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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/4203-8.txt b/4203-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df2f867 --- /dev/null +++ b/4203-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6294 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wake-Robin, by John Burroughs + +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: Wake-Robin + +Author: John Burroughs + +Posting Date: July 7, 2009 [EBook #4203] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 1, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAKE-ROBIN *** + + + + +Produced by Jack Eden. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + +WAKE-ROBIN + + + +THE WRITINGS OF JOHN BURROUGHS + + +WITH PORTRAITS AND MANY ILLUSTRATIONS + + + +VOLUME I + + + + +PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION + +This is mainly a book about the Birds, or more properly an invitation +to the study of Ornithology, and the purpose of the author will be +carried out in proportion as it awakens and stimulates the interest of +the reader in this branch of Natural History. + +Though written less in the spirit of exact science than with the +freedom of love and old acquaintance, yet I have in no instance taken +liberties with facts, or allowed my imagination to influence me to the +extent of giving a false impression or a wrong coloring. I have reaped +my harvest more in the woods than in the study; what I offer, in fact, +is a careful and conscientious record of actual observations and +experiences, and is true as it stands written, every word of it. But +what has interested me most in Ornithology is the pursuit, the chase, +the discovery; that part of it which is akin to hunting, fishing, and +wild sports, and which I could carry with me in my eye and ear +wherever I went. + +I cannot answer with much confidence the poet's inquiry,-- + + "Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?" + +but I have done what I could to bring home the "river and sky" with +the sparrow I heard "singing at dawn on the alder bough." In other +words, I have tried to present a live bird,--a bird in the woods or +the fields,--with the atmosphere and associations of the place, and +not merely a stuffed and labeled specimen. + +A more specific title for the volume would have suited me better; but +not being able to satisfy myself in this direction, I cast about for a +word thoroughly in the atmosphere and spirit of the book, which I hope +I have found in "Wake-Robin," the common name of the white Trillium, +which blooms in all our woods, and which marks the arrival of all the +birds. + + + + + CONTENTS + + INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION + I. THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS + II. IN THE HEMLOCKS + III. THE ADIRONDACKS + IV. BIRDS'-NESTS + V. SPRING AT THE CAPITAL + VI. BIRCH BROWSINGS + VII. THE BLUEBIRD + VIII. THE INVITATION + INDEX + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + JOHN BURROUGHS + Etched by W. H. W. Bicknell, from a daguerreotype + PARTRIDGE'S NEST + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + A CABIN IN THE ADIRONDACKS + From a photograph by Clifton Johnson + AMERICAN OSPREY, OR FISH HAWK (colored) + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes + BIRD'S-FOOT VIOLETS + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + BLUEBIRD + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION + +In coming before the public with a newly made edition of my writings, +what can I say to my reader at this stage of our acquaintance that +will lead to a better understanding between us? Probably nothing. We +understand each other very well already. I have offered myself as his +guide to certain matters out of doors, and to a few matters indoor, +and he has accepted me upon my own terms, and has, on the whole been +better pleased with me than I had any reason to expect. For this I am +duly grateful; why say more? Yet now that I am upon my feet, so as to +speak, and palaver is the order, I will keep on a few minutes longer. + +It is now nearly a quarter of a century since my first book, +"Wake-Robin," was published. I have lived nearly as many years in the +world as I had lived when I wrote its principal chapters. Other +volumes have followed, and still others. When asked how many there +are, I often have to stop and count them up. I suppose the mother of a +large family does not have to count up her children to say how many +there are. She sees their faces all before her. It is said of certain +savage tribes who cannot count above five, and yet who own flocks and +herds, that every native knows when he has got all his own cattle, not +by counting, but by remembering each one individually. + +The savage is with his herds daily; the mother has the love of her +children constantly in her heart; but when one's book goes forth from +him, in a sense it never returns. It is like the fruit detached from +the bough. And yet to sit down and talk of one's books as a father +might talk of his sons, who had left his roof and gone forth to make +their own way in the world, is not an easy matter. The author's +relation to his book is a little more direct and personal, after all, +more a matter of will and choice, than a father's relation to his +child. The book does not change, and, whatever it fortunes, it remains +to the end what its author made it. The son is an evolution out of a +long line of ancestry, and one's responsibility of this or that trait +is often very slight; but the book is an actual transcript of his +mind, and is wise or foolish according as he made it so. Hence I trust +my reader will pardon me if I shrink from any discussion of the merits +or demerits of these intellectual children of mine, or indulge in any +very confidential remarks with regard to them. + +I cannot bring myself to think of my books as "works," because so +little "work" has gone to the making of them. It has all been play. I +have gone a-fishing, or camping, or canoeing, and new literary +material has been the result. My corn has grown while I loitered or +slept. The writing of the book was only a second and finer enjoyment +of my holiday in the fields or woods. Not till the writing did it +really seem to strike in and become part of me. + +A friend of mine, now an old man, who spent his youth in the woods of +northern Ohio, and who has written many books, says, "I never thought +of writing a book, till my self-exile, and then only to reproduce my +old-time life to myself." The writing probably cured or alleviated a +sort of homesickness. Such is a great measure has been my own case. My +first book, "Wake-Robin," was written while I was a government clerk +in Washington. It enabled me to live over again the days I had passed +with the birds and in the scenes of my youth. I wrote the book sitting +at a desk in front of an iron wall. I was the keeper of a vault in +which many millions of bank-notes were stored. During my long periods +of leisure I took refuge in my pen. How my mind reacted from the iron +wall in front of me, and sought solace in memories of the birds and of +summer fields and woods! Most of the chapters of "Winter Sunshine" +were written at the same desk. The sunshine there referred to is of a +richer quality than is found in New York or New England. + +Since I left Washington in 1873, instead of an iron wall in front of +my desk, I have had a large window that overlooks the Hudson and the +wooded heights beyond, and I have exchanged the vault for a vineyard. +Probably my mind reacted more vigorously from the former than it does +from the latter. The vineyard winds its tendrils around me and detains +me, and its loaded trellises are more pleasing to me than the closets +of greenbacks. + +The only time there is a suggestion of an iron wall in front of me is +in winter, when ice and snow have blotted out the landscape, and I +find that it is in this season that my mind dwells most fondly upon my +favorite themes. Winter drives a man back upon himself, and tests his +powers of self-entertainment. + +Do such books as mine give a wrong impression of Nature, and lead +readers to expect more from a walk or a camp in the woods than they +usually get? I have a few times had occasion to think so. I am not +always aware myself how much pleasure I have had in a walk till I try +to share it with my reader. The heat of composition brings out the +color and the flavor. We must not forget the illusions of all art. If +my reader thinks he does not get from Nature what I get from her, let +me remind him that he can hardly know what he has got till he defines +it to himself as I do, and throws about it the witchery of words. +Literature does not grow wild in the woods. Every artist does +something more than copy Nature; more comes out in his account than +goes into the original experience. + +Most persons think the bee gets honey from the flowers, but she does +not: honey is a product of the bee; it is the nectar of the flowers +with the bee added. What the bee gets from the flower is sweet water: +this she puts through a process of her own and imparts to it her own +quality; she reduces the water and adds to it a minute drop of formic +acid. It is this drop of herself that gives the delicious sting to her +sweet. The bee is therefore the type of the true poet, the true +artist. Her product always reflects her environment, and it reflects +something her environment knows not of. We taste the clover, the +thyme, the linden, the sumac, and we also taste something that has its +source in none of these flowers. + +The literary naturalist does not take liberties with facts; facts are +the flora upon which he lives. The more and the fresher the facts the +better. I can do nothing without them, but I must give them my own +flavor. I must impart to them a quality which heightens and +intensifies them. + +To interpret Nature is not to improve upon her: it is to draw her out; +it is to have an emotional intercourse with her, absorb her, and +reproduce her tinged with the colors of the spirit. + +If I name every bird I see in my walk, describe its color and ways, +etc., give a lot of facts or details about the bird, it is doubtful if +my reader is interested. But if I relate the bird in some way to human +life, to my own life,--show what it is to me and what it is in the +landscape and the season,--then do I give my reader a live bird and +not a labeled specimen. + + J. B. + 1895. + + + + + +WAKE-ROBIN + + + +I + +THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS + +Spring in our northern climate may fairly be said to extend from the +middle of March to the middle of June. At least, the vernal tide +continues to rise until the latter date, and it is not till after the +summer solstice that the shoots and twigs begin to harden and turn to +wood, or the grass to lose any of its freshness and succulency. + +It is this period that marks the return of the birds,--one or two of +the more hardy or half-domesticated species, like the song sparrow +and the bluebird, usually arriving in March, while the rarer and more +brilliant wood-birds bring up the procession in June. But each stage +of the advancing season gives prominence to the certain species, as to +certain flowers. The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow, +the dogtooth violet when to expect the wood-thrush, and when I have +found the wake-robin in bloom I know the season is fairly inaugurated. +With me this flower is associated, not merely with the awakening of +Robin, for he has been awake for some weeks, but with the universal +awakening and rehabilitation of nature. + +Yet the coming and going of the birds is more or less a mystery and a +surprise. We go out in the morning, and no thrush or vireo is to be +heard; we go out again, and every tree and grove is musical; yet +again, and all is silent. Who saw them come? Who saw them depart? + +This pert little winter wren, for instance, darting in and out the +fence, diving under the rubbish here and coming up yards away,--how +does he manage with those little circular wings to compass degrees and +zones, and arrive always in the nick of time? Last August I saw him in +the remotest wilds of the Adirondacks, impatient and inquisitive as +usual; a few weeks later, on the Potomac, I was greeted by the same +hardy little busybody. Does he travel by easy stages from bush to bush +and from wood to wood? or has that compact little body force and +courage to brave the night and the upper air, and so achieve leagues +at one pull? + +And yonder bluebird with the earth tinge on his breast and the sky +tinge on his back,--did he come down out of the heaven on that bright +March morning when he told us so softly and plaintively that, if we +pleased, spring had come? Indeed, there is nothing in the return of +the birds more curious and suggestive than in the first appearance, or +rumors of the appearance, of this little blue-coat. The bird at first +seems a mere wandering voice in the air: one hears its call or carol +on some bright March morning, but is uncertain of its source or +direction; it falls like a drop of rain when no cloud is visible; one +looks and listens, but to no purpose. The weather changes, perhaps a +cold snap with snow comes on, and it may be a week before I hear the +not again, and this time or the next perchance see this bird sitting +on a stake in the fence lifting his wing as he calls cheerily to his +mate. Its notes now become daily more frequent; the birds multiply, +and, flitting from point to point, call and warble more confidently +and gleefully. Their boldness increases till one sees them hovering +with a saucy, inquiring air about barns and out-buildings, peeping +into dove-cotes and stable windows, inspecting knotholes and +pump-trees, intent only on a place to nest. They wage war against +robins and wrens, pick quarrels with swallows, and seem to deliberate +for days over the policy of taking forcible possession of one of the +mud-houses of the latter. But as the season advances they drift more +into the background. Schemes of conquest which they at first seemed +bent upon are abandoned, and the settle down very quietly in their old +quarters in remote stumpy fields. + +Not long after the bluebird comes the robin, sometimes in March, but +in most of the Northern States April is the month of the robin. In +large numbers they scour the fields and groves. You hear their piping +in the meadow, in the pasture, on the hillside. Walk in the woods, and +the dry leaves rustle with the whir of their wings the air is vocal +with their cheery call. In excess of joy and vivacity, they run, leap, +scream, chase each other through the air, diving and sweeping among +the trees with perilous rapidity. + +In that free, fascinating, half-work and half-play +pursuit,--sugar-making,--a pursuit which still lingers in many parts +of New York, as in New England,--the robin is one's constant +companion. When the day is sunny and the ground bare, you meet him at +all points and hear him at all hours. At sunset, on the tops of the +tall maples, with look heavenward, and in a spirit of utter +abandonment, he carols his simple strain. And sitting thus amid the +stark, silent trees, above the wet, cold earth, with the chill of +winter still in the air, there is no fitter or sweeter songster in the +whole round year. It is in keeping with the scene and the occasion. +How round and genuine the notes are, and how eagerly our ears drink +them in! The first utterance, and the spell of winter is thoroughly +broken, and the remembrance of it afar off. + +Robin is one of the most native and democratic of our birds; He is +one of the family, and seems much nearer to us than those rare, exotic +visitants, as the orchard starling or rose-breasted grosbeak, with +their distant, high-bred ways. Hardy, noisy, frolicsome, neighborly, +and domestic in his habits, strong of wing and bold in spirit, he is +the pioneer of the thrush family, and well worthy of the finer artists +whose coming he heralds and in a measure prepares us for. + +I could wish Robin less native and plebeian in one respect,--the +building of his nest. Its coarse material and rough masonry are +creditable neither to his skill as a workman nor to his taste as an +artist. I am the more forcibly reminded of his deficiency in this +respect from observing yonder hummingbird's nest, which is a marvel of +fitness and adaptation, a proper setting for this winged gem,--the +body of it composed of a white, felt-like substance, probably the down +of some plant or the wool of some worm, and toned down in keeping with +the branch on which it sits by minute tree-lichens, woven together by +threads as fine and grail as gossamer. From Robin's good looks and +musical turn, we might reasonably predict a domicile of him as clean +and handsome a nest as the king-bird's, whose harsh jingle, compared +with Robin's evening melody, is as the clatter of pots and kettles +beside the tone of a flute. I love his note and ways better even than +those of the orchard starling or the Baltimore oriole; yet his nest, +compared with theirs, is a half-subterranean hut contrasted with a +Roman villa. There is something courtly and poetical in a pensile +nest. Next to a castle in the air is a dwelling suspended to the +slender branch of a tall tree, swayed and rocked forever by the wind. +Why need wings be afraid of falling? Why build only where boys can +climb? After all, we must set it down to the account of Robin's +democratic turn: he is no aristocrat, but one of the people; and +therefore we should expect stability in his workmanship, rather than +elegance. + +Another April bird, which makes her appearance sometimes earlier and +sometimes later than Robin, and whose memory I fondly cherish, is the +phoebe-bird, the pioneer of the flycatchers. In the inland farming +districts, I used to notice her, on some bright morning about Easter +Day, proclaiming her arrival, with much variety of motion and +attitude, from the peak of the barn or hay-shed. As yet, you may have +heard only the plaintive, homesick note of the bluebird, or the faint +trill of the song sparrow; and Phoebe's clear, vivacious assurance of +her veritable bodily presence among us again is welcomed by all ears. +At agreeable intervals in her lay she describes a circle or an ellipse +in the air, ostensibly prospecting for insects, but really, I suspect, +as an artistic flourish, thrown in to make up in some way for the +deficiency of her musical performance. If plainness of dress indicates +powers of song as it usually does, then Phoebe ought to be unrivaled +in musical ability, for surely that ashen-gray suit is the superlative +of plainness; and that form, likewise, would hardly pass for a +"perfect figure" of a bird. The seasonableness of her coming, however, +and her civil, neighborly ways, shall make up for all deficiencies in +song and plumage. After a few weeks phoebe is seldom seen, except as +she darts from her moss-covered nest beneath some bridge or shelving +cliff. + +Another April comer, who arrives shortly after Robin-redbreast, with +whom he associates both at this season and in the autumn, is the +gold-winged woodpecker, alias "high-hole," alias "flicker," alias +"yarup." He is an old favorite of my boyhood, and his note to me means +very much. He announces his arrival by a long, loud call, repeated +from the dry branch of some tree, or a stake in the fence,--a +thoroughly melodious April sound. I think how Solomon finished that +beautiful description of spring, "And the voice of the turtle is heard +in the land," and see that a description of spring in this farming +country, to be equally characteristic, should culminate in like +manner,--"And the call of the high-hole comes up from the wood." + +It is a loud, strong, sonorous call, and does not seem to imply an +answer, but rather to subserve some purpose of love or music. It is +"Yarup's" proclamation of peace and good-will to all. On looking at +the matter closely, I perceive that most birds, not denominated +songsters, have, in the spring, some note or sound or call that hints +of a song, and answers imperfectly the end of beauty and art. As a +"livelier iris changes on the burnished dove," and the fancy of the +young man turns lightly to thoughts of his pretty cousin, so the same +renewing spirit touches the "silent singers," and they are no longer +dumb; faintly they lisp the first syllables of the marvelous tale. +Witness the clear sweet whistle of the gray-crested titmouse,--the +soft, nasal piping of the nuthatch,--the amorous, vivacious warble of +the bluebird,--the long, rich note of the meadowlark,--the whistle of +the quail,--the drumming of the partridge,--the animation and +loquacity of the swallows, and the like. Even the hen has a homely, +contented carol; and I credit the owls with a desire to fill the night +with music. Al birds are incipient or would be songsters in the +spring. I find corroborative evidence of this even in the crowing of +the cock. The flowering of the maple is not so obvious as that of the +magnolia; nevertheless, there is actual inflorescence. + +Few writers award any song to that familiar little sparrow, the +Socialis; yet who that has observed him sitting by the wayside, and +repeating, with devout attitude, that fine sliding chant, does not +recognize the neglect? Who has heard the snowbird sing? Yet he has a +lisping warble very savory to the ear. I have heard him indulge in it +even in February. + +Even the cow bunting feels the musical tendency, and aspires to its +expression, with the rest. Perched upon the topmost branch beside his +mate or mates,--for he is quite a polygamist, and usually has two or +three demure little ladies in faded black beside him,--generally in +the early part of the day, he seems literally to vomit up his notes. +Apparently with much labor and effort, they gurgle and blubber up out +of him, falling on the ear with a peculiar subtile ring, as of turning +water from a glass bottle, and not without a certain pleasing cadence. + +Neither is the common woodpecker entirely insensible to the wooing of +the spring, and, like the partridge, testifies his appreciation of +melody after quite a primitive fashion. Passing through the woods on +some clear, still morning in March, while the metallic ring and +tension of winter are still in the earth and air, the silence is +suddenly broken by long, resonant hammering upon a dry limb or stub. +It is Downy beating a reveille to spring. In the utter stillness and +amid the rigid forms we listen with pleasure; and, as it comes to my +ear oftener at this season than at any other, I freely exonerate the +author of it from the imputation of any gastronomic motives, and +credit him with a genuine musical performance. + +It is to be expected, therefore, that "yellow-hammer" will respond to +the general tendency, and contribute his part to the spring chorus. +His April call is his finest touch, his most musical expression. + +I recall an ancient maple standing sentry to a large sugar-bush, that, +year after year, afforded protection to a brood of yellow-hammers in +its decayed heart. A week or two before nesting seemed actually to +have begun, three or four of these birds might be seen, on almost any +bright morning, gamboling and courting amid its decayed branches. +Sometimes you would hear only a gentle persuasive cooing, or a quiet +confidential chattering,--then that long, loud call, taken up by +first one, then another, as they sat about upon the naked +limbs,--anon, a sort of wild, rollicking laughter, intermingled with +various cries, yelps, and squeals, as if some incident had excited +their mirth and ridicule. Whether this social hilarity and +boisterousness is in celebration of the pairing or mating ceremony, or +whether it is only a sort of annual "house-warming" common among +high-holes on resuming their summer quarters, is a question upon which +I reserve my judgment. + +Unlike most of his kinsmen, the golden-wing prefers the fields and the +borders of the forest to the deeper seclusion of the woods, and hence, +contrary to the habit of his tribe, obtains most of his subsistence +from the ground, probing it for ants and crickets. He is not quite +satisfied with being a woodpecker. He courts the society of the robin +and the finches, abandons the trees for the meadow, and feeds eagerly +upon berries and grain. What may be the final upshot of this course of +living is a question worth the attention of Darwin. Will his taking to +the ground and his pedestrian feats result in lengthening his legs, +his feeding upon berries and grains subdue his tints and soften his +voice, and his associating with Robin put a song into his heart? + +Indeed, what would be more interesting than the history of our birds +for the last two or three centuries. There can be no doubt that the +presence of man has exerted a very marked and friendly influence upon +them, since they so multiply in his society. The birds of California, +it is said, were mostly silent till after its settlement, and I doubt +if the Indians heard the wood thrush as we hear him. Where did the +bobolink disport himself before there were meadows in the North and +rice fields in the South? Was he the same lithe, merry-hearted beau +then as now? And the sparrow, the lark, and the goldfinch, birds that +seem so indigenous to the open fields and so adverse to the woods,--we +cannot conceive of their existence in a vast wilderness and without +man. + +But to return. The song sparrow, that universal favorite and +firstling of the spring, comes before April, and its simple strain +gladdens all hearts. + +May is the month of the swallows and the orioles. There are many other +distinguished arrivals, indeed nine tenths of the birds are here by +the last week in May, yet the swallows and the orioles are the most +conspicuous. The bright plumage of the latter seems really like an +arrival from the tropics. I see them dash through the blossoming +trees, and all the forenoon hear their incessant warbling and wooing. +The swallows dive and chatter about the barn, or squeak and build +beneath the eaves; the partridge drums in the fresh sprouting woods; +the long, tender note of the meadowlark comes up from the meadow; and +at sunset, from every marsh and pond come the ten thousand voices of +the hylas. May is the transition month, and exists to connect April +and June, the root with the flower. + +With June the cup is full, our hearts are satisfied, there is no more +to be desired. The perfection of the season, among other things, has +brought the perfection of the song and the plumage of the birds. The +master artists are all here; and the expectations excited by the robin +and the song sparrow are fully justified. The thrushes have all come; +and I sit down upon the first rock, with hands full of the pink +azalea, to listen. With me the cuckoo does not arrive till June; and +often the goldfinch, the kingbird, the scarlet tanager delay their +coming till then. In the meadows the bobolink is in all his glory; in +the high pastures the field sparrow sings his breezy vesper-hymn; and +the woods are unfolding to the music of the thrushes. + +The cuckoo is one of the most solitary birds of our forests, and is +strangely tame and quiet, appearing equally untouched by joy or grief, +fear or anger. Something remote seems ever weighing upon his mind. His +note or call is as of one lost or wandering, and to the farmer is +prophetic of rain. Amid the general joy and the sweet assurance of +things, I love to listen to the strange clairvoyant call. Heard a +quarter of a mile away, from out the depths of the forest, there is +something peculiarly weird and monkish about it. Wordsworth's lines +upon the European species apply equally well to ours:--"O blithe +new-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice: O cuckoo! shall I +call thee bird? Or but a wandering voice? + + "While I am lying on the grass, + Thy loud note smites my ear! + From hill to hill it seems to pass, + At once far off and near! + + "Thrice welcome, darling of the spring! + Even yet thou art to me + No bird, but an invisible thing, + A voice, a mystery." + +The black-billed is the only species found in my locality, the +yellow-billed abounds farther south. Their note or call is nearly the +same. The former sometimes suggests the voice of a turkey. The call of +the latter may be suggested thus: k-k-k-k-k-kow, kow, kow-ow, kow-ow. + +The yellow-billed will take up his stand in a tree, and explore its +branches till he has caught every worm. He sits on a twig, and with a +peculiar swaying movement of his head examines the surrounding +foliage. When he discovers his prey, he leaps upon it in a fluttering +manner. + +In June the black-billed makes a tour through the orchard and garden, +regaling himself upon the canker-worms. At this time he is one of the +tamest of birds, and will allow you to approach within a few yards of +him. I have even come within a few feet of one without seeming to +excite his fear or suspicion. He is quite unsophisticated, or else +royally indifferent. + +The plumage of the cuckoo is a rich glossy brown, and is unrivaled in +beauty by any other neutral tint with which I am acquainted. It is +also remarkable for its firmness and fineness. + +Notwithstanding the disparity in size and color, the black-billed +species has certain peculiarities that remind one of the passenger +pigeon. His eye, with its red circle, the shape of his head, and his +motions on alighting and taking flight, quickly suggest the +resemblance; though in grace and speed, when on the wing, he is far +inferior. His tail seems disproportionately long, like that of the red +thrush, and his flight among the trees is very still, contrasting +strongly with the honest clatter of the robin or pigeon. + +Have you heard the song of the field sparrow? If you have lived in a +pastoral country with broad upland pastures, you could hardly have +missed him. Wilson, I believe, calls him the grass finch, and was +evidently unacquainted with his powers of song. The two white lateral +quills in his tail, and his habit of running and skulking a few yards +in advance of you as you walk through the fields, are sufficient to +identify him. Not in meadows or orchards, but in high, breezy +pasture-grounds, will you look for him. His song is most noticeable +after sundown, when other birds are silent; for which reason he has +been aptly called the vesper sparrow. The farmer following his team +from the field at dusk catches his sweetest strain. His song is not so +brisk and varied as that of the song sparrow, being softer and wilder, +sweeter and more plaintive. Add the best parts of the lay of the +latter to the sweet vibrating chant of the wood sparrow, and you have +the evening hymn of the vesper-bird,--the poet of the plain, +unadorned pastures. Go to those broad, smooth, uplying fields where +the cattle and sheep are grazing, and sit down in the twilight on one +of those warm, clean stones, and listen to this song. On every side, +near and remote, from out the short grass which the herds are +cropping, the strain rises. Two or three long, silver notes of peace +and rest, ending in some subdued trills and quavers, constitute each +separate song. Often, you will catch only one or two of the bars, the +breeze having blown the minor part away. Such unambitious, quiet, +unconscious melody! It is one of the most characteristic sounds in +nature. The grass, the stones, the stubble, the furrow, the quiet +herds, and the warm twilight among the hills, are all subtly expressed +in this song; this is what they are at last capable of. + +The female builds a plain nest in the open field, without so much as a +bush or thistle or tuft of grass to protect it or mark its site; you +may step upon it, or the cattle may tread it into the ground. But the +danger from this source, I presume, the bird considers less than that +from another. Skunks and foxes have a very impertinent curiosity, as +Finchie well knows; and a bank or hedge, or a rank growth of grass or +thistles, that might promise protection and cover to mouse or bird, +these cunning rogues would be apt to explore most thoroughly. The +partridge is undoubtedly acquainted with the same process of +reasoning; for, like the vesper-bird, she, too, nests in open, +unprotected places, avoiding all show of concealment,--coming from the +tangled and almost impenetrable parts of the forest to the clean, open +woods, where she can command all the approaches and fly with equal +ease in any direction. + +Another favorite sparrow, but little noticed, is the wood or bush +sparrow, usually called by the ornithologists Spizella pusilla. Its +size and form is that of the socialis, but is less distinctly marked, +being of a duller redder tinge. He prefers remote bushy heathery +fields, where his song is one of the sweetest to be heard. It is +sometimes very noticeable, especially early in spring. I remember +sitting one bright day in the still leafless April woods, when one of +these birds struck up a few rods from me, repeating its lay at short +intervals for nearly an hour. It was a perfect piece of wood-music, +and was of course all the more noticeable for being projected upon +such a broad unoccupied page of silence. Its song is like the words, +fe-o, fe-o, fe-o, few, few, few, fee fee fee, uttered at first high +and leisurely, but running very rapidly toward the close, which is low +and soft. + +Still keeping among the unrecognized, the white-eyed vireo, or +flycatcher, deserves particular mention. The song of this bird is not +particularly sweet and soft; on the contrary, it is a little hard and +shrill, like that of the indigo-bird or oriole; but for brightness, +volubility, execution, and power of imitation, he is unsurpassed by +any of our northern birds. His ordinary note is forcible and emphatic, +but, as stated, not especially musical; Chick-a-re'r-chick, he seems +to say, hiding himself in the low, dense undergrowth, and eluding your +most vigilant search, as if playing some part in a game. But in July +of August, if you are on good terms with the sylvan deities, you may +listen to a far more rare and artistic performance. Your first +impression will be that that cluster of azalea, or that clump of +swamp-huckleberry, conceals three of four different songsters, each +vying with the the others to lead the chorus. Such a medley of notes, +snatched from half the songsters of the field and forest, and uttered +with the utmost clearness and rapidity, I am sure you cannot hear +short of the haunts of the genuine mockingbird. If not fully and +accurately repeated, there are at least suggested the notes of the +robin, wren, catbird, high-hole, goldfinch, and song sparrow. The pip, +pip, of the last is produced so accurately that I verily believe it +would deceive the bird herself; and the whole uttered in such rapid +succession that it seems as if the movement that gives the concluding +note of one strain must form the first note of the next. The effect is +very rich, and, to my ear, entirely unique. The performer is very +careful not to reveal himself in the mean time; yet there is a +conscious air about the strain that impresses me with the idea that my +presence is understood and my attention courted. A tone of pride and +glee, and, occasionally, of bantering jocoseness, is discernible. I +believe it is only rarely, and when he is sure of his audience, that +he displays his parts in this manner. You are to look for him, not in +tall trees or deep forests, but in low, dense shrubbery about wet +places, where there are plenty of gnats and mosquitoes. + +The winter wren is another marvelous songster, in speaking of whom it +is difficult to avoid superlatives. He is not so conscious of is +powers and so ambitious of effect as the white-eyed flycatcher, yet +you will not be less astonished and delighted on hearing him. He +possesses the fluency and copiousness for which the wrens are noted, +and besides these qualities, and what is rarely found conjoined with +them, a wild, sweet, rhythmical cadence that holds you entranced. I +shall not soon forget that perfect June day, when, loitering in a low, +ancient hemlock wood, in whose cathedral aisles the coolness and +freshness seems perennial, the silence was suddenly broken by a strain +so rapid and gushing, and touched with such a wild, sylvan +plaintiveness, that I listened in amazement. And so shy and coy was +the little minstrel, that I came twice to the woods before I was sure +to whom I was listening. In summer he is one of those birds of the +deep northern forests, that, like the speckled Canada warbler and the +hermit thrush, only the privileged ones hear. + +The distribution of plants in a given locality is not more marked and +defined than that of the birds. Show a botanist a landscape, and he +will tell you where to look for the lady's-slipper, the columbine, or +the harebell. On the same principles the ornithologist will direct you +where to look for the greenlets, the wood sparrow, or the chewink. In +adjoining counties, in the same latitude, and equally inland, but +possessing a different geological formation and different +forest-timber, you will observe quite a different class of birds. In a +land of the beech and sugar maple I do not find the same songsters +that I know where thrive the oak, chestnut, and laurel. In going from +a district of the Old Red Sandstone to where I walk upon the old +Plutonic Rock, not fifty miles distant, I miss in the woods, the +veery, the hermit thrush, the chestnut-sided warbler, the blue-backed +warbler, the green-backed warbler, the black and yellow warbler, and +many others, and find in their stead the wood thrush, the chewink, the +redstart, the yellow-throat, the yellow-breasted flycatcher, the +white-eyed flycatcher, the quail, and the turtle dove. + +In my neighborhood here in the Highlands the distribution is very +marked. South of the village I invariably find one species of birds, +north of it another. In only one locality, full of azalea and +swamp-huckleberry, I am always sure of finding the hooded warbler. In +a dense undergrowth of spice-bush, witch-hazel, and alder, I meet the +worm-eating warbler. In a remote clearing, covered with heath and +fern, with here and there a chestnut and an oak, I go to hear in July +the wood sparrow, and returning by a stumpy, shallow pond, I am sure +to find the water-thrush. + +Only one locality within my range seems to possess attractions for all +comers. Here one may study almost the entire ornithology of the State. +It is a rocky piece of ground, long ago cleared, but now fast +relapsing into the wildness and freedom of nature, and marked by those +half-cultivated, half-wild features which birds and boys love. It is +bounded on two sides by the village and highway, crossed at various +points by carriage-roads, and threaded in all directions by paths and +byways, along which soldiers, laborers, and truant school-boys are +passing at all hours of the day. It is so far escaping from the axe +and the bush-hook as to have opened communication with the forest and +mountain beyond by straggling lines of cedar, laurel, and blackberry. +The ground is mainly occupied with cedar and chestnut, with an +undergrowth, in many place, of heath and bramble. The chief feature, +however, is a dense growth in the centre, consisting of dogwood, +water-beech, swamp-ash, alder, spice-bush, hazel, etc., with a network +of smilax and frost-grape. A little zigzag stream, the draining of a +swam beyond, which passes through this tanglewood, accounts for many +of its features and productions, if not for its entire existence. +Birds that are not attracted by the heath, or the cedar and chestnut, +are sure to find some excuse for visiting this miscellaneous growth in +the centre. Most of the common birds literally throng in this +idle-wild; and I have met here many of the rarer species, such as the +great-crested flycatcher, the solitary warbler, the blue-winged swamp +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the fox sparrow, etc. The absence of +all birds of prey, and the great number of flies and insects, both the +result of the proximity to the village, are considerations which ho +hawk-fearing, peace-loving minstrel passes over lightly; hence the +popularity of the resort. + +But the crowning glory of all these robins, flycatchers, and warblers +is the wood thrush. More abundant than all other birds, except the +robin and catbird, he greets you from every rock and shrub. Shy and +reserved when he first makes his appearance in May, before the end of +June he is tame and familiar, and sings on the tree over your head, or +on the rock a few paces in advance. A pair even built their nest and +reared their brood within ten or twelve feet of the piazza of a large +summer-house in the vicinity. But when the guests commenced to arrive +and the piazza to be thronged with gay crowds, I noticed something +like dread and foreboding in the manner of the mother bird; and from +her still, quiet ways, and habit of sitting long and silently within a +few feet of the precious charge, it seemed as if the dear creature had +resolved, if possible, to avoid all observation. + +If we take the quality of melody as the test, the wood thrush, hermit +thrush, and the veery thrush stand at the head of our list of +songsters. + +The mockingbird undoubtedly possesses the greatest range of mere +talent, the most varied executive ability, and never fails to surprise +and delight one anew at each hearing; but being mostly an imitator, he +never approaches the serene beauty and sublimity of the hermit thrush. +The word that best expresses my feelings, on hearing the mockingbird, +is admiration, though the first emotion is one of surprise and +incredulity. That so many and such various notes should proceed from +one throat is a marvel, and we regard the performance with feelings +akin to those we experience on witnessing the astounding feats of the +athlete or gymnast,--and this, notwithstanding many of the notes +imitated have all the freshness and sweetness of the originals. The +emotions excited by the songs of these thrushes belong to a higher +order, springing as they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and +harmony of the world. + +The wood thrush is worthy of all, and more than all, the praises he +has received; and considering the number of his appreciative +listeners, it is not a little surprising that his relative and equal, +the hermit thrush, should have received so little notice. Both the +great ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, are lavish in their praises +of the former, but have little or nothing to say of the song of the +latter. Audubon says it is sometimes agreeable, but evidently has +never heard it. Nuttall, I am glad to find, is more discriminating, +and does the bird fuller justice. + +It is quite a rare bird, of very shy and secluded habits, being found +in the Middle and Eastern States, during the period of song, only in +the deepest and most remote forests, usually in damp and swampy +localities. On this account the people in the Adirondack region call +it the "Swamp Angel." Its being so much of a recluse accounts for the +comparative ignorance that prevails in regard to it. + +The cast of its song is very much like that of the wood thrush, and a +good observer might easily confound the two. But hear them together +and the difference is quite marked: the song of the hermit is in a +higher key, and is more wild and ethereal. His instrument is a silver +horn which he winds in the most solitary places. The song of the wood +thrush is more golden and leisurely. Its tone comes near to that of +some rare stringed instrument. One feels that perhaps the wood thrush +has more compass and power, if he would only let himself out, but on +the whole he comes a little short of the pure, serene, hymn-like +strain of the hermit. + +Yet those who have heard only the wood thrush may well place him first +on the list. He is truly a royal minstrel, and, considering his +liberal distribution throughout our Atlantic seaboard, perhaps +contributes more than any other bird to our sylvan melody. One may +object that he spends a little too much time in tuning his instrument, +yet his careless and uncertain touches reveal its rare compass and +power. + +He is the only songster of my acquaintance excepting the canary, that +displays different degrees of proficiency in the exercise of his +musical gifts. Not long since, while walking one Sunday in the edge of +an orchard adjoining a wood, I heard one that so obviously and +unmistakably surpassed all his rivals, that my companion, although +slow to notice such things, remarked it wonderingly; and with one +accord we paused to listen to so rare a performer. It was not +different in quality so much as in quantity. Such a flood of it! Such +copiousness! Such long, trilling, accelerating preludes! Such sudden, +ecstatic overtures would have intoxicated the dullest ear. He was +really without a compeer,--a master artist. Twice afterward I was +conscious of having heard the same bird. + +The wood thrush is the handsomest species of this family. In grace +and elegance of manner he has no equal. Such a gentle, high-bred air, +and such inimitable ease and composure in his flight and movement! He +is a poet in very word and deed. His carriage is music to the eye. His +performance of the commonest act, as catching a beetle, or picking a +worm from the mud, pleases like a stroke of wit or eloquence. Was he a +prince in the olden time, and do the regal grace and mien still adhere +to him in his transformation? What a finely proportioned form! How +plain, yet rich, his color,--the bright russet of his back, the clear +white of his breast, with the distinct heart-shaped spots! It may be +objected to Robin that he is noisy and demonstrative; he hurries away +or rises to a branch with an angry note, and flirts his wings in +ill-bred suspicion. The mavis, or red thrush, sneaks and skulks like a +culprit, hiding in the densest alders; the catbird is a coquette and a +flirt, as well as a sort of female Paul Pry; and the chewink shows his +inhospitality by espying your movements like a Japanese. The wood +thrush has none of theses underbred traits. He regards me +unsuspiciously, or avoids me with a noble reserve,--or, if I am quiet +and incurious, graciously hops toward me, as if to pay his respects, +or to make my acquaintance. I have passed under his nest within a few +feet of his mate and brood, when he sat near by on a branch eying me +sharply, but without opening his beak; but the moment I raised my hand +toward his defenseless household, his anger and indignation were +beautiful to behold. + +What a noble pride he has! Late one October, after his mates and +companions had long since gone south, I noticed one for several +successive days in the dense part of this next-door wood, flitting +noiselessly about, very grave and silent, as if doing penance for some +violation of the code of honor. By many gentle, indirect approaches, I +perceived that part of his tail-feathers were undeveloped. The sylvan +prince could not think of returning to court in this plight, and so, +amid the falling leaves and cold rains of autumn, was patiently biding +his time. + +The soft, mellow flute of the veery fills a place in the chorus of the +woods that the song of the vesper sparrow fills in the chorus of the +fields. It has the nightingale's habit of singing in the twilight, as +indeed have all our thrushes. Walk out toward the forest in the warm +twilight of a June day, and when fifty rods distant you will hear +their soft, reverberating notes rising from a dozen different throats. + +It is one of the simplest strains to be heard,--as simple as the curve +in form, delighting from the pure element of harmony and beauty it +contains, and not from any novel or fantastic modulation of it,--thus +contrasting strongly with such rollicking, hilarious songsters as the +bobolink, in whom we are chiefly pleased with tintinnabulation, the +verbal and labial excellence, and the evident conceit and delight of +the performer. + +I hardly know whether I am more pleased or annoyed with the catbird. +Perhaps she is a little too common, and her part in the general chorus +a little too conspicuous. If you are listening for the note of another +bird, she is sure to be prompted to the most loud and protracted +singing, drowning all other sounds; If you sit quietly down to observe +a favorite or study a new-comer, her curiosity knows no bounds, and +you are scanned and ridiculed from every point of observation. Yet I +would not miss her; I would only subordinate her a little, make her +less conspicuous. + +She is the parodist of the woods, and there is ever a mischievous, +bantering, half-ironical undertone in her lay, as if she were +conscious of mimicking and disconcerting some envied songster. +Ambitious of song, practicing and rehearsing in private, she yet seems +the least sincere and genuine of the sylvan minstrels, as if she had +taken up music only to be in the fashion, or not to be outdone by the +robins and thrushes. In other words, she seems to sing from some +outward motive, and not from inward joyousness. She is a good +versifier, but not a great poet. Vigorous, rapid, copious, not without +fine touches, but destitute of any high, serene melody, her +performance, like that of Thoreau's squirrel, always implies a +spectator. + +There is a certain air and polish about her strain, however, like that +in the vivacious conversation of a well-bred lady of the world, that +commands respect. Her maternal instinct, also, is very strong, and +that simple structure of dead twigs and dry grass is the center of +much anxious solicitude. Not long since, while strolling through the +woods, my attention was attracted to a small densely grown swamp, +hedged in with eglantine, brambles, and the everlasting smilax, from +which proceeded loud cries of distress and alarm, indicating that some +terrible calamity was threatening my sombre-colored minstrel. On +effecting an entrance, which, however, was not accomplished till I had +doffed coat and hat, so as to diminish the surface exposed to the +thorns and brambles, and, looking around me from a square yard of +terra firma, I found myself the spectator of a loathsome yet +fascinating scene. Three or four yards from me was the nest, beneath +which, in long festoons, rested a huge black snake; a bird two thirds +grown was slowly disappearing between his expanded jaws. As he seemed +unconscious of my presence, I quietly observed the proceedings. By +slow degrees he compassed the bird about with his elastic mouth; his +head flattened, his neck writhed and swelled, and two or three +undulatory movements of his glistening body finished the work. Then he +cautiously raised himself up, his tongue flaming from his mouth the +while, curved over the nest, and with wavy subtle motions, explored +the interior. I can conceive of nothing more overpoweringly terrible +to an unsuspecting family of birds than the sudden appearance above +their domicile of the head and neck of this arch-enemy. It is enough +to petrify the blood in their veins. Not finding the object of his +search, he came streaming down from the nest to a lower limb, and +commenced extending his researches in other directions, sliding +stealthily through the branches, bent on capturing on of the parent +birds. That a legless, wingless creature should move with such ease +and rapidity where only birds and squirrels are considered at home, +lifting himself up, letting himself down, running out on the yielding +boughs, and traversing with marvelous celerity the whole length and +breadth of the thicket, was truly surprising. One thinks of the great +myth of the Tempter and the "cause of all our woe," and wonders if the +Arch One is not now playing off some of his pranks before him. Whether +we call it snake or devil matters little. I could but admire his +terrible beauty, however; his black, shining folds, his easy, gliding +movement, head erect, eyes glistening, tongue playing like subtle +flame, and the invisible means of his almost winged locomotion. + +The parent birds, in the mean while, kept up the most agonizing +cry,--at times fluttering furiously about their pursuer, and actually +laying hold of his tail with their beaks and claws. On being thus +attacked, the snake would suddenly double upon himself and follow his +won body back, thus executing a strategic movement that at first +seemed almost to paralyze his victim and place her within his grasp. +Not quite, however. Before his jaws could close upon the coveted prize +the bird would tear herself away, and, apparently faint and sobbing, +retire to a higher branch. His reputed powers of fascination availed +him little, though it is possible that a frailer and less combative +bird might have been held by the fatal spell. Presently, as he came +gliding down the slender body of a leaning alder, his attention was +attracted by a slight movement of my arm; eyeing me an instant, with +that crouching, utter motionless gaze which I believe only snakes and +devils can assume, he turned quickly,--a feat which necessitated +something like crawling over his own body,--and glided off through the +branches, evidently recognizing in me a representative of the ancient +parties he once so cunningly ruined. A few moments after, as he lay +carelessly disposed in the top of a rank alder, trying to look as much +like a crowded branch as his supple, shining form would admit, the old +vengeance overtook him. I exercised my prerogative, and a +well-directed missile, in the shape of a stone, brought him looping +and writhing to the ground. After I had completed his downfall and +quiet had been partially restored, a half-fledged member of the +bereaved household came out from his hiding-place, and, jumping upon a +decayed branch, chirped vigorously, no doubt in celebration of the +victory. + +Till the middle of July there is a general equilibrium; the tide +stands poised; the holiday spirit is unabated. But as the harvest +ripens beneath the long, hot days, the melody gradually ceases. The +young are out of the nest and must be cared for, and the moulting +season is at hand. After the cricket has commenced to drone his +monotonous refrain beneath your window, you will not, till another +season, hear the wood thrush in all his matchless eloquence. The +bobolink has become careworn and fretful, and blurts out snatches of +his song between his scolding and upbraiding, as you approach the +vicinity of his nest, oscillating between anxiety for his brood and +solicitude for his musical reputation. Some of the sparrows still +sing, and occasionally across the hot fields, from a tall tree in the +edge of the forest, comes the rich note of the scarlet tanager. This +tropical-colored bird loves the hottest weather, and I hear him even +in dog-days. + +The remainder of the summer is the carnival of the swallows and +flycatchers. Flies and insects, to any amount, are to be had for the +catching; and the opportunity is well improved. See that sombre, +ashen-colored pewee on yonder branch. A true sportsman he, who never +takes his game at rest, but always on the wing. You vagrant fly, you +purblind moth, beware how you come within his range! Observe his +attitude, the curious movement of his head, his "eye in a fine frenzy +rolling, glancing from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven." + +His sight is microscopic and his aim sure. Quick as thought he has +seized his victim and is back to his perch. There is no strife, no +pursuit,--one fell swoop and the matter is ended. That little sparrow, +as you will observe, is less skilled. It is the Socialis, and he finds +his subsistence properly in various seeds and the larvae of insects, +though he occasionally has higher aspirations, and seeks to emulate +the peewee, commencing and ending his career as a flycatcher by an +awkward chase after a beetle or "miller." He is hunting around in the +dull grass now, I suspect, with the desire to indulge this favorite +whim. There!--the opportunity is afforded him. Away goes a little +cream-colored meadow-moth in the most tortuous course he is capable +of, and away goes Socialis in pursuit. The contest is quite comical, +though I dare say it is serious enough to the moth. The chase +continues for a few yards, when there is a sudden rushing to cover in +the grass,--then a taking to wing again, when the search has become to +close, and the moth has recovered his wind. Socialis chirps angrily, +and is determined not to be beaten. Keeping, with the slightest +effort, upon the heels of the fugitive, he is ever on the point of +halting to snap him up, but never quite does it,--and so, between +disappointment and expectation, is soon disgusted and returns to +pursue his more legitimate means of subsistence. + +In striking contrast to this serio-comic strife of the sparrow and the +moth, is he pigeon hawk's pursuit of the sparrow or the goldfinch. It +is a race of surprising speed and agility. It is a test of wing and +wind. Every muscle is taxed, and every nerve strained. Such cries of +terror and consternation on the part of the bird, tacking to the right +and left, and making the most desperate efforts to escape, and such +silent determination on the part of the hawk, pressing the bird so +closely, flashing and turning, and timing his movements with those of +the pursued as accurately and as inexorably as if the two constituted +one body, excite feelings of the deepest concern. You mount the fence +or rush out of your way to see the issue. The only salvation for the +bird is to adopt the tactics of the moth, seeking instantly the cover +of some tree, bush or hedge, where its smaller size enables it to move +about more rapidly. These pirates are aware of this, and therefore +prefer to take their prey by one fell swoop. You may see one of them +prowling through an orchard, with the yellowbirds hovering about him, +crying, Pi-ty, pi-ty, in the most desponding tone; yet he seems not to +regard them, knowing, as do they, that in the close branches they are +as safe as if in a wall of adamant. + +August is the month of the high-sailing hawks. The hen-hawk is the +most noticeable. He likes the haze and calm of these long, warm days. +He is a bird of leisure, and seems always at his ease. How beautiful +and majestic are his movements! So self-poised and easy, such an +entire absence of haste, such a magnificent amplitude of circles and +spirals, such a haughty, imperial grace, and, occasionally, such +daring aerial evolutions! + +With slow, leisurely movement, rarely vibrating his pinions, he mounts +and mounts in an ascending spiral till he appears a mere speck against +the summer sky; then, if the mood seizes him, with wings half closed, +like a bent bow, he will cleave the air almost perpendicularly, as if +intent on dashing himself to pieces against the earth; but on nearing +the ground he suddenly mounts again on broad, expanded wing, as if +rebounding upon the air, and sails leisurely away. It is the sublimest +feat of the season. One holds his breath till he sees him rise again. + +If inclined to a more gradual and less precipitous descent, he fixes +his eye on some distant point in the earth beneath him, and thither +bends his course. He is still almost meteoric in his speed and +boldness. You see his path down the heavens, straight as a line; if +near, you hear the rush of his wings; his shadow hurtles across the +fields, and in an instant you see him quietly perched upon some low +tree or decayed stub in a swamp or meadow, with reminiscences of frogs +and mice stirring in his maw. + +When the south wind blows, it is a study to see three or four of these +air-kings at the head of the valley far up toward the mountain, +balancing and oscillating upon the strong current; now quite +stationary, except a slight tremulous motion like the poise of a +rope-dancer, then rising and falling in long undulations, and seeming +to resign themselves passively to the wind; or, again sailing high and +level far above the mountain's peak, no bluster and haste, but as +stated, occasionally a terrible earnestness and speed. Fire at one as +he sails overhead and, unless wounded badly, he will not change his +course or gait. + +His flight is a perfect picture of repose in motion. It strikes the +eye as more surprising than the flight of a pigeon, and swallow even, +in that the effort put forth is so uniform and delicate as to escape +observation, giving to the movement an air of buoyancy and perpetuity, +the effluence of power rather than the conscious application of it. + +The calmness and dignity of this hawk, when attacked by crows or the +kingbird, are well worth of him. He seldom deigns to notice his noisy +and furious antagonists, but deliberately wheels about in that aerial +spiral, and mounts and mounts till his pursuers grow dizzy and return +to earth again. It is quite original, this mode of getting rid of an +unworthy opponent, rising to the heights where the braggart is dazed +and bewildered and loses his reckoning! I am not sure but is is worthy +of imitation. + +But summer wanes, and autumn approaches. The songsters of the +seed-time are silent at the reaping of the harvest. Other minstrels +take up the strain. It is the heyday of insect life. The day is +canopied with musical sound. All the songs of the spring and summer +appear to be floating, softened and refined, in the upper air. The +birds, in a new but less holiday suit, turn their faces southward. The +swallows flock and go; the bobolinks flock and go; silently and +unobserved, the thrushes go. Autumn arrives, bringing finches, +warblers, sparrows, and kinglets from the north. Silently the +procession passes. Yonder hawk, sailing peacefully away till he is +lost in the horizon, is a symbol of the closing season and the +departing birds. 1863. + + + +II + +IN THE HEMLOCKS + +Most people receive with incredulity a statement of the number of +birds that annually visit our climate. Very few even are aware of half +the number that spend the summer in their own immediate vicinity. We +little suspect, when we walk in the woods, whose privacy we are +intruding upon,--what rare and elegant visitants from Mexico, from +central and South America, and from the islands of the sea, are +holding their reunions in the branches over our heads, or pursuing +their pleasure on the ground before us. + +I recall the altogether admirable and shining family which Thoreau +dreamed he saw in the upper chambers of Spaulding's woods, which +Spaulding did not know lived there, and which were not put out when +Spaulding, whistling, drove his team through their lower halls. They +did not go into society in the village; they were quite well; they had +sons and daughters; they neither wove nor spun; there was a sound as +of suppressed hilarity. + +I take it for granted that the forester was only saying a pretty thing +of the birds, though I have observed that it does sometimes annoy them +when Spaulding's cart rumbles through their house. Generally, however, +they are as unconscious of Spaulding as Spaulding is of them. + +Walking the other day in an old hemlock wood, I counted over forty +varieties of these summer visitants, many of the common to other woods +in the vicinity, but quite a number peculiar to these ancient +solitudes, and not a few that are rare in any locality. It is quite +unusual to find so large a number abiding in one forest,--and that not +a large one,--most of them nesting and spending the summer there. Many +of those I observed commonly pass this season much farther north. But +the geographical distribution of birds is rather a climatical one. The +same temperature, though under different parallels, usually attracts +the same birds; difference in altitude being equivalent to the +difference in latitude. A given height above sea-level under the +parallel of thirty degrees may have the same climate as places under +that of thirty-five degrees, and similar flora and fauna. At the +head-waters of the Delaware, where I write, the latitude is that of +Boston, but the region has a much greater elevation, and hence a climate +that compares better with the northern part of the State and of New +England. Half a day's drive to the southeast brings me down into quite +a different temperature, with an older geological formation, different +forest timber, and different birds,--even with different mammals. +Neither the little gray rabbit nor the little gray fox is found in my +locality, but the great northern hare and the red fox are. In the last +century, a colony of beavers dwelt here, though the oldest inhabitant +cannot now point to even the traditional site of their dams. The +ancient hemlocks, whither I propose to take the reader, are rich in +many things besides birds. Indeed, their wealth in this respect is +owing mainly, no doubt, to their rank vegetable growth, their fruitful +swamps, and their dark, sheltered retreats. + +Their history is of an heroic cast. Ravished and torn by the tanner +in his thirst for bark, preyed upon by the lumberman, assaulted and +beaten back by the settler, still their spirit has never been broken, +their energies never paralyzed. Not many years ago a public highway +passed through them, but it was at no time a tolerable road; trees +fell across it, mud and limbs choked it up, till finally travelers +took the hint and went around; and now, walking along its deserted +course, I see only the footprints of coons, foxes, and squirrels. + +Nature loves such woods, and places her own seal upon them. Here she +show me what can be done with ferns and mosses and lichens. The soil +is marrowy and full of innumerable forests. Standing in these fragrant +aisles, I feel the strength of the vegetable kingdom, and am awed by +the deep and inscrutable processes of life going on so silently about +me. + +No hostile forms with axe or spud now visit these solitudes. The cows +have half-hidden ways through them, and know where the best browsing +is to be had. In spring, the farmer repairs to their bordering of +maples to make sugar; in July and August women and boys from all the +country about penetrate the old Barkpeelings for raspberries and +blackberries; and I know a youth who wonderingly follows their languid +stream casting for trout. + +In like spirit, alert and buoyant, on this bright June morning go I +also to reap my harvest,--pursuing a sweet more delectable than sugar, +fruit more savory than berries, and game for another palate than that +tickled by trout. + +June, of all the months, the student of ornithology can least afford +to lose. Most birds are nesting then, and in full song and plumage. +And what is a bird without its song? Do we not wait for the stranger +to speak? It seems to me that I do not know a bird till I have heard +its voice; then I come nearer it at once, and it possesses a human +interest to me. I have met the gray-cheeked thrush in the woods, and +held him in my hand; still I do not know him. The silence of the +cedar-bird throws a mystery about him which neither his good looks nor +his petty larcenies in cheery time can dispel. A bird's song contains +a clew to its life, and establishes a sympathy, an understanding, +between itself and the listener. + +I descend a steep hill, and approach the hemlocks through a large +sugar-bush. When twenty rods distant, I hear all along the line of the +forest the incessant warble of the red-eyed vireo, cheerful and happy +as the merry whistle of a schoolboy. He is one of our most common and +widely distributed birds. Approach any forest at any hour of the day, +in any kind of weather, from May to August, in any of the Middle or +Eastern districts, and the chances are that the first note you hear +will be his. Rain or shine, before noon or after, in the deep forest +or in the village grove,--when it is too hot for the thrushes or too +cold and windy for the warblers,--it is never out of time or place +for this little minstrel to indulge his cheerful strain. In the deep +wilds of the Adirondacks, where few birds are seen and fewer heard, +his note was almost constantly in my ear. Always busy, making it a +point never to suspend for one moment his occupation to indulge his +musical taste, his lay is that of industry and contentment. There is +nothing plaintive or especially musical in his performance, but the +sentiment expressed is eminently that of cheerfulness. Indeed, the +songs of most birds have some human significance, which, I think, is +the source of the delight we take in them. The song of the bobolink to +me expresses hilarity; the song sparrow's, faith; the bluebird's, +love; the catbird's, pride; the white-eyed flycatcher's, +self-consciousness; that of the hermit thrush spiritual serenity: +while there is something military in the call of the robin. + +The red-eye is classed among the flycatchers by some writers, but is +much more of a worm-eater, and has few of the traits or habits of the +Muscicapa or the true Sylvia. He resembles somewhat the warbling +vireo, and the two birds are often confounded by careless observers. +Both warble in the same cheerful strain, but the latter more +continuously and rapidly. The red-eye is a larger, slimmer bird, with +a faint bluish crown, and a light line over the eye. His movements are +peculiar. You may see him hopping among the limbs, exploring then +under side of the leaves, peering to the right and left, now flitting +a few feet, now hopping as many, and warbling incessantly, +occasionally in a subdued tone, which sounds from a very indefinite +distance. When he has found a worm to his liking, he turns lengthwise +of the limb and and bruises its head with his beak before devouring +it. + +As I enter the woods the slate-colored snowbird starts up before me +and chirps sharply. His protest when thus disturbed is almost metallic +in its sharpness. He breeds here, and is not esteemed a snowbird at +all, as he disappears at the near approach of winter, and returns +again in spring, like the song sparrow, and is not in any way +associated with the cold and snow. So different are the habits of +birds in different localities. Even the crow does not winter here, and +is seldom seen after December or before March. + +The snowbird, or "black chipping-bird," as it is known among the +farmers, is the finest architect of any of the ground-builders known +to me. The site of its nest is usually some low bank by the roadside, +near a wood. In a slight excavation, with a partially concealed +entrance, the exquisite structure is placed. Horse and cow hair are +plentifully used, imparting to the interior of the nest great symmetry +and firmness as well as softness. + +Passing down through the maple arches, barely pausing to observe the +antics of a trio of squirrels,--two gray ones and a black one,--I +cross an ancient brush fence and am fairly within the old hemlocks, +and in one of the most primitive, undisturbed nooks. In the deep moss +I tread as with muffled feet, and the pupils of my eyes dilate in the +dim, almost religious light. The irreverent red squirrels, however, +run and snicker at my approach, or mock the solitude with their +ridiculous chattering and frisking. + +This nook is the chosen haunt of the winter wren. This is the only +place and these the only woods in which I find him in this vicinity. +His voice fills these dim aisles, as if aided by some marvelous +sounding-board. Indeed, his song is very strong for so small a bird, +and unites in a remarkable degree brilliancy and plaintiveness. I +think of a tremulous vibrating tongue of silver. You may know it is +the song of a wren, from its gushing lyrical character; but you must +needs look sharp to see the little minstrel, especially while in the +act of singing. He is nearly the color of the ground and the leaves; +he never ascends the tall trees, but keeps low, flitting from stump to +stump and from root to root, dodging in and out of his hiding-places, +and watching all intruders with a suspicious eye. He has a very pert, +almost comical look. His tail stands more that perpendicular: it +points straight toward his head. He is the least ostentatious singer I +know of. He does not strike an attitude, and lift up his head in +preparation, and, as it were, clear his throat; but sits there on a +log and pours out his music, looking straight before him, or even down +at the ground. As a songster, he has but few superiors. I do not hear +him after the first week in July. + +While sitting on this soft-cushioned log, tasting the pungent +acidulous wood-sorrel, the blossoms of which, large and pink-veined, +rise everywhere above the moss, a rufous-colored bird flies quickly +past, and, alighting on a low limb a few rods off, salutes me with +"Whew! Whew!" or "Whoit! Whoit!" almost as you would whistle for your +dog. I see by his impulsive, graceful movement, and his dimly speckled +breast, that it is a thrush. Presently he utters a few soft, mellow, +flute-like notes, one of the most simple expressions of melody to be +heard, and scuds away, and I see it is the veery, or Wilson's thrush. +He is the least of the thrushes in size, being about that of the +common bluebird, and he may be distinguished from his relatives by the +dimness of the spots upon his breast. The wood thrush has very clear, +distinct oval spots on a white ground; in the hermit, the spots run +more into lines, on a ground of a faint bluish white; in the veery, +the marks are almost obsolete, and a few rods off his breast presents +only a dull yellowish appearance. To get a good view of him you have +only to sit down in his haunts, as in such cases he seems equally +anxious to get a good view of you. + +From those tall hemlocks proceeds a very fine insect-like warble, and +occasionally I see a spray tremble, or catch the flit of a wing. I +watch and watch till my head grows dizzy and my neck is in danger of +permanent displacement, and still do not get a good view. Presently +the bird darts, or, as it seems, falls down a few feet in pursuit of a +fly or a moth, and I see the whole of it, but in the dim light am +undecided. It is for such emergencies that I have brought my gun. A +bird in the hand is worth half a dozen in the bush, even for +ornithological purposes; and no sure and rapid-progress can be made +in the study without taking life, without procuring specimens. This +bird is a warbler, plainly enough, from his habits and manner; but +what kind of warbler? Look on him and name him: a deep orange or +flame-colored throat and breast; the same color showing also in a line +over the eye and in his crown; back variegated black and white. The +female is less marked and brilliant. The orange-throated warbler would +seem to be his right name, his characteristic cognomen; but no, he is +doomed to wear the name of some discoverer, perhaps the first who +rifled his nest or robbed him of his mate,--Blackburn; hence +Blackburnian warbler. The burn seems appropriate enough, for in these +dark evergreens his throat and breast show like flame. He has a very +fine warble, suggesting that of the redstart, but not especially +musical. I find him in not other woods in this vicinity. + +I am attracted by another warble in the same locality, and experience +a like difficulty in getting a good view of the author of it. It is +quite a noticeable strain, sharp and sibilant, and sounds well amid +the the old trees. In the upland woods of beech and maple it is a more +familiar sound than in these solitudes. On taking the bird in hand, +one can not help exclaiming, "How beautiful!" So tiny and elegant, the +smallest of the warblers; a delicate blue back, with a slight +bronze-colored triangular spot between the shoulders; upper mandible +black; lower mandible yellow as gold; throat yellow, becoming a dark +bronze on the breast. Blue yellow-back he is called, though the yellow +is much nearer a bronze. He is remarkably delicate and beautiful,--the +handsomest as he is the smallest of the warblers known to me. It is +never without surprise that I find amid these rugged, savage aspects +of nature creatures so fairy and delicate. But such is the law. Go to +the sea or climb the mountain, and with the ruggedest and the savagest +you will find likewise the fairest and the most delicate. The +greatness and the minuteness of nature pass all understanding. + +Ever since I entered the woods, even while listening to the lesser +songsters, or contemplating the silent forms about me, a strain has +reached my ears from out of the depths of the forest that to me is the +finest sound in nature,--the song of the hermit thrush. I often hear +him thus a long way off, sometimes over a quarter of a mile away, when +only the stronger and more perfect parts of his music reach me; and +through the general chorus of wrens and warblers I detect this sound +rising pure and serene, as if a spirit from some remote height were +slowly chanting a divine accompaniment. This song appeals to the +sentiment of the beautiful in me, and suggests a serene religious +beatitude as no other sound in nature does. It is perhaps more of an +evening than a morning hymn, + +though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple, and I +can hardly tell the secret of its charm. "O spheral, spheral!" he +seems to say; "O holy, holy! O clear away, clear away! O clear up, +clear up!" interspersed with the finest trills and the most delicate +preludes. It is not a proud, gorgeous strain, like the tanager's or +the grosbeak's; suggests no passion or emotion,--nothing +personal,--but seems to be the voice of that calm, sweet solemnity one +attains to in his best moments. It realizes a peace and a deep, solemn +joy that only the finest souls may know. A few nights ago I ascended a +mountain to see the world by moonlight, and when near the summit the +hermit commenced his evening hymn a few rods from me. Listening to +this strain on the lone mountain, with the full moon just rounded from +the horizon, the pomp of your cities and the pride of your +civilization seemed trivial and cheap. + +I have seldom known two of these birds to be singing at the same time +in the same locality, rivaling each other, like the wood thrush or the +veery. Shooting one from a tree, I have observed another take up the +strain from almost the identical perch in less than ten minutes +afterward. Later in the day, when I had penetrated the heart of the +old Barkpeeling, I came suddenly upon one singing from a low stump, +and for a wonder he did not seem alarmed, but lifted up his divine +voice as if his privacy was undisturbed. I open his beak and find the +inside yellow as gold. I was prepared to find it inlaid with pearls +and diamonds, or to see an angel issue from it. + +He is not much in the books. Indeed, I am acquainted with scarcely +any writer on ornithology whose head is not muddled on the subject of +our three prevailing song-thrushes, confounding either their figures +or their songs. A writer in the "Atlantic" [Footnote: For December, +1853] gravely tells us the wood thrush is sometimes called the hermit, +and then, after describing the song of the hermit with great beauty +and correctness, cooly ascribes it to the veery! The new Cyclopaedia, +fresh from the study of Audubon, says the hermit's song consists of a +single plaintive note, and that the veery's resembles that of the wood +thrush! The hermit thrush may be easily identified by his color; his +back being a clear olive-brown becoming rufous on his rum and tail. A +quill from his wing placed beside one from his tail on a dark ground +presents quite a marked contrast. + +I walk along the old road, and note the tracks in the thin layer of +mud. When do these creatures travel here? I have never yet chanced to +meet one. Here a partridge has set its foot; there, a woodcock; here, +a squirrel or mink; thee, a skunk; there, a fox. What a clear, nervous +track reynard makes! how easy to distinguish it from that of a little +dog,--it is so sharply cut and defined! A dog's track is coarse and +clumsy beside it. There is as much wildness in the track of an animal +as in its voice. Is a deer's track like a sheep's or a goat's? What +winged-footed fleetness and agility may be inferred from the sharp, +braided track of the gray squirrel upon the new snow! Ah! in nature is +the best discipline. How wood-life sharpens the senses, giving a new +power to the eye, the ear, the nose! And are not the rarest and most +exquisite songsters wood-birds? + +Everywhere in these solitudes I am greeted with the pensive, almost +pathetic not of the wood pewee. The pewees are the true flycatchers, +and are easily identified. They are very characteristic birds, have +strong family traits and pugnacious dispositions. They are the least +attractive or elegant birds of our fields or forests. +Sharp-shouldered, big-headed, short-legged, of no particular color, of +little elegance in flight or movement, with a disagreeable flirt of +the tail, always quarreling with their neighbors and with one another, +no birds are so little calculated to excite pleasurable emotions in +the beholder, or to become objects of human interest and affection. +The kingbird is the best dressed member of the family, but he is a +braggart; and, though always snubbing his neighbors, is an arrant +coward, and shows the white feather at the slightest display of pluck +in his antagonist. I have seen him turn tail to a swallow, and have +known the little pewee in question to whip him beautifully. From the +great-crested to the little green flycatcher, their ways and general +habits are the same. Slow in flying from point to point, they yet have +a wonderful quickness, and snap up the fleetest insects with little +apparent effort. There is a constant play of quick, nervous movements +underneath their outer show of calmness and stolidity. They do not +scour the limbs and trees like the warblers, but, perched upon the +middle branches, wait, like true hunters, for the game to come along. +There is often a very audible snap of the beak as they seize their +prey. + +The wood pewee, the prevailing species in this locality, arrests your +attention by his sweet, pathetic cry. There is room for it also in the +deep woods, as well as for the more prolonged and elevated strains. + +Its relative, the phoebe-bird, builds an exquisite nest of moss on the +side of some shelving cliff or overhanging rock. The other day, +passing by a ledge, near the top of a mountain in a singularly +desolate locality, my eye rested upon one of these structures, looking +precisely as if it grew there, so in keeping was it with the mossy +character of the rock, and I have had a growing affection for the bird +ever since. The rock seemed to love the nest and claim it as its own. +I said, what a lesson in architecture is here! Here is a house that +was built, but with such loving care and such beautiful adaptation of +the means to the end, that it looks like a product of nature. The same +wise economy is noticeable in the nests of all birds. No bird could +paint its house white or red, or add aught for show. + +At one point in the grayest, most shaggy part of the woods, I come +suddenly upon a brood of screech owls, full grown, sitting together +upon a dry, moss-draped limb, but a few feet from the ground. I pause +within four or five yards of them and am looking about me, when my eye +lights upon these, gray, motionless figures. They sit perfectly +upright, some with their backs and some with their breasts toward me, +but every head turned squarely in my direction. Their eyes are closed +to a mere black line; though this crack they are watching me, +evidently thinking themselves unobserved. The spectacle is weird and +grotesque. It is a new effect, the night side of the woods by +daylight. After observing them a moment I take a single step toward +them, when, quick as thought, their eyes fly wide open, their attitude +is changed, they bend, some this way, some that, and, instinct with +life and motion, stare wildly about them. Another step, and they all +take flight but one, which stoops low on the branch, and with the look +of a frightened cat regards me for a few seconds over its shoulder. +They fly swiftly and softly, and disperse through the trees. I shoot +one, which is of a tawny red tint, like that figured by Wilson. It is +a singular fact that the plumage of these owls presents two totally +distinct phases which "have no relation to sex, age, or season," one +being an ashen gray, the other a bright rufous. + +Coming to a drier and less mossy place in the woods, I am amused with +the golden-crowned thrush,--which, however, is no thrush at all, but a +warbler. He walks on the ground ahead of me with such an easy, gliding +motion, and with such an unconscious, preoccupied air, jerking his +head like a hen or a partridge, now hurrying, now slackening his pace, +that I pause to observe him. I sit down, he pauses to observe me, and +extends his pretty ramblings on all sides, apparently very much +engrossed with his own affairs, but never losing sight of me. But few +of the birds are walkers, most being hoppers, like the robin. + +Satisfied that I have no hostile intentions, the pretty pedestrian +mounts a limb a few feet from the ground, and gives me the benefit of +one of his musical performances, a sort of accelerating chant. +Commencing in a very low key, which makes him seem at a very uncertain +distance, he grows louder and louder till his body quakes and his +chant runs into a shriek, ringing in my ear, with a peculiar +sharpness. This lay may be represented thus: + +[TRANSCRIBISTS NOTE: ORIGINAL BOOK USES FONT SHIFTS +TO ILLUSTRATE AN INCREASE IN VOLUME] + +"Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher!"--the accent on the +first syllable and each word uttered with increased force and +shrillness. No writer with whom I am acquainted gives him credit for +more musical ability than is displayed in this strain. Yet in this the +half is not told. He has a far rarer song, which he reserves for some +nymph whom he meets in the air. Mounting by easy flights to the top of +the tallest tree, he launches into the air with a sort of suspended, +hovering flight, like certain of the finches, and bursts into a +perfect ecstasy of song,--clear, ringing, copious, rivaling the +goldfinch's in vivacity, and the linnet's in melody. This strain is +one of the rarest bits of bird melody to be heard, and is oftenest +indulged in late in the afternoon or after sundown. Over the woods, +hid from view, the ecstatic singer warbles his finest strain. In this +song you instantly detect his relationship to the +water-wagtail,--erroneously called water-thrush,--whose song is +likewise a sudden burst, full and ringing, and with a tone of youthful +joyousness in it, as if the bird had just had some unexpected good +fortune. For nearly two years this strain of the pretty walker was +little more than a disembodied voice to me, and I was puzzled by it as +Thoreau by his mysterious night-warbler, which, by the way, I suspect +was no new bird at all, but one he was otherwise familiar with. The +little bird himself seems disposed to keep the matter a secret, and +improves every opportunity to repeat before you his shrill, +accelerating lay, as if this were quite enough and all he laid claim +to. Still, I trust I am betraying no confidence in making the matter +public here. I think this is preëminently his love-song, as I hear it +oftenest about the mating season. I have caught half-suppressed bursts +of it from two males chasing each other with fearful speed through the +forest. + +Turning to the left from the old road, I wander over soft logs and +gray yielding débris, across the little trout brook, until I emerge in +the overgrown Barkpeeling,--pausing now and then on the way to admire +a small, solitary now and then on the way to admire a small, solitary +white flower which rises above the moss, with radical, heart-shaped +leaves, and a blossom precisely like the liverwort except in color, +but which is not put down in my botany,--or to observe the ferns, of +which I count six varieties, some gigantic ones nearly shoulder-high. + +At the foot of a rough, scraggly yellow birch, on a bank of club-moss, +so richly inlaid with partridge-berry and curious shining +leaves--with here and there in the bordering a spire of false +wintergreen strung with faint pink flowers and exhaling the breath of +a May orchard--that it looks too costly a couch for such an idler, I +recline to note what transpires. The sun is just past the meridian, +and the afternoon chorus is not yet in full tune. Most birds sing with +the greatest spirit and vivacity in the forenoon, though there are +occasional bursts later in the day in which nearly all voices join; +while it is not till the twilight that the full power and solemnity of +the thrush's hymn is felt. + +My attention is soon arrested by a pair of hummingbirds, the +ruby-throated, disporting themselves in a low bush a few yards from +me. The female takes shelter amid the branches, and squeaks exultingly +as the male, circling above, dives down as if to dislodge her. Seeing +me, he drops like a feather on a slender twig, and in a moment both +are gone. Then as if by a preconcerted signal, the throats are all +atune. I lie on my back with eyes half closed, and analyze the chorus +of warblers, thrushes, finches, and flycatchers; while, soaring above +all, a little withdrawn and alone rises the divine contralto of the +hermit. That richly modulated warble proceeding from the top of yonder +birch, and which unpracticed ears would mistake for the voice of the +scarlet tanager, comes from that rare visitant, the rose-breasted +grosbeak. It is a strong, vivacious strain, a bright noonday song, +full of health and assurance, indicating fine talents in the +performer, but not a genius. As I come up under the tree he casts his +eye down at me, but continues his song. This bird is said to be quite +common in the Northwest, but he is rare in the Eastern districts. His +beak is disproportionately large and heavy, like a huge nose, which +slightly mars his good looks; but Nature has made it up to him in a +blush rose upon his breast, and the most delicate of pink linings to +the under side of his wings. His back is variegated black and white, +and when flying low the white shows conspicuously. If he passed over +your head, you would not the delicate flush under his wings. + +That bit of bright scarlet on yonder dead hemlock, glowing like a live +coal against the dark background, seeming almost too brilliant for the +severe northern climate, is his relative, the scarlet tanager. I +occasionally meet him in the deep hemlocks, and know no stronger +contrast in nature. I almost fear he will kindle the dry limb on which +he alights. He is quite a solitary bird, and in this section seems to +prefer the high, remote woods, even going quite to the mountain's top. +Indeed, the event of my last visit to the mountain was meeting one of +these brilliant creatures near the summit, in full song. The breeze +carried the notes far and wide. He seemed to enjoy the elevation, and +I imagined his song had more scope and freedom than usual. When he had +flown far down the mountain-side, the breeze still brought me his +finest notes. In plumage he is the most brilliant bird we have. The +bluebird is not entirely blue; nor will the indigo-bird bear a close +inspection, nor the goldfinch, nor the summer redbird. But the tanager +loses nothing by a near view; the deep scarlet of his body and the +black of his wings and tail are quite perfect. This is his holiday +suit; in the fall be becomes a dull yellowish green,--the color of the +female the whole season. + +One of the leading songsters in this choir of the old Barkpeeling is +the purple finch or linnet. He sits somewhat apart, usually on a dead +hemlock, and warbles most exquisitely. He is one of our finest +songsters, and stands at the head of the finches, as the hermit at the +head of the thrushes. His song approaches an ecstasy, and, with the +exception of the winter wren's, is the most rapid and copious strain +to be heard in these woods. It is quite destitute of the trills and +the liquid, silvery, bubbling notes that characterize the wren's; but +there runs through it a round, richly modulated whistle, very sweet +and very pleasing. The call of the robin is brought in at a certain +point with marked effect, and, throughout, the variety is so great and +the strain so rapid that the impression is as of two or three birds +singing at the same time. He is not common here, and I only find him +in these or similar woods. His color is peculiar, and looks as if it +might have been imparted by dipping a brown bird in diluted pokeberry +juice. Two or three more dipping would have made the purple complete. +The female is the color of the song sparrow, a little larger, with +heavier beak, and tail much more forked. + +In a little opening quite free from brush and trees, I step down to +bath my hands in the brook, when a small, light slate-colored bird +flutters out of the bank, not three feet from my head, as I stoop +down, and, as if severely lamed or injured, flutters through the grass +and into the nearest bush. As I do not follow, but remain near the +nest, she chips sharply, which brings the male, and I see it is the +speckled Canada warbler. I find no authority in the books for this +bird to build upon the ground, yet here is the nest, made chiefly of +dry grass, set in a slight excavation in the bank not two feet from +the water, and looking a little perilous to anything but ducklings or +sandpipers. There are two young birds and one little speckled egg just +pipped. But how is this? what mystery is here? One nestling is much +larger than the other, monopolizes most of the nest, and lifts its +open mouth far above that of its companion, though obviously both are +of the same age, not more than a day old. Ah! I see; the old trick of +the cow bunting, with a stinging human significance. Taking the +interloper by the nape of the neck, I deliberately drop it into the +water, but not without a pang, as I see its naked form, convulsed with +chills, float downstream. Cruel? So is Nature cruel. I take one life +to save two. In less than two days this pot-bellied intruder would +have caused the death of the two rightful occupants of the nest; so I +step in and turn things into their proper channel again. + +It is a similar freak of nature, this instinct which prompts one bird +to lay its eggs in the nests of others, and thus shirk the +responsibility of rearing its own young. The cow buntings always +resort to this cunning trick; and when one reflects upon their +numbers, it is evident that these little tragedies are quite frequent. +In Europe the parallel case is that of the cuckoo, and occasionally +our own cuckoo imposes upon a robin or a thrush in the same manner. +The cow bunting seems to have no conscience about the matter, and, so +far as I have observed, invariable selects the nest of a bird smaller +than itself. Its egg is usually the first to hatch; its young +overreaches all the rest when food is brought; it grow with great +rapidity, spreads and fills the nest, and the starved and crowded +occupants soon perish, when the parent bird removes their dead bodies, +giving its whole energy and care to the foster-child. + +The warblers and smaller flycatchers are generally the sufferers, +though I sometimes see the slate-colored snowbird unconsciously duped +in like manner; and the other day, in a tall tree in the woods, I +discovered the black-throated green-backed warbler devoting itself to +this dusky, over-grown foundling. An old farmer to whom I pointed out +the fact was much surprised that such things should happen in his +woods without his knowledge. + +These birds may be seen prowling through all parts of the woods at +this season, watching for an opportunity to steal their egg into some +nest. One day while sitting on a log, I saw one moving by short +flights through the trees and gradually nearing the ground. Its +movements were hurried and stealthy. About fifty yards from me it +disappeared behind some low brush, and had evidently alighted upon the +ground. + +After waiting a few moments I cautiously walked in the direction. +When about halfway I accidentally made a slight noise, when the bird +flew up, and seeing me, hurried out of the woods. Arrived at the +place, I found a simple nest of dry grass and leaves partially +concealed under a prostrate branch. I took it to be the nest of a +sparrow. There were three eggs in a nest, and one lying about a foot +below it as if it had been rolled out, as of course it had. It +suggested the thought that perhaps, when the cowbird finds the full +complement of eggs in a nest, it throws out one and deposits its own +instead. I revisited the nest a few days afterward and found an egg +again cast out, but none had been put in its place. The nest had been +abandoned by its owner and the eggs were stale. + +In all cases where I have found this egg, I have observed both male +and female cowbird lingering near, the former uttering his peculiar +liquid, glassy note from the tops of the trees. + +In July, the young which have been reared in the same neighborhood, +and which are now of a dull fawn color, begin to collect in small +flocks, which grow to be quite large in autumn. + +The specked Canada is a very superior warbler, having a lively, +animated strain, reminding you of certain parts of the canary's, +though quite broken and incomplete; the bird, the while, hopping amid +the branches with increased liveliness, and indulging in fine sibilant +chirps, too happy to keep silent. + +His manners are quite marked. He has a habit of courtesying when he +discovers you which is very pretty. In form he is an elegant bird, +somewhat slender, his back of a bluish lead-color becoming nearly +black on his crown: the under part of his body, from his throat down, +is of a light, delicate yellow, with a belt of black dots across his +breast. He has a fine eye, surrounded by a light yellow ring. + +The parent birds are much disturbed by my presence, and keep up a loud +emphatic chirping, which attracts the attention of their sympathetic +neighbors, and one after another they come to see what has happened. +The chestnut-sided and the Blackburnian come in company. The black and +yellow warbler pauses a moment and hastens away; the Maryland +yellow-throat peeps shyly from the lower bushes and utters his "Fip! +fip!" in sympathy; the wood pewee comes straight to the tree overhead, +and the red-eyed vireo lingers and lingers, eyeing me with a curious +innocent look, evidently much puzzled. But all disappear again, one by +one, apparently without a word of condolence or encouragement to the +distressed pair. I have often noticed among birds this show of +sympathy,--if indeed it be sympathy, and not merely curiosity, or +desire to be forewarned of the approach of a common danger. + +An hour afterward I approach the place, find all still, and the mother +bird upon her nest. As I draw near she seems to sit closer, her eyes +growing large with an inexpressibly wild, beautiful look. She keeps +her place till I am within two paces of her, when she flutters away as +at first. In the brief interval the remaining egg has hatched, and the +two little nestling lift their heads without being jostled or +overreached by any strange bedfellow. A week afterward and they were +flown away,--so brief is the infancy of birds. And the wonder is that +they escape, even for this short time, the skunks and minks and +muskrats that abound here, and that have a decided partiality for such +tidbits. + +I pass on through the old Barkpeeling, now threading an obscure +cow-path or an overgrown wood-road; now clambering over soft and +decayed logs, or forcing my way through a network of briers and +hazels; now entering a perfect bower of wild cherry, beech, and soft +maple; now emerging into a grassy lane, golden with buttercups or +white with daisies, or wading waist-deep in the red raspberry-bushes. + +Whir! whir! whir! and a brood of half-grown partridges start up like +an explosion, a few paces from me, and, scattering, disappear in the +bushes on all sides. Let me sit down here behind the screen of ferns +and briers, and hear this wild hen of the woods call together her +brood. At what an early age the partridge flies! Nature seems to +concentrate her energies on the wing, making the safety of a bird a +point to be looked after first; and while the body is covered with +down, and no signs of feathers are visible, the wing-quills sprout and +unfold, and in an incredibly short time the young make fair headway in +flying. + +The same rapid development of wing may be observed in chickens and +turkeys, but not in water-fowls, nor in birds that are safely housed +in the nest till full-fledged. The other day, by a brook, I came +suddenly upon a young sandpiper, a most beautiful creature, enveloped +in a soft gray down, swift and nimble and apparently a week or two +old, but with no signs of plumage either of body or wing. And it +needed none, for it escaped me by taking to the water as readily as if +it had flown with wings. + +Hark! there arises over there in the brush a soft persuasive cooing, +a sound so subtle and wild and unobtrusive that it requires the most +alert and watchful ear to hear it. How gentle and solicitous and full +of yearning love! It is the voice of the mother hen. Presently a faint +timid "Yeap!" which almost eludes the ear, is heard in various +direction,--the young responding. As no danger seems near, the cooing +of the parent bird is soon a very audible clucking call, and the young +move cautiously in the direction. Let me step never to carefully from +my hiding-place, and all sounds instantly cease, and I search in vain +for either parent or young. + +The partridge is one of our most native and characteristic birds. The +woods seem good to be in where I find him. He gives a habitable air to +the forest, and one feels as if the rightful occupant was really at +home. The woods where I do not find him seem to want something, as if +suffering from some neglect of Nature. And then he is such a splendid +success, so hardy and vigorous. I think he enjoys the cold and the +snow. His wings seem to rustle with more fervency in midwinter. If the +snow falls very fast, and promises a heavy storm he will complacently +sit down allow himself to be snowed under. Approaching him at such +times, he suddenly bursts out of the snow at your feet, scattering the +flakes in all directions, and goes humming away through the woods like +a bombshell,--a picture of native spirit and success. + +His drum is one of the most welcome and beautiful sounds of spring. +Scarcely have the trees expanded their buds, when, in the still April +mornings, or toward nightfall, you hear the hum of his devoted wings. +He selects not, as you would predict, a dry and resinous log, but a +decayed and crumbling one, seeming to give the preference to old +oak-logs that are partly blended with the soil. If a log to his taste +cannot be found, he sets up his alter on a rock, which becomes +resonant beneath his fervent blows. Who has seen the partridge drum? +It is the next thing to catching a weasel asleep, though by much +caution and tact it may be done. He does not hug the log, but stands +very erect, expands his ruff, gives two introductory blows, pauses +half a second, and then resumes, striking faster and faster till the +sound becomes a continuous, unbroken whir, the whole lasting less than +half a minute. The tips of his wings barely brush the log, so that the +sound is produced rather by the force of the blows upon the air and +upon his own body as in flying. One log will be used for many years, +though not by the same drummer. It seems to be a sort of temple and +held in great respect. The bird always approaches on foot, and leaves +it in the same quiet manner, unless rudely disturbed. He is very +cunning, though his wit is not profound. It is difficult to approach +him by stealth, you will try many times before succeeding; but seem to +pass by him in a great hurry, making all the noise possible, and with +plumage furled, he stands as immovable as a know, allowing you a good +view, and a good shot if you are a sportsman. + +Passing along one of the old Barkpeelers' roads which wander aimlessly +about, I am attracted by a singularly brilliant and emphatic warble, +proceeding from the low bushes, and quickly suggesting the voice of +the Maryland yellow-throat. Presently the singer hops up on a dry +twig, and gives me a good view: lead-colored head and neck, becoming +nearly black on the breast; clear olive-green back, and yellow belly. +From his habit of keeping near the ground, even hopping upon it +occasionally, I know him to be a ground warbler; from his dark breast +the ornithologist has added the expletive mourning, hence the mourning +ground warbler. + +Of this bird both Wilson and Audubon confessed their comparative +ignorance, neither ever having seen its nest or become acquainted with +its haunts and general habits. Its song is quite striking and novel, +though its voice at once suggests the class of warblers to which it +belongs. It is very shy and wary, flying but a few feet at a time, and +studiously concealing itself from your view. I discover but one pair +here. The female has food in her beak, but carefully avoids betraying +the locality of her nest. The ground warblers all have one notable +feature,--very beautiful legs, as white and delicate as if they had +always worn silk stockings and satin slippers. High tree warblers have +dark brown or black legs and more brilliant plumage, but less musical +ability. + +The chestnut-sided belongs to the latter class. He is quite common in +these woods, as in all the woods about. He is one of the rarest and +handsomest of the warblers; his white breast and throat, chestnut +sides, and yellow crown show conspicuously. Last year I found the nest +of one in an uplying beech wood, in a low bush near the roadside, +where cows passed and browsed daily. Things went on smoothly till the +cow bunting stole her egg into it, when other mishaps followed, and +the nest was soon empty. A characteristic attitude of the male during +this season is a slight drooping of the wings, and a tail a little +elevated, which gives him a very smart, bantam-like appearance. His +song is fine and hurried, and not much of itself, but has its place in +the general chorus. + +A far sweeter strain, falling on the ear with the true sylvan cadence, +is that of the black-throated green-backed warbler, whom I meet at +various points. He has no superiors among the true Sylvia. His song is +very plain and simple, but remarkably pure and tender, and might be +indicated by straight lines, thus [2 dashes, square root symbol, high +dash]; the first two marks representing two sweet, silvery notes, in +the same pitch of voice, and quite unaccented; the latter marks, the +concluding notes, wherein the tone and inflection are changed. The +throat and breast of the male are a rich black like velvet, his face +yellow, and his back a yellowish green. + +Beyond the Barkpeeling, where the woods are mingled hemlock, beech, +and birch, the languid midsummer note of the black-throated blue-back +falls on my ear. "Twea, twea, twea-e-e!" in the upward slide, and with +the peculiar z-ing of summer insects, but not destitute of a certain +plaintive cadence. It is one of the most languid, unhurried sounds in +all the woods. I feel like reclining upon the dry leaves at once. +Audubon says he has never heard his love-song; but this is all the +love-song he has, and he is evidently a very plain hero with his +little brown mistress. He assumes few attitudes, and is not a bold and +striking gymnast, like many of his kindred. He has a preference for +dense woods of beech and maple, moves slowly amid the lower branches +and smaller growths, keeping from eight to ten feet from the ground, +and repeating now and then his listless, indolent strain. His back and +crown are dark blue; his throat and breast, black; his belly, pure +white; and he has a white spot on each wing. + +Here and there I meet the black and white creeping warbler, whose fine +strain reminds me of hairwire. It is unquestionably the finest +bird-song to be heard. Few insect strains will compare with it in this +respect; while it has none of the harsh, brassy character of the +latter, being very delicate and tender. + +That sharp, uninterrupted, but still continued warble, which before +one has learned to discriminate closely, he is apt to confound with +the red-eyed vireo's, is that of the solitary warbling vireo,--a bird +slightly larger, much rarer, and with a louder less cheerful and happy +strain. I see him hopping along lengthwise of the limbs, and note the +orange tinge of his breast and sides and the white circle around his +eye. + +But the declining sun and the deepening shadows admonish me that this +ramble must be brought to a close, even though only the leading +characters in this chorus of forty songsters have been described, and +only a small portion of the venerable old woods explored. In a +secluded swampy corner of the old Barkpeeling, where I find the great +purple orchis in bloom, and where the foot of man or beast seems never +to have trod, I linger long, contemplating the wonderful display of +lichens and mosses that overrun both the smaller and the larger +growths. Every bush and branch and sprig is dressed up in the most +rich and fantastic of liveries; and, crowning all, the long bearded +moss festoons the branches or sways gracefully from the limbs. Every +twig looks a century old, though green leaves tip the end of it. A +young yellow birch has a venerable, patriarchal look, and seems ill at +ease under such premature honors. A decayed hemlock is draped as if by +hands for some solemn festival. + +Mounting toward the upland again, I pause reverently as the hush and +stillness of twilight com upon the woods. It is the sweetest, ripest +hour of the day. And as the hermit's evening hymn goes up from the +deep solitude below me, I experience that serene exaltation of +sentiment of which music, literature, and religion are but the faint +types and symbols. 1865. + + + +III + +THE ADIRONDACKS + +When I went to the Adirondacks, which was in the summer of 1863, I was +in the first flush of my ornithological studies, and was curious, +above else, to know what birds I should find in these solitudes,--what +new ones, and what ones already known to me. + +In visiting vast primitive, far-off woods one naturally expects to +find something rare and precious, or something entirely new, but it +commonly happens that one is disappointed. Thoreau made three +excursions into the Maine woods, and, though he started the moose and +the caribou, had nothing more novel to report by way of bird notes +than the songs of the wood thrush and the pewee. This was about my own +experience in the Adirondacks. The birds for the most part prefer the +vicinity of settlements and clearings, and it was at such places that +I saw the greatest number and variety. + +At the clearing of an old hunter and pioneer by the name of Hewett, +where we paused a couple of days on first entering the woods, I saw +many old friends and made some new acquaintances. The snowbird was +very abundant here, as it had been at various points along the route +after leaving Lake George. As I went out to the spring in the morning +to wash myself, a purple finch flew up before me, having already +performed its ablutions. I had first observed this bird the winter +before in the Highlands of the Hudson, where, during several clear but +cold February mornings, a troop of them sang most charmingly in a tree +in front of my house. The meeting with the bird here in its breeding +haunts was a pleasant surprise. During the day I observed several pine +finches,--a dark brown or brindlish bird, allied to the common +yellowbird, which it much resembles in its manner and habits. They +lingered familiarly about the house, sometimes alighting in a small +tree within a few feet of it. In one of the stumpy fields I saw an old +favorite in the grass finch or vesper swallow. It was sitting on a +tall charred stub with food in its beak. But all along the borders of +the woods and in the bushy parts of the fields there was a new song +that I was puzzled in tracing to the author. It was most noticeable in +the morning and at twilight, but was at all times singularly secret +and elusive. I at last discovered that it was the white-throated +sparrow, a common bird all through this region. Its song is very +delicate and plaintive,--a thin, wavering, tremulous whistle, which +disappoints one, however, as it ends when it seems only to have begun. +If the bird could give us the finishing strain of which this seems +only the prelude, it would stand first among feathered songsters. + +By a little trout brook in a low part of the woods adjoining the +clearing, I had a good time pursuing and identifying a number of +warblers,--the speckled Canada, the black-throated blue, the +yellow-rumped, and Audubon's warbler. The latter, which was leading +its troop of young through a thick undergrowth on the banks of the +creek where insects were plentiful, was new to me. + +It being August, the birds were all moulting, and sang only fitfully +and by brief snatches. I remember hearing but one robin during the +whole trip. This was by the Boreas River in the deep forest. It was +like the voice of an old friend speaking my name. + +From Hewett's, after engaging his youngest son,--the "Bub" of the +family,--a young man about twenty and a thorough woodsman, as our +guide, we took to the woods in good earnest, our destination being the +Stillwater of the Boreas,--a long, deep, dark reach in one of the +remotest branches of the Hudson, about six miles distant. Here we +paused a couple of days, putting up in a dilapidated lumbermen's +shanty, and cooking our fish over an old stove which had been left +there. The most noteworthy incident of our stay at this point was the +taking by myself of half a dozen splendid trout out of the Stillwater, +after the guide had exhausted his art and his patience with very +insignificant results. The place had a very trouty look; but as the +season was late and the river warm, I knew the fish lay in deep water +from which they could not be attracted. In deep water accordingly, and +near the head of the hole, I determined to look for them. Securing a +chub, I cut it into pieces about an inch long, and with these for bait +sank my hook into the head of the Stillwater, and just to one side of +the main current. In less than twenty minutes I had landed six noble +fellows, three of them over one foot long each. The guide and my +incredulous companions, who were watching me from the opposite shore, +seeing my luck, whipped out their tackle in great haste and began +casting first at a respectable distance from me, then all about me, +but without a single catch. My own efforts suddenly became fruitless +also, but I had conquered the guide, and thenceforth he treated me +with the tone and freedom of a comrade and equal. + +One afternoon, we visited a cave some two miles down the stream, which +had recently been discovered. We squeezed and wriggled through a big +crack or cleft in the side of the mountain for about one hundred feet, +when we emerged into a large dome-shaped passage, the abode during +certain seasons of the year of innumerable bats, and at all times of +primeval darkness. There were various other crannies and pit-holes +opening into it, some of which we explored. The voice of running water +was everywhere heard, betraying the proximity of the little stream by +whose ceaseless corroding the cave and its entrance had been worn. +This streamlet flowed out of the mouth of the cave, and came from a +lake on the top of the mountain; this accounted for its warmth to the +hand, which surprised us all. + +Birds of any kind were rare in these woods. A pigeon hawk came +prowling by our camp, and the faint piping call of the nuthatches, +leading their young through the high trees, was often heard. + +On the third day our guide proposed to conduct us to a lake in the +mountains where we could float for deer. + +Our journey commenced in a steep and rugged ascent, which brought us, +after an hour's heavy climbing, to an elevated region of pine forest, +years before ravished by lumbermen, and presenting all manner of +obstacles to our awkward and incumbered pedestrianism. The woods were +largely pine, though yellow birch, beech, and maple were common. The +satisfaction of having a gun, should any game show itself, was the +chief compensation to those of us who were thus burdened. A partridge +would occasionally whir up before us, or a red squirrel snicker and +hasten to his den; else the woods appeared quite tenantless. The most +noted object was a mammoth pine, apparently the last of a great race, +which presided over a cluster of yellow birches, on the side of the +mountain. + +About noon, we came out upon a long, shallow sheet of water which the +guide called Bloody-Moose Pond, from the tradition that a moose had +been slaughtered there many years before. Looking out over the silent +and lonely scene, his eye was the first to detect an object, +apparently feeding upon lily-pads, which our willing fancies readily +shaped into a deer. As we were eagerly waiting some movement to +confirm this impression, it lifted up its head, and lo! a great blue +heron. Seeing us approach, it spread its long wings and flew solemnly +across to a dead tree on the other side of the lake, enhancing rather +than relieving the loneliness and desolation that brooded over the +scene. As we proceeded, it flew from tree to tree in advance of us, +apparently loth to be disturbed in its ancient and solitary domain. In +the margin of the pond we found the pitcher-plant growing, and here +and there in the sand the closed gentian lifted up its blue head. + +In traversing the shores of this wild, desolate lake, I was conscious +of a slight thrill of expectation, as if some secret of Nature might +here be revealed, or some rare and unheard-of game disturbed. There is +ever a lurking suspicion that the beginning of things is in some way +associated with water, and one may notice that in his private walks he +is led by a curious attraction to fetch all the springs and ponds in +his route, as if by them was the place for wonders and miracles to +happen. Once, while in advance of my companions, I saw, from a high +rock, a commotion in the water near the shore, but on reaching the +point found only the marks of a musquash. + +Pressing on through the forest, after many adventures with pine-knots, +we reached, about the middle of the afternoon, our destination, Nate's +Pond,--a pretty sheet of water, lying like a silver mirror in the lap +of the mountain, about a mile long and half a mile wide, surrounded by +dark forests of balsam, hemlock, and pine, and, like the one we had +just passed, a very picture of unbroken solitude. + +It is not in the woods alone to give one this impression of utter +loneliness. In the woods are sounds and voices, and a dumb kind of +companionship; one is little more than a walking tree himself; but +come upon one of these mountain lakes, and the wildness stands +revealed and meets you face to face. Water is thus facile and +adaptive, that makes the wild more wild, while it enhances culture and +art. + +The end of the pond which we approached was quite shoal, the stones +rising above the surface as in a summer brook, and everywhere showing +marks of the noble game we were in quest of,--footprints, dung, and +cropped and uprooted lily pads. After resting for a half hour, and +replenishing our game-pouches at the expense of the most respectable +frogs of the locality, we filed on through the soft, resinous +pine-woods, intending to camp near the other end of the lake, where, +the guide assured us, we should find a hunter's cabin ready built. A +half-hour's march brought us to the locality, and a most delightful +one it was,--so hospitable and inviting that all the kindly and +beneficent influences of the woods must have abided there. In a slight +depression in the woods, about one hundred yards from the lake, though +hidden from it for a hunter's reasons, surrounded by a heavy growth of +birch, hemlock, and pine, with a lining of balsam and fir, the rude +cabin welcomed us. It was of the approved style, three sides inclosed, +with a roof of bark and a bed of boughs, and a rock in front that +afforded a permanent backlog to all fires. A faint voice of running +water was head near by, and, following the sound, a delicious spring +rivulet was disclosed, hidden by the moss and débris as by a new fall +of snow, but here and there rising in little well-like openings, as if +for our special convenience. On smooth places on the log I noticed +female names inscribed in a female hand; and the guide told us of an +English lady, an artist, who had traversed this region with a single +guide, making sketches. + +Our packs unslung and the kettle over, our first move was to ascertain +in what state of preservation a certain dug-out might be, which the +guide averred, he had left moored in the vicinity the summer +before,--for upon this hypothetical dug-out our hopes of venison +rested. After a little searching, it was found under the top of a +fallen hemlock, but in a sorry condition. A large piece had been split +out of one end, and a fearful chink was visible nearly to the water +line. Freed from the treetop, however, and calked with a little moss, +it floated with two aboard, which was quite enough for our purpose. A +jack and an oar were necessary to complete the arrangement, and before +the sun had set our professor of wood-craft had both in readiness. +From a young yellow birch an oar took shape with marvelous +rapidity,--trimmed and smoothed with a neatness almost fastidious,--no +makeshift, but an instrument fitted for the delicate work it was to +perform. + +A jack was make with equal skill and speed. A stout staff about three +feet long was placed upright in the bow of the boat, and held to its +place by a horizontal bar, through a hole in which it turned easily: a +half wheel eight or ten inches in diameter, cut from a large chip, was +placed at the top, around which was bent a new section of birch bark, +thus forming a rude semicircular reflector. Three candles placed +within the circle completed the jack. With moss and boughs seats were +arranged,--one in the bow for the marksman, and one in the stern for +the oarsman. A meal of frogs and squirrels was a good preparation, +and, when darkness came, all were keenly alive to the opportunity it +brought. Though by no means an expert in the use of the gun,--adding +the superlative degree of enthusiasm to only the positive degree of +skill,--yet it seemed tacitly agreed that I should act as marksman and +kill the deer, if such was to be our luck. + +After it was thoroughly dark, we went down to make a short trial trip. +Everything working to satisfaction, about ten o'clock we pushed out in +earnest. For the twentieth time I felt in the pocket that contained +the matches, ran over the part I was to perform, and pressed my gun +firmly, to be sure there was no mistake. My position was that of +kneeling directly under the jack, which I was to light at the word. +The night was clear, moonless, and still. Nearing the middle of the +lake, a breeze from the west was barely perceptible, and noiselessly +we glided before it. The guide handled his oar with great dexterity; +without lifting it from the water or breaking the surface, he imparted +the steady, uniform motion desired. How silent it was! The ear seemed +the only sense, and to hold dominion over lake and forest. +Occasionally a lily-pad would brush along the bottom, and stooping low +I could hear a faint murmuring of the water under the bow: else all +was still. Then almost as by magic, we were encompassed by a huge +black ring. The surface of the lake, when we had reached the center, +was slightly luminous from the starlight, and the dark, even +forest-line that surrounded us, doubled by reflection in the water, +presented a broad, unbroken belt of utter blackness. The effect was +quite startling, like some huge conjurer's trick. It seemed as if we +had crossed the boundary-line between the real and the imaginary, and +this was indeed the land of shadows and of spectres. What magic oar +was that the guide wielded that it could transport me to such a realm! +Indeed, had I not committed some fatal mistake, and left that trusty +servant behind, and had not some wizard of the night stepped into his +place? A slight splashing in-shore broke the spell and caused me to +turn nervously to the oarsman: "Musquash," said he, and kept strait +on. + +Nearing the extreme end of the pond, the boat gently headed around, +and silently we glided back into the clasp of that strange orbit. +Slight sounds were heard as before, but nothing that indicated the +presence of the game we were waiting for; and we reached the point of +departure as innocent of venison as we had set out. + +After an hour's delay, and near midnight, we pushed out again. My +vigilance and susceptibility were rather sharpened than dulled by the +waiting; and the features of the night had also deepened and +intensified. Night was at its meridian. The sky had that soft +luminousness which may often be observed near midnight at this season, +and the "large few stars" beamed mildly down. We floated out into that +spectral shadow-land and moved slowly on as before. The silence was +most impressive. Now and then the faint yeap of some traveling bird +would come from the air overhead, or the wings of a bat whisp quickly +by, or an owl hoot off in the mountains, giving to the silence and +loneliness a tongue. At short intervals some noise in-shore would +startle me, and cause me to turn inquiringly to the silent figure in +the stern. + +The end of the lake was reached, and we turned back. The novelty and +the excitement began to flag; tired nature began to assert her claims; +the movement was soothing, and the gunner slumbered fitfully at his +post. Presently something aroused me. "There's a deer," whispered the +guide. The gun heard, and fairly jumped in my hand. Listening, there +came the crackling of a limb, followed by a sound as of something +walking in shallow water. It proceeded from the other end of the lake, +over against our camp. On we sped, noiselessly as ever, but with +increased velocity. Presently, with a thrill of new intensity, I saw +the boat was gradually heading in that direction. Now, to a sportsman +who gets excited over a gray squirrel, and forgets that he has a gun +on the sudden appearance of a fox, this was a severe trial. I suddenly +felt cramped for room, and trimming the boat was out of the question. +It seemed that I must make some noise in spite of myself. "Light the +jack," said a soft whisper behind me. I fumbled nervously for a match, +and dropped the first one. Another was drawn briskly across my knee +and broke. A third lighted, but went out prematurely, in my haste to +get it to the jack. What would I not have given to see those wicks +blaze! We were fast nearing the shore,--already the lily-pads began to +brush along the bottom. Another attempt, and the light took. The +gentle motion fanned the blaze, and in a moment a broad glare of light +fell upon the water in front of us, while the boat remained in utter +darkness. + +By this time I had got beyond the nervous point, and had come round to +perfect coolness and composure again, but preternaturally vigilant and +keen. I was ready for any disclosures; not a sound was heard. In a few +moments the trees alongshore were faintly visible. Every object put on +the shape of a gigantic deer. A large rock looked just ready to bound +away. The dry limbs of a prostrate tree were surely his antlers. + +But what are those two luminous spots? Need the reader be told what +they were? In a moment the head of a real deer became outlined; then +his neck and foreshoulders; then his whole body. There he stood, up to +his knees in the water, gazing fixedly at us, apparently arrested in +the movement of putting his head down for a lily-pad, and evidently +thinking it was some new-fangled moon sporting about there. "Let him +have it," said my prompter,--and the crash came. There was a scuffle +in the water, and a plunge in the woods. "He's gone," said I. "Wait a +moment," said the guide, "and I will show you." Rapidly running the +canoe ashore, we sprang out, and, holding the jack aloft, explored the +vicinity by its light. There, over the logs and brush, I caught the +glimmer of those luminous spots again. But, poor thing! there was +little need of the second shot, which was the unkindest of all, for +the deer had already fallen to the ground, and was fast expiring. The +success was but a very indifferent one, after all, as the victim +turned out to be only an old doe, upon whom maternal cares had +evidently worn heavily during the summer. + +This mode of taking deer is very novel and strange. The animal is +evidently fascinated or bewildered. It does not appear to be +frightened, but as if overwhelmed with amazement, or under the +influence of some spell. It is not sufficiently master of the +situation to be sensible of fear, or to think of escape by flight; and +the experiment, to be successful, must be tried quickly, before the +first feeling of bewilderment passes. + +Witnessing the spectacle from the shore, I can conceive of nothing +more sudden or astounding. You see no movement and hear no noise, but +the light grows upon you, and stares and stares like a huge eye from +infernal regions. + +According to the guide, when a deer has been played upon in this +manner and escaped, he is not to be fooled again a second time. +Mounting the shore, he gives a long signal snort, which alarms every +animal within hearing, and dashes away. + +The sequel to the deer-shooting was a little sharp practice with a +revolver upon a rabbit, or properly a hare, which was so taken with +the spectacle of the camp-fire, and the sleeping figures lying about, +that it ventured quite up in our midst; but while testing the quality +of some condensed milk that sat uncovered at the foot of a large tree, +poor Lepus had his spine injured by a bullet. + +Those who lodge with Nature find early rising quite in order. It is +our voluptuous beds, and isolation from the earth and the air, that +prevents us from emulating the birds and the beasts in this respect. +With the citizen in his chamber, it is not morning, but +breakfast-time. The camper-out, however, feels morning in the air, he +smells it, hears it, and springs up with the general awakening. None +were tardy at the row of white chips arranged on the trunk of a +prostrate tree, when breakfast was halloed; for we were all anxious to +try the venison. Few of us, however, took a second piece. It was black +and strong. + +The day was warm and calm, and we loafed at leisure. The woods were +Nature's own. It was a luxury to ramble through them,--rank and shaggy +and venerable, but with an aspect singularly ripe and mellow. No fire +had consumed and no lumberman plundered. Every trunk and limb and leaf +lay where it had fallen. At every step the foot sank into the moss, +which, like a soft green snow, covered everything, making every stone +a cushion and every rock a bed,--a grand old Norse parlor; adorned +beyond art and upholstered beyond skill. + +Indulging in a brief nap on a rug of club-moss carelessly dropped at +the foot of a pine-tree, I woke up to find myself the subject of a +discussion of a troop of chickadees. Presently three or four shy wood +warblers came to look upon this strange creature that had wandered +into their haunts; else I passed quite unnoticed. + +By the lake, I met that orchard beauty, the cedar waxwing, spending +his vacation in the assumed character of a flycatcher, whose part he +performed with great accuracy and deliberation. Only a month before I +had seen him regaling himself upon cherries in the garden and orchard; +but as the dog-days approached he set out for the streams and lakes, +to divert himself with the more exciting pursuits of the chase. From +the tops of the dead trees along the border of the lake, he would +sally out in all directions, sweeping through long curves, alternately +mounting and descending, now reaching up for a fly high in the air, +now sinking low for one near the surface, and returning to his perch +in a few moments for a fresh start. + +The pine finch was also here, though, as usual never appearing at +home, but with a waiting, expectant air. Here also I met my beautiful +singer, the hermit thrush, but with no song in his throat now. A week +or two later and he was on his journey southward. This was the only +species of thrush I saw in the Adirondacks. Near Lake Sandford, where +were large tracks of raspberry and wild cherry, I saw numbers of them. +A boy whom we met, driving home some stray cows, said it was the +"partridge-bird," no doubt from the resemblance of its note, when +disturbed, to the cluck of the partridge. + +Nate's Pond contained perch and sunfish but no trout. Its water was +not pure enough for trout. Was there ever any other fish so fastidious +as this, requiring such sweet harmony and perfection of the elements +for its production and sustenance? On higher ground about a mile +distant was a trout pond, the shores of which were steep and rocky. + +Our next move was a tramp of about twelve miles through the +wilderness, most of the way in a drenching rain, to a place called the +Lower Iron Works, situated on the road leading in to Long Lake, which +is about a day's drive farther on. We found a comfortable hotel here, +and were glad enough to avail ourselves of the shelter and warmth +which it offered. There was a little settlement and some quite good +farms. The place commands a fine view to the north of Indian Pass, +Mount Marcy, and the adjacent mountains. On the afternoon of our +arrival, and also the next morning, the view was completely shut off +by the fog. But about the middle of the forenoon the wind changed, the +fog lifted, and revealed to us the grandest mountain scenery we had +beheld on our journey. There they sat about fifteen miles distant, a +group of them,--Mount Marcy, Mount McIntyre, and Mount Golden, the +real Adirondack monarchs. It was an impressive sight, rendered double +so be the sudden manner in which it was revealed to us by that +scene-shifter the Wind. + +I saw blackbirds at this place, and sparrows, and the solitary +sandpiper and the Canada woodpecker, and a large number of +hummingbirds. Indeed, I saw more of the latter here than I ever before +saw in any one locality. Their squeaking and whirring were almost +incessant. + +The Adirondack Iron Works belong to the past. Over thirty years ago a +company in Jersey City purchased some sixty thousand acres of land +lying along the Adirondack River, and abounding in magnetic iron ore. +The land was cleared, roads, dams, and forges constructed, and the +work of manufacturing iron begun. + +At this point a dam was built across the Hudson, the waters of which +flowed back into Lake Sandford, about five miles above. The lake +itself being some six miles song, tolerable navigation was thus +established for a distance of eleven miles, to the Upper Works, which +seem to have been the only works in operation. At the Lower Works, +besides the remains of the dam, the only vestige I saw was a long low +mound, overgrown with grass and weeds, that suggested a rude +earthwork. We were told that it was once a pile of wood containing +hundreds of cords, cut in regular lengths and corded up here for use +in the furnaces. + +At the Upper Works, some twelve miles distant, quite a village had +been built, which was now entirely abandoned, with the exception of a +single family. + +A march to this place was our next undertaking. The road for two or +three miles kept up from the river and led us by three or four rough +stumpy farms. It then approached the lake and kept along its shores. +It was here a dilapidated corduroy structure that compelled the +traveler to keep an eye on his feet. Blue jays, two or three small +hawks, a solitary wild pigeon, and ruffled grouse were seen along the +route. Now and then the lake gleamed through the trees, or we crossed +o a shaky bridge some of its arms or inlets. After a while we began to +pass dilapidated houses by the roadside. One little frame house I +remembered particularly; the door was off the hinges and leaned +against the jams, the windows had but a few panes left, which glared +vacantly. The yard and little garden spot were overrun with a heavy +growth of timothy, and the fences had all long since gone to decay. At +the head of the lake a large stone building projected from the steep +bank and extended over the road. A little beyond, the valley opened to +the east, and looking ahead about one mile we saw smoke going up from +a single chimney. Pressing on, just as the sun was setting we entered +the deserted village. The barking dog brought the whole family into +the street, and they stood till we came up. Strangers in that country +were a novelty, and we were greeted like familiar acquaintances. + +Hunter, the head, proved to be a first-rate type of an Americanized +Irishman. His wife was a Scotch woman. They had a family of five or +six children, two of them grown-up daughters,--modest, comely young +women as you would find anywhere. The elder of the two had spent a +winter in New York with her aunt, which made her a little more +self-conscious when in the presence of the strange young men. Hunter +was hired by the company at a dollar a day to live here and see that +things were not wantonly destroyed, but allowed to go to decay +properly and decently. He had a substantial roomy frame house and any +amount of grass and woodland. He had good barns and kept considerable +stock, and raised various farm products, but only for his own use, as +the difficulties of transportation to market some seventy miles +distant make it no object. He usually went to Ticonderoga on Lake +Champlain once a year for his groceries, etc. His post-office was +twelve miles below at the Lower Works, where the mail passed twice a +week. There was not a doctor, or lawyer, or preacher within +twenty-five miles. In winter, months elapse without their seeing +anybody from the outside world. In summer, parties occasionally pass +through here on their way to Indian Pass and Mount Marcy. Hundreds of +tons of good timothy hay annually rot upon the cleared land. + +After nightfall we went out and walked up and down the grass-grown +streets. It was a curious and melancholy spectacle. The remoteness and +surrounding wildness rendered the scene doubly impressive. And the +next day and the next the place was an object of wonder. There were +about thirty buildings in all, most of them small frame houses with a +door and two windows opening into a small yard in front and a garden +in the rear, such as are usually occupied by the laborers in a country +manufacturing district. There was one large two-story boarding-house, +a schoolhouse with cupola and a bell in it, and numerous sheds and +forges, and a saw-mill. In front of the saw-mill, and ready to be +rolled to their place on the carriage, lay a large pile of pine logs, +so decayed that one could run his walking-stick through them. Near by, +a building filled with charcoal was bursting open and the coal going +to waste on the ground. The smelting works were also much crumbled by +time. The schoolhouse was still used. Every day one of the daughters +assembles her smaller brothers and sisters there and school keeps. The +district library contained nearly one hundred readable books which +were well thumbed. + +The absence of society had made the family all good readers. We +brought them an illustrated newspaper, which was awaiting them in the +post-office at the Lower Works. It was read and reread with great +eagerness by every member of the household. + +The iron ore cropped out on every hand. There was apparently +mountains of it; one could see it in the stones along the road. But +the difficulties met with in separating the iron from its alloys, +together with the expense of transportation and the failure of certain +railroad schemes, caused the works to be abandoned. No doubt the time +is not distant when these obstacles will be overcome and this region +reopened. + +At present it is an admirable place to go to. There is fishing and +hunting and boating and mountain-climbing within easy reach, and a +good roof over your head at night, which is no small matter. One is +often disqualified for enjoying the woods after he gets there by the +loss of sleep and of proper food taken at seasonable times. This point +attended to, one is in the humor for any enterprise. + +About half a mile northeast of the village is Lake Henderson, a very +irregular and picturesque sheet of water surrounded by dark evergreen +forests, and abutted by two or three bold promontories with mottled +white and gray rocks. Its greatest extent in any one direction is +perhaps less than a mile. Its waters are perfectly clear and abound in +lake trout. A considerable stream flows into it, which comes down from +Indian Pass. + +A mile south of the village is Lake Sandford. This is a more open and +exposed sheet of water and much larger. From some parts of it Mount +Marcy and the gorge of the Indian Pass are seen to excellent +advantage. The Indian Pass shows as a huge cleft in the mountain, the +gray walls rising on one side perpendicularly for many hundred feet. +This lake abounds in white and yellow perch and in pickerel; of the +latter single specimens are often caught which weigh fifteen pounds. +There were a few wild ducks on both lakes. A brood of the goosander or +red merganser, the young not yet able to fly, were the occasion of +some spirited rowing. But with two pairs of oars in a trim light +skiff, it was impossible to come up with them. Yet we could not resist +the temptation to give them a chase every day when we first came on +the lake. It needed a good long pull to sober us down so we could +fish. + +The land on the east side of the lake had been burnt over, and was now +mostly grown up with wild cherry and red raspberry bushes. Ruffed +grouse were found here in great numbers. The Canada grouse was also +common. I shot eight of the latter in less than an hour on one +occasion; the eighth one, which was an old male, was killed with +smooth pebble-stones, my shot having run short. The wounded bird ran +under a pile of brush, like a frightened hen. Thrusting a forked stick +down through the interstices, I soon stopped his breathing. Wild +pigeons were quite numerous also. These latter recall a singular freak +of the sharp-shinned hawk. A flock of pigeons alighted on top of a +dead hemlock standing in the edge of a swamp. I got over the fence and +moved toward them across an open space. I had not taken many steps +when, on looking up, I saw the whole flock again in motion flying very +rapidly about the butt of a hill. Just then this hawk alighted on the +same tree. I stepped back into the road and paused a moment, in doubt +which course to go. At that instant the little hawk launched into the +air and came as straight as an arrow toward me. I looked in amazement, +but in less than half a minute, he was within fifty feet of my face, +coming full tilt as if he had sighted my nose. Almost in self-defense +I let fly one barrel of my gun, and the mangled form of the audacious +marauder fell literally between my feet. + +Of wild animals, such as bears, panthers, wolves, wildcats, etc., we +neither saw nor heard any in the Adirondacks. "A howling wilderness," +Thoreau says, "seldom ever howls. The howling is chiefly done by the +imagination of the traveler." Hunter said he often saw bear-tracks in +the snow, but had never yet met Bruin. Deer are more or less abundant +everywhere, and one old sportsman declares there is yet a single moose +in these mountains. On our return, a pioneer settler, at whose house +we stayed overnight, told us a long adventure he had had with a +panther. He related how it screamed, how it followed him in the brush, +how he took to his boat, how its eyes gleamed from the shore, and how +he fired his rifle at them with fatal effect. His wife in the mean +time took something from a drawer, and, as her husband finished his +recital, she produced a toe-nail of the identical animal with marked +dramatic effect. + +But better than fish or game or grand scenery, or any adventure by +night or day, is the wordless intercourse with rude Nature one has on +these expeditions. It is something to press the pulse of our old +mother by mountain lakes and streams, and know what health and vigor +are in her veins, and how regardless of observation she deports +herself. + + 1866. + + + +IV + +BIRDS'-NESTS + +How alert and vigilant the birds are, even when absorbed in building +their nests! In an open space in the woods I see a pair of cedar-birds +collecting moss from the top of a dead tree. Following the direction +in which they fly, I soon discover the nest placed in the fork of a +small soft maple, which stands amid a thick growth of wild +cherry-trees and young beeches. Carefully concealing myself beneath +it, without any fear that the workmen will hit me with a chip or let +fall a tool, I await the return of the busy pair. Presently I hear the +well-known note, and the female sweeps down and settles unsuspectingly +into the half-finished structure. Hardly have her wings rested before +her eye has penetrated my screen, and with a hurried movement of alarm +she darts away. In a moment the male, with a tuft of wool in his beak +(for there is a sheep pasture near), joins her, and the two +reconnoitre the premises from the surrounding bushes. With their beaks +still loaded, they move around with a frightened look, and refuse to +approach the nest till I have moved off and lain down behind a log. +Then one of them ventures to alight upon the nest, but, still +suspecting all is not right, quickly darts away again. Then they both +together come, and after much peeping and spying about, and apparently +much anxious consultation, cautiously proceed to work. In less than +half an hour it would seem that wool enough has been brought to supply +the whole family, real and prospective, with socks, if needles and +fingers could be found fine enough to knit it up. In less than a week +the female has begun to deposit her eggs,--four of them in as many +days,--white tinged with purple, with black spots on the larger end. +After two weeks of incubation the young are out. + +Excepting the American goldfinch, this bird builds later in the season +than any other,--its nest, in our northern climate, seldom being +undertaken until July. As with the goldfinch, the reason is, probably, +that suitable food for the young cannot be had at an earlier period. + +Like most of our common species, as the robin, sparrow, bluebird, +pewee, wren, etc., this bird sometimes seeks wild, remote localities +in which to rear its young; at others, takes up its abode near that of +man. I knew a pair of cedar-birds, one season, to build in an +apple-tree, the branches of which rubbed against the house. For a day +or two before the first straw was laid, I noticed the pair carefully +exploring every branch of the tree, the female taking the lead, the +male following her with an anxious note and look. It was evident that +the wife was to have her choice this time; and like one who thoroughly +knew her mind, she was proceeding to take it. Finally the site was +chosen, upon a high branch, extending over one low wing of the house. +Mutual congratulations and caresses followed, when both birds flew +away in quest of building material. That most freely used is a sort of +cotton-bearing plant which grows in old wornout fields. The nest is +large for the size of the bird, and very soft. It is in every respect +a first-class domicile. + +On another occasion, while walking or rather sauntering in the woods +(for I have discovered that one cannot run and read the book of +nature), my attention was arrested by a dull hammering, evidently but +a few rods off. I said to myself, "Some one is building a house." From +what I had previously seen, I suspected the builder to be a red-headed +woodpecker in the top of a dead oak stub near by. Moving cautiously in +that direction, I perceived a round hole, about the size of that made +by an inch-and-a-half auger, near the top of the decayed trunk, and +the white chips of the workman strewing the ground beneath. When but a +few paces from the tree, my foot pressed upon a dry twig, which gave +forth a very slight snap. Instantly the hammering ceased, and a +scarlet head appeared at the door. Though I remained perfectly +motionless, forbearing even to wink till my eyes smarted, the bird +refused to go on with his work, but flew quietly off to a neighboring +tree. What surprised me was, that, amid his busy occupation down in +the heart of the old tree, he should have been so alert and watchful +as to catch the slightest sound from without. + +The woodpeckers all build in about the same manner, excavating the +trunk or branch of a decayed tree and depositing the eggs on the fine +fragments of wood at the bottom of the cavity. Though the nest is not +especially an artistic work,--requiring strength rather than +skill,--yet the eggs and the young of few other birds are so +completely housed from the elements, or protected from their natural +enemies, the jays, hawks, and owls. A tree with a natural cavity is +never selected, but one which has been dead just long enough to have +become soft and brittle throughout. The bird goes in horizontally for +a few inches, making a hole perfectly round and smooth and adapted to +his size, then turns downward, gradually enlarging the hole, as he +proceeds to the softness of the tree and the urgency of the mother +bird to deposit her eggs. While excavating, male and female work +alternately. After one has been engaged fifteen or twenty minutes, +drilling and carrying out chips, it ascends to an upper limb, utters a +loud call or two, when its mate soon appears, and, alighting near it +on the branch, the pair chatter and caress a moment, then the fresh +one enters the cavity and the other flies away. + +A few days since I climbed up to the nest of the downy woodpecker, in +the decayed top of a sugar maple. For better protection against +driving rains, the hole, which was rather more than an inch in +diameter, was made immediately beneath a branch which stretched out +almost horizontally from the main stem. It appeared merely a deeper +shadow upon the dark and mottled surface of the bark with which the +branches were covered, and could not be detected by the eye until one +was within a few feet of it. The young chirped vociferously as I +approached the nest, thinking it was the old one with food; but the +clamor suddenly ceased as I put my hand on that part of the trunk in +which they were concealed, the unusual jarring and rustling alarming +them into silence. The cavity, which was about fifteen inches deep, +was gourd-shaped, and was wrought out with great skill and regularity. +The walls were quite smooth and clean and new. + +I shall never forget the circumstances of observing a pair of +yellow-bellied woodpeckers--the most rare and secluded, and, nest to +the red-headed, the most beautiful species found in our +woods--breeding in an old, truncated beech in the Beaverkill +Mountains, on offshoot of the Catskills. We had been traveling, three +of us, all day in search of a trout lake, which lay far in among the +mountains, had twice lost our course in the trackless forest, and, +weary and hungry, had sat down to rest upon a decayed log. The +chattering of the young, and the passing to and fro of the parent +birds, soon arrested my attention. The entrance to the nest was on the +east side of the tree, about twenty-five feet from the ground. At +intervals of scarcely a minute, the old birds, one after the other, +would alight upon the edge of the hole with a grub or worm in their +beaks; then each in turn would make a bow or two, cast an eye quickly +around, and by a single movement place itself in the neck of the +passage. Here it would pause a moment, as if to determine in which +expectant mouth to place the morsel, and then disappear within. In +about half a minute, during which time that chattering of the young +gradually subsided, the bird would again emerge, but this time bearing +in its beak the ordure of one of the helpless family. Flying away very +slowly with head lowered and extended, as if anxious to hold the +offensive object as far from its plumage as possible, the bird dropped +the unsavory morsel in the course of a few yards, and, alighting on a +tree, wiped its bill on the bark and moss. This seems to be the order +all day,--carrying in and carrying out. I watched the birds for an +hour, while my companions were taking their turns in exploring the lay +of the land around us, and noted no variation in the programme. It +would be curious to know if the young are fed and waited upon in +regular order, and how, amid the darkness and the crowded state of the +apartment, the matter is so neatly managed. But ornithologists are all +silent upon the subject. + +This practice of the birds is not so uncommon as it might at first +seem. It is indeed almost an invariable rule among all land birds. +With woodpeckers and kindred species, and with birds that burrow in +the ground, as bank swallows, kingfishers, etc., it is a necessity. +The accumulation of the excrement in the nest would prove most fatal +to the young. + +But even among birds that neither bore nor mine, but which build a +shallow nest on the branch of a tree or upon the ground, as the robin, +the finches, the buntings, etc., the ordure of the young is removed to +a distance by the parent bird. When the robin is seen going away from +its brood with a slow, heavy flight, entirely different from its +manner a moment before on approaching the nest with a cherry or worm, +it is certain to be engaged in this office. One may observe the social +sparrow, when feeding its young, pause a moment after the worm has +been given and hop around on the brink of the nest observing the +movements within. + +The instinct of cleanliness no doubt prompts the action in all cases, +though the disposition to secrecy or concealment may not me unmixed in +it + +The swallows form an exception to the rule, the excrement being voided +by the young over the brink of the nest. They form an exception, also, +to the rule of secrecy, aiming not so much to conceal the nest as to +render it inaccessible. + +Other exceptions are the pigeons, hawks, and water-fowls. + +But to return. Having a good chance to note the color and markings of +the woodpeckers as they passed in and out at the opening of the nest, +I saw that Audubon had made a mistake in figuring or describing the +female of this species with the red spot upon the head. I have seen a +number of pairs of them, and in no instance have I seen the mother +bird marked with red. + +The male was in full plumage, and I reluctantly shot him for a +specimen. Passing by the place again next day, I paused a moment to +note how matters stood. I confess it was not without some compunctions +that I heard the cries of the young birds, and saw the widowed mother, +her cares now doubled, hastening to and fro in the solitary woods. She +would occasionally pause expectantly on the trunk of a tree and utter +a loud call. + +It usually happens, when the male of any species is killed during the +breeding season, that the female soon procures another mate. There +are, most likely, always a few unmated birds of both sexes within a +given range, and through these the broken links may be restored. +Audubon or Wilson, I forget which, tells of a pair of fish hawks, or +ospreys, that built their nest in an ancient oak. The male was so +zealous in the defense of the young that he actually attacked with +beak and claw a person who attempted to climb into his nest, putting +his face and eyes in great jeopardy. Arming himself with a heavy club, +the climber felled the gallant bird to the ground and killed him. In +the course of a few days the female had procured another mate. But +naturally enough the stepfather showed none of the spirit and pluck in +defense of the brood that had been displayed by the original parent. +When danger was nigh he was seen afar off, sailing around in placid +unconcern. + +It is generally known that when either the wild turkey or domestic +turkey begins to lay, and afterwards to sit and rear the brood, she +secludes herself from the male, who then, very sensibly, herds with +others of his sex, and betakes himself to haunts of his own till male +and female, old and young, meet again on common ground, late in the +fall. But rob the sitting bird of her eggs, or destroy her tender +young, and she immediately sets out in quest of a male, who is no +laggard when he hears her call. The same is true of ducks, and other +aquatic fowls. The propagating instinct is strong, and surmounts all +ordinary difficulties. No doubt the widowhood I had caused in the case +of the woodpeckers was of short duration, and chance brought, or the +widow drummed up, some forlorn male, who was not dismayed by the +prospect of having a large family of half-grown birds on his hands at +the outset. + +I have seen a fine cock robin paying assiduous addresses to a female +bird as late as the middle of July; and I have no doubt that his +intentions were honorable. I watched the pair for half an hour. The +hen, I took it, was in the market for the second time that season; but +the cock, from his bright unfaded plumage, looked like a new arrival. +The hen resented every advance of the male. In vain he strutted around +her and displayed his fine feathers; every now and then she would make +at him in a most spiteful manner. He followed her to the ground, +poured into her ear a fine, half-suppressed warble, offered her a +worm, flew back to the tree again with a great spread of plumage, +hopped around her on the branches, chirruped, chattered, flew +gallantly at an intruder, and was back in an instant at her side. No +use,--she cut him short at every turn. + +The dénouement I cannot relate, as the artful bird, followed by her +ardent suitor, soon flew away beyond my sight. It may not be rash to +conclude, however, that she held out no longer than was prudent. + +On the whole, there seems to be a system of Women's Rights prevailing +among the birds, which contemplated from the standpoint of the male, +is quite admirable. In almost all cases of joint interest, the female +bird is the most active. She determines the site of the nest, and is +usually the most absorbed in its construction. Generally, she is more +vigilant in caring for the young, and manifests the most concern when +danger threatens. Hour after hour I have seen the mother of a brood of +blue grosbeaks pass from the nearest meadow to the tree that held her +nest, with a cricket or grasshopper in her bill, while her +better-dressed half was singing serenely on a distant tree or pursuing +his pleasure amid the branches. + +Yet among the majority of our song-birds the male is most conspicuous +both by his color and manners and by his song, and is to that extent a +shield to the female. It is thought that the female is humbler clad +for her better concealment during incubation. But this is not +satisfactory, as in some cases she is relieved from time to time by +the male. In the case of the domestic dove, for instance, promptly at +midday the cock is found upon the nest. I should say that the dull or +neutral tints of the female were a provision of nature for her greater +safety at all times, as her life is far more precious to the species +than that of the male. The indispensable office of the male reduces +itself to little more than a moment of time, while that of his mate +extends over days and weeks, if not months.[Footnote] + + [Footnote] A recent English writer upon this + subject presents an array of facts and + considerations that do not support this view. He + says that, with very few exceptions, it is the + rule that, when both sexes are of strikingly gay + and conspicuous colors, the nest is such as to + conceal the sitting bird; while, whenever there + is a striking contrast of colors, the male being + gay and conspicuous, the female dull and obscure, + the nest is open and sitting bird exposed to view. + The exceptions to this rule among European birds + appear to be very few. Among our own birds, the + cuckoos and the blue jays build open nests, without + presenting any noticeable difference in the + coloring of the two sexes. The same is true of + the pewees, the kingbird, and the sparrows, while + the common bluebird, the oriole, and the orchard + starling afford examples the other way. + +In migrating northward, the males have abandoned their nests, or +rather chambers, which they do after the first season, their cousins, +the nuthatches, chickadees, and brown creepers, fall heir to them. +These birds, especially the creepers and nuthatches, have many of the +habits of the Picidae, but lack their powers of bill, and so are +unable to excavate a nest for themselves. Their habitation, therefore, +is always second-hand. But each species carries in some soft material +of various kinds, or in other words, furnishes the tenement to its +liking. The chickadee arranges in the bottom of the cavity a little +mat of a light felt-like substance, which looks as if is came from the +hatter's, but which is probably the work of numerous worms or +caterpillars. On this soft lining the female deposits six speckled +eggs. + +I recently discovered one of these nests in a most interesting +situation. The tree containing it, a variety of wild cherry, stood +upon the brink of the bald summit of a high mountain. Gray, timeworn +rocks lay piled loosely about, or overtoppled the just visible byways +of the red fox. The trees had a half-scared look, and that +indescribable wildness which lurks about the tops of all remote +mountains possessed the place. Standing there, I looked down upon the +back of the red-tailed hawk as he flew out over the earth beneath me. +Following him, my eye also took in farms and settlements and villages +and other mountain ranges that grew blue in the distance. + +The parent birds attracted my attention by appearing with food in +their beaks, and by seeming much put out. Yet so wary were they of +revealing the locality of their brood, or even of the precise tree +that held them, that I lurked around over an hour without gaining a +point on them. Finally a bright and curious boy who accompanied me +secreted himself under a low, projected rock close to the tree in +which we supposed the nest to be, while I moved off around the +mountain-side. It was not long before the youth had their secret. The +tree which was low and wide-branching, and overrun with lichens, +appeared at a cursory glance to contain not one dry or decayed limb. +Yet there was one a few feet long, in which, when my eyes were piloted +thither, I detected a small round orifice. + +As my weight began to shake the branches, the consternation of both +old and young was great. The stump of a limb that held the nest was +about three inches thick, and at the bottom of the tunnel was +excavated quite to the bark. With my thumb I broke the thin wall, and +the young, which were full-fledged, looked out upon the world for the +first time. Presently one of them, with a significant chirp, as much +to say, "It is time we were out of this," began to climb up toward the +proper entrance. Placing himself in the hole, he looked around without +manifesting any surprise at the grand scene that lay spread out before +him. He was taking his bearings, and determining how far he could +trust the power of his untried wings to take him out of harm's way. +After a moment's pause, with a loud chirrup, he launched out and made +tolerable headway. The others rapidly followed. Each one, as it +started upward, from a sudden impulse, contemptuously saluted the +abandoned nest with its excrement. + +Though generally regular in their habits and instincts, yet the birds +sometimes seem as whimsical and capricious as superior beings. One is +not safe, for instance, in making any absolute assertion as to their +place or mode of building. Ground-builders often get up into a bush, +and tree-builders sometimes get upon the ground or into a tussock of +grass. The song sparrow, which is a ground builder, has been known to +build in the knothole of a fence rail; and a chimney swallow once got +tired of soot and smoke, and fastened its nest on a rafter in a hay +barn. A friend tells me of a pair of barn swallow which, taking a +fanciful turn, saddled their nest in the loop of a rope that was +pendent from a peg in the peak, and liked it so well that they +repeated the experiment next year. I have know the social sparrow, or +"hairbird" to build under a shed, in a tuft of hay that hung down, +through the loose flooring, from the mow above. It usually contents +itself with half a dozen stalks of dry grass and a few long hair from +a cow's tail loosely arranged on the branch of an apple-tree. The +rough-winged swallow builds in the wall and in old stone-heaps, and I +have seen the robin build in similar localities. Others have found its +nest in old, abandoned wells. The house wren will build in anything +that has an accessible cavity, from an old boot to a bombshell. A pair +of them once persisted in building their nest in the top of a certain +pump-tree, getting in through the opening above the handle. The pump +being in daily use, the nest was destroyed more than a score of times. +This jealous little wretch has the wise forethought, when the box in +which he builds contains two compartments, to fill up one of them, so +as to avoid the risk of troublesome neighbors. + +The less skillful builders sometimes depart from their usual habit, +and take up with the abandoned nest of some other species. The blue +jay now and then lays in an old crow's nest or cuckoo's nest. The crow +blackbird, seized with a fit of indolence, drops its eggs in the +cavity of a decayed branch. I heard of a cuckoo that dispossessed a +robin of its nest; of another that set a blue jay adrift. Large, loose +structures, like the nests of the osprey and certain of the herons, +have been found with half a dozen nests of the blackbirds set in the +outer edges, like so many parasites, or, as Audubon says, like the +retainers about the rude court of a feudal baron. + +The same birds breeding in a southern climate construct far less +elaborate nests than when breeding in a northern climate. Certain +species of waterfowl, that abandon their eggs to the sand and the sun +in the warmer zones, build a nest and sit in the usual way in +Labrador. In Georgia, the Baltimore oriole places its nest upon the +north side of the tree; in the Middle and Eastern States, it fixes it +upon the south or east side, and makes it much thicker and warmer. I +have seen one from the South that had some kind of coarse reed or +sedge woven into it, giving it an open-work appearance, like a basket. + +Very few species use the same material uniformly. I have seen the nest +of the robin quite destitute of mud. In one instance it was composed +mainly of long black horse-hairs, arranged in a circular manner, with +a lining of fine yellow grass; the whole presenting quite a novel +appearance. In another case the nest was chiefly constructed of a +species of rock moss. + +The nest for the second brood during the same season is often a mere +makeshift. The haste of the female to deposit her eggs as the season +advances seems very great, and the structure is apt to be prematurely +finished. I was recently reminded of this fact by happening, about the +last of July, to meet with several nests of the wood or bush sparrow +in a remote blackberry field. The nests with eggs were far less +elaborate and compact than the earlier nests, from which the young had +flown. + +Day after day, as I go to a certain piece of woods, I observe a male +indigo-bird sitting on precisely the same part of a high branch, and +singing in his most vivacious style. As I approach he ceases to sing, +and, flirting his tail right and left with marked emphasis, chirps +sharply. In a low bush near by, I come upon the object of his +solicitude,--a thick compact nest composed largely of dry leaves and +fine grass, in which a plain brown bird is sitting upon four pale blue +eggs. + +The wonder is that a bird will leave the apparent security of the +treetops to place its nest in the way of the many dangers that walk +and crawl upon the ground. There, far up out of reach, sings the bird; +here, not three feet from the ground, are its eggs or helpless young. +The truth is, birds are the greatest enemies of birds, and it is with +reference to this fact that many of the smaller species build. + +Perhaps the greatest proportion of birds breed along highways. I have +known the ruffed grouse to come out of a dense wood and make its nest +at the root of a tree within ten paces of the road, where, no doubt, +hawks and crows, as well as skunks and foxes, would be less likely to +find it out. Traversing remote mountain-roads through dense woods, I +have repeatedly seen the veery, or Wilson's thrush, sitting upon her +nest, so near me that I could almost take her from it by stretching +out my hand. Birds of prey show none of this confidence in man, and, +when locating their nests, avoid rather than seek his haunts. + +In a certain locality in the interior of New York, I know, every +season, where I am sure to find a nest or two of the slate-colored +snowbird. It is under the brink of a low mossy bank, so near the +highway that it could be reached from a passing vehicle with a whip. +Every horse or wagon or foot passenger disturbs the sitting bird. She +awaits the near approach of the sound of feet or wheels, and then +darts quickly across the road, barely clearing the ground, and +disappears amid the bushes on the opposite side. + +In the trees that line one of the main streets and fashionable drives +leading our of Washington city and less than half a mile from the +boundary, I have counted the nests of five different species at one +time, and that without any very close scrutiny of the foliage, while, +in many acres of woodland half a mile off, I searched in vain for a +single nest. Among the five, the nest that interested me most was that +of the blue grosbeak. Here this bird, which according to Audubon's +observations in Louisiana, is shy and recluse, affecting remote +marshes and the borders of large ponds of stagnant water, had placed +its nest in the lowest twig of the lowest branch of a large sycamore, +immediately over a great thoroughfare, and so near the ground that a +person standing in a cart or sitting on a horse could have reached it +with his hand. The nest was composed mainly of fragments of newspaper +and stalks of grass, and, though so low, was remarkably well concealed +by one of the peculiar clusters of twigs and leaves which characterize +this tree. The nest contained young when I discovered it, and, though +the parent birds were much annoyed by my loitering about beneath the +tree, they paid little attention to the stream of vehicles that was +constantly passing. It was a wonder to me when the birds could have +built it, for they are much shyer when building than at any other +times. No doubt they worked mostly in the morning, having the early +hours all to themselves. + +Another pair of blue grosbeaks built in a graveyard within the city +limits. The nest was placed in a low bush, and the male continued to +sing at intervals till the young were ready to fly. The song of this +bird is a rapid, intricate warble, like that of the indigo-bird, +though stronger and louder. Indeed, these two birds so much resemble +each other in color, form, manner, voice, and general habits that, +were it not for the difference in size,--the grosbeak being nearly as +large again as the indigo-bird,--it would be a hard matter to tell +them apart. The females of both species are clad in the same +reddish-brown suits. So are the young the first season. + +Of course in the deep, primitive woods, also are nests; but how rarely +we find them! The simple art of the bird consists in choosing common, +neutral-tinted material, as moss, dry leaves, twigs, and various odds +and ends, and placing the structure on a convenient branch, where it +blends in color with its surroundings; but how consummate is this art, +and how skillfully is the nest concealed! We occasionally light upon +it, but who, unaided by the movements of the bird, could find it out? +During the present season I went to the woods nearly every day for a +fortnight without making any discoveries of this kind, till one day, +paying them a farewell visit, I chanced to come upon several nests. A +black and white creeping warbler suddenly became much alarmed as I was +approaching a crumbing old stump in a dense part of the forest. He +alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its sides, and +finally left it with much reluctance. The nest, which contained three +young birds nearly fledged, was placed upon the ground, at the foot of +the stump, and in such a positions that the color of the young +harmonized perfectly with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying about. +My eye rested upon them for the second time before I made them out. +They hugged the nest very closely, but as I put down my hand they all +scampered off with loud cries for help, which caused the parent birds +to place themselves almost within my reach. The nest was merely a +little dry grass arranged in a thick bed of dry leaves. + +This was amid a thick undergrowth. Moving on into a passage of large +stately hemlocks, with only here and there a small beech or maple +rising up into the perennial twilight, I paused to make out a note +which was entirely new to me. It is still in my ear. Though +unmistakably a bird note, it yet suggested the beating of a tiny +lambkin. Presently the birds appeared,--a pair of the solitary vireo. +They came flitting from point to point, alighting only for a moment at +a time, the male silent, but the female uttering this strange, tender +note. It was a rendering into some new sylvan dialect of the human +sentiment of maidenly love. It was really pathetic in its sweetness +and childlike confidence and joy. I soon discovered that the pair were +building a nest upon a low branch a few yards from me. The male flew +cautiously to the spot and adjusted something, and the twain moved +on, the female calling to her mate at intervals, love-e, love-e, with a +cadence and tenderness in the tone that rang in the ear long +afterward. The nest was suspended to the fork of a small branch, as is +usual with the vireos, plentifully lined with lichens, and bound and +rebound with masses of coarse spider-webs. There was no attempt at +concealment except in the neutral tints, which make it look like a +natural growth of the dim, gray woods. + +Continuing my random walk, I next paused in a low part of the woods, +where the larger trees began to give place to a thick second-growth +that covered an old Barkpeeling. I was standing by a large maple, when +a small bird darted quickly away from it, as if it might have come out +of a hole near its base. As the bird paused a few yards from me, and +began to chirp uneasily, my curiosity was at once excited. When I saw +it was the female mourning ground warbler, and remembered that the +nest of this bird had not yet been seen by any naturalist,--that not +even Dr. Brewer had ever seen the eggs,--I felt that here was +something worth looking for. So I carefully began the search, +exploring inch by inch the ground, the base and roots of the tree, and +the various shrubby growths about it, till finding nothing and fearing +I might really put my foot in it, I bethought me to withdraw to a +distance and after some delay return again, and, thus forewarned, note +the exact point from which the bird flew. This I did, and, returning, +had little difficulty in discovering the nest. It was placed but a few +feet from the maple tree, in a bunch of ferns, and about six inches +from the ground. It was quite a massive nest, composed entirely of the +stalks and leaves of dry grass, with an inner lining of fine, dark +brown roots. The eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, +uniformly specked with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was +so deep that the back of the sitting bird sank below the edge. + +In the top of a tall tree, a short distance farther on, I saw the nest +of the red-tailed hawk,--a large mass of twigs and dry sticks. The +young had flown, but still lingered in the vicinity, and as I +approached, the mother bird flew about over me, squealing in a very +angry, savage manner. Tufts of the hair and other indigestible +material of the common meadow mouse lay around on the ground beneath +the nest. + +As I was about leaving the woods, my hat almost brushed the nest of +the red-eyed vireo, which hung basket-like on the end of a low, +drooping branch of the beech. I should never have seen it had the bird +kept her place. It contained three eggs of the bird's own, and one of +the cow bunting. The strange egg was only just perceptibly larger than +the others, yet, in three days after, when I looked into the nest +again and found all but one egg hatched, the young interloper was at +least four times as large as either of the others, and with such a +superabundance of bowels as to almost smother his bedfellows beneath +them. That the intruder should fare the same as the rightful +occupants, and thrive with them, was more than ordinary potluck; but +that it alone should thrive, devouring, as it were, all the rest, is +one of those freaks of Nature in which she would seem to discourage +the homely virtues of prudence and honesty. Weeds and parasites have +the odds greatly against them, yet they wage a very successful war +nonetheless. + +The woods hold not such another gem as the nest of the hummingbird. +The finding of one is an event to date from. It is the next best thing +to finding an eagle's nest. I have met with but two, both by chance. +One was placed on the horizontal branch of a chestnut-tree, with a +solitary green leaf, forming a complete canopy, about an inch and a +half above it. The repeated spiteful dartings of the bird past my +ears, as I stood under the tree, caused me to suspect that I was +intruding upon some one's privacy; and, following it with my eye, I +soon saw the nest, which was in process of construction. Adopting my +usual tactics of secreting myself near by, I had the satisfaction of +seeing the tiny artist at work. It was the female, unassisted by her +mate. At intervals of two or three minutes she would appear with a +small tuft of some cottony substance in her beak, and alighting +quickly in the nest, arrange the material she had brought, using her +breast as a model. + +The other nest I discovered in a dense forest on the side of a +mountain. The sitting bird was disturbed as I passed beneath her. The +whirring of her wings arrested my attention, when, after a short +pause, I had the good luck to see, through an opening in the leaves, +the bird return to her nest, which appeared like a mere wart or +excrescence an a small branch. The hummingbird, unlike all others, +does not alight upon the nest, but flies into it. She enters it as +quick as a flash, but as light as any feather. Two eggs are the +complement. They are perfectly white, and so frail that only a woman's +fingers may touch them. Incubation lasts about ten days. In a week, +the young have flown. + +The only nest like the hummingbirds, and comparable to it in neatness +and symmetry, is that of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is often +saddled upon the limb in the same manner, though it is generally more +or less pendent; it is deep and soft, composed mostly of some +vegetable down, covered all over with delicate tree-lichens, and, +except that it is much larger, appears almost identical with the nest +of the hummingbird. + +But the nest of nests, the ideal nest, after we have left the deep +woods, is unquestionably that of the Baltimore oriole. It is the only +perfectly pensile nest we have. The nest of the orchard oriole is +indeed mainly so, but this bird generally builds lower and shallower, +more after the manner of the vireos. + +The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to the swaying branches +of the tallest elms, making no attempt at concealment, but satisfied +if the position be high and the branch pendant. This nest would seem +to cost more time and skill than any other bird structure. A peculiar +flax-like substance seems to be always sought after and always found. +The nest when completed assumes the form of a large, suspended gourd. +The walls are thin but firm, and proof against the most driving rain. +The mouth is hemmed or overhanded with horse-hair, and the sides are +usually sewed through and through with the same. + +Not particular as to the matter of secrecy, the bird is not particular +to the material, so that be of the nature of the strings or threads. A +lady friend once told me that, while working by an open window, one of +these birds approaching during her momentary absence, and, seizing a +skein of some kind of thread or yarn, made off with it to its +half-finished nest. But the perverse yarn caught fast in the branches, +and, in the bird's effort to extricate it, got hopelessly tangled. She +tugged away at it all day, but was finally obliged to content herself +with a few detached portions. The fluttering stings were an eyesore to +her ever after, and, passing and repassing, she would give them a +spiteful jerk, as much to say, "There is that confounded yarn that +gave me so much trouble." + +From Pennsylvania, Vincent Barnard (to whom I am indebted for other +curious facts) sent me this interesting story of an oriole. He says a +friend of his curious in such things, on observing the bird beginning +to build, hung out near the prospective nest skeins of many-colored +zephyr yarn, which the eager artist readily appropriated. He managed +it so that the bird used nearly equal quantities of various, high, +bright colors. The nest was made unusually deep and capacious, and it +may be questioned if such a thing of beauty was ever before woven by +the cunning of a bird. + +Nuttall, by far the most genial of American ornithologists, relates +the following:-- + +"A female (oriole), which I observed attentively, carried off to her +nest a piece of lamp-wick ten or twelve feet long. This long string +and many other shorter ones were left hanging out for a week before +both ends were wattled into the sides of the nest. Some other little +birds, making use of similar materials, at times twitched these +flowing ends, and generally brought out the busy Baltimore from her +occupation in great anger. + +"I may perhaps claim indulgence for adding a little more of the +biography of this particular bird, as a representative also of the +instincts of her race. She completed the nest in about a weeks time, +without any aid from her mate, who indeed appeared but seldom in her +company and was now become nearly silent. For fibrous materials she +broke, hackled, and gathered the flax of the asclepias and hibiscus +stalks, tearing off long strings and flying with them to the scene of +her labors. She appeared very eager and hasty in her pursuits, and +collected her materials without fear or restraint while three men were +working in the neighboring walks and may persons were visiting the +garden. Her courage and perseverance were truly admirable. If watched +to narrowly, she saluted with her usual scolding, tshrr, tshrr, tshrr, +seeing no reason, probably, why she should be interrupted in her +indispensable occupation. + +"Though the males were now comparatively silent on the arrival of +their busy mates, I could not help observing this female and a second, +continually vociferating, apparently in strife. At last she was +observed to attack this second female very fiercely, who slyly +intruded herself at times into the same tree where she was building. +These contests were angry and often repeated. To account for this +animosity, I now recollected that two fine males had been killed in +our vicinity, and I therefore concluded the intruder to be left +without a mate; yet she had gained the affections of the consort of +the busy female, and thus the cause of their jealous quarrel became +apparent. Having obtained the confidence of her faithless paramour, +the second female began preparing to weave a nest in an adjoining elm +by tying together certain pendent twigs as a foundation. The male now +associated chiefly with the intruder, whom he even assisted in her +labor, yet did not wholly forget his first partner, who called on him +one evening in a low, affectionate tone, which was answered in the +same strain. While they were thus engaged in friendly whispers, +suddenly appeared the rival, and a violent rencontre ensued, so that +one of the females appeared to be greatly agitated, and fluttered with +spreading wings as if considerably hurt. The male, though prudently +neutral in the contest, showed his culpable partiality by flying off +with his paramour, and for the rest of the evening left the tree to +his pugnacious consort. Cares of another kind, more imperious and +tender, at length reconciled, or at least terminated, these disputes +with the jealous females; and by the aid of the neighboring bachelors, +who are never wanting among these and other birds, peace was at length +completely restored by the restitution of the quiet and happy +condition of monogamy." + +Let me not forget to mention the nest under the mountain ledge, the +nest of the common pewee,--a modest mossy structure, with four +pearl-white eggs,--looking out upon some wild scene and overhung by +beetling crags. After all has been said about the elaborate, high-hung +structures, few nests perhaps awaken more pleasant emotions in the +mind of the beholder than this of the pewee,--the gray, silent rocks, +with caverns and dens where the fox and the wolf lurk, and just out of +their reach, in a little niche, as if it grew there, the mossy +tenement! + +Nearly every high projecting rock in any range has one of these nests. +Following a trout stream up a wild mountain gorge, not long since, I +counted five in the distance of a mile, all within easy reach, but +safe from the minks and the skunks, and well housed from the storms. +In my native town I know a pine and oak clad hill, round-topped, with +a bold, precipitous front extending halfway around it. Near the top, +and along this front or side, there crops out a ledge of rocks +unusually high and cavernous. One immense layer projects many feet, +allowing a person or many persons, standing upright, to move freely +beneath it. There is a delicious spring of water there, and plenty of +wild, cool air. The floor is of loose stone, now trod by sheep and +foxes, once by Indian and wolf. How I have delighted from boyhood to +spend a summer day in this retreat, or take refuge there from a sudden +shower! Always the freshness and coolness, and always the delicate +mossy nest of the phoebe-bird! The bird keeps her place till you are +within a few feet of her, when she flits to a near branch, and, with +many oscillations of her tale, observes you anxiously. Since the +country has become settled this pewee has fallen into the strange +practice of occasionally placing its nest under a bridge, hayshed, or +other artificial structure, where it is subject to all kinds of +interruptions and annoyances. When placed thus, the nest is larger and +coarser. I know a hay-loft beneath which a pair has regularly placed +its nest for several successive seasons. Arranged along on a single +pole, which sags down a few inches from the flooring it was intended +to help support, are three of these structures, marking the number of +years the birds have nested there. The foundation is of mud with a +superstructure of moss, elaborately lined with hair and feathers. +Nothing can be more perfect and exquisite than the interior of one of +these nests, yet a new one is built every season. Three broods, +however, are frequently reared in it. + +The pewees, as a class, are the best architects we have. The kingbird +builds a nest altogether admirable, using various soft cotton and +woolen substances, and sparing neither time nor material to make it +substantial and warm. The green-crested pewee builds its nest in many +instances wholly of the blossoms of the white oak. The wood pewee +builds a neat, compact, socket-shaped nest of moss and lichens on a +horizontal branch. There is never a loose end or shred about it. The +sitting bird is largely visible above the rim. She moves her head +freely about and seems entirely at her ease,--a circumstance which I +have never observed in any other species. The nest of the +great-crested flycatcher is seldom free from snake skins, three or +four being sometimes woven into it. + +About the thinnest, shallowest nest, for its situation, that can be +found is that of the turtle-dove. A few sticks and straws are +carelessly thrown together, hardly sufficient to prevent the eggs form +falling through or rolling off. The nest of the passenger pigeon is +equally hasty and insufficient, and the squabs often fall to the +ground and perish. The other extreme among our common birds is +furnished by the ferruginous thrush, which collects together a mass of +material that would fill a half-bushel measure; or by the fish hawk, +which adds to and repairs its nest year after year, till the whole +would make a cart load. + +One of the rarest of nests is that of the eagle, because the eagle is +one of the rarest of birds. Indeed, so seldom is the eagle seen that +its presence always seems accidental. It appears as if merely pausing +on the way, while bound for some distant unknown region. One +September, while a youth, I saw the ring-tailed eagle, the young of +the golden eagle, an immense, dusky bird, the sight of which filled me +with awe. It lingered about the hills for two days. Some young cattle, +a two-year-old colt, and half a dozen sheep were at pasture on a high +ridge that led up to the mountain, and in plain view of the house. On +the second day this dusky monarch was seen flying about above them. +Presently he began to hover over them, after the manner of a hawk +watching for mice. He then with extended legs let himself slowly down +upon them, actually grappling the backs of the young cattle, and +frightening the creatures so that they rushed about the field in great +consternation; and finally, as he grew bolder and more frequent in his +descents, the whole herd broke over the fence and came tearing down to +the house "like mad." It did not seem to be an assault with intent to +kill, but was perhaps a stratagem resorted to in order to separate the +herd and expose the lambs, which hugged the cattle very closely. When +he occasionally alighted upon the oaks that stood near, the branch +could be seen to sway and bend beneath him. Finally, as a rifleman +started out in pursuit of him, he launched into the air, set his +wings, and sailed away southward. A few years afterward, in January, +another eagle passed through the same locality, alighting in a field +near some dead animal, but tarried briefly. + +So much by way of identification. The golden eagle is common to the +northern parts of both hemispheres, and places its eyrie on high +precipitous rocks. A pair built on an inaccessible shelf of rock along +the Hudson for eight successive years. A squad of Revolutionary +soldiers, also, as related by Audubon, found a nest along this river, +and had an adventure with the bird that came near costing one of their +number his life. His comrades let him down by a rope to secure the +eggs or young, when he was attacked by the female eagle with such fury +that he was obliged to defend himself with his knife. In doing so, by +a misstroke, he nearly severed the rope that held him, and was drawn +up by a single strand from his perilous position. + +The bald eagle, also builds on high rocks, according to Audubon, +though Wilson describes the nest of one which he saw near Great Egg +Harbor, in the top of a large yellow pine. It was a vast pile of +sticks, sods, sedge, grass, reeds, etc., five or six feet high by four +broad, and with little or no concavity. + +It had been used for many years, and he was told that the eagles made +it a sort of home or lodging-place in all seasons. + +The eagle in all cases uses one nest, with more or less repair, for +several years. Many of our common birds do the same. The birds may be +divided, with respect to this and kindred points, into five general +classes. First, those that repair or appropriate the last year's nest, +as the wren, swallow, bluebird, great-crested flycatcher, owls, +eagles, fish hawk, and a few others. Secondly, those that build anew +each season, though frequently rearing more than one brood in the same +nest. Of these the phoebe-bird is a well-know example. Thirdly, those +that build a new nest for each brood, which includes by far the +greatest number of species. Fourthly, a limited number that make no +nest of their own, but appropriate the abandoned nests of other birds. +Finally, those who use no nest at all, but deposit their eggs in the +sand, which is the case with a large number of aquatic fowls. 1866. + + + +V + +SPRING AT THE CAPITAL WITH AN EYE TO THE BIRDS + +I came to Washington to live in the fall of 1863, and, with the +exception of a month each summer spent in the interior of New York, +have lived here ever since. + +I saw my first novelty in Natural History the day after my arrival. +As I was walking near some woods north of the city, a grasshopper of +prodigious size flew up from the ground and alighted in a tree. As I +pursued him, he proved to be nearly as wild and as fleet of wing as a +bird. I thought I had reached the capital of grasshopperdom, and that +this was perhaps one of the chiefs or leaders, or perhaps the great +High Cock O'lorum himself, taking an airing in the fields. I have +never yet been able to settle the question, as every fall I start up a +few of these gigantic specimens, which perch on the trees. They are +about three inches long, of a gray striped or spotted color, and have +quite a reptile look. + +The greatest novelty I found, however, was the superb autumn weather, +the bright, strong, electric days, lasting well into November, and the +general mildness of the entire winter. Though the mercury occasionally +sinks to zero, yet the earth is never so seared and blighted by the +cold but that in some sheltered nook or corner signs of vegetable life +still remain, which on a little encouragement even asserts itself. I +have found wild flowers here every month of the year; violets in +December, a single houstonia in January (the little lump of earth upon +which it stood was frozen hard), and a tiny weed-like plant, with a +flower almost microscopic in its smallness, growing along graveled +walks and in old plowed fields in February. The liverwort sometimes +comes out as early as the first week in March, and the little frogs +begin to pipe doubtfully about the same time. Apricot-trees are +usually in bloom on All-Fool's Day and the apple-trees on May Day. By +August, mother hen will lead forth her third brood, and I had a March +pullet that came off with a family of her own in September. Our +calendar is made for this climate. March is a spring month. One is +quite sure to see some marked and striking change during the first +eight or ten days. This season (1868) is a backward one, and the +memorable change did not come till the 10th. + +Then the sun rose up from a bed of vapors, and seemed fairly to +dissolve with tenderness and warmth. For an hour or two the air was +perfectly motionless, and full of low, humming, awakening sounds. The +naked trees had a rapt, expectant look. From some unreclaimed common +near by came the first strain of the song sparrow; so homely, because +so old and familiar, yet so inexpressibly pleasing. Presently a full +chorus of voices arose, tender, musical, half suppressed, but full of +genuine hilarity and joy. The bluebird warbled, the robin called, the +snowbird chattered, the meadowlark uttered her strong but tender note. +Over a deserted field a turkey buzzard hovered low, and alighted on a +stake in the fence, standing a moment with outstretched, vibrating +wings till he was sure of his hold. A soft, warm, brooding day. Roads +becoming dry in many places, and looking so good after the mud and the +snow. I walk up beyond the boundary and over Meridian Hill. To move +along the drying road and feel the delicious warmth is enough. The +cattle low long and loud, and look wistfully into the distance. I +sympathize with them. Never a spring comes but I have an almost +irresistible desire to depart. Some nomadic or migrating instinct or +reminiscence stirs within me. I ache to be off. + +As I pass along, the high-bole calls in the distance precisely as I +have heard him in the North. After a pause he repeats his summons. +What can be more welcome to the ear than these early first sounds! +They have such a margin of silence! + +One need but pass the boundary of Washington city to be fairly in the +country, and ten minutes' walk in the country brings one to real +primitive woods. The town has not yet overflowed its limits like the +great Northern commercial capitals, and Nature, wild and unkempt, +comes up to its very threshold, and even in many places crosses it. + +The woods, which I soon reach, are stark and still. The signs of +returning life are so faint as to be almost imperceptible, but there +is a fresh, earthy smell in the air, as if something had stirred here +under the leaves. The crows caw above the wood, or walk about the +brown fields. I look at the gray silent trees long and long, but they +show no sign. The catkins of some alders by a little pool have just +swelled perceptibly; and, brushing away the dry leaves and débris on a +sunny slope, I discover the liverwort just pushing up a fuzzy, tender +sprout. But the waters have brought forth. The little frogs are +musical. From every marsh and pool goes up their shrill but pleasing +chorus. Peering into one of their haunts, a little body of +semi-stagnant water, I discover masses of frogs' spawn covering the +bottom. I take up great chunks of the cold, quivering jelly in my +hands. In some places there are gallons of it. A youth who accompanies +me wonders if it would not be good cooked, or if it could not be used +as a substitute for eggs. It is a perfect jelly, of a slightly milky +tinge, thickly imbedded with black spots about the size of a small +bird's eye. When just deposited it is perfectly transparent. These +hatch in eight or ten days, gradually absorb their gelatinous +surroundings, and the tiny tadpoles issue forth. + +In the city, even before the shop-windows have caught the inspiration, +spring is heralded by the silver poplars which line all the streets +and avenues. After a few mild, sunshiny March days, you suddenly +perceive a change has come over the trees. Their tops have a less +naked look. If the weather continues warm, a single day will work +wonders. Presently each tree will be one vast plume of gray, downy +tassels, while not the least speck of green foliage is visible. The +first week of April these long mimic caterpillars lie all about the +streets and fill the gutters. + +The approach of spring is also indicated by the crows and buzzards, +which rapidly multiply in the environs of the city, and grow bold and +demonstrative. The crows are abundant here all winter, but are not +very noticeable except as they pass high in air to and from their +winter quarters in the Virginia woods. Early in the morning, as soon +as it is light enough to discern them, there they are, streaming +eastward across the sky, now in loose, scattered flocks, now in thick +dense masses, then singly and in pairs or triplets, but all setting in +one direction, probably to the waters of eastern Maryland. Toward +night they begin to return, flying in the same manner, and directing +their course to the wooded heights on the Potomac, west of the city. +In spring these diurnal mass movements cease; the clan breaks up, the +rookery is abandoned, and the birds scatter broadcast over the land. +This seems to be the course everywhere pursued. One would think that, +when food was scarcest, the policy of separating into small bands or +pairs, and dispersing over a wide country, would prevail, as a few +might subsist where a larger number would starve. The truth is, +however, that, in winter, food can be had only in certain clearly +defined districts and tracts, as along rivers and the shores of bays +and lakes. + +A few miles north of Newburgh, on the Hudson, the crows go into winter +quarters in the same manner, flying south in the morning and returning +again at night, sometimes hugging the hills so close during a strong +wind as to expose themselves to the clubs and stones of schoolboys +ambushed behind trees and fences. The belated ones, that come laboring +along just at dusk, are often so overcome by the long journey and the +strong current that they seem almost on the point of sinking down +whenever the wind or a rise in the ground calls upon them for an extra +effort. + +The turkey buzzards are noticeable about Washington as soon as the +season begins to open, sailing leisurely along two or three hundred +feet overhead, or sweeping low over some common or open space where, +perchance, a dead puppy or pig or fowl has been thrown. Half a dozen +will sometimes alight about some object out on the commons, and, with +their broad dusky wings lifted up to their full extent, threaten and +chase each other, while perhaps one or two are feeding. Their wings +are very large and flexible, and the slightest motion of them, while +the bird stands upon the ground, suffices to lift its feet clear. +Their movements when in the air are very majestic and beautiful to the +eye, being in every respect identical with those of our common hen or +red-tailed hawk. They sail along in the same calm, effortless, +interminable manner, and sweep around in the same ample spiral. The +shape of their wings and tail, indeed their entire effect against the +sky, except in size and color, is very nearly the same as that of the +hawk mentioned. A dozen at a time may often be seen high in air, +amusing themselves by sailing serenely round and round in the same +circle. + +They are less active and vigilant than the hawk; never poise +themselves on the wing, never dive and gambol in the air, and never +swoop down upon their prey; unlike the hawks also, they appear to have +no enemies. The crow fights the hawk, and the kingbird and the crow +blackbird fight the crow; but neither takes any notice of the buzzard. +He excites the enmity of none, for the reason that he molests none. +The crow has an old grudge against the hawk, because the hawk robs the +crow's nest and carries off his young; the kingbird's quarrel with the +crow is upon the same grounds. But the buzzard never attacks live +game, or feeds upon new flesh when old can be had. + +In May, like the crows, they nearly all disappear very suddenly, +probably to their breeding-haunts near the seashore. Do the males +separate from the females at this time, and go by themselves? At any +rate, in July I discovered that a large number of buzzards roosted in +some woods near Rock Creek, about a mile from the city limits; and, as +they do not nest anywhere in this vicinity, I thought they might be +males. I happened to be detained late in the woods, watching the nest +of a flying squirrel, when the buzzards, just after sundown, began to +come by ones and twos and alight in the trees near me. Presently they +came in greater numbers, but from the same direction, flapping low +over the woods, and taking up their position in the middle branches. +On alighting, each one would blow very audibly through his nose, just +as a cow does when she lies down; this is the only sound I have ever +heard the buzzard make. They would then stretch themselves, after the +manner of turkeys, and walk along the limbs. Sometimes a decayed +branch would break under the weight of two or three, when, with a +great flapping, the would take up new positions. They continued to +come till it was quite dark, and all the trees about me were full. I +began to feel a little nervous, but kept my place. After it was +entirely dark and all was still, I gathered a large pile of dry leaves +and kindled it with a match, to see what they would think of a fire. +Not a sound was heard till the pile of leaves was in full blaze, when +instantaneously every buzzard started. I thought the treetops were +coming down upon me, so great was the uproar. But the woods were soon +cleared, and the loathsome pack disappeared in the night. + +About the 1st of June I saw numbers of buzzards sailing around over +the great Falls of the Potomac. + +A glimpse of the birds usually found here in the latter part of winter +may be had in the following extract, which I take from my diary under +date of February 4th:-- + +"Made a long excursion through the woods and over the hills. Went +directly north from the Capitol for about three miles. The ground bare +and the day cold and sharp. In the suburbs, among the scattered Irish +and negro shanties, came suddenly upon a flock of birds, feeding about +like our northern snow buntings. Every now and then they uttered a +piping, disconsolate note, as if they had a very sorry time of it. +They proved to be shore larks, the first I had ever seen. They had the +walk characteristic of all larks; were a little larger than the +sparrow; had a black spot on the breast, with much white on the under +parts of their bodies. As I approached them the nearer ones paused, +and, half squatting, eyed me suspiciously. Presently, at a movement of +my arm, away they went, flying exactly like the snow bunting, and +showing nearly as much white." (I have since discovered that the shore +lark is a regular visitant here in February and March, when large +quantities of them are shot or trapped, and exposed for sale in the +market. During a heavy snow I have seen numbers of them feeding upon +the seeds of various weedy growths in a large market-garden well into +town.) "Pressing on, the walk became exhilarating. Followed a little +brook, the eastern branch of the Tiber, lined with bushes and a rank +growth of green-brier. Sparrows started out here and there, and flew +across the little bends and points. Among some pines just beyond the +boundary, saw a number of American goldfinches, in their gray winter +dress, pecking the pinecones. A golden-crowned kinglet was there also, +a little tuft of gray feathers, hopping about as restless as a spirit. +Had the old pine-trees food delicate enough for him also? Farther on, +in some low open woods, saw many sparrows,--the fox, white-throated, +white-crowned, the Canada, the song, the swamp,--all herding together +along the warm and sheltered borders. To my surprise, saw a chewink +also, and the yellow-rumped warbler. The purple finch was there +likewise, and the Carolina wren and brown creeper. In the higher, +colder woods not a bird was to be seen. Returning, near sunset, across +the eastern slope of a hill which overlooked the city, was delighted +to see a number of grass finches or vesper sparrows,--birds which +will be forever associated in my mind with my father's sheep pastures. +They ran before me, now flitting a pace or two, now skulking in the +low stubble, just as I had observed them when a boy." + +A month later, March 4th, is this note:-- + +"After the second memorable inaguration of President Lincoln, took my +first trip of the season. The afternoon was very clear and warm,--real +vernal sunshine at last, though the wind roared like a lion over the +woods. It seemed novel enough to find within two miles of the White +House a simple woodsman chopping away as if no President was being +inaugurated! Some puppies, snugly nestled in the cavity of an old +hollow tree, he said, belonged to a wild dog. I imagine I saw the +'wild dog,' on the other side of Rock Creek, in a great state of grief +and trepidation, running up and down, crying and yelping, and looking +wistfully over the swollen flood, which the poor thing had not the +courage to brave. This day, for the first time, I heard the song of +the Canada sparrow, a soft, sweet note, almost running into a warble. +Saw a small, black velvety butterfly with a yellow border to its +wings. Under a warm bank found two flowers of the houstonia in bloom. +Saw frogs' spawn near Piny Branch, and heard the hyla." + +Among the first birds that make their appearance in Washington is the +crow blackbird. He may come any time after the 1st of March. The birds +congregate in large flocks, and frequent groves and parks, alternately +swarming in the treetops and filling the air with their sharp jangle, +and alighting on the ground in quest of food, their polished coats +glistening in the sun from very blackness as they walk about. There is +evidently some music in the soul of this bird at this season, though +he makes a sad failure in getting it out. His voice always sounds as +if he were laboring under a severe attack of influenza, though a large +flock of them, heard at a distance on a bright afternoon of early +spring, produce an effect not unpleasing. The air is filled with +crackling, splintering, spurting, semi-musical sounds, which are like +pepper and salt to the ear. + +All parks and public grounds about the city are full of blackbirds. +They are especially plentiful in the trees about the White House, +breeding there and waging war on all other birds. The occupants of one +of the offices in the west wing of the Treasury one day had their +attention attracted by some object striking violently against one of +the window-panes. Looking up, they beheld a crow blackbird pausing in +midair, a few feet from the window. On the broad stone window-sill lay +the quivering form of a purple finch. The little tragedy was easily +read. The blackbird had pursued the finch with such murderous violence +that the latter, in its desperate efforts to escape, had sought refuge +in the Treasury. The force of the concussion against the heavy +plateglass of the window had killed the poor thing instantly. The +pursuer, no doubt astonished at the sudden and novel termination of +the career of its victim, hovered for a moment, as if to be sure of +what had happened, and made off. + +(It is not unusual for birds, when thus threatened with destruction by +their natural enemy, to become so terrified as to seek safety in the +presence of man. I was once startled, while living in a country +village, to behold, on entering my room at noon, one October day, a +quail sitting upon my bed. The affrighted and bewildered bird +instantly started for the open window, into which it had no doubt been +driven by a hawk.) + +The crow blackbird has all the natural cunning of his prototype, the +crow. In one of the inner courts of the Treasury building there is a +fountain with several trees growing near. By midsummer the blackbirds +became so bold as to venture within this court. Various fragments of +food, tossed from the surrounding windows, reward their temerity. When +a crust of dry bread defies their beaks, they have been seen to drop +it into the water, and, when it has become soaked sufficiently, to +take it out again. + +They build a nest of coarse sticks and mud, the whole burden of the +enterprise seeming to devolve upon the female. For several successive +mornings, just after sunrise, I used to notice a pair of them flying +to and fro in the air above me as I hoed in the garden, directing +their course about half a mile distant, and disappearing, on their +return, among the trees about the Capitol. Returning, the female +always had her beak loaded with building material, while the male, +carrying nothing, seemed to act as her escort, flying a little above +and in advance of her, and uttering now and then his husky, discordant +note. As I tossed a lump of earth up at them, the frightened mother +bird dropped her mortar, and the pair scurried away, much put out. +Later they avenged themselves by pilfering my cherries. + +The most mischievous enemies of the cherries, however, here as at the +North, are the cedar waxwings, or "cherry-birds." How quickly they spy +out the tree! Long before the cherry begins to turn, they are around, +alert and cautious. In small flocks they circle about, high in the +air, uttering their fine note, or plunge quickly into the tops of +remote trees. Day by day they approach nearer and nearer, +reconnoitring the premises, and watching the growing fruit. Hardly +have the green lobes turned a red cheek to the sun, before their beaks +have scarred it. At first they approach the tree stealthily, on the +side turned from the house, diving quickly into the branches in ones +and twos, while the main flock is ambushed in some shade tree not far +off. They are most apt to commit their depredations very early in the +morning and on cloudy, rainy days. As the cherries grow sweeter the +birds grow bolder, till, from throwing tufts of grass, one has to +throw stones in good earnest, or lose all his fruit. In June they +disappear, following the cherries to the north, where by July they are +nesting in the orchards and cedar groves. + +Among the permanent summer residents here (one might say city +residents, as they seem more abundant in town than out), the yellow +warbler or summer yellowbird is conspicuous. He comes about the middle +of April, and seems particularly attached to the silver poplars. In +every street, and all day long, one may hear his thin, sharp warble. +When nesting, the female comes about the yard, pecking at the +clothes-line, and gathering up bits of thread to weave into her nest. + +Swallows appear in Washington form the first to the middle of April. +They come twittering along in the way so familiar to every New England +boy. The barn swallow is heard first, followed in a day or two by the +squeaking of the cliff swallow. The chimney swallows, or swifts, are +not far behind, and remain here in large numbers, the whole season. +The purple martins appear in April, as they pass north, and again in +July and August on their return, accompanied by their young. + +The national capital is situated in such a vast spread of wild, +wooded, or semi-cultivated country and is in itself so open and +spacious, with its parks and large government reservations, that an +unusual number of birds find their way into it in the course of the +season. Rare warblers, as the black-poll, the yellow-poll, and the +bay-breasted, pausing in May on their northward journey, pursue their +insect game in the very heart of the town. + +I have heard the veery thrush in the trees near the White House; and +one rainy April morning, about six o'clock, he came and blew his soft, +mellow flute in a pear-tree in my garden. The tones had all the +sweetness and wildness they have when heard in June in our deep +northern forests. A day or two afterward, in the same tree, I heard +for the first time the song of the ruby-crowned wren, or kinglet,--the +same liquid bubble and cadence which characterize the wren-songs +generally, but much finer and more delicate than the song of any other +variety known to me; beginning in a fine, round, needle-like note, and +rising into a full, sustained warble, [SYMBOL DELETED] a strain, on +whole, remarkably exquisite and pleasing, the singer being all the +while as busy as a bee, catching some kind of insects. It is certainly +on of our most beautiful bird-songs, and Audubon's enthusiasm +concerning its song, as he heard it in the wilds of Labrador, is not a +bit extravagant. The song of the kinglet is the only characteristic +that allies it to the wrens. + +The Capitol grounds, with their fine large trees of many varieties, +draw many kinds of birds. In the rear of the building the extensive +grounds are peculiarly attractive, being a gentle slope, warm and +protected, and quite thickly wooded. Here in early spring I go to hear +the robins, catbirds, blackbirds, wrens, etc. In March the +white-throated and white-crowned sparrows may be seen, hopping about +on the flower-beds or peering slyly from the evergreens. The robin +hops about freely upon the grass, notwithstanding the keepers +large-lettered warning, and at intervals, and especially at sunset, +carols from the treetops his loud, hearty strain. + +The kingbird and orchard starling remain the whole season, and breed +in the treetops. The rich, copious song of the starling may be heard +there all the forenoon. The song of some birds is like +scarlet,--strong, intense, emphatic. This is the character of the +orchard starlings, also the tanagers and the various grosbeaks. On the +other hand, the songs of other birds, as of certain of the thrushes, +suggest the serene blue of the upper sky. + +In February one may hear, in the Smithsonian grounds, the song of the +fox sparrow. It is a strong, richly modulated whistle,--the finest +sparrow note I have ever heard. + +A curious and charming sound may be heard here in May. You are +walking forth in the soft morning air, when suddenly there comes a +burst of bobolink melody form some mysterious source. A score of +throats pour out one brief, hilarious, tuneful jubilee and are +suddenly silent. There is a strange remoteness and fascination about +it. Presently you will discover its source skyward, and a quick eye +will detect the gay band pushing northward. They seem to scent the +fragrant meadows afar off, and shout forth snatches of their songs in +anticipation. + +The bobolink does not breed in the District, but usually pauses in his +journey and feeds during the day in the grass-lands north of the city. +When the season is backward, they tarry a week or ten days, singing +freely and appearing quite at home. In large flocks they search over +every inch of ground, and at intervals hover on the wing or alight in +the treetops, all pouring forth their gladness at once, and filling +the air with a multitudinous musical clamor. + +They continue to pass, traveling by night and feeding by day, till +after the middle of May, when they cease. In September, with numbers +greatly increased, they are on their way back. I am first advised of +their return by hearing their calls at night as they fly over the +city. On certain nights the sound becomes quite noticeable. I have +awakened in the middle of the night, and, through the open window, as +I lay in bed, heard their faint notes. The warblers begin to return +about the same time, and are clearly distinguished by their timid +yeaps. On dark, cloudy nights the birds seem confused by the lights of +the city, and apparently wander about above it. + +In the spring the same curious incident is repeated, though but few +voices can be identified. I make out the snowbird, the bobolink, the +warblers, and on two nights during the early part of May I heard very +clearly the call of the sandpipers. + +Instead of the bobolink, one encounters here, in the June meadows, the +black-throated bunting, a bird very closely related to the sparrows +and a very persistent if not a very musical songster. He perches upon +the fences and upon the trees by the roadside, and, spreading his +tail, gives forth his harsh strain, which may be roughly worded thus: +fscp fscp, fee fee fee. Like all sounds associated with early summer, +it soon has a charm to the ear quite independent of its intrinsic +merits. + +Outside of the city limits, the great point of interest to the rambler +and lover of nature is the Rock Creek region. Rock Creek is a large, +rough, rapid stream, which has its source in the interior of Maryland, +and flows in to the Potomac between Washington and Georgetown. Its +course, for five or six miles out of Washington, is marked by great +diversity of scenery. Flowing in a deep valley, which now and then +becomes a wild gorge with overhanging rocks and high precipitous +headlands, for the most part wooded; here reposing in long, dark +reaches, there sweeping and hurrying around a sudden bend or over a +rocky bed; receiving at short intervals small runs and spring +rivulets, which open up vistas and outlooks to the right and left, of +the most charming description,--Rock Creek has an abundance of all the +elements that make up not only pleasing but wild and rugged scenery. +There is perhaps, not another city in the Union that has on its very +threshold so much natural beauty and grandeur, such as men seek for in +remote forests and mountains. A few touches of art would convert this +whole region, extending from Georgetown to what is known as Crystal +Springs, not more than two miles from the present State Department, +into a park unequaled by anything in the world. There are passages +between these two points as wild and savage, and apparently as remote +from civilization, as anything one meets with in the mountain sources +of the Hudson or the Delaware. + +One of the tributaries to Rock Creek within this limit is called Piny +Branch. It is a small, noisy brook, flowing through a valley of great +natural beauty and picturesqueness, shaded nearly all the way by woods +of oak, chestnut, and beech, and abounding in dark recesses and hidden +retreats. + +I must not forget to mention the many springs with which this whole +region is supplied, each the centre of some wild nook, perhaps the +head of a little valley one or two hundred yards long, through which +one catches a glimpse, or hears the voice, of the main creek rushing +along below. + +My walks tend in this direction more frequently than in any other. +Here the boys go, too, troops of them, of a Sunday, to bathe and prowl +around, and indulge the semi-barbarous instincts that still lurk +within them. Life, in all its forms, is most abundant near water. The +rank vegetation nurtures the insects, and the insects draw the birds. +The first week in March, on some southern slope where the sunshine +lies warm and long, I usually find the hepatica in bloom, though with +scarcely an inch of stalk. In the spring runs, the skunk cabbage +pushes its pike up through the mould, the flower appearing first, as +if Nature had made a mistake. + +It is not till about the 1st of April that many wild flowers may be +looked for. By this time the hepatica, anemone saxifrage, arbutus, +houstonia, and bloodroot may be counted on. A week later, the +claytonia or spring beauty, water-cress, violets, a low buttercup, +vetch, corydalis, and potentilla appear. These comprise most of the +April flowers, and may be found in great profusion in the Rock Creek +and Piny Branch region. + +In each little valley or spring run, some one species predominates. I +know invariably where to look for the first liverwort, and where the +largest and finest may be found. On a dry, gravelly, half-wooded +hill-slope the bird's-foot violet grows in great abundance, and is +sparse in neighboring districts. This flower, which I never saw in the +North, is the most beautiful and showy of all the violets, and calls +forth rapturous applause from all persons who visit the woods. It +grows in little groups and clusters, and bears a close resemblance to +the pansies of the gardens. Its two purple, velvety petals seem to +fall over tiny shoulders like a rich cape. + +On the same slope, and on no other, I go about the 1st of May for +lupine, or sun-dial, which makes the ground look blue from a little +distance; on the other or northern side of the slope, the arbutus, +during the first half of April, perfumes the wildwood air. A few paces +farther on, in the bottom of a little spring run, the mandrake shades +the ground with its miniature umbrellas. It begins to push its green +finger-points up through the ground by the 1st of April, but is not in +bloom till the 1st of May. It has a single white, wax-like flower, +with a sweet, sickish odor, growing immediately beneath its broad +leafy top. By the same run grow watercresses and two kinds of +anemones,--the Pennsylvania and the grove anemone. The bloodroot is +very common at the foot of almost every warm slope in the Rock Creek +woods, and, where the wind has tucked it up well with the coverlid of +dry leaves, makes its appearance almost as soon as the liverwort. It +is singular how little warmth is necessary to encourage these earlier +flowers to put forth. It would seem as if some influence must come on +in advance underground and get things ready, so that, when the outside +temperature is propitious, they at once venture out. I have found the +bloodroot when it was still freezing two or three nights in the week, +and have known at least three varieties of early flowers to be buried +in eight inches of snow. + +Another abundant flower in the Rock Creek region is the spring beauty. +Like most others, it grows in streaks. A few paces from where your +attention is monopolized by violets or arbutus, it is arrested by the +claytonia, growing in such profusion that it is impossible to set the +foot down without crushing the flowers. Only the forenoon walker sees +them in all their beauty, as later in the day their eyes are closed, +and their pretty heads drooped in slumber. In only one locality do I +find the lady's-slipper,--a yellow variety. The flowers that overleap +all bounds in this section are the houstonias. By the 1st of April +they are very noticeable in warm, damp places along the borders of the +woods and in half-cleared fields, but by May these localities are +clouded with them. They become visible from the highway across wide +fields, and look like little puffs of smoke clinging close to the +ground. + +On the 1st of May I go to the Rock Creek or Piny Branch region to hear +the wood thrush. I always find him by this date leisurely chanting his +lofty strain; other thrushes are seen now also, or even earlier, as +Wilson's, the olive-backed, the hermit,--the two latter silent, but +the former musical. + +Occasionally in the earlier part of May I find the woods literally +swarming with warblers, exploring every branch and leaf, from the +tallest tulip to the lowest spice-bush, so urgent is the demand for +food during their long northern journeys. At night they are up and +away. Some varieties, as the blue yellow-back, the chestnut-sided, and +the Blackburnian, during their brief stay, sing nearly as freely as in +their breeding-haunts. For two or three years I have chanced to meet +little companies of the bay-breasted warbler, searching for food in an +oak wood on an elevated piece of ground. They kept well up among the +branches, were rather slow in their movements, and evidently disposed +to tarry but a short time. + +The summer residents here, belonging to this class of birds, are few. +I have observed the black and white creeping warbler, the Kentucky +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the redstart, and the gnat-catcher, +breeding near Rock Creek. + +Of these the Kentucky warbler is by far the most interesting, though +quite rare. I meet with him in low, damp places in the woods, usually +on the steep sides of some little run. I hear at intervals a clear, +strong, bell-like whistle or warble, and presently catch a glimpse of +the bird as he jumps up from the ground to take an insect or worm from +the under side of a leaf. This is his characteristic movement. He +belongs to the class of ground warblers, and his range is very low, +indeed lower than that of any other species with which I am +acquainted. He is on the ground nearly all the time, moving rapidly +along, taking spiders and bugs, overturning leaves, peeping under +sticks and into crevices, and every now and then leaping up eight or +ten inches to take his game from beneath some overhanging leaf or +branch. Thus each species has its range more or less marked. Draw a +line three feet from the ground, and you mark the usual limit of the +Kentucky warbler's quest for food. Six or eight feet higher bounds the +usual range of such birds as the worm-eating warbler, the mourning +ground warbler, the Maryland yellow-throat. The lower branches of the +higher growths and the higher branches of the lower growths are +plainly preferred by the black-throated blue-backed warbler in those +localities where he is found. The thrushes feed mostly on and near the +ground, while some of the vireos and the true flycatchers explore the +highest branches. But the warblers, as a rule, are all partial to +thick, rank undergrowths. + +The Kentucky warbler is a large bird for the genus and quite notable +in appearance. His back is clear olive-green, his throat and breast +bright yellow. A still more prominent feature is a black streak on the +side of the face, extending down the neck. + +Another familiar bird here, which I never met with in the North, is +the gnatcatcher, called by Audubon the blue-gray flycatching warbler. +In form and manner it seems almost a duplicate of the catbird on a +small scale. It mews like a young kitten, erects its tail, flirts, +droops its wings, goes through a variety of motions when disturbed by +your presence, and in many ways recalls its dusky prototype. Its color +above is a light gray-blue, gradually fading till it becomes white on +the breast and belly. It is a very small bird, and has a long, facile, +slender tail. Its song is a lisping, chattering, incoherent warble, +now faintly reminding one of the goldfinch, now of a miniature +catbird, then of a tiny yellow-hammer, having much variety, but no +unity and little cadence. + +Another bird which has interested me here is the Louisiana water +thrush, called also large-billed water-thrush, and water-wagtail. It +is one of a trio of birds which has confused the ornithologists much. +The other two species are the well-known golden-crowned thrush or +wood-wagtail, and the northern, or small, water-thrush. + +The present species, though not abundant, is frequently met with along +Rock Creek. It is a very quick, vivacious bird, and belongs to the +class of ecstatic singers. I have seen a pair of these thrushes, on a +bright May day, flying to and fro between two spring runs, alighting +at intermediate points, the male breaking out into one of the most +exuberant, unpremeditated strains I ever heard. Its song is a sudden +burst, beginning with three or four clear round notes much resembling +certain tones of the clarinet, and terminating in a rapid, intricate +warble. + +This bird resembles a thrush only in its color, which is olive-brown +above and grayish white beneath, with speckled throat and breast. Its +habits, manners, and voice suggest those of a lark. + +I seldom go the Rock Creek route without being amused and sometimes +annoyed by the yellow-breasted chat. This bird also has something of +the manners and build of the catbird, yet he is truly an original. The +catbird is mild and feminine compared with this rollicking polyglot. +His voice is very loud and strong and quite uncanny. No sooner have +you penetrated his retreat, which is usually a thick undergrowth in +low, wet localities, near the woods or in old fields, than he begins +his serenade, which for the variety, grotesqueness, and uncouthness of +the notes is not unlike a country skimmerton. If one passes directly +along, the bird may scarcely break the silence. But pause a while, or +loiter quietly about, and your presence stimulates him to do his best. +He peeps quizzically at you from beneath the branches, and gives a +sharp feline mew. In a moment more he says very distinctly, who, who. +Then in rapid succession follow notes the most discordant that ever +broke the sylvan silence. Now he barks like a puppy, then quacks like +a duck, then rattles like a kingfisher, then squalls like a fox, then +caws like a crow, then mews like a cat. Now he calls as if to be heard +a long way off, then changes his key, as if addressing the spectator. +Though very shy, and carefully keeping himself screened when you show +any disposition to get a better view, he will presently, if you remain +quiet, ascend a twig, or hop out on a branch in plain sight, lop his +tail, droop his wings, cock his head, and become very melodramatic. In +less than half a minute he darts into the bushes again, and again +tunes up, no Frenchman rolling his r's so fluently. +C-r-r-r-r-r-- Wrrr, --that's it, --chee, --quack, cluck, --yit-yit-yit, +--now hit it, --tr-r-r-r, --when, --caw, caw, --cut, cut, --tea-boy, +--who, who, --mew, mew, --and so on till you are tired of listening. +Observing one very closely one day, I discovered that he was limited +to six notes or changes, which he went through in regular order, +scarcely varying a note in a dozen repetitions. Sometimes, when a +considerable distance off, he will fly down to have a nearer view of +you. And such curious, expressive flight,--legs extended, head lowered, +wings rapidly vibrating, the whole action piquant and droll! + +The chat is an elegant bird, both in form and color. Its plumage is +remarkably firm and compact. Color above, light olive-green; beneath, +bright yellow; beak, black and strong. + +The cardinal grosbeak, or Virginia redbird, is quite common in the +same localities, though more inclined to seek the woods. It is much +sought after by bird fanciers, and by boy gunners, and consequently is +very shy. This bird suggests a British redcoat; his heavy, pointed +beak, his high cockade, the black stripe down his face, the expression +of weight and massiveness about his head and neck, and his erect +attitude, give him a decided soldier-like appearance; and there is +something of the tone of the fife in his song or whistle, while his +ordinary note, when disturbed, is like the clink of a sabre. +Yesterday, as I sat indolently swinging in the loop of a grapevine, +beneath a thick canopy of green branches, in a secluded nook by a +spring run, one of these birds came pursuing some kind of insect, but +a few feet above me. He hopped about, now and then uttering his sharp +note, till some moth or beetle trying to escape, he broke down through +the cover almost where I sat. The effect was like a firebrand coming +down through the branches. Instantly catching sight of me, he darted +away much alarmed. The female is tinged with brown, and shows but a +little red except when she takes flight. + +By far the most abundant species of woodpecker about Washington is the +red-headed. It is more common than the robin. Not in the deep woods, +but among the scattered dilapidated oaks and groves, on the hills and +in the fields, I hear almost every day his uncanny note, ktr-r-r, +ktr-r-r, like that of some larger tree-toad, proceeding from an oak +grove just beyond the boundary. He is a strong-scented fellow, and +very tough. Yet how beautiful, as he flits about the open woods, +connecting the trees by a gentle arc of crimson and white! This is +another bird with a military look. His deliberate, dignified ways, and +his bright uniform of red, white, and steel-blue, bespeak him an +officer of rank. + +Another favorite beat of mine is northeast of the city. Looking from +the Capitol in this direction, scarcely more than a mile distant, you +see a broad green hill-slope, falling very gently, and spreading into +a large expanse of meadow-land. The summit, if so gentle a swell of +greensward may be said to have a summit, is covered with a grove of +large oaks; and, sweeping black out of sight like a mantle, the front +line of a thick forest bounds the sides. This emerald landscape is +seen from a number of points in the city. Looking along New York +Avenue from Northern Liberty Market, the eye glances, as it were, from +the red clay of the street, and alights upon this fresh scene in the +distance. It is a standing invitation to the citizen to come forth and +be refreshed. As I turn from some hot, hard street, how inviting it +looks! I bathe my eyes in it as in a fountain. Sometimes troops of +cattle are seen grazing upon it. In June the gathering of the hay may +be witnessed. When the ground is covered with snow, numerous stacks, +or clusters of stacks, are still left for the eye to contemplate. + +The woods which clothe the east side of this hill, and sweep away to +the east, are among the most charming to be found in the District. The +main growth is oak and chestnut, with a thin sprinkling of laurel, +azalea, and dogwood. It is the only locality in which I have found the +dogtooth violet in bloom, and the best place I know of to gather +arbutus. On one slope the ground is covered with moss, through which +the arbutus trails its glories. + +Emerging from these woods toward the city, one sees the white dome of +the Capitol soaring over the green swell of earth immediately in +front, and lifting its four thousand tons of iron gracefully and +lightly into the air. Of all the sights in Washington, that which will +survive the longest in my memory is the vision of the great dome thus +rising cloud-like above the hills. + + 1868. + + + +VI + +BIRCH BROWSINGS + +The region of which I am about to speak lies in the southern part of +the state of New York, and comprises parts of three counties,--Ulster, +Sullivan and Delaware. It is drained by tributaries of both the Hudson +and Delaware, and, next to the Adirondack section, contains more wild +land than any other tract in the State. The mountains which traverse +it, and impart to it its severe northern climate, belong properly to +the Catskill range. On some maps of the State they are called the Pine +Mountains, though with obvious local impropriety, as pine, so far as I +have observed, is nowhere found upon them. "Birch Mountains" would be +a more characteristic name, as on their summits birch is the +prevailing tree. They are the natural home of the black and yellow +birch, which grow here to unusual size. On their sides beech and maple +abound; while, mantling their lower slopes and darkening the valleys, +hemlock formerly enticed the lumberman and tanner. Except in remote or +inaccessible localities, the latter tree is now almost never found. In +Shandaken and along the Esopus it is about the only product the +country yielded, or is likely to yield. Tanneries by the score have +arisen and flourished upon the bark, and some of them still remain. +Passing through that region the present season, I saw that the few +patches of hemlock that still lingered high up on the sides of the +mountains were being felled and peeled, the fresh white boles or the +trees, just stripped of their bark, being visible a long distance. + +Among these mountains there are no sharp peaks, or abrupt declivities, +as in a volcanic region, but long, uniform ranges, heavily timbered to +their summits, and delighting the eye with vast, undulating horizon +lines. Looking south from the heights about the head of the Delaware, +one sees, twenty miles away, a continual succession of blue ranges, +one behind the other. If a few large trees are missing on the sky +line, one can see the break a long distance off. + +Approaching this region from the Hudson River side, you cross a rough, +rolling stretch of country, skirting the base of the Catskills, which +from a point near Saugerties sweep inland; after a drive of a few +hours you are within the shadow of a high, bold mountain, which forms +a sort of butt-end to this part of the range, and which is simple +called High Point. To the east and southeast it slopes down rapidly to +the plain, and looks defiance toward the Hudson, twenty miles distant; +in the rear of it, and radiating from it west and northwest, are +numerous smaller ranges, backing up, as it were, this haughty chief. + +From this point through to Pennsylvania, a distance of nearly one +hundred miles, stretches the tract of which I speak. It is a belt of +country from twenty to thirty miles wide, bleak and wild, and but +sparsely settled. The traveler on the New York and Erie Railroad gets +a glimpse of it. + +Many cold, rapid trout streams, which flow to all points of the +compass, have their source in the small lakes and copious mountain +springs of this region. The names of some of them are Mill Brook, Dry +Brook, Willewemack, Beaver Kill, Elk Bush Kill, Panther Kill, +Neversink, Big Ingin, and Callikoon. Beaver Kill is the main outlet on +the west. It joins the Deleware in the wilds of Hancock. The Neversink +lays open the region to the south, and also joins the Delaware. To the +east, various Kills unite with the Big Ingin to form the Esopus, which +flows into the Hudson. Dry Brook and Mill Brook, both famous trout +streams, from twelve to fifteen miles long, find their way into the +Delaware. + +The east or Pepacton branch of the Delaware itself takes its rise near +here in a deep pass between the mountains. I have many times drunk at +a copious spring by the roadside, where the infant river first sees +the light. A few yards beyond, the water flows the other way, +directing its course through the Bear Kill and Schoharie Kill into the +Mohawk. + +Such game and wild animals as still linger in the State are found in +this region. Bears occasionally make havoc among the sheep. The +clearings at the head of a valley are oftenest the scene of their +depredations. + +Wild pigeons, in immense numbers used to breed regularly in the valley +of the Big Ingin and about the head of the Neversink. The treetops for +miles were full of their nests, while the going and coming of the old +birds kept up a constant din. But the gunners soon got wind of it, and +from far and near were wont to pour in during the spring, and to +slaughter both old and young. This practice soon had the effect of +driving the pigeons all away, and now only a few pairs breed in these +woods. + +Deer are still met with, though they are becoming scarcer every year. +Last winter near seventy head were killed on the Beaver Kill alone. I +heard of one wretch, who, finding the deer snowbound, walked up to +them on his snowshoes, and one morning before breakfast slaughtered +six, leaving their carcasses where they fell. There are traditions of +persons having been smitten blind or senseless when about to commit +some heinous offense, but the fact that this villain escaped without +some such visitation throws discredit on all such stories. + +The great attraction, however, of this region, is the brook trout, +with which the streams and lakes abound. The water is of excessive +coldness, the thermometer indicating 44° and 45°in the springs, and +47° or 48° in the smaller streams. The trout are generally small, but +in the more remote branches their number is very great. In such +localities the fish are quite black, but in the lakes they are of a +lustre and brilliancy impossible to describe. + +These waters have been much visited of late years by fishing parties, +and the name of the Beaver Kill is now a potent name among New York +sportsmen. + +One lake, in the wilds of Callikoon, abounds in a peculiar species of +white sucker, which is of excellent quality. It is taken only in +spring, during the spawning season, at the time "when the leaves are +as big as a chipmunk's ears." The fish run up the small streams and +inlets, beginning at nightfall, and continuing till the channel is +literally packed with them, and every inch of space is occupied. The +fishermen pounce upon them at such times, and scoop them up by the +bushel, usually wading right into the living mass and landing the fish +with their hands. A small party will often secure in this manner a +wagon-load of fish. Certain conditions of the weather, as a warm south +or southwest wind, are considered most favorable for the fish to run. + +Though familiar all my life with the outskirts of this region, I have +only twice dipped into its wilder portions. Once in 1860 a friend and +myself traced the Beaver Kill to its source, and encamped by Balsam +Lake. A cold and protracted rainstorm coming on, we were obliged to +leave the woods before we were ready. Neither of us will soon forget +that tramp by an unknown route over the mountains, encumbered as we +were with a hundred and one superfluities which we had foolishly +brought along to solace ourselves with in the woods; nor that halt on +the summit, where we cooked and ate our fish in the drizzling rain; +nor, again, that rude log house, with its sweet hospitality, which we +reached just at nightfall on Mill Brook. + +In 1868 a party of three of us set out for a brief trouting excursion +to a body of water called Thomas's Lake, situated in the same chain of +mountains. On this excursion, more particularly than on any other I +have ever undertaken, I was taught how poor an Indian I should make, +and what a ridiculous figure a party of men may cut in the woods when +the way is uncertain and the mountains high. + +We left our team at a farmhouse near the head of the Mill Brook, one +June afternoon, and with knapsacks on our shoulders struck into the +woods at the base of the mountain, hoping to cross the range that +intervened between us and the lake by sunset. We engaged a +good-natured but rather indolent young man, who happened to be +stopping at the house, and who had carried a knapsack in the Union +armies, to pilot us a couple of miles into the woods so as to guard +against any mistakes at the outset. It seemed the easiest thing in the +world to find the lake. The lay of the land was so simple, according +to accounts, that I felt sure I could go it in the dark. "Go up this +little brook to its source on the side of the mountain," they said. +"The valley that contains the lake heads directly on the other side." +What could be easier! But on a little further inquiry, they said we +should "bear well to the left" when we reached the top of the +mountain. This opened the doors again; "bearing well to the left" was +an uncertain performance in strange woods. We might bear so well to +the left that it would bring us ill. But why bear to the left at all, +if the lake was directly opposite? Well, not quite opposite; a little +to the left. There were two or three other valleys that headed in near +there. We could easily find the right one. But to make assurance +doubly sure, we engaged a guide, as stated, to give us a good start, +and go with us beyond the bearing-to-the-left point. He had been to +the lake the winter before and knew the way. Our course, the first +half hour, was along an obscure wood-road which had been used for +drawing ash logs off mountain in winter. There was some hemlock, but +more maple and birch. The woods were dense and free from underbrush, +the ascent gradual. Most of the way we kept the voice of the creek in +our ear on the right. I approached it once, and found it swarming with +trout. The water was as cold as one ever need wish. After a while the +ascent grew steeper, the creek became a mere rill that issued from +beneath loose, moss-covered rocks and stones, and with much labor and +puffing we drew ourselves up the rugged declivity. Every mountain has +its steepest point, which is usually near the summit, in keeping, I +suppose, with the providence that makes the darkest hour just before +day. It is steep, steeper, steepest, till you emerge on the smooth +level or gently rounded space at the top, which the old ice-gods +polished off so long ago. + +We found this mountain had a hollow in its back where the ground was +soft and swampy. Some gigantic ferns, which we passed through, came +nearly to our shoulders. We passed also several patches of swamp +honeysuckles, red with blossoms. + +Our guide at length paused on a big rock where the land begin to dip +down the other way, and concluded that he had gone far enough, and +that we would now have no difficulty in finding the lake. "It must lie +right down there," he said pointing with his hand. But it was plain +that he was not quite sure in his own mind. He had several times +wavered in his course, and had shown considerable embarrassment when +bearing to the left across the summit. Still we thought little of it. +We were full of confidence, and bidding him adieu, plunged down the +mountain-side, following a spring run that we had no doubt left to the +lake. + +In these woods, which had a southeastern exposure, I first began to +notice the wood thrush. In coming up the other side, I had not seen a +feather of any kind, or heard a note. Now the golden trillide-de of +the wood thrush sounded through the silent woods. While looking for a +fish-pole about halfway down the mountain, I saw a thrush's nest in a +little sapling about ten feet from the ground. + +After continuing our descent till our only guide, the spring run, +became quite a trout brook, and its tiny murmur a loud brawl, we began +to peer anxiously through the trees for a glimpse of the lake, or for +some conformation of the land that would indicate its proximity. An +object which we vaguely discerned in looking under the near trees and +over the more distant ones proved, on further inspection, to be a +patch of plowed ground. Presently we made out a burnt fallow near it. +This was a wet blanket to our enthusiasm. No lake, no sport, no trout +for supper that night. The rather indolent young man had either played +us a trick, or, as seemed more likely, had missed the way. We were +particularly anxious to be at the lake between sundown and dark, as at +that time the trout jump most freely. + +Pushing on, we soon emerged into a stumpy field, at the head of a +steep valley, which swept around toward the west. About two hundred +rods below us was a rude log house, with smoke issuing from the +chimney. A boy came out and moved toward the spring with a pail in his +hand. We shouted to him, when he turned and ran back into the house +without pausing to reply. In a moment the whole family hastily rushed +into the yard, and turned their faces toward us. If we had come down +their chimney, they could not have seemed more astonished. Not making +out what they said, I went down to the house, and learned to my +chagrin that we were still on the Mill Brook side, having crossed only +a spur of the mountain. We had not borne sufficiently to the left, so +that the main range, which, at the point of crossing, suddenly breaks +off to the southeast, still intervened between us and the lake. We +were about five miles, as the water runs, from the point of starting, +and over two from the lake. We must go directly back to the top of the +range where the guide had left us, and then, by keeping well to the +left, we would soon come to a line of marked trees, which would lead +us to the lake. So, turning upon our trail, we doggedly began the work +of undoing what we had just done,--in all cases a disagreeable task, +in this case a very laborious one also. It was after sunset when we +turned back, and before we had got halfway up the mountain, it began +to be quite dark. We were often obliged to rest our packs against the +trees and take breath, which made our progress slow. Finally a halt +was called, beside an immense flat rock which had paused on its slide +down the mountain, and we prepared to encamp for the night. A fire was +built the rock cleared off, a small ration of bread served out, our +accoutrements hung up out of the way of the hedgehogs that were +supposed to infest the locality, and then we disposed ourselves for +sleep. If the owls or porcupines (and I think I heard one of the +latter in the middle of the night) reconnoitred our camp, they saw a +buffalo robe spread upon a rock, with three old felt hats arranged on +one side, and three pairs of sorry-looking cowhide boots protruding +from the other. + +When we lay down, there was apparently not a mosquito in the woods; +but the "no-see-ems," as Thoreau's Indian aptly named the midges, soon +found us out, and after the fire had gone down, annoyed us very much. +My hands and wrists suddenly began to smart and itch in a most +uncomfortable manner. My first thought was that they had been poisoned +in some way. Then the smarting extended to my neck and face, even to +my scalp, when I began to suspect what was the matter. So, wrapping +myself up more thoroughly, and stowing my hands away as best I could, +I tried to sleep, being some time behind my companions, who appeared +not to mind the "no-see-ems." I was further annoyed by some little +irregularity on my side of the couch. The chambermaid had not beaten +it up well. One huge lump refused to be mollified, and each attempt to +adapt it up some natural hollow in my own body brought only a moment's +relief. But at last I got the better of this also and slept. Late in +the night I woke up, just in time to hear a golden-crowned thrush sing +in a tree near by. It sang as loud and cheerily as at midday, and I +thought myself, after all, quite in luck. Birds occasionally sing at +night, just as the cock crows. I have heard the hairbird, and the note +of the kingbird; and the ruffed grouse frequently drums at night. + +At the first faint signs of day a wood thrush sang, a few rods below +us. Then after a little delay, as the gray light began to grow around, +thrushes broke out in full song in all parts of the woods. I thought I +had never before heard them sing so sweetly. Such a leisurely, golden +chant!--it consoled us for all we had undergone. It was the first +thing in order,--the worms were safe till after this morning chorus. I +judged that the birds roosted but a few feet from the ground. In fact, +a bird in all cases roosts where it builds, and the wood thrush +occupies, as it were, the first story of the woods. + +There is something singular about the distribution of the wood +thrushes. At an earlier stage of my observations I should have been +much surprised at finding them in these woods. Indeed, I had stated in +print on two occasions that the wood thrush was not found in the +higher lands of the Catskills, but that the hermit thrush and the +veery, or Wilson's thrush, were common. It turns out that the +statement is only half true. The wood thrush is found also, but is +much more rare and secluded in its habits than either of the others, +being seen only during the breeding season on remote mountains, and +then only on their eastern and southern slopes. I have never yet in +this region found the bird spending the season in the near and +familiar woods, which is directly contrary to observations I have made +in other parts of the state. So different are the habits of birds in +different localities. + +As soon as it was fairly light we were up and ready to resume our +march. A small bit of bread and butter and a swallow or two of whiskey +was all we had for breakfast that morning. Our supply of each was very +limited, and we were anxious to save a little of both, to relieve the +diet of trout to which we looked forward. + +At an early hour we reached the rock where we had parted with the +guide, and looked around us into the dense, trackless woods with many +misgivings. To strike out now on our own hook, where the way was so +blind and after the experience we had just had, was a step not to be +carelessly taken. The tops of these mountains are so broad, and a +short distance in the woods seems so far, that one is by no means +master of the situation after reaching the summit. And then there are +so many spurs and offshoots and changes of direction, added to the +impossibility of making any generalization by the aid of the eye, that +before one is aware of it he is very wide of his mark. + +I remembered now that a young farmer of my acquaintance had told me +how he had made a long day's march through the heart of this region, +without path or guide of any kind, and had hit his mark squarely. He +had been barkpeeling in Callikoon,--a famous country for +barkpeeling,--and, having got enough of it, he desired to reach his +home on Dry Brook without making the usual circuitous journey between +the two places. To do this necessitated a march of ten or twelve miles +across several ranges of mountains and through an unbroken forest,--a +hazardous undertaking in which no one would join him. Even the old +hunters who were familiar with the ground dissuaded him and predicted +the failure of his enterprise. But having made up his mind, he +possessed himself thoroughly of the topography of the country from the +aforesaid hunters, shouldered his axe, and set out, holding a strait +course through the woods, and turning aside for neither swamps, +streams, nor mountains. When he paused to rest he would mark some +object ahead of him with his eye, in order that on getting up again, +he might not deviate from his course. His directors had told him of a +hunter's cabin about midway on his route, which if he struck he might +be sure he was right. About noon this cabin was reached, and at sunset +he emerged at the head of Dry Brook. + +After looking in vain for the line of marked trees, we moved off to +the left in a doubtful, hesitating manner, keeping on the highest +ground and blazing the trees as we went. We were afraid to go +downhill, lest we should descend to soon; our vantage-ground was high +ground. A thick fog coming on, we were more bewildered than ever. +Still we pressed forward, climbing up ledges and wading through ferns +for about two hours, when we paused by a spring that issued from +beneath an immense wall of rock that belted the highest part of the +mountain. There was quite a broad plateau here, and the birch wood was +very dense, and the trees of unusual size. + +After resting and exchanging opinions, we all concluded that is was +best not to continue our search encumbered as we were; but we were not +willing to abandon it altogether, and I proposed to my companions to +leave them beside the spring with our traps, while I made one thorough +and final effort to find the lake. If I succeeded and desired them to +come forward, I was to fire my gun three times; if I failed and wished +to return, I would fire twice, they of course responding. + +So, filling my canteen from the spring, I set out again, taking the +spring run for my guide. Before I had followed it two hundred yards, +it sank into the ground at my feet. I had half a mind to be +superstitious and to believe that we were under a spell, since our +guides played us such tricks. However, I determined to put the matter +to a further test, and struck out boldly to the left. This seemed to +be the keyword,--to the left, to the left. The fog had now lifted, so +that I could form a better idea of the lay of the land. Twice I looked +down the steep sides of the mountain, sorely attempted to risk a +plunge. Still I hesitated and kept along on the brink. As I stood on a +rock deliberating, I heard a crackling of the brush, like the tread of +some large game, on the plateau below me. Suspecting the truth of the +case, I moved stealthily down, and found a herd of young cattle +leisurely browsing. We had several times crossed their trail, and had +seen that morning a level, grassy place on the top of the mountain, +where they had passed the night. Instead of being frightened, as I had +expected, they seemed greatly delighted, and gathered around me as if +to inquire the tidings from the outer world,--perhaps the quotations +of the cattle market. They came up to me, and eagerly licked my hand, +clothes, and gun. Salt was what they were after, and they were ready +to swallow anything that contained the smallest percentage of it. They +were mostly yearlings and as sleek as moles. They had a very gamy +look. We were afterwards told that, in the spring, the farmers round +about turn into these woods their young cattle, which do not come out +again till fall. They are then in good condition,--not fat, like +grass-fed cattle, but trim and supple, like deer. Once a month the +owner hunts them up and salts them. They have their beats, and seldom +wander beyond well-defined limits. It was interesting to see them +feed. They browsed on the low limbs and bushes, and on the various +plants, munching at everything without any apparent discrimination. + +They attempted to follow me, but I escaped them by clambering down +some steep rocks. I now found myself gradually edging down the side of +the mountain, keeping around it in a spiral manner, and scanning the +woods and the shape of the ground for some encouraging hint or sign. +Finally the woods became more open, and the descent less rapid. The +trees were remarkably straight and uniform in size. Black birches, the +first I had ever seen, were very numerous. I felt encouraged. +Listening attentively, I caught, from a breeze just lifting the +drooping leaves, a sound that I willingly believed was made by a +bullfrog. On this hint, I tore down through the woods at my highest +speed. Then I paused and listened again. This time there was no +mistaking it; it was the sound of frogs. Much elated, I rushed on. By +and by I could hear them as I ran. Pthrung, pthrung, croaked the old +ones; pug, pug, shrilly joined in the smaller fry. + +Then I caught, through the lower trees, a gleam of blue, which I first +thought was distant sky. A second look and I knew it to be water, and +in a moment more I stepped from the woods and stood upon the shore of +the lake. I exulted silently. There it was at last, sparkling in the +morning sun, and as beautiful as a dream. It was so good to come upon +such open space and such bright hues, after wandering in the dim, +dense woods! The eye is as delighted as an escaped bird, and darts +gleefully from point to point. + +The lake was a long oval, scarcely more than a mile in circumference, +with evenly wooded shores, which rose gradually on all sides. After +contemplating the serene for a moment, I stepped back into the woods, +and, loading my gun as heavily as I dared, discharged it three times. +The reports seemed to fill all the mountains with sound. The frogs +quickly hushed, and I listened for the response. But no response came. +Then I tried again and again, but without evoking an answer. One of my +companions, however, who had climbed to the top of the high rocks in +the rear of the spring, thought he heard faintly one report. It seemed +an immense distance below him, and far around under the mountain. I +knew I had come a long way, and hardly expected to be able to +communicate with my companions in the manner agreed upon. I therefore +started back, choosing my course without any reference to the +circuitous route by which I had come, and loading heavily and firing +at intervals. I must have aroused many long-dormant echoes from a Rip +Van Winkle sleep. As my powder got low, I fired and halloed +alternately, till I cam near splitting both my throat and gun. +Finally, after I had begun to have a very ugly feeling of alarm and +disappointment, and to cast about vaguely for some course to pursue in +an emergency that seemed near at hand,--namely the loss of my +companions now I had found the lake,--a favoring breeze brought me the +last echo of a response. I rejoined with spirit, and hastened with all +speed in the direction whence the sound had come, but, after repeated +trials, failed to elicit another answering sound. This filled me with +apprehension again. I feared that my friends had been mislead by the +reverberations, and I pictured them to myself, hastening in the +opposite direction. Paying little attention to my course, but paying +dearly for my carelessness afterward, I rushed forward to undeceive +them. But they had not been deceived, and in a few moments an +answering shout revealed them near at hand. I heard their tramp, the +bushed parted, and we three met again. + +In answer to their eager inquiries, I assured them that I had seen the +lake, that it was at the foot of the mountain, and that we could not +miss it if we kept straight down from where we then were. + +My clothes were soaked in perspiration, but I shouldered my knapsack +with alacrity, and we began the descent. I noticed that the woods were +much thicker, and had quite a different look from those I had passed +through, but thought nothing of it, as I expected to strike the lake +near its head, whereas I had before come out at its foot. We had not +gone far when we crossed a line of marked trees, which my companions +were disposed to follow. It intersected our course nearly at right +angles, and kept along and up the side of the mountain. My impression +was that it lead up from the lake, and that by keeping our course we +should reach the lake sooner than if we followed this line. About +halfway down the mountain, we could see through the interstices the +opposite slope. I encouraged my comrades by telling them that the lake +was between us and that, and not more than half a mile distant. We +soon reached the bottom, where we found a small stream and quite an +extensive alder swamp, evidently the ancient bed of a lake. I +explained to my half-vexed and half-incredulous companions that we +were probably above the lake, and that this stream must lead to it. +"Follow it," they said; "we will wait here till we hear from you." + +So I went on, more than ever disposed to believe that we were under a +spell, and that the lake had slipped from my grasp after all. Seeing +no favorable sign as I went forward, I laid down my accoutrements, and +climbed a decayed beech that leaned out over the swamp and promised a +good view from the top. As I stretched myself up to look around from +the highest attainable branch, there was suddenly a loud crack at the +root. With a celerity that would at least have done credit to a bear, +I regained the ground, having caught but a momentary glimpse of the +country, but enough to convince me no lake was near. Leaving all +incumbrances here but my gun, I still pressed on, loath to be thus +baffled. After floundering through another alder swamp for nearly half +a mile, I flattered myself that I was close to the lake. I caught +sight of a low spur of the mountain sweeping around like a +half-extended arm, and I fondly imagined that within its clasp was the +object of my search. But I found only more alder swamp. After this +region was cleared the creek began to descend the mountain very +rapidly. Its banks became high and narrow, and it went whirling away +with a sound that seemed to my ears like a burst of ironical laughter. +I turned back with a feeling of mingled disgust, shame and vexation. +In fact I was almost sick, and when I reached my companions, after an +absence of nearly two hours, hungry, fatigued, and disheartened, I +would have sold my interest in Thomas's Lake at a very low figure. For +the first time, I heartily wished myself well out of the woods. Thomas +might keep his lake, and the enchanters guard his possession! I +doubted if he had ever found it the second time, or if any one else +ever had. + +My companions, who were quite fresh and who had not felt the strain of +baffled purpose as I had, assumed a more encouraging tone. After I had +rested awhile, and partaken sparingly of the bread and whisky, which +in such an emergency is a great improvement on bread and water, I +agreed to their proposition that we should make another attempt. As if +to reassure us, a robin sounded his cheery call near by, and the +winter wren, the first I had ever heard in these woods, set his +music-box going, which fairly ran over with fin, gushing, lyrical +sounds. There can be no doubt but this bird is one of our finest +songsters. If it would only thrive and sing well when caged, like the +canary, how far it would surpass that bird! It has all the vivacity +and versatility of the canary, without any of its shrillness. Its song +is indeed a little cascade of melody. + +We again retraced our steps, rolling the stone, as it were, back up +the mountain, determined to commit ourselves to the line of marked +trees. These we finally reached, and, after exploring the country to +the right, saw that bearing to the left was still the order. The trail +led up over a gentle rise of ground, and in less than twenty minutes, +we were in the woods I had passed through when I found the lake. The +error I had made was then plain: we had come off the mountain a few +paces too far to the right, and so had passed down on the wrong side +of the ridge, into what we afterwards learned was the valley of Alder +Creek. + +We now made good time, and before many minutes I again saw the mimic +sky glance through the trees. As we approached the lake, a solitary +woodchuck, the first wild animal we had seen since entering the woods, +sat crouched upon the root of a tree a few feet from the water, +apparently completely nonplused by the unexpected appearance of danger +on the land side. All retreat was cut off, and he looked his fate in +the face without flinching. I slaughtered him just as a savage would +have done, and from the same motive,--I wanted his carcass to eat. + +The mid-afternoon sun was now shining upon the lake, and a low, steady +breeze drove the little waves rocking to the shore. A herd of cattle +were browsing on the other side, and the bell of the leader sounded +across the water. In these solitudes its clang was wild and musical. + +To try the trout was the first thing in order. On a rude raft of log +which we found moored at the shore, and which with two aboard shipped +about a food of water, we floated out and wet our first fly in +Thomas's Lake; but the trout refused to jump, and to be frank, not +more than a dozen and a half were caught during our stay. Only a week +previous, a party of three had taken in a few hours all the fish they +could carry out of the woods, and had nearly surfeited their neighbors +with trout. But from some cause, they now refused to rise, or to touch +any kind of bait: so we fell to catching the sunfish, which were small +but very abundant. Their nests were all along the shore. A space about +the size of a breakfast-plate was cleared of sediment and decayed +vegetable matter, revealing the pebbly bottom, fresh and bright, with +one or two fish suspended over the centre of it, keeping watch and +ward. If an intruder approached, they would dart at him spitefully. +These fish have the air of bantam cocks, and, with their sharp, +prickly fins and spines and scaly sides, must be ugly customers in a +hand-to-hand encounter with other finny warriors. To a hungry man they +look about as unpromising as hemlock slivers, so thorny and thin are +they; yet there is sweet meat in them, as we found that day. + +Much refreshed, I set out with the sun low in the west to explore the +outlet of the lake and try for trout there, while my companions made +further trials in the lake itself. The outlet, as is usual in bodies +of water of this kind, was very gentle and private. The stream, six or +eight feet wide, flowed silently and evenly along for a distance of +three or four rods, when it suddenly, as if conscious of its freedom, +took a leap down some rocks. Thence as far as I followed it, its +decent was very rapid through a continuous succession of brief falls +like so many steps down the mountain. Its appearance promised more +trout than I found, though I returned to camp with a very respectable +string. + +Toward sunset I went round to explore the inlet, and found that as +usual the stream wound leisurely through marshy ground. The water +being much colder than in the outlet, the trout were more plentiful. +As I was picking my way over the miry ground and through the rank +growths, a ruffed grouse hopped up on a fallen branch a few paces +before me, and jerking his tail, threatened to take flight. But as I +was at the moment gunless and remained stationary, he presently jumped +down and walked away. + +A seeker of birds, and ever on the alert for some new acquaintance, my +attention was arrested, on first entering the swamp, by a bright, +lively song, or warble, that issued from the branches overhead, and +that was entirely new to me, though there was something in the tone +that told me the bird was related to the wood-wagtail and to the +water-wagtail or thrush. The strain was emphatic and quite loud, like +the canary's, but very brief. The bird kept itself well secreted in +the upper branches of the trees, and for a long time eluded my eye. I +passed to and fro several times, and it seemed to break out afresh as +I approached a certain little bend in the creek, and to cease after I +had got beyond it; no doubt its nest was somewhere in the vicinity. +After some delay the bird was sighted and brought down. It proved to +be the small, or northern, water-thrush, (called also the New York +water-thrush),--a new bird to me. In size it was noticeably smaller +than the large, or Louisiana, water-thrush, as described by Audubon, +but in other respects its general appearance was the same. It was a +great treat to me, and again I felt myself in luck. + +This bird was unknown to the older ornithologists, and is but poorly +described by the new. It builds a mossy nest on the ground, or under +the edge of a decayed log. A correspondent writes me that he has found +it breeding on the mountains in Pennsylvania. The large-billed +water-thrush is much the superior songster, but the present species +has a very bright and cheerful strain. The specimen I saw, contrary to +the habits of the family, kept in the treetops like a warbler, and +seemed to be engaged in catching insects. + +The birds were unusually plentiful and noisy about the head of this +lake; robins, blue jays, and woodpeckers greeted me with their +familiar notes. The blue jays found an owl or some wild animal a short +distance above me, and, as is their custom on such occasions, +proclaimed it at the top of their voices, and kept on till the +darkness began to gather in the woods. + +I also heard, as I had at two or three other points in the course of +the day, the peculiar, resonant hammering of some species of +woodpecker upon the hard, dry limbs. It was unlike any sound of the +kind I had ever heard, and, repeated at intervals through the silent +wood, was a very marked and characteristic feature. Its peculiarity +was the ordered succession of the raps, which gave it the character of +a premeditated performance. There were first three strokes following +each other rapidly, then two much louder ones with longer intervals +between them. I heard the drumming here, and the next day at sunset at +Furlow Lake, the source of Dry Brook, and in no instance was the order +varied. There was a melody in it, such as a woodpecker knows how to +evoke from a smooth, dry branch. It suggested something quite as +pleasing as the liveliest bird-song, and was if anything more woodsy +and wild. As the yellow-bellied woodpecker was the most abundant +species in these woods, I attributed it to him. It is the one sound +that still links itself with those scenes in my mind. + +At sunset the grouse began to drum in all parts of the woods about the +lake. I could hear five at one time, thump, thump, thump, thump, +thr-r-r-r-r-r-rr. It was a homely, welcome sound. As I returned to +camp at twilight, along the shore of the lake, the frogs also were in +full chorus. The older ones ripped out their responses to each other +with terrific force and volume. I know of no other animal capable of +giving forth so much sound, in proportion to its size, as a frog. Some +of these seemed to bellow as loud as a two-year-old bull. They were of +immense size, and very abundant. No frog-eater had ever been there. +Near the shore we felled a tree which reached far out in the lake. +Upon the trunk and branches, the frogs soon collected in large +numbers, and gamboled and splashed about the half submerged top, like +a parcel of schoolboys, making nearly as much noise. + +After dark, as I was frying the fish, a panful of the largest trout +was accidently capsized in the fire. With rueful countenances we +contemplated the irreparable loss our commissariat had sustained by +this mishap; but remembering there was virtue in ashes, we poked the +half-consumed fish from the bed of coals and ate them, and they were +good. + +We lodged that night on a brush-heap and slept soundly. The green, +yielding beech-twigs, covered with a buffalo robe, were equal to a +hair mattress. The heat and smoke from a large fire kindled in the +afternoon had banished every "no-see-em" from the locality, and in the +morning the sun was above the mountain before we awoke. + +I immediately started again for the inlet, and went far up the stream +toward its source. A fair string of trout for breakfast was my reward. +The cattle with the bell were at the head of the valley, where they +had passed the night. Most of them were two-year-old steers. They came +up to me and begged for salt, and scared the fish by their +importunities. + +We finished our bread that morning, and ate every fish we could catch, +and about ten o'clock prepared to leave the lake. The weather had been +admirable, and the lake as a gem, and I would gladly have spent a week +in the neighborhood; but the question of supplies was a serious one, +and would brook no delay. + +When we reached, on our return, the point where we had crossed the +line of marked trees the day before, the question arose whether we +should still trust ourselves to this line, or follow our own trail +back to the spring and the battlement of rocks on the top of the +mountain, and thence to the rock where the guide had left us. We +decided in favor of the former course. After a march of three quarters +of an hour the blazed trees ceased, and we concluded we were near the +point at which we had parted with our guide. So we built a fire, laid +down our loads, and cast about on all sides for some clew as to our +exact locality. Nearly an hour was consumed in this manner, and +without any result. I came upon a brood of young grouse, which +diverted me for a moment. The old one blustered about at a furious +rate, trying to draw all attention to herself, while the young ones, +which were unable to fly, hid themselves. She whined like a dog in +great distress, and dragged herself along apparently with the greatest +difficulty. As I pursued her, she ran very nimbly, and presently flew +a few yards. Then, as I went on, she flew farther and farther each +time, till at last she got up, and went humming through the woods as +if she had no interest in them. I went back and caught one of the +young, which had simply squatted close to the ground. I then put in my +coatsleeve, when it ran and nestled in my armpit. + +When we met at the sign of the smoke, opinions differed as to the most +feasible course. There was no doubt but that we could get out of the +woods; but we wished to get out speedily, and as near as possible to +the point where we had entered. Half ashamed of our timidity and +indecision, we finally tramped away back to where we had crossed the +line of blazed trees, followed our old trail to the spring on the top +of the range, and, after much searching and scouring to the right and +left, found ourselves at the very place we had left two hours before. +Another deliberation and a divided council. But something must be +done. It was then mid-afternoon, and the prospect of spending another +night on the mountains, without food or drink, was not pleasant. So we +moved down the ridge. Here another line of marked trees was found, the +course of which formed an obtuse angle with the one we had followed. +It kept on the top of the ridge for perhaps a mile, when it +disappeared, and we were as much adrift as ever. Then one of the party +swore an oath, and said he was going out of those woods, hit or miss, +and, wheeling to the right, instantly plunged over the brink of the +mountain. The rest followed, but would fain have paused and ciphered +away at their own uncertainties, to see if a certainty could not be +arrived at as to where we would come out. But our bold leader was +solving the problem in the right way. Down and down and still down we +went, as if we were to bring up in the bowels of the earth. It was by +far the steepest descent we had made, and we felt a grim satisfaction +in knowing we could not retrace our steps this time, be the issue what +it might. As we paused on the brink of a ledge of rocks, we chanced to +see through the trees distant cleared land. A house or barn also was +dimly descried. This was encouraging; but we could not make out +whether it was on Beaver Kill or Mill Brook or Dry Brook, and did not +long stop to consider where it was. We at last brought up at the +bottom of a deep gorge, through which flowed a rapid creek that +literally swarmed with trout. But we were in no mood to catch them, +and pushed on along the channel of the stream, sometimes leaping from +rock to rock, and sometimes splashing heedlessly through the water, +and speculating the while as to where we should probably come out. On +the Beaver Kill, my companions thought; but from the position of the +sun, I said, on the Mill Brook, about six miles below our team; for I +remembered having seen, in coming up this stream, a deep, wild valley +that led up into the mountains, like this one. Soon the banks of the +stream became lower, and we moved into the woods. Here we entered upon +an obscure wood-road, which presently conducted us into the midst of a +vast hemlock forest. The land had a gentle slope, and we wondered by +the lumbermen and barkmen who prowl through these woods had left this +fine tract untouched. Beyond this the forest was mostly birch and +maple. + +We were now close to settlement, and began to hear human sounds. One +rod more, and we were out of the woods. It took us a moment to +comprehend the scene. Things looked very strange at first; but quickly +they began to change and to put on familiar features. Some magic +scene-shifting seemed to take place before my eyes, till, instead of +the unknown settlement which I had at first seemed to look upon, there +stood the farmhouse at which we had stopped two days before, and at +the same moment we heard the stamping of our team in the barn. We sat +down and laughed heartily over our good luck. Our desperate venture +had resulted better than we had dared to hope, and had shamed our +wisest plans. At the house our arrival had been anticipated about this +time, and dinner was being put upon the table. + +It was then five o'clock, so that we had been in the woods just +forty-eight hours; but if time is only phenomenal, as the philosophers +say, and life only in feeling, as the poets aver, we were some months, +if not years, older at that moment than we had been two days before. +Yet younger, too,--though this be a paradox,--for the birches had +infused into us some of their own suppleness and strength. 1869. + + + +VII + +THE BLUEBIRD + +When Nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky +and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and +the hue of the other on his breast, and ordained that his appearance +in the spring should denote that the strife and war between these two +elements was at an end. He is the peace-harbinger; in him the +celestial and terrestrial strike hands and are fast friends. He means +the furrow and he means the warmth; he means all the soft, wooing +influences of the spring on one hand, and the retreating footsteps of +winter on the other. + +It is sure to be a bright March morning when you first hear his note; +and it is as if the milder influences up above had found a voice and +let a word fall upon your ear, so tender is it and so prophetic, a +hope tinged with a regret. + +"Bermuda! Bermuda! Bermuda!" he seems to say, as if both invoking and +lamenting, and, behold! Bermuda follows close, though the little +pilgrim may only be repeating the tradition of his race, himself +having come only from Florida, the Carolinas, or even from Virginia, +where he has found his Bermuda on some broad sunny hillside thickly +studded with cedars and persimmon-trees. + +In New York and in New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple +the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. +The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for +tow of three days before it takes visible shape before you. The males +are the pioneers, and come several days in advance of the females. By +the time both are here and the pairs have begun to prospect for a +place to nest, sugar-making is over, the last vestige of snow has +disappeared, and the plow is brightening its mould-board in the new +furrow. + +The bluebird enjoys the preëminence of being the first bit of color +that cheers our northern landscape. The other birds that arrive about +the same time--the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird--are clad in +neutral tints, gray, brown, or russet; but the bluebird brings one of +the primary hues and the divinest of them all. + +This bird also has the distinction of answering very nearly to the +robin redbreast of English memory, and was by the early settlers of +New England christened the blue robin. + +It is a size or two larger, and the ruddy hue of its breast does not +verge so nearly on an orange, but the manners and habits of the two +birds are very much alike. Our bird has the softer voice, but the +English redbreast is much the more skilled musician. He has indeed a +fine, animated warble, heard nearly the year through about English +gardens and along the old hedge-rows, that is quite beyond the compass +of our bird's instrument. On the other hand, our bird is associated +with the spring as the British species cannot be, being a winter +resident also, while the brighter sun and sky of the New World have +given him a coat that far surpasses that of his transatlantic cousin. + +It is worthy of remark that among British birds there is no blue bird. +The cerulean tint seems much rarer among the feathered tribes there +than here. On this continent there are at least three species of the +common bluebird, while in all our woods there is the blue jay and the +indigo-bird,--the latter so intensely blue as to fully justify its +name. There is also the blue grosbeak, not much behind the indigo-bird +in intensity of color; and among our warblers the blue tint is very +common. + +It is interesting to know that the bluebird is not confined to any one +section of the country; and that when one goes West he will still have +this favorite with him, though a little changed in voice and color, +just enough to give variety without marring the identity. + +The Western bluebird is considered a distinct species, and is perhaps +a little more brilliant and showy than its Eastern brother; and +Nuttall thinks its song is more varied, sweet, and tender. Its color +approaches to ultramarine, while it has a sash of chestnut-red across +its shoulders,--all the effects, I suspect, of that wonderful air and +sky of California, and of those great Western plains; or, if one goes +a little higher up into the mountainous regions of the West, he finds +the Arctic bluebird, the ruddy brown on the breast changed to a +greenish blue, and the wings longer and more pointed; in other +respects not differing much from our species. + +The bluebird usually builds its nest in a hole in a stump or stub, or +in an old cavity excavated by a woodpecker, when such can be had; but +its first impulse seems to be to start in the world in much more +style, and the happy pair make a great show of house-hunting about the +farm buildings, now half persuaded to appropriate a dove-cote, then +discussing in a lively manner a last year's swallow nest, or +proclaiming with much flourish and flutter that they have taken the +wren's house, or the tenement of the purple martin; till finally +nature becomes too urgent, when all this pretty make-believe ceases, +and most of them settle back upon the old family stumps and knotholes +in remote fields, and go to work in earnest. + +In such situations the female is easily captured by approaching very +stealthily and covering the entrance to the nest. The bird seldom +makes any effort to escape, seeing how hopeless the case is, and keeps +her place on the nest till she feels your hand closing around her. I +have looked down into the cavity and seen the poor thing palpitating +with fear and looking up with distended eyes, but never moving till I +had withdrawn a few paces; then she rushes out with a cry that brings +the male on the scene in a hurry. He warbles and lifts his wings +beseechingly, but shows no anger or disposition to scold and complain +like most birds. Indeed, this bird seems incapable of uttering a harsh +note, or of doing a spiteful, ill-tempered thing. + +The ground-builders all have some art or device to decoy one away from +the nest, affecting lameness, a crippled wing, or a broken back, +promising an easy capture if pursued. The tree-builders depend upon +concealing the nest or placing it beyond reach. But the bluebird has +no art either way, and its nest is easily found. + +About the only enemies of the sitting bird or the nest is in danger of +are snakes and squirrels. I knew of a farm-boy who was in the habit of +putting his hand down into a bluebird's nest and taking out the old +bird whenever he came that way. One day he put his hand in, and, +feeling something peculiar, withdrew it hastily, when it was instantly +followed by the head of an enormous black snake. The boy took to his +heels and the snake gave chase, pressing him close till a plowman near +by came to the rescue with his ox-whip. + +There never was a happier or more devoted husband than the male +bluebird is. But among nearly all our familiar birds the serious cares +of life seem to devolve almost entirely upon the female. The male is +hilarious and demonstrative, the female serious and anxious about her +charge. The male is the attendant of the female, following her +wherever she goes. He never leads, never directs, but only seconds and +applauds. If his life is all poetry and romance, hers is all business +and prose. She has no pleasure but her duty, and no duty but to look +after her nest and brood. She shows no affection for the male, no +pleasure in his society; she only tolerates him as a necessary evil, +and, if he is killed, goes in quest of another in the most +business-like manner, as you would go for the plumber or the glazier. +In most cases the male is the ornamental partner in the firm, and +contributes little of the working capital. There seems to be more +equality of the sexes among the woodpeckers, wrens, and swallows; +while the contrast is greatest, perhaps, in the bobolink family, where +the courting is done in the Arab fashion, the female fleeing with all +her speed and the male pursuing with equal precipitation; and were it +not for the broods of young birds that appear, it would be hard to +believe that the intercourse ever ripened into anything more intimate. + +With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as ornamental. He is +the gay champion and escort of the female at all times, and while she +is sitting he feeds her regularly. It is very pretty to watch them +building their nest. The male is very active in hunting out a place +and exploring the boxes and cavities, but seems to have no choice in +the matter and is anxious only to please and to encourage his mate, +who has the practical turn and knows what will do and what will not. +After she has suited herself he applauds her immensely, and away the +two go in quest of material for the nest, the male acting as guard and +flying above and in advance of the female. She brings all the material +and does all the work of building, he looking on and encouraging her +with gesture and song. He acts also as inspector of her work, but I +fear is a very partial one. She enters the nest with her bit of dry +grass or straw, and, having adjusted it to her notion, withdraws and +waits near by while he goes in and looks it over. On coming out he +exclaims very plainly, "Excellent! Excellent!" and away the two go +again for more material. + +The bluebirds, when they build about the farm buildings, sometimes +come into contact with the swallows. The past season I knew a pair to +take forcible possession of the domicile of a pair of the latter,--the +cliff species that now stick their nests under the eaves of the barn. +The bluebirds had been broken up in a little bird-house near by, by +the rats or perhaps a weasel, and being no doubt in a bad humor, and +the season being well advanced, they made forcible entrance into the +adobe tenement of their neighbors, and held possession of it for some +days, but I believe finally withdrew, rather than live amid such a +squeaky, noisy colony. I have heard that these swallows, when ejected +from their homes in that way by the phoebe-bird, have been known to +fall to and mason up the entrance to the nest while their enemy was +inside of it, thus having a revenge as complete and cruel as anything +in human annals. + +The bluebirds and the house wrens more frequently come into collision. +A few years ago I put up a little bird-house in the back end of my +garden for the accommodation of the wrens, and every season a pair of +bluebirds looked into the tenement and lingered about several days, +leading me to hope that they would conclude to occupy it. But they +finally went away, and later in the season the wrens appeared, and, +after a little coquetting, were regularly installed in their old +quarters, and were as happy as only wrens can be. + +One of our younger poets, Myron Benton, saw a little bird + + "Ruffled with whirlwind of his ecstasies," + +which must have been the wren, as I know of no other bird that so +throbs and palpitates with music as this little vagabond. And the pair +I speak of seemed exceptionally happy, and the male had a small +tornado of song in his crop that kept him "ruffled" every moment in +the day. But before their honeymoon was over the bluebirds returned. I +knew something was wrong before I was up in the morning. Instead of +that voluble and gushing song outside the window, I heard the wrens +scolding and crying at a fearful rate, and on going out saw the +bluebirds in possession of the box. The poor wrens were in despair; +they wrung their hands and tore their hair, after the wren fashion, +but chiefly did they rattle out their disgust and wrath at the +intruders. I have no doubt that, if it could have been interpreted, it +would have proven the rankest and most voluble Billingsgate ever +uttered. For the wren is saucy, and he has a tongue in his head that +can outwag any other tongue known to me. + +The bluebirds said nothing, but the male kept an eye on Mr. Wren; and, +when he came to near, gave chase, driving him to cover under the +fence, or under a rubbish heap or other object, where the wren would +scold and rattle away, while his pursuer sat on the fence or the +pea-brush waiting for him to reappear. + +Days passed, and the usurpers prospered and the outcasts were +wretched; but the latter lingered about, watching and abusing their +enemies, and hoping, no doubt, that things would take a turn, as they +presently did. The outraged wrens were fully avenged. The mother +bluebird had laid her full complement of eggs and was beginning to +set, when one day, as her mate was perched above her on the barn, +along came a boy with one of those wicked elastic slings and cut him +down with a pebble. There he lay like a bit of sky fallen upon the +grass. The widowed bird seemed to understand what had happened, and +without much ado disappeared next day in quest of another mate. How +she contrived to make her wants known, without trumpeting them about, +I am unable to say. But I presume that birds have a way of advertising +that answers the purpose well. Maybe she trusted to luck to fall in +with some stray bachelor or bereaved male who would undertake to +console a widow or one day's standing. I will say, in passing, that +there are no bachelors from choice among the birds; they are all +rejected suitors, while old maids are entirely unknown. There is a +Jack to every Jill; and some to boot. + +The males, being more exposed by their song and plumage, and by being +the pioneers in migrating, seem to be slightly in excess lest the +supply fall short, and hence it sometimes happens that a few are +bachelors perforce; there are not females enough to go around, but +before the season is over there are sure to be some vacancies in the +marital ranks, which they are called on to fill. + +In the mean time the wrens were beside themselves with delight; they +fairly screamed with joy. If the male was before "ruffled with +whirlwind of his ecstasies," he was now in danger of being rent +asunder. He inflated his throat and caroled as wren never caroled +before. And the female, too, how she cackled and darted about! How +busy they both were! Rushing into the nest, they hustled those eggs +out in less than a minute, wren time. They carried in new material, +and by the third day were fairly installed again in their old +headquarters; but on the third day, so rapidly are these little dramas +played, the female bluebird reappeared with another mate. Ah! how the +wren stock went down then! What dismay and despair filled again those +little breasts! It was pitiful. They did not scold as before, but +after a day or two withdrew from the garden, dumb with grief, and gave +up the struggle. + +The bluebird, finding her eggs gone and her nest changed, seemed +suddenly seized with alarm and shunned the box; or else, finding she +had less need for another husband than she thought, repented her +rashness and wanted to dissolve the compact. But the happy bridegroom +would not take the hint, and exerted all his eloquence to comfort and +reassure her. He was fresh and fond, and until this bereaved female +found him I am sure his suit had not prospered that season. He thought +the box just the thing, and that there was no need of alarm, and spent +days in trying to persuade the female back. Seeing he could not be a +stepfather to a family, he was quite willing to assume a nearer +relation. He hovered about the box, he went in and out, he called, he +warbled, he entreated; the female would respond occasionally and come +and alight near, and even peep into the nest, but would not enter it, +and quickly flew away again. Her mate would reluctantly follow, but he +was soon back, uttering the most confident and cheering calls. If she +did not come he would perch above the nest and sound his loudest notes +over and over again, looking in the direction of his mate and +beckoning with every motion. But she responded less and less +frequently. Some days I would see him only, but finally he gave it up; +the pair disappeared, and the box remained deserted the rest of the +summer. + +1867 + + + +VIII + +THE INVITATION + +Years ago, when quite a youth, I was rambling in the woods one Sunday, +with my brothers, gathering black birch, wintergreens, etc., when, as +we reclined upon the ground, gazing vaguely up into the trees, I +caught sight of a bird, that paused a moment on a branch above me, the +like of which I had never before seen or heard of. It was probably the +blue yellow-backed warbler, as I have since found this to be a common +bird in those woods; but to my young fancy it seemed like some fairy +bird, so unexpected. I saw it a moment as the flickering leaves +parted, noted the white spot on its wing, and it was gone. How the +thought of it clung to me afterward! It was a revelation. It was the +first intimation I had had that the woods we knew so well held birds +that we knew not at all. Were our eyes and ears so dull, then? There +was the robin, the blue jay, the bluebird, the yellow-bird, the +cherry-bird, the catbird, the chipping-bird, the woodpecker, the +high-hole, an occasional redbird, and a few others, in the woods or +along their borders, but who ever dreamed that there were still others +that not even the hunters saw, and whose names no one had ever heard? + +When, one summer day, later in life, I took my gun and went to the +woods again, in a different though perhaps a less simple spirit I +found my youthful vision more than realized. There were, indeed, other +birds, plenty of them, singing, nesting, breeding, among the familiar +trees, which I had before passed by unheard and unseen. + +It is a surprise that awaits every student of ornithology, and the +thrill of delight that accompanies it, and the feeling of fresh, eager +inquiry that follows, can hardly be awakened by any other pursuit. +Take the first step in ornithology, procure one new specimen, and you +are ticketed for the whole voyage. There is a fascination about it +quite overpowering. It fits so well with other things,--with fishing, +hunting, farming, walking, camping-out,--with all that takes one to +the fields and woods. One may go a-blackberrying and make some rare +discovery; or, while driving his cow to pasture, hear a new song, or +make a new observation. Secrets lurk on all sides. There is news in +every bush. Expectation is ever on tiptoe. What no man ever saw before +may the next moment be revealed to you. What a new interest the woods +have! How you long to explore every nook and corner of them! You would +even find consolation in being lost in them. You could then hear the +night birds and the owls, and, in your wanderings, might stumble upon +some unknown specimen. + +In all excursions to the woods or to the shore, the student of +ornithology has an advantage over his companions. He has one more +resource, one more avenue of delight. He, indeed, kills two birds with +one stone and sometimes three. If others wander, he can never go out +of his way. His game is everywhere. The cawing of a crow makes him +feel at home, while a new note or a new song drowns all care. Audubon, +on the desolate coast of Labrador, is happier than any king ever was; +and on shipboard is nearly cured of his seasickness when a new gull +appears in sight. + +One must taste it to understand or appreciate its fascination. The +looker-on sees nothing to inspire such enthusiasm. Only a few feathers +and a half-musical note or two; why all this ado? "Who would give a +hundred and twenty dollars to know about the birds?" said an Eastern +governor, half contemptuously, to Wilson, as the latter solicited a +subscription to his great work. Sure enough. Bought knowledge is dear +at any price. The most precious things have no commercial value. It is +not, your Excellency, mere technical knowledge of the birds that you +are asked to purchase, but a new interest in the fields and the woods, +a new moral and intellectual tonic, a new key to the treasure-house of +Nature. Think of the many other things your Excellency would get,--the +air, the sunshine, the healing fragrance and coolness, and the many +respites from the knavery and turmoil of political life. + +Yesterday was an October day of rare brightness and warmth. I spent +the most of it in a wild, wooded gorge of Rock Creek. A persimmon-tree +which stood upon the bank had dropped some of its fruit in the water. +As I stood there, half-leg deep, picking them up, a wood duck came +flying down the creek and passed over my head. Presently it returned, +flying up; then it came back again, and, sweeping low around a bend, +prepared to alight in a still, dark reach in the creek which was +hidden from my view. As I passed that way about half an hour +afterward, the duck started up, uttering its wild alarm note. In the +stillness I could hear the whistle of its wings and the splash of the +water when it took flight. Near by I saw where a raccoon had come down +to the water for fresh clams, leaving his long, sharp track in the mud +and sand. Before I had passed this hidden stretch of water, a pair of +those mysterious thrushes, the gray-cheeked, flew up from the ground +and perched on a low branch. + +Who can tell how much this duck, this footprint in the sand, and these +strange thrushes from the far north, enhanced the interest and charm +of the autumn woods? + +Ornithology cannot be satisfactorily learned from the books. The +satisfaction is in learning it from nature. One must have an original +experience with the birds. The books are only the guide, the +invitation. Though there remain not another new species to describe, +any young person with health and enthusiasm has open to him or her the +whole field anew, and is eligible to experience all the thrill and +delight of the original discoverers. + +But let me say, in the same breath, that the books can by no manner of +means be dispensed with. A copy of Wilson or Audubon, for reference +and to compare notes with, is invaluable. In lieu of these, access to +some large museum or collection would be a great help. In the +beginning, one finds it very difficult to identify a bird from any +verbal description. Reference to a colored plate, or to a stuffed +specimen, at once settles the matter. This is the chief value of +books; they are the charts to sail by; the route is mapped out, and +much time and labor are thereby saved. First find your bird; observe +its ways, its song, its calls, its flight, its haunts; then shoot it +(not ogle it with a glass), and compare it with Audubon. [footnote: My +later experiences have led me to prefer a small field-glass to a gun.] +In this way the feathered kingdom may soon be conquered. + +The ornithologists divide and subdivide the birds into a great many +orders, families, genera, species etc., which, at first sight, are apt +to confuse and discourage the reader. But any interested person can +acquaint himself with most of our song-birds by keeping in mind a few +general divisions, and observing the characteristics of each. By far +the greater number of our land-birds are either warblers, vireos, +flycatchers, thrushes, or finches. + +The warblers are, perhaps, the most puzzling. These are the true +Sylvia, the real wood-birds. They are small, very active, but feeble +songsters, and, to be seen, must be sought for. In passing through the +woods, most persons have a vague consciousness of slight chirping, +semi-musical sounds in the trees overhead. In most cases these sounds +proceed from the warblers. Throughout the Middle and Eastern States, +half a dozen species or so may be found in almost every locality, as +the redstart, the Maryland yellow-throat, the yellow warbler (not the +common goldfinch, with black cap, and black wings and tail), the +hooded warbler, the black and white creeping warbler; or others, +according to the locality and the character of the woods. In pine or +hemlock woods, one species may predominate; in maple or oak woods, or +in mountainous districts, another. The subdivisions of ground +warblers, the most common members of which are the Maryland +yellow-throat, the Kentucky warbler, and the mourning ground warbler, +are usually found in low, wet, bushy, or half-open woods, often on and +always near the ground. The summer yellowbird, or yellow warbler, is +not now a wood-bird at all, being found in orchards and parks, and +along streams and in the trees of villages and cities. + +As we go north the number of warblers increases, till, in the northern +part of New England, and in the Canadas, as many as ten or twelve +varieties may be found breeding in June. Audubon found the black-poll +warbler breeding in Labrador, and congratulates himself on being the +first white man who had ever seen its nest. When these warblers pass +north in May, they seem to go singly or in pairs, and their black caps +and striped coats show conspicuously. When they return in September +they are in troops or loose flocks, are of a uniform dull drab or +brindlish color, and are very fat. They scour the treetops for a few +days, almost eluding the eye by their quick movements, and are gone. + +According to my own observation, the number of species of warblers +which one living in the middle districts sees, on their return in the +fall, is very small compared with the number he may observe migrating +north in the spring. + +The yellow-rumped warblers are the most noticeable of all in Autumn. +They come about the streets and garden, and seem especially drawn to +dry, leafless trees. They dart spitefully about, uttering a sharp +chirp. In Washington I have seen them in the outskirts all winter. + +Audubon figures and describes over forty different warblers. More +recent writers have divided and subdivided the group very much, giving +new names to new classifications. But this part is of interest and +value only to the professional ornithologist. + +The finest songster among the Sylvia, according to my notions, is the +black-throated greenback. Its song is sweet and clear, but brief. + +The rarest of the species are Swainson's warbler, said to be +disappearing; the cerulean warbler, said to be abundant about Niagara; +and the mourning ground warbler, which I have found breeding about the +head-waters of the Delaware, in New York. + +The vireos, or greenlets, are a sort of connecting link between the +warblers and the true flycatchers, and partake of the characteristics +of both. + +The red-eyed vireo, whose sweet soliloquy is one of the most constant +and cheerful sounds in our woods and groves, is perhaps the most +noticeable and abundant species. The vireos are a little larger than +the warblers, and are far less brilliant and variegated in color. + +There are five species found in most of our woods, namely the red-eyed +vireo, the white-eyed vireo, the warbling vireo, the yellow-throated +vireo, and the solitary vireo,--the red-eyed and warbling being most +abundant, and the white-eyed being the most lively and animated +songster. I meet the latter bird only in the thick, bush growths of +low, swampy localities, where, eluding the observer, it pours forth +its song with a sharpness and a rapidity of articulation that are +truly astonishing. This strain is very marked, and, though inlaid with +the notes of several other birds, is entirely unique. The iris of this +bird is white, as that of the red-eyed is red, though in neither case +can this mark be distinguished at more than two or three yards. In +most cases the iris of birds is a dark hazel, which passes for black. + +The basket-like nest, pendent to the low branches in the woods, which +the falling leaves of autumn reveal to all passers, is, in most cases, +the nest of the red-eyed, though the solitary constructs a similar +tenement, but in much more remote and secluded localities. + +Most birds exhibit great alarm and distress, usually with a strong +dash of anger, when you approach their nests; but the demeanor of the +red-eyed, on such an occasion, is an exception to this rule. The +parent birds move about softly amid the branches above, eying the +intruder with a curious, innocent look, uttering, now and then, a +subdued note or plaint, solicitous and watchful, but making no +demonstration of anger or distress. + +The birds, no more than the animals, like to be caught napping; but I +remember, one autumn day, coming upon a red-eyed vireo that was +clearly oblivious to all that was passing around it. It was a young +bird, though full grown, and it was taking its siesta on a low branch +in a remote heathery field. Its head was snugly stowed away under its +wing, and it would have fallen easy prey to the first hawk that came +along. I approached noiselessly, and when within a few feet of it +paused to note its breathings, so much more rapid and full than our +own. A bird has greater lung capacity than any other living thing, +hence more animal heat, and life at a higher pressure. When I reached +out my hand and carefully closed it around the winged sleeper, its +sudden terror and consternation almost paralyzed it. Then it struggled +and cried piteously, and when released hastened and hid itself in some +near bushes. I never expected to surprise it thus a second time. + +The flycatchers are a larger group than the vireos, with +stronger-marked characteristics. They are not properly songsters, but +are classed by some writers as screechers. Their pugnacious +dispositions are well known, and they not only fight among themselves, +but are incessantly quarreling with their neighbors. The kingbird, or +tyrant flycatcher might serve as the type of the order. + +The common or wood pewee excites the most pleasant emotions, both on +account of its plaintive note and its exquisite mossy nest. + +The phoebe-bird is the pioneer of the flycatchers, and comes in April, +sometimes in March. Its comes familiarly about the house and +outbuildings, and usually builds beneath hay-sheds or under bridges. + +The flycatchers always take their insect prey on the wing, by a sudden +darting or swooping movement; often a very audible snap of the beak +may be heard. + +These birds are the least elegant, both in form and color, of any of +our feathered neighbors. They have short legs, a short neck, large +heads, and broad, flat beaks, with bristles at the base. They often +fly with a peculiar quivering movement of the wings, and when at rest +some of the species oscillate their tails at short intervals. + +There are found in the United States nineteen species. In the Middle +and Eastern districts, one may observe in summer, without any special +search, about five of them, namely, the kingbird, the phoebe-bird, the +wood pewee, the great crested flycatcher (distinguished from all +others by the bright ferruginous color of its tail), and the small +green-crested flycatcher. + +The thrushes are the birds of real melody, and will afford one more +delight perhaps than any other class. The robin is the most familiar +example. Their manners, flight, and form are the same in each species. +See the robin hop along upon the ground, strike an attitude, scratch +for a worm, fix his eye upon something before him or upon the +beholder, flip his wings suspiciously, fly straight to his perch, or +sit at sundown on some high branch caroling his sweet and honest +strain, and you have seen what is characteristic of all the thrushes. +Their carriage is preëminently marked by grace, and their songs by +melody. + +Beside the robin, which is in no sense a woodbird, we have in New York +the wood thrush, the hermit thrush, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, the +olive-backed thrush, and, transiently, one or two other species not so +clearly defined. + +The wood thrush and the hermit stand at the head as songsters, no two +persons, perhaps, agreeing as to which is the superior. + +Under the general head of finches, Audubon describes over sixty +different birds, ranging from the sparrows to the grosbeaks, and +including the buntings, the linnets, the snowbirds, the crossbills, +and the redbirds. + +We have nearly or quite a dozen varieties of the sparrow in the +Atlantic States, but perhaps no more than half that number would be +discriminated by the unprofessional observer. The song sparrow, which +every child knows, comes first; at least, his voice is first heard. +And can there be anything more fresh and pleasing than this first +simple strain heard from the garden fence or a near hedge, on some +bright, still March morning? + +The field or vesper sparrow, called also grass finch 8 and +bay-winged sparrow, a bird slightly larger than the song sparrow and +of a lighter gray color, is abundant in all our upland fields and +pastures, and is a very sweet songster. It builds upon the ground, +without the slightest cover or protection, and also roosts there. +Walking through the fields at dusk, I frequently start them up almost +beneath my feet. When disturbed by day, they fly with a quick, sharp +movement, showing two white quills in the tail. The traveler along the +country roads disturbs them earthing their wings in the soft dry +earth, or sees them skulking and flitting along the fences in front of +him. They run in the furrow in advance of the team, or perch upon the +stones a few rods off. They sing much after sundown, hence the aptness +of the name vesper sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, has +bestowed upon them. + +In the meadows and low, wet lands the savanna sparrow is met with, and +may be known by its fine, insect-like song; in the swamp, the swamp +sparrow. + +The fox sparrow, the largest and handsomest species of this family, +comes to us in the fall, from the North, where it breeds. Likewise the +tree or Canada sparrow, and the white-crowned and white-throated +sparrow. + +The social sparrow, alias "hairbird," alias "red-headed +chipping-bird," is the smallest of the sparrows, and I believe, the +only one that builds in trees. + +The finches, as a class, all have short conical bills, with tails more +or less forked. The purple finch heads the list in varied musical +abilities. + +Besides the groups of our more familiar birds which I have thus +hastily outlined, there are numerous other groups, more limited in +specimens but comprising some of our best-known songsters. The +bobolink, for instance, has properly no congener. The famous +mockingbird of the Southern States belongs to a genus which has but +two other representatives in the Atlantic States, namely, the catbird +and the long-tailed or ferruginous thrush. + +The wrens are a large and interesting family, and as songsters are +noted for vivacity and volubility. The more common species are the +house wren, the marsh wren, the great Carolina wren, and the winter +wren, the latter perhaps deriving its name from the fact that it breed +in the North. It is an exquisite songster, and pours forth its notes +so rapidly, and with such sylvan sweetness and cadence, that it seems +to go off like a musical alarm. + +Wilson called the kinglets wrens, but they have little to justify the +name, except that the ruby-crown's song is of the same gushing, +lyrical character as that referred to above. Dr. Brewer was entranced +with the song of one of these tiny minstrels in the woods of New +Brunswick, and thought he had found the author of the strain in the +black-poll warbler. He seems loath to believe that a bird so small as +either of the kinglets could possess such vocal powers. It may indeed +have been the winter wren, but from my own observation I believe the +ruby-crowned kinglet quite capable of such a performance. + +But I must leave this part of the subject and hasten on. As to works +on ornithology, Audubon's, though its expense puts it beyond the reach +of the mass of readers, is by far the most full and accurate. His +drawings surpass all others in accuracy and spirit, while his +enthusiasm and devotion to the work he had undertaken have but few +parallels in the history of science. His chapter on the wild goose is +as good as a poem. One readily overlooks his style, which is often +verbose and affected, in consideration of enthusiasm so genuine and +purpose so single. + +There has never been a keener eye than Audubon's, though there have +been more discriminative ears. Nuttall, for instance is far more happy +in his descriptions of the songs and notes of birds, and more to be +relied upon. Audubon thinks the song of the Louisiana water-thrush +equal to that of the European nightingale, and, as he had heard both +birds, one would think was prepared to judge. Yet he has, no doubt, +overrated the one and underrated the other. The song of the +water-thrush is very brief, compared with the philomel's, and its +quality is brightness and vivacity, while that of the latter bird, if +the books are to be credited, is melody and harmony. Again, he says +the song of the blue grosbeak resembles the bobolink's, which it does +about as much as the two birds resemble each other in color; one is +black and white and the other is blue. The song of the wood-wagtail, +he says, consists of a "short succession of simple notes beginning +with emphasis and gradually falling." The truth is, they run up the +scale instead of down, beginning low and ending in a shriek. + +Yet considering the extent of Audubon's work, the wonder is the errors +are so few. I can at this moment recall but one observation of his, +the contrary of which I have proved to be true. In his account of the +bobolink he makes a point of the fact that, in returning south in the +fall, they do not travel by night as they do when moving north in the +spring. In Washington I have heard their calls as they flew over at +night for four successive autumns. As he devoted the whole of a long +life to the subject, and figured and described over four hundred +species, one feels a real triumph on finding in our common woods a +bird not described in his work. I have seen but two. Walking in the +woods one day in early fall, in the vicinity of West Point, I started +up a thrush that was sitting on the ground. It alighted on a branch a +few yards off, and looked new to me. I thought I had never before seen +so long-legged a thrush. I shot it, and saw that it was a new +acquaintance. Its peculiarities were its broad, square tail; the +length of its legs, which were three and three quarters inches from +the end of the middle toe to the hip-joint; and the deep uniform +olive-brown of the upper parts, and the gray of the lower. It proved +to be the gray-cheeked thrush, named and first described by Professor +Baird. But little seems to be known concerning it, except that it +breeds in the far north, even on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. I +would go a good way to hear its song. + +The present season I met with a pair of them near Washington, as +mentioned above. In size this bird approaches the wood thrush, being +larger than either the hermit or the veery; unlike all other species, +no part of its plumage has a tawny or yellowish tinge. The other +specimen was the northern or small water-thrush, cousin-german to the +oven-bird and the half-brother to the Louisiana water-thrush or +wagtail. I found it at the head of the Delaware, where it evidently +had a nest. It usually breeds much further north. It has a strong, +clear warble, which at once suggests the song of its congener. I have +not been able to find any account of this particular species in the +books, though it seems to be well known. + +More recent writers and explorers have added to Audubon's list over +three hundred new species, the greater number of which belong to the +northern and western parts of the continent. Audubon's observations +were confined mainly to the Atlantic and Gulf States and the adjacent +islands; hence the Western or Pacific birds were but little known to +him, and are only briefly mentioned in his works. + +It is, by the way, a little remarkable how many of the Western birds +seem merely duplicates of the Eastern. Thus, the varied thrush of the +West is our robin, a little differently marked; and the red-shafted +woodpecker is our golden-wing, or high-hole, colored red instead of +yellow. There is also a Western chickadee, a Western chewink, a +Western blue jay, a Western bluebird, a Western song sparrow, Western +grouse, quail, hen-hawk, etc. + +One of the most remarkable birds of the West seems to be a species of +skylark, met with on the plains of Dakota, which mounts to the height +of three or four hundred feet, and showers down its ecstatic notes. It +is evidently akin to several of our Eastern species. + +A correspondent, writing to me from the country one September, said: +"I have observed recently a new species of bird here. They alight upon +the buildings and fences as well as upon the ground. They are +walkers." In a few days he obtained one and sent me the skin. It +proved to be what I had anticipated, namely the American pipit, or +titlark, a slender brown bird, about the size of the sparrow, which +passes through the States in the fall and spring, to and from its +breeding haunts in the far north. They generally appear by twos and +threes, or in small loose flocks, searching for food on banks and +plowed ground. As they fly up, they show two or three white quills in +the tail, like the vesper sparrow. Flying over, they utter a single +chirp or cry every few rods. They breed in the bleak, moss-covered +rocks of Labrador. It is reported that their eggs have also been found +in Vermont, and I feel quite certain that I saw this bird in the +Adirondack Mountains in the month of August. The male launches into +the air, and gives forth a brief but melodious song, after the manner +of all larks. They are walkers. This is a characteristic of but few of +our land-birds. By far the greater number are hoppers. Note the track +of the common snowbird; the feet are not placed one in front of the +other, as in the track of the crow or partridge, but side and side. +The sparrows, thrushes, warblers, woodpeckers, buntings, etc., are all +hoppers. On the other hand, all aquatic or semi-aquatic birds are +walkers. The plovers and sandpipers and snips run rapidly. Among the +land-birds, the grouse, pigeons, quails, larks and various blackbirds +walk. The swallows walk, also, whenever they use their feet at all, +but very awkwardly. The larks walk with ease and grace. Note the +meadowlarks strutting about all day in the meadows. + +Besides being walkers, the larks, or birds allied to the larks, all +sing upon the wing, usually poised or circling in the air, with a +hovering, tremulous flight. The meadowlark occasionally does this in +the early part of the season. At such times its long-drawn note or +whistle becomes a rich, amorous warble. + +The bobolink, also, has both characteristics, and, notwithstanding the +difference of form and build, etc., is very suggestive of the English +skylark, as it figures in the books, and is, no doubt, fully its equal +as a songster. + +Of our small wood-birds we have three varieties east of the +Mississippi, closely related to each other, which I have already +spoken of, and which walk, and sing, more or less, on the wing, namely +the two species of water-thrush or wagtails, and the oven-bird or +wood-wagtail. The latter is the most common, and few observers of the +birds can have failed to notice its easy, gliding walk. Its other lark +trait, namely singing in the air, seems not to have been observed by +any other naturalist. Yet it is a well-established characteristic, and +may be verified by any person who will spend a half hour in the woods +where this bird abounds on some June afternoon or evening. I hear it +very frequently after sundown, when the ecstatic singer can hardly be +distinguished against the sky. I know of a high, bald-top mountain +where I have sat late in the afternoon and heard them as often as one +every minute. Sometimes the bird would be far below me, sometimes near +at hand; and very frequently the singer would be hovering a hundred +feet above the summit. He would start from the trees on one side of +the open space, reach his climax in the air, and plunge down on the +other side. His descent after the song is finished is very rapid, and +precisely like that of the titlark when it sweeps down from its course +to alight on the ground. + +I first verified this observation some years ago. I had long been +familiar with the song, but had only strongly suspected the author of +it, when, as I was walking in the woods one evening, just as the +leaves were putting out, I saw one of these birds but a few rods from +me. I was saying to myself, half audibly, "Come, now, show off, if it +is in you; I have come to the woods expressly to settle this point," +when it began to ascend, by short hops and flights, through the +branches, uttering a sharp, preliminary chirp. I followed it with my +eye; saw it mount into the air and circle over the woods; and saw it +sweep down again and dive through the trees, almost to the very perch +from which it had started. + +As the paramount question in the life of a bird is the question of +food, perhaps the most serious troubles our feathered neighbors +encounter are early in the spring, after the supply of fat with which +Nature stores every corner and by-place of the system, thereby +anticipating the scarcity of food, has been exhausted, and the sudden +and severe changes in the weather which occur at this season make +unusual demands upon their vitality. No doubt many of the earlier +birds die from starvation and exposure at this season. Among a troop +of Canada sparrows which I came upon one March day, all of them +evidently much reduced, one was so feeble that I caught it in my hand. + +During the present season, a very severe cold spell the first week in +March drove the bluebirds to seek shelter about the houses and +outbuildings. As night approached, and the winds and the cold +increased, they seemed filled with apprehension and alarm, and in the +outskirts of the city came about the windows and the doors, crept +beneath the blinds, clung to the gutters and beneath the cornice, +flitted from porch to porch, and from house to house, seeking in vain +from some safe retreat from the cold. The street pump, which had a +small opening just over the handle, was an attraction which they could +not resist. And yet they seemed aware of the insecurity of the +position; for no sooner would they stow themselves away into the +interior of the pump, to the number of six or eight, than they would +rush out again, as if apprehensive of some approaching danger. Time +after time the cavity was filled and refilled, with blue and brown +intermingled, and as often emptied. Presently they tarried longer than +usual, when I made a sudden sally and captured three, that found a +warmer and safer lodging for the night in the cellar. + +In the fall, birds and fowls of all kinds become very fat. The +squirrels and mice lay by a supply of food in their dens and retreats, +but the birds, to a considerable extent, especially our winter +residents, carry an equivalent in their own systems, in the form of +adipose tissue. I killed a red-shouldered hawk one December, and on +removing the skin found the body completely encased in a coating of +fat one quarter of an inch in thickness. Not a particle of muscle was +visible. This coating not only serves as a protection against the +cold, but supplies the waste of the system when food is scarce or +fails altogether. + +The crows at this season are in the same condition. It is estimated +that a crow needs at least half a pound of meat per day, but it is +evident that for weeks and months during the winter and spring they +must subsist on a mere fraction of that amount. I have no doubt that a +crow or hawk, when in his fall condition, would live two weeks without +a morsel of food passing his beak; a domestic fowl will do as much. +One January I unwittingly shut a hen under the door of an outbuilding, +where not a particle of food could be obtained, and where she was +entirely unprotected from the severe cold. When the luckless Dominick +was discovered, about eighteen days afterward, she was brisk and +lively, but fearfully pinched up, and as light as a bunch of feathers. +The slightest wind carried her before it. But by judicious feeding she +was soon restored. + +The circumstances of the bluebirds being emboldened by the cold +suggests the fact that the fear of man, which by now seems like an +instinct in the birds, is evidently an acquired trait, and foreign to +them in a state of primitive nature. Every gunner has observed, to his +chagrin, how wild the pigeons become after a few days of firing among +them; and, to his delight, how easy it is to approach near his game in +new or unfrequented woods. Professor Baird [footnote: Then at the head +of the Smithsonian Institution] tells me that a correspondent of +theirs visited a small island in the Pacific Ocean, situated about two +hundred miles off Cape St. Lucas, to procure specimens. The island was +but a few miles in extent, and had probably never been visited half a +dozen times by human beings. The naturalist found the birds and +water-fowls so tame that it was but a waste of ammunition to shoot +them. Fixing a noose on the end of a long stick, he captured them by +putting it over their necks and hauling them to him. In some cases not +even this contrivance was needed. A species of mockingbird in +particular, larger than ours and a splendid songster, made itself so +familiar as to be almost a nuisance, hopping on the table where the +collector was writing, and scattering the pens and paper. Eighteen +species were found, twelve of them peculiar to the island. + +Thoreau relates that in the woods of Maine the Canada jay will +sometimes make its meal with the lumbermen, taking the food out of +their hands. + +Yet notwithstanding the birds have come to look upon man as their +natural enemy, there can be little doubt that civilization is on the +whole favorable to their increase and perpetuity, especially to the +smaller species. With man comes flies and moths, and insects of all +kinds in greater abundance; new plants and weeds are introduced, and, +with the clearing up of the country, are sowed broadcast over the +land. + +The larks and snow buntings that come to us from the north subsist +almost entirely upon the seeds of grasses and plants; and how many of +our more common and abundant species are field-birds, and entire +strangers to deep forests? + +In Europe some birds have become almost domesticated, like the house +sparrow; and in our own country the cliff swallow seems to have +entirely abandoned ledges and shelving rocks, as a place to nest, for +the eaves and projections of farm and other outbuildings. + +After one has made the acquaintance of most of the land-birds, there +remain the seashore and its treasures. How little one knows of the +aquatic fowls, even after reading carefully the best authorities, was +recently forced home to my mind by the following circumstance: I was +spending a vacation in the interior of New York, when one day a +stranger alighted before the house, and with a cigar box in his hand +approached me as I sat in the doorway. I was about to say that he +would waste his time in recommending his cigars to me, as I never +smoked, when he said that, hearing I knew something about birds, he +had brought me one which had been picked up a few hours before in a +hay-field near the village, and which was stranger to all who had seen +it. As he began to undo the box I expected to see some of our own +rarer birds, perhaps the rose-breasted grosbeak or Bohemian chatterer. +Imagine, then, how I was taken aback when I beheld instead a +swallow-shaped bird, quite as large as a pigeon, with a forked tail, +glossy black above and snow-white beneath. Its parti-webbed feet, and +its long graceful wings, at a glance told that it was a sea-bird; but +as to its name or habitat I must defer my answer till I could get a +peep into Audubon or some collection. + +The bird had fallen down exhausted in a meadow, and was picked up just +as the life was leaving its body. The place must have been one hundred +and fifty miles from the sea as the bird flies. As it was the sooty +tern, which inhabits the Florida Keys, its appearance so far north and +so far inland may be considered somewhat remarkable. On removing the +skin I found it terribly emaciated. It had no doubt starved to death, +ruined by too much wing. Another Icarus. Its great power of flight had +made it bold and venturesome, and had carried it so far out of its +range that it starved to death before it could return. + +The sooty tern is sometimes called the sea-swallow on account of its +form and the power of flight. It will fly nearly all day at sea, +picking up food from the surface of the water. There are several +species of terns, some of them strikingly beautiful. + + 1868. + + + +INDEX + +[Transcribist's note: condensed to bird names and their +scientific names] + + Blackbird, crow, or purple grackle (Quiscalus quiscula). + Bluebird (Sialia sialis). + Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). + Bunting, black-throated or dickcissel (Spiza americana). + Bunting, snow (Passerina nivalis). + Buzzard, turkey, or turkey vulture (Cathartes aura). + + Cardinal. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal. + Catbird (Galeoscoptes carolinensis). + Cedar-bird, or Cedar waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum). + Chat, yellow-breasted (Icteria virens). + Chewink, or towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). + Chickadee (Parus atricapillus). + Cow-bunting, or cowbird (Molothrus ater). + Creeper, brown (Certhia familiaris americana). + Crow, American (Corvus brachyrhynchos). + Cuckoo, black-billed (Coccyzux erythrophthalmus). + Cuckoo, European. + Cuckoo, yellow-billed (Coccyzus americanus). + + Dickcissel. SEE Bunting, black-throated. + Dove, turtle, or mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura). + Duck, wood (Aix sponsa). + + Eagle, bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). + Eagle, golden (Aquila chrysaetos). + + Finch, grass. SEE Sparrow, field. + Finch, pine, OR pine siskin (Spinus pinus). + Finch, purple, OR linnet (Carpodacus purpureus). + Flicker. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. + Flycatcher, great crested (Myiarchus crinitus). + Flycatcher, green-crested, OR green-crested pewee (Empidonax + virescens). + Flycatcher, white-eyed. SEE Vireo, white-eyed. + Fox, gray, 43. + + Gnatcatcher, blue-gray (Polioptila caerulea). + Goldfinch, American, OR yellow-bird (Astragalinus tristis). + Grackle, purple. SEE Blackbird, crow. + Grosbeak, blue (Guiraca caerulea). + Grosbeak, cardinal, OR Virginia red-bird, OR cardinal (Cardinalis + cardinalis). + Grosbeak, rose-breasted (Zamelodia ludoviciana). + Grouse, ruffed. SEE Partridge. + + Hairbird. SEE Sparrow, social. + Hawk, fish, OR American osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis). + Hawk, hen. + Hawk, pigeon. + Hawk, red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus). + Hawk, red-tailed (Buteo borealis). + Hawk, sharp-shinned (Accipiter velox). + Hen, domestic. + Heron, great blue (Ardea herodias). + High-hole. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. + Hummingbird, ruby-throated (Trochilus colubris). + + Indigo-bird (Cyanospiza cyanea). + + Jay, blue (Cyanocitta cristata). + Jay, Canada (Perisoreus canadensis). + + Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). + Kinglet, golden-crowned (Regulus satrapa). + Kinglet, ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula). + + Lark, shore, OR horned lark (Otocoris alpestris). + + Martin, purple (Progne subis). + Meadowlark (sturnella magna). + Merganser, red-breasted (Merganser serrator). + Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). + + Nightingale. + Nuthatch, (Sitta). + + Oriole, Baltimore (Icterus galbula). + Oriole, orchard. SEE Starling, orchard. + Osprey. SEE Hawk, fish. + Owl, screech (megascops asio). + + Partridge, OR ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). + Pewee. SEE Phoebe-bird. + Pewee, green-crested. SEE Flycatcher, green-crested. + Pewee, wood (Contopus virens). + Phoebe-bird, OR pewee (Sayornis phoebe). + Pickerel. + Pigeon, wild, OR passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). + Pipit, American, OR titlark (Anthus pensilvanicus). + + Quail, OR bob-white (Colinus virginianus). + + Red-bird, summer, OR summer tanager (Piranga rubra). + Red-bird, Virginia. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal. + Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). + Robin (Merula migratoria).. + + Sandpiper, solitary (Helodromas solitarius). + Snipes. + Snowbird, OR slate-colored junco (Junco hyemalis). + Sparrow, bush. SEE Sparrow, wood. + Sparrow, Canada, OR tree sparrow (Spizella monticola). + Sparrow, English. SEE Sparrow, house. + Sparrow, field, OR vesper sparrow, OR grass finch (Poaecetes + gramineus). SEE ALSO Sparrow, wood. + Sparrow, fox (Passerella iliaca). + Sparrow, house, OR English sparrow (Passer domesticus). + Sparrow, savanna (Passerculus sandwichensis savanna). + Sparrow, social, OR chipping sparrow, OR chippie, OR hairbird + (Spizella socialis). + Sparrow, song (Melospiza cinerea melodia). + Sparrow, swamp (Melospiza georgiana). + Sparrow, tree. SEE Sparrow, Canada. + Sparrow, vesper. SEE Sparrow, field. + Sparrow, white-crowned (Zonotrichia leucophrys). + Sparrow, white-throated (Zonotrichia albicollis). + Sparrow, wood, OR bush sparrow, OR field sparrow (Spizella + pusilla). + Squirrel, black. + Squirrel, gray. + Squirrel, red. + Starling, orchard, OR orchard oriole (Icterus spurius). + Swallow, barn (Hirundo erythrogastra). + Swallow, chimney, OR chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica). + Swallow, cliff (Petrochelidon lunifrons). + Swallow, rough-winged (Stelgidopteryx serripennis). + + Tanager, scarlet (Piranga erythromelas). + Tanager, summer. SEE Red-bird, summer. + Tern, sooty (sterna fuliginosa). + Thrush, golden-crowned, OR wood-wagtail, OR oven-bird (Seiurus + aurocapillus). + Thrush, gray-cheeked (Hylocichla alicae). + Thrush, hermit (Hylocichla guttata pallasii). + Thrush, olive-backed, OR Swainson's thrush (Hylocichla ustulata + swainsoni). + Thrush, red, OR mavis, OR ferrugninous thrush, OR brown thrasher + (Toxostoma rufum). + Thrush, varied (Ixoreus naevius). + Thrush, Wilson's. SEE Veery. + Thrush, wood (Hylocichla mustelina). + Titlark. SEE Pipit, American. + Titmouse, gray-crested, OR tufted titmouse (Baelophus bicolor). + Turkey, domestic. + Turkey, wild (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). + + Veery, OR Wilson's thrush (Hylocichla fuscescens). + Vireo, red-eyed (Vireo olivaceus). + Vireo, solitary, OR blue-headed vireo (Vireo solitarius). + Vireo, warbling (Vireo gilvus). + Vireo, white-eyed, OR white-eyed flycatcher (Vireo noveboracensis). + Vireo, yellow-throated, OR yellow-breasted flycatcher (Vireo + flavifrons). + + Wagtail. SEE Water-thrush AND Thrush, golden-crowned. + Warbler, Audubon's (Dendroica auduboni). + Warbler, bay-breasted (Dendroica castanea). + Warbler, black and white (Mniotilta varia). + Warbler, black and yellow, OR magnolia warbler (Dendroica maculosa). + Warbler, Blackburnian (Dendroica blackburniae). + Warbler, black-poll (Dendroica striata). + Warbler, black-throated blue, OR blue-backed warbler (Dendroica + caerulescens). + Warbler, black-throated green, OR green-backed warbler (Dendroica + virens). + Warbler, blue-winged (Helminthophila pinus). + Warbler, blue yellow-backed, OR northern parula warbler + (Compsothlypis americana usneae). + Warbler, Canada (Wilsonia canadensis). + Warbler, cerulean (Dendroica caerulea). + Warbler, chestnut-sided (Dendroica pensylvanica). + Warbler, hooded (Wilsonia mitrata). + Warbler, Kentucky (Geothlypis formosa). + Warbler, mourning (Geothlypis philadelphia). + Warbler, Swainson's (Helinaia swainsonii). + Warbler, worm-eating (Helmitheros vermivorus). + Warbler, yellow (Dendroica aestiva). + Warbler, yellow red-poll, OR yellow palm warbler (Dendroica palmarum + hypochrysea). + Warbler, yellow-rumped, OR myrtle warbler (Dendroica coronata). + Water-thrush, Louisiana, OR large-billed water thrush (Seiurus + noveboracensis). + Water-thrush, northern (Seiurus noveboracensis). + Woodpecker, downy (Dryobates pubescens medianus). + Woodpecker, golden-winged, OR high-hole, OR flicker, OR yarup, OR + yellow-hammer (Colaptes auratus luteus). + Woodpecker, red-headed (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). + Woodpecker, red-shafted, OR red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer + collaris). + Woodpecker, yellow-bellied, OR yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus + varius). + Wood-wagtail. SEE Thrush, golden-crowned. + Wren, Carolina (Thryothorus ludovicianus). + Wren, house (Troglodytes Aedon). + Wren, ruby-crowned. SEE Kinglet, ruby crowned. + Wren, winter (Olbiorchilus hiemalis). + + Yarup. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. + Yellow-hammer. SEE Woodpecker, golden winged. + Yellow-throat, Maryland, OR northern yellow-throat (Geothlypis + trichas brachydactyla). + + + + + +_____________________________________________________________ + +[Transcribist's note: John Burroughs used some characters +which are not standard to our writing in 2001. + +He used a diaeresis in preeminent, and accented "e's in +debris and denouement. These have been replaced with plain +letters. + +[Updater's note: "preeminent", "debris", and "denouement" +have all been corrected to have their accented letters. + +I substituted the letters "oe" for the ligature, used often +in the word phoebe. Simularly the "e" in the golden eagle's +scientific name is modernized. + +He also used symbols available to a typesetter which are +unavailable to us in ASCII (plain vanilla text) to illustrate +bird calls and notes. I have replaced these with a description +of what was there originally. + +Finally, he used italics throughout the book that I was +unable to retain, because of the ASCII format. The two +uses of the italics were to denote scientific names and to +emphasize. I have done nothing to note where the italics were +used, as I don't think it really has a great affect on reading +this book.] + +_____________________________________________________________ + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wake-Robin, by John Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAKE-ROBIN *** + +***** This file should be named 4203-8.txt or 4203-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/0/4203/ + +Produced by Jack Eden. HTML version by Al Haines. + +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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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: Wake-Robin + +Author: John Burroughs + +Posting Date: July 7, 2009 [EBook #4203] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 1, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAKE-ROBIN *** + + + + +Produced by Jack Eden. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3"> +<tr> +<td> +THERE IS AN ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THIS TITLE WHICH MAY VIEWED AT EBOOK <big><b><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35712"> +[# 35712 ]</a></b></big> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WAKE-ROBIN +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WRITINGS OF JOHN BURROUGHS +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +WITH PORTRAITS AND MANY ILLUSTRATIONS +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +VOLUME I +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION +</H3> + +<P> +This is mainly a book about the Birds, or more properly an invitation +to the study of Ornithology, and the purpose of the author will be +carried out in proportion as it awakens and stimulates the interest of +the reader in this branch of Natural History. +</P> + +<P> +Though written less in the spirit of exact science than with the +freedom of love and old acquaintance, yet I have in no instance taken +liberties with facts, or allowed my imagination to influence me to the +extent of giving a false impression or a wrong coloring. I have reaped +my harvest more in the woods than in the study; what I offer, in fact, +is a careful and conscientious record of actual observations and +experiences, and is true as it stands written, every word of it. But +what has interested me most in Ornithology is the pursuit, the chase, +the discovery; that part of it which is akin to hunting, fishing, and +wild sports, and which I could carry with me in my eye and ear +wherever I went. +</P> + +<P> +I cannot answer with much confidence the poet's inquiry,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +but I have done what I could to bring home the "river and sky" with +the sparrow I heard "singing at dawn on the alder bough." In other +words, I have tried to present a live bird,—a bird in the woods or +the fields,—with the atmosphere and associations of the place, and +not merely a stuffed and labeled specimen. +</P> + +<P> +A more specific title for the volume would have suited me better; but +not being able to satisfy myself in this direction, I cast about for a +word thoroughly in the atmosphere and spirit of the book, which I hope +I have found in "Wake-Robin," the common name of the white Trillium, +which blooms in all our woods, and which marks the arrival of all the +birds. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#intro">INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">IN THE HEMLOCKS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE ADIRONDACKS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">BIRDS'-NESTS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">SPRING AT THE CAPITAL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">BIRCH BROWSINGS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE BLUEBIRD</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE INVITATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#index">INDEX</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<PRE> + JOHN BURROUGHS + Etched by W. H. W. Bicknell, from a daguerreotype + PARTRIDGE'S NEST + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + A CABIN IN THE ADIRONDACKS + From a photograph by Clifton Johnson + AMERICAN OSPREY, OR FISH HAWK (colored) + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes + BIRD'S-FOOT VIOLETS + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + BLUEBIRD + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes +</PRE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="intro"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION +</H3> + +<P> +In coming before the public with a newly made edition of my writings, +what can I say to my reader at this stage of our acquaintance that +will lead to a better understanding between us? Probably nothing. We +understand each other very well already. I have offered myself as his +guide to certain matters out of doors, and to a few matters indoor, +and he has accepted me upon my own terms, and has, on the whole been +better pleased with me than I had any reason to expect. For this I am +duly grateful; why say more? Yet now that I am upon my feet, so as to +speak, and palaver is the order, I will keep on a few minutes longer. +</P> + +<P> +It is now nearly a quarter of a century since my first book, +"Wake-Robin," was published. I have lived nearly as many years in the +world as I had lived when I wrote its principal chapters. Other +volumes have followed, and still others. When asked how many there +are, I often have to stop and count them up. I suppose the mother of a +large family does not have to count up her children to say how many +there are. She sees their faces all before her. It is said of certain +savage tribes who cannot count above five, and yet who own flocks and +herds, that every native knows when he has got all his own cattle, not +by counting, but by remembering each one individually. +</P> + +<P> +The savage is with his herds daily; the mother has the love of her +children constantly in her heart; but when one's book goes forth from +him, in a sense it never returns. It is like the fruit detached from +the bough. And yet to sit down and talk of one's books as a father +might talk of his sons, who had left his roof and gone forth to make +their own way in the world, is not an easy matter. The author's +relation to his book is a little more direct and personal, after all, +more a matter of will and choice, than a father's relation to his +child. The book does not change, and, whatever it fortunes, it remains +to the end what its author made it. The son is an evolution out of a +long line of ancestry, and one's responsibility of this or that trait +is often very slight; but the book is an actual transcript of his +mind, and is wise or foolish according as he made it so. Hence I trust +my reader will pardon me if I shrink from any discussion of the merits +or demerits of these intellectual children of mine, or indulge in any +very confidential remarks with regard to them. +</P> + +<P> +I cannot bring myself to think of my books as "works," because so +little "work" has gone to the making of them. It has all been play. I +have gone a-fishing, or camping, or canoeing, and new literary +material has been the result. My corn has grown while I loitered or +slept. The writing of the book was only a second and finer enjoyment +of my holiday in the fields or woods. Not till the writing did it +really seem to strike in and become part of me. +</P> + +<P> +A friend of mine, now an old man, who spent his youth in the woods of +northern Ohio, and who has written many books, says, "I never thought +of writing a book, till my self-exile, and then only to reproduce my +old-time life to myself." The writing probably cured or alleviated a +sort of homesickness. Such is a great measure has been my own case. My +first book, "Wake-Robin," was written while I was a government clerk +in Washington. It enabled me to live over again the days I had passed +with the birds and in the scenes of my youth. I wrote the book sitting +at a desk in front of an iron wall. I was the keeper of a vault in +which many millions of bank-notes were stored. During my long periods +of leisure I took refuge in my pen. How my mind reacted from the iron +wall in front of me, and sought solace in memories of the birds and of +summer fields and woods! Most of the chapters of "Winter Sunshine" +were written at the same desk. The sunshine there referred to is of a +richer quality than is found in New York or New England. +</P> + +<P> +Since I left Washington in 1873, instead of an iron wall in front of +my desk, I have had a large window that overlooks the Hudson and the +wooded heights beyond, and I have exchanged the vault for a vineyard. +Probably my mind reacted more vigorously from the former than it does +from the latter. The vineyard winds its tendrils around me and detains +me, and its loaded trellises are more pleasing to me than the closets +of greenbacks. +</P> + +<P> +The only time there is a suggestion of an iron wall in front of me is +in winter, when ice and snow have blotted out the landscape, and I +find that it is in this season that my mind dwells most fondly upon my +favorite themes. Winter drives a man back upon himself, and tests his +powers of self-entertainment. +</P> + +<P> +Do such books as mine give a wrong impression of Nature, and lead +readers to expect more from a walk or a camp in the woods than they +usually get? I have a few times had occasion to think so. I am not +always aware myself how much pleasure I have had in a walk till I try +to share it with my reader. The heat of composition brings out the +color and the flavor. We must not forget the illusions of all art. If +my reader thinks he does not get from Nature what I get from her, let +me remind him that he can hardly know what he has got till he defines +it to himself as I do, and throws about it the witchery of words. +Literature does not grow wild in the woods. Every artist does +something more than copy Nature; more comes out in his account than +goes into the original experience. +</P> + +<P> +Most persons think the bee gets honey from the flowers, but she does +not: honey is a product of the bee; it is the nectar of the flowers +with the bee added. What the bee gets from the flower is sweet water: +this she puts through a process of her own and imparts to it her own +quality; she reduces the water and adds to it a minute drop of formic +acid. It is this drop of herself that gives the delicious sting to her +sweet. The bee is therefore the type of the true poet, the true +artist. Her product always reflects her environment, and it reflects +something her environment knows not of. We taste the clover, the +thyme, the linden, the sumac, and we also taste something that has its +source in none of these flowers. +</P> + +<P> +The literary naturalist does not take liberties with facts; facts are +the flora upon which he lives. The more and the fresher the facts the +better. I can do nothing without them, but I must give them my own +flavor. I must impart to them a quality which heightens and +intensifies them. +</P> + +<P> +To interpret Nature is not to improve upon her: it is to draw her out; +it is to have an emotional intercourse with her, absorb her, and +reproduce her tinged with the colors of the spirit. +</P> + +<P> +If I name every bird I see in my walk, describe its color and ways, +etc., give a lot of facts or details about the bird, it is doubtful if +my reader is interested. But if I relate the bird in some way to human +life, to my own life,—show what it is to me and what it is in the +landscape and the season,—then do I give my reader a live bird and +not a labeled specimen. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + J. B.<BR> + 1895.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +WAKE-ROBIN +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS +</H3> + +<P> +Spring in our northern climate may fairly be said to extend from the +middle of March to the middle of June. At least, the vernal tide +continues to rise until the latter date, and it is not till after the +summer solstice that the shoots and twigs begin to harden and turn to +wood, or the grass to lose any of its freshness and succulency. +</P> + +<P> +It is this period that marks the return of the birds,—one or two of +the more hardy or half-domesticated species, like the song sparrow +and the bluebird, usually arriving in March, while the rarer and more +brilliant wood-birds bring up the procession in June. But each stage +of the advancing season gives prominence to the certain species, as to +certain flowers. The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow, +the dogtooth violet when to expect the wood-thrush, and when I have +found the wake-robin in bloom I know the season is fairly inaugurated. +With me this flower is associated, not merely with the awakening of +Robin, for he has been awake for some weeks, but with the universal +awakening and rehabilitation of nature. +</P> + +<P> +Yet the coming and going of the birds is more or less a mystery and a +surprise. We go out in the morning, and no thrush or vireo is to be +heard; we go out again, and every tree and grove is musical; yet +again, and all is silent. Who saw them come? Who saw them depart? +</P> + +<P> +This pert little winter wren, for instance, darting in and out the +fence, diving under the rubbish here and coming up yards away,—how +does he manage with those little circular wings to compass degrees and +zones, and arrive always in the nick of time? Last August I saw him in +the remotest wilds of the Adirondacks, impatient and inquisitive as +usual; a few weeks later, on the Potomac, I was greeted by the same +hardy little busybody. Does he travel by easy stages from bush to bush +and from wood to wood? or has that compact little body force and +courage to brave the night and the upper air, and so achieve leagues +at one pull? +</P> + +<P> +And yonder bluebird with the earth tinge on his breast and the sky +tinge on his back,—did he come down out of the heaven on that bright +March morning when he told us so softly and plaintively that, if we +pleased, spring had come? Indeed, there is nothing in the return of +the birds more curious and suggestive than in the first appearance, or +rumors of the appearance, of this little blue-coat. The bird at first +seems a mere wandering voice in the air: one hears its call or carol +on some bright March morning, but is uncertain of its source or +direction; it falls like a drop of rain when no cloud is visible; one +looks and listens, but to no purpose. The weather changes, perhaps a +cold snap with snow comes on, and it may be a week before I hear the +not again, and this time or the next perchance see this bird sitting +on a stake in the fence lifting his wing as he calls cheerily to his +mate. Its notes now become daily more frequent; the birds multiply, +and, flitting from point to point, call and warble more confidently +and gleefully. Their boldness increases till one sees them hovering +with a saucy, inquiring air about barns and out-buildings, peeping +into dove-cotes and stable windows, inspecting knotholes and +pump-trees, intent only on a place to nest. They wage war against +robins and wrens, pick quarrels with swallows, and seem to deliberate +for days over the policy of taking forcible possession of one of the +mud-houses of the latter. But as the season advances they drift more +into the background. Schemes of conquest which they at first seemed +bent upon are abandoned, and the settle down very quietly in their old +quarters in remote stumpy fields. +</P> + +<P> +Not long after the bluebird comes the robin, sometimes in March, but +in most of the Northern States April is the month of the robin. In +large numbers they scour the fields and groves. You hear their piping +in the meadow, in the pasture, on the hillside. Walk in the woods, and +the dry leaves rustle with the whir of their wings the air is vocal +with their cheery call. In excess of joy and vivacity, they run, leap, +scream, chase each other through the air, diving and sweeping among +the trees with perilous rapidity. +</P> + +<P> +In that free, fascinating, half-work and half-play +pursuit,—sugar-making,—a pursuit which still lingers in many parts +of New York, as in New England,—the robin is one's constant +companion. When the day is sunny and the ground bare, you meet him at +all points and hear him at all hours. At sunset, on the tops of the +tall maples, with look heavenward, and in a spirit of utter +abandonment, he carols his simple strain. And sitting thus amid the +stark, silent trees, above the wet, cold earth, with the chill of +winter still in the air, there is no fitter or sweeter songster in the +whole round year. It is in keeping with the scene and the occasion. +How round and genuine the notes are, and how eagerly our ears drink +them in! The first utterance, and the spell of winter is thoroughly +broken, and the remembrance of it afar off. +</P> + +<P> +Robin is one of the most native and democratic of our birds; He is +one of the family, and seems much nearer to us than those rare, exotic +visitants, as the orchard starling or rose-breasted grosbeak, with +their distant, high-bred ways. Hardy, noisy, frolicsome, neighborly, +and domestic in his habits, strong of wing and bold in spirit, he is +the pioneer of the thrush family, and well worthy of the finer artists +whose coming he heralds and in a measure prepares us for. +</P> + +<P> +I could wish Robin less native and plebeian in one respect,—the +building of his nest. Its coarse material and rough masonry are +creditable neither to his skill as a workman nor to his taste as an +artist. I am the more forcibly reminded of his deficiency in this +respect from observing yonder hummingbird's nest, which is a marvel of +fitness and adaptation, a proper setting for this winged gem,—the +body of it composed of a white, felt-like substance, probably the down +of some plant or the wool of some worm, and toned down in keeping with +the branch on which it sits by minute tree-lichens, woven together by +threads as fine and grail as gossamer. From Robin's good looks and +musical turn, we might reasonably predict a domicile of him as clean +and handsome a nest as the king-bird's, whose harsh jingle, compared +with Robin's evening melody, is as the clatter of pots and kettles +beside the tone of a flute. I love his note and ways better even than +those of the orchard starling or the Baltimore oriole; yet his nest, +compared with theirs, is a half-subterranean hut contrasted with a +Roman villa. There is something courtly and poetical in a pensile +nest. Next to a castle in the air is a dwelling suspended to the +slender branch of a tall tree, swayed and rocked forever by the wind. +Why need wings be afraid of falling? Why build only where boys can +climb? After all, we must set it down to the account of Robin's +democratic turn: he is no aristocrat, but one of the people; and +therefore we should expect stability in his workmanship, rather than +elegance. +</P> + +<P> +Another April bird, which makes her appearance sometimes earlier and +sometimes later than Robin, and whose memory I fondly cherish, is the +phoebe-bird, the pioneer of the flycatchers. In the inland farming +districts, I used to notice her, on some bright morning about Easter +Day, proclaiming her arrival, with much variety of motion and +attitude, from the peak of the barn or hay-shed. As yet, you may have +heard only the plaintive, homesick note of the bluebird, or the faint +trill of the song sparrow; and Phoebe's clear, vivacious assurance of +her veritable bodily presence among us again is welcomed by all ears. +At agreeable intervals in her lay she describes a circle or an ellipse +in the air, ostensibly prospecting for insects, but really, I suspect, +as an artistic flourish, thrown in to make up in some way for the +deficiency of her musical performance. If plainness of dress indicates +powers of song as it usually does, then Phoebe ought to be unrivaled +in musical ability, for surely that ashen-gray suit is the superlative +of plainness; and that form, likewise, would hardly pass for a +"perfect figure" of a bird. The seasonableness of her coming, however, +and her civil, neighborly ways, shall make up for all deficiencies in +song and plumage. After a few weeks phoebe is seldom seen, except as +she darts from her moss-covered nest beneath some bridge or shelving +cliff. +</P> + +<P> +Another April comer, who arrives shortly after Robin-redbreast, with +whom he associates both at this season and in the autumn, is the +gold-winged woodpecker, alias "high-hole," alias "flicker," alias +"yarup." He is an old favorite of my boyhood, and his note to me means +very much. He announces his arrival by a long, loud call, repeated +from the dry branch of some tree, or a stake in the fence,—a +thoroughly melodious April sound. I think how Solomon finished that +beautiful description of spring, "And the voice of the turtle is heard +in the land," and see that a description of spring in this farming +country, to be equally characteristic, should culminate in like +manner,—"And the call of the high-hole comes up from the wood." +</P> + +<P> +It is a loud, strong, sonorous call, and does not seem to imply an +answer, but rather to subserve some purpose of love or music. It is +"Yarup's" proclamation of peace and good-will to all. On looking at +the matter closely, I perceive that most birds, not denominated +songsters, have, in the spring, some note or sound or call that hints +of a song, and answers imperfectly the end of beauty and art. As a +"livelier iris changes on the burnished dove," and the fancy of the +young man turns lightly to thoughts of his pretty cousin, so the same +renewing spirit touches the "silent singers," and they are no longer +dumb; faintly they lisp the first syllables of the marvelous tale. +Witness the clear sweet whistle of the gray-crested titmouse,—the +soft, nasal piping of the nuthatch,—the amorous, vivacious warble of +the bluebird,—the long, rich note of the meadowlark,—the whistle of +the quail,—the drumming of the partridge,—the animation and +loquacity of the swallows, and the like. Even the hen has a homely, +contented carol; and I credit the owls with a desire to fill the night +with music. Al birds are incipient or would be songsters in the +spring. I find corroborative evidence of this even in the crowing of +the cock. The flowering of the maple is not so obvious as that of the +magnolia; nevertheless, there is actual inflorescence. +</P> + +<P> +Few writers award any song to that familiar little sparrow, the +Socialis; yet who that has observed him sitting by the wayside, and +repeating, with devout attitude, that fine sliding chant, does not +recognize the neglect? Who has heard the snowbird sing? Yet he has a +lisping warble very savory to the ear. I have heard him indulge in it +even in February. +</P> + +<P> +Even the cow bunting feels the musical tendency, and aspires to its +expression, with the rest. Perched upon the topmost branch beside his +mate or mates,—for he is quite a polygamist, and usually has two or +three demure little ladies in faded black beside him,—generally in +the early part of the day, he seems literally to vomit up his notes. +Apparently with much labor and effort, they gurgle and blubber up out +of him, falling on the ear with a peculiar subtile ring, as of turning +water from a glass bottle, and not without a certain pleasing cadence. +</P> + +<P> +Neither is the common woodpecker entirely insensible to the wooing of +the spring, and, like the partridge, testifies his appreciation of +melody after quite a primitive fashion. Passing through the woods on +some clear, still morning in March, while the metallic ring and +tension of winter are still in the earth and air, the silence is +suddenly broken by long, resonant hammering upon a dry limb or stub. +It is Downy beating a reveille to spring. In the utter stillness and +amid the rigid forms we listen with pleasure; and, as it comes to my +ear oftener at this season than at any other, I freely exonerate the +author of it from the imputation of any gastronomic motives, and +credit him with a genuine musical performance. +</P> + +<P> +It is to be expected, therefore, that "yellow-hammer" will respond to +the general tendency, and contribute his part to the spring chorus. +His April call is his finest touch, his most musical expression. +</P> + +<P> +I recall an ancient maple standing sentry to a large sugar-bush, that, +year after year, afforded protection to a brood of yellow-hammers in +its decayed heart. A week or two before nesting seemed actually to +have begun, three or four of these birds might be seen, on almost any +bright morning, gamboling and courting amid its decayed branches. +Sometimes you would hear only a gentle persuasive cooing, or a quiet +confidential chattering,—then that long, loud call, taken up by +first one, then another, as they sat about upon the naked +limbs,—anon, a sort of wild, rollicking laughter, intermingled with +various cries, yelps, and squeals, as if some incident had excited +their mirth and ridicule. Whether this social hilarity and +boisterousness is in celebration of the pairing or mating ceremony, or +whether it is only a sort of annual "house-warming" common among +high-holes on resuming their summer quarters, is a question upon which +I reserve my judgment. +</P> + +<P> +Unlike most of his kinsmen, the golden-wing prefers the fields and the +borders of the forest to the deeper seclusion of the woods, and hence, +contrary to the habit of his tribe, obtains most of his subsistence +from the ground, probing it for ants and crickets. He is not quite +satisfied with being a woodpecker. He courts the society of the robin +and the finches, abandons the trees for the meadow, and feeds eagerly +upon berries and grain. What may be the final upshot of this course of +living is a question worth the attention of Darwin. Will his taking to +the ground and his pedestrian feats result in lengthening his legs, +his feeding upon berries and grains subdue his tints and soften his +voice, and his associating with Robin put a song into his heart? +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, what would be more interesting than the history of our birds +for the last two or three centuries. There can be no doubt that the +presence of man has exerted a very marked and friendly influence upon +them, since they so multiply in his society. The birds of California, +it is said, were mostly silent till after its settlement, and I doubt +if the Indians heard the wood thrush as we hear him. Where did the +bobolink disport himself before there were meadows in the North and +rice fields in the South? Was he the same lithe, merry-hearted beau +then as now? And the sparrow, the lark, and the goldfinch, birds that +seem so indigenous to the open fields and so adverse to the woods,—we +cannot conceive of their existence in a vast wilderness and without +man. +</P> + +<P> +But to return. The song sparrow, that universal favorite and +firstling of the spring, comes before April, and its simple strain +gladdens all hearts. +</P> + +<P> +May is the month of the swallows and the orioles. There are many other +distinguished arrivals, indeed nine tenths of the birds are here by +the last week in May, yet the swallows and the orioles are the most +conspicuous. The bright plumage of the latter seems really like an +arrival from the tropics. I see them dash through the blossoming +trees, and all the forenoon hear their incessant warbling and wooing. +The swallows dive and chatter about the barn, or squeak and build +beneath the eaves; the partridge drums in the fresh sprouting woods; +the long, tender note of the meadowlark comes up from the meadow; and +at sunset, from every marsh and pond come the ten thousand voices of +the hylas. May is the transition month, and exists to connect April +and June, the root with the flower. +</P> + +<P> +With June the cup is full, our hearts are satisfied, there is no more +to be desired. The perfection of the season, among other things, has +brought the perfection of the song and the plumage of the birds. The +master artists are all here; and the expectations excited by the robin +and the song sparrow are fully justified. The thrushes have all come; +and I sit down upon the first rock, with hands full of the pink +azalea, to listen. With me the cuckoo does not arrive till June; and +often the goldfinch, the kingbird, the scarlet tanager delay their +coming till then. In the meadows the bobolink is in all his glory; in +the high pastures the field sparrow sings his breezy vesper-hymn; and +the woods are unfolding to the music of the thrushes. +</P> + +<P> +The cuckoo is one of the most solitary birds of our forests, and is +strangely tame and quiet, appearing equally untouched by joy or grief, +fear or anger. Something remote seems ever weighing upon his mind. His +note or call is as of one lost or wandering, and to the farmer is +prophetic of rain. Amid the general joy and the sweet assurance of +things, I love to listen to the strange clairvoyant call. Heard a +quarter of a mile away, from out the depths of the forest, there is +something peculiarly weird and monkish about it. Wordsworth's lines +upon the European species apply equally well to ours:—"O blithe +new-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice: O cuckoo! shall I +call thee bird? Or but a wandering voice? +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "While I am lying on the grass,<BR> + Thy loud note smites my ear!<BR> + From hill to hill it seems to pass,<BR> + At once far off and near!<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Thrice welcome, darling of the spring!<BR> + Even yet thou art to me<BR> + No bird, but an invisible thing,<BR> + A voice, a mystery."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +The black-billed is the only species found in my locality, the +yellow-billed abounds farther south. Their note or call is nearly the +same. The former sometimes suggests the voice of a turkey. The call of +the latter may be suggested thus: k-k-k-k-k-kow, kow, kow-ow, kow-ow. +</P> + +<P> +The yellow-billed will take up his stand in a tree, and explore its +branches till he has caught every worm. He sits on a twig, and with a +peculiar swaying movement of his head examines the surrounding +foliage. When he discovers his prey, he leaps upon it in a fluttering +manner. +</P> + +<P> +In June the black-billed makes a tour through the orchard and garden, +regaling himself upon the canker-worms. At this time he is one of the +tamest of birds, and will allow you to approach within a few yards of +him. I have even come within a few feet of one without seeming to +excite his fear or suspicion. He is quite unsophisticated, or else +royally indifferent. +</P> + +<P> +The plumage of the cuckoo is a rich glossy brown, and is unrivaled in +beauty by any other neutral tint with which I am acquainted. It is +also remarkable for its firmness and fineness. +</P> + +<P> +Notwithstanding the disparity in size and color, the black-billed +species has certain peculiarities that remind one of the passenger +pigeon. His eye, with its red circle, the shape of his head, and his +motions on alighting and taking flight, quickly suggest the +resemblance; though in grace and speed, when on the wing, he is far +inferior. His tail seems disproportionately long, like that of the red +thrush, and his flight among the trees is very still, contrasting +strongly with the honest clatter of the robin or pigeon. +</P> + +<P> +Have you heard the song of the field sparrow? If you have lived in a +pastoral country with broad upland pastures, you could hardly have +missed him. Wilson, I believe, calls him the grass finch, and was +evidently unacquainted with his powers of song. The two white lateral +quills in his tail, and his habit of running and skulking a few yards +in advance of you as you walk through the fields, are sufficient to +identify him. Not in meadows or orchards, but in high, breezy +pasture-grounds, will you look for him. His song is most noticeable +after sundown, when other birds are silent; for which reason he has +been aptly called the vesper sparrow. The farmer following his team +from the field at dusk catches his sweetest strain. His song is not so +brisk and varied as that of the song sparrow, being softer and wilder, +sweeter and more plaintive. Add the best parts of the lay of the +latter to the sweet vibrating chant of the wood sparrow, and you have +the evening hymn of the vesper-bird,—the poet of the plain, +unadorned pastures. Go to those broad, smooth, uplying fields where +the cattle and sheep are grazing, and sit down in the twilight on one +of those warm, clean stones, and listen to this song. On every side, +near and remote, from out the short grass which the herds are +cropping, the strain rises. Two or three long, silver notes of peace +and rest, ending in some subdued trills and quavers, constitute each +separate song. Often, you will catch only one or two of the bars, the +breeze having blown the minor part away. Such unambitious, quiet, +unconscious melody! It is one of the most characteristic sounds in +nature. The grass, the stones, the stubble, the furrow, the quiet +herds, and the warm twilight among the hills, are all subtly expressed +in this song; this is what they are at last capable of. +</P> + +<P> +The female builds a plain nest in the open field, without so much as a +bush or thistle or tuft of grass to protect it or mark its site; you +may step upon it, or the cattle may tread it into the ground. But the +danger from this source, I presume, the bird considers less than that +from another. Skunks and foxes have a very impertinent curiosity, as +Finchie well knows; and a bank or hedge, or a rank growth of grass or +thistles, that might promise protection and cover to mouse or bird, +these cunning rogues would be apt to explore most thoroughly. The +partridge is undoubtedly acquainted with the same process of +reasoning; for, like the vesper-bird, she, too, nests in open, +unprotected places, avoiding all show of concealment,—coming from the +tangled and almost impenetrable parts of the forest to the clean, open +woods, where she can command all the approaches and fly with equal +ease in any direction. +</P> + +<P> +Another favorite sparrow, but little noticed, is the wood or bush +sparrow, usually called by the ornithologists Spizella pusilla. Its +size and form is that of the socialis, but is less distinctly marked, +being of a duller redder tinge. He prefers remote bushy heathery +fields, where his song is one of the sweetest to be heard. It is +sometimes very noticeable, especially early in spring. I remember +sitting one bright day in the still leafless April woods, when one of +these birds struck up a few rods from me, repeating its lay at short +intervals for nearly an hour. It was a perfect piece of wood-music, +and was of course all the more noticeable for being projected upon +such a broad unoccupied page of silence. Its song is like the words, +fe-o, fe-o, fe-o, few, few, few, fee fee fee, uttered at first high +and leisurely, but running very rapidly toward the close, which is low +and soft. +</P> + +<P> +Still keeping among the unrecognized, the white-eyed vireo, or +flycatcher, deserves particular mention. The song of this bird is not +particularly sweet and soft; on the contrary, it is a little hard and +shrill, like that of the indigo-bird or oriole; but for brightness, +volubility, execution, and power of imitation, he is unsurpassed by +any of our northern birds. His ordinary note is forcible and emphatic, +but, as stated, not especially musical; Chick-a-re'r-chick, he seems +to say, hiding himself in the low, dense undergrowth, and eluding your +most vigilant search, as if playing some part in a game. But in July +of August, if you are on good terms with the sylvan deities, you may +listen to a far more rare and artistic performance. Your first +impression will be that that cluster of azalea, or that clump of +swamp-huckleberry, conceals three of four different songsters, each +vying with the the others to lead the chorus. Such a medley of notes, +snatched from half the songsters of the field and forest, and uttered +with the utmost clearness and rapidity, I am sure you cannot hear +short of the haunts of the genuine mockingbird. If not fully and +accurately repeated, there are at least suggested the notes of the +robin, wren, catbird, high-hole, goldfinch, and song sparrow. The pip, +pip, of the last is produced so accurately that I verily believe it +would deceive the bird herself; and the whole uttered in such rapid +succession that it seems as if the movement that gives the concluding +note of one strain must form the first note of the next. The effect is +very rich, and, to my ear, entirely unique. The performer is very +careful not to reveal himself in the mean time; yet there is a +conscious air about the strain that impresses me with the idea that my +presence is understood and my attention courted. A tone of pride and +glee, and, occasionally, of bantering jocoseness, is discernible. I +believe it is only rarely, and when he is sure of his audience, that +he displays his parts in this manner. You are to look for him, not in +tall trees or deep forests, but in low, dense shrubbery about wet +places, where there are plenty of gnats and mosquitoes. +</P> + +<P> +The winter wren is another marvelous songster, in speaking of whom it +is difficult to avoid superlatives. He is not so conscious of is +powers and so ambitious of effect as the white-eyed flycatcher, yet +you will not be less astonished and delighted on hearing him. He +possesses the fluency and copiousness for which the wrens are noted, +and besides these qualities, and what is rarely found conjoined with +them, a wild, sweet, rhythmical cadence that holds you entranced. I +shall not soon forget that perfect June day, when, loitering in a low, +ancient hemlock wood, in whose cathedral aisles the coolness and +freshness seems perennial, the silence was suddenly broken by a strain +so rapid and gushing, and touched with such a wild, sylvan +plaintiveness, that I listened in amazement. And so shy and coy was +the little minstrel, that I came twice to the woods before I was sure +to whom I was listening. In summer he is one of those birds of the +deep northern forests, that, like the speckled Canada warbler and the +hermit thrush, only the privileged ones hear. +</P> + +<P> +The distribution of plants in a given locality is not more marked and +defined than that of the birds. Show a botanist a landscape, and he +will tell you where to look for the lady's-slipper, the columbine, or +the harebell. On the same principles the ornithologist will direct you +where to look for the greenlets, the wood sparrow, or the chewink. In +adjoining counties, in the same latitude, and equally inland, but +possessing a different geological formation and different +forest-timber, you will observe quite a different class of birds. In a +land of the beech and sugar maple I do not find the same songsters +that I know where thrive the oak, chestnut, and laurel. In going from +a district of the Old Red Sandstone to where I walk upon the old +Plutonic Rock, not fifty miles distant, I miss in the woods, the +veery, the hermit thrush, the chestnut-sided warbler, the blue-backed +warbler, the green-backed warbler, the black and yellow warbler, and +many others, and find in their stead the wood thrush, the chewink, the +redstart, the yellow-throat, the yellow-breasted flycatcher, the +white-eyed flycatcher, the quail, and the turtle dove. +</P> + +<P> +In my neighborhood here in the Highlands the distribution is very +marked. South of the village I invariably find one species of birds, +north of it another. In only one locality, full of azalea and +swamp-huckleberry, I am always sure of finding the hooded warbler. In +a dense undergrowth of spice-bush, witch-hazel, and alder, I meet the +worm-eating warbler. In a remote clearing, covered with heath and +fern, with here and there a chestnut and an oak, I go to hear in July +the wood sparrow, and returning by a stumpy, shallow pond, I am sure +to find the water-thrush. +</P> + +<P> +Only one locality within my range seems to possess attractions for all +comers. Here one may study almost the entire ornithology of the State. +It is a rocky piece of ground, long ago cleared, but now fast +relapsing into the wildness and freedom of nature, and marked by those +half-cultivated, half-wild features which birds and boys love. It is +bounded on two sides by the village and highway, crossed at various +points by carriage-roads, and threaded in all directions by paths and +byways, along which soldiers, laborers, and truant school-boys are +passing at all hours of the day. It is so far escaping from the axe +and the bush-hook as to have opened communication with the forest and +mountain beyond by straggling lines of cedar, laurel, and blackberry. +The ground is mainly occupied with cedar and chestnut, with an +undergrowth, in many place, of heath and bramble. The chief feature, +however, is a dense growth in the centre, consisting of dogwood, +water-beech, swamp-ash, alder, spice-bush, hazel, etc., with a network +of smilax and frost-grape. A little zigzag stream, the draining of a +swam beyond, which passes through this tanglewood, accounts for many +of its features and productions, if not for its entire existence. +Birds that are not attracted by the heath, or the cedar and chestnut, +are sure to find some excuse for visiting this miscellaneous growth in +the centre. Most of the common birds literally throng in this +idle-wild; and I have met here many of the rarer species, such as the +great-crested flycatcher, the solitary warbler, the blue-winged swamp +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the fox sparrow, etc. The absence of +all birds of prey, and the great number of flies and insects, both the +result of the proximity to the village, are considerations which ho +hawk-fearing, peace-loving minstrel passes over lightly; hence the +popularity of the resort. +</P> + +<P> +But the crowning glory of all these robins, flycatchers, and warblers +is the wood thrush. More abundant than all other birds, except the +robin and catbird, he greets you from every rock and shrub. Shy and +reserved when he first makes his appearance in May, before the end of +June he is tame and familiar, and sings on the tree over your head, or +on the rock a few paces in advance. A pair even built their nest and +reared their brood within ten or twelve feet of the piazza of a large +summer-house in the vicinity. But when the guests commenced to arrive +and the piazza to be thronged with gay crowds, I noticed something +like dread and foreboding in the manner of the mother bird; and from +her still, quiet ways, and habit of sitting long and silently within a +few feet of the precious charge, it seemed as if the dear creature had +resolved, if possible, to avoid all observation. +</P> + +<P> +If we take the quality of melody as the test, the wood thrush, hermit +thrush, and the veery thrush stand at the head of our list of +songsters. +</P> + +<P> +The mockingbird undoubtedly possesses the greatest range of mere +talent, the most varied executive ability, and never fails to surprise +and delight one anew at each hearing; but being mostly an imitator, he +never approaches the serene beauty and sublimity of the hermit thrush. +The word that best expresses my feelings, on hearing the mockingbird, +is admiration, though the first emotion is one of surprise and +incredulity. That so many and such various notes should proceed from +one throat is a marvel, and we regard the performance with feelings +akin to those we experience on witnessing the astounding feats of the +athlete or gymnast,—and this, notwithstanding many of the notes +imitated have all the freshness and sweetness of the originals. The +emotions excited by the songs of these thrushes belong to a higher +order, springing as they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and +harmony of the world. +</P> + +<P> +The wood thrush is worthy of all, and more than all, the praises he +has received; and considering the number of his appreciative +listeners, it is not a little surprising that his relative and equal, +the hermit thrush, should have received so little notice. Both the +great ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, are lavish in their praises +of the former, but have little or nothing to say of the song of the +latter. Audubon says it is sometimes agreeable, but evidently has +never heard it. Nuttall, I am glad to find, is more discriminating, +and does the bird fuller justice. +</P> + +<P> +It is quite a rare bird, of very shy and secluded habits, being found +in the Middle and Eastern States, during the period of song, only in +the deepest and most remote forests, usually in damp and swampy +localities. On this account the people in the Adirondack region call +it the "Swamp Angel." Its being so much of a recluse accounts for the +comparative ignorance that prevails in regard to it. +</P> + +<P> +The cast of its song is very much like that of the wood thrush, and a +good observer might easily confound the two. But hear them together +and the difference is quite marked: the song of the hermit is in a +higher key, and is more wild and ethereal. His instrument is a silver +horn which he winds in the most solitary places. The song of the wood +thrush is more golden and leisurely. Its tone comes near to that of +some rare stringed instrument. One feels that perhaps the wood thrush +has more compass and power, if he would only let himself out, but on +the whole he comes a little short of the pure, serene, hymn-like +strain of the hermit. +</P> + +<P> +Yet those who have heard only the wood thrush may well place him first +on the list. He is truly a royal minstrel, and, considering his +liberal distribution throughout our Atlantic seaboard, perhaps +contributes more than any other bird to our sylvan melody. One may +object that he spends a little too much time in tuning his instrument, +yet his careless and uncertain touches reveal its rare compass and +power. +</P> + +<P> +He is the only songster of my acquaintance excepting the canary, that +displays different degrees of proficiency in the exercise of his +musical gifts. Not long since, while walking one Sunday in the edge of +an orchard adjoining a wood, I heard one that so obviously and +unmistakably surpassed all his rivals, that my companion, although +slow to notice such things, remarked it wonderingly; and with one +accord we paused to listen to so rare a performer. It was not +different in quality so much as in quantity. Such a flood of it! Such +copiousness! Such long, trilling, accelerating preludes! Such sudden, +ecstatic overtures would have intoxicated the dullest ear. He was +really without a compeer,—a master artist. Twice afterward I was +conscious of having heard the same bird. +</P> + +<P> +The wood thrush is the handsomest species of this family. In grace +and elegance of manner he has no equal. Such a gentle, high-bred air, +and such inimitable ease and composure in his flight and movement! He +is a poet in very word and deed. His carriage is music to the eye. His +performance of the commonest act, as catching a beetle, or picking a +worm from the mud, pleases like a stroke of wit or eloquence. Was he a +prince in the olden time, and do the regal grace and mien still adhere +to him in his transformation? What a finely proportioned form! How +plain, yet rich, his color,—the bright russet of his back, the clear +white of his breast, with the distinct heart-shaped spots! It may be +objected to Robin that he is noisy and demonstrative; he hurries away +or rises to a branch with an angry note, and flirts his wings in +ill-bred suspicion. The mavis, or red thrush, sneaks and skulks like a +culprit, hiding in the densest alders; the catbird is a coquette and a +flirt, as well as a sort of female Paul Pry; and the chewink shows his +inhospitality by espying your movements like a Japanese. The wood +thrush has none of theses underbred traits. He regards me +unsuspiciously, or avoids me with a noble reserve,—or, if I am quiet +and incurious, graciously hops toward me, as if to pay his respects, +or to make my acquaintance. I have passed under his nest within a few +feet of his mate and brood, when he sat near by on a branch eying me +sharply, but without opening his beak; but the moment I raised my hand +toward his defenseless household, his anger and indignation were +beautiful to behold. +</P> + +<P> +What a noble pride he has! Late one October, after his mates and +companions had long since gone south, I noticed one for several +successive days in the dense part of this next-door wood, flitting +noiselessly about, very grave and silent, as if doing penance for some +violation of the code of honor. By many gentle, indirect approaches, I +perceived that part of his tail-feathers were undeveloped. The sylvan +prince could not think of returning to court in this plight, and so, +amid the falling leaves and cold rains of autumn, was patiently biding +his time. +</P> + +<P> +The soft, mellow flute of the veery fills a place in the chorus of the +woods that the song of the vesper sparrow fills in the chorus of the +fields. It has the nightingale's habit of singing in the twilight, as +indeed have all our thrushes. Walk out toward the forest in the warm +twilight of a June day, and when fifty rods distant you will hear +their soft, reverberating notes rising from a dozen different throats. +</P> + +<P> +It is one of the simplest strains to be heard,—as simple as the curve +in form, delighting from the pure element of harmony and beauty it +contains, and not from any novel or fantastic modulation of it,—thus +contrasting strongly with such rollicking, hilarious songsters as the +bobolink, in whom we are chiefly pleased with tintinnabulation, the +verbal and labial excellence, and the evident conceit and delight of +the performer. +</P> + +<P> +I hardly know whether I am more pleased or annoyed with the catbird. +Perhaps she is a little too common, and her part in the general chorus +a little too conspicuous. If you are listening for the note of another +bird, she is sure to be prompted to the most loud and protracted +singing, drowning all other sounds; If you sit quietly down to observe +a favorite or study a new-comer, her curiosity knows no bounds, and +you are scanned and ridiculed from every point of observation. Yet I +would not miss her; I would only subordinate her a little, make her +less conspicuous. +</P> + +<P> +She is the parodist of the woods, and there is ever a mischievous, +bantering, half-ironical undertone in her lay, as if she were +conscious of mimicking and disconcerting some envied songster. +Ambitious of song, practicing and rehearsing in private, she yet seems +the least sincere and genuine of the sylvan minstrels, as if she had +taken up music only to be in the fashion, or not to be outdone by the +robins and thrushes. In other words, she seems to sing from some +outward motive, and not from inward joyousness. She is a good +versifier, but not a great poet. Vigorous, rapid, copious, not without +fine touches, but destitute of any high, serene melody, her +performance, like that of Thoreau's squirrel, always implies a +spectator. +</P> + +<P> +There is a certain air and polish about her strain, however, like that +in the vivacious conversation of a well-bred lady of the world, that +commands respect. Her maternal instinct, also, is very strong, and +that simple structure of dead twigs and dry grass is the center of +much anxious solicitude. Not long since, while strolling through the +woods, my attention was attracted to a small densely grown swamp, +hedged in with eglantine, brambles, and the everlasting smilax, from +which proceeded loud cries of distress and alarm, indicating that some +terrible calamity was threatening my sombre-colored minstrel. On +effecting an entrance, which, however, was not accomplished till I had +doffed coat and hat, so as to diminish the surface exposed to the +thorns and brambles, and, looking around me from a square yard of +terra firma, I found myself the spectator of a loathsome yet +fascinating scene. Three or four yards from me was the nest, beneath +which, in long festoons, rested a huge black snake; a bird two thirds +grown was slowly disappearing between his expanded jaws. As he seemed +unconscious of my presence, I quietly observed the proceedings. By +slow degrees he compassed the bird about with his elastic mouth; his +head flattened, his neck writhed and swelled, and two or three +undulatory movements of his glistening body finished the work. Then he +cautiously raised himself up, his tongue flaming from his mouth the +while, curved over the nest, and with wavy subtle motions, explored +the interior. I can conceive of nothing more overpoweringly terrible +to an unsuspecting family of birds than the sudden appearance above +their domicile of the head and neck of this arch-enemy. It is enough +to petrify the blood in their veins. Not finding the object of his +search, he came streaming down from the nest to a lower limb, and +commenced extending his researches in other directions, sliding +stealthily through the branches, bent on capturing on of the parent +birds. That a legless, wingless creature should move with such ease +and rapidity where only birds and squirrels are considered at home, +lifting himself up, letting himself down, running out on the yielding +boughs, and traversing with marvelous celerity the whole length and +breadth of the thicket, was truly surprising. One thinks of the great +myth of the Tempter and the "cause of all our woe," and wonders if the +Arch One is not now playing off some of his pranks before him. Whether +we call it snake or devil matters little. I could but admire his +terrible beauty, however; his black, shining folds, his easy, gliding +movement, head erect, eyes glistening, tongue playing like subtle +flame, and the invisible means of his almost winged locomotion. +</P> + +<P> +The parent birds, in the mean while, kept up the most agonizing +cry,—at times fluttering furiously about their pursuer, and actually +laying hold of his tail with their beaks and claws. On being thus +attacked, the snake would suddenly double upon himself and follow his +won body back, thus executing a strategic movement that at first +seemed almost to paralyze his victim and place her within his grasp. +Not quite, however. Before his jaws could close upon the coveted prize +the bird would tear herself away, and, apparently faint and sobbing, +retire to a higher branch. His reputed powers of fascination availed +him little, though it is possible that a frailer and less combative +bird might have been held by the fatal spell. Presently, as he came +gliding down the slender body of a leaning alder, his attention was +attracted by a slight movement of my arm; eyeing me an instant, with +that crouching, utter motionless gaze which I believe only snakes and +devils can assume, he turned quickly,—a feat which necessitated +something like crawling over his own body,—and glided off through the +branches, evidently recognizing in me a representative of the ancient +parties he once so cunningly ruined. A few moments after, as he lay +carelessly disposed in the top of a rank alder, trying to look as much +like a crowded branch as his supple, shining form would admit, the old +vengeance overtook him. I exercised my prerogative, and a +well-directed missile, in the shape of a stone, brought him looping +and writhing to the ground. After I had completed his downfall and +quiet had been partially restored, a half-fledged member of the +bereaved household came out from his hiding-place, and, jumping upon a +decayed branch, chirped vigorously, no doubt in celebration of the +victory. +</P> + +<P> +Till the middle of July there is a general equilibrium; the tide +stands poised; the holiday spirit is unabated. But as the harvest +ripens beneath the long, hot days, the melody gradually ceases. The +young are out of the nest and must be cared for, and the moulting +season is at hand. After the cricket has commenced to drone his +monotonous refrain beneath your window, you will not, till another +season, hear the wood thrush in all his matchless eloquence. The +bobolink has become careworn and fretful, and blurts out snatches of +his song between his scolding and upbraiding, as you approach the +vicinity of his nest, oscillating between anxiety for his brood and +solicitude for his musical reputation. Some of the sparrows still +sing, and occasionally across the hot fields, from a tall tree in the +edge of the forest, comes the rich note of the scarlet tanager. This +tropical-colored bird loves the hottest weather, and I hear him even +in dog-days. +</P> + +<P> +The remainder of the summer is the carnival of the swallows and +flycatchers. Flies and insects, to any amount, are to be had for the +catching; and the opportunity is well improved. See that sombre, +ashen-colored pewee on yonder branch. A true sportsman he, who never +takes his game at rest, but always on the wing. You vagrant fly, you +purblind moth, beware how you come within his range! Observe his +attitude, the curious movement of his head, his "eye in a fine frenzy +rolling, glancing from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven." +</P> + +<P> +His sight is microscopic and his aim sure. Quick as thought he has +seized his victim and is back to his perch. There is no strife, no +pursuit,—one fell swoop and the matter is ended. That little sparrow, +as you will observe, is less skilled. It is the Socialis, and he finds +his subsistence properly in various seeds and the larvae of insects, +though he occasionally has higher aspirations, and seeks to emulate +the peewee, commencing and ending his career as a flycatcher by an +awkward chase after a beetle or "miller." He is hunting around in the +dull grass now, I suspect, with the desire to indulge this favorite +whim. There!—the opportunity is afforded him. Away goes a little +cream-colored meadow-moth in the most tortuous course he is capable +of, and away goes Socialis in pursuit. The contest is quite comical, +though I dare say it is serious enough to the moth. The chase +continues for a few yards, when there is a sudden rushing to cover in +the grass,—then a taking to wing again, when the search has become to +close, and the moth has recovered his wind. Socialis chirps angrily, +and is determined not to be beaten. Keeping, with the slightest +effort, upon the heels of the fugitive, he is ever on the point of +halting to snap him up, but never quite does it,—and so, between +disappointment and expectation, is soon disgusted and returns to +pursue his more legitimate means of subsistence. +</P> + +<P> +In striking contrast to this serio-comic strife of the sparrow and the +moth, is he pigeon hawk's pursuit of the sparrow or the goldfinch. It +is a race of surprising speed and agility. It is a test of wing and +wind. Every muscle is taxed, and every nerve strained. Such cries of +terror and consternation on the part of the bird, tacking to the right +and left, and making the most desperate efforts to escape, and such +silent determination on the part of the hawk, pressing the bird so +closely, flashing and turning, and timing his movements with those of +the pursued as accurately and as inexorably as if the two constituted +one body, excite feelings of the deepest concern. You mount the fence +or rush out of your way to see the issue. The only salvation for the +bird is to adopt the tactics of the moth, seeking instantly the cover +of some tree, bush or hedge, where its smaller size enables it to move +about more rapidly. These pirates are aware of this, and therefore +prefer to take their prey by one fell swoop. You may see one of them +prowling through an orchard, with the yellowbirds hovering about him, +crying, Pi-ty, pi-ty, in the most desponding tone; yet he seems not to +regard them, knowing, as do they, that in the close branches they are +as safe as if in a wall of adamant. +</P> + +<P> +August is the month of the high-sailing hawks. The hen-hawk is the +most noticeable. He likes the haze and calm of these long, warm days. +He is a bird of leisure, and seems always at his ease. How beautiful +and majestic are his movements! So self-poised and easy, such an +entire absence of haste, such a magnificent amplitude of circles and +spirals, such a haughty, imperial grace, and, occasionally, such +daring aerial evolutions! +</P> + +<P> +With slow, leisurely movement, rarely vibrating his pinions, he mounts +and mounts in an ascending spiral till he appears a mere speck against +the summer sky; then, if the mood seizes him, with wings half closed, +like a bent bow, he will cleave the air almost perpendicularly, as if +intent on dashing himself to pieces against the earth; but on nearing +the ground he suddenly mounts again on broad, expanded wing, as if +rebounding upon the air, and sails leisurely away. It is the sublimest +feat of the season. One holds his breath till he sees him rise again. +</P> + +<P> +If inclined to a more gradual and less precipitous descent, he fixes +his eye on some distant point in the earth beneath him, and thither +bends his course. He is still almost meteoric in his speed and +boldness. You see his path down the heavens, straight as a line; if +near, you hear the rush of his wings; his shadow hurtles across the +fields, and in an instant you see him quietly perched upon some low +tree or decayed stub in a swamp or meadow, with reminiscences of frogs +and mice stirring in his maw. +</P> + +<P> +When the south wind blows, it is a study to see three or four of these +air-kings at the head of the valley far up toward the mountain, +balancing and oscillating upon the strong current; now quite +stationary, except a slight tremulous motion like the poise of a +rope-dancer, then rising and falling in long undulations, and seeming +to resign themselves passively to the wind; or, again sailing high and +level far above the mountain's peak, no bluster and haste, but as +stated, occasionally a terrible earnestness and speed. Fire at one as +he sails overhead and, unless wounded badly, he will not change his +course or gait. +</P> + +<P> +His flight is a perfect picture of repose in motion. It strikes the +eye as more surprising than the flight of a pigeon, and swallow even, +in that the effort put forth is so uniform and delicate as to escape +observation, giving to the movement an air of buoyancy and perpetuity, +the effluence of power rather than the conscious application of it. +</P> + +<P> +The calmness and dignity of this hawk, when attacked by crows or the +kingbird, are well worth of him. He seldom deigns to notice his noisy +and furious antagonists, but deliberately wheels about in that aerial +spiral, and mounts and mounts till his pursuers grow dizzy and return +to earth again. It is quite original, this mode of getting rid of an +unworthy opponent, rising to the heights where the braggart is dazed +and bewildered and loses his reckoning! I am not sure but is is worthy +of imitation. +</P> + +<P> +But summer wanes, and autumn approaches. The songsters of the +seed-time are silent at the reaping of the harvest. Other minstrels +take up the strain. It is the heyday of insect life. The day is +canopied with musical sound. All the songs of the spring and summer +appear to be floating, softened and refined, in the upper air. The +birds, in a new but less holiday suit, turn their faces southward. The +swallows flock and go; the bobolinks flock and go; silently and +unobserved, the thrushes go. Autumn arrives, bringing finches, +warblers, sparrows, and kinglets from the north. Silently the +procession passes. Yonder hawk, sailing peacefully away till he is +lost in the horizon, is a symbol of the closing season and the +departing birds. 1863. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE HEMLOCKS +</H3> + +<P> +Most people receive with incredulity a statement of the number of +birds that annually visit our climate. Very few even are aware of half +the number that spend the summer in their own immediate vicinity. We +little suspect, when we walk in the woods, whose privacy we are +intruding upon,—what rare and elegant visitants from Mexico, from +central and South America, and from the islands of the sea, are +holding their reunions in the branches over our heads, or pursuing +their pleasure on the ground before us. +</P> + +<P> +I recall the altogether admirable and shining family which Thoreau +dreamed he saw in the upper chambers of Spaulding's woods, which +Spaulding did not know lived there, and which were not put out when +Spaulding, whistling, drove his team through their lower halls. They +did not go into society in the village; they were quite well; they had +sons and daughters; they neither wove nor spun; there was a sound as +of suppressed hilarity. +</P> + +<P> +I take it for granted that the forester was only saying a pretty thing +of the birds, though I have observed that it does sometimes annoy them +when Spaulding's cart rumbles through their house. Generally, however, +they are as unconscious of Spaulding as Spaulding is of them. +</P> + +<P> +Walking the other day in an old hemlock wood, I counted over forty +varieties of these summer visitants, many of the common to other woods +in the vicinity, but quite a number peculiar to these ancient +solitudes, and not a few that are rare in any locality. It is quite +unusual to find so large a number abiding in one forest,—and that not +a large one,—most of them nesting and spending the summer there. Many +of those I observed commonly pass this season much farther north. But +the geographical distribution of birds is rather a climatical one. The +same temperature, though under different parallels, usually attracts +the same birds; difference in altitude being equivalent to the +difference in latitude. A given height above sea-level under the +parallel of thirty degrees may have the same climate as places under +that of thirty-five degrees, and similar flora and fauna. At the +head-waters of the Delaware, where I write, the latitude is that of +Boston, but the region has a much greater elevation, and hence a climate +that compares better with the northern part of the State and of New +England. Half a day's drive to the southeast brings me down into quite +a different temperature, with an older geological formation, different +forest timber, and different birds,—even with different mammals. +Neither the little gray rabbit nor the little gray fox is found in my +locality, but the great northern hare and the red fox are. In the last +century, a colony of beavers dwelt here, though the oldest inhabitant +cannot now point to even the traditional site of their dams. The +ancient hemlocks, whither I propose to take the reader, are rich in +many things besides birds. Indeed, their wealth in this respect is +owing mainly, no doubt, to their rank vegetable growth, their fruitful +swamps, and their dark, sheltered retreats. +</P> + +<P> +Their history is of an heroic cast. Ravished and torn by the tanner +in his thirst for bark, preyed upon by the lumberman, assaulted and +beaten back by the settler, still their spirit has never been broken, +their energies never paralyzed. Not many years ago a public highway +passed through them, but it was at no time a tolerable road; trees +fell across it, mud and limbs choked it up, till finally travelers +took the hint and went around; and now, walking along its deserted +course, I see only the footprints of coons, foxes, and squirrels. +</P> + +<P> +Nature loves such woods, and places her own seal upon them. Here she +show me what can be done with ferns and mosses and lichens. The soil +is marrowy and full of innumerable forests. Standing in these fragrant +aisles, I feel the strength of the vegetable kingdom, and am awed by +the deep and inscrutable processes of life going on so silently about +me. +</P> + +<P> +No hostile forms with axe or spud now visit these solitudes. The cows +have half-hidden ways through them, and know where the best browsing +is to be had. In spring, the farmer repairs to their bordering of +maples to make sugar; in July and August women and boys from all the +country about penetrate the old Barkpeelings for raspberries and +blackberries; and I know a youth who wonderingly follows their languid +stream casting for trout. +</P> + +<P> +In like spirit, alert and buoyant, on this bright June morning go I +also to reap my harvest,—pursuing a sweet more delectable than sugar, +fruit more savory than berries, and game for another palate than that +tickled by trout. +</P> + +<P> +June, of all the months, the student of ornithology can least afford +to lose. Most birds are nesting then, and in full song and plumage. +And what is a bird without its song? Do we not wait for the stranger +to speak? It seems to me that I do not know a bird till I have heard +its voice; then I come nearer it at once, and it possesses a human +interest to me. I have met the gray-cheeked thrush in the woods, and +held him in my hand; still I do not know him. The silence of the +cedar-bird throws a mystery about him which neither his good looks nor +his petty larcenies in cheery time can dispel. A bird's song contains +a clew to its life, and establishes a sympathy, an understanding, +between itself and the listener. +</P> + +<P> +I descend a steep hill, and approach the hemlocks through a large +sugar-bush. When twenty rods distant, I hear all along the line of the +forest the incessant warble of the red-eyed vireo, cheerful and happy +as the merry whistle of a schoolboy. He is one of our most common and +widely distributed birds. Approach any forest at any hour of the day, +in any kind of weather, from May to August, in any of the Middle or +Eastern districts, and the chances are that the first note you hear +will be his. Rain or shine, before noon or after, in the deep forest +or in the village grove,—when it is too hot for the thrushes or too +cold and windy for the warblers,—it is never out of time or place +for this little minstrel to indulge his cheerful strain. In the deep +wilds of the Adirondacks, where few birds are seen and fewer heard, +his note was almost constantly in my ear. Always busy, making it a +point never to suspend for one moment his occupation to indulge his +musical taste, his lay is that of industry and contentment. There is +nothing plaintive or especially musical in his performance, but the +sentiment expressed is eminently that of cheerfulness. Indeed, the +songs of most birds have some human significance, which, I think, is +the source of the delight we take in them. The song of the bobolink to +me expresses hilarity; the song sparrow's, faith; the bluebird's, +love; the catbird's, pride; the white-eyed flycatcher's, +self-consciousness; that of the hermit thrush spiritual serenity: +while there is something military in the call of the robin. +</P> + +<P> +The red-eye is classed among the flycatchers by some writers, but is +much more of a worm-eater, and has few of the traits or habits of the +Muscicapa or the true Sylvia. He resembles somewhat the warbling +vireo, and the two birds are often confounded by careless observers. +Both warble in the same cheerful strain, but the latter more +continuously and rapidly. The red-eye is a larger, slimmer bird, with +a faint bluish crown, and a light line over the eye. His movements are +peculiar. You may see him hopping among the limbs, exploring then +under side of the leaves, peering to the right and left, now flitting +a few feet, now hopping as many, and warbling incessantly, +occasionally in a subdued tone, which sounds from a very indefinite +distance. When he has found a worm to his liking, he turns lengthwise +of the limb and and bruises its head with his beak before devouring +it. +</P> + +<P> +As I enter the woods the slate-colored snowbird starts up before me +and chirps sharply. His protest when thus disturbed is almost metallic +in its sharpness. He breeds here, and is not esteemed a snowbird at +all, as he disappears at the near approach of winter, and returns +again in spring, like the song sparrow, and is not in any way +associated with the cold and snow. So different are the habits of +birds in different localities. Even the crow does not winter here, and +is seldom seen after December or before March. +</P> + +<P> +The snowbird, or "black chipping-bird," as it is known among the +farmers, is the finest architect of any of the ground-builders known +to me. The site of its nest is usually some low bank by the roadside, +near a wood. In a slight excavation, with a partially concealed +entrance, the exquisite structure is placed. Horse and cow hair are +plentifully used, imparting to the interior of the nest great symmetry +and firmness as well as softness. +</P> + +<P> +Passing down through the maple arches, barely pausing to observe the +antics of a trio of squirrels,—two gray ones and a black one,—I +cross an ancient brush fence and am fairly within the old hemlocks, +and in one of the most primitive, undisturbed nooks. In the deep moss +I tread as with muffled feet, and the pupils of my eyes dilate in the +dim, almost religious light. The irreverent red squirrels, however, +run and snicker at my approach, or mock the solitude with their +ridiculous chattering and frisking. +</P> + +<P> +This nook is the chosen haunt of the winter wren. This is the only +place and these the only woods in which I find him in this vicinity. +His voice fills these dim aisles, as if aided by some marvelous +sounding-board. Indeed, his song is very strong for so small a bird, +and unites in a remarkable degree brilliancy and plaintiveness. I +think of a tremulous vibrating tongue of silver. You may know it is +the song of a wren, from its gushing lyrical character; but you must +needs look sharp to see the little minstrel, especially while in the +act of singing. He is nearly the color of the ground and the leaves; +he never ascends the tall trees, but keeps low, flitting from stump to +stump and from root to root, dodging in and out of his hiding-places, +and watching all intruders with a suspicious eye. He has a very pert, +almost comical look. His tail stands more that perpendicular: it +points straight toward his head. He is the least ostentatious singer I +know of. He does not strike an attitude, and lift up his head in +preparation, and, as it were, clear his throat; but sits there on a +log and pours out his music, looking straight before him, or even down +at the ground. As a songster, he has but few superiors. I do not hear +him after the first week in July. +</P> + +<P> +While sitting on this soft-cushioned log, tasting the pungent +acidulous wood-sorrel, the blossoms of which, large and pink-veined, +rise everywhere above the moss, a rufous-colored bird flies quickly +past, and, alighting on a low limb a few rods off, salutes me with +"Whew! Whew!" or "Whoit! Whoit!" almost as you would whistle for your +dog. I see by his impulsive, graceful movement, and his dimly speckled +breast, that it is a thrush. Presently he utters a few soft, mellow, +flute-like notes, one of the most simple expressions of melody to be +heard, and scuds away, and I see it is the veery, or Wilson's thrush. +He is the least of the thrushes in size, being about that of the +common bluebird, and he may be distinguished from his relatives by the +dimness of the spots upon his breast. The wood thrush has very clear, +distinct oval spots on a white ground; in the hermit, the spots run +more into lines, on a ground of a faint bluish white; in the veery, +the marks are almost obsolete, and a few rods off his breast presents +only a dull yellowish appearance. To get a good view of him you have +only to sit down in his haunts, as in such cases he seems equally +anxious to get a good view of you. +</P> + +<P> +From those tall hemlocks proceeds a very fine insect-like warble, and +occasionally I see a spray tremble, or catch the flit of a wing. I +watch and watch till my head grows dizzy and my neck is in danger of +permanent displacement, and still do not get a good view. Presently +the bird darts, or, as it seems, falls down a few feet in pursuit of a +fly or a moth, and I see the whole of it, but in the dim light am +undecided. It is for such emergencies that I have brought my gun. A +bird in the hand is worth half a dozen in the bush, even for +ornithological purposes; and no sure and rapid-progress can be made +in the study without taking life, without procuring specimens. This +bird is a warbler, plainly enough, from his habits and manner; but +what kind of warbler? Look on him and name him: a deep orange or +flame-colored throat and breast; the same color showing also in a line +over the eye and in his crown; back variegated black and white. The +female is less marked and brilliant. The orange-throated warbler would +seem to be his right name, his characteristic cognomen; but no, he is +doomed to wear the name of some discoverer, perhaps the first who +rifled his nest or robbed him of his mate,—Blackburn; hence +Blackburnian warbler. The burn seems appropriate enough, for in these +dark evergreens his throat and breast show like flame. He has a very +fine warble, suggesting that of the redstart, but not especially +musical. I find him in not other woods in this vicinity. +</P> + +<P> +I am attracted by another warble in the same locality, and experience +a like difficulty in getting a good view of the author of it. It is +quite a noticeable strain, sharp and sibilant, and sounds well amid +the the old trees. In the upland woods of beech and maple it is a more +familiar sound than in these solitudes. On taking the bird in hand, +one can not help exclaiming, "How beautiful!" So tiny and elegant, the +smallest of the warblers; a delicate blue back, with a slight +bronze-colored triangular spot between the shoulders; upper mandible +black; lower mandible yellow as gold; throat yellow, becoming a dark +bronze on the breast. Blue yellow-back he is called, though the yellow +is much nearer a bronze. He is remarkably delicate and beautiful,—the +handsomest as he is the smallest of the warblers known to me. It is +never without surprise that I find amid these rugged, savage aspects +of nature creatures so fairy and delicate. But such is the law. Go to +the sea or climb the mountain, and with the ruggedest and the savagest +you will find likewise the fairest and the most delicate. The +greatness and the minuteness of nature pass all understanding. +</P> + +<P> +Ever since I entered the woods, even while listening to the lesser +songsters, or contemplating the silent forms about me, a strain has +reached my ears from out of the depths of the forest that to me is the +finest sound in nature,—the song of the hermit thrush. I often hear +him thus a long way off, sometimes over a quarter of a mile away, when +only the stronger and more perfect parts of his music reach me; and +through the general chorus of wrens and warblers I detect this sound +rising pure and serene, as if a spirit from some remote height were +slowly chanting a divine accompaniment. This song appeals to the +sentiment of the beautiful in me, and suggests a serene religious +beatitude as no other sound in nature does. It is perhaps more of an +evening than a morning hymn, +</P> + +<P> +though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple, and I +can hardly tell the secret of its charm. "O spheral, spheral!" he +seems to say; "O holy, holy! O clear away, clear away! O clear up, +clear up!" interspersed with the finest trills and the most delicate +preludes. It is not a proud, gorgeous strain, like the tanager's or +the grosbeak's; suggests no passion or emotion,—nothing +personal,—but seems to be the voice of that calm, sweet solemnity one +attains to in his best moments. It realizes a peace and a deep, solemn +joy that only the finest souls may know. A few nights ago I ascended a +mountain to see the world by moonlight, and when near the summit the +hermit commenced his evening hymn a few rods from me. Listening to +this strain on the lone mountain, with the full moon just rounded from +the horizon, the pomp of your cities and the pride of your +civilization seemed trivial and cheap. +</P> + +<P> +I have seldom known two of these birds to be singing at the same time +in the same locality, rivaling each other, like the wood thrush or the +veery. Shooting one from a tree, I have observed another take up the +strain from almost the identical perch in less than ten minutes +afterward. Later in the day, when I had penetrated the heart of the +old Barkpeeling, I came suddenly upon one singing from a low stump, +and for a wonder he did not seem alarmed, but lifted up his divine +voice as if his privacy was undisturbed. I open his beak and find the +inside yellow as gold. I was prepared to find it inlaid with pearls +and diamonds, or to see an angel issue from it. +</P> + +<P> +He is not much in the books. Indeed, I am acquainted with scarcely +any writer on ornithology whose head is not muddled on the subject of +our three prevailing song-thrushes, confounding either their figures +or their songs. A writer in the "Atlantic" [Footnote: For December, +1853] gravely tells us the wood thrush is sometimes called the hermit, +and then, after describing the song of the hermit with great beauty +and correctness, cooly ascribes it to the veery! The new Cyclopaedia, +fresh from the study of Audubon, says the hermit's song consists of a +single plaintive note, and that the veery's resembles that of the wood +thrush! The hermit thrush may be easily identified by his color; his +back being a clear olive-brown becoming rufous on his rum and tail. A +quill from his wing placed beside one from his tail on a dark ground +presents quite a marked contrast. +</P> + +<P> +I walk along the old road, and note the tracks in the thin layer of +mud. When do these creatures travel here? I have never yet chanced to +meet one. Here a partridge has set its foot; there, a woodcock; here, +a squirrel or mink; thee, a skunk; there, a fox. What a clear, nervous +track reynard makes! how easy to distinguish it from that of a little +dog,—it is so sharply cut and defined! A dog's track is coarse and +clumsy beside it. There is as much wildness in the track of an animal +as in its voice. Is a deer's track like a sheep's or a goat's? What +winged-footed fleetness and agility may be inferred from the sharp, +braided track of the gray squirrel upon the new snow! Ah! in nature is +the best discipline. How wood-life sharpens the senses, giving a new +power to the eye, the ear, the nose! And are not the rarest and most +exquisite songsters wood-birds? +</P> + +<P> +Everywhere in these solitudes I am greeted with the pensive, almost +pathetic not of the wood pewee. The pewees are the true flycatchers, +and are easily identified. They are very characteristic birds, have +strong family traits and pugnacious dispositions. They are the least +attractive or elegant birds of our fields or forests. +Sharp-shouldered, big-headed, short-legged, of no particular color, of +little elegance in flight or movement, with a disagreeable flirt of +the tail, always quarreling with their neighbors and with one another, +no birds are so little calculated to excite pleasurable emotions in +the beholder, or to become objects of human interest and affection. +The kingbird is the best dressed member of the family, but he is a +braggart; and, though always snubbing his neighbors, is an arrant +coward, and shows the white feather at the slightest display of pluck +in his antagonist. I have seen him turn tail to a swallow, and have +known the little pewee in question to whip him beautifully. From the +great-crested to the little green flycatcher, their ways and general +habits are the same. Slow in flying from point to point, they yet have +a wonderful quickness, and snap up the fleetest insects with little +apparent effort. There is a constant play of quick, nervous movements +underneath their outer show of calmness and stolidity. They do not +scour the limbs and trees like the warblers, but, perched upon the +middle branches, wait, like true hunters, for the game to come along. +There is often a very audible snap of the beak as they seize their +prey. +</P> + +<P> +The wood pewee, the prevailing species in this locality, arrests your +attention by his sweet, pathetic cry. There is room for it also in the +deep woods, as well as for the more prolonged and elevated strains. +</P> + +<P> +Its relative, the phoebe-bird, builds an exquisite nest of moss on the +side of some shelving cliff or overhanging rock. The other day, +passing by a ledge, near the top of a mountain in a singularly +desolate locality, my eye rested upon one of these structures, looking +precisely as if it grew there, so in keeping was it with the mossy +character of the rock, and I have had a growing affection for the bird +ever since. The rock seemed to love the nest and claim it as its own. +I said, what a lesson in architecture is here! Here is a house that +was built, but with such loving care and such beautiful adaptation of +the means to the end, that it looks like a product of nature. The same +wise economy is noticeable in the nests of all birds. No bird could +paint its house white or red, or add aught for show. +</P> + +<P> +At one point in the grayest, most shaggy part of the woods, I come +suddenly upon a brood of screech owls, full grown, sitting together +upon a dry, moss-draped limb, but a few feet from the ground. I pause +within four or five yards of them and am looking about me, when my eye +lights upon these, gray, motionless figures. They sit perfectly +upright, some with their backs and some with their breasts toward me, +but every head turned squarely in my direction. Their eyes are closed +to a mere black line; though this crack they are watching me, +evidently thinking themselves unobserved. The spectacle is weird and +grotesque. It is a new effect, the night side of the woods by +daylight. After observing them a moment I take a single step toward +them, when, quick as thought, their eyes fly wide open, their attitude +is changed, they bend, some this way, some that, and, instinct with +life and motion, stare wildly about them. Another step, and they all +take flight but one, which stoops low on the branch, and with the look +of a frightened cat regards me for a few seconds over its shoulder. +They fly swiftly and softly, and disperse through the trees. I shoot +one, which is of a tawny red tint, like that figured by Wilson. It is +a singular fact that the plumage of these owls presents two totally +distinct phases which "have no relation to sex, age, or season," one +being an ashen gray, the other a bright rufous. +</P> + +<P> +Coming to a drier and less mossy place in the woods, I am amused with +the golden-crowned thrush,—which, however, is no thrush at all, but a +warbler. He walks on the ground ahead of me with such an easy, gliding +motion, and with such an unconscious, preoccupied air, jerking his +head like a hen or a partridge, now hurrying, now slackening his pace, +that I pause to observe him. I sit down, he pauses to observe me, and +extends his pretty ramblings on all sides, apparently very much +engrossed with his own affairs, but never losing sight of me. But few +of the birds are walkers, most being hoppers, like the robin. +</P> + +<P> +Satisfied that I have no hostile intentions, the pretty pedestrian +mounts a limb a few feet from the ground, and gives me the benefit of +one of his musical performances, a sort of accelerating chant. +Commencing in a very low key, which makes him seem at a very uncertain +distance, he grows louder and louder till his body quakes and his +chant runs into a shriek, ringing in my ear, with a peculiar +sharpness. This lay may be represented thus: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[TRANSCRIBISTS NOTE: ORIGINAL BOOK USES FONT SHIFTS +TO ILLUSTRATE AN INCREASE IN VOLUME] +</P> + +<P> +"Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher!"—the accent on the +first syllable and each word uttered with increased force and +shrillness. No writer with whom I am acquainted gives him credit for +more musical ability than is displayed in this strain. Yet in this the +half is not told. He has a far rarer song, which he reserves for some +nymph whom he meets in the air. Mounting by easy flights to the top of +the tallest tree, he launches into the air with a sort of suspended, +hovering flight, like certain of the finches, and bursts into a +perfect ecstasy of song,—clear, ringing, copious, rivaling the +goldfinch's in vivacity, and the linnet's in melody. This strain is +one of the rarest bits of bird melody to be heard, and is oftenest +indulged in late in the afternoon or after sundown. Over the woods, +hid from view, the ecstatic singer warbles his finest strain. In this +song you instantly detect his relationship to the +water-wagtail,—erroneously called water-thrush,—whose song is +likewise a sudden burst, full and ringing, and with a tone of youthful +joyousness in it, as if the bird had just had some unexpected good +fortune. For nearly two years this strain of the pretty walker was +little more than a disembodied voice to me, and I was puzzled by it as +Thoreau by his mysterious night-warbler, which, by the way, I suspect +was no new bird at all, but one he was otherwise familiar with. The +little bird himself seems disposed to keep the matter a secret, and +improves every opportunity to repeat before you his shrill, +accelerating lay, as if this were quite enough and all he laid claim +to. Still, I trust I am betraying no confidence in making the matter +public here. I think this is preëminently his love-song, as I hear it +oftenest about the mating season. I have caught half-suppressed bursts +of it from two males chasing each other with fearful speed through the +forest. +</P> + +<P> +Turning to the left from the old road, I wander over soft logs and +gray yielding débris, across the little trout brook, until I emerge in +the overgrown Barkpeeling,—pausing now and then on the way to admire +a small, solitary now and then on the way to admire a small, solitary +white flower which rises above the moss, with radical, heart-shaped +leaves, and a blossom precisely like the liverwort except in color, +but which is not put down in my botany,—or to observe the ferns, of +which I count six varieties, some gigantic ones nearly shoulder-high. +</P> + +<P> +At the foot of a rough, scraggly yellow birch, on a bank of club-moss, +so richly inlaid with partridge-berry and curious shining +leaves—with here and there in the bordering a spire of false +wintergreen strung with faint pink flowers and exhaling the breath of +a May orchard—that it looks too costly a couch for such an idler, I +recline to note what transpires. The sun is just past the meridian, +and the afternoon chorus is not yet in full tune. Most birds sing with +the greatest spirit and vivacity in the forenoon, though there are +occasional bursts later in the day in which nearly all voices join; +while it is not till the twilight that the full power and solemnity of +the thrush's hymn is felt. +</P> + +<P> +My attention is soon arrested by a pair of hummingbirds, the +ruby-throated, disporting themselves in a low bush a few yards from +me. The female takes shelter amid the branches, and squeaks exultingly +as the male, circling above, dives down as if to dislodge her. Seeing +me, he drops like a feather on a slender twig, and in a moment both +are gone. Then as if by a preconcerted signal, the throats are all +atune. I lie on my back with eyes half closed, and analyze the chorus +of warblers, thrushes, finches, and flycatchers; while, soaring above +all, a little withdrawn and alone rises the divine contralto of the +hermit. That richly modulated warble proceeding from the top of yonder +birch, and which unpracticed ears would mistake for the voice of the +scarlet tanager, comes from that rare visitant, the rose-breasted +grosbeak. It is a strong, vivacious strain, a bright noonday song, +full of health and assurance, indicating fine talents in the +performer, but not a genius. As I come up under the tree he casts his +eye down at me, but continues his song. This bird is said to be quite +common in the Northwest, but he is rare in the Eastern districts. His +beak is disproportionately large and heavy, like a huge nose, which +slightly mars his good looks; but Nature has made it up to him in a +blush rose upon his breast, and the most delicate of pink linings to +the under side of his wings. His back is variegated black and white, +and when flying low the white shows conspicuously. If he passed over +your head, you would not the delicate flush under his wings. +</P> + +<P> +That bit of bright scarlet on yonder dead hemlock, glowing like a live +coal against the dark background, seeming almost too brilliant for the +severe northern climate, is his relative, the scarlet tanager. I +occasionally meet him in the deep hemlocks, and know no stronger +contrast in nature. I almost fear he will kindle the dry limb on which +he alights. He is quite a solitary bird, and in this section seems to +prefer the high, remote woods, even going quite to the mountain's top. +Indeed, the event of my last visit to the mountain was meeting one of +these brilliant creatures near the summit, in full song. The breeze +carried the notes far and wide. He seemed to enjoy the elevation, and +I imagined his song had more scope and freedom than usual. When he had +flown far down the mountain-side, the breeze still brought me his +finest notes. In plumage he is the most brilliant bird we have. The +bluebird is not entirely blue; nor will the indigo-bird bear a close +inspection, nor the goldfinch, nor the summer redbird. But the tanager +loses nothing by a near view; the deep scarlet of his body and the +black of his wings and tail are quite perfect. This is his holiday +suit; in the fall be becomes a dull yellowish green,—the color of the +female the whole season. +</P> + +<P> +One of the leading songsters in this choir of the old Barkpeeling is +the purple finch or linnet. He sits somewhat apart, usually on a dead +hemlock, and warbles most exquisitely. He is one of our finest +songsters, and stands at the head of the finches, as the hermit at the +head of the thrushes. His song approaches an ecstasy, and, with the +exception of the winter wren's, is the most rapid and copious strain +to be heard in these woods. It is quite destitute of the trills and +the liquid, silvery, bubbling notes that characterize the wren's; but +there runs through it a round, richly modulated whistle, very sweet +and very pleasing. The call of the robin is brought in at a certain +point with marked effect, and, throughout, the variety is so great and +the strain so rapid that the impression is as of two or three birds +singing at the same time. He is not common here, and I only find him +in these or similar woods. His color is peculiar, and looks as if it +might have been imparted by dipping a brown bird in diluted pokeberry +juice. Two or three more dipping would have made the purple complete. +The female is the color of the song sparrow, a little larger, with +heavier beak, and tail much more forked. +</P> + +<P> +In a little opening quite free from brush and trees, I step down to +bath my hands in the brook, when a small, light slate-colored bird +flutters out of the bank, not three feet from my head, as I stoop +down, and, as if severely lamed or injured, flutters through the grass +and into the nearest bush. As I do not follow, but remain near the +nest, she chips sharply, which brings the male, and I see it is the +speckled Canada warbler. I find no authority in the books for this +bird to build upon the ground, yet here is the nest, made chiefly of +dry grass, set in a slight excavation in the bank not two feet from +the water, and looking a little perilous to anything but ducklings or +sandpipers. There are two young birds and one little speckled egg just +pipped. But how is this? what mystery is here? One nestling is much +larger than the other, monopolizes most of the nest, and lifts its +open mouth far above that of its companion, though obviously both are +of the same age, not more than a day old. Ah! I see; the old trick of +the cow bunting, with a stinging human significance. Taking the +interloper by the nape of the neck, I deliberately drop it into the +water, but not without a pang, as I see its naked form, convulsed with +chills, float downstream. Cruel? So is Nature cruel. I take one life +to save two. In less than two days this pot-bellied intruder would +have caused the death of the two rightful occupants of the nest; so I +step in and turn things into their proper channel again. +</P> + +<P> +It is a similar freak of nature, this instinct which prompts one bird +to lay its eggs in the nests of others, and thus shirk the +responsibility of rearing its own young. The cow buntings always +resort to this cunning trick; and when one reflects upon their +numbers, it is evident that these little tragedies are quite frequent. +In Europe the parallel case is that of the cuckoo, and occasionally +our own cuckoo imposes upon a robin or a thrush in the same manner. +The cow bunting seems to have no conscience about the matter, and, so +far as I have observed, invariable selects the nest of a bird smaller +than itself. Its egg is usually the first to hatch; its young +overreaches all the rest when food is brought; it grow with great +rapidity, spreads and fills the nest, and the starved and crowded +occupants soon perish, when the parent bird removes their dead bodies, +giving its whole energy and care to the foster-child. +</P> + +<P> +The warblers and smaller flycatchers are generally the sufferers, +though I sometimes see the slate-colored snowbird unconsciously duped +in like manner; and the other day, in a tall tree in the woods, I +discovered the black-throated green-backed warbler devoting itself to +this dusky, over-grown foundling. An old farmer to whom I pointed out +the fact was much surprised that such things should happen in his +woods without his knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +These birds may be seen prowling through all parts of the woods at +this season, watching for an opportunity to steal their egg into some +nest. One day while sitting on a log, I saw one moving by short +flights through the trees and gradually nearing the ground. Its +movements were hurried and stealthy. About fifty yards from me it +disappeared behind some low brush, and had evidently alighted upon the +ground. +</P> + +<P> +After waiting a few moments I cautiously walked in the direction. +When about halfway I accidentally made a slight noise, when the bird +flew up, and seeing me, hurried out of the woods. Arrived at the +place, I found a simple nest of dry grass and leaves partially +concealed under a prostrate branch. I took it to be the nest of a +sparrow. There were three eggs in a nest, and one lying about a foot +below it as if it had been rolled out, as of course it had. It +suggested the thought that perhaps, when the cowbird finds the full +complement of eggs in a nest, it throws out one and deposits its own +instead. I revisited the nest a few days afterward and found an egg +again cast out, but none had been put in its place. The nest had been +abandoned by its owner and the eggs were stale. +</P> + +<P> +In all cases where I have found this egg, I have observed both male +and female cowbird lingering near, the former uttering his peculiar +liquid, glassy note from the tops of the trees. +</P> + +<P> +In July, the young which have been reared in the same neighborhood, +and which are now of a dull fawn color, begin to collect in small +flocks, which grow to be quite large in autumn. +</P> + +<P> +The specked Canada is a very superior warbler, having a lively, +animated strain, reminding you of certain parts of the canary's, +though quite broken and incomplete; the bird, the while, hopping amid +the branches with increased liveliness, and indulging in fine sibilant +chirps, too happy to keep silent. +</P> + +<P> +His manners are quite marked. He has a habit of courtesying when he +discovers you which is very pretty. In form he is an elegant bird, +somewhat slender, his back of a bluish lead-color becoming nearly +black on his crown: the under part of his body, from his throat down, +is of a light, delicate yellow, with a belt of black dots across his +breast. He has a fine eye, surrounded by a light yellow ring. +</P> + +<P> +The parent birds are much disturbed by my presence, and keep up a loud +emphatic chirping, which attracts the attention of their sympathetic +neighbors, and one after another they come to see what has happened. +The chestnut-sided and the Blackburnian come in company. The black and +yellow warbler pauses a moment and hastens away; the Maryland +yellow-throat peeps shyly from the lower bushes and utters his "Fip! +fip!" in sympathy; the wood pewee comes straight to the tree overhead, +and the red-eyed vireo lingers and lingers, eyeing me with a curious +innocent look, evidently much puzzled. But all disappear again, one by +one, apparently without a word of condolence or encouragement to the +distressed pair. I have often noticed among birds this show of +sympathy,—if indeed it be sympathy, and not merely curiosity, or +desire to be forewarned of the approach of a common danger. +</P> + +<P> +An hour afterward I approach the place, find all still, and the mother +bird upon her nest. As I draw near she seems to sit closer, her eyes +growing large with an inexpressibly wild, beautiful look. She keeps +her place till I am within two paces of her, when she flutters away as +at first. In the brief interval the remaining egg has hatched, and the +two little nestling lift their heads without being jostled or +overreached by any strange bedfellow. A week afterward and they were +flown away,—so brief is the infancy of birds. And the wonder is that +they escape, even for this short time, the skunks and minks and +muskrats that abound here, and that have a decided partiality for such +tidbits. +</P> + +<P> +I pass on through the old Barkpeeling, now threading an obscure +cow-path or an overgrown wood-road; now clambering over soft and +decayed logs, or forcing my way through a network of briers and +hazels; now entering a perfect bower of wild cherry, beech, and soft +maple; now emerging into a grassy lane, golden with buttercups or +white with daisies, or wading waist-deep in the red raspberry-bushes. +</P> + +<P> +Whir! whir! whir! and a brood of half-grown partridges start up like +an explosion, a few paces from me, and, scattering, disappear in the +bushes on all sides. Let me sit down here behind the screen of ferns +and briers, and hear this wild hen of the woods call together her +brood. At what an early age the partridge flies! Nature seems to +concentrate her energies on the wing, making the safety of a bird a +point to be looked after first; and while the body is covered with +down, and no signs of feathers are visible, the wing-quills sprout and +unfold, and in an incredibly short time the young make fair headway in +flying. +</P> + +<P> +The same rapid development of wing may be observed in chickens and +turkeys, but not in water-fowls, nor in birds that are safely housed +in the nest till full-fledged. The other day, by a brook, I came +suddenly upon a young sandpiper, a most beautiful creature, enveloped +in a soft gray down, swift and nimble and apparently a week or two +old, but with no signs of plumage either of body or wing. And it +needed none, for it escaped me by taking to the water as readily as if +it had flown with wings. +</P> + +<P> +Hark! there arises over there in the brush a soft persuasive cooing, +a sound so subtle and wild and unobtrusive that it requires the most +alert and watchful ear to hear it. How gentle and solicitous and full +of yearning love! It is the voice of the mother hen. Presently a faint +timid "Yeap!" which almost eludes the ear, is heard in various +direction,—the young responding. As no danger seems near, the cooing +of the parent bird is soon a very audible clucking call, and the young +move cautiously in the direction. Let me step never to carefully from +my hiding-place, and all sounds instantly cease, and I search in vain +for either parent or young. +</P> + +<P> +The partridge is one of our most native and characteristic birds. The +woods seem good to be in where I find him. He gives a habitable air to +the forest, and one feels as if the rightful occupant was really at +home. The woods where I do not find him seem to want something, as if +suffering from some neglect of Nature. And then he is such a splendid +success, so hardy and vigorous. I think he enjoys the cold and the +snow. His wings seem to rustle with more fervency in midwinter. If the +snow falls very fast, and promises a heavy storm he will complacently +sit down allow himself to be snowed under. Approaching him at such +times, he suddenly bursts out of the snow at your feet, scattering the +flakes in all directions, and goes humming away through the woods like +a bombshell,—a picture of native spirit and success. +</P> + +<P> +His drum is one of the most welcome and beautiful sounds of spring. +Scarcely have the trees expanded their buds, when, in the still April +mornings, or toward nightfall, you hear the hum of his devoted wings. +He selects not, as you would predict, a dry and resinous log, but a +decayed and crumbling one, seeming to give the preference to old +oak-logs that are partly blended with the soil. If a log to his taste +cannot be found, he sets up his alter on a rock, which becomes +resonant beneath his fervent blows. Who has seen the partridge drum? +It is the next thing to catching a weasel asleep, though by much +caution and tact it may be done. He does not hug the log, but stands +very erect, expands his ruff, gives two introductory blows, pauses +half a second, and then resumes, striking faster and faster till the +sound becomes a continuous, unbroken whir, the whole lasting less than +half a minute. The tips of his wings barely brush the log, so that the +sound is produced rather by the force of the blows upon the air and +upon his own body as in flying. One log will be used for many years, +though not by the same drummer. It seems to be a sort of temple and +held in great respect. The bird always approaches on foot, and leaves +it in the same quiet manner, unless rudely disturbed. He is very +cunning, though his wit is not profound. It is difficult to approach +him by stealth, you will try many times before succeeding; but seem to +pass by him in a great hurry, making all the noise possible, and with +plumage furled, he stands as immovable as a know, allowing you a good +view, and a good shot if you are a sportsman. +</P> + +<P> +Passing along one of the old Barkpeelers' roads which wander aimlessly +about, I am attracted by a singularly brilliant and emphatic warble, +proceeding from the low bushes, and quickly suggesting the voice of +the Maryland yellow-throat. Presently the singer hops up on a dry +twig, and gives me a good view: lead-colored head and neck, becoming +nearly black on the breast; clear olive-green back, and yellow belly. +From his habit of keeping near the ground, even hopping upon it +occasionally, I know him to be a ground warbler; from his dark breast +the ornithologist has added the expletive mourning, hence the mourning +ground warbler. +</P> + +<P> +Of this bird both Wilson and Audubon confessed their comparative +ignorance, neither ever having seen its nest or become acquainted with +its haunts and general habits. Its song is quite striking and novel, +though its voice at once suggests the class of warblers to which it +belongs. It is very shy and wary, flying but a few feet at a time, and +studiously concealing itself from your view. I discover but one pair +here. The female has food in her beak, but carefully avoids betraying +the locality of her nest. The ground warblers all have one notable +feature,—very beautiful legs, as white and delicate as if they had +always worn silk stockings and satin slippers. High tree warblers have +dark brown or black legs and more brilliant plumage, but less musical +ability. +</P> + +<P> +The chestnut-sided belongs to the latter class. He is quite common in +these woods, as in all the woods about. He is one of the rarest and +handsomest of the warblers; his white breast and throat, chestnut +sides, and yellow crown show conspicuously. Last year I found the nest +of one in an uplying beech wood, in a low bush near the roadside, +where cows passed and browsed daily. Things went on smoothly till the +cow bunting stole her egg into it, when other mishaps followed, and +the nest was soon empty. A characteristic attitude of the male during +this season is a slight drooping of the wings, and a tail a little +elevated, which gives him a very smart, bantam-like appearance. His +song is fine and hurried, and not much of itself, but has its place in +the general chorus. +</P> + +<P> +A far sweeter strain, falling on the ear with the true sylvan cadence, +is that of the black-throated green-backed warbler, whom I meet at +various points. He has no superiors among the true Sylvia. His song is +very plain and simple, but remarkably pure and tender, and might be +indicated by straight lines, thus [2 dashes, square root symbol, high +dash]; the first two marks representing two sweet, silvery notes, in +the same pitch of voice, and quite unaccented; the latter marks, the +concluding notes, wherein the tone and inflection are changed. The +throat and breast of the male are a rich black like velvet, his face +yellow, and his back a yellowish green. +</P> + +<P> +Beyond the Barkpeeling, where the woods are mingled hemlock, beech, +and birch, the languid midsummer note of the black-throated blue-back +falls on my ear. "Twea, twea, twea-e-e!" in the upward slide, and with +the peculiar z-ing of summer insects, but not destitute of a certain +plaintive cadence. It is one of the most languid, unhurried sounds in +all the woods. I feel like reclining upon the dry leaves at once. +Audubon says he has never heard his love-song; but this is all the +love-song he has, and he is evidently a very plain hero with his +little brown mistress. He assumes few attitudes, and is not a bold and +striking gymnast, like many of his kindred. He has a preference for +dense woods of beech and maple, moves slowly amid the lower branches +and smaller growths, keeping from eight to ten feet from the ground, +and repeating now and then his listless, indolent strain. His back and +crown are dark blue; his throat and breast, black; his belly, pure +white; and he has a white spot on each wing. +</P> + +<P> +Here and there I meet the black and white creeping warbler, whose fine +strain reminds me of hairwire. It is unquestionably the finest +bird-song to be heard. Few insect strains will compare with it in this +respect; while it has none of the harsh, brassy character of the +latter, being very delicate and tender. +</P> + +<P> +That sharp, uninterrupted, but still continued warble, which before +one has learned to discriminate closely, he is apt to confound with +the red-eyed vireo's, is that of the solitary warbling vireo,—a bird +slightly larger, much rarer, and with a louder less cheerful and happy +strain. I see him hopping along lengthwise of the limbs, and note the +orange tinge of his breast and sides and the white circle around his +eye. +</P> + +<P> +But the declining sun and the deepening shadows admonish me that this +ramble must be brought to a close, even though only the leading +characters in this chorus of forty songsters have been described, and +only a small portion of the venerable old woods explored. In a +secluded swampy corner of the old Barkpeeling, where I find the great +purple orchis in bloom, and where the foot of man or beast seems never +to have trod, I linger long, contemplating the wonderful display of +lichens and mosses that overrun both the smaller and the larger +growths. Every bush and branch and sprig is dressed up in the most +rich and fantastic of liveries; and, crowning all, the long bearded +moss festoons the branches or sways gracefully from the limbs. Every +twig looks a century old, though green leaves tip the end of it. A +young yellow birch has a venerable, patriarchal look, and seems ill at +ease under such premature honors. A decayed hemlock is draped as if by +hands for some solemn festival. +</P> + +<P> +Mounting toward the upland again, I pause reverently as the hush and +stillness of twilight com upon the woods. It is the sweetest, ripest +hour of the day. And as the hermit's evening hymn goes up from the +deep solitude below me, I experience that serene exaltation of +sentiment of which music, literature, and religion are but the faint +types and symbols. 1865. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ADIRONDACKS +</H3> + +<P> +When I went to the Adirondacks, which was in the summer of 1863, I was +in the first flush of my ornithological studies, and was curious, +above else, to know what birds I should find in these solitudes,—what +new ones, and what ones already known to me. +</P> + +<P> +In visiting vast primitive, far-off woods one naturally expects to +find something rare and precious, or something entirely new, but it +commonly happens that one is disappointed. Thoreau made three +excursions into the Maine woods, and, though he started the moose and +the caribou, had nothing more novel to report by way of bird notes +than the songs of the wood thrush and the pewee. This was about my own +experience in the Adirondacks. The birds for the most part prefer the +vicinity of settlements and clearings, and it was at such places that +I saw the greatest number and variety. +</P> + +<P> +At the clearing of an old hunter and pioneer by the name of Hewett, +where we paused a couple of days on first entering the woods, I saw +many old friends and made some new acquaintances. The snowbird was +very abundant here, as it had been at various points along the route +after leaving Lake George. As I went out to the spring in the morning +to wash myself, a purple finch flew up before me, having already +performed its ablutions. I had first observed this bird the winter +before in the Highlands of the Hudson, where, during several clear but +cold February mornings, a troop of them sang most charmingly in a tree +in front of my house. The meeting with the bird here in its breeding +haunts was a pleasant surprise. During the day I observed several pine +finches,—a dark brown or brindlish bird, allied to the common +yellowbird, which it much resembles in its manner and habits. They +lingered familiarly about the house, sometimes alighting in a small +tree within a few feet of it. In one of the stumpy fields I saw an old +favorite in the grass finch or vesper swallow. It was sitting on a +tall charred stub with food in its beak. But all along the borders of +the woods and in the bushy parts of the fields there was a new song +that I was puzzled in tracing to the author. It was most noticeable in +the morning and at twilight, but was at all times singularly secret +and elusive. I at last discovered that it was the white-throated +sparrow, a common bird all through this region. Its song is very +delicate and plaintive,—a thin, wavering, tremulous whistle, which +disappoints one, however, as it ends when it seems only to have begun. +If the bird could give us the finishing strain of which this seems +only the prelude, it would stand first among feathered songsters. +</P> + +<P> +By a little trout brook in a low part of the woods adjoining the +clearing, I had a good time pursuing and identifying a number of +warblers,—the speckled Canada, the black-throated blue, the +yellow-rumped, and Audubon's warbler. The latter, which was leading +its troop of young through a thick undergrowth on the banks of the +creek where insects were plentiful, was new to me. +</P> + +<P> +It being August, the birds were all moulting, and sang only fitfully +and by brief snatches. I remember hearing but one robin during the +whole trip. This was by the Boreas River in the deep forest. It was +like the voice of an old friend speaking my name. +</P> + +<P> +From Hewett's, after engaging his youngest son,—the "Bub" of the +family,—a young man about twenty and a thorough woodsman, as our +guide, we took to the woods in good earnest, our destination being the +Stillwater of the Boreas,—a long, deep, dark reach in one of the +remotest branches of the Hudson, about six miles distant. Here we +paused a couple of days, putting up in a dilapidated lumbermen's +shanty, and cooking our fish over an old stove which had been left +there. The most noteworthy incident of our stay at this point was the +taking by myself of half a dozen splendid trout out of the Stillwater, +after the guide had exhausted his art and his patience with very +insignificant results. The place had a very trouty look; but as the +season was late and the river warm, I knew the fish lay in deep water +from which they could not be attracted. In deep water accordingly, and +near the head of the hole, I determined to look for them. Securing a +chub, I cut it into pieces about an inch long, and with these for bait +sank my hook into the head of the Stillwater, and just to one side of +the main current. In less than twenty minutes I had landed six noble +fellows, three of them over one foot long each. The guide and my +incredulous companions, who were watching me from the opposite shore, +seeing my luck, whipped out their tackle in great haste and began +casting first at a respectable distance from me, then all about me, +but without a single catch. My own efforts suddenly became fruitless +also, but I had conquered the guide, and thenceforth he treated me +with the tone and freedom of a comrade and equal. +</P> + +<P> +One afternoon, we visited a cave some two miles down the stream, which +had recently been discovered. We squeezed and wriggled through a big +crack or cleft in the side of the mountain for about one hundred feet, +when we emerged into a large dome-shaped passage, the abode during +certain seasons of the year of innumerable bats, and at all times of +primeval darkness. There were various other crannies and pit-holes +opening into it, some of which we explored. The voice of running water +was everywhere heard, betraying the proximity of the little stream by +whose ceaseless corroding the cave and its entrance had been worn. +This streamlet flowed out of the mouth of the cave, and came from a +lake on the top of the mountain; this accounted for its warmth to the +hand, which surprised us all. +</P> + +<P> +Birds of any kind were rare in these woods. A pigeon hawk came +prowling by our camp, and the faint piping call of the nuthatches, +leading their young through the high trees, was often heard. +</P> + +<P> +On the third day our guide proposed to conduct us to a lake in the +mountains where we could float for deer. +</P> + +<P> +Our journey commenced in a steep and rugged ascent, which brought us, +after an hour's heavy climbing, to an elevated region of pine forest, +years before ravished by lumbermen, and presenting all manner of +obstacles to our awkward and incumbered pedestrianism. The woods were +largely pine, though yellow birch, beech, and maple were common. The +satisfaction of having a gun, should any game show itself, was the +chief compensation to those of us who were thus burdened. A partridge +would occasionally whir up before us, or a red squirrel snicker and +hasten to his den; else the woods appeared quite tenantless. The most +noted object was a mammoth pine, apparently the last of a great race, +which presided over a cluster of yellow birches, on the side of the +mountain. +</P> + +<P> +About noon, we came out upon a long, shallow sheet of water which the +guide called Bloody-Moose Pond, from the tradition that a moose had +been slaughtered there many years before. Looking out over the silent +and lonely scene, his eye was the first to detect an object, +apparently feeding upon lily-pads, which our willing fancies readily +shaped into a deer. As we were eagerly waiting some movement to +confirm this impression, it lifted up its head, and lo! a great blue +heron. Seeing us approach, it spread its long wings and flew solemnly +across to a dead tree on the other side of the lake, enhancing rather +than relieving the loneliness and desolation that brooded over the +scene. As we proceeded, it flew from tree to tree in advance of us, +apparently loth to be disturbed in its ancient and solitary domain. In +the margin of the pond we found the pitcher-plant growing, and here +and there in the sand the closed gentian lifted up its blue head. +</P> + +<P> +In traversing the shores of this wild, desolate lake, I was conscious +of a slight thrill of expectation, as if some secret of Nature might +here be revealed, or some rare and unheard-of game disturbed. There is +ever a lurking suspicion that the beginning of things is in some way +associated with water, and one may notice that in his private walks he +is led by a curious attraction to fetch all the springs and ponds in +his route, as if by them was the place for wonders and miracles to +happen. Once, while in advance of my companions, I saw, from a high +rock, a commotion in the water near the shore, but on reaching the +point found only the marks of a musquash. +</P> + +<P> +Pressing on through the forest, after many adventures with pine-knots, +we reached, about the middle of the afternoon, our destination, Nate's +Pond,—a pretty sheet of water, lying like a silver mirror in the lap +of the mountain, about a mile long and half a mile wide, surrounded by +dark forests of balsam, hemlock, and pine, and, like the one we had +just passed, a very picture of unbroken solitude. +</P> + +<P> +It is not in the woods alone to give one this impression of utter +loneliness. In the woods are sounds and voices, and a dumb kind of +companionship; one is little more than a walking tree himself; but +come upon one of these mountain lakes, and the wildness stands +revealed and meets you face to face. Water is thus facile and +adaptive, that makes the wild more wild, while it enhances culture and +art. +</P> + +<P> +The end of the pond which we approached was quite shoal, the stones +rising above the surface as in a summer brook, and everywhere showing +marks of the noble game we were in quest of,—footprints, dung, and +cropped and uprooted lily pads. After resting for a half hour, and +replenishing our game-pouches at the expense of the most respectable +frogs of the locality, we filed on through the soft, resinous +pine-woods, intending to camp near the other end of the lake, where, +the guide assured us, we should find a hunter's cabin ready built. A +half-hour's march brought us to the locality, and a most delightful +one it was,—so hospitable and inviting that all the kindly and +beneficent influences of the woods must have abided there. In a slight +depression in the woods, about one hundred yards from the lake, though +hidden from it for a hunter's reasons, surrounded by a heavy growth of +birch, hemlock, and pine, with a lining of balsam and fir, the rude +cabin welcomed us. It was of the approved style, three sides inclosed, +with a roof of bark and a bed of boughs, and a rock in front that +afforded a permanent backlog to all fires. A faint voice of running +water was head near by, and, following the sound, a delicious spring +rivulet was disclosed, hidden by the moss and débris as by a new fall +of snow, but here and there rising in little well-like openings, as if +for our special convenience. On smooth places on the log I noticed +female names inscribed in a female hand; and the guide told us of an +English lady, an artist, who had traversed this region with a single +guide, making sketches. +</P> + +<P> +Our packs unslung and the kettle over, our first move was to ascertain +in what state of preservation a certain dug-out might be, which the +guide averred, he had left moored in the vicinity the summer +before,—for upon this hypothetical dug-out our hopes of venison +rested. After a little searching, it was found under the top of a +fallen hemlock, but in a sorry condition. A large piece had been split +out of one end, and a fearful chink was visible nearly to the water +line. Freed from the treetop, however, and calked with a little moss, +it floated with two aboard, which was quite enough for our purpose. A +jack and an oar were necessary to complete the arrangement, and before +the sun had set our professor of wood-craft had both in readiness. +From a young yellow birch an oar took shape with marvelous +rapidity,—trimmed and smoothed with a neatness almost fastidious,—no +makeshift, but an instrument fitted for the delicate work it was to +perform. +</P> + +<P> +A jack was make with equal skill and speed. A stout staff about three +feet long was placed upright in the bow of the boat, and held to its +place by a horizontal bar, through a hole in which it turned easily: a +half wheel eight or ten inches in diameter, cut from a large chip, was +placed at the top, around which was bent a new section of birch bark, +thus forming a rude semicircular reflector. Three candles placed +within the circle completed the jack. With moss and boughs seats were +arranged,—one in the bow for the marksman, and one in the stern for +the oarsman. A meal of frogs and squirrels was a good preparation, +and, when darkness came, all were keenly alive to the opportunity it +brought. Though by no means an expert in the use of the gun,—adding +the superlative degree of enthusiasm to only the positive degree of +skill,—yet it seemed tacitly agreed that I should act as marksman and +kill the deer, if such was to be our luck. +</P> + +<P> +After it was thoroughly dark, we went down to make a short trial trip. +Everything working to satisfaction, about ten o'clock we pushed out in +earnest. For the twentieth time I felt in the pocket that contained +the matches, ran over the part I was to perform, and pressed my gun +firmly, to be sure there was no mistake. My position was that of +kneeling directly under the jack, which I was to light at the word. +The night was clear, moonless, and still. Nearing the middle of the +lake, a breeze from the west was barely perceptible, and noiselessly +we glided before it. The guide handled his oar with great dexterity; +without lifting it from the water or breaking the surface, he imparted +the steady, uniform motion desired. How silent it was! The ear seemed +the only sense, and to hold dominion over lake and forest. +Occasionally a lily-pad would brush along the bottom, and stooping low +I could hear a faint murmuring of the water under the bow: else all +was still. Then almost as by magic, we were encompassed by a huge +black ring. The surface of the lake, when we had reached the center, +was slightly luminous from the starlight, and the dark, even +forest-line that surrounded us, doubled by reflection in the water, +presented a broad, unbroken belt of utter blackness. The effect was +quite startling, like some huge conjurer's trick. It seemed as if we +had crossed the boundary-line between the real and the imaginary, and +this was indeed the land of shadows and of spectres. What magic oar +was that the guide wielded that it could transport me to such a realm! +Indeed, had I not committed some fatal mistake, and left that trusty +servant behind, and had not some wizard of the night stepped into his +place? A slight splashing in-shore broke the spell and caused me to +turn nervously to the oarsman: "Musquash," said he, and kept strait +on. +</P> + +<P> +Nearing the extreme end of the pond, the boat gently headed around, +and silently we glided back into the clasp of that strange orbit. +Slight sounds were heard as before, but nothing that indicated the +presence of the game we were waiting for; and we reached the point of +departure as innocent of venison as we had set out. +</P> + +<P> +After an hour's delay, and near midnight, we pushed out again. My +vigilance and susceptibility were rather sharpened than dulled by the +waiting; and the features of the night had also deepened and +intensified. Night was at its meridian. The sky had that soft +luminousness which may often be observed near midnight at this season, +and the "large few stars" beamed mildly down. We floated out into that +spectral shadow-land and moved slowly on as before. The silence was +most impressive. Now and then the faint yeap of some traveling bird +would come from the air overhead, or the wings of a bat whisp quickly +by, or an owl hoot off in the mountains, giving to the silence and +loneliness a tongue. At short intervals some noise in-shore would +startle me, and cause me to turn inquiringly to the silent figure in +the stern. +</P> + +<P> +The end of the lake was reached, and we turned back. The novelty and +the excitement began to flag; tired nature began to assert her claims; +the movement was soothing, and the gunner slumbered fitfully at his +post. Presently something aroused me. "There's a deer," whispered the +guide. The gun heard, and fairly jumped in my hand. Listening, there +came the crackling of a limb, followed by a sound as of something +walking in shallow water. It proceeded from the other end of the lake, +over against our camp. On we sped, noiselessly as ever, but with +increased velocity. Presently, with a thrill of new intensity, I saw +the boat was gradually heading in that direction. Now, to a sportsman +who gets excited over a gray squirrel, and forgets that he has a gun +on the sudden appearance of a fox, this was a severe trial. I suddenly +felt cramped for room, and trimming the boat was out of the question. +It seemed that I must make some noise in spite of myself. "Light the +jack," said a soft whisper behind me. I fumbled nervously for a match, +and dropped the first one. Another was drawn briskly across my knee +and broke. A third lighted, but went out prematurely, in my haste to +get it to the jack. What would I not have given to see those wicks +blaze! We were fast nearing the shore,—already the lily-pads began to +brush along the bottom. Another attempt, and the light took. The +gentle motion fanned the blaze, and in a moment a broad glare of light +fell upon the water in front of us, while the boat remained in utter +darkness. +</P> + +<P> +By this time I had got beyond the nervous point, and had come round to +perfect coolness and composure again, but preternaturally vigilant and +keen. I was ready for any disclosures; not a sound was heard. In a few +moments the trees alongshore were faintly visible. Every object put on +the shape of a gigantic deer. A large rock looked just ready to bound +away. The dry limbs of a prostrate tree were surely his antlers. +</P> + +<P> +But what are those two luminous spots? Need the reader be told what +they were? In a moment the head of a real deer became outlined; then +his neck and foreshoulders; then his whole body. There he stood, up to +his knees in the water, gazing fixedly at us, apparently arrested in +the movement of putting his head down for a lily-pad, and evidently +thinking it was some new-fangled moon sporting about there. "Let him +have it," said my prompter,—and the crash came. There was a scuffle +in the water, and a plunge in the woods. "He's gone," said I. "Wait a +moment," said the guide, "and I will show you." Rapidly running the +canoe ashore, we sprang out, and, holding the jack aloft, explored the +vicinity by its light. There, over the logs and brush, I caught the +glimmer of those luminous spots again. But, poor thing! there was +little need of the second shot, which was the unkindest of all, for +the deer had already fallen to the ground, and was fast expiring. The +success was but a very indifferent one, after all, as the victim +turned out to be only an old doe, upon whom maternal cares had +evidently worn heavily during the summer. +</P> + +<P> +This mode of taking deer is very novel and strange. The animal is +evidently fascinated or bewildered. It does not appear to be +frightened, but as if overwhelmed with amazement, or under the +influence of some spell. It is not sufficiently master of the +situation to be sensible of fear, or to think of escape by flight; and +the experiment, to be successful, must be tried quickly, before the +first feeling of bewilderment passes. +</P> + +<P> +Witnessing the spectacle from the shore, I can conceive of nothing +more sudden or astounding. You see no movement and hear no noise, but +the light grows upon you, and stares and stares like a huge eye from +infernal regions. +</P> + +<P> +According to the guide, when a deer has been played upon in this +manner and escaped, he is not to be fooled again a second time. +Mounting the shore, he gives a long signal snort, which alarms every +animal within hearing, and dashes away. +</P> + +<P> +The sequel to the deer-shooting was a little sharp practice with a +revolver upon a rabbit, or properly a hare, which was so taken with +the spectacle of the camp-fire, and the sleeping figures lying about, +that it ventured quite up in our midst; but while testing the quality +of some condensed milk that sat uncovered at the foot of a large tree, +poor Lepus had his spine injured by a bullet. +</P> + +<P> +Those who lodge with Nature find early rising quite in order. It is +our voluptuous beds, and isolation from the earth and the air, that +prevents us from emulating the birds and the beasts in this respect. +With the citizen in his chamber, it is not morning, but +breakfast-time. The camper-out, however, feels morning in the air, he +smells it, hears it, and springs up with the general awakening. None +were tardy at the row of white chips arranged on the trunk of a +prostrate tree, when breakfast was halloed; for we were all anxious to +try the venison. Few of us, however, took a second piece. It was black +and strong. +</P> + +<P> +The day was warm and calm, and we loafed at leisure. The woods were +Nature's own. It was a luxury to ramble through them,—rank and shaggy +and venerable, but with an aspect singularly ripe and mellow. No fire +had consumed and no lumberman plundered. Every trunk and limb and leaf +lay where it had fallen. At every step the foot sank into the moss, +which, like a soft green snow, covered everything, making every stone +a cushion and every rock a bed,—a grand old Norse parlor; adorned +beyond art and upholstered beyond skill. +</P> + +<P> +Indulging in a brief nap on a rug of club-moss carelessly dropped at +the foot of a pine-tree, I woke up to find myself the subject of a +discussion of a troop of chickadees. Presently three or four shy wood +warblers came to look upon this strange creature that had wandered +into their haunts; else I passed quite unnoticed. +</P> + +<P> +By the lake, I met that orchard beauty, the cedar waxwing, spending +his vacation in the assumed character of a flycatcher, whose part he +performed with great accuracy and deliberation. Only a month before I +had seen him regaling himself upon cherries in the garden and orchard; +but as the dog-days approached he set out for the streams and lakes, +to divert himself with the more exciting pursuits of the chase. From +the tops of the dead trees along the border of the lake, he would +sally out in all directions, sweeping through long curves, alternately +mounting and descending, now reaching up for a fly high in the air, +now sinking low for one near the surface, and returning to his perch +in a few moments for a fresh start. +</P> + +<P> +The pine finch was also here, though, as usual never appearing at +home, but with a waiting, expectant air. Here also I met my beautiful +singer, the hermit thrush, but with no song in his throat now. A week +or two later and he was on his journey southward. This was the only +species of thrush I saw in the Adirondacks. Near Lake Sandford, where +were large tracks of raspberry and wild cherry, I saw numbers of them. +A boy whom we met, driving home some stray cows, said it was the +"partridge-bird," no doubt from the resemblance of its note, when +disturbed, to the cluck of the partridge. +</P> + +<P> +Nate's Pond contained perch and sunfish but no trout. Its water was +not pure enough for trout. Was there ever any other fish so fastidious +as this, requiring such sweet harmony and perfection of the elements +for its production and sustenance? On higher ground about a mile +distant was a trout pond, the shores of which were steep and rocky. +</P> + +<P> +Our next move was a tramp of about twelve miles through the +wilderness, most of the way in a drenching rain, to a place called the +Lower Iron Works, situated on the road leading in to Long Lake, which +is about a day's drive farther on. We found a comfortable hotel here, +and were glad enough to avail ourselves of the shelter and warmth +which it offered. There was a little settlement and some quite good +farms. The place commands a fine view to the north of Indian Pass, +Mount Marcy, and the adjacent mountains. On the afternoon of our +arrival, and also the next morning, the view was completely shut off +by the fog. But about the middle of the forenoon the wind changed, the +fog lifted, and revealed to us the grandest mountain scenery we had +beheld on our journey. There they sat about fifteen miles distant, a +group of them,—Mount Marcy, Mount McIntyre, and Mount Golden, the +real Adirondack monarchs. It was an impressive sight, rendered double +so be the sudden manner in which it was revealed to us by that +scene-shifter the Wind. +</P> + +<P> +I saw blackbirds at this place, and sparrows, and the solitary +sandpiper and the Canada woodpecker, and a large number of +hummingbirds. Indeed, I saw more of the latter here than I ever before +saw in any one locality. Their squeaking and whirring were almost +incessant. +</P> + +<P> +The Adirondack Iron Works belong to the past. Over thirty years ago a +company in Jersey City purchased some sixty thousand acres of land +lying along the Adirondack River, and abounding in magnetic iron ore. +The land was cleared, roads, dams, and forges constructed, and the +work of manufacturing iron begun. +</P> + +<P> +At this point a dam was built across the Hudson, the waters of which +flowed back into Lake Sandford, about five miles above. The lake +itself being some six miles song, tolerable navigation was thus +established for a distance of eleven miles, to the Upper Works, which +seem to have been the only works in operation. At the Lower Works, +besides the remains of the dam, the only vestige I saw was a long low +mound, overgrown with grass and weeds, that suggested a rude +earthwork. We were told that it was once a pile of wood containing +hundreds of cords, cut in regular lengths and corded up here for use +in the furnaces. +</P> + +<P> +At the Upper Works, some twelve miles distant, quite a village had +been built, which was now entirely abandoned, with the exception of a +single family. +</P> + +<P> +A march to this place was our next undertaking. The road for two or +three miles kept up from the river and led us by three or four rough +stumpy farms. It then approached the lake and kept along its shores. +It was here a dilapidated corduroy structure that compelled the +traveler to keep an eye on his feet. Blue jays, two or three small +hawks, a solitary wild pigeon, and ruffled grouse were seen along the +route. Now and then the lake gleamed through the trees, or we crossed +o a shaky bridge some of its arms or inlets. After a while we began to +pass dilapidated houses by the roadside. One little frame house I +remembered particularly; the door was off the hinges and leaned +against the jams, the windows had but a few panes left, which glared +vacantly. The yard and little garden spot were overrun with a heavy +growth of timothy, and the fences had all long since gone to decay. At +the head of the lake a large stone building projected from the steep +bank and extended over the road. A little beyond, the valley opened to +the east, and looking ahead about one mile we saw smoke going up from +a single chimney. Pressing on, just as the sun was setting we entered +the deserted village. The barking dog brought the whole family into +the street, and they stood till we came up. Strangers in that country +were a novelty, and we were greeted like familiar acquaintances. +</P> + +<P> +Hunter, the head, proved to be a first-rate type of an Americanized +Irishman. His wife was a Scotch woman. They had a family of five or +six children, two of them grown-up daughters,—modest, comely young +women as you would find anywhere. The elder of the two had spent a +winter in New York with her aunt, which made her a little more +self-conscious when in the presence of the strange young men. Hunter +was hired by the company at a dollar a day to live here and see that +things were not wantonly destroyed, but allowed to go to decay +properly and decently. He had a substantial roomy frame house and any +amount of grass and woodland. He had good barns and kept considerable +stock, and raised various farm products, but only for his own use, as +the difficulties of transportation to market some seventy miles +distant make it no object. He usually went to Ticonderoga on Lake +Champlain once a year for his groceries, etc. His post-office was +twelve miles below at the Lower Works, where the mail passed twice a +week. There was not a doctor, or lawyer, or preacher within +twenty-five miles. In winter, months elapse without their seeing +anybody from the outside world. In summer, parties occasionally pass +through here on their way to Indian Pass and Mount Marcy. Hundreds of +tons of good timothy hay annually rot upon the cleared land. +</P> + +<P> +After nightfall we went out and walked up and down the grass-grown +streets. It was a curious and melancholy spectacle. The remoteness and +surrounding wildness rendered the scene doubly impressive. And the +next day and the next the place was an object of wonder. There were +about thirty buildings in all, most of them small frame houses with a +door and two windows opening into a small yard in front and a garden +in the rear, such as are usually occupied by the laborers in a country +manufacturing district. There was one large two-story boarding-house, +a schoolhouse with cupola and a bell in it, and numerous sheds and +forges, and a saw-mill. In front of the saw-mill, and ready to be +rolled to their place on the carriage, lay a large pile of pine logs, +so decayed that one could run his walking-stick through them. Near by, +a building filled with charcoal was bursting open and the coal going +to waste on the ground. The smelting works were also much crumbled by +time. The schoolhouse was still used. Every day one of the daughters +assembles her smaller brothers and sisters there and school keeps. The +district library contained nearly one hundred readable books which +were well thumbed. +</P> + +<P> +The absence of society had made the family all good readers. We +brought them an illustrated newspaper, which was awaiting them in the +post-office at the Lower Works. It was read and reread with great +eagerness by every member of the household. +</P> + +<P> +The iron ore cropped out on every hand. There was apparently +mountains of it; one could see it in the stones along the road. But +the difficulties met with in separating the iron from its alloys, +together with the expense of transportation and the failure of certain +railroad schemes, caused the works to be abandoned. No doubt the time +is not distant when these obstacles will be overcome and this region +reopened. +</P> + +<P> +At present it is an admirable place to go to. There is fishing and +hunting and boating and mountain-climbing within easy reach, and a +good roof over your head at night, which is no small matter. One is +often disqualified for enjoying the woods after he gets there by the +loss of sleep and of proper food taken at seasonable times. This point +attended to, one is in the humor for any enterprise. +</P> + +<P> +About half a mile northeast of the village is Lake Henderson, a very +irregular and picturesque sheet of water surrounded by dark evergreen +forests, and abutted by two or three bold promontories with mottled +white and gray rocks. Its greatest extent in any one direction is +perhaps less than a mile. Its waters are perfectly clear and abound in +lake trout. A considerable stream flows into it, which comes down from +Indian Pass. +</P> + +<P> +A mile south of the village is Lake Sandford. This is a more open and +exposed sheet of water and much larger. From some parts of it Mount +Marcy and the gorge of the Indian Pass are seen to excellent +advantage. The Indian Pass shows as a huge cleft in the mountain, the +gray walls rising on one side perpendicularly for many hundred feet. +This lake abounds in white and yellow perch and in pickerel; of the +latter single specimens are often caught which weigh fifteen pounds. +There were a few wild ducks on both lakes. A brood of the goosander or +red merganser, the young not yet able to fly, were the occasion of +some spirited rowing. But with two pairs of oars in a trim light +skiff, it was impossible to come up with them. Yet we could not resist +the temptation to give them a chase every day when we first came on +the lake. It needed a good long pull to sober us down so we could +fish. +</P> + +<P> +The land on the east side of the lake had been burnt over, and was now +mostly grown up with wild cherry and red raspberry bushes. Ruffed +grouse were found here in great numbers. The Canada grouse was also +common. I shot eight of the latter in less than an hour on one +occasion; the eighth one, which was an old male, was killed with +smooth pebble-stones, my shot having run short. The wounded bird ran +under a pile of brush, like a frightened hen. Thrusting a forked stick +down through the interstices, I soon stopped his breathing. Wild +pigeons were quite numerous also. These latter recall a singular freak +of the sharp-shinned hawk. A flock of pigeons alighted on top of a +dead hemlock standing in the edge of a swamp. I got over the fence and +moved toward them across an open space. I had not taken many steps +when, on looking up, I saw the whole flock again in motion flying very +rapidly about the butt of a hill. Just then this hawk alighted on the +same tree. I stepped back into the road and paused a moment, in doubt +which course to go. At that instant the little hawk launched into the +air and came as straight as an arrow toward me. I looked in amazement, +but in less than half a minute, he was within fifty feet of my face, +coming full tilt as if he had sighted my nose. Almost in self-defense +I let fly one barrel of my gun, and the mangled form of the audacious +marauder fell literally between my feet. +</P> + +<P> +Of wild animals, such as bears, panthers, wolves, wildcats, etc., we +neither saw nor heard any in the Adirondacks. "A howling wilderness," +Thoreau says, "seldom ever howls. The howling is chiefly done by the +imagination of the traveler." Hunter said he often saw bear-tracks in +the snow, but had never yet met Bruin. Deer are more or less abundant +everywhere, and one old sportsman declares there is yet a single moose +in these mountains. On our return, a pioneer settler, at whose house +we stayed overnight, told us a long adventure he had had with a +panther. He related how it screamed, how it followed him in the brush, +how he took to his boat, how its eyes gleamed from the shore, and how +he fired his rifle at them with fatal effect. His wife in the mean +time took something from a drawer, and, as her husband finished his +recital, she produced a toe-nail of the identical animal with marked +dramatic effect. +</P> + +<P> +But better than fish or game or grand scenery, or any adventure by +night or day, is the wordless intercourse with rude Nature one has on +these expeditions. It is something to press the pulse of our old +mother by mountain lakes and streams, and know what health and vigor +are in her veins, and how regardless of observation she deports +herself. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + 1866.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIRDS'-NESTS +</H3> + +<P> +How alert and vigilant the birds are, even when absorbed in building +their nests! In an open space in the woods I see a pair of cedar-birds +collecting moss from the top of a dead tree. Following the direction +in which they fly, I soon discover the nest placed in the fork of a +small soft maple, which stands amid a thick growth of wild +cherry-trees and young beeches. Carefully concealing myself beneath +it, without any fear that the workmen will hit me with a chip or let +fall a tool, I await the return of the busy pair. Presently I hear the +well-known note, and the female sweeps down and settles unsuspectingly +into the half-finished structure. Hardly have her wings rested before +her eye has penetrated my screen, and with a hurried movement of alarm +she darts away. In a moment the male, with a tuft of wool in his beak +(for there is a sheep pasture near), joins her, and the two +reconnoitre the premises from the surrounding bushes. With their beaks +still loaded, they move around with a frightened look, and refuse to +approach the nest till I have moved off and lain down behind a log. +Then one of them ventures to alight upon the nest, but, still +suspecting all is not right, quickly darts away again. Then they both +together come, and after much peeping and spying about, and apparently +much anxious consultation, cautiously proceed to work. In less than +half an hour it would seem that wool enough has been brought to supply +the whole family, real and prospective, with socks, if needles and +fingers could be found fine enough to knit it up. In less than a week +the female has begun to deposit her eggs,—four of them in as many +days,—white tinged with purple, with black spots on the larger end. +After two weeks of incubation the young are out. +</P> + +<P> +Excepting the American goldfinch, this bird builds later in the season +than any other,—its nest, in our northern climate, seldom being +undertaken until July. As with the goldfinch, the reason is, probably, +that suitable food for the young cannot be had at an earlier period. +</P> + +<P> +Like most of our common species, as the robin, sparrow, bluebird, +pewee, wren, etc., this bird sometimes seeks wild, remote localities +in which to rear its young; at others, takes up its abode near that of +man. I knew a pair of cedar-birds, one season, to build in an +apple-tree, the branches of which rubbed against the house. For a day +or two before the first straw was laid, I noticed the pair carefully +exploring every branch of the tree, the female taking the lead, the +male following her with an anxious note and look. It was evident that +the wife was to have her choice this time; and like one who thoroughly +knew her mind, she was proceeding to take it. Finally the site was +chosen, upon a high branch, extending over one low wing of the house. +Mutual congratulations and caresses followed, when both birds flew +away in quest of building material. That most freely used is a sort of +cotton-bearing plant which grows in old wornout fields. The nest is +large for the size of the bird, and very soft. It is in every respect +a first-class domicile. +</P> + +<P> +On another occasion, while walking or rather sauntering in the woods +(for I have discovered that one cannot run and read the book of +nature), my attention was arrested by a dull hammering, evidently but +a few rods off. I said to myself, "Some one is building a house." From +what I had previously seen, I suspected the builder to be a red-headed +woodpecker in the top of a dead oak stub near by. Moving cautiously in +that direction, I perceived a round hole, about the size of that made +by an inch-and-a-half auger, near the top of the decayed trunk, and +the white chips of the workman strewing the ground beneath. When but a +few paces from the tree, my foot pressed upon a dry twig, which gave +forth a very slight snap. Instantly the hammering ceased, and a +scarlet head appeared at the door. Though I remained perfectly +motionless, forbearing even to wink till my eyes smarted, the bird +refused to go on with his work, but flew quietly off to a neighboring +tree. What surprised me was, that, amid his busy occupation down in +the heart of the old tree, he should have been so alert and watchful +as to catch the slightest sound from without. +</P> + +<P> +The woodpeckers all build in about the same manner, excavating the +trunk or branch of a decayed tree and depositing the eggs on the fine +fragments of wood at the bottom of the cavity. Though the nest is not +especially an artistic work,—requiring strength rather than +skill,—yet the eggs and the young of few other birds are so +completely housed from the elements, or protected from their natural +enemies, the jays, hawks, and owls. A tree with a natural cavity is +never selected, but one which has been dead just long enough to have +become soft and brittle throughout. The bird goes in horizontally for +a few inches, making a hole perfectly round and smooth and adapted to +his size, then turns downward, gradually enlarging the hole, as he +proceeds to the softness of the tree and the urgency of the mother +bird to deposit her eggs. While excavating, male and female work +alternately. After one has been engaged fifteen or twenty minutes, +drilling and carrying out chips, it ascends to an upper limb, utters a +loud call or two, when its mate soon appears, and, alighting near it +on the branch, the pair chatter and caress a moment, then the fresh +one enters the cavity and the other flies away. +</P> + +<P> +A few days since I climbed up to the nest of the downy woodpecker, in +the decayed top of a sugar maple. For better protection against +driving rains, the hole, which was rather more than an inch in +diameter, was made immediately beneath a branch which stretched out +almost horizontally from the main stem. It appeared merely a deeper +shadow upon the dark and mottled surface of the bark with which the +branches were covered, and could not be detected by the eye until one +was within a few feet of it. The young chirped vociferously as I +approached the nest, thinking it was the old one with food; but the +clamor suddenly ceased as I put my hand on that part of the trunk in +which they were concealed, the unusual jarring and rustling alarming +them into silence. The cavity, which was about fifteen inches deep, +was gourd-shaped, and was wrought out with great skill and regularity. +The walls were quite smooth and clean and new. +</P> + +<P> +I shall never forget the circumstances of observing a pair of +yellow-bellied woodpeckers—the most rare and secluded, and, nest to +the red-headed, the most beautiful species found in our +woods—breeding in an old, truncated beech in the Beaverkill +Mountains, on offshoot of the Catskills. We had been traveling, three +of us, all day in search of a trout lake, which lay far in among the +mountains, had twice lost our course in the trackless forest, and, +weary and hungry, had sat down to rest upon a decayed log. The +chattering of the young, and the passing to and fro of the parent +birds, soon arrested my attention. The entrance to the nest was on the +east side of the tree, about twenty-five feet from the ground. At +intervals of scarcely a minute, the old birds, one after the other, +would alight upon the edge of the hole with a grub or worm in their +beaks; then each in turn would make a bow or two, cast an eye quickly +around, and by a single movement place itself in the neck of the +passage. Here it would pause a moment, as if to determine in which +expectant mouth to place the morsel, and then disappear within. In +about half a minute, during which time that chattering of the young +gradually subsided, the bird would again emerge, but this time bearing +in its beak the ordure of one of the helpless family. Flying away very +slowly with head lowered and extended, as if anxious to hold the +offensive object as far from its plumage as possible, the bird dropped +the unsavory morsel in the course of a few yards, and, alighting on a +tree, wiped its bill on the bark and moss. This seems to be the order +all day,—carrying in and carrying out. I watched the birds for an +hour, while my companions were taking their turns in exploring the lay +of the land around us, and noted no variation in the programme. It +would be curious to know if the young are fed and waited upon in +regular order, and how, amid the darkness and the crowded state of the +apartment, the matter is so neatly managed. But ornithologists are all +silent upon the subject. +</P> + +<P> +This practice of the birds is not so uncommon as it might at first +seem. It is indeed almost an invariable rule among all land birds. +With woodpeckers and kindred species, and with birds that burrow in +the ground, as bank swallows, kingfishers, etc., it is a necessity. +The accumulation of the excrement in the nest would prove most fatal +to the young. +</P> + +<P> +But even among birds that neither bore nor mine, but which build a +shallow nest on the branch of a tree or upon the ground, as the robin, +the finches, the buntings, etc., the ordure of the young is removed to +a distance by the parent bird. When the robin is seen going away from +its brood with a slow, heavy flight, entirely different from its +manner a moment before on approaching the nest with a cherry or worm, +it is certain to be engaged in this office. One may observe the social +sparrow, when feeding its young, pause a moment after the worm has +been given and hop around on the brink of the nest observing the +movements within. +</P> + +<P> +The instinct of cleanliness no doubt prompts the action in all cases, +though the disposition to secrecy or concealment may not me unmixed in +it +</P> + +<P> +The swallows form an exception to the rule, the excrement being voided +by the young over the brink of the nest. They form an exception, also, +to the rule of secrecy, aiming not so much to conceal the nest as to +render it inaccessible. +</P> + +<P> +Other exceptions are the pigeons, hawks, and water-fowls. +</P> + +<P> +But to return. Having a good chance to note the color and markings of +the woodpeckers as they passed in and out at the opening of the nest, +I saw that Audubon had made a mistake in figuring or describing the +female of this species with the red spot upon the head. I have seen a +number of pairs of them, and in no instance have I seen the mother +bird marked with red. +</P> + +<P> +The male was in full plumage, and I reluctantly shot him for a +specimen. Passing by the place again next day, I paused a moment to +note how matters stood. I confess it was not without some compunctions +that I heard the cries of the young birds, and saw the widowed mother, +her cares now doubled, hastening to and fro in the solitary woods. She +would occasionally pause expectantly on the trunk of a tree and utter +a loud call. +</P> + +<P> +It usually happens, when the male of any species is killed during the +breeding season, that the female soon procures another mate. There +are, most likely, always a few unmated birds of both sexes within a +given range, and through these the broken links may be restored. +Audubon or Wilson, I forget which, tells of a pair of fish hawks, or +ospreys, that built their nest in an ancient oak. The male was so +zealous in the defense of the young that he actually attacked with +beak and claw a person who attempted to climb into his nest, putting +his face and eyes in great jeopardy. Arming himself with a heavy club, +the climber felled the gallant bird to the ground and killed him. In +the course of a few days the female had procured another mate. But +naturally enough the stepfather showed none of the spirit and pluck in +defense of the brood that had been displayed by the original parent. +When danger was nigh he was seen afar off, sailing around in placid +unconcern. +</P> + +<P> +It is generally known that when either the wild turkey or domestic +turkey begins to lay, and afterwards to sit and rear the brood, she +secludes herself from the male, who then, very sensibly, herds with +others of his sex, and betakes himself to haunts of his own till male +and female, old and young, meet again on common ground, late in the +fall. But rob the sitting bird of her eggs, or destroy her tender +young, and she immediately sets out in quest of a male, who is no +laggard when he hears her call. The same is true of ducks, and other +aquatic fowls. The propagating instinct is strong, and surmounts all +ordinary difficulties. No doubt the widowhood I had caused in the case +of the woodpeckers was of short duration, and chance brought, or the +widow drummed up, some forlorn male, who was not dismayed by the +prospect of having a large family of half-grown birds on his hands at +the outset. +</P> + +<P> +I have seen a fine cock robin paying assiduous addresses to a female +bird as late as the middle of July; and I have no doubt that his +intentions were honorable. I watched the pair for half an hour. The +hen, I took it, was in the market for the second time that season; but +the cock, from his bright unfaded plumage, looked like a new arrival. +The hen resented every advance of the male. In vain he strutted around +her and displayed his fine feathers; every now and then she would make +at him in a most spiteful manner. He followed her to the ground, +poured into her ear a fine, half-suppressed warble, offered her a +worm, flew back to the tree again with a great spread of plumage, +hopped around her on the branches, chirruped, chattered, flew +gallantly at an intruder, and was back in an instant at her side. No +use,—she cut him short at every turn. +</P> + +<P> +The dénouement I cannot relate, as the artful bird, followed by her +ardent suitor, soon flew away beyond my sight. It may not be rash to +conclude, however, that she held out no longer than was prudent. +</P> + +<P> +On the whole, there seems to be a system of Women's Rights prevailing +among the birds, which contemplated from the standpoint of the male, +is quite admirable. In almost all cases of joint interest, the female +bird is the most active. She determines the site of the nest, and is +usually the most absorbed in its construction. Generally, she is more +vigilant in caring for the young, and manifests the most concern when +danger threatens. Hour after hour I have seen the mother of a brood of +blue grosbeaks pass from the nearest meadow to the tree that held her +nest, with a cricket or grasshopper in her bill, while her +better-dressed half was singing serenely on a distant tree or pursuing +his pleasure amid the branches. +</P> + +<P> +Yet among the majority of our song-birds the male is most conspicuous +both by his color and manners and by his song, and is to that extent a +shield to the female. It is thought that the female is humbler clad +for her better concealment during incubation. But this is not +satisfactory, as in some cases she is relieved from time to time by +the male. In the case of the domestic dove, for instance, promptly at +midday the cock is found upon the nest. I should say that the dull or +neutral tints of the female were a provision of nature for her greater +safety at all times, as her life is far more precious to the species +than that of the male. The indispensable office of the male reduces +itself to little more than a moment of time, while that of his mate +extends over days and weeks, if not months.[Footnote] +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> + [Footnote] A recent English writer upon this + subject presents an array of facts and + considerations that do not support this view. He + says that, with very few exceptions, it is the + rule that, when both sexes are of strikingly gay + and conspicuous colors, the nest is such as to + conceal the sitting bird; while, whenever there + is a striking contrast of colors, the male being + gay and conspicuous, the female dull and obscure, + the nest is open and sitting bird exposed to view. + The exceptions to this rule among European birds + appear to be very few. Among our own birds, the + cuckoos and the blue jays build open nests, without + presenting any noticeable difference in the + coloring of the two sexes. The same is true of + the pewees, the kingbird, and the sparrows, while + the common bluebird, the oriole, and the orchard + starling afford examples the other way. +</P> + +<P> +In migrating northward, the males have abandoned their nests, or +rather chambers, which they do after the first season, their cousins, +the nuthatches, chickadees, and brown creepers, fall heir to them. +These birds, especially the creepers and nuthatches, have many of the +habits of the Picidae, but lack their powers of bill, and so are +unable to excavate a nest for themselves. Their habitation, therefore, +is always second-hand. But each species carries in some soft material +of various kinds, or in other words, furnishes the tenement to its +liking. The chickadee arranges in the bottom of the cavity a little +mat of a light felt-like substance, which looks as if is came from the +hatter's, but which is probably the work of numerous worms or +caterpillars. On this soft lining the female deposits six speckled +eggs. +</P> + +<P> +I recently discovered one of these nests in a most interesting +situation. The tree containing it, a variety of wild cherry, stood +upon the brink of the bald summit of a high mountain. Gray, timeworn +rocks lay piled loosely about, or overtoppled the just visible byways +of the red fox. The trees had a half-scared look, and that +indescribable wildness which lurks about the tops of all remote +mountains possessed the place. Standing there, I looked down upon the +back of the red-tailed hawk as he flew out over the earth beneath me. +Following him, my eye also took in farms and settlements and villages +and other mountain ranges that grew blue in the distance. +</P> + +<P> +The parent birds attracted my attention by appearing with food in +their beaks, and by seeming much put out. Yet so wary were they of +revealing the locality of their brood, or even of the precise tree +that held them, that I lurked around over an hour without gaining a +point on them. Finally a bright and curious boy who accompanied me +secreted himself under a low, projected rock close to the tree in +which we supposed the nest to be, while I moved off around the +mountain-side. It was not long before the youth had their secret. The +tree which was low and wide-branching, and overrun with lichens, +appeared at a cursory glance to contain not one dry or decayed limb. +Yet there was one a few feet long, in which, when my eyes were piloted +thither, I detected a small round orifice. +</P> + +<P> +As my weight began to shake the branches, the consternation of both +old and young was great. The stump of a limb that held the nest was +about three inches thick, and at the bottom of the tunnel was +excavated quite to the bark. With my thumb I broke the thin wall, and +the young, which were full-fledged, looked out upon the world for the +first time. Presently one of them, with a significant chirp, as much +to say, "It is time we were out of this," began to climb up toward the +proper entrance. Placing himself in the hole, he looked around without +manifesting any surprise at the grand scene that lay spread out before +him. He was taking his bearings, and determining how far he could +trust the power of his untried wings to take him out of harm's way. +After a moment's pause, with a loud chirrup, he launched out and made +tolerable headway. The others rapidly followed. Each one, as it +started upward, from a sudden impulse, contemptuously saluted the +abandoned nest with its excrement. +</P> + +<P> +Though generally regular in their habits and instincts, yet the birds +sometimes seem as whimsical and capricious as superior beings. One is +not safe, for instance, in making any absolute assertion as to their +place or mode of building. Ground-builders often get up into a bush, +and tree-builders sometimes get upon the ground or into a tussock of +grass. The song sparrow, which is a ground builder, has been known to +build in the knothole of a fence rail; and a chimney swallow once got +tired of soot and smoke, and fastened its nest on a rafter in a hay +barn. A friend tells me of a pair of barn swallow which, taking a +fanciful turn, saddled their nest in the loop of a rope that was +pendent from a peg in the peak, and liked it so well that they +repeated the experiment next year. I have know the social sparrow, or +"hairbird" to build under a shed, in a tuft of hay that hung down, +through the loose flooring, from the mow above. It usually contents +itself with half a dozen stalks of dry grass and a few long hair from +a cow's tail loosely arranged on the branch of an apple-tree. The +rough-winged swallow builds in the wall and in old stone-heaps, and I +have seen the robin build in similar localities. Others have found its +nest in old, abandoned wells. The house wren will build in anything +that has an accessible cavity, from an old boot to a bombshell. A pair +of them once persisted in building their nest in the top of a certain +pump-tree, getting in through the opening above the handle. The pump +being in daily use, the nest was destroyed more than a score of times. +This jealous little wretch has the wise forethought, when the box in +which he builds contains two compartments, to fill up one of them, so +as to avoid the risk of troublesome neighbors. +</P> + +<P> +The less skillful builders sometimes depart from their usual habit, +and take up with the abandoned nest of some other species. The blue +jay now and then lays in an old crow's nest or cuckoo's nest. The crow +blackbird, seized with a fit of indolence, drops its eggs in the +cavity of a decayed branch. I heard of a cuckoo that dispossessed a +robin of its nest; of another that set a blue jay adrift. Large, loose +structures, like the nests of the osprey and certain of the herons, +have been found with half a dozen nests of the blackbirds set in the +outer edges, like so many parasites, or, as Audubon says, like the +retainers about the rude court of a feudal baron. +</P> + +<P> +The same birds breeding in a southern climate construct far less +elaborate nests than when breeding in a northern climate. Certain +species of waterfowl, that abandon their eggs to the sand and the sun +in the warmer zones, build a nest and sit in the usual way in +Labrador. In Georgia, the Baltimore oriole places its nest upon the +north side of the tree; in the Middle and Eastern States, it fixes it +upon the south or east side, and makes it much thicker and warmer. I +have seen one from the South that had some kind of coarse reed or +sedge woven into it, giving it an open-work appearance, like a basket. +</P> + +<P> +Very few species use the same material uniformly. I have seen the nest +of the robin quite destitute of mud. In one instance it was composed +mainly of long black horse-hairs, arranged in a circular manner, with +a lining of fine yellow grass; the whole presenting quite a novel +appearance. In another case the nest was chiefly constructed of a +species of rock moss. +</P> + +<P> +The nest for the second brood during the same season is often a mere +makeshift. The haste of the female to deposit her eggs as the season +advances seems very great, and the structure is apt to be prematurely +finished. I was recently reminded of this fact by happening, about the +last of July, to meet with several nests of the wood or bush sparrow +in a remote blackberry field. The nests with eggs were far less +elaborate and compact than the earlier nests, from which the young had +flown. +</P> + +<P> +Day after day, as I go to a certain piece of woods, I observe a male +indigo-bird sitting on precisely the same part of a high branch, and +singing in his most vivacious style. As I approach he ceases to sing, +and, flirting his tail right and left with marked emphasis, chirps +sharply. In a low bush near by, I come upon the object of his +solicitude,—a thick compact nest composed largely of dry leaves and +fine grass, in which a plain brown bird is sitting upon four pale blue +eggs. +</P> + +<P> +The wonder is that a bird will leave the apparent security of the +treetops to place its nest in the way of the many dangers that walk +and crawl upon the ground. There, far up out of reach, sings the bird; +here, not three feet from the ground, are its eggs or helpless young. +The truth is, birds are the greatest enemies of birds, and it is with +reference to this fact that many of the smaller species build. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps the greatest proportion of birds breed along highways. I have +known the ruffed grouse to come out of a dense wood and make its nest +at the root of a tree within ten paces of the road, where, no doubt, +hawks and crows, as well as skunks and foxes, would be less likely to +find it out. Traversing remote mountain-roads through dense woods, I +have repeatedly seen the veery, or Wilson's thrush, sitting upon her +nest, so near me that I could almost take her from it by stretching +out my hand. Birds of prey show none of this confidence in man, and, +when locating their nests, avoid rather than seek his haunts. +</P> + +<P> +In a certain locality in the interior of New York, I know, every +season, where I am sure to find a nest or two of the slate-colored +snowbird. It is under the brink of a low mossy bank, so near the +highway that it could be reached from a passing vehicle with a whip. +Every horse or wagon or foot passenger disturbs the sitting bird. She +awaits the near approach of the sound of feet or wheels, and then +darts quickly across the road, barely clearing the ground, and +disappears amid the bushes on the opposite side. +</P> + +<P> +In the trees that line one of the main streets and fashionable drives +leading our of Washington city and less than half a mile from the +boundary, I have counted the nests of five different species at one +time, and that without any very close scrutiny of the foliage, while, +in many acres of woodland half a mile off, I searched in vain for a +single nest. Among the five, the nest that interested me most was that +of the blue grosbeak. Here this bird, which according to Audubon's +observations in Louisiana, is shy and recluse, affecting remote +marshes and the borders of large ponds of stagnant water, had placed +its nest in the lowest twig of the lowest branch of a large sycamore, +immediately over a great thoroughfare, and so near the ground that a +person standing in a cart or sitting on a horse could have reached it +with his hand. The nest was composed mainly of fragments of newspaper +and stalks of grass, and, though so low, was remarkably well concealed +by one of the peculiar clusters of twigs and leaves which characterize +this tree. The nest contained young when I discovered it, and, though +the parent birds were much annoyed by my loitering about beneath the +tree, they paid little attention to the stream of vehicles that was +constantly passing. It was a wonder to me when the birds could have +built it, for they are much shyer when building than at any other +times. No doubt they worked mostly in the morning, having the early +hours all to themselves. +</P> + +<P> +Another pair of blue grosbeaks built in a graveyard within the city +limits. The nest was placed in a low bush, and the male continued to +sing at intervals till the young were ready to fly. The song of this +bird is a rapid, intricate warble, like that of the indigo-bird, +though stronger and louder. Indeed, these two birds so much resemble +each other in color, form, manner, voice, and general habits that, +were it not for the difference in size,—the grosbeak being nearly as +large again as the indigo-bird,—it would be a hard matter to tell +them apart. The females of both species are clad in the same +reddish-brown suits. So are the young the first season. +</P> + +<P> +Of course in the deep, primitive woods, also are nests; but how rarely +we find them! The simple art of the bird consists in choosing common, +neutral-tinted material, as moss, dry leaves, twigs, and various odds +and ends, and placing the structure on a convenient branch, where it +blends in color with its surroundings; but how consummate is this art, +and how skillfully is the nest concealed! We occasionally light upon +it, but who, unaided by the movements of the bird, could find it out? +During the present season I went to the woods nearly every day for a +fortnight without making any discoveries of this kind, till one day, +paying them a farewell visit, I chanced to come upon several nests. A +black and white creeping warbler suddenly became much alarmed as I was +approaching a crumbing old stump in a dense part of the forest. He +alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its sides, and +finally left it with much reluctance. The nest, which contained three +young birds nearly fledged, was placed upon the ground, at the foot of +the stump, and in such a positions that the color of the young +harmonized perfectly with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying about. +My eye rested upon them for the second time before I made them out. +They hugged the nest very closely, but as I put down my hand they all +scampered off with loud cries for help, which caused the parent birds +to place themselves almost within my reach. The nest was merely a +little dry grass arranged in a thick bed of dry leaves. +</P> + +<P> +This was amid a thick undergrowth. Moving on into a passage of large +stately hemlocks, with only here and there a small beech or maple +rising up into the perennial twilight, I paused to make out a note +which was entirely new to me. It is still in my ear. Though +unmistakably a bird note, it yet suggested the beating of a tiny +lambkin. Presently the birds appeared,—a pair of the solitary vireo. +They came flitting from point to point, alighting only for a moment at +a time, the male silent, but the female uttering this strange, tender +note. It was a rendering into some new sylvan dialect of the human +sentiment of maidenly love. It was really pathetic in its sweetness +and childlike confidence and joy. I soon discovered that the pair were +building a nest upon a low branch a few yards from me. The male flew +cautiously to the spot and adjusted something, and the twain moved +on, the female calling to her mate at intervals, love-e, love-e, with a +cadence and tenderness in the tone that rang in the ear long +afterward. The nest was suspended to the fork of a small branch, as is +usual with the vireos, plentifully lined with lichens, and bound and +rebound with masses of coarse spider-webs. There was no attempt at +concealment except in the neutral tints, which make it look like a +natural growth of the dim, gray woods. +</P> + +<P> +Continuing my random walk, I next paused in a low part of the woods, +where the larger trees began to give place to a thick second-growth +that covered an old Barkpeeling. I was standing by a large maple, when +a small bird darted quickly away from it, as if it might have come out +of a hole near its base. As the bird paused a few yards from me, and +began to chirp uneasily, my curiosity was at once excited. When I saw +it was the female mourning ground warbler, and remembered that the +nest of this bird had not yet been seen by any naturalist,—that not +even Dr. Brewer had ever seen the eggs,—I felt that here was +something worth looking for. So I carefully began the search, +exploring inch by inch the ground, the base and roots of the tree, and +the various shrubby growths about it, till finding nothing and fearing +I might really put my foot in it, I bethought me to withdraw to a +distance and after some delay return again, and, thus forewarned, note +the exact point from which the bird flew. This I did, and, returning, +had little difficulty in discovering the nest. It was placed but a few +feet from the maple tree, in a bunch of ferns, and about six inches +from the ground. It was quite a massive nest, composed entirely of the +stalks and leaves of dry grass, with an inner lining of fine, dark +brown roots. The eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, +uniformly specked with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was +so deep that the back of the sitting bird sank below the edge. +</P> + +<P> +In the top of a tall tree, a short distance farther on, I saw the nest +of the red-tailed hawk,—a large mass of twigs and dry sticks. The +young had flown, but still lingered in the vicinity, and as I +approached, the mother bird flew about over me, squealing in a very +angry, savage manner. Tufts of the hair and other indigestible +material of the common meadow mouse lay around on the ground beneath +the nest. +</P> + +<P> +As I was about leaving the woods, my hat almost brushed the nest of +the red-eyed vireo, which hung basket-like on the end of a low, +drooping branch of the beech. I should never have seen it had the bird +kept her place. It contained three eggs of the bird's own, and one of +the cow bunting. The strange egg was only just perceptibly larger than +the others, yet, in three days after, when I looked into the nest +again and found all but one egg hatched, the young interloper was at +least four times as large as either of the others, and with such a +superabundance of bowels as to almost smother his bedfellows beneath +them. That the intruder should fare the same as the rightful +occupants, and thrive with them, was more than ordinary potluck; but +that it alone should thrive, devouring, as it were, all the rest, is +one of those freaks of Nature in which she would seem to discourage +the homely virtues of prudence and honesty. Weeds and parasites have +the odds greatly against them, yet they wage a very successful war +nonetheless. +</P> + +<P> +The woods hold not such another gem as the nest of the hummingbird. +The finding of one is an event to date from. It is the next best thing +to finding an eagle's nest. I have met with but two, both by chance. +One was placed on the horizontal branch of a chestnut-tree, with a +solitary green leaf, forming a complete canopy, about an inch and a +half above it. The repeated spiteful dartings of the bird past my +ears, as I stood under the tree, caused me to suspect that I was +intruding upon some one's privacy; and, following it with my eye, I +soon saw the nest, which was in process of construction. Adopting my +usual tactics of secreting myself near by, I had the satisfaction of +seeing the tiny artist at work. It was the female, unassisted by her +mate. At intervals of two or three minutes she would appear with a +small tuft of some cottony substance in her beak, and alighting +quickly in the nest, arrange the material she had brought, using her +breast as a model. +</P> + +<P> +The other nest I discovered in a dense forest on the side of a +mountain. The sitting bird was disturbed as I passed beneath her. The +whirring of her wings arrested my attention, when, after a short +pause, I had the good luck to see, through an opening in the leaves, +the bird return to her nest, which appeared like a mere wart or +excrescence an a small branch. The hummingbird, unlike all others, +does not alight upon the nest, but flies into it. She enters it as +quick as a flash, but as light as any feather. Two eggs are the +complement. They are perfectly white, and so frail that only a woman's +fingers may touch them. Incubation lasts about ten days. In a week, +the young have flown. +</P> + +<P> +The only nest like the hummingbirds, and comparable to it in neatness +and symmetry, is that of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is often +saddled upon the limb in the same manner, though it is generally more +or less pendent; it is deep and soft, composed mostly of some +vegetable down, covered all over with delicate tree-lichens, and, +except that it is much larger, appears almost identical with the nest +of the hummingbird. +</P> + +<P> +But the nest of nests, the ideal nest, after we have left the deep +woods, is unquestionably that of the Baltimore oriole. It is the only +perfectly pensile nest we have. The nest of the orchard oriole is +indeed mainly so, but this bird generally builds lower and shallower, +more after the manner of the vireos. +</P> + +<P> +The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to the swaying branches +of the tallest elms, making no attempt at concealment, but satisfied +if the position be high and the branch pendant. This nest would seem +to cost more time and skill than any other bird structure. A peculiar +flax-like substance seems to be always sought after and always found. +The nest when completed assumes the form of a large, suspended gourd. +The walls are thin but firm, and proof against the most driving rain. +The mouth is hemmed or overhanded with horse-hair, and the sides are +usually sewed through and through with the same. +</P> + +<P> +Not particular as to the matter of secrecy, the bird is not particular +to the material, so that be of the nature of the strings or threads. A +lady friend once told me that, while working by an open window, one of +these birds approaching during her momentary absence, and, seizing a +skein of some kind of thread or yarn, made off with it to its +half-finished nest. But the perverse yarn caught fast in the branches, +and, in the bird's effort to extricate it, got hopelessly tangled. She +tugged away at it all day, but was finally obliged to content herself +with a few detached portions. The fluttering stings were an eyesore to +her ever after, and, passing and repassing, she would give them a +spiteful jerk, as much to say, "There is that confounded yarn that +gave me so much trouble." +</P> + +<P> +From Pennsylvania, Vincent Barnard (to whom I am indebted for other +curious facts) sent me this interesting story of an oriole. He says a +friend of his curious in such things, on observing the bird beginning +to build, hung out near the prospective nest skeins of many-colored +zephyr yarn, which the eager artist readily appropriated. He managed +it so that the bird used nearly equal quantities of various, high, +bright colors. The nest was made unusually deep and capacious, and it +may be questioned if such a thing of beauty was ever before woven by +the cunning of a bird. +</P> + +<P> +Nuttall, by far the most genial of American ornithologists, relates +the following:— +</P> + +<P> +"A female (oriole), which I observed attentively, carried off to her +nest a piece of lamp-wick ten or twelve feet long. This long string +and many other shorter ones were left hanging out for a week before +both ends were wattled into the sides of the nest. Some other little +birds, making use of similar materials, at times twitched these +flowing ends, and generally brought out the busy Baltimore from her +occupation in great anger. +</P> + +<P> +"I may perhaps claim indulgence for adding a little more of the +biography of this particular bird, as a representative also of the +instincts of her race. She completed the nest in about a weeks time, +without any aid from her mate, who indeed appeared but seldom in her +company and was now become nearly silent. For fibrous materials she +broke, hackled, and gathered the flax of the asclepias and hibiscus +stalks, tearing off long strings and flying with them to the scene of +her labors. She appeared very eager and hasty in her pursuits, and +collected her materials without fear or restraint while three men were +working in the neighboring walks and may persons were visiting the +garden. Her courage and perseverance were truly admirable. If watched +to narrowly, she saluted with her usual scolding, tshrr, tshrr, tshrr, +seeing no reason, probably, why she should be interrupted in her +indispensable occupation. +</P> + +<P> +"Though the males were now comparatively silent on the arrival of +their busy mates, I could not help observing this female and a second, +continually vociferating, apparently in strife. At last she was +observed to attack this second female very fiercely, who slyly +intruded herself at times into the same tree where she was building. +These contests were angry and often repeated. To account for this +animosity, I now recollected that two fine males had been killed in +our vicinity, and I therefore concluded the intruder to be left +without a mate; yet she had gained the affections of the consort of +the busy female, and thus the cause of their jealous quarrel became +apparent. Having obtained the confidence of her faithless paramour, +the second female began preparing to weave a nest in an adjoining elm +by tying together certain pendent twigs as a foundation. The male now +associated chiefly with the intruder, whom he even assisted in her +labor, yet did not wholly forget his first partner, who called on him +one evening in a low, affectionate tone, which was answered in the +same strain. While they were thus engaged in friendly whispers, +suddenly appeared the rival, and a violent rencontre ensued, so that +one of the females appeared to be greatly agitated, and fluttered with +spreading wings as if considerably hurt. The male, though prudently +neutral in the contest, showed his culpable partiality by flying off +with his paramour, and for the rest of the evening left the tree to +his pugnacious consort. Cares of another kind, more imperious and +tender, at length reconciled, or at least terminated, these disputes +with the jealous females; and by the aid of the neighboring bachelors, +who are never wanting among these and other birds, peace was at length +completely restored by the restitution of the quiet and happy +condition of monogamy." +</P> + +<P> +Let me not forget to mention the nest under the mountain ledge, the +nest of the common pewee,—a modest mossy structure, with four +pearl-white eggs,—looking out upon some wild scene and overhung by +beetling crags. After all has been said about the elaborate, high-hung +structures, few nests perhaps awaken more pleasant emotions in the +mind of the beholder than this of the pewee,—the gray, silent rocks, +with caverns and dens where the fox and the wolf lurk, and just out of +their reach, in a little niche, as if it grew there, the mossy +tenement! +</P> + +<P> +Nearly every high projecting rock in any range has one of these nests. +Following a trout stream up a wild mountain gorge, not long since, I +counted five in the distance of a mile, all within easy reach, but +safe from the minks and the skunks, and well housed from the storms. +In my native town I know a pine and oak clad hill, round-topped, with +a bold, precipitous front extending halfway around it. Near the top, +and along this front or side, there crops out a ledge of rocks +unusually high and cavernous. One immense layer projects many feet, +allowing a person or many persons, standing upright, to move freely +beneath it. There is a delicious spring of water there, and plenty of +wild, cool air. The floor is of loose stone, now trod by sheep and +foxes, once by Indian and wolf. How I have delighted from boyhood to +spend a summer day in this retreat, or take refuge there from a sudden +shower! Always the freshness and coolness, and always the delicate +mossy nest of the phoebe-bird! The bird keeps her place till you are +within a few feet of her, when she flits to a near branch, and, with +many oscillations of her tale, observes you anxiously. Since the +country has become settled this pewee has fallen into the strange +practice of occasionally placing its nest under a bridge, hayshed, or +other artificial structure, where it is subject to all kinds of +interruptions and annoyances. When placed thus, the nest is larger and +coarser. I know a hay-loft beneath which a pair has regularly placed +its nest for several successive seasons. Arranged along on a single +pole, which sags down a few inches from the flooring it was intended +to help support, are three of these structures, marking the number of +years the birds have nested there. The foundation is of mud with a +superstructure of moss, elaborately lined with hair and feathers. +Nothing can be more perfect and exquisite than the interior of one of +these nests, yet a new one is built every season. Three broods, +however, are frequently reared in it. +</P> + +<P> +The pewees, as a class, are the best architects we have. The kingbird +builds a nest altogether admirable, using various soft cotton and +woolen substances, and sparing neither time nor material to make it +substantial and warm. The green-crested pewee builds its nest in many +instances wholly of the blossoms of the white oak. The wood pewee +builds a neat, compact, socket-shaped nest of moss and lichens on a +horizontal branch. There is never a loose end or shred about it. The +sitting bird is largely visible above the rim. She moves her head +freely about and seems entirely at her ease,—a circumstance which I +have never observed in any other species. The nest of the +great-crested flycatcher is seldom free from snake skins, three or +four being sometimes woven into it. +</P> + +<P> +About the thinnest, shallowest nest, for its situation, that can be +found is that of the turtle-dove. A few sticks and straws are +carelessly thrown together, hardly sufficient to prevent the eggs form +falling through or rolling off. The nest of the passenger pigeon is +equally hasty and insufficient, and the squabs often fall to the +ground and perish. The other extreme among our common birds is +furnished by the ferruginous thrush, which collects together a mass of +material that would fill a half-bushel measure; or by the fish hawk, +which adds to and repairs its nest year after year, till the whole +would make a cart load. +</P> + +<P> +One of the rarest of nests is that of the eagle, because the eagle is +one of the rarest of birds. Indeed, so seldom is the eagle seen that +its presence always seems accidental. It appears as if merely pausing +on the way, while bound for some distant unknown region. One +September, while a youth, I saw the ring-tailed eagle, the young of +the golden eagle, an immense, dusky bird, the sight of which filled me +with awe. It lingered about the hills for two days. Some young cattle, +a two-year-old colt, and half a dozen sheep were at pasture on a high +ridge that led up to the mountain, and in plain view of the house. On +the second day this dusky monarch was seen flying about above them. +Presently he began to hover over them, after the manner of a hawk +watching for mice. He then with extended legs let himself slowly down +upon them, actually grappling the backs of the young cattle, and +frightening the creatures so that they rushed about the field in great +consternation; and finally, as he grew bolder and more frequent in his +descents, the whole herd broke over the fence and came tearing down to +the house "like mad." It did not seem to be an assault with intent to +kill, but was perhaps a stratagem resorted to in order to separate the +herd and expose the lambs, which hugged the cattle very closely. When +he occasionally alighted upon the oaks that stood near, the branch +could be seen to sway and bend beneath him. Finally, as a rifleman +started out in pursuit of him, he launched into the air, set his +wings, and sailed away southward. A few years afterward, in January, +another eagle passed through the same locality, alighting in a field +near some dead animal, but tarried briefly. +</P> + +<P> +So much by way of identification. The golden eagle is common to the +northern parts of both hemispheres, and places its eyrie on high +precipitous rocks. A pair built on an inaccessible shelf of rock along +the Hudson for eight successive years. A squad of Revolutionary +soldiers, also, as related by Audubon, found a nest along this river, +and had an adventure with the bird that came near costing one of their +number his life. His comrades let him down by a rope to secure the +eggs or young, when he was attacked by the female eagle with such fury +that he was obliged to defend himself with his knife. In doing so, by +a misstroke, he nearly severed the rope that held him, and was drawn +up by a single strand from his perilous position. +</P> + +<P> +The bald eagle, also builds on high rocks, according to Audubon, +though Wilson describes the nest of one which he saw near Great Egg +Harbor, in the top of a large yellow pine. It was a vast pile of +sticks, sods, sedge, grass, reeds, etc., five or six feet high by four +broad, and with little or no concavity. +</P> + +<P> +It had been used for many years, and he was told that the eagles made +it a sort of home or lodging-place in all seasons. +</P> + +<P> +The eagle in all cases uses one nest, with more or less repair, for +several years. Many of our common birds do the same. The birds may be +divided, with respect to this and kindred points, into five general +classes. First, those that repair or appropriate the last year's nest, +as the wren, swallow, bluebird, great-crested flycatcher, owls, +eagles, fish hawk, and a few others. Secondly, those that build anew +each season, though frequently rearing more than one brood in the same +nest. Of these the phoebe-bird is a well-know example. Thirdly, those +that build a new nest for each brood, which includes by far the +greatest number of species. Fourthly, a limited number that make no +nest of their own, but appropriate the abandoned nests of other birds. +Finally, those who use no nest at all, but deposit their eggs in the +sand, which is the case with a large number of aquatic fowls. 1866. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SPRING AT THE CAPITAL WITH AN EYE TO THE BIRDS +</H3> + +<P> +I came to Washington to live in the fall of 1863, and, with the +exception of a month each summer spent in the interior of New York, +have lived here ever since. +</P> + +<P> +I saw my first novelty in Natural History the day after my arrival. +As I was walking near some woods north of the city, a grasshopper of +prodigious size flew up from the ground and alighted in a tree. As I +pursued him, he proved to be nearly as wild and as fleet of wing as a +bird. I thought I had reached the capital of grasshopperdom, and that +this was perhaps one of the chiefs or leaders, or perhaps the great +High Cock O'lorum himself, taking an airing in the fields. I have +never yet been able to settle the question, as every fall I start up a +few of these gigantic specimens, which perch on the trees. They are +about three inches long, of a gray striped or spotted color, and have +quite a reptile look. +</P> + +<P> +The greatest novelty I found, however, was the superb autumn weather, +the bright, strong, electric days, lasting well into November, and the +general mildness of the entire winter. Though the mercury occasionally +sinks to zero, yet the earth is never so seared and blighted by the +cold but that in some sheltered nook or corner signs of vegetable life +still remain, which on a little encouragement even asserts itself. I +have found wild flowers here every month of the year; violets in +December, a single houstonia in January (the little lump of earth upon +which it stood was frozen hard), and a tiny weed-like plant, with a +flower almost microscopic in its smallness, growing along graveled +walks and in old plowed fields in February. The liverwort sometimes +comes out as early as the first week in March, and the little frogs +begin to pipe doubtfully about the same time. Apricot-trees are +usually in bloom on All-Fool's Day and the apple-trees on May Day. By +August, mother hen will lead forth her third brood, and I had a March +pullet that came off with a family of her own in September. Our +calendar is made for this climate. March is a spring month. One is +quite sure to see some marked and striking change during the first +eight or ten days. This season (1868) is a backward one, and the +memorable change did not come till the 10th. +</P> + +<P> +Then the sun rose up from a bed of vapors, and seemed fairly to +dissolve with tenderness and warmth. For an hour or two the air was +perfectly motionless, and full of low, humming, awakening sounds. The +naked trees had a rapt, expectant look. From some unreclaimed common +near by came the first strain of the song sparrow; so homely, because +so old and familiar, yet so inexpressibly pleasing. Presently a full +chorus of voices arose, tender, musical, half suppressed, but full of +genuine hilarity and joy. The bluebird warbled, the robin called, the +snowbird chattered, the meadowlark uttered her strong but tender note. +Over a deserted field a turkey buzzard hovered low, and alighted on a +stake in the fence, standing a moment with outstretched, vibrating +wings till he was sure of his hold. A soft, warm, brooding day. Roads +becoming dry in many places, and looking so good after the mud and the +snow. I walk up beyond the boundary and over Meridian Hill. To move +along the drying road and feel the delicious warmth is enough. The +cattle low long and loud, and look wistfully into the distance. I +sympathize with them. Never a spring comes but I have an almost +irresistible desire to depart. Some nomadic or migrating instinct or +reminiscence stirs within me. I ache to be off. +</P> + +<P> +As I pass along, the high-bole calls in the distance precisely as I +have heard him in the North. After a pause he repeats his summons. +What can be more welcome to the ear than these early first sounds! +They have such a margin of silence! +</P> + +<P> +One need but pass the boundary of Washington city to be fairly in the +country, and ten minutes' walk in the country brings one to real +primitive woods. The town has not yet overflowed its limits like the +great Northern commercial capitals, and Nature, wild and unkempt, +comes up to its very threshold, and even in many places crosses it. +</P> + +<P> +The woods, which I soon reach, are stark and still. The signs of +returning life are so faint as to be almost imperceptible, but there +is a fresh, earthy smell in the air, as if something had stirred here +under the leaves. The crows caw above the wood, or walk about the +brown fields. I look at the gray silent trees long and long, but they +show no sign. The catkins of some alders by a little pool have just +swelled perceptibly; and, brushing away the dry leaves and débris on a +sunny slope, I discover the liverwort just pushing up a fuzzy, tender +sprout. But the waters have brought forth. The little frogs are +musical. From every marsh and pool goes up their shrill but pleasing +chorus. Peering into one of their haunts, a little body of +semi-stagnant water, I discover masses of frogs' spawn covering the +bottom. I take up great chunks of the cold, quivering jelly in my +hands. In some places there are gallons of it. A youth who accompanies +me wonders if it would not be good cooked, or if it could not be used +as a substitute for eggs. It is a perfect jelly, of a slightly milky +tinge, thickly imbedded with black spots about the size of a small +bird's eye. When just deposited it is perfectly transparent. These +hatch in eight or ten days, gradually absorb their gelatinous +surroundings, and the tiny tadpoles issue forth. +</P> + +<P> +In the city, even before the shop-windows have caught the inspiration, +spring is heralded by the silver poplars which line all the streets +and avenues. After a few mild, sunshiny March days, you suddenly +perceive a change has come over the trees. Their tops have a less +naked look. If the weather continues warm, a single day will work +wonders. Presently each tree will be one vast plume of gray, downy +tassels, while not the least speck of green foliage is visible. The +first week of April these long mimic caterpillars lie all about the +streets and fill the gutters. +</P> + +<P> +The approach of spring is also indicated by the crows and buzzards, +which rapidly multiply in the environs of the city, and grow bold and +demonstrative. The crows are abundant here all winter, but are not +very noticeable except as they pass high in air to and from their +winter quarters in the Virginia woods. Early in the morning, as soon +as it is light enough to discern them, there they are, streaming +eastward across the sky, now in loose, scattered flocks, now in thick +dense masses, then singly and in pairs or triplets, but all setting in +one direction, probably to the waters of eastern Maryland. Toward +night they begin to return, flying in the same manner, and directing +their course to the wooded heights on the Potomac, west of the city. +In spring these diurnal mass movements cease; the clan breaks up, the +rookery is abandoned, and the birds scatter broadcast over the land. +This seems to be the course everywhere pursued. One would think that, +when food was scarcest, the policy of separating into small bands or +pairs, and dispersing over a wide country, would prevail, as a few +might subsist where a larger number would starve. The truth is, +however, that, in winter, food can be had only in certain clearly +defined districts and tracts, as along rivers and the shores of bays +and lakes. +</P> + +<P> +A few miles north of Newburgh, on the Hudson, the crows go into winter +quarters in the same manner, flying south in the morning and returning +again at night, sometimes hugging the hills so close during a strong +wind as to expose themselves to the clubs and stones of schoolboys +ambushed behind trees and fences. The belated ones, that come laboring +along just at dusk, are often so overcome by the long journey and the +strong current that they seem almost on the point of sinking down +whenever the wind or a rise in the ground calls upon them for an extra +effort. +</P> + +<P> +The turkey buzzards are noticeable about Washington as soon as the +season begins to open, sailing leisurely along two or three hundred +feet overhead, or sweeping low over some common or open space where, +perchance, a dead puppy or pig or fowl has been thrown. Half a dozen +will sometimes alight about some object out on the commons, and, with +their broad dusky wings lifted up to their full extent, threaten and +chase each other, while perhaps one or two are feeding. Their wings +are very large and flexible, and the slightest motion of them, while +the bird stands upon the ground, suffices to lift its feet clear. +Their movements when in the air are very majestic and beautiful to the +eye, being in every respect identical with those of our common hen or +red-tailed hawk. They sail along in the same calm, effortless, +interminable manner, and sweep around in the same ample spiral. The +shape of their wings and tail, indeed their entire effect against the +sky, except in size and color, is very nearly the same as that of the +hawk mentioned. A dozen at a time may often be seen high in air, +amusing themselves by sailing serenely round and round in the same +circle. +</P> + +<P> +They are less active and vigilant than the hawk; never poise +themselves on the wing, never dive and gambol in the air, and never +swoop down upon their prey; unlike the hawks also, they appear to have +no enemies. The crow fights the hawk, and the kingbird and the crow +blackbird fight the crow; but neither takes any notice of the buzzard. +He excites the enmity of none, for the reason that he molests none. +The crow has an old grudge against the hawk, because the hawk robs the +crow's nest and carries off his young; the kingbird's quarrel with the +crow is upon the same grounds. But the buzzard never attacks live +game, or feeds upon new flesh when old can be had. +</P> + +<P> +In May, like the crows, they nearly all disappear very suddenly, +probably to their breeding-haunts near the seashore. Do the males +separate from the females at this time, and go by themselves? At any +rate, in July I discovered that a large number of buzzards roosted in +some woods near Rock Creek, about a mile from the city limits; and, as +they do not nest anywhere in this vicinity, I thought they might be +males. I happened to be detained late in the woods, watching the nest +of a flying squirrel, when the buzzards, just after sundown, began to +come by ones and twos and alight in the trees near me. Presently they +came in greater numbers, but from the same direction, flapping low +over the woods, and taking up their position in the middle branches. +On alighting, each one would blow very audibly through his nose, just +as a cow does when she lies down; this is the only sound I have ever +heard the buzzard make. They would then stretch themselves, after the +manner of turkeys, and walk along the limbs. Sometimes a decayed +branch would break under the weight of two or three, when, with a +great flapping, the would take up new positions. They continued to +come till it was quite dark, and all the trees about me were full. I +began to feel a little nervous, but kept my place. After it was +entirely dark and all was still, I gathered a large pile of dry leaves +and kindled it with a match, to see what they would think of a fire. +Not a sound was heard till the pile of leaves was in full blaze, when +instantaneously every buzzard started. I thought the treetops were +coming down upon me, so great was the uproar. But the woods were soon +cleared, and the loathsome pack disappeared in the night. +</P> + +<P> +About the 1st of June I saw numbers of buzzards sailing around over +the great Falls of the Potomac. +</P> + +<P> +A glimpse of the birds usually found here in the latter part of winter +may be had in the following extract, which I take from my diary under +date of February 4th:— +</P> + +<P> +"Made a long excursion through the woods and over the hills. Went +directly north from the Capitol for about three miles. The ground bare +and the day cold and sharp. In the suburbs, among the scattered Irish +and negro shanties, came suddenly upon a flock of birds, feeding about +like our northern snow buntings. Every now and then they uttered a +piping, disconsolate note, as if they had a very sorry time of it. +They proved to be shore larks, the first I had ever seen. They had the +walk characteristic of all larks; were a little larger than the +sparrow; had a black spot on the breast, with much white on the under +parts of their bodies. As I approached them the nearer ones paused, +and, half squatting, eyed me suspiciously. Presently, at a movement of +my arm, away they went, flying exactly like the snow bunting, and +showing nearly as much white." (I have since discovered that the shore +lark is a regular visitant here in February and March, when large +quantities of them are shot or trapped, and exposed for sale in the +market. During a heavy snow I have seen numbers of them feeding upon +the seeds of various weedy growths in a large market-garden well into +town.) "Pressing on, the walk became exhilarating. Followed a little +brook, the eastern branch of the Tiber, lined with bushes and a rank +growth of green-brier. Sparrows started out here and there, and flew +across the little bends and points. Among some pines just beyond the +boundary, saw a number of American goldfinches, in their gray winter +dress, pecking the pinecones. A golden-crowned kinglet was there also, +a little tuft of gray feathers, hopping about as restless as a spirit. +Had the old pine-trees food delicate enough for him also? Farther on, +in some low open woods, saw many sparrows,—the fox, white-throated, +white-crowned, the Canada, the song, the swamp,—all herding together +along the warm and sheltered borders. To my surprise, saw a chewink +also, and the yellow-rumped warbler. The purple finch was there +likewise, and the Carolina wren and brown creeper. In the higher, +colder woods not a bird was to be seen. Returning, near sunset, across +the eastern slope of a hill which overlooked the city, was delighted +to see a number of grass finches or vesper sparrows,—birds which +will be forever associated in my mind with my father's sheep pastures. +They ran before me, now flitting a pace or two, now skulking in the +low stubble, just as I had observed them when a boy." +</P> + +<P> +A month later, March 4th, is this note:— +</P> + +<P> +"After the second memorable inaguration of President Lincoln, took my +first trip of the season. The afternoon was very clear and warm,—real +vernal sunshine at last, though the wind roared like a lion over the +woods. It seemed novel enough to find within two miles of the White +House a simple woodsman chopping away as if no President was being +inaugurated! Some puppies, snugly nestled in the cavity of an old +hollow tree, he said, belonged to a wild dog. I imagine I saw the +'wild dog,' on the other side of Rock Creek, in a great state of grief +and trepidation, running up and down, crying and yelping, and looking +wistfully over the swollen flood, which the poor thing had not the +courage to brave. This day, for the first time, I heard the song of +the Canada sparrow, a soft, sweet note, almost running into a warble. +Saw a small, black velvety butterfly with a yellow border to its +wings. Under a warm bank found two flowers of the houstonia in bloom. +Saw frogs' spawn near Piny Branch, and heard the hyla." +</P> + +<P> +Among the first birds that make their appearance in Washington is the +crow blackbird. He may come any time after the 1st of March. The birds +congregate in large flocks, and frequent groves and parks, alternately +swarming in the treetops and filling the air with their sharp jangle, +and alighting on the ground in quest of food, their polished coats +glistening in the sun from very blackness as they walk about. There is +evidently some music in the soul of this bird at this season, though +he makes a sad failure in getting it out. His voice always sounds as +if he were laboring under a severe attack of influenza, though a large +flock of them, heard at a distance on a bright afternoon of early +spring, produce an effect not unpleasing. The air is filled with +crackling, splintering, spurting, semi-musical sounds, which are like +pepper and salt to the ear. +</P> + +<P> +All parks and public grounds about the city are full of blackbirds. +They are especially plentiful in the trees about the White House, +breeding there and waging war on all other birds. The occupants of one +of the offices in the west wing of the Treasury one day had their +attention attracted by some object striking violently against one of +the window-panes. Looking up, they beheld a crow blackbird pausing in +midair, a few feet from the window. On the broad stone window-sill lay +the quivering form of a purple finch. The little tragedy was easily +read. The blackbird had pursued the finch with such murderous violence +that the latter, in its desperate efforts to escape, had sought refuge +in the Treasury. The force of the concussion against the heavy +plateglass of the window had killed the poor thing instantly. The +pursuer, no doubt astonished at the sudden and novel termination of +the career of its victim, hovered for a moment, as if to be sure of +what had happened, and made off. +</P> + +<P> +(It is not unusual for birds, when thus threatened with destruction by +their natural enemy, to become so terrified as to seek safety in the +presence of man. I was once startled, while living in a country +village, to behold, on entering my room at noon, one October day, a +quail sitting upon my bed. The affrighted and bewildered bird +instantly started for the open window, into which it had no doubt been +driven by a hawk.) +</P> + +<P> +The crow blackbird has all the natural cunning of his prototype, the +crow. In one of the inner courts of the Treasury building there is a +fountain with several trees growing near. By midsummer the blackbirds +became so bold as to venture within this court. Various fragments of +food, tossed from the surrounding windows, reward their temerity. When +a crust of dry bread defies their beaks, they have been seen to drop +it into the water, and, when it has become soaked sufficiently, to +take it out again. +</P> + +<P> +They build a nest of coarse sticks and mud, the whole burden of the +enterprise seeming to devolve upon the female. For several successive +mornings, just after sunrise, I used to notice a pair of them flying +to and fro in the air above me as I hoed in the garden, directing +their course about half a mile distant, and disappearing, on their +return, among the trees about the Capitol. Returning, the female +always had her beak loaded with building material, while the male, +carrying nothing, seemed to act as her escort, flying a little above +and in advance of her, and uttering now and then his husky, discordant +note. As I tossed a lump of earth up at them, the frightened mother +bird dropped her mortar, and the pair scurried away, much put out. +Later they avenged themselves by pilfering my cherries. +</P> + +<P> +The most mischievous enemies of the cherries, however, here as at the +North, are the cedar waxwings, or "cherry-birds." How quickly they spy +out the tree! Long before the cherry begins to turn, they are around, +alert and cautious. In small flocks they circle about, high in the +air, uttering their fine note, or plunge quickly into the tops of +remote trees. Day by day they approach nearer and nearer, +reconnoitring the premises, and watching the growing fruit. Hardly +have the green lobes turned a red cheek to the sun, before their beaks +have scarred it. At first they approach the tree stealthily, on the +side turned from the house, diving quickly into the branches in ones +and twos, while the main flock is ambushed in some shade tree not far +off. They are most apt to commit their depredations very early in the +morning and on cloudy, rainy days. As the cherries grow sweeter the +birds grow bolder, till, from throwing tufts of grass, one has to +throw stones in good earnest, or lose all his fruit. In June they +disappear, following the cherries to the north, where by July they are +nesting in the orchards and cedar groves. +</P> + +<P> +Among the permanent summer residents here (one might say city +residents, as they seem more abundant in town than out), the yellow +warbler or summer yellowbird is conspicuous. He comes about the middle +of April, and seems particularly attached to the silver poplars. In +every street, and all day long, one may hear his thin, sharp warble. +When nesting, the female comes about the yard, pecking at the +clothes-line, and gathering up bits of thread to weave into her nest. +</P> + +<P> +Swallows appear in Washington form the first to the middle of April. +They come twittering along in the way so familiar to every New England +boy. The barn swallow is heard first, followed in a day or two by the +squeaking of the cliff swallow. The chimney swallows, or swifts, are +not far behind, and remain here in large numbers, the whole season. +The purple martins appear in April, as they pass north, and again in +July and August on their return, accompanied by their young. +</P> + +<P> +The national capital is situated in such a vast spread of wild, +wooded, or semi-cultivated country and is in itself so open and +spacious, with its parks and large government reservations, that an +unusual number of birds find their way into it in the course of the +season. Rare warblers, as the black-poll, the yellow-poll, and the +bay-breasted, pausing in May on their northward journey, pursue their +insect game in the very heart of the town. +</P> + +<P> +I have heard the veery thrush in the trees near the White House; and +one rainy April morning, about six o'clock, he came and blew his soft, +mellow flute in a pear-tree in my garden. The tones had all the +sweetness and wildness they have when heard in June in our deep +northern forests. A day or two afterward, in the same tree, I heard +for the first time the song of the ruby-crowned wren, or kinglet,—the +same liquid bubble and cadence which characterize the wren-songs +generally, but much finer and more delicate than the song of any other +variety known to me; beginning in a fine, round, needle-like note, and +rising into a full, sustained warble, [SYMBOL DELETED] a strain, on +whole, remarkably exquisite and pleasing, the singer being all the +while as busy as a bee, catching some kind of insects. It is certainly +on of our most beautiful bird-songs, and Audubon's enthusiasm +concerning its song, as he heard it in the wilds of Labrador, is not a +bit extravagant. The song of the kinglet is the only characteristic +that allies it to the wrens. +</P> + +<P> +The Capitol grounds, with their fine large trees of many varieties, +draw many kinds of birds. In the rear of the building the extensive +grounds are peculiarly attractive, being a gentle slope, warm and +protected, and quite thickly wooded. Here in early spring I go to hear +the robins, catbirds, blackbirds, wrens, etc. In March the +white-throated and white-crowned sparrows may be seen, hopping about +on the flower-beds or peering slyly from the evergreens. The robin +hops about freely upon the grass, notwithstanding the keepers +large-lettered warning, and at intervals, and especially at sunset, +carols from the treetops his loud, hearty strain. +</P> + +<P> +The kingbird and orchard starling remain the whole season, and breed +in the treetops. The rich, copious song of the starling may be heard +there all the forenoon. The song of some birds is like +scarlet,—strong, intense, emphatic. This is the character of the +orchard starlings, also the tanagers and the various grosbeaks. On the +other hand, the songs of other birds, as of certain of the thrushes, +suggest the serene blue of the upper sky. +</P> + +<P> +In February one may hear, in the Smithsonian grounds, the song of the +fox sparrow. It is a strong, richly modulated whistle,—the finest +sparrow note I have ever heard. +</P> + +<P> +A curious and charming sound may be heard here in May. You are +walking forth in the soft morning air, when suddenly there comes a +burst of bobolink melody form some mysterious source. A score of +throats pour out one brief, hilarious, tuneful jubilee and are +suddenly silent. There is a strange remoteness and fascination about +it. Presently you will discover its source skyward, and a quick eye +will detect the gay band pushing northward. They seem to scent the +fragrant meadows afar off, and shout forth snatches of their songs in +anticipation. +</P> + +<P> +The bobolink does not breed in the District, but usually pauses in his +journey and feeds during the day in the grass-lands north of the city. +When the season is backward, they tarry a week or ten days, singing +freely and appearing quite at home. In large flocks they search over +every inch of ground, and at intervals hover on the wing or alight in +the treetops, all pouring forth their gladness at once, and filling +the air with a multitudinous musical clamor. +</P> + +<P> +They continue to pass, traveling by night and feeding by day, till +after the middle of May, when they cease. In September, with numbers +greatly increased, they are on their way back. I am first advised of +their return by hearing their calls at night as they fly over the +city. On certain nights the sound becomes quite noticeable. I have +awakened in the middle of the night, and, through the open window, as +I lay in bed, heard their faint notes. The warblers begin to return +about the same time, and are clearly distinguished by their timid +yeaps. On dark, cloudy nights the birds seem confused by the lights of +the city, and apparently wander about above it. +</P> + +<P> +In the spring the same curious incident is repeated, though but few +voices can be identified. I make out the snowbird, the bobolink, the +warblers, and on two nights during the early part of May I heard very +clearly the call of the sandpipers. +</P> + +<P> +Instead of the bobolink, one encounters here, in the June meadows, the +black-throated bunting, a bird very closely related to the sparrows +and a very persistent if not a very musical songster. He perches upon +the fences and upon the trees by the roadside, and, spreading his +tail, gives forth his harsh strain, which may be roughly worded thus: +fscp fscp, fee fee fee. Like all sounds associated with early summer, +it soon has a charm to the ear quite independent of its intrinsic +merits. +</P> + +<P> +Outside of the city limits, the great point of interest to the rambler +and lover of nature is the Rock Creek region. Rock Creek is a large, +rough, rapid stream, which has its source in the interior of Maryland, +and flows in to the Potomac between Washington and Georgetown. Its +course, for five or six miles out of Washington, is marked by great +diversity of scenery. Flowing in a deep valley, which now and then +becomes a wild gorge with overhanging rocks and high precipitous +headlands, for the most part wooded; here reposing in long, dark +reaches, there sweeping and hurrying around a sudden bend or over a +rocky bed; receiving at short intervals small runs and spring +rivulets, which open up vistas and outlooks to the right and left, of +the most charming description,—Rock Creek has an abundance of all the +elements that make up not only pleasing but wild and rugged scenery. +There is perhaps, not another city in the Union that has on its very +threshold so much natural beauty and grandeur, such as men seek for in +remote forests and mountains. A few touches of art would convert this +whole region, extending from Georgetown to what is known as Crystal +Springs, not more than two miles from the present State Department, +into a park unequaled by anything in the world. There are passages +between these two points as wild and savage, and apparently as remote +from civilization, as anything one meets with in the mountain sources +of the Hudson or the Delaware. +</P> + +<P> +One of the tributaries to Rock Creek within this limit is called Piny +Branch. It is a small, noisy brook, flowing through a valley of great +natural beauty and picturesqueness, shaded nearly all the way by woods +of oak, chestnut, and beech, and abounding in dark recesses and hidden +retreats. +</P> + +<P> +I must not forget to mention the many springs with which this whole +region is supplied, each the centre of some wild nook, perhaps the +head of a little valley one or two hundred yards long, through which +one catches a glimpse, or hears the voice, of the main creek rushing +along below. +</P> + +<P> +My walks tend in this direction more frequently than in any other. +Here the boys go, too, troops of them, of a Sunday, to bathe and prowl +around, and indulge the semi-barbarous instincts that still lurk +within them. Life, in all its forms, is most abundant near water. The +rank vegetation nurtures the insects, and the insects draw the birds. +The first week in March, on some southern slope where the sunshine +lies warm and long, I usually find the hepatica in bloom, though with +scarcely an inch of stalk. In the spring runs, the skunk cabbage +pushes its pike up through the mould, the flower appearing first, as +if Nature had made a mistake. +</P> + +<P> +It is not till about the 1st of April that many wild flowers may be +looked for. By this time the hepatica, anemone saxifrage, arbutus, +houstonia, and bloodroot may be counted on. A week later, the +claytonia or spring beauty, water-cress, violets, a low buttercup, +vetch, corydalis, and potentilla appear. These comprise most of the +April flowers, and may be found in great profusion in the Rock Creek +and Piny Branch region. +</P> + +<P> +In each little valley or spring run, some one species predominates. I +know invariably where to look for the first liverwort, and where the +largest and finest may be found. On a dry, gravelly, half-wooded +hill-slope the bird's-foot violet grows in great abundance, and is +sparse in neighboring districts. This flower, which I never saw in the +North, is the most beautiful and showy of all the violets, and calls +forth rapturous applause from all persons who visit the woods. It +grows in little groups and clusters, and bears a close resemblance to +the pansies of the gardens. Its two purple, velvety petals seem to +fall over tiny shoulders like a rich cape. +</P> + +<P> +On the same slope, and on no other, I go about the 1st of May for +lupine, or sun-dial, which makes the ground look blue from a little +distance; on the other or northern side of the slope, the arbutus, +during the first half of April, perfumes the wildwood air. A few paces +farther on, in the bottom of a little spring run, the mandrake shades +the ground with its miniature umbrellas. It begins to push its green +finger-points up through the ground by the 1st of April, but is not in +bloom till the 1st of May. It has a single white, wax-like flower, +with a sweet, sickish odor, growing immediately beneath its broad +leafy top. By the same run grow watercresses and two kinds of +anemones,—the Pennsylvania and the grove anemone. The bloodroot is +very common at the foot of almost every warm slope in the Rock Creek +woods, and, where the wind has tucked it up well with the coverlid of +dry leaves, makes its appearance almost as soon as the liverwort. It +is singular how little warmth is necessary to encourage these earlier +flowers to put forth. It would seem as if some influence must come on +in advance underground and get things ready, so that, when the outside +temperature is propitious, they at once venture out. I have found the +bloodroot when it was still freezing two or three nights in the week, +and have known at least three varieties of early flowers to be buried +in eight inches of snow. +</P> + +<P> +Another abundant flower in the Rock Creek region is the spring beauty. +Like most others, it grows in streaks. A few paces from where your +attention is monopolized by violets or arbutus, it is arrested by the +claytonia, growing in such profusion that it is impossible to set the +foot down without crushing the flowers. Only the forenoon walker sees +them in all their beauty, as later in the day their eyes are closed, +and their pretty heads drooped in slumber. In only one locality do I +find the lady's-slipper,—a yellow variety. The flowers that overleap +all bounds in this section are the houstonias. By the 1st of April +they are very noticeable in warm, damp places along the borders of the +woods and in half-cleared fields, but by May these localities are +clouded with them. They become visible from the highway across wide +fields, and look like little puffs of smoke clinging close to the +ground. +</P> + +<P> +On the 1st of May I go to the Rock Creek or Piny Branch region to hear +the wood thrush. I always find him by this date leisurely chanting his +lofty strain; other thrushes are seen now also, or even earlier, as +Wilson's, the olive-backed, the hermit,—the two latter silent, but +the former musical. +</P> + +<P> +Occasionally in the earlier part of May I find the woods literally +swarming with warblers, exploring every branch and leaf, from the +tallest tulip to the lowest spice-bush, so urgent is the demand for +food during their long northern journeys. At night they are up and +away. Some varieties, as the blue yellow-back, the chestnut-sided, and +the Blackburnian, during their brief stay, sing nearly as freely as in +their breeding-haunts. For two or three years I have chanced to meet +little companies of the bay-breasted warbler, searching for food in an +oak wood on an elevated piece of ground. They kept well up among the +branches, were rather slow in their movements, and evidently disposed +to tarry but a short time. +</P> + +<P> +The summer residents here, belonging to this class of birds, are few. +I have observed the black and white creeping warbler, the Kentucky +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the redstart, and the gnat-catcher, +breeding near Rock Creek. +</P> + +<P> +Of these the Kentucky warbler is by far the most interesting, though +quite rare. I meet with him in low, damp places in the woods, usually +on the steep sides of some little run. I hear at intervals a clear, +strong, bell-like whistle or warble, and presently catch a glimpse of +the bird as he jumps up from the ground to take an insect or worm from +the under side of a leaf. This is his characteristic movement. He +belongs to the class of ground warblers, and his range is very low, +indeed lower than that of any other species with which I am +acquainted. He is on the ground nearly all the time, moving rapidly +along, taking spiders and bugs, overturning leaves, peeping under +sticks and into crevices, and every now and then leaping up eight or +ten inches to take his game from beneath some overhanging leaf or +branch. Thus each species has its range more or less marked. Draw a +line three feet from the ground, and you mark the usual limit of the +Kentucky warbler's quest for food. Six or eight feet higher bounds the +usual range of such birds as the worm-eating warbler, the mourning +ground warbler, the Maryland yellow-throat. The lower branches of the +higher growths and the higher branches of the lower growths are +plainly preferred by the black-throated blue-backed warbler in those +localities where he is found. The thrushes feed mostly on and near the +ground, while some of the vireos and the true flycatchers explore the +highest branches. But the warblers, as a rule, are all partial to +thick, rank undergrowths. +</P> + +<P> +The Kentucky warbler is a large bird for the genus and quite notable +in appearance. His back is clear olive-green, his throat and breast +bright yellow. A still more prominent feature is a black streak on the +side of the face, extending down the neck. +</P> + +<P> +Another familiar bird here, which I never met with in the North, is +the gnatcatcher, called by Audubon the blue-gray flycatching warbler. +In form and manner it seems almost a duplicate of the catbird on a +small scale. It mews like a young kitten, erects its tail, flirts, +droops its wings, goes through a variety of motions when disturbed by +your presence, and in many ways recalls its dusky prototype. Its color +above is a light gray-blue, gradually fading till it becomes white on +the breast and belly. It is a very small bird, and has a long, facile, +slender tail. Its song is a lisping, chattering, incoherent warble, +now faintly reminding one of the goldfinch, now of a miniature +catbird, then of a tiny yellow-hammer, having much variety, but no +unity and little cadence. +</P> + +<P> +Another bird which has interested me here is the Louisiana water +thrush, called also large-billed water-thrush, and water-wagtail. It +is one of a trio of birds which has confused the ornithologists much. +The other two species are the well-known golden-crowned thrush or +wood-wagtail, and the northern, or small, water-thrush. +</P> + +<P> +The present species, though not abundant, is frequently met with along +Rock Creek. It is a very quick, vivacious bird, and belongs to the +class of ecstatic singers. I have seen a pair of these thrushes, on a +bright May day, flying to and fro between two spring runs, alighting +at intermediate points, the male breaking out into one of the most +exuberant, unpremeditated strains I ever heard. Its song is a sudden +burst, beginning with three or four clear round notes much resembling +certain tones of the clarinet, and terminating in a rapid, intricate +warble. +</P> + +<P> +This bird resembles a thrush only in its color, which is olive-brown +above and grayish white beneath, with speckled throat and breast. Its +habits, manners, and voice suggest those of a lark. +</P> + +<P> +I seldom go the Rock Creek route without being amused and sometimes +annoyed by the yellow-breasted chat. This bird also has something of +the manners and build of the catbird, yet he is truly an original. The +catbird is mild and feminine compared with this rollicking polyglot. +His voice is very loud and strong and quite uncanny. No sooner have +you penetrated his retreat, which is usually a thick undergrowth in +low, wet localities, near the woods or in old fields, than he begins +his serenade, which for the variety, grotesqueness, and uncouthness of +the notes is not unlike a country skimmerton. If one passes directly +along, the bird may scarcely break the silence. But pause a while, or +loiter quietly about, and your presence stimulates him to do his best. +He peeps quizzically at you from beneath the branches, and gives a +sharp feline mew. In a moment more he says very distinctly, who, who. +Then in rapid succession follow notes the most discordant that ever +broke the sylvan silence. Now he barks like a puppy, then quacks like +a duck, then rattles like a kingfisher, then squalls like a fox, then +caws like a crow, then mews like a cat. Now he calls as if to be heard +a long way off, then changes his key, as if addressing the spectator. +Though very shy, and carefully keeping himself screened when you show +any disposition to get a better view, he will presently, if you remain +quiet, ascend a twig, or hop out on a branch in plain sight, lop his +tail, droop his wings, cock his head, and become very melodramatic. In +less than half a minute he darts into the bushes again, and again +tunes up, no Frenchman rolling his r's so fluently. +C-r-r-r-r-r— Wrrr, —that's it, —chee, —quack, cluck, —yit-yit-yit, +—now hit it, —tr-r-r-r, —when, —caw, caw, —cut, cut, —tea-boy, +—who, who, —mew, mew, —and so on till you are tired of listening. +Observing one very closely one day, I discovered that he was limited +to six notes or changes, which he went through in regular order, +scarcely varying a note in a dozen repetitions. Sometimes, when a +considerable distance off, he will fly down to have a nearer view of +you. And such curious, expressive flight,—legs extended, head lowered, +wings rapidly vibrating, the whole action piquant and droll! +</P> + +<P> +The chat is an elegant bird, both in form and color. Its plumage is +remarkably firm and compact. Color above, light olive-green; beneath, +bright yellow; beak, black and strong. +</P> + +<P> +The cardinal grosbeak, or Virginia redbird, is quite common in the +same localities, though more inclined to seek the woods. It is much +sought after by bird fanciers, and by boy gunners, and consequently is +very shy. This bird suggests a British redcoat; his heavy, pointed +beak, his high cockade, the black stripe down his face, the expression +of weight and massiveness about his head and neck, and his erect +attitude, give him a decided soldier-like appearance; and there is +something of the tone of the fife in his song or whistle, while his +ordinary note, when disturbed, is like the clink of a sabre. +Yesterday, as I sat indolently swinging in the loop of a grapevine, +beneath a thick canopy of green branches, in a secluded nook by a +spring run, one of these birds came pursuing some kind of insect, but +a few feet above me. He hopped about, now and then uttering his sharp +note, till some moth or beetle trying to escape, he broke down through +the cover almost where I sat. The effect was like a firebrand coming +down through the branches. Instantly catching sight of me, he darted +away much alarmed. The female is tinged with brown, and shows but a +little red except when she takes flight. +</P> + +<P> +By far the most abundant species of woodpecker about Washington is the +red-headed. It is more common than the robin. Not in the deep woods, +but among the scattered dilapidated oaks and groves, on the hills and +in the fields, I hear almost every day his uncanny note, ktr-r-r, +ktr-r-r, like that of some larger tree-toad, proceeding from an oak +grove just beyond the boundary. He is a strong-scented fellow, and +very tough. Yet how beautiful, as he flits about the open woods, +connecting the trees by a gentle arc of crimson and white! This is +another bird with a military look. His deliberate, dignified ways, and +his bright uniform of red, white, and steel-blue, bespeak him an +officer of rank. +</P> + +<P> +Another favorite beat of mine is northeast of the city. Looking from +the Capitol in this direction, scarcely more than a mile distant, you +see a broad green hill-slope, falling very gently, and spreading into +a large expanse of meadow-land. The summit, if so gentle a swell of +greensward may be said to have a summit, is covered with a grove of +large oaks; and, sweeping black out of sight like a mantle, the front +line of a thick forest bounds the sides. This emerald landscape is +seen from a number of points in the city. Looking along New York +Avenue from Northern Liberty Market, the eye glances, as it were, from +the red clay of the street, and alights upon this fresh scene in the +distance. It is a standing invitation to the citizen to come forth and +be refreshed. As I turn from some hot, hard street, how inviting it +looks! I bathe my eyes in it as in a fountain. Sometimes troops of +cattle are seen grazing upon it. In June the gathering of the hay may +be witnessed. When the ground is covered with snow, numerous stacks, +or clusters of stacks, are still left for the eye to contemplate. +</P> + +<P> +The woods which clothe the east side of this hill, and sweep away to +the east, are among the most charming to be found in the District. The +main growth is oak and chestnut, with a thin sprinkling of laurel, +azalea, and dogwood. It is the only locality in which I have found the +dogtooth violet in bloom, and the best place I know of to gather +arbutus. On one slope the ground is covered with moss, through which +the arbutus trails its glories. +</P> + +<P> +Emerging from these woods toward the city, one sees the white dome of +the Capitol soaring over the green swell of earth immediately in +front, and lifting its four thousand tons of iron gracefully and +lightly into the air. Of all the sights in Washington, that which will +survive the longest in my memory is the vision of the great dome thus +rising cloud-like above the hills. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + 1868.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIRCH BROWSINGS +</H3> + +<P> +The region of which I am about to speak lies in the southern part of +the state of New York, and comprises parts of three counties,—Ulster, +Sullivan and Delaware. It is drained by tributaries of both the Hudson +and Delaware, and, next to the Adirondack section, contains more wild +land than any other tract in the State. The mountains which traverse +it, and impart to it its severe northern climate, belong properly to +the Catskill range. On some maps of the State they are called the Pine +Mountains, though with obvious local impropriety, as pine, so far as I +have observed, is nowhere found upon them. "Birch Mountains" would be +a more characteristic name, as on their summits birch is the +prevailing tree. They are the natural home of the black and yellow +birch, which grow here to unusual size. On their sides beech and maple +abound; while, mantling their lower slopes and darkening the valleys, +hemlock formerly enticed the lumberman and tanner. Except in remote or +inaccessible localities, the latter tree is now almost never found. In +Shandaken and along the Esopus it is about the only product the +country yielded, or is likely to yield. Tanneries by the score have +arisen and flourished upon the bark, and some of them still remain. +Passing through that region the present season, I saw that the few +patches of hemlock that still lingered high up on the sides of the +mountains were being felled and peeled, the fresh white boles or the +trees, just stripped of their bark, being visible a long distance. +</P> + +<P> +Among these mountains there are no sharp peaks, or abrupt declivities, +as in a volcanic region, but long, uniform ranges, heavily timbered to +their summits, and delighting the eye with vast, undulating horizon +lines. Looking south from the heights about the head of the Delaware, +one sees, twenty miles away, a continual succession of blue ranges, +one behind the other. If a few large trees are missing on the sky +line, one can see the break a long distance off. +</P> + +<P> +Approaching this region from the Hudson River side, you cross a rough, +rolling stretch of country, skirting the base of the Catskills, which +from a point near Saugerties sweep inland; after a drive of a few +hours you are within the shadow of a high, bold mountain, which forms +a sort of butt-end to this part of the range, and which is simple +called High Point. To the east and southeast it slopes down rapidly to +the plain, and looks defiance toward the Hudson, twenty miles distant; +in the rear of it, and radiating from it west and northwest, are +numerous smaller ranges, backing up, as it were, this haughty chief. +</P> + +<P> +From this point through to Pennsylvania, a distance of nearly one +hundred miles, stretches the tract of which I speak. It is a belt of +country from twenty to thirty miles wide, bleak and wild, and but +sparsely settled. The traveler on the New York and Erie Railroad gets +a glimpse of it. +</P> + +<P> +Many cold, rapid trout streams, which flow to all points of the +compass, have their source in the small lakes and copious mountain +springs of this region. The names of some of them are Mill Brook, Dry +Brook, Willewemack, Beaver Kill, Elk Bush Kill, Panther Kill, +Neversink, Big Ingin, and Callikoon. Beaver Kill is the main outlet on +the west. It joins the Deleware in the wilds of Hancock. The Neversink +lays open the region to the south, and also joins the Delaware. To the +east, various Kills unite with the Big Ingin to form the Esopus, which +flows into the Hudson. Dry Brook and Mill Brook, both famous trout +streams, from twelve to fifteen miles long, find their way into the +Delaware. +</P> + +<P> +The east or Pepacton branch of the Delaware itself takes its rise near +here in a deep pass between the mountains. I have many times drunk at +a copious spring by the roadside, where the infant river first sees +the light. A few yards beyond, the water flows the other way, +directing its course through the Bear Kill and Schoharie Kill into the +Mohawk. +</P> + +<P> +Such game and wild animals as still linger in the State are found in +this region. Bears occasionally make havoc among the sheep. The +clearings at the head of a valley are oftenest the scene of their +depredations. +</P> + +<P> +Wild pigeons, in immense numbers used to breed regularly in the valley +of the Big Ingin and about the head of the Neversink. The treetops for +miles were full of their nests, while the going and coming of the old +birds kept up a constant din. But the gunners soon got wind of it, and +from far and near were wont to pour in during the spring, and to +slaughter both old and young. This practice soon had the effect of +driving the pigeons all away, and now only a few pairs breed in these +woods. +</P> + +<P> +Deer are still met with, though they are becoming scarcer every year. +Last winter near seventy head were killed on the Beaver Kill alone. I +heard of one wretch, who, finding the deer snowbound, walked up to +them on his snowshoes, and one morning before breakfast slaughtered +six, leaving their carcasses where they fell. There are traditions of +persons having been smitten blind or senseless when about to commit +some heinous offense, but the fact that this villain escaped without +some such visitation throws discredit on all such stories. +</P> + +<P> +The great attraction, however, of this region, is the brook trout, +with which the streams and lakes abound. The water is of excessive +coldness, the thermometer indicating 44° and 45°in the springs, and +47° or 48° in the smaller streams. The trout are generally small, but +in the more remote branches their number is very great. In such +localities the fish are quite black, but in the lakes they are of a +lustre and brilliancy impossible to describe. +</P> + +<P> +These waters have been much visited of late years by fishing parties, +and the name of the Beaver Kill is now a potent name among New York +sportsmen. +</P> + +<P> +One lake, in the wilds of Callikoon, abounds in a peculiar species of +white sucker, which is of excellent quality. It is taken only in +spring, during the spawning season, at the time "when the leaves are +as big as a chipmunk's ears." The fish run up the small streams and +inlets, beginning at nightfall, and continuing till the channel is +literally packed with them, and every inch of space is occupied. The +fishermen pounce upon them at such times, and scoop them up by the +bushel, usually wading right into the living mass and landing the fish +with their hands. A small party will often secure in this manner a +wagon-load of fish. Certain conditions of the weather, as a warm south +or southwest wind, are considered most favorable for the fish to run. +</P> + +<P> +Though familiar all my life with the outskirts of this region, I have +only twice dipped into its wilder portions. Once in 1860 a friend and +myself traced the Beaver Kill to its source, and encamped by Balsam +Lake. A cold and protracted rainstorm coming on, we were obliged to +leave the woods before we were ready. Neither of us will soon forget +that tramp by an unknown route over the mountains, encumbered as we +were with a hundred and one superfluities which we had foolishly +brought along to solace ourselves with in the woods; nor that halt on +the summit, where we cooked and ate our fish in the drizzling rain; +nor, again, that rude log house, with its sweet hospitality, which we +reached just at nightfall on Mill Brook. +</P> + +<P> +In 1868 a party of three of us set out for a brief trouting excursion +to a body of water called Thomas's Lake, situated in the same chain of +mountains. On this excursion, more particularly than on any other I +have ever undertaken, I was taught how poor an Indian I should make, +and what a ridiculous figure a party of men may cut in the woods when +the way is uncertain and the mountains high. +</P> + +<P> +We left our team at a farmhouse near the head of the Mill Brook, one +June afternoon, and with knapsacks on our shoulders struck into the +woods at the base of the mountain, hoping to cross the range that +intervened between us and the lake by sunset. We engaged a +good-natured but rather indolent young man, who happened to be +stopping at the house, and who had carried a knapsack in the Union +armies, to pilot us a couple of miles into the woods so as to guard +against any mistakes at the outset. It seemed the easiest thing in the +world to find the lake. The lay of the land was so simple, according +to accounts, that I felt sure I could go it in the dark. "Go up this +little brook to its source on the side of the mountain," they said. +"The valley that contains the lake heads directly on the other side." +What could be easier! But on a little further inquiry, they said we +should "bear well to the left" when we reached the top of the +mountain. This opened the doors again; "bearing well to the left" was +an uncertain performance in strange woods. We might bear so well to +the left that it would bring us ill. But why bear to the left at all, +if the lake was directly opposite? Well, not quite opposite; a little +to the left. There were two or three other valleys that headed in near +there. We could easily find the right one. But to make assurance +doubly sure, we engaged a guide, as stated, to give us a good start, +and go with us beyond the bearing-to-the-left point. He had been to +the lake the winter before and knew the way. Our course, the first +half hour, was along an obscure wood-road which had been used for +drawing ash logs off mountain in winter. There was some hemlock, but +more maple and birch. The woods were dense and free from underbrush, +the ascent gradual. Most of the way we kept the voice of the creek in +our ear on the right. I approached it once, and found it swarming with +trout. The water was as cold as one ever need wish. After a while the +ascent grew steeper, the creek became a mere rill that issued from +beneath loose, moss-covered rocks and stones, and with much labor and +puffing we drew ourselves up the rugged declivity. Every mountain has +its steepest point, which is usually near the summit, in keeping, I +suppose, with the providence that makes the darkest hour just before +day. It is steep, steeper, steepest, till you emerge on the smooth +level or gently rounded space at the top, which the old ice-gods +polished off so long ago. +</P> + +<P> +We found this mountain had a hollow in its back where the ground was +soft and swampy. Some gigantic ferns, which we passed through, came +nearly to our shoulders. We passed also several patches of swamp +honeysuckles, red with blossoms. +</P> + +<P> +Our guide at length paused on a big rock where the land begin to dip +down the other way, and concluded that he had gone far enough, and +that we would now have no difficulty in finding the lake. "It must lie +right down there," he said pointing with his hand. But it was plain +that he was not quite sure in his own mind. He had several times +wavered in his course, and had shown considerable embarrassment when +bearing to the left across the summit. Still we thought little of it. +We were full of confidence, and bidding him adieu, plunged down the +mountain-side, following a spring run that we had no doubt left to the +lake. +</P> + +<P> +In these woods, which had a southeastern exposure, I first began to +notice the wood thrush. In coming up the other side, I had not seen a +feather of any kind, or heard a note. Now the golden trillide-de of +the wood thrush sounded through the silent woods. While looking for a +fish-pole about halfway down the mountain, I saw a thrush's nest in a +little sapling about ten feet from the ground. +</P> + +<P> +After continuing our descent till our only guide, the spring run, +became quite a trout brook, and its tiny murmur a loud brawl, we began +to peer anxiously through the trees for a glimpse of the lake, or for +some conformation of the land that would indicate its proximity. An +object which we vaguely discerned in looking under the near trees and +over the more distant ones proved, on further inspection, to be a +patch of plowed ground. Presently we made out a burnt fallow near it. +This was a wet blanket to our enthusiasm. No lake, no sport, no trout +for supper that night. The rather indolent young man had either played +us a trick, or, as seemed more likely, had missed the way. We were +particularly anxious to be at the lake between sundown and dark, as at +that time the trout jump most freely. +</P> + +<P> +Pushing on, we soon emerged into a stumpy field, at the head of a +steep valley, which swept around toward the west. About two hundred +rods below us was a rude log house, with smoke issuing from the +chimney. A boy came out and moved toward the spring with a pail in his +hand. We shouted to him, when he turned and ran back into the house +without pausing to reply. In a moment the whole family hastily rushed +into the yard, and turned their faces toward us. If we had come down +their chimney, they could not have seemed more astonished. Not making +out what they said, I went down to the house, and learned to my +chagrin that we were still on the Mill Brook side, having crossed only +a spur of the mountain. We had not borne sufficiently to the left, so +that the main range, which, at the point of crossing, suddenly breaks +off to the southeast, still intervened between us and the lake. We +were about five miles, as the water runs, from the point of starting, +and over two from the lake. We must go directly back to the top of the +range where the guide had left us, and then, by keeping well to the +left, we would soon come to a line of marked trees, which would lead +us to the lake. So, turning upon our trail, we doggedly began the work +of undoing what we had just done,—in all cases a disagreeable task, +in this case a very laborious one also. It was after sunset when we +turned back, and before we had got halfway up the mountain, it began +to be quite dark. We were often obliged to rest our packs against the +trees and take breath, which made our progress slow. Finally a halt +was called, beside an immense flat rock which had paused on its slide +down the mountain, and we prepared to encamp for the night. A fire was +built the rock cleared off, a small ration of bread served out, our +accoutrements hung up out of the way of the hedgehogs that were +supposed to infest the locality, and then we disposed ourselves for +sleep. If the owls or porcupines (and I think I heard one of the +latter in the middle of the night) reconnoitred our camp, they saw a +buffalo robe spread upon a rock, with three old felt hats arranged on +one side, and three pairs of sorry-looking cowhide boots protruding +from the other. +</P> + +<P> +When we lay down, there was apparently not a mosquito in the woods; +but the "no-see-ems," as Thoreau's Indian aptly named the midges, soon +found us out, and after the fire had gone down, annoyed us very much. +My hands and wrists suddenly began to smart and itch in a most +uncomfortable manner. My first thought was that they had been poisoned +in some way. Then the smarting extended to my neck and face, even to +my scalp, when I began to suspect what was the matter. So, wrapping +myself up more thoroughly, and stowing my hands away as best I could, +I tried to sleep, being some time behind my companions, who appeared +not to mind the "no-see-ems." I was further annoyed by some little +irregularity on my side of the couch. The chambermaid had not beaten +it up well. One huge lump refused to be mollified, and each attempt to +adapt it up some natural hollow in my own body brought only a moment's +relief. But at last I got the better of this also and slept. Late in +the night I woke up, just in time to hear a golden-crowned thrush sing +in a tree near by. It sang as loud and cheerily as at midday, and I +thought myself, after all, quite in luck. Birds occasionally sing at +night, just as the cock crows. I have heard the hairbird, and the note +of the kingbird; and the ruffed grouse frequently drums at night. +</P> + +<P> +At the first faint signs of day a wood thrush sang, a few rods below +us. Then after a little delay, as the gray light began to grow around, +thrushes broke out in full song in all parts of the woods. I thought I +had never before heard them sing so sweetly. Such a leisurely, golden +chant!—it consoled us for all we had undergone. It was the first +thing in order,—the worms were safe till after this morning chorus. I +judged that the birds roosted but a few feet from the ground. In fact, +a bird in all cases roosts where it builds, and the wood thrush +occupies, as it were, the first story of the woods. +</P> + +<P> +There is something singular about the distribution of the wood +thrushes. At an earlier stage of my observations I should have been +much surprised at finding them in these woods. Indeed, I had stated in +print on two occasions that the wood thrush was not found in the +higher lands of the Catskills, but that the hermit thrush and the +veery, or Wilson's thrush, were common. It turns out that the +statement is only half true. The wood thrush is found also, but is +much more rare and secluded in its habits than either of the others, +being seen only during the breeding season on remote mountains, and +then only on their eastern and southern slopes. I have never yet in +this region found the bird spending the season in the near and +familiar woods, which is directly contrary to observations I have made +in other parts of the state. So different are the habits of birds in +different localities. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as it was fairly light we were up and ready to resume our +march. A small bit of bread and butter and a swallow or two of whiskey +was all we had for breakfast that morning. Our supply of each was very +limited, and we were anxious to save a little of both, to relieve the +diet of trout to which we looked forward. +</P> + +<P> +At an early hour we reached the rock where we had parted with the +guide, and looked around us into the dense, trackless woods with many +misgivings. To strike out now on our own hook, where the way was so +blind and after the experience we had just had, was a step not to be +carelessly taken. The tops of these mountains are so broad, and a +short distance in the woods seems so far, that one is by no means +master of the situation after reaching the summit. And then there are +so many spurs and offshoots and changes of direction, added to the +impossibility of making any generalization by the aid of the eye, that +before one is aware of it he is very wide of his mark. +</P> + +<P> +I remembered now that a young farmer of my acquaintance had told me +how he had made a long day's march through the heart of this region, +without path or guide of any kind, and had hit his mark squarely. He +had been barkpeeling in Callikoon,—a famous country for +barkpeeling,—and, having got enough of it, he desired to reach his +home on Dry Brook without making the usual circuitous journey between +the two places. To do this necessitated a march of ten or twelve miles +across several ranges of mountains and through an unbroken forest,—a +hazardous undertaking in which no one would join him. Even the old +hunters who were familiar with the ground dissuaded him and predicted +the failure of his enterprise. But having made up his mind, he +possessed himself thoroughly of the topography of the country from the +aforesaid hunters, shouldered his axe, and set out, holding a strait +course through the woods, and turning aside for neither swamps, +streams, nor mountains. When he paused to rest he would mark some +object ahead of him with his eye, in order that on getting up again, +he might not deviate from his course. His directors had told him of a +hunter's cabin about midway on his route, which if he struck he might +be sure he was right. About noon this cabin was reached, and at sunset +he emerged at the head of Dry Brook. +</P> + +<P> +After looking in vain for the line of marked trees, we moved off to +the left in a doubtful, hesitating manner, keeping on the highest +ground and blazing the trees as we went. We were afraid to go +downhill, lest we should descend to soon; our vantage-ground was high +ground. A thick fog coming on, we were more bewildered than ever. +Still we pressed forward, climbing up ledges and wading through ferns +for about two hours, when we paused by a spring that issued from +beneath an immense wall of rock that belted the highest part of the +mountain. There was quite a broad plateau here, and the birch wood was +very dense, and the trees of unusual size. +</P> + +<P> +After resting and exchanging opinions, we all concluded that is was +best not to continue our search encumbered as we were; but we were not +willing to abandon it altogether, and I proposed to my companions to +leave them beside the spring with our traps, while I made one thorough +and final effort to find the lake. If I succeeded and desired them to +come forward, I was to fire my gun three times; if I failed and wished +to return, I would fire twice, they of course responding. +</P> + +<P> +So, filling my canteen from the spring, I set out again, taking the +spring run for my guide. Before I had followed it two hundred yards, +it sank into the ground at my feet. I had half a mind to be +superstitious and to believe that we were under a spell, since our +guides played us such tricks. However, I determined to put the matter +to a further test, and struck out boldly to the left. This seemed to +be the keyword,—to the left, to the left. The fog had now lifted, so +that I could form a better idea of the lay of the land. Twice I looked +down the steep sides of the mountain, sorely attempted to risk a +plunge. Still I hesitated and kept along on the brink. As I stood on a +rock deliberating, I heard a crackling of the brush, like the tread of +some large game, on the plateau below me. Suspecting the truth of the +case, I moved stealthily down, and found a herd of young cattle +leisurely browsing. We had several times crossed their trail, and had +seen that morning a level, grassy place on the top of the mountain, +where they had passed the night. Instead of being frightened, as I had +expected, they seemed greatly delighted, and gathered around me as if +to inquire the tidings from the outer world,—perhaps the quotations +of the cattle market. They came up to me, and eagerly licked my hand, +clothes, and gun. Salt was what they were after, and they were ready +to swallow anything that contained the smallest percentage of it. They +were mostly yearlings and as sleek as moles. They had a very gamy +look. We were afterwards told that, in the spring, the farmers round +about turn into these woods their young cattle, which do not come out +again till fall. They are then in good condition,—not fat, like +grass-fed cattle, but trim and supple, like deer. Once a month the +owner hunts them up and salts them. They have their beats, and seldom +wander beyond well-defined limits. It was interesting to see them +feed. They browsed on the low limbs and bushes, and on the various +plants, munching at everything without any apparent discrimination. +</P> + +<P> +They attempted to follow me, but I escaped them by clambering down +some steep rocks. I now found myself gradually edging down the side of +the mountain, keeping around it in a spiral manner, and scanning the +woods and the shape of the ground for some encouraging hint or sign. +Finally the woods became more open, and the descent less rapid. The +trees were remarkably straight and uniform in size. Black birches, the +first I had ever seen, were very numerous. I felt encouraged. +Listening attentively, I caught, from a breeze just lifting the +drooping leaves, a sound that I willingly believed was made by a +bullfrog. On this hint, I tore down through the woods at my highest +speed. Then I paused and listened again. This time there was no +mistaking it; it was the sound of frogs. Much elated, I rushed on. By +and by I could hear them as I ran. Pthrung, pthrung, croaked the old +ones; pug, pug, shrilly joined in the smaller fry. +</P> + +<P> +Then I caught, through the lower trees, a gleam of blue, which I first +thought was distant sky. A second look and I knew it to be water, and +in a moment more I stepped from the woods and stood upon the shore of +the lake. I exulted silently. There it was at last, sparkling in the +morning sun, and as beautiful as a dream. It was so good to come upon +such open space and such bright hues, after wandering in the dim, +dense woods! The eye is as delighted as an escaped bird, and darts +gleefully from point to point. +</P> + +<P> +The lake was a long oval, scarcely more than a mile in circumference, +with evenly wooded shores, which rose gradually on all sides. After +contemplating the serene for a moment, I stepped back into the woods, +and, loading my gun as heavily as I dared, discharged it three times. +The reports seemed to fill all the mountains with sound. The frogs +quickly hushed, and I listened for the response. But no response came. +Then I tried again and again, but without evoking an answer. One of my +companions, however, who had climbed to the top of the high rocks in +the rear of the spring, thought he heard faintly one report. It seemed +an immense distance below him, and far around under the mountain. I +knew I had come a long way, and hardly expected to be able to +communicate with my companions in the manner agreed upon. I therefore +started back, choosing my course without any reference to the +circuitous route by which I had come, and loading heavily and firing +at intervals. I must have aroused many long-dormant echoes from a Rip +Van Winkle sleep. As my powder got low, I fired and halloed +alternately, till I cam near splitting both my throat and gun. +Finally, after I had begun to have a very ugly feeling of alarm and +disappointment, and to cast about vaguely for some course to pursue in +an emergency that seemed near at hand,—namely the loss of my +companions now I had found the lake,—a favoring breeze brought me the +last echo of a response. I rejoined with spirit, and hastened with all +speed in the direction whence the sound had come, but, after repeated +trials, failed to elicit another answering sound. This filled me with +apprehension again. I feared that my friends had been mislead by the +reverberations, and I pictured them to myself, hastening in the +opposite direction. Paying little attention to my course, but paying +dearly for my carelessness afterward, I rushed forward to undeceive +them. But they had not been deceived, and in a few moments an +answering shout revealed them near at hand. I heard their tramp, the +bushed parted, and we three met again. +</P> + +<P> +In answer to their eager inquiries, I assured them that I had seen the +lake, that it was at the foot of the mountain, and that we could not +miss it if we kept straight down from where we then were. +</P> + +<P> +My clothes were soaked in perspiration, but I shouldered my knapsack +with alacrity, and we began the descent. I noticed that the woods were +much thicker, and had quite a different look from those I had passed +through, but thought nothing of it, as I expected to strike the lake +near its head, whereas I had before come out at its foot. We had not +gone far when we crossed a line of marked trees, which my companions +were disposed to follow. It intersected our course nearly at right +angles, and kept along and up the side of the mountain. My impression +was that it lead up from the lake, and that by keeping our course we +should reach the lake sooner than if we followed this line. About +halfway down the mountain, we could see through the interstices the +opposite slope. I encouraged my comrades by telling them that the lake +was between us and that, and not more than half a mile distant. We +soon reached the bottom, where we found a small stream and quite an +extensive alder swamp, evidently the ancient bed of a lake. I +explained to my half-vexed and half-incredulous companions that we +were probably above the lake, and that this stream must lead to it. +"Follow it," they said; "we will wait here till we hear from you." +</P> + +<P> +So I went on, more than ever disposed to believe that we were under a +spell, and that the lake had slipped from my grasp after all. Seeing +no favorable sign as I went forward, I laid down my accoutrements, and +climbed a decayed beech that leaned out over the swamp and promised a +good view from the top. As I stretched myself up to look around from +the highest attainable branch, there was suddenly a loud crack at the +root. With a celerity that would at least have done credit to a bear, +I regained the ground, having caught but a momentary glimpse of the +country, but enough to convince me no lake was near. Leaving all +incumbrances here but my gun, I still pressed on, loath to be thus +baffled. After floundering through another alder swamp for nearly half +a mile, I flattered myself that I was close to the lake. I caught +sight of a low spur of the mountain sweeping around like a +half-extended arm, and I fondly imagined that within its clasp was the +object of my search. But I found only more alder swamp. After this +region was cleared the creek began to descend the mountain very +rapidly. Its banks became high and narrow, and it went whirling away +with a sound that seemed to my ears like a burst of ironical laughter. +I turned back with a feeling of mingled disgust, shame and vexation. +In fact I was almost sick, and when I reached my companions, after an +absence of nearly two hours, hungry, fatigued, and disheartened, I +would have sold my interest in Thomas's Lake at a very low figure. For +the first time, I heartily wished myself well out of the woods. Thomas +might keep his lake, and the enchanters guard his possession! I +doubted if he had ever found it the second time, or if any one else +ever had. +</P> + +<P> +My companions, who were quite fresh and who had not felt the strain of +baffled purpose as I had, assumed a more encouraging tone. After I had +rested awhile, and partaken sparingly of the bread and whisky, which +in such an emergency is a great improvement on bread and water, I +agreed to their proposition that we should make another attempt. As if +to reassure us, a robin sounded his cheery call near by, and the +winter wren, the first I had ever heard in these woods, set his +music-box going, which fairly ran over with fin, gushing, lyrical +sounds. There can be no doubt but this bird is one of our finest +songsters. If it would only thrive and sing well when caged, like the +canary, how far it would surpass that bird! It has all the vivacity +and versatility of the canary, without any of its shrillness. Its song +is indeed a little cascade of melody. +</P> + +<P> +We again retraced our steps, rolling the stone, as it were, back up +the mountain, determined to commit ourselves to the line of marked +trees. These we finally reached, and, after exploring the country to +the right, saw that bearing to the left was still the order. The trail +led up over a gentle rise of ground, and in less than twenty minutes, +we were in the woods I had passed through when I found the lake. The +error I had made was then plain: we had come off the mountain a few +paces too far to the right, and so had passed down on the wrong side +of the ridge, into what we afterwards learned was the valley of Alder +Creek. +</P> + +<P> +We now made good time, and before many minutes I again saw the mimic +sky glance through the trees. As we approached the lake, a solitary +woodchuck, the first wild animal we had seen since entering the woods, +sat crouched upon the root of a tree a few feet from the water, +apparently completely nonplused by the unexpected appearance of danger +on the land side. All retreat was cut off, and he looked his fate in +the face without flinching. I slaughtered him just as a savage would +have done, and from the same motive,—I wanted his carcass to eat. +</P> + +<P> +The mid-afternoon sun was now shining upon the lake, and a low, steady +breeze drove the little waves rocking to the shore. A herd of cattle +were browsing on the other side, and the bell of the leader sounded +across the water. In these solitudes its clang was wild and musical. +</P> + +<P> +To try the trout was the first thing in order. On a rude raft of log +which we found moored at the shore, and which with two aboard shipped +about a food of water, we floated out and wet our first fly in +Thomas's Lake; but the trout refused to jump, and to be frank, not +more than a dozen and a half were caught during our stay. Only a week +previous, a party of three had taken in a few hours all the fish they +could carry out of the woods, and had nearly surfeited their neighbors +with trout. But from some cause, they now refused to rise, or to touch +any kind of bait: so we fell to catching the sunfish, which were small +but very abundant. Their nests were all along the shore. A space about +the size of a breakfast-plate was cleared of sediment and decayed +vegetable matter, revealing the pebbly bottom, fresh and bright, with +one or two fish suspended over the centre of it, keeping watch and +ward. If an intruder approached, they would dart at him spitefully. +These fish have the air of bantam cocks, and, with their sharp, +prickly fins and spines and scaly sides, must be ugly customers in a +hand-to-hand encounter with other finny warriors. To a hungry man they +look about as unpromising as hemlock slivers, so thorny and thin are +they; yet there is sweet meat in them, as we found that day. +</P> + +<P> +Much refreshed, I set out with the sun low in the west to explore the +outlet of the lake and try for trout there, while my companions made +further trials in the lake itself. The outlet, as is usual in bodies +of water of this kind, was very gentle and private. The stream, six or +eight feet wide, flowed silently and evenly along for a distance of +three or four rods, when it suddenly, as if conscious of its freedom, +took a leap down some rocks. Thence as far as I followed it, its +decent was very rapid through a continuous succession of brief falls +like so many steps down the mountain. Its appearance promised more +trout than I found, though I returned to camp with a very respectable +string. +</P> + +<P> +Toward sunset I went round to explore the inlet, and found that as +usual the stream wound leisurely through marshy ground. The water +being much colder than in the outlet, the trout were more plentiful. +As I was picking my way over the miry ground and through the rank +growths, a ruffed grouse hopped up on a fallen branch a few paces +before me, and jerking his tail, threatened to take flight. But as I +was at the moment gunless and remained stationary, he presently jumped +down and walked away. +</P> + +<P> +A seeker of birds, and ever on the alert for some new acquaintance, my +attention was arrested, on first entering the swamp, by a bright, +lively song, or warble, that issued from the branches overhead, and +that was entirely new to me, though there was something in the tone +that told me the bird was related to the wood-wagtail and to the +water-wagtail or thrush. The strain was emphatic and quite loud, like +the canary's, but very brief. The bird kept itself well secreted in +the upper branches of the trees, and for a long time eluded my eye. I +passed to and fro several times, and it seemed to break out afresh as +I approached a certain little bend in the creek, and to cease after I +had got beyond it; no doubt its nest was somewhere in the vicinity. +After some delay the bird was sighted and brought down. It proved to +be the small, or northern, water-thrush, (called also the New York +water-thrush),—a new bird to me. In size it was noticeably smaller +than the large, or Louisiana, water-thrush, as described by Audubon, +but in other respects its general appearance was the same. It was a +great treat to me, and again I felt myself in luck. +</P> + +<P> +This bird was unknown to the older ornithologists, and is but poorly +described by the new. It builds a mossy nest on the ground, or under +the edge of a decayed log. A correspondent writes me that he has found +it breeding on the mountains in Pennsylvania. The large-billed +water-thrush is much the superior songster, but the present species +has a very bright and cheerful strain. The specimen I saw, contrary to +the habits of the family, kept in the treetops like a warbler, and +seemed to be engaged in catching insects. +</P> + +<P> +The birds were unusually plentiful and noisy about the head of this +lake; robins, blue jays, and woodpeckers greeted me with their +familiar notes. The blue jays found an owl or some wild animal a short +distance above me, and, as is their custom on such occasions, +proclaimed it at the top of their voices, and kept on till the +darkness began to gather in the woods. +</P> + +<P> +I also heard, as I had at two or three other points in the course of +the day, the peculiar, resonant hammering of some species of +woodpecker upon the hard, dry limbs. It was unlike any sound of the +kind I had ever heard, and, repeated at intervals through the silent +wood, was a very marked and characteristic feature. Its peculiarity +was the ordered succession of the raps, which gave it the character of +a premeditated performance. There were first three strokes following +each other rapidly, then two much louder ones with longer intervals +between them. I heard the drumming here, and the next day at sunset at +Furlow Lake, the source of Dry Brook, and in no instance was the order +varied. There was a melody in it, such as a woodpecker knows how to +evoke from a smooth, dry branch. It suggested something quite as +pleasing as the liveliest bird-song, and was if anything more woodsy +and wild. As the yellow-bellied woodpecker was the most abundant +species in these woods, I attributed it to him. It is the one sound +that still links itself with those scenes in my mind. +</P> + +<P> +At sunset the grouse began to drum in all parts of the woods about the +lake. I could hear five at one time, thump, thump, thump, thump, +thr-r-r-r-r-r-rr. It was a homely, welcome sound. As I returned to +camp at twilight, along the shore of the lake, the frogs also were in +full chorus. The older ones ripped out their responses to each other +with terrific force and volume. I know of no other animal capable of +giving forth so much sound, in proportion to its size, as a frog. Some +of these seemed to bellow as loud as a two-year-old bull. They were of +immense size, and very abundant. No frog-eater had ever been there. +Near the shore we felled a tree which reached far out in the lake. +Upon the trunk and branches, the frogs soon collected in large +numbers, and gamboled and splashed about the half submerged top, like +a parcel of schoolboys, making nearly as much noise. +</P> + +<P> +After dark, as I was frying the fish, a panful of the largest trout +was accidently capsized in the fire. With rueful countenances we +contemplated the irreparable loss our commissariat had sustained by +this mishap; but remembering there was virtue in ashes, we poked the +half-consumed fish from the bed of coals and ate them, and they were +good. +</P> + +<P> +We lodged that night on a brush-heap and slept soundly. The green, +yielding beech-twigs, covered with a buffalo robe, were equal to a +hair mattress. The heat and smoke from a large fire kindled in the +afternoon had banished every "no-see-em" from the locality, and in the +morning the sun was above the mountain before we awoke. +</P> + +<P> +I immediately started again for the inlet, and went far up the stream +toward its source. A fair string of trout for breakfast was my reward. +The cattle with the bell were at the head of the valley, where they +had passed the night. Most of them were two-year-old steers. They came +up to me and begged for salt, and scared the fish by their +importunities. +</P> + +<P> +We finished our bread that morning, and ate every fish we could catch, +and about ten o'clock prepared to leave the lake. The weather had been +admirable, and the lake as a gem, and I would gladly have spent a week +in the neighborhood; but the question of supplies was a serious one, +and would brook no delay. +</P> + +<P> +When we reached, on our return, the point where we had crossed the +line of marked trees the day before, the question arose whether we +should still trust ourselves to this line, or follow our own trail +back to the spring and the battlement of rocks on the top of the +mountain, and thence to the rock where the guide had left us. We +decided in favor of the former course. After a march of three quarters +of an hour the blazed trees ceased, and we concluded we were near the +point at which we had parted with our guide. So we built a fire, laid +down our loads, and cast about on all sides for some clew as to our +exact locality. Nearly an hour was consumed in this manner, and +without any result. I came upon a brood of young grouse, which +diverted me for a moment. The old one blustered about at a furious +rate, trying to draw all attention to herself, while the young ones, +which were unable to fly, hid themselves. She whined like a dog in +great distress, and dragged herself along apparently with the greatest +difficulty. As I pursued her, she ran very nimbly, and presently flew +a few yards. Then, as I went on, she flew farther and farther each +time, till at last she got up, and went humming through the woods as +if she had no interest in them. I went back and caught one of the +young, which had simply squatted close to the ground. I then put in my +coatsleeve, when it ran and nestled in my armpit. +</P> + +<P> +When we met at the sign of the smoke, opinions differed as to the most +feasible course. There was no doubt but that we could get out of the +woods; but we wished to get out speedily, and as near as possible to +the point where we had entered. Half ashamed of our timidity and +indecision, we finally tramped away back to where we had crossed the +line of blazed trees, followed our old trail to the spring on the top +of the range, and, after much searching and scouring to the right and +left, found ourselves at the very place we had left two hours before. +Another deliberation and a divided council. But something must be +done. It was then mid-afternoon, and the prospect of spending another +night on the mountains, without food or drink, was not pleasant. So we +moved down the ridge. Here another line of marked trees was found, the +course of which formed an obtuse angle with the one we had followed. +It kept on the top of the ridge for perhaps a mile, when it +disappeared, and we were as much adrift as ever. Then one of the party +swore an oath, and said he was going out of those woods, hit or miss, +and, wheeling to the right, instantly plunged over the brink of the +mountain. The rest followed, but would fain have paused and ciphered +away at their own uncertainties, to see if a certainty could not be +arrived at as to where we would come out. But our bold leader was +solving the problem in the right way. Down and down and still down we +went, as if we were to bring up in the bowels of the earth. It was by +far the steepest descent we had made, and we felt a grim satisfaction +in knowing we could not retrace our steps this time, be the issue what +it might. As we paused on the brink of a ledge of rocks, we chanced to +see through the trees distant cleared land. A house or barn also was +dimly descried. This was encouraging; but we could not make out +whether it was on Beaver Kill or Mill Brook or Dry Brook, and did not +long stop to consider where it was. We at last brought up at the +bottom of a deep gorge, through which flowed a rapid creek that +literally swarmed with trout. But we were in no mood to catch them, +and pushed on along the channel of the stream, sometimes leaping from +rock to rock, and sometimes splashing heedlessly through the water, +and speculating the while as to where we should probably come out. On +the Beaver Kill, my companions thought; but from the position of the +sun, I said, on the Mill Brook, about six miles below our team; for I +remembered having seen, in coming up this stream, a deep, wild valley +that led up into the mountains, like this one. Soon the banks of the +stream became lower, and we moved into the woods. Here we entered upon +an obscure wood-road, which presently conducted us into the midst of a +vast hemlock forest. The land had a gentle slope, and we wondered by +the lumbermen and barkmen who prowl through these woods had left this +fine tract untouched. Beyond this the forest was mostly birch and +maple. +</P> + +<P> +We were now close to settlement, and began to hear human sounds. One +rod more, and we were out of the woods. It took us a moment to +comprehend the scene. Things looked very strange at first; but quickly +they began to change and to put on familiar features. Some magic +scene-shifting seemed to take place before my eyes, till, instead of +the unknown settlement which I had at first seemed to look upon, there +stood the farmhouse at which we had stopped two days before, and at +the same moment we heard the stamping of our team in the barn. We sat +down and laughed heartily over our good luck. Our desperate venture +had resulted better than we had dared to hope, and had shamed our +wisest plans. At the house our arrival had been anticipated about this +time, and dinner was being put upon the table. +</P> + +<P> +It was then five o'clock, so that we had been in the woods just +forty-eight hours; but if time is only phenomenal, as the philosophers +say, and life only in feeling, as the poets aver, we were some months, +if not years, older at that moment than we had been two days before. +Yet younger, too,—though this be a paradox,—for the birches had +infused into us some of their own suppleness and strength. 1869. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BLUEBIRD +</H3> + +<P> +When Nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky +and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and +the hue of the other on his breast, and ordained that his appearance +in the spring should denote that the strife and war between these two +elements was at an end. He is the peace-harbinger; in him the +celestial and terrestrial strike hands and are fast friends. He means +the furrow and he means the warmth; he means all the soft, wooing +influences of the spring on one hand, and the retreating footsteps of +winter on the other. +</P> + +<P> +It is sure to be a bright March morning when you first hear his note; +and it is as if the milder influences up above had found a voice and +let a word fall upon your ear, so tender is it and so prophetic, a +hope tinged with a regret. +</P> + +<P> +"Bermuda! Bermuda! Bermuda!" he seems to say, as if both invoking and +lamenting, and, behold! Bermuda follows close, though the little +pilgrim may only be repeating the tradition of his race, himself +having come only from Florida, the Carolinas, or even from Virginia, +where he has found his Bermuda on some broad sunny hillside thickly +studded with cedars and persimmon-trees. +</P> + +<P> +In New York and in New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple +the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. +The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for +tow of three days before it takes visible shape before you. The males +are the pioneers, and come several days in advance of the females. By +the time both are here and the pairs have begun to prospect for a +place to nest, sugar-making is over, the last vestige of snow has +disappeared, and the plow is brightening its mould-board in the new +furrow. +</P> + +<P> +The bluebird enjoys the preëminence of being the first bit of color +that cheers our northern landscape. The other birds that arrive about +the same time—the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird—are clad in +neutral tints, gray, brown, or russet; but the bluebird brings one of +the primary hues and the divinest of them all. +</P> + +<P> +This bird also has the distinction of answering very nearly to the +robin redbreast of English memory, and was by the early settlers of +New England christened the blue robin. +</P> + +<P> +It is a size or two larger, and the ruddy hue of its breast does not +verge so nearly on an orange, but the manners and habits of the two +birds are very much alike. Our bird has the softer voice, but the +English redbreast is much the more skilled musician. He has indeed a +fine, animated warble, heard nearly the year through about English +gardens and along the old hedge-rows, that is quite beyond the compass +of our bird's instrument. On the other hand, our bird is associated +with the spring as the British species cannot be, being a winter +resident also, while the brighter sun and sky of the New World have +given him a coat that far surpasses that of his transatlantic cousin. +</P> + +<P> +It is worthy of remark that among British birds there is no blue bird. +The cerulean tint seems much rarer among the feathered tribes there +than here. On this continent there are at least three species of the +common bluebird, while in all our woods there is the blue jay and the +indigo-bird,—the latter so intensely blue as to fully justify its +name. There is also the blue grosbeak, not much behind the indigo-bird +in intensity of color; and among our warblers the blue tint is very +common. +</P> + +<P> +It is interesting to know that the bluebird is not confined to any one +section of the country; and that when one goes West he will still have +this favorite with him, though a little changed in voice and color, +just enough to give variety without marring the identity. +</P> + +<P> +The Western bluebird is considered a distinct species, and is perhaps +a little more brilliant and showy than its Eastern brother; and +Nuttall thinks its song is more varied, sweet, and tender. Its color +approaches to ultramarine, while it has a sash of chestnut-red across +its shoulders,—all the effects, I suspect, of that wonderful air and +sky of California, and of those great Western plains; or, if one goes +a little higher up into the mountainous regions of the West, he finds +the Arctic bluebird, the ruddy brown on the breast changed to a +greenish blue, and the wings longer and more pointed; in other +respects not differing much from our species. +</P> + +<P> +The bluebird usually builds its nest in a hole in a stump or stub, or +in an old cavity excavated by a woodpecker, when such can be had; but +its first impulse seems to be to start in the world in much more +style, and the happy pair make a great show of house-hunting about the +farm buildings, now half persuaded to appropriate a dove-cote, then +discussing in a lively manner a last year's swallow nest, or +proclaiming with much flourish and flutter that they have taken the +wren's house, or the tenement of the purple martin; till finally +nature becomes too urgent, when all this pretty make-believe ceases, +and most of them settle back upon the old family stumps and knotholes +in remote fields, and go to work in earnest. +</P> + +<P> +In such situations the female is easily captured by approaching very +stealthily and covering the entrance to the nest. The bird seldom +makes any effort to escape, seeing how hopeless the case is, and keeps +her place on the nest till she feels your hand closing around her. I +have looked down into the cavity and seen the poor thing palpitating +with fear and looking up with distended eyes, but never moving till I +had withdrawn a few paces; then she rushes out with a cry that brings +the male on the scene in a hurry. He warbles and lifts his wings +beseechingly, but shows no anger or disposition to scold and complain +like most birds. Indeed, this bird seems incapable of uttering a harsh +note, or of doing a spiteful, ill-tempered thing. +</P> + +<P> +The ground-builders all have some art or device to decoy one away from +the nest, affecting lameness, a crippled wing, or a broken back, +promising an easy capture if pursued. The tree-builders depend upon +concealing the nest or placing it beyond reach. But the bluebird has +no art either way, and its nest is easily found. +</P> + +<P> +About the only enemies of the sitting bird or the nest is in danger of +are snakes and squirrels. I knew of a farm-boy who was in the habit of +putting his hand down into a bluebird's nest and taking out the old +bird whenever he came that way. One day he put his hand in, and, +feeling something peculiar, withdrew it hastily, when it was instantly +followed by the head of an enormous black snake. The boy took to his +heels and the snake gave chase, pressing him close till a plowman near +by came to the rescue with his ox-whip. +</P> + +<P> +There never was a happier or more devoted husband than the male +bluebird is. But among nearly all our familiar birds the serious cares +of life seem to devolve almost entirely upon the female. The male is +hilarious and demonstrative, the female serious and anxious about her +charge. The male is the attendant of the female, following her +wherever she goes. He never leads, never directs, but only seconds and +applauds. If his life is all poetry and romance, hers is all business +and prose. She has no pleasure but her duty, and no duty but to look +after her nest and brood. She shows no affection for the male, no +pleasure in his society; she only tolerates him as a necessary evil, +and, if he is killed, goes in quest of another in the most +business-like manner, as you would go for the plumber or the glazier. +In most cases the male is the ornamental partner in the firm, and +contributes little of the working capital. There seems to be more +equality of the sexes among the woodpeckers, wrens, and swallows; +while the contrast is greatest, perhaps, in the bobolink family, where +the courting is done in the Arab fashion, the female fleeing with all +her speed and the male pursuing with equal precipitation; and were it +not for the broods of young birds that appear, it would be hard to +believe that the intercourse ever ripened into anything more intimate. +</P> + +<P> +With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as ornamental. He is +the gay champion and escort of the female at all times, and while she +is sitting he feeds her regularly. It is very pretty to watch them +building their nest. The male is very active in hunting out a place +and exploring the boxes and cavities, but seems to have no choice in +the matter and is anxious only to please and to encourage his mate, +who has the practical turn and knows what will do and what will not. +After she has suited herself he applauds her immensely, and away the +two go in quest of material for the nest, the male acting as guard and +flying above and in advance of the female. She brings all the material +and does all the work of building, he looking on and encouraging her +with gesture and song. He acts also as inspector of her work, but I +fear is a very partial one. She enters the nest with her bit of dry +grass or straw, and, having adjusted it to her notion, withdraws and +waits near by while he goes in and looks it over. On coming out he +exclaims very plainly, "Excellent! Excellent!" and away the two go +again for more material. +</P> + +<P> +The bluebirds, when they build about the farm buildings, sometimes +come into contact with the swallows. The past season I knew a pair to +take forcible possession of the domicile of a pair of the latter,—the +cliff species that now stick their nests under the eaves of the barn. +The bluebirds had been broken up in a little bird-house near by, by +the rats or perhaps a weasel, and being no doubt in a bad humor, and +the season being well advanced, they made forcible entrance into the +adobe tenement of their neighbors, and held possession of it for some +days, but I believe finally withdrew, rather than live amid such a +squeaky, noisy colony. I have heard that these swallows, when ejected +from their homes in that way by the phoebe-bird, have been known to +fall to and mason up the entrance to the nest while their enemy was +inside of it, thus having a revenge as complete and cruel as anything +in human annals. +</P> + +<P> +The bluebirds and the house wrens more frequently come into collision. +A few years ago I put up a little bird-house in the back end of my +garden for the accommodation of the wrens, and every season a pair of +bluebirds looked into the tenement and lingered about several days, +leading me to hope that they would conclude to occupy it. But they +finally went away, and later in the season the wrens appeared, and, +after a little coquetting, were regularly installed in their old +quarters, and were as happy as only wrens can be. +</P> + +<P> +One of our younger poets, Myron Benton, saw a little bird +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Ruffled with whirlwind of his ecstasies,"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +which must have been the wren, as I know of no other bird that so +throbs and palpitates with music as this little vagabond. And the pair +I speak of seemed exceptionally happy, and the male had a small +tornado of song in his crop that kept him "ruffled" every moment in +the day. But before their honeymoon was over the bluebirds returned. I +knew something was wrong before I was up in the morning. Instead of +that voluble and gushing song outside the window, I heard the wrens +scolding and crying at a fearful rate, and on going out saw the +bluebirds in possession of the box. The poor wrens were in despair; +they wrung their hands and tore their hair, after the wren fashion, +but chiefly did they rattle out their disgust and wrath at the +intruders. I have no doubt that, if it could have been interpreted, it +would have proven the rankest and most voluble Billingsgate ever +uttered. For the wren is saucy, and he has a tongue in his head that +can outwag any other tongue known to me. +</P> + +<P> +The bluebirds said nothing, but the male kept an eye on Mr. Wren; and, +when he came to near, gave chase, driving him to cover under the +fence, or under a rubbish heap or other object, where the wren would +scold and rattle away, while his pursuer sat on the fence or the +pea-brush waiting for him to reappear. +</P> + +<P> +Days passed, and the usurpers prospered and the outcasts were +wretched; but the latter lingered about, watching and abusing their +enemies, and hoping, no doubt, that things would take a turn, as they +presently did. The outraged wrens were fully avenged. The mother +bluebird had laid her full complement of eggs and was beginning to +set, when one day, as her mate was perched above her on the barn, +along came a boy with one of those wicked elastic slings and cut him +down with a pebble. There he lay like a bit of sky fallen upon the +grass. The widowed bird seemed to understand what had happened, and +without much ado disappeared next day in quest of another mate. How +she contrived to make her wants known, without trumpeting them about, +I am unable to say. But I presume that birds have a way of advertising +that answers the purpose well. Maybe she trusted to luck to fall in +with some stray bachelor or bereaved male who would undertake to +console a widow or one day's standing. I will say, in passing, that +there are no bachelors from choice among the birds; they are all +rejected suitors, while old maids are entirely unknown. There is a +Jack to every Jill; and some to boot. +</P> + +<P> +The males, being more exposed by their song and plumage, and by being +the pioneers in migrating, seem to be slightly in excess lest the +supply fall short, and hence it sometimes happens that a few are +bachelors perforce; there are not females enough to go around, but +before the season is over there are sure to be some vacancies in the +marital ranks, which they are called on to fill. +</P> + +<P> +In the mean time the wrens were beside themselves with delight; they +fairly screamed with joy. If the male was before "ruffled with +whirlwind of his ecstasies," he was now in danger of being rent +asunder. He inflated his throat and caroled as wren never caroled +before. And the female, too, how she cackled and darted about! How +busy they both were! Rushing into the nest, they hustled those eggs +out in less than a minute, wren time. They carried in new material, +and by the third day were fairly installed again in their old +headquarters; but on the third day, so rapidly are these little dramas +played, the female bluebird reappeared with another mate. Ah! how the +wren stock went down then! What dismay and despair filled again those +little breasts! It was pitiful. They did not scold as before, but +after a day or two withdrew from the garden, dumb with grief, and gave +up the struggle. +</P> + +<P> +The bluebird, finding her eggs gone and her nest changed, seemed +suddenly seized with alarm and shunned the box; or else, finding she +had less need for another husband than she thought, repented her +rashness and wanted to dissolve the compact. But the happy bridegroom +would not take the hint, and exerted all his eloquence to comfort and +reassure her. He was fresh and fond, and until this bereaved female +found him I am sure his suit had not prospered that season. He thought +the box just the thing, and that there was no need of alarm, and spent +days in trying to persuade the female back. Seeing he could not be a +stepfather to a family, he was quite willing to assume a nearer +relation. He hovered about the box, he went in and out, he called, he +warbled, he entreated; the female would respond occasionally and come +and alight near, and even peep into the nest, but would not enter it, +and quickly flew away again. Her mate would reluctantly follow, but he +was soon back, uttering the most confident and cheering calls. If she +did not come he would perch above the nest and sound his loudest notes +over and over again, looking in the direction of his mate and +beckoning with every motion. But she responded less and less +frequently. Some days I would see him only, but finally he gave it up; +the pair disappeared, and the box remained deserted the rest of the +summer. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1867 +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE INVITATION +</H3> + +<P> +Years ago, when quite a youth, I was rambling in the woods one Sunday, +with my brothers, gathering black birch, wintergreens, etc., when, as +we reclined upon the ground, gazing vaguely up into the trees, I +caught sight of a bird, that paused a moment on a branch above me, the +like of which I had never before seen or heard of. It was probably the +blue yellow-backed warbler, as I have since found this to be a common +bird in those woods; but to my young fancy it seemed like some fairy +bird, so unexpected. I saw it a moment as the flickering leaves +parted, noted the white spot on its wing, and it was gone. How the +thought of it clung to me afterward! It was a revelation. It was the +first intimation I had had that the woods we knew so well held birds +that we knew not at all. Were our eyes and ears so dull, then? There +was the robin, the blue jay, the bluebird, the yellow-bird, the +cherry-bird, the catbird, the chipping-bird, the woodpecker, the +high-hole, an occasional redbird, and a few others, in the woods or +along their borders, but who ever dreamed that there were still others +that not even the hunters saw, and whose names no one had ever heard? +</P> + +<P> +When, one summer day, later in life, I took my gun and went to the +woods again, in a different though perhaps a less simple spirit I +found my youthful vision more than realized. There were, indeed, other +birds, plenty of them, singing, nesting, breeding, among the familiar +trees, which I had before passed by unheard and unseen. +</P> + +<P> +It is a surprise that awaits every student of ornithology, and the +thrill of delight that accompanies it, and the feeling of fresh, eager +inquiry that follows, can hardly be awakened by any other pursuit. +Take the first step in ornithology, procure one new specimen, and you +are ticketed for the whole voyage. There is a fascination about it +quite overpowering. It fits so well with other things,—with fishing, +hunting, farming, walking, camping-out,—with all that takes one to +the fields and woods. One may go a-blackberrying and make some rare +discovery; or, while driving his cow to pasture, hear a new song, or +make a new observation. Secrets lurk on all sides. There is news in +every bush. Expectation is ever on tiptoe. What no man ever saw before +may the next moment be revealed to you. What a new interest the woods +have! How you long to explore every nook and corner of them! You would +even find consolation in being lost in them. You could then hear the +night birds and the owls, and, in your wanderings, might stumble upon +some unknown specimen. +</P> + +<P> +In all excursions to the woods or to the shore, the student of +ornithology has an advantage over his companions. He has one more +resource, one more avenue of delight. He, indeed, kills two birds with +one stone and sometimes three. If others wander, he can never go out +of his way. His game is everywhere. The cawing of a crow makes him +feel at home, while a new note or a new song drowns all care. Audubon, +on the desolate coast of Labrador, is happier than any king ever was; +and on shipboard is nearly cured of his seasickness when a new gull +appears in sight. +</P> + +<P> +One must taste it to understand or appreciate its fascination. The +looker-on sees nothing to inspire such enthusiasm. Only a few feathers +and a half-musical note or two; why all this ado? "Who would give a +hundred and twenty dollars to know about the birds?" said an Eastern +governor, half contemptuously, to Wilson, as the latter solicited a +subscription to his great work. Sure enough. Bought knowledge is dear +at any price. The most precious things have no commercial value. It is +not, your Excellency, mere technical knowledge of the birds that you +are asked to purchase, but a new interest in the fields and the woods, +a new moral and intellectual tonic, a new key to the treasure-house of +Nature. Think of the many other things your Excellency would get,—the +air, the sunshine, the healing fragrance and coolness, and the many +respites from the knavery and turmoil of political life. +</P> + +<P> +Yesterday was an October day of rare brightness and warmth. I spent +the most of it in a wild, wooded gorge of Rock Creek. A persimmon-tree +which stood upon the bank had dropped some of its fruit in the water. +As I stood there, half-leg deep, picking them up, a wood duck came +flying down the creek and passed over my head. Presently it returned, +flying up; then it came back again, and, sweeping low around a bend, +prepared to alight in a still, dark reach in the creek which was +hidden from my view. As I passed that way about half an hour +afterward, the duck started up, uttering its wild alarm note. In the +stillness I could hear the whistle of its wings and the splash of the +water when it took flight. Near by I saw where a raccoon had come down +to the water for fresh clams, leaving his long, sharp track in the mud +and sand. Before I had passed this hidden stretch of water, a pair of +those mysterious thrushes, the gray-cheeked, flew up from the ground +and perched on a low branch. +</P> + +<P> +Who can tell how much this duck, this footprint in the sand, and these +strange thrushes from the far north, enhanced the interest and charm +of the autumn woods? +</P> + +<P> +Ornithology cannot be satisfactorily learned from the books. The +satisfaction is in learning it from nature. One must have an original +experience with the birds. The books are only the guide, the +invitation. Though there remain not another new species to describe, +any young person with health and enthusiasm has open to him or her the +whole field anew, and is eligible to experience all the thrill and +delight of the original discoverers. +</P> + +<P> +But let me say, in the same breath, that the books can by no manner of +means be dispensed with. A copy of Wilson or Audubon, for reference +and to compare notes with, is invaluable. In lieu of these, access to +some large museum or collection would be a great help. In the +beginning, one finds it very difficult to identify a bird from any +verbal description. Reference to a colored plate, or to a stuffed +specimen, at once settles the matter. This is the chief value of +books; they are the charts to sail by; the route is mapped out, and +much time and labor are thereby saved. First find your bird; observe +its ways, its song, its calls, its flight, its haunts; then shoot it +(not ogle it with a glass), and compare it with Audubon. [footnote: My +later experiences have led me to prefer a small field-glass to a gun.] +In this way the feathered kingdom may soon be conquered. +</P> + +<P> +The ornithologists divide and subdivide the birds into a great many +orders, families, genera, species etc., which, at first sight, are apt +to confuse and discourage the reader. But any interested person can +acquaint himself with most of our song-birds by keeping in mind a few +general divisions, and observing the characteristics of each. By far +the greater number of our land-birds are either warblers, vireos, +flycatchers, thrushes, or finches. +</P> + +<P> +The warblers are, perhaps, the most puzzling. These are the true +Sylvia, the real wood-birds. They are small, very active, but feeble +songsters, and, to be seen, must be sought for. In passing through the +woods, most persons have a vague consciousness of slight chirping, +semi-musical sounds in the trees overhead. In most cases these sounds +proceed from the warblers. Throughout the Middle and Eastern States, +half a dozen species or so may be found in almost every locality, as +the redstart, the Maryland yellow-throat, the yellow warbler (not the +common goldfinch, with black cap, and black wings and tail), the +hooded warbler, the black and white creeping warbler; or others, +according to the locality and the character of the woods. In pine or +hemlock woods, one species may predominate; in maple or oak woods, or +in mountainous districts, another. The subdivisions of ground +warblers, the most common members of which are the Maryland +yellow-throat, the Kentucky warbler, and the mourning ground warbler, +are usually found in low, wet, bushy, or half-open woods, often on and +always near the ground. The summer yellowbird, or yellow warbler, is +not now a wood-bird at all, being found in orchards and parks, and +along streams and in the trees of villages and cities. +</P> + +<P> +As we go north the number of warblers increases, till, in the northern +part of New England, and in the Canadas, as many as ten or twelve +varieties may be found breeding in June. Audubon found the black-poll +warbler breeding in Labrador, and congratulates himself on being the +first white man who had ever seen its nest. When these warblers pass +north in May, they seem to go singly or in pairs, and their black caps +and striped coats show conspicuously. When they return in September +they are in troops or loose flocks, are of a uniform dull drab or +brindlish color, and are very fat. They scour the treetops for a few +days, almost eluding the eye by their quick movements, and are gone. +</P> + +<P> +According to my own observation, the number of species of warblers +which one living in the middle districts sees, on their return in the +fall, is very small compared with the number he may observe migrating +north in the spring. +</P> + +<P> +The yellow-rumped warblers are the most noticeable of all in Autumn. +They come about the streets and garden, and seem especially drawn to +dry, leafless trees. They dart spitefully about, uttering a sharp +chirp. In Washington I have seen them in the outskirts all winter. +</P> + +<P> +Audubon figures and describes over forty different warblers. More +recent writers have divided and subdivided the group very much, giving +new names to new classifications. But this part is of interest and +value only to the professional ornithologist. +</P> + +<P> +The finest songster among the Sylvia, according to my notions, is the +black-throated greenback. Its song is sweet and clear, but brief. +</P> + +<P> +The rarest of the species are Swainson's warbler, said to be +disappearing; the cerulean warbler, said to be abundant about Niagara; +and the mourning ground warbler, which I have found breeding about the +head-waters of the Delaware, in New York. +</P> + +<P> +The vireos, or greenlets, are a sort of connecting link between the +warblers and the true flycatchers, and partake of the characteristics +of both. +</P> + +<P> +The red-eyed vireo, whose sweet soliloquy is one of the most constant +and cheerful sounds in our woods and groves, is perhaps the most +noticeable and abundant species. The vireos are a little larger than +the warblers, and are far less brilliant and variegated in color. +</P> + +<P> +There are five species found in most of our woods, namely the red-eyed +vireo, the white-eyed vireo, the warbling vireo, the yellow-throated +vireo, and the solitary vireo,—the red-eyed and warbling being most +abundant, and the white-eyed being the most lively and animated +songster. I meet the latter bird only in the thick, bush growths of +low, swampy localities, where, eluding the observer, it pours forth +its song with a sharpness and a rapidity of articulation that are +truly astonishing. This strain is very marked, and, though inlaid with +the notes of several other birds, is entirely unique. The iris of this +bird is white, as that of the red-eyed is red, though in neither case +can this mark be distinguished at more than two or three yards. In +most cases the iris of birds is a dark hazel, which passes for black. +</P> + +<P> +The basket-like nest, pendent to the low branches in the woods, which +the falling leaves of autumn reveal to all passers, is, in most cases, +the nest of the red-eyed, though the solitary constructs a similar +tenement, but in much more remote and secluded localities. +</P> + +<P> +Most birds exhibit great alarm and distress, usually with a strong +dash of anger, when you approach their nests; but the demeanor of the +red-eyed, on such an occasion, is an exception to this rule. The +parent birds move about softly amid the branches above, eying the +intruder with a curious, innocent look, uttering, now and then, a +subdued note or plaint, solicitous and watchful, but making no +demonstration of anger or distress. +</P> + +<P> +The birds, no more than the animals, like to be caught napping; but I +remember, one autumn day, coming upon a red-eyed vireo that was +clearly oblivious to all that was passing around it. It was a young +bird, though full grown, and it was taking its siesta on a low branch +in a remote heathery field. Its head was snugly stowed away under its +wing, and it would have fallen easy prey to the first hawk that came +along. I approached noiselessly, and when within a few feet of it +paused to note its breathings, so much more rapid and full than our +own. A bird has greater lung capacity than any other living thing, +hence more animal heat, and life at a higher pressure. When I reached +out my hand and carefully closed it around the winged sleeper, its +sudden terror and consternation almost paralyzed it. Then it struggled +and cried piteously, and when released hastened and hid itself in some +near bushes. I never expected to surprise it thus a second time. +</P> + +<P> +The flycatchers are a larger group than the vireos, with +stronger-marked characteristics. They are not properly songsters, but +are classed by some writers as screechers. Their pugnacious +dispositions are well known, and they not only fight among themselves, +but are incessantly quarreling with their neighbors. The kingbird, or +tyrant flycatcher might serve as the type of the order. +</P> + +<P> +The common or wood pewee excites the most pleasant emotions, both on +account of its plaintive note and its exquisite mossy nest. +</P> + +<P> +The phoebe-bird is the pioneer of the flycatchers, and comes in April, +sometimes in March. Its comes familiarly about the house and +outbuildings, and usually builds beneath hay-sheds or under bridges. +</P> + +<P> +The flycatchers always take their insect prey on the wing, by a sudden +darting or swooping movement; often a very audible snap of the beak +may be heard. +</P> + +<P> +These birds are the least elegant, both in form and color, of any of +our feathered neighbors. They have short legs, a short neck, large +heads, and broad, flat beaks, with bristles at the base. They often +fly with a peculiar quivering movement of the wings, and when at rest +some of the species oscillate their tails at short intervals. +</P> + +<P> +There are found in the United States nineteen species. In the Middle +and Eastern districts, one may observe in summer, without any special +search, about five of them, namely, the kingbird, the phoebe-bird, the +wood pewee, the great crested flycatcher (distinguished from all +others by the bright ferruginous color of its tail), and the small +green-crested flycatcher. +</P> + +<P> +The thrushes are the birds of real melody, and will afford one more +delight perhaps than any other class. The robin is the most familiar +example. Their manners, flight, and form are the same in each species. +See the robin hop along upon the ground, strike an attitude, scratch +for a worm, fix his eye upon something before him or upon the +beholder, flip his wings suspiciously, fly straight to his perch, or +sit at sundown on some high branch caroling his sweet and honest +strain, and you have seen what is characteristic of all the thrushes. +Their carriage is preëminently marked by grace, and their songs by +melody. +</P> + +<P> +Beside the robin, which is in no sense a woodbird, we have in New York +the wood thrush, the hermit thrush, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, the +olive-backed thrush, and, transiently, one or two other species not so +clearly defined. +</P> + +<P> +The wood thrush and the hermit stand at the head as songsters, no two +persons, perhaps, agreeing as to which is the superior. +</P> + +<P> +Under the general head of finches, Audubon describes over sixty +different birds, ranging from the sparrows to the grosbeaks, and +including the buntings, the linnets, the snowbirds, the crossbills, +and the redbirds. +</P> + +<P> +We have nearly or quite a dozen varieties of the sparrow in the +Atlantic States, but perhaps no more than half that number would be +discriminated by the unprofessional observer. The song sparrow, which +every child knows, comes first; at least, his voice is first heard. +And can there be anything more fresh and pleasing than this first +simple strain heard from the garden fence or a near hedge, on some +bright, still March morning? +</P> + +<P> +The field or vesper sparrow, called also grass finch 8 and +bay-winged sparrow, a bird slightly larger than the song sparrow and +of a lighter gray color, is abundant in all our upland fields and +pastures, and is a very sweet songster. It builds upon the ground, +without the slightest cover or protection, and also roosts there. +Walking through the fields at dusk, I frequently start them up almost +beneath my feet. When disturbed by day, they fly with a quick, sharp +movement, showing two white quills in the tail. The traveler along the +country roads disturbs them earthing their wings in the soft dry +earth, or sees them skulking and flitting along the fences in front of +him. They run in the furrow in advance of the team, or perch upon the +stones a few rods off. They sing much after sundown, hence the aptness +of the name vesper sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, has +bestowed upon them. +</P> + +<P> +In the meadows and low, wet lands the savanna sparrow is met with, and +may be known by its fine, insect-like song; in the swamp, the swamp +sparrow. +</P> + +<P> +The fox sparrow, the largest and handsomest species of this family, +comes to us in the fall, from the North, where it breeds. Likewise the +tree or Canada sparrow, and the white-crowned and white-throated +sparrow. +</P> + +<P> +The social sparrow, alias "hairbird," alias "red-headed +chipping-bird," is the smallest of the sparrows, and I believe, the +only one that builds in trees. +</P> + +<P> +The finches, as a class, all have short conical bills, with tails more +or less forked. The purple finch heads the list in varied musical +abilities. +</P> + +<P> +Besides the groups of our more familiar birds which I have thus +hastily outlined, there are numerous other groups, more limited in +specimens but comprising some of our best-known songsters. The +bobolink, for instance, has properly no congener. The famous +mockingbird of the Southern States belongs to a genus which has but +two other representatives in the Atlantic States, namely, the catbird +and the long-tailed or ferruginous thrush. +</P> + +<P> +The wrens are a large and interesting family, and as songsters are +noted for vivacity and volubility. The more common species are the +house wren, the marsh wren, the great Carolina wren, and the winter +wren, the latter perhaps deriving its name from the fact that it breed +in the North. It is an exquisite songster, and pours forth its notes +so rapidly, and with such sylvan sweetness and cadence, that it seems +to go off like a musical alarm. +</P> + +<P> +Wilson called the kinglets wrens, but they have little to justify the +name, except that the ruby-crown's song is of the same gushing, +lyrical character as that referred to above. Dr. Brewer was entranced +with the song of one of these tiny minstrels in the woods of New +Brunswick, and thought he had found the author of the strain in the +black-poll warbler. He seems loath to believe that a bird so small as +either of the kinglets could possess such vocal powers. It may indeed +have been the winter wren, but from my own observation I believe the +ruby-crowned kinglet quite capable of such a performance. +</P> + +<P> +But I must leave this part of the subject and hasten on. As to works +on ornithology, Audubon's, though its expense puts it beyond the reach +of the mass of readers, is by far the most full and accurate. His +drawings surpass all others in accuracy and spirit, while his +enthusiasm and devotion to the work he had undertaken have but few +parallels in the history of science. His chapter on the wild goose is +as good as a poem. One readily overlooks his style, which is often +verbose and affected, in consideration of enthusiasm so genuine and +purpose so single. +</P> + +<P> +There has never been a keener eye than Audubon's, though there have +been more discriminative ears. Nuttall, for instance is far more happy +in his descriptions of the songs and notes of birds, and more to be +relied upon. Audubon thinks the song of the Louisiana water-thrush +equal to that of the European nightingale, and, as he had heard both +birds, one would think was prepared to judge. Yet he has, no doubt, +overrated the one and underrated the other. The song of the +water-thrush is very brief, compared with the philomel's, and its +quality is brightness and vivacity, while that of the latter bird, if +the books are to be credited, is melody and harmony. Again, he says +the song of the blue grosbeak resembles the bobolink's, which it does +about as much as the two birds resemble each other in color; one is +black and white and the other is blue. The song of the wood-wagtail, +he says, consists of a "short succession of simple notes beginning +with emphasis and gradually falling." The truth is, they run up the +scale instead of down, beginning low and ending in a shriek. +</P> + +<P> +Yet considering the extent of Audubon's work, the wonder is the errors +are so few. I can at this moment recall but one observation of his, +the contrary of which I have proved to be true. In his account of the +bobolink he makes a point of the fact that, in returning south in the +fall, they do not travel by night as they do when moving north in the +spring. In Washington I have heard their calls as they flew over at +night for four successive autumns. As he devoted the whole of a long +life to the subject, and figured and described over four hundred +species, one feels a real triumph on finding in our common woods a +bird not described in his work. I have seen but two. Walking in the +woods one day in early fall, in the vicinity of West Point, I started +up a thrush that was sitting on the ground. It alighted on a branch a +few yards off, and looked new to me. I thought I had never before seen +so long-legged a thrush. I shot it, and saw that it was a new +acquaintance. Its peculiarities were its broad, square tail; the +length of its legs, which were three and three quarters inches from +the end of the middle toe to the hip-joint; and the deep uniform +olive-brown of the upper parts, and the gray of the lower. It proved +to be the gray-cheeked thrush, named and first described by Professor +Baird. But little seems to be known concerning it, except that it +breeds in the far north, even on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. I +would go a good way to hear its song. +</P> + +<P> +The present season I met with a pair of them near Washington, as +mentioned above. In size this bird approaches the wood thrush, being +larger than either the hermit or the veery; unlike all other species, +no part of its plumage has a tawny or yellowish tinge. The other +specimen was the northern or small water-thrush, cousin-german to the +oven-bird and the half-brother to the Louisiana water-thrush or +wagtail. I found it at the head of the Delaware, where it evidently +had a nest. It usually breeds much further north. It has a strong, +clear warble, which at once suggests the song of its congener. I have +not been able to find any account of this particular species in the +books, though it seems to be well known. +</P> + +<P> +More recent writers and explorers have added to Audubon's list over +three hundred new species, the greater number of which belong to the +northern and western parts of the continent. Audubon's observations +were confined mainly to the Atlantic and Gulf States and the adjacent +islands; hence the Western or Pacific birds were but little known to +him, and are only briefly mentioned in his works. +</P> + +<P> +It is, by the way, a little remarkable how many of the Western birds +seem merely duplicates of the Eastern. Thus, the varied thrush of the +West is our robin, a little differently marked; and the red-shafted +woodpecker is our golden-wing, or high-hole, colored red instead of +yellow. There is also a Western chickadee, a Western chewink, a +Western blue jay, a Western bluebird, a Western song sparrow, Western +grouse, quail, hen-hawk, etc. +</P> + +<P> +One of the most remarkable birds of the West seems to be a species of +skylark, met with on the plains of Dakota, which mounts to the height +of three or four hundred feet, and showers down its ecstatic notes. It +is evidently akin to several of our Eastern species. +</P> + +<P> +A correspondent, writing to me from the country one September, said: +"I have observed recently a new species of bird here. They alight upon +the buildings and fences as well as upon the ground. They are +walkers." In a few days he obtained one and sent me the skin. It +proved to be what I had anticipated, namely the American pipit, or +titlark, a slender brown bird, about the size of the sparrow, which +passes through the States in the fall and spring, to and from its +breeding haunts in the far north. They generally appear by twos and +threes, or in small loose flocks, searching for food on banks and +plowed ground. As they fly up, they show two or three white quills in +the tail, like the vesper sparrow. Flying over, they utter a single +chirp or cry every few rods. They breed in the bleak, moss-covered +rocks of Labrador. It is reported that their eggs have also been found +in Vermont, and I feel quite certain that I saw this bird in the +Adirondack Mountains in the month of August. The male launches into +the air, and gives forth a brief but melodious song, after the manner +of all larks. They are walkers. This is a characteristic of but few of +our land-birds. By far the greater number are hoppers. Note the track +of the common snowbird; the feet are not placed one in front of the +other, as in the track of the crow or partridge, but side and side. +The sparrows, thrushes, warblers, woodpeckers, buntings, etc., are all +hoppers. On the other hand, all aquatic or semi-aquatic birds are +walkers. The plovers and sandpipers and snips run rapidly. Among the +land-birds, the grouse, pigeons, quails, larks and various blackbirds +walk. The swallows walk, also, whenever they use their feet at all, +but very awkwardly. The larks walk with ease and grace. Note the +meadowlarks strutting about all day in the meadows. +</P> + +<P> +Besides being walkers, the larks, or birds allied to the larks, all +sing upon the wing, usually poised or circling in the air, with a +hovering, tremulous flight. The meadowlark occasionally does this in +the early part of the season. At such times its long-drawn note or +whistle becomes a rich, amorous warble. +</P> + +<P> +The bobolink, also, has both characteristics, and, notwithstanding the +difference of form and build, etc., is very suggestive of the English +skylark, as it figures in the books, and is, no doubt, fully its equal +as a songster. +</P> + +<P> +Of our small wood-birds we have three varieties east of the +Mississippi, closely related to each other, which I have already +spoken of, and which walk, and sing, more or less, on the wing, namely +the two species of water-thrush or wagtails, and the oven-bird or +wood-wagtail. The latter is the most common, and few observers of the +birds can have failed to notice its easy, gliding walk. Its other lark +trait, namely singing in the air, seems not to have been observed by +any other naturalist. Yet it is a well-established characteristic, and +may be verified by any person who will spend a half hour in the woods +where this bird abounds on some June afternoon or evening. I hear it +very frequently after sundown, when the ecstatic singer can hardly be +distinguished against the sky. I know of a high, bald-top mountain +where I have sat late in the afternoon and heard them as often as one +every minute. Sometimes the bird would be far below me, sometimes near +at hand; and very frequently the singer would be hovering a hundred +feet above the summit. He would start from the trees on one side of +the open space, reach his climax in the air, and plunge down on the +other side. His descent after the song is finished is very rapid, and +precisely like that of the titlark when it sweeps down from its course +to alight on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +I first verified this observation some years ago. I had long been +familiar with the song, but had only strongly suspected the author of +it, when, as I was walking in the woods one evening, just as the +leaves were putting out, I saw one of these birds but a few rods from +me. I was saying to myself, half audibly, "Come, now, show off, if it +is in you; I have come to the woods expressly to settle this point," +when it began to ascend, by short hops and flights, through the +branches, uttering a sharp, preliminary chirp. I followed it with my +eye; saw it mount into the air and circle over the woods; and saw it +sweep down again and dive through the trees, almost to the very perch +from which it had started. +</P> + +<P> +As the paramount question in the life of a bird is the question of +food, perhaps the most serious troubles our feathered neighbors +encounter are early in the spring, after the supply of fat with which +Nature stores every corner and by-place of the system, thereby +anticipating the scarcity of food, has been exhausted, and the sudden +and severe changes in the weather which occur at this season make +unusual demands upon their vitality. No doubt many of the earlier +birds die from starvation and exposure at this season. Among a troop +of Canada sparrows which I came upon one March day, all of them +evidently much reduced, one was so feeble that I caught it in my hand. +</P> + +<P> +During the present season, a very severe cold spell the first week in +March drove the bluebirds to seek shelter about the houses and +outbuildings. As night approached, and the winds and the cold +increased, they seemed filled with apprehension and alarm, and in the +outskirts of the city came about the windows and the doors, crept +beneath the blinds, clung to the gutters and beneath the cornice, +flitted from porch to porch, and from house to house, seeking in vain +from some safe retreat from the cold. The street pump, which had a +small opening just over the handle, was an attraction which they could +not resist. And yet they seemed aware of the insecurity of the +position; for no sooner would they stow themselves away into the +interior of the pump, to the number of six or eight, than they would +rush out again, as if apprehensive of some approaching danger. Time +after time the cavity was filled and refilled, with blue and brown +intermingled, and as often emptied. Presently they tarried longer than +usual, when I made a sudden sally and captured three, that found a +warmer and safer lodging for the night in the cellar. +</P> + +<P> +In the fall, birds and fowls of all kinds become very fat. The +squirrels and mice lay by a supply of food in their dens and retreats, +but the birds, to a considerable extent, especially our winter +residents, carry an equivalent in their own systems, in the form of +adipose tissue. I killed a red-shouldered hawk one December, and on +removing the skin found the body completely encased in a coating of +fat one quarter of an inch in thickness. Not a particle of muscle was +visible. This coating not only serves as a protection against the +cold, but supplies the waste of the system when food is scarce or +fails altogether. +</P> + +<P> +The crows at this season are in the same condition. It is estimated +that a crow needs at least half a pound of meat per day, but it is +evident that for weeks and months during the winter and spring they +must subsist on a mere fraction of that amount. I have no doubt that a +crow or hawk, when in his fall condition, would live two weeks without +a morsel of food passing his beak; a domestic fowl will do as much. +One January I unwittingly shut a hen under the door of an outbuilding, +where not a particle of food could be obtained, and where she was +entirely unprotected from the severe cold. When the luckless Dominick +was discovered, about eighteen days afterward, she was brisk and +lively, but fearfully pinched up, and as light as a bunch of feathers. +The slightest wind carried her before it. But by judicious feeding she +was soon restored. +</P> + +<P> +The circumstances of the bluebirds being emboldened by the cold +suggests the fact that the fear of man, which by now seems like an +instinct in the birds, is evidently an acquired trait, and foreign to +them in a state of primitive nature. Every gunner has observed, to his +chagrin, how wild the pigeons become after a few days of firing among +them; and, to his delight, how easy it is to approach near his game in +new or unfrequented woods. Professor Baird [footnote: Then at the head +of the Smithsonian Institution] tells me that a correspondent of +theirs visited a small island in the Pacific Ocean, situated about two +hundred miles off Cape St. Lucas, to procure specimens. The island was +but a few miles in extent, and had probably never been visited half a +dozen times by human beings. The naturalist found the birds and +water-fowls so tame that it was but a waste of ammunition to shoot +them. Fixing a noose on the end of a long stick, he captured them by +putting it over their necks and hauling them to him. In some cases not +even this contrivance was needed. A species of mockingbird in +particular, larger than ours and a splendid songster, made itself so +familiar as to be almost a nuisance, hopping on the table where the +collector was writing, and scattering the pens and paper. Eighteen +species were found, twelve of them peculiar to the island. +</P> + +<P> +Thoreau relates that in the woods of Maine the Canada jay will +sometimes make its meal with the lumbermen, taking the food out of +their hands. +</P> + +<P> +Yet notwithstanding the birds have come to look upon man as their +natural enemy, there can be little doubt that civilization is on the +whole favorable to their increase and perpetuity, especially to the +smaller species. With man comes flies and moths, and insects of all +kinds in greater abundance; new plants and weeds are introduced, and, +with the clearing up of the country, are sowed broadcast over the +land. +</P> + +<P> +The larks and snow buntings that come to us from the north subsist +almost entirely upon the seeds of grasses and plants; and how many of +our more common and abundant species are field-birds, and entire +strangers to deep forests? +</P> + +<P> +In Europe some birds have become almost domesticated, like the house +sparrow; and in our own country the cliff swallow seems to have +entirely abandoned ledges and shelving rocks, as a place to nest, for +the eaves and projections of farm and other outbuildings. +</P> + +<P> +After one has made the acquaintance of most of the land-birds, there +remain the seashore and its treasures. How little one knows of the +aquatic fowls, even after reading carefully the best authorities, was +recently forced home to my mind by the following circumstance: I was +spending a vacation in the interior of New York, when one day a +stranger alighted before the house, and with a cigar box in his hand +approached me as I sat in the doorway. I was about to say that he +would waste his time in recommending his cigars to me, as I never +smoked, when he said that, hearing I knew something about birds, he +had brought me one which had been picked up a few hours before in a +hay-field near the village, and which was stranger to all who had seen +it. As he began to undo the box I expected to see some of our own +rarer birds, perhaps the rose-breasted grosbeak or Bohemian chatterer. +Imagine, then, how I was taken aback when I beheld instead a +swallow-shaped bird, quite as large as a pigeon, with a forked tail, +glossy black above and snow-white beneath. Its parti-webbed feet, and +its long graceful wings, at a glance told that it was a sea-bird; but +as to its name or habitat I must defer my answer till I could get a +peep into Audubon or some collection. +</P> + +<P> +The bird had fallen down exhausted in a meadow, and was picked up just +as the life was leaving its body. The place must have been one hundred +and fifty miles from the sea as the bird flies. As it was the sooty +tern, which inhabits the Florida Keys, its appearance so far north and +so far inland may be considered somewhat remarkable. On removing the +skin I found it terribly emaciated. It had no doubt starved to death, +ruined by too much wing. Another Icarus. Its great power of flight had +made it bold and venturesome, and had carried it so far out of its +range that it starved to death before it could return. +</P> + +<P> +The sooty tern is sometimes called the sea-swallow on account of its +form and the power of flight. It will fly nearly all day at sea, +picking up food from the surface of the water. There are several +species of terns, some of them strikingly beautiful. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + 1868.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="index"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INDEX +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[Transcribist's note: condensed to bird names and their +scientific names] +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Blackbird, crow, or purple grackle (Quiscalus quiscula).<BR> + Bluebird (Sialia sialis).<BR> + Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).<BR> + Bunting, black-throated or dickcissel (Spiza americana).<BR> + Bunting, snow (Passerina nivalis).<BR> + Buzzard, turkey, or turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Cardinal. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal.<BR> + Catbird (Galeoscoptes carolinensis).<BR> + Cedar-bird, or Cedar waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum).<BR> + Chat, yellow-breasted (Icteria virens).<BR> + Chewink, or towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus).<BR> + Chickadee (Parus atricapillus).<BR> + Cow-bunting, or cowbird (Molothrus ater).<BR> + Creeper, brown (Certhia familiaris americana).<BR> + Crow, American (Corvus brachyrhynchos).<BR> + Cuckoo, black-billed (Coccyzux erythrophthalmus).<BR> + Cuckoo, European.<BR> + Cuckoo, yellow-billed (Coccyzus americanus).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Dickcissel. SEE Bunting, black-throated.<BR> + Dove, turtle, or mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura).<BR> + Duck, wood (Aix sponsa).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Eagle, bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).<BR> + Eagle, golden (Aquila chrysaetos).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Finch, grass. SEE Sparrow, field.<BR> + Finch, pine, OR pine siskin (Spinus pinus).<BR> + Finch, purple, OR linnet (Carpodacus purpureus).<BR> + Flicker. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged.<BR> + Flycatcher, great crested (Myiarchus crinitus).<BR> + Flycatcher, green-crested, OR green-crested pewee (Empidonax + virescens).<BR> + Flycatcher, white-eyed. SEE Vireo, white-eyed.<BR> + Fox, gray, 43.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Gnatcatcher, blue-gray (Polioptila caerulea).<BR> + Goldfinch, American, OR yellow-bird (Astragalinus tristis).<BR> + Grackle, purple. SEE Blackbird, crow.<BR> + Grosbeak, blue (Guiraca caerulea).<BR> + Grosbeak, cardinal, OR Virginia red-bird, OR cardinal (Cardinalis + cardinalis).<BR> + Grosbeak, rose-breasted (Zamelodia ludoviciana).<BR> + Grouse, ruffed. SEE Partridge.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Hairbird. SEE Sparrow, social.<BR> + Hawk, fish, OR American osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis).<BR> + Hawk, hen.<BR> + Hawk, pigeon.<BR> + Hawk, red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus).<BR> + Hawk, red-tailed (Buteo borealis).<BR> + Hawk, sharp-shinned (Accipiter velox).<BR> + Hen, domestic.<BR> + Heron, great blue (Ardea herodias).<BR> + High-hole. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged.<BR> + Hummingbird, ruby-throated (Trochilus colubris).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Indigo-bird (Cyanospiza cyanea).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Jay, blue (Cyanocitta cristata).<BR> + Jay, Canada (Perisoreus canadensis).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus).<BR> + Kinglet, golden-crowned (Regulus satrapa).<BR> + Kinglet, ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Lark, shore, OR horned lark (Otocoris alpestris).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Martin, purple (Progne subis).<BR> + Meadowlark (sturnella magna).<BR> + Merganser, red-breasted (Merganser serrator).<BR> + Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Nightingale.<BR> + Nuthatch, (Sitta).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Oriole, Baltimore (Icterus galbula).<BR> + Oriole, orchard. SEE Starling, orchard.<BR> + Osprey. SEE Hawk, fish.<BR> + Owl, screech (megascops asio).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Partridge, OR ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus).<BR> + Pewee. SEE Phoebe-bird.<BR> + Pewee, green-crested. SEE Flycatcher, green-crested.<BR> + Pewee, wood (Contopus virens).<BR> + Phoebe-bird, OR pewee (Sayornis phoebe).<BR> + Pickerel.<BR> + Pigeon, wild, OR passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius).<BR> + Pipit, American, OR titlark (Anthus pensilvanicus).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Quail, OR bob-white (Colinus virginianus).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Red-bird, summer, OR summer tanager (Piranga rubra).<BR> + Red-bird, Virginia. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal.<BR> + Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla).<BR> + Robin (Merula migratoria)..<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Sandpiper, solitary (Helodromas solitarius).<BR> + Snipes.<BR> + Snowbird, OR slate-colored junco (Junco hyemalis).<BR> + Sparrow, bush. SEE Sparrow, wood.<BR> + Sparrow, Canada, OR tree sparrow (Spizella monticola).<BR> + Sparrow, English. SEE Sparrow, house.<BR> + Sparrow, field, OR vesper sparrow, OR grass finch (Poaecetes + gramineus). SEE ALSO Sparrow, wood.<BR> + Sparrow, fox (Passerella iliaca).<BR> + Sparrow, house, OR English sparrow (Passer domesticus).<BR> + Sparrow, savanna (Passerculus sandwichensis savanna).<BR> + Sparrow, social, OR chipping sparrow, OR chippie, OR hairbird + (Spizella socialis).<BR> + Sparrow, song (Melospiza cinerea melodia).<BR> + Sparrow, swamp (Melospiza georgiana).<BR> + Sparrow, tree. SEE Sparrow, Canada.<BR> + Sparrow, vesper. SEE Sparrow, field.<BR> + Sparrow, white-crowned (Zonotrichia leucophrys).<BR> + Sparrow, white-throated (Zonotrichia albicollis).<BR> + Sparrow, wood, OR bush sparrow, OR field sparrow (Spizella + pusilla).<BR> + Squirrel, black.<BR> + Squirrel, gray.<BR> + Squirrel, red.<BR> + Starling, orchard, OR orchard oriole (Icterus spurius).<BR> + Swallow, barn (Hirundo erythrogastra).<BR> + Swallow, chimney, OR chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica).<BR> + Swallow, cliff (Petrochelidon lunifrons).<BR> + Swallow, rough-winged (Stelgidopteryx serripennis).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Tanager, scarlet (Piranga erythromelas).<BR> + Tanager, summer. SEE Red-bird, summer.<BR> + Tern, sooty (sterna fuliginosa).<BR> + Thrush, golden-crowned, OR wood-wagtail, OR oven-bird (Seiurus + aurocapillus).<BR> + Thrush, gray-cheeked (Hylocichla alicae).<BR> + Thrush, hermit (Hylocichla guttata pallasii).<BR> + Thrush, olive-backed, OR Swainson's thrush (Hylocichla ustulata + swainsoni).<BR> + Thrush, red, OR mavis, OR ferrugninous thrush, OR brown thrasher + (Toxostoma rufum).<BR> + Thrush, varied (Ixoreus naevius).<BR> + Thrush, Wilson's. SEE Veery.<BR> + Thrush, wood (Hylocichla mustelina).<BR> + Titlark. SEE Pipit, American.<BR> + Titmouse, gray-crested, OR tufted titmouse (Baelophus bicolor).<BR> + Turkey, domestic.<BR> + Turkey, wild (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Veery, OR Wilson's thrush (Hylocichla fuscescens).<BR> + Vireo, red-eyed (Vireo olivaceus).<BR> + Vireo, solitary, OR blue-headed vireo (Vireo solitarius).<BR> + Vireo, warbling (Vireo gilvus).<BR> + Vireo, white-eyed, OR white-eyed flycatcher (Vireo noveboracensis).<BR> + Vireo, yellow-throated, OR yellow-breasted flycatcher (Vireo + flavifrons).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Wagtail. SEE Water-thrush AND Thrush, golden-crowned.<BR> + Warbler, Audubon's (Dendroica auduboni).<BR> + Warbler, bay-breasted (Dendroica castanea).<BR> + Warbler, black and white (Mniotilta varia).<BR> + Warbler, black and yellow, OR magnolia warbler (Dendroica maculosa).<BR> + Warbler, Blackburnian (Dendroica blackburniae).<BR> + Warbler, black-poll (Dendroica striata).<BR> + Warbler, black-throated blue, OR blue-backed warbler (Dendroica + caerulescens).<BR> + Warbler, black-throated green, OR green-backed warbler (Dendroica + virens).<BR> + Warbler, blue-winged (Helminthophila pinus).<BR> + Warbler, blue yellow-backed, OR northern parula warbler + (Compsothlypis americana usneae).<BR> + Warbler, Canada (Wilsonia canadensis).<BR> + Warbler, cerulean (Dendroica caerulea).<BR> + Warbler, chestnut-sided (Dendroica pensylvanica).<BR> + Warbler, hooded (Wilsonia mitrata).<BR> + Warbler, Kentucky (Geothlypis formosa).<BR> + Warbler, mourning (Geothlypis philadelphia).<BR> + Warbler, Swainson's (Helinaia swainsonii).<BR> + Warbler, worm-eating (Helmitheros vermivorus).<BR> + Warbler, yellow (Dendroica aestiva).<BR> + Warbler, yellow red-poll, OR yellow palm warbler (Dendroica palmarum + hypochrysea).<BR> + Warbler, yellow-rumped, OR myrtle warbler (Dendroica coronata).<BR> + Water-thrush, Louisiana, OR large-billed water thrush (Seiurus + noveboracensis).<BR> + Water-thrush, northern (Seiurus noveboracensis).<BR> + Woodpecker, downy (Dryobates pubescens medianus).<BR> + Woodpecker, golden-winged, OR high-hole, OR flicker, OR yarup, OR + yellow-hammer (Colaptes auratus luteus).<BR> + Woodpecker, red-headed (Melanerpes erythrocephalus).<BR> + Woodpecker, red-shafted, OR red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer + collaris).<BR> + Woodpecker, yellow-bellied, OR yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus + varius).<BR> + Wood-wagtail. SEE Thrush, golden-crowned.<BR> + Wren, Carolina (Thryothorus ludovicianus).<BR> + Wren, house (Troglodytes Aedon).<BR> + Wren, ruby-crowned. SEE Kinglet, ruby crowned.<BR> + Wren, winter (Olbiorchilus hiemalis).<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Yarup. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged.<BR> + Yellow-hammer. SEE Woodpecker, golden winged.<BR> + Yellow-throat, Maryland, OR northern yellow-throat (Geothlypis + trichas brachydactyla).<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[Transcribist's note: John Burroughs used some characters +which are not standard to our writing in 2001. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +He used a diaeresis in preeminent, and accented "e's in +debris and denouement. These have been replaced with plain +letters. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[Updater's note: "preeminent", "debris", and "denouement" +have all been corrected to have their accented letters. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +I substituted the letters "oe" for the ligature, used often +in the word phoebe. Simularly the "e" in the golden eagle's +scientific name is modernized. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +He also used symbols available to a typesetter which are +unavailable to us in ASCII (plain vanilla text) to illustrate +bird calls and notes. I have replaced these with a description +of what was there originally. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Finally, he used italics throughout the book that I was +unable to retain, because of the ASCII format. The two +uses of the italics were to denote scientific names and to +emphasize. I have done nothing to note where the italics were +used, as I don't think it really has a great affect on reading +this book.] +</P> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wake-Robin, by John Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAKE-ROBIN *** + +***** This file should be named 4203-h.htm or 4203-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/0/4203/ + +Produced by Jack Eden. HTML version by Al Haines. + +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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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: Wake-Robin + +Author: John Burroughs + +Posting Date: July 7, 2009 [EBook #4203] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 1, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAKE-ROBIN *** + + + + +Produced by Jack Eden. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + +WAKE-ROBIN + + + +THE WRITINGS OF JOHN BURROUGHS + + +WITH PORTRAITS AND MANY ILLUSTRATIONS + + + +VOLUME I + + + + +PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION + +This is mainly a book about the Birds, or more properly an invitation +to the study of Ornithology, and the purpose of the author will be +carried out in proportion as it awakens and stimulates the interest of +the reader in this branch of Natural History. + +Though written less in the spirit of exact science than with the +freedom of love and old acquaintance, yet I have in no instance taken +liberties with facts, or allowed my imagination to influence me to the +extent of giving a false impression or a wrong coloring. I have reaped +my harvest more in the woods than in the study; what I offer, in fact, +is a careful and conscientious record of actual observations and +experiences, and is true as it stands written, every word of it. But +what has interested me most in Ornithology is the pursuit, the chase, +the discovery; that part of it which is akin to hunting, fishing, and +wild sports, and which I could carry with me in my eye and ear +wherever I went. + +I cannot answer with much confidence the poet's inquiry,-- + + "Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?" + +but I have done what I could to bring home the "river and sky" with +the sparrow I heard "singing at dawn on the alder bough." In other +words, I have tried to present a live bird,--a bird in the woods or +the fields,--with the atmosphere and associations of the place, and +not merely a stuffed and labeled specimen. + +A more specific title for the volume would have suited me better; but +not being able to satisfy myself in this direction, I cast about for a +word thoroughly in the atmosphere and spirit of the book, which I hope +I have found in "Wake-Robin," the common name of the white Trillium, +which blooms in all our woods, and which marks the arrival of all the +birds. + + + + + CONTENTS + + INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION + I. THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS + II. IN THE HEMLOCKS + III. THE ADIRONDACKS + IV. BIRDS'-NESTS + V. SPRING AT THE CAPITAL + VI. BIRCH BROWSINGS + VII. THE BLUEBIRD + VIII. THE INVITATION + INDEX + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + JOHN BURROUGHS + Etched by W. H. W. Bicknell, from a daguerreotype + PARTRIDGE'S NEST + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + A CABIN IN THE ADIRONDACKS + From a photograph by Clifton Johnson + AMERICAN OSPREY, OR FISH HAWK (colored) + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes + BIRD'S-FOOT VIOLETS + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + BLUEBIRD + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION + +In coming before the public with a newly made edition of my writings, +what can I say to my reader at this stage of our acquaintance that +will lead to a better understanding between us? Probably nothing. We +understand each other very well already. I have offered myself as his +guide to certain matters out of doors, and to a few matters indoor, +and he has accepted me upon my own terms, and has, on the whole been +better pleased with me than I had any reason to expect. For this I am +duly grateful; why say more? Yet now that I am upon my feet, so as to +speak, and palaver is the order, I will keep on a few minutes longer. + +It is now nearly a quarter of a century since my first book, +"Wake-Robin," was published. I have lived nearly as many years in the +world as I had lived when I wrote its principal chapters. Other +volumes have followed, and still others. When asked how many there +are, I often have to stop and count them up. I suppose the mother of a +large family does not have to count up her children to say how many +there are. She sees their faces all before her. It is said of certain +savage tribes who cannot count above five, and yet who own flocks and +herds, that every native knows when he has got all his own cattle, not +by counting, but by remembering each one individually. + +The savage is with his herds daily; the mother has the love of her +children constantly in her heart; but when one's book goes forth from +him, in a sense it never returns. It is like the fruit detached from +the bough. And yet to sit down and talk of one's books as a father +might talk of his sons, who had left his roof and gone forth to make +their own way in the world, is not an easy matter. The author's +relation to his book is a little more direct and personal, after all, +more a matter of will and choice, than a father's relation to his +child. The book does not change, and, whatever it fortunes, it remains +to the end what its author made it. The son is an evolution out of a +long line of ancestry, and one's responsibility of this or that trait +is often very slight; but the book is an actual transcript of his +mind, and is wise or foolish according as he made it so. Hence I trust +my reader will pardon me if I shrink from any discussion of the merits +or demerits of these intellectual children of mine, or indulge in any +very confidential remarks with regard to them. + +I cannot bring myself to think of my books as "works," because so +little "work" has gone to the making of them. It has all been play. I +have gone a-fishing, or camping, or canoeing, and new literary +material has been the result. My corn has grown while I loitered or +slept. The writing of the book was only a second and finer enjoyment +of my holiday in the fields or woods. Not till the writing did it +really seem to strike in and become part of me. + +A friend of mine, now an old man, who spent his youth in the woods of +northern Ohio, and who has written many books, says, "I never thought +of writing a book, till my self-exile, and then only to reproduce my +old-time life to myself." The writing probably cured or alleviated a +sort of homesickness. Such is a great measure has been my own case. My +first book, "Wake-Robin," was written while I was a government clerk +in Washington. It enabled me to live over again the days I had passed +with the birds and in the scenes of my youth. I wrote the book sitting +at a desk in front of an iron wall. I was the keeper of a vault in +which many millions of bank-notes were stored. During my long periods +of leisure I took refuge in my pen. How my mind reacted from the iron +wall in front of me, and sought solace in memories of the birds and of +summer fields and woods! Most of the chapters of "Winter Sunshine" +were written at the same desk. The sunshine there referred to is of a +richer quality than is found in New York or New England. + +Since I left Washington in 1873, instead of an iron wall in front of +my desk, I have had a large window that overlooks the Hudson and the +wooded heights beyond, and I have exchanged the vault for a vineyard. +Probably my mind reacted more vigorously from the former than it does +from the latter. The vineyard winds its tendrils around me and detains +me, and its loaded trellises are more pleasing to me than the closets +of greenbacks. + +The only time there is a suggestion of an iron wall in front of me is +in winter, when ice and snow have blotted out the landscape, and I +find that it is in this season that my mind dwells most fondly upon my +favorite themes. Winter drives a man back upon himself, and tests his +powers of self-entertainment. + +Do such books as mine give a wrong impression of Nature, and lead +readers to expect more from a walk or a camp in the woods than they +usually get? I have a few times had occasion to think so. I am not +always aware myself how much pleasure I have had in a walk till I try +to share it with my reader. The heat of composition brings out the +color and the flavor. We must not forget the illusions of all art. If +my reader thinks he does not get from Nature what I get from her, let +me remind him that he can hardly know what he has got till he defines +it to himself as I do, and throws about it the witchery of words. +Literature does not grow wild in the woods. Every artist does +something more than copy Nature; more comes out in his account than +goes into the original experience. + +Most persons think the bee gets honey from the flowers, but she does +not: honey is a product of the bee; it is the nectar of the flowers +with the bee added. What the bee gets from the flower is sweet water: +this she puts through a process of her own and imparts to it her own +quality; she reduces the water and adds to it a minute drop of formic +acid. It is this drop of herself that gives the delicious sting to her +sweet. The bee is therefore the type of the true poet, the true +artist. Her product always reflects her environment, and it reflects +something her environment knows not of. We taste the clover, the +thyme, the linden, the sumac, and we also taste something that has its +source in none of these flowers. + +The literary naturalist does not take liberties with facts; facts are +the flora upon which he lives. The more and the fresher the facts the +better. I can do nothing without them, but I must give them my own +flavor. I must impart to them a quality which heightens and +intensifies them. + +To interpret Nature is not to improve upon her: it is to draw her out; +it is to have an emotional intercourse with her, absorb her, and +reproduce her tinged with the colors of the spirit. + +If I name every bird I see in my walk, describe its color and ways, +etc., give a lot of facts or details about the bird, it is doubtful if +my reader is interested. But if I relate the bird in some way to human +life, to my own life,--show what it is to me and what it is in the +landscape and the season,--then do I give my reader a live bird and +not a labeled specimen. + + J. B. + 1895. + + + + + +WAKE-ROBIN + + + +I + +THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS + +Spring in our northern climate may fairly be said to extend from the +middle of March to the middle of June. At least, the vernal tide +continues to rise until the latter date, and it is not till after the +summer solstice that the shoots and twigs begin to harden and turn to +wood, or the grass to lose any of its freshness and succulency. + +It is this period that marks the return of the birds,--one or two of +the more hardy or half-domesticated species, like the song sparrow +and the bluebird, usually arriving in March, while the rarer and more +brilliant wood-birds bring up the procession in June. But each stage +of the advancing season gives prominence to the certain species, as to +certain flowers. The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow, +the dogtooth violet when to expect the wood-thrush, and when I have +found the wake-robin in bloom I know the season is fairly inaugurated. +With me this flower is associated, not merely with the awakening of +Robin, for he has been awake for some weeks, but with the universal +awakening and rehabilitation of nature. + +Yet the coming and going of the birds is more or less a mystery and a +surprise. We go out in the morning, and no thrush or vireo is to be +heard; we go out again, and every tree and grove is musical; yet +again, and all is silent. Who saw them come? Who saw them depart? + +This pert little winter wren, for instance, darting in and out the +fence, diving under the rubbish here and coming up yards away,--how +does he manage with those little circular wings to compass degrees and +zones, and arrive always in the nick of time? Last August I saw him in +the remotest wilds of the Adirondacks, impatient and inquisitive as +usual; a few weeks later, on the Potomac, I was greeted by the same +hardy little busybody. Does he travel by easy stages from bush to bush +and from wood to wood? or has that compact little body force and +courage to brave the night and the upper air, and so achieve leagues +at one pull? + +And yonder bluebird with the earth tinge on his breast and the sky +tinge on his back,--did he come down out of the heaven on that bright +March morning when he told us so softly and plaintively that, if we +pleased, spring had come? Indeed, there is nothing in the return of +the birds more curious and suggestive than in the first appearance, or +rumors of the appearance, of this little blue-coat. The bird at first +seems a mere wandering voice in the air: one hears its call or carol +on some bright March morning, but is uncertain of its source or +direction; it falls like a drop of rain when no cloud is visible; one +looks and listens, but to no purpose. The weather changes, perhaps a +cold snap with snow comes on, and it may be a week before I hear the +not again, and this time or the next perchance see this bird sitting +on a stake in the fence lifting his wing as he calls cheerily to his +mate. Its notes now become daily more frequent; the birds multiply, +and, flitting from point to point, call and warble more confidently +and gleefully. Their boldness increases till one sees them hovering +with a saucy, inquiring air about barns and out-buildings, peeping +into dove-cotes and stable windows, inspecting knotholes and +pump-trees, intent only on a place to nest. They wage war against +robins and wrens, pick quarrels with swallows, and seem to deliberate +for days over the policy of taking forcible possession of one of the +mud-houses of the latter. But as the season advances they drift more +into the background. Schemes of conquest which they at first seemed +bent upon are abandoned, and the settle down very quietly in their old +quarters in remote stumpy fields. + +Not long after the bluebird comes the robin, sometimes in March, but +in most of the Northern States April is the month of the robin. In +large numbers they scour the fields and groves. You hear their piping +in the meadow, in the pasture, on the hillside. Walk in the woods, and +the dry leaves rustle with the whir of their wings the air is vocal +with their cheery call. In excess of joy and vivacity, they run, leap, +scream, chase each other through the air, diving and sweeping among +the trees with perilous rapidity. + +In that free, fascinating, half-work and half-play +pursuit,--sugar-making,--a pursuit which still lingers in many parts +of New York, as in New England,--the robin is one's constant +companion. When the day is sunny and the ground bare, you meet him at +all points and hear him at all hours. At sunset, on the tops of the +tall maples, with look heavenward, and in a spirit of utter +abandonment, he carols his simple strain. And sitting thus amid the +stark, silent trees, above the wet, cold earth, with the chill of +winter still in the air, there is no fitter or sweeter songster in the +whole round year. It is in keeping with the scene and the occasion. +How round and genuine the notes are, and how eagerly our ears drink +them in! The first utterance, and the spell of winter is thoroughly +broken, and the remembrance of it afar off. + +Robin is one of the most native and democratic of our birds; He is +one of the family, and seems much nearer to us than those rare, exotic +visitants, as the orchard starling or rose-breasted grosbeak, with +their distant, high-bred ways. Hardy, noisy, frolicsome, neighborly, +and domestic in his habits, strong of wing and bold in spirit, he is +the pioneer of the thrush family, and well worthy of the finer artists +whose coming he heralds and in a measure prepares us for. + +I could wish Robin less native and plebeian in one respect,--the +building of his nest. Its coarse material and rough masonry are +creditable neither to his skill as a workman nor to his taste as an +artist. I am the more forcibly reminded of his deficiency in this +respect from observing yonder hummingbird's nest, which is a marvel of +fitness and adaptation, a proper setting for this winged gem,--the +body of it composed of a white, felt-like substance, probably the down +of some plant or the wool of some worm, and toned down in keeping with +the branch on which it sits by minute tree-lichens, woven together by +threads as fine and grail as gossamer. From Robin's good looks and +musical turn, we might reasonably predict a domicile of him as clean +and handsome a nest as the king-bird's, whose harsh jingle, compared +with Robin's evening melody, is as the clatter of pots and kettles +beside the tone of a flute. I love his note and ways better even than +those of the orchard starling or the Baltimore oriole; yet his nest, +compared with theirs, is a half-subterranean hut contrasted with a +Roman villa. There is something courtly and poetical in a pensile +nest. Next to a castle in the air is a dwelling suspended to the +slender branch of a tall tree, swayed and rocked forever by the wind. +Why need wings be afraid of falling? Why build only where boys can +climb? After all, we must set it down to the account of Robin's +democratic turn: he is no aristocrat, but one of the people; and +therefore we should expect stability in his workmanship, rather than +elegance. + +Another April bird, which makes her appearance sometimes earlier and +sometimes later than Robin, and whose memory I fondly cherish, is the +phoebe-bird, the pioneer of the flycatchers. In the inland farming +districts, I used to notice her, on some bright morning about Easter +Day, proclaiming her arrival, with much variety of motion and +attitude, from the peak of the barn or hay-shed. As yet, you may have +heard only the plaintive, homesick note of the bluebird, or the faint +trill of the song sparrow; and Phoebe's clear, vivacious assurance of +her veritable bodily presence among us again is welcomed by all ears. +At agreeable intervals in her lay she describes a circle or an ellipse +in the air, ostensibly prospecting for insects, but really, I suspect, +as an artistic flourish, thrown in to make up in some way for the +deficiency of her musical performance. If plainness of dress indicates +powers of song as it usually does, then Phoebe ought to be unrivaled +in musical ability, for surely that ashen-gray suit is the superlative +of plainness; and that form, likewise, would hardly pass for a +"perfect figure" of a bird. The seasonableness of her coming, however, +and her civil, neighborly ways, shall make up for all deficiencies in +song and plumage. After a few weeks phoebe is seldom seen, except as +she darts from her moss-covered nest beneath some bridge or shelving +cliff. + +Another April comer, who arrives shortly after Robin-redbreast, with +whom he associates both at this season and in the autumn, is the +gold-winged woodpecker, alias "high-hole," alias "flicker," alias +"yarup." He is an old favorite of my boyhood, and his note to me means +very much. He announces his arrival by a long, loud call, repeated +from the dry branch of some tree, or a stake in the fence,--a +thoroughly melodious April sound. I think how Solomon finished that +beautiful description of spring, "And the voice of the turtle is heard +in the land," and see that a description of spring in this farming +country, to be equally characteristic, should culminate in like +manner,--"And the call of the high-hole comes up from the wood." + +It is a loud, strong, sonorous call, and does not seem to imply an +answer, but rather to subserve some purpose of love or music. It is +"Yarup's" proclamation of peace and good-will to all. On looking at +the matter closely, I perceive that most birds, not denominated +songsters, have, in the spring, some note or sound or call that hints +of a song, and answers imperfectly the end of beauty and art. As a +"livelier iris changes on the burnished dove," and the fancy of the +young man turns lightly to thoughts of his pretty cousin, so the same +renewing spirit touches the "silent singers," and they are no longer +dumb; faintly they lisp the first syllables of the marvelous tale. +Witness the clear sweet whistle of the gray-crested titmouse,--the +soft, nasal piping of the nuthatch,--the amorous, vivacious warble of +the bluebird,--the long, rich note of the meadowlark,--the whistle of +the quail,--the drumming of the partridge,--the animation and +loquacity of the swallows, and the like. Even the hen has a homely, +contented carol; and I credit the owls with a desire to fill the night +with music. Al birds are incipient or would be songsters in the +spring. I find corroborative evidence of this even in the crowing of +the cock. The flowering of the maple is not so obvious as that of the +magnolia; nevertheless, there is actual inflorescence. + +Few writers award any song to that familiar little sparrow, the +Socialis; yet who that has observed him sitting by the wayside, and +repeating, with devout attitude, that fine sliding chant, does not +recognize the neglect? Who has heard the snowbird sing? Yet he has a +lisping warble very savory to the ear. I have heard him indulge in it +even in February. + +Even the cow bunting feels the musical tendency, and aspires to its +expression, with the rest. Perched upon the topmost branch beside his +mate or mates,--for he is quite a polygamist, and usually has two or +three demure little ladies in faded black beside him,--generally in +the early part of the day, he seems literally to vomit up his notes. +Apparently with much labor and effort, they gurgle and blubber up out +of him, falling on the ear with a peculiar subtile ring, as of turning +water from a glass bottle, and not without a certain pleasing cadence. + +Neither is the common woodpecker entirely insensible to the wooing of +the spring, and, like the partridge, testifies his appreciation of +melody after quite a primitive fashion. Passing through the woods on +some clear, still morning in March, while the metallic ring and +tension of winter are still in the earth and air, the silence is +suddenly broken by long, resonant hammering upon a dry limb or stub. +It is Downy beating a reveille to spring. In the utter stillness and +amid the rigid forms we listen with pleasure; and, as it comes to my +ear oftener at this season than at any other, I freely exonerate the +author of it from the imputation of any gastronomic motives, and +credit him with a genuine musical performance. + +It is to be expected, therefore, that "yellow-hammer" will respond to +the general tendency, and contribute his part to the spring chorus. +His April call is his finest touch, his most musical expression. + +I recall an ancient maple standing sentry to a large sugar-bush, that, +year after year, afforded protection to a brood of yellow-hammers in +its decayed heart. A week or two before nesting seemed actually to +have begun, three or four of these birds might be seen, on almost any +bright morning, gamboling and courting amid its decayed branches. +Sometimes you would hear only a gentle persuasive cooing, or a quiet +confidential chattering,--then that long, loud call, taken up by +first one, then another, as they sat about upon the naked +limbs,--anon, a sort of wild, rollicking laughter, intermingled with +various cries, yelps, and squeals, as if some incident had excited +their mirth and ridicule. Whether this social hilarity and +boisterousness is in celebration of the pairing or mating ceremony, or +whether it is only a sort of annual "house-warming" common among +high-holes on resuming their summer quarters, is a question upon which +I reserve my judgment. + +Unlike most of his kinsmen, the golden-wing prefers the fields and the +borders of the forest to the deeper seclusion of the woods, and hence, +contrary to the habit of his tribe, obtains most of his subsistence +from the ground, probing it for ants and crickets. He is not quite +satisfied with being a woodpecker. He courts the society of the robin +and the finches, abandons the trees for the meadow, and feeds eagerly +upon berries and grain. What may be the final upshot of this course of +living is a question worth the attention of Darwin. Will his taking to +the ground and his pedestrian feats result in lengthening his legs, +his feeding upon berries and grains subdue his tints and soften his +voice, and his associating with Robin put a song into his heart? + +Indeed, what would be more interesting than the history of our birds +for the last two or three centuries. There can be no doubt that the +presence of man has exerted a very marked and friendly influence upon +them, since they so multiply in his society. The birds of California, +it is said, were mostly silent till after its settlement, and I doubt +if the Indians heard the wood thrush as we hear him. Where did the +bobolink disport himself before there were meadows in the North and +rice fields in the South? Was he the same lithe, merry-hearted beau +then as now? And the sparrow, the lark, and the goldfinch, birds that +seem so indigenous to the open fields and so adverse to the woods,--we +cannot conceive of their existence in a vast wilderness and without +man. + +But to return. The song sparrow, that universal favorite and +firstling of the spring, comes before April, and its simple strain +gladdens all hearts. + +May is the month of the swallows and the orioles. There are many other +distinguished arrivals, indeed nine tenths of the birds are here by +the last week in May, yet the swallows and the orioles are the most +conspicuous. The bright plumage of the latter seems really like an +arrival from the tropics. I see them dash through the blossoming +trees, and all the forenoon hear their incessant warbling and wooing. +The swallows dive and chatter about the barn, or squeak and build +beneath the eaves; the partridge drums in the fresh sprouting woods; +the long, tender note of the meadowlark comes up from the meadow; and +at sunset, from every marsh and pond come the ten thousand voices of +the hylas. May is the transition month, and exists to connect April +and June, the root with the flower. + +With June the cup is full, our hearts are satisfied, there is no more +to be desired. The perfection of the season, among other things, has +brought the perfection of the song and the plumage of the birds. The +master artists are all here; and the expectations excited by the robin +and the song sparrow are fully justified. The thrushes have all come; +and I sit down upon the first rock, with hands full of the pink +azalea, to listen. With me the cuckoo does not arrive till June; and +often the goldfinch, the kingbird, the scarlet tanager delay their +coming till then. In the meadows the bobolink is in all his glory; in +the high pastures the field sparrow sings his breezy vesper-hymn; and +the woods are unfolding to the music of the thrushes. + +The cuckoo is one of the most solitary birds of our forests, and is +strangely tame and quiet, appearing equally untouched by joy or grief, +fear or anger. Something remote seems ever weighing upon his mind. His +note or call is as of one lost or wandering, and to the farmer is +prophetic of rain. Amid the general joy and the sweet assurance of +things, I love to listen to the strange clairvoyant call. Heard a +quarter of a mile away, from out the depths of the forest, there is +something peculiarly weird and monkish about it. Wordsworth's lines +upon the European species apply equally well to ours:--"O blithe +new-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice: O cuckoo! shall I +call thee bird? Or but a wandering voice? + + "While I am lying on the grass, + Thy loud note smites my ear! + From hill to hill it seems to pass, + At once far off and near! + + "Thrice welcome, darling of the spring! + Even yet thou art to me + No bird, but an invisible thing, + A voice, a mystery." + +The black-billed is the only species found in my locality, the +yellow-billed abounds farther south. Their note or call is nearly the +same. The former sometimes suggests the voice of a turkey. The call of +the latter may be suggested thus: k-k-k-k-k-kow, kow, kow-ow, kow-ow. + +The yellow-billed will take up his stand in a tree, and explore its +branches till he has caught every worm. He sits on a twig, and with a +peculiar swaying movement of his head examines the surrounding +foliage. When he discovers his prey, he leaps upon it in a fluttering +manner. + +In June the black-billed makes a tour through the orchard and garden, +regaling himself upon the canker-worms. At this time he is one of the +tamest of birds, and will allow you to approach within a few yards of +him. I have even come within a few feet of one without seeming to +excite his fear or suspicion. He is quite unsophisticated, or else +royally indifferent. + +The plumage of the cuckoo is a rich glossy brown, and is unrivaled in +beauty by any other neutral tint with which I am acquainted. It is +also remarkable for its firmness and fineness. + +Notwithstanding the disparity in size and color, the black-billed +species has certain peculiarities that remind one of the passenger +pigeon. His eye, with its red circle, the shape of his head, and his +motions on alighting and taking flight, quickly suggest the +resemblance; though in grace and speed, when on the wing, he is far +inferior. His tail seems disproportionately long, like that of the red +thrush, and his flight among the trees is very still, contrasting +strongly with the honest clatter of the robin or pigeon. + +Have you heard the song of the field sparrow? If you have lived in a +pastoral country with broad upland pastures, you could hardly have +missed him. Wilson, I believe, calls him the grass finch, and was +evidently unacquainted with his powers of song. The two white lateral +quills in his tail, and his habit of running and skulking a few yards +in advance of you as you walk through the fields, are sufficient to +identify him. Not in meadows or orchards, but in high, breezy +pasture-grounds, will you look for him. His song is most noticeable +after sundown, when other birds are silent; for which reason he has +been aptly called the vesper sparrow. The farmer following his team +from the field at dusk catches his sweetest strain. His song is not so +brisk and varied as that of the song sparrow, being softer and wilder, +sweeter and more plaintive. Add the best parts of the lay of the +latter to the sweet vibrating chant of the wood sparrow, and you have +the evening hymn of the vesper-bird,--the poet of the plain, +unadorned pastures. Go to those broad, smooth, uplying fields where +the cattle and sheep are grazing, and sit down in the twilight on one +of those warm, clean stones, and listen to this song. On every side, +near and remote, from out the short grass which the herds are +cropping, the strain rises. Two or three long, silver notes of peace +and rest, ending in some subdued trills and quavers, constitute each +separate song. Often, you will catch only one or two of the bars, the +breeze having blown the minor part away. Such unambitious, quiet, +unconscious melody! It is one of the most characteristic sounds in +nature. The grass, the stones, the stubble, the furrow, the quiet +herds, and the warm twilight among the hills, are all subtly expressed +in this song; this is what they are at last capable of. + +The female builds a plain nest in the open field, without so much as a +bush or thistle or tuft of grass to protect it or mark its site; you +may step upon it, or the cattle may tread it into the ground. But the +danger from this source, I presume, the bird considers less than that +from another. Skunks and foxes have a very impertinent curiosity, as +Finchie well knows; and a bank or hedge, or a rank growth of grass or +thistles, that might promise protection and cover to mouse or bird, +these cunning rogues would be apt to explore most thoroughly. The +partridge is undoubtedly acquainted with the same process of +reasoning; for, like the vesper-bird, she, too, nests in open, +unprotected places, avoiding all show of concealment,--coming from the +tangled and almost impenetrable parts of the forest to the clean, open +woods, where she can command all the approaches and fly with equal +ease in any direction. + +Another favorite sparrow, but little noticed, is the wood or bush +sparrow, usually called by the ornithologists Spizella pusilla. Its +size and form is that of the socialis, but is less distinctly marked, +being of a duller redder tinge. He prefers remote bushy heathery +fields, where his song is one of the sweetest to be heard. It is +sometimes very noticeable, especially early in spring. I remember +sitting one bright day in the still leafless April woods, when one of +these birds struck up a few rods from me, repeating its lay at short +intervals for nearly an hour. It was a perfect piece of wood-music, +and was of course all the more noticeable for being projected upon +such a broad unoccupied page of silence. Its song is like the words, +fe-o, fe-o, fe-o, few, few, few, fee fee fee, uttered at first high +and leisurely, but running very rapidly toward the close, which is low +and soft. + +Still keeping among the unrecognized, the white-eyed vireo, or +flycatcher, deserves particular mention. The song of this bird is not +particularly sweet and soft; on the contrary, it is a little hard and +shrill, like that of the indigo-bird or oriole; but for brightness, +volubility, execution, and power of imitation, he is unsurpassed by +any of our northern birds. His ordinary note is forcible and emphatic, +but, as stated, not especially musical; Chick-a-re'r-chick, he seems +to say, hiding himself in the low, dense undergrowth, and eluding your +most vigilant search, as if playing some part in a game. But in July +of August, if you are on good terms with the sylvan deities, you may +listen to a far more rare and artistic performance. Your first +impression will be that that cluster of azalea, or that clump of +swamp-huckleberry, conceals three of four different songsters, each +vying with the the others to lead the chorus. Such a medley of notes, +snatched from half the songsters of the field and forest, and uttered +with the utmost clearness and rapidity, I am sure you cannot hear +short of the haunts of the genuine mockingbird. If not fully and +accurately repeated, there are at least suggested the notes of the +robin, wren, catbird, high-hole, goldfinch, and song sparrow. The pip, +pip, of the last is produced so accurately that I verily believe it +would deceive the bird herself; and the whole uttered in such rapid +succession that it seems as if the movement that gives the concluding +note of one strain must form the first note of the next. The effect is +very rich, and, to my ear, entirely unique. The performer is very +careful not to reveal himself in the mean time; yet there is a +conscious air about the strain that impresses me with the idea that my +presence is understood and my attention courted. A tone of pride and +glee, and, occasionally, of bantering jocoseness, is discernible. I +believe it is only rarely, and when he is sure of his audience, that +he displays his parts in this manner. You are to look for him, not in +tall trees or deep forests, but in low, dense shrubbery about wet +places, where there are plenty of gnats and mosquitoes. + +The winter wren is another marvelous songster, in speaking of whom it +is difficult to avoid superlatives. He is not so conscious of is +powers and so ambitious of effect as the white-eyed flycatcher, yet +you will not be less astonished and delighted on hearing him. He +possesses the fluency and copiousness for which the wrens are noted, +and besides these qualities, and what is rarely found conjoined with +them, a wild, sweet, rhythmical cadence that holds you entranced. I +shall not soon forget that perfect June day, when, loitering in a low, +ancient hemlock wood, in whose cathedral aisles the coolness and +freshness seems perennial, the silence was suddenly broken by a strain +so rapid and gushing, and touched with such a wild, sylvan +plaintiveness, that I listened in amazement. And so shy and coy was +the little minstrel, that I came twice to the woods before I was sure +to whom I was listening. In summer he is one of those birds of the +deep northern forests, that, like the speckled Canada warbler and the +hermit thrush, only the privileged ones hear. + +The distribution of plants in a given locality is not more marked and +defined than that of the birds. Show a botanist a landscape, and he +will tell you where to look for the lady's-slipper, the columbine, or +the harebell. On the same principles the ornithologist will direct you +where to look for the greenlets, the wood sparrow, or the chewink. In +adjoining counties, in the same latitude, and equally inland, but +possessing a different geological formation and different +forest-timber, you will observe quite a different class of birds. In a +land of the beech and sugar maple I do not find the same songsters +that I know where thrive the oak, chestnut, and laurel. In going from +a district of the Old Red Sandstone to where I walk upon the old +Plutonic Rock, not fifty miles distant, I miss in the woods, the +veery, the hermit thrush, the chestnut-sided warbler, the blue-backed +warbler, the green-backed warbler, the black and yellow warbler, and +many others, and find in their stead the wood thrush, the chewink, the +redstart, the yellow-throat, the yellow-breasted flycatcher, the +white-eyed flycatcher, the quail, and the turtle dove. + +In my neighborhood here in the Highlands the distribution is very +marked. South of the village I invariably find one species of birds, +north of it another. In only one locality, full of azalea and +swamp-huckleberry, I am always sure of finding the hooded warbler. In +a dense undergrowth of spice-bush, witch-hazel, and alder, I meet the +worm-eating warbler. In a remote clearing, covered with heath and +fern, with here and there a chestnut and an oak, I go to hear in July +the wood sparrow, and returning by a stumpy, shallow pond, I am sure +to find the water-thrush. + +Only one locality within my range seems to possess attractions for all +comers. Here one may study almost the entire ornithology of the State. +It is a rocky piece of ground, long ago cleared, but now fast +relapsing into the wildness and freedom of nature, and marked by those +half-cultivated, half-wild features which birds and boys love. It is +bounded on two sides by the village and highway, crossed at various +points by carriage-roads, and threaded in all directions by paths and +byways, along which soldiers, laborers, and truant school-boys are +passing at all hours of the day. It is so far escaping from the axe +and the bush-hook as to have opened communication with the forest and +mountain beyond by straggling lines of cedar, laurel, and blackberry. +The ground is mainly occupied with cedar and chestnut, with an +undergrowth, in many place, of heath and bramble. The chief feature, +however, is a dense growth in the centre, consisting of dogwood, +water-beech, swamp-ash, alder, spice-bush, hazel, etc., with a network +of smilax and frost-grape. A little zigzag stream, the draining of a +swam beyond, which passes through this tanglewood, accounts for many +of its features and productions, if not for its entire existence. +Birds that are not attracted by the heath, or the cedar and chestnut, +are sure to find some excuse for visiting this miscellaneous growth in +the centre. Most of the common birds literally throng in this +idle-wild; and I have met here many of the rarer species, such as the +great-crested flycatcher, the solitary warbler, the blue-winged swamp +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the fox sparrow, etc. The absence of +all birds of prey, and the great number of flies and insects, both the +result of the proximity to the village, are considerations which ho +hawk-fearing, peace-loving minstrel passes over lightly; hence the +popularity of the resort. + +But the crowning glory of all these robins, flycatchers, and warblers +is the wood thrush. More abundant than all other birds, except the +robin and catbird, he greets you from every rock and shrub. Shy and +reserved when he first makes his appearance in May, before the end of +June he is tame and familiar, and sings on the tree over your head, or +on the rock a few paces in advance. A pair even built their nest and +reared their brood within ten or twelve feet of the piazza of a large +summer-house in the vicinity. But when the guests commenced to arrive +and the piazza to be thronged with gay crowds, I noticed something +like dread and foreboding in the manner of the mother bird; and from +her still, quiet ways, and habit of sitting long and silently within a +few feet of the precious charge, it seemed as if the dear creature had +resolved, if possible, to avoid all observation. + +If we take the quality of melody as the test, the wood thrush, hermit +thrush, and the veery thrush stand at the head of our list of +songsters. + +The mockingbird undoubtedly possesses the greatest range of mere +talent, the most varied executive ability, and never fails to surprise +and delight one anew at each hearing; but being mostly an imitator, he +never approaches the serene beauty and sublimity of the hermit thrush. +The word that best expresses my feelings, on hearing the mockingbird, +is admiration, though the first emotion is one of surprise and +incredulity. That so many and such various notes should proceed from +one throat is a marvel, and we regard the performance with feelings +akin to those we experience on witnessing the astounding feats of the +athlete or gymnast,--and this, notwithstanding many of the notes +imitated have all the freshness and sweetness of the originals. The +emotions excited by the songs of these thrushes belong to a higher +order, springing as they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and +harmony of the world. + +The wood thrush is worthy of all, and more than all, the praises he +has received; and considering the number of his appreciative +listeners, it is not a little surprising that his relative and equal, +the hermit thrush, should have received so little notice. Both the +great ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, are lavish in their praises +of the former, but have little or nothing to say of the song of the +latter. Audubon says it is sometimes agreeable, but evidently has +never heard it. Nuttall, I am glad to find, is more discriminating, +and does the bird fuller justice. + +It is quite a rare bird, of very shy and secluded habits, being found +in the Middle and Eastern States, during the period of song, only in +the deepest and most remote forests, usually in damp and swampy +localities. On this account the people in the Adirondack region call +it the "Swamp Angel." Its being so much of a recluse accounts for the +comparative ignorance that prevails in regard to it. + +The cast of its song is very much like that of the wood thrush, and a +good observer might easily confound the two. But hear them together +and the difference is quite marked: the song of the hermit is in a +higher key, and is more wild and ethereal. His instrument is a silver +horn which he winds in the most solitary places. The song of the wood +thrush is more golden and leisurely. Its tone comes near to that of +some rare stringed instrument. One feels that perhaps the wood thrush +has more compass and power, if he would only let himself out, but on +the whole he comes a little short of the pure, serene, hymn-like +strain of the hermit. + +Yet those who have heard only the wood thrush may well place him first +on the list. He is truly a royal minstrel, and, considering his +liberal distribution throughout our Atlantic seaboard, perhaps +contributes more than any other bird to our sylvan melody. One may +object that he spends a little too much time in tuning his instrument, +yet his careless and uncertain touches reveal its rare compass and +power. + +He is the only songster of my acquaintance excepting the canary, that +displays different degrees of proficiency in the exercise of his +musical gifts. Not long since, while walking one Sunday in the edge of +an orchard adjoining a wood, I heard one that so obviously and +unmistakably surpassed all his rivals, that my companion, although +slow to notice such things, remarked it wonderingly; and with one +accord we paused to listen to so rare a performer. It was not +different in quality so much as in quantity. Such a flood of it! Such +copiousness! Such long, trilling, accelerating preludes! Such sudden, +ecstatic overtures would have intoxicated the dullest ear. He was +really without a compeer,--a master artist. Twice afterward I was +conscious of having heard the same bird. + +The wood thrush is the handsomest species of this family. In grace +and elegance of manner he has no equal. Such a gentle, high-bred air, +and such inimitable ease and composure in his flight and movement! He +is a poet in very word and deed. His carriage is music to the eye. His +performance of the commonest act, as catching a beetle, or picking a +worm from the mud, pleases like a stroke of wit or eloquence. Was he a +prince in the olden time, and do the regal grace and mien still adhere +to him in his transformation? What a finely proportioned form! How +plain, yet rich, his color,--the bright russet of his back, the clear +white of his breast, with the distinct heart-shaped spots! It may be +objected to Robin that he is noisy and demonstrative; he hurries away +or rises to a branch with an angry note, and flirts his wings in +ill-bred suspicion. The mavis, or red thrush, sneaks and skulks like a +culprit, hiding in the densest alders; the catbird is a coquette and a +flirt, as well as a sort of female Paul Pry; and the chewink shows his +inhospitality by espying your movements like a Japanese. The wood +thrush has none of theses underbred traits. He regards me +unsuspiciously, or avoids me with a noble reserve,--or, if I am quiet +and incurious, graciously hops toward me, as if to pay his respects, +or to make my acquaintance. I have passed under his nest within a few +feet of his mate and brood, when he sat near by on a branch eying me +sharply, but without opening his beak; but the moment I raised my hand +toward his defenseless household, his anger and indignation were +beautiful to behold. + +What a noble pride he has! Late one October, after his mates and +companions had long since gone south, I noticed one for several +successive days in the dense part of this next-door wood, flitting +noiselessly about, very grave and silent, as if doing penance for some +violation of the code of honor. By many gentle, indirect approaches, I +perceived that part of his tail-feathers were undeveloped. The sylvan +prince could not think of returning to court in this plight, and so, +amid the falling leaves and cold rains of autumn, was patiently biding +his time. + +The soft, mellow flute of the veery fills a place in the chorus of the +woods that the song of the vesper sparrow fills in the chorus of the +fields. It has the nightingale's habit of singing in the twilight, as +indeed have all our thrushes. Walk out toward the forest in the warm +twilight of a June day, and when fifty rods distant you will hear +their soft, reverberating notes rising from a dozen different throats. + +It is one of the simplest strains to be heard,--as simple as the curve +in form, delighting from the pure element of harmony and beauty it +contains, and not from any novel or fantastic modulation of it,--thus +contrasting strongly with such rollicking, hilarious songsters as the +bobolink, in whom we are chiefly pleased with tintinnabulation, the +verbal and labial excellence, and the evident conceit and delight of +the performer. + +I hardly know whether I am more pleased or annoyed with the catbird. +Perhaps she is a little too common, and her part in the general chorus +a little too conspicuous. If you are listening for the note of another +bird, she is sure to be prompted to the most loud and protracted +singing, drowning all other sounds; If you sit quietly down to observe +a favorite or study a new-comer, her curiosity knows no bounds, and +you are scanned and ridiculed from every point of observation. Yet I +would not miss her; I would only subordinate her a little, make her +less conspicuous. + +She is the parodist of the woods, and there is ever a mischievous, +bantering, half-ironical undertone in her lay, as if she were +conscious of mimicking and disconcerting some envied songster. +Ambitious of song, practicing and rehearsing in private, she yet seems +the least sincere and genuine of the sylvan minstrels, as if she had +taken up music only to be in the fashion, or not to be outdone by the +robins and thrushes. In other words, she seems to sing from some +outward motive, and not from inward joyousness. She is a good +versifier, but not a great poet. Vigorous, rapid, copious, not without +fine touches, but destitute of any high, serene melody, her +performance, like that of Thoreau's squirrel, always implies a +spectator. + +There is a certain air and polish about her strain, however, like that +in the vivacious conversation of a well-bred lady of the world, that +commands respect. Her maternal instinct, also, is very strong, and +that simple structure of dead twigs and dry grass is the center of +much anxious solicitude. Not long since, while strolling through the +woods, my attention was attracted to a small densely grown swamp, +hedged in with eglantine, brambles, and the everlasting smilax, from +which proceeded loud cries of distress and alarm, indicating that some +terrible calamity was threatening my sombre-colored minstrel. On +effecting an entrance, which, however, was not accomplished till I had +doffed coat and hat, so as to diminish the surface exposed to the +thorns and brambles, and, looking around me from a square yard of +terra firma, I found myself the spectator of a loathsome yet +fascinating scene. Three or four yards from me was the nest, beneath +which, in long festoons, rested a huge black snake; a bird two thirds +grown was slowly disappearing between his expanded jaws. As he seemed +unconscious of my presence, I quietly observed the proceedings. By +slow degrees he compassed the bird about with his elastic mouth; his +head flattened, his neck writhed and swelled, and two or three +undulatory movements of his glistening body finished the work. Then he +cautiously raised himself up, his tongue flaming from his mouth the +while, curved over the nest, and with wavy subtle motions, explored +the interior. I can conceive of nothing more overpoweringly terrible +to an unsuspecting family of birds than the sudden appearance above +their domicile of the head and neck of this arch-enemy. It is enough +to petrify the blood in their veins. Not finding the object of his +search, he came streaming down from the nest to a lower limb, and +commenced extending his researches in other directions, sliding +stealthily through the branches, bent on capturing on of the parent +birds. That a legless, wingless creature should move with such ease +and rapidity where only birds and squirrels are considered at home, +lifting himself up, letting himself down, running out on the yielding +boughs, and traversing with marvelous celerity the whole length and +breadth of the thicket, was truly surprising. One thinks of the great +myth of the Tempter and the "cause of all our woe," and wonders if the +Arch One is not now playing off some of his pranks before him. Whether +we call it snake or devil matters little. I could but admire his +terrible beauty, however; his black, shining folds, his easy, gliding +movement, head erect, eyes glistening, tongue playing like subtle +flame, and the invisible means of his almost winged locomotion. + +The parent birds, in the mean while, kept up the most agonizing +cry,--at times fluttering furiously about their pursuer, and actually +laying hold of his tail with their beaks and claws. On being thus +attacked, the snake would suddenly double upon himself and follow his +won body back, thus executing a strategic movement that at first +seemed almost to paralyze his victim and place her within his grasp. +Not quite, however. Before his jaws could close upon the coveted prize +the bird would tear herself away, and, apparently faint and sobbing, +retire to a higher branch. His reputed powers of fascination availed +him little, though it is possible that a frailer and less combative +bird might have been held by the fatal spell. Presently, as he came +gliding down the slender body of a leaning alder, his attention was +attracted by a slight movement of my arm; eyeing me an instant, with +that crouching, utter motionless gaze which I believe only snakes and +devils can assume, he turned quickly,--a feat which necessitated +something like crawling over his own body,--and glided off through the +branches, evidently recognizing in me a representative of the ancient +parties he once so cunningly ruined. A few moments after, as he lay +carelessly disposed in the top of a rank alder, trying to look as much +like a crowded branch as his supple, shining form would admit, the old +vengeance overtook him. I exercised my prerogative, and a +well-directed missile, in the shape of a stone, brought him looping +and writhing to the ground. After I had completed his downfall and +quiet had been partially restored, a half-fledged member of the +bereaved household came out from his hiding-place, and, jumping upon a +decayed branch, chirped vigorously, no doubt in celebration of the +victory. + +Till the middle of July there is a general equilibrium; the tide +stands poised; the holiday spirit is unabated. But as the harvest +ripens beneath the long, hot days, the melody gradually ceases. The +young are out of the nest and must be cared for, and the moulting +season is at hand. After the cricket has commenced to drone his +monotonous refrain beneath your window, you will not, till another +season, hear the wood thrush in all his matchless eloquence. The +bobolink has become careworn and fretful, and blurts out snatches of +his song between his scolding and upbraiding, as you approach the +vicinity of his nest, oscillating between anxiety for his brood and +solicitude for his musical reputation. Some of the sparrows still +sing, and occasionally across the hot fields, from a tall tree in the +edge of the forest, comes the rich note of the scarlet tanager. This +tropical-colored bird loves the hottest weather, and I hear him even +in dog-days. + +The remainder of the summer is the carnival of the swallows and +flycatchers. Flies and insects, to any amount, are to be had for the +catching; and the opportunity is well improved. See that sombre, +ashen-colored pewee on yonder branch. A true sportsman he, who never +takes his game at rest, but always on the wing. You vagrant fly, you +purblind moth, beware how you come within his range! Observe his +attitude, the curious movement of his head, his "eye in a fine frenzy +rolling, glancing from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven." + +His sight is microscopic and his aim sure. Quick as thought he has +seized his victim and is back to his perch. There is no strife, no +pursuit,--one fell swoop and the matter is ended. That little sparrow, +as you will observe, is less skilled. It is the Socialis, and he finds +his subsistence properly in various seeds and the larvae of insects, +though he occasionally has higher aspirations, and seeks to emulate +the peewee, commencing and ending his career as a flycatcher by an +awkward chase after a beetle or "miller." He is hunting around in the +dull grass now, I suspect, with the desire to indulge this favorite +whim. There!--the opportunity is afforded him. Away goes a little +cream-colored meadow-moth in the most tortuous course he is capable +of, and away goes Socialis in pursuit. The contest is quite comical, +though I dare say it is serious enough to the moth. The chase +continues for a few yards, when there is a sudden rushing to cover in +the grass,--then a taking to wing again, when the search has become to +close, and the moth has recovered his wind. Socialis chirps angrily, +and is determined not to be beaten. Keeping, with the slightest +effort, upon the heels of the fugitive, he is ever on the point of +halting to snap him up, but never quite does it,--and so, between +disappointment and expectation, is soon disgusted and returns to +pursue his more legitimate means of subsistence. + +In striking contrast to this serio-comic strife of the sparrow and the +moth, is he pigeon hawk's pursuit of the sparrow or the goldfinch. It +is a race of surprising speed and agility. It is a test of wing and +wind. Every muscle is taxed, and every nerve strained. Such cries of +terror and consternation on the part of the bird, tacking to the right +and left, and making the most desperate efforts to escape, and such +silent determination on the part of the hawk, pressing the bird so +closely, flashing and turning, and timing his movements with those of +the pursued as accurately and as inexorably as if the two constituted +one body, excite feelings of the deepest concern. You mount the fence +or rush out of your way to see the issue. The only salvation for the +bird is to adopt the tactics of the moth, seeking instantly the cover +of some tree, bush or hedge, where its smaller size enables it to move +about more rapidly. These pirates are aware of this, and therefore +prefer to take their prey by one fell swoop. You may see one of them +prowling through an orchard, with the yellowbirds hovering about him, +crying, Pi-ty, pi-ty, in the most desponding tone; yet he seems not to +regard them, knowing, as do they, that in the close branches they are +as safe as if in a wall of adamant. + +August is the month of the high-sailing hawks. The hen-hawk is the +most noticeable. He likes the haze and calm of these long, warm days. +He is a bird of leisure, and seems always at his ease. How beautiful +and majestic are his movements! So self-poised and easy, such an +entire absence of haste, such a magnificent amplitude of circles and +spirals, such a haughty, imperial grace, and, occasionally, such +daring aerial evolutions! + +With slow, leisurely movement, rarely vibrating his pinions, he mounts +and mounts in an ascending spiral till he appears a mere speck against +the summer sky; then, if the mood seizes him, with wings half closed, +like a bent bow, he will cleave the air almost perpendicularly, as if +intent on dashing himself to pieces against the earth; but on nearing +the ground he suddenly mounts again on broad, expanded wing, as if +rebounding upon the air, and sails leisurely away. It is the sublimest +feat of the season. One holds his breath till he sees him rise again. + +If inclined to a more gradual and less precipitous descent, he fixes +his eye on some distant point in the earth beneath him, and thither +bends his course. He is still almost meteoric in his speed and +boldness. You see his path down the heavens, straight as a line; if +near, you hear the rush of his wings; his shadow hurtles across the +fields, and in an instant you see him quietly perched upon some low +tree or decayed stub in a swamp or meadow, with reminiscences of frogs +and mice stirring in his maw. + +When the south wind blows, it is a study to see three or four of these +air-kings at the head of the valley far up toward the mountain, +balancing and oscillating upon the strong current; now quite +stationary, except a slight tremulous motion like the poise of a +rope-dancer, then rising and falling in long undulations, and seeming +to resign themselves passively to the wind; or, again sailing high and +level far above the mountain's peak, no bluster and haste, but as +stated, occasionally a terrible earnestness and speed. Fire at one as +he sails overhead and, unless wounded badly, he will not change his +course or gait. + +His flight is a perfect picture of repose in motion. It strikes the +eye as more surprising than the flight of a pigeon, and swallow even, +in that the effort put forth is so uniform and delicate as to escape +observation, giving to the movement an air of buoyancy and perpetuity, +the effluence of power rather than the conscious application of it. + +The calmness and dignity of this hawk, when attacked by crows or the +kingbird, are well worth of him. He seldom deigns to notice his noisy +and furious antagonists, but deliberately wheels about in that aerial +spiral, and mounts and mounts till his pursuers grow dizzy and return +to earth again. It is quite original, this mode of getting rid of an +unworthy opponent, rising to the heights where the braggart is dazed +and bewildered and loses his reckoning! I am not sure but is is worthy +of imitation. + +But summer wanes, and autumn approaches. The songsters of the +seed-time are silent at the reaping of the harvest. Other minstrels +take up the strain. It is the heyday of insect life. The day is +canopied with musical sound. All the songs of the spring and summer +appear to be floating, softened and refined, in the upper air. The +birds, in a new but less holiday suit, turn their faces southward. The +swallows flock and go; the bobolinks flock and go; silently and +unobserved, the thrushes go. Autumn arrives, bringing finches, +warblers, sparrows, and kinglets from the north. Silently the +procession passes. Yonder hawk, sailing peacefully away till he is +lost in the horizon, is a symbol of the closing season and the +departing birds. 1863. + + + +II + +IN THE HEMLOCKS + +Most people receive with incredulity a statement of the number of +birds that annually visit our climate. Very few even are aware of half +the number that spend the summer in their own immediate vicinity. We +little suspect, when we walk in the woods, whose privacy we are +intruding upon,--what rare and elegant visitants from Mexico, from +central and South America, and from the islands of the sea, are +holding their reunions in the branches over our heads, or pursuing +their pleasure on the ground before us. + +I recall the altogether admirable and shining family which Thoreau +dreamed he saw in the upper chambers of Spaulding's woods, which +Spaulding did not know lived there, and which were not put out when +Spaulding, whistling, drove his team through their lower halls. They +did not go into society in the village; they were quite well; they had +sons and daughters; they neither wove nor spun; there was a sound as +of suppressed hilarity. + +I take it for granted that the forester was only saying a pretty thing +of the birds, though I have observed that it does sometimes annoy them +when Spaulding's cart rumbles through their house. Generally, however, +they are as unconscious of Spaulding as Spaulding is of them. + +Walking the other day in an old hemlock wood, I counted over forty +varieties of these summer visitants, many of the common to other woods +in the vicinity, but quite a number peculiar to these ancient +solitudes, and not a few that are rare in any locality. It is quite +unusual to find so large a number abiding in one forest,--and that not +a large one,--most of them nesting and spending the summer there. Many +of those I observed commonly pass this season much farther north. But +the geographical distribution of birds is rather a climatical one. The +same temperature, though under different parallels, usually attracts +the same birds; difference in altitude being equivalent to the +difference in latitude. A given height above sea-level under the +parallel of thirty degrees may have the same climate as places under +that of thirty-five degrees, and similar flora and fauna. At the +head-waters of the Delaware, where I write, the latitude is that of +Boston, but the region has a much greater elevation, and hence a climate +that compares better with the northern part of the State and of New +England. Half a day's drive to the southeast brings me down into quite +a different temperature, with an older geological formation, different +forest timber, and different birds,--even with different mammals. +Neither the little gray rabbit nor the little gray fox is found in my +locality, but the great northern hare and the red fox are. In the last +century, a colony of beavers dwelt here, though the oldest inhabitant +cannot now point to even the traditional site of their dams. The +ancient hemlocks, whither I propose to take the reader, are rich in +many things besides birds. Indeed, their wealth in this respect is +owing mainly, no doubt, to their rank vegetable growth, their fruitful +swamps, and their dark, sheltered retreats. + +Their history is of an heroic cast. Ravished and torn by the tanner +in his thirst for bark, preyed upon by the lumberman, assaulted and +beaten back by the settler, still their spirit has never been broken, +their energies never paralyzed. Not many years ago a public highway +passed through them, but it was at no time a tolerable road; trees +fell across it, mud and limbs choked it up, till finally travelers +took the hint and went around; and now, walking along its deserted +course, I see only the footprints of coons, foxes, and squirrels. + +Nature loves such woods, and places her own seal upon them. Here she +show me what can be done with ferns and mosses and lichens. The soil +is marrowy and full of innumerable forests. Standing in these fragrant +aisles, I feel the strength of the vegetable kingdom, and am awed by +the deep and inscrutable processes of life going on so silently about +me. + +No hostile forms with axe or spud now visit these solitudes. The cows +have half-hidden ways through them, and know where the best browsing +is to be had. In spring, the farmer repairs to their bordering of +maples to make sugar; in July and August women and boys from all the +country about penetrate the old Barkpeelings for raspberries and +blackberries; and I know a youth who wonderingly follows their languid +stream casting for trout. + +In like spirit, alert and buoyant, on this bright June morning go I +also to reap my harvest,--pursuing a sweet more delectable than sugar, +fruit more savory than berries, and game for another palate than that +tickled by trout. + +June, of all the months, the student of ornithology can least afford +to lose. Most birds are nesting then, and in full song and plumage. +And what is a bird without its song? Do we not wait for the stranger +to speak? It seems to me that I do not know a bird till I have heard +its voice; then I come nearer it at once, and it possesses a human +interest to me. I have met the gray-cheeked thrush in the woods, and +held him in my hand; still I do not know him. The silence of the +cedar-bird throws a mystery about him which neither his good looks nor +his petty larcenies in cheery time can dispel. A bird's song contains +a clew to its life, and establishes a sympathy, an understanding, +between itself and the listener. + +I descend a steep hill, and approach the hemlocks through a large +sugar-bush. When twenty rods distant, I hear all along the line of the +forest the incessant warble of the red-eyed vireo, cheerful and happy +as the merry whistle of a schoolboy. He is one of our most common and +widely distributed birds. Approach any forest at any hour of the day, +in any kind of weather, from May to August, in any of the Middle or +Eastern districts, and the chances are that the first note you hear +will be his. Rain or shine, before noon or after, in the deep forest +or in the village grove,--when it is too hot for the thrushes or too +cold and windy for the warblers,--it is never out of time or place +for this little minstrel to indulge his cheerful strain. In the deep +wilds of the Adirondacks, where few birds are seen and fewer heard, +his note was almost constantly in my ear. Always busy, making it a +point never to suspend for one moment his occupation to indulge his +musical taste, his lay is that of industry and contentment. There is +nothing plaintive or especially musical in his performance, but the +sentiment expressed is eminently that of cheerfulness. Indeed, the +songs of most birds have some human significance, which, I think, is +the source of the delight we take in them. The song of the bobolink to +me expresses hilarity; the song sparrow's, faith; the bluebird's, +love; the catbird's, pride; the white-eyed flycatcher's, +self-consciousness; that of the hermit thrush spiritual serenity: +while there is something military in the call of the robin. + +The red-eye is classed among the flycatchers by some writers, but is +much more of a worm-eater, and has few of the traits or habits of the +Muscicapa or the true Sylvia. He resembles somewhat the warbling +vireo, and the two birds are often confounded by careless observers. +Both warble in the same cheerful strain, but the latter more +continuously and rapidly. The red-eye is a larger, slimmer bird, with +a faint bluish crown, and a light line over the eye. His movements are +peculiar. You may see him hopping among the limbs, exploring then +under side of the leaves, peering to the right and left, now flitting +a few feet, now hopping as many, and warbling incessantly, +occasionally in a subdued tone, which sounds from a very indefinite +distance. When he has found a worm to his liking, he turns lengthwise +of the limb and and bruises its head with his beak before devouring +it. + +As I enter the woods the slate-colored snowbird starts up before me +and chirps sharply. His protest when thus disturbed is almost metallic +in its sharpness. He breeds here, and is not esteemed a snowbird at +all, as he disappears at the near approach of winter, and returns +again in spring, like the song sparrow, and is not in any way +associated with the cold and snow. So different are the habits of +birds in different localities. Even the crow does not winter here, and +is seldom seen after December or before March. + +The snowbird, or "black chipping-bird," as it is known among the +farmers, is the finest architect of any of the ground-builders known +to me. The site of its nest is usually some low bank by the roadside, +near a wood. In a slight excavation, with a partially concealed +entrance, the exquisite structure is placed. Horse and cow hair are +plentifully used, imparting to the interior of the nest great symmetry +and firmness as well as softness. + +Passing down through the maple arches, barely pausing to observe the +antics of a trio of squirrels,--two gray ones and a black one,--I +cross an ancient brush fence and am fairly within the old hemlocks, +and in one of the most primitive, undisturbed nooks. In the deep moss +I tread as with muffled feet, and the pupils of my eyes dilate in the +dim, almost religious light. The irreverent red squirrels, however, +run and snicker at my approach, or mock the solitude with their +ridiculous chattering and frisking. + +This nook is the chosen haunt of the winter wren. This is the only +place and these the only woods in which I find him in this vicinity. +His voice fills these dim aisles, as if aided by some marvelous +sounding-board. Indeed, his song is very strong for so small a bird, +and unites in a remarkable degree brilliancy and plaintiveness. I +think of a tremulous vibrating tongue of silver. You may know it is +the song of a wren, from its gushing lyrical character; but you must +needs look sharp to see the little minstrel, especially while in the +act of singing. He is nearly the color of the ground and the leaves; +he never ascends the tall trees, but keeps low, flitting from stump to +stump and from root to root, dodging in and out of his hiding-places, +and watching all intruders with a suspicious eye. He has a very pert, +almost comical look. His tail stands more that perpendicular: it +points straight toward his head. He is the least ostentatious singer I +know of. He does not strike an attitude, and lift up his head in +preparation, and, as it were, clear his throat; but sits there on a +log and pours out his music, looking straight before him, or even down +at the ground. As a songster, he has but few superiors. I do not hear +him after the first week in July. + +While sitting on this soft-cushioned log, tasting the pungent +acidulous wood-sorrel, the blossoms of which, large and pink-veined, +rise everywhere above the moss, a rufous-colored bird flies quickly +past, and, alighting on a low limb a few rods off, salutes me with +"Whew! Whew!" or "Whoit! Whoit!" almost as you would whistle for your +dog. I see by his impulsive, graceful movement, and his dimly speckled +breast, that it is a thrush. Presently he utters a few soft, mellow, +flute-like notes, one of the most simple expressions of melody to be +heard, and scuds away, and I see it is the veery, or Wilson's thrush. +He is the least of the thrushes in size, being about that of the +common bluebird, and he may be distinguished from his relatives by the +dimness of the spots upon his breast. The wood thrush has very clear, +distinct oval spots on a white ground; in the hermit, the spots run +more into lines, on a ground of a faint bluish white; in the veery, +the marks are almost obsolete, and a few rods off his breast presents +only a dull yellowish appearance. To get a good view of him you have +only to sit down in his haunts, as in such cases he seems equally +anxious to get a good view of you. + +From those tall hemlocks proceeds a very fine insect-like warble, and +occasionally I see a spray tremble, or catch the flit of a wing. I +watch and watch till my head grows dizzy and my neck is in danger of +permanent displacement, and still do not get a good view. Presently +the bird darts, or, as it seems, falls down a few feet in pursuit of a +fly or a moth, and I see the whole of it, but in the dim light am +undecided. It is for such emergencies that I have brought my gun. A +bird in the hand is worth half a dozen in the bush, even for +ornithological purposes; and no sure and rapid-progress can be made +in the study without taking life, without procuring specimens. This +bird is a warbler, plainly enough, from his habits and manner; but +what kind of warbler? Look on him and name him: a deep orange or +flame-colored throat and breast; the same color showing also in a line +over the eye and in his crown; back variegated black and white. The +female is less marked and brilliant. The orange-throated warbler would +seem to be his right name, his characteristic cognomen; but no, he is +doomed to wear the name of some discoverer, perhaps the first who +rifled his nest or robbed him of his mate,--Blackburn; hence +Blackburnian warbler. The burn seems appropriate enough, for in these +dark evergreens his throat and breast show like flame. He has a very +fine warble, suggesting that of the redstart, but not especially +musical. I find him in not other woods in this vicinity. + +I am attracted by another warble in the same locality, and experience +a like difficulty in getting a good view of the author of it. It is +quite a noticeable strain, sharp and sibilant, and sounds well amid +the the old trees. In the upland woods of beech and maple it is a more +familiar sound than in these solitudes. On taking the bird in hand, +one can not help exclaiming, "How beautiful!" So tiny and elegant, the +smallest of the warblers; a delicate blue back, with a slight +bronze-colored triangular spot between the shoulders; upper mandible +black; lower mandible yellow as gold; throat yellow, becoming a dark +bronze on the breast. Blue yellow-back he is called, though the yellow +is much nearer a bronze. He is remarkably delicate and beautiful,--the +handsomest as he is the smallest of the warblers known to me. It is +never without surprise that I find amid these rugged, savage aspects +of nature creatures so fairy and delicate. But such is the law. Go to +the sea or climb the mountain, and with the ruggedest and the savagest +you will find likewise the fairest and the most delicate. The +greatness and the minuteness of nature pass all understanding. + +Ever since I entered the woods, even while listening to the lesser +songsters, or contemplating the silent forms about me, a strain has +reached my ears from out of the depths of the forest that to me is the +finest sound in nature,--the song of the hermit thrush. I often hear +him thus a long way off, sometimes over a quarter of a mile away, when +only the stronger and more perfect parts of his music reach me; and +through the general chorus of wrens and warblers I detect this sound +rising pure and serene, as if a spirit from some remote height were +slowly chanting a divine accompaniment. This song appeals to the +sentiment of the beautiful in me, and suggests a serene religious +beatitude as no other sound in nature does. It is perhaps more of an +evening than a morning hymn, + +though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple, and I +can hardly tell the secret of its charm. "O spheral, spheral!" he +seems to say; "O holy, holy! O clear away, clear away! O clear up, +clear up!" interspersed with the finest trills and the most delicate +preludes. It is not a proud, gorgeous strain, like the tanager's or +the grosbeak's; suggests no passion or emotion,--nothing +personal,--but seems to be the voice of that calm, sweet solemnity one +attains to in his best moments. It realizes a peace and a deep, solemn +joy that only the finest souls may know. A few nights ago I ascended a +mountain to see the world by moonlight, and when near the summit the +hermit commenced his evening hymn a few rods from me. Listening to +this strain on the lone mountain, with the full moon just rounded from +the horizon, the pomp of your cities and the pride of your +civilization seemed trivial and cheap. + +I have seldom known two of these birds to be singing at the same time +in the same locality, rivaling each other, like the wood thrush or the +veery. Shooting one from a tree, I have observed another take up the +strain from almost the identical perch in less than ten minutes +afterward. Later in the day, when I had penetrated the heart of the +old Barkpeeling, I came suddenly upon one singing from a low stump, +and for a wonder he did not seem alarmed, but lifted up his divine +voice as if his privacy was undisturbed. I open his beak and find the +inside yellow as gold. I was prepared to find it inlaid with pearls +and diamonds, or to see an angel issue from it. + +He is not much in the books. Indeed, I am acquainted with scarcely +any writer on ornithology whose head is not muddled on the subject of +our three prevailing song-thrushes, confounding either their figures +or their songs. A writer in the "Atlantic" [Footnote: For December, +1853] gravely tells us the wood thrush is sometimes called the hermit, +and then, after describing the song of the hermit with great beauty +and correctness, cooly ascribes it to the veery! The new Cyclopaedia, +fresh from the study of Audubon, says the hermit's song consists of a +single plaintive note, and that the veery's resembles that of the wood +thrush! The hermit thrush may be easily identified by his color; his +back being a clear olive-brown becoming rufous on his rum and tail. A +quill from his wing placed beside one from his tail on a dark ground +presents quite a marked contrast. + +I walk along the old road, and note the tracks in the thin layer of +mud. When do these creatures travel here? I have never yet chanced to +meet one. Here a partridge has set its foot; there, a woodcock; here, +a squirrel or mink; thee, a skunk; there, a fox. What a clear, nervous +track reynard makes! how easy to distinguish it from that of a little +dog,--it is so sharply cut and defined! A dog's track is coarse and +clumsy beside it. There is as much wildness in the track of an animal +as in its voice. Is a deer's track like a sheep's or a goat's? What +winged-footed fleetness and agility may be inferred from the sharp, +braided track of the gray squirrel upon the new snow! Ah! in nature is +the best discipline. How wood-life sharpens the senses, giving a new +power to the eye, the ear, the nose! And are not the rarest and most +exquisite songsters wood-birds? + +Everywhere in these solitudes I am greeted with the pensive, almost +pathetic not of the wood pewee. The pewees are the true flycatchers, +and are easily identified. They are very characteristic birds, have +strong family traits and pugnacious dispositions. They are the least +attractive or elegant birds of our fields or forests. +Sharp-shouldered, big-headed, short-legged, of no particular color, of +little elegance in flight or movement, with a disagreeable flirt of +the tail, always quarreling with their neighbors and with one another, +no birds are so little calculated to excite pleasurable emotions in +the beholder, or to become objects of human interest and affection. +The kingbird is the best dressed member of the family, but he is a +braggart; and, though always snubbing his neighbors, is an arrant +coward, and shows the white feather at the slightest display of pluck +in his antagonist. I have seen him turn tail to a swallow, and have +known the little pewee in question to whip him beautifully. From the +great-crested to the little green flycatcher, their ways and general +habits are the same. Slow in flying from point to point, they yet have +a wonderful quickness, and snap up the fleetest insects with little +apparent effort. There is a constant play of quick, nervous movements +underneath their outer show of calmness and stolidity. They do not +scour the limbs and trees like the warblers, but, perched upon the +middle branches, wait, like true hunters, for the game to come along. +There is often a very audible snap of the beak as they seize their +prey. + +The wood pewee, the prevailing species in this locality, arrests your +attention by his sweet, pathetic cry. There is room for it also in the +deep woods, as well as for the more prolonged and elevated strains. + +Its relative, the phoebe-bird, builds an exquisite nest of moss on the +side of some shelving cliff or overhanging rock. The other day, +passing by a ledge, near the top of a mountain in a singularly +desolate locality, my eye rested upon one of these structures, looking +precisely as if it grew there, so in keeping was it with the mossy +character of the rock, and I have had a growing affection for the bird +ever since. The rock seemed to love the nest and claim it as its own. +I said, what a lesson in architecture is here! Here is a house that +was built, but with such loving care and such beautiful adaptation of +the means to the end, that it looks like a product of nature. The same +wise economy is noticeable in the nests of all birds. No bird could +paint its house white or red, or add aught for show. + +At one point in the grayest, most shaggy part of the woods, I come +suddenly upon a brood of screech owls, full grown, sitting together +upon a dry, moss-draped limb, but a few feet from the ground. I pause +within four or five yards of them and am looking about me, when my eye +lights upon these, gray, motionless figures. They sit perfectly +upright, some with their backs and some with their breasts toward me, +but every head turned squarely in my direction. Their eyes are closed +to a mere black line; though this crack they are watching me, +evidently thinking themselves unobserved. The spectacle is weird and +grotesque. It is a new effect, the night side of the woods by +daylight. After observing them a moment I take a single step toward +them, when, quick as thought, their eyes fly wide open, their attitude +is changed, they bend, some this way, some that, and, instinct with +life and motion, stare wildly about them. Another step, and they all +take flight but one, which stoops low on the branch, and with the look +of a frightened cat regards me for a few seconds over its shoulder. +They fly swiftly and softly, and disperse through the trees. I shoot +one, which is of a tawny red tint, like that figured by Wilson. It is +a singular fact that the plumage of these owls presents two totally +distinct phases which "have no relation to sex, age, or season," one +being an ashen gray, the other a bright rufous. + +Coming to a drier and less mossy place in the woods, I am amused with +the golden-crowned thrush,--which, however, is no thrush at all, but a +warbler. He walks on the ground ahead of me with such an easy, gliding +motion, and with such an unconscious, preoccupied air, jerking his +head like a hen or a partridge, now hurrying, now slackening his pace, +that I pause to observe him. I sit down, he pauses to observe me, and +extends his pretty ramblings on all sides, apparently very much +engrossed with his own affairs, but never losing sight of me. But few +of the birds are walkers, most being hoppers, like the robin. + +Satisfied that I have no hostile intentions, the pretty pedestrian +mounts a limb a few feet from the ground, and gives me the benefit of +one of his musical performances, a sort of accelerating chant. +Commencing in a very low key, which makes him seem at a very uncertain +distance, he grows louder and louder till his body quakes and his +chant runs into a shriek, ringing in my ear, with a peculiar +sharpness. This lay may be represented thus: + +[TRANSCRIBISTS NOTE: ORIGINAL BOOK USES FONT SHIFTS +TO ILLUSTRATE AN INCREASE IN VOLUME] + +"Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher!"--the accent on the +first syllable and each word uttered with increased force and +shrillness. No writer with whom I am acquainted gives him credit for +more musical ability than is displayed in this strain. Yet in this the +half is not told. He has a far rarer song, which he reserves for some +nymph whom he meets in the air. Mounting by easy flights to the top of +the tallest tree, he launches into the air with a sort of suspended, +hovering flight, like certain of the finches, and bursts into a +perfect ecstasy of song,--clear, ringing, copious, rivaling the +goldfinch's in vivacity, and the linnet's in melody. This strain is +one of the rarest bits of bird melody to be heard, and is oftenest +indulged in late in the afternoon or after sundown. Over the woods, +hid from view, the ecstatic singer warbles his finest strain. In this +song you instantly detect his relationship to the +water-wagtail,--erroneously called water-thrush,--whose song is +likewise a sudden burst, full and ringing, and with a tone of youthful +joyousness in it, as if the bird had just had some unexpected good +fortune. For nearly two years this strain of the pretty walker was +little more than a disembodied voice to me, and I was puzzled by it as +Thoreau by his mysterious night-warbler, which, by the way, I suspect +was no new bird at all, but one he was otherwise familiar with. The +little bird himself seems disposed to keep the matter a secret, and +improves every opportunity to repeat before you his shrill, +accelerating lay, as if this were quite enough and all he laid claim +to. Still, I trust I am betraying no confidence in making the matter +public here. I think this is preeminently his love-song, as I hear it +oftenest about the mating season. I have caught half-suppressed bursts +of it from two males chasing each other with fearful speed through the +forest. + +Turning to the left from the old road, I wander over soft logs and +gray yielding debris, across the little trout brook, until I emerge in +the overgrown Barkpeeling,--pausing now and then on the way to admire +a small, solitary now and then on the way to admire a small, solitary +white flower which rises above the moss, with radical, heart-shaped +leaves, and a blossom precisely like the liverwort except in color, +but which is not put down in my botany,--or to observe the ferns, of +which I count six varieties, some gigantic ones nearly shoulder-high. + +At the foot of a rough, scraggly yellow birch, on a bank of club-moss, +so richly inlaid with partridge-berry and curious shining +leaves--with here and there in the bordering a spire of false +wintergreen strung with faint pink flowers and exhaling the breath of +a May orchard--that it looks too costly a couch for such an idler, I +recline to note what transpires. The sun is just past the meridian, +and the afternoon chorus is not yet in full tune. Most birds sing with +the greatest spirit and vivacity in the forenoon, though there are +occasional bursts later in the day in which nearly all voices join; +while it is not till the twilight that the full power and solemnity of +the thrush's hymn is felt. + +My attention is soon arrested by a pair of hummingbirds, the +ruby-throated, disporting themselves in a low bush a few yards from +me. The female takes shelter amid the branches, and squeaks exultingly +as the male, circling above, dives down as if to dislodge her. Seeing +me, he drops like a feather on a slender twig, and in a moment both +are gone. Then as if by a preconcerted signal, the throats are all +atune. I lie on my back with eyes half closed, and analyze the chorus +of warblers, thrushes, finches, and flycatchers; while, soaring above +all, a little withdrawn and alone rises the divine contralto of the +hermit. That richly modulated warble proceeding from the top of yonder +birch, and which unpracticed ears would mistake for the voice of the +scarlet tanager, comes from that rare visitant, the rose-breasted +grosbeak. It is a strong, vivacious strain, a bright noonday song, +full of health and assurance, indicating fine talents in the +performer, but not a genius. As I come up under the tree he casts his +eye down at me, but continues his song. This bird is said to be quite +common in the Northwest, but he is rare in the Eastern districts. His +beak is disproportionately large and heavy, like a huge nose, which +slightly mars his good looks; but Nature has made it up to him in a +blush rose upon his breast, and the most delicate of pink linings to +the under side of his wings. His back is variegated black and white, +and when flying low the white shows conspicuously. If he passed over +your head, you would not the delicate flush under his wings. + +That bit of bright scarlet on yonder dead hemlock, glowing like a live +coal against the dark background, seeming almost too brilliant for the +severe northern climate, is his relative, the scarlet tanager. I +occasionally meet him in the deep hemlocks, and know no stronger +contrast in nature. I almost fear he will kindle the dry limb on which +he alights. He is quite a solitary bird, and in this section seems to +prefer the high, remote woods, even going quite to the mountain's top. +Indeed, the event of my last visit to the mountain was meeting one of +these brilliant creatures near the summit, in full song. The breeze +carried the notes far and wide. He seemed to enjoy the elevation, and +I imagined his song had more scope and freedom than usual. When he had +flown far down the mountain-side, the breeze still brought me his +finest notes. In plumage he is the most brilliant bird we have. The +bluebird is not entirely blue; nor will the indigo-bird bear a close +inspection, nor the goldfinch, nor the summer redbird. But the tanager +loses nothing by a near view; the deep scarlet of his body and the +black of his wings and tail are quite perfect. This is his holiday +suit; in the fall be becomes a dull yellowish green,--the color of the +female the whole season. + +One of the leading songsters in this choir of the old Barkpeeling is +the purple finch or linnet. He sits somewhat apart, usually on a dead +hemlock, and warbles most exquisitely. He is one of our finest +songsters, and stands at the head of the finches, as the hermit at the +head of the thrushes. His song approaches an ecstasy, and, with the +exception of the winter wren's, is the most rapid and copious strain +to be heard in these woods. It is quite destitute of the trills and +the liquid, silvery, bubbling notes that characterize the wren's; but +there runs through it a round, richly modulated whistle, very sweet +and very pleasing. The call of the robin is brought in at a certain +point with marked effect, and, throughout, the variety is so great and +the strain so rapid that the impression is as of two or three birds +singing at the same time. He is not common here, and I only find him +in these or similar woods. His color is peculiar, and looks as if it +might have been imparted by dipping a brown bird in diluted pokeberry +juice. Two or three more dipping would have made the purple complete. +The female is the color of the song sparrow, a little larger, with +heavier beak, and tail much more forked. + +In a little opening quite free from brush and trees, I step down to +bath my hands in the brook, when a small, light slate-colored bird +flutters out of the bank, not three feet from my head, as I stoop +down, and, as if severely lamed or injured, flutters through the grass +and into the nearest bush. As I do not follow, but remain near the +nest, she chips sharply, which brings the male, and I see it is the +speckled Canada warbler. I find no authority in the books for this +bird to build upon the ground, yet here is the nest, made chiefly of +dry grass, set in a slight excavation in the bank not two feet from +the water, and looking a little perilous to anything but ducklings or +sandpipers. There are two young birds and one little speckled egg just +pipped. But how is this? what mystery is here? One nestling is much +larger than the other, monopolizes most of the nest, and lifts its +open mouth far above that of its companion, though obviously both are +of the same age, not more than a day old. Ah! I see; the old trick of +the cow bunting, with a stinging human significance. Taking the +interloper by the nape of the neck, I deliberately drop it into the +water, but not without a pang, as I see its naked form, convulsed with +chills, float downstream. Cruel? So is Nature cruel. I take one life +to save two. In less than two days this pot-bellied intruder would +have caused the death of the two rightful occupants of the nest; so I +step in and turn things into their proper channel again. + +It is a similar freak of nature, this instinct which prompts one bird +to lay its eggs in the nests of others, and thus shirk the +responsibility of rearing its own young. The cow buntings always +resort to this cunning trick; and when one reflects upon their +numbers, it is evident that these little tragedies are quite frequent. +In Europe the parallel case is that of the cuckoo, and occasionally +our own cuckoo imposes upon a robin or a thrush in the same manner. +The cow bunting seems to have no conscience about the matter, and, so +far as I have observed, invariable selects the nest of a bird smaller +than itself. Its egg is usually the first to hatch; its young +overreaches all the rest when food is brought; it grow with great +rapidity, spreads and fills the nest, and the starved and crowded +occupants soon perish, when the parent bird removes their dead bodies, +giving its whole energy and care to the foster-child. + +The warblers and smaller flycatchers are generally the sufferers, +though I sometimes see the slate-colored snowbird unconsciously duped +in like manner; and the other day, in a tall tree in the woods, I +discovered the black-throated green-backed warbler devoting itself to +this dusky, over-grown foundling. An old farmer to whom I pointed out +the fact was much surprised that such things should happen in his +woods without his knowledge. + +These birds may be seen prowling through all parts of the woods at +this season, watching for an opportunity to steal their egg into some +nest. One day while sitting on a log, I saw one moving by short +flights through the trees and gradually nearing the ground. Its +movements were hurried and stealthy. About fifty yards from me it +disappeared behind some low brush, and had evidently alighted upon the +ground. + +After waiting a few moments I cautiously walked in the direction. +When about halfway I accidentally made a slight noise, when the bird +flew up, and seeing me, hurried out of the woods. Arrived at the +place, I found a simple nest of dry grass and leaves partially +concealed under a prostrate branch. I took it to be the nest of a +sparrow. There were three eggs in a nest, and one lying about a foot +below it as if it had been rolled out, as of course it had. It +suggested the thought that perhaps, when the cowbird finds the full +complement of eggs in a nest, it throws out one and deposits its own +instead. I revisited the nest a few days afterward and found an egg +again cast out, but none had been put in its place. The nest had been +abandoned by its owner and the eggs were stale. + +In all cases where I have found this egg, I have observed both male +and female cowbird lingering near, the former uttering his peculiar +liquid, glassy note from the tops of the trees. + +In July, the young which have been reared in the same neighborhood, +and which are now of a dull fawn color, begin to collect in small +flocks, which grow to be quite large in autumn. + +The specked Canada is a very superior warbler, having a lively, +animated strain, reminding you of certain parts of the canary's, +though quite broken and incomplete; the bird, the while, hopping amid +the branches with increased liveliness, and indulging in fine sibilant +chirps, too happy to keep silent. + +His manners are quite marked. He has a habit of courtesying when he +discovers you which is very pretty. In form he is an elegant bird, +somewhat slender, his back of a bluish lead-color becoming nearly +black on his crown: the under part of his body, from his throat down, +is of a light, delicate yellow, with a belt of black dots across his +breast. He has a fine eye, surrounded by a light yellow ring. + +The parent birds are much disturbed by my presence, and keep up a loud +emphatic chirping, which attracts the attention of their sympathetic +neighbors, and one after another they come to see what has happened. +The chestnut-sided and the Blackburnian come in company. The black and +yellow warbler pauses a moment and hastens away; the Maryland +yellow-throat peeps shyly from the lower bushes and utters his "Fip! +fip!" in sympathy; the wood pewee comes straight to the tree overhead, +and the red-eyed vireo lingers and lingers, eyeing me with a curious +innocent look, evidently much puzzled. But all disappear again, one by +one, apparently without a word of condolence or encouragement to the +distressed pair. I have often noticed among birds this show of +sympathy,--if indeed it be sympathy, and not merely curiosity, or +desire to be forewarned of the approach of a common danger. + +An hour afterward I approach the place, find all still, and the mother +bird upon her nest. As I draw near she seems to sit closer, her eyes +growing large with an inexpressibly wild, beautiful look. She keeps +her place till I am within two paces of her, when she flutters away as +at first. In the brief interval the remaining egg has hatched, and the +two little nestling lift their heads without being jostled or +overreached by any strange bedfellow. A week afterward and they were +flown away,--so brief is the infancy of birds. And the wonder is that +they escape, even for this short time, the skunks and minks and +muskrats that abound here, and that have a decided partiality for such +tidbits. + +I pass on through the old Barkpeeling, now threading an obscure +cow-path or an overgrown wood-road; now clambering over soft and +decayed logs, or forcing my way through a network of briers and +hazels; now entering a perfect bower of wild cherry, beech, and soft +maple; now emerging into a grassy lane, golden with buttercups or +white with daisies, or wading waist-deep in the red raspberry-bushes. + +Whir! whir! whir! and a brood of half-grown partridges start up like +an explosion, a few paces from me, and, scattering, disappear in the +bushes on all sides. Let me sit down here behind the screen of ferns +and briers, and hear this wild hen of the woods call together her +brood. At what an early age the partridge flies! Nature seems to +concentrate her energies on the wing, making the safety of a bird a +point to be looked after first; and while the body is covered with +down, and no signs of feathers are visible, the wing-quills sprout and +unfold, and in an incredibly short time the young make fair headway in +flying. + +The same rapid development of wing may be observed in chickens and +turkeys, but not in water-fowls, nor in birds that are safely housed +in the nest till full-fledged. The other day, by a brook, I came +suddenly upon a young sandpiper, a most beautiful creature, enveloped +in a soft gray down, swift and nimble and apparently a week or two +old, but with no signs of plumage either of body or wing. And it +needed none, for it escaped me by taking to the water as readily as if +it had flown with wings. + +Hark! there arises over there in the brush a soft persuasive cooing, +a sound so subtle and wild and unobtrusive that it requires the most +alert and watchful ear to hear it. How gentle and solicitous and full +of yearning love! It is the voice of the mother hen. Presently a faint +timid "Yeap!" which almost eludes the ear, is heard in various +direction,--the young responding. As no danger seems near, the cooing +of the parent bird is soon a very audible clucking call, and the young +move cautiously in the direction. Let me step never to carefully from +my hiding-place, and all sounds instantly cease, and I search in vain +for either parent or young. + +The partridge is one of our most native and characteristic birds. The +woods seem good to be in where I find him. He gives a habitable air to +the forest, and one feels as if the rightful occupant was really at +home. The woods where I do not find him seem to want something, as if +suffering from some neglect of Nature. And then he is such a splendid +success, so hardy and vigorous. I think he enjoys the cold and the +snow. His wings seem to rustle with more fervency in midwinter. If the +snow falls very fast, and promises a heavy storm he will complacently +sit down allow himself to be snowed under. Approaching him at such +times, he suddenly bursts out of the snow at your feet, scattering the +flakes in all directions, and goes humming away through the woods like +a bombshell,--a picture of native spirit and success. + +His drum is one of the most welcome and beautiful sounds of spring. +Scarcely have the trees expanded their buds, when, in the still April +mornings, or toward nightfall, you hear the hum of his devoted wings. +He selects not, as you would predict, a dry and resinous log, but a +decayed and crumbling one, seeming to give the preference to old +oak-logs that are partly blended with the soil. If a log to his taste +cannot be found, he sets up his alter on a rock, which becomes +resonant beneath his fervent blows. Who has seen the partridge drum? +It is the next thing to catching a weasel asleep, though by much +caution and tact it may be done. He does not hug the log, but stands +very erect, expands his ruff, gives two introductory blows, pauses +half a second, and then resumes, striking faster and faster till the +sound becomes a continuous, unbroken whir, the whole lasting less than +half a minute. The tips of his wings barely brush the log, so that the +sound is produced rather by the force of the blows upon the air and +upon his own body as in flying. One log will be used for many years, +though not by the same drummer. It seems to be a sort of temple and +held in great respect. The bird always approaches on foot, and leaves +it in the same quiet manner, unless rudely disturbed. He is very +cunning, though his wit is not profound. It is difficult to approach +him by stealth, you will try many times before succeeding; but seem to +pass by him in a great hurry, making all the noise possible, and with +plumage furled, he stands as immovable as a know, allowing you a good +view, and a good shot if you are a sportsman. + +Passing along one of the old Barkpeelers' roads which wander aimlessly +about, I am attracted by a singularly brilliant and emphatic warble, +proceeding from the low bushes, and quickly suggesting the voice of +the Maryland yellow-throat. Presently the singer hops up on a dry +twig, and gives me a good view: lead-colored head and neck, becoming +nearly black on the breast; clear olive-green back, and yellow belly. +From his habit of keeping near the ground, even hopping upon it +occasionally, I know him to be a ground warbler; from his dark breast +the ornithologist has added the expletive mourning, hence the mourning +ground warbler. + +Of this bird both Wilson and Audubon confessed their comparative +ignorance, neither ever having seen its nest or become acquainted with +its haunts and general habits. Its song is quite striking and novel, +though its voice at once suggests the class of warblers to which it +belongs. It is very shy and wary, flying but a few feet at a time, and +studiously concealing itself from your view. I discover but one pair +here. The female has food in her beak, but carefully avoids betraying +the locality of her nest. The ground warblers all have one notable +feature,--very beautiful legs, as white and delicate as if they had +always worn silk stockings and satin slippers. High tree warblers have +dark brown or black legs and more brilliant plumage, but less musical +ability. + +The chestnut-sided belongs to the latter class. He is quite common in +these woods, as in all the woods about. He is one of the rarest and +handsomest of the warblers; his white breast and throat, chestnut +sides, and yellow crown show conspicuously. Last year I found the nest +of one in an uplying beech wood, in a low bush near the roadside, +where cows passed and browsed daily. Things went on smoothly till the +cow bunting stole her egg into it, when other mishaps followed, and +the nest was soon empty. A characteristic attitude of the male during +this season is a slight drooping of the wings, and a tail a little +elevated, which gives him a very smart, bantam-like appearance. His +song is fine and hurried, and not much of itself, but has its place in +the general chorus. + +A far sweeter strain, falling on the ear with the true sylvan cadence, +is that of the black-throated green-backed warbler, whom I meet at +various points. He has no superiors among the true Sylvia. His song is +very plain and simple, but remarkably pure and tender, and might be +indicated by straight lines, thus [2 dashes, square root symbol, high +dash]; the first two marks representing two sweet, silvery notes, in +the same pitch of voice, and quite unaccented; the latter marks, the +concluding notes, wherein the tone and inflection are changed. The +throat and breast of the male are a rich black like velvet, his face +yellow, and his back a yellowish green. + +Beyond the Barkpeeling, where the woods are mingled hemlock, beech, +and birch, the languid midsummer note of the black-throated blue-back +falls on my ear. "Twea, twea, twea-e-e!" in the upward slide, and with +the peculiar z-ing of summer insects, but not destitute of a certain +plaintive cadence. It is one of the most languid, unhurried sounds in +all the woods. I feel like reclining upon the dry leaves at once. +Audubon says he has never heard his love-song; but this is all the +love-song he has, and he is evidently a very plain hero with his +little brown mistress. He assumes few attitudes, and is not a bold and +striking gymnast, like many of his kindred. He has a preference for +dense woods of beech and maple, moves slowly amid the lower branches +and smaller growths, keeping from eight to ten feet from the ground, +and repeating now and then his listless, indolent strain. His back and +crown are dark blue; his throat and breast, black; his belly, pure +white; and he has a white spot on each wing. + +Here and there I meet the black and white creeping warbler, whose fine +strain reminds me of hairwire. It is unquestionably the finest +bird-song to be heard. Few insect strains will compare with it in this +respect; while it has none of the harsh, brassy character of the +latter, being very delicate and tender. + +That sharp, uninterrupted, but still continued warble, which before +one has learned to discriminate closely, he is apt to confound with +the red-eyed vireo's, is that of the solitary warbling vireo,--a bird +slightly larger, much rarer, and with a louder less cheerful and happy +strain. I see him hopping along lengthwise of the limbs, and note the +orange tinge of his breast and sides and the white circle around his +eye. + +But the declining sun and the deepening shadows admonish me that this +ramble must be brought to a close, even though only the leading +characters in this chorus of forty songsters have been described, and +only a small portion of the venerable old woods explored. In a +secluded swampy corner of the old Barkpeeling, where I find the great +purple orchis in bloom, and where the foot of man or beast seems never +to have trod, I linger long, contemplating the wonderful display of +lichens and mosses that overrun both the smaller and the larger +growths. Every bush and branch and sprig is dressed up in the most +rich and fantastic of liveries; and, crowning all, the long bearded +moss festoons the branches or sways gracefully from the limbs. Every +twig looks a century old, though green leaves tip the end of it. A +young yellow birch has a venerable, patriarchal look, and seems ill at +ease under such premature honors. A decayed hemlock is draped as if by +hands for some solemn festival. + +Mounting toward the upland again, I pause reverently as the hush and +stillness of twilight com upon the woods. It is the sweetest, ripest +hour of the day. And as the hermit's evening hymn goes up from the +deep solitude below me, I experience that serene exaltation of +sentiment of which music, literature, and religion are but the faint +types and symbols. 1865. + + + +III + +THE ADIRONDACKS + +When I went to the Adirondacks, which was in the summer of 1863, I was +in the first flush of my ornithological studies, and was curious, +above else, to know what birds I should find in these solitudes,--what +new ones, and what ones already known to me. + +In visiting vast primitive, far-off woods one naturally expects to +find something rare and precious, or something entirely new, but it +commonly happens that one is disappointed. Thoreau made three +excursions into the Maine woods, and, though he started the moose and +the caribou, had nothing more novel to report by way of bird notes +than the songs of the wood thrush and the pewee. This was about my own +experience in the Adirondacks. The birds for the most part prefer the +vicinity of settlements and clearings, and it was at such places that +I saw the greatest number and variety. + +At the clearing of an old hunter and pioneer by the name of Hewett, +where we paused a couple of days on first entering the woods, I saw +many old friends and made some new acquaintances. The snowbird was +very abundant here, as it had been at various points along the route +after leaving Lake George. As I went out to the spring in the morning +to wash myself, a purple finch flew up before me, having already +performed its ablutions. I had first observed this bird the winter +before in the Highlands of the Hudson, where, during several clear but +cold February mornings, a troop of them sang most charmingly in a tree +in front of my house. The meeting with the bird here in its breeding +haunts was a pleasant surprise. During the day I observed several pine +finches,--a dark brown or brindlish bird, allied to the common +yellowbird, which it much resembles in its manner and habits. They +lingered familiarly about the house, sometimes alighting in a small +tree within a few feet of it. In one of the stumpy fields I saw an old +favorite in the grass finch or vesper swallow. It was sitting on a +tall charred stub with food in its beak. But all along the borders of +the woods and in the bushy parts of the fields there was a new song +that I was puzzled in tracing to the author. It was most noticeable in +the morning and at twilight, but was at all times singularly secret +and elusive. I at last discovered that it was the white-throated +sparrow, a common bird all through this region. Its song is very +delicate and plaintive,--a thin, wavering, tremulous whistle, which +disappoints one, however, as it ends when it seems only to have begun. +If the bird could give us the finishing strain of which this seems +only the prelude, it would stand first among feathered songsters. + +By a little trout brook in a low part of the woods adjoining the +clearing, I had a good time pursuing and identifying a number of +warblers,--the speckled Canada, the black-throated blue, the +yellow-rumped, and Audubon's warbler. The latter, which was leading +its troop of young through a thick undergrowth on the banks of the +creek where insects were plentiful, was new to me. + +It being August, the birds were all moulting, and sang only fitfully +and by brief snatches. I remember hearing but one robin during the +whole trip. This was by the Boreas River in the deep forest. It was +like the voice of an old friend speaking my name. + +From Hewett's, after engaging his youngest son,--the "Bub" of the +family,--a young man about twenty and a thorough woodsman, as our +guide, we took to the woods in good earnest, our destination being the +Stillwater of the Boreas,--a long, deep, dark reach in one of the +remotest branches of the Hudson, about six miles distant. Here we +paused a couple of days, putting up in a dilapidated lumbermen's +shanty, and cooking our fish over an old stove which had been left +there. The most noteworthy incident of our stay at this point was the +taking by myself of half a dozen splendid trout out of the Stillwater, +after the guide had exhausted his art and his patience with very +insignificant results. The place had a very trouty look; but as the +season was late and the river warm, I knew the fish lay in deep water +from which they could not be attracted. In deep water accordingly, and +near the head of the hole, I determined to look for them. Securing a +chub, I cut it into pieces about an inch long, and with these for bait +sank my hook into the head of the Stillwater, and just to one side of +the main current. In less than twenty minutes I had landed six noble +fellows, three of them over one foot long each. The guide and my +incredulous companions, who were watching me from the opposite shore, +seeing my luck, whipped out their tackle in great haste and began +casting first at a respectable distance from me, then all about me, +but without a single catch. My own efforts suddenly became fruitless +also, but I had conquered the guide, and thenceforth he treated me +with the tone and freedom of a comrade and equal. + +One afternoon, we visited a cave some two miles down the stream, which +had recently been discovered. We squeezed and wriggled through a big +crack or cleft in the side of the mountain for about one hundred feet, +when we emerged into a large dome-shaped passage, the abode during +certain seasons of the year of innumerable bats, and at all times of +primeval darkness. There were various other crannies and pit-holes +opening into it, some of which we explored. The voice of running water +was everywhere heard, betraying the proximity of the little stream by +whose ceaseless corroding the cave and its entrance had been worn. +This streamlet flowed out of the mouth of the cave, and came from a +lake on the top of the mountain; this accounted for its warmth to the +hand, which surprised us all. + +Birds of any kind were rare in these woods. A pigeon hawk came +prowling by our camp, and the faint piping call of the nuthatches, +leading their young through the high trees, was often heard. + +On the third day our guide proposed to conduct us to a lake in the +mountains where we could float for deer. + +Our journey commenced in a steep and rugged ascent, which brought us, +after an hour's heavy climbing, to an elevated region of pine forest, +years before ravished by lumbermen, and presenting all manner of +obstacles to our awkward and incumbered pedestrianism. The woods were +largely pine, though yellow birch, beech, and maple were common. The +satisfaction of having a gun, should any game show itself, was the +chief compensation to those of us who were thus burdened. A partridge +would occasionally whir up before us, or a red squirrel snicker and +hasten to his den; else the woods appeared quite tenantless. The most +noted object was a mammoth pine, apparently the last of a great race, +which presided over a cluster of yellow birches, on the side of the +mountain. + +About noon, we came out upon a long, shallow sheet of water which the +guide called Bloody-Moose Pond, from the tradition that a moose had +been slaughtered there many years before. Looking out over the silent +and lonely scene, his eye was the first to detect an object, +apparently feeding upon lily-pads, which our willing fancies readily +shaped into a deer. As we were eagerly waiting some movement to +confirm this impression, it lifted up its head, and lo! a great blue +heron. Seeing us approach, it spread its long wings and flew solemnly +across to a dead tree on the other side of the lake, enhancing rather +than relieving the loneliness and desolation that brooded over the +scene. As we proceeded, it flew from tree to tree in advance of us, +apparently loth to be disturbed in its ancient and solitary domain. In +the margin of the pond we found the pitcher-plant growing, and here +and there in the sand the closed gentian lifted up its blue head. + +In traversing the shores of this wild, desolate lake, I was conscious +of a slight thrill of expectation, as if some secret of Nature might +here be revealed, or some rare and unheard-of game disturbed. There is +ever a lurking suspicion that the beginning of things is in some way +associated with water, and one may notice that in his private walks he +is led by a curious attraction to fetch all the springs and ponds in +his route, as if by them was the place for wonders and miracles to +happen. Once, while in advance of my companions, I saw, from a high +rock, a commotion in the water near the shore, but on reaching the +point found only the marks of a musquash. + +Pressing on through the forest, after many adventures with pine-knots, +we reached, about the middle of the afternoon, our destination, Nate's +Pond,--a pretty sheet of water, lying like a silver mirror in the lap +of the mountain, about a mile long and half a mile wide, surrounded by +dark forests of balsam, hemlock, and pine, and, like the one we had +just passed, a very picture of unbroken solitude. + +It is not in the woods alone to give one this impression of utter +loneliness. In the woods are sounds and voices, and a dumb kind of +companionship; one is little more than a walking tree himself; but +come upon one of these mountain lakes, and the wildness stands +revealed and meets you face to face. Water is thus facile and +adaptive, that makes the wild more wild, while it enhances culture and +art. + +The end of the pond which we approached was quite shoal, the stones +rising above the surface as in a summer brook, and everywhere showing +marks of the noble game we were in quest of,--footprints, dung, and +cropped and uprooted lily pads. After resting for a half hour, and +replenishing our game-pouches at the expense of the most respectable +frogs of the locality, we filed on through the soft, resinous +pine-woods, intending to camp near the other end of the lake, where, +the guide assured us, we should find a hunter's cabin ready built. A +half-hour's march brought us to the locality, and a most delightful +one it was,--so hospitable and inviting that all the kindly and +beneficent influences of the woods must have abided there. In a slight +depression in the woods, about one hundred yards from the lake, though +hidden from it for a hunter's reasons, surrounded by a heavy growth of +birch, hemlock, and pine, with a lining of balsam and fir, the rude +cabin welcomed us. It was of the approved style, three sides inclosed, +with a roof of bark and a bed of boughs, and a rock in front that +afforded a permanent backlog to all fires. A faint voice of running +water was head near by, and, following the sound, a delicious spring +rivulet was disclosed, hidden by the moss and debris as by a new fall +of snow, but here and there rising in little well-like openings, as if +for our special convenience. On smooth places on the log I noticed +female names inscribed in a female hand; and the guide told us of an +English lady, an artist, who had traversed this region with a single +guide, making sketches. + +Our packs unslung and the kettle over, our first move was to ascertain +in what state of preservation a certain dug-out might be, which the +guide averred, he had left moored in the vicinity the summer +before,--for upon this hypothetical dug-out our hopes of venison +rested. After a little searching, it was found under the top of a +fallen hemlock, but in a sorry condition. A large piece had been split +out of one end, and a fearful chink was visible nearly to the water +line. Freed from the treetop, however, and calked with a little moss, +it floated with two aboard, which was quite enough for our purpose. A +jack and an oar were necessary to complete the arrangement, and before +the sun had set our professor of wood-craft had both in readiness. +From a young yellow birch an oar took shape with marvelous +rapidity,--trimmed and smoothed with a neatness almost fastidious,--no +makeshift, but an instrument fitted for the delicate work it was to +perform. + +A jack was make with equal skill and speed. A stout staff about three +feet long was placed upright in the bow of the boat, and held to its +place by a horizontal bar, through a hole in which it turned easily: a +half wheel eight or ten inches in diameter, cut from a large chip, was +placed at the top, around which was bent a new section of birch bark, +thus forming a rude semicircular reflector. Three candles placed +within the circle completed the jack. With moss and boughs seats were +arranged,--one in the bow for the marksman, and one in the stern for +the oarsman. A meal of frogs and squirrels was a good preparation, +and, when darkness came, all were keenly alive to the opportunity it +brought. Though by no means an expert in the use of the gun,--adding +the superlative degree of enthusiasm to only the positive degree of +skill,--yet it seemed tacitly agreed that I should act as marksman and +kill the deer, if such was to be our luck. + +After it was thoroughly dark, we went down to make a short trial trip. +Everything working to satisfaction, about ten o'clock we pushed out in +earnest. For the twentieth time I felt in the pocket that contained +the matches, ran over the part I was to perform, and pressed my gun +firmly, to be sure there was no mistake. My position was that of +kneeling directly under the jack, which I was to light at the word. +The night was clear, moonless, and still. Nearing the middle of the +lake, a breeze from the west was barely perceptible, and noiselessly +we glided before it. The guide handled his oar with great dexterity; +without lifting it from the water or breaking the surface, he imparted +the steady, uniform motion desired. How silent it was! The ear seemed +the only sense, and to hold dominion over lake and forest. +Occasionally a lily-pad would brush along the bottom, and stooping low +I could hear a faint murmuring of the water under the bow: else all +was still. Then almost as by magic, we were encompassed by a huge +black ring. The surface of the lake, when we had reached the center, +was slightly luminous from the starlight, and the dark, even +forest-line that surrounded us, doubled by reflection in the water, +presented a broad, unbroken belt of utter blackness. The effect was +quite startling, like some huge conjurer's trick. It seemed as if we +had crossed the boundary-line between the real and the imaginary, and +this was indeed the land of shadows and of spectres. What magic oar +was that the guide wielded that it could transport me to such a realm! +Indeed, had I not committed some fatal mistake, and left that trusty +servant behind, and had not some wizard of the night stepped into his +place? A slight splashing in-shore broke the spell and caused me to +turn nervously to the oarsman: "Musquash," said he, and kept strait +on. + +Nearing the extreme end of the pond, the boat gently headed around, +and silently we glided back into the clasp of that strange orbit. +Slight sounds were heard as before, but nothing that indicated the +presence of the game we were waiting for; and we reached the point of +departure as innocent of venison as we had set out. + +After an hour's delay, and near midnight, we pushed out again. My +vigilance and susceptibility were rather sharpened than dulled by the +waiting; and the features of the night had also deepened and +intensified. Night was at its meridian. The sky had that soft +luminousness which may often be observed near midnight at this season, +and the "large few stars" beamed mildly down. We floated out into that +spectral shadow-land and moved slowly on as before. The silence was +most impressive. Now and then the faint yeap of some traveling bird +would come from the air overhead, or the wings of a bat whisp quickly +by, or an owl hoot off in the mountains, giving to the silence and +loneliness a tongue. At short intervals some noise in-shore would +startle me, and cause me to turn inquiringly to the silent figure in +the stern. + +The end of the lake was reached, and we turned back. The novelty and +the excitement began to flag; tired nature began to assert her claims; +the movement was soothing, and the gunner slumbered fitfully at his +post. Presently something aroused me. "There's a deer," whispered the +guide. The gun heard, and fairly jumped in my hand. Listening, there +came the crackling of a limb, followed by a sound as of something +walking in shallow water. It proceeded from the other end of the lake, +over against our camp. On we sped, noiselessly as ever, but with +increased velocity. Presently, with a thrill of new intensity, I saw +the boat was gradually heading in that direction. Now, to a sportsman +who gets excited over a gray squirrel, and forgets that he has a gun +on the sudden appearance of a fox, this was a severe trial. I suddenly +felt cramped for room, and trimming the boat was out of the question. +It seemed that I must make some noise in spite of myself. "Light the +jack," said a soft whisper behind me. I fumbled nervously for a match, +and dropped the first one. Another was drawn briskly across my knee +and broke. A third lighted, but went out prematurely, in my haste to +get it to the jack. What would I not have given to see those wicks +blaze! We were fast nearing the shore,--already the lily-pads began to +brush along the bottom. Another attempt, and the light took. The +gentle motion fanned the blaze, and in a moment a broad glare of light +fell upon the water in front of us, while the boat remained in utter +darkness. + +By this time I had got beyond the nervous point, and had come round to +perfect coolness and composure again, but preternaturally vigilant and +keen. I was ready for any disclosures; not a sound was heard. In a few +moments the trees alongshore were faintly visible. Every object put on +the shape of a gigantic deer. A large rock looked just ready to bound +away. The dry limbs of a prostrate tree were surely his antlers. + +But what are those two luminous spots? Need the reader be told what +they were? In a moment the head of a real deer became outlined; then +his neck and foreshoulders; then his whole body. There he stood, up to +his knees in the water, gazing fixedly at us, apparently arrested in +the movement of putting his head down for a lily-pad, and evidently +thinking it was some new-fangled moon sporting about there. "Let him +have it," said my prompter,--and the crash came. There was a scuffle +in the water, and a plunge in the woods. "He's gone," said I. "Wait a +moment," said the guide, "and I will show you." Rapidly running the +canoe ashore, we sprang out, and, holding the jack aloft, explored the +vicinity by its light. There, over the logs and brush, I caught the +glimmer of those luminous spots again. But, poor thing! there was +little need of the second shot, which was the unkindest of all, for +the deer had already fallen to the ground, and was fast expiring. The +success was but a very indifferent one, after all, as the victim +turned out to be only an old doe, upon whom maternal cares had +evidently worn heavily during the summer. + +This mode of taking deer is very novel and strange. The animal is +evidently fascinated or bewildered. It does not appear to be +frightened, but as if overwhelmed with amazement, or under the +influence of some spell. It is not sufficiently master of the +situation to be sensible of fear, or to think of escape by flight; and +the experiment, to be successful, must be tried quickly, before the +first feeling of bewilderment passes. + +Witnessing the spectacle from the shore, I can conceive of nothing +more sudden or astounding. You see no movement and hear no noise, but +the light grows upon you, and stares and stares like a huge eye from +infernal regions. + +According to the guide, when a deer has been played upon in this +manner and escaped, he is not to be fooled again a second time. +Mounting the shore, he gives a long signal snort, which alarms every +animal within hearing, and dashes away. + +The sequel to the deer-shooting was a little sharp practice with a +revolver upon a rabbit, or properly a hare, which was so taken with +the spectacle of the camp-fire, and the sleeping figures lying about, +that it ventured quite up in our midst; but while testing the quality +of some condensed milk that sat uncovered at the foot of a large tree, +poor Lepus had his spine injured by a bullet. + +Those who lodge with Nature find early rising quite in order. It is +our voluptuous beds, and isolation from the earth and the air, that +prevents us from emulating the birds and the beasts in this respect. +With the citizen in his chamber, it is not morning, but +breakfast-time. The camper-out, however, feels morning in the air, he +smells it, hears it, and springs up with the general awakening. None +were tardy at the row of white chips arranged on the trunk of a +prostrate tree, when breakfast was halloed; for we were all anxious to +try the venison. Few of us, however, took a second piece. It was black +and strong. + +The day was warm and calm, and we loafed at leisure. The woods were +Nature's own. It was a luxury to ramble through them,--rank and shaggy +and venerable, but with an aspect singularly ripe and mellow. No fire +had consumed and no lumberman plundered. Every trunk and limb and leaf +lay where it had fallen. At every step the foot sank into the moss, +which, like a soft green snow, covered everything, making every stone +a cushion and every rock a bed,--a grand old Norse parlor; adorned +beyond art and upholstered beyond skill. + +Indulging in a brief nap on a rug of club-moss carelessly dropped at +the foot of a pine-tree, I woke up to find myself the subject of a +discussion of a troop of chickadees. Presently three or four shy wood +warblers came to look upon this strange creature that had wandered +into their haunts; else I passed quite unnoticed. + +By the lake, I met that orchard beauty, the cedar waxwing, spending +his vacation in the assumed character of a flycatcher, whose part he +performed with great accuracy and deliberation. Only a month before I +had seen him regaling himself upon cherries in the garden and orchard; +but as the dog-days approached he set out for the streams and lakes, +to divert himself with the more exciting pursuits of the chase. From +the tops of the dead trees along the border of the lake, he would +sally out in all directions, sweeping through long curves, alternately +mounting and descending, now reaching up for a fly high in the air, +now sinking low for one near the surface, and returning to his perch +in a few moments for a fresh start. + +The pine finch was also here, though, as usual never appearing at +home, but with a waiting, expectant air. Here also I met my beautiful +singer, the hermit thrush, but with no song in his throat now. A week +or two later and he was on his journey southward. This was the only +species of thrush I saw in the Adirondacks. Near Lake Sandford, where +were large tracks of raspberry and wild cherry, I saw numbers of them. +A boy whom we met, driving home some stray cows, said it was the +"partridge-bird," no doubt from the resemblance of its note, when +disturbed, to the cluck of the partridge. + +Nate's Pond contained perch and sunfish but no trout. Its water was +not pure enough for trout. Was there ever any other fish so fastidious +as this, requiring such sweet harmony and perfection of the elements +for its production and sustenance? On higher ground about a mile +distant was a trout pond, the shores of which were steep and rocky. + +Our next move was a tramp of about twelve miles through the +wilderness, most of the way in a drenching rain, to a place called the +Lower Iron Works, situated on the road leading in to Long Lake, which +is about a day's drive farther on. We found a comfortable hotel here, +and were glad enough to avail ourselves of the shelter and warmth +which it offered. There was a little settlement and some quite good +farms. The place commands a fine view to the north of Indian Pass, +Mount Marcy, and the adjacent mountains. On the afternoon of our +arrival, and also the next morning, the view was completely shut off +by the fog. But about the middle of the forenoon the wind changed, the +fog lifted, and revealed to us the grandest mountain scenery we had +beheld on our journey. There they sat about fifteen miles distant, a +group of them,--Mount Marcy, Mount McIntyre, and Mount Golden, the +real Adirondack monarchs. It was an impressive sight, rendered double +so be the sudden manner in which it was revealed to us by that +scene-shifter the Wind. + +I saw blackbirds at this place, and sparrows, and the solitary +sandpiper and the Canada woodpecker, and a large number of +hummingbirds. Indeed, I saw more of the latter here than I ever before +saw in any one locality. Their squeaking and whirring were almost +incessant. + +The Adirondack Iron Works belong to the past. Over thirty years ago a +company in Jersey City purchased some sixty thousand acres of land +lying along the Adirondack River, and abounding in magnetic iron ore. +The land was cleared, roads, dams, and forges constructed, and the +work of manufacturing iron begun. + +At this point a dam was built across the Hudson, the waters of which +flowed back into Lake Sandford, about five miles above. The lake +itself being some six miles song, tolerable navigation was thus +established for a distance of eleven miles, to the Upper Works, which +seem to have been the only works in operation. At the Lower Works, +besides the remains of the dam, the only vestige I saw was a long low +mound, overgrown with grass and weeds, that suggested a rude +earthwork. We were told that it was once a pile of wood containing +hundreds of cords, cut in regular lengths and corded up here for use +in the furnaces. + +At the Upper Works, some twelve miles distant, quite a village had +been built, which was now entirely abandoned, with the exception of a +single family. + +A march to this place was our next undertaking. The road for two or +three miles kept up from the river and led us by three or four rough +stumpy farms. It then approached the lake and kept along its shores. +It was here a dilapidated corduroy structure that compelled the +traveler to keep an eye on his feet. Blue jays, two or three small +hawks, a solitary wild pigeon, and ruffled grouse were seen along the +route. Now and then the lake gleamed through the trees, or we crossed +o a shaky bridge some of its arms or inlets. After a while we began to +pass dilapidated houses by the roadside. One little frame house I +remembered particularly; the door was off the hinges and leaned +against the jams, the windows had but a few panes left, which glared +vacantly. The yard and little garden spot were overrun with a heavy +growth of timothy, and the fences had all long since gone to decay. At +the head of the lake a large stone building projected from the steep +bank and extended over the road. A little beyond, the valley opened to +the east, and looking ahead about one mile we saw smoke going up from +a single chimney. Pressing on, just as the sun was setting we entered +the deserted village. The barking dog brought the whole family into +the street, and they stood till we came up. Strangers in that country +were a novelty, and we were greeted like familiar acquaintances. + +Hunter, the head, proved to be a first-rate type of an Americanized +Irishman. His wife was a Scotch woman. They had a family of five or +six children, two of them grown-up daughters,--modest, comely young +women as you would find anywhere. The elder of the two had spent a +winter in New York with her aunt, which made her a little more +self-conscious when in the presence of the strange young men. Hunter +was hired by the company at a dollar a day to live here and see that +things were not wantonly destroyed, but allowed to go to decay +properly and decently. He had a substantial roomy frame house and any +amount of grass and woodland. He had good barns and kept considerable +stock, and raised various farm products, but only for his own use, as +the difficulties of transportation to market some seventy miles +distant make it no object. He usually went to Ticonderoga on Lake +Champlain once a year for his groceries, etc. His post-office was +twelve miles below at the Lower Works, where the mail passed twice a +week. There was not a doctor, or lawyer, or preacher within +twenty-five miles. In winter, months elapse without their seeing +anybody from the outside world. In summer, parties occasionally pass +through here on their way to Indian Pass and Mount Marcy. Hundreds of +tons of good timothy hay annually rot upon the cleared land. + +After nightfall we went out and walked up and down the grass-grown +streets. It was a curious and melancholy spectacle. The remoteness and +surrounding wildness rendered the scene doubly impressive. And the +next day and the next the place was an object of wonder. There were +about thirty buildings in all, most of them small frame houses with a +door and two windows opening into a small yard in front and a garden +in the rear, such as are usually occupied by the laborers in a country +manufacturing district. There was one large two-story boarding-house, +a schoolhouse with cupola and a bell in it, and numerous sheds and +forges, and a saw-mill. In front of the saw-mill, and ready to be +rolled to their place on the carriage, lay a large pile of pine logs, +so decayed that one could run his walking-stick through them. Near by, +a building filled with charcoal was bursting open and the coal going +to waste on the ground. The smelting works were also much crumbled by +time. The schoolhouse was still used. Every day one of the daughters +assembles her smaller brothers and sisters there and school keeps. The +district library contained nearly one hundred readable books which +were well thumbed. + +The absence of society had made the family all good readers. We +brought them an illustrated newspaper, which was awaiting them in the +post-office at the Lower Works. It was read and reread with great +eagerness by every member of the household. + +The iron ore cropped out on every hand. There was apparently +mountains of it; one could see it in the stones along the road. But +the difficulties met with in separating the iron from its alloys, +together with the expense of transportation and the failure of certain +railroad schemes, caused the works to be abandoned. No doubt the time +is not distant when these obstacles will be overcome and this region +reopened. + +At present it is an admirable place to go to. There is fishing and +hunting and boating and mountain-climbing within easy reach, and a +good roof over your head at night, which is no small matter. One is +often disqualified for enjoying the woods after he gets there by the +loss of sleep and of proper food taken at seasonable times. This point +attended to, one is in the humor for any enterprise. + +About half a mile northeast of the village is Lake Henderson, a very +irregular and picturesque sheet of water surrounded by dark evergreen +forests, and abutted by two or three bold promontories with mottled +white and gray rocks. Its greatest extent in any one direction is +perhaps less than a mile. Its waters are perfectly clear and abound in +lake trout. A considerable stream flows into it, which comes down from +Indian Pass. + +A mile south of the village is Lake Sandford. This is a more open and +exposed sheet of water and much larger. From some parts of it Mount +Marcy and the gorge of the Indian Pass are seen to excellent +advantage. The Indian Pass shows as a huge cleft in the mountain, the +gray walls rising on one side perpendicularly for many hundred feet. +This lake abounds in white and yellow perch and in pickerel; of the +latter single specimens are often caught which weigh fifteen pounds. +There were a few wild ducks on both lakes. A brood of the goosander or +red merganser, the young not yet able to fly, were the occasion of +some spirited rowing. But with two pairs of oars in a trim light +skiff, it was impossible to come up with them. Yet we could not resist +the temptation to give them a chase every day when we first came on +the lake. It needed a good long pull to sober us down so we could +fish. + +The land on the east side of the lake had been burnt over, and was now +mostly grown up with wild cherry and red raspberry bushes. Ruffed +grouse were found here in great numbers. The Canada grouse was also +common. I shot eight of the latter in less than an hour on one +occasion; the eighth one, which was an old male, was killed with +smooth pebble-stones, my shot having run short. The wounded bird ran +under a pile of brush, like a frightened hen. Thrusting a forked stick +down through the interstices, I soon stopped his breathing. Wild +pigeons were quite numerous also. These latter recall a singular freak +of the sharp-shinned hawk. A flock of pigeons alighted on top of a +dead hemlock standing in the edge of a swamp. I got over the fence and +moved toward them across an open space. I had not taken many steps +when, on looking up, I saw the whole flock again in motion flying very +rapidly about the butt of a hill. Just then this hawk alighted on the +same tree. I stepped back into the road and paused a moment, in doubt +which course to go. At that instant the little hawk launched into the +air and came as straight as an arrow toward me. I looked in amazement, +but in less than half a minute, he was within fifty feet of my face, +coming full tilt as if he had sighted my nose. Almost in self-defense +I let fly one barrel of my gun, and the mangled form of the audacious +marauder fell literally between my feet. + +Of wild animals, such as bears, panthers, wolves, wildcats, etc., we +neither saw nor heard any in the Adirondacks. "A howling wilderness," +Thoreau says, "seldom ever howls. The howling is chiefly done by the +imagination of the traveler." Hunter said he often saw bear-tracks in +the snow, but had never yet met Bruin. Deer are more or less abundant +everywhere, and one old sportsman declares there is yet a single moose +in these mountains. On our return, a pioneer settler, at whose house +we stayed overnight, told us a long adventure he had had with a +panther. He related how it screamed, how it followed him in the brush, +how he took to his boat, how its eyes gleamed from the shore, and how +he fired his rifle at them with fatal effect. His wife in the mean +time took something from a drawer, and, as her husband finished his +recital, she produced a toe-nail of the identical animal with marked +dramatic effect. + +But better than fish or game or grand scenery, or any adventure by +night or day, is the wordless intercourse with rude Nature one has on +these expeditions. It is something to press the pulse of our old +mother by mountain lakes and streams, and know what health and vigor +are in her veins, and how regardless of observation she deports +herself. + + 1866. + + + +IV + +BIRDS'-NESTS + +How alert and vigilant the birds are, even when absorbed in building +their nests! In an open space in the woods I see a pair of cedar-birds +collecting moss from the top of a dead tree. Following the direction +in which they fly, I soon discover the nest placed in the fork of a +small soft maple, which stands amid a thick growth of wild +cherry-trees and young beeches. Carefully concealing myself beneath +it, without any fear that the workmen will hit me with a chip or let +fall a tool, I await the return of the busy pair. Presently I hear the +well-known note, and the female sweeps down and settles unsuspectingly +into the half-finished structure. Hardly have her wings rested before +her eye has penetrated my screen, and with a hurried movement of alarm +she darts away. In a moment the male, with a tuft of wool in his beak +(for there is a sheep pasture near), joins her, and the two +reconnoitre the premises from the surrounding bushes. With their beaks +still loaded, they move around with a frightened look, and refuse to +approach the nest till I have moved off and lain down behind a log. +Then one of them ventures to alight upon the nest, but, still +suspecting all is not right, quickly darts away again. Then they both +together come, and after much peeping and spying about, and apparently +much anxious consultation, cautiously proceed to work. In less than +half an hour it would seem that wool enough has been brought to supply +the whole family, real and prospective, with socks, if needles and +fingers could be found fine enough to knit it up. In less than a week +the female has begun to deposit her eggs,--four of them in as many +days,--white tinged with purple, with black spots on the larger end. +After two weeks of incubation the young are out. + +Excepting the American goldfinch, this bird builds later in the season +than any other,--its nest, in our northern climate, seldom being +undertaken until July. As with the goldfinch, the reason is, probably, +that suitable food for the young cannot be had at an earlier period. + +Like most of our common species, as the robin, sparrow, bluebird, +pewee, wren, etc., this bird sometimes seeks wild, remote localities +in which to rear its young; at others, takes up its abode near that of +man. I knew a pair of cedar-birds, one season, to build in an +apple-tree, the branches of which rubbed against the house. For a day +or two before the first straw was laid, I noticed the pair carefully +exploring every branch of the tree, the female taking the lead, the +male following her with an anxious note and look. It was evident that +the wife was to have her choice this time; and like one who thoroughly +knew her mind, she was proceeding to take it. Finally the site was +chosen, upon a high branch, extending over one low wing of the house. +Mutual congratulations and caresses followed, when both birds flew +away in quest of building material. That most freely used is a sort of +cotton-bearing plant which grows in old wornout fields. The nest is +large for the size of the bird, and very soft. It is in every respect +a first-class domicile. + +On another occasion, while walking or rather sauntering in the woods +(for I have discovered that one cannot run and read the book of +nature), my attention was arrested by a dull hammering, evidently but +a few rods off. I said to myself, "Some one is building a house." From +what I had previously seen, I suspected the builder to be a red-headed +woodpecker in the top of a dead oak stub near by. Moving cautiously in +that direction, I perceived a round hole, about the size of that made +by an inch-and-a-half auger, near the top of the decayed trunk, and +the white chips of the workman strewing the ground beneath. When but a +few paces from the tree, my foot pressed upon a dry twig, which gave +forth a very slight snap. Instantly the hammering ceased, and a +scarlet head appeared at the door. Though I remained perfectly +motionless, forbearing even to wink till my eyes smarted, the bird +refused to go on with his work, but flew quietly off to a neighboring +tree. What surprised me was, that, amid his busy occupation down in +the heart of the old tree, he should have been so alert and watchful +as to catch the slightest sound from without. + +The woodpeckers all build in about the same manner, excavating the +trunk or branch of a decayed tree and depositing the eggs on the fine +fragments of wood at the bottom of the cavity. Though the nest is not +especially an artistic work,--requiring strength rather than +skill,--yet the eggs and the young of few other birds are so +completely housed from the elements, or protected from their natural +enemies, the jays, hawks, and owls. A tree with a natural cavity is +never selected, but one which has been dead just long enough to have +become soft and brittle throughout. The bird goes in horizontally for +a few inches, making a hole perfectly round and smooth and adapted to +his size, then turns downward, gradually enlarging the hole, as he +proceeds to the softness of the tree and the urgency of the mother +bird to deposit her eggs. While excavating, male and female work +alternately. After one has been engaged fifteen or twenty minutes, +drilling and carrying out chips, it ascends to an upper limb, utters a +loud call or two, when its mate soon appears, and, alighting near it +on the branch, the pair chatter and caress a moment, then the fresh +one enters the cavity and the other flies away. + +A few days since I climbed up to the nest of the downy woodpecker, in +the decayed top of a sugar maple. For better protection against +driving rains, the hole, which was rather more than an inch in +diameter, was made immediately beneath a branch which stretched out +almost horizontally from the main stem. It appeared merely a deeper +shadow upon the dark and mottled surface of the bark with which the +branches were covered, and could not be detected by the eye until one +was within a few feet of it. The young chirped vociferously as I +approached the nest, thinking it was the old one with food; but the +clamor suddenly ceased as I put my hand on that part of the trunk in +which they were concealed, the unusual jarring and rustling alarming +them into silence. The cavity, which was about fifteen inches deep, +was gourd-shaped, and was wrought out with great skill and regularity. +The walls were quite smooth and clean and new. + +I shall never forget the circumstances of observing a pair of +yellow-bellied woodpeckers--the most rare and secluded, and, nest to +the red-headed, the most beautiful species found in our +woods--breeding in an old, truncated beech in the Beaverkill +Mountains, on offshoot of the Catskills. We had been traveling, three +of us, all day in search of a trout lake, which lay far in among the +mountains, had twice lost our course in the trackless forest, and, +weary and hungry, had sat down to rest upon a decayed log. The +chattering of the young, and the passing to and fro of the parent +birds, soon arrested my attention. The entrance to the nest was on the +east side of the tree, about twenty-five feet from the ground. At +intervals of scarcely a minute, the old birds, one after the other, +would alight upon the edge of the hole with a grub or worm in their +beaks; then each in turn would make a bow or two, cast an eye quickly +around, and by a single movement place itself in the neck of the +passage. Here it would pause a moment, as if to determine in which +expectant mouth to place the morsel, and then disappear within. In +about half a minute, during which time that chattering of the young +gradually subsided, the bird would again emerge, but this time bearing +in its beak the ordure of one of the helpless family. Flying away very +slowly with head lowered and extended, as if anxious to hold the +offensive object as far from its plumage as possible, the bird dropped +the unsavory morsel in the course of a few yards, and, alighting on a +tree, wiped its bill on the bark and moss. This seems to be the order +all day,--carrying in and carrying out. I watched the birds for an +hour, while my companions were taking their turns in exploring the lay +of the land around us, and noted no variation in the programme. It +would be curious to know if the young are fed and waited upon in +regular order, and how, amid the darkness and the crowded state of the +apartment, the matter is so neatly managed. But ornithologists are all +silent upon the subject. + +This practice of the birds is not so uncommon as it might at first +seem. It is indeed almost an invariable rule among all land birds. +With woodpeckers and kindred species, and with birds that burrow in +the ground, as bank swallows, kingfishers, etc., it is a necessity. +The accumulation of the excrement in the nest would prove most fatal +to the young. + +But even among birds that neither bore nor mine, but which build a +shallow nest on the branch of a tree or upon the ground, as the robin, +the finches, the buntings, etc., the ordure of the young is removed to +a distance by the parent bird. When the robin is seen going away from +its brood with a slow, heavy flight, entirely different from its +manner a moment before on approaching the nest with a cherry or worm, +it is certain to be engaged in this office. One may observe the social +sparrow, when feeding its young, pause a moment after the worm has +been given and hop around on the brink of the nest observing the +movements within. + +The instinct of cleanliness no doubt prompts the action in all cases, +though the disposition to secrecy or concealment may not me unmixed in +it + +The swallows form an exception to the rule, the excrement being voided +by the young over the brink of the nest. They form an exception, also, +to the rule of secrecy, aiming not so much to conceal the nest as to +render it inaccessible. + +Other exceptions are the pigeons, hawks, and water-fowls. + +But to return. Having a good chance to note the color and markings of +the woodpeckers as they passed in and out at the opening of the nest, +I saw that Audubon had made a mistake in figuring or describing the +female of this species with the red spot upon the head. I have seen a +number of pairs of them, and in no instance have I seen the mother +bird marked with red. + +The male was in full plumage, and I reluctantly shot him for a +specimen. Passing by the place again next day, I paused a moment to +note how matters stood. I confess it was not without some compunctions +that I heard the cries of the young birds, and saw the widowed mother, +her cares now doubled, hastening to and fro in the solitary woods. She +would occasionally pause expectantly on the trunk of a tree and utter +a loud call. + +It usually happens, when the male of any species is killed during the +breeding season, that the female soon procures another mate. There +are, most likely, always a few unmated birds of both sexes within a +given range, and through these the broken links may be restored. +Audubon or Wilson, I forget which, tells of a pair of fish hawks, or +ospreys, that built their nest in an ancient oak. The male was so +zealous in the defense of the young that he actually attacked with +beak and claw a person who attempted to climb into his nest, putting +his face and eyes in great jeopardy. Arming himself with a heavy club, +the climber felled the gallant bird to the ground and killed him. In +the course of a few days the female had procured another mate. But +naturally enough the stepfather showed none of the spirit and pluck in +defense of the brood that had been displayed by the original parent. +When danger was nigh he was seen afar off, sailing around in placid +unconcern. + +It is generally known that when either the wild turkey or domestic +turkey begins to lay, and afterwards to sit and rear the brood, she +secludes herself from the male, who then, very sensibly, herds with +others of his sex, and betakes himself to haunts of his own till male +and female, old and young, meet again on common ground, late in the +fall. But rob the sitting bird of her eggs, or destroy her tender +young, and she immediately sets out in quest of a male, who is no +laggard when he hears her call. The same is true of ducks, and other +aquatic fowls. The propagating instinct is strong, and surmounts all +ordinary difficulties. No doubt the widowhood I had caused in the case +of the woodpeckers was of short duration, and chance brought, or the +widow drummed up, some forlorn male, who was not dismayed by the +prospect of having a large family of half-grown birds on his hands at +the outset. + +I have seen a fine cock robin paying assiduous addresses to a female +bird as late as the middle of July; and I have no doubt that his +intentions were honorable. I watched the pair for half an hour. The +hen, I took it, was in the market for the second time that season; but +the cock, from his bright unfaded plumage, looked like a new arrival. +The hen resented every advance of the male. In vain he strutted around +her and displayed his fine feathers; every now and then she would make +at him in a most spiteful manner. He followed her to the ground, +poured into her ear a fine, half-suppressed warble, offered her a +worm, flew back to the tree again with a great spread of plumage, +hopped around her on the branches, chirruped, chattered, flew +gallantly at an intruder, and was back in an instant at her side. No +use,--she cut him short at every turn. + +The denouement I cannot relate, as the artful bird, followed by her +ardent suitor, soon flew away beyond my sight. It may not be rash to +conclude, however, that she held out no longer than was prudent. + +On the whole, there seems to be a system of Women's Rights prevailing +among the birds, which contemplated from the standpoint of the male, +is quite admirable. In almost all cases of joint interest, the female +bird is the most active. She determines the site of the nest, and is +usually the most absorbed in its construction. Generally, she is more +vigilant in caring for the young, and manifests the most concern when +danger threatens. Hour after hour I have seen the mother of a brood of +blue grosbeaks pass from the nearest meadow to the tree that held her +nest, with a cricket or grasshopper in her bill, while her +better-dressed half was singing serenely on a distant tree or pursuing +his pleasure amid the branches. + +Yet among the majority of our song-birds the male is most conspicuous +both by his color and manners and by his song, and is to that extent a +shield to the female. It is thought that the female is humbler clad +for her better concealment during incubation. But this is not +satisfactory, as in some cases she is relieved from time to time by +the male. In the case of the domestic dove, for instance, promptly at +midday the cock is found upon the nest. I should say that the dull or +neutral tints of the female were a provision of nature for her greater +safety at all times, as her life is far more precious to the species +than that of the male. The indispensable office of the male reduces +itself to little more than a moment of time, while that of his mate +extends over days and weeks, if not months.[Footnote] + + [Footnote] A recent English writer upon this + subject presents an array of facts and + considerations that do not support this view. He + says that, with very few exceptions, it is the + rule that, when both sexes are of strikingly gay + and conspicuous colors, the nest is such as to + conceal the sitting bird; while, whenever there + is a striking contrast of colors, the male being + gay and conspicuous, the female dull and obscure, + the nest is open and sitting bird exposed to view. + The exceptions to this rule among European birds + appear to be very few. Among our own birds, the + cuckoos and the blue jays build open nests, without + presenting any noticeable difference in the + coloring of the two sexes. The same is true of + the pewees, the kingbird, and the sparrows, while + the common bluebird, the oriole, and the orchard + starling afford examples the other way. + +In migrating northward, the males have abandoned their nests, or +rather chambers, which they do after the first season, their cousins, +the nuthatches, chickadees, and brown creepers, fall heir to them. +These birds, especially the creepers and nuthatches, have many of the +habits of the Picidae, but lack their powers of bill, and so are +unable to excavate a nest for themselves. Their habitation, therefore, +is always second-hand. But each species carries in some soft material +of various kinds, or in other words, furnishes the tenement to its +liking. The chickadee arranges in the bottom of the cavity a little +mat of a light felt-like substance, which looks as if is came from the +hatter's, but which is probably the work of numerous worms or +caterpillars. On this soft lining the female deposits six speckled +eggs. + +I recently discovered one of these nests in a most interesting +situation. The tree containing it, a variety of wild cherry, stood +upon the brink of the bald summit of a high mountain. Gray, timeworn +rocks lay piled loosely about, or overtoppled the just visible byways +of the red fox. The trees had a half-scared look, and that +indescribable wildness which lurks about the tops of all remote +mountains possessed the place. Standing there, I looked down upon the +back of the red-tailed hawk as he flew out over the earth beneath me. +Following him, my eye also took in farms and settlements and villages +and other mountain ranges that grew blue in the distance. + +The parent birds attracted my attention by appearing with food in +their beaks, and by seeming much put out. Yet so wary were they of +revealing the locality of their brood, or even of the precise tree +that held them, that I lurked around over an hour without gaining a +point on them. Finally a bright and curious boy who accompanied me +secreted himself under a low, projected rock close to the tree in +which we supposed the nest to be, while I moved off around the +mountain-side. It was not long before the youth had their secret. The +tree which was low and wide-branching, and overrun with lichens, +appeared at a cursory glance to contain not one dry or decayed limb. +Yet there was one a few feet long, in which, when my eyes were piloted +thither, I detected a small round orifice. + +As my weight began to shake the branches, the consternation of both +old and young was great. The stump of a limb that held the nest was +about three inches thick, and at the bottom of the tunnel was +excavated quite to the bark. With my thumb I broke the thin wall, and +the young, which were full-fledged, looked out upon the world for the +first time. Presently one of them, with a significant chirp, as much +to say, "It is time we were out of this," began to climb up toward the +proper entrance. Placing himself in the hole, he looked around without +manifesting any surprise at the grand scene that lay spread out before +him. He was taking his bearings, and determining how far he could +trust the power of his untried wings to take him out of harm's way. +After a moment's pause, with a loud chirrup, he launched out and made +tolerable headway. The others rapidly followed. Each one, as it +started upward, from a sudden impulse, contemptuously saluted the +abandoned nest with its excrement. + +Though generally regular in their habits and instincts, yet the birds +sometimes seem as whimsical and capricious as superior beings. One is +not safe, for instance, in making any absolute assertion as to their +place or mode of building. Ground-builders often get up into a bush, +and tree-builders sometimes get upon the ground or into a tussock of +grass. The song sparrow, which is a ground builder, has been known to +build in the knothole of a fence rail; and a chimney swallow once got +tired of soot and smoke, and fastened its nest on a rafter in a hay +barn. A friend tells me of a pair of barn swallow which, taking a +fanciful turn, saddled their nest in the loop of a rope that was +pendent from a peg in the peak, and liked it so well that they +repeated the experiment next year. I have know the social sparrow, or +"hairbird" to build under a shed, in a tuft of hay that hung down, +through the loose flooring, from the mow above. It usually contents +itself with half a dozen stalks of dry grass and a few long hair from +a cow's tail loosely arranged on the branch of an apple-tree. The +rough-winged swallow builds in the wall and in old stone-heaps, and I +have seen the robin build in similar localities. Others have found its +nest in old, abandoned wells. The house wren will build in anything +that has an accessible cavity, from an old boot to a bombshell. A pair +of them once persisted in building their nest in the top of a certain +pump-tree, getting in through the opening above the handle. The pump +being in daily use, the nest was destroyed more than a score of times. +This jealous little wretch has the wise forethought, when the box in +which he builds contains two compartments, to fill up one of them, so +as to avoid the risk of troublesome neighbors. + +The less skillful builders sometimes depart from their usual habit, +and take up with the abandoned nest of some other species. The blue +jay now and then lays in an old crow's nest or cuckoo's nest. The crow +blackbird, seized with a fit of indolence, drops its eggs in the +cavity of a decayed branch. I heard of a cuckoo that dispossessed a +robin of its nest; of another that set a blue jay adrift. Large, loose +structures, like the nests of the osprey and certain of the herons, +have been found with half a dozen nests of the blackbirds set in the +outer edges, like so many parasites, or, as Audubon says, like the +retainers about the rude court of a feudal baron. + +The same birds breeding in a southern climate construct far less +elaborate nests than when breeding in a northern climate. Certain +species of waterfowl, that abandon their eggs to the sand and the sun +in the warmer zones, build a nest and sit in the usual way in +Labrador. In Georgia, the Baltimore oriole places its nest upon the +north side of the tree; in the Middle and Eastern States, it fixes it +upon the south or east side, and makes it much thicker and warmer. I +have seen one from the South that had some kind of coarse reed or +sedge woven into it, giving it an open-work appearance, like a basket. + +Very few species use the same material uniformly. I have seen the nest +of the robin quite destitute of mud. In one instance it was composed +mainly of long black horse-hairs, arranged in a circular manner, with +a lining of fine yellow grass; the whole presenting quite a novel +appearance. In another case the nest was chiefly constructed of a +species of rock moss. + +The nest for the second brood during the same season is often a mere +makeshift. The haste of the female to deposit her eggs as the season +advances seems very great, and the structure is apt to be prematurely +finished. I was recently reminded of this fact by happening, about the +last of July, to meet with several nests of the wood or bush sparrow +in a remote blackberry field. The nests with eggs were far less +elaborate and compact than the earlier nests, from which the young had +flown. + +Day after day, as I go to a certain piece of woods, I observe a male +indigo-bird sitting on precisely the same part of a high branch, and +singing in his most vivacious style. As I approach he ceases to sing, +and, flirting his tail right and left with marked emphasis, chirps +sharply. In a low bush near by, I come upon the object of his +solicitude,--a thick compact nest composed largely of dry leaves and +fine grass, in which a plain brown bird is sitting upon four pale blue +eggs. + +The wonder is that a bird will leave the apparent security of the +treetops to place its nest in the way of the many dangers that walk +and crawl upon the ground. There, far up out of reach, sings the bird; +here, not three feet from the ground, are its eggs or helpless young. +The truth is, birds are the greatest enemies of birds, and it is with +reference to this fact that many of the smaller species build. + +Perhaps the greatest proportion of birds breed along highways. I have +known the ruffed grouse to come out of a dense wood and make its nest +at the root of a tree within ten paces of the road, where, no doubt, +hawks and crows, as well as skunks and foxes, would be less likely to +find it out. Traversing remote mountain-roads through dense woods, I +have repeatedly seen the veery, or Wilson's thrush, sitting upon her +nest, so near me that I could almost take her from it by stretching +out my hand. Birds of prey show none of this confidence in man, and, +when locating their nests, avoid rather than seek his haunts. + +In a certain locality in the interior of New York, I know, every +season, where I am sure to find a nest or two of the slate-colored +snowbird. It is under the brink of a low mossy bank, so near the +highway that it could be reached from a passing vehicle with a whip. +Every horse or wagon or foot passenger disturbs the sitting bird. She +awaits the near approach of the sound of feet or wheels, and then +darts quickly across the road, barely clearing the ground, and +disappears amid the bushes on the opposite side. + +In the trees that line one of the main streets and fashionable drives +leading our of Washington city and less than half a mile from the +boundary, I have counted the nests of five different species at one +time, and that without any very close scrutiny of the foliage, while, +in many acres of woodland half a mile off, I searched in vain for a +single nest. Among the five, the nest that interested me most was that +of the blue grosbeak. Here this bird, which according to Audubon's +observations in Louisiana, is shy and recluse, affecting remote +marshes and the borders of large ponds of stagnant water, had placed +its nest in the lowest twig of the lowest branch of a large sycamore, +immediately over a great thoroughfare, and so near the ground that a +person standing in a cart or sitting on a horse could have reached it +with his hand. The nest was composed mainly of fragments of newspaper +and stalks of grass, and, though so low, was remarkably well concealed +by one of the peculiar clusters of twigs and leaves which characterize +this tree. The nest contained young when I discovered it, and, though +the parent birds were much annoyed by my loitering about beneath the +tree, they paid little attention to the stream of vehicles that was +constantly passing. It was a wonder to me when the birds could have +built it, for they are much shyer when building than at any other +times. No doubt they worked mostly in the morning, having the early +hours all to themselves. + +Another pair of blue grosbeaks built in a graveyard within the city +limits. The nest was placed in a low bush, and the male continued to +sing at intervals till the young were ready to fly. The song of this +bird is a rapid, intricate warble, like that of the indigo-bird, +though stronger and louder. Indeed, these two birds so much resemble +each other in color, form, manner, voice, and general habits that, +were it not for the difference in size,--the grosbeak being nearly as +large again as the indigo-bird,--it would be a hard matter to tell +them apart. The females of both species are clad in the same +reddish-brown suits. So are the young the first season. + +Of course in the deep, primitive woods, also are nests; but how rarely +we find them! The simple art of the bird consists in choosing common, +neutral-tinted material, as moss, dry leaves, twigs, and various odds +and ends, and placing the structure on a convenient branch, where it +blends in color with its surroundings; but how consummate is this art, +and how skillfully is the nest concealed! We occasionally light upon +it, but who, unaided by the movements of the bird, could find it out? +During the present season I went to the woods nearly every day for a +fortnight without making any discoveries of this kind, till one day, +paying them a farewell visit, I chanced to come upon several nests. A +black and white creeping warbler suddenly became much alarmed as I was +approaching a crumbing old stump in a dense part of the forest. He +alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its sides, and +finally left it with much reluctance. The nest, which contained three +young birds nearly fledged, was placed upon the ground, at the foot of +the stump, and in such a positions that the color of the young +harmonized perfectly with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying about. +My eye rested upon them for the second time before I made them out. +They hugged the nest very closely, but as I put down my hand they all +scampered off with loud cries for help, which caused the parent birds +to place themselves almost within my reach. The nest was merely a +little dry grass arranged in a thick bed of dry leaves. + +This was amid a thick undergrowth. Moving on into a passage of large +stately hemlocks, with only here and there a small beech or maple +rising up into the perennial twilight, I paused to make out a note +which was entirely new to me. It is still in my ear. Though +unmistakably a bird note, it yet suggested the beating of a tiny +lambkin. Presently the birds appeared,--a pair of the solitary vireo. +They came flitting from point to point, alighting only for a moment at +a time, the male silent, but the female uttering this strange, tender +note. It was a rendering into some new sylvan dialect of the human +sentiment of maidenly love. It was really pathetic in its sweetness +and childlike confidence and joy. I soon discovered that the pair were +building a nest upon a low branch a few yards from me. The male flew +cautiously to the spot and adjusted something, and the twain moved +on, the female calling to her mate at intervals, love-e, love-e, with a +cadence and tenderness in the tone that rang in the ear long +afterward. The nest was suspended to the fork of a small branch, as is +usual with the vireos, plentifully lined with lichens, and bound and +rebound with masses of coarse spider-webs. There was no attempt at +concealment except in the neutral tints, which make it look like a +natural growth of the dim, gray woods. + +Continuing my random walk, I next paused in a low part of the woods, +where the larger trees began to give place to a thick second-growth +that covered an old Barkpeeling. I was standing by a large maple, when +a small bird darted quickly away from it, as if it might have come out +of a hole near its base. As the bird paused a few yards from me, and +began to chirp uneasily, my curiosity was at once excited. When I saw +it was the female mourning ground warbler, and remembered that the +nest of this bird had not yet been seen by any naturalist,--that not +even Dr. Brewer had ever seen the eggs,--I felt that here was +something worth looking for. So I carefully began the search, +exploring inch by inch the ground, the base and roots of the tree, and +the various shrubby growths about it, till finding nothing and fearing +I might really put my foot in it, I bethought me to withdraw to a +distance and after some delay return again, and, thus forewarned, note +the exact point from which the bird flew. This I did, and, returning, +had little difficulty in discovering the nest. It was placed but a few +feet from the maple tree, in a bunch of ferns, and about six inches +from the ground. It was quite a massive nest, composed entirely of the +stalks and leaves of dry grass, with an inner lining of fine, dark +brown roots. The eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, +uniformly specked with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was +so deep that the back of the sitting bird sank below the edge. + +In the top of a tall tree, a short distance farther on, I saw the nest +of the red-tailed hawk,--a large mass of twigs and dry sticks. The +young had flown, but still lingered in the vicinity, and as I +approached, the mother bird flew about over me, squealing in a very +angry, savage manner. Tufts of the hair and other indigestible +material of the common meadow mouse lay around on the ground beneath +the nest. + +As I was about leaving the woods, my hat almost brushed the nest of +the red-eyed vireo, which hung basket-like on the end of a low, +drooping branch of the beech. I should never have seen it had the bird +kept her place. It contained three eggs of the bird's own, and one of +the cow bunting. The strange egg was only just perceptibly larger than +the others, yet, in three days after, when I looked into the nest +again and found all but one egg hatched, the young interloper was at +least four times as large as either of the others, and with such a +superabundance of bowels as to almost smother his bedfellows beneath +them. That the intruder should fare the same as the rightful +occupants, and thrive with them, was more than ordinary potluck; but +that it alone should thrive, devouring, as it were, all the rest, is +one of those freaks of Nature in which she would seem to discourage +the homely virtues of prudence and honesty. Weeds and parasites have +the odds greatly against them, yet they wage a very successful war +nonetheless. + +The woods hold not such another gem as the nest of the hummingbird. +The finding of one is an event to date from. It is the next best thing +to finding an eagle's nest. I have met with but two, both by chance. +One was placed on the horizontal branch of a chestnut-tree, with a +solitary green leaf, forming a complete canopy, about an inch and a +half above it. The repeated spiteful dartings of the bird past my +ears, as I stood under the tree, caused me to suspect that I was +intruding upon some one's privacy; and, following it with my eye, I +soon saw the nest, which was in process of construction. Adopting my +usual tactics of secreting myself near by, I had the satisfaction of +seeing the tiny artist at work. It was the female, unassisted by her +mate. At intervals of two or three minutes she would appear with a +small tuft of some cottony substance in her beak, and alighting +quickly in the nest, arrange the material she had brought, using her +breast as a model. + +The other nest I discovered in a dense forest on the side of a +mountain. The sitting bird was disturbed as I passed beneath her. The +whirring of her wings arrested my attention, when, after a short +pause, I had the good luck to see, through an opening in the leaves, +the bird return to her nest, which appeared like a mere wart or +excrescence an a small branch. The hummingbird, unlike all others, +does not alight upon the nest, but flies into it. She enters it as +quick as a flash, but as light as any feather. Two eggs are the +complement. They are perfectly white, and so frail that only a woman's +fingers may touch them. Incubation lasts about ten days. In a week, +the young have flown. + +The only nest like the hummingbirds, and comparable to it in neatness +and symmetry, is that of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is often +saddled upon the limb in the same manner, though it is generally more +or less pendent; it is deep and soft, composed mostly of some +vegetable down, covered all over with delicate tree-lichens, and, +except that it is much larger, appears almost identical with the nest +of the hummingbird. + +But the nest of nests, the ideal nest, after we have left the deep +woods, is unquestionably that of the Baltimore oriole. It is the only +perfectly pensile nest we have. The nest of the orchard oriole is +indeed mainly so, but this bird generally builds lower and shallower, +more after the manner of the vireos. + +The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to the swaying branches +of the tallest elms, making no attempt at concealment, but satisfied +if the position be high and the branch pendant. This nest would seem +to cost more time and skill than any other bird structure. A peculiar +flax-like substance seems to be always sought after and always found. +The nest when completed assumes the form of a large, suspended gourd. +The walls are thin but firm, and proof against the most driving rain. +The mouth is hemmed or overhanded with horse-hair, and the sides are +usually sewed through and through with the same. + +Not particular as to the matter of secrecy, the bird is not particular +to the material, so that be of the nature of the strings or threads. A +lady friend once told me that, while working by an open window, one of +these birds approaching during her momentary absence, and, seizing a +skein of some kind of thread or yarn, made off with it to its +half-finished nest. But the perverse yarn caught fast in the branches, +and, in the bird's effort to extricate it, got hopelessly tangled. She +tugged away at it all day, but was finally obliged to content herself +with a few detached portions. The fluttering stings were an eyesore to +her ever after, and, passing and repassing, she would give them a +spiteful jerk, as much to say, "There is that confounded yarn that +gave me so much trouble." + +From Pennsylvania, Vincent Barnard (to whom I am indebted for other +curious facts) sent me this interesting story of an oriole. He says a +friend of his curious in such things, on observing the bird beginning +to build, hung out near the prospective nest skeins of many-colored +zephyr yarn, which the eager artist readily appropriated. He managed +it so that the bird used nearly equal quantities of various, high, +bright colors. The nest was made unusually deep and capacious, and it +may be questioned if such a thing of beauty was ever before woven by +the cunning of a bird. + +Nuttall, by far the most genial of American ornithologists, relates +the following:-- + +"A female (oriole), which I observed attentively, carried off to her +nest a piece of lamp-wick ten or twelve feet long. This long string +and many other shorter ones were left hanging out for a week before +both ends were wattled into the sides of the nest. Some other little +birds, making use of similar materials, at times twitched these +flowing ends, and generally brought out the busy Baltimore from her +occupation in great anger. + +"I may perhaps claim indulgence for adding a little more of the +biography of this particular bird, as a representative also of the +instincts of her race. She completed the nest in about a weeks time, +without any aid from her mate, who indeed appeared but seldom in her +company and was now become nearly silent. For fibrous materials she +broke, hackled, and gathered the flax of the asclepias and hibiscus +stalks, tearing off long strings and flying with them to the scene of +her labors. She appeared very eager and hasty in her pursuits, and +collected her materials without fear or restraint while three men were +working in the neighboring walks and may persons were visiting the +garden. Her courage and perseverance were truly admirable. If watched +to narrowly, she saluted with her usual scolding, tshrr, tshrr, tshrr, +seeing no reason, probably, why she should be interrupted in her +indispensable occupation. + +"Though the males were now comparatively silent on the arrival of +their busy mates, I could not help observing this female and a second, +continually vociferating, apparently in strife. At last she was +observed to attack this second female very fiercely, who slyly +intruded herself at times into the same tree where she was building. +These contests were angry and often repeated. To account for this +animosity, I now recollected that two fine males had been killed in +our vicinity, and I therefore concluded the intruder to be left +without a mate; yet she had gained the affections of the consort of +the busy female, and thus the cause of their jealous quarrel became +apparent. Having obtained the confidence of her faithless paramour, +the second female began preparing to weave a nest in an adjoining elm +by tying together certain pendent twigs as a foundation. The male now +associated chiefly with the intruder, whom he even assisted in her +labor, yet did not wholly forget his first partner, who called on him +one evening in a low, affectionate tone, which was answered in the +same strain. While they were thus engaged in friendly whispers, +suddenly appeared the rival, and a violent rencontre ensued, so that +one of the females appeared to be greatly agitated, and fluttered with +spreading wings as if considerably hurt. The male, though prudently +neutral in the contest, showed his culpable partiality by flying off +with his paramour, and for the rest of the evening left the tree to +his pugnacious consort. Cares of another kind, more imperious and +tender, at length reconciled, or at least terminated, these disputes +with the jealous females; and by the aid of the neighboring bachelors, +who are never wanting among these and other birds, peace was at length +completely restored by the restitution of the quiet and happy +condition of monogamy." + +Let me not forget to mention the nest under the mountain ledge, the +nest of the common pewee,--a modest mossy structure, with four +pearl-white eggs,--looking out upon some wild scene and overhung by +beetling crags. After all has been said about the elaborate, high-hung +structures, few nests perhaps awaken more pleasant emotions in the +mind of the beholder than this of the pewee,--the gray, silent rocks, +with caverns and dens where the fox and the wolf lurk, and just out of +their reach, in a little niche, as if it grew there, the mossy +tenement! + +Nearly every high projecting rock in any range has one of these nests. +Following a trout stream up a wild mountain gorge, not long since, I +counted five in the distance of a mile, all within easy reach, but +safe from the minks and the skunks, and well housed from the storms. +In my native town I know a pine and oak clad hill, round-topped, with +a bold, precipitous front extending halfway around it. Near the top, +and along this front or side, there crops out a ledge of rocks +unusually high and cavernous. One immense layer projects many feet, +allowing a person or many persons, standing upright, to move freely +beneath it. There is a delicious spring of water there, and plenty of +wild, cool air. The floor is of loose stone, now trod by sheep and +foxes, once by Indian and wolf. How I have delighted from boyhood to +spend a summer day in this retreat, or take refuge there from a sudden +shower! Always the freshness and coolness, and always the delicate +mossy nest of the phoebe-bird! The bird keeps her place till you are +within a few feet of her, when she flits to a near branch, and, with +many oscillations of her tale, observes you anxiously. Since the +country has become settled this pewee has fallen into the strange +practice of occasionally placing its nest under a bridge, hayshed, or +other artificial structure, where it is subject to all kinds of +interruptions and annoyances. When placed thus, the nest is larger and +coarser. I know a hay-loft beneath which a pair has regularly placed +its nest for several successive seasons. Arranged along on a single +pole, which sags down a few inches from the flooring it was intended +to help support, are three of these structures, marking the number of +years the birds have nested there. The foundation is of mud with a +superstructure of moss, elaborately lined with hair and feathers. +Nothing can be more perfect and exquisite than the interior of one of +these nests, yet a new one is built every season. Three broods, +however, are frequently reared in it. + +The pewees, as a class, are the best architects we have. The kingbird +builds a nest altogether admirable, using various soft cotton and +woolen substances, and sparing neither time nor material to make it +substantial and warm. The green-crested pewee builds its nest in many +instances wholly of the blossoms of the white oak. The wood pewee +builds a neat, compact, socket-shaped nest of moss and lichens on a +horizontal branch. There is never a loose end or shred about it. The +sitting bird is largely visible above the rim. She moves her head +freely about and seems entirely at her ease,--a circumstance which I +have never observed in any other species. The nest of the +great-crested flycatcher is seldom free from snake skins, three or +four being sometimes woven into it. + +About the thinnest, shallowest nest, for its situation, that can be +found is that of the turtle-dove. A few sticks and straws are +carelessly thrown together, hardly sufficient to prevent the eggs form +falling through or rolling off. The nest of the passenger pigeon is +equally hasty and insufficient, and the squabs often fall to the +ground and perish. The other extreme among our common birds is +furnished by the ferruginous thrush, which collects together a mass of +material that would fill a half-bushel measure; or by the fish hawk, +which adds to and repairs its nest year after year, till the whole +would make a cart load. + +One of the rarest of nests is that of the eagle, because the eagle is +one of the rarest of birds. Indeed, so seldom is the eagle seen that +its presence always seems accidental. It appears as if merely pausing +on the way, while bound for some distant unknown region. One +September, while a youth, I saw the ring-tailed eagle, the young of +the golden eagle, an immense, dusky bird, the sight of which filled me +with awe. It lingered about the hills for two days. Some young cattle, +a two-year-old colt, and half a dozen sheep were at pasture on a high +ridge that led up to the mountain, and in plain view of the house. On +the second day this dusky monarch was seen flying about above them. +Presently he began to hover over them, after the manner of a hawk +watching for mice. He then with extended legs let himself slowly down +upon them, actually grappling the backs of the young cattle, and +frightening the creatures so that they rushed about the field in great +consternation; and finally, as he grew bolder and more frequent in his +descents, the whole herd broke over the fence and came tearing down to +the house "like mad." It did not seem to be an assault with intent to +kill, but was perhaps a stratagem resorted to in order to separate the +herd and expose the lambs, which hugged the cattle very closely. When +he occasionally alighted upon the oaks that stood near, the branch +could be seen to sway and bend beneath him. Finally, as a rifleman +started out in pursuit of him, he launched into the air, set his +wings, and sailed away southward. A few years afterward, in January, +another eagle passed through the same locality, alighting in a field +near some dead animal, but tarried briefly. + +So much by way of identification. The golden eagle is common to the +northern parts of both hemispheres, and places its eyrie on high +precipitous rocks. A pair built on an inaccessible shelf of rock along +the Hudson for eight successive years. A squad of Revolutionary +soldiers, also, as related by Audubon, found a nest along this river, +and had an adventure with the bird that came near costing one of their +number his life. His comrades let him down by a rope to secure the +eggs or young, when he was attacked by the female eagle with such fury +that he was obliged to defend himself with his knife. In doing so, by +a misstroke, he nearly severed the rope that held him, and was drawn +up by a single strand from his perilous position. + +The bald eagle, also builds on high rocks, according to Audubon, +though Wilson describes the nest of one which he saw near Great Egg +Harbor, in the top of a large yellow pine. It was a vast pile of +sticks, sods, sedge, grass, reeds, etc., five or six feet high by four +broad, and with little or no concavity. + +It had been used for many years, and he was told that the eagles made +it a sort of home or lodging-place in all seasons. + +The eagle in all cases uses one nest, with more or less repair, for +several years. Many of our common birds do the same. The birds may be +divided, with respect to this and kindred points, into five general +classes. First, those that repair or appropriate the last year's nest, +as the wren, swallow, bluebird, great-crested flycatcher, owls, +eagles, fish hawk, and a few others. Secondly, those that build anew +each season, though frequently rearing more than one brood in the same +nest. Of these the phoebe-bird is a well-know example. Thirdly, those +that build a new nest for each brood, which includes by far the +greatest number of species. Fourthly, a limited number that make no +nest of their own, but appropriate the abandoned nests of other birds. +Finally, those who use no nest at all, but deposit their eggs in the +sand, which is the case with a large number of aquatic fowls. 1866. + + + +V + +SPRING AT THE CAPITAL WITH AN EYE TO THE BIRDS + +I came to Washington to live in the fall of 1863, and, with the +exception of a month each summer spent in the interior of New York, +have lived here ever since. + +I saw my first novelty in Natural History the day after my arrival. +As I was walking near some woods north of the city, a grasshopper of +prodigious size flew up from the ground and alighted in a tree. As I +pursued him, he proved to be nearly as wild and as fleet of wing as a +bird. I thought I had reached the capital of grasshopperdom, and that +this was perhaps one of the chiefs or leaders, or perhaps the great +High Cock O'lorum himself, taking an airing in the fields. I have +never yet been able to settle the question, as every fall I start up a +few of these gigantic specimens, which perch on the trees. They are +about three inches long, of a gray striped or spotted color, and have +quite a reptile look. + +The greatest novelty I found, however, was the superb autumn weather, +the bright, strong, electric days, lasting well into November, and the +general mildness of the entire winter. Though the mercury occasionally +sinks to zero, yet the earth is never so seared and blighted by the +cold but that in some sheltered nook or corner signs of vegetable life +still remain, which on a little encouragement even asserts itself. I +have found wild flowers here every month of the year; violets in +December, a single houstonia in January (the little lump of earth upon +which it stood was frozen hard), and a tiny weed-like plant, with a +flower almost microscopic in its smallness, growing along graveled +walks and in old plowed fields in February. The liverwort sometimes +comes out as early as the first week in March, and the little frogs +begin to pipe doubtfully about the same time. Apricot-trees are +usually in bloom on All-Fool's Day and the apple-trees on May Day. By +August, mother hen will lead forth her third brood, and I had a March +pullet that came off with a family of her own in September. Our +calendar is made for this climate. March is a spring month. One is +quite sure to see some marked and striking change during the first +eight or ten days. This season (1868) is a backward one, and the +memorable change did not come till the 10th. + +Then the sun rose up from a bed of vapors, and seemed fairly to +dissolve with tenderness and warmth. For an hour or two the air was +perfectly motionless, and full of low, humming, awakening sounds. The +naked trees had a rapt, expectant look. From some unreclaimed common +near by came the first strain of the song sparrow; so homely, because +so old and familiar, yet so inexpressibly pleasing. Presently a full +chorus of voices arose, tender, musical, half suppressed, but full of +genuine hilarity and joy. The bluebird warbled, the robin called, the +snowbird chattered, the meadowlark uttered her strong but tender note. +Over a deserted field a turkey buzzard hovered low, and alighted on a +stake in the fence, standing a moment with outstretched, vibrating +wings till he was sure of his hold. A soft, warm, brooding day. Roads +becoming dry in many places, and looking so good after the mud and the +snow. I walk up beyond the boundary and over Meridian Hill. To move +along the drying road and feel the delicious warmth is enough. The +cattle low long and loud, and look wistfully into the distance. I +sympathize with them. Never a spring comes but I have an almost +irresistible desire to depart. Some nomadic or migrating instinct or +reminiscence stirs within me. I ache to be off. + +As I pass along, the high-bole calls in the distance precisely as I +have heard him in the North. After a pause he repeats his summons. +What can be more welcome to the ear than these early first sounds! +They have such a margin of silence! + +One need but pass the boundary of Washington city to be fairly in the +country, and ten minutes' walk in the country brings one to real +primitive woods. The town has not yet overflowed its limits like the +great Northern commercial capitals, and Nature, wild and unkempt, +comes up to its very threshold, and even in many places crosses it. + +The woods, which I soon reach, are stark and still. The signs of +returning life are so faint as to be almost imperceptible, but there +is a fresh, earthy smell in the air, as if something had stirred here +under the leaves. The crows caw above the wood, or walk about the +brown fields. I look at the gray silent trees long and long, but they +show no sign. The catkins of some alders by a little pool have just +swelled perceptibly; and, brushing away the dry leaves and debris on a +sunny slope, I discover the liverwort just pushing up a fuzzy, tender +sprout. But the waters have brought forth. The little frogs are +musical. From every marsh and pool goes up their shrill but pleasing +chorus. Peering into one of their haunts, a little body of +semi-stagnant water, I discover masses of frogs' spawn covering the +bottom. I take up great chunks of the cold, quivering jelly in my +hands. In some places there are gallons of it. A youth who accompanies +me wonders if it would not be good cooked, or if it could not be used +as a substitute for eggs. It is a perfect jelly, of a slightly milky +tinge, thickly imbedded with black spots about the size of a small +bird's eye. When just deposited it is perfectly transparent. These +hatch in eight or ten days, gradually absorb their gelatinous +surroundings, and the tiny tadpoles issue forth. + +In the city, even before the shop-windows have caught the inspiration, +spring is heralded by the silver poplars which line all the streets +and avenues. After a few mild, sunshiny March days, you suddenly +perceive a change has come over the trees. Their tops have a less +naked look. If the weather continues warm, a single day will work +wonders. Presently each tree will be one vast plume of gray, downy +tassels, while not the least speck of green foliage is visible. The +first week of April these long mimic caterpillars lie all about the +streets and fill the gutters. + +The approach of spring is also indicated by the crows and buzzards, +which rapidly multiply in the environs of the city, and grow bold and +demonstrative. The crows are abundant here all winter, but are not +very noticeable except as they pass high in air to and from their +winter quarters in the Virginia woods. Early in the morning, as soon +as it is light enough to discern them, there they are, streaming +eastward across the sky, now in loose, scattered flocks, now in thick +dense masses, then singly and in pairs or triplets, but all setting in +one direction, probably to the waters of eastern Maryland. Toward +night they begin to return, flying in the same manner, and directing +their course to the wooded heights on the Potomac, west of the city. +In spring these diurnal mass movements cease; the clan breaks up, the +rookery is abandoned, and the birds scatter broadcast over the land. +This seems to be the course everywhere pursued. One would think that, +when food was scarcest, the policy of separating into small bands or +pairs, and dispersing over a wide country, would prevail, as a few +might subsist where a larger number would starve. The truth is, +however, that, in winter, food can be had only in certain clearly +defined districts and tracts, as along rivers and the shores of bays +and lakes. + +A few miles north of Newburgh, on the Hudson, the crows go into winter +quarters in the same manner, flying south in the morning and returning +again at night, sometimes hugging the hills so close during a strong +wind as to expose themselves to the clubs and stones of schoolboys +ambushed behind trees and fences. The belated ones, that come laboring +along just at dusk, are often so overcome by the long journey and the +strong current that they seem almost on the point of sinking down +whenever the wind or a rise in the ground calls upon them for an extra +effort. + +The turkey buzzards are noticeable about Washington as soon as the +season begins to open, sailing leisurely along two or three hundred +feet overhead, or sweeping low over some common or open space where, +perchance, a dead puppy or pig or fowl has been thrown. Half a dozen +will sometimes alight about some object out on the commons, and, with +their broad dusky wings lifted up to their full extent, threaten and +chase each other, while perhaps one or two are feeding. Their wings +are very large and flexible, and the slightest motion of them, while +the bird stands upon the ground, suffices to lift its feet clear. +Their movements when in the air are very majestic and beautiful to the +eye, being in every respect identical with those of our common hen or +red-tailed hawk. They sail along in the same calm, effortless, +interminable manner, and sweep around in the same ample spiral. The +shape of their wings and tail, indeed their entire effect against the +sky, except in size and color, is very nearly the same as that of the +hawk mentioned. A dozen at a time may often be seen high in air, +amusing themselves by sailing serenely round and round in the same +circle. + +They are less active and vigilant than the hawk; never poise +themselves on the wing, never dive and gambol in the air, and never +swoop down upon their prey; unlike the hawks also, they appear to have +no enemies. The crow fights the hawk, and the kingbird and the crow +blackbird fight the crow; but neither takes any notice of the buzzard. +He excites the enmity of none, for the reason that he molests none. +The crow has an old grudge against the hawk, because the hawk robs the +crow's nest and carries off his young; the kingbird's quarrel with the +crow is upon the same grounds. But the buzzard never attacks live +game, or feeds upon new flesh when old can be had. + +In May, like the crows, they nearly all disappear very suddenly, +probably to their breeding-haunts near the seashore. Do the males +separate from the females at this time, and go by themselves? At any +rate, in July I discovered that a large number of buzzards roosted in +some woods near Rock Creek, about a mile from the city limits; and, as +they do not nest anywhere in this vicinity, I thought they might be +males. I happened to be detained late in the woods, watching the nest +of a flying squirrel, when the buzzards, just after sundown, began to +come by ones and twos and alight in the trees near me. Presently they +came in greater numbers, but from the same direction, flapping low +over the woods, and taking up their position in the middle branches. +On alighting, each one would blow very audibly through his nose, just +as a cow does when she lies down; this is the only sound I have ever +heard the buzzard make. They would then stretch themselves, after the +manner of turkeys, and walk along the limbs. Sometimes a decayed +branch would break under the weight of two or three, when, with a +great flapping, the would take up new positions. They continued to +come till it was quite dark, and all the trees about me were full. I +began to feel a little nervous, but kept my place. After it was +entirely dark and all was still, I gathered a large pile of dry leaves +and kindled it with a match, to see what they would think of a fire. +Not a sound was heard till the pile of leaves was in full blaze, when +instantaneously every buzzard started. I thought the treetops were +coming down upon me, so great was the uproar. But the woods were soon +cleared, and the loathsome pack disappeared in the night. + +About the 1st of June I saw numbers of buzzards sailing around over +the great Falls of the Potomac. + +A glimpse of the birds usually found here in the latter part of winter +may be had in the following extract, which I take from my diary under +date of February 4th:-- + +"Made a long excursion through the woods and over the hills. Went +directly north from the Capitol for about three miles. The ground bare +and the day cold and sharp. In the suburbs, among the scattered Irish +and negro shanties, came suddenly upon a flock of birds, feeding about +like our northern snow buntings. Every now and then they uttered a +piping, disconsolate note, as if they had a very sorry time of it. +They proved to be shore larks, the first I had ever seen. They had the +walk characteristic of all larks; were a little larger than the +sparrow; had a black spot on the breast, with much white on the under +parts of their bodies. As I approached them the nearer ones paused, +and, half squatting, eyed me suspiciously. Presently, at a movement of +my arm, away they went, flying exactly like the snow bunting, and +showing nearly as much white." (I have since discovered that the shore +lark is a regular visitant here in February and March, when large +quantities of them are shot or trapped, and exposed for sale in the +market. During a heavy snow I have seen numbers of them feeding upon +the seeds of various weedy growths in a large market-garden well into +town.) "Pressing on, the walk became exhilarating. Followed a little +brook, the eastern branch of the Tiber, lined with bushes and a rank +growth of green-brier. Sparrows started out here and there, and flew +across the little bends and points. Among some pines just beyond the +boundary, saw a number of American goldfinches, in their gray winter +dress, pecking the pinecones. A golden-crowned kinglet was there also, +a little tuft of gray feathers, hopping about as restless as a spirit. +Had the old pine-trees food delicate enough for him also? Farther on, +in some low open woods, saw many sparrows,--the fox, white-throated, +white-crowned, the Canada, the song, the swamp,--all herding together +along the warm and sheltered borders. To my surprise, saw a chewink +also, and the yellow-rumped warbler. The purple finch was there +likewise, and the Carolina wren and brown creeper. In the higher, +colder woods not a bird was to be seen. Returning, near sunset, across +the eastern slope of a hill which overlooked the city, was delighted +to see a number of grass finches or vesper sparrows,--birds which +will be forever associated in my mind with my father's sheep pastures. +They ran before me, now flitting a pace or two, now skulking in the +low stubble, just as I had observed them when a boy." + +A month later, March 4th, is this note:-- + +"After the second memorable inaguration of President Lincoln, took my +first trip of the season. The afternoon was very clear and warm,--real +vernal sunshine at last, though the wind roared like a lion over the +woods. It seemed novel enough to find within two miles of the White +House a simple woodsman chopping away as if no President was being +inaugurated! Some puppies, snugly nestled in the cavity of an old +hollow tree, he said, belonged to a wild dog. I imagine I saw the +'wild dog,' on the other side of Rock Creek, in a great state of grief +and trepidation, running up and down, crying and yelping, and looking +wistfully over the swollen flood, which the poor thing had not the +courage to brave. This day, for the first time, I heard the song of +the Canada sparrow, a soft, sweet note, almost running into a warble. +Saw a small, black velvety butterfly with a yellow border to its +wings. Under a warm bank found two flowers of the houstonia in bloom. +Saw frogs' spawn near Piny Branch, and heard the hyla." + +Among the first birds that make their appearance in Washington is the +crow blackbird. He may come any time after the 1st of March. The birds +congregate in large flocks, and frequent groves and parks, alternately +swarming in the treetops and filling the air with their sharp jangle, +and alighting on the ground in quest of food, their polished coats +glistening in the sun from very blackness as they walk about. There is +evidently some music in the soul of this bird at this season, though +he makes a sad failure in getting it out. His voice always sounds as +if he were laboring under a severe attack of influenza, though a large +flock of them, heard at a distance on a bright afternoon of early +spring, produce an effect not unpleasing. The air is filled with +crackling, splintering, spurting, semi-musical sounds, which are like +pepper and salt to the ear. + +All parks and public grounds about the city are full of blackbirds. +They are especially plentiful in the trees about the White House, +breeding there and waging war on all other birds. The occupants of one +of the offices in the west wing of the Treasury one day had their +attention attracted by some object striking violently against one of +the window-panes. Looking up, they beheld a crow blackbird pausing in +midair, a few feet from the window. On the broad stone window-sill lay +the quivering form of a purple finch. The little tragedy was easily +read. The blackbird had pursued the finch with such murderous violence +that the latter, in its desperate efforts to escape, had sought refuge +in the Treasury. The force of the concussion against the heavy +plateglass of the window had killed the poor thing instantly. The +pursuer, no doubt astonished at the sudden and novel termination of +the career of its victim, hovered for a moment, as if to be sure of +what had happened, and made off. + +(It is not unusual for birds, when thus threatened with destruction by +their natural enemy, to become so terrified as to seek safety in the +presence of man. I was once startled, while living in a country +village, to behold, on entering my room at noon, one October day, a +quail sitting upon my bed. The affrighted and bewildered bird +instantly started for the open window, into which it had no doubt been +driven by a hawk.) + +The crow blackbird has all the natural cunning of his prototype, the +crow. In one of the inner courts of the Treasury building there is a +fountain with several trees growing near. By midsummer the blackbirds +became so bold as to venture within this court. Various fragments of +food, tossed from the surrounding windows, reward their temerity. When +a crust of dry bread defies their beaks, they have been seen to drop +it into the water, and, when it has become soaked sufficiently, to +take it out again. + +They build a nest of coarse sticks and mud, the whole burden of the +enterprise seeming to devolve upon the female. For several successive +mornings, just after sunrise, I used to notice a pair of them flying +to and fro in the air above me as I hoed in the garden, directing +their course about half a mile distant, and disappearing, on their +return, among the trees about the Capitol. Returning, the female +always had her beak loaded with building material, while the male, +carrying nothing, seemed to act as her escort, flying a little above +and in advance of her, and uttering now and then his husky, discordant +note. As I tossed a lump of earth up at them, the frightened mother +bird dropped her mortar, and the pair scurried away, much put out. +Later they avenged themselves by pilfering my cherries. + +The most mischievous enemies of the cherries, however, here as at the +North, are the cedar waxwings, or "cherry-birds." How quickly they spy +out the tree! Long before the cherry begins to turn, they are around, +alert and cautious. In small flocks they circle about, high in the +air, uttering their fine note, or plunge quickly into the tops of +remote trees. Day by day they approach nearer and nearer, +reconnoitring the premises, and watching the growing fruit. Hardly +have the green lobes turned a red cheek to the sun, before their beaks +have scarred it. At first they approach the tree stealthily, on the +side turned from the house, diving quickly into the branches in ones +and twos, while the main flock is ambushed in some shade tree not far +off. They are most apt to commit their depredations very early in the +morning and on cloudy, rainy days. As the cherries grow sweeter the +birds grow bolder, till, from throwing tufts of grass, one has to +throw stones in good earnest, or lose all his fruit. In June they +disappear, following the cherries to the north, where by July they are +nesting in the orchards and cedar groves. + +Among the permanent summer residents here (one might say city +residents, as they seem more abundant in town than out), the yellow +warbler or summer yellowbird is conspicuous. He comes about the middle +of April, and seems particularly attached to the silver poplars. In +every street, and all day long, one may hear his thin, sharp warble. +When nesting, the female comes about the yard, pecking at the +clothes-line, and gathering up bits of thread to weave into her nest. + +Swallows appear in Washington form the first to the middle of April. +They come twittering along in the way so familiar to every New England +boy. The barn swallow is heard first, followed in a day or two by the +squeaking of the cliff swallow. The chimney swallows, or swifts, are +not far behind, and remain here in large numbers, the whole season. +The purple martins appear in April, as they pass north, and again in +July and August on their return, accompanied by their young. + +The national capital is situated in such a vast spread of wild, +wooded, or semi-cultivated country and is in itself so open and +spacious, with its parks and large government reservations, that an +unusual number of birds find their way into it in the course of the +season. Rare warblers, as the black-poll, the yellow-poll, and the +bay-breasted, pausing in May on their northward journey, pursue their +insect game in the very heart of the town. + +I have heard the veery thrush in the trees near the White House; and +one rainy April morning, about six o'clock, he came and blew his soft, +mellow flute in a pear-tree in my garden. The tones had all the +sweetness and wildness they have when heard in June in our deep +northern forests. A day or two afterward, in the same tree, I heard +for the first time the song of the ruby-crowned wren, or kinglet,--the +same liquid bubble and cadence which characterize the wren-songs +generally, but much finer and more delicate than the song of any other +variety known to me; beginning in a fine, round, needle-like note, and +rising into a full, sustained warble, [SYMBOL DELETED] a strain, on +whole, remarkably exquisite and pleasing, the singer being all the +while as busy as a bee, catching some kind of insects. It is certainly +on of our most beautiful bird-songs, and Audubon's enthusiasm +concerning its song, as he heard it in the wilds of Labrador, is not a +bit extravagant. The song of the kinglet is the only characteristic +that allies it to the wrens. + +The Capitol grounds, with their fine large trees of many varieties, +draw many kinds of birds. In the rear of the building the extensive +grounds are peculiarly attractive, being a gentle slope, warm and +protected, and quite thickly wooded. Here in early spring I go to hear +the robins, catbirds, blackbirds, wrens, etc. In March the +white-throated and white-crowned sparrows may be seen, hopping about +on the flower-beds or peering slyly from the evergreens. The robin +hops about freely upon the grass, notwithstanding the keepers +large-lettered warning, and at intervals, and especially at sunset, +carols from the treetops his loud, hearty strain. + +The kingbird and orchard starling remain the whole season, and breed +in the treetops. The rich, copious song of the starling may be heard +there all the forenoon. The song of some birds is like +scarlet,--strong, intense, emphatic. This is the character of the +orchard starlings, also the tanagers and the various grosbeaks. On the +other hand, the songs of other birds, as of certain of the thrushes, +suggest the serene blue of the upper sky. + +In February one may hear, in the Smithsonian grounds, the song of the +fox sparrow. It is a strong, richly modulated whistle,--the finest +sparrow note I have ever heard. + +A curious and charming sound may be heard here in May. You are +walking forth in the soft morning air, when suddenly there comes a +burst of bobolink melody form some mysterious source. A score of +throats pour out one brief, hilarious, tuneful jubilee and are +suddenly silent. There is a strange remoteness and fascination about +it. Presently you will discover its source skyward, and a quick eye +will detect the gay band pushing northward. They seem to scent the +fragrant meadows afar off, and shout forth snatches of their songs in +anticipation. + +The bobolink does not breed in the District, but usually pauses in his +journey and feeds during the day in the grass-lands north of the city. +When the season is backward, they tarry a week or ten days, singing +freely and appearing quite at home. In large flocks they search over +every inch of ground, and at intervals hover on the wing or alight in +the treetops, all pouring forth their gladness at once, and filling +the air with a multitudinous musical clamor. + +They continue to pass, traveling by night and feeding by day, till +after the middle of May, when they cease. In September, with numbers +greatly increased, they are on their way back. I am first advised of +their return by hearing their calls at night as they fly over the +city. On certain nights the sound becomes quite noticeable. I have +awakened in the middle of the night, and, through the open window, as +I lay in bed, heard their faint notes. The warblers begin to return +about the same time, and are clearly distinguished by their timid +yeaps. On dark, cloudy nights the birds seem confused by the lights of +the city, and apparently wander about above it. + +In the spring the same curious incident is repeated, though but few +voices can be identified. I make out the snowbird, the bobolink, the +warblers, and on two nights during the early part of May I heard very +clearly the call of the sandpipers. + +Instead of the bobolink, one encounters here, in the June meadows, the +black-throated bunting, a bird very closely related to the sparrows +and a very persistent if not a very musical songster. He perches upon +the fences and upon the trees by the roadside, and, spreading his +tail, gives forth his harsh strain, which may be roughly worded thus: +fscp fscp, fee fee fee. Like all sounds associated with early summer, +it soon has a charm to the ear quite independent of its intrinsic +merits. + +Outside of the city limits, the great point of interest to the rambler +and lover of nature is the Rock Creek region. Rock Creek is a large, +rough, rapid stream, which has its source in the interior of Maryland, +and flows in to the Potomac between Washington and Georgetown. Its +course, for five or six miles out of Washington, is marked by great +diversity of scenery. Flowing in a deep valley, which now and then +becomes a wild gorge with overhanging rocks and high precipitous +headlands, for the most part wooded; here reposing in long, dark +reaches, there sweeping and hurrying around a sudden bend or over a +rocky bed; receiving at short intervals small runs and spring +rivulets, which open up vistas and outlooks to the right and left, of +the most charming description,--Rock Creek has an abundance of all the +elements that make up not only pleasing but wild and rugged scenery. +There is perhaps, not another city in the Union that has on its very +threshold so much natural beauty and grandeur, such as men seek for in +remote forests and mountains. A few touches of art would convert this +whole region, extending from Georgetown to what is known as Crystal +Springs, not more than two miles from the present State Department, +into a park unequaled by anything in the world. There are passages +between these two points as wild and savage, and apparently as remote +from civilization, as anything one meets with in the mountain sources +of the Hudson or the Delaware. + +One of the tributaries to Rock Creek within this limit is called Piny +Branch. It is a small, noisy brook, flowing through a valley of great +natural beauty and picturesqueness, shaded nearly all the way by woods +of oak, chestnut, and beech, and abounding in dark recesses and hidden +retreats. + +I must not forget to mention the many springs with which this whole +region is supplied, each the centre of some wild nook, perhaps the +head of a little valley one or two hundred yards long, through which +one catches a glimpse, or hears the voice, of the main creek rushing +along below. + +My walks tend in this direction more frequently than in any other. +Here the boys go, too, troops of them, of a Sunday, to bathe and prowl +around, and indulge the semi-barbarous instincts that still lurk +within them. Life, in all its forms, is most abundant near water. The +rank vegetation nurtures the insects, and the insects draw the birds. +The first week in March, on some southern slope where the sunshine +lies warm and long, I usually find the hepatica in bloom, though with +scarcely an inch of stalk. In the spring runs, the skunk cabbage +pushes its pike up through the mould, the flower appearing first, as +if Nature had made a mistake. + +It is not till about the 1st of April that many wild flowers may be +looked for. By this time the hepatica, anemone saxifrage, arbutus, +houstonia, and bloodroot may be counted on. A week later, the +claytonia or spring beauty, water-cress, violets, a low buttercup, +vetch, corydalis, and potentilla appear. These comprise most of the +April flowers, and may be found in great profusion in the Rock Creek +and Piny Branch region. + +In each little valley or spring run, some one species predominates. I +know invariably where to look for the first liverwort, and where the +largest and finest may be found. On a dry, gravelly, half-wooded +hill-slope the bird's-foot violet grows in great abundance, and is +sparse in neighboring districts. This flower, which I never saw in the +North, is the most beautiful and showy of all the violets, and calls +forth rapturous applause from all persons who visit the woods. It +grows in little groups and clusters, and bears a close resemblance to +the pansies of the gardens. Its two purple, velvety petals seem to +fall over tiny shoulders like a rich cape. + +On the same slope, and on no other, I go about the 1st of May for +lupine, or sun-dial, which makes the ground look blue from a little +distance; on the other or northern side of the slope, the arbutus, +during the first half of April, perfumes the wildwood air. A few paces +farther on, in the bottom of a little spring run, the mandrake shades +the ground with its miniature umbrellas. It begins to push its green +finger-points up through the ground by the 1st of April, but is not in +bloom till the 1st of May. It has a single white, wax-like flower, +with a sweet, sickish odor, growing immediately beneath its broad +leafy top. By the same run grow watercresses and two kinds of +anemones,--the Pennsylvania and the grove anemone. The bloodroot is +very common at the foot of almost every warm slope in the Rock Creek +woods, and, where the wind has tucked it up well with the coverlid of +dry leaves, makes its appearance almost as soon as the liverwort. It +is singular how little warmth is necessary to encourage these earlier +flowers to put forth. It would seem as if some influence must come on +in advance underground and get things ready, so that, when the outside +temperature is propitious, they at once venture out. I have found the +bloodroot when it was still freezing two or three nights in the week, +and have known at least three varieties of early flowers to be buried +in eight inches of snow. + +Another abundant flower in the Rock Creek region is the spring beauty. +Like most others, it grows in streaks. A few paces from where your +attention is monopolized by violets or arbutus, it is arrested by the +claytonia, growing in such profusion that it is impossible to set the +foot down without crushing the flowers. Only the forenoon walker sees +them in all their beauty, as later in the day their eyes are closed, +and their pretty heads drooped in slumber. In only one locality do I +find the lady's-slipper,--a yellow variety. The flowers that overleap +all bounds in this section are the houstonias. By the 1st of April +they are very noticeable in warm, damp places along the borders of the +woods and in half-cleared fields, but by May these localities are +clouded with them. They become visible from the highway across wide +fields, and look like little puffs of smoke clinging close to the +ground. + +On the 1st of May I go to the Rock Creek or Piny Branch region to hear +the wood thrush. I always find him by this date leisurely chanting his +lofty strain; other thrushes are seen now also, or even earlier, as +Wilson's, the olive-backed, the hermit,--the two latter silent, but +the former musical. + +Occasionally in the earlier part of May I find the woods literally +swarming with warblers, exploring every branch and leaf, from the +tallest tulip to the lowest spice-bush, so urgent is the demand for +food during their long northern journeys. At night they are up and +away. Some varieties, as the blue yellow-back, the chestnut-sided, and +the Blackburnian, during their brief stay, sing nearly as freely as in +their breeding-haunts. For two or three years I have chanced to meet +little companies of the bay-breasted warbler, searching for food in an +oak wood on an elevated piece of ground. They kept well up among the +branches, were rather slow in their movements, and evidently disposed +to tarry but a short time. + +The summer residents here, belonging to this class of birds, are few. +I have observed the black and white creeping warbler, the Kentucky +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the redstart, and the gnat-catcher, +breeding near Rock Creek. + +Of these the Kentucky warbler is by far the most interesting, though +quite rare. I meet with him in low, damp places in the woods, usually +on the steep sides of some little run. I hear at intervals a clear, +strong, bell-like whistle or warble, and presently catch a glimpse of +the bird as he jumps up from the ground to take an insect or worm from +the under side of a leaf. This is his characteristic movement. He +belongs to the class of ground warblers, and his range is very low, +indeed lower than that of any other species with which I am +acquainted. He is on the ground nearly all the time, moving rapidly +along, taking spiders and bugs, overturning leaves, peeping under +sticks and into crevices, and every now and then leaping up eight or +ten inches to take his game from beneath some overhanging leaf or +branch. Thus each species has its range more or less marked. Draw a +line three feet from the ground, and you mark the usual limit of the +Kentucky warbler's quest for food. Six or eight feet higher bounds the +usual range of such birds as the worm-eating warbler, the mourning +ground warbler, the Maryland yellow-throat. The lower branches of the +higher growths and the higher branches of the lower growths are +plainly preferred by the black-throated blue-backed warbler in those +localities where he is found. The thrushes feed mostly on and near the +ground, while some of the vireos and the true flycatchers explore the +highest branches. But the warblers, as a rule, are all partial to +thick, rank undergrowths. + +The Kentucky warbler is a large bird for the genus and quite notable +in appearance. His back is clear olive-green, his throat and breast +bright yellow. A still more prominent feature is a black streak on the +side of the face, extending down the neck. + +Another familiar bird here, which I never met with in the North, is +the gnatcatcher, called by Audubon the blue-gray flycatching warbler. +In form and manner it seems almost a duplicate of the catbird on a +small scale. It mews like a young kitten, erects its tail, flirts, +droops its wings, goes through a variety of motions when disturbed by +your presence, and in many ways recalls its dusky prototype. Its color +above is a light gray-blue, gradually fading till it becomes white on +the breast and belly. It is a very small bird, and has a long, facile, +slender tail. Its song is a lisping, chattering, incoherent warble, +now faintly reminding one of the goldfinch, now of a miniature +catbird, then of a tiny yellow-hammer, having much variety, but no +unity and little cadence. + +Another bird which has interested me here is the Louisiana water +thrush, called also large-billed water-thrush, and water-wagtail. It +is one of a trio of birds which has confused the ornithologists much. +The other two species are the well-known golden-crowned thrush or +wood-wagtail, and the northern, or small, water-thrush. + +The present species, though not abundant, is frequently met with along +Rock Creek. It is a very quick, vivacious bird, and belongs to the +class of ecstatic singers. I have seen a pair of these thrushes, on a +bright May day, flying to and fro between two spring runs, alighting +at intermediate points, the male breaking out into one of the most +exuberant, unpremeditated strains I ever heard. Its song is a sudden +burst, beginning with three or four clear round notes much resembling +certain tones of the clarinet, and terminating in a rapid, intricate +warble. + +This bird resembles a thrush only in its color, which is olive-brown +above and grayish white beneath, with speckled throat and breast. Its +habits, manners, and voice suggest those of a lark. + +I seldom go the Rock Creek route without being amused and sometimes +annoyed by the yellow-breasted chat. This bird also has something of +the manners and build of the catbird, yet he is truly an original. The +catbird is mild and feminine compared with this rollicking polyglot. +His voice is very loud and strong and quite uncanny. No sooner have +you penetrated his retreat, which is usually a thick undergrowth in +low, wet localities, near the woods or in old fields, than he begins +his serenade, which for the variety, grotesqueness, and uncouthness of +the notes is not unlike a country skimmerton. If one passes directly +along, the bird may scarcely break the silence. But pause a while, or +loiter quietly about, and your presence stimulates him to do his best. +He peeps quizzically at you from beneath the branches, and gives a +sharp feline mew. In a moment more he says very distinctly, who, who. +Then in rapid succession follow notes the most discordant that ever +broke the sylvan silence. Now he barks like a puppy, then quacks like +a duck, then rattles like a kingfisher, then squalls like a fox, then +caws like a crow, then mews like a cat. Now he calls as if to be heard +a long way off, then changes his key, as if addressing the spectator. +Though very shy, and carefully keeping himself screened when you show +any disposition to get a better view, he will presently, if you remain +quiet, ascend a twig, or hop out on a branch in plain sight, lop his +tail, droop his wings, cock his head, and become very melodramatic. In +less than half a minute he darts into the bushes again, and again +tunes up, no Frenchman rolling his r's so fluently. +C-r-r-r-r-r-- Wrrr, --that's it, --chee, --quack, cluck, --yit-yit-yit, +--now hit it, --tr-r-r-r, --when, --caw, caw, --cut, cut, --tea-boy, +--who, who, --mew, mew, --and so on till you are tired of listening. +Observing one very closely one day, I discovered that he was limited +to six notes or changes, which he went through in regular order, +scarcely varying a note in a dozen repetitions. Sometimes, when a +considerable distance off, he will fly down to have a nearer view of +you. And such curious, expressive flight,--legs extended, head lowered, +wings rapidly vibrating, the whole action piquant and droll! + +The chat is an elegant bird, both in form and color. Its plumage is +remarkably firm and compact. Color above, light olive-green; beneath, +bright yellow; beak, black and strong. + +The cardinal grosbeak, or Virginia redbird, is quite common in the +same localities, though more inclined to seek the woods. It is much +sought after by bird fanciers, and by boy gunners, and consequently is +very shy. This bird suggests a British redcoat; his heavy, pointed +beak, his high cockade, the black stripe down his face, the expression +of weight and massiveness about his head and neck, and his erect +attitude, give him a decided soldier-like appearance; and there is +something of the tone of the fife in his song or whistle, while his +ordinary note, when disturbed, is like the clink of a sabre. +Yesterday, as I sat indolently swinging in the loop of a grapevine, +beneath a thick canopy of green branches, in a secluded nook by a +spring run, one of these birds came pursuing some kind of insect, but +a few feet above me. He hopped about, now and then uttering his sharp +note, till some moth or beetle trying to escape, he broke down through +the cover almost where I sat. The effect was like a firebrand coming +down through the branches. Instantly catching sight of me, he darted +away much alarmed. The female is tinged with brown, and shows but a +little red except when she takes flight. + +By far the most abundant species of woodpecker about Washington is the +red-headed. It is more common than the robin. Not in the deep woods, +but among the scattered dilapidated oaks and groves, on the hills and +in the fields, I hear almost every day his uncanny note, ktr-r-r, +ktr-r-r, like that of some larger tree-toad, proceeding from an oak +grove just beyond the boundary. He is a strong-scented fellow, and +very tough. Yet how beautiful, as he flits about the open woods, +connecting the trees by a gentle arc of crimson and white! This is +another bird with a military look. His deliberate, dignified ways, and +his bright uniform of red, white, and steel-blue, bespeak him an +officer of rank. + +Another favorite beat of mine is northeast of the city. Looking from +the Capitol in this direction, scarcely more than a mile distant, you +see a broad green hill-slope, falling very gently, and spreading into +a large expanse of meadow-land. The summit, if so gentle a swell of +greensward may be said to have a summit, is covered with a grove of +large oaks; and, sweeping black out of sight like a mantle, the front +line of a thick forest bounds the sides. This emerald landscape is +seen from a number of points in the city. Looking along New York +Avenue from Northern Liberty Market, the eye glances, as it were, from +the red clay of the street, and alights upon this fresh scene in the +distance. It is a standing invitation to the citizen to come forth and +be refreshed. As I turn from some hot, hard street, how inviting it +looks! I bathe my eyes in it as in a fountain. Sometimes troops of +cattle are seen grazing upon it. In June the gathering of the hay may +be witnessed. When the ground is covered with snow, numerous stacks, +or clusters of stacks, are still left for the eye to contemplate. + +The woods which clothe the east side of this hill, and sweep away to +the east, are among the most charming to be found in the District. The +main growth is oak and chestnut, with a thin sprinkling of laurel, +azalea, and dogwood. It is the only locality in which I have found the +dogtooth violet in bloom, and the best place I know of to gather +arbutus. On one slope the ground is covered with moss, through which +the arbutus trails its glories. + +Emerging from these woods toward the city, one sees the white dome of +the Capitol soaring over the green swell of earth immediately in +front, and lifting its four thousand tons of iron gracefully and +lightly into the air. Of all the sights in Washington, that which will +survive the longest in my memory is the vision of the great dome thus +rising cloud-like above the hills. + + 1868. + + + +VI + +BIRCH BROWSINGS + +The region of which I am about to speak lies in the southern part of +the state of New York, and comprises parts of three counties,--Ulster, +Sullivan and Delaware. It is drained by tributaries of both the Hudson +and Delaware, and, next to the Adirondack section, contains more wild +land than any other tract in the State. The mountains which traverse +it, and impart to it its severe northern climate, belong properly to +the Catskill range. On some maps of the State they are called the Pine +Mountains, though with obvious local impropriety, as pine, so far as I +have observed, is nowhere found upon them. "Birch Mountains" would be +a more characteristic name, as on their summits birch is the +prevailing tree. They are the natural home of the black and yellow +birch, which grow here to unusual size. On their sides beech and maple +abound; while, mantling their lower slopes and darkening the valleys, +hemlock formerly enticed the lumberman and tanner. Except in remote or +inaccessible localities, the latter tree is now almost never found. In +Shandaken and along the Esopus it is about the only product the +country yielded, or is likely to yield. Tanneries by the score have +arisen and flourished upon the bark, and some of them still remain. +Passing through that region the present season, I saw that the few +patches of hemlock that still lingered high up on the sides of the +mountains were being felled and peeled, the fresh white boles or the +trees, just stripped of their bark, being visible a long distance. + +Among these mountains there are no sharp peaks, or abrupt declivities, +as in a volcanic region, but long, uniform ranges, heavily timbered to +their summits, and delighting the eye with vast, undulating horizon +lines. Looking south from the heights about the head of the Delaware, +one sees, twenty miles away, a continual succession of blue ranges, +one behind the other. If a few large trees are missing on the sky +line, one can see the break a long distance off. + +Approaching this region from the Hudson River side, you cross a rough, +rolling stretch of country, skirting the base of the Catskills, which +from a point near Saugerties sweep inland; after a drive of a few +hours you are within the shadow of a high, bold mountain, which forms +a sort of butt-end to this part of the range, and which is simple +called High Point. To the east and southeast it slopes down rapidly to +the plain, and looks defiance toward the Hudson, twenty miles distant; +in the rear of it, and radiating from it west and northwest, are +numerous smaller ranges, backing up, as it were, this haughty chief. + +From this point through to Pennsylvania, a distance of nearly one +hundred miles, stretches the tract of which I speak. It is a belt of +country from twenty to thirty miles wide, bleak and wild, and but +sparsely settled. The traveler on the New York and Erie Railroad gets +a glimpse of it. + +Many cold, rapid trout streams, which flow to all points of the +compass, have their source in the small lakes and copious mountain +springs of this region. The names of some of them are Mill Brook, Dry +Brook, Willewemack, Beaver Kill, Elk Bush Kill, Panther Kill, +Neversink, Big Ingin, and Callikoon. Beaver Kill is the main outlet on +the west. It joins the Deleware in the wilds of Hancock. The Neversink +lays open the region to the south, and also joins the Delaware. To the +east, various Kills unite with the Big Ingin to form the Esopus, which +flows into the Hudson. Dry Brook and Mill Brook, both famous trout +streams, from twelve to fifteen miles long, find their way into the +Delaware. + +The east or Pepacton branch of the Delaware itself takes its rise near +here in a deep pass between the mountains. I have many times drunk at +a copious spring by the roadside, where the infant river first sees +the light. A few yards beyond, the water flows the other way, +directing its course through the Bear Kill and Schoharie Kill into the +Mohawk. + +Such game and wild animals as still linger in the State are found in +this region. Bears occasionally make havoc among the sheep. The +clearings at the head of a valley are oftenest the scene of their +depredations. + +Wild pigeons, in immense numbers used to breed regularly in the valley +of the Big Ingin and about the head of the Neversink. The treetops for +miles were full of their nests, while the going and coming of the old +birds kept up a constant din. But the gunners soon got wind of it, and +from far and near were wont to pour in during the spring, and to +slaughter both old and young. This practice soon had the effect of +driving the pigeons all away, and now only a few pairs breed in these +woods. + +Deer are still met with, though they are becoming scarcer every year. +Last winter near seventy head were killed on the Beaver Kill alone. I +heard of one wretch, who, finding the deer snowbound, walked up to +them on his snowshoes, and one morning before breakfast slaughtered +six, leaving their carcasses where they fell. There are traditions of +persons having been smitten blind or senseless when about to commit +some heinous offense, but the fact that this villain escaped without +some such visitation throws discredit on all such stories. + +The great attraction, however, of this region, is the brook trout, +with which the streams and lakes abound. The water is of excessive +coldness, the thermometer indicating 44 deg. and 45 deg.in the springs, +and 47 deg. or 48 deg. in the smaller streams. The trout are generally +small, but in the more remote branches their number is very great. In +such localities the fish are quite black, but in the lakes they are of +a lustre and brilliancy impossible to describe. + +These waters have been much visited of late years by fishing parties, +and the name of the Beaver Kill is now a potent name among New York +sportsmen. + +One lake, in the wilds of Callikoon, abounds in a peculiar species of +white sucker, which is of excellent quality. It is taken only in +spring, during the spawning season, at the time "when the leaves are +as big as a chipmunk's ears." The fish run up the small streams and +inlets, beginning at nightfall, and continuing till the channel is +literally packed with them, and every inch of space is occupied. The +fishermen pounce upon them at such times, and scoop them up by the +bushel, usually wading right into the living mass and landing the fish +with their hands. A small party will often secure in this manner a +wagon-load of fish. Certain conditions of the weather, as a warm south +or southwest wind, are considered most favorable for the fish to run. + +Though familiar all my life with the outskirts of this region, I have +only twice dipped into its wilder portions. Once in 1860 a friend and +myself traced the Beaver Kill to its source, and encamped by Balsam +Lake. A cold and protracted rainstorm coming on, we were obliged to +leave the woods before we were ready. Neither of us will soon forget +that tramp by an unknown route over the mountains, encumbered as we +were with a hundred and one superfluities which we had foolishly +brought along to solace ourselves with in the woods; nor that halt on +the summit, where we cooked and ate our fish in the drizzling rain; +nor, again, that rude log house, with its sweet hospitality, which we +reached just at nightfall on Mill Brook. + +In 1868 a party of three of us set out for a brief trouting excursion +to a body of water called Thomas's Lake, situated in the same chain of +mountains. On this excursion, more particularly than on any other I +have ever undertaken, I was taught how poor an Indian I should make, +and what a ridiculous figure a party of men may cut in the woods when +the way is uncertain and the mountains high. + +We left our team at a farmhouse near the head of the Mill Brook, one +June afternoon, and with knapsacks on our shoulders struck into the +woods at the base of the mountain, hoping to cross the range that +intervened between us and the lake by sunset. We engaged a +good-natured but rather indolent young man, who happened to be +stopping at the house, and who had carried a knapsack in the Union +armies, to pilot us a couple of miles into the woods so as to guard +against any mistakes at the outset. It seemed the easiest thing in the +world to find the lake. The lay of the land was so simple, according +to accounts, that I felt sure I could go it in the dark. "Go up this +little brook to its source on the side of the mountain," they said. +"The valley that contains the lake heads directly on the other side." +What could be easier! But on a little further inquiry, they said we +should "bear well to the left" when we reached the top of the +mountain. This opened the doors again; "bearing well to the left" was +an uncertain performance in strange woods. We might bear so well to +the left that it would bring us ill. But why bear to the left at all, +if the lake was directly opposite? Well, not quite opposite; a little +to the left. There were two or three other valleys that headed in near +there. We could easily find the right one. But to make assurance +doubly sure, we engaged a guide, as stated, to give us a good start, +and go with us beyond the bearing-to-the-left point. He had been to +the lake the winter before and knew the way. Our course, the first +half hour, was along an obscure wood-road which had been used for +drawing ash logs off mountain in winter. There was some hemlock, but +more maple and birch. The woods were dense and free from underbrush, +the ascent gradual. Most of the way we kept the voice of the creek in +our ear on the right. I approached it once, and found it swarming with +trout. The water was as cold as one ever need wish. After a while the +ascent grew steeper, the creek became a mere rill that issued from +beneath loose, moss-covered rocks and stones, and with much labor and +puffing we drew ourselves up the rugged declivity. Every mountain has +its steepest point, which is usually near the summit, in keeping, I +suppose, with the providence that makes the darkest hour just before +day. It is steep, steeper, steepest, till you emerge on the smooth +level or gently rounded space at the top, which the old ice-gods +polished off so long ago. + +We found this mountain had a hollow in its back where the ground was +soft and swampy. Some gigantic ferns, which we passed through, came +nearly to our shoulders. We passed also several patches of swamp +honeysuckles, red with blossoms. + +Our guide at length paused on a big rock where the land begin to dip +down the other way, and concluded that he had gone far enough, and +that we would now have no difficulty in finding the lake. "It must lie +right down there," he said pointing with his hand. But it was plain +that he was not quite sure in his own mind. He had several times +wavered in his course, and had shown considerable embarrassment when +bearing to the left across the summit. Still we thought little of it. +We were full of confidence, and bidding him adieu, plunged down the +mountain-side, following a spring run that we had no doubt left to the +lake. + +In these woods, which had a southeastern exposure, I first began to +notice the wood thrush. In coming up the other side, I had not seen a +feather of any kind, or heard a note. Now the golden trillide-de of +the wood thrush sounded through the silent woods. While looking for a +fish-pole about halfway down the mountain, I saw a thrush's nest in a +little sapling about ten feet from the ground. + +After continuing our descent till our only guide, the spring run, +became quite a trout brook, and its tiny murmur a loud brawl, we began +to peer anxiously through the trees for a glimpse of the lake, or for +some conformation of the land that would indicate its proximity. An +object which we vaguely discerned in looking under the near trees and +over the more distant ones proved, on further inspection, to be a +patch of plowed ground. Presently we made out a burnt fallow near it. +This was a wet blanket to our enthusiasm. No lake, no sport, no trout +for supper that night. The rather indolent young man had either played +us a trick, or, as seemed more likely, had missed the way. We were +particularly anxious to be at the lake between sundown and dark, as at +that time the trout jump most freely. + +Pushing on, we soon emerged into a stumpy field, at the head of a +steep valley, which swept around toward the west. About two hundred +rods below us was a rude log house, with smoke issuing from the +chimney. A boy came out and moved toward the spring with a pail in his +hand. We shouted to him, when he turned and ran back into the house +without pausing to reply. In a moment the whole family hastily rushed +into the yard, and turned their faces toward us. If we had come down +their chimney, they could not have seemed more astonished. Not making +out what they said, I went down to the house, and learned to my +chagrin that we were still on the Mill Brook side, having crossed only +a spur of the mountain. We had not borne sufficiently to the left, so +that the main range, which, at the point of crossing, suddenly breaks +off to the southeast, still intervened between us and the lake. We +were about five miles, as the water runs, from the point of starting, +and over two from the lake. We must go directly back to the top of the +range where the guide had left us, and then, by keeping well to the +left, we would soon come to a line of marked trees, which would lead +us to the lake. So, turning upon our trail, we doggedly began the work +of undoing what we had just done,--in all cases a disagreeable task, +in this case a very laborious one also. It was after sunset when we +turned back, and before we had got halfway up the mountain, it began +to be quite dark. We were often obliged to rest our packs against the +trees and take breath, which made our progress slow. Finally a halt +was called, beside an immense flat rock which had paused on its slide +down the mountain, and we prepared to encamp for the night. A fire was +built the rock cleared off, a small ration of bread served out, our +accoutrements hung up out of the way of the hedgehogs that were +supposed to infest the locality, and then we disposed ourselves for +sleep. If the owls or porcupines (and I think I heard one of the +latter in the middle of the night) reconnoitred our camp, they saw a +buffalo robe spread upon a rock, with three old felt hats arranged on +one side, and three pairs of sorry-looking cowhide boots protruding +from the other. + +When we lay down, there was apparently not a mosquito in the woods; +but the "no-see-ems," as Thoreau's Indian aptly named the midges, soon +found us out, and after the fire had gone down, annoyed us very much. +My hands and wrists suddenly began to smart and itch in a most +uncomfortable manner. My first thought was that they had been poisoned +in some way. Then the smarting extended to my neck and face, even to +my scalp, when I began to suspect what was the matter. So, wrapping +myself up more thoroughly, and stowing my hands away as best I could, +I tried to sleep, being some time behind my companions, who appeared +not to mind the "no-see-ems." I was further annoyed by some little +irregularity on my side of the couch. The chambermaid had not beaten +it up well. One huge lump refused to be mollified, and each attempt to +adapt it up some natural hollow in my own body brought only a moment's +relief. But at last I got the better of this also and slept. Late in +the night I woke up, just in time to hear a golden-crowned thrush sing +in a tree near by. It sang as loud and cheerily as at midday, and I +thought myself, after all, quite in luck. Birds occasionally sing at +night, just as the cock crows. I have heard the hairbird, and the note +of the kingbird; and the ruffed grouse frequently drums at night. + +At the first faint signs of day a wood thrush sang, a few rods below +us. Then after a little delay, as the gray light began to grow around, +thrushes broke out in full song in all parts of the woods. I thought I +had never before heard them sing so sweetly. Such a leisurely, golden +chant!--it consoled us for all we had undergone. It was the first +thing in order,--the worms were safe till after this morning chorus. I +judged that the birds roosted but a few feet from the ground. In fact, +a bird in all cases roosts where it builds, and the wood thrush +occupies, as it were, the first story of the woods. + +There is something singular about the distribution of the wood +thrushes. At an earlier stage of my observations I should have been +much surprised at finding them in these woods. Indeed, I had stated in +print on two occasions that the wood thrush was not found in the +higher lands of the Catskills, but that the hermit thrush and the +veery, or Wilson's thrush, were common. It turns out that the +statement is only half true. The wood thrush is found also, but is +much more rare and secluded in its habits than either of the others, +being seen only during the breeding season on remote mountains, and +then only on their eastern and southern slopes. I have never yet in +this region found the bird spending the season in the near and +familiar woods, which is directly contrary to observations I have made +in other parts of the state. So different are the habits of birds in +different localities. + +As soon as it was fairly light we were up and ready to resume our +march. A small bit of bread and butter and a swallow or two of whiskey +was all we had for breakfast that morning. Our supply of each was very +limited, and we were anxious to save a little of both, to relieve the +diet of trout to which we looked forward. + +At an early hour we reached the rock where we had parted with the +guide, and looked around us into the dense, trackless woods with many +misgivings. To strike out now on our own hook, where the way was so +blind and after the experience we had just had, was a step not to be +carelessly taken. The tops of these mountains are so broad, and a +short distance in the woods seems so far, that one is by no means +master of the situation after reaching the summit. And then there are +so many spurs and offshoots and changes of direction, added to the +impossibility of making any generalization by the aid of the eye, that +before one is aware of it he is very wide of his mark. + +I remembered now that a young farmer of my acquaintance had told me +how he had made a long day's march through the heart of this region, +without path or guide of any kind, and had hit his mark squarely. He +had been barkpeeling in Callikoon,--a famous country for +barkpeeling,--and, having got enough of it, he desired to reach his +home on Dry Brook without making the usual circuitous journey between +the two places. To do this necessitated a march of ten or twelve miles +across several ranges of mountains and through an unbroken forest,--a +hazardous undertaking in which no one would join him. Even the old +hunters who were familiar with the ground dissuaded him and predicted +the failure of his enterprise. But having made up his mind, he +possessed himself thoroughly of the topography of the country from the +aforesaid hunters, shouldered his axe, and set out, holding a strait +course through the woods, and turning aside for neither swamps, +streams, nor mountains. When he paused to rest he would mark some +object ahead of him with his eye, in order that on getting up again, +he might not deviate from his course. His directors had told him of a +hunter's cabin about midway on his route, which if he struck he might +be sure he was right. About noon this cabin was reached, and at sunset +he emerged at the head of Dry Brook. + +After looking in vain for the line of marked trees, we moved off to +the left in a doubtful, hesitating manner, keeping on the highest +ground and blazing the trees as we went. We were afraid to go +downhill, lest we should descend to soon; our vantage-ground was high +ground. A thick fog coming on, we were more bewildered than ever. +Still we pressed forward, climbing up ledges and wading through ferns +for about two hours, when we paused by a spring that issued from +beneath an immense wall of rock that belted the highest part of the +mountain. There was quite a broad plateau here, and the birch wood was +very dense, and the trees of unusual size. + +After resting and exchanging opinions, we all concluded that is was +best not to continue our search encumbered as we were; but we were not +willing to abandon it altogether, and I proposed to my companions to +leave them beside the spring with our traps, while I made one thorough +and final effort to find the lake. If I succeeded and desired them to +come forward, I was to fire my gun three times; if I failed and wished +to return, I would fire twice, they of course responding. + +So, filling my canteen from the spring, I set out again, taking the +spring run for my guide. Before I had followed it two hundred yards, +it sank into the ground at my feet. I had half a mind to be +superstitious and to believe that we were under a spell, since our +guides played us such tricks. However, I determined to put the matter +to a further test, and struck out boldly to the left. This seemed to +be the keyword,--to the left, to the left. The fog had now lifted, so +that I could form a better idea of the lay of the land. Twice I looked +down the steep sides of the mountain, sorely attempted to risk a +plunge. Still I hesitated and kept along on the brink. As I stood on a +rock deliberating, I heard a crackling of the brush, like the tread of +some large game, on the plateau below me. Suspecting the truth of the +case, I moved stealthily down, and found a herd of young cattle +leisurely browsing. We had several times crossed their trail, and had +seen that morning a level, grassy place on the top of the mountain, +where they had passed the night. Instead of being frightened, as I had +expected, they seemed greatly delighted, and gathered around me as if +to inquire the tidings from the outer world,--perhaps the quotations +of the cattle market. They came up to me, and eagerly licked my hand, +clothes, and gun. Salt was what they were after, and they were ready +to swallow anything that contained the smallest percentage of it. They +were mostly yearlings and as sleek as moles. They had a very gamy +look. We were afterwards told that, in the spring, the farmers round +about turn into these woods their young cattle, which do not come out +again till fall. They are then in good condition,--not fat, like +grass-fed cattle, but trim and supple, like deer. Once a month the +owner hunts them up and salts them. They have their beats, and seldom +wander beyond well-defined limits. It was interesting to see them +feed. They browsed on the low limbs and bushes, and on the various +plants, munching at everything without any apparent discrimination. + +They attempted to follow me, but I escaped them by clambering down +some steep rocks. I now found myself gradually edging down the side of +the mountain, keeping around it in a spiral manner, and scanning the +woods and the shape of the ground for some encouraging hint or sign. +Finally the woods became more open, and the descent less rapid. The +trees were remarkably straight and uniform in size. Black birches, the +first I had ever seen, were very numerous. I felt encouraged. +Listening attentively, I caught, from a breeze just lifting the +drooping leaves, a sound that I willingly believed was made by a +bullfrog. On this hint, I tore down through the woods at my highest +speed. Then I paused and listened again. This time there was no +mistaking it; it was the sound of frogs. Much elated, I rushed on. By +and by I could hear them as I ran. Pthrung, pthrung, croaked the old +ones; pug, pug, shrilly joined in the smaller fry. + +Then I caught, through the lower trees, a gleam of blue, which I first +thought was distant sky. A second look and I knew it to be water, and +in a moment more I stepped from the woods and stood upon the shore of +the lake. I exulted silently. There it was at last, sparkling in the +morning sun, and as beautiful as a dream. It was so good to come upon +such open space and such bright hues, after wandering in the dim, +dense woods! The eye is as delighted as an escaped bird, and darts +gleefully from point to point. + +The lake was a long oval, scarcely more than a mile in circumference, +with evenly wooded shores, which rose gradually on all sides. After +contemplating the serene for a moment, I stepped back into the woods, +and, loading my gun as heavily as I dared, discharged it three times. +The reports seemed to fill all the mountains with sound. The frogs +quickly hushed, and I listened for the response. But no response came. +Then I tried again and again, but without evoking an answer. One of my +companions, however, who had climbed to the top of the high rocks in +the rear of the spring, thought he heard faintly one report. It seemed +an immense distance below him, and far around under the mountain. I +knew I had come a long way, and hardly expected to be able to +communicate with my companions in the manner agreed upon. I therefore +started back, choosing my course without any reference to the +circuitous route by which I had come, and loading heavily and firing +at intervals. I must have aroused many long-dormant echoes from a Rip +Van Winkle sleep. As my powder got low, I fired and halloed +alternately, till I cam near splitting both my throat and gun. +Finally, after I had begun to have a very ugly feeling of alarm and +disappointment, and to cast about vaguely for some course to pursue in +an emergency that seemed near at hand,--namely the loss of my +companions now I had found the lake,--a favoring breeze brought me the +last echo of a response. I rejoined with spirit, and hastened with all +speed in the direction whence the sound had come, but, after repeated +trials, failed to elicit another answering sound. This filled me with +apprehension again. I feared that my friends had been mislead by the +reverberations, and I pictured them to myself, hastening in the +opposite direction. Paying little attention to my course, but paying +dearly for my carelessness afterward, I rushed forward to undeceive +them. But they had not been deceived, and in a few moments an +answering shout revealed them near at hand. I heard their tramp, the +bushed parted, and we three met again. + +In answer to their eager inquiries, I assured them that I had seen the +lake, that it was at the foot of the mountain, and that we could not +miss it if we kept straight down from where we then were. + +My clothes were soaked in perspiration, but I shouldered my knapsack +with alacrity, and we began the descent. I noticed that the woods were +much thicker, and had quite a different look from those I had passed +through, but thought nothing of it, as I expected to strike the lake +near its head, whereas I had before come out at its foot. We had not +gone far when we crossed a line of marked trees, which my companions +were disposed to follow. It intersected our course nearly at right +angles, and kept along and up the side of the mountain. My impression +was that it lead up from the lake, and that by keeping our course we +should reach the lake sooner than if we followed this line. About +halfway down the mountain, we could see through the interstices the +opposite slope. I encouraged my comrades by telling them that the lake +was between us and that, and not more than half a mile distant. We +soon reached the bottom, where we found a small stream and quite an +extensive alder swamp, evidently the ancient bed of a lake. I +explained to my half-vexed and half-incredulous companions that we +were probably above the lake, and that this stream must lead to it. +"Follow it," they said; "we will wait here till we hear from you." + +So I went on, more than ever disposed to believe that we were under a +spell, and that the lake had slipped from my grasp after all. Seeing +no favorable sign as I went forward, I laid down my accoutrements, and +climbed a decayed beech that leaned out over the swamp and promised a +good view from the top. As I stretched myself up to look around from +the highest attainable branch, there was suddenly a loud crack at the +root. With a celerity that would at least have done credit to a bear, +I regained the ground, having caught but a momentary glimpse of the +country, but enough to convince me no lake was near. Leaving all +incumbrances here but my gun, I still pressed on, loath to be thus +baffled. After floundering through another alder swamp for nearly half +a mile, I flattered myself that I was close to the lake. I caught +sight of a low spur of the mountain sweeping around like a +half-extended arm, and I fondly imagined that within its clasp was the +object of my search. But I found only more alder swamp. After this +region was cleared the creek began to descend the mountain very +rapidly. Its banks became high and narrow, and it went whirling away +with a sound that seemed to my ears like a burst of ironical laughter. +I turned back with a feeling of mingled disgust, shame and vexation. +In fact I was almost sick, and when I reached my companions, after an +absence of nearly two hours, hungry, fatigued, and disheartened, I +would have sold my interest in Thomas's Lake at a very low figure. For +the first time, I heartily wished myself well out of the woods. Thomas +might keep his lake, and the enchanters guard his possession! I +doubted if he had ever found it the second time, or if any one else +ever had. + +My companions, who were quite fresh and who had not felt the strain of +baffled purpose as I had, assumed a more encouraging tone. After I had +rested awhile, and partaken sparingly of the bread and whisky, which +in such an emergency is a great improvement on bread and water, I +agreed to their proposition that we should make another attempt. As if +to reassure us, a robin sounded his cheery call near by, and the +winter wren, the first I had ever heard in these woods, set his +music-box going, which fairly ran over with fin, gushing, lyrical +sounds. There can be no doubt but this bird is one of our finest +songsters. If it would only thrive and sing well when caged, like the +canary, how far it would surpass that bird! It has all the vivacity +and versatility of the canary, without any of its shrillness. Its song +is indeed a little cascade of melody. + +We again retraced our steps, rolling the stone, as it were, back up +the mountain, determined to commit ourselves to the line of marked +trees. These we finally reached, and, after exploring the country to +the right, saw that bearing to the left was still the order. The trail +led up over a gentle rise of ground, and in less than twenty minutes, +we were in the woods I had passed through when I found the lake. The +error I had made was then plain: we had come off the mountain a few +paces too far to the right, and so had passed down on the wrong side +of the ridge, into what we afterwards learned was the valley of Alder +Creek. + +We now made good time, and before many minutes I again saw the mimic +sky glance through the trees. As we approached the lake, a solitary +woodchuck, the first wild animal we had seen since entering the woods, +sat crouched upon the root of a tree a few feet from the water, +apparently completely nonplused by the unexpected appearance of danger +on the land side. All retreat was cut off, and he looked his fate in +the face without flinching. I slaughtered him just as a savage would +have done, and from the same motive,--I wanted his carcass to eat. + +The mid-afternoon sun was now shining upon the lake, and a low, steady +breeze drove the little waves rocking to the shore. A herd of cattle +were browsing on the other side, and the bell of the leader sounded +across the water. In these solitudes its clang was wild and musical. + +To try the trout was the first thing in order. On a rude raft of log +which we found moored at the shore, and which with two aboard shipped +about a food of water, we floated out and wet our first fly in +Thomas's Lake; but the trout refused to jump, and to be frank, not +more than a dozen and a half were caught during our stay. Only a week +previous, a party of three had taken in a few hours all the fish they +could carry out of the woods, and had nearly surfeited their neighbors +with trout. But from some cause, they now refused to rise, or to touch +any kind of bait: so we fell to catching the sunfish, which were small +but very abundant. Their nests were all along the shore. A space about +the size of a breakfast-plate was cleared of sediment and decayed +vegetable matter, revealing the pebbly bottom, fresh and bright, with +one or two fish suspended over the centre of it, keeping watch and +ward. If an intruder approached, they would dart at him spitefully. +These fish have the air of bantam cocks, and, with their sharp, +prickly fins and spines and scaly sides, must be ugly customers in a +hand-to-hand encounter with other finny warriors. To a hungry man they +look about as unpromising as hemlock slivers, so thorny and thin are +they; yet there is sweet meat in them, as we found that day. + +Much refreshed, I set out with the sun low in the west to explore the +outlet of the lake and try for trout there, while my companions made +further trials in the lake itself. The outlet, as is usual in bodies +of water of this kind, was very gentle and private. The stream, six or +eight feet wide, flowed silently and evenly along for a distance of +three or four rods, when it suddenly, as if conscious of its freedom, +took a leap down some rocks. Thence as far as I followed it, its +decent was very rapid through a continuous succession of brief falls +like so many steps down the mountain. Its appearance promised more +trout than I found, though I returned to camp with a very respectable +string. + +Toward sunset I went round to explore the inlet, and found that as +usual the stream wound leisurely through marshy ground. The water +being much colder than in the outlet, the trout were more plentiful. +As I was picking my way over the miry ground and through the rank +growths, a ruffed grouse hopped up on a fallen branch a few paces +before me, and jerking his tail, threatened to take flight. But as I +was at the moment gunless and remained stationary, he presently jumped +down and walked away. + +A seeker of birds, and ever on the alert for some new acquaintance, my +attention was arrested, on first entering the swamp, by a bright, +lively song, or warble, that issued from the branches overhead, and +that was entirely new to me, though there was something in the tone +that told me the bird was related to the wood-wagtail and to the +water-wagtail or thrush. The strain was emphatic and quite loud, like +the canary's, but very brief. The bird kept itself well secreted in +the upper branches of the trees, and for a long time eluded my eye. I +passed to and fro several times, and it seemed to break out afresh as +I approached a certain little bend in the creek, and to cease after I +had got beyond it; no doubt its nest was somewhere in the vicinity. +After some delay the bird was sighted and brought down. It proved to +be the small, or northern, water-thrush, (called also the New York +water-thrush),--a new bird to me. In size it was noticeably smaller +than the large, or Louisiana, water-thrush, as described by Audubon, +but in other respects its general appearance was the same. It was a +great treat to me, and again I felt myself in luck. + +This bird was unknown to the older ornithologists, and is but poorly +described by the new. It builds a mossy nest on the ground, or under +the edge of a decayed log. A correspondent writes me that he has found +it breeding on the mountains in Pennsylvania. The large-billed +water-thrush is much the superior songster, but the present species +has a very bright and cheerful strain. The specimen I saw, contrary to +the habits of the family, kept in the treetops like a warbler, and +seemed to be engaged in catching insects. + +The birds were unusually plentiful and noisy about the head of this +lake; robins, blue jays, and woodpeckers greeted me with their +familiar notes. The blue jays found an owl or some wild animal a short +distance above me, and, as is their custom on such occasions, +proclaimed it at the top of their voices, and kept on till the +darkness began to gather in the woods. + +I also heard, as I had at two or three other points in the course of +the day, the peculiar, resonant hammering of some species of +woodpecker upon the hard, dry limbs. It was unlike any sound of the +kind I had ever heard, and, repeated at intervals through the silent +wood, was a very marked and characteristic feature. Its peculiarity +was the ordered succession of the raps, which gave it the character of +a premeditated performance. There were first three strokes following +each other rapidly, then two much louder ones with longer intervals +between them. I heard the drumming here, and the next day at sunset at +Furlow Lake, the source of Dry Brook, and in no instance was the order +varied. There was a melody in it, such as a woodpecker knows how to +evoke from a smooth, dry branch. It suggested something quite as +pleasing as the liveliest bird-song, and was if anything more woodsy +and wild. As the yellow-bellied woodpecker was the most abundant +species in these woods, I attributed it to him. It is the one sound +that still links itself with those scenes in my mind. + +At sunset the grouse began to drum in all parts of the woods about the +lake. I could hear five at one time, thump, thump, thump, thump, +thr-r-r-r-r-r-rr. It was a homely, welcome sound. As I returned to +camp at twilight, along the shore of the lake, the frogs also were in +full chorus. The older ones ripped out their responses to each other +with terrific force and volume. I know of no other animal capable of +giving forth so much sound, in proportion to its size, as a frog. Some +of these seemed to bellow as loud as a two-year-old bull. They were of +immense size, and very abundant. No frog-eater had ever been there. +Near the shore we felled a tree which reached far out in the lake. +Upon the trunk and branches, the frogs soon collected in large +numbers, and gamboled and splashed about the half submerged top, like +a parcel of schoolboys, making nearly as much noise. + +After dark, as I was frying the fish, a panful of the largest trout +was accidently capsized in the fire. With rueful countenances we +contemplated the irreparable loss our commissariat had sustained by +this mishap; but remembering there was virtue in ashes, we poked the +half-consumed fish from the bed of coals and ate them, and they were +good. + +We lodged that night on a brush-heap and slept soundly. The green, +yielding beech-twigs, covered with a buffalo robe, were equal to a +hair mattress. The heat and smoke from a large fire kindled in the +afternoon had banished every "no-see-em" from the locality, and in the +morning the sun was above the mountain before we awoke. + +I immediately started again for the inlet, and went far up the stream +toward its source. A fair string of trout for breakfast was my reward. +The cattle with the bell were at the head of the valley, where they +had passed the night. Most of them were two-year-old steers. They came +up to me and begged for salt, and scared the fish by their +importunities. + +We finished our bread that morning, and ate every fish we could catch, +and about ten o'clock prepared to leave the lake. The weather had been +admirable, and the lake as a gem, and I would gladly have spent a week +in the neighborhood; but the question of supplies was a serious one, +and would brook no delay. + +When we reached, on our return, the point where we had crossed the +line of marked trees the day before, the question arose whether we +should still trust ourselves to this line, or follow our own trail +back to the spring and the battlement of rocks on the top of the +mountain, and thence to the rock where the guide had left us. We +decided in favor of the former course. After a march of three quarters +of an hour the blazed trees ceased, and we concluded we were near the +point at which we had parted with our guide. So we built a fire, laid +down our loads, and cast about on all sides for some clew as to our +exact locality. Nearly an hour was consumed in this manner, and +without any result. I came upon a brood of young grouse, which +diverted me for a moment. The old one blustered about at a furious +rate, trying to draw all attention to herself, while the young ones, +which were unable to fly, hid themselves. She whined like a dog in +great distress, and dragged herself along apparently with the greatest +difficulty. As I pursued her, she ran very nimbly, and presently flew +a few yards. Then, as I went on, she flew farther and farther each +time, till at last she got up, and went humming through the woods as +if she had no interest in them. I went back and caught one of the +young, which had simply squatted close to the ground. I then put in my +coatsleeve, when it ran and nestled in my armpit. + +When we met at the sign of the smoke, opinions differed as to the most +feasible course. There was no doubt but that we could get out of the +woods; but we wished to get out speedily, and as near as possible to +the point where we had entered. Half ashamed of our timidity and +indecision, we finally tramped away back to where we had crossed the +line of blazed trees, followed our old trail to the spring on the top +of the range, and, after much searching and scouring to the right and +left, found ourselves at the very place we had left two hours before. +Another deliberation and a divided council. But something must be +done. It was then mid-afternoon, and the prospect of spending another +night on the mountains, without food or drink, was not pleasant. So we +moved down the ridge. Here another line of marked trees was found, the +course of which formed an obtuse angle with the one we had followed. +It kept on the top of the ridge for perhaps a mile, when it +disappeared, and we were as much adrift as ever. Then one of the party +swore an oath, and said he was going out of those woods, hit or miss, +and, wheeling to the right, instantly plunged over the brink of the +mountain. The rest followed, but would fain have paused and ciphered +away at their own uncertainties, to see if a certainty could not be +arrived at as to where we would come out. But our bold leader was +solving the problem in the right way. Down and down and still down we +went, as if we were to bring up in the bowels of the earth. It was by +far the steepest descent we had made, and we felt a grim satisfaction +in knowing we could not retrace our steps this time, be the issue what +it might. As we paused on the brink of a ledge of rocks, we chanced to +see through the trees distant cleared land. A house or barn also was +dimly descried. This was encouraging; but we could not make out +whether it was on Beaver Kill or Mill Brook or Dry Brook, and did not +long stop to consider where it was. We at last brought up at the +bottom of a deep gorge, through which flowed a rapid creek that +literally swarmed with trout. But we were in no mood to catch them, +and pushed on along the channel of the stream, sometimes leaping from +rock to rock, and sometimes splashing heedlessly through the water, +and speculating the while as to where we should probably come out. On +the Beaver Kill, my companions thought; but from the position of the +sun, I said, on the Mill Brook, about six miles below our team; for I +remembered having seen, in coming up this stream, a deep, wild valley +that led up into the mountains, like this one. Soon the banks of the +stream became lower, and we moved into the woods. Here we entered upon +an obscure wood-road, which presently conducted us into the midst of a +vast hemlock forest. The land had a gentle slope, and we wondered by +the lumbermen and barkmen who prowl through these woods had left this +fine tract untouched. Beyond this the forest was mostly birch and +maple. + +We were now close to settlement, and began to hear human sounds. One +rod more, and we were out of the woods. It took us a moment to +comprehend the scene. Things looked very strange at first; but quickly +they began to change and to put on familiar features. Some magic +scene-shifting seemed to take place before my eyes, till, instead of +the unknown settlement which I had at first seemed to look upon, there +stood the farmhouse at which we had stopped two days before, and at +the same moment we heard the stamping of our team in the barn. We sat +down and laughed heartily over our good luck. Our desperate venture +had resulted better than we had dared to hope, and had shamed our +wisest plans. At the house our arrival had been anticipated about this +time, and dinner was being put upon the table. + +It was then five o'clock, so that we had been in the woods just +forty-eight hours; but if time is only phenomenal, as the philosophers +say, and life only in feeling, as the poets aver, we were some months, +if not years, older at that moment than we had been two days before. +Yet younger, too,--though this be a paradox,--for the birches had +infused into us some of their own suppleness and strength. 1869. + + + +VII + +THE BLUEBIRD + +When Nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky +and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and +the hue of the other on his breast, and ordained that his appearance +in the spring should denote that the strife and war between these two +elements was at an end. He is the peace-harbinger; in him the +celestial and terrestrial strike hands and are fast friends. He means +the furrow and he means the warmth; he means all the soft, wooing +influences of the spring on one hand, and the retreating footsteps of +winter on the other. + +It is sure to be a bright March morning when you first hear his note; +and it is as if the milder influences up above had found a voice and +let a word fall upon your ear, so tender is it and so prophetic, a +hope tinged with a regret. + +"Bermuda! Bermuda! Bermuda!" he seems to say, as if both invoking and +lamenting, and, behold! Bermuda follows close, though the little +pilgrim may only be repeating the tradition of his race, himself +having come only from Florida, the Carolinas, or even from Virginia, +where he has found his Bermuda on some broad sunny hillside thickly +studded with cedars and persimmon-trees. + +In New York and in New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple +the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. +The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for +tow of three days before it takes visible shape before you. The males +are the pioneers, and come several days in advance of the females. By +the time both are here and the pairs have begun to prospect for a +place to nest, sugar-making is over, the last vestige of snow has +disappeared, and the plow is brightening its mould-board in the new +furrow. + +The bluebird enjoys the preeminence of being the first bit of color +that cheers our northern landscape. The other birds that arrive about +the same time--the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird--are clad in +neutral tints, gray, brown, or russet; but the bluebird brings one of +the primary hues and the divinest of them all. + +This bird also has the distinction of answering very nearly to the +robin redbreast of English memory, and was by the early settlers of +New England christened the blue robin. + +It is a size or two larger, and the ruddy hue of its breast does not +verge so nearly on an orange, but the manners and habits of the two +birds are very much alike. Our bird has the softer voice, but the +English redbreast is much the more skilled musician. He has indeed a +fine, animated warble, heard nearly the year through about English +gardens and along the old hedge-rows, that is quite beyond the compass +of our bird's instrument. On the other hand, our bird is associated +with the spring as the British species cannot be, being a winter +resident also, while the brighter sun and sky of the New World have +given him a coat that far surpasses that of his transatlantic cousin. + +It is worthy of remark that among British birds there is no blue bird. +The cerulean tint seems much rarer among the feathered tribes there +than here. On this continent there are at least three species of the +common bluebird, while in all our woods there is the blue jay and the +indigo-bird,--the latter so intensely blue as to fully justify its +name. There is also the blue grosbeak, not much behind the indigo-bird +in intensity of color; and among our warblers the blue tint is very +common. + +It is interesting to know that the bluebird is not confined to any one +section of the country; and that when one goes West he will still have +this favorite with him, though a little changed in voice and color, +just enough to give variety without marring the identity. + +The Western bluebird is considered a distinct species, and is perhaps +a little more brilliant and showy than its Eastern brother; and +Nuttall thinks its song is more varied, sweet, and tender. Its color +approaches to ultramarine, while it has a sash of chestnut-red across +its shoulders,--all the effects, I suspect, of that wonderful air and +sky of California, and of those great Western plains; or, if one goes +a little higher up into the mountainous regions of the West, he finds +the Arctic bluebird, the ruddy brown on the breast changed to a +greenish blue, and the wings longer and more pointed; in other +respects not differing much from our species. + +The bluebird usually builds its nest in a hole in a stump or stub, or +in an old cavity excavated by a woodpecker, when such can be had; but +its first impulse seems to be to start in the world in much more +style, and the happy pair make a great show of house-hunting about the +farm buildings, now half persuaded to appropriate a dove-cote, then +discussing in a lively manner a last year's swallow nest, or +proclaiming with much flourish and flutter that they have taken the +wren's house, or the tenement of the purple martin; till finally +nature becomes too urgent, when all this pretty make-believe ceases, +and most of them settle back upon the old family stumps and knotholes +in remote fields, and go to work in earnest. + +In such situations the female is easily captured by approaching very +stealthily and covering the entrance to the nest. The bird seldom +makes any effort to escape, seeing how hopeless the case is, and keeps +her place on the nest till she feels your hand closing around her. I +have looked down into the cavity and seen the poor thing palpitating +with fear and looking up with distended eyes, but never moving till I +had withdrawn a few paces; then she rushes out with a cry that brings +the male on the scene in a hurry. He warbles and lifts his wings +beseechingly, but shows no anger or disposition to scold and complain +like most birds. Indeed, this bird seems incapable of uttering a harsh +note, or of doing a spiteful, ill-tempered thing. + +The ground-builders all have some art or device to decoy one away from +the nest, affecting lameness, a crippled wing, or a broken back, +promising an easy capture if pursued. The tree-builders depend upon +concealing the nest or placing it beyond reach. But the bluebird has +no art either way, and its nest is easily found. + +About the only enemies of the sitting bird or the nest is in danger of +are snakes and squirrels. I knew of a farm-boy who was in the habit of +putting his hand down into a bluebird's nest and taking out the old +bird whenever he came that way. One day he put his hand in, and, +feeling something peculiar, withdrew it hastily, when it was instantly +followed by the head of an enormous black snake. The boy took to his +heels and the snake gave chase, pressing him close till a plowman near +by came to the rescue with his ox-whip. + +There never was a happier or more devoted husband than the male +bluebird is. But among nearly all our familiar birds the serious cares +of life seem to devolve almost entirely upon the female. The male is +hilarious and demonstrative, the female serious and anxious about her +charge. The male is the attendant of the female, following her +wherever she goes. He never leads, never directs, but only seconds and +applauds. If his life is all poetry and romance, hers is all business +and prose. She has no pleasure but her duty, and no duty but to look +after her nest and brood. She shows no affection for the male, no +pleasure in his society; she only tolerates him as a necessary evil, +and, if he is killed, goes in quest of another in the most +business-like manner, as you would go for the plumber or the glazier. +In most cases the male is the ornamental partner in the firm, and +contributes little of the working capital. There seems to be more +equality of the sexes among the woodpeckers, wrens, and swallows; +while the contrast is greatest, perhaps, in the bobolink family, where +the courting is done in the Arab fashion, the female fleeing with all +her speed and the male pursuing with equal precipitation; and were it +not for the broods of young birds that appear, it would be hard to +believe that the intercourse ever ripened into anything more intimate. + +With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as ornamental. He is +the gay champion and escort of the female at all times, and while she +is sitting he feeds her regularly. It is very pretty to watch them +building their nest. The male is very active in hunting out a place +and exploring the boxes and cavities, but seems to have no choice in +the matter and is anxious only to please and to encourage his mate, +who has the practical turn and knows what will do and what will not. +After she has suited herself he applauds her immensely, and away the +two go in quest of material for the nest, the male acting as guard and +flying above and in advance of the female. She brings all the material +and does all the work of building, he looking on and encouraging her +with gesture and song. He acts also as inspector of her work, but I +fear is a very partial one. She enters the nest with her bit of dry +grass or straw, and, having adjusted it to her notion, withdraws and +waits near by while he goes in and looks it over. On coming out he +exclaims very plainly, "Excellent! Excellent!" and away the two go +again for more material. + +The bluebirds, when they build about the farm buildings, sometimes +come into contact with the swallows. The past season I knew a pair to +take forcible possession of the domicile of a pair of the latter,--the +cliff species that now stick their nests under the eaves of the barn. +The bluebirds had been broken up in a little bird-house near by, by +the rats or perhaps a weasel, and being no doubt in a bad humor, and +the season being well advanced, they made forcible entrance into the +adobe tenement of their neighbors, and held possession of it for some +days, but I believe finally withdrew, rather than live amid such a +squeaky, noisy colony. I have heard that these swallows, when ejected +from their homes in that way by the phoebe-bird, have been known to +fall to and mason up the entrance to the nest while their enemy was +inside of it, thus having a revenge as complete and cruel as anything +in human annals. + +The bluebirds and the house wrens more frequently come into collision. +A few years ago I put up a little bird-house in the back end of my +garden for the accommodation of the wrens, and every season a pair of +bluebirds looked into the tenement and lingered about several days, +leading me to hope that they would conclude to occupy it. But they +finally went away, and later in the season the wrens appeared, and, +after a little coquetting, were regularly installed in their old +quarters, and were as happy as only wrens can be. + +One of our younger poets, Myron Benton, saw a little bird + + "Ruffled with whirlwind of his ecstasies," + +which must have been the wren, as I know of no other bird that so +throbs and palpitates with music as this little vagabond. And the pair +I speak of seemed exceptionally happy, and the male had a small +tornado of song in his crop that kept him "ruffled" every moment in +the day. But before their honeymoon was over the bluebirds returned. I +knew something was wrong before I was up in the morning. Instead of +that voluble and gushing song outside the window, I heard the wrens +scolding and crying at a fearful rate, and on going out saw the +bluebirds in possession of the box. The poor wrens were in despair; +they wrung their hands and tore their hair, after the wren fashion, +but chiefly did they rattle out their disgust and wrath at the +intruders. I have no doubt that, if it could have been interpreted, it +would have proven the rankest and most voluble Billingsgate ever +uttered. For the wren is saucy, and he has a tongue in his head that +can outwag any other tongue known to me. + +The bluebirds said nothing, but the male kept an eye on Mr. Wren; and, +when he came to near, gave chase, driving him to cover under the +fence, or under a rubbish heap or other object, where the wren would +scold and rattle away, while his pursuer sat on the fence or the +pea-brush waiting for him to reappear. + +Days passed, and the usurpers prospered and the outcasts were +wretched; but the latter lingered about, watching and abusing their +enemies, and hoping, no doubt, that things would take a turn, as they +presently did. The outraged wrens were fully avenged. The mother +bluebird had laid her full complement of eggs and was beginning to +set, when one day, as her mate was perched above her on the barn, +along came a boy with one of those wicked elastic slings and cut him +down with a pebble. There he lay like a bit of sky fallen upon the +grass. The widowed bird seemed to understand what had happened, and +without much ado disappeared next day in quest of another mate. How +she contrived to make her wants known, without trumpeting them about, +I am unable to say. But I presume that birds have a way of advertising +that answers the purpose well. Maybe she trusted to luck to fall in +with some stray bachelor or bereaved male who would undertake to +console a widow or one day's standing. I will say, in passing, that +there are no bachelors from choice among the birds; they are all +rejected suitors, while old maids are entirely unknown. There is a +Jack to every Jill; and some to boot. + +The males, being more exposed by their song and plumage, and by being +the pioneers in migrating, seem to be slightly in excess lest the +supply fall short, and hence it sometimes happens that a few are +bachelors perforce; there are not females enough to go around, but +before the season is over there are sure to be some vacancies in the +marital ranks, which they are called on to fill. + +In the mean time the wrens were beside themselves with delight; they +fairly screamed with joy. If the male was before "ruffled with +whirlwind of his ecstasies," he was now in danger of being rent +asunder. He inflated his throat and caroled as wren never caroled +before. And the female, too, how she cackled and darted about! How +busy they both were! Rushing into the nest, they hustled those eggs +out in less than a minute, wren time. They carried in new material, +and by the third day were fairly installed again in their old +headquarters; but on the third day, so rapidly are these little dramas +played, the female bluebird reappeared with another mate. Ah! how the +wren stock went down then! What dismay and despair filled again those +little breasts! It was pitiful. They did not scold as before, but +after a day or two withdrew from the garden, dumb with grief, and gave +up the struggle. + +The bluebird, finding her eggs gone and her nest changed, seemed +suddenly seized with alarm and shunned the box; or else, finding she +had less need for another husband than she thought, repented her +rashness and wanted to dissolve the compact. But the happy bridegroom +would not take the hint, and exerted all his eloquence to comfort and +reassure her. He was fresh and fond, and until this bereaved female +found him I am sure his suit had not prospered that season. He thought +the box just the thing, and that there was no need of alarm, and spent +days in trying to persuade the female back. Seeing he could not be a +stepfather to a family, he was quite willing to assume a nearer +relation. He hovered about the box, he went in and out, he called, he +warbled, he entreated; the female would respond occasionally and come +and alight near, and even peep into the nest, but would not enter it, +and quickly flew away again. Her mate would reluctantly follow, but he +was soon back, uttering the most confident and cheering calls. If she +did not come he would perch above the nest and sound his loudest notes +over and over again, looking in the direction of his mate and +beckoning with every motion. But she responded less and less +frequently. Some days I would see him only, but finally he gave it up; +the pair disappeared, and the box remained deserted the rest of the +summer. + +1867 + + + +VIII + +THE INVITATION + +Years ago, when quite a youth, I was rambling in the woods one Sunday, +with my brothers, gathering black birch, wintergreens, etc., when, as +we reclined upon the ground, gazing vaguely up into the trees, I +caught sight of a bird, that paused a moment on a branch above me, the +like of which I had never before seen or heard of. It was probably the +blue yellow-backed warbler, as I have since found this to be a common +bird in those woods; but to my young fancy it seemed like some fairy +bird, so unexpected. I saw it a moment as the flickering leaves +parted, noted the white spot on its wing, and it was gone. How the +thought of it clung to me afterward! It was a revelation. It was the +first intimation I had had that the woods we knew so well held birds +that we knew not at all. Were our eyes and ears so dull, then? There +was the robin, the blue jay, the bluebird, the yellow-bird, the +cherry-bird, the catbird, the chipping-bird, the woodpecker, the +high-hole, an occasional redbird, and a few others, in the woods or +along their borders, but who ever dreamed that there were still others +that not even the hunters saw, and whose names no one had ever heard? + +When, one summer day, later in life, I took my gun and went to the +woods again, in a different though perhaps a less simple spirit I +found my youthful vision more than realized. There were, indeed, other +birds, plenty of them, singing, nesting, breeding, among the familiar +trees, which I had before passed by unheard and unseen. + +It is a surprise that awaits every student of ornithology, and the +thrill of delight that accompanies it, and the feeling of fresh, eager +inquiry that follows, can hardly be awakened by any other pursuit. +Take the first step in ornithology, procure one new specimen, and you +are ticketed for the whole voyage. There is a fascination about it +quite overpowering. It fits so well with other things,--with fishing, +hunting, farming, walking, camping-out,--with all that takes one to +the fields and woods. One may go a-blackberrying and make some rare +discovery; or, while driving his cow to pasture, hear a new song, or +make a new observation. Secrets lurk on all sides. There is news in +every bush. Expectation is ever on tiptoe. What no man ever saw before +may the next moment be revealed to you. What a new interest the woods +have! How you long to explore every nook and corner of them! You would +even find consolation in being lost in them. You could then hear the +night birds and the owls, and, in your wanderings, might stumble upon +some unknown specimen. + +In all excursions to the woods or to the shore, the student of +ornithology has an advantage over his companions. He has one more +resource, one more avenue of delight. He, indeed, kills two birds with +one stone and sometimes three. If others wander, he can never go out +of his way. His game is everywhere. The cawing of a crow makes him +feel at home, while a new note or a new song drowns all care. Audubon, +on the desolate coast of Labrador, is happier than any king ever was; +and on shipboard is nearly cured of his seasickness when a new gull +appears in sight. + +One must taste it to understand or appreciate its fascination. The +looker-on sees nothing to inspire such enthusiasm. Only a few feathers +and a half-musical note or two; why all this ado? "Who would give a +hundred and twenty dollars to know about the birds?" said an Eastern +governor, half contemptuously, to Wilson, as the latter solicited a +subscription to his great work. Sure enough. Bought knowledge is dear +at any price. The most precious things have no commercial value. It is +not, your Excellency, mere technical knowledge of the birds that you +are asked to purchase, but a new interest in the fields and the woods, +a new moral and intellectual tonic, a new key to the treasure-house of +Nature. Think of the many other things your Excellency would get,--the +air, the sunshine, the healing fragrance and coolness, and the many +respites from the knavery and turmoil of political life. + +Yesterday was an October day of rare brightness and warmth. I spent +the most of it in a wild, wooded gorge of Rock Creek. A persimmon-tree +which stood upon the bank had dropped some of its fruit in the water. +As I stood there, half-leg deep, picking them up, a wood duck came +flying down the creek and passed over my head. Presently it returned, +flying up; then it came back again, and, sweeping low around a bend, +prepared to alight in a still, dark reach in the creek which was +hidden from my view. As I passed that way about half an hour +afterward, the duck started up, uttering its wild alarm note. In the +stillness I could hear the whistle of its wings and the splash of the +water when it took flight. Near by I saw where a raccoon had come down +to the water for fresh clams, leaving his long, sharp track in the mud +and sand. Before I had passed this hidden stretch of water, a pair of +those mysterious thrushes, the gray-cheeked, flew up from the ground +and perched on a low branch. + +Who can tell how much this duck, this footprint in the sand, and these +strange thrushes from the far north, enhanced the interest and charm +of the autumn woods? + +Ornithology cannot be satisfactorily learned from the books. The +satisfaction is in learning it from nature. One must have an original +experience with the birds. The books are only the guide, the +invitation. Though there remain not another new species to describe, +any young person with health and enthusiasm has open to him or her the +whole field anew, and is eligible to experience all the thrill and +delight of the original discoverers. + +But let me say, in the same breath, that the books can by no manner of +means be dispensed with. A copy of Wilson or Audubon, for reference +and to compare notes with, is invaluable. In lieu of these, access to +some large museum or collection would be a great help. In the +beginning, one finds it very difficult to identify a bird from any +verbal description. Reference to a colored plate, or to a stuffed +specimen, at once settles the matter. This is the chief value of +books; they are the charts to sail by; the route is mapped out, and +much time and labor are thereby saved. First find your bird; observe +its ways, its song, its calls, its flight, its haunts; then shoot it +(not ogle it with a glass), and compare it with Audubon. [footnote: My +later experiences have led me to prefer a small field-glass to a gun.] +In this way the feathered kingdom may soon be conquered. + +The ornithologists divide and subdivide the birds into a great many +orders, families, genera, species etc., which, at first sight, are apt +to confuse and discourage the reader. But any interested person can +acquaint himself with most of our song-birds by keeping in mind a few +general divisions, and observing the characteristics of each. By far +the greater number of our land-birds are either warblers, vireos, +flycatchers, thrushes, or finches. + +The warblers are, perhaps, the most puzzling. These are the true +Sylvia, the real wood-birds. They are small, very active, but feeble +songsters, and, to be seen, must be sought for. In passing through the +woods, most persons have a vague consciousness of slight chirping, +semi-musical sounds in the trees overhead. In most cases these sounds +proceed from the warblers. Throughout the Middle and Eastern States, +half a dozen species or so may be found in almost every locality, as +the redstart, the Maryland yellow-throat, the yellow warbler (not the +common goldfinch, with black cap, and black wings and tail), the +hooded warbler, the black and white creeping warbler; or others, +according to the locality and the character of the woods. In pine or +hemlock woods, one species may predominate; in maple or oak woods, or +in mountainous districts, another. The subdivisions of ground +warblers, the most common members of which are the Maryland +yellow-throat, the Kentucky warbler, and the mourning ground warbler, +are usually found in low, wet, bushy, or half-open woods, often on and +always near the ground. The summer yellowbird, or yellow warbler, is +not now a wood-bird at all, being found in orchards and parks, and +along streams and in the trees of villages and cities. + +As we go north the number of warblers increases, till, in the northern +part of New England, and in the Canadas, as many as ten or twelve +varieties may be found breeding in June. Audubon found the black-poll +warbler breeding in Labrador, and congratulates himself on being the +first white man who had ever seen its nest. When these warblers pass +north in May, they seem to go singly or in pairs, and their black caps +and striped coats show conspicuously. When they return in September +they are in troops or loose flocks, are of a uniform dull drab or +brindlish color, and are very fat. They scour the treetops for a few +days, almost eluding the eye by their quick movements, and are gone. + +According to my own observation, the number of species of warblers +which one living in the middle districts sees, on their return in the +fall, is very small compared with the number he may observe migrating +north in the spring. + +The yellow-rumped warblers are the most noticeable of all in Autumn. +They come about the streets and garden, and seem especially drawn to +dry, leafless trees. They dart spitefully about, uttering a sharp +chirp. In Washington I have seen them in the outskirts all winter. + +Audubon figures and describes over forty different warblers. More +recent writers have divided and subdivided the group very much, giving +new names to new classifications. But this part is of interest and +value only to the professional ornithologist. + +The finest songster among the Sylvia, according to my notions, is the +black-throated greenback. Its song is sweet and clear, but brief. + +The rarest of the species are Swainson's warbler, said to be +disappearing; the cerulean warbler, said to be abundant about Niagara; +and the mourning ground warbler, which I have found breeding about the +head-waters of the Delaware, in New York. + +The vireos, or greenlets, are a sort of connecting link between the +warblers and the true flycatchers, and partake of the characteristics +of both. + +The red-eyed vireo, whose sweet soliloquy is one of the most constant +and cheerful sounds in our woods and groves, is perhaps the most +noticeable and abundant species. The vireos are a little larger than +the warblers, and are far less brilliant and variegated in color. + +There are five species found in most of our woods, namely the red-eyed +vireo, the white-eyed vireo, the warbling vireo, the yellow-throated +vireo, and the solitary vireo,--the red-eyed and warbling being most +abundant, and the white-eyed being the most lively and animated +songster. I meet the latter bird only in the thick, bush growths of +low, swampy localities, where, eluding the observer, it pours forth +its song with a sharpness and a rapidity of articulation that are +truly astonishing. This strain is very marked, and, though inlaid with +the notes of several other birds, is entirely unique. The iris of this +bird is white, as that of the red-eyed is red, though in neither case +can this mark be distinguished at more than two or three yards. In +most cases the iris of birds is a dark hazel, which passes for black. + +The basket-like nest, pendent to the low branches in the woods, which +the falling leaves of autumn reveal to all passers, is, in most cases, +the nest of the red-eyed, though the solitary constructs a similar +tenement, but in much more remote and secluded localities. + +Most birds exhibit great alarm and distress, usually with a strong +dash of anger, when you approach their nests; but the demeanor of the +red-eyed, on such an occasion, is an exception to this rule. The +parent birds move about softly amid the branches above, eying the +intruder with a curious, innocent look, uttering, now and then, a +subdued note or plaint, solicitous and watchful, but making no +demonstration of anger or distress. + +The birds, no more than the animals, like to be caught napping; but I +remember, one autumn day, coming upon a red-eyed vireo that was +clearly oblivious to all that was passing around it. It was a young +bird, though full grown, and it was taking its siesta on a low branch +in a remote heathery field. Its head was snugly stowed away under its +wing, and it would have fallen easy prey to the first hawk that came +along. I approached noiselessly, and when within a few feet of it +paused to note its breathings, so much more rapid and full than our +own. A bird has greater lung capacity than any other living thing, +hence more animal heat, and life at a higher pressure. When I reached +out my hand and carefully closed it around the winged sleeper, its +sudden terror and consternation almost paralyzed it. Then it struggled +and cried piteously, and when released hastened and hid itself in some +near bushes. I never expected to surprise it thus a second time. + +The flycatchers are a larger group than the vireos, with +stronger-marked characteristics. They are not properly songsters, but +are classed by some writers as screechers. Their pugnacious +dispositions are well known, and they not only fight among themselves, +but are incessantly quarreling with their neighbors. The kingbird, or +tyrant flycatcher might serve as the type of the order. + +The common or wood pewee excites the most pleasant emotions, both on +account of its plaintive note and its exquisite mossy nest. + +The phoebe-bird is the pioneer of the flycatchers, and comes in April, +sometimes in March. Its comes familiarly about the house and +outbuildings, and usually builds beneath hay-sheds or under bridges. + +The flycatchers always take their insect prey on the wing, by a sudden +darting or swooping movement; often a very audible snap of the beak +may be heard. + +These birds are the least elegant, both in form and color, of any of +our feathered neighbors. They have short legs, a short neck, large +heads, and broad, flat beaks, with bristles at the base. They often +fly with a peculiar quivering movement of the wings, and when at rest +some of the species oscillate their tails at short intervals. + +There are found in the United States nineteen species. In the Middle +and Eastern districts, one may observe in summer, without any special +search, about five of them, namely, the kingbird, the phoebe-bird, the +wood pewee, the great crested flycatcher (distinguished from all +others by the bright ferruginous color of its tail), and the small +green-crested flycatcher. + +The thrushes are the birds of real melody, and will afford one more +delight perhaps than any other class. The robin is the most familiar +example. Their manners, flight, and form are the same in each species. +See the robin hop along upon the ground, strike an attitude, scratch +for a worm, fix his eye upon something before him or upon the +beholder, flip his wings suspiciously, fly straight to his perch, or +sit at sundown on some high branch caroling his sweet and honest +strain, and you have seen what is characteristic of all the thrushes. +Their carriage is preeminently marked by grace, and their songs by +melody. + +Beside the robin, which is in no sense a woodbird, we have in New York +the wood thrush, the hermit thrush, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, the +olive-backed thrush, and, transiently, one or two other species not so +clearly defined. + +The wood thrush and the hermit stand at the head as songsters, no two +persons, perhaps, agreeing as to which is the superior. + +Under the general head of finches, Audubon describes over sixty +different birds, ranging from the sparrows to the grosbeaks, and +including the buntings, the linnets, the snowbirds, the crossbills, +and the redbirds. + +We have nearly or quite a dozen varieties of the sparrow in the +Atlantic States, but perhaps no more than half that number would be +discriminated by the unprofessional observer. The song sparrow, which +every child knows, comes first; at least, his voice is first heard. +And can there be anything more fresh and pleasing than this first +simple strain heard from the garden fence or a near hedge, on some +bright, still March morning? + +The field or vesper sparrow, called also grass finch 8 and +bay-winged sparrow, a bird slightly larger than the song sparrow and +of a lighter gray color, is abundant in all our upland fields and +pastures, and is a very sweet songster. It builds upon the ground, +without the slightest cover or protection, and also roosts there. +Walking through the fields at dusk, I frequently start them up almost +beneath my feet. When disturbed by day, they fly with a quick, sharp +movement, showing two white quills in the tail. The traveler along the +country roads disturbs them earthing their wings in the soft dry +earth, or sees them skulking and flitting along the fences in front of +him. They run in the furrow in advance of the team, or perch upon the +stones a few rods off. They sing much after sundown, hence the aptness +of the name vesper sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, has +bestowed upon them. + +In the meadows and low, wet lands the savanna sparrow is met with, and +may be known by its fine, insect-like song; in the swamp, the swamp +sparrow. + +The fox sparrow, the largest and handsomest species of this family, +comes to us in the fall, from the North, where it breeds. Likewise the +tree or Canada sparrow, and the white-crowned and white-throated +sparrow. + +The social sparrow, alias "hairbird," alias "red-headed +chipping-bird," is the smallest of the sparrows, and I believe, the +only one that builds in trees. + +The finches, as a class, all have short conical bills, with tails more +or less forked. The purple finch heads the list in varied musical +abilities. + +Besides the groups of our more familiar birds which I have thus +hastily outlined, there are numerous other groups, more limited in +specimens but comprising some of our best-known songsters. The +bobolink, for instance, has properly no congener. The famous +mockingbird of the Southern States belongs to a genus which has but +two other representatives in the Atlantic States, namely, the catbird +and the long-tailed or ferruginous thrush. + +The wrens are a large and interesting family, and as songsters are +noted for vivacity and volubility. The more common species are the +house wren, the marsh wren, the great Carolina wren, and the winter +wren, the latter perhaps deriving its name from the fact that it breed +in the North. It is an exquisite songster, and pours forth its notes +so rapidly, and with such sylvan sweetness and cadence, that it seems +to go off like a musical alarm. + +Wilson called the kinglets wrens, but they have little to justify the +name, except that the ruby-crown's song is of the same gushing, +lyrical character as that referred to above. Dr. Brewer was entranced +with the song of one of these tiny minstrels in the woods of New +Brunswick, and thought he had found the author of the strain in the +black-poll warbler. He seems loath to believe that a bird so small as +either of the kinglets could possess such vocal powers. It may indeed +have been the winter wren, but from my own observation I believe the +ruby-crowned kinglet quite capable of such a performance. + +But I must leave this part of the subject and hasten on. As to works +on ornithology, Audubon's, though its expense puts it beyond the reach +of the mass of readers, is by far the most full and accurate. His +drawings surpass all others in accuracy and spirit, while his +enthusiasm and devotion to the work he had undertaken have but few +parallels in the history of science. His chapter on the wild goose is +as good as a poem. One readily overlooks his style, which is often +verbose and affected, in consideration of enthusiasm so genuine and +purpose so single. + +There has never been a keener eye than Audubon's, though there have +been more discriminative ears. Nuttall, for instance is far more happy +in his descriptions of the songs and notes of birds, and more to be +relied upon. Audubon thinks the song of the Louisiana water-thrush +equal to that of the European nightingale, and, as he had heard both +birds, one would think was prepared to judge. Yet he has, no doubt, +overrated the one and underrated the other. The song of the +water-thrush is very brief, compared with the philomel's, and its +quality is brightness and vivacity, while that of the latter bird, if +the books are to be credited, is melody and harmony. Again, he says +the song of the blue grosbeak resembles the bobolink's, which it does +about as much as the two birds resemble each other in color; one is +black and white and the other is blue. The song of the wood-wagtail, +he says, consists of a "short succession of simple notes beginning +with emphasis and gradually falling." The truth is, they run up the +scale instead of down, beginning low and ending in a shriek. + +Yet considering the extent of Audubon's work, the wonder is the errors +are so few. I can at this moment recall but one observation of his, +the contrary of which I have proved to be true. In his account of the +bobolink he makes a point of the fact that, in returning south in the +fall, they do not travel by night as they do when moving north in the +spring. In Washington I have heard their calls as they flew over at +night for four successive autumns. As he devoted the whole of a long +life to the subject, and figured and described over four hundred +species, one feels a real triumph on finding in our common woods a +bird not described in his work. I have seen but two. Walking in the +woods one day in early fall, in the vicinity of West Point, I started +up a thrush that was sitting on the ground. It alighted on a branch a +few yards off, and looked new to me. I thought I had never before seen +so long-legged a thrush. I shot it, and saw that it was a new +acquaintance. Its peculiarities were its broad, square tail; the +length of its legs, which were three and three quarters inches from +the end of the middle toe to the hip-joint; and the deep uniform +olive-brown of the upper parts, and the gray of the lower. It proved +to be the gray-cheeked thrush, named and first described by Professor +Baird. But little seems to be known concerning it, except that it +breeds in the far north, even on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. I +would go a good way to hear its song. + +The present season I met with a pair of them near Washington, as +mentioned above. In size this bird approaches the wood thrush, being +larger than either the hermit or the veery; unlike all other species, +no part of its plumage has a tawny or yellowish tinge. The other +specimen was the northern or small water-thrush, cousin-german to the +oven-bird and the half-brother to the Louisiana water-thrush or +wagtail. I found it at the head of the Delaware, where it evidently +had a nest. It usually breeds much further north. It has a strong, +clear warble, which at once suggests the song of its congener. I have +not been able to find any account of this particular species in the +books, though it seems to be well known. + +More recent writers and explorers have added to Audubon's list over +three hundred new species, the greater number of which belong to the +northern and western parts of the continent. Audubon's observations +were confined mainly to the Atlantic and Gulf States and the adjacent +islands; hence the Western or Pacific birds were but little known to +him, and are only briefly mentioned in his works. + +It is, by the way, a little remarkable how many of the Western birds +seem merely duplicates of the Eastern. Thus, the varied thrush of the +West is our robin, a little differently marked; and the red-shafted +woodpecker is our golden-wing, or high-hole, colored red instead of +yellow. There is also a Western chickadee, a Western chewink, a +Western blue jay, a Western bluebird, a Western song sparrow, Western +grouse, quail, hen-hawk, etc. + +One of the most remarkable birds of the West seems to be a species of +skylark, met with on the plains of Dakota, which mounts to the height +of three or four hundred feet, and showers down its ecstatic notes. It +is evidently akin to several of our Eastern species. + +A correspondent, writing to me from the country one September, said: +"I have observed recently a new species of bird here. They alight upon +the buildings and fences as well as upon the ground. They are +walkers." In a few days he obtained one and sent me the skin. It +proved to be what I had anticipated, namely the American pipit, or +titlark, a slender brown bird, about the size of the sparrow, which +passes through the States in the fall and spring, to and from its +breeding haunts in the far north. They generally appear by twos and +threes, or in small loose flocks, searching for food on banks and +plowed ground. As they fly up, they show two or three white quills in +the tail, like the vesper sparrow. Flying over, they utter a single +chirp or cry every few rods. They breed in the bleak, moss-covered +rocks of Labrador. It is reported that their eggs have also been found +in Vermont, and I feel quite certain that I saw this bird in the +Adirondack Mountains in the month of August. The male launches into +the air, and gives forth a brief but melodious song, after the manner +of all larks. They are walkers. This is a characteristic of but few of +our land-birds. By far the greater number are hoppers. Note the track +of the common snowbird; the feet are not placed one in front of the +other, as in the track of the crow or partridge, but side and side. +The sparrows, thrushes, warblers, woodpeckers, buntings, etc., are all +hoppers. On the other hand, all aquatic or semi-aquatic birds are +walkers. The plovers and sandpipers and snips run rapidly. Among the +land-birds, the grouse, pigeons, quails, larks and various blackbirds +walk. The swallows walk, also, whenever they use their feet at all, +but very awkwardly. The larks walk with ease and grace. Note the +meadowlarks strutting about all day in the meadows. + +Besides being walkers, the larks, or birds allied to the larks, all +sing upon the wing, usually poised or circling in the air, with a +hovering, tremulous flight. The meadowlark occasionally does this in +the early part of the season. At such times its long-drawn note or +whistle becomes a rich, amorous warble. + +The bobolink, also, has both characteristics, and, notwithstanding the +difference of form and build, etc., is very suggestive of the English +skylark, as it figures in the books, and is, no doubt, fully its equal +as a songster. + +Of our small wood-birds we have three varieties east of the +Mississippi, closely related to each other, which I have already +spoken of, and which walk, and sing, more or less, on the wing, namely +the two species of water-thrush or wagtails, and the oven-bird or +wood-wagtail. The latter is the most common, and few observers of the +birds can have failed to notice its easy, gliding walk. Its other lark +trait, namely singing in the air, seems not to have been observed by +any other naturalist. Yet it is a well-established characteristic, and +may be verified by any person who will spend a half hour in the woods +where this bird abounds on some June afternoon or evening. I hear it +very frequently after sundown, when the ecstatic singer can hardly be +distinguished against the sky. I know of a high, bald-top mountain +where I have sat late in the afternoon and heard them as often as one +every minute. Sometimes the bird would be far below me, sometimes near +at hand; and very frequently the singer would be hovering a hundred +feet above the summit. He would start from the trees on one side of +the open space, reach his climax in the air, and plunge down on the +other side. His descent after the song is finished is very rapid, and +precisely like that of the titlark when it sweeps down from its course +to alight on the ground. + +I first verified this observation some years ago. I had long been +familiar with the song, but had only strongly suspected the author of +it, when, as I was walking in the woods one evening, just as the +leaves were putting out, I saw one of these birds but a few rods from +me. I was saying to myself, half audibly, "Come, now, show off, if it +is in you; I have come to the woods expressly to settle this point," +when it began to ascend, by short hops and flights, through the +branches, uttering a sharp, preliminary chirp. I followed it with my +eye; saw it mount into the air and circle over the woods; and saw it +sweep down again and dive through the trees, almost to the very perch +from which it had started. + +As the paramount question in the life of a bird is the question of +food, perhaps the most serious troubles our feathered neighbors +encounter are early in the spring, after the supply of fat with which +Nature stores every corner and by-place of the system, thereby +anticipating the scarcity of food, has been exhausted, and the sudden +and severe changes in the weather which occur at this season make +unusual demands upon their vitality. No doubt many of the earlier +birds die from starvation and exposure at this season. Among a troop +of Canada sparrows which I came upon one March day, all of them +evidently much reduced, one was so feeble that I caught it in my hand. + +During the present season, a very severe cold spell the first week in +March drove the bluebirds to seek shelter about the houses and +outbuildings. As night approached, and the winds and the cold +increased, they seemed filled with apprehension and alarm, and in the +outskirts of the city came about the windows and the doors, crept +beneath the blinds, clung to the gutters and beneath the cornice, +flitted from porch to porch, and from house to house, seeking in vain +from some safe retreat from the cold. The street pump, which had a +small opening just over the handle, was an attraction which they could +not resist. And yet they seemed aware of the insecurity of the +position; for no sooner would they stow themselves away into the +interior of the pump, to the number of six or eight, than they would +rush out again, as if apprehensive of some approaching danger. Time +after time the cavity was filled and refilled, with blue and brown +intermingled, and as often emptied. Presently they tarried longer than +usual, when I made a sudden sally and captured three, that found a +warmer and safer lodging for the night in the cellar. + +In the fall, birds and fowls of all kinds become very fat. The +squirrels and mice lay by a supply of food in their dens and retreats, +but the birds, to a considerable extent, especially our winter +residents, carry an equivalent in their own systems, in the form of +adipose tissue. I killed a red-shouldered hawk one December, and on +removing the skin found the body completely encased in a coating of +fat one quarter of an inch in thickness. Not a particle of muscle was +visible. This coating not only serves as a protection against the +cold, but supplies the waste of the system when food is scarce or +fails altogether. + +The crows at this season are in the same condition. It is estimated +that a crow needs at least half a pound of meat per day, but it is +evident that for weeks and months during the winter and spring they +must subsist on a mere fraction of that amount. I have no doubt that a +crow or hawk, when in his fall condition, would live two weeks without +a morsel of food passing his beak; a domestic fowl will do as much. +One January I unwittingly shut a hen under the door of an outbuilding, +where not a particle of food could be obtained, and where she was +entirely unprotected from the severe cold. When the luckless Dominick +was discovered, about eighteen days afterward, she was brisk and +lively, but fearfully pinched up, and as light as a bunch of feathers. +The slightest wind carried her before it. But by judicious feeding she +was soon restored. + +The circumstances of the bluebirds being emboldened by the cold +suggests the fact that the fear of man, which by now seems like an +instinct in the birds, is evidently an acquired trait, and foreign to +them in a state of primitive nature. Every gunner has observed, to his +chagrin, how wild the pigeons become after a few days of firing among +them; and, to his delight, how easy it is to approach near his game in +new or unfrequented woods. Professor Baird [footnote: Then at the head +of the Smithsonian Institution] tells me that a correspondent of +theirs visited a small island in the Pacific Ocean, situated about two +hundred miles off Cape St. Lucas, to procure specimens. The island was +but a few miles in extent, and had probably never been visited half a +dozen times by human beings. The naturalist found the birds and +water-fowls so tame that it was but a waste of ammunition to shoot +them. Fixing a noose on the end of a long stick, he captured them by +putting it over their necks and hauling them to him. In some cases not +even this contrivance was needed. A species of mockingbird in +particular, larger than ours and a splendid songster, made itself so +familiar as to be almost a nuisance, hopping on the table where the +collector was writing, and scattering the pens and paper. Eighteen +species were found, twelve of them peculiar to the island. + +Thoreau relates that in the woods of Maine the Canada jay will +sometimes make its meal with the lumbermen, taking the food out of +their hands. + +Yet notwithstanding the birds have come to look upon man as their +natural enemy, there can be little doubt that civilization is on the +whole favorable to their increase and perpetuity, especially to the +smaller species. With man comes flies and moths, and insects of all +kinds in greater abundance; new plants and weeds are introduced, and, +with the clearing up of the country, are sowed broadcast over the +land. + +The larks and snow buntings that come to us from the north subsist +almost entirely upon the seeds of grasses and plants; and how many of +our more common and abundant species are field-birds, and entire +strangers to deep forests? + +In Europe some birds have become almost domesticated, like the house +sparrow; and in our own country the cliff swallow seems to have +entirely abandoned ledges and shelving rocks, as a place to nest, for +the eaves and projections of farm and other outbuildings. + +After one has made the acquaintance of most of the land-birds, there +remain the seashore and its treasures. How little one knows of the +aquatic fowls, even after reading carefully the best authorities, was +recently forced home to my mind by the following circumstance: I was +spending a vacation in the interior of New York, when one day a +stranger alighted before the house, and with a cigar box in his hand +approached me as I sat in the doorway. I was about to say that he +would waste his time in recommending his cigars to me, as I never +smoked, when he said that, hearing I knew something about birds, he +had brought me one which had been picked up a few hours before in a +hay-field near the village, and which was stranger to all who had seen +it. As he began to undo the box I expected to see some of our own +rarer birds, perhaps the rose-breasted grosbeak or Bohemian chatterer. +Imagine, then, how I was taken aback when I beheld instead a +swallow-shaped bird, quite as large as a pigeon, with a forked tail, +glossy black above and snow-white beneath. Its parti-webbed feet, and +its long graceful wings, at a glance told that it was a sea-bird; but +as to its name or habitat I must defer my answer till I could get a +peep into Audubon or some collection. + +The bird had fallen down exhausted in a meadow, and was picked up just +as the life was leaving its body. The place must have been one hundred +and fifty miles from the sea as the bird flies. As it was the sooty +tern, which inhabits the Florida Keys, its appearance so far north and +so far inland may be considered somewhat remarkable. On removing the +skin I found it terribly emaciated. It had no doubt starved to death, +ruined by too much wing. Another Icarus. Its great power of flight had +made it bold and venturesome, and had carried it so far out of its +range that it starved to death before it could return. + +The sooty tern is sometimes called the sea-swallow on account of its +form and the power of flight. It will fly nearly all day at sea, +picking up food from the surface of the water. There are several +species of terns, some of them strikingly beautiful. + + 1868. + + + +INDEX + +[Transcribist's note: condensed to bird names and their +scientific names] + + Blackbird, crow, or purple grackle (Quiscalus quiscula). + Bluebird (Sialia sialis). + Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). + Bunting, black-throated or dickcissel (Spiza americana). + Bunting, snow (Passerina nivalis). + Buzzard, turkey, or turkey vulture (Cathartes aura). + + Cardinal. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal. + Catbird (Galeoscoptes carolinensis). + Cedar-bird, or Cedar waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum). + Chat, yellow-breasted (Icteria virens). + Chewink, or towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). + Chickadee (Parus atricapillus). + Cow-bunting, or cowbird (Molothrus ater). + Creeper, brown (Certhia familiaris americana). + Crow, American (Corvus brachyrhynchos). + Cuckoo, black-billed (Coccyzux erythrophthalmus). + Cuckoo, European. + Cuckoo, yellow-billed (Coccyzus americanus). + + Dickcissel. SEE Bunting, black-throated. + Dove, turtle, or mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura). + Duck, wood (Aix sponsa). + + Eagle, bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). + Eagle, golden (Aquila chrysaetos). + + Finch, grass. SEE Sparrow, field. + Finch, pine, OR pine siskin (Spinus pinus). + Finch, purple, OR linnet (Carpodacus purpureus). + Flicker. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. + Flycatcher, great crested (Myiarchus crinitus). + Flycatcher, green-crested, OR green-crested pewee (Empidonax + virescens). + Flycatcher, white-eyed. SEE Vireo, white-eyed. + Fox, gray, 43. + + Gnatcatcher, blue-gray (Polioptila caerulea). + Goldfinch, American, OR yellow-bird (Astragalinus tristis). + Grackle, purple. SEE Blackbird, crow. + Grosbeak, blue (Guiraca caerulea). + Grosbeak, cardinal, OR Virginia red-bird, OR cardinal (Cardinalis + cardinalis). + Grosbeak, rose-breasted (Zamelodia ludoviciana). + Grouse, ruffed. SEE Partridge. + + Hairbird. SEE Sparrow, social. + Hawk, fish, OR American osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis). + Hawk, hen. + Hawk, pigeon. + Hawk, red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus). + Hawk, red-tailed (Buteo borealis). + Hawk, sharp-shinned (Accipiter velox). + Hen, domestic. + Heron, great blue (Ardea herodias). + High-hole. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. + Hummingbird, ruby-throated (Trochilus colubris). + + Indigo-bird (Cyanospiza cyanea). + + Jay, blue (Cyanocitta cristata). + Jay, Canada (Perisoreus canadensis). + + Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). + Kinglet, golden-crowned (Regulus satrapa). + Kinglet, ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula). + + Lark, shore, OR horned lark (Otocoris alpestris). + + Martin, purple (Progne subis). + Meadowlark (sturnella magna). + Merganser, red-breasted (Merganser serrator). + Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). + + Nightingale. + Nuthatch, (Sitta). + + Oriole, Baltimore (Icterus galbula). + Oriole, orchard. SEE Starling, orchard. + Osprey. SEE Hawk, fish. + Owl, screech (megascops asio). + + Partridge, OR ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). + Pewee. SEE Phoebe-bird. + Pewee, green-crested. SEE Flycatcher, green-crested. + Pewee, wood (Contopus virens). + Phoebe-bird, OR pewee (Sayornis phoebe). + Pickerel. + Pigeon, wild, OR passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). + Pipit, American, OR titlark (Anthus pensilvanicus). + + Quail, OR bob-white (Colinus virginianus). + + Red-bird, summer, OR summer tanager (Piranga rubra). + Red-bird, Virginia. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal. + Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). + Robin (Merula migratoria).. + + Sandpiper, solitary (Helodromas solitarius). + Snipes. + Snowbird, OR slate-colored junco (Junco hyemalis). + Sparrow, bush. SEE Sparrow, wood. + Sparrow, Canada, OR tree sparrow (Spizella monticola). + Sparrow, English. SEE Sparrow, house. + Sparrow, field, OR vesper sparrow, OR grass finch (Poaecetes + gramineus). SEE ALSO Sparrow, wood. + Sparrow, fox (Passerella iliaca). + Sparrow, house, OR English sparrow (Passer domesticus). + Sparrow, savanna (Passerculus sandwichensis savanna). + Sparrow, social, OR chipping sparrow, OR chippie, OR hairbird + (Spizella socialis). + Sparrow, song (Melospiza cinerea melodia). + Sparrow, swamp (Melospiza georgiana). + Sparrow, tree. SEE Sparrow, Canada. + Sparrow, vesper. SEE Sparrow, field. + Sparrow, white-crowned (Zonotrichia leucophrys). + Sparrow, white-throated (Zonotrichia albicollis). + Sparrow, wood, OR bush sparrow, OR field sparrow (Spizella + pusilla). + Squirrel, black. + Squirrel, gray. + Squirrel, red. + Starling, orchard, OR orchard oriole (Icterus spurius). + Swallow, barn (Hirundo erythrogastra). + Swallow, chimney, OR chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica). + Swallow, cliff (Petrochelidon lunifrons). + Swallow, rough-winged (Stelgidopteryx serripennis). + + Tanager, scarlet (Piranga erythromelas). + Tanager, summer. SEE Red-bird, summer. + Tern, sooty (sterna fuliginosa). + Thrush, golden-crowned, OR wood-wagtail, OR oven-bird (Seiurus + aurocapillus). + Thrush, gray-cheeked (Hylocichla alicae). + Thrush, hermit (Hylocichla guttata pallasii). + Thrush, olive-backed, OR Swainson's thrush (Hylocichla ustulata + swainsoni). + Thrush, red, OR mavis, OR ferrugninous thrush, OR brown thrasher + (Toxostoma rufum). + Thrush, varied (Ixoreus naevius). + Thrush, Wilson's. SEE Veery. + Thrush, wood (Hylocichla mustelina). + Titlark. SEE Pipit, American. + Titmouse, gray-crested, OR tufted titmouse (Baelophus bicolor). + Turkey, domestic. + Turkey, wild (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). + + Veery, OR Wilson's thrush (Hylocichla fuscescens). + Vireo, red-eyed (Vireo olivaceus). + Vireo, solitary, OR blue-headed vireo (Vireo solitarius). + Vireo, warbling (Vireo gilvus). + Vireo, white-eyed, OR white-eyed flycatcher (Vireo noveboracensis). + Vireo, yellow-throated, OR yellow-breasted flycatcher (Vireo + flavifrons). + + Wagtail. SEE Water-thrush AND Thrush, golden-crowned. + Warbler, Audubon's (Dendroica auduboni). + Warbler, bay-breasted (Dendroica castanea). + Warbler, black and white (Mniotilta varia). + Warbler, black and yellow, OR magnolia warbler (Dendroica maculosa). + Warbler, Blackburnian (Dendroica blackburniae). + Warbler, black-poll (Dendroica striata). + Warbler, black-throated blue, OR blue-backed warbler (Dendroica + caerulescens). + Warbler, black-throated green, OR green-backed warbler (Dendroica + virens). + Warbler, blue-winged (Helminthophila pinus). + Warbler, blue yellow-backed, OR northern parula warbler + (Compsothlypis americana usneae). + Warbler, Canada (Wilsonia canadensis). + Warbler, cerulean (Dendroica caerulea). + Warbler, chestnut-sided (Dendroica pensylvanica). + Warbler, hooded (Wilsonia mitrata). + Warbler, Kentucky (Geothlypis formosa). + Warbler, mourning (Geothlypis philadelphia). + Warbler, Swainson's (Helinaia swainsonii). + Warbler, worm-eating (Helmitheros vermivorus). + Warbler, yellow (Dendroica aestiva). + Warbler, yellow red-poll, OR yellow palm warbler (Dendroica palmarum + hypochrysea). + Warbler, yellow-rumped, OR myrtle warbler (Dendroica coronata). + Water-thrush, Louisiana, OR large-billed water thrush (Seiurus + noveboracensis). + Water-thrush, northern (Seiurus noveboracensis). + Woodpecker, downy (Dryobates pubescens medianus). + Woodpecker, golden-winged, OR high-hole, OR flicker, OR yarup, OR + yellow-hammer (Colaptes auratus luteus). + Woodpecker, red-headed (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). + Woodpecker, red-shafted, OR red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer + collaris). + Woodpecker, yellow-bellied, OR yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus + varius). + Wood-wagtail. SEE Thrush, golden-crowned. + Wren, Carolina (Thryothorus ludovicianus). + Wren, house (Troglodytes Aedon). + Wren, ruby-crowned. SEE Kinglet, ruby crowned. + Wren, winter (Olbiorchilus hiemalis). + + Yarup. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. + Yellow-hammer. SEE Woodpecker, golden winged. + Yellow-throat, Maryland, OR northern yellow-throat (Geothlypis + trichas brachydactyla). + + + + + +_____________________________________________________________ + +[Transcribist's note: John Burroughs used some characters +which are not standard to our writing in 2001. + +He used a diaeresis in preeminent, and accented "e's in +debris and denouement. These have been replaced with plain +letters. + +[Updater's note: "preeminent", "debris", and "denouement" +have all been corrected to have their accented letters. + +I substituted the letters "oe" for the ligature, used often +in the word phoebe. Simularly the "e" in the golden eagle's +scientific name is modernized. + +He also used symbols available to a typesetter which are +unavailable to us in ASCII (plain vanilla text) to illustrate +bird calls and notes. I have replaced these with a description +of what was there originally. + +Finally, he used italics throughout the book that I was +unable to retain, because of the ASCII format. The two +uses of the italics were to denote scientific names and to +emphasize. I have done nothing to note where the italics were +used, as I don't think it really has a great affect on reading +this book.] + +_____________________________________________________________ + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wake-Robin, by John Burroughs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WAKE-ROBIN *** + +***** This file should be named 4203.txt or 4203.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/0/4203/ + +Produced by Jack Eden. HTML version by Al Haines. + +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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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +This etext was produced by Jack Eden <jackeden@yahoo.com> + + + + + + +[For those interested, there is a note at the end of +this document that details the adaptations made to this +work to fit it into plain ASCII text] + + + + + + +THE WRITINGS OF JOHN BURROUGHS +WITH PORTRAITS AND MANY ILLUSTRATIONS + + +VOLUME I + +WAKE-ROBIN + + + + +PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION + +This is mainly a book about the Birds, or more properly an invitation +to the study of Ornithology, and the purpose of the author will be +carried out in proportion as it awakens and stimulates the interest of +the reader in this branch of Natural History. + +Though written less in the spirit of exact science than with the +freedom of love and old acquaintance, yet I have in no instance taken +liberties with facts, or allowed my imagination to influence me to the +extent of giving a false impression or a wrong coloring. I have reaped +my harvest more in the woods than in the study; what I offer, in fact, +is a careful and conscientious record of actual observations and +experiences, and is true as it stands written, every word of it. But +what has interested me most in Ornithology is the pursuit, the chase, +the discovery; that part of it which is akin to hunting, fishing, and +wild sports, and which I could carry with me in my eye and ear +wherever I went. + +I cannot answer with much confidence the poet's inquiry,-- + + "Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?" + +but I have done what I could to bring home the "river and sky" with +the sparrow I heard "singing at dawn on the alder bough." In other +words, I have tried to present a live bird,--a bird in the woods or +the fields,--with the atmosphere and associations of the place, and +not merely a stuffed and labeled specimen. + +A more specific title for the volume would have suited me better; but +not being able to satisfy myself in this direction, I cast about for a +word thoroughly in the atmosphere and spirit of the book, which I hope +I have found in "Wake-Robin," the common name of the white Trillium, +which blooms in all our woods, and which marks the arrival of all the +birds. + + + + + CONTENTS + INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION + I. THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS + II. IN THE HEMLOCKS + III. THE ADIRONDACKS + IV. BIRDS'-NESTS + V. SPRING AT THE CAPITAL + VI. BIRCH BROWSINGS + VII. THE BLUEBIRD + VIII. THE INVITATION + INDEX + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + JOHN BURROUGHS + Etched by W. H. W. Bicknell, from a daguerreotype + PARTRIDGE'S NEST + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + A CABIN IN THE ADIRONDACKS + From a photograph by Clifton Johnson + AMERICAN OSPREY, OR FISH HAWK (colored) + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes + BIRD'S-FOOT VIOLETS + From a photograph by Herbert W. Gleason + BLUEBIRD + From a drawing by L. A. Fuertes + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO RIVERSIDE EDITION + +In coming before the public with a newly made edition of my writings, +what can I say to my reader at this stage of our acquaintance that +will lead to a better understanding between us? Probably nothing. We +understand each other very well already. I have offered myself as his +guide to certain matters out of doors, and to a few matters indoor, +and he has accepted me upon my own terms, and has, on the whole been +better pleased with me than I had any reason to expect. For this I am +duly grateful; why say more? Yet now that I am upon my feet, so as to +speak, and palaver is the order, I will keep on a few minutes longer. + +It is now nearly a quarter of a century since my first book, +"Wake-Robin," was published. I have lived nearly as many years in the +world as I had lived when I wrote its principal chapters. Other +volumes have followed, and still others. When asked how many there +are, I often have to stop and count them up. I suppose the mother of a +large family does not have to count up her children to say how many +there are. She sees their faces all before her. It is said of certain +savage tribes who cannot count above five, and yet who own flocks and +herds, that every native knows when he has got all his own cattle, not +by counting, but by remembering each one individually. + +The savage is with his herds daily; the mother has the love of her +children constantly in her heart; but when one's book goes forth from +him, in a sense it never returns. It is like the fruit detached from +the bough. And yet to sit down and talk of one's books as a father +might talk of his sons, who had left his roof and gone forth to make +their own way in the world, is not an easy matter. The author's +relation to his book is a little more direct and personal, after all, +more a matter of will and choice, than a father's relation to his +child. The book does not change, and, whatever it fortunes, it remains +to the end what its author made it. The son is an evolution out of a +long line of ancestry, and one's responsibility of this or that trait +is often very slight; but the book is an actual transcript of his +mind, and is wise or foolish according as he made it so. Hence I trust +my reader will pardon me if I shrink from any discussion of the merits +or demerits of these intellectual children of mine, or indulge in any +very confidential remarks with regard to them. + +I cannot bring myself to think of my books as "works," because so +little "work" has gone to the making of them. It has all been play. I +have gone a-fishing, or camping, or canoeing, and new literary +material has been the result. My corn has grown while I loitered or +slept. The writing of the book was only a second and finer enjoyment +of my holiday in the fields or woods. Not till the writing did it +really seem to strike in and become part of me. + +A friend of mine, now an old man, who spent his youth in the woods of +northern Ohio, and who has written many books, says, "I never thought +of writing a book, till my self-exile, and then only to reproduce my +old-time life to myself." The writing probably cured or alleviated a +sort of homesickness. Such is a great measure has been my own case. My +first book, "Wake-Robin," was written while I was a government clerk +in Washington. It enabled me to live over again the days I had passed +with the birds and in the scenes of my youth. I wrote the book sitting +at a desk in front of an iron wall. I was the keeper of a vault in +which many millions of bank-notes were stored. During my long periods +of leisure I took refuge in my pen. How my mind reacted from the iron +wall in front of me, and sought solace in memories of the birds and of +summer fields and woods! Most of the chapters of "Winter Sunshine" +were written at the same desk. The sunshine there referred to is of a +richer quality than is found in New York or New England. + +Since I left Washington in 1873, instead of an iron wall in front of +my desk, I have had a large window that overlooks the Hudson and the +wooded heights beyond, and I have exchanged the vault for a vineyard. +Probably my mind reacted more vigorously from the former than it does +from the latter. The vineyard winds its tendrils around me and detains +me, and its loaded trellises are more pleasing to me than the closets +of greenbacks. + +The only time there is a suggestion of an iron wall in front of me is +in winter, when ice and snow have blotted out the landscape, and I +find that it is in this season that my mind dwells most fondly upon my +favorite themes. Winter drives a man back upon himself, and tests his +powers of self-entertainment. + +Do such books as mine give a wrong impression of Nature, and lead +readers to expect more from a walk or a camp in the woods than they +usually get? I have a few times had occasion to think so. I am not +always aware myself how much pleasure I have had in a walk till I try +to share it with my reader. The heat of composition brings out the +color and the flavor. We must not forget the illusions of all art. If +my reader thinks he does not get from Nature what I get from her, let +me remind him that he can hardly know what he has got till he defines +it to himself as I do, and throws about it the witchery of words. +Literature does not grow wild in the woods. Every artist does +something more than copy Nature; more comes out in his account than +goes into the original experience. + +Most persons think the bee gets honey from the flowers, but she does +not: honey is a product of the bee; it is the nectar of the flowers +with the bee added. What the bee gets from the flower is sweet water: +this she puts through a process of her own and imparts to it her own +quality; she reduces the water and adds to it a minute drop of formic +acid. It is this drop of herself that gives the delicious sting to her +sweet. The bee is therefore the type of the true poet, the true +artist. Her product always reflects her environment, and it reflects +something her environment knows not of. We taste the clover, the +thyme, the linden, the sumac, and we also taste something that has its +source in none of these flowers. + +The literary naturalist does not take liberties with facts; facts are +the flora upon which he lives. The more and the fresher the facts the +better. I can do nothing without them, but I must give them my own +flavor. I must impart to them a quality which heightens and +intensifies them. + +To interpret Nature is not to improve upon her: it is to draw her out; +it is to have an emotional intercourse with her, absorb her, and +reproduce her tinged with the colors of the spirit. + +If I name every bird I see in my walk, describe its color and ways, +etc., give a lot of facts or details about the bird, it is doubtful if +my reader is interested. But if I relate the bird in some way to human +life, to my own life,--show what it is to me and what it is in the +landscape and the season,--then do I give my reader a live bird and +not a labeled specimen. + + J. B. + 1895. + + + + + +WAKE-ROBIN + +I + +THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS + +Spring in our northern climate may fairly be said to extend from the +middle of March to the middle of June. At least, the vernal tide +continues to rise until the latter date, and it is not till after the +summer solstice that the shoots and twigs begin to harden and turn to +wood, or the grass to lose any of its freshness and succulency. + +It is this period that marks the return of the birds,--one or two of +the more hardy or half-domesticated species, like the song sparrow +and the bluebird, usually arriving in March, while the rarer and more +brilliant wood-birds bring up the procession in June. But each stage +of the advancing season gives prominence to the certain species, as to +certain flowers. The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow, +the dogtooth violet when to expect the wood-thrush, and when I have +found the wake-robin in bloom I know the season is fairly inaugurated. +With me this flower is associated, not merely with the awakening of +Robin, for he has been awake for some weeks, but with the universal +awakening and rehabilitation of nature. + +Yet the coming and going of the birds is more or less a mystery and a +surprise. We go out in the morning, and no thrush or vireo is to be +heard; we go out again, and every tree and grove is musical; yet +again, and all is silent. Who saw them come? Who saw them depart? + +This pert little winter wren, for instance, darting in and out the +fence, diving under the rubbish here and coming up yards away,--how +does he manage with those little circular wings to compass degrees and +zones, and arrive always in the nick of time? Last August I saw him in +the remotest wilds of the Adirondacks, impatient and inquisitive as +usual; a few weeks later, on the Potomac, I was greeted by the same +hardy little busybody. Does he travel by easy stages from bush to bush +and from wood to wood? or has that compact little body force and +courage to brave the night and the upper air, and so achieve leagues +at one pull? + +And yonder bluebird with the earth tinge on his breast and the sky +tinge on his back,--did he come down out of the heaven on that bright +March morning when he told us so softly and plaintively that, if we +pleased, spring had come? Indeed, there is nothing in the return of +the birds more curious and suggestive than in the first appearance, or +rumors of the appearance, of this little blue-coat. The bird at first +seems a mere wandering voice in the air: one hears its call or carol +on some bright March morning, but is uncertain of its source or +direction; it falls like a drop of rain when no cloud is visible; one +looks and listens, but to no purpose. The weather changes, perhaps a +cold snap with snow comes on, and it may be a week before I hear the +not again, and this time or the next perchance see this bird sitting +on a stake in the fence lifting his wing as he calls cheerily to his +mate. Its notes now become daily more frequent; the birds multiply, +and, flitting from point to point, call and warble more confidently +and gleefully. Their boldness increases till one sees them hovering +with a saucy, inquiring air about barns and out-buildings, peeping +into dove-cotes and stable windows, inspecting knotholes and +pump-trees, intent only on a place to nest. They wage war against +robins and wrens, pick quarrels with swallows, and seem to deliberate +for days over the policy of taking forcible possession of one of the +mud-houses of the latter. But as the season advances they drift more +into the background. Schemes of conquest which they at first seemed +bent upon are abandoned, and the settle down very quietly in their old +quarters in remote stumpy fields. + +Not long after the bluebird comes the robin, sometimes in March, but +in most of the Northern States April is the month of the robin. In +large numbers they scour the fields and groves. You hear their piping +in the meadow, in the pasture, on the hillside. Walk in the woods, and +the dry leaves rustle with the whir of their wings the air is vocal +with their cheery call. In excess of joy and vivacity, they run, leap, +scream, chase each other through the air, diving and sweeping among +the trees with perilous rapidity. + +In that free, fascinating, half-work and half-play +pursuit,--sugar-making,--a pursuit which still lingers in many parts +of New York, as in New England,--the robin is one's constant +companion. When the day is sunny and the ground bare, you meet him at +all points and hear him at all hours. At sunset, on the tops of the +tall maples, with look heavenward, and in a spirit of utter +abandonment, he carols his simple strain. And sitting thus amid the +stark, silent trees, above the wet, cold earth, with the chill of +winter still in the air, there is no fitter or sweeter songster in the +whole round year. It is in keeping with the scene and the occasion. +How round and genuine the notes are, and how eagerly our ears drink +them in! The first utterance, and the spell of winter is thoroughly +broken, and the remembrance of it afar off. + +Robin is one of the most native and democratic of our birds; He is +one of the family, and seems much nearer to us than those rare, exotic +visitants, as the orchard starling or rose-breasted grosbeak, with +their distant, high-bred ways. Hardy, noisy, frolicsome, neighborly, +and domestic in his habits, strong of wing and bold in spirit, he is +the pioneer of the thrush family, and well worthy of the finer artists +whose coming he heralds and in a measure prepares us for. + +I could wish Robin less native and plebeian in one respect,--the +building of his nest. Its coarse material and rough masonry are +creditable neither to his skill as a workman nor to his taste as an +artist. I am the more forcibly reminded of his deficiency in this +respect from observing yonder hummingbird's nest, which is a marvel of +fitness and adaptation, a proper setting for this winged gem,--the +body of it composed of a white, felt-like substance, probably the down +of some plant or the wool of some worm, and toned down in keeping with +the branch on which it sits by minute tree-lichens, woven together by +threads as fine and grail as gossamer. From Robin's good looks and +musical turn, we might reasonably predict a domicile of him as clean +and handsome a nest as the king-bird's, whose harsh jingle, compared +with Robin's evening melody, is as the clatter of pots and kettles +beside the tone of a flute. I love his note and ways better even than +those of the orchard starling or the Baltimore oriole; yet his nest, +compared with theirs, is a half-subterranean hut contrasted with a +Roman villa. There is something courtly and poetical in a pensile +nest. Next to a castle in the air is a dwelling suspended to the +slender branch of a tall tree, swayed and rocked forever by the wind. +Why need wings be afraid of falling? Why build only where boys can +climb? After all, we must set it down to the account of Robin's +democratic turn: he is no aristocrat, but one of the people; and +therefore we should expect stability in his workmanship, rather than +elegance. + +Another April bird, which makes her appearance sometimes earlier and +sometimes later than Robin, and whose memory I fondly cherish, is the +phoebe-bird, the pioneer of the flycatchers. In the inland farming +districts, I used to notice her, on some bright morning about Easter +Day, proclaiming her arrival, with much variety of motion and +attitude, from the peak of the barn or hay-shed. As yet, you may have +heard only the plaintive, homesick note of the bluebird, or the faint +trill of the song sparrow; and Phoebe's clear, vivacious assurance of +her veritable bodily presence among us again is welcomed by all ears. +At agreeable intervals in her lay she describes a circle or an ellipse +in the air, ostensibly prospecting for insects, but really, I suspect, +as an artistic flourish, thrown in to make up in some way for the +deficiency of her musical performance. If plainness of dress indicates +powers of song as it usually does, then Phoebe ought to be unrivaled +in musical ability, for surely that ashen-gray suit is the superlative +of plainness; and that form, likewise, would hardly pass for a +"perfect figure" of a bird. The seasonableness of her coming, however, +and her civil, neighborly ways, shall make up for all deficiencies in +song and plumage. After a few weeks phoebe is seldom seen, except as +she darts from her moss-covered nest beneath some bridge or shelving +cliff. + +Another April comer, who arrives shortly after Robin-redbreast, with +whom he associates both at this season and in the autumn, is the +gold-winged woodpecker, alias "high-hole," alias "flicker," alias +"yarup." He is an old favorite of my boyhood, and his note to me means +very much. He announces his arrival by a long, loud call, repeated +from the dry branch of some tree, or a stake in the fence,--a +thoroughly melodious April sound. I think how Solomon finished that +beautiful description of spring, "And the voice of the turtle is heard +in the land," and see that a description of spring in this farming +country, to be equally characteristic, should culminate in like +manner,--"And the call of the high-hole comes up from the wood." + +It is a loud, strong, sonorous call, and does not seem to imply an +answer, but rather to subserve some purpose of love or music. It is +"Yarup's" proclamation of peace and good-will to all. On looking at +the matter closely, I perceive that most birds, not denominated +songsters, have, in the spring, some note or sound or call that hints +of a song, and answers imperfectly the end of beauty and art. As a +"livelier iris changes on the burnished dove," and the fancy of the +young man turns lightly to thoughts of his pretty cousin, so the same +renewing spirit touches the "silent singers," and they are no longer +dumb; faintly they lisp the first syllables of the marvelous tale. +Witness the clear sweet whistle of the gray-crested titmouse,--the +soft, nasal piping of the nuthatch,--the amorous, vivacious warble of +the bluebird,--the long, rich note of the meadowlark,--the whistle of +the quail,--the drumming of the partridge,--the animation and +loquacity of the swallows, and the like. Even the hen has a homely, +contented carol; and I credit the owls with a desire to fill the night +with music. Al birds are incipient or would be songsters in the +spring. I find corroborative evidence of this even in the crowing of +the cock. The flowering of the maple is not so obvious as that of the +magnolia; nevertheless, there is actual inflorescence. + +Few writers award any song to that familiar little sparrow, the +Socialis; yet who that has observed him sitting by the wayside, and +repeating, with devout attitude, that fine sliding chant, does not +recognize the neglect? Who has heard the snowbird sing? Yet he has a +lisping warble very savory to the ear. I have heard him indulge in it +even in February. + +Even the cow bunting feels the musical tendency, and aspires to its +expression, with the rest. Perched upon the topmost branch beside his +mate or mates,--for he is quite a polygamist, and usually has two or +three demure little ladies in faded black beside him,--generally in +the early part of the day, he seems literally to vomit up his notes. +Apparently with much labor and effort, they gurgle and blubber up out +of him, falling on the ear with a peculiar subtile ring, as of turning +water from a glass bottle, and not without a certain pleasing cadence. + +Neither is the common woodpecker entirely insensible to the wooing of +the spring, and, like the partridge, testifies his appreciation of +melody after quite a primitive fashion. Passing through the woods on +some clear, still morning in March, while the metallic ring and +tension of winter are still in the earth and air, the silence is +suddenly broken by long, resonant hammering upon a dry limb or stub. +It is Downy beating a reveille to spring. In the utter stillness and +amid the rigid forms we listen with pleasure; and, as it comes to my +ear oftener at this season than at any other, I freely exonerate the +author of it from the imputation of any gastronomic motives, and +credit him with a genuine musical performance. + +It is to be expected, therefore, that "yellow-hammer" will respond to +the general tendency, and contribute his part to the spring chorus. +His April call is his finest touch, his most musical expression. + +I recall an ancient maple standing sentry to a large sugar-bush, that, +year after year, afforded protection to a brood of yellow-hammers in +its decayed heart. A week or two before nesting seemed actually to +have begun, three or four of these birds might be seen, on almost any +bright morning, gamboling and courting amid its decayed branches. +Sometimes you would hear only a gentle persuasive cooing, or a quiet +confidential chattering,--then that long, loud call, taken up by +first one, then another, as they sat about upon the naked +limbs,--anon, a sort of wild, rollicking laughter, intermingled with +various cries, yelps, and squeals, as if some incident had excited +their mirth and ridicule. Whether this social hilarity and +boisterousness is in celebration of the pairing or mating ceremony, or +whether it is only a sort of annual "house-warming" common among +high-holes on resuming their summer quarters, is a question upon which +I reserve my judgment. + +Unlike most of his kinsmen, the golden-wing prefers the fields and the +borders of the forest to the deeper seclusion of the woods, and hence, +contrary to the habit of his tribe, obtains most of his subsistence +from the ground, probing it for ants and crickets. He is not quite +satisfied with being a woodpecker. He courts the society of the robin +and the finches, abandons the trees for the meadow, and feeds eagerly +upon berries and grain. What may be the final upshot of this course of +living is a question worth the attention of Darwin. Will his taking to +the ground and his pedestrian feats result in lengthening his legs, +his feeding upon berries and grains subdue his tints and soften his +voice, and his associating with Robin put a song into his heart? + +Indeed, what would be more interesting than the history of our birds +for the last two or three centuries. There can be no doubt that the +presence of man has exerted a very marked and friendly influence upon +them, since they so multiply in his society. The birds of California, +it is said, were mostly silent till after its settlement, and I doubt +if the Indians heard the wood thrush as we hear him. Where did the +bobolink disport himself before there were meadows in the North and +rice fields in the South? Was he the same lithe, merry-hearted beau +then as now? And the sparrow, the lark, and the goldfinch, birds that +seem so indigenous to the open fields and so adverse to the woods,--we +cannot conceive of their existence in a vast wilderness and without +man. + +But to return. The song sparrow, that universal favorite and +firstling of the spring, comes before April, and its simple strain +gladdens all hearts. + +May is the month of the swallows and the orioles. There are many other +distinguished arrivals, indeed nine tenths of the birds are here by +the last week in May, yet the swallows and the orioles are the most +conspicuous. The bright plumage of the latter seems really like an +arrival from the tropics. I see them dash through the blossoming +trees, and all the forenoon hear their incessant warbling and wooing. +The swallows dive and chatter about the barn, or squeak and build +beneath the eaves; the partridge drums in the fresh sprouting woods; +the long, tender note of the meadowlark comes up from the meadow; and +at sunset, from every marsh and pond come the ten thousand voices of +the hylas. May is the transition month, and exists to connect April +and June, the root with the flower. + +With June the cup is full, our hearts are satisfied, there is no more +to be desired. The perfection of the season, among other things, has +brought the perfection of the song and the plumage of the birds. The +master artists are all here; and the expectations excited by the robin +and the song sparrow are fully justified. The thrushes have all come; +and I sit down upon the first rock, with hands full of the pink +azalea, to listen. With me the cuckoo does not arrive till June; and +often the goldfinch, the kingbird, the scarlet tanager delay their +coming till then. In the meadows the bobolink is in all his glory; in +the high pastures the field sparrow sings his breezy vesper-hymn; and +the woods are unfolding to the music of the thrushes. + +The cuckoo is one of the most solitary birds of our forests, and is +strangely tame and quiet, appearing equally untouched by joy or grief, +fear or anger. Something remote seems ever weighing upon his mind. His +note or call is as of one lost or wandering, and to the farmer is +prophetic of rain. Amid the general joy and the sweet assurance of +things, I love to listen to the strange clairvoyant call. Heard a +quarter of a mile away, from out the depths of the forest, there is +something peculiarly weird and monkish about it. Wordsworth's lines +upon the European species apply equally well to ours:--"O blithe +new-comer! I have heard, I hear thee and rejoice: O cuckoo! shall I +call thee bird? Or but a wandering voice? + + "While I am lying on the grass, + Thy loud note smites my ear! + From hill to hill it seems to pass, + At once far off and near! + + "Thrice welcome, darling of the spring! + Even yet thou art to me + No bird, but an invisible thing, + A voice, a mystery." + +The black-billed is the only species found in my locality, the +yellow-billed abounds farther south. Their note or call is nearly the +same. The former sometimes suggests the voice of a turkey. The call of +the latter may be suggested thus: k-k-k-k-k-kow, kow, kow-ow, kow-ow. + +The yellow-billed will take up his stand in a tree, and explore its +branches till he has caught every worm. He sits on a twig, and with a +peculiar swaying movement of his head examines the surrounding +foliage. When he discovers his prey, he leaps upon it in a fluttering +manner. + +In June the black-billed makes a tour through the orchard and garden, +regaling himself upon the canker-worms. At this time he is one of the +tamest of birds, and will allow you to approach within a few yards of +him. I have even come within a few feet of one without seeming to +excite his fear or suspicion. He is quite unsophisticated, or else +royally indifferent. + +The plumage of the cuckoo is a rich glossy brown, and is unrivaled in +beauty by any other neutral tint with which I am acquainted. It is +also remarkable for its firmness and fineness. + +Notwithstanding the disparity in size and color, the black-billed +species has certain peculiarities that remind one of the passenger +pigeon. His eye, with its red circle, the shape of his head, and his +motions on alighting and taking flight, quickly suggest the +resemblance; though in grace and speed, when on the wing, he is far +inferior. His tail seems disproportionately long, like that of the red +thrush, and his flight among the trees is very still, contrasting +strongly with the honest clatter of the robin or pigeon. + +Have you heard the song of the field sparrow? If you have lived in a +pastoral country with broad upland pastures, you could hardly have +missed him. Wilson, I believe, calls him the grass finch, and was +evidently unacquainted with his powers of song. The two white lateral +quills in his tail, and his habit of running and skulking a few yards +in advance of you as you walk through the fields, are sufficient to +identify him. Not in meadows or orchards, but in high, breezy +pasture-grounds, will you look for him. His song is most noticeable +after sundown, when other birds are silent; for which reason he has +been aptly called the vesper sparrow. The farmer following his team +from the field at dusk catches his sweetest strain. His song is not so +brisk and varied as that of the song sparrow, being softer and wilder, +sweeter and more plaintive. Add the best parts of the lay of the +latter to the sweet vibrating chant of the wood sparrow, and you have +the evening hymn of the vesper-bird,--the poet of the plain, +unadorned pastures. Go to those broad, smooth, uplying fields where +the cattle and sheep are grazing, and sit down in the twilight on one +of those warm, clean stones, and listen to this song. On every side, +near and remote, from out the short grass which the herds are +cropping, the strain rises. Two or three long, silver notes of peace +and rest, ending in some subdued trills and quavers, constitute each +separate song. Often, you will catch only one or two of the bars, the +breeze having blown the minor part away. Such unambitious, quiet, +unconscious melody! It is one of the most characteristic sounds in +nature. The grass, the stones, the stubble, the furrow, the quiet +herds, and the warm twilight among the hills, are all subtly expressed +in this song; this is what they are at last capable of. + +The female builds a plain nest in the open field, without so much as a +bush or thistle or tuft of grass to protect it or mark its site; you +may step upon it, or the cattle may tread it into the ground. But the +danger from this source, I presume, the bird considers less than that +from another. Skunks and foxes have a very impertinent curiosity, as +Finchie well knows; and a bank or hedge, or a rank growth of grass or +thistles, that might promise protection and cover to mouse or bird, +these cunning rogues would be apt to explore most thoroughly. The +partridge is undoubtedly acquainted with the same process of +reasoning; for, like the vesper-bird, she, too, nests in open, +unprotected places, avoiding all show of concealment,--coming from the +tangled and almost impenetrable parts of the forest to the clean, open +woods, where she can command all the approaches and fly with equal +ease in any direction. + +Another favorite sparrow, but little noticed, is the wood or bush +sparrow, usually called by the ornithologists Spizella pusilla. Its +size and form is that of the socialis, but is less distinctly marked, +being of a duller redder tinge. He prefers remote bushy heathery +fields, where his song is one of the sweetest to be heard. It is +sometimes very noticeable, especially early in spring. I remember +sitting one bright day in the still leafless April woods, when one of +these birds struck up a few rods from me, repeating its lay at short +intervals for nearly an hour. It was a perfect piece of wood-music, +and was of course all the more noticeable for being projected upon +such a broad unoccupied page of silence. Its song is like the words, +fe-o, fe-o, fe-o, few, few, few, fee fee fee, uttered at first high +and leisurely, but running very rapidly toward the close, which is low +and soft. + +Still keeping among the unrecognized, the white-eyed vireo, or +flycatcher, deserves particular mention. The song of this bird is not +particularly sweet and soft; on the contrary, it is a little hard and +shrill, like that of the indigo-bird or oriole; but for brightness, +volubility, execution, and power of imitation, he is unsurpassed by +any of our northern birds. His ordinary note is forcible and emphatic, +but, as stated, not especially musical; Chick-a-re'r-chick, he seems +to say, hiding himself in the low, dense undergrowth, and eluding your +most vigilant search, as if playing some part in a game. But in July +of August, if you are on good terms with the sylvan deities, you may +listen to a far more rare and artistic performance. Your first +impression will be that that cluster of azalea, or that clump of +swamp-huckleberry, conceals three of four different songsters, each +vying with the the others to lead the chorus. Such a medley of notes, +snatched from half the songsters of the field and forest, and uttered +with the utmost clearness and rapidity, I am sure you cannot hear +short of the haunts of the genuine mockingbird. If not fully and +accurately repeated, there are at least suggested the notes of the +robin, wren, catbird, high-hole, goldfinch, and song sparrow. The pip, +pip, of the last is produced so accurately that I verily believe it +would deceive the bird herself; and the whole uttered in such rapid +succession that it seems as if the movement that gives the concluding +note of one strain must form the first note of the next. The effect is +very rich, and, to my ear, entirely unique. The performer is very +careful not to reveal himself in the mean time; yet there is a +conscious air about the strain that impresses me with the idea that my +presence is understood and my attention courted. A tone of pride and +glee, and, occasionally, of bantering jocoseness, is discernible. I +believe it is only rarely, and when he is sure of his audience, that +he displays his parts in this manner. You are to look for him, not in +tall trees or deep forests, but in low, dense shrubbery about wet +places, where there are plenty of gnats and mosquitoes. + +The winter wren is another marvelous songster, in speaking of whom it +is difficult to avoid superlatives. He is not so conscious of is +powers and so ambitious of effect as the white-eyed flycatcher, yet +you will not be less astonished and delighted on hearing him. He +possesses the fluency and copiousness for which the wrens are noted, +and besides these qualities, and what is rarely found conjoined with +them, a wild, sweet, rhythmical cadence that holds you entranced. I +shall not soon forget that perfect June day, when, loitering in a low, +ancient hemlock wood, in whose cathedral aisles the coolness and +freshness seems perennial, the silence was suddenly broken by a strain +so rapid and gushing, and touched with such a wild, sylvan +plaintiveness, that I listened in amazement. And so shy and coy was +the little minstrel, that I came twice to the woods before I was sure +to whom I was listening. In summer he is one of those birds of the +deep northern forests, that, like the speckled Canada warbler and the +hermit thrush, only the privileged ones hear. + +The distribution of plants in a given locality is not more marked and +defined than that of the birds. Show a botanist a landscape, and he +will tell you where to look for the lady's-slipper, the columbine, or +the harebell. On the same principles the ornithologist will direct you +where to look for the greenlets, the wood sparrow, or the chewink. In +adjoining counties, in the same latitude, and equally inland, but +possessing a different geological formation and different +forest-timber, you will observe quite a different class of birds. In a +land of the beech and sugar maple I do not find the same songsters +that I know where thrive the oak, chestnut, and laurel. In going from +a district of the Old Red Sandstone to where I walk upon the old +Plutonic Rock, not fifty miles distant, I miss in the woods, the +veery, the hermit thrush, the chestnut-sided warbler, the blue-backed +warbler, the green-backed warbler, the black and yellow warbler, and +many others, and find in their stead the wood thrush, the chewink, the +redstart, the yellow-throat, the yellow-breasted flycatcher, the +white-eyed flycatcher, the quail, and the turtle dove. + +In my neighborhood here in the Highlands the distribution is very +marked. South of the village I invariably find one species of birds, +north of it another. In only one locality, full of azalea and +swamp-huckleberry, I am always sure of finding the hooded warbler. In +a dense undergrowth of spice-bush, witch-hazel, and alder, I meet the +worm-eating warbler. In a remote clearing, covered with heath and +fern, with here and there a chestnut and an oak, I go to hear in July +the wood sparrow, and returning by a stumpy, shallow pond, I am sure +to find the water-thrush. + +Only one locality within my range seems to possess attractions for all +comers. Here one may study almost the entire ornithology of the State. +It is a rocky piece of ground, long ago cleared, but now fast +relapsing into the wildness and freedom of nature, and marked by those +half-cultivated, half-wild features which birds and boys love. It is +bounded on two sides by the village and highway, crossed at various +points by carriage-roads, and threaded in all directions by paths and +byways, along which soldiers, laborers, and truant school-boys are +passing at all hours of the day. It is so far escaping from the axe +and the bush-hook as to have opened communication with the forest and +mountain beyond by straggling lines of cedar, laurel, and blackberry. +The ground is mainly occupied with cedar and chestnut, with an +undergrowth, in many place, of heath and bramble. The chief feature, +however, is a dense growth in the centre, consisting of dogwood, +water-beech, swamp-ash, alder, spice-bush, hazel, etc., with a network +of smilax and frost-grape. A little zigzag stream, the draining of a +swam beyond, which passes through this tanglewood, accounts for many +of its features and productions, if not for its entire existence. +Birds that are not attracted by the heath, or the cedar and chestnut, +are sure to find some excuse for visiting this miscellaneous growth in +the centre. Most of the common birds literally throng in this +idle-wild; and I have met here many of the rarer species, such as the +great-crested flycatcher, the solitary warbler, the blue-winged swamp +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the fox sparrow, etc. The absence of +all birds of prey, and the great number of flies and insects, both the +result of the proximity to the village, are considerations which ho +hawk-fearing, peace-loving minstrel passes over lightly; hence the +popularity of the resort. + +But the crowning glory of all these robins, flycatchers, and warblers +is the wood thrush. More abundant than all other birds, except the +robin and catbird, he greets you from every rock and shrub. Shy and +reserved when he first makes his appearance in May, before the end of +June he is tame and familiar, and sings on the tree over your head, or +on the rock a few paces in advance. A pair even built their nest and +reared their brood within ten or twelve feet of the piazza of a large +summer-house in the vicinity. But when the guests commenced to arrive +and the piazza to be thronged with gay crowds, I noticed something +like dread and foreboding in the manner of the mother bird; and from +her still, quiet ways, and habit of sitting long and silently within a +few feet of the precious charge, it seemed as if the dear creature had +resolved, if possible, to avoid all observation. + +If we take the quality of melody as the test, the wood thrush, hermit +thrush, and the veery thrush stand at the head of our list of +songsters. + +The mockingbird undoubtedly possesses the greatest range of mere +talent, the most varied executive ability, and never fails to surprise +and delight one anew at each hearing; but being mostly an imitator, he +never approaches the serene beauty and sublimity of the hermit thrush. +The word that best expresses my feelings, on hearing the mockingbird, +is admiration, though the first emotion is one of surprise and +incredulity. That so many and such various notes should proceed from +one throat is a marvel, and we regard the performance with feelings +akin to those we experience on witnessing the astounding feats of the +athlete or gymnast,--and this, notwithstanding many of the notes +imitated have all the freshness and sweetness of the originals. The +emotions excited by the songs of these thrushes belong to a higher +order, springing as they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and +harmony of the world. + +The wood thrush is worthy of all, and more than all, the praises he +has received; and considering the number of his appreciative +listeners, it is not a little surprising that his relative and equal, +the hermit thrush, should have received so little notice. Both the +great ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, are lavish in their praises +of the former, but have little or nothing to say of the song of the +latter. Audubon says it is sometimes agreeable, but evidently has +never heard it. Nuttall, I am glad to find, is more discriminating, +and does the bird fuller justice. + +It is quite a rare bird, of very shy and secluded habits, being found +in the Middle and Eastern States, during the period of song, only in +the deepest and most remote forests, usually in damp and swampy +localities. On this account the people in the Adirondack region call +it the "Swamp Angel." Its being so much of a recluse accounts for the +comparative ignorance that prevails in regard to it. + +The cast of its song is very much like that of the wood thrush, and a +good observer might easily confound the two. But hear them together +and the difference is quite marked: the song of the hermit is in a +higher key, and is more wild and ethereal. His instrument is a silver +horn which he winds in the most solitary places. The song of the wood +thrush is more golden and leisurely. Its tone comes near to that of +some rare stringed instrument. One feels that perhaps the wood thrush +has more compass and power, if he would only let himself out, but on +the whole he comes a little short of the pure, serene, hymn-like +strain of the hermit. + +Yet those who have heard only the wood thrush may well place him first +on the list. He is truly a royal minstrel, and, considering his +liberal distribution throughout our Atlantic seaboard, perhaps +contributes more than any other bird to our sylvan melody. One may +object that he spends a little too much time in tuning his instrument, +yet his careless and uncertain touches reveal its rare compass and +power. + +He is the only songster of my acquaintance excepting the canary, that +displays different degrees of proficiency in the exercise of his +musical gifts. Not long since, while walking one Sunday in the edge of +an orchard adjoining a wood, I heard one that so obviously and +unmistakably surpassed all his rivals, that my companion, although +slow to notice such things, remarked it wonderingly; and with one +accord we paused to listen to so rare a performer. It was not +different in quality so much as in quantity. Such a flood of it! Such +copiousness! Such long, trilling, accelerating preludes! Such sudden, +ecstatic overtures would have intoxicated the dullest ear. He was +really without a compeer,--a master artist. Twice afterward I was +conscious of having heard the same bird. + +The wood thrush is the handsomest species of this family. In grace +and elegance of manner he has no equal. Such a gentle, high-bred air, +and such inimitable ease and composure in his flight and movement! He +is a poet in very word and deed. His carriage is music to the eye. His +performance of the commonest act, as catching a beetle, or picking a +worm from the mud, pleases like a stroke of wit or eloquence. Was he a +prince in the olden time, and do the regal grace and mien still adhere +to him in his transformation? What a finely proportioned form! How +plain, yet rich, his color,--the bright russet of his back, the clear +white of his breast, with the distinct heart-shaped spots! It may be +objected to Robin that he is noisy and demonstrative; he hurries away +or rises to a branch with an angry note, and flirts his wings in +ill-bred suspicion. The mavis, or red thrush, sneaks and skulks like a +culprit, hiding in the densest alders; the catbird is a coquette and a +flirt, as well as a sort of female Paul Pry; and the chewink shows his +inhospitality by espying your movements like a Japanese. The wood +thrush has none of theses underbred traits. He regards me +unsuspiciously, or avoids me with a noble reserve,--or, if I am quiet +and incurious, graciously hops toward me, as if to pay his respects, +or to make my acquaintance. I have passed under his nest within a few +feet of his mate and brood, when he sat near by on a branch eying me +sharply, but without opening his beak; but the moment I raised my hand +toward his defenseless household, his anger and indignation were +beautiful to behold. + +What a noble pride he has! Late one October, after his mates and +companions had long since gone south, I noticed one for several +successive days in the dense part of this next-door wood, flitting +noiselessly about, very grave and silent, as if doing penance for some +violation of the code of honor. By many gentle, indirect approaches, I +perceived that part of his tail-feathers were undeveloped. The sylvan +prince could not think of returning to court in this plight, and so, +amid the falling leaves and cold rains of autumn, was patiently biding +his time. + +The soft, mellow flute of the veery fills a place in the chorus of the +woods that the song of the vesper sparrow fills in the chorus of the +fields. It has the nightingale's habit of singing in the twilight, as +indeed have all our thrushes. Walk out toward the forest in the warm +twilight of a June day, and when fifty rods distant you will hear +their soft, reverberating notes rising from a dozen different throats. + +It is one of the simplest strains to be heard,--as simple as the curve +in form, delighting from the pure element of harmony and beauty it +contains, and not from any novel or fantastic modulation of it,--thus +contrasting strongly with such rollicking, hilarious songsters as the +bobolink, in whom we are chiefly pleased with tintinnabulation, the +verbal and labial excellence, and the evident conceit and delight of +the performer. + +I hardly know whether I am more pleased or annoyed with the catbird. +Perhaps she is a little too common, and her part in the general chorus +a little too conspicuous. If you are listening for the note of another +bird, she is sure to be prompted to the most loud and protracted +singing, drowning all other sounds; If you sit quietly down to observe +a favorite or study a new-comer, her curiosity knows no bounds, and +you are scanned and ridiculed from every point of observation. Yet I +would not miss her; I would only subordinate her a little, make her +less conspicuous. + +She is the parodist of the woods, and there is ever a mischievous, +bantering, half-ironical undertone in her lay, as if she were +conscious of mimicking and disconcerting some envied songster. +Ambitious of song, practicing and rehearsing in private, she yet seems +the least sincere and genuine of the sylvan minstrels, as if she had +taken up music only to be in the fashion, or not to be outdone by the +robins and thrushes. In other words, she seems to sing from some +outward motive, and not from inward joyousness. She is a good +versifier, but not a great poet. Vigorous, rapid, copious, not without +fine touches, but destitute of any high, serene melody, her +performance, like that of Thoreau's squirrel, always implies a +spectator. + +There is a certain air and polish about her strain, however, like that +in the vivacious conversation of a well-bred lady of the world, that +commands respect. Her maternal instinct, also, is very strong, and +that simple structure of dead twigs and dry grass is the center of +much anxious solicitude. Not long since, while strolling through the +woods, my attention was attracted to a small densely grown swamp, +hedged in with eglantine, brambles, and the everlasting smilax, from +which proceeded loud cries of distress and alarm, indicating that some +terrible calamity was threatening my sombre-colored minstrel. On +effecting an entrance, which, however, was not accomplished till I had +doffed coat and hat, so as to diminish the surface exposed to the +thorns and brambles, and, looking around me from a square yard of +terra firma, I found myself the spectator of a loathsome yet +fascinating scene. Three or four yards from me was the nest, beneath +which, in long festoons, rested a huge black snake; a bird two thirds +grown was slowly disappearing between his expanded jaws. As he seemed +unconscious of my presence, I quietly observed the proceedings. By +slow degrees he compassed the bird about with his elastic mouth; his +head flattened, his neck writhed and swelled, and two or three +undulatory movements of his glistening body finished the work. Then he +cautiously raised himself up, his tongue flaming from his mouth the +while, curved over the nest, and with wavy subtle motions, explored +the interior. I can conceive of nothing more overpoweringly terrible +to an unsuspecting family of birds than the sudden appearance above +their domicile of the head and neck of this arch-enemy. It is enough +to petrify the blood in their veins. Not finding the object of his +search, he came streaming down from the nest to a lower limb, and +commenced extending his researches in other directions, sliding +stealthily through the branches, bent on capturing on of the parent +birds. That a legless, wingless creature should move with such ease +and rapidity where only birds and squirrels are considered at home, +lifting himself up, letting himself down, running out on the yielding +boughs, and traversing with marvelous celerity the whole length and +breadth of the thicket, was truly surprising. One thinks of the great +myth of the Tempter and the "cause of all our woe," and wonders if the +Arch One is not now playing off some of his pranks before him. Whether +we call it snake or devil matters little. I could but admire his +terrible beauty, however; his black, shining folds, his easy, gliding +movement, head erect, eyes glistening, tongue playing like subtle +flame, and the invisible means of his almost winged locomotion. + +The parent birds, in the mean while, kept up the most agonizing +cry,--at times fluttering furiously about their pursuer, and actually +laying hold of his tail with their beaks and claws. On being thus +attacked, the snake would suddenly double upon himself and follow his +won body back, thus executing a strategic movement that at first +seemed almost to paralyze his victim and place her within his grasp. +Not quite, however. Before his jaws could close upon the coveted prize +the bird would tear herself away, and, apparently faint and sobbing, +retire to a higher branch. His reputed powers of fascination availed +him little, though it is possible that a frailer and less combative +bird might have been held by the fatal spell. Presently, as he came +gliding down the slender body of a leaning alder, his attention was +attracted by a slight movement of my arm; eyeing me an instant, with +that crouching, utter motionless gaze which I believe only snakes and +devils can assume, he turned quickly,--a feat which necessitated +something like crawling over his own body,--and glided off through the +branches, evidently recognizing in me a representative of the ancient +parties he once so cunningly ruined. A few moments after, as he lay +carelessly disposed in the top of a rank alder, trying to look as much +like a crowded branch as his supple, shining form would admit, the old +vengeance overtook him. I exercised my prerogative, and a +well-directed missile, in the shape of a stone, brought him looping +and writhing to the ground. After I had completed his downfall and +quiet had been partially restored, a half-fledged member of the +bereaved household came out from his hiding-place, and, jumping upon a +decayed branch, chirped vigorously, no doubt in celebration of the +victory. + +Till the middle of July there is a general equilibrium; the tide +stands poised; the holiday spirit is unabated. But as the harvest +ripens beneath the long, hot days, the melody gradually ceases. The +young are out of the nest and must be cared for, and the moulting +season is at hand. After the cricket has commenced to drone his +monotonous refrain beneath your window, you will not, till another +season, hear the wood thrush in all his matchless eloquence. The +bobolink has become careworn and fretful, and blurts out snatches of +his song between his scolding and upbraiding, as you approach the +vicinity of his nest, oscillating between anxiety for his brood and +solicitude for his musical reputation. Some of the sparrows still +sing, and occasionally across the hot fields, from a tall tree in the +edge of the forest, comes the rich note of the scarlet tanager. This +tropical-colored bird loves the hottest weather, and I hear him even +in dog-days. + +The remainder of the summer is the carnival of the swallows and +flycatchers. Flies and insects, to any amount, are to be had for the +catching; and the opportunity is well improved. See that sombre, +ashen-colored pewee on yonder branch. A true sportsman he, who never +takes his game at rest, but always on the wing. You vagrant fly, you +purblind moth, beware how you come within his range! Observe his +attitude, the curious movement of his head, his "eye in a fine frenzy +rolling, glancing from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven." + +His sight is microscopic and his aim sure. Quick as thought he has +seized his victim and is back to his perch. There is no strife, no +pursuit,--one fell swoop and the matter is ended. That little sparrow, +as you will observe, is less skilled. It is the Socialis, and he finds +his subsistence properly in various seeds and the larvae of insects, +though he occasionally has higher aspirations, and seeks to emulate +the peewee, commencing and ending his career as a flycatcher by an +awkward chase after a beetle or "miller." He is hunting around in the +dull grass now, I suspect, with the desire to indulge this favorite +whim. There!--the opportunity is afforded him. Away goes a little +cream-colored meadow-moth in the most tortuous course he is capable +of, and away goes Socialis in pursuit. The contest is quite comical, +though I dare say it is serious enough to the moth. The chase +continues for a few yards, when there is a sudden rushing to cover in +the grass,--then a taking to wing again, when the search has become to +close, and the moth has recovered his wind. Socialis chirps angrily, +and is determined not to be beaten. Keeping, with the slightest +effort, upon the heels of the fugitive, he is ever on the point of +halting to snap him up, but never quite does it,--and so, between +disappointment and expectation, is soon disgusted and returns to +pursue his more legitimate means of subsistence. + +In striking contrast to this serio-comic strife of the sparrow and the +moth, is he pigeon hawk's pursuit of the sparrow or the goldfinch. It +is a race of surprising speed and agility. It is a test of wing and +wind. Every muscle is taxed, and every nerve strained. Such cries of +terror and consternation on the part of the bird, tacking to the right +and left, and making the most desperate efforts to escape, and such +silent determination on the part of the hawk, pressing the bird so +closely, flashing and turning, and timing his movements with those of +the pursued as accurately and as inexorably as if the two constituted +one body, excite feelings of the deepest concern. You mount the fence +or rush out of your way to see the issue. The only salvation for the +bird is to adopt the tactics of the moth, seeking instantly the cover +of some tree, bush or hedge, where its smaller size enables it to move +about more rapidly. These pirates are aware of this, and therefore +prefer to take their prey by one fell swoop. You may see one of them +prowling through an orchard, with the yellowbirds hovering about him, +crying, Pi-ty, pi-ty, in the most desponding tone; yet he seems not to +regard them, knowing, as do they, that in the close branches they are +as safe as if in a wall of adamant. + +August is the month of the high-sailing hawks. The hen-hawk is the +most noticeable. He likes the haze and calm of these long, warm days. +He is a bird of leisure, and seems always at his ease. How beautiful +and majestic are his movements! So self-poised and easy, such an +entire absence of haste, such a magnificent amplitude of circles and +spirals, such a haughty, imperial grace, and, occasionally, such +daring aerial evolutions! + +With slow, leisurely movement, rarely vibrating his pinions, he mounts +and mounts in an ascending spiral till he appears a mere speck against +the summer sky; then, if the mood seizes him, with wings half closed, +like a bent bow, he will cleave the air almost perpendicularly, as if +intent on dashing himself to pieces against the earth; but on nearing +the ground he suddenly mounts again on broad, expanded wing, as if +rebounding upon the air, and sails leisurely away. It is the sublimest +feat of the season. One holds his breath till he sees him rise again. + +If inclined to a more gradual and less precipitous descent, he fixes +his eye on some distant point in the earth beneath him, and thither +bends his course. He is still almost meteoric in his speed and +boldness. You see his path down the heavens, straight as a line; if +near, you hear the rush of his wings; his shadow hurtles across the +fields, and in an instant you see him quietly perched upon some low +tree or decayed stub in a swamp or meadow, with reminiscences of frogs +and mice stirring in his maw. + +When the south wind blows, it is a study to see three or four of these +air-kings at the head of the valley far up toward the mountain, +balancing and oscillating upon the strong current; now quite +stationary, except a slight tremulous motion like the poise of a +rope-dancer, then rising and falling in long undulations, and seeming +to resign themselves passively to the wind; or, again sailing high and +level far above the mountain's peak, no bluster and haste, but as +stated, occasionally a terrible earnestness and speed. Fire at one as +he sails overhead and, unless wounded badly, he will not change his +course or gait. + +His flight is a perfect picture of repose in motion. It strikes the +eye as more surprising than the flight of a pigeon, and swallow even, +in that the effort put forth is so uniform and delicate as to escape +observation, giving to the movement an air of buoyancy and perpetuity, +the effluence of power rather than the conscious application of it. + +The calmness and dignity of this hawk, when attacked by crows or the +kingbird, are well worth of him. He seldom deigns to notice his noisy +and furious antagonists, but deliberately wheels about in that aerial +spiral, and mounts and mounts till his pursuers grow dizzy and return +to earth again. It is quite original, this mode of getting rid of an +unworthy opponent, rising to the heights where the braggart is dazed +and bewildered and loses his reckoning! I am not sure but is is worthy +of imitation. + +But summer wanes, and autumn approaches. The songsters of the +seed-time are silent at the reaping of the harvest. Other minstrels +take up the strain. It is the heyday of insect life. The day is +canopied with musical sound. All the songs of the spring and summer +appear to be floating, softened and refined, in the upper air. The +birds, in a new but less holiday suit, turn their faces southward. The +swallows flock and go; the bobolinks flock and go; silently and +unobserved, the thrushes go. Autumn arrives, bringing finches, +warblers, sparrows, and kinglets from the north. Silently the +procession passes. Yonder hawk, sailing peacefully away till he is +lost in the horizon, is a symbol of the closing season and the +departing birds. 1863. + + + +II + +IN THE HEMLOCKS + +Most people receive with incredulity a statement of the number of +birds that annually visit our climate. Very few even are aware of half +the number that spend the summer in their own immediate vicinity. We +little suspect, when we walk in the woods, whose privacy we are +intruding upon,--what rare and elegant visitants from Mexico, from +central and South America, and from the islands of the sea, are +holding their reunions in the branches over our heads, or pursuing +their pleasure on the ground before us. + +I recall the altogether admirable and shining family which Thoreau +dreamed he saw in the upper chambers of Spaulding's woods, which +Spaulding did not know lived there, and which were not put out when +Spaulding, whistling, drove his team through their lower halls. They +did not go into society in the village; they were quite well; they had +sons and daughters; they neither wove nor spun; there was a sound as +of suppressed hilarity. + +I take it for granted that the forester was only saying a pretty thing +of the birds, though I have observed that it does sometimes annoy them +when Spaulding's cart rumbles through their house. Generally, however, +they are as unconscious of Spaulding as Spaulding is of them. + +Walking the other day in an old hemlock wood, I counted over forty +varieties of these summer visitants, many of the common to other woods +in the vicinity, but quite a number peculiar to these ancient +solitudes, and not a few that are rare in any locality. It is quite +unusual to find so large a number abiding in one forest,--and that not +a large one,--most of them nesting and spending the summer there. Many +of those I observed commonly pass this season much farther north. But +the geographical distribution of birds is rather a climatical one. The +same temperature, though under different parallels, usually attracts +the same birds; difference in altitude being equivalent to the +difference in latitude. A given height above sea-level under the +parallel of thirty degrees may have the same climate as places under +that of thirty-five degrees, and similar flora and fauna. At the head- +waters of the Delaware, where I write, the latitude is that of Boston, +but the region has a much greater elevation, and hence a climate that +compares better with the northern part of the State and of New +England. Half a day's drive to the southeast brings me down into quite +a different temperature, with an older geological formation, different +forest timber, and different birds,--even with different mammals. +Neither the little gray rabbit nor the little gray fox is found in my +locality, but the great northern hare and the red fox are. In the last +century, a colony of beavers dwelt here, though the oldest inhabitant +cannot now point to even the traditional site of their dams. The +ancient hemlocks, whither I propose to take the reader, are rich in +many things besides birds. Indeed, their wealth in this respect is +owing mainly, no doubt, to their rank vegetable growth, their fruitful +swamps, and their dark, sheltered retreats. + +Their history is of an heroic cast. Ravished and torn by the tanner +in his thirst for bark, preyed upon by the lumberman, assaulted and +beaten back by the settler, still their spirit has never been broken, +their energies never paralyzed. Not many years ago a public highway +passed through them, but it was at no time a tolerable road; trees +fell across it, mud and limbs choked it up, till finally travelers +took the hint and went around; and now, walking along its deserted +course, I see only the footprints of coons, foxes, and squirrels. + +Nature loves such woods, and places her own seal upon them. Here she +show me what can be done with ferns and mosses and lichens. The soil +is marrowy and full of innumerable forests. Standing in these fragrant +aisles, I feel the strength of the vegetable kingdom, and am awed by +the deep and inscrutable processes of life going on so silently about +me. + +No hostile forms with axe or spud now visit these solitudes. The cows +have half-hidden ways through them, and know where the best browsing +is to be had. In spring, the farmer repairs to their bordering of +maples to make sugar; in July and August women and boys from all the +country about penetrate the old Barkpeelings for raspberries and +blackberries; and I know a youth who wonderingly follows their languid +stream casting for trout. + +In like spirit, alert and buoyant, on this bright June morning go I +also to reap my harvest,--pursuing a sweet more delectable than sugar, +fruit more savory than berries, and game for another palate than that +tickled by trout. + +June, of all the months, the student of ornithology can least afford +to lose. Most birds are nesting then, and in full song and plumage. +And what is a bird without its song? Do we not wait for the stranger +to speak? It seems to me that I do not know a bird till I have heard +its voice; then I come nearer it at once, and it possesses a human +interest to me. I have met the gray-cheeked thrush in the woods, and +held him in my hand; still I do not know him. The silence of the +cedar-bird throws a mystery about him which neither his good looks nor +his petty larcenies in cheery time can dispel. A bird's song contains +a clew to its life, and establishes a sympathy, an understanding, +between itself and the listener. + +I descend a steep hill, and approach the hemlocks through a large +sugar-bush. When twenty rods distant, I hear all along the line of the +forest the incessant warble of the red-eyed vireo, cheerful and happy +as the merry whistle of a schoolboy. He is one of our most common and +widely distributed birds. Approach any forest at any hour of the day, +in any kind of weather, from May to August, in any of the Middle or +Eastern districts, and the chances are that the first note you hear +will be his. Rain or shine, before noon or after, in the deep forest +or in the village grove,--when it is too hot for the thrushes or too +cold and windy for the warblers,--it is never out of time or place +for this little minstrel to indulge his cheerful strain. In the deep +wilds of the Adirondacks, where few birds are seen and fewer heard, +his note was almost constantly in my ear. Always busy, making it a +point never to suspend for one moment his occupation to indulge his +musical taste, his lay is that of industry and contentment. There is +nothing plaintive or especially musical in his performance, but the +sentiment expressed is eminently that of cheerfulness. Indeed, the +songs of most birds have some human significance, which, I think, is +the source of the delight we take in them. The song of the bobolink to +me expresses hilarity; the song sparrow's, faith; the bluebird's, +love; the catbird's, pride; the white-eyed flycatcher's, +self-consciousness; that of the hermit thrush spiritual serenity: +while there is something military in the call of the robin. + +The red-eye is classed among the flycatchers by some writers, but is +much more of a worm-eater, and has few of the traits or habits of the +Muscicapa or the true Sylvia. He resembles somewhat the warbling +vireo, and the two birds are often confounded by careless observers. +Both warble in the same cheerful strain, but the latter more +continuously and rapidly. The red-eye is a larger, slimmer bird, with +a faint bluish crown, and a light line over the eye. His movements are +peculiar. You may see him hopping among the limbs, exploring then +under side of the leaves, peering to the right and left, now flitting +a few feet, now hopping as many, and warbling incessantly, +occasionally in a subdued tone, which sounds from a very indefinite +distance. When he has found a worm to his liking, he turns lengthwise +of the limb and and bruises its head with his beak before devouring +it. + +As I enter the woods the slate-colored snowbird starts up before me +and chirps sharply. His protest when thus disturbed is almost metallic +in its sharpness. He breeds here, and is not esteemed a snowbird at +all, as he disappears at the near approach of winter, and returns +again in spring, like the song sparrow, and is not in any way +associated with the cold and snow. So different are the habits of +birds in different localities. Even the crow does not winter here, and +is seldom seen after December or before March. + +The snowbird, or "black chipping-bird," as it is known among the +farmers, is the finest architect of any of the ground-builders known +to me. The site of its nest is usually some low bank by the roadside, +near a wood. In a slight excavation, with a partially concealed +entrance, the exquisite structure is placed. Horse and cow hair are +plentifully used, imparting to the interior of the nest great symmetry +and firmness as well as softness. + +Passing down through the maple arches, barely pausing to observe the +antics of a trio of squirrels,--two gray ones and a black one,--I +cross an ancient brush fence and am fairly within the old hemlocks, +and in one of the most primitive, undisturbed nooks. In the deep moss +I tread as with muffled feet, and the pupils of my eyes dilate in the +dim, almost religious light. The irreverent red squirrels, however, +run and snicker at my approach, or mock the solitude with their +ridiculous chattering and frisking. + +This nook is the chosen haunt of the winter wren. This is the only +place and these the only woods in which I find him in this vicinity. +His voice fills these dim aisles, as if aided by some marvelous +sounding-board. Indeed, his song is very strong for so small a bird, +and unites in a remarkable degree brilliancy and plaintiveness. I +think of a tremulous vibrating tongue of silver. You may know it is +the song of a wren, from its gushing lyrical character; but you must +needs look sharp to see the little minstrel, especially while in the +act of singing. He is nearly the color of the ground and the leaves; +he never ascends the tall trees, but keeps low, flitting from stump to +stump and from root to root, dodging in and out of his hiding-places, +and watching all intruders with a suspicious eye. He has a very pert, +almost comical look. His tail stands more that perpendicular: it +points straight toward his head. He is the least ostentatious singer I +know of. He does not strike an attitude, and lift up his head in +preparation, and, as it were, clear his throat; but sits there on a +log and pours out his music, looking straight before him, or even down +at the ground. As a songster, he has but few superiors. I do not hear +him after the first week in July. + +While sitting on this soft-cushioned log, tasting the pungent +acidulous wood-sorrel, the blossoms of which, large and pink-veined, +rise everywhere above the moss, a rufous-colored bird flies quickly +past, and, alighting on a low limb a few rods off, salutes me with +"Whew! Whew!" or "Whoit! Whoit!" almost as you would whistle for your +dog. I see by his impulsive, graceful movement, and his dimly speckled +breast, that it is a thrush. Presently he utters a few soft, mellow, +flute-like notes, one of the most simple expressions of melody to be +heard, and scuds away, and I see it is the veery, or Wilson's thrush. +He is the least of the thrushes in size, being about that of the +common bluebird, and he may be distinguished from his relatives by the +dimness of the spots upon his breast. The wood thrush has very clear, +distinct oval spots on a white ground; in the hermit, the spots run +more into lines, on a ground of a faint bluish white; in the veery, +the marks are almost obsolete, and a few rods off his breast presents +only a dull yellowish appearance. To get a good view of him you have +only to sit down in his haunts, as in such cases he seems equally +anxious to get a good view of you. + +From those tall hemlocks proceeds a very fine insect-like warble, and +occasionally I see a spray tremble, or catch the flit of a wing. I +watch and watch till my head grows dizzy and my neck is in danger of +permanent displacement, and still do not get a good view. Presently +the bird darts, or, as it seems, falls down a few feet in pursuit of a +fly or a moth, and I see the whole of it, but in the dim light am +undecided. It is for such emergencies that I have brought my gun. A +bird in the hand is worth half a dozen in the bush, even for +ornithological purposes; and no sure and rapid-progress can be made +in the study without taking life, without procuring specimens. This +bird is a warbler, plainly enough, from his habits and manner; but +what kind of warbler? Look on him and name him: a deep orange or +flame-colored throat and breast; the same color showing also in a line +over the eye and in his crown; back variegated black and white. The +female is less marked and brilliant. The orange-throated warbler would +seem to be his right name, his characteristic cognomen; but no, he is +doomed to wear the name of some discoverer, perhaps the first who +rifled his nest or robbed him of his mate,--Blackburn; hence +Blackburnian warbler. The burn seems appropriate enough, for in these +dark evergreens his throat and breast show like flame. He has a very +fine warble, suggesting that of the redstart, but not especially +musical. I find him in not other woods in this vicinity. + +I am attracted by another warble in the same locality, and experience +a like difficulty in getting a good view of the author of it. It is +quite a noticeable strain, sharp and sibilant, and sounds well amid +the the old trees. In the upland woods of beech and maple it is a more +familiar sound than in these solitudes. On taking the bird in hand, +one can not help exclaiming, "How beautiful!" So tiny and elegant, the +smallest of the warblers; a delicate blue back, with a slight +bronze-colored triangular spot between the shoulders; upper mandible +black; lower mandible yellow as gold; throat yellow, becoming a dark +bronze on the breast. Blue yellow-back he is called, though the yellow +is much nearer a bronze. He is remarkably delicate and beautiful,--the +handsomest as he is the smallest of the warblers known to me. It is +never without surprise that I find amid these rugged, savage aspects +of nature creatures so fairy and delicate. But such is the law. Go to +the sea or climb the mountain, and with the ruggedest and the savagest +you will find likewise the fairest and the most delicate. The +greatness and the minuteness of nature pass all understanding. + +Ever since I entered the woods, even while listening to the lesser +songsters, or contemplating the silent forms about me, a strain has +reached my ears from out of the depths of the forest that to me is the +finest sound in nature,--the song of the hermit thrush. I often hear +him thus a long way off, sometimes over a quarter of a mile away, when +only the stronger and more perfect parts of his music reach me; and +through the general chorus of wrens and warblers I detect this sound +rising pure and serene, as if a spirit from some remote height were +slowly chanting a divine accompaniment. This song appeals to the +sentiment of the beautiful in me, and suggests a serene religious +beatitude as no other sound in nature does. It is perhaps more of an +evening than a morning hymn, + +though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple, and I +can hardly tell the secret of its charm. "O spheral, spheral!" he +seems to say; "O holy, holy! O clear away, clear away! O clear up, +clear up!" interspersed with the finest trills and the most delicate +preludes. It is not a proud, gorgeous strain, like the tanager's or +the grosbeak's; suggests no passion or emotion,--nothing +personal,--but seems to be the voice of that calm, sweet solemnity one +attains to in his best moments. It realizes a peace and a deep, solemn +joy that only the finest souls may know. A few nights ago I ascended a +mountain to see the world by moonlight, and when near the summit the +hermit commenced his evening hymn a few rods from me. Listening to +this strain on the lone mountain, with the full moon just rounded from +the horizon, the pomp of your cities and the pride of your +civilization seemed trivial and cheap. + +I have seldom known two of these birds to be singing at the same time +in the same locality, rivaling each other, like the wood thrush or the +veery. Shooting one from a tree, I have observed another take up the +strain from almost the identical perch in less than ten minutes +afterward. Later in the day, when I had penetrated the heart of the +old Barkpeeling, I came suddenly upon one singing from a low stump, +and for a wonder he did not seem alarmed, but lifted up his divine +voice as if his privacy was undisturbed. I open his beak and find the +inside yellow as gold. I was prepared to find it inlaid with pearls +and diamonds, or to see an angel issue from it. + +He is not much in the books. Indeed, I am acquainted with scarcely +any writer on ornithology whose head is not muddled on the subject of +our three prevailing song-thrushes, confounding either their figures +or their songs. A writer in the "Atlantic" [Footnote: For December, +1853] gravely tells us the wood thrush is sometimes called the hermit, +and then, after describing the song of the hermit with great beauty +and correctness, cooly ascribes it to the veery! The new Cyclopaedia, +fresh from the study of Audubon, says the hermit's song consists of a +single plaintive note, and that the veery's resembles that of the wood +thrush! The hermit thrush may be easily identified by his color; his +back being a clear olive-brown becoming rufous on his rum and tail. A +quill from his wing placed beside one from his tail on a dark ground +presents quite a marked contrast. + +I walk along the old road, and note the tracks in the thin layer of +mud. When do these creatures travel here? I have never yet chanced to +meet one. Here a partridge has set its foot; there, a woodcock; here, +a squirrel or mink; thee, a skunk; there, a fox. What a clear, nervous +track reynard makes! how easy to distinguish it from that of a little +dog,--it is so sharply cut and defined! A dog's track is coarse and +clumsy beside it. There is as much wildness in the track of an animal +as in its voice. Is a deer's track like a sheep's or a goat's? What +winged-footed fleetness and agility may be inferred from the sharp, +braided track of the gray squirrel upon the new snow! Ah! in nature is +the best discipline. How wood-life sharpens the senses, giving a new +power to the eye, the ear, the nose! And are not the rarest and most +exquisite songsters wood-birds? + +Everywhere in these solitudes I am greeted with the pensive, almost +pathetic not of the wood pewee. The pewees are the true flycatchers, +and are easily identified. They are very characteristic birds, have +strong family traits and pugnacious dispositions. They are the least +attractive or elegant birds of our fields or forests. +Sharp-shouldered, big-headed, short-legged, of no particular color, of +little elegance in flight or movement, with a disagreeable flirt of +the tail, always quarreling with their neighbors and with one another, +no birds are so little calculated to excite pleasurable emotions in +the beholder, or to become objects of human interest and affection. +The kingbird is the best dressed member of the family, but he is a +braggart; and, though always snubbing his neighbors, is an arrant +coward, and shows the white feather at the slightest display of pluck +in his antagonist. I have seen him turn tail to a swallow, and have +known the little pewee in question to whip him beautifully. From the +great-crested to the little green flycatcher, their ways and general +habits are the same. Slow in flying from point to point, they yet have +a wonderful quickness, and snap up the fleetest insects with little +apparent effort. There is a constant play of quick, nervous movements +underneath their outer show of calmness and stolidity. They do not +scour the limbs and trees like the warblers, but, perched upon the +middle branches, wait, like true hunters, for the game to come along. +There is often a very audible snap of the beak as they seize their +prey. + +The wood pewee, the prevailing species in this locality, arrests your +attention by his sweet, pathetic cry. There is room for it also in the +deep woods, as well as for the more prolonged and elevated strains. + +Its relative, the phoebe-bird, builds an exquisite nest of moss on the +side of some shelving cliff or overhanging rock. The other day, +passing by a ledge, near the top of a mountain in a singularly +desolate locality, my eye rested upon one of these structures, looking +precisely as if it grew there, so in keeping was it with the mossy +character of the rock, and I have had a growing affection for the bird +ever since. The rock seemed to love the nest and claim it as its own. +I said, what a lesson in architecture is here! Here is a house that +was built, but with such loving care and such beautiful adaptation of +the means to the end, that it looks like a product of nature. The same +wise economy is noticeable in the nests of all birds. No bird could +paint its house white or red, or add aught for show. + +At one point in the grayest, most shaggy part of the woods, I come +suddenly upon a brood of screech owls, full grown, sitting together +upon a dry, moss-draped limb, but a few feet from the ground. I pause +within four or five yards of them and am looking about me, when my eye +lights upon these, gray, motionless figures. They sit perfectly +upright, some with their backs and some with their breasts toward me, +but every head turned squarely in my direction. Their eyes are closed +to a mere black line; though this crack they are watching me, +evidently thinking themselves unobserved. The spectacle is weird and +grotesque. It is a new effect, the night side of the woods by +daylight. After observing them a moment I take a single step toward +them, when, quick as thought, their eyes fly wide open, their attitude +is changed, they bend, some this way, some that, and, instinct with +life and motion, stare wildly about them. Another step, and they all +take flight but one, which stoops low on the branch, and with the look +of a frightened cat regards me for a few seconds over its shoulder. +They fly swiftly and softly, and disperse through the trees. I shoot +one, which is of a tawny red tint, like that figured by Wilson. It is +a singular fact that the plumage of these owls presents two totally +distinct phases which "have no relation to sex, age, or season," one +being an ashen gray, the other a bright rufous. + +Coming to a drier and less mossy place in the woods, I am amused with +the golden-crowned thrush,--which, however, is no thrush at all, but a +warbler. He walks on the ground ahead of me with such an easy, gliding +motion, and with such an unconscious, preoccupied air, jerking his +head like a hen or a partridge, now hurrying, now slackening his pace, +that I pause to observe him. I sit down, he pauses to observe me, and +extends his pretty ramblings on all sides, apparently very much +engrossed with his own affairs, but never losing sight of me. But few +of the birds are walkers, most being hoppers, like the robin. + +Satisfied that I have no hostile intentions, the pretty pedestrian +mounts a limb a few feet from the ground, and gives me the benefit of +one of his musical performances, a sort of accelerating chant. +Commencing in a very low key, which makes him seem at a very uncertain +distance, he grows louder and louder till his body quakes and his +chant runs into a shriek, ringing in my ear, with a peculiar +sharpness. This lay may be represented thus: + +[TRANSCRIBISTS NOTE: ORIGINAL BOOK USES FONT SHIFTS +TO ILLUSTRATE AN INCREASE IN VOLUME] + +"Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher, Teacher!"--the accent on the +first syllable and each word uttered with increased force and +shrillness. No writer with whom I am acquainted gives him credit for +more musical ability than is displayed in this strain. Yet in this the +half is not told. He has a far rarer song, which he reserves for some +nymph whom he meets in the air. Mounting by easy flights to the top of +the tallest tree, he launches into the air with a sort of suspended, +hovering flight, like certain of the finches, and bursts into a +perfect ecstasy of song,--clear, ringing, copious, rivaling the +goldfinch's in vivacity, and the linnet's in melody. This strain is +one of the rarest bits of bird melody to be heard, and is oftenest +indulged in late in the afternoon or after sundown. Over the woods, +hid from view, the ecstatic singer warbles his finest strain. In this +song you instantly detect his relationship to the +water-wagtail,--erroneously called water-thrush,--whose song is +likewise a sudden burst, full and ringing, and with a tone of youthful +joyousness in it, as if the bird had just had some unexpected good +fortune. For nearly two years this strain of the pretty walker was +little more than a disembodied voice to me, and I was puzzled by it as +Thoreau by his mysterious night-warbler, which, by the way, I suspect +was no new bird at all, but one he was otherwise familiar with. The +little bird himself seems disposed to keep the matter a secret, and +improves every opportunity to repeat before you his shrill, +accelerating lay, as if this were quite enough and all he laid claim +to. Still, I trust I am betraying no confidence in making the matter +public here. I think this is preeminently his love-song, as I hear it +oftenest about the mating season. I have caught half-suppressed bursts +of it from two males chasing each other with fearful speed through the +forest. + +Turning to the left from the old road, I wander over soft logs and +gray yielding debris, across the little trout brook, until I emerge in +the overgrown Barkpeeling,--pausing now and then on the way to admire +a small, solitary now and then on the way to admire a small, solitary +white flower which rises above the moss, with radical, heart-shaped +leaves, and a blossom precisely like the liverwort except in color, +but which is not put down in my botany,--or to observe the ferns, of +which I count six varieties, some gigantic ones nearly shoulder-high. + +At the foot of a rough, scraggly yellow birch, on a bank of club-moss, +so richly inlaid with partridge-berry and curious shining +leaves--with here and there in the bordering a spire of false +wintergreen strung with faint pink flowers and exhaling the breath of +a May orchard--that it looks too costly a couch for such an idler, I +recline to note what transpires. The sun is just past the meridian, +and the afternoon chorus is not yet in full tune. Most birds sing with +the greatest spirit and vivacity in the forenoon, though there are +occasional bursts later in the day in which nearly all voices join; +while it is not till the twilight that the full power and solemnity of +the thrush's hymn is felt. + +My attention is soon arrested by a pair of hummingbirds, the +ruby-throated, disporting themselves in a low bush a few yards from +me. The female takes shelter amid the branches, and squeaks exultingly +as the male, circling above, dives down as if to dislodge her. Seeing +me, he drops like a feather on a slender twig, and in a moment both +are gone. Then as if by a preconcerted signal, the throats are all +atune. I lie on my back with eyes half closed, and analyze the chorus +of warblers, thrushes, finches, and flycatchers; while, soaring above +all, a little withdrawn and alone rises the divine contralto of the +hermit. That richly modulated warble proceeding from the top of yonder +birch, and which unpracticed ears would mistake for the voice of the +scarlet tanager, comes from that rare visitant, the rose-breasted +grosbeak. It is a strong, vivacious strain, a bright noonday song, +full of health and assurance, indicating fine talents in the +performer, but not a genius. As I come up under the tree he casts his +eye down at me, but continues his song. This bird is said to be quite +common in the Northwest, but he is rare in the Eastern districts. His +beak is disproportionately large and heavy, like a huge nose, which +slightly mars his good looks; but Nature has made it up to him in a +blush rose upon his breast, and the most delicate of pink linings to +the under side of his wings. His back is variegated black and white, +and when flying low the white shows conspicuously. If he passed over +your head, you would not the delicate flush under his wings. + +That bit of bright scarlet on yonder dead hemlock, glowing like a live +coal against the dark background, seeming almost too brilliant for the +severe northern climate, is his relative, the scarlet tanager. I +occasionally meet him in the deep hemlocks, and know no stronger +contrast in nature. I almost fear he will kindle the dry limb on which +he alights. He is quite a solitary bird, and in this section seems to +prefer the high, remote woods, even going quite to the mountain's top. +Indeed, the event of my last visit to the mountain was meeting one of +these brilliant creatures near the summit, in full song. The breeze +carried the notes far and wide. He seemed to enjoy the elevation, and +I imagined his song had more scope and freedom than usual. When he had +flown far down the mountain-side, the breeze still brought me his +finest notes. In plumage he is the most brilliant bird we have. The +bluebird is not entirely blue; nor will the indigo-bird bear a close +inspection, nor the goldfinch, nor the summer redbird. But the tanager +loses nothing by a near view; the deep scarlet of his body and the +black of his wings and tail are quite perfect. This is his holiday +suit; in the fall be becomes a dull yellowish green,--the color of the +female the whole season. + +One of the leading songsters in this choir of the old Barkpeeling is +the purple finch or linnet. He sits somewhat apart, usually on a dead +hemlock, and warbles most exquisitely. He is one of our finest +songsters, and stands at the head of the finches, as the hermit at the +head of the thrushes. His song approaches an ecstasy, and, with the +exception of the winter wren's, is the most rapid and copious strain +to be heard in these woods. It is quite destitute of the trills and +the liquid, silvery, bubbling notes that characterize the wren's; but +there runs through it a round, richly modulated whistle, very sweet +and very pleasing. The call of the robin is brought in at a certain +point with marked effect, and, throughout, the variety is so great and +the strain so rapid that the impression is as of two or three birds +singing at the same time. He is not common here, and I only find him +in these or similar woods. His color is peculiar, and looks as if it +might have been imparted by dipping a brown bird in diluted pokeberry +juice. Two or three more dipping would have made the purple complete. +The female is the color of the song sparrow, a little larger, with +heavier beak, and tail much more forked. + +In a little opening quite free from brush and trees, I step down to +bath my hands in the brook, when a small, light slate-colored bird +flutters out of the bank, not three feet from my head, as I stoop +down, and, as if severely lamed or injured, flutters through the grass +and into the nearest bush. As I do not follow, but remain near the +nest, she chips sharply, which brings the male, and I see it is the +speckled Canada warbler. I find no authority in the books for this +bird to build upon the ground, yet here is the nest, made chiefly of +dry grass, set in a slight excavation in the bank not two feet from +the water, and looking a little perilous to anything but ducklings or +sandpipers. There are two young birds and one little speckled egg just +pipped. But how is this? what mystery is here? One nestling is much +larger than the other, monopolizes most of the nest, and lifts its +open mouth far above that of its companion, though obviously both are +of the same age, not more than a day old. Ah! I see; the old trick of +the cow bunting, with a stinging human significance. Taking the +interloper by the nape of the neck, I deliberately drop it into the +water, but not without a pang, as I see its naked form, convulsed with +chills, float downstream. Cruel? So is Nature cruel. I take one life +to save two. In less than two days this pot-bellied intruder would +have caused the death of the two rightful occupants of the nest; so I +step in and turn things into their proper channel again. + +It is a similar freak of nature, this instinct which prompts one bird +to lay its eggs in the nests of others, and thus shirk the +responsibility of rearing its own young. The cow buntings always +resort to this cunning trick; and when one reflects upon their +numbers, it is evident that these little tragedies are quite frequent. +In Europe the parallel case is that of the cuckoo, and occasionally +our own cuckoo imposes upon a robin or a thrush in the same manner. +The cow bunting seems to have no conscience about the matter, and, so +far as I have observed, invariable selects the nest of a bird smaller +than itself. Its egg is usually the first to hatch; its young +overreaches all the rest when food is brought; it grow with great +rapidity, spreads and fills the nest, and the starved and crowded +occupants soon perish, when the parent bird removes their dead bodies, +giving its whole energy and care to the foster-child. + +The warblers and smaller flycatchers are generally the sufferers, +though I sometimes see the slate-colored snowbird unconsciously duped +in like manner; and the other day, in a tall tree in the woods, I +discovered the black-throated green-backed warbler devoting itself to +this dusky, over-grown foundling. An old farmer to whom I pointed out +the fact was much surprised that such things should happen in his +woods without his knowledge. + +These birds may be seen prowling through all parts of the woods at +this season, watching for an opportunity to steal their egg into some +nest. One day while sitting on a log, I saw one moving by short +flights through the trees and gradually nearing the ground. Its +movements were hurried and stealthy. About fifty yards from me it +disappeared behind some low brush, and had evidently alighted upon the +ground. + +After waiting a few moments I cautiously walked in the direction. +When about halfway I accidentally made a slight noise, when the bird +flew up, and seeing me, hurried out of the woods. Arrived at the +place, I found a simple nest of dry grass and leaves partially +concealed under a prostrate branch. I took it to be the nest of a +sparrow. There were three eggs in a nest, and one lying about a foot +below it as if it had been rolled out, as of course it had. It +suggested the thought that perhaps, when the cowbird finds the full +complement of eggs in a nest, it throws out one and deposits its own +instead. I revisited the nest a few days afterward and found an egg +again cast out, but none had been put in its place. The nest had been +abandoned by its owner and the eggs were stale. + +In all cases where I have found this egg, I have observed both male +and female cowbird lingering near, the former uttering his peculiar +liquid, glassy note from the tops of the trees. + +In July, the young which have been reared in the same neighborhood, +and which are now of a dull fawn color, begin to collect in small +flocks, which grow to be quite large in autumn. + +The specked Canada is a very superior warbler, having a lively, +animated strain, reminding you of certain parts of the canary's, +though quite broken and incomplete; the bird, the while, hopping amid +the branches with increased liveliness, and indulging in fine sibilant +chirps, too happy to keep silent. + +His manners are quite marked. He has a habit of courtesying when he +discovers you which is very pretty. In form he is an elegant bird, +somewhat slender, his back of a bluish lead-color becoming nearly +black on his crown: the under part of his body, from his throat down, +is of a light, delicate yellow, with a belt of black dots across his +breast. He has a fine eye, surrounded by a light yellow ring. + +The parent birds are much disturbed by my presence, and keep up a loud +emphatic chirping, which attracts the attention of their sympathetic +neighbors, and one after another they come to see what has happened. +The chestnut-sided and the Blackburnian come in company. The black and +yellow warbler pauses a moment and hastens away; the Maryland +yellow-throat peeps shyly from the lower bushes and utters his "Fip! +fip!" in sympathy; the wood pewee comes straight to the tree overhead, + +and the red-eyed vireo lingers and lingers, eyeing me with a curious +innocent look, evidently much puzzled. But all disappear again, one by +one, apparently without a word of condolence or encouragement to the +distressed pair. I have often noticed among birds this show of +sympathy,--if indeed it be sympathy, and not merely curiosity, or +desire to be forewarned of the approach of a common danger. + +An hour afterward I approach the place, find all still, and the mother +bird upon her nest. As I draw near she seems to sit closer, her eyes +growing large with an inexpressibly wild, beautiful look. She keeps +her place till I am within two paces of her, when she flutters away as +at first. In the brief interval the remaining egg has hatched, and the +two little nestling lift their heads without being jostled or +overreached by any strange bedfellow. A week afterward and they were +flown away,--so brief is the infancy of birds. And the wonder is that +they escape, even for this short time, the skunks and minks and +muskrats that abound here, and that have a decided partiality for such +tidbits. + +I pass on through the old Barkpeeling, now threading an obscure +cow-path or an overgrown wood-road; now clambering over soft and +decayed logs, or forcing my way through a network of briers and +hazels; now entering a perfect bower of wild cherry, beech, and soft +maple; now emerging into a grassy lane, golden with buttercups or +white with daisies, or wading waist-deep in the red raspberry-bushes. + +Whir! whir! whir! and a brood of half-grown partridges start up like +an explosion, a few paces from me, and, scattering, disappear in the +bushes on all sides. Let me sit down here behind the screen of ferns +and briers, and hear this wild hen of the woods call together her +brood. At what an early age the partridge flies! Nature seems to +concentrate her energies on the wing, making the safety of a bird a +point to be looked after first; and while the body is covered with +down, and no signs of feathers are visible, the wing-quills sprout and +unfold, and in an incredibly short time the young make fair headway in +flying. + +The same rapid development of wing may be observed in chickens and +turkeys, but not in water-fowls, nor in birds that are safely housed +in the nest till full-fledged. The other day, by a brook, I came +suddenly upon a young sandpiper, a most beautiful creature, enveloped +in a soft gray down, swift and nimble and apparently a week or two +old, but with no signs of plumage either of body or wing. And it +needed none, for it escaped me by taking to the water as readily as if +it had flown with wings. + +Hark! there arises over there in the brush a soft persuasive cooing, +a sound so subtle and wild and unobtrusive that it requires the most +alert and watchful ear to hear it. How gentle and solicitous and full +of yearning love! It is the voice of the mother hen. Presently a faint +timid "Yeap!" which almost eludes the ear, is heard in various +direction,--the young responding. As no danger seems near, the cooing +of the parent bird is soon a very audible clucking call, and the young +move cautiously in the direction. Let me step never to carefully from +my hiding-place, and all sounds instantly cease, and I search in vain +for either parent or young. + +The partridge is one of our most native and characteristic birds. The +woods seem good to be in where I find him. He gives a habitable air to +the forest, and one feels as if the rightful occupant was really at +home. The woods where I do not find him seem to want something, as if +suffering from some neglect of Nature. And then he is such a splendid +success, so hardy and vigorous. I think he enjoys the cold and the +snow. His wings seem to rustle with more fervency in midwinter. If the +snow falls very fast, and promises a heavy storm he will complacently +sit down allow himself to be snowed under. Approaching him at such +times, he suddenly bursts out of the snow at your feet, scattering the +flakes in all directions, and goes humming away through the woods like +a bombshell,--a picture of native spirit and success. + +His drum is one of the most welcome and beautiful sounds of spring. +Scarcely have the trees expanded their buds, when, in the still April +mornings, or toward nightfall, you hear the hum of his devoted wings. +He selects not, as you would predict, a dry and resinous log, but a +decayed and crumbling one, seeming to give the preference to old +oak-logs that are partly blended with the soil. If a log to his taste +cannot be found, he sets up his alter on a rock, which becomes +resonant beneath his fervent blows. Who has seen the partridge drum? +It is the next thing to catching a weasel asleep, though by much +caution and tact it may be done. He does not hug the log, but stands +very erect, expands his ruff, gives two introductory blows, pauses +half a second, and then resumes, striking faster and faster till the +sound becomes a continuous, unbroken whir, the whole lasting less than +half a minute. The tips of his wings barely brush the log, so that the +sound is produced rather by the force of the blows upon the air and +upon his own body as in flying. One log will be used for many years, +though not by the same drummer. It seems to be a sort of temple and +held in great respect. The bird always approaches on foot, and leaves +it in the same quiet manner, unless rudely disturbed. He is very +cunning, though his wit is not profound. It is difficult to approach +him by stealth, you will try many times before succeeding; but seem to +pass by him in a great hurry, making all the noise possible, and with +plumage furled, he stands as immovable as a know, allowing you a good +view, and a good shot if you are a sportsman. + +Passing along one of the old Barkpeelers' roads which wander aimlessly +about, I am attracted by a singularly brilliant and emphatic warble, +proceeding from the low bushes, and quickly suggesting the voice of +the Maryland yellow-throat. Presently the singer hops up on a dry +twig, and gives me a good view: lead-colored head and neck, becoming +nearly black on the breast; clear olive-green back, and yellow belly. +From his habit of keeping near the ground, even hopping upon it +occasionally, I know him to be a ground warbler; from his dark breast +the ornithologist has added the expletive mourning, hence the mourning +ground warbler. + +Of this bird both Wilson and Audubon confessed their comparative +ignorance, neither ever having seen its nest or become acquainted with +its haunts and general habits. Its song is quite striking and novel, +though its voice at once suggests the class of warblers to which it +belongs. It is very shy and wary, flying but a few feet at a time, and +studiously concealing itself from your view. I discover but one pair +here. The female has food in her beak, but carefully avoids betraying +the locality of her nest. The ground warblers all have one notable +feature,--very beautiful legs, as white and delicate as if they had +always worn silk stockings and satin slippers. High tree warblers have +dark brown or black legs and more brilliant plumage, but less musical +ability. + +The chestnut-sided belongs to the latter class. He is quite common in +these woods, as in all the woods about. He is one of the rarest and +handsomest of the warblers; his white breast and throat, chestnut +sides, and yellow crown show conspicuously. Last year I found the nest +of one in an uplying beech wood, in a low bush near the roadside, +where cows passed and browsed daily. Things went on smoothly till the +cow bunting stole her egg into it, when other mishaps followed, and +the nest was soon empty. A characteristic attitude of the male during +this season is a slight drooping of the wings, and a tail a little +elevated, which gives him a very smart, bantam-like appearance. His +song is fine and hurried, and not much of itself, but has its place in +the general chorus. + +A far sweeter strain, falling on the ear with the true sylvan cadence, +is that of the black-throated green-backed warbler, whom I meet at +various points. He has no superiors among the true Sylvia. His song is +very plain and simple, but remarkably pure and tender, and might be +indicated by straight lines, thus [2 dashes, square root symbol, high +dash]; the first two marks representing two sweet, silvery notes, in +the same pitch of voice, and quite unaccented; the latter marks, the +concluding notes, wherein the tone and inflection are changed. The +throat and breast of the male are a rich black like velvet, his face +yellow, and his back a yellowish green. + +Beyond the Barkpeeling, where the woods are mingled hemlock, beech, +and birch, the languid midsummer note of the black-throated blue-back +falls on my ear. "Twea, twea, twea-e-e!" in the upward slide, and with +the peculiar z-ing of summer insects, but not destitute of a certain +plaintive cadence. It is one of the most languid, unhurried sounds in +all the woods. I feel like reclining upon the dry leaves at once. +Audubon says he has never heard his love-song; but this is all the +love-song he has, and he is evidently a very plain hero with his +little brown mistress. He assumes few attitudes, and is not a bold and +striking gymnast, like many of his kindred. He has a preference for +dense woods of beech and maple, moves slowly amid the lower branches +and smaller growths, keeping from eight to ten feet from the ground, +and repeating now and then his listless, indolent strain. His back and +crown are dark blue; his throat and breast, black; his belly, pure +white; and he has a white spot on each wing. + +Here and there I meet the black and white creeping warbler, whose fine +strain reminds me of hairwire. It is unquestionably the finest +bird-song to be heard. Few insect strains will compare with it in this +respect; while it has none of the harsh, brassy character of the +latter, being very delicate and tender. + +That sharp, uninterrupted, but still continued warble, which before +one has learned to discriminate closely, he is apt to confound with +the red-eyed vireo's, is that of the solitary warbling vireo,--a bird +slightly larger, much rarer, and with a louder less cheerful and happy +strain. I see him hopping along lengthwise of the limbs, and note the +orange tinge of his breast and sides and the white circle around his +eye. + +But the declining sun and the deepening shadows admonish me that this +ramble must be brought to a close, even though only the leading +characters in this chorus of forty songsters have been described, and +only a small portion of the venerable old woods explored. In a +secluded swampy corner of the old Barkpeeling, where I find the great +purple orchis in bloom, and where the foot of man or beast seems never +to have trod, I linger long, contemplating the wonderful display of +lichens and mosses that overrun both the smaller and the larger +growths. Every bush and branch and sprig is dressed up in the most +rich and fantastic of liveries; and, crowning all, the long bearded +moss festoons the branches or sways gracefully from the limbs. Every +twig looks a century old, though green leaves tip the end of it. A +young yellow birch has a venerable, patriarchal look, and seems ill at +ease under such premature honors. A decayed hemlock is draped as if by +hands for some solemn festival. + +Mounting toward the upland again, I pause reverently as the hush and +stillness of twilight com upon the woods. It is the sweetest, ripest +hour of the day. And as the hermit's evening hymn goes up from the +deep solitude below me, I experience that serene exaltation of +sentiment of which music, literature, and religion are but the faint +types and symbols. 1865. + + + +III + +THE ADIRONDACKS + +When I went to the Adirondacks, which was in the summer of 1863, I was +in the first flush of my ornithological studies, and was curious, +above else, to know what birds I should find in these solitudes,--what +new ones, and what ones already known to me. + +In visiting vast primitive, far-off woods one naturally expects to +find something rare and precious, or something entirely new, but it +commonly happens that one is disappointed. Thoreau made three +excursions into the Maine woods, and, though he started the moose and +the caribou, had nothing more novel to report by way of bird notes +than the songs of the wood thrush and the pewee. This was about my own +experience in the Adirondacks. The birds for the most part prefer the +vicinity of settlements and clearings, and it was at such places that +I saw the greatest number and variety. + +At the clearing of an old hunter and pioneer by the name of Hewett, +where we paused a couple of days on first entering the woods, I saw +many old friends and made some new acquaintances. The snowbird was +very abundant here, as it had been at various points along the route +after leaving Lake George. As I went out to the spring in the morning +to wash myself, a purple finch flew up before me, having already +performed its ablutions. I had first observed this bird the winter +before in the Highlands of the Hudson, where, during several clear but +cold February mornings, a troop of them sang most charmingly in a tree +in front of my house. The meeting with the bird here in its breeding +haunts was a pleasant surprise. During the day I observed several pine +finches,--a dark brown or brindlish bird, allied to the common +yellowbird, which it much resembles in its manner and habits. They +lingered familiarly about the house, sometimes alighting in a small +tree within a few feet of it. In one of the stumpy fields I saw an old +favorite in the grass finch or vesper swallow. It was sitting on a +tall charred stub with food in its beak. But all along the borders of +the woods and in the bushy parts of the fields there was a new song +that I was puzzled in tracing to the author. It was most noticeable in +the morning and at twilight, but was at all times singularly secret +and elusive. I at last discovered that it was the white-throated +sparrow, a common bird all through this region. Its song is very +delicate and plaintive,--a thin, wavering, tremulous whistle, which +disappoints one, however, as it ends when it seems only to have begun. +If the bird could give us the finishing strain of which this seems +only the prelude, it would stand first among feathered songsters. + +By a little trout brook in a low part of the woods adjoining the +clearing, I had a good time pursuing and identifying a number of +warblers,--the speckled Canada, the black-throated blue, the +yellow-rumped, and Audubon's warbler. The latter, which was leading +its troop of young through a thick undergrowth on the banks of the +creek where insects were plentiful, was new to me. + +It being August, the birds were all moulting, and sang only fitfully +and by brief snatches. I remember hearing but one robin during the +whole trip. This was by the Boreas River in the deep forest. It was +like the voice of an old friend speaking my name. + +From Hewett's, after engaging his youngest son,--the "Bub" of the +family,--a young man about twenty and a thorough woodsman, as our +guide, we took to the woods in good earnest, our destination being the +Stillwater of the Boreas,--a long, deep, dark reach in one of the +remotest branches of the Hudson, about six miles distant. Here we +paused a couple of days, putting up in a dilapidated lumbermen's +shanty, and cooking our fish over an old stove which had been left +there. The most noteworthy incident of our stay at this point was the +taking by myself of half a dozen splendid trout out of the Stillwater, +after the guide had exhausted his art and his patience with very +insignificant results. The place had a very trouty look; but as the +season was late and the river warm, I knew the fish lay in deep water +from which they could not be attracted. In deep water accordingly, and +near the head of the hole, I determined to look for them. Securing a +chub, I cut it into pieces about an inch long, and with these for bait +sank my hook into the head of the Stillwater, and just to one side of +the main current. In less than twenty minutes I had landed six noble +fellows, three of them over one foot long each. The guide and my +incredulous companions, who were watching me from the opposite shore, +seeing my luck, whipped out their tackle in great haste and began +casting first at a respectable distance from me, then all about me, +but without a single catch. My own efforts suddenly became fruitless +also, but I had conquered the guide, and thenceforth he treated me +with the tone and freedom of a comrade and equal. + +One afternoon, we visited a cave some two miles down the stream, which +had recently been discovered. We squeezed and wriggled through a big +crack or cleft in the side of the mountain for about one hundred feet, +when we emerged into a large dome-shaped passage, the abode during +certain seasons of the year of innumerable bats, and at all times of +primeval darkness. There were various other crannies and pit-holes +opening into it, some of which we explored. The voice of running water +was everywhere heard, betraying the proximity of the little stream by +whose ceaseless corroding the cave and its entrance had been worn. +This streamlet flowed out of the mouth of the cave, and came from a +lake on the top of the mountain; this accounted for its warmth to the +hand, which surprised us all. + +Birds of any kind were rare in these woods. A pigeon hawk came +prowling by our camp, and the faint piping call of the nuthatches, +leading their young through the high trees, was often heard. + +On the third day our guide proposed to conduct us to a lake in the +mountains where we could float for deer. + +Our journey commenced in a steep and rugged ascent, which brought us, +after an hour's heavy climbing, to an elevated region of pine forest, +years before ravished by lumbermen, and presenting all manner of +obstacles to our awkward and incumbered pedestrianism. The woods were +largely pine, though yellow birch, beech, and maple were common. The +satisfaction of having a gun, should any game show itself, was the +chief compensation to those of us who were thus burdened. A partridge +would occasionally whir up before us, or a red squirrel snicker and +hasten to his den; else the woods appeared quite tenantless. The most +noted object was a mammoth pine, apparently the last of a great race, +which presided over a cluster of yellow birches, on the side of the +mountain. + +About noon, we came out upon a long, shallow sheet of water which the +guide called Bloody-Moose Pond, from the tradition that a moose had +been slaughtered there many years before. Looking out over the silent +and lonely scene, his eye was the first to detect an object, +apparently feeding upon lily-pads, which our willing fancies readily +shaped into a deer. As we were eagerly waiting some movement to +confirm this impression, it lifted up its head, and lo! a great blue +heron. Seeing us approach, it spread its long wings and flew solemnly +across to a dead tree on the other side of the lake, enhancing rather +than relieving the loneliness and desolation that brooded over the +scene. As we proceeded, it flew from tree to tree in advance of us, +apparently loth to be disturbed in its ancient and solitary domain. In +the margin of the pond we found the pitcher-plant growing, and here +and there in the sand the closed gentian lifted up its blue head. + +In traversing the shores of this wild, desolate lake, I was conscious +of a slight thrill of expectation, as if some secret of Nature might +here be revealed, or some rare and unheard-of game disturbed. There is +ever a lurking suspicion that the beginning of things is in some way +associated with water, and one may notice that in his private walks he +is led by a curious attraction to fetch all the springs and ponds in +his route, as if by them was the place for wonders and miracles to +happen. Once, while in advance of my companions, I saw, from a high +rock, a commotion in the water near the shore, but on reaching the +point found only the marks of a musquash. + +Pressing on through the forest, after many adventures with pine-knots, +we reached, about the middle of the afternoon, our destination, Nate's +Pond,--a pretty sheet of water, lying like a silver mirror in the lap +of the mountain, about a mile long and half a mile wide, surrounded by +dark forests of balsam, hemlock, and pine, and, like the one we had +just passed, a very picture of unbroken solitude. + +It is not in the woods alone to give one this impression of utter +loneliness. In the woods are sounds and voices, and a dumb kind of +companionship; one is little more than a walking tree himself; but +come upon one of these mountain lakes, and the wildness stands +revealed and meets you face to face. Water is thus facile and +adaptive, that makes the wild more wild, while it enhances culture and +art. + +The end of the pond which we approached was quite shoal, the stones +rising above the surface as in a summer brook, and everywhere showing +marks of the noble game we were in quest of,--footprints, dung, and +cropped and uprooted lily pads. After resting for a half hour, and +replenishing our game-pouches at the expense of the most respectable +frogs of the locality, we filed on through the soft, resinous +pine-woods, intending to camp near the other end of the lake, where, +the guide assured us, we should find a hunter's cabin ready built. A +half-hour's march brought us to the locality, and a most delightful +one it was,--so hospitable and inviting that all the kindly and +beneficent influences of the woods must have abided there. In a slight +depression in the woods, about one hundred yards from the lake, though +hidden from it for a hunter's reasons, surrounded by a heavy growth of +birch, hemlock, and pine, with a lining of balsam and fir, the rude +cabin welcomed us. It was of the approved style, three sides inclosed, +with a roof of bark and a bed of boughs, and a rock in front that +afforded a permanent backlog to all fires. A faint voice of running +water was head near by, and, following the sound, a delicious spring +rivulet was disclosed, hidden by the moss and debris as by a new fall +of snow, but here and there rising in little well-like openings, as if +for our special convenience. On smooth places on the log I noticed +female names inscribed in a female hand; and the guide told us of an +English lady, an artist, who had traversed this region with a single +guide, making sketches. + +Our packs unslung and the kettle over, our first move was to ascertain +in what state of preservation a certain dug-out might be, which the +guide averred, he had left moored in the vicinity the summer +before,--for upon this hypothetical dug-out our hopes of venison +rested. After a little searching, it was found under the top of a +fallen hemlock, but in a sorry condition. A large piece had been split +out of one end, and a fearful chink was visible nearly to the water +line. Freed from the treetop, however, and calked with a little moss, +it floated with two aboard, which was quite enough for our purpose. A +jack and an oar were necessary to complete the arrangement, and before +the sun had set our professor of wood-craft had both in readiness. +From a young yellow birch an oar took shape with marvelous +rapidity,--trimmed and smoothed with a neatness almost fastidious,--no +makeshift, but an instrument fitted for the delicate work it was to +perform. + +A jack was make with equal skill and speed. A stout staff about three +feet long was placed upright in the bow of the boat, and held to its +place by a horizontal bar, through a hole in which it turned easily: a +half wheel eight or ten inches in diameter, cut from a large chip, was +placed at the top, around which was bent a new section of birch bark, +thus forming a rude semicircular reflector. Three candles placed +within the circle completed the jack. With moss and boughs seats were +arranged,--one in the bow for the marksman, and one in the stern for +the oarsman. A meal of frogs and squirrels was a good preparation, +and, when darkness came, all were keenly alive to the opportunity it +brought. Though by no means an expert in the use of the gun,--adding +the superlative degree of enthusiasm to only the positive degree of +skill,--yet it seemed tacitly agreed that I should act as marksman and +kill the deer, if such was to be our luck. + +After it was thoroughly dark, we went down to make a short trial trip. +Everything working to satisfaction, about ten o'clock we pushed out in +earnest. For the twentieth time I felt in the pocket that contained +the matches, ran over the part I was to perform, and pressed my gun +firmly, to be sure there was no mistake. My position was that of +kneeling directly under the jack, which I was to light at the word. +The night was clear, moonless, and still. Nearing the middle of the +lake, a breeze from the west was barely perceptible, and noiselessly +we glided before it. The guide handled his oar with great dexterity; +without lifting it from the water or breaking the surface, he imparted +the steady, uniform motion desired. How silent it was! The ear seemed +the only sense, and to hold dominion over lake and forest. +Occasionally a lily-pad would brush along the bottom, and stooping low +I could hear a faint murmuring of the water under the bow: else all +was still. Then almost as by magic, we were encompassed by a huge +black ring. The surface of the lake, when we had reached the center, +was slightly luminous from the starlight, and the dark, even +forest-line that surrounded us, doubled by reflection in the water, +presented a broad, unbroken belt of utter blackness. The effect was +quite startling, like some huge conjurer's trick. It seemed as if we +had crossed the boundary-line between the real and the imaginary, and +this was indeed the land of shadows and of spectres. What magic oar +was that the guide wielded that it could transport me to such a realm! +Indeed, had I not committed some fatal mistake, and left that trusty +servant behind, and had not some wizard of the night stepped into his +place? A slight splashing in-shore broke the spell and caused me to +turn nervously to the oarsman: "Musquash," said he, and kept strait +on. + +Nearing the extreme end of the pond, the boat gently headed around, +and silently we glided back into the clasp of that strange orbit. +Slight sounds were heard as before, but nothing that indicated the +presence of the game we were waiting for; and we reached the point of +departure as innocent of venison as we had set out. + +After an hour's delay, and near midnight, we pushed out again. My +vigilance and susceptibility were rather sharpened than dulled by the +waiting; and the features of the night had also deepened and +intensified. Night was at its meridian. The sky had that soft +luminousness which may often be observed near midnight at this season, +and the "large few stars" beamed mildly down. We floated out into that +spectral shadow-land and moved slowly on as before. The silence was +most impressive. Now and then the faint yeap of some traveling bird +would come from the air overhead, or the wings of a bat whisp quickly +by, or an owl hoot off in the mountains, giving to the silence and +loneliness a tongue. At short intervals some noise in-shore would +startle me, and cause me to turn inquiringly to the silent figure in +the stern. + +The end of the lake was reached, and we turned back. The novelty and +the excitement began to flag; tired nature began to assert her claims; +the movement was soothing, and the gunner slumbered fitfully at his +post. Presently something aroused me. "There's a deer," whispered the +guide. The gun heard, and fairly jumped in my hand. Listening, there +came the crackling of a limb, followed by a sound as of something +walking in shallow water. It proceeded from the other end of the lake, +over against our camp. On we sped, noiselessly as ever, but with +increased velocity. Presently, with a thrill of new intensity, I saw +the boat was gradually heading in that direction. Now, to a sportsman +who gets excited over a gray squirrel, and forgets that he has a gun +on the sudden appearance of a fox, this was a severe trial. I suddenly +felt cramped for room, and trimming the boat was out of the question. +It seemed that I must make some noise in spite of myself. "Light the +jack," said a soft whisper behind me. I fumbled nervously for a match, +and dropped the first one. Another was drawn briskly across my knee +and broke. A third lighted. but went out prematurely, in my haste to +get it to the jack. What would I not have given to see those wicks +blaze! We were fast nearing the shore,--already the lily-pads began to +brush along the bottom. Another attempt, and the light took. The +gentle motion fanned the blaze, and in a moment a broad glare of light +fell upon the water in front of us, while the boat remained in utter +darkness. + +By this time I had got beyond the nervous point, and had come round to +perfect coolness and composure again, but preternaturally vigilant and +keen. I was ready for any disclosures; not a sound was heard. In a few +moments the trees alongshore were faintly visible. Every object put on +the shape of a gigantic deer. A large rock looked just ready to bound +away. The dry limbs of a prostrate tree were surely his antlers. + +But what are those two luminous spots? Need the reader be told what +they were? In a moment the head of a real deer became outlined; then +his neck and foreshoulders; then his whole body. There he stood, up to +his knees in the water, gazing fixedly at us, apparently arrested in +the movement of putting his head down for a lily-pad, and evidently +thinking it was some new-fangled moon sporting about there. "Let him +have it," said my prompter,--and the crash came. There was a scuffle +in the water, and a plunge in the woods. "He's gone," said I. "Wait a +moment," said the guide," and I will show you." Rapidly running the +canoe ashore, we sprang out, and, holding the jack aloft, explored the +vicinity by its light. There, over the logs and brush, I caught the +glimmer of those luminous spots again. But, poor thing! there was +little need of the second shot, which was the unkindest of all, for +the deer had already fallen to the ground, and was fast expiring. The +success was but a very indifferent one, after all, as the victim +turned out to be only an old doe, upon whom maternal cares had +evidently worn heavily during the summer. + +This mode of taking deer is very novel and strange. The animal is +evidently fascinated or bewildered. It does not appear to be +frightened, but as if overwhelmed with amazement, or under the +influence of some spell. It is not sufficiently master of the +situation to be sensible of fear, or to think of escape by flight; and +the experiment, to be successful, must be tried quickly, before the +first feeling of bewilderment passes. + +Witnessing the spectacle from the shore, I can conceive of nothing +more sudden or astounding. You see no movement and hear no noise, but +the light grows upon you, and stares and stares like a huge eye from +infernal regions. + +According to the guide, when a deer has been played upon in this +manner and escaped, he is not to be fooled again a second time. +Mounting the shore, he gives a long signal snort, which alarms every +animal within hearing, and dashes away. + +The sequel to the deer-shooting was a little sharp practice with a +revolver upon a rabbit, or properly a hare, which was so taken with +the spectacle of the camp-fire, and the sleeping figures lying about, +that it ventured quite up in our midst; but while testing the quality +of some condensed milk that sat uncovered at the foot of a large tree, +poor Lepus had his spine injured by a bullet. + +Those who lodge with Nature find early rising quite in order. It is +our voluptuous beds, and isolation from the earth and the air, that +prevents us from emulating the birds and the beasts in this respect. +With the citizen in his chamber, it is not morning, but +breakfast-time. The camper-out, however, feels morning in the air, he +smells it, hears it, and springs up with the general awakening. None +were tardy at the row of white chips arranged on the trunk of a +prostrate tree, when breakfast was halloed; for we were all anxious to +try the venison. Few of us, however, took a second piece. It was black +and strong. + +The day was warm and calm, and we loafed at leisure. The woods were +Nature's own. It was a luxury to ramble through them,--rank and shaggy +and venerable, but with an aspect singularly ripe and mellow. No fire +had consumed and no lumberman plundered. Every trunk and limb and leaf +lay where it had fallen. At every step the foot sank into the moss, +which, like a soft green snow, covered everything, making every stone +a cushion and every rock a bed,--a grand old Norse parlor; adorned +beyond art and upholstered beyond skill. + +Indulging in a brief nap on a rug of club-moss carelessly dropped at +the foot of a pine-tree, I woke up to find myself the subject of a +discussion of a troop of chickadees. Presently three or four shy wood +warblers came to look upon this strange creature that had wandered +into their haunts; else I passed quite unnoticed. + +By the lake, I met that orchard beauty, the cedar waxwing, spending +his vacation in the assumed character of a flycatcher, whose part he +performed with great accuracy and deliberation. Only a month before I +had seen him regaling himself upon cherries in the garden and orchard; +but as the dog-days approached he set out for the streams and lakes, +to divert himself with the more exciting pursuits of the chase. From +the tops of the dead trees along the border of the lake, he would +sally out in all directions, sweeping through long curves, alternately +mounting and descending, now reaching up for a fly high in the air, +now sinking low for one near the surface, and returning to his perch +in a few moments for a fresh start. + +The pine finch was also here, though, as usual never appearing at +home, but with a waiting, expectant air. Here also I met my beautiful +singer, the hermit thrush, but with no song in his throat now. A week +or two later and he was on his journey southward. This was the only +species of thrush I saw in the Adirondacks. Near Lake Sandford, where +were large tracks of raspberry and wild cherry, I saw numbers of them. +A boy whom we met, driving home some stray cows, said it was the +"partridge-bird," no doubt from the resemblance of its note, when +disturbed, to the cluck of the partridge. + +Nate's Pond contained perch and sunfish but no trout. Its water was +not pure enough for trout. Was there ever any other fish so fastidious +as this, requiring such sweet harmony and perfection of the elements +for its production and sustenance? On higher ground about a mile +distant was a trout pond, the shores of which were steep and rocky. + +Our next move was a tramp of about twelve miles through the +wilderness, most of the way in a drenching rain, to a place called the +Lower Iron Works, situated on the road leading in to Long Lake, which +is about a day's drive farther on. We found a comfortable hotel here, +and were glad enough to avail ourselves of the shelter and warmth +which it offered. There was a little settlement and some quite good +farms. The place commands a fine view to the north of Indian Pass, +Mount Marcy, and the adjacent mountains. On the afternoon of our +arrival, and also the next morning, the view was completely shut off +by the fog. But about the middle of the forenoon the wind changed, the +fog lifted, and revealed to us the grandest mountain scenery we had +beheld on our journey. There they sat about fifteen miles distant, a +group of them,--Mount Marcy, Mount McIntyre, and Mount Golden, the +real Adirondack monarchs. It was an impressive sight, rendered double +so be the sudden manner in which it was revealed to us by that +scene-shifter the Wind. + +I saw blackbirds at this place, and sparrows, and the solitary +sandpiper and the Canada woodpecker, and a large number of +hummingbirds. Indeed, I saw more of the latter here than I ever before +saw in any one locality. Their squeaking and whirring were almost +incessant. + +The Adirondack Iron Works belong to the past. Over thirty years ago a +company in Jersey City purchased some sixty thousand acres of land +lying along the Adirondack River, and abounding in magnetic iron ore. +The land was cleared, roads, dams, and forges constructed, and the +work of manufacturing iron begun. + +At this point a dam was built across the Hudson, the waters of which +flowed back into Lake Sandford, about five miles above. The lake +itself being some six miles song, tolerable navigation was thus +established for a distance of eleven miles, to the Upper Works, which +seem to have been the only works in operation. At the Lower Works, +besides the remains of the dam, the only vestige I saw was a long low +mound, overgrown with grass and weeds, that suggested a rude +earthwork. We were told that it was once a pile of wood containing +hundreds of cords, cut in regular lengths and corded up here for use +in the furnaces. + +At the Upper Works, some twelve miles distant, quite a village had +been built, which was now entirely abandoned, with the exception of a +single family. + +A march to this place was our next undertaking. The road for two or +three miles kept up from the river and led us by three or four rough +stumpy farms. It then approached the lake and kept along its shores. +It was here a dilapidated corduroy structure that compelled the +traveler to keep an eye on his feet. Blue jays, two or three small +hawks, a solitary wild pigeon, and ruffled grouse were seen along the +route. Now and then the lake gleamed through the trees, or we crossed +o a shaky bridge some of its arms or inlets. After a while we began to +pass dilapidated houses by the roadside. One little frame house I +remembered particularly; the door was off the hinges and leaned +against the jams, the windows had but a few panes left, which glared +vacantly. The yard and little garden spot were overrun with a heavy +growth of timothy, and the fences had all long since gone to decay. At +the head of the lake a large stone building projected from the steep +bank and extended over the road. A little beyond, the valley opened to +the east, and looking ahead about one mile we saw smoke going up from +a single chimney. Pressing on, just as the sun was setting we entered +the deserted village. The barking dog brought the whole family into +the street, and they stood till we came up. Strangers in that country +were a novelty, and we were greeted like familiar acquaintances. + +Hunter, the head, proved to be a first-rate type of an Americanized +Irishman. His wife was a Scotch woman. They had a family of five or +six children, two of them grown-up daughters,--modest, comely young +women as you would find anywhere. The elder of the two had spent a +winter in New York with her aunt, which made her a little more +self-conscious when in the presence of the strange young men. Hunter +was hired by the company at a dollar a day to live here and see that +things were not wantonly destroyed, but allowed to go to decay +properly and decently. He had a substantial roomy frame house and any +amount of grass and woodland. He had good barns and kept considerable +stock, and raised various farm products, but only for his own use, as +the difficulties of transportation to market some seventy miles +distant make it no object. He usually went to Ticonderoga on Lake +Champlain once a year for his groceries, etc. His post-office was +twelve miles below at the Lower Works, where the mail passed twice a +week. There was not a doctor, or lawyer, or preacher within +twenty-five miles. In winter, months elapse without their seeing +anybody from the outside world. In summer, parties occasionally pass +through here on their way to Indian Pass and Mount Marcy. Hundreds of +tons of good timothy hay annually rot upon the cleared land. + +After nightfall we went out and walked up and down the grass-grown +streets. It was a curious and melancholy spectacle. The remoteness and +surrounding wildness rendered the scene doubly impressive. And the +next day and the next the place was an object of wonder. There were +about thirty buildings in all, most of them small frame houses with a +door and two windows opening into a small yard in front and a garden +in the rear, such as are usually occupied by the laborers in a country +manufacturing district. There was one large two-story boarding-house, +a schoolhouse with cupola and a bell in it, and numerous sheds and +forges, and a saw-mill. In front of the saw-mill, and ready to be +rolled to their place on the carriage, lay a large pile of pine logs, +so decayed that one could run his walking-stick through them. Near by, +a building filled with charcoal was bursting open and the coal going +to waste on the ground. The smelting works were also much crumbled by +time. The schoolhouse was still used. Every day one of the daughters +assembles her smaller brothers and sisters there and school keeps. The +district library contained nearly one hundred readable books which +were well thumbed. + +The absence of society had made the family all good readers. We +brought them an illustrated newspaper, which was awaiting them in the +post-office at the Lower Works. It was read and reread with great +eagerness by every member of the household. + +The iron ore cropped out on every hand. There was apparently +mountains of it; one could see it in the stones along the road. But +the difficulties met with in separating the iron from its alloys, +together with the expense of transportation and the failure of certain +railroad schemes, caused the works to be abandoned. No doubt the time +is not distant when these obstacles will be overcome and this region +reopened. + +At present it is an admirable place to go to. There is fishing and +hunting and boating and mountain-climbing within easy reach, and a +good roof over your head at night, which is no small matter. One is +often disqualified for enjoying the woods after he gets there by the +loss of sleep and of proper food taken at seasonable times. This point +attended to, one is in the humor for any enterprise. + +About half a mile northeast of the village is Lake Henderson, a very +irregular and picturesque sheet of water surrounded by dark evergreen +forests, and abutted by two or three bold promontories with mottled +white and gray rocks. Its greatest extent in any one direction is +perhaps less than a mile. Its waters are perfectly clear and abound in +lake trout. A considerable stream flows into it, which comes down from +Indian Pass. + +A mile south of the village is Lake Sandford. This is a more open and +exposed sheet of water and much larger. From some parts of it Mount +Marcy and the gorge of the Indian Pass are seen to excellent +advantage. The Indian Pass shows as a huge cleft in the mountain, the +gray walls rising on one side perpendicularly for many hundred feet. +This lake abounds in white and yellow perch and in pickerel; of the +latter single specimens are often caught which weigh fifteen pounds. +There were a few wild ducks on both lakes. A brood of the goosander or +red merganser, the young not yet able to fly, were the occasion of +some spirited rowing. But with two pairs of oars in a trim light +skiff, it was impossible to come up with them. Yet we could not resist +the temptation to give them a chase every day when we first came on +the lake. It needed a good long pull to sober us down so we could +fish. + +The land on the east side of the lake had been burnt over, and was now +mostly grown up with wild cherry and red raspberry bushes. Ruffed +grouse were found here in great numbers. The Canada grouse was also +common. I shot eight of the latter in less than an hour on one +occasion; the eighth one, which was an old male, was killed with +smooth pebble-stones, my shot having run short. The wounded bird ran +under a pile of brush, like a frightened hen. Thrusting a forked stick +down through the interstices, I soon stopped his breathing. Wild +pigeons were quite numerous also. These latter recall a singular freak +of the sharp-shinned hawk. A flock of pigeons alighted on top of a +dead hemlock standing in the edge of a swamp. I got over the fence and +moved toward them across an open space. I had not taken many steps +when, on looking up, I saw the whole flock again in motion flying very +rapidly about the butt of a hill. Just then this hawk alighted on the +same tree. I stepped back into the road and paused a moment, in doubt +which course to go. At that instant the little hawk launched into the +air and came as straight as an arrow toward me. I looked in amazement, +but in less than half a minute, he was within fifty feet of my face, +coming full tilt as if he had sighted my nose. Almost in self-defense +I let fly one barrel of my gun, and the mangled form of the audacious +marauder fell literally between my feet. + +Of wild animals, such as bears, panthers, wolves, wildcats, etc., we +neither saw nor heard any in the Adirondacks. "A howling wilderness," +Thoreau says, "seldom ever howls. The howling is chiefly done by the +imagination of the traveler." Hunter said he often saw bear-tracks in +the snow, but had never yet met Bruin. Deer are more or less abundant +everywhere, and one old sportsman declares there is yet a single moose +in these mountains. On our return, a pioneer settler, at whose house +we stayed overnight, told us a long adventure he had had with a +panther. He related how it screamed, how it followed him in the brush, +how he took to his boat, how its eyes gleamed from the shore, and how +he fired his rifle at them with fatal effect. His wife in the mean +time took something from a drawer, and, as her husband finished his +recital, she produced a toe-nail of the identical animal with marked +dramatic effect. + +But better than fish or game or grand scenery, or any adventure by +night or day, is the wordless intercourse with rude Nature one has on +these expeditions. It is something to press the pulse of our old +mother by mountain lakes and streams, and know what health and vigor +are in her veins, and how regardless of observation she deports +herself. + + 1866. + + + +IV + +BIRDS'-NESTS + +How alert and vigilant the birds are, even when absorbed in building +their nests! In an open space in the woods I see a pair of cedar-birds +collecting moss from the top of a dead tree. Following the direction +in which they fly, I soon discover the nest placed in the fork of a +small soft maple, which stands amid a thick growth of wild +cherry-trees and young beeches. Carefully concealing myself beneath +it, without any fear that the workmen will hit me with a chip or let +fall a tool, I await the return of the busy pair. Presently I hear the +well-known note, and the female sweeps down and settles unsuspectingly +into the half-finished structure. Hardly have her wings rested before +her eye has penetrated my screen, and with a hurried movement of alarm +she darts away. In a moment the male, with a tuft of wool in his beak +(for there is a sheep pasture near), joins her, and the two +reconnoitre the premises from the surrounding bushes. With their beaks +still loaded, they move around with a frightened look, and refuse to +approach the nest till I have moved off and lain down behind a log. +Then one of them ventures to alight upon the nest, but, still +suspecting all is not right, quickly darts away again. Then they both +together come, and after much peeping and spying about, and apparently +much anxious consultation, cautiously proceed to work. In less than +half an hour it would seem that wool enough has been brought to supply +the whole family, real and prospective, with socks, if needles and +fingers could be found fine enough to knit it up. In less than a week +the female has begun to deposit her eggs,--four of them in as many +days,--white tinged with purple, with black spots on the larger end. +After two weeks of incubation the young are out. + +Excepting the American goldfinch, this bird builds later in the season +than any other,--its nest, in our northern climate, seldom being +undertaken until July. As with the goldfinch, the reason is, probably, +that suitable food for the young cannot be had at an earlier period. + +Like most of our common species, as the robin, sparrow, bluebird, +pewee, wren, etc., this bird sometimes seeks wild, remote localities +in which to rear its young; at others, takes up its abode near that of +man. I knew a pair of cedar-birds, one season, to build in an +apple-tree, the branches of which rubbed against the house. For a day +or two before the first straw was laid, I noticed the pair carefully +exploring every branch of the tree, the female taking the lead, the +male following her with an anxious note and look. It was evident that +the wife was to have her choice this time; and like one who thoroughly +knew her mind, she was proceeding to take it. Finally the site was +chosen, upon a high branch, extending over one low wing of the house. +Mutual congratulations and caresses followed, when both birds flew +away in quest of building material. That most freely used is a sort of +cotton-bearing plant which grows in old wornout fields. The nest is +large for the size of the bird, and very soft. It is in every respect +a first-class domicile. + +On another occasion, while walking or rather sauntering in the woods +(for I have discovered that one cannot run and read the book of +nature), my attention was arrested by a dull hammering, evidently but +a few rods off. I said to myself, "Some one is building a house." From +what I had previously seen, I suspected the builder to be a red-headed +woodpecker in the top of a dead oak stub near by. Moving cautiously in +that direction, I perceived a round hole, about the size of that made +by an inch-and-a-half auger, near the top of the decayed trunk, and +the white chips of the workman strewing the ground beneath. When but a +few paces from the tree, my foot pressed upon a dry twig, which gave +forth a very slight snap. Instantly the hammering ceased, and a +scarlet head appeared at the door. Though I remained perfectly +motionless, forbearing even to wink till my eyes smarted, the bird +refused to go on with his work, but flew quietly off to a neighboring +tree. What surprised me was, that, amid his busy occupation down in +the heart of the old tree, he should have been so alert and watchful +as to catch the slightest sound from without. + +The woodpeckers all build in about the same manner, excavating the +trunk or branch of a decayed tree and depositing the eggs on the fine +fragments of wood at the bottom of the cavity. Though the nest is not +especially an artistic work,--requiring strength rather than +skill,--yet the eggs and the young of few other birds are so +completely housed from the elements, or protected from their natural +enemies, the jays, hawks, and owls. A tree with a natural cavity is +never selected, but one which has been dead just long enough to have +become soft and brittle throughout. The bird goes in horizontally for +a few inches, making a hole perfectly round and smooth and adapted to +his size, then turns downward, gradually enlarging the hole, as he +proceeds to the softness of the tree and the urgency of the mother +bird to deposit her eggs. While excavating, male and female work +alternately. After one has been engaged fifteen or twenty minutes, +drilling and carrying out chips, it ascends to an upper limb, utters a +loud call or two, when its mate soon appears, and, alighting near it +on the branch, the pair chatter and caress a moment, then the fresh +one enters the cavity and the other flies away. + +A few days since I climbed up to the nest of the downy woodpecker, in +the decayed top of a sugar maple. For better protection against +driving rains, the hole, which was rather more than an inch in +diameter, was made immediately beneath a branch which stretched out +almost horizontally from the main stem. It appeared merely a deeper +shadow upon the dark and mottled surface of the bark with which the +branches were covered, and could not be detected by the eye until one +was within a few feet of it. The young chirped vociferously as I +approached the nest, thinking it was the old one with food; but the +clamor suddenly ceased as I put my hand on that part of the trunk in +which they were concealed, the unusual jarring and rustling alarming +them into silence. The cavity, which was about fifteen inches deep, +was gourd-shaped, and was wrought out with great skill and regularity. +The walls were quite smooth and clean and new. + +I shall never forget the circumstances of observing a pair of +yellow-bellied woodpeckers--the most rare and secluded, and, nest to +the red-headed, the most beautiful species found in our +woods--breeding in an old, truncated beech in the Beaverkill 1 +Mountains, on offshoot of the Catskills. We had been traveling, three +of us, all day in search of a trout lake, which lay far in among the +mountains, had twice lost our course in the trackless forest, and, +weary and hungry, had sat down to rest upon a decayed log. The +chattering of the young, and the passing to and fro of the parent +birds, soon arrested my attention. The entrance to the nest was on the +east side of the tree, about twenty-five feet from the ground. At +intervals of scarcely a minute, the old birds, one after the other, +would alight upon the edge of the hole with a grub or worm in their +beaks; then each in turn would make a bow or two, cast an eye quickly +around, and by a single movement place itself in the neck of the +passage. Here it would pause a moment, as if to determine in which +expectant mouth to place the morsel, and then disappear within. In +about half a minute, during which time that chattering of the young +gradually subsided, the bird would again emerge, but this time bearing +in its beak the ordure of one of the helpless family. Flying away very +slowly with head lowered and extended, as if anxious to hold the +offensive object as far from its plumage as possible, the bird dropped +the unsavory morsel in the course of a few yards, and, alighting on a +tree, wiped its bill on the bark and moss. This seems to be the order +all day,--carrying in and carrying out. I watched the birds for an +hour, while my companions were taking their turns in exploring the lay +of the land around us, and noted no variation in the programme. It +would be curious to know if the young are fed and waited upon in +regular order, and how, amid the darkness and the crowded state of the +apartment, the matter is so neatly managed. But ornithologists are all +silent upon the subject. + +This practice of the birds is not so uncommon as it might at first +seem. It is indeed almost an invariable rule among all land birds. +With woodpeckers and kindred species, and with birds that burrow in +the ground, as bank swallows, kingfishers, etc., it is a necessity. +The accumulation of the excrement in the nest would prove most fatal +to the young. + +But even among birds that neither bore nor mine, but which build a +shallow nest on the branch of a tree or upon the ground, as the robin, +the finches, the buntings, etc., the ordure of the young is removed to +a distance by the parent bird. When the robin is seen going away from +its brood with a slow, heavy flight, entirely different from its +manner a moment before on approaching the nest with a cherry or worm, +it is certain to be engaged in this office. One may observe the social +sparrow, when feeding its young, pause a moment after the worm has +been given and hop around on the brink of the nest observing the +movements within. + +The instinct of cleanliness no doubt prompts the action in all cases, +though the disposition to secrecy or concealment may not me unmixed in +it + +The swallows form an exception to the rule, the excrement being voided +by the young over the brink of the nest. They form an exception, also, +to the rule of secrecy, aiming not so much to conceal the nest as to +render it inaccessible. + +Other exceptions are the pigeons, hawks, and water-fowls. + +But to return. Having a good chance to note the color and markings of +the woodpeckers as they passed in and out at the opening of the nest, +I saw that Audubon had made a mistake in figuring or describing the +female of this species with the red spot upon the head. I have seen a +number of pairs of them, and in no instance have I seen the mother +bird marked with red. + +The male was in full plumage, and I reluctantly shot him for a +specimen. Passing by the place again next day, I paused a moment to +note how matters stood. I confess it was not without some compunctions +that I heard the cries of the young birds, and saw the widowed mother, +her cares now doubled, hastening to and fro in the solitary woods. She +would occasionally pause expectantly on the trunk of a tree and utter +a loud call. + +It usually happens, when the male of any species is killed during the +breeding season, that the female soon procures another mate. There +are, most likely, always a few unmated birds of both sexes within a +given range, and through these the broken links may be restored. +Audubon or Wilson, I forget which, tells of a pair of fish hawks, or +ospreys, that built their nest in an ancient oak. The male was so +zealous in the defense of the young that he actually attacked with +beak and claw a person who attempted to climb into his nest, putting +his face and eyes in great jeopardy. Arming himself with a heavy club, +the climber felled the gallant bird to the ground and killed him. In +the course of a few days the female had procured another mate. But +naturally enough the stepfather showed none of the spirit and pluck in +defense of the brood that had been displayed by the original parent. +When danger was nigh he was seen afar off, sailing around in placid +unconcern. + +It is generally known that when either the wild turkey or domestic +turkey begins to lay, and afterwards to sit and rear the brood, she +secludes herself from the male, who then, very sensibly, herds with +others of his sex, and betakes himself to haunts of his own till male +and female, old and young, meet again on common ground, late in the +fall. But rob the sitting bird of her eggs, or destroy her tender +young, and she immediately sets out in quest of a male, who is no +laggard when he hears her call. The same is true of ducks, and other +aquatic fowls. The propagating instinct is strong, and surmounts all +ordinary difficulties. No doubt the widowhood I had caused in the case +of the woodpeckers was of short duration, and chance brought, or the +widow drummed up, some forlorn male, who was not dismayed by the +prospect of having a large family of half-grown birds on his hands at +the outset. + +I have seen a fine cock robin paying assiduous addresses to a female +bird as late as the middle of July; and I have no doubt that his +intentions were honorable. I watched the pair for half an hour. The +hen, I took it, was in the market for the second time that season; but +the cock, from his bright unfaded plumage, looked like a new arrival. +The hen resented every advance of the male. In vain he strutted around +her and displayed his fine feathers; every now and then she would make +at him in a most spiteful manner. He followed her to the ground, +poured into her ear a fine, half-suppressed warble, offered her a +worm, flew back to the tree again with a great spread of plumage, +hopped around her on the branches, chirruped, chattered, flew +gallantly at an intruder, and was back in an instant at her side. No +use,--she cut him short at every turn. + +The denouement I cannot relate, as the artful bird, followed by her +ardent suitor, soon flew away beyond my sight. It may not be rash to +conclude, however, that she held out no longer than was prudent. + +On the whole, there seems to be a system of Women's Rights prevailing +among the birds, which contemplated from the standpoint of the male, +is quite admirable. In almost all cases of joint interest, the female +bird is the most active. She determines the site of the nest, and is +usually the most absorbed in its construction. Generally, she is more +vigilant in caring for the young, and manifests the most concern when +danger threatens. Hour after hour I have seen the mother of a brood of +blue grosbeaks pass from the nearest meadow to the tree that held her +nest, with a cricket or grasshopper in her bill, while her +better-dressed half was singing serenely on a distant tree or pursuing +his pleasure amid the branches. + +Yet among the majority of our song-birds the male is most conspicuous +both by his color and manners and by his song, and is to that extent a +shield to the female. It is thought that the female is humbler clad +for her better concealment during incubation. But this is not +satisfactory, as in some cases she is relieved from time to time by +the male. In the case of the domestic dove, for instance, promptly at +midday the cock is found upon the nest. I should say that the dull or +neutral tints of the female were a provision of nature for her greater +safety at all times, as her life is far more precious to the species +than that of the male. The indispensable office of the male reduces +itself to little more than a moment of time, while that of his mate +extends over days and weeks, if not months.[Footnote] + + [Footnote] A recent English writer upon this + subject presents an array of facts and + considerations that do not support this view. He + says that, with very few exceptions, it is the + rule that, when both sexes are of strikingly gay + and conspicuous colors, the nest is such as to + conceal the sitting bird; while, whenever there + is a striking contrast of colors, the male being + gay and conspicuous, the female dull and obscure, + the nest is open and sitting bird exposed to view. + The exceptions to this rule among European birds + appear to be very few. Among our own birds, the + cuckoos and the blue jays build open nests, without + presenting any noticeable difference in the + coloring of the two sexes. The same is true of + the pewees, the kingbird, and the sparrows, while + the common bluebird, the oriole, and the orchard + starling afford examples the other way. + +In migrating northward, the males have abandoned their nests, or +rather chambers, which they do after the first season, their cousins, +the nuthatches, chickadees, and brown creepers, fall heir to them. +These birds, especially the creepers and nuthatches, have many of the +habits of the Picidae, but lack their powers of bill, and so are +unable to excavate a nest for themselves. Their habitation, therefore, +is always second-hand. But each species carries in some soft material +of various kinds, or in other words, furnishes the tenement to its +liking. The chickadee arranges in the bottom of the cavity a little +mat of a light felt-like substance, which looks as if is came from the +hatter's, but which is probably the work of numerous worms or +caterpillars. On this soft lining the female deposits six speckled +eggs. + +I recently discovered one of these nests in a most interesting +situation. The tree containing it, a variety of wild cherry, stood +upon the brink of the bald summit of a high mountain. Gray, timeworn +rocks lay piled loosely about, or overtoppled the just visible byways +of the red fox. The trees had a half-scared look, and that +indescribable wildness which lurks about the tops of all remote +mountains possessed the place. Standing there, I looked down upon the +back of the red-tailed hawk as he flew out over the earth beneath me. +Following him, my eye also took in farms and settlements and villages +and other mountain ranges that grew blue in the distance. + +The parent birds attracted my attention by appearing with food in +their beaks, and by seeming much put out. Yet so wary were they of +revealing the locality of their brood, or even of the precise tree +that held them, that I lurked around over an hour without gaining a +point on them. Finally a bright and curious boy who accompanied me +secreted himself under a low, projected rock close to the tree in +which we supposed the nest to be, while I moved off around the +mountain-side. It was not long before the youth had their secret. The +tree which was low and wide-branching, and overrun with lichens, +appeared at a cursory glance to contain not one dry or decayed limb. +Yet there was one a few feet long, in which, when my eyes were piloted +thither, I detected a small round orifice. + +As my weight began to shake the branches, the consternation of both +old and young was great. The stump of a limb that held the nest was +about three inches thick, and at the bottom of the tunnel was +excavated quite to the bark. With my thumb I broke the thin wall, and +the young, which were full-fledged, looked out upon the world for the +first time. Presently one of them, with a significant chirp, as much +to say, "It is time we were out of this," began to climb up toward the +proper entrance. Placing himself in the hole, he looked around without +manifesting any surprise at the grand scene that lay spread out before +him. He was taking his bearings, and determining how far he could +trust the power of his untried wings to take him out of harm's way. +After a moment's pause, with a loud chirrup, he launched out and made +tolerable headway. The others rapidly followed. Each one, as it +started upward, from a sudden impulse, contemptuously saluted the +abandoned nest with its excrement. + +Though generally regular in their habits and instincts, yet the birds +sometimes seem as whimsical and capricious as superior beings. One is +not safe, for instance, in making any absolute assertion as to their +place or mode of building. Ground-builders often get up into a bush, +and tree-builders sometimes get upon the ground or into a tussock of +grass. The song sparrow, which is a ground builder, has been known to +build in the knothole of a fence rail; and a chimney swallow once got +tired of soot and smoke, and fastened its nest on a rafter in a hay +barn. A friend tells me of a pair of barn swallow which, taking a +fanciful turn, saddled their nest in the loop of a rope that was +pendent from a peg in the peak, and liked it so well that they +repeated the experiment next year. I have know the social sparrow, or +"hairbird" to build under a shed, in a tuft of hay that hung down, +through the loose flooring, from the mow above. It usually contents +itself with half a dozen stalks of dry grass and a few long hair from +a cow's tail loosely arranged on the branch of an apple-tree. The +rough-winged swallow builds in the wall and in old stone-heaps, and I +have seen the robin build in similar localities. Others have found its +nest in old, abandoned wells. The house wren will build in anything +that has an accessible cavity, from an old boot to a bombshell. A pair +of them once persisted in building their nest in the top of a certain +pump-tree, getting in through the opening above the handle. The pump +being in daily use, the nest was destroyed more than a score of times. +This jealous little wretch has the wise forethought, when the box in +which he builds contains two compartments, to fill up one of them, so +as to avoid the risk of troublesome neighbors. + +The less skillful builders sometimes depart from their usual habit, +and take up with the abandoned nest of some other species. The blue +jay now and then lays in an old crow's nest or cuckoo's nest. The crow +blackbird, seized with a fit of indolence, drops its eggs in the +cavity of a decayed branch. I heard of a cuckoo that dispossessed a +robin of its nest; of another that set a blue jay adrift. Large, loose +structures, like the nests of the osprey and certain of the herons, +have been found with half a dozen nests of the blackbirds set in the +outer edges, like so many parasites, or, as Audubon says, like the +retainers about the rude court of a feudal baron. + +The same birds breeding in a southern climate construct far less +elaborate nests than when breeding in a northern climate. Certain +species of waterfowl, that abandon their eggs to the sand and the sun +in the warmer zones, build a nest and sit in the usual way in +Labrador. In Georgia, the Baltimore oriole places its nest upon the +north side of the tree; in the Middle and Eastern States, it fixes it +upon the south or east side, and makes it much thicker and warmer. I +have seen one from the South that had some kind of coarse reed or +sedge woven into it, giving it an open-work appearance, like a basket. + +Very few species use the same material uniformly. I have seen the nest +of the robin quite destitute of mud. In one instance it was composed +mainly of long black horse-hairs, arranged in a circular manner, with +a lining of fine yellow grass; the whole presenting quite a novel +appearance. In another case the nest was chiefly constructed of a +species of rock moss. + +The nest for the second brood during the same season is often a mere +makeshift. The haste of the female to deposit her eggs as the season +advances seems very great, and the structure is apt to be prematurely +finished. I was recently reminded of this fact by happening, about the +last of July, to meet with several nests of the wood or bush sparrow +in a remote blackberry field. The nests with eggs were far less +elaborate and compact than the earlier nests, from which the young had +flown. + +Day after day, as I go to a certain piece of woods, I observe a male +indigo-bird sitting on precisely the same part of a high branch, and +singing in his most vivacious style. As I approach he ceases to sing, +and, flirting his tail right and left with marked emphasis, chirps +sharply. In a low bush near by, I come upon the object of his +solicitude,--a thick compact nest composed largely of dry leaves and +fine grass, in which a plain brown bird is sitting upon four pale blue +eggs. + +The wonder is that a bird will leave the apparent security of the +treetops to place its nest in the way of the many dangers that walk +and crawl upon the ground. There, far up out of reach, sings the bird; +here, not three feet from the ground, are its eggs or helpless young. +The truth is, birds are the greatest enemies of birds, and it is with +reference to this fact that many of the smaller species build. + +Perhaps the greatest proportion of birds breed along highways. I have +known the ruffed grouse to come out of a dense wood and make its nest +at the root of a tree within ten paces of the road, where, no doubt, +hawks and crows, as well as skunks and foxes, would be less likely to +find it out. Traversing remote mountain-roads through dense woods, I +have repeatedly seen the veery, or Wilson's thrush, sitting upon her +nest, so near me that I could almost take her from it by stretching +out my hand. Birds of prey show none of this confidence in man, and, +when locating their nests, avoid rather than seek his haunts. + +In a certain locality in the interior of New York, I know, every +season, where I am sure to find a nest or two of the slate-colored +snowbird. It is under the brink of a low mossy bank, so near the +highway that it could be reached from a passing vehicle with a whip. +Every horse or wagon or foot passenger disturbs the sitting bird. She +awaits the near approach of the sound of feet or wheels, and then +darts quickly across the road, barely clearing the ground, and +disappears amid the bushes on the opposite side. + +In the trees that line one of the main streets and fashionable drives +leading our of Washington city and less than half a mile from the +boundary, I have counted the nests of five different species at one +time, and that without any very close scrutiny of the foliage, while, +in many acres of woodland half a mile off, I searched in vain for a +single nest. Among the five, the nest that interested me most was that +of the blue grosbeak. Here this bird, which according to Audubon's +observations in Louisiana, is shy and recluse, affecting remote +marshes and the borders of large ponds of stagnant water, had placed +its nest in the lowest twig of the lowest branch of a large sycamore, +immediately over a great thoroughfare, and so near the ground that a +person standing in a cart or sitting on a horse could have reached it +with his hand. The nest was composed mainly of fragments of newspaper +and stalks of grass, and, though so low, was remarkably well concealed +by one of the peculiar clusters of twigs and leaves which characterize +this tree. The nest contained young when I discovered it, and, though +the parent birds were much annoyed by my loitering about beneath the +tree, they paid little attention to the stream of vehicles that was +constantly passing. It was a wonder to me when the birds could have +built it, for they are much shyer when building than at any other +times. No doubt they worked mostly in the morning, having the early +hours all to themselves. + +Another pair of blue grosbeaks built in a graveyard within the city +limits. The nest was placed in a low bush, and the male continued to +sing at intervals till the young were ready to fly. The song of this +bird is a rapid, intricate warble, like that of the indigo-bird, +though stronger and louder. Indeed, these two birds so much resemble +each other in color, form, manner, voice, and general habits that, +were it not for the difference in size,--the grosbeak being nearly as +large again as the indigo-bird,--it would be a hard matter to tell +them apart. The females of both species are clad in the same +reddish-brown suits. So are the young the first season. + +Of course in the deep, primitive woods, also are nests; but how rarely +we find them! The simple art of the bird consists in choosing common, +neutral-tinted material, as moss, dry leaves, twigs, and various odds +and ends, and placing the structure on a convenient branch, where it +blends in color with its surroundings; but how consummate is this art, +and how skillfully is the nest concealed! We occasionally light upon +it, but who, unaided by the movements of the bird, could find it out? +During the present season I went to the woods nearly every day for a +fortnight without making any discoveries of this kind, till one day, +paying them a farewell visit, I chanced to come upon several nests. A +black and white creeping warbler suddenly became much alarmed as I was +approaching a crumbing old stump in a dense part of the forest. He +alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its sides, and +finally left it with much reluctance. The nest, which contained three +young birds nearly fledged, was placed upon the ground, at the foot of +the stump, and in such a positions that the color of the young +harmonized perfectly with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying about. +My eye rested upon them for the second time before I made them out. +They hugged the nest very closely, but as I put down my hand they all +scampered off with loud cries for help, which caused the parent birds +to place themselves almost within my reach. The nest was merely a +little dry grass arranged in a thick bed of dry leaves. + +This was amid a thick undergrowth. Moving on into a passage of large +stately hemlocks, with only here and there a small beech or maple +rising up into the perennial twilight, I paused to make out a note +which was entirely new to me. It is still in my ear. Though +unmistakably a bird note, it yet suggested the beating of a tiny +lambkin. Presently the birds appeared,--a pair of the solitary vireo. +They came flitting from point to point, alighting only for a moment at +a time, the male silent, but the female uttering this strange, tender +note. It was a rendering into some new sylvan dialect of the human +sentiment of maidenly love. It was really pathetic in its sweetness +and childlike confidence and joy. I soon discovered that the pair were +building a nest upon a low branch a few yards from me. The male flew +cautiously to the spot and adjusted something, and the twain moved +on, the female calling to her mate at intervals, love-e, love-e, with a +cadence and tenderness in the tone that rang in the ear long +afterward. The nest was suspended to the fork of a small branch, as is +usual with the vireos, plentifully lined with lichens, and bound and +rebound with masses of coarse spider-webs. There was no attempt at +concealment except in the neutral tints, which make it look like a +natural growth of the dim, gray woods. + +Continuing my random walk, I next paused in a low part of the woods, +where the larger trees began to give place to a thick second-growth +that covered an old Barkpeeling. I was standing by a large maple, when +a small bird darted quickly away from it, as if it might have come out +of a hole near its base. As the bird paused a few yards from me, and +began to chirp uneasily, my curiosity was at once excited. When I saw +it was the female mourning ground warbler, and remembered that the +nest of this bird had not yet been seen by any naturalist,--that not +even Dr. Brewer had ever seen the eggs,--I felt that here was +something worth looking for. So I carefully began the search, +exploring inch by inch the ground, the base and roots of the tree, and +the various shrubby growths about it, till finding nothing and fearing +I might really put my foot in it, I bethought me to withdraw to a +distance and after some delay return again, and, thus forewarned, note +the exact point from which the bird flew. This I did, and, returning, +had little difficulty in discovering the nest. It was placed but a few +feet from the maple tree, in a bunch of ferns, and about six inches +from the ground. It was quite a massive nest, composed entirely of the +stalks and leaves of dry grass, with an inner lining of fine, dark +brown roots. The eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, +uniformly specked with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was +so deep that the back of the sitting bird sank below the edge. + +In the top of a tall tree, a short distance farther on, I saw the nest +of the red-tailed hawk,--a large mass of twigs and dry sticks. The +young had flown, but still lingered in the vicinity, and as I +approached, the mother bird flew about over me, squealing in a very +angry, savage manner. Tufts of the hair and other indigestible +material of the common meadow mouse lay around on the ground beneath +the nest. + +As I was about leaving the woods, my hat almost brushed the nest of +the red-eyed vireo, which hung basket-like on the end of a low, +drooping branch of the beech. I should never have seen it had the bird +kept her place. It contained three eggs of the bird's own, and one of +the cow bunting. The strange egg was only just perceptibly larger than +the others, yet, in three days after, when I looked into the nest +again and found all but one egg hatched, the young interloper was at +least four times as large as either of the others, and with such a +superabundance of bowels as to almost smother his bedfellows beneath +them. That the intruder should fare the same as the rightful +occupants, and thrive with them, was more than ordinary potluck; but +that it alone should thrive, devouring, as it were, all the rest, is +one of those freaks of Nature in which she would seem to discourage +the homely virtues of prudence and honesty. Weeds and parasites have +the odds greatly against them, yet they wage a very successful war +nonetheless. + +The woods hold not such another gem as the nest of the hummingbird. +The finding of one is an event to date from. It is the next best thing +to finding an eagle's nest. I have met with but two, both by chance. +One was placed on the horizontal branch of a chestnut-tree, with a +solitary green leaf, forming a complete canopy, about an inch and a +half above it. The repeated spiteful dartings of the bird past my +ears, as I stood under the tree, caused me to suspect that I was +intruding upon some one's privacy; and, following it with my eye, I +soon saw the nest, which was in process of construction. Adopting my +usual tactics of secreting myself near by, I had the satisfaction of +seeing the tiny artist at work. It was the female, unassisted by her +mate. At intervals of two or three minutes she would appear with a +small tuft of some cottony substance in her beak, and alighting +quickly in the nest, arrange the material she had brought, using her +breast as a model. + +The other nest I discovered in a dense forest on the side of a +mountain. The sitting bird was disturbed as I passed beneath her. The +whirring of her wings arrested my attention, when, after a short +pause, I had the good luck to see, through an opening in the leaves, +the bird return to her nest, which appeared like a mere wart or +excrescence an a small branch. The hummingbird, unlike all others, +does not alight upon the nest, but flies into it. She enters it as +quick as a flash, but as light as any feather. Two eggs are the +complement. They are perfectly white, and so frail that only a woman's +fingers may touch them. Incubation lasts about ten days. In a week, +the young have flown. + +The only nest like the hummingbirds, and comparable to it in neatness +and symmetry, is that of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. This is often +saddled upon the limb in the same manner, though it is generally more +or less pendent; it is deep and soft, composed mostly of some +vegetable down, covered all over with delicate tree-lichens, and, +except that it is much larger, appears almost identical with the nest +of the hummingbird. + +But the nest of nests, the ideal nest, after we have left the deep +woods, is unquestionably that of the Baltimore oriole. It is the only +perfectly pensile nest we have. The nest of the orchard oriole is +indeed mainly so, but this bird generally builds lower and shallower, +more after the manner of the vireos. + +The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to the swaying branches +of the tallest elms, making no attempt at concealment, but satisfied +if the position be high and the branch pendant. This nest would seem +to cost more time and skill than any other bird structure. A peculiar +flax-like substance seems to be always sought after and always found. +The nest when completed assumes the form of a large, suspended gourd. +The walls are thin but firm, and proof against the most driving rain. +The mouth is hemmed or overhanded with horse-hair, and the sides are +usually sewed through and through with the same. + +Not particular as to the matter of secrecy, the bird is not particular +to the material, so that be of the nature of the strings or threads. A +lady friend once told me that, while working by an open window, one of +these birds approaching during her momentary absence, and, seizing a +skein of some kind of thread or yarn, made off with it to its +half-finished nest. But the perverse yarn caught fast in the branches, +and, in the bird's effort to extricate it, got hopelessly tangled. She +tugged away at it all day, but was finally obliged to content herself +with a few detached portions. The fluttering stings were an eyesore to +her ever after, and, passing and repassing, she would give them a +spiteful jerk, as much to say, "There is that confounded yarn that +gave me so much trouble." + +From Pennsylvania, Vincent Barnard (to whom I am indebted for other +curious facts) sent me this interesting story of an oriole. He says a +friend of his curious in such things, on observing the bird beginning +to build, hung out near the prospective nest skeins of many-colored +zephyr yarn, which the eager artist readily appropriated. He managed +it so that the bird used nearly equal quantities of various, high, +bright colors. The nest was made unusually deep and capacious, and it +may be questioned if such a thing of beauty was ever before woven by +the cunning of a bird. + +Nuttall, by far the most genial of American ornithologists, relates +the following:-- + +"A female (oriole), which I observed attentively, carried off to her +nest a piece of lamp-wick ten or twelve feet long. This long string +and many other shorter ones were left hanging out for a week before +both ends were wattled into the sides of the nest. Some other little +birds, making use of similar materials, at times twitched these +flowing ends, and generally brought out the busy Baltimore from her +occupation in great anger. + +"I may perhaps claim indulgence for adding a little more of the +biography of this particular bird, as a representative also of the +instincts of her race. She completed the nest in about a weeks time, +without any aid from her mate, who indeed appeared but seldom in her +company and was now become nearly silent. For fibrous materials she +broke, hackled, and gathered the flax of the asclepias and hibiscus +stalks, tearing off long strings and flying with them to the scene of +her labors. She appeared very eager and hasty in her pursuits, and +collected her materials without fear or restraint while three men were +working in the neighboring walks and may persons were visiting the +garden. Her courage and perseverance were truly admirable. If watched +to narrowly, she saluted with her usual scolding, tshrr, tshrr, tshrr, +seeing no reason, probably, why she should be interrupted in her +indispensable occupation. + +"Though the males were now comparatively silent on the arrival of +their busy mates, I could not help observing this female and a second, +continually vociferating, apparently in strife. At last she was +observed to attack this second female very fiercely, who slyly +intruded herself at times into the same tree where she was building. +These contests were angry and often repeated. To account for this +animosity, I now recollected that two fine males had been killed in +our vicinity, and I therefore concluded the intruder to be left +without a mate; yet she had gained the affections of the consort of +the busy female, and thus the cause of their jealous quarrel became +apparent. Having obtained the confidence of her faithless paramour, +the second female began preparing to weave a nest in an adjoining elm +by tying together certain pendent twigs as a foundation. The male now +associated chiefly with the intruder, whom he even assisted in her +labor, yet did not wholly forget his first partner, who called on him +one evening in a low, affectionate tone, which was answered in the +same strain. While they were thus engaged in friendly whispers, +suddenly appeared the rival, and a violent rencontre ensued, so that +one of the females appeared to be greatly agitated, and fluttered with +spreading wings as if considerably hurt. The male, though prudently +neutral in the contest, showed his culpable partiality by flying off +with his paramour, and for the rest of the evening left the tree to +his pugnacious consort. Cares of another kind, more imperious and +tender, at length reconciled, or at least terminated, these disputes +with the jealous females; and by the aid of the neighboring bachelors, +who are never wanting among these and other birds, peace was at length +completely restored by the restitution of the quiet and happy +condition of monogamy" + +Let me not forget to mention the nest under the mountain ledge, the +nest of the common pewee,--a modest mossy structure, with four +pearl-white eggs,--looking out upon some wild scene and overhung by +beetling crags. After all has been said about the elaborate, high-hung +structures, few nests perhaps awaken more pleasant emotions in the +mind of the beholder than this of the pewee,--the gray, silent rocks, +with caverns and dens where the fox and the wolf lurk, and just out of +their reach, in a little niche, as if it grew there, the mossy +tenement! + +Nearly every high projecting rock in any range has one of these nests. +Following a trout stream up a wild mountain gorge, not long since, I +counted five in the distance of a mile, all within easy reach, but +safe from the minks and the skunks, and well housed from the storms. +In my native town I know a pine and oak clad hill, round-topped, with +a bold, precipitous front extending halfway around it. Near the top, +and along this front or side, there crops out a ledge of rocks +unusually high and cavernous. One immense layer projects many feet, +allowing a person or many persons, standing upright, to move freely +beneath it. There is a delicious spring of water there, and plenty of +wild, cool air. The floor is of loose stone, now trod by sheep and +foxes, once by Indian and wolf. How I have delighted from boyhood to +spend a summer day in this retreat, or take refuge there from a sudden +shower! Always the freshness and coolness, and always the delicate +mossy nest of the phoebe-bird! The bird keeps her place till you are +within a few feet of her, when she flits to a near branch, and, with +many oscillations of her tale, observes you anxiously. Since the +country has become settled this pewee has fallen into the strange +practice of occasionally placing its nest under a bridge, hayshed, or +other artificial structure, where it is subject to all kinds of +interruptions and annoyances. When placed thus, the nest is larger and +coarser. I know a hay-loft beneath which a pair has regularly placed +its nest for several successive seasons. Arranged along on a single +pole, which sags down a few inches from the flooring it was intended +to help support, are three of these structures, marking the number of +years the birds have nested there. The foundation is of mud with a +superstructure of moss, elaborately lined with hair and feathers. +Nothing can be more perfect and exquisite than the interior of one of +these nests, yet a new one is built every season. Three broods, +however, are frequently reared in it. + +The pewees, as a class, are the best architects we have. The kingbird +builds a nest altogether admirable, using various soft cotton and +woolen substances, and sparing neither time nor material to make it +substantial and warm. The green-crested pewee builds its nest in many +instances wholly of the blossoms of the white oak. The wood pewee +builds a neat, compact, socket-shaped nest of moss and lichens on a +horizontal branch. There is never a loose end or shred about it. The +sitting bird is largely visible above the rim. She moves her head +freely about and seems entirely at her ease,--a circumstance which I +have never observed in any other species. The nest of the +great-crested flycatcher is seldom free from snake skins, three or +four being sometimes woven into it. + +About the thinnest, shallowest nest, for its situation, that can be +found is that of the turtle-dove. A few sticks and straws are +carelessly thrown together, hardly sufficient to prevent the eggs form +falling through or rolling off. The nest of the passenger pigeon is +equally hasty and insufficient, and the squabs often fall to the +ground and perish. The other extreme among our common birds is +furnished by the ferruginous thrush, which collects together a mass of +material that would fill a half-bushel measure; or by the fish hawk, +which adds to and repairs its nest year after year, till the whole +would make a cart load. + +One of the rarest of nests is that of the eagle, because the eagle is +one of the rarest of birds. Indeed, so seldom is the eagle seen that +its presence always seems accidental. It appears as if merely pausing +on the way, while bound for some distant unknown region. One +September, while a youth, I saw the ring-tailed eagle, the young of +the golden eagle, an immense, dusky bird, the sight of which filled me +with awe. It lingered about the hills for two days. Some young cattle, +a two-year-old colt, and half a dozen sheep were at pasture on a high +ridge that led up to the mountain, and in plain view of the house. On +the second day this dusky monarch was seen flying about above them. +Presently he began to hover over them, after the manner of a hawk +watching for mice. He then with extended legs let himself slowly down +upon them, actually grappling the backs of the young cattle, and +frightening the creatures so that they rushed about the field in great +consternation; and finally, as he grew bolder and more frequent in his +descents, the whole herd broke over the fence and came tearing down to +the house "like mad." It did not seem to be an assault with intent to +kill, but was perhaps a stratagem resorted to in order to separate the +herd and expose the lambs, which hugged the cattle very closely. When +he occasionally alighted upon the oaks that stood near, the branch +could be seen to sway and bend beneath him. Finally, as a rifleman +started out in pursuit of him, he launched into the air, set his +wings, and sailed away southward. A few years afterward, in January, +another eagle passed through the same locality, alighting in a field +near some dead animal, but tarried briefly. + +So much by way of identification. The golden eagle is common to the +northern parts of both hemispheres, and places its eyrie on high +precipitous rocks. A pair built on an inaccessible shelf of rock along +the Hudson for eight successive years. A squad of Revolutionary +soldiers, also, as related by Audubon, found a nest along this river, +and had an adventure with the bird that came near costing one of their +number his life. His comrades let him down by a rope to secure the +eggs or young, when he was attacked by the female eagle with such fury +that he was obliged to defend himself with his knife. In doing so, by +a misstroke, he nearly severed the rope that held him, and was drawn +up by a single strand from his perilous position. + +The bald eagle, also builds on high rocks, according to Audubon, +though Wilson describes the nest of one which he saw near Great Egg +Harbor, in the top of a large yellow pine. It was a vast pile of +sticks, sods, sedge, grass, reeds, etc., five or six feet high by four +broad, and with little or no concavity. + +It had been used for many years, and he was told that the eagles made +it a sort of home or lodging-place in all seasons. + +The eagle in all cases uses one nest, with more or less repair, for +several years. Many of our common birds do the same. The birds may be +divided, with respect to this and kindred points, into five general +classes. First, those that repair or appropriate the last year's nest, +as the wren, swallow, bluebird, great-crested flycatcher, owls, +eagles, fish hawk, and a few others. Secondly, those that build anew +each season, though frequently rearing more than one brood in the same +nest. Of these the phoebe-bird is a well-know example. Thirdly, those +that build a new nest for each brood, which includes by far the +greatest number of species. Fourthly, a limited number that make no +nest of their own, but appropriate the abandoned nests of other birds. +Finally, those who use no nest at all, but deposit their eggs in the +sand, which is the case with a large number of aquatic fowls. 1866. + + + +V + +SPRING AT THE CAPITAL WITH AN EYE TO THE BIRDS + +I came to Washington to live in the fall of 1863, and, with the +exception of a month each summer spent in the interior of New York, +have lived here ever since. + +I saw my first novelty in Natural History the day after my arrival. +As I was walking near some woods north of the city, a grasshopper of +prodigious size flew up from the ground and alighted in a tree. As I +pursued him, he proved to be nearly as wild and as fleet of wing as a +bird. I thought I had reached the capital of grasshopperdom, and that +this was perhaps one of the chiefs or leaders, or perhaps the great +High Cock O'lorum himself, taking an airing in the fields. I have +never yet been able to settle the question, as every fall I start up a +few of these gigantic specimens, which perch on the trees. They are +about three inches long, of a gray striped or spotted color, and have +quite a reptile look. + +The greatest novelty I found, however, was the superb autumn weather, +the bright, strong, electric days, lasting well into November, and the +general mildness of the entire winter. Though the mercury occasionally +sinks to zero, yet the earth is never so seared and blighted by the +cold but that in some sheltered nook or corner signs of vegetable life +still remain, which on a little encouragement even asserts itself. I +have found wild flowers here every month of the year; violets in +December, a single houstonia in January (the little lump of earth upon +which it stood was frozen hard), and a tiny weed-like plant, with a +flower almost microscopic in its smallness, growing along graveled +walks and in old plowed fields in February. The liverwort sometimes +comes out as early as the first week in March, and the little frogs +begin to pipe doubtfully about the same time. Apricot-trees are +usually in bloom on All-Fool's Day and the apple-trees on May Day. By +August, mother hen will lead forth her third brood, and I had a March +pullet that came off with a family of her own in September. Our +calendar is made for this climate. March is a spring month. One is +quite sure to see some marked and striking change during the first +eight or ten days. This season (1868) is a backward one, and the +memorable change did not come till the 10th. + +Then the sun rose up from a bed of vapors, and seemed fairly to +dissolve with tenderness and warmth. For an hour or two the air was +perfectly motionless, and full of low, humming, awakening sounds. The +naked trees had a rapt, expectant look. From some unreclaimed common +near by came the first strain of the song sparrow; so homely, because +so old and familiar, yet so inexpressibly pleasing. Presently a full +chorus of voices arose, tender, musical, half suppressed, but full of +genuine hilarity and joy. The bluebird warbled, the robin called, the +snowbird chattered, the meadowlark uttered her strong but tender note. +Over a deserted field a turkey buzzard hovered low, and alighted on a +stake in the fence, standing a moment with outstretched, vibrating +wings till he was sure of his hold. A soft, warm, brooding day. Roads +becoming dry in many places, and looking so good after the mud and the +snow. I walk up beyond the boundary and over Meridian Hill. To move +along the drying road and feel the delicious warmth is enough. The +cattle low long and loud, and look wistfully into the distance. I +sympathize with them. Never a spring comes but I have an almost +irresistible desire to depart. Some nomadic or migrating instinct or +reminiscence stirs within me. I ache to be off. + +As I pass along, the high-bole calls in the distance precisely as I +have heard him in the North. After a pause he repeats his summons. +What can be more welcome to the ear than these early first sounds! +They have such a margin of silence! + +One need but pass the boundary of Washington city to be fairly in the +country, and ten minutes' walk in the country brings one to real +primitive woods. The town has not yet overflowed its limits like the +great Northern commercial capitals, and Nature, wild and unkempt, +comes up to its very threshold, and even in many places crosses it. + +The woods, which I soon reach, are stark and still. The signs of +returning life are so faint as to be almost imperceptible, but there +is a fresh, earthy smell in the air, as if something had stirred here +under the leaves. The crows caw above the wood, or walk about the +brown fields. I look at the gray silent trees long and long, but they +show no sign. The catkins of some alders by a little pool have just +swelled perceptibly; and, brushing away the dry leaves and debris on a +sunny slope, I discover the liverwort just pushing up a fuzzy, tender +sprout. But the waters have brought forth. The little frogs are +musical. From every marsh and pool goes up their shrill but pleasing +chorus. Peering into one of their haunts, a little body of +semi-stagnant water, I discover masses of frogs' spawn covering the +bottom. I take up great chunks of the cold, quivering jelly in my +hands. In some places there are gallons of it. A youth who accompanies +me wonders if it would not be good cooked, or if it could not be used +as a substitute for eggs. It is a perfect jelly, of a slightly milky +tinge, thickly imbedded with black spots about the size of a small +bird's eye. When just deposited it is perfectly transparent. These +hatch in eight or ten days, gradually absorb their gelatinous +surroundings, and the tiny tadpoles issue forth. + +In the city, even before the shop-windows have caught the inspiration, +spring is heralded by the silver poplars which line all the streets +and avenues. After a few mild, sunshiny March days, you suddenly +perceive a change has come over the trees. Their tops have a less +naked look. If the weather continues warm, a single day will work +wonders. Presently each tree will be one vast plume of gray, downy +tassels, while not the least speck of green foliage is visible. The +first week of April these long mimic caterpillars lie all about the +streets and fill the gutters. + +The approach of spring is also indicated by the crows and buzzards, +which rapidly multiply in the environs of the city, and grow bold and +demonstrative. The crows are abundant here all winter, but are not +very noticeable except as they pass high in air to and from their +winter quarters in the Virginia woods. Early in the morning, as soon +as it is light enough to discern them, there they are, streaming +eastward across the sky, now in loose, scattered flocks, now in thick +dense masses, then singly and in pairs or triplets, but all setting in +one direction, probably to the waters of eastern Maryland. Toward +night they begin to return, flying in the same manner, and directing +their course to the wooded heights on the Potomac, west of the city. +In spring these diurnal mass movements cease; the clan breaks up, the +rookery is abandoned, and the birds scatter broadcast over the land. +This seems to be the course everywhere pursued. One would think that, +when food was scarcest, the policy of separating into small bands or +pairs, and dispersing over a wide country, would prevail, as a few +might subsist where a larger number would starve. The truth is, +however, that, in winter, food can be had only in certain clearly +defined districts and tracts, as along rivers and the shores of bays +and lakes. + +A few miles north of Newburgh, on the Hudson, the crows go into winter +quarters in the same manner, flying south in the morning and returning +again at night, sometimes hugging the hills so close during a strong +wind as to expose themselves to the clubs and stones of schoolboys +ambushed behind trees and fences. The belated ones, that come laboring +along just at dusk, are often so overcome by the long journey and the +strong current that they seem almost on the point of sinking down +whenever the wind or a rise in the ground calls upon them for an extra +effort. + +The turkey buzzards are noticeable about Washington as soon as the +season begins to open, sailing leisurely along two or three hundred +feet overhead, or sweeping low over some common or open space where, +perchance, a dead puppy or pig or fowl has been thrown. Half a dozen +will sometimes alight about some object out on the commons, and, with +their broad dusky wings lifted up to their full extent, threaten and +chase each other, while perhaps one or two are feeding. Their wings +are very large and flexible, and the slightest motion of them, while +the bird stands upon the ground, suffices to lift its feet clear. +Their movements when in the air are very majestic and beautiful to the +eye, being in every respect identical with those of our common hen or +red-tailed hawk. They sail along in the same calm, effortless, +interminable manner, and sweep around in the same ample spiral. The +shape of their wings and tail, indeed their entire effect against the +sky, except in size and color, is very nearly the same as that of the +hawk mentioned. A dozen at a time may often be seen high in air, +amusing themselves by sailing serenely round and round in the same +circle. + +They are less active and vigilant than the hawk; never poise +themselves on the wing, never dive and gambol in the air, and never +swoop down upon their prey; unlike the hawks also, they appear to have +no enemies. The crow fights the hawk, and the kingbird and the crow +blackbird fight the crow; but neither takes any notice of the buzzard. +He excites the enmity of none, for the reason that he molests none. +The crow has an old grudge against the hawk, because the hawk robs the +crow's nest and carries off his young; the kingbird's quarrel with the +crow is upon the same grounds. But the buzzard never attacks live +game, or feeds upon new flesh when old can be had. + +In May, like the crows, they nearly all disappear very suddenly, +probably to their breeding-haunts near the seashore. Do the males +separate from the females at this time, and go by themselves? At any +rate, in July I discovered that a large number of buzzards roosted in +some woods near Rock Creek, about a mile from the city limits; and, as +they do not nest anywhere in this vicinity, I thought they might be +males. I happened to be detained late in the woods, watching the nest +of a flying squirrel, when the buzzards, just after sundown, began to +come by ones and twos and alight in the trees near me. Presently they +came in greater numbers, but from the same direction, flapping low +over the woods, and taking up their position in the middle branches. +On alighting, each one would blow very audibly through his nose, just +as a cow does when she lies down; this is the only sound I have ever +heard the buzzard make. They would then stretch themselves, after the +manner of turkeys, and walk along the limbs. Sometimes a decayed +branch would break under the weight of two or three, when, with a +great flapping, the would take up new positions. They continued to +come till it was quite dark, and all the trees about me were full. I +began to feel a little nervous, but kept my place. After it was +entirely dark and all was still, I gathered a large pile of dry leaves +and kindled it with a match, to see what they would think of a fire. +Not a sound was heard till the pile of leaves was in full blaze, when +instantaneously every buzzard started. I thought the treetops were +coming down upon me, so great was the uproar. But the woods were soon +cleared, and the loathsome pack disappeared in the night. + +About the 1st of June I saw numbers of buzzards sailing around over +the great Falls of the Potomac. + +A glimpse of the birds usually found here in the latter part of winter +may be had in the following extract, which I take from my diary under +date of February 4th:-- + +"Made a long excursion through the woods and over the hills. Went +directly north from the Capitol for about three miles. The ground bare +and the day cold and sharp. In the suburbs, among the scattered Irish +and negro shanties, came suddenly upon a flock of birds, feeding about +like our northern snow buntings. Every now and then they uttered a +piping, disconsolate note, as if they had a very sorry time of it. +They proved to be shore larks, the first I had ever seen. They had the +walk characteristic of all larks; were a little larger than the +sparrow; had a black spot on the breast, with much white on the under +parts of their bodies. As I approached them the nearer ones paused, +and, half squatting, eyed me suspiciously. Presently, at a movement of +my arm, away they went, flying exactly like the snow bunting, and +showing nearly as much white." (I have since discovered that the shore +lark is a regular visitant here in February and March, when large +quantities of them are shot or trapped, and exposed for sale in the +market. During a heavy snow I have seen numbers of them feeding upon +the seeds of various weedy growths in a large market-garden well into +town.) "Pressing on, the walk became exhilarating. Followed a little +brook, the eastern branch of the Tiber, lined with bushes and a rank +growth of green-brier. Sparrows started out here and there, and flew +across the little bends and points. Among some pines just beyond the +boundary, saw a number of American goldfinches, in their gray winter +dress, pecking the pinecones. A golden-crowned kinglet was there also, +a little tuft of gray feathers, hopping about as restless as a spirit. +Had the old pine-trees food delicate enough for him also? Farther on, +in some low open woods, saw many sparrows,--the fox, white-throated, +white-crowned, the Canada, the song, the swamp,--all herding together +along the warm and sheltered borders. To my surprise, saw a chewink +also, and the yellow-rumped warbler. The purple finch was there +likewise, and the Carolina wren and brown creeper. In the higher, +colder woods not a bird was to be seen. Returning, near sunset, across +the eastern slope of a hill which overlooked the city, was delighted +to see a number of grass finches or vesper sparrows,--birds which +will be forever associated in my mind with my father's sheep pastures. +They ran before me, now flitting a pace or two, now skulking in the +low stubble, just as I had observed them when a boy." + +A month later, March 4th, is this note:-- + +"After the second memorable inaguration of President Lincoln, took my +first trip of the season. The afternoon was very clear and warm,--real +vernal sunshine at last, though the wind roared like a lion over the +woods. It seemed novel enough to find within two miles of the White +House a simple woodsman chopping away as if no President was being +inaugurated! Some puppies, snugly nestled in the cavity of an old +hollow tree, he said, belonged to a wild dog. I imagine I saw the +'wild dog,' on the other side of Rock Creek, in a great state of grief +and trepidation, running up and down, crying and yelping, and looking +wistfully over the swollen flood, which the poor thing had not the +courage to brave. This day, for the first time, I heard the song of +the Canada sparrow, a soft, sweet note, almost running into a warble. +Saw a small, black velvety butterfly with a yellow border to its +wings. Under a warm bank found two flowers of the houstonia in bloom. +Saw frogs' spawn near Piny Branch, and heard the hyla." + +Among the first birds that make their appearance in Washington is the +crow blackbird. He may come any time after the 1st of March. The birds +congregate in large flocks, and frequent groves and parks, alternately +swarming in the treetops and filling the air with their sharp jangle, +and alighting on the ground in quest of food, their polished coats +glistening in the sun from very blackness as they walk about. There is +evidently some music in the soul of this bird at this season, though +he makes a sad failure in getting it out. His voice always sounds as +if he were laboring under a severe attack of influenza, though a large +flock of them, heard at a distance on a bright afternoon of early +spring, produce an effect not unpleasing. The air is filled with +crackling, splintering, spurting, semi-musical sounds, which are like +pepper and salt to the ear. + +All parks and public grounds about the city are full of blackbirds. +They are especially plentiful in the trees about the White House, +breeding there and waging war on all other birds. The occupants of one +of the offices in the west wing of the Treasury one day had their +attention attracted by some object striking violently against one of +the window-panes. Looking up, they beheld a crow blackbird pausing in +midair, a few feet from the window. On the broad stone window-sill lay +the quivering form of a purple finch. The little tragedy was easily +read. The blackbird had pursued the finch with such murderous violence +that the latter, in its desperate efforts to escape, had sought refuge +in the Treasury. The force of the concussion against the heavy +plateglass of the window had killed the poor thing instantly. The +pursuer, no doubt astonished at the sudden and novel termination of +the career of its victim, hovered for a moment, as if to be sure of +what had happened, and made off. + +(It is not unusual for birds, when thus threatened with destruction by +their natural enemy, to become so terrified as to seek safety in the +presence of man. I was once startled, while living in a country +village, to behold, on entering my room at noon, one October day, a +quail sitting upon my bed. The affrighted and bewildered bird +instantly started for the open window, into which it had no doubt been +driven by a hawk.) + +The crow blackbird has all the natural cunning of his prototype, the +crow. In one of the inner courts of the Treasury building there is a +fountain with several trees growing near. By midsummer the blackbirds +became so bold as to venture within this court. Various fragments of +food, tossed from the surrounding windows, reward their temerity. When +a crust of dry bread defies their beaks, they have been seen to drop +it into the water, and, when it has become soaked sufficiently, to +take it out again. + +They build a nest of coarse sticks and mud, the whole burden of the +enterprise seeming to devolve upon the female. For several successive +mornings, just after sunrise, I used to notice a pair of them flying +to and fro in the air above me as I hoed in the garden, directing +their course about half a mile distant, and disappearing, on their +return, among the trees about the Capitol. Returning, the female +always had her beak loaded with building material, while the male, +carrying nothing, seemed to act as her escort, flying a little above +and in advance of her, and uttering now and then his husky, discordant +note. As I tossed a lump of earth up at them, the frightened mother +bird dropped her mortar, and the pair scurried away, much put out. +Later they avenged themselves by pilfering my cherries. + +The most mischievous enemies of the cherries, however, here as at the +North, are the cedar waxwings, or "cherry-birds." How quickly they spy +out the tree! Long before the cherry begins to turn, they are around, +alert and cautious. In small flocks they circle about, high in the +air, uttering their fine note, or plunge quickly into the tops of +remote trees. Day by day they approach nearer and nearer, +reconnoitring the premises, and watching the growing fruit. Hardly +have the green lobes turned a red cheek to the sun, before their beaks +have scarred it. At first they approach the tree stealthily, on the +side turned from the house, diving quickly into the branches in ones +and twos, while the main flock is ambushed in some shade tree not far +off. They are most apt to commit their depredations very early in the +morning and on cloudy, rainy days. As the cherries grow sweeter the +birds grow bolder, till, from throwing tufts of grass, one has to +throw stones in good earnest, or lose all his fruit. In June they +disappear, following the cherries to the north, where by July they are +nesting in the orchards and cedar groves. + +Among the permanent summer residents here (one might say city +residents, as they seem more abundant in town than out), the yellow +warbler or summer yellowbird is conspicuous. He comes about the middle +of April, and seems particularly attached to the silver poplars. In +every street, and all day long, one may hear his thin, sharp warble. +When nesting, the female comes about the yard, pecking at the +clothes-line, and gathering up bits of thread to weave into her nest. + +Swallows appear in Washington form the first to the middle of April. +They come twittering along in the way so familiar to every New England +boy. The barn swallow is heard first, followed in a day or two by the +squeaking of the cliff swallow. The chimney swallows, or swifts, are +not far behind, and remain here in large numbers, the whole season. +The purple martins appear in April, as they pass north, and again in +July and August on their return, accompanied by their young. + +The national capital is situated in such a vast spread of wild, +wooded, or semi-cultivated country and is in itself so open and +spacious, with its parks and large government reservations, that an +unusual number of birds find their way into it in the course of the +season. Rare warblers, as the black-poll, the yellow-poll, and the +bay-breasted, pausing in May on their northward journey, pursue their +insect game in the very heart of the town. + +I have heard the veery thrush in the trees near the White House; and +one rainy April morning, about six o'clock, he came and blew his soft, +mellow flute in a pear-tree in my garden. The tones had all the +sweetness and wildness they have when heard in June in our deep +northern forests. A day or two afterward, in the same tree, I heard +for the first time the song of the ruby-crowned wren, or kinglet,--the +same liquid bubble and cadence which characterize the wren-songs +generally, but much finer and more delicate than the song of any other +variety known to me; beginning in a fine, round, needle-like note, and +rising into a full, sustained warble, [SYMBOL DELETED] a strain, on +whole, remarkably exquisite and pleasing, the singer being all the +while as busy as a bee, catching some kind of insects. It is certainly +on of our most beautiful bird-songs, and Audubon's enthusiasm +concerning its song, as he heard it in the wilds of Labrador, is not a +bit extravagant. The song of the kinglet is the only characteristic +that allies it to the wrens. + +The Capitol grounds, with their fine large trees of many varieties, +draw many kinds of birds. In the rear of the building the extensive +grounds are peculiarly attractive, being a gentle slope, warm and +protected, and quite thickly wooded. Here in early spring I go to hear +the robins, catbirds, blackbirds, wrens, etc. In March the +white-throated and white-crowned sparrows may be seen, hopping about +on the flower-beds or peering slyly from the evergreens. The robin +hops about freely upon the grass, notwithstanding the keepers +large-lettered warning, and at intervals, and especially at sunset, +carols from the treetops his loud, hearty strain. + +The kingbird and orchard starling remain the whole season, and breed +in the treetops. The rich, copious song of the starling may be heard +there all the forenoon. The song of some birds is like +scarlet,--strong, intense, emphatic. This is the character of the +orchard starlings, also the tanagers and the various grosbeaks. On the +other hand, the songs of other birds, as of certain of the thrushes, +suggest the serene blue of the upper sky. + +In February one may hear, in the Smithsonian grounds, the song of the +fox sparrow. It is a strong, richly modulated whistle,--the finest +sparrow note I have ever heard. + +A curious and charming sound may be heard here in May. You are +walking forth in the soft morning air, when suddenly there comes a +burst of bobolink melody form some mysterious source. A score of +throats pour out one brief, hilarious, tuneful jubilee and are +suddenly silent. There is a strange remoteness and fascination about +it. Presently you will discover its source skyward, and a quick eye +will detect the gay band pushing northward. They seem to scent the +fragrant meadows afar off, and shout forth snatches of their songs in +anticipation. + +The bobolink does not breed in the District, but usually pauses in his +journey and feeds during the day in the grass-lands north of the city. +When the season is backward, they tarry a week or ten days, singing +freely and appearing quite at home. In large flocks they search over +every inch of ground, and at intervals hover on the wing or alight in +the treetops, all pouring forth their gladness at once, and filling +the air with a multitudinous musical clamor. + +They continue to pass, traveling by night and feeding by day, till +after the middle of May, when they cease. In September, with numbers +greatly increased, they are on their way back. I am first advised of +their return by hearing their calls at night as they fly over the +city. On certain nights the sound becomes quite noticeable. I have +awakened in the middle of the night, and, through the open window, as +I lay in bed, heard their faint notes. The warblers begin to return +about the same time, and are clearly distinguished by their timid +yeaps. On dark, cloudy nights the birds seem confused by the lights of +the city, and apparently wander about above it. + +In the spring the same curious incident is repeated, though but few +voices can be identified. I make out the snowbird, the bobolink, the +warblers, and on two nights during the early part of May I heard very +clearly the call of the sandpipers. + +Instead of the bobolink, one encounters here, in the June meadows, the +black-throated bunting, a bird very closely related to the sparrows +and a very persistent if not a very musical songster. He perches upon +the fences and upon the trees by the roadside, and, spreading his +tail, gives forth his harsh strain, which may be roughly worded thus: +fscp fscp, fee fee fee. Like all sounds associated with early summer, +it soon has a charm to the ear quite independent of its intrinsic +merits. + +Outside of the city limits, the great point of interest to the rambler +and lover of nature is the Rock Creek region. Rock Creek is a large, +rough, rapid stream, which has its source in the interior of Maryland, +and flows in to the Potomac between Washington and Georgetown. Its +course, for five or six miles out of Washington, is marked by great +diversity of scenery. Flowing in a deep valley, which now and then +becomes a wild gorge with overhanging rocks and high precipitous +headlands, for the most part wooded; here reposing in long, dark +reaches, there sweeping and hurrying around a sudden bend or over a +rocky bed; receiving at short intervals small runs and spring +rivulets, which open up vistas and outlooks to the right and left, of +the most charming description,--Rock Creek has an abundance of all the +elements that make up not only pleasing but wild and rugged scenery. +There is perhaps, not another city in the Union that has on its very +threshold so much natural beauty and grandeur, such as men seek for in +remote forests and mountains. A few touches of art would convert this +whole region, extending from Georgetown to what is known as Crystal +Springs, not more than two miles from the present State Department, +into a park unequaled by anything in the world. There are passages +between these two points as wild and savage, and apparently as remote +from civilization, as anything one meets with in the mountain sources +of the Hudson or the Delaware. + +One of the tributaries to Rock Creek within this limit is called Piny +Branch. It is a small, noisy brook, flowing through a valley of great +natural beauty and picturesqueness, shaded nearly all the way by woods +of oak, chestnut, and beech, and abounding in dark recesses and hidden +retreats. + +I must not forget to mention the many springs with which this whole +region is supplied, each the centre of some wild nook, perhaps the +head of a little valley one or two hundred yards long, through which +one catches a glimpse, or hears the voice, of the main creek rushing +along below. + +My walks tend in this direction more frequently than in any other. +Here the boys go, too, troops of them, of a Sunday, to bathe and prowl +around, and indulge the semi-barbarous instincts that still lurk +within them. Life, in all its forms, is most abundant near water. The +rank vegetation nurtures the insects, and the insects draw the birds. +The first week in March, on some southern slope where the sunshine +lies warm and long, I usually find the hepatica in bloom, though with +scarcely an inch of stalk. In the spring runs, the skunk cabbage +pushes its pike up through the mould, the flower appearing first, as +if Nature had made a mistake. + +It is not till about the 1st of April that many wild flowers may be +looked for. By this time the hepatica, anemone saxifrage, arbutus, +houstonia, and bloodroot may be counted on. A week later, the +claytonia or spring beauty, water-cress, violets, a low buttercup, +vetch, corydalis, and potentilla appear. These comprise most of the +April flowers, and may be found in great profusion in the Rock Creek +and Piny Branch region. + +In each little valley or spring run, some one species predominates. I +know invariably where to look for the first liverwort, and where the +largest and finest may be found. On a dry, gravelly, half-wooded +hill-slope the bird's-foot violet grows in great abundance, and is +sparse in neighboring districts. This flower, which I never saw in the +North, is the most beautiful and showy of all the violets, and calls +forth rapturous applause from all persons who visit the woods. It +grows in little groups and clusters, and bears a close resemblance to +the pansies of the gardens. Its two purple, velvety petals seem to +fall over tiny shoulders like a rich cape. + +On the same slope, and on no other, I go about the 1st of May for +lupine, or sun-dial, which makes the ground look blue from a little +distance; on the other or northern side of the slope, the arbutus, +during the first half of April, perfumes the wildwood air. A few paces +farther on, in the bottom of a little spring run, the mandrake shades +the ground with its miniature umbrellas. It begins to push its green +finger-points up through the ground by the 1st of April, but is not in +bloom till the 1st of May. It has a single white, wax-like flower, +with a sweet, sickish odor, growing immediately beneath its broad +leafy top. By the same run grow watercresses and two kinds of +anemones,--the Pennsylvania and the grove anemone. The bloodroot is +very common at the foot of almost every warm slope in the Rock Creek +woods, and, where the wind has tucked it up well with the coverlid of +dry leaves, makes its appearance almost as soon as the liverwort. it +is singular how little warmth is necessary to encourage these earlier +flowers to put forth. It would seem as if some influence must come on +in advance underground and get things ready, so that, when the outside +temperature is propitious, they at once venture out. I have found the +bloodroot when it was still freezing two or three nights in the week, +and have known at least three varieties of early flowers to be buried +in eight inches of snow. + +Another abundant flower in the Rock Creek region is the spring beauty. +Like most others, it grows in streaks. A few paces from where your +attention is monopolized by violets or arbutus, it is arrested by the +claytonia, growing in such profusion that it is impossible to set the +foot down without crushing the flowers. Only the forenoon walker sees +them in all their beauty, as later in the day their eyes are closed, +and their pretty heads drooped in slumber. In only one locality do I +find the lady's-slipper,--a yellow variety. The flowers that overleap +all bounds in this section are the houstonias. By the 1st of April +they are very noticeable in warm, damp places along the borders of the +woods and in half-cleared fields, but by May these localities are +clouded with them. They become visible from the highway across wide +fields, and look like little puffs of smoke clinging close to the +ground. + +On the 1st of May I go to the Rock Creek or Piny Branch region to hear +the wood thrush. I always find him by this date leisurely chanting his +lofty strain; other thrushes are seen now also, or even earlier, as +Wilson's, the olive-backed, the hermit,--the two latter silent, but +the former musical. + +Occasionally in the earlier part of May I find the woods literally +swarming with warblers, exploring every branch and leaf, from the +tallest tulip to the lowest spice-bush, so urgent is the demand for +food during their long northern journeys. At night they are up and +away. Some varieties, as the blue yellow-back, the chestnut-sided, and +the Blackburnian, during their brief stay, sing nearly as freely as in +their breeding-haunts. For two or three years I have chanced to meet +little companies of the bay-breasted warbler, searching for food in an +oak wood on an elevated piece of ground. They kept well up among the +branches, were rather slow in their movements, and evidently disposed +to tarry but a short time. + +The summer residents here, belonging to this class of birds, are few. +I have observed the black and white creeping warbler, the Kentucky +warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the redstart, and the gnat-catcher, +breeding near Rock Creek. + +Of these the Kentucky warbler is by far the most interesting, though +quite rare. I meet with him in low, damp places in the woods, usually +on the steep sides of some little run. I hear at intervals a clear, +strong, bell-like whistle or warble, and presently catch a glimpse of +the bird as he jumps up from the ground to take an insect or worm from +the under side of a leaf. This is his characteristic movement. He +belongs to the class of ground warblers, and his range is very low, +indeed lower than that of any other species with which I am +acquainted. He is on the ground nearly all the time, moving rapidly +along, taking spiders and bugs, overturning leaves, peeping under +sticks and into crevices, and every now and then leaping up eight or +ten inches to take his game from beneath some overhanging leaf or +branch. Thus each species has its range more or less marked. Draw a +line three feet from the ground, and you mark the usual limit of the +Kentucky warbler's quest for food. Six or eight feet higher bounds the +usual range of such birds as the worm-eating warbler, the mourning +ground warbler, the Maryland yellow-throat. The lower branches of the +higher growths and the higher branches of the lower growths are +plainly preferred by the black-throated blue-backed warbler in those +localities where he is found. The thrushes feed mostly on and near the +ground, while some of the vireos and the true flycatchers explore the +highest branches. But the warblers, as a rule, are all partial to +thick, rank undergrowths. + +The Kentucky warbler is a large bird for the genus and quite notable +in appearance. His back is clear olive-green, his throat and breast +bright yellow. A still more prominent feature is a black streak on the +side of the face, extending down the neck. + +Another familiar bird here, which I never met with in the North, is +the gnatcatcher, called by Audubon the blue-gray flycatching warbler. +In form and manner it seems almost a duplicate of the catbird on a +small scale. It mews like a young kitten, erects its tail, flirts, +droops its wings, goes through a variety of motions when disturbed by +your presence, and in many ways recalls its dusky prototype. Its color +above is a light gray-blue, gradually fading till it becomes white on +the breast and belly. It is a very small bird, and has a long, facile, +slender tail. Its song is a lisping, chattering, incoherent warble, +now faintly reminding one of the goldfinch, now of a miniature +catbird, then of a tiny yellow-hammer, having much variety, but no +unity and little cadence. + +Another bird which has interested me here is the Louisiana water +thrush, called also large-billed water-thrush, and water-wagtail. It +is one of a trio of birds which has confused the ornithologists much. +The other two species are the well-known golden-crowned thrush or +wood-wagtail, and the northern, or small, water-thrush. + +The present species, though not abundant, is frequently met with along +Rock Creek. It is a very quick, vivacious bird, and belongs to the +class of ecstatic singers. I have seen a pair of these thrushes, on a +bright May day, flying to and fro between two spring runs, alighting +at intermediate points, the male breaking out into one of the most +exuberant, unpremeditated strains I ever heard. Its song is a sudden +burst, beginning with three or four clear round notes much resembling +certain tones of the clarinet, and terminating in a rapid, intricate +warble. + +This bird resembles a thrush only in its color, which is olive-brown +above and grayish white beneath, with speckled throat and breast. Its +habits, manners, and voice suggest those of a lark. + +I seldom go the Rock Creek route without being amused and sometimes +annoyed by the yellow-breasted chat. This bird also has something of +the manners and build of the catbird, yet he is truly an original. The +catbird is mild and feminine compared with this rollicking polyglot. +His voice is very loud and strong and quite uncanny. No sooner have +you penetrated his retreat, which is usually a thick undergrowth in +low, wet localities, near the woods or in old fields, than he begins +his serenade, which for the variety, grotesqueness, and uncouthness of +the notes is not unlike a country skimmerton. If one passes directly +along, the bird may scarcely break the silence. But pause a while, or +loiter quietly about, and your presence stimulates him to do his best. +He peeps quizzically at you from beneath the branches, and gives a +sharp feline mew. In a moment more he says very distinctly, who, who. +Then in rapid succession follow notes the most discordant that ever +broke the sylvan silence. Now he barks like a puppy, then quacks like +a duck, then rattles like a kingfisher, then squalls like a fox, then +caws like a crow, then mews like a cat. Now he calls as if to be heard +a long way off, then changes his key, as if addressing the spectator. +Though very shy, and carefully keeping himself screened when you show +any disposition to get a better view, he will presently, if you remain +quiet, ascend a twig, or hop out on a branch in plain sight, lop his +tail, droop his wings, cock his head, and become very melodramatic. In +less than half a minute he darts into the bushes again, and again +tunes up, no Frenchman rolling his r's so fluently. c-r-r-r-r-r +--Wrrr,--that's it,--chee,--quack, cluck,--yit-yit-yit,--now hit +it,--tr-r-r-r,--when,--caw,caw,--cut, cut,--tea-boy,--who, who,--mew, +mew,--and so on till you are tired of listening. Observing one very +closely one day, I discovered that he was limited to six notes or +changes, which he went through in regular order, scarcely varying a +note in a dozen repetitions. Sometimes, when a considerable distance +off, he will fly down to have a nearer view of you. And such curious, +expressive flight,--legs extended, head lowered, wings rapidly +vibrating, the whole action piquant and droll! + +The chat is an elegant bird, both in form and color. Its plumage is +remarkably firm and compact. Color above, light olive-green; beneath, +bright yellow; beak, black and strong. + +The cardinal grosbeak, or Virginia redbird, is quite common in the +same localities, though more inclined to seek the woods. It is much +sought after by bird fanciers, and by boy gunners, and consequently is +very shy. This bird suggests a British redcoat; his heavy, pointed +beak, his high cockade, the black stripe down his face, the expression +of weight and massiveness about his head and neck, and his erect +attitude, give him a decided soldier-like appearance; and there is +something of the tone of the fife in his song or whistle, while his +ordinary note, when disturbed, is like the clink of a sabre. +Yesterday, as I sat indolently swinging in the loop of a grapevine, +beneath a thick canopy of green branches, in a secluded nook by a +spring run, one of these birds came pursuing some kind of insect, but +a few feet above me. He hopped about, now and then uttering his sharp +note, till some moth or beetle trying to escape, he broke down through +the cover almost where I sat. The effect was like a firebrand coming +down through the branches. Instantly catching sight of me, he darted +away much alarmed. The female is tinged with brown, and shows but a +little red except when she takes flight. + +By far the most abundant species of woodpecker about Washington is the +red-headed. It is more common than the robin. Not in the deep woods, +but among the scattered dilapidated oaks and groves, on the hills and +in the fields, I hear almost every day his uncanny note, ktr-r-r, +ktr-r-r, like that of some larger tree-toad, proceeding from an oak +grove just beyond the boundary. He is a strong-scented fellow, and +very tough. Yet how beautiful, as he flits about the open woods, +connecting the trees by a gentle arc of crimson and white! This is +another bird with a military look. His deliberate, dignified ways, and +his bright uniform of red, white, and steel-blue, bespeak him an +officer of rank. + +Another favorite beat of mine is northeast of the city. Looking from +the Capitol in this direction, scarcely more than a mile distant, you +see a broad green hill-slope, falling very gently, and spreading into +a large expanse of meadow-land. The summit, if so gentle a swell of +greensward may be said to have a summit, is covered with a grove of +large oaks; and, sweeping black out of sight like a mantle, the front +line of a thick forest bounds the sides. This emerald landscape is +seen from a number of points in the city. Looking along New York +Avenue from Northern Liberty Market, the eye glances, as it were, from +the red clay of the street, and alights upon this fresh scene in the +distance. It is a standing invitation to the citizen to come forth and +be refreshed. As I turn from some hot, hard street, how inviting it +looks! I bathe my eyes in it as in a fountain. Sometimes troops of +cattle are seen grazing upon it. In June the gathering of the hay may +be witnessed. When the ground is covered with snow, numerous stacks, +or clusters of stacks, are still left for the eye to contemplate. + +The woods which clothe the east side of this hill, and sweep away to +the east, are among the most charming to be found in the District. The +main growth is oak and chestnut, with a thin sprinkling of laurel, +azalea, and dogwood. It is the only locality in which I have found the +dogtooth violet in bloom, and the best place I know of to gather +arbutus. On one slope the ground is covered with moss, through which +the arbutus trails its glories. + +Emerging from these woods toward the city, one sees the white dome of +the Capitol soaring over the green swell of earth immediately in +front, and lifting its four thousand tons of iron gracefully and +lightly into the air. Of all the sights in Washington, that which will +survive the longest in my memory is the vision of the great dome thus +rising cloud-like above the hills. + + 1868. + + + +VI + +BIRCH BROWSINGS + +The region of which I am about to speak lies in the southern part of +the state of New York, and comprises parts of three counties,--Ulster, +Sullivan and Delaware. It is drained by tributaries of both the Hudson +and Delaware, and, next to the Adirondack section, contains more wild +land than any other tract in the State. The mountains which traverse +it, and impart to it its severe northern climate, belong properly to +the Catskill range. On some maps of the State they are called the Pine +Mountains, though with obvious local impropriety, as pine, so far as I +have observed, is nowhere found upon them. "Birch Mountains" would be +a more characteristic name, as on their summits birch is the +prevailing tree. They are the natural home of the black and yellow +birch, which grow here to unusual size. On their sides beech and maple +abound; while, mantling their lower slopes and darkening the valleys, +hemlock formerly enticed the lumberman and tanner. Except in remote or +inaccessible localities, the latter tree is now almost never found. In +Shandaken and along the Esopus it is about the only product the +country yielded, or is likely to yield. Tanneries by the score have +arisen and flourished upon the bark, and some of them still remain. +Passing through that region the present season, I saw that the few +patches of hemlock that still lingered high up on the sides of the +mountains were being felled and peeled, the fresh white boles or the +trees, just stripped of their bark, being visible a long distance. + +Among these mountains there are no sharp peaks, or abrupt declivities, +as in a volcanic region, but long, uniform ranges, heavily timbered to +their summits, and delighting the eye with vast, undulating horizon +lines. Looking south from the heights about the head of the Delaware, +one sees, twenty miles away, a continual succession of blue ranges, +one behind the other. If a few large trees are missing on the sky +line, one can see the break a long distance off. + +Approaching this region from the Hudson River side, you cross a rough, +rolling stretch of country, skirting the base of the Catskills, which +from a point near Saugerties sweep inland; after a drive of a few +hours you are within the shadow of a high, bold mountain, which forms +a sort of butt-end to this part of the range, and which is simple +called High Point. To the east and southeast it slopes down rapidly to +the plain, and looks defiance toward the Hudson, twenty miles distant; +in the rear of it, and radiating from it west and northwest, are +numerous smaller ranges, backing up, as it were, this haughty chief. + +From this point through to Pennsylvania, a distance of nearly one +hundred miles, stretches the tract of which I speak. It is a belt of +country from twenty to thirty miles wide, bleak and wild, and but +sparsely settled. The traveler on the New York and Erie Railroad gets +a glimpse of it. + +Many cold, rapid trout streams, which flow to all points of the +compass, have their source in the small lakes and copious mountain +springs of this region. The names of some of them are Mill Brook, Dry +Brook, Willewemack, Beaver Kill, Elk Bush Kill, Panther Kill, +Neversink, Big Ingin, and Callikoon. Beaver Kill is the main outlet on +the west. It joins the Deleware in the wilds of Hancock. The Neversink +lays open the region to the south, and also joins the Delaware. To the +east, various Kills unite with the Big Ingin to form the Esopus, which +flows into the Hudson. Dry Brook and Mill Brook, both famous trout +streams, from twelve to fifteen miles long, find their way into the +Delaware. + +The east or Pepacton branch of the Delaware itself takes its rise near +here in a deep pass between the mountains. I have many times drunk at +a copious spring by the roadside, where the infant river first sees +the light. A few yards beyond, the water flows the other way, +directing its course through the Bear Kill and Schoharie Kill into the +Mohawk. + +Such game and wild animals as still linger in the State are found in +this region. Bears occasionally make havoc among the sheep. The +clearings at the head of a valley are oftenest the scene of their +depredations. + +Wild pigeons, in immense numbers used to breed regularly in the valley +of the Big Ingin and about the head of the Neversink. The treetops for +miles were full of their nests, while the going and coming of the old +birds kept up a constant din. But the gunners soon got wind of it, and +from far and near were wont to pour in during the spring, and to +slaughter both old and young. This practice soon had the effect of +driving the pigeons all away, and now only a few pairs breed in these +woods. + +Deer are still met with, though they are becoming scarcer every year. +Last winter near seventy head were killed on the Beaver Kill alone. I +heard of one wretch, who, finding the deer snowbound, walked up to +them on his snowshoes, and one morning before breakfast slaughtered +six, leaving their carcasses where they fell. There are traditions of +persons having been smitten blind or senseless when about to commit +some heinous offense, but the fact that this villain escaped without +some such visitation throws discredit on all such stories. + +The great attraction, however, of this region, is the brook trout, +with which the streams and lakes abound. The water is of excessive +coldness, the thermometer indicating 44° and 45°in the springs, and +47° or 48° in the smaller streams. The trout are generally small, but +in the more remote branches their number is very great. In such +localities the fish are quite black, but in the lakes they are of a +lustre and brilliancy impossible to describe. + +These waters have been much visited of late years by fishing parties, +and the name of the Beaver Kill is now a potent name among New York +sportsmen. + +One lake, in the wilds of Callikoon, abounds in a peculiar species of +white sucker, which is of excellent quality. It is taken only in +spring, during the spawning season, at the time "when the leaves are +as big as a chipmunk's ears." The fish run up the small streams and +inlets, beginning at nightfall, and continuing till the channel is +literally packed with them, and every inch of space is occupied. The +fishermen pounce upon them at such times, and scoop them up by the +bushel, usually wading right into the living mass and landing the fish +with their hands. A small party will often secure in this manner a +wagon-load of fish. Certain conditions of the weather, as a warm south +or southwest wind, are considered most favorable for the fish to run. + +Though familiar all my life with the outskirts of this region, I have +only twice dipped into its wilder portions. Once in 1860 a friend and +myself traced the Beaver Kill to its source, and encamped by Balsam +Lake. A cold and protracted rainstorm coming on, we were obliged to +leave the woods before we were ready. Neither of us will soon forget +that tramp by an unknown route over the mountains, encumbered as we +were with a hundred and one superfluities which we had foolishly +brought along to solace ourselves with in the woods; nor that halt on +the summit, where we cooked and ate our fish in the drizzling rain; +nor, again, that rude log house, with its sweet hospitality, which we +reached just at nightfall on Mill Brook. + +In 1868 a party of three of us set out for a brief trouting excursion +to a body of water called Thomas's Lake, situated in the same chain of +mountains. On this excursion, more particularly than on any other I +have ever undertaken, I was taught how poor an Indian I should make, +and what a ridiculous figure a party of men may cut in the woods when +the way is uncertain and the mountains high. + +We left our team at a farmhouse near the head of the Mill Brook, one +June afternoon, and with knapsacks on our shoulders struck into the +woods at the base of the mountain, hoping to cross the range that +intervened between us and the lake by sunset. We engaged a +good-natured but rather indolent young man, who happened to be +stopping at the house, and who had carried a knapsack in the Union +armies, to pilot us a couple of miles into the woods so as to guard +against any mistakes at the outset. It seemed the easiest thing in the +world to find the lake. The lay of the land was so simple, according +to accounts, that I felt sure I could go it in the dark. "Go up this +little brook to its source on the side of the mountain," they said. +"The valley that contains the lake heads directly on the other side." +What could be easier! But on a little further inquiry, they said we +should "bear well to the left" when we reached the top of the +mountain. This opened the doors again; "bearing well to the left" was +an uncertain performance in strange woods. We might bear so well to +the left that it would bring us ill. But why bear to the left at all, +if the lake was directly opposite? Well, not quite opposite; a little +to the left. There were two or three other valleys that headed in near +there. We could easily find the right one. But to make assurance +doubly sure, we engaged a guide, as stated, to give us a good start, +and go with us beyond the bearing-to-the-left point. He had been to +the lake the winter before and knew the way. Our course, the first +half hour, was along an obscure wood-road which had been used for +drawing ash logs off mountain in winter. There was some hemlock, but +more maple and birch. The woods were dense and free from underbrush, +the ascent gradual. Most of the way we kept the voice of the creek in +our ear on the right. I approached it once, and found it swarming with +trout. The water was as cold as one ever need wish. After a while the +ascent grew steeper, the creek became a mere rill that issued from +beneath loose, moss-covered rocks and stones, and with much labor and +puffing we drew ourselves up the rugged declivity. Every mountain has +its steepest point, which is usually near the summit, in keeping, I +suppose, with the providence that makes the darkest hour just before +day. It is steep, steeper, steepest, till you emerge on the smooth +level or gently rounded space at the top, which the old ice-gods +polished off so long ago. + +We found this mountain had a hollow in its back where the ground was +soft and swampy. Some gigantic ferns, which we passed through, came +nearly to our shoulders. We passed also several patches of swamp +honeysuckles, red with blossoms. + +Our guide at length paused on a big rock where the land begin to dip +down the other way, and concluded that he had gone far enough, and +that we would now have no difficulty in finding the lake. "It must lie +right down there," he said pointing with his hand. But it was plain +that he was not quite sure in his own mind. He had several times +wavered in his course, and had shown considerable embarrassment when +bearing to the left across the summit. Still we thought little of it. +We were full of confidence, and bidding him adieu, plunged down the +mountain-side, following a spring run that we had no doubt left to the +lake. + +In these woods, which had a southeastern exposure, I first began to +notice the wood thrush. In coming up the other side, I had not seen a +feather of any kind, or heard a note. Now the golden trillide-de of +the wood thrush sounded through the silent woods. While looking for a +fish-pole about halfway down the mountain, I saw a thrush's nest in a +little sapling about ten feet from the ground. + +After continuing our descent till our only guide, the spring run, +became quite a trout brook, and its tiny murmur a loud brawl, we began +to peer anxiously through the trees for a glimpse of the lake, or for +some conformation of the land that would indicate its proximity. An +object which we vaguely discerned in looking under the near trees and +over the more distant ones proved, on further inspection, to be a +patch of plowed ground. Presently we made out a burnt fallow near it. +This was a wet blanket to our enthusiasm. No lake, no sport, no trout +for supper that night. The rather indolent young man had either played +us a trick, or, as seemed more likely, had missed the way. We were +particularly anxious to be at the lake between sundown and dark, as at +that time the trout jump most freely. + +Pushing on, we soon emerged into a stumpy field, at the head of a +steep valley, which swept around toward the west. About two hundred +rods below us was a rude log house, with smoke issuing from the +chimney. A boy came out and moved toward the spring with a pail in his +hand. We shouted to him, when he turned and ran back into the house +without pausing to reply. In a moment the whole family hastily rushed +into the yard, and turned their faces toward us. If we had come down +their chimney, they could not have seemed more astonished. Not making +out what they said, I went down to the house, and learned to my +chagrin that we were still on the Mill Brook side, having crossed only +a spur of the mountain. We had not borne sufficiently to the left, so +that the main range, which, at the point of crossing, suddenly breaks +off to the southeast, still intervened between us and the lake. We +were about five miles, as the water runs, from the point of starting, +and over two from the lake. We must go directly back to the top of the +range where the guide had left us, and then, by keeping well to the +left, we would soon come to a line of marked trees, which would lead +us to the lake. So, turning upon our trail, we doggedly began the work +of undoing what we had just done,--in all cases a disagreeable task, +in this case a very laborious one also. It was after sunset when we +turned back, and before we had got halfway up the mountain, it began +to be quite dark. We were often obliged to rest our packs against the +trees and take breath, which made our progress slow. Finally a halt +was called, beside an immense flat rock which had paused on its slide +down the mountain, and we prepared to encamp for the night. A fire was +built the rock cleared off, a small ration of bread served out, our +accoutrements hung up out of the way of the hedgehogs that were +supposed to infest the locality, and then we disposed ourselves for +sleep. If the owls or porcupines (and I think I heard one of the +latter in the middle of the night) reconnoitred our camp, they saw a +buffalo robe spread upon a rock, with three old felt hats arranged on +one side, and three pairs of sorry-looking cowhide boots protruding +from the other. + +When we lay down, there was apparently not a mosquito in the woods; +but the "no-see-ems," as Thoreau's Indian aptly named the midges, soon +found us out, and after the fire had gone down, annoyed us very much. +My hands and wrists suddenly began to smart and itch in a most +uncomfortable manner. My first thought was that they had been poisoned +in some way. Then the smarting extended to my neck and face, even to +my scalp, when I began to suspect what was the matter. So, wrapping +myself up more thoroughly, and stowing my hands away as best I could, +I tried to sleep, being some time behind my companions, who appeared +not to mind the "no-see-ems." I was further annoyed by some little +irregularity on my side of the couch. The chambermaid had not beaten +it up well. One huge lump refused to be mollified, and each attempt to +adapt it up some natural hollow in my own body brought only a moment's +relief. But at last I got the better of this also and slept. Late in +the night I woke up, just in time to hear a golden-crowned thrush sing +in a tree near by. It sang as loud and cheerily as at midday, and I +thought myself, after all, quite in luck. Birds occasionally sing at +night, just as the cock crows. I have heard the hairbird, and the note +of the kingbird; and the ruffed grouse frequently drums at night. + +At the first faint signs of day a wood thrush sang, a few rods below +us. Then after a little delay, as the gray light began to grow around, +thrushes broke out in full song in all parts of the woods. I thought I +had never before heard them sing so sweetly. Such a leisurely, golden +chant!--it consoled us for all we had undergone. It was the first +thing in order,--the worms were safe till after this morning chorus. I +judged that the birds roosted but a few feet from the ground. In fact, +a bird in all cases roosts where it builds, and the wood thrush +occupies, as it were, the first story of the woods. + +There is something singular about the distribution of the wood +thrushes. At an earlier stage of my observations I should have been +much surprised at finding them in these woods. Indeed, I had stated in +print on two occasions that the wood thrush was not found in the +higher lands of the Catskills, but that the hermit thrush and the +veery, or Wilson's thrush, were common. It turns out that the +statement is only half true. The wood thrush is found also, but is +much more rare and secluded in its habits than either of the others, +being seen only during the breeding season on remote mountains, and +then only on their eastern and southern slopes. I have never yet in +this region found the bird spending the season in the near and +familiar woods, which is directly contrary to observations I have made +in other parts of the state. So different are the habits of birds in +different localities. + +As soon as it was fairly light we were up and ready to resume our +march. A small bit of bread and butter and a swallow or two of whiskey +was all we had for breakfast that morning. Our supply of each was very +limited, and we were anxious to save a little of both, to relieve the +diet of trout to which we looked forward. + +At an early hour we reached the rock where we had parted with the +guide, and looked around us into the dense, trackless woods with many +misgivings. To strike out now on our own hook, where the way was so +blind and after the experience we had just had, was a step not to be +carelessly taken. The tops of these mountains are so broad, and a +short distance in the woods seems so far, that one is by no means +master of the situation after reaching the summit. And then there are +so many spurs and offshoots and changes of direction, added to the +impossibility of making any generalization by the aid of the eye, that +before one is aware of it he is very wide of his mark. + +I remembered now that a young farmer of my acquaintance had told me +how he had made a long day's march through the heart of this region, +without path or guide of any kind, and had hit his mark squarely. He +had been barkpeeling in Callikoon,--a famous country for +barkpeeling,--and, having got enough of it, he desired to reach his +home on Dry Brook without making the usual circuitous journey between +the two places. To do this necessitated a march of ten or twelve miles +across several ranges of mountains and through an unbroken forest,--a +hazardous undertaking in which no one would join him. Even the old +hunters who were familiar with the ground dissuaded him and predicted +the failure of his enterprise. But having made up his mind, he +possessed himself thoroughly of the topography of the country from the +aforesaid hunters, shouldered his axe, and set out, holding a strait +course through the woods, and turning aside for neither swamps, +streams, nor mountains. When he paused to rest he would mark some +object ahead of him with his eye, in order that on getting up again, +he might not deviate from his course. His directors had told him of a +hunter's cabin about midway on his route, which if he struck he might +be sure he was right. About noon this cabin was reached, and at sunset +he emerged at the head of Dry Brook. + +After looking in vain for the line of marked trees, we moved off to +the left in a doubtful, hesitating manner, keeping on the highest +ground and blazing the trees as we went. We were afraid to go +downhill, lest we should descend to soon; our vantage-ground was high +ground. A thick fog coming on, we were more bewildered than ever. +Still we pressed forward, climbing up ledges and wading through ferns +for about two hours, when we paused by a spring that issued from +beneath an immense wall of rock that belted the highest part of the +mountain. There was quite a broad plateau here, and the birch wood was +very dense, and the trees of unusual size. + +After resting and exchanging opinions, we all concluded that is was +best not to continue our search encumbered as we were; but we were not +willing to abandon it altogether, and I proposed to my companions to +leave them beside the spring with our traps, while I made one thorough +and final effort to find the lake. If I succeeded and desired them to +come forward, I was to fire my gun three times; if I failed and wished +to return, I would fire twice, they of course responding. + +So, filling my canteen from the spring, I set out again, taking the +spring run for my guide. Before I had followed it two hundred yards, +it sank into the ground at my feet. I had half a mind to be +superstitious and to believe that we were under a spell, since our +guides played us such tricks. However, I determined to put the matter +to a further test, and struck out boldly to the left. This seemed to +be the keyword,--to the left, to the left. The fog had now lifted, so +that I could form a better idea of the lay of the land. Twice I looked +down the steep sides of the mountain, sorely attempted to risk a +plunge. Still I hesitated and kept along on the brink. As I stood on a +rock deliberating, I heard a crackling of the brush, like the tread of +some large game, on the plateau below me. Suspecting the truth of the +case, I moved stealthily down, and found a herd of young cattle +leisurely browsing. We had several times crossed their trail, and had +seen that morning a level, grassy place on the top of the mountain, +where they had passed the night. Instead of being frightened, as I had +expected, they seemed greatly delighted, and gathered around me as if +to inquire the tidings from the outer world,--perhaps the quotations +of the cattle market. They came up to me, and eagerly licked my hand, +clothes, and gun. Salt was what they were after, and they were ready +to swallow anything that contained the smallest percentage of it. They +were mostly yearlings and as sleek as moles. They had a very gamy +look. We were afterwards told that, in the spring, the farmers round +about turn into these woods their young cattle, which do not come out +again till fall. They are then in good condition,--not fat, like +grass-fed cattle, but trim and supple, like deer. Once a month the +owner hunts them up and salts them. They have their beats, and seldom +wander beyond well-defined limits. It was interesting to see them +feed. They browsed on the low limbs and bushes, and on the various +plants, munching at everything without any apparent discrimination. + +They attempted to follow me, but I escaped them by clambering down +some steep rocks. I now found myself gradually edging down the side of +the mountain, keeping around it in a spiral manner, and scanning the +woods and the shape of the ground for some encouraging hint or sign. +Finally the woods became more open, and the descent less rapid. The +trees were remarkably straight and uniform in size. Black birches, the +first I had ever seen, were very numerous. I felt encouraged. +Listening attentively, I caught, from a breeze just lifting the +drooping leaves, a sound that I willingly believed was made by a +bullfrog. On this hint, I tore down through the woods at my highest +speed. Then I paused and listened again. This time there was no +mistaking it; it was the sound of frogs. Much elated, I rushed on. By +and by I could hear them as I ran. Pthrung, pthrung, croaked the old +ones; pug, pug, shrilly joined in the smaller fry. + +Then I caught, through the lower trees, a gleam of blue, which I first +thought was distant sky. A second look and I knew it to be water, and +in a moment more I stepped from the woods and stood upon the shore of +the lake. I exulted silently. There it was at last, sparkling in the +morning sun, and as beautiful as a dream. It was so good to come upon +such open space and such bright hues, after wandering in the dim, +dense woods! The eye is as delighted as an escaped bird, and darts +gleefully from point to point. + +The lake was a long oval, scarcely more than a mile in circumference, +with evenly wooded shores, which rose gradually on all sides. After +contemplating the serene for a moment, I stepped back into the woods, +and, loading my gun as heavily as I dared, discharged it three times. +The reports seemed to fill all the mountains with sound. The frogs +quickly hushed, and I listened for the response. But no response came. +Then I tried again and again, but without evoking an answer. One of my +companions, however, who had climbed to the top of the high rocks in +the rear of the spring, thought he heard faintly one report. It seemed +an immense distance below him, and far around under the mountain. I +knew I had come a long way, and hardly expected to be able to +communicate with my companions in the manner agreed upon. I therefore +started back, choosing my course without any reference to the +circuitous route by which I had come, and loading heavily and firing +at intervals. I must have aroused many long-dormant echoes from a Rip +Van Winkle sleep. As my powder got low, I fired and halloed +alternately, till I cam near splitting both my throat and gun. +Finally, after I had begun to have a very ugly feeling of alarm and +disappointment, and to cast about vaguely for some course to pursue in +an emergency that seemed near at hand,--namely the loss of my +companions now I had found the lake,--a favoring breeze brought me the +last echo of a response. I rejoined with spirit, and hastened with all +speed in the direction whence the sound had come, but, after repeated +trials, failed to elicit another answering sound. This filled me with +apprehension again. I feared that my friends had been mislead by the +reverberations, and I pictured them to myself, hastening in the +opposite direction. Paying little attention to my course, but paying +dearly for my carelessness afterward, I rushed forward to undeceive +them. But they had not been deceived, and in a few moments an +answering shout revealed them near at hand. I heard their tramp, the +bushed parted, and we three met again. + +In answer to their eager inquiries, I assured them that I had seen the +lake, that it was at the foot of the mountain, and that we could not +miss it if we kept straight down from where we then were. + +My clothes were soaked in perspiration, but I shouldered my knapsack +with alacrity, and we began the descent. I noticed that the woods were +much thicker, and had quite a different look from those I had passed +through, but thought nothing of it, as I expected to strike the lake +near its head, whereas I had before come out at its foot. We had not +gone far when we crossed a line of marked trees, which my companions +were disposed to follow. It intersected our course nearly at right +angles, and kept along and up the side of the mountain. My impression +was that it lead up from the lake, and that by keeping our course we +should reach the lake sooner than if we followed this line. About +halfway down the mountain, we could see through the interstices the +opposite slope. I encouraged my comrades by telling them that the lake +was between us and that, and not more than half a mile distant. We +soon reached the bottom, where we found a small stream and quite an +extensive alder swamp, evidently the ancient bed of a lake. I +explained to my half-vexed and half-incredulous companions that we +were probably above the lake, and that this stream must lead to it. +"Follow it," they said; "we will wait here till we hear from you." + +So I went on, more than ever disposed to believe that we were under a +spell, and that the lake had slipped from my grasp after all. Seeing +no favorable sign as I went forward, I laid down my accoutrements, and +climbed a decayed beech that leaned out over the swamp and promised a +good view from the top. As I stretched myself up to look around from +the highest attainable branch, there was suddenly a loud crack at the +root. With a celerity that would at least have done credit to a bear, +I regained the ground, having caught but a momentary glimpse of the +country, but enough to convince me no lake was near. Leaving all +incumbrances here but my gun, I still pressed on, loath to be thus +baffled. After floundering through another alder swamp for nearly half +a mile, I flattered myself that I was close to the lake. I caught +sight of a low spur of the mountain sweeping around like a +half-extended arm, and I fondly imagined that within its clasp was the +object of my search. But I found only more alder swamp. After this +region was cleared the creek began to descend the mountain very +rapidly. Its banks became high and narrow, and it went whirling away +with a sound that seemed to m earls like a burst of ironical laughter. +I turned back with a feeling of mingled disgust, shame and vexation. +In fact I was almost sick, and when I reached my companions, after an +absence of nearly two hours, hungry, fatigued, and disheartened, I +would have sold my interest in Thomas's Lake at a very low figure. For +the first time, I heartily wished myself well out of the woods. Thomas +might keep his lake, and the enchanters guard his possession! I +doubted if he had ever found it the second time, or if any one else +ever had. + +My companions, who were quite fresh and who had not felt the strain of +baffled purpose as I had, assumed a more encouraging tone. After I had +rested awhile, and partaken sparingly of the bread and whisky, which +in such an emergency is a great improvement on bread and water, I +agreed to their proposition that we should make another attempt. As if +to reassure us, a robin sounded his cheery call near by, and the +winter wren, the first I had ever heard in these woods, set his +music-box going, which fairly ran over with fin, gushing, lyrical +sounds. There can be no doubt but this bird is one of our finest +songsters. If it would only thrive and sing well when caged, like the +canary, how far it would surpass that bird! It has all the vivacity +and versatility of the canary, without any of its shrillness. Its song +is indeed a little cascade of melody. + +We again retraced our steps, rolling the stone, as it were, back up +the mountain, determined to commit ourselves to the line of marked +trees. These we finally reached, and, after exploring the country to +the right, saw that bearing to the left was still the order. The trail +led up over a gentle rise of ground, and in less than twenty minutes, +we were in the woods I had passed through when I found the lake. The +error I had made was then plain: we had come off the mountain a few +paces too far to the right, and so had passed down on the wrong side +of the ridge, into what we afterwards learned was the valley of Alder +Creek. + +We now made good time, and before many minutes I again saw the mimic +sky glance through the trees. As we approached the lake, a solitary +woodchuck, the first wild animal we had seen since entering the woods, +sat crouched upon the root of a tree a few feet from the water, +apparently completely nonplused by the unexpected appearance of danger +on the land side. All retreat was cut off, and he looked his fate in +the face without flinching. I slaughtered him just as a savage would +have done, and from the same motive,--I wanted his carcass to eat. + +The mid-afternoon sun was now shining upon the lake, and a low, steady +breeze drove the little waves rocking to the shore. A herd of cattle +were browsing on the other side, and the bell of the leader sounded +across the water. In these solitudes its clang was wild and musical. + +To try the trout was the first thing in order. On a rude raft of log +which we found moored at the shore, and which with two aboard shipped +about a food of water, we floated out and wet our first fly in +Thomas's Lake; but the trout refused to jump, and to be frank, not +more than a dozen and a half were caught during our stay. Only a week +previous, a party of three had taken in a few hours all the fish they +could carry out of the woods, and had nearly surfeited their neighbors +with trout. But from some cause, they now refused to rise, or to touch +any kind of bait: so we fell to catching the sunfish, which were small +but very abundant. Their nests were all along the shore. A space about +the size of a breakfast-plate was cleared of sediment and decayed +vegetable matter, revealing the pebbly bottom, fresh and bright, with +one or two fish suspended over the centre of it, keeping watch and +ward. If an intruder approached, they would dart at him spitefully. +These fish have the air of bantam cocks, and, with their sharp, +prickly fins and spines and scaly sides, must be ugly customers in a +hand-to-hand encounter with other finny warriors. To a hungry man they +look about as unpromising as hemlock slivers, so thorny and thin are +they; yet there is sweet meat in them, as we found that day. + +Much refreshed, I set out with the sun low in the west to explore the +outlet of the lake and try for trout there, while my companions made +further trials in the lake itself. The outlet, as is usual in bodies +of water of this kind, was very gentle and private. The stream, six or +eight feet wide, flowed silently and evenly along for a distance of +three or four rods, when it suddenly, as if conscious of its freedom, +took a leap down some rocks. Thence as far as I followed it, its +decent was very rapid through a continuous succession of brief falls +like so many steps down the mountain. Its appearance promised more +trout than I found, though I returned to camp with a very respectable +string. + +Toward sunset I went round to explore the inlet, and found that as +usual the stream wound leisurely through marshy ground. The water +being much colder than in the outlet, the trout were more plentiful. +As I was picking my way over the miry ground and through the rank +growths, a ruffed grouse hopped up on a fallen branch a few paces +before me, and jerking his tail, threatened to take flight. But as I +was at the moment gunless and remained stationary, he presently jumped +down and walked away. + +A seeker of birds, and ever on the alert for some new acquaintance, my +attention was arrested, on first entering the swamp, by a bright, +lively song, or warble, that issued from the branches overhead, and +that was entirely new to me, though there was something in the tone +that told me the bird was related to the wood-wagtail and to the +water-wagtail or thrush. The strain was emphatic and quite loud, like +the canary's, but very brief. The bird kept itself well secreted in +the upper branches of the trees, and for a long time eluded my eye. I +passed to and fro several times, and it seemed to break out afresh as +I approached a certain little bend in the creek, and to cease after I +had got beyond it; no doubt its nest was somewhere in the vicinity. +After some delay the bird was sighted and brought down. It proved to +be the small, or northern, water-thrush, (called also the New York +water-thrush),--a new bird to me. In size it was noticeably smaller +than the large, or Louisiana, water-thrush, as described by Audubon, +but in other respects its general appearance was the same. It was a +great treat to me, and again I felt myself in luck. + +This bird was unknown to the older ornithologists, and is but poorly +described by the new. It builds a mossy nest on the ground, or under +the edge of a decayed log. A correspondent writes me that he has found +it breeding on the mountains in Pennsylvania. The large-billed +water-thrush is much the superior songster, but the present species +has a very bright and cheerful strain. The specimen I saw, contrary to +the habits of the family, kept in the treetops like a warbler, and +seemed to be engaged in catching insects. + +The birds were unusually plentiful and noisy about the head of this +lake; robins, blue jays, and woodpeckers greeted me with their +familiar notes. The blue jays found an owl or some wild animal a short +distance above me, and, as is their custom on such occasions, +proclaimed it at the top of their voices, and kept on till the +darkness began to gather in the woods. + +I also heard, as I had at two or three other points in the course of +the day, the peculiar, resonant hammering of some species of +woodpecker upon the hard, dry limbs. It was unlike any sound of the +kind I had ever heard, and, repeated at intervals through the silent +wood, was a very marked and characteristic feature. Its peculiarity +was the ordered succession of the raps, which gave it the character of +a premeditated performance. There were first three strokes following +each other rapidly, then two much louder ones with longer intervals +between them. I heard the drumming here, and the next day at sunset at +Furlow Lake, the source of Dry Brook, and in no instance was the order +varied. There was a melody in it, such as a woodpecker knows how to +evoke from a smooth, dry branch. It suggested something quite as +pleasing as the liveliest bird-song, and was if anything more woodsy +and wild. As the yellow-bellied woodpecker was the most abundant +species in these woods, I attributed it to him. It is the one sound +that still links itself with those scenes in my mind. + +At sunset the grouse began to drum in all parts of the woods about the +lake. I could hear five at one time, thump, thump, thump, thump, +thr-r-r-r-r-r-rr. It was a homely, welcome sound. As I returned to +camp at twilight, along the shore of the lake, the frogs also were in +full chorus. The older ones ripped out their responses to each other +with terrific force and volume. I know of no other animal capable of +giving forth so much sound, in proportion to its size, as a frog. Some +of these seemed to bellow as loud as a two-year-old bull. They were of +immense size, and very abundant. No frog-eater had ever been there. +Near the shore we felled a tree which reached far out in the lake. +Upon the trunk and branches, the frogs soon collected in large +numbers, and gamboled and splashed about the half submerged top, like +a parcel of schoolboys, making nearly as much noise. + +After dark, as I was frying the fish, a panful of the largest trout +was accidently capsized in the fire. With rueful countenances we +contemplated the irreparable loss our commissariat had sustained by +this mishap; but remembering there was virtue in ashes, we poked the +half-consumed fish from the bed of coals and ate them, and they were +good. + +We lodged that night on a brush-heap and slept soundly. The green, +yielding beech-twigs, covered with a buffalo robe, were equal to a +hair mattress. The heat and smoke from a large fire kindled in the +afternoon had banished every "no-see-em" from the locality, and in the +morning the sun was above the mountain before we awoke. + +I immediately started again for the inlet, and went far up the stream +toward its source. A fair string of trout for breakfast was my reward. +The cattle with the bell were at the head of the valley, where they +had passed the night. Most of them were two-year-old steers. They came +up to me and begged for salt, and scared the fish by their +importunities. + +We finished our bread that morning, and ate every fish we could catch, +and about ten o'clock prepared to leave the lake. The weather had been +admirable, and the lake as a gem, and I would gladly have spent a week +in the neighborhood; but the question of supplies was a serious one, +and would brook no delay. + +When we reached, on our return, the point where we had crossed the +line of marked trees the day before, the question arose whether we +should still trust ourselves to this line, or follow our own trail +back to the spring and the battlement of rocks on the top of the +mountain, and thence to the rock where the guide had left us. We +decided in favor of the former course. After a march of three quarters +of an hour the blazed trees ceased, and we concluded we were near the +point at which we had parted with our guide. So we built a fire, laid +down our loads, and cast about on all sides for some clew as to our +exact locality. Nearly an hour was consumed in this manner, and +without any result. I came upon a brood of young grouse, which +diverted me for a moment. The old one blustered about at a furious +rate, trying to draw all attention to herself, while the young ones, +which were unable to fly, hid themselves. She whined like a dog in +great distress, and dragged herself along apparently with the greatest +difficulty. As I pursued her, she ran very nimbly, and presently flew +a few yards. Then, as I went on, she flew farther and farther each +time, till at last she got up, and went humming through the woods as +if she had no interest in them. I went back and caught one of the +young, which had simply squatted close to the ground. I then put in my +coatsleeve, when it ran and nestled in my armpit. + +When we met at the sign of the smoke, opinions differed as to the most +feasible course. There was no doubt but that we could get out of the +woods; but we wished to get out speedily, and as near as possible to +the point where we had entered. Half ashamed of our timidity and +indecision, we finally tramped away back to where we had crossed the +line of blazed trees, followed our old trail to the spring on the top +of the range, and, after much searching and scouring to the right and +left, found ourselves at the very place we had left two hours before. +Another deliberation and a divided council. But something must be +done. It was then mid-afternoon, and the prospect of spending another +night on the mountains, without food or drink, was not pleasant. So we +moved down the ridge. Here another line of marked trees was found, the +course of which formed an obtuse angle with the one we had followed. +It kept on the top of the ridge for perhaps a mile, when it +disappeared, and we were as much adrift as ever. Then one of the party +swore an oath, and said he was going out of those woods, hit or miss, +and, wheeling to the right, instantly plunged over the brink of the +mountain. The rest followed, but would fain have paused and ciphered +away at their own uncertainties, to see if a certainty could not be +arrived at as to where we would come out. But our bold leader was +solving the problem in the right way. Down and down and still down we +went, as if we were to bring up in the bowels of the earth. It was by +far the steepest descent we had made, and we felt a grim satisfaction +in knowing we could not retrace our steps this time, be the issue what +it might. As we paused on the brink of a ledge of rocks, we chanced to +see through the trees distant cleared land. A house or barn also was +dimly descried. This was encouraging; but we could not make out +whether it was on Beaver Kill or Mill Brook or Dry Brook, and did not +long stop to consider where it was. We at last brought up at the +bottom of a deep gorge, through which flowed a rapid creek that +literally swarmed with trout. But we were in no mood to catch them, +and pushed on along the channel of the stream, sometimes leaping from +rock to rock, and sometimes splashing heedlessly through the water, +and speculating the while as to where we should probably come out. On +the Beaver Kill, my companions thought; but from the position of the +sun, I said, on the Mill Brook, about six miles below our team; for I +remembered having seen, in coming up this stream, a deep, wild valley +that led up into the mountains, like this one. Soon the banks of the +stream became lower, and we moved into the woods. Here we entered upon +an obscure wood-road, which presently conducted us into the midst of a +vast hemlock forest. The land had a gentle slope, and we wondered by +the lumbermen and barkmen who prowl through these woods had left this +fine tract untouched. Beyond this the forest was mostly birch and +maple. + +We were now close to settlement, and began to hear human sounds. One +rod more, and we were out of the woods. It took us a moment to +comprehend the scene. Things looked very strange at first; but quickly +they began to change and to put on familiar features. Some magic +scene-shifting seemed to take place before my eyes, till, instead of +the unknown settlement which I had at first seemed to look upon, there +stood the farmhouse at which we had stopped two days before, and at +the same moment we heard the stamping of our team in the barn. We sat +down and laughed heartily over our good luck. Our desperate venture +had resulted better than we had dared to hope, and had shamed our +wisest plans. At the house our arrival had been anticipated about this +time, and dinner was being put upon the table. + +It was then five o'clock, so that we had been in the woods just +forty-eight hours; but if time is only phenomenal, as the philosophers +say, and life only in feeling, as the poets aver, we were some months, +if not years, older at that moment than we had been two days before. +Yet younger, too,--though this be a paradox,--for the birches had +infused into us some of their own suppleness and strength. 1869. + + + +VII + +THE BLUEBIRD + +When Nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky +and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and +the hue of the other on his breast, and ordained that his appearance +in the spring should denote that the strife and war between these two +elements was at an end. He is the peace-harbinger; in him the +celestial and terrestrial strike hands and are fast friends. He means +the furrow and he means the warmth; he means all the soft, wooing +influences of the spring on one hand, and the retreating footsteps of +winter on the other. + +It is sure to be a bright March morning when you first hear his note; +and it is as if the milder influences up above had found a voice and +let a word fall upon your ear, so tender is it and so prophetic, a +hope tinged with a regret. + +"Bermuda! Bermuda! Bermuda!" he seems to say, as if both invoking and +lamenting, and, behold! Bermuda follows close, though the little +pilgrim may only be repeating the tradition of his race, himself +having come only from Florida, the Carolinas, or even from Virginia, +where he has found his Bermuda on some broad sunny hillside thickly +studded with cedars and persimmon-trees. + +In New York and in New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple +the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. +The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for +tow of three days before it takes visible shape before you. The males +are the pioneers, and come several days in advance of the females. By +the time both are here and the pairs have begun to prospect for a +place to nest, sugar-making is over, the last vestige of snow has +disappeared, and the plow is brightening its mould-board in the new +furrow. + +The bluebird enjoys the preëminence of being the first bit of color +that cheers our northern landscape. The other birds that arrive about +the same time--the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird--are clad in +neutral tints, gray, brown, or russet; but the bluebird brings one of +the primary hues and the divinest of them all. + +This bird also has the distinction of answering very nearly to the +robin redbreast of English memory, and was by the early settlers of +New England christened the blue robin. + +It is a size or two larger, and the ruddy hue of its breast does not +verge so nearly on an orange, but the manners and habits of the two +birds are very much alike. Our bird has the softer voice, but the +English redbreast is much the more skilled musician. He has indeed a +fine, animated warble, heard nearly the year through about English +gardens and along the old hedge-rows, that is quite beyond the compass +of our bird's instrument. On the other hand, our bird is associated +with the spring as the British species cannot be, being a winter +resident also, while the brighter sun and sky of the New World have +given him a coat that far surpasses that of his transatlantic cousin. + +It is worthy of remark that among British birds there is no blue bird. +The cerulean tint seems much rarer among the feathered tribes there +than here. On this continent there are at least three species of the +common bluebird, while in all our woods there is the blue jay and the +indigo-bird,--the latter so intensely blue as to fully justify its +name. There is also the blue grosbeak, not much behind the indigo-bird +in intensity of color; and among our warblers the blue tint is very +common. + +It is interesting to know that the bluebird is not confined to any one +section of the country; and that when one goes West he will still have +this favorite with him, though a little changed in voice and color, +just enough to give variety without marring the identity. + +The Western bluebird is considered a distinct species, and is perhaps +a little more brilliant and showy than its Eastern brother; and +Nuttall thinks its song is more varied, sweet, and tender. Its color +approaches to ultramarine, while it has a sash of chestnut-red across +its shoulders,--all the effects, I suspect, of that wonderful air and +sky of California, and of those great Western plains; or, if one goes +a little higher up into the mountainous regions of the West, he finds +the Arctic bluebird, the ruddy brown on the breast changed to a +greenish blue, and the wings longer and more pointed; in other +respects not differing much from our species. + +The bluebird usually builds its nest in a hole in a stump or stub, or +in an old cavity excavated by a woodpecker, when such can be had; but +its first impulse seems to be to start in the world in much more +style, and the happy pair make a great show of house-hunting about the +farm buildings, now half persuaded to appropriate a dove-cote, then +discussing in a lively manner a last year's swallow nest, or +proclaiming with much flourish and flutter that they have taken the +wren's house, or the tenement of the purple martin; till finally +nature becomes too urgent, when all this pretty make-believe ceases, +and most of them settle back upon the old family stumps and knotholes +in remote fields, and go to work in earnest. + +In such situations the female is easily captured by approaching very +stealthily and covering the entrance to the nest. The bird seldom +makes any effort to escape, seeing how hopeless the case is, and keeps +her place on the nest till she feels your hand closing around her. I +have looked down into the cavity and seen the poor thing palpitating +with fear and looking up with distended eyes, but never moving till I +had withdrawn a few paces; then she rushes out with a cry that brings +the male on the scene in a hurry. He warbles and lifts his wings +beseechingly, but shows no anger or disposition to scold and complain +like most birds. Indeed, this bird seems incapable of uttering a harsh +note, or of doing a spiteful, ill-tempered thing. + +The ground-builders all have some art or device to decoy one away from +the nest, affecting lameness, a crippled wing, or a broken back, +promising an easy capture if pursued. The tree-builders depend upon +concealing the nest or placing it beyond reach. But the bluebird has +no art either way, and its nest is easily found. + +About the only enemies of the sitting bird or the nest is in danger of +are snakes and squirrels. I knew of a farm-boy who was in the habit of +putting his hand down into a bluebird's nest and taking out the old +bird whenever he came that way. One day he put his hand in, and, +feeling something peculiar, withdrew it hastily, when it was instantly +followed by the head of an enormous black snake. The boy took to his +heels and the snake gave chase, pressing him close till a plowman near +by came to the rescue with his ox-whip. + +There never was a happier or more devoted husband than the male +bluebird is. But among nearly all our familiar birds the serious cares +of life seem to devolve almost entirely upon the female. The male is +hilarious and demonstrative, the female serious and anxious about her +charge. The male is the attendant of the female, following her +wherever she goes. He never leads, never directs, but only seconds and +applauds. If his life is all poetry and romance, hers is all business +and prose. She has no pleasure but her duty, and no duty but to look +after her nest and brood. She shows no affection for the male, no +pleasure in his society; she only tolerates him as a necessary evil, +and, if he is killed, goes in quest of another in the most +business-like manner, as you would go for the plumber or the glazier. +In most cases the male is the ornamental partner in the firm, and +contributes little of the working capital. There seems to be more +equality of the sexes among the woodpeckers, wrens, and swallows; +while the contrast is greatest, perhaps, in the bobolink family, where +the courting is done in the Arab fashion, the female fleeing with all +her speed and the male pursuing with equal precipitation; and were it +not for the broods of young birds that appear, it would be hard to +believe that the intercourse ever ripened into anything more intimate. + +With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as ornamental. He is +the gay champion and escort of the female at all times, and while she +is sitting he feeds her regularly. It is very pretty to watch them +building their nest. The male is very active in hunting out a place +and exploring the boxes and cavities, but seems to have no choice in +the matter and is anxious only to please and to encourage his mate, +who has the practical turn and knows what will do and what will not. +After she has suited herself he applauds her immensely, and away the +two go in quest of material for the nest, the male acting as guard and +flying above and in advance of the female. She brings all the material +and does all the work of building, he looking on and encouraging her +with gesture and song. He acts also as inspector of her work, but I +fear is a very partial one. She enters the nest with her bit of dry +grass or straw, and, having adjusted it to her notion, withdraws and +waits near by while he goes in and looks it over. On coming out he +exclaims very plainly, "Excellent! Excellent!" and away the two go +again for more material. + +The bluebirds, when they build about the farm buildings, sometimes +come into contact with the swallows. The past season I knew a pair to +take forcible possession of the domicile of a pair of the latter,--the +cliff species that now stick their nests under the eaves of the barn. +The bluebirds had been broken up in a little bird-house near by, by +the rats or perhaps a weasel, and being no doubt in a bad humor, and +the season being well advanced, they made forcible entrance into the +adobe tenement of their neighbors, and held possession of it for some +days, but I believe finally withdrew, rather than live amid such a +squeaky, noisy colony. I have heard that these swallows, when ejected +from their homes in that way by the phoebe-bird, have been known to +fall to and mason up the entrance to the nest while their enemy was +inside of it, thus having a revenge as complete and cruel as anything +in human annals. + +The bluebirds and the house wrens more frequently come into collision. +A few years ago I put up a little bird-house in the back end of my +garden for the accommodation of the wrens, and every season a pair of +bluebirds looked into the tenement and lingered about several days, +leading me to hope that they would conclude to occupy it. But they +finally went away, and later in the season the wrens appeared, and, +after a little coquetting, were regularly installed in their old +quarters, and were as happy as only wrens can be. + +One of our younger poets, Myron Benton, saw a little bird + + "Ruffled with whirlwind of his ecstasies," + +which must have been the wren, as I know of no other bird that so +throbs and palpitates with music as this little vagabond. And the pair +I speak of seemed exceptionally happy, and the male had a small +tornado of song in his crop that kept him "ruffled" every moment in +the day. But before their honeymoon was over the bluebirds returned. I +knew something was wrong before I was up in the morning. Instead of +that voluble and gushing song outside the window, I heard the wrens +scolding and crying at a fearful rate, and on going out saw the +bluebirds in possession of the box. The poor wrens were in despair; +they wrung their hands and tore their hair, after the wren fashion, +but chiefly did they rattle out their disgust and wrath at the +intruders. I have no doubt that, if it could have been interpreted, it +would have proven the rankest and most voluble Billingsgate ever +uttered. For the wren is saucy, and he has a tongue in his head that +can outwag any other tongue known to me. + +The bluebirds said nothing, but the male kept an eye on Mr. Wren; and, +when he came to near, gave chase, driving him to cover under the +fence, or under a rubbish heap or other object, where the wren would +scold and rattle away, while his pursuer sat on the fence or the +pea-brush waiting for him to reappear. + +Days passed, and the usurpers prospered and the outcasts were +wretched; but the latter lingered about, watching and abusing their +enemies, and hoping, no doubt, that things would take a turn, as they +presently did. The outraged wrens were fully avenged. The mother +bluebird had laid her full complement of eggs and was beginning to +set, when one day, as her mate was perched above her on the barn, +along came a boy with one of those wicked elastic slings and cut him +down with a pebble. There he lay like a bit of sky fallen upon the +grass. The widowed bird seemed to understand what had happened, and +without much ado disappeared next day in quest of another mate. How +she contrived to make her wants known, without trumpeting them about, +I am unable to say. But I presume that birds have a way of advertising +that answers the purpose well. Maybe she trusted to luck to fall in +with some stray bachelor or bereaved male who would undertake to +console a widow or one day's standing. I will say, in passing, that +there are no bachelors from choice among the birds; they are all +rejected suitors, while old maids are entirely unknown. There is a +Jack to every Jill; and some to boot. + +The males, being more exposed by their song and plumage, and by being +the pioneers in migrating, seem to be slightly in excess lest the +supply fall short, and hence it sometimes happens that a few are +bachelors perforce; there are not females enough to go around, but +before the season is over there are sure to be some vacancies in the +marital ranks, which they are called on to fill. + +In the mean time the wrens were beside themselves with delight; they +fairly screamed with joy. If the male was before "ruffled with +whirlwind of his ecstasies," he was now in danger of being rent +asunder. He inflated his throat and caroled as wren never caroled +before. And the female, too, how she cackled and darted about! How +busy they both were! Rushing into the nest, they hustled those eggs +out in less than a minute, wren time. They carried in new material, +and by the third day were fairly installed again in their old +headquarters; but on the third day, so rapidly are these little dramas +played, the female bluebird reappeared with another mate. Ah! how the +wren stock went down then! What dismay and despair filled again those +little breasts! It was pitiful. They did not scold as before, but +after a day or two withdrew from the garden, dumb with grief, and gave +up the struggle. + +The bluebird, finding her eggs gone and her nest changed, seemed +suddenly seized with alarm and shunned the box; or else, finding she +had less need for another husband than she thought, repented her +rashness and wanted to dissolve the compact. But the happy bridegroom +would not take the hint, and exerted all his eloquence to comfort and +reassure her. He was fresh and fond, and until this bereaved female +found him I am sure his suit had not prospered that season. He thought +the box just the thing, and that there was no need of alarm, and spent +days in trying to persuade the female back. Seeing he could not be a +stepfather to a family, he was quite willing to assume a nearer +relation. He hovered about the box, he went in and out, he called, he +warbled, he entreated; the female would respond occasionally and come +and alight near, and even peep into the nest, but would not enter it, +and quickly flew away again. Her mate would reluctantly follow, but he +was soon back, uttering the most confident and cheering calls. If she +did not come he would perch above the nest and sound his loudest notes +over and over again, looking in the direction of his mate and +beckoning with every motion. But she responded less and less +frequently. Some days I would see him only, but finally he gave it up; +the pair disappeared, and the box remained deserted the rest of the +summer. 1867 + + + +VIII + +THE INVITATION + +Years ago, when quite a youth, I was rambling in the woods one Sunday, +with my brothers, gathering black birch, wintergreens, etc., when, as +we reclined upon the ground, gazing vaguely up into the trees, I +caught sight of a bird, that paused a moment on a branch above me, the +like of which I had never before seen or heard of. It was probably the +blue yellow-backed warbler, as I have since found this to be a common +bird in those woods; but to my young fancy it seemed like some fairy +bird, so unexpected. I saw it a moment as the flickering leaves +parted, noted the white spot on its wing, and it was gone. How the +thought of it clung to me afterward! It was a revelation. It was the +first intimation I had had that the woods we knew so well held birds +that we knew not at all. Were our eyes and ears so dull, then? There +was the robin, the blue jay, the bluebird, the yellow-bird, the +cherry-bird, the catbird, the chipping-bird, the woodpecker, the +high-hole, an occasional redbird, and a few others, in the woods or +along their borders, but who ever dreamed that there were still others +that not even the hunters saw, and whose names no one had ever heard? + +When, one summer day, later in life, I took my gun and went to the +woods again, in a different though perhaps a less simple spirit I +found my youthful vision more than realized. There were, indeed, other +birds, plenty of them, singing, nesting, breeding, among the familiar +trees, which I had before passed by unheard and unseen. + +It is a surprise that awaits every student of ornithology, and the +thrill of delight that accompanies it, and the feeling of fresh, eager +inquiry that follows, can hardly be awakened by any other pursuit. +Take the first step in ornithology, procure one new specimen, and you +are ticketed for the whole voyage. There is a fascination about it +quite overpowering. It fits so well with other things,--with fishing, +hunting, farming, walking, camping-out,--with all that takes one to +the fields and woods. One may go a-blackberrying and make some rare +discovery; or, while driving his cow to pasture, hear a new song, or +make a new observation. Secrets lurk on all sides. There is news in +every bush. Expectation is ever on tiptoe. What no man ever saw before +may the next moment be revealed to you. What a new interest the woods +have! How you long to explore every nook and corner of them! You would +even find consolation in being lost in them. You could then hear the +night birds and the owls, and, in your wanderings, might stumble upon +some unknown specimen. + +In all excursions to the woods or to the shore, the student of +ornithology has an advantage over his companions. He has one more +resource, one more avenue of delight. He, indeed, kills two birds with +one stone and sometimes three. If others wander, he can never go out +of his way. His game is everywhere. The cawing of a crow makes him +feel at home, while a new note or a new song drowns all care. Audubon, +on the desolate coast of Labrador, is happier than any king ever was; +and on shipboard is nearly cured of his seasickness when a new gull +appears in sight. + +One must taste it to understand or appreciate its fascination. The +looker-on sees nothing to inspire such enthusiasm. Only a few feathers +and a half-musical note or two; why all this ado? "Who would give a +hundred and twenty dollars to know about the birds?" said an Eastern +governor, half contemptuously, to Wilson, as the latter solicited a +subscription to his great work. Sure enough. Bought knowledge is dear +at any price. The most precious things have no commercial value. It is +not, your Excellency, mere technical knowledge of the birds that you +are asked to purchase, but a new interest in the fields and the woods, +a new moral and intellectual tonic, a new key to the treasure-house of +Nature. Think of the many other things your Excellency would get,--the +air, the sunshine, the healing fragrance and coolness, and the many +respites from the knavery and turmoil of political life. + +Yesterday was an October day of rare brightness and warmth. I spent +the most of it in a wild, wooded gorge of Rock Creek. A persimmon-tree +which stood upon the bank had dropped some of its fruit in the water. +As I stood there, half-leg deep, picking them up, a wood duck came +flying down the creek and passed over my head. Presently it returned, +flying up; then it came back again, and, sweeping low around a bend, +prepared to alight in a still, dark reach in the creek which was +hidden from my view. As I passed that way about half an hour +afterward, the duck started up, uttering its wild alarm note. In the +stillness I could hear the whistle of its wings and the splash of the +water when it took flight. Near by I saw where a raccoon had come down +to the water for fresh clams, leaving his long, sharp track in the mud +and sand. Before I had passed this hidden stretch of water, a pair of +those mysterious thrushes, the gray-cheeked, flew up from the ground +and perched on a low branch. + +Who can tell how much this duck, this footprint in the sand, and these +strange thrushes from the far north, enhanced the interest and charm +of the autumn woods? + +Ornithology cannot be satisfactorily learned from the books. The +satisfaction is in learning it from nature. One must have an original +experience with the birds. The books are only the guide, the +invitation. Though there remain not another new species to describe, +any young person with health and enthusiasm has open to him or her the +whole field anew, and is eligible to experience all the thrill and +delight of the original discoverers. + +But let me say, in the same breath, that the books can by no manner of +means be dispensed with. A copy of Wilson or Audubon, for reference +and to compare notes with, is invaluable. In lieu of these, access to +some large museum or collection would be a great help. In the +beginning, one finds it very difficult to identify a bird from any +verbal description. Reference to a colored plate, or to a stuffed +specimen, at once settles the matter. This is the chief value of +books; they are the charts to sail by; the route is mapped out, and +much time and labor are thereby saved. First find your bird; observe +its ways, its song, its calls, its flight, its haunts; then shoot it +(not ogle it with a glass), and compare it with Audubon. [footnote: My +later experiences have led me to prefer a small field-glass to a gun.] +In this way the feathered kingdom may soon be conquered. + +The ornithologists divide and subdivide the birds into a great many +orders, families, genera, species etc., which, at first sight, are apt +to confuse and discourage the reader. But any interested person can +acquaint himself with most of our song-birds by keeping in mind a few +general divisions, and observing the characteristics of each. By far +the greater number of our land-birds are either warblers, vireos, +flycatchers, thrushes, or finches. + +The warblers are, perhaps, the most puzzling. These are the true +Sylvia, the real wood-birds. They are small, very active, but feeble +songsters, and, to be seen, must be sought for. In passing through the +woods, most persons have a vague consciousness of slight chirping, +semi-musical sounds in the trees overhead. In most cases these sounds +proceed from the warblers. Throughout the Middle and Eastern States, +half a dozen species or so may be found in almost every locality, as +the redstart, the Maryland yellow-throat, the yellow warbler (not the +common goldfinch, with black cap, and black wings and tail), the +hooded warbler, the black and white creeping warbler; or others, +according to the locality and the character of the woods. In pine or +hemlock woods, one species may predominate; in maple or oak woods, or +in mountainous districts, another. The subdivisions of ground +warblers, the most common members of which are the Maryland +yellow-throat, the Kentucky warbler, and the mourning ground warbler, +are usually found in low, wet, bushy, or half-open woods, often on and +always near the ground. The summer yellowbird, or yellow warbler, is +not now a wood-bird at all, being found in orchards and parks, and +along streams and in the trees of villages and cities. + +As we go north the number of warblers increases, till, in the northern +part of New England, and in the Canadas, as many as ten or twelve +varieties may be found breeding in June. Audubon found the black-poll +warbler breeding in Labrador, and congratulates himself on being the +first white man who had ever seen its nest. When these warblers pass +north in May, they seem to go singly or in pairs, and their black caps +and striped coats show conspicuously. When they return in September +they are in troops or loose flocks, are of a uniform dull drab or +brindlish color, and are very fat. They scour the treetops for a few +days, almost eluding the eye by their quick movements, and are gone. + +According to my own observation, the number of species of warblers +which one living in the middle districts sees, on their return in the +fall, is very small compared with the number he may observe migrating +north in the spring. + +The yellow-rumped warblers are the most noticeable of all in Autumn. +They come about the streets and garden, and seem especially drawn to +dry, leafless trees. They dart spitefully about, uttering a sharp +chirp. In Washington I have seen them in the outskirts all winter. + +Audubon figures and describes over forty different warblers. More +recent writers have divided and subdivided the group very much, giving +new names to new classifications. But this part is of interest and +value only to the professional ornithologist. + +The finest songster among the Sylvia, according to my notions, is the +black-throated greenback. Its song is sweet and clear, but brief. + +The rarest of the species are Swainson's warbler, said to be +disappearing; the cerulean warbler, said to be abundant about Niagara; +and the mourning ground warbler, which I have found breeding about the +head-waters of the Delaware, in New York. + +The vireos, or greenlets, are a sort of connecting link between the +warblers and the true flycatchers, and partake of the characteristics +of both. + +The red-eyed vireo, whose sweet soliloquy is one of the most constant +and cheerful sounds in our woods and groves, is perhaps the most +noticeable and abundant species. The vireos are a little larger than +the warblers, and are far less brilliant and variegated in color. + +There are five species found in most of our woods, namely the red-eyed +vireo, the white-eyed vireo, the warbling vireo, the yellow-throated +vireo, and the solitary vireo,--the red-eyed and warbling being most +abundant, and the white-eyed being the most lively and animated +songster. I meet the latter bird only in the thick, bush growths of +low, swampy localities, where, eluding the observer, it pours forth +its song with a sharpness and a rapidity of articulation that are +truly astonishing. This strain is very marked, and, though inlaid with +the notes of several other birds, is entirely unique. The iris of this +bird is white, as that of the red-eyed is red, though in neither case +can this mark be distinguished at more than two or three yards. In +most cases the iris of birds is a dark hazel, which passes for black. + +The basket-like nest, pendent to the low branches in the woods, which +the falling leaves of autumn reveal to all passers, is, in most cases, +the nest of the red-eyed, though the solitary constructs a similar +tenement, but in much more remote and secluded localities. + +Most birds exhibit great alarm and distress, usually with a strong +dash of anger, when you approach their nests; but the demeanor of the +red-eyed, on such an occasion, is an exception to this rule. The +parent birds move about softly amid the branches above, eying the +intruder with a curious, innocent look, uttering, now and then, a +subdued note or plaint, solicitous and watchful, but making no +demonstration of anger or distress. + +The birds, no more than the animals, like to be caught napping; but I +remember, one autumn day, coming upon a red-eyed vireo that was +clearly oblivious to all that was passing around it. It was a young +bird, though full grown, and it was taking its siesta on a low branch +in a remote heathery field. Its head was snugly stowed away under its +wing, and it would have fallen easy prey to the first hawk that came +along. I approached noiselessly, and when within a few feet of it +paused to note its breathings, so much more rapid and full than our +own. A bird has greater lung capacity than any other living thing, +hence more animal heat, and life at a higher pressure. When I reached +out my hand and carefully closed it around the winged sleeper, its +sudden terror and consternation almost paralyzed it. Then it struggled +and cried piteously, and when released hastened and hid itself in some +near bushes. I never expected to surprise it thus a second time. + +The flycatchers are a larger group than the vireos, with +stronger-marked characteristics. They are not properly songsters, but +are classed by some writers as screechers. Their pugnacious +dispositions are well known, and they not only fight among themselves, +but are incessantly quarreling with their neighbors. The kingbird, or +tyrant flycatcher might serve as the type of the order. + +The common or wood pewee excites the most pleasant emotions, both on +account of its plaintive note and its exquisite mossy nest. + +The phoebe-bird is the pioneer of the flycatchers, and comes in April, +sometimes in March. Its comes familiarly about the house and +outbuildings, and usually builds beneath hay-sheds or under bridges. + +The flycatchers always take their insect prey on the wing, by a sudden +darting or swooping movement; often a very audible snap of the beak +may be heard. + +These birds are the least elegant, both in form and color, of any of +our feathered neighbors. They have short legs, a short neck, large +heads, and broad, flat beaks, with bristles at the base. They often +fly with a peculiar quivering movement of the wings, and when at rest +some of the species oscillate their tails at short intervals. + +There are found in the United States nineteen species. In the Middle +and Eastern districts, one may observe in summer, without any special +search, about five of them, namely, the kingbird, the phoebe-bird, the +wood pewee, the great crested flycatcher (distinguished from all +others by the bright ferruginous color of its tail), and the small +green-crested flycatcher. + +The thrushes are the birds of real melody, and will afford one more +delight perhaps than any other class. The robin is the most familiar +example. Their manners, flight, and form are the same in each species. +See the robin hop along upon the ground, strike an attitude, scratch +for a worm, fix his eye upon something before him or upon the +beholder, flip his wings suspiciously, fly straight to his perch, or +sit at sundown on some high branch caroling his sweet and honest +strain, and you have seen what is characteristic of all the thrushes. +Their carriage is preeminently marked by grace, and their songs by +melody. + +Beside the robin, which is in no sense a woodbird, we have in New York +the wood thrush, the hermit thrush, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, the +olive-backed thrush, and, transiently, one or two other species not so +clearly defined. + +The wood thrush and the hermit stand at the head as songsters, no two +persons, perhaps, agreeing as to which is the superior. + +Under the general head of finches, Audubon describes over sixty +different birds, ranging from the sparrows to the grosbeaks, and +including the buntings, the linnets, the snowbirds, the crossbills, +and the redbirds. + +We have nearly or quite a dozen varieties of the sparrow in the +Atlantic States, but perhaps no more than half that number would be +discriminated by the unprofessional observer. The song sparrow, which +every child knows, comes first; at least, his voice is first heard. +And can there be anything more fresh and pleasing than this first +simple strain heard from the garden fence or a near hedge, on some +bright, still March morning? + +The field or vesper sparrow, called also grass finch 8 and +bay-winged sparrow, a bird slightly larger than the song sparrow and +of a lighter gray color, is abundant in all our upland fields and +pastures, and is a very sweet songster. It builds upon the ground, +without the slightest cover or protection, and also roosts there. +Walking through the fields at dusk, I frequently start them up almost +beneath my feet. When disturbed by day, they fly with a quick, sharp +movement, showing two white quills in the tail. The traveler along the +country roads disturbs them earthing their wings in the soft dry +earth, or sees them skulking and flitting along the fences in front of +him. They run in the furrow in advance of the team, or perch upon the +stones a few rods off. They sing much after sundown, hence the aptness +of the name vesper sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, has +bestowed upon them. + +In the meadows and low, wet lands the savanna sparrow is met with, and +may be known by its fine, insect-like song; in the swamp, the swamp +sparrow. + +The fox sparrow, the largest and handsomest species of this family, +comes to us in the fall, from the North, where it breeds. Likewise the +tree or Canada sparrow, and the white-crowned and white-throated +sparrow. + +The social sparrow, alias "hairbird," alias "red-headed +chipping-bird," is the smallest of the sparrows, and I believe, the +only one that builds in trees. + +The finches, as a class, all have short conical bills, with tails more +or less forked. The purple finch heads the list in varied musical +abilities. + +Besides the groups of our more familiar birds which I have thus +hastily outlined, there are numerous other groups, more limited in +specimens but comprising some of our best-known songsters. The +bobolink, for instance, has properly no congener. The famous +mockingbird of the Southern States belongs to a genus which has but +two other representatives in the Atlantic States, namely, the catbird +and the long-tailed or ferruginous thrush. + +The wrens are a large and interesting family, and as songsters are +noted for vivacity and volubility. The more common species are the +house wren, the marsh wren, the great Carolina wren, and the winter +wren, the latter perhaps deriving its name from the fact that it breed +in the North. It is an exquisite songster, and pours forth its notes +so rapidly, and with such sylvan sweetness and cadence, that it seems +to go off like a musical alarm. + +Wilson called the kinglets wrens, but they have little to justify the +name, except that the ruby-crown's song is of the same gushing, +lyrical character as that referred to above. Dr. Brewer was entranced +with the song of one of these tiny minstrels in the woods of New +Brunswick, and thought he had found the author of the strain in the +black-poll warbler. He seems loath to believe that a bird so small as +either of the kinglets could possess such vocal powers. It may indeed +have been the winter wren, but from my own observation I believe the +ruby-crowned kinglet quite capable of such a performance. + +But I must leave this part of the subject and hasten on. As to works +on ornithology, Audubon's, though its expense puts it beyond the reach +of the mass of readers, is by far the most full and accurate. His +drawings surpass all others in accuracy and spirit, while his +enthusiasm and devotion to the work he had undertaken have but few +parallels in the history of science. His chapter on the wild goose is +as good as a poem. One readily overlooks his style, which is often +verbose and affected, in consideration of enthusiasm so genuine and +purpose so single. + +There has never been a keener eye than Audubon's, though there have +been more discriminative ears. Nuttall, for instance is far more happy +in his descriptions of the songs and notes of birds, and more to be +relied upon. Audubon thinks the song of the Louisiana water-thrush +equal to that of the European nightingale, and, as he had heard both +birds, one would think was prepared to judge. Yet he has, no doubt, +overrated the one and underrated the other. The song of the +water-thrush is very brief, compared with the philomel's, and its +quality is brightness and vivacity, while that of the latter bird, if +the books are to be credited, is melody and harmony. Again, he says +the song of the blue grosbeak resembles the bobolink's, which it does +about as much as the two birds resemble each other in color; one is +black and white and the other is blue. The song of the wood-wagtail, +he says, consists of a "short succession of simple notes beginning +with emphasis and gradually falling." The truth is, they run up the +scale instead of down, beginning low and ending in a shriek. + +Yet considering the extent of Audubon's work, the wonder is the errors +are so few. I can at this moment recall but one observation of his, +the contrary of which I have proved to be true. In his account of the +bobolink he makes a point of the fact that, in returning south in the +fall, they do not travel by night as they do when moving north in the +spring. In Washington I have heard their calls as they flew over at +night for four successive autumns. As he devoted the whole of a long +life to the subject, and figured and described over four hundred +species, one feels a real triumph on finding in our common woods a +bird not described in his work. I have seen but two. Walking in the +woods one day in early fall, in the vicinity of West Point, I started +up a thrush that was sitting on the ground. It alighted on a branch a +few yards off, and looked new to me. I thought I had never before seen +so long-legged a thrush. I shot it, and saw that it was a new +acquaintance. Its peculiarities were its broad, square tail; the +length of its legs, which were three and three quarters inches from +the end of the middle toe to the hip-joint; and the deep uniform +olive-brown of the upper parts, and the gray of the lower. It proved +to be the gray-cheeked thrush, named and first described by Professor +Baird. But little seems to be known concerning it, except that it +breeds in the far north, even on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. I +would go a good way to hear its song. + +The present season I met with a pair of them near Washington, as +mentioned above. In size this bird approaches the wood thrush, being +larger than either the hermit or the veery; unlike all other species, +no part of its plumage has a tawny or yellowish tinge. The other +specimen was the northern or small water-thrush, cousin-german to the +oven-bird and the half-brother to the Louisiana water-thrush or +wagtail. I found it at the head of the Delaware, where it evidently +had a nest. It usually breeds much further north. It has a strong, +clear warble, which at once suggests the song of its congener. I have +not been able to find any account of this particular species in the +books, though it seems to be well known. + +More recent writers and explorers have added to Audubon's list over +three hundred new species, the greater number of which belong to the +northern and western parts of the continent. Audubon's observations +were confined mainly to the Atlantic and Gulf States and the adjacent +islands; hence the Western or Pacific birds were but little known to +him, and are only briefly mentioned in his works. + +It is, by the way, a little remarkable how many of the Western birds +seem merely duplicates of the Eastern. Thus, the varied thrush of the +West is our robin, a little differently marked; and the red-shafted +woodpecker is our golden-wing, or high-hole, colored red instead of +yellow. There is also a Western chickadee, a Western chewink, a +Western blue jay, a Western bluebird, a Western song sparrow, Western +grouse, quail, hen-hawk, etc. + +One of the most remarkable birds of the West seems to be a species of +skylark, met with on the plains of Dakota, which mounts to the height +of three or four hundred feet, and showers down its ecstatic notes. It +is evidently akin to several of our Eastern species. + +A correspondent, writing to me from the country one September, said: +"I have observed recently a new species of bird here. They alight upon +the buildings and fences as well as upon the ground. They are +walkers." In a few days he obtained one and sent me the skin. It +proved to be what I had anticipated, namely the American pipit, or +titlark, a slender brown bird, about the size of the sparrow, which +passes through the States in the fall and spring, to and from its +breeding haunts in the far north. They generally appear by twos and +threes, or in small loose flocks, searching for food on banks and +plowed ground. As they fly up, they show two or three white quills in +the tail, like the vesper sparrow. Flying over, they utter a single +chirp or cry every few rods. They breed in the bleak, moss-covered +rocks of Labrador. It is reported that their eggs have also been found +in Vermont, and I feel quite certain that I saw this bird in the +Adirondack Mountains in the month of August. The male launches into +the air, and gives forth a brief but melodious song, after the manner +of all larks. They are walkers. This is a characteristic of but few of +our land-birds. By far the greater number are hoppers. Note the track +of the common snowbird; the feet are not placed one in front of the +other, as in the track of the crow or partridge, but side and side. +The sparrows, thrushes, warblers, woodpeckers, buntings, etc., are all +hoppers. On the other hand, all aquatic or semi-aquatic birds are +walkers. The plovers and sandpipers and snips run rapidly. Among the +land-birds, the grouse, pigeons, quails, larks and various blackbirds +walk. The swallows walk, also, whenever they use their feet at all, +but very awkwardly. The larks walk with ease and grace. Note the +meadowlarks strutting about all day in the meadows. + +Besides being walkers, the larks, or birds allied to the larks, all +sing upon the wing, usually poised or circling in the air, with a +hovering, tremulous flight. The meadowlark occasionally does this in +the early part of the season. At such times its long-drawn note or +whistle becomes a rich, amorous warble. + +The bobolink, also, has both characteristics, and, notwithstanding the +difference of form and build, etc., is very suggestive of the English +skylark, as it figures in the books, and is, no doubt, fully its equal +as a songster. + +Of our small wood-birds we have three varieties east of the +Mississippi, closely related to each other, which I have already +spoken of, and which walk, and sing, more or less, on the wing, namely +the two species of water-thrush or wagtails, and the oven-bird or +wood-wagtail. The latter is the most common, and few observers of the +birds can have failed to notice its easy, gliding walk. Its other lark +trait, namely singing in the air, seems not to have been observed by +any other naturalist. Yet it is a well-established characteristic, and +may be verified by any person who will spend a half hour in the woods +where this bird abounds on some June afternoon or evening. I hear it +very frequently after sundown, when the ecstatic singer can hardly be +distinguished against the sky. I know of a high, bald-top mountain +where I have sat late in the afternoon and heard them as often as one +every minute. Sometimes the bird would be far below me, sometimes near +at hand; and very frequently the singer would be hovering a hundred +feet above the summit. He would start from the trees on one side of +the open space, reach his climax in the air, and plunge down on the +other side. His descent after the song is finished is very rapid, and +precisely like that of the titlark when it sweeps down from its course +to alight on the ground. + +I first verified this observation some years ago. I had long been +familiar with the song, but had only strongly suspected the author of +it, when, as I was walking in the woods one evening, just as the +leaves were putting out, I saw one of these birds but a few rods from +me. I was saying to myself, half audibly, "Come, now, show off, if it +is in you; I have come to the woods expressly to settle this point," +when it began to ascend, by short hops and flights, through the +branches, uttering a sharp, preliminary chirp. I followed it with my +eye; saw it mount into the air and circle over the woods; and saw it +sweep down again and dive through the trees, almost to the very perch +from which it had started. + +As the paramount question in the life of a bird is the question of +food, perhaps the most serious troubles our feathered neighbors +encounter are early in the spring, after the supply of fat with which +Nature stores every corner and by-place of the system, thereby +anticipating the scarcity of food, has been exhausted, and the sudden +and severe changes in the weather which occur at this season make +unusual demands upon their vitality. No doubt many of the earlier +birds die from starvation and exposure at this season. Among a troop +of Canada sparrows which I came upon one March day, all of them +evidently much reduced, one was so feeble that I caught it in my hand. + +During the present season, a very severe cold spell the first week in +March drove the bluebirds to seek shelter about the houses and +outbuildings. As night approached, and the winds and the cold +increased, they seemed filled with apprehension and alarm, and in the +outskirts of the city came about the windows and the doors, crept +beneath the blinds, clung to the gutters and beneath the cornice, +flitted from porch to porch, and from house to house, seeking in vain +from some safe retreat from the cold. The street pump, which had a +small opening just over the handle, was an attraction which they could +not resist. And yet they seemed aware of the insecurity of the +position; for no sooner would they stow themselves away into the +interior of the pump, to the number of six or eight, than they would +rush out again, as if apprehensive of some approaching danger. Time +after time the cavity was filled and refilled, with blue and brown +intermingled, and as often emptied. Presently they tarried longer than +usual, when I made a sudden sally and captured three, that found a +warmer and safer lodging for the night in the cellar. + +In the fall, birds and fowls of all kinds become very fat. The +squirrels and mice lay by a supply of food in their dens and retreats, +but the birds, to a considerable extent, especially our winter +residents, carry an equivalent in their own systems, in the form of +adipose tissue. I killed a red-shouldered hawk one December, and on +removing the skin found the body completely encased in a coating of +fat one quarter of an inch in thickness. Not a particle of muscle was +visible. This coating not only serves as a protection against the +cold, but supplies the waste of the system when food is scarce or +fails altogether. + +The crows at this season are in the same condition. It is estimated +that a crow needs at least half a pound of meat per day, but it is +evident that for weeks and months during the winter and spring they +must subsist on a mere fraction of that amount. I have no doubt that a +crow or hawk, when in his fall condition, would live two weeks without +a morsel of food passing his beak; a domestic fowl will do as much. +One January I unwittingly shut a hen under the door of an outbuilding, +where not a particle of food could be obtained, and where she was +entirely unprotected from the severe cold. When the luckless Dominick +was discovered, about eighteen days afterward, she was brisk and +lively, but fearfully pinched up, and as light as a bunch of feathers. +The slightest wind carried her before it. But by judicious feeding she +was soon restored. + +The circumstances of the bluebirds being emboldened by the cold +suggests the fact that the fear of man, which by now seems like an +instinct in the birds, is evidently an acquired trait, and foreign to +them in a state of primitive nature. Every gunner has observed, to his +chagrin, how wild the pigeons become after a few days of firing among +them; and, to his delight, how easy it is to approach near his game in +new or unfrequented woods. Professor Baird [footnote: Then at the head +of the Smithsonian Institution] tells me that a correspondent of +theirs visited a small island in the Pacific Ocean, situated about two +hundred miles off Cape St. Lucas, to procure specimens. The island was +but a few miles in extent, and had probably never been visited half a +dozen times by human beings. The naturalist found the birds and +water-fowls so tame that it was but a waste of ammunition to shoot +them. Fixing a noose on the end of a long stick, he captured them by +putting it over their necks and hauling them to him. In some cases not +even this contrivance was needed. A species of mockingbird in +particular, larger than ours and a splendid songster, made itself so +familiar as to be almost a nuisance, hopping on the table where the +collector was writing, and scattering the pens and paper. Eighteen +species were found, twelve of them peculiar to the island. + +Thoreau relates that in the woods of Maine the Canada jay will +sometimes make its meal with the lumbermen, taking the food out of +their hands. + +Yet notwithstanding the birds have come to look upon man as their +natural enemy, there can be little doubt that civilization is on the +whole favorable to their increase and perpetuity, especially to the +smaller species. With man comes flies and moths, and insects of all +kinds in greater abundance; new plants and weeds are introduced, and, +with the clearing up of the country, are sowed broadcast over the +land. + +The larks and snow buntings that come to us from the north subsist +almost entirely upon the seeds of grasses and plants; and how many of +our more common and abundant species are field-birds, and entire +strangers to deep forests? + +In Europe some birds have become almost domesticated, like the house +sparrow; and in our own country the cliff swallow seems to have +entirely abandoned ledges and shelving rocks, as a place to nest, for +the eaves and projections of farm and other outbuildings. + +After one has made the acquaintance of most of the land-birds, there +remain the seashore and its treasures. How little one knows of the +aquatic fowls, even after reading carefully the best authorities, was +recently forced home to my mind by the following circumstance: I was +spending a vacation in the interior of New York, when one day a +stranger alighted before the house, and with a cigar box in his hand +approached me as I sat in the doorway. I was about to say that he +would waste his time in recommending his cigars to me, as I never +smoked, when he said that, hearing I knew something about birds, he +had brought me one which had been picked up a few hours before in a +hay-field near the village, and which was stranger to all who had seen +it. As he began to undo the box I expected to see some of our own +rarer birds, perhaps the rose-breasted grosbeak or Bohemian chatterer. +Imagine, then, how I was taken aback when I beheld instead a +swallow-shaped bird, quite as large as a pigeon, with a forked tail, +glossy black above and snow-white beneath. Its parti-webbed feet, and +its long graceful wings, at a glance told that it was a sea-bird; but +as to its name or habitat I must defer my answer till I could get a +peep into Audubon or some collection. + +The bird had fallen down exhausted in a meadow, and was picked up just +as the life was leaving its body. The place must have been one hundred +and fifty miles from the sea as the bird flies. As it was the sooty +tern, which inhabits the Florida Keys, its appearance so far north and +so far inland may be considered somewhat remarkable. On removing the +skin I found it terribly emaciated. It had no doubt starved to death, +ruined by too much wing. Another Icarus. Its great power of flight had +made it bold and venturesome, and had carried it so far out of its +range that it starved to death before it could return. + +The sooty tern is sometimes called the sea-swallow on account of its +form and the power of flight. It will fly nearly all day at sea, +picking up food from the surface of the water. There are several +species of terns, some of them strikingly beautiful. + + 1868. + + + +INDEX +[Transcribist's note: condensed to bird names and their +scientific names] + +Blackbird, crow, or purple grackle (Quiscalus quiscula). +Bluebird (Sialia sialis). +Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). +Bunting, black-throated or dickcissel (Spiza americana). +Bunting, snow (Passerina nivalis). +Buzzard, turkey, or turkey vulture (Cathartes aura). + +Cardinal. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal. +Catbird (Galeoscoptes carolinensis). +Cedar-bird, or Cedar waxwing (Ampelis cedrorum). +Chat, yellow-breasted (Icteria virens). +Chewink, or towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus). +Chickadee (Parus atricapillus). +Cow-bunting, or cowbird (Molothrus ater). +Creeper, brown (Certhia familiaris americana). +Crow, American (Corvus brachyrhynchos). +Cuckoo, black-billed (Coccyzux erythrophthalmus). +Cuckoo, European. +Cuckoo, yellow-billed (Coccyzus americanus). + +Dickcissel. SEE Bunting, black-throated. +Dove, turtle, or mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura). +Duck, wood (Aix sponsa). + +Eagle, bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). +Eagle, golden (Aquila chrysaetos). + +Finch, grass. SEE Sparrow, field. +Finch, pine, OR pine siskin (Spinus pinus). +Finch, purple, OR linnet (Carpodacus purpureus). +Flicker. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. +Flycatcher, great crested (Myiarchus crinitus). +Flycatcher, green-crested, OR green-crested pewee (Empidonax + virescens). +Flycatcher, white-eyed. SEE Vireo, white-eyed. +Fox, gray, 43. + +Gnatcatcher, blue-gray (Polioptila caerulea). +Goldfinch, American, OR yellow-bird (Astragalinus tristis). +Grackle, purple. SEE Blackbird, crow. +Grosbeak, blue (Guiraca caerulea). +Grosbeak, cardinal, OR Virginia red-bird, OR cardinal (Cardinalis + cardinalis). +Grosbeak, rose-breasted (Zamelodia ludoviciana). +Grouse, ruffed. SEE Partridge. + +Hairbird. SEE Sparrow, social. +Hawk, fish, OR American osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis). +Hawk, hen. +Hawk, pigeon. +Hawk, red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus). +Hawk, red-tailed (Buteo borealis). +Hawk, sharp-shinned (Accipiter velox). +Hen, domestic. +Heron, great blue (Ardea herodias). +High-hole. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. +Hummingbird, ruby-throated (Trochilus colubris). + +Indigo-bird (Cyanospiza cyanea). + +Jay, blue (Cyanocitta cristata). +Jay, Canada (Perisoreus canadensis). + +Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). +Kinglet, golden-crowned (Regulus satrapa). +Kinglet, ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula). + +Lark, shore, OR horned lark (Otocoris alpestris). + +Martin, purple (Progne subis). +Meadowlark (sturnella magna). +Merganser, red-breasted (Merganser serrator). +Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). + +Nightingale. +Nuthatch, (Sitta). + +Oriole, Baltimore (Icterus galbula). +Oriole, orchard. SEE Starling, orchard. +Osprey. SEE Hawk, fish. +Owl, screech (megascops asio). + +Partridge, OR ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). +Pewee. SEE Phoebe-bird. +Pewee, green-crested. SEE Flycatcher, green-crested. +Pewee, wood (Contopus virens). +Phoebe-bird, OR pewee (Sayornis phoebe). +Pickerel. +Pigeon, wild, OR passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). +Pipit, American, OR titlark (Anthus pensilvanicus). + +Quail, OR bob-white (Colinus virginianus). + +Red-bird, summer, OR summer tanager (Piranga rubra). +Red-bird, Virginia. SEE Grosbeak, cardinal. +Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). +Robin (Merula migratoria).. + +Sandpiper, solitary (Helodromas solitarius). +Snipes. +Snowbird, OR slate-colored junco (Junco hyemalis). +Sparrow, bush. SEE Sparrow, wood. +Sparrow, Canada, OR tree sparrow (Spizella monticola). +Sparrow, English. SEE Sparrow, house. +Sparrow, field, OR vesper sparrow, OR grass finch (Poaecetes + gramineus). SEE ALSO Sparrow, wood. +Sparrow, fox (Passerella iliaca). +Sparrow, house, OR English sparrow (Passer domesticus). +Sparrow, savanna (Passerculus sandwichensis savanna). +Sparrow, social, OR chipping sparrow, OR chippie, OR hairbird + (Spizella socialis). +Sparrow, song (Melospiza cinerea melodia). +Sparrow, swamp (Melospiza georgiana). +Sparrow, tree. SEE Sparrow, Canada. +Sparrow, vesper. SEE Sparrow, field. +Sparrow, white-crowned (Zonotrichia leucophrys). +Sparrow, white-throated (Zonotrichia albicollis). +Sparrow, wood, OR bush sparrow, OR field sparrow (Spizella + pusilla). +Squirrel, black. +Squirrel, gray. +Squirrel, red. +Starling, orchard, OR orchard oriole (Icterus spurius). +Swallow, barn (Hirundo erythrogastra). +Swallow, chimney, OR chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica). +Swallow, cliff (Petrochelidon lunifrons). +Swallow, rough-winged (Stelgidopteryx serripennis). + +Tanager, scarlet (Piranga erythromelas). +Tanager, summer. SEE Red-bird, summer. +Tern, sooty (sterna fuliginosa). +Thrush, golden-crowned, OR wood-wagtail, OR oven-bird (Seiurus + aurocapillus). +Thrush, gray-cheeked (Hylocichla alicae). +Thrush, hermit (Hylocichla guttata pallasii). +Thrush, olive-backed, OR Swainson's thrush (Hylocichla ustulata + swainsoni). +Thrush, red, OR mavis, OR ferrugninous thrush, OR brown thrasher + (Toxostoma rufum). +Thrush, varied (Ixoreus naevius). +Thrush, Wilson's. SEE Veery. +Thrush, wood (Hylocichla mustelina). +Titlark. SEE Pipit, American. +Titmouse, gray-crested, OR tufted titmouse (Baelophus bicolor). +Turkey, domestic. +Turkey, wild (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris). + +Veery, OR Wilson's thrush (Hylocichla fuscescens). +Vireo, red-eyed (Vireo olivaceus). +Vireo, solitary, OR blue-headed vireo (Vireo solitarius). +Vireo, warbling (Vireo gilvus). +Vireo, white-eyed, OR white-eyed flycatcher (Vireo noveboracensis). +Vireo, yellow-throated, OR yellow-breasted flycatcher (Vireo + flavifrons). + +Wagtail. SEE Water-thrush AND Thrush, golden-crowned. +Warbler, Audubon's (Dendroica auduboni). +Warbler, bay-breasted (Dendroica castanea). +Warbler, black and white (Mniotilta varia). +Warbler, black and yellow, OR magnolia warbler (Dendroica maculosa). +Warbler, Blackburnian (Dendroica blackburniae). +Warbler, black-poll (Dendroica striata). +Warbler, black-throated blue, OR blue-backed warbler (Dendroica + caerulescens). +Warbler, black-throated green, OR green-backed warbler (Dendroica + virens). +Warbler, blue-winged (Helminthophila pinus). +Warbler, blue yellow-backed, OR northern parula warbler + (Compsothlypis americana usneae). +Warbler, Canada (Wilsonia canadensis). +Warbler, cerulean (Dendroica caerulea). +Warbler, chestnut-sided (Dendroica pensylvanica). +Warbler, hooded (Wilsonia mitrata). +Warbler, Kentucky (Geothlypis formosa). +Warbler, mourning (Geothlypis philadelphia). +Warbler, Swainson's (Helinaia swainsonii). +Warbler, worm-eating (Helmitheros vermivorus). +Warbler, yellow (Dendroica aestiva). +Warbler, yellow red-poll, OR yellow palm warbler (Dendroica palmarum + hypochrysea). +Warbler, yellow-rumped, OR myrtle warbler (Dendroica coronata). +Water-thrush, Louisiana, OR large-billed water thrush (Seiurus + noveboracensis). +Water-thrush, northern (Seiurus noveboracensis). +Woodpecker, downy (Dryobates pubescens medianus). +Woodpecker, golden-winged, OR high-hole, OR flicker, OR yarup, OR + yellow-hammer (Colaptes auratus luteus). +Woodpecker, red-headed (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). +Woodpecker, red-shafted, OR red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer + collaris). +Woodpecker, yellow-bellied, OR yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus + varius). +Wood-wagtail. SEE Thrush, golden-crowned. +Wren, Carolina (Thryothorus ludovicianus). +Wren, house (Troglodytes Aedon). +Wren, ruby-crowned. SEE Kinglet, ruby crowned. +Wren, winter (Olbiorchilus hiemalis). + +Yarup. SEE Woodpecker, golden-winged. +Yellow-hammer. SEE Woodpecker, golden winged. +Yellow-throat, Maryland, OR northern yellow-throat (Geothlypis + trichas brachydactyla). + + + + +_____________________________________________________________ +[Transcribist's note: John Burroughs used some characters +which are not standard to our writing in 2001. + +He used a diaeresis in preeminent, and accented "e"s in +debris and denouement. These have been replaced with plain +letters. + +I substituted the letters "oe" for the ligature, used often +in the word phoebe. Simularly the "e" in the golden eagle's +scientific name is modernized. + +He also used symbols available to a typesetter which are +unavailable to us in ASCII (plain vanilla text) to illustrate +bird calls and notes. I have replaced these with a description +of what was there originally. + +Finally, he used italics throughout the book that I was +unable to retain, because of the ASCII format. The two +uses of the italics were to denote scientific names and to +emphasize. I have done nothing to note where the italics were +used, as I don't think it really has a great affect on reading +this book.] +_____________________________________________________________ + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Wake-Robin, by John Burroughs + diff --git a/old/wkrbn10.zip b/old/wkrbn10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f45709 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wkrbn10.zip |