, he never showed a moment's uneasiness, an
+instant's desire to be free, but scrupulously attended to his own
+regular business, which is to pound and pull and peck to pieces my
+furniture, and especially to destroy my books.
+
+As these last words are written, just at dusk, the dear, troublesome
+rogue comes down to the corner of his cage nearest to me, and as if he
+understood that I had said something about him begins to talk and
+remonstrate in a low, loving tone. I do feel reproached, and I must
+unsay it. His business, his manifest destiny, is to hammer and peck the
+shells of nuts, and to hide them away where they will grow; and if cruel
+man confines him in a house, he must exercise his untiring energy, his
+demon of work, in what he finds there,--and who can blame him, or find
+fault? Not I, certainly.
+
+In behalf of this bird against whom the pen of nearly every writer is
+lifted, let me quote from one of our early and most careful observers,
+William Bartram: "The jay is one of the most useful agents in the
+economy of nature for disseminating forest trees and other ruciferous
+and hard-seeded vegetables on which they feed. These birds alone are
+capable in a few years' time to replant all the cleared lands." Thoreau,
+who was perhaps the closest of our modern students of nature, cites this
+passage and emphatically affirms its justice.
+
+
+
+
+THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN.
+
+As for birds, I do not believe there is one of them but does more good
+than harm; and of how many featherless bipeds can this be said?
+
+LOWELL.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN.
+
+
+The blue-jay came out of the egg with his mind made up. He always knew
+exactly what he wanted, and never doubted that he knew how to get it. I
+wrote of this bird some time ago, but he was then a comparatively new
+acquaintance. He lived with us many months after that, and became much
+more familiar; for besides being slow to feel thoroughly at home, he was
+very young, and he grew in wisdom with age. So I have more to say of
+him.
+
+Human society was necessary to the jay; he cared for the other birds of
+the room only as objects on which to play tricks for his own amusement.
+He was peculiar, too, in never liking more than one friend at a time,
+and was very decided in his opinions of people, having a distinctly
+different reception for each one of the household, as well as for
+strangers. His mistress was always his prime favorite; and although
+during my absence from home he adopted some one temporarily in my
+place, he was never so affectionate to that one as to me, and the
+instant I returned resumed his old relations to each of us.
+
+To his best beloved this bird never squawked or whistled; on the
+contrary, he talked in low, sweet tones, hardly more than a murmur,
+slightly lifting and quivering his wings, sidling as near as he could
+get, and if I put my face down to him touching my cheek or lips gently
+with his beak, in little taps, like kisses. Any one else in that
+position would receive a violent peck. Sometimes, when I was busy, and
+therefore silent a long time, and the jay was in his cage, where I was
+obliged to put him in order to work at all, he stood perfectly quiet and
+motionless an hour at a time, moving only when he was hungry, and
+apparently watching me every instant,--a performance very uncommon in a
+bird, who usually has some interests of his own, however fond he may be
+of a person. The moment I spoke to him his whole manner changed. He came
+at once as near as he could, about four feet from me, and began to talk,
+holding his tail on one side, and both wings spread to their fullest
+extent and parallel with his back. In this attitude he hopped up and
+down his three perches, always as near my side as possible, and
+evidently in great excitement. If during this exhibition any one came
+in, his wings instantly dropped, though he did not stop talking to me.
+This action of the wings showed extreme affection, and must not be
+profaned by common eyes. When I came close and replied to him, his
+agitation was almost painful to see,--such loving tones, such gentle
+kisses, such struggles to express himself. Not only did he insist on
+sharing his dainties with me, offering me mocking-bird food or bread and
+milk in the most loving way, but he wished to share mine; ice-cream he
+delighted in, cake he was as fond of as any child, and candy he always
+begged for, though instead of eating it he hid it somewhere about the
+room,--under my pillow, or between the leaves of a book, all sticky as
+it was from his mouth.
+
+Second in the blue-jay's affection was a lady to whom at first he took a
+great dislike. She tried her best to win him, talking to him, treating
+him to various tidbits, and offering him the hospitality of her
+room,--separated from the bird-room by a passage,--and above all dancing
+with him. These attentions in time secured her a warm place in his
+regards, though his treatment of her was very different from that
+reserved for me. He was always gentle with me, while in her society he
+exhibited all his noisy accomplishments,--squawked, whistled and
+screamed, stamped his feet, and jounced (the only word to describe a
+certain raising and violent dropping of the body without lifting the
+feet). He ran after her when she left the room; he pecked her hand, and
+flew up at her face. Gradually, as he grew to like her better, the more
+violent demonstrations ceased; but he was always boisterous with her,
+generally expected a half-fight, half-frolic, and I must say never
+failed to enjoy it greatly.
+
+The dance spoken of was droll. His chosen place for this indulgence was
+the back of a tall chair. His friend stood before this, whistled, bowed,
+and moved her head up and down as if dancing; and he on his perch did
+the same, jumping up and down in a similar way, answering her whistle
+for whistle, moving his feet, sliding from one side to the other,
+curtsying, lowering the body and flattening the head feathers, then
+rising, stamping his feet, and drooping his wings. This he kept up as
+long as she played second to him.
+
+When this playfellow went away, the jay missed his dances and frolics.
+He flew into her empty room, perched on the back of the rocking-chair,
+where he had been wont to stand and pull her hair, and began a peculiar
+cry. Again and again he repeated it, louder and louder each time, till
+it ended in a squawk, impatient and angry, as much as to say, "Why
+don't you answer?" After a while he began to whistle the notes she used
+to imitate; finding that this brought no response, he returned to the
+cry; and when at last he had exhausted all his resources, he came back
+to my desk and consoled himself by talking to me.
+
+A young lady in the family he greeted by flying at her, alighting on her
+chair-back, clawing her neck, and squawking; and before a youth who
+often teased him he trailed his wings on the floor, tail spread and
+dragging also, uttering a curious "obble! obble!" something like the cry
+of a turkey. The head of the household he met with stamping of the feet,
+and no sound; while at a maid who came in to sweep he always flew
+furiously, aiming for her head, and invariably frightening her half out
+of her wits.
+
+The jay was extremely wary about anything like a trap, and being always
+on the lookout for one, he sometimes, like bigger persons, fooled
+himself badly. Finding him fond of standing on a set of turning
+bookshelves, I thought to please him by arranging over it a convenient
+resting-place. He watched me with great interest, but, when I had
+finished, declined to use the perch, though ordinarily nothing could
+keep him from trying every new thing. I put a bait upon it in the shape
+of bits of gum-drops, a favorite delicacy; but he plainly saw that I
+wanted him to go to it, and in the face of the fact that I had
+heretofore tried to keep him off the papers and magazines lying there,
+he decided that it was suspicious. He flew so as almost to touch the
+stick, and hovered before it to snatch off the candy placed there; but
+alight on it he would not, and did not, though I kept it in place a
+week.
+
+In many ways this bird was wise; he knew exactly where to deliver his
+blows to effect what he desired. A cage-door being fastened with fine
+wire, he never wasted a stroke upon the door, but gave telling blows
+directly upon the wire. A rubber band was looped about a rod for him to
+play with, in the expectation that he would pull on it and make sport;
+but he disappointed us all by hammering at the loop, until he loosened
+it and easily pulled it off. Again it was tied on with strong linen
+thread; he turned his whole attention to the knot of the latter, till it
+yielded and was disposed of also.
+
+Dear as was this bird, he was a more than usually troublesome pet. My
+desk became his favorite playground, and havoc indeed he made with the
+things upon it; snatching and running off with paper, pen, or any small
+object, destroying boxes and injuring books. Finally, in self-defense,
+I adopted the plan of laying over it every morning a woolen cloth, which
+must be lifted every time anything was taken from the desk. This
+arrangement did not please my small friend in blue, and he took pains to
+express his displeasure in the most emphatic way. He came down upon the
+cover, tramped all over it, and sought small holes in it through which
+to thrust his bill. One day he was busily engaged in hammering a book
+through an opening, and to cure him of the trick I slipped my hand
+under, caught his beak between two fingers, and held it a moment. This
+amazed but did not alarm the bird; on the contrary, he plainly decided
+to persevere till he found out the secret. He pecked the mounds made by
+my fingers; he stooped and looked into the hole, and then probed again.
+This time I held him longer, so that he had to struggle and beat his
+wings to get away, and then he walked off indignantly. Still he was not
+satisfied about that mystery, and in a moment he was back again, trying
+in new ways to penetrate it. I was tired before he was. He was baffled
+only temporarily; he soon learned to draw up the fabric, hold the slack
+under one foot while he pulled it still further, and thus soon reach
+anything he desired.
+
+The blue-jay always pried into packages by pecking a hole in the
+wrapper and examining the contents through that; and boxes he opened by
+delivering upward blows under the edge of the cover. The waste-basket he
+nearly emptied from the outside by dragging papers through the openings
+in the weaving. Seeing two or three unmounted photographs put into a
+book, he went speedily for that volume, thrust his beak into the slight
+opening made by the pictures, and pulled them out, flying at once across
+the room with one in his mouth. It was secured and put back, and the
+book held down by a heavy weight; but he found the place at once, and
+repeated the naughtiness. The book had to be completely covered up
+before the photographs were safe.
+
+After the blue-jay had put on a new suit of feathers he flew with great
+ease, and selected for a retreat the top of a door into the passageway
+mentioned, which usually stood open. It was not long before his
+curiosity was roused to know what was outside the door that so often
+swallowed up his friends,--that into the hall. He resolved to find out,
+and to that end, when stationed on the elevated perch of his choice,
+held himself in readiness, upon the exit of any one, to fly out. He did
+not wish to get away; he merely took a turn in the hall, and came back;
+and once, when accidentally left in that unfamiliar place, he stayed in
+the bath-room, with window wide open, for half an hour before he was
+found. He became so expert in flying out of the door that it was a
+difficult matter to pass through without his company; we had to train
+ourselves in sleight-of-hand to outwit him. There were two ways of
+getting the better of him; mere suddenness was of no use,--he was much
+quicker than we were. One way was to go to the room on the other side of
+the passage, where he was sure to follow, and before he fairly settled
+there, to dodge back and shut the door,--a proceeding so unexpected that
+he never learned to allow for it. The other way was to go to the
+hall-door as if intending to open it; instantly the bird swooped down,
+ready to slip out also, but finding the way closed, swept around the
+room and alighted somewhere. This was the second to open the door and
+step out, for he always paused a moment before flying again.
+
+The only notice the jay ever took of the birds, as said above, was to
+tease them, or put them in a flutter; as society he plainly despised
+them. They soon learned to regard him as a sort of infernal machine,
+liable at any moment to explode; and they were fully justified, for he
+was fond of surprising them by unexpectedly flying around the room, tail
+spread, feathers rustling, squawking madly in a loud voice. He usually
+managed in his career to sweep close over the head of every bird, of
+course frightening them off their perches, and thus to put the whole
+room into a panic. They took refuge anywhere,--under the bed, behind the
+chairs, against the wires, and on the floor,--while the mischief-maker
+circled around, filling the air with shrieks, then suddenly dropped to
+the round of a chair and calmly dressed his feathers, as if he had
+merely been exercising his wings.
+
+Poor little fellow! he was hardly more than a baby, and not very brave.
+A big grasshopper which once got into the room afforded him great
+excitement and the spectators much amusement. He saw it before his cage
+was opened, and as soon as he came out he went after it. The insect
+hopped up three feet, and so startled the bird that he jumped almost as
+high. When it alighted he picked it up, but seeming not to know what to
+do with it, soon dropped it. Again it hopped, and again the jay repeated
+his bound; and this performance went on for some minutes, one of the
+drollest of sights,--his cautious approach, the spring of the insect,
+and his instant copy of the same, as if in emulation. After being picked
+up several times the grasshopper was disabled; then when the bird came
+near, it lifted its wings, plainly to scare its persecutor; it did awe
+him. Meanwhile an orchard oriole had been eagerly looking on, and on one
+occasion that the grasshopper was dropped he pounced upon it and carried
+it off to a chair, where he proceeded to eat it, though it was so big as
+to be almost unmanageable. The jay did not like being deprived of his
+plaything. He ran after the thief, and stood on the floor, uttering a
+low cry while watching the operation. In the oriole's moving the clumsy
+insect fell to the floor, when the jay snatched it; and it was evident
+that he had got a new idea about its use, for he carried it under a
+chair and demolished it completely,--not even a wing remained.
+
+More disturbing to the jay, strange as it may seem, was a tree. It was
+really touching to see a bird afraid of this, but the poor youngster had
+been taken from the nest to a house. A Christmas tree was brought into
+the bird-room to please the residents there, when, to our amazement, the
+jay went into a wild fright, flew madly around near the ceiling,
+squawking, and making the other birds think something terrible had
+happened. He flew till he was breathless, and was evidently very much
+distressed. For three or four days he was equally alarmed the moment he
+caught sight of it in the morning and whenever I moved it an inch,
+though the other birds liked it and were on it half the time. When he
+did get used to it he did not go upon it, but to the standard below,
+where he could pick the needle-like leaves and carry them off to hide
+about the room.
+
+The blue-jay took his bath in an original way as he did everything else.
+First, he stood beside the wide, shallow dish, looked at it, then at me
+and all around the room, one wing drooping and the other laid jauntily
+over the back, while he talked in a low tone, as if he said, "If anybody
+is going to object, now is the time." No one ventured to dispute his
+right, and suddenly he plumped into the middle, neither alighting on the
+edge nor testing the water. Then there was a lively frolic, with tail
+spread, crest raised, wings beating, and the water flying several feet
+around. He was a very beautiful bird when in perfect-plumage. There were
+six distinct shades of blue, besides rich velvety black, snowy white,
+delicate dove color, and blue-gray. He is too well known to need
+description, but a jay is not often so closely seen when alive and in
+perfection of plumage. This bird had a charming way of folding his wings
+that hid all the plain blue-gray. When held thus and laid together over
+the back, there were displayed first the beautiful tail, with broad
+white edges to the feathers; above it the wings looking like a square
+cut mantle, of the same colors; above this a deep pointed shoulder cape,
+of rich violet blue, the feathers fluffed up loosely; and at the top of
+all, his exquisite crest.
+
+
+
+
+VIRGINIA'S WOOING.
+
+    For who the pleasure of the spring shall tell,
+    When on the leafless stalk the brown buds swell,
+    When the grass brightens and the days grow long,
+    And little birds break out in rippling song.
+
+    CELIA THAXTER.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+VIRGINIA'S WOOING.
+
+
+You must know in the beginning that Virginia wore feathers. But she had
+as many trials with her suitors as though she dressed in silks, and she
+displayed so much of what we call "human nature" that her story is as
+interesting as that of half the Ethels and Marguerites of the romances.
+
+She came of a good old family, the Cardinals, and, belonging to the
+Virginia branch, was called properly Virginia Cardinal, or, in
+scientific, fashion, _Cardinalis Virginianus_. She was a beauty, too. It
+is well known that the cardinal himself has a full suit of the most
+brilliant red, but it is not so familiar a fact that the dames of the
+tribe are more modest and wear the family colors simply as linings and
+in subdued tints: rich rose-colored wing-facings, light coral-hued beak,
+delicate pink crest, all toned down by the soft olive brown of the
+breast and back, over which is everywhere a lovely suggestion of red.
+
+The home of Virginia, when she came to the bird-room, was a large cage
+by the window; that of the cardinal being next to it, equally
+commodious, but a little farther from the light. This personage, her
+first admirer, made the mistake that larger suitors sometimes fall into,
+with equally disastrous results,--he "took things for granted." Between
+the cages was a door, but, to try the temper of the birds, it was at
+first closed. The cardinal was evidently pleased with his lovely
+neighbor; he went as near to her as he could get, and uttered some low
+remarks, to which she listened, but did not reply. Later, when a
+meal-worm was given to him, he did not eat it, but held it in his beak,
+hopped over to her side, tried to get through the wires, and plainly
+thought of offering it to her. His disposition appearing so friendly, a
+human hand interposed and opened the door. Instantly he went into her
+cage, and apparently thinking better of the intended offering he ate it
+himself, and proceeded to investigate her food-dishes and try the seed,
+then hopped back and forth between the two cages, and at last selected
+the perch he preferred and took possession. He paid no attention to her
+in the way of recognizing her ownership, which he would naturally do to
+another bird; he assumed that whatever belonged to the cardinal family
+belonged to him; perhaps he even thought she went with the house,--it
+certainly looked as though he did.
+
+But the little dame had a mind of her own. On his first intrusion she
+vacated her home and passed into his. When he appeared in his cage she
+quietly hopped back; on his return she changed cages with equal
+alacrity; when he settled himself on her perch, she was quite contented
+on his. There was no dispute, no warfare; she simply said, in manner,
+"All right, my friend, select your abode, and I'll take the other. I'm
+satisfied with either, but I intend to have it to myself." After awhile
+it seemed to strike his lordship that she avoided him, and he resolved
+to settle that matter; here making his second mistake, in trying to
+force instead of to win. He entered the cage where she sat quietly, and
+flew at her. She dodged him and took refuge in the other apartment; he
+followed; and thus they rushed back and forth several times, till she
+stopped for breath on a lower perch, while he was on an upper one in the
+same cage. Then he leaned far over and fixed his eyes on her, crest
+raised to its greatest height, wings held slightly out, and addressed
+her in a very low but distinct song, which resembled the syllables
+"cur-dle-e! cur-dle-e! cr-r-r"; the latter sounding almost like a cat's
+purr. After singing this several times, and being slighted by her
+leaving the cage, he laid his crest flat down, muttered something so low
+that it could not be noted, and looked very much put out. Soon, however,
+he shook his feathers violently, flung himself at her, and she dodged,
+as before. When both happened to be for a moment in their own cages, the
+door was suddenly closed between, and each had his own, as at first.
+Madam was delighted, but the cardinal resented it; he tried to remove
+the obnoxious barrier, pecked at it, shook it, and could not be
+reconciled. He grew hungry and was obliged to eat, but between every two
+seeds he returned to struggle with the bars that kept him from her.
+Meanwhile Virginia had apparently forgotten all about him, eating and
+making her toilet for the night, as cheerful as usual.
+
+The next morning, the outside doors of the two cages were opened, and
+both birds at once came out into the room. The cardinal, not yet over
+his tiff of the evening before, took wing for the trees outside the
+windows, and brought up, of course, against the glass. He was greatly
+disappointed. He alighted on top of the lower sash, tested, examined,
+and tried to solve the mystery. Virginia, too, tried to go through the
+pane, but learned in one lesson that it was useless. She did not care
+much about it any way, for she was perfectly contented inside. She went
+around the room, hovering slowly under the ceiling, which is always of
+interest to birds, and then set herself to work in a most systematic
+manner to find out all about the new world she was in. She examined the
+outside perches and tried each one; she explored the bathing table,
+flirted out a little water from the dishes, and at last thought it time
+to make acquaintance with her neighbors.
+
+She began with the robin, and flew to his roof. The robin was not
+pleased, snapped at her, opened his mouth, uttered a queer low
+robin-cry, "seep," and pecked at her feet, while she stood quietly
+looking down at the show from above, as much interested as though it
+were arranged to amuse her. At length she began to make the more formal
+visit. She dropped to the door-perch and approached the entrance. The
+inhospitable owner met her there, not to welcome and invite her in, but
+to warn her out! He lowered his head, opened his beak, and bowed to her,
+looking very wicked indeed. It was plain that he was "not receiving"
+that morning. But Virginia had come to call, and call she would. Nothing
+daunted by his coolness, she hopped in. The robin was amazed; then
+declared war in his peculiar way,--first a hop of six inches, with
+wings spread, then a savage clatter of the bill. His guest met this
+demonstration quite calmly. She lowered her head, to defend herself if
+necessary, but made no other movement. Her calmness filled the robin
+with horror; he fled the cage. Then she went all over it, and satisfied
+herself that it was much like her own, only the food-dish was filled
+with some uneatable black stuff, instead of the vegetarian food she
+preferred. She soon departed.
+
+Meanwhile the cardinal was wasting his time over the window problem,
+touching the glass with his beak, flying up a few inches before it,
+gently tapping the pane as he went. It was two or three days before he
+made up his mind he could not get through. After that he was as
+indifferent to the outside as any bird in the room, and turned his
+attention once more to Virginia. Whenever they were in their cages, with
+the door open between, he assumed the lord-and-mastership of the two; he
+drove her away from her own food-cups, usurped her perch and her cage,
+and made himself disagreeable generally. Finally, one day when she was
+sitting quietly on the upper perch of his deserted cage, he came into
+the same cage, and, resting on the low perch close to the door, his tail
+hanging outside, began a low call, a curious sort of "e-up," with a
+jerk on the second syllable. Though a common enough sound for a
+cardinal, this plainly meant more than was apparent to human spectators.
+Virginia at once grew uneasy, hopped across the upper perches, and when
+her nervousness became too great dashed down past him, though he was
+partly in the doorway, and into her own cage, where she resumed her
+restless jumps. He was not pleased with her reception of his attentions;
+he sat a long time in that attitude, perfectly still, perhaps meditating
+what step he should take next, glancing at her meanwhile over his
+shoulder, but not stirring a feather. Time passed, and he came to a
+decision of some sort, which was shown by a change of position. He
+turned around, and took his seat on the corresponding perch in her cage,
+just before the door. This impressed Virginia; she stopped her hopping
+and looked over at him with an air of wondering what he would do next.
+What he did was to hop one step nearer, to the middle perch. Upon this
+she abandoned her place, came to the floor, and began to eat in the most
+indifferent manner; then passed into his cage, then back to the floor of
+her own, still eating, while he sat silent and motionless on the middle
+perch, evidently much disturbed by her conduct. After an hour of this
+performance he retired to her upper perch, and stayed there.
+
+The same day, the jealousy of the unsuccessful wooer was aroused by a
+fine, fresh-looking cardinal whom he saw in the looking-glass. In flying
+past it he caught a glimpse of his reflection, and at once turned,
+alighted before it, and began calling vehemently; holding out, and
+quivering his wings, and flying up against the figure again and again in
+the most savage way. The next day he began to mope and refused to come
+out of the cage; whether because of illness, or disappointed affections,
+who shall say?
+
+The time of her tormentor's retirement was one of great happiness to
+Virginia. She paid her usual visit to the robin, and he, as at first,
+vacated the cage, this having become the regular morning programme. Now,
+too, she went on to extend her acquaintance by entering the cage of
+another neighbor, a scarlet tanager, a shy, unobtrusive fellow, who
+asked nothing but to be let alone. This bird also did not reciprocate
+her neighborly sentiments; he met her with open beak, but finding that
+did not awe her, nor prevent her calmly walking in, he hastily left the
+cage himself. During the time that her persecutor was sulking, and not
+likely to bother, she had leisure for the bath, which she enjoyed
+freely, coming out with her long breast-feathers hanging in locks and
+looking like a bundle of rags. Her last experimental call was now made
+upon another household, the Baltimore orioles, and there she met with
+something new--perfect indifference. Even when both of the birds were at
+home they did not resent her coming in. She went to the upper perch with
+them; the cage was big, there was plenty of room, and they were willing.
+Their manners, in fact, were so agreeable that if their cups had been
+supplied with seed, I think she would have taken up her abode with them;
+as it was, she frequently spent half an hour at a time there. On this
+eventful day Virginia began to sing, for in her family the musical
+performances are not confined to the males.
+
+After several days of retirement, the cardinal plucked up spirit to
+resume his annoyance of Virginia, and for a few nights a queer sort of
+game was played by the two, explain it who can. If the barrier between
+the cages was removed after the outside doors were shut for the night,
+he at once went to her cage and to the middle perch. Virginia, on the
+upper perch, waited till he reached that spot, then dropped to the
+floor, slipped through the door into his cage, and went to the upper
+perches there, where she hopped back and forth, while he did the same in
+her cage. Suddenly, after a few moments, down he came again through the
+door to his own middle perch, when instantly, as before, she retreated
+into her cage. Thus they went on an hour at a time; he apparently
+following her from one cage to another, and she declining to occupy the
+same apartment with him. Occasionally it was not so calm; he lost his
+temper, or grew tired of trying to please; once or twice, without
+warning, he lowered his head, looked ugly, and fairly burst into her
+cage and flung himself at her. She dived under or bounded over a perch,
+any way to escape him, and took refuge in the other cage.
+
+This could not go on long; the cardinal lost interest in everything,
+took to moping, and at last died,--disappointed affection, shall we say,
+or what? Virginia was relieved; she sang more and in a louder tone,
+hopping around her cage with a seed in her mouth, flying through the
+room, or splashing in the bath; in fact she was bubbling over with song
+all the time, as if she were so happy she could not keep still. She paid
+her daily visits to the cages, forcing the robin to take an outing,
+which he did not care to do while moulting and not very sure of his
+powers.
+
+Many birds show emotions by raising the feathers on different parts of
+the body, but this bird was remarkable in the expression of her crest
+alone. When she peeped into a strange cage, and was somewhat uncertain
+of her reception, the crest laid flat down, her very head seemed to
+shrink; she stepped in at the door, excited, for it might be peace and
+it might be war; the feathers rose and fell alternately; if suddenly
+startled, the crest sprang to its highest point; and when singing, or
+passing peacefully about the room, it dropped carelessly back on her
+head.
+
+Virginia was allowed a week's solitary enjoyment of the two cages, and
+then one day a new tenant appeared in the cardinal's quarters. She was
+out in the room when he arrived, but she instantly came over and
+alighted on his roof, to have a look at him. Most expressive was her
+manner. She stood in silence and gazed upon him a long time; all her
+liveliness and gayety were gone, and she appeared to be struck dumb by
+this new complication of her affairs. It was plain that she was not
+pleased. Perhaps her dislike was evident to the new bird, for suddenly
+he flew up and snapped at her, which so surprised her that she hopped a
+foot into the air. When the time came to open the door into her cage,
+the stranger was delighted to go in, but Virginia dodged him, exactly as
+she had done his predecessor. He did not lose his temper and condescend
+to the vulgarity of flying at her, as the first admirer had done. He
+looked interested to see that she avoided him, but after all he did not
+take it much to heart. This cardinal, like the other, was not yet
+acclimated--if one may call it so--to life in a house, and after a week
+he also took his departure.
+
+Now Virginia, free again, became at once very gay. She sang all the
+time; she kept the robin stirring; she bathed; she waxed fat. But her
+time was approaching. Spring came on, and with the first warm weather
+the birds began to disappear from the room. First the tanager expressed
+a desire to mingle with society once more, and went his way; then the
+orioles were sent to carry on their rough wooing in the big world
+outside; the robin followed; and at last Virginia was left with several
+big empty cages and only two birds, a reserved and solitude-loving
+Mexican clarin, and a saucy goldfinch, so long a captive that he had no
+desire for freedom. Now for the first time Virginia was lonely; the
+strange quiet of the once lively room worked upon her temper. She
+snapped at her little neighbor; she haunted the window-sill and gazed
+out; while nothing hindered her passage excepting the weather, our
+climate being rather cool for her.
+
+At last July, with its great heat, arrived, and the restless bird was
+carried by a kind friend, who offered to do this good deed, to a place
+in Central Park, New York, where a small colony of her kind have
+established themselves and build and nest every year. Here she was set
+free, and here she met her third suitor. The place and the season were
+propitious, and Virginia was ready to look with favor on a smart young
+cardinal in the brightest of coats, who came in response to her calls
+the moment she found herself on a tree, really out in the world. A
+little coaxing, a few tender words, and she flew away with him, and we
+saw her no more.
+
+
+
+
+FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS.
+
+   Why should I cumber myself with regrets that the receiver is not
+   capacious? It never troubles the sun that some of his rays fall wide
+   and vain into ungrateful space, and only a small part on the
+   reflecting planet.   EMERSON.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS.
+
+
+Emerson somewhere speaks of a friendship "on one side, without due
+correspondence on the other," and I often thought of it while watching
+the curious relation between two birds in my house last winter; for the
+more one studies our feathered neighbors, the better he comes to realize
+that the difference between their intelligence and that of man himself
+is "only of less and more."
+
+This friendship, then, was all on one side. It was not a case of "love
+at sight"; on the contrary, it was first war, and the birds had been
+room-mates for months before any unusual interest was shown; neither was
+it simple admiration of beauty, for the recipient of the tenderness was
+at his worst at the moment; nor, again, could it be the necessity of
+loving somebody, for the devotee had lived in the house ten years, and
+had seen forty birds of almost as many kinds come and go, without
+exhibiting any partiality. The parties to this curious affair were,
+first, the beloved, a male scarlet tanager, whose summer coat was
+disfigured with patches of the winter dress he was trying to put on; and
+secondly, the lover, a male English goldfinch, scarcely half his size.
+
+The tanager, as perhaps every one knows, is one of our most brilliant
+birds, bright scarlet with black wings and tail. He is as shy as he is
+gay, living usually in the woods, and not taking at all kindly to the
+enforced companionship of mankind. I had long been anxious to make the
+acquaintance of this retiring bird, partly because I desire to know
+personally all American birds, and partly because I wanted to watch his
+change of plumage; for the scarlet uniform is only the marriage dress,
+and put off at the end of the season. Hence whenever I saw a tanager in
+a New York bird store I brought it home, though dealers always warned me
+that it would not live in confinement. My first attempts were
+disastrous, certainly. The birds refused to become reconciled, even with
+all the privileges I gave them, and one after another died, I believe
+for no other reason than their longing for freedom. Let me say here that
+feeling thus, they would have received their liberty, much as I wished
+to study them, only their plumage was not in condition to fly, and they
+would go out to certain death. My hope was to make them contented
+through the winter, while they put on a new suit of feathers, and open
+the doors for them in summer.
+
+The subject of this tale, and the last of the series, I procured of a
+dealer who has learned to keep tanagers in good condition, and I never
+had trouble with this bird's health or spirits. It was not until May
+that he wished to leave me. When he joined the circle in the room he had
+just thoroughly learned that a cage was a place he could not get out of,
+and he had ceased to try. The first morning when his neighbors came out
+of their cages he was as much astonished as if he had never seen birds
+out of a bird store. He stretched up and looked at them with the
+greatest interest. When one or two began to splash in the large shallow
+bathing dishes on the table, he was much excited, and plainly desired to
+join them. I opened his door and placed in it a long perch leading to
+freedom. For some time he did not come out, and when he did, the sudden
+liberty drove out of his head all thoughts of a bath. When he flew, he
+aimed straight for the trees outside the window, and of course came
+violently against the glass.
+
+This experience all house birds have to go through, and it is sometimes
+several days before they learned the nature of glass. The tanager
+learned his lesson more quickly. He fell to the floor at first, from the
+shock, but in a few moments recovered himself and returned, this time
+alighting on the top of the lower sash and proceeding to examine the
+strange substance through which he could see, but could not go. He
+gently tapped the glass with his beak the whole length of the window,
+passing back and forth several times till satisfied. Turning at last
+from that, he cast his eye around for another exit, and settled on the
+white ceiling as the most likely place. Then he flew all about the room
+close to the ceiling, touched it now and then with his beak, and finding
+it also impassable, he came down to the window again. He had not the
+least curiosity about the room, and was not at all afraid of me. The
+world outside the windows and his cage when he was hungry, were all that
+he cared for at present--except the bath.
+
+The goldfinch was bathing the second time he came out, and he went
+directly to the table and perched on the side of the dish. Now the one
+thing the little fellow most delighted in was his morning bath, and he
+at once resented the intrusion of the stranger. He flew at him with open
+beak and lifted wings, scolding vigorously, in fact gave him so hostile
+a reception that he quickly retired to the top of the cage, where he
+stood a long time. Afterward also, the goldfinch showed so strong a
+determination that the intruder should not enjoy his beloved bath, that
+at last I had to keep him in his cage while the new-comer had a chance
+at the water.
+
+This did not go on long, however, for very soon the tanager deliberately
+gave up the world of the bird-room, and insisted on remaining in his
+cage. In vain was his door set open with the others, in vain did the
+birds splash and splatter the water, he would not come out, though he
+did not mope or lose his appetite. In truth, it seemed merely as if he
+scorned the advantages offered; if he could not go out free into the
+trees, he would as lief stay in his cage--and he did. This is a not
+uncommon habit of cage birds. They often need to be driven or coaxed
+out. Having once learned that the cage is home with all its comforts and
+conveniences, they prefer to be there.
+
+The tanager was always a very shy bird; he did not like to be looked at.
+If he could manage it, he would never eat while any one saw him. Often,
+when I put a bit of apple or a meal-worm in his cage, he stood and
+looked at it and at me, but did not move till I turned away, or walked
+out of his sight, when he instantly pounced upon it as if starved. To
+make him altogether happy I put a screen around one corner of his cage,
+behind which were his dishes, and after that it was very droll to see
+him crouch behind that and eat, every moment or two stretching up to
+glance over the top and see if I had moved. If I stirred as though about
+to leave my chair, he at once whisked to the upper perch as if he had
+been caught in a crime.
+
+The first I noticed of the goldfinch's friendliness to him was after he
+had lived with us five or six months.
+
+This small bird, in a room of larger ones, was somewhat driven about. I
+do not mean hurt, but if any one wanted a certain perch he did not
+hesitate to take it, even if it were already occupied by so little a
+fellow. He soon learned that near the tanager he was not often molested,
+and he began first to frequent the perch that ran out of the cage--the
+doorstep in fact. Finding that he was not disturbed, he soon moved his
+quarters just inside the door. Most birds quickly resent the intrusion
+of another into their cage, but the tanager never did. So long as he was
+left alone on his favorite upper perches, he did not care who went in
+below. This being the case, after a while the goldfinch ventured upon
+the middle perch. Still he was not noticed; but presuming on the
+friendly attitude of his host, he one day hopped upon the perch beside
+him. This was a step too far; the house-owner turned an open beak toward
+him, and in unmistakable tones told him to leave--which he at once did,
+of course.
+
+This boundary made by the tanager was never changed, but in the rest of
+the cage the goldfinch made himself at home, and at once assumed the
+position of protector. Seeing that the owner did not,--and sure it was
+somebody's duty,--he began to guard the door, warning away any one who
+wished to enter, with harsh scolding, fluttering of wings, and swelling
+up of his little body, amusing to see. The boldest bird in the room was
+awed by these demonstrations coming from the inside as though the cage
+were his own. The tanager looked on all this with some interest, but
+expressed no more gratitude at being protected than he had resentment at
+being driven from the bath.
+
+Soon I noticed a certain chattering talk from the small bird that he had
+never indulged in excepting to another of his kind--his companion when
+he first came to me. It was very low but almost continuous, and was
+plainly addressed to the tanager. As his friendliness progressed, he
+found the lower perch too far from his charmer, and not being allowed to
+sit beside him he took to clinging upon the outside of the cage as near
+to the tanager's usual seat as he could get. The only perching place he
+had there was a band of tin that held the wires steady, but in spite of
+what must have been the discomfort of the position, there he hung by the
+hour, talking, calling, and looking at his idol within. He left the spot
+only to eat and bathe, and I think if the cage had been supplied with
+seed he would never have gone at all. When the bird inside hopped to the
+perch at the other end of the cage, which was the extent of his
+wanderings, the finch at once followed on the outside, always placing
+himself as near as possible. It was really touching, to all but the
+object of it, who took it in the most indifferent way. When the tanager
+went down to eat, his escort accompanied him as far as the door perch,
+where he stood and looked on earnestly, ready to return to his old place
+the moment the luncheon was finished.
+
+On the rare occasions that the self-elected hermit went out, the
+goldfinch displayed great concern, evidently preferring to have his
+favorite at home where he could defend him. He flew uneasily across from
+the cage to his side, then back, as if to show him the way. He also
+desired to watch the empty house, to preserve it from intrusion, but was
+constantly divided between his duties of special porter, and bodyguard.
+But he did his best, even then; he followed the wanderer. If the tanager
+went to a perch the goldfinch at once alighted on the same, about a foot
+away, and sidled up as near as he was allowed. He was free to come
+within about three inches, but nearer he was driven off, so the little
+fellow placed himself at this distance and there stayed patiently as
+long as his friend remained. If the latter had been more responsive, I
+believe the goldfinch would have nestled up against him.
+
+The tanager sometimes strayed into a strange cage, and then the anxious
+guard followed to the steps and even within, talking earnestly, and no
+doubt pointing out the danger, yet if the owner unexpectedly appeared he
+met him at the threshold and fiercely defended the door against the
+proprietor himself. Occasionally the erratic recluse went to the
+floor--a place never visited by his little attendant, whose trouble was
+almost painful to see. He at once placed himself on the lowest perch,
+stretched out and looked over, following every movement with his eyes,
+in silence, as though the danger was too great to allow conversation,
+and when his charge returned to a perch, he uttered a loud and joyous
+call as though some peril had been escaped.
+
+The stanch little friend had many chances to show his loyalty. The other
+birds in the room were not slow to take advantage of one who never
+defended himself. In particular a Brazilian cardinal, a bold saucy
+fellow with a scarlet pointed crest and a loud voice, evidently
+considered the tanager cage common ground, open to everybody, until the
+goldfinch undertook its defense. It was amusing to see the small bird
+stand just inside, and rage, puff himself out, wave his wings, and
+fairly drive away the foe. So impertinent was the Brazilian that the
+finch declared general war upon him, and actually chased his big
+antagonist around the room and away from his favorite perches, hovering
+over his head, and flying around it in small circles, trying to peck it,
+till he flew away defeated, probably because he was too much amazed to
+think of resisting.
+
+This was not, however, the worst enemy he had to deal with. Next door to
+the tanager lived a robin, a big, rollicking, fun-loving fellow who
+considered such a retiring personage fair game. His pleasure was to see
+that the tanager went out every day, and he made it his business to
+enforce the regulation he had set up. His tactics were to jump upon the
+roof of the cage, coming down violently just over the head of the
+tanager, who, of course, hopped quickly to the other perch. Then the
+robin began a mad war-dance across the cage, wings held up, tail spread,
+bill clattering, and altogether looking as full of mischief as any bad
+boy one ever saw, while the tanager went wild below, flying in a panic
+back and forth, but not for some time thinking of leaving the cage. The
+instant this performance began, the little champion was upon him; he
+alighted at one end of the short tramping ground on the cage, and met
+his big foe with open beak and every sign of war. The robin simply
+lowered his head and went for him, and the little bird had to fly. He
+pluckily returned at once to the other end and faced him again.
+
+Observing that the goldfinch alone was not able to keep the robin away,
+I provided the cage with a roof of paper, which is usually a perfect
+protection, since birds dislike the rustle. It did not dismay this
+naughty fellow, however; on the contrary, it gave an added zest because
+of that very quality. He pranced across it in glee, making a great
+noise, and when the violence of his movements pushed it aside, he peered
+down on the tanager, who stood panting. The sight pleased him, and he
+resumed his pranks; he lifted the handle of the cage and let it drop
+with a clatter; he jerked off bits of paper and dropped them into the
+cage, and in every way showed a very mischievous spirit. Meanwhile, all
+through the confusion the goldfinch scolded furiously, flying around to
+get a peck at him, and in every way challenging him to fight.
+Occasionally, when he became too troublesome, the robin turned and
+snapped his beak at him, but did not choose to leave the bigger game.
+
+When at last he tired of his fun, or was driven away, the goldfinch flew
+to the side of the cage where the frightened tanager had taken refuge,
+though there was not even a strip of tin to hold on, uttered his loud
+cheerful call several times, plainly congratulating and reassuring him,
+and telling him all was safe; and here he clung with difficulty to the
+upright wires, all the time slipping down, till the tanager went to the
+upper regions again. Every time the robin so much as flew past, the
+tireless little fellow rushed out at him, scolding. When finally the
+robin went into his own cage, and the tanager returned to his usual
+place, the goldfinch at once assumed his uncomfortable perch and sang a
+loud sweet song, wriggling his body from side to side, and expressing
+triumph and delight in a remarkable way.
+
+The approach of spring made a change in the tanager. He had not so
+completely given up the world as it appeared. He began to chirp, to
+call, and at last to sing. He was still so shy he went down behind his
+screen to sing, but sing he must and did. Now, too, he began to resent
+the attentions of his admirer, occasionally giving the poor little toes
+a nip, as they clung to the tin band near his seat. He also went out
+now, and turned an open beak upon his friend. From simply enduring him,
+he suddenly began offensive operations against him. Poor little lover!
+an ungrateful peck did not drive him away, but simply made him move a
+little farther off, and stopped his gentle twittering talk a while. But
+the tanager grew more and more belligerent. He came out every day, took
+soaking baths, and returned to his examination of the windows, for the
+trees were green outside, and plainly he longed to be on them. He stood
+and looked out, and called, and held his wings up level with his back,
+fluttering them gently.
+
+All this time the devotion of the little one never changed, though it
+was so badly received. When the tanager turned savagely and gave his
+faithful friend a severe peck, instead of resenting it the hurt bird
+flew to another perch, where he stood a long time, uttering occasionally
+a low, plaintive call, as if of reproach, all his cheerfulness gone, a
+melancholy sight indeed. I waited only for warm days to set free the
+tanager, and at last they came. Early in June the bird was put into a
+traveling cage, carried into the country, where a lovely bit of woods
+and a pretty lake insured a good living, and the absence of sparrows
+made it safe for a bird that had been caged. Then the door was opened,
+and he instantly flew out of sight.
+
+The bird left at home seemed a little lost for a few days, moped about,
+often visited the empty cage, but in a short time entirely abandoned it,
+and evidently looked no more for his friend. But he is changed too: not
+quite so gay as before; not so much singing; and not a word of the soft
+chattering talk we heard so constantly while his beloved friend was
+here.
+
+
+
+
+THE ROSY SHIELD.
+
+    Soft falls his chant as on the nest
+      Beneath the sunny zone,
+    For love that stirred it in his breast
+      Has not aweary grown,
+    And 'neath the city's shade can keep
+    The well of music clear and deep.
+
+    And love that keeps the music, fills
+      With pastorial memories.
+    All echoing from out the hills,
+      All droppings from the skies,
+    All flowings from the wave and wind
+    Remembered in the chant I find.
+
+    ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+THE ROSY SHIELD.
+
+
+One of the most winning inhabitants of my bird-room last winter bore on
+his snow-white breast a pointed shield of beautiful rose-color, and the
+same rich hue lined his wings. With these exceptions his dress was of
+sober black and white, though so attractively disposed that he was an
+extremely pretty bird--the rose-breasted grosbeak.
+
+Nor was beauty his only attraction; he was a peculiar character, in
+every way different from his neighbors. He was dignified, yet his
+dignity was not like that of a thrush; he was calm and cool, yet not
+after the manner of an orchard oriole. He possessed a lovely gentleness
+of disposition, and a repose of manner unparalleled among my birds.
+Vulgar restlessness was unknown to him; flying about for mere exercise,
+or hopping from perch to perch to pass away time, he scorned. The
+frivolous way common to smaller birds of going for each seed as they
+want it, was beneath him. When he wished to eat he did so like a
+civilized being, that is, took his stand by the seed-cup, and stayed
+there, attending strictly to the business in hand till he had finished,
+leaving a neat pile of canary-seed shells in one spot, instead of the
+general litter common to cages. The meal over, he was ready to go out of
+the cage, place himself comfortably in one of his favorite corners, and
+remain for a long time, amused with the life in the room and the doings
+in the street, on both of which he seemed to look with the eye of a
+philosopher. In the same deliberate and characteristic way he disposed
+of a meal-worm, or a bit of beef, which he enjoyed. He never bolted it
+outright like a thrush, nor beat it to death like a tanager, nor held it
+under one toe and took it in mouthfuls like an oriole: he quietly worked
+it back and forth between his mandibles till reduced to a pulp, and then
+swallowed it.
+
+The rosy shield-bearer was preëminently a creature of habit. Very early
+in his life with us he selected certain resting places for his private
+use, and all the months of his stay he never changed them. The one
+preferred above all others was the middle bar of the window-sash, in the
+corner, and I noticed that his choice was always a corner. In this sunny
+spot he spent most of the time, closely pressed against the
+window-casing, generally looking out at the trees and the sparrow-life
+upon them, and regarding every passer-by in the street, not in an
+unhappy way, but apparently considering the whole a panorama for his
+entertainment. When events in the room interested him, his post of
+observation was a bracket that held a small cage, where he often sat an
+hour at a time in perfect silence, looking at everybody, concerned about
+everything, his rosy shield and white breast effectively set off by the
+dark paper behind him.
+
+Although thus immobile and silent, the grosbeak was far from being
+stupid. He had decided opinions and tastes as well defined as anybody's.
+For example, when he came to me his cage stood on a shelf next to that
+occupied by two orchard orioles, and he was never pleased with the
+position. He was hardly restless even there, while suffering what he
+plainly considered a grievance, but he was uneasy. I saw that something
+was wrong, and guessed at once that it was because his upper perch was
+three inches lower than that in the next cage, and to have a neighbor
+higher than himself is always an offense to a bird. As soon as I raised
+his cage he was satisfied on that score, and no more disturbed me in the
+early morning by shuffling about on his perch and trying to fly upward.
+
+But still things were not quite to his mind, and he showed it by
+constantly going into the cage of the orioles and settling himself
+evidently with the desire of taking up his residence there. He was so
+gentle and unobtrusive everywhere, that no one resented his presence in
+the cage, and he could have lived in peace with almost any bird. But I
+wanted him contented at home, and moreover, I was curious to find out
+what was amiss, so I tried the experiment of removing his cage from its
+position next to the lively orioles, and hanging it alone between two
+windows, where, although not so light, it had the advantage of solitude.
+The change completed the happiness of the grosbeak. From that day he no
+more intruded upon others, but went and came freely and joyously to his
+own cage, and from being hard to catch at night he became one of the
+most easy, proceeding the moment he entered his home toward dark to the
+upper perch to wait for me to close the door before going to his
+seed-dish. In fact, he grew so contented that he cared little to come
+out, and often sat in his favorite corner of the cage by the hour, with
+the door wide open and the other birds flying around. Now, too, he began
+to sing in a sweet voice a very low and tender minor strain.
+
+Among his other peculiarities this bird scarcely ever seemed to feel
+the need of utterance of any soft. On the rare occasions of any
+excitement he delivered a sharp, metallic "click"; a sudden alarm, like
+the attack of another bird, called out a war-cry loud and shrill, and
+very odd; and in the contest over the important question of precedence
+at the bath he sometimes uttered a droll squeal or whining sound.
+Besides these, he made singular noises in bathing and dressing his
+feathers, which are not uncommon among birds, but are difficult to
+describe. They always remind me of the rubbing of machinery in need of
+oil.
+
+This beautiful bird was not easily frightened; the only time I ever saw
+him seriously disturbed was at the sight of a stuffed screech-owl, which
+I brought into the room without thinking of its probable effect. I
+placed it on a shelf in a closet, and I soon noticed that the moment the
+closet door was opened the grosbeak became greatly agitated; he darted
+across the room to a certain retreat where he always hurried on the
+first alarm of any sort, and remained in retirement till the fancied
+danger was over, while the others flew madly about. In this place he
+stood posturing in much excitement, and uttering at short intervals his
+sharp "click." For some time I did not understand his conduct, nor think
+of connecting it with the owl on the shelf; but when it did occur to me
+I tried the experiment of bringing it out into the room, when I
+immediately saw, what I should have remembered at once, that it was an
+object of terror to all the birds.
+
+The song of the rose-breasted grosbeak is celebrated, and I hoped my
+bird would become acquainted with us, and let out his voice; but I was
+disappointed in both respects, for he never became familiar in the
+least, and though not at all afraid he was very shy; and furthermore,
+upon my bringing into the room two small musical thrushes, the
+grosbeak--feeling, as I said, no need of utterance--readily relapsed
+into silence, and all the winter never sang a note. His conduct before
+the looking-glass indicated that he was not naturally so silent, and
+that he could be social with one who understood his language. Being
+unable to get another grosbeak, I tried to give him companionship by
+placing a small glass against one end of his cage. On seeing his
+reflection the bird was greatly agitated, began his low, whining cry,
+postured, bowed, turned, moved back and forth, and at last left the cage
+and looked for the stranger behind the glass. Not finding him he
+returned, had another interview with the misleading image, and ended as
+before in seeking him outside. At length he seemed to be convinced that
+there was something not quite natural about it, for, feeling hungry, he
+went, with many a backward glance at the glass, to the floor, took a
+hemp-seed and carried it out into the room to eat, a thing he never did
+at any other time.
+
+I spoke of my bird's posturing; that was one of his pleasures, and
+almost his only exercise while he lived in the house. He was not
+graceful, his body was not flexible, and his tail was far from being the
+expressive member it is with many birds, it always stood straight out;
+he could raise it with a little jerk, and he had a beautiful way of
+opening it like a fan, but I never saw it droop or stir in any other
+way. In these movements his head and tail maintained the same relative
+position to the body, as though they were cut out of one piece of wood;
+but he bowed and leaned far over on one side, with his short legs wide
+spread; he passed down a perch, alternately crouching and rising, either
+sideways or straight; he jerked his whole body one side and then the
+other, in a manner ludicrously suggestive of a wriggle; he sidled along
+his perch, holding his wings slightly out and quivering, then slowly
+raised them both straight up, and instantly dropped them, or held them
+half open, fluttering and rustling his feathers.
+
+He had also a curious way of moving over a long perch: he proceeded by
+sidewise hops, and at each hop he turned half round, that is, the first
+step he faced the window, the next the room, the third the window again,
+and so on to the end, coming down at every jump as though he weighed a
+pound or two. He was much addicted to sitting with breast-feathers
+puffed out covering his toes, or sometimes with wings held a little way
+from his body, showing the delicate rose-colored lining, as though
+conscious how pretty he looked; and among other eccentric habits he
+often thrust out his tongue, first one side and then the other,
+apparently to clean his bill.
+
+Bathing and getting dry was conducted by this peculiar bird in a manner
+characteristic of himself. Slow to make the plunge, he was equally
+deliberate in coming out of the bath. When fairly in, he first thrust
+his head under, then sat up in the drollest way, head quite out of water
+and tail lying flat on the bottom, while he spattered vigorously with
+wings and tail. When he stepped out, the bath was over; he never
+returned for a second dip, but passed at once to a favorite corner of
+the window-bar, and stood there a most disconsolate-looking object,
+shivering with cold, with plumage completely disheveled, but making not
+the least effort to dry his feathers for several minutes. If the sun
+shone, he indulged himself in a sunning, erecting the feathers of his
+chin till he looked as if he wore a black muffler, opening his tail like
+a fan, spreading and crossing his wings over the back. This attitude
+made a complete change in his looks, showing white where black should
+be, and _vice versa_. This was the result of his peculiar coloring. Next
+the skin all feathers were the common slate-color, but outside of that
+each feather was black and white. On the back the black was at the tip,
+and the white between that and the slate-color; on the breast this order
+was reversed, and the white at the tip. Thus when wet the white and
+black were confused, and he resembled an object in patch-work. The
+rose-colored shield was formed by the slightest possible tips of that
+color on the white ends, and it was wonderful that they should arrange
+themselves in an unbroken figure, with a sharply defined outline, for
+each feather must have lain in its exact place to secure the result.
+
+The different ways in which birds greet advancing night has long been a
+subject of interest to me, some restless and nervous, others calm, and a
+few wild and apparently frightened. In no one thing is there more
+individuality of action, and in my room that winter were exhibited every
+evening quite a variety of methods. A brown thrush or thrasher on the
+approach of darkness became exceedingly restless, flying about his
+cage, going over and under and around his perches, posturing in
+extraordinary ways, uttering at every moment a strange, harsh-breathing
+sound. Two smaller thrushes met the evening hour by fluttering, and a
+queer sort of dance elsewhere described. Two orchard orioles saluted the
+twilight by gymnastics on the roof of the cage. The bluebirds made
+careful and deliberate arrangements for a comfortable night, while the
+grosbeak differed from all in simply fluffing himself out, and settling
+himself, on the first hint of dark, in the chosen corner, whence he
+scarcely moved, and as soon as objects grew indistinct he laid his head
+quietly in its feather pillow and stirred no more. The brightest
+gaslight an hour later did not disturb him; if a noise wakened him, he
+simply looked up to see what was the matter, but did not move, and soon
+turned back to his rest, when slight jerks of his wings, and faint
+complaining sounds, told that he not only slept, but dreamed.
+
+The bearer of the rosy shield was a persistent individual; having once
+taken a notion into his head, nothing would make him forget it or change
+his mind. Fully settled in his preference for a certain perch on the
+window, the coldest day in winter, with the wind blowing a gale through
+the crack between the sashes, would not make him desert it. Driving him
+away from the spot had not the slightest effect on him, he returned the
+moment he was left in peace. Thinking that another cage was more
+convenient for his use, nothing short of absolute shutting the door
+would keep him out of it. Nor did he forget about it either; if the door
+was accidentally left open, after being closed for weeks, he entered as
+quickly as though he had been in every day.
+
+This bird never showed any playfulness of disposition; indeed, he had
+too much dignity to do so. He never flew around the room as though he
+liked to use his wings, although they were perfect, and there was
+nothing to prevent if he chose. Nor did he display curiosity about his
+surroundings. The only things he appeared to notice were the doings of
+the birds and people in the room, and the moving panorama without, which
+latter he always viewed with equanimity, although the sound of a
+hand-organ aroused him to a sort of mild fury.
+
+As spring advanced, the beautiful grosbeak grew tuneful and often added
+his exquisite song to the rippling music of the small thrushes,
+and--with a little stretch of the imagination as to its duration--
+
+    "Trilled from out his carmine breast,
+    His happy breast, the livelong day."
+
+
+
+
+THE BIRD OF MYSTERY.
+
+    For me there is a mystery unrevealed;
+      Sweet Nature, speak to me!
+
+    LUCY LARCOM.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE BIRD OF MYSTERY.
+
+
+It is well that Nature has so carefully guarded the lives of her most
+beautiful birds, for it is a sad fact that, in the words of an eminent
+writer, "the winged order--the loftiest, the tenderest, the most
+sympathetic with man--is that which man nowadays pursues most cruelly."
+Had they been as accessible as sparrows, even although they equaled them
+in numbers, not one would by this time be alive on earth.
+
+The family whose extraordinary dress and mystery of origin justify its
+name--Birds of Paradise--is securely hidden in distant islands not
+friendly to bird-hunting races. Inaccessible mountains and pathless
+forests repel the traveler; impassable ravines bar his advance; sickness
+and death lie in wait for the white man, while the native lurks with
+poisoned dart behind every bush.
+
+The first of the race that came to us were heralded by myth and invested
+with marvels: they had no feet; they slept upon the wing; they fed upon
+dew, and hatched their eggs upon their backs. Such were the tales that
+accompanied the skins, magnificent beyond anything known to the world in
+the glory of plumage, and they were named Birds of Paradise. But science
+is supposed in these days to conquer all mysteries, and science armed
+itself with powder and shot, game bags, provision trains, and servants,
+and set out for the far-away inhospitable islands, the home of this, the
+most attractive of all. Science has solved many problems: the "Heart of
+Africa" has become a highway; the Polar sea and the source of the Nile
+are no longer unknown; but with her most persistent efforts during three
+hundred years she has not yet been able to give us the life history of
+this one feathered family. Many of her devotees have penetrated to its
+home and brought back fresh varieties; money, health, and life have been
+freely spent; but, save for a few strange and curious facts, we know
+little more of the manner of life of the Birds of Paradise than we did
+when we depended on the native legends. How some of them look we know;
+we have their skins wired into shape in our museums and gorgeously
+pictured in our books; but every traveler finds new kinds, and how many
+sorts there may be which have so far eluded the few and short visits of
+naturalists, no one is able to tell. Even of those we have, how scanty
+is our knowledge! What they eat we are told; how they bathe and dress
+their plumage; their loud calls and unmusical voices; the shyness of
+those whose conspicuous beauty sets a price upon their heads, and their
+"dancing parties," so graphically described by Wallace; but of their
+nesting we are in profound ignorance. Where the gravely dressed partners
+of the brilliant creatures set up the hearthstone none can tell, unless
+it be the mop-headed Papuan, and he will not.
+
+The colors lavished on the plumage would alone make the Birds of
+Paradise the wonder of the world; exquisite tints not surpassed by the
+humming-birds themselves, and of almost infinite variety, from the
+richest velvety purple to the gorgeous metallic greens, blues, and
+yellows, changing with every motion, and glittering in the sun like
+gems. But the marvelous freaks in the arrangement of the plumage are
+more specially interesting. So extraordinary a variety of forms, so
+unique and fantastic in disposal, are without parallel in the animal
+world. Some species are adorned with long, drooping tufts of plumes
+light as air, as the Red Bird of Paradise, and others bear
+strange-shaped, movable shields; part of the family wear ruffs, and
+others display fans on shoulders or breast; a few sport extravagant
+length of tail, and one or two show bright-hued wattles; one species is
+bare-headed, and--other vagaries being exhausted--two have curls. The
+greater number have an unusual development of two or more feathers into
+long, wire-like objects, with a patch of web at the ends. In one species
+these wires are formed into two perfect circles beyond the end of the
+tail; in another they cross each other in a graceful double curve, and
+in a third stand straight and stiff from the end of the feathers. The
+Sexpennis, or Golden Bird of Paradise, has on the head six of these
+shafts, which it erects at pleasure, producing a singular appearance;
+and the Standard Wing has two on each wing, equally effective. Perhaps
+the most peculiar fact about the family is the power each bird possesses
+to change its form by means of these eccentric ornaments. All are
+erectile and movable in several ways, and a bird that is at one moment
+like our common crow in shape, may in the next show a dazzling array of
+waving plumes or vibrating fans, and be utterly unrecognizable for the
+same creature. It is evident to all bird students that feathers are as
+surely an "index of the mind" as are tails in cat and dog, and the
+manners and expression of this family would be a study of absorbing
+interest.
+
+Not to mention the birds already familiar in books, there are a few
+interesting peculiarities of some of the late discoveries, and the
+possible varieties are by no means exhausted, so that each new traveler
+who penetrates into their chosen home will doubtless have opportunity to
+see his own name Latinized into dignity and bestowed upon some brilliant
+and hitherto unknown bird, having a new disposition of plumage, or a
+color more beautiful--if conceivable--than any before. One of the most
+attractive of the recent additions to the list was made by Signor
+D'Albertis, and named for him _Drepanoris Albertisi_. In a letter to a
+Sydney newspaper he tells the story of the discovery, which occurred
+while he was living in a Papuan mansion built upon the trunks of trees,
+and reached by means of a long ladder. From this unique residence he
+made excursions into the mountains, and, among other things, had the
+good fortune to see two curious episodes in the life of the Six-shafted
+Bird of Paradise. He found this bird--which is not new to science--to be
+a noisy and solitary fellow, roaming the thick woods alone, dining upon
+figs and other fruits, and indulging in the strange habit of "dusting"
+itself like a city sparrow. Happily he saw the whole operation.
+Selecting a suitable spot, the beautiful bird first cleared away the
+grass and leaves, and while the eager observer was wondering what all
+this preparation portended, suddenly flung itself to the ground, and
+rolled its rich plumage in the dust, fluttered the wings, elevated and
+depressed the six plumes on its head, and otherwise appeared to enjoy
+itself extremely. At another time the traveler witnessed a second
+uncommon scene in the deep interior of the forest. A bird of the same
+species alighted upon the ground, and after peering in every direction,
+either to make sure of being unobserved, or to discover an enemy or a
+friend, began a most singular performance, waving the six long plumes of
+the head, raising and lowering a small tuft of silvery white feathers
+over its beak, elevating a glittering crest on its neck, and spreading
+and drawing back the long feathers on its sides, every movement entirely
+changing its apparent shape. In a short time it began to jump from side
+to side and to assume an attitude of war, and all the time it never
+ceased uttering an uncommon note, as though calling for admiration or
+for a fight.
+
+Not long after this curious exhibition followed the observer's great
+prize, the _Drepanoris Albertisi_, which is so rare that even to many of
+the natives it was a surprise. At the first glance this bird does not
+appear to deserve a place in the remarkable family. It is about the size
+of our common crow, brown on the back and lavender-gray below, with a
+curved bill more than three inches long. But closer study reveals
+several peculiarities: a bare space of bright blue around the eye,
+brilliant green on the throat, and a pair of feathery tufts standing up
+on the forehead like horns, with the crowning attraction of two pairs of
+fans, one behind the other on each side of the breast, capable of being
+folded smoothly against the body, or spread wide in two gorgeous
+semicircles altering the entire outlines of the creature. The first of
+the two admirable ornaments, when in repose, appears of the same
+violet-gray hue as the breast; but when raised the bases of the feathers
+are seen to be of a brilliant red, giving the effect of longitudinal
+stripes. The second pair is much longer, with deep margins of splendid
+purple instead of the stripes. When the possessor of all this splendor
+spreads its four fans, it also erects the long tail and opens it widely
+into a fifth fan, which produces an astonishing effect.
+
+Another of D'Albertis's contributions to the mysterious family is among
+its most magnificent members, the _Paradisea Raggiana_. A fine specimen
+of this genus, mounted in the position described by Wallace as the
+"dancing" attitude of _P. Apoda_, the floating plumes elevated in a
+"golden glory" above the head, is the gem of the collection in the
+American Museum of New York. It resembles the Great Bird of Paradise,
+having long, airy plumes springing from under each wing. In general
+color golden brown, with yellow head and green throat. To this bird, as
+to others, beauty is a dangerous possession; and, as if feeling aware of
+the fact, it lives in the tops of tall trees, in the deepest forest,
+among the most inaccessible ravines. But wary though it be, one
+characteristic lures it to destruction--curiosity. A European hunter in
+his unfamiliar dress is an irresistible attraction; nearer and nearer it
+comes, hopping from branch to branch, pausing at every step to observe
+and study the intruder, with neck stretched and wings flapping, every
+moment uttering a peculiar cry, no doubt equivalent to "Come and look!"
+for it brings others upon the scene, till the pretty sight is rudely
+ended by a shot and a death-wound. The cry of distress brings the
+friends nearer, only to fall victims in their turn to the same murderous
+gun. Our traveler once surprised a female of this species, and a droll
+proceeding followed. After flying several times around his head to see
+what sort of a creature he might be, she alighted on a vine, and turning
+heels over head, remained hanging head down, sharply scrutinizing his
+appearance from this point of view till he--shot her.
+
+A bare-headed bird would not seem to present any attraction to the lover
+of beauty, though it might be of scientific interest; but Nature, not
+having exhausted her resources upon the Birds of Paradise already
+mentioned, has even accomplished the feat of making a bald-headed
+beauty. The bare skin on the whole crown is of a brilliant blue color
+most oddly crossed by narrow rows of minute feathers, which irresistibly
+remind one of the sutures of the human skull. That color shall not be
+lacking, it bears, besides the blue of the head, black, straw color,
+bright red, and green; and is further adorned with two very long central
+tail feathers, which reach far beyond the rest of the tail, and return,
+making a complete circle; a rare and lovely ornament. A good specimen is
+among the later arrivals at the American Museum.
+
+The _Manucodia_ are the curly Birds of Paradise, and our knowledge of
+one of the latest and most novel of them is owing not to the
+indefatigable naturalists who have braved the dangers and discomfort of
+their wild island home, neither to the English Wallace, the Dutch Von
+Rosenburg, the Italian Beccari, nor to D'Albertis, nor Bruiju, nor De
+Myer, whose names will be forever associated with the splendid family,
+but to a British officer of scientific tastes.
+
+_M. Comrii_ is the largest, and has more curls than any other yet
+discovered, for they not only decorate the top of the head, but extend
+down the neck, and form ridges over the eyes. Even the tail partakes of
+the general curve, which makes it boat-shaped, and--most fantastic of
+all--the two middle feathers are nearly an inch shorter than their next
+neighbors, and turned over at the ends so as to display the different
+color of their inner surface, and form what ladies call "_revers_."
+
+"Such eccentricities are really not to be accounted for, as we cannot
+conceive they can be for any useful purpose" (!), gravely says science
+in the person of an English authority. This severely disapproved of
+plumage is blue with green lights on back and head, and black edged on
+every feather, with purple on the breast.
+
+Another species of the curly family, the Blue-green Paradise Bird (_M.
+Chalybea_), has been known to us for a hundred years, but its habits
+are as much a mystery as its curls. It is exquisite in color, of the
+richest purple, glossy as satin, with neck of deep green, and all
+crinkled and curled over head and neck.
+
+The Long-tailed Bird of Paradise is the proud possessor of twenty-two
+names, from which it were hard to make a selection. It is one of the
+largest, being twenty-two inches in length, most of which, however, is
+tail, and is splendid in soft velvet-like black with hints of green and
+blue and purple. On each side it carries a fan of curved feathers, and
+the plumes of the flanks are of the lightest and most delicate texture.
+Words cannot describe the grace and elegance of this bird, and the
+perfect specimen in the museum above mentioned is worthy of a pilgrimage
+to see.
+
+A "changeable" Bird of Paradise is the one remaining eccentricity
+conceivable to complete the variety in coloring, and this is found in
+the _Epimachus Ellioti_, a bird so rare that at the time Gould published
+his first work the specimen in his collection was unique, and
+naturalists in their excursions in the Papuan Islands have vainly tried
+to discover its home and learn its habits. The whole incomparable
+plumage is of rich changeable hues; in ordinary light, when perfectly
+motionless, the bird appears of a soft black, but on moving about the
+color varies from violet to maroon, from this to deep amethyst, and then
+to green, purple, and blue. A most extraordinary effect is produced when
+it faces the spectator with fan-plumes expanded, reaching so far above
+its head that they look like a pair of arms thrown up.
+
+The most interesting though not the most beautiful of the family is the
+Gardener bird, discovered a few years ago by the Italian naturalist
+Beccari. Here is a Bird of Paradise eccentric not in dress but in
+habits. His plumage is modest brown in several shades, so inconspicuous
+that the partner of his joys can wear the same tints, which she does.
+The bird is the size of a turtle-dove. Let the doctor himself tell the
+story of the discovery while walking through the beautiful forest, so
+thick that scarcely a ray of sunshine penetrated the branches. He says:
+
+"I suddenly stood before the most remarkable specimen of the industry of
+an animal. It was a hut or bower close to a small meadow enameled with
+flowers. The whole was on a diminutive scale, and I immediately
+recognized the famous nests described by the hunters of Bruiju. After
+well observing the whole I gave strict orders to my hunters not to
+destroy the little building. That, however, was an unnecessary caution,
+since the Papuans take great care never to disturb these nests or
+bowers, even if they are in their way. The birds had evidently enjoyed
+the greatest quiet until we happened, unfortunately for them, to come
+near them. I had now full employment in the preparation of my
+treasure.... I took colors and brushes, and went to the spot, and made
+the sketch which I now publish. When I was there neither host nor
+hostess was at home.... I could not ascertain whether this bower was
+occupied by one pair or more, whether the male alone is the builder, or
+whether the wife assists. I believe, however, that the nest lasts
+several seasons."
+
+The pleasing description of the house and lawn, with its many
+decorations, has been widely copied. "Being mostly near the entrance,"
+says the grave scientist in conclusion, surprised into sentiment, "it
+would appear that the husband offers there the daily gift to the wife,
+removing the objects to the back of the hut as they fade or wither." It
+is clever not only in building a house and lawn, but in imitating the
+songs and cries of other birds, and doing it so well, according to our
+author, that it brought "his hunters to despair."
+
+So few Birds of Paradise have entered the scientific world alive, and so
+little is known of their manners, that the meagre accounts we have
+possess unusual interest. So long ago as early in the century Mr.
+Bennett, in his visit to Macao, wrote a statement of the ways of a Great
+Bird of Paradise (_P. Apoda_) which had been at that time in confinement
+nine years. His description of the toilet of the most exquisite of birds
+is delightful.
+
+"It washes itself regularly twice daily, and after having performed its
+ablutions, throws its delicate feathers up nearly over the head.... The
+beautiful subalar plumage is then thrown out and cleaned from any spot
+that may sully its purity by being passed gently through the bill, the
+short chocolate-colored wings are extended to the utmost, and he keeps
+them in a steady flapping motion, at the same time raising up the
+delicate long feathers over the back, which are spread in a chaste and
+elegant manner, floating like films in the ambient air. In this position
+the bird would remain for a short time, seemingly proud of its heavenly
+beauty. I never yet beheld a soil on its feathers. After expanding the
+wings it would bring them together so as to conceal the head, then
+bending gracefully it would inspect the state of its plumage
+underneath.... It then picks and cleans its plumage in every part within
+reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate tuft of feathers
+underneath, they are cleaned in succession, if required, by throwing
+them abroad, elevating and passing them in succession through the bill.
+Then turning its back to the spectators, the actions above mentioned are
+repeated, ... and throwing its feathers up with much grace, appears as
+proud as a lady dressed in her full ball dress"(!). After further
+account of its taking grasshoppers from visitors, he concludes: "Should
+any of the insects fall to the floor of his cage he will not descend to
+them, appearing to be fearful that in so doing he should soil his
+delicate plumage."
+
+Almost equally charming is Mr. Bennett's observation of one that Wallace
+carried alive to London, which lived two years there and became
+exceedingly tame. It is this species whose dancing parties Wallace thus
+describes:--
+
+"On one of these trees a dozen or twenty full-plumaged male birds
+assemble, raise their wings vertically over the back, stretch out their
+necks, and raise and expand their exquisite long plumes till they form
+two magnificent golden fans, which are kept in continual vibration.
+Between whiles they fly across from branch to branch in great
+excitement, so that the whole tree is filled with waving plumes in every
+variety of attitude and motion. In the position above mentioned the
+whole bird is overshadowed by his plumage, the crouching body, yellow
+head, and emerald green throat form but the foundation and setting to
+the golden glory which waves above. Seen in this attitude the Bird of
+Paradise really deserves its name, and must be ranked as one of the most
+beautiful and most wonderful of living things."
+
+In truth, it is so transcendently beautiful that hunters have been
+astonished into forgetfulness of their guns, and no triumph was ever
+greater, for to recognize an attractive creature and lift the gun to
+take its life seems to be a single operation of many who carry the
+murderous weapon.
+
+The Twelve-wired, one of the better known varieties of the Birds of
+Paradise, is usually figured, and probably always mounted, with its
+exquisite plumes closely folded against its sides, but the French
+naturalist and traveler Le Vaillant, in his large work published early
+in the century, gives a representation of it under the name of _Le
+Nebuleux_, with feathers expanded to the uttermost, a truly magnificent
+display. All his figures, though sometimes incorrect, owing to the
+scanty knowledge of the time, have a great deal of life. Each bird is
+presented both in repose, with plumage all folded smoothly back, and in
+excitement, with every fan and ruff and erectile ornament fully spread.
+
+This peerless family takes kindly to captivity, as has been amply proved
+by their enduring the voyage and living two years in the unfavorable
+climate of England, as well as by spending at least nine years in an
+aviary in China, and there is no reason why we in America should not
+have opportunity to admire them and study their habits from life. Would
+that some of our young explorers could be induced to turn from the
+ice-fields of the Poles, and the death-swamps of the Tropics, to seek
+these inimitable birds in the mountains and woods of the Papuan
+Islands--not to shoot for our museum shelves, but to study their manners
+and customs, and above all to introduce them into American aviaries,
+that a new and absorbing chapter might be added to our Natural
+Histories, and the Bird of Paradise cease to be the Bird of Mystery.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+  African Parrot and Mocking-Bird, 90.
+
+
+  Baltimore Oriole.
+    pursue a blackbird, 4.
+    baby ways, 9.
+    attacked by robin, 10.
+    an unnatural baby, 11.
+    one at a time, 11.
+    the father as drudge, 12.
+    visited by the Cardinal, 215.
+
+  Bird of Paradise, 253.
+    where found, 253.
+    mythical stories of, 253.
+    dancing parties, 255.
+    colors, 255.
+    arrangement of plumage, 255.
+    Red Bird of, 255.
+    Golden, 256.
+    Standard-wing, 256.
+    change of form, 256.
+    feathers an index of the mind, 256.
+    interesting new discoveries, 257.
+    Signor d'Albertis, 257.
+    Six-shafted, 257.
+    dusting itself, 258.
+    curious scene, 258.
+    a rare bird, 259.
+    description of, 259.
+    another new one, 259.
+    specimen in N. Y. Museum, 260.
+    description of _P. Raggiana_, 260.
+    danger of beauty, 260.
+    a bare-headed bird, 261.
+    _Manucodia_, 261.
+    _M. Comrii_, 262.
+    _M. Chalybea_, 262.
+    Long-tailed, 263.
+    changeable, 263.
+    _Epimachus Ellioti_, 263.
+    the Gardener bird, 264.
+    description of nest, 264.
+    a clever builder, 265.
+    manners of _P. Apoda_, 266.
+    toilet, 266.
+    dancing parties, 267.
+    twelve-wired, 268.
+    Le Vaillant's work, 268.
+
+  Birds.
+    home affairs of, 3.
+    dangers in nest, 5.
+    hard work of, 15.
+    training the young, 15.
+    study of, 16.
+    cruel pursuit of, 239.
+    at twilight, 247.
+
+  Bluebird, 97.
+    attitude and manners, 97.
+    attitude and manners, female, 98.
+    defending her spouse, 98.
+    standing guard, 98.
+    defending the young, 99.
+    after the mocking-bird, 99.
+    unsafe nest, 99.
+    tragedy in the family, 100.
+    consoling his mate, 100.
+    an affectionate pair, 101.
+    motherly affection, 102.
+    arrangements for sleep, 102.
+    queer little talk with me, 103.
+    talk together, 104-106.
+    staring at nothing, 104.
+    his mate disapproves, 106.
+    difference in intelligence, 107.
+    demanding meal-worms, 107.
+    expressing themselves, 107.
+    learning by experience, 108.
+    fond of worms, 108.
+    trick on a scarlet tanager, 108.
+    bathing, 109.
+    bewitching dance, 109.
+    sunning himself, 109.
+    feathering out, 110.
+    growing belligerent, 110.
+    courtship, 110.
+    he presents a worm, 110.
+    refusing to share, 111.
+    feeding through wires, 112.
+    change in the song, 112.
+    set free, 112.
+    attacked by sparrows, 112.
+    baby ways, 13.
+    bringing food to young, 47.
+
+  Blue Jay, 175.
+    driving corks, 175.
+    hammering, 175.
+    destructiveness, 176.
+    holes in the matting, 176.
+    ornamenting books, 177.
+    pounding upward, 177.
+    hiding things, 177.
+    his regular business, 178.
+    clearing up the room, 178.
+    setting off matches, 179.
+    odd hiding-places, 179.
+    in my hair, 180.
+    intelligent interest, 180.
+    likes and dislikes, 180-191.
+    showing fight, 181.
+    war upon the baby, 181.
+    expression of affection, 181.
+    curiosity, 182.
+    jumping, 183.
+    queer way of alighting, 183.
+    bird of opinions, 183.
+    scolding the rain, 184.
+    strange noises, 184.
+    song, 184.
+    stamping his feet, 184.
+    in anger, 184.
+    peaceful among the birds, 185.
+    timid, 185.
+    afraid of falling, 185.
+    a jay-baby cry, 185.
+    fond of music, 186.
+    attended to business, 187.
+    talking to me, 187.
+    his demon of work, 187.
+    in his vindication, 187.
+    knew what he wanted, 191.
+    human society, 191.
+    tokens of affection, 192.
+    love, 193.
+    ice-cream and cake, 193.
+    hiding his candy, 193.
+    next in favor, 193.
+    difference in treatment, 193.
+    curious dance, 194.
+    missed his frolics, 194.
+    calling his playmate, 194.
+    treatment of a young lady, 195.
+    treatment of a youth, 195.
+    treatment of the head of the household, 195.
+    treatment of a maid, 195.
+    afraid of a trap, 195.
+    a wise bird, 196.
+    cutting a wire, 196.
+    loosening a rubber band, 196.
+    a troublesome pet, 196.
+    on my desk, 196.
+    a cure for hammering, 196.
+    learning to get under the cover, 197.
+    prying into packages, 197.
+    the waste basket, 198.
+    after the photographs, 198.
+    on the door, 198.
+    flying out, 198.
+    the open window, 199.
+    learning to outwit him, 199.
+    the other birds no society, 199.
+    surprising his neighbors, 199.
+    the room in a panic, 200.
+    excitement over a grasshopper, 200.
+    the oriole takes a hand, 200.
+    afraid of a tree, 200.
+    hiding the needles, 202.
+    bathing, 202.
+    beauty of plumage, 202.
+
+  Brazilian Cardinal, 232.
+
+
+  Cardinal Grosbeak, or Virginia C., 207.
+    colors, 207.
+    her first admirer, 208.
+    his first call, 208.
+    a mind of her own, 209.
+    his mistake, 209.
+    reproaching her, 209.
+    violent wooing, 210.
+    the obnoxious door, 210.
+    the window, 210.
+    exploring the room, 211.
+    calling on the robin, 211-214.
+    war declared upon her, 211.
+    the window problem, 212.
+    lord-and-master, 212.
+    curious performance, 212.
+    hostilities, 213.
+    jealousy, 214.
+    the looking-glass, 214.
+    calling on the tanager, 214.
+    the bath, 214.
+    calling on the orioles, 215.
+    beginning to sing, 215.
+    a queer game, 215.
+    war again, 216.
+    death of the persecutor, 216.
+    Virginia relieved, 216.
+    expression of crest, 216.
+    a week's peace, 217.
+    arrival of a stranger, 217.
+    Virginia not pleased, 217.
+    the second suitor goes, 218.
+    left alone, 218.
+    set free, 219.
+    the successful wooer, 219.
+    difficulty, studies under, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30.
+
+  Golden-winged Woodpecker, or Flicker, 115.
+    in search of a nest, 115.
+    heavy flight, 116.
+    out of a bird store, 117.
+    excessively wild, 117.
+    getting acquainted, 117.
+    peeping out, 118.
+    expressing emotion, 118.
+    in despair, 118.
+    holes in the wall, 118.
+    learning to eat, 118.
+    peculiar attitudes, 119.
+    sleeping, 119.
+    restlessness, 119.
+    taking naps, 120.
+    a heavy sleeper, 120.
+    dreaming, 120.
+    hanging himself, 121.
+    expression of sentiments, 121.
+    the door opened, 121.
+    running about the floor, 121.
+    intelligence, 121.
+    exploring the room, 121.
+    investigating the nails, 122.
+    visiting his neighbors, 122.
+    up the ladder, 122.
+    teasing the goldfinch, 123.
+    down the ladder, 123.
+    stepping down backward, 123.
+    going home, 124.
+    asking to be let out, 124.
+    suddenly familiar, 124.
+    child-like disposition, 124.
+    a silent bird, 124.
+    a strange song, 125.
+    an extraordinary display, 125.
+    the baby of the family, 126.
+    position of rest, 127.
+    flicker talk, 127.
+
+  Goldfinch, 72, 152, 157.
+
+
+  Mocking-Bird.
+    baby ways, 13.
+    study of, 23.
+    way of singing, 25-44.
+    fables about, 30-31.
+    nest, 35.
+    domestic relations, 36.
+    home in a pine grove, 37.
+    wooing, 38.
+    dance, 39.
+    love or war? 41.
+    house hunting, 41.
+    building in a storm, 42.
+    on the winding stairs, 43.
+    belligerent, 44.
+    a call on his spouse, 45.
+    frolic on the grass, 45.
+    nest in the cedar, 45.
+    the youngsters out, 46.
+    feeding the babies, 46.
+    the baby cry, 47.
+    parental anxiety, 48, 50, 55.
+    madam remonstrates, 48.
+    telling the news, 49.
+    out of the nest, 50.
+    looks and manners of the infant, 50, 51, 53.
+    a lively youngster, 52.
+    an ignominious flop, 53.
+    baby number two, 53.
+    refuses to move on, 53.
+    thieves--black and white, 54.
+    behavior of a young singer, 54.
+    had his own way, 55.
+    number three neglected, 55.
+    the cry-baby, 56.
+    peculiar hops, 56.
+    a curious performance, 57.
+    the nest, 57.
+    movements, 58, 59.
+    lifting the wings, 60.
+    disposition, 60.
+    quarrel, 61.
+    attack on a crow, 61.
+    song, 62, 63.
+    as imitator, 63.
+
+  Mocking-Bird in the house.
+    mocking, 67.
+    intelligence, 67.
+    taking notes, 68.
+    choice of colors, 68.
+    enjoyment of liberty, 69.
+    reason, 69.
+    warmed by a lamp, 69.
+    quiet observation, 70.
+    submitting to imposition, 70.
+    out of the cage, 70.
+    studying surroundings, 71.
+    the pin-cushion, 71.
+    looking-glass, 71.
+    settling his position, 72.
+    the English goldfinch, 72.
+    driven away from the bath, 73.
+    the feathers flew, 74.
+    scene between goldfinch and, 74.
+    insulted by a thrush, 75.
+    dispute over the bath, 75.
+    worrying the Mexican, 77.
+    with the wood thrush, 78.
+    quarrel over the apple, 78.
+    a war dance, 79.
+    settling the thrush, 80.
+    end of the apple contest, 81.
+    decides to remove, 81.
+    teasing the thrush, 83.
+    graceful attack, 83.
+    a change of tactics, 84.
+    a determined enemy, 85.
+    gracefulness, 85.
+    bewitching ways, 86.
+    expression of feathers, 86.
+    the looking-glass, 87.
+    manner of dressing, 89.
+    lifting the wings, 89.
+    steel pen, 89.
+    attack on the parrot, 90.
+    never startled, 91.
+    caught under a shawl, 91.
+    mad frolics, 92.
+    fury of play, 92.
+    reducing the finch to silence, 93.
+    mischief, not malice, 93.
+
+  Mexican thrush, 77, 83.
+
+
+  Nonpareil, 28.
+
+  Nuthatch baby ways, 12.
+    visited by orioles, 138.
+
+
+  Orchard Orioles, 131.
+    characteristics, 131, 132.
+    persistent singers, 131.
+    making themselves conspicuous, 132.
+    annoying ways, 132.
+    shouting the news, 133.
+    trouble in the family, 133.
+    plumage, 133, 134.
+    two suitors to one maid, 134.
+    he will have his way, 134.
+    she flew for her life, 134.
+    voice of female, 135.
+    beauty of female, 135.
+    restless manners, 135.
+    a war dance, 136.
+    an anti-climax, 137.
+    a meek damsel, 137.
+    inquisitive, 138.
+    visiting the mocking-bird's nest, 138.
+    visiting nuthatches, 138.
+    interested in me, 139.
+    the crisis, 139.
+    nesting time begun, 139.
+    matters settled, 140.
+    the honeymoon, 140.
+    submitting to the inevitable, 140.
+    nest building, 140.
+    precipitate wooing, 141.
+    grumbling husbands, 141.
+    a feathered thief, 142.
+    the end was not yet, 142.
+    with a grasshopper, 201.
+
+
+  Pewee, baby ways, 15.
+    learning to hover, 16.
+
+  Plover, 24.
+
+  Purple Crow Blackbird.
+    in trouble, 4.
+    launching the infants, 5.
+    blackbird babies, 7.
+
+
+  Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 239.
+    dress; characters, 239.
+    manner of eating, 240.
+    about the room, 240.
+    a creature of habit, 240.
+    intelligence, 241.
+    had his own opinion, 241.
+    change of place, 242.
+    contented and happy, 242.
+    a silent bird, 243.
+    queer noises, 243.
+    disturbed by an owl, 243.
+    song, 244-249.
+    the looking-glass, 244.
+    posturing, 245.
+    curious movements, 246.
+    bathing, 246.
+    color, 247.
+    night, 248.
+    never playful, 249.
+
+  Robin baby ways, 14, 47.
+
+  Robin called in by Cardinal, 211-214.
+
+
+  Scarlet Tanager and English Goldfinch, 224.
+    dress and manners, 224.
+    parties to the friendship, 224.
+    dislike to confinement, 224.
+    coming out, 225.
+    the window glass, 226.
+    the finch flies at him, 226.
+    giving up the world, 227.
+    dislike to be looked at, 227.
+    first sign of friendship, 228.
+    the smallest bird, 228.
+    progress of the friendship, 228.
+    the tanager's boundary, 229.
+    becoming protector, 229.
+    beginning to talk, 229.
+    perching outside, 230.
+    around the room, 231.
+    in a strange cage, 231.
+    on the floor, 231.
+    driving the Brazilian, 232.
+    the robin interferes, 232.
+    the finch goes for him, 233.
+    a new roof, 233.
+    the mischievous robin, 234.
+    approach of spring, 234.
+    offensive operations, 235.
+    anxious to go, 235.
+    belligerent, 235.
+    set free, 236.
+    the deserted lover, 236.
+    called on by cardinal, 214.
+
+  Snowy Heron, 23.
+
+
+  Tern, 24.
+
+  Thrasher, or Brown Thrush, 147.
+    restlessness, 147.
+    use of feet, 148.
+    erratic movements, 149.
+    way of approach, 149.
+    sensational manners, 150.
+    bathing, 150.
+    waltzing around the bath, 150.
+    excitement of the bath, 151.
+    mischievousness, 152.
+    teasing the finch, 152.
+    tearing paper, 152.
+    with a newspaper, 153.
+    the magazines, 153.
+    hammering, 153.
+    jumping, 153.
+    intelligence, 154.
+    talking back, 154.
+    expression of wings, 154.
+    littleness of body, 155.
+    the song, 155.
+    in the twilight, 156, 247.
+    strange movements, 156.
+    watching others, 157.
+    in the spring, 157.
+
+  Thrushes.
+    gray-cheeked, 161.
+    song of, 162.
+    Wilson's, 162.
+    wonderful song, 162.
+    whisper songs, 162.
+    difference in character, 163.
+    bewitching dance, 163.
+    use of feet, 164.
+    excitement, 165.
+    a different dance, 165.
+    bathing, 165, 166.
+    the bird in the glass, 166.
+    alighting places, 167.
+    enjoying a swing, 167.
+    a snug retreat, 167.
+    tearing papers, 168.
+    lonely disposition, 169.
+    belligerent, 169.
+    set free, 169.
+    surprise of freedom, 170.
+    a call from a neighbor, 170.
+    farewell to the Gray-cheeked, 171.
+
+  Thrush baby ways, 8, 78, 80, 85.
+
+
+  Yellow-throated baby ways, 8.
+
+
+
+
+OUT-DOOR BOOKS
+
+Selected from the Publications of
+
+Houghton, Mifflin and Company,
+
+_4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York._
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+Adirondack Stories. By P. DEMING. 18mo, 75 cents.
+
+A-Hunting of the Deer; How I Killed a Bear; Lost in the Woods; Camping
+Out; A Wilderness Romance; What Some People call Pleasure. By CHARLES
+DUDLEY WARNER. 16mo, paper covers, 15 cents, _net_.
+
+The American Horsewoman. By ELIZABETH KARR. Illustrated. New Edition.
+16mo, $1.25.
+
+A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. By HENRY D. THOREAU. 12mo,
+gilt top, $1.50.
+
+Birds and Bees. By JOHN BURROUGHS. With an Introduction by MARY E. BURT,
+of Chicago. 16mo, paper covers, 15 cents, _net_.
+
+Birds and Poets, with Other Papers. By JOHN BURROUGHS. 16mo, gilt top,
+$1.25.
+
+Birds in the Bush. By BRADFORD TORREY. 16mo, $1.25.
+
+Birds through an Opera-Glass. By FLORENCE A. MERRIAM. In Riverside
+Library for Young People. 16mo, 75 cents.
+
+Bird-Ways. By OLIVE THORNE MILLER. 16mo, $1.25.
+
+Cape Cod. By HENRY D. THOREAU. 12mo, gilt top, $1.50.
+
+Country By-Ways. By SARAH ORNE JEWETT. 18mo, gilt top, $1.25.
+
+Drift-Weed. Poems. By CELIA THAXTER. 18mo, full gilt, $1.50.
+
+Early Spring in Massachusetts. Selections from the Journals of HENRY D.
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+
+Excursions in Field and Forest. By HENRY D. THOREAU. 12mo, gilt top,
+$1.50.
+
+    CONTENTS: Biographical Sketch, by R. W. Emerson; Natural History of
+    Massachusetts; A Walk to Wachusett; The Landlord; A Winter Walk; The
+    Succession of Forest Trees; Walking; Autumnal Tints; Wild Apples;
+    Night and Moonlight.
+
+Favorite Flies. By MARY ORVIS MARBURY. With colored plates. Square 8vo.
+(_In Press_).
+
+Fishing with the Fly. A volume of original Essays on Angling. By Lovers
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+Crown 8vo, $2.50.
+
+Fresh Fields. English Sketches. By JOHN BURROUGHS. 16mo, gilt top,
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+The Gypsies. By CHARLES G. LELAND. With Sketches of the English, Welsh,
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+
+Homestead Highways. By H. M. SYLVESTER. 12mo, gilt top, $1.50.
+
+In Nesting Time. By OLIVE THORNE MILLER. 16mo, $1.25.
+
+In the Wilderness. Adirondack Essays. By CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. New
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+
+Land of the Lingering Snow. Chronicles of a Stroller in New England from
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+
+Little Brothers of the Air. By OLIVE THORNE MILLER. 16mo, $1.25.
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Nesting Time, by Olive Thorne Miller
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: In Nesting Time
+
+Author: Olive Thorne Miller
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25292]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN NESTING TIME ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robin Monks, Joseph Cooper, Leonard Johnson
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<div class="front">
+<h1>IN NESTING TIME</h1>
+
+<p style="font-size: 80%">BY</p>
+
+<p>OLIVE THORNE MILLER</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+   <img src="images/press.png"
+      alt="Riverside Press Logo."
+      title="Riverside Press Logo." />
+</div>
+
+<p>BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br />
+HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY<br />
+The Riverside Press, Cambridge<br />
+1893
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Copyright, 1888,<br />
+<span class="smcap">By H. M. MILLER.</span></p>
+
+<p><i>All rights reserved.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.</i><br />
+Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton &amp; Company.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="break"><i>"Very few people have the least idea what wild creatures are like.
+Their notion generally is to shoot them, and then pick them up for
+examination; which is the same thing as if some being of superior race,
+seeing children at play, were to shoot a few at long range, and then
+turn them over and describe them and consider himself learned in their
+structure, habits, and appearance."</i>&mdash;<span class="smcap">Jean Ingelow.</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTORY" id="INTRODUCTORY"></a>INTRODUCTORY.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The sketches of bird manners and customs in this little collection are
+the record of careful observation, and scrupulously true in every
+particular. The facts may not all be new to Science, but since they are
+genuine studies from life, and each bird whose acquaintance I make is as
+truly a discovery to me as if he were totally unknown to the world, I
+venture to hope that lovers of birds may find in these pages real, live,
+individuals in feathers, honestly "brothers of ours."</p>
+
+<p class="citation">OLIVE THORNE MILLER.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+
+
+
+
+<ul class="toc">
+<li>&nbsp;                                                                  <span class="ralign">PAGE</span></li>
+
+<li class="cp">I. <a href="#BABY_BIRDS"><span class="smcap">Baby Birds</span></a> <span class="ralign">1</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Purple Crow Blackbird. <i>Quiscalus quiscula.</i></li>
+    <li>  Redwing Blackbird. <i>Agel&oelig;us ph&oelig;niceus.</i></li>
+    <li>  Yellow-Throated Warbler. <i>Dendroica dominica.</i></li>
+    <li>  Baltimore Oriole. <i>Icterus galbula.</i></li>
+    <li>  White-Bellied Nuthatch. <i>Sitta carolinensis.</i></li>
+    <li>  American Robin. <i>Merula migratoria.</i></li>
+    <li>  Ph&oelig;be. <i>Sayornis ph&oelig;be.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">II. <a href="#BIRD-STUDY_IN_A_SOUTHERN_STATE"><span class="smcap">Bird-study in a Southern State</span></a> <span class="ralign">19</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Great White Heron. <i>Ardea occidentalis.</i></li>
+    <li>  Bald Eagle. <i>Hali&aelig;etus leucocephalus.</i></li>
+    <li>  Wilson's Tern. <i>Sterna hirundo.</i></li>
+    <li>  Ring Plover. <i>&AElig;gialitis hiaticula.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">III. <a href="#THE_MOCKING-BIRDS_NEST"><span class="smcap">The Mocking-Bird's Nest</span></a> <span class="ralign">33</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Mocking-Bird. <i>Mimus polyglottos.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">IV. <a href="#A_TRICKSY_SPIRIT"><span class="smcap">A Tricksy Spirit</span></a> <span class="ralign">65</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Mocking-Bird. <i>Mimus polyglottos.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">V. <a href="#THE_WISE_BLUEBIRD"><span class="smcap">The "Wise Bluebird"</span></a> <span class="ralign">95</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Bluebird. <i>Sialia sialis.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">VI. <a href="#THE_GOLDEN-WING"><span class="smcap">The Golden-Wing</span></a> <span class="ralign">113</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Golden-Wing Woodpecker. <i>Colaptes auratus.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">VII. <a href="#A_STORMY_WOOING"><span class="smcap">A Stormy Wooing</span></a> <span class="ralign">129</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Orchard Oriole. <i>Icterus spurius.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">VIII. <a href="#FLUTTERBUDGET"><span class="smcap">Flutterbudget</span></a> <span class="ralign">145</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Brown Thrush, or Thrasher. <i>Harporhynchus rufus.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">IX. <a href="#O_WONDROUS_SINGERS">"<span class="smcap">O Wondrous Singers</span>"</a> <span class="ralign">159</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Wilson's Thrush. <i>Turdus fuscescens.</i></li>
+    <li>  Gray-Cheeked Thrush. <i>Turdus alici&aelig;.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">X. <a href="#A_BIRD_OF_AFFAIRS"><span class="smcap">A Bird of Affairs</span></a> <span class="ralign">173</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Blue-Jay. <i>Cyanocitta cristata.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">XI. <a href="#THE_BLUE-JAY_AGAIN"><span class="smcap">The Blue-Jay Again</span></a> <span class="ralign">189</span></li>
+
+<li class="cp">XII. <a href="#VIRGINIAS_WOOING"><span class="smcap">Virginia's Wooing</span></a> <span class="ralign">205</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Virginia Cardinal. <i>Cardinalis cardinalis.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">XIII. <a href="#FRIENDSHIP_IN_FEATHERS"><span class="smcap">Friendship in Feathers</span></a> <span class="ralign">221</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Scarlet Tanager. <i>Piranga erythromelas.</i></li>
+    <li>  English Goldfinch. <i>Fringilla carduelis.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">XIV. <a href="#THE_ROSY_SHIELD"><span class="smcap">The Rosy Shield</span></a> <span class="ralign">237</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. <i>Habia ludoviciana.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+
+<li class="cp">XV. <a href="#THE_BIRD_OF_MYSTERY"><span class="smcap">The Bird of Mystery</span></a> <span class="ralign">251</span>
+
+  <ul class="toc">
+    <li>  Birds of Paradise. <i>Paradis&aelig;a.</i></li>
+  </ul></li>
+</ul>
+
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BABY_BIRDS" id="BABY_BIRDS"></a>BABY BIRDS.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i10">And oft an unintruding guest,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">I watched her secret toils from day to day;<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">How true she warped the moss to form the nest,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">And modeled it within with wood and clay.<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">And by and by, like heath-bells gilt with dew,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">There lay her shining eggs as bright as flowers,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Ink-spotted over, shells of green and blue:<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">And there I witnessed in the summer hours<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">A brood of Nature's minstrels chirp and fly,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Glad as the sunshine and the laughing sky.<br /></div>
+<div class="i23"><span class="smcap">John Clare.</span></div>
+</div></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="center break">I.</p>
+
+<p class="center">BABY BIRDS.</p>
+
+
+<p>"Ears have they, but they hear not," may be said of all the world.
+Tragedies and comedies go on continually before us which we neither see
+nor hear; cries of distress and prattle of infants, songs of love and
+screams of war, alike fall upon deaf ears, while we calmly discuss the
+last book or the news from Borriboo-lah-Gha, as completely oblivious as
+if all this stirring life did not exist.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure these things take place in the "upper stories," as Thoreau
+says, but they are none the less audible, and one is tempted to believe
+that bird voices are on a scale to which the untrained ear is not
+attuned. Once learn to hear, and nature is full of life and interest.
+The home affairs of our little neighbors whose modest cottage swings on
+a branch of the elm beside the door are more attractive than those of
+our fellow creatures in the house across the way partly because they are
+so open in their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> lives that our attentions do not seem intrusive, but
+more because their ways are not so familiar. We can guess how men and
+women pass their time, but we cannot guess why the cat-bird always sings
+from the middle of one particular shrub, nor where he has hidden his
+dusky spouse and nest full of babies; and after we know him we are eager
+to discover.</p>
+
+<p>Upon reaching the charming home of a friend in Massachusetts last June,
+almost the first thing I saw was a pair of purple crow blackbirds in
+trouble. First arose a medley of queer husky tones, clamorous baby
+cries, and excited oriole voices, with violent agitation of the leaves
+of a tall elm, ending with the sudden exit of a blackbird, closely
+followed by a pair of Baltimore orioles. The pursued flew leisurely
+across the lawn, plainly in no haste, and not at all with the air of the
+thief and nest robber he is popularly supposed to be. Clearly the elm
+belonged by bird custom to the orioles, for their pretty swinging
+hammock could be seen partly hidden by leaves, about halfway up the
+tree, and what business other than that of marauder had the sombre-hued
+enemy upon it?</p>
+
+<p>Now the blackbird has no secrets in his life; the whole world is welcome
+to know his affairs, and in fact he proclaims them loudly himself. It
+was easy to see that he had anxiety enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> of his own just then,
+without thinking of disturbing his neighbors, for he was engaged in the
+task of introducing his young family to the world, and every bird
+watcher knows that is attended with almost as many difficulties as is
+the same operation in what we call "society."</p>
+
+<p>If the youngster escape the dangers peculiar to the nest, the devouring
+jaws of squirrel or owl, the hands of the egg thief, being shaken out by
+the wind, smothered by an intrusive cow-bunting, or orphaned by the gun
+of a "collector;" if, neither stolen, eaten, thrown out, nor starved, he
+arrives at the age that his wings begin to stir and force him out of the
+leafy green tent of his birth, a new set of dangers meet him at the
+door. He may entangle himself in a hair of the nest-lining, and hang
+himself at the very threshold of life&mdash;a not uncommon occurrence; or he
+may safely reach the nearest twig and from there fall and break his
+neck&mdash;not a rare accident; he may be attacked by a bird who questions
+his right to be on the tree; he may fly, and, not reaching his goal,
+come to the ground, an easy prey to any prowler.</p>
+
+<p>In this blackbird family one of the little ones had taken his first
+ambitious flight to the oriole's tree, where he must and should be fed
+and comforted, in spite of the hostile reception of its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> gayly dressed
+proprietor. The father took upon himself this duty, and many times
+during the day the above-mentioned scene was re&euml;nacted, loud blackbird
+calls, husky baby notes, the musical war-cry of the oriole, and a chase.</p>
+
+<p>A second infant had wisely confined his wandering to his own tree, one
+of a group of tall pines that towered above the roofs of the village.
+This one could be easily watched as he stood on one branch for an hour
+at a time, sometimes in the nest attitude, head sunk in shoulders and
+beak pointed toward the sky, again looking eagerly around on his new
+world, turning his head from side to side, changing position to see the
+other way, and showing himself wide awake although the yellowish
+baby-down was still on his head, and his tail was not an inch long. Now
+and then the mother was heard calling in the distance, and as she
+approached he became all excitement, fluttering his wings, and answering
+in the husky tones of the family. A moment later, after a quick glance
+around, but without alighting and reconnoitring the whole neighborhood,
+as the robin does, she came down beside the eager youngling,
+administered to the wide open mouth what looked like two or three savage
+pecks, but doubtless were nothing worse than mouthfuls of food, and
+instantly flew again, while the refreshed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> infant stretched his wings
+and legs, changed his place a little, and settled into comfortable quiet
+after his lunch.</p>
+
+<p>The urchin in the enemy's tree was not the most unfortunate of the
+nestlings. One already lay dead on the ground under the nest where it
+had fallen, and another came down during the day, though happily without
+injury. This one was not very bright, or perhaps his baby wits were
+dazed by his sudden descent. He made no objection to staying in my hand
+as long as I liked to look at him, and when I placed him on a low
+branch, as a hint that it was safer there, he declined to accept my
+advice, but flew off and came to the ground again. He was a scraggy
+looking, rusty black little fellow, the most unattractive young bird I
+ever saw. Shortly after this he clambered up on a pile of brush about a
+foot high, without so much as a leaf to screen him, and there he stayed
+all day, motionless, being fed at long intervals; and there I left him
+at night, never expecting to see him again. But in the morning he
+appeared on a low shrub on the lawn, and about nine o'clock he took
+courage to launch himself on wing. He flew very low across the street,
+and dropped into the tall grass at the foot of a lilac bush. Why the
+parents considered that less safe than the open lawn I could not see,
+but they evidently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> did, for one of them perched upon the lilac, and
+filled the air with anxious "chucks," announcing to all whom it might
+concern&mdash;after the fashion of some birds&mdash;that here was a stray infant
+to be had for the picking up. Perhaps, however, the hue-and-cry kept off
+the quiet-loving cat; at any rate nothing happened to him, I think, for
+in a day or two the three young birds became so expert on wing that the
+whole family left us, and I hope found a place where they were more
+welcome than in that colony of house and orchard birds.</p>
+
+<p>Not so quiet in their ways are the babies of another blackbird
+family&mdash;the redwings; restless and uneasy, the clumsy little creatures
+climb all about the bushes and trees, and keep both parents busy, not
+only in filling their gaping mouths, but in finding them when the food
+is brought. They are always seeking a new place, and from the moment of
+leaving the nest show in a marked way the unrest, the impatience of the
+redwing family.</p>
+
+<p>Quite as erratic is a much smaller bird, the yellow throated warbler,
+whose baby ways I have seen at the South. One of these bantlings no
+bigger than the end of a thumb will easily keep its parent frantically
+busy rushing about after food, and hunting up the capricious wanderer on
+its return.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The wood thrush, on the contrary, is patience itself. A youngster of
+this lovely family sits a half hour at a time motionless and silent on a
+branch, head drawn down upon his shoulders, apparently in the deepest
+meditation. When he sees food coming he is gently agitated, rises upon
+his weak legs, softly flutters his wings and opens his mouth, but
+never&mdash;never cries. Should one put a hand down to take him, as seemingly
+could be done easily, he will slip out from under it, drop to the
+ground, and disappear, in perfect silence.</p>
+
+<p>The cry-baby of the bird world is the Baltimore oriole. As soon as this
+fluffy young person appears outside of his nursery, sometimes even
+before, he begins to utter a strange almost constant "chrr-r-r." He is
+not particularly active of movement, but he cannot keep silent. One
+little oriole mother whom I watched in Massachusetts had no help in
+raising her brood, her mate spending his time on the upper branches of
+the tree. He could not be blamed, however; he was, so far as I could
+see, perfectly willing to aid in the support of the family, but Madam
+actually would not allow him even to visit the homestead. When the young
+were out he assumed his share of the labor. The first yellow-haired
+bairn mounted the edge of the nest one morning, and after a little
+stretching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> and pluming, tried to fly. But alas he was held! Two or
+three times he renewed the attempt, his struggles always ending in
+failure, and I feared I should see a tragedy. Half an hour later the
+mother returned, and whether she pushed him down, or merely advised him
+to go back and try again, I cannot say. The fact is that he did
+disappear in the nest, where he remained for two or three hours, for it
+is probably safe to assume that the urchin who came up later was the
+same. This time, without delay upon the brink, he climbed upon a twig,
+hopped about a little, and before long flew several feet, alighting on a
+small branch of the same tree. Hardly had he established himself safely
+and resumed his ordinary call, when down upon him from above came a
+robin, who, strange to say, had a nest in one of the upper branches of
+the same tall maple. This robin had always recognized the right of the
+oriole parents to their share of the tree, but the young one was a
+stranger, and he fell upon him accordingly. He knocked him off his
+perch; the unfortunate little fellow fell a few feet, then gathered
+himself, fluttered and caught at the outside of a clump of leaves on the
+end of a twig, where after frantic struggling he managed to secure a
+hold. Perhaps the robin saw his mistake, for he paid no more attention
+to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> new-comer, who did not stay long on the tree after this second
+disaster.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning came up out of the nest quite an unnatural oriole
+baby&mdash;he did not cry. Silently, he stepped out upon a twig, and looked
+about in the new world around him. He carefully dressed his feathers,
+and often rose to his full height and stretched his legs, as if it were
+legs and not wings he needed in his new life. The third scion of the
+household had also a marked character of his own. Having planted himself
+on the threshold, and found it a convenient place to intercept all food
+on its way to the younger ones still unseen, he remained. Every time the
+mother came with a mouthful, he fluttered and coaxed, and usually got
+it. It was too good a situation to leave and he seemed to have settled
+for life; but his wings overpowered his inertia or greed, about four
+o'clock in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>So long had the third young oriole occupied his position, that the
+fourth made his appearance almost immediately, as though he had been
+waiting. There does appear to be some regulation of this sort among the
+orioles, for in all that I have noticed, no two ever came out together
+(excepting once, when both went back almost instantly, and one returned
+alone). This late comer had not the whole long sunny day to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> loiter
+away, and he flew in an hour. The fifth and last came up early the next
+morning evidently in haste to join the scattered family, for he bade
+farewell to the native tree in a short time. No more orioles appeared
+upon the maple from this day, but for two weeks I saw the little party
+about; the father, whom I had missed after the flight of the first
+infant, working like a drudge, with two or three hungry urchins wherever
+he went, excepting when he sought food in the new-cut grass on the
+ground. He gave us no more songs, but his sweet, low call sounded all
+day on the place.</p>
+
+<p>Another family of little folk came upon the maple after the orioles were
+gone, a nuthatch tribe. There were three or four of them exactly like
+the mother excepting a shorter tail, and they followed her like a flock
+of sheep, over and under branches, around the trunk, up or down or any
+way, never pausing more than an instant, not even when she plumped a
+morsel into a waiting mouth. She led her little procession by her
+querulous-sounding "quank," while they replied with a low "chir-up" in
+the same tone. It was a very funny sight. They could fly nicely, but
+never seemed to think of looking for food, and it was plain that the
+busy little mother had no time to teach them. It was interesting to see
+her deal with a moth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> which she found napping on a fence. She ran at
+once to a crack or some convenient hole in the rough rail, thrust it in
+and hammered it down. When it was quiet she snipped off the wings,
+dragged it out, and beat it on the fence till it was fit for food, the
+family meanwhile gathered around her, clinging closely to the fence, and
+gently fluttering. These nuthatches were remarkably silent, but some
+that I once saw living near the top of two or three tall pines were
+quite noisy, and I spent much time trying to see what they were forever
+complaining about. There always seemed to be some catastrophe impending
+up in that sky parlor, but it never appeared to reach a climax.</p>
+
+<p>Charming to watch is the bluebird nestling; cheery and gentle like the
+parents, he seems to escape the period of helplessness that many birds
+suffer from, perhaps because he is patient enough to stay in the nest
+till his wings are ready to use. The mocking-bird baby has a far
+different time. Victim of a devouring ambition that will not let him
+rest till either legs or wings will bear him, he scrambles out upon his
+native tree, stretches, plumes a little in a jerky, hurried way, and
+then boldly launches out in the air&mdash;alas!&mdash;to come flop to the ground,
+where he is an easy prey to boys and cats, both of whom are particularly
+fond of young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> mocking-birds. These parents are wiser than the crow
+blackbirds, for not a sound betrays the accident in the family, unless,
+indeed, the little one is disturbed, when they make noise enough. They
+keep out of sight, no doubt closely watching the straggler until he gets
+away from people, for although he has proved that he cannot fly, the
+young mocker is by no means discouraged; he trusts to his legs, and
+usually at once starts off on a run "anywhere, anywhere, out (in) the
+world." When far enough away for them to feel safe in doing so, the
+parents come down and feed and comfort the wanderer, and it is a day or
+two before his wings are of much use to him.</p>
+
+<p>The most imperious young bird I know is the robin. He is perfectly sure
+he has a right to attention, and he intends to have it. If he is
+neglected too long and gets hungry, he calls loudly and impatiently,
+jerking himself up with a ludicrous air of stamping his feet. Even when
+he does condescend to go to the lawn with mamma, it is not to seek his
+food&mdash;far from it! It is to follow her around, and call every moment or
+two for something to eat. The idea that his individual exertions have
+anything to do with the food supply seems never to occur to him. He
+expects the fat morsels to fall into his mouth as they always have, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+why should they not? He will soon be taught, for even baby-birds have to
+be educated.</p>
+
+<p>We have assumed in our easy-going way that birds "toil not" because they
+"do not spin," because they have not surrounded themselves with a
+thousand artificial wants, as we have. But the truth is that nobody can
+work harder than a pair of robins, for example, with four or five hungry
+mouths to fill, and every mouthful to be hunted up as it is wanted. No
+one would guess what an ever-yawning cavern a baby robin's mouth is,
+till he has tried to bring up a nestling himself. I once kept two small
+boys busy several days at high wages, digging worms for one young bird,
+and then I believe he starved to death.</p>
+
+<p>The training of our winged neighbors is most interesting, but so
+cautiously carried on that we rarely see it, though we may often hear
+the robin, oriole, whip-poor-will, and many others receive instruction
+in singing. I have once or twice surprised young birds at their lessons,
+as for instance, a pewee family learning to hover over the daisies, a
+beautiful operation of their parents which I never tired of watching. I
+was behind a blind when they came, a little flock of five or six. They
+were very playful, and kept near together, flying low over the grass,
+alighting in a row on the edge of a pail, coming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> up on the
+clothes-line, banging awkwardly against the house, and in every way
+showing ignorance and youth. I studied one for a long time as he
+balanced himself on the clothes-line and looked off at the antics of his
+brothers trying to learn the hovering. One of the parents flew out over
+the tall flowers, poising himself gracefully, his body held perfectly
+erect, legs half drawn up, turning his head this way and that, hanging
+thus in the air several seconds in one spot, then suddenly darting off
+to another like a humming-bird. The little ones in a row close together
+on a low branch of a shrub, looked on, and in a moment two or three
+sallied out and tried the same movement. They could fly well enough, but
+when they tried to pause on wing the failure was disastrous. Some
+tumbled out of sight into the daisies, others recovered themselves with
+violent efforts and returned hastily to the perch, complaining loudly.
+Then the parents brought food, and this went on for some time, while all
+the time the air was full of gentle twitters and calls, much baby-talk,
+and a little parental instruction no doubt.</p>
+
+<p>A delightful field of work awaits the young naturalist of to-day. Our
+predecessors have devoted their energies to classifying and arranging.
+They have dissected and weighed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> measured every part of the little
+bodies; they know to a fraction the length of wings and tails; they have
+pulled to pieces the nests, "clutched" the eggs, and blown and mounted
+and labeled and set up in cases the whole external of the little
+creatures. All that can be learned by violence, all the characteristics
+evolved by fear and distress are duly set down in the books. You shall
+find a catalogue of the robin's possessions in the shape of feathers and
+bones, pictures of his internal anatomy, illustrations of his work in
+nest building, and specimens in all stages, but in the whole world of
+these books you shall not find the robin. The soul of the robin has
+escaped them, it is not to be taken by force.</p>
+
+<p>I do not find fault; it needed to be done, but happily&mdash;let us hope&mdash;it
+is done, and a more enticing field is now open, namely: to make personal
+acquaintance with the birds, find out how they live, their manners and
+customs, and their individual characters. This is one of the most
+charming studies in the world, but much more is required than a gun and
+a little or much scientific knowledge. There is infinite patience,
+perseverance, untiring devotion, and more,&mdash;a quick eye and ear, and a
+sympathetic heart. If you do not love the birds you cannot understand
+them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This is the pleasant path opening now, and in some ways it is
+particularly suited to woman with her great patience and quiet manners.
+Once interested in the lives in the "upper stories," you will find them
+most absorbing; novels will pall upon you, fancy work seem frivolous,
+society duties a bore, and talk&mdash;loud enough to interfere with
+listening&mdash;an impertinence.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BIRD-STUDY_IN_A_SOUTHERN_STATE" id="BIRD-STUDY_IN_A_SOUTHERN_STATE"></a>BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i10">He loved the ever deepening brown<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Of summer twilights on the enchanted hills;<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Where he might listen to the starts and thrills<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Of birds that sang and rustled in the trees,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Or watch the footsteps of the wandering breeze,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">And the bird's shadows as they fluttered by,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Or slowly wheeled across the unclouded sky.<br /></div>
+<div class="i20"><div class="smcap">Richard Watson Gilder.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>II.</p>
+
+<p class="center">BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE.</p>
+
+
+<p>The most interesting experience in several years of bird-study was a
+trip to a Southern State for the purpose of making acquaintance with the
+mocking-bird.</p>
+
+<p>Adventures began before the lights of New York sank below the horizon;
+adventures more strange than agreeable, for the journey was by steamer.
+Hardly had we passed out of the bay when there began a gentle roll which
+speedily sent passengers to bed. When we passed Long Branch the motion
+was a steady rock from side to side, that made one feel like a baby in a
+cradle, and before bedtime it was a violent swing that flung one about
+like a toy, and tossed the furniture around like doll-house belongings.</p>
+
+<p>Holding on to the side of the berth with both hands, I passed the night
+listening to the labored strokes of the engine and the crashing of the
+loosened freight in the hold, and entertained by the eccentric conduct
+of the loose articles in my state-room, a trunk, chair, life-preserver,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+plate, saucer, and teaspoon, which with one accord, and in spite of all
+I could do by most ingenious wedging, joined in a peculiar dance between
+the outer wall and the inner partition of my room. At one moment they
+rested quietly in their several ways, against the wall; the steamer
+lurched, and all started madly across the floor, the heavy things first,
+and the lighter bringing up the rear, each banging violently against the
+partition, with thump, rattle, or jingle according to its nature, then
+in a moment dashing back so furiously that I feared to see the thin
+planks yield and my trunk go out to sea by itself. Not that I cared for
+my trunk&mdash;my life was the subject that interested me at the time.
+Outside, too, the doors and blinds rattled, the tiller-chain chattered
+and wailed and sobbed like a woman in distress, and above all other
+sounds rose the dismal fog horn, for a pall of mist had settled over us.</p>
+
+<p>Day differed from night only in being light, for the sole prospect from
+the guards was one moment the fog above, where the sky should be, the
+next the depths of the sea yawning as if to receive the ship into its
+bosom. In this manner, during two days and three nights, we rolled on to
+our destination, and for days after my feet touched blessed Mother Earth
+I reeled and staggered like a drunken man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After the storm, the calm. There followed upon this rough voyage weeks
+of quiet, delightful bird-study, whose long sunny-days were passed in
+the fragrant depths of pine groves, under arching forest of sweet-gum
+trees, or on the shore of the salt marsh; but wherever, or however,
+always following and spying out the ways of the feathered world.</p>
+
+<p>The bird of the South&mdash;the mocking-bird, was the first object of study.
+By day he was watched and noted, during the long twilight he was
+listened to, and at midnight sleep was often banished by his wonderful
+and enchanting voice. Gray and inconspicuous in coloring, we all know
+him in the cage; but how different in freedom! how wild and bewitching
+his song! how wise and knowing his ways! how well worth weeks of study
+is this one bird!</p>
+
+<p>Here were dozens of other birds also. What keen delight to one fresh
+from the town, to look over the marsh where</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"Leagues and leagues of marsh grass, waist high, broad in the blade,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Green and all of a height, and unflecked with a light or a shade,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Stretch leisurely off in a pleasant plain<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">To the terminal blue of the main;"<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>to watch the great snowy heron sweeping over with broad white wing,
+tripping gracefully<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> about on the edges of the channels, and toward
+night betaking itself to a line of trees in the distance, that looked as
+if full of snowy blossoms that moved and changed about and at last
+settled for the night; to see the bald eagle catch a big fish and call
+his mate to help him eat it; to watch the lesser tern hover with yellow
+bill pointed downward and sharp eye fixed on the water, and at length
+stiffen his wings and dive head first into it, bringing out his prey,
+and filling the air with cries in a complaining, squealing tone that
+always reminds one of a young pig; to gaze fascinated at the bewitching
+flight of the ring-plover, sweeping low over the water in a small flock,
+now almost invisible as the sombre-colored backs turn toward you, now
+suddenly flashing bright as silver when the breasts come into sight,
+moving in perfect unison as if impelled by one will. More, many more
+birds of the marsh attract and draw one, but inland is the mocking-bird,
+and after a walk along the shore, always my feet turned to the groves
+and the fields where the matchless bird lives his life.</p>
+
+<p>To see, as well as hear a wild mocking-bird sing, is worth a journey,
+even over the rolling deep. I passed hours in a pleasant grove beyond
+the gardens and fields, watching and listening to one bird whose concert
+hall it was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> The grove was the audience room where one might be in the
+shade and not too conspicuous in watching him. His chosen place was in
+the sunshine, for this bird is a sun-worshiper. I always found him
+singing when I reached the spot. Perhaps on the top spike of a young
+pine-tree, balanced on one, or sometimes on two adjoining top
+twigs&mdash;which of course stand straight up&mdash;stood the singer, madly
+shouting his most peculiar medley. He looked at me as I passed near his
+perch, but did not pause in his song. After I had taken my seat he
+flew&mdash;singing as he went&mdash;alighted nearer, on the upper sprig of a
+cedar, turned his eyes upon me, and treated me to another performance,
+while I looked and listened enchanted.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was I the only listener. Ever and anon while absorbed in the
+entertainment, or waiting, breathless, for a new note, I was startled by
+a rustle, and a low "Good evenin' Missis," and glanced up to see a negro
+stealing along in a stealthy way. It might be a woman with a big bundle
+or basket on her head, possibly a slouching young man or "boy" with an
+air of interest in my eccentric proceedings, or a group of youngsters
+with nothing particular to do, but one and all perfectly silent in
+movement. No wonder they know all about the birds, and lay violent hands
+on eggs, nests, or nestlings as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> they choose, creeping around as they do
+without a sound. It is only surprising that a bird is left in the State,
+so persistently do they rob the nests. Naturally the mocking-bird, for
+which they can always find purchasers, is the most desirable, and white
+as well as black persecute that bird unceasingly.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't keep them from the negroes," said a young white man. "I've
+often been watching a nest to get the young ones myself, but some nig
+was sure to take it before me."</p>
+
+<p>Speaking of negroes, I never saw so many idle men and grown boys. Not a
+spot could be found so secluded that one or more did not soon make his
+appearance. Selecting the quiet yard of a summer cottage, a
+deserted-looking place not yet opened for the season, in which to study
+the ways of the birds in peace, I was often disturbed by a negro passing
+across the lawn, taking no heed of fences, for there's no sort of a
+fence in that country that they will not pass over as if it were not
+there. Of course this always put to flight the dramatis person&aelig; of my
+study. One day an interesting (or interested) person of color appeared
+on the scene equipped for white-washing, and proceeded to adorn tree
+trunks, fences, buildings, etc., etc., relieving his labors by
+questioning me about northern manners and customs. On another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> occasion
+when I was looking anxiously to see a certain family of nestlings make
+exit from the nest, a building that I supposed to be a shut-up
+store-room was thrown open, a wash-tub appeared before the door, and I
+found that a family of eight, including four children, had moved in, not
+thirty feet from my chosen seat, and of course to the utter destruction
+of any seclusion.</p>
+
+<p>I could not select a single spot in the neighborhood, favorable to quiet
+study, without having it made desolate or turned into a thoroughfare.
+The loveliest place I found at all was a footpath passing for about
+fifty feet through a fringe of low cedar, sweet gum trees, and shrubs
+loaded with pink lily-of-the-valley shaped blossoms. Across the path ran
+a brooklet, a mere thread of water, so shallow that small birds stood in
+the middle to bathe, though it deepened into a pool below, where frogs
+croaked and plunged. It was cool; it was quiet, far from the everywhere
+present negro hut; there was no sound but the trickle of the streamlet
+as it fell into the pool, and the softened roar of the ocean beyond the
+wide salt marsh.</p>
+
+<p>To this nook I went every day, always trying to surprise the birds at
+their usual occupations, but never quite succeeding; for steal in
+quietly as I might I always heard low remarks, a slight flutter of
+wings, and usually saw a dark form<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> or two departing near the ground
+behind some shrub. Slowly and quietly, however, I took my seat on a bank
+close under a thick bush,&mdash;while the silence around me was as profound
+as if no wing had ever fluttered there,&mdash;and became as motionless as
+circumstances would allow, for beside the birds there were other tenants
+not half so shy.</p>
+
+<p>After a few moments, when the ripple I caused had died away, sounds of
+life began again; unknown water creatures made queer noises in the pool
+below, low bird tones, unfamiliar scraps of song fell on the ear,
+ordinary ways were resumed.</p>
+
+<p>In this pleasant place I made acquaintance with the painted-finch, or
+nonpareil, who was least frightened of the small birds, and stood
+patiently on a cedar twig till I became quiet, then came down in plain
+sight, waded up to the tops of his firm little legs in the water, and
+deliberately took his bath before my very face. Here also I had a call
+from Bob White, who cautiously lifted a striped cap and a very bright
+eye above the grass tops to look at me. He did not introduce himself;
+indeed, after a moment's steady gaze his head dropped and I saw him no
+more, but I heard him rustle in the grass on the way to the
+strawberries, of which he demands&mdash;and gets&mdash;his share.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Ruin fell upon this charming retreat in this wise. One day on my
+approach I saw commotion in the shrubs and two negroes at work chopping
+great branches out on each side of the path, letting in the sun to my
+bank, and turning it into a hideous wreck. I protested.</p>
+
+<p>"Why is this? What are you doing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we're just cuttin' some pea-poles!" they replied calmly. They had
+been too lazy or too indifferent to step ten feet on one side into the
+thicker copse, and leave the pretty path in its beauty, and the mischief
+was done, and after all it was not my business. I passed on.</p>
+
+<p>Bird-study has other annoyances in that part of the world beside the
+human beings of whom I have spoken. Next, perhaps, are the sufferings
+which wring the heart all the while. John Burroughs has written the
+tragedies of the nests; he could add a chapter more tragical than all,
+should he visit the haunts of the mocking-bird. Nothing can be more
+dreadful than the systematic and persistent war made upon this bird, of
+which nevertheless every Southerner is proud.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, the hindrances which Dame Nature herself throws around her
+mysteries. There are the prickly pears, sowed broadcast over the land so
+thickly that one can hardly avoid stepping on them, with thorns sharp as
+needles, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> as long. One of an inch in length that I had the curiosity
+to examine had forty-five thorns, equal to two papers of number six
+sharps, that stuck out in every direction, and would pass through an
+ordinary shoe with perfect ease. This interesting vegetable has no local
+attachments whatever, and readily clings to any part of one's garment.</p>
+
+<p>Then there are the mosquitoes with which the same careful mother peoples
+the groves, even in April, industrious little creatures not in the least
+enervated by the climate. But her grand dependence, judiciously settled
+indeed, is on the sand flies. Wherever there is not a howling
+gale&mdash;there are the flies in millions, most indefatigable and maddening
+of pests. And finally, to take home with you, to remind you pleasantly
+of her hospitalities when you have reached your own room, is the tick!</p>
+
+<p>Ties from the outer world began at last to draw. The birdlings in the
+nest were not ready to come out, and growing impatient I drew upon the
+knowledge&mdash;or rather the ignorance&mdash;of the residents and heard some
+surprising statements, which further observation, however, did not
+confirm. That the mocking-bird baby lives for three weeks in the nest;
+that part of that time the parents carry the nestlings about on their
+backs; that when old enough the young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> are pushed out of their nest, and
+always fall to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>And the authors of these fables were grown-up, and had passed their
+lives among the mocking-birds. I curbed my impatience, stayed another
+week, and saw all the nestlings out, and the nest deserted.</p>
+
+<p>Another charge also fell to the ground on careful observation. The
+farmers complain&mdash;as farmers are apt to complain of their best friends,
+the birds&mdash;that the mocking-bird eats strawberries. I set myself to
+watch a fine patch full of ripe and tempting berries, several times when
+no one was near. Many birds came about, mocking-birds, crows, kingbirds,
+orchard orioles, and others. The mocking-birds ran down between the rows
+of vines catching grasshoppers, the crows did the same service, walking
+with dignity. The kingbirds chased flies, the orioles searched the fruit
+trees for insects. One and all were working in the interest of the
+strawberry grower. And while I watched, an hour or more at a time, not
+even for dessert after filling their stomachs with insects, did one take
+a berry, which I am sure they might be considered to have earned.</p>
+
+<p>I know one lady&mdash;would there were more like her&mdash;who owns a garden on
+Long Island, and when her gardener comes in and says something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> <i>must</i>
+be done to prevent the birds destroying fruit, calmly says: "Certainly,
+set out another row of plants. Let us have enough for the birds by all
+means, and for ourselves too."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_MOCKING-BIRDS_NEST" id="THE_MOCKING-BIRDS_NEST"></a>THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">Whate'er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say.<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Then down he shot, bounced airily along<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again.<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Sweet Science, this large riddle read me plain:<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">How may the death of that dull insect be<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">The life of yon trim Shakespeare, on the tree?<br /></div>
+<div class="i23"><div class="smcap">Sidney Lanier.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>III.</p>
+
+<p class="center">THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST.</p>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"Superb and sole upon a plum&egrave;d spray<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">That o'er the general leafage boldly grew,"<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>as literally as though Lanier had sketched that particular bird, stood
+the first free mocking-bird I ever heard. His perch was the topmost twig
+of the tallest tree in the group. It was a cedar, perhaps fifteen feet
+high, around which a jasmine vine had clambered, and that morning opened
+a cluster of fragrant blossoms at his feet, as though an offering to the
+most noted singer on our side of the globe. As I drew near he turned his
+clear, bright eye upon me, and sang a welcome to North Carolina; and
+several hours later, when the moon rose high over the waters of the
+Sound, he completed his perfect performance with a serenade, the like of
+which I fear I may never hear again. I chose to consider his attentions
+personal, because, of all the household, I am sure I was the only one
+who listened, and I had passed over many miles of rolling and tossing
+ocean to make his acquaintance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nothing would have been easier, or more delightful, than to pitch one's
+tent in a certain pine grove not far away, and pass days and weeks in
+forgetting the world of cares, and reading favorite books, lulled at all
+hours of day and night by the softened roar of the ocean and the
+wonderful bird</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"Singing the song of everything,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Consummate sweet, and calm."<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But it was not merely as singer that I wished to know him; nor to watch
+his dainty and graceful ways as he went about the daily duties of
+food-hunting, singing, and driving off marauders, which occupied his
+hours from dawn to late evening, and left him spirit enough for many a
+midnight rhapsody. It was in his domestic relations that I desired to
+see him,&mdash;the wooing of the bride and building the nest, the training of
+mocking-bird babies and starting them in the world; and no loitering and
+dreaming in the pine grove, however tempting, would tell me this. I must
+follow him to his more secluded retreats, see where he had set up his
+homestead.</p>
+
+<p>Thoreau&mdash;or is it Emerson?&mdash;says one always finds what he looks for, and
+of course I found my nests. One pair of birds I noticed through the
+courtship, the selection of the site, the building and occupying of the
+nest; another<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> couple, already sitting when discovered, I watched
+through the incubation and nursing of the little ones, and at last
+assisted in giving them a fair chance for their lives and a start in the
+world. It may be thought that my assistance was not particularly
+valuable; the birds shared this opinion; none the less, but for my
+presence not one of those birdlings would be free and happy to-day, as I
+hope and believe they are. To the study of these two households I gave
+nearly every hour of daylight, in all weathers, for a month, and of the
+life that went on in and around them I can speak from personal
+knowledge; beyond that, and at other times in his life, I do not profess
+to know the mocking-bird.</p>
+
+<p>The bird whose nest-making I witnessed was the one whose performance I
+chose to consider a welcome, and his home was in the pine grove, a group
+of about twenty trees, left from the original forest possibly, at any
+rate nearly a hundred feet high, with all branches near the top, as
+though they had grown in close woods. They were quite scattering now,
+and lower trees and shrubs flourished in their shade, making a charming
+spot, and a home worthy even of this superb songster. The bird himself
+was remarkably friendly. Seeming to appreciate my attitude of admiring
+listener, he often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> perched on the peak of a low roof (separated only by
+a carriage drive from the upper "gallery" where I sat), and sang for
+hours at a time, with occasional lunches; or, as Lanier, his most ardent
+lover, has it,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"Then down he shot, bounced airily along<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again."<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Whatever he did, his eyes were upon me; he came to the corner nearest me
+to sing, and was so intelligent in look and bearing that I believe he
+liked a quiet listener.</p>
+
+<p>His wooing, however, the bird did not intend me to see, though two or
+three times I surprised him at it. The first part that I chanced upon
+was curious and amusing. A female, probably the "beloved object," stood
+demurely on one of the dead top branches of a large tree down in the
+garden, while her admirer performed fantastic evolutions in the air
+about her. No flycatcher ever made half the eccentric movements this
+aerial acrobat indulged in. He flew straight up very high, executing
+various extraordinary turns and gyrations, so rapidly they could not be
+followed and described, and came back singing; in a moment he departed
+in another direction, and repeated the grotesque performance. He was
+plainly exerting himself to be agreeable and entertaining, in
+mocking-bird<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> style, and I noticed that every time he returned from an
+excursion he perched a little nearer his audience of one, until, after
+some time, he stood upon the same twig, a few inches from her. They were
+facing and apparently trying to stare each other out of countenance; and
+as I waited, breathless, to see what would happen next, the damsel
+coquettishly flitted to another branch. Then the whole scene was
+repeated; the most singular and graceful evolutions, the songs, and the
+gradual approach. Sometimes, after alighting on a top twig, he dropped
+down through the branches, singing, in a way to suggest the "dropping
+song" so graphically described by Maurice Thompson, but never really
+falling, and never touching the ground. Each performance ended in his
+reaching the twig which she occupied and her flight to another, until at
+last, by some apparently mutual agreement, both flew, and I saw no more.</p>
+
+<p>A remarkable "dance" which I also saw, with the same bird as principal
+actor, seems to me another phase of the wooing, though I must say it
+resembled a war-dance as well; but love is so like war among the lower
+orders, even of men, that it is hard to distinguish between them. I
+shall not try to decide, only to relate, and, I beg to say, without the
+smallest exaggeration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> The dances I saw were strictly <i>pas-de-deux</i>,
+and they always began by a flash of wings and two birds alighting on the
+grass, about a foot apart. Both instantly drew themselves up perfectly
+erect, tail elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees, and wings held
+straight down at the sides. Then followed a most droll dance. Number one
+stood like a statue, while number two pranced around, with short,
+mincing steps and dainty little hops which did not advance him an inch;
+first he passed down the right, then turned and went down the left, all
+in the queer, unnatural manner of short hops and steps, and holding
+himself rigidly erect, while number one always faced the dancer,
+whichever way he turned. After a few moments of this movement, number
+one decided to participate, and when his partner moved to the right he
+did the same; to the left he still accompanied him, always facing, and
+maintaining the exact distance from him. Then number two described a
+circle around number one, who turned to face him with short hops where
+he stood. Next followed a <i>chass&eacute;</i> of both birds to the right; then a
+separation, one dancing to the right and the other to the left, always
+facing, and always slowly and with dignity. This stately minuet they
+kept up for some time, and appeared so much like a pair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> of
+old-fashioned human dancers that when, on one occasion, number two
+varied the performance by a spring over the head of his partner, I was
+startled, as if an old gentleman had suddenly hopped over the head of
+the grand dame his <i>vis-&agrave;-vis</i>. When this strange new figure was
+introduced, number one proved equal to the emergency, hopping backward,
+and turning so dexterously that when his partner alighted they were
+facing, and about a foot apart, as before. The object of all this was
+very uncertain to a looker-on. It might be the approaches of love, and
+quite as probably the wary beginnings of war, and the next feature of
+the programme was not explanatory; they rose together in the air ten
+feet or more, face to face, fluttering and snatching at each other,
+apparently trying to clinch; succeeding in doing so, they fell to the
+ground, separated just before they touched it, and flew away. O wings!
+most maddening to a bird-student.</p>
+
+<p>It was not very long after these performances, which seem to me to
+belong to the courtship period, when I noticed that my bird had won his
+bride, and they were busy house-hunting. The place they apparently
+preferred, and at last fixed upon, was at an unusual height for
+mocking-birds, near the top of one of the tall pines, and I was no less
+surprised than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> pleased to see them lay the foundation of their home in
+that spot. I congratulated myself that at least one brood in North
+Carolina would have a chance to come to maturity and be free; and so
+persistent is the warfare waged against this bird&mdash;unfortunately
+marketable at any stage from the egg&mdash;that I almost doubt if another
+will. The day after they began building a northwest storm set in, and
+for three days we had high winds and cold weather. In spite of this, the
+brave birds persevered, and finished their nest during those three days,
+although much of the time they made infrequent trips. It was really most
+touching to watch them at their unnatural task, and remember that
+nothing but the cruelty of man forced them to it (one nest had been
+destroyed). Their difficulty was to get up against the wind, and, having
+little experience in flying upward, they made the natural mistake of
+starting from the foot of their chosen tree. Sometimes, at first, they
+flew with the body almost perpendicular; and afterwards, when they held
+the body in proper position, they wished to go so directly up that they
+turned the head back over the shoulder to see where they were going. The
+wind, too, beat them far out of their course, and they were obliged to
+alight and rest, occasionally being forced to cling to the trunk of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+tree to recover breath and strength to go on. They never attempted to
+make the whole ascent at once, but always stopped four or five times,
+perching on the ends of fallen branches, of which there were eight or
+ten below the living part of the pine. Even when no wind disturbed them,
+they made these pauses on the way, and it was always a hard task to
+reach the top. They learned, after a few days, however, to begin their
+ascent at a distance, and not approach the tree till at least half as
+high as they wished to go, which simplified the matter very much. It was
+beautiful to see them, upon reaching the lowest of the living branches,
+bound gayly up, as though over a winding stair, to the particular spot
+they had fixed upon.</p>
+
+<p>During the building I missed the daily music of the singer. Occasionally
+he alighted on the roof, looked over at me, and bubbled out a few notes,
+as much as to say, "You must excuse me now; I am very busy;" but all the
+time I hoped that while sitting was going on I should have him back. I
+reckoned ignorantly; I did not know my bird. No sooner was he the
+possessor of a house and family than he suddenly became very wary. No
+more solos on the roof; no more confidential remarks; no more
+familiarities of any sort. Now he must beware of human beings, and even
+when on the grass he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> held himself very erect, wings straight down,
+every instant on guard. His happiness demanded expression in song,
+certainly, but instead of confining himself to the roof he circled the
+lawn, which was between two and three hundred feet wide. If he began in
+a group of cedars on the right, he sang awhile there, then flew to the
+fence next the road without a pause in the music, and in a few minutes
+passed to the group of pines at the left, perched on a dead branch, and
+finished his song there. It was most tantalizing, though I could but
+admit it a proof of intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>Another change appeared in the bird with the advent of family cares: he
+was more belligerent; he drove the bluebird off the lawn, he worried the
+tufted titmouse when it chanced to alight on his tree, and in the most
+offensive way claimed ownership of pine-trees, lawn, and all the fence
+bordering the same. Neighboring mocking-birds disputed his claim, and
+many a furious chase took place among the trees. (So universal is their
+habit of insisting upon exclusive right to certain grounds that two
+mocking-birds are never found nesting very near each other, in that part
+of the country. This I was assured, and found it true of those I
+observed.) These little episodes in his life kept the pine-tree bird
+from dullness, while his mate was engaged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> in the top of the tall pine,
+where, by the way, he went now and then to see how she was getting on.
+Sometimes his spouse received him amiably, but occasionally, I regret to
+say, I heard a "huff" from the nest that said plainly, "Don't you touch
+those eggs!" And what was amusing, he acknowledged her right to dictate
+in the matter, and meekly took his departure. Whenever she came down for
+a lunch, he saw her instantly, and was ready for a frolic. He dropped to
+the grass near her, and they usually indulged in a lively romp, chasing
+each other over and through the trees, across the yard, around the
+garden, and back to the lawn, where she went on with her eating, and he
+resumed his singing.</p>
+
+<p>While I was watching the pine-tree household, the other nest, in the top
+of a low, flat-topped cedar, perhaps twenty-five feet high, and
+profusely fringed with Spanish moss, became of even more interest. I
+could not see into the nest, for there was no building high enough to
+overlook it, but I could see the bird when he stood upon the edge.
+Sitting, in a warm climate, is not particularly close work. Although the
+weather was cool, yet when the sun was out the sitter left her nest from
+six to eight minutes at a time, and as often as once in twenty minutes.
+Of course in rain she had not so much liberty,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> and on some days left
+only when her mate was ready to take her place, which he frequently did.</p>
+
+<p>On the ninth day of my watching (I had not seen the beginning of the
+sitting), the 3d of May, I found work was over and the youngsters were
+out. There was much excitement in the cedar-tree, but in a quiet way; in
+fact, the birds became so silent and so wary in approaching the nest
+that it required the closest watching to see them go or come, and only
+occasionally could I detect any food in the beak. I discovered very soon
+that mocking-bird babies are brought up on hygienic principles, and have
+their meals with great regularity. For some time both parents were
+exceedingly busy, going and coming almost constantly; then there came a
+rest of a half hour or more, during which no food was brought. Each bird
+had its own way of coming to the tree. Madam came over the roof of the
+cottage where I sat, and was exposed to view for only a few feet, over
+which she passed so quickly and silently that I had to be constantly on
+the alert to see her at all. The singer had another way, and by rising
+behind a hickory-tree beyond the cedar managed to keep a screen of
+branches between him and myself nearly every foot of the way. I could
+see them both almost every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> time, but I could not always tell whether
+they carried food. Now the bluebird, honest soul, always stops in plain
+sight to rest, with his mouth full of dainties for his young brood, and
+a robin will stand staring at one for two minutes with three or four
+wriggling worms in his beak. It is quite a different affair in the
+mocking-bird family, as is certainly natural, after the persecution it
+has endured. No special fear of me was the cause,&mdash;it is a marked
+peculiarity of the bird; and I think, with a little study, one could
+learn to know exactly the moment the eggs hatch by the sudden silence
+and wariness of both birds. Poor little creatures! a sympathetic friend
+hates to add to the anxiety they suffer, and he cannot help a feeling of
+reproach when the brave little head of the family alights on the fence,
+and looks him straight in the eye, as if to demand why he is subjected
+to all this annoyance. I had to console myself by thinking that I was
+undoubtedly a providence to him; for I am certain that nothing but my
+watching him so conspicuously that every negro within a mile saw me,
+saved his family to him, so low and easy of access was the nest.</p>
+
+<p>The day those nestlings were one week old they uttered their first cry.
+It was not at all a "peep," but a cry, continued a few seconds;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> at
+first only when food was offered to them, but as they increased in age
+and strength more frequently. It was much like a high-pitched
+"[=e]-[=e]-[=e]," and on the first day there was but one voice, which
+grew rapidly stronger as the hours went by. The next day another and a
+weaker cry joined the first, now grown assured and strong. But the music
+of the father was hushed the moment the youngsters began; from that time
+until they had left the nest, he sang not a note in my hearing. Perhaps
+he was too busy, though he never seemed to work so hard as the robin or
+oriole; but I think it was cautiousness, for the trouble of those
+parents was painful to witness. They introduced a new sound among their
+musical notes, a harsh squawk; neither dog nor negro could cross the
+yard without being saluted with it. As for me, though I was meekness
+itself, taking the most obscure position I could find, and remaining as
+absolutely motionless as possible, they eyed me with suspicion; from the
+first they "huffed" at me, and at this point began to squawk the moment
+I entered the gate. On one occasion I discovered that by changing my
+seat I could actually see the nest, which I much desired; so I removed
+while the birds were absent. Madam was the first to return, with a
+beakful of food; she saw me instantly, and was too much excited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> to
+dispose of her load. She came to my side of her tree, squawked loudly,
+flapping her wings and jerking herself about. I remained motionless and
+did not look at her, pretending to be absorbed in my book; but she
+refused to be mollified. It evidently did not please her to have me see
+so plainly; she desired to retain the friendly screen of leaves which
+had secured her a small measure of privacy. I could not blame her; I
+felt myself intrusive; and at last I respected her wishes and returned
+to my old place, when she immediately calmed down and administered the
+food she had held till then. Poor mother! those were trying times. Her
+solicitude overpowered her discretion, and her manner proclaimed to
+every one within hearing that the nestlings were out. Then, too, on the
+eighth day the little ones added their voices, and soon called loudly
+enough to attract the dullest of nest-robbers. I was so fearful lest
+that nest should be disturbed that I scarcely dared to sleep o' nights;
+the birds themselves were hardly more anxious than I was.</p>
+
+<p>The eleventh day of the birdlings' life was exceedingly warm, without a
+breath of air stirring, suffocating to humanity, but pre&euml;minently
+inspiring to mocking-birds, and every singer within a mile of me, I am
+sure, was singing madly, excepting the newly made parent. Upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> reaching
+my usual seat I knew at once, by the louder cry, that a young bird was
+out of the nest, and after some searching through the tree I found
+him,&mdash;a yellowish-drab little fellow, with very decided wing-markings, a
+tail perhaps an inch in length, and soft slate-colored spots, so long as
+almost to be streaks, on the breast. He was scrambling about the
+branches, always trying to get a higher place, calling and perking his
+insignificant tail in true mocking-bird fashion. I think the parents
+disapproved this early ambition, for they did not feed him for a long
+time, though they passed him to go to the nest. So far from being
+lightened, their cares were greatly increased by the precociousness of
+the youngster, and from this moment their trouble and worry were
+grievous to see. So much self-reliance has the mocking-bird, even in the
+nest, that he cannot be kept there until his legs are strong enough to
+bear his weight, or his wings ready to fly. The full-grown spirit of the
+race blossoms out in the young one at eleven days, and for several more
+he is exposed to so many dangers that I wonder there is one left in the
+State.</p>
+
+<p>The parents, one after the other, came down on to a bush near my seat to
+remonstrate with me; and I must admit that so great was my sympathy, and
+so uncomfortable did I feel at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> adding in the least to their anxiety,
+that I should never have seen that young family fledged, only that I
+knew perfectly well what they did not, that I was a protection to them.
+I tried to reassure the mother by addressing her in her own language (as
+it were), and she turned quickly, looked, listened, and returned to her
+tree, quieted. This sound is a low whistling through the teeth, which
+readily soothes cage birds. It interests and calms them, though I have
+no notion what it means to them, for I am speaking an unknown tongue.</p>
+
+<p>The baby on the tree was not quiet, climbing about the branches every
+moment that he was not engaged in dressing his feathers, the first and
+most important business of the newly emancipated nestling. After an hour
+or more of watching there was a sudden stir in the family, and the
+youngster made his appearance on the ground. He was not under the side
+of the tree on which he had been resting, so, although I did not see the
+passage, I knew he had not fallen, as he is popularly said to do, but
+flown as well as he was able. I started slowly down the yard to examine
+the little stranger, but was absolutely startled by a cry from the
+mother, that sounded exactly like "Go 'way!" as I have often heard a
+negro girl say it. Later it was very familiar, a yearning, anxious
+heart-aching sound to hear.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The youth was very lively, starting off at once on his travels, never
+for an instant doubting his own powers. I saw his first movement, which
+was a hop, and, what surprised and delighted me, accompanied by a
+peculiar lifting of the wings, of which I shall have more to say. He
+quickly hopped through the thin grass till he reached a fence, passed
+down beside it till a break in the pickets left an open place on the
+bottom board, sprang without hesitation upon that, and after a moment's
+survey of the country beyond dropped down on the farther side. Now that
+was a lane much frequented by negroes, and, being alarmed for his
+safety, I sent a boy after him, and in a moment had him in my hand. He
+was a beautiful little creature, having a head covered with downy dark
+feathers, and soft black eyes, which regarded me with interest, but not
+at all with fear. All this time, of course, the parents were scolding
+and crying, and I held him only long enough to look carefully at him,
+when I replaced him on the grass. Off he started at once, directly
+west,&mdash;like the "march of empire,"&mdash;went through the same fence again,
+but further down, and, as I could tell by the conduct of the parents, in
+a few moments was safely through a second fence into a comparatively
+retired old garden beyond, where I hoped he would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> unmolested. Thus
+departed number one, with energy and curiosity, to investigate a
+brand-new world, fearless in his ignorance and self-confidence, although
+his entrance into the world had not been the triumphant fly we might
+look for, but an ignominious "flop," and was irresistibly and
+ludicrously suggestive of the manner of exit from the home nest of
+sundry individuals of our own race, which we consider of much greater
+importance.</p>
+
+<p>The young traveler set out at exactly ten o'clock. As soon as he was out
+of sight, though not out of hearing,&mdash;for the youngster as well as the
+parents kept the whole world of boys and cats well informed of his
+whereabouts for three days,&mdash;I returned and gave my attention to number
+two, who was now out upon the native tree. This one was much more quiet
+than his predecessor. He did not cry, but occasionally uttered a
+mocking-bird squawk, though spending most of his time dressing his
+plumage, in preparation for the grand <i>entr&eacute;e</i>. At twelve o'clock he
+made the plunge and came to the ground in a heap. This was plainly a
+bird of different disposition from number one; his first journey
+evidently tired him. He found the world hard and disappointing, so he
+simply stayed where he dropped in the middle of the path, and refused to
+move, though I touched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> him as a gentle reminder of the duty he owed to
+his parents and his family. He sat crouched upon the gravel and looked
+at me with calm black eye, showing no fear and certainly no intention of
+moving, even indulging in a nap while I waited.</p>
+
+<p>Now appeared upon the scene several persons, both white and black, each
+of whom wanted a young mocking-bird for a cage; but I stood over him
+like a god-parent and refused to let any one touch him. I began to fear
+that I should have him on my hands at last, for even the parents seemed
+to appreciate his characteristics and to know that he could not be
+hurried, and both were still busy following the vagaries of number one.
+The mother now and then returned to look after him and was greatly
+disturbed by his unnatural conduct&mdash;and so was I. He appeared stupid, as
+if he had come out too soon, and did not even know how to hop. It was
+twenty minutes by the watch before he moved. His mother's calls at last
+aroused him; he raised himself upon his shaky little legs, cried out,
+and started off exactly as number one had done,&mdash;westward, hopping, and
+lifting his wings at every step. Then I saw by the enormous amount of
+white on his wings that he was a singer. He went as far as the fence,
+and there he paused again. In vain did the mother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> come and scold; in
+vain did I try to push him along. He simply knew his own will, and meant
+to have it; the world might be strange, but he was not in the least
+interested. He rested in that spot fifteen or twenty minutes more, while
+I stood guard as before, and preserved him from cages of both negroes
+and whites. At last he did manage to squeeze through the fence, and,
+much relieved, I left him to the old birds, one of whom was down in the
+lot beyond the garden, no doubt following up his ambitious first-born.</p>
+
+<p>Whoever, meanwhile, was left in the nest had a poor chance of food, and
+one was already crying. It was not until six o'clock that the birds
+seemed to remember the nestling; then it was well fed, and left again.
+Nothing would be easier than to follow the wandering youngsters, see how
+they got on and how soon they were able to fly, but this so disturbed
+the parents I had not the heart to do it; and besides I feared they
+would starve the infants, for one was never fed while I was near.
+Doubtless their experience of the human race forbade their confiding in
+the kindly intentions of any one. It was well that only two of the young
+appeared in one day, for keeping track of them was so serious a matter
+that two parents could scarcely manage it.</p>
+
+<p>Number three differed from both of his elders;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> he was a cry-baby. He
+was not bright and lively like number one, and he did not squawk like
+number two, but he cried constantly, and at six <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> I left him calling
+and crying at the top of his voice. Very early the next morning I
+hastened to the scene of yesterday's excitement. Number three was out on
+the tree. I could hear number two still crying and squawking in the
+garden, and from the position and labors of the male I concluded that
+number one was in the next lot. It was a dismal, damp morning, every
+grass-blade loaded with water, and a heavy fog driving in from the sea.
+I hoped number three would know enough to stay at home, but his fate was
+upon him, and no rain was ever wet enough to overcome destiny. At about
+eight o'clock he stretched his little wings and flew to the ground,&mdash;a
+very good flight for his family, nearly thirty feet, twice as far as
+either of his predecessors had gone; silently, too,&mdash;no fuss about it.
+He began at once the baby mocker's hop with lifted wings, headed for the
+west fence, jumped upon the lower board, squeezed through and was off
+down the garden before the usual crowd of spectators had collected to
+strive for his head. I was delighted. The parents, who were not near
+when he flew, came back soon and found him at once. I left him to them
+and returned to my place.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But silence seemed to have fallen upon the cedar, late so full of life.
+In vain I listened for another cry; in vain I watched for another visit
+from the parents. All were busy in the garden and lot, and if any baby
+were in that nest it must surely starve. Occasionally a bird came back,
+hunted a little over the old ground in the yard, perched a moment on the
+fence, and saluted me with a low squawk, but their interest in the place
+was plainly over.</p>
+
+<p>After two hours I concluded the nest was empty; and a curious
+performance of the head of the late family convinced me it was so. He
+came quite near to me, perched on a bush in the yard, fixed his eyes on
+me, and then, with great deliberation, first huffed, then squawked, then
+sang a little, then flew. I do not know what the bird meant to say, but
+this is what it expressed to me: "You've worried us all through this
+trying time, but you didn't get one of our babies! Hurrah!"</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon I had the nest brought down to me. For foundation it
+had a mass of small twigs from six to eight inches long, crooked and
+forked and straight, which were so slightly held together that they
+could only be handled by lifting with both hands, and placing at once in
+a cloth, where they were carefully tied in. Within this mass of twigs
+was the nest proper,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> thick and roughly constructed, three and a half
+inches in inside diameter, made of string, rags, newspaper, cotton
+wadding, bark, Spanish moss, and feathers, lined with fine root fibre, I
+think. The feathers were not inside for lining, but outside on the upper
+edge. It was, like the foundation, so frail that, though carefully
+managed, it could only be kept in shape by a string around it, even
+after the mass of twigs had been removed. I have a last year's nest,
+made of exactly the same materials, but in a much more substantial
+manner; so perhaps the cedar-tree birds were not so skillful builders as
+some of their family.</p>
+
+<p>The mocking-bird's movements, excepting in flight, are the perfection of
+grace; not even the cat-bird can rival him in airy lightness, in easy
+elegance of motion. In alighting on a fence, he does not merely come
+down upon it; his manner is fairly poetical. He flies a little too high,
+drops like a feather, touches the perch lightly with his feet, balances
+and tosses upward his tail, often quickly running over the tips of half
+a dozen pickets before he rests. Passing across the yard, he turns not
+to avoid a taller tree or shrub, nor does he go through it; he simply
+bounds over, almost touching it, as if for pure sport. In the matter of
+bounds the mocker is without a peer. The upward spring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> while singing is
+an ecstatic action that must be seen to be appreciated; he rises into
+the air as though too happy to remain on earth, and opening his wings,
+floats down, singing all the while. It is indescribable, but enchanting
+to see. In courtship, too, as related, he makes effective use of this
+exquisite movement. In simple food-hunting on the ground,&mdash;a most
+prosaic occupation, truly,&mdash;on approaching a hummock of grass he bounds
+over it instead of going around. In alighting on a tree he does not
+pounce upon the twig he has selected, but upon a lower one, and passes
+quickly up through the branches, as lithe as a serpent. So fond is he of
+this exercise that one which I watched amused himself half an hour at a
+time in a pile of brush; starting from the ground, slipping easily
+through up to the top, standing there a moment, then flying back and
+repeating the performance. Should the goal of his journey be a fence
+picket, he alights on the beam which supports it, and hops gracefully to
+the top.</p>
+
+<p>Like the robin, the mocking-bird seeks his food from the earth,
+sometimes digging it, but oftener picking it up. His manner on the
+ground is much like the robin's; he lowers the head, runs a few steps
+rapidly, then erects himself very straight for a moment. But he adds to
+this familiar performance a peculiar and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> beautiful movement, the object
+of which I have been unable to discover. At the end of a run he lifts
+his wings, opening them wide, displaying their whole breadth, which
+makes him look like a gigantic butterfly, then instantly lowers his head
+and runs again, generally picking up something as he stops. A
+correspondent in South Carolina, familiar with the ways of the bird,
+suggests that his object is to startle the grasshoppers, or, as he
+expresses it, to "flush his game." I watched very closely and could not
+fix upon any theory more plausible, though it seemed to be weakened by
+the fact that the nestlings, as mentioned above, did the same thing
+before they thought of looking for food. The custom is not invariable;
+sometimes it is done, and sometimes not.</p>
+
+<p>The mocking-bird cannot be said to possess a gentle disposition,
+especially during the time of nesting. He does not seem malicious, but
+rather mischievous, and his actions resemble the naughty though not
+wicked pranks of an active child. At that time he does, it must be
+admitted, lay claim to a rather large territory, considering his size,
+and enforces his rights with many a hot chase and noisy dispute, as
+remarked above. Any mocking-bird who dares to flirt a feather over the
+border of the ground he chooses to consider his own has to battle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> with
+him. A quarrel is a curious operation, usually a chase, and the war-cry
+is so peculiar and apparently so incongruous that it is fairly
+laughable. It is a rough breathing, like the "huff" of an angry cat, and
+a serious dispute between the birds reminds one of nothing but a
+disagreement in the feline family. If the stranger does not take the
+hint, and retire at the first huff, he is chased, over and under trees
+and through branches, so violently that leaves rustle and twigs are
+thrust aside, as long as the patience or wind holds out. On one occasion
+the defender of his homestead kept up a lively singing all through the
+furious flight, which lasted six or eight minutes,&mdash;a remarkable thing.</p>
+
+<p>To others than his own kind the mocker seems usually indifferent, with
+the single exception of the crow. So long as this bird kept over the
+salt marsh, or flew quite high, or even held his mouth shut, he was not
+noticed; but let him fly low over the lawn, and above all let him "caw,"
+and the hot-headed owner of the place was upon him. He did not seem to
+have any special plan of attack, like the kingbird or the oriole; his
+aim appeared to be merely to worry the enemy, and in this he was
+untiring, flying madly and without pause around a perching crow until he
+took flight, and then attempting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> to rise above him. In this he was not
+always successful, not being particularly expert on the wing, though I
+have two or three times seen the smaller bird actually rest on the back
+of the foe for three or four seconds at a time.</p>
+
+<p>The song of the free mocking-bird! With it ringing in my ear at this
+moment, after having feasted upon it and gloried in it day and night for
+many weeks, how can I criticise it! How can I do otherwise than fall
+into rhapsody, as does almost every one who knows it and delights in it,
+as I do! It is something for which one might pine and long, as the
+Switzer for the Ranz-des-Vaches, and the more one hears it the more he
+loves it. I think there will never come a May in my life when I shall
+not long to fold my tent and take up my abode in the home of the
+mocking-bird, and yet I cannot say what many do. For variety, glibness,
+and execution the song is marvelous. It is a brilliant, bewildering
+exhibition, and one listens in a sort of ecstasy almost equal to the
+bird's own, for this, it seems to me, is the secret of the power of his
+music; he so enjoys it himself, he throws his whole soul into it, and he
+is so magnetic that he charms a listener into belief that nothing can be
+like it. His manner also lends enchantment; he is seldom still. If he
+begins in a cedar-tree, he soon flies to the fence, singing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> as he goes,
+thence takes his way to a roof, and so on, changing his place every few
+minutes, but never losing a note. His favorite perch is the top spire of
+a pointed tree, low cedar or young pine, where he can bound into the air
+as already described, spread his wings, and float down, never omitting a
+quaver. It seems like pure ecstasy; and however critical one may be, he
+cannot help feeling deep sympathy with the joyous soul that thus
+expresses itself. With all the wonderful power and variety, the
+bewitching charm, there is not the "feeling," the heavenly melody, of
+the wood-thrush. As an imitator, I think he is much overrated. I cannot
+agree with Lanier that</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"Whate'er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say;"<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and that the birds are jealous of his song, as Wilson says, seems
+absurd. On the contrary, I do not think they recognize the counterfeit.
+The tufted titmouse called as loudly and constantly all day as though no
+mocking-bird shouted his peculiar and easily imitated call from the
+house-top; the cardinal grosbeak sang every day in the grove, though the
+mocker copied him more closely than any other bird. He repeats the
+notes, rattles out the call, but he cannot put the cardinal's soul into
+them. The song of every bird seems to me the expression<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> of himself; it
+is a perfect whole of its kind, given with proper inflections and
+pauses, and never hurried; whereas, when the mocker delivers it, it is
+simply one more note added to his repertory, uttered in his rapid
+staccato, in his loud, clear voice, interpolated between incongruous
+sounds, without expression, and lacking in every way the beauty and
+attraction of the original.</p>
+
+<p>The song consists entirely of short staccato phrases, each phrase
+repeated several times, perhaps twice, possibly five or six times. If he
+has a list of twenty or thirty,&mdash;and I think he has more,&mdash;he can make
+almost unlimited changes and variety, and can sing for two hours or
+longer, holding his listener spellbound and almost without consciousness
+that he has repeated anything.</p>
+
+<p>So winning and so lasting is the charm with which this bird enthralls
+his lovers that scarcely had I left his enchanted neighborhood before
+everything else was forgotten, and there remain of that idyllic month
+only beautiful pictures and delightful memories.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"O thou heavenly bird!"<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="A_TRICKSY_SPIRIT" id="A_TRICKSY_SPIRIT"></a>A TRICKSY SPIRIT.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p>
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">Bright drops of tune, from oceans infinite<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Of melody, sipped off the thin-edged wave<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">And trickling down the bank, discourses brave<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Of serious matter that no man may guess,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Good-fellow greetings, cries of light distress;<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">All these but now within the house are heard:<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">O Death, wast thou too deaf to hear the bird?<br /></div>
+<div class="i23"><div class="smcap">Sidney Lanier.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>IV.</p>
+
+<p class="center">A TRICKSY SPIRIT.</p>
+
+
+<p>For bird-lovers who know the mocking-bird only as a captive in our
+houses he has few attractions: a mere loud-voiced echo of the
+inharmonious sounds man gathers about his home,&mdash;car-bells, street
+cries, and other unpleasing noises,&mdash;and choosing for his performances
+the hours one wants to sleep. Unfortunate is the neighborhood in which
+one is kept. Such was my feeling about the bird before I knew him in
+freedom, where he has a song of his own. But in my search for native
+birds I often saw the mocker, was surprised to notice his intelligence
+of look and manner, and at last took one into my bird-room, resolving
+that the moment he began to "mock" he should be given to some one who
+liked having the street in his house. My bird was very obliging in the
+matter; six months I watched him daily, and he was kind enough not to
+utter a sound, except an occasional harsh "chack." Probably he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> too
+much liberty and too many interests about him; whatever the reason, I
+thanked him for it, and heartily enjoyed the study of his manners.</p>
+
+<p>The bird was perhaps the most intelligent one I ever watched, the
+cat-bird being his only rival in that regard. Fear was unknown to him,
+and from the moment of his arrival he was interested in everything that
+took place around him; looking at each bird in succession; making close
+study of every member of the family; noticing the sounds of the street,
+including the sparrow broils on the porch-roof; in fact, extremely
+wide-awake and observing. To the goldfinch's song he gave attention,
+standing motionless except for a slight nervous jerk of one wing,
+looking and listening as intently as though studying the notes for
+future use. The freedom of the birds in the room surprised him, as he
+showed plainly by the eager glances with which he followed every
+movement and marked each act. Upon joining the party of the free, he
+took note of pictures in a newspaper, distinguishing objects in the cut,
+which he tried to pick up, as a small wheel and a bar. In colors he had
+a choice, and his selection was red; from a vase of roses of many hues
+he never failed to draw out the red one to pull it to pieces on the
+floor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Liberty the mocking-bird emphatically enjoyed, and at once recognized a
+string attached to his door as a device to deprive him of it; after
+vainly trying to pick it apart, he betook himself to another cage, and
+refused to go back to his own. In any strange cage he stood quietly
+while I walked up to him, and made no attempt to leave his quarters,
+knowing perfectly well that I did not care to shut the door upon him;
+but when at home I could not lift my hands, or make the slightest
+movement, without causing him to dart out of the cage instantly. Having
+contention with his room-mates about the bits of apple put out for all
+to enjoy, he often carried away a piece to eat at his leisure. From
+habit he flew first to the top of a cage, that being his favorite
+perching place; but he evidently appreciated that, if he dropped the
+morsel, he should lose it through the wires; and after looking one side
+and the other, plainly satisfying himself of this fact, he went to the
+table with it. I never before saw a bird who did not have to learn the
+treacherous nature of cage roofs by experience. He appeared to work
+things out in his mind,&mdash;to reason, in truth. One cold morning in
+spring, when the furnace fire was out, a large, brilliant lamp was put
+by his cage to take off the chill, for he felt changes keenly. He seemed
+to understand it at once,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> and though, no doubt, it was his first
+experience of warmth from a light, he drew as near it as possible, and
+remained there perfectly quiet until the sun warmed the room and it was
+removed. Fear, as I said, he knew not, coming freely upon the desk, or
+even upon my lap, after apple or bread, or anything he fancied.</p>
+
+<p>It was plain to see that this bird's first week with us was one of quiet
+study and observation. Not a movement of bird or man escaped his notice.
+He wished to understand, to take measure of his neighbors, to be master
+of the situation. This was manifested not only by his thoughtful manner
+and his wise and knowing looks, but by his subsequent conduct. During
+this period, also, he submitted to impositions from all the birds, even
+the smallest, without resentment. The wood-thrush easily drove him away
+from the apple; the little goldfinch chased him from his perch. He
+appeared to be meekness itself; but he was biding his time, he was
+making up his mind.</p>
+
+<p>The first time the mocking-bird's door was opened he was not in the
+least surprised; no doubt, seeing others at liberty, he had expected it.
+At any rate, whatever his emotions, he instantly ran out on the perch
+placed in his doorway and surveyed his new world from this position. He
+was in no panic, not even in haste.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> When fully ready, he began his tour
+of inspection. First, to see if he really could reach the trees without,
+through those large, clear openings, he tried the windows, each of the
+three, but gently, not bouncing against them so violently as to fall to
+the floor, as more impetuous or less intelligent birds invariably do.
+Having proved each to be impassable, he was satisfied, and never tried
+again. Next, the ceiling interested him, and he flew all around the
+room, touching it gently everywhere, to assure himself of its nature.
+Convinced thus in a short time that his bounds were only widened, not
+removed, he went on to investigate closely what he had looked at from a
+distance; every bird-cage, inside as well as outside, if the owner
+happened to be away, every piece of furniture, pictures, books, and the
+pin-cushion,&mdash;where he was detained some time trying to carry off the
+large black heads of shawl-pins. The looking-glass absorbed him most
+completely on the first day; he flew against it, he hovered before it,
+slowly passing from bottom to top, alighted on top and looked over
+behind. I think he never solved that mystery to his own satisfaction, as
+he did that of the window-glass, which must have been quite as
+inexplicable, and it was never without a certain charm for him. He had
+no trouble in finding his way home: standing on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> a cage next to his, he
+saw his own door-perch, recognized it instantly (though he had been upon
+it only once), and, being hungry, dropped to it and ran into the cage.</p>
+
+<p>The new-comer soon made thorough acquaintance with all his surroundings,
+and had leisure to turn his attention to a little matter yet unsettled;
+namely, his position in the small colony about him. The first few days,
+as already noted, he submitted to impositions; allowed himself to be
+driven away from the slices of apple on the matting, and turned from the
+bathing-dish on the floor. This was, however, the calm before the storm;
+though after all that is hardly a correct comparison, since there was
+never the least "storm" about his manner; he was composure itself.
+Having calmly and patiently considered the state of affairs, he suddenly
+asserted himself and took the position he felt was his right,&mdash;at the
+head. It soon became evident that he was prepared to defend the
+situation by force of arms. He conducted his conquests systematically,
+and subdued one after the other, beginning with the least.</p>
+
+<p>The English goldfinch had been very saucy, scolding and flying over him
+as he went around the room, in the small bird's way; but one day it came
+to a sudden end. The goldfinch in his cage scolded the stranger for
+alighting too near<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> his door. The mocking-bird turned, looked sharply at
+him, ruffled up his feathers, and jumped heavily to the top of the cage,
+turning one eye down upon his small foe with an air that said, "Who is
+this midget that insults me?" The finch was surprised, but did not fully
+appreciate the significance of this change of manner until he was let
+out, when he found at once that his amiable neighbor had suddenly become
+an active enemy, who chased him around the room till he panted for
+breath, and would not allow him a moment's rest or peace anywhere. This
+was strange experience for the little fellow, for heretofore none of the
+large birds had ever disturbed him. He scolded furiously, but he went;
+no one could stand against that determined approach. If the goldfinch
+wished to bathe, his persecutor took his place on the nearest perch, not
+a foot away, thus driving him to the floor with the intention of using
+the big birds' bath. He circled around the edge, but it did not suit,
+and he returned to his own, looked at his enemy, spattered a little,
+went back to the big dish, returned again, and thus vibrated between the
+two for several minutes, while the mocking-bird stood motionless, not
+offering any molestation, but plainly wishing to worry him. The final
+act occurred when both chanced accidentally to be in the same cage, not
+the home<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> of either. The mocking-bird, without provocation, dropped from
+the upper perch upon the finch, who uttered a sharp cry and darted away.
+Two or three little feathers flew, though no hurt could be seen; but the
+smaller bird panted violently for a half hour, as though frightened, and
+for four or five hours sat quietly on a perch, neither eating nor making
+a sound,&mdash;a very unusual proceeding for the lively chattering little
+fellow. This proved to be a declaration of open war, and was so
+vigorously followed up that before many days the larger bird's door was
+not opened until his victim had had his outing and returned to his home.
+Teasing never lost its attraction for him, however. He delighted to
+alight on the cage and worry his little foe, or to stand near his door
+and stare at him. On one such occasion a curious scene occurred. They
+stood three inches apart, with the wires between them, when the finch
+suddenly began reaching upward as far as possible; taller and taller he
+stretched up, till he fairly stood on tiptoe. The mocking-bird, not to
+be outdone, imitated the movement on his side of the bars, of course
+towering far above his copy. It seemed to afford both of them great
+satisfaction; perhaps it expressed contempt more fully than was possible
+in any other way.</p>
+
+<p>The largest bird in the room, a Mexican<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> thrush, was considerably
+stronger and fiercer than our native wood-thrush, and it seemed absurd
+for the mocking-bird to measure swords with him. So it would have been
+but for the fact that the Mexican, having lost part of his wing
+feathers, was clumsy, unable to fly readily, and no match for his
+active, agile antagonist; he always conquered when hostilities reached
+the point of a personal encounter, but he was soon soured, and declined
+to meet the enemy. Two or three times they flew up together, like
+quarrelsome cocks, but the decisive and final dispute was over the
+bathing-dish. It happened that morning that the Mexican came out before
+the goldfinch was shut up, and hence the the mocking-bird's door was not
+yet opened. He flew at once to the top of his neighbor's cage to dress
+his feathers and shake himself out. It looked like a deliberate insult,
+and the captive in his cage evidently so regarded it; he crouched on the
+upper perch and opened his mouth at the enemy, who calmly went on with
+his operations. The moment the finch was safe at home I opened the door,
+and the mocking-bird came out in haste. Pretending not to see the
+Mexican, he descended to the bathing-dish, doubtless to cool his heated
+blood. The first splash, however, interested the enemy on his roof, and
+he flew to the floor; but the bather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> paid no apparent attention to him,
+and went on with his business. The Mexican approached slowly, a step at
+a time, with a low, warning "chack," which meant, "Make way there, I'm
+coming." The mocking-bird, manifestly hearing him, did not take the
+hint, nor look at his assailant, but serenely continued his splashing.
+The Mexican advanced to within six inches before he was convinced that
+force would be necessary. When he decided upon an attack, he manifested
+it by a grotesque little hop a few inches into the air, but this not
+alarming the enemy he drew near to the dish. Now at last the bather
+condescended to notice him. He stood up in the water and faced his
+adversary, bowing rather slowly and with dignity, feathers ruffled, and
+beak opening in the curious way usual with him,&mdash;stretching it wide,
+then closing it, and constantly repeating the operation.</p>
+
+<p>After looking a moment at this peculiar display, the Mexican hopped upon
+the edge of the dish, and in the same instant, as though moved by the
+same machinery, the mocking-bird sprang backward out upon the floor. The
+usurper paid him no further attention, but proceeded to bathe, while his
+discomfited rival took a stand on the edge of the disputed dish, which
+was ten inches in diameter, and fanned his wings violently. I cannot
+otherwise name this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> extraordinary movement, the wings raised high above
+his head, and moved quickly back and forth with a fanning motion. The
+Mexican turned suddenly to him and he flew. Two or three times he
+repeated the performance, but was each time forced to fly before the
+large, strong beak wielded by his opponent, who finished his bath, and
+retired to a perch to dress his feathers. Now the mocking-bird resumed
+his splashing; but when thoroughly wet, the thought seemed to strike him
+that he was not in good fighting trim, and must dry himself as quickly
+as possible to be ready for war, which he at once did by flirting and
+shaking himself, bounding from one end to the other of a perch, as
+though he had suddenly gone mad. He was soon in order, and more than
+ready to resume hostilities. The enemy still occupied his favorite
+position upon his roof. Two cages stood side by side on a shelf, and
+across the tops of them, with great noise and tramping of feet, the
+Mexican delighted to run, thus amusing himself an hour at a time. Seeing
+him off his guard, the wary fellow watched his chance, and when his foe
+was at one end of the course he suddenly alighted on the other. The
+Mexican ran madly at him, clattering his bill furiously, when he
+gracefully rose from his place, flew over, and perched on the other end.
+The run was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> repeated, and the mischievous bird continued the annoyance
+until his victim was exhausted, panting, and in great excitement. From
+that day the Mexican gave up the contest with his too lively antagonist,
+and refused to come out of his cage at all; so that in fact the stranger
+reduced the colony to submission.</p>
+
+<p>With the wood-thrush, the encounters differed from both the preceding.
+This bird had opened hostilities when the mocker first appeared,
+presuming on being the older resident, and the only bird who cared much
+to be on the floor. The disputed object, as already mentioned, was the
+apple, which they received on the matting, two pieces being placed at
+some distance apart. Seeing the thrush engaged with one, the
+mocking-bird quietly dropped to the other, when instantly the thrush
+deserted his own, ran hastily across the room, and claimed that piece.
+As he approached, the mocking-bird lifted himself into the air by a
+beautiful and graceful movement; he did not seem to fly, but to simply
+rise on wing. The thrush being occupied with that piece, the new-comer
+descended upon the abandoned slice; but the inhospitable bird wanted
+that also. Even when three or more pieces were at their disposal, the
+thrush tried to monopolize them all, though the plan of collecting them
+in one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> place never seemed to occur to him. After a little of this
+contention, the mocker generally succeeded in carrying off a bit to some
+quiet place, where he could eat at his leisure. Wishing them to live
+peaceably, I placed a slice of the fruit on a high gas-fixture, where
+the stranger was fond of alighting and no other bird ever went. He
+understood at once, flew over to it, and ate his fill. The Mexican
+observed this, and tramped over his cages (it was before he had retired
+from the world) in a rage, seeing "good times going on," and feeling,
+evidently, unable to fly so high. Somewhat later the thrush noticed the
+excitement, flew heavily up, with difficulty alighted beside the apple,
+snatched it off, and carried it to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Settlement of difficulties between these two birds was no chance
+happening; it was, to all appearance, a regularly planned campaign, and,
+like a savage, the aggressor put on his war paint and danced his war
+dance. It was extremely interesting to watch, although painful to
+realize that a bird could be animated by emotions so&mdash;must I call them
+human? He selected, for the declaration of his intentions, a moment when
+the thrush was in his own house and the door open. The approach to this
+cage was by a light ladder, the top round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> of which, about a foot in
+length, rested perhaps four inches from the cage, and level with the
+door. Upon this round the mocking-bird executed what has been called his
+war dance, shaking himself, shuffling (or moving along without raising
+the feet), and agitating his feathers in such a way that they rustled
+like stiff new silk. After a few minutes of this performance he flew
+away, returning presently to repeat it. This he did again and again, and
+his motive was plain. "You've domineered long enough," his manner said:
+"now come out here, and we'll settle this matter at once." The bird in
+the cage, though plainly surprised at this sudden exhibition of spirit,
+received it like a thrush&mdash;in silent dignity. He paid no attention to
+the demonstration further than to keep his eye upon the enemy, unless he
+appeared to think of entering the door, when he turned his open bill in
+that direction. A long time having passed in these man&oelig;uvres, the
+thrush, apparently tired of waiting for the belligerent to vacate his
+front doorstep, retired to the upper perch, and the mocking-bird
+immediately entered below, took his stand by the food-dish, and defied
+the owner, who came with open beak to dispute him, but after a few
+moments' silent protest returned to the high perch, leaving the intruder
+to eat and drink as he chose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Another point to settle was the possession of the apple. The next time
+the thrush, not warned by previous operations, hurried up to claim a
+slice of the fruit which his foe had marked for his own, he was met by
+resistance. To avoid the rush, the mocking-bird lifted himself a few
+inches, but came down on the same spot. The thrush, astonished, but
+thrush-like to the last, stood motionless where he had stopped, his body
+drawn to a point, bill slightly open and turned toward the bold
+intruder. That bird ignored his attitude and placidly went on eating,
+and three similar experiences ended that annoyance.</p>
+
+<p>One thing still remained unsettled: the mocking-bird decided to change
+his residence. No reason was apparent, but he preferred a special place
+in the room, a certain end of a particular shelf; and no matter what
+cage was there, he insisted on taking possession. The day he determined
+on this removal, he went in while the resident&mdash;the thrush&mdash;was out,
+and, having eaten, proceeded to the upper perches, and began jumping
+back and forth on them, as if at home. In due time the owner returned,
+visited the food-dishes, and started for the upper regions, but was met
+by a threatening attitude from the bird already there. He seemed to
+think the matter not worth quarreling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> over, since he readily settled
+himself on the middle perch, where he made a most elaborate and
+deliberate toilet, dressing every feather with care, and spending a half
+hour over the operation. All this time the invader stood on the top
+perch, backed against the wires, his long tail on one side like the
+train of a lady's dress, invincible determination in his manner. The
+calm indifference of the house-owner evidently did not please him, and
+the long drawn-out toilet was irritating; he grew thirsty, and dropped
+to the floor to drink, when the thrush remonstrated by a low, rapid
+"chook, chook, chook," and the mocking-bird made an impatient dive at
+him. This silenced but apparently did not hurt the bird, who stayed as
+long as he chose, and then quietly came out. From that moment the
+usurper claimed the cage, and the amiable owner easily contented himself
+with the one the other had deserted.</p>
+
+<p>When the mocking-bird had thoroughly established himself in every right
+and privilege he chose to consider his own, I hoped there would be
+peace, but I had not sounded the depths in his character; he began to
+tease. Not content with complete victory, life seemed dull without some
+object to worry. I really think it was his amusement; he certainly went
+at it as if it were. I noticed him one morning,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> standing on the ladder
+before his door, apparently working himself up to something. He first
+looked at me,&mdash;I had a book, and pretended not to see him,&mdash;then at the
+thrush, who was on the floor as usual; he jerked his body this way and
+that, puffed out his feathers, especially on the throat and breast, held
+his tail on one side and turned upward at an angle of forty-five
+degrees, which gave him a wicked expression. He looked full of life to
+the tips of his toes, and greatly excited. The other birds observed him;
+the Mexican in his cage rustled his wings, jerked his body, and at last
+gave his usual cry. Even the little goldfinch was impressed and looked
+on with interest.</p>
+
+<p>All this agitation did not escape the notice of the bird on the floor,
+who stood silent, plainly understanding, and waiting for the next move.
+Finally the mocking-bird started, gracefully and without haste. He first
+flew easily and lightly to the desk, in a moment to the back of a chair,
+then deliberately to an arm, next to the seat, and lastly to a round; at
+each step pausing, shaking himself, and threatening. When he reached the
+floor, he ran a few steps toward the thrush, stopped short, erected
+himself very straight, and puffed out as big as possible; then another
+little run, and the operation was repeated. He proceeded till within a
+foot of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> the thrush, when he alternated the upright position with a
+lowered head, and bill pointed toward the foe, changing from one to the
+other very suddenly. When he came so near, the thrush crouched flat on
+the floor, with beak turned squarely against the approaching bird, and
+thus awaited the onslaught.</p>
+
+<p>In that attitude the mocking-bird did not apparently like to attack him.
+He threatened a long time, then retreated gradually, making feints,
+turning, running a few inches, and bringing up suddenly with a half turn
+back. In this manner he moved away for some distance, then flew to the
+round of the chair, the seat, the arm, the back, and so on till he
+reached the ladder again. Then for the first time the thrush changed his
+position and rose to his feet, when, without the least warning, the
+mocker flung himself madly after him, and the thrush, unprepared, ran,
+with a sharp cry. Obviously the mocking-bird, finding the first method
+of attack, which was probably his usual one, a failure, decided to try
+another, as the event proved, successfully. The excitement of this
+performance evidently gave him pleasure, no doubt helped to pass away
+the long hours, for be often indulged in it, always making his approach
+in the same deliberate way, tripping daintily a step or two at a time,
+examining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> everything in a careless way, tasting a piece of apple-skin,
+lifting a bit of thread, toying and dallying to all appearance, as he
+moved, still always advancing, and never turning aside from his purpose
+till he reached the distance of a foot from the thrush, crouching
+motionless with crown feathers erect. At that point he often stood a
+moment, looking grimly at his victim, then gave a quick, exaggerated
+jump which carried him forward not more than an inch, but sent the
+thrush, in a panic, running half across the room, where he brought up in
+a heap,&mdash;his claws sprawled as they slipped on the matting, every
+feather standing up,&mdash;and made no attempt to draw his feet together. A
+slow, formal attack he could meet, but a sudden rush was irresistible.
+Then the assailant turned, slowly, gracefully, the personification of
+tranquillity, his air saying, "Who's done anything?" yet taking a direct
+line for the enemy, approaching in the same way, by easy stages, but
+relentlessly drawing nearer and nearer, till he ended by a quick plunge,
+which sent the thrush off with a cry. In a moment he began again,
+teasing, following, tormenting; so wily, so wicked, so determined!</p>
+
+<p>The motions of this bird were most bewitching; his flight the perfection
+of grace. He never flew straight across the room as if on business,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> but
+always in a dancing, loitering, easy way; hovering to examine a picture,
+slowly pausing on wing to look at anything, turning, wheeling, up or
+down or any way, buoyant and light as the air itself. It was his delight
+to exercise on wing about the room, diving between the rounds of the
+ladder, darting under a stretched string or into a cage full dash. His
+feet found rest on any point, however small,&mdash;the cork in a bottle, the
+tip of a gas-burner, or the corner post of a chair; nothing was too
+small or too delicately balanced for his light touch, and he never upset
+anything. He enjoyed running up and down a ladder six feet long with six
+or eight rounds, passing over it so rapidly that he could not be seen to
+touch it at any point, yet not using his wings he must have stepped upon
+every round. He always used his legs with a freedom rarely seen in a
+bird, not moving them together as usual in his kind, but handling them
+with astonishing independence of each other.</p>
+
+<p>The body of this bird was capable of wonderful expression, not only in
+the free use of each member, but every feather seemed under his
+voluntary control. The spasmodic movement of the wings in excitement,
+common to many birds, was accomplished in an original manner by holding
+the wing slightly away from the body, and spreading or opening it a
+little at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> each jerk, without changing its position toward his side. His
+tail seemed as loosely connected with his body as if it were hung on
+wires; it moved even with his breathing, and the emphatic flirt of the
+member was an insult which every bird in the room understood. Intense
+interest in any sound was indicated by raising the feathers over the
+ears alone, which gave him the droll appearance of wearing velvet "ear
+muffs." In expressing other emotions he could erect the feathers of his
+chin, his shoulders or his back, either part alone, or all together, as
+he chose. A true bird of the south, he did not enjoy our climate, and if
+the room became too cool he made his opinion known by drawing his head
+down into his shoulders, with every feather on his body fluffed out,
+even to the base of the beak, till he looked as if wrapped in delicate
+gray furs to his nose, and almost burying his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The mocking-bird's emotions were so intense and so originally displayed
+that he was a constant source of interest. A hand-glass lying face up
+gave opportunity for an amusing exhibition one day. Leaning over it, he
+puffed out every feather, opened his mouth, and tried the glass with his
+beak at every point. Meeting no satisfaction, he turned to leave it, but
+first peeped slyly over the edge to see if the stranger were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> still
+there, no doubt unable to get over his surprise at seeing a bird in that
+position and ready to meet his bill at every point. The same glass
+standing up brought out a different demonstration. He stood in front of
+it and swelled himself out, while the feathers of the shoulders and
+breast were erected. Then he opened his mouth wide and attacked the
+reflection, but was astonished to meet the glass. He touched the bill of
+his double with his own, and moved all the way to the bottom of the
+glass, not taking it away, but apparently trying to seize the one which
+opposed his. He lowered his head as though to take hold of the enemy's
+foot, then pulled himself up as straight as a soldier, wings and tail
+constantly jerking with excitement. After indulging for some time in
+these proceedings, he dodged around behind the glass, plainly expecting
+to pounce upon his opponent, and surprised not to do so. Several times
+he drew himself up, swelled out his breast, and blustered before the
+glass. Once he flew up with the reflection in the manner of a
+quarrelsome cock, and upon reaching the top of the glass, naturally went
+over and landed behind, without an enemy in sight. Upon this he stared a
+moment, as if dazed, then shook himself out, and flew away in evident
+disgust.</p>
+
+<p>The deliberate, leisurely dressing of plumage,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> with which many birds
+pass away the dull hours, is an occupation in which the mocking-bird
+never had time to indulge. He was a bird of affairs; he had too much on
+his mind for loitering. A few sudden, thorough shakes, a rapid snatching
+of the wing and tail feathers through the beak, or, after a bath, a
+violent beating the air with both wings while holding tightly to the
+perch with his feet, sufficed for his toilet. Notwithstanding his
+apparent carelessness, his plumage was soft and exquisite in texture,
+and when wet the downy breast feathers matted together and hung in
+locks, like hair. Through a common magnifying glass each tiny barbule
+was seen to be ringed with gray and silvery white, so finely that the
+rings could hardly be seen.</p>
+
+<p>The most beautiful and peculiar attitude this bird assumed was when
+conducting an attack upon a small object. Seeing one day a steel
+pen-point black with ink, he stood before it at a respectful distance,
+and raised both wings over his back till they almost touched each other,
+holding the tail on one side. In two or three seconds he lowered the
+wings a moment, then raised them again, while his tail leaned the other
+side. After half a dozen such feints he delivered a gentle peck, and
+instantly hopped back out of the way. Seeing that it did not move, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+took it in his bill and flew to the floor, where he soon satisfied
+himself that it was not a new variety of beetle. This was always his
+method with any new object of small size.</p>
+
+<p>Not only did this doughty warrior vanquish the ordinary birds about him,
+but when a gray African parrot made his appearance in the room (on a
+short visit) he boldly attacked him, in spite of his size and strength.
+The parrot had a temporary perch before the window, and on the cage
+nearest to him the mocking-bird took his place, and after posturing and
+threatening, stooped to a crouching position, and then darted past him,
+trying to hit him as he went. The first time this occurred the parrot
+whirled on his perch and cried "Whoo!" and after that greeted every
+charge with a very good imitation of a policeman's rattle, probably as
+the loudest and most terrifying noise he could make. So determined was
+the belligerent fellow to subdue or annihilate the larger bird, and so
+reckless were his attacks, that I had to keep him a prisoner during the
+few days the parrot was in the room, for hospitality must not be
+violated. It is interesting to note that so great was his variety of
+resource that he had a distinctly different method of warfare in each of
+the six cases mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>A dignified composure was so natural to my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> bird that he was never
+startled out of it, not even when suddenly enveloped in a shawl, a
+proceeding that greatly alarms birds of less self-possession. It was
+necessary on one occasion to catch him to return him to his cage, where
+he might be protected from the cold of the night. All the usual ways
+were tried without success, so lightly did he slip away, so gracefully
+and calmly did he flutter around the room, not in the least disturbed or
+confused by the darkness, and quite willing to play hide-and-seek all
+night. No other way availing, the last resource was tried&mdash;throwing a
+shawl over him as he stood crouched on the top of the cage, ready for
+instant flight. Not a flutter nor a cry arose, and it seemed that he
+must have escaped; but on looking through the cage from below, he was
+seen flattened against the wires, but perfectly quiet, submissive to the
+inevitable, like any other philosopher. He was gathered up in the folds
+and carefully uncovered before his own door, when he simply hopped to a
+perch and coolly returned the gaze of his captors, not a feather out of
+place, not in the smallest degree disconcerted.</p>
+
+<p>Amusements were not lacking in this interesting life aside from the
+pleasures of worrying and teasing, which plainly were entertainments for
+him. He indulged in other performances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> which distinctly were play.
+Especially was this true of the habit he imitated from the
+Mexican,&mdash;tramping across two cages heavily, with as much noise as
+possible, and then with an extravagant jump landing on another cage,
+where he was received with a scolding, which apparently pleased him as
+much as any part of it. A specially quick flying-run rattled a paper
+fastened against the wall, which delighted him greatly; and when the
+cages were covered with paper, to put an end to the proceeding which
+annoyed the residents, he regarded it as a particular attention, and
+enjoyed it more than ever, doubtless because it enabled him to make a
+louder noise. Often he diverted himself by a mad frolic in his cage;
+from place to place he went half flying, and scarcely touching anything;
+back and forth, with great flutter of wings and great noise; up and
+down, under and over and around his perches, in the same wild way, so
+that it seemed as if he must beat his brains out. Then suddenly, when
+most riotous, he alighted like a feather, the image of serenity and
+repose. Sometimes he was seized with this sort of fury of play when out
+of his cage, and then he flung himself about the room in the same
+frantic manner, scarcely touching a perch, diving under a table, between
+the rounds of a chair, over a gas-fixture, behind and through any
+openings he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> could find. Should some bird in the room disapprove of this
+behavior, and scold, as the finch was quite apt to do, the mocking-bird
+instantly alighted beside him, humped his back till he looked deformed,
+sidled two or three steps towards him, stopped, and stared at his
+critic; then two or three steps more, stopping again, and in every way
+acting more like a mischievous monster than a bird, till the astonished
+finch was reduced to silence, and as meek as poor Mrs. Quilp before the
+antics of her malicious little spouse.</p>
+
+<p>In all these actions, even in his contests with his room-mates, no anger
+ever appeared on the part of the mocking-bird; everything seemed done to
+amuse himself and pass away the weary hours, rather than from desire to
+hurt his neighbors. In fact, he never did positively touch a bird, to my
+knowledge, though he always acted as though he intended to annihilate
+them. He could hardly be called malicious; rather (shall we say?)
+mischievous, and like Ariel "a tricksy spirit."
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_WISE_BLUEBIRD" id="THE_WISE_BLUEBIRD"></a>THE "WISE BLUEBIRD."</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">Never was sweeter music&mdash;<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">Sunshine turned into song.<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">To set us dreaming of summer,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">When the days and the dreams are long.<br /></div>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">Winged lute that we call a bluebird,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">You blend in a silver strain<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">The sound of the laughing waters,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">The patter of spring's sweet rain,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">The voice of the wind, the sunshine,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">And fragrance of blossoming things.<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Ah! you are a poem of April,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">That God endowed with wings.<br /></div>
+<div class="i20"><div class="smcap">Eben. E. Rexford.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>V.</p>
+
+<p class="center">THE "WISE BLUEBIRD."</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i12">"A wise bluebird<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Puts in his little heavenly word."<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p>The characteristic air and expression of the bluebird, and his
+enchanting little warble, could not be better described in a page of
+writing than the poet has here done in a couplet.</p>
+
+<p>Who has not seen him in his favorite resting-place, the lowest branch of
+an apple-tree, standing up very straight, crown feathers erected, honest
+little countenance squarely facing one, motionless and silent, looking
+the embodiment of wisdom!</p>
+
+<p>A pair of bluebirds lived in my house for nearly a year, and the calm,
+imposing manner of the male I have never seen disturbed. In the presence
+of birds much larger than himself he never lost his equanimity, paid not
+the slightest attention to any one, went about his daily duties and
+pleasures exactly as though there were not another bird, except his
+mate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> in the room. Quite otherwise was his little spouse: quick,
+nervous, easily frightened, yet assuming the responsibility of
+everything, even her lord's comfort and safety. Her very attitude was
+different; she held her body horizontal, never perpendicular, as he did;
+and she was more lively in movement. She was a brave little soul, too.
+Even when greatly annoyed by a larger bird, she never failed to stand
+upon the defensive, open her mouth, and sometimes remonstrate in low,
+gentle talk. Nor did she&mdash;after she felt at home&mdash;allow a stranger to
+enter her door. She boldly faced the largest bird in the room, and
+always forced him to retire, while her mate stood calm and cool and
+"wise," on the upper perch. More than this, she seemed to feel it part
+of her duty to defend and protect his lordship, as though he were too
+fragile to come into contact with the rough side of life. Nothing could
+be droller than to see her stand guard while he bathed in the common
+dish on the table, and fly furiously at the grosbeak, or any bird coming
+too near her precious idol, who meanwhile placidly proceeded with his
+bath in the most matter-of-fact manner, as though expecting to be
+protected. I have seen similar conduct in a wild pair: the female
+defending her nestlings against some fancied danger, scolding, flying
+around the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> intruder, and taking the whole care upon herself; while her
+spouse occupied the topmost twig of the tree on which his family was in
+trouble, uttering at short intervals his musical cry of distress, one
+rich, loud note.</p>
+
+<p>I did, however, on one occasion see a male bluebird excited in the
+defense of his young. It was in North Carolina, where a nestling chanced
+to alight on the favorite resting-place of a mocking-bird, and the
+latter a moment afterward came to his usual perch not a foot from the
+wild-eyed youngster. Then arose a great outcry from both bluebirds, and
+one after the other swooped down at that mocking-bird, coming so near I
+thought they must hit him. Again and again they returned to the charge
+with loud cries, while the mocking-bird stood quiet, crouched as though
+to dash into the little one, and jerking wings and tail in a wicked
+manner. It lasted but a moment, for the nestling itself was scared and
+flew to another branch, upon which the attack came to an end, and the
+mother went to the baby, but the father stood on a perch near the enemy,
+and scolded for some time.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps this individual bluebird had learned to assist in the family
+defense, for they had other troubles. The nest was in an unsafe spot,
+the hollow dead limb of a tall pine-tree,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> about seventy feet above the
+ground. The opening was in the lower side of the sloping branch, making
+it very easy for a nestling to fall out, and that is what I think
+happened the day before the little scene above described.</p>
+
+<p>Hearing cries of distress from the pine grove, I hastened down to see if
+I could be of any assistance. Both bluebirds were on a low tree, about a
+foot apart, uttering constantly the mournful notes I had heard.
+Evidently a tragedy of some sort had occurred, and I thought at once of
+a falling little one. I looked carefully around the tree while the
+parents came down near me, much disturbed. I found nothing, but a gale
+was blowing and a little bird might easily have been driven far away. It
+was a serious matter plainly, for the cries went on without intermission
+the rest of the day.</p>
+
+<p>During that time I saw a curious and interesting attempt at consolation
+on the part of the male. He flew away, and returned in a few moments
+with something in his beak. Alighting near his mate, he began a low,
+tender twitter, at the same time offering the morsel to her. She moved a
+few inches away; he followed, still coaxing. She flew to another branch,
+refusing to look at it. He followed, still asking her to accept it. At
+last she flew away, and he seemed astounded, stood as if he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> did not
+know what to do next, hesitated several minutes, when a bright thought
+seemed to strike him, and he carried it to the nest.</p>
+
+<p>The pair in my room were a most affectionate and gentle couple; no
+disputes, not even the smallest difference, arose between them. If one
+wished to bathe while the other was using the bath-tub, he stood on the
+edge till his turn came. In the same way one usually waited for the
+other to finish a lunch before going down himself, though on rare
+occasions they descended together for a social meal. If she were
+alarmed, and went to the floor, as at first sometimes happened, he at
+once appeared in the door, looking anxiously after her, and calling
+tenderly. If she did not return, he flew down himself, ran about till he
+found her, and, after talking in a low tone for some time, started for
+home, when she followed him, showing that she was reassured. They always
+sat on the same perch, and on cool days as near each other as possible,
+first one and then the other "hitching" a little nearer. After bathing
+they sunned themselves together, even when in the cage, where the
+sunshine came only into one corner, and they crowded so closely that
+there was not room to spread out. Even that discomfort never elicited a
+harsh word, though he enjoyed spreading himself very completely, bending
+his legs, resting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> his breast on the floor, and opening his wings to
+their full extent.</p>
+
+<p>This bird's anxiety when his mate was out of his sight did not, however,
+compare with her unrest in his absence, for her affection seemed to be
+of the motherly or protecting sort. Before they became familiar with the
+room, and learned that, though unseen, the partner was not lost, the
+moment he disappeared from view she began running around the cage
+excitedly, looking everywhere, and calling loudly. At first he answered,
+but, deciding to try his wings, he swept around the room, came&mdash;as some
+birds do&mdash;against the window, and fell to the floor, when instantly both
+were perfectly silent. She looked out apprehensively, and as soon as he
+recovered breath he flew to the top of their own cage. Then her
+solicitude turned to annoyance; she went to the top perch, and gently
+nipped his toes (which she never did to strangers) as a slight reproof.
+He became accustomed to going out and in sooner than his mate, for she
+was shy and inclined to stay at home, and she suffered much anxiety;
+before long she too grew accustomed to freedom, and expressed no further
+fears when he was out.</p>
+
+<p>Making arrangements for the night was an interesting event in bluebird
+life. They always selected the highest perch in the darkest end<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> of the
+cage, and placed themselves so close together that they looked like a
+wide ball, or two balls that had been almost pressed into one when in a
+very soft state. In the morning the feathers on the side next the mate
+were crushed flat, requiring much shaking and dressing to give them
+their ordinary appearance. What was curious, the female took the
+outside, no doubt with the motherly motive of taking care of him. To see
+them settle themselves was pleasing. Being more quiet and less nervous
+than his spouse, the singer generally retired first, some time before
+she was ready, and composed himself in a moment in his corner, for they
+were never restless at evening; she followed when she chose.
+Occasionally, however, she went first, taking her place about as far as
+usual from the wires, and leaving space for him. But if he went to his
+place, there was not room to turn around, facing the middle of the cage,
+as was their custom; and he seemed to appreciate the difficulty, for he
+hopped up on the outside, or the wrong side of her. Instantly she jumped
+to a lower perch, when he sidled up to his regular place, and she at
+once returned and took her usual position beside him. One night
+something startled them, and both flew wildly around the cage. I
+produced a light to show them the perches, so they might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> quiet
+themselves again. The male readily did so, but she remained on the lower
+perch. I went close to the wires and began to speak soothingly, to calm
+her, and induce her to resume her place, when, to my surprise, she began
+to reply to me, every time I spoke, standing less than a foot from me.
+She stared me full in the face, not at all disturbed, and answered every
+word I said with her musical call, in a low tone, as if to tell me the
+story of the fright. We kept up the queer little chat for several
+minutes, and she did not return to his side that night.</p>
+
+<p>One advantage of studying two birds of a kind at the same time is to
+observe the talk between them, which has great interest for me. This
+pair were exceedingly talkative at first, uttering not only the usual
+musical three-syllable warble or call, which Lanier aptly calls the
+"heavenly word," but often soft twittering prattle, of varying
+inflection and irregular length, which was certainly the most
+interesting bird-talk I ever heard. When they could not see me they
+indulged in it more freely, with changing tones at different times, and
+after they became accustomed to the room and its inhabitants it was
+neither so frequent nor so earnest. Often at night, when one&mdash;perhaps in
+a dream&mdash;fell off the perch, I heard much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> low, tender talk, almost in a
+whisper, before all was quiet again; and when another bird flew wildly
+around the room, there was always a remark or two in an interested tone.
+The male did most of the talking, carrying on, often for a long time, a
+constant flow of what sounded marvelously like comments and criticisms,
+while his mate replied occasionally with the usual call. Certain notes
+plainly had a specific meaning, even to the others in the room. One in
+particular was peculiar and low, but upon its utterance every bird
+became instantly silent and looked at the cage, while the bluebirds
+themselves were so absorbed, gazing apparently into blank space, that I
+could easily put my hands on them before they observed me. For several
+minutes this low note would be repeated, and all the birds stare at
+nothing, till I began to feel almost uncomfortable, as I have done at
+similar staring at nothing on the part of animals. One can hardly resist
+the feeling that these creatures can see something invisible to our
+eyes. On one occasion, when the male uttered this note, the female was
+just about to eat; she stood as if petrified, with head halfway down to
+the food, for two or three minutes.</p>
+
+<p>What I have called talk was a very low twitter in a conversational tone,
+on one note,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> not at all in a singing tone, like the usual warble or
+call. I have also heard it from wild bluebirds, when I could get near
+enough. From the first, as said above, the male did most of the talking,
+and the habit grew upon him, till he became a regular babbler, standing
+on the top perch, and keeping it up persistently all day long. I think
+it arose from the fact that the greater number of birds in the room were
+thrushes, who sang very softly, without opening the mouth. With this
+gentle ripple of song the bluebird's voice harmonized perfectly, and he
+almost entirely discontinued his lovely song, while indulging himself in
+talk by the hour. Strange to say, I soon noticed that his mate did not
+approve of it, and would not stand on the perch beside him while he
+continued it. At first she turned sharply towards him, and he showed
+that he understood her wishes by ceasing for a while; but as the habit
+grew, and he was not so easily silenced, she more and more deserted his
+side, and after two or three weeks I heard occasionally a gentle
+remonstrance from her. I do not believe a really harsh tone can come
+from a bluebird throat. One day they were taking their usual midday nap
+on the same perch, when a thrush across the window began his low song.
+That started the bluebird, and he added his chatter, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> awakened his
+mate. She endured it for about five seconds, and then she suddenly
+stretched the wing nearest him so far that he was obliged to move away,
+when she instantly hopped down herself.</p>
+
+<p>The two bluebirds differed in intelligence. The female was quicker to
+take an idea, but the male sooner conquered his fear. The first time I
+offered meal-worms to them she was so lively as to secure more than her
+share; but he learned in a day or two that worms were to be had outside,
+especially on my desk, when he at once flew over to me and demanded
+them, in the funniest little defiant way, looking at me most
+significantly, and wiping his bill ostentatiously, then jerking himself
+with great show of impatience. Words could not be plainer. Neither of
+them had difficulty in telling me their food-dish was empty; they stood
+on the edge and looked at me, then scraped the bill several times,
+making much noise about it, then looked at me again. I knew in a moment,
+the first time, what they wanted. When the male found out that another
+bird alighted on a stick I held out to him, and was carried off upon it,
+he seemed to be seized with curiosity, and the next time I offered it he
+jumped upon it beside the other, and allowed himself to be lifted to the
+desk. At one time, in flying around, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> caught his feet in the coarse
+net curtains I hung before the windows to keep strange birds from trying
+to fly out. I went at once to him and took him off. He scolded,
+fluttered, and pecked, and, when I had released him, flew directly
+against another curtain and caught again. I went over to him, and this
+time he understood that I was helping him; he neither struggled nor
+pecked, and flew quietly when I set him free.</p>
+
+<p>The bluebird never showed any curiosity about the room or the world
+outside the windows, but sat on his door perch for hours, with a sharp
+eye to the worm supply. The appearance of the cup that held them was a
+signal for him to come down and beg for them, but his little mate never
+dared trust herself on the desk, though when I threw a worm on the floor
+she invariably secured it. So fond was she of this delicacy that she
+once played a saucy trick upon a scarlet tanager. Having received a
+worm, he went into the first open door he saw,&mdash;which happened to be the
+bluebird's,&mdash;to find a place to manipulate the morsel, which he never
+swallowed whole. Madam stood on the perch just above the entrance, and
+as he came in she leaned over and snatched it out of his mouth,
+swallowed it, wiped her bill, and turned to him, ready for another. His
+stare of blank<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> amazement was amusing to see, but he quickly made up his
+mind that it was not a safe place to eat, and when I gave him another he
+went to the roof of the same cage. She instantly mounted the top perch,
+put up her bill and seized the worm; but he held on, dragged it away,
+and then retired to his own cage with it. She positively could not
+resist this temptation, and even from her own cherished spouse she would
+sometimes snatch the desired tidbit.</p>
+
+<p>The bluebirds' method of bathing differed from any I have noticed. They
+put the head under water, and held it there, while spattering vigorously
+with wings and tail. On leaving the bath the female fanned herself dry,
+holding tightly to the perch and beating her wings with violence, while
+dancing back and forth the whole length of the perch, in a bewitching
+manner. Her mate fanned himself also, adding a very pretty lateral shake
+of the wings, and raising the feathers on the crown and throat till he
+looked twice as big as usual. But he was very fond of sunning himself
+dry, in the attitude already spoken of. That position, by the way, was a
+not unusual one with him; he often hopped the length of three feet
+before a blind which stood against the wall, his legs bent, head nearly
+touching the floor, and tail thrust almost straight up. A droll figure
+he made.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> After hopping to the end of the blind, he would dash around
+behind it, as if he expected or hoped to find something.</p>
+
+<p>After moulting, the birds feathered out beautifully, and their spirits
+rose in proportion. They delighted in flight, making long, sweeping
+circles around the room, again and again, without stopping. A few weeks
+later, as spring approached, they grew somewhat belligerent towards the
+other inhabitants of the place; driving every bird away from their cage,
+even following them to their chosen resting-places, insisting on their
+right to every perch in the room. Then, too, began signs of courtship
+between the lovely pair. The first thing I noticed was at worm-feeding
+time. One day I had given each of them their portion. The female
+swallowed hers instantly, and I turned to another cage, when I heard a
+low, coaxing cry many times repeated. I looked around. The male stood on
+the upper perch, still holding his worm, which he usually dispatched as
+quickly as his mate did hers; and she was on a lower perch, looking up
+at him, mouth open, wings fluttering, asking for it. While I looked, he
+hopped down beside her, she opened her mouth wide, and he fed her as if
+she were a nestling. He was more amiable than a wild bluebird I once
+saw, who had brought up a long earthworm,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> and was beating it on top of
+a post preparatory to swallowing it, when his little spouse&mdash;who was
+sitting at the time&mdash;came to the fence rail below him, and asked in the
+same way for a bit. So far from sharing it with her, this greedy bird
+simply took a fresh hold of his prize, flew to a tree, and gobbled it
+down with difficulty himself. Not so my generous captive. The next day
+he complied with her request again, and after that it was he who did the
+tender coaxing, begging her to accept the slight offering of his love.
+Soon, too, she grew coquettish in manner, often turned a cold shoulder
+to him, opened her mouth at him, and scolded in the sweetest and softest
+voice; and one night, after they had settled on their perch, I heard
+gentle talk, and saw a little peck or two on her part. He did the
+talking, and she delivered the playful peck or push as reply. Now, too,
+in his desire to manifest his affection, he could not always wait for
+worms, but picked dainty bits from the food-dish, and tendered them in
+the same pretty way. She always accepted, though often she went at once
+to the food-dish and ate for herself; for with all this sentiment and
+love-making her appetite did not fail. Once she was outside and he
+inside the cage, when he began to call and offer her something out of
+his mouth. She did not wish to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> go in, so she flew to a perch that ran
+through the cage, and stood close to the wires, while he went to the
+same perch inside, and fed her through the wires.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, too, the bluebird talk nearly ceased, and instead of it
+the lovely song of three notes was heard all day, and a little change
+they made in it&mdash;throwing in a "grace note" between the second and
+third&mdash;greatly added to its charm. Now, too, spring had really come, and
+I waited only for warm days to let them go and set up their homestead in
+freedom. The first mild day in May the window was opened for them. The
+female flew first to a tree in front of the house, where she was greeted
+in the rudest manner by the bird-tramps which infest our streets,&mdash;the
+house-sparrows. They began to assemble around her, no doubt prepared for
+attack, when she gave a loud cry of distress, and out flew her valiant
+knight to her aid. After a moment's pause by her side, they both flew,
+and we saw the gentle pair no more.</p>
+
+<p>This true chronicle began with a quotation from Lanier; it shall end
+with one from Harriet Prescott Spofford:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"A bit of heaven itself, he flew,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">When earth seemed heaven with bees and bloom,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">South wind, and sunshine, and perfume;<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">And morning were not morn without him.<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">Winging, springing, always flinging,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">Flinging music all about him."<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_GOLDEN-WING" id="THE_GOLDEN-WING"></a>THE GOLDEN-WING.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">The high-hole flashing his golden wings.<br /></div>
+<div class="i20"><div class="smcap">Walt Whitman.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>VI.</p>
+
+<p class="center">THE GOLDEN-WING.</p>
+
+
+<p>One of the special objects of my search during a certain June among the
+hills of northern New York was a nest of the golden-winged woodpecker;
+not that it is rare or hard to find, but because I had never seen one
+and had read attractive stories of the bird's domestic relations, the
+large number of young in the nest, and his devotion and pride. Moreover,
+I had become greatly interested in the whole family, through my
+attachment to an individual member of it in my own house.</p>
+
+<p>I soon discovered that the orchard at the back of the house was visited
+every day by a pair of the birds I was seeking. One was seen running up
+and down a trunk of a large poplar-tree, and the next morning two
+alighted on a dead branch at the top of an apple-tree, perching like
+other birds on twigs, which seemed too light to bear their weight. But
+they were apparently satisfied with them; for they stayed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> some time,
+pluming themselves and evidently looking with interest and astonishment
+at human intruders into what had no doubt been a favorite haunt of their
+own. I watched them for several minutes, till a sudden noise startled
+the shy creatures and they were off in an instant.</p>
+
+<p>After that I saw them often at the bottom of the orchard. They always
+flew over the place with rather a heavy business-like flight, alighted
+on a low branch of the farthest apple-tree, and in a moment dropped to
+the ground where the long grass hid them. There they remained five
+minutes or more before returning to the tree. Unfortunately it was a
+little farther than I could readily see with my glass, and the most
+cautious approach alarmed them. I heard them call nearly every day in
+loud, strong voice, "Pe-auk! pe-auk!"</p>
+
+<p>Being thus baffled in my plan of following them home, I resolved upon a
+regular search in the small piece of woods where they always
+disappeared, and every morning I spent two or three hours in that lovely
+spot looking for any birds, but especially for the Golden-wing. In all
+my search, however, I found but one nest, which may have been his, where
+apparently a tragedy had occurred; for from the edge of the opening the
+bark was torn off down the trunk, and in two or three places holes were
+picked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> as though to reach the nest which had been within.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever the drama enacted in that mysterious home, I was too late to
+see, and I have not been able as yet to make close acquaintance with the
+free Golden-wing.</p>
+
+<p>The bird that had so interested me in his whole family I found in a bird
+store in New York in the month of November. He was a most
+disconsolate-looking object, and so painfully wild I could scarcely bear
+to look at him&mdash;poor, shy, frightened soul, set up in a cage to be
+stared at. I rescued him at once with the intention of giving him a more
+retired home, and freedom the moment spring opened. The change did not
+at first reassure him, and he was so frantic that his cage was covered
+to shut out the sights till he was accustomed to the sounds of a
+household. Gradually, an inch or two at a time, the cover that hid the
+world from him was reduced, till at the end of three weeks he could
+endure the removal of the last corner without going absolutely mad.</p>
+
+<p>On the first day an opening a few inches wide was left in his screen, so
+that he might look out if he chose, and I took my seat as far as
+possible from him, with my back to him, and a hand-glass so arranged
+that I could see him. As soon as the room was quiet he went to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+opening and cautiously thrust his long bill and his head as far as the
+eye beyond the edge so that he could see me. I kept perfectly still,
+while he watched me several minutes with evident interest, and I was
+glad to see that it was simply fright and not idiocy that caused his
+panics.</p>
+
+<p>Many emotions of the bird were most comically expressed by hammering. In
+embarrassment or alarm, when not so great as to drive him wild, he
+resorted to that diversion, and the more disturbed, the louder and
+faster his blows. If in utter despair, as when I set his house in order
+for the day, he dropped to the floor on the farthest side, put his head
+in the corner, and pounded the tray with great violence. Every wire in
+the cage in turn he tested with taps of his beak, thus amusing himself
+hours at a time, sitting, as was his custom, crouched upon the perch or
+on the floor. In this way, too, he tried the quality of the plastered
+wall behind his cage, and was evidently pleased to find it yielding, for
+he bored many holes and tore off much paper, before he was discovered
+and provided with a background of wood to exercise upon.</p>
+
+<p>The unhappy bird had a serious time learning to eat mocking-bird food
+with his long, curved beak; he never became very expert at it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> but was
+as awkward as a child learning to feed itself. He first thrust it like a
+dagger its whole length into his dish, took out a mouthful, then turned
+his head sidewise, shook it and snapped his bill one side and the other,
+making a noise as if choking. When this performance was over, he scraped
+his beak against the wires and picked off the fragments daintily with
+the tip. When he had eaten he left a straight, smooth hole in the food,
+like a stab, two inches deep and perhaps half an inch in diameter. In
+drinking he made the same movements, filling his mouth, throwing back
+his head, and swallowing with great efforts.</p>
+
+<p>All of the Golden-wing's attitudes were peculiar; as, for instance, he
+never liked to face one, but always turned his back upon spectators and
+looked at them over his shoulder. In sleeping he changed his position
+often, and was as restless as a nervous old man. Sometimes he slept on
+the perch, puffed out into a ball like other birds, head buried in his
+feathers, tail broad-spread and curled under the perch, as though it
+needed something to rest against. If he began his night's rest (or
+unrest) in this position, in a few hours he would drop heavily to the
+floor, scramble about a little, and then climb to one of the supports
+that kept the wires in place, ten inches from the bottom of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> cage.
+There he settled himself comfortably, head buried again, tail pressed
+against the wires, and looking more like a spot on the wall than a bird.</p>
+
+<p>He often took naps in the daytime on the floor with his head in the
+corner, like a bad boy in punishment, his head drawn down into his
+shoulders and his bill thrust up into the air at an angle of forty-five
+degrees. If this tired him, he simply turned his bill down at about the
+same angle, and tried it that way awhile.</p>
+
+<p>He was an exceedingly early bird, always settled to sleep long before
+any other in the room, and he slept very soundly, being not easily
+wakened and breathing in long, steady respirations like a person in
+sleep. Indeed he startled me very much the first time I noticed him. The
+breathing was regular and strong, equal in duration to my own as I
+listened, and I was sure some one was in the room. I hastened to light
+the gas to look for the burglar, and it was not until I had made
+thorough search that I discovered who was the guilty one. He dreamed
+also, if one may judge by the sounds that came from his cage at night,
+complaining, whining, almost barking like the "yaps" of a young puppy,
+and many sorts of indescribable noises.</p>
+
+<p>The Golden-wing was extremely fond of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> hanging against the side of his
+cage on the support spoken of above. Not only did he sleep in that
+position, but dress his plumage, turning his head back over his body and
+sides, and even arranging the feathers of his breast, each one by
+itself, with scrupulous care. Like many others this bird objected to
+having his cage used as a perch by his neighbors. He expressed his
+sentiments by quick jerks, first of the shoulders and then of the whole
+body, and if the intruder did not take the hint, he opened his enormous
+bill and took hold of a stray toe, which usually drove away the most
+impertinent.</p>
+
+<p>The door of the cage was opened to my captive as soon as he became quiet
+and happy within it. After his first surprise and dismay at finding
+himself in the big world again, he enjoyed it very much. Being unable to
+fly through the loss of some wing feathers, his cage was placed on the
+floor, and he ran in and out at pleasure. He was more than usually
+intelligent about it, too; for although the door was small, and he had
+to lower his head to pass through, he was never at a loss for an
+instant.</p>
+
+<p>One thing that shows a bird's characteristics and that I have never seen
+any two do in exactly the same way, is to explore a room when first
+released from a cage. This bird, like his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> predecessors, had his own
+peculiar notion, which was to go behind everything. He squeezed himself
+between a trunk, or a heavy piece of furniture, and the wall, where it
+did not seem possible that one of his size could pass, and showed so
+great an inclination to go through a hole in the open-work fire-board
+that I hastily covered it up. After a while he tested the matting and
+carefully investigated, by light taps of his bill, each separate nail.
+His step was heavy, and he did not hop, but ran around with a droll
+little patter of the feet, like a child's footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>Having exhausted the novelty of the floor, he turned his eyes upward,
+perhaps noticing that the other birds were higher in the room, where
+they had taken refuge when he made his sudden and somewhat alarming
+appearance among them. He did not try to fly, but he was not without
+resources; he could jump, and no one could outdo him in climbing, or in
+holding on. After a moment's apparent consideration of the means at his
+command, he ran to the corner and mounted a trunk by springing up
+halfway, holding on a moment in some mysterious manner, and then by a
+second jump landing on top. From that point it was easy to reach the
+bird's table, and there was a ladder placed for the benefit of another
+that could not fly. This ladder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> he at once pounced upon, and used as if
+he had practiced on one all his life.</p>
+
+<p>I shut the cage-door at the upper end to keep him out of his neighbor's
+house, while the owner, an American wood-thrush, stood upon the roof,
+looking ruefully at this appropriation of his private property. Upon
+reaching the closed door the traveler jumped across to another cage
+nearly a foot away. This was a small affair occupied by an English
+goldfinch, who was then at home and not pleased by the call, as he at
+once made known. Golden-wing, however, perhaps with the idea of
+returning past insults from the saucy little finch, jerked himself all
+around the cage, inserting his long bill as though trying to reach
+something inside.</p>
+
+<p>Having wearied of annoying the enemy, he sprang back to the ladder,
+descended by the table and trunk to the floor as he had gone up, without
+a moment's hesitation as to the way, which proved him to possess unusual
+intelligence. He did not take the trouble to climb down, but put his two
+feet together and jumped heavily like a child, a very odd movement for a
+bird. It was his constant habit in the cage to jump from the perch to
+the floor, and from one that was two inches above the tray he often
+stepped down backwards, which I never before saw a bird do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When after three hours of exploration he returned to his home, the door
+was closed and the cage hung up. He was satisfied with his first outing,
+and refreshed himself with a nap at once. But the first thing the next
+morning he came down to his door and pecked the wires, looking over at
+me most intelligently, plainly asking to have it opened. He never
+mistook the position of the door, and if knocking had not the desired
+effect, he took hold of a wire and shook and rattled it till he was
+attended to.</p>
+
+<p>It was interesting to see how familiar he suddenly became, when no
+effort had been made to induce him to be so. I never had so much trouble
+to win the confidence of a bird, but when won, the surrender was
+complete. He came up to me freely and allowed me to catch him in my hand
+without resistance, which is very uncommon. (Perhaps I ought to say that
+I do not try to tame my birds.) He displayed a child-like, confiding
+disposition, both in his unreasoning terror at first, and his
+unquestioning faith at last.</p>
+
+<p>These investigations were conducted without a sound, for the bird was
+entirely silent while awake. But there came a day when he made a curious
+exhibition of his ability. It was the ninth of February, and the
+goldfinch was calling, as he often did. The woodpecker sat on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> his perch
+with wings held tightly against his sides, "humped" up as though he were
+high-shouldered. The plumage of his breast was puffed out so broadly
+that it came over the wings, and in a front view completely hid them,
+while the feathers of his shoulders were erected till he resembled a
+lady with a fur shoulder cape. Withal, his head was drawn down to his
+body, and his beak pointed upward at an angle of forty-five degrees. In
+this peculiar and absurd position he began a strange little song,
+ludicrously weak and low for a bird of his size. The tones were
+delivered in a sharp staccato style, like "picking" the strings of a
+violin very softly, several notes uttered with queer sidewise jerks of
+the head, and eyes apparently fixed on the goldfinch. After a phrase or
+two he scraped his bill violently and then began again.</p>
+
+<p>This performance he varied by bowing his head many times, swaying his
+whole body from side to side, flirting his tail and shaking his wings.
+It was an extraordinary display, but whether his manner of making
+himself agreeable, or of expressing contempt, I could only guess. The
+goldfinch looked on with interest, though I think he understood it no
+better than I did; he seemed surprised, but rather pleased, for he
+repeated his calls, and the Golden-wing kept up the strange exhibition
+for some time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I became greatly attached to my beautiful bird, which appeared, in the
+presence of his wise and wary room-mates, cat-birds and thrushes, like a
+big, clumsy, but affectionate baby. It was solely on his account and
+principally, I must confess, to try and surprise a wild bird at the
+above described entertainment so as to determine its character, that I
+wished to make acquaintance with its free relations, study their ways
+when at liberty in their own haunts, and have a glimpse if possible of
+the Golden-wing babies.</p>
+
+<p>A year later I had the opportunity I so much desired of making
+acquaintance with the young of this family. I was sitting one morning on
+the edge of a deep ravine filled with trees, deeply engaged in the study
+of another bird, when suddenly a stranger came with an awkward flop
+against the trunk of a tree not ten feet from me. I saw in an instant
+that it was the infant I had looked for so long. He was exactly like the
+parents, with a somewhat shorter tail. I should hardly have suspected
+his youthfulness but for his clumsy movements, and the fact that he did
+not at once take flight, which a Golden-wing more experienced in the
+ways of human-kind would have done instantly. He seemed somewhat
+exhausted by his flight, and clung to the trunk, with soft dark eyes
+fixed upon me, ready to move if I did.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I did not; I sat motionless for half an hour and watched him. When
+somewhat rested he dodged around the other side of the trunk, and peeped
+at me through a fork in the branches. Then he scrambled upon a small
+branch, where he perched crosswise. But he had trouble to keep his
+balance in that position, so he climbed about till he found a limb fully
+two inches in diameter, on which he could rest in the favorite flicker
+attitude&mdash;lengthwise. Then with his head outward to the world at large,
+and his tail turned indifferently toward me,&mdash;whom he doubtless regarded
+as a permanent and lifeless feature of the landscape,&mdash;he settled
+himself, crouched flat against the bark, for a comfortable nap.</p>
+
+<p>All this time I had been conscious of low Golden-wing talk about me; the
+familiar "wick-up! wick-up!" almost in a whisper, a softened "pe-auk!"
+from the ravine, and the more distant "laugh," so called. The infant on
+the tree heard too. He moved his head, listened and looked, but whether
+or not they were words of caution and advice from the wiser ones of his
+race, he refused to be frightened and did not move till I rose to leave
+him, when, greatly startled, he took flight across the ravine.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="A_STORMY_WOOING" id="A_STORMY_WOOING"></a>A STORMY WOOING.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">Not an inch of his body is free from delight,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Can he keep himself still if he would? Oh, not he!<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">The music stirs in him like wind through a tree.<br /></div>
+<div class="i20"><div class="smcap">Wordsworth.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>VII.</p>
+
+<p class="center">A STORMY WOOING.</p>
+
+
+<p>If, as Ruskin says, "the bird is little more than a drift of the air,
+brought into form by plumes," the particular bit shaped into the form we
+call the orchard oriole must be a breath from a Western tornado, for a
+more hot-headed, blustering individual would be hard to find; and when
+this embodied hurricane, this "drift" of an all-destroying tempest, goes
+a-wooing, strange indeed are the ways he takes to win his mate, and
+stranger still the fact that he does win her in spite of his violence.</p>
+
+<p>In a certain neighborhood, where I spent some time in the nesting
+season, studying a bird of vastly different character, orchard orioles
+were numerous, and in their usual fashion made their presence known by
+persistent singing around the house. For it must be admitted, whatever
+their defects of temper or manners, that they are most cheerful in song,
+the female no less than the male. First of the early morning bird chorus
+comes their song, loud, rich, and oft-repeated,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> though marred in the
+case of the male by the constant interpolation of harsh, scolding notes.
+Anywhere, everywhere, all day, in pouring rain, in high wind that
+silences nearly every bird voice, the orioles sing. One could not
+overlook them if he wished, so noisy, so restless, and so musical. Nor
+do they care to be unseen; they make no attempt at concealment. No
+oriole ever steals into a neighborhood in the quiet way of the cat-bird,
+silently taking an observation of its inhabitants before making himself
+obvious; on the contrary, all his deeds are before the public, even his
+family quarrels. He comes to a tree with a bustle, talking, scolding,
+making himself and his affairs the most conspicuous things in the
+neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>Many times he is most annoying. When following some shy bird to its
+nest, or moving down toward the grove where are the brooklet and the
+birds' bathing-place, no matter how quietly one may approach, footsteps
+deadened by thick sand and no rustling garments to betray, the orchard
+oriole is sure to know it. He is not the only bird to see a stranger, of
+course; the brown thrush is as quick as he, but he silently drops to the
+ground, if not already there, and disappears without a sound; the
+cardinal grosbeak slips down from his perch on the farther side and
+takes wing near the ground;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> the cat-bird, in the center of a thick
+shrub, noiseless as a shadow, flutters across the path and is gone;
+others do the same. The orchard oriole alone shouts the news to all whom
+it may concern in his loudest "chack! chack!" putting every one on his
+guard at once, and making the copse in a moment as empty as though no
+wing ever stirred its leaves.</p>
+
+<p>On first noticing the ways of the birds about me on the occasion
+mentioned, I saw that there was some sort of a disturbance among them;
+scarcely ten minutes passed without a commotion, followed by a chase
+through the branches of a tree, one bird pursuing another so hotly that
+twigs bent and leaves parted as they passed, the one in advance often
+uttering a complaining cry, and the pursuer, a loud, harsh scold.
+Something exciting was evidently going on; some tragedy or possibly
+comedy, in this extremely sensational family. I was at once interested
+to see what it might be and how it would end; and in fact, before I knew
+it, I was as much absorbed in oriole matters as though no other
+feathered life was to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>There were in the party two males, one in his second year, and therefore
+immature in coloring, being olive-yellow on the breast, brown on wings
+and tail, with a black mask over eyes and chin; the other was older, and
+a model<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> of oriole beauty, being bright chestnut on the lower parts,
+with velvety black hood coming down on the breast. With them was one
+female, and though far from being friends, the three were never
+separated. The trouble seemed to be that both males were suitors, and
+notwithstanding the pretty little maid appeared to have a mind of her
+own and to prefer the younger of her wooers, the older plainly refused
+"to take no for an answer," and was determined to have his own way,
+bringing to bear on his courtship all the persistence of his race. In
+that particular quality of never giving up what he has set his heart on,
+the oriole cannot be excelled, if indeed he can be equaled in the bird
+world; for a time, and a long time, too, he is a bird of one idea, and
+by fair means or foul he will almost certainly accomplish his desire,
+whatever it may be.</p>
+
+<p>Life never grew dull in the party mentioned; they were always talking,
+singing, or going for each other in the mad way already described.
+Sometimes the chase was between the males, but oftener the female flew
+for her life apparently, while the rough wooer followed closely with
+great noise and confusion. The affair ended occasionally with a cry of
+distress as though somebody was pecked, but several times she stood at
+bay and defied him with mouth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> open, feathers bristled up, wings
+fluttering, and every way quite ready to defend herself. Like other
+blusterers, on the first show of fight he calmed down, and the matter
+ended for the time. Peace lasted from ten to twenty minutes, during
+which they hopped about the tree, or hung head-downward on the Spanish
+moss, talking in low tones, though the male never omitted delivering a
+scolding note with every two or three pleasant ones. Her voice was
+charming, in a tender call, a gentle chatter, or a sweet song, unspoiled
+by the harsh tones of her partner. She was also a very pretty bird,
+bright yellow below, olive-yellow on the back, no black about the face,
+and legs and feet blue as the sky, and she was as graceful as she was
+beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>Repose of manner was unknown to the orchard orioles. One was scarcely
+ever seen sitting or standing still. The song was given while moving,
+either flying or hopping about on the tree. If one did pause while it
+was uttered, the body jerked, and the head turned this way and that, as
+though he really was too restless to be perfectly quiet for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>The most tempestuous times were when the younger suitor put himself
+forward and persuaded the fair yellow damsel to show him some slight
+preference. The venerable lover was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> slow to resent this, and to
+fall like a hurricane upon the pretender, who disappeared like a dead
+leaf before the blast, and so quickly that he could not be followed&mdash;at
+least by anything less rapid than wings. Once, however, I saw a curious
+affair between the two suitors which was plainly a war-dance. It
+followed closely upon one of the usual flurries, conducted with perhaps
+louder cries and more vehemence than common, and began by both birds
+alighting on the grass about a foot apart, and so absorbed in each other
+as to be utterly oblivious of a spectator within ten feet of them on the
+balcony. No tiger out of the jungle could hold more rage and fury than
+animated those feathered atoms, bristled up even to the heads, which
+looked as if covered with velvet caps. They paused an instant, then
+crouched, jerked their tails, "teetered" and posed in several attitudes,
+ending each new movement with a solemn bow, perhaps equivalent to a
+handshake among larger fighters. What one did the other exactly copied,
+and both seemed to be trying to get one side of the opponent, so as to
+secure some advantage. To prevent this, each kept his face to the foe,
+and moved as he moved. Thus they passed down one side, then back, down
+the other and return, neither able to get the slightest superiority of
+position. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> extremely grotesque, and was continued several
+minutes, while I eagerly watched to see what would happen next. What did
+happen was entirely unexpected, a unique anti-climax, quite worthy of
+the undignified character of the bird. On a sudden, as by one consent,
+both flew opposite ways; both alighted in low trees about thirty feet
+apart, and each one sang a loud joyous song, as of victory!</p>
+
+<p>In this turbulent way life went on for two or three weeks; I could not
+tell how long, for it was in full progress when I came. There was always
+a vulgar broil, often a furious encounter, stopping just short of coming
+to blows, and it seemed really doubtful if the orioles would succeed in
+settling their matrimonial affairs before summer. The third member of
+the belligerent party, the demure little object of all this agitation,
+was meekness and gentleness itself, never aggressive, but always flying
+before the furious onslaught of her would-be spouse. Why then did she
+not select her mate and thus end the trouble, which, according to the
+books, it must do?</p>
+
+<p>Turning away from the more conspicuous males with their endless
+contests, and watching her closely, I saw that she was trying her best
+to do so. She plainly preferred the younger and less quarrelsome suitor,
+and often followed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> him off, bringing down upon herself in consequence
+the wrath of the elder, and instant pursuit, which ended in the
+disappearance of her chosen hero, and a forced endurance of the tyrant's
+presence, till it appeared that she would have to "marry him to get rid
+of him," as our plain-spoken grandmothers characterized a similar
+situation in human affairs.</p>
+
+<p>When these birds could spare time from their own absorbing matters, they
+were very inquisitive in the affairs of their neighbors. After the
+mocking-bird babies were out, the orioles often visited them, while the
+parents were absent, for no reason that I could discover but to see what
+they were like, and how they got on, for nothing about them was
+disturbed. If, however, an oriole was found by one of the old
+mocking-birds perched on the edge of the nest, he was driven away with a
+piece of mocking-bird mind on the subject of meddlers. Likewise they
+frequently paid visits to a nuthatch colony at the top of a tall
+pine-tree. Whether more aggressive among these smaller birds, or not,
+could not be seen. But the facts were that upon an oriole's disappearing
+through those heavy pine branches, away above our heads, there instantly
+arose a great outcry in the querulous nuthatch voice, and the intruder
+returned to the lower world with some precipitation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> while gentle,
+complaining sounds came from the invaded territory for some time. So,
+too, in different degree the birds showed interest in me, peering down
+between the leaves of the tree in which they spent most of their time,
+and making remarks or expressing opinions, climbing&mdash;which they
+literally did&mdash;to the end of a twig, stretching up tall to look over the
+top and stare at me, or when flying slowly past, hovering a moment just
+in front of me with perfect fearlessness and earnest attention to my
+pursuits.</p>
+
+<p>At length the crisis in the oriole matters came, as come it must, and
+not long after the war-dance that has been described. The season was
+advanced and nesting time already begun. In fact, it was ended in
+several families; mocking-birds were about ready to fly, young chipping
+sparrows peeped from every tuft of grass, baby bluebirds were trying
+their wings at their doors, the yellow-throated warbler was stuffing her
+youngsters on the next tree, and the late kingbirds had nearly finished
+their nests. Whether a pitched battle at last settled the dispute,
+whether the modest little dame united with her chosen mate against the
+common enemy, or whether perchance&mdash;though this is not likely&mdash;the elder
+bird tired of his useless warfare, will never be known, for the whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+matter was settled before we mortals were out of bed, in the magic
+morning hours when so many interesting things go on in bird and beast
+life. When I came out, I saw at once that a decision had been reached.
+The younger bird had won his bride, and with much talk and love-making
+the happy pair were busying themselves about a building spot. This first
+day of their honeymoon was not, however, very peaceful; old troubles are
+not so soon forgotten, and the discarded suitor found it hard to believe
+that the repulse was final and he really should not have his own way. He
+frequently made his appearance in the old scenes, making himself
+agreeable in the usual way; but the newly wedded were now a pair, and
+when both flung themselves upon him he recognized at last the
+inevitable, no longer resented it, and left them in peace.</p>
+
+<p>With much talk and discussion the tree that had been the scene of the
+stormy wooing was selected for the homestead, and the young wife at once
+set to work upon the foundation, while her spouse in his new r&ocirc;le of
+lord and master stood on a higher twig and gave his opinions; much
+advice, no doubt, and plenty of instruction. I doubt his mastery,
+however, for I noticed that, though meek, madam had a mind of her own
+and an orchard oriole's persistence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> in carrying out her plans. He
+talked, it is true, blustered and strutted around, but she worked
+quietly, steadily, and in a business-like way, utterly oblivious of him.</p>
+
+<p>During this day, too, even this first day, not five hours after he had
+tried to coax the bride away, the elderly suitor came back from some
+unknown quarter, with a brand-new wife of his own; precipitation worthy
+of the vulgar house-sparrow of our city streets, which these birds also
+resemble in their constant broils. That naturally put a complete end to
+further dispute over sweethearts; but they could not change their
+nature, and I observed that each young husband had a vast amount of
+fault to find, much scolding and grumbling. Happily it did not seem to
+disconcert the little wives; they sang as sweetly, and worked as
+steadily as though they were used to it, and expected nothing better,
+which was well for them.</p>
+
+<p>The elder oriole and his mate soon settled in another place, and I saw
+them no more, but I was sorry to see upon what tree the young pair
+decided to build, for a kingbird had an unfinished nest in one of the
+lower branches, and two families so aggressive would make a lively
+neighborhood no doubt. Hostilities began indeed on the first day.
+Watching the oriole at her building, I caught the pretty
+innocent-looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> creature stealing material from the kingbird's nest,
+while her virtuous spouse perched himself on the upper branch of the
+tree, exactly as if on the watch for returning owners. In a low tone he
+talked to her as she entered the uncompleted nest, worked busily a
+moment, then appeared on the edge with a soft white feather, gathered it
+into a convenient shape, and flew with it in her beak to the upper
+branch. Twice afterward I saw that performance repeated, and each time
+it was a white feather taken. On one occasion the kingbird was at home.
+There was a sharp cry of distress, a bustle, and in a moment Madam
+Oriole flew off with a feather, while the outraged owner stood on a
+neighboring branch and uttered two or three plaintive cries. Considering
+the size and the belligerent nature of the kingbird, I was astonished,
+but exactly thus it happened.</p>
+
+<p>I greatly wished to stay and see the result, for I had confidence enough
+in the bravery of the kingbirds to be sure that the end was not yet.
+Also, I longed to watch the restless pair whose ups and downs I had
+found so interesting. I should like to see the orchard oriole in the
+r&ocirc;le of a father; a terribly fussy one he would be without doubt. Above
+all, I most desired to see the infant orioles, to know if they begin
+their quarrels in their narrow cradle, and if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> their first note is a
+scold. But the troubles of this courtship had, like the wars of Augustus
+and Arabella in a three-volume novel, consumed so much time that there
+was none left for post-nuptial chronicles, and I was obliged to leave
+them with a neighborhood quarrel on hand which promised full employment
+for the head of the family while his little mate was sitting.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="FLUTTERBUDGET" id="FLUTTERBUDGET"></a>FLUTTERBUDGET.</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">O hark to the brown thrush! hear how he sings!<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">Now he pours the dear pain of his gladness!<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">What a gush! and from out what golden springs!<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">What a rage of how sweet madness!<br /></div>
+<div class="i20"><span class="smcap">D. A. Wasson.</span><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>VIII.</p>
+
+<p class="center">FLUTTERBUDGET.</p>
+
+
+<p>"Flutterbudget" is the one expressive word that exactly characterizes a
+certain brown thrush, or thrasher, the subject of a year's study. This
+bird is perhaps the only restless creature that bears the name of
+thrush, and he is totally unlike the rest of his family, having neither
+dignity, composure, nor repose of manner. My brown thrush, however, was
+exceedingly interesting in his own way, if only as a study of perpetual
+motion, of the varieties of shape and attitude possible to him, and the
+fantastic tricks upon wing of which he was capable. One never tired of
+watching him, for he was erratic in every movement, always inventing
+some new sort of evolution, or a fresh way of doing the old things, and
+scarcely a moment at rest. A favorite exercise was flying across the
+room, planting his feet flatly against the side wall, turning instantly
+and flying back. This he often did a dozen times in succession.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> His
+feet were always "used to save his head" (contrary to our grandmothers'
+teachings). When he made the usual attempt to fly through the window on
+his first outing in the room, he went feet first against it, and thus
+saved himself a bumped head. His movements were abrupt in the extreme,
+and always so unexpected that he frequently threw the whole feathered
+family into a panic, apparently without the least intention of doing so.
+Standing beside the cage of another bird, he would wheel quickly and
+face the other way, absolutely nothing more, but doing this in a manner
+so startling that the occupant of the cage scolded roundly. He specially
+delighted in clambering all over the cage of a goldfinch, acting as if
+he should tear it in pieces, and greatly annoying the small bird. He
+often flew up the side of the window casing, as though climbing it like
+a ladder, his feet touching it now and then; and he did the same on the
+curtains of coarse net. Again he flew across the room before the three
+windows, turning to each one in turn, planted his feet squarely on the
+linen shade, as on the wall above mentioned, and without a pause passed
+to the end of the room, and touched it with his feet in the same strange
+way. Often when standing for the moment perfectly still before a window,
+he suddenly flew up, put both feet in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> this unbirdlike way against the
+window-shade, turned and went to his cage. In like manner he came in
+contact with a cage, the books on the shelves, the back of a chair, or
+any piece of furniture, taking from that point a new direction. When
+startled he instantly bounded into the air as though the ground were hot
+under his feet, and often turned a corner or two before he came down. In
+the middle of his most lovely song he was quite likely, without the
+least warning, to make a mad dash somewhere, turn a sharp corner, dive
+in another direction, and alight on the spot he had left a moment
+before, and all in so spasmodic a way that every bird was
+panic-stricken.</p>
+
+<p>The thrasher was exceedingly wary, and nothing was droller than his
+manner of approaching anything, whether a worm I had thrown on the
+matting for him, or the bathing-dish. In the case of the worm, the
+moment he saw his prey&mdash;which I selected for its liveliness&mdash;he came to
+a nearer perch, and stood there a few minutes, posturing, shaking his
+plumage in great excitement, looking at me and then at the tempting
+object. Very soon he dropped to the floor and started towards the worm
+in the funniest way; running a few steps, stopping short and turning
+half round, ready for instant flight, flirting his feathers with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+great rustle, turning an anxious eye on me, then on the wriggling
+attraction, running a step or two, and repeating the performance. In
+this way he advanced very gradually till near enough to half encircle
+his prey; or to run and hop sideways as though to describe a circle,
+turning away at each pause as before, all the time jerking and
+fluttering in intense agitation, and always keeping an eye on me. Not
+that he was in the least afraid of me; it was simply his sensational way
+of doing everything. When he finally came within reach of the worm, he
+snatched it, and ran as though the enemy were upon him.</p>
+
+<p>His performances before entering the bath were even more amusing. The
+bathing-dish, a broad, deep plate, stood upon a towel on a table. The
+bird alighted on the table, and began first to peck the towel, pulling
+the fringe, working at any loose thread he discovered, and industriously
+enlarging any small hole he chanced to find. In doing thus he often
+turned over the edge, when he sprang back as though he had seen a ghost.
+Recovering from the shock, he circled around the dish with little hops,
+occasionally giving a gentle peck at the edge of the dish, or a snip at
+the water with his beak. Thus he waltzed around the bath perhaps forty
+times, now and then going so far as to jump up on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> edge, make a dash
+at the water, and back off as if it were hot, or to give a hop into the
+middle of the water and out again so quickly that one could hardly
+believe he touched it. When, after all this ceremony, he did go in to
+stay, he made most thorough work, splashing in a frantic way, as though
+he had but a moment to stay, and in one minute getting more soaked than
+many birds ever do. After this short dip he dashed out, flew to a perch,
+and in the maddest way jerked and shook himself dry; pulling his
+feathers through his beak with a snap, and making a peculiar sound which
+I can liken only to the rubbing of machinery that needs oil.</p>
+
+<p>The brown thrush was never so violent and eccentric in movement as just
+after his bath. Allowing himself often but a moment's hasty shake of
+plumage, he darted furiously across the room, startling every bird, and
+alighting no one could guess where. Then, after more jerks and rapid
+shakings, he flung himself as unexpectedly in another direction, while
+at every fresh turn birds scattered wildly, everywhere, anywhere, out of
+his way, bringing up in the most unaccustomed places; as, for instance,
+a dignified bird, who never went to the floor, coming to rest under the
+bed, or a ground-lover flattened against the side of a cage. All this
+disturbance seemed to please the thrasher, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> he had a spice of
+mischief in his composition. A never failing diversion was teasing a
+goldfinch. He began his pranks by entering the cage and hammering on the
+tray, or digging into the seed in a savage way that sent it flying out
+in a shower, which result so entertained him that I was forced to close
+the door when the owner was out. This the thrush resented, and he next
+took to jumping against the side of the cage, clinging a moment, then
+bouncing off with so much force that the cage rocked violently. Then he
+placed himself on the perch by the door, and pounded, and pulled, and
+jerked, and shook the door, till, if the owner were home, he was nearly
+wild. Having exhausted that amusement, he jumped on the top and in some
+way jarred the cage roughly. To protect it I made a cover of paper, but,
+contrary to my intentions, this afforded the rogue a new pleasure, for
+he soon found that by tramping over it he could make a great noise, and
+he quickly learned the trick of tearing the paper into pieces, and
+uncovering the little fellow, who, by the way, was not in the least
+afraid, but simply enraged and insulted, and when outside stood and
+faced his tormentor, blustering and scolding him well.</p>
+
+<p>Tearing paper was always amusing to the brown thrush. I have seen him
+take his stand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> near the wall, peck at the paper till he found a weak
+spot where it would yield and break, then take the torn edge in his bill
+and deliberately tear it a little. It was "snatching a fearful joy,"
+however, for the noise always startled him. First came a little tear,
+then a leap one side, another small rent, another panic; and so he went
+on till he had torn off a large piece which dropped to the floor, while
+I sat too much interested in the performance to think of saving the
+paper. (The room and its contents are always secondary to the birds'
+comfort and pleasure, in my thoughts.) A newspaper on the floor
+furnished him amusement for hours, picking it to pieces, tearing
+pictures, from which he always first pecked the faces, dragging the
+whole about the floor to hear it rattle and to scare himself with. A
+pile of magazines on a table made a regular playground for him, his plan
+being to push and pull at the back of one till he got it loose from the
+rest, and then work at it till it fell to the floor. He never failed to
+reduce the pile to a disreputable-looking muss.</p>
+
+<p>The bird was as fond of hammering as any woodpecker, on the bottom of
+his cage, on perches, on the floor, even on his food; and his leaps or
+bounds without the apparent help of his wings were extraordinary. Not
+infrequently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> I have seen him spring into the air just high enough to
+see me over my desk,&mdash;three feet at least,&mdash;probably to satisfy himself
+as to my whereabouts, and drop instantly back to his work or play.</p>
+
+<p>This amusing bird was also intelligent. He understood perfectly well
+what I wanted when I spoke to him; that is, he had a guilty conscience
+when in mischief that translated my tone to him. Also he recognized
+instantly a bird out of place, as, for instance, one on the floor which
+usually frequented the perches and higher parts of the room; and having
+taken upon himself the office of regulator, he always went after the
+bird thus out of his accustomed beat. When I talked to the thrasher, he
+answered me not only with a rough-breathing sound, a sort of prolonged
+"ha-a-a," but with his wings as well. Of course this is not uncommon in
+birds, but none that I have seen use these members so significantly as
+he did. His way was to lift the wing nearest me, sometimes very
+slightly, sometimes to a perpendicular position, but only one wing, and
+only after I made a remark. This exhibition was curious and interesting,
+and I often prolonged my talk to see the variety he could give to this
+simple motion. His wings were always expressive, in alighting in a new
+place, or where he suspected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> there might be danger or a surprise; the
+moment his feet touched he lifted one or both wings quite high, dropping
+them at once.</p>
+
+<p>A more lithe body than that of the brown thrush I have never seen in
+feathers; he could assume as many attitudes as he had emotions. He often
+stood on a perch and postured for a long time, as if greatly excited and
+meditating some mad deed, and I must confess he usually carried out the
+intention. Not only was he able to put his body into all possible
+shapes, but he had extraordinary command of his feathers. He could erect
+them on any one part alone, on the top of the head, the shoulders, the
+back, or the chin. He often raised the feathers just above the tail,
+letting that member hang straight down, giving him the appearance of
+being chopped square off.</p>
+
+<p>The song of this bird is well known and quite celebrated; indeed, in the
+Southern States he is called the French mocking-bird, as only second to
+the mocking-bird proper. My bird never sang above a whisper, one may
+say; that is, he never opened his mouth to let out the sound, though he
+was extremely fond of singing, indulging in it by the hour. He hardly
+paused for eating, or flying, or hopping around on the floor, but
+dropped sweet notes in between the mouthfuls, and kept up the warble
+through all movements.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As dusk came on the brown thrush began a wonderful series of postures,
+more peculiar and varied than one would suppose possible to so large and
+apparently clumsy a bird. Sometimes he stretched up very tall, then
+instantly crouched as if about to spring; one moment he turned his head
+downward as though to dive off, then wheeled and faced the other way;
+now he drew his body out long to a point, head and tail exactly on a
+level, then head and tail thrust up, making his back the shape of a bow;
+at one time he threw his head back as though about to turn a back
+somersault, then scraped his bill, shook himself out, and made the harsh
+breathing I have spoken off; in another moment he spread his tail like a
+fan, and instantly closed it again; then turned his head on one side
+very far, while his tail hung out the other side, and in this odd
+position jerked himself along by short jumps the whole length of his
+perch. Between the postures and on every occasion he scraped his bill
+violently. Next began movements: first he ran down his three perches,
+across the floor, and hopped to the upper one from the outside, touching
+his feet to the wires as he went, so rapidly that my eyes could not
+follow him; then he alighted on the perch with a graceful flop of one
+wing, sometimes also bowing his head several times,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> and uttering the
+breathing sound each time. Again he jumped from the upper perch to one
+directly under it, and returned the same way by a very peculiar motion:
+standing on the lower perch, he turned his head over his shoulder, and
+sprang back and up at the same time, landing in exactly the same
+position on the perch above, with perfect ease and grace.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing pleased the thrasher more than watching other birds; he observed
+them closely, especially liking to stand on top of a cage and see the
+life below,&mdash;an agitated life it was apt to be when he was there. Thus
+he sometimes stood on the goldfinch's cage and noticed every motion with
+great interest, yet with an indescribably ironical air, as if he said,
+"My dear sir, is <i>that</i> the way you eat?" He showed particular interest
+in seed-eating birds, apparently not understanding how they could enjoy
+such food. Though full of bluster and pretense, he was as gentle as any
+bird in the room, never presumed on his size as the biggest, and, though
+liking to tease and worry, never really touching one. The smallest only
+needed to stand and face him to see that it was all bluster and fun.</p>
+
+<p>All this until spring began to stir his blood and tempt him
+occasionally, after long posturing and many feints, to deliver a gentle
+dig at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> a neighbor's ribs. Now, too, he began to show interest in
+out-of-doors, standing on the window sash and looking out, which is a
+familiar sign that a bird's time to depart has come. In his case I did
+not consider it necessary to carry him to the park to liberate him, for
+I was sure he could take care of the sparrows and protect himself&mdash;and
+so it proved. When he found himself suddenly on a tall tree in the
+street, and before he recovered from his surprise, those disreputable
+birds gathered around him to see what he was like. They soon found out;
+he quickly recovered himself, made a wild dash that scattered them like
+leaves before the wind, and then planted himself on a branch to await
+another attempt. But sparrows, though saucy, are knowing, and not one
+came near him again. They had quite satisfied their curiosity, and after
+a few moments' waiting the brown thrush went on his way rejoicing.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="O_WONDROUS_SINGERS" id="O_WONDROUS_SINGERS"></a>"O WONDROUS SINGERS."</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">In the swamp in secluded recesses<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.<br /></div>
+<hr class="left" />
+<div class="i0">Sing on! sing on, you gray-brown bird!<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Sing from the swamps, the recesses, pour<br /></div>
+<div class="i4">Your chant from the bushes;<br /></div>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">O liquid and free and tender!<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">O wild and loose to my soul!<br /></div>
+<div class="i4">O wondrous singer!<br /></div>
+<div class="i12"><div class="smcap">Walt Whitman.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>IX.</p>
+
+<p class="center">"O WONDROUS SINGERS."</p>
+
+
+<p>I feel considerable reluctance in approaching the subject of my small
+thrushes. None but a poet should speak of them&mdash;so beautiful, so
+enchanting in song. Yet I cannot bear to let their lovely lives pass in
+silence; therefore if they must needs remain unsung, they shall at least
+be chronicled.</p>
+
+<p>There were two: one the gray-cheeked thrush, the other the veery or
+Wilson's, and they passed a year in my house, filling it with a
+marvelous rippling music like the sweet babble of a brook over stones;
+like the gentle sighing of the wind in pine-trees; like other of
+nature's enchanting sounds, which I really must borrow a poet's words to
+characterize:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"O liquid and free and tender!<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">O wild and loose to my soul!<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">O wondrous singer."<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The gray-cheeked, most charming in every look and motion, uttered his
+notes in a free<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> sweep or crescendo, which began low, gathered force as
+he went on, and then gradually died out; all in one long slur, without a
+defined or staccato note, making a wonderful resemblance to wind sounds,
+as Emerson expresses it:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"His music was the Southwind's sigh."<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The song of the veery was quite different, low, rapid, interspersed with
+a louder, wild-sounding cry, or, as aptly described by a listener, like
+the gurgling sounds made by blowing through a tube into soft water, with
+occasional little explosions. The soft, whispered warble of a brown
+thrush added a certain under-tone which combined and harmonized both
+these, forming with them a rhapsody of a rippling, bubbling character
+impossible to describe, but constantly reminding one of running streams,
+and gentle water-falls, and coming nearer to "put my woods in song" than
+any other bird-notes whatever. Neither of the performers opened his
+mouth, so that the trio was very low, a true whisper-song.</p>
+
+<p>It was somewhat curious that with one exception all the birds in the
+room through these months sang whisper-songs also, without opening the
+bill. There were six of them, and every one delighted in singing; the
+three thrushes, a bluebird, a female orchard oriole, and a Mexican
+clarin. To the thrushes, music<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> seemed necessary to life; hour after
+hour they stood on their respective perches across the room, puffed out
+into balls, "pouring out their souls," and entrancing us not only with
+their suggestive melody, but with graceful and poetical movements, and a
+beauty of look and bearing that moved one deeply. During the aria both
+birds stood motionless, one with wings drooping, and accenting every
+note, the other with tail slightly jerking for the same purpose.</p>
+
+<p>In character no less than in song the birds differed; bright, active and
+high-spirited, the gray-cheeked delighted in the freedom of the room,
+feared nothing, came upon the desk freely, and calmly met one's eyes
+with his own, brave free soul that he was, while his <i>vis-&agrave;-vis</i> was
+timid and shy, could not be induced to leave the shelter of his home
+though the door stood open all day. He never resented the intrusion of a
+neighbor, nor disputed the possession of his own dish.</p>
+
+<p>Almost as interesting as his song was a bewitching dance with which the
+gray-cheeked charmed every one fortunate enough to see him. His chosen
+hour was the approach of evening, when, with body very erect and head
+thrown up in ecstasy, he lifted his wings high above his back,
+fluttering them rapidly with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> sound like soft patter of summer rain,
+while he moved back and forth on his perch with the daintiest of little
+steps and hops: now up, now down, now across the cage, with gentle noise
+of feet and wings. No music accompanied it, and none was needed&mdash;it was
+music itself. Not only did he dance away the long hours of twilight,
+till so dark he could not be seen, but he greeted the dawn in the same
+way; long before any other bird stirred, before the hideous morning call
+of the first sparrow in the street, the soft flutter of his wings, the
+light patter of his feet was heard. In the night also, if gas was
+lighted, however dimly, dancing began and was continued in the darkness,
+long after the light was out and every other feather at rest. A sudden
+light stopped the motion, but revealed the dancer agitated, stirred,
+with soft dark eyes fixed upon the observer. This dance was not an
+attempt or indication of a desire to escape, as I am sure for several
+reasons. I can tell the instant that longing for freedom sets in. It was
+a fresh sign of the strange, mysterious emotion with which all thrushes
+greet the rising and setting of the sun.</p>
+
+<p>The singular use of the feet by this bird was very peculiar, and not
+confined to his dancing hours. While standing on the edge of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+bathing-dish, longing, yet dreading to enter the water, on alighting
+upon an unaccustomed perch, or venturing on to the desk, many times a
+day he took the little steps, lifting first one, then the other foot
+very slightly, and bringing it down with a sound without changing his
+position. It seemed to be an evidence of excitement, as another bird
+might exhibit by a quivering of the wings. The veery was also a dancer,
+but in a different way. He fanned his wings violently and moved back and
+forth across the top of a cage, but always in daylight, and then only on
+the rare occasions when, by placing his food outside, he was coaxed from
+his cage.</p>
+
+<p>Bathing was&mdash;next to singing&mdash;the dear delight of the gray-cheeked's
+life, yet no bird ever had more misgivings about taking the fatal
+plunge. His first movement on leaving the cage was to go to the bath,
+around which he hovered, now this side, now that, one moment on the
+perch above, the next on the edge of the dish, plainly longing to be in,
+yet the mere approach of the smallest bird in the room drove him away.
+Not that he was afraid, he was not in the least a coward; he met
+everybody and everything with the dignity and bravery of a true thrush.
+Neither was it that he was disabled when wet, which makes some birds
+hesitate; he was never at all disordered by his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> bath, and however long
+he soaked, or thoroughly he spattered, his plumage remained in place and
+he was perfectly able to fly at once. It appeared simply that he could
+not make up his mind to go in. Then too, it soon became apparent that he
+noticed his reflection in the water. He often stood on the edge after
+bathing, as well as before, looking intently upon the image. Before the
+glass he did the same, looking earnestly and in a low tone "uttering his
+thoughts to the ideal bird which he fancied he saw before him." Indeed,
+I think this ideal thrush was a great comfort to him.</p>
+
+<p>Once having decided to go into the bath he enjoyed it exceedingly,
+though in an unusual way, fluttering and splashing vigorously for a
+moment, then standing motionless up to his body in the water, not
+shaking or pluming himself, not alarmed, but quietly enjoying the
+soaking. After several fits of splashing alternated with soaking, he
+went to a perch and shook and plumed himself nearly dry, and just when
+one would think he had entirely finished, he returned to the dish, and
+began again&mdash;hesitating on the brink, coquetting with the "ideal thrush"
+in the water, and in fact doing the whole thing over again.</p>
+
+<p>My bird had a genuine thrush's love of quiet and dislike of a crowd,
+preferred unfrequented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> places to alight on, and was quite ingenious in
+finding them. The ornamental top of a gas-fixture a few inches below the
+ceiling, which was cup-shaped and nearly hid him, was a favorite place.
+So was also the loose edge of a hanging cardboard map which, having been
+long rolled, hung out from the wall like a half-open scroll. This he
+liked best, for no other bird ever approached it, and here he passed
+much time swinging, as if he enjoyed the motion which he plainly made
+efforts to keep up. His plan was to fly across the room and alight
+suddenly upon it, when, of course it swayed up and down with his weight.
+The moment it came to a rest, he flew around the room in a wide circle
+and came down again heavily, holding on with all his might, and keeping
+his balance with wings and tail. He enjoyed it so well that he often
+swung for a long time.</p>
+
+<p>Later he found another snug retreat where no bird ever intruded. He
+discovered it in this way: one day, on being suddenly startled by an
+erratic dash around the room of the brown thrush, which scattered the
+smaller birds like leaves before the wind, he brought up under the bed
+on the floor. The larger bird had evidently marked the place of his
+retreat, for he followed him, and in his mad way rushed under when the
+gray-cheeked disappeared. The bedstead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> was a light iron one, high from
+the floor, so that all this was plainly seen. No one being in sight, the
+brown thrush came out and turned to his regular business of stirring up
+the household while the little thrush was not to be seen, and perfect
+silence seemed to indicate that he was not there at all. After some
+search, aided by an indiscreet movement on his part, he was found
+perched on the framework, between the mattress and the wall. This narrow
+retreat, apparently discovered by accident, soon became a favorite
+retiring place when he did not care for society.</p>
+
+<p>This interesting bird, with all his dignity, had a playful disposition.
+Nothing pleased him better than rattling and tearing to bits a newspaper
+or the paper strips over a row of books, although he had to stand on the
+latter while he worked at it; and notwithstanding it not only rustled,
+but disturbed his footing as well, he was never discouraged. A more
+violent jerk than usual sometimes startled him so that he bounded six or
+eight inches into the air in his surprise, but he instantly returned to
+the play and never rested till he had picked holes, torn pieces out, and
+reduced it to a complete wreck.</p>
+
+<p>All through the long winter this charming thrush, with his two
+neighbors, delighted the house with his peculiar and matchless music,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>
+and endeared himself by his gentle and lovely disposition. No harsh
+sound was ever heard from him, there was no intrusion upon the rights of
+others, and no vulgar quarrels disturbed his serene soul. But as spring
+began to stir his blood he changed a little; he grew somewhat
+belligerent, refused to let any one alight in his chosen places, and
+even drove others away from his side of the room. Now, too, he added to
+his already melting song an indescribable trill, something so spiritual,
+so charged with the wildness of the woods, that no words&mdash;even of a
+poet&mdash;can do it justice. Now, too, he began to turn longing glances out
+of the window, and evidently his heart was no longer with us. So, on the
+first perfect day in May he was taken to a secluded nook in a park and
+his door set open. His first flight was to a low tree, twenty feet from
+the silent spectator, who waited, anxious to see if his year's captivity
+had unfitted him for freedom.</p>
+
+<p>Perching on the lowest branch, the thrush instantly crouched in an
+attitude of surprise and readiness for anything, which was common with
+him, his bill pointed up at an angle of forty-five degrees, head sunk in
+the shoulders, and tail standing out stiffly, thus forming a perfectly
+straight line from the point of his beak to the tip of his tail. There
+he stood, perfectly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> motionless, apparently not moving so much as an
+eyelid for twenty minutes, trying to realize what had happened to him
+and in the patient, deliberate manner of a thrush to adjust himself to
+his new conditions. In the nook were silence and delicious odors of the
+woods; from a thick shrub on one side came the sweet erratic song of a
+cat-bird, and at a little distance the rich organ-tones of the
+wood-thrush. All these entered the soul of the emancipated bird; he
+listened, he looked, and at last he spoke, a low, soft, "wee-o." That
+broke the spell, he drew himself up, hopped about the tree, flew to a
+shrub, all the time posturing and jerking wings and tail in extreme
+excitement and no doubt happiness to the tips of his toes. At last he
+dropped to the ground and fell to digging and reveling in the soft loose
+earth with enthusiasm. The loving friend looking on was relieved; this
+was what she had waited for, to be assured that he knew where to look
+for supplies, and though she left his familiar dish full of food where
+he could see it in case of accident, she came away feeling that he had
+not been incapacitated for a free life by his months with her.</p>
+
+<p>One more glimpse of him made it clear also that he could fly as well as
+his wild neighbors, and removed the last anxiety about him. A
+wood-thrush, after noticing the stranger for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> some minutes, finally
+braved the human presence and made a rush for the little fellow about
+half his size. Whether war or welcome moved him was not evident, for
+away they flew across the nook, not more than a foot apart, now sweeping
+low over the grass, then mounting higher to pass over the shrubs that
+defined it. A hundred feet or more the chase continued, and then the
+smaller bird dropped into a low bush, and the larger one passed on.</p>
+
+<p>Then lonely, with empty cage and a happy heart-ache, his friend turned
+away and left the beautiful bird to his fate, assured that he was well
+able to supply his needs and to protect himself&mdash;in a word, to be
+free.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="A_BIRD_OF_AFFAIRS" id="A_BIRD_OF_AFFAIRS"></a>A BIRD OF AFFAIRS.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">But now the sun is rising calm and bright;<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">The jay makes answer as the magpie chatters,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">And all the air is filled with pleasant sound of waters,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">All things that love the sun are out of doors.<br /></div>
+<div class="i20"><div class="smcap">Wordsworth.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>X.</p>
+
+<p class="center">A BIRD OF AFFAIRS.</p>
+
+
+<p>One of the most interesting birds I have studied was a blue-jay; I may
+say is, for he stands at this moment not six feet from me, his whole
+mind intent upon the business of driving small corks through a hole
+which they snugly fit. He takes the cork, as he does everything,
+lengthwise, and turns it about till he gets the smaller end outside;
+then pushes it into the hole and pounds it, delivering straight and
+rapid strokes with his iron beak, till it is not only driven up to the
+head, but, since he has found out that he can do so, till it drops out
+on the other side, when, after an interested glance to see where it has
+fallen, he instantly goes to the floor for another, and repeats the
+performance. Hammering, indeed, is one of his chief pleasures, and no
+woodpecker, whose special mission it is supposed to be, can excel him;
+in excitement, in anger, when suffering from <i>ennui</i> or from
+embarrassment, he always resorts to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> that exercise to relieve his
+feelings. I have thought sometimes he did it to hear the noise and to
+amuse himself, in which case it might be called drumming.</p>
+
+<p>Not only does my bird occupy himself with corks, but with perches and
+the woodwork of his cage, with so great success that the former have to
+be frequently renewed, and the latter looks as though rats had nibbled
+it. The deliberate way in which he goes to work to destroy his cage is
+amusing, lifting the end of a perch and quietly throwing it to the
+floor, or pounding and splitting off a big splinter of the soft pine and
+carefully hiding it. To give him liberty, as I have, is simply to
+enlarge the field of his labors, and furnish him congenial employment
+from morning to night, the happiest and busiest member of the household.
+He tries everything: the covers of cardboard boxes, always choosing the
+spot that is weakest at the corner, and pounding till it is ruined; the
+cane seats of chairs, which he selects with equal judgment, and never
+leaves till he has effected a breach; a delicate work-basket, at which
+he labors with enthusiasm, driving his pickaxe bill into it and cutting
+a big hole. It is most curious to see him set himself to pick a hole,
+for instance, in a close-woven rattan chair, or a firm piece of matting
+stretched upon the floor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> Selecting, by some esoteric wisdom, the most
+vulnerable spot, he pushes and pounds and pokes till he gets the tip of
+his beak under a strand, and then pulls and jerks and twists till he
+draws it out of its place. After this the task is easy, and he spends
+hours over it, ending with a hole in the matting three or four inches in
+diameter; for he is never discouraged, and his persistence of purpose is
+marvelous. Books are a special object of his attentions; not only does
+he peck the backs as they stand on the shelves, till he can insert his
+beak and tear off a bit, but if he finds one lying down he thrusts the
+same useful instrument into the edge, slightly open so as to enclose two
+or three leaves, and then, with a dexterous twist of the head, jerks out
+a neat little three-cornered piece. Thus he goes on, and after a short
+absence from the room I have found a great litter of white bits, and my
+big dictionary curiously scalloped on the edges. He is able to pound up
+as well as down, crouching, turning his head back, and delivering
+tremendous blows on the very spot he wishes, and so accurately that he
+easily cuts a thread, holding its strands under one toe.</p>
+
+<p>But hammering, though a great pleasure, is not his dearest delight. The
+thing for which, apparently, he came into the world is to put small
+objects out of sight,&mdash;bury them, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> fact. No doubt the business for
+which Nature fitted him, and which in freedom he would follow with
+enthusiasm, is the planting of trees; to his industry we probably owe
+many an oak and nut tree springing up in odd places. In captivity, poor
+soul, he does the best he can to fulfill his destiny. When he has more
+of any special dainty than he can eat at the moment, as meat, or bread
+and milk, he hides it at the back of his tray, or in the hole already
+spoken of in connection with the corks; and when outside, nothing can be
+droller than the air of concern with which he goes around the floor,
+picking up any small thing he finds, left purposely for him, a burnt
+match, a small key, stray pins, or a marble, and seeks the very best and
+most secluded spot in the room in which to hide it. A pin he takes
+lengthwise in his mouth, which he closes as though he had swallowed it,
+as at first I feared he had. He has no doubt about the best place for
+that; he long ago decided that between the leaves of a book is safest.
+So he proceeds at once to find a convenient volume, and thrusts the pin
+far in out of sight. A match gives him the most trouble. He tries the
+cracks under the grooves in the moulding of the doors, the base board,
+between the matting and the wall, or under a rocker; in each place he
+puts it carefully, and pounds it in, then hops off, giving me one of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i8">"sidelong glances wise<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Wherewith the jay hints tragedies,"<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>attempting to look unconcerned, as if he had not been doing anything.
+But if he sees that he is observed, or the match is too plainly in
+sight, he removes it and begins again, running and hopping around on the
+floor with the most solemn, business-like air, as though he had the
+affairs of nations on his shoulders, the match thrust nearly its whole
+length into his mouth. The place usually decided upon is an opening
+between the breadths of matting. It is amusing when he chances to get
+hold of a box of matches, accidentally left open, for he feels the
+necessity and importance of disposing of each one, and is busy and
+industrious in proportion to the task before him. It is not so pleasing,
+however, when, in his hammering, he sets one off, as he often does; for
+they are "parlor matches," and light with a small explosion, which
+frightens him half out of his wits, and me as well, lest he set the
+house afire. The business of safely and securely secreting one match
+will frequently occupy him half an hour. He finds the oddest
+hiding-places, as in a caster between the wheel and its frame; up inside
+the seat of a stuffed chair, to reach which he flies up on to the
+webbing and goes in among the springs; in the side of my slipper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> while
+on my foot; in the loop of a bow; in the plaits of a ruffle; under a
+pillow. Often when I get up, a shower of the jay's treasures falls from
+various hiding-places about my dress,&mdash;nails, matches, shoe-buttons, and
+others; and I am never sure that I shall not find soft, milk-soaked
+bread in my slipper. But the latest discovered and most annoying of his
+receptacles is in my hair. He delights in standing on the high back of
+my rocking-chair, or on my shoulder, and he soon discovered several
+desirable hiding-places conveniently near, such as my ear, and under the
+loosely dressed hair. I did not object to his using these, but when he
+attempted to tuck away some choice thing between my lips I rebelled. I
+never expect to find a keyhole that he can reach, free from bread
+crumbs, and the openings of my waste-basket are usually decorated with
+objects half driven in.</p>
+
+<p>The jay shows unbounded interest in everything. Every sound and every
+fresh sight arouses him instantly; his crest comes up, his feathers
+fluff out, and he is on tiptoe to see what will come next. He is
+remarkably discriminating among people, and takes violent likes and
+dislikes on the instant. Some persons, without any reason that I can
+discover, he salutes on their first appearance with an indescribable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+cry, like "obble! obble! obble!" At others he squawks madly. On one
+occasion he took an intense dislike to a lady, of whom birds generally
+are very fond, and he made a peculiar display of rage, squawking and
+screaming at her, raising his crest, stamping, snapping his beak, giving
+vicious digs at the side of the cage, as though he would eat her if he
+could reach her. And although he often saw her, and she tried her best
+to win him, he always showed the same spirit, going so far, when out of
+his cage, as to show fight, fly up at her, peck her savagely, and chase
+her to the door when she left. Again, a lady came in with her baby, and
+he at once singled out the infant as his enemy, fixing a very wicked
+glance on it, but in perfect silence. He jumped back and forth as if mad
+to get out, and sat with open mouth, panting as if exhausted, with eyes
+immovably turned to the baby. He would not pay the slightest attention
+to any one else, nor answer me when I spoke, which was very unusual,
+till they left the room, when the moment the door closed behind them he
+began rapidly, as if to make up for lost time. Some visitors whom he
+fancies, he receives in silence, but with slightly quivering wings; only
+the very few he loves best are greeted with a low, sweet, and very
+peculiar chatter, which he keeps up as long as he is talked to.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Investigating everything in the room is one of my bird's greatest
+pleasures, and most attractive of all he finds the drawer of my desk, on
+the edge of which he stands, delighted and bewildered by the variety
+before him. Great would be the havoc if I were not there; and the
+curious thing about it is that he will pull things over carelessly, with
+one eye on me, to see if I object. If, on touching some particular
+thing, he sees that I do not approve,&mdash;and he recognizes my sentiment as
+quickly as a bright child would,&mdash;that thing, and that only, he will
+have. At once he snatches it and flies away across the room, and I may
+chase him in vain. He regards it as a frolic got up for his amusement,
+and no child ever equaled him in dodging; he cannot be driven, and if
+cornered he uses his wings. I simply put my wits against his, follow him
+about till he has to drop his load to breathe, when a sudden start sends
+him off, and I secure it. If I cover up anything, he knows at once it is
+some forbidden treasure, and devotes all his energy and cunning, which
+are great, to uncovering and possessing himself of it. He opens any box
+by delivering sharp blows under the edge of the cover, and hides my
+postage stamps in books and magazines. He hops around the floor in a
+heavy way, as often sideways as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> straight, and holds his toes as close
+together as though he had worn tight boots all his life. If startled, he
+bounds up into the air in the oddest way, a foot or two, or even more,
+generally turning half round, and coming down with his head the other
+way. If much alarmed he will bounce up in this way half a dozen times in
+quick succession, and should he happen to be on a table at the time, he
+usually ends by landing on the floor. His alighting after any flight is
+most singular: he comes to the floor in a crouching position, legs
+sprawled, body horizontal and nearly touching the matting, looking like
+a bird gone mad; then instantly springs up six or eight inches, half
+turns, and stands upright, crest erect, and looking excited, almost
+frightened. If much disturbed he comes down with wings half open, tail
+held up, and every feather awry, as if he were out in a gale, uttering
+at the same time a loud squawk. He is a most expert catcher, not only
+seizing without fail a canary seed thrown to him, but even fluttering
+bits of falling paper, the hardest of all things to catch.</p>
+
+<p>The blue-jay is a bird of opinions about most things, and able to
+express himself quite clearly; as, for example, when he found himself
+under a chair without rounds, on which he likes to perch, he stood and
+looked around on every side,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> and made a low, complaining cry, plainly a
+protest against so unnatural a chair; and again, when he scolded at the
+rain that came in sudden gusts against the window, or charged furiously
+at the crack under a door when he heard sweeping outside. In general he
+is very quiet when one is in the room, but the moment the door closes
+behind the last person his voice is heard,&mdash;whistling exactly like a
+boy, calling, squawking, and occasionally uttering a sweet, though not
+loud song, which is varied by a sound like rubbing a cork against glass.
+The most quiet approach silences him. When under strong emotion he may
+squawk or scream before spectators, but he never whistles or sings when
+he knows any one is in the room. When out of his sight and so long
+silent that he has forgotten me, I have now and then heard the song.</p>
+
+<p>The funniest thing this knowing fellow does is to stamp his feet, and it
+is a genuine expression of impatience or displeasure. When I take
+something away from him or he thinks I mean to do so, or refuse him
+something he wants, he stands still and jerks his feet in such a way
+that they stamp with a loud sound, as if they were of iron. It is very
+droll. In serious anger, he adds to this, bowing and curtsying by
+bending the legs, snapping the bill, pecking, and jumping up with the
+body without lifting the feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It may be that the jay in freedom disturbs other birds, as has been
+affirmed, but among a number smaller than himself my bird has never once
+shown the least hostility. He is interested in their doings, but the
+only unpleasant thing he has done is to shriek and scream to stop their
+singing. In spite of his natural boldness, always facing the enemy,
+always ready to fight, and never running from danger nor allowing
+himself to be driven anywhere, when he is not quite well he is a timid
+bird. In moulting, this spring, my jay lost his entire tail, and was
+extremely awkward in getting about, almost helpless, in fact; and at
+that time he was afraid to hop to the floor, and refused to come out of
+the cage. (I should have said, by the way, that he feared hurting
+himself; he was quite as spirited as ever, as ready to show fight.) To
+get him out of the door I offered him the greatest inducements, with the
+cage on the floor, so that he could not fall far. He would stand on the
+lowest perch, three inches from the floor, look at the meat or whatever
+treasure I placed in the open doorway, and cry a faint, low, jay-baby
+cry, yet not dare descend, though plainly aching with desire to get the
+object so nearly within his reach. Even since he is entirely recovered
+and the possessor of a beautiful long tail, he dreads the one little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+step and has to be coaxed out and in his cage every day, as we coax a
+startled child.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing ever interested the jay more than a piano, though he is fond of
+any music. The first time he heard one he quickly hopped across to the
+player, pulled at the hem of her dress, flew up to her lap, then her
+arm, and mounted to her shoulder, where he stood some time, looking and
+listening, turning his head this way and that, raising his crest,
+jerking his body, and in every way showing intense excitement. Finally
+he took his last step, to the top of her head, where he was more pleased
+to be than the player was to have him. She put him down; and the next
+time he tried a different way, mounted to the keys, and thence to the
+cover, crouching and peering under the lid to see where the sounds came
+from. Satisfied about this, he returned to her head, which he evidently
+considered the best post of observation. Every time she played she
+received the devoted attentions of the bird, and he could not be kept
+away.</p>
+
+<p>My blue-jay is now a beautiful creature, in perfect plumage, with breast
+and back plumes so long that often in repose, just after he has dressed
+them, the violet blue of the back meets the light drab of his breast, on
+the side, covering his wings completely, and making a lovely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> picture.
+All through the spring excitement, when the other birds, one after
+another, grew uneasy, belligerent, or unhappy, and one after another
+were returned to freedom, he never showed a moment's uneasiness, an
+instant's desire to be free, but scrupulously attended to his own
+regular business, which is to pound and pull and peck to pieces my
+furniture, and especially to destroy my books.</p>
+
+<p>As these last words are written, just at dusk, the dear, troublesome
+rogue comes down to the corner of his cage nearest to me, and as if he
+understood that I had said something about him begins to talk and
+remonstrate in a low, loving tone. I do feel reproached, and I must
+unsay it. His business, his manifest destiny, is to hammer and peck the
+shells of nuts, and to hide them away where they will grow; and if cruel
+man confines him in a house, he must exercise his untiring energy, his
+demon of work, in what he finds there,&mdash;and who can blame him, or find
+fault? Not I, certainly.</p>
+
+<p>In behalf of this bird against whom the pen of nearly every writer is
+lifted, let me quote from one of our early and most careful observers,
+William Bartram: "The jay is one of the most useful agents in the
+economy of nature for disseminating forest trees and other ruciferous
+and hard-seeded vegetables on which they feed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> These birds alone are
+capable in a few years' time to replant all the cleared lands." Thoreau,
+who was perhaps the closest of our modern students of nature, cites this
+passage and emphatically affirms its justice.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_BLUE-JAY_AGAIN" id="THE_BLUE-JAY_AGAIN"></a>THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN.</h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p>
+<p>As for birds, I do not believe there is one of them but does more good
+than harm; and of how many featherless bipeds can this be said?</p>
+<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">Lowell.</span></p>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>XI.</p>
+
+<p class="center">THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN.</p>
+
+
+<p>The blue-jay came out of the egg with his mind made up. He always knew
+exactly what he wanted, and never doubted that he knew how to get it. I
+wrote of this bird some time ago, but he was then a comparatively new
+acquaintance. He lived with us many months after that, and became much
+more familiar; for besides being slow to feel thoroughly at home, he was
+very young, and he grew in wisdom with age. So I have more to say of
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Human society was necessary to the jay; he cared for the other birds of
+the room only as objects on which to play tricks for his own amusement.
+He was peculiar, too, in never liking more than one friend at a time,
+and was very decided in his opinions of people, having a distinctly
+different reception for each one of the household, as well as for
+strangers. His mistress was always his prime favorite; and although
+during my absence from home he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> adopted some one temporarily in my
+place, he was never so affectionate to that one as to me, and the
+instant I returned resumed his old relations to each of us.</p>
+
+<p>To his best beloved this bird never squawked or whistled; on the
+contrary, he talked in low, sweet tones, hardly more than a murmur,
+slightly lifting and quivering his wings, sidling as near as he could
+get, and if I put my face down to him touching my cheek or lips gently
+with his beak, in little taps, like kisses. Any one else in that
+position would receive a violent peck. Sometimes, when I was busy, and
+therefore silent a long time, and the jay was in his cage, where I was
+obliged to put him in order to work at all, he stood perfectly quiet and
+motionless an hour at a time, moving only when he was hungry, and
+apparently watching me every instant,&mdash;a performance very uncommon in a
+bird, who usually has some interests of his own, however fond he may be
+of a person. The moment I spoke to him his whole manner changed. He came
+at once as near as he could, about four feet from me, and began to talk,
+holding his tail on one side, and both wings spread to their fullest
+extent and parallel with his back. In this attitude he hopped up and
+down his three perches, always as near my side as possible, and
+evidently in great excitement.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> If during this exhibition any one came
+in, his wings instantly dropped, though he did not stop talking to me.
+This action of the wings showed extreme affection, and must not be
+profaned by common eyes. When I came close and replied to him, his
+agitation was almost painful to see,&mdash;such loving tones, such gentle
+kisses, such struggles to express himself. Not only did he insist on
+sharing his dainties with me, offering me mocking-bird food or bread and
+milk in the most loving way, but he wished to share mine; ice-cream he
+delighted in, cake he was as fond of as any child, and candy he always
+begged for, though instead of eating it he hid it somewhere about the
+room,&mdash;under my pillow, or between the leaves of a book, all sticky as
+it was from his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>Second in the blue-jay's affection was a lady to whom at first he took a
+great dislike. She tried her best to win him, talking to him, treating
+him to various tidbits, and offering him the hospitality of her
+room,&mdash;separated from the bird-room by a passage,&mdash;and above all dancing
+with him. These attentions in time secured her a warm place in his
+regards, though his treatment of her was very different from that
+reserved for me. He was always gentle with me, while in her society he
+exhibited all his noisy accomplishments,&mdash;squawked, whistled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> and
+screamed, stamped his feet, and jounced (the only word to describe a
+certain raising and violent dropping of the body without lifting the
+feet). He ran after her when she left the room; he pecked her hand, and
+flew up at her face. Gradually, as he grew to like her better, the more
+violent demonstrations ceased; but he was always boisterous with her,
+generally expected a half-fight, half-frolic, and I must say never
+failed to enjoy it greatly.</p>
+
+<p>The dance spoken of was droll. His chosen place for this indulgence was
+the back of a tall chair. His friend stood before this, whistled, bowed,
+and moved her head up and down as if dancing; and he on his perch did
+the same, jumping up and down in a similar way, answering her whistle
+for whistle, moving his feet, sliding from one side to the other,
+curtsying, lowering the body and flattening the head feathers, then
+rising, stamping his feet, and drooping his wings. This he kept up as
+long as she played second to him.</p>
+
+<p>When this playfellow went away, the jay missed his dances and frolics.
+He flew into her empty room, perched on the back of the rocking-chair,
+where he had been wont to stand and pull her hair, and began a peculiar
+cry. Again and again he repeated it, louder and louder each time, till
+it ended in a squawk, impatient and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> angry, as much as to say, "Why
+don't you answer?" After a while he began to whistle the notes she used
+to imitate; finding that this brought no response, he returned to the
+cry; and when at last he had exhausted all his resources, he came back
+to my desk and consoled himself by talking to me.</p>
+
+<p>A young lady in the family he greeted by flying at her, alighting on her
+chair-back, clawing her neck, and squawking; and before a youth who
+often teased him he trailed his wings on the floor, tail spread and
+dragging also, uttering a curious "obble! obble!" something like the cry
+of a turkey. The head of the household he met with stamping of the feet,
+and no sound; while at a maid who came in to sweep he always flew
+furiously, aiming for her head, and invariably frightening her half out
+of her wits.</p>
+
+<p>The jay was extremely wary about anything like a trap, and being always
+on the lookout for one, he sometimes, like bigger persons, fooled
+himself badly. Finding him fond of standing on a set of turning
+bookshelves, I thought to please him by arranging over it a convenient
+resting-place. He watched me with great interest, but, when I had
+finished, declined to use the perch, though ordinarily nothing could
+keep him from trying every new thing. I put a bait<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> upon it in the shape
+of bits of gum-drops, a favorite delicacy; but he plainly saw that I
+wanted him to go to it, and in the face of the fact that I had
+heretofore tried to keep him off the papers and magazines lying there,
+he decided that it was suspicious. He flew so as almost to touch the
+stick, and hovered before it to snatch off the candy placed there; but
+alight on it he would not, and did not, though I kept it in place a
+week.</p>
+
+<p>In many ways this bird was wise; he knew exactly where to deliver his
+blows to effect what he desired. A cage-door being fastened with fine
+wire, he never wasted a stroke upon the door, but gave telling blows
+directly upon the wire. A rubber band was looped about a rod for him to
+play with, in the expectation that he would pull on it and make sport;
+but he disappointed us all by hammering at the loop, until he loosened
+it and easily pulled it off. Again it was tied on with strong linen
+thread; he turned his whole attention to the knot of the latter, till it
+yielded and was disposed of also.</p>
+
+<p>Dear as was this bird, he was a more than usually troublesome pet. My
+desk became his favorite playground, and havoc indeed he made with the
+things upon it; snatching and running off with paper, pen, or any small
+object, destroying boxes and injuring books. Finally, in self-defense,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+I adopted the plan of laying over it every morning a woolen cloth, which
+must be lifted every time anything was taken from the desk. This
+arrangement did not please my small friend in blue, and he took pains to
+express his displeasure in the most emphatic way. He came down upon the
+cover, tramped all over it, and sought small holes in it through which
+to thrust his bill. One day he was busily engaged in hammering a book
+through an opening, and to cure him of the trick I slipped my hand
+under, caught his beak between two fingers, and held it a moment. This
+amazed but did not alarm the bird; on the contrary, he plainly decided
+to persevere till he found out the secret. He pecked the mounds made by
+my fingers; he stooped and looked into the hole, and then probed again.
+This time I held him longer, so that he had to struggle and beat his
+wings to get away, and then he walked off indignantly. Still he was not
+satisfied about that mystery, and in a moment he was back again, trying
+in new ways to penetrate it. I was tired before he was. He was baffled
+only temporarily; he soon learned to draw up the fabric, hold the slack
+under one foot while he pulled it still further, and thus soon reach
+anything he desired.</p>
+
+<p>The blue-jay always pried into packages by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> pecking a hole in the
+wrapper and examining the contents through that; and boxes he opened by
+delivering upward blows under the edge of the cover. The waste-basket he
+nearly emptied from the outside by dragging papers through the openings
+in the weaving. Seeing two or three unmounted photographs put into a
+book, he went speedily for that volume, thrust his beak into the slight
+opening made by the pictures, and pulled them out, flying at once across
+the room with one in his mouth. It was secured and put back, and the
+book held down by a heavy weight; but he found the place at once, and
+repeated the naughtiness. The book had to be completely covered up
+before the photographs were safe.</p>
+
+<p>After the blue-jay had put on a new suit of feathers he flew with great
+ease, and selected for a retreat the top of a door into the passageway
+mentioned, which usually stood open. It was not long before his
+curiosity was roused to know what was outside the door that so often
+swallowed up his friends,&mdash;that into the hall. He resolved to find out,
+and to that end, when stationed on the elevated perch of his choice,
+held himself in readiness, upon the exit of any one, to fly out. He did
+not wish to get away; he merely took a turn in the hall, and came back;
+and once, when accidentally left in that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> unfamiliar place, he stayed in
+the bath-room, with window wide open, for half an hour before he was
+found. He became so expert in flying out of the door that it was a
+difficult matter to pass through without his company; we had to train
+ourselves in sleight-of-hand to outwit him. There were two ways of
+getting the better of him; mere suddenness was of no use,&mdash;he was much
+quicker than we were. One way was to go to the room on the other side of
+the passage, where he was sure to follow, and before he fairly settled
+there, to dodge back and shut the door,&mdash;a proceeding so unexpected that
+he never learned to allow for it. The other way was to go to the
+hall-door as if intending to open it; instantly the bird swooped down,
+ready to slip out also, but finding the way closed, swept around the
+room and alighted somewhere. This was the second to open the door and
+step out, for he always paused a moment before flying again.</p>
+
+<p>The only notice the jay ever took of the birds, as said above, was to
+tease them, or put them in a flutter; as society he plainly despised
+them. They soon learned to regard him as a sort of infernal machine,
+liable at any moment to explode; and they were fully justified, for he
+was fond of surprising them by unexpectedly flying around the room, tail
+spread, feathers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> rustling, squawking madly in a loud voice. He usually
+managed in his career to sweep close over the head of every bird, of
+course frightening them off their perches, and thus to put the whole
+room into a panic. They took refuge anywhere,&mdash;under the bed, behind the
+chairs, against the wires, and on the floor,&mdash;while the mischief-maker
+circled around, filling the air with shrieks, then suddenly dropped to
+the round of a chair and calmly dressed his feathers, as if he had
+merely been exercising his wings.</p>
+
+<p>Poor little fellow! he was hardly more than a baby, and not very brave.
+A big grasshopper which once got into the room afforded him great
+excitement and the spectators much amusement. He saw it before his cage
+was opened, and as soon as he came out he went after it. The insect
+hopped up three feet, and so startled the bird that he jumped almost as
+high. When it alighted he picked it up, but seeming not to know what to
+do with it, soon dropped it. Again it hopped, and again the jay repeated
+his bound; and this performance went on for some minutes, one of the
+drollest of sights,&mdash;his cautious approach, the spring of the insect,
+and his instant copy of the same, as if in emulation. After being picked
+up several times the grasshopper was disabled; then when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> the bird came
+near, it lifted its wings, plainly to scare its persecutor; it did awe
+him. Meanwhile an orchard oriole had been eagerly looking on, and on one
+occasion that the grasshopper was dropped he pounced upon it and carried
+it off to a chair, where he proceeded to eat it, though it was so big as
+to be almost unmanageable. The jay did not like being deprived of his
+plaything. He ran after the thief, and stood on the floor, uttering a
+low cry while watching the operation. In the oriole's moving the clumsy
+insect fell to the floor, when the jay snatched it; and it was evident
+that he had got a new idea about its use, for he carried it under a
+chair and demolished it completely,&mdash;not even a wing remained.</p>
+
+<p>More disturbing to the jay, strange as it may seem, was a tree. It was
+really touching to see a bird afraid of this, but the poor youngster had
+been taken from the nest to a house. A Christmas tree was brought into
+the bird-room to please the residents there, when, to our amazement, the
+jay went into a wild fright, flew madly around near the ceiling,
+squawking, and making the other birds think something terrible had
+happened. He flew till he was breathless, and was evidently very much
+distressed. For three or four days he was equally alarmed the moment he
+caught sight of it in the morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> and whenever I moved it an inch,
+though the other birds liked it and were on it half the time. When he
+did get used to it he did not go upon it, but to the standard below,
+where he could pick the needle-like leaves and carry them off to hide
+about the room.</p>
+
+<p>The blue-jay took his bath in an original way as he did everything else.
+First, he stood beside the wide, shallow dish, looked at it, then at me
+and all around the room, one wing drooping and the other laid jauntily
+over the back, while he talked in a low tone, as if he said, "If anybody
+is going to object, now is the time." No one ventured to dispute his
+right, and suddenly he plumped into the middle, neither alighting on the
+edge nor testing the water. Then there was a lively frolic, with tail
+spread, crest raised, wings beating, and the water flying several feet
+around. He was a very beautiful bird when in perfect-plumage. There were
+six distinct shades of blue, besides rich velvety black, snowy white,
+delicate dove color, and blue-gray. He is too well known to need
+description, but a jay is not often so closely seen when alive and in
+perfection of plumage. This bird had a charming way of folding his wings
+that hid all the plain blue-gray. When held thus and laid together over
+the back, there were displayed first the beautiful tail, with broad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+white edges to the feathers; above it the wings looking like a square
+cut mantle, of the same colors; above this a deep pointed shoulder cape,
+of rich violet blue, the feathers fluffed up loosely; and at the top of
+all, his exquisite crest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VIRGINIAS_WOOING" id="VIRGINIAS_WOOING"></a>VIRGINIA'S WOOING.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">For who the pleasure of the spring shall tell,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">When on the leafless stalk the brown buds swell,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">When the grass brightens and the days grow long,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">And little birds break out in rippling song.<br /></div>
+<div class="i20"><div class="smcap">Celia Thaxter.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>XII.</p>
+
+<p class="center">VIRGINIA'S WOOING.</p>
+
+
+<p>You must know in the beginning that Virginia wore feathers. But she had
+as many trials with her suitors as though she dressed in silks, and she
+displayed so much of what we call "human nature" that her story is as
+interesting as that of half the Ethels and Marguerites of the romances.</p>
+
+<p>She came of a good old family, the Cardinals, and, belonging to the
+Virginia branch, was called properly Virginia Cardinal, or, in
+scientific, fashion, <i>Cardinalis Virginianus</i>. She was a beauty, too. It
+is well known that the cardinal himself has a full suit of the most
+brilliant red, but it is not so familiar a fact that the dames of the
+tribe are more modest and wear the family colors simply as linings and
+in subdued tints: rich rose-colored wing-facings, light coral-hued beak,
+delicate pink crest, all toned down by the soft olive brown of the
+breast and back, over which is everywhere a lovely suggestion of red.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The home of Virginia, when she came to the bird-room, was a large cage
+by the window; that of the cardinal being next to it, equally
+commodious, but a little farther from the light. This personage, her
+first admirer, made the mistake that larger suitors sometimes fall into,
+with equally disastrous results,&mdash;he "took things for granted." Between
+the cages was a door, but, to try the temper of the birds, it was at
+first closed. The cardinal was evidently pleased with his lovely
+neighbor; he went as near to her as he could get, and uttered some low
+remarks, to which she listened, but did not reply. Later, when a
+meal-worm was given to him, he did not eat it, but held it in his beak,
+hopped over to her side, tried to get through the wires, and plainly
+thought of offering it to her. His disposition appearing so friendly, a
+human hand interposed and opened the door. Instantly he went into her
+cage, and apparently thinking better of the intended offering he ate it
+himself, and proceeded to investigate her food-dishes and try the seed,
+then hopped back and forth between the two cages, and at last selected
+the perch he preferred and took possession. He paid no attention to her
+in the way of recognizing her ownership, which he would naturally do to
+another bird; he assumed that whatever belonged to the cardinal family
+belonged to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> him; perhaps he even thought she went with the house,&mdash;it
+certainly looked as though he did.</p>
+
+<p>But the little dame had a mind of her own. On his first intrusion she
+vacated her home and passed into his. When he appeared in his cage she
+quietly hopped back; on his return she changed cages with equal
+alacrity; when he settled himself on her perch, she was quite contented
+on his. There was no dispute, no warfare; she simply said, in manner,
+"All right, my friend, select your abode, and I'll take the other. I'm
+satisfied with either, but I intend to have it to myself." After awhile
+it seemed to strike his lordship that she avoided him, and he resolved
+to settle that matter; here making his second mistake, in trying to
+force instead of to win. He entered the cage where she sat quietly, and
+flew at her. She dodged him and took refuge in the other apartment; he
+followed; and thus they rushed back and forth several times, till she
+stopped for breath on a lower perch, while he was on an upper one in the
+same cage. Then he leaned far over and fixed his eyes on her, crest
+raised to its greatest height, wings held slightly out, and addressed
+her in a very low but distinct song, which resembled the syllables
+"cur-dle-e! cur-dle-e! cr-r-r"; the latter sounding almost like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> a cat's
+purr. After singing this several times, and being slighted by her
+leaving the cage, he laid his crest flat down, muttered something so low
+that it could not be noted, and looked very much put out. Soon, however,
+he shook his feathers violently, flung himself at her, and she dodged,
+as before. When both happened to be for a moment in their own cages, the
+door was suddenly closed between, and each had his own, as at first.
+Madam was delighted, but the cardinal resented it; he tried to remove
+the obnoxious barrier, pecked at it, shook it, and could not be
+reconciled. He grew hungry and was obliged to eat, but between every two
+seeds he returned to struggle with the bars that kept him from her.
+Meanwhile Virginia had apparently forgotten all about him, eating and
+making her toilet for the night, as cheerful as usual.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, the outside doors of the two cages were opened, and
+both birds at once came out into the room. The cardinal, not yet over
+his tiff of the evening before, took wing for the trees outside the
+windows, and brought up, of course, against the glass. He was greatly
+disappointed. He alighted on top of the lower sash, tested, examined,
+and tried to solve the mystery. Virginia, too, tried to go through the
+pane, but learned in one lesson that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> it was useless. She did not care
+much about it any way, for she was perfectly contented inside. She went
+around the room, hovering slowly under the ceiling, which is always of
+interest to birds, and then set herself to work in a most systematic
+manner to find out all about the new world she was in. She examined the
+outside perches and tried each one; she explored the bathing table,
+flirted out a little water from the dishes, and at last thought it time
+to make acquaintance with her neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>She began with the robin, and flew to his roof. The robin was not
+pleased, snapped at her, opened his mouth, uttered a queer low
+robin-cry, "seep," and pecked at her feet, while she stood quietly
+looking down at the show from above, as much interested as though it
+were arranged to amuse her. At length she began to make the more formal
+visit. She dropped to the door-perch and approached the entrance. The
+inhospitable owner met her there, not to welcome and invite her in, but
+to warn her out! He lowered his head, opened his beak, and bowed to her,
+looking very wicked indeed. It was plain that he was "not receiving"
+that morning. But Virginia had come to call, and call she would. Nothing
+daunted by his coolness, she hopped in. The robin was amazed; then
+declared war in his peculiar way,&mdash;first a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> hop of six inches, with
+wings spread, then a savage clatter of the bill. His guest met this
+demonstration quite calmly. She lowered her head, to defend herself if
+necessary, but made no other movement. Her calmness filled the robin
+with horror; he fled the cage. Then she went all over it, and satisfied
+herself that it was much like her own, only the food-dish was filled
+with some uneatable black stuff, instead of the vegetarian food she
+preferred. She soon departed.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the cardinal was wasting his time over the window problem,
+touching the glass with his beak, flying up a few inches before it,
+gently tapping the pane as he went. It was two or three days before he
+made up his mind he could not get through. After that he was as
+indifferent to the outside as any bird in the room, and turned his
+attention once more to Virginia. Whenever they were in their cages, with
+the door open between, he assumed the lord-and-mastership of the two; he
+drove her away from her own food-cups, usurped her perch and her cage,
+and made himself disagreeable generally. Finally, one day when she was
+sitting quietly on the upper perch of his deserted cage, he came into
+the same cage, and, resting on the low perch close to the door, his tail
+hanging outside, began a low call, a curious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> sort of "e-up," with a
+jerk on the second syllable. Though a common enough sound for a
+cardinal, this plainly meant more than was apparent to human spectators.
+Virginia at once grew uneasy, hopped across the upper perches, and when
+her nervousness became too great dashed down past him, though he was
+partly in the doorway, and into her own cage, where she resumed her
+restless jumps. He was not pleased with her reception of his attentions;
+he sat a long time in that attitude, perfectly still, perhaps meditating
+what step he should take next, glancing at her meanwhile over his
+shoulder, but not stirring a feather. Time passed, and he came to a
+decision of some sort, which was shown by a change of position. He
+turned around, and took his seat on the corresponding perch in her cage,
+just before the door. This impressed Virginia; she stopped her hopping
+and looked over at him with an air of wondering what he would do next.
+What he did was to hop one step nearer, to the middle perch. Upon this
+she abandoned her place, came to the floor, and began to eat in the most
+indifferent manner; then passed into his cage, then back to the floor of
+her own, still eating, while he sat silent and motionless on the middle
+perch, evidently much disturbed by her conduct. After an hour of this
+performance he retired to her upper perch, and stayed there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The same day, the jealousy of the unsuccessful wooer was aroused by a
+fine, fresh-looking cardinal whom he saw in the looking-glass. In flying
+past it he caught a glimpse of his reflection, and at once turned,
+alighted before it, and began calling vehemently; holding out, and
+quivering his wings, and flying up against the figure again and again in
+the most savage way. The next day he began to mope and refused to come
+out of the cage; whether because of illness, or disappointed affections,
+who shall say?</p>
+
+<p>The time of her tormentor's retirement was one of great happiness to
+Virginia. She paid her usual visit to the robin, and he, as at first,
+vacated the cage, this having become the regular morning programme. Now,
+too, she went on to extend her acquaintance by entering the cage of
+another neighbor, a scarlet tanager, a shy, unobtrusive fellow, who
+asked nothing but to be let alone. This bird also did not reciprocate
+her neighborly sentiments; he met her with open beak, but finding that
+did not awe her, nor prevent her calmly walking in, he hastily left the
+cage himself. During the time that her persecutor was sulking, and not
+likely to bother, she had leisure for the bath, which she enjoyed
+freely, coming out with her long breast-feathers hanging in locks and
+looking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> like a bundle of rags. Her last experimental call was now made
+upon another household, the Baltimore orioles, and there she met with
+something new&mdash;perfect indifference. Even when both of the birds were at
+home they did not resent her coming in. She went to the upper perch with
+them; the cage was big, there was plenty of room, and they were willing.
+Their manners, in fact, were so agreeable that if their cups had been
+supplied with seed, I think she would have taken up her abode with them;
+as it was, she frequently spent half an hour at a time there. On this
+eventful day Virginia began to sing, for in her family the musical
+performances are not confined to the males.</p>
+
+<p>After several days of retirement, the cardinal plucked up spirit to
+resume his annoyance of Virginia, and for a few nights a queer sort of
+game was played by the two, explain it who can. If the barrier between
+the cages was removed after the outside doors were shut for the night,
+he at once went to her cage and to the middle perch. Virginia, on the
+upper perch, waited till he reached that spot, then dropped to the
+floor, slipped through the door into his cage, and went to the upper
+perches there, where she hopped back and forth, while he did the same in
+her cage. Suddenly, after a few moments, down he came again through the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+door to his own middle perch, when instantly, as before, she retreated
+into her cage. Thus they went on an hour at a time; he apparently
+following her from one cage to another, and she declining to occupy the
+same apartment with him. Occasionally it was not so calm; he lost his
+temper, or grew tired of trying to please; once or twice, without
+warning, he lowered his head, looked ugly, and fairly burst into her
+cage and flung himself at her. She dived under or bounded over a perch,
+any way to escape him, and took refuge in the other cage.</p>
+
+<p>This could not go on long; the cardinal lost interest in everything,
+took to moping, and at last died,&mdash;disappointed affection, shall we say,
+or what? Virginia was relieved; she sang more and in a louder tone,
+hopping around her cage with a seed in her mouth, flying through the
+room, or splashing in the bath; in fact she was bubbling over with song
+all the time, as if she were so happy she could not keep still. She paid
+her daily visits to the cages, forcing the robin to take an outing,
+which he did not care to do while moulting and not very sure of his
+powers.</p>
+
+<p>Many birds show emotions by raising the feathers on different parts of
+the body, but this bird was remarkable in the expression of her crest
+alone. When she peeped into a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> strange cage, and was somewhat uncertain
+of her reception, the crest laid flat down, her very head seemed to
+shrink; she stepped in at the door, excited, for it might be peace and
+it might be war; the feathers rose and fell alternately; if suddenly
+startled, the crest sprang to its highest point; and when singing, or
+passing peacefully about the room, it dropped carelessly back on her
+head.</p>
+
+<p>Virginia was allowed a week's solitary enjoyment of the two cages, and
+then one day a new tenant appeared in the cardinal's quarters. She was
+out in the room when he arrived, but she instantly came over and
+alighted on his roof, to have a look at him. Most expressive was her
+manner. She stood in silence and gazed upon him a long time; all her
+liveliness and gayety were gone, and she appeared to be struck dumb by
+this new complication of her affairs. It was plain that she was not
+pleased. Perhaps her dislike was evident to the new bird, for suddenly
+he flew up and snapped at her, which so surprised her that she hopped a
+foot into the air. When the time came to open the door into her cage,
+the stranger was delighted to go in, but Virginia dodged him, exactly as
+she had done his predecessor. He did not lose his temper and condescend
+to the vulgarity of flying at her, as the first admirer had done.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> He
+looked interested to see that she avoided him, but after all he did not
+take it much to heart. This cardinal, like the other, was not yet
+acclimated&mdash;if one may call it so&mdash;to life in a house, and after a week
+he also took his departure.</p>
+
+<p>Now Virginia, free again, became at once very gay. She sang all the
+time; she kept the robin stirring; she bathed; she waxed fat. But her
+time was approaching. Spring came on, and with the first warm weather
+the birds began to disappear from the room. First the tanager expressed
+a desire to mingle with society once more, and went his way; then the
+orioles were sent to carry on their rough wooing in the big world
+outside; the robin followed; and at last Virginia was left with several
+big empty cages and only two birds, a reserved and solitude-loving
+Mexican clarin, and a saucy goldfinch, so long a captive that he had no
+desire for freedom. Now for the first time Virginia was lonely; the
+strange quiet of the once lively room worked upon her temper. She
+snapped at her little neighbor; she haunted the window-sill and gazed
+out; while nothing hindered her passage excepting the weather, our
+climate being rather cool for her.</p>
+
+<p>At last July, with its great heat, arrived, and the restless bird was
+carried by a kind friend,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> who offered to do this good deed, to a place
+in Central Park, New York, where a small colony of her kind have
+established themselves and build and nest every year. Here she was set
+free, and here she met her third suitor. The place and the season were
+propitious, and Virginia was ready to look with favor on a smart young
+cardinal in the brightest of coats, who came in response to her calls
+the moment she found herself on a tree, really out in the world. A
+little coaxing, a few tender words, and she flew away with him, and we
+saw her no more.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="FRIENDSHIP_IN_FEATHERS" id="FRIENDSHIP_IN_FEATHERS"></a>FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Why should I cumber myself with regrets that the receiver
+is not capacious? It never troubles the sun that some of his
+rays fall wide and vain into ungrateful space, and only a small
+part on the reflecting planet.</p>
+<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">Emerson.</span></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>XIII.</p>
+
+<p class="center">FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS.</p>
+
+
+<p>Emerson somewhere speaks of a friendship "on one side, without due
+correspondence on the other," and I often thought of it while watching
+the curious relation between two birds in my house last winter; for the
+more one studies our feathered neighbors, the better he comes to realize
+that the difference between their intelligence and that of man himself
+is "only of less and more."</p>
+
+<p>This friendship, then, was all on one side. It was not a case of "love
+at sight"; on the contrary, it was first war, and the birds had been
+room-mates for months before any unusual interest was shown; neither was
+it simple admiration of beauty, for the recipient of the tenderness was
+at his worst at the moment; nor, again, could it be the necessity of
+loving somebody, for the devotee had lived in the house ten years, and
+had seen forty birds of almost as many kinds come and go, without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+exhibiting any partiality. The parties to this curious affair were,
+first, the beloved, a male scarlet tanager, whose summer coat was
+disfigured with patches of the winter dress he was trying to put on; and
+secondly, the lover, a male English goldfinch, scarcely half his size.</p>
+
+<p>The tanager, as perhaps every one knows, is one of our most brilliant
+birds, bright scarlet with black wings and tail. He is as shy as he is
+gay, living usually in the woods, and not taking at all kindly to the
+enforced companionship of mankind. I had long been anxious to make the
+acquaintance of this retiring bird, partly because I desire to know
+personally all American birds, and partly because I wanted to watch his
+change of plumage; for the scarlet uniform is only the marriage dress,
+and put off at the end of the season. Hence whenever I saw a tanager in
+a New York bird store I brought it home, though dealers always warned me
+that it would not live in confinement. My first attempts were
+disastrous, certainly. The birds refused to become reconciled, even with
+all the privileges I gave them, and one after another died, I believe
+for no other reason than their longing for freedom. Let me say here that
+feeling thus, they would have received their liberty, much as I wished
+to study them, only their plumage was not in condition to fly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> and they
+would go out to certain death. My hope was to make them contented
+through the winter, while they put on a new suit of feathers, and open
+the doors for them in summer.</p>
+
+<p>The subject of this tale, and the last of the series, I procured of a
+dealer who has learned to keep tanagers in good condition, and I never
+had trouble with this bird's health or spirits. It was not until May
+that he wished to leave me. When he joined the circle in the room he had
+just thoroughly learned that a cage was a place he could not get out of,
+and he had ceased to try. The first morning when his neighbors came out
+of their cages he was as much astonished as if he had never seen birds
+out of a bird store. He stretched up and looked at them with the
+greatest interest. When one or two began to splash in the large shallow
+bathing dishes on the table, he was much excited, and plainly desired to
+join them. I opened his door and placed in it a long perch leading to
+freedom. For some time he did not come out, and when he did, the sudden
+liberty drove out of his head all thoughts of a bath. When he flew, he
+aimed straight for the trees outside the window, and of course came
+violently against the glass.</p>
+
+<p>This experience all house birds have to go through, and it is sometimes
+several days before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> they learned the nature of glass. The tanager
+learned his lesson more quickly. He fell to the floor at first, from the
+shock, but in a few moments recovered himself and returned, this time
+alighting on the top of the lower sash and proceeding to examine the
+strange substance through which he could see, but could not go. He
+gently tapped the glass with his beak the whole length of the window,
+passing back and forth several times till satisfied. Turning at last
+from that, he cast his eye around for another exit, and settled on the
+white ceiling as the most likely place. Then he flew all about the room
+close to the ceiling, touched it now and then with his beak, and finding
+it also impassable, he came down to the window again. He had not the
+least curiosity about the room, and was not at all afraid of me. The
+world outside the windows and his cage when he was hungry, were all that
+he cared for at present&mdash;except the bath.</p>
+
+<p>The goldfinch was bathing the second time he came out, and he went
+directly to the table and perched on the side of the dish. Now the one
+thing the little fellow most delighted in was his morning bath, and he
+at once resented the intrusion of the stranger. He flew at him with open
+beak and lifted wings, scolding vigorously, in fact gave him so hostile
+a reception that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> quickly retired to the top of the cage, where he
+stood a long time. Afterward also, the goldfinch showed so strong a
+determination that the intruder should not enjoy his beloved bath, that
+at last I had to keep him in his cage while the new-comer had a chance
+at the water.</p>
+
+<p>This did not go on long, however, for very soon the tanager deliberately
+gave up the world of the bird-room, and insisted on remaining in his
+cage. In vain was his door set open with the others, in vain did the
+birds splash and splatter the water, he would not come out, though he
+did not mope or lose his appetite. In truth, it seemed merely as if he
+scorned the advantages offered; if he could not go out free into the
+trees, he would as lief stay in his cage&mdash;and he did. This is a not
+uncommon habit of cage birds. They often need to be driven or coaxed
+out. Having once learned that the cage is home with all its comforts and
+conveniences, they prefer to be there.</p>
+
+<p>The tanager was always a very shy bird; he did not like to be looked at.
+If he could manage it, he would never eat while any one saw him. Often,
+when I put a bit of apple or a meal-worm in his cage, he stood and
+looked at it and at me, but did not move till I turned away, or walked
+out of his sight, when he instantly pounced upon it as if starved. To<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
+make him altogether happy I put a screen around one corner of his cage,
+behind which were his dishes, and after that it was very droll to see
+him crouch behind that and eat, every moment or two stretching up to
+glance over the top and see if I had moved. If I stirred as though about
+to leave my chair, he at once whisked to the upper perch as if he had
+been caught in a crime.</p>
+
+<p>The first I noticed of the goldfinch's friendliness to him was after he
+had lived with us five or six months.</p>
+
+<p>This small bird, in a room of larger ones, was somewhat driven about. I
+do not mean hurt, but if any one wanted a certain perch he did not
+hesitate to take it, even if it were already occupied by so little a
+fellow. He soon learned that near the tanager he was not often molested,
+and he began first to frequent the perch that ran out of the cage&mdash;the
+doorstep in fact. Finding that he was not disturbed, he soon moved his
+quarters just inside the door. Most birds quickly resent the intrusion
+of another into their cage, but the tanager never did. So long as he was
+left alone on his favorite upper perches, he did not care who went in
+below. This being the case, after a while the goldfinch ventured upon
+the middle perch. Still he was not noticed; but presuming on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+friendly attitude of his host, he one day hopped upon the perch beside
+him. This was a step too far; the house-owner turned an open beak toward
+him, and in unmistakable tones told him to leave&mdash;which he at once did,
+of course.</p>
+
+<p>This boundary made by the tanager was never changed, but in the rest of
+the cage the goldfinch made himself at home, and at once assumed the
+position of protector. Seeing that the owner did not,&mdash;and sure it was
+somebody's duty,&mdash;he began to guard the door, warning away any one who
+wished to enter, with harsh scolding, fluttering of wings, and swelling
+up of his little body, amusing to see. The boldest bird in the room was
+awed by these demonstrations coming from the inside as though the cage
+were his own. The tanager looked on all this with some interest, but
+expressed no more gratitude at being protected than he had resentment at
+being driven from the bath.</p>
+
+<p>Soon I noticed a certain chattering talk from the small bird that he had
+never indulged in excepting to another of his kind&mdash;his companion when
+he first came to me. It was very low but almost continuous, and was
+plainly addressed to the tanager. As his friendliness progressed, he
+found the lower perch too far from his charmer, and not being allowed to
+sit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> beside him he took to clinging upon the outside of the cage as near
+to the tanager's usual seat as he could get. The only perching place he
+had there was a band of tin that held the wires steady, but in spite of
+what must have been the discomfort of the position, there he hung by the
+hour, talking, calling, and looking at his idol within. He left the spot
+only to eat and bathe, and I think if the cage had been supplied with
+seed he would never have gone at all. When the bird inside hopped to the
+perch at the other end of the cage, which was the extent of his
+wanderings, the finch at once followed on the outside, always placing
+himself as near as possible. It was really touching, to all but the
+object of it, who took it in the most indifferent way. When the tanager
+went down to eat, his escort accompanied him as far as the door perch,
+where he stood and looked on earnestly, ready to return to his old place
+the moment the luncheon was finished.</p>
+
+<p>On the rare occasions that the self-elected hermit went out, the
+goldfinch displayed great concern, evidently preferring to have his
+favorite at home where he could defend him. He flew uneasily across from
+the cage to his side, then back, as if to show him the way. He also
+desired to watch the empty house, to preserve it from intrusion, but was
+constantly divided<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> between his duties of special porter, and bodyguard.
+But he did his best, even then; he followed the wanderer. If the tanager
+went to a perch the goldfinch at once alighted on the same, about a foot
+away, and sidled up as near as he was allowed. He was free to come
+within about three inches, but nearer he was driven off, so the little
+fellow placed himself at this distance and there stayed patiently as
+long as his friend remained. If the latter had been more responsive, I
+believe the goldfinch would have nestled up against him.</p>
+
+<p>The tanager sometimes strayed into a strange cage, and then the anxious
+guard followed to the steps and even within, talking earnestly, and no
+doubt pointing out the danger, yet if the owner unexpectedly appeared he
+met him at the threshold and fiercely defended the door against the
+proprietor himself. Occasionally the erratic recluse went to the
+floor&mdash;a place never visited by his little attendant, whose trouble was
+almost painful to see. He at once placed himself on the lowest perch,
+stretched out and looked over, following every movement with his eyes,
+in silence, as though the danger was too great to allow conversation,
+and when his charge returned to a perch, he uttered a loud and joyous
+call as though some peril had been escaped.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The stanch little friend had many chances to show his loyalty. The other
+birds in the room were not slow to take advantage of one who never
+defended himself. In particular a Brazilian cardinal, a bold saucy
+fellow with a scarlet pointed crest and a loud voice, evidently
+considered the tanager cage common ground, open to everybody, until the
+goldfinch undertook its defense. It was amusing to see the small bird
+stand just inside, and rage, puff himself out, wave his wings, and
+fairly drive away the foe. So impertinent was the Brazilian that the
+finch declared general war upon him, and actually chased his big
+antagonist around the room and away from his favorite perches, hovering
+over his head, and flying around it in small circles, trying to peck it,
+till he flew away defeated, probably because he was too much amazed to
+think of resisting.</p>
+
+<p>This was not, however, the worst enemy he had to deal with. Next door to
+the tanager lived a robin, a big, rollicking, fun-loving fellow who
+considered such a retiring personage fair game. His pleasure was to see
+that the tanager went out every day, and he made it his business to
+enforce the regulation he had set up. His tactics were to jump upon the
+roof of the cage, coming down violently just over the head of the
+tanager, who, of course, hopped quickly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> to the other perch. Then the
+robin began a mad war-dance across the cage, wings held up, tail spread,
+bill clattering, and altogether looking as full of mischief as any bad
+boy one ever saw, while the tanager went wild below, flying in a panic
+back and forth, but not for some time thinking of leaving the cage. The
+instant this performance began, the little champion was upon him; he
+alighted at one end of the short tramping ground on the cage, and met
+his big foe with open beak and every sign of war. The robin simply
+lowered his head and went for him, and the little bird had to fly. He
+pluckily returned at once to the other end and faced him again.</p>
+
+<p>Observing that the goldfinch alone was not able to keep the robin away,
+I provided the cage with a roof of paper, which is usually a perfect
+protection, since birds dislike the rustle. It did not dismay this
+naughty fellow, however; on the contrary, it gave an added zest because
+of that very quality. He pranced across it in glee, making a great
+noise, and when the violence of his movements pushed it aside, he peered
+down on the tanager, who stood panting. The sight pleased him, and he
+resumed his pranks; he lifted the handle of the cage and let it drop
+with a clatter; he jerked off bits of paper and dropped them into the
+cage,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> and in every way showed a very mischievous spirit. Meanwhile, all
+through the confusion the goldfinch scolded furiously, flying around to
+get a peck at him, and in every way challenging him to fight.
+Occasionally, when he became too troublesome, the robin turned and
+snapped his beak at him, but did not choose to leave the bigger game.</p>
+
+<p>When at last he tired of his fun, or was driven away, the goldfinch flew
+to the side of the cage where the frightened tanager had taken refuge,
+though there was not even a strip of tin to hold on, uttered his loud
+cheerful call several times, plainly congratulating and reassuring him,
+and telling him all was safe; and here he clung with difficulty to the
+upright wires, all the time slipping down, till the tanager went to the
+upper regions again. Every time the robin so much as flew past, the
+tireless little fellow rushed out at him, scolding. When finally the
+robin went into his own cage, and the tanager returned to his usual
+place, the goldfinch at once assumed his uncomfortable perch and sang a
+loud sweet song, wriggling his body from side to side, and expressing
+triumph and delight in a remarkable way.</p>
+
+<p>The approach of spring made a change in the tanager. He had not so
+completely given up the world as it appeared. He began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> chirp, to
+call, and at last to sing. He was still so shy he went down behind his
+screen to sing, but sing he must and did. Now, too, he began to resent
+the attentions of his admirer, occasionally giving the poor little toes
+a nip, as they clung to the tin band near his seat. He also went out
+now, and turned an open beak upon his friend. From simply enduring him,
+he suddenly began offensive operations against him. Poor little lover!
+an ungrateful peck did not drive him away, but simply made him move a
+little farther off, and stopped his gentle twittering talk a while. But
+the tanager grew more and more belligerent. He came out every day, took
+soaking baths, and returned to his examination of the windows, for the
+trees were green outside, and plainly he longed to be on them. He stood
+and looked out, and called, and held his wings up level with his back,
+fluttering them gently.</p>
+
+<p>All this time the devotion of the little one never changed, though it
+was so badly received. When the tanager turned savagely and gave his
+faithful friend a severe peck, instead of resenting it the hurt bird
+flew to another perch, where he stood a long time, uttering occasionally
+a low, plaintive call, as if of reproach, all his cheerfulness gone, a
+melancholy sight indeed. I waited only for warm days to set free<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> the
+tanager, and at last they came. Early in June the bird was put into a
+traveling cage, carried into the country, where a lovely bit of woods
+and a pretty lake insured a good living, and the absence of sparrows
+made it safe for a bird that had been caged. Then the door was opened,
+and he instantly flew out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>The bird left at home seemed a little lost for a few days, moped about,
+often visited the empty cage, but in a short time entirely abandoned it,
+and evidently looked no more for his friend. But he is changed too: not
+quite so gay as before; not so much singing; and not a word of the soft
+chattering talk we heard so constantly while his beloved friend was
+here.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_ROSY_SHIELD" id="THE_ROSY_SHIELD"></a>THE ROSY SHIELD.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">Soft falls his chant as on the nest<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">Beneath the sunny zone,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">For love that stirred it in his breast<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">Has not aweary grown,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">And 'neath the city's shade can keep<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">The well of music clear and deep.<br /></div>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">And love that keeps the music, fills<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">With pastorial memories.<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">All echoing from out the hills,<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">All droppings from the skies,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">All flowings from the wave and wind<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">Remembered in the chant I find.<br /></div>
+<div class="i10"><div class="smcap">Elizabeth Barrett Browning.</div><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>XIV.</p>
+
+<p class="center">THE ROSY SHIELD.</p>
+
+
+<p>One of the most winning inhabitants of my bird-room last winter bore on
+his snow-white breast a pointed shield of beautiful rose-color, and the
+same rich hue lined his wings. With these exceptions his dress was of
+sober black and white, though so attractively disposed that he was an
+extremely pretty bird&mdash;the rose-breasted grosbeak.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was beauty his only attraction; he was a peculiar character, in
+every way different from his neighbors. He was dignified, yet his
+dignity was not like that of a thrush; he was calm and cool, yet not
+after the manner of an orchard oriole. He possessed a lovely gentleness
+of disposition, and a repose of manner unparalleled among my birds.
+Vulgar restlessness was unknown to him; flying about for mere exercise,
+or hopping from perch to perch to pass away time, he scorned. The
+frivolous way common to smaller birds of going for each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> seed as they
+want it, was beneath him. When he wished to eat he did so like a
+civilized being, that is, took his stand by the seed-cup, and stayed
+there, attending strictly to the business in hand till he had finished,
+leaving a neat pile of canary-seed shells in one spot, instead of the
+general litter common to cages. The meal over, he was ready to go out of
+the cage, place himself comfortably in one of his favorite corners, and
+remain for a long time, amused with the life in the room and the doings
+in the street, on both of which he seemed to look with the eye of a
+philosopher. In the same deliberate and characteristic way he disposed
+of a meal-worm, or a bit of beef, which he enjoyed. He never bolted it
+outright like a thrush, nor beat it to death like a tanager, nor held it
+under one toe and took it in mouthfuls like an oriole: he quietly worked
+it back and forth between his mandibles till reduced to a pulp, and then
+swallowed it.</p>
+
+<p>The rosy shield-bearer was pre&euml;minently a creature of habit. Very early
+in his life with us he selected certain resting places for his private
+use, and all the months of his stay he never changed them. The one
+preferred above all others was the middle bar of the window-sash, in the
+corner, and I noticed that his choice was always a corner. In this sunny
+spot he spent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> most of the time, closely pressed against the
+window-casing, generally looking out at the trees and the sparrow-life
+upon them, and regarding every passer-by in the street, not in an
+unhappy way, but apparently considering the whole a panorama for his
+entertainment. When events in the room interested him, his post of
+observation was a bracket that held a small cage, where he often sat an
+hour at a time in perfect silence, looking at everybody, concerned about
+everything, his rosy shield and white breast effectively set off by the
+dark paper behind him.</p>
+
+<p>Although thus immobile and silent, the grosbeak was far from being
+stupid. He had decided opinions and tastes as well defined as anybody's.
+For example, when he came to me his cage stood on a shelf next to that
+occupied by two orchard orioles, and he was never pleased with the
+position. He was hardly restless even there, while suffering what he
+plainly considered a grievance, but he was uneasy. I saw that something
+was wrong, and guessed at once that it was because his upper perch was
+three inches lower than that in the next cage, and to have a neighbor
+higher than himself is always an offense to a bird. As soon as I raised
+his cage he was satisfied on that score, and no more disturbed me in the
+early morning by shuffling about on his perch and trying to fly upward.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But still things were not quite to his mind, and he showed it by
+constantly going into the cage of the orioles and settling himself
+evidently with the desire of taking up his residence there. He was so
+gentle and unobtrusive everywhere, that no one resented his presence in
+the cage, and he could have lived in peace with almost any bird. But I
+wanted him contented at home, and moreover, I was curious to find out
+what was amiss, so I tried the experiment of removing his cage from its
+position next to the lively orioles, and hanging it alone between two
+windows, where, although not so light, it had the advantage of solitude.
+The change completed the happiness of the grosbeak. From that day he no
+more intruded upon others, but went and came freely and joyously to his
+own cage, and from being hard to catch at night he became one of the
+most easy, proceeding the moment he entered his home toward dark to the
+upper perch to wait for me to close the door before going to his
+seed-dish. In fact, he grew so contented that he cared little to come
+out, and often sat in his favorite corner of the cage by the hour, with
+the door wide open and the other birds flying around. Now, too, he began
+to sing in a sweet voice a very low and tender minor strain.</p>
+
+<p>Among his other peculiarities this bird<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> scarcely ever seemed to feel
+the need of utterance of any soft. On the rare occasions of any
+excitement he delivered a sharp, metallic "click"; a sudden alarm, like
+the attack of another bird, called out a war-cry loud and shrill, and
+very odd; and in the contest over the important question of precedence
+at the bath he sometimes uttered a droll squeal or whining sound.
+Besides these, he made singular noises in bathing and dressing his
+feathers, which are not uncommon among birds, but are difficult to
+describe. They always remind me of the rubbing of machinery in need of
+oil.</p>
+
+<p>This beautiful bird was not easily frightened; the only time I ever saw
+him seriously disturbed was at the sight of a stuffed screech-owl, which
+I brought into the room without thinking of its probable effect. I
+placed it on a shelf in a closet, and I soon noticed that the moment the
+closet door was opened the grosbeak became greatly agitated; he darted
+across the room to a certain retreat where he always hurried on the
+first alarm of any sort, and remained in retirement till the fancied
+danger was over, while the others flew madly about. In this place he
+stood posturing in much excitement, and uttering at short intervals his
+sharp "click." For some time I did not understand his conduct, nor think
+of connecting it with the owl on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> shelf; but when it did occur to me
+I tried the experiment of bringing it out into the room, when I
+immediately saw, what I should have remembered at once, that it was an
+object of terror to all the birds.</p>
+
+<p>The song of the rose-breasted grosbeak is celebrated, and I hoped my
+bird would become acquainted with us, and let out his voice; but I was
+disappointed in both respects, for he never became familiar in the
+least, and though not at all afraid he was very shy; and furthermore,
+upon my bringing into the room two small musical thrushes, the
+grosbeak&mdash;feeling, as I said, no need of utterance&mdash;readily relapsed
+into silence, and all the winter never sang a note. His conduct before
+the looking-glass indicated that he was not naturally so silent, and
+that he could be social with one who understood his language. Being
+unable to get another grosbeak, I tried to give him companionship by
+placing a small glass against one end of his cage. On seeing his
+reflection the bird was greatly agitated, began his low, whining cry,
+postured, bowed, turned, moved back and forth, and at last left the cage
+and looked for the stranger behind the glass. Not finding him he
+returned, had another interview with the misleading image, and ended as
+before in seeking him outside. At length he seemed to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> convinced that
+there was something not quite natural about it, for, feeling hungry, he
+went, with many a backward glance at the glass, to the floor, took a
+hemp-seed and carried it out into the room to eat, a thing he never did
+at any other time.</p>
+
+<p>I spoke of my bird's posturing; that was one of his pleasures, and
+almost his only exercise while he lived in the house. He was not
+graceful, his body was not flexible, and his tail was far from being the
+expressive member it is with many birds, it always stood straight out;
+he could raise it with a little jerk, and he had a beautiful way of
+opening it like a fan, but I never saw it droop or stir in any other
+way. In these movements his head and tail maintained the same relative
+position to the body, as though they were cut out of one piece of wood;
+but he bowed and leaned far over on one side, with his short legs wide
+spread; he passed down a perch, alternately crouching and rising, either
+sideways or straight; he jerked his whole body one side and then the
+other, in a manner ludicrously suggestive of a wriggle; he sidled along
+his perch, holding his wings slightly out and quivering, then slowly
+raised them both straight up, and instantly dropped them, or held them
+half open, fluttering and rustling his feathers.</p>
+
+<p>He had also a curious way of moving over a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> long perch: he proceeded by
+sidewise hops, and at each hop he turned half round, that is, the first
+step he faced the window, the next the room, the third the window again,
+and so on to the end, coming down at every jump as though he weighed a
+pound or two. He was much addicted to sitting with breast-feathers
+puffed out covering his toes, or sometimes with wings held a little way
+from his body, showing the delicate rose-colored lining, as though
+conscious how pretty he looked; and among other eccentric habits he
+often thrust out his tongue, first one side and then the other,
+apparently to clean his bill.</p>
+
+<p>Bathing and getting dry was conducted by this peculiar bird in a manner
+characteristic of himself. Slow to make the plunge, he was equally
+deliberate in coming out of the bath. When fairly in, he first thrust
+his head under, then sat up in the drollest way, head quite out of water
+and tail lying flat on the bottom, while he spattered vigorously with
+wings and tail. When he stepped out, the bath was over; he never
+returned for a second dip, but passed at once to a favorite corner of
+the window-bar, and stood there a most disconsolate-looking object,
+shivering with cold, with plumage completely disheveled, but making not
+the least effort to dry his feathers for several minutes. If the sun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+shone, he indulged himself in a sunning, erecting the feathers of his
+chin till he looked as if he wore a black muffler, opening his tail like
+a fan, spreading and crossing his wings over the back. This attitude
+made a complete change in his looks, showing white where black should
+be, and <i>vice versa</i>. This was the result of his peculiar coloring. Next
+the skin all feathers were the common slate-color, but outside of that
+each feather was black and white. On the back the black was at the tip,
+and the white between that and the slate-color; on the breast this order
+was reversed, and the white at the tip. Thus when wet the white and
+black were confused, and he resembled an object in patch-work. The
+rose-colored shield was formed by the slightest possible tips of that
+color on the white ends, and it was wonderful that they should arrange
+themselves in an unbroken figure, with a sharply defined outline, for
+each feather must have lain in its exact place to secure the result.</p>
+
+<p>The different ways in which birds greet advancing night has long been a
+subject of interest to me, some restless and nervous, others calm, and a
+few wild and apparently frightened. In no one thing is there more
+individuality of action, and in my room that winter were exhibited every
+evening quite a variety of methods. A brown thrush or thrasher on the
+approach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> of darkness became exceedingly restless, flying about his
+cage, going over and under and around his perches, posturing in
+extraordinary ways, uttering at every moment a strange, harsh-breathing
+sound. Two smaller thrushes met the evening hour by fluttering, and a
+queer sort of dance elsewhere described. Two orchard orioles saluted the
+twilight by gymnastics on the roof of the cage. The bluebirds made
+careful and deliberate arrangements for a comfortable night, while the
+grosbeak differed from all in simply fluffing himself out, and settling
+himself, on the first hint of dark, in the chosen corner, whence he
+scarcely moved, and as soon as objects grew indistinct he laid his head
+quietly in its feather pillow and stirred no more. The brightest
+gaslight an hour later did not disturb him; if a noise wakened him, he
+simply looked up to see what was the matter, but did not move, and soon
+turned back to his rest, when slight jerks of his wings, and faint
+complaining sounds, told that he not only slept, but dreamed.</p>
+
+<p>The bearer of the rosy shield was a persistent individual; having once
+taken a notion into his head, nothing would make him forget it or change
+his mind. Fully settled in his preference for a certain perch on the
+window, the coldest day in winter, with the wind blowing a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> gale through
+the crack between the sashes, would not make him desert it. Driving him
+away from the spot had not the slightest effect on him, he returned the
+moment he was left in peace. Thinking that another cage was more
+convenient for his use, nothing short of absolute shutting the door
+would keep him out of it. Nor did he forget about it either; if the door
+was accidentally left open, after being closed for weeks, he entered as
+quickly as though he had been in every day.</p>
+
+<p>This bird never showed any playfulness of disposition; indeed, he had
+too much dignity to do so. He never flew around the room as though he
+liked to use his wings, although they were perfect, and there was
+nothing to prevent if he chose. Nor did he display curiosity about his
+surroundings. The only things he appeared to notice were the doings of
+the birds and people in the room, and the moving panorama without, which
+latter he always viewed with equanimity, although the sound of a
+hand-organ aroused him to a sort of mild fury.</p>
+
+<p>As spring advanced, the beautiful grosbeak grew tuneful and often added
+his exquisite song to the rippling music of the small thrushes,
+and&mdash;with a little stretch of the imagination as to its duration&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">"Trilled from out his carmine breast,<br /></div>
+<div class="i0">His happy breast, the livelong day."<br /></div>
+</div></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_BIRD_OF_MYSTERY" id="THE_BIRD_OF_MYSTERY"></a>THE BIRD OF MYSTERY.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i0">For me there is a mystery unrevealed;<br /></div>
+<div class="i2">Sweet Nature, speak to me!<br /></div>
+<div class="i12"><span class="smcap">Lucy Larcom.</span><br /></div>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<p class="center break"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>XV.</p>
+
+<p class="center">THE BIRD OF MYSTERY.</p>
+
+
+<p>It is well that Nature has so carefully guarded the lives of her most
+beautiful birds, for it is a sad fact that, in the words of an eminent
+writer, "the winged order&mdash;the loftiest, the tenderest, the most
+sympathetic with man&mdash;is that which man nowadays pursues most cruelly."
+Had they been as accessible as sparrows, even although they equaled them
+in numbers, not one would by this time be alive on earth.</p>
+
+<p>The family whose extraordinary dress and mystery of origin justify its
+name&mdash;Birds of Paradise&mdash;is securely hidden in distant islands not
+friendly to bird-hunting races. Inaccessible mountains and pathless
+forests repel the traveler; impassable ravines bar his advance; sickness
+and death lie in wait for the white man, while the native lurks with
+poisoned dart behind every bush.</p>
+
+<p>The first of the race that came to us were heralded by myth and invested
+with marvels:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> they had no feet; they slept upon the wing; they fed upon
+dew, and hatched their eggs upon their backs. Such were the tales that
+accompanied the skins, magnificent beyond anything known to the world in
+the glory of plumage, and they were named Birds of Paradise. But science
+is supposed in these days to conquer all mysteries, and science armed
+itself with powder and shot, game bags, provision trains, and servants,
+and set out for the far-away inhospitable islands, the home of this, the
+most attractive of all. Science has solved many problems: the "Heart of
+Africa" has become a highway; the Polar sea and the source of the Nile
+are no longer unknown; but with her most persistent efforts during three
+hundred years she has not yet been able to give us the life history of
+this one feathered family. Many of her devotees have penetrated to its
+home and brought back fresh varieties; money, health, and life have been
+freely spent; but, save for a few strange and curious facts, we know
+little more of the manner of life of the Birds of Paradise than we did
+when we depended on the native legends. How some of them look we know;
+we have their skins wired into shape in our museums and gorgeously
+pictured in our books; but every traveler finds new kinds, and how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> many
+sorts there may be which have so far eluded the few and short visits of
+naturalists, no one is able to tell. Even of those we have, how scanty
+is our knowledge! What they eat we are told; how they bathe and dress
+their plumage; their loud calls and unmusical voices; the shyness of
+those whose conspicuous beauty sets a price upon their heads, and their
+"dancing parties," so graphically described by Wallace; but of their
+nesting we are in profound ignorance. Where the gravely dressed partners
+of the brilliant creatures set up the hearthstone none can tell, unless
+it be the mop-headed Papuan, and he will not.</p>
+
+<p>The colors lavished on the plumage would alone make the Birds of
+Paradise the wonder of the world; exquisite tints not surpassed by the
+humming-birds themselves, and of almost infinite variety, from the
+richest velvety purple to the gorgeous metallic greens, blues, and
+yellows, changing with every motion, and glittering in the sun like
+gems. But the marvelous freaks in the arrangement of the plumage are
+more specially interesting. So extraordinary a variety of forms, so
+unique and fantastic in disposal, are without parallel in the animal
+world. Some species are adorned with long, drooping tufts of plumes
+light as air, as the Red Bird of Paradise, and others bear
+strange-shaped,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> movable shields; part of the family wear ruffs, and
+others display fans on shoulders or breast; a few sport extravagant
+length of tail, and one or two show bright-hued wattles; one species is
+bare-headed, and&mdash;other vagaries being exhausted&mdash;two have curls. The
+greater number have an unusual development of two or more feathers into
+long, wire-like objects, with a patch of web at the ends. In one species
+these wires are formed into two perfect circles beyond the end of the
+tail; in another they cross each other in a graceful double curve, and
+in a third stand straight and stiff from the end of the feathers. The
+Sexpennis, or Golden Bird of Paradise, has on the head six of these
+shafts, which it erects at pleasure, producing a singular appearance;
+and the Standard Wing has two on each wing, equally effective. Perhaps
+the most peculiar fact about the family is the power each bird possesses
+to change its form by means of these eccentric ornaments. All are
+erectile and movable in several ways, and a bird that is at one moment
+like our common crow in shape, may in the next show a dazzling array of
+waving plumes or vibrating fans, and be utterly unrecognizable for the
+same creature. It is evident to all bird students that feathers are as
+surely an "index of the mind" as are tails<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> in cat and dog, and the
+manners and expression of this family would be a study of absorbing
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>Not to mention the birds already familiar in books, there are a few
+interesting peculiarities of some of the late discoveries, and the
+possible varieties are by no means exhausted, so that each new traveler
+who penetrates into their chosen home will doubtless have opportunity to
+see his own name Latinized into dignity and bestowed upon some brilliant
+and hitherto unknown bird, having a new disposition of plumage, or a
+color more beautiful&mdash;if conceivable&mdash;than any before. One of the most
+attractive of the recent additions to the list was made by Signor
+D'Albertis, and named for him <i>Drepanoris Albertisi</i>. In a letter to a
+Sydney newspaper he tells the story of the discovery, which occurred
+while he was living in a Papuan mansion built upon the trunks of trees,
+and reached by means of a long ladder. From this unique residence he
+made excursions into the mountains, and, among other things, had the
+good fortune to see two curious episodes in the life of the Six-shafted
+Bird of Paradise. He found this bird&mdash;which is not new to science&mdash;to be
+a noisy and solitary fellow, roaming the thick woods alone, dining upon
+figs and other fruits, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> indulging in the strange habit of "dusting"
+itself like a city sparrow. Happily he saw the whole operation.
+Selecting a suitable spot, the beautiful bird first cleared away the
+grass and leaves, and while the eager observer was wondering what all
+this preparation portended, suddenly flung itself to the ground, and
+rolled its rich plumage in the dust, fluttered the wings, elevated and
+depressed the six plumes on its head, and otherwise appeared to enjoy
+itself extremely. At another time the traveler witnessed a second
+uncommon scene in the deep interior of the forest. A bird of the same
+species alighted upon the ground, and after peering in every direction,
+either to make sure of being unobserved, or to discover an enemy or a
+friend, began a most singular performance, waving the six long plumes of
+the head, raising and lowering a small tuft of silvery white feathers
+over its beak, elevating a glittering crest on its neck, and spreading
+and drawing back the long feathers on its sides, every movement entirely
+changing its apparent shape. In a short time it began to jump from side
+to side and to assume an attitude of war, and all the time it never
+ceased uttering an uncommon note, as though calling for admiration or
+for a fight.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this curious exhibition followed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> the observer's great
+prize, the <i>Drepanoris Albertisi</i>, which is so rare that even to many of
+the natives it was a surprise. At the first glance this bird does not
+appear to deserve a place in the remarkable family. It is about the size
+of our common crow, brown on the back and lavender-gray below, with a
+curved bill more than three inches long. But closer study reveals
+several peculiarities: a bare space of bright blue around the eye,
+brilliant green on the throat, and a pair of feathery tufts standing up
+on the forehead like horns, with the crowning attraction of two pairs of
+fans, one behind the other on each side of the breast, capable of being
+folded smoothly against the body, or spread wide in two gorgeous
+semicircles altering the entire outlines of the creature. The first of
+the two admirable ornaments, when in repose, appears of the same
+violet-gray hue as the breast; but when raised the bases of the feathers
+are seen to be of a brilliant red, giving the effect of longitudinal
+stripes. The second pair is much longer, with deep margins of splendid
+purple instead of the stripes. When the possessor of all this splendor
+spreads its four fans, it also erects the long tail and opens it widely
+into a fifth fan, which produces an astonishing effect.</p>
+
+<p>Another of D'Albertis's contributions to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> mysterious family is among
+its most magnificent members, the <i>Paradisea Raggiana</i>. A fine specimen
+of this genus, mounted in the position described by Wallace as the
+"dancing" attitude of <i>P. Apoda</i>, the floating plumes elevated in a
+"golden glory" above the head, is the gem of the collection in the
+American Museum of New York. It resembles the Great Bird of Paradise,
+having long, airy plumes springing from under each wing. In general
+color golden brown, with yellow head and green throat. To this bird, as
+to others, beauty is a dangerous possession; and, as if feeling aware of
+the fact, it lives in the tops of tall trees, in the deepest forest,
+among the most inaccessible ravines. But wary though it be, one
+characteristic lures it to destruction&mdash;curiosity. A European hunter in
+his unfamiliar dress is an irresistible attraction; nearer and nearer it
+comes, hopping from branch to branch, pausing at every step to observe
+and study the intruder, with neck stretched and wings flapping, every
+moment uttering a peculiar cry, no doubt equivalent to "Come and look!"
+for it brings others upon the scene, till the pretty sight is rudely
+ended by a shot and a death-wound. The cry of distress brings the
+friends nearer, only to fall victims in their turn to the same murderous
+gun. Our traveler once surprised a female<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> of this species, and a droll
+proceeding followed. After flying several times around his head to see
+what sort of a creature he might be, she alighted on a vine, and turning
+heels over head, remained hanging head down, sharply scrutinizing his
+appearance from this point of view till he&mdash;shot her.</p>
+
+<p>A bare-headed bird would not seem to present any attraction to the lover
+of beauty, though it might be of scientific interest; but Nature, not
+having exhausted her resources upon the Birds of Paradise already
+mentioned, has even accomplished the feat of making a bald-headed
+beauty. The bare skin on the whole crown is of a brilliant blue color
+most oddly crossed by narrow rows of minute feathers, which irresistibly
+remind one of the sutures of the human skull. That color shall not be
+lacking, it bears, besides the blue of the head, black, straw color,
+bright red, and green; and is further adorned with two very long central
+tail feathers, which reach far beyond the rest of the tail, and return,
+making a complete circle; a rare and lovely ornament. A good specimen is
+among the later arrivals at the American Museum.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Manucodia</i> are the curly Birds of Paradise, and our knowledge of
+one of the latest and most novel of them is owing not to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+indefatigable naturalists who have braved the dangers and discomfort of
+their wild island home, neither to the English Wallace, the Dutch Von
+Rosenburg, the Italian Beccari, nor to D'Albertis, nor Bruiju, nor De
+Myer, whose names will be forever associated with the splendid family,
+but to a British officer of scientific tastes.</p>
+
+<p><i>M. Comrii</i> is the largest, and has more curls than any other yet
+discovered, for they not only decorate the top of the head, but extend
+down the neck, and form ridges over the eyes. Even the tail partakes of
+the general curve, which makes it boat-shaped, and&mdash;most fantastic of
+all&mdash;the two middle feathers are nearly an inch shorter than their next
+neighbors, and turned over at the ends so as to display the different
+color of their inner surface, and form what ladies call "<i>revers</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Such eccentricities are really not to be accounted for, as we cannot
+conceive they can be for any useful purpose" (!), gravely says science
+in the person of an English authority. This severely disapproved of
+plumage is blue with green lights on back and head, and black edged on
+every feather, with purple on the breast.</p>
+
+<p>Another species of the curly family, the Blue-green Paradise Bird (<i>M.
+Chalybea</i>), has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> been known to us for a hundred years, but its habits
+are as much a mystery as its curls. It is exquisite in color, of the
+richest purple, glossy as satin, with neck of deep green, and all
+crinkled and curled over head and neck.</p>
+
+<p>The Long-tailed Bird of Paradise is the proud possessor of twenty-two
+names, from which it were hard to make a selection. It is one of the
+largest, being twenty-two inches in length, most of which, however, is
+tail, and is splendid in soft velvet-like black with hints of green and
+blue and purple. On each side it carries a fan of curved feathers, and
+the plumes of the flanks are of the lightest and most delicate texture.
+Words cannot describe the grace and elegance of this bird, and the
+perfect specimen in the museum above mentioned is worthy of a pilgrimage
+to see.</p>
+
+<p>A "changeable" Bird of Paradise is the one remaining eccentricity
+conceivable to complete the variety in coloring, and this is found in
+the <i>Epimachus Ellioti</i>, a bird so rare that at the time Gould published
+his first work the specimen in his collection was unique, and
+naturalists in their excursions in the Papuan Islands have vainly tried
+to discover its home and learn its habits. The whole incomparable
+plumage is of rich changeable hues; in ordinary light, when perfectly
+motionless, the bird appears of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> a soft black, but on moving about the
+color varies from violet to maroon, from this to deep amethyst, and then
+to green, purple, and blue. A most extraordinary effect is produced when
+it faces the spectator with fan-plumes expanded, reaching so far above
+its head that they look like a pair of arms thrown up.</p>
+
+<p>The most interesting though not the most beautiful of the family is the
+Gardener bird, discovered a few years ago by the Italian naturalist
+Beccari. Here is a Bird of Paradise eccentric not in dress but in
+habits. His plumage is modest brown in several shades, so inconspicuous
+that the partner of his joys can wear the same tints, which she does.
+The bird is the size of a turtle-dove. Let the doctor himself tell the
+story of the discovery while walking through the beautiful forest, so
+thick that scarcely a ray of sunshine penetrated the branches. He says:</p>
+
+<p>"I suddenly stood before the most remarkable specimen of the industry of
+an animal. It was a hut or bower close to a small meadow enameled with
+flowers. The whole was on a diminutive scale, and I immediately
+recognized the famous nests described by the hunters of Bruiju. After
+well observing the whole I gave strict orders to my hunters not to
+destroy the little building. That, however, was an unnecessary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> caution,
+since the Papuans take great care never to disturb these nests or
+bowers, even if they are in their way. The birds had evidently enjoyed
+the greatest quiet until we happened, unfortunately for them, to come
+near them. I had now full employment in the preparation of my
+treasure.... I took colors and brushes, and went to the spot, and made
+the sketch which I now publish. When I was there neither host nor
+hostess was at home.... I could not ascertain whether this bower was
+occupied by one pair or more, whether the male alone is the builder, or
+whether the wife assists. I believe, however, that the nest lasts
+several seasons."</p>
+
+<p>The pleasing description of the house and lawn, with its many
+decorations, has been widely copied. "Being mostly near the entrance,"
+says the grave scientist in conclusion, surprised into sentiment, "it
+would appear that the husband offers there the daily gift to the wife,
+removing the objects to the back of the hut as they fade or wither." It
+is clever not only in building a house and lawn, but in imitating the
+songs and cries of other birds, and doing it so well, according to our
+author, that it brought "his hunters to despair."</p>
+
+<p>So few Birds of Paradise have entered the scientific world alive, and so
+little is known<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> of their manners, that the meagre accounts we have
+possess unusual interest. So long ago as early in the century Mr.
+Bennett, in his visit to Macao, wrote a statement of the ways of a Great
+Bird of Paradise (<i>P. Apoda</i>) which had been at that time in confinement
+nine years. His description of the toilet of the most exquisite of birds
+is delightful.</p>
+
+<p>"It washes itself regularly twice daily, and after having performed its
+ablutions, throws its delicate feathers up nearly over the head.... The
+beautiful subalar plumage is then thrown out and cleaned from any spot
+that may sully its purity by being passed gently through the bill, the
+short chocolate-colored wings are extended to the utmost, and he keeps
+them in a steady flapping motion, at the same time raising up the
+delicate long feathers over the back, which are spread in a chaste and
+elegant manner, floating like films in the ambient air. In this position
+the bird would remain for a short time, seemingly proud of its heavenly
+beauty. I never yet beheld a soil on its feathers. After expanding the
+wings it would bring them together so as to conceal the head, then
+bending gracefully it would inspect the state of its plumage
+underneath.... It then picks and cleans its plumage in every part within
+reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate tuft<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> of feathers
+underneath, they are cleaned in succession, if required, by throwing
+them abroad, elevating and passing them in succession through the bill.
+Then turning its back to the spectators, the actions above mentioned are
+repeated, ... and throwing its feathers up with much grace, appears as
+proud as a lady dressed in her full ball dress"(!). After further
+account of its taking grasshoppers from visitors, he concludes: "Should
+any of the insects fall to the floor of his cage he will not descend to
+them, appearing to be fearful that in so doing he should soil his
+delicate plumage."</p>
+
+<p>Almost equally charming is Mr. Bennett's observation of one that Wallace
+carried alive to London, which lived two years there and became
+exceedingly tame. It is this species whose dancing parties Wallace thus
+describes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"On one of these trees a dozen or twenty full-plumaged male birds
+assemble, raise their wings vertically over the back, stretch out their
+necks, and raise and expand their exquisite long plumes till they form
+two magnificent golden fans, which are kept in continual vibration.
+Between whiles they fly across from branch to branch in great
+excitement, so that the whole tree is filled with waving plumes in every
+variety of attitude and motion. In the position above mentioned the
+whole bird is overshadowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> by his plumage, the crouching body, yellow
+head, and emerald green throat form but the foundation and setting to
+the golden glory which waves above. Seen in this attitude the Bird of
+Paradise really deserves its name, and must be ranked as one of the most
+beautiful and most wonderful of living things."</p>
+
+<p>In truth, it is so transcendently beautiful that hunters have been
+astonished into forgetfulness of their guns, and no triumph was ever
+greater, for to recognize an attractive creature and lift the gun to
+take its life seems to be a single operation of many who carry the
+murderous weapon.</p>
+
+<p>The Twelve-wired, one of the better known varieties of the Birds of
+Paradise, is usually figured, and probably always mounted, with its
+exquisite plumes closely folded against its sides, but the French
+naturalist and traveler Le Vaillant, in his large work published early
+in the century, gives a representation of it under the name of <i>Le
+Nebuleux</i>, with feathers expanded to the uttermost, a truly magnificent
+display. All his figures, though sometimes incorrect, owing to the
+scanty knowledge of the time, have a great deal of life. Each bird is
+presented both in repose, with plumage all folded smoothly back, and in
+excitement, with every fan and ruff and erectile ornament fully spread.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This peerless family takes kindly to captivity, as has been amply proved
+by their enduring the voyage and living two years in the unfavorable
+climate of England, as well as by spending at least nine years in an
+aviary in China, and there is no reason why we in America should not
+have opportunity to admire them and study their habits from life. Would
+that some of our young explorers could be induced to turn from the
+ice-fields of the Poles, and the death-swamps of the Tropics, to seek
+these inimitable birds in the mountains and woods of the Papuan
+Islands&mdash;not to shoot for our museum shelves, but to study their manners
+and customs, and above all to introduce them into American aviaries,
+that a new and absorbing chapter might be added to our Natural
+Histories, and the Bird of Paradise cease to be the Bird of Mystery.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="index">
+<ul class="ix">
+  <li>African Parrot and Mocking-Bird, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Baltimore Oriole.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>pursue a blackbird, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li>
+      <li>baby ways, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li>
+      <li>attacked by robin, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li>
+      <li>an unnatural baby, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
+      <li>one at a time, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
+      <li>the father as drudge, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
+      <li>visited by the Cardinal, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Bird of Paradise, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>where found, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li>
+      <li>mythical stories of, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li>
+      <li>dancing parties, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li>
+      <li>colors, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li>
+      <li>arrangement of plumage, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li>
+      <li>Red Bird of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li>
+      <li>Golden, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
+      <li>Standard-wing, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
+      <li>change of form, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
+      <li>feathers an index of the mind, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
+      <li>interesting new discoveries, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
+      <li>Signor d'Albertis, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
+      <li>Six-shafted, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li>
+      <li>dusting itself, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li>
+      <li>curious scene, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li>
+      <li>a rare bird, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
+      <li>description of, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
+      <li>another new one, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
+      <li>specimen in N. Y. Museum, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
+      <li>description of <i>P. Raggiana</i>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
+      <li>danger of beauty, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li>
+      <li>a bare-headed bird, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li>
+      <li><i>Manucodia</i>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li>
+      <li><i>M. Comrii</i>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
+      <li><i>M. Chalybea</i>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li>
+      <li>Long-tailed, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
+      <li>changeable, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
+      <li><i>Epimachus Ellioti</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
+      <li>the Gardener bird, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li>
+      <li>description of nest, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li>
+      <li>a clever builder, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
+      <li>manners of <i>P. Apoda</i>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
+      <li>toilet, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li>
+      <li>dancing parties, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li>
+      <li>twelve-wired, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li>
+      <li>Le Vaillant's work, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Birds.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>home affairs of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
+      <li>dangers in nest, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
+      <li>hard work of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+      <li>training the young, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+      <li>study of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li>
+      <li>cruel pursuit of, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li>
+      <li>at twilight, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Bluebird, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>attitude and manners, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li>
+      <li>attitude and manners, female, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li>
+      <li>defending her spouse, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li>
+      <li>standing guard, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li>
+      <li>defending the young, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li>
+      <li>after the mocking-bird, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li>
+      <li>unsafe nest, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li>
+      <li>tragedy in the family, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li>
+      <li>consoling his mate, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li>
+      <li>an affectionate pair, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li>
+      <li>motherly affection, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li>
+      <li>arrangements for sleep, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li>
+      <li>queer little talk with me, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li>
+      <li>talk together, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-106.</li>
+      <li>staring at nothing, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li>
+      <li>his mate disapproves, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li>
+      <li>difference in intelligence, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li>
+      <li>demanding meal-worms, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li>
+      <li>expressing themselves, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li>
+      <li>learning by experience, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li>
+      <li>fond of worms, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li>
+      <li>trick on a scarlet tanager, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li>
+      <li>bathing, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li>
+      <li>bewitching dance, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li>
+      <li>sunning himself, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li>
+      <li>feathering out, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
+      <li>growing belligerent, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
+      <li>courtship, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
+      <li>he presents a worm, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li>
+      <li>refusing to share, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li>
+      <li>feeding through wires, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li>
+      <li>change in the song, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li>
+      <li>set free, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li>
+      <li>attacked by sparrows, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li>
+      <li>baby ways, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+      <li>bringing food to young, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Blue Jay, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>driving corks, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li>
+      <li>hammering, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li>
+      <li>destructiveness, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li>
+      <li>holes in the matting, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li>
+      <li>ornamenting books, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
+      <li>pounding upward, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
+      <li>hiding things, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
+      <li>his regular business, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li>
+      <li>clearing up the room, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li>
+      <li>setting off matches, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li>
+      <li>odd hiding-places, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li>
+      <li>in my hair, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li>
+      <li>intelligent interest, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.</li>
+      <li>likes and dislikes, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>-191.</li>
+      <li>showing fight, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li>
+      <li>war upon the baby, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li>
+      <li>expression of affection, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li>
+      <li>curiosity, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li>
+      <li>jumping, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li>
+      <li>queer way of alighting, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li>
+      <li>bird of opinions, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li>
+      <li>scolding the rain, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li>
+      <li>strange noises, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li>
+      <li>song, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li>
+      <li>stamping his feet, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li>
+      <li>in anger, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li>
+      <li>peaceful among the birds, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li>
+      <li>timid, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li>
+      <li>afraid of falling, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li>
+      <li>a jay-baby cry, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li>
+      <li>fond of music, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li>
+      <li>attended to business, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li>
+      <li>talking to me, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li>
+      <li>his demon of work, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li>
+      <li>in his vindication, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li>
+      <li>knew what he wanted, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li>
+      <li>human society, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li>
+      <li>tokens of affection, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li>
+      <li>love, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li>
+      <li>ice-cream and cake, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li>
+      <li>hiding his candy, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li>
+      <li>next in favor, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li>
+      <li>difference in treatment, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li>
+      <li>curious dance, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
+      <li>missed his frolics, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
+      <li>calling his playmate, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
+      <li>treatment of a young lady, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
+      <li>treatment of a youth, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
+      <li>treatment of the head of the household, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
+      <li>treatment of a maid, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
+      <li>afraid of a trap, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li>
+      <li>a wise bird, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
+      <li>cutting a wire, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
+      <li>loosening a rubber band, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
+      <li>a troublesome pet, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
+      <li>on my desk, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
+      <li>a cure for hammering, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li>
+      <li>learning to get under the cover, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li>
+      <li>prying into packages, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li>
+      <li>the waste basket, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li>
+      <li>after the photographs, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li>
+      <li>on the door, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li>
+      <li>flying out, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li>
+      <li>the open window, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
+      <li>learning to outwit him, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
+      <li>the other birds no society, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
+      <li>surprising his neighbors, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
+      <li>the room in a panic, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li>
+      <li>excitement over a grasshopper, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li>
+      <li>the oriole takes a hand, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li>
+      <li>afraid of a tree, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li>
+      <li>hiding the needles, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li>
+      <li>bathing, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li>
+      <li>beauty of plumage, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Brazilian Cardinal, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Cardinal Grosbeak, or Virginia C., <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>colors, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</li>
+      <li>her first admirer, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li>
+      <li>his first call, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li>
+      <li>a mind of her own, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li>
+      <li>his mistake, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li>
+      <li>reproaching her, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</li>
+      <li>violent wooing, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li>
+      <li>the obnoxious door, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li>
+      <li>the window, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li>
+      <li>exploring the room, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li>
+      <li>calling on the robin, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>-214.</li>
+      <li>war declared upon her, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li>
+      <li>the window problem, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li>
+      <li>lord-and-master, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li>
+      <li>curious performance, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li>
+      <li>hostilities, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li>
+      <li>jealousy, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
+      <li>the looking-glass, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
+      <li>calling on the tanager, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
+      <li>the bath, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
+      <li>calling on the orioles, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li>
+      <li>beginning to sing, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li>
+      <li>a queer game, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li>
+      <li>war again, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li>
+      <li>death of the persecutor, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li>
+      <li>Virginia relieved, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li>
+      <li>expression of crest, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li>
+      <li>a week's peace, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li>
+      <li>arrival of a stranger, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li>
+      <li>Virginia not pleased, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li>
+      <li>the second suitor goes, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li>
+      <li>left alone, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li>
+      <li>set free, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li>
+      <li>the successful wooer, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li>
+      <li>difficulty, studies under, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Golden-winged Woodpecker, or Flicker, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>in search of a nest, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li>
+      <li>heavy flight, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li>
+      <li>out of a bird store, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li>
+      <li>excessively wild, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li>
+      <li>getting acquainted, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li>
+      <li>peeping out, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
+      <li>expressing emotion, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
+      <li>in despair, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
+      <li>holes in the wall, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
+      <li>learning to eat, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
+      <li>peculiar attitudes, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li>
+      <li>sleeping, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li>
+      <li>restlessness, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li>
+      <li>taking naps, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li>
+      <li>a heavy sleeper, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li>
+      <li>dreaming, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li>
+      <li>hanging himself, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
+      <li>expression of sentiments, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
+      <li>the door opened, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
+      <li>running about the floor, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
+      <li>intelligence, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
+      <li>exploring the room, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li>
+      <li>investigating the nails, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
+      <li>visiting his neighbors, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
+      <li>up the ladder, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</li>
+      <li>teasing the goldfinch, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li>
+      <li>down the ladder, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li>
+      <li>stepping down backward, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li>
+      <li>going home, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
+      <li>asking to be let out, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
+      <li>suddenly familiar, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
+      <li>child-like disposition, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
+      <li>a silent bird, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
+      <li>a strange song, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
+      <li>an extraordinary display, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
+      <li>the baby of the family, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li>
+      <li>position of rest, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
+      <li>flicker talk, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Goldfinch, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Mocking-Bird.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>baby ways, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+      <li>study of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li>
+      <li>way of singing, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-44.</li>
+      <li>fables about, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-31.</li>
+      <li>nest, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
+      <li>domestic relations, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li>
+      <li>home in a pine grove, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
+      <li>wooing, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li>
+      <li>dance, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
+      <li>love or war? <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li>
+      <li>house hunting, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li>
+      <li>building in a storm, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li>
+      <li>on the winding stairs, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li>
+      <li>belligerent, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li>
+      <li>a call on his spouse, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li>
+      <li>frolic on the grass, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li>
+      <li>nest in the cedar, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li>
+      <li>the youngsters out, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li>
+      <li>feeding the babies, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li>
+      <li>the baby cry, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li>
+      <li>parental anxiety, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li>
+      <li>madam remonstrates, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li>
+      <li>telling the news, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li>
+      <li>out of the nest, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li>
+      <li>looks and manners of the infant, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li>
+      <li>a lively youngster, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li>
+      <li>an ignominious flop, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li>
+      <li>baby number two, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li>
+      <li>refuses to move on, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li>
+      <li>thieves&mdash;black and white, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li>
+      <li>behavior of a young singer, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li>
+      <li>had his own way, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li>
+      <li>number three neglected, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li>
+      <li>the cry-baby, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li>
+      <li>peculiar hops, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li>
+      <li>a curious performance, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
+      <li>the nest, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li>
+      <li>movements, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</li>
+      <li>lifting the wings, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
+      <li>disposition, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
+      <li>quarrel, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li>
+      <li>attack on a crow, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li>
+      <li>song, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li>
+      <li>as imitator, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Mocking-Bird in the house.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>mocking, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li>
+      <li>intelligence, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li>
+      <li>taking notes, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li>
+      <li>choice of colors, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li>
+      <li>enjoyment of liberty, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li>
+      <li>reason, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li>
+      <li>warmed by a lamp, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li>
+      <li>quiet observation, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li>
+      <li>submitting to imposition, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li>
+      <li>out of the cage, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li>
+      <li>studying surroundings, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li>
+      <li>the pin-cushion, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li>
+      <li>looking-glass, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li>
+      <li>settling his position, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li>
+      <li>the English goldfinch, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li>
+      <li>driven away from the bath, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li>
+      <li>the feathers flew, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li>
+      <li>scene between goldfinch and, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li>
+      <li>insulted by a thrush, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li>
+      <li>dispute over the bath, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li>
+      <li>worrying the Mexican, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li>
+      <li>with the wood thrush, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li>
+      <li>quarrel over the apple, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li>
+      <li>a war dance, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li>
+      <li>settling the thrush, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li>
+      <li>end of the apple contest, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li>
+      <li>decides to remove, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li>
+      <li>teasing the thrush, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li>
+      <li>graceful attack, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li>
+      <li>a change of tactics, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li>
+      <li>a determined enemy, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li>
+      <li>gracefulness, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li>
+      <li>bewitching ways, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li>
+      <li>expression of feathers, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li>
+      <li>the looking-glass, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li>
+      <li>manner of dressing, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
+      <li>lifting the wings, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
+      <li>steel pen, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
+      <li>attack on the parrot, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li>
+      <li>never startled, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li>
+      <li>caught under a shawl, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li>
+      <li>mad frolics, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li>
+      <li>fury of play, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li>
+      <li>reducing the finch to silence, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li>
+      <li>mischief, not malice, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Mexican thrush, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Nonpareil, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li>
+  <li>Nuthatch baby ways, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>visited by orioles, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Orchard Orioles, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>characteristics, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
+      <li>persistent singers, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li>
+      <li>making themselves conspicuous, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
+      <li>annoying ways, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
+      <li>shouting the news, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li>
+      <li>trouble in the family, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li>
+      <li>plumage, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
+      <li>two suitors to one maid, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
+      <li>he will have his way, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
+      <li>she flew for her life, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li>
+      <li>voice of female, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+      <li>beauty of female, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+      <li>restless manners, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+      <li>a war dance, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li>
+      <li>an anti-climax, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li>
+      <li>a meek damsel, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li>
+      <li>inquisitive, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li>
+      <li>visiting the mocking-bird's nest, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li>
+      <li>visiting nuthatches, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li>
+      <li>interested in me, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li>
+      <li>the crisis, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li>
+      <li>nesting time begun, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li>
+      <li>matters settled, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
+      <li>the honeymoon, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
+      <li>submitting to the inevitable, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
+      <li>nest building, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
+      <li>precipitate wooing, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li>
+      <li>grumbling husbands, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li>
+      <li>a feathered thief, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li>
+      <li>the end was not yet, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li>
+      <li>with a grasshopper, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Pewee, baby ways, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>learning to hover, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Plover, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li>
+  <li>Purple Crow Blackbird.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>in trouble, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li>
+      <li>launching the infants, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li>
+      <li>blackbird babies, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Rose-breasted Grosbeak, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>dress; characters, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li>
+      <li>manner of eating, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
+      <li>about the room, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
+      <li>a creature of habit, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li>
+      <li>intelligence, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
+      <li>had his own opinion, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
+      <li>change of place, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li>
+      <li>contented and happy, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li>
+      <li>a silent bird, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li>
+      <li>queer noises, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li>
+      <li>disturbed by an owl, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li>
+      <li>song, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>-249.</li>
+      <li>the looking-glass, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li>
+      <li>posturing, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li>
+      <li>curious movements, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li>
+      <li>bathing, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li>
+      <li>color, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
+      <li>night, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li>
+      <li>never playful, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Robin baby ways, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li>
+  <li>Robin called in by Cardinal, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>-214.</li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Scarlet Tanager and English Goldfinch, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>dress and manners, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</li>
+      <li>parties to the friendship, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</li>
+      <li>dislike to confinement, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</li>
+      <li>coming out, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li>
+      <li>the window glass, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li>
+      <li>the finch flies at him, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li>
+      <li>giving up the world, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li>
+      <li>dislike to be looked at, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</li>
+      <li>first sign of friendship, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li>
+      <li>the smallest bird, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li>
+      <li>progress of the friendship, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li>
+      <li>the tanager's boundary, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
+      <li>becoming protector, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
+      <li>beginning to talk, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
+      <li>perching outside, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</li>
+      <li>around the room, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li>
+      <li>in a strange cage, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li>
+      <li>on the floor, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li>
+      <li>driving the Brazilian, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li>
+      <li>the robin interferes, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li>
+      <li>the finch goes for him, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li>
+      <li>a new roof, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li>
+      <li>the mischievous robin, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li>
+      <li>approach of spring, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li>
+      <li>offensive operations, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li>
+      <li>anxious to go, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li>
+      <li>belligerent, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li>
+      <li>set free, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li>
+      <li>the deserted lover, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li>
+      <li>called on by cardinal, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Snowy Heron, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Tern, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li>
+
+  <li>Thrasher, or Brown Thrush, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>restlessness, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li>
+      <li>use of feet, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li>
+      <li>erratic movements, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li>
+      <li>way of approach, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li>
+      <li>sensational manners, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
+      <li>bathing, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
+      <li>waltzing around the bath, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
+      <li>excitement of the bath, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li>
+      <li>mischievousness, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li>
+      <li>teasing the finch, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li>
+      <li>tearing paper, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li>
+      <li>with a newspaper, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li>
+      <li>the magazines, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li>
+      <li>hammering, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li>
+      <li>jumping, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li>
+      <li>intelligence, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li>
+      <li>talking back, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li>
+      <li>expression of wings, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li>
+      <li>littleness of body, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li>
+      <li>the song, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li>
+      <li>in the twilight, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li>
+      <li>strange movements, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li>
+      <li>watching others, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
+      <li>in the spring, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Thrushes.
+    <ul class="ix">
+      <li>gray-cheeked, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li>
+      <li>song of, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li>
+      <li>Wilson's, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li>
+      <li>wonderful song, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li>
+      <li>whisper songs, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li>
+      <li>difference in character, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li>
+      <li>bewitching dance, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li>
+      <li>use of feet, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li>
+      <li>excitement, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li>
+      <li>a different dance, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li>
+      <li>bathing, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li>
+      <li>the bird in the glass, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li>
+      <li>alighting places, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
+      <li>enjoying a swing, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
+      <li>a snug retreat, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li>
+      <li>tearing papers, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li>
+      <li>lonely disposition, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li>
+      <li>belligerent, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li>
+      <li>set free, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li>
+      <li>surprise of freedom, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li>
+      <li>a call from a neighbor, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li>
+      <li>farewell to the Gray-cheeked, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
+    </ul></li>
+  <li>Thrush baby ways, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li>
+</ul><ul class="ix">
+  <li>Yellow-throated baby ways, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="OUT-DOOR_BOOKS" id="OUT-DOOR_BOOKS"></a>OUT-DOOR BOOKS</h2>
+
+<div class="center">
+<p>Selected from the Publications of</p>
+
+<p style="font-size:1.4em;">Houghton, Mifflin and Company,</p>
+
+<p><i>4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width:5em;" />
+
+<div class="book_list">
+<p><span class="title">Adirondack Stories. By <span class="smcap">P. Deming</span></span>. 18mo, 75 cents.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">A-Hunting of the Deer; How I Killed a Bear;</span> Lost in the Woods; Camping
+Out; A Wilderness Romance; What Some People call Pleasure. By <span class="smcap">Charles
+Dudley Warner</span>.  16mo, paper covers, 15 cents, <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">The American Horsewoman. By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Karr</span></span>.  Illustrated. New Edition.
+16mo, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. By <span class="smcap">Henry D. Thoreau</span></span>.  12mo,
+gilt top, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Birds and Bees. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span></span>.  With an Introduction by <span class="smcap">Mary E. Burt</span>,
+of Chicago. 16mo, paper covers, 15 cents, <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Birds and Poets, with Other Papers. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span></span>.  16mo, gilt top,
+$1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Birds in the Bush. By <span class="smcap">Bradford Torrey</span></span>.  16mo, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Birds through an Opera-Glass. By <span class="smcap">Florence A. Merriam</span></span>.  In Riverside
+Library for Young People. 16mo, 75 cents.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Bird-Ways. By <span class="smcap">Olive Thorne Miller</span></span>.  16mo, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Cape Cod. By <span class="smcap">Henry D. Thoreau</span></span>.  12mo, gilt top, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Country By-Ways. By <span class="smcap">Sarah Orne Jewett</span></span>.  18mo, gilt top, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Drift-Weed. Poems. By <span class="smcap">Celia Thaxter</span></span>.  18mo, full gilt, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Early Spring in Massachusetts. Selections from the Journals of <span class="smcap">Henry D.
+Thoreau</span></span>.  12mo, gilt top, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Excursions in Field and Forest. By <span class="smcap">Henry D. Thoreau</span></span>.  12mo, gilt top,
+$1.50.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Contents</span>: Biographical Sketch, by R. W. Emerson; Natural History of
+Massachusetts; A Walk to Wachusett; The Landlord; A Winter Walk; The
+Succession of Forest Trees; Walking; Autumnal Tints; Wild Apples;
+Night and Moonlight. </p></div>
+
+<p><span class="title">Favorite Flies. By <span class="smcap">Mary Orvis Marbury</span></span>.  With colored plates. Square 8vo.
+(<i>In Press</i>).</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Fishing with the Fly. A volume of original Essays on Angling. By Lovers
+of the Art. Edited by <span class="smcap">Charles F. Orvis</span> and <span class="smcap">A. Nelson Cheney</span></span>.  With
+colored Plates of 149 standard varieties of Flies. With Map and Index.
+Crown 8vo, $2.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Fresh Fields. English Sketches. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span></span>.  16mo, gilt top,
+$1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">The Gypsies. By <span class="smcap">Charles G. Leland</span></span>.  With Sketches of the English, Welsh,
+Russian, and Austrian Romany; and papers on the Gypsy Language. Crown
+8vo, $2.00.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Homestead Highways. By <span class="smcap">H. M. Sylvester</span></span>.  12mo, gilt top, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">In Nesting Time. By <span class="smcap">Olive Thorne Miller</span></span>.  16mo, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">In the Wilderness. Adirondack Essays. By <span class="smcap">Charles Dudley Warner</span></span>.  New
+Edition, enlarged. 18mo $1.00.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Land of the Lingering Snow. Chronicles of a Stroller in New England from
+January to June. By <span class="smcap">Frank Bolles</span></span>.  16mo, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Little Brothers of the Air. By <span class="smcap">Olive Thorne Miller</span></span>.  16mo, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Locusts and Wild Honey. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span></span>.  16mo, gilt top, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">The Maine Woods. By <span class="smcap">Henry D. Thoreau</span></span>.  12mo, gilt top, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">My Garden Acquaintance and a Moosehead Journal. By <span class="smcap">James Russell Lowell</span></span>.
+Illustrated. 32mo, 75 cents. <i>School Edition</i>, 40 cents, <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">My Summer in a Garden. By <span class="smcap">Charles Dudley Warner</span></span>.  16mo, $1.00.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Nantucket Scraps. Being the Experiences of an Off-Islander, in Season
+and out of Season. By <span class="smcap">Jane G. Austin</span></span>.  16mo, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Nature. "Little Classics,"</span> Vol. XVI. 18mo, $1.00.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Nature, together with Love, Friendship, Domestic Life, Success,
+Greatness, and Immortality. By <span class="smcap">R. W. Emerson</span></span>.  32mo, 75 cents; <i>School
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+16mo, $1.25.</p>
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+
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+
+<p><span class="title">Prose Pastorals. By <span class="smcap">Herbert M. Sylvester</span></span>.  12mo, gilt top, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">A Rambler's Lease. By <span class="smcap">Bradford Torrey</span></span>.  16mo, $1.25.</p>
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+
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+C. Agassiz</span></span>.  Illustrated. 8vo, $3.00.</p>
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+<p><span class="title">Sharp Eyes, A Taste of Maine Birch, The Apple, and other Essays. By <span class="smcap">John
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+
+<p><span class="title">The Shaybacks in Camp. Ten Summers under Canvas. By <span class="smcap">Samuel J</span>.  and <span class="smcap">Isabel
+C. Barrows</span></span>.  With Map of Lake Memphremagog. 16mo, $1.00.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">The Succession of Forest Trees, etc. By <span class="smcap">H. D. Thoreau</span></span>.  With Biographical
+Sketch by <span class="smcap">R. W. Emerson</span>.  16mo, paper covers, 15 cents, <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Summer. Selections from the Journals of <span class="smcap">H. D. Thoreau</span></span>.  With Map of
+Concord. 12mo, gilt top, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Tenting at Stony Beach. By <span class="smcap">Maria Louise Pool</span></span>.  16mo, $1.00.</p>
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+Young People. 16mo, 75 cents.</p>
+
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+Illustrated. 16mo, gilt top, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Walden; or, Life in the Woods. By <span class="smcap">Henry D. Thoreau</span></span>.  12mo, gilt top,
+$1.50. <i>Riverside Aldine Edition</i>. 2 vols. 16mo, $2.00.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Winter. From the Journal of Thoreau. Edited by <span class="smcap">H. G. O. Blake</span></span>.  12mo,
+gilt top, $1.50</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Winter Sunshine. By <span class="smcap">John Burroughs</span></span>.  New edition, revised and enlarged.
+With Frontispiece. 16mo, $1.25.</p>
+
+<p><span class="title">Woods and Lakes of Maine. A Trip from Moosehead Lake to New Brunswick in
+a Birch-Bark Canoe. By <span class="smcap">Lucius L. Hubbard</span></span>.  With Indian Place-Names and
+their Meanings, Illustrations, and large Map. 8vo, $3.00.</p>
+
+</div> <!-- book_list -->
+<hr />
+
+<p>&#x2042; <i>For sale by all Booksellers. Sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt
+of price by the Publishers</i>,</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<p style="font-size: 1.4em;">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN &amp; CO.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York.</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<h2>Transcriber's Notes:</h2>
+
+
+<p>Phoebes found only in the Table of Contents.<br />
+Pewees, however, are mentioned at the end of Chapter 1.</p>
+
+<p>Page 54<br />
+eye,[**eyes?] showing no fear and certainly no intention<br />
+This is unchanged.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In Nesting Time, by Olive Thorne Miller
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In Nesting Time, by Olive Thorne Miller
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: In Nesting Time
+
+Author: Olive Thorne Miller
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25292]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN NESTING TIME ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robin Monks, Joseph Cooper, Leonard Johnson
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+IN NESTING TIME
+
+BY
+
+OLIVE THORNE MILLER
+
+[Illustration]
+
+BOSTON AND NEW YORK
+HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
+The Riverside Press, Cambridge
+1893
+
+
+Copyright, 1888,
+BY H. M. MILLER.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+_The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._
+Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company.
+
+
+_"Very few people have the least idea what wild creatures are like.
+Their notion generally is to shoot them, and then pick them up for
+examination; which is the same thing as if some being of superior race,
+seeing children at play, were to shoot a few at long range, and then
+turn them over and describe them and consider himself learned in their
+structure, habits, and appearance."_--JEAN INGELOW.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+The sketches of bird manners and customs in this little collection are
+the record of careful observation, and scrupulously true in every
+particular. The facts may not all be new to Science, but since they are
+genuine studies from life, and each bird whose acquaintance I make is as
+truly a discovery to me as if he were totally unknown to the world, I
+venture to hope that lovers of birds may find in these pages real, live,
+individuals in feathers, honestly "brothers of ours."
+
+OLIVE THORNE MILLER.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+I. BABY BIRDS                                                        1
+
+  Purple Crow Blackbird. _Quiscalus quiscula._
+  Redwing Blackbird. _Ageloeus phoeniceus._
+  Yellow-Throated Warbler. _Dendroica dominica._
+  Baltimore Oriole. _Icterus galbula._
+  White-Bellied Nuthatch. _Sitta carolinensis._
+  American Robin. _Merula migratoria._
+  Phoebe. _Sayornis phoebe._
+
+II. BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE                                  19
+
+  Great White Heron. _Ardea occidentalis._
+  Bald Eagle. _Haliaeetus leucocephalus._
+  Wilson's Tern. _Sterna hirundo._
+  Ring Plover. _AEgialitis hiaticula._
+
+III. THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST                                        33
+
+  Mocking-Bird. _Mimus polyglottos._
+
+IV. A TRICKSY SPIRIT                                                65
+
+  Mocking-Bird. _Mimus polyglottos._
+
+V. THE "WISE BLUEBIRD"                                              95
+
+  Bluebird. _Sialia sialis._
+
+VI. THE GOLDEN-WING                                                113
+
+  Golden-Wing Woodpecker. _Colaptes auratus._
+
+VII. A STORMY WOOING                                               129
+
+  Orchard Oriole. _Icterus spurius._
+
+VIII. FLUTTERBUDGET                                                145
+
+  Brown Thrush, or Thrasher. _Harporhynchus rufus._
+
+IX. "O WONDROUS SINGERS"                                           159
+
+  Wilson's Thrush. _Turdus fuscescens._
+  Gray-Cheeked Thrush. _Turdus aliciae._
+
+X. A BIRD OF AFFAIRS                                               173
+
+  Blue-Jay. _Cyanocitta cristata._
+
+XI. THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN                                             189
+
+XII. VIRGINIA'S WOOING                                             205
+
+  Virginia Cardinal. _Cardinalis cardinalis._
+
+XIII. FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS                                       221
+
+  Scarlet Tanager. _Piranga erythromelas._
+  English Goldfinch. _Fringilla carduelis._
+
+XIV. THE ROSY SHIELD                                               237
+
+  Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. _Habia ludoviciana._
+
+XV. THE BIRD OF MYSTERY                                            251
+
+  Birds of Paradise. _Paradisaea._
+
+
+
+
+BABY BIRDS.
+
+                        And oft an unintruding guest,
+      I watched her secret toils from day to day;
+    How true she warped the moss to form the nest,
+      And modeled it within with wood and clay.
+    And by and by, like heath-bells gilt with dew,
+      There lay her shining eggs as bright as flowers,
+    Ink-spotted over, shells of green and blue:
+      And there I witnessed in the summer hours
+    A brood of Nature's minstrels chirp and fly,
+    Glad as the sunshine and the laughing sky.
+
+    JOHN CLARE.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+BABY BIRDS.
+
+
+"Ears have they, but they hear not," may be said of all the world.
+Tragedies and comedies go on continually before us which we neither see
+nor hear; cries of distress and prattle of infants, songs of love and
+screams of war, alike fall upon deaf ears, while we calmly discuss the
+last book or the news from Borriboo-lah-Gha, as completely oblivious as
+if all this stirring life did not exist.
+
+To be sure these things take place in the "upper stories," as Thoreau
+says, but they are none the less audible, and one is tempted to believe
+that bird voices are on a scale to which the untrained ear is not
+attuned. Once learn to hear, and nature is full of life and interest.
+The home affairs of our little neighbors whose modest cottage swings on
+a branch of the elm beside the door are more attractive than those of
+our fellow creatures in the house across the way partly because they are
+so open in their lives that our attentions do not seem intrusive, but
+more because their ways are not so familiar. We can guess how men and
+women pass their time, but we cannot guess why the cat-bird always sings
+from the middle of one particular shrub, nor where he has hidden his
+dusky spouse and nest full of babies; and after we know him we are eager
+to discover.
+
+Upon reaching the charming home of a friend in Massachusetts last June,
+almost the first thing I saw was a pair of purple crow blackbirds in
+trouble. First arose a medley of queer husky tones, clamorous baby
+cries, and excited oriole voices, with violent agitation of the leaves
+of a tall elm, ending with the sudden exit of a blackbird, closely
+followed by a pair of Baltimore orioles. The pursued flew leisurely
+across the lawn, plainly in no haste, and not at all with the air of the
+thief and nest robber he is popularly supposed to be. Clearly the elm
+belonged by bird custom to the orioles, for their pretty swinging
+hammock could be seen partly hidden by leaves, about halfway up the
+tree, and what business other than that of marauder had the sombre-hued
+enemy upon it?
+
+Now the blackbird has no secrets in his life; the whole world is welcome
+to know his affairs, and in fact he proclaims them loudly himself. It
+was easy to see that he had anxiety enough of his own just then,
+without thinking of disturbing his neighbors, for he was engaged in the
+task of introducing his young family to the world, and every bird
+watcher knows that is attended with almost as many difficulties as is
+the same operation in what we call "society."
+
+If the youngster escape the dangers peculiar to the nest, the devouring
+jaws of squirrel or owl, the hands of the egg thief, being shaken out by
+the wind, smothered by an intrusive cow-bunting, or orphaned by the gun
+of a "collector;" if, neither stolen, eaten, thrown out, nor starved, he
+arrives at the age that his wings begin to stir and force him out of the
+leafy green tent of his birth, a new set of dangers meet him at the
+door. He may entangle himself in a hair of the nest-lining, and hang
+himself at the very threshold of life--a not uncommon occurrence; or he
+may safely reach the nearest twig and from there fall and break his
+neck--not a rare accident; he may be attacked by a bird who questions
+his right to be on the tree; he may fly, and, not reaching his goal,
+come to the ground, an easy prey to any prowler.
+
+In this blackbird family one of the little ones had taken his first
+ambitious flight to the oriole's tree, where he must and should be fed
+and comforted, in spite of the hostile reception of its gayly dressed
+proprietor. The father took upon himself this duty, and many times
+during the day the above-mentioned scene was reenacted, loud blackbird
+calls, husky baby notes, the musical war-cry of the oriole, and a chase.
+
+A second infant had wisely confined his wandering to his own tree, one
+of a group of tall pines that towered above the roofs of the village.
+This one could be easily watched as he stood on one branch for an hour
+at a time, sometimes in the nest attitude, head sunk in shoulders and
+beak pointed toward the sky, again looking eagerly around on his new
+world, turning his head from side to side, changing position to see the
+other way, and showing himself wide awake although the yellowish
+baby-down was still on his head, and his tail was not an inch long. Now
+and then the mother was heard calling in the distance, and as she
+approached he became all excitement, fluttering his wings, and answering
+in the husky tones of the family. A moment later, after a quick glance
+around, but without alighting and reconnoitring the whole neighborhood,
+as the robin does, she came down beside the eager youngling,
+administered to the wide open mouth what looked like two or three savage
+pecks, but doubtless were nothing worse than mouthfuls of food, and
+instantly flew again, while the refreshed infant stretched his wings
+and legs, changed his place a little, and settled into comfortable quiet
+after his lunch.
+
+The urchin in the enemy's tree was not the most unfortunate of the
+nestlings. One already lay dead on the ground under the nest where it
+had fallen, and another came down during the day, though happily without
+injury. This one was not very bright, or perhaps his baby wits were
+dazed by his sudden descent. He made no objection to staying in my hand
+as long as I liked to look at him, and when I placed him on a low
+branch, as a hint that it was safer there, he declined to accept my
+advice, but flew off and came to the ground again. He was a scraggy
+looking, rusty black little fellow, the most unattractive young bird I
+ever saw. Shortly after this he clambered up on a pile of brush about a
+foot high, without so much as a leaf to screen him, and there he stayed
+all day, motionless, being fed at long intervals; and there I left him
+at night, never expecting to see him again. But in the morning he
+appeared on a low shrub on the lawn, and about nine o'clock he took
+courage to launch himself on wing. He flew very low across the street,
+and dropped into the tall grass at the foot of a lilac bush. Why the
+parents considered that less safe than the open lawn I could not see,
+but they evidently did, for one of them perched upon the lilac, and
+filled the air with anxious "chucks," announcing to all whom it might
+concern--after the fashion of some birds--that here was a stray infant
+to be had for the picking up. Perhaps, however, the hue-and-cry kept off
+the quiet-loving cat; at any rate nothing happened to him, I think, for
+in a day or two the three young birds became so expert on wing that the
+whole family left us, and I hope found a place where they were more
+welcome than in that colony of house and orchard birds.
+
+Not so quiet in their ways are the babies of another blackbird
+family--the redwings; restless and uneasy, the clumsy little creatures
+climb all about the bushes and trees, and keep both parents busy, not
+only in filling their gaping mouths, but in finding them when the food
+is brought. They are always seeking a new place, and from the moment of
+leaving the nest show in a marked way the unrest, the impatience of the
+redwing family.
+
+Quite as erratic is a much smaller bird, the yellow throated warbler,
+whose baby ways I have seen at the South. One of these bantlings no
+bigger than the end of a thumb will easily keep its parent frantically
+busy rushing about after food, and hunting up the capricious wanderer on
+its return.
+
+The wood thrush, on the contrary, is patience itself. A youngster of
+this lovely family sits a half hour at a time motionless and silent on a
+branch, head drawn down upon his shoulders, apparently in the deepest
+meditation. When he sees food coming he is gently agitated, rises upon
+his weak legs, softly flutters his wings and opens his mouth, but
+never--never cries. Should one put a hand down to take him, as seemingly
+could be done easily, he will slip out from under it, drop to the
+ground, and disappear, in perfect silence.
+
+The cry-baby of the bird world is the Baltimore oriole. As soon as this
+fluffy young person appears outside of his nursery, sometimes even
+before, he begins to utter a strange almost constant "chrr-r-r." He is
+not particularly active of movement, but he cannot keep silent. One
+little oriole mother whom I watched in Massachusetts had no help in
+raising her brood, her mate spending his time on the upper branches of
+the tree. He could not be blamed, however; he was, so far as I could
+see, perfectly willing to aid in the support of the family, but Madam
+actually would not allow him even to visit the homestead. When the young
+were out he assumed his share of the labor. The first yellow-haired
+bairn mounted the edge of the nest one morning, and after a little
+stretching and pluming, tried to fly. But alas he was held! Two or
+three times he renewed the attempt, his struggles always ending in
+failure, and I feared I should see a tragedy. Half an hour later the
+mother returned, and whether she pushed him down, or merely advised him
+to go back and try again, I cannot say. The fact is that he did
+disappear in the nest, where he remained for two or three hours, for it
+is probably safe to assume that the urchin who came up later was the
+same. This time, without delay upon the brink, he climbed upon a twig,
+hopped about a little, and before long flew several feet, alighting on a
+small branch of the same tree. Hardly had he established himself safely
+and resumed his ordinary call, when down upon him from above came a
+robin, who, strange to say, had a nest in one of the upper branches of
+the same tall maple. This robin had always recognized the right of the
+oriole parents to their share of the tree, but the young one was a
+stranger, and he fell upon him accordingly. He knocked him off his
+perch; the unfortunate little fellow fell a few feet, then gathered
+himself, fluttered and caught at the outside of a clump of leaves on the
+end of a twig, where after frantic struggling he managed to secure a
+hold. Perhaps the robin saw his mistake, for he paid no more attention
+to the new-comer, who did not stay long on the tree after this second
+disaster.
+
+The next morning came up out of the nest quite an unnatural oriole
+baby--he did not cry. Silently, he stepped out upon a twig, and looked
+about in the new world around him. He carefully dressed his feathers,
+and often rose to his full height and stretched his legs, as if it were
+legs and not wings he needed in his new life. The third scion of the
+household had also a marked character of his own. Having planted himself
+on the threshold, and found it a convenient place to intercept all food
+on its way to the younger ones still unseen, he remained. Every time the
+mother came with a mouthful, he fluttered and coaxed, and usually got
+it. It was too good a situation to leave and he seemed to have settled
+for life; but his wings overpowered his inertia or greed, about four
+o'clock in the afternoon.
+
+So long had the third young oriole occupied his position, that the
+fourth made his appearance almost immediately, as though he had been
+waiting. There does appear to be some regulation of this sort among the
+orioles, for in all that I have noticed, no two ever came out together
+(excepting once, when both went back almost instantly, and one returned
+alone). This late comer had not the whole long sunny day to loiter
+away, and he flew in an hour. The fifth and last came up early the next
+morning evidently in haste to join the scattered family, for he bade
+farewell to the native tree in a short time. No more orioles appeared
+upon the maple from this day, but for two weeks I saw the little party
+about; the father, whom I had missed after the flight of the first
+infant, working like a drudge, with two or three hungry urchins wherever
+he went, excepting when he sought food in the new-cut grass on the
+ground. He gave us no more songs, but his sweet, low call sounded all
+day on the place.
+
+Another family of little folk came upon the maple after the orioles were
+gone, a nuthatch tribe. There were three or four of them exactly like
+the mother excepting a shorter tail, and they followed her like a flock
+of sheep, over and under branches, around the trunk, up or down or any
+way, never pausing more than an instant, not even when she plumped a
+morsel into a waiting mouth. She led her little procession by her
+querulous-sounding "quank," while they replied with a low "chir-up" in
+the same tone. It was a very funny sight. They could fly nicely, but
+never seemed to think of looking for food, and it was plain that the
+busy little mother had no time to teach them. It was interesting to see
+her deal with a moth which she found napping on a fence. She ran at
+once to a crack or some convenient hole in the rough rail, thrust it in
+and hammered it down. When it was quiet she snipped off the wings,
+dragged it out, and beat it on the fence till it was fit for food, the
+family meanwhile gathered around her, clinging closely to the fence, and
+gently fluttering. These nuthatches were remarkably silent, but some
+that I once saw living near the top of two or three tall pines were
+quite noisy, and I spent much time trying to see what they were forever
+complaining about. There always seemed to be some catastrophe impending
+up in that sky parlor, but it never appeared to reach a climax.
+
+Charming to watch is the bluebird nestling; cheery and gentle like the
+parents, he seems to escape the period of helplessness that many birds
+suffer from, perhaps because he is patient enough to stay in the nest
+till his wings are ready to use. The mocking-bird baby has a far
+different time. Victim of a devouring ambition that will not let him
+rest till either legs or wings will bear him, he scrambles out upon his
+native tree, stretches, plumes a little in a jerky, hurried way, and
+then boldly launches out in the air--alas!--to come flop to the ground,
+where he is an easy prey to boys and cats, both of whom are particularly
+fond of young mocking-birds. These parents are wiser than the crow
+blackbirds, for not a sound betrays the accident in the family, unless,
+indeed, the little one is disturbed, when they make noise enough. They
+keep out of sight, no doubt closely watching the straggler until he gets
+away from people, for although he has proved that he cannot fly, the
+young mocker is by no means discouraged; he trusts to his legs, and
+usually at once starts off on a run "anywhere, anywhere, out (in) the
+world." When far enough away for them to feel safe in doing so, the
+parents come down and feed and comfort the wanderer, and it is a day or
+two before his wings are of much use to him.
+
+The most imperious young bird I know is the robin. He is perfectly sure
+he has a right to attention, and he intends to have it. If he is
+neglected too long and gets hungry, he calls loudly and impatiently,
+jerking himself up with a ludicrous air of stamping his feet. Even when
+he does condescend to go to the lawn with mamma, it is not to seek his
+food--far from it! It is to follow her around, and call every moment or
+two for something to eat. The idea that his individual exertions have
+anything to do with the food supply seems never to occur to him. He
+expects the fat morsels to fall into his mouth as they always have, and
+why should they not? He will soon be taught, for even baby-birds have to
+be educated.
+
+We have assumed in our easy-going way that birds "toil not" because they
+"do not spin," because they have not surrounded themselves with a
+thousand artificial wants, as we have. But the truth is that nobody can
+work harder than a pair of robins, for example, with four or five hungry
+mouths to fill, and every mouthful to be hunted up as it is wanted. No
+one would guess what an ever-yawning cavern a baby robin's mouth is,
+till he has tried to bring up a nestling himself. I once kept two small
+boys busy several days at high wages, digging worms for one young bird,
+and then I believe he starved to death.
+
+The training of our winged neighbors is most interesting, but so
+cautiously carried on that we rarely see it, though we may often hear
+the robin, oriole, whip-poor-will, and many others receive instruction
+in singing. I have once or twice surprised young birds at their lessons,
+as for instance, a pewee family learning to hover over the daisies, a
+beautiful operation of their parents which I never tired of watching. I
+was behind a blind when they came, a little flock of five or six. They
+were very playful, and kept near together, flying low over the grass,
+alighting in a row on the edge of a pail, coming up on the
+clothes-line, banging awkwardly against the house, and in every way
+showing ignorance and youth. I studied one for a long time as he
+balanced himself on the clothes-line and looked off at the antics of his
+brothers trying to learn the hovering. One of the parents flew out over
+the tall flowers, poising himself gracefully, his body held perfectly
+erect, legs half drawn up, turning his head this way and that, hanging
+thus in the air several seconds in one spot, then suddenly darting off
+to another like a humming-bird. The little ones in a row close together
+on a low branch of a shrub, looked on, and in a moment two or three
+sallied out and tried the same movement. They could fly well enough, but
+when they tried to pause on wing the failure was disastrous. Some
+tumbled out of sight into the daisies, others recovered themselves with
+violent efforts and returned hastily to the perch, complaining loudly.
+Then the parents brought food, and this went on for some time, while all
+the time the air was full of gentle twitters and calls, much baby-talk,
+and a little parental instruction no doubt.
+
+A delightful field of work awaits the young naturalist of to-day. Our
+predecessors have devoted their energies to classifying and arranging.
+They have dissected and weighed and measured every part of the little
+bodies; they know to a fraction the length of wings and tails; they have
+pulled to pieces the nests, "clutched" the eggs, and blown and mounted
+and labeled and set up in cases the whole external of the little
+creatures. All that can be learned by violence, all the characteristics
+evolved by fear and distress are duly set down in the books. You shall
+find a catalogue of the robin's possessions in the shape of feathers and
+bones, pictures of his internal anatomy, illustrations of his work in
+nest building, and specimens in all stages, but in the whole world of
+these books you shall not find the robin. The soul of the robin has
+escaped them, it is not to be taken by force.
+
+I do not find fault; it needed to be done, but happily--let us hope--it
+is done, and a more enticing field is now open, namely: to make personal
+acquaintance with the birds, find out how they live, their manners and
+customs, and their individual characters. This is one of the most
+charming studies in the world, but much more is required than a gun and
+a little or much scientific knowledge. There is infinite patience,
+perseverance, untiring devotion, and more,--a quick eye and ear, and a
+sympathetic heart. If you do not love the birds you cannot understand
+them.
+
+This is the pleasant path opening now, and in some ways it is
+particularly suited to woman with her great patience and quiet manners.
+Once interested in the lives in the "upper stories," you will find them
+most absorbing; novels will pall upon you, fancy work seem frivolous,
+society duties a bore, and talk--loud enough to interfere with
+listening--an impertinence.
+
+
+
+
+BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE.
+
+                He loved the ever deepening brown
+    Of summer twilights on the enchanted hills;
+    Where he might listen to the starts and thrills
+    Of birds that sang and rustled in the trees,
+    Or watch the footsteps of the wandering breeze,
+    And the bird's shadows as they fluttered by,
+    Or slowly wheeled across the unclouded sky.
+
+    RICHARD WATSON GILDER.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+BIRD-STUDY IN A SOUTHERN STATE.
+
+
+The most interesting experience in several years of bird-study was a
+trip to a Southern State for the purpose of making acquaintance with the
+mocking-bird.
+
+Adventures began before the lights of New York sank below the horizon;
+adventures more strange than agreeable, for the journey was by steamer.
+Hardly had we passed out of the bay when there began a gentle roll which
+speedily sent passengers to bed. When we passed Long Branch the motion
+was a steady rock from side to side, that made one feel like a baby in a
+cradle, and before bedtime it was a violent swing that flung one about
+like a toy, and tossed the furniture around like doll-house belongings.
+
+Holding on to the side of the berth with both hands, I passed the night
+listening to the labored strokes of the engine and the crashing of the
+loosened freight in the hold, and entertained by the eccentric conduct
+of the loose articles in my state-room, a trunk, chair, life-preserver,
+plate, saucer, and teaspoon, which with one accord, and in spite of all
+I could do by most ingenious wedging, joined in a peculiar dance between
+the outer wall and the inner partition of my room. At one moment they
+rested quietly in their several ways, against the wall; the steamer
+lurched, and all started madly across the floor, the heavy things first,
+and the lighter bringing up the rear, each banging violently against the
+partition, with thump, rattle, or jingle according to its nature, then
+in a moment dashing back so furiously that I feared to see the thin
+planks yield and my trunk go out to sea by itself. Not that I cared for
+my trunk--my life was the subject that interested me at the time.
+Outside, too, the doors and blinds rattled, the tiller-chain chattered
+and wailed and sobbed like a woman in distress, and above all other
+sounds rose the dismal fog horn, for a pall of mist had settled over us.
+
+Day differed from night only in being light, for the sole prospect from
+the guards was one moment the fog above, where the sky should be, the
+next the depths of the sea yawning as if to receive the ship into its
+bosom. In this manner, during two days and three nights, we rolled on to
+our destination, and for days after my feet touched blessed Mother Earth
+I reeled and staggered like a drunken man.
+
+After the storm, the calm. There followed upon this rough voyage weeks
+of quiet, delightful bird-study, whose long sunny-days were passed in
+the fragrant depths of pine groves, under arching forest of sweet-gum
+trees, or on the shore of the salt marsh; but wherever, or however,
+always following and spying out the ways of the feathered world.
+
+The bird of the South--the mocking-bird, was the first object of study.
+By day he was watched and noted, during the long twilight he was
+listened to, and at midnight sleep was often banished by his wonderful
+and enchanting voice. Gray and inconspicuous in coloring, we all know
+him in the cage; but how different in freedom! how wild and bewitching
+his song! how wise and knowing his ways! how well worth weeks of study
+is this one bird!
+
+Here were dozens of other birds also. What keen delight to one fresh
+from the town, to look over the marsh where
+
+    "Leagues and leagues of marsh grass, waist high, broad in the blade,
+    Green and all of a height, and unflecked with a light or a shade,
+    Stretch leisurely off in a pleasant plain
+    To the terminal blue of the main;"
+
+to watch the great snowy heron sweeping over with broad white wing,
+tripping gracefully about on the edges of the channels, and toward
+night betaking itself to a line of trees in the distance, that looked as
+if full of snowy blossoms that moved and changed about and at last
+settled for the night; to see the bald eagle catch a big fish and call
+his mate to help him eat it; to watch the lesser tern hover with yellow
+bill pointed downward and sharp eye fixed on the water, and at length
+stiffen his wings and dive head first into it, bringing out his prey,
+and filling the air with cries in a complaining, squealing tone that
+always reminds one of a young pig; to gaze fascinated at the bewitching
+flight of the ring-plover, sweeping low over the water in a small flock,
+now almost invisible as the sombre-colored backs turn toward you, now
+suddenly flashing bright as silver when the breasts come into sight,
+moving in perfect unison as if impelled by one will. More, many more
+birds of the marsh attract and draw one, but inland is the mocking-bird,
+and after a walk along the shore, always my feet turned to the groves
+and the fields where the matchless bird lives his life.
+
+To see, as well as hear a wild mocking-bird sing, is worth a journey,
+even over the rolling deep. I passed hours in a pleasant grove beyond
+the gardens and fields, watching and listening to one bird whose concert
+hall it was. The grove was the audience room where one might be in the
+shade and not too conspicuous in watching him. His chosen place was in
+the sunshine, for this bird is a sun-worshiper. I always found him
+singing when I reached the spot. Perhaps on the top spike of a young
+pine-tree, balanced on one, or sometimes on two adjoining top
+twigs--which of course stand straight up--stood the singer, madly
+shouting his most peculiar medley. He looked at me as I passed near his
+perch, but did not pause in his song. After I had taken my seat he
+flew--singing as he went--alighted nearer, on the upper sprig of a
+cedar, turned his eyes upon me, and treated me to another performance,
+while I looked and listened enchanted.
+
+Nor was I the only listener. Ever and anon while absorbed in the
+entertainment, or waiting, breathless, for a new note, I was startled by
+a rustle, and a low "Good evenin' Missis," and glanced up to see a negro
+stealing along in a stealthy way. It might be a woman with a big bundle
+or basket on her head, possibly a slouching young man or "boy" with an
+air of interest in my eccentric proceedings, or a group of youngsters
+with nothing particular to do, but one and all perfectly silent in
+movement. No wonder they know all about the birds, and lay violent hands
+on eggs, nests, or nestlings as they choose, creeping around as they do
+without a sound. It is only surprising that a bird is left in the State,
+so persistently do they rob the nests. Naturally the mocking-bird, for
+which they can always find purchasers, is the most desirable, and white
+as well as black persecute that bird unceasingly.
+
+"You can't keep them from the negroes," said a young white man. "I've
+often been watching a nest to get the young ones myself, but some nig
+was sure to take it before me."
+
+Speaking of negroes, I never saw so many idle men and grown boys. Not a
+spot could be found so secluded that one or more did not soon make his
+appearance. Selecting the quiet yard of a summer cottage, a
+deserted-looking place not yet opened for the season, in which to study
+the ways of the birds in peace, I was often disturbed by a negro passing
+across the lawn, taking no heed of fences, for there's no sort of a
+fence in that country that they will not pass over as if it were not
+there. Of course this always put to flight the dramatis personae of my
+study. One day an interesting (or interested) person of color appeared
+on the scene equipped for white-washing, and proceeded to adorn tree
+trunks, fences, buildings, etc., etc., relieving his labors by
+questioning me about northern manners and customs. On another occasion
+when I was looking anxiously to see a certain family of nestlings make
+exit from the nest, a building that I supposed to be a shut-up
+store-room was thrown open, a wash-tub appeared before the door, and I
+found that a family of eight, including four children, had moved in, not
+thirty feet from my chosen seat, and of course to the utter destruction
+of any seclusion.
+
+I could not select a single spot in the neighborhood, favorable to quiet
+study, without having it made desolate or turned into a thoroughfare.
+The loveliest place I found at all was a footpath passing for about
+fifty feet through a fringe of low cedar, sweet gum trees, and shrubs
+loaded with pink lily-of-the-valley shaped blossoms. Across the path ran
+a brooklet, a mere thread of water, so shallow that small birds stood in
+the middle to bathe, though it deepened into a pool below, where frogs
+croaked and plunged. It was cool; it was quiet, far from the everywhere
+present negro hut; there was no sound but the trickle of the streamlet
+as it fell into the pool, and the softened roar of the ocean beyond the
+wide salt marsh.
+
+To this nook I went every day, always trying to surprise the birds at
+their usual occupations, but never quite succeeding; for steal in
+quietly as I might I always heard low remarks, a slight flutter of
+wings, and usually saw a dark form or two departing near the ground
+behind some shrub. Slowly and quietly, however, I took my seat on a bank
+close under a thick bush,--while the silence around me was as profound
+as if no wing had ever fluttered there,--and became as motionless as
+circumstances would allow, for beside the birds there were other tenants
+not half so shy.
+
+After a few moments, when the ripple I caused had died away, sounds of
+life began again; unknown water creatures made queer noises in the pool
+below, low bird tones, unfamiliar scraps of song fell on the ear,
+ordinary ways were resumed.
+
+In this pleasant place I made acquaintance with the painted-finch, or
+nonpareil, who was least frightened of the small birds, and stood
+patiently on a cedar twig till I became quiet, then came down in plain
+sight, waded up to the tops of his firm little legs in the water, and
+deliberately took his bath before my very face. Here also I had a call
+from Bob White, who cautiously lifted a striped cap and a very bright
+eye above the grass tops to look at me. He did not introduce himself;
+indeed, after a moment's steady gaze his head dropped and I saw him no
+more, but I heard him rustle in the grass on the way to the
+strawberries, of which he demands--and gets--his share.
+
+Ruin fell upon this charming retreat in this wise. One day on my
+approach I saw commotion in the shrubs and two negroes at work chopping
+great branches out on each side of the path, letting in the sun to my
+bank, and turning it into a hideous wreck. I protested.
+
+"Why is this? What are you doing?"
+
+"Oh, we're just cuttin' some pea-poles!" they replied calmly. They had
+been too lazy or too indifferent to step ten feet on one side into the
+thicker copse, and leave the pretty path in its beauty, and the mischief
+was done, and after all it was not my business. I passed on.
+
+Bird-study has other annoyances in that part of the world beside the
+human beings of whom I have spoken. Next, perhaps, are the sufferings
+which wring the heart all the while. John Burroughs has written the
+tragedies of the nests; he could add a chapter more tragical than all,
+should he visit the haunts of the mocking-bird. Nothing can be more
+dreadful than the systematic and persistent war made upon this bird, of
+which nevertheless every Southerner is proud.
+
+Lastly, the hindrances which Dame Nature herself throws around her
+mysteries. There are the prickly pears, sowed broadcast over the land so
+thickly that one can hardly avoid stepping on them, with thorns sharp as
+needles, and as long. One of an inch in length that I had the curiosity
+to examine had forty-five thorns, equal to two papers of number six
+sharps, that stuck out in every direction, and would pass through an
+ordinary shoe with perfect ease. This interesting vegetable has no local
+attachments whatever, and readily clings to any part of one's garment.
+
+Then there are the mosquitoes with which the same careful mother peoples
+the groves, even in April, industrious little creatures not in the least
+enervated by the climate. But her grand dependence, judiciously settled
+indeed, is on the sand flies. Wherever there is not a howling
+gale--there are the flies in millions, most indefatigable and maddening
+of pests. And finally, to take home with you, to remind you pleasantly
+of her hospitalities when you have reached your own room, is the tick!
+
+Ties from the outer world began at last to draw. The birdlings in the
+nest were not ready to come out, and growing impatient I drew upon the
+knowledge--or rather the ignorance--of the residents and heard some
+surprising statements, which further observation, however, did not
+confirm. That the mocking-bird baby lives for three weeks in the nest;
+that part of that time the parents carry the nestlings about on their
+backs; that when old enough the young are pushed out of their nest, and
+always fall to the ground.
+
+And the authors of these fables were grown-up, and had passed their
+lives among the mocking-birds. I curbed my impatience, stayed another
+week, and saw all the nestlings out, and the nest deserted.
+
+Another charge also fell to the ground on careful observation. The
+farmers complain--as farmers are apt to complain of their best friends,
+the birds--that the mocking-bird eats strawberries. I set myself to
+watch a fine patch full of ripe and tempting berries, several times when
+no one was near. Many birds came about, mocking-birds, crows, kingbirds,
+orchard orioles, and others. The mocking-birds ran down between the rows
+of vines catching grasshoppers, the crows did the same service, walking
+with dignity. The kingbirds chased flies, the orioles searched the fruit
+trees for insects. One and all were working in the interest of the
+strawberry grower. And while I watched, an hour or more at a time, not
+even for dessert after filling their stomachs with insects, did one take
+a berry, which I am sure they might be considered to have earned.
+
+I know one lady--would there were more like her--who owns a garden on
+Long Island, and when her gardener comes in and says something _must_
+be done to prevent the birds destroying fruit, calmly says: "Certainly,
+set out another row of plants. Let us have enough for the birds by all
+means, and for ourselves too."
+
+
+
+
+THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST.
+
+    Whate'er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say.
+    Then down he shot, bounced airily along
+    The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song
+    Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again.
+    Sweet Science, this large riddle read me plain:
+    How may the death of that dull insect be
+    The life of yon trim Shakespeare, on the tree?
+
+    SIDNEY LANIER.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NEST.
+
+    "Superb and sole upon a plumed spray
+    That o'er the general leafage boldly grew,"
+
+
+as literally as though Lanier had sketched that particular bird, stood
+the first free mocking-bird I ever heard. His perch was the topmost twig
+of the tallest tree in the group. It was a cedar, perhaps fifteen feet
+high, around which a jasmine vine had clambered, and that morning opened
+a cluster of fragrant blossoms at his feet, as though an offering to the
+most noted singer on our side of the globe. As I drew near he turned his
+clear, bright eye upon me, and sang a welcome to North Carolina; and
+several hours later, when the moon rose high over the waters of the
+Sound, he completed his perfect performance with a serenade, the like of
+which I fear I may never hear again. I chose to consider his attentions
+personal, because, of all the household, I am sure I was the only one
+who listened, and I had passed over many miles of rolling and tossing
+ocean to make his acquaintance.
+
+Nothing would have been easier, or more delightful, than to pitch one's
+tent in a certain pine grove not far away, and pass days and weeks in
+forgetting the world of cares, and reading favorite books, lulled at all
+hours of day and night by the softened roar of the ocean and the
+wonderful bird
+
+    "Singing the song of everything,
+    Consummate sweet, and calm."
+
+But it was not merely as singer that I wished to know him; nor to watch
+his dainty and graceful ways as he went about the daily duties of
+food-hunting, singing, and driving off marauders, which occupied his
+hours from dawn to late evening, and left him spirit enough for many a
+midnight rhapsody. It was in his domestic relations that I desired to
+see him,--the wooing of the bride and building the nest, the training of
+mocking-bird babies and starting them in the world; and no loitering and
+dreaming in the pine grove, however tempting, would tell me this. I must
+follow him to his more secluded retreats, see where he had set up his
+homestead.
+
+Thoreau--or is it Emerson?--says one always finds what he looks for, and
+of course I found my nests. One pair of birds I noticed through the
+courtship, the selection of the site, the building and occupying of the
+nest; another couple, already sitting when discovered, I watched
+through the incubation and nursing of the little ones, and at last
+assisted in giving them a fair chance for their lives and a start in the
+world. It may be thought that my assistance was not particularly
+valuable; the birds shared this opinion; none the less, but for my
+presence not one of those birdlings would be free and happy to-day, as I
+hope and believe they are. To the study of these two households I gave
+nearly every hour of daylight, in all weathers, for a month, and of the
+life that went on in and around them I can speak from personal
+knowledge; beyond that, and at other times in his life, I do not profess
+to know the mocking-bird.
+
+The bird whose nest-making I witnessed was the one whose performance I
+chose to consider a welcome, and his home was in the pine grove, a group
+of about twenty trees, left from the original forest possibly, at any
+rate nearly a hundred feet high, with all branches near the top, as
+though they had grown in close woods. They were quite scattering now,
+and lower trees and shrubs flourished in their shade, making a charming
+spot, and a home worthy even of this superb songster. The bird himself
+was remarkably friendly. Seeming to appreciate my attitude of admiring
+listener, he often perched on the peak of a low roof (separated only by
+a carriage drive from the upper "gallery" where I sat), and sang for
+hours at a time, with occasional lunches; or, as Lanier, his most ardent
+lover, has it,--
+
+    "Then down he shot, bounced airily along
+    The sward, twitched in a grasshopper, made song
+    Midflight, perched, prinked, and to his art again."
+
+Whatever he did, his eyes were upon me; he came to the corner nearest me
+to sing, and was so intelligent in look and bearing that I believe he
+liked a quiet listener.
+
+His wooing, however, the bird did not intend me to see, though two or
+three times I surprised him at it. The first part that I chanced upon
+was curious and amusing. A female, probably the "beloved object," stood
+demurely on one of the dead top branches of a large tree down in the
+garden, while her admirer performed fantastic evolutions in the air
+about her. No flycatcher ever made half the eccentric movements this
+aerial acrobat indulged in. He flew straight up very high, executing
+various extraordinary turns and gyrations, so rapidly they could not be
+followed and described, and came back singing; in a moment he departed
+in another direction, and repeated the grotesque performance. He was
+plainly exerting himself to be agreeable and entertaining, in
+mocking-bird style, and I noticed that every time he returned from an
+excursion he perched a little nearer his audience of one, until, after
+some time, he stood upon the same twig, a few inches from her. They were
+facing and apparently trying to stare each other out of countenance; and
+as I waited, breathless, to see what would happen next, the damsel
+coquettishly flitted to another branch. Then the whole scene was
+repeated; the most singular and graceful evolutions, the songs, and the
+gradual approach. Sometimes, after alighting on a top twig, he dropped
+down through the branches, singing, in a way to suggest the "dropping
+song" so graphically described by Maurice Thompson, but never really
+falling, and never touching the ground. Each performance ended in his
+reaching the twig which she occupied and her flight to another, until at
+last, by some apparently mutual agreement, both flew, and I saw no more.
+
+A remarkable "dance" which I also saw, with the same bird as principal
+actor, seems to me another phase of the wooing, though I must say it
+resembled a war-dance as well; but love is so like war among the lower
+orders, even of men, that it is hard to distinguish between them. I
+shall not try to decide, only to relate, and, I beg to say, without the
+smallest exaggeration. The dances I saw were strictly _pas-de-deux_,
+and they always began by a flash of wings and two birds alighting on the
+grass, about a foot apart. Both instantly drew themselves up perfectly
+erect, tail elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees, and wings held
+straight down at the sides. Then followed a most droll dance. Number one
+stood like a statue, while number two pranced around, with short,
+mincing steps and dainty little hops which did not advance him an inch;
+first he passed down the right, then turned and went down the left, all
+in the queer, unnatural manner of short hops and steps, and holding
+himself rigidly erect, while number one always faced the dancer,
+whichever way he turned. After a few moments of this movement, number
+one decided to participate, and when his partner moved to the right he
+did the same; to the left he still accompanied him, always facing, and
+maintaining the exact distance from him. Then number two described a
+circle around number one, who turned to face him with short hops where
+he stood. Next followed a _chasse_ of both birds to the right; then a
+separation, one dancing to the right and the other to the left, always
+facing, and always slowly and with dignity. This stately minuet they
+kept up for some time, and appeared so much like a pair of
+old-fashioned human dancers that when, on one occasion, number two
+varied the performance by a spring over the head of his partner, I was
+startled, as if an old gentleman had suddenly hopped over the head of
+the grand dame his _vis-a-vis_. When this strange new figure was
+introduced, number one proved equal to the emergency, hopping backward,
+and turning so dexterously that when his partner alighted they were
+facing, and about a foot apart, as before. The object of all this was
+very uncertain to a looker-on. It might be the approaches of love, and
+quite as probably the wary beginnings of war, and the next feature of
+the programme was not explanatory; they rose together in the air ten
+feet or more, face to face, fluttering and snatching at each other,
+apparently trying to clinch; succeeding in doing so, they fell to the
+ground, separated just before they touched it, and flew away. O wings!
+most maddening to a bird-student.
+
+It was not very long after these performances, which seem to me to
+belong to the courtship period, when I noticed that my bird had won his
+bride, and they were busy house-hunting. The place they apparently
+preferred, and at last fixed upon, was at an unusual height for
+mocking-birds, near the top of one of the tall pines, and I was no less
+surprised than pleased to see them lay the foundation of their home in
+that spot. I congratulated myself that at least one brood in North
+Carolina would have a chance to come to maturity and be free; and so
+persistent is the warfare waged against this bird--unfortunately
+marketable at any stage from the egg--that I almost doubt if another
+will. The day after they began building a northwest storm set in, and
+for three days we had high winds and cold weather. In spite of this, the
+brave birds persevered, and finished their nest during those three days,
+although much of the time they made infrequent trips. It was really most
+touching to watch them at their unnatural task, and remember that
+nothing but the cruelty of man forced them to it (one nest had been
+destroyed). Their difficulty was to get up against the wind, and, having
+little experience in flying upward, they made the natural mistake of
+starting from the foot of their chosen tree. Sometimes, at first, they
+flew with the body almost perpendicular; and afterwards, when they held
+the body in proper position, they wished to go so directly up that they
+turned the head back over the shoulder to see where they were going. The
+wind, too, beat them far out of their course, and they were obliged to
+alight and rest, occasionally being forced to cling to the trunk of a
+tree to recover breath and strength to go on. They never attempted to
+make the whole ascent at once, but always stopped four or five times,
+perching on the ends of fallen branches, of which there were eight or
+ten below the living part of the pine. Even when no wind disturbed them,
+they made these pauses on the way, and it was always a hard task to
+reach the top. They learned, after a few days, however, to begin their
+ascent at a distance, and not approach the tree till at least half as
+high as they wished to go, which simplified the matter very much. It was
+beautiful to see them, upon reaching the lowest of the living branches,
+bound gayly up, as though over a winding stair, to the particular spot
+they had fixed upon.
+
+During the building I missed the daily music of the singer. Occasionally
+he alighted on the roof, looked over at me, and bubbled out a few notes,
+as much as to say, "You must excuse me now; I am very busy;" but all the
+time I hoped that while sitting was going on I should have him back. I
+reckoned ignorantly; I did not know my bird. No sooner was he the
+possessor of a house and family than he suddenly became very wary. No
+more solos on the roof; no more confidential remarks; no more
+familiarities of any sort. Now he must beware of human beings, and even
+when on the grass he held himself very erect, wings straight down,
+every instant on guard. His happiness demanded expression in song,
+certainly, but instead of confining himself to the roof he circled the
+lawn, which was between two and three hundred feet wide. If he began in
+a group of cedars on the right, he sang awhile there, then flew to the
+fence next the road without a pause in the music, and in a few minutes
+passed to the group of pines at the left, perched on a dead branch, and
+finished his song there. It was most tantalizing, though I could but
+admit it a proof of intelligence.
+
+Another change appeared in the bird with the advent of family cares: he
+was more belligerent; he drove the bluebird off the lawn, he worried the
+tufted titmouse when it chanced to alight on his tree, and in the most
+offensive way claimed ownership of pine-trees, lawn, and all the fence
+bordering the same. Neighboring mocking-birds disputed his claim, and
+many a furious chase took place among the trees. (So universal is their
+habit of insisting upon exclusive right to certain grounds that two
+mocking-birds are never found nesting very near each other, in that part
+of the country. This I was assured, and found it true of those I
+observed.) These little episodes in his life kept the pine-tree bird
+from dullness, while his mate was engaged in the top of the tall pine,
+where, by the way, he went now and then to see how she was getting on.
+Sometimes his spouse received him amiably, but occasionally, I regret to
+say, I heard a "huff" from the nest that said plainly, "Don't you touch
+those eggs!" And what was amusing, he acknowledged her right to dictate
+in the matter, and meekly took his departure. Whenever she came down for
+a lunch, he saw her instantly, and was ready for a frolic. He dropped to
+the grass near her, and they usually indulged in a lively romp, chasing
+each other over and through the trees, across the yard, around the
+garden, and back to the lawn, where she went on with her eating, and he
+resumed his singing.
+
+While I was watching the pine-tree household, the other nest, in the top
+of a low, flat-topped cedar, perhaps twenty-five feet high, and
+profusely fringed with Spanish moss, became of even more interest. I
+could not see into the nest, for there was no building high enough to
+overlook it, but I could see the bird when he stood upon the edge.
+Sitting, in a warm climate, is not particularly close work. Although the
+weather was cool, yet when the sun was out the sitter left her nest from
+six to eight minutes at a time, and as often as once in twenty minutes.
+Of course in rain she had not so much liberty, and on some days left
+only when her mate was ready to take her place, which he frequently did.
+
+On the ninth day of my watching (I had not seen the beginning of the
+sitting), the 3d of May, I found work was over and the youngsters were
+out. There was much excitement in the cedar-tree, but in a quiet way; in
+fact, the birds became so silent and so wary in approaching the nest
+that it required the closest watching to see them go or come, and only
+occasionally could I detect any food in the beak. I discovered very soon
+that mocking-bird babies are brought up on hygienic principles, and have
+their meals with great regularity. For some time both parents were
+exceedingly busy, going and coming almost constantly; then there came a
+rest of a half hour or more, during which no food was brought. Each bird
+had its own way of coming to the tree. Madam came over the roof of the
+cottage where I sat, and was exposed to view for only a few feet, over
+which she passed so quickly and silently that I had to be constantly on
+the alert to see her at all. The singer had another way, and by rising
+behind a hickory-tree beyond the cedar managed to keep a screen of
+branches between him and myself nearly every foot of the way. I could
+see them both almost every time, but I could not always tell whether
+they carried food. Now the bluebird, honest soul, always stops in plain
+sight to rest, with his mouth full of dainties for his young brood, and
+a robin will stand staring at one for two minutes with three or four
+wriggling worms in his beak. It is quite a different affair in the
+mocking-bird family, as is certainly natural, after the persecution it
+has endured. No special fear of me was the cause,--it is a marked
+peculiarity of the bird; and I think, with a little study, one could
+learn to know exactly the moment the eggs hatch by the sudden silence
+and wariness of both birds. Poor little creatures! a sympathetic friend
+hates to add to the anxiety they suffer, and he cannot help a feeling of
+reproach when the brave little head of the family alights on the fence,
+and looks him straight in the eye, as if to demand why he is subjected
+to all this annoyance. I had to console myself by thinking that I was
+undoubtedly a providence to him; for I am certain that nothing but my
+watching him so conspicuously that every negro within a mile saw me,
+saved his family to him, so low and easy of access was the nest.
+
+The day those nestlings were one week old they uttered their first cry.
+It was not at all a "peep," but a cry, continued a few seconds; at
+first only when food was offered to them, but as they increased in age
+and strength more frequently. It was much like a high-pitched
+"[=e]-[=e]-[=e]," and on the first day there was but one voice, which
+grew rapidly stronger as the hours went by. The next day another and a
+weaker cry joined the first, now grown assured and strong. But the music
+of the father was hushed the moment the youngsters began; from that time
+until they had left the nest, he sang not a note in my hearing. Perhaps
+he was too busy, though he never seemed to work so hard as the robin or
+oriole; but I think it was cautiousness, for the trouble of those
+parents was painful to witness. They introduced a new sound among their
+musical notes, a harsh squawk; neither dog nor negro could cross the
+yard without being saluted with it. As for me, though I was meekness
+itself, taking the most obscure position I could find, and remaining as
+absolutely motionless as possible, they eyed me with suspicion; from the
+first they "huffed" at me, and at this point began to squawk the moment
+I entered the gate. On one occasion I discovered that by changing my
+seat I could actually see the nest, which I much desired; so I removed
+while the birds were absent. Madam was the first to return, with a
+beakful of food; she saw me instantly, and was too much excited to
+dispose of her load. She came to my side of her tree, squawked loudly,
+flapping her wings and jerking herself about. I remained motionless and
+did not look at her, pretending to be absorbed in my book; but she
+refused to be mollified. It evidently did not please her to have me see
+so plainly; she desired to retain the friendly screen of leaves which
+had secured her a small measure of privacy. I could not blame her; I
+felt myself intrusive; and at last I respected her wishes and returned
+to my old place, when she immediately calmed down and administered the
+food she had held till then. Poor mother! those were trying times. Her
+solicitude overpowered her discretion, and her manner proclaimed to
+every one within hearing that the nestlings were out. Then, too, on the
+eighth day the little ones added their voices, and soon called loudly
+enough to attract the dullest of nest-robbers. I was so fearful lest
+that nest should be disturbed that I scarcely dared to sleep o' nights;
+the birds themselves were hardly more anxious than I was.
+
+The eleventh day of the birdlings' life was exceedingly warm, without a
+breath of air stirring, suffocating to humanity, but preeminently
+inspiring to mocking-birds, and every singer within a mile of me, I am
+sure, was singing madly, excepting the newly made parent. Upon reaching
+my usual seat I knew at once, by the louder cry, that a young bird was
+out of the nest, and after some searching through the tree I found
+him,--a yellowish-drab little fellow, with very decided wing-markings, a
+tail perhaps an inch in length, and soft slate-colored spots, so long as
+almost to be streaks, on the breast. He was scrambling about the
+branches, always trying to get a higher place, calling and perking his
+insignificant tail in true mocking-bird fashion. I think the parents
+disapproved this early ambition, for they did not feed him for a long
+time, though they passed him to go to the nest. So far from being
+lightened, their cares were greatly increased by the precociousness of
+the youngster, and from this moment their trouble and worry were
+grievous to see. So much self-reliance has the mocking-bird, even in the
+nest, that he cannot be kept there until his legs are strong enough to
+bear his weight, or his wings ready to fly. The full-grown spirit of the
+race blossoms out in the young one at eleven days, and for several more
+he is exposed to so many dangers that I wonder there is one left in the
+State.
+
+The parents, one after the other, came down on to a bush near my seat to
+remonstrate with me; and I must admit that so great was my sympathy, and
+so uncomfortable did I feel at adding in the least to their anxiety,
+that I should never have seen that young family fledged, only that I
+knew perfectly well what they did not, that I was a protection to them.
+I tried to reassure the mother by addressing her in her own language (as
+it were), and she turned quickly, looked, listened, and returned to her
+tree, quieted. This sound is a low whistling through the teeth, which
+readily soothes cage birds. It interests and calms them, though I have
+no notion what it means to them, for I am speaking an unknown tongue.
+
+The baby on the tree was not quiet, climbing about the branches every
+moment that he was not engaged in dressing his feathers, the first and
+most important business of the newly emancipated nestling. After an hour
+or more of watching there was a sudden stir in the family, and the
+youngster made his appearance on the ground. He was not under the side
+of the tree on which he had been resting, so, although I did not see the
+passage, I knew he had not fallen, as he is popularly said to do, but
+flown as well as he was able. I started slowly down the yard to examine
+the little stranger, but was absolutely startled by a cry from the
+mother, that sounded exactly like "Go 'way!" as I have often heard a
+negro girl say it. Later it was very familiar, a yearning, anxious
+heart-aching sound to hear.
+
+The youth was very lively, starting off at once on his travels, never
+for an instant doubting his own powers. I saw his first movement, which
+was a hop, and, what surprised and delighted me, accompanied by a
+peculiar lifting of the wings, of which I shall have more to say. He
+quickly hopped through the thin grass till he reached a fence, passed
+down beside it till a break in the pickets left an open place on the
+bottom board, sprang without hesitation upon that, and after a moment's
+survey of the country beyond dropped down on the farther side. Now that
+was a lane much frequented by negroes, and, being alarmed for his
+safety, I sent a boy after him, and in a moment had him in my hand. He
+was a beautiful little creature, having a head covered with downy dark
+feathers, and soft black eyes, which regarded me with interest, but not
+at all with fear. All this time, of course, the parents were scolding
+and crying, and I held him only long enough to look carefully at him,
+when I replaced him on the grass. Off he started at once, directly
+west,--like the "march of empire,"--went through the same fence again,
+but further down, and, as I could tell by the conduct of the parents, in
+a few moments was safely through a second fence into a comparatively
+retired old garden beyond, where I hoped he would be unmolested. Thus
+departed number one, with energy and curiosity, to investigate a
+brand-new world, fearless in his ignorance and self-confidence, although
+his entrance into the world had not been the triumphant fly we might
+look for, but an ignominious "flop," and was irresistibly and
+ludicrously suggestive of the manner of exit from the home nest of
+sundry individuals of our own race, which we consider of much greater
+importance.
+
+The young traveler set out at exactly ten o'clock. As soon as he was out
+of sight, though not out of hearing,--for the youngster as well as the
+parents kept the whole world of boys and cats well informed of his
+whereabouts for three days,--I returned and gave my attention to number
+two, who was now out upon the native tree. This one was much more quiet
+than his predecessor. He did not cry, but occasionally uttered a
+mocking-bird squawk, though spending most of his time dressing his
+plumage, in preparation for the grand _entree_. At twelve o'clock he
+made the plunge and came to the ground in a heap. This was plainly a
+bird of different disposition from number one; his first journey
+evidently tired him. He found the world hard and disappointing, so he
+simply stayed where he dropped in the middle of the path, and refused to
+move, though I touched him as a gentle reminder of the duty he owed to
+his parents and his family. He sat crouched upon the gravel and looked
+at me with calm black eye, showing no fear and certainly no intention of
+moving, even indulging in a nap while I waited.
+
+Now appeared upon the scene several persons, both white and black, each
+of whom wanted a young mocking-bird for a cage; but I stood over him
+like a god-parent and refused to let any one touch him. I began to fear
+that I should have him on my hands at last, for even the parents seemed
+to appreciate his characteristics and to know that he could not be
+hurried, and both were still busy following the vagaries of number one.
+The mother now and then returned to look after him and was greatly
+disturbed by his unnatural conduct--and so was I. He appeared stupid, as
+if he had come out too soon, and did not even know how to hop. It was
+twenty minutes by the watch before he moved. His mother's calls at last
+aroused him; he raised himself upon his shaky little legs, cried out,
+and started off exactly as number one had done,--westward, hopping, and
+lifting his wings at every step. Then I saw by the enormous amount of
+white on his wings that he was a singer. He went as far as the fence,
+and there he paused again. In vain did the mother come and scold; in
+vain did I try to push him along. He simply knew his own will, and meant
+to have it; the world might be strange, but he was not in the least
+interested. He rested in that spot fifteen or twenty minutes more, while
+I stood guard as before, and preserved him from cages of both negroes
+and whites. At last he did manage to squeeze through the fence, and,
+much relieved, I left him to the old birds, one of whom was down in the
+lot beyond the garden, no doubt following up his ambitious first-born.
+
+Whoever, meanwhile, was left in the nest had a poor chance of food, and
+one was already crying. It was not until six o'clock that the birds
+seemed to remember the nestling; then it was well fed, and left again.
+Nothing would be easier than to follow the wandering youngsters, see how
+they got on and how soon they were able to fly, but this so disturbed
+the parents I had not the heart to do it; and besides I feared they
+would starve the infants, for one was never fed while I was near.
+Doubtless their experience of the human race forbade their confiding in
+the kindly intentions of any one. It was well that only two of the young
+appeared in one day, for keeping track of them was so serious a matter
+that two parents could scarcely manage it.
+
+Number three differed from both of his elders; he was a cry-baby. He
+was not bright and lively like number one, and he did not squawk like
+number two, but he cried constantly, and at six P. M. I left him calling
+and crying at the top of his voice. Very early the next morning I
+hastened to the scene of yesterday's excitement. Number three was out on
+the tree. I could hear number two still crying and squawking in the
+garden, and from the position and labors of the male I concluded that
+number one was in the next lot. It was a dismal, damp morning, every
+grass-blade loaded with water, and a heavy fog driving in from the sea.
+I hoped number three would know enough to stay at home, but his fate was
+upon him, and no rain was ever wet enough to overcome destiny. At about
+eight o'clock he stretched his little wings and flew to the ground,--a
+very good flight for his family, nearly thirty feet, twice as far as
+either of his predecessors had gone; silently, too,--no fuss about it.
+He began at once the baby mocker's hop with lifted wings, headed for the
+west fence, jumped upon the lower board, squeezed through and was off
+down the garden before the usual crowd of spectators had collected to
+strive for his head. I was delighted. The parents, who were not near
+when he flew, came back soon and found him at once. I left him to them
+and returned to my place.
+
+But silence seemed to have fallen upon the cedar, late so full of life.
+In vain I listened for another cry; in vain I watched for another visit
+from the parents. All were busy in the garden and lot, and if any baby
+were in that nest it must surely starve. Occasionally a bird came back,
+hunted a little over the old ground in the yard, perched a moment on the
+fence, and saluted me with a low squawk, but their interest in the place
+was plainly over.
+
+After two hours I concluded the nest was empty; and a curious
+performance of the head of the late family convinced me it was so. He
+came quite near to me, perched on a bush in the yard, fixed his eyes on
+me, and then, with great deliberation, first huffed, then squawked, then
+sang a little, then flew. I do not know what the bird meant to say, but
+this is what it expressed to me: "You've worried us all through this
+trying time, but you didn't get one of our babies! Hurrah!"
+
+In the afternoon I had the nest brought down to me. For foundation it
+had a mass of small twigs from six to eight inches long, crooked and
+forked and straight, which were so slightly held together that they
+could only be handled by lifting with both hands, and placing at once in
+a cloth, where they were carefully tied in. Within this mass of twigs
+was the nest proper, thick and roughly constructed, three and a half
+inches in inside diameter, made of string, rags, newspaper, cotton
+wadding, bark, Spanish moss, and feathers, lined with fine root fibre, I
+think. The feathers were not inside for lining, but outside on the upper
+edge. It was, like the foundation, so frail that, though carefully
+managed, it could only be kept in shape by a string around it, even
+after the mass of twigs had been removed. I have a last year's nest,
+made of exactly the same materials, but in a much more substantial
+manner; so perhaps the cedar-tree birds were not so skillful builders as
+some of their family.
+
+The mocking-bird's movements, excepting in flight, are the perfection of
+grace; not even the cat-bird can rival him in airy lightness, in easy
+elegance of motion. In alighting on a fence, he does not merely come
+down upon it; his manner is fairly poetical. He flies a little too high,
+drops like a feather, touches the perch lightly with his feet, balances
+and tosses upward his tail, often quickly running over the tips of half
+a dozen pickets before he rests. Passing across the yard, he turns not
+to avoid a taller tree or shrub, nor does he go through it; he simply
+bounds over, almost touching it, as if for pure sport. In the matter of
+bounds the mocker is without a peer. The upward spring while singing is
+an ecstatic action that must be seen to be appreciated; he rises into
+the air as though too happy to remain on earth, and opening his wings,
+floats down, singing all the while. It is indescribable, but enchanting
+to see. In courtship, too, as related, he makes effective use of this
+exquisite movement. In simple food-hunting on the ground,--a most
+prosaic occupation, truly,--on approaching a hummock of grass he bounds
+over it instead of going around. In alighting on a tree he does not
+pounce upon the twig he has selected, but upon a lower one, and passes
+quickly up through the branches, as lithe as a serpent. So fond is he of
+this exercise that one which I watched amused himself half an hour at a
+time in a pile of brush; starting from the ground, slipping easily
+through up to the top, standing there a moment, then flying back and
+repeating the performance. Should the goal of his journey be a fence
+picket, he alights on the beam which supports it, and hops gracefully to
+the top.
+
+Like the robin, the mocking-bird seeks his food from the earth,
+sometimes digging it, but oftener picking it up. His manner on the
+ground is much like the robin's; he lowers the head, runs a few steps
+rapidly, then erects himself very straight for a moment. But he adds to
+this familiar performance a peculiar and beautiful movement, the object
+of which I have been unable to discover. At the end of a run he lifts
+his wings, opening them wide, displaying their whole breadth, which
+makes him look like a gigantic butterfly, then instantly lowers his head
+and runs again, generally picking up something as he stops. A
+correspondent in South Carolina, familiar with the ways of the bird,
+suggests that his object is to startle the grasshoppers, or, as he
+expresses it, to "flush his game." I watched very closely and could not
+fix upon any theory more plausible, though it seemed to be weakened by
+the fact that the nestlings, as mentioned above, did the same thing
+before they thought of looking for food. The custom is not invariable;
+sometimes it is done, and sometimes not.
+
+The mocking-bird cannot be said to possess a gentle disposition,
+especially during the time of nesting. He does not seem malicious, but
+rather mischievous, and his actions resemble the naughty though not
+wicked pranks of an active child. At that time he does, it must be
+admitted, lay claim to a rather large territory, considering his size,
+and enforces his rights with many a hot chase and noisy dispute, as
+remarked above. Any mocking-bird who dares to flirt a feather over the
+border of the ground he chooses to consider his own has to battle with
+him. A quarrel is a curious operation, usually a chase, and the war-cry
+is so peculiar and apparently so incongruous that it is fairly
+laughable. It is a rough breathing, like the "huff" of an angry cat, and
+a serious dispute between the birds reminds one of nothing but a
+disagreement in the feline family. If the stranger does not take the
+hint, and retire at the first huff, he is chased, over and under trees
+and through branches, so violently that leaves rustle and twigs are
+thrust aside, as long as the patience or wind holds out. On one occasion
+the defender of his homestead kept up a lively singing all through the
+furious flight, which lasted six or eight minutes,--a remarkable thing.
+
+To others than his own kind the mocker seems usually indifferent, with
+the single exception of the crow. So long as this bird kept over the
+salt marsh, or flew quite high, or even held his mouth shut, he was not
+noticed; but let him fly low over the lawn, and above all let him "caw,"
+and the hot-headed owner of the place was upon him. He did not seem to
+have any special plan of attack, like the kingbird or the oriole; his
+aim appeared to be merely to worry the enemy, and in this he was
+untiring, flying madly and without pause around a perching crow until he
+took flight, and then attempting to rise above him. In this he was not
+always successful, not being particularly expert on the wing, though I
+have two or three times seen the smaller bird actually rest on the back
+of the foe for three or four seconds at a time.
+
+The song of the free mocking-bird! With it ringing in my ear at this
+moment, after having feasted upon it and gloried in it day and night for
+many weeks, how can I criticise it! How can I do otherwise than fall
+into rhapsody, as does almost every one who knows it and delights in it,
+as I do! It is something for which one might pine and long, as the
+Switzer for the Ranz-des-Vaches, and the more one hears it the more he
+loves it. I think there will never come a May in my life when I shall
+not long to fold my tent and take up my abode in the home of the
+mocking-bird, and yet I cannot say what many do. For variety, glibness,
+and execution the song is marvelous. It is a brilliant, bewildering
+exhibition, and one listens in a sort of ecstasy almost equal to the
+bird's own, for this, it seems to me, is the secret of the power of his
+music; he so enjoys it himself, he throws his whole soul into it, and he
+is so magnetic that he charms a listener into belief that nothing can be
+like it. His manner also lends enchantment; he is seldom still. If he
+begins in a cedar-tree, he soon flies to the fence, singing as he goes,
+thence takes his way to a roof, and so on, changing his place every few
+minutes, but never losing a note. His favorite perch is the top spire of
+a pointed tree, low cedar or young pine, where he can bound into the air
+as already described, spread his wings, and float down, never omitting a
+quaver. It seems like pure ecstasy; and however critical one may be, he
+cannot help feeling deep sympathy with the joyous soul that thus
+expresses itself. With all the wonderful power and variety, the
+bewitching charm, there is not the "feeling," the heavenly melody, of
+the wood-thrush. As an imitator, I think he is much overrated. I cannot
+agree with Lanier that
+
+    "Whate'er birds did or dreamed, this bird could say;"
+
+and that the birds are jealous of his song, as Wilson says, seems
+absurd. On the contrary, I do not think they recognize the counterfeit.
+The tufted titmouse called as loudly and constantly all day as though no
+mocking-bird shouted his peculiar and easily imitated call from the
+house-top; the cardinal grosbeak sang every day in the grove, though the
+mocker copied him more closely than any other bird. He repeats the
+notes, rattles out the call, but he cannot put the cardinal's soul into
+them. The song of every bird seems to me the expression of himself; it
+is a perfect whole of its kind, given with proper inflections and
+pauses, and never hurried; whereas, when the mocker delivers it, it is
+simply one more note added to his repertory, uttered in his rapid
+staccato, in his loud, clear voice, interpolated between incongruous
+sounds, without expression, and lacking in every way the beauty and
+attraction of the original.
+
+The song consists entirely of short staccato phrases, each phrase
+repeated several times, perhaps twice, possibly five or six times. If he
+has a list of twenty or thirty,--and I think he has more,--he can make
+almost unlimited changes and variety, and can sing for two hours or
+longer, holding his listener spellbound and almost without consciousness
+that he has repeated anything.
+
+So winning and so lasting is the charm with which this bird enthralls
+his lovers that scarcely had I left his enchanted neighborhood before
+everything else was forgotten, and there remain of that idyllic month
+only beautiful pictures and delightful memories.
+
+    "O thou heavenly bird!"
+
+
+
+
+A TRICKSY SPIRIT.
+
+    Bright drops of tune, from oceans infinite
+    Of melody, sipped off the thin-edged wave
+    And trickling down the bank, discourses brave
+    Of serious matter that no man may guess,
+    Good-fellow greetings, cries of light distress;
+    All these but now within the house are heard:
+    O Death, wast thou too deaf to hear the bird?
+
+    SIDNEY LANIER.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+A TRICKSY SPIRIT.
+
+
+For bird-lovers who know the mocking-bird only as a captive in our
+houses he has few attractions: a mere loud-voiced echo of the
+inharmonious sounds man gathers about his home,--car-bells, street
+cries, and other unpleasing noises,--and choosing for his performances
+the hours one wants to sleep. Unfortunate is the neighborhood in which
+one is kept. Such was my feeling about the bird before I knew him in
+freedom, where he has a song of his own. But in my search for native
+birds I often saw the mocker, was surprised to notice his intelligence
+of look and manner, and at last took one into my bird-room, resolving
+that the moment he began to "mock" he should be given to some one who
+liked having the street in his house. My bird was very obliging in the
+matter; six months I watched him daily, and he was kind enough not to
+utter a sound, except an occasional harsh "chack." Probably he had too
+much liberty and too many interests about him; whatever the reason, I
+thanked him for it, and heartily enjoyed the study of his manners.
+
+The bird was perhaps the most intelligent one I ever watched, the
+cat-bird being his only rival in that regard. Fear was unknown to him,
+and from the moment of his arrival he was interested in everything that
+took place around him; looking at each bird in succession; making close
+study of every member of the family; noticing the sounds of the street,
+including the sparrow broils on the porch-roof; in fact, extremely
+wide-awake and observing. To the goldfinch's song he gave attention,
+standing motionless except for a slight nervous jerk of one wing,
+looking and listening as intently as though studying the notes for
+future use. The freedom of the birds in the room surprised him, as he
+showed plainly by the eager glances with which he followed every
+movement and marked each act. Upon joining the party of the free, he
+took note of pictures in a newspaper, distinguishing objects in the cut,
+which he tried to pick up, as a small wheel and a bar. In colors he had
+a choice, and his selection was red; from a vase of roses of many hues
+he never failed to draw out the red one to pull it to pieces on the
+floor.
+
+Liberty the mocking-bird emphatically enjoyed, and at once recognized a
+string attached to his door as a device to deprive him of it; after
+vainly trying to pick it apart, he betook himself to another cage, and
+refused to go back to his own. In any strange cage he stood quietly
+while I walked up to him, and made no attempt to leave his quarters,
+knowing perfectly well that I did not care to shut the door upon him;
+but when at home I could not lift my hands, or make the slightest
+movement, without causing him to dart out of the cage instantly. Having
+contention with his room-mates about the bits of apple put out for all
+to enjoy, he often carried away a piece to eat at his leisure. From
+habit he flew first to the top of a cage, that being his favorite
+perching place; but he evidently appreciated that, if he dropped the
+morsel, he should lose it through the wires; and after looking one side
+and the other, plainly satisfying himself of this fact, he went to the
+table with it. I never before saw a bird who did not have to learn the
+treacherous nature of cage roofs by experience. He appeared to work
+things out in his mind,--to reason, in truth. One cold morning in
+spring, when the furnace fire was out, a large, brilliant lamp was put
+by his cage to take off the chill, for he felt changes keenly. He seemed
+to understand it at once, and though, no doubt, it was his first
+experience of warmth from a light, he drew as near it as possible, and
+remained there perfectly quiet until the sun warmed the room and it was
+removed. Fear, as I said, he knew not, coming freely upon the desk, or
+even upon my lap, after apple or bread, or anything he fancied.
+
+It was plain to see that this bird's first week with us was one of quiet
+study and observation. Not a movement of bird or man escaped his notice.
+He wished to understand, to take measure of his neighbors, to be master
+of the situation. This was manifested not only by his thoughtful manner
+and his wise and knowing looks, but by his subsequent conduct. During
+this period, also, he submitted to impositions from all the birds, even
+the smallest, without resentment. The wood-thrush easily drove him away
+from the apple; the little goldfinch chased him from his perch. He
+appeared to be meekness itself; but he was biding his time, he was
+making up his mind.
+
+The first time the mocking-bird's door was opened he was not in the
+least surprised; no doubt, seeing others at liberty, he had expected it.
+At any rate, whatever his emotions, he instantly ran out on the perch
+placed in his doorway and surveyed his new world from this position. He
+was in no panic, not even in haste. When fully ready, he began his tour
+of inspection. First, to see if he really could reach the trees without,
+through those large, clear openings, he tried the windows, each of the
+three, but gently, not bouncing against them so violently as to fall to
+the floor, as more impetuous or less intelligent birds invariably do.
+Having proved each to be impassable, he was satisfied, and never tried
+again. Next, the ceiling interested him, and he flew all around the
+room, touching it gently everywhere, to assure himself of its nature.
+Convinced thus in a short time that his bounds were only widened, not
+removed, he went on to investigate closely what he had looked at from a
+distance; every bird-cage, inside as well as outside, if the owner
+happened to be away, every piece of furniture, pictures, books, and the
+pin-cushion,--where he was detained some time trying to carry off the
+large black heads of shawl-pins. The looking-glass absorbed him most
+completely on the first day; he flew against it, he hovered before it,
+slowly passing from bottom to top, alighted on top and looked over
+behind. I think he never solved that mystery to his own satisfaction, as
+he did that of the window-glass, which must have been quite as
+inexplicable, and it was never without a certain charm for him. He had
+no trouble in finding his way home: standing on a cage next to his, he
+saw his own door-perch, recognized it instantly (though he had been upon
+it only once), and, being hungry, dropped to it and ran into the cage.
+
+The new-comer soon made thorough acquaintance with all his surroundings,
+and had leisure to turn his attention to a little matter yet unsettled;
+namely, his position in the small colony about him. The first few days,
+as already noted, he submitted to impositions; allowed himself to be
+driven away from the slices of apple on the matting, and turned from the
+bathing-dish on the floor. This was, however, the calm before the storm;
+though after all that is hardly a correct comparison, since there was
+never the least "storm" about his manner; he was composure itself.
+Having calmly and patiently considered the state of affairs, he suddenly
+asserted himself and took the position he felt was his right,--at the
+head. It soon became evident that he was prepared to defend the
+situation by force of arms. He conducted his conquests systematically,
+and subdued one after the other, beginning with the least.
+
+The English goldfinch had been very saucy, scolding and flying over him
+as he went around the room, in the small bird's way; but one day it came
+to a sudden end. The goldfinch in his cage scolded the stranger for
+alighting too near his door. The mocking-bird turned, looked sharply at
+him, ruffled up his feathers, and jumped heavily to the top of the cage,
+turning one eye down upon his small foe with an air that said, "Who is
+this midget that insults me?" The finch was surprised, but did not fully
+appreciate the significance of this change of manner until he was let
+out, when he found at once that his amiable neighbor had suddenly become
+an active enemy, who chased him around the room till he panted for
+breath, and would not allow him a moment's rest or peace anywhere. This
+was strange experience for the little fellow, for heretofore none of the
+large birds had ever disturbed him. He scolded furiously, but he went;
+no one could stand against that determined approach. If the goldfinch
+wished to bathe, his persecutor took his place on the nearest perch, not
+a foot away, thus driving him to the floor with the intention of using
+the big birds' bath. He circled around the edge, but it did not suit,
+and he returned to his own, looked at his enemy, spattered a little,
+went back to the big dish, returned again, and thus vibrated between the
+two for several minutes, while the mocking-bird stood motionless, not
+offering any molestation, but plainly wishing to worry him. The final
+act occurred when both chanced accidentally to be in the same cage, not
+the home of either. The mocking-bird, without provocation, dropped from
+the upper perch upon the finch, who uttered a sharp cry and darted away.
+Two or three little feathers flew, though no hurt could be seen; but the
+smaller bird panted violently for a half hour, as though frightened, and
+for four or five hours sat quietly on a perch, neither eating nor making
+a sound,--a very unusual proceeding for the lively chattering little
+fellow. This proved to be a declaration of open war, and was so
+vigorously followed up that before many days the larger bird's door was
+not opened until his victim had had his outing and returned to his home.
+Teasing never lost its attraction for him, however. He delighted to
+alight on the cage and worry his little foe, or to stand near his door
+and stare at him. On one such occasion a curious scene occurred. They
+stood three inches apart, with the wires between them, when the finch
+suddenly began reaching upward as far as possible; taller and taller he
+stretched up, till he fairly stood on tiptoe. The mocking-bird, not to
+be outdone, imitated the movement on his side of the bars, of course
+towering far above his copy. It seemed to afford both of them great
+satisfaction; perhaps it expressed contempt more fully than was possible
+in any other way.
+
+The largest bird in the room, a Mexican thrush, was considerably
+stronger and fiercer than our native wood-thrush, and it seemed absurd
+for the mocking-bird to measure swords with him. So it would have been
+but for the fact that the Mexican, having lost part of his wing
+feathers, was clumsy, unable to fly readily, and no match for his
+active, agile antagonist; he always conquered when hostilities reached
+the point of a personal encounter, but he was soon soured, and declined
+to meet the enemy. Two or three times they flew up together, like
+quarrelsome cocks, but the decisive and final dispute was over the
+bathing-dish. It happened that morning that the Mexican came out before
+the goldfinch was shut up, and hence the the mocking-bird's door was not
+yet opened. He flew at once to the top of his neighbor's cage to dress
+his feathers and shake himself out. It looked like a deliberate insult,
+and the captive in his cage evidently so regarded it; he crouched on the
+upper perch and opened his mouth at the enemy, who calmly went on with
+his operations. The moment the finch was safe at home I opened the door,
+and the mocking-bird came out in haste. Pretending not to see the
+Mexican, he descended to the bathing-dish, doubtless to cool his heated
+blood. The first splash, however, interested the enemy on his roof, and
+he flew to the floor; but the bather paid no apparent attention to him,
+and went on with his business. The Mexican approached slowly, a step at
+a time, with a low, warning "chack," which meant, "Make way there, I'm
+coming." The mocking-bird, manifestly hearing him, did not take the
+hint, nor look at his assailant, but serenely continued his splashing.
+The Mexican advanced to within six inches before he was convinced that
+force would be necessary. When he decided upon an attack, he manifested
+it by a grotesque little hop a few inches into the air, but this not
+alarming the enemy he drew near to the dish. Now at last the bather
+condescended to notice him. He stood up in the water and faced his
+adversary, bowing rather slowly and with dignity, feathers ruffled, and
+beak opening in the curious way usual with him,--stretching it wide,
+then closing it, and constantly repeating the operation.
+
+After looking a moment at this peculiar display, the Mexican hopped upon
+the edge of the dish, and in the same instant, as though moved by the
+same machinery, the mocking-bird sprang backward out upon the floor. The
+usurper paid him no further attention, but proceeded to bathe, while his
+discomfited rival took a stand on the edge of the disputed dish, which
+was ten inches in diameter, and fanned his wings violently. I cannot
+otherwise name this extraordinary movement, the wings raised high above
+his head, and moved quickly back and forth with a fanning motion. The
+Mexican turned suddenly to him and he flew. Two or three times he
+repeated the performance, but was each time forced to fly before the
+large, strong beak wielded by his opponent, who finished his bath, and
+retired to a perch to dress his feathers. Now the mocking-bird resumed
+his splashing; but when thoroughly wet, the thought seemed to strike him
+that he was not in good fighting trim, and must dry himself as quickly
+as possible to be ready for war, which he at once did by flirting and
+shaking himself, bounding from one end to the other of a perch, as
+though he had suddenly gone mad. He was soon in order, and more than
+ready to resume hostilities. The enemy still occupied his favorite
+position upon his roof. Two cages stood side by side on a shelf, and
+across the tops of them, with great noise and tramping of feet, the
+Mexican delighted to run, thus amusing himself an hour at a time. Seeing
+him off his guard, the wary fellow watched his chance, and when his foe
+was at one end of the course he suddenly alighted on the other. The
+Mexican ran madly at him, clattering his bill furiously, when he
+gracefully rose from his place, flew over, and perched on the other end.
+The run was repeated, and the mischievous bird continued the annoyance
+until his victim was exhausted, panting, and in great excitement. From
+that day the Mexican gave up the contest with his too lively antagonist,
+and refused to come out of his cage at all; so that in fact the stranger
+reduced the colony to submission.
+
+With the wood-thrush, the encounters differed from both the preceding.
+This bird had opened hostilities when the mocker first appeared,
+presuming on being the older resident, and the only bird who cared much
+to be on the floor. The disputed object, as already mentioned, was the
+apple, which they received on the matting, two pieces being placed at
+some distance apart. Seeing the thrush engaged with one, the
+mocking-bird quietly dropped to the other, when instantly the thrush
+deserted his own, ran hastily across the room, and claimed that piece.
+As he approached, the mocking-bird lifted himself into the air by a
+beautiful and graceful movement; he did not seem to fly, but to simply
+rise on wing. The thrush being occupied with that piece, the new-comer
+descended upon the abandoned slice; but the inhospitable bird wanted
+that also. Even when three or more pieces were at their disposal, the
+thrush tried to monopolize them all, though the plan of collecting them
+in one place never seemed to occur to him. After a little of this
+contention, the mocker generally succeeded in carrying off a bit to some
+quiet place, where he could eat at his leisure. Wishing them to live
+peaceably, I placed a slice of the fruit on a high gas-fixture, where
+the stranger was fond of alighting and no other bird ever went. He
+understood at once, flew over to it, and ate his fill. The Mexican
+observed this, and tramped over his cages (it was before he had retired
+from the world) in a rage, seeing "good times going on," and feeling,
+evidently, unable to fly so high. Somewhat later the thrush noticed the
+excitement, flew heavily up, with difficulty alighted beside the apple,
+snatched it off, and carried it to the floor.
+
+Settlement of difficulties between these two birds was no chance
+happening; it was, to all appearance, a regularly planned campaign, and,
+like a savage, the aggressor put on his war paint and danced his war
+dance. It was extremely interesting to watch, although painful to
+realize that a bird could be animated by emotions so--must I call them
+human? He selected, for the declaration of his intentions, a moment when
+the thrush was in his own house and the door open. The approach to this
+cage was by a light ladder, the top round of which, about a foot in
+length, rested perhaps four inches from the cage, and level with the
+door. Upon this round the mocking-bird executed what has been called his
+war dance, shaking himself, shuffling (or moving along without raising
+the feet), and agitating his feathers in such a way that they rustled
+like stiff new silk. After a few minutes of this performance he flew
+away, returning presently to repeat it. This he did again and again, and
+his motive was plain. "You've domineered long enough," his manner said:
+"now come out here, and we'll settle this matter at once." The bird in
+the cage, though plainly surprised at this sudden exhibition of spirit,
+received it like a thrush--in silent dignity. He paid no attention to
+the demonstration further than to keep his eye upon the enemy, unless he
+appeared to think of entering the door, when he turned his open bill in
+that direction. A long time having passed in these manoeuvres, the
+thrush, apparently tired of waiting for the belligerent to vacate his
+front doorstep, retired to the upper perch, and the mocking-bird
+immediately entered below, took his stand by the food-dish, and defied
+the owner, who came with open beak to dispute him, but after a few
+moments' silent protest returned to the high perch, leaving the intruder
+to eat and drink as he chose.
+
+Another point to settle was the possession of the apple. The next time
+the thrush, not warned by previous operations, hurried up to claim a
+slice of the fruit which his foe had marked for his own, he was met by
+resistance. To avoid the rush, the mocking-bird lifted himself a few
+inches, but came down on the same spot. The thrush, astonished, but
+thrush-like to the last, stood motionless where he had stopped, his body
+drawn to a point, bill slightly open and turned toward the bold
+intruder. That bird ignored his attitude and placidly went on eating,
+and three similar experiences ended that annoyance.
+
+One thing still remained unsettled: the mocking-bird decided to change
+his residence. No reason was apparent, but he preferred a special place
+in the room, a certain end of a particular shelf; and no matter what
+cage was there, he insisted on taking possession. The day he determined
+on this removal, he went in while the resident--the thrush--was out,
+and, having eaten, proceeded to the upper perches, and began jumping
+back and forth on them, as if at home. In due time the owner returned,
+visited the food-dishes, and started for the upper regions, but was met
+by a threatening attitude from the bird already there. He seemed to
+think the matter not worth quarreling over, since he readily settled
+himself on the middle perch, where he made a most elaborate and
+deliberate toilet, dressing every feather with care, and spending a half
+hour over the operation. All this time the invader stood on the top
+perch, backed against the wires, his long tail on one side like the
+train of a lady's dress, invincible determination in his manner. The
+calm indifference of the house-owner evidently did not please him, and
+the long drawn-out toilet was irritating; he grew thirsty, and dropped
+to the floor to drink, when the thrush remonstrated by a low, rapid
+"chook, chook, chook," and the mocking-bird made an impatient dive at
+him. This silenced but apparently did not hurt the bird, who stayed as
+long as he chose, and then quietly came out. From that moment the
+usurper claimed the cage, and the amiable owner easily contented himself
+with the one the other had deserted.
+
+When the mocking-bird had thoroughly established himself in every right
+and privilege he chose to consider his own, I hoped there would be
+peace, but I had not sounded the depths in his character; he began to
+tease. Not content with complete victory, life seemed dull without some
+object to worry. I really think it was his amusement; he certainly went
+at it as if it were. I noticed him one morning, standing on the ladder
+before his door, apparently working himself up to something. He first
+looked at me,--I had a book, and pretended not to see him,--then at the
+thrush, who was on the floor as usual; he jerked his body this way and
+that, puffed out his feathers, especially on the throat and breast, held
+his tail on one side and turned upward at an angle of forty-five
+degrees, which gave him a wicked expression. He looked full of life to
+the tips of his toes, and greatly excited. The other birds observed him;
+the Mexican in his cage rustled his wings, jerked his body, and at last
+gave his usual cry. Even the little goldfinch was impressed and looked
+on with interest.
+
+All this agitation did not escape the notice of the bird on the floor,
+who stood silent, plainly understanding, and waiting for the next move.
+Finally the mocking-bird started, gracefully and without haste. He first
+flew easily and lightly to the desk, in a moment to the back of a chair,
+then deliberately to an arm, next to the seat, and lastly to a round; at
+each step pausing, shaking himself, and threatening. When he reached the
+floor, he ran a few steps toward the thrush, stopped short, erected
+himself very straight, and puffed out as big as possible; then another
+little run, and the operation was repeated. He proceeded till within a
+foot of the thrush, when he alternated the upright position with a
+lowered head, and bill pointed toward the foe, changing from one to the
+other very suddenly. When he came so near, the thrush crouched flat on
+the floor, with beak turned squarely against the approaching bird, and
+thus awaited the onslaught.
+
+In that attitude the mocking-bird did not apparently like to attack him.
+He threatened a long time, then retreated gradually, making feints,
+turning, running a few inches, and bringing up suddenly with a half turn
+back. In this manner he moved away for some distance, then flew to the
+round of the chair, the seat, the arm, the back, and so on till he
+reached the ladder again. Then for the first time the thrush changed his
+position and rose to his feet, when, without the least warning, the
+mocker flung himself madly after him, and the thrush, unprepared, ran,
+with a sharp cry. Obviously the mocking-bird, finding the first method
+of attack, which was probably his usual one, a failure, decided to try
+another, as the event proved, successfully. The excitement of this
+performance evidently gave him pleasure, no doubt helped to pass away
+the long hours, for be often indulged in it, always making his approach
+in the same deliberate way, tripping daintily a step or two at a time,
+examining everything in a careless way, tasting a piece of apple-skin,
+lifting a bit of thread, toying and dallying to all appearance, as he
+moved, still always advancing, and never turning aside from his purpose
+till he reached the distance of a foot from the thrush, crouching
+motionless with crown feathers erect. At that point he often stood a
+moment, looking grimly at his victim, then gave a quick, exaggerated
+jump which carried him forward not more than an inch, but sent the
+thrush, in a panic, running half across the room, where he brought up in
+a heap,--his claws sprawled as they slipped on the matting, every
+feather standing up,--and made no attempt to draw his feet together. A
+slow, formal attack he could meet, but a sudden rush was irresistible.
+Then the assailant turned, slowly, gracefully, the personification of
+tranquillity, his air saying, "Who's done anything?" yet taking a direct
+line for the enemy, approaching in the same way, by easy stages, but
+relentlessly drawing nearer and nearer, till he ended by a quick plunge,
+which sent the thrush off with a cry. In a moment he began again,
+teasing, following, tormenting; so wily, so wicked, so determined!
+
+The motions of this bird were most bewitching; his flight the perfection
+of grace. He never flew straight across the room as if on business, but
+always in a dancing, loitering, easy way; hovering to examine a picture,
+slowly pausing on wing to look at anything, turning, wheeling, up or
+down or any way, buoyant and light as the air itself. It was his delight
+to exercise on wing about the room, diving between the rounds of the
+ladder, darting under a stretched string or into a cage full dash. His
+feet found rest on any point, however small,--the cork in a bottle, the
+tip of a gas-burner, or the corner post of a chair; nothing was too
+small or too delicately balanced for his light touch, and he never upset
+anything. He enjoyed running up and down a ladder six feet long with six
+or eight rounds, passing over it so rapidly that he could not be seen to
+touch it at any point, yet not using his wings he must have stepped upon
+every round. He always used his legs with a freedom rarely seen in a
+bird, not moving them together as usual in his kind, but handling them
+with astonishing independence of each other.
+
+The body of this bird was capable of wonderful expression, not only in
+the free use of each member, but every feather seemed under his
+voluntary control. The spasmodic movement of the wings in excitement,
+common to many birds, was accomplished in an original manner by holding
+the wing slightly away from the body, and spreading or opening it a
+little at each jerk, without changing its position toward his side. His
+tail seemed as loosely connected with his body as if it were hung on
+wires; it moved even with his breathing, and the emphatic flirt of the
+member was an insult which every bird in the room understood. Intense
+interest in any sound was indicated by raising the feathers over the
+ears alone, which gave him the droll appearance of wearing velvet "ear
+muffs." In expressing other emotions he could erect the feathers of his
+chin, his shoulders or his back, either part alone, or all together, as
+he chose. A true bird of the south, he did not enjoy our climate, and if
+the room became too cool he made his opinion known by drawing his head
+down into his shoulders, with every feather on his body fluffed out,
+even to the base of the beak, till he looked as if wrapped in delicate
+gray furs to his nose, and almost burying his eyes.
+
+The mocking-bird's emotions were so intense and so originally displayed
+that he was a constant source of interest. A hand-glass lying face up
+gave opportunity for an amusing exhibition one day. Leaning over it, he
+puffed out every feather, opened his mouth, and tried the glass with his
+beak at every point. Meeting no satisfaction, he turned to leave it, but
+first peeped slyly over the edge to see if the stranger were still
+there, no doubt unable to get over his surprise at seeing a bird in that
+position and ready to meet his bill at every point. The same glass
+standing up brought out a different demonstration. He stood in front of
+it and swelled himself out, while the feathers of the shoulders and
+breast were erected. Then he opened his mouth wide and attacked the
+reflection, but was astonished to meet the glass. He touched the bill of
+his double with his own, and moved all the way to the bottom of the
+glass, not taking it away, but apparently trying to seize the one which
+opposed his. He lowered his head as though to take hold of the enemy's
+foot, then pulled himself up as straight as a soldier, wings and tail
+constantly jerking with excitement. After indulging for some time in
+these proceedings, he dodged around behind the glass, plainly expecting
+to pounce upon his opponent, and surprised not to do so. Several times
+he drew himself up, swelled out his breast, and blustered before the
+glass. Once he flew up with the reflection in the manner of a
+quarrelsome cock, and upon reaching the top of the glass, naturally went
+over and landed behind, without an enemy in sight. Upon this he stared a
+moment, as if dazed, then shook himself out, and flew away in evident
+disgust.
+
+The deliberate, leisurely dressing of plumage, with which many birds
+pass away the dull hours, is an occupation in which the mocking-bird
+never had time to indulge. He was a bird of affairs; he had too much on
+his mind for loitering. A few sudden, thorough shakes, a rapid snatching
+of the wing and tail feathers through the beak, or, after a bath, a
+violent beating the air with both wings while holding tightly to the
+perch with his feet, sufficed for his toilet. Notwithstanding his
+apparent carelessness, his plumage was soft and exquisite in texture,
+and when wet the downy breast feathers matted together and hung in
+locks, like hair. Through a common magnifying glass each tiny barbule
+was seen to be ringed with gray and silvery white, so finely that the
+rings could hardly be seen.
+
+The most beautiful and peculiar attitude this bird assumed was when
+conducting an attack upon a small object. Seeing one day a steel
+pen-point black with ink, he stood before it at a respectful distance,
+and raised both wings over his back till they almost touched each other,
+holding the tail on one side. In two or three seconds he lowered the
+wings a moment, then raised them again, while his tail leaned the other
+side. After half a dozen such feints he delivered a gentle peck, and
+instantly hopped back out of the way. Seeing that it did not move, he
+took it in his bill and flew to the floor, where he soon satisfied
+himself that it was not a new variety of beetle. This was always his
+method with any new object of small size.
+
+Not only did this doughty warrior vanquish the ordinary birds about him,
+but when a gray African parrot made his appearance in the room (on a
+short visit) he boldly attacked him, in spite of his size and strength.
+The parrot had a temporary perch before the window, and on the cage
+nearest to him the mocking-bird took his place, and after posturing and
+threatening, stooped to a crouching position, and then darted past him,
+trying to hit him as he went. The first time this occurred the parrot
+whirled on his perch and cried "Whoo!" and after that greeted every
+charge with a very good imitation of a policeman's rattle, probably as
+the loudest and most terrifying noise he could make. So determined was
+the belligerent fellow to subdue or annihilate the larger bird, and so
+reckless were his attacks, that I had to keep him a prisoner during the
+few days the parrot was in the room, for hospitality must not be
+violated. It is interesting to note that so great was his variety of
+resource that he had a distinctly different method of warfare in each of
+the six cases mentioned.
+
+A dignified composure was so natural to my bird that he was never
+startled out of it, not even when suddenly enveloped in a shawl, a
+proceeding that greatly alarms birds of less self-possession. It was
+necessary on one occasion to catch him to return him to his cage, where
+he might be protected from the cold of the night. All the usual ways
+were tried without success, so lightly did he slip away, so gracefully
+and calmly did he flutter around the room, not in the least disturbed or
+confused by the darkness, and quite willing to play hide-and-seek all
+night. No other way availing, the last resource was tried--throwing a
+shawl over him as he stood crouched on the top of the cage, ready for
+instant flight. Not a flutter nor a cry arose, and it seemed that he
+must have escaped; but on looking through the cage from below, he was
+seen flattened against the wires, but perfectly quiet, submissive to the
+inevitable, like any other philosopher. He was gathered up in the folds
+and carefully uncovered before his own door, when he simply hopped to a
+perch and coolly returned the gaze of his captors, not a feather out of
+place, not in the smallest degree disconcerted.
+
+Amusements were not lacking in this interesting life aside from the
+pleasures of worrying and teasing, which plainly were entertainments for
+him. He indulged in other performances which distinctly were play.
+Especially was this true of the habit he imitated from the
+Mexican,--tramping across two cages heavily, with as much noise as
+possible, and then with an extravagant jump landing on another cage,
+where he was received with a scolding, which apparently pleased him as
+much as any part of it. A specially quick flying-run rattled a paper
+fastened against the wall, which delighted him greatly; and when the
+cages were covered with paper, to put an end to the proceeding which
+annoyed the residents, he regarded it as a particular attention, and
+enjoyed it more than ever, doubtless because it enabled him to make a
+louder noise. Often he diverted himself by a mad frolic in his cage;
+from place to place he went half flying, and scarcely touching anything;
+back and forth, with great flutter of wings and great noise; up and
+down, under and over and around his perches, in the same wild way, so
+that it seemed as if he must beat his brains out. Then suddenly, when
+most riotous, he alighted like a feather, the image of serenity and
+repose. Sometimes he was seized with this sort of fury of play when out
+of his cage, and then he flung himself about the room in the same
+frantic manner, scarcely touching a perch, diving under a table, between
+the rounds of a chair, over a gas-fixture, behind and through any
+openings he could find. Should some bird in the room disapprove of this
+behavior, and scold, as the finch was quite apt to do, the mocking-bird
+instantly alighted beside him, humped his back till he looked deformed,
+sidled two or three steps towards him, stopped, and stared at his
+critic; then two or three steps more, stopping again, and in every way
+acting more like a mischievous monster than a bird, till the astonished
+finch was reduced to silence, and as meek as poor Mrs. Quilp before the
+antics of her malicious little spouse.
+
+In all these actions, even in his contests with his room-mates, no anger
+ever appeared on the part of the mocking-bird; everything seemed done to
+amuse himself and pass away the weary hours, rather than from desire to
+hurt his neighbors. In fact, he never did positively touch a bird, to my
+knowledge, though he always acted as though he intended to annihilate
+them. He could hardly be called malicious; rather (shall we say?)
+mischievous, and like Ariel "a tricksy spirit."
+
+
+
+
+THE "WISE BLUEBIRD."
+
+    Never was sweeter music--
+      Sunshine turned into song.
+    To set us dreaming of summer,
+      When the days and the dreams are long.
+
+    Winged lute that we call a bluebird,
+      You blend in a silver strain
+    The sound of the laughing waters,
+      The patter of spring's sweet rain,
+    The voice of the wind, the sunshine,
+      And fragrance of blossoming things.
+    Ah! you are a poem of April,
+      That God endowed with wings.
+
+    EBEN. E. REXFORD.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE "WISE BLUEBIRD."
+
+                         "A wise bluebird
+    Puts in his little heavenly word."
+
+
+The characteristic air and expression of the bluebird, and his
+enchanting little warble, could not be better described in a page of
+writing than the poet has here done in a couplet.
+
+Who has not seen him in his favorite resting-place, the lowest branch of
+an apple-tree, standing up very straight, crown feathers erected, honest
+little countenance squarely facing one, motionless and silent, looking
+the embodiment of wisdom!
+
+A pair of bluebirds lived in my house for nearly a year, and the calm,
+imposing manner of the male I have never seen disturbed. In the presence
+of birds much larger than himself he never lost his equanimity, paid not
+the slightest attention to any one, went about his daily duties and
+pleasures exactly as though there were not another bird, except his
+mate, in the room. Quite otherwise was his little spouse: quick,
+nervous, easily frightened, yet assuming the responsibility of
+everything, even her lord's comfort and safety. Her very attitude was
+different; she held her body horizontal, never perpendicular, as he did;
+and she was more lively in movement. She was a brave little soul, too.
+Even when greatly annoyed by a larger bird, she never failed to stand
+upon the defensive, open her mouth, and sometimes remonstrate in low,
+gentle talk. Nor did she--after she felt at home--allow a stranger to
+enter her door. She boldly faced the largest bird in the room, and
+always forced him to retire, while her mate stood calm and cool and
+"wise," on the upper perch. More than this, she seemed to feel it part
+of her duty to defend and protect his lordship, as though he were too
+fragile to come into contact with the rough side of life. Nothing could
+be droller than to see her stand guard while he bathed in the common
+dish on the table, and fly furiously at the grosbeak, or any bird coming
+too near her precious idol, who meanwhile placidly proceeded with his
+bath in the most matter-of-fact manner, as though expecting to be
+protected. I have seen similar conduct in a wild pair: the female
+defending her nestlings against some fancied danger, scolding, flying
+around the intruder, and taking the whole care upon herself; while her
+spouse occupied the topmost twig of the tree on which his family was in
+trouble, uttering at short intervals his musical cry of distress, one
+rich, loud note.
+
+I did, however, on one occasion see a male bluebird excited in the
+defense of his young. It was in North Carolina, where a nestling chanced
+to alight on the favorite resting-place of a mocking-bird, and the
+latter a moment afterward came to his usual perch not a foot from the
+wild-eyed youngster. Then arose a great outcry from both bluebirds, and
+one after the other swooped down at that mocking-bird, coming so near I
+thought they must hit him. Again and again they returned to the charge
+with loud cries, while the mocking-bird stood quiet, crouched as though
+to dash into the little one, and jerking wings and tail in a wicked
+manner. It lasted but a moment, for the nestling itself was scared and
+flew to another branch, upon which the attack came to an end, and the
+mother went to the baby, but the father stood on a perch near the enemy,
+and scolded for some time.
+
+Perhaps this individual bluebird had learned to assist in the family
+defense, for they had other troubles. The nest was in an unsafe spot,
+the hollow dead limb of a tall pine-tree, about seventy feet above the
+ground. The opening was in the lower side of the sloping branch, making
+it very easy for a nestling to fall out, and that is what I think
+happened the day before the little scene above described.
+
+Hearing cries of distress from the pine grove, I hastened down to see if
+I could be of any assistance. Both bluebirds were on a low tree, about a
+foot apart, uttering constantly the mournful notes I had heard.
+Evidently a tragedy of some sort had occurred, and I thought at once of
+a falling little one. I looked carefully around the tree while the
+parents came down near me, much disturbed. I found nothing, but a gale
+was blowing and a little bird might easily have been driven far away. It
+was a serious matter plainly, for the cries went on without intermission
+the rest of the day.
+
+During that time I saw a curious and interesting attempt at consolation
+on the part of the male. He flew away, and returned in a few moments
+with something in his beak. Alighting near his mate, he began a low,
+tender twitter, at the same time offering the morsel to her. She moved a
+few inches away; he followed, still coaxing. She flew to another branch,
+refusing to look at it. He followed, still asking her to accept it. At
+last she flew away, and he seemed astounded, stood as if he did not
+know what to do next, hesitated several minutes, when a bright thought
+seemed to strike him, and he carried it to the nest.
+
+The pair in my room were a most affectionate and gentle couple; no
+disputes, not even the smallest difference, arose between them. If one
+wished to bathe while the other was using the bath-tub, he stood on the
+edge till his turn came. In the same way one usually waited for the
+other to finish a lunch before going down himself, though on rare
+occasions they descended together for a social meal. If she were
+alarmed, and went to the floor, as at first sometimes happened, he at
+once appeared in the door, looking anxiously after her, and calling
+tenderly. If she did not return, he flew down himself, ran about till he
+found her, and, after talking in a low tone for some time, started for
+home, when she followed him, showing that she was reassured. They always
+sat on the same perch, and on cool days as near each other as possible,
+first one and then the other "hitching" a little nearer. After bathing
+they sunned themselves together, even when in the cage, where the
+sunshine came only into one corner, and they crowded so closely that
+there was not room to spread out. Even that discomfort never elicited a
+harsh word, though he enjoyed spreading himself very completely, bending
+his legs, resting his breast on the floor, and opening his wings to
+their full extent.
+
+This bird's anxiety when his mate was out of his sight did not, however,
+compare with her unrest in his absence, for her affection seemed to be
+of the motherly or protecting sort. Before they became familiar with the
+room, and learned that, though unseen, the partner was not lost, the
+moment he disappeared from view she began running around the cage
+excitedly, looking everywhere, and calling loudly. At first he answered,
+but, deciding to try his wings, he swept around the room, came--as some
+birds do--against the window, and fell to the floor, when instantly both
+were perfectly silent. She looked out apprehensively, and as soon as he
+recovered breath he flew to the top of their own cage. Then her
+solicitude turned to annoyance; she went to the top perch, and gently
+nipped his toes (which she never did to strangers) as a slight reproof.
+He became accustomed to going out and in sooner than his mate, for she
+was shy and inclined to stay at home, and she suffered much anxiety;
+before long she too grew accustomed to freedom, and expressed no further
+fears when he was out.
+
+Making arrangements for the night was an interesting event in bluebird
+life. They always selected the highest perch in the darkest end of the
+cage, and placed themselves so close together that they looked like a
+wide ball, or two balls that had been almost pressed into one when in a
+very soft state. In the morning the feathers on the side next the mate
+were crushed flat, requiring much shaking and dressing to give them
+their ordinary appearance. What was curious, the female took the
+outside, no doubt with the motherly motive of taking care of him. To see
+them settle themselves was pleasing. Being more quiet and less nervous
+than his spouse, the singer generally retired first, some time before
+she was ready, and composed himself in a moment in his corner, for they
+were never restless at evening; she followed when she chose.
+Occasionally, however, she went first, taking her place about as far as
+usual from the wires, and leaving space for him. But if he went to his
+place, there was not room to turn around, facing the middle of the cage,
+as was their custom; and he seemed to appreciate the difficulty, for he
+hopped up on the outside, or the wrong side of her. Instantly she jumped
+to a lower perch, when he sidled up to his regular place, and she at
+once returned and took her usual position beside him. One night
+something startled them, and both flew wildly around the cage. I
+produced a light to show them the perches, so they might quiet
+themselves again. The male readily did so, but she remained on the lower
+perch. I went close to the wires and began to speak soothingly, to calm
+her, and induce her to resume her place, when, to my surprise, she began
+to reply to me, every time I spoke, standing less than a foot from me.
+She stared me full in the face, not at all disturbed, and answered every
+word I said with her musical call, in a low tone, as if to tell me the
+story of the fright. We kept up the queer little chat for several
+minutes, and she did not return to his side that night.
+
+One advantage of studying two birds of a kind at the same time is to
+observe the talk between them, which has great interest for me. This
+pair were exceedingly talkative at first, uttering not only the usual
+musical three-syllable warble or call, which Lanier aptly calls the
+"heavenly word," but often soft twittering prattle, of varying
+inflection and irregular length, which was certainly the most
+interesting bird-talk I ever heard. When they could not see me they
+indulged in it more freely, with changing tones at different times, and
+after they became accustomed to the room and its inhabitants it was
+neither so frequent nor so earnest. Often at night, when one--perhaps in
+a dream--fell off the perch, I heard much low, tender talk, almost in a
+whisper, before all was quiet again; and when another bird flew wildly
+around the room, there was always a remark or two in an interested tone.
+The male did most of the talking, carrying on, often for a long time, a
+constant flow of what sounded marvelously like comments and criticisms,
+while his mate replied occasionally with the usual call. Certain notes
+plainly had a specific meaning, even to the others in the room. One in
+particular was peculiar and low, but upon its utterance every bird
+became instantly silent and looked at the cage, while the bluebirds
+themselves were so absorbed, gazing apparently into blank space, that I
+could easily put my hands on them before they observed me. For several
+minutes this low note would be repeated, and all the birds stare at
+nothing, till I began to feel almost uncomfortable, as I have done at
+similar staring at nothing on the part of animals. One can hardly resist
+the feeling that these creatures can see something invisible to our
+eyes. On one occasion, when the male uttered this note, the female was
+just about to eat; she stood as if petrified, with head halfway down to
+the food, for two or three minutes.
+
+What I have called talk was a very low twitter in a conversational tone,
+on one note, not at all in a singing tone, like the usual warble or
+call. I have also heard it from wild bluebirds, when I could get near
+enough. From the first, as said above, the male did most of the talking,
+and the habit grew upon him, till he became a regular babbler, standing
+on the top perch, and keeping it up persistently all day long. I think
+it arose from the fact that the greater number of birds in the room were
+thrushes, who sang very softly, without opening the mouth. With this
+gentle ripple of song the bluebird's voice harmonized perfectly, and he
+almost entirely discontinued his lovely song, while indulging himself in
+talk by the hour. Strange to say, I soon noticed that his mate did not
+approve of it, and would not stand on the perch beside him while he
+continued it. At first she turned sharply towards him, and he showed
+that he understood her wishes by ceasing for a while; but as the habit
+grew, and he was not so easily silenced, she more and more deserted his
+side, and after two or three weeks I heard occasionally a gentle
+remonstrance from her. I do not believe a really harsh tone can come
+from a bluebird throat. One day they were taking their usual midday nap
+on the same perch, when a thrush across the window began his low song.
+That started the bluebird, and he added his chatter, which awakened his
+mate. She endured it for about five seconds, and then she suddenly
+stretched the wing nearest him so far that he was obliged to move away,
+when she instantly hopped down herself.
+
+The two bluebirds differed in intelligence. The female was quicker to
+take an idea, but the male sooner conquered his fear. The first time I
+offered meal-worms to them she was so lively as to secure more than her
+share; but he learned in a day or two that worms were to be had outside,
+especially on my desk, when he at once flew over to me and demanded
+them, in the funniest little defiant way, looking at me most
+significantly, and wiping his bill ostentatiously, then jerking himself
+with great show of impatience. Words could not be plainer. Neither of
+them had difficulty in telling me their food-dish was empty; they stood
+on the edge and looked at me, then scraped the bill several times,
+making much noise about it, then looked at me again. I knew in a moment,
+the first time, what they wanted. When the male found out that another
+bird alighted on a stick I held out to him, and was carried off upon it,
+he seemed to be seized with curiosity, and the next time I offered it he
+jumped upon it beside the other, and allowed himself to be lifted to the
+desk. At one time, in flying around, he caught his feet in the coarse
+net curtains I hung before the windows to keep strange birds from trying
+to fly out. I went at once to him and took him off. He scolded,
+fluttered, and pecked, and, when I had released him, flew directly
+against another curtain and caught again. I went over to him, and this
+time he understood that I was helping him; he neither struggled nor
+pecked, and flew quietly when I set him free.
+
+The bluebird never showed any curiosity about the room or the world
+outside the windows, but sat on his door perch for hours, with a sharp
+eye to the worm supply. The appearance of the cup that held them was a
+signal for him to come down and beg for them, but his little mate never
+dared trust herself on the desk, though when I threw a worm on the floor
+she invariably secured it. So fond was she of this delicacy that she
+once played a saucy trick upon a scarlet tanager. Having received a
+worm, he went into the first open door he saw,--which happened to be the
+bluebird's,--to find a place to manipulate the morsel, which he never
+swallowed whole. Madam stood on the perch just above the entrance, and
+as he came in she leaned over and snatched it out of his mouth,
+swallowed it, wiped her bill, and turned to him, ready for another. His
+stare of blank amazement was amusing to see, but he quickly made up his
+mind that it was not a safe place to eat, and when I gave him another he
+went to the roof of the same cage. She instantly mounted the top perch,
+put up her bill and seized the worm; but he held on, dragged it away,
+and then retired to his own cage with it. She positively could not
+resist this temptation, and even from her own cherished spouse she would
+sometimes snatch the desired tidbit.
+
+The bluebirds' method of bathing differed from any I have noticed. They
+put the head under water, and held it there, while spattering vigorously
+with wings and tail. On leaving the bath the female fanned herself dry,
+holding tightly to the perch and beating her wings with violence, while
+dancing back and forth the whole length of the perch, in a bewitching
+manner. Her mate fanned himself also, adding a very pretty lateral shake
+of the wings, and raising the feathers on the crown and throat till he
+looked twice as big as usual. But he was very fond of sunning himself
+dry, in the attitude already spoken of. That position, by the way, was a
+not unusual one with him; he often hopped the length of three feet
+before a blind which stood against the wall, his legs bent, head nearly
+touching the floor, and tail thrust almost straight up. A droll figure
+he made. After hopping to the end of the blind, he would dash around
+behind it, as if he expected or hoped to find something.
+
+After moulting, the birds feathered out beautifully, and their spirits
+rose in proportion. They delighted in flight, making long, sweeping
+circles around the room, again and again, without stopping. A few weeks
+later, as spring approached, they grew somewhat belligerent towards the
+other inhabitants of the place; driving every bird away from their cage,
+even following them to their chosen resting-places, insisting on their
+right to every perch in the room. Then, too, began signs of courtship
+between the lovely pair. The first thing I noticed was at worm-feeding
+time. One day I had given each of them their portion. The female
+swallowed hers instantly, and I turned to another cage, when I heard a
+low, coaxing cry many times repeated. I looked around. The male stood on
+the upper perch, still holding his worm, which he usually dispatched as
+quickly as his mate did hers; and she was on a lower perch, looking up
+at him, mouth open, wings fluttering, asking for it. While I looked, he
+hopped down beside her, she opened her mouth wide, and he fed her as if
+she were a nestling. He was more amiable than a wild bluebird I once
+saw, who had brought up a long earthworm, and was beating it on top of
+a post preparatory to swallowing it, when his little spouse--who was
+sitting at the time--came to the fence rail below him, and asked in the
+same way for a bit. So far from sharing it with her, this greedy bird
+simply took a fresh hold of his prize, flew to a tree, and gobbled it
+down with difficulty himself. Not so my generous captive. The next day
+he complied with her request again, and after that it was he who did the
+tender coaxing, begging her to accept the slight offering of his love.
+Soon, too, she grew coquettish in manner, often turned a cold shoulder
+to him, opened her mouth at him, and scolded in the sweetest and softest
+voice; and one night, after they had settled on their perch, I heard
+gentle talk, and saw a little peck or two on her part. He did the
+talking, and she delivered the playful peck or push as reply. Now, too,
+in his desire to manifest his affection, he could not always wait for
+worms, but picked dainty bits from the food-dish, and tendered them in
+the same pretty way. She always accepted, though often she went at once
+to the food-dish and ate for herself; for with all this sentiment and
+love-making her appetite did not fail. Once she was outside and he
+inside the cage, when he began to call and offer her something out of
+his mouth. She did not wish to go in, so she flew to a perch that ran
+through the cage, and stood close to the wires, while he went to the
+same perch inside, and fed her through the wires.
+
+About this time, too, the bluebird talk nearly ceased, and instead of it
+the lovely song of three notes was heard all day, and a little change
+they made in it--throwing in a "grace note" between the second and
+third--greatly added to its charm. Now, too, spring had really come, and
+I waited only for warm days to let them go and set up their homestead in
+freedom. The first mild day in May the window was opened for them. The
+female flew first to a tree in front of the house, where she was greeted
+in the rudest manner by the bird-tramps which infest our streets,--the
+house-sparrows. They began to assemble around her, no doubt prepared for
+attack, when she gave a loud cry of distress, and out flew her valiant
+knight to her aid. After a moment's pause by her side, they both flew,
+and we saw the gentle pair no more.
+
+This true chronicle began with a quotation from Lanier; it shall end
+with one from Harriet Prescott Spofford:--
+
+    "A bit of heaven itself, he flew,
+    When earth seemed heaven with bees and bloom,
+    South wind, and sunshine, and perfume;
+    And morning were not morn without him.
+      Winging, springing, always flinging,
+      Flinging music all about him."
+
+
+
+
+THE GOLDEN-WING.
+
+    The high-hole flashing his golden wings.
+
+    WALT WHITMAN.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE GOLDEN-WING.
+
+
+One of the special objects of my search during a certain June among the
+hills of northern New York was a nest of the golden-winged woodpecker;
+not that it is rare or hard to find, but because I had never seen one
+and had read attractive stories of the bird's domestic relations, the
+large number of young in the nest, and his devotion and pride. Moreover,
+I had become greatly interested in the whole family, through my
+attachment to an individual member of it in my own house.
+
+I soon discovered that the orchard at the back of the house was visited
+every day by a pair of the birds I was seeking. One was seen running up
+and down a trunk of a large poplar-tree, and the next morning two
+alighted on a dead branch at the top of an apple-tree, perching like
+other birds on twigs, which seemed too light to bear their weight. But
+they were apparently satisfied with them; for they stayed some time,
+pluming themselves and evidently looking with interest and astonishment
+at human intruders into what had no doubt been a favorite haunt of their
+own. I watched them for several minutes, till a sudden noise startled
+the shy creatures and they were off in an instant.
+
+After that I saw them often at the bottom of the orchard. They always
+flew over the place with rather a heavy business-like flight, alighted
+on a low branch of the farthest apple-tree, and in a moment dropped to
+the ground where the long grass hid them. There they remained five
+minutes or more before returning to the tree. Unfortunately it was a
+little farther than I could readily see with my glass, and the most
+cautious approach alarmed them. I heard them call nearly every day in
+loud, strong voice, "Pe-auk! pe-auk!"
+
+Being thus baffled in my plan of following them home, I resolved upon a
+regular search in the small piece of woods where they always
+disappeared, and every morning I spent two or three hours in that lovely
+spot looking for any birds, but especially for the Golden-wing. In all
+my search, however, I found but one nest, which may have been his, where
+apparently a tragedy had occurred; for from the edge of the opening the
+bark was torn off down the trunk, and in two or three places holes were
+picked as though to reach the nest which had been within.
+
+Whatever the drama enacted in that mysterious home, I was too late to
+see, and I have not been able as yet to make close acquaintance with the
+free Golden-wing.
+
+The bird that had so interested me in his whole family I found in a bird
+store in New York in the month of November. He was a most
+disconsolate-looking object, and so painfully wild I could scarcely bear
+to look at him--poor, shy, frightened soul, set up in a cage to be
+stared at. I rescued him at once with the intention of giving him a more
+retired home, and freedom the moment spring opened. The change did not
+at first reassure him, and he was so frantic that his cage was covered
+to shut out the sights till he was accustomed to the sounds of a
+household. Gradually, an inch or two at a time, the cover that hid the
+world from him was reduced, till at the end of three weeks he could
+endure the removal of the last corner without going absolutely mad.
+
+On the first day an opening a few inches wide was left in his screen, so
+that he might look out if he chose, and I took my seat as far as
+possible from him, with my back to him, and a hand-glass so arranged
+that I could see him. As soon as the room was quiet he went to the
+opening and cautiously thrust his long bill and his head as far as the
+eye beyond the edge so that he could see me. I kept perfectly still,
+while he watched me several minutes with evident interest, and I was
+glad to see that it was simply fright and not idiocy that caused his
+panics.
+
+Many emotions of the bird were most comically expressed by hammering. In
+embarrassment or alarm, when not so great as to drive him wild, he
+resorted to that diversion, and the more disturbed, the louder and
+faster his blows. If in utter despair, as when I set his house in order
+for the day, he dropped to the floor on the farthest side, put his head
+in the corner, and pounded the tray with great violence. Every wire in
+the cage in turn he tested with taps of his beak, thus amusing himself
+hours at a time, sitting, as was his custom, crouched upon the perch or
+on the floor. In this way, too, he tried the quality of the plastered
+wall behind his cage, and was evidently pleased to find it yielding, for
+he bored many holes and tore off much paper, before he was discovered
+and provided with a background of wood to exercise upon.
+
+The unhappy bird had a serious time learning to eat mocking-bird food
+with his long, curved beak; he never became very expert at it, but was
+as awkward as a child learning to feed itself. He first thrust it like a
+dagger its whole length into his dish, took out a mouthful, then turned
+his head sidewise, shook it and snapped his bill one side and the other,
+making a noise as if choking. When this performance was over, he scraped
+his beak against the wires and picked off the fragments daintily with
+the tip. When he had eaten he left a straight, smooth hole in the food,
+like a stab, two inches deep and perhaps half an inch in diameter. In
+drinking he made the same movements, filling his mouth, throwing back
+his head, and swallowing with great efforts.
+
+All of the Golden-wing's attitudes were peculiar; as, for instance, he
+never liked to face one, but always turned his back upon spectators and
+looked at them over his shoulder. In sleeping he changed his position
+often, and was as restless as a nervous old man. Sometimes he slept on
+the perch, puffed out into a ball like other birds, head buried in his
+feathers, tail broad-spread and curled under the perch, as though it
+needed something to rest against. If he began his night's rest (or
+unrest) in this position, in a few hours he would drop heavily to the
+floor, scramble about a little, and then climb to one of the supports
+that kept the wires in place, ten inches from the bottom of the cage.
+There he settled himself comfortably, head buried again, tail pressed
+against the wires, and looking more like a spot on the wall than a bird.
+
+He often took naps in the daytime on the floor with his head in the
+corner, like a bad boy in punishment, his head drawn down into his
+shoulders and his bill thrust up into the air at an angle of forty-five
+degrees. If this tired him, he simply turned his bill down at about the
+same angle, and tried it that way awhile.
+
+He was an exceedingly early bird, always settled to sleep long before
+any other in the room, and he slept very soundly, being not easily
+wakened and breathing in long, steady respirations like a person in
+sleep. Indeed he startled me very much the first time I noticed him. The
+breathing was regular and strong, equal in duration to my own as I
+listened, and I was sure some one was in the room. I hastened to light
+the gas to look for the burglar, and it was not until I had made
+thorough search that I discovered who was the guilty one. He dreamed
+also, if one may judge by the sounds that came from his cage at night,
+complaining, whining, almost barking like the "yaps" of a young puppy,
+and many sorts of indescribable noises.
+
+The Golden-wing was extremely fond of hanging against the side of his
+cage on the support spoken of above. Not only did he sleep in that
+position, but dress his plumage, turning his head back over his body and
+sides, and even arranging the feathers of his breast, each one by
+itself, with scrupulous care. Like many others this bird objected to
+having his cage used as a perch by his neighbors. He expressed his
+sentiments by quick jerks, first of the shoulders and then of the whole
+body, and if the intruder did not take the hint, he opened his enormous
+bill and took hold of a stray toe, which usually drove away the most
+impertinent.
+
+The door of the cage was opened to my captive as soon as he became quiet
+and happy within it. After his first surprise and dismay at finding
+himself in the big world again, he enjoyed it very much. Being unable to
+fly through the loss of some wing feathers, his cage was placed on the
+floor, and he ran in and out at pleasure. He was more than usually
+intelligent about it, too; for although the door was small, and he had
+to lower his head to pass through, he was never at a loss for an
+instant.
+
+One thing that shows a bird's characteristics and that I have never seen
+any two do in exactly the same way, is to explore a room when first
+released from a cage. This bird, like his predecessors, had his own
+peculiar notion, which was to go behind everything. He squeezed himself
+between a trunk, or a heavy piece of furniture, and the wall, where it
+did not seem possible that one of his size could pass, and showed so
+great an inclination to go through a hole in the open-work fire-board
+that I hastily covered it up. After a while he tested the matting and
+carefully investigated, by light taps of his bill, each separate nail.
+His step was heavy, and he did not hop, but ran around with a droll
+little patter of the feet, like a child's footsteps.
+
+Having exhausted the novelty of the floor, he turned his eyes upward,
+perhaps noticing that the other birds were higher in the room, where
+they had taken refuge when he made his sudden and somewhat alarming
+appearance among them. He did not try to fly, but he was not without
+resources; he could jump, and no one could outdo him in climbing, or in
+holding on. After a moment's apparent consideration of the means at his
+command, he ran to the corner and mounted a trunk by springing up
+halfway, holding on a moment in some mysterious manner, and then by a
+second jump landing on top. From that point it was easy to reach the
+bird's table, and there was a ladder placed for the benefit of another
+that could not fly. This ladder he at once pounced upon, and used as if
+he had practiced on one all his life.
+
+I shut the cage-door at the upper end to keep him out of his neighbor's
+house, while the owner, an American wood-thrush, stood upon the roof,
+looking ruefully at this appropriation of his private property. Upon
+reaching the closed door the traveler jumped across to another cage
+nearly a foot away. This was a small affair occupied by an English
+goldfinch, who was then at home and not pleased by the call, as he at
+once made known. Golden-wing, however, perhaps with the idea of
+returning past insults from the saucy little finch, jerked himself all
+around the cage, inserting his long bill as though trying to reach
+something inside.
+
+Having wearied of annoying the enemy, he sprang back to the ladder,
+descended by the table and trunk to the floor as he had gone up, without
+a moment's hesitation as to the way, which proved him to possess unusual
+intelligence. He did not take the trouble to climb down, but put his two
+feet together and jumped heavily like a child, a very odd movement for a
+bird. It was his constant habit in the cage to jump from the perch to
+the floor, and from one that was two inches above the tray he often
+stepped down backwards, which I never before saw a bird do.
+
+When after three hours of exploration he returned to his home, the door
+was closed and the cage hung up. He was satisfied with his first outing,
+and refreshed himself with a nap at once. But the first thing the next
+morning he came down to his door and pecked the wires, looking over at
+me most intelligently, plainly asking to have it opened. He never
+mistook the position of the door, and if knocking had not the desired
+effect, he took hold of a wire and shook and rattled it till he was
+attended to.
+
+It was interesting to see how familiar he suddenly became, when no
+effort had been made to induce him to be so. I never had so much trouble
+to win the confidence of a bird, but when won, the surrender was
+complete. He came up to me freely and allowed me to catch him in my hand
+without resistance, which is very uncommon. (Perhaps I ought to say that
+I do not try to tame my birds.) He displayed a child-like, confiding
+disposition, both in his unreasoning terror at first, and his
+unquestioning faith at last.
+
+These investigations were conducted without a sound, for the bird was
+entirely silent while awake. But there came a day when he made a curious
+exhibition of his ability. It was the ninth of February, and the
+goldfinch was calling, as he often did. The woodpecker sat on his perch
+with wings held tightly against his sides, "humped" up as though he were
+high-shouldered. The plumage of his breast was puffed out so broadly
+that it came over the wings, and in a front view completely hid them,
+while the feathers of his shoulders were erected till he resembled a
+lady with a fur shoulder cape. Withal, his head was drawn down to his
+body, and his beak pointed upward at an angle of forty-five degrees. In
+this peculiar and absurd position he began a strange little song,
+ludicrously weak and low for a bird of his size. The tones were
+delivered in a sharp staccato style, like "picking" the strings of a
+violin very softly, several notes uttered with queer sidewise jerks of
+the head, and eyes apparently fixed on the goldfinch. After a phrase or
+two he scraped his bill violently and then began again.
+
+This performance he varied by bowing his head many times, swaying his
+whole body from side to side, flirting his tail and shaking his wings.
+It was an extraordinary display, but whether his manner of making
+himself agreeable, or of expressing contempt, I could only guess. The
+goldfinch looked on with interest, though I think he understood it no
+better than I did; he seemed surprised, but rather pleased, for he
+repeated his calls, and the Golden-wing kept up the strange exhibition
+for some time.
+
+I became greatly attached to my beautiful bird, which appeared, in the
+presence of his wise and wary room-mates, cat-birds and thrushes, like a
+big, clumsy, but affectionate baby. It was solely on his account and
+principally, I must confess, to try and surprise a wild bird at the
+above described entertainment so as to determine its character, that I
+wished to make acquaintance with its free relations, study their ways
+when at liberty in their own haunts, and have a glimpse if possible of
+the Golden-wing babies.
+
+A year later I had the opportunity I so much desired of making
+acquaintance with the young of this family. I was sitting one morning on
+the edge of a deep ravine filled with trees, deeply engaged in the study
+of another bird, when suddenly a stranger came with an awkward flop
+against the trunk of a tree not ten feet from me. I saw in an instant
+that it was the infant I had looked for so long. He was exactly like the
+parents, with a somewhat shorter tail. I should hardly have suspected
+his youthfulness but for his clumsy movements, and the fact that he did
+not at once take flight, which a Golden-wing more experienced in the
+ways of human-kind would have done instantly. He seemed somewhat
+exhausted by his flight, and clung to the trunk, with soft dark eyes
+fixed upon me, ready to move if I did.
+
+I did not; I sat motionless for half an hour and watched him. When
+somewhat rested he dodged around the other side of the trunk, and peeped
+at me through a fork in the branches. Then he scrambled upon a small
+branch, where he perched crosswise. But he had trouble to keep his
+balance in that position, so he climbed about till he found a limb fully
+two inches in diameter, on which he could rest in the favorite flicker
+attitude--lengthwise. Then with his head outward to the world at large,
+and his tail turned indifferently toward me,--whom he doubtless regarded
+as a permanent and lifeless feature of the landscape,--he settled
+himself, crouched flat against the bark, for a comfortable nap.
+
+All this time I had been conscious of low Golden-wing talk about me; the
+familiar "wick-up! wick-up!" almost in a whisper, a softened "pe-auk!"
+from the ravine, and the more distant "laugh," so called. The infant on
+the tree heard too. He moved his head, listened and looked, but whether
+or not they were words of caution and advice from the wiser ones of his
+race, he refused to be frightened and did not move till I rose to leave
+him, when, greatly startled, he took flight across the ravine.
+
+
+
+
+A STORMY WOOING.
+
+    Not an inch of his body is free from delight,
+    Can he keep himself still if he would? Oh, not he!
+    The music stirs in him like wind through a tree.
+
+    WORDSWORTH.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+A STORMY WOOING.
+
+
+If, as Ruskin says, "the bird is little more than a drift of the air,
+brought into form by plumes," the particular bit shaped into the form we
+call the orchard oriole must be a breath from a Western tornado, for a
+more hot-headed, blustering individual would be hard to find; and when
+this embodied hurricane, this "drift" of an all-destroying tempest, goes
+a-wooing, strange indeed are the ways he takes to win his mate, and
+stranger still the fact that he does win her in spite of his violence.
+
+In a certain neighborhood, where I spent some time in the nesting
+season, studying a bird of vastly different character, orchard orioles
+were numerous, and in their usual fashion made their presence known by
+persistent singing around the house. For it must be admitted, whatever
+their defects of temper or manners, that they are most cheerful in song,
+the female no less than the male. First of the early morning bird chorus
+comes their song, loud, rich, and oft-repeated, though marred in the
+case of the male by the constant interpolation of harsh, scolding notes.
+Anywhere, everywhere, all day, in pouring rain, in high wind that
+silences nearly every bird voice, the orioles sing. One could not
+overlook them if he wished, so noisy, so restless, and so musical. Nor
+do they care to be unseen; they make no attempt at concealment. No
+oriole ever steals into a neighborhood in the quiet way of the cat-bird,
+silently taking an observation of its inhabitants before making himself
+obvious; on the contrary, all his deeds are before the public, even his
+family quarrels. He comes to a tree with a bustle, talking, scolding,
+making himself and his affairs the most conspicuous things in the
+neighborhood.
+
+Many times he is most annoying. When following some shy bird to its
+nest, or moving down toward the grove where are the brooklet and the
+birds' bathing-place, no matter how quietly one may approach, footsteps
+deadened by thick sand and no rustling garments to betray, the orchard
+oriole is sure to know it. He is not the only bird to see a stranger, of
+course; the brown thrush is as quick as he, but he silently drops to the
+ground, if not already there, and disappears without a sound; the
+cardinal grosbeak slips down from his perch on the farther side and
+takes wing near the ground; the cat-bird, in the center of a thick
+shrub, noiseless as a shadow, flutters across the path and is gone;
+others do the same. The orchard oriole alone shouts the news to all whom
+it may concern in his loudest "chack! chack!" putting every one on his
+guard at once, and making the copse in a moment as empty as though no
+wing ever stirred its leaves.
+
+On first noticing the ways of the birds about me on the occasion
+mentioned, I saw that there was some sort of a disturbance among them;
+scarcely ten minutes passed without a commotion, followed by a chase
+through the branches of a tree, one bird pursuing another so hotly that
+twigs bent and leaves parted as they passed, the one in advance often
+uttering a complaining cry, and the pursuer, a loud, harsh scold.
+Something exciting was evidently going on; some tragedy or possibly
+comedy, in this extremely sensational family. I was at once interested
+to see what it might be and how it would end; and in fact, before I knew
+it, I was as much absorbed in oriole matters as though no other
+feathered life was to be seen.
+
+There were in the party two males, one in his second year, and therefore
+immature in coloring, being olive-yellow on the breast, brown on wings
+and tail, with a black mask over eyes and chin; the other was older, and
+a model of oriole beauty, being bright chestnut on the lower parts,
+with velvety black hood coming down on the breast. With them was one
+female, and though far from being friends, the three were never
+separated. The trouble seemed to be that both males were suitors, and
+notwithstanding the pretty little maid appeared to have a mind of her
+own and to prefer the younger of her wooers, the older plainly refused
+"to take no for an answer," and was determined to have his own way,
+bringing to bear on his courtship all the persistence of his race. In
+that particular quality of never giving up what he has set his heart on,
+the oriole cannot be excelled, if indeed he can be equaled in the bird
+world; for a time, and a long time, too, he is a bird of one idea, and
+by fair means or foul he will almost certainly accomplish his desire,
+whatever it may be.
+
+Life never grew dull in the party mentioned; they were always talking,
+singing, or going for each other in the mad way already described.
+Sometimes the chase was between the males, but oftener the female flew
+for her life apparently, while the rough wooer followed closely with
+great noise and confusion. The affair ended occasionally with a cry of
+distress as though somebody was pecked, but several times she stood at
+bay and defied him with mouth open, feathers bristled up, wings
+fluttering, and every way quite ready to defend herself. Like other
+blusterers, on the first show of fight he calmed down, and the matter
+ended for the time. Peace lasted from ten to twenty minutes, during
+which they hopped about the tree, or hung head-downward on the Spanish
+moss, talking in low tones, though the male never omitted delivering a
+scolding note with every two or three pleasant ones. Her voice was
+charming, in a tender call, a gentle chatter, or a sweet song, unspoiled
+by the harsh tones of her partner. She was also a very pretty bird,
+bright yellow below, olive-yellow on the back, no black about the face,
+and legs and feet blue as the sky, and she was as graceful as she was
+beautiful.
+
+Repose of manner was unknown to the orchard orioles. One was scarcely
+ever seen sitting or standing still. The song was given while moving,
+either flying or hopping about on the tree. If one did pause while it
+was uttered, the body jerked, and the head turned this way and that, as
+though he really was too restless to be perfectly quiet for a moment.
+
+The most tempestuous times were when the younger suitor put himself
+forward and persuaded the fair yellow damsel to show him some slight
+preference. The venerable lover was not slow to resent this, and to
+fall like a hurricane upon the pretender, who disappeared like a dead
+leaf before the blast, and so quickly that he could not be followed--at
+least by anything less rapid than wings. Once, however, I saw a curious
+affair between the two suitors which was plainly a war-dance. It
+followed closely upon one of the usual flurries, conducted with perhaps
+louder cries and more vehemence than common, and began by both birds
+alighting on the grass about a foot apart, and so absorbed in each other
+as to be utterly oblivious of a spectator within ten feet of them on the
+balcony. No tiger out of the jungle could hold more rage and fury than
+animated those feathered atoms, bristled up even to the heads, which
+looked as if covered with velvet caps. They paused an instant, then
+crouched, jerked their tails, "teetered" and posed in several attitudes,
+ending each new movement with a solemn bow, perhaps equivalent to a
+handshake among larger fighters. What one did the other exactly copied,
+and both seemed to be trying to get one side of the opponent, so as to
+secure some advantage. To prevent this, each kept his face to the foe,
+and moved as he moved. Thus they passed down one side, then back, down
+the other and return, neither able to get the slightest superiority of
+position. It was extremely grotesque, and was continued several
+minutes, while I eagerly watched to see what would happen next. What did
+happen was entirely unexpected, a unique anti-climax, quite worthy of
+the undignified character of the bird. On a sudden, as by one consent,
+both flew opposite ways; both alighted in low trees about thirty feet
+apart, and each one sang a loud joyous song, as of victory!
+
+In this turbulent way life went on for two or three weeks; I could not
+tell how long, for it was in full progress when I came. There was always
+a vulgar broil, often a furious encounter, stopping just short of coming
+to blows, and it seemed really doubtful if the orioles would succeed in
+settling their matrimonial affairs before summer. The third member of
+the belligerent party, the demure little object of all this agitation,
+was meekness and gentleness itself, never aggressive, but always flying
+before the furious onslaught of her would-be spouse. Why then did she
+not select her mate and thus end the trouble, which, according to the
+books, it must do?
+
+Turning away from the more conspicuous males with their endless
+contests, and watching her closely, I saw that she was trying her best
+to do so. She plainly preferred the younger and less quarrelsome suitor,
+and often followed him off, bringing down upon herself in consequence
+the wrath of the elder, and instant pursuit, which ended in the
+disappearance of her chosen hero, and a forced endurance of the tyrant's
+presence, till it appeared that she would have to "marry him to get rid
+of him," as our plain-spoken grandmothers characterized a similar
+situation in human affairs.
+
+When these birds could spare time from their own absorbing matters, they
+were very inquisitive in the affairs of their neighbors. After the
+mocking-bird babies were out, the orioles often visited them, while the
+parents were absent, for no reason that I could discover but to see what
+they were like, and how they got on, for nothing about them was
+disturbed. If, however, an oriole was found by one of the old
+mocking-birds perched on the edge of the nest, he was driven away with a
+piece of mocking-bird mind on the subject of meddlers. Likewise they
+frequently paid visits to a nuthatch colony at the top of a tall
+pine-tree. Whether more aggressive among these smaller birds, or not,
+could not be seen. But the facts were that upon an oriole's disappearing
+through those heavy pine branches, away above our heads, there instantly
+arose a great outcry in the querulous nuthatch voice, and the intruder
+returned to the lower world with some precipitation, while gentle,
+complaining sounds came from the invaded territory for some time. So,
+too, in different degree the birds showed interest in me, peering down
+between the leaves of the tree in which they spent most of their time,
+and making remarks or expressing opinions, climbing--which they
+literally did--to the end of a twig, stretching up tall to look over the
+top and stare at me, or when flying slowly past, hovering a moment just
+in front of me with perfect fearlessness and earnest attention to my
+pursuits.
+
+At length the crisis in the oriole matters came, as come it must, and
+not long after the war-dance that has been described. The season was
+advanced and nesting time already begun. In fact, it was ended in
+several families; mocking-birds were about ready to fly, young chipping
+sparrows peeped from every tuft of grass, baby bluebirds were trying
+their wings at their doors, the yellow-throated warbler was stuffing her
+youngsters on the next tree, and the late kingbirds had nearly finished
+their nests. Whether a pitched battle at last settled the dispute,
+whether the modest little dame united with her chosen mate against the
+common enemy, or whether perchance--though this is not likely--the elder
+bird tired of his useless warfare, will never be known, for the whole
+matter was settled before we mortals were out of bed, in the magic
+morning hours when so many interesting things go on in bird and beast
+life. When I came out, I saw at once that a decision had been reached.
+The younger bird had won his bride, and with much talk and love-making
+the happy pair were busying themselves about a building spot. This first
+day of their honeymoon was not, however, very peaceful; old troubles are
+not so soon forgotten, and the discarded suitor found it hard to believe
+that the repulse was final and he really should not have his own way. He
+frequently made his appearance in the old scenes, making himself
+agreeable in the usual way; but the newly wedded were now a pair, and
+when both flung themselves upon him he recognized at last the
+inevitable, no longer resented it, and left them in peace.
+
+With much talk and discussion the tree that had been the scene of the
+stormy wooing was selected for the homestead, and the young wife at once
+set to work upon the foundation, while her spouse in his new role of
+lord and master stood on a higher twig and gave his opinions; much
+advice, no doubt, and plenty of instruction. I doubt his mastery,
+however, for I noticed that, though meek, madam had a mind of her own
+and an orchard oriole's persistence in carrying out her plans. He
+talked, it is true, blustered and strutted around, but she worked
+quietly, steadily, and in a business-like way, utterly oblivious of him.
+
+During this day, too, even this first day, not five hours after he had
+tried to coax the bride away, the elderly suitor came back from some
+unknown quarter, with a brand-new wife of his own; precipitation worthy
+of the vulgar house-sparrow of our city streets, which these birds also
+resemble in their constant broils. That naturally put a complete end to
+further dispute over sweethearts; but they could not change their
+nature, and I observed that each young husband had a vast amount of
+fault to find, much scolding and grumbling. Happily it did not seem to
+disconcert the little wives; they sang as sweetly, and worked as
+steadily as though they were used to it, and expected nothing better,
+which was well for them.
+
+The elder oriole and his mate soon settled in another place, and I saw
+them no more, but I was sorry to see upon what tree the young pair
+decided to build, for a kingbird had an unfinished nest in one of the
+lower branches, and two families so aggressive would make a lively
+neighborhood no doubt. Hostilities began indeed on the first day.
+Watching the oriole at her building, I caught the pretty
+innocent-looking creature stealing material from the kingbird's nest,
+while her virtuous spouse perched himself on the upper branch of the
+tree, exactly as if on the watch for returning owners. In a low tone he
+talked to her as she entered the uncompleted nest, worked busily a
+moment, then appeared on the edge with a soft white feather, gathered it
+into a convenient shape, and flew with it in her beak to the upper
+branch. Twice afterward I saw that performance repeated, and each time
+it was a white feather taken. On one occasion the kingbird was at home.
+There was a sharp cry of distress, a bustle, and in a moment Madam
+Oriole flew off with a feather, while the outraged owner stood on a
+neighboring branch and uttered two or three plaintive cries. Considering
+the size and the belligerent nature of the kingbird, I was astonished,
+but exactly thus it happened.
+
+I greatly wished to stay and see the result, for I had confidence enough
+in the bravery of the kingbirds to be sure that the end was not yet.
+Also, I longed to watch the restless pair whose ups and downs I had
+found so interesting. I should like to see the orchard oriole in the
+role of a father; a terribly fussy one he would be without doubt. Above
+all, I most desired to see the infant orioles, to know if they begin
+their quarrels in their narrow cradle, and if their first note is a
+scold. But the troubles of this courtship had, like the wars of Augustus
+and Arabella in a three-volume novel, consumed so much time that there
+was none left for post-nuptial chronicles, and I was obliged to leave
+them with a neighborhood quarrel on hand which promised full employment
+for the head of the family while his little mate was sitting.
+
+
+
+
+FLUTTERBUDGET.
+
+    O hark to the brown thrush! hear how he sings!
+      Now he pours the dear pain of his gladness!
+    What a gush! and from out what golden springs!
+      What a rage of how sweet madness!
+
+    D. A. WASSON.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+FLUTTERBUDGET.
+
+
+"Flutterbudget" is the one expressive word that exactly characterizes a
+certain brown thrush, or thrasher, the subject of a year's study. This
+bird is perhaps the only restless creature that bears the name of
+thrush, and he is totally unlike the rest of his family, having neither
+dignity, composure, nor repose of manner. My brown thrush, however, was
+exceedingly interesting in his own way, if only as a study of perpetual
+motion, of the varieties of shape and attitude possible to him, and the
+fantastic tricks upon wing of which he was capable. One never tired of
+watching him, for he was erratic in every movement, always inventing
+some new sort of evolution, or a fresh way of doing the old things, and
+scarcely a moment at rest. A favorite exercise was flying across the
+room, planting his feet flatly against the side wall, turning instantly
+and flying back. This he often did a dozen times in succession. His
+feet were always "used to save his head" (contrary to our grandmothers'
+teachings). When he made the usual attempt to fly through the window on
+his first outing in the room, he went feet first against it, and thus
+saved himself a bumped head. His movements were abrupt in the extreme,
+and always so unexpected that he frequently threw the whole feathered
+family into a panic, apparently without the least intention of doing so.
+Standing beside the cage of another bird, he would wheel quickly and
+face the other way, absolutely nothing more, but doing this in a manner
+so startling that the occupant of the cage scolded roundly. He specially
+delighted in clambering all over the cage of a goldfinch, acting as if
+he should tear it in pieces, and greatly annoying the small bird. He
+often flew up the side of the window casing, as though climbing it like
+a ladder, his feet touching it now and then; and he did the same on the
+curtains of coarse net. Again he flew across the room before the three
+windows, turning to each one in turn, planted his feet squarely on the
+linen shade, as on the wall above mentioned, and without a pause passed
+to the end of the room, and touched it with his feet in the same strange
+way. Often when standing for the moment perfectly still before a window,
+he suddenly flew up, put both feet in this unbirdlike way against the
+window-shade, turned and went to his cage. In like manner he came in
+contact with a cage, the books on the shelves, the back of a chair, or
+any piece of furniture, taking from that point a new direction. When
+startled he instantly bounded into the air as though the ground were hot
+under his feet, and often turned a corner or two before he came down. In
+the middle of his most lovely song he was quite likely, without the
+least warning, to make a mad dash somewhere, turn a sharp corner, dive
+in another direction, and alight on the spot he had left a moment
+before, and all in so spasmodic a way that every bird was
+panic-stricken.
+
+The thrasher was exceedingly wary, and nothing was droller than his
+manner of approaching anything, whether a worm I had thrown on the
+matting for him, or the bathing-dish. In the case of the worm, the
+moment he saw his prey--which I selected for its liveliness--he came to
+a nearer perch, and stood there a few minutes, posturing, shaking his
+plumage in great excitement, looking at me and then at the tempting
+object. Very soon he dropped to the floor and started towards the worm
+in the funniest way; running a few steps, stopping short and turning
+half round, ready for instant flight, flirting his feathers with a
+great rustle, turning an anxious eye on me, then on the wriggling
+attraction, running a step or two, and repeating the performance. In
+this way he advanced very gradually till near enough to half encircle
+his prey; or to run and hop sideways as though to describe a circle,
+turning away at each pause as before, all the time jerking and
+fluttering in intense agitation, and always keeping an eye on me. Not
+that he was in the least afraid of me; it was simply his sensational way
+of doing everything. When he finally came within reach of the worm, he
+snatched it, and ran as though the enemy were upon him.
+
+His performances before entering the bath were even more amusing. The
+bathing-dish, a broad, deep plate, stood upon a towel on a table. The
+bird alighted on the table, and began first to peck the towel, pulling
+the fringe, working at any loose thread he discovered, and industriously
+enlarging any small hole he chanced to find. In doing thus he often
+turned over the edge, when he sprang back as though he had seen a ghost.
+Recovering from the shock, he circled around the dish with little hops,
+occasionally giving a gentle peck at the edge of the dish, or a snip at
+the water with his beak. Thus he waltzed around the bath perhaps forty
+times, now and then going so far as to jump up on the edge, make a dash
+at the water, and back off as if it were hot, or to give a hop into the
+middle of the water and out again so quickly that one could hardly
+believe he touched it. When, after all this ceremony, he did go in to
+stay, he made most thorough work, splashing in a frantic way, as though
+he had but a moment to stay, and in one minute getting more soaked than
+many birds ever do. After this short dip he dashed out, flew to a perch,
+and in the maddest way jerked and shook himself dry; pulling his
+feathers through his beak with a snap, and making a peculiar sound which
+I can liken only to the rubbing of machinery that needs oil.
+
+The brown thrush was never so violent and eccentric in movement as just
+after his bath. Allowing himself often but a moment's hasty shake of
+plumage, he darted furiously across the room, startling every bird, and
+alighting no one could guess where. Then, after more jerks and rapid
+shakings, he flung himself as unexpectedly in another direction, while
+at every fresh turn birds scattered wildly, everywhere, anywhere, out of
+his way, bringing up in the most unaccustomed places; as, for instance,
+a dignified bird, who never went to the floor, coming to rest under the
+bed, or a ground-lover flattened against the side of a cage. All this
+disturbance seemed to please the thrasher, for he had a spice of
+mischief in his composition. A never failing diversion was teasing a
+goldfinch. He began his pranks by entering the cage and hammering on the
+tray, or digging into the seed in a savage way that sent it flying out
+in a shower, which result so entertained him that I was forced to close
+the door when the owner was out. This the thrush resented, and he next
+took to jumping against the side of the cage, clinging a moment, then
+bouncing off with so much force that the cage rocked violently. Then he
+placed himself on the perch by the door, and pounded, and pulled, and
+jerked, and shook the door, till, if the owner were home, he was nearly
+wild. Having exhausted that amusement, he jumped on the top and in some
+way jarred the cage roughly. To protect it I made a cover of paper, but,
+contrary to my intentions, this afforded the rogue a new pleasure, for
+he soon found that by tramping over it he could make a great noise, and
+he quickly learned the trick of tearing the paper into pieces, and
+uncovering the little fellow, who, by the way, was not in the least
+afraid, but simply enraged and insulted, and when outside stood and
+faced his tormentor, blustering and scolding him well.
+
+Tearing paper was always amusing to the brown thrush. I have seen him
+take his stand near the wall, peck at the paper till he found a weak
+spot where it would yield and break, then take the torn edge in his bill
+and deliberately tear it a little. It was "snatching a fearful joy,"
+however, for the noise always startled him. First came a little tear,
+then a leap one side, another small rent, another panic; and so he went
+on till he had torn off a large piece which dropped to the floor, while
+I sat too much interested in the performance to think of saving the
+paper. (The room and its contents are always secondary to the birds'
+comfort and pleasure, in my thoughts.) A newspaper on the floor
+furnished him amusement for hours, picking it to pieces, tearing
+pictures, from which he always first pecked the faces, dragging the
+whole about the floor to hear it rattle and to scare himself with. A
+pile of magazines on a table made a regular playground for him, his plan
+being to push and pull at the back of one till he got it loose from the
+rest, and then work at it till it fell to the floor. He never failed to
+reduce the pile to a disreputable-looking muss.
+
+The bird was as fond of hammering as any woodpecker, on the bottom of
+his cage, on perches, on the floor, even on his food; and his leaps or
+bounds without the apparent help of his wings were extraordinary. Not
+infrequently I have seen him spring into the air just high enough to
+see me over my desk,--three feet at least,--probably to satisfy himself
+as to my whereabouts, and drop instantly back to his work or play.
+
+This amusing bird was also intelligent. He understood perfectly well
+what I wanted when I spoke to him; that is, he had a guilty conscience
+when in mischief that translated my tone to him. Also he recognized
+instantly a bird out of place, as, for instance, one on the floor which
+usually frequented the perches and higher parts of the room; and having
+taken upon himself the office of regulator, he always went after the
+bird thus out of his accustomed beat. When I talked to the thrasher, he
+answered me not only with a rough-breathing sound, a sort of prolonged
+"ha-a-a," but with his wings as well. Of course this is not uncommon in
+birds, but none that I have seen use these members so significantly as
+he did. His way was to lift the wing nearest me, sometimes very
+slightly, sometimes to a perpendicular position, but only one wing, and
+only after I made a remark. This exhibition was curious and interesting,
+and I often prolonged my talk to see the variety he could give to this
+simple motion. His wings were always expressive, in alighting in a new
+place, or where he suspected there might be danger or a surprise; the
+moment his feet touched he lifted one or both wings quite high, dropping
+them at once.
+
+A more lithe body than that of the brown thrush I have never seen in
+feathers; he could assume as many attitudes as he had emotions. He often
+stood on a perch and postured for a long time, as if greatly excited and
+meditating some mad deed, and I must confess he usually carried out the
+intention. Not only was he able to put his body into all possible
+shapes, but he had extraordinary command of his feathers. He could erect
+them on any one part alone, on the top of the head, the shoulders, the
+back, or the chin. He often raised the feathers just above the tail,
+letting that member hang straight down, giving him the appearance of
+being chopped square off.
+
+The song of this bird is well known and quite celebrated; indeed, in the
+Southern States he is called the French mocking-bird, as only second to
+the mocking-bird proper. My bird never sang above a whisper, one may
+say; that is, he never opened his mouth to let out the sound, though he
+was extremely fond of singing, indulging in it by the hour. He hardly
+paused for eating, or flying, or hopping around on the floor, but
+dropped sweet notes in between the mouthfuls, and kept up the warble
+through all movements.
+
+As dusk came on the brown thrush began a wonderful series of postures,
+more peculiar and varied than one would suppose possible to so large and
+apparently clumsy a bird. Sometimes he stretched up very tall, then
+instantly crouched as if about to spring; one moment he turned his head
+downward as though to dive off, then wheeled and faced the other way;
+now he drew his body out long to a point, head and tail exactly on a
+level, then head and tail thrust up, making his back the shape of a bow;
+at one time he threw his head back as though about to turn a back
+somersault, then scraped his bill, shook himself out, and made the harsh
+breathing I have spoken off; in another moment he spread his tail like a
+fan, and instantly closed it again; then turned his head on one side
+very far, while his tail hung out the other side, and in this odd
+position jerked himself along by short jumps the whole length of his
+perch. Between the postures and on every occasion he scraped his bill
+violently. Next began movements: first he ran down his three perches,
+across the floor, and hopped to the upper one from the outside, touching
+his feet to the wires as he went, so rapidly that my eyes could not
+follow him; then he alighted on the perch with a graceful flop of one
+wing, sometimes also bowing his head several times, and uttering the
+breathing sound each time. Again he jumped from the upper perch to one
+directly under it, and returned the same way by a very peculiar motion:
+standing on the lower perch, he turned his head over his shoulder, and
+sprang back and up at the same time, landing in exactly the same
+position on the perch above, with perfect ease and grace.
+
+Nothing pleased the thrasher more than watching other birds; he observed
+them closely, especially liking to stand on top of a cage and see the
+life below,--an agitated life it was apt to be when he was there. Thus
+he sometimes stood on the goldfinch's cage and noticed every motion with
+great interest, yet with an indescribably ironical air, as if he said,
+"My dear sir, is _that_ the way you eat?" He showed particular interest
+in seed-eating birds, apparently not understanding how they could enjoy
+such food. Though full of bluster and pretense, he was as gentle as any
+bird in the room, never presumed on his size as the biggest, and, though
+liking to tease and worry, never really touching one. The smallest only
+needed to stand and face him to see that it was all bluster and fun.
+
+All this until spring began to stir his blood and tempt him
+occasionally, after long posturing and many feints, to deliver a gentle
+dig at a neighbor's ribs. Now, too, he began to show interest in
+out-of-doors, standing on the window sash and looking out, which is a
+familiar sign that a bird's time to depart has come. In his case I did
+not consider it necessary to carry him to the park to liberate him, for
+I was sure he could take care of the sparrows and protect himself--and
+so it proved. When he found himself suddenly on a tall tree in the
+street, and before he recovered from his surprise, those disreputable
+birds gathered around him to see what he was like. They soon found out;
+he quickly recovered himself, made a wild dash that scattered them like
+leaves before the wind, and then planted himself on a branch to await
+another attempt. But sparrows, though saucy, are knowing, and not one
+came near him again. They had quite satisfied their curiosity, and after
+a few moments' waiting the brown thrush went on his way rejoicing.
+
+
+
+
+"O WONDROUS SINGERS."
+
+    In the swamp in secluded recesses
+    A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Sing on! sing on, you gray-brown bird!
+    Sing from the swamps, the recesses, pour
+        Your chant from the bushes;
+
+    O liquid and free and tender!
+    O wild and loose to my soul!
+        O wondrous singer!
+
+    WALT WHITMAN.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+"O WONDROUS SINGERS."
+
+
+I feel considerable reluctance in approaching the subject of my small
+thrushes. None but a poet should speak of them--so beautiful, so
+enchanting in song. Yet I cannot bear to let their lovely lives pass in
+silence; therefore if they must needs remain unsung, they shall at least
+be chronicled.
+
+There were two: one the gray-cheeked thrush, the other the veery or
+Wilson's, and they passed a year in my house, filling it with a
+marvelous rippling music like the sweet babble of a brook over stones;
+like the gentle sighing of the wind in pine-trees; like other of
+nature's enchanting sounds, which I really must borrow a poet's words to
+characterize:
+
+    "O liquid and free and tender!
+    O wild and loose to my soul!
+      O wondrous singer."
+
+The gray-cheeked, most charming in every look and motion, uttered his
+notes in a free sweep or crescendo, which began low, gathered force as
+he went on, and then gradually died out; all in one long slur, without a
+defined or staccato note, making a wonderful resemblance to wind sounds,
+as Emerson expresses it:
+
+    "His music was the Southwind's sigh."
+
+The song of the veery was quite different, low, rapid, interspersed with
+a louder, wild-sounding cry, or, as aptly described by a listener, like
+the gurgling sounds made by blowing through a tube into soft water, with
+occasional little explosions. The soft, whispered warble of a brown
+thrush added a certain under-tone which combined and harmonized both
+these, forming with them a rhapsody of a rippling, bubbling character
+impossible to describe, but constantly reminding one of running streams,
+and gentle water-falls, and coming nearer to "put my woods in song" than
+any other bird-notes whatever. Neither of the performers opened his
+mouth, so that the trio was very low, a true whisper-song.
+
+It was somewhat curious that with one exception all the birds in the
+room through these months sang whisper-songs also, without opening the
+bill. There were six of them, and every one delighted in singing; the
+three thrushes, a bluebird, a female orchard oriole, and a Mexican
+clarin. To the thrushes, music seemed necessary to life; hour after
+hour they stood on their respective perches across the room, puffed out
+into balls, "pouring out their souls," and entrancing us not only with
+their suggestive melody, but with graceful and poetical movements, and a
+beauty of look and bearing that moved one deeply. During the aria both
+birds stood motionless, one with wings drooping, and accenting every
+note, the other with tail slightly jerking for the same purpose.
+
+In character no less than in song the birds differed; bright, active and
+high-spirited, the gray-cheeked delighted in the freedom of the room,
+feared nothing, came upon the desk freely, and calmly met one's eyes
+with his own, brave free soul that he was, while his _vis-a-vis_ was
+timid and shy, could not be induced to leave the shelter of his home
+though the door stood open all day. He never resented the intrusion of a
+neighbor, nor disputed the possession of his own dish.
+
+Almost as interesting as his song was a bewitching dance with which the
+gray-cheeked charmed every one fortunate enough to see him. His chosen
+hour was the approach of evening, when, with body very erect and head
+thrown up in ecstasy, he lifted his wings high above his back,
+fluttering them rapidly with a sound like soft patter of summer rain,
+while he moved back and forth on his perch with the daintiest of little
+steps and hops: now up, now down, now across the cage, with gentle noise
+of feet and wings. No music accompanied it, and none was needed--it was
+music itself. Not only did he dance away the long hours of twilight,
+till so dark he could not be seen, but he greeted the dawn in the same
+way; long before any other bird stirred, before the hideous morning call
+of the first sparrow in the street, the soft flutter of his wings, the
+light patter of his feet was heard. In the night also, if gas was
+lighted, however dimly, dancing began and was continued in the darkness,
+long after the light was out and every other feather at rest. A sudden
+light stopped the motion, but revealed the dancer agitated, stirred,
+with soft dark eyes fixed upon the observer. This dance was not an
+attempt or indication of a desire to escape, as I am sure for several
+reasons. I can tell the instant that longing for freedom sets in. It was
+a fresh sign of the strange, mysterious emotion with which all thrushes
+greet the rising and setting of the sun.
+
+The singular use of the feet by this bird was very peculiar, and not
+confined to his dancing hours. While standing on the edge of the
+bathing-dish, longing, yet dreading to enter the water, on alighting
+upon an unaccustomed perch, or venturing on to the desk, many times a
+day he took the little steps, lifting first one, then the other foot
+very slightly, and bringing it down with a sound without changing his
+position. It seemed to be an evidence of excitement, as another bird
+might exhibit by a quivering of the wings. The veery was also a dancer,
+but in a different way. He fanned his wings violently and moved back and
+forth across the top of a cage, but always in daylight, and then only on
+the rare occasions when, by placing his food outside, he was coaxed from
+his cage.
+
+Bathing was--next to singing--the dear delight of the gray-cheeked's
+life, yet no bird ever had more misgivings about taking the fatal
+plunge. His first movement on leaving the cage was to go to the bath,
+around which he hovered, now this side, now that, one moment on the
+perch above, the next on the edge of the dish, plainly longing to be in,
+yet the mere approach of the smallest bird in the room drove him away.
+Not that he was afraid, he was not in the least a coward; he met
+everybody and everything with the dignity and bravery of a true thrush.
+Neither was it that he was disabled when wet, which makes some birds
+hesitate; he was never at all disordered by his bath, and however long
+he soaked, or thoroughly he spattered, his plumage remained in place and
+he was perfectly able to fly at once. It appeared simply that he could
+not make up his mind to go in. Then too, it soon became apparent that he
+noticed his reflection in the water. He often stood on the edge after
+bathing, as well as before, looking intently upon the image. Before the
+glass he did the same, looking earnestly and in a low tone "uttering his
+thoughts to the ideal bird which he fancied he saw before him." Indeed,
+I think this ideal thrush was a great comfort to him.
+
+Once having decided to go into the bath he enjoyed it exceedingly,
+though in an unusual way, fluttering and splashing vigorously for a
+moment, then standing motionless up to his body in the water, not
+shaking or pluming himself, not alarmed, but quietly enjoying the
+soaking. After several fits of splashing alternated with soaking, he
+went to a perch and shook and plumed himself nearly dry, and just when
+one would think he had entirely finished, he returned to the dish, and
+began again--hesitating on the brink, coquetting with the "ideal thrush"
+in the water, and in fact doing the whole thing over again.
+
+My bird had a genuine thrush's love of quiet and dislike of a crowd,
+preferred unfrequented places to alight on, and was quite ingenious in
+finding them. The ornamental top of a gas-fixture a few inches below the
+ceiling, which was cup-shaped and nearly hid him, was a favorite place.
+So was also the loose edge of a hanging cardboard map which, having been
+long rolled, hung out from the wall like a half-open scroll. This he
+liked best, for no other bird ever approached it, and here he passed
+much time swinging, as if he enjoyed the motion which he plainly made
+efforts to keep up. His plan was to fly across the room and alight
+suddenly upon it, when, of course it swayed up and down with his weight.
+The moment it came to a rest, he flew around the room in a wide circle
+and came down again heavily, holding on with all his might, and keeping
+his balance with wings and tail. He enjoyed it so well that he often
+swung for a long time.
+
+Later he found another snug retreat where no bird ever intruded. He
+discovered it in this way: one day, on being suddenly startled by an
+erratic dash around the room of the brown thrush, which scattered the
+smaller birds like leaves before the wind, he brought up under the bed
+on the floor. The larger bird had evidently marked the place of his
+retreat, for he followed him, and in his mad way rushed under when the
+gray-cheeked disappeared. The bedstead was a light iron one, high from
+the floor, so that all this was plainly seen. No one being in sight, the
+brown thrush came out and turned to his regular business of stirring up
+the household while the little thrush was not to be seen, and perfect
+silence seemed to indicate that he was not there at all. After some
+search, aided by an indiscreet movement on his part, he was found
+perched on the framework, between the mattress and the wall. This narrow
+retreat, apparently discovered by accident, soon became a favorite
+retiring place when he did not care for society.
+
+This interesting bird, with all his dignity, had a playful disposition.
+Nothing pleased him better than rattling and tearing to bits a newspaper
+or the paper strips over a row of books, although he had to stand on the
+latter while he worked at it; and notwithstanding it not only rustled,
+but disturbed his footing as well, he was never discouraged. A more
+violent jerk than usual sometimes startled him so that he bounded six or
+eight inches into the air in his surprise, but he instantly returned to
+the play and never rested till he had picked holes, torn pieces out, and
+reduced it to a complete wreck.
+
+All through the long winter this charming thrush, with his two
+neighbors, delighted the house with his peculiar and matchless music,
+and endeared himself by his gentle and lovely disposition. No harsh
+sound was ever heard from him, there was no intrusion upon the rights of
+others, and no vulgar quarrels disturbed his serene soul. But as spring
+began to stir his blood he changed a little; he grew somewhat
+belligerent, refused to let any one alight in his chosen places, and
+even drove others away from his side of the room. Now, too, he added to
+his already melting song an indescribable trill, something so spiritual,
+so charged with the wildness of the woods, that no words--even of a
+poet--can do it justice. Now, too, he began to turn longing glances out
+of the window, and evidently his heart was no longer with us. So, on the
+first perfect day in May he was taken to a secluded nook in a park and
+his door set open. His first flight was to a low tree, twenty feet from
+the silent spectator, who waited, anxious to see if his year's captivity
+had unfitted him for freedom.
+
+Perching on the lowest branch, the thrush instantly crouched in an
+attitude of surprise and readiness for anything, which was common with
+him, his bill pointed up at an angle of forty-five degrees, head sunk in
+the shoulders, and tail standing out stiffly, thus forming a perfectly
+straight line from the point of his beak to the tip of his tail. There
+he stood, perfectly motionless, apparently not moving so much as an
+eyelid for twenty minutes, trying to realize what had happened to him
+and in the patient, deliberate manner of a thrush to adjust himself to
+his new conditions. In the nook were silence and delicious odors of the
+woods; from a thick shrub on one side came the sweet erratic song of a
+cat-bird, and at a little distance the rich organ-tones of the
+wood-thrush. All these entered the soul of the emancipated bird; he
+listened, he looked, and at last he spoke, a low, soft, "wee-o." That
+broke the spell, he drew himself up, hopped about the tree, flew to a
+shrub, all the time posturing and jerking wings and tail in extreme
+excitement and no doubt happiness to the tips of his toes. At last he
+dropped to the ground and fell to digging and reveling in the soft loose
+earth with enthusiasm. The loving friend looking on was relieved; this
+was what she had waited for, to be assured that he knew where to look
+for supplies, and though she left his familiar dish full of food where
+he could see it in case of accident, she came away feeling that he had
+not been incapacitated for a free life by his months with her.
+
+One more glimpse of him made it clear also that he could fly as well as
+his wild neighbors, and removed the last anxiety about him. A
+wood-thrush, after noticing the stranger for some minutes, finally
+braved the human presence and made a rush for the little fellow about
+half his size. Whether war or welcome moved him was not evident, for
+away they flew across the nook, not more than a foot apart, now sweeping
+low over the grass, then mounting higher to pass over the shrubs that
+defined it. A hundred feet or more the chase continued, and then the
+smaller bird dropped into a low bush, and the larger one passed on.
+
+Then lonely, with empty cage and a happy heart-ache, his friend turned
+away and left the beautiful bird to his fate, assured that he was well
+able to supply his needs and to protect himself--in a word, to be
+free.
+
+
+
+
+A BIRD OF AFFAIRS.
+
+    But now the sun is rising calm and bright;
+      The jay makes answer as the magpie chatters,
+    And all the air is filled with pleasant sound of waters,
+      All things that love the sun are out of doors.
+
+    WORDSWORTH.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+A BIRD OF AFFAIRS.
+
+
+One of the most interesting birds I have studied was a blue-jay; I may
+say is, for he stands at this moment not six feet from me, his whole
+mind intent upon the business of driving small corks through a hole
+which they snugly fit. He takes the cork, as he does everything,
+lengthwise, and turns it about till he gets the smaller end outside;
+then pushes it into the hole and pounds it, delivering straight and
+rapid strokes with his iron beak, till it is not only driven up to the
+head, but, since he has found out that he can do so, till it drops out
+on the other side, when, after an interested glance to see where it has
+fallen, he instantly goes to the floor for another, and repeats the
+performance. Hammering, indeed, is one of his chief pleasures, and no
+woodpecker, whose special mission it is supposed to be, can excel him;
+in excitement, in anger, when suffering from _ennui_ or from
+embarrassment, he always resorts to that exercise to relieve his
+feelings. I have thought sometimes he did it to hear the noise and to
+amuse himself, in which case it might be called drumming.
+
+Not only does my bird occupy himself with corks, but with perches and
+the woodwork of his cage, with so great success that the former have to
+be frequently renewed, and the latter looks as though rats had nibbled
+it. The deliberate way in which he goes to work to destroy his cage is
+amusing, lifting the end of a perch and quietly throwing it to the
+floor, or pounding and splitting off a big splinter of the soft pine and
+carefully hiding it. To give him liberty, as I have, is simply to
+enlarge the field of his labors, and furnish him congenial employment
+from morning to night, the happiest and busiest member of the household.
+He tries everything: the covers of cardboard boxes, always choosing the
+spot that is weakest at the corner, and pounding till it is ruined; the
+cane seats of chairs, which he selects with equal judgment, and never
+leaves till he has effected a breach; a delicate work-basket, at which
+he labors with enthusiasm, driving his pickaxe bill into it and cutting
+a big hole. It is most curious to see him set himself to pick a hole,
+for instance, in a close-woven rattan chair, or a firm piece of matting
+stretched upon the floor. Selecting, by some esoteric wisdom, the most
+vulnerable spot, he pushes and pounds and pokes till he gets the tip of
+his beak under a strand, and then pulls and jerks and twists till he
+draws it out of its place. After this the task is easy, and he spends
+hours over it, ending with a hole in the matting three or four inches in
+diameter; for he is never discouraged, and his persistence of purpose is
+marvelous. Books are a special object of his attentions; not only does
+he peck the backs as they stand on the shelves, till he can insert his
+beak and tear off a bit, but if he finds one lying down he thrusts the
+same useful instrument into the edge, slightly open so as to enclose two
+or three leaves, and then, with a dexterous twist of the head, jerks out
+a neat little three-cornered piece. Thus he goes on, and after a short
+absence from the room I have found a great litter of white bits, and my
+big dictionary curiously scalloped on the edges. He is able to pound up
+as well as down, crouching, turning his head back, and delivering
+tremendous blows on the very spot he wishes, and so accurately that he
+easily cuts a thread, holding its strands under one toe.
+
+But hammering, though a great pleasure, is not his dearest delight. The
+thing for which, apparently, he came into the world is to put small
+objects out of sight,--bury them, in fact. No doubt the business for
+which Nature fitted him, and which in freedom he would follow with
+enthusiasm, is the planting of trees; to his industry we probably owe
+many an oak and nut tree springing up in odd places. In captivity, poor
+soul, he does the best he can to fulfill his destiny. When he has more
+of any special dainty than he can eat at the moment, as meat, or bread
+and milk, he hides it at the back of his tray, or in the hole already
+spoken of in connection with the corks; and when outside, nothing can be
+droller than the air of concern with which he goes around the floor,
+picking up any small thing he finds, left purposely for him, a burnt
+match, a small key, stray pins, or a marble, and seeks the very best and
+most secluded spot in the room in which to hide it. A pin he takes
+lengthwise in his mouth, which he closes as though he had swallowed it,
+as at first I feared he had. He has no doubt about the best place for
+that; he long ago decided that between the leaves of a book is safest.
+So he proceeds at once to find a convenient volume, and thrusts the pin
+far in out of sight. A match gives him the most trouble. He tries the
+cracks under the grooves in the moulding of the doors, the base board,
+between the matting and the wall, or under a rocker; in each place he
+puts it carefully, and pounds it in, then hops off, giving me one of
+the
+
+            "sidelong glances wise
+    Wherewith the jay hints tragedies,"
+
+attempting to look unconcerned, as if he had not been doing anything.
+But if he sees that he is observed, or the match is too plainly in
+sight, he removes it and begins again, running and hopping around on the
+floor with the most solemn, business-like air, as though he had the
+affairs of nations on his shoulders, the match thrust nearly its whole
+length into his mouth. The place usually decided upon is an opening
+between the breadths of matting. It is amusing when he chances to get
+hold of a box of matches, accidentally left open, for he feels the
+necessity and importance of disposing of each one, and is busy and
+industrious in proportion to the task before him. It is not so pleasing,
+however, when, in his hammering, he sets one off, as he often does; for
+they are "parlor matches," and light with a small explosion, which
+frightens him half out of his wits, and me as well, lest he set the
+house afire. The business of safely and securely secreting one match
+will frequently occupy him half an hour. He finds the oddest
+hiding-places, as in a caster between the wheel and its frame; up inside
+the seat of a stuffed chair, to reach which he flies up on to the
+webbing and goes in among the springs; in the side of my slipper while
+on my foot; in the loop of a bow; in the plaits of a ruffle; under a
+pillow. Often when I get up, a shower of the jay's treasures falls from
+various hiding-places about my dress,--nails, matches, shoe-buttons, and
+others; and I am never sure that I shall not find soft, milk-soaked
+bread in my slipper. But the latest discovered and most annoying of his
+receptacles is in my hair. He delights in standing on the high back of
+my rocking-chair, or on my shoulder, and he soon discovered several
+desirable hiding-places conveniently near, such as my ear, and under the
+loosely dressed hair. I did not object to his using these, but when he
+attempted to tuck away some choice thing between my lips I rebelled. I
+never expect to find a keyhole that he can reach, free from bread
+crumbs, and the openings of my waste-basket are usually decorated with
+objects half driven in.
+
+The jay shows unbounded interest in everything. Every sound and every
+fresh sight arouses him instantly; his crest comes up, his feathers
+fluff out, and he is on tiptoe to see what will come next. He is
+remarkably discriminating among people, and takes violent likes and
+dislikes on the instant. Some persons, without any reason that I can
+discover, he salutes on their first appearance with an indescribable
+cry, like "obble! obble! obble!" At others he squawks madly. On one
+occasion he took an intense dislike to a lady, of whom birds generally
+are very fond, and he made a peculiar display of rage, squawking and
+screaming at her, raising his crest, stamping, snapping his beak, giving
+vicious digs at the side of the cage, as though he would eat her if he
+could reach her. And although he often saw her, and she tried her best
+to win him, he always showed the same spirit, going so far, when out of
+his cage, as to show fight, fly up at her, peck her savagely, and chase
+her to the door when she left. Again, a lady came in with her baby, and
+he at once singled out the infant as his enemy, fixing a very wicked
+glance on it, but in perfect silence. He jumped back and forth as if mad
+to get out, and sat with open mouth, panting as if exhausted, with eyes
+immovably turned to the baby. He would not pay the slightest attention
+to any one else, nor answer me when I spoke, which was very unusual,
+till they left the room, when the moment the door closed behind them he
+began rapidly, as if to make up for lost time. Some visitors whom he
+fancies, he receives in silence, but with slightly quivering wings; only
+the very few he loves best are greeted with a low, sweet, and very
+peculiar chatter, which he keeps up as long as he is talked to.
+
+Investigating everything in the room is one of my bird's greatest
+pleasures, and most attractive of all he finds the drawer of my desk, on
+the edge of which he stands, delighted and bewildered by the variety
+before him. Great would be the havoc if I were not there; and the
+curious thing about it is that he will pull things over carelessly, with
+one eye on me, to see if I object. If, on touching some particular
+thing, he sees that I do not approve,--and he recognizes my sentiment as
+quickly as a bright child would,--that thing, and that only, he will
+have. At once he snatches it and flies away across the room, and I may
+chase him in vain. He regards it as a frolic got up for his amusement,
+and no child ever equaled him in dodging; he cannot be driven, and if
+cornered he uses his wings. I simply put my wits against his, follow him
+about till he has to drop his load to breathe, when a sudden start sends
+him off, and I secure it. If I cover up anything, he knows at once it is
+some forbidden treasure, and devotes all his energy and cunning, which
+are great, to uncovering and possessing himself of it. He opens any box
+by delivering sharp blows under the edge of the cover, and hides my
+postage stamps in books and magazines. He hops around the floor in a
+heavy way, as often sideways as straight, and holds his toes as close
+together as though he had worn tight boots all his life. If startled, he
+bounds up into the air in the oddest way, a foot or two, or even more,
+generally turning half round, and coming down with his head the other
+way. If much alarmed he will bounce up in this way half a dozen times in
+quick succession, and should he happen to be on a table at the time, he
+usually ends by landing on the floor. His alighting after any flight is
+most singular: he comes to the floor in a crouching position, legs
+sprawled, body horizontal and nearly touching the matting, looking like
+a bird gone mad; then instantly springs up six or eight inches, half
+turns, and stands upright, crest erect, and looking excited, almost
+frightened. If much disturbed he comes down with wings half open, tail
+held up, and every feather awry, as if he were out in a gale, uttering
+at the same time a loud squawk. He is a most expert catcher, not only
+seizing without fail a canary seed thrown to him, but even fluttering
+bits of falling paper, the hardest of all things to catch.
+
+The blue-jay is a bird of opinions about most things, and able to
+express himself quite clearly; as, for example, when he found himself
+under a chair without rounds, on which he likes to perch, he stood and
+looked around on every side, and made a low, complaining cry, plainly a
+protest against so unnatural a chair; and again, when he scolded at the
+rain that came in sudden gusts against the window, or charged furiously
+at the crack under a door when he heard sweeping outside. In general he
+is very quiet when one is in the room, but the moment the door closes
+behind the last person his voice is heard,--whistling exactly like a
+boy, calling, squawking, and occasionally uttering a sweet, though not
+loud song, which is varied by a sound like rubbing a cork against glass.
+The most quiet approach silences him. When under strong emotion he may
+squawk or scream before spectators, but he never whistles or sings when
+he knows any one is in the room. When out of his sight and so long
+silent that he has forgotten me, I have now and then heard the song.
+
+The funniest thing this knowing fellow does is to stamp his feet, and it
+is a genuine expression of impatience or displeasure. When I take
+something away from him or he thinks I mean to do so, or refuse him
+something he wants, he stands still and jerks his feet in such a way
+that they stamp with a loud sound, as if they were of iron. It is very
+droll. In serious anger, he adds to this, bowing and curtsying by
+bending the legs, snapping the bill, pecking, and jumping up with the
+body without lifting the feet.
+
+It may be that the jay in freedom disturbs other birds, as has been
+affirmed, but among a number smaller than himself my bird has never once
+shown the least hostility. He is interested in their doings, but the
+only unpleasant thing he has done is to shriek and scream to stop their
+singing. In spite of his natural boldness, always facing the enemy,
+always ready to fight, and never running from danger nor allowing
+himself to be driven anywhere, when he is not quite well he is a timid
+bird. In moulting, this spring, my jay lost his entire tail, and was
+extremely awkward in getting about, almost helpless, in fact; and at
+that time he was afraid to hop to the floor, and refused to come out of
+the cage. (I should have said, by the way, that he feared hurting
+himself; he was quite as spirited as ever, as ready to show fight.) To
+get him out of the door I offered him the greatest inducements, with the
+cage on the floor, so that he could not fall far. He would stand on the
+lowest perch, three inches from the floor, look at the meat or whatever
+treasure I placed in the open doorway, and cry a faint, low, jay-baby
+cry, yet not dare descend, though plainly aching with desire to get the
+object so nearly within his reach. Even since he is entirely recovered
+and the possessor of a beautiful long tail, he dreads the one little
+step and has to be coaxed out and in his cage every day, as we coax a
+startled child.
+
+Nothing ever interested the jay more than a piano, though he is fond of
+any music. The first time he heard one he quickly hopped across to the
+player, pulled at the hem of her dress, flew up to her lap, then her
+arm, and mounted to her shoulder, where he stood some time, looking and
+listening, turning his head this way and that, raising his crest,
+jerking his body, and in every way showing intense excitement. Finally
+he took his last step, to the top of her head, where he was more pleased
+to be than the player was to have him. She put him down; and the next
+time he tried a different way, mounted to the keys, and thence to the
+cover, crouching and peering under the lid to see where the sounds came
+from. Satisfied about this, he returned to her head, which he evidently
+considered the best post of observation. Every time she played she
+received the devoted attentions of the bird, and he could not be kept
+away.
+
+My blue-jay is now a beautiful creature, in perfect plumage, with breast
+and back plumes so long that often in repose, just after he has dressed
+them, the violet blue of the back meets the light drab of his breast, on
+the side, covering his wings completely, and making a lovely picture.
+All through the spring excitement, when the other birds, one after
+another, grew uneasy, belligerent, or unhappy, and one after another
+were returned to freedom, he never showed a moment's uneasiness, an
+instant's desire to be free, but scrupulously attended to his own
+regular business, which is to pound and pull and peck to pieces my
+furniture, and especially to destroy my books.
+
+As these last words are written, just at dusk, the dear, troublesome
+rogue comes down to the corner of his cage nearest to me, and as if he
+understood that I had said something about him begins to talk and
+remonstrate in a low, loving tone. I do feel reproached, and I must
+unsay it. His business, his manifest destiny, is to hammer and peck the
+shells of nuts, and to hide them away where they will grow; and if cruel
+man confines him in a house, he must exercise his untiring energy, his
+demon of work, in what he finds there,--and who can blame him, or find
+fault? Not I, certainly.
+
+In behalf of this bird against whom the pen of nearly every writer is
+lifted, let me quote from one of our early and most careful observers,
+William Bartram: "The jay is one of the most useful agents in the
+economy of nature for disseminating forest trees and other ruciferous
+and hard-seeded vegetables on which they feed. These birds alone are
+capable in a few years' time to replant all the cleared lands." Thoreau,
+who was perhaps the closest of our modern students of nature, cites this
+passage and emphatically affirms its justice.
+
+
+
+
+THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN.
+
+As for birds, I do not believe there is one of them but does more good
+than harm; and of how many featherless bipeds can this be said?
+
+LOWELL.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+THE BLUE-JAY AGAIN.
+
+
+The blue-jay came out of the egg with his mind made up. He always knew
+exactly what he wanted, and never doubted that he knew how to get it. I
+wrote of this bird some time ago, but he was then a comparatively new
+acquaintance. He lived with us many months after that, and became much
+more familiar; for besides being slow to feel thoroughly at home, he was
+very young, and he grew in wisdom with age. So I have more to say of
+him.
+
+Human society was necessary to the jay; he cared for the other birds of
+the room only as objects on which to play tricks for his own amusement.
+He was peculiar, too, in never liking more than one friend at a time,
+and was very decided in his opinions of people, having a distinctly
+different reception for each one of the household, as well as for
+strangers. His mistress was always his prime favorite; and although
+during my absence from home he adopted some one temporarily in my
+place, he was never so affectionate to that one as to me, and the
+instant I returned resumed his old relations to each of us.
+
+To his best beloved this bird never squawked or whistled; on the
+contrary, he talked in low, sweet tones, hardly more than a murmur,
+slightly lifting and quivering his wings, sidling as near as he could
+get, and if I put my face down to him touching my cheek or lips gently
+with his beak, in little taps, like kisses. Any one else in that
+position would receive a violent peck. Sometimes, when I was busy, and
+therefore silent a long time, and the jay was in his cage, where I was
+obliged to put him in order to work at all, he stood perfectly quiet and
+motionless an hour at a time, moving only when he was hungry, and
+apparently watching me every instant,--a performance very uncommon in a
+bird, who usually has some interests of his own, however fond he may be
+of a person. The moment I spoke to him his whole manner changed. He came
+at once as near as he could, about four feet from me, and began to talk,
+holding his tail on one side, and both wings spread to their fullest
+extent and parallel with his back. In this attitude he hopped up and
+down his three perches, always as near my side as possible, and
+evidently in great excitement. If during this exhibition any one came
+in, his wings instantly dropped, though he did not stop talking to me.
+This action of the wings showed extreme affection, and must not be
+profaned by common eyes. When I came close and replied to him, his
+agitation was almost painful to see,--such loving tones, such gentle
+kisses, such struggles to express himself. Not only did he insist on
+sharing his dainties with me, offering me mocking-bird food or bread and
+milk in the most loving way, but he wished to share mine; ice-cream he
+delighted in, cake he was as fond of as any child, and candy he always
+begged for, though instead of eating it he hid it somewhere about the
+room,--under my pillow, or between the leaves of a book, all sticky as
+it was from his mouth.
+
+Second in the blue-jay's affection was a lady to whom at first he took a
+great dislike. She tried her best to win him, talking to him, treating
+him to various tidbits, and offering him the hospitality of her
+room,--separated from the bird-room by a passage,--and above all dancing
+with him. These attentions in time secured her a warm place in his
+regards, though his treatment of her was very different from that
+reserved for me. He was always gentle with me, while in her society he
+exhibited all his noisy accomplishments,--squawked, whistled and
+screamed, stamped his feet, and jounced (the only word to describe a
+certain raising and violent dropping of the body without lifting the
+feet). He ran after her when she left the room; he pecked her hand, and
+flew up at her face. Gradually, as he grew to like her better, the more
+violent demonstrations ceased; but he was always boisterous with her,
+generally expected a half-fight, half-frolic, and I must say never
+failed to enjoy it greatly.
+
+The dance spoken of was droll. His chosen place for this indulgence was
+the back of a tall chair. His friend stood before this, whistled, bowed,
+and moved her head up and down as if dancing; and he on his perch did
+the same, jumping up and down in a similar way, answering her whistle
+for whistle, moving his feet, sliding from one side to the other,
+curtsying, lowering the body and flattening the head feathers, then
+rising, stamping his feet, and drooping his wings. This he kept up as
+long as she played second to him.
+
+When this playfellow went away, the jay missed his dances and frolics.
+He flew into her empty room, perched on the back of the rocking-chair,
+where he had been wont to stand and pull her hair, and began a peculiar
+cry. Again and again he repeated it, louder and louder each time, till
+it ended in a squawk, impatient and angry, as much as to say, "Why
+don't you answer?" After a while he began to whistle the notes she used
+to imitate; finding that this brought no response, he returned to the
+cry; and when at last he had exhausted all his resources, he came back
+to my desk and consoled himself by talking to me.
+
+A young lady in the family he greeted by flying at her, alighting on her
+chair-back, clawing her neck, and squawking; and before a youth who
+often teased him he trailed his wings on the floor, tail spread and
+dragging also, uttering a curious "obble! obble!" something like the cry
+of a turkey. The head of the household he met with stamping of the feet,
+and no sound; while at a maid who came in to sweep he always flew
+furiously, aiming for her head, and invariably frightening her half out
+of her wits.
+
+The jay was extremely wary about anything like a trap, and being always
+on the lookout for one, he sometimes, like bigger persons, fooled
+himself badly. Finding him fond of standing on a set of turning
+bookshelves, I thought to please him by arranging over it a convenient
+resting-place. He watched me with great interest, but, when I had
+finished, declined to use the perch, though ordinarily nothing could
+keep him from trying every new thing. I put a bait upon it in the shape
+of bits of gum-drops, a favorite delicacy; but he plainly saw that I
+wanted him to go to it, and in the face of the fact that I had
+heretofore tried to keep him off the papers and magazines lying there,
+he decided that it was suspicious. He flew so as almost to touch the
+stick, and hovered before it to snatch off the candy placed there; but
+alight on it he would not, and did not, though I kept it in place a
+week.
+
+In many ways this bird was wise; he knew exactly where to deliver his
+blows to effect what he desired. A cage-door being fastened with fine
+wire, he never wasted a stroke upon the door, but gave telling blows
+directly upon the wire. A rubber band was looped about a rod for him to
+play with, in the expectation that he would pull on it and make sport;
+but he disappointed us all by hammering at the loop, until he loosened
+it and easily pulled it off. Again it was tied on with strong linen
+thread; he turned his whole attention to the knot of the latter, till it
+yielded and was disposed of also.
+
+Dear as was this bird, he was a more than usually troublesome pet. My
+desk became his favorite playground, and havoc indeed he made with the
+things upon it; snatching and running off with paper, pen, or any small
+object, destroying boxes and injuring books. Finally, in self-defense,
+I adopted the plan of laying over it every morning a woolen cloth, which
+must be lifted every time anything was taken from the desk. This
+arrangement did not please my small friend in blue, and he took pains to
+express his displeasure in the most emphatic way. He came down upon the
+cover, tramped all over it, and sought small holes in it through which
+to thrust his bill. One day he was busily engaged in hammering a book
+through an opening, and to cure him of the trick I slipped my hand
+under, caught his beak between two fingers, and held it a moment. This
+amazed but did not alarm the bird; on the contrary, he plainly decided
+to persevere till he found out the secret. He pecked the mounds made by
+my fingers; he stooped and looked into the hole, and then probed again.
+This time I held him longer, so that he had to struggle and beat his
+wings to get away, and then he walked off indignantly. Still he was not
+satisfied about that mystery, and in a moment he was back again, trying
+in new ways to penetrate it. I was tired before he was. He was baffled
+only temporarily; he soon learned to draw up the fabric, hold the slack
+under one foot while he pulled it still further, and thus soon reach
+anything he desired.
+
+The blue-jay always pried into packages by pecking a hole in the
+wrapper and examining the contents through that; and boxes he opened by
+delivering upward blows under the edge of the cover. The waste-basket he
+nearly emptied from the outside by dragging papers through the openings
+in the weaving. Seeing two or three unmounted photographs put into a
+book, he went speedily for that volume, thrust his beak into the slight
+opening made by the pictures, and pulled them out, flying at once across
+the room with one in his mouth. It was secured and put back, and the
+book held down by a heavy weight; but he found the place at once, and
+repeated the naughtiness. The book had to be completely covered up
+before the photographs were safe.
+
+After the blue-jay had put on a new suit of feathers he flew with great
+ease, and selected for a retreat the top of a door into the passageway
+mentioned, which usually stood open. It was not long before his
+curiosity was roused to know what was outside the door that so often
+swallowed up his friends,--that into the hall. He resolved to find out,
+and to that end, when stationed on the elevated perch of his choice,
+held himself in readiness, upon the exit of any one, to fly out. He did
+not wish to get away; he merely took a turn in the hall, and came back;
+and once, when accidentally left in that unfamiliar place, he stayed in
+the bath-room, with window wide open, for half an hour before he was
+found. He became so expert in flying out of the door that it was a
+difficult matter to pass through without his company; we had to train
+ourselves in sleight-of-hand to outwit him. There were two ways of
+getting the better of him; mere suddenness was of no use,--he was much
+quicker than we were. One way was to go to the room on the other side of
+the passage, where he was sure to follow, and before he fairly settled
+there, to dodge back and shut the door,--a proceeding so unexpected that
+he never learned to allow for it. The other way was to go to the
+hall-door as if intending to open it; instantly the bird swooped down,
+ready to slip out also, but finding the way closed, swept around the
+room and alighted somewhere. This was the second to open the door and
+step out, for he always paused a moment before flying again.
+
+The only notice the jay ever took of the birds, as said above, was to
+tease them, or put them in a flutter; as society he plainly despised
+them. They soon learned to regard him as a sort of infernal machine,
+liable at any moment to explode; and they were fully justified, for he
+was fond of surprising them by unexpectedly flying around the room, tail
+spread, feathers rustling, squawking madly in a loud voice. He usually
+managed in his career to sweep close over the head of every bird, of
+course frightening them off their perches, and thus to put the whole
+room into a panic. They took refuge anywhere,--under the bed, behind the
+chairs, against the wires, and on the floor,--while the mischief-maker
+circled around, filling the air with shrieks, then suddenly dropped to
+the round of a chair and calmly dressed his feathers, as if he had
+merely been exercising his wings.
+
+Poor little fellow! he was hardly more than a baby, and not very brave.
+A big grasshopper which once got into the room afforded him great
+excitement and the spectators much amusement. He saw it before his cage
+was opened, and as soon as he came out he went after it. The insect
+hopped up three feet, and so startled the bird that he jumped almost as
+high. When it alighted he picked it up, but seeming not to know what to
+do with it, soon dropped it. Again it hopped, and again the jay repeated
+his bound; and this performance went on for some minutes, one of the
+drollest of sights,--his cautious approach, the spring of the insect,
+and his instant copy of the same, as if in emulation. After being picked
+up several times the grasshopper was disabled; then when the bird came
+near, it lifted its wings, plainly to scare its persecutor; it did awe
+him. Meanwhile an orchard oriole had been eagerly looking on, and on one
+occasion that the grasshopper was dropped he pounced upon it and carried
+it off to a chair, where he proceeded to eat it, though it was so big as
+to be almost unmanageable. The jay did not like being deprived of his
+plaything. He ran after the thief, and stood on the floor, uttering a
+low cry while watching the operation. In the oriole's moving the clumsy
+insect fell to the floor, when the jay snatched it; and it was evident
+that he had got a new idea about its use, for he carried it under a
+chair and demolished it completely,--not even a wing remained.
+
+More disturbing to the jay, strange as it may seem, was a tree. It was
+really touching to see a bird afraid of this, but the poor youngster had
+been taken from the nest to a house. A Christmas tree was brought into
+the bird-room to please the residents there, when, to our amazement, the
+jay went into a wild fright, flew madly around near the ceiling,
+squawking, and making the other birds think something terrible had
+happened. He flew till he was breathless, and was evidently very much
+distressed. For three or four days he was equally alarmed the moment he
+caught sight of it in the morning and whenever I moved it an inch,
+though the other birds liked it and were on it half the time. When he
+did get used to it he did not go upon it, but to the standard below,
+where he could pick the needle-like leaves and carry them off to hide
+about the room.
+
+The blue-jay took his bath in an original way as he did everything else.
+First, he stood beside the wide, shallow dish, looked at it, then at me
+and all around the room, one wing drooping and the other laid jauntily
+over the back, while he talked in a low tone, as if he said, "If anybody
+is going to object, now is the time." No one ventured to dispute his
+right, and suddenly he plumped into the middle, neither alighting on the
+edge nor testing the water. Then there was a lively frolic, with tail
+spread, crest raised, wings beating, and the water flying several feet
+around. He was a very beautiful bird when in perfect-plumage. There were
+six distinct shades of blue, besides rich velvety black, snowy white,
+delicate dove color, and blue-gray. He is too well known to need
+description, but a jay is not often so closely seen when alive and in
+perfection of plumage. This bird had a charming way of folding his wings
+that hid all the plain blue-gray. When held thus and laid together over
+the back, there were displayed first the beautiful tail, with broad
+white edges to the feathers; above it the wings looking like a square
+cut mantle, of the same colors; above this a deep pointed shoulder cape,
+of rich violet blue, the feathers fluffed up loosely; and at the top of
+all, his exquisite crest.
+
+
+
+
+VIRGINIA'S WOOING.
+
+    For who the pleasure of the spring shall tell,
+    When on the leafless stalk the brown buds swell,
+    When the grass brightens and the days grow long,
+    And little birds break out in rippling song.
+
+    CELIA THAXTER.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+VIRGINIA'S WOOING.
+
+
+You must know in the beginning that Virginia wore feathers. But she had
+as many trials with her suitors as though she dressed in silks, and she
+displayed so much of what we call "human nature" that her story is as
+interesting as that of half the Ethels and Marguerites of the romances.
+
+She came of a good old family, the Cardinals, and, belonging to the
+Virginia branch, was called properly Virginia Cardinal, or, in
+scientific, fashion, _Cardinalis Virginianus_. She was a beauty, too. It
+is well known that the cardinal himself has a full suit of the most
+brilliant red, but it is not so familiar a fact that the dames of the
+tribe are more modest and wear the family colors simply as linings and
+in subdued tints: rich rose-colored wing-facings, light coral-hued beak,
+delicate pink crest, all toned down by the soft olive brown of the
+breast and back, over which is everywhere a lovely suggestion of red.
+
+The home of Virginia, when she came to the bird-room, was a large cage
+by the window; that of the cardinal being next to it, equally
+commodious, but a little farther from the light. This personage, her
+first admirer, made the mistake that larger suitors sometimes fall into,
+with equally disastrous results,--he "took things for granted." Between
+the cages was a door, but, to try the temper of the birds, it was at
+first closed. The cardinal was evidently pleased with his lovely
+neighbor; he went as near to her as he could get, and uttered some low
+remarks, to which she listened, but did not reply. Later, when a
+meal-worm was given to him, he did not eat it, but held it in his beak,
+hopped over to her side, tried to get through the wires, and plainly
+thought of offering it to her. His disposition appearing so friendly, a
+human hand interposed and opened the door. Instantly he went into her
+cage, and apparently thinking better of the intended offering he ate it
+himself, and proceeded to investigate her food-dishes and try the seed,
+then hopped back and forth between the two cages, and at last selected
+the perch he preferred and took possession. He paid no attention to her
+in the way of recognizing her ownership, which he would naturally do to
+another bird; he assumed that whatever belonged to the cardinal family
+belonged to him; perhaps he even thought she went with the house,--it
+certainly looked as though he did.
+
+But the little dame had a mind of her own. On his first intrusion she
+vacated her home and passed into his. When he appeared in his cage she
+quietly hopped back; on his return she changed cages with equal
+alacrity; when he settled himself on her perch, she was quite contented
+on his. There was no dispute, no warfare; she simply said, in manner,
+"All right, my friend, select your abode, and I'll take the other. I'm
+satisfied with either, but I intend to have it to myself." After awhile
+it seemed to strike his lordship that she avoided him, and he resolved
+to settle that matter; here making his second mistake, in trying to
+force instead of to win. He entered the cage where she sat quietly, and
+flew at her. She dodged him and took refuge in the other apartment; he
+followed; and thus they rushed back and forth several times, till she
+stopped for breath on a lower perch, while he was on an upper one in the
+same cage. Then he leaned far over and fixed his eyes on her, crest
+raised to its greatest height, wings held slightly out, and addressed
+her in a very low but distinct song, which resembled the syllables
+"cur-dle-e! cur-dle-e! cr-r-r"; the latter sounding almost like a cat's
+purr. After singing this several times, and being slighted by her
+leaving the cage, he laid his crest flat down, muttered something so low
+that it could not be noted, and looked very much put out. Soon, however,
+he shook his feathers violently, flung himself at her, and she dodged,
+as before. When both happened to be for a moment in their own cages, the
+door was suddenly closed between, and each had his own, as at first.
+Madam was delighted, but the cardinal resented it; he tried to remove
+the obnoxious barrier, pecked at it, shook it, and could not be
+reconciled. He grew hungry and was obliged to eat, but between every two
+seeds he returned to struggle with the bars that kept him from her.
+Meanwhile Virginia had apparently forgotten all about him, eating and
+making her toilet for the night, as cheerful as usual.
+
+The next morning, the outside doors of the two cages were opened, and
+both birds at once came out into the room. The cardinal, not yet over
+his tiff of the evening before, took wing for the trees outside the
+windows, and brought up, of course, against the glass. He was greatly
+disappointed. He alighted on top of the lower sash, tested, examined,
+and tried to solve the mystery. Virginia, too, tried to go through the
+pane, but learned in one lesson that it was useless. She did not care
+much about it any way, for she was perfectly contented inside. She went
+around the room, hovering slowly under the ceiling, which is always of
+interest to birds, and then set herself to work in a most systematic
+manner to find out all about the new world she was in. She examined the
+outside perches and tried each one; she explored the bathing table,
+flirted out a little water from the dishes, and at last thought it time
+to make acquaintance with her neighbors.
+
+She began with the robin, and flew to his roof. The robin was not
+pleased, snapped at her, opened his mouth, uttered a queer low
+robin-cry, "seep," and pecked at her feet, while she stood quietly
+looking down at the show from above, as much interested as though it
+were arranged to amuse her. At length she began to make the more formal
+visit. She dropped to the door-perch and approached the entrance. The
+inhospitable owner met her there, not to welcome and invite her in, but
+to warn her out! He lowered his head, opened his beak, and bowed to her,
+looking very wicked indeed. It was plain that he was "not receiving"
+that morning. But Virginia had come to call, and call she would. Nothing
+daunted by his coolness, she hopped in. The robin was amazed; then
+declared war in his peculiar way,--first a hop of six inches, with
+wings spread, then a savage clatter of the bill. His guest met this
+demonstration quite calmly. She lowered her head, to defend herself if
+necessary, but made no other movement. Her calmness filled the robin
+with horror; he fled the cage. Then she went all over it, and satisfied
+herself that it was much like her own, only the food-dish was filled
+with some uneatable black stuff, instead of the vegetarian food she
+preferred. She soon departed.
+
+Meanwhile the cardinal was wasting his time over the window problem,
+touching the glass with his beak, flying up a few inches before it,
+gently tapping the pane as he went. It was two or three days before he
+made up his mind he could not get through. After that he was as
+indifferent to the outside as any bird in the room, and turned his
+attention once more to Virginia. Whenever they were in their cages, with
+the door open between, he assumed the lord-and-mastership of the two; he
+drove her away from her own food-cups, usurped her perch and her cage,
+and made himself disagreeable generally. Finally, one day when she was
+sitting quietly on the upper perch of his deserted cage, he came into
+the same cage, and, resting on the low perch close to the door, his tail
+hanging outside, began a low call, a curious sort of "e-up," with a
+jerk on the second syllable. Though a common enough sound for a
+cardinal, this plainly meant more than was apparent to human spectators.
+Virginia at once grew uneasy, hopped across the upper perches, and when
+her nervousness became too great dashed down past him, though he was
+partly in the doorway, and into her own cage, where she resumed her
+restless jumps. He was not pleased with her reception of his attentions;
+he sat a long time in that attitude, perfectly still, perhaps meditating
+what step he should take next, glancing at her meanwhile over his
+shoulder, but not stirring a feather. Time passed, and he came to a
+decision of some sort, which was shown by a change of position. He
+turned around, and took his seat on the corresponding perch in her cage,
+just before the door. This impressed Virginia; she stopped her hopping
+and looked over at him with an air of wondering what he would do next.
+What he did was to hop one step nearer, to the middle perch. Upon this
+she abandoned her place, came to the floor, and began to eat in the most
+indifferent manner; then passed into his cage, then back to the floor of
+her own, still eating, while he sat silent and motionless on the middle
+perch, evidently much disturbed by her conduct. After an hour of this
+performance he retired to her upper perch, and stayed there.
+
+The same day, the jealousy of the unsuccessful wooer was aroused by a
+fine, fresh-looking cardinal whom he saw in the looking-glass. In flying
+past it he caught a glimpse of his reflection, and at once turned,
+alighted before it, and began calling vehemently; holding out, and
+quivering his wings, and flying up against the figure again and again in
+the most savage way. The next day he began to mope and refused to come
+out of the cage; whether because of illness, or disappointed affections,
+who shall say?
+
+The time of her tormentor's retirement was one of great happiness to
+Virginia. She paid her usual visit to the robin, and he, as at first,
+vacated the cage, this having become the regular morning programme. Now,
+too, she went on to extend her acquaintance by entering the cage of
+another neighbor, a scarlet tanager, a shy, unobtrusive fellow, who
+asked nothing but to be let alone. This bird also did not reciprocate
+her neighborly sentiments; he met her with open beak, but finding that
+did not awe her, nor prevent her calmly walking in, he hastily left the
+cage himself. During the time that her persecutor was sulking, and not
+likely to bother, she had leisure for the bath, which she enjoyed
+freely, coming out with her long breast-feathers hanging in locks and
+looking like a bundle of rags. Her last experimental call was now made
+upon another household, the Baltimore orioles, and there she met with
+something new--perfect indifference. Even when both of the birds were at
+home they did not resent her coming in. She went to the upper perch with
+them; the cage was big, there was plenty of room, and they were willing.
+Their manners, in fact, were so agreeable that if their cups had been
+supplied with seed, I think she would have taken up her abode with them;
+as it was, she frequently spent half an hour at a time there. On this
+eventful day Virginia began to sing, for in her family the musical
+performances are not confined to the males.
+
+After several days of retirement, the cardinal plucked up spirit to
+resume his annoyance of Virginia, and for a few nights a queer sort of
+game was played by the two, explain it who can. If the barrier between
+the cages was removed after the outside doors were shut for the night,
+he at once went to her cage and to the middle perch. Virginia, on the
+upper perch, waited till he reached that spot, then dropped to the
+floor, slipped through the door into his cage, and went to the upper
+perches there, where she hopped back and forth, while he did the same in
+her cage. Suddenly, after a few moments, down he came again through the
+door to his own middle perch, when instantly, as before, she retreated
+into her cage. Thus they went on an hour at a time; he apparently
+following her from one cage to another, and she declining to occupy the
+same apartment with him. Occasionally it was not so calm; he lost his
+temper, or grew tired of trying to please; once or twice, without
+warning, he lowered his head, looked ugly, and fairly burst into her
+cage and flung himself at her. She dived under or bounded over a perch,
+any way to escape him, and took refuge in the other cage.
+
+This could not go on long; the cardinal lost interest in everything,
+took to moping, and at last died,--disappointed affection, shall we say,
+or what? Virginia was relieved; she sang more and in a louder tone,
+hopping around her cage with a seed in her mouth, flying through the
+room, or splashing in the bath; in fact she was bubbling over with song
+all the time, as if she were so happy she could not keep still. She paid
+her daily visits to the cages, forcing the robin to take an outing,
+which he did not care to do while moulting and not very sure of his
+powers.
+
+Many birds show emotions by raising the feathers on different parts of
+the body, but this bird was remarkable in the expression of her crest
+alone. When she peeped into a strange cage, and was somewhat uncertain
+of her reception, the crest laid flat down, her very head seemed to
+shrink; she stepped in at the door, excited, for it might be peace and
+it might be war; the feathers rose and fell alternately; if suddenly
+startled, the crest sprang to its highest point; and when singing, or
+passing peacefully about the room, it dropped carelessly back on her
+head.
+
+Virginia was allowed a week's solitary enjoyment of the two cages, and
+then one day a new tenant appeared in the cardinal's quarters. She was
+out in the room when he arrived, but she instantly came over and
+alighted on his roof, to have a look at him. Most expressive was her
+manner. She stood in silence and gazed upon him a long time; all her
+liveliness and gayety were gone, and she appeared to be struck dumb by
+this new complication of her affairs. It was plain that she was not
+pleased. Perhaps her dislike was evident to the new bird, for suddenly
+he flew up and snapped at her, which so surprised her that she hopped a
+foot into the air. When the time came to open the door into her cage,
+the stranger was delighted to go in, but Virginia dodged him, exactly as
+she had done his predecessor. He did not lose his temper and condescend
+to the vulgarity of flying at her, as the first admirer had done. He
+looked interested to see that she avoided him, but after all he did not
+take it much to heart. This cardinal, like the other, was not yet
+acclimated--if one may call it so--to life in a house, and after a week
+he also took his departure.
+
+Now Virginia, free again, became at once very gay. She sang all the
+time; she kept the robin stirring; she bathed; she waxed fat. But her
+time was approaching. Spring came on, and with the first warm weather
+the birds began to disappear from the room. First the tanager expressed
+a desire to mingle with society once more, and went his way; then the
+orioles were sent to carry on their rough wooing in the big world
+outside; the robin followed; and at last Virginia was left with several
+big empty cages and only two birds, a reserved and solitude-loving
+Mexican clarin, and a saucy goldfinch, so long a captive that he had no
+desire for freedom. Now for the first time Virginia was lonely; the
+strange quiet of the once lively room worked upon her temper. She
+snapped at her little neighbor; she haunted the window-sill and gazed
+out; while nothing hindered her passage excepting the weather, our
+climate being rather cool for her.
+
+At last July, with its great heat, arrived, and the restless bird was
+carried by a kind friend, who offered to do this good deed, to a place
+in Central Park, New York, where a small colony of her kind have
+established themselves and build and nest every year. Here she was set
+free, and here she met her third suitor. The place and the season were
+propitious, and Virginia was ready to look with favor on a smart young
+cardinal in the brightest of coats, who came in response to her calls
+the moment she found herself on a tree, really out in the world. A
+little coaxing, a few tender words, and she flew away with him, and we
+saw her no more.
+
+
+
+
+FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS.
+
+   Why should I cumber myself with regrets that the receiver is not
+   capacious? It never troubles the sun that some of his rays fall wide
+   and vain into ungrateful space, and only a small part on the
+   reflecting planet.   EMERSON.
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+FRIENDSHIP IN FEATHERS.
+
+
+Emerson somewhere speaks of a friendship "on one side, without due
+correspondence on the other," and I often thought of it while watching
+the curious relation between two birds in my house last winter; for the
+more one studies our feathered neighbors, the better he comes to realize
+that the difference between their intelligence and that of man himself
+is "only of less and more."
+
+This friendship, then, was all on one side. It was not a case of "love
+at sight"; on the contrary, it was first war, and the birds had been
+room-mates for months before any unusual interest was shown; neither was
+it simple admiration of beauty, for the recipient of the tenderness was
+at his worst at the moment; nor, again, could it be the necessity of
+loving somebody, for the devotee had lived in the house ten years, and
+had seen forty birds of almost as many kinds come and go, without
+exhibiting any partiality. The parties to this curious affair were,
+first, the beloved, a male scarlet tanager, whose summer coat was
+disfigured with patches of the winter dress he was trying to put on; and
+secondly, the lover, a male English goldfinch, scarcely half his size.
+
+The tanager, as perhaps every one knows, is one of our most brilliant
+birds, bright scarlet with black wings and tail. He is as shy as he is
+gay, living usually in the woods, and not taking at all kindly to the
+enforced companionship of mankind. I had long been anxious to make the
+acquaintance of this retiring bird, partly because I desire to know
+personally all American birds, and partly because I wanted to watch his
+change of plumage; for the scarlet uniform is only the marriage dress,
+and put off at the end of the season. Hence whenever I saw a tanager in
+a New York bird store I brought it home, though dealers always warned me
+that it would not live in confinement. My first attempts were
+disastrous, certainly. The birds refused to become reconciled, even with
+all the privileges I gave them, and one after another died, I believe
+for no other reason than their longing for freedom. Let me say here that
+feeling thus, they would have received their liberty, much as I wished
+to study them, only their plumage was not in condition to fly, and they
+would go out to certain death. My hope was to make them contented
+through the winter, while they put on a new suit of feathers, and open
+the doors for them in summer.
+
+The subject of this tale, and the last of the series, I procured of a
+dealer who has learned to keep tanagers in good condition, and I never
+had trouble with this bird's health or spirits. It was not until May
+that he wished to leave me. When he joined the circle in the room he had
+just thoroughly learned that a cage was a place he could not get out of,
+and he had ceased to try. The first morning when his neighbors came out
+of their cages he was as much astonished as if he had never seen birds
+out of a bird store. He stretched up and looked at them with the
+greatest interest. When one or two began to splash in the large shallow
+bathing dishes on the table, he was much excited, and plainly desired to
+join them. I opened his door and placed in it a long perch leading to
+freedom. For some time he did not come out, and when he did, the sudden
+liberty drove out of his head all thoughts of a bath. When he flew, he
+aimed straight for the trees outside the window, and of course came
+violently against the glass.
+
+This experience all house birds have to go through, and it is sometimes
+several days before they learned the nature of glass. The tanager
+learned his lesson more quickly. He fell to the floor at first, from the
+shock, but in a few moments recovered himself and returned, this time
+alighting on the top of the lower sash and proceeding to examine the
+strange substance through which he could see, but could not go. He
+gently tapped the glass with his beak the whole length of the window,
+passing back and forth several times till satisfied. Turning at last
+from that, he cast his eye around for another exit, and settled on the
+white ceiling as the most likely place. Then he flew all about the room
+close to the ceiling, touched it now and then with his beak, and finding
+it also impassable, he came down to the window again. He had not the
+least curiosity about the room, and was not at all afraid of me. The
+world outside the windows and his cage when he was hungry, were all that
+he cared for at present--except the bath.
+
+The goldfinch was bathing the second time he came out, and he went
+directly to the table and perched on the side of the dish. Now the one
+thing the little fellow most delighted in was his morning bath, and he
+at once resented the intrusion of the stranger. He flew at him with open
+beak and lifted wings, scolding vigorously, in fact gave him so hostile
+a reception that he quickly retired to the top of the cage, where he
+stood a long time. Afterward also, the goldfinch showed so strong a
+determination that the intruder should not enjoy his beloved bath, that
+at last I had to keep him in his cage while the new-comer had a chance
+at the water.
+
+This did not go on long, however, for very soon the tanager deliberately
+gave up the world of the bird-room, and insisted on remaining in his
+cage. In vain was his door set open with the others, in vain did the
+birds splash and splatter the water, he would not come out, though he
+did not mope or lose his appetite. In truth, it seemed merely as if he
+scorned the advantages offered; if he could not go out free into the
+trees, he would as lief stay in his cage--and he did. This is a not
+uncommon habit of cage birds. They often need to be driven or coaxed
+out. Having once learned that the cage is home with all its comforts and
+conveniences, they prefer to be there.
+
+The tanager was always a very shy bird; he did not like to be looked at.
+If he could manage it, he would never eat while any one saw him. Often,
+when I put a bit of apple or a meal-worm in his cage, he stood and
+looked at it and at me, but did not move till I turned away, or walked
+out of his sight, when he instantly pounced upon it as if starved. To
+make him altogether happy I put a screen around one corner of his cage,
+behind which were his dishes, and after that it was very droll to see
+him crouch behind that and eat, every moment or two stretching up to
+glance over the top and see if I had moved. If I stirred as though about
+to leave my chair, he at once whisked to the upper perch as if he had
+been caught in a crime.
+
+The first I noticed of the goldfinch's friendliness to him was after he
+had lived with us five or six months.
+
+This small bird, in a room of larger ones, was somewhat driven about. I
+do not mean hurt, but if any one wanted a certain perch he did not
+hesitate to take it, even if it were already occupied by so little a
+fellow. He soon learned that near the tanager he was not often molested,
+and he began first to frequent the perch that ran out of the cage--the
+doorstep in fact. Finding that he was not disturbed, he soon moved his
+quarters just inside the door. Most birds quickly resent the intrusion
+of another into their cage, but the tanager never did. So long as he was
+left alone on his favorite upper perches, he did not care who went in
+below. This being the case, after a while the goldfinch ventured upon
+the middle perch. Still he was not noticed; but presuming on the
+friendly attitude of his host, he one day hopped upon the perch beside
+him. This was a step too far; the house-owner turned an open beak toward
+him, and in unmistakable tones told him to leave--which he at once did,
+of course.
+
+This boundary made by the tanager was never changed, but in the rest of
+the cage the goldfinch made himself at home, and at once assumed the
+position of protector. Seeing that the owner did not,--and sure it was
+somebody's duty,--he began to guard the door, warning away any one who
+wished to enter, with harsh scolding, fluttering of wings, and swelling
+up of his little body, amusing to see. The boldest bird in the room was
+awed by these demonstrations coming from the inside as though the cage
+were his own. The tanager looked on all this with some interest, but
+expressed no more gratitude at being protected than he had resentment at
+being driven from the bath.
+
+Soon I noticed a certain chattering talk from the small bird that he had
+never indulged in excepting to another of his kind--his companion when
+he first came to me. It was very low but almost continuous, and was
+plainly addressed to the tanager. As his friendliness progressed, he
+found the lower perch too far from his charmer, and not being allowed to
+sit beside him he took to clinging upon the outside of the cage as near
+to the tanager's usual seat as he could get. The only perching place he
+had there was a band of tin that held the wires steady, but in spite of
+what must have been the discomfort of the position, there he hung by the
+hour, talking, calling, and looking at his idol within. He left the spot
+only to eat and bathe, and I think if the cage had been supplied with
+seed he would never have gone at all. When the bird inside hopped to the
+perch at the other end of the cage, which was the extent of his
+wanderings, the finch at once followed on the outside, always placing
+himself as near as possible. It was really touching, to all but the
+object of it, who took it in the most indifferent way. When the tanager
+went down to eat, his escort accompanied him as far as the door perch,
+where he stood and looked on earnestly, ready to return to his old place
+the moment the luncheon was finished.
+
+On the rare occasions that the self-elected hermit went out, the
+goldfinch displayed great concern, evidently preferring to have his
+favorite at home where he could defend him. He flew uneasily across from
+the cage to his side, then back, as if to show him the way. He also
+desired to watch the empty house, to preserve it from intrusion, but was
+constantly divided between his duties of special porter, and bodyguard.
+But he did his best, even then; he followed the wanderer. If the tanager
+went to a perch the goldfinch at once alighted on the same, about a foot
+away, and sidled up as near as he was allowed. He was free to come
+within about three inches, but nearer he was driven off, so the little
+fellow placed himself at this distance and there stayed patiently as
+long as his friend remained. If the latter had been more responsive, I
+believe the goldfinch would have nestled up against him.
+
+The tanager sometimes strayed into a strange cage, and then the anxious
+guard followed to the steps and even within, talking earnestly, and no
+doubt pointing out the danger, yet if the owner unexpectedly appeared he
+met him at the threshold and fiercely defended the door against the
+proprietor himself. Occasionally the erratic recluse went to the
+floor--a place never visited by his little attendant, whose trouble was
+almost painful to see. He at once placed himself on the lowest perch,
+stretched out and looked over, following every movement with his eyes,
+in silence, as though the danger was too great to allow conversation,
+and when his charge returned to a perch, he uttered a loud and joyous
+call as though some peril had been escaped.
+
+The stanch little friend had many chances to show his loyalty. The other
+birds in the room were not slow to take advantage of one who never
+defended himself. In particular a Brazilian cardinal, a bold saucy
+fellow with a scarlet pointed crest and a loud voice, evidently
+considered the tanager cage common ground, open to everybody, until the
+goldfinch undertook its defense. It was amusing to see the small bird
+stand just inside, and rage, puff himself out, wave his wings, and
+fairly drive away the foe. So impertinent was the Brazilian that the
+finch declared general war upon him, and actually chased his big
+antagonist around the room and away from his favorite perches, hovering
+over his head, and flying around it in small circles, trying to peck it,
+till he flew away defeated, probably because he was too much amazed to
+think of resisting.
+
+This was not, however, the worst enemy he had to deal with. Next door to
+the tanager lived a robin, a big, rollicking, fun-loving fellow who
+considered such a retiring personage fair game. His pleasure was to see
+that the tanager went out every day, and he made it his business to
+enforce the regulation he had set up. His tactics were to jump upon the
+roof of the cage, coming down violently just over the head of the
+tanager, who, of course, hopped quickly to the other perch. Then the
+robin began a mad war-dance across the cage, wings held up, tail spread,
+bill clattering, and altogether looking as full of mischief as any bad
+boy one ever saw, while the tanager went wild below, flying in a panic
+back and forth, but not for some time thinking of leaving the cage. The
+instant this performance began, the little champion was upon him; he
+alighted at one end of the short tramping ground on the cage, and met
+his big foe with open beak and every sign of war. The robin simply
+lowered his head and went for him, and the little bird had to fly. He
+pluckily returned at once to the other end and faced him again.
+
+Observing that the goldfinch alone was not able to keep the robin away,
+I provided the cage with a roof of paper, which is usually a perfect
+protection, since birds dislike the rustle. It did not dismay this
+naughty fellow, however; on the contrary, it gave an added zest because
+of that very quality. He pranced across it in glee, making a great
+noise, and when the violence of his movements pushed it aside, he peered
+down on the tanager, who stood panting. The sight pleased him, and he
+resumed his pranks; he lifted the handle of the cage and let it drop
+with a clatter; he jerked off bits of paper and dropped them into the
+cage, and in every way showed a very mischievous spirit. Meanwhile, all
+through the confusion the goldfinch scolded furiously, flying around to
+get a peck at him, and in every way challenging him to fight.
+Occasionally, when he became too troublesome, the robin turned and
+snapped his beak at him, but did not choose to leave the bigger game.
+
+When at last he tired of his fun, or was driven away, the goldfinch flew
+to the side of the cage where the frightened tanager had taken refuge,
+though there was not even a strip of tin to hold on, uttered his loud
+cheerful call several times, plainly congratulating and reassuring him,
+and telling him all was safe; and here he clung with difficulty to the
+upright wires, all the time slipping down, till the tanager went to the
+upper regions again. Every time the robin so much as flew past, the
+tireless little fellow rushed out at him, scolding. When finally the
+robin went into his own cage, and the tanager returned to his usual
+place, the goldfinch at once assumed his uncomfortable perch and sang a
+loud sweet song, wriggling his body from side to side, and expressing
+triumph and delight in a remarkable way.
+
+The approach of spring made a change in the tanager. He had not so
+completely given up the world as it appeared. He began to chirp, to
+call, and at last to sing. He was still so shy he went down behind his
+screen to sing, but sing he must and did. Now, too, he began to resent
+the attentions of his admirer, occasionally giving the poor little toes
+a nip, as they clung to the tin band near his seat. He also went out
+now, and turned an open beak upon his friend. From simply enduring him,
+he suddenly began offensive operations against him. Poor little lover!
+an ungrateful peck did not drive him away, but simply made him move a
+little farther off, and stopped his gentle twittering talk a while. But
+the tanager grew more and more belligerent. He came out every day, took
+soaking baths, and returned to his examination of the windows, for the
+trees were green outside, and plainly he longed to be on them. He stood
+and looked out, and called, and held his wings up level with his back,
+fluttering them gently.
+
+All this time the devotion of the little one never changed, though it
+was so badly received. When the tanager turned savagely and gave his
+faithful friend a severe peck, instead of resenting it the hurt bird
+flew to another perch, where he stood a long time, uttering occasionally
+a low, plaintive call, as if of reproach, all his cheerfulness gone, a
+melancholy sight indeed. I waited only for warm days to set free the
+tanager, and at last they came. Early in June the bird was put into a
+traveling cage, carried into the country, where a lovely bit of woods
+and a pretty lake insured a good living, and the absence of sparrows
+made it safe for a bird that had been caged. Then the door was opened,
+and he instantly flew out of sight.
+
+The bird left at home seemed a little lost for a few days, moped about,
+often visited the empty cage, but in a short time entirely abandoned it,
+and evidently looked no more for his friend. But he is changed too: not
+quite so gay as before; not so much singing; and not a word of the soft
+chattering talk we heard so constantly while his beloved friend was
+here.
+
+
+
+
+THE ROSY SHIELD.
+
+    Soft falls his chant as on the nest
+      Beneath the sunny zone,
+    For love that stirred it in his breast
+      Has not aweary grown,
+    And 'neath the city's shade can keep
+    The well of music clear and deep.
+
+    And love that keeps the music, fills
+      With pastorial memories.
+    All echoing from out the hills,
+      All droppings from the skies,
+    All flowings from the wave and wind
+    Remembered in the chant I find.
+
+    ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+THE ROSY SHIELD.
+
+
+One of the most winning inhabitants of my bird-room last winter bore on
+his snow-white breast a pointed shield of beautiful rose-color, and the
+same rich hue lined his wings. With these exceptions his dress was of
+sober black and white, though so attractively disposed that he was an
+extremely pretty bird--the rose-breasted grosbeak.
+
+Nor was beauty his only attraction; he was a peculiar character, in
+every way different from his neighbors. He was dignified, yet his
+dignity was not like that of a thrush; he was calm and cool, yet not
+after the manner of an orchard oriole. He possessed a lovely gentleness
+of disposition, and a repose of manner unparalleled among my birds.
+Vulgar restlessness was unknown to him; flying about for mere exercise,
+or hopping from perch to perch to pass away time, he scorned. The
+frivolous way common to smaller birds of going for each seed as they
+want it, was beneath him. When he wished to eat he did so like a
+civilized being, that is, took his stand by the seed-cup, and stayed
+there, attending strictly to the business in hand till he had finished,
+leaving a neat pile of canary-seed shells in one spot, instead of the
+general litter common to cages. The meal over, he was ready to go out of
+the cage, place himself comfortably in one of his favorite corners, and
+remain for a long time, amused with the life in the room and the doings
+in the street, on both of which he seemed to look with the eye of a
+philosopher. In the same deliberate and characteristic way he disposed
+of a meal-worm, or a bit of beef, which he enjoyed. He never bolted it
+outright like a thrush, nor beat it to death like a tanager, nor held it
+under one toe and took it in mouthfuls like an oriole: he quietly worked
+it back and forth between his mandibles till reduced to a pulp, and then
+swallowed it.
+
+The rosy shield-bearer was preeminently a creature of habit. Very early
+in his life with us he selected certain resting places for his private
+use, and all the months of his stay he never changed them. The one
+preferred above all others was the middle bar of the window-sash, in the
+corner, and I noticed that his choice was always a corner. In this sunny
+spot he spent most of the time, closely pressed against the
+window-casing, generally looking out at the trees and the sparrow-life
+upon them, and regarding every passer-by in the street, not in an
+unhappy way, but apparently considering the whole a panorama for his
+entertainment. When events in the room interested him, his post of
+observation was a bracket that held a small cage, where he often sat an
+hour at a time in perfect silence, looking at everybody, concerned about
+everything, his rosy shield and white breast effectively set off by the
+dark paper behind him.
+
+Although thus immobile and silent, the grosbeak was far from being
+stupid. He had decided opinions and tastes as well defined as anybody's.
+For example, when he came to me his cage stood on a shelf next to that
+occupied by two orchard orioles, and he was never pleased with the
+position. He was hardly restless even there, while suffering what he
+plainly considered a grievance, but he was uneasy. I saw that something
+was wrong, and guessed at once that it was because his upper perch was
+three inches lower than that in the next cage, and to have a neighbor
+higher than himself is always an offense to a bird. As soon as I raised
+his cage he was satisfied on that score, and no more disturbed me in the
+early morning by shuffling about on his perch and trying to fly upward.
+
+But still things were not quite to his mind, and he showed it by
+constantly going into the cage of the orioles and settling himself
+evidently with the desire of taking up his residence there. He was so
+gentle and unobtrusive everywhere, that no one resented his presence in
+the cage, and he could have lived in peace with almost any bird. But I
+wanted him contented at home, and moreover, I was curious to find out
+what was amiss, so I tried the experiment of removing his cage from its
+position next to the lively orioles, and hanging it alone between two
+windows, where, although not so light, it had the advantage of solitude.
+The change completed the happiness of the grosbeak. From that day he no
+more intruded upon others, but went and came freely and joyously to his
+own cage, and from being hard to catch at night he became one of the
+most easy, proceeding the moment he entered his home toward dark to the
+upper perch to wait for me to close the door before going to his
+seed-dish. In fact, he grew so contented that he cared little to come
+out, and often sat in his favorite corner of the cage by the hour, with
+the door wide open and the other birds flying around. Now, too, he began
+to sing in a sweet voice a very low and tender minor strain.
+
+Among his other peculiarities this bird scarcely ever seemed to feel
+the need of utterance of any soft. On the rare occasions of any
+excitement he delivered a sharp, metallic "click"; a sudden alarm, like
+the attack of another bird, called out a war-cry loud and shrill, and
+very odd; and in the contest over the important question of precedence
+at the bath he sometimes uttered a droll squeal or whining sound.
+Besides these, he made singular noises in bathing and dressing his
+feathers, which are not uncommon among birds, but are difficult to
+describe. They always remind me of the rubbing of machinery in need of
+oil.
+
+This beautiful bird was not easily frightened; the only time I ever saw
+him seriously disturbed was at the sight of a stuffed screech-owl, which
+I brought into the room without thinking of its probable effect. I
+placed it on a shelf in a closet, and I soon noticed that the moment the
+closet door was opened the grosbeak became greatly agitated; he darted
+across the room to a certain retreat where he always hurried on the
+first alarm of any sort, and remained in retirement till the fancied
+danger was over, while the others flew madly about. In this place he
+stood posturing in much excitement, and uttering at short intervals his
+sharp "click." For some time I did not understand his conduct, nor think
+of connecting it with the owl on the shelf; but when it did occur to me
+I tried the experiment of bringing it out into the room, when I
+immediately saw, what I should have remembered at once, that it was an
+object of terror to all the birds.
+
+The song of the rose-breasted grosbeak is celebrated, and I hoped my
+bird would become acquainted with us, and let out his voice; but I was
+disappointed in both respects, for he never became familiar in the
+least, and though not at all afraid he was very shy; and furthermore,
+upon my bringing into the room two small musical thrushes, the
+grosbeak--feeling, as I said, no need of utterance--readily relapsed
+into silence, and all the winter never sang a note. His conduct before
+the looking-glass indicated that he was not naturally so silent, and
+that he could be social with one who understood his language. Being
+unable to get another grosbeak, I tried to give him companionship by
+placing a small glass against one end of his cage. On seeing his
+reflection the bird was greatly agitated, began his low, whining cry,
+postured, bowed, turned, moved back and forth, and at last left the cage
+and looked for the stranger behind the glass. Not finding him he
+returned, had another interview with the misleading image, and ended as
+before in seeking him outside. At length he seemed to be convinced that
+there was something not quite natural about it, for, feeling hungry, he
+went, with many a backward glance at the glass, to the floor, took a
+hemp-seed and carried it out into the room to eat, a thing he never did
+at any other time.
+
+I spoke of my bird's posturing; that was one of his pleasures, and
+almost his only exercise while he lived in the house. He was not
+graceful, his body was not flexible, and his tail was far from being the
+expressive member it is with many birds, it always stood straight out;
+he could raise it with a little jerk, and he had a beautiful way of
+opening it like a fan, but I never saw it droop or stir in any other
+way. In these movements his head and tail maintained the same relative
+position to the body, as though they were cut out of one piece of wood;
+but he bowed and leaned far over on one side, with his short legs wide
+spread; he passed down a perch, alternately crouching and rising, either
+sideways or straight; he jerked his whole body one side and then the
+other, in a manner ludicrously suggestive of a wriggle; he sidled along
+his perch, holding his wings slightly out and quivering, then slowly
+raised them both straight up, and instantly dropped them, or held them
+half open, fluttering and rustling his feathers.
+
+He had also a curious way of moving over a long perch: he proceeded by
+sidewise hops, and at each hop he turned half round, that is, the first
+step he faced the window, the next the room, the third the window again,
+and so on to the end, coming down at every jump as though he weighed a
+pound or two. He was much addicted to sitting with breast-feathers
+puffed out covering his toes, or sometimes with wings held a little way
+from his body, showing the delicate rose-colored lining, as though
+conscious how pretty he looked; and among other eccentric habits he
+often thrust out his tongue, first one side and then the other,
+apparently to clean his bill.
+
+Bathing and getting dry was conducted by this peculiar bird in a manner
+characteristic of himself. Slow to make the plunge, he was equally
+deliberate in coming out of the bath. When fairly in, he first thrust
+his head under, then sat up in the drollest way, head quite out of water
+and tail lying flat on the bottom, while he spattered vigorously with
+wings and tail. When he stepped out, the bath was over; he never
+returned for a second dip, but passed at once to a favorite corner of
+the window-bar, and stood there a most disconsolate-looking object,
+shivering with cold, with plumage completely disheveled, but making not
+the least effort to dry his feathers for several minutes. If the sun
+shone, he indulged himself in a sunning, erecting the feathers of his
+chin till he looked as if he wore a black muffler, opening his tail like
+a fan, spreading and crossing his wings over the back. This attitude
+made a complete change in his looks, showing white where black should
+be, and _vice versa_. This was the result of his peculiar coloring. Next
+the skin all feathers were the common slate-color, but outside of that
+each feather was black and white. On the back the black was at the tip,
+and the white between that and the slate-color; on the breast this order
+was reversed, and the white at the tip. Thus when wet the white and
+black were confused, and he resembled an object in patch-work. The
+rose-colored shield was formed by the slightest possible tips of that
+color on the white ends, and it was wonderful that they should arrange
+themselves in an unbroken figure, with a sharply defined outline, for
+each feather must have lain in its exact place to secure the result.
+
+The different ways in which birds greet advancing night has long been a
+subject of interest to me, some restless and nervous, others calm, and a
+few wild and apparently frightened. In no one thing is there more
+individuality of action, and in my room that winter were exhibited every
+evening quite a variety of methods. A brown thrush or thrasher on the
+approach of darkness became exceedingly restless, flying about his
+cage, going over and under and around his perches, posturing in
+extraordinary ways, uttering at every moment a strange, harsh-breathing
+sound. Two smaller thrushes met the evening hour by fluttering, and a
+queer sort of dance elsewhere described. Two orchard orioles saluted the
+twilight by gymnastics on the roof of the cage. The bluebirds made
+careful and deliberate arrangements for a comfortable night, while the
+grosbeak differed from all in simply fluffing himself out, and settling
+himself, on the first hint of dark, in the chosen corner, whence he
+scarcely moved, and as soon as objects grew indistinct he laid his head
+quietly in its feather pillow and stirred no more. The brightest
+gaslight an hour later did not disturb him; if a noise wakened him, he
+simply looked up to see what was the matter, but did not move, and soon
+turned back to his rest, when slight jerks of his wings, and faint
+complaining sounds, told that he not only slept, but dreamed.
+
+The bearer of the rosy shield was a persistent individual; having once
+taken a notion into his head, nothing would make him forget it or change
+his mind. Fully settled in his preference for a certain perch on the
+window, the coldest day in winter, with the wind blowing a gale through
+the crack between the sashes, would not make him desert it. Driving him
+away from the spot had not the slightest effect on him, he returned the
+moment he was left in peace. Thinking that another cage was more
+convenient for his use, nothing short of absolute shutting the door
+would keep him out of it. Nor did he forget about it either; if the door
+was accidentally left open, after being closed for weeks, he entered as
+quickly as though he had been in every day.
+
+This bird never showed any playfulness of disposition; indeed, he had
+too much dignity to do so. He never flew around the room as though he
+liked to use his wings, although they were perfect, and there was
+nothing to prevent if he chose. Nor did he display curiosity about his
+surroundings. The only things he appeared to notice were the doings of
+the birds and people in the room, and the moving panorama without, which
+latter he always viewed with equanimity, although the sound of a
+hand-organ aroused him to a sort of mild fury.
+
+As spring advanced, the beautiful grosbeak grew tuneful and often added
+his exquisite song to the rippling music of the small thrushes,
+and--with a little stretch of the imagination as to its duration--
+
+    "Trilled from out his carmine breast,
+    His happy breast, the livelong day."
+
+
+
+
+THE BIRD OF MYSTERY.
+
+    For me there is a mystery unrevealed;
+      Sweet Nature, speak to me!
+
+    LUCY LARCOM.
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+THE BIRD OF MYSTERY.
+
+
+It is well that Nature has so carefully guarded the lives of her most
+beautiful birds, for it is a sad fact that, in the words of an eminent
+writer, "the winged order--the loftiest, the tenderest, the most
+sympathetic with man--is that which man nowadays pursues most cruelly."
+Had they been as accessible as sparrows, even although they equaled them
+in numbers, not one would by this time be alive on earth.
+
+The family whose extraordinary dress and mystery of origin justify its
+name--Birds of Paradise--is securely hidden in distant islands not
+friendly to bird-hunting races. Inaccessible mountains and pathless
+forests repel the traveler; impassable ravines bar his advance; sickness
+and death lie in wait for the white man, while the native lurks with
+poisoned dart behind every bush.
+
+The first of the race that came to us were heralded by myth and invested
+with marvels: they had no feet; they slept upon the wing; they fed upon
+dew, and hatched their eggs upon their backs. Such were the tales that
+accompanied the skins, magnificent beyond anything known to the world in
+the glory of plumage, and they were named Birds of Paradise. But science
+is supposed in these days to conquer all mysteries, and science armed
+itself with powder and shot, game bags, provision trains, and servants,
+and set out for the far-away inhospitable islands, the home of this, the
+most attractive of all. Science has solved many problems: the "Heart of
+Africa" has become a highway; the Polar sea and the source of the Nile
+are no longer unknown; but with her most persistent efforts during three
+hundred years she has not yet been able to give us the life history of
+this one feathered family. Many of her devotees have penetrated to its
+home and brought back fresh varieties; money, health, and life have been
+freely spent; but, save for a few strange and curious facts, we know
+little more of the manner of life of the Birds of Paradise than we did
+when we depended on the native legends. How some of them look we know;
+we have their skins wired into shape in our museums and gorgeously
+pictured in our books; but every traveler finds new kinds, and how many
+sorts there may be which have so far eluded the few and short visits of
+naturalists, no one is able to tell. Even of those we have, how scanty
+is our knowledge! What they eat we are told; how they bathe and dress
+their plumage; their loud calls and unmusical voices; the shyness of
+those whose conspicuous beauty sets a price upon their heads, and their
+"dancing parties," so graphically described by Wallace; but of their
+nesting we are in profound ignorance. Where the gravely dressed partners
+of the brilliant creatures set up the hearthstone none can tell, unless
+it be the mop-headed Papuan, and he will not.
+
+The colors lavished on the plumage would alone make the Birds of
+Paradise the wonder of the world; exquisite tints not surpassed by the
+humming-birds themselves, and of almost infinite variety, from the
+richest velvety purple to the gorgeous metallic greens, blues, and
+yellows, changing with every motion, and glittering in the sun like
+gems. But the marvelous freaks in the arrangement of the plumage are
+more specially interesting. So extraordinary a variety of forms, so
+unique and fantastic in disposal, are without parallel in the animal
+world. Some species are adorned with long, drooping tufts of plumes
+light as air, as the Red Bird of Paradise, and others bear
+strange-shaped, movable shields; part of the family wear ruffs, and
+others display fans on shoulders or breast; a few sport extravagant
+length of tail, and one or two show bright-hued wattles; one species is
+bare-headed, and--other vagaries being exhausted--two have curls. The
+greater number have an unusual development of two or more feathers into
+long, wire-like objects, with a patch of web at the ends. In one species
+these wires are formed into two perfect circles beyond the end of the
+tail; in another they cross each other in a graceful double curve, and
+in a third stand straight and stiff from the end of the feathers. The
+Sexpennis, or Golden Bird of Paradise, has on the head six of these
+shafts, which it erects at pleasure, producing a singular appearance;
+and the Standard Wing has two on each wing, equally effective. Perhaps
+the most peculiar fact about the family is the power each bird possesses
+to change its form by means of these eccentric ornaments. All are
+erectile and movable in several ways, and a bird that is at one moment
+like our common crow in shape, may in the next show a dazzling array of
+waving plumes or vibrating fans, and be utterly unrecognizable for the
+same creature. It is evident to all bird students that feathers are as
+surely an "index of the mind" as are tails in cat and dog, and the
+manners and expression of this family would be a study of absorbing
+interest.
+
+Not to mention the birds already familiar in books, there are a few
+interesting peculiarities of some of the late discoveries, and the
+possible varieties are by no means exhausted, so that each new traveler
+who penetrates into their chosen home will doubtless have opportunity to
+see his own name Latinized into dignity and bestowed upon some brilliant
+and hitherto unknown bird, having a new disposition of plumage, or a
+color more beautiful--if conceivable--than any before. One of the most
+attractive of the recent additions to the list was made by Signor
+D'Albertis, and named for him _Drepanoris Albertisi_. In a letter to a
+Sydney newspaper he tells the story of the discovery, which occurred
+while he was living in a Papuan mansion built upon the trunks of trees,
+and reached by means of a long ladder. From this unique residence he
+made excursions into the mountains, and, among other things, had the
+good fortune to see two curious episodes in the life of the Six-shafted
+Bird of Paradise. He found this bird--which is not new to science--to be
+a noisy and solitary fellow, roaming the thick woods alone, dining upon
+figs and other fruits, and indulging in the strange habit of "dusting"
+itself like a city sparrow. Happily he saw the whole operation.
+Selecting a suitable spot, the beautiful bird first cleared away the
+grass and leaves, and while the eager observer was wondering what all
+this preparation portended, suddenly flung itself to the ground, and
+rolled its rich plumage in the dust, fluttered the wings, elevated and
+depressed the six plumes on its head, and otherwise appeared to enjoy
+itself extremely. At another time the traveler witnessed a second
+uncommon scene in the deep interior of the forest. A bird of the same
+species alighted upon the ground, and after peering in every direction,
+either to make sure of being unobserved, or to discover an enemy or a
+friend, began a most singular performance, waving the six long plumes of
+the head, raising and lowering a small tuft of silvery white feathers
+over its beak, elevating a glittering crest on its neck, and spreading
+and drawing back the long feathers on its sides, every movement entirely
+changing its apparent shape. In a short time it began to jump from side
+to side and to assume an attitude of war, and all the time it never
+ceased uttering an uncommon note, as though calling for admiration or
+for a fight.
+
+Not long after this curious exhibition followed the observer's great
+prize, the _Drepanoris Albertisi_, which is so rare that even to many of
+the natives it was a surprise. At the first glance this bird does not
+appear to deserve a place in the remarkable family. It is about the size
+of our common crow, brown on the back and lavender-gray below, with a
+curved bill more than three inches long. But closer study reveals
+several peculiarities: a bare space of bright blue around the eye,
+brilliant green on the throat, and a pair of feathery tufts standing up
+on the forehead like horns, with the crowning attraction of two pairs of
+fans, one behind the other on each side of the breast, capable of being
+folded smoothly against the body, or spread wide in two gorgeous
+semicircles altering the entire outlines of the creature. The first of
+the two admirable ornaments, when in repose, appears of the same
+violet-gray hue as the breast; but when raised the bases of the feathers
+are seen to be of a brilliant red, giving the effect of longitudinal
+stripes. The second pair is much longer, with deep margins of splendid
+purple instead of the stripes. When the possessor of all this splendor
+spreads its four fans, it also erects the long tail and opens it widely
+into a fifth fan, which produces an astonishing effect.
+
+Another of D'Albertis's contributions to the mysterious family is among
+its most magnificent members, the _Paradisea Raggiana_. A fine specimen
+of this genus, mounted in the position described by Wallace as the
+"dancing" attitude of _P. Apoda_, the floating plumes elevated in a
+"golden glory" above the head, is the gem of the collection in the
+American Museum of New York. It resembles the Great Bird of Paradise,
+having long, airy plumes springing from under each wing. In general
+color golden brown, with yellow head and green throat. To this bird, as
+to others, beauty is a dangerous possession; and, as if feeling aware of
+the fact, it lives in the tops of tall trees, in the deepest forest,
+among the most inaccessible ravines. But wary though it be, one
+characteristic lures it to destruction--curiosity. A European hunter in
+his unfamiliar dress is an irresistible attraction; nearer and nearer it
+comes, hopping from branch to branch, pausing at every step to observe
+and study the intruder, with neck stretched and wings flapping, every
+moment uttering a peculiar cry, no doubt equivalent to "Come and look!"
+for it brings others upon the scene, till the pretty sight is rudely
+ended by a shot and a death-wound. The cry of distress brings the
+friends nearer, only to fall victims in their turn to the same murderous
+gun. Our traveler once surprised a female of this species, and a droll
+proceeding followed. After flying several times around his head to see
+what sort of a creature he might be, she alighted on a vine, and turning
+heels over head, remained hanging head down, sharply scrutinizing his
+appearance from this point of view till he--shot her.
+
+A bare-headed bird would not seem to present any attraction to the lover
+of beauty, though it might be of scientific interest; but Nature, not
+having exhausted her resources upon the Birds of Paradise already
+mentioned, has even accomplished the feat of making a bald-headed
+beauty. The bare skin on the whole crown is of a brilliant blue color
+most oddly crossed by narrow rows of minute feathers, which irresistibly
+remind one of the sutures of the human skull. That color shall not be
+lacking, it bears, besides the blue of the head, black, straw color,
+bright red, and green; and is further adorned with two very long central
+tail feathers, which reach far beyond the rest of the tail, and return,
+making a complete circle; a rare and lovely ornament. A good specimen is
+among the later arrivals at the American Museum.
+
+The _Manucodia_ are the curly Birds of Paradise, and our knowledge of
+one of the latest and most novel of them is owing not to the
+indefatigable naturalists who have braved the dangers and discomfort of
+their wild island home, neither to the English Wallace, the Dutch Von
+Rosenburg, the Italian Beccari, nor to D'Albertis, nor Bruiju, nor De
+Myer, whose names will be forever associated with the splendid family,
+but to a British officer of scientific tastes.
+
+_M. Comrii_ is the largest, and has more curls than any other yet
+discovered, for they not only decorate the top of the head, but extend
+down the neck, and form ridges over the eyes. Even the tail partakes of
+the general curve, which makes it boat-shaped, and--most fantastic of
+all--the two middle feathers are nearly an inch shorter than their next
+neighbors, and turned over at the ends so as to display the different
+color of their inner surface, and form what ladies call "_revers_."
+
+"Such eccentricities are really not to be accounted for, as we cannot
+conceive they can be for any useful purpose" (!), gravely says science
+in the person of an English authority. This severely disapproved of
+plumage is blue with green lights on back and head, and black edged on
+every feather, with purple on the breast.
+
+Another species of the curly family, the Blue-green Paradise Bird (_M.
+Chalybea_), has been known to us for a hundred years, but its habits
+are as much a mystery as its curls. It is exquisite in color, of the
+richest purple, glossy as satin, with neck of deep green, and all
+crinkled and curled over head and neck.
+
+The Long-tailed Bird of Paradise is the proud possessor of twenty-two
+names, from which it were hard to make a selection. It is one of the
+largest, being twenty-two inches in length, most of which, however, is
+tail, and is splendid in soft velvet-like black with hints of green and
+blue and purple. On each side it carries a fan of curved feathers, and
+the plumes of the flanks are of the lightest and most delicate texture.
+Words cannot describe the grace and elegance of this bird, and the
+perfect specimen in the museum above mentioned is worthy of a pilgrimage
+to see.
+
+A "changeable" Bird of Paradise is the one remaining eccentricity
+conceivable to complete the variety in coloring, and this is found in
+the _Epimachus Ellioti_, a bird so rare that at the time Gould published
+his first work the specimen in his collection was unique, and
+naturalists in their excursions in the Papuan Islands have vainly tried
+to discover its home and learn its habits. The whole incomparable
+plumage is of rich changeable hues; in ordinary light, when perfectly
+motionless, the bird appears of a soft black, but on moving about the
+color varies from violet to maroon, from this to deep amethyst, and then
+to green, purple, and blue. A most extraordinary effect is produced when
+it faces the spectator with fan-plumes expanded, reaching so far above
+its head that they look like a pair of arms thrown up.
+
+The most interesting though not the most beautiful of the family is the
+Gardener bird, discovered a few years ago by the Italian naturalist
+Beccari. Here is a Bird of Paradise eccentric not in dress but in
+habits. His plumage is modest brown in several shades, so inconspicuous
+that the partner of his joys can wear the same tints, which she does.
+The bird is the size of a turtle-dove. Let the doctor himself tell the
+story of the discovery while walking through the beautiful forest, so
+thick that scarcely a ray of sunshine penetrated the branches. He says:
+
+"I suddenly stood before the most remarkable specimen of the industry of
+an animal. It was a hut or bower close to a small meadow enameled with
+flowers. The whole was on a diminutive scale, and I immediately
+recognized the famous nests described by the hunters of Bruiju. After
+well observing the whole I gave strict orders to my hunters not to
+destroy the little building. That, however, was an unnecessary caution,
+since the Papuans take great care never to disturb these nests or
+bowers, even if they are in their way. The birds had evidently enjoyed
+the greatest quiet until we happened, unfortunately for them, to come
+near them. I had now full employment in the preparation of my
+treasure.... I took colors and brushes, and went to the spot, and made
+the sketch which I now publish. When I was there neither host nor
+hostess was at home.... I could not ascertain whether this bower was
+occupied by one pair or more, whether the male alone is the builder, or
+whether the wife assists. I believe, however, that the nest lasts
+several seasons."
+
+The pleasing description of the house and lawn, with its many
+decorations, has been widely copied. "Being mostly near the entrance,"
+says the grave scientist in conclusion, surprised into sentiment, "it
+would appear that the husband offers there the daily gift to the wife,
+removing the objects to the back of the hut as they fade or wither." It
+is clever not only in building a house and lawn, but in imitating the
+songs and cries of other birds, and doing it so well, according to our
+author, that it brought "his hunters to despair."
+
+So few Birds of Paradise have entered the scientific world alive, and so
+little is known of their manners, that the meagre accounts we have
+possess unusual interest. So long ago as early in the century Mr.
+Bennett, in his visit to Macao, wrote a statement of the ways of a Great
+Bird of Paradise (_P. Apoda_) which had been at that time in confinement
+nine years. His description of the toilet of the most exquisite of birds
+is delightful.
+
+"It washes itself regularly twice daily, and after having performed its
+ablutions, throws its delicate feathers up nearly over the head.... The
+beautiful subalar plumage is then thrown out and cleaned from any spot
+that may sully its purity by being passed gently through the bill, the
+short chocolate-colored wings are extended to the utmost, and he keeps
+them in a steady flapping motion, at the same time raising up the
+delicate long feathers over the back, which are spread in a chaste and
+elegant manner, floating like films in the ambient air. In this position
+the bird would remain for a short time, seemingly proud of its heavenly
+beauty. I never yet beheld a soil on its feathers. After expanding the
+wings it would bring them together so as to conceal the head, then
+bending gracefully it would inspect the state of its plumage
+underneath.... It then picks and cleans its plumage in every part within
+reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate tuft of feathers
+underneath, they are cleaned in succession, if required, by throwing
+them abroad, elevating and passing them in succession through the bill.
+Then turning its back to the spectators, the actions above mentioned are
+repeated, ... and throwing its feathers up with much grace, appears as
+proud as a lady dressed in her full ball dress"(!). After further
+account of its taking grasshoppers from visitors, he concludes: "Should
+any of the insects fall to the floor of his cage he will not descend to
+them, appearing to be fearful that in so doing he should soil his
+delicate plumage."
+
+Almost equally charming is Mr. Bennett's observation of one that Wallace
+carried alive to London, which lived two years there and became
+exceedingly tame. It is this species whose dancing parties Wallace thus
+describes:--
+
+"On one of these trees a dozen or twenty full-plumaged male birds
+assemble, raise their wings vertically over the back, stretch out their
+necks, and raise and expand their exquisite long plumes till they form
+two magnificent golden fans, which are kept in continual vibration.
+Between whiles they fly across from branch to branch in great
+excitement, so that the whole tree is filled with waving plumes in every
+variety of attitude and motion. In the position above mentioned the
+whole bird is overshadowed by his plumage, the crouching body, yellow
+head, and emerald green throat form but the foundation and setting to
+the golden glory which waves above. Seen in this attitude the Bird of
+Paradise really deserves its name, and must be ranked as one of the most
+beautiful and most wonderful of living things."
+
+In truth, it is so transcendently beautiful that hunters have been
+astonished into forgetfulness of their guns, and no triumph was ever
+greater, for to recognize an attractive creature and lift the gun to
+take its life seems to be a single operation of many who carry the
+murderous weapon.
+
+The Twelve-wired, one of the better known varieties of the Birds of
+Paradise, is usually figured, and probably always mounted, with its
+exquisite plumes closely folded against its sides, but the French
+naturalist and traveler Le Vaillant, in his large work published early
+in the century, gives a representation of it under the name of _Le
+Nebuleux_, with feathers expanded to the uttermost, a truly magnificent
+display. All his figures, though sometimes incorrect, owing to the
+scanty knowledge of the time, have a great deal of life. Each bird is
+presented both in repose, with plumage all folded smoothly back, and in
+excitement, with every fan and ruff and erectile ornament fully spread.
+
+This peerless family takes kindly to captivity, as has been amply proved
+by their enduring the voyage and living two years in the unfavorable
+climate of England, as well as by spending at least nine years in an
+aviary in China, and there is no reason why we in America should not
+have opportunity to admire them and study their habits from life. Would
+that some of our young explorers could be induced to turn from the
+ice-fields of the Poles, and the death-swamps of the Tropics, to seek
+these inimitable birds in the mountains and woods of the Papuan
+Islands--not to shoot for our museum shelves, but to study their manners
+and customs, and above all to introduce them into American aviaries,
+that a new and absorbing chapter might be added to our Natural
+Histories, and the Bird of Paradise cease to be the Bird of Mystery.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+  African Parrot and Mocking-Bird, 90.
+
+
+  Baltimore Oriole.
+    pursue a blackbird, 4.
+    baby ways, 9.
+    attacked by robin, 10.
+    an unnatural baby, 11.
+    one at a time, 11.
+    the father as drudge, 12.
+    visited by the Cardinal, 215.
+
+  Bird of Paradise, 253.
+    where found, 253.
+    mythical stories of, 253.
+    dancing parties, 255.
+    colors, 255.
+    arrangement of plumage, 255.
+    Red Bird of, 255.
+    Golden, 256.
+    Standard-wing, 256.
+    change of form, 256.
+    feathers an index of the mind, 256.
+    interesting new discoveries, 257.
+    Signor d'Albertis, 257.
+    Six-shafted, 257.
+    dusting itself, 258.
+    curious scene, 258.
+    a rare bird, 259.
+    description of, 259.
+    another new one, 259.
+    specimen in N. Y. Museum, 260.
+    description of _P. Raggiana_, 260.
+    danger of beauty, 260.
+    a bare-headed bird, 261.
+    _Manucodia_, 261.
+    _M. Comrii_, 262.
+    _M. Chalybea_, 262.
+    Long-tailed, 263.
+    changeable, 263.
+    _Epimachus Ellioti_, 263.
+    the Gardener bird, 264.
+    description of nest, 264.
+    a clever builder, 265.
+    manners of _P. Apoda_, 266.
+    toilet, 266.
+    dancing parties, 267.
+    twelve-wired, 268.
+    Le Vaillant's work, 268.
+
+  Birds.
+    home affairs of, 3.
+    dangers in nest, 5.
+    hard work of, 15.
+    training the young, 15.
+    study of, 16.
+    cruel pursuit of, 239.
+    at twilight, 247.
+
+  Bluebird, 97.
+    attitude and manners, 97.
+    attitude and manners, female, 98.
+    defending her spouse, 98.
+    standing guard, 98.
+    defending the young, 99.
+    after the mocking-bird, 99.
+    unsafe nest, 99.
+    tragedy in the family, 100.
+    consoling his mate, 100.
+    an affectionate pair, 101.
+    motherly affection, 102.
+    arrangements for sleep, 102.
+    queer little talk with me, 103.
+    talk together, 104-106.
+    staring at nothing, 104.
+    his mate disapproves, 106.
+    difference in intelligence, 107.
+    demanding meal-worms, 107.
+    expressing themselves, 107.
+    learning by experience, 108.
+    fond of worms, 108.
+    trick on a scarlet tanager, 108.
+    bathing, 109.
+    bewitching dance, 109.
+    sunning himself, 109.
+    feathering out, 110.
+    growing belligerent, 110.
+    courtship, 110.
+    he presents a worm, 110.
+    refusing to share, 111.
+    feeding through wires, 112.
+    change in the song, 112.
+    set free, 112.
+    attacked by sparrows, 112.
+    baby ways, 13.
+    bringing food to young, 47.
+
+  Blue Jay, 175.
+    driving corks, 175.
+    hammering, 175.
+    destructiveness, 176.
+    holes in the matting, 176.
+    ornamenting books, 177.
+    pounding upward, 177.
+    hiding things, 177.
+    his regular business, 178.
+    clearing up the room, 178.
+    setting off matches, 179.
+    odd hiding-places, 179.
+    in my hair, 180.
+    intelligent interest, 180.
+    likes and dislikes, 180-191.
+    showing fight, 181.
+    war upon the baby, 181.
+    expression of affection, 181.
+    curiosity, 182.
+    jumping, 183.
+    queer way of alighting, 183.
+    bird of opinions, 183.
+    scolding the rain, 184.
+    strange noises, 184.
+    song, 184.
+    stamping his feet, 184.
+    in anger, 184.
+    peaceful among the birds, 185.
+    timid, 185.
+    afraid of falling, 185.
+    a jay-baby cry, 185.
+    fond of music, 186.
+    attended to business, 187.
+    talking to me, 187.
+    his demon of work, 187.
+    in his vindication, 187.
+    knew what he wanted, 191.
+    human society, 191.
+    tokens of affection, 192.
+    love, 193.
+    ice-cream and cake, 193.
+    hiding his candy, 193.
+    next in favor, 193.
+    difference in treatment, 193.
+    curious dance, 194.
+    missed his frolics, 194.
+    calling his playmate, 194.
+    treatment of a young lady, 195.
+    treatment of a youth, 195.
+    treatment of the head of the household, 195.
+    treatment of a maid, 195.
+    afraid of a trap, 195.
+    a wise bird, 196.
+    cutting a wire, 196.
+    loosening a rubber band, 196.
+    a troublesome pet, 196.
+    on my desk, 196.
+    a cure for hammering, 196.
+    learning to get under the cover, 197.
+    prying into packages, 197.
+    the waste basket, 198.
+    after the photographs, 198.
+    on the door, 198.
+    flying out, 198.
+    the open window, 199.
+    learning to outwit him, 199.
+    the other birds no society, 199.
+    surprising his neighbors, 199.
+    the room in a panic, 200.
+    excitement over a grasshopper, 200.
+    the oriole takes a hand, 200.
+    afraid of a tree, 200.
+    hiding the needles, 202.
+    bathing, 202.
+    beauty of plumage, 202.
+
+  Brazilian Cardinal, 232.
+
+
+  Cardinal Grosbeak, or Virginia C., 207.
+    colors, 207.
+    her first admirer, 208.
+    his first call, 208.
+    a mind of her own, 209.
+    his mistake, 209.
+    reproaching her, 209.
+    violent wooing, 210.
+    the obnoxious door, 210.
+    the window, 210.
+    exploring the room, 211.
+    calling on the robin, 211-214.
+    war declared upon her, 211.
+    the window problem, 212.
+    lord-and-master, 212.
+    curious performance, 212.
+    hostilities, 213.
+    jealousy, 214.
+    the looking-glass, 214.
+    calling on the tanager, 214.
+    the bath, 214.
+    calling on the orioles, 215.
+    beginning to sing, 215.
+    a queer game, 215.
+    war again, 216.
+    death of the persecutor, 216.
+    Virginia relieved, 216.
+    expression of crest, 216.
+    a week's peace, 217.
+    arrival of a stranger, 217.
+    Virginia not pleased, 217.
+    the second suitor goes, 218.
+    left alone, 218.
+    set free, 219.
+    the successful wooer, 219.
+    difficulty, studies under, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30.
+
+  Golden-winged Woodpecker, or Flicker, 115.
+    in search of a nest, 115.
+    heavy flight, 116.
+    out of a bird store, 117.
+    excessively wild, 117.
+    getting acquainted, 117.
+    peeping out, 118.
+    expressing emotion, 118.
+    in despair, 118.
+    holes in the wall, 118.
+    learning to eat, 118.
+    peculiar attitudes, 119.
+    sleeping, 119.
+    restlessness, 119.
+    taking naps, 120.
+    a heavy sleeper, 120.
+    dreaming, 120.
+    hanging himself, 121.
+    expression of sentiments, 121.
+    the door opened, 121.
+    running about the floor, 121.
+    intelligence, 121.
+    exploring the room, 121.
+    investigating the nails, 122.
+    visiting his neighbors, 122.
+    up the ladder, 122.
+    teasing the goldfinch, 123.
+    down the ladder, 123.
+    stepping down backward, 123.
+    going home, 124.
+    asking to be let out, 124.
+    suddenly familiar, 124.
+    child-like disposition, 124.
+    a silent bird, 124.
+    a strange song, 125.
+    an extraordinary display, 125.
+    the baby of the family, 126.
+    position of rest, 127.
+    flicker talk, 127.
+
+  Goldfinch, 72, 152, 157.
+
+
+  Mocking-Bird.
+    baby ways, 13.
+    study of, 23.
+    way of singing, 25-44.
+    fables about, 30-31.
+    nest, 35.
+    domestic relations, 36.
+    home in a pine grove, 37.
+    wooing, 38.
+    dance, 39.
+    love or war? 41.
+    house hunting, 41.
+    building in a storm, 42.
+    on the winding stairs, 43.
+    belligerent, 44.
+    a call on his spouse, 45.
+    frolic on the grass, 45.
+    nest in the cedar, 45.
+    the youngsters out, 46.
+    feeding the babies, 46.
+    the baby cry, 47.
+    parental anxiety, 48, 50, 55.
+    madam remonstrates, 48.
+    telling the news, 49.
+    out of the nest, 50.
+    looks and manners of the infant, 50, 51, 53.
+    a lively youngster, 52.
+    an ignominious flop, 53.
+    baby number two, 53.
+    refuses to move on, 53.
+    thieves--black and white, 54.
+    behavior of a young singer, 54.
+    had his own way, 55.
+    number three neglected, 55.
+    the cry-baby, 56.
+    peculiar hops, 56.
+    a curious performance, 57.
+    the nest, 57.
+    movements, 58, 59.
+    lifting the wings, 60.
+    disposition, 60.
+    quarrel, 61.
+    attack on a crow, 61.
+    song, 62, 63.
+    as imitator, 63.
+
+  Mocking-Bird in the house.
+    mocking, 67.
+    intelligence, 67.
+    taking notes, 68.
+    choice of colors, 68.
+    enjoyment of liberty, 69.
+    reason, 69.
+    warmed by a lamp, 69.
+    quiet observation, 70.
+    submitting to imposition, 70.
+    out of the cage, 70.
+    studying surroundings, 71.
+    the pin-cushion, 71.
+    looking-glass, 71.
+    settling his position, 72.
+    the English goldfinch, 72.
+    driven away from the bath, 73.
+    the feathers flew, 74.
+    scene between goldfinch and, 74.
+    insulted by a thrush, 75.
+    dispute over the bath, 75.
+    worrying the Mexican, 77.
+    with the wood thrush, 78.
+    quarrel over the apple, 78.
+    a war dance, 79.
+    settling the thrush, 80.
+    end of the apple contest, 81.
+    decides to remove, 81.
+    teasing the thrush, 83.
+    graceful attack, 83.
+    a change of tactics, 84.
+    a determined enemy, 85.
+    gracefulness, 85.
+    bewitching ways, 86.
+    expression of feathers, 86.
+    the looking-glass, 87.
+    manner of dressing, 89.
+    lifting the wings, 89.
+    steel pen, 89.
+    attack on the parrot, 90.
+    never startled, 91.
+    caught under a shawl, 91.
+    mad frolics, 92.
+    fury of play, 92.
+    reducing the finch to silence, 93.
+    mischief, not malice, 93.
+
+  Mexican thrush, 77, 83.
+
+
+  Nonpareil, 28.
+
+  Nuthatch baby ways, 12.
+    visited by orioles, 138.
+
+
+  Orchard Orioles, 131.
+    characteristics, 131, 132.
+    persistent singers, 131.
+    making themselves conspicuous, 132.
+    annoying ways, 132.
+    shouting the news, 133.
+    trouble in the family, 133.
+    plumage, 133, 134.
+    two suitors to one maid, 134.
+    he will have his way, 134.
+    she flew for her life, 134.
+    voice of female, 135.
+    beauty of female, 135.
+    restless manners, 135.
+    a war dance, 136.
+    an anti-climax, 137.
+    a meek damsel, 137.
+    inquisitive, 138.
+    visiting the mocking-bird's nest, 138.
+    visiting nuthatches, 138.
+    interested in me, 139.
+    the crisis, 139.
+    nesting time begun, 139.
+    matters settled, 140.
+    the honeymoon, 140.
+    submitting to the inevitable, 140.
+    nest building, 140.
+    precipitate wooing, 141.
+    grumbling husbands, 141.
+    a feathered thief, 142.
+    the end was not yet, 142.
+    with a grasshopper, 201.
+
+
+  Pewee, baby ways, 15.
+    learning to hover, 16.
+
+  Plover, 24.
+
+  Purple Crow Blackbird.
+    in trouble, 4.
+    launching the infants, 5.
+    blackbird babies, 7.
+
+
+  Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 239.
+    dress; characters, 239.
+    manner of eating, 240.
+    about the room, 240.
+    a creature of habit, 240.
+    intelligence, 241.
+    had his own opinion, 241.
+    change of place, 242.
+    contented and happy, 242.
+    a silent bird, 243.
+    queer noises, 243.
+    disturbed by an owl, 243.
+    song, 244-249.
+    the looking-glass, 244.
+    posturing, 245.
+    curious movements, 246.
+    bathing, 246.
+    color, 247.
+    night, 248.
+    never playful, 249.
+
+  Robin baby ways, 14, 47.
+
+  Robin called in by Cardinal, 211-214.
+
+
+  Scarlet Tanager and English Goldfinch, 224.
+    dress and manners, 224.
+    parties to the friendship, 224.
+    dislike to confinement, 224.
+    coming out, 225.
+    the window glass, 226.
+    the finch flies at him, 226.
+    giving up the world, 227.
+    dislike to be looked at, 227.
+    first sign of friendship, 228.
+    the smallest bird, 228.
+    progress of the friendship, 228.
+    the tanager's boundary, 229.
+    becoming protector, 229.
+    beginning to talk, 229.
+    perching outside, 230.
+    around the room, 231.
+    in a strange cage, 231.
+    on the floor, 231.
+    driving the Brazilian, 232.
+    the robin interferes, 232.
+    the finch goes for him, 233.
+    a new roof, 233.
+    the mischievous robin, 234.
+    approach of spring, 234.
+    offensive operations, 235.
+    anxious to go, 235.
+    belligerent, 235.
+    set free, 236.
+    the deserted lover, 236.
+    called on by cardinal, 214.
+
+  Snowy Heron, 23.
+
+
+  Tern, 24.
+
+  Thrasher, or Brown Thrush, 147.
+    restlessness, 147.
+    use of feet, 148.
+    erratic movements, 149.
+    way of approach, 149.
+    sensational manners, 150.
+    bathing, 150.
+    waltzing around the bath, 150.
+    excitement of the bath, 151.
+    mischievousness, 152.
+    teasing the finch, 152.
+    tearing paper, 152.
+    with a newspaper, 153.
+    the magazines, 153.
+    hammering, 153.
+    jumping, 153.
+    intelligence, 154.
+    talking back, 154.
+    expression of wings, 154.
+    littleness of body, 155.
+    the song, 155.
+    in the twilight, 156, 247.
+    strange movements, 156.
+    watching others, 157.
+    in the spring, 157.
+
+  Thrushes.
+    gray-cheeked, 161.
+    song of, 162.
+    Wilson's, 162.
+    wonderful song, 162.
+    whisper songs, 162.
+    difference in character, 163.
+    bewitching dance, 163.
+    use of feet, 164.
+    excitement, 165.
+    a different dance, 165.
+    bathing, 165, 166.
+    the bird in the glass, 166.
+    alighting places, 167.
+    enjoying a swing, 167.
+    a snug retreat, 167.
+    tearing papers, 168.
+    lonely disposition, 169.
+    belligerent, 169.
+    set free, 169.
+    surprise of freedom, 170.
+    a call from a neighbor, 170.
+    farewell to the Gray-cheeked, 171.
+
+  Thrush baby ways, 8, 78, 80, 85.
+
+
+  Yellow-throated baby ways, 8.
+
+
+
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