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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/26346-8.txt b/26346-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..67c19a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/26346-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5260 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Our Bird Comrades, by Leander S. (Leander +Sylvester) Keyser + + +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: Our Bird Comrades + + +Author: Leander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser + + + +Release Date: August 18, 2008 [eBook #26346] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR BIRD COMRADES*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 26346-h.htm or 26346-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/4/26346/26346-h/26346-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/4/26346/26346-h.zip) + + + + + +OUR BIRD COMRADES + +By + +LEANDER S. KEYSER + +Author of "Birddom," "In Bird Land," +and "Birds of the Rockies," etc. + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: American Sparrow-hawk] + + + + +Rand, McNally & Company +Chicago New York London + +Copyright, 1907 +by Rand, McNally & Co. + +The Rand-McNally Press +Chicago + + + + + _To + + ALL WHO LOVE THE BIRDS FOR THEIR + OWN SAKES, + + who desire to cultivate comradeship with them in books + and in the field, and who will study them + with the glass and without the gun._ + + + + +BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION + + +To know the birds intimately, to interpret their lives in all their +varied conditions, one must get close to them. For the purpose of +accomplishing this object the author of this volume has gone to their +haunts day after day and watched them persistently at not a little cost +of time, effort, and money. While the limits of a single volume do not +permit him to present all of his observations, it is hoped that those +here offered will be satisfactory as far as they go, and that the +reader will be able to glean from these pages some new as well as +interesting facts relative to bird life. + +The writer has had another purpose in view in preparing this book: He +wishes to inspire others, especially the young, to use their eyes and +ears in the study of the enchanting volume of Nature. This object, he +believes, will be best accomplished by furnishing concrete examples of +what may be achieved by earnest research. For purposes of stimulus an +ounce of example is worth a pound of precept. If another sees you and +me doing a thing joyfully, earnestly, we need scarcely say to him, "Go +thou and do likewise." + +There is not much in the book that is technical, yet it aims at +scientific accuracy in all of its statements, no bird being described +whose status in the avian system has not been determined. If strange +exploits are sometimes recited, the author has simply to say that he +has been veracious in all of his statements, and that all the stories +are "true bird stories." The author modestly believes that it will not +be found uninteresting to nature lovers in general. + +Much of the material included in this volume has previously appeared in +various periodicals, to the publishers of which the writer would hereby +make grateful acknowledgment for their courtesy in waiving their +copyright privileges. A number of the journals are given due credit +elsewhere in the book. + +THE AUTHOR. + + + + +_THE TABLE OF CONTENTS_ + + + THE PREFACE + THE ILLUSTRATIONS + BEGINNING THE STUDY + MAKING NEW FRIENDS + WILDWOOD MINSTRELS + CHICKADEE WAYS + THE NUTHATCH FAMILY + A FEATHERED PARASITE + A BLUE CANNIBAL + A HANDSOME SCISSORSTAIL + AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH + HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY + ODDS AND ENDS + WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS + TROUBLE AMONG THE BIRDS + A BIRD'S EDUCATION + ARE BIRDS SINGERS OR WHISTLERS? + BIRD FLIGHT + A BIRD'S FOOT + + + + +_THE ILLUSTRATIONS_ + + +AMERICAN SPARROW-HAWK . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +CHIPPING SPARROW + +YELLOW WARBLER + +CHICKADEE + +NUTHATCH + +BLUE JAY + +PEWEE, OR PHOEBE + +SONG SPARROW + +CARDINAL + +WHITE-EYED VIREO + +BALTIMORE ORIOLE + +BOB-WHITE, OR QUAIL + +ROBIN + +MEADOW LARK + +BARN SWALLOW + +SPOTTED SANDPIPER, OR "PEET-WEET" + + + + +BEGINNING THE STUDY + +Why should not people ride natural history hobbies as well as other +kinds of hobbies? Almost all persons become interested in some special +study, recreation, or pastime, and their choice is not always as +profitable as the selection of a specific branch of nature lore would +be. The writer confesses that he would rather pursue a bright, lilting +bird or butterfly than a bounding tennis-ball or football, and he finds +the chase every whit as exciting and the knowledge gained of more +permanent value; and he says this without in anywise intending to +discountenance healthful games and athletic exercises, but simply to +express a preference. What could be more fascinating, for instance, +than for a young person--or an older person, either, for that +matter--to spend his leisure in trying to identify every bird in his +neighborhood? As a result of such an attempt he would doubtless become +so interested in the study of his bird neighbors that he would resolve +to learn all he could about their charming habits. + +How may one study the birds intelligently? That is a question every +beginner will want to have answered. When I began my bird studies I +spent much valuable time in simply trying to learn the _modus +operandi_, and while I do not consider the time thus spent entirely +wasted, still I am anxious to save my readers as much needless effort +as possible. This I shall do by showing them how they may begin at +once to form an acquaintance with the various families and species of +birds. + +It goes without saying that, to become a successful nature student, one +must have good eyes, strong limbs, nimble feet, and, above all, an +alert mind. People who lack these qualities, especially the last, will +not be likely to pursue the noble science of ornithology. The stupid +sort will prefer to drowse in the shade, and the light-minded will care +only for the gay round of social pleasures. Any bright and earnest +person, however, can in good time become an expert student of the +feathered creation, provided only that he feels a genuine interest in +such pursuit. No one, let it be repeated, can study nature +successfully in a dull, perfunctory spirit. Here, as in religion, one +must have the baptism of fire, the temper of devotion. + +In the study of birds it must be admitted that men and boys have some +advantage over their cousins of the gentler sex. Men folk may ramble +pretty much where they please without danger, whereas the freedom of +women folk in this respect is somewhat restricted. However, the +engaging works of Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, of Mrs. Florence M. Bailey, +and of many others prove that women are not debarred from outdoor +studies, and that in some ways they may even have an advantage over +men; they are not so ambitious to cover a wide territory, to penetrate +to out-of-the-way haunts, or to roll up a long "list," and they are +therefore apt to make more intimate studies of the common species, thus +getting into the very heart of the bird's life. A man's observations +may embrace a wider range, and he may add more species to the science +of ornithology than his sister, but she will be likely to discover +facts about the commonest fowl that he will overlook. The study of +birds, therefore, offers a fascinating field for girls and women as +well as for their brothers. + +What tools are needed for acquiring bird lore? To begin at the +beginning, let me ask: Who would expect to study the plants and flowers +without a botany? or the rocks and fossils and the general structure of +the earth without a reliable work on geology? or the planets and stars +without a treatise on astronomy? So, if you desire a knowledge of +ornithology, you will need what is known as a bird "key," or "manual," +or "handbook"--that is, a scientific work that shows how the birds have +been classified, with accurate descriptions of all the families, +genera, species, subspecies, and varieties, together with the common +and scientific names of all the species and brief accounts of their +ranges and general habits. When you have found a plant or a flower +that is new to you, what is your first task? To "run it down" in a +botanical key. Just so, having found a feathered stranger, you should +note its markings, shape, size, etc., and then "run it down" with the +aid of a bird manual. It is much better to run a bird down in this way +than to shoot it down. + +It is pertinent to say at this time that no one should disparage +scientific treatises, or the learned and painstaking people who gather +the material for them and prepare them. It is quite the fashion +nowadays, when a "popular" book on birds appears, for some reviewers to +compare it with the so-called "dry" scientific works of the +specialists, to the disparagement of the latter. This is as wrong as +it is gratuitous. The "popular" book, delightful as it may be, could +not have been written, or, if written, would have had little real +value, had it not been for the help obtained from the systematists, +who, with almost infinite toil, have made possible the scientific +classification of the numerous members of the bird tribe. Pioneer work +in ornithology, as elsewhere, may not be very enchanting to most +people, but it is necessary. The scientific spirit should be honored, +not disdained, for without it accuracy would be impossible. On the +other hand, the man who plods with scientific details should not look +with contempt upon the man who popularizes the results of technical +study by giving it an attractive literary setting. In short, the +scientific writer and the "popular" writer are alike worthy of +"honorable mention," for both of them are needful factors in the +dissemination of knowledge. + +You will want to know where a first-rate bird manual can be obtained. +It affords me sincere pleasure to recommend two works of the kind that +cover the entire avian field for residents of the United States. They +are new, up-to-date, and convenient. To those who live east of the +Mississippi River I would commend Mr. Frank M. Chapman's "Handbook of +Birds of Eastern North America." The best praise I can bestow upon +this book is to assure you that it will give entire satisfaction as a +handbook. Happily another manual (Mrs. Florence M. Bailey's "Handbook +of Birds of the Western United States") was recently issued, treating +the avifauna west of the Mississippi just as thoroughly as Mr. +Chapman's work deals with that of the eastern part of our country. +Both books contain lavish illustrations by expert and accurate bird +artists--a feature that is invaluable in the work of identification. +They possess a further advantage in not being too large to be carried +with you in your excursions afield, enabling you to name each feathered +stranger on the spot. + +Should you desire a single volume that will help you to identify any +bird you may meet on our continent, I would urge you to secure the +latest revised edition of Dr. Elliott Coues's "Key to North American +Birds." It is fully illustrated, thoroughly scientific and up-to-date +in the matter of classification, and yet not too technical for +practical use. This book is too bulky to be carried with you to the +haunts of the birds, but it may be used in this way: Note carefully the +markings and other peculiarities of each new bird you meet; then, as +soon as you return home, while all the circumstances are fresh in your +memory, consult your "key" and make sure, if possible, of the identity +of all your "finds." + +Mr. Robert Ridgway, one of the foremost ornithologists of our country, +is now preparing a great work which is worthy of the highest praise. +It is entitled "The Birds of North and Middle America," and is the most +comprehensive work yet undertaken relative to the avifauna of the +entire North American Continent, giving a large amount of scientific +data respecting all the species. After its completion it will enable +the student to identify every bird known to science from the Isthmus of +Panama to the far North and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. At this +writing two volumes have been issued. They are published under +government auspices by the United States National Museum at Washington, +D. C., and may be procured perhaps without cost by writing to the +secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Of this the writer cannot be +absolutely sure, as the supply of printed copies may be limited. + +Nothing more need be said about bird manuals, save to warn you against +spending your money for books which describe only a part of the +avifauna of a given region and yet are advertised as serviceable for +the identification of all birds. Unless you have plenty of money to +spend, when you buy a manual buy one that is scientifically accurate +and complete. Nothing is more trying to the student of birds, whether +tyro or expert, than to encounter a new bird and then fail to find it +described or even mentioned in the book that has been foisted upon him +as a manual. In saying this I do not mean to discourage the purchase +of the charming popular books written in a literary vein and describing +personal observations on bird life, such as the works of John +Burroughs, Bradford Torrey, Olive Thorne Miller, and many others. +These books, however, are not advertised as handbooks, and thus no one +is deceived in buying them. + +Even with the best manual in hand, you must not expect to be able to +identify every new bird at the first attempt, for some species are +either exceedingly shy or obscurely marked, or probably both, while +quite a number are so much alike in markings and habits that it is hard +to distinguish them from one another. A few birds remained enigmas to +me for a number of years, in spite of the help of the field glass. At +intervals for several months you will often catch provoking glimpses of +some nymph-like bird before you succeed in determining its true place +in the avian system. But patience and persistence will some day +overcome the most stubborn difficulties. + +Since the foregoing references to leading bird manuals were written, a +new work, which is unique in plan, has been published. I refer to the +book entitled "Color Key to North American Birds"; text by Frank M. +Chapman, pictures by Chester A. Reed. The range of the volume is from +the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean and from the southern boundary of the +United States to the far north. It contains a brief description of +every species and sub-species within the limits named; a key to all the +Orders and Families, with the common and scientific names of all the +birds; an introduction to every chief division; and last, and highly +important, colored pictures of all the species and many of the +geographical varieties. What more can the bird student desire for +purposes of identification? While the other manuals give fuller +descriptions of habits, songs, etc., and need not, therefore, be +superseded by this volume, yet frankness forces us to say that if the +student, and especially the beginner, cannot afford to buy more than +one bird book, the Chapman-Reed "Color Key" is the one to get. It is +of a convenient size for carrying afield, so that a feathered stranger +can be identified on the spot. It can be used anywhere in the United +States, in British America, and Alaska. Think of that, fellow +bird-lovers! + +A good field glass is indispensable to successful bird study, +especially if you desire to name all the birds without killing any, as +I hope you do. Perhaps the older ornithologists, like Audubon and +Wilson, did not use helps of this kind, but they used guns, and +consequently had to study dead birds, while you and I want to study +living ones. Their killing of birds was, indeed, necessary, for +purposes of scientific classification; but now that such classifying +has, for the most part, been attained, the gun has largely gone out of +vogue, and the glass has taken its place. Let your alliterative motto +be: _With the glass, not the gun_. + +I would advise you not to buy a flashily colored glass, for it will +dazzle your eyes on sunshiny days. Be sure to get one that is easily +focused, as you must be quick in studying such shy creatures as the +birds. At first the glass may strain and tire your eyes, but that +difficulty will pass in a short time. Expertness will soon be won in +the use of a binocular, so that you will be able, almost instantly, to +get the desired object within its field, even though the object be +quite tiny. An opera glass is a great deal better than no glass at +all; a field glass is better still, and a Bausch & Lomb binocular of +six to eight magnifying power is the best of all; being almost equal to +having the bird in hand. The observer must lose as little time as +possible in sighting a shy bird, or it may escape him altogether. + +A book-bag or haversack, strapped around your shoulders, will also be a +convenience. In it you can stow your bird manual, and a luncheon in +case you expect to spend the whole day in the open, for a hungry +rambler is not likely to be an acute observer. A notebook and a lead +pencil, carried in handy pockets, should not be forgotten. Donning an +old suit of clothes, you can roam where you will, threading your way +through brier and bush, wading the bog or the shallow stream, dropping +upon your knees, even flinging yourself upon the ground, to spy upon a +wary bird flitting about in the copse. + +In almost all kinds of weather I wear rubber boots in my excursions to +the haunts of the birds. The observer can never tell when he may have +to wade a stream or tramp through a boggy marsh. In wet and cold +weather the need of rubber boots can be seen readily, but even in dry +and warm weather they have one decided advantage--they do not become +slippery on the soles as one tramps through the leaf-strewn woods or +the grassy fields. Every pedestrian knows that sole-leather is apt to +become as smooth as glass, making it difficult to retain one's footing. +On the other hand, rubber seems to cling to the ground, no matter how +much it is worn. The only objection to rubbers is that they are +uncomfortably warm in hot weather; but that difficulty can be overcome +by frequently plunging into a cool stream and standing there for +several minutes. + +Let me caution you, however, not to purchase a _heavy_ pair of rubber +boots. Insist on having a light pair or none at all. A good pair of +rubber boots are a real luxury, for with them you may tramp about in +all kinds of damp and boggy places without fear of wetting your feet, +though it goes without saying that you must be careful not to wade in +over the tops of your footgear. + +Of great assistance to the pedestrian is a light cane. In climbing +Pikes Peak one evening after dark, I doubt whether I should have been +able to gain the summit had it not been for my tough little wild-cherry +cane, upon which I could lean when almost exhausted, which supported my +faltering steps, and which happily never grew weary. Two years later +it helped me to scale a number of snow-capped mountains, among them +Grays Peak and Peak Number Eight of the Ten Mile Range. Indeed, my +little cane was of so much service to me that I came to look upon it as +a personal friend that cared almost as much for me as I did for it. It +pushed aside thorny bushes and nettlesome weeds when I was looking for +nests, thus saving my hands many a painful wound. And more than one +serpent, including the rattlesnake, has had his head crushed or his +spine broken by sturdy blows from my little wild-cherry cane. I should +add that it had a hooked handle, so that I could hang it on the strap +of my haversack when I needed both hands. + +In the beginning of your observations you will find the work of +identifying the birds a rare and exciting pleasure; then, after you +have named all the species in your neighborhood, it will be no less +delightful to study their interesting ways, or to extend your +researches to other fields. And if at any time you observe some odd +bits of bird behavior which you think will be news to the many bird +lovers the world over, why should you not report them to one of the +bird magazines, so that others may share the pleasures of your +discoveries? An admirer of feathered folk should not be selfish; +indeed, I do not see how he can be. + +It simply remains to be said that this volume is an illustration of the +method of bird study just indicated. In the first place, I shall show, +in a few chapters, how the student goes about his work of identifying +species and making new bird friends; then will follow a number of +monographs indicating how much may be learned about the life histories +of several interesting species; next there will be a miscellaneous +collection of incidents of bird life, showing how many odds and ends +the industrious and observing rambler may gather by the way; and, +finally, the book will conclude with four somewhat technical chapters +on bird education, bird music, bird flight, and bird feet, which I hope +will prove interesting as well as instructive. + + + + +MAKING NEW FRIENDS + +A friend once told me of a letter he had received from a correspondent +who is an enthusiastic botanist. The writer, having just returned from +an excursion in which he found a flower that was new to him, gave vent +to his feelings of exultation by exclaiming, "Oh, the joy! the joy!" A +like experience comes to the bird lover when he makes a new +acquaintance in the feathered domain, no matter how many other +observers may have seen and studied the species. "A bird that is new +to _me_ is to all intents and purposes a new bird," is his +self-complacent mode of reasoning, though it may not be distinguished +for its logic. + +[Illustration: Chipping Sparrow] + +After studying the birds in Ohio and Indiana for a good many years, I +moved to eastern Kansas, where I lived for five and a half years. My +rambles were by no means confined to the wooded bluffs and hollows that +bound the Missouri River on the west, for I also made excursions out +upon the prairies of Kansas, over into the state of Missouri, and down +into Oklahoma; and everywhere I carried my field glass with me and kept +both eyes intent on the birds. You would expect an enthusiast in the +pursuit of bird lore to do nothing else. What a pleasure it was to +ramble about in new fields and make acquaintance with new bird friends! +There is not a very marked difference between the avifauna of eastern +Kansas and Ohio, and yet there are some birds found in the former state +that are not met with in the latter--enough to keep the observer on the +tiptoe of expectancy for several months. + +One of my new acquaintances was a little bird which is known as the +clay-colored sparrow. It belongs to the same genus (_Spizella_) as the +chipping and field sparrows which are so well known in the East; but it +has an individuality of its own, and is not merely a copy. I stumbled +upon it while pursuing my explorations near Peabody, far out on the +level prairie, where the species was abundant during the season of +migration. As I was sauntering along a road, a peculiar croaking +little trill greeted me from the hedge, sounding very much like the +rasping call of certain kinds of grasshoppers when they are suddenly +startled and take to wing. But no insect had ever emitted quite such a +sound in my hearing. This could not be an insect. It was worth while +to look and make sure of the identity of the odd musician. + +After some difficulty, I fixed my glass upon a number of little +sparrows about the size of the chippies. They bore a close resemblance +to that species too, save that the crown-piece and the general tone of +the back were decidedly darker, while the under parts were a good deal +whiter. The clear, ash-colored cervical interval between the crown and +the back and the distinct brown loral and auricular space told me +plainly who the little charmers were. Not at the moment, however, for +the birds were new to me, and I had to wait until I could consult my +manual before I was able to decide that they were the clay-colored +sparrows. + +Their song is an odd vocal performance--a low, croaking trill, preceded +by a few longer notes, all delivered in the same key. It is, in fact, +a contralto solo divided into brief stanzas, and easily might be +mistaken for the grating buzz of an insect, especially if heard at a +distance of a few rods. It possesses little or no musical quality, and +is perhaps the most curious style of bird minstrelsy with which I am +acquainted. In comparison the chippie's trill sounds loud and clear +and bell-like, with a distinctly melodious quality of tone. The song +of the little clay-colored sparrow is also marked by a kind of drawl, +giving one the impression that the bird is just a little too lazy to +exert himself; yet when you get him in the field of your glass and see +him throw back his head, expand his throat and chest, and open his +mandibles as wide as he can, you quickly decide that he is not the +apathetic creature his desultory song would lead you to infer. It +really is laughable, and almost pathetic, too, to note how much energy +he expends in the production of his poor little aria. + +Indeed, not in the least sluggish is the blood flowing in the veins of +_Spizella pallida_, for he is a vivacious little body, flitting about +actively in the hedges and bushes, and sometimes mounting into the +trees, chanting his little alto strain all the while, as if his life +depended upon it. He is one of the comparatively few birds who is +lavish of his song in migration. + +Unlike the familiar chippie, he does not usually find a perch in plain +sight, from which to rehearse his song, but keeps himself well hidden +in the bushes or trees, darting into a hiding place as soon as he +thinks himself discovered. The shy little imp prefers to put a screen +of foliage or twigs between himself and the observer. Might his motto +be, "Little birds should be heard and not seen"? I had quite a time +making sure of him, but, as a pleasant compensation, when his identity +was once settled, I could not well have mistaken him for another +species, for he is a bird of real distinction. + +My study of the clay-colored sparrows was restricted to their habits in +migration, at which time they move about in more or less compact little +flocks, gathering seeds and chanting their monotonous trills. While I +first found these sparrows near Peabody, they were also fairly common, +a few days later, in northeastern Kansas, about a mile back from the +Missouri River, where their low alto strains formed a kind of gray +background for the high-pitched trills of the Harris sparrows and the +loud pipings of the cardinals. Quaint as our little contralto's solos +are, they have a distinct fascination for me, and now that I no longer +live in the Sunflower state, I miss them sorely when the springtime +comes. + +These sparrows do not, I believe, breed in Kansas, but are known to +establish their households in the northern part of Illinois, central +and northern Iowa, the Red River region in Minnesota, the country +drained by the upper Missouri River and its tributaries, Manitoba as +far north as the Saskatchewan River, and the plains and bases of the +foothills of eastern Colorado. Their nests are built on the ground or +in low bushes, and from three to five eggs, of a greenish-blue tint, +flecked with cinnamon-brown, are deposited. They spend the winters in +southern Texas and still farther south. Only "accidentally," as the +word goes, are they known in the eastern part of the United States, and +for that reason little has yet been written about them in popular books +on birds. The time will come, no doubt, when they will have a +well-recognized place in bird literature, just as the chippie, the +vesper sparrow, and the song sparrow have to-day. + +In bird study it is never safe to take too much for granted. One must +be constantly on the alert, and, more than that, one must be able to +make fine distinctions with both the ear and the eye. Here is a case +in point. For many days, while strolling about in quest of bird lore, +I heard a quaint little song in the bushy clumps, and that, too, in +some of the most out-of-the-way places. "It is nothing but the house +wren," I muttered to myself, I know not how often. "It isn't worth +while to look for it when there are new birds to be found. Still, it's +singular," I continued, "that the house wren should dwell in such +secluded places. It would seem that his name is a misnomer--at least, +in a good many instances." Several times I stopped to listen more +intently to the rolling ditty. "There's something odd about that +wren's song," I repeated. "Does the house wren always close its song +with the rising inflection, as if it were asking a question?" + +Then I would perhaps make a half-hearted attempt to get a glimpse of +the lyrist, but it kept itself well hidden in the bushes, and I +desisted, begrudging the time taken from my quest for feathered +rarities. But one day, while strolling along the banks of a small +stream, I again heard the labored ditty, and the next moment a small +bird darted into full view, calling and scolding in an agitated way, +and, while I watched it capering about, it broke into the very song to +which for several weeks I had been listening so carelessly. Why, it +was not a wren after all! It did not look like a wren, nor act like +one, but, rather, its form and conduct were like those of a vireo; and +a vireo it was. My bird manual soon settled that point. And what was +the name of the little stranger who had introduced himself in so +informal a way? It was the Bell vireo, an entirely new species to me. + +It is not an eastern species; it ranges from Illinois to the base of +the Rocky Mountains. In Kansas it is a summer resident, hanging its +little basket of a nest on the twigs of bushes or low trees, after the +regular vireo fashion. It was my good fortune to find a nest on a +copsy hilltop, where the bird's madrigals and lullabies mingled with +those of the yellow-breasted chats, the indigo buntings, the blue-gray +gnat catchers, and the Kentucky warblers. To this day I feel a longing +to visit the secluded spot where I held so many pleasant interviews +with these birds. + +Another Kansas bird that was new to my eyes and that afforded me much +delight was the Harris sparrow--a distinctively western species, not +known, or at least very rarely, east of the Mississippi River. He is +truly a fine bird, a little larger than the fox sparrow, neatly clad, +his breast prettily decorated with a brooch of black spots held in +place by a slender necklace of the same color, while his throat and +forehead are bordered with black. His rump and upper tail coverts are +a delicate shade of grayish brown, by which he may be readily +distinguished from the fox sparrow, whose rear parts are reddish brown. +His beak, feet, and legs are of a pinkish tint, making him look quite +trig and dressy. The latest of the spring arrivals were the most +highly colored, having the whole chin, throat, and top of the head a +glossy, uniform black. + +It would appear that the most matured individuals migrate farthest +south in winter. That, at least, would be the natural conclusion, +judging from the fact that they arrive latest in the spring in our +central latitudes. In the southern part of Kansas the Harris sparrows +are said to be common winter sojourners, but in the north-eastern part +of the state they disappeared in November or December, and did not +return until the middle of February, or later if the weather happened +to be severe. From the time of their vernal arrival they were to be +seen in every ramble until they took flight for their breeding haunts +in the North. One spring some of them were still loitering in Kansas +on the eleventh of May, and were singing blithely, no doubt waiting for +the winter cold of their summer homes to be well past before they +ventured farther toward the arctic lands. + +In general, the habits of these birds are much like those of the +white-throated sparrows, which are much more common in the East than in +the West. The Harris sparrows are fond of copses and hedges, and +especially of brush heaps in new grounds. So marked, indeed, is their +penchant for brush heaps that I almost wish one might re-christen them +"brush-heap sparrows." Many a time I have played a little trick on the +unsuspecting birds by stealing up to a brush pile and giving it a +sudden blow with my cane; then a whole covey of them would dash +pellmell from their covert with loud chirps of protest against such +wantonness. + +Sometimes they are found in the depths of the woods, providing there is +thick underbrush in which they can conceal themselves. I seldom found +them in open places either in the woods or fields. Yet, shy as they +are, they have a fondness for the dense hedges along the highways, +flitting and chirping as the traveler passes by. + +Being wary birds, they do not wander far from their hiding places, into +which they precipitate themselves at the approach of a supposed danger. +It was quite a while before I could get a clear view of their breasts, +for, with provoking persistence, they kept their tails turned toward +me. However, when once you really become acquainted with a bird, it +seems to lose part of its shyness, and so after a time I often had the +Harris sparrows in plain view. One of their characteristic habits was +to stand at full height on the top of a brush heap, with tail lifted, +crest feathers erect, and eyes wide open, the picture of wild +alertness. In such poses they are indeed handsome birds. + +It was March 5, 1898, when I heard the first song of this sparrow, and +even then it was only a fragment of a song. But, the weather remaining +pleasant, the sixteenth of the month brought a fine concert. The +bird's song was a surprise to me. It began with a prolonged run so +much like the opening tremolo of the white-throated sparrow that it +might have led the most expert ornithologist astray. The fact is, I +looked around for quite a while in search of a white-throat, thinking +him still a little out of tune, and therefore unable to finish his +chanson; and I was undeceived only by the singing of several Harris +sparrows that with unusual boldness had perched in plain sight. The +resemblance ceased, however, with the opening notes, for the western +bird did not add the sweet, rhythmic triad of his white-throated +cousin, the closing part of his song being only a somewhat labored +trill of no distinct character, and not fulfilling the promise of his +initial strain. + +In the concerts of these birds--and frequently many of them would be +trilling at the same time--they sang in several different keys, some of +them striking the treble and others dropping almost to the alto. +Occasionally two birds in different parts of a field would sing +responsively, one trill running very high in the scale, the other an +octave lower. It seemed almost as if the responsive exercise was +engaged in intentionally. + +The Harris sparrow has another song which is quite unlike his melodious +trill. It is delivered in a loud voice of little musical quality, and +the notes are pounded out in a percussive style, like the explosion in +quick succession of a number of little cartridges. Yet you must be +quite close to the bird in order to hear the queer canticle distinctly, +and when you do hear it you will wonder why nature ever put such a song +into a bird's larynx. The Harris sparrow also utters an explosive +alarm-call, which expresses not a little petulance and concern. + +One day a pretty picture was made by two of these birds that stood face +to face on a brush heap, bowing at each other, each threatening to peck +the other's head off, and both singing all the while at the top of +their voices, yet each afraid, in spite of his bluster, to close with +his opponent in actual contest. It was a miniature exhibition of the +beak-to-beak challenging often indulged in by two rival cocks of the +farmyard. For some minutes the little farce was kept up, then one of +the birds became tired of the game and darted over to the next brush +heap. + +I have said that these birds are scarcely known east of the Mississippi +River, but Mr. Ridgway says that they are occasionally seen during +migration in Illinois and Wisconsin. In eastern Kansas and western +Missouri they are common, almost abundant, during both the vernal and +autumnal migrations, and after you have once cultivated their +acquaintance they are likable, if not quite companionable, birds. But +familiar as they are in the regions named, they are still something of +a mystery to the naturalists of our country, for Mr. Ridgway says that +their "breeding range is unknown," save that there is a doubtful record +of one nest at Fort Custer, Montana; while Mrs. Bailey says: "The +breeding range of the Harris sparrow is unknown except for Mr. Preble's +Fort Churchill record. The last of July, among the dwarf spruces of +Fort Churchill, he found an adult male and female with young just from +the nest." It will be remembered that Fort Churchill is away up on the +coast of the Hudson Bay. It is probable, therefore, that the nest of +the Harris sparrow has never been found by any of the naturalists of +America. Who would suppose that these birds, so numerous and so well +known in Kansas, would, in the breeding season, surround themselves +with such an air of mystery? + +It was in Kansas, too, that I really came to know the Lincoln sparrow +and hear his song, although I had caught a few fleeting glimpses of him +in the East, and also in the neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota. In the +Sunflower state his conduct was just about as inconsistent as it could +have been without being downright absurd. What do I mean by that? +Why, while he was as wild as a deer, he still came to town, flitting +about in the bushes of a vacant lot near my house, and even visiting +the fence between my yard and the adjoining one, hopping about on the +ground with one eye on the lookout for nits and worms and the other for +human disturbers. My attention was first drawn to him by hearing a +squeaky little trill in the vacant lot. But, my! how wary he was when +I went out to find him! The song bore some resemblance to that of the +house wren, but had not so rolling and gurgling a quality, and was +pitched to a slightly higher and finer key. For a long time he kept +himself ensconced in the thicket, trilling saucily at intervals, as if +daring me to find him if I could, and when I finally drove him out of +his hiding place, he darted off in a zigzag course to another bush +clump, into which he dropped in the greatest possible haste. + +By and by his curiosity got the better of him, and he flitted to the +top of a brush heap and peeped out at me surreptitiously. My glass was +upon him in a moment, revealing his whitish throat and mottled chest +washed with buff, the latter being his characteristic marking. A few +days later he was singing in a small apple tree by my neighbor's fence. +I stole as close to him as I could and peered at him through my +binocular, while he returned the compliment by peering at me, and then +warily ventured to rehearse his little tune. The least movement on my +part would startle him, cause him to flit to another perch and crane +out his neck to glare at me questioningly with wild, dilated eyes, +uncertain whether I was to be trusted or not. Both of us presently +grew tired of our strained position, and so I walked off and he flew +away. No doubt there was mutual satisfaction in the inspection we gave +each other; at least, I felt well satisfied with having heard the song +of so shy a bird. His stay in my neighborhood lasted only a few days; +then he left as mysteriously as he had come, without even the courtesy +of a good-bye. He went to his summer home in the North, and I did not +see him again until the next spring, just twelve months later almost to +the day. + + + + +WILDWOOD MINSTRELS* + +* Parts of this and several other chapters of this book were first +published in The New York Times, whose courtesy in permitting him to +reprint, the author hereby acknowledges. + + +Nothing affords the bird student more pleasure than settling the identity +of species, albeit sometimes it is hard and patience-trying work. And of +all the birds, none are so provokingly and charmingly elusive as some of +the wood warblers. What a time I had for several years in making sure of +some of these little nymph-like creatures which were flitting about in +the foliage of the trees, concealing themselves by a leafy barrier! Many +a weary chase did they lead me through the woods, and more than once I +almost unjointed my neck by long-continued looking up. + +For identifying the tree-top flitters an opera glass is scarcely powerful +enough. A field glass or a Bausch & Lomb binocular is really a +necessity. It draws the bird right down to you, while at the same time +the elusive creature remains at what it regards a safe distance. Its +conduct will therefore not be constrained, and the observer can study it +in its natural poses. + +What an enigma the Tennessee warbler for a long time remained to me! +Never still for a moment, yet so indistinctly marked that at a distance +it looks like a dozen other birds one might name--a veritable feathered +rebus. But finally I fixed its place in the avian schedule with the help +of my field glass--white under parts, slightly tinged with yellow, back +and rump olive green, top and sides of head delicate bluish-ash; no +eye-ring, no wing-bars. There is no other warbler marked quite like +that. And yet its song is its most conspicuous mark, so to speak, for it +is a loud, shrill, and very rapidly repeated run, which might be spelled +out in this way: "Chippy, chippy, chippy, chippity-chippity-chippity." +The whole song is emitted at a galloping pace, giving you the impression +that the bird is in a desperate hurry. Important business on hand, no +doubt! Yes, there is a worm or a nit on the under side of that leaf, and +he must nab it now or never! With such pressing business matters on +hand, he has no time for regaling you with "linked sweetness long drawn +out." + +Still, he sometimes does prolong his ditty, giving it a saucy, +challenging air. No other warbler sings so loudly. His voice is as +shrill and penetrating as that of the indigo bird, though the song is +quite different in technique. + +[Illustration: Yellow Warbler] + +Another feathered conundrum was the Nashville warbler, whose back and +head are colored like those of the Tennessee, but whose under parts are +bright yellow, instead of white or white only slightly washed with +yellow; and, besides, sharp peering through your glass will reveal a +distinct white ring encircling the eye. The bird in the hand would also +show a dainty chestnut patch on the crown, but this mark is seldom seen +while it is flitting about in the leafy trees. The songs of the +Nashville and the Tennessee are somewhat similar, but not the same, the +Tennessee's being louder, shriller, and more sharply accentuated, while +his cousin's is more liquid and musical and far less sibilant. My notes +represent the Nashville's song phonetically as follows: "Swee, swee, +swee, ah-wit-ah-wit-ah-wit," delivered rapidly in a high key and with not +a little energy and emphasis. When my notes were made the little lyrist +was putting his best foot forward, and was not high in the trees, so that +I heard him distinctly. The Tennessee warblers were also singing near at +hand, giving me a good opportunity to compare the arias of the two +species. + +Belonging to the same subfamily is the orange-crowned warbler. It has +not so marked a preference for trees as its little relatives just +mentioned, but likes, so far as my observation goes, to flit about in +thickets, where it remains in hiding until driven from its covert or +drawn forth by curiosity. Only for a moment does it appear in sight, +then plunges into another covert. You will note that its eye-ring is +yellow, and that its under parts are neither bright yellow, like the +Nashville's, nor white, like the Tennessee's, but greenish yellow +obscurely streaked on the chest. I have never heard the song of the +orange-crown. + +There are a number of shy warblers that are especially partial to wild, +unfrequented parts of the woods, where they are seldom disturbed by human +intruders. In Kansas I found them in the deep, densely wooded ravines +running back from the Missouri River and its tributary valleys. Although +these feathered recluses are rarely molested by man, they seem to know +enough about his character to look upon him with a suspicious eye when he +ventures into their sylvan domain. Hence they are hard to study, and it +is not often that their deftly hidden nests can be found. + +One of the most delightful of these hermits is the Kentucky warbler. A +brilliant little bird he is, with his golden under parts and superciliary +line, his black patch on the cheek just below the eye, his black cap, and +his coat of iridescent olive green. You will not mistake him for the +Maryland yellow-throat, which also wears a black patch on the side of his +head; but this patch lies over the eye and includes it, and its upper +border is white, while this bird lacks the yellow and curved superciliary +band. Besides, the yellow-throat is not a woodland but a marsh bird. +The Kentucky warbler is attractive in many ways. An industrious +minstrel, his voice is strong and full for so small a bird, and until you +learn to know his tune well, you may mistake it for that of the cardinal. +But, as a piper, he lacks the versatility of the cardinal, who carries a +number of music sheets in his repertory, while the little Kentuckian +confines his lyrical efforts principally to one strain. Sometimes he +delivers his intermittent aria from a low bush or even from the ground, +but his favorite song-perches are the branches of saplings and trees just +below the zone of foliage. Here, in the shadows, you may be compelled to +look for him for some time before you espy his trig little form, and even +then you are likely to see him because he flits to another perch rather +than because you first catch the glint of his colors. Whether he means +it or not, he is something of a ventriloquist, for which reason you will +often look for him in many places before seeing him. + +As I have noted, he is an untiring singer. It never occurred to me to +time him, but Dr. Frank M. Chapman has had the patience to do so. "On +one occasion," says this observer, "at Englewood, New Jersey, I watched a +male for three hours. During this period, with the exception of five +interruptions of less than forty-five seconds each, he sang with the +greatest regularity once every twelve seconds. Thus, allowing for the +brief intervals of silence, he sang about 875 times, or some 5,250 notes. +I found him singing, and when I departed he showed no signs of ceasing." +It is such painstaking observations that add something new and fresh to +our knowledge of birds. + +The Kentucky warbler is fond of walking about on the ground in the woods, +seeking for his favorite insects. As you slowly follow, you will now and +then catch a glimpse of him through the apertures of the leaves; then he +will again disappear beneath his canvas of green. Thus he pursues his +quest hour after hour, and you may hear the rustle of his tiny feet upon +the carpet of dead leaves. Is it only a notion of mine, or am I correct, +in thinking that his promenades on the ground are mostly taken early in +the spring before there is danger from snakes? + +I like the pretty Kentuckians, but must grant you that in some respects +they are quite exasperating, never inclined to be as confiding as some +other birds. And then most birds will sooner or later betray the +presence of their nests, but the Kentucky warblers seldom do so, knowing +too well how to keep their procreant secrets. They have evidently +learned the use of strategy, as you will see: One day a pair began to +chirp vigorously as I approached their demesne in a lonely hollow, and I +felt a thrill of joy at the prospect of finding a nest. One of them even +flitted about with a worm in its bill--a sure sign of nestlings in the +neighborhood. For nearly four hours I watched the chirping couple, and +peered, as I thought, into every nook and cranny of the place, but all in +vain; neither nest nor bantlings could I find. Yet in some way that +seemed almost mysterious enough to be uncanny, the mother bird got rid of +the tidbit which she held in her bill. She probably decided to eat it +herself rather than betray the whereabouts of her younglings. I have +seen more than one parent bird do that. + +A few days later, in the same hollow, a Kentucky warbler was singing +contentedly, showing no signs of uneasiness. The female was not to be +seen or heard. I stalked about a long time, hoping to flush her from her +nest, but all my efforts were as futile that day as they had been on my +previous visit. In another hollow, on the same day, I watched a Kentucky +warbler flitting about with a worm in her bill. Again and again she +disappeared somewhere in the tanglewood, and came back with an empty bill +to chirp her disapproval of my spying; but look as I would in the very +places where she went down, I could discover no nest. In Warbledom it is +evidently no violation of ethical principles to act a lie in order to +protect a nestful of bantlings. + +But my story is not to have a disappointing ending, after all, for in the +spring and summer of 1902 my stars became auspicious, and I found three +Kentucky warblers' nests that were tenanted and several more that were +already deserted. Perhaps the turning of my luck was due not so much to +accident as to the fact that I had "caught on," and knew more about their +ruses. One of the nests discovered is worth describing. + +It was on a hilltop in Kansas, blown by the freshest breezes that sweep +over the limitless prairies. An ideal spot, indeed, for the nesting of +birds that love lone places. In one of my rambles I found this pleasant +elevation, and was attracted by the possibilities it offered for bird +study. Presently a male Kentucky warbler appeared with a couple of large +worms in his beak, and I made up my mind to find his nest if perseverance +could accomplish that object. So I sat down in the shade of a tree and +watched the bird closely. Now note his admirable finesse. After +flitting about among the bushes for a minute or two, chirping his protest +at my presence, he descended into the copse below and disappeared. Of +course, any student of birds would have supposed that he had gone down +near the nest to feed his bairns, and that he only needed to go and +examine the place to discover the little avian secret. My pulses +thrilled more than a little as I began my search for the nest right where +the bird had descended into the thicket. But do you know that my most +strenuous efforts--and they _were_ strenuous on a hot day like +that--resulted only in disappointment? The nest was not to be found +within a radius of a rod from the point where the little diplomat went +down. A few days later I made my way to the hilltop, and do you know +that the shrewd bird played me the same trick? He scuttled down into the +bushes at almost the same point as before, and no nest rewarded my +search. I went home just about ready to give up my search for Kentucky +warblers' nests, for I had been hunting them for a number of years +without success. + +However, in a few days I found my way again to the breezy hilltop. The +chats, vireos, and indigo birds gave due warning of my approach, and I +felt sure that Master Kentucky and his mate would be on their guard. To +my delight, in a few minutes the female presented herself in one of the +trees, her bill holding a bunch of worms. Luckily she was not so wary or +diplomatic as her husband, and, in addition, she extremely anxious to +feed her hungry babies. Instead of going over to the copse where the +male bird had played me such a clever trick, she flew down the path about +four rods to a small scrub oak, from which she soon dropped into the +weeds below. Then I said to myself; "Aha!" and smiled in a knowing way. + +I walked down the path to the tree, but no Kentucky warblers were to be +seen--not right away. So I sat down in the path and waited to see what +would happen. It was only a short time till the female appeared, with a +telltale bunch of worms in her beak. A moment later her mate also +arrived, carrying a small worm in the usual way. The situation was +growing interesting. The two birdlets chirped and flitted about in the +tree for a long time, afraid to go down to the nest. I moved slowly and +cautiously farther up the path to give them a better chance to divulge +their secret. Presently the pretty madame summoned courage to drop to a +lower perch in the tree, then to a still lower one, then to the top of +one of the bushes below, and at last into the weed clump and out of sight. + +I wasted no time. In a minute I was pressing the weeds apart and looking +down admiringly into the little cot with its four half-fledged +occupants--the first Kentucky warbler's nest I had ever seen. Set upon +the ground, its bulky foundation of dry leaves supported the cup proper, +which was lined with fine grass. Easy enough to find when you knew +precisely where to look for it. + +Think now of the little game the male bird had played me on my previous +visits to the haunt! He had descended into the copse about four rods +distant from the nest instead of going down near its site; then he had +doubtless followed a secret pathway through the weeds and bushes to the +nest, fed his children, and hurried away without letting himself be seen. + +The parent birds did not like the idea of my finding and inspecting their +nest, for they chirped and darted about in a panic. To relieve their +anguish I retired up the slope a short distance, seated myself in the +pleasant shade of a scrub oak, and made an entry of my find in my +notebook. Alas! I had probably done harm to my little friends without +intending it, for their chirping attracted the attention of one of their +worst foes, and drew him to the spot. I loitered about for perhaps ten +minutes, and then decided to take one more peep at the pretty domicile +before leaving the hilltop. As I drew near, I observed that the parent +birds were chirping in a low, but heart-broken way, as if they were +almost stricken dumb with terror. Were they so badly frightened because +I was returning to their nest? + +I stepped up cautiously and looked down at the nest. It was now my turn +to give vent to a cry of consternation, for what I saw was this: A large +blacksnake coiled about the nest, the fold of his neck wabbling to and +fro in a terrifying way, while with his mouth he was trying to seize one +of the bantlings. Fortunately I had a good-sized stick, almost a club, +in my hand, and I wasted no time in bringing it down with all the force I +could command upon the serpent, taking care to deliver the blow at the +side of the nest. The snake tried to uncoil, but another blow broke his +backbone, if indeed the first one had not done so, and he was in my +power. He had swallowed one of the nestlings, but three were left, and +seemed to be in good condition. On my return to the place a few days +later the nest was empty, and I fear that the remaining little ones had +also been destroyed, perhaps by the mate of the snake from which I had +rescued them. + +On the shelf of a steep bluff covered with a riot of bushes and briars a +pair of hooded warblers found a dwelling place to their taste in the +spring of 1900. This handsome birdlet may be known by his dainty yellow +hood, bordered with black, and cannot be mistaken for any other member of +the great feathered fraternity. One cannot look at him without feeling +that Nature tried to see what she could do in the way of an unusual +arrangement of colors. Who can tell what impelled her to make a living +gem like this, as odd as it is beautiful? + +On the side of the bluff referred to I was first attracted by the +vivacious song of the little male, which I had not heard for several +years--not since an excursion I had taken into Louisiana and Mississippi. +His voice was clear and ringing, and the tune he executed was by no means +a meager performance. + +One day a loud, metallic chirping was heard, and presently two hooded +warblers appeared, each with the proverbial green worm in its beak. I +decided to remain in the nook and watch, for the nesting habits of these +rare warblers were new to me. In and out, up and down, here and there, +they flitted, making a checker-work of black and gold amid the foliage, +craning their necks, peering at me with anxious inquiry in their dark +little eyes, and filling the woodland with their uneasy chirping. + +It was a long time to wait, but at length patience had its reward; one of +the birds flew down to the bushes on the steep slope above me and fed a +youngster in plain view. No time was lost in pushing through the bushy +tangle to the magic spot. Behold! it was a young cowbird that had been +fed by the devoted little mother! That was trying beyond expression--to +think that all the efforts of the pretty couple, all their intense +solicitude, was wasted on a great, hulking impostor like the cowbird. He +had just scrambled from the nest, from which he had doubtless previously +crowded the rightful heirs of the family to perish from starvation on the +ground. I found the nest only about a foot away from the perch of the +young bird--a deep, neat little basket, compactly felted with down and +plant fibers, set in the crotch of a slender bush of the thicket. It was +certainly too small to accommodate any tenants besides the strapping +young cowbird. In the spring of 1902 another hooded warbler's nest +rewarded my search. Its holdings were four callow bantlings, all of +which were carried off by some marauder before my next visit. + +Another little charmer of the woodland, especially of thick second-growth +timber, is the blue-winged warbler, which glories in the high-sounding +Latin name of _Helminthophila pinus_. Wherever seen, he would attract +attention on account of the peculiar cut and color of his clothes. A +conspicuous black line reaching from the corner of the mouth back through +the eye is a diagnostic feature of his plumage, while his crown and +breast gleam in bright yellow, almost golden in the sunshine; his wings +and tail are blue-gray, with some white trimmings, and his back and rump +are bright olive There you have an array of colors that makes a picture +indeed. Madame Blue-wing wears the same pattern as her lord, but the +hues are less brilliant. + +The manners of Sir Blue-wing--I call him so because of his distinguished +air--are interesting, for they differ, in one respect at least, from +those of most of the other warblers of my acquaintance. He flits about +among the branches in rather a leisurely way--for a warbler; but his main +characteristic is his unwarbler-like fashion of clinging back downward to +the under side of the twigs, after the manner of the chickadee, in order +to secure the nits and worms under the leaves. He acts decidedly like a +diminutive trapeze performer. + +His song consists of an insect-like buzz, divided into stanzas of two +syllables each, with a pensive strain running through it, as if the heart +of the little singer were filled with sadness. While it sounds rather +faint at a distance, close at hand it has a strangely penetrating quality. + +Although my numerous efforts to find a blue-wing's nest were unavailing, +I had the satisfaction of proving beyond doubt that these birds breed in +northeastern Kansas. A quaint, squeaking call attracted my attention one +day, and I found that it proceeded from the throat of a young blue-wing +perched in the bushes, for presently the mamma came and thrust a morsel +into the open mouth of the bantling. Some young birds sit quietly and +patiently, waiting for their rations, and utter only a faint twitter when +they are fed; but the youthful blue-wings are not of so contented and +silent a disposition. On the contrary, they are noisy little fellows, +making their presence known to friend and foe alike, although they are +very careful never to permit the human observer to come too close. They +are duly warned of danger by their ever-vigilant parents. Sometimes a +youngster will sit on the same perch for a long time, preening his +feathers and uttering a little call at intervals, just to keep in +practice, as it were; while at other times he will pursue his parents +about in the woods, loudly demanding his dinner. One season I succeeded +in finding at least five pairs of these warblers, in company with their +clamorous broods. The nest is set on the ground in the bushes and grass +of second-growth timber tracts. Lined with tendrils and fine strips of +bark, it is "firmly wrapped with numerous leaves, whose stems point +upward." Another haunter of the dusky depths of the woods is the +ovenbird. His song is one of the most peculiar in warblerdom. Beginning +in moderate tones, it grows louder and louder as it nears the end, and +really seems like a voice moving toward you. This bird also walks about +in the woods, and does not hop, as most of his relatives do. As he walks +about on his leafy carpet, his head erect, he has quite a consequential +air. He derives his name from the fact that his nest, set on the ground, +is globular in form, with the entrance at one side, giving it the +appearance of a small oven. + +The gay redstarts, which seem to be so tame and confiding in the early +spring, turn into veritable eremites in the breeding season, seeking the +most secluded portions of the woods as their habitat. Their little nests +are harder to find than one would suppose; yet I have had the good +fortune to watch two females erecting the walls of their tiny cottages, +and a pretty sight it was. + +The redstart has some interesting ways. One of them is his habit of +spreading out his wings and tail as he perches or flits about in the +trees, as if he were anxious to display the fiery trimmings that so +elegantly set off his little black suit. Blood will tell, for I have +seen the young redstarts imitating their parents by spreading out their +odd, croppy tails in a comical way. + +[Illustration: Chickadee] + +How early in life young birds are taught some of the lessons that are +needful for their own safety! One day I heard a young redstart chirping +for his dinner. I quietly thrust my head into the thicket, and soon +espied the birdkin perched on a twig only about a rod away. He either +did not see me, or else decided that I was not a bugaboo. A few minutes +later the mother darted into the enclosure and fed her baby. She was too +much absorbed in her duties to notice me until the repast was over; then +she suddenly caught sight of her unwelcome caller. She stood transfixed +with astonishment for one breathless moment, then uttered a piercing cry +of alarm that sent the little one dashing away like a streak of +lightning. Plainly the youngster understood his mamma's signal, for +until she uttered it he had sat perfectly quiet and unconcerned, perhaps +not even aware of my presence. Birds are taught the language of fear at +a tender age. Of course they learn it so readily because there is a +basis of timidity in their natures, implanted by heredity. + + + + +CHICKADEE WAYS* + +*Reprinted by permission, from "Our Animal Friends," New York. + + +In a somewhat casual way, and without going into their natural history, +the last two chapters have indicated the method of making an +acquaintance with new species and of studying the habits of a few wild +birds. A few chapters will now be devoted to a fuller study of a +number of interesting birds. Not that I expect to write their complete +life histories, which, indeed, would not be necessary; but that I may +give you some idea of the large amount of knowledge that can be gained +of one species. If this were multiplied by the knowledge procurable +from the study of all the members of the feathered brotherhood, think +what an education the whole would give one. Let us begin with the +familiar little tomtit. + +In his valuable manual, "Birds of Eastern North America," Dr. Frank M. +Chapman calls the little black-capped chickadee an "animated bunch of +black and white feathers." That is certainly a graphic and correct way +of putting it, for no bird is more active and alert than this little +major with the black skull cap and ashy-blue coat. Everybody knows +him, I take it, but if any more points are needed for his +identification, you must look for a little bird which, in addition to +his cap of glossy black, wears a bib of the same color, buckled up +close to his chin, with a wedge of white inserted on each side of his +neck between the black of his throat and crown to the corner of his +mouth. + +If all birds were as sociably disposed as the little tomtit--for that +is also one of his names--bird study would be a delight, and almost a +sinecure. Trustful and fearless, he often comes within a few feet of +you, and fixes you with his keen little eyes, which dart out +innumerable interrogation points. Sometimes he calls his own name in a +saucy way, "Chick-a-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee," which, being +interpreted, means, "What is your business here, sir? Aren't you out +of your proper latitude?" Occasionally he will grow terribly excited +over your presence--or at least pretend to--scolding and shaming you +until you feel yourself a real interloper; at other times he will +salute you in the most affable way, as if bidding you welcome to his +haunts and inviting you to come often and make yourself at home. What +a pity it is he cannot talk, and let us know what he really thinks of +us and of the world in general! Dr. Chapman says that on two occasions +chickadees have flown down and perched on his hand, giving him the +feeling that he was being taken into their confidence. + +Watch Master Tomtit as he performs some of his acrobatic feats, putting +the tilters and tumblers in the human circus to the blush. He often +hangs back downward from a slender twig or even a leaf, and daintily +picks the nits that have ensconced themselves in the buds or foliage. +Let his flexile perch sway in the wind as it will, he is safe, for if +the twig should break or his hold should slip, which seldom occurs, he +can recover himself at once by spreading his nimble wings, wheeling +about, and alighting on a perch below. Ah, yes! the tomtit is the +embodiment and poetry of nimbleness. + +But he is more than a mere feathered gentleman; he is an extremely +useful citizen. Prof. E. D. Sanderson published a valuable article in +"The Auk" for April 1898, in which he proved that this bird serves a +most useful purpose as an insecticide. He examined the craws of +twenty-eight chickadees, nineteen of them secured in the winter and +nine in the spring. During the winter 70.7 per cent of the food found +in these stomachs was animal, while in the spring no vegetable matter +was found at all, the birds subsisting entirely on insects and their +eggs and larvae. By far the larger part of the insects thus destroyed +were of the noxious species that bore into the bark and wood of the +trees or sting the fruit. An orchard in which several chickadees had +taken up their abode one winter and spring was so well cleared of +canker worms that an excellent yield of fruit was grown, whereas the +trees of other orchards in the neighborhood were largely defoliated by +the destructive worms, and there was no yield of fruit. + +Professor Sanderson made an interesting estimate of the economic value +of our little scavengers. In the state of Michigan, where his +observations were made, he thinks that a fair average is seven +chickadees to the square mile. If each bird should destroy fifty-five +insects per day, which is a very modest estimate, the seven birds would +consume three hundred and eighty-five every day, making about 137,500 +per year in each square mile. In this way about eight billions of +insects would be destroyed annually in the state--an economic fact +whose importance cannot be overestimated. + +The same investigator also thinks that it would be wise for farmers and +fruit-growers to encourage the chickadees to make their homes in +orchards, and this could be done, he says, "by placing food for them +till they feel at home, by erecting suitable nesting sites, and by +careful protection"; to which I would add, by leaving a few old snags +in the trees where the birds can find natural nesting places. Besides +the useful purpose the birds would serve, what pleasant companions they +would be, piping, both summer and winter, their sweet minor tunes! + +No one can deny that the tomtit is a companionable little fellow. In +addition to his vigorous call of "Chick-a-dee-dee," he whistles, as has +been said, a sweet minor strain which may be represented by the +syllables, "Phe-e-be-e," repeated again and again. Often in midwinter, +when bland days come, and even in very cold weather, too, sometimes, he +will pipe his pensive air, which floats through the woods like a song +of chastened sadness. + +Not infrequently two tits will engage in what may be called a +"responsive exercise," swinging their two-part song back and forth in +the woods like a silvery pendulum. Not soon shall I forget a winter +day on which I listened with delight to such an antiphonal duet. I was +standing in a road that wound along the foot of a steep, wooded bluff, +and the two minstrels were in the woods above me, one of them singing +very high in the scale, the other responding in the same tune, but +almost, if not quite, an octave lower. At first they were about twenty +rods apart, but as they swung back and forth, they gradually approached +each other until the distance between them was only a few feet. The +music seemed like a slender thread of silver which was being wound up +at both ends, gradually drawing the little fluters together. Sometimes +one of them would miss one note of his dissyllabic song, and at times +the refrains were repeated in a leisurely way, at times in quick +succession; but the performers never sang simultaneously, each waiting +until his fellow minstrel had given his reply. The pleasing duet +lasted for many minutes; indeed, it was kept up long after I left the +immediate neighborhood, for when I had gone quite a distance the sweet +cadenzas still fell rhythmically on my ear. To my mind the two-part +aria seemed like a voluntary performance, and I cannot doubt that it +was. There was too much of an air of purpose about it to permit of the +thought that it was a mere accident or coincidence; but whether it was +a musical contest between rival vocalists, or the love song of a tomtit +and his mate, I could not determine. + +Cunning in other ways, it would be strange if the tomtits did not +display acuteness in the selection of nesting sites. A cosy hollow in +a dead snag or stump is especially acceptable. Sometimes it is a +deserted woodpecker's cavity made trig and clean, while quite often, +when the wood is soft enough, the tits themselves chisel out a little +hole in a tree or stump or fence post. I recall having once watched a +pair of chickadees hollowing the upper end of a truncated sassafras +tree that was half decayed. They would fly into the cavity, pick off a +chip, dash out and away a rod or two, drop the fragment, then dart back +to the hollow for another piece. In this way the busy couple worked +hour by hour without resting for an instant. Their reason no doubt for +carrying the chips some distance away from their nest was that they did +not want any telltale fragments to betray their secret to their enemies. + +It would be impossible to tell how many chickadee nests I have found in +all the years of my bird study. One of them was in an old stump near a +path along which I was sauntering. My attention was attracted by the +little husband's flying from the stump and calling nervously, thus +unwittingly "giving away" his secret. Had he been quiet, my suspicions +would not have been aroused; but many birds, like a few people here and +there, find it very hard to keep a secret. And this, by the way, is +one of the strangest things about Nature--that she has not taught her +feathered children to go with apparent unconcern about their employment +when a nest is near, but impels them to chirp and flit about in such a +way as to excite the suspicion of an enemy. + +Moralizing aside, however. On examining the stump, I found a deep +cavity just inside of the decaying bark. Though it was quite dusk +within, by slightly pressing the bark aside I could see the little +mother sitting on the nest, unwilling to leave it in spite of my +proximity. I almost touched her with my hand, and still she did not +move. Unwilling to disturb so brave a heroine, I stepped back and +walked quietly away a few rods to see what would happen, when she +popped out of the orifice like an arrow and, joined by her mate, set up +a loud chattering, which sounded as if they were saying that I was the +nosiest and most impudent man in the whole countryside. + +No doubt they were right, for I went back, in spite of their protest, +and peeped into the nest, and found four gleaming white eggs studding +the bottom like pearls. Alas! when I visited the place two weeks +later, the little domicile had been raided, the half-decayed walls +having been broken down. A tuft of gray hair hanging to a splinter +proved the invader to have been a predatory animal of some kind, +probably a cat. The birds were nowhere to be seen--unless a pair +chirping in the woods on the other side of the valley were the same +couple, trying to rear a family in a safer place. + +What a persistent sitter the female blackcap is! One day I discovered +a nest in a fence post by the wayside. Pressing the bark aside, I +could plainly see the little owner snuggling close to the bottom of the +cup. I thrust my finger through the aperture and gently stroked her +head and back. Still she hugged the nest, pressing her head close to +the grassy bottom, as if she thought she would be safe if her head were +hidden. Thinking she must have little ones, or she would not cling so +tenaciously to the nest, I pushed my finger under her and partly raised +her from her seat. Even this rude treatment she bore for a few +moments--but it was going too far even for her courageous little heart; +she lifted her head, glanced wildly at me for an intense moment, then +sprang from the cavity with a piercing cry. + +Imagine my surprise to find the nest entirely empty, not even an egg +having yet been deposited. The brave little lady had doubtless just +entered the nest to lay her first egg, and was not going to be driven +off without knowing the reason why. The tomtit is game every time. + +The entrance to most of the chickadee's nests is lateral, but I found +one nest whose doorway was in the top of a fence post, so that the +owners had to go down into it vertically. The hole was quite deep, and +the birds would drop down into it as you have seen swifts dropping into +a chimney, but whether they went down head first or tail first I could +not learn, their movements were so quick. Another feature of this nest +was that it had no roof, for the doorway was open to the sky, so that a +cloudburst would have filled up their little nursery and drowned its +inmates. + + + + +THE NUTHATCH FAMILY* + +*This chapter is reprinted from that excellent bird magazine called +"American Ornithology," published by Charles K. Reed, Worcester, Mass., +and edited by his son, Chester A. Reed. The author is under obligation +to these gentlemen for their courtesy in permitting him to reprint the +article. + + +BIRDS OF THE INVERTED POSITION + +There are a number of climbers in the bird realm, but none are quite so +expert as the nuthatch, which may be regarded as a past-master in the +art of clambering. The woodpeckers amble up the boles and branches of +trees, and when they wish to descend, as they do occasionally for a +short distance, they hitch down backward. The brown creepers ascend +their vertical or oblique walls in the same way, but seldom, if ever, +do anything else than clamber upward, never descending head downward +after the fashion of the nuthatches. + +[Illustration: Nuthatch] + +A little bird that comes very near disputing the palm with the nuthatch +as a sylvan coaster is the creeping warbler, which flits about over the +tree boles in all kinds of attitudes, even with his dainty head pointed +toward the earth. No fear in his little striped breast of the blood +rushing to his brain. However, even this clever birdlet's dexterity is +not equal to that of the nuthatch, for the latter is able to climb up +and down a smoother wall than his little rival. More than that, the +nuthatch glides downward with more ease and in a straight line, and +does not fling himself from side to side as the warbler does. Indeed, +the warbler's favorite method of going about is with his head directed +toward the sky rather than the reverse, while it really seems that the +nuthatch's predilection is to scuttle about in an inverted position. +Does he wish to chisel a grub out of the bark of a tree? He usually +stands above the target at which he aims, so that he can deliver his +blows with more force, just as the human woodchopper prefers to take +his position above and not below the stick or log upon which he expects +to operate. There the bird clings to his shaggy wall, pounding away +with might and main, until you fear he will shatter his beak or strew +his brains on the bark. Sometimes, too, he thrusts his long, slender +beak into a crevice and pries with it in a way that threatens to snap +it off in the middle. + +What has been said applies to the white-breasted nuthatch (_Sitta +carolinensis_), but it is fair to assume that all the other members of +this subfamily behave in the same way. The woodpeckers and creepers +use their spiny tails as supports while stationary or in motion; not so +the nuthatches, which are sufficiently nimble on their feet to stand or +glide without converting their tails into braces. Odd as it may seem +to the uninformed, the nuthatches belong to the order of passeres or +perching birds, in spite of their creeping habits. The systematists +have placed them in this niche of the avicular scheme, not only because +they are able to perch like other passeres on twigs and small branches, +but also because they have the foot of the true perching bird, with +three toes in front and one, well developed, in the rear. In this +respect they differ again from the woodpeckers, which have either two +fore and two hind toes, or two in front and only one behind. This will +appear all the more remarkable when it is remembered that the _Picidae_ +do not descend head downward at all, while the _Sittinae_ are the +head-downward goers par excellence. Yet they have only one rear toe to +support them in their inverted position. You would naturally suppose +that if any bird had need of two hind toes, it would be the nuthatch; +but the result proves that, after all, Nature had her wits about her +when she evolved this avian family. + +The world over, there are twenty distinct species of nuthatches known +to scientific observers, but only four of them are natives of America. +Of course, there are a number of subspecies or varieties. All of them +are incessant climbers and foragers, peering into crannies, pounding +here and there to make the grubs stir in their hiding places, jabbing +and prying with their beaks, and chiseling out all kinds of larvae, +grubs, and borers that would, if permitted to live and multiply, soon +devastate the timber and fruit trees and make this world a desert +indeed. True, the other feathered clamberers and carpenters are fully +as useful, but depend upon it, the nuthatches do their share in +preserving our forests and orchards. + +The white-breasted nuthatch is our most common species east of the +great plains, breeding from the Gulf States to the northern border of +the United States and to New Brunswick. One peculiarity about him is +that he breeds throughout his range, and therefore may be found as both +a summer and winter resident in all suitable localities within these +boundaries. In the winter, no matter how old Boreas may bluster, he is +one of the most cheerful denizens of the woods in our central +latitudes, calling his nasal "yank, yank, yank," and sometimes +indulging in a loud, half-merry outburst that goes echoing through the +woodlands. No sound of the sylvan solitudes has a more woodsy flavor +or is more suggestive of vernal cheer and good will. Sometimes he +chatters to his human visitors in the most cordial tones as he glides +up and down his arboreal promenade, or holds himself almost straight +out. + +A hole in a stump or tree makes Madame Nuthatch a cosy nursery, which +she lines with feathers and leaves, making it soft and snug for her +downy brood. Here they are safe from most of the prowlers that find +the more exposed nests of many other birds. She deposits five to eight +eggs of a white or creamy-white ground-color, speckled with rufous and +lavender. During the season of incubation and brood rearing the +nuthatches retire to the depth of the woods, and are quiet, secretive, +and unsocial, seldom betraying their procreant secrets. + +These birds have another habit that is worth mentioning. Having found +a larger supply of food than they require for their immediate use, they +carry morsels away and jam them into all sorts of holes and crannies in +the bark of the trees. I have watched a pair for an hour diligently +laying by a store of sunflower seeds, which they had found at the edge +of the woods. They do not store a quantity of provision in one place +like the squirrels, but deposit a tidbit here and there, wedging it +tightly into a crevice by hammering it with their stout bills. Of +course, the woodpeckers and tomtits secure many of these half-hidden +goodies, but Master Nuthatch does not mind that, for he evens up the +theft by appropriating their stores when he finds them. + +The white-breasted nuthatch may be known by his flat body and broad +shoulders, his bluish gray coat, black cap and mantle (all in one +piece), white cravat, shirt bosom and vest, with a few rufous +decorations on the belly and under tail-coverts. The following +quotations from Wilson are given as much for their vivacious manner as +for the story itself: + +"The male is extremely attentive to the female while sitting, supplying +her regularly with sustenance, stopping frequently at the mouth of the +hole, calling and offering her what he has brought, in the most +endearing manner. Sometimes he seems to stop merely to inquire how she +is, and to lighten the tedious moments with his soothing chatter. He +seldom rambles far from the spot, and when danger appears, regardless +of his own safety, he flies instantly to alarm her. When both are +feeding on the trunk of the same tree, or of adjoining trees, he is +perpetually calling on her; and, from the momentary pause he makes, it +is plain he feels pleased to hear her reply. + +"He rests and roosts with his head downwards; and appears to possess a +degree of curiosity not common in many birds; frequently descending, +very silently, within a few feet of the root of the tree where you +happen to stand, stopping, head downward, stretching out his neck in a +horizontal direction, as if to reconnoiter your appearance, and after +several minutes of silent observation, wheeling around, he again +mounts, with fresh activity, piping his unisons as before... Sometimes +the rain, freezing as it falls, encloses every twig, and even the trunk +of the tree, in a hard, transparent coat or shell of ice. On these +occasions I have observed his anxiety and dissatisfaction at being with +difficulty able to make his way along the smooth surface; at these +times he generally abandons the trees, gleans about the stables, around +the house, mixing among the fowls, entering the barn, and examining the +beams and rafters, and every place where he may pick up a subsistence." + +Our charming white-breast has a little cousin called the red-breasted +nuthatch (_Sitta canadensis_), whose under parts are rufous or reddish +buff instead of white. His crown and nape are black, then a white band +runs back from the base of the upper mandible to the hind neck, and +below this a black stripe reaches back in a parallel direction and +encloses the eye. His upper parts, save those mentioned, are bluish +gray. He is considerably smaller than the white-breast, and his range +is more northerly in summer; but, unlike his cousin, he does not breed +throughout his range; only in the localities which he selects for his +summer home. Hence he is a migrant, dwelling in winter in the southern +states, and in summer in the latitude of Manitoba and Maine and +northward, and also on the summits of the mountains as far south as +Virginia. It will be seen that the breeding precincts of the two +species overlap, while in winter _canadensis_ comes down from the north +and takes up his abode in the southern part of the demesne of +_carolinensis_. + +While the white-breast is partial to oak, beech, maple, and other +deciduous forests, his little relative prefers a woodland of pine, +being very fond of scampering about on the cones, clinging to them with +his strong claws, and extracting the seeds with his stout little bill. +His call, though much like the "yank" of the white-breast, is pitched +to a higher key, and has even a more pronounced nasal intonation, +sounding as if he had taken a severe cold. Besides, he gives +expression to some cheery notes that seem to be reserved for his own +family or exclusive social circles. I found these pretty nuthatches in +the pine woods on Mackinac Island in midsummer, and have good reason to +believe that they breed there. + +Cavities in trees or stumps furnish the redbreasts with nesting places +suited to their taste; but they have a cunning way of plastering the +entrance above and below with pine pitch, so as to make it just large +enough to admit their tiny bodies and yet too small to let in their +enemies. In this respect they steal the laurels from their +white-breasted kinsmen, who seem to have no means by which to lessen +the dimensions of their natural doorways. + +A still smaller member of this group is the brown-headed nuthatch +(_Sitta pusilla_), a resident of the South Atlantic and Gulf states, at +rare intervals wandering "accidentally" as far north as Missouri and +New York. A daintily dressed little fellow is this bird, the top and +back of his head a dark grayish brown with a whitish patch on the nape, +the remainder of his upper parts being bluish gray and his under parts +grayish white. His favorite dwelling places are in the pine woods of +the south, where he is on the most cordial terms socially with the pine +warbler and the red-cockaded woodpecker. A most active little body, he +scampers from the roots of the trees to the terminal twigs at the top, +inspecting every cone, cranny and knot hole, chirping his fine, +high-keyed notes, sometimes in a querulous tone, and again in the most +cheerful and good-natured temper imaginable, now gliding up a tree +trunk, now scudding down head foremost, anon circling in a spiral +course. + +One autumn I found a number of these nuthatches associated with a flock +of myrtle warblers on the most sociable terms in a pine woodland not +far from Pensacola, Florida. Now they were up in the trees, now down +on the ground. All the while they were chirping in their most genial +tones. In a spring jaunt to southern Mississippi, I was fortunate +enough to find a nest in a half-decayed snag. It contained four of the +prettiest half-fledged bird babies that have ever greeted my sight. + +Oddly enough, our tiny clamberers utter a loud, shrill alarm-call that +bears close resemblance to the querulous protest of the sparrow hawk as +you approach her nest or young. Doctor Chapman says of the brown +heads: "They are talkative sprites, and, like a group of school +children, each one chatters away without paying the slightest attention +to what his companions are saying." + +The fourth member of the _Sittinae_ subfamily in America is the pigmy +nuthatch, known scientifically as _Sitta pygmaea_, a genuine westerner, +not known east of the plains. However, in the Rocky Mountain district +he is an abundant species, his range east and west being from the +plains to the Pacific coast, and north and south from the Canadian +boundary to the mountains of Mexico. Swinging and gliding about among +the pines, performing the same antics as his eastern kinsmen, he utters +a cheery whistle, that may be translated, "Whit, whit, whit." His +movements are often so rapid that he is difficult to follow with the +eye as he flits from one tree to another or dashes amid the branches. +He scarcely remains quiet long enough for you to note his markings and +settle his identity, but once you are sure of him, you will never +mistake him for another bird. + +In Colorado there is little of a migratory movement even up and down +the mountains among these interesting birdlets. In the winter a few +descend from the heights and dwell on the plains, where the weather is +not so rigorous. On the approach of spring they again hie up into the +mountains, spending the summer there and rearing their pretty bairns. +However, the majority of them remain in the mountains all winter, +braving the bitterest and fiercest storms, often at an altitude of +8,000 feet. Their breeding range is from 6,000 to 10,000 feet, the +latter elevation being only a little below the timber line. + +In spite of his unique and interesting habits, the poets have scarcely +begun to chant the praises of the American nuthatch. One of the best +tributes I have been able to find is from the pen of Edith Thomas, who +apostrophizes our bird in this way: + + "Shrewd little haunter of woods all gray, + Whom I meet on my walk of a winter day, + You're busy inspecting each cranny and hole + In the ragged bark of yon hickory bole; + You intent on your task, and I on the law + Of your wonderful head and gymnastic claw! + + "The woodpecker well may despair of this feat-- + Only the fly with you can compete! + So much is clear; but I fain would know + How you can so reckless and fearless go, + Head upward, head downward, all one to you, + Zenith and nadir the same to your view." + + +We have now described the American nuthatch quartette, and will turn to +other fields no less inviting, albeit more remote. The nuthatch of +central Europe, scientifically known as _Sitta caesia_, is closely +related to our American forms, resembling them in many of his habits. +In studying the literature of the transatlantic species, we at once +stumble upon the reason for calling this avian family by the somewhat +peculiar and apparently inapt name of nuthatch. The older English form +of the word was "nuthack," which unfortunately has been changed to +"nuthatch," a word that gives an erroneous impression, for no bird ever +hatches a nut. But with the last syllable "hack" the difficulty is all +cleared up, as his habit of hacking or chipping nuts, which he places +in chinks of the bark or wall, is well known. + +The nuthatch of England belongs to the species just named. He does not +wear a black hood or mantle, but merely a black ribbon on the side of +his head, enclosing the eye. His upper parts are bluish gray, save the +outer tail feathers, which are black; his cheeks and throat are white, +his breast and belly buff, and his flanks and lower tail-coverts +chestnut red. A graphic English writer, Dr. W. H. Hudson, gives the +following enthusiastic description of the little tobogganist of his +native woodlands: + +"When I see him sitting quite still for a few moments on a branch of a +tree in his most characteristic nuthatch attitude, on or under the +branch, perched horizontally or vertically, with head or tail +uppermost, but always with the body placed beetle-wise against the +bark, head raised, and the straight, sharp bill pointed like an arm +lifted to denote attention,--at such times he looks less like a living +than a sculptured bird, a bird cut out of beautifully variegated +marble--blue-gray, buff, and chestnut, and placed against the tree to +deceive the eye. The figure is so smooth and compact, the tints so +soft and stone-like; and when he is still, he is so wonderfully still, +and his attitude so statuesque! But he is never long still and when he +resumes his lively, eccentric, up-and-down and sidewise motions, he is +interesting in another way. He is like a small woodpecker who has +broken loose from the woodpecker's somewhat narrow laws of progression, +preferring to be a law unto himself. + +"Without a touch of brilliant color, the nuthatch is a beautiful bird +on account of the pleasing softness and harmonious disposition of his +tints; and, in like manner, without being a songster in the strict +sense of the word, his voice is so clear and far-reaching and of so +pleasing a quality, that it often gives more life and spirit to the +woods and orchards and avenues he frequents than that of many true +melodists. This is more especially the case in the month of March, +before the migratory songsters have arrived, when he is most +loquacious. A high pitched, clear, ringing note, repeated without +variation several times, is his most often-heard call or song. He will +sometimes sit motionless on his perch, repeating this call at short +intervals, for half an hour at a time. Another bird at a distance will +be doing the same, and the two appear to be answering one another. He +also has another call, not so loud and piercing, but more melodious: a +double note, repeated two or three times, with something liquid and +gurgling in the sound, suggesting the musical sound of lapsing water. +These various notes and calls are heard incessantly until the young are +hatched, when the birds at once become silent." + +The nesting habits of _caesia_ are quite similar to those of our +American forms, with the following interesting exception: The doorway +of the cavity constituting the bird's domicile is plastered up with +clay, made viscid by the nuthatch's glutinous saliva, leaving in the +center a circular hole just large enough to afford entrance and exit +for the little owner. Says the author quoted above: "When the sitting +bird is interfered with, she defends her treasures with great courage, +hissing like a wryneck, and vigorously striking at her aggressor with +her sharp bill." Like our common white-breast, the British bird may be +attracted to human dwellings by furnishing him a regular supply of food +suited to his taste, and may grow so trustful as to come when called, +and even to catch morsels thrown to him in the air. In the forest he +often hammers so loudly on a resonant branch that his tattoo is +mistaken for that of a woodpecker. The interior of the nest "contains +a bed of dry leaves, or the filmy flakes of the inner bark of a fir or +cedar, on which the eggs are laid." + +In northern Europe another form of the nuthatch guild is found, known +scientifically as _Sitta europea_, whose under parts are white without +any washing of buff on the breast. + +The Levant furnishes a most charming addition to the feathered +brotherhood now under consideration. The scientific gentlemen have +christened it _Sitta syriaca_, and its common name is the rock +nuthatch, an appellation that is most appropriate, for its chosen +haunts are rocky cliffs, over the faces of which it scuttles in the +most approved nuthatch fashion, head up or down, as the whim seizes it, +clinging with its sharp claws to the chinks, ledges, protuberances, and +rough surfaces of the rocky walls. A little larger than its European +cousin, its markings are quite similar. In Syria it is common as far +north as the southern shores of the Black Sea. Although somewhat shy, +it is described as having "sprightly manners and a clear, ringing +trill." Odd indeed are some of nature's evolutions, I had almost said +caprices, for the rock nuthatch is just as much at home and apparently +just as happy on its bleak precipices as is our merry whitebreast in +his umbrageous home in the oak or maple forest. + +But what kind of nests do the rock nuthatches construct on their +limestone walls? That is one of the most interesting features of the +life of these birds. One writer[1] who has observed them in their +native haunts describes the rock nuthatch as "an expert clay mixer and +molder." The bird does not chisel out a nursery in the rock--no, +indeed; his method of constructing his nest is as follows: Having found +a little hollow or indentation on the rocky wall, he will erect a cap +or dome of mortar over it, plastering the structure so firmly against +the surface that no rain or storm or predaceous creeping thing can +demolish it until long after it has been abandoned by the little +architect. The circular base of the nest is ten or twelve inches in +diameter. The dome is not entirely closed up, but a small orifice is +left in the center, upon the edges of which a narrow neck or funnel, +also made of mortar, is raised, the hole just large enough to admit the +body of the bird. The funnel is about three inches long. + +The building material employed is fine clay softened and glutinated +with the bird's saliva and mixed with plant fibers, for the little +mason does not believe in making bricks without straw. So well packed +is the inch-thick wall that a stiff knife blade must be used to cut +through it. While the natural color of the adobe cottage is ash-gray, +and therefore harmonizes with the general hue of its surroundings, and +also with the mezzotints of the builder, yet he sometimes decorates it +with the gaily colored wings of moths caught in the chase and attached +to the plaster while it is fresh. The rock nuthatch is as expert a +mixer of mortar as the well-known cliff swallows of our own country, +and his adobe dwellings bear a close resemblance to theirs. + +It is interesting to note that the European nuthatch, while nesting +regularly in tree cavities, sometimes also chooses the crannies of +rocks, when he goes a little more extensively into the plastering +business; but his skill is not so well developed as that of his +oriental cousin, whose mud cottage is a model of its kind. + + + +[1] The writer referred to is Mr. H. C. Tracy, to whose charming +article in "The Wilson Bulletin," published at Oberlin, Ohio, I am +indebted for all my material on the rock nuthatch. + + + + +A FEATHERED PARASITE* + +*Reprinted from Appleton's "Popular Science Monthly," with additions. + + +Nothing could more clearly prove that a common law runs through the +whole domain of Nature than the fact that in every division of her +realm there seems to be a class of parasites. In the vegetable world, +as is well known, there are various plants that depend wholly on other +plants for the supply of their vital forces. And in the human sphere +there are parasites in a very real and literal sense--men and women who +rely upon the toil and thrift of others to sustain them in worthless +idleness. + +In view of the almost universal character of this law it would be +strange if these peculiar forms of dependence did not appear in the +avian community. We do find such developments in that department of +creation. Across the waters there is one bird that has won an +unenviable reputation as a parasite: the European cuckoo relies almost +wholly on the efforts of its more thrifty neighbors to hatch and rear +its young, and thereby perpetuate the species. Strangely enough, our +American cuckoos are not given to such slovenly habits, but build their +own nests and faithfully perform the duties of nidification, as all +respectable feathered folk should. However, this parasitical habit +breaks out, quite unexpectedly, it must be conceded, in another +American family of birds entirely distinct from the cuckoo group. + +In America the cowbird, often called the cow bunting, is the only +member of the avian household that spirits its eggs into the nests of +other birds. The theory of evolution can do little toward accounting +for the anomaly, and even if it should venture upon some suggestions it +would still be just as difficult to explain the cause of the evolution +in this special group, while all other avian groups follow the law of +thrift and self-reliance. + +[Illustration: Cowbird] + +The cowbird belongs to the family of birds scientifically known as +_Icteridae_, which includes such familiar species as the bobolinks, +orioles, meadowlarks, and the various kinds of blackbirds, none of +which, I am glad to say, are parasites. The name _Molothrus_ has been +given to the genus that includes the cowbirds. They are confined to +the American continent, having no analogues in the lands across the +seas. The same may be said, indeed, of the whole _Icteridae_ family. +It may be a matter of surprise to many persons that there are twelve +species and subspecies of cowbirds in North and South America, for most +of us are familiar only with the common cowbird (_Molothrus ater_) of +our temperate regions. Of these twelve species only three are to be +found within the limits of the United States, one is a resident of +western Mexico and certain parts of Central America, while the rest +find habitat exclusively in South America. A fresh field of +investigation is open to some enterprising and ambitious naturalist who +wishes to study several of these species, as comparatively little is +known of their habits, and indeed much still remains to be learned of +the whole genus, familiar as one or two of the species are. Their sly, +surreptitious manners render them exceedingly difficult to study at +close range and with anything like satisfactory detail. + +Are all of them parasites? Probably they are--at least to a greater or +less degree--except one, the bay-winged cowbird of South America, which +I shall reserve for notice later on in this chapter. We might assert +that our common cowbirds are the parasites _par excellence_ of the +family, for, so far as I can learn from reading and observation, they +never build their own nests or rear their own young, but shift all the +duties of maternity, save the laying of the eggs, upon the shoulders of +other innocent birds. + +These avian "spongers" have a wide geographical range, inhabiting the +greater part of the United States and southern Canada, except the +extensive forest regions and some portions of the southern states. +They are most abundant in the states bordering on the upper Mississippi +River and its numerous tributaries. On the Pacific coast west of the +Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains, they occur only as stragglers. +The most northern point at which they have been known to breed is the +neighborhood of Little Slave Lake in southern Athabaska. In the autumn +the majority of these birds migrate to southern Mexico, although a +considerable number remain in our southern states, and a few +occasionally tarry for the winter even as far north as New England and +southern Michigan. + +The male cowbird looks like a well-dressed gentleman--and may have even +a slightly clerical air--in his closely fitting suit of glossy black, +with its greenish and purplish iridescence, and his hood of rich +metallic brown covering his head, neck, and chest. He makes a poor +shift as a musician, but his failure is not due to lack of effort, for +during courtship days he does his level best to sing a variety of +tunes, expanding and distorting his throat, fluffing up his feathers, +spreading out his wings and tail, his purpose evidently being to make +himself as fascinating as possible in the eyes of his lady love. One +of his calls sounds like "spreele," piped in so piercing a key that it +seems almost to perforate your brain. + +One observer maintains that the cowbirds are not only parasitical in +their habits, but are also absolutely devoid of conjugal affection, +practicing polyandry, and seldom even mating. This is a serious +charge, but it is doubtless true, for even during the season of +courtship and breeding these birds live in flocks of six to twelve, the +males almost always outnumbering the females. However, if their family +relations are somewhat irregular, no one can accuse them of engaging in +brawls, as so many other birds do, for both males and females seem to +be on the most amicable terms with one another, and are, to all +appearances, entirely free from jealousy. Who has ever seen two +cowbirds fighting a duel like the orioles, meadowlarks, and robins? + +In obtruding her eggs into the nests of other birds, Madame Cowbird is +sly and stealthy. She does not drive the rightful owners from their +nests, but simply watches her opportunity to drop her eggs into them +when they are unguarded. No doubt she has been on the alert while her +industrious neighbors have been constructing their domiciles, and knows +where almost every nest in the vicinity is hidden. Says Major Charles +Bendire: "In rare instances only will a fresh cowbird's egg be found +among incubated ones of the rightful owners. I have observed this only +on a single occasion." From one to seven eggs of the parasite are +found in the nests of the dupes. In most cases the number is two, but +in the case of ground builders the cowbird seems to have little fear of +overdoing her imposition. Major Bendire says that he once found the +nest of an oven-bird containing seven cowbird's eggs and only one of +the little owner's. + +If parasitism were the only crime of the cowbird one would not feel so +much disposed to put her into the Newgate Calendar; but she not only +inflicts her own eggs upon her innocent victims, but often actually +tosses their eggs out of the nests in order to make room for her own. +Nor is that all; she will sometimes puncture the eggs of the owners to +prevent their hatching, and thus increase the chances of her own +offspring. Whether this is done with her beak or her claws is still an +open question, Major Bendire inclining to the belief that it is done +with the claws. + +Her finesse is still further to be seen in the fact that she usually +selects some bird for a victim that is smaller than herself, so that +when her young hopefuls begin to grow they will be able to crowd or +starve out the true heirs of the family. In this way it is thought +that many a brood comes to an untimely end, the foster parents having +no means of replacing their own little ones when they have been ejected +from the nest. However, I doubt whether the cowbird's impositions are +usually so destructive as some observers are inclined to believe. I +once found a bush sparrow's nest containing one cowbird and four little +sparrows, all of which were in a thriving condition. The sparrows were +so well fed and active that as soon as I touched the nest they sprang, +with loud chirping, over the rim of their cottage and scuttled away +through the grass. They were certainly strong and healthy, in spite of +the presence of their big foster brother. Before they flitted away I +had time to notice how the little family were disposed. The cowbird +was squatted in the center of the nest, while his little foster +brothers and sisters were ranged around him, partly covering him and no +doubt keeping him snug and warm. They were further advanced than he, +for while they scrambled from the nest, he could do nothing but snuggle +close on the bottom of the cup. + +A wood thrush's nest that I found contained two young thrushes and two +buntings. All of them were about half fledged. Being of nearly the +same size, the queerly assorted bantlings lived in apparent peace in +their narrow quarters. I watched them at frequent intervals, but saw +no attempts on the part of the foundlings to crowd out their +fellow-nestlings. The cowbirds were the first to leave the sylvan roof +tree. Thus it appears that the intrusion of the cowbird's eggs does +not always mean disaster to the real offspring of the brooding family, +but of course it often prevents the laying of the full complement of +eggs by the builders themselves. + +Even after the youngsters have left the nest the mother cowbird does +not assume the care of them, but still leaves them in charge of the +foster parents. It is laughable, almost pathetic, to see a tiny +oven-bird or redstart feeding a strapping young cowbird which is +several times as large as herself. She looks like a pigmy feeding a +giant. In order to thrust a tidbit into his mouth she must often stand +on her tiptoes. Why the diminutive caterer does not see through the +fraud I can not say. She really seems to be attached to the hulking +youngster. By and by, however, when he grows large enough to shift for +himself, he deserts his little parents and nurses and seeks +companionship among his own blood kindred, who doubtless bring him up +in the way all cowbirds should go. + +It is surprising how many species are imposed on successfully by the +cowbird. The number, so far as has been observed, is ninety, with +probably more to be added. Among the birds most frequently victimized +are the phoebes, the song sparrows, the indigo birds, the bush +sparrows, and the yellow-breasted chats. Even the nests of the +red-headed woodpecker and the rock wrens are not exempt. Some species, +notably the summer warblers, detect the imposture and set about +defeating the purposes of the interloper by building another story to +their little cottage, leaving the obtruded eggs in the cellar, where +they do not receive enough warmth to develop the embryo. + +While it is surprising that acute birds should allow themselves to be +imposed on in this way, perhaps, after all, they look upon the cowbird +as a kind of blessing in disguise; at least, he may not be an unmixed +evil. They may act on the principle of reciprocity--that "one good +turn deserves another." What I mean is this: In my rambles I have +often found the cowbirds the first to give warning of the approach of a +supposed danger. Having no domestic duties of their own, they can well +secrete themselves in a tall tree overlooking the entire premises, and +thus play the useful role of sentinel. This, I am disposed to believe, +is one of the compensating uses of this parasite, and may furnish the +reason for his being tolerated in birdland. And he is tolerated. Has +any one ever seen other birds driving the cowbird away from their +breeding precincts, or charging him with desperate courage, as they do +the blue jays, the hawks, the owls, and other predatory species? He +evidently subserves some useful purpose in the avian community, or he +would not be treated with so much consideration. + +A young cowbird that I purloined from the nest and tried to rear by +hand did not prove a pleasant pet. He was placed in a large cage with +several other kinds of young birds. At first he was quite docile, +taking his food from my hand and even allowing some of his feathered +companions to feed him; but in a few weeks he grew so wild and +manifested such a fierce desire for the outdoor world that I was glad +to carry him out to the woods and give him his freedom. A young +red-winged blackbird and a pair of meadowlarks developed a different +disposition. + +The dwarf cow-bird (_Molothrus ater obscurus_) is similar to his +relative just described, except that he is smaller and his geographical +range is more restricted. He is a resident of Mexico, southern Texas, +southwestern Arizona, and southern California. His habits resemble +those of the common cowbird. Another bunting having almost the same +range, although a little more southerly, is the red-eyed cowbird, which +is larger and darker than our common cowbird and has the same +parasitical habits. + +In South America three species have been studied by Mr. W. H. Hudson, +who, in collaboration with Mr. P. L. Sclater, has published a most +valuable work on Argentine ornithology. One of these is called the +Argentine cowbird (_Molothrus bonariensis_). It is a blue-blooded +parasite, and has been seen striking its beak into the eggs of other +birds and flying away with them. The males, it is said, show little +discrimination in pecking the eggs, for they are just as likely to +puncture the cowbird eggs as those of other birds. Every egg in a nest +is frequently perforated in this way. These buntings lay a large +number of eggs, often dropping them on the ground, laying them in +abandoned nests, or depositing them in nests in which incubation has +already begun, in which case all of them are lost. However, in spite +of this wastefulness the birds thrive, thousands of them being seen in +flocks during the season of migration. + +And, by the way, a description of their habits by Mr. Hudson has thrown +interesting light on the subject of migration in the southern +hemisphere. South of the equator the recurrence of the seasons is the +exact reverse of their recurrence north of the equator, and therefore +the breeding season of the birds is in the autumn instead of the +spring; the flight from winter cold occurs in the spring instead of in +the autumn, and is toward the north instead of toward the south. Thus, +in February and March the Argentine cowbirds are seen flying in vast +battalions in the direction of the equatorial regions--that is, +northward--in whose salubrious clime they spend the winter. As our +northern autumn draws near and the southern spring approaches these +winged migrants take the air line for their breeding haunts in the +Argentine Republic and Patagonia. At the same time the migrants of the +northern hemisphere are pressing southward before the blustering north +wind. It all seems wonderful and solemn, this world-wide processional +of the seasons and the birds. + +Naturally one would expect to find some other eccentricities in this +aberrant family besides that of parasitism, and in this expectation one +is not disappointed. There are two other species of cowbirds in the +Argentine country--the screaming cowbird (_Molothrus rufoaxillaris_) +and the bay-winged cowbird (_Molothrus badius_). The latter is only +partly a trencher on the rights of other birds--only half a parasite. +Indeed, it sometimes builds its own nest, which is quite a respectable +affair; but, as if to prove that it still has some remnants of cowbird +depravity in its nature, it frequently drives other birds from their +rightful possessions, appropriates the quarters thus acquired, lays its +eggs into them, and proceeds to the performance of its domestic duties +like its respectable neighbors. Its virtue is that it never imposes +the work of incubation and brood rearing on any of its feathered +associates, even though it does sometimes eject them from their +premises. + +But what is to be said of the screaming cowbird? Instead of inflicting +its eggs on its more distant avian relatives, it watches its chance and +slyly drops them into the domicile of its bay-winged cousins, and +actually makes them hatch and rear its offspring! This seems to be +carrying imposture to the extreme of refinement, or possibly developing +it into a fine art, and reminds one of those human good-for-naughts who +"sponge" off their relatives rather than go among strangers. + +Before closing this chapter I must call attention to one of the most +surprising discoveries ever made by an American observer of bird ways. +It was reported some time after my article on the cowbird was first +published in Appleton's "Popular Science Monthly." The observer was +Joseph F. Honecker, whose statement was printed in "American +Ornithology" for June, 1902, and runs as follows: + +"As ornithologists and all bird students think and believe that the +cowbird will build no nest, but always lays in the nests of other +birds, I am glad to give the results of my experiments. In order to +get the desired results, in the spring of 1899 I secured a pair of +cowbirds and placed them in a large cage, cared well for them, and +supplied them with plenty of nesting material. To my surprise, the +female built a nest, laid four eggs, hatched them, and reared the +young, and on July twenty-eighth, young and old were given their +freedom. This will show that the cowbird will build a nest and care +for its young in captivity, while in its wild life it has never been +known to do so." + +A BLUE CANNIBAL* + +*Reprinted by permission from "The Evening Post," New York. + + +In his coat of light blue, trimmed with white and black, bearing his +crest jauntily atop of his head, the blue jay presents an attractive +picture. And, indeed, although I myself feel that the Baltimore +oriole, the scarlet tanager, the ruby-throated hummingbird, and many of +the wood warblers carry off the palm for brilliancy of plumage, there +are persons who declare that the jay is the most handsomely colored +bird in our temperate regions. + +While the jay dons an engaging attire, not much can be said in the way +of eulogy for his vocal talents or acquirements. Many of his calls are +harsh, penetrating, and even raucous. Frequently, too, he indulges in +a great to-do over nothing, fairly splitting your ears with his noisy +cries. I have said it is a to-do over nothing, though Mr. Jay may +think he has the best reason in the world for making a fuss. Often +espying some coveted prize on the ground in my back yard, instead of +quietly dropping down and taking it, he and his companions would dash +about in the trees, swing their bodies sidewise and up and down in an +excited way, and scream at the top of their voices, sometimes drawing +me out of the house to see what had gone wrong in Jaydom. They seemed +to be determined to attract the attention of every person on the +premises to the fact that they wanted that morsel on the ground, but +were afraid to venture down after it. Perhaps they meant by their +objurgations to test their human neighbors, to ascertain whether any of +them were prowling about with a gun or a sling, ready to do them harm. +If there should be any such prowlers, probably the jays meant to induce +them to come out of their ambush, to show themselves in the open, and +give their jayships a chance to escape. Bird psychology, as you will +have occasion to note more than once, is a good deal of an enigma. How +often we would give a handsome bonus to a bird if he would let us know +precisely what he was thinking about! + +[Illustration: Blue Jay] + +Although no musician, the jay has quite an extensive vocal repertory. +Besides his loud, challenging call, he frequently utters a series of +calls that have a pensive quality and that fill the mind with an +indefinable foreboding, especially on chill autumn days when all the +woods are bare and gray and the wind is moaning through the boughs. +Sometimes when a jay is hidden in a copse, he utters a low, scolding +sputter, that seems to express the very quintessence of disgust. It is +simply his way of telling you what he thinks of a man who goes prowling +about without leave in the precincts of the birds. + +Have you ever heard the jay's brief musical roulade? It is only a wisp +of melody, rarely rich and suggestive, heard a moment, then gone. You +know something sweet has passed by, but something so brief and elusive +that you scarcely know what it was. Long after it has dropped on your +ear, it continues to haunt your memory, and you try again and again to +reproduce it, but in vain. It has a kind of gurgling quality, as if +the bird were pressing his notes through an aqueous lyre, if such a +conception is possible. Besides, I have, on more than one occasion, +heard a jay warble a soft, reserved little lay that was continued for +many minutes. It sounded very like the song of the brown thrasher, +much modulated and partly uttered under its breath--a sort of flowing, +rythmical melody. + +A question that disturbs all bird lovers more or less is this: Does the +fine white vest of the jay cover a bad heart? Is he really a thief, a +nest robber, or even worse, a cannibal, in plumes? May the guardian +spirit of all feathered folk forbid that I should blacken the +reputation of any bird, yet honesty compels me to give an affirmative +answer to the foregoing question. I hasten, however, to say that I do +not believe he is as black as he has been painted by some observers, +who seem to delight in making out a verdict of capital guilt against +him. Although a predatory bird, he is not engaged all the time in +bloodthirsty pursuits, but only while his young are in the nest +clamoring for food. What are some of the proofs of his vandalism? I +will mention a few of them. + +First, almost all the small birds make uncompromising war upon him, +especially in the breeding season, and many of them show signs of dire +distress when he goes near their nests. They often utter pitiful +cries, droop their wings, and the bravest of them dash at him savagely, +giving him many a cuff on the head and back. The wood pewee and the +kingbird succeed, I think, in driving him away; but the vireos and +warblers, being so much smaller, suffer greatly from his depredations. +If there were no real cause for it, these birds would not be filled +with panic and rage on account of the jay's presence. There is strong +presumptive evidence that they know him for an outlaw only too well. + +The following incident will furnish positive proof of the jay's +cannibalistic proclivities: One spring my little boy brought home from +the country a young house wren, thinking it would make a delightful +pet. It was quite well fledged, but its short tail and white mouth +border proclaimed the tenderness of its youth. Fearing that the little +thing could not be reared by hand, as it refused all our proffered +tidbits, and chirped continually for its parents, I persuaded the lad +to give it its freedom. A mother wren living on our premises seemed +inclined to adopt the little waif, and we decided to put it under her +care. No sooner was the youngling let out of the cage than it flew to +the side of the house and began to scramble up the brick wall. It had +a hard tug, but at length succeeded in reaching a resting place on a +window-shutter of the second story. + +Presently the mother wren heard its calls and paid it a visit; but +instead of feeding it, she seemed very anxious to drive it away, +knowing, no doubt, that there were predaceous enemies in the +neighborhood. In her attempts to drive it into hiding, she pecked it +on the head and in the mouth. Then she dropped down into a thicket and +secured a green worm, with which she flew up to the chirping waif's +perch; but I could not make out that she fed the birdling, though she +thrust the worm toward its open mouth. Soon after she had gone off the +second time, the little bird clambered around the corner of the wall to +the lower side of the house, where it rested a while on a narrow shelf. + +All this time my boy and I were watching it intently. Suddenly a blue +jay came flying over from one of the trees of an adjacent yard, moving +in a rapid, stealthy way. First it plunged into an apple tree at the +corner of the house; then, before I could collect my wits enough to +know what was happening, it darted over to the brick wall, seized the +little wren with its bill, and bore it off. The mother wren followed, +uttering a pitiful chatter, while the little victim called loudly for +help. The blue kidnapper darted to a tree in my neighbor's yard, where +he put his booty under his claw on a limb, holding it by one slender +leg, while its body dangled below. Hoping still to rescue the little +captive, I sprang over into the adjacent yard with a loud shout and +much waving of my hands; but my vigorous efforts only caused the jay to +pick up the wren in its bill and continue its flight, and neither wren +nor jay was seen by me again. This incident furnishes unimpeachable +testimony against the character of the blue-coated Robin Hood. There +was no faltering or hesitancy in his conduct, but he seized and carried +off his little victim as if he were to the manner born, and had become +hardened by practice in depredations of the sort. + +A farmer once related the following incident to me: A pair of chipping +sparrows had built a nest in a bush in his front yard. One day after +the little ones had arrived, he heard a distressed chirping coming from +the parent birds, and on going to the front yard, he caught a blue jay +in the act of picking a callow bantling from the chippie's nest. +Holding it in his bill, the jay flew across the field with his prize, +and presently returned and bore off a second nestling. By this time +the farmer's ire was aroused; he bolted into the house and secured his +shotgun, and when the marauding jay came back on the third trip on +robbery intent, the man brought him to the ground with a shot that +ended his career. + +Yet the jay is not wholly bad--indeed, not even half bad. Before me +lies a valuable pamphlet entitled "The Blue Jay and His Food," written +by F. E. L. Beal, Assistant Biologist of the Department of Agriculture +at Washington, whose researches have converted him into something of an +apologist for our blue gentleman in feathers. He dissected the +stomachs of 292 jays, collected during every month of the year in +twenty-two states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. After stating +that mineral substances in the stomachs examined averaged over 14 per +cent of the total contents, Mr. Beal says: + +"The real food is composed of 24.3 per cent of animal matter and 75.7 +per cent of vegetable matter, or a trifle more than three times as much +vegetable as animal. The animal food is chiefly made up of insects, +with a few spiders, myriapods, snails, and small vertebrates, such as +fish, salamanders, tree frogs, mice, and birds. Everything was +carefully examined which might by any possibility indicate that birds +or eggs had been eaten, but remains of birds were found in only two, +and the shells of small birds' eggs in only three of the 292 stomachs. +One of these, taken on February tenth, contained the bones, claws, and +a little skin of a bird's foot. Another, taken on June twenty-fourth, +contained the remains of a young bird. The three stomachs with bird's +eggs were collected in June, August, and October, respectively. The +shell eaten in October belonged to the egg of some larger bird like the +ruffed grouse and, considering the time of year, was undoubtedly merely +an empty shell from an old nest. Shells of eggs which were identified +as those of domesticated fowls, or some bird of equal size, were found +in eleven stomachs, collected at irregular times during the year. This +evidence would seem to show that more eggs of domesticated fowls than +of wild birds are destroyed, but it is much more probable that these +shells were obtained from refuse heaps about farm-houses." + +Mr. Beal's dissections are very significant, proving that the jay is +not only not so destructive of eggs and bantlings as was supposed, but +also that he destroys many noxious insects, and is, therefore, a bird +of real economic value. The great bulk of his insect diet consists of +beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, with a few bugs, wasps, and +flies, and an occasional spider and myriapod. The average of insect +food for the whole year was 23 per cent, varying from less than 1 per +cent in January to over 66 per cent in August, and it is gratifying to +know that predaceous beetles and tent caterpillars form a large part of +the jay's bill of fare. + +His demands upon domesticated fruits and grains are comparatively +light. He cares more for acorns and mast than for corn. The last he +does not greatly relish, but eats it chiefly when the snow covers his +favorite food. It is a little surprising that he occasionally varies +his diet with fish, salamanders, tree frogs, mice, and shrews. Mr. +Beal's conclusion is put in the following sentence, which closes his +valuable monograph: "In fact, the examination of nearly three hundred +stomachs shows that the blue jay does far more good than harm." + +An important question, therefore, from more than one point of view is: +Should we ever kill the blue jay? Perhaps as sensible an answer to +that question as can be given is this: We should by no means engage in +a war of extermination upon the jays, but it might be wise, when they +become too abundant, to thin out their numbers somewhat by shooting +some of them or driving them away. It can scarcely be denied that if +they are permitted to thrive without hindrance, and grow to large +numbers, they will become sorely destructive of the eggs and nestlings +of more desirable birds. I assure you, however, that I make this +statement with reluctance and reserve, for the handsome blue-coat is +one of our most cunning and interesting birds, and would be greatly +missed if he were exterminated. + +The blue jay is also a plucky bird, as I discovered one day not so very +long ago. A pair of jays had a nest in a little park in front of my +house, and one day one of the youngsters, which were still unable to +fly, dropped to the ground. Fearing the cats or evilly disposed boys +might catch the little fellow, I thought to do him and his parents a +good turn by catching him and putting him up in one of the trees beyond +the reach of his enemies. After quite a chase I succeeded in catching +him. But the parent birds, flitting and calling in the trees, did not +understand my well-meant intentions, and so one of them swung down and +struck me on the top of the head with so much force that, either with +his bill or his claws; he punctured the skin and made the blood come, +leaving a scar on my crown for quite a while. The pesky thing! I +think he might have known that I was his friend--but he didn't, his +instinct not being a sure guide that time. But who can blame him? Not +an hour afterwards the youngling again fell to the ground, when some +children found it and killed it without the least excuse for their +action. In such a case how could the parent birds distinguish between +friend and foe? They found their little one lying dead on the ground, +and mourned for it with heart-broken cries. + +Some things cause a great to-do in the jay world. One day, while I was +living in Kansas, the skeleton of a jay, with the feathers still +attached, was found in the rubbish of an ash-pile in my rear yard, and +exposed to view. An hour later a half dozen or more jays were flinging +about in the peach tree above the feathers of their dead comrade, +screaming at the top of their voices, "juking" their bodies, as is +their wont when excited, and glaring at the disheveled plumes on the +ground. If it was a funeral service, it certainly was a demonstrative +one, and I do not believe that their grief and terror were affected. + + + + +A HANDSOME SCISSORSTAIL* + +*Reprinted by permission from "American Ornithology," with important +additions. + + +In order to study the scissorstailed flycatcher (_Milvulus +forficatus_), of which some friends had told me again and again in a +glow of enthusiasm, I made a trip to southern Kansas and northern +Oklahoma. Several days passed before an individual of this species put +in appearance, as the scissorstails, which are migrants, had not yet +returned from their winter quarters in a more southern clime, and so I +had to wait for their arrival. + +One day a friend and I were driving along a country road over the +prairie, when a quaint bird form went swinging from the wire fence by +the roadside toward a clump of willows in a shallow dip of the prairie. +Dashing after him, I heard a clear, musical call that proclaimed a bird +with which I had not yet become acquainted. + +In a few moments he flew from the tree. My binocular was fixed upon +him as he went flitting across the field and presently alighted on the +ground. My surmise was correct; it was the scissorstail flycatcher, +one of the most unique and handsome birds belonging to our American +avifauna, one that merits more than a passing notice. To see him +perched on a fence, or swinging gracefully through the air, and hear +his bell-like calls and whistles makes you feel as if you were suddenly +transported to a foreign land, like Australia or Borneo, where so many +feathered curios are to be found. + +In a fever of excitement I followed the bird, which presently flew back +to the fence by the roadside. He flitted from point to point as my +friend and I slowly pursued him, giving us an exhibition of his +scissoring process. Sometimes he would alight on a post, then on the +barbed wire, usually sitting flat on his breast. When open, the tail +is bicolored, the outer border all around being white and the inner +black. His general color is hoary ash, paler, almost white, below, +giving out a slight iridescence in the sunshine; his wings are +blackish, with white trimmings; his flanks are stained with salmon-red, +and when his wings are spread, there appears a large blotch of scarlet +at the inner angle of the intersection with the body. One individual +that I afterwards saw wore a scarlet epaulet, which was almost +concealed by the other plumes when the wing was closed, but was clearly +seen when it was extended. An orange or scarlet gem adorns the crown, +but is so well hidden by the other crest feathers that it is seldom +noticed. + +My friend and I were privileged to witness a rare and attractive +scissorstail show, more gratifying than any circus performance. A +loggerhead shrike suddenly appeared on the scene, and made an assault +on the flycatcher. The two birds went gyrating, zigzagging, see-sawing +through the air in a perfect jumble of white and black and ash. It +must be remembered that the shrike himself makes a handsome picture on +the wing, and when you come to mix up a scissorstail and a shrike in +inextricable confusion, you have a feathery display worth seeing. + +Nor was that the end of the exhibition, for in a moment a second +scissorstail, the precise _facsimile_ of the first, appeared from +somewhere, and the two flycatchers combined against their enemy. Then +for a few minutes there was such a chaos of shrike and scissorstail +that we could scarcely tell which was which. By and by the shrike +wheeled away, when, as if to bring the gladiatorial show to a climax, +the scissorstails engaged in a set-to that was really wonderful, coming +together in the air, whirling around and around, rising in a spiral +course, opening and closing their beautiful forked tails in quick +succession, the black and white trimmings flashing momentarily, then +disappearing, until the contestants finally descended, parted in the +most graceful manner, and alighted on separate fence posts, none the +worse for their _melee_. + +In the evening I returned to the enchanted spot, but the scissorstails +had disappeared. Not having had my fill of these charmers, I stopped, +on my return home, for a day at Wellington, Kansas, where I was so +fortunate as to find three birds of this species, who permitted me to +watch them to my heart's content. They are not shy birds, but fly in a +graceful, leisurely way from post to post along the fence as you walk +or drive, sometimes sitting quietly to let you pass by. In this +respect their habits are much like those of their cousin, the kingbird. + +As his name indicates, our bird is the proud possessor of a genuine +scissorstail, composed of two long, slender prongs that are spread far +apart under certain conditions of flight. Let me describe the process +minutely, for it is unique here in North America where fork-tailed +birds are rare. + +When the bird starts up from a perch, he spreads apart the prongs of +his tail for a moment, as if to give himself a spring; then he closes +them in a single slender stem, tapering outward to a point, keeping +them closed during prolonged flight, and just as he sweeps down to +another perch, he opens his ornamental scissors again, shutting them up +as soon as he has settled upon his resting place. He does not open and +close his tail at regular intervals during flight, as might be +supposed, but keeps it closed until he descends to a perch, when it is +opened for a moment in the act of alighting. However, if he has +occasion to wheel or make a sudden turn in the air, either for an +insect or in a playful prank, his scissors fly open, one might almost +say spontaneously, no doubt serving the double purpose of rudder and +balancing pole. When closed, the tail is very narrow, looking almost +like a single plume. On the perch (except when he desires to shift his +position, when he also makes use of his wings) his tail is closed. +Therefore the picture of this bird in Dr. Coues's "Key to North +American Birds" is not accurate, for it represents our bird in the +sitting posture with the tines of his fork spread apart. If the wings +were outstretched, representing the bird in the act of alighting or +shifting his position, the picture would be true to scissorstail life. + +The range of these birds is somewhat restricted, and for that reason, +doubtless, so little is known about their habits. According to +Ridgway, their proper home is in eastern Mexico and the southwestern +prairie districts of the United States, though many of them come north +as far as southern Kansas and southwestern Missouri to spend the summer +and rear their families. In winter they go as far south as Costa Rico. +Restricted as their habitat is, it is curious to note that they are +"accidental" in a few unexpected places, such as Key West, Fla., +Norfolk, Va., and also in several localities in New England, Manitoba, +and Hudson Bay Territory. Prof. W. W. Cooke, of Colorado, says they +are "rare, if not accidental," in that state. To show that our birds +are unique, it is relevant to say that there are only two species of +scissors-tailed flycatchers in North America, which have the genus +_Milvulus_ all to themselves. The other member of the genus is the +forked-tailed flycatcher (_Milvulus tyrannus_), a resident of tropical +America, migrating north normally as far as southern Mexico. He is a +sort of southern twin of our scissorstail. + +The nests of the scissorstails are set in the crotches of trees in the +neighborhood of country homes on the prairie. Considering the size of +the birds, their nests are quite small, not so large as those of the +brown thrashers, though the cup is deeper and the architecture more +compact and elaborate. A friend describes a nest which he found on a +locust tree about sixteen feet from the ground. It was made mostly of +dry grass and locust blossoms, with here and there a piece of twine +braided into the structure. It had no special lining, but the grass +was more evenly woven on the inside of the cup than elsewhere. + +From three to five eggs are deposited. The ground color is white, +either pure or creamy, sparingly mottled with rich madder-brown and +lilac-gray, the spots being thicker and larger on the larger end. +While the nest is undergoing examination, the owners circle and hover +overhead, much after the fashion of the red-winged blackbirds, +expressing their disapproval in loud and musical calls, and displaying +their rich scarlet decorations. + +My descriptions have related only to the male bird, whose beautiful +forked tail is nine to ten inches long, and whose colors are clear and +more or less intense. His spouse resembles him, but is slightly +smaller, while her tail, though forked like her mate's, is from two and +a half to three inches shorter. The salmon and scarlet ornaments on +the sides, flanks, and axillars are paler than those of her lord, and +the scarlet spot shows very indistinctly on her occiput. The young of +both sexes don the dress of the mother bird during the first season, +save that they fail to adorn themselves with a scarlet gem on the crown. + +Like all the members of the flycatcher group, the scissorstails capture +insects while on the wing, making many an attractive picture as they +perform their graceful and interesting evolutions in the air. + +It was a year or two later that I saw a scissorstail performing his +ablutions in the northwestern part of Arkansas. How do you suppose he +went about it? Not in the way birds usually do, by squatting down in +the shallow water, twinkling their wings and tail, and sprinkling the +liquid all over their plumage. No; this bird has a reputation to +maintain for originality, and therefore he took his bath in this +manner: First he perched on a telegraph wire by the roadside; then he +swung gracefully down to a little pond, dashed lightly into the water, +giving himself a slight wetting, after which he flew up to his original +perch on the wire. A minute or less was then spent in preening his +plumes; but they were not moist enough to suit his purpose, so he +darted down to the pond again, making the spray rise as lie struck the +water; then up to his perch he swung again, to arrange his feathers; +and this was repeated a number of times, till his toilet was completed. +It would not be safe to risk saying that the scissorstail always takes +his bath in this way; but I know this one did. I once saw a kingbird +doing the same thing, and so it may be a fashion in flycatcher circles. + +I am minded, in order to make this monograph more complete, to borrow a +couple of paragraphs from Mrs. Bailey's "Handbook of Birds of the +Western United States." She has studied the bird in the Southwest, and +gives the following graphic description of the bird and its habits: + +"One of his favorite performances is to fly up and, with rattling +wings, execute an aërial seesaw, a line of sharp-angled VVVVVVV's, +helping himself at the short turns by rapidly opening and shutting his +long white scissors. As he goes up and down he utters all the while a +penetrating scream, _Ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee_, the +emphasis being given each time at the top of the ascending line. + +"Frequently when he is passing along with the even flight of a +sober-minded crow, and you are quietly admiring the salmon lining of +his wings, he shoots rattling into the air, and, as you stare after +him, drops back as suddenly as he rose. He does this apparently +because the spirit moves him, as a boy slings a stone at the sky, but +fervor is added by the appearance of a rival or an enemy, for he is +much like a _Tyrannus_ in his masterful way of controlling the +landscape. He will attack caracaras and white-necked ravens, lighting +on their backs and giving them vicious blows while screaming in their +ears." + + + + +AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH* + +*Part of the material used in this chapter has already appeared in the +author's work entitled "Birds of the Rockies," but it is here printed +in different form, that of a monograph, with a number of additional +facts. The writer feels that the readers of the present volume will +relish at least a taste of bird study among the alpine heights of the +Rocky Mountains. The article is reprinted from the "Denver Post," +whose courtesy is hereby acknowledged. + + +The common name of the subject of this sketch is the brown-capped rosy +finch; in the scientific works on ornithology he is called the +brown-capped leucosticte. He is certainly a bird of peculiar habits +and out-of-the-way preferences. Should he send you his card from his +summer residence, it would read something like this: "At home in the +mountains of Colorado, from 10,000 feet above sea-level to the summits +of the highest peaks." There is only one other bird in Colorado that +has so high a summer range, and that is the white-tailed ptarmigan, +usually called, in hunter's parlance, the "mountain quail." + +The rosy finch is slightly larger than the bluebird. His general color +is light brown, suffused with a beautiful pink or rosy tint, the dark +shaft lines and pale edges of the feathers of the back giving it a +striped appearance. The forepart of the top of the head is blackish, +and the cap is brown, from which he gets the qualifying adjective of +his name. In the best nuptial plumage the rosy coloring is heightened +to an intense crimson, especially on the wings, tail coverts, and the +under parts. The female's attire is paler and duller of tint, the pink +being sometimes almost obsolete. Oddly enough, in summer the bills of +these birds are deep black, while in winter they become yellow, only +the tip remaining black or blackish. + +My introduction to the leucostictes occurred on the summit of Pikes +Peak, at an elevation of 14,147 feet above the level of the sea. With +exhausting toil I climbed the peak one night, and the next morning, +when I stepped out of the signal station, where I had secured lodging, +a flock of the brown-caps were flitting merrily about the garbage heap, +helping themselves to an early breakfast. Their blithe chirping +sounded very much like conversation all among themselves, and +proclaimed two pleasant traits of character--cheerfulness and good +temper. It was evident that they were happy and contented in their +alpine home, in the upper story of the world, the rare, cool, +exhilarating air, the majestic panoramas, and the unlimited freedom all +contributing to the blithesomeness of their spirits. The keepers of +the signal station told me that the birds came to the refuse pile every +day for their meals. + +Two years later, on the twenty-eighth of June, a friend and I clambered +up Grays Peak, which is several hundred feet higher than Pikes Peak. +It was a long and toilsome climb, winding about the snowbeds of the +mountain side. Sometimes we scaled straight up the acclivity on "all +fours," throwing ourselves down on the rocks at frequent intervals to +rest our aching limbs and fill our lungs with the rarefied air; up and +up and up, until at last, with a long pull and a strong pull, we stood +on the sky-haunting ridge above all the surrounding elevations, looking +down upon the rest of the world, which seemed to be crouching at our +feet. + +Long before we reached the summit we were saluted by a new bird +voice--one that had not been heard farther down the mountain. It was a +cordial chirp, which seemed to bid us welcome to the alpine region and +to assure us that there was no risk in climbing to these sky-aspiring +summits. A glance proved that our little salutarian was the +brown-capped rosy finch, which I had not seen since my ascent of Pikes +Peak. Down in the green, copsy valley at the base of the mountain we +had met with the white-crowned sparrows and Wilson and Audubon +warblers; then, as we began to climb the steep shoulder of the +mountain, the American pipits had become our comrades, accompanying us +about half way up the elevation; now all other birds had disappeared +and we entered the arctic precincts of the leucostictes, which, like a +gallant bodyguard, escorted us to the summit, cheering us on with their +friendly chirping. The bailiwicks of the pipits and the rosy finches +slightly overlapped, as did also those of the pipits and the +white-crowned sparrows near the great mountain's base. However, no +pipits ventured to the upper story of this elevated region--at least, +not at the time of our visit, although they may have ascended to the +summit later in the season. + +How blithe and cheerful were the pretty leucostictes! Now they darted +fearlessly about in the air over the summit and the gorges; now they +alighted on the wall of the dilapidated old signal station, and anon +hopped and flitted about over the extensive snow beds, picking up +dainties that were evidently to their taste, all the while beguiling +the time with their companionable, half-musical chirping. So far as I +observed, they have no real song. If they have, it is strange that +they did not furnish a sample of their lyrical gifts on so calm and +sweet a summer day in the season of courtship. + +What billsome morsels did they find on the snow? We examined their +white tablecloth and found a number of small beetles and other insects +creeping up through it or crawling around over its surface. Thus +Nature spreads her banquet everywhere for her feathered children. + +One cannot help falling into the speculative mood as one reflects on +these little birds and their remarkable habits. Why do they, of all +birds, choose the highest mountain peaks for their summer homes? Might +the cause be physiological? Are their lungs, muscles, and nervous +systems so constructed as to be adapted to a dry, rare, crisp +atmosphere, which would prove injurious, perhaps fatal, to birds of a +different structural organization? Who can tell? At all events, they +live on these towering elevations all summer long, woo their +plainly-clad mates, build their nests, and rear their happy families. + +Their nests are set amid the rocks, and are quite bulky, the walls +composed of grasses and the lining consisting of soft feathers. In +order to procure the grasses required, they must descend at least to +the belt of scant vegetation just below the region of bare rocks and +boulders. Where they get the downy feathers for the carpet of their +nurseries I have not been able to ascertain. No nest has yet been +discovered below an elevation of 12,000 feet. Our little bird may, +indeed, be called a "haunter of the sky." The height of the breeding +season is in the latter part of July. The broods having left the +nests, old and young gather in small flocks and range over the peaks +and ridges, feeding on the insects to be found on the fields of snow. + +No less interesting are the habits of these birds in winter. In +October and November most of them descend only to the timber line, +where they remain throughout the winter, save as they are driven down +into the denser forests by the fierce tempests of this arctic region. +What feathered Vikings they are! They do not even make for themselves +snow huts for protection from the winter storms. However, a few +descend almost to the base of the foothills, while others--perhaps the +less hardy--seek a blander climate in the northern part of Mexico. + +There are in North America four other species of the genus Leucosticte; +the Aleutian, whose habitat is the Aleutian and Prybilof islands and +east as far as the island of Kadiak; the gray-crowned, which breeds in +British America near the Rocky Mountains, comes to Colorado in winter, +and has been taken as far east as western Iowa; the Hepburn, dwelling +chiefly in the mountain ranges of the Pacific coast, breeding mostly in +the far North, and in winter coming as far south and east as Nevada and +Colorado; and, lastly, the black leucosticte, which winters in the +central latitudes in the Rocky Mountains and whose summer range and +breeding home is unknown to men of science. + + + + +HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY + +If one were to keep on writing monographs of all our interesting avian +species, the books that would result would make a good-sized library. +The few examples that have been given will illustrate what can be done +in this direction with the help of the field glass and the handbook. A +few chapters will now be given on what might be called "odds and ends +of bird life," and these are written not only for the information they +may impart, but also for the purpose of showing how many interesting +facts can be gathered along the way by the method of bird study +commended in our opening chapter. + +The prince of American ornithologists, Dr. Elliott Coues, has somewhere +said that he would travel a long distance to discover a new kind of +bird, or even to ascertain a new fact about a familiar species. I +would applaud and echo that sentiment, for by all means let us have +bird news that really is news, instead of revamping the familiar facts +again and again, as some amateurish writers do. While I am not able to +add any new species to science, I have made note of many pleasing +incidents in the bird realm, and these, I venture to hope, may be of +not a little general interest. + +[Illustration: Pewee, or Phoebe (missing from book)] + +There is the companionable white-breasted nuthatch which goes scudding +up and down the tree trunks with as much ease and aplomb as a fly +gliding over a window-pane. I have already told you something about +him. I had long been aware that he wedged grains of corn, sunflower +seeds, and kernels of nuts in the crannies of the bark; but one day he +invented a trick that was a surprise to me. It occurred at a summer +resort in northern Indiana, where I noticed a nuthatch hitching up and +down and around the slender stem of a sapling, pausing at intervals to +thrust something into the crevices of the bark. My curiosity led me to +pry into the bird's affairs. Stepping smartly forward, I drove him +away, not heeding his vigorous protest of "yank, yank," and examined +the bark of the sapling. What did I discover? A colony of black ants +were scuttling up and down the tree, apparently under stress of great +excitement; and good reason they had, for here and there one of their +number was tightly wedged into a chink of the bark, often doubled up +into a bow or an angle. They were not killed, at least not all of +them, for they were still wiggling their legs and antennas; but they +were evidently benumbed, or some of their backs were broken, and they +were fastened so securely in the fissures that they could not escape. +Does it not look as if the forehanded nuthatch was laying by a supply +of ants for a coming time of hunger? + +One day a family of wood pewees visited the dooryard of my tent. A +multitude of gnats circling about in the air, seemed to be precisely to +the taste of the pewee parents and their hungry bairns. The bantlings +sat chirping in the saplings, or flitted from twig to twig, twinkling +their wings in the coaxing way that is characteristic of young birds, +while the papa and mamma swung out into the air, nabbed the insects on +the wing, and flew back to the trees, describing many circles, +ellipses, and festoons of rare grace and beauty. The snapping of their +mandibles could often be heard as they closed upon the fated insects. +Most of the gnats thus captured were thrust into the mouths of the +young birds, the parents dashing up to them and feeding them without +alighting. As lavish a minstrel as the pewee _pater familias_ is under +most circumstances, that morning he was too busy to tune his wind harp. + +Speaking of the voracious appetites of birds, as exhibited by the young +pewees, which never seemed to get enough, I am reminded of something I +witnessed one day in a deep, wooded hollow. A red-eyed vireo suddenly +appeared in the branches above me, holding an immense green worm in his +beak. Then followed a tussle for the "upper hand" that was worth +seeing. The bird, holding its squirming victim by one end, proceeded +to beat it against the limb, though it was almost too big and +recalcitrant for him to handle. Presently the vireo, after a good deal +of effort, succeeded in passing his quarry through his bill from end to +end, thus reducing it to somewhat smaller dimensions. Still, it was a +large morsel for so small a diner. + +However, there were some intimations that the bird intended to bolt the +worm whole. And that was just what he was planning to do! What a +struggle ensued! I would have wagered that the little gourmand had +reckoned without his host when he undertook to swallow that immense +worm. He twisted his neck this way and that, gulped and squeezed and +pried, until I feared he would burst his throat open. At length the +worm was partly bolted, but it seemed to stick fast, and the bird stood +there with his mandibles pressed far apart, the end of his dinner +bulging out of his mouth, and I felt uneasy for a time lest he should +choke to death before my very eyes. But, after resting a minute, he +gave his neck a number of convulsive twists, and at last succeeded in +forcing the unwilling worm down his throat, after which he wiped his +bill on the limb with a self-satisfied air and flitted away as happy as +a lark, knowing that his faithful craw would do the rest. + +A slate-colored junco did a pretty thing in the woods one day of early +spring--much more pleasing to see than the incident just described. He +had rinsed his feathers in a pool of the little stream down in the +hollow, and now he was squatting flat on his belly on the ground in a +soft bed of brown leaves, preening and primping his plumes with his +little white, conical bill. Now he gave his quills a deft touch, now +the feathers of his wing, now those of his dainty breast. Lying there +in the sun he presented a perfect picture of feathery laziness. Many a +bird I have seen arranging his toilet after a bath while perching on a +limb or a twig, and even, as in the case of the brown creeper, while +clinging to the bole of a tree, but never before did I see one doing +this while lolling on the ground. He was not sick or hurt, simply +lazy; for when I went near him he flew away as chipper as a bird could +be. + +The rambler not only sees many of these pretty bird ways, but he +sometimes has a hearty laugh at the birds' expense. During one of my +outings a blustering whirlwind started on the summit of a small hill +scantily covered with scrub oak. It seized the dead leaves and twirled +them about as if in a spasm of anger; then it went scurrying noisily +down the steep incline, flinging itself against a couple of large brush +heaps in the hollow where a number of fox and Harris sparrows were +concealed. They had imagined themselves safe in their brushy covert. +Suddenly the whirlwind struck their hiding place with a clang and +clatter, sending the birds in a wild panic in every direction. They +did not seem to know what had struck them, and, as the wanton breezes +tossed them this way and that, they expressed their astonishment in +loud and frightened chirping. All over and no harm done, the bird +lover burst into a peal of laughter at the discomfiture of his +feathered neighbors, who looked at him as if they did not know what to +make of his untimely hilarity. + +Then, too, one cannot be an observing rambler without stumbling upon +some exceedingly odd avian pranks, as the following description will +indicate: One day I was sitting on the steep bank of a wooded ravine +watching several rare little birds, hoping to discover some of their +nests. Presently the susurrus of the hummingbird was heard, and a +moment later two ruby-throats, a male and a female, flashed into view +on the slope below me. The tiny madam settled on a twig near the +ground, while her ruby-throated spouse performed one of the queerest +antics I have ever witnessed in featherland. He began to swing back +and forth in an arc of almost half a circle, the diameter of which was +at least twelve feet, just grazing his mate whenever he reached the +lowest point of his concentric movements. Back and forth he swung at +least a dozen times, looking like a tiny pendulum moving in an immense +arc, and, oddly enough, the segment seemed to be perfectly formed every +time. Had the bird wheeled entirely around, he would, I feel sure, +have described a circle and not an ellipse. The movement was +exceedingly swift, and might well have been called the embodiment of +grace. Suddenly, as the diminutive acrobat reached the highest point +of his arc, he dashed off to the right in a straight line, followed by +his mate, and in a moment both had disappeared. Whether other +observers have been witnesses of this curious gambol, I am unable to +say. + +Have you ever been ill-mannered enough to watch the birds going to bed? +I remember spending an evening in the woods playing the role of Paul +Pry on my feathered neighbors. The sun was just sinking behind the +bluffs on the other side of a broad river--the Missouri--and the moon, +which was half full, was hanging high in the blue sky. What were those +two large black objects over yonder in the woods? My glass soon +revealed their identity--a pair of turkey buzzards perched side by side +on a limb, one of them squatted flat on his belly ready to take his +first nap. My curiosity led me to go near them, when they spread their +broad, sable wings, flew a few rods, and alighted on another horizontal +bar. There they sat as long as I could see them in the thickening +darkness, turning their heads now and then to see whether their +ill-bred visitor was still spying upon them. They made no efforts to +conceal themselves, as the small birds do in roosting, for they knew, +no doubt, that nothing would carry off fowls of their size. + +A little later on the same evening a whip-poor-will darted up from the +roadside and flew into the woods a short distance, alighting on a white +flag of good size, so that I could plainly see his dark form in the +moonlight. Then I was witness of this uncanny bird's table manners, +which were entirely unknown to me and may be to others. At irregular +intervals he leaped into the air, now in one direction, now in another, +captured an insect, and flew back to the top of the flag. Some of his +evolutions were quite wonderful, and all of them were the perfection of +grace. He described all kinds of curves and loops. On alighting he +uttered a low, hollow chuck suggestive of the sepulchral. Another +notch had to be cut in the tally-stick of my ornithological journey--I +had learned how the whip-poor-will takes his nocturnal dinner of moths +and beetles, and I felt that there was still such a thing as news to be +gathered in birdland. + +Most birds, however, do not take their dinner at night, and therefore +it is easier to watch them at their _table d'hote_. One day a +red-headed woodpecker was giving a strapping youngster as large as +herself his noonday meal. She came close to him with a morsel in her +long bill, and, after pounding it awhile against a limb, she thrust it +into the screaming youngling's mouth. But she had failed to reduce it +to a swallowable size; it stuck in his throat, and, do what he would, +he could not bolt it. It was so large that he was choking; what should +be done? The simplest thing you can conceive. The mother bird reached +over and impatiently jerked the refractory morsel out of her baby's +throat, thumped it vigorously several times against the branch, then +gave it to him again, as much as to say, "Now try it! I guess you can +manage it this time." And he did, for down his gullet it went with +very little effort. Then she went after more provender for his +spacious craw. Whenever she came with a tidbit, she would first drop +it into a kind of pocket in the bark, and pound it a while to reduce it +to a proper consistency; the while the youngster would sit near and +watch her with hungry eyes, and often scream in his coaxing way and +twinkle his wings, until she was ready to deliver up the tempting +fragment. + +Once, after she had given him all she had brought, he still opened his +mouth and whimpered for more. At this exhibition of gluttony she lost +her patience. Would he never be satisfied, the great, greedy, +overgrown lubber? He was simply making a slave and a drudge of her. +She looked at him for a moment with a savage glitter in her dark eyes, +then began to peck him angrily right in the mouth, and drove him +peremptorily backward down the limb. Mother patience has its +limitations in the bird world as well as elsewhere. + +On the same day a bank swallow was feeding her little ones, a half +dozen or so, which were ranged on a willow stem at the margin of the +river. Every time she flew toward them they set up a vigorous calling +to be fed. She procured her food by skimming airily over the river and +catching the insects that rose from its surface. Having nabbed one, +she would dart with it to her little family, and, without alighting, +and scarcely pausing in her swift flight, would thrust it into the +mouth of one of the birdkins. Thus she fed them one by one until she +had gone the round of the little circle, though sometimes, oddly +enough, she would serve the same infant twice in succession. + +The little family, all perched in a row, looked very attractive, and I +was watching them closely most of the time. Suddenly the mother bird +disappeared, and was gone for several minutes. I forgot to keep my eye +steadily on the youngsters sitting six in a row, and, to my great +surprise, when she reappeared they had left their perch, which was in +plain sight, and I could not rediscover them for some time. Finally, +however, I espied them cuddling among some leafy twigs a few feet away, +where the mother resumed her duties of purveyor. My opinion is that +she had begun to feel uneasy for their safety in the exposed place +where I could see them so plainly, and so, while I was looking +elsewhere, had persuaded them to shift their position. Now they were +partly screened by the intervening leaves, and she felt that they were +secure. + +There can be no doubt that birds have a language which the youngsters +soon come to understand, however simple and inarticulated it may be. +In a shady hollow, one day of early spring, a pair of tufted titmice +were supplying the wants of a family of famishing children, and I +invited myself to the family reunion. The young birds had left the +nest and were perched in a leafy tree. Most of the time they kept up a +great clamor for food--or, perhaps, they shrieked merely from force of +habit; but every few minutes one of the parent birds would utter a +shrill, commanding cry, at which all the noisy clamorings of the +youthful family would suddenly cease, and for a few moments perfect +quiet would reign in titmouse town; then the hubbub would begin again, +and continue until another order for perfect silence was given. So far +as I could see, there was no danger from raptorial foes at hand, but +the little family seemed to be in training against the approach of a +marauder. + +It may be a far cry, but from green-robed spring fancy yourself +suddenly flung into the lap of snow-bound winter, to look upon scenes +quite different from the foregoing. The Frost King had been playing a +good many pranks for a week or two, and once, in a spasm of frigid ill +humor, had jammed the mercury in our thermometers a dozen or more +degrees below zero, and had held it there quite too long for our +comfort. More than once had he shrieked and blustered and stamped his +feet incontinently, and more than once sent his legions of wind, sleet, +and snow howling through the leafless woods. Everybody in our central +latitudes knows what an explosive old fellow the Frost King is, and how +fierce and savage he can become let the mood once seize him. + +Sometimes, too, by the hour he had ground his ice crystals to powder in +mid-air and hurled them to the earth, covering its surface with a robe +of purest white, thus proving that, with all his rudeness and bluster, +he is an old gentleman of aesthetic tastes. One evening his mood +became blander, and he dropped his crystals from the sky in large, damp +flakes, which clung tenaciously to the branches and twigs; then during +the night his breath became chilled and froze the snowy cylinders, and +when morning broke the woods were a miracle of loveliness, every leaf +and twig bearing a ridge of gleaming pearls, while the sylvan floor was +pure white. Soon the sun was shining from an unmarred sky, and the +snow-clad earth smiled back in shimmering recognition. It was a day +for worship in God's first sanctuary. + +Yet it was a day for watching the gambols of the birds, and such +occupation by no means interfered with the spirit of worship. In the +depths of the woods the white-breasted nuthatches were holding a +friendly interview. How affectionately they talked to one another in +idioms all their own, saying "Hick! hick!" and "Yank! yank!" and +"Ha-ha! ha-ha! ha-ha!" which may mean anything that is kind and cordial +and confidential. They were either playing at a game of tag, or were +having a peep-show among the bushes, hiding for a moment in some leafy +cluster, then dashing in pursuit of one another in the most frolicksome +way. I crept in under the arches of the snow-clad bushes to watch +their caperings more closely, but the birds at once quieted down, and +went about their more prosaic vocation of grub gathering. They were no +doubt "aching" to frisk about among the snowy bushes, but would not +indulge their playful mood under the eye of a human spectator. + +Presently one of them was seen carefully primping his feathers--a +function that I had not previously seen a nuthatch perform. His plumes +seemed to be really quite damp, and, as there was no water at hand--the +streams being mailed with ice as well as nearly a half mile away--he +must have used a snowbank for his lavatory. But you ask how he +arranged his toilet. I had several times seen the little brown creeper +clinging to the vertical wall of a tree and preening his plumes after a +bath, and it was natural to suppose that his congener, the nuthatch, +being also a bird of reptatory habits, would follow the same formula. +But not so! Instead of clinging to the upright bole of a tree, Master +Nuthatch perched crosswise on a twig like a robin or a chickadee, and +smoothed his ruffled plumes. + +After this interesting interview with the nuthatches, I trudged about +in the woods for some time without seeing any birds. What had become +of my feathered neighbors, my companions in every ramble throughout the +winter? Had the storm driven them to other climes where bland winds +prevailed? Oh, no! See what prudent creatures they were that wintry +day. At the eastern border of the woods, where the sun shone warmly +and the keen westerly breeze was broken and tempered, my little friends +were found in goodly numbers, well knowing where the Frost King's anger +would be softened. + +Here were nuthatches and chickadees in plenty, and also tufted tits, +tree sparrows, juncos, downy woodpeckers, and, to make the complement +as nearly full as possible, a hairy woodpecker drummed and +_chir-r-r-red_, several blue jays complained in the distance, and a +goldfinch swinging overhead threaded the air with festoons of black and +gold. And here I witnessed a new and pretty antic of a tree sparrow, +which flew over from a cornfield hard by and perched on a dogwood +sapling only a few feet away; then it plunged its beak into the little +snowbank on the twig before it and ate greedily of the snow, some of +the crystals clinging to its mandibles, just as the crumbs adhere to +the lips of a hungry boy. Had the exclamation not been so much like +slang, I would have cried "Next!" And there was a "next," as sure as +you live, for the little bird soon flitted to another twig in the same +tree and, reaching up, daintily sipped from the dripping underside of +the branch just above and in front of it. Its thirst having been +assuaged, it flew over into the adjoining field to resume its winter +feast of seeds and berries. + +And what was happening over in the field? Something worth noting, to +be sure. A coterie of juncos and tree sparrows were breakfasting on +the seeds of a clump of tall weeds, a few of the little feasters +perched on the swaying stems, while others stood on the snow on the +ground and picked the seeds from the racemes that were bent down by +their burden of crystals. When I went to the place, I could see the +delicate tracery of their feet on the snow, as if they had been writing +their autographs on an untarnished scroll. Two tiny footprints at +regular intervals, one a little before the other, and each pair +connected with the next by a slender thread or two traced by the bird's +claws--that is a junco's or a tree sparrow's trail in the snow. + +A little later a scattering flock of tree sparrows were skipping about +on the snowy floor of the woods, picking up at quick intervals a +palatable tidbit. Birds often find edibles on the surface of the snow +when our duller eyes can see nothing but immaculate whiteness. What +long leaps the little birds took across the snow, which looked like a +marble pavement with fairies dancing upon it! Near by, on one of the +lower twigs of a thorn bush, a sparrow sat with feathers fluffed up and +wings hanging negligently at his side, as if he were taking a siesta +after a hearty meal of weed seeds and winter berries. Two of his +companions soon joined him in his noonday rest, the trio making a +pretty picture sitting there within an inch or two of the ground. + +It was not very long before a tree sparrow perpetrated another +surprise, proving that this species is not without character, as indeed +no species is. He leaped to the bole of a sapling, clinging there a +few moments like a chickadee or a wren, while he pecked an appetizing +morsel from the bark; then he dropped down to the snow for a brief +breathing spell, after which he sprang up again to the sapling for a +few more bits, repeating the little performance a number of times. + +In the same part of the woods a company of chickadees was flitting +about in the trees, plunging into the little snowbanks on the twigs, +sometimes standing in them up to their white bosoms, and often brushing +a segment to the ground, thus making numerous breaches in the white +drifts. The racket they made with their scolding and piping might have +been called a musical din. Deciding to watch them a while, I flung +myself down upon the snow. This act was the signal for a precious +to-do among the nervous little potherers. Did any one ever hear or +read of such a performance in all the annals of birdland? What in the +world did it mean--a man lying flat on the ground out there in the +woods? I was highly amused at the hurly-burly, and decided to add +still more variety to it. Suddenly I sprang to my feet with a shout. +Several of the birds dropped, as if shot, into a thorn bush below them, +where they set up a hubbub that would have made on old-time Puritan +laugh, even at the risk of being censured for levity. By and by they +quieted down, and one of them began to whistle his pretty minor tune +with as much serenity as if he had never been excited in his life. My +winter outing proved that the Frost King and the hardy birds often go +cheek by jowl, as if they were on terms of the most cordial fraternity. + + + + +ODDS AND ENDS + +The ornithologist is always interested in noting how the conduct of +birds of the same species differs and agrees in different localities. +In a previous chapter some of the differences between the avifauna of +Ohio and Kansas have been described, but a good deal still remains to +be said, teaching more than one lesson in comparative ornithology. + +At the beginning of my studies in the Sunflower state the song sparrows +proposed an enigma for my solution, whether wittingly or unwittingly, I +know not. In Ohio they were the most lavish singers in the outdoor +chorus, chanting their sweet lays every month in the year, summer or +winter; indeed, their most vigorous recitals were often given in +February and March, when there was dearth of other bird music. + +But what about the song sparrows of Kansas? The first winter and +spring passed, and yet my numerous rambles in their haunts did not +bring to my waiting ear one first-class song sparrow concert. A few +feeble, half-hearted wisps of melody on days that were especially mild +were the only vocal performances they vouchsafed. To put it bluntly +and truthfully, I never, during my residence of five and a half years +in Kansas, heard a first-rate song sparrow trill. Nor is that all. In +the Buckeye state these birds were disposed to be sociable, often +selecting their dwellings near our suburban homes, visiting our +dooryards, singing their blithe roundels on the ridge of the barn roof +or a post of the garden fence. Not only so, but their songs were often +heard in some of the principal streets of towns where trees were +abundant. + +[Illustration: Song Sparrow] + +Quite otherwise was the conduct of their western cousins, which seldom +came to town or even near a human residence in the country, but kept +themselves ensconced in the matted copses in the banks of the Missouri +River or in the deep hollows running back from the broad valley. In +these sequestered haunts they were quite wary, usually scuttling out of +sight at my approach. True, in Ohio many individuals also chose +out-of-the-way places for habitats, but even then they were not timid, +for often they would mount to the top of a bush or a sapling in plain +sight and trill sweetly by the hour, with never a quaver of fear. At +rare intervals a Kansas sparrow would visit the thicket on the vacant +lot near my house, but, my! how shy he was! And as for singing, he +would only squeak a little score. + +Wondering at the reticence of the Kansas sparrows, I wrote to a friend +living in Springfield, Ohio, my former home, and inquired what the song +sparrows were doing in that locality. His reply was that, as usual, +they had been singing with splendid effect on almost every day after +the middle of February. What is the reason of this difference between +the eastern and western birds? They are, according to the +systematists, the same type, and yet they behave so differently. The +solution of the problem is, after all, quite simple. In Kansas the +song sparrows are winter residents exclusively, passing farther north +when the breeding season approaches; only at rare intervals does a pair +decide to remain in the state throughout the summer; whereas in the +Buckeye state these birds are permanent residents, remaining throughout +the year, and therefore they feel sufficiently at home to tune their +lyres at all seasons. On the other hand, being only winter visitors in +Kansas, they do not seem to be able to overcome their shyness; either +that, or their wind harps are out of tune. As a matter of fact, +migrating birds seldom sing a great deal in their winter homes, their +best lyrical efforts being husbanded for their breeding haunts. I once +spent part of the month of June in Minnesota, almost directly north of +my Kansas field of research, and there found these charming minstrels +as tuneful and affable as the most exacting bird lover could wish. +Perhaps some of the very sparrows that spend the winter in silence in +northeastern Kansas trill their finest arias in their summer homes on +the shores of Lake Minnetonka or in the boggy hollows in the +neighborhood of Duluth. + +When I first began to plan for moving back to Ohio, I was foolish +enough to fear that the song sparrows of that state might have changed +their habits during the years of my absence, and that I should be +disappointed in them: but no need of borrowing trouble on their +account, for they were the same blithe and familiar birds, trilling +their sweetest chansons in the trees in the residence portion of the +town in which I lived. And sing! Were there ever birds with more +dulcet tones, with finer voice register, or with a greater variety of +tunes in their repertoire? + +Going back to Kansas in winter, we note that the song sparrows, instead +of remaining at one place, shifted about a good deal more than I had +ever known them to do in the East. In December a pair found a dwelling +in the weed clumps and brush heaps of a hollow a short distance from +the Missouri River; but they soon deserted this spot, well sheltered as +it was, none being seen there until the twenty-third of February. It +surprised me to find another pair, and sometimes two pairs, in a +thicket right on the bank of the wide river, where they were exposed to +many of the winter blasts, especially those that swept down from the +frozen north. Up in the deep, winding ravine they might have had +excellent shelter and, so far as I could see, just as good feeding. +However, I have long ago learned that there is no accounting for tastes +in the bird realm any more than in the human realm. + +The hardiest of the _Mniotiltidae_ tribe are the myrtle warblers, which +dapple the whitened edges of winter, both autumn and spring, with their +golden rumps and amber brooches. Evidently these birds are shyer of +the rigorous Ohio winters than of the more mild-mannered Kansas +weather. In the former state I never saw a myrtle warbler after the +first or second week in November, while in Kansas I came upon a flock +of them in a wooded hollow by the river on the eighth of December, +1897, and then after a severe snowstorm had swept over the region from +the western prairies. It seemed odd to find these dainty featherland +blossoms when the whole country was covered with an ermine of snow. + +Then they disappeared, and I did not expect to see them again until the +next spring; but on the fourteenth of February, which was a warm, +vernal day thrust into the midst of winter, a flock of perhaps a dozen +were flitting and chirping among the trees in the suburbs of the city, +their hoarse little _chep_, always giving one the impression that the +birds have taken a cold which has affected their vocal cords, sounding +as familiar as of old. However, that very evening at dusk a black +cloud, charged with electricity and bellowing with anger, came up out +of the west like a young Lochinvar, and hurled a fierce storm across +the hills and valleys, and the next day not a myrtle warbler was to be +seen in all the countryside, though I tramped weary miles in search of +them. The tempest had doubtless frightened them away to the suaver +southland, from which they did not return until the following spring. + +One of my most pleasing observations was made on December 19, 1902. +There had been a number of days of severe weather, accompanied by hard +storms. Six inches of snow lay on the ground. Now the storm had spent +its force, the sun was shining genially, and the snow was melting. +Warm as it was, I was greatly surprised to find a flock of myrtle +warblers in the woods so late in the season. They had braved the +storms of the preceding week, and were as chipper and active as myrtle +warblers could be. But their employment was a still greater surprise. +They were darting about in the air among the treetops, as well as amid +the bushes in the deep ravine, catching insects on the wing. That +insects should be flying after the wintry weather of the previous week +was still more surprising than that the warblers should be here to dine +upon them. Soon after that day, however, the little yellow-rumps must +have taken the wing route to a more genial climate, for they were seen +no more that winter. + +Of a more permanent character was the residence of the jolly juncos, +which dwelt all winter in northeastern Kansas, let the weather be never +so lowering. Always active and alert, flitting from bush to weed, and +from the snow-carpeted ground to the gnarled oak saplings, now +pilfering a dinner of wild berries and now a luncheon of weed seeds, +they seemed to generate enough warmth in their trig little bodies to +defy old Boreas to do his best. Water flowing from melting snow must +be ice-cold, yet the juncos plunged into the crystal pools and rinsed +their plumes with as much apparent relish as if their lavatory were +tepid instead of icy, and as if balmy instead of nipping winds were +blowing. + +One day I watched a member of this family taking his dinner of wild +grapes. Finding a dark red cluster, he would pick off the juiciest +berry he could reach, press it daintily between his white mandibles for +a few moments, swallow a part of the pulp, and drop the rest to the +ground. What part of the grape did he eat? That is the precise +problem I could not solve with certainty, for on examining the rejected +portions that had been flung to the ground I found that one seed still +remained, together with part of the pulp and all of the broken rind. I +half suspect, though, that Master Junco likes to tipple a little--never +enough, however, be it remembered, to make him reel or lose his senses. +No! no! a toper Master Junco is not; he is too sane a bird for that! +Would that all the citizens of our republic would display as much sound +judgment and self-control. + +Where all the birds sleep on biting winter nights it would be difficult +to say, but the acute little juncos lease the farmer's corn shocks hard +by the woods. At dusk you may startle a dozen of them from a single +shock. They dart pellmell from their hiding places, chippering their +protest, and when you examine the shock you find cozy nooks and ingles +among the leaves and stalks, where they find couches and at the same +time coverts from the sharp winds. As you stand at the border of the +woods in the gloaming you can hear the rustling of the fodder as the +juncos move about in their tepees, trying to find the choicest and +snuggest berths. Usually they select the tops of the standing shocks, +perhaps for safety; yet some may be found also in the shocks that have +partly fallen to the ground. + +In the latter part of February the juncos began to rehearse their +spring songs, which were a welcome sound in the almost unbroken silence +of the winter. The nearer the spring approached, the higher they +mounted in the trees, and the more prolonged was their flight, as if +they were practicing their wing exercises to inure their muscles to the +strain that would be put upon them when they undertook their long +journey to their northern summer homes; for, of course, the juncos do +not breed in our central latitudes, but hie to the northern part of the +United States and the Dominion of Canada. + +In Ohio the brown creepers and the golden-crowned kinglets were +constant winter companions in the woods; but, although Kansas is +considerably farther south, they do not seem to be winter residents +there--at least, not in the northeastern part of the state--the only +exception being that in January, 1903, several creepers were observed +in my yard. One may well wonder why these birds are winter residents +in Ohio and only migrants in a latitude that is two degrees farther +south. + +There was some scant compensation in the presence of the winter wren +one winter in the Sunflower state. The fourteenth of December brought +one of these brown Lilliputians to a deep hollow in town, where he +chattered petulantly and scampered along an old paling fence. No more +winter wrens were seen until January seventh, when one darted out of +some bushes on the bank of a stream about two miles south of town. My +next jaunt to this hollow took place on the twenty-seventh, when, to my +surprise, a hermit thrush was seen in a clump of bushes and saplings--a +bird that I supposed had been sunning himself for at least a month in +the genial South. While tramping about trying to get another view of +the unconventional thrush, I frightened a winter wren from a cluster of +weeds and bushes. My! how alarmed he was! Uttering a loud chirp, he +darted down to the center of the stream and slipped into a little cave +formed by ice and snow frozen over a clump of low bushes. There he hid +himself like an Eskimo in his snow hut. My trudging near by frightened +the bird out of the farther doorway, and he dashed away pellmell, +hurling a saucy gird of protestation at me, and was seen by me no more. +I examined the little snow house. It was very cunning indeed, and +might well have made a cozy shelter for the little wren in stormy +weather. My next meeting with a winter wren occurred on the fifteenth +of February, in the same hollow, but about an eighth of a mile nearer +the river. A query arises here: Did I see four different winter wrens +during the winter, or only one in four different localities? Who can +tell? + +That is not all about the winter wrens. My first winter in Kansas was +the severest I experienced in that state; yet it was the only winter of +the five I spent in Kansas that brought me the winter wren. If it +would do any good, one might ask again the question why. Although the +winter wren is a migrant in Ohio, as he is for the most part in +northeastern Kansas, yet I never heard his song in the former state, +while in the latter I was fortunate enough to listen to his tinkling +melody three times the first spring I spent there. After that I never +heard him, and indeed saw him only a few times. But the sweet, silvery +roulade--could there be anything more charming in the world of outdoor +music? + +My winter rambles--and winter is almost as good a time for bird study +as summer--enabled me to note some variety of temperament in the avian +realm. One thing we soon learn in our winter outings: Few birds are +recluses. No, they are sociable creatures, living in what might be +called nomadic communities. In the spring-time, during the mating +season, they pair off and become more or less exclusive and secretive, +keeping close to the precincts they have selected; but in winter they +grow more neighborly, and move about in the woods or over the fields in +flocks of various sizes. + +The woodland flocks usually consist of a number of species all of which +seem to be on the most cordial terms, having, no doubt, a community +of interest. As we quietly pursue our way in this wooded vale, +we see no birds for some distance. Presently a fine, protesting +"chick-a-dee-dee! chick-a-dee-dee!" breaks the silence. It is the +warning call of the tomtit or chickadee, which we soon espy tilting +about on his trapeze of twigs in the trees or bushes. But you may +depend upon it he is not alone; he is only a part of the rim of a +feathered colony dwelling near at hand, and consisting, very likely, of +tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, juncos, tree sparrows, blue +jays, one or two downy woodpeckers, a pair of cardinals, a flicker or +two, and a cackling red-breasted woodpecker. There may be even a song +sparrow in the company and a couple of brown creepers, and possibly a +flock of purple finches, chirping cheerily in the tops of the trees. + +While, in the spring and summer, birds are to be found in nearly every +part of the woods, never many at one place, the opposite condition +prevails in the winter. Sometimes you may walk almost a half mile +without seeing or hearing a single bird; then you suddenly come upon a +good-sized company of them, somewhat scattered, it is true, but within +easy hailing distance. Nor do they always remain in the same +localities, but move about, now here, now there, like nomads looking +for the best foraging places. For instance, on the first of January, +after leaving the city, I saw not a bird until I reached a pleasant +sylvan hollow at least a half mile away. Here a merry crowd greeted +the pedestrian. It was composed of all the birds I have just named, +with flocks of bluebirds and goldfinches thrown in for good measure. +On the fourteenth of January a company--either the same or another--was +found in a small copsy hollow only a quarter of a mile from the city, +while the spot previously occupied was deserted. It is pleasant to +think of these feathered troopers roaming about the country in search +of Nature's choicest storehouses. The code that obtains in these +movable birdvilles is this, as near as I am able to analyze it: Each +one for himself, and yet all for one another. + +The familiar adage, "Birds of a feather flock together," is not always +true, for in winter birds of many a feather often flock together. It +may be asked, Why? No doubt largely for social ends. Nothing is more +evident to the observer than that most birds love company, and a good +deal of it. Their genial conversation among themselves as they pursue +their work and play fully proves that. Another object is undoubtedly +protection. Birds have enemies, many of them, and when the woods are +bare there is little chance for hiding, and so they must be especially +on the alert. Let a hawk come gliding silently and slyly down the +vale, and before he gets too near some keen little eye espies him, the +alarm is sounded, and the whole company scurries into the thickets or +trees for safety. The chickadees and titmice seem to be a sort of +sentry for the company. + +A large part of the time in birdland is spent in solving the +"bread-and-butter" problem. And how do our feathered citizens solve +this important problem in the cold weather? Nature has spread many a +banquet for her avian children, although they must usually rustle for +their food just as we must in the human world. The nuthatches, +titmice, woodpeckers, and brown creepers find larvae, grubs, borers, +and insects' eggs in the crannies of the bark and other nooks and +niches; the goldfinches find something to their taste in the buds of +the trees and also make many a meal of thistle and sunflower seeds; the +juncos and tree sparrows, forming a joint stock company in winter, +rifle all kinds of weeds of their seedy treasures; the blue jays lunch +on acorns and berries when they cannot find enough juicy grubs to +satisfy their appetites, and so on through the whole list. + +By playing the spy on the birds we may learn much about their dietary +habits. It is the first of January, and we are in a wooded hollow. +There is a tufted titmouse; now he flits to the ground, picks up a +tidbit, darts up to a twig, places his morsel under his claws, and +proceeds to peck it to pieces. Our binocular shows that it is +something yellow, but we cannot make out what it is. As we draw near, +the bird seizes the fragment with his bill--perhaps he fears we will +filch it from him--and flits about among the bushes on the steep bank, +looking for a place to stow his "goody." Presently he pushes it into a +crevice of the bark, hammers it tightly into place, and darts away with +a merry chirp. We go to the spot and find that his hidden treasure is +a grain of corn which he has purloined from the farmer's field on the +slope. A few minutes later another tit--or the same one--slyly thrusts +a morsel in among some leaves and twigs on the bank, even pulling the +leaves down over it for a screen. It turns out to be a small acorn. +That is one of Master Tit's ways--storing away provisions for a time of +need. With his stout, conical beak he is able to break the shell of an +acorn, peck a corn grain into swallowable bits, and tear open the +toughest casing of a cocoon. He will even break the hard pits of the +dogwood berry to secure the kernel within, the ground below often being +strewn with the shell fragments. No danger of _Parus bicolor_ coming +to want or going to the poorhouse. + +Another day the juncos are feeding on the seeds of the foxtail or +pigeon grass, in an old orchard hard by the border of the woods. +Sometimes they will make a dinner of berries--the kinds too that are +regarded as poisonous to man--eating the juicy pulp in their dainty +way, and dropping the seeds and rind to the ground. In the ravine +furrowed out by a stream--this is down in one of the hollows--there is +a perfect network of bird tracks in the snow beneath a clump of weed +stalks. How dainty they are, like tiny chains, twisted and coiled +about on the white surface! They were made by the juncos and tree +sparrows, and on examining the seed pods and clusters above the bank we +note that they are torn and ragged. The feathered banqueters have been +here, and while they were industriously culling the pods, some of the +seeds fell to the white carpet below, and these have been carefully +picked up by the birds, as we see, so that nothing should be wasted. + +It is not often you catch a bird in the singing mood in the winter; yet +on December 19, a purple finch was piping quite a vivacious tune in the +woods. Of course, he was not in his best voice, but his performance +was good enough to entitle it to the name of bird music. The finches, +by the way, are strong flyers. At your approach, instead of flitting +off a little way, perhaps to the next tree or bush, after the manner of +the tits and nuthatches and many other birds, the finches tarry in the +tree-tops as long as they deem it safe, then take to wing and fly to a +distant part of the woods, and you may not see them again that day. +However, they may come back to you after a while, as if they relished +your company. The goldfinches are also long-distance flyers, not +flitters. Usually they give some signal of their presence, either by +their vivacious "pe-chick-o-pe" or their childlike and semi-musical +calls; but there are times when a good-sized flock of them will +suddenly appear in the tree-tops above you, and you cannot tell when +they arrived, for you did not see them there at all a few minutes +before. + + + + +WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS + +The previous chapter closed with some notes on the behavior of birds in +the winter time. My home rambling grounds in northeastern Kansas were +extremely undulating, cut up into ridges and ravines, most of which +were covered with a thick growth of weeds, bushes, and timber. In some +places the thickets were so dense as to be almost impenetrable. This +diversity in the topography of the country afforded considerable +variety in the faunal life of the region. + +For example, in bitter winter weather most of the birds would hug the +sheltered hollows, where they found coverts in the copses, and would +avoid the hilltops, which were exposed to the nipping winds blowing +from the western prairies. As the spring approached, bringing blander +weather, they gradually moved up the hillsides, many of them finding +billsome seeds and berries on the summits. + +However, note a difference in the temperament of individuals of the +same species. On the bitterest days of winter I would sometimes leave +the sheltered hollows and lowlands and clamber to the summits of the +wind-swept hills, and, oddly enough, on the exposed heights I +occasionally flushed a solitary bird, which would spring up from the +weeds or copses and dart away with a frightened cry. More than likely +it would be an individual of the same species as some of the more +socially disposed tenants of the lower grounds, but for some reason, +what, I know not, it preferred the life of an anchorite; it did not +care for society, even of its own kith. Invariably, too, these +feathered recluses were extremely shy, scuttling away like frightened +deer as I approached their cloistered haunts. + +These notes stir several queries in one's mind. Is there such a thing +as social ostracism in the bird world? Might these hilltop eremites +have committed some crime or some breach of decorum that effected their +banishment from respectable avicular society? Or were they simply of a +sullen or retiring disposition, choosing seclusion rather than the +company of their kind? These questions must be left unanswered. Most +frequently the lone bird would be a song sparrow. Once a brilliant +cardinal was trying to conceal himself in a clump of bushes and weeds +far up the hillside, acting very much like a social outcast. For some +reason that he did not see fit to explain he wanted to be alone. + +If the song sparrows of eastern Kansas belie their name and seldom fall +into the lyrical mood, as has been said, the like cannot be said of the +robins, which, in the proper season, were very lavish of their +minstrelsy. Their favorite singing time in the West, as in the East, +was at the "peep of dawn." How often their ringing carols broke into +my early morning dreams! + +Have you ever noticed the tentative efforts of the robins in the early +spring, at the beginning of the song season, before they get their +harps in full tune? It is interesting and amusing to listen to their +rehearsals, of which they need quite a number before they acquire full +control of their voices. This is the method: Starting off on a tune, +they will keep it up until their voices break; then they will stop a +while to recover breath, and presently make another attempt with +perhaps slightly better success. At first they are able to pipe only a +syllable or two before their voices break. After a while they succeed +in carrying the tune for a respectable little run, but sooner or later +their voices will go all to pieces or slide up into a falsetto, making +another pause necessary. By and by, however, after much practice, they +gain perfect vocal control, and are able to sustain their songs for a +long time without a mishap. When the voice of the rehearsing bird +breaks, it apparently runs too high in the scale for the bird's +register, just as the voice of a sixteen-year-old boy is apt to do, to +his own confusion and the amusement of his friends. + +[Illustration: Cardinal] + +Another fact about robin music may be of interest to those who have not +observed it. In the early spring these birds are extremely lyrical, +that being their season of courtship; then will follow a few weeks of +comparative silence--the time when there are little ones in need of +parental care. At this period the husbands, it would seem, are either +too busy or too wary to sing a great deal. But now note: When the +youngsters have flown from the nest and are able to take care of +themselves, the silence in robindom is again broken, and there is a +flood-tide of melody from early morning till eventide. The second +lyrical period lasts until another nest has been built and another +clutch of eggs has been hatched, when the choralists again relapse into +comparative silence. + +Since coming back to Ohio, I imagine that the eastern robins are better +singers than their western relatives. Their voices, to my ear, are +clearer and more ringing, less apt to break into a squeak at the top of +their register, and there is more variety of expression as well as +greater facility in managing the technique. I think this is not all +fancy, yet I would not speak with the assurance of the dogmatist. + +In the good Jayhawker state the orchard orioles are more abundant than +they are in the eastern and northeastern part of the state of Ohio. +Indeed, the range of this species is more southerly than that of their +congeners, the Baltimore orioles. In their proper latitude no birds, +or at least few of them, are more lavish of their melody than the +orchard orioles. What a ringing voice the oriole possesses! His song +has a saucy note of challenge running through it, and also a human +intonation that makes it rarely attractive. All day long the male +sings his cheery solos, scarcely pausing for breath or food, now +sitting on the topmost twig of a dead apple tree in the orchard, now +amid the screening foliage of a maple in the yard, and anon on the +other side of the street in a stately cottonwood. But where is that +modest little personage, his wife? She is seldom heard, and almost as +seldom seen. It is really remarkable--her gift of concealment. When +she builds her nest is a mystery. It is often so deftly hidden that +you would not be likely to find it in a long hunt. In the spring of +1898 a pair of orchard orioles took up their residence in the trees +about my house, the male singing his brisk overtures, the female seen +only at flitting intervals and never heard. Watch as I would, I could +not surprise her laying the timbers of her cottage, which I felt sure +was being built somewhere in the trees. Indeed, I did not discover it +until autumn came, long after the orioles, old and young, had taken +flight to a balmier clime, and the trees were stripped of their leaves, +when, lo! it appeared in plain view on one of the trees on the opposite +side of the street, the very place where I had not thought of looking +for it. + +The Baltimore orioles as a rule are not so secretive; yet during the +summer of 1898 a pair of these firebirds led me a fruitless chase. +Their secret was not divulged until the leaves had fallen the next +autumn, when there the nest hung in the midst of a tall cottonwood in +my back yard close to the house. Lord Baltimore and his mate usually +suspend their nests on the outer branches of the trees, where they are +not hard to discover, but this pair did not follow the common formula, +for the nest was placed in the thickest part of the foliage, so that it +was impossible to see it from the ground until the branches were bare. + +Of all the malaperts of birddom none excel and few equal the white-eyed +vireo for volubility and downright audacity. All his songs--and he has +quite a respectable list of them--seem to be either a protest or a +challenge; a protest against your intrusion into his precincts, a +challenge to find him and his nest if you can. Again and again in +Kansas I crept into their bushy coverts just for the purpose of +receiving a sound scolding. Such a berating did they give me, telling +me of all my faults and foibles, that I certainly ought to remain +humble all the rest of my days. A half dozen viragoes could not have +done better--that is, worse. They would flit about in the bushes above +my head, their little white eyes gleaming with fire, and call me all +the names they could lay their tongues to. I wonder whether the +white-eyes have a dictionary of epithets. Nature has done an odd thing +in making the white-eyed vireo. + +Their nests are not easy to find, although they do not always make a +great deal of effort at concealment. Like all the vireo tribe, they +suspend their tiny baskets from the fork or crotch of a horizontal +twig. The nest is somewhat bulkier than the compact little cup of the +red-eyed vireo, and is apt to be more carefully concealed in the +foliage, although I have found more than one nest that was hung in +plain sight. I remember one in particular. It was dangling from the +outer twigs of a small bush by the side of the woodland path which I +was pursuing. In fact, it could be distinctly seen from the path. In +spite of the mother's pleadings, protests, and objurgations, I stepped +over to inspect her pendant domicile, whose holdings were four baby +white-eyes, their eyelids still glued together. As the twigs stirred, +they opened their mouths for food, and I decided to accommodate them. +Taking a bit of cracker from my haversack, I moistened it, and rolled +it into a pellet between my finger and thumb; then, gently swaying the +bushes, I induced the bantlings to open their mouths, when I dropped +the morsel into one of the tiny throats. You ought to have seen the +wry face baby made as it gulped down the new kind of food, which had +such an odd taste. It was plain that the callow nestling was able to +distinguish this morsel from the palatable diet it had been accustomed +to. Possibly it suffered from a temporary fit of indigestion, but no +permanent harm was done by my experiment, for when I called on them +again a few days later, the birdkins four were safe and well, their +eyes open, and their instincts sufficiently developed to cause them to +cuddle low in their basket instead of opening their mouths. + +[Illustration: White-eyed Vireo] + +The rambler who would hear a real outdoor concert should rise early, +swallow a few bits of cracker and a cup of coffee, and seek some +bird-haunted hollow or woodland just as day begins to break. One +morning I pursued this plan, and was more than compensated for the loss +of an hour or two of sleep. Just as the east began to blush I found +myself in a favorite wooded hollow. + +What a _potpourri_ of bird song greeted my ear! How many choralists +took part in the matutinal concert I cannot say, but there were scores +of them. The volume of song would sometimes swell to a full-toned +orchestra, and then for a few moments it would sink almost to a lull, +all of it like the flow and ebb of the tides of a sea of melody. It +was interesting to note how several voices would sometimes run into a +chime when they struck the same chord. + +Let me call the roll of the members of that feathered choir. First, +and most gifted of all, were a couple of brown thrashers, whose tones +were as strong and sweet as those of a silver cornet, making the echoes +ring across the hollow. I have listened to many a thrasher song in the +North, the South, and the West, but have never heard a voice of better +timbre than that of one of the tawny vocalists singing that morning, as +he sat on the topmost twig of an oak tree and flung out his medley upon +the morning air. It is wonderful, anyway, with what an ecstasy the +thrasher will sometimes sing. Nothing could be plainer than that he +sings for the pure pleasure of it--an artist deeply in love with his +art. + +Falling a little behind the thrashers in vocal power and technical +execution were the catbirds, which sent up their cavatinas from the +bushes in the hollow. Their voices lacked the volume and strength of +their rivals, yet some of their strains were truly the quintessence of +sweetness. + +Conspicuous members of the early chorus were the wood thrushes, a dozen +or more of which were often singing at the same time. From every part +of the woods their peals arose. Of course, there was no attempt--at +least, so far as I could discover--to sing in concert, but each +minstrel followed his own sweet will, and so the combined result was +not what you would call a harmony, but a medley, albeit a very pleasing +one. If the wood thrush's execution were less labored, he would +certainly be a marvelous songster, and even as it is, he furnishes +unending delight to those whose ears are trained to appreciate avian +minstrelsy. + +Two or three rose-breasted grossbeaks piped their liquid, childlike +arias; towhees, at least a half-dozen of them, flung forth their loud, +explosive trills that have a real musical quality; several cardinals +whistled as if they meant to drown out all the other voices; scarlet +and summer tanagers drawled their good-natured tunes, while their rich +robes gleamed in the level rays of the rising sun; running like silver +threads through all the other music, could be heard the fine trills of +the field sparrows; the swinging chant of the creeping warblers and the +loud rattle of the Tennessee warblers ran high up in the scale, +furnishing a gossamer tenor; that golden optimist, the Baltimore +oriole, piped his cheery recitative in the tops of the trees; +chickadees supplied the minor strains and tufted titmice the alto; four +or five turtle doves soothed the ear with their meditative cooing; +while the calls and songs of numerous jays and a few yellow-breasted +chats made a kind of trombone accompaniment. Surely it is worth one's +while to hie early to the haunts of the birds to hear such a tumult of +song. + +One spring I made up my mind to make a closer study than ever of the +dainty creeping warbler, wishing to know just how he contrives to +scuttle up and down the boles and branches of the trees with so much +ease and grace. He is the only warbler we have in eastern North +America that makes a habit of scaling the tree trunks and descending +them head downward. How does he do this? The muscles of his legs and +pelvis are as elastic as India rubber, so that he can twist and twirl +about in a marvelous way, pointing his head one moment to the east and +the next, without losing his hold, in the opposite direction. He is +able to swing himself around almost as if he were hung on a pivot. + +But how does he hold himself on his shaggy wall as he hitches head +downward? Just as the nuthatch does--not by keeping both feet directly +under him, as most people suppose, but by thrusting one foot slightly +forward and the other outward and backward, thus preserving his balance +at the same time that he holds himself firmly with his sharp little +claws to his upright wall. Some of the pictures of the creeper seen in +the books are not quite true to creeper methods of clinging and +locomotion, for they represent him as stuck to the bark of a tree trunk +with both feet invisible, presumably held directly under his striped +breast. In the real position it is likely that one or both feet could +be seen, the one thrust forward and the other flung back and to one +side. At least one foot would be visible, whatever the angle at which +the bird would be inspected, and from many points of view both of his +tiny feet may be plainly seen in the position described. + +Our little striped friend, usually called in the books the +black-and-white warbler, is not, after all, so expert a creeper as is +the nuthatch, which may be called the arboreal skater _par excellence_. +The warbler does not go scuttling straight down a vertical bole or +branch as the nuthatch does, but swings his lithe body from side to +side, as if he did not loosen the hold of both feet simultaneously but +alternately. Besides, both in ascending and descending he must have +more frequent recourse to his wings to tide him over the difficult +places. While the nuthatch can glide over the smoothest and hardest +bark, and even descend the wall of a brick house, his sharp claws +taking a firm grip on the edges of the bricks, the warbler is not quite +so much of a gymnast, for when he strikes a difficult spot in his +promenade ground, he flies or flits over it to the next protuberance +which his claws can hold. He has a decided advantage, however, over +all his warbler kin, for he is not only gifted with the creeping +talent, but is also just as dexterous as they in perching on a +horizontal twig. + +The little bird known as the brown creeper belongs to a different +avicular family entirely, but in one respect he is like the +black-and-white warbler--that is, he scales the trunks and branches of +the trees. There, however, the resemblance ceases, for the creeper +rarely goes head downward, evidently thinking that the proper position +for a bird's head is pointing toward the sky, not toward the ground. +Besides, he seldom, if ever, sits crosswise on a perch; no, he is an +inveterate creeper. My study of him proves that he does not hold his +feet directly under his breast, but spreads them out well toward either +side, knowing instinctively how to make a broad enough base to enable +him to preserve his center of gravity. + +Like the woodpecker, he uses his stiff tail as a brace; nor does he go +zigzagging up his wall after the manner of the creeping warbler, but +hitches along in a direct line--unless, of course, a tidbit attracts +him to one side--proving that he is a true creeper, one to the manner +born. However, the warbler has one advantage--he is able to perch with +perfect security on a twig, an accomplishment that has not yet been +attained by his little brown cousin. How cunningly the creeper peeps +into the crannies of the bark as he plies his trade, thrusts his long, +curved beak into the tiny holes and crevices, and draws out a worm or a +grub, which the next moment goes twinkling down his throat! His +economic value to the farmer and the fruit grower cannot be estimated, +and he should never be destroyed. + +The conduct of different birds is not alike upon their arrival from the +South at their summer nesting haunts in our more northern latitudes; +some heralding their advent with jubilant song as if in greeting to the +familiar scenes, while others are silent and wary. The first I knew of +the Baltimore and orchard orioles last spring, they were singing +blithely in the trees about the house; but the brown thrashers flitted +about slyly and silently for a few days, apparently to make sure that +the coast was clear of danger; having done which, they burst into their +dithyrambs with a will. Out in the woodland the gorgeous scarlet +tanager announced his arrival one morning with a lively sonnet, which +was heard long before the singer was seen; whereas his cousin, the +summer tanager, uttered only his quaint alarm-call, "Chip-burn, +chip-burn," and was excessively shy, dashing wildly away as I +approached, unwilling to vouchsafe a wisp of song. Once he even +pounced angrily upon his black-winged relative and drove him to the +other side of the hollow, precisely as if he meant to say, "Your +singing is out of place, sir, and dangerous, too! Don't you know that +the man prowling about yonder will shoot little birds who betray their +presence by singing?" + +[Illustration: Baltimore Oriole] + +One of our most lavish singers all summer long is the indigo bunting; +yet when he first came back from the South he was very shy, and his +voice seemed to be out of tune, so that, even when he tried to sing, +which was seldom, his effort sounded like the creaking of a rusty +door-hinge. Afterwards, however, when he got the cobwebs out of his +larynx, he made up for all his previous silence. Quite different is +the habit of the towhee, which announces his presence by his loud, +explosive trill--all too brief--or his complaining "chewing." + +Sometimes the rambler and bird gazer meets with other than avian +"specimens" in his excursions. One evening I was loitering in a +distant hollow, ogling with my field glass several lark sparrows that +were flitting about on the ground in an adjacent patch of some kind. +The birds were singing as only these beautiful sparrows can, and the +quiet of the evening lent an idyllic charm to their rich and varied +chansons. On the other side of a small stream stood a shanty, in the +door of which sat an old negro woman. In looking at the birds, I +sometimes turned the glass toward the shanty, although too intent on my +studies to notice it. Presently the woman could no longer endure my +apparent espionage, and so she said: "Go 'bout yer own business, +mister, 'n' don' ye be spyin' inter my house!" + + + + +TROUBLE AMONG THE BIRDS* + +*The larger part of this chapter was first published in "The Christian +Endeavor World," Boston; the rest of it in "Our Animal Friends," New +York. I reprint it here by permission of both these journals. + + +Even at the risk of causing a feeling of dejection on the reader's +part, I am going to put one "trouble" chapter into this volume. There +are trials in the birds' domain, and perhaps you and I will feel more +sympathy with them, and will be led to protect them all the more +carefully, if we know something about the "deep waters of affliction" +through which they are sometimes compelled to pass. Our native +American birds, at least some of them, suffer a good deal at the hands, +so to speak, of the pestiferous English sparrows, which were introduced +into this country by some egregious blunder. + +There can be no doubt that the English sparrows are regular bullies. +They do not fight other birds so much as they hector them, making life +intolerable by their ribaldry, coarse jests, and prying manners. Some +birds, especially many of our beautiful native species, are sensitively +organized, and cannot endure such boorish society as the badly bred +foreigners furnish. That as much as anything has driven our genteel +bluebirds away from our homes into the woods and other out-of-the-way +places. How would you feel, my friend, if, as you were going along the +street, a lot of hoodlums should take to gibing and hooting at you? + +Were there ever such pesky, ill-mannered citizens as the English +sparrows? Here comes a downy woodpecker, or a cardinal, or a +rose-breasted grosbeak to town, flitting about the trees of my yard, +gathering goodies among the leaves and twigs, and perhaps piping a +little aria at intervals, congratulating himself on having found a +pleasant, quiet place, when, lo! a gang of English sparrows crowd +around him, peering at him now with one eye, now with the other, +canting their heads in their impertinent way, bowing and scraping and +blinking, and for all the world seeming to make such derisive remarks +as, "Oh, what a fine fellow! Quite stuck-up, ain't he? Isn't that a +stylish topknot, though? He! he! he! Look! he wears a rose on his +shirt bosom! Isn't he a dandy? Ge! ge! gah! gah!" By and by the +visitor can stand the racket and the mockery no longer; and so he +steals away, resolved never again to go to that place to be insulted. +I have repeatedly been witness of just such occurrences. + +Early in the spring a robin began to build her nest in the middle story +of one of my maple trees. The whole process was narrowly watched by +the noisy, hectoring sparrows. They gathered about her, prying and +bobbing and jostling and chirping, staring at her like a lot of +bumpkins when she leaped into the half-finished cup and molded her +building material with her ruddy bosom. They seemed to be saying +jeeringly: "Isn't that a funny way for a bird to build a house? Hay! +hay! hay!" The robin forsook her nest; and the sparrows borrowed her +timbers for their own nest, and forgot to bring them back again. + +Just a moment ago a couple of young red-headed woodpeckers and their +parents visited the trees of my yard, making a lively din, for the +youngsters were calling for their supper. Then the sparrows crowded +about them, called and jested, followed them from tree to tree, never +stopping their persecutions until the red-headed family flew off in +disgust. + +In a Kansas town one March day, as I was returning to the house in +which I was lodging, my attention was attracted to a black-capped +chickadee, which was flitting about and calling in an agitated way in +one of the trees. Two English sparrows, a cock and his mate, were +responsible for the little bird's perturbation. What were they doing? +Something rude, as usual. Perched on a couple of twigs, they were +bending over, stretching out their necks and peering into a small hole +in one of the larger branches. The male was especially offensive, +standing there and staring into the cavity, and making insolent remarks. + +A good-sized club, hurled by myself, sent the sparrows to other parts. +Then I hurried into the house and sat by the curtained window to watch. +With much ado, the little black-cap flew over to the limb with the +cavity. He flitted about a few moments, then darted to the opening and +looked in, chirping in a reassuring tone, as much as to say, "The +ruffians are gone now; you can come out." + +And out of the doorway flew his pretty wife, while he slipped in to see +that all was safe. You see, the ill-bred sparrows had been glaring at +the little madam as she sat on her nest, which was a piece of +impertinence that no self-respecting bird could endure with equanimity. + +The English sparrows are not the only birds that disturb the harmony of +the bird realm. Offenders must needs come there as well as in the +human sphere. A friend who is entirely trustworthy tells me the +following story. He and his wife were driving along a country road, +when their attention was directed to a kingbird in hot pursuit of a +red-headed woodpecker, which had evidently been poaching on the +first-named bird's preserves. Being an expert flyer, the kingbird had +almost overtaken the fugitive, when suddenly the red-head wheeled to +one side, flung himself somehow or other over a telegraph wire, turning +at the same time and catching with his claws at the wire, where he +clung, his body bent in an arc, holding his enemy at bay with his long, +pointed beak and spiny tail. Of course, the martin could not attack +him in that position, as he could not afford to run the risk of being +impaled on the red-head's spear. + +Nor was that all. The martin sailed a short distance away, and the +woodpecker thought it safe to take to wing again. The kingbird again +started in swift pursuit, filling the air with his loud chirping, sure +of his game this time; but he was balked, as before, by the red-head's +sudden dash to the telegraph wire. This little comedy was repeated +several times while my friends watched with surprise and amusement. + +There is tragedy as well as comedy in the world of feathers. Ernest +Thompson Seton's graphic animal stories would leave a pleasanter taste +in the mouth if they ended less tragically, but they would not be so +true to life as it is in the faunal realm. It must be true that the +lives of most birds and animals end in tragedy, so numerous, alert, and +persistent are their foes. As soon as a bird begins to grow old and +infirm, losing its keenness of vision and its swiftness of movement, it +cannot help falling a prey to its rapacious enemies. For this reason +you seldom find a feeble animal or bird in the open, or one that has +lain down and died a natural death. + +However, strange as it may seem, I have found the corpses of several +birds in the wild outdoors. At an abandoned limestone quarry one +spring I discovered the nest of a pair of phoebes. I called at the +pretty domicile a number of times in my rambles. It was set on a shelf +of one stratum of rock, and roofed over by another. One day I noticed +the little dame sitting quietly in her cup, and decided to go near; +just why, I cannot tell. She did not move as I approached; she did not +even turn her head to look at me. It was strange. I went right up to +the nest, and yet she did not fly. Stretching out my hand, I found +that she was dead, her unhatched eggs still under her cold and +pulseless bosom. + +I could have wept for my little friends. There was nothing to indicate +the cause of the tragedy, no disturbance of the nest, no marks of +violence on her body. Possibly she had eaten or drunk poison; perhaps +she had received a fatal blow from an enemy, and had just had strength +enough left to come home to die. Her mate was gone. He was doubtless +unable to bear the ghastly sight of his dead companion on her nest. + +A little field sparrow came to a tragical end in a different way. I +found his body dangling among the bushes on a bank. Two small but +tough grapevine twigs growing out horizontally and close together +formed a very acute angle, and this was the trap in which the innocent +bird was caught. In some way one of his legs had slipped between the +branches, the angle of which became more acute, of course, toward the +apex. Thus the more he struggled the more tightly his tarsus became +wedged in the trap, the foot preventing it from slipping through. To +think of pushing his leg backward, and so releasing himself, was beyond +the poor bird's cerebral power; so he fluttered until exhausted, then +dangled there to die of starvation. The place being very secluded, no +predatory beast or fowl had found the little corpse. + +If there were only some way of protecting the nests of our beautiful +and useful birds of the wildwood, what a boon it would be to men and +fowls! So many nests come to grief that one wonders sometimes that any +brood is ever reared. During a recent spring, with exhausting toil and +patience, I found the nests of several shy woodland birds--the +Kentucky, the hooded, and the creeping warblers--all of them real +discoveries for me. I promised myself a rare treat in watching the +development of the nurslings from babyhood to youth. Alas! all the +nests were robbed, those of the Kentucky and hooded warblers of their +young, and that of the creeping warbler of its eggs. I trust I am not +naturally vindictive; but had I the brigands in my power who despoiled +those nests, I certainly should wring their necks. + +Our small birds must ever be on the _qui vive_. Danger is always +lurking near, as a few concrete cases will show. Brush was thrown into +a certain hollow well known to the writer, and one of the steep +hillsides was covered with timber of a medium-sized growth. One day I +was listening to a concert given by a company of towhees and cardinals, +which were sitting in the trees at the lower border of the woodland. A +flock of cedar waxwings were also "tseeming" in the top of a tree, +darting out at intervals into the air for insects. Suddenly every song +ceased, and the whole company dashed down, pellmell, hurry-skurry, into +the thick brush heaps of the hollow. At the same moment, or perhaps a +moment later--it all occurred so quickly I could not be exact--a covey +of juncos hurled themselves with reckless swiftness into the brush +pile, followed by a sparrow hawk, which uttered a queer, uncanny call +that meant death to any little bird that should be overtaken. + +He flung himself through a network of branches and twigs and lightly +struck the ground below, his wings partly opening as he lit, to break +the force of the concussion. He had dashed directly over my head. +Before I could collect my wits he gathered himself together, wormed his +way out through the branches in some way, and darted off up the +opposite slope. He had failed to secure his prize, but it was +wonderful how so large a bird could slip through the network of +branches and extricate himself without striking a quill against a twig. + +The extreme watchfulness of the small birds cannot fail to excite +wonder in the mind of the observer. In the case just referred to not +one of the birds was taken unaware, although some of them were singing +gaily, and others were busy feeding. Never for a moment do the birds +become so absorbed in their eating or work or play as to forget that a +foe may be lurking near. One cannot help wondering how they can be +happy. Suppose we were compelled to be incessantly on the lookout for +danger, should we ever have a moment of peace or joy? + +A red-breasted woodpecker was chiseling out a nursery in a tall +sycamore at the border of a woodland. At some distance, far enough +away not to alarm her, I watched the dame at her work. This was her +method of procedure, hour by hour: She would plunge head first into the +hole, only her barred tail being visible, give three or four vigorous +dabs with her bill, then emerge and look around in every direction for +danger; seeing none, into the cavity her crimson-crowned head would +again disappear, only to emerge again a second later. Not for a moment +did she dare to relax her vigilance. Had she done so, in that fatal +moment a hawk might have swooped upon her and crushed her in his +merciless talons. + +Yet some birds will take not a little risk, depending on their +quickness of eye and nimbleness of wing to escape their predatory foes. +In a tall sycamore tree standing alone at the fringe of a piece of +woodland, sparrow hawks, red-breasted woodpeckers, and nuthatches, a +pair of each, had set up their household gods. The tree was still bare +of foliage, for it had few branches, and the season was early spring. +It was evident, too, that the hawks were watching for an opportunity to +assault their neighbors, to whom they often gave chase. Yet the +woodpeckers had in some way contrived to hew out their arboreal +nursery, which was almost, if not quite, finished. It was a freshly +chiseled cavity, as could be seen plainly from below. The mother +nuthatch was feeding her young. She would fly to the tree with an +insect in her bill, calling "Yank, yank," or "Ha-ha, ha-ha," as if to +announce her arrival, then glide around the branch, scurry down its +sloping wall, swing to the underside where the nest hole was, and jab +the juicy morsel into the chirruping throat of one of the bantlings +within. The bloodthirsty hawk dashed at her several times, but she +deftly dodged around to the other side of the branch, and let him glide +harmlessly by, flinging after him a taunting "Ha-ha, ha-ha," as much as +to say, "Missed your aim again, didn't you!" However, it was a pretty +picture the nuthatch made, holding in her bill a large beetle with +silvery wings, sometimes holding it straight out from the bark as she +glanced around to see whether the coast was clear and at the same time +calling her nasal "yank," so full of woodsy suggestion. + +A trying experience for many birds comes at bedtime. They grow quite +nervous as night begins to settle over the land, some of them chirping +loudly to express their solicitude. As the darkness deepens, their +sight becomes obscured, and they seem to realize that they are exposed +to dangers unseen. You have often, no doubt, noticed the to-do made by +the robins as the time for retiring draws near. What foes may be +lurking in the growing darkness they know not. + +A favorite roosting place for the sparrows, towhees, juncos, and even +the robins, was in some thickets by the roadside. As I passed along, a +bird would occasionally leap from his perch to the ground and go +galloping away over the rustling leaves. At one place a half dozen +Harris sparrows were chirping loudly and flitting about a couple of +small trees, which were partly covered with a thick network of vines. +The cause of their uneasiness could not be determined, unless it was +their natural fear of the darkness. I waited until night had settled. +Presently the sparrows became quiet. Tramping about near the trees did +not disturb them, but when I flung a lighted stick against one of the +trees, they flew out of their matted bedroom with loud outcries. For a +few minutes they could be seen dashing about from tree to tree; then +they settled down for the night. + +[Illustration: Bob-white, or Quail] + +In view of the many trials that naturally come into the life of the +birds, we should be all the kinder to them. Why add to their sorrows? +Let me give you an example of humane treatment in one case--that of the +quail or bob-white. Not long ago I listened to a sensible lecturer on +natural history subjects. + +He did not say we should never kill the quail. They have evidently +been created for man's use, or they would not have been given such +juicy and nutritious flesh; just as many other fowls and animals were +made to minister to the subsistence and pleasure of the human family. +Besides, there can be no doubt that, if the quail were all permitted to +live and multiply, they would soon become so abundant as to do much +harm in our grain fields. So some of them should be killed, but not in +a cruel manner. + +One thing is certain, they should not be killed with shotguns! You ask +at once and in some surprise, Why not? Because that is cruel. Don't +you see how? Well, that is the way with most of us--we do many things +without thinking. It is not cruel to kill quail with a shotgun +providing they are killed outright. But have you never thought how +many of the fine shot must wound some of the birds that fly away? A +bird with several shots in its body may not be fatally hurt at first, +but will fly off and alight somewhere in the bushes where no hunter can +find it. In a few days the wounds grow sore, then gangrene sets in, +and the bird slowly dies in awful torture. No one to help it, no one +even to pity. Is not that cruel? + +But how are these birds to be treated? They should be dealt with +kindly, fed in winter, so that they will become comparatively tame, +somewhat like the fowl of the barnyard. Then, in the proper season, +they should be caught with a net. This can be done by placing the nets +in such a way that the birds will run into them about the brush heaps, +in which they are fond of taking refuge. Skill and shrewdness are +needed to catch them in this way, and, perhaps, it cannot be done while +they are shot at so much and are made so shy; but the time will come +when the netting of quail will be regarded as rare sport in America, as +hawking or fox hunting is in England. + +When the birds are caught their heads should be snipped off as you do +those of domestic fowls, or in some other way that is as painless as +possible. According to this plan not so many birds can be secured, it +is true, but it would be well to let the quail become more abundant in +our country, for in certain seasons of the year they destroy certain +kinds of insects that do much harm to the grain. Besides, they are +such sweet and innocent birds that all of us like to see them scuttling +along by the roadside, and listen to their musical calling in the +clover fields--"Bob white! bob white!" Then, too, if they were allowed +to become tame and plentiful, we might sometimes have the luxury of +quail's eggs on our tables. + + + + +A BIRD'S EDUCATION* + +*Reprinted by permission from "Forest and Stream." + + +So far as regards the recent discussion as to how animals learn, +whether by instinct or instruction, my study of birds leads me to take +a middle position; perhaps I would better say to take sides with both +parties. Birds acquire knowledge partly by instinct and partly by +tutelage, and the same is no doubt true of all other animals. This +statement will be borne out by several concrete cases. + +Some years ago I made a number of experiments in rearing young birds +taken as early as possible from the nest. Among them were meadowlarks, +red-winged blackbirds, brown thrashers, blue jays, wood thrushes, +catbirds, flickers, red-headed woodpeckers, and several other species. +Nearly all of them were secured some time before they were naturally +ready to leave their natal places. Without any instruction from +parents or older birds they soon left the nests I had improvised for +them, hopped about on the cage floor for a while, and presently +insisted on clambering upon the perches, to which they clung in the +regulation way. Indeed, I noted again and again that the impulse to +seek a perch was so strong that the young birds seemed to be moved to +it by an imperative command. Nor were they long satisfied with a low +perch, but instinctively mounted to the highest one they could find. + +The same was true in regard to flight. No feathered adult was present +to tutor them in the art of using their wings, yet they soon acquired +that power of their own accord. It was inborn--the gift of flight. +True, they were awkward at first, and gained skill only by degrees, but +the original impulse was in their constitution. It is no doubt true +that parent birds in the outdoors do give their young lessons in +flight, but if the bantlings were left to themselves, they would +acquire that art through their original endowment, although more slowly +and with many more hard knocks. + +As every one knows, juvenile birds at first open their mouths for their +food. Proof may not be at hand for the opinion, but I am disposed to +believe that they never need to be told by their parents to do that; +their instincts prompt them. It must be so, I think, for to suppose +that the bird baby only a day or two from the shell could understand a +parental command to open its mouth would be to presume that it has the +instinct to grasp the meaning of such a behest, and that is more +difficult to believe than that Nature simply impels it to take its food +by opening its mandibles. + +Now, when the young birds are taken from the nest and reared by hand, +they insist for a long time on being fed in the juvenile manner. +However, by and by they begin of their own volition to pick up food +after the manner of the adults. At first they are very clumsy about +it, but they persevere until they acquire skill, and presently they +refuse entirely to open their mandibles for food. Here again Nature is +their sole guide. Without human or avian suggestion they also learn to +drink in the well-known bird fashion; also to bathe, chirp, frolic, and +do many other things. Who has ever seen a pet bird in drinking try to +lap like a dog, or take in long draughts like a cow or a horse? No; +Nature made them birds, and birds they will be. It is noticeable, too, +that when birds begin to peck, or bathe, or seek a perch, they do not +usually act as if they were deliberately planning to do so, nor as if +they were carrying on some process of thought leading to choice, but +rather as if they were impelled by Nature to do so. + +The chirping of birds is mostly, if not wholly, a matter of +inheritance. For instance, my little wood thrushes, as soon as they +reached a sufficient age, called just like their relatives of the +sylvan solitudes; my brown thrashers uttered the labial chirp of the +species; my red-winged blackbird exclaimed "Chack! chack!" after the +manner of his kind; my bluebirds expressed their feelings in the sad +little purr of _Sialia sialis_; my flickers did not borrow the calls of +the red-heads, but each clung to its own language; my catbirds mewed +like poor pussy in trouble; and so on through the whole list. True, +these pets may have heard their parents' calls before they were taken +from the nest, but it is not at all likely that they would have +remembered them, for at first they only "cheeped" after the manner of +most bantlings, and only a good while afterward did they fall to using +the adult chirp. Besides, while still in the nest, they must have +heard many other bird calls; why did they not acquire them? Heredity +has laid a strong hand upon birds, and has drawn sharp dividing lines +among the various species. + +Instinct also plays a large part in moving the bird to sing and to +render the peculiar arias of its kind. For instance, a pet wood thrush +of mine, secured at an early age and kept far away from all his kith of +the wildwood, became a fine musician. And what do you suppose was the +tune he executed? It was the sweet, dreamy, somewhat labored song of +the wood thrush in his native wilds. He never sang any other tune. I +think he sang it better than any wild thrush I have ever heard. It was +louder, clearer, more full-toned, but the quality of voice and the +technique were precisely the same. Who was his teacher? No one but +Nature, heredity, instinct, whatever you choose to call it. There was +no wild thrush within a half mile of his cage. + +[Illustration: Robin] + +The case of a pet thrasher was almost as striking. It is true, he may +have heard several of his kin singing about the premises during the +first spring of his captivity, but it is not probable that he learned +their melodies so early in life. As the next spring approached, he +began to sing the very medleys that the wild thrashers sing with so +much earnestness and skill, and this was long before any thrashers had +come back from the South. + +I must now describe several cases in which inherited instinct did not +prove so true a teacher. A young robin was once given me by a friend, +and was kept by myself and others until the following summer. Strange +as it may seem, he never acquired the well-known robin carol. +Sometimes there were vague hints of it in his vocal performances, but +for the most part he whistled strains in a loud, shrill tone that no +wild robin ever dreamed of inflicting on the world. They were more +like crude human efforts at whistling than anything else. Indeed, I +think they were picked up from the whistling he heard about the house. +Some of his strains were very sweet, and all of them were wonderful for +a bird. A friend played "Yankee Doodle" on a cornet, and Master +'Rastus--for that was his name--gave a very fair and funny imitation of +part of the air. There were many robins caroling in the trees about +the premises, and 'Rastus was often left out of doors among them, but +he never acquired the red-breast minstrelsy. + +A similar instance was that of a pet red-winged blackbird, which, +instead of whistling the labored "Grook-o-lee" of his species, learned +to mimic all kinds of sounds in and out of the house, among them the +crowing of the cocks of the barnyard. These two instances would +indicate that some birds must at least be associated with their kin in +order to learn the songs of their species. + +My comical pet blue jay gave proof of the need of parental training. +While he intuitively called like a jay, he never was able to sing the +sweet, gurgling roulade of the wild jays. On the contrary, he treated +us to all kinds of odd, imitative, mirth-provoking performances that no +self-respecting jay in the open would think of enacting. After several +months of cage life he was given his liberty. Now, indeed, he showed +his lack of jay bringing up, and how little, in some respects, mere +instinct can be relied on. When evening came he perched on a limb of +the maple tree before the house, in a place as exposed as he could well +find, not knowing that there was more danger in an outdoor roost than +in his shielding cage. I could not induce him to come down, nor could +I climb out to the branch on which he sat, and so I was compelled to +leave him out of doors. + +The next morning he was safe, the screech owls of the neighborhood +having overlooked him in some way. The next evening he went to roost +in the same exposed place, and that was the last I ever saw of my +beloved pet. He was undoubtedly killed and devoured by the owls. Had +he been reared out of doors in the usual way, his parents would have +taught him to find a roosting place that was secure from predatory +foes. No one has ever seen a wild jay sleeping in an exposed place. + +In her charming little book, "True Bird Stories," Mrs. Olive Thorne +Miller says that she "once watched the doings in a crow nursery." I +quote: + +"The most important thing the elders had to do was to teach the +youngsters how to fly, and every little while one or both of the +parents would fly around the pasture, giving a peculiar call as they +went. This call appeared to be an order to the little folks to follow, +for all would start up and circle round for a minute or two, and then +drop back to the fence or the ground to rest. + +"Once, while I was watching them, this cry was given, and all flew as +usual except one bob-tailed baby, who stood on a big stone in the +middle of the field. He was perhaps so comfortable that he did not +want to go, or it may be he was afraid, and thought mamma would not +notice him. But mothers' eyes are sharp, and she did see him. She +knew, too, that baby crows must learn to fly; so when all came down +again she flew right at the naughty bird, and knocked him off his +perch. He squawked, and fluttered his wings to keep from falling, but +the blow came so suddenly that he had not time to save himself, and he +fell flat on the ground. In a minute he clambered back upon his stone, +and I watched him closely. The next time the call came to fly he did +not linger, but went with the rest, and so long as I could watch him he +never disobeyed again." + +This is evidence not only of parental teaching, but also of parental +discipline. Here is another bit from the same volume, bearing its +lesson on its face. "A lady told me a funny story about a robin. He +was brought up in the house from the nest, and never learned to sing +the robin song, for he had not heard it. He plainly tried to make some +sort of music, and one of the family taught him to whistle 'Yankee +Doodle'. He whistled it perfectly, and never tried to sing anything +else. Once this Yankee Doodle robin got out of the house and flew up +into a tree. When the wild birds came about him he entertained them by +whistling his favorite air, which sent the birds off in a panic." + +Do not the facts recited in this sketch prove that birds know and +acquire some things through the promptings of instinct, while other +things they can learn only by avian teaching? + +My notes on instinct and education in bird song correspond with the +conviction expressed by Dr. W. H. Hudson on page 257 of his interesting +book entitled "The Naturalist in La Plata," fourth edition, 1903: "It +is true that Daines Barrington's notion that young song birds learn to +sing only by imitating the adults, still holds its ground; and Darwin +gives it his approval in his 'Descent of Man'. It is perhaps one of +those doctrines which are partly true, or which do not contain the +whole truth; and it is possible to believe that, while many singing +birds do so learn their songs, or acquire a greater proficiency in them +from hearing the adults, in other species the song comes instinctively, +and is, like other instincts and habits, purely an 'inherited memory'." +What Dr. Hudson surmises may be the case, I believe my experiments have +proved to be true. + + + + +ARE BIRDS SINGERS OR WHISTLERS?* + +*Reprinted by permission from "Our Animal Friends." + + +Not a little discussion has arisen among the dissectors as to the +anatomy of bird song. Into this controversy I shall not enter--at +least, not in a controversial spirit--but shall recount only what may +be regarded as the best and latest results of scientific research. How +does a bird produce the melodious notes that emanate from his throat? +Are they manufactured far down in the trachea, or only at its anterior +opening? Are they voice tones or flute tones? These questions will be +answered as we proceed to examine the bird's lyrical apparatus without +going into wearisome detail, or making use of many difficult scientific +terms, which are the bane of the general reader. + +Let me begin at the upper end of the avian singing machine--that is, +with the mouth, including the bill, the lips of which are called +mandibles. Just as the movements of the human lips have much to do +with the modifications of the human voice, so the opening and closing +of the bird's mandibles exercise a modifying influence upon avicular +tones. If it were not so, the feathered minstrel would not keep his +mandibles in such constant motion during his lyrical recitals. You +will notice that whenever he desires to strike a very high and loud +note he opens his mandibles quite widely, sometimes almost to the +fullest possible extent. + +However, the expansion and contraction of the throat orifice, no doubt, +produce still more marked variations in the tones of the vocalist; yet +it must be borne in mind that closed or partly closed mandibles will +obstruct the passage of the air from the throat, while open mandibles +will permit of a full passage of the air current, and the tones will +vary accordingly. Besides, the roof of the bird's mouth is grooved or +convex, and therefore the character of the sounds will be somewhat +dependent upon the position and movement of the upper mandible. + +And then there is the bird's tongue, which is constantly in motion +while the musical rehearsal is going on. Throughout its entire length +it can be raised and lowered at the bird's will, or be made to quiver +and roll, and by this means the air column forced up from the lungs is +manipulated in a wonderful way, producing in some cases an almost +unlimited variety of modulation. + +Within the bird's neck two elastic tubes run down from the mouth into +the chest. One of them is the gullet or aesophagus, which is the +channel through which the bird's food descends into the crop and +gizzard. The other little cylinder lies in front of the gullet, and is +called the windpipe or trachea, and reaches down to the lungs, which +are the bellows furnishing the wind for the avian pipe organ. As Dr. +Coues says, the trachea is "composed of a series of very numerous +gristly or bony rings connected together by an elastic membrane," and +is supplied with an intricate set of muscles by which it can be +shortened or elongated at the will of the songster himself. + +Now let us look at the upper end of this wonderful pneumatic pipe, +which so often throws Pan and all his coterie into a transport when the +thrasher and the wood thrush flute their dithyrambs. Here we find the +larynx. It is simply the anterior specialized portion of the trachea, +located at the base of the tongue, and in mammals is honored as the +voice organ, whereas in birds it is distinguished as the fluting +apparatus, the instrument that really produces the varied vocalization +of the bird realm. But the music is not the product of vocal cords, as +is the case in the human larynx, for at the upper end of the avian +larynx there is a slit or fissure, somewhat elliptical in form, and set +in the fork of the hyoid bone, which constitutes the bifurcated root of +the tongue. This fissure is called the glottis. At the bird's fiat, +it can be opened and closed and made to assume a great variety of +forms. Moreover, just in front of it there is a fold of mucous +membrane called the epiglottis, which is in reality a tiny trapdoor +closing over the opening when necessity requires. When the bird +swallows food or drink, this little flap shuts down, and prevents the +entrance of any clogging substance into the windpipe to choke the +feathered diner. + +We have now come to the most strategic point in our investigation of +the anatomy of bird song, for in the avian world a special distinction +has been conferred upon that little orifice in the bird's throat called +the glottis. It is here that all the music, as well as all other +so-called vocal sounds, are generated--they are simply piped or fluted +through a slit, so that birds are _whistlers_, not singers or +vocalists. I repeat, so that my meaning may be perfectly clear--bird +music is not produced by means of vocal cords, as is the music of the +human throat, but by means of a whistling aperture in the larynx. And +that wonderful cleft has been placed there for that specific purpose. +Properly speaking, therefore, the feathered choralist does not have a +voice, but only a wind instrument; albeit a marvelous contrivance it is. + +It will be easy now to see how the bird's tones are capable of a large +variety of modulations. The glottis is controlled by a system of +muscles that are perfectly obedient, within their limits, to the bird's +volitions, and thus it may be made to assume a great number of +different forms, each giving expression to a different vocal effect. +The shape of the glottis is also modified in numerous ways by the +movement of the tongue and mandibles. Nor is that all, for the air +column pumped up from the lungs may be increased or diminished at will, +a very strong current producing a loud tone, and a feeble current a low +one. The elongation or contraction of the whole throat will also +modify the pneumatic column, and thereby alter the quality of the tones. + +We may go still further in our analysis. Suppose a bird should open +his mouth and throat as widely as possible, hold all his lyrical organs +steady, and blow his windpipe with all the strength his lungs could +command, it is obvious that the effect would be a clear, loud, uniform +whistle, such as the meadowlark sends across the green fields. But +suppose he desires to "blow a dreamy hautbois note, slender and refined +as ever stirred the air of Arcady or trembled in the vineyards of old +Provence," then all the musician in plumes needs to do is to contract +the slit in his throat, depress his tongue, almost close his mandibles, +and simply allow a slender air current to sift from the lungs through +the syrinx and out of the glottis. What if the whim should seize him +to pipe a trill or a quaver to the water witches of the meadow, as +Master Song Sparrow so often chooses to do? Then he simply needs to +set his tongue and throat to quivering, and you have his enrapturing +tremolo. Beautiful, is it not? + +There are birds that send a kind of guttural sound from their throats, +such as the cuckoos and occasionally the blue jays. Notice the cuckoo +as he utters his call, which every swain interprets as the harbinger of +a coming shower, and you will observe that his throat bulges out like +that of a croaking frog, and quivers at the same time in a convulsed +way. It is plain that the air about to be forced from the glottis is +flung back by some muscular action and set to vibrating in the +laryngean cavity, thus giving the sound its croaking quality when the +elastic current is finally released. + +Now, if the reader will pucker up his lips and whistle a tune, he will +notice that the sound is actually produced at the small labial orifice +and nowhere else; however, the tones are modified and modulated at will +in a variety of ways--by a deft, though almost imperceptible, +manipulation of the tongue, by a slight enlargement or contraction of +the aperture, and especially by a dexterous control of the air column +blown from the lungs. Just so the lyrists of fields and woods pipe +their roundels and _chansons_ through the chink in their throats, save +that in the bird's case the mouth and tongue are anterior to the +whistling aperture. I know a young man who has trained himself so as +to be able to mimic to perfection the complex songs of the western +meadowlark and the cardinal grosbeak. He does it by whistling. + +Near the lower end of the trachea, just above the lungs, there is a +specialized organ of the bird's throat called the syrinx. It is a +cylinder formed of bony rings, provided with a mesh of muscles, and +having membranous folds which act as valves upon the two orifices of +the _bronchi_ leading to the lungs. Many scientific gentlemen have +declared that the syrinx is the voice organ of the birds, the elastic +margins of the folds or valves being set to vibrating by the projection +of the air from the lungs, and thus producing the varied lays we hear +in the outdoor concert. However, Mr. Maurice Thompson--who, by the +way, found time to do something else besides writing "Alice of Old +Vincennes," and something just as creditable to his talent, +too--dissected many birds with special reference to this subject, and +gave close attention to birds in the act of singing, both out of doors +and in captivity, and I am convinced that he proved the theory of the +syringeal origin of bird song to be an erroneous one. + +Only two reasons need be adduced for this conclusion. First, it is +unreasonable to suppose that the rich, loud, clear notes of the +thrasher, the cardinal, and the mockingbird, lilting across the fields +and capable of being heard a long distance, are generated far down in +the lyrist's chest by the vibrating of the margin of a tiny mucous +membrane. If it had its genesis there, it surely would display a +muffled or guttural or sepulchral quality. In the second place, it has +been proved by actual dissection that the shrike, which possesses no +song gift worthy of the name, has a well-developed syrinx, while the +mockingbird, our feathered minstrel _par excellence_, has a syrinx that +is absolutely insignificant. On the other hand, the shrike's larynx, +including the glottis, is a clumsy affair, whereas the mocker's larynx +is indeed wonderfully made. + +[Illustration: Meadow Lark] + +It must not be supposed, however, that the syrinx does not perform an +important function in the production of avian melody. It acts as a +regulator or meter of the air impelled from the lungs. By means of the +folds or membranous valves the mouths of the bronchial tubes may be +opened widely or almost closed, and in this way, to quote from Mr. +Thompson, "the bird is enabled to measure in the nicest manner the +amount of air thrown from the lungs into the trachea." In producing a +staccato, for example, the valves flop up and down, doling out the air +at the proper intervals and in precisely the right quantities. + +Indeed, nothing in the world of Nature is more wonderful than the gift +of bird song, and nothing proves more clearly the doctrine of design, +or, at least, of adaptation to a specialized purpose. + + + + +BIRD FLIGHT* + +*Reprinted by permission from "The Evening Post," New York. + + +The question why man cannot fly may be answered in a very simple and +yet satisfactory manner: He has not been organically constructed for +that purpose. That may seem like cutting the Gordian knot, but, after +all, it is the only explanation that can be given. You might as well +ask why man cannot clutch a perch with his foot after the manner of a +bird or a monkey, for the response would be the same--his foot was made +for walking, and not for prehensile purposes. On the other hand, the +bird cannot grasp an object with its wings, while a man's hand is well +adapted for the performance of such a function. Nature's motto in her +whole realm seems to be: "Every creature after its kind." + +When we look at the structure of the flying birds, we see at once that +they were formed for swift locomotion through the air, just as plainly +as the lithe skiff was made to glide over the water or the carriage to +spin over the land. In the first place, the body of the bird is +comparatively light--that is, in proportion to the width, strength, and +extent of its wings. By its thick, light, airy covering of feathers +its body is made still more buoyant, besides presenting a larger +surface to the supporting air with very little additional weight. The +tail, too, with its long, closely woven quills spread out like a fan, +not only serves the purpose of a rudder for guiding the aërial craft, +but is still more useful in helping to sustain the bird's weight in the +up-buoying element. + +It is interesting to note that the feathers on the bodies of the flying +birds are arranged in tracts, with intervals here and there of quite, +or almost, bare skin, called "apteria." Now, when a bird is carefully +skinned, it will be seen that the feathered spaces have their own +special slips of muscles inserted into the roots of the feathers, and +when these muscles are contracted, they serve to raise the feathers, +and must, therefore, be of some subsidiary value in flying, by making +the bird's body more buoyant. Suggestive, indeed, is the fact that the +plumes of the non-flyers are not arranged in tracts, but are evenly +distributed over the body. + +Nor is that all that Nature has done to carry out her evident purpose +of making the bird a natural "flying machine." The body of the bird +contains numerous air sacs, all connected with the lungs, and these, +when inflated, are a great help in flying by making the bird light. +More than that, many of the bones, though strong, have thin walls and +are hollow, the cavities being connected with the lungs and air sacs, +from which they are also filled with air, contributing another element +of lightness to the aërial navigator. That the bird's bones are +capable of being permeated with air can be demonstrated by actual +experiment, and is, therefore, a scientifically established fact. It +is easy enough to prove it in this way: Take a dead bird that has been +beheaded, pass a syringe into its windpipe, tie it carefully so that +the air cannot escape at the sides, then blow the air down through the +tube, and you will be able to follow the passage of the air into the +skin and other parts of the body. Now, if you will cut off one of the +bones, you can detect the air passing from the cut surface; and, more +than that, as a scientific English writer says, "if the experiment be +made by using colored fluid instead of air--which is pumped in by a +syringe--the fluid can be seen to ooze from the ends of any bone or +muscle that has been cut across." Thus it is seen that the whole body +of the fowl is so constructed that it can be pervaded with air. + +However, while all parts of the bird's organism combine to produce the +end in view, the special instruments of flight are the wings. They are +really the fore limbs of the fowl, but differ in many respects from the +fore limbs of the mammals. They are under the control of muscles of +great comparative strength, as every one knows who has ever been beaten +by the wings of even an ordinary barnyard fowl, which has meagre powers +of flight. What a powerful stroke a large hawk or an eagle must be +able to deliver! If man's arm muscles were as strong in proportion, he +might have some hope of one day navigating the air on artificial wings, +but it is due principally to this muscular weakness that Darius Green +has never been able to make a success of his flying machine, and +perhaps never will. He would not have the strength to wield wings +large enough to sustain so much avoirdupois on the yielding air. + +The wings are highly specialized members of the avicular organism, and +hence differ in many important respects from the fore or pectoral limbs +of the mammals. Beginning at the point nearest the body, let us +examine one of these wonderful instruments. The wing proper begins at +the shoulder joint, which hinges freely upon the shoulder in a shallow +socket, into which the globular head of the first bone fits closely, +and in which it is firmly held by the powerful muscles that control the +organs of flight. The first bone is called the humerus, and is the +largest and strongest bone of the wing, extending from the shoulder to +the elbow. At the elbow, which is the first angle of the wing, +reaching backward when the wing is folded, the humerus articulates in a +wisely designed way with two other bones, called the ulna and radius, +which together constitute the forearm and extend to the wrist joint. +It must be remembered that, when the wing is closed, the forearm is the +segment that reaches obliquely forward. The wrist joint is the second +angle of the wing. In the wrist there are two small bones (the radiale +and ulnare) which serve an important purpose in joining the forearm +with what is known as the hand, and make possible the specialized +movement of the two parts upon each other. The hand is the terminal +segment of the wing, composed of the metacarpal bones and the digits or +fingers. Of the last-named organs there are ordinarily three, forming +a graceful tapering point to the wing, and giving to it the symmetry +and proportion that are required for effective use. When the wing is +folded, the hand extends obliquely downward and backward. + +Now, these bones and their attendant ligatures are wonderfully and +wisely contrived. The humerus moves freely in its socket in the +shoulder, so that it can be swung in every required direction, and yet, +as should be the case, its principal movement is up and down in a +vertical line--the precise movement required for the effective +wingstrokes in flight. But note further. The elbow joint, unlike that +of the shoulder, is a rigid hinge, permitting motion in only one plane, +that of the wing itself, or nearly so. The same is true of the wrist +joint, which holds the hand firmly, allowing no motion save that which +opens and closes the wing. The wisdom of this arrangement will be seen +at a glance. + +In the human arm the hand can be moved in every direction with the +greatest freedom, and, moreover, the wrist may be turned and the hand +laid on its back, its palm, its edge, or at almost any conceivable +angle. This is a very convenient contrivance for man, but it would be +a great misfortune for our avian friends if their wings would rotate so +readily; for in that case they would not have sufficient rigidity to +answer the purposes of flight, but would be twisted into every position +by the assaults of the air currents. Besides, even in ordinary flight +it would require a constant muscular effort to keep the wings in the +proper position. How wisely Nature has devised the bird's flying +apparatus! When outstretched, it is held firmly by the power of its +own mechanism, with its broad under surface lying horizontally, and no +breezy current can bend or twist it from its normal position. + +The set of muscles that open the wing are called the extensors, and +those that close it, the flexors. The former lie upon the back of the +upper arm and the front of the forearm and the hand, their tendons +passing over the convexities of the elbow and wrist, while the flexors +occupy the opposite sides, and their tendons run up into the +concavities of the joints. There are several powerful pectoral muscles +which run out from the shoulder and breast, and operate upon the upper +end of the humerus, and with these the wing is lifted and the strokes +are made during flight. + +Another mechanical contrivance deserves attention. An extremely +elastic cord reaches over from the shoulder to the wrist joint, +supporting a fold of skin that occupies the deep angle of the elbow, +and that is covered with short, fluffy feathers. When the bird is +flying, this cord is stretched and forms the front edge of that section +of the wing. But, now, suppose the wing is closed, will not this cord +make a cumbersome fold, flapping loosely in the angle of the elbow? +Such would, indeed, be the case, did not its extreme elasticity enable +it to contract to the proper length, so as to keep the wing's border +straight and smooth. + +Without the feathers the wing would be useless as an instrument of +flight. The shorter plumes that shield the bases of the long quill +feathers are called the coverts, which are found on both the upper and +under surfaces of the wing. They are divided into several sets, +according to the position they occupy, and are called the "primary +coverts" (because they overlie the bases of the primaries), the +"greater coverts," the "middle coverts," and the "lesser coverts." +Forming a vast expansion of the bony and fleshy framework are the +quills, or flight-feathers, called collectively the "remiges." These +plumes mainly determine the contour of the wing, and constitute a thin, +elastic surface for striking the air--one that is sufficiently +resilient to give the proper rebound and yet firm enough to support the +bird's weight. The longest quills are those that grow on the hand or +outer extremity of the wing and are known as the primaries. What are +called the secondaries are attached to the ulna of the forearm, while +the tertiaries occupy the humerus and are next to the body. All these +feathers are so placed relatively that the stiff outer vane of each +quill overlaps the more flexible inner vane of its successor, like the +leaves of certain kinds of fans, thus presenting an unbroken surface to +the air. As to the structure of these plumes, they combine firmness, +lightness, and mobility, the barbs and barbules knitting the more +flexible parts together, so that they do not separate, but only expand, +when the wing is unfolded. + +[Illustration: Barn Swallow] + +While the primary purpose of wings is flight, there is quite a number +of notable exceptions. A concrete example is the ostrich, whose wings +are too feeble to lift it from the ground, but evidently aid the great +fowl in running, as it holds them outspread while it skims over the +plain, perhaps using them mainly as outriggers or balancing poles in +its swift passage on its stilt-like legs. The penguins convert their +wings into fins while swimming through the water, the feathers closely +resembling scales. + +There are birds of many kinds, and therefore a great variety of wings +and modes of flight. Birds with short, broad, rounded wings, with the +under surface slightly concave and the upper surface correspondingly +convex, usually have comparatively heavy bodies, and race through the +air with rapid wing-beats and rather labored flight, and compass only +short distances. Among the birds of this kind of aërial movement may +be mentioned the American meadowlark, the bob-white, and the pheasant. +Other species propel themselves in rapid, gliding, and continued flight +by means of long, narrow, and pointed wings, like the swifts, swallows, +and goatsuckers, while many others, notably herons, hawks, vultures, +and eagles, are distinguished by a vast alar expansion in proportion to +their weight, and hence are able to sustain themselves in the air by +sailing, with only a slight stroke at rare intervals. Such birds as +the stormy petrel and the frigate-bird have wings that are broad, +convex, and of great length in contrast with the lightness and small +bulk of their bodies, for which reason they are able to sustain +themselves in the air for days without rest. It is even thought that +some of these wonderful birds of the limitless ocean sleep on the wing, +though how such an hypothesis could be proved it would be difficult to +say. + +Even in this day of scientific research and astuteness, it must not be +supposed that everything about the mechanics of avicular flight is +understood. We may readily comprehend how a bird, without fluttering +its wings, can poise in the air; but how can it move forward or in a +circle, and even mount upward, without a visible movement of a pinion? +And this some birds are able to do without reference to the direction +of the ethereal currents. That, I venture to say, is still a mystery. +It almost seems as if some of the masters of aërial navigation in the +bird world were gifted with the ability to propel themselves forward by +a mere act of volition. + +An interesting article on the subject of bird flight appeared not long +ago in one of the foremost periodicals of the country, a part of which +is here quoted to show what a puzzling problem we have before us: + +Recent developments in aërial navigation have renewed interest in the +comparative study of the mechanical principles involved in the flying +of birds. There is one exceedingly puzzling law in regard to birds and +all flying creatures, the solution of which may work far-reaching +influences in the construction of flying craft. + +"This law, which has thus far perplexed scientists, is that the heavier +and bigger the bird or insect, the less relative wing area is required +for its support. Thus the area of wing surface of a gnat is forty-nine +units of area to every one of weight. In graphic contrast to that, a +condor (_Sarcorhamphus gryphus_) which weighed 16.52 pounds had a wing +surface of 9.80 square feet. In other words, though the gnat needs +wing surface in a ratio of forty-nine square feet per pound of weight, +a great condor manages to sail along majestically with .59 of a square +foot to at least a pound of weight. The unexplained phenomenon +persists consistently throughout the whole domain of entomology and +ornithology. Going up the scale from the gnat, it is found that with +the dragon fly this ratio is 30 to 1, with the _tipula_, or +daddy-longlegs, 14.5 to 1, the cockchafer only 5.15 to 1, the +rhinoceros beetle 3.14 to 1. + +"Among birds the paradoxical law that the smaller the creature the +bigger the relative supporting wings holds good. A screech owl (_Scops +zorca_) weighing one-third of a pound had 2.35 square feet of wing +surface per pound of weight. A fish hawk (_Pandion haliaetus_) +weighing nearly three pounds had a wing area of 1.08 square feet to +each pound. A turkey buzzard weighing 5.6 pounds had a little less +than one square foot of wing surface to each pound. A griffon vulture +(_Gyps fulvus_) weighing 16.52 pounds had a wing surface of only .68 +square feet to the pound. + +"Students of aërial navigation who are devoting much attention to +observations of birds say that if the peculiar law governing extant +flying creatures could be fathomed the problem of human flight might be +solved." + + + + +A BIRD'S FOOT + +You will agree with me, after you have studied a bird's foot, that it +is one of Nature's most wonderful contrivances, so admirably adapted +for the purposes to which it is devoted that one cannot help feeling +that a Divine Mind must have planned it, just as a man would make a +watch for the express purpose of keeping time. + +But what is properly included in a bird's foot? Here we shall have to +correct a popular mistake, if we wish to be accurate, in the scientific +sense of the term. Most people think that the avian foot consists only +of the toes and claws, or the part that comes in direct contact with +the ground or the perch. That, however, is an error, for the foot +really comprises, in addition to the toes and claws, the first long +bone of the limb, reaching from the base of the digits to the first +joint. You will see, therefore, that the bird walks on its toes, not +on its foot as a whole. + +The long bone referred to--called the tarsus--corresponds to the instep +of the human foot, that is, the foot proper, while the joint which +extends backward, forming an angle with the next large bone, is really +the bird's heel. Thus you perceive that most birds walk with their +heels high in the air. What most people call the bird's "leg" is in +reality the bird's foot, and what they call its "foot" comprises only +its toes and claws. + +To obtain a correct idea of the bird's entire walking apparatus, we +begin with the uppermost part of the leg. As we proceed, it would be +well to keep in mind the different parts of the human leg and foot. +The highest bone is called the thigh bone or femur, which is, for the +most part, enclosed in the general integument of the body, and is not +entirely separate from it as is the thigh bone of the human leg. Among +carvers it is known as the "second joint." It reaches forward and +slightly downward, and is hidden under the feathers of the body. The +upper end of the femur enlarges into a globular head, which fits into +the socket of the hip in the pelvis, while the lower end meets another +long bone, which extends obliquely backward and downward and with which +it forms the knee joint. + +The knee of the bird extends forward, as the human knee does when it is +bent. By means of various nodules and tendons the femur is articulated +with and fastened to the next large bone at the knee joint. This +second bone is the leg proper, called in scientific language the crus. +When, with its thick, palatable flesh, it is cooked and placed on the +table, it is known as the "drumstick"--a favorite part of the fowl with +hungry boys, vying, in their minds, with the "white meat" of the breast. + +This important segment of the limb is composed of two bones, the larger +of which is called the tibia, the smaller the fibula. At its lower end +the tibia forms what is known as the ankle joint by articulating with +the next long bone, which is commonly called the tarsus, although the +proper name would be really metatarsus. It is not often that this bone +is covered with flesh, and therefore it seldom finds its way to the +table. Properly speaking, it is the larger part of the bird's foot, +reaching obliquely upward and backward from the roots of the toes to +the heel. If you will lift yourself upon your toes, holding your heels +in the air, you will be able to form a correct idea of what the bird is +doing whenever it stands or walks or perches. + +The toes are fastened by means of well adapted joints to the lower end +of the tarsus, and form what is popularly regarded as the bird's foot. +When spoken of separately, these toes are called digits, and when +spoken of collectively, they are called the podium. They are composed +of small bones called phalanges or internodes, which are jointed upon +one another like the several parts of the human fingers. The digits +can be spread out for walking purposes, or bent around so as to clasp +an object. The outer bone of each digit almost always bears a nail or +claw, which is sometimes very strong and hooked, as is the case with +the birds of prey, while in other species it is only slightly curved +and is not meant as a weapon of offense or defense, but chiefly to +enable the bird to "scratch for a living." + +How do the birds, in perching and roosting, retain their hold so long +on a limb without becoming weary? They do not need to make a conscious +effort to do this, but are held by the mechanical action of certain +muscles and tendons in the leg and foot. Of course, the bird can also +control these muscles by an act of its will, but a large part of their +action is automatic. In some species there is a muscle called the +ambiens, which has its rise in the pelvis, passes along the inner side +of the thigh, whence its tendon runs over the apex of the angle of the +knee joint, and down the leg till it joins the muscles that flex the +toes. Now when the bird's leg is bent at the joints, as is the case in +perching, the tendons of this muscle are stretched over the knee and +ankle joints, thus pulling the digits together, and causing them of +their own accord to grasp the perch more or less tightly. When a bird +wishes to unloose its hold, it simply rises on its feet and relaxes the +tendons. + +All birds by no means possess this particular muscle, but all the +perchers have some muscular arrangement in the legs and toes that +practically answers the same purpose. If you will bend your wrist +backward as far as you can, you will observe that your fingers will +have a tendency to curve slightly forward. This is caused by the +stretching of the tendons over the convex part of your bent wrist +joints. + +The typical bird has four digits, three in front and one reaching +backward. The hind toe is called the hallux, and corresponds to the +thumb of the human hand, so that in grasping an object it can be made +to meet any of the other toes. But many birds are not provided with a +quartet of digits. The ostrich has only two, the inner and hinder toes +being wanting. However, this great fowl does not experience any lack, +for its feet are almost solid like hoofs, and quite flat, and hence are +especially adapted for traveling across the sandy desert. + +No bird has ever been found with more than four toes; and four seem to +be ample for all purposes. A fifth toe for a bird would be as useless +as a fifth wheel on a wagon. Quite a number of species have only three +toes, most of them among the walkers and waders, and none, I believe, +among the true perchers. Take the plovers and sanderlings, for +example, which spend most of their time, when not on the wing, in +running about on the ground, especially along the seashore or the banks +of streams and lakes, and seldom, if ever, sit on a perch--in their +case a fourth toe would be worse than a superfluous appendage; it would +be an encumbrance, dragging along in the mud and mire. In these +species it is the hind toe that is lacking, their three digits all +being in front, where they are of the greatest service. There is +another class of birds that have hind toes, though very much reduced +because their owners do not perch, but scuttle about on the beach. +This class includes the little spotted sandpipers which you often see +running or flying along the shores of a river or lake. + +Curious to tell, several species of woodpeckers are tridactyl--that is, +three-toed--and still more curious is the fact that in their case the +true hind toe is lacking, while the outer front toe is bent backward, +or "reversed," as it is called, and is thus made to do service for a +hind toe. The other species of woodpeckers have four toes, two in +front and two behind, the outer one of the latter pair being a reversed +digit. Why some of the woodpeckers should have four toes and others +only three is an unsolved enigma, and is especially puzzling in view of +the fact that the four-toed kinds do not seem to possess any advantage +over their cousins. The tridactyl species are as expert climbers as +any members of the family, and are extremely hardy birds, too, some of +them dwelling the year round in cold northern climates, where the food +question must often be a serious one. + +[Illustration: Spotted Sandpiper, or "Peet-weet"] + +Here is still another conundrum for the bird student: Why do the +four-toed woodpeckers have two hind digits, despite the fact that they +always clamber upward when they take their promenades on the boles and +branches of the trees, whereas the agile little nuthatch, which glides +upward or downward, as the impulse moves him, has only one rear toe and +three in front, like the true perchers? Nor is it less puzzling that +the cuckoos, which are perching birds, should have two toes in front +and two behind. Then, there is the little brown creeper which never +perches and is forever creeping, creeping, upward, upward--save, of +course, when it takes to wing--and yet its toes are arranged in the +normal percher style, the hind digit having an especially long, curved +claw. It is a mistake to suppose that all the problems of the bird +world have been solved. + +Look at the different kinds of birds' feet and see how wisely they have +been planned for the various purposes to which they have been applied. +In order that a bird may use his feet with the greatest dexterity in +perching and flitting, his digits should be as free and movable as +possible; and so we find that the toes of the perchers are usually +cleft to the base, are long and slender, easily opened and closed, and +possess the power to grasp an object firmly. The same is true of the +raptorial birds, or birds of prey, which are strong perchers and depend +largely for their food supply on clutching their victims while on the +wing. In all these birds the hind toe is also well developed, and is +on the same plane as the anterior digits--a wise adaptation of means to +ends. + +But there are other birds whose feet, as some one has said, are good +feet, but poor hands--that is, they are not intended for prehensile +purposes, only for walking and wading. Therefore, in these birds the +hind toe is small, and more or less elevated above the plane of the +other digits, or, as has already been said, is wholly wanting. The +feet of some of these birds are partly webbed, so that, if necessary, +they can change their mode of locomotion from running and wading to +swimming. Birds whose feet are partly webbed are said to be +semipalmated. + +This introduces us to that interesting group of birds whose toes are +connected throughout their entire length by a thin, membranous web. +Their feet are said to be palmated. We can readily understand why they +are thus formed, for their webbed feet answer the purpose of oars to +propel them over the water. Most of the swimmers have feet of this +kind. Watch them glide like feathered craft over the smooth surface of +the stream or lake. + +When a swimmer thrusts his foot forward, the toes naturally drop +together and partly close, presenting only a narrow front--almost an +edge--of resistance to the water; then, when he makes a backward +stroke, the toes spread far apart and, with the connecting membranes, +are converted into a broad, propelling oar. Is it not a wonderfully +wise contrivance? + +Most swimming birds have only the front toes webbed, but in a few +species, like the pelicans, even the hind toe is connected with its +fellows by means of such a membrane. Nor must we forget those water +fowls which, instead of palmated feet, have what is called the lobate +foot, which means that the digits have broad lobes or flaps on their +sides. While in such cases the toes are all distinct, the expanded +lobes serve almost, if not quite, as good a purpose for propulsion in +the water as do the webs. The coot swims almost as well as the duck or +the goose, and at the same time his feet, with their disconnected toes, +are better adapted for paddling about amid the watergrass and dense +weeds than if they were webbed. + +The birds of prey, such as hawks, owls, and eagles, have large, strong, +and sharply curved talons and powerful digits, and a sad use they make +of them in clutching small birds and animals. The claws of the +woodpeckers and other climbing birds are stout and extremely acute, +just as they should be for clinging to the bark of trees. In short, +the structure of a bird's foot, whatever may be the species of fowl, +furnishes most conclusive evidence of adaptation in the world of Nature. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR BIRD COMRADES*** + + +******* This file should be named 26346-8.txt or 26346-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/4/26346 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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(Leander Sylvester) Keyser</title> +<style type="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.salutation {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.closing {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.index {font-size: small ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-top: 0% ; + margin-bottom: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + +P.published {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 15% } + +P.quote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report2 {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +H3.h3left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H3.h3right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H3.h3center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgleft { float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 1%; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgright {float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1%; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +.pagenum { position: absolute; + left: 1%; + font-size: 95%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + +.sidenote { left: 0%; + font-size: 65%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0%; + width: 17%; + float: left; + clear: left; + padding-left: 0%; + padding-right: 2%; + padding-top: 2%; + padding-bottom: 2%; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + a:link { color:blue; + text-decoration:none; } + link { color:blue; + text-decoration:none; } + a:visited { color:blue; + text-decoration:none; } + a:hover { color:red; + text-decoration: underline; } + pre { font-size: 85%; } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Our Bird Comrades, by Leander S. (Leander +Sylvester) Keyser</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Our Bird Comrades</p> +<p>Author: Leander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser</p> +<p>Release Date: August 18, 2008 [eBook #26346]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR BIRD COMRADES***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p> </p> + +<A NAME="img-covert"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-cover.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-covert.jpg" ALT="Cover illustration--Cardinal" BORDER="0" WIDTH="595" HEIGHT="736"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-frontt"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-front.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-frontt.jpg" ALT="American Sparrow-hawk" BORDER="0" WIDTH="521" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +OUR BIRD<BR> +COMRADES +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I>By</I> +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LEANDER S. KEYSER +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +<I>Author of "Birddom," "In Bird Land,"<BR> +and "Birds of the Rockies," etc.</I> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY +<BR> +<I>Chicago New York London</I> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright, 1907 +<BR> +BY RAND, McNALLY & Co. +<BR><BR><BR> +The Rand-McNally Press +<BR> +Chicago +</H5> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<I> +To<BR> +<BR><BR> +ALL WHO LOVE THE BIRDS FOR THEIR<BR> +OWN SAKES,<BR> +<BR><BR> +who desire to cultivate comradeship with them in books<BR> +and in the field, and who will study them<BR> +with the glass and without the gun.<BR> +</I> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="preface"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION +</H3> + +<BR> + +<P> +To know the birds intimately, to interpret their lives in all their +varied conditions, one must get close to them. For the purpose of +accomplishing this object the author of this volume has gone to their +haunts day after day and watched them persistently at not a little cost +of time, effort, and money. While the limits of a single volume do not +permit him to present all of his observations, it is hoped that those +here offered will be satisfactory as far as they go, and that the +reader will be able to glean from these pages some new as well as +interesting facts relative to bird life. +</P> + +<P> +The writer has had another purpose in view in preparing this book: He +wishes to inspire others, especially the young, to use their eyes and +ears in the study of the enchanting volume of Nature. This object, he +believes, will be best accomplished by furnishing concrete examples of +what may be achieved by earnest research. For purposes of stimulus an +ounce of example is worth a pound of precept. If another sees you and +me doing a thing joyfully, earnestly, we need scarcely say to him, "Go +thou and do likewise." +</P> + +<P> +There is not much in the book that is technical, yet it aims at +scientific accuracy in all of its statements, no bird being described +whose status in the avian system has not been determined. If strange +exploits are sometimes recited, the author has simply to say that he +has been veracious in all of his statements, and that all the stories +are "true bird stories." The author modestly believes that it will not +be found uninteresting to nature lovers in general. +</P> + +<P> +Much of the material included in this volume has previously appeared in +various periodicals, to the publishers of which the writer would hereby +make grateful acknowledgment for their courtesy in waiving their +copyright privileges. A number of the journals are given due credit +elsewhere in the book. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +THE AUTHOR. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +<I>THE TABLE OF CONTENTS</I> +</H2> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +<A HREF="#preface">THE PREFACE</A><BR> +<A HREF="#illustrations">THE ILLUSTRATIONS</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap01">BEGINNING THE STUDY</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap02">MAKING NEW FRIENDS</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap03">WILDWOOD MINSTRELS</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap04">CHICKADEE WAYS</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE NUTHATCH FAMILY</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap06">A FEATHERED PARASITE</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap07">A BLUE CANNIBAL</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap08">A HANDSOME SCISSORSTAIL</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap09">AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap10">HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap11">ODDS AND ENDS</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap12">WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap13">TROUBLE AMONG THE BIRDS</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap14">A BIRD'S EDUCATION</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap15">ARE BIRDS SINGERS OR WHISTLERS?</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap16">BIRD FLIGHT</A><BR> +<A HREF="#chap17">A BIRD'S FOOT</A><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="illustrations"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-frontt"> +AMERICAN SPARROW-HAWK . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-021t"> +CHIPPING SPARROW +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-034t"> +YELLOW WARBLER +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-049t"> +CHICKADEE +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-057t"> +NUTHATCH +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-072t"> +COWBIRD +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-084t"> +BLUE JAY +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +PEWEE, OR PHOEBE (missing from book) +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-124t"> +SONG SPARROW +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-140t"> +CARDINAL +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-144t"> +WHITE-EYED VIREO +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-150t"> +BALTIMORE ORIOLE +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-163t"> +BOB-WHITE, OR QUAIL +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-169t"> +ROBIN +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-178t"> +MEADOW LARK +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-187t"> +BARN SWALLOW +</A> +</H4> + +<H4> +<A HREF="#img-194t"> +SPOTTED SANDPIPER, OR "PEET-WEET" +</A> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BEGINNING THE STUDY +</H3> + +<P> +Why should not people ride natural history hobbies as well as other +kinds of hobbies? Almost all persons become interested in some special +study, recreation, or pastime, and their choice is not always as +profitable as the selection of a specific branch of nature lore would +be. The writer confesses that he would rather pursue a bright, lilting +bird or butterfly than a bounding tennis-ball or football, and he finds +the chase every whit as exciting and the knowledge gained of more +permanent value; and he says this without in anywise intending to +discountenance healthful games and athletic exercises, but simply to +express a preference. What could be more fascinating, for instance, +than for a young person—or an older person, either, for that +matter—to spend his leisure in trying to identify every bird in his +neighborhood? As a result of such an attempt he would doubtless become +so interested in the study of his bird neighbors that he would resolve +to learn all he could about their charming habits. +</P> + +<P> +How may one study the birds intelligently? That is a question every +beginner will want to have answered. When I began my bird studies I +spent much valuable time in simply trying to learn the <I>modus +operandi</I>, and while I do not consider the time thus spent entirely +wasted, still I am anxious to save my readers as much needless effort +as possible. This I shall do by showing them how they may begin at +once to form an acquaintance with the various families and species of +birds. +</P> + +<P> +It goes without saying that, to become a successful nature student, one +must have good eyes, strong limbs, nimble feet, and, above all, an +alert mind. People who lack these qualities, especially the last, will +not be likely to pursue the noble science of ornithology. The stupid +sort will prefer to drowse in the shade, and the light-minded will care +only for the gay round of social pleasures. Any bright and earnest +person, however, can in good time become an expert student of the +feathered creation, provided only that he feels a genuine interest in +such pursuit. No one, let it be repeated, can study nature +successfully in a dull, perfunctory spirit. Here, as in religion, one +must have the baptism of fire, the temper of devotion. +</P> + +<P> +In the study of birds it must be admitted that men and boys have some +advantage over their cousins of the gentler sex. Men folk may ramble +pretty much where they please without danger, whereas the freedom of +women folk in this respect is somewhat restricted. However, the +engaging works of Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, of Mrs. Florence M. Bailey, +and of many others prove that women are not debarred from outdoor +studies, and that in some ways they may even have an advantage over +men; they are not so ambitious to cover a wide territory, to penetrate +to out-of-the-way haunts, or to roll up a long "list," and they are +therefore apt to make more intimate studies of the common species, thus +getting into the very heart of the bird's life. A man's observations +may embrace a wider range, and he may add more species to the science +of ornithology than his sister, but she will be likely to discover +facts about the commonest fowl that he will overlook. The study of +birds, therefore, offers a fascinating field for girls and women as +well as for their brothers. +</P> + +<P> +What tools are needed for acquiring bird lore? To begin at the +beginning, let me ask: Who would expect to study the plants and flowers +without a botany? or the rocks and fossils and the general structure of +the earth without a reliable work on geology? or the planets and stars +without a treatise on astronomy? So, if you desire a knowledge of +ornithology, you will need what is known as a bird "key," or "manual," +or "handbook"—that is, a scientific work that shows how the birds have +been classified, with accurate descriptions of all the families, +genera, species, subspecies, and varieties, together with the common +and scientific names of all the species and brief accounts of their +ranges and general habits. When you have found a plant or a flower +that is new to you, what is your first task? To "run it down" in a +botanical key. Just so, having found a feathered stranger, you should +note its markings, shape, size, etc., and then "run it down" with the +aid of a bird manual. It is much better to run a bird down in this way +than to shoot it down. +</P> + +<P> +It is pertinent to say at this time that no one should disparage +scientific treatises, or the learned and painstaking people who gather +the material for them and prepare them. It is quite the fashion +nowadays, when a "popular" book on birds appears, for some reviewers to +compare it with the so-called "dry" scientific works of the +specialists, to the disparagement of the latter. This is as wrong as +it is gratuitous. The "popular" book, delightful as it may be, could +not have been written, or, if written, would have had little real +value, had it not been for the help obtained from the systematists, +who, with almost infinite toil, have made possible the scientific +classification of the numerous members of the bird tribe. Pioneer work +in ornithology, as elsewhere, may not be very enchanting to most +people, but it is necessary. The scientific spirit should be honored, +not disdained, for without it accuracy would be impossible. On the +other hand, the man who plods with scientific details should not look +with contempt upon the man who popularizes the results of technical +study by giving it an attractive literary setting. In short, the +scientific writer and the "popular" writer are alike worthy of +"honorable mention," for both of them are needful factors in the +dissemination of knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +You will want to know where a first-rate bird manual can be obtained. +It affords me sincere pleasure to recommend two works of the kind that +cover the entire avian field for residents of the United States. They +are new, up-to-date, and convenient. To those who live east of the +Mississippi River I would commend Mr. Frank M. Chapman's "Handbook of +Birds of Eastern North America." The best praise I can bestow upon +this book is to assure you that it will give entire satisfaction as a +handbook. Happily another manual (Mrs. Florence M. Bailey's "Handbook +of Birds of the Western United States") was recently issued, treating +the avifauna west of the Mississippi just as thoroughly as Mr. +Chapman's work deals with that of the eastern part of our country. +Both books contain lavish illustrations by expert and accurate bird +artists—a feature that is invaluable in the work of identification. +They possess a further advantage in not being too large to be carried +with you in your excursions afield, enabling you to name each feathered +stranger on the spot. +</P> + +<P> +Should you desire a single volume that will help you to identify any +bird you may meet on our continent, I would urge you to secure the +latest revised edition of Dr. Elliott Coues's "Key to North American +Birds." It is fully illustrated, thoroughly scientific and up-to-date +in the matter of classification, and yet not too technical for +practical use. This book is too bulky to be carried with you to the +haunts of the birds, but it may be used in this way: Note carefully the +markings and other peculiarities of each new bird you meet; then, as +soon as you return home, while all the circumstances are fresh in your +memory, consult your "key" and make sure, if possible, of the identity +of all your "finds." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Robert Ridgway, one of the foremost ornithologists of our country, +is now preparing a great work which is worthy of the highest praise. +It is entitled "The Birds of North and Middle America," and is the most +comprehensive work yet undertaken relative to the avifauna of the +entire North American Continent, giving a large amount of scientific +data respecting all the species. After its completion it will enable +the student to identify every bird known to science from the Isthmus of +Panama to the far North and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. At this +writing two volumes have been issued. They are published under +government auspices by the United States National Museum at Washington, +D. C., and may be procured perhaps without cost by writing to the +secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Of this the writer cannot be +absolutely sure, as the supply of printed copies may be limited. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing more need be said about bird manuals, save to warn you against +spending your money for books which describe only a part of the +avifauna of a given region and yet are advertised as serviceable for +the identification of all birds. Unless you have plenty of money to +spend, when you buy a manual buy one that is scientifically accurate +and complete. Nothing is more trying to the student of birds, whether +tyro or expert, than to encounter a new bird and then fail to find it +described or even mentioned in the book that has been foisted upon him +as a manual. In saying this I do not mean to discourage the purchase +of the charming popular books written in a literary vein and describing +personal observations on bird life, such as the works of John +Burroughs, Bradford Torrey, Olive Thorne Miller, and many others. +These books, however, are not advertised as handbooks, and thus no one +is deceived in buying them. +</P> + +<P> +Even with the best manual in hand, you must not expect to be able to +identify every new bird at the first attempt, for some species are +either exceedingly shy or obscurely marked, or probably both, while +quite a number are so much alike in markings and habits that it is hard +to distinguish them from one another. A few birds remained enigmas to +me for a number of years, in spite of the help of the field glass. At +intervals for several months you will often catch provoking glimpses of +some nymph-like bird before you succeed in determining its true place +in the avian system. But patience and persistence will some day +overcome the most stubborn difficulties. +</P> + +<P> +Since the foregoing references to leading bird manuals were written, a +new work, which is unique in plan, has been published. I refer to the +book entitled "Color Key to North American Birds"; text by Frank M. +Chapman, pictures by Chester A. Reed. The range of the volume is from +the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean and from the southern boundary of the +United States to the far north. It contains a brief description of +every species and sub-species within the limits named; a key to all the +Orders and Families, with the common and scientific names of all the +birds; an introduction to every chief division; and last, and highly +important, colored pictures of all the species and many of the +geographical varieties. What more can the bird student desire for +purposes of identification? While the other manuals give fuller +descriptions of habits, songs, etc., and need not, therefore, be +superseded by this volume, yet frankness forces us to say that if the +student, and especially the beginner, cannot afford to buy more than +one bird book, the Chapman-Reed "Color Key" is the one to get. It is +of a convenient size for carrying afield, so that a feathered stranger +can be identified on the spot. It can be used anywhere in the United +States, in British America, and Alaska. Think of that, fellow +bird-lovers! +</P> + +<P> +A good field glass is indispensable to successful bird study, +especially if you desire to name all the birds without killing any, as +I hope you do. Perhaps the older ornithologists, like Audubon and +Wilson, did not use helps of this kind, but they used guns, and +consequently had to study dead birds, while you and I want to study +living ones. Their killing of birds was, indeed, necessary, for +purposes of scientific classification; but now that such classifying +has, for the most part, been attained, the gun has largely gone out of +vogue, and the glass has taken its place. Let your alliterative motto +be: <I>With the glass, not the gun</I>. +</P> + +<P> +I would advise you not to buy a flashily colored glass, for it will +dazzle your eyes on sunshiny days. Be sure to get one that is easily +focused, as you must be quick in studying such shy creatures as the +birds. At first the glass may strain and tire your eyes, but that +difficulty will pass in a short time. Expertness will soon be won in +the use of a binocular, so that you will be able, almost instantly, to +get the desired object within its field, even though the object be +quite tiny. An opera glass is a great deal better than no glass at +all; a field glass is better still, and a Bausch & Lomb binocular of +six to eight magnifying power is the best of all; being almost equal to +having the bird in hand. The observer must lose as little time as +possible in sighting a shy bird, or it may escape him altogether. +</P> + +<P> +A book-bag or haversack, strapped around your shoulders, will also be a +convenience. In it you can stow your bird manual, and a luncheon in +case you expect to spend the whole day in the open, for a hungry +rambler is not likely to be an acute observer. A notebook and a lead +pencil, carried in handy pockets, should not be forgotten. Donning an +old suit of clothes, you can roam where you will, threading your way +through brier and bush, wading the bog or the shallow stream, dropping +upon your knees, even flinging yourself upon the ground, to spy upon a +wary bird flitting about in the copse. +</P> + +<P> +In almost all kinds of weather I wear rubber boots in my excursions to +the haunts of the birds. The observer can never tell when he may have +to wade a stream or tramp through a boggy marsh. In wet and cold +weather the need of rubber boots can be seen readily, but even in dry +and warm weather they have one decided advantage—they do not become +slippery on the soles as one tramps through the leaf-strewn woods or +the grassy fields. Every pedestrian knows that sole-leather is apt to +become as smooth as glass, making it difficult to retain one's footing. +On the other hand, rubber seems to cling to the ground, no matter how +much it is worn. The only objection to rubbers is that they are +uncomfortably warm in hot weather; but that difficulty can be overcome +by frequently plunging into a cool stream and standing there for +several minutes. +</P> + +<P> +Let me caution you, however, not to purchase a <I>heavy</I> pair of rubber +boots. Insist on having a light pair or none at all. A good pair of +rubber boots are a real luxury, for with them you may tramp about in +all kinds of damp and boggy places without fear of wetting your feet, +though it goes without saying that you must be careful not to wade in +over the tops of your footgear. +</P> + +<P> +Of great assistance to the pedestrian is a light cane. In climbing +Pikes Peak one evening after dark, I doubt whether I should have been +able to gain the summit had it not been for my tough little wild-cherry +cane, upon which I could lean when almost exhausted, which supported my +faltering steps, and which happily never grew weary. Two years later +it helped me to scale a number of snow-capped mountains, among them +Grays Peak and Peak Number Eight of the Ten Mile Range. Indeed, my +little cane was of so much service to me that I came to look upon it as +a personal friend that cared almost as much for me as I did for it. It +pushed aside thorny bushes and nettlesome weeds when I was looking for +nests, thus saving my hands many a painful wound. And more than one +serpent, including the rattlesnake, has had his head crushed or his +spine broken by sturdy blows from my little wild-cherry cane. I should +add that it had a hooked handle, so that I could hang it on the strap +of my haversack when I needed both hands. +</P> + +<P> +In the beginning of your observations you will find the work of +identifying the birds a rare and exciting pleasure; then, after you +have named all the species in your neighborhood, it will be no less +delightful to study their interesting ways, or to extend your +researches to other fields. And if at any time you observe some odd +bits of bird behavior which you think will be news to the many bird +lovers the world over, why should you not report them to one of the +bird magazines, so that others may share the pleasures of your +discoveries? An admirer of feathered folk should not be selfish; +indeed, I do not see how he can be. +</P> + +<P> +It simply remains to be said that this volume is an illustration of the +method of bird study just indicated. In the first place, I shall show, +in a few chapters, how the student goes about his work of identifying +species and making new bird friends; then will follow a number of +monographs indicating how much may be learned about the life histories +of several interesting species; next there will be a miscellaneous +collection of incidents of bird life, showing how many odds and ends +the industrious and observing rambler may gather by the way; and, +finally, the book will conclude with four somewhat technical chapters +on bird education, bird music, bird flight, and bird feet, which I hope +will prove interesting as well as instructive. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MAKING NEW FRIENDS +</H3> + +<P> +A friend once told me of a letter he had received from a correspondent +who is an enthusiastic botanist. The writer, having just returned from +an excursion in which he found a flower that was new to him, gave vent +to his feelings of exultation by exclaiming, "Oh, the joy! the joy!" A +like experience comes to the bird lover when he makes a new +acquaintance in the feathered domain, no matter how many other +observers may have seen and studied the species. "A bird that is new +to <I>me</I> is to all intents and purposes a new bird," is his +self-complacent mode of reasoning, though it may not be distinguished +for its logic. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-021t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-021.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-021t.jpg" ALT="Chipping Sparrow" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +After studying the birds in Ohio and Indiana for a good many years, I +moved to eastern Kansas, where I lived for five and a half years. My +rambles were by no means confined to the wooded bluffs and hollows that +bound the Missouri River on the west, for I also made excursions out +upon the prairies of Kansas, over into the state of Missouri, and down +into Oklahoma; and everywhere I carried my field glass with me and kept +both eyes intent on the birds. You would expect an enthusiast in the +pursuit of bird lore to do nothing else. What a pleasure it was to +ramble about in new fields and make acquaintance with new bird friends! +There is not a very marked difference between the avifauna of eastern +Kansas and Ohio, and yet there are some birds found in the former state +that are not met with in the latter—enough to keep the observer on the +tiptoe of expectancy for several months. +</P> + +<P> +One of my new acquaintances was a little bird which is known as the +clay-colored sparrow. It belongs to the same genus (<I>Spizella</I>) as the +chipping and field sparrows which are so well known in the East; but it +has an individuality of its own, and is not merely a copy. I stumbled +upon it while pursuing my explorations near Peabody, far out on the +level prairie, where the species was abundant during the season of +migration. As I was sauntering along a road, a peculiar croaking +little trill greeted me from the hedge, sounding very much like the +rasping call of certain kinds of grasshoppers when they are suddenly +startled and take to wing. But no insect had ever emitted quite such a +sound in my hearing. This could not be an insect. It was worth while +to look and make sure of the identity of the odd musician. +</P> + +<P> +After some difficulty, I fixed my glass upon a number of little +sparrows about the size of the chippies. They bore a close resemblance +to that species too, save that the crown-piece and the general tone of +the back were decidedly darker, while the under parts were a good deal +whiter. The clear, ash-colored cervical interval between the crown and +the back and the distinct brown loral and auricular space told me +plainly who the little charmers were. Not at the moment, however, for +the birds were new to me, and I had to wait until I could consult my +manual before I was able to decide that they were the clay-colored +sparrows. +</P> + +<P> +Their song is an odd vocal performance—a low, croaking trill, preceded +by a few longer notes, all delivered in the same key. It is, in fact, +a contralto solo divided into brief stanzas, and easily might be +mistaken for the grating buzz of an insect, especially if heard at a +distance of a few rods. It possesses little or no musical quality, and +is perhaps the most curious style of bird minstrelsy with which I am +acquainted. In comparison the chippie's trill sounds loud and clear +and bell-like, with a distinctly melodious quality of tone. The song +of the little clay-colored sparrow is also marked by a kind of drawl, +giving one the impression that the bird is just a little too lazy to +exert himself; yet when you get him in the field of your glass and see +him throw back his head, expand his throat and chest, and open his +mandibles as wide as he can, you quickly decide that he is not the +apathetic creature his desultory song would lead you to infer. It +really is laughable, and almost pathetic, too, to note how much energy +he expends in the production of his poor little aria. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, not in the least sluggish is the blood flowing in the veins of +<I>Spizella pallida</I>, for he is a vivacious little body, flitting about +actively in the hedges and bushes, and sometimes mounting into the +trees, chanting his little alto strain all the while, as if his life +depended upon it. He is one of the comparatively few birds who is +lavish of his song in migration. +</P> + +<P> +Unlike the familiar chippie, he does not usually find a perch in plain +sight, from which to rehearse his song, but keeps himself well hidden +in the bushes or trees, darting into a hiding place as soon as he +thinks himself discovered. The shy little imp prefers to put a screen +of foliage or twigs between himself and the observer. Might his motto +be, "Little birds should be heard and not seen"? I had quite a time +making sure of him, but, as a pleasant compensation, when his identity +was once settled, I could not well have mistaken him for another +species, for he is a bird of real distinction. +</P> + +<P> +My study of the clay-colored sparrows was restricted to their habits in +migration, at which time they move about in more or less compact little +flocks, gathering seeds and chanting their monotonous trills. While I +first found these sparrows near Peabody, they were also fairly common, +a few days later, in northeastern Kansas, about a mile back from the +Missouri River, where their low alto strains formed a kind of gray +background for the high-pitched trills of the Harris sparrows and the +loud pipings of the cardinals. Quaint as our little contralto's solos +are, they have a distinct fascination for me, and now that I no longer +live in the Sunflower state, I miss them sorely when the springtime +comes. +</P> + +<P> +These sparrows do not, I believe, breed in Kansas, but are known to +establish their households in the northern part of Illinois, central +and northern Iowa, the Red River region in Minnesota, the country +drained by the upper Missouri River and its tributaries, Manitoba as +far north as the Saskatchewan River, and the plains and bases of the +foothills of eastern Colorado. Their nests are built on the ground or +in low bushes, and from three to five eggs, of a greenish-blue tint, +flecked with cinnamon-brown, are deposited. They spend the winters in +southern Texas and still farther south. Only "accidentally," as the +word goes, are they known in the eastern part of the United States, and +for that reason little has yet been written about them in popular books +on birds. The time will come, no doubt, when they will have a +well-recognized place in bird literature, just as the chippie, the +vesper sparrow, and the song sparrow have to-day. +</P> + +<P> +In bird study it is never safe to take too much for granted. One must +be constantly on the alert, and, more than that, one must be able to +make fine distinctions with both the ear and the eye. Here is a case +in point. For many days, while strolling about in quest of bird lore, +I heard a quaint little song in the bushy clumps, and that, too, in +some of the most out-of-the-way places. "It is nothing but the house +wren," I muttered to myself, I know not how often. "It isn't worth +while to look for it when there are new birds to be found. Still, it's +singular," I continued, "that the house wren should dwell in such +secluded places. It would seem that his name is a misnomer—at least, +in a good many instances." Several times I stopped to listen more +intently to the rolling ditty. "There's something odd about that +wren's song," I repeated. "Does the house wren always close its song +with the rising inflection, as if it were asking a question?" +</P> + +<P> +Then I would perhaps make a half-hearted attempt to get a glimpse of +the lyrist, but it kept itself well hidden in the bushes, and I +desisted, begrudging the time taken from my quest for feathered +rarities. But one day, while strolling along the banks of a small +stream, I again heard the labored ditty, and the next moment a small +bird darted into full view, calling and scolding in an agitated way, +and, while I watched it capering about, it broke into the very song to +which for several weeks I had been listening so carelessly. Why, it +was not a wren after all! It did not look like a wren, nor act like +one, but, rather, its form and conduct were like those of a vireo; and +a vireo it was. My bird manual soon settled that point. And what was +the name of the little stranger who had introduced himself in so +informal a way? It was the Bell vireo, an entirely new species to me. +</P> + +<P> +It is not an eastern species; it ranges from Illinois to the base of +the Rocky Mountains. In Kansas it is a summer resident, hanging its +little basket of a nest on the twigs of bushes or low trees, after the +regular vireo fashion. It was my good fortune to find a nest on a +copsy hilltop, where the bird's madrigals and lullabies mingled with +those of the yellow-breasted chats, the indigo buntings, the blue-gray +gnat catchers, and the Kentucky warblers. To this day I feel a longing +to visit the secluded spot where I held so many pleasant interviews +with these birds. +</P> + +<P> +Another Kansas bird that was new to my eyes and that afforded me much +delight was the Harris sparrow—a distinctively western species, not +known, or at least very rarely, east of the Mississippi River. He is +truly a fine bird, a little larger than the fox sparrow, neatly clad, +his breast prettily decorated with a brooch of black spots held in +place by a slender necklace of the same color, while his throat and +forehead are bordered with black. His rump and upper tail coverts are +a delicate shade of grayish brown, by which he may be readily +distinguished from the fox sparrow, whose rear parts are reddish brown. +His beak, feet, and legs are of a pinkish tint, making him look quite +trig and dressy. The latest of the spring arrivals were the most +highly colored, having the whole chin, throat, and top of the head a +glossy, uniform black. +</P> + +<P> +It would appear that the most matured individuals migrate farthest +south in winter. That, at least, would be the natural conclusion, +judging from the fact that they arrive latest in the spring in our +central latitudes. In the southern part of Kansas the Harris sparrows +are said to be common winter sojourners, but in the north-eastern part +of the state they disappeared in November or December, and did not +return until the middle of February, or later if the weather happened +to be severe. From the time of their vernal arrival they were to be +seen in every ramble until they took flight for their breeding haunts +in the North. One spring some of them were still loitering in Kansas +on the eleventh of May, and were singing blithely, no doubt waiting for +the winter cold of their summer homes to be well past before they +ventured farther toward the arctic lands. +</P> + +<P> +In general, the habits of these birds are much like those of the +white-throated sparrows, which are much more common in the East than in +the West. The Harris sparrows are fond of copses and hedges, and +especially of brush heaps in new grounds. So marked, indeed, is their +penchant for brush heaps that I almost wish one might re-christen them +"brush-heap sparrows." Many a time I have played a little trick on the +unsuspecting birds by stealing up to a brush pile and giving it a +sudden blow with my cane; then a whole covey of them would dash +pellmell from their covert with loud chirps of protest against such +wantonness. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes they are found in the depths of the woods, providing there is +thick underbrush in which they can conceal themselves. I seldom found +them in open places either in the woods or fields. Yet, shy as they +are, they have a fondness for the dense hedges along the highways, +flitting and chirping as the traveler passes by. +</P> + +<P> +Being wary birds, they do not wander far from their hiding places, into +which they precipitate themselves at the approach of a supposed danger. +It was quite a while before I could get a clear view of their breasts, +for, with provoking persistence, they kept their tails turned toward +me. However, when once you really become acquainted with a bird, it +seems to lose part of its shyness, and so after a time I often had the +Harris sparrows in plain view. One of their characteristic habits was +to stand at full height on the top of a brush heap, with tail lifted, +crest feathers erect, and eyes wide open, the picture of wild +alertness. In such poses they are indeed handsome birds. +</P> + +<P> +It was March 5, 1898, when I heard the first song of this sparrow, and +even then it was only a fragment of a song. But, the weather remaining +pleasant, the sixteenth of the month brought a fine concert. The +bird's song was a surprise to me. It began with a prolonged run so +much like the opening tremolo of the white-throated sparrow that it +might have led the most expert ornithologist astray. The fact is, I +looked around for quite a while in search of a white-throat, thinking +him still a little out of tune, and therefore unable to finish his +chanson; and I was undeceived only by the singing of several Harris +sparrows that with unusual boldness had perched in plain sight. The +resemblance ceased, however, with the opening notes, for the western +bird did not add the sweet, rhythmic triad of his white-throated +cousin, the closing part of his song being only a somewhat labored +trill of no distinct character, and not fulfilling the promise of his +initial strain. +</P> + +<P> +In the concerts of these birds—and frequently many of them would be +trilling at the same time—they sang in several different keys, some of +them striking the treble and others dropping almost to the alto. +Occasionally two birds in different parts of a field would sing +responsively, one trill running very high in the scale, the other an +octave lower. It seemed almost as if the responsive exercise was +engaged in intentionally. +</P> + +<P> +The Harris sparrow has another song which is quite unlike his melodious +trill. It is delivered in a loud voice of little musical quality, and +the notes are pounded out in a percussive style, like the explosion in +quick succession of a number of little cartridges. Yet you must be +quite close to the bird in order to hear the queer canticle distinctly, +and when you do hear it you will wonder why nature ever put such a song +into a bird's larynx. The Harris sparrow also utters an explosive +alarm-call, which expresses not a little petulance and concern. +</P> + +<P> +One day a pretty picture was made by two of these birds that stood face +to face on a brush heap, bowing at each other, each threatening to peck +the other's head off, and both singing all the while at the top of +their voices, yet each afraid, in spite of his bluster, to close with +his opponent in actual contest. It was a miniature exhibition of the +beak-to-beak challenging often indulged in by two rival cocks of the +farmyard. For some minutes the little farce was kept up, then one of +the birds became tired of the game and darted over to the next brush +heap. +</P> + +<P> +I have said that these birds are scarcely known east of the Mississippi +River, but Mr. Ridgway says that they are occasionally seen during +migration in Illinois and Wisconsin. In eastern Kansas and western +Missouri they are common, almost abundant, during both the vernal and +autumnal migrations, and after you have once cultivated their +acquaintance they are likable, if not quite companionable, birds. But +familiar as they are in the regions named, they are still something of +a mystery to the naturalists of our country, for Mr. Ridgway says that +their "breeding range is unknown," save that there is a doubtful record +of one nest at Fort Custer, Montana; while Mrs. Bailey says: "The +breeding range of the Harris sparrow is unknown except for Mr. Preble's +Fort Churchill record. The last of July, among the dwarf spruces of +Fort Churchill, he found an adult male and female with young just from +the nest." It will be remembered that Fort Churchill is away up on the +coast of the Hudson Bay. It is probable, therefore, that the nest of +the Harris sparrow has never been found by any of the naturalists of +America. Who would suppose that these birds, so numerous and so well +known in Kansas, would, in the breeding season, surround themselves +with such an air of mystery? +</P> + +<P> +It was in Kansas, too, that I really came to know the Lincoln sparrow +and hear his song, although I had caught a few fleeting glimpses of him +in the East, and also in the neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota. In the +Sunflower state his conduct was just about as inconsistent as it could +have been without being downright absurd. What do I mean by that? +Why, while he was as wild as a deer, he still came to town, flitting +about in the bushes of a vacant lot near my house, and even visiting +the fence between my yard and the adjoining one, hopping about on the +ground with one eye on the lookout for nits and worms and the other for +human disturbers. My attention was first drawn to him by hearing a +squeaky little trill in the vacant lot. But, my! how wary he was when +I went out to find him! The song bore some resemblance to that of the +house wren, but had not so rolling and gurgling a quality, and was +pitched to a slightly higher and finer key. For a long time he kept +himself ensconced in the thicket, trilling saucily at intervals, as if +daring me to find him if I could, and when I finally drove him out of +his hiding place, he darted off in a zigzag course to another bush +clump, into which he dropped in the greatest possible haste. +</P> + +<P> +By and by his curiosity got the better of him, and he flitted to the +top of a brush heap and peeped out at me surreptitiously. My glass was +upon him in a moment, revealing his whitish throat and mottled chest +washed with buff, the latter being his characteristic marking. A few +days later he was singing in a small apple tree by my neighbor's fence. +I stole as close to him as I could and peered at him through my +binocular, while he returned the compliment by peering at me, and then +warily ventured to rehearse his little tune. The least movement on my +part would startle him, cause him to flit to another perch and crane +out his neck to glare at me questioningly with wild, dilated eyes, +uncertain whether I was to be trusted or not. Both of us presently +grew tired of our strained position, and so I walked off and he flew +away. No doubt there was mutual satisfaction in the inspection we gave +each other; at least, I felt well satisfied with having heard the song +of so shy a bird. His stay in my neighborhood lasted only a few days; +then he left as mysteriously as he had come, without even the courtesy +of a good-bye. He went to his summer home in the North, and I did not +see him again until the next spring, just twelve months later almost to +the day. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WILDWOOD MINSTRELS* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +* Parts of this and several other chapters of this book were first +published in The New York Times, whose courtesy in permitting him to +reprint, the author hereby acknowledges. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Nothing affords the bird student more pleasure than settling the identity +of species, albeit sometimes it is hard and patience-trying work. And of +all the birds, none are so provokingly and charmingly elusive as some of +the wood warblers. What a time I had for several years in making sure of +some of these little nymph-like creatures which were flitting about in +the foliage of the trees, concealing themselves by a leafy barrier! Many +a weary chase did they lead me through the woods, and more than once I +almost unjointed my neck by long-continued looking up. +</P> + +<P> +For identifying the tree-top flitters an opera glass is scarcely powerful +enough. A field glass or a Bausch & Lomb binocular is really a +necessity. It draws the bird right down to you, while at the same time +the elusive creature remains at what it regards a safe distance. Its +conduct will therefore not be constrained, and the observer can study it +in its natural poses. +</P> + +<P> +What an enigma the Tennessee warbler for a long time remained to me! +Never still for a moment, yet so indistinctly marked that at a distance +it looks like a dozen other birds one might name—a veritable feathered +rebus. But finally I fixed its place in the avian schedule with the help +of my field glass—white under parts, slightly tinged with yellow, back +and rump olive green, top and sides of head delicate bluish-ash; no +eye-ring, no wing-bars. There is no other warbler marked quite like +that. And yet its song is its most conspicuous mark, so to speak, for it +is a loud, shrill, and very rapidly repeated run, which might be spelled +out in this way: "Chippy, chippy, chippy, chippity-chippity-chippity." +The whole song is emitted at a galloping pace, giving you the impression +that the bird is in a desperate hurry. Important business on hand, no +doubt! Yes, there is a worm or a nit on the under side of that leaf, and +he must nab it now or never! With such pressing business matters on +hand, he has no time for regaling you with "linked sweetness long drawn +out." +</P> + +<P> +Still, he sometimes does prolong his ditty, giving it a saucy, +challenging air. No other warbler sings so loudly. His voice is as +shrill and penetrating as that of the indigo bird, though the song is +quite different in technique. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-034t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-034.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-034t.jpg" ALT="Yellow Warbler" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Another feathered conundrum was the Nashville warbler, whose back and +head are colored like those of the Tennessee, but whose under parts are +bright yellow, instead of white or white only slightly washed with +yellow; and, besides, sharp peering through your glass will reveal a +distinct white ring encircling the eye. The bird in the hand would also +show a dainty chestnut patch on the crown, but this mark is seldom seen +while it is flitting about in the leafy trees. The songs of the +Nashville and the Tennessee are somewhat similar, but not the same, the +Tennessee's being louder, shriller, and more sharply accentuated, while +his cousin's is more liquid and musical and far less sibilant. My notes +represent the Nashville's song phonetically as follows: "Swee, swee, +swee, ah-wit-ah-wit-ah-wit," delivered rapidly in a high key and with not +a little energy and emphasis. When my notes were made the little lyrist +was putting his best foot forward, and was not high in the trees, so that +I heard him distinctly. The Tennessee warblers were also singing near at +hand, giving me a good opportunity to compare the arias of the two +species. +</P> + +<P> +Belonging to the same subfamily is the orange-crowned warbler. It has +not so marked a preference for trees as its little relatives just +mentioned, but likes, so far as my observation goes, to flit about in +thickets, where it remains in hiding until driven from its covert or +drawn forth by curiosity. Only for a moment does it appear in sight, +then plunges into another covert. You will note that its eye-ring is +yellow, and that its under parts are neither bright yellow, like the +Nashville's, nor white, like the Tennessee's, but greenish yellow +obscurely streaked on the chest. I have never heard the song of the +orange-crown. +</P> + +<P> +There are a number of shy warblers that are especially partial to wild, +unfrequented parts of the woods, where they are seldom disturbed by human +intruders. In Kansas I found them in the deep, densely wooded ravines +running back from the Missouri River and its tributary valleys. Although +these feathered recluses are rarely molested by man, they seem to know +enough about his character to look upon him with a suspicious eye when he +ventures into their sylvan domain. Hence they are hard to study, and it +is not often that their deftly hidden nests can be found. +</P> + +<P> +One of the most delightful of these hermits is the Kentucky warbler. A +brilliant little bird he is, with his golden under parts and superciliary +line, his black patch on the cheek just below the eye, his black cap, and +his coat of iridescent olive green. You will not mistake him for the +Maryland yellow-throat, which also wears a black patch on the side of his +head; but this patch lies over the eye and includes it, and its upper +border is white, while this bird lacks the yellow and curved superciliary +band. Besides, the yellow-throat is not a woodland but a marsh bird. +The Kentucky warbler is attractive in many ways. An industrious +minstrel, his voice is strong and full for so small a bird, and until you +learn to know his tune well, you may mistake it for that of the cardinal. +But, as a piper, he lacks the versatility of the cardinal, who carries a +number of music sheets in his repertory, while the little Kentuckian +confines his lyrical efforts principally to one strain. Sometimes he +delivers his intermittent aria from a low bush or even from the ground, +but his favorite song-perches are the branches of saplings and trees just +below the zone of foliage. Here, in the shadows, you may be compelled to +look for him for some time before you espy his trig little form, and even +then you are likely to see him because he flits to another perch rather +than because you first catch the glint of his colors. Whether he means +it or not, he is something of a ventriloquist, for which reason you will +often look for him in many places before seeing him. +</P> + +<P> +As I have noted, he is an untiring singer. It never occurred to me to +time him, but Dr. Frank M. Chapman has had the patience to do so. "On +one occasion," says this observer, "at Englewood, New Jersey, I watched a +male for three hours. During this period, with the exception of five +interruptions of less than forty-five seconds each, he sang with the +greatest regularity once every twelve seconds. Thus, allowing for the +brief intervals of silence, he sang about 875 times, or some 5,250 notes. +I found him singing, and when I departed he showed no signs of ceasing." +It is such painstaking observations that add something new and fresh to +our knowledge of birds. +</P> + +<P> +The Kentucky warbler is fond of walking about on the ground in the woods, +seeking for his favorite insects. As you slowly follow, you will now and +then catch a glimpse of him through the apertures of the leaves; then he +will again disappear beneath his canvas of green. Thus he pursues his +quest hour after hour, and you may hear the rustle of his tiny feet upon +the carpet of dead leaves. Is it only a notion of mine, or am I correct, +in thinking that his promenades on the ground are mostly taken early in +the spring before there is danger from snakes? +</P> + +<P> +I like the pretty Kentuckians, but must grant you that in some respects +they are quite exasperating, never inclined to be as confiding as some +other birds. And then most birds will sooner or later betray the +presence of their nests, but the Kentucky warblers seldom do so, knowing +too well how to keep their procreant secrets. They have evidently +learned the use of strategy, as you will see: One day a pair began to +chirp vigorously as I approached their demesne in a lonely hollow, and I +felt a thrill of joy at the prospect of finding a nest. One of them even +flitted about with a worm in its bill—a sure sign of nestlings in the +neighborhood. For nearly four hours I watched the chirping couple, and +peered, as I thought, into every nook and cranny of the place, but all in +vain; neither nest nor bantlings could I find. Yet in some way that +seemed almost mysterious enough to be uncanny, the mother bird got rid of +the tidbit which she held in her bill. She probably decided to eat it +herself rather than betray the whereabouts of her younglings. I have +seen more than one parent bird do that. +</P> + +<P> +A few days later, in the same hollow, a Kentucky warbler was singing +contentedly, showing no signs of uneasiness. The female was not to be +seen or heard. I stalked about a long time, hoping to flush her from her +nest, but all my efforts were as futile that day as they had been on my +previous visit. In another hollow, on the same day, I watched a Kentucky +warbler flitting about with a worm in her bill. Again and again she +disappeared somewhere in the tanglewood, and came back with an empty bill +to chirp her disapproval of my spying; but look as I would in the very +places where she went down, I could discover no nest. In Warbledom it is +evidently no violation of ethical principles to act a lie in order to +protect a nestful of bantlings. +</P> + +<P> +But my story is not to have a disappointing ending, after all, for in the +spring and summer of 1902 my stars became auspicious, and I found three +Kentucky warblers' nests that were tenanted and several more that were +already deserted. Perhaps the turning of my luck was due not so much to +accident as to the fact that I had "caught on," and knew more about their +ruses. One of the nests discovered is worth describing. +</P> + +<P> +It was on a hilltop in Kansas, blown by the freshest breezes that sweep +over the limitless prairies. An ideal spot, indeed, for the nesting of +birds that love lone places. In one of my rambles I found this pleasant +elevation, and was attracted by the possibilities it offered for bird +study. Presently a male Kentucky warbler appeared with a couple of large +worms in his beak, and I made up my mind to find his nest if perseverance +could accomplish that object. So I sat down in the shade of a tree and +watched the bird closely. Now note his admirable finesse. After +flitting about among the bushes for a minute or two, chirping his protest +at my presence, he descended into the copse below and disappeared. Of +course, any student of birds would have supposed that he had gone down +near the nest to feed his bairns, and that he only needed to go and +examine the place to discover the little avian secret. My pulses +thrilled more than a little as I began my search for the nest right where +the bird had descended into the thicket. But do you know that my most +strenuous efforts—and they <I>were</I> strenuous on a hot day like +that—resulted only in disappointment? The nest was not to be found +within a radius of a rod from the point where the little diplomat went +down. A few days later I made my way to the hilltop, and do you know +that the shrewd bird played me the same trick? He scuttled down into the +bushes at almost the same point as before, and no nest rewarded my +search. I went home just about ready to give up my search for Kentucky +warblers' nests, for I had been hunting them for a number of years +without success. +</P> + +<P> +However, in a few days I found my way again to the breezy hilltop. The +chats, vireos, and indigo birds gave due warning of my approach, and I +felt sure that Master Kentucky and his mate would be on their guard. To +my delight, in a few minutes the female presented herself in one of the +trees, her bill holding a bunch of worms. Luckily she was not so wary or +diplomatic as her husband, and, in addition, she extremely anxious to +feed her hungry babies. Instead of going over to the copse where the +male bird had played me such a clever trick, she flew down the path about +four rods to a small scrub oak, from which she soon dropped into the +weeds below. Then I said to myself; "Aha!" and smiled in a knowing way. +</P> + +<P> +I walked down the path to the tree, but no Kentucky warblers were to be +seen—not right away. So I sat down in the path and waited to see what +would happen. It was only a short time till the female appeared, with a +telltale bunch of worms in her beak. A moment later her mate also +arrived, carrying a small worm in the usual way. The situation was +growing interesting. The two birdlets chirped and flitted about in the +tree for a long time, afraid to go down to the nest. I moved slowly and +cautiously farther up the path to give them a better chance to divulge +their secret. Presently the pretty madame summoned courage to drop to a +lower perch in the tree, then to a still lower one, then to the top of +one of the bushes below, and at last into the weed clump and out of sight. +</P> + +<P> +I wasted no time. In a minute I was pressing the weeds apart and looking +down admiringly into the little cot with its four half-fledged +occupants—the first Kentucky warbler's nest I had ever seen. Set upon +the ground, its bulky foundation of dry leaves supported the cup proper, +which was lined with fine grass. Easy enough to find when you knew +precisely where to look for it. +</P> + +<P> +Think now of the little game the male bird had played me on my previous +visits to the haunt! He had descended into the copse about four rods +distant from the nest instead of going down near its site; then he had +doubtless followed a secret pathway through the weeds and bushes to the +nest, fed his children, and hurried away without letting himself be seen. +</P> + +<P> +The parent birds did not like the idea of my finding and inspecting their +nest, for they chirped and darted about in a panic. To relieve their +anguish I retired up the slope a short distance, seated myself in the +pleasant shade of a scrub oak, and made an entry of my find in my +notebook. Alas! I had probably done harm to my little friends without +intending it, for their chirping attracted the attention of one of their +worst foes, and drew him to the spot. I loitered about for perhaps ten +minutes, and then decided to take one more peep at the pretty domicile +before leaving the hilltop. As I drew near, I observed that the parent +birds were chirping in a low, but heart-broken way, as if they were +almost stricken dumb with terror. Were they so badly frightened because +I was returning to their nest? +</P> + +<P> +I stepped up cautiously and looked down at the nest. It was now my turn +to give vent to a cry of consternation, for what I saw was this: A large +blacksnake coiled about the nest, the fold of his neck wabbling to and +fro in a terrifying way, while with his mouth he was trying to seize one +of the bantlings. Fortunately I had a good-sized stick, almost a club, +in my hand, and I wasted no time in bringing it down with all the force I +could command upon the serpent, taking care to deliver the blow at the +side of the nest. The snake tried to uncoil, but another blow broke his +backbone, if indeed the first one had not done so, and he was in my +power. He had swallowed one of the nestlings, but three were left, and +seemed to be in good condition. On my return to the place a few days +later the nest was empty, and I fear that the remaining little ones had +also been destroyed, perhaps by the mate of the snake from which I had +rescued them. +</P> + +<P> +On the shelf of a steep bluff covered with a riot of bushes and briars a +pair of hooded warblers found a dwelling place to their taste in the +spring of 1900. This handsome birdlet may be known by his dainty yellow +hood, bordered with black, and cannot be mistaken for any other member of +the great feathered fraternity. One cannot look at him without feeling +that Nature tried to see what she could do in the way of an unusual +arrangement of colors. Who can tell what impelled her to make a living +gem like this, as odd as it is beautiful? +</P> + +<P> +On the side of the bluff referred to I was first attracted by the +vivacious song of the little male, which I had not heard for several +years—not since an excursion I had taken into Louisiana and Mississippi. +His voice was clear and ringing, and the tune he executed was by no means +a meager performance. +</P> + +<P> +One day a loud, metallic chirping was heard, and presently two hooded +warblers appeared, each with the proverbial green worm in its beak. I +decided to remain in the nook and watch, for the nesting habits of these +rare warblers were new to me. In and out, up and down, here and there, +they flitted, making a checker-work of black and gold amid the foliage, +craning their necks, peering at me with anxious inquiry in their dark +little eyes, and filling the woodland with their uneasy chirping. +</P> + +<P> +It was a long time to wait, but at length patience had its reward; one of +the birds flew down to the bushes on the steep slope above me and fed a +youngster in plain view. No time was lost in pushing through the bushy +tangle to the magic spot. Behold! it was a young cowbird that had been +fed by the devoted little mother! That was trying beyond expression—to +think that all the efforts of the pretty couple, all their intense +solicitude, was wasted on a great, hulking impostor like the cowbird. He +had just scrambled from the nest, from which he had doubtless previously +crowded the rightful heirs of the family to perish from starvation on the +ground. I found the nest only about a foot away from the perch of the +young bird—a deep, neat little basket, compactly felted with down and +plant fibers, set in the crotch of a slender bush of the thicket. It was +certainly too small to accommodate any tenants besides the strapping +young cowbird. In the spring of 1902 another hooded warbler's nest +rewarded my search. Its holdings were four callow bantlings, all of +which were carried off by some marauder before my next visit. +</P> + +<P> +Another little charmer of the woodland, especially of thick second-growth +timber, is the blue-winged warbler, which glories in the high-sounding +Latin name of <I>Helminthophila pinus</I>. Wherever seen, he would attract +attention on account of the peculiar cut and color of his clothes. A +conspicuous black line reaching from the corner of the mouth back through +the eye is a diagnostic feature of his plumage, while his crown and +breast gleam in bright yellow, almost golden in the sunshine; his wings +and tail are blue-gray, with some white trimmings, and his back and rump +are bright olive There you have an array of colors that makes a picture +indeed. Madame Blue-wing wears the same pattern as her lord, but the +hues are less brilliant. +</P> + +<P> +The manners of Sir Blue-wing—I call him so because of his distinguished +air—are interesting, for they differ, in one respect at least, from +those of most of the other warblers of my acquaintance. He flits about +among the branches in rather a leisurely way—for a warbler; but his main +characteristic is his unwarbler-like fashion of clinging back downward to +the under side of the twigs, after the manner of the chickadee, in order +to secure the nits and worms under the leaves. He acts decidedly like a +diminutive trapeze performer. +</P> + +<P> +His song consists of an insect-like buzz, divided into stanzas of two +syllables each, with a pensive strain running through it, as if the heart +of the little singer were filled with sadness. While it sounds rather +faint at a distance, close at hand it has a strangely penetrating quality. +</P> + +<P> +Although my numerous efforts to find a blue-wing's nest were unavailing, +I had the satisfaction of proving beyond doubt that these birds breed in +northeastern Kansas. A quaint, squeaking call attracted my attention one +day, and I found that it proceeded from the throat of a young blue-wing +perched in the bushes, for presently the mamma came and thrust a morsel +into the open mouth of the bantling. Some young birds sit quietly and +patiently, waiting for their rations, and utter only a faint twitter when +they are fed; but the youthful blue-wings are not of so contented and +silent a disposition. On the contrary, they are noisy little fellows, +making their presence known to friend and foe alike, although they are +very careful never to permit the human observer to come too close. They +are duly warned of danger by their ever-vigilant parents. Sometimes a +youngster will sit on the same perch for a long time, preening his +feathers and uttering a little call at intervals, just to keep in +practice, as it were; while at other times he will pursue his parents +about in the woods, loudly demanding his dinner. One season I succeeded +in finding at least five pairs of these warblers, in company with their +clamorous broods. The nest is set on the ground in the bushes and grass +of second-growth timber tracts. Lined with tendrils and fine strips of +bark, it is "firmly wrapped with numerous leaves, whose stems point +upward." Another haunter of the dusky depths of the woods is the +ovenbird. His song is one of the most peculiar in warblerdom. Beginning +in moderate tones, it grows louder and louder as it nears the end, and +really seems like a voice moving toward you. This bird also walks about +in the woods, and does not hop, as most of his relatives do. As he walks +about on his leafy carpet, his head erect, he has quite a consequential +air. He derives his name from the fact that his nest, set on the ground, +is globular in form, with the entrance at one side, giving it the +appearance of a small oven. +</P> + +<P> +The gay redstarts, which seem to be so tame and confiding in the early +spring, turn into veritable eremites in the breeding season, seeking the +most secluded portions of the woods as their habitat. Their little nests +are harder to find than one would suppose; yet I have had the good +fortune to watch two females erecting the walls of their tiny cottages, +and a pretty sight it was. +</P> + +<P> +The redstart has some interesting ways. One of them is his habit of +spreading out his wings and tail as he perches or flits about in the +trees, as if he were anxious to display the fiery trimmings that so +elegantly set off his little black suit. Blood will tell, for I have +seen the young redstarts imitating their parents by spreading out their +odd, croppy tails in a comical way. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-049t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-049.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-049t.jpg" ALT="Chickadee" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +How early in life young birds are taught some of the lessons that are +needful for their own safety! One day I heard a young redstart chirping +for his dinner. I quietly thrust my head into the thicket, and soon +espied the birdkin perched on a twig only about a rod away. He either +did not see me, or else decided that I was not a bugaboo. A few minutes +later the mother darted into the enclosure and fed her baby. She was too +much absorbed in her duties to notice me until the repast was over; then +she suddenly caught sight of her unwelcome caller. She stood transfixed +with astonishment for one breathless moment, then uttered a piercing cry +of alarm that sent the little one dashing away like a streak of +lightning. Plainly the youngster understood his mamma's signal, for +until she uttered it he had sat perfectly quiet and unconcerned, perhaps +not even aware of my presence. Birds are taught the language of fear at +a tender age. Of course they learn it so readily because there is a +basis of timidity in their natures, implanted by heredity. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHICKADEE WAYS* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Reprinted by permission, from "Our Animal Friends," New York. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In a somewhat casual way, and without going into their natural history, +the last two chapters have indicated the method of making an +acquaintance with new species and of studying the habits of a few wild +birds. A few chapters will now be devoted to a fuller study of a +number of interesting birds. Not that I expect to write their complete +life histories, which, indeed, would not be necessary; but that I may +give you some idea of the large amount of knowledge that can be gained +of one species. If this were multiplied by the knowledge procurable +from the study of all the members of the feathered brotherhood, think +what an education the whole would give one. Let us begin with the +familiar little tomtit. +</P> + +<P> +In his valuable manual, "Birds of Eastern North America," Dr. Frank M. +Chapman calls the little black-capped chickadee an "animated bunch of +black and white feathers." That is certainly a graphic and correct way +of putting it, for no bird is more active and alert than this little +major with the black skull cap and ashy-blue coat. Everybody knows +him, I take it, but if any more points are needed for his +identification, you must look for a little bird which, in addition to +his cap of glossy black, wears a bib of the same color, buckled up +close to his chin, with a wedge of white inserted on each side of his +neck between the black of his throat and crown to the corner of his +mouth. +</P> + +<P> +If all birds were as sociably disposed as the little tomtit—for that +is also one of his names—bird study would be a delight, and almost a +sinecure. Trustful and fearless, he often comes within a few feet of +you, and fixes you with his keen little eyes, which dart out +innumerable interrogation points. Sometimes he calls his own name in a +saucy way, "Chick-a-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee," which, being +interpreted, means, "What is your business here, sir? Aren't you out +of your proper latitude?" Occasionally he will grow terribly excited +over your presence—or at least pretend to—scolding and shaming you +until you feel yourself a real interloper; at other times he will +salute you in the most affable way, as if bidding you welcome to his +haunts and inviting you to come often and make yourself at home. What +a pity it is he cannot talk, and let us know what he really thinks of +us and of the world in general! Dr. Chapman says that on two occasions +chickadees have flown down and perched on his hand, giving him the +feeling that he was being taken into their confidence. +</P> + +<P> +Watch Master Tomtit as he performs some of his acrobatic feats, putting +the tilters and tumblers in the human circus to the blush. He often +hangs back downward from a slender twig or even a leaf, and daintily +picks the nits that have ensconced themselves in the buds or foliage. +Let his flexile perch sway in the wind as it will, he is safe, for if +the twig should break or his hold should slip, which seldom occurs, he +can recover himself at once by spreading his nimble wings, wheeling +about, and alighting on a perch below. Ah, yes! the tomtit is the +embodiment and poetry of nimbleness. +</P> + +<P> +But he is more than a mere feathered gentleman; he is an extremely +useful citizen. Prof. E. D. Sanderson published a valuable article in +"The Auk" for April 1898, in which he proved that this bird serves a +most useful purpose as an insecticide. He examined the craws of +twenty-eight chickadees, nineteen of them secured in the winter and +nine in the spring. During the winter 70.7 per cent of the food found +in these stomachs was animal, while in the spring no vegetable matter +was found at all, the birds subsisting entirely on insects and their +eggs and larvae. By far the larger part of the insects thus destroyed +were of the noxious species that bore into the bark and wood of the +trees or sting the fruit. An orchard in which several chickadees had +taken up their abode one winter and spring was so well cleared of +canker worms that an excellent yield of fruit was grown, whereas the +trees of other orchards in the neighborhood were largely defoliated by +the destructive worms, and there was no yield of fruit. +</P> + +<P> +Professor Sanderson made an interesting estimate of the economic value +of our little scavengers. In the state of Michigan, where his +observations were made, he thinks that a fair average is seven +chickadees to the square mile. If each bird should destroy fifty-five +insects per day, which is a very modest estimate, the seven birds would +consume three hundred and eighty-five every day, making about 137,500 +per year in each square mile. In this way about eight billions of +insects would be destroyed annually in the state—an economic fact +whose importance cannot be overestimated. +</P> + +<P> +The same investigator also thinks that it would be wise for farmers and +fruit-growers to encourage the chickadees to make their homes in +orchards, and this could be done, he says, "by placing food for them +till they feel at home, by erecting suitable nesting sites, and by +careful protection"; to which I would add, by leaving a few old snags +in the trees where the birds can find natural nesting places. Besides +the useful purpose the birds would serve, what pleasant companions they +would be, piping, both summer and winter, their sweet minor tunes! +</P> + +<P> +No one can deny that the tomtit is a companionable little fellow. In +addition to his vigorous call of "Chick-a-dee-dee," he whistles, as has +been said, a sweet minor strain which may be represented by the +syllables, "Phe-e-be-e," repeated again and again. Often in midwinter, +when bland days come, and even in very cold weather, too, sometimes, he +will pipe his pensive air, which floats through the woods like a song +of chastened sadness. +</P> + +<P> +Not infrequently two tits will engage in what may be called a +"responsive exercise," swinging their two-part song back and forth in +the woods like a silvery pendulum. Not soon shall I forget a winter +day on which I listened with delight to such an antiphonal duet. I was +standing in a road that wound along the foot of a steep, wooded bluff, +and the two minstrels were in the woods above me, one of them singing +very high in the scale, the other responding in the same tune, but +almost, if not quite, an octave lower. At first they were about twenty +rods apart, but as they swung back and forth, they gradually approached +each other until the distance between them was only a few feet. The +music seemed like a slender thread of silver which was being wound up +at both ends, gradually drawing the little fluters together. Sometimes +one of them would miss one note of his dissyllabic song, and at times +the refrains were repeated in a leisurely way, at times in quick +succession; but the performers never sang simultaneously, each waiting +until his fellow minstrel had given his reply. The pleasing duet +lasted for many minutes; indeed, it was kept up long after I left the +immediate neighborhood, for when I had gone quite a distance the sweet +cadenzas still fell rhythmically on my ear. To my mind the two-part +aria seemed like a voluntary performance, and I cannot doubt that it +was. There was too much of an air of purpose about it to permit of the +thought that it was a mere accident or coincidence; but whether it was +a musical contest between rival vocalists, or the love song of a tomtit +and his mate, I could not determine. +</P> + +<P> +Cunning in other ways, it would be strange if the tomtits did not +display acuteness in the selection of nesting sites. A cosy hollow in +a dead snag or stump is especially acceptable. Sometimes it is a +deserted woodpecker's cavity made trig and clean, while quite often, +when the wood is soft enough, the tits themselves chisel out a little +hole in a tree or stump or fence post. I recall having once watched a +pair of chickadees hollowing the upper end of a truncated sassafras +tree that was half decayed. They would fly into the cavity, pick off a +chip, dash out and away a rod or two, drop the fragment, then dart back +to the hollow for another piece. In this way the busy couple worked +hour by hour without resting for an instant. Their reason no doubt for +carrying the chips some distance away from their nest was that they did +not want any telltale fragments to betray their secret to their enemies. +</P> + +<P> +It would be impossible to tell how many chickadee nests I have found in +all the years of my bird study. One of them was in an old stump near a +path along which I was sauntering. My attention was attracted by the +little husband's flying from the stump and calling nervously, thus +unwittingly "giving away" his secret. Had he been quiet, my suspicions +would not have been aroused; but many birds, like a few people here and +there, find it very hard to keep a secret. And this, by the way, is +one of the strangest things about Nature—that she has not taught her +feathered children to go with apparent unconcern about their employment +when a nest is near, but impels them to chirp and flit about in such a +way as to excite the suspicion of an enemy. +</P> + +<P> +Moralizing aside, however. On examining the stump, I found a deep +cavity just inside of the decaying bark. Though it was quite dusk +within, by slightly pressing the bark aside I could see the little +mother sitting on the nest, unwilling to leave it in spite of my +proximity. I almost touched her with my hand, and still she did not +move. Unwilling to disturb so brave a heroine, I stepped back and +walked quietly away a few rods to see what would happen, when she +popped out of the orifice like an arrow and, joined by her mate, set up +a loud chattering, which sounded as if they were saying that I was the +nosiest and most impudent man in the whole countryside. +</P> + +<P> +No doubt they were right, for I went back, in spite of their protest, +and peeped into the nest, and found four gleaming white eggs studding +the bottom like pearls. Alas! when I visited the place two weeks +later, the little domicile had been raided, the half-decayed walls +having been broken down. A tuft of gray hair hanging to a splinter +proved the invader to have been a predatory animal of some kind, +probably a cat. The birds were nowhere to be seen—unless a pair +chirping in the woods on the other side of the valley were the same +couple, trying to rear a family in a safer place. +</P> + +<P> +What a persistent sitter the female blackcap is! One day I discovered +a nest in a fence post by the wayside. Pressing the bark aside, I +could plainly see the little owner snuggling close to the bottom of the +cup. I thrust my finger through the aperture and gently stroked her +head and back. Still she hugged the nest, pressing her head close to +the grassy bottom, as if she thought she would be safe if her head were +hidden. Thinking she must have little ones, or she would not cling so +tenaciously to the nest, I pushed my finger under her and partly raised +her from her seat. Even this rude treatment she bore for a few +moments—but it was going too far even for her courageous little heart; +she lifted her head, glanced wildly at me for an intense moment, then +sprang from the cavity with a piercing cry. +</P> + +<P> +Imagine my surprise to find the nest entirely empty, not even an egg +having yet been deposited. The brave little lady had doubtless just +entered the nest to lay her first egg, and was not going to be driven +off without knowing the reason why. The tomtit is game every time. +</P> + +<P> +The entrance to most of the chickadee's nests is lateral, but I found +one nest whose doorway was in the top of a fence post, so that the +owners had to go down into it vertically. The hole was quite deep, and +the birds would drop down into it as you have seen swifts dropping into +a chimney, but whether they went down head first or tail first I could +not learn, their movements were so quick. Another feature of this nest +was that it had no roof, for the doorway was open to the sky, so that a +cloudburst would have filled up their little nursery and drowned its +inmates. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NUTHATCH FAMILY* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*This chapter is reprinted from that excellent bird magazine called +"American Ornithology," published by Charles K. Reed, Worcester, Mass., +and edited by his son, Chester A. Reed. The author is under obligation +to these gentlemen for their courtesy in permitting him to reprint the +article. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIRDS OF THE INVERTED POSITION +</H3> + +<P> +There are a number of climbers in the bird realm, but none are quite so +expert as the nuthatch, which may be regarded as a past-master in the +art of clambering. The woodpeckers amble up the boles and branches of +trees, and when they wish to descend, as they do occasionally for a +short distance, they hitch down backward. The brown creepers ascend +their vertical or oblique walls in the same way, but seldom, if ever, +do anything else than clamber upward, never descending head downward +after the fashion of the nuthatches. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-057t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-057.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-057t.jpg" ALT="Nuthatch" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +A little bird that comes very near disputing the palm with the nuthatch +as a sylvan coaster is the creeping warbler, which flits about over the +tree boles in all kinds of attitudes, even with his dainty head pointed +toward the earth. No fear in his little striped breast of the blood +rushing to his brain. However, even this clever birdlet's dexterity is +not equal to that of the nuthatch, for the latter is able to climb up +and down a smoother wall than his little rival. More than that, the +nuthatch glides downward with more ease and in a straight line, and +does not fling himself from side to side as the warbler does. Indeed, +the warbler's favorite method of going about is with his head directed +toward the sky rather than the reverse, while it really seems that the +nuthatch's predilection is to scuttle about in an inverted position. +Does he wish to chisel a grub out of the bark of a tree? He usually +stands above the target at which he aims, so that he can deliver his +blows with more force, just as the human woodchopper prefers to take +his position above and not below the stick or log upon which he expects +to operate. There the bird clings to his shaggy wall, pounding away +with might and main, until you fear he will shatter his beak or strew +his brains on the bark. Sometimes, too, he thrusts his long, slender +beak into a crevice and pries with it in a way that threatens to snap +it off in the middle. +</P> + +<P> +What has been said applies to the white-breasted nuthatch (<I>Sitta +carolinensis</I>), but it is fair to assume that all the other members of +this subfamily behave in the same way. The woodpeckers and creepers +use their spiny tails as supports while stationary or in motion; not so +the nuthatches, which are sufficiently nimble on their feet to stand or +glide without converting their tails into braces. Odd as it may seem +to the uninformed, the nuthatches belong to the order of passeres or +perching birds, in spite of their creeping habits. The systematists +have placed them in this niche of the avicular scheme, not only because +they are able to perch like other passeres on twigs and small branches, +but also because they have the foot of the true perching bird, with +three toes in front and one, well developed, in the rear. In this +respect they differ again from the woodpeckers, which have either two +fore and two hind toes, or two in front and only one behind. This will +appear all the more remarkable when it is remembered that the <I>Picidae</I> +do not descend head downward at all, while the <I>Sittinae</I> are the +head-downward goers par excellence. Yet they have only one rear toe to +support them in their inverted position. You would naturally suppose +that if any bird had need of two hind toes, it would be the nuthatch; +but the result proves that, after all, Nature had her wits about her +when she evolved this avian family. +</P> + +<P> +The world over, there are twenty distinct species of nuthatches known +to scientific observers, but only four of them are natives of America. +Of course, there are a number of subspecies or varieties. All of them +are incessant climbers and foragers, peering into crannies, pounding +here and there to make the grubs stir in their hiding places, jabbing +and prying with their beaks, and chiseling out all kinds of larvae, +grubs, and borers that would, if permitted to live and multiply, soon +devastate the timber and fruit trees and make this world a desert +indeed. True, the other feathered clamberers and carpenters are fully +as useful, but depend upon it, the nuthatches do their share in +preserving our forests and orchards. +</P> + +<P> +The white-breasted nuthatch is our most common species east of the +great plains, breeding from the Gulf States to the northern border of +the United States and to New Brunswick. One peculiarity about him is +that he breeds throughout his range, and therefore may be found as both +a summer and winter resident in all suitable localities within these +boundaries. In the winter, no matter how old Boreas may bluster, he is +one of the most cheerful denizens of the woods in our central +latitudes, calling his nasal "yank, yank, yank," and sometimes +indulging in a loud, half-merry outburst that goes echoing through the +woodlands. No sound of the sylvan solitudes has a more woodsy flavor +or is more suggestive of vernal cheer and good will. Sometimes he +chatters to his human visitors in the most cordial tones as he glides +up and down his arboreal promenade, or holds himself almost straight +out. +</P> + +<P> +A hole in a stump or tree makes Madame Nuthatch a cosy nursery, which +she lines with feathers and leaves, making it soft and snug for her +downy brood. Here they are safe from most of the prowlers that find +the more exposed nests of many other birds. She deposits five to eight +eggs of a white or creamy-white ground-color, speckled with rufous and +lavender. During the season of incubation and brood rearing the +nuthatches retire to the depth of the woods, and are quiet, secretive, +and unsocial, seldom betraying their procreant secrets. +</P> + +<P> +These birds have another habit that is worth mentioning. Having found +a larger supply of food than they require for their immediate use, they +carry morsels away and jam them into all sorts of holes and crannies in +the bark of the trees. I have watched a pair for an hour diligently +laying by a store of sunflower seeds, which they had found at the edge +of the woods. They do not store a quantity of provision in one place +like the squirrels, but deposit a tidbit here and there, wedging it +tightly into a crevice by hammering it with their stout bills. Of +course, the woodpeckers and tomtits secure many of these half-hidden +goodies, but Master Nuthatch does not mind that, for he evens up the +theft by appropriating their stores when he finds them. +</P> + +<P> +The white-breasted nuthatch may be known by his flat body and broad +shoulders, his bluish gray coat, black cap and mantle (all in one +piece), white cravat, shirt bosom and vest, with a few rufous +decorations on the belly and under tail-coverts. The following +quotations from Wilson are given as much for their vivacious manner as +for the story itself: +</P> + +<P> +"The male is extremely attentive to the female while sitting, supplying +her regularly with sustenance, stopping frequently at the mouth of the +hole, calling and offering her what he has brought, in the most +endearing manner. Sometimes he seems to stop merely to inquire how she +is, and to lighten the tedious moments with his soothing chatter. He +seldom rambles far from the spot, and when danger appears, regardless +of his own safety, he flies instantly to alarm her. When both are +feeding on the trunk of the same tree, or of adjoining trees, he is +perpetually calling on her; and, from the momentary pause he makes, it +is plain he feels pleased to hear her reply. +</P> + +<P> +"He rests and roosts with his head downwards; and appears to possess a +degree of curiosity not common in many birds; frequently descending, +very silently, within a few feet of the root of the tree where you +happen to stand, stopping, head downward, stretching out his neck in a +horizontal direction, as if to reconnoiter your appearance, and after +several minutes of silent observation, wheeling around, he again +mounts, with fresh activity, piping his unisons as before... Sometimes +the rain, freezing as it falls, encloses every twig, and even the trunk +of the tree, in a hard, transparent coat or shell of ice. On these +occasions I have observed his anxiety and dissatisfaction at being with +difficulty able to make his way along the smooth surface; at these +times he generally abandons the trees, gleans about the stables, around +the house, mixing among the fowls, entering the barn, and examining the +beams and rafters, and every place where he may pick up a subsistence." +</P> + +<P> +Our charming white-breast has a little cousin called the red-breasted +nuthatch (<I>Sitta canadensis</I>), whose under parts are rufous or reddish +buff instead of white. His crown and nape are black, then a white band +runs back from the base of the upper mandible to the hind neck, and +below this a black stripe reaches back in a parallel direction and +encloses the eye. His upper parts, save those mentioned, are bluish +gray. He is considerably smaller than the white-breast, and his range +is more northerly in summer; but, unlike his cousin, he does not breed +throughout his range; only in the localities which he selects for his +summer home. Hence he is a migrant, dwelling in winter in the southern +states, and in summer in the latitude of Manitoba and Maine and +northward, and also on the summits of the mountains as far south as +Virginia. It will be seen that the breeding precincts of the two +species overlap, while in winter <I>canadensis</I> comes down from the north +and takes up his abode in the southern part of the demesne of +<I>carolinensis</I>. +</P> + +<P> +While the white-breast is partial to oak, beech, maple, and other +deciduous forests, his little relative prefers a woodland of pine, +being very fond of scampering about on the cones, clinging to them with +his strong claws, and extracting the seeds with his stout little bill. +His call, though much like the "yank" of the white-breast, is pitched +to a higher key, and has even a more pronounced nasal intonation, +sounding as if he had taken a severe cold. Besides, he gives +expression to some cheery notes that seem to be reserved for his own +family or exclusive social circles. I found these pretty nuthatches in +the pine woods on Mackinac Island in midsummer, and have good reason to +believe that they breed there. +</P> + +<P> +Cavities in trees or stumps furnish the redbreasts with nesting places +suited to their taste; but they have a cunning way of plastering the +entrance above and below with pine pitch, so as to make it just large +enough to admit their tiny bodies and yet too small to let in their +enemies. In this respect they steal the laurels from their +white-breasted kinsmen, who seem to have no means by which to lessen +the dimensions of their natural doorways. +</P> + +<P> +A still smaller member of this group is the brown-headed nuthatch +(<I>Sitta pusilla</I>), a resident of the South Atlantic and Gulf states, at +rare intervals wandering "accidentally" as far north as Missouri and +New York. A daintily dressed little fellow is this bird, the top and +back of his head a dark grayish brown with a whitish patch on the nape, +the remainder of his upper parts being bluish gray and his under parts +grayish white. His favorite dwelling places are in the pine woods of +the south, where he is on the most cordial terms socially with the pine +warbler and the red-cockaded woodpecker. A most active little body, he +scampers from the roots of the trees to the terminal twigs at the top, +inspecting every cone, cranny and knot hole, chirping his fine, +high-keyed notes, sometimes in a querulous tone, and again in the most +cheerful and good-natured temper imaginable, now gliding up a tree +trunk, now scudding down head foremost, anon circling in a spiral +course. +</P> + +<P> +One autumn I found a number of these nuthatches associated with a flock +of myrtle warblers on the most sociable terms in a pine woodland not +far from Pensacola, Florida. Now they were up in the trees, now down +on the ground. All the while they were chirping in their most genial +tones. In a spring jaunt to southern Mississippi, I was fortunate +enough to find a nest in a half-decayed snag. It contained four of the +prettiest half-fledged bird babies that have ever greeted my sight. +</P> + +<P> +Oddly enough, our tiny clamberers utter a loud, shrill alarm-call that +bears close resemblance to the querulous protest of the sparrow hawk as +you approach her nest or young. Doctor Chapman says of the brown +heads: "They are talkative sprites, and, like a group of school +children, each one chatters away without paying the slightest attention +to what his companions are saying." +</P> + +<P> +The fourth member of the <I>Sittinae</I> subfamily in America is the pigmy +nuthatch, known scientifically as <I>Sitta pygmaea</I>, a genuine westerner, +not known east of the plains. However, in the Rocky Mountain district +he is an abundant species, his range east and west being from the +plains to the Pacific coast, and north and south from the Canadian +boundary to the mountains of Mexico. Swinging and gliding about among +the pines, performing the same antics as his eastern kinsmen, he utters +a cheery whistle, that may be translated, "Whit, whit, whit." His +movements are often so rapid that he is difficult to follow with the +eye as he flits from one tree to another or dashes amid the branches. +He scarcely remains quiet long enough for you to note his markings and +settle his identity, but once you are sure of him, you will never +mistake him for another bird. +</P> + +<P> +In Colorado there is little of a migratory movement even up and down +the mountains among these interesting birdlets. In the winter a few +descend from the heights and dwell on the plains, where the weather is +not so rigorous. On the approach of spring they again hie up into the +mountains, spending the summer there and rearing their pretty bairns. +However, the majority of them remain in the mountains all winter, +braving the bitterest and fiercest storms, often at an altitude of +8,000 feet. Their breeding range is from 6,000 to 10,000 feet, the +latter elevation being only a little below the timber line. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of his unique and interesting habits, the poets have scarcely +begun to chant the praises of the American nuthatch. One of the best +tributes I have been able to find is from the pen of Edith Thomas, who +apostrophizes our bird in this way: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Shrewd little haunter of woods all gray,<BR> +Whom I meet on my walk of a winter day,<BR> +You're busy inspecting each cranny and hole<BR> +In the ragged bark of yon hickory bole;<BR> +You intent on your task, and I on the law<BR> +Of your wonderful head and gymnastic claw!<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"The woodpecker well may despair of this feat—<BR> +Only the fly with you can compete!<BR> +So much is clear; but I fain would know<BR> +How you can so reckless and fearless go,<BR> +Head upward, head downward, all one to you,<BR> +Zenith and nadir the same to your view."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +We have now described the American nuthatch quartette, and will turn to +other fields no less inviting, albeit more remote. The nuthatch of +central Europe, scientifically known as <I>Sitta caesia</I>, is closely +related to our American forms, resembling them in many of his habits. +In studying the literature of the transatlantic species, we at once +stumble upon the reason for calling this avian family by the somewhat +peculiar and apparently inapt name of nuthatch. The older English form +of the word was "nuthack," which unfortunately has been changed to +"nuthatch," a word that gives an erroneous impression, for no bird ever +hatches a nut. But with the last syllable "hack" the difficulty is all +cleared up, as his habit of hacking or chipping nuts, which he places +in chinks of the bark or wall, is well known. +</P> + +<P> +The nuthatch of England belongs to the species just named. He does not +wear a black hood or mantle, but merely a black ribbon on the side of +his head, enclosing the eye. His upper parts are bluish gray, save the +outer tail feathers, which are black; his cheeks and throat are white, +his breast and belly buff, and his flanks and lower tail-coverts +chestnut red. A graphic English writer, Dr. W. H. Hudson, gives the +following enthusiastic description of the little tobogganist of his +native woodlands: +</P> + +<P> +"When I see him sitting quite still for a few moments on a branch of a +tree in his most characteristic nuthatch attitude, on or under the +branch, perched horizontally or vertically, with head or tail +uppermost, but always with the body placed beetle-wise against the +bark, head raised, and the straight, sharp bill pointed like an arm +lifted to denote attention,—at such times he looks less like a living +than a sculptured bird, a bird cut out of beautifully variegated +marble—blue-gray, buff, and chestnut, and placed against the tree to +deceive the eye. The figure is so smooth and compact, the tints so +soft and stone-like; and when he is still, he is so wonderfully still, +and his attitude so statuesque! But he is never long still and when he +resumes his lively, eccentric, up-and-down and sidewise motions, he is +interesting in another way. He is like a small woodpecker who has +broken loose from the woodpecker's somewhat narrow laws of progression, +preferring to be a law unto himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Without a touch of brilliant color, the nuthatch is a beautiful bird +on account of the pleasing softness and harmonious disposition of his +tints; and, in like manner, without being a songster in the strict +sense of the word, his voice is so clear and far-reaching and of so +pleasing a quality, that it often gives more life and spirit to the +woods and orchards and avenues he frequents than that of many true +melodists. This is more especially the case in the month of March, +before the migratory songsters have arrived, when he is most +loquacious. A high pitched, clear, ringing note, repeated without +variation several times, is his most often-heard call or song. He will +sometimes sit motionless on his perch, repeating this call at short +intervals, for half an hour at a time. Another bird at a distance will +be doing the same, and the two appear to be answering one another. He +also has another call, not so loud and piercing, but more melodious: a +double note, repeated two or three times, with something liquid and +gurgling in the sound, suggesting the musical sound of lapsing water. +These various notes and calls are heard incessantly until the young are +hatched, when the birds at once become silent." +</P> + +<P> +The nesting habits of <I>caesia</I> are quite similar to those of our +American forms, with the following interesting exception: The doorway +of the cavity constituting the bird's domicile is plastered up with +clay, made viscid by the nuthatch's glutinous saliva, leaving in the +center a circular hole just large enough to afford entrance and exit +for the little owner. Says the author quoted above: "When the sitting +bird is interfered with, she defends her treasures with great courage, +hissing like a wryneck, and vigorously striking at her aggressor with +her sharp bill." Like our common white-breast, the British bird may be +attracted to human dwellings by furnishing him a regular supply of food +suited to his taste, and may grow so trustful as to come when called, +and even to catch morsels thrown to him in the air. In the forest he +often hammers so loudly on a resonant branch that his tattoo is +mistaken for that of a woodpecker. The interior of the nest "contains +a bed of dry leaves, or the filmy flakes of the inner bark of a fir or +cedar, on which the eggs are laid." +</P> + +<P> +In northern Europe another form of the nuthatch guild is found, known +scientifically as <I>Sitta europea</I>, whose under parts are white without +any washing of buff on the breast. +</P> + +<P> +The Levant furnishes a most charming addition to the feathered +brotherhood now under consideration. The scientific gentlemen have +christened it <I>Sitta syriaca</I>, and its common name is the rock +nuthatch, an appellation that is most appropriate, for its chosen +haunts are rocky cliffs, over the faces of which it scuttles in the +most approved nuthatch fashion, head up or down, as the whim seizes it, +clinging with its sharp claws to the chinks, ledges, protuberances, and +rough surfaces of the rocky walls. A little larger than its European +cousin, its markings are quite similar. In Syria it is common as far +north as the southern shores of the Black Sea. Although somewhat shy, +it is described as having "sprightly manners and a clear, ringing +trill." Odd indeed are some of nature's evolutions, I had almost said +caprices, for the rock nuthatch is just as much at home and apparently +just as happy on its bleak precipices as is our merry whitebreast in +his umbrageous home in the oak or maple forest. +</P> + +<P> +But what kind of nests do the rock nuthatches construct on their +limestone walls? That is one of the most interesting features of the +life of these birds. One writer[1] who has observed them in their native +haunts describes the rock nuthatch as "an expert clay mixer and +molder." The bird does not chisel out a nursery in the rock—no, +indeed; his method of constructing his nest is as follows: Having found +a little hollow or indentation on the rocky wall, he will erect a cap +or dome of mortar over it, plastering the structure so firmly against +the surface that no rain or storm or predaceous creeping thing can +demolish it until long after it has been abandoned by the little +architect. The circular base of the nest is ten or twelve inches in +diameter. The dome is not entirely closed up, but a small orifice is +left in the center, upon the edges of which a narrow neck or funnel, +also made of mortar, is raised, the hole just large enough to admit the +body of the bird. The funnel is about three inches long. +</P> + +<P> +The building material employed is fine clay softened and glutinated +with the bird's saliva and mixed with plant fibers, for the little +mason does not believe in making bricks without straw. So well packed +is the inch-thick wall that a stiff knife blade must be used to cut +through it. While the natural color of the adobe cottage is ash-gray, +and therefore harmonizes with the general hue of its surroundings, and +also with the mezzotints of the builder, yet he sometimes decorates it +with the gaily colored wings of moths caught in the chase and attached +to the plaster while it is fresh. The rock nuthatch is as expert a +mixer of mortar as the well-known cliff swallows of our own country, +and his adobe dwellings bear a close resemblance to theirs. +</P> + +<P> +It is interesting to note that the European nuthatch, while nesting +regularly in tree cavities, sometimes also chooses the crannies of +rocks, when he goes a little more extensively into the plastering +business; but his skill is not so well developed as that of his +oriental cousin, whose mud cottage is a model of its kind. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] The writer referred to is Mr. H. C. Tracy, to whose charming article +in "The Wilson Bulletin," published at Oberlin, Ohio, I am indebted for +all my material on the rock nuthatch. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A FEATHERED PARASITE* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Reprinted from Appleton's "Popular Science Monthly," with additions. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Nothing could more clearly prove that a common law runs through the +whole domain of Nature than the fact that in every division of her +realm there seems to be a class of parasites. In the vegetable world, +as is well known, there are various plants that depend wholly on other +plants for the supply of their vital forces. And in the human sphere +there are parasites in a very real and literal sense—men and women who +rely upon the toil and thrift of others to sustain them in worthless +idleness. +</P> + +<P> +In view of the almost universal character of this law it would be +strange if these peculiar forms of dependence did not appear in the +avian community. We do find such developments in that department of +creation. Across the waters there is one bird that has won an +unenviable reputation as a parasite: the European cuckoo relies almost +wholly on the efforts of its more thrifty neighbors to hatch and rear +its young, and thereby perpetuate the species. Strangely enough, our +American cuckoos are not given to such slovenly habits, but build their +own nests and faithfully perform the duties of nidification, as all +respectable feathered folk should. However, this parasitical habit +breaks out, quite unexpectedly, it must be conceded, in another +American family of birds entirely distinct from the cuckoo group. +</P> + +<P> +In America the cowbird, often called the cow bunting, is the only +member of the avian household that spirits its eggs into the nests of +other birds. The theory of evolution can do little toward accounting +for the anomaly, and even if it should venture upon some suggestions it +would still be just as difficult to explain the cause of the evolution +in this special group, while all other avian groups follow the law of +thrift and self-reliance. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-072t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-072.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-072t.jpg" ALT="Cowbird" BORDER="0" WIDTH="550" HEIGHT="689"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The cowbird belongs to the family of birds scientifically known as +<I>Icteridae</I>, which includes such familiar species as the bobolinks, +orioles, meadowlarks, and the various kinds of blackbirds, none of +which, I am glad to say, are parasites. The name <I>Molothrus</I> has been +given to the genus that includes the cowbirds. They are confined to +the American continent, having no analogues in the lands across the +seas. The same may be said, indeed, of the whole <I>Icteridae</I> family. +It may be a matter of surprise to many persons that there are twelve +species and subspecies of cowbirds in North and South America, for most +of us are familiar only with the common cowbird (<I>Molothrus ater</I>) of +our temperate regions. Of these twelve species only three are to be +found within the limits of the United States, one is a resident of +western Mexico and certain parts of Central America, while the rest +find habitat exclusively in South America. A fresh field of +investigation is open to some enterprising and ambitious naturalist who +wishes to study several of these species, as comparatively little is +known of their habits, and indeed much still remains to be learned of +the whole genus, familiar as one or two of the species are. Their sly, +surreptitious manners render them exceedingly difficult to study at +close range and with anything like satisfactory detail. +</P> + +<P> +Are all of them parasites? Probably they are—at least to a greater or +less degree—except one, the bay-winged cowbird of South America, which +I shall reserve for notice later on in this chapter. We might assert +that our common cowbirds are the parasites <I>par excellence</I> of the +family, for, so far as I can learn from reading and observation, they +never build their own nests or rear their own young, but shift all the +duties of maternity, save the laying of the eggs, upon the shoulders of +other innocent birds. +</P> + +<P> +These avian "spongers" have a wide geographical range, inhabiting the +greater part of the United States and southern Canada, except the +extensive forest regions and some portions of the southern states. +They are most abundant in the states bordering on the upper Mississippi +River and its numerous tributaries. On the Pacific coast west of the +Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains, they occur only as stragglers. +The most northern point at which they have been known to breed is the +neighborhood of Little Slave Lake in southern Athabaska. In the autumn +the majority of these birds migrate to southern Mexico, although a +considerable number remain in our southern states, and a few +occasionally tarry for the winter even as far north as New England and +southern Michigan. +</P> + +<P> +The male cowbird looks like a well-dressed gentleman—and may have even +a slightly clerical air—in his closely fitting suit of glossy black, +with its greenish and purplish iridescence, and his hood of rich +metallic brown covering his head, neck, and chest. He makes a poor +shift as a musician, but his failure is not due to lack of effort, for +during courtship days he does his level best to sing a variety of +tunes, expanding and distorting his throat, fluffing up his feathers, +spreading out his wings and tail, his purpose evidently being to make +himself as fascinating as possible in the eyes of his lady love. One +of his calls sounds like "spreele," piped in so piercing a key that it +seems almost to perforate your brain. +</P> + +<P> +One observer maintains that the cowbirds are not only parasitical in +their habits, but are also absolutely devoid of conjugal affection, +practicing polyandry, and seldom even mating. This is a serious +charge, but it is doubtless true, for even during the season of +courtship and breeding these birds live in flocks of six to twelve, the +males almost always outnumbering the females. However, if their family +relations are somewhat irregular, no one can accuse them of engaging in +brawls, as so many other birds do, for both males and females seem to +be on the most amicable terms with one another, and are, to all +appearances, entirely free from jealousy. Who has ever seen two +cowbirds fighting a duel like the orioles, meadowlarks, and robins? +</P> + +<P> +In obtruding her eggs into the nests of other birds, Madame Cowbird is +sly and stealthy. She does not drive the rightful owners from their +nests, but simply watches her opportunity to drop her eggs into them +when they are unguarded. No doubt she has been on the alert while her +industrious neighbors have been constructing their domiciles, and knows +where almost every nest in the vicinity is hidden. Says Major Charles +Bendire: "In rare instances only will a fresh cowbird's egg be found +among incubated ones of the rightful owners. I have observed this only +on a single occasion." From one to seven eggs of the parasite are +found in the nests of the dupes. In most cases the number is two, but +in the case of ground builders the cowbird seems to have little fear of +overdoing her imposition. Major Bendire says that he once found the +nest of an oven-bird containing seven cowbird's eggs and only one of +the little owner's. +</P> + +<P> +If parasitism were the only crime of the cowbird one would not feel so +much disposed to put her into the Newgate Calendar; but she not only +inflicts her own eggs upon her innocent victims, but often actually +tosses their eggs out of the nests in order to make room for her own. +Nor is that all; she will sometimes puncture the eggs of the owners to +prevent their hatching, and thus increase the chances of her own +offspring. Whether this is done with her beak or her claws is still an +open question, Major Bendire inclining to the belief that it is done +with the claws. +</P> + +<P> +Her finesse is still further to be seen in the fact that she usually +selects some bird for a victim that is smaller than herself, so that +when her young hopefuls begin to grow they will be able to crowd or +starve out the true heirs of the family. In this way it is thought +that many a brood comes to an untimely end, the foster parents having +no means of replacing their own little ones when they have been ejected +from the nest. However, I doubt whether the cowbird's impositions are +usually so destructive as some observers are inclined to believe. I +once found a bush sparrow's nest containing one cowbird and four little +sparrows, all of which were in a thriving condition. The sparrows were +so well fed and active that as soon as I touched the nest they sprang, +with loud chirping, over the rim of their cottage and scuttled away +through the grass. They were certainly strong and healthy, in spite of +the presence of their big foster brother. Before they flitted away I +had time to notice how the little family were disposed. The cowbird +was squatted in the center of the nest, while his little foster +brothers and sisters were ranged around him, partly covering him and no +doubt keeping him snug and warm. They were further advanced than he, +for while they scrambled from the nest, he could do nothing but snuggle +close on the bottom of the cup. +</P> + +<P> +A wood thrush's nest that I found contained two young thrushes and two +buntings. All of them were about half fledged. Being of nearly the +same size, the queerly assorted bantlings lived in apparent peace in +their narrow quarters. I watched them at frequent intervals, but saw +no attempts on the part of the foundlings to crowd out their +fellow-nestlings. The cowbirds were the first to leave the sylvan roof +tree. Thus it appears that the intrusion of the cowbird's eggs does +not always mean disaster to the real offspring of the brooding family, +but of course it often prevents the laying of the full complement of +eggs by the builders themselves. +</P> + +<P> +Even after the youngsters have left the nest the mother cowbird does +not assume the care of them, but still leaves them in charge of the +foster parents. It is laughable, almost pathetic, to see a tiny +oven-bird or redstart feeding a strapping young cowbird which is +several times as large as herself. She looks like a pigmy feeding a +giant. In order to thrust a tidbit into his mouth she must often stand +on her tiptoes. Why the diminutive caterer does not see through the +fraud I can not say. She really seems to be attached to the hulking +youngster. By and by, however, when he grows large enough to shift for +himself, he deserts his little parents and nurses and seeks +companionship among his own blood kindred, who doubtless bring him up +in the way all cowbirds should go. +</P> + +<P> +It is surprising how many species are imposed on successfully by the +cowbird. The number, so far as has been observed, is ninety, with +probably more to be added. Among the birds most frequently victimized +are the phoebes, the song sparrows, the indigo birds, the bush +sparrows, and the yellow-breasted chats. Even the nests of the +red-headed woodpecker and the rock wrens are not exempt. Some species, +notably the summer warblers, detect the imposture and set about +defeating the purposes of the interloper by building another story to +their little cottage, leaving the obtruded eggs in the cellar, where +they do not receive enough warmth to develop the embryo. +</P> + +<P> +While it is surprising that acute birds should allow themselves to be +imposed on in this way, perhaps, after all, they look upon the cowbird +as a kind of blessing in disguise; at least, he may not be an unmixed +evil. They may act on the principle of reciprocity—that "one good +turn deserves another." What I mean is this: In my rambles I have +often found the cowbirds the first to give warning of the approach of a +supposed danger. Having no domestic duties of their own, they can well +secrete themselves in a tall tree overlooking the entire premises, and +thus play the useful role of sentinel. This, I am disposed to believe, +is one of the compensating uses of this parasite, and may furnish the +reason for his being tolerated in birdland. And he is tolerated. Has +any one ever seen other birds driving the cowbird away from their +breeding precincts, or charging him with desperate courage, as they do +the blue jays, the hawks, the owls, and other predatory species? He +evidently subserves some useful purpose in the avian community, or he +would not be treated with so much consideration. +</P> + +<P> +A young cowbird that I purloined from the nest and tried to rear by +hand did not prove a pleasant pet. He was placed in a large cage with +several other kinds of young birds. At first he was quite docile, +taking his food from my hand and even allowing some of his feathered +companions to feed him; but in a few weeks he grew so wild and +manifested such a fierce desire for the outdoor world that I was glad +to carry him out to the woods and give him his freedom. A young +red-winged blackbird and a pair of meadowlarks developed a different +disposition. +</P> + +<P> +The dwarf cow-bird (<I>Molothrus ater obscurus</I>) is similar to his +relative just described, except that he is smaller and his geographical +range is more restricted. He is a resident of Mexico, southern Texas, +southwestern Arizona, and southern California. His habits resemble +those of the common cowbird. Another bunting having almost the same +range, although a little more southerly, is the red-eyed cowbird, which +is larger and darker than our common cowbird and has the same +parasitical habits. +</P> + +<P> +In South America three species have been studied by Mr. W. H. Hudson, +who, in collaboration with Mr. P. L. Sclater, has published a most +valuable work on Argentine ornithology. One of these is called the +Argentine cowbird (<I>Molothrus bonariensis</I>). It is a blue-blooded +parasite, and has been seen striking its beak into the eggs of other +birds and flying away with them. The males, it is said, show little +discrimination in pecking the eggs, for they are just as likely to +puncture the cowbird eggs as those of other birds. Every egg in a nest +is frequently perforated in this way. These buntings lay a large +number of eggs, often dropping them on the ground, laying them in +abandoned nests, or depositing them in nests in which incubation has +already begun, in which case all of them are lost. However, in spite +of this wastefulness the birds thrive, thousands of them being seen in +flocks during the season of migration. +</P> + +<P> +And, by the way, a description of their habits by Mr. Hudson has thrown +interesting light on the subject of migration in the southern +hemisphere. South of the equator the recurrence of the seasons is the +exact reverse of their recurrence north of the equator, and therefore +the breeding season of the birds is in the autumn instead of the +spring; the flight from winter cold occurs in the spring instead of in +the autumn, and is toward the north instead of toward the south. Thus, +in February and March the Argentine cowbirds are seen flying in vast +battalions in the direction of the equatorial regions—that is, +northward—in whose salubrious clime they spend the winter. As our +northern autumn draws near and the southern spring approaches these +winged migrants take the air line for their breeding haunts in the +Argentine Republic and Patagonia. At the same time the migrants of the +northern hemisphere are pressing southward before the blustering north +wind. It all seems wonderful and solemn, this world-wide processional +of the seasons and the birds. +</P> + +<P> +Naturally one would expect to find some other eccentricities in this +aberrant family besides that of parasitism, and in this expectation one +is not disappointed. There are two other species of cowbirds in the +Argentine country—the screaming cowbird (<I>Molothrus rufoaxillaris</I>) +and the bay-winged cowbird (<I>Molothrus badius</I>). The latter is only +partly a trencher on the rights of other birds—only half a parasite. +Indeed, it sometimes builds its own nest, which is quite a respectable +affair; but, as if to prove that it still has some remnants of cowbird +depravity in its nature, it frequently drives other birds from their +rightful possessions, appropriates the quarters thus acquired, lays its +eggs into them, and proceeds to the performance of its domestic duties +like its respectable neighbors. Its virtue is that it never imposes +the work of incubation and brood rearing on any of its feathered +associates, even though it does sometimes eject them from their +premises. +</P> + +<P> +But what is to be said of the screaming cowbird? Instead of inflicting +its eggs on its more distant avian relatives, it watches its chance and +slyly drops them into the domicile of its bay-winged cousins, and +actually makes them hatch and rear its offspring! This seems to be +carrying imposture to the extreme of refinement, or possibly developing +it into a fine art, and reminds one of those human good-for-naughts who +"sponge" off their relatives rather than go among strangers. +</P> + +<P> +Before closing this chapter I must call attention to one of the most +surprising discoveries ever made by an American observer of bird ways. +It was reported some time after my article on the cowbird was first +published in Appleton's "Popular Science Monthly." The observer was +Joseph F. Honecker, whose statement was printed in "American +Ornithology" for June, 1902, and runs as follows: +</P> + +<P> +"As ornithologists and all bird students think and believe that the +cowbird will build no nest, but always lays in the nests of other +birds, I am glad to give the results of my experiments. In order to +get the desired results, in the spring of 1899 I secured a pair of +cowbirds and placed them in a large cage, cared well for them, and +supplied them with plenty of nesting material. To my surprise, the +female built a nest, laid four eggs, hatched them, and reared the +young, and on July twenty-eighth, young and old were given their +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BLUE CANNIBAL* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Reprinted by permission from "The Evening Post," New York. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In his coat of light blue, trimmed with white and black, bearing his +crest jauntily atop of his head, the blue jay presents an attractive +picture. And, indeed, although I myself feel that the Baltimore +oriole, the scarlet tanager, the ruby-throated hummingbird, and many of +the wood warblers carry off the palm for brilliancy of plumage, there +are persons who declare that the jay is the most handsomely colored +bird in our temperate regions. +</P> + +<P> +While the jay dons an engaging attire, not much can be said in the way +of eulogy for his vocal talents or acquirements. Many of his calls are +harsh, penetrating, and even raucous. Frequently, too, he indulges in +a great to-do over nothing, fairly splitting your ears with his noisy +cries. I have said it is a to-do over nothing, though Mr. Jay may +think he has the best reason in the world for making a fuss. Often +espying some coveted prize on the ground in my back yard, instead of +quietly dropping down and taking it, he and his companions would dash +about in the trees, swing their bodies sidewise and up and down in an +excited way, and scream at the top of their voices, sometimes drawing +me out of the house to see what had gone wrong in Jaydom. They seemed +to be determined to attract the attention of every person on the +premises to the fact that they wanted that morsel on the ground, but +were afraid to venture down after it. Perhaps they meant by their +objurgations to test their human neighbors, to ascertain whether any of +them were prowling about with a gun or a sling, ready to do them harm. +If there should be any such prowlers, probably the jays meant to induce +them to come out of their ambush, to show themselves in the open, and +give their jayships a chance to escape. Bird psychology, as you will +have occasion to note more than once, is a good deal of an enigma. How +often we would give a handsome bonus to a bird if he would let us know +precisely what he was thinking about! +</P> + +<A NAME="img-084t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-084.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-084t.jpg" ALT="Blue Jay" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Although no musician, the jay has quite an extensive vocal repertory. +Besides his loud, challenging call, he frequently utters a series of +calls that have a pensive quality and that fill the mind with an +indefinable foreboding, especially on chill autumn days when all the +woods are bare and gray and the wind is moaning through the boughs. +Sometimes when a jay is hidden in a copse, he utters a low, scolding +sputter, that seems to express the very quintessence of disgust. It is +simply his way of telling you what he thinks of a man who goes prowling +about without leave in the precincts of the birds. +</P> + +<P> +Have you ever heard the jay's brief musical roulade? It is only a wisp +of melody, rarely rich and suggestive, heard a moment, then gone. You +know something sweet has passed by, but something so brief and elusive +that you scarcely know what it was. Long after it has dropped on your +ear, it continues to haunt your memory, and you try again and again to +reproduce it, but in vain. It has a kind of gurgling quality, as if +the bird were pressing his notes through an aqueous lyre, if such a +conception is possible. Besides, I have, on more than one occasion, +heard a jay warble a soft, reserved little lay that was continued for +many minutes. It sounded very like the song of the brown thrasher, +much modulated and partly uttered under its breath—a sort of flowing, +rythmical melody. +</P> + +<P> +A question that disturbs all bird lovers more or less is this: Does the +fine white vest of the jay cover a bad heart? Is he really a thief, a +nest robber, or even worse, a cannibal, in plumes? May the guardian +spirit of all feathered folk forbid that I should blacken the +reputation of any bird, yet honesty compels me to give an affirmative +answer to the foregoing question. I hasten, however, to say that I do +not believe he is as black as he has been painted by some observers, +who seem to delight in making out a verdict of capital guilt against +him. Although a predatory bird, he is not engaged all the time in +bloodthirsty pursuits, but only while his young are in the nest +clamoring for food. What are some of the proofs of his vandalism? I +will mention a few of them. +</P> + +<P> +First, almost all the small birds make uncompromising war upon him, +especially in the breeding season, and many of them show signs of dire +distress when he goes near their nests. They often utter pitiful +cries, droop their wings, and the bravest of them dash at him savagely, +giving him many a cuff on the head and back. The wood pewee and the +kingbird succeed, I think, in driving him away; but the vireos and +warblers, being so much smaller, suffer greatly from his depredations. +If there were no real cause for it, these birds would not be filled +with panic and rage on account of the jay's presence. There is strong +presumptive evidence that they know him for an outlaw only too well. +</P> + +<P> +The following incident will furnish positive proof of the jay's +cannibalistic proclivities: One spring my little boy brought home from +the country a young house wren, thinking it would make a delightful +pet. It was quite well fledged, but its short tail and white mouth +border proclaimed the tenderness of its youth. Fearing that the little +thing could not be reared by hand, as it refused all our proffered +tidbits, and chirped continually for its parents, I persuaded the lad +to give it its freedom. A mother wren living on our premises seemed +inclined to adopt the little waif, and we decided to put it under her +care. No sooner was the youngling let out of the cage than it flew to +the side of the house and began to scramble up the brick wall. It had +a hard tug, but at length succeeded in reaching a resting place on a +window-shutter of the second story. +</P> + +<P> +Presently the mother wren heard its calls and paid it a visit; but +instead of feeding it, she seemed very anxious to drive it away, +knowing, no doubt, that there were predaceous enemies in the +neighborhood. In her attempts to drive it into hiding, she pecked it +on the head and in the mouth. Then she dropped down into a thicket and +secured a green worm, with which she flew up to the chirping waif's +perch; but I could not make out that she fed the birdling, though she +thrust the worm toward its open mouth. Soon after she had gone off the +second time, the little bird clambered around the corner of the wall to +the lower side of the house, where it rested a while on a narrow shelf. +</P> + +<P> +All this time my boy and I were watching it intently. Suddenly a blue +jay came flying over from one of the trees of an adjacent yard, moving +in a rapid, stealthy way. First it plunged into an apple tree at the +corner of the house; then, before I could collect my wits enough to +know what was happening, it darted over to the brick wall, seized the +little wren with its bill, and bore it off. The mother wren followed, +uttering a pitiful chatter, while the little victim called loudly for +help. The blue kidnapper darted to a tree in my neighbor's yard, where +he put his booty under his claw on a limb, holding it by one slender +leg, while its body dangled below. Hoping still to rescue the little +captive, I sprang over into the adjacent yard with a loud shout and +much waving of my hands; but my vigorous efforts only caused the jay to +pick up the wren in its bill and continue its flight, and neither wren +nor jay was seen by me again. This incident furnishes unimpeachable +testimony against the character of the blue-coated Robin Hood. There +was no faltering or hesitancy in his conduct, but he seized and carried +off his little victim as if he were to the manner born, and had become +hardened by practice in depredations of the sort. +</P> + +<P> +A farmer once related the following incident to me: A pair of chipping +sparrows had built a nest in a bush in his front yard. One day after +the little ones had arrived, he heard a distressed chirping coming from +the parent birds, and on going to the front yard, he caught a blue jay +in the act of picking a callow bantling from the chippie's nest. +Holding it in his bill, the jay flew across the field with his prize, +and presently returned and bore off a second nestling. By this time +the farmer's ire was aroused; he bolted into the house and secured his +shotgun, and when the marauding jay came back on the third trip on +robbery intent, the man brought him to the ground with a shot that +ended his career. +</P> + +<P> +Yet the jay is not wholly bad—indeed, not even half bad. Before me +lies a valuable pamphlet entitled "The Blue Jay and His Food," written +by F. E. L. Beal, Assistant Biologist of the Department of Agriculture +at Washington, whose researches have converted him into something of an +apologist for our blue gentleman in feathers. He dissected the +stomachs of 292 jays, collected during every month of the year in +twenty-two states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. After stating +that mineral substances in the stomachs examined averaged over 14 per +cent of the total contents, Mr. Beal says: +</P> + +<P> +"The real food is composed of 24.3 per cent of animal matter and 75.7 +per cent of vegetable matter, or a trifle more than three times as much +vegetable as animal. The animal food is chiefly made up of insects, +with a few spiders, myriapods, snails, and small vertebrates, such as +fish, salamanders, tree frogs, mice, and birds. Everything was +carefully examined which might by any possibility indicate that birds +or eggs had been eaten, but remains of birds were found in only two, +and the shells of small birds' eggs in only three of the 292 stomachs. +One of these, taken on February tenth, contained the bones, claws, and +a little skin of a bird's foot. Another, taken on June twenty-fourth, +contained the remains of a young bird. The three stomachs with bird's +eggs were collected in June, August, and October, respectively. The +shell eaten in October belonged to the egg of some larger bird like the +ruffed grouse and, considering the time of year, was undoubtedly merely +an empty shell from an old nest. Shells of eggs which were identified +as those of domesticated fowls, or some bird of equal size, were found +in eleven stomachs, collected at irregular times during the year. This +evidence would seem to show that more eggs of domesticated fowls than +of wild birds are destroyed, but it is much more probable that these +shells were obtained from refuse heaps about farm-houses." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Beal's dissections are very significant, proving that the jay is +not only not so destructive of eggs and bantlings as was supposed, but +also that he destroys many noxious insects, and is, therefore, a bird +of real economic value. The great bulk of his insect diet consists of +beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, with a few bugs, wasps, and +flies, and an occasional spider and myriapod. The average of insect +food for the whole year was 23 per cent, varying from less than 1 per +cent in January to over 66 per cent in August, and it is gratifying to +know that predaceous beetles and tent caterpillars form a large part of +the jay's bill of fare. +</P> + +<P> +His demands upon domesticated fruits and grains are comparatively +light. He cares more for acorns and mast than for corn. The last he +does not greatly relish, but eats it chiefly when the snow covers his +favorite food. It is a little surprising that he occasionally varies +his diet with fish, salamanders, tree frogs, mice, and shrews. Mr. +Beal's conclusion is put in the following sentence, which closes his +valuable monograph: "In fact, the examination of nearly three hundred +stomachs shows that the blue jay does far more good than harm." +</P> + +<P> +An important question, therefore, from more than one point of view is: +Should we ever kill the blue jay? Perhaps as sensible an answer to +that question as can be given is this: We should by no means engage in +a war of extermination upon the jays, but it might be wise, when they +become too abundant, to thin out their numbers somewhat by shooting +some of them or driving them away. It can scarcely be denied that if +they are permitted to thrive without hindrance, and grow to large +numbers, they will become sorely destructive of the eggs and nestlings +of more desirable birds. I assure you, however, that I make this +statement with reluctance and reserve, for the handsome blue-coat is +one of our most cunning and interesting birds, and would be greatly +missed if he were exterminated. +</P> + +<P> +The blue jay is also a plucky bird, as I discovered one day not so very +long ago. A pair of jays had a nest in a little park in front of my +house, and one day one of the youngsters, which were still unable to +fly, dropped to the ground. Fearing the cats or evilly disposed boys +might catch the little fellow, I thought to do him and his parents a +good turn by catching him and putting him up in one of the trees beyond +the reach of his enemies. After quite a chase I succeeded in catching +him. But the parent birds, flitting and calling in the trees, did not +understand my well-meant intentions, and so one of them swung down and +struck me on the top of the head with so much force that, either with +his bill or his claws; he punctured the skin and made the blood come, +leaving a scar on my crown for quite a while. The pesky thing! I +think he might have known that I was his friend—but he didn't, his +instinct not being a sure guide that time. But who can blame him? Not +an hour afterwards the youngling again fell to the ground, when some +children found it and killed it without the least excuse for their +action. In such a case how could the parent birds distinguish between +friend and foe? They found their little one lying dead on the ground, +and mourned for it with heart-broken cries. +</P> + +<P> +Some things cause a great to-do in the jay world. One day, while I was +living in Kansas, the skeleton of a jay, with the feathers still +attached, was found in the rubbish of an ash-pile in my rear yard, and +exposed to view. An hour later a half dozen or more jays were flinging +about in the peach tree above the feathers of their dead comrade, +screaming at the top of their voices, "juking" their bodies, as is +their wont when excited, and glaring at the disheveled plumes on the +ground. If it was a funeral service, it certainly was a demonstrative +one, and I do not believe that their grief and terror were affected. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A HANDSOME SCISSORSTAIL* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Reprinted by permission from "American Ornithology," with important +additions. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In order to study the scissorstailed flycatcher (<I>Milvulus +forficatus</I>), of which some friends had told me again and again in a +glow of enthusiasm, I made a trip to southern Kansas and northern +Oklahoma. Several days passed before an individual of this species put +in appearance, as the scissorstails, which are migrants, had not yet +returned from their winter quarters in a more southern clime, and so I +had to wait for their arrival. +</P> + +<P> +One day a friend and I were driving along a country road over the +prairie, when a quaint bird form went swinging from the wire fence by +the roadside toward a clump of willows in a shallow dip of the prairie. +Dashing after him, I heard a clear, musical call that proclaimed a bird +with which I had not yet become acquainted. +</P> + +<P> +In a few moments he flew from the tree. My binocular was fixed upon +him as he went flitting across the field and presently alighted on the +ground. My surmise was correct; it was the scissorstail flycatcher, +one of the most unique and handsome birds belonging to our American +avifauna, one that merits more than a passing notice. To see him +perched on a fence, or swinging gracefully through the air, and hear +his bell-like calls and whistles makes you feel as if you were suddenly +transported to a foreign land, like Australia or Borneo, where so many +feathered curios are to be found. +</P> + +<P> +In a fever of excitement I followed the bird, which presently flew back +to the fence by the roadside. He flitted from point to point as my +friend and I slowly pursued him, giving us an exhibition of his +scissoring process. Sometimes he would alight on a post, then on the +barbed wire, usually sitting flat on his breast. When open, the tail +is bicolored, the outer border all around being white and the inner +black. His general color is hoary ash, paler, almost white, below, +giving out a slight iridescence in the sunshine; his wings are +blackish, with white trimmings; his flanks are stained with salmon-red, +and when his wings are spread, there appears a large blotch of scarlet +at the inner angle of the intersection with the body. One individual +that I afterwards saw wore a scarlet epaulet, which was almost +concealed by the other plumes when the wing was closed, but was clearly +seen when it was extended. An orange or scarlet gem adorns the crown, +but is so well hidden by the other crest feathers that it is seldom +noticed. +</P> + +<P> +My friend and I were privileged to witness a rare and attractive +scissorstail show, more gratifying than any circus performance. A +loggerhead shrike suddenly appeared on the scene, and made an assault +on the flycatcher. The two birds went gyrating, zigzagging, see-sawing +through the air in a perfect jumble of white and black and ash. It +must be remembered that the shrike himself makes a handsome picture on +the wing, and when you come to mix up a scissorstail and a shrike in +inextricable confusion, you have a feathery display worth seeing. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was that the end of the exhibition, for in a moment a second +scissorstail, the precise <I>facsimile</I> of the first, appeared from +somewhere, and the two flycatchers combined against their enemy. Then +for a few minutes there was such a chaos of shrike and scissorstail +that we could scarcely tell which was which. By and by the shrike +wheeled away, when, as if to bring the gladiatorial show to a climax, +the scissorstails engaged in a set-to that was really wonderful, coming +together in the air, whirling around and around, rising in a spiral +course, opening and closing their beautiful forked tails in quick +succession, the black and white trimmings flashing momentarily, then +disappearing, until the contestants finally descended, parted in the +most graceful manner, and alighted on separate fence posts, none the +worse for their <I>melee</I>. +</P> + +<P> +In the evening I returned to the enchanted spot, but the scissorstails +had disappeared. Not having had my fill of these charmers, I stopped, +on my return home, for a day at Wellington, Kansas, where I was so +fortunate as to find three birds of this species, who permitted me to +watch them to my heart's content. They are not shy birds, but fly in a +graceful, leisurely way from post to post along the fence as you walk +or drive, sometimes sitting quietly to let you pass by. In this +respect their habits are much like those of their cousin, the kingbird. +</P> + +<P> +As his name indicates, our bird is the proud possessor of a genuine +scissorstail, composed of two long, slender prongs that are spread far +apart under certain conditions of flight. Let me describe the process +minutely, for it is unique here in North America where fork-tailed +birds are rare. +</P> + +<P> +When the bird starts up from a perch, he spreads apart the prongs of +his tail for a moment, as if to give himself a spring; then he closes +them in a single slender stem, tapering outward to a point, keeping +them closed during prolonged flight, and just as he sweeps down to +another perch, he opens his ornamental scissors again, shutting them up +as soon as he has settled upon his resting place. He does not open and +close his tail at regular intervals during flight, as might be +supposed, but keeps it closed until he descends to a perch, when it is +opened for a moment in the act of alighting. However, if he has +occasion to wheel or make a sudden turn in the air, either for an +insect or in a playful prank, his scissors fly open, one might almost +say spontaneously, no doubt serving the double purpose of rudder and +balancing pole. When closed, the tail is very narrow, looking almost +like a single plume. On the perch (except when he desires to shift his +position, when he also makes use of his wings) his tail is closed. +Therefore the picture of this bird in Dr. Coues's "Key to North +American Birds" is not accurate, for it represents our bird in the +sitting posture with the tines of his fork spread apart. If the wings +were outstretched, representing the bird in the act of alighting or +shifting his position, the picture would be true to scissorstail life. +</P> + +<P> +The range of these birds is somewhat restricted, and for that reason, +doubtless, so little is known about their habits. According to +Ridgway, their proper home is in eastern Mexico and the southwestern +prairie districts of the United States, though many of them come north +as far as southern Kansas and southwestern Missouri to spend the summer +and rear their families. In winter they go as far south as Costa Rico. +Restricted as their habitat is, it is curious to note that they are +"accidental" in a few unexpected places, such as Key West, Fla., +Norfolk, Va., and also in several localities in New England, Manitoba, +and Hudson Bay Territory. Prof. W. W. Cooke, of Colorado, says they +are "rare, if not accidental," in that state. To show that our birds +are unique, it is relevant to say that there are only two species of +scissors-tailed flycatchers in North America, which have the genus +<I>Milvulus</I> all to themselves. The other member of the genus is the +forked-tailed flycatcher (<I>Milvulus tyrannus</I>), a resident of tropical +America, migrating north normally as far as southern Mexico. He is a +sort of southern twin of our scissorstail. +</P> + +<P> +The nests of the scissorstails are set in the crotches of trees in the +neighborhood of country homes on the prairie. Considering the size of +the birds, their nests are quite small, not so large as those of the +brown thrashers, though the cup is deeper and the architecture more +compact and elaborate. A friend describes a nest which he found on a +locust tree about sixteen feet from the ground. It was made mostly of +dry grass and locust blossoms, with here and there a piece of twine +braided into the structure. It had no special lining, but the grass +was more evenly woven on the inside of the cup than elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +From three to five eggs are deposited. The ground color is white, +either pure or creamy, sparingly mottled with rich madder-brown and +lilac-gray, the spots being thicker and larger on the larger end. +While the nest is undergoing examination, the owners circle and hover +overhead, much after the fashion of the red-winged blackbirds, +expressing their disapproval in loud and musical calls, and displaying +their rich scarlet decorations. +</P> + +<P> +My descriptions have related only to the male bird, whose beautiful +forked tail is nine to ten inches long, and whose colors are clear and +more or less intense. His spouse resembles him, but is slightly +smaller, while her tail, though forked like her mate's, is from two and +a half to three inches shorter. The salmon and scarlet ornaments on +the sides, flanks, and axillars are paler than those of her lord, and +the scarlet spot shows very indistinctly on her occiput. The young of +both sexes don the dress of the mother bird during the first season, +save that they fail to adorn themselves with a scarlet gem on the crown. +</P> + +<P> +Like all the members of the flycatcher group, the scissorstails capture +insects while on the wing, making many an attractive picture as they +perform their graceful and interesting evolutions in the air. +</P> + +<P> +It was a year or two later that I saw a scissorstail performing his +ablutions in the northwestern part of Arkansas. How do you suppose he +went about it? Not in the way birds usually do, by squatting down in +the shallow water, twinkling their wings and tail, and sprinkling the +liquid all over their plumage. No; this bird has a reputation to +maintain for originality, and therefore he took his bath in this +manner: First he perched on a telegraph wire by the roadside; then he +swung gracefully down to a little pond, dashed lightly into the water, +giving himself a slight wetting, after which he flew up to his original +perch on the wire. A minute or less was then spent in preening his +plumes; but they were not moist enough to suit his purpose, so he +darted down to the pond again, making the spray rise as lie struck the +water; then up to his perch he swung again, to arrange his feathers; +and this was repeated a number of times, till his toilet was completed. +It would not be safe to risk saying that the scissorstail always takes +his bath in this way; but I know this one did. I once saw a kingbird +doing the same thing, and so it may be a fashion in flycatcher circles. +</P> + +<P> +I am minded, in order to make this monograph more complete, to borrow a +couple of paragraphs from Mrs. Bailey's "Handbook of Birds of the +Western United States." She has studied the bird in the Southwest, and +gives the following graphic description of the bird and its habits: +</P> + +<P> +"One of his favorite performances is to fly up and, with rattling +wings, execute an aërial seesaw, a line of sharp-angled VVVVVVV's, +helping himself at the short turns by rapidly opening and shutting his +long white scissors. As he goes up and down he utters all the while a +penetrating scream, <I>Ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee</I>, the +emphasis being given each time at the top of the ascending line. +</P> + +<P> +"Frequently when he is passing along with the even flight of a +sober-minded crow, and you are quietly admiring the salmon lining of +his wings, he shoots rattling into the air, and, as you stare after +him, drops back as suddenly as he rose. He does this apparently +because the spirit moves him, as a boy slings a stone at the sky, but +fervor is added by the appearance of a rival or an enemy, for he is +much like a <I>Tyrannus</I> in his masterful way of controlling the +landscape. He will attack caracaras and white-necked ravens, lighting +on their backs and giving them vicious blows while screaming in their +ears." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Part of the material used in this chapter has already appeared in the +author's work entitled "Birds of the Rockies," but it is here printed +in different form, that of a monograph, with a number of additional +facts. The writer feels that the readers of the present volume will +relish at least a taste of bird study among the alpine heights of the +Rocky Mountains. The article is reprinted from the "Denver Post," +whose courtesy is hereby acknowledged. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The common name of the subject of this sketch is the brown-capped rosy +finch; in the scientific works on ornithology he is called the +brown-capped leucosticte. He is certainly a bird of peculiar habits +and out-of-the-way preferences. Should he send you his card from his +summer residence, it would read something like this: "At home in the +mountains of Colorado, from 10,000 feet above sea-level to the summits +of the highest peaks." There is only one other bird in Colorado that +has so high a summer range, and that is the white-tailed ptarmigan, +usually called, in hunter's parlance, the "mountain quail." +</P> + +<P> +The rosy finch is slightly larger than the bluebird. His general color +is light brown, suffused with a beautiful pink or rosy tint, the dark +shaft lines and pale edges of the feathers of the back giving it a +striped appearance. The forepart of the top of the head is blackish, +and the cap is brown, from which he gets the qualifying adjective of +his name. In the best nuptial plumage the rosy coloring is heightened +to an intense crimson, especially on the wings, tail coverts, and the +under parts. The female's attire is paler and duller of tint, the pink +being sometimes almost obsolete. Oddly enough, in summer the bills of +these birds are deep black, while in winter they become yellow, only +the tip remaining black or blackish. +</P> + +<P> +My introduction to the leucostictes occurred on the summit of Pikes +Peak, at an elevation of 14,147 feet above the level of the sea. With +exhausting toil I climbed the peak one night, and the next morning, +when I stepped out of the signal station, where I had secured lodging, +a flock of the brown-caps were flitting merrily about the garbage heap, +helping themselves to an early breakfast. Their blithe chirping +sounded very much like conversation all among themselves, and +proclaimed two pleasant traits of character—cheerfulness and good +temper. It was evident that they were happy and contented in their +alpine home, in the upper story of the world, the rare, cool, +exhilarating air, the majestic panoramas, and the unlimited freedom all +contributing to the blithesomeness of their spirits. The keepers of +the signal station told me that the birds came to the refuse pile every +day for their meals. +</P> + +<P> +Two years later, on the twenty-eighth of June, a friend and I clambered +up Grays Peak, which is several hundred feet higher than Pikes Peak. +It was a long and toilsome climb, winding about the snowbeds of the +mountain side. Sometimes we scaled straight up the acclivity on "all +fours," throwing ourselves down on the rocks at frequent intervals to +rest our aching limbs and fill our lungs with the rarefied air; up and +up and up, until at last, with a long pull and a strong pull, we stood +on the sky-haunting ridge above all the surrounding elevations, looking +down upon the rest of the world, which seemed to be crouching at our +feet. +</P> + +<P> +Long before we reached the summit we were saluted by a new bird +voice—one that had not been heard farther down the mountain. It was a +cordial chirp, which seemed to bid us welcome to the alpine region and +to assure us that there was no risk in climbing to these sky-aspiring +summits. A glance proved that our little salutarian was the +brown-capped rosy finch, which I had not seen since my ascent of Pikes +Peak. Down in the green, copsy valley at the base of the mountain we +had met with the white-crowned sparrows and Wilson and Audubon +warblers; then, as we began to climb the steep shoulder of the +mountain, the American pipits had become our comrades, accompanying us +about half way up the elevation; now all other birds had disappeared +and we entered the arctic precincts of the leucostictes, which, like a +gallant bodyguard, escorted us to the summit, cheering us on with their +friendly chirping. The bailiwicks of the pipits and the rosy finches +slightly overlapped, as did also those of the pipits and the +white-crowned sparrows near the great mountain's base. However, no +pipits ventured to the upper story of this elevated region—at least, +not at the time of our visit, although they may have ascended to the +summit later in the season. +</P> + +<P> +How blithe and cheerful were the pretty leucostictes! Now they darted +fearlessly about in the air over the summit and the gorges; now they +alighted on the wall of the dilapidated old signal station, and anon +hopped and flitted about over the extensive snow beds, picking up +dainties that were evidently to their taste, all the while beguiling +the time with their companionable, half-musical chirping. So far as I +observed, they have no real song. If they have, it is strange that +they did not furnish a sample of their lyrical gifts on so calm and +sweet a summer day in the season of courtship. +</P> + +<P> +What billsome morsels did they find on the snow? We examined their +white tablecloth and found a number of small beetles and other insects +creeping up through it or crawling around over its surface. Thus +Nature spreads her banquet everywhere for her feathered children. +</P> + +<P> +One cannot help falling into the speculative mood as one reflects on +these little birds and their remarkable habits. Why do they, of all +birds, choose the highest mountain peaks for their summer homes? Might +the cause be physiological? Are their lungs, muscles, and nervous +systems so constructed as to be adapted to a dry, rare, crisp +atmosphere, which would prove injurious, perhaps fatal, to birds of a +different structural organization? Who can tell? At all events, they +live on these towering elevations all summer long, woo their +plainly-clad mates, build their nests, and rear their happy families. +</P> + +<P> +Their nests are set amid the rocks, and are quite bulky, the walls +composed of grasses and the lining consisting of soft feathers. In +order to procure the grasses required, they must descend at least to +the belt of scant vegetation just below the region of bare rocks and +boulders. Where they get the downy feathers for the carpet of their +nurseries I have not been able to ascertain. No nest has yet been +discovered below an elevation of 12,000 feet. Our little bird may, +indeed, be called a "haunter of the sky." The height of the breeding +season is in the latter part of July. The broods having left the +nests, old and young gather in small flocks and range over the peaks +and ridges, feeding on the insects to be found on the fields of snow. +</P> + +<P> +No less interesting are the habits of these birds in winter. In +October and November most of them descend only to the timber line, +where they remain throughout the winter, save as they are driven down +into the denser forests by the fierce tempests of this arctic region. +What feathered Vikings they are! They do not even make for themselves +snow huts for protection from the winter storms. However, a few +descend almost to the base of the foothills, while others—perhaps the +less hardy—seek a blander climate in the northern part of Mexico. +</P> + +<P> +There are in North America four other species of the genus Leucosticte; +the Aleutian, whose habitat is the Aleutian and Prybilof islands and +east as far as the island of Kadiak; the gray-crowned, which breeds in +British America near the Rocky Mountains, comes to Colorado in winter, +and has been taken as far east as western Iowa; the Hepburn, dwelling +chiefly in the mountain ranges of the Pacific coast, breeding mostly in +the far North, and in winter coming as far south and east as Nevada and +Colorado; and, lastly, the black leucosticte, which winters in the +central latitudes in the Rocky Mountains and whose summer range and +breeding home is unknown to men of science. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY +</H3> + +<P> +If one were to keep on writing monographs of all our interesting avian +species, the books that would result would make a good-sized library. +The few examples that have been given will illustrate what can be done +in this direction with the help of the field glass and the handbook. A +few chapters will now be given on what might be called "odds and ends +of bird life," and these are written not only for the information they +may impart, but also for the purpose of showing how many interesting +facts can be gathered along the way by the method of bird study +commended in our opening chapter. +</P> + +<P> +The prince of American ornithologists, Dr. Elliott Coues, has somewhere +said that he would travel a long distance to discover a new kind of +bird, or even to ascertain a new fact about a familiar species. I +would applaud and echo that sentiment, for by all means let us have +bird news that really is news, instead of revamping the familiar facts +again and again, as some amateurish writers do. While I am not able to +add any new species to science, I have made note of many pleasing +incidents in the bird realm, and these, I venture to hope, may be of +not a little general interest. +</P> + +<H4> +[Illustration: Pewee, or Phoebe (missing from book)] +</H4> + +<P> +There is the companionable white-breasted nuthatch which goes scudding +up and down the tree trunks with as much ease and aplomb as a fly +gliding over a window-pane. I have already told you something about +him. I had long been aware that he wedged grains of corn, sunflower +seeds, and kernels of nuts in the crannies of the bark; but one day he +invented a trick that was a surprise to me. It occurred at a summer +resort in northern Indiana, where I noticed a nuthatch hitching up and +down and around the slender stem of a sapling, pausing at intervals to +thrust something into the crevices of the bark. My curiosity led me to +pry into the bird's affairs. Stepping smartly forward, I drove him +away, not heeding his vigorous protest of "yank, yank," and examined +the bark of the sapling. What did I discover? A colony of black ants +were scuttling up and down the tree, apparently under stress of great +excitement; and good reason they had, for here and there one of their +number was tightly wedged into a chink of the bark, often doubled up +into a bow or an angle. They were not killed, at least not all of +them, for they were still wiggling their legs and antennas; but they +were evidently benumbed, or some of their backs were broken, and they +were fastened so securely in the fissures that they could not escape. +Does it not look as if the forehanded nuthatch was laying by a supply +of ants for a coming time of hunger? +</P> + +<P> +One day a family of wood pewees visited the dooryard of my tent. A +multitude of gnats circling about in the air, seemed to be precisely to +the taste of the pewee parents and their hungry bairns. The bantlings +sat chirping in the saplings, or flitted from twig to twig, twinkling +their wings in the coaxing way that is characteristic of young birds, +while the papa and mamma swung out into the air, nabbed the insects on +the wing, and flew back to the trees, describing many circles, +ellipses, and festoons of rare grace and beauty. The snapping of their +mandibles could often be heard as they closed upon the fated insects. +Most of the gnats thus captured were thrust into the mouths of the +young birds, the parents dashing up to them and feeding them without +alighting. As lavish a minstrel as the pewee <I>pater familias</I> is under +most circumstances, that morning he was too busy to tune his wind harp. +</P> + +<P> +Speaking of the voracious appetites of birds, as exhibited by the young +pewees, which never seemed to get enough, I am reminded of something I +witnessed one day in a deep, wooded hollow. A red-eyed vireo suddenly +appeared in the branches above me, holding an immense green worm in his +beak. Then followed a tussle for the "upper hand" that was worth +seeing. The bird, holding its squirming victim by one end, proceeded +to beat it against the limb, though it was almost too big and +recalcitrant for him to handle. Presently the vireo, after a good deal +of effort, succeeded in passing his quarry through his bill from end to +end, thus reducing it to somewhat smaller dimensions. Still, it was a +large morsel for so small a diner. +</P> + +<P> +However, there were some intimations that the bird intended to bolt the +worm whole. And that was just what he was planning to do! What a +struggle ensued! I would have wagered that the little gourmand had +reckoned without his host when he undertook to swallow that immense +worm. He twisted his neck this way and that, gulped and squeezed and +pried, until I feared he would burst his throat open. At length the +worm was partly bolted, but it seemed to stick fast, and the bird stood +there with his mandibles pressed far apart, the end of his dinner +bulging out of his mouth, and I felt uneasy for a time lest he should +choke to death before my very eyes. But, after resting a minute, he +gave his neck a number of convulsive twists, and at last succeeded in +forcing the unwilling worm down his throat, after which he wiped his +bill on the limb with a self-satisfied air and flitted away as happy as +a lark, knowing that his faithful craw would do the rest. +</P> + +<P> +A slate-colored junco did a pretty thing in the woods one day of early +spring—much more pleasing to see than the incident just described. He +had rinsed his feathers in a pool of the little stream down in the +hollow, and now he was squatting flat on his belly on the ground in a +soft bed of brown leaves, preening and primping his plumes with his +little white, conical bill. Now he gave his quills a deft touch, now +the feathers of his wing, now those of his dainty breast. Lying there +in the sun he presented a perfect picture of feathery laziness. Many a +bird I have seen arranging his toilet after a bath while perching on a +limb or a twig, and even, as in the case of the brown creeper, while +clinging to the bole of a tree, but never before did I see one doing +this while lolling on the ground. He was not sick or hurt, simply +lazy; for when I went near him he flew away as chipper as a bird could +be. +</P> + +<P> +The rambler not only sees many of these pretty bird ways, but he +sometimes has a hearty laugh at the birds' expense. During one of my +outings a blustering whirlwind started on the summit of a small hill +scantily covered with scrub oak. It seized the dead leaves and twirled +them about as if in a spasm of anger; then it went scurrying noisily +down the steep incline, flinging itself against a couple of large brush +heaps in the hollow where a number of fox and Harris sparrows were +concealed. They had imagined themselves safe in their brushy covert. +Suddenly the whirlwind struck their hiding place with a clang and +clatter, sending the birds in a wild panic in every direction. They +did not seem to know what had struck them, and, as the wanton breezes +tossed them this way and that, they expressed their astonishment in +loud and frightened chirping. All over and no harm done, the bird +lover burst into a peal of laughter at the discomfiture of his +feathered neighbors, who looked at him as if they did not know what to +make of his untimely hilarity. +</P> + +<P> +Then, too, one cannot be an observing rambler without stumbling upon +some exceedingly odd avian pranks, as the following description will +indicate: One day I was sitting on the steep bank of a wooded ravine +watching several rare little birds, hoping to discover some of their +nests. Presently the susurrus of the hummingbird was heard, and a +moment later two ruby-throats, a male and a female, flashed into view +on the slope below me. The tiny madam settled on a twig near the +ground, while her ruby-throated spouse performed one of the queerest +antics I have ever witnessed in featherland. He began to swing back +and forth in an arc of almost half a circle, the diameter of which was +at least twelve feet, just grazing his mate whenever he reached the +lowest point of his concentric movements. Back and forth he swung at +least a dozen times, looking like a tiny pendulum moving in an immense +arc, and, oddly enough, the segment seemed to be perfectly formed every +time. Had the bird wheeled entirely around, he would, I feel sure, +have described a circle and not an ellipse. The movement was +exceedingly swift, and might well have been called the embodiment of +grace. Suddenly, as the diminutive acrobat reached the highest point +of his arc, he dashed off to the right in a straight line, followed by +his mate, and in a moment both had disappeared. Whether other +observers have been witnesses of this curious gambol, I am unable to +say. +</P> + +<P> +Have you ever been ill-mannered enough to watch the birds going to bed? +I remember spending an evening in the woods playing the role of Paul +Pry on my feathered neighbors. The sun was just sinking behind the +bluffs on the other side of a broad river—the Missouri—and the moon, +which was half full, was hanging high in the blue sky. What were those +two large black objects over yonder in the woods? My glass soon +revealed their identity—a pair of turkey buzzards perched side by side +on a limb, one of them squatted flat on his belly ready to take his +first nap. My curiosity led me to go near them, when they spread their +broad, sable wings, flew a few rods, and alighted on another horizontal +bar. There they sat as long as I could see them in the thickening +darkness, turning their heads now and then to see whether their +ill-bred visitor was still spying upon them. They made no efforts to +conceal themselves, as the small birds do in roosting, for they knew, +no doubt, that nothing would carry off fowls of their size. +</P> + +<P> +A little later on the same evening a whip-poor-will darted up from the +roadside and flew into the woods a short distance, alighting on a white +flag of good size, so that I could plainly see his dark form in the +moonlight. Then I was witness of this uncanny bird's table manners, +which were entirely unknown to me and may be to others. At irregular +intervals he leaped into the air, now in one direction, now in another, +captured an insect, and flew back to the top of the flag. Some of his +evolutions were quite wonderful, and all of them were the perfection of +grace. He described all kinds of curves and loops. On alighting he +uttered a low, hollow chuck suggestive of the sepulchral. Another +notch had to be cut in the tally-stick of my ornithological journey—I +had learned how the whip-poor-will takes his nocturnal dinner of moths +and beetles, and I felt that there was still such a thing as news to be +gathered in birdland. +</P> + +<P> +Most birds, however, do not take their dinner at night, and therefore +it is easier to watch them at their <I>table d'hote</I>. One day a +red-headed woodpecker was giving a strapping youngster as large as +herself his noonday meal. She came close to him with a morsel in her +long bill, and, after pounding it awhile against a limb, she thrust it +into the screaming youngling's mouth. But she had failed to reduce it +to a swallowable size; it stuck in his throat, and, do what he would, +he could not bolt it. It was so large that he was choking; what should +be done? The simplest thing you can conceive. The mother bird reached +over and impatiently jerked the refractory morsel out of her baby's +throat, thumped it vigorously several times against the branch, then +gave it to him again, as much as to say, "Now try it! I guess you can +manage it this time." And he did, for down his gullet it went with +very little effort. Then she went after more provender for his +spacious craw. Whenever she came with a tidbit, she would first drop +it into a kind of pocket in the bark, and pound it a while to reduce it +to a proper consistency; the while the youngster would sit near and +watch her with hungry eyes, and often scream in his coaxing way and +twinkle his wings, until she was ready to deliver up the tempting +fragment. +</P> + +<P> +Once, after she had given him all she had brought, he still opened his +mouth and whimpered for more. At this exhibition of gluttony she lost +her patience. Would he never be satisfied, the great, greedy, +overgrown lubber? He was simply making a slave and a drudge of her. +She looked at him for a moment with a savage glitter in her dark eyes, +then began to peck him angrily right in the mouth, and drove him +peremptorily backward down the limb. Mother patience has its +limitations in the bird world as well as elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +On the same day a bank swallow was feeding her little ones, a half +dozen or so, which were ranged on a willow stem at the margin of the +river. Every time she flew toward them they set up a vigorous calling +to be fed. She procured her food by skimming airily over the river and +catching the insects that rose from its surface. Having nabbed one, +she would dart with it to her little family, and, without alighting, +and scarcely pausing in her swift flight, would thrust it into the +mouth of one of the birdkins. Thus she fed them one by one until she +had gone the round of the little circle, though sometimes, oddly +enough, she would serve the same infant twice in succession. +</P> + +<P> +The little family, all perched in a row, looked very attractive, and I +was watching them closely most of the time. Suddenly the mother bird +disappeared, and was gone for several minutes. I forgot to keep my eye +steadily on the youngsters sitting six in a row, and, to my great +surprise, when she reappeared they had left their perch, which was in +plain sight, and I could not rediscover them for some time. Finally, +however, I espied them cuddling among some leafy twigs a few feet away, +where the mother resumed her duties of purveyor. My opinion is that +she had begun to feel uneasy for their safety in the exposed place +where I could see them so plainly, and so, while I was looking +elsewhere, had persuaded them to shift their position. Now they were +partly screened by the intervening leaves, and she felt that they were +secure. +</P> + +<P> +There can be no doubt that birds have a language which the youngsters +soon come to understand, however simple and inarticulated it may be. +In a shady hollow, one day of early spring, a pair of tufted titmice +were supplying the wants of a family of famishing children, and I +invited myself to the family reunion. The young birds had left the +nest and were perched in a leafy tree. Most of the time they kept up a +great clamor for food—or, perhaps, they shrieked merely from force of +habit; but every few minutes one of the parent birds would utter a +shrill, commanding cry, at which all the noisy clamorings of the +youthful family would suddenly cease, and for a few moments perfect +quiet would reign in titmouse town; then the hubbub would begin again, +and continue until another order for perfect silence was given. So far +as I could see, there was no danger from raptorial foes at hand, but +the little family seemed to be in training against the approach of a +marauder. +</P> + +<P> +It may be a far cry, but from green-robed spring fancy yourself +suddenly flung into the lap of snow-bound winter, to look upon scenes +quite different from the foregoing. The Frost King had been playing a +good many pranks for a week or two, and once, in a spasm of frigid ill +humor, had jammed the mercury in our thermometers a dozen or more +degrees below zero, and had held it there quite too long for our +comfort. More than once had he shrieked and blustered and stamped his +feet incontinently, and more than once sent his legions of wind, sleet, +and snow howling through the leafless woods. Everybody in our central +latitudes knows what an explosive old fellow the Frost King is, and how +fierce and savage he can become let the mood once seize him. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes, too, by the hour he had ground his ice crystals to powder in +mid-air and hurled them to the earth, covering its surface with a robe +of purest white, thus proving that, with all his rudeness and bluster, +he is an old gentleman of aesthetic tastes. One evening his mood +became blander, and he dropped his crystals from the sky in large, damp +flakes, which clung tenaciously to the branches and twigs; then during +the night his breath became chilled and froze the snowy cylinders, and +when morning broke the woods were a miracle of loveliness, every leaf +and twig bearing a ridge of gleaming pearls, while the sylvan floor was +pure white. Soon the sun was shining from an unmarred sky, and the +snow-clad earth smiled back in shimmering recognition. It was a day +for worship in God's first sanctuary. +</P> + +<P> +Yet it was a day for watching the gambols of the birds, and such +occupation by no means interfered with the spirit of worship. In the +depths of the woods the white-breasted nuthatches were holding a +friendly interview. How affectionately they talked to one another in +idioms all their own, saying "Hick! hick!" and "Yank! yank!" and +"Ha-ha! ha-ha! ha-ha!" which may mean anything that is kind and cordial +and confidential. They were either playing at a game of tag, or were +having a peep-show among the bushes, hiding for a moment in some leafy +cluster, then dashing in pursuit of one another in the most frolicksome +way. I crept in under the arches of the snow-clad bushes to watch +their caperings more closely, but the birds at once quieted down, and +went about their more prosaic vocation of grub gathering. They were no +doubt "aching" to frisk about among the snowy bushes, but would not +indulge their playful mood under the eye of a human spectator. +</P> + +<P> +Presently one of them was seen carefully primping his feathers—a +function that I had not previously seen a nuthatch perform. His plumes +seemed to be really quite damp, and, as there was no water at hand—the +streams being mailed with ice as well as nearly a half mile away—he +must have used a snowbank for his lavatory. But you ask how he +arranged his toilet. I had several times seen the little brown creeper +clinging to the vertical wall of a tree and preening his plumes after a +bath, and it was natural to suppose that his congener, the nuthatch, +being also a bird of reptatory habits, would follow the same formula. +But not so! Instead of clinging to the upright bole of a tree, Master +Nuthatch perched crosswise on a twig like a robin or a chickadee, and +smoothed his ruffled plumes. +</P> + +<P> +After this interesting interview with the nuthatches, I trudged about +in the woods for some time without seeing any birds. What had become +of my feathered neighbors, my companions in every ramble throughout the +winter? Had the storm driven them to other climes where bland winds +prevailed? Oh, no! See what prudent creatures they were that wintry +day. At the eastern border of the woods, where the sun shone warmly +and the keen westerly breeze was broken and tempered, my little friends +were found in goodly numbers, well knowing where the Frost King's anger +would be softened. +</P> + +<P> +Here were nuthatches and chickadees in plenty, and also tufted tits, +tree sparrows, juncos, downy woodpeckers, and, to make the complement +as nearly full as possible, a hairy woodpecker drummed and +<I>chir-r-r-red</I>, several blue jays complained in the distance, and a +goldfinch swinging overhead threaded the air with festoons of black and +gold. And here I witnessed a new and pretty antic of a tree sparrow, +which flew over from a cornfield hard by and perched on a dogwood +sapling only a few feet away; then it plunged its beak into the little +snowbank on the twig before it and ate greedily of the snow, some of +the crystals clinging to its mandibles, just as the crumbs adhere to +the lips of a hungry boy. Had the exclamation not been so much like +slang, I would have cried "Next!" And there was a "next," as sure as +you live, for the little bird soon flitted to another twig in the same +tree and, reaching up, daintily sipped from the dripping underside of +the branch just above and in front of it. Its thirst having been +assuaged, it flew over into the adjoining field to resume its winter +feast of seeds and berries. +</P> + +<P> +And what was happening over in the field? Something worth noting, to +be sure. A coterie of juncos and tree sparrows were breakfasting on +the seeds of a clump of tall weeds, a few of the little feasters +perched on the swaying stems, while others stood on the snow on the +ground and picked the seeds from the racemes that were bent down by +their burden of crystals. When I went to the place, I could see the +delicate tracery of their feet on the snow, as if they had been writing +their autographs on an untarnished scroll. Two tiny footprints at +regular intervals, one a little before the other, and each pair +connected with the next by a slender thread or two traced by the bird's +claws—that is a junco's or a tree sparrow's trail in the snow. +</P> + +<P> +A little later a scattering flock of tree sparrows were skipping about +on the snowy floor of the woods, picking up at quick intervals a +palatable tidbit. Birds often find edibles on the surface of the snow +when our duller eyes can see nothing but immaculate whiteness. What +long leaps the little birds took across the snow, which looked like a +marble pavement with fairies dancing upon it! Near by, on one of the +lower twigs of a thorn bush, a sparrow sat with feathers fluffed up and +wings hanging negligently at his side, as if he were taking a siesta +after a hearty meal of weed seeds and winter berries. Two of his +companions soon joined him in his noonday rest, the trio making a +pretty picture sitting there within an inch or two of the ground. +</P> + +<P> +It was not very long before a tree sparrow perpetrated another +surprise, proving that this species is not without character, as indeed +no species is. He leaped to the bole of a sapling, clinging there a +few moments like a chickadee or a wren, while he pecked an appetizing +morsel from the bark; then he dropped down to the snow for a brief +breathing spell, after which he sprang up again to the sapling for a +few more bits, repeating the little performance a number of times. +</P> + +<P> +In the same part of the woods a company of chickadees was flitting +about in the trees, plunging into the little snowbanks on the twigs, +sometimes standing in them up to their white bosoms, and often brushing +a segment to the ground, thus making numerous breaches in the white +drifts. The racket they made with their scolding and piping might have +been called a musical din. Deciding to watch them a while, I flung +myself down upon the snow. This act was the signal for a precious +to-do among the nervous little potherers. Did any one ever hear or +read of such a performance in all the annals of birdland? What in the +world did it mean—a man lying flat on the ground out there in the +woods? I was highly amused at the hurly-burly, and decided to add +still more variety to it. Suddenly I sprang to my feet with a shout. +Several of the birds dropped, as if shot, into a thorn bush below them, +where they set up a hubbub that would have made on old-time Puritan +laugh, even at the risk of being censured for levity. By and by they +quieted down, and one of them began to whistle his pretty minor tune +with as much serenity as if he had never been excited in his life. My +winter outing proved that the Frost King and the hardy birds often go +cheek by jowl, as if they were on terms of the most cordial fraternity. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ODDS AND ENDS +</H3> + +<P> +The ornithologist is always interested in noting how the conduct of +birds of the same species differs and agrees in different localities. +In a previous chapter some of the differences between the avifauna of +Ohio and Kansas have been described, but a good deal still remains to +be said, teaching more than one lesson in comparative ornithology. +</P> + +<P> +At the beginning of my studies in the Sunflower state the song sparrows +proposed an enigma for my solution, whether wittingly or unwittingly, I +know not. In Ohio they were the most lavish singers in the outdoor +chorus, chanting their sweet lays every month in the year, summer or +winter; indeed, their most vigorous recitals were often given in +February and March, when there was dearth of other bird music. +</P> + +<P> +But what about the song sparrows of Kansas? The first winter and +spring passed, and yet my numerous rambles in their haunts did not +bring to my waiting ear one first-class song sparrow concert. A few +feeble, half-hearted wisps of melody on days that were especially mild +were the only vocal performances they vouchsafed. To put it bluntly +and truthfully, I never, during my residence of five and a half years +in Kansas, heard a first-rate song sparrow trill. Nor is that all. In +the Buckeye state these birds were disposed to be sociable, often +selecting their dwellings near our suburban homes, visiting our +dooryards, singing their blithe roundels on the ridge of the barn roof +or a post of the garden fence. Not only so, but their songs were often +heard in some of the principal streets of towns where trees were +abundant. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-124t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-124.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-124t.jpg" ALT="Song Sparrow" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Quite otherwise was the conduct of their western cousins, which seldom +came to town or even near a human residence in the country, but kept +themselves ensconced in the matted copses in the banks of the Missouri +River or in the deep hollows running back from the broad valley. In +these sequestered haunts they were quite wary, usually scuttling out of +sight at my approach. True, in Ohio many individuals also chose +out-of-the-way places for habitats, but even then they were not timid, +for often they would mount to the top of a bush or a sapling in plain +sight and trill sweetly by the hour, with never a quaver of fear. At +rare intervals a Kansas sparrow would visit the thicket on the vacant +lot near my house, but, my! how shy he was! And as for singing, he +would only squeak a little score. +</P> + +<P> +Wondering at the reticence of the Kansas sparrows, I wrote to a friend +living in Springfield, Ohio, my former home, and inquired what the song +sparrows were doing in that locality. His reply was that, as usual, +they had been singing with splendid effect on almost every day after +the middle of February. What is the reason of this difference between +the eastern and western birds? They are, according to the +systematists, the same type, and yet they behave so differently. The +solution of the problem is, after all, quite simple. In Kansas the +song sparrows are winter residents exclusively, passing farther north +when the breeding season approaches; only at rare intervals does a pair +decide to remain in the state throughout the summer; whereas in the +Buckeye state these birds are permanent residents, remaining throughout +the year, and therefore they feel sufficiently at home to tune their +lyres at all seasons. On the other hand, being only winter visitors in +Kansas, they do not seem to be able to overcome their shyness; either +that, or their wind harps are out of tune. As a matter of fact, +migrating birds seldom sing a great deal in their winter homes, their +best lyrical efforts being husbanded for their breeding haunts. I once +spent part of the month of June in Minnesota, almost directly north of +my Kansas field of research, and there found these charming minstrels +as tuneful and affable as the most exacting bird lover could wish. +Perhaps some of the very sparrows that spend the winter in silence in +northeastern Kansas trill their finest arias in their summer homes on +the shores of Lake Minnetonka or in the boggy hollows in the +neighborhood of Duluth. +</P> + +<P> +When I first began to plan for moving back to Ohio, I was foolish +enough to fear that the song sparrows of that state might have changed +their habits during the years of my absence, and that I should be +disappointed in them: but no need of borrowing trouble on their +account, for they were the same blithe and familiar birds, trilling +their sweetest chansons in the trees in the residence portion of the +town in which I lived. And sing! Were there ever birds with more +dulcet tones, with finer voice register, or with a greater variety of +tunes in their repertoire? +</P> + +<P> +Going back to Kansas in winter, we note that the song sparrows, instead +of remaining at one place, shifted about a good deal more than I had +ever known them to do in the East. In December a pair found a dwelling +in the weed clumps and brush heaps of a hollow a short distance from +the Missouri River; but they soon deserted this spot, well sheltered as +it was, none being seen there until the twenty-third of February. It +surprised me to find another pair, and sometimes two pairs, in a +thicket right on the bank of the wide river, where they were exposed to +many of the winter blasts, especially those that swept down from the +frozen north. Up in the deep, winding ravine they might have had +excellent shelter and, so far as I could see, just as good feeding. +However, I have long ago learned that there is no accounting for tastes +in the bird realm any more than in the human realm. +</P> + +<P> +The hardiest of the <I>Mniotiltidae</I> tribe are the myrtle warblers, which +dapple the whitened edges of winter, both autumn and spring, with their +golden rumps and amber brooches. Evidently these birds are shyer of +the rigorous Ohio winters than of the more mild-mannered Kansas +weather. In the former state I never saw a myrtle warbler after the +first or second week in November, while in Kansas I came upon a flock +of them in a wooded hollow by the river on the eighth of December, +1897, and then after a severe snowstorm had swept over the region from +the western prairies. It seemed odd to find these dainty featherland +blossoms when the whole country was covered with an ermine of snow. +</P> + +<P> +Then they disappeared, and I did not expect to see them again until the +next spring; but on the fourteenth of February, which was a warm, +vernal day thrust into the midst of winter, a flock of perhaps a dozen +were flitting and chirping among the trees in the suburbs of the city, +their hoarse little <I>chep</I>, always giving one the impression that the +birds have taken a cold which has affected their vocal cords, sounding +as familiar as of old. However, that very evening at dusk a black +cloud, charged with electricity and bellowing with anger, came up out +of the west like a young Lochinvar, and hurled a fierce storm across +the hills and valleys, and the next day not a myrtle warbler was to be +seen in all the countryside, though I tramped weary miles in search of +them. The tempest had doubtless frightened them away to the suaver +southland, from which they did not return until the following spring. +</P> + +<P> +One of my most pleasing observations was made on December 19, 1902. +There had been a number of days of severe weather, accompanied by hard +storms. Six inches of snow lay on the ground. Now the storm had spent +its force, the sun was shining genially, and the snow was melting. +Warm as it was, I was greatly surprised to find a flock of myrtle +warblers in the woods so late in the season. They had braved the +storms of the preceding week, and were as chipper and active as myrtle +warblers could be. But their employment was a still greater surprise. +They were darting about in the air among the treetops, as well as amid +the bushes in the deep ravine, catching insects on the wing. That +insects should be flying after the wintry weather of the previous week +was still more surprising than that the warblers should be here to dine +upon them. Soon after that day, however, the little yellow-rumps must +have taken the wing route to a more genial climate, for they were seen +no more that winter. +</P> + +<P> +Of a more permanent character was the residence of the jolly juncos, +which dwelt all winter in northeastern Kansas, let the weather be never +so lowering. Always active and alert, flitting from bush to weed, and +from the snow-carpeted ground to the gnarled oak saplings, now +pilfering a dinner of wild berries and now a luncheon of weed seeds, +they seemed to generate enough warmth in their trig little bodies to +defy old Boreas to do his best. Water flowing from melting snow must +be ice-cold, yet the juncos plunged into the crystal pools and rinsed +their plumes with as much apparent relish as if their lavatory were +tepid instead of icy, and as if balmy instead of nipping winds were +blowing. +</P> + +<P> +One day I watched a member of this family taking his dinner of wild +grapes. Finding a dark red cluster, he would pick off the juiciest +berry he could reach, press it daintily between his white mandibles for +a few moments, swallow a part of the pulp, and drop the rest to the +ground. What part of the grape did he eat? That is the precise +problem I could not solve with certainty, for on examining the rejected +portions that had been flung to the ground I found that one seed still +remained, together with part of the pulp and all of the broken rind. I +half suspect, though, that Master Junco likes to tipple a little—never +enough, however, be it remembered, to make him reel or lose his senses. +No! no! a toper Master Junco is not; he is too sane a bird for that! +Would that all the citizens of our republic would display as much sound +judgment and self-control. +</P> + +<P> +Where all the birds sleep on biting winter nights it would be difficult +to say, but the acute little juncos lease the farmer's corn shocks hard +by the woods. At dusk you may startle a dozen of them from a single +shock. They dart pellmell from their hiding places, chippering their +protest, and when you examine the shock you find cozy nooks and ingles +among the leaves and stalks, where they find couches and at the same +time coverts from the sharp winds. As you stand at the border of the +woods in the gloaming you can hear the rustling of the fodder as the +juncos move about in their tepees, trying to find the choicest and +snuggest berths. Usually they select the tops of the standing shocks, +perhaps for safety; yet some may be found also in the shocks that have +partly fallen to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +In the latter part of February the juncos began to rehearse their +spring songs, which were a welcome sound in the almost unbroken silence +of the winter. The nearer the spring approached, the higher they +mounted in the trees, and the more prolonged was their flight, as if +they were practicing their wing exercises to inure their muscles to the +strain that would be put upon them when they undertook their long +journey to their northern summer homes; for, of course, the juncos do +not breed in our central latitudes, but hie to the northern part of the +United States and the Dominion of Canada. +</P> + +<P> +In Ohio the brown creepers and the golden-crowned kinglets were +constant winter companions in the woods; but, although Kansas is +considerably farther south, they do not seem to be winter residents +there—at least, not in the northeastern part of the state—the only +exception being that in January, 1903, several creepers were observed +in my yard. One may well wonder why these birds are winter residents +in Ohio and only migrants in a latitude that is two degrees farther +south. +</P> + +<P> +There was some scant compensation in the presence of the winter wren +one winter in the Sunflower state. The fourteenth of December brought +one of these brown Lilliputians to a deep hollow in town, where he +chattered petulantly and scampered along an old paling fence. No more +winter wrens were seen until January seventh, when one darted out of +some bushes on the bank of a stream about two miles south of town. My +next jaunt to this hollow took place on the twenty-seventh, when, to my +surprise, a hermit thrush was seen in a clump of bushes and saplings—a +bird that I supposed had been sunning himself for at least a month in +the genial South. While tramping about trying to get another view of +the unconventional thrush, I frightened a winter wren from a cluster of +weeds and bushes. My! how alarmed he was! Uttering a loud chirp, he +darted down to the center of the stream and slipped into a little cave +formed by ice and snow frozen over a clump of low bushes. There he hid +himself like an Eskimo in his snow hut. My trudging near by frightened +the bird out of the farther doorway, and he dashed away pellmell, +hurling a saucy gird of protestation at me, and was seen by me no more. +I examined the little snow house. It was very cunning indeed, and +might well have made a cozy shelter for the little wren in stormy +weather. My next meeting with a winter wren occurred on the fifteenth +of February, in the same hollow, but about an eighth of a mile nearer +the river. A query arises here: Did I see four different winter wrens +during the winter, or only one in four different localities? Who can +tell? +</P> + +<P> +That is not all about the winter wrens. My first winter in Kansas was +the severest I experienced in that state; yet it was the only winter of +the five I spent in Kansas that brought me the winter wren. If it +would do any good, one might ask again the question why. Although the +winter wren is a migrant in Ohio, as he is for the most part in +northeastern Kansas, yet I never heard his song in the former state, +while in the latter I was fortunate enough to listen to his tinkling +melody three times the first spring I spent there. After that I never +heard him, and indeed saw him only a few times. But the sweet, silvery +roulade—could there be anything more charming in the world of outdoor +music? +</P> + +<P> +My winter rambles—and winter is almost as good a time for bird study +as summer—enabled me to note some variety of temperament in the avian +realm. One thing we soon learn in our winter outings: Few birds are +recluses. No, they are sociable creatures, living in what might be +called nomadic communities. In the spring-time, during the mating +season, they pair off and become more or less exclusive and secretive, +keeping close to the precincts they have selected; but in winter they +grow more neighborly, and move about in the woods or over the fields in +flocks of various sizes. +</P> + +<P> +The woodland flocks usually consist of a number of species all of which +seem to be on the most cordial terms, having, no doubt, a community of +interest. As we quietly pursue our way in this wooded vale, we see no +birds for some distance. Presently a fine, protesting +"chick-a-dee-dee! chick-a-dee-dee!" breaks the silence. It is the +warning call of the tomtit or chickadee, which we soon espy tilting +about on his trapeze of twigs in the trees or bushes. But you may +depend upon it he is not alone; he is only a part of the rim of a +feathered colony dwelling near at hand, and consisting, very likely, of +tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, juncos, tree sparrows, blue +jays, one or two downy woodpeckers, a pair of cardinals, a flicker or +two, and a cackling red-breasted woodpecker. There may be even a song +sparrow in the company and a couple of brown creepers, and possibly a +flock of purple finches, chirping cheerily in the tops of the trees. +</P> + +<P> +While, in the spring and summer, birds are to be found in nearly every +part of the woods, never many at one place, the opposite condition +prevails in the winter. Sometimes you may walk almost a half mile +without seeing or hearing a single bird; then you suddenly come upon a +good-sized company of them, somewhat scattered, it is true, but within +easy hailing distance. Nor do they always remain in the same +localities, but move about, now here, now there, like nomads looking +for the best foraging places. For instance, on the first of January, +after leaving the city, I saw not a bird until I reached a pleasant +sylvan hollow at least a half mile away. Here a merry crowd greeted +the pedestrian. It was composed of all the birds I have just named, +with flocks of bluebirds and goldfinches thrown in for good measure. +On the fourteenth of January a company—either the same or another—was +found in a small copsy hollow only a quarter of a mile from the city, +while the spot previously occupied was deserted. It is pleasant to +think of these feathered troopers roaming about the country in search +of Nature's choicest storehouses. The code that obtains in these +movable birdvilles is this, as near as I am able to analyze it: Each +one for himself, and yet all for one another. +</P> + +<P> +The familiar adage, "Birds of a feather flock together," is not always +true, for in winter birds of many a feather often flock together. It +may be asked, Why? No doubt largely for social ends. Nothing is more +evident to the observer than that most birds love company, and a good +deal of it. Their genial conversation among themselves as they pursue +their work and play fully proves that. Another object is undoubtedly +protection. Birds have enemies, many of them, and when the woods are +bare there is little chance for hiding, and so they must be especially +on the alert. Let a hawk come gliding silently and slyly down the +vale, and before he gets too near some keen little eye espies him, the +alarm is sounded, and the whole company scurries into the thickets or +trees for safety. The chickadees and titmice seem to be a sort of +sentry for the company. +</P> + +<P> +A large part of the time in birdland is spent in solving the +"bread-and-butter" problem. And how do our feathered citizens solve +this important problem in the cold weather? Nature has spread many a +banquet for her avian children, although they must usually rustle for +their food just as we must in the human world. The nuthatches, +titmice, woodpeckers, and brown creepers find larvae, grubs, borers, +and insects' eggs in the crannies of the bark and other nooks and +niches; the goldfinches find something to their taste in the buds of +the trees and also make many a meal of thistle and sunflower seeds; the +juncos and tree sparrows, forming a joint stock company in winter, +rifle all kinds of weeds of their seedy treasures; the blue jays lunch +on acorns and berries when they cannot find enough juicy grubs to +satisfy their appetites, and so on through the whole list. +</P> + +<P> +By playing the spy on the birds we may learn much about their dietary +habits. It is the first of January, and we are in a wooded hollow. +There is a tufted titmouse; now he flits to the ground, picks up a +tidbit, darts up to a twig, places his morsel under his claws, and +proceeds to peck it to pieces. Our binocular shows that it is +something yellow, but we cannot make out what it is. As we draw near, +the bird seizes the fragment with his bill—perhaps he fears we will +filch it from him—and flits about among the bushes on the steep bank, +looking for a place to stow his "goody." Presently he pushes it into a +crevice of the bark, hammers it tightly into place, and darts away with +a merry chirp. We go to the spot and find that his hidden treasure is +a grain of corn which he has purloined from the farmer's field on the +slope. A few minutes later another tit—or the same one—slyly thrusts +a morsel in among some leaves and twigs on the bank, even pulling the +leaves down over it for a screen. It turns out to be a small acorn. +That is one of Master Tit's ways—storing away provisions for a time of +need. With his stout, conical beak he is able to break the shell of an +acorn, peck a corn grain into swallowable bits, and tear open the +toughest casing of a cocoon. He will even break the hard pits of the +dogwood berry to secure the kernel within, the ground below often being +strewn with the shell fragments. No danger of <I>Parus bicolor</I> coming +to want or going to the poorhouse. +</P> + +<P> +Another day the juncos are feeding on the seeds of the foxtail or +pigeon grass, in an old orchard hard by the border of the woods. +Sometimes they will make a dinner of berries—the kinds too that are +regarded as poisonous to man—eating the juicy pulp in their dainty +way, and dropping the seeds and rind to the ground. In the ravine +furrowed out by a stream—this is down in one of the hollows—there is +a perfect network of bird tracks in the snow beneath a clump of weed +stalks. How dainty they are, like tiny chains, twisted and coiled +about on the white surface! They were made by the juncos and tree +sparrows, and on examining the seed pods and clusters above the bank we +note that they are torn and ragged. The feathered banqueters have been +here, and while they were industriously culling the pods, some of the +seeds fell to the white carpet below, and these have been carefully +picked up by the birds, as we see, so that nothing should be wasted. +</P> + +<P> +It is not often you catch a bird in the singing mood in the winter; yet +on December 19, a purple finch was piping quite a vivacious tune in the +woods. Of course, he was not in his best voice, but his performance +was good enough to entitle it to the name of bird music. The finches, +by the way, are strong flyers. At your approach, instead of flitting +off a little way, perhaps to the next tree or bush, after the manner of +the tits and nuthatches and many other birds, the finches tarry in the +tree-tops as long as they deem it safe, then take to wing and fly to a +distant part of the woods, and you may not see them again that day. +However, they may come back to you after a while, as if they relished +your company. The goldfinches are also long-distance flyers, not +flitters. Usually they give some signal of their presence, either by +their vivacious "pe-chick-o-pe" or their childlike and semi-musical +calls; but there are times when a good-sized flock of them will +suddenly appear in the tree-tops above you, and you cannot tell when +they arrived, for you did not see them there at all a few minutes +before. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS +</H3> + +<P> +The previous chapter closed with some notes on the behavior of birds in +the winter time. My home rambling grounds in northeastern Kansas were +extremely undulating, cut up into ridges and ravines, most of which +were covered with a thick growth of weeds, bushes, and timber. In some +places the thickets were so dense as to be almost impenetrable. This +diversity in the topography of the country afforded considerable +variety in the faunal life of the region. +</P> + +<P> +For example, in bitter winter weather most of the birds would hug the +sheltered hollows, where they found coverts in the copses, and would +avoid the hilltops, which were exposed to the nipping winds blowing +from the western prairies. As the spring approached, bringing blander +weather, they gradually moved up the hillsides, many of them finding +billsome seeds and berries on the summits. +</P> + +<P> +However, note a difference in the temperament of individuals of the +same species. On the bitterest days of winter I would sometimes leave +the sheltered hollows and lowlands and clamber to the summits of the +wind-swept hills, and, oddly enough, on the exposed heights I +occasionally flushed a solitary bird, which would spring up from the +weeds or copses and dart away with a frightened cry. More than likely +it would be an individual of the same species as some of the more +socially disposed tenants of the lower grounds, but for some reason, +what, I know not, it preferred the life of an anchorite; it did not +care for society, even of its own kith. Invariably, too, these +feathered recluses were extremely shy, scuttling away like frightened +deer as I approached their cloistered haunts. +</P> + +<P> +These notes stir several queries in one's mind. Is there such a thing +as social ostracism in the bird world? Might these hilltop eremites +have committed some crime or some breach of decorum that effected their +banishment from respectable avicular society? Or were they simply of a +sullen or retiring disposition, choosing seclusion rather than the +company of their kind? These questions must be left unanswered. Most +frequently the lone bird would be a song sparrow. Once a brilliant +cardinal was trying to conceal himself in a clump of bushes and weeds +far up the hillside, acting very much like a social outcast. For some +reason that he did not see fit to explain he wanted to be alone. +</P> + +<P> +If the song sparrows of eastern Kansas belie their name and seldom fall +into the lyrical mood, as has been said, the like cannot be said of the +robins, which, in the proper season, were very lavish of their +minstrelsy. Their favorite singing time in the West, as in the East, +was at the "peep of dawn." How often their ringing carols broke into +my early morning dreams! +</P> + +<P> +Have you ever noticed the tentative efforts of the robins in the early +spring, at the beginning of the song season, before they get their +harps in full tune? It is interesting and amusing to listen to their +rehearsals, of which they need quite a number before they acquire full +control of their voices. This is the method: Starting off on a tune, +they will keep it up until their voices break; then they will stop a +while to recover breath, and presently make another attempt with +perhaps slightly better success. At first they are able to pipe only a +syllable or two before their voices break. After a while they succeed +in carrying the tune for a respectable little run, but sooner or later +their voices will go all to pieces or slide up into a falsetto, making +another pause necessary. By and by, however, after much practice, they +gain perfect vocal control, and are able to sustain their songs for a +long time without a mishap. When the voice of the rehearsing bird +breaks, it apparently runs too high in the scale for the bird's +register, just as the voice of a sixteen-year-old boy is apt to do, to +his own confusion and the amusement of his friends. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-140t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-140.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-140t.jpg" ALT="Cardinal" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Another fact about robin music may be of interest to those who have not +observed it. In the early spring these birds are extremely lyrical, +that being their season of courtship; then will follow a few weeks of +comparative silence—the time when there are little ones in need of +parental care. At this period the husbands, it would seem, are either +too busy or too wary to sing a great deal. But now note: When the +youngsters have flown from the nest and are able to take care of +themselves, the silence in robindom is again broken, and there is a +flood-tide of melody from early morning till eventide. The second +lyrical period lasts until another nest has been built and another +clutch of eggs has been hatched, when the choralists again relapse into +comparative silence. +</P> + +<P> +Since coming back to Ohio, I imagine that the eastern robins are better +singers than their western relatives. Their voices, to my ear, are +clearer and more ringing, less apt to break into a squeak at the top of +their register, and there is more variety of expression as well as +greater facility in managing the technique. I think this is not all +fancy, yet I would not speak with the assurance of the dogmatist. +</P> + +<P> +In the good Jayhawker state the orchard orioles are more abundant than +they are in the eastern and northeastern part of the state of Ohio. +Indeed, the range of this species is more southerly than that of their +congeners, the Baltimore orioles. In their proper latitude no birds, +or at least few of them, are more lavish of their melody than the +orchard orioles. What a ringing voice the oriole possesses! His song +has a saucy note of challenge running through it, and also a human +intonation that makes it rarely attractive. All day long the male +sings his cheery solos, scarcely pausing for breath or food, now +sitting on the topmost twig of a dead apple tree in the orchard, now +amid the screening foliage of a maple in the yard, and anon on the +other side of the street in a stately cottonwood. But where is that +modest little personage, his wife? She is seldom heard, and almost as +seldom seen. It is really remarkable—her gift of concealment. When +she builds her nest is a mystery. It is often so deftly hidden that +you would not be likely to find it in a long hunt. In the spring of +1898 a pair of orchard orioles took up their residence in the trees +about my house, the male singing his brisk overtures, the female seen +only at flitting intervals and never heard. Watch as I would, I could +not surprise her laying the timbers of her cottage, which I felt sure +was being built somewhere in the trees. Indeed, I did not discover it +until autumn came, long after the orioles, old and young, had taken +flight to a balmier clime, and the trees were stripped of their leaves, +when, lo! it appeared in plain view on one of the trees on the opposite +side of the street, the very place where I had not thought of looking +for it. +</P> + +<P> +The Baltimore orioles as a rule are not so secretive; yet during the +summer of 1898 a pair of these firebirds led me a fruitless chase. +Their secret was not divulged until the leaves had fallen the next +autumn, when there the nest hung in the midst of a tall cottonwood in +my back yard close to the house. Lord Baltimore and his mate usually +suspend their nests on the outer branches of the trees, where they are +not hard to discover, but this pair did not follow the common formula, +for the nest was placed in the thickest part of the foliage, so that it +was impossible to see it from the ground until the branches were bare. +</P> + +<P> +Of all the malaperts of birddom none excel and few equal the white-eyed +vireo for volubility and downright audacity. All his songs—and he has +quite a respectable list of them—seem to be either a protest or a +challenge; a protest against your intrusion into his precincts, a +challenge to find him and his nest if you can. Again and again in +Kansas I crept into their bushy coverts just for the purpose of +receiving a sound scolding. Such a berating did they give me, telling +me of all my faults and foibles, that I certainly ought to remain +humble all the rest of my days. A half dozen viragoes could not have +done better—that is, worse. They would flit about in the bushes above +my head, their little white eyes gleaming with fire, and call me all +the names they could lay their tongues to. I wonder whether the +white-eyes have a dictionary of epithets. Nature has done an odd thing +in making the white-eyed vireo. +</P> + +<P> +Their nests are not easy to find, although they do not always make a +great deal of effort at concealment. Like all the vireo tribe, they +suspend their tiny baskets from the fork or crotch of a horizontal +twig. The nest is somewhat bulkier than the compact little cup of the +red-eyed vireo, and is apt to be more carefully concealed in the +foliage, although I have found more than one nest that was hung in +plain sight. I remember one in particular. It was dangling from the +outer twigs of a small bush by the side of the woodland path which I +was pursuing. In fact, it could be distinctly seen from the path. In +spite of the mother's pleadings, protests, and objurgations, I stepped +over to inspect her pendant domicile, whose holdings were four baby +white-eyes, their eyelids still glued together. As the twigs stirred, +they opened their mouths for food, and I decided to accommodate them. +Taking a bit of cracker from my haversack, I moistened it, and rolled +it into a pellet between my finger and thumb; then, gently swaying the +bushes, I induced the bantlings to open their mouths, when I dropped +the morsel into one of the tiny throats. You ought to have seen the +wry face baby made as it gulped down the new kind of food, which had +such an odd taste. It was plain that the callow nestling was able to +distinguish this morsel from the palatable diet it had been accustomed +to. Possibly it suffered from a temporary fit of indigestion, but no +permanent harm was done by my experiment, for when I called on them +again a few days later, the birdkins four were safe and well, their +eyes open, and their instincts sufficiently developed to cause them to +cuddle low in their basket instead of opening their mouths. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-144t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-144.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-144t.jpg" ALT="White-eyed Vireo" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The rambler who would hear a real outdoor concert should rise early, +swallow a few bits of cracker and a cup of coffee, and seek some +bird-haunted hollow or woodland just as day begins to break. One +morning I pursued this plan, and was more than compensated for the loss +of an hour or two of sleep. Just as the east began to blush I found +myself in a favorite wooded hollow. +</P> + +<P> +What a <I>potpourri</I> of bird song greeted my ear! How many choralists +took part in the matutinal concert I cannot say, but there were scores +of them. The volume of song would sometimes swell to a full-toned +orchestra, and then for a few moments it would sink almost to a lull, +all of it like the flow and ebb of the tides of a sea of melody. It +was interesting to note how several voices would sometimes run into a +chime when they struck the same chord. +</P> + +<P> +Let me call the roll of the members of that feathered choir. First, +and most gifted of all, were a couple of brown thrashers, whose tones +were as strong and sweet as those of a silver cornet, making the echoes +ring across the hollow. I have listened to many a thrasher song in the +North, the South, and the West, but have never heard a voice of better +timbre than that of one of the tawny vocalists singing that morning, as +he sat on the topmost twig of an oak tree and flung out his medley upon +the morning air. It is wonderful, anyway, with what an ecstasy the +thrasher will sometimes sing. Nothing could be plainer than that he +sings for the pure pleasure of it—an artist deeply in love with his +art. +</P> + +<P> +Falling a little behind the thrashers in vocal power and technical +execution were the catbirds, which sent up their cavatinas from the +bushes in the hollow. Their voices lacked the volume and strength of +their rivals, yet some of their strains were truly the quintessence of +sweetness. +</P> + +<P> +Conspicuous members of the early chorus were the wood thrushes, a dozen +or more of which were often singing at the same time. From every part +of the woods their peals arose. Of course, there was no attempt—at +least, so far as I could discover—to sing in concert, but each +minstrel followed his own sweet will, and so the combined result was +not what you would call a harmony, but a medley, albeit a very pleasing +one. If the wood thrush's execution were less labored, he would +certainly be a marvelous songster, and even as it is, he furnishes +unending delight to those whose ears are trained to appreciate avian +minstrelsy. +</P> + +<P> +Two or three rose-breasted grossbeaks piped their liquid, childlike +arias; towhees, at least a half-dozen of them, flung forth their loud, +explosive trills that have a real musical quality; several cardinals +whistled as if they meant to drown out all the other voices; scarlet +and summer tanagers drawled their good-natured tunes, while their rich +robes gleamed in the level rays of the rising sun; running like silver +threads through all the other music, could be heard the fine trills of +the field sparrows; the swinging chant of the creeping warblers and the +loud rattle of the Tennessee warblers ran high up in the scale, +furnishing a gossamer tenor; that golden optimist, the Baltimore +oriole, piped his cheery recitative in the tops of the trees; +chickadees supplied the minor strains and tufted titmice the alto; four +or five turtle doves soothed the ear with their meditative cooing; +while the calls and songs of numerous jays and a few yellow-breasted +chats made a kind of trombone accompaniment. Surely it is worth one's +while to hie early to the haunts of the birds to hear such a tumult of +song. +</P> + +<P> +One spring I made up my mind to make a closer study than ever of the +dainty creeping warbler, wishing to know just how he contrives to +scuttle up and down the boles and branches of the trees with so much +ease and grace. He is the only warbler we have in eastern North +America that makes a habit of scaling the tree trunks and descending +them head downward. How does he do this? The muscles of his legs and +pelvis are as elastic as India rubber, so that he can twist and twirl +about in a marvelous way, pointing his head one moment to the east and +the next, without losing his hold, in the opposite direction. He is +able to swing himself around almost as if he were hung on a pivot. +</P> + +<P> +But how does he hold himself on his shaggy wall as he hitches head +downward? Just as the nuthatch does—not by keeping both feet directly +under him, as most people suppose, but by thrusting one foot slightly +forward and the other outward and backward, thus preserving his balance +at the same time that he holds himself firmly with his sharp little +claws to his upright wall. Some of the pictures of the creeper seen in +the books are not quite true to creeper methods of clinging and +locomotion, for they represent him as stuck to the bark of a tree trunk +with both feet invisible, presumably held directly under his striped +breast. In the real position it is likely that one or both feet could +be seen, the one thrust forward and the other flung back and to one +side. At least one foot would be visible, whatever the angle at which +the bird would be inspected, and from many points of view both of his +tiny feet may be plainly seen in the position described. +</P> + +<P> +Our little striped friend, usually called in the books the +black-and-white warbler, is not, after all, so expert a creeper as is +the nuthatch, which may be called the arboreal skater <I>par excellence</I>. +The warbler does not go scuttling straight down a vertical bole or +branch as the nuthatch does, but swings his lithe body from side to +side, as if he did not loosen the hold of both feet simultaneously but +alternately. Besides, both in ascending and descending he must have +more frequent recourse to his wings to tide him over the difficult +places. While the nuthatch can glide over the smoothest and hardest +bark, and even descend the wall of a brick house, his sharp claws +taking a firm grip on the edges of the bricks, the warbler is not quite +so much of a gymnast, for when he strikes a difficult spot in his +promenade ground, he flies or flits over it to the next protuberance +which his claws can hold. He has a decided advantage, however, over +all his warbler kin, for he is not only gifted with the creeping +talent, but is also just as dexterous as they in perching on a +horizontal twig. +</P> + +<P> +The little bird known as the brown creeper belongs to a different +avicular family entirely, but in one respect he is like the +black-and-white warbler—that is, he scales the trunks and branches of +the trees. There, however, the resemblance ceases, for the creeper +rarely goes head downward, evidently thinking that the proper position +for a bird's head is pointing toward the sky, not toward the ground. +Besides, he seldom, if ever, sits crosswise on a perch; no, he is an +inveterate creeper. My study of him proves that he does not hold his +feet directly under his breast, but spreads them out well toward either +side, knowing instinctively how to make a broad enough base to enable +him to preserve his center of gravity. +</P> + +<P> +Like the woodpecker, he uses his stiff tail as a brace; nor does he go +zigzagging up his wall after the manner of the creeping warbler, but +hitches along in a direct line—unless, of course, a tidbit attracts +him to one side—proving that he is a true creeper, one to the manner +born. However, the warbler has one advantage—he is able to perch with +perfect security on a twig, an accomplishment that has not yet been +attained by his little brown cousin. How cunningly the creeper peeps +into the crannies of the bark as he plies his trade, thrusts his long, +curved beak into the tiny holes and crevices, and draws out a worm or a +grub, which the next moment goes twinkling down his throat! His +economic value to the farmer and the fruit grower cannot be estimated, +and he should never be destroyed. +</P> + +<P> +The conduct of different birds is not alike upon their arrival from the +South at their summer nesting haunts in our more northern latitudes; +some heralding their advent with jubilant song as if in greeting to the +familiar scenes, while others are silent and wary. The first I knew of +the Baltimore and orchard orioles last spring, they were singing +blithely in the trees about the house; but the brown thrashers flitted +about slyly and silently for a few days, apparently to make sure that +the coast was clear of danger; having done which, they burst into their +dithyrambs with a will. Out in the woodland the gorgeous scarlet +tanager announced his arrival one morning with a lively sonnet, which +was heard long before the singer was seen; whereas his cousin, the +summer tanager, uttered only his quaint alarm-call, "Chip-burn, +chip-burn," and was excessively shy, dashing wildly away as I +approached, unwilling to vouchsafe a wisp of song. Once he even +pounced angrily upon his black-winged relative and drove him to the +other side of the hollow, precisely as if he meant to say, "Your +singing is out of place, sir, and dangerous, too! Don't you know that +the man prowling about yonder will shoot little birds who betray their +presence by singing?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-150t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-150.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-150t.jpg" ALT="Baltimore Oriole" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +One of our most lavish singers all summer long is the indigo bunting; +yet when he first came back from the South he was very shy, and his +voice seemed to be out of tune, so that, even when he tried to sing, +which was seldom, his effort sounded like the creaking of a rusty +door-hinge. Afterwards, however, when he got the cobwebs out of his +larynx, he made up for all his previous silence. Quite different is +the habit of the towhee, which announces his presence by his loud, +explosive trill—all too brief—or his complaining "chewing." +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes the rambler and bird gazer meets with other than avian +"specimens" in his excursions. One evening I was loitering in a +distant hollow, ogling with my field glass several lark sparrows that +were flitting about on the ground in an adjacent patch of some kind. +The birds were singing as only these beautiful sparrows can, and the +quiet of the evening lent an idyllic charm to their rich and varied +chansons. On the other side of a small stream stood a shanty, in the +door of which sat an old negro woman. In looking at the birds, I +sometimes turned the glass toward the shanty, although too intent on my +studies to notice it. Presently the woman could no longer endure my +apparent espionage, and so she said: "Go 'bout yer own business, +mister, 'n' don' ye be spyin' inter my house!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TROUBLE AMONG THE BIRDS* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*The larger part of this chapter was first published in "The Christian +Endeavor World," Boston; the rest of it in "Our Animal Friends," New +York. I reprint it here by permission of both these journals. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Even at the risk of causing a feeling of dejection on the reader's +part, I am going to put one "trouble" chapter into this volume. There +are trials in the birds' domain, and perhaps you and I will feel more +sympathy with them, and will be led to protect them all the more +carefully, if we know something about the "deep waters of affliction" +through which they are sometimes compelled to pass. Our native +American birds, at least some of them, suffer a good deal at the hands, +so to speak, of the pestiferous English sparrows, which were introduced +into this country by some egregious blunder. +</P> + +<P> +There can be no doubt that the English sparrows are regular bullies. +They do not fight other birds so much as they hector them, making life +intolerable by their ribaldry, coarse jests, and prying manners. Some +birds, especially many of our beautiful native species, are sensitively +organized, and cannot endure such boorish society as the badly bred +foreigners furnish. That as much as anything has driven our genteel +bluebirds away from our homes into the woods and other out-of-the-way +places. How would you feel, my friend, if, as you were going along the +street, a lot of hoodlums should take to gibing and hooting at you? +</P> + +<P> +Were there ever such pesky, ill-mannered citizens as the English +sparrows? Here comes a downy woodpecker, or a cardinal, or a +rose-breasted grosbeak to town, flitting about the trees of my yard, +gathering goodies among the leaves and twigs, and perhaps piping a +little aria at intervals, congratulating himself on having found a +pleasant, quiet place, when, lo! a gang of English sparrows crowd +around him, peering at him now with one eye, now with the other, +canting their heads in their impertinent way, bowing and scraping and +blinking, and for all the world seeming to make such derisive remarks +as, "Oh, what a fine fellow! Quite stuck-up, ain't he? Isn't that a +stylish topknot, though? He! he! he! Look! he wears a rose on his +shirt bosom! Isn't he a dandy? Ge! ge! gah! gah!" By and by the +visitor can stand the racket and the mockery no longer; and so he +steals away, resolved never again to go to that place to be insulted. +I have repeatedly been witness of just such occurrences. +</P> + +<P> +Early in the spring a robin began to build her nest in the middle story +of one of my maple trees. The whole process was narrowly watched by +the noisy, hectoring sparrows. They gathered about her, prying and +bobbing and jostling and chirping, staring at her like a lot of +bumpkins when she leaped into the half-finished cup and molded her +building material with her ruddy bosom. They seemed to be saying +jeeringly: "Isn't that a funny way for a bird to build a house? Hay! +hay! hay!" The robin forsook her nest; and the sparrows borrowed her +timbers for their own nest, and forgot to bring them back again. +</P> + +<P> +Just a moment ago a couple of young red-headed woodpeckers and their +parents visited the trees of my yard, making a lively din, for the +youngsters were calling for their supper. Then the sparrows crowded +about them, called and jested, followed them from tree to tree, never +stopping their persecutions until the red-headed family flew off in +disgust. +</P> + +<P> +In a Kansas town one March day, as I was returning to the house in +which I was lodging, my attention was attracted to a black-capped +chickadee, which was flitting about and calling in an agitated way in +one of the trees. Two English sparrows, a cock and his mate, were +responsible for the little bird's perturbation. What were they doing? +Something rude, as usual. Perched on a couple of twigs, they were +bending over, stretching out their necks and peering into a small hole +in one of the larger branches. The male was especially offensive, +standing there and staring into the cavity, and making insolent remarks. +</P> + +<P> +A good-sized club, hurled by myself, sent the sparrows to other parts. +Then I hurried into the house and sat by the curtained window to watch. +With much ado, the little black-cap flew over to the limb with the +cavity. He flitted about a few moments, then darted to the opening and +looked in, chirping in a reassuring tone, as much as to say, "The +ruffians are gone now; you can come out." +</P> + +<P> +And out of the doorway flew his pretty wife, while he slipped in to see +that all was safe. You see, the ill-bred sparrows had been glaring at +the little madam as she sat on her nest, which was a piece of +impertinence that no self-respecting bird could endure with equanimity. +</P> + +<P> +The English sparrows are not the only birds that disturb the harmony of +the bird realm. Offenders must needs come there as well as in the +human sphere. A friend who is entirely trustworthy tells me the +following story. He and his wife were driving along a country road, +when their attention was directed to a kingbird in hot pursuit of a +red-headed woodpecker, which had evidently been poaching on the +first-named bird's preserves. Being an expert flyer, the kingbird had +almost overtaken the fugitive, when suddenly the red-head wheeled to +one side, flung himself somehow or other over a telegraph wire, turning +at the same time and catching with his claws at the wire, where he +clung, his body bent in an arc, holding his enemy at bay with his long, +pointed beak and spiny tail. Of course, the martin could not attack +him in that position, as he could not afford to run the risk of being +impaled on the red-head's spear. +</P> + +<P> +Nor was that all. The martin sailed a short distance away, and the +woodpecker thought it safe to take to wing again. The kingbird again +started in swift pursuit, filling the air with his loud chirping, sure +of his game this time; but he was balked, as before, by the red-head's +sudden dash to the telegraph wire. This little comedy was repeated +several times while my friends watched with surprise and amusement. +</P> + +<P> +There is tragedy as well as comedy in the world of feathers. Ernest +Thompson Seton's graphic animal stories would leave a pleasanter taste +in the mouth if they ended less tragically, but they would not be so +true to life as it is in the faunal realm. It must be true that the +lives of most birds and animals end in tragedy, so numerous, alert, and +persistent are their foes. As soon as a bird begins to grow old and +infirm, losing its keenness of vision and its swiftness of movement, it +cannot help falling a prey to its rapacious enemies. For this reason +you seldom find a feeble animal or bird in the open, or one that has +lain down and died a natural death. +</P> + +<P> +However, strange as it may seem, I have found the corpses of several +birds in the wild outdoors. At an abandoned limestone quarry one +spring I discovered the nest of a pair of phoebes. I called at the +pretty domicile a number of times in my rambles. It was set on a shelf +of one stratum of rock, and roofed over by another. One day I noticed +the little dame sitting quietly in her cup, and decided to go near; +just why, I cannot tell. She did not move as I approached; she did not +even turn her head to look at me. It was strange. I went right up to +the nest, and yet she did not fly. Stretching out my hand, I found +that she was dead, her unhatched eggs still under her cold and +pulseless bosom. +</P> + +<P> +I could have wept for my little friends. There was nothing to indicate +the cause of the tragedy, no disturbance of the nest, no marks of +violence on her body. Possibly she had eaten or drunk poison; perhaps +she had received a fatal blow from an enemy, and had just had strength +enough left to come home to die. Her mate was gone. He was doubtless +unable to bear the ghastly sight of his dead companion on her nest. +</P> + +<P> +A little field sparrow came to a tragical end in a different way. I +found his body dangling among the bushes on a bank. Two small but +tough grapevine twigs growing out horizontally and close together +formed a very acute angle, and this was the trap in which the innocent +bird was caught. In some way one of his legs had slipped between the +branches, the angle of which became more acute, of course, toward the +apex. Thus the more he struggled the more tightly his tarsus became +wedged in the trap, the foot preventing it from slipping through. To +think of pushing his leg backward, and so releasing himself, was beyond +the poor bird's cerebral power; so he fluttered until exhausted, then +dangled there to die of starvation. The place being very secluded, no +predatory beast or fowl had found the little corpse. +</P> + +<P> +If there were only some way of protecting the nests of our beautiful +and useful birds of the wildwood, what a boon it would be to men and +fowls! So many nests come to grief that one wonders sometimes that any +brood is ever reared. During a recent spring, with exhausting toil and +patience, I found the nests of several shy woodland birds—the +Kentucky, the hooded, and the creeping warblers—all of them real +discoveries for me. I promised myself a rare treat in watching the +development of the nurslings from babyhood to youth. Alas! all the +nests were robbed, those of the Kentucky and hooded warblers of their +young, and that of the creeping warbler of its eggs. I trust I am not +naturally vindictive; but had I the brigands in my power who despoiled +those nests, I certainly should wring their necks. +</P> + +<P> +Our small birds must ever be on the <I>qui vive</I>. Danger is always +lurking near, as a few concrete cases will show. Brush was thrown into +a certain hollow well known to the writer, and one of the steep +hillsides was covered with timber of a medium-sized growth. One day I +was listening to a concert given by a company of towhees and cardinals, +which were sitting in the trees at the lower border of the woodland. A +flock of cedar waxwings were also "tseeming" in the top of a tree, +darting out at intervals into the air for insects. Suddenly every song +ceased, and the whole company dashed down, pellmell, hurry-skurry, into +the thick brush heaps of the hollow. At the same moment, or perhaps a +moment later—it all occurred so quickly I could not be exact—a covey +of juncos hurled themselves with reckless swiftness into the brush +pile, followed by a sparrow hawk, which uttered a queer, uncanny call +that meant death to any little bird that should be overtaken. +</P> + +<P> +He flung himself through a network of branches and twigs and lightly +struck the ground below, his wings partly opening as he lit, to break +the force of the concussion. He had dashed directly over my head. +Before I could collect my wits he gathered himself together, wormed his +way out through the branches in some way, and darted off up the +opposite slope. He had failed to secure his prize, but it was +wonderful how so large a bird could slip through the network of +branches and extricate himself without striking a quill against a twig. +</P> + +<P> +The extreme watchfulness of the small birds cannot fail to excite +wonder in the mind of the observer. In the case just referred to not +one of the birds was taken unaware, although some of them were singing +gaily, and others were busy feeding. Never for a moment do the birds +become so absorbed in their eating or work or play as to forget that a +foe may be lurking near. One cannot help wondering how they can be +happy. Suppose we were compelled to be incessantly on the lookout for +danger, should we ever have a moment of peace or joy? +</P> + +<P> +A red-breasted woodpecker was chiseling out a nursery in a tall +sycamore at the border of a woodland. At some distance, far enough +away not to alarm her, I watched the dame at her work. This was her +method of procedure, hour by hour: She would plunge head first into the +hole, only her barred tail being visible, give three or four vigorous +dabs with her bill, then emerge and look around in every direction for +danger; seeing none, into the cavity her crimson-crowned head would +again disappear, only to emerge again a second later. Not for a moment +did she dare to relax her vigilance. Had she done so, in that fatal +moment a hawk might have swooped upon her and crushed her in his +merciless talons. +</P> + +<P> +Yet some birds will take not a little risk, depending on their +quickness of eye and nimbleness of wing to escape their predatory foes. +In a tall sycamore tree standing alone at the fringe of a piece of +woodland, sparrow hawks, red-breasted woodpeckers, and nuthatches, a +pair of each, had set up their household gods. The tree was still bare +of foliage, for it had few branches, and the season was early spring. +It was evident, too, that the hawks were watching for an opportunity to +assault their neighbors, to whom they often gave chase. Yet the +woodpeckers had in some way contrived to hew out their arboreal +nursery, which was almost, if not quite, finished. It was a freshly +chiseled cavity, as could be seen plainly from below. The mother +nuthatch was feeding her young. She would fly to the tree with an +insect in her bill, calling "Yank, yank," or "Ha-ha, ha-ha," as if to +announce her arrival, then glide around the branch, scurry down its +sloping wall, swing to the underside where the nest hole was, and jab +the juicy morsel into the chirruping throat of one of the bantlings +within. The bloodthirsty hawk dashed at her several times, but she +deftly dodged around to the other side of the branch, and let him glide +harmlessly by, flinging after him a taunting "Ha-ha, ha-ha," as much as +to say, "Missed your aim again, didn't you!" However, it was a pretty +picture the nuthatch made, holding in her bill a large beetle with +silvery wings, sometimes holding it straight out from the bark as she +glanced around to see whether the coast was clear and at the same time +calling her nasal "yank," so full of woodsy suggestion. +</P> + +<P> +A trying experience for many birds comes at bedtime. They grow quite +nervous as night begins to settle over the land, some of them chirping +loudly to express their solicitude. As the darkness deepens, their +sight becomes obscured, and they seem to realize that they are exposed +to dangers unseen. You have often, no doubt, noticed the to-do made by +the robins as the time for retiring draws near. What foes may be +lurking in the growing darkness they know not. +</P> + +<P> +A favorite roosting place for the sparrows, towhees, juncos, and even +the robins, was in some thickets by the roadside. As I passed along, a +bird would occasionally leap from his perch to the ground and go +galloping away over the rustling leaves. At one place a half dozen +Harris sparrows were chirping loudly and flitting about a couple of +small trees, which were partly covered with a thick network of vines. +The cause of their uneasiness could not be determined, unless it was +their natural fear of the darkness. I waited until night had settled. +Presently the sparrows became quiet. Tramping about near the trees did +not disturb them, but when I flung a lighted stick against one of the +trees, they flew out of their matted bedroom with loud outcries. For a +few minutes they could be seen dashing about from tree to tree; then +they settled down for the night. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-163t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-163.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-163t.jpg" ALT="Bob-white, or Quail" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +In view of the many trials that naturally come into the life of the +birds, we should be all the kinder to them. Why add to their sorrows? +Let me give you an example of humane treatment in one case—that of the +quail or bob-white. Not long ago I listened to a sensible lecturer on +natural history subjects. +</P> + +<P> +He did not say we should never kill the quail. They have evidently +been created for man's use, or they would not have been given such +juicy and nutritious flesh; just as many other fowls and animals were +made to minister to the subsistence and pleasure of the human family. +Besides, there can be no doubt that, if the quail were all permitted to +live and multiply, they would soon become so abundant as to do much +harm in our grain fields. So some of them should be killed, but not in +a cruel manner. +</P> + +<P> +One thing is certain, they should not be killed with shotguns! You ask +at once and in some surprise, Why not? Because that is cruel. Don't +you see how? Well, that is the way with most of us—we do many things +without thinking. It is not cruel to kill quail with a shotgun +providing they are killed outright. But have you never thought how +many of the fine shot must wound some of the birds that fly away? A +bird with several shots in its body may not be fatally hurt at first, +but will fly off and alight somewhere in the bushes where no hunter can +find it. In a few days the wounds grow sore, then gangrene sets in, +and the bird slowly dies in awful torture. No one to help it, no one +even to pity. Is not that cruel? +</P> + +<P> +But how are these birds to be treated? They should be dealt with +kindly, fed in winter, so that they will become comparatively tame, +somewhat like the fowl of the barnyard. Then, in the proper season, +they should be caught with a net. This can be done by placing the nets +in such a way that the birds will run into them about the brush heaps, +in which they are fond of taking refuge. Skill and shrewdness are +needed to catch them in this way, and, perhaps, it cannot be done while +they are shot at so much and are made so shy; but the time will come +when the netting of quail will be regarded as rare sport in America, as +hawking or fox hunting is in England. +</P> + +<P> +When the birds are caught their heads should be snipped off as you do +those of domestic fowls, or in some other way that is as painless as +possible. According to this plan not so many birds can be secured, it +is true, but it would be well to let the quail become more abundant in +our country, for in certain seasons of the year they destroy certain +kinds of insects that do much harm to the grain. Besides, they are +such sweet and innocent birds that all of us like to see them scuttling +along by the roadside, and listen to their musical calling in the +clover fields—"Bob white! bob white!" Then, too, if they were allowed +to become tame and plentiful, we might sometimes have the luxury of +quail's eggs on our tables. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BIRD'S EDUCATION* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Reprinted by permission from "Forest and Stream." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +So far as regards the recent discussion as to how animals learn, +whether by instinct or instruction, my study of birds leads me to take +a middle position; perhaps I would better say to take sides with both +parties. Birds acquire knowledge partly by instinct and partly by +tutelage, and the same is no doubt true of all other animals. This +statement will be borne out by several concrete cases. +</P> + +<P> +Some years ago I made a number of experiments in rearing young birds +taken as early as possible from the nest. Among them were meadowlarks, +red-winged blackbirds, brown thrashers, blue jays, wood thrushes, +catbirds, flickers, red-headed woodpeckers, and several other species. +Nearly all of them were secured some time before they were naturally +ready to leave their natal places. Without any instruction from +parents or older birds they soon left the nests I had improvised for +them, hopped about on the cage floor for a while, and presently +insisted on clambering upon the perches, to which they clung in the +regulation way. Indeed, I noted again and again that the impulse to +seek a perch was so strong that the young birds seemed to be moved to +it by an imperative command. Nor were they long satisfied with a low +perch, but instinctively mounted to the highest one they could find. +</P> + +<P> +The same was true in regard to flight. No feathered adult was present +to tutor them in the art of using their wings, yet they soon acquired +that power of their own accord. It was inborn—the gift of flight. +True, they were awkward at first, and gained skill only by degrees, but +the original impulse was in their constitution. It is no doubt true +that parent birds in the outdoors do give their young lessons in +flight, but if the bantlings were left to themselves, they would +acquire that art through their original endowment, although more slowly +and with many more hard knocks. +</P> + +<P> +As every one knows, juvenile birds at first open their mouths for their +food. Proof may not be at hand for the opinion, but I am disposed to +believe that they never need to be told by their parents to do that; +their instincts prompt them. It must be so, I think, for to suppose +that the bird baby only a day or two from the shell could understand a +parental command to open its mouth would be to presume that it has the +instinct to grasp the meaning of such a behest, and that is more +difficult to believe than that Nature simply impels it to take its food +by opening its mandibles. +</P> + +<P> +Now, when the young birds are taken from the nest and reared by hand, +they insist for a long time on being fed in the juvenile manner. +However, by and by they begin of their own volition to pick up food +after the manner of the adults. At first they are very clumsy about +it, but they persevere until they acquire skill, and presently they +refuse entirely to open their mandibles for food. Here again Nature is +their sole guide. Without human or avian suggestion they also learn to +drink in the well-known bird fashion; also to bathe, chirp, frolic, and +do many other things. Who has ever seen a pet bird in drinking try to +lap like a dog, or take in long draughts like a cow or a horse? No; +Nature made them birds, and birds they will be. It is noticeable, too, +that when birds begin to peck, or bathe, or seek a perch, they do not +usually act as if they were deliberately planning to do so, nor as if +they were carrying on some process of thought leading to choice, but +rather as if they were impelled by Nature to do so. +</P> + +<P> +The chirping of birds is mostly, if not wholly, a matter of +inheritance. For instance, my little wood thrushes, as soon as they +reached a sufficient age, called just like their relatives of the +sylvan solitudes; my brown thrashers uttered the labial chirp of the +species; my red-winged blackbird exclaimed "Chack! chack!" after the +manner of his kind; my bluebirds expressed their feelings in the sad +little purr of <I>Sialia sialis</I>; my flickers did not borrow the calls of +the red-heads, but each clung to its own language; my catbirds mewed +like poor pussy in trouble; and so on through the whole list. True, +these pets may have heard their parents' calls before they were taken +from the nest, but it is not at all likely that they would have +remembered them, for at first they only "cheeped" after the manner of +most bantlings, and only a good while afterward did they fall to using +the adult chirp. Besides, while still in the nest, they must have +heard many other bird calls; why did they not acquire them? Heredity +has laid a strong hand upon birds, and has drawn sharp dividing lines +among the various species. +</P> + +<P> +Instinct also plays a large part in moving the bird to sing and to +render the peculiar arias of its kind. For instance, a pet wood thrush +of mine, secured at an early age and kept far away from all his kith of +the wildwood, became a fine musician. And what do you suppose was the +tune he executed? It was the sweet, dreamy, somewhat labored song of +the wood thrush in his native wilds. He never sang any other tune. I +think he sang it better than any wild thrush I have ever heard. It was +louder, clearer, more full-toned, but the quality of voice and the +technique were precisely the same. Who was his teacher? No one but +Nature, heredity, instinct, whatever you choose to call it. There was +no wild thrush within a half mile of his cage. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-169t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-169.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-169t.jpg" ALT="Robin" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The case of a pet thrasher was almost as striking. It is true, he may +have heard several of his kin singing about the premises during the +first spring of his captivity, but it is not probable that he learned +their melodies so early in life. As the next spring approached, he +began to sing the very medleys that the wild thrashers sing with so +much earnestness and skill, and this was long before any thrashers had +come back from the South. +</P> + +<P> +I must now describe several cases in which inherited instinct did not +prove so true a teacher. A young robin was once given me by a friend, +and was kept by myself and others until the following summer. Strange +as it may seem, he never acquired the well-known robin carol. +Sometimes there were vague hints of it in his vocal performances, but +for the most part he whistled strains in a loud, shrill tone that no +wild robin ever dreamed of inflicting on the world. They were more +like crude human efforts at whistling than anything else. Indeed, I +think they were picked up from the whistling he heard about the house. +Some of his strains were very sweet, and all of them were wonderful for +a bird. A friend played "Yankee Doodle" on a cornet, and Master +'Rastus—for that was his name—gave a very fair and funny imitation of +part of the air. There were many robins caroling in the trees about +the premises, and 'Rastus was often left out of doors among them, but +he never acquired the red-breast minstrelsy. +</P> + +<P> +A similar instance was that of a pet red-winged blackbird, which, +instead of whistling the labored "Grook-o-lee" of his species, learned +to mimic all kinds of sounds in and out of the house, among them the +crowing of the cocks of the barnyard. These two instances would +indicate that some birds must at least be associated with their kin in +order to learn the songs of their species. +</P> + +<P> +My comical pet blue jay gave proof of the need of parental training. +While he intuitively called like a jay, he never was able to sing the +sweet, gurgling roulade of the wild jays. On the contrary, he treated +us to all kinds of odd, imitative, mirth-provoking performances that no +self-respecting jay in the open would think of enacting. After several +months of cage life he was given his liberty. Now, indeed, he showed +his lack of jay bringing up, and how little, in some respects, mere +instinct can be relied on. When evening came he perched on a limb of +the maple tree before the house, in a place as exposed as he could well +find, not knowing that there was more danger in an outdoor roost than +in his shielding cage. I could not induce him to come down, nor could +I climb out to the branch on which he sat, and so I was compelled to +leave him out of doors. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning he was safe, the screech owls of the neighborhood +having overlooked him in some way. The next evening he went to roost +in the same exposed place, and that was the last I ever saw of my +beloved pet. He was undoubtedly killed and devoured by the owls. Had +he been reared out of doors in the usual way, his parents would have +taught him to find a roosting place that was secure from predatory +foes. No one has ever seen a wild jay sleeping in an exposed place. +</P> + +<P> +In her charming little book, "True Bird Stories," Mrs. Olive Thorne +Miller says that she "once watched the doings in a crow nursery." I +quote: +</P> + +<P> +"The most important thing the elders had to do was to teach the +youngsters how to fly, and every little while one or both of the +parents would fly around the pasture, giving a peculiar call as they +went. This call appeared to be an order to the little folks to follow, +for all would start up and circle round for a minute or two, and then +drop back to the fence or the ground to rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Once, while I was watching them, this cry was given, and all flew as +usual except one bob-tailed baby, who stood on a big stone in the +middle of the field. He was perhaps so comfortable that he did not +want to go, or it may be he was afraid, and thought mamma would not +notice him. But mothers' eyes are sharp, and she did see him. She +knew, too, that baby crows must learn to fly; so when all came down +again she flew right at the naughty bird, and knocked him off his +perch. He squawked, and fluttered his wings to keep from falling, but +the blow came so suddenly that he had not time to save himself, and he +fell flat on the ground. In a minute he clambered back upon his stone, +and I watched him closely. The next time the call came to fly he did +not linger, but went with the rest, and so long as I could watch him he +never disobeyed again." +</P> + +<P> +This is evidence not only of parental teaching, but also of parental +discipline. Here is another bit from the same volume, bearing its +lesson on its face. "A lady told me a funny story about a robin. He +was brought up in the house from the nest, and never learned to sing +the robin song, for he had not heard it. He plainly tried to make some +sort of music, and one of the family taught him to whistle 'Yankee +Doodle'. He whistled it perfectly, and never tried to sing anything +else. Once this Yankee Doodle robin got out of the house and flew up +into a tree. When the wild birds came about him he entertained them by +whistling his favorite air, which sent the birds off in a panic." +</P> + +<P> +Do not the facts recited in this sketch prove that birds know and +acquire some things through the promptings of instinct, while other +things they can learn only by avian teaching? +</P> + +<P> +My notes on instinct and education in bird song correspond with the +conviction expressed by Dr. W. H. Hudson on page 257 of his interesting +book entitled "The Naturalist in La Plata," fourth edition, 1903: "It +is true that Daines Barrington's notion that young song birds learn to +sing only by imitating the adults, still holds its ground; and Darwin +gives it his approval in his 'Descent of Man'. It is perhaps one of +those doctrines which are partly true, or which do not contain the +whole truth; and it is possible to believe that, while many singing +birds do so learn their songs, or acquire a greater proficiency in them +from hearing the adults, in other species the song comes instinctively, +and is, like other instincts and habits, purely an 'inherited memory'." +What Dr. Hudson surmises may be the case, I believe my experiments have +proved to be true. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ARE BIRDS SINGERS OR WHISTLERS?* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Reprinted by permission from "Our Animal Friends." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Not a little discussion has arisen among the dissectors as to the +anatomy of bird song. Into this controversy I shall not enter—at +least, not in a controversial spirit—but shall recount only what may +be regarded as the best and latest results of scientific research. How +does a bird produce the melodious notes that emanate from his throat? +Are they manufactured far down in the trachea, or only at its anterior +opening? Are they voice tones or flute tones? These questions will be +answered as we proceed to examine the bird's lyrical apparatus without +going into wearisome detail, or making use of many difficult scientific +terms, which are the bane of the general reader. +</P> + +<P> +Let me begin at the upper end of the avian singing machine—that is, +with the mouth, including the bill, the lips of which are called +mandibles. Just as the movements of the human lips have much to do +with the modifications of the human voice, so the opening and closing +of the bird's mandibles exercise a modifying influence upon avicular +tones. If it were not so, the feathered minstrel would not keep his +mandibles in such constant motion during his lyrical recitals. You +will notice that whenever he desires to strike a very high and loud +note he opens his mandibles quite widely, sometimes almost to the +fullest possible extent. +</P> + +<P> +However, the expansion and contraction of the throat orifice, no doubt, +produce still more marked variations in the tones of the vocalist; yet +it must be borne in mind that closed or partly closed mandibles will +obstruct the passage of the air from the throat, while open mandibles +will permit of a full passage of the air current, and the tones will +vary accordingly. Besides, the roof of the bird's mouth is grooved or +convex, and therefore the character of the sounds will be somewhat +dependent upon the position and movement of the upper mandible. +</P> + +<P> +And then there is the bird's tongue, which is constantly in motion +while the musical rehearsal is going on. Throughout its entire length +it can be raised and lowered at the bird's will, or be made to quiver +and roll, and by this means the air column forced up from the lungs is +manipulated in a wonderful way, producing in some cases an almost +unlimited variety of modulation. +</P> + +<P> +Within the bird's neck two elastic tubes run down from the mouth into +the chest. One of them is the gullet or aesophagus, which is the +channel through which the bird's food descends into the crop and +gizzard. The other little cylinder lies in front of the gullet, and is +called the windpipe or trachea, and reaches down to the lungs, which +are the bellows furnishing the wind for the avian pipe organ. As Dr. +Coues says, the trachea is "composed of a series of very numerous +gristly or bony rings connected together by an elastic membrane," and +is supplied with an intricate set of muscles by which it can be +shortened or elongated at the will of the songster himself. +</P> + +<P> +Now let us look at the upper end of this wonderful pneumatic pipe, +which so often throws Pan and all his coterie into a transport when the +thrasher and the wood thrush flute their dithyrambs. Here we find the +larynx. It is simply the anterior specialized portion of the trachea, +located at the base of the tongue, and in mammals is honored as the +voice organ, whereas in birds it is distinguished as the fluting +apparatus, the instrument that really produces the varied vocalization +of the bird realm. But the music is not the product of vocal cords, as +is the case in the human larynx, for at the upper end of the avian +larynx there is a slit or fissure, somewhat elliptical in form, and set +in the fork of the hyoid bone, which constitutes the bifurcated root of +the tongue. This fissure is called the glottis. At the bird's fiat, +it can be opened and closed and made to assume a great variety of +forms. Moreover, just in front of it there is a fold of mucous +membrane called the epiglottis, which is in reality a tiny trapdoor +closing over the opening when necessity requires. When the bird +swallows food or drink, this little flap shuts down, and prevents the +entrance of any clogging substance into the windpipe to choke the +feathered diner. +</P> + +<P> +We have now come to the most strategic point in our investigation of +the anatomy of bird song, for in the avian world a special distinction +has been conferred upon that little orifice in the bird's throat called +the glottis. It is here that all the music, as well as all other +so-called vocal sounds, are generated—they are simply piped or fluted +through a slit, so that birds are <I>whistlers</I>, not singers or +vocalists. I repeat, so that my meaning may be perfectly clear—bird +music is not produced by means of vocal cords, as is the music of the +human throat, but by means of a whistling aperture in the larynx. And +that wonderful cleft has been placed there for that specific purpose. +Properly speaking, therefore, the feathered choralist does not have a +voice, but only a wind instrument; albeit a marvelous contrivance it is. +</P> + +<P> +It will be easy now to see how the bird's tones are capable of a large +variety of modulations. The glottis is controlled by a system of +muscles that are perfectly obedient, within their limits, to the bird's +volitions, and thus it may be made to assume a great number of +different forms, each giving expression to a different vocal effect. +The shape of the glottis is also modified in numerous ways by the +movement of the tongue and mandibles. Nor is that all, for the air +column pumped up from the lungs may be increased or diminished at will, +a very strong current producing a loud tone, and a feeble current a low +one. The elongation or contraction of the whole throat will also +modify the pneumatic column, and thereby alter the quality of the tones. +</P> + +<P> +We may go still further in our analysis. Suppose a bird should open +his mouth and throat as widely as possible, hold all his lyrical organs +steady, and blow his windpipe with all the strength his lungs could +command, it is obvious that the effect would be a clear, loud, uniform +whistle, such as the meadowlark sends across the green fields. But +suppose he desires to "blow a dreamy hautbois note, slender and refined +as ever stirred the air of Arcady or trembled in the vineyards of old +Provence," then all the musician in plumes needs to do is to contract +the slit in his throat, depress his tongue, almost close his mandibles, +and simply allow a slender air current to sift from the lungs through +the syrinx and out of the glottis. What if the whim should seize him +to pipe a trill or a quaver to the water witches of the meadow, as +Master Song Sparrow so often chooses to do? Then he simply needs to +set his tongue and throat to quivering, and you have his enrapturing +tremolo. Beautiful, is it not? +</P> + +<P> +There are birds that send a kind of guttural sound from their throats, +such as the cuckoos and occasionally the blue jays. Notice the cuckoo +as he utters his call, which every swain interprets as the harbinger of +a coming shower, and you will observe that his throat bulges out like +that of a croaking frog, and quivers at the same time in a convulsed +way. It is plain that the air about to be forced from the glottis is +flung back by some muscular action and set to vibrating in the +laryngean cavity, thus giving the sound its croaking quality when the +elastic current is finally released. +</P> + +<P> +Now, if the reader will pucker up his lips and whistle a tune, he will +notice that the sound is actually produced at the small labial orifice +and nowhere else; however, the tones are modified and modulated at will +in a variety of ways—by a deft, though almost imperceptible, +manipulation of the tongue, by a slight enlargement or contraction of +the aperture, and especially by a dexterous control of the air column +blown from the lungs. Just so the lyrists of fields and woods pipe +their roundels and <I>chansons</I> through the chink in their throats, save +that in the bird's case the mouth and tongue are anterior to the +whistling aperture. I know a young man who has trained himself so as +to be able to mimic to perfection the complex songs of the western +meadowlark and the cardinal grosbeak. He does it by whistling. +</P> + +<P> +Near the lower end of the trachea, just above the lungs, there is a +specialized organ of the bird's throat called the syrinx. It is a +cylinder formed of bony rings, provided with a mesh of muscles, and +having membranous folds which act as valves upon the two orifices of +the <I>bronchi</I> leading to the lungs. Many scientific gentlemen have +declared that the syrinx is the voice organ of the birds, the elastic +margins of the folds or valves being set to vibrating by the projection +of the air from the lungs, and thus producing the varied lays we hear +in the outdoor concert. However, Mr. Maurice Thompson—who, by the +way, found time to do something else besides writing "Alice of Old +Vincennes," and something just as creditable to his talent, +too—dissected many birds with special reference to this subject, and +gave close attention to birds in the act of singing, both out of doors +and in captivity, and I am convinced that he proved the theory of the +syringeal origin of bird song to be an erroneous one. +</P> + +<P> +Only two reasons need be adduced for this conclusion. First, it is +unreasonable to suppose that the rich, loud, clear notes of the +thrasher, the cardinal, and the mockingbird, lilting across the fields +and capable of being heard a long distance, are generated far down in +the lyrist's chest by the vibrating of the margin of a tiny mucous +membrane. If it had its genesis there, it surely would display a +muffled or guttural or sepulchral quality. In the second place, it has +been proved by actual dissection that the shrike, which possesses no +song gift worthy of the name, has a well-developed syrinx, while the +mockingbird, our feathered minstrel <I>par excellence</I>, has a syrinx that +is absolutely insignificant. On the other hand, the shrike's larynx, +including the glottis, is a clumsy affair, whereas the mocker's larynx +is indeed wonderfully made. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-178t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-178.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-178t.jpg" ALT="Meadow Lark" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +It must not be supposed, however, that the syrinx does not perform an +important function in the production of avian melody. It acts as a +regulator or meter of the air impelled from the lungs. By means of the +folds or membranous valves the mouths of the bronchial tubes may be +opened widely or almost closed, and in this way, to quote from Mr. +Thompson, "the bird is enabled to measure in the nicest manner the +amount of air thrown from the lungs into the trachea." In producing a +staccato, for example, the valves flop up and down, doling out the air +at the proper intervals and in precisely the right quantities. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, nothing in the world of Nature is more wonderful than the gift +of bird song, and nothing proves more clearly the doctrine of design, +or, at least, of adaptation to a specialized purpose. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIRD FLIGHT* +</H3> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +*Reprinted by permission from "The Evening Post," New York. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The question why man cannot fly may be answered in a very simple and +yet satisfactory manner: He has not been organically constructed for +that purpose. That may seem like cutting the Gordian knot, but, after +all, it is the only explanation that can be given. You might as well +ask why man cannot clutch a perch with his foot after the manner of a +bird or a monkey, for the response would be the same—his foot was made +for walking, and not for prehensile purposes. On the other hand, the +bird cannot grasp an object with its wings, while a man's hand is well +adapted for the performance of such a function. Nature's motto in her +whole realm seems to be: "Every creature after its kind." +</P> + +<P> +When we look at the structure of the flying birds, we see at once that +they were formed for swift locomotion through the air, just as plainly +as the lithe skiff was made to glide over the water or the carriage to +spin over the land. In the first place, the body of the bird is +comparatively light—that is, in proportion to the width, strength, and +extent of its wings. By its thick, light, airy covering of feathers +its body is made still more buoyant, besides presenting a larger +surface to the supporting air with very little additional weight. The +tail, too, with its long, closely woven quills spread out like a fan, +not only serves the purpose of a rudder for guiding the aërial craft, +but is still more useful in helping to sustain the bird's weight in the +up-buoying element. +</P> + +<P> +It is interesting to note that the feathers on the bodies of the flying +birds are arranged in tracts, with intervals here and there of quite, +or almost, bare skin, called "apteria." Now, when a bird is carefully +skinned, it will be seen that the feathered spaces have their own +special slips of muscles inserted into the roots of the feathers, and +when these muscles are contracted, they serve to raise the feathers, +and must, therefore, be of some subsidiary value in flying, by making +the bird's body more buoyant. Suggestive, indeed, is the fact that the +plumes of the non-flyers are not arranged in tracts, but are evenly +distributed over the body. +</P> + +<P> +Nor is that all that Nature has done to carry out her evident purpose +of making the bird a natural "flying machine." The body of the bird +contains numerous air sacs, all connected with the lungs, and these, +when inflated, are a great help in flying by making the bird light. +More than that, many of the bones, though strong, have thin walls and +are hollow, the cavities being connected with the lungs and air sacs, +from which they are also filled with air, contributing another element +of lightness to the aërial navigator. That the bird's bones are +capable of being permeated with air can be demonstrated by actual +experiment, and is, therefore, a scientifically established fact. It +is easy enough to prove it in this way: Take a dead bird that has been +beheaded, pass a syringe into its windpipe, tie it carefully so that +the air cannot escape at the sides, then blow the air down through the +tube, and you will be able to follow the passage of the air into the +skin and other parts of the body. Now, if you will cut off one of the +bones, you can detect the air passing from the cut surface; and, more +than that, as a scientific English writer says, "if the experiment be +made by using colored fluid instead of air—which is pumped in by a +syringe—the fluid can be seen to ooze from the ends of any bone or +muscle that has been cut across." Thus it is seen that the whole body +of the fowl is so constructed that it can be pervaded with air. +</P> + +<P> +However, while all parts of the bird's organism combine to produce the +end in view, the special instruments of flight are the wings. They are +really the fore limbs of the fowl, but differ in many respects from the +fore limbs of the mammals. They are under the control of muscles of +great comparative strength, as every one knows who has ever been beaten +by the wings of even an ordinary barnyard fowl, which has meagre powers +of flight. What a powerful stroke a large hawk or an eagle must be +able to deliver! If man's arm muscles were as strong in proportion, he +might have some hope of one day navigating the air on artificial wings, +but it is due principally to this muscular weakness that Darius Green +has never been able to make a success of his flying machine, and +perhaps never will. He would not have the strength to wield wings +large enough to sustain so much avoirdupois on the yielding air. +</P> + +<P> +The wings are highly specialized members of the avicular organism, and +hence differ in many important respects from the fore or pectoral limbs +of the mammals. Beginning at the point nearest the body, let us +examine one of these wonderful instruments. The wing proper begins at +the shoulder joint, which hinges freely upon the shoulder in a shallow +socket, into which the globular head of the first bone fits closely, +and in which it is firmly held by the powerful muscles that control the +organs of flight. The first bone is called the humerus, and is the +largest and strongest bone of the wing, extending from the shoulder to +the elbow. At the elbow, which is the first angle of the wing, +reaching backward when the wing is folded, the humerus articulates in a +wisely designed way with two other bones, called the ulna and radius, +which together constitute the forearm and extend to the wrist joint. +It must be remembered that, when the wing is closed, the forearm is the +segment that reaches obliquely forward. The wrist joint is the second +angle of the wing. In the wrist there are two small bones (the radiale +and ulnare) which serve an important purpose in joining the forearm +with what is known as the hand, and make possible the specialized +movement of the two parts upon each other. The hand is the terminal +segment of the wing, composed of the metacarpal bones and the digits or +fingers. Of the last-named organs there are ordinarily three, forming +a graceful tapering point to the wing, and giving to it the symmetry +and proportion that are required for effective use. When the wing is +folded, the hand extends obliquely downward and backward. +</P> + +<P> +Now, these bones and their attendant ligatures are wonderfully and +wisely contrived. The humerus moves freely in its socket in the +shoulder, so that it can be swung in every required direction, and yet, +as should be the case, its principal movement is up and down in a +vertical line—the precise movement required for the effective +wingstrokes in flight. But note further. The elbow joint, unlike that +of the shoulder, is a rigid hinge, permitting motion in only one plane, +that of the wing itself, or nearly so. The same is true of the wrist +joint, which holds the hand firmly, allowing no motion save that which +opens and closes the wing. The wisdom of this arrangement will be seen +at a glance. +</P> + +<P> +In the human arm the hand can be moved in every direction with the +greatest freedom, and, moreover, the wrist may be turned and the hand +laid on its back, its palm, its edge, or at almost any conceivable +angle. This is a very convenient contrivance for man, but it would be +a great misfortune for our avian friends if their wings would rotate so +readily; for in that case they would not have sufficient rigidity to +answer the purposes of flight, but would be twisted into every position +by the assaults of the air currents. Besides, even in ordinary flight +it would require a constant muscular effort to keep the wings in the +proper position. How wisely Nature has devised the bird's flying +apparatus! When outstretched, it is held firmly by the power of its +own mechanism, with its broad under surface lying horizontally, and no +breezy current can bend or twist it from its normal position. +</P> + +<P> +The set of muscles that open the wing are called the extensors, and +those that close it, the flexors. The former lie upon the back of the +upper arm and the front of the forearm and the hand, their tendons +passing over the convexities of the elbow and wrist, while the flexors +occupy the opposite sides, and their tendons run up into the +concavities of the joints. There are several powerful pectoral muscles +which run out from the shoulder and breast, and operate upon the upper +end of the humerus, and with these the wing is lifted and the strokes +are made during flight. +</P> + +<P> +Another mechanical contrivance deserves attention. An extremely +elastic cord reaches over from the shoulder to the wrist joint, +supporting a fold of skin that occupies the deep angle of the elbow, +and that is covered with short, fluffy feathers. When the bird is +flying, this cord is stretched and forms the front edge of that section +of the wing. But, now, suppose the wing is closed, will not this cord +make a cumbersome fold, flapping loosely in the angle of the elbow? +Such would, indeed, be the case, did not its extreme elasticity enable +it to contract to the proper length, so as to keep the wing's border +straight and smooth. +</P> + +<P> +Without the feathers the wing would be useless as an instrument of +flight. The shorter plumes that shield the bases of the long quill +feathers are called the coverts, which are found on both the upper and +under surfaces of the wing. They are divided into several sets, +according to the position they occupy, and are called the "primary +coverts" (because they overlie the bases of the primaries), the +"greater coverts," the "middle coverts," and the "lesser coverts." +Forming a vast expansion of the bony and fleshy framework are the +quills, or flight-feathers, called collectively the "remiges." These +plumes mainly determine the contour of the wing, and constitute a thin, +elastic surface for striking the air—one that is sufficiently +resilient to give the proper rebound and yet firm enough to support the +bird's weight. The longest quills are those that grow on the hand or +outer extremity of the wing and are known as the primaries. What are +called the secondaries are attached to the ulna of the forearm, while +the tertiaries occupy the humerus and are next to the body. All these +feathers are so placed relatively that the stiff outer vane of each +quill overlaps the more flexible inner vane of its successor, like the +leaves of certain kinds of fans, thus presenting an unbroken surface to +the air. As to the structure of these plumes, they combine firmness, +lightness, and mobility, the barbs and barbules knitting the more +flexible parts together, so that they do not separate, but only expand, +when the wing is unfolded. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-187t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-187.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-187t.jpg" ALT="Barn Swallow" BORDER="0" WIDTH="694" HEIGHT="510"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +While the primary purpose of wings is flight, there is quite a number +of notable exceptions. A concrete example is the ostrich, whose wings +are too feeble to lift it from the ground, but evidently aid the great +fowl in running, as it holds them outspread while it skims over the +plain, perhaps using them mainly as outriggers or balancing poles in +its swift passage on its stilt-like legs. The penguins convert their +wings into fins while swimming through the water, the feathers closely +resembling scales. +</P> + +<P> +There are birds of many kinds, and therefore a great variety of wings +and modes of flight. Birds with short, broad, rounded wings, with the +under surface slightly concave and the upper surface correspondingly +convex, usually have comparatively heavy bodies, and race through the +air with rapid wing-beats and rather labored flight, and compass only +short distances. Among the birds of this kind of aërial movement may +be mentioned the American meadowlark, the bob-white, and the pheasant. +Other species propel themselves in rapid, gliding, and continued flight +by means of long, narrow, and pointed wings, like the swifts, swallows, +and goatsuckers, while many others, notably herons, hawks, vultures, +and eagles, are distinguished by a vast alar expansion in proportion to +their weight, and hence are able to sustain themselves in the air by +sailing, with only a slight stroke at rare intervals. Such birds as +the stormy petrel and the frigate-bird have wings that are broad, +convex, and of great length in contrast with the lightness and small +bulk of their bodies, for which reason they are able to sustain +themselves in the air for days without rest. It is even thought that +some of these wonderful birds of the limitless ocean sleep on the wing, +though how such an hypothesis could be proved it would be difficult to +say. +</P> + +<P> +Even in this day of scientific research and astuteness, it must not be +supposed that everything about the mechanics of avicular flight is +understood. We may readily comprehend how a bird, without fluttering +its wings, can poise in the air; but how can it move forward or in a +circle, and even mount upward, without a visible movement of a pinion? +And this some birds are able to do without reference to the direction +of the ethereal currents. That, I venture to say, is still a mystery. +It almost seems as if some of the masters of aërial navigation in the +bird world were gifted with the ability to propel themselves forward by +a mere act of volition. +</P> + +<P> +An interesting article on the subject of bird flight appeared not long +ago in one of the foremost periodicals of the country, a part of which +is here quoted to show what a puzzling problem we have before us: +</P> + +<P> +Recent developments in aërial navigation have renewed interest in the +comparative study of the mechanical principles involved in the flying +of birds. There is one exceedingly puzzling law in regard to birds and +all flying creatures, the solution of which may work far-reaching +influences in the construction of flying craft. +</P> + +<P> +"This law, which has thus far perplexed scientists, is that the heavier +and bigger the bird or insect, the less relative wing area is required +for its support. Thus the area of wing surface of a gnat is forty-nine +units of area to every one of weight. In graphic contrast to that, a +condor (<I>Sarcorhamphus gryphus</I>) which weighed 16.52 pounds had a wing +surface of 9.80 square feet. In other words, though the gnat needs +wing surface in a ratio of forty-nine square feet per pound of weight, +a great condor manages to sail along majestically with .59 of a square +foot to at least a pound of weight. The unexplained phenomenon +persists consistently throughout the whole domain of entomology and +ornithology. Going up the scale from the gnat, it is found that with +the dragon fly this ratio is 30 to 1, with the <I>tipula</I>, or +daddy-longlegs, 14.5 to 1, the cockchafer only 5.15 to 1, the +rhinoceros beetle 3.14 to 1. +</P> + +<P> +"Among birds the paradoxical law that the smaller the creature the +bigger the relative supporting wings holds good. A screech owl (<I>Scops +zorca</I>) weighing one-third of a pound had 2.35 square feet of wing +surface per pound of weight. A fish hawk (<I>Pandion haliaetus</I>) +weighing nearly three pounds had a wing area of 1.08 square feet to +each pound. A turkey buzzard weighing 5.6 pounds had a little less +than one square foot of wing surface to each pound. A griffon vulture +(<I>Gyps fulvus</I>) weighing 16.52 pounds had a wing surface of only .68 +square feet to the pound. +</P> + +<P> +"Students of aërial navigation who are devoting much attention to +observations of birds say that if the peculiar law governing extant +flying creatures could be fathomed the problem of human flight might be +solved." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BIRD'S FOOT +</H3> + +<P> +You will agree with me, after you have studied a bird's foot, that it +is one of Nature's most wonderful contrivances, so admirably adapted +for the purposes to which it is devoted that one cannot help feeling +that a Divine Mind must have planned it, just as a man would make a +watch for the express purpose of keeping time. +</P> + +<P> +But what is properly included in a bird's foot? Here we shall have to +correct a popular mistake, if we wish to be accurate, in the scientific +sense of the term. Most people think that the avian foot consists only +of the toes and claws, or the part that comes in direct contact with +the ground or the perch. That, however, is an error, for the foot +really comprises, in addition to the toes and claws, the first long +bone of the limb, reaching from the base of the digits to the first +joint. You will see, therefore, that the bird walks on its toes, not +on its foot as a whole. +</P> + +<P> +The long bone referred to—called the tarsus—corresponds to the instep +of the human foot, that is, the foot proper, while the joint which +extends backward, forming an angle with the next large bone, is really +the bird's heel. Thus you perceive that most birds walk with their +heels high in the air. What most people call the bird's "leg" is in +reality the bird's foot, and what they call its "foot" comprises only +its toes and claws. +</P> + +<P> +To obtain a correct idea of the bird's entire walking apparatus, we +begin with the uppermost part of the leg. As we proceed, it would be +well to keep in mind the different parts of the human leg and foot. +The highest bone is called the thigh bone or femur, which is, for the +most part, enclosed in the general integument of the body, and is not +entirely separate from it as is the thigh bone of the human leg. Among +carvers it is known as the "second joint." It reaches forward and +slightly downward, and is hidden under the feathers of the body. The +upper end of the femur enlarges into a globular head, which fits into +the socket of the hip in the pelvis, while the lower end meets another +long bone, which extends obliquely backward and downward and with which +it forms the knee joint. +</P> + +<P> +The knee of the bird extends forward, as the human knee does when it is +bent. By means of various nodules and tendons the femur is articulated +with and fastened to the next large bone at the knee joint. This +second bone is the leg proper, called in scientific language the crus. +When, with its thick, palatable flesh, it is cooked and placed on the +table, it is known as the "drumstick"—a favorite part of the fowl with +hungry boys, vying, in their minds, with the "white meat" of the breast. +</P> + +<P> +This important segment of the limb is composed of two bones, the larger +of which is called the tibia, the smaller the fibula. At its lower end +the tibia forms what is known as the ankle joint by articulating with +the next long bone, which is commonly called the tarsus, although the +proper name would be really metatarsus. It is not often that this bone +is covered with flesh, and therefore it seldom finds its way to the +table. Properly speaking, it is the larger part of the bird's foot, +reaching obliquely upward and backward from the roots of the toes to +the heel. If you will lift yourself upon your toes, holding your heels +in the air, you will be able to form a correct idea of what the bird is +doing whenever it stands or walks or perches. +</P> + +<P> +The toes are fastened by means of well adapted joints to the lower end +of the tarsus, and form what is popularly regarded as the bird's foot. +When spoken of separately, these toes are called digits, and when +spoken of collectively, they are called the podium. They are composed +of small bones called phalanges or internodes, which are jointed upon +one another like the several parts of the human fingers. The digits +can be spread out for walking purposes, or bent around so as to clasp +an object. The outer bone of each digit almost always bears a nail or +claw, which is sometimes very strong and hooked, as is the case with +the birds of prey, while in other species it is only slightly curved +and is not meant as a weapon of offense or defense, but chiefly to +enable the bird to "scratch for a living." +</P> + +<P> +How do the birds, in perching and roosting, retain their hold so long +on a limb without becoming weary? They do not need to make a conscious +effort to do this, but are held by the mechanical action of certain +muscles and tendons in the leg and foot. Of course, the bird can also +control these muscles by an act of its will, but a large part of their +action is automatic. In some species there is a muscle called the +ambiens, which has its rise in the pelvis, passes along the inner side +of the thigh, whence its tendon runs over the apex of the angle of the +knee joint, and down the leg till it joins the muscles that flex the +toes. Now when the bird's leg is bent at the joints, as is the case in +perching, the tendons of this muscle are stretched over the knee and +ankle joints, thus pulling the digits together, and causing them of +their own accord to grasp the perch more or less tightly. When a bird +wishes to unloose its hold, it simply rises on its feet and relaxes the +tendons. +</P> + +<P> +All birds by no means possess this particular muscle, but all the +perchers have some muscular arrangement in the legs and toes that +practically answers the same purpose. If you will bend your wrist +backward as far as you can, you will observe that your fingers will +have a tendency to curve slightly forward. This is caused by the +stretching of the tendons over the convex part of your bent wrist +joints. +</P> + +<P> +The typical bird has four digits, three in front and one reaching +backward. The hind toe is called the hallux, and corresponds to the +thumb of the human hand, so that in grasping an object it can be made +to meet any of the other toes. But many birds are not provided with a +quartet of digits. The ostrich has only two, the inner and hinder toes +being wanting. However, this great fowl does not experience any lack, +for its feet are almost solid like hoofs, and quite flat, and hence are +especially adapted for traveling across the sandy desert. +</P> + +<P> +No bird has ever been found with more than four toes; and four seem to +be ample for all purposes. A fifth toe for a bird would be as useless +as a fifth wheel on a wagon. Quite a number of species have only three +toes, most of them among the walkers and waders, and none, I believe, +among the true perchers. Take the plovers and sanderlings, for +example, which spend most of their time, when not on the wing, in +running about on the ground, especially along the seashore or the banks +of streams and lakes, and seldom, if ever, sit on a perch—in their +case a fourth toe would be worse than a superfluous appendage; it would +be an encumbrance, dragging along in the mud and mire. In these +species it is the hind toe that is lacking, their three digits all +being in front, where they are of the greatest service. There is +another class of birds that have hind toes, though very much reduced +because their owners do not perch, but scuttle about on the beach. +This class includes the little spotted sandpipers which you often see +running or flying along the shores of a river or lake. +</P> + +<P> +Curious to tell, several species of woodpeckers are tridactyl—that is, +three-toed—and still more curious is the fact that in their case the +true hind toe is lacking, while the outer front toe is bent backward, +or "reversed," as it is called, and is thus made to do service for a +hind toe. The other species of woodpeckers have four toes, two in +front and two behind, the outer one of the latter pair being a reversed +digit. Why some of the woodpeckers should have four toes and others +only three is an unsolved enigma, and is especially puzzling in view of +the fact that the four-toed kinds do not seem to possess any advantage +over their cousins. The tridactyl species are as expert climbers as +any members of the family, and are extremely hardy birds, too, some of +them dwelling the year round in cold northern climates, where the food +question must often be a serious one. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-194t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-194.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-194t.jpg" ALT="Spotted Sandpiper, or "Peet-weet"" BORDER="0" WIDTH="510" HEIGHT="694"> +</A> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Here is still another conundrum for the bird student: Why do the +four-toed woodpeckers have two hind digits, despite the fact that they +always clamber upward when they take their promenades on the boles and +branches of the trees, whereas the agile little nuthatch, which glides +upward or downward, as the impulse moves him, has only one rear toe and +three in front, like the true perchers? Nor is it less puzzling that +the cuckoos, which are perching birds, should have two toes in front +and two behind. Then, there is the little brown creeper which never +perches and is forever creeping, creeping, upward, upward—save, of +course, when it takes to wing—and yet its toes are arranged in the +normal percher style, the hind digit having an especially long, curved +claw. It is a mistake to suppose that all the problems of the bird +world have been solved. +</P> + +<P> +Look at the different kinds of birds' feet and see how wisely they have +been planned for the various purposes to which they have been applied. +In order that a bird may use his feet with the greatest dexterity in +perching and flitting, his digits should be as free and movable as +possible; and so we find that the toes of the perchers are usually +cleft to the base, are long and slender, easily opened and closed, and +possess the power to grasp an object firmly. The same is true of the +raptorial birds, or birds of prey, which are strong perchers and depend +largely for their food supply on clutching their victims while on the +wing. In all these birds the hind toe is also well developed, and is +on the same plane as the anterior digits—a wise adaptation of means to +ends. +</P> + +<P> +But there are other birds whose feet, as some one has said, are good +feet, but poor hands—that is, they are not intended for prehensile +purposes, only for walking and wading. Therefore, in these birds the +hind toe is small, and more or less elevated above the plane of the +other digits, or, as has already been said, is wholly wanting. The +feet of some of these birds are partly webbed, so that, if necessary, +they can change their mode of locomotion from running and wading to +swimming. Birds whose feet are partly webbed are said to be +semipalmated. +</P> + +<P> +This introduces us to that interesting group of birds whose toes are +connected throughout their entire length by a thin, membranous web. +Their feet are said to be palmated. We can readily understand why they +are thus formed, for their webbed feet answer the purpose of oars to +propel them over the water. Most of the swimmers have feet of this +kind. Watch them glide like feathered craft over the smooth surface of +the stream or lake. +</P> + +<P> +When a swimmer thrusts his foot forward, the toes naturally drop +together and partly close, presenting only a narrow front—almost an +edge—of resistance to the water; then, when he makes a backward +stroke, the toes spread far apart and, with the connecting membranes, +are converted into a broad, propelling oar. Is it not a wonderfully +wise contrivance? +</P> + +<P> +Most swimming birds have only the front toes webbed, but in a few +species, like the pelicans, even the hind toe is connected with its +fellows by means of such a membrane. Nor must we forget those water +fowls which, instead of palmated feet, have what is called the lobate +foot, which means that the digits have broad lobes or flaps on their +sides. While in such cases the toes are all distinct, the expanded +lobes serve almost, if not quite, as good a purpose for propulsion in +the water as do the webs. The coot swims almost as well as the duck or +the goose, and at the same time his feet, with their disconnected toes, +are better adapted for paddling about amid the watergrass and dense +weeds than if they were webbed. +</P> + +<P> +The birds of prey, such as hawks, owls, and eagles, have large, strong, +and sharply curved talons and powerful digits, and a sad use they make +of them in clutching small birds and animals. The claws of the +woodpeckers and other climbing birds are stout and extremely acute, +just as they should be for clinging to the bark of trees. In short, +the structure of a bird's foot, whatever may be the species of fowl, +furnishes most conclusive evidence of adaptation in the world of Nature. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR BIRD COMRADES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 26346-h.txt or 26346-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/4/26346">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/3/4/26346</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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(Leander +Sylvester) Keyser + + +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: Our Bird Comrades + + +Author: Leander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser + + + +Release Date: August 18, 2008 [eBook #26346] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR BIRD COMRADES*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 26346-h.htm or 26346-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/4/26346/26346-h/26346-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/4/26346/26346-h.zip) + + + + + +OUR BIRD COMRADES + +By + +LEANDER S. KEYSER + +Author of "Birddom," "In Bird Land," +and "Birds of the Rockies," etc. + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: American Sparrow-hawk] + + + + +Rand, McNally & Company +Chicago New York London + +Copyright, 1907 +by Rand, McNally & Co. + +The Rand-McNally Press +Chicago + + + + + _To + + ALL WHO LOVE THE BIRDS FOR THEIR + OWN SAKES, + + who desire to cultivate comradeship with them in books + and in the field, and who will study them + with the glass and without the gun._ + + + + +BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION + + +To know the birds intimately, to interpret their lives in all their +varied conditions, one must get close to them. For the purpose of +accomplishing this object the author of this volume has gone to their +haunts day after day and watched them persistently at not a little cost +of time, effort, and money. While the limits of a single volume do not +permit him to present all of his observations, it is hoped that those +here offered will be satisfactory as far as they go, and that the +reader will be able to glean from these pages some new as well as +interesting facts relative to bird life. + +The writer has had another purpose in view in preparing this book: He +wishes to inspire others, especially the young, to use their eyes and +ears in the study of the enchanting volume of Nature. This object, he +believes, will be best accomplished by furnishing concrete examples of +what may be achieved by earnest research. For purposes of stimulus an +ounce of example is worth a pound of precept. If another sees you and +me doing a thing joyfully, earnestly, we need scarcely say to him, "Go +thou and do likewise." + +There is not much in the book that is technical, yet it aims at +scientific accuracy in all of its statements, no bird being described +whose status in the avian system has not been determined. If strange +exploits are sometimes recited, the author has simply to say that he +has been veracious in all of his statements, and that all the stories +are "true bird stories." The author modestly believes that it will not +be found uninteresting to nature lovers in general. + +Much of the material included in this volume has previously appeared in +various periodicals, to the publishers of which the writer would hereby +make grateful acknowledgment for their courtesy in waiving their +copyright privileges. A number of the journals are given due credit +elsewhere in the book. + +THE AUTHOR. + + + + +_THE TABLE OF CONTENTS_ + + + THE PREFACE + THE ILLUSTRATIONS + BEGINNING THE STUDY + MAKING NEW FRIENDS + WILDWOOD MINSTRELS + CHICKADEE WAYS + THE NUTHATCH FAMILY + A FEATHERED PARASITE + A BLUE CANNIBAL + A HANDSOME SCISSORSTAIL + AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH + HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY + ODDS AND ENDS + WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS + TROUBLE AMONG THE BIRDS + A BIRD'S EDUCATION + ARE BIRDS SINGERS OR WHISTLERS? + BIRD FLIGHT + A BIRD'S FOOT + + + + +_THE ILLUSTRATIONS_ + + +AMERICAN SPARROW-HAWK . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +CHIPPING SPARROW + +YELLOW WARBLER + +CHICKADEE + +NUTHATCH + +BLUE JAY + +PEWEE, OR PHOEBE + +SONG SPARROW + +CARDINAL + +WHITE-EYED VIREO + +BALTIMORE ORIOLE + +BOB-WHITE, OR QUAIL + +ROBIN + +MEADOW LARK + +BARN SWALLOW + +SPOTTED SANDPIPER, OR "PEET-WEET" + + + + +BEGINNING THE STUDY + +Why should not people ride natural history hobbies as well as other +kinds of hobbies? Almost all persons become interested in some special +study, recreation, or pastime, and their choice is not always as +profitable as the selection of a specific branch of nature lore would +be. The writer confesses that he would rather pursue a bright, lilting +bird or butterfly than a bounding tennis-ball or football, and he finds +the chase every whit as exciting and the knowledge gained of more +permanent value; and he says this without in anywise intending to +discountenance healthful games and athletic exercises, but simply to +express a preference. What could be more fascinating, for instance, +than for a young person--or an older person, either, for that +matter--to spend his leisure in trying to identify every bird in his +neighborhood? As a result of such an attempt he would doubtless become +so interested in the study of his bird neighbors that he would resolve +to learn all he could about their charming habits. + +How may one study the birds intelligently? That is a question every +beginner will want to have answered. When I began my bird studies I +spent much valuable time in simply trying to learn the _modus +operandi_, and while I do not consider the time thus spent entirely +wasted, still I am anxious to save my readers as much needless effort +as possible. This I shall do by showing them how they may begin at +once to form an acquaintance with the various families and species of +birds. + +It goes without saying that, to become a successful nature student, one +must have good eyes, strong limbs, nimble feet, and, above all, an +alert mind. People who lack these qualities, especially the last, will +not be likely to pursue the noble science of ornithology. The stupid +sort will prefer to drowse in the shade, and the light-minded will care +only for the gay round of social pleasures. Any bright and earnest +person, however, can in good time become an expert student of the +feathered creation, provided only that he feels a genuine interest in +such pursuit. No one, let it be repeated, can study nature +successfully in a dull, perfunctory spirit. Here, as in religion, one +must have the baptism of fire, the temper of devotion. + +In the study of birds it must be admitted that men and boys have some +advantage over their cousins of the gentler sex. Men folk may ramble +pretty much where they please without danger, whereas the freedom of +women folk in this respect is somewhat restricted. However, the +engaging works of Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, of Mrs. Florence M. Bailey, +and of many others prove that women are not debarred from outdoor +studies, and that in some ways they may even have an advantage over +men; they are not so ambitious to cover a wide territory, to penetrate +to out-of-the-way haunts, or to roll up a long "list," and they are +therefore apt to make more intimate studies of the common species, thus +getting into the very heart of the bird's life. A man's observations +may embrace a wider range, and he may add more species to the science +of ornithology than his sister, but she will be likely to discover +facts about the commonest fowl that he will overlook. The study of +birds, therefore, offers a fascinating field for girls and women as +well as for their brothers. + +What tools are needed for acquiring bird lore? To begin at the +beginning, let me ask: Who would expect to study the plants and flowers +without a botany? or the rocks and fossils and the general structure of +the earth without a reliable work on geology? or the planets and stars +without a treatise on astronomy? So, if you desire a knowledge of +ornithology, you will need what is known as a bird "key," or "manual," +or "handbook"--that is, a scientific work that shows how the birds have +been classified, with accurate descriptions of all the families, +genera, species, subspecies, and varieties, together with the common +and scientific names of all the species and brief accounts of their +ranges and general habits. When you have found a plant or a flower +that is new to you, what is your first task? To "run it down" in a +botanical key. Just so, having found a feathered stranger, you should +note its markings, shape, size, etc., and then "run it down" with the +aid of a bird manual. It is much better to run a bird down in this way +than to shoot it down. + +It is pertinent to say at this time that no one should disparage +scientific treatises, or the learned and painstaking people who gather +the material for them and prepare them. It is quite the fashion +nowadays, when a "popular" book on birds appears, for some reviewers to +compare it with the so-called "dry" scientific works of the +specialists, to the disparagement of the latter. This is as wrong as +it is gratuitous. The "popular" book, delightful as it may be, could +not have been written, or, if written, would have had little real +value, had it not been for the help obtained from the systematists, +who, with almost infinite toil, have made possible the scientific +classification of the numerous members of the bird tribe. Pioneer work +in ornithology, as elsewhere, may not be very enchanting to most +people, but it is necessary. The scientific spirit should be honored, +not disdained, for without it accuracy would be impossible. On the +other hand, the man who plods with scientific details should not look +with contempt upon the man who popularizes the results of technical +study by giving it an attractive literary setting. In short, the +scientific writer and the "popular" writer are alike worthy of +"honorable mention," for both of them are needful factors in the +dissemination of knowledge. + +You will want to know where a first-rate bird manual can be obtained. +It affords me sincere pleasure to recommend two works of the kind that +cover the entire avian field for residents of the United States. They +are new, up-to-date, and convenient. To those who live east of the +Mississippi River I would commend Mr. Frank M. Chapman's "Handbook of +Birds of Eastern North America." The best praise I can bestow upon +this book is to assure you that it will give entire satisfaction as a +handbook. Happily another manual (Mrs. Florence M. Bailey's "Handbook +of Birds of the Western United States") was recently issued, treating +the avifauna west of the Mississippi just as thoroughly as Mr. +Chapman's work deals with that of the eastern part of our country. +Both books contain lavish illustrations by expert and accurate bird +artists--a feature that is invaluable in the work of identification. +They possess a further advantage in not being too large to be carried +with you in your excursions afield, enabling you to name each feathered +stranger on the spot. + +Should you desire a single volume that will help you to identify any +bird you may meet on our continent, I would urge you to secure the +latest revised edition of Dr. Elliott Coues's "Key to North American +Birds." It is fully illustrated, thoroughly scientific and up-to-date +in the matter of classification, and yet not too technical for +practical use. This book is too bulky to be carried with you to the +haunts of the birds, but it may be used in this way: Note carefully the +markings and other peculiarities of each new bird you meet; then, as +soon as you return home, while all the circumstances are fresh in your +memory, consult your "key" and make sure, if possible, of the identity +of all your "finds." + +Mr. Robert Ridgway, one of the foremost ornithologists of our country, +is now preparing a great work which is worthy of the highest praise. +It is entitled "The Birds of North and Middle America," and is the most +comprehensive work yet undertaken relative to the avifauna of the +entire North American Continent, giving a large amount of scientific +data respecting all the species. After its completion it will enable +the student to identify every bird known to science from the Isthmus of +Panama to the far North and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. At this +writing two volumes have been issued. They are published under +government auspices by the United States National Museum at Washington, +D. C., and may be procured perhaps without cost by writing to the +secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Of this the writer cannot be +absolutely sure, as the supply of printed copies may be limited. + +Nothing more need be said about bird manuals, save to warn you against +spending your money for books which describe only a part of the +avifauna of a given region and yet are advertised as serviceable for +the identification of all birds. Unless you have plenty of money to +spend, when you buy a manual buy one that is scientifically accurate +and complete. Nothing is more trying to the student of birds, whether +tyro or expert, than to encounter a new bird and then fail to find it +described or even mentioned in the book that has been foisted upon him +as a manual. In saying this I do not mean to discourage the purchase +of the charming popular books written in a literary vein and describing +personal observations on bird life, such as the works of John +Burroughs, Bradford Torrey, Olive Thorne Miller, and many others. +These books, however, are not advertised as handbooks, and thus no one +is deceived in buying them. + +Even with the best manual in hand, you must not expect to be able to +identify every new bird at the first attempt, for some species are +either exceedingly shy or obscurely marked, or probably both, while +quite a number are so much alike in markings and habits that it is hard +to distinguish them from one another. A few birds remained enigmas to +me for a number of years, in spite of the help of the field glass. At +intervals for several months you will often catch provoking glimpses of +some nymph-like bird before you succeed in determining its true place +in the avian system. But patience and persistence will some day +overcome the most stubborn difficulties. + +Since the foregoing references to leading bird manuals were written, a +new work, which is unique in plan, has been published. I refer to the +book entitled "Color Key to North American Birds"; text by Frank M. +Chapman, pictures by Chester A. Reed. The range of the volume is from +the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean and from the southern boundary of the +United States to the far north. It contains a brief description of +every species and sub-species within the limits named; a key to all the +Orders and Families, with the common and scientific names of all the +birds; an introduction to every chief division; and last, and highly +important, colored pictures of all the species and many of the +geographical varieties. What more can the bird student desire for +purposes of identification? While the other manuals give fuller +descriptions of habits, songs, etc., and need not, therefore, be +superseded by this volume, yet frankness forces us to say that if the +student, and especially the beginner, cannot afford to buy more than +one bird book, the Chapman-Reed "Color Key" is the one to get. It is +of a convenient size for carrying afield, so that a feathered stranger +can be identified on the spot. It can be used anywhere in the United +States, in British America, and Alaska. Think of that, fellow +bird-lovers! + +A good field glass is indispensable to successful bird study, +especially if you desire to name all the birds without killing any, as +I hope you do. Perhaps the older ornithologists, like Audubon and +Wilson, did not use helps of this kind, but they used guns, and +consequently had to study dead birds, while you and I want to study +living ones. Their killing of birds was, indeed, necessary, for +purposes of scientific classification; but now that such classifying +has, for the most part, been attained, the gun has largely gone out of +vogue, and the glass has taken its place. Let your alliterative motto +be: _With the glass, not the gun_. + +I would advise you not to buy a flashily colored glass, for it will +dazzle your eyes on sunshiny days. Be sure to get one that is easily +focused, as you must be quick in studying such shy creatures as the +birds. At first the glass may strain and tire your eyes, but that +difficulty will pass in a short time. Expertness will soon be won in +the use of a binocular, so that you will be able, almost instantly, to +get the desired object within its field, even though the object be +quite tiny. An opera glass is a great deal better than no glass at +all; a field glass is better still, and a Bausch & Lomb binocular of +six to eight magnifying power is the best of all; being almost equal to +having the bird in hand. The observer must lose as little time as +possible in sighting a shy bird, or it may escape him altogether. + +A book-bag or haversack, strapped around your shoulders, will also be a +convenience. In it you can stow your bird manual, and a luncheon in +case you expect to spend the whole day in the open, for a hungry +rambler is not likely to be an acute observer. A notebook and a lead +pencil, carried in handy pockets, should not be forgotten. Donning an +old suit of clothes, you can roam where you will, threading your way +through brier and bush, wading the bog or the shallow stream, dropping +upon your knees, even flinging yourself upon the ground, to spy upon a +wary bird flitting about in the copse. + +In almost all kinds of weather I wear rubber boots in my excursions to +the haunts of the birds. The observer can never tell when he may have +to wade a stream or tramp through a boggy marsh. In wet and cold +weather the need of rubber boots can be seen readily, but even in dry +and warm weather they have one decided advantage--they do not become +slippery on the soles as one tramps through the leaf-strewn woods or +the grassy fields. Every pedestrian knows that sole-leather is apt to +become as smooth as glass, making it difficult to retain one's footing. +On the other hand, rubber seems to cling to the ground, no matter how +much it is worn. The only objection to rubbers is that they are +uncomfortably warm in hot weather; but that difficulty can be overcome +by frequently plunging into a cool stream and standing there for +several minutes. + +Let me caution you, however, not to purchase a _heavy_ pair of rubber +boots. Insist on having a light pair or none at all. A good pair of +rubber boots are a real luxury, for with them you may tramp about in +all kinds of damp and boggy places without fear of wetting your feet, +though it goes without saying that you must be careful not to wade in +over the tops of your footgear. + +Of great assistance to the pedestrian is a light cane. In climbing +Pikes Peak one evening after dark, I doubt whether I should have been +able to gain the summit had it not been for my tough little wild-cherry +cane, upon which I could lean when almost exhausted, which supported my +faltering steps, and which happily never grew weary. Two years later +it helped me to scale a number of snow-capped mountains, among them +Grays Peak and Peak Number Eight of the Ten Mile Range. Indeed, my +little cane was of so much service to me that I came to look upon it as +a personal friend that cared almost as much for me as I did for it. It +pushed aside thorny bushes and nettlesome weeds when I was looking for +nests, thus saving my hands many a painful wound. And more than one +serpent, including the rattlesnake, has had his head crushed or his +spine broken by sturdy blows from my little wild-cherry cane. I should +add that it had a hooked handle, so that I could hang it on the strap +of my haversack when I needed both hands. + +In the beginning of your observations you will find the work of +identifying the birds a rare and exciting pleasure; then, after you +have named all the species in your neighborhood, it will be no less +delightful to study their interesting ways, or to extend your +researches to other fields. And if at any time you observe some odd +bits of bird behavior which you think will be news to the many bird +lovers the world over, why should you not report them to one of the +bird magazines, so that others may share the pleasures of your +discoveries? An admirer of feathered folk should not be selfish; +indeed, I do not see how he can be. + +It simply remains to be said that this volume is an illustration of the +method of bird study just indicated. In the first place, I shall show, +in a few chapters, how the student goes about his work of identifying +species and making new bird friends; then will follow a number of +monographs indicating how much may be learned about the life histories +of several interesting species; next there will be a miscellaneous +collection of incidents of bird life, showing how many odds and ends +the industrious and observing rambler may gather by the way; and, +finally, the book will conclude with four somewhat technical chapters +on bird education, bird music, bird flight, and bird feet, which I hope +will prove interesting as well as instructive. + + + + +MAKING NEW FRIENDS + +A friend once told me of a letter he had received from a correspondent +who is an enthusiastic botanist. The writer, having just returned from +an excursion in which he found a flower that was new to him, gave vent +to his feelings of exultation by exclaiming, "Oh, the joy! the joy!" A +like experience comes to the bird lover when he makes a new +acquaintance in the feathered domain, no matter how many other +observers may have seen and studied the species. "A bird that is new +to _me_ is to all intents and purposes a new bird," is his +self-complacent mode of reasoning, though it may not be distinguished +for its logic. + +[Illustration: Chipping Sparrow] + +After studying the birds in Ohio and Indiana for a good many years, I +moved to eastern Kansas, where I lived for five and a half years. My +rambles were by no means confined to the wooded bluffs and hollows that +bound the Missouri River on the west, for I also made excursions out +upon the prairies of Kansas, over into the state of Missouri, and down +into Oklahoma; and everywhere I carried my field glass with me and kept +both eyes intent on the birds. You would expect an enthusiast in the +pursuit of bird lore to do nothing else. What a pleasure it was to +ramble about in new fields and make acquaintance with new bird friends! +There is not a very marked difference between the avifauna of eastern +Kansas and Ohio, and yet there are some birds found in the former state +that are not met with in the latter--enough to keep the observer on the +tiptoe of expectancy for several months. + +One of my new acquaintances was a little bird which is known as the +clay-colored sparrow. It belongs to the same genus (_Spizella_) as the +chipping and field sparrows which are so well known in the East; but it +has an individuality of its own, and is not merely a copy. I stumbled +upon it while pursuing my explorations near Peabody, far out on the +level prairie, where the species was abundant during the season of +migration. As I was sauntering along a road, a peculiar croaking +little trill greeted me from the hedge, sounding very much like the +rasping call of certain kinds of grasshoppers when they are suddenly +startled and take to wing. But no insect had ever emitted quite such a +sound in my hearing. This could not be an insect. It was worth while +to look and make sure of the identity of the odd musician. + +After some difficulty, I fixed my glass upon a number of little +sparrows about the size of the chippies. They bore a close resemblance +to that species too, save that the crown-piece and the general tone of +the back were decidedly darker, while the under parts were a good deal +whiter. The clear, ash-colored cervical interval between the crown and +the back and the distinct brown loral and auricular space told me +plainly who the little charmers were. Not at the moment, however, for +the birds were new to me, and I had to wait until I could consult my +manual before I was able to decide that they were the clay-colored +sparrows. + +Their song is an odd vocal performance--a low, croaking trill, preceded +by a few longer notes, all delivered in the same key. It is, in fact, +a contralto solo divided into brief stanzas, and easily might be +mistaken for the grating buzz of an insect, especially if heard at a +distance of a few rods. It possesses little or no musical quality, and +is perhaps the most curious style of bird minstrelsy with which I am +acquainted. In comparison the chippie's trill sounds loud and clear +and bell-like, with a distinctly melodious quality of tone. The song +of the little clay-colored sparrow is also marked by a kind of drawl, +giving one the impression that the bird is just a little too lazy to +exert himself; yet when you get him in the field of your glass and see +him throw back his head, expand his throat and chest, and open his +mandibles as wide as he can, you quickly decide that he is not the +apathetic creature his desultory song would lead you to infer. It +really is laughable, and almost pathetic, too, to note how much energy +he expends in the production of his poor little aria. + +Indeed, not in the least sluggish is the blood flowing in the veins of +_Spizella pallida_, for he is a vivacious little body, flitting about +actively in the hedges and bushes, and sometimes mounting into the +trees, chanting his little alto strain all the while, as if his life +depended upon it. He is one of the comparatively few birds who is +lavish of his song in migration. + +Unlike the familiar chippie, he does not usually find a perch in plain +sight, from which to rehearse his song, but keeps himself well hidden +in the bushes or trees, darting into a hiding place as soon as he +thinks himself discovered. The shy little imp prefers to put a screen +of foliage or twigs between himself and the observer. Might his motto +be, "Little birds should be heard and not seen"? I had quite a time +making sure of him, but, as a pleasant compensation, when his identity +was once settled, I could not well have mistaken him for another +species, for he is a bird of real distinction. + +My study of the clay-colored sparrows was restricted to their habits in +migration, at which time they move about in more or less compact little +flocks, gathering seeds and chanting their monotonous trills. While I +first found these sparrows near Peabody, they were also fairly common, +a few days later, in northeastern Kansas, about a mile back from the +Missouri River, where their low alto strains formed a kind of gray +background for the high-pitched trills of the Harris sparrows and the +loud pipings of the cardinals. Quaint as our little contralto's solos +are, they have a distinct fascination for me, and now that I no longer +live in the Sunflower state, I miss them sorely when the springtime +comes. + +These sparrows do not, I believe, breed in Kansas, but are known to +establish their households in the northern part of Illinois, central +and northern Iowa, the Red River region in Minnesota, the country +drained by the upper Missouri River and its tributaries, Manitoba as +far north as the Saskatchewan River, and the plains and bases of the +foothills of eastern Colorado. Their nests are built on the ground or +in low bushes, and from three to five eggs, of a greenish-blue tint, +flecked with cinnamon-brown, are deposited. They spend the winters in +southern Texas and still farther south. Only "accidentally," as the +word goes, are they known in the eastern part of the United States, and +for that reason little has yet been written about them in popular books +on birds. The time will come, no doubt, when they will have a +well-recognized place in bird literature, just as the chippie, the +vesper sparrow, and the song sparrow have to-day. + +In bird study it is never safe to take too much for granted. One must +be constantly on the alert, and, more than that, one must be able to +make fine distinctions with both the ear and the eye. Here is a case +in point. For many days, while strolling about in quest of bird lore, +I heard a quaint little song in the bushy clumps, and that, too, in +some of the most out-of-the-way places. "It is nothing but the house +wren," I muttered to myself, I know not how often. "It isn't worth +while to look for it when there are new birds to be found. Still, it's +singular," I continued, "that the house wren should dwell in such +secluded places. It would seem that his name is a misnomer--at least, +in a good many instances." Several times I stopped to listen more +intently to the rolling ditty. "There's something odd about that +wren's song," I repeated. "Does the house wren always close its song +with the rising inflection, as if it were asking a question?" + +Then I would perhaps make a half-hearted attempt to get a glimpse of +the lyrist, but it kept itself well hidden in the bushes, and I +desisted, begrudging the time taken from my quest for feathered +rarities. But one day, while strolling along the banks of a small +stream, I again heard the labored ditty, and the next moment a small +bird darted into full view, calling and scolding in an agitated way, +and, while I watched it capering about, it broke into the very song to +which for several weeks I had been listening so carelessly. Why, it +was not a wren after all! It did not look like a wren, nor act like +one, but, rather, its form and conduct were like those of a vireo; and +a vireo it was. My bird manual soon settled that point. And what was +the name of the little stranger who had introduced himself in so +informal a way? It was the Bell vireo, an entirely new species to me. + +It is not an eastern species; it ranges from Illinois to the base of +the Rocky Mountains. In Kansas it is a summer resident, hanging its +little basket of a nest on the twigs of bushes or low trees, after the +regular vireo fashion. It was my good fortune to find a nest on a +copsy hilltop, where the bird's madrigals and lullabies mingled with +those of the yellow-breasted chats, the indigo buntings, the blue-gray +gnat catchers, and the Kentucky warblers. To this day I feel a longing +to visit the secluded spot where I held so many pleasant interviews +with these birds. + +Another Kansas bird that was new to my eyes and that afforded me much +delight was the Harris sparrow--a distinctively western species, not +known, or at least very rarely, east of the Mississippi River. He is +truly a fine bird, a little larger than the fox sparrow, neatly clad, +his breast prettily decorated with a brooch of black spots held in +place by a slender necklace of the same color, while his throat and +forehead are bordered with black. His rump and upper tail coverts are +a delicate shade of grayish brown, by which he may be readily +distinguished from the fox sparrow, whose rear parts are reddish brown. +His beak, feet, and legs are of a pinkish tint, making him look quite +trig and dressy. The latest of the spring arrivals were the most +highly colored, having the whole chin, throat, and top of the head a +glossy, uniform black. + +It would appear that the most matured individuals migrate farthest +south in winter. That, at least, would be the natural conclusion, +judging from the fact that they arrive latest in the spring in our +central latitudes. In the southern part of Kansas the Harris sparrows +are said to be common winter sojourners, but in the north-eastern part +of the state they disappeared in November or December, and did not +return until the middle of February, or later if the weather happened +to be severe. From the time of their vernal arrival they were to be +seen in every ramble until they took flight for their breeding haunts +in the North. One spring some of them were still loitering in Kansas +on the eleventh of May, and were singing blithely, no doubt waiting for +the winter cold of their summer homes to be well past before they +ventured farther toward the arctic lands. + +In general, the habits of these birds are much like those of the +white-throated sparrows, which are much more common in the East than in +the West. The Harris sparrows are fond of copses and hedges, and +especially of brush heaps in new grounds. So marked, indeed, is their +penchant for brush heaps that I almost wish one might re-christen them +"brush-heap sparrows." Many a time I have played a little trick on the +unsuspecting birds by stealing up to a brush pile and giving it a +sudden blow with my cane; then a whole covey of them would dash +pellmell from their covert with loud chirps of protest against such +wantonness. + +Sometimes they are found in the depths of the woods, providing there is +thick underbrush in which they can conceal themselves. I seldom found +them in open places either in the woods or fields. Yet, shy as they +are, they have a fondness for the dense hedges along the highways, +flitting and chirping as the traveler passes by. + +Being wary birds, they do not wander far from their hiding places, into +which they precipitate themselves at the approach of a supposed danger. +It was quite a while before I could get a clear view of their breasts, +for, with provoking persistence, they kept their tails turned toward +me. However, when once you really become acquainted with a bird, it +seems to lose part of its shyness, and so after a time I often had the +Harris sparrows in plain view. One of their characteristic habits was +to stand at full height on the top of a brush heap, with tail lifted, +crest feathers erect, and eyes wide open, the picture of wild +alertness. In such poses they are indeed handsome birds. + +It was March 5, 1898, when I heard the first song of this sparrow, and +even then it was only a fragment of a song. But, the weather remaining +pleasant, the sixteenth of the month brought a fine concert. The +bird's song was a surprise to me. It began with a prolonged run so +much like the opening tremolo of the white-throated sparrow that it +might have led the most expert ornithologist astray. The fact is, I +looked around for quite a while in search of a white-throat, thinking +him still a little out of tune, and therefore unable to finish his +chanson; and I was undeceived only by the singing of several Harris +sparrows that with unusual boldness had perched in plain sight. The +resemblance ceased, however, with the opening notes, for the western +bird did not add the sweet, rhythmic triad of his white-throated +cousin, the closing part of his song being only a somewhat labored +trill of no distinct character, and not fulfilling the promise of his +initial strain. + +In the concerts of these birds--and frequently many of them would be +trilling at the same time--they sang in several different keys, some of +them striking the treble and others dropping almost to the alto. +Occasionally two birds in different parts of a field would sing +responsively, one trill running very high in the scale, the other an +octave lower. It seemed almost as if the responsive exercise was +engaged in intentionally. + +The Harris sparrow has another song which is quite unlike his melodious +trill. It is delivered in a loud voice of little musical quality, and +the notes are pounded out in a percussive style, like the explosion in +quick succession of a number of little cartridges. Yet you must be +quite close to the bird in order to hear the queer canticle distinctly, +and when you do hear it you will wonder why nature ever put such a song +into a bird's larynx. The Harris sparrow also utters an explosive +alarm-call, which expresses not a little petulance and concern. + +One day a pretty picture was made by two of these birds that stood face +to face on a brush heap, bowing at each other, each threatening to peck +the other's head off, and both singing all the while at the top of +their voices, yet each afraid, in spite of his bluster, to close with +his opponent in actual contest. It was a miniature exhibition of the +beak-to-beak challenging often indulged in by two rival cocks of the +farmyard. For some minutes the little farce was kept up, then one of +the birds became tired of the game and darted over to the next brush +heap. + +I have said that these birds are scarcely known east of the Mississippi +River, but Mr. Ridgway says that they are occasionally seen during +migration in Illinois and Wisconsin. In eastern Kansas and western +Missouri they are common, almost abundant, during both the vernal and +autumnal migrations, and after you have once cultivated their +acquaintance they are likable, if not quite companionable, birds. But +familiar as they are in the regions named, they are still something of +a mystery to the naturalists of our country, for Mr. Ridgway says that +their "breeding range is unknown," save that there is a doubtful record +of one nest at Fort Custer, Montana; while Mrs. Bailey says: "The +breeding range of the Harris sparrow is unknown except for Mr. Preble's +Fort Churchill record. The last of July, among the dwarf spruces of +Fort Churchill, he found an adult male and female with young just from +the nest." It will be remembered that Fort Churchill is away up on the +coast of the Hudson Bay. It is probable, therefore, that the nest of +the Harris sparrow has never been found by any of the naturalists of +America. Who would suppose that these birds, so numerous and so well +known in Kansas, would, in the breeding season, surround themselves +with such an air of mystery? + +It was in Kansas, too, that I really came to know the Lincoln sparrow +and hear his song, although I had caught a few fleeting glimpses of him +in the East, and also in the neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota. In the +Sunflower state his conduct was just about as inconsistent as it could +have been without being downright absurd. What do I mean by that? +Why, while he was as wild as a deer, he still came to town, flitting +about in the bushes of a vacant lot near my house, and even visiting +the fence between my yard and the adjoining one, hopping about on the +ground with one eye on the lookout for nits and worms and the other for +human disturbers. My attention was first drawn to him by hearing a +squeaky little trill in the vacant lot. But, my! how wary he was when +I went out to find him! The song bore some resemblance to that of the +house wren, but had not so rolling and gurgling a quality, and was +pitched to a slightly higher and finer key. For a long time he kept +himself ensconced in the thicket, trilling saucily at intervals, as if +daring me to find him if I could, and when I finally drove him out of +his hiding place, he darted off in a zigzag course to another bush +clump, into which he dropped in the greatest possible haste. + +By and by his curiosity got the better of him, and he flitted to the +top of a brush heap and peeped out at me surreptitiously. My glass was +upon him in a moment, revealing his whitish throat and mottled chest +washed with buff, the latter being his characteristic marking. A few +days later he was singing in a small apple tree by my neighbor's fence. +I stole as close to him as I could and peered at him through my +binocular, while he returned the compliment by peering at me, and then +warily ventured to rehearse his little tune. The least movement on my +part would startle him, cause him to flit to another perch and crane +out his neck to glare at me questioningly with wild, dilated eyes, +uncertain whether I was to be trusted or not. Both of us presently +grew tired of our strained position, and so I walked off and he flew +away. No doubt there was mutual satisfaction in the inspection we gave +each other; at least, I felt well satisfied with having heard the song +of so shy a bird. His stay in my neighborhood lasted only a few days; +then he left as mysteriously as he had come, without even the courtesy +of a good-bye. He went to his summer home in the North, and I did not +see him again until the next spring, just twelve months later almost to +the day. + + + + +WILDWOOD MINSTRELS* + +* Parts of this and several other chapters of this book were first +published in The New York Times, whose courtesy in permitting him to +reprint, the author hereby acknowledges. + + +Nothing affords the bird student more pleasure than settling the identity +of species, albeit sometimes it is hard and patience-trying work. And of +all the birds, none are so provokingly and charmingly elusive as some of +the wood warblers. What a time I had for several years in making sure of +some of these little nymph-like creatures which were flitting about in +the foliage of the trees, concealing themselves by a leafy barrier! Many +a weary chase did they lead me through the woods, and more than once I +almost unjointed my neck by long-continued looking up. + +For identifying the tree-top flitters an opera glass is scarcely powerful +enough. A field glass or a Bausch & Lomb binocular is really a +necessity. It draws the bird right down to you, while at the same time +the elusive creature remains at what it regards a safe distance. Its +conduct will therefore not be constrained, and the observer can study it +in its natural poses. + +What an enigma the Tennessee warbler for a long time remained to me! +Never still for a moment, yet so indistinctly marked that at a distance +it looks like a dozen other birds one might name--a veritable feathered +rebus. But finally I fixed its place in the avian schedule with the help +of my field glass--white under parts, slightly tinged with yellow, back +and rump olive green, top and sides of head delicate bluish-ash; no +eye-ring, no wing-bars. There is no other warbler marked quite like +that. And yet its song is its most conspicuous mark, so to speak, for it +is a loud, shrill, and very rapidly repeated run, which might be spelled +out in this way: "Chippy, chippy, chippy, chippity-chippity-chippity." +The whole song is emitted at a galloping pace, giving you the impression +that the bird is in a desperate hurry. Important business on hand, no +doubt! Yes, there is a worm or a nit on the under side of that leaf, and +he must nab it now or never! With such pressing business matters on +hand, he has no time for regaling you with "linked sweetness long drawn +out." + +Still, he sometimes does prolong his ditty, giving it a saucy, +challenging air. No other warbler sings so loudly. His voice is as +shrill and penetrating as that of the indigo bird, though the song is +quite different in technique. + +[Illustration: Yellow Warbler] + +Another feathered conundrum was the Nashville warbler, whose back and +head are colored like those of the Tennessee, but whose under parts are +bright yellow, instead of white or white only slightly washed with +yellow; and, besides, sharp peering through your glass will reveal a +distinct white ring encircling the eye. The bird in the hand would also +show a dainty chestnut patch on the crown, but this mark is seldom seen +while it is flitting about in the leafy trees. The songs of the +Nashville and the Tennessee are somewhat similar, but not the same, the +Tennessee's being louder, shriller, and more sharply accentuated, while +his cousin's is more liquid and musical and far less sibilant. My notes +represent the Nashville's song phonetically as follows: "Swee, swee, +swee, ah-wit-ah-wit-ah-wit," delivered rapidly in a high key and with not +a little energy and emphasis. When my notes were made the little lyrist +was putting his best foot forward, and was not high in the trees, so that +I heard him distinctly. The Tennessee warblers were also singing near at +hand, giving me a good opportunity to compare the arias of the two +species. + +Belonging to the same subfamily is the orange-crowned warbler. It has +not so marked a preference for trees as its little relatives just +mentioned, but likes, so far as my observation goes, to flit about in +thickets, where it remains in hiding until driven from its covert or +drawn forth by curiosity. Only for a moment does it appear in sight, +then plunges into another covert. You will note that its eye-ring is +yellow, and that its under parts are neither bright yellow, like the +Nashville's, nor white, like the Tennessee's, but greenish yellow +obscurely streaked on the chest. I have never heard the song of the +orange-crown. + +There are a number of shy warblers that are especially partial to wild, +unfrequented parts of the woods, where they are seldom disturbed by human +intruders. In Kansas I found them in the deep, densely wooded ravines +running back from the Missouri River and its tributary valleys. Although +these feathered recluses are rarely molested by man, they seem to know +enough about his character to look upon him with a suspicious eye when he +ventures into their sylvan domain. Hence they are hard to study, and it +is not often that their deftly hidden nests can be found. + +One of the most delightful of these hermits is the Kentucky warbler. A +brilliant little bird he is, with his golden under parts and superciliary +line, his black patch on the cheek just below the eye, his black cap, and +his coat of iridescent olive green. You will not mistake him for the +Maryland yellow-throat, which also wears a black patch on the side of his +head; but this patch lies over the eye and includes it, and its upper +border is white, while this bird lacks the yellow and curved superciliary +band. Besides, the yellow-throat is not a woodland but a marsh bird. +The Kentucky warbler is attractive in many ways. An industrious +minstrel, his voice is strong and full for so small a bird, and until you +learn to know his tune well, you may mistake it for that of the cardinal. +But, as a piper, he lacks the versatility of the cardinal, who carries a +number of music sheets in his repertory, while the little Kentuckian +confines his lyrical efforts principally to one strain. Sometimes he +delivers his intermittent aria from a low bush or even from the ground, +but his favorite song-perches are the branches of saplings and trees just +below the zone of foliage. Here, in the shadows, you may be compelled to +look for him for some time before you espy his trig little form, and even +then you are likely to see him because he flits to another perch rather +than because you first catch the glint of his colors. Whether he means +it or not, he is something of a ventriloquist, for which reason you will +often look for him in many places before seeing him. + +As I have noted, he is an untiring singer. It never occurred to me to +time him, but Dr. Frank M. Chapman has had the patience to do so. "On +one occasion," says this observer, "at Englewood, New Jersey, I watched a +male for three hours. During this period, with the exception of five +interruptions of less than forty-five seconds each, he sang with the +greatest regularity once every twelve seconds. Thus, allowing for the +brief intervals of silence, he sang about 875 times, or some 5,250 notes. +I found him singing, and when I departed he showed no signs of ceasing." +It is such painstaking observations that add something new and fresh to +our knowledge of birds. + +The Kentucky warbler is fond of walking about on the ground in the woods, +seeking for his favorite insects. As you slowly follow, you will now and +then catch a glimpse of him through the apertures of the leaves; then he +will again disappear beneath his canvas of green. Thus he pursues his +quest hour after hour, and you may hear the rustle of his tiny feet upon +the carpet of dead leaves. Is it only a notion of mine, or am I correct, +in thinking that his promenades on the ground are mostly taken early in +the spring before there is danger from snakes? + +I like the pretty Kentuckians, but must grant you that in some respects +they are quite exasperating, never inclined to be as confiding as some +other birds. And then most birds will sooner or later betray the +presence of their nests, but the Kentucky warblers seldom do so, knowing +too well how to keep their procreant secrets. They have evidently +learned the use of strategy, as you will see: One day a pair began to +chirp vigorously as I approached their demesne in a lonely hollow, and I +felt a thrill of joy at the prospect of finding a nest. One of them even +flitted about with a worm in its bill--a sure sign of nestlings in the +neighborhood. For nearly four hours I watched the chirping couple, and +peered, as I thought, into every nook and cranny of the place, but all in +vain; neither nest nor bantlings could I find. Yet in some way that +seemed almost mysterious enough to be uncanny, the mother bird got rid of +the tidbit which she held in her bill. She probably decided to eat it +herself rather than betray the whereabouts of her younglings. I have +seen more than one parent bird do that. + +A few days later, in the same hollow, a Kentucky warbler was singing +contentedly, showing no signs of uneasiness. The female was not to be +seen or heard. I stalked about a long time, hoping to flush her from her +nest, but all my efforts were as futile that day as they had been on my +previous visit. In another hollow, on the same day, I watched a Kentucky +warbler flitting about with a worm in her bill. Again and again she +disappeared somewhere in the tanglewood, and came back with an empty bill +to chirp her disapproval of my spying; but look as I would in the very +places where she went down, I could discover no nest. In Warbledom it is +evidently no violation of ethical principles to act a lie in order to +protect a nestful of bantlings. + +But my story is not to have a disappointing ending, after all, for in the +spring and summer of 1902 my stars became auspicious, and I found three +Kentucky warblers' nests that were tenanted and several more that were +already deserted. Perhaps the turning of my luck was due not so much to +accident as to the fact that I had "caught on," and knew more about their +ruses. One of the nests discovered is worth describing. + +It was on a hilltop in Kansas, blown by the freshest breezes that sweep +over the limitless prairies. An ideal spot, indeed, for the nesting of +birds that love lone places. In one of my rambles I found this pleasant +elevation, and was attracted by the possibilities it offered for bird +study. Presently a male Kentucky warbler appeared with a couple of large +worms in his beak, and I made up my mind to find his nest if perseverance +could accomplish that object. So I sat down in the shade of a tree and +watched the bird closely. Now note his admirable finesse. After +flitting about among the bushes for a minute or two, chirping his protest +at my presence, he descended into the copse below and disappeared. Of +course, any student of birds would have supposed that he had gone down +near the nest to feed his bairns, and that he only needed to go and +examine the place to discover the little avian secret. My pulses +thrilled more than a little as I began my search for the nest right where +the bird had descended into the thicket. But do you know that my most +strenuous efforts--and they _were_ strenuous on a hot day like +that--resulted only in disappointment? The nest was not to be found +within a radius of a rod from the point where the little diplomat went +down. A few days later I made my way to the hilltop, and do you know +that the shrewd bird played me the same trick? He scuttled down into the +bushes at almost the same point as before, and no nest rewarded my +search. I went home just about ready to give up my search for Kentucky +warblers' nests, for I had been hunting them for a number of years +without success. + +However, in a few days I found my way again to the breezy hilltop. The +chats, vireos, and indigo birds gave due warning of my approach, and I +felt sure that Master Kentucky and his mate would be on their guard. To +my delight, in a few minutes the female presented herself in one of the +trees, her bill holding a bunch of worms. Luckily she was not so wary or +diplomatic as her husband, and, in addition, she extremely anxious to +feed her hungry babies. Instead of going over to the copse where the +male bird had played me such a clever trick, she flew down the path about +four rods to a small scrub oak, from which she soon dropped into the +weeds below. Then I said to myself; "Aha!" and smiled in a knowing way. + +I walked down the path to the tree, but no Kentucky warblers were to be +seen--not right away. So I sat down in the path and waited to see what +would happen. It was only a short time till the female appeared, with a +telltale bunch of worms in her beak. A moment later her mate also +arrived, carrying a small worm in the usual way. The situation was +growing interesting. The two birdlets chirped and flitted about in the +tree for a long time, afraid to go down to the nest. I moved slowly and +cautiously farther up the path to give them a better chance to divulge +their secret. Presently the pretty madame summoned courage to drop to a +lower perch in the tree, then to a still lower one, then to the top of +one of the bushes below, and at last into the weed clump and out of sight. + +I wasted no time. In a minute I was pressing the weeds apart and looking +down admiringly into the little cot with its four half-fledged +occupants--the first Kentucky warbler's nest I had ever seen. Set upon +the ground, its bulky foundation of dry leaves supported the cup proper, +which was lined with fine grass. Easy enough to find when you knew +precisely where to look for it. + +Think now of the little game the male bird had played me on my previous +visits to the haunt! He had descended into the copse about four rods +distant from the nest instead of going down near its site; then he had +doubtless followed a secret pathway through the weeds and bushes to the +nest, fed his children, and hurried away without letting himself be seen. + +The parent birds did not like the idea of my finding and inspecting their +nest, for they chirped and darted about in a panic. To relieve their +anguish I retired up the slope a short distance, seated myself in the +pleasant shade of a scrub oak, and made an entry of my find in my +notebook. Alas! I had probably done harm to my little friends without +intending it, for their chirping attracted the attention of one of their +worst foes, and drew him to the spot. I loitered about for perhaps ten +minutes, and then decided to take one more peep at the pretty domicile +before leaving the hilltop. As I drew near, I observed that the parent +birds were chirping in a low, but heart-broken way, as if they were +almost stricken dumb with terror. Were they so badly frightened because +I was returning to their nest? + +I stepped up cautiously and looked down at the nest. It was now my turn +to give vent to a cry of consternation, for what I saw was this: A large +blacksnake coiled about the nest, the fold of his neck wabbling to and +fro in a terrifying way, while with his mouth he was trying to seize one +of the bantlings. Fortunately I had a good-sized stick, almost a club, +in my hand, and I wasted no time in bringing it down with all the force I +could command upon the serpent, taking care to deliver the blow at the +side of the nest. The snake tried to uncoil, but another blow broke his +backbone, if indeed the first one had not done so, and he was in my +power. He had swallowed one of the nestlings, but three were left, and +seemed to be in good condition. On my return to the place a few days +later the nest was empty, and I fear that the remaining little ones had +also been destroyed, perhaps by the mate of the snake from which I had +rescued them. + +On the shelf of a steep bluff covered with a riot of bushes and briars a +pair of hooded warblers found a dwelling place to their taste in the +spring of 1900. This handsome birdlet may be known by his dainty yellow +hood, bordered with black, and cannot be mistaken for any other member of +the great feathered fraternity. One cannot look at him without feeling +that Nature tried to see what she could do in the way of an unusual +arrangement of colors. Who can tell what impelled her to make a living +gem like this, as odd as it is beautiful? + +On the side of the bluff referred to I was first attracted by the +vivacious song of the little male, which I had not heard for several +years--not since an excursion I had taken into Louisiana and Mississippi. +His voice was clear and ringing, and the tune he executed was by no means +a meager performance. + +One day a loud, metallic chirping was heard, and presently two hooded +warblers appeared, each with the proverbial green worm in its beak. I +decided to remain in the nook and watch, for the nesting habits of these +rare warblers were new to me. In and out, up and down, here and there, +they flitted, making a checker-work of black and gold amid the foliage, +craning their necks, peering at me with anxious inquiry in their dark +little eyes, and filling the woodland with their uneasy chirping. + +It was a long time to wait, but at length patience had its reward; one of +the birds flew down to the bushes on the steep slope above me and fed a +youngster in plain view. No time was lost in pushing through the bushy +tangle to the magic spot. Behold! it was a young cowbird that had been +fed by the devoted little mother! That was trying beyond expression--to +think that all the efforts of the pretty couple, all their intense +solicitude, was wasted on a great, hulking impostor like the cowbird. He +had just scrambled from the nest, from which he had doubtless previously +crowded the rightful heirs of the family to perish from starvation on the +ground. I found the nest only about a foot away from the perch of the +young bird--a deep, neat little basket, compactly felted with down and +plant fibers, set in the crotch of a slender bush of the thicket. It was +certainly too small to accommodate any tenants besides the strapping +young cowbird. In the spring of 1902 another hooded warbler's nest +rewarded my search. Its holdings were four callow bantlings, all of +which were carried off by some marauder before my next visit. + +Another little charmer of the woodland, especially of thick second-growth +timber, is the blue-winged warbler, which glories in the high-sounding +Latin name of _Helminthophila pinus_. Wherever seen, he would attract +attention on account of the peculiar cut and color of his clothes. A +conspicuous black line reaching from the corner of the mouth back through +the eye is a diagnostic feature of his plumage, while his crown and +breast gleam in bright yellow, almost golden in the sunshine; his wings +and tail are blue-gray, with some white trimmings, and his back and rump +are bright olive There you have an array of colors that makes a picture +indeed. Madame Blue-wing wears the same pattern as her lord, but the +hues are less brilliant. + +The manners of Sir Blue-wing--I call him so because of his distinguished +air--are interesting, for they differ, in one respect at least, from +those of most of the other warblers of my acquaintance. He flits about +among the branches in rather a leisurely way--for a warbler; but his main +characteristic is his unwarbler-like fashion of clinging back downward to +the under side of the twigs, after the manner of the chickadee, in order +to secure the nits and worms under the leaves. He acts decidedly like a +diminutive trapeze performer. + +His song consists of an insect-like buzz, divided into stanzas of two +syllables each, with a pensive strain running through it, as if the heart +of the little singer were filled with sadness. While it sounds rather +faint at a distance, close at hand it has a strangely penetrating quality. + +Although my numerous efforts to find a blue-wing's nest were unavailing, +I had the satisfaction of proving beyond doubt that these birds breed in +northeastern Kansas. A quaint, squeaking call attracted my attention one +day, and I found that it proceeded from the throat of a young blue-wing +perched in the bushes, for presently the mamma came and thrust a morsel +into the open mouth of the bantling. Some young birds sit quietly and +patiently, waiting for their rations, and utter only a faint twitter when +they are fed; but the youthful blue-wings are not of so contented and +silent a disposition. On the contrary, they are noisy little fellows, +making their presence known to friend and foe alike, although they are +very careful never to permit the human observer to come too close. They +are duly warned of danger by their ever-vigilant parents. Sometimes a +youngster will sit on the same perch for a long time, preening his +feathers and uttering a little call at intervals, just to keep in +practice, as it were; while at other times he will pursue his parents +about in the woods, loudly demanding his dinner. One season I succeeded +in finding at least five pairs of these warblers, in company with their +clamorous broods. The nest is set on the ground in the bushes and grass +of second-growth timber tracts. Lined with tendrils and fine strips of +bark, it is "firmly wrapped with numerous leaves, whose stems point +upward." Another haunter of the dusky depths of the woods is the +ovenbird. His song is one of the most peculiar in warblerdom. Beginning +in moderate tones, it grows louder and louder as it nears the end, and +really seems like a voice moving toward you. This bird also walks about +in the woods, and does not hop, as most of his relatives do. As he walks +about on his leafy carpet, his head erect, he has quite a consequential +air. He derives his name from the fact that his nest, set on the ground, +is globular in form, with the entrance at one side, giving it the +appearance of a small oven. + +The gay redstarts, which seem to be so tame and confiding in the early +spring, turn into veritable eremites in the breeding season, seeking the +most secluded portions of the woods as their habitat. Their little nests +are harder to find than one would suppose; yet I have had the good +fortune to watch two females erecting the walls of their tiny cottages, +and a pretty sight it was. + +The redstart has some interesting ways. One of them is his habit of +spreading out his wings and tail as he perches or flits about in the +trees, as if he were anxious to display the fiery trimmings that so +elegantly set off his little black suit. Blood will tell, for I have +seen the young redstarts imitating their parents by spreading out their +odd, croppy tails in a comical way. + +[Illustration: Chickadee] + +How early in life young birds are taught some of the lessons that are +needful for their own safety! One day I heard a young redstart chirping +for his dinner. I quietly thrust my head into the thicket, and soon +espied the birdkin perched on a twig only about a rod away. He either +did not see me, or else decided that I was not a bugaboo. A few minutes +later the mother darted into the enclosure and fed her baby. She was too +much absorbed in her duties to notice me until the repast was over; then +she suddenly caught sight of her unwelcome caller. She stood transfixed +with astonishment for one breathless moment, then uttered a piercing cry +of alarm that sent the little one dashing away like a streak of +lightning. Plainly the youngster understood his mamma's signal, for +until she uttered it he had sat perfectly quiet and unconcerned, perhaps +not even aware of my presence. Birds are taught the language of fear at +a tender age. Of course they learn it so readily because there is a +basis of timidity in their natures, implanted by heredity. + + + + +CHICKADEE WAYS* + +*Reprinted by permission, from "Our Animal Friends," New York. + + +In a somewhat casual way, and without going into their natural history, +the last two chapters have indicated the method of making an +acquaintance with new species and of studying the habits of a few wild +birds. A few chapters will now be devoted to a fuller study of a +number of interesting birds. Not that I expect to write their complete +life histories, which, indeed, would not be necessary; but that I may +give you some idea of the large amount of knowledge that can be gained +of one species. If this were multiplied by the knowledge procurable +from the study of all the members of the feathered brotherhood, think +what an education the whole would give one. Let us begin with the +familiar little tomtit. + +In his valuable manual, "Birds of Eastern North America," Dr. Frank M. +Chapman calls the little black-capped chickadee an "animated bunch of +black and white feathers." That is certainly a graphic and correct way +of putting it, for no bird is more active and alert than this little +major with the black skull cap and ashy-blue coat. Everybody knows +him, I take it, but if any more points are needed for his +identification, you must look for a little bird which, in addition to +his cap of glossy black, wears a bib of the same color, buckled up +close to his chin, with a wedge of white inserted on each side of his +neck between the black of his throat and crown to the corner of his +mouth. + +If all birds were as sociably disposed as the little tomtit--for that +is also one of his names--bird study would be a delight, and almost a +sinecure. Trustful and fearless, he often comes within a few feet of +you, and fixes you with his keen little eyes, which dart out +innumerable interrogation points. Sometimes he calls his own name in a +saucy way, "Chick-a-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee," which, being +interpreted, means, "What is your business here, sir? Aren't you out +of your proper latitude?" Occasionally he will grow terribly excited +over your presence--or at least pretend to--scolding and shaming you +until you feel yourself a real interloper; at other times he will +salute you in the most affable way, as if bidding you welcome to his +haunts and inviting you to come often and make yourself at home. What +a pity it is he cannot talk, and let us know what he really thinks of +us and of the world in general! Dr. Chapman says that on two occasions +chickadees have flown down and perched on his hand, giving him the +feeling that he was being taken into their confidence. + +Watch Master Tomtit as he performs some of his acrobatic feats, putting +the tilters and tumblers in the human circus to the blush. He often +hangs back downward from a slender twig or even a leaf, and daintily +picks the nits that have ensconced themselves in the buds or foliage. +Let his flexile perch sway in the wind as it will, he is safe, for if +the twig should break or his hold should slip, which seldom occurs, he +can recover himself at once by spreading his nimble wings, wheeling +about, and alighting on a perch below. Ah, yes! the tomtit is the +embodiment and poetry of nimbleness. + +But he is more than a mere feathered gentleman; he is an extremely +useful citizen. Prof. E. D. Sanderson published a valuable article in +"The Auk" for April 1898, in which he proved that this bird serves a +most useful purpose as an insecticide. He examined the craws of +twenty-eight chickadees, nineteen of them secured in the winter and +nine in the spring. During the winter 70.7 per cent of the food found +in these stomachs was animal, while in the spring no vegetable matter +was found at all, the birds subsisting entirely on insects and their +eggs and larvae. By far the larger part of the insects thus destroyed +were of the noxious species that bore into the bark and wood of the +trees or sting the fruit. An orchard in which several chickadees had +taken up their abode one winter and spring was so well cleared of +canker worms that an excellent yield of fruit was grown, whereas the +trees of other orchards in the neighborhood were largely defoliated by +the destructive worms, and there was no yield of fruit. + +Professor Sanderson made an interesting estimate of the economic value +of our little scavengers. In the state of Michigan, where his +observations were made, he thinks that a fair average is seven +chickadees to the square mile. If each bird should destroy fifty-five +insects per day, which is a very modest estimate, the seven birds would +consume three hundred and eighty-five every day, making about 137,500 +per year in each square mile. In this way about eight billions of +insects would be destroyed annually in the state--an economic fact +whose importance cannot be overestimated. + +The same investigator also thinks that it would be wise for farmers and +fruit-growers to encourage the chickadees to make their homes in +orchards, and this could be done, he says, "by placing food for them +till they feel at home, by erecting suitable nesting sites, and by +careful protection"; to which I would add, by leaving a few old snags +in the trees where the birds can find natural nesting places. Besides +the useful purpose the birds would serve, what pleasant companions they +would be, piping, both summer and winter, their sweet minor tunes! + +No one can deny that the tomtit is a companionable little fellow. In +addition to his vigorous call of "Chick-a-dee-dee," he whistles, as has +been said, a sweet minor strain which may be represented by the +syllables, "Phe-e-be-e," repeated again and again. Often in midwinter, +when bland days come, and even in very cold weather, too, sometimes, he +will pipe his pensive air, which floats through the woods like a song +of chastened sadness. + +Not infrequently two tits will engage in what may be called a +"responsive exercise," swinging their two-part song back and forth in +the woods like a silvery pendulum. Not soon shall I forget a winter +day on which I listened with delight to such an antiphonal duet. I was +standing in a road that wound along the foot of a steep, wooded bluff, +and the two minstrels were in the woods above me, one of them singing +very high in the scale, the other responding in the same tune, but +almost, if not quite, an octave lower. At first they were about twenty +rods apart, but as they swung back and forth, they gradually approached +each other until the distance between them was only a few feet. The +music seemed like a slender thread of silver which was being wound up +at both ends, gradually drawing the little fluters together. Sometimes +one of them would miss one note of his dissyllabic song, and at times +the refrains were repeated in a leisurely way, at times in quick +succession; but the performers never sang simultaneously, each waiting +until his fellow minstrel had given his reply. The pleasing duet +lasted for many minutes; indeed, it was kept up long after I left the +immediate neighborhood, for when I had gone quite a distance the sweet +cadenzas still fell rhythmically on my ear. To my mind the two-part +aria seemed like a voluntary performance, and I cannot doubt that it +was. There was too much of an air of purpose about it to permit of the +thought that it was a mere accident or coincidence; but whether it was +a musical contest between rival vocalists, or the love song of a tomtit +and his mate, I could not determine. + +Cunning in other ways, it would be strange if the tomtits did not +display acuteness in the selection of nesting sites. A cosy hollow in +a dead snag or stump is especially acceptable. Sometimes it is a +deserted woodpecker's cavity made trig and clean, while quite often, +when the wood is soft enough, the tits themselves chisel out a little +hole in a tree or stump or fence post. I recall having once watched a +pair of chickadees hollowing the upper end of a truncated sassafras +tree that was half decayed. They would fly into the cavity, pick off a +chip, dash out and away a rod or two, drop the fragment, then dart back +to the hollow for another piece. In this way the busy couple worked +hour by hour without resting for an instant. Their reason no doubt for +carrying the chips some distance away from their nest was that they did +not want any telltale fragments to betray their secret to their enemies. + +It would be impossible to tell how many chickadee nests I have found in +all the years of my bird study. One of them was in an old stump near a +path along which I was sauntering. My attention was attracted by the +little husband's flying from the stump and calling nervously, thus +unwittingly "giving away" his secret. Had he been quiet, my suspicions +would not have been aroused; but many birds, like a few people here and +there, find it very hard to keep a secret. And this, by the way, is +one of the strangest things about Nature--that she has not taught her +feathered children to go with apparent unconcern about their employment +when a nest is near, but impels them to chirp and flit about in such a +way as to excite the suspicion of an enemy. + +Moralizing aside, however. On examining the stump, I found a deep +cavity just inside of the decaying bark. Though it was quite dusk +within, by slightly pressing the bark aside I could see the little +mother sitting on the nest, unwilling to leave it in spite of my +proximity. I almost touched her with my hand, and still she did not +move. Unwilling to disturb so brave a heroine, I stepped back and +walked quietly away a few rods to see what would happen, when she +popped out of the orifice like an arrow and, joined by her mate, set up +a loud chattering, which sounded as if they were saying that I was the +nosiest and most impudent man in the whole countryside. + +No doubt they were right, for I went back, in spite of their protest, +and peeped into the nest, and found four gleaming white eggs studding +the bottom like pearls. Alas! when I visited the place two weeks +later, the little domicile had been raided, the half-decayed walls +having been broken down. A tuft of gray hair hanging to a splinter +proved the invader to have been a predatory animal of some kind, +probably a cat. The birds were nowhere to be seen--unless a pair +chirping in the woods on the other side of the valley were the same +couple, trying to rear a family in a safer place. + +What a persistent sitter the female blackcap is! One day I discovered +a nest in a fence post by the wayside. Pressing the bark aside, I +could plainly see the little owner snuggling close to the bottom of the +cup. I thrust my finger through the aperture and gently stroked her +head and back. Still she hugged the nest, pressing her head close to +the grassy bottom, as if she thought she would be safe if her head were +hidden. Thinking she must have little ones, or she would not cling so +tenaciously to the nest, I pushed my finger under her and partly raised +her from her seat. Even this rude treatment she bore for a few +moments--but it was going too far even for her courageous little heart; +she lifted her head, glanced wildly at me for an intense moment, then +sprang from the cavity with a piercing cry. + +Imagine my surprise to find the nest entirely empty, not even an egg +having yet been deposited. The brave little lady had doubtless just +entered the nest to lay her first egg, and was not going to be driven +off without knowing the reason why. The tomtit is game every time. + +The entrance to most of the chickadee's nests is lateral, but I found +one nest whose doorway was in the top of a fence post, so that the +owners had to go down into it vertically. The hole was quite deep, and +the birds would drop down into it as you have seen swifts dropping into +a chimney, but whether they went down head first or tail first I could +not learn, their movements were so quick. Another feature of this nest +was that it had no roof, for the doorway was open to the sky, so that a +cloudburst would have filled up their little nursery and drowned its +inmates. + + + + +THE NUTHATCH FAMILY* + +*This chapter is reprinted from that excellent bird magazine called +"American Ornithology," published by Charles K. Reed, Worcester, Mass., +and edited by his son, Chester A. Reed. The author is under obligation +to these gentlemen for their courtesy in permitting him to reprint the +article. + + +BIRDS OF THE INVERTED POSITION + +There are a number of climbers in the bird realm, but none are quite so +expert as the nuthatch, which may be regarded as a past-master in the +art of clambering. The woodpeckers amble up the boles and branches of +trees, and when they wish to descend, as they do occasionally for a +short distance, they hitch down backward. The brown creepers ascend +their vertical or oblique walls in the same way, but seldom, if ever, +do anything else than clamber upward, never descending head downward +after the fashion of the nuthatches. + +[Illustration: Nuthatch] + +A little bird that comes very near disputing the palm with the nuthatch +as a sylvan coaster is the creeping warbler, which flits about over the +tree boles in all kinds of attitudes, even with his dainty head pointed +toward the earth. No fear in his little striped breast of the blood +rushing to his brain. However, even this clever birdlet's dexterity is +not equal to that of the nuthatch, for the latter is able to climb up +and down a smoother wall than his little rival. More than that, the +nuthatch glides downward with more ease and in a straight line, and +does not fling himself from side to side as the warbler does. Indeed, +the warbler's favorite method of going about is with his head directed +toward the sky rather than the reverse, while it really seems that the +nuthatch's predilection is to scuttle about in an inverted position. +Does he wish to chisel a grub out of the bark of a tree? He usually +stands above the target at which he aims, so that he can deliver his +blows with more force, just as the human woodchopper prefers to take +his position above and not below the stick or log upon which he expects +to operate. There the bird clings to his shaggy wall, pounding away +with might and main, until you fear he will shatter his beak or strew +his brains on the bark. Sometimes, too, he thrusts his long, slender +beak into a crevice and pries with it in a way that threatens to snap +it off in the middle. + +What has been said applies to the white-breasted nuthatch (_Sitta +carolinensis_), but it is fair to assume that all the other members of +this subfamily behave in the same way. The woodpeckers and creepers +use their spiny tails as supports while stationary or in motion; not so +the nuthatches, which are sufficiently nimble on their feet to stand or +glide without converting their tails into braces. Odd as it may seem +to the uninformed, the nuthatches belong to the order of passeres or +perching birds, in spite of their creeping habits. The systematists +have placed them in this niche of the avicular scheme, not only because +they are able to perch like other passeres on twigs and small branches, +but also because they have the foot of the true perching bird, with +three toes in front and one, well developed, in the rear. In this +respect they differ again from the woodpeckers, which have either two +fore and two hind toes, or two in front and only one behind. This will +appear all the more remarkable when it is remembered that the _Picidae_ +do not descend head downward at all, while the _Sittinae_ are the +head-downward goers par excellence. Yet they have only one rear toe to +support them in their inverted position. You would naturally suppose +that if any bird had need of two hind toes, it would be the nuthatch; +but the result proves that, after all, Nature had her wits about her +when she evolved this avian family. + +The world over, there are twenty distinct species of nuthatches known +to scientific observers, but only four of them are natives of America. +Of course, there are a number of subspecies or varieties. All of them +are incessant climbers and foragers, peering into crannies, pounding +here and there to make the grubs stir in their hiding places, jabbing +and prying with their beaks, and chiseling out all kinds of larvae, +grubs, and borers that would, if permitted to live and multiply, soon +devastate the timber and fruit trees and make this world a desert +indeed. True, the other feathered clamberers and carpenters are fully +as useful, but depend upon it, the nuthatches do their share in +preserving our forests and orchards. + +The white-breasted nuthatch is our most common species east of the +great plains, breeding from the Gulf States to the northern border of +the United States and to New Brunswick. One peculiarity about him is +that he breeds throughout his range, and therefore may be found as both +a summer and winter resident in all suitable localities within these +boundaries. In the winter, no matter how old Boreas may bluster, he is +one of the most cheerful denizens of the woods in our central +latitudes, calling his nasal "yank, yank, yank," and sometimes +indulging in a loud, half-merry outburst that goes echoing through the +woodlands. No sound of the sylvan solitudes has a more woodsy flavor +or is more suggestive of vernal cheer and good will. Sometimes he +chatters to his human visitors in the most cordial tones as he glides +up and down his arboreal promenade, or holds himself almost straight +out. + +A hole in a stump or tree makes Madame Nuthatch a cosy nursery, which +she lines with feathers and leaves, making it soft and snug for her +downy brood. Here they are safe from most of the prowlers that find +the more exposed nests of many other birds. She deposits five to eight +eggs of a white or creamy-white ground-color, speckled with rufous and +lavender. During the season of incubation and brood rearing the +nuthatches retire to the depth of the woods, and are quiet, secretive, +and unsocial, seldom betraying their procreant secrets. + +These birds have another habit that is worth mentioning. Having found +a larger supply of food than they require for their immediate use, they +carry morsels away and jam them into all sorts of holes and crannies in +the bark of the trees. I have watched a pair for an hour diligently +laying by a store of sunflower seeds, which they had found at the edge +of the woods. They do not store a quantity of provision in one place +like the squirrels, but deposit a tidbit here and there, wedging it +tightly into a crevice by hammering it with their stout bills. Of +course, the woodpeckers and tomtits secure many of these half-hidden +goodies, but Master Nuthatch does not mind that, for he evens up the +theft by appropriating their stores when he finds them. + +The white-breasted nuthatch may be known by his flat body and broad +shoulders, his bluish gray coat, black cap and mantle (all in one +piece), white cravat, shirt bosom and vest, with a few rufous +decorations on the belly and under tail-coverts. The following +quotations from Wilson are given as much for their vivacious manner as +for the story itself: + +"The male is extremely attentive to the female while sitting, supplying +her regularly with sustenance, stopping frequently at the mouth of the +hole, calling and offering her what he has brought, in the most +endearing manner. Sometimes he seems to stop merely to inquire how she +is, and to lighten the tedious moments with his soothing chatter. He +seldom rambles far from the spot, and when danger appears, regardless +of his own safety, he flies instantly to alarm her. When both are +feeding on the trunk of the same tree, or of adjoining trees, he is +perpetually calling on her; and, from the momentary pause he makes, it +is plain he feels pleased to hear her reply. + +"He rests and roosts with his head downwards; and appears to possess a +degree of curiosity not common in many birds; frequently descending, +very silently, within a few feet of the root of the tree where you +happen to stand, stopping, head downward, stretching out his neck in a +horizontal direction, as if to reconnoiter your appearance, and after +several minutes of silent observation, wheeling around, he again +mounts, with fresh activity, piping his unisons as before... Sometimes +the rain, freezing as it falls, encloses every twig, and even the trunk +of the tree, in a hard, transparent coat or shell of ice. On these +occasions I have observed his anxiety and dissatisfaction at being with +difficulty able to make his way along the smooth surface; at these +times he generally abandons the trees, gleans about the stables, around +the house, mixing among the fowls, entering the barn, and examining the +beams and rafters, and every place where he may pick up a subsistence." + +Our charming white-breast has a little cousin called the red-breasted +nuthatch (_Sitta canadensis_), whose under parts are rufous or reddish +buff instead of white. His crown and nape are black, then a white band +runs back from the base of the upper mandible to the hind neck, and +below this a black stripe reaches back in a parallel direction and +encloses the eye. His upper parts, save those mentioned, are bluish +gray. He is considerably smaller than the white-breast, and his range +is more northerly in summer; but, unlike his cousin, he does not breed +throughout his range; only in the localities which he selects for his +summer home. Hence he is a migrant, dwelling in winter in the southern +states, and in summer in the latitude of Manitoba and Maine and +northward, and also on the summits of the mountains as far south as +Virginia. It will be seen that the breeding precincts of the two +species overlap, while in winter _canadensis_ comes down from the north +and takes up his abode in the southern part of the demesne of +_carolinensis_. + +While the white-breast is partial to oak, beech, maple, and other +deciduous forests, his little relative prefers a woodland of pine, +being very fond of scampering about on the cones, clinging to them with +his strong claws, and extracting the seeds with his stout little bill. +His call, though much like the "yank" of the white-breast, is pitched +to a higher key, and has even a more pronounced nasal intonation, +sounding as if he had taken a severe cold. Besides, he gives +expression to some cheery notes that seem to be reserved for his own +family or exclusive social circles. I found these pretty nuthatches in +the pine woods on Mackinac Island in midsummer, and have good reason to +believe that they breed there. + +Cavities in trees or stumps furnish the redbreasts with nesting places +suited to their taste; but they have a cunning way of plastering the +entrance above and below with pine pitch, so as to make it just large +enough to admit their tiny bodies and yet too small to let in their +enemies. In this respect they steal the laurels from their +white-breasted kinsmen, who seem to have no means by which to lessen +the dimensions of their natural doorways. + +A still smaller member of this group is the brown-headed nuthatch +(_Sitta pusilla_), a resident of the South Atlantic and Gulf states, at +rare intervals wandering "accidentally" as far north as Missouri and +New York. A daintily dressed little fellow is this bird, the top and +back of his head a dark grayish brown with a whitish patch on the nape, +the remainder of his upper parts being bluish gray and his under parts +grayish white. His favorite dwelling places are in the pine woods of +the south, where he is on the most cordial terms socially with the pine +warbler and the red-cockaded woodpecker. A most active little body, he +scampers from the roots of the trees to the terminal twigs at the top, +inspecting every cone, cranny and knot hole, chirping his fine, +high-keyed notes, sometimes in a querulous tone, and again in the most +cheerful and good-natured temper imaginable, now gliding up a tree +trunk, now scudding down head foremost, anon circling in a spiral +course. + +One autumn I found a number of these nuthatches associated with a flock +of myrtle warblers on the most sociable terms in a pine woodland not +far from Pensacola, Florida. Now they were up in the trees, now down +on the ground. All the while they were chirping in their most genial +tones. In a spring jaunt to southern Mississippi, I was fortunate +enough to find a nest in a half-decayed snag. It contained four of the +prettiest half-fledged bird babies that have ever greeted my sight. + +Oddly enough, our tiny clamberers utter a loud, shrill alarm-call that +bears close resemblance to the querulous protest of the sparrow hawk as +you approach her nest or young. Doctor Chapman says of the brown +heads: "They are talkative sprites, and, like a group of school +children, each one chatters away without paying the slightest attention +to what his companions are saying." + +The fourth member of the _Sittinae_ subfamily in America is the pigmy +nuthatch, known scientifically as _Sitta pygmaea_, a genuine westerner, +not known east of the plains. However, in the Rocky Mountain district +he is an abundant species, his range east and west being from the +plains to the Pacific coast, and north and south from the Canadian +boundary to the mountains of Mexico. Swinging and gliding about among +the pines, performing the same antics as his eastern kinsmen, he utters +a cheery whistle, that may be translated, "Whit, whit, whit." His +movements are often so rapid that he is difficult to follow with the +eye as he flits from one tree to another or dashes amid the branches. +He scarcely remains quiet long enough for you to note his markings and +settle his identity, but once you are sure of him, you will never +mistake him for another bird. + +In Colorado there is little of a migratory movement even up and down +the mountains among these interesting birdlets. In the winter a few +descend from the heights and dwell on the plains, where the weather is +not so rigorous. On the approach of spring they again hie up into the +mountains, spending the summer there and rearing their pretty bairns. +However, the majority of them remain in the mountains all winter, +braving the bitterest and fiercest storms, often at an altitude of +8,000 feet. Their breeding range is from 6,000 to 10,000 feet, the +latter elevation being only a little below the timber line. + +In spite of his unique and interesting habits, the poets have scarcely +begun to chant the praises of the American nuthatch. One of the best +tributes I have been able to find is from the pen of Edith Thomas, who +apostrophizes our bird in this way: + + "Shrewd little haunter of woods all gray, + Whom I meet on my walk of a winter day, + You're busy inspecting each cranny and hole + In the ragged bark of yon hickory bole; + You intent on your task, and I on the law + Of your wonderful head and gymnastic claw! + + "The woodpecker well may despair of this feat-- + Only the fly with you can compete! + So much is clear; but I fain would know + How you can so reckless and fearless go, + Head upward, head downward, all one to you, + Zenith and nadir the same to your view." + + +We have now described the American nuthatch quartette, and will turn to +other fields no less inviting, albeit more remote. The nuthatch of +central Europe, scientifically known as _Sitta caesia_, is closely +related to our American forms, resembling them in many of his habits. +In studying the literature of the transatlantic species, we at once +stumble upon the reason for calling this avian family by the somewhat +peculiar and apparently inapt name of nuthatch. The older English form +of the word was "nuthack," which unfortunately has been changed to +"nuthatch," a word that gives an erroneous impression, for no bird ever +hatches a nut. But with the last syllable "hack" the difficulty is all +cleared up, as his habit of hacking or chipping nuts, which he places +in chinks of the bark or wall, is well known. + +The nuthatch of England belongs to the species just named. He does not +wear a black hood or mantle, but merely a black ribbon on the side of +his head, enclosing the eye. His upper parts are bluish gray, save the +outer tail feathers, which are black; his cheeks and throat are white, +his breast and belly buff, and his flanks and lower tail-coverts +chestnut red. A graphic English writer, Dr. W. H. Hudson, gives the +following enthusiastic description of the little tobogganist of his +native woodlands: + +"When I see him sitting quite still for a few moments on a branch of a +tree in his most characteristic nuthatch attitude, on or under the +branch, perched horizontally or vertically, with head or tail +uppermost, but always with the body placed beetle-wise against the +bark, head raised, and the straight, sharp bill pointed like an arm +lifted to denote attention,--at such times he looks less like a living +than a sculptured bird, a bird cut out of beautifully variegated +marble--blue-gray, buff, and chestnut, and placed against the tree to +deceive the eye. The figure is so smooth and compact, the tints so +soft and stone-like; and when he is still, he is so wonderfully still, +and his attitude so statuesque! But he is never long still and when he +resumes his lively, eccentric, up-and-down and sidewise motions, he is +interesting in another way. He is like a small woodpecker who has +broken loose from the woodpecker's somewhat narrow laws of progression, +preferring to be a law unto himself. + +"Without a touch of brilliant color, the nuthatch is a beautiful bird +on account of the pleasing softness and harmonious disposition of his +tints; and, in like manner, without being a songster in the strict +sense of the word, his voice is so clear and far-reaching and of so +pleasing a quality, that it often gives more life and spirit to the +woods and orchards and avenues he frequents than that of many true +melodists. This is more especially the case in the month of March, +before the migratory songsters have arrived, when he is most +loquacious. A high pitched, clear, ringing note, repeated without +variation several times, is his most often-heard call or song. He will +sometimes sit motionless on his perch, repeating this call at short +intervals, for half an hour at a time. Another bird at a distance will +be doing the same, and the two appear to be answering one another. He +also has another call, not so loud and piercing, but more melodious: a +double note, repeated two or three times, with something liquid and +gurgling in the sound, suggesting the musical sound of lapsing water. +These various notes and calls are heard incessantly until the young are +hatched, when the birds at once become silent." + +The nesting habits of _caesia_ are quite similar to those of our +American forms, with the following interesting exception: The doorway +of the cavity constituting the bird's domicile is plastered up with +clay, made viscid by the nuthatch's glutinous saliva, leaving in the +center a circular hole just large enough to afford entrance and exit +for the little owner. Says the author quoted above: "When the sitting +bird is interfered with, she defends her treasures with great courage, +hissing like a wryneck, and vigorously striking at her aggressor with +her sharp bill." Like our common white-breast, the British bird may be +attracted to human dwellings by furnishing him a regular supply of food +suited to his taste, and may grow so trustful as to come when called, +and even to catch morsels thrown to him in the air. In the forest he +often hammers so loudly on a resonant branch that his tattoo is +mistaken for that of a woodpecker. The interior of the nest "contains +a bed of dry leaves, or the filmy flakes of the inner bark of a fir or +cedar, on which the eggs are laid." + +In northern Europe another form of the nuthatch guild is found, known +scientifically as _Sitta europea_, whose under parts are white without +any washing of buff on the breast. + +The Levant furnishes a most charming addition to the feathered +brotherhood now under consideration. The scientific gentlemen have +christened it _Sitta syriaca_, and its common name is the rock +nuthatch, an appellation that is most appropriate, for its chosen +haunts are rocky cliffs, over the faces of which it scuttles in the +most approved nuthatch fashion, head up or down, as the whim seizes it, +clinging with its sharp claws to the chinks, ledges, protuberances, and +rough surfaces of the rocky walls. A little larger than its European +cousin, its markings are quite similar. In Syria it is common as far +north as the southern shores of the Black Sea. Although somewhat shy, +it is described as having "sprightly manners and a clear, ringing +trill." Odd indeed are some of nature's evolutions, I had almost said +caprices, for the rock nuthatch is just as much at home and apparently +just as happy on its bleak precipices as is our merry whitebreast in +his umbrageous home in the oak or maple forest. + +But what kind of nests do the rock nuthatches construct on their +limestone walls? That is one of the most interesting features of the +life of these birds. One writer[1] who has observed them in their +native haunts describes the rock nuthatch as "an expert clay mixer and +molder." The bird does not chisel out a nursery in the rock--no, +indeed; his method of constructing his nest is as follows: Having found +a little hollow or indentation on the rocky wall, he will erect a cap +or dome of mortar over it, plastering the structure so firmly against +the surface that no rain or storm or predaceous creeping thing can +demolish it until long after it has been abandoned by the little +architect. The circular base of the nest is ten or twelve inches in +diameter. The dome is not entirely closed up, but a small orifice is +left in the center, upon the edges of which a narrow neck or funnel, +also made of mortar, is raised, the hole just large enough to admit the +body of the bird. The funnel is about three inches long. + +The building material employed is fine clay softened and glutinated +with the bird's saliva and mixed with plant fibers, for the little +mason does not believe in making bricks without straw. So well packed +is the inch-thick wall that a stiff knife blade must be used to cut +through it. While the natural color of the adobe cottage is ash-gray, +and therefore harmonizes with the general hue of its surroundings, and +also with the mezzotints of the builder, yet he sometimes decorates it +with the gaily colored wings of moths caught in the chase and attached +to the plaster while it is fresh. The rock nuthatch is as expert a +mixer of mortar as the well-known cliff swallows of our own country, +and his adobe dwellings bear a close resemblance to theirs. + +It is interesting to note that the European nuthatch, while nesting +regularly in tree cavities, sometimes also chooses the crannies of +rocks, when he goes a little more extensively into the plastering +business; but his skill is not so well developed as that of his +oriental cousin, whose mud cottage is a model of its kind. + + + +[1] The writer referred to is Mr. H. C. Tracy, to whose charming +article in "The Wilson Bulletin," published at Oberlin, Ohio, I am +indebted for all my material on the rock nuthatch. + + + + +A FEATHERED PARASITE* + +*Reprinted from Appleton's "Popular Science Monthly," with additions. + + +Nothing could more clearly prove that a common law runs through the +whole domain of Nature than the fact that in every division of her +realm there seems to be a class of parasites. In the vegetable world, +as is well known, there are various plants that depend wholly on other +plants for the supply of their vital forces. And in the human sphere +there are parasites in a very real and literal sense--men and women who +rely upon the toil and thrift of others to sustain them in worthless +idleness. + +In view of the almost universal character of this law it would be +strange if these peculiar forms of dependence did not appear in the +avian community. We do find such developments in that department of +creation. Across the waters there is one bird that has won an +unenviable reputation as a parasite: the European cuckoo relies almost +wholly on the efforts of its more thrifty neighbors to hatch and rear +its young, and thereby perpetuate the species. Strangely enough, our +American cuckoos are not given to such slovenly habits, but build their +own nests and faithfully perform the duties of nidification, as all +respectable feathered folk should. However, this parasitical habit +breaks out, quite unexpectedly, it must be conceded, in another +American family of birds entirely distinct from the cuckoo group. + +In America the cowbird, often called the cow bunting, is the only +member of the avian household that spirits its eggs into the nests of +other birds. The theory of evolution can do little toward accounting +for the anomaly, and even if it should venture upon some suggestions it +would still be just as difficult to explain the cause of the evolution +in this special group, while all other avian groups follow the law of +thrift and self-reliance. + +[Illustration: Cowbird] + +The cowbird belongs to the family of birds scientifically known as +_Icteridae_, which includes such familiar species as the bobolinks, +orioles, meadowlarks, and the various kinds of blackbirds, none of +which, I am glad to say, are parasites. The name _Molothrus_ has been +given to the genus that includes the cowbirds. They are confined to +the American continent, having no analogues in the lands across the +seas. The same may be said, indeed, of the whole _Icteridae_ family. +It may be a matter of surprise to many persons that there are twelve +species and subspecies of cowbirds in North and South America, for most +of us are familiar only with the common cowbird (_Molothrus ater_) of +our temperate regions. Of these twelve species only three are to be +found within the limits of the United States, one is a resident of +western Mexico and certain parts of Central America, while the rest +find habitat exclusively in South America. A fresh field of +investigation is open to some enterprising and ambitious naturalist who +wishes to study several of these species, as comparatively little is +known of their habits, and indeed much still remains to be learned of +the whole genus, familiar as one or two of the species are. Their sly, +surreptitious manners render them exceedingly difficult to study at +close range and with anything like satisfactory detail. + +Are all of them parasites? Probably they are--at least to a greater or +less degree--except one, the bay-winged cowbird of South America, which +I shall reserve for notice later on in this chapter. We might assert +that our common cowbirds are the parasites _par excellence_ of the +family, for, so far as I can learn from reading and observation, they +never build their own nests or rear their own young, but shift all the +duties of maternity, save the laying of the eggs, upon the shoulders of +other innocent birds. + +These avian "spongers" have a wide geographical range, inhabiting the +greater part of the United States and southern Canada, except the +extensive forest regions and some portions of the southern states. +They are most abundant in the states bordering on the upper Mississippi +River and its numerous tributaries. On the Pacific coast west of the +Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains, they occur only as stragglers. +The most northern point at which they have been known to breed is the +neighborhood of Little Slave Lake in southern Athabaska. In the autumn +the majority of these birds migrate to southern Mexico, although a +considerable number remain in our southern states, and a few +occasionally tarry for the winter even as far north as New England and +southern Michigan. + +The male cowbird looks like a well-dressed gentleman--and may have even +a slightly clerical air--in his closely fitting suit of glossy black, +with its greenish and purplish iridescence, and his hood of rich +metallic brown covering his head, neck, and chest. He makes a poor +shift as a musician, but his failure is not due to lack of effort, for +during courtship days he does his level best to sing a variety of +tunes, expanding and distorting his throat, fluffing up his feathers, +spreading out his wings and tail, his purpose evidently being to make +himself as fascinating as possible in the eyes of his lady love. One +of his calls sounds like "spreele," piped in so piercing a key that it +seems almost to perforate your brain. + +One observer maintains that the cowbirds are not only parasitical in +their habits, but are also absolutely devoid of conjugal affection, +practicing polyandry, and seldom even mating. This is a serious +charge, but it is doubtless true, for even during the season of +courtship and breeding these birds live in flocks of six to twelve, the +males almost always outnumbering the females. However, if their family +relations are somewhat irregular, no one can accuse them of engaging in +brawls, as so many other birds do, for both males and females seem to +be on the most amicable terms with one another, and are, to all +appearances, entirely free from jealousy. Who has ever seen two +cowbirds fighting a duel like the orioles, meadowlarks, and robins? + +In obtruding her eggs into the nests of other birds, Madame Cowbird is +sly and stealthy. She does not drive the rightful owners from their +nests, but simply watches her opportunity to drop her eggs into them +when they are unguarded. No doubt she has been on the alert while her +industrious neighbors have been constructing their domiciles, and knows +where almost every nest in the vicinity is hidden. Says Major Charles +Bendire: "In rare instances only will a fresh cowbird's egg be found +among incubated ones of the rightful owners. I have observed this only +on a single occasion." From one to seven eggs of the parasite are +found in the nests of the dupes. In most cases the number is two, but +in the case of ground builders the cowbird seems to have little fear of +overdoing her imposition. Major Bendire says that he once found the +nest of an oven-bird containing seven cowbird's eggs and only one of +the little owner's. + +If parasitism were the only crime of the cowbird one would not feel so +much disposed to put her into the Newgate Calendar; but she not only +inflicts her own eggs upon her innocent victims, but often actually +tosses their eggs out of the nests in order to make room for her own. +Nor is that all; she will sometimes puncture the eggs of the owners to +prevent their hatching, and thus increase the chances of her own +offspring. Whether this is done with her beak or her claws is still an +open question, Major Bendire inclining to the belief that it is done +with the claws. + +Her finesse is still further to be seen in the fact that she usually +selects some bird for a victim that is smaller than herself, so that +when her young hopefuls begin to grow they will be able to crowd or +starve out the true heirs of the family. In this way it is thought +that many a brood comes to an untimely end, the foster parents having +no means of replacing their own little ones when they have been ejected +from the nest. However, I doubt whether the cowbird's impositions are +usually so destructive as some observers are inclined to believe. I +once found a bush sparrow's nest containing one cowbird and four little +sparrows, all of which were in a thriving condition. The sparrows were +so well fed and active that as soon as I touched the nest they sprang, +with loud chirping, over the rim of their cottage and scuttled away +through the grass. They were certainly strong and healthy, in spite of +the presence of their big foster brother. Before they flitted away I +had time to notice how the little family were disposed. The cowbird +was squatted in the center of the nest, while his little foster +brothers and sisters were ranged around him, partly covering him and no +doubt keeping him snug and warm. They were further advanced than he, +for while they scrambled from the nest, he could do nothing but snuggle +close on the bottom of the cup. + +A wood thrush's nest that I found contained two young thrushes and two +buntings. All of them were about half fledged. Being of nearly the +same size, the queerly assorted bantlings lived in apparent peace in +their narrow quarters. I watched them at frequent intervals, but saw +no attempts on the part of the foundlings to crowd out their +fellow-nestlings. The cowbirds were the first to leave the sylvan roof +tree. Thus it appears that the intrusion of the cowbird's eggs does +not always mean disaster to the real offspring of the brooding family, +but of course it often prevents the laying of the full complement of +eggs by the builders themselves. + +Even after the youngsters have left the nest the mother cowbird does +not assume the care of them, but still leaves them in charge of the +foster parents. It is laughable, almost pathetic, to see a tiny +oven-bird or redstart feeding a strapping young cowbird which is +several times as large as herself. She looks like a pigmy feeding a +giant. In order to thrust a tidbit into his mouth she must often stand +on her tiptoes. Why the diminutive caterer does not see through the +fraud I can not say. She really seems to be attached to the hulking +youngster. By and by, however, when he grows large enough to shift for +himself, he deserts his little parents and nurses and seeks +companionship among his own blood kindred, who doubtless bring him up +in the way all cowbirds should go. + +It is surprising how many species are imposed on successfully by the +cowbird. The number, so far as has been observed, is ninety, with +probably more to be added. Among the birds most frequently victimized +are the phoebes, the song sparrows, the indigo birds, the bush +sparrows, and the yellow-breasted chats. Even the nests of the +red-headed woodpecker and the rock wrens are not exempt. Some species, +notably the summer warblers, detect the imposture and set about +defeating the purposes of the interloper by building another story to +their little cottage, leaving the obtruded eggs in the cellar, where +they do not receive enough warmth to develop the embryo. + +While it is surprising that acute birds should allow themselves to be +imposed on in this way, perhaps, after all, they look upon the cowbird +as a kind of blessing in disguise; at least, he may not be an unmixed +evil. They may act on the principle of reciprocity--that "one good +turn deserves another." What I mean is this: In my rambles I have +often found the cowbirds the first to give warning of the approach of a +supposed danger. Having no domestic duties of their own, they can well +secrete themselves in a tall tree overlooking the entire premises, and +thus play the useful role of sentinel. This, I am disposed to believe, +is one of the compensating uses of this parasite, and may furnish the +reason for his being tolerated in birdland. And he is tolerated. Has +any one ever seen other birds driving the cowbird away from their +breeding precincts, or charging him with desperate courage, as they do +the blue jays, the hawks, the owls, and other predatory species? He +evidently subserves some useful purpose in the avian community, or he +would not be treated with so much consideration. + +A young cowbird that I purloined from the nest and tried to rear by +hand did not prove a pleasant pet. He was placed in a large cage with +several other kinds of young birds. At first he was quite docile, +taking his food from my hand and even allowing some of his feathered +companions to feed him; but in a few weeks he grew so wild and +manifested such a fierce desire for the outdoor world that I was glad +to carry him out to the woods and give him his freedom. A young +red-winged blackbird and a pair of meadowlarks developed a different +disposition. + +The dwarf cow-bird (_Molothrus ater obscurus_) is similar to his +relative just described, except that he is smaller and his geographical +range is more restricted. He is a resident of Mexico, southern Texas, +southwestern Arizona, and southern California. His habits resemble +those of the common cowbird. Another bunting having almost the same +range, although a little more southerly, is the red-eyed cowbird, which +is larger and darker than our common cowbird and has the same +parasitical habits. + +In South America three species have been studied by Mr. W. H. Hudson, +who, in collaboration with Mr. P. L. Sclater, has published a most +valuable work on Argentine ornithology. One of these is called the +Argentine cowbird (_Molothrus bonariensis_). It is a blue-blooded +parasite, and has been seen striking its beak into the eggs of other +birds and flying away with them. The males, it is said, show little +discrimination in pecking the eggs, for they are just as likely to +puncture the cowbird eggs as those of other birds. Every egg in a nest +is frequently perforated in this way. These buntings lay a large +number of eggs, often dropping them on the ground, laying them in +abandoned nests, or depositing them in nests in which incubation has +already begun, in which case all of them are lost. However, in spite +of this wastefulness the birds thrive, thousands of them being seen in +flocks during the season of migration. + +And, by the way, a description of their habits by Mr. Hudson has thrown +interesting light on the subject of migration in the southern +hemisphere. South of the equator the recurrence of the seasons is the +exact reverse of their recurrence north of the equator, and therefore +the breeding season of the birds is in the autumn instead of the +spring; the flight from winter cold occurs in the spring instead of in +the autumn, and is toward the north instead of toward the south. Thus, +in February and March the Argentine cowbirds are seen flying in vast +battalions in the direction of the equatorial regions--that is, +northward--in whose salubrious clime they spend the winter. As our +northern autumn draws near and the southern spring approaches these +winged migrants take the air line for their breeding haunts in the +Argentine Republic and Patagonia. At the same time the migrants of the +northern hemisphere are pressing southward before the blustering north +wind. It all seems wonderful and solemn, this world-wide processional +of the seasons and the birds. + +Naturally one would expect to find some other eccentricities in this +aberrant family besides that of parasitism, and in this expectation one +is not disappointed. There are two other species of cowbirds in the +Argentine country--the screaming cowbird (_Molothrus rufoaxillaris_) +and the bay-winged cowbird (_Molothrus badius_). The latter is only +partly a trencher on the rights of other birds--only half a parasite. +Indeed, it sometimes builds its own nest, which is quite a respectable +affair; but, as if to prove that it still has some remnants of cowbird +depravity in its nature, it frequently drives other birds from their +rightful possessions, appropriates the quarters thus acquired, lays its +eggs into them, and proceeds to the performance of its domestic duties +like its respectable neighbors. Its virtue is that it never imposes +the work of incubation and brood rearing on any of its feathered +associates, even though it does sometimes eject them from their +premises. + +But what is to be said of the screaming cowbird? Instead of inflicting +its eggs on its more distant avian relatives, it watches its chance and +slyly drops them into the domicile of its bay-winged cousins, and +actually makes them hatch and rear its offspring! This seems to be +carrying imposture to the extreme of refinement, or possibly developing +it into a fine art, and reminds one of those human good-for-naughts who +"sponge" off their relatives rather than go among strangers. + +Before closing this chapter I must call attention to one of the most +surprising discoveries ever made by an American observer of bird ways. +It was reported some time after my article on the cowbird was first +published in Appleton's "Popular Science Monthly." The observer was +Joseph F. Honecker, whose statement was printed in "American +Ornithology" for June, 1902, and runs as follows: + +"As ornithologists and all bird students think and believe that the +cowbird will build no nest, but always lays in the nests of other +birds, I am glad to give the results of my experiments. In order to +get the desired results, in the spring of 1899 I secured a pair of +cowbirds and placed them in a large cage, cared well for them, and +supplied them with plenty of nesting material. To my surprise, the +female built a nest, laid four eggs, hatched them, and reared the +young, and on July twenty-eighth, young and old were given their +freedom. This will show that the cowbird will build a nest and care +for its young in captivity, while in its wild life it has never been +known to do so." + +A BLUE CANNIBAL* + +*Reprinted by permission from "The Evening Post," New York. + + +In his coat of light blue, trimmed with white and black, bearing his +crest jauntily atop of his head, the blue jay presents an attractive +picture. And, indeed, although I myself feel that the Baltimore +oriole, the scarlet tanager, the ruby-throated hummingbird, and many of +the wood warblers carry off the palm for brilliancy of plumage, there +are persons who declare that the jay is the most handsomely colored +bird in our temperate regions. + +While the jay dons an engaging attire, not much can be said in the way +of eulogy for his vocal talents or acquirements. Many of his calls are +harsh, penetrating, and even raucous. Frequently, too, he indulges in +a great to-do over nothing, fairly splitting your ears with his noisy +cries. I have said it is a to-do over nothing, though Mr. Jay may +think he has the best reason in the world for making a fuss. Often +espying some coveted prize on the ground in my back yard, instead of +quietly dropping down and taking it, he and his companions would dash +about in the trees, swing their bodies sidewise and up and down in an +excited way, and scream at the top of their voices, sometimes drawing +me out of the house to see what had gone wrong in Jaydom. They seemed +to be determined to attract the attention of every person on the +premises to the fact that they wanted that morsel on the ground, but +were afraid to venture down after it. Perhaps they meant by their +objurgations to test their human neighbors, to ascertain whether any of +them were prowling about with a gun or a sling, ready to do them harm. +If there should be any such prowlers, probably the jays meant to induce +them to come out of their ambush, to show themselves in the open, and +give their jayships a chance to escape. Bird psychology, as you will +have occasion to note more than once, is a good deal of an enigma. How +often we would give a handsome bonus to a bird if he would let us know +precisely what he was thinking about! + +[Illustration: Blue Jay] + +Although no musician, the jay has quite an extensive vocal repertory. +Besides his loud, challenging call, he frequently utters a series of +calls that have a pensive quality and that fill the mind with an +indefinable foreboding, especially on chill autumn days when all the +woods are bare and gray and the wind is moaning through the boughs. +Sometimes when a jay is hidden in a copse, he utters a low, scolding +sputter, that seems to express the very quintessence of disgust. It is +simply his way of telling you what he thinks of a man who goes prowling +about without leave in the precincts of the birds. + +Have you ever heard the jay's brief musical roulade? It is only a wisp +of melody, rarely rich and suggestive, heard a moment, then gone. You +know something sweet has passed by, but something so brief and elusive +that you scarcely know what it was. Long after it has dropped on your +ear, it continues to haunt your memory, and you try again and again to +reproduce it, but in vain. It has a kind of gurgling quality, as if +the bird were pressing his notes through an aqueous lyre, if such a +conception is possible. Besides, I have, on more than one occasion, +heard a jay warble a soft, reserved little lay that was continued for +many minutes. It sounded very like the song of the brown thrasher, +much modulated and partly uttered under its breath--a sort of flowing, +rythmical melody. + +A question that disturbs all bird lovers more or less is this: Does the +fine white vest of the jay cover a bad heart? Is he really a thief, a +nest robber, or even worse, a cannibal, in plumes? May the guardian +spirit of all feathered folk forbid that I should blacken the +reputation of any bird, yet honesty compels me to give an affirmative +answer to the foregoing question. I hasten, however, to say that I do +not believe he is as black as he has been painted by some observers, +who seem to delight in making out a verdict of capital guilt against +him. Although a predatory bird, he is not engaged all the time in +bloodthirsty pursuits, but only while his young are in the nest +clamoring for food. What are some of the proofs of his vandalism? I +will mention a few of them. + +First, almost all the small birds make uncompromising war upon him, +especially in the breeding season, and many of them show signs of dire +distress when he goes near their nests. They often utter pitiful +cries, droop their wings, and the bravest of them dash at him savagely, +giving him many a cuff on the head and back. The wood pewee and the +kingbird succeed, I think, in driving him away; but the vireos and +warblers, being so much smaller, suffer greatly from his depredations. +If there were no real cause for it, these birds would not be filled +with panic and rage on account of the jay's presence. There is strong +presumptive evidence that they know him for an outlaw only too well. + +The following incident will furnish positive proof of the jay's +cannibalistic proclivities: One spring my little boy brought home from +the country a young house wren, thinking it would make a delightful +pet. It was quite well fledged, but its short tail and white mouth +border proclaimed the tenderness of its youth. Fearing that the little +thing could not be reared by hand, as it refused all our proffered +tidbits, and chirped continually for its parents, I persuaded the lad +to give it its freedom. A mother wren living on our premises seemed +inclined to adopt the little waif, and we decided to put it under her +care. No sooner was the youngling let out of the cage than it flew to +the side of the house and began to scramble up the brick wall. It had +a hard tug, but at length succeeded in reaching a resting place on a +window-shutter of the second story. + +Presently the mother wren heard its calls and paid it a visit; but +instead of feeding it, she seemed very anxious to drive it away, +knowing, no doubt, that there were predaceous enemies in the +neighborhood. In her attempts to drive it into hiding, she pecked it +on the head and in the mouth. Then she dropped down into a thicket and +secured a green worm, with which she flew up to the chirping waif's +perch; but I could not make out that she fed the birdling, though she +thrust the worm toward its open mouth. Soon after she had gone off the +second time, the little bird clambered around the corner of the wall to +the lower side of the house, where it rested a while on a narrow shelf. + +All this time my boy and I were watching it intently. Suddenly a blue +jay came flying over from one of the trees of an adjacent yard, moving +in a rapid, stealthy way. First it plunged into an apple tree at the +corner of the house; then, before I could collect my wits enough to +know what was happening, it darted over to the brick wall, seized the +little wren with its bill, and bore it off. The mother wren followed, +uttering a pitiful chatter, while the little victim called loudly for +help. The blue kidnapper darted to a tree in my neighbor's yard, where +he put his booty under his claw on a limb, holding it by one slender +leg, while its body dangled below. Hoping still to rescue the little +captive, I sprang over into the adjacent yard with a loud shout and +much waving of my hands; but my vigorous efforts only caused the jay to +pick up the wren in its bill and continue its flight, and neither wren +nor jay was seen by me again. This incident furnishes unimpeachable +testimony against the character of the blue-coated Robin Hood. There +was no faltering or hesitancy in his conduct, but he seized and carried +off his little victim as if he were to the manner born, and had become +hardened by practice in depredations of the sort. + +A farmer once related the following incident to me: A pair of chipping +sparrows had built a nest in a bush in his front yard. One day after +the little ones had arrived, he heard a distressed chirping coming from +the parent birds, and on going to the front yard, he caught a blue jay +in the act of picking a callow bantling from the chippie's nest. +Holding it in his bill, the jay flew across the field with his prize, +and presently returned and bore off a second nestling. By this time +the farmer's ire was aroused; he bolted into the house and secured his +shotgun, and when the marauding jay came back on the third trip on +robbery intent, the man brought him to the ground with a shot that +ended his career. + +Yet the jay is not wholly bad--indeed, not even half bad. Before me +lies a valuable pamphlet entitled "The Blue Jay and His Food," written +by F. E. L. Beal, Assistant Biologist of the Department of Agriculture +at Washington, whose researches have converted him into something of an +apologist for our blue gentleman in feathers. He dissected the +stomachs of 292 jays, collected during every month of the year in +twenty-two states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. After stating +that mineral substances in the stomachs examined averaged over 14 per +cent of the total contents, Mr. Beal says: + +"The real food is composed of 24.3 per cent of animal matter and 75.7 +per cent of vegetable matter, or a trifle more than three times as much +vegetable as animal. The animal food is chiefly made up of insects, +with a few spiders, myriapods, snails, and small vertebrates, such as +fish, salamanders, tree frogs, mice, and birds. Everything was +carefully examined which might by any possibility indicate that birds +or eggs had been eaten, but remains of birds were found in only two, +and the shells of small birds' eggs in only three of the 292 stomachs. +One of these, taken on February tenth, contained the bones, claws, and +a little skin of a bird's foot. Another, taken on June twenty-fourth, +contained the remains of a young bird. The three stomachs with bird's +eggs were collected in June, August, and October, respectively. The +shell eaten in October belonged to the egg of some larger bird like the +ruffed grouse and, considering the time of year, was undoubtedly merely +an empty shell from an old nest. Shells of eggs which were identified +as those of domesticated fowls, or some bird of equal size, were found +in eleven stomachs, collected at irregular times during the year. This +evidence would seem to show that more eggs of domesticated fowls than +of wild birds are destroyed, but it is much more probable that these +shells were obtained from refuse heaps about farm-houses." + +Mr. Beal's dissections are very significant, proving that the jay is +not only not so destructive of eggs and bantlings as was supposed, but +also that he destroys many noxious insects, and is, therefore, a bird +of real economic value. The great bulk of his insect diet consists of +beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, with a few bugs, wasps, and +flies, and an occasional spider and myriapod. The average of insect +food for the whole year was 23 per cent, varying from less than 1 per +cent in January to over 66 per cent in August, and it is gratifying to +know that predaceous beetles and tent caterpillars form a large part of +the jay's bill of fare. + +His demands upon domesticated fruits and grains are comparatively +light. He cares more for acorns and mast than for corn. The last he +does not greatly relish, but eats it chiefly when the snow covers his +favorite food. It is a little surprising that he occasionally varies +his diet with fish, salamanders, tree frogs, mice, and shrews. Mr. +Beal's conclusion is put in the following sentence, which closes his +valuable monograph: "In fact, the examination of nearly three hundred +stomachs shows that the blue jay does far more good than harm." + +An important question, therefore, from more than one point of view is: +Should we ever kill the blue jay? Perhaps as sensible an answer to +that question as can be given is this: We should by no means engage in +a war of extermination upon the jays, but it might be wise, when they +become too abundant, to thin out their numbers somewhat by shooting +some of them or driving them away. It can scarcely be denied that if +they are permitted to thrive without hindrance, and grow to large +numbers, they will become sorely destructive of the eggs and nestlings +of more desirable birds. I assure you, however, that I make this +statement with reluctance and reserve, for the handsome blue-coat is +one of our most cunning and interesting birds, and would be greatly +missed if he were exterminated. + +The blue jay is also a plucky bird, as I discovered one day not so very +long ago. A pair of jays had a nest in a little park in front of my +house, and one day one of the youngsters, which were still unable to +fly, dropped to the ground. Fearing the cats or evilly disposed boys +might catch the little fellow, I thought to do him and his parents a +good turn by catching him and putting him up in one of the trees beyond +the reach of his enemies. After quite a chase I succeeded in catching +him. But the parent birds, flitting and calling in the trees, did not +understand my well-meant intentions, and so one of them swung down and +struck me on the top of the head with so much force that, either with +his bill or his claws; he punctured the skin and made the blood come, +leaving a scar on my crown for quite a while. The pesky thing! I +think he might have known that I was his friend--but he didn't, his +instinct not being a sure guide that time. But who can blame him? Not +an hour afterwards the youngling again fell to the ground, when some +children found it and killed it without the least excuse for their +action. In such a case how could the parent birds distinguish between +friend and foe? They found their little one lying dead on the ground, +and mourned for it with heart-broken cries. + +Some things cause a great to-do in the jay world. One day, while I was +living in Kansas, the skeleton of a jay, with the feathers still +attached, was found in the rubbish of an ash-pile in my rear yard, and +exposed to view. An hour later a half dozen or more jays were flinging +about in the peach tree above the feathers of their dead comrade, +screaming at the top of their voices, "juking" their bodies, as is +their wont when excited, and glaring at the disheveled plumes on the +ground. If it was a funeral service, it certainly was a demonstrative +one, and I do not believe that their grief and terror were affected. + + + + +A HANDSOME SCISSORSTAIL* + +*Reprinted by permission from "American Ornithology," with important +additions. + + +In order to study the scissorstailed flycatcher (_Milvulus +forficatus_), of which some friends had told me again and again in a +glow of enthusiasm, I made a trip to southern Kansas and northern +Oklahoma. Several days passed before an individual of this species put +in appearance, as the scissorstails, which are migrants, had not yet +returned from their winter quarters in a more southern clime, and so I +had to wait for their arrival. + +One day a friend and I were driving along a country road over the +prairie, when a quaint bird form went swinging from the wire fence by +the roadside toward a clump of willows in a shallow dip of the prairie. +Dashing after him, I heard a clear, musical call that proclaimed a bird +with which I had not yet become acquainted. + +In a few moments he flew from the tree. My binocular was fixed upon +him as he went flitting across the field and presently alighted on the +ground. My surmise was correct; it was the scissorstail flycatcher, +one of the most unique and handsome birds belonging to our American +avifauna, one that merits more than a passing notice. To see him +perched on a fence, or swinging gracefully through the air, and hear +his bell-like calls and whistles makes you feel as if you were suddenly +transported to a foreign land, like Australia or Borneo, where so many +feathered curios are to be found. + +In a fever of excitement I followed the bird, which presently flew back +to the fence by the roadside. He flitted from point to point as my +friend and I slowly pursued him, giving us an exhibition of his +scissoring process. Sometimes he would alight on a post, then on the +barbed wire, usually sitting flat on his breast. When open, the tail +is bicolored, the outer border all around being white and the inner +black. His general color is hoary ash, paler, almost white, below, +giving out a slight iridescence in the sunshine; his wings are +blackish, with white trimmings; his flanks are stained with salmon-red, +and when his wings are spread, there appears a large blotch of scarlet +at the inner angle of the intersection with the body. One individual +that I afterwards saw wore a scarlet epaulet, which was almost +concealed by the other plumes when the wing was closed, but was clearly +seen when it was extended. An orange or scarlet gem adorns the crown, +but is so well hidden by the other crest feathers that it is seldom +noticed. + +My friend and I were privileged to witness a rare and attractive +scissorstail show, more gratifying than any circus performance. A +loggerhead shrike suddenly appeared on the scene, and made an assault +on the flycatcher. The two birds went gyrating, zigzagging, see-sawing +through the air in a perfect jumble of white and black and ash. It +must be remembered that the shrike himself makes a handsome picture on +the wing, and when you come to mix up a scissorstail and a shrike in +inextricable confusion, you have a feathery display worth seeing. + +Nor was that the end of the exhibition, for in a moment a second +scissorstail, the precise _facsimile_ of the first, appeared from +somewhere, and the two flycatchers combined against their enemy. Then +for a few minutes there was such a chaos of shrike and scissorstail +that we could scarcely tell which was which. By and by the shrike +wheeled away, when, as if to bring the gladiatorial show to a climax, +the scissorstails engaged in a set-to that was really wonderful, coming +together in the air, whirling around and around, rising in a spiral +course, opening and closing their beautiful forked tails in quick +succession, the black and white trimmings flashing momentarily, then +disappearing, until the contestants finally descended, parted in the +most graceful manner, and alighted on separate fence posts, none the +worse for their _melee_. + +In the evening I returned to the enchanted spot, but the scissorstails +had disappeared. Not having had my fill of these charmers, I stopped, +on my return home, for a day at Wellington, Kansas, where I was so +fortunate as to find three birds of this species, who permitted me to +watch them to my heart's content. They are not shy birds, but fly in a +graceful, leisurely way from post to post along the fence as you walk +or drive, sometimes sitting quietly to let you pass by. In this +respect their habits are much like those of their cousin, the kingbird. + +As his name indicates, our bird is the proud possessor of a genuine +scissorstail, composed of two long, slender prongs that are spread far +apart under certain conditions of flight. Let me describe the process +minutely, for it is unique here in North America where fork-tailed +birds are rare. + +When the bird starts up from a perch, he spreads apart the prongs of +his tail for a moment, as if to give himself a spring; then he closes +them in a single slender stem, tapering outward to a point, keeping +them closed during prolonged flight, and just as he sweeps down to +another perch, he opens his ornamental scissors again, shutting them up +as soon as he has settled upon his resting place. He does not open and +close his tail at regular intervals during flight, as might be +supposed, but keeps it closed until he descends to a perch, when it is +opened for a moment in the act of alighting. However, if he has +occasion to wheel or make a sudden turn in the air, either for an +insect or in a playful prank, his scissors fly open, one might almost +say spontaneously, no doubt serving the double purpose of rudder and +balancing pole. When closed, the tail is very narrow, looking almost +like a single plume. On the perch (except when he desires to shift his +position, when he also makes use of his wings) his tail is closed. +Therefore the picture of this bird in Dr. Coues's "Key to North +American Birds" is not accurate, for it represents our bird in the +sitting posture with the tines of his fork spread apart. If the wings +were outstretched, representing the bird in the act of alighting or +shifting his position, the picture would be true to scissorstail life. + +The range of these birds is somewhat restricted, and for that reason, +doubtless, so little is known about their habits. According to +Ridgway, their proper home is in eastern Mexico and the southwestern +prairie districts of the United States, though many of them come north +as far as southern Kansas and southwestern Missouri to spend the summer +and rear their families. In winter they go as far south as Costa Rico. +Restricted as their habitat is, it is curious to note that they are +"accidental" in a few unexpected places, such as Key West, Fla., +Norfolk, Va., and also in several localities in New England, Manitoba, +and Hudson Bay Territory. Prof. W. W. Cooke, of Colorado, says they +are "rare, if not accidental," in that state. To show that our birds +are unique, it is relevant to say that there are only two species of +scissors-tailed flycatchers in North America, which have the genus +_Milvulus_ all to themselves. The other member of the genus is the +forked-tailed flycatcher (_Milvulus tyrannus_), a resident of tropical +America, migrating north normally as far as southern Mexico. He is a +sort of southern twin of our scissorstail. + +The nests of the scissorstails are set in the crotches of trees in the +neighborhood of country homes on the prairie. Considering the size of +the birds, their nests are quite small, not so large as those of the +brown thrashers, though the cup is deeper and the architecture more +compact and elaborate. A friend describes a nest which he found on a +locust tree about sixteen feet from the ground. It was made mostly of +dry grass and locust blossoms, with here and there a piece of twine +braided into the structure. It had no special lining, but the grass +was more evenly woven on the inside of the cup than elsewhere. + +From three to five eggs are deposited. The ground color is white, +either pure or creamy, sparingly mottled with rich madder-brown and +lilac-gray, the spots being thicker and larger on the larger end. +While the nest is undergoing examination, the owners circle and hover +overhead, much after the fashion of the red-winged blackbirds, +expressing their disapproval in loud and musical calls, and displaying +their rich scarlet decorations. + +My descriptions have related only to the male bird, whose beautiful +forked tail is nine to ten inches long, and whose colors are clear and +more or less intense. His spouse resembles him, but is slightly +smaller, while her tail, though forked like her mate's, is from two and +a half to three inches shorter. The salmon and scarlet ornaments on +the sides, flanks, and axillars are paler than those of her lord, and +the scarlet spot shows very indistinctly on her occiput. The young of +both sexes don the dress of the mother bird during the first season, +save that they fail to adorn themselves with a scarlet gem on the crown. + +Like all the members of the flycatcher group, the scissorstails capture +insects while on the wing, making many an attractive picture as they +perform their graceful and interesting evolutions in the air. + +It was a year or two later that I saw a scissorstail performing his +ablutions in the northwestern part of Arkansas. How do you suppose he +went about it? Not in the way birds usually do, by squatting down in +the shallow water, twinkling their wings and tail, and sprinkling the +liquid all over their plumage. No; this bird has a reputation to +maintain for originality, and therefore he took his bath in this +manner: First he perched on a telegraph wire by the roadside; then he +swung gracefully down to a little pond, dashed lightly into the water, +giving himself a slight wetting, after which he flew up to his original +perch on the wire. A minute or less was then spent in preening his +plumes; but they were not moist enough to suit his purpose, so he +darted down to the pond again, making the spray rise as lie struck the +water; then up to his perch he swung again, to arrange his feathers; +and this was repeated a number of times, till his toilet was completed. +It would not be safe to risk saying that the scissorstail always takes +his bath in this way; but I know this one did. I once saw a kingbird +doing the same thing, and so it may be a fashion in flycatcher circles. + +I am minded, in order to make this monograph more complete, to borrow a +couple of paragraphs from Mrs. Bailey's "Handbook of Birds of the +Western United States." She has studied the bird in the Southwest, and +gives the following graphic description of the bird and its habits: + +"One of his favorite performances is to fly up and, with rattling +wings, execute an aerial seesaw, a line of sharp-angled VVVVVVV's, +helping himself at the short turns by rapidly opening and shutting his +long white scissors. As he goes up and down he utters all the while a +penetrating scream, _Ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee-ka-quee_, the +emphasis being given each time at the top of the ascending line. + +"Frequently when he is passing along with the even flight of a +sober-minded crow, and you are quietly admiring the salmon lining of +his wings, he shoots rattling into the air, and, as you stare after +him, drops back as suddenly as he rose. He does this apparently +because the spirit moves him, as a boy slings a stone at the sky, but +fervor is added by the appearance of a rival or an enemy, for he is +much like a _Tyrannus_ in his masterful way of controlling the +landscape. He will attack caracaras and white-necked ravens, lighting +on their backs and giving them vicious blows while screaming in their +ears." + + + + +AN ALPINE ROSY FINCH* + +*Part of the material used in this chapter has already appeared in the +author's work entitled "Birds of the Rockies," but it is here printed +in different form, that of a monograph, with a number of additional +facts. The writer feels that the readers of the present volume will +relish at least a taste of bird study among the alpine heights of the +Rocky Mountains. The article is reprinted from the "Denver Post," +whose courtesy is hereby acknowledged. + + +The common name of the subject of this sketch is the brown-capped rosy +finch; in the scientific works on ornithology he is called the +brown-capped leucosticte. He is certainly a bird of peculiar habits +and out-of-the-way preferences. Should he send you his card from his +summer residence, it would read something like this: "At home in the +mountains of Colorado, from 10,000 feet above sea-level to the summits +of the highest peaks." There is only one other bird in Colorado that +has so high a summer range, and that is the white-tailed ptarmigan, +usually called, in hunter's parlance, the "mountain quail." + +The rosy finch is slightly larger than the bluebird. His general color +is light brown, suffused with a beautiful pink or rosy tint, the dark +shaft lines and pale edges of the feathers of the back giving it a +striped appearance. The forepart of the top of the head is blackish, +and the cap is brown, from which he gets the qualifying adjective of +his name. In the best nuptial plumage the rosy coloring is heightened +to an intense crimson, especially on the wings, tail coverts, and the +under parts. The female's attire is paler and duller of tint, the pink +being sometimes almost obsolete. Oddly enough, in summer the bills of +these birds are deep black, while in winter they become yellow, only +the tip remaining black or blackish. + +My introduction to the leucostictes occurred on the summit of Pikes +Peak, at an elevation of 14,147 feet above the level of the sea. With +exhausting toil I climbed the peak one night, and the next morning, +when I stepped out of the signal station, where I had secured lodging, +a flock of the brown-caps were flitting merrily about the garbage heap, +helping themselves to an early breakfast. Their blithe chirping +sounded very much like conversation all among themselves, and +proclaimed two pleasant traits of character--cheerfulness and good +temper. It was evident that they were happy and contented in their +alpine home, in the upper story of the world, the rare, cool, +exhilarating air, the majestic panoramas, and the unlimited freedom all +contributing to the blithesomeness of their spirits. The keepers of +the signal station told me that the birds came to the refuse pile every +day for their meals. + +Two years later, on the twenty-eighth of June, a friend and I clambered +up Grays Peak, which is several hundred feet higher than Pikes Peak. +It was a long and toilsome climb, winding about the snowbeds of the +mountain side. Sometimes we scaled straight up the acclivity on "all +fours," throwing ourselves down on the rocks at frequent intervals to +rest our aching limbs and fill our lungs with the rarefied air; up and +up and up, until at last, with a long pull and a strong pull, we stood +on the sky-haunting ridge above all the surrounding elevations, looking +down upon the rest of the world, which seemed to be crouching at our +feet. + +Long before we reached the summit we were saluted by a new bird +voice--one that had not been heard farther down the mountain. It was a +cordial chirp, which seemed to bid us welcome to the alpine region and +to assure us that there was no risk in climbing to these sky-aspiring +summits. A glance proved that our little salutarian was the +brown-capped rosy finch, which I had not seen since my ascent of Pikes +Peak. Down in the green, copsy valley at the base of the mountain we +had met with the white-crowned sparrows and Wilson and Audubon +warblers; then, as we began to climb the steep shoulder of the +mountain, the American pipits had become our comrades, accompanying us +about half way up the elevation; now all other birds had disappeared +and we entered the arctic precincts of the leucostictes, which, like a +gallant bodyguard, escorted us to the summit, cheering us on with their +friendly chirping. The bailiwicks of the pipits and the rosy finches +slightly overlapped, as did also those of the pipits and the +white-crowned sparrows near the great mountain's base. However, no +pipits ventured to the upper story of this elevated region--at least, +not at the time of our visit, although they may have ascended to the +summit later in the season. + +How blithe and cheerful were the pretty leucostictes! Now they darted +fearlessly about in the air over the summit and the gorges; now they +alighted on the wall of the dilapidated old signal station, and anon +hopped and flitted about over the extensive snow beds, picking up +dainties that were evidently to their taste, all the while beguiling +the time with their companionable, half-musical chirping. So far as I +observed, they have no real song. If they have, it is strange that +they did not furnish a sample of their lyrical gifts on so calm and +sweet a summer day in the season of courtship. + +What billsome morsels did they find on the snow? We examined their +white tablecloth and found a number of small beetles and other insects +creeping up through it or crawling around over its surface. Thus +Nature spreads her banquet everywhere for her feathered children. + +One cannot help falling into the speculative mood as one reflects on +these little birds and their remarkable habits. Why do they, of all +birds, choose the highest mountain peaks for their summer homes? Might +the cause be physiological? Are their lungs, muscles, and nervous +systems so constructed as to be adapted to a dry, rare, crisp +atmosphere, which would prove injurious, perhaps fatal, to birds of a +different structural organization? Who can tell? At all events, they +live on these towering elevations all summer long, woo their +plainly-clad mates, build their nests, and rear their happy families. + +Their nests are set amid the rocks, and are quite bulky, the walls +composed of grasses and the lining consisting of soft feathers. In +order to procure the grasses required, they must descend at least to +the belt of scant vegetation just below the region of bare rocks and +boulders. Where they get the downy feathers for the carpet of their +nurseries I have not been able to ascertain. No nest has yet been +discovered below an elevation of 12,000 feet. Our little bird may, +indeed, be called a "haunter of the sky." The height of the breeding +season is in the latter part of July. The broods having left the +nests, old and young gather in small flocks and range over the peaks +and ridges, feeding on the insects to be found on the fields of snow. + +No less interesting are the habits of these birds in winter. In +October and November most of them descend only to the timber line, +where they remain throughout the winter, save as they are driven down +into the denser forests by the fierce tempests of this arctic region. +What feathered Vikings they are! They do not even make for themselves +snow huts for protection from the winter storms. However, a few +descend almost to the base of the foothills, while others--perhaps the +less hardy--seek a blander climate in the northern part of Mexico. + +There are in North America four other species of the genus Leucosticte; +the Aleutian, whose habitat is the Aleutian and Prybilof islands and +east as far as the island of Kadiak; the gray-crowned, which breeds in +British America near the Rocky Mountains, comes to Colorado in winter, +and has been taken as far east as western Iowa; the Hepburn, dwelling +chiefly in the mountain ranges of the Pacific coast, breeding mostly in +the far North, and in winter coming as far south and east as Nevada and +Colorado; and, lastly, the black leucosticte, which winters in the +central latitudes in the Rocky Mountains and whose summer range and +breeding home is unknown to men of science. + + + + +HAPPENINGS BY THE WAY + +If one were to keep on writing monographs of all our interesting avian +species, the books that would result would make a good-sized library. +The few examples that have been given will illustrate what can be done +in this direction with the help of the field glass and the handbook. A +few chapters will now be given on what might be called "odds and ends +of bird life," and these are written not only for the information they +may impart, but also for the purpose of showing how many interesting +facts can be gathered along the way by the method of bird study +commended in our opening chapter. + +The prince of American ornithologists, Dr. Elliott Coues, has somewhere +said that he would travel a long distance to discover a new kind of +bird, or even to ascertain a new fact about a familiar species. I +would applaud and echo that sentiment, for by all means let us have +bird news that really is news, instead of revamping the familiar facts +again and again, as some amateurish writers do. While I am not able to +add any new species to science, I have made note of many pleasing +incidents in the bird realm, and these, I venture to hope, may be of +not a little general interest. + +[Illustration: Pewee, or Phoebe (missing from book)] + +There is the companionable white-breasted nuthatch which goes scudding +up and down the tree trunks with as much ease and aplomb as a fly +gliding over a window-pane. I have already told you something about +him. I had long been aware that he wedged grains of corn, sunflower +seeds, and kernels of nuts in the crannies of the bark; but one day he +invented a trick that was a surprise to me. It occurred at a summer +resort in northern Indiana, where I noticed a nuthatch hitching up and +down and around the slender stem of a sapling, pausing at intervals to +thrust something into the crevices of the bark. My curiosity led me to +pry into the bird's affairs. Stepping smartly forward, I drove him +away, not heeding his vigorous protest of "yank, yank," and examined +the bark of the sapling. What did I discover? A colony of black ants +were scuttling up and down the tree, apparently under stress of great +excitement; and good reason they had, for here and there one of their +number was tightly wedged into a chink of the bark, often doubled up +into a bow or an angle. They were not killed, at least not all of +them, for they were still wiggling their legs and antennas; but they +were evidently benumbed, or some of their backs were broken, and they +were fastened so securely in the fissures that they could not escape. +Does it not look as if the forehanded nuthatch was laying by a supply +of ants for a coming time of hunger? + +One day a family of wood pewees visited the dooryard of my tent. A +multitude of gnats circling about in the air, seemed to be precisely to +the taste of the pewee parents and their hungry bairns. The bantlings +sat chirping in the saplings, or flitted from twig to twig, twinkling +their wings in the coaxing way that is characteristic of young birds, +while the papa and mamma swung out into the air, nabbed the insects on +the wing, and flew back to the trees, describing many circles, +ellipses, and festoons of rare grace and beauty. The snapping of their +mandibles could often be heard as they closed upon the fated insects. +Most of the gnats thus captured were thrust into the mouths of the +young birds, the parents dashing up to them and feeding them without +alighting. As lavish a minstrel as the pewee _pater familias_ is under +most circumstances, that morning he was too busy to tune his wind harp. + +Speaking of the voracious appetites of birds, as exhibited by the young +pewees, which never seemed to get enough, I am reminded of something I +witnessed one day in a deep, wooded hollow. A red-eyed vireo suddenly +appeared in the branches above me, holding an immense green worm in his +beak. Then followed a tussle for the "upper hand" that was worth +seeing. The bird, holding its squirming victim by one end, proceeded +to beat it against the limb, though it was almost too big and +recalcitrant for him to handle. Presently the vireo, after a good deal +of effort, succeeded in passing his quarry through his bill from end to +end, thus reducing it to somewhat smaller dimensions. Still, it was a +large morsel for so small a diner. + +However, there were some intimations that the bird intended to bolt the +worm whole. And that was just what he was planning to do! What a +struggle ensued! I would have wagered that the little gourmand had +reckoned without his host when he undertook to swallow that immense +worm. He twisted his neck this way and that, gulped and squeezed and +pried, until I feared he would burst his throat open. At length the +worm was partly bolted, but it seemed to stick fast, and the bird stood +there with his mandibles pressed far apart, the end of his dinner +bulging out of his mouth, and I felt uneasy for a time lest he should +choke to death before my very eyes. But, after resting a minute, he +gave his neck a number of convulsive twists, and at last succeeded in +forcing the unwilling worm down his throat, after which he wiped his +bill on the limb with a self-satisfied air and flitted away as happy as +a lark, knowing that his faithful craw would do the rest. + +A slate-colored junco did a pretty thing in the woods one day of early +spring--much more pleasing to see than the incident just described. He +had rinsed his feathers in a pool of the little stream down in the +hollow, and now he was squatting flat on his belly on the ground in a +soft bed of brown leaves, preening and primping his plumes with his +little white, conical bill. Now he gave his quills a deft touch, now +the feathers of his wing, now those of his dainty breast. Lying there +in the sun he presented a perfect picture of feathery laziness. Many a +bird I have seen arranging his toilet after a bath while perching on a +limb or a twig, and even, as in the case of the brown creeper, while +clinging to the bole of a tree, but never before did I see one doing +this while lolling on the ground. He was not sick or hurt, simply +lazy; for when I went near him he flew away as chipper as a bird could +be. + +The rambler not only sees many of these pretty bird ways, but he +sometimes has a hearty laugh at the birds' expense. During one of my +outings a blustering whirlwind started on the summit of a small hill +scantily covered with scrub oak. It seized the dead leaves and twirled +them about as if in a spasm of anger; then it went scurrying noisily +down the steep incline, flinging itself against a couple of large brush +heaps in the hollow where a number of fox and Harris sparrows were +concealed. They had imagined themselves safe in their brushy covert. +Suddenly the whirlwind struck their hiding place with a clang and +clatter, sending the birds in a wild panic in every direction. They +did not seem to know what had struck them, and, as the wanton breezes +tossed them this way and that, they expressed their astonishment in +loud and frightened chirping. All over and no harm done, the bird +lover burst into a peal of laughter at the discomfiture of his +feathered neighbors, who looked at him as if they did not know what to +make of his untimely hilarity. + +Then, too, one cannot be an observing rambler without stumbling upon +some exceedingly odd avian pranks, as the following description will +indicate: One day I was sitting on the steep bank of a wooded ravine +watching several rare little birds, hoping to discover some of their +nests. Presently the susurrus of the hummingbird was heard, and a +moment later two ruby-throats, a male and a female, flashed into view +on the slope below me. The tiny madam settled on a twig near the +ground, while her ruby-throated spouse performed one of the queerest +antics I have ever witnessed in featherland. He began to swing back +and forth in an arc of almost half a circle, the diameter of which was +at least twelve feet, just grazing his mate whenever he reached the +lowest point of his concentric movements. Back and forth he swung at +least a dozen times, looking like a tiny pendulum moving in an immense +arc, and, oddly enough, the segment seemed to be perfectly formed every +time. Had the bird wheeled entirely around, he would, I feel sure, +have described a circle and not an ellipse. The movement was +exceedingly swift, and might well have been called the embodiment of +grace. Suddenly, as the diminutive acrobat reached the highest point +of his arc, he dashed off to the right in a straight line, followed by +his mate, and in a moment both had disappeared. Whether other +observers have been witnesses of this curious gambol, I am unable to +say. + +Have you ever been ill-mannered enough to watch the birds going to bed? +I remember spending an evening in the woods playing the role of Paul +Pry on my feathered neighbors. The sun was just sinking behind the +bluffs on the other side of a broad river--the Missouri--and the moon, +which was half full, was hanging high in the blue sky. What were those +two large black objects over yonder in the woods? My glass soon +revealed their identity--a pair of turkey buzzards perched side by side +on a limb, one of them squatted flat on his belly ready to take his +first nap. My curiosity led me to go near them, when they spread their +broad, sable wings, flew a few rods, and alighted on another horizontal +bar. There they sat as long as I could see them in the thickening +darkness, turning their heads now and then to see whether their +ill-bred visitor was still spying upon them. They made no efforts to +conceal themselves, as the small birds do in roosting, for they knew, +no doubt, that nothing would carry off fowls of their size. + +A little later on the same evening a whip-poor-will darted up from the +roadside and flew into the woods a short distance, alighting on a white +flag of good size, so that I could plainly see his dark form in the +moonlight. Then I was witness of this uncanny bird's table manners, +which were entirely unknown to me and may be to others. At irregular +intervals he leaped into the air, now in one direction, now in another, +captured an insect, and flew back to the top of the flag. Some of his +evolutions were quite wonderful, and all of them were the perfection of +grace. He described all kinds of curves and loops. On alighting he +uttered a low, hollow chuck suggestive of the sepulchral. Another +notch had to be cut in the tally-stick of my ornithological journey--I +had learned how the whip-poor-will takes his nocturnal dinner of moths +and beetles, and I felt that there was still such a thing as news to be +gathered in birdland. + +Most birds, however, do not take their dinner at night, and therefore +it is easier to watch them at their _table d'hote_. One day a +red-headed woodpecker was giving a strapping youngster as large as +herself his noonday meal. She came close to him with a morsel in her +long bill, and, after pounding it awhile against a limb, she thrust it +into the screaming youngling's mouth. But she had failed to reduce it +to a swallowable size; it stuck in his throat, and, do what he would, +he could not bolt it. It was so large that he was choking; what should +be done? The simplest thing you can conceive. The mother bird reached +over and impatiently jerked the refractory morsel out of her baby's +throat, thumped it vigorously several times against the branch, then +gave it to him again, as much as to say, "Now try it! I guess you can +manage it this time." And he did, for down his gullet it went with +very little effort. Then she went after more provender for his +spacious craw. Whenever she came with a tidbit, she would first drop +it into a kind of pocket in the bark, and pound it a while to reduce it +to a proper consistency; the while the youngster would sit near and +watch her with hungry eyes, and often scream in his coaxing way and +twinkle his wings, until she was ready to deliver up the tempting +fragment. + +Once, after she had given him all she had brought, he still opened his +mouth and whimpered for more. At this exhibition of gluttony she lost +her patience. Would he never be satisfied, the great, greedy, +overgrown lubber? He was simply making a slave and a drudge of her. +She looked at him for a moment with a savage glitter in her dark eyes, +then began to peck him angrily right in the mouth, and drove him +peremptorily backward down the limb. Mother patience has its +limitations in the bird world as well as elsewhere. + +On the same day a bank swallow was feeding her little ones, a half +dozen or so, which were ranged on a willow stem at the margin of the +river. Every time she flew toward them they set up a vigorous calling +to be fed. She procured her food by skimming airily over the river and +catching the insects that rose from its surface. Having nabbed one, +she would dart with it to her little family, and, without alighting, +and scarcely pausing in her swift flight, would thrust it into the +mouth of one of the birdkins. Thus she fed them one by one until she +had gone the round of the little circle, though sometimes, oddly +enough, she would serve the same infant twice in succession. + +The little family, all perched in a row, looked very attractive, and I +was watching them closely most of the time. Suddenly the mother bird +disappeared, and was gone for several minutes. I forgot to keep my eye +steadily on the youngsters sitting six in a row, and, to my great +surprise, when she reappeared they had left their perch, which was in +plain sight, and I could not rediscover them for some time. Finally, +however, I espied them cuddling among some leafy twigs a few feet away, +where the mother resumed her duties of purveyor. My opinion is that +she had begun to feel uneasy for their safety in the exposed place +where I could see them so plainly, and so, while I was looking +elsewhere, had persuaded them to shift their position. Now they were +partly screened by the intervening leaves, and she felt that they were +secure. + +There can be no doubt that birds have a language which the youngsters +soon come to understand, however simple and inarticulated it may be. +In a shady hollow, one day of early spring, a pair of tufted titmice +were supplying the wants of a family of famishing children, and I +invited myself to the family reunion. The young birds had left the +nest and were perched in a leafy tree. Most of the time they kept up a +great clamor for food--or, perhaps, they shrieked merely from force of +habit; but every few minutes one of the parent birds would utter a +shrill, commanding cry, at which all the noisy clamorings of the +youthful family would suddenly cease, and for a few moments perfect +quiet would reign in titmouse town; then the hubbub would begin again, +and continue until another order for perfect silence was given. So far +as I could see, there was no danger from raptorial foes at hand, but +the little family seemed to be in training against the approach of a +marauder. + +It may be a far cry, but from green-robed spring fancy yourself +suddenly flung into the lap of snow-bound winter, to look upon scenes +quite different from the foregoing. The Frost King had been playing a +good many pranks for a week or two, and once, in a spasm of frigid ill +humor, had jammed the mercury in our thermometers a dozen or more +degrees below zero, and had held it there quite too long for our +comfort. More than once had he shrieked and blustered and stamped his +feet incontinently, and more than once sent his legions of wind, sleet, +and snow howling through the leafless woods. Everybody in our central +latitudes knows what an explosive old fellow the Frost King is, and how +fierce and savage he can become let the mood once seize him. + +Sometimes, too, by the hour he had ground his ice crystals to powder in +mid-air and hurled them to the earth, covering its surface with a robe +of purest white, thus proving that, with all his rudeness and bluster, +he is an old gentleman of aesthetic tastes. One evening his mood +became blander, and he dropped his crystals from the sky in large, damp +flakes, which clung tenaciously to the branches and twigs; then during +the night his breath became chilled and froze the snowy cylinders, and +when morning broke the woods were a miracle of loveliness, every leaf +and twig bearing a ridge of gleaming pearls, while the sylvan floor was +pure white. Soon the sun was shining from an unmarred sky, and the +snow-clad earth smiled back in shimmering recognition. It was a day +for worship in God's first sanctuary. + +Yet it was a day for watching the gambols of the birds, and such +occupation by no means interfered with the spirit of worship. In the +depths of the woods the white-breasted nuthatches were holding a +friendly interview. How affectionately they talked to one another in +idioms all their own, saying "Hick! hick!" and "Yank! yank!" and +"Ha-ha! ha-ha! ha-ha!" which may mean anything that is kind and cordial +and confidential. They were either playing at a game of tag, or were +having a peep-show among the bushes, hiding for a moment in some leafy +cluster, then dashing in pursuit of one another in the most frolicksome +way. I crept in under the arches of the snow-clad bushes to watch +their caperings more closely, but the birds at once quieted down, and +went about their more prosaic vocation of grub gathering. They were no +doubt "aching" to frisk about among the snowy bushes, but would not +indulge their playful mood under the eye of a human spectator. + +Presently one of them was seen carefully primping his feathers--a +function that I had not previously seen a nuthatch perform. His plumes +seemed to be really quite damp, and, as there was no water at hand--the +streams being mailed with ice as well as nearly a half mile away--he +must have used a snowbank for his lavatory. But you ask how he +arranged his toilet. I had several times seen the little brown creeper +clinging to the vertical wall of a tree and preening his plumes after a +bath, and it was natural to suppose that his congener, the nuthatch, +being also a bird of reptatory habits, would follow the same formula. +But not so! Instead of clinging to the upright bole of a tree, Master +Nuthatch perched crosswise on a twig like a robin or a chickadee, and +smoothed his ruffled plumes. + +After this interesting interview with the nuthatches, I trudged about +in the woods for some time without seeing any birds. What had become +of my feathered neighbors, my companions in every ramble throughout the +winter? Had the storm driven them to other climes where bland winds +prevailed? Oh, no! See what prudent creatures they were that wintry +day. At the eastern border of the woods, where the sun shone warmly +and the keen westerly breeze was broken and tempered, my little friends +were found in goodly numbers, well knowing where the Frost King's anger +would be softened. + +Here were nuthatches and chickadees in plenty, and also tufted tits, +tree sparrows, juncos, downy woodpeckers, and, to make the complement +as nearly full as possible, a hairy woodpecker drummed and +_chir-r-r-red_, several blue jays complained in the distance, and a +goldfinch swinging overhead threaded the air with festoons of black and +gold. And here I witnessed a new and pretty antic of a tree sparrow, +which flew over from a cornfield hard by and perched on a dogwood +sapling only a few feet away; then it plunged its beak into the little +snowbank on the twig before it and ate greedily of the snow, some of +the crystals clinging to its mandibles, just as the crumbs adhere to +the lips of a hungry boy. Had the exclamation not been so much like +slang, I would have cried "Next!" And there was a "next," as sure as +you live, for the little bird soon flitted to another twig in the same +tree and, reaching up, daintily sipped from the dripping underside of +the branch just above and in front of it. Its thirst having been +assuaged, it flew over into the adjoining field to resume its winter +feast of seeds and berries. + +And what was happening over in the field? Something worth noting, to +be sure. A coterie of juncos and tree sparrows were breakfasting on +the seeds of a clump of tall weeds, a few of the little feasters +perched on the swaying stems, while others stood on the snow on the +ground and picked the seeds from the racemes that were bent down by +their burden of crystals. When I went to the place, I could see the +delicate tracery of their feet on the snow, as if they had been writing +their autographs on an untarnished scroll. Two tiny footprints at +regular intervals, one a little before the other, and each pair +connected with the next by a slender thread or two traced by the bird's +claws--that is a junco's or a tree sparrow's trail in the snow. + +A little later a scattering flock of tree sparrows were skipping about +on the snowy floor of the woods, picking up at quick intervals a +palatable tidbit. Birds often find edibles on the surface of the snow +when our duller eyes can see nothing but immaculate whiteness. What +long leaps the little birds took across the snow, which looked like a +marble pavement with fairies dancing upon it! Near by, on one of the +lower twigs of a thorn bush, a sparrow sat with feathers fluffed up and +wings hanging negligently at his side, as if he were taking a siesta +after a hearty meal of weed seeds and winter berries. Two of his +companions soon joined him in his noonday rest, the trio making a +pretty picture sitting there within an inch or two of the ground. + +It was not very long before a tree sparrow perpetrated another +surprise, proving that this species is not without character, as indeed +no species is. He leaped to the bole of a sapling, clinging there a +few moments like a chickadee or a wren, while he pecked an appetizing +morsel from the bark; then he dropped down to the snow for a brief +breathing spell, after which he sprang up again to the sapling for a +few more bits, repeating the little performance a number of times. + +In the same part of the woods a company of chickadees was flitting +about in the trees, plunging into the little snowbanks on the twigs, +sometimes standing in them up to their white bosoms, and often brushing +a segment to the ground, thus making numerous breaches in the white +drifts. The racket they made with their scolding and piping might have +been called a musical din. Deciding to watch them a while, I flung +myself down upon the snow. This act was the signal for a precious +to-do among the nervous little potherers. Did any one ever hear or +read of such a performance in all the annals of birdland? What in the +world did it mean--a man lying flat on the ground out there in the +woods? I was highly amused at the hurly-burly, and decided to add +still more variety to it. Suddenly I sprang to my feet with a shout. +Several of the birds dropped, as if shot, into a thorn bush below them, +where they set up a hubbub that would have made on old-time Puritan +laugh, even at the risk of being censured for levity. By and by they +quieted down, and one of them began to whistle his pretty minor tune +with as much serenity as if he had never been excited in his life. My +winter outing proved that the Frost King and the hardy birds often go +cheek by jowl, as if they were on terms of the most cordial fraternity. + + + + +ODDS AND ENDS + +The ornithologist is always interested in noting how the conduct of +birds of the same species differs and agrees in different localities. +In a previous chapter some of the differences between the avifauna of +Ohio and Kansas have been described, but a good deal still remains to +be said, teaching more than one lesson in comparative ornithology. + +At the beginning of my studies in the Sunflower state the song sparrows +proposed an enigma for my solution, whether wittingly or unwittingly, I +know not. In Ohio they were the most lavish singers in the outdoor +chorus, chanting their sweet lays every month in the year, summer or +winter; indeed, their most vigorous recitals were often given in +February and March, when there was dearth of other bird music. + +But what about the song sparrows of Kansas? The first winter and +spring passed, and yet my numerous rambles in their haunts did not +bring to my waiting ear one first-class song sparrow concert. A few +feeble, half-hearted wisps of melody on days that were especially mild +were the only vocal performances they vouchsafed. To put it bluntly +and truthfully, I never, during my residence of five and a half years +in Kansas, heard a first-rate song sparrow trill. Nor is that all. In +the Buckeye state these birds were disposed to be sociable, often +selecting their dwellings near our suburban homes, visiting our +dooryards, singing their blithe roundels on the ridge of the barn roof +or a post of the garden fence. Not only so, but their songs were often +heard in some of the principal streets of towns where trees were +abundant. + +[Illustration: Song Sparrow] + +Quite otherwise was the conduct of their western cousins, which seldom +came to town or even near a human residence in the country, but kept +themselves ensconced in the matted copses in the banks of the Missouri +River or in the deep hollows running back from the broad valley. In +these sequestered haunts they were quite wary, usually scuttling out of +sight at my approach. True, in Ohio many individuals also chose +out-of-the-way places for habitats, but even then they were not timid, +for often they would mount to the top of a bush or a sapling in plain +sight and trill sweetly by the hour, with never a quaver of fear. At +rare intervals a Kansas sparrow would visit the thicket on the vacant +lot near my house, but, my! how shy he was! And as for singing, he +would only squeak a little score. + +Wondering at the reticence of the Kansas sparrows, I wrote to a friend +living in Springfield, Ohio, my former home, and inquired what the song +sparrows were doing in that locality. His reply was that, as usual, +they had been singing with splendid effect on almost every day after +the middle of February. What is the reason of this difference between +the eastern and western birds? They are, according to the +systematists, the same type, and yet they behave so differently. The +solution of the problem is, after all, quite simple. In Kansas the +song sparrows are winter residents exclusively, passing farther north +when the breeding season approaches; only at rare intervals does a pair +decide to remain in the state throughout the summer; whereas in the +Buckeye state these birds are permanent residents, remaining throughout +the year, and therefore they feel sufficiently at home to tune their +lyres at all seasons. On the other hand, being only winter visitors in +Kansas, they do not seem to be able to overcome their shyness; either +that, or their wind harps are out of tune. As a matter of fact, +migrating birds seldom sing a great deal in their winter homes, their +best lyrical efforts being husbanded for their breeding haunts. I once +spent part of the month of June in Minnesota, almost directly north of +my Kansas field of research, and there found these charming minstrels +as tuneful and affable as the most exacting bird lover could wish. +Perhaps some of the very sparrows that spend the winter in silence in +northeastern Kansas trill their finest arias in their summer homes on +the shores of Lake Minnetonka or in the boggy hollows in the +neighborhood of Duluth. + +When I first began to plan for moving back to Ohio, I was foolish +enough to fear that the song sparrows of that state might have changed +their habits during the years of my absence, and that I should be +disappointed in them: but no need of borrowing trouble on their +account, for they were the same blithe and familiar birds, trilling +their sweetest chansons in the trees in the residence portion of the +town in which I lived. And sing! Were there ever birds with more +dulcet tones, with finer voice register, or with a greater variety of +tunes in their repertoire? + +Going back to Kansas in winter, we note that the song sparrows, instead +of remaining at one place, shifted about a good deal more than I had +ever known them to do in the East. In December a pair found a dwelling +in the weed clumps and brush heaps of a hollow a short distance from +the Missouri River; but they soon deserted this spot, well sheltered as +it was, none being seen there until the twenty-third of February. It +surprised me to find another pair, and sometimes two pairs, in a +thicket right on the bank of the wide river, where they were exposed to +many of the winter blasts, especially those that swept down from the +frozen north. Up in the deep, winding ravine they might have had +excellent shelter and, so far as I could see, just as good feeding. +However, I have long ago learned that there is no accounting for tastes +in the bird realm any more than in the human realm. + +The hardiest of the _Mniotiltidae_ tribe are the myrtle warblers, which +dapple the whitened edges of winter, both autumn and spring, with their +golden rumps and amber brooches. Evidently these birds are shyer of +the rigorous Ohio winters than of the more mild-mannered Kansas +weather. In the former state I never saw a myrtle warbler after the +first or second week in November, while in Kansas I came upon a flock +of them in a wooded hollow by the river on the eighth of December, +1897, and then after a severe snowstorm had swept over the region from +the western prairies. It seemed odd to find these dainty featherland +blossoms when the whole country was covered with an ermine of snow. + +Then they disappeared, and I did not expect to see them again until the +next spring; but on the fourteenth of February, which was a warm, +vernal day thrust into the midst of winter, a flock of perhaps a dozen +were flitting and chirping among the trees in the suburbs of the city, +their hoarse little _chep_, always giving one the impression that the +birds have taken a cold which has affected their vocal cords, sounding +as familiar as of old. However, that very evening at dusk a black +cloud, charged with electricity and bellowing with anger, came up out +of the west like a young Lochinvar, and hurled a fierce storm across +the hills and valleys, and the next day not a myrtle warbler was to be +seen in all the countryside, though I tramped weary miles in search of +them. The tempest had doubtless frightened them away to the suaver +southland, from which they did not return until the following spring. + +One of my most pleasing observations was made on December 19, 1902. +There had been a number of days of severe weather, accompanied by hard +storms. Six inches of snow lay on the ground. Now the storm had spent +its force, the sun was shining genially, and the snow was melting. +Warm as it was, I was greatly surprised to find a flock of myrtle +warblers in the woods so late in the season. They had braved the +storms of the preceding week, and were as chipper and active as myrtle +warblers could be. But their employment was a still greater surprise. +They were darting about in the air among the treetops, as well as amid +the bushes in the deep ravine, catching insects on the wing. That +insects should be flying after the wintry weather of the previous week +was still more surprising than that the warblers should be here to dine +upon them. Soon after that day, however, the little yellow-rumps must +have taken the wing route to a more genial climate, for they were seen +no more that winter. + +Of a more permanent character was the residence of the jolly juncos, +which dwelt all winter in northeastern Kansas, let the weather be never +so lowering. Always active and alert, flitting from bush to weed, and +from the snow-carpeted ground to the gnarled oak saplings, now +pilfering a dinner of wild berries and now a luncheon of weed seeds, +they seemed to generate enough warmth in their trig little bodies to +defy old Boreas to do his best. Water flowing from melting snow must +be ice-cold, yet the juncos plunged into the crystal pools and rinsed +their plumes with as much apparent relish as if their lavatory were +tepid instead of icy, and as if balmy instead of nipping winds were +blowing. + +One day I watched a member of this family taking his dinner of wild +grapes. Finding a dark red cluster, he would pick off the juiciest +berry he could reach, press it daintily between his white mandibles for +a few moments, swallow a part of the pulp, and drop the rest to the +ground. What part of the grape did he eat? That is the precise +problem I could not solve with certainty, for on examining the rejected +portions that had been flung to the ground I found that one seed still +remained, together with part of the pulp and all of the broken rind. I +half suspect, though, that Master Junco likes to tipple a little--never +enough, however, be it remembered, to make him reel or lose his senses. +No! no! a toper Master Junco is not; he is too sane a bird for that! +Would that all the citizens of our republic would display as much sound +judgment and self-control. + +Where all the birds sleep on biting winter nights it would be difficult +to say, but the acute little juncos lease the farmer's corn shocks hard +by the woods. At dusk you may startle a dozen of them from a single +shock. They dart pellmell from their hiding places, chippering their +protest, and when you examine the shock you find cozy nooks and ingles +among the leaves and stalks, where they find couches and at the same +time coverts from the sharp winds. As you stand at the border of the +woods in the gloaming you can hear the rustling of the fodder as the +juncos move about in their tepees, trying to find the choicest and +snuggest berths. Usually they select the tops of the standing shocks, +perhaps for safety; yet some may be found also in the shocks that have +partly fallen to the ground. + +In the latter part of February the juncos began to rehearse their +spring songs, which were a welcome sound in the almost unbroken silence +of the winter. The nearer the spring approached, the higher they +mounted in the trees, and the more prolonged was their flight, as if +they were practicing their wing exercises to inure their muscles to the +strain that would be put upon them when they undertook their long +journey to their northern summer homes; for, of course, the juncos do +not breed in our central latitudes, but hie to the northern part of the +United States and the Dominion of Canada. + +In Ohio the brown creepers and the golden-crowned kinglets were +constant winter companions in the woods; but, although Kansas is +considerably farther south, they do not seem to be winter residents +there--at least, not in the northeastern part of the state--the only +exception being that in January, 1903, several creepers were observed +in my yard. One may well wonder why these birds are winter residents +in Ohio and only migrants in a latitude that is two degrees farther +south. + +There was some scant compensation in the presence of the winter wren +one winter in the Sunflower state. The fourteenth of December brought +one of these brown Lilliputians to a deep hollow in town, where he +chattered petulantly and scampered along an old paling fence. No more +winter wrens were seen until January seventh, when one darted out of +some bushes on the bank of a stream about two miles south of town. My +next jaunt to this hollow took place on the twenty-seventh, when, to my +surprise, a hermit thrush was seen in a clump of bushes and saplings--a +bird that I supposed had been sunning himself for at least a month in +the genial South. While tramping about trying to get another view of +the unconventional thrush, I frightened a winter wren from a cluster of +weeds and bushes. My! how alarmed he was! Uttering a loud chirp, he +darted down to the center of the stream and slipped into a little cave +formed by ice and snow frozen over a clump of low bushes. There he hid +himself like an Eskimo in his snow hut. My trudging near by frightened +the bird out of the farther doorway, and he dashed away pellmell, +hurling a saucy gird of protestation at me, and was seen by me no more. +I examined the little snow house. It was very cunning indeed, and +might well have made a cozy shelter for the little wren in stormy +weather. My next meeting with a winter wren occurred on the fifteenth +of February, in the same hollow, but about an eighth of a mile nearer +the river. A query arises here: Did I see four different winter wrens +during the winter, or only one in four different localities? Who can +tell? + +That is not all about the winter wrens. My first winter in Kansas was +the severest I experienced in that state; yet it was the only winter of +the five I spent in Kansas that brought me the winter wren. If it +would do any good, one might ask again the question why. Although the +winter wren is a migrant in Ohio, as he is for the most part in +northeastern Kansas, yet I never heard his song in the former state, +while in the latter I was fortunate enough to listen to his tinkling +melody three times the first spring I spent there. After that I never +heard him, and indeed saw him only a few times. But the sweet, silvery +roulade--could there be anything more charming in the world of outdoor +music? + +My winter rambles--and winter is almost as good a time for bird study +as summer--enabled me to note some variety of temperament in the avian +realm. One thing we soon learn in our winter outings: Few birds are +recluses. No, they are sociable creatures, living in what might be +called nomadic communities. In the spring-time, during the mating +season, they pair off and become more or less exclusive and secretive, +keeping close to the precincts they have selected; but in winter they +grow more neighborly, and move about in the woods or over the fields in +flocks of various sizes. + +The woodland flocks usually consist of a number of species all of which +seem to be on the most cordial terms, having, no doubt, a community +of interest. As we quietly pursue our way in this wooded vale, +we see no birds for some distance. Presently a fine, protesting +"chick-a-dee-dee! chick-a-dee-dee!" breaks the silence. It is the +warning call of the tomtit or chickadee, which we soon espy tilting +about on his trapeze of twigs in the trees or bushes. But you may +depend upon it he is not alone; he is only a part of the rim of a +feathered colony dwelling near at hand, and consisting, very likely, of +tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, juncos, tree sparrows, blue +jays, one or two downy woodpeckers, a pair of cardinals, a flicker or +two, and a cackling red-breasted woodpecker. There may be even a song +sparrow in the company and a couple of brown creepers, and possibly a +flock of purple finches, chirping cheerily in the tops of the trees. + +While, in the spring and summer, birds are to be found in nearly every +part of the woods, never many at one place, the opposite condition +prevails in the winter. Sometimes you may walk almost a half mile +without seeing or hearing a single bird; then you suddenly come upon a +good-sized company of them, somewhat scattered, it is true, but within +easy hailing distance. Nor do they always remain in the same +localities, but move about, now here, now there, like nomads looking +for the best foraging places. For instance, on the first of January, +after leaving the city, I saw not a bird until I reached a pleasant +sylvan hollow at least a half mile away. Here a merry crowd greeted +the pedestrian. It was composed of all the birds I have just named, +with flocks of bluebirds and goldfinches thrown in for good measure. +On the fourteenth of January a company--either the same or another--was +found in a small copsy hollow only a quarter of a mile from the city, +while the spot previously occupied was deserted. It is pleasant to +think of these feathered troopers roaming about the country in search +of Nature's choicest storehouses. The code that obtains in these +movable birdvilles is this, as near as I am able to analyze it: Each +one for himself, and yet all for one another. + +The familiar adage, "Birds of a feather flock together," is not always +true, for in winter birds of many a feather often flock together. It +may be asked, Why? No doubt largely for social ends. Nothing is more +evident to the observer than that most birds love company, and a good +deal of it. Their genial conversation among themselves as they pursue +their work and play fully proves that. Another object is undoubtedly +protection. Birds have enemies, many of them, and when the woods are +bare there is little chance for hiding, and so they must be especially +on the alert. Let a hawk come gliding silently and slyly down the +vale, and before he gets too near some keen little eye espies him, the +alarm is sounded, and the whole company scurries into the thickets or +trees for safety. The chickadees and titmice seem to be a sort of +sentry for the company. + +A large part of the time in birdland is spent in solving the +"bread-and-butter" problem. And how do our feathered citizens solve +this important problem in the cold weather? Nature has spread many a +banquet for her avian children, although they must usually rustle for +their food just as we must in the human world. The nuthatches, +titmice, woodpeckers, and brown creepers find larvae, grubs, borers, +and insects' eggs in the crannies of the bark and other nooks and +niches; the goldfinches find something to their taste in the buds of +the trees and also make many a meal of thistle and sunflower seeds; the +juncos and tree sparrows, forming a joint stock company in winter, +rifle all kinds of weeds of their seedy treasures; the blue jays lunch +on acorns and berries when they cannot find enough juicy grubs to +satisfy their appetites, and so on through the whole list. + +By playing the spy on the birds we may learn much about their dietary +habits. It is the first of January, and we are in a wooded hollow. +There is a tufted titmouse; now he flits to the ground, picks up a +tidbit, darts up to a twig, places his morsel under his claws, and +proceeds to peck it to pieces. Our binocular shows that it is +something yellow, but we cannot make out what it is. As we draw near, +the bird seizes the fragment with his bill--perhaps he fears we will +filch it from him--and flits about among the bushes on the steep bank, +looking for a place to stow his "goody." Presently he pushes it into a +crevice of the bark, hammers it tightly into place, and darts away with +a merry chirp. We go to the spot and find that his hidden treasure is +a grain of corn which he has purloined from the farmer's field on the +slope. A few minutes later another tit--or the same one--slyly thrusts +a morsel in among some leaves and twigs on the bank, even pulling the +leaves down over it for a screen. It turns out to be a small acorn. +That is one of Master Tit's ways--storing away provisions for a time of +need. With his stout, conical beak he is able to break the shell of an +acorn, peck a corn grain into swallowable bits, and tear open the +toughest casing of a cocoon. He will even break the hard pits of the +dogwood berry to secure the kernel within, the ground below often being +strewn with the shell fragments. No danger of _Parus bicolor_ coming +to want or going to the poorhouse. + +Another day the juncos are feeding on the seeds of the foxtail or +pigeon grass, in an old orchard hard by the border of the woods. +Sometimes they will make a dinner of berries--the kinds too that are +regarded as poisonous to man--eating the juicy pulp in their dainty +way, and dropping the seeds and rind to the ground. In the ravine +furrowed out by a stream--this is down in one of the hollows--there is +a perfect network of bird tracks in the snow beneath a clump of weed +stalks. How dainty they are, like tiny chains, twisted and coiled +about on the white surface! They were made by the juncos and tree +sparrows, and on examining the seed pods and clusters above the bank we +note that they are torn and ragged. The feathered banqueters have been +here, and while they were industriously culling the pods, some of the +seeds fell to the white carpet below, and these have been carefully +picked up by the birds, as we see, so that nothing should be wasted. + +It is not often you catch a bird in the singing mood in the winter; yet +on December 19, a purple finch was piping quite a vivacious tune in the +woods. Of course, he was not in his best voice, but his performance +was good enough to entitle it to the name of bird music. The finches, +by the way, are strong flyers. At your approach, instead of flitting +off a little way, perhaps to the next tree or bush, after the manner of +the tits and nuthatches and many other birds, the finches tarry in the +tree-tops as long as they deem it safe, then take to wing and fly to a +distant part of the woods, and you may not see them again that day. +However, they may come back to you after a while, as if they relished +your company. The goldfinches are also long-distance flyers, not +flitters. Usually they give some signal of their presence, either by +their vivacious "pe-chick-o-pe" or their childlike and semi-musical +calls; but there are times when a good-sized flock of them will +suddenly appear in the tree-tops above you, and you cannot tell when +they arrived, for you did not see them there at all a few minutes +before. + + + + +WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS + +The previous chapter closed with some notes on the behavior of birds in +the winter time. My home rambling grounds in northeastern Kansas were +extremely undulating, cut up into ridges and ravines, most of which +were covered with a thick growth of weeds, bushes, and timber. In some +places the thickets were so dense as to be almost impenetrable. This +diversity in the topography of the country afforded considerable +variety in the faunal life of the region. + +For example, in bitter winter weather most of the birds would hug the +sheltered hollows, where they found coverts in the copses, and would +avoid the hilltops, which were exposed to the nipping winds blowing +from the western prairies. As the spring approached, bringing blander +weather, they gradually moved up the hillsides, many of them finding +billsome seeds and berries on the summits. + +However, note a difference in the temperament of individuals of the +same species. On the bitterest days of winter I would sometimes leave +the sheltered hollows and lowlands and clamber to the summits of the +wind-swept hills, and, oddly enough, on the exposed heights I +occasionally flushed a solitary bird, which would spring up from the +weeds or copses and dart away with a frightened cry. More than likely +it would be an individual of the same species as some of the more +socially disposed tenants of the lower grounds, but for some reason, +what, I know not, it preferred the life of an anchorite; it did not +care for society, even of its own kith. Invariably, too, these +feathered recluses were extremely shy, scuttling away like frightened +deer as I approached their cloistered haunts. + +These notes stir several queries in one's mind. Is there such a thing +as social ostracism in the bird world? Might these hilltop eremites +have committed some crime or some breach of decorum that effected their +banishment from respectable avicular society? Or were they simply of a +sullen or retiring disposition, choosing seclusion rather than the +company of their kind? These questions must be left unanswered. Most +frequently the lone bird would be a song sparrow. Once a brilliant +cardinal was trying to conceal himself in a clump of bushes and weeds +far up the hillside, acting very much like a social outcast. For some +reason that he did not see fit to explain he wanted to be alone. + +If the song sparrows of eastern Kansas belie their name and seldom fall +into the lyrical mood, as has been said, the like cannot be said of the +robins, which, in the proper season, were very lavish of their +minstrelsy. Their favorite singing time in the West, as in the East, +was at the "peep of dawn." How often their ringing carols broke into +my early morning dreams! + +Have you ever noticed the tentative efforts of the robins in the early +spring, at the beginning of the song season, before they get their +harps in full tune? It is interesting and amusing to listen to their +rehearsals, of which they need quite a number before they acquire full +control of their voices. This is the method: Starting off on a tune, +they will keep it up until their voices break; then they will stop a +while to recover breath, and presently make another attempt with +perhaps slightly better success. At first they are able to pipe only a +syllable or two before their voices break. After a while they succeed +in carrying the tune for a respectable little run, but sooner or later +their voices will go all to pieces or slide up into a falsetto, making +another pause necessary. By and by, however, after much practice, they +gain perfect vocal control, and are able to sustain their songs for a +long time without a mishap. When the voice of the rehearsing bird +breaks, it apparently runs too high in the scale for the bird's +register, just as the voice of a sixteen-year-old boy is apt to do, to +his own confusion and the amusement of his friends. + +[Illustration: Cardinal] + +Another fact about robin music may be of interest to those who have not +observed it. In the early spring these birds are extremely lyrical, +that being their season of courtship; then will follow a few weeks of +comparative silence--the time when there are little ones in need of +parental care. At this period the husbands, it would seem, are either +too busy or too wary to sing a great deal. But now note: When the +youngsters have flown from the nest and are able to take care of +themselves, the silence in robindom is again broken, and there is a +flood-tide of melody from early morning till eventide. The second +lyrical period lasts until another nest has been built and another +clutch of eggs has been hatched, when the choralists again relapse into +comparative silence. + +Since coming back to Ohio, I imagine that the eastern robins are better +singers than their western relatives. Their voices, to my ear, are +clearer and more ringing, less apt to break into a squeak at the top of +their register, and there is more variety of expression as well as +greater facility in managing the technique. I think this is not all +fancy, yet I would not speak with the assurance of the dogmatist. + +In the good Jayhawker state the orchard orioles are more abundant than +they are in the eastern and northeastern part of the state of Ohio. +Indeed, the range of this species is more southerly than that of their +congeners, the Baltimore orioles. In their proper latitude no birds, +or at least few of them, are more lavish of their melody than the +orchard orioles. What a ringing voice the oriole possesses! His song +has a saucy note of challenge running through it, and also a human +intonation that makes it rarely attractive. All day long the male +sings his cheery solos, scarcely pausing for breath or food, now +sitting on the topmost twig of a dead apple tree in the orchard, now +amid the screening foliage of a maple in the yard, and anon on the +other side of the street in a stately cottonwood. But where is that +modest little personage, his wife? She is seldom heard, and almost as +seldom seen. It is really remarkable--her gift of concealment. When +she builds her nest is a mystery. It is often so deftly hidden that +you would not be likely to find it in a long hunt. In the spring of +1898 a pair of orchard orioles took up their residence in the trees +about my house, the male singing his brisk overtures, the female seen +only at flitting intervals and never heard. Watch as I would, I could +not surprise her laying the timbers of her cottage, which I felt sure +was being built somewhere in the trees. Indeed, I did not discover it +until autumn came, long after the orioles, old and young, had taken +flight to a balmier clime, and the trees were stripped of their leaves, +when, lo! it appeared in plain view on one of the trees on the opposite +side of the street, the very place where I had not thought of looking +for it. + +The Baltimore orioles as a rule are not so secretive; yet during the +summer of 1898 a pair of these firebirds led me a fruitless chase. +Their secret was not divulged until the leaves had fallen the next +autumn, when there the nest hung in the midst of a tall cottonwood in +my back yard close to the house. Lord Baltimore and his mate usually +suspend their nests on the outer branches of the trees, where they are +not hard to discover, but this pair did not follow the common formula, +for the nest was placed in the thickest part of the foliage, so that it +was impossible to see it from the ground until the branches were bare. + +Of all the malaperts of birddom none excel and few equal the white-eyed +vireo for volubility and downright audacity. All his songs--and he has +quite a respectable list of them--seem to be either a protest or a +challenge; a protest against your intrusion into his precincts, a +challenge to find him and his nest if you can. Again and again in +Kansas I crept into their bushy coverts just for the purpose of +receiving a sound scolding. Such a berating did they give me, telling +me of all my faults and foibles, that I certainly ought to remain +humble all the rest of my days. A half dozen viragoes could not have +done better--that is, worse. They would flit about in the bushes above +my head, their little white eyes gleaming with fire, and call me all +the names they could lay their tongues to. I wonder whether the +white-eyes have a dictionary of epithets. Nature has done an odd thing +in making the white-eyed vireo. + +Their nests are not easy to find, although they do not always make a +great deal of effort at concealment. Like all the vireo tribe, they +suspend their tiny baskets from the fork or crotch of a horizontal +twig. The nest is somewhat bulkier than the compact little cup of the +red-eyed vireo, and is apt to be more carefully concealed in the +foliage, although I have found more than one nest that was hung in +plain sight. I remember one in particular. It was dangling from the +outer twigs of a small bush by the side of the woodland path which I +was pursuing. In fact, it could be distinctly seen from the path. In +spite of the mother's pleadings, protests, and objurgations, I stepped +over to inspect her pendant domicile, whose holdings were four baby +white-eyes, their eyelids still glued together. As the twigs stirred, +they opened their mouths for food, and I decided to accommodate them. +Taking a bit of cracker from my haversack, I moistened it, and rolled +it into a pellet between my finger and thumb; then, gently swaying the +bushes, I induced the bantlings to open their mouths, when I dropped +the morsel into one of the tiny throats. You ought to have seen the +wry face baby made as it gulped down the new kind of food, which had +such an odd taste. It was plain that the callow nestling was able to +distinguish this morsel from the palatable diet it had been accustomed +to. Possibly it suffered from a temporary fit of indigestion, but no +permanent harm was done by my experiment, for when I called on them +again a few days later, the birdkins four were safe and well, their +eyes open, and their instincts sufficiently developed to cause them to +cuddle low in their basket instead of opening their mouths. + +[Illustration: White-eyed Vireo] + +The rambler who would hear a real outdoor concert should rise early, +swallow a few bits of cracker and a cup of coffee, and seek some +bird-haunted hollow or woodland just as day begins to break. One +morning I pursued this plan, and was more than compensated for the loss +of an hour or two of sleep. Just as the east began to blush I found +myself in a favorite wooded hollow. + +What a _potpourri_ of bird song greeted my ear! How many choralists +took part in the matutinal concert I cannot say, but there were scores +of them. The volume of song would sometimes swell to a full-toned +orchestra, and then for a few moments it would sink almost to a lull, +all of it like the flow and ebb of the tides of a sea of melody. It +was interesting to note how several voices would sometimes run into a +chime when they struck the same chord. + +Let me call the roll of the members of that feathered choir. First, +and most gifted of all, were a couple of brown thrashers, whose tones +were as strong and sweet as those of a silver cornet, making the echoes +ring across the hollow. I have listened to many a thrasher song in the +North, the South, and the West, but have never heard a voice of better +timbre than that of one of the tawny vocalists singing that morning, as +he sat on the topmost twig of an oak tree and flung out his medley upon +the morning air. It is wonderful, anyway, with what an ecstasy the +thrasher will sometimes sing. Nothing could be plainer than that he +sings for the pure pleasure of it--an artist deeply in love with his +art. + +Falling a little behind the thrashers in vocal power and technical +execution were the catbirds, which sent up their cavatinas from the +bushes in the hollow. Their voices lacked the volume and strength of +their rivals, yet some of their strains were truly the quintessence of +sweetness. + +Conspicuous members of the early chorus were the wood thrushes, a dozen +or more of which were often singing at the same time. From every part +of the woods their peals arose. Of course, there was no attempt--at +least, so far as I could discover--to sing in concert, but each +minstrel followed his own sweet will, and so the combined result was +not what you would call a harmony, but a medley, albeit a very pleasing +one. If the wood thrush's execution were less labored, he would +certainly be a marvelous songster, and even as it is, he furnishes +unending delight to those whose ears are trained to appreciate avian +minstrelsy. + +Two or three rose-breasted grossbeaks piped their liquid, childlike +arias; towhees, at least a half-dozen of them, flung forth their loud, +explosive trills that have a real musical quality; several cardinals +whistled as if they meant to drown out all the other voices; scarlet +and summer tanagers drawled their good-natured tunes, while their rich +robes gleamed in the level rays of the rising sun; running like silver +threads through all the other music, could be heard the fine trills of +the field sparrows; the swinging chant of the creeping warblers and the +loud rattle of the Tennessee warblers ran high up in the scale, +furnishing a gossamer tenor; that golden optimist, the Baltimore +oriole, piped his cheery recitative in the tops of the trees; +chickadees supplied the minor strains and tufted titmice the alto; four +or five turtle doves soothed the ear with their meditative cooing; +while the calls and songs of numerous jays and a few yellow-breasted +chats made a kind of trombone accompaniment. Surely it is worth one's +while to hie early to the haunts of the birds to hear such a tumult of +song. + +One spring I made up my mind to make a closer study than ever of the +dainty creeping warbler, wishing to know just how he contrives to +scuttle up and down the boles and branches of the trees with so much +ease and grace. He is the only warbler we have in eastern North +America that makes a habit of scaling the tree trunks and descending +them head downward. How does he do this? The muscles of his legs and +pelvis are as elastic as India rubber, so that he can twist and twirl +about in a marvelous way, pointing his head one moment to the east and +the next, without losing his hold, in the opposite direction. He is +able to swing himself around almost as if he were hung on a pivot. + +But how does he hold himself on his shaggy wall as he hitches head +downward? Just as the nuthatch does--not by keeping both feet directly +under him, as most people suppose, but by thrusting one foot slightly +forward and the other outward and backward, thus preserving his balance +at the same time that he holds himself firmly with his sharp little +claws to his upright wall. Some of the pictures of the creeper seen in +the books are not quite true to creeper methods of clinging and +locomotion, for they represent him as stuck to the bark of a tree trunk +with both feet invisible, presumably held directly under his striped +breast. In the real position it is likely that one or both feet could +be seen, the one thrust forward and the other flung back and to one +side. At least one foot would be visible, whatever the angle at which +the bird would be inspected, and from many points of view both of his +tiny feet may be plainly seen in the position described. + +Our little striped friend, usually called in the books the +black-and-white warbler, is not, after all, so expert a creeper as is +the nuthatch, which may be called the arboreal skater _par excellence_. +The warbler does not go scuttling straight down a vertical bole or +branch as the nuthatch does, but swings his lithe body from side to +side, as if he did not loosen the hold of both feet simultaneously but +alternately. Besides, both in ascending and descending he must have +more frequent recourse to his wings to tide him over the difficult +places. While the nuthatch can glide over the smoothest and hardest +bark, and even descend the wall of a brick house, his sharp claws +taking a firm grip on the edges of the bricks, the warbler is not quite +so much of a gymnast, for when he strikes a difficult spot in his +promenade ground, he flies or flits over it to the next protuberance +which his claws can hold. He has a decided advantage, however, over +all his warbler kin, for he is not only gifted with the creeping +talent, but is also just as dexterous as they in perching on a +horizontal twig. + +The little bird known as the brown creeper belongs to a different +avicular family entirely, but in one respect he is like the +black-and-white warbler--that is, he scales the trunks and branches of +the trees. There, however, the resemblance ceases, for the creeper +rarely goes head downward, evidently thinking that the proper position +for a bird's head is pointing toward the sky, not toward the ground. +Besides, he seldom, if ever, sits crosswise on a perch; no, he is an +inveterate creeper. My study of him proves that he does not hold his +feet directly under his breast, but spreads them out well toward either +side, knowing instinctively how to make a broad enough base to enable +him to preserve his center of gravity. + +Like the woodpecker, he uses his stiff tail as a brace; nor does he go +zigzagging up his wall after the manner of the creeping warbler, but +hitches along in a direct line--unless, of course, a tidbit attracts +him to one side--proving that he is a true creeper, one to the manner +born. However, the warbler has one advantage--he is able to perch with +perfect security on a twig, an accomplishment that has not yet been +attained by his little brown cousin. How cunningly the creeper peeps +into the crannies of the bark as he plies his trade, thrusts his long, +curved beak into the tiny holes and crevices, and draws out a worm or a +grub, which the next moment goes twinkling down his throat! His +economic value to the farmer and the fruit grower cannot be estimated, +and he should never be destroyed. + +The conduct of different birds is not alike upon their arrival from the +South at their summer nesting haunts in our more northern latitudes; +some heralding their advent with jubilant song as if in greeting to the +familiar scenes, while others are silent and wary. The first I knew of +the Baltimore and orchard orioles last spring, they were singing +blithely in the trees about the house; but the brown thrashers flitted +about slyly and silently for a few days, apparently to make sure that +the coast was clear of danger; having done which, they burst into their +dithyrambs with a will. Out in the woodland the gorgeous scarlet +tanager announced his arrival one morning with a lively sonnet, which +was heard long before the singer was seen; whereas his cousin, the +summer tanager, uttered only his quaint alarm-call, "Chip-burn, +chip-burn," and was excessively shy, dashing wildly away as I +approached, unwilling to vouchsafe a wisp of song. Once he even +pounced angrily upon his black-winged relative and drove him to the +other side of the hollow, precisely as if he meant to say, "Your +singing is out of place, sir, and dangerous, too! Don't you know that +the man prowling about yonder will shoot little birds who betray their +presence by singing?" + +[Illustration: Baltimore Oriole] + +One of our most lavish singers all summer long is the indigo bunting; +yet when he first came back from the South he was very shy, and his +voice seemed to be out of tune, so that, even when he tried to sing, +which was seldom, his effort sounded like the creaking of a rusty +door-hinge. Afterwards, however, when he got the cobwebs out of his +larynx, he made up for all his previous silence. Quite different is +the habit of the towhee, which announces his presence by his loud, +explosive trill--all too brief--or his complaining "chewing." + +Sometimes the rambler and bird gazer meets with other than avian +"specimens" in his excursions. One evening I was loitering in a +distant hollow, ogling with my field glass several lark sparrows that +were flitting about on the ground in an adjacent patch of some kind. +The birds were singing as only these beautiful sparrows can, and the +quiet of the evening lent an idyllic charm to their rich and varied +chansons. On the other side of a small stream stood a shanty, in the +door of which sat an old negro woman. In looking at the birds, I +sometimes turned the glass toward the shanty, although too intent on my +studies to notice it. Presently the woman could no longer endure my +apparent espionage, and so she said: "Go 'bout yer own business, +mister, 'n' don' ye be spyin' inter my house!" + + + + +TROUBLE AMONG THE BIRDS* + +*The larger part of this chapter was first published in "The Christian +Endeavor World," Boston; the rest of it in "Our Animal Friends," New +York. I reprint it here by permission of both these journals. + + +Even at the risk of causing a feeling of dejection on the reader's +part, I am going to put one "trouble" chapter into this volume. There +are trials in the birds' domain, and perhaps you and I will feel more +sympathy with them, and will be led to protect them all the more +carefully, if we know something about the "deep waters of affliction" +through which they are sometimes compelled to pass. Our native +American birds, at least some of them, suffer a good deal at the hands, +so to speak, of the pestiferous English sparrows, which were introduced +into this country by some egregious blunder. + +There can be no doubt that the English sparrows are regular bullies. +They do not fight other birds so much as they hector them, making life +intolerable by their ribaldry, coarse jests, and prying manners. Some +birds, especially many of our beautiful native species, are sensitively +organized, and cannot endure such boorish society as the badly bred +foreigners furnish. That as much as anything has driven our genteel +bluebirds away from our homes into the woods and other out-of-the-way +places. How would you feel, my friend, if, as you were going along the +street, a lot of hoodlums should take to gibing and hooting at you? + +Were there ever such pesky, ill-mannered citizens as the English +sparrows? Here comes a downy woodpecker, or a cardinal, or a +rose-breasted grosbeak to town, flitting about the trees of my yard, +gathering goodies among the leaves and twigs, and perhaps piping a +little aria at intervals, congratulating himself on having found a +pleasant, quiet place, when, lo! a gang of English sparrows crowd +around him, peering at him now with one eye, now with the other, +canting their heads in their impertinent way, bowing and scraping and +blinking, and for all the world seeming to make such derisive remarks +as, "Oh, what a fine fellow! Quite stuck-up, ain't he? Isn't that a +stylish topknot, though? He! he! he! Look! he wears a rose on his +shirt bosom! Isn't he a dandy? Ge! ge! gah! gah!" By and by the +visitor can stand the racket and the mockery no longer; and so he +steals away, resolved never again to go to that place to be insulted. +I have repeatedly been witness of just such occurrences. + +Early in the spring a robin began to build her nest in the middle story +of one of my maple trees. The whole process was narrowly watched by +the noisy, hectoring sparrows. They gathered about her, prying and +bobbing and jostling and chirping, staring at her like a lot of +bumpkins when she leaped into the half-finished cup and molded her +building material with her ruddy bosom. They seemed to be saying +jeeringly: "Isn't that a funny way for a bird to build a house? Hay! +hay! hay!" The robin forsook her nest; and the sparrows borrowed her +timbers for their own nest, and forgot to bring them back again. + +Just a moment ago a couple of young red-headed woodpeckers and their +parents visited the trees of my yard, making a lively din, for the +youngsters were calling for their supper. Then the sparrows crowded +about them, called and jested, followed them from tree to tree, never +stopping their persecutions until the red-headed family flew off in +disgust. + +In a Kansas town one March day, as I was returning to the house in +which I was lodging, my attention was attracted to a black-capped +chickadee, which was flitting about and calling in an agitated way in +one of the trees. Two English sparrows, a cock and his mate, were +responsible for the little bird's perturbation. What were they doing? +Something rude, as usual. Perched on a couple of twigs, they were +bending over, stretching out their necks and peering into a small hole +in one of the larger branches. The male was especially offensive, +standing there and staring into the cavity, and making insolent remarks. + +A good-sized club, hurled by myself, sent the sparrows to other parts. +Then I hurried into the house and sat by the curtained window to watch. +With much ado, the little black-cap flew over to the limb with the +cavity. He flitted about a few moments, then darted to the opening and +looked in, chirping in a reassuring tone, as much as to say, "The +ruffians are gone now; you can come out." + +And out of the doorway flew his pretty wife, while he slipped in to see +that all was safe. You see, the ill-bred sparrows had been glaring at +the little madam as she sat on her nest, which was a piece of +impertinence that no self-respecting bird could endure with equanimity. + +The English sparrows are not the only birds that disturb the harmony of +the bird realm. Offenders must needs come there as well as in the +human sphere. A friend who is entirely trustworthy tells me the +following story. He and his wife were driving along a country road, +when their attention was directed to a kingbird in hot pursuit of a +red-headed woodpecker, which had evidently been poaching on the +first-named bird's preserves. Being an expert flyer, the kingbird had +almost overtaken the fugitive, when suddenly the red-head wheeled to +one side, flung himself somehow or other over a telegraph wire, turning +at the same time and catching with his claws at the wire, where he +clung, his body bent in an arc, holding his enemy at bay with his long, +pointed beak and spiny tail. Of course, the martin could not attack +him in that position, as he could not afford to run the risk of being +impaled on the red-head's spear. + +Nor was that all. The martin sailed a short distance away, and the +woodpecker thought it safe to take to wing again. The kingbird again +started in swift pursuit, filling the air with his loud chirping, sure +of his game this time; but he was balked, as before, by the red-head's +sudden dash to the telegraph wire. This little comedy was repeated +several times while my friends watched with surprise and amusement. + +There is tragedy as well as comedy in the world of feathers. Ernest +Thompson Seton's graphic animal stories would leave a pleasanter taste +in the mouth if they ended less tragically, but they would not be so +true to life as it is in the faunal realm. It must be true that the +lives of most birds and animals end in tragedy, so numerous, alert, and +persistent are their foes. As soon as a bird begins to grow old and +infirm, losing its keenness of vision and its swiftness of movement, it +cannot help falling a prey to its rapacious enemies. For this reason +you seldom find a feeble animal or bird in the open, or one that has +lain down and died a natural death. + +However, strange as it may seem, I have found the corpses of several +birds in the wild outdoors. At an abandoned limestone quarry one +spring I discovered the nest of a pair of phoebes. I called at the +pretty domicile a number of times in my rambles. It was set on a shelf +of one stratum of rock, and roofed over by another. One day I noticed +the little dame sitting quietly in her cup, and decided to go near; +just why, I cannot tell. She did not move as I approached; she did not +even turn her head to look at me. It was strange. I went right up to +the nest, and yet she did not fly. Stretching out my hand, I found +that she was dead, her unhatched eggs still under her cold and +pulseless bosom. + +I could have wept for my little friends. There was nothing to indicate +the cause of the tragedy, no disturbance of the nest, no marks of +violence on her body. Possibly she had eaten or drunk poison; perhaps +she had received a fatal blow from an enemy, and had just had strength +enough left to come home to die. Her mate was gone. He was doubtless +unable to bear the ghastly sight of his dead companion on her nest. + +A little field sparrow came to a tragical end in a different way. I +found his body dangling among the bushes on a bank. Two small but +tough grapevine twigs growing out horizontally and close together +formed a very acute angle, and this was the trap in which the innocent +bird was caught. In some way one of his legs had slipped between the +branches, the angle of which became more acute, of course, toward the +apex. Thus the more he struggled the more tightly his tarsus became +wedged in the trap, the foot preventing it from slipping through. To +think of pushing his leg backward, and so releasing himself, was beyond +the poor bird's cerebral power; so he fluttered until exhausted, then +dangled there to die of starvation. The place being very secluded, no +predatory beast or fowl had found the little corpse. + +If there were only some way of protecting the nests of our beautiful +and useful birds of the wildwood, what a boon it would be to men and +fowls! So many nests come to grief that one wonders sometimes that any +brood is ever reared. During a recent spring, with exhausting toil and +patience, I found the nests of several shy woodland birds--the +Kentucky, the hooded, and the creeping warblers--all of them real +discoveries for me. I promised myself a rare treat in watching the +development of the nurslings from babyhood to youth. Alas! all the +nests were robbed, those of the Kentucky and hooded warblers of their +young, and that of the creeping warbler of its eggs. I trust I am not +naturally vindictive; but had I the brigands in my power who despoiled +those nests, I certainly should wring their necks. + +Our small birds must ever be on the _qui vive_. Danger is always +lurking near, as a few concrete cases will show. Brush was thrown into +a certain hollow well known to the writer, and one of the steep +hillsides was covered with timber of a medium-sized growth. One day I +was listening to a concert given by a company of towhees and cardinals, +which were sitting in the trees at the lower border of the woodland. A +flock of cedar waxwings were also "tseeming" in the top of a tree, +darting out at intervals into the air for insects. Suddenly every song +ceased, and the whole company dashed down, pellmell, hurry-skurry, into +the thick brush heaps of the hollow. At the same moment, or perhaps a +moment later--it all occurred so quickly I could not be exact--a covey +of juncos hurled themselves with reckless swiftness into the brush +pile, followed by a sparrow hawk, which uttered a queer, uncanny call +that meant death to any little bird that should be overtaken. + +He flung himself through a network of branches and twigs and lightly +struck the ground below, his wings partly opening as he lit, to break +the force of the concussion. He had dashed directly over my head. +Before I could collect my wits he gathered himself together, wormed his +way out through the branches in some way, and darted off up the +opposite slope. He had failed to secure his prize, but it was +wonderful how so large a bird could slip through the network of +branches and extricate himself without striking a quill against a twig. + +The extreme watchfulness of the small birds cannot fail to excite +wonder in the mind of the observer. In the case just referred to not +one of the birds was taken unaware, although some of them were singing +gaily, and others were busy feeding. Never for a moment do the birds +become so absorbed in their eating or work or play as to forget that a +foe may be lurking near. One cannot help wondering how they can be +happy. Suppose we were compelled to be incessantly on the lookout for +danger, should we ever have a moment of peace or joy? + +A red-breasted woodpecker was chiseling out a nursery in a tall +sycamore at the border of a woodland. At some distance, far enough +away not to alarm her, I watched the dame at her work. This was her +method of procedure, hour by hour: She would plunge head first into the +hole, only her barred tail being visible, give three or four vigorous +dabs with her bill, then emerge and look around in every direction for +danger; seeing none, into the cavity her crimson-crowned head would +again disappear, only to emerge again a second later. Not for a moment +did she dare to relax her vigilance. Had she done so, in that fatal +moment a hawk might have swooped upon her and crushed her in his +merciless talons. + +Yet some birds will take not a little risk, depending on their +quickness of eye and nimbleness of wing to escape their predatory foes. +In a tall sycamore tree standing alone at the fringe of a piece of +woodland, sparrow hawks, red-breasted woodpeckers, and nuthatches, a +pair of each, had set up their household gods. The tree was still bare +of foliage, for it had few branches, and the season was early spring. +It was evident, too, that the hawks were watching for an opportunity to +assault their neighbors, to whom they often gave chase. Yet the +woodpeckers had in some way contrived to hew out their arboreal +nursery, which was almost, if not quite, finished. It was a freshly +chiseled cavity, as could be seen plainly from below. The mother +nuthatch was feeding her young. She would fly to the tree with an +insect in her bill, calling "Yank, yank," or "Ha-ha, ha-ha," as if to +announce her arrival, then glide around the branch, scurry down its +sloping wall, swing to the underside where the nest hole was, and jab +the juicy morsel into the chirruping throat of one of the bantlings +within. The bloodthirsty hawk dashed at her several times, but she +deftly dodged around to the other side of the branch, and let him glide +harmlessly by, flinging after him a taunting "Ha-ha, ha-ha," as much as +to say, "Missed your aim again, didn't you!" However, it was a pretty +picture the nuthatch made, holding in her bill a large beetle with +silvery wings, sometimes holding it straight out from the bark as she +glanced around to see whether the coast was clear and at the same time +calling her nasal "yank," so full of woodsy suggestion. + +A trying experience for many birds comes at bedtime. They grow quite +nervous as night begins to settle over the land, some of them chirping +loudly to express their solicitude. As the darkness deepens, their +sight becomes obscured, and they seem to realize that they are exposed +to dangers unseen. You have often, no doubt, noticed the to-do made by +the robins as the time for retiring draws near. What foes may be +lurking in the growing darkness they know not. + +A favorite roosting place for the sparrows, towhees, juncos, and even +the robins, was in some thickets by the roadside. As I passed along, a +bird would occasionally leap from his perch to the ground and go +galloping away over the rustling leaves. At one place a half dozen +Harris sparrows were chirping loudly and flitting about a couple of +small trees, which were partly covered with a thick network of vines. +The cause of their uneasiness could not be determined, unless it was +their natural fear of the darkness. I waited until night had settled. +Presently the sparrows became quiet. Tramping about near the trees did +not disturb them, but when I flung a lighted stick against one of the +trees, they flew out of their matted bedroom with loud outcries. For a +few minutes they could be seen dashing about from tree to tree; then +they settled down for the night. + +[Illustration: Bob-white, or Quail] + +In view of the many trials that naturally come into the life of the +birds, we should be all the kinder to them. Why add to their sorrows? +Let me give you an example of humane treatment in one case--that of the +quail or bob-white. Not long ago I listened to a sensible lecturer on +natural history subjects. + +He did not say we should never kill the quail. They have evidently +been created for man's use, or they would not have been given such +juicy and nutritious flesh; just as many other fowls and animals were +made to minister to the subsistence and pleasure of the human family. +Besides, there can be no doubt that, if the quail were all permitted to +live and multiply, they would soon become so abundant as to do much +harm in our grain fields. So some of them should be killed, but not in +a cruel manner. + +One thing is certain, they should not be killed with shotguns! You ask +at once and in some surprise, Why not? Because that is cruel. Don't +you see how? Well, that is the way with most of us--we do many things +without thinking. It is not cruel to kill quail with a shotgun +providing they are killed outright. But have you never thought how +many of the fine shot must wound some of the birds that fly away? A +bird with several shots in its body may not be fatally hurt at first, +but will fly off and alight somewhere in the bushes where no hunter can +find it. In a few days the wounds grow sore, then gangrene sets in, +and the bird slowly dies in awful torture. No one to help it, no one +even to pity. Is not that cruel? + +But how are these birds to be treated? They should be dealt with +kindly, fed in winter, so that they will become comparatively tame, +somewhat like the fowl of the barnyard. Then, in the proper season, +they should be caught with a net. This can be done by placing the nets +in such a way that the birds will run into them about the brush heaps, +in which they are fond of taking refuge. Skill and shrewdness are +needed to catch them in this way, and, perhaps, it cannot be done while +they are shot at so much and are made so shy; but the time will come +when the netting of quail will be regarded as rare sport in America, as +hawking or fox hunting is in England. + +When the birds are caught their heads should be snipped off as you do +those of domestic fowls, or in some other way that is as painless as +possible. According to this plan not so many birds can be secured, it +is true, but it would be well to let the quail become more abundant in +our country, for in certain seasons of the year they destroy certain +kinds of insects that do much harm to the grain. Besides, they are +such sweet and innocent birds that all of us like to see them scuttling +along by the roadside, and listen to their musical calling in the +clover fields--"Bob white! bob white!" Then, too, if they were allowed +to become tame and plentiful, we might sometimes have the luxury of +quail's eggs on our tables. + + + + +A BIRD'S EDUCATION* + +*Reprinted by permission from "Forest and Stream." + + +So far as regards the recent discussion as to how animals learn, +whether by instinct or instruction, my study of birds leads me to take +a middle position; perhaps I would better say to take sides with both +parties. Birds acquire knowledge partly by instinct and partly by +tutelage, and the same is no doubt true of all other animals. This +statement will be borne out by several concrete cases. + +Some years ago I made a number of experiments in rearing young birds +taken as early as possible from the nest. Among them were meadowlarks, +red-winged blackbirds, brown thrashers, blue jays, wood thrushes, +catbirds, flickers, red-headed woodpeckers, and several other species. +Nearly all of them were secured some time before they were naturally +ready to leave their natal places. Without any instruction from +parents or older birds they soon left the nests I had improvised for +them, hopped about on the cage floor for a while, and presently +insisted on clambering upon the perches, to which they clung in the +regulation way. Indeed, I noted again and again that the impulse to +seek a perch was so strong that the young birds seemed to be moved to +it by an imperative command. Nor were they long satisfied with a low +perch, but instinctively mounted to the highest one they could find. + +The same was true in regard to flight. No feathered adult was present +to tutor them in the art of using their wings, yet they soon acquired +that power of their own accord. It was inborn--the gift of flight. +True, they were awkward at first, and gained skill only by degrees, but +the original impulse was in their constitution. It is no doubt true +that parent birds in the outdoors do give their young lessons in +flight, but if the bantlings were left to themselves, they would +acquire that art through their original endowment, although more slowly +and with many more hard knocks. + +As every one knows, juvenile birds at first open their mouths for their +food. Proof may not be at hand for the opinion, but I am disposed to +believe that they never need to be told by their parents to do that; +their instincts prompt them. It must be so, I think, for to suppose +that the bird baby only a day or two from the shell could understand a +parental command to open its mouth would be to presume that it has the +instinct to grasp the meaning of such a behest, and that is more +difficult to believe than that Nature simply impels it to take its food +by opening its mandibles. + +Now, when the young birds are taken from the nest and reared by hand, +they insist for a long time on being fed in the juvenile manner. +However, by and by they begin of their own volition to pick up food +after the manner of the adults. At first they are very clumsy about +it, but they persevere until they acquire skill, and presently they +refuse entirely to open their mandibles for food. Here again Nature is +their sole guide. Without human or avian suggestion they also learn to +drink in the well-known bird fashion; also to bathe, chirp, frolic, and +do many other things. Who has ever seen a pet bird in drinking try to +lap like a dog, or take in long draughts like a cow or a horse? No; +Nature made them birds, and birds they will be. It is noticeable, too, +that when birds begin to peck, or bathe, or seek a perch, they do not +usually act as if they were deliberately planning to do so, nor as if +they were carrying on some process of thought leading to choice, but +rather as if they were impelled by Nature to do so. + +The chirping of birds is mostly, if not wholly, a matter of +inheritance. For instance, my little wood thrushes, as soon as they +reached a sufficient age, called just like their relatives of the +sylvan solitudes; my brown thrashers uttered the labial chirp of the +species; my red-winged blackbird exclaimed "Chack! chack!" after the +manner of his kind; my bluebirds expressed their feelings in the sad +little purr of _Sialia sialis_; my flickers did not borrow the calls of +the red-heads, but each clung to its own language; my catbirds mewed +like poor pussy in trouble; and so on through the whole list. True, +these pets may have heard their parents' calls before they were taken +from the nest, but it is not at all likely that they would have +remembered them, for at first they only "cheeped" after the manner of +most bantlings, and only a good while afterward did they fall to using +the adult chirp. Besides, while still in the nest, they must have +heard many other bird calls; why did they not acquire them? Heredity +has laid a strong hand upon birds, and has drawn sharp dividing lines +among the various species. + +Instinct also plays a large part in moving the bird to sing and to +render the peculiar arias of its kind. For instance, a pet wood thrush +of mine, secured at an early age and kept far away from all his kith of +the wildwood, became a fine musician. And what do you suppose was the +tune he executed? It was the sweet, dreamy, somewhat labored song of +the wood thrush in his native wilds. He never sang any other tune. I +think he sang it better than any wild thrush I have ever heard. It was +louder, clearer, more full-toned, but the quality of voice and the +technique were precisely the same. Who was his teacher? No one but +Nature, heredity, instinct, whatever you choose to call it. There was +no wild thrush within a half mile of his cage. + +[Illustration: Robin] + +The case of a pet thrasher was almost as striking. It is true, he may +have heard several of his kin singing about the premises during the +first spring of his captivity, but it is not probable that he learned +their melodies so early in life. As the next spring approached, he +began to sing the very medleys that the wild thrashers sing with so +much earnestness and skill, and this was long before any thrashers had +come back from the South. + +I must now describe several cases in which inherited instinct did not +prove so true a teacher. A young robin was once given me by a friend, +and was kept by myself and others until the following summer. Strange +as it may seem, he never acquired the well-known robin carol. +Sometimes there were vague hints of it in his vocal performances, but +for the most part he whistled strains in a loud, shrill tone that no +wild robin ever dreamed of inflicting on the world. They were more +like crude human efforts at whistling than anything else. Indeed, I +think they were picked up from the whistling he heard about the house. +Some of his strains were very sweet, and all of them were wonderful for +a bird. A friend played "Yankee Doodle" on a cornet, and Master +'Rastus--for that was his name--gave a very fair and funny imitation of +part of the air. There were many robins caroling in the trees about +the premises, and 'Rastus was often left out of doors among them, but +he never acquired the red-breast minstrelsy. + +A similar instance was that of a pet red-winged blackbird, which, +instead of whistling the labored "Grook-o-lee" of his species, learned +to mimic all kinds of sounds in and out of the house, among them the +crowing of the cocks of the barnyard. These two instances would +indicate that some birds must at least be associated with their kin in +order to learn the songs of their species. + +My comical pet blue jay gave proof of the need of parental training. +While he intuitively called like a jay, he never was able to sing the +sweet, gurgling roulade of the wild jays. On the contrary, he treated +us to all kinds of odd, imitative, mirth-provoking performances that no +self-respecting jay in the open would think of enacting. After several +months of cage life he was given his liberty. Now, indeed, he showed +his lack of jay bringing up, and how little, in some respects, mere +instinct can be relied on. When evening came he perched on a limb of +the maple tree before the house, in a place as exposed as he could well +find, not knowing that there was more danger in an outdoor roost than +in his shielding cage. I could not induce him to come down, nor could +I climb out to the branch on which he sat, and so I was compelled to +leave him out of doors. + +The next morning he was safe, the screech owls of the neighborhood +having overlooked him in some way. The next evening he went to roost +in the same exposed place, and that was the last I ever saw of my +beloved pet. He was undoubtedly killed and devoured by the owls. Had +he been reared out of doors in the usual way, his parents would have +taught him to find a roosting place that was secure from predatory +foes. No one has ever seen a wild jay sleeping in an exposed place. + +In her charming little book, "True Bird Stories," Mrs. Olive Thorne +Miller says that she "once watched the doings in a crow nursery." I +quote: + +"The most important thing the elders had to do was to teach the +youngsters how to fly, and every little while one or both of the +parents would fly around the pasture, giving a peculiar call as they +went. This call appeared to be an order to the little folks to follow, +for all would start up and circle round for a minute or two, and then +drop back to the fence or the ground to rest. + +"Once, while I was watching them, this cry was given, and all flew as +usual except one bob-tailed baby, who stood on a big stone in the +middle of the field. He was perhaps so comfortable that he did not +want to go, or it may be he was afraid, and thought mamma would not +notice him. But mothers' eyes are sharp, and she did see him. She +knew, too, that baby crows must learn to fly; so when all came down +again she flew right at the naughty bird, and knocked him off his +perch. He squawked, and fluttered his wings to keep from falling, but +the blow came so suddenly that he had not time to save himself, and he +fell flat on the ground. In a minute he clambered back upon his stone, +and I watched him closely. The next time the call came to fly he did +not linger, but went with the rest, and so long as I could watch him he +never disobeyed again." + +This is evidence not only of parental teaching, but also of parental +discipline. Here is another bit from the same volume, bearing its +lesson on its face. "A lady told me a funny story about a robin. He +was brought up in the house from the nest, and never learned to sing +the robin song, for he had not heard it. He plainly tried to make some +sort of music, and one of the family taught him to whistle 'Yankee +Doodle'. He whistled it perfectly, and never tried to sing anything +else. Once this Yankee Doodle robin got out of the house and flew up +into a tree. When the wild birds came about him he entertained them by +whistling his favorite air, which sent the birds off in a panic." + +Do not the facts recited in this sketch prove that birds know and +acquire some things through the promptings of instinct, while other +things they can learn only by avian teaching? + +My notes on instinct and education in bird song correspond with the +conviction expressed by Dr. W. H. Hudson on page 257 of his interesting +book entitled "The Naturalist in La Plata," fourth edition, 1903: "It +is true that Daines Barrington's notion that young song birds learn to +sing only by imitating the adults, still holds its ground; and Darwin +gives it his approval in his 'Descent of Man'. It is perhaps one of +those doctrines which are partly true, or which do not contain the +whole truth; and it is possible to believe that, while many singing +birds do so learn their songs, or acquire a greater proficiency in them +from hearing the adults, in other species the song comes instinctively, +and is, like other instincts and habits, purely an 'inherited memory'." +What Dr. Hudson surmises may be the case, I believe my experiments have +proved to be true. + + + + +ARE BIRDS SINGERS OR WHISTLERS?* + +*Reprinted by permission from "Our Animal Friends." + + +Not a little discussion has arisen among the dissectors as to the +anatomy of bird song. Into this controversy I shall not enter--at +least, not in a controversial spirit--but shall recount only what may +be regarded as the best and latest results of scientific research. How +does a bird produce the melodious notes that emanate from his throat? +Are they manufactured far down in the trachea, or only at its anterior +opening? Are they voice tones or flute tones? These questions will be +answered as we proceed to examine the bird's lyrical apparatus without +going into wearisome detail, or making use of many difficult scientific +terms, which are the bane of the general reader. + +Let me begin at the upper end of the avian singing machine--that is, +with the mouth, including the bill, the lips of which are called +mandibles. Just as the movements of the human lips have much to do +with the modifications of the human voice, so the opening and closing +of the bird's mandibles exercise a modifying influence upon avicular +tones. If it were not so, the feathered minstrel would not keep his +mandibles in such constant motion during his lyrical recitals. You +will notice that whenever he desires to strike a very high and loud +note he opens his mandibles quite widely, sometimes almost to the +fullest possible extent. + +However, the expansion and contraction of the throat orifice, no doubt, +produce still more marked variations in the tones of the vocalist; yet +it must be borne in mind that closed or partly closed mandibles will +obstruct the passage of the air from the throat, while open mandibles +will permit of a full passage of the air current, and the tones will +vary accordingly. Besides, the roof of the bird's mouth is grooved or +convex, and therefore the character of the sounds will be somewhat +dependent upon the position and movement of the upper mandible. + +And then there is the bird's tongue, which is constantly in motion +while the musical rehearsal is going on. Throughout its entire length +it can be raised and lowered at the bird's will, or be made to quiver +and roll, and by this means the air column forced up from the lungs is +manipulated in a wonderful way, producing in some cases an almost +unlimited variety of modulation. + +Within the bird's neck two elastic tubes run down from the mouth into +the chest. One of them is the gullet or aesophagus, which is the +channel through which the bird's food descends into the crop and +gizzard. The other little cylinder lies in front of the gullet, and is +called the windpipe or trachea, and reaches down to the lungs, which +are the bellows furnishing the wind for the avian pipe organ. As Dr. +Coues says, the trachea is "composed of a series of very numerous +gristly or bony rings connected together by an elastic membrane," and +is supplied with an intricate set of muscles by which it can be +shortened or elongated at the will of the songster himself. + +Now let us look at the upper end of this wonderful pneumatic pipe, +which so often throws Pan and all his coterie into a transport when the +thrasher and the wood thrush flute their dithyrambs. Here we find the +larynx. It is simply the anterior specialized portion of the trachea, +located at the base of the tongue, and in mammals is honored as the +voice organ, whereas in birds it is distinguished as the fluting +apparatus, the instrument that really produces the varied vocalization +of the bird realm. But the music is not the product of vocal cords, as +is the case in the human larynx, for at the upper end of the avian +larynx there is a slit or fissure, somewhat elliptical in form, and set +in the fork of the hyoid bone, which constitutes the bifurcated root of +the tongue. This fissure is called the glottis. At the bird's fiat, +it can be opened and closed and made to assume a great variety of +forms. Moreover, just in front of it there is a fold of mucous +membrane called the epiglottis, which is in reality a tiny trapdoor +closing over the opening when necessity requires. When the bird +swallows food or drink, this little flap shuts down, and prevents the +entrance of any clogging substance into the windpipe to choke the +feathered diner. + +We have now come to the most strategic point in our investigation of +the anatomy of bird song, for in the avian world a special distinction +has been conferred upon that little orifice in the bird's throat called +the glottis. It is here that all the music, as well as all other +so-called vocal sounds, are generated--they are simply piped or fluted +through a slit, so that birds are _whistlers_, not singers or +vocalists. I repeat, so that my meaning may be perfectly clear--bird +music is not produced by means of vocal cords, as is the music of the +human throat, but by means of a whistling aperture in the larynx. And +that wonderful cleft has been placed there for that specific purpose. +Properly speaking, therefore, the feathered choralist does not have a +voice, but only a wind instrument; albeit a marvelous contrivance it is. + +It will be easy now to see how the bird's tones are capable of a large +variety of modulations. The glottis is controlled by a system of +muscles that are perfectly obedient, within their limits, to the bird's +volitions, and thus it may be made to assume a great number of +different forms, each giving expression to a different vocal effect. +The shape of the glottis is also modified in numerous ways by the +movement of the tongue and mandibles. Nor is that all, for the air +column pumped up from the lungs may be increased or diminished at will, +a very strong current producing a loud tone, and a feeble current a low +one. The elongation or contraction of the whole throat will also +modify the pneumatic column, and thereby alter the quality of the tones. + +We may go still further in our analysis. Suppose a bird should open +his mouth and throat as widely as possible, hold all his lyrical organs +steady, and blow his windpipe with all the strength his lungs could +command, it is obvious that the effect would be a clear, loud, uniform +whistle, such as the meadowlark sends across the green fields. But +suppose he desires to "blow a dreamy hautbois note, slender and refined +as ever stirred the air of Arcady or trembled in the vineyards of old +Provence," then all the musician in plumes needs to do is to contract +the slit in his throat, depress his tongue, almost close his mandibles, +and simply allow a slender air current to sift from the lungs through +the syrinx and out of the glottis. What if the whim should seize him +to pipe a trill or a quaver to the water witches of the meadow, as +Master Song Sparrow so often chooses to do? Then he simply needs to +set his tongue and throat to quivering, and you have his enrapturing +tremolo. Beautiful, is it not? + +There are birds that send a kind of guttural sound from their throats, +such as the cuckoos and occasionally the blue jays. Notice the cuckoo +as he utters his call, which every swain interprets as the harbinger of +a coming shower, and you will observe that his throat bulges out like +that of a croaking frog, and quivers at the same time in a convulsed +way. It is plain that the air about to be forced from the glottis is +flung back by some muscular action and set to vibrating in the +laryngean cavity, thus giving the sound its croaking quality when the +elastic current is finally released. + +Now, if the reader will pucker up his lips and whistle a tune, he will +notice that the sound is actually produced at the small labial orifice +and nowhere else; however, the tones are modified and modulated at will +in a variety of ways--by a deft, though almost imperceptible, +manipulation of the tongue, by a slight enlargement or contraction of +the aperture, and especially by a dexterous control of the air column +blown from the lungs. Just so the lyrists of fields and woods pipe +their roundels and _chansons_ through the chink in their throats, save +that in the bird's case the mouth and tongue are anterior to the +whistling aperture. I know a young man who has trained himself so as +to be able to mimic to perfection the complex songs of the western +meadowlark and the cardinal grosbeak. He does it by whistling. + +Near the lower end of the trachea, just above the lungs, there is a +specialized organ of the bird's throat called the syrinx. It is a +cylinder formed of bony rings, provided with a mesh of muscles, and +having membranous folds which act as valves upon the two orifices of +the _bronchi_ leading to the lungs. Many scientific gentlemen have +declared that the syrinx is the voice organ of the birds, the elastic +margins of the folds or valves being set to vibrating by the projection +of the air from the lungs, and thus producing the varied lays we hear +in the outdoor concert. However, Mr. Maurice Thompson--who, by the +way, found time to do something else besides writing "Alice of Old +Vincennes," and something just as creditable to his talent, +too--dissected many birds with special reference to this subject, and +gave close attention to birds in the act of singing, both out of doors +and in captivity, and I am convinced that he proved the theory of the +syringeal origin of bird song to be an erroneous one. + +Only two reasons need be adduced for this conclusion. First, it is +unreasonable to suppose that the rich, loud, clear notes of the +thrasher, the cardinal, and the mockingbird, lilting across the fields +and capable of being heard a long distance, are generated far down in +the lyrist's chest by the vibrating of the margin of a tiny mucous +membrane. If it had its genesis there, it surely would display a +muffled or guttural or sepulchral quality. In the second place, it has +been proved by actual dissection that the shrike, which possesses no +song gift worthy of the name, has a well-developed syrinx, while the +mockingbird, our feathered minstrel _par excellence_, has a syrinx that +is absolutely insignificant. On the other hand, the shrike's larynx, +including the glottis, is a clumsy affair, whereas the mocker's larynx +is indeed wonderfully made. + +[Illustration: Meadow Lark] + +It must not be supposed, however, that the syrinx does not perform an +important function in the production of avian melody. It acts as a +regulator or meter of the air impelled from the lungs. By means of the +folds or membranous valves the mouths of the bronchial tubes may be +opened widely or almost closed, and in this way, to quote from Mr. +Thompson, "the bird is enabled to measure in the nicest manner the +amount of air thrown from the lungs into the trachea." In producing a +staccato, for example, the valves flop up and down, doling out the air +at the proper intervals and in precisely the right quantities. + +Indeed, nothing in the world of Nature is more wonderful than the gift +of bird song, and nothing proves more clearly the doctrine of design, +or, at least, of adaptation to a specialized purpose. + + + + +BIRD FLIGHT* + +*Reprinted by permission from "The Evening Post," New York. + + +The question why man cannot fly may be answered in a very simple and +yet satisfactory manner: He has not been organically constructed for +that purpose. That may seem like cutting the Gordian knot, but, after +all, it is the only explanation that can be given. You might as well +ask why man cannot clutch a perch with his foot after the manner of a +bird or a monkey, for the response would be the same--his foot was made +for walking, and not for prehensile purposes. On the other hand, the +bird cannot grasp an object with its wings, while a man's hand is well +adapted for the performance of such a function. Nature's motto in her +whole realm seems to be: "Every creature after its kind." + +When we look at the structure of the flying birds, we see at once that +they were formed for swift locomotion through the air, just as plainly +as the lithe skiff was made to glide over the water or the carriage to +spin over the land. In the first place, the body of the bird is +comparatively light--that is, in proportion to the width, strength, and +extent of its wings. By its thick, light, airy covering of feathers +its body is made still more buoyant, besides presenting a larger +surface to the supporting air with very little additional weight. The +tail, too, with its long, closely woven quills spread out like a fan, +not only serves the purpose of a rudder for guiding the aerial craft, +but is still more useful in helping to sustain the bird's weight in the +up-buoying element. + +It is interesting to note that the feathers on the bodies of the flying +birds are arranged in tracts, with intervals here and there of quite, +or almost, bare skin, called "apteria." Now, when a bird is carefully +skinned, it will be seen that the feathered spaces have their own +special slips of muscles inserted into the roots of the feathers, and +when these muscles are contracted, they serve to raise the feathers, +and must, therefore, be of some subsidiary value in flying, by making +the bird's body more buoyant. Suggestive, indeed, is the fact that the +plumes of the non-flyers are not arranged in tracts, but are evenly +distributed over the body. + +Nor is that all that Nature has done to carry out her evident purpose +of making the bird a natural "flying machine." The body of the bird +contains numerous air sacs, all connected with the lungs, and these, +when inflated, are a great help in flying by making the bird light. +More than that, many of the bones, though strong, have thin walls and +are hollow, the cavities being connected with the lungs and air sacs, +from which they are also filled with air, contributing another element +of lightness to the aerial navigator. That the bird's bones are +capable of being permeated with air can be demonstrated by actual +experiment, and is, therefore, a scientifically established fact. It +is easy enough to prove it in this way: Take a dead bird that has been +beheaded, pass a syringe into its windpipe, tie it carefully so that +the air cannot escape at the sides, then blow the air down through the +tube, and you will be able to follow the passage of the air into the +skin and other parts of the body. Now, if you will cut off one of the +bones, you can detect the air passing from the cut surface; and, more +than that, as a scientific English writer says, "if the experiment be +made by using colored fluid instead of air--which is pumped in by a +syringe--the fluid can be seen to ooze from the ends of any bone or +muscle that has been cut across." Thus it is seen that the whole body +of the fowl is so constructed that it can be pervaded with air. + +However, while all parts of the bird's organism combine to produce the +end in view, the special instruments of flight are the wings. They are +really the fore limbs of the fowl, but differ in many respects from the +fore limbs of the mammals. They are under the control of muscles of +great comparative strength, as every one knows who has ever been beaten +by the wings of even an ordinary barnyard fowl, which has meagre powers +of flight. What a powerful stroke a large hawk or an eagle must be +able to deliver! If man's arm muscles were as strong in proportion, he +might have some hope of one day navigating the air on artificial wings, +but it is due principally to this muscular weakness that Darius Green +has never been able to make a success of his flying machine, and +perhaps never will. He would not have the strength to wield wings +large enough to sustain so much avoirdupois on the yielding air. + +The wings are highly specialized members of the avicular organism, and +hence differ in many important respects from the fore or pectoral limbs +of the mammals. Beginning at the point nearest the body, let us +examine one of these wonderful instruments. The wing proper begins at +the shoulder joint, which hinges freely upon the shoulder in a shallow +socket, into which the globular head of the first bone fits closely, +and in which it is firmly held by the powerful muscles that control the +organs of flight. The first bone is called the humerus, and is the +largest and strongest bone of the wing, extending from the shoulder to +the elbow. At the elbow, which is the first angle of the wing, +reaching backward when the wing is folded, the humerus articulates in a +wisely designed way with two other bones, called the ulna and radius, +which together constitute the forearm and extend to the wrist joint. +It must be remembered that, when the wing is closed, the forearm is the +segment that reaches obliquely forward. The wrist joint is the second +angle of the wing. In the wrist there are two small bones (the radiale +and ulnare) which serve an important purpose in joining the forearm +with what is known as the hand, and make possible the specialized +movement of the two parts upon each other. The hand is the terminal +segment of the wing, composed of the metacarpal bones and the digits or +fingers. Of the last-named organs there are ordinarily three, forming +a graceful tapering point to the wing, and giving to it the symmetry +and proportion that are required for effective use. When the wing is +folded, the hand extends obliquely downward and backward. + +Now, these bones and their attendant ligatures are wonderfully and +wisely contrived. The humerus moves freely in its socket in the +shoulder, so that it can be swung in every required direction, and yet, +as should be the case, its principal movement is up and down in a +vertical line--the precise movement required for the effective +wingstrokes in flight. But note further. The elbow joint, unlike that +of the shoulder, is a rigid hinge, permitting motion in only one plane, +that of the wing itself, or nearly so. The same is true of the wrist +joint, which holds the hand firmly, allowing no motion save that which +opens and closes the wing. The wisdom of this arrangement will be seen +at a glance. + +In the human arm the hand can be moved in every direction with the +greatest freedom, and, moreover, the wrist may be turned and the hand +laid on its back, its palm, its edge, or at almost any conceivable +angle. This is a very convenient contrivance for man, but it would be +a great misfortune for our avian friends if their wings would rotate so +readily; for in that case they would not have sufficient rigidity to +answer the purposes of flight, but would be twisted into every position +by the assaults of the air currents. Besides, even in ordinary flight +it would require a constant muscular effort to keep the wings in the +proper position. How wisely Nature has devised the bird's flying +apparatus! When outstretched, it is held firmly by the power of its +own mechanism, with its broad under surface lying horizontally, and no +breezy current can bend or twist it from its normal position. + +The set of muscles that open the wing are called the extensors, and +those that close it, the flexors. The former lie upon the back of the +upper arm and the front of the forearm and the hand, their tendons +passing over the convexities of the elbow and wrist, while the flexors +occupy the opposite sides, and their tendons run up into the +concavities of the joints. There are several powerful pectoral muscles +which run out from the shoulder and breast, and operate upon the upper +end of the humerus, and with these the wing is lifted and the strokes +are made during flight. + +Another mechanical contrivance deserves attention. An extremely +elastic cord reaches over from the shoulder to the wrist joint, +supporting a fold of skin that occupies the deep angle of the elbow, +and that is covered with short, fluffy feathers. When the bird is +flying, this cord is stretched and forms the front edge of that section +of the wing. But, now, suppose the wing is closed, will not this cord +make a cumbersome fold, flapping loosely in the angle of the elbow? +Such would, indeed, be the case, did not its extreme elasticity enable +it to contract to the proper length, so as to keep the wing's border +straight and smooth. + +Without the feathers the wing would be useless as an instrument of +flight. The shorter plumes that shield the bases of the long quill +feathers are called the coverts, which are found on both the upper and +under surfaces of the wing. They are divided into several sets, +according to the position they occupy, and are called the "primary +coverts" (because they overlie the bases of the primaries), the +"greater coverts," the "middle coverts," and the "lesser coverts." +Forming a vast expansion of the bony and fleshy framework are the +quills, or flight-feathers, called collectively the "remiges." These +plumes mainly determine the contour of the wing, and constitute a thin, +elastic surface for striking the air--one that is sufficiently +resilient to give the proper rebound and yet firm enough to support the +bird's weight. The longest quills are those that grow on the hand or +outer extremity of the wing and are known as the primaries. What are +called the secondaries are attached to the ulna of the forearm, while +the tertiaries occupy the humerus and are next to the body. All these +feathers are so placed relatively that the stiff outer vane of each +quill overlaps the more flexible inner vane of its successor, like the +leaves of certain kinds of fans, thus presenting an unbroken surface to +the air. As to the structure of these plumes, they combine firmness, +lightness, and mobility, the barbs and barbules knitting the more +flexible parts together, so that they do not separate, but only expand, +when the wing is unfolded. + +[Illustration: Barn Swallow] + +While the primary purpose of wings is flight, there is quite a number +of notable exceptions. A concrete example is the ostrich, whose wings +are too feeble to lift it from the ground, but evidently aid the great +fowl in running, as it holds them outspread while it skims over the +plain, perhaps using them mainly as outriggers or balancing poles in +its swift passage on its stilt-like legs. The penguins convert their +wings into fins while swimming through the water, the feathers closely +resembling scales. + +There are birds of many kinds, and therefore a great variety of wings +and modes of flight. Birds with short, broad, rounded wings, with the +under surface slightly concave and the upper surface correspondingly +convex, usually have comparatively heavy bodies, and race through the +air with rapid wing-beats and rather labored flight, and compass only +short distances. Among the birds of this kind of aerial movement may +be mentioned the American meadowlark, the bob-white, and the pheasant. +Other species propel themselves in rapid, gliding, and continued flight +by means of long, narrow, and pointed wings, like the swifts, swallows, +and goatsuckers, while many others, notably herons, hawks, vultures, +and eagles, are distinguished by a vast alar expansion in proportion to +their weight, and hence are able to sustain themselves in the air by +sailing, with only a slight stroke at rare intervals. Such birds as +the stormy petrel and the frigate-bird have wings that are broad, +convex, and of great length in contrast with the lightness and small +bulk of their bodies, for which reason they are able to sustain +themselves in the air for days without rest. It is even thought that +some of these wonderful birds of the limitless ocean sleep on the wing, +though how such an hypothesis could be proved it would be difficult to +say. + +Even in this day of scientific research and astuteness, it must not be +supposed that everything about the mechanics of avicular flight is +understood. We may readily comprehend how a bird, without fluttering +its wings, can poise in the air; but how can it move forward or in a +circle, and even mount upward, without a visible movement of a pinion? +And this some birds are able to do without reference to the direction +of the ethereal currents. That, I venture to say, is still a mystery. +It almost seems as if some of the masters of aerial navigation in the +bird world were gifted with the ability to propel themselves forward by +a mere act of volition. + +An interesting article on the subject of bird flight appeared not long +ago in one of the foremost periodicals of the country, a part of which +is here quoted to show what a puzzling problem we have before us: + +Recent developments in aerial navigation have renewed interest in the +comparative study of the mechanical principles involved in the flying +of birds. There is one exceedingly puzzling law in regard to birds and +all flying creatures, the solution of which may work far-reaching +influences in the construction of flying craft. + +"This law, which has thus far perplexed scientists, is that the heavier +and bigger the bird or insect, the less relative wing area is required +for its support. Thus the area of wing surface of a gnat is forty-nine +units of area to every one of weight. In graphic contrast to that, a +condor (_Sarcorhamphus gryphus_) which weighed 16.52 pounds had a wing +surface of 9.80 square feet. In other words, though the gnat needs +wing surface in a ratio of forty-nine square feet per pound of weight, +a great condor manages to sail along majestically with .59 of a square +foot to at least a pound of weight. The unexplained phenomenon +persists consistently throughout the whole domain of entomology and +ornithology. Going up the scale from the gnat, it is found that with +the dragon fly this ratio is 30 to 1, with the _tipula_, or +daddy-longlegs, 14.5 to 1, the cockchafer only 5.15 to 1, the +rhinoceros beetle 3.14 to 1. + +"Among birds the paradoxical law that the smaller the creature the +bigger the relative supporting wings holds good. A screech owl (_Scops +zorca_) weighing one-third of a pound had 2.35 square feet of wing +surface per pound of weight. A fish hawk (_Pandion haliaetus_) +weighing nearly three pounds had a wing area of 1.08 square feet to +each pound. A turkey buzzard weighing 5.6 pounds had a little less +than one square foot of wing surface to each pound. A griffon vulture +(_Gyps fulvus_) weighing 16.52 pounds had a wing surface of only .68 +square feet to the pound. + +"Students of aerial navigation who are devoting much attention to +observations of birds say that if the peculiar law governing extant +flying creatures could be fathomed the problem of human flight might be +solved." + + + + +A BIRD'S FOOT + +You will agree with me, after you have studied a bird's foot, that it +is one of Nature's most wonderful contrivances, so admirably adapted +for the purposes to which it is devoted that one cannot help feeling +that a Divine Mind must have planned it, just as a man would make a +watch for the express purpose of keeping time. + +But what is properly included in a bird's foot? Here we shall have to +correct a popular mistake, if we wish to be accurate, in the scientific +sense of the term. Most people think that the avian foot consists only +of the toes and claws, or the part that comes in direct contact with +the ground or the perch. That, however, is an error, for the foot +really comprises, in addition to the toes and claws, the first long +bone of the limb, reaching from the base of the digits to the first +joint. You will see, therefore, that the bird walks on its toes, not +on its foot as a whole. + +The long bone referred to--called the tarsus--corresponds to the instep +of the human foot, that is, the foot proper, while the joint which +extends backward, forming an angle with the next large bone, is really +the bird's heel. Thus you perceive that most birds walk with their +heels high in the air. What most people call the bird's "leg" is in +reality the bird's foot, and what they call its "foot" comprises only +its toes and claws. + +To obtain a correct idea of the bird's entire walking apparatus, we +begin with the uppermost part of the leg. As we proceed, it would be +well to keep in mind the different parts of the human leg and foot. +The highest bone is called the thigh bone or femur, which is, for the +most part, enclosed in the general integument of the body, and is not +entirely separate from it as is the thigh bone of the human leg. Among +carvers it is known as the "second joint." It reaches forward and +slightly downward, and is hidden under the feathers of the body. The +upper end of the femur enlarges into a globular head, which fits into +the socket of the hip in the pelvis, while the lower end meets another +long bone, which extends obliquely backward and downward and with which +it forms the knee joint. + +The knee of the bird extends forward, as the human knee does when it is +bent. By means of various nodules and tendons the femur is articulated +with and fastened to the next large bone at the knee joint. This +second bone is the leg proper, called in scientific language the crus. +When, with its thick, palatable flesh, it is cooked and placed on the +table, it is known as the "drumstick"--a favorite part of the fowl with +hungry boys, vying, in their minds, with the "white meat" of the breast. + +This important segment of the limb is composed of two bones, the larger +of which is called the tibia, the smaller the fibula. At its lower end +the tibia forms what is known as the ankle joint by articulating with +the next long bone, which is commonly called the tarsus, although the +proper name would be really metatarsus. It is not often that this bone +is covered with flesh, and therefore it seldom finds its way to the +table. Properly speaking, it is the larger part of the bird's foot, +reaching obliquely upward and backward from the roots of the toes to +the heel. If you will lift yourself upon your toes, holding your heels +in the air, you will be able to form a correct idea of what the bird is +doing whenever it stands or walks or perches. + +The toes are fastened by means of well adapted joints to the lower end +of the tarsus, and form what is popularly regarded as the bird's foot. +When spoken of separately, these toes are called digits, and when +spoken of collectively, they are called the podium. They are composed +of small bones called phalanges or internodes, which are jointed upon +one another like the several parts of the human fingers. The digits +can be spread out for walking purposes, or bent around so as to clasp +an object. The outer bone of each digit almost always bears a nail or +claw, which is sometimes very strong and hooked, as is the case with +the birds of prey, while in other species it is only slightly curved +and is not meant as a weapon of offense or defense, but chiefly to +enable the bird to "scratch for a living." + +How do the birds, in perching and roosting, retain their hold so long +on a limb without becoming weary? They do not need to make a conscious +effort to do this, but are held by the mechanical action of certain +muscles and tendons in the leg and foot. Of course, the bird can also +control these muscles by an act of its will, but a large part of their +action is automatic. In some species there is a muscle called the +ambiens, which has its rise in the pelvis, passes along the inner side +of the thigh, whence its tendon runs over the apex of the angle of the +knee joint, and down the leg till it joins the muscles that flex the +toes. Now when the bird's leg is bent at the joints, as is the case in +perching, the tendons of this muscle are stretched over the knee and +ankle joints, thus pulling the digits together, and causing them of +their own accord to grasp the perch more or less tightly. When a bird +wishes to unloose its hold, it simply rises on its feet and relaxes the +tendons. + +All birds by no means possess this particular muscle, but all the +perchers have some muscular arrangement in the legs and toes that +practically answers the same purpose. If you will bend your wrist +backward as far as you can, you will observe that your fingers will +have a tendency to curve slightly forward. This is caused by the +stretching of the tendons over the convex part of your bent wrist +joints. + +The typical bird has four digits, three in front and one reaching +backward. The hind toe is called the hallux, and corresponds to the +thumb of the human hand, so that in grasping an object it can be made +to meet any of the other toes. But many birds are not provided with a +quartet of digits. The ostrich has only two, the inner and hinder toes +being wanting. However, this great fowl does not experience any lack, +for its feet are almost solid like hoofs, and quite flat, and hence are +especially adapted for traveling across the sandy desert. + +No bird has ever been found with more than four toes; and four seem to +be ample for all purposes. A fifth toe for a bird would be as useless +as a fifth wheel on a wagon. Quite a number of species have only three +toes, most of them among the walkers and waders, and none, I believe, +among the true perchers. Take the plovers and sanderlings, for +example, which spend most of their time, when not on the wing, in +running about on the ground, especially along the seashore or the banks +of streams and lakes, and seldom, if ever, sit on a perch--in their +case a fourth toe would be worse than a superfluous appendage; it would +be an encumbrance, dragging along in the mud and mire. In these +species it is the hind toe that is lacking, their three digits all +being in front, where they are of the greatest service. There is +another class of birds that have hind toes, though very much reduced +because their owners do not perch, but scuttle about on the beach. +This class includes the little spotted sandpipers which you often see +running or flying along the shores of a river or lake. + +Curious to tell, several species of woodpeckers are tridactyl--that is, +three-toed--and still more curious is the fact that in their case the +true hind toe is lacking, while the outer front toe is bent backward, +or "reversed," as it is called, and is thus made to do service for a +hind toe. The other species of woodpeckers have four toes, two in +front and two behind, the outer one of the latter pair being a reversed +digit. Why some of the woodpeckers should have four toes and others +only three is an unsolved enigma, and is especially puzzling in view of +the fact that the four-toed kinds do not seem to possess any advantage +over their cousins. The tridactyl species are as expert climbers as +any members of the family, and are extremely hardy birds, too, some of +them dwelling the year round in cold northern climates, where the food +question must often be a serious one. + +[Illustration: Spotted Sandpiper, or "Peet-weet"] + +Here is still another conundrum for the bird student: Why do the +four-toed woodpeckers have two hind digits, despite the fact that they +always clamber upward when they take their promenades on the boles and +branches of the trees, whereas the agile little nuthatch, which glides +upward or downward, as the impulse moves him, has only one rear toe and +three in front, like the true perchers? Nor is it less puzzling that +the cuckoos, which are perching birds, should have two toes in front +and two behind. Then, there is the little brown creeper which never +perches and is forever creeping, creeping, upward, upward--save, of +course, when it takes to wing--and yet its toes are arranged in the +normal percher style, the hind digit having an especially long, curved +claw. It is a mistake to suppose that all the problems of the bird +world have been solved. + +Look at the different kinds of birds' feet and see how wisely they have +been planned for the various purposes to which they have been applied. +In order that a bird may use his feet with the greatest dexterity in +perching and flitting, his digits should be as free and movable as +possible; and so we find that the toes of the perchers are usually +cleft to the base, are long and slender, easily opened and closed, and +possess the power to grasp an object firmly. The same is true of the +raptorial birds, or birds of prey, which are strong perchers and depend +largely for their food supply on clutching their victims while on the +wing. In all these birds the hind toe is also well developed, and is +on the same plane as the anterior digits--a wise adaptation of means to +ends. + +But there are other birds whose feet, as some one has said, are good +feet, but poor hands--that is, they are not intended for prehensile +purposes, only for walking and wading. Therefore, in these birds the +hind toe is small, and more or less elevated above the plane of the +other digits, or, as has already been said, is wholly wanting. The +feet of some of these birds are partly webbed, so that, if necessary, +they can change their mode of locomotion from running and wading to +swimming. Birds whose feet are partly webbed are said to be +semipalmated. + +This introduces us to that interesting group of birds whose toes are +connected throughout their entire length by a thin, membranous web. +Their feet are said to be palmated. We can readily understand why they +are thus formed, for their webbed feet answer the purpose of oars to +propel them over the water. Most of the swimmers have feet of this +kind. Watch them glide like feathered craft over the smooth surface of +the stream or lake. + +When a swimmer thrusts his foot forward, the toes naturally drop +together and partly close, presenting only a narrow front--almost an +edge--of resistance to the water; then, when he makes a backward +stroke, the toes spread far apart and, with the connecting membranes, +are converted into a broad, propelling oar. Is it not a wonderfully +wise contrivance? + +Most swimming birds have only the front toes webbed, but in a few +species, like the pelicans, even the hind toe is connected with its +fellows by means of such a membrane. Nor must we forget those water +fowls which, instead of palmated feet, have what is called the lobate +foot, which means that the digits have broad lobes or flaps on their +sides. While in such cases the toes are all distinct, the expanded +lobes serve almost, if not quite, as good a purpose for propulsion in +the water as do the webs. The coot swims almost as well as the duck or +the goose, and at the same time his feet, with their disconnected toes, +are better adapted for paddling about amid the watergrass and dense +weeds than if they were webbed. + +The birds of prey, such as hawks, owls, and eagles, have large, strong, +and sharply curved talons and powerful digits, and a sad use they make +of them in clutching small birds and animals. The claws of the +woodpeckers and other climbing birds are stout and extremely acute, +just as they should be for clinging to the bark of trees. In short, +the structure of a bird's foot, whatever may be the species of fowl, +furnishes most conclusive evidence of adaptation in the world of Nature. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR BIRD COMRADES*** + + +******* This file should be named 26346.txt or 26346.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/3/4/26346 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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