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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..31f6dae --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69563 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69563) diff --git a/old/69563-0.txt b/old/69563-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3ce7582..0000000 --- a/old/69563-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2987 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Everyday birds, by Bradford Torrey - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Everyday birds - Elementary studies - -Author: Bradford Torrey - -Illustrator: John James Audubon - -Release Date: December 17, 2022 [eBook #69563] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Emmanuel Ackerman, David E. Brown, and the Online - Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This - file was produced from images generously made available by - The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVERYDAY BIRDS *** - - - - - -Books by Mr. Torrey. - - - FRIENDS ON THE SHELF. 12mo, $1.25, _net_. Postage extra. - - NATURE’S INVITATION. 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.21. - - THE CLERK OF THE WOODS. 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.20. - - FOOTING IT IN FRANCONIA. 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.19. - - EVERYDAY BIRDS. Elementary Studies. With twelve colored Illustrations - reproduced from Audubon. Square 12mo, $1.00. - - BIRDS IN THE BUSH. 16mo, $1.25. - - A RAMBLER’S LEASE. 16mo, $1.25. - - THE FOOT-PATH WAY. 16mo, gilt top, $1.25. - - A FLORIDA SKETCH-BOOK. 16mo, $1.25. - - SPRING NOTES FROM TENNESSEE. 16mo, $1.25. - - A WORLD OF GREEN HILLS. 16mo, $1.25. - - - HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. - BOSTON AND NEW YORK. - - - - -[Illustration: BLUE JAY - -_1. Male._ _2, 3. Females_] - - - - - EVERYDAY BIRDS - - ELEMENTARY STUDIES - - BY - BRADFORD TORREY - - _WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS IN - COLORS AFTER AUDUBON, AND - TWO FROM PHOTOGRAPHS_ - - [Illustration] - - BOSTON AND NEW YORK - HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY - The Riverside Press, Cambridge - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY BRADFORD TORREY - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - FIFTH IMPRESSION - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - I. TWO LITTLE KINGS 1 - - II. THE CHICKADEE 7 - - III. THE BROWN CREEPER 10 - - IV. THE BROWN THRASHER 15 - - V. THE BUTCHER-BIRD 19 - - VI. THE SCARLET TANAGER 22 - - VII. THE SONG SPARROW 26 - - VIII. THE FIELD SPARROW AND THE CHIPPER 30 - - IX. SOME APRIL SPARROWS 35 - - X. THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 40 - - XI. THE BLUE JAY 43 - - XII. THE KINGBIRD 47 - - XIII. THE HUMMINGBIRD 51 - - XIV. THE CHIMNEY SWIFT 56 - - XV. NIGHTHAWK AND WHIP-POOR-WILL 59 - - XVI. THE FLICKER 64 - - XVII. THE BITTERN 68 - - XVIII. BIRDS FOR EVERYBODY 82 - - XIX. WINTER PENSIONERS 87 - - XX. WATCHING THE PROCESSION 93 - - XXI. SOUTHWARD BOUND 99 - - INDEX 105 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - BLUE JAY (page 43) _Frontispiece_ - - GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 2 - - CHICKADEE 8 - - BROWN CREEPER 12 - - BROWN THRASHER 16 - - SCARLET TANAGER 22 - - SONG SPARROW 26 - - ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 40 - - RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD 52 - - NIGHTHAWK 60 - - WHIP-POOR-WILL 62 - - FLICKER 66 - -_The illustrations entitled A Downy Woodpecker and A Branch -Establishment, facing page 88, are from photographs by Mr. Frank M. -Chapman and were first printed in Bird-Lore._ - - - - -EVERYDAY BIRDS - - - - -I - -TWO LITTLE KINGS - - -The largest bird in the United States is the California vulture, or -condor, which measures from tip to tip of its wings nine feet and a -half. At the other end of the scale are the hummingbirds, one kind of -which, at least, has wings that are less than an inch and a half in -length. Next to these insect-like midgets come the birds which have -been well named in Latin “Regulus,” and in English “kinglets,”--that is -to say, little kings. The fitness of the title comes first from their -tiny size,--the chickadee is almost a giant in comparison,--and next -from the fact that they wear patches of bright color (crowns) on their -heads. - -Two species of kinglets are found at one season or another in nearly -all parts of the United States, and are known respectively as the -golden-crown--or goldcrest--and the ruby-crown. The golden-crown -has on the top of its head an orange or yellow patch (sometimes one, -sometimes the other) bordered with black; the ruby-crown wears a very -bright red patch, though you may look at many specimens without finding -it. Only part of the birds have it,--the adult males, perhaps,--and -even those that have it do not always display it. The orange or yellow -of the goldcrest, on the other hand, is worn by all the birds, and is -never concealed. If you are a beginner in bird study, uncertain of -your species, look for the black stripes on the crown. If they are not -there, and the bird is really a kinglet, it must be a ruby-crown. You -may know it, also,--from the goldcrest, I mean,--by what looks like a -light-colored ring round the eye. In fact, one of the ruby-crown’s most -noticeable peculiarities is a certain bareheaded, large-eyed appearance. - -Unless your home is near or beyond the northern boundary of the United -States, you need not look for either kinglet in summer. The ruby-crown -is to be seen during its migrations in spring and fall, the goldcrest -in fall, winter, and spring. - -[Illustration: GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET - -_1. Male._ _2. Female_] - -At any time of the year they are well worth knowing. Nobody could look -at them without admiration; so pretty, so tiny, and so exceedingly -quick and graceful in their motions. Both species are of a prevailing -greenish or olive shade, with noticeable light-colored wing-bars, and -light, unstreaked, unspotted under parts. - -The ruby-crown is famous as a singer. A genuine music-box, we may call -him. In spring, especially, he is often bubbling over with melody; a -rapid, wren-like tune, with sundry quirks and turns that are all his -own; on the whole decidedly original, with plenty of what musical -people call accent and a strongly marked rhythm or swing. Over and -over he goes with it, as if he could never have enough; beginning -with quick, separate, almost guttural notes, and winding up with a -_twittity, twittity, twittity_, which, once heard, is not likely to be -soon forgotten. - -A very pleasing vocalist he surely is; and when his extreme smallness -is taken into account he is fairly to be esteemed a musical prodigy. -Every one who has written about the song, from Audubon down, has found -it hard to say enough about it. Audubon goes so far as to say that -it is as powerful as a canary’s, and much more varied and pleasing. -That I must think an exaggeration; natural enough, no doubt, under -the circumstances (romantic surroundings count for a good deal in all -questions of this kind), but still a stretching of the truth. However, -I give but my own opinion. Let my readers hear the bird, and judge -for themselves. They will enjoy him, whether or no. Every such new -acquaintance that a man makes is a new source of lifelong happiness. - -The enormous California vulture is said to be almost dumb, having “no -vocal apparatus” and “emitting only a weak hissing sound.” What a -contrast between him and the ruby-crown,--a mere speck of a bird, but -with a musical nature and the voice of an artist. Precious stuff, they -say, comes in small packages. Even the youngest of us may have noticed -that it is always the smaller birds that sing. - -But if all the singers are small birds, it is not true that all small -birds are singers. The golden-crowned kinglet, for example, is hardly -to be classed under that head. The gifts of Providence are various, -and are somewhat sparingly dealt out. One creature receives one -gift, another creature another,--just as is true of men, women, and -children. This boy “has an ear,” as the saying goes. He is naturally -musical. Give him a chance, and let him not be too much in love with -something else, and he will make a singer, or a player on instruments, -or possibly a composer. His brother has no ear; he can hardly tell Old -Hundred from Yankee Doodle. It is useless for him to “take lessons.” -He can paint, perhaps, or invent a machine, or make money, or edit a -paper, or teach school, or preach sermons, or practice medicine; but he -will never win a name in the concert room. - -The case of the golden-crown is hardly so hopeless as that, I am glad -to believe; for if he is not much of a musician now, as he surely is -not, he is not without some signs of an undeveloped musical capacity. -The root of the matter seems to be in him. He tries to sing, at any -rate, and not unlikely, as time goes on,--say in a million or two of -years,--he may become as capable a performer as the ruby-crown is at -present. There is no telling what a creature may make of himself if -his will is good, and he has astronomical time in which to work. The -dullest of us might learn something with a thousand years of schooling. - -What you will mostly hear from the goldcrest is no tune, but a hurried -_zee, zee, zee_, repeated at intervals as he flits about the branches -of a tree, or, less often, through the mazes of a piece of shrubbery. -His activity is wonderful, and his motions are really as good as music. -No dancing could be prettier to look at. All you need is eyes to see -him. But you will have to “look sharp.” Now he is there for an instant, -snatching a morsel or letting out a _zee, zee, zee_. Now he is yonder, -resting upon the air, hovering against a tuft of pine needles, his -wings all in a mist, they beat so swiftly. So through the tree he goes, -and from one tree to another, till presently he is gone for good. - -Once in a great while you may find him feeding among the dry leaves -on the ground. Then you can really watch him, and had better make the -most of your opportunity. Or you may catch him exploring bushes or low -savins, which is a chance almost as favorable. The great thing is to -become familiar with his voice. With that help you will find him ten -times as often as without it. He is mostly a bird of the woods, and -prefers evergreens, though he does not confine himself to them. - -If you do not know him already, it will be a bright and memorable -day--though it be the dead of winter--when you first see him and are -able to call him by his regal name, _Regulus satrapa_. It is a great -pity that so common and lovely a creature, one of the beauties of the -world, should be unseen by so many good people. It is true, as we say -so often about other things, that they do not know what they miss; but -they miss a good deal, notwithstanding. - - - - -II - -THE CHICKADEE - - -The chickadee, like many other birds, takes his name from his notes; -from some of his notes, that is to say, for he has many others besides -his best-known _chick-a-dee-dee-dee_. His most musical effort, regarded -by many observers as his true song, sounds to most ears like the name -Phœbe,--a clear, sweet whistle of two or three notes, with what musical -people call a minor interval between them. It is so strictly a whistle -that any boy can imitate it well enough to deceive not only another -boy, but the bird himself. - -In late winter and early spring, especially, when the chickadee is in -a peculiarly cheerful frame of mind, it is very easy to draw him out -by whistling these notes in his hearing. Sometimes, however, the sound -seems to fret or anger him, and instead of answering in kind, he will -fly near the intruder, scolding _dee-dee-dee_. - -He remains with us both summer and winter, and wears the same colors at -all seasons. - -Perhaps no wild bird is more confiding. If a man is at work in the -woods in cold weather, and at luncheon will take a little pains to feed -the chickadees that are sure to be more or less about him, he will soon -have them tame enough to pick up crumbs at his feet, and even to take -them from his hand. - -Better even than crumbs is a bit of mince pie, or a piece of suet. I -have myself held out a piece of suet to a chickadee as I walked through -the woods, and have had him fly down at once, perch on my finger like a -tame canary, and fall to eating. But he was a bird that another man, a -woodcutter of my acquaintance, had tamed in the manner above described. - -[Illustration: CHICKADEE - -_1. Male._ _2. Female_] - -The chickadee’s nest is built in a hole, generally in a decayed stump -or branch. It is very pretty to watch the pair when they are digging -out the hole. All the chips are carried away and dropped at a little -distance from the tree, so that the sight of them littering the ground -may not reveal the birds’ secret to an enemy. - -Male and female dress alike. The top of the head is black--for which -reason they are called black-capped chickadees, or black-capped -titmice--and the chin is of the same color, while the cheeks are clear -white. If you are not sure that you know the bird, stay near him till -he pronounces his own name. He will be pretty certain to do it, -sooner or later, especially if you excite him a little by squeaking or -chirping to him. - -Although the chickadee is small and delicate-looking, he seems not to -mind the very coldest of weather. Give him enough to eat, and the wind -may whistle. He picks his food, tiny insects, insects’ eggs, and the -like, out of crevices in the bark of trees and about the ends of twigs, -and so is seldom or never without resources. The deepest snows do not -cover up his dinner-table. His worst days, no doubt, are those in which -everything is covered with sleet. - -One of his prettiest traits is his skill in hanging back downward from -the tip of a swinging branch or from the under side of a leaf while -in search of provender. As a small boy, who had probably been to the -circus, once said, the chickadee is a “first-rate performer on the -flying trapeze.” - - - - -III - -THE BROWN CREEPER - - -In the midst of a Massachusetts winter, when a man with his eyes open -may walk five miles over favorable country roads and see only ten or -twelve kinds of birds, the brown creeper’s faint _zeep_ is a truly -welcome sound. He is a very little fellow, very modestly dressed, -without a bright feather on him, his lower parts being white and his -upper parts a mottling of brown and white, such as a tailor might call -a “pepper and salt mixture.” - -The creeper’s life seems as quiet as his colors. You will find him by -overhearing his note somewhere on one side of you as you pass. Now -watch him. He is traveling rather quickly, with an alert, business-like -air, up the trunk of a tree in a spiral course, hitching along inch -by inch, hugging the bark, and every little while stopping to probe a -crevice of it with his long, curved, sharply pointed bill. He is in -search of food,--insects’ eggs, grubs, and what not; morsels so tiny -that it need not surprise us to see him spending the whole day in -satisfying his hunger. - -There is one thing to be said for such a life: the bird is never -without something to take up his mind. In fact, if he enjoys the -pleasures of the table half as well as some human beings seem to do, -his life ought to be one of the happiest imaginable. - -How flat and thin he looks, and how perfectly his colors blend with the -grays and browns of the mossy bark! No wonder it is easy for us to pass -near him without knowing it. We understand now what learned people mean -when they talk about the “protective coloration” of animals. A hawk -flying overhead, on the lookout for game, must have hard work to see -this bit of a bird clinging so closely to the bark as to be almost a -part of it. - -And if a hawk does pass, you may be pretty sure the creeper will see -him, and will flatten himself still more tightly against the tree and -stay as motionless as the bark itself. He needs neither to fight nor to -run away. His strength, as the prophet said, is to sit still. - -But look! As the creeper comes to the upper part of the tree, where the -bark is less furrowed than it is below, and therefore less likely to -conceal the scraps of provender that he is in search of, he suddenly -lets go his hold and flies down to the foot of another tree, and begins -again to creep upward. If you keep track of him, you will see him do -this hour after hour. He never walks down. Up, up, he goes, and if you -look sharply enough, you will see that whenever he pauses he makes use -of his sharp, stiff tail-feathers as a rest--a kind of camp-stool, as -it were, or, better still, a bracket. He is built for his work; color, -bill, feet, tail-feathers--all were made on purpose for him. - -He is a native of the northern country, and therefore to most readers -of this book he is a winter bird only. If you know his voice, you will -hear him twenty times for once that you see him. If you know neither -him nor his voice, it will be worth your while to make his acquaintance. - -When you come upon a little bunch of chickadees flitting through the -woods, listen for a quick, lisping note that is something like theirs, -but different. It may be the creeper’s, for although he seems an -unsocial fellow, seldom flocking with birds of his own kind, he is fond -of the chickadee’s cheerful companionship. - -[Illustration: BROWN CREEPER - -_1. Male._ _2. Female_] - -To see him and hear his _zeep_, you would never take him for a -songster; but there is no telling by the looks of a bird how well he -can sing. In fact, plainly dressed birds are, as a rule, the best -musicians. The very handsome ones have no need to charm with the voice. -And our modest little creeper has a song, and a fairly good one; one -that answers his purpose, at all events, although it may never make him -famous. In springtime it may be heard now and then even in a place like -Boston Common; but of course you must go where the birds pair and nest -if you would hear them at their finest; for birds, like other people, -sing best when they feel happiest. - -The brown creeper’s nest used to be something of a mystery. It was -sought for in woodpeckers’ holes. Now it is known that as a general -thing it is built behind a scale of loose bark on a dead tree, between -the bark and the trunk. Ordinarily, if not always, it will be found -under a flake that is loose at the bottom instead of at the top. Into -such a place the female bird packs tightly a mass of twigs and strips -of the soft inner bark of trees, and on the top of this prepares her -nest and lays her eggs. Her mate flits to and fro, keeping her company, -and once in a while cheering her with a song, but so far as has yet -been discovered he takes no hand in the work itself. It is quite -possible that the female, who is to occupy the nest, prefers to have -her own way in the construction of it. - -After the young ones are hatched, at all events, the father bird’s -behavior leaves nothing to be complained of. He “comes to time,” as we -say, in the most loyal manner. In and out of the nest he and the mother -go, feeding their hungry charges, making their entry and exit always -at the same point, through the merest crack of a door, between the -overhanging bark and the tree, just above the nest. It is a very pretty -bit of family life. - -It would be hard to imagine a nest better concealed from a bird’s -natural enemies, especially when, as is often the case, the tree stands -in water on the edge of a stream or lake. And not only is the nest -wonderfully well hidden, but it is perfectly sheltered from rain, as -it would not be if it were built under a strip of bark that was peeled -from above. All in all, we must respect the simple, demure-looking -creeper as a very clever architect. - - - - -IV - -THE BROWN THRASHER - - -The brown thrasher--called also the brown thrush--is a bird -considerably longer than a robin, with a noticeably long tail and a -long, curved bill. His upper parts are reddish brown or cinnamon color, -and his lower parts white or whitish, boldly streaked with black. You -will find him in hedgerows, in scrub-lands, and about the edges of -woods, where he keeps mostly on or near the ground. His general manner -is that of a creature who wishes nothing else so much as to escape -notice. “Only let me alone,” he seems to say. If he sees you coming, -as he pretty certainly will, he dodges into the nearest thicket or -barberry-bush, and waits for you to pass. - -Farmers know him as the “planting-bird.” In New England he makes his -appearance with commendable punctuality between the twentieth of April -and the first of May; and while the farmer is planting his garden, the -thrasher encourages him with song. One man, who was planting beans, -imagined that the bird said, “Drop it, drop it! Cover it up, cover it -up!” Perhaps he did. It was good advice, anyhow. - -In his own way the thrasher is one of the great singers of the world. -He is own cousin to the famous mockingbird, and at the South, where he -and the mocker may be heard singing side by side,--and so much alike -that it is hard to tell one from the other,--he is known as the “brown -mockingbird.” He would deserve the title but for one thing--he does not -mock. In that respect he falls far short of his gray cousin, who not -only has all the thrasher’s gift of original song, but a most amazing -faculty of imitation, as every one knows who has heard even a caged -mockingbird running over the medley of notes he has picked up here and -there and carefully rehearsed and remembered. The thrasher’s song is a -medley, but not a medley of imitations. - -I have said that the thrasher keeps near the ground. Such is his habit; -but there is one exception. When he sings he takes the very top of a -tree, although usually it is not a tall one. There he stands by the -half-hour together, head up and tail down, pouring out a flood of -music; sounds of all sorts, high notes and low notes, smooth notes and -rough notes, all jumbled together in the craziest fashion, as if the -musician were really beside himself. - -[Illustration: BROWN THRASHER - -_1, 2, 3. Males._ _4. Female_] - -It is a performance worth buying a ticket for and going miles to hear; -but it is to be heard without price on the outskirts of almost any -village in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and south of -Maine. You must go out at the right time, however, for the bird sings -but a few weeks in the year, although he remains in New England almost -six months, or till the middle of October. He is one of the birds that -every one should know, since it is perfectly easy to identify him; -and once known, he is never to be forgotten, or to be confounded with -anything else. - -The thrasher’s nest is a rude, careless-looking structure, made of -twigs, roots, and dry leaves, and is to be looked for on the ground, -or in a bush not far above it. Often it has so much the appearance of -a last year’s affair that one is tempted to pass it as unworthy of -notice. I have been fooled in that way more than once. - -The bird sits close, as the saying is, and as she stares at you with -her yellow eyes, full at once of courage and fear, you will need a hard -heart to disturb her. Sometimes she will really show fight, and she -has been known to drive a small boy off the field. Her whistle after -she has been frightened from her eggs or nestlings is one of the most -pathetic sounds in nature. I should feel sorry for the boy who could -hear it without pity. - -Besides this mournful whistle, the thrasher has a note almost exactly -like a smacking kiss,--very realistic,--and sometimes, especially -at dusk, an uncanny, ghostly whisper, that seems meant expressly to -suggest the presence of something unearthly and awful. So far as I am -aware, there is no other bird-note like it. I have no doubt that many -a superstitious person has taken to his heels on hearing it from the -bushes along a lonesome roadside after nightfall. - -Except in the spring, indeed, there is little about the thrasher’s -appearance or behavior to suggest pleasant thoughts. To me, at any -rate, he seems a creature of chronic low spirits. The world has used -him badly, and he cannot get over it. He is almost the only bird I ever -see without a little inspiration of cheerfulness. Perhaps I misjudge -him. - -Let my young readers make his acquaintance on their own account, if -they have not already done so, and find him a livelier creature than I -have described him, if they can. - - - - -V - -THE BUTCHER-BIRD - - -“Butcher-bird” is not a very pretty name, but it is expressive and -appropriate, and so is likely to stick quite as long as the more -bookish word “shrike,” which is the bird’s other title. It comes from -its owner’s habit of impaling the carcasses of its prey upon thorns, as -a butcher hangs upon a hook the body of a pig or other animal that he -has slaughtered. - -In a place like the Public Garden of Boston, if a shrike happens to -make it his hunting-ground for a week or two, you may find here and -there in the hawthorn-trees the body of a mouse or the headless trunk -of an English sparrow spitted upon a thorn. Grasshoppers are said to be -treated in a similar manner, but I have never met with the bird’s work -in the grasshopper season. - -The shrike commonly seen in the Northern States is a native of the -far north, and comes down to our latitude only in cold weather. He -travels singly, and if he finds a place to suit him, a place where the -living is good, he will often remain almost in the same spot for weeks -together. - -In size and appearance he resembles the mockingbird. His colors are -gray, black, and white, his tail is long, and his bill is hooked like a -hawk’s. - -He likes a perch from which he can see a good distance about him. A -telegraph wire answers his purpose very well, but his commonest seat -is the very tip of a tallish tree. If you look across a field in -winter and descry a medium-sized bird swaying on the topmost twig of -a lonesome tree, balancing himself by continual tiltings of his long -tail, you may set him down as most likely a butcher-bird. - -His flight is generally not far from the ground, but as he draws near -the tree in which he means to alight, he turns suddenly upward. It -would be surprising to see him alight on one of the lower branches, or -anywhere, indeed, except at the topmost point. - -Small birds are all at once scarce and silent when the shrike appears. -Sometimes in his hunger he will attack a bird heavier than himself. I -had once stopped to look at a flicker in a roadside apple-tree, when I -suddenly noticed a butcher-bird not far off. At the same moment, as it -seemed, the butcher-bird caught sight of the flicker, and made a swoop -toward him. The flicker, somewhat to my surprise, showed no sign of -panic, or even of fear. He simply moved aside, as much as to say, “Oh, -stop that! Don’t bother me!” How the affair would have resulted, I -cannot tell. To my regret, the shrike at that moment seemed to become -aware of a man’s presence, and flew away, leaving the woodpecker to -pursue his exploration of the apple-tree at his leisure. - -The shrike has a very curious habit of singing, or of trying to sing, -in the disjointed manner of a catbird. I have many times heard him -thus engaged, and can bear witness that some of his tones are really -musical. Some people have supposed that at such times he is trying to -decoy small birds, but to me the performance has always seemed like -music, or an attempt at music, rather than strategy. - -Southern readers may be presumed to be familiar with another shrike, -known as the loggerhead. As I have seen him in Florida he is a very -tame, unsuspicious creature, nesting in the shade-trees of towns. The -“French mockingbird,” a planter told me he was called. Mr. Chapman -has seen one fly fifty yards to catch a grasshopper which, to all -appearance, he had sighted before quitting his perch. The power of -flight is not the only point as to which birds have the advantage of -human beings. - - - - -VI - -THE SCARLET TANAGER - - -When I began to learn the birds, I was living in a large city. One of -the first things I did, after buying a book, was to visit a cabinet -of mounted specimens--“stuffed birds,” as we often call them. Such a -wonderful and confusing variety as there was to my ignorant eyes! Among -them I remarked especially a gorgeous scarlet creature with black wings -and a black tail. It was labeled the scarlet tanager. So far as I was -concerned, it could not have looked more foreign if it had come from -Borneo. My book told me that it was common in Massachusetts. It _might_ -be, I thought, but I had never seen it there. And a bird so splendid as -that! Bright enough to set the woods on fire! How could I have missed -it? - -[Illustration: SCARLET TANAGER - -_1. Male._ _2. Female_] - -Well, there came a Saturday, with its half-holiday for clerks, and I -went into the country, where I betook myself to the woods of my native -village, the woods wherein I had rambled all the years of my boyhood. -And that afternoon, before I came out of them, I put my opera-glass -on two of those wonderful scarlet and black birds. It was a day to be -remembered. - -Since that time, of course, I have seen many like them. In one sense, -their beauty has become to me an old story; but I hope that I have set -here and there a reader on a hunt that has been as happily rewarded as -mine was on that bright summer afternoon. In one respect, the beginner -has a great advantage over an old hand. He has the pleasure of more -excitement and surprise. - -The bird to be looked for is a little longer than a bluebird, of a -superb scarlet color except for its wings and tail, which, as I have -said, are jet black. I speak of the male in full spring costume. His -mate does not show so much as a red feather, but is greenish yellow, or -yellowish green, with dark--not black--wings and tail. - -You may see the tanager once in a while in the neighborhood of your -house, if the grounds are set with shade-trees, but for the most part -he lives in woods, especially in hard woods of a fairly old growth. - -One of the first things for you to do, with him as with all birds, is -to acquaint yourself with his call-notes and his song. The call is of -two syllables, and sounds like _chip-chirr_. It is easily remembered -after you have once seen the bird in the act of uttering it. The song -is much in the manner of the robin’s, but less smooth and flowing. I -have often thought, and sometimes said, that it is just such a song as -the robin might give us if he were afflicted with what people call a -“hoarse cold.” The bird sings as if his whole heart were engaged, but -at the same time in a noticeably broken and short-winded style. - -The oftener you hear him, the easier you will find it to distinguish -him from a robin, although at first you may find yourself badly at a -loss. A boy that can tell any one of twenty playmates by the tones of -his voice alone will need nothing but practice and attention to do the -same for a great part of the sixty or seventy kinds of common birds -living in the woods and fields about him. - -The tanager’s nest is built in a tree, on the flat of a level branch, -so to speak, generally toward the end. Sometimes, at any rate, it is a -surprisingly loose, carelessly constructed thing, through the bottom of -which one can see the blue or bluish eggs while standing on the ground -underneath. - -It must be plain to any one that the mother bird, in her dull greenish -dress, is much less easily seen, and therefore much less in danger, as -she sits brooding, than she would be if she wore the flaming scarlet -feathers that render her mate so handsome. - -Southern readers will know also another kind of tanager, not red and -black, but red all over. He, too, is a great beauty, although if the -question were left to me, I could not give him the palm over his more -northern relative. The red of the southern bird is of a different -shade--“rose-red” or “vermilion,” the books call it. He sings like the -scarlet tanager, but in a smoother voice. Although he is a red _bird_, -he is not to be confounded with the southern _red_-bird. The latter, -better known as the cardinal grosbeak, is a thick-billed bird of the -sparrow and finch family. He is frequently seen in cages, and is a -royal whistler. - -The scarlet tanager--the male in red and black plumage--is not to be -mistaken for anything else in the Eastern States. Once see him, and -you will always know him. For that reason he is an excellent subject -for the beginner. He passes the winter in Central or South America, -and returns to New England in the second week of May. He makes his -appearance in full dress, but later in the season changes it for one -resembling pretty closely the duller plumage of his mate. - - - - -VII - -THE SONG SPARROW - - -Sparrows are of many kinds, and in a general way the different kinds -look so much alike that the beginner in bird study is apt to find -them confusing, if not discouraging. They will try his patience, no -matter how sharp and clever he may think himself, and unless he is much -cleverer than the common run of humanity, he will make a good many -mistakes before he gets to the end of them. - -One of the best and commonest of them all is the song sparrow. His -upper parts are mottled, of course, since he is a sparrow. His -light-colored breast is sharply streaked, and in the middle of it the -streaks usually run together and form a blotch. His outer tail-feathers -are not white, and there is no yellow on the wings or about the head. -These last points are mentioned in order to distinguish him from two -other sparrows with streaked breasts--the vesper sparrow and the -savanna. - -[Illustration: SONG SPARROW - -_1. Male._ _2. Female_] - -By the middle of March song sparrows reach New England in -crowds,--along with robins and red-winged blackbirds,--and are to be -heard singing on all hands, especially in the neighborhood of water. -They remain until late autumn, and here and there one will be found -even in midwinter. - -The song, for which this sparrow is particularly distinguished, is a -bright and lively strain, nothing very great in itself, perhaps, but -thrice welcome for being heard so early in the season, when the ear is -hungry after the long winter silence. Its chief distinction, however, -is its amazing variety. Not only do no two birds sing precisely alike, -but the same bird sings many tunes. - -Of this latter fact, which I have known some excellent people to be -skeptical about, you can readily satisfy yourself,--and there is -nothing like knowing a thing at first hand,--if you will take the pains -to keep a singer under your eye at the height of the musical season. -You will find that he repeats one strain for perhaps a dozen times, -without the change of a note; then suddenly he comes out with a song -entirely different. This second song he will in turn drop for a third, -and so on. The bird acts, for all the world, as if he were singing -hymns, of so many verses each, one after another. - -It is really a wonderful performance. There are very few kinds of birds -that do anything like it. Of itself it is enough to make the song -sparrow famous, and it is well worth any one’s while to hear it and see -it done. Nobody can see it without believing that birds have a true -appreciation of music. They are better off than some human beings, at -all events. They know one tune from another. - -A lady correspondent was good enough to send me, not long ago, a -pleasing account of the doings of a pair of song sparrows, which, as -she says, came to her for six seasons. - -“One year,” she writes, “they happened to build where I could watch -them from the window, and they did a very curious thing. They fed the -little birds with all sorts of worms of different colors until they -were ready to leave the nest; then the male brought a pure white moth -and held it near the nest, which was in some stems of a rosebush a few -inches from the ground, on a level with the lower rail of a picket -fence. - -“One of the little birds came out of the nest at once and followed its -parent, who went sidewise, always holding the dazzling white morsel -just out of the youngster’s reach. In this manner they crossed the -lane, climbed the inclined plane of a woodpile, and passed through a -fence and across a vegetable garden into an asparagus bed, in which -miniature forest the little traveler received and ate the moth. - -“Another nest was built on the bank of a brook on the farther side of -a road. Out of this nest I saw two little fellows coaxed with these -snow-white moths, and led across the dusty road into a hedge.” - -One or two experiences of this kind are sufficient reward for a good -deal of patient observation. The singer of this pair of birds, my -correspondent says, had ten distinct songs, one of them exceedingly -beautiful and peculiar. - -The song sparrow’s nest is usually built on the ground, and the bird is -one of several kinds that are known indiscriminately by country people -as ground sparrows. - -Song sparrows seem to be of a pretty nervous disposition, to judge from -their behavior. One of their noticeable characteristics is a twitching, -up-and-down, “pumping” motion of the tail, as they dash into cover on -being disturbed. - -People who live in the Southern States see these birds only in the -cooler part of the year, but must have abundant opportunity to hear -them sing as spring approaches. - - - - -VIII - -THE FIELD SPARROW AND THE CHIPPER - - -All beginners in bird study find the sparrow family a hard one. -There are so many kinds of sparrows, and the different kinds look so -confusingly alike. How shall I ever be able to tell them apart? the -novice says to himself. - -Well, there is no royal road to such learning, it may as well be -confessed. But there is a road, for all that, and a pretty good -one,--the road of patience; and there is much pleasure to be had -in following it. If you know one sparrow, be it only the so-called -“English,” you have made a beginning. - -_If_ you know the English sparrow, I say; for, strange as it may seem, -I find numbers of people who do not. Take the average inhabitant of any -of our large cities into the country, and let him come upon an English -sparrow in a wayside hedge, and there are three chances to one that he -will not know with certainty what to call it. Quite as likely as not he -has never noticed that there are two kinds of English sparrows, very -differently feathered--the male and the female. - -In a short chapter like this I am not going to attempt a miracle. If -you read it to the end, never so carefully, you will not be prepared to -name all the sparrows at sight. As I said before, they are a hard set. -My wish now is to speak of two of the smallest and commonest. - -One of these is called sometimes the chipping sparrow, sometimes -the chipper, and sometimes--much less often--the doorstep sparrow. -Personally, I like the last name best,--perhaps because I invented it. -Scientific men, who prefer for excellent reasons to have their own -names for things, call him _Spizella socialis_--that is to say, the -familiar or social little spiza, or sparrow. The idea of littleness, -some young readers may not know, is contained in the termination -_ella_, which is what grammarians call a diminutive. Umbrella, for -instance, is literally a small _umbra_, or shade. - -With most readers of this book the chipping sparrow is a bird of -spring, summer, and autumn. For the winter he retires to our extreme -Southern States and to Mexico. If you live in Massachusetts, you may -begin to be on the watch for him by the 5th of April. If your home is -farther south, you should see him somewhat earlier. - -Perhaps you will know him by this brief description: a very small, -slender sparrow, with a dark chestnut-red crown, a black forehead, a -black bill, and plain--unstreaked and unspotted--under parts. - -His ordinary note, or call, is a _chip_ (whence his name), and his song -is a very dry, tuneless, monotonous, long-drawn _chippy-chippy-chippy_, -uttered so fast as to sound almost like a trill. You may like the bird -never so well, but if you have any idea of music, you will never call -him a fine singer. What he and his mate think about the matter there -is, of course, no telling. He seems to be very much in earnest, at all -events. - -He is a social bird, I say. You will not have to go far afield or -into the woods in search of him. If you live in any sort of country -place, with a bit of garden and a few shrubs and fruit trees, a pair of -chippers will be likely to find you out. Their nest will be built in a -tree or bush, a small structure neatly lined with hair, and in due time -it will contain four or five eggs, blue or greenish blue, with brown -spots. - -Our other bird is of the chipper’s size, and, like him, has unstreaked -and unspotted lower parts. His bill is of a light color, “reddish -brown,” one book says, “pale reddish,” says another. This is one of the -principal marks for the beginner to notice. Another is a wash of buff, -or yellowish brown, on the sides of the breast. The upper parts, too, -are in general much lighter than the chipper’s. - -You will not be likely often to find this bird in your garden or about -the lawn. He is called the field sparrow, but he lives mostly in dry -old pastures, partly overgrown with bushes and trees. His nest is -placed on the ground, or in a low bush, and is often lined wholly or in -part with hair. He and the chipper belong to what is called the same -genus. That is to say, the two are so nearly related that they have the -same surname. The chipper is _Spizella socialis_, the field sparrow is -_Spizella pusilla_; just as two brothers will have one name in common, -say, Jones, William, and Jones, Andrew. - -The chipper is a favorite on account of his familiar, friendly ways. -The field sparrow deserves to be known and loved for his music. Few -birds sing better, in my opinion, though many make more display and -are more talked about. The beauty of the song is in its sweetness, -simplicity, and perfect taste. It begins with three or four longer -notes, which run at once into quicker and shorter ones, either on the -same pitch or a little higher. Really the strain is almost too simple -to make a description of: a simple line of pure melody, one may say. -You must hear it for yourself. Sometimes the bird gives it out double, -so to speak, catching it up again just as he seems ready to finish. -The tone is the clearest of whistles, and the whole effect is most -delightful and soothing. It is worth anybody’s while to spend a season -or two in bird study, if only to learn this and half a dozen more -pieces of our common wild-bird music. - -The field sparrow’s times of arrival and departure are practically the -same as the chipper’s. Neither bird is hard to see, or very hard to -distinguish; a bit of patience and an opera-glass will do the business; -though you may have to puzzle awhile over either of them before making -quite sure of your knowledge. In bird study, as in any other, we learn -by correcting our own mistakes. - - - - -IX - -SOME APRIL SPARROWS - - -For the first three weeks of April the ornithologist goes comparatively -seldom into the woods. Millions of birds have come up from the South, -but the forest is still almost deserted. May, with its hosts of -warblers, will bring a grand change in this respect; meanwhile the -sparrows are in the ascendant, and we shall do well to follow the road -for the most part, though with frequent excursions across fields and -into gardens and orchards. Of eighty-four species of birds seen by me -in April, a year ago, twenty-one were water birds, and of the remaining -sixty-three, twenty, or almost one third, were members of the sparrow -family, while only five were warblers. In May, on the other hand, out -of one hundred and twenty-five species seen twenty-three were warblers, -and only eighteen were sparrows. To represent the case fairly, however, -the comparison should be by individuals rather than by species, and -for such a comparison I have no adequate data. My own opinion is that -of all the birds commonly seen in April, more than half, perhaps as -many as four fifths, are members of the sparrow family. There are days, -indeed, when the song sparrows alone seem to outnumber all other birds, -and other days when the same is true of the snowbirds. - -The large and noble sparrow family, which includes not only the -sparrows, commonly so called, but finches, grosbeaks, crossbills, -snowbirds, buntings, and the like, is represented in North America by -more than ninety species, and in Massachusetts by about forty. It is -preëminently a musical family, and, with us at least, April is the -best month of the twelve in which to appreciate its lyrical efforts, -notwithstanding the fact that one of its most distinguished songsters, -the rose-breasted grosbeak, is still absent. - -Among the more gifted of its April representatives are the fox -sparrow,--so named from his color,--the purple finch, the song sparrow, -the vesper sparrow, the tree sparrow, the field sparrow, and the -white-throated sparrow--seven common birds, every one of them deserving -to be known by any who care for sweet sounds. - -One of the seven, the purple finch, also called the linnet, is -unlike all the others, and easily excels them all in the fluency and -copiousness of his music. He is readily distinguishable--in adult male -plumage--as a sparrow whose head and neck appear to have been dipped in -carmine ink, or perhaps in pokeberry juice. His song is a prolonged, -rapid, unbroken warble, which he is much given to delivering while on -the wing, hovering ecstatically and singing as if he would pour out -his very soul. He is a familiar bird, a lover of orchards and roadside -trees, but is not so universally distributed, probably, as most of the -other species I have named. - -In contrast with the purple finch, all the six sparrows here mentioned -with him have brief and rather formal songs. Those of the fox sparrow -and the tree sparrow bear a pretty strong resemblance to each other, -especially as to cadence or inflection; the song sparrow’s and the -vesper sparrow’s are still more closely alike, and will almost -certainly confuse the novice, while those of the field sparrow and the -white-throat are each quite unique. - -The fox sparrow visits Massachusetts as a migrant only, and the same -might be said of the white-throat, only that it breeds in Berkshire -County and single birds are often seen in the eastern part of the State -during the winter. The tree sparrow is a winter resident, going far -north to rear its young, and the remaining four species are with us for -the summer. - -The fox sparrow is to be heard from the 20th of March (I speak -roughly) to the middle of April. In respect to voice and cadence, he -is to me the finest of our sparrows proper, though I do not think -him so finished an artist as the song and vesper sparrows. He may be -recognized by his superior size and his bright rusty-red (reddish -brown) color. Indeed, these two features give him at first sight the -appearance of a thrush. He is one of the sparrows--like the song, the -vesper, the savanna, and the Ipswich--which are thickly streaked upon -the breast. - -The tree sparrow passes the winter with us, as I have said, but abounds -only during the two migrations. He is in full song for the greater -part of April. His distinctive marks are a bright reddish (“chestnut”) -crown, conspicuous white wing-bars, and an obscure round blotch in the -middle of his unstreaked breast. - -The white-throat, commonly a very abundant migrant, arrives about the -20th of April and remains till about the middle of May. His loud, -clear song is remarkable for its peculiar and strongly marked rhythm. -It consists of two comparatively long introductory notes, followed by -three sets of triplets in monotone--like _see, see, peabody, peabody, -peabody_. This bird, too, perplexing as the sparrows are usually -thought to be, is perfectly well marked, with a white throat (not -merely a white chin, as in the swamp sparrow) and a broad white stripe -on each side of the crown, turning to yellow in front of the eyes. The -crown itself is dark, with a white line through the middle, and each -wing is adorned with two white bars. In size the white-throat comes -next to the fox sparrow. - -The song sparrow and the vesper sparrow not only sing alike, but look -alike. The latter may be told at once, however, by his white outer -tail-feathers, which show as he flies. These are two of our commonest -and worthiest birds. The vesper sparrow, more generally known, perhaps, -as the bay-winged bunting, likes a drier field than the song sparrow, -and is especially noticeable for his trick of running along the path or -the road directly in front of the traveler. - - - - -X - -THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK - - -There is never a May passes, of recent years, but some one comes to me, -or writes to me, to inquire about a wonderfully beautiful bird that he -has just seen for the first time. He does hope I can tell him what it -is. It is a pretty large bird, he goes on to say,--but not so long as a -robin, he thinks, if I question him,--mostly black and white, but with -such a splendid rosy patch on his breast or throat! What can it be? -He had no idea that anything so handsome was ever to be seen in these -parts. - -If all the questions that people ask about birds were as easily -answered as this one, I should be thankful. It is a rose-breasted -grosbeak, I tell the inquirer. Perhaps he noticed that its bill was -uncommonly stout. If he did, the fact is exceptional, for somehow the -shape of the bill is a point which the average person seems very seldom -to notice, although it is highly important. Anyhow, the rosebreast’s -beak is most decidedly “gross.” And he is every whit as beautiful as -my inquirer represents him to be. In that respect he ranks with the -oriole and the scarlet tanager. - -[Illustration: ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK - -_1. Males._ _2. Female._ _3. Young Male_] - -He is distinguished also for his song, which is a flowing warble, -wonderfully smooth and sweet. To most ears it bears a likeness to the -robin’s song, but it is beyond comparison more fluent and delicious, -although not more hearty. Keep your ear open for such a voice,--by the -middle of May if you live in New England, a little earlier if your home -is farther south,--and you will be likely to hear it; for at that time -the bird is not only common, but a very free singer. - -In addition to his song, the rosebreast has a short call-note, which -sounds very much like the squeak of a pair of rusty shears--a kind of -_hic_, which you will find no difficulty about remembering if you have -once learned it. His nest is generally built in a bush, often within -reach of the hand, but I have seen it well up in a rather tall tree. -The two birds spell each other in brooding, and are not only mutually -affectionate, but very brave. I have known the mother bird to keep her -seat even when I took hold of the bush below the nest and drew her -almost against my face. She, by the way, is a very modestly dressed -body, being not only without the rose-color, but without the clear -contrast of black and white. To look at her, you might take her for a -large sparrow. - -The rose-color of the male, it should be said, is not confined to the -patch on the breast, but is found also on the lining of the wings, -where it is mostly unnoticed by the world, but where his mate, of -course, cannot help admiring it as he flutters about her; for it is -certain that female birds have a good eye for color, and believe that -fine feathers help, at least, to make fine birds. The shade is of -the brightest and most exquisite, and the total effect of the male’s -plumage--jet black, pure white, and vivid rose-red--is quite beyond -praise. - -The birds, happily, are not shy, and prefer a fairly open or broken -country rather than a dense wood. Last season one sang day after day -directly under my windows, and undoubtedly had a mate and a nest -somewhere close by. The male, it should be added, has the very pretty -though dangerous-seeming habit of singing as he sits upon the eggs. - - - - -XI - -THE BLUE JAY - - -Some years ago, as the story comes to me, two collectors of birds met -by accident in South America, one of them from Europe, the other from -the United States. “There is one bird that I would rather see than any -other in the world,” said the European. “It is the handsomest of all -the birds that fly, to my thinking, although I know it only in the -cabinet. You have it in North America, but I suppose you do not often -see it. I mean the blue jay.” - -What the American answered in words, I do not know; but I am pretty -confident that he smiled. The European might almost as well have said -that he supposed Boston people did not often see an English sparrow. -Not that the blue jay swarms everywhere as the foreign sparrow swarms -in our American cities; but it is so common, so noisy, so conspicuous, -and so unmistakable, that it is, or ought to be, almost an everyday -sight to all country dwellers. - -Strange as it seems, however, I find many people who do not know the -jay when they see it. In late winter, say toward the end of February, -when I begin to be on the lookout for the first bluebird of the year, -I am all but certain to have word brought to me by some one of the -village school-teachers that bluebirds have already come. Johnny This -or Jimmy That saw one near his house several weeks ago! That “several -weeks ago” makes me suspicious, and on following up the matter I -discover that John and James have seen a large blue bird, larger than a -robin, with some black and white on him--_all_ white underneath--_and_ -wearing a tall crest or topknot. Then I know that they have mistaken a -blue _bird_ for a _blue_bird. They have seen a blue jay, a bird of a -very different feather. He has been with us all winter, as he always -is, and has been in sight from my windows daily. So easy is it for boys -and men to guess at things, and guess wrong. - -The jay is a relative of the crow, and has much of the crow’s -cleverness, with more than the crow’s beauty. Like the crow, if he -has an errand near houses, he makes a point of doing it in the early -morning before the folks who live in the houses have begun to stir -about. In fact, he knows us, in some respects at least, better than we -know him, and habitually takes advantage of what no doubt seems to him -a custom of very late rising on the part of human beings. - -Among small birds of all sorts he bears a decidedly bad name. In -nesting time you may hear them uttering a chorus of loud and bitter -laments as often as he appears among them. Their eggs and young are -in danger, and they join forces to worry him and drive him away. One -bird sounds the alarm, another hears him and hastens to see what is -going on, and in a few minutes the whole neighborhood is awake. And it -stays awake till the jay moves off. After that piece of evidence, you -do not need to _see_ him doing mischief. The little birds’ behavior is -sufficiently convincing. As Thoreau said, the presence of a trout in -the milk is something like proof. - -And jays, in their turn, club together against enemies larger than -themselves. Last autumn I was walking through the woods with a -friend,--a city schoolmaster eager for knowledge, as every schoolmaster -ought to be,--when we heard a great screaming of blue jays from a -swampy thicket on our right hand. - -“Now what do you suppose the birds mean by all that outcry?” said my -friend. - -I answered that very likely there was a hawk or an owl there. - -“Let’s go and see,” said the master, and we turned in that direction. -Sure enough, we soon came face to face with a large hen-hawk perched in -one of the trees, while the jays, one after another, were dashing as -near him as they dared, yelling at him as they passed. - -At our nearer approach the hawk took wing; then the jays disappeared, -and silence fell upon the woods. And I dare say the schoolmaster gave -me credit for being a wondrously wise man! - -The jay has many notes, and once in a great while may even be heard -indulging in something like a warble. One of his most musical calls -sounds to my ears a little like the word “lily.” - -He seems to be very fond of acorns, and is frequently to be seen -standing upon a limb, holding an acorn under his claw and hammering it -to pieces with all the force of his stout bill. When angered, he scolds -violently, bobbing up and down in a most ridiculous manner. In fact, he -is of a highly nervous temperament, and as full of gesticulations as a -Frenchman. - -To me he is especially a bird of autumn. At that season the woods are -loud with his clarion, and as I listen to it I can often feel myself a -boy again, rambling in the woods that knew me in my school-days. With -all his faults--his ill treatment of small birds, I mean--I should be -sorry to have his numbers greatly diminished. - - - - -XII - -THE KINGBIRD - - -As a very small boy I spent much time in a certain piece of rather -low ground partly grown up to bushes. Here in early spring I picked -bunches of pretty pink and white flowers, which I now know to have been -anemones. In the same place, a month or two later, I gathered splendid -red lilies, and admired, without gathering it, a tiny blue flower with -a yellow centre. This would not bear taking home, but was always an -attraction to me. I should have liked it better still, I am sure, if -some one had been kind enough to tell me its pretty name--blue-eyed -grass. - -Here, also, I picked the first strawberries of the season and the first -blueberries. They were luxuries indeed. A “gill-cup” full of either of -them was good pay for an hour’s search. - -In one corner of the place there were half a dozen or so of -apple-trees, and on the topmost branches of these there used to perch -continually two or three birds of a kind which some older boy told me -were kingbirds. At these my brother and I--both of us small enough to -be excusable for such mischief--were in the habit of throwing green -apples; partly to see how near we could come to hitting them, partly -for the fun of watching them rise into the air, circle about with sharp -cries, and then settle back upon the perches they had left. Sometimes -we stuck the half-grown apple on the end of a stick, swung the stick -round our heads, and sent the apple flying to a tremendous distance. -Stick or no stick, however, we were in no danger of killing anything, -as I am glad now to remember. - -What amazed us was that the birds did not go away. No matter how long -we “appled” them, they were certain to be on hand the next day in the -same place. We must have been very young and very green,--greener even -than the apples,--for it never occurred to us that the birds had nests -in the trees, and for that reason were not to be driven away by our -petty persecutions. - -Even then I noticed the peculiar flight of the birds--the short, quick -strokes of their wings, and their habit of hovering. These are among -the signs by which the kingbird can be recognized a long way off. He -is dark-colored above,--almost black,--pure white underneath, and his -tail, when outspread, shows a broad white border at the tip. On his -crown is an orange-red patch, but you will probably never see it unless -you have the bird in your hand and brush apart the feathers in search -of it. - -The kingbird’s Latin name has much the same meaning as his common -English one. _Tyrannus tyrannus_ he is called by scientific people. He -belongs to a family known as flycatchers, birds that catch insects on -the wing. That is the reason why the kingbird likes a perch at the tip -of something, so that he can dart out after a passing insect, catch it, -and return to his perch to wait for another. _I_ should call him the -“apple-tree flycatcher,” if the matter were referred to me. - -He is not large,--little bigger than an English sparrow,--but he has -plenty of courage and a strong disposition to “rule the roost,” as the -saying goes. Every country boy has laughed to see the kingbird chasing -a crow. And a very lively and pleasing sight it is: the crow making for -the nearest wood as fast as his wings will carry him, and one or two -kingbirds in hot pursuit. Their great aim is to get above him and swoop -down upon his back. Sometimes you will see one actually alight on a -crow’s back and, as boys say, “give it to him” in great style. - -Another taking action of the kingbird is his trick of flying straight -up in the air, almost perpendicularly, as if he were trying to see -how near he could come to performing that impossible feat, and then -tumbling about madly, with noisy outcries. Often it looks as if he -actually turned somersaults. He cannot sing, and so has to let his high -spirits bubble over in these half-crazy gymnastics. All in all, he is a -very lively and entertaining customer. - -His nest is built in a tree, often in an orchard, and is comparatively -easy to find. The birds arrive in New England in the first week of May, -having passed the winter in Central or South America, and remain till -the end of August. - -Like most birds, they are very punctual in their coming and going. No -doubt they have an almanac of their own. You will do well to find one -of them in Massachusetts after the first two or three days of September. - -Toward the end of their stay, flycatchers though they are, they feed -largely upon berries. I have seen a dozen in one small dogwood bush, -all eating greedily. - - - - -XIII - -THE HUMMINGBIRD - - -Hummingbirds are found only in America and on the islands near it. -They are of many kinds, but only one kind is ever seen in the eastern -United States. This is known as the ruby-throated hummingbird, because -of a splendid red throat-patch worn by the male. To speak more exactly, -the patch is red only in some lights. You see it one instant as black -as a coal, and the next instant it flashes like a coal on fire. This -ornament,--a real jewel,--with the lovely shining green of the bird’s -back, makes him an object of great beauty. - -Every one knows him, or would do so only that some people confuse him -with bright-colored, long-tongued hummingbird moths that are seen -hovering, mostly in the early evening, over the flowers of the garden. - -The ruby-throat spends the winter south of the United States. He -arrives in Florida in March, but does not reach New England till near -the middle of May. - -Many persons seem to imagine that the hummer lives on the wing. They -have never seen one sitting still, they say. But the truth is that -hummingbirds pass but a small part of the time in the air. They are so -very small, however, that they are easily overlooked on a branch of a -tree, and the average person never notices them except when the hum of -their wings attracts his attention. - -One of the prettiest sights in the world is a hummingbird hovering -before a blossom, his wings vibrating so fast as to make a mist about -him, and his long needle of a bill probing the flower with quick, eager -thrusts. All his movements are of lightning-like rapidity, and even -while your eyes are on him he is gone like a flash, you cannot say -whither. - -The hummingbird’s nest is built on a branch of a tree,--saddled on -it,--and is not very hard to find after you have once seen one, and so -have learned precisely what to look for. Generally it is placed well -out towards the end of the limb. I have found it on pitch-pines in the -woods, on roadside maples,--shade-trees,--and especially in apple and -pear orchards. The mother bird is very apt to betray its whereabouts by -buzzing about the head of any one who comes near it. - -[Illustration: RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD - -_1, 2. Males. 3. Female. 4. Young_] - -Last May, for example, I stopped in the middle of the road to listen -for the voice of a house wren, when I caught instead the buzz and -squeak of a hummer. Turning my gaze upward, I saw her fly to a -half-built nest on a maple branch directly over my head. - -The nest is a tiny thing, looking for size and shape like a cup out -of a child’s toy tea-set. Its walls are thick, and on the outside are -covered--shingled, we may say--with bits of gray lichen, which help to -make the nest look like nothing more than a knot. Whether they are put -on for that purpose, or by way of ornament, is more than I can tell. - -The bird always lays two white eggs, about as large as peas. The young -ones stay in the nest for three weeks, more or less, till they are -fully grown and fledged, and perfectly well able to fly. I once saw -one take his first flight, and a great venture it seemed. All these -three weeks, and for another week afterward, the mother--no father is -present--has her hands full to supply the little things with food, -which she gives them from her crop, thrusting her long, sharp bill -clean down their throats in the process, in a way to make a looker-on -shiver. The only note I have ever heard from the ruby-throat is a -squeak, which seems to be an expression of nervousness or annoyance, -and is uttered whenever an intruder--a man, a cat, or a strange -bird--comes near the tree in which her treasures are hidden. - -Hummingbirds sometimes fly into open windows and are caught. At such -times they become tame almost at once, but it is difficult, if not -impossible, to keep them alive in captivity, and it is cruel to attempt -it, except when the little creature is injured and plainly unable to -look out for itself. - -A lady of my acquaintance discovered a hummingbird under her piazza. It -had flown in by accident, probably, and now was darting to and fro in -a frantic attempt to get out. The piazza was open on three sides, to -be sure, but the frightened bird kept up against the ceiling, and of -course found itself walled in. - -Fearful that it would injure itself, the lady brought a broom and tried -to force it to come down and so discover its way out; but it was only -the more scared. Then a happy thought came to her. She went to the -garden, plucked a few flowers, and going back to the piazza, set them -down for the bird to see. Instantly it flew toward them, and as it did -so it saw the open world without, and away it went. - -Another lady wrote me once a very pretty story of a hummer that came -and probed a nasturtium which she held in her hand. - -It is wonderful to think that so tiny a bird, born in New England or in -Canada in June, should travel to Cuba or Central America in the autumn, -and the next spring find its way back again to its birthplace. - - - - -XIV - -THE CHIMNEY SWIFT - - -Every kind of bird is adapted to get its living in a particular way. -It is strong in some respects, and weak in others. Some birds have -powerful legs, but can hardly fly; others live on the wing, and can -hardly walk. Of these flying birds none is more common than the chimney -swift, or, as he is improperly called, the chimney swallow. No one ever -saw him sitting on a perch or walking on the ground. In fact, his wings -are so long, and his legs so short and weak, that if he were to alight -on the ground, he would probably never be able to rise into the air -again. - -He hardly seems to need a description, and yet I suppose that many -persons, not to say people in general, do not know him from a swallow. -His color is sooty brown, turning to gray on the throat. His body, as -he is seen in the air, is shaped like a bobbin, bluntly pointed at both -ends. If he is carefully watched, however, it will be noticed that -he spreads his tail for an instant whenever he changes suddenly the -direction of his flight. In other words, he uses his tail as a rudder. - -He shoots about the sky at a tremendous speed, much of the time -sailing, with his long, narrow wings firmly set, and is especially -lively and noisy toward nightfall. Very commonly two or three of the -birds fly side by side, cackling merrily and acting very much as if -they were amusing themselves with some kind of game. - -They feed on the wing, and have wide, gaping mouths perfectly adapted -to that purpose. - -As their name implies, they build their nests and pass the night mostly -in chimneys, although in the wilder parts of the country they still -inhabit hollow trees. Numbers of pairs live together in a colony. - -One of the chimneys of a certain house near the Charles River, in -Newton, Massachusetts, has for many years been a favorite resort of -swifts. I have many times visited the place to watch the birds go to -roost. Little by little they gather in a flock, as twilight comes on, -and then for an hour or more the whole company, hundreds in number, -go sweeping over the valley in broad circles, having the chimney for -a centre. Gradually the circles become narrower, and at the same -time the excitement of the flock increases. Again and again the birds -approach the chimney, as if they meant to descend into it. Then away -they shoot for another round. - -At length the going to roost actually begins. Half a dozen or a dozen -of the birds drop one by one into the chimney. The rest sweep away, and -when they come back, a second detachment drops in. And so the lively -performance goes on till the last straggler folds his wings above the -big black cavity and tumbles headlong out of sight. - -The swift makes his nest of twigs, and as he cannot alight on the -ground in search of them, he is compelled to gather them from the dead -limbs of trees. Over and over again you will see the bird dart against -such a limb, catching at a twig as he pauses for the merest instant -before it. It is difficult to be sure whether he succeeds or not, his -movements are so rapid, but it is certain that he must often fail. -However, he acts upon the old motto, “Try, try again,” and in course of -time the nest is built. And an extremely pretty nest it is, with the -white eggs in it, the black twigs glued firmly together with the bird’s -own saliva. - - - - -XV - -NIGHTHAWK AND WHIP-POOR-WILL - - -Rustic people are a little shy of theories and “book-learning.” Not -long ago--it was early in March--I met an old man who lives by himself -in a kind of hermitage in the woods, and who knows me in a general way -as a bird student. We greeted each other, and I inquired whether he had -seen any bluebirds yet. No, he said, it wasn’t time. - -“Oh, but they are here,” I answered. “I saw a flock of ten on the 26th -of February.” Good-natured incredulity came out all over his face. - -“Did you hear them sing?” he asked. - -“Yes,” said I; “and, furthermore, I saw some this forenoon very near -your house.” - -“Well,” he remarked, “according to my experience, it is too early for -bluebirds. Besides, they never go in flocks; and when anybody tells -me at this time of the year that he has seen a flock of bluebirds, I -always know that he has seen some blue snowbirds.” - -He spoke with an air of finality which left me nothing to do but to -smile and pass on. - -This little incident called to mind another, and that put it into my -head to write this article. - -A farmer, who had seen me passing his house and loitering about -his lanes and fields for several years, often with an opera-glass -in my hand, one day hailed me to ask whether the nighthawk and the -whip-poor-will were the same bird, as he had heard people say. I -assured him (or rather I told him--it turned out that I had not made -him sure) that they were quite distinct, and proceeded to remark -upon some of the more obvious points of difference between the two, -especially as to their habits and manner of life. He listened with all -deference to what I had to offer, but as I concluded and turned to -leave him, he said: “Well, some folks _say_ they’re the same. They say -one’s the he one and t’ other’s the she one; but I guess they ain’t.” - -Verily, thought I, popular science lectures are sometimes a failure. -Not long afterward I was telling the story to a Massachusetts man, a -man who had made a collection of birds’ eggs in his time. - -“Why,” said he, “aren’t they the same? I always understood that they -were the male and female of the same species. That was the common -belief where I was brought up.” - -[Illustration: NIGHTHAWK] - -The confusion of the two birds is widespread, in spite of Audubon’s -testimony that he had seldom seen a farmer or even a boy in the United -States who did not know the difference between them. But, while they -resemble each other closely, they are sufficiently unlike to be -classified not only as separate species, but as species of different -genera. As for the difference in their habits, it is such as any one -may see and appreciate. The nighthawk, for all its name, is not a night -bird. It is most active at twilight,--in other words, it is crepuscular -instead of nocturnal,--but is often to be seen flying abroad at midday. -The whip-poor-will, on the contrary, is quiet till after dark. Then -it starts into fullness of life, singing with the utmost enthusiasm, -till the listener wonders where it can find breath for such rapid and -long-continued efforts. The nighthawk is not a musician. While flying -it frequently utters a single note, of a guttural-nasal quality, almost -indistinguishable from the so-called bleat of the woodcock; but, in -place of singing, it indulges in a fine aerial tumbling performance, -much in the manner of the snipe. This performance I have many times -observed in early summer from the Public Garden in Boston. I have -seen it also in September, though it is doubtless much less common at -that season. The bird rises gradually to a considerable height, and -presently drops like a stone almost to the ground. At the last moment -it arrests itself suddenly, and then is heard a very peculiar “booming” -noise, whether produced by the wings or by the voice, I will not -presume to say. - -The most attractive feature of the nighthawk, to my eye, is its -beautiful and peculiar flight--a marvel of ease and grace, and -sufficient to distinguish it at a glance from every other New England -bird. It is a creature of the upper air, never skimming the ground, so -far as I know, and as it passes overhead you may easily see the large -white patch in the middle of each long wing--a beauty spot, by the way, -which is common to both sexes, and is wanting in the whip-poor-will. - -[Illustration: WHIP-POOR-WILL] - -The whip-poor-will’s chief distinction is its song--a song by itself, -and familiar to every one. Some people call it mournful, and I fear -there are still a few superstitious souls who listen to it with a -kind of trembling. I have heard of the bird’s being shot because the -inhabitants of a house could not bear its doleful and boding cry, as -they were pleased to consider it. To my ears it is sweet music. I take -many an evening stroll on purpose to enjoy it, and am perennially -thankful to Audubon for saying that he found the whip-poor-will’s -“cheering voice” more interesting than the song of the nightingale. - -It will surprise unscientific readers to be told that the nearest -relatives of whip-poor-wills and nighthawks are the swifts and the -hummingbirds. As if a chimney swift were more like a whip-poor-will -than like a swallow! and, still more absurd, as if there were any -close relationship between whip-poor-wills and hummingbirds! Put -a whip-poor-will and a ruby-throated hummer side by side and they -certainly do look very little alike--the big whip-poor-will, with its -mottled plumage and its short, gaping beak, and the tiny hummingbird -with its burnished feathers and its long needle of a bill. Evidently -there is no great reliance to be placed upon outside show, or what -scientific men call “external characters.” We might as well say that -the strawberry vine and the apple-tree were own cousins. Yes, so we -might, for the apple-tree and the strawberry vine _are_ cousins--at -least they are members of the same great and noble family, the family -of the roses! We shall never get far, in science or in anything else, -until we learn to look below the surface. - - - - -XVI - -THE FLICKER - - -The flicker is the largest of our common American woodpeckers, being -somewhat longer and stouter than the robin. It is known, by sight -at least, to almost every one who notices birds at all, and perhaps -for this reason it has received an unusual number of popular names. -“Golden-winged woodpecker,” which is probably the best known of these, -comes from the fact that the bird’s wings are yellow on the under side. -“Harry Wicket,” “Highhole,”--because its nest is sometimes pretty far -above the ground,--“Yellowhammer,” and “Pigeon-woodpecker” are also -among its more familiar nicknames. - -Unlike other birds of its family, the flicker passes much of its time -on the ground, where it hops awkwardly about, feeding upon insects, -especially upon ants. As you come near it, while it is thus engaged, it -rises with a peculiar purring sound, and as it flies from you it shows -a broad white patch on its rump--the lower back, above the root of -the tail. Every one who has ever walked much over grassy fields must -have seen the bird and been struck by this conspicuous light mark. He -must have noticed, too, the bird’s peculiar up-and-down, “jumping” -manner of flight, by which it goes swooping across the country in long -undulations or waves. - -The flicker’s general color is brown, with spottings and streakings -of black, and more or less of violet or lilac shading. On the back of -its neck it wears a band of bright scarlet, and across its breast is a -conspicuous black crescent. - -It is fond of old apple orchards, and often makes its nest in a -decaying trunk. In some places, near the seashore, especially,--where -it is commoner than elsewhere in winter, and where large trees are -scarce,--it makes enemies by its habit of drilling holes in barns and -even in churches. I remember a meeting-house on Cape Cod which had a -good number of such holes in its front wall--or rather it had the scars -of such holes, for they had been covered with patches of tin. That was -a case where going to church might be called a bad habit. - -In fall and winter, if not at other seasons, the flicker feeds largely -upon berries. In years when the poison ivy bears a good crop, I am -pretty sure to find two or three flickers all winter long about a -certain farm, the stone walls of which are overrun with this handsome -but unwholesome vine, although it is hard to imagine that the dry, -stony fruit should yield much in the way of nourishment, even to a -woodpecker. - -As spring comes on, the flicker becomes numerous and very noisy. His -best-known vocal effort is a prolonged _hi-hi-hi_, very loud and -ringing, and kept up until the listener wonders where the author of it -gets his wind. This, I think, is the bird’s substitute for a song. He -has at all times a loud, unmusical _yawp_,--a signal, I suppose,--and -in the mating season especially he utters a very affectionate, -conversational _wicker_ or _flicker_. Every country boy should be -familiar with these three notes. - -[Illustration: FLICKER - -_1. Male. 2. Females_] - -But besides being a vocalist,--we can hardly call him a singer,--the -flicker is a player upon instruments. He is a great drummer; and if -any one imagines that woodpeckers do not enjoy the sound of their -own music, he should watch a flicker drumming with his long bill on -a battered tin pan in the middle of a pasture. Morning after morning -I have seen one thus engaged, drumming lustily, and then cocking his -head to listen for an answer; and Paderewski at his daily practice upon -the piano could not have looked more in earnest. At other times the -flicker contents himself with a piece of resonant loose bark or a dry -limb. - -One proof that this drumming--which is indulged in by woodpeckers -generally--is a true musical performance, and not a mere drilling for -grubs, is the fact that we never hear it in winter. It begins as the -weather grows mild, and is as much a sign of spring as the peeping of -the little tree-frogs--hylas--in the meadow. - -The flicker’s nest, as I have said, is built in a hole in a tree, often -an apple-tree. Very noisy in his natural disposition, he keeps a wise -silence while near the spot where his mate is sitting, and will rear -a brood under the orchard-owner’s nose without betraying himself. The -young birds are fed from the parent’s crop, as young pigeons and young -hummingbirds are. The old bird thrusts its bill down the throat of -the nestling and gives it a meal of partially digested food by what -scientific people call a process of regurgitation. Farmers’ boys, who -have watched pigeons feeding their squabs, will know precisely what is -meant. - - - - -XVII - -THE BITTERN - - -It was a great day for me when I first heard the so-called booming of -the bittern. For more than ten years I had devoted the principal part -of my spare hours to the study of birds, but though I had taken many -an evening walk near the most promising meadows in my neighborhood, I -could never hear those mysterious pumping or stake-driving noises of -which I had read with so much interest, especially in the writings of -Thoreau. - -The truth was, as I have since assured myself, that this representative -of the heron family was not a resident within the limits of my everyday -rambles, none of the meadows thereabout being extensive and secluded -enough to suit his whim. - -There came a day, however, when with a friend I made an afternoon -excursion to Wayland, Massachusetts, on purpose to form the -stake-driver’s acquaintance. We walked up the railway track across -the river toward Sudbury, and were hardly seated on the edge of the -meadow, facing the beautiful Nobscot Hill, before my comrade said, -“Hark! There he is!” - -Yes, that certainly was the very sound--an old-fashioned wooden pump at -work in the meadow. - -We listened intently for perhaps half a dozen times; then I proposed -going further up the track to get the notes at shorter range, and -possibly--who could tell what unheard-of thing might happen?--to obtain -a sight of the bird. We advanced cautiously, though as we were on the -track, six feet or more above the level of the meadow, there was no -chance of concealment, and the bittern went on with his performance. - -Meanwhile we maintained a sharp lookout, and presently I descried -a narrow brown object standing upright amidst the grass--a stick, -perhaps. I lifted my opera-glass and spoke quickly to my friend: “I see -him!” - -“Where?” he asked; and when I lowered my glass and gave him the bird’s -bearings as related to the remains of an old hayrick not far off, he -said, “Why, I saw that, but took it for a stick.” - -“Yes, but see the eye,” I answered. - -Within half a minute the bird suddenly threw his head forward and -commenced pumping. This was good luck indeed,--that I should surprise -my very first bittern in his famous act, a thing which better men than -I, after years of familiarity with the bird, had never once succeeded -in accomplishing. Who says that Fortune does not sometimes favor the -fresh hand? - -The fellow repeated the operation three times, and between whiles moved -stealthily through the grass toward the leavings of the haycock before -mentioned. - -When he reached the hay, we held our breath. Would he actually mount -it? Yes, that was undoubtedly his intention; but he meant to do it in -such a way that no mortal eye should see him. All the time glancing -furtively to left and right, as if the grass were full of enemies, he -put one foot before the other with almost inconceivable slowness,--as -the hour hand turns on the clock’s face. It was an admirable display -of an art which this race of frog, mouse, and insect catchers has -cultivated for untold generations--an art on which its livelihood -depends, the art of invisible motion. - -There was no resisting the ludicrousness of his manner. He was in full -view, but so long as he kept still he seemed to think himself quite -safe from detection. Like the hand of the clock, however, if he was -slow he was sure, and in time he was fairly out of the grass, standing -in plain sight upon his hay platform. - -Once in position he fell to pumping in earnest, and kept it up for more -than an hour, while two enthusiasts sat upon the railway embankment, -twelve or thirteen rods distant, with opera-glasses and note-books, -scrutinizing his every motion, and felicitating themselves again and -again on seeing thus plainly what so few had ever seen at all. What -would Thoreau have given for such an opportunity? - -“The stake-driver is at it in his favorite meadow,” he writes in -his journal, in 1852. “I followed the sound, and at last got within -two rods, it seeming always to recede, and drawing you, like a -will-o’-the-wisp, farther away into the meadows. When thus near, I -heard some lower sounds at the beginning like striking on a stump or a -stake, a dry, hard sound, and then followed the gurgling, pumping notes -fit to come from a meadow. - -“This was just within the blueberry and other bushes, and when the bird -flew up, alarmed, I went to the place, but could see no water, which -makes me doubt if water is necessary to it in making the sound. Perhaps -it thrusts its bill so deep as to reach water where it is dry on the -surface.” - -This notion that water is employed in the production of the bittern’s -notes has been generally entertained. The notes themselves are of a -character to suggest such an hypothesis, and at least one witness has -borne circumstantial testimony to its truth. In Thoreau’s essay on the -“Natural History of Massachusetts,” he says:-- - -“On one occasion, the bird has been seen by one of my neighbors to -thrust its bill into the water, and suck up as much as it could hold; -then, raising its head, it pumped it out again with four or five heaves -of the neck, throwing it two or three feet, and making the sound each -time.” - -Similar statements have been made as to the corresponding notes of -the European bittern. None of our systematic writers upon American -ornithology have ever witnessed the performance, as far as appears, and -being too honest to draw upon their imaginations, they have left the -matter a mystery. Now, on this auspicious May afternoon, if we learned -nothing else, we could at all events make quite sure whether or not the -bittern did really spout water from his beak. - -My readers will have guessed already that our bird, at least, did -nothing of the sort. His bill was never within reach of water. The -operation is a queer one, hard to describe. - -The bittern has been standing motionless, perhaps in the humpbacked -attitude in which the artists, following Audubon’s plate, have commonly -represented him; or quite as likely, he has been making a stick or a -soldier of himself, standing bolt upright at full stretch, his long -neck and bill pointed straight at the zenith. - -Suddenly he lowers his head, and instantly raises it again and throws -it forward with a quick, convulsive jerk. This movement is attended -by an opening and shutting of the bill, which in turn is accompanied -by a sound which has been well compared to a violent hiccough. The -hiccough--with which, I think, the click of the big mandibles may -sometimes be heard--is repeated a few times, each time a little louder -than before; and then succeed the real pumping or stake-driving noises. - -These are in sets of three syllables each, of which the first syllable -is the longest, and somewhat separated from the others. The accent is -strongly upon the middle syllable, and the whole, as oftenest heard, is -an exact reproduction of the sound of a wooden pump, as I have already -said, the voice having that peculiar hollow quality which is produced, -not by the flow of the water, but by the suction of the air in the tube -when the pump begins to work. - -But the looker-on is likely to be quite as much impressed by what he -sees as by what he hears. During the whole performance, but especially -during the latter part of it, the bird is engaged in the most violent -contortions, suggestive of nothing but a patient suffering from -uncontrollable nausea. Moreover, as soon as the preliminary hiccoughs -begin, the lower throat or breast is seen to be swelling; the -dilatation grows larger and larger till the pumping is well under way, -and so far as my companion and I could detect, does not subside in the -least until the noises have ceased altogether. - -How are the unique, outlandish notes produced? I cannot profess to -know. Our opinion was that the bird swallowed air into his gullet, -gulping it down with each snap of the beak. To all appearance it was -necessary for him to inflate the crop in this way before he could pump, -or boom. As to how much of the grand booming was connected with the -swallowing of the air, and how much, if any, with the expulsion of it, -my friend and I did not agree, and of course neither of us could do -more than guess. - -I made some experiments afterwards, by way of imitating the noises; -and these experiments, together with the fact that the grand booming -seemed to be really nothing more than a development of the preliminary -hiccoughs, and the further fact that the swelling of the breast did not -go down gradually during the course of the performance, but suddenly at -the close,--all these incline me to believe that the notes are mainly -if not entirely caused by the inhalation or swallowing of the air; and -I am somewhat strengthened in this opinion by perceiving that when -a man takes air into his stomach the act is attended by a sound not -altogether unlike the bittern’s note in quality, while the expulsion of -it gives rise to noises of an entirely dissimilar character. - -That the sounds in question were not made entirely by any ordinary -action of the vocal organs was the decided opinion of both my friend -and myself. - -As I have said, we watched the performance for more than an hour. We -were sitting squarely upon the track, and once were compelled to get -up to let a train pass; but the bittern evidently paid no attention to -matters on the railway, being well used to thunder in that direction, -and stood his ground without wincing. - -When he had pumped long enough,--and the operation surely looked like -pretty hard work,--he suddenly took wing and flew a little distance -down the meadow. The moment he dropped into the grass he pumped, and -on making another flight he again pumped immediately upon coming to -the ground. This trick, which surprised me not a little in view of -the severe exertion required, is perhaps akin to the habit of smaller -birds, who in seasons of excitement will very often break into song at -the moment of striking a perch. - -As we came down the track on our way back to the station, three -bitterns were in the air at once, while a fourth was booming on the -opposite side of the road. One of the flying birds persistently dangled -his legs instead of drawing them up in the usual fashion and letting -the feet stick out behind, parallel with the tail. Probably he was -“showing off,” as is the custom of many birds during the season of -mating. - -Our bird across the road, by the bye, was not pumping, but driving a -stake. The middle syllable was truly a mighty whack with a mallet on -the head of a post, so that I could easily enough credit Mr. Samuels’s -statement that he once followed the sound for half a mile, expecting to -find a farmer setting a fence. - -In the midst of the hurly-burly we saw a boy coming toward us on the -track. - -“Let’s ask him about it,” said my companion. - -So, with an air of inquisitive ignorance, he stopped the fellow, and -inquired, “Do you know what it is we hear making that curious noise off -there in the meadow?” - -The boy evidently took us for a pair of ignoramuses from the city. - -“I guess it’s a frog,” he answered. But when the sounds were repeated -he shook his head and confessed honestly that he didn’t know what made -them. - -It was too bad, I thought, that he did not stick to his frog theory. -It would have made so much better a story! He appeared to feel no -curiosity about the matter, and we allowed him to pass on unenlightened. - -Not all Wayland people are thus poorly informed, however, and we -shortly learned, to our considerable satisfaction, that they have a -most felicitous local name for the bird. They call him “plum-pudd’n’,” -which is exactly what he himself says, only that his _u_ is in both -words somewhat long, like the vowel in “full.” To get the true effect -of the words they should be spoken with the lips nearly closed, and in -a deep voice. - -A few days after this excursion I found a bittern in a large wet meadow -somewhat nearer home. At the nearest he was a long way off, and as I -went farther and farther away from him, I remarked the very unexpected -fact that the last syllable to be lost was not the second, which bears -so sharp an accent, but the long first syllable. It seemed contrary to -reason, but such was unquestionably the truth, and later experiments -confirmed it. - -This was in the spring of 1888. In May of the next year, if all went -well, we would see the show again. So we said to each other; but a -veteran ornithologist remarked that we should probably be a good many -years older before we had another such piece of good fortune. - -It is a fact familiar to all naturalists, however, that when you have -once found a new plant, or a new bird, or a new nest, the experience is -likely to be soon repeated. You may have spent a dozen years in a vain -search, but now, for some reason, the difficult has all at once become -easy, and almost before you can believe your eyes the rarity has grown -to be a drug in the market. Something like this proved to be true of -the bittern’s boom. - -On the afternoon of the 2d of May, 1889, I went to one of my favorite -resorts, a large cat-tail swamp surrounded by woods. My particular -errand was to see whether the least bittern had arrived,--a much -smaller, and in this part of the country, at least, a much less common -bird than his relative of whose vocal accomplishments I am here -treating. - -I threw myself down upon the cliff overhanging the edge of the swamp, -to listen for the desired _coo-coo-coo-coo_, and had barely made myself -comfortable when I heard the _plum-pudd’n’_ of the bittern himself, -proceeding, as it seemed, from the reeds directly at my feet. Further -listening satisfied me that the fellow was not far from the end of a -rocky peninsula which juts into the swamp just at this point. - -I slipped down the cliff as quietly as possible, picked my way across -the narrow neck leading to the main peninsula, and by keeping behind -rocks and trees managed to reach the very tip without disturbing -the bird. Here I posted myself among the thick trees, and awaited -a repetition of the boom. It was not long in coming, and plainly -proceeded from a bunch of flags just across a little stretch of clear -water. - -I looked and looked, while the bittern continued to pump at rather -protracted intervals; but I could see nothing whatever, till presto! -there the creature stood in plain sight. - -Whether he had moved into view, or had all the time been visible, I -cannot tell. He soon pumped again, and then again, for perhaps six -times. Then he stalked away out of sight, and I heard nothing more. He -was much nearer than last year’s bird had been, but was still a pumper, -not a stake-driver, and his action was in all respects the same as I -had before witnessed. - -There had been no bittern in this swamp the season previous, nor did -any breed here this summer. I visited the place too often for him to -have escaped my notice, had he been present. This bird, then, was a -migrant, and his booming was of interest as showing that the bittern, -like the song-birds, does not wait to get into summer quarters before -beginning to rehearse his love music. - -Two days after this my companion of the year before went with me again -to Wayland, and, not to prolong a long story, we sat again upon the -railway and watched a bittern pump for more than an hour. This time, to -be sure, he was partially concealed by the grass, besides being farther -away than we could have wished. - -It was curious, and illustrated strikingly the utility of the bird’s -habit of standing motionless, that my friend, who is certainly as -sharp-eyed an observer as I have ever known, was once more completely -taken in. As luck would have it, I caught sight of the bird first, and -when I pointed him out to the other man he replied, “Why, of course I -saw that, but it never occurred to me but that it was a stake.” - -We returned from this excursion fairly well convinced that in the early -part of the season, while the grass is still short, one may hope to -see a bittern pump almost any day, if he will go to a suitable meadow -which has a railroad running through it. The track answers a double -purpose: it gives the observer an outlook, such as cannot be obtained -from a boat, and furthermore, the birds are quite unsuspicious of -things on the track, while the presence of a man in the grass or on the -river would almost inevitably attract their attention. - - - - -XVIII - -BIRDS FOR EVERYBODY - - -Some birds belong exclusively to specialists. They are so rare, or -their manner of life is so seclusive, that people in general can never -be expected to know them except from books. The latest list of the -birds of Massachusetts includes about three hundred and fifty species -and sub-species. Of these, seventy-five or more are so foreign to this -part of the country as to have appeared here only by accident, while -many others are so excessively rare that no individual observer can -count upon seeing them, however close a lookout he may keep. Other -species are present in goodly numbers, but only in certain portions of -the State; and still others, though generally distributed and fairly -numerous, live habitually in almost impenetrable swamps or in deep -forests, and of necessity are seen only by those who make it their -business to look for them. - -It is something for which busy men and women may well be thankful, -therefore, that so many of the most pleasing, or otherwise -interesting, of all our birds are among those which may be called -birds for everybody. Such are the robin, the bluebird, the Baltimore -oriole,--or golden robin,--the blue jay, the crow, and the chickadee. -Of all these we may say that they are common; they come in every one’s -way, and, what is still more to the point, they cannot be mistaken for -anything else. Others are equally common, and are easily enough seen, -but their identity is not so much a matter of course. - -The song sparrow, for example, is abundant in Massachusetts from the -middle of March to the end of October. Outside of the forest it is -almost ubiquitous; it sings beautifully and with the utmost freedom; it -ought, one would say, to be universally known. But it is _a_ sparrow, -not _the_ sparrow. In other words, it is only one of many, and so, -common as it is, and freely as it sings (it is to be heard in every -garden and by every roadside in the latter half of March, when few -other birds are in tune), it passes unrecognized by the generality -of people. They read in books of song sparrows, chipping sparrows, -field sparrows, tree sparrows, swamp sparrows, vesper sparrows, -white-throated sparrows, fox sparrows, yellow-winged sparrows, savanna -sparrows, and the like, and when they see any little mottled brown -bird, they say, “Oh, it’s a sparrow,” and seek to know nothing more. - -The family of warblers--among the loveliest of all birds--are in -a still worse case, and much the same may be said of swallows and -blackbirds, thrushes and vireos. The number of species and their -perplexing similarity, which are such an attraction to the student, -prove an effectual bar to those who have time and money for newspapers -and novels, but can spare neither for a manual of local ornithology. - -I have named six birds which every one knows, or may know, but of -course I do not mean that these are all. Why should not everybody -know the goldfinch--a small, stout-billed, bright yellow, canary-like -bird, with black wings and tail and a black cap? And the flicker--or -golden-winged woodpecker--a little larger than the robin, with -gold-lined wings, a black crescent on the breast, a red patch on the -back of the head, and a white rump, conspicuous as the bird takes -wing? The hummingbird, too--our only one; I should say that everybody -ought to recognize it, only that I have found some who confuse it with -sphinx moths, and will hardly believe me when I tell them of their -mistake. The cedar-bird, likewise, known also as the cherry-bird and -the waxwing, is a bird by itself; remarkably trim and sleek, its upper -parts of a peculiarly warm cinnamon brown, its lower parts yellowish, -its tail tipped handsomely with yellow, its head marked with black and -adorned with a truly magnificent topknot; as great a lover of cherries -as any schoolboy, and one of the first birds upon which the youthful -taxidermist tries his hand. Just now--in early March--the waxwings are -hereabout in great flocks (I saw more than a hundred, surely, three -days ago), stuffing themselves, literally, with savin berries. These -large flocks will after a while disappear, and some time later, in May, -smaller companies will arrive from the South and settle with us for the -summer, helping themselves to our cherries in return for the swarms of -insects of whose presence they have relieved us. If we see them thus -engaged, we shall do well to remember the Scripture text, “The laborer -is worthy of his hire.” - -This enumeration of birds, so strongly marked that even a wayfaring man -may easily name them, might be extended indefinitely. It would be a -strange Massachusetts boy who did not know the ruffed grouse (though he -would probably call him the partridge) and the Bob White; the kingbird, -with his black and white plumage, his aerial tumblings, and his -dashing pursuit of the crow; the splendid scarlet tanager, fiery red, -with black tail and wings; the bobolink; the red-winged blackbird, -whose watery _conkaree_ is so welcome a sound about the meadows in -March; the slate-colored snowbird; the indigo-bird, small, deep blue -throughout, and with a thick bill; the butcher-bird, a constant though -not numerous winter visitor, sometimes flying against windows in which -canaries are hung, as one did at our house only this winter--these -surely may be known by any who will take even slight pains to form -their acquaintance. And, beside these, there are two birds whom -everybody _does_ know, but whom I forgot to include with the six -first mentioned,--the catbird and the brown thrasher, two overgrown, -long-tailed wrens, near relatives of the mockingbird, both of them -great singers in their way, and one of them--the catbird--decidedly -familiar and a fairly good mimic. - - - - -XIX - -WINTER PENSIONERS - - -Our northern winter is a lean time, ornithologically, though it brings -us some choice birds of its own, and is not without many alleviations. -When the redpolls come in crowds and the white-winged crossbills in -good numbers, both of which things happened last year, the world is not -half so bad with us as it might be. Still, winter is winter, a season -to be tided over rather than doted upon, and anything which helps to -make the time pass agreeably is matter for thankfulness. So I am asked -to write something about the habit we are in at our house of feeding -birds in cold weather, and thus keeping them under the windows. Really -we have done nothing peculiar, nor has our success been beyond that of -many of our neighbors; but such as it is, the work has given us much -enjoyment, and the readers of “Bird-Lore”[1] are welcome to the story. - -Our method is to put out pieces of raw suet, mostly the trimmings of -beefsteak. These we attach to branches of trees and to the veranda -trellis, taking pains, of course, to have them beyond the cat’s reach -(that the birds may feed safely), and at the same time well disposed -for our own convenience as spectators. For myself, in addition, I -generally nail pieces of the bait upon one or two of the outer sills of -my study windows. I like, as I sit reading or writing, to hear now and -then a nuthatch or a chickadee hammering just outside the pane. Often -I rise to have a look at the visitor. There is nothing but the glass -between us, and I can stand near enough to see his beady eyes, and, so -to speak, the expression of his face. Sometimes two birds are there at -once, one waiting for the other. Sometimes they have a bit of a set-to. -Then, certainly, they are not without facial expression. - -Once in a while, in severe weather, I have sprinkled crumbs (sweet or -fatty crumbs are best--say bits of doughnut) on the inside ledge, and -then, with the window raised a few inches, have awaited callers. If the -weather is bad enough they are not long in coming. A chickadee alights -on the outer sill, notices the open window, scolds a little (the thing -looks like a trap--at all events it is something new, and birds are -conservative), catches sight of the crumbs (well, now, that’s another -story), ceases his _dee, dee, dee_, and the next minute hops inside. - -[Illustration: A DOWNY WOODPECKER] - -[Illustration: A BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT] - -The crumbs prove to be appetizing, and by the time he has swallowed a -few of them he seems to forget how he came in, and instead of backing -out, as a reasonable being like a chickadee might be expected to do, he -flies to another light of the bay window. Then, lest he should injure -himself, I must get up and catch him and show him to the door. By the -time I have done this two or three times within half an hour, I begin -to find it an interruption to other work, and put down the window. -White-breasted nuthatches and downies come often to the outer sill, but -only the chickadees ever venture inside. - -These three are our daily pensioners. If they are all in the tree -together, as they very often are, they take precedence at the larder -according to their size. No nuthatch presumes to hurry a woodpecker, -and no chickadee ever thinks of disturbing a nuthatch. He may fret -audibly, calling the other fellow greedy, for aught I know, and asking -him if he wants the earth; but he maintains a respectful distance. -Birds, like wild things in general, have a natural reverence for size -and weight. - -The chickadees are much the most numerous with us, but taking the year -together, the woodpeckers are the most constant. My notes record them -as present in the middle of October, 1899, and now, in the middle of -October, 1900, they are still in daily attendance. Perhaps there were a -few weeks of midsummer when they stayed away, but I think not. One pair -built a nest somewhere in the neighborhood and depended on us largely -for supplies, much to their convenience and our pleasure. As soon as -the red-capped young ones were able to fly, the parents brought them -to the tree and fed them with the suet (it was a wonder how much of it -they could eat), till they were old enough to help themselves. And they -act, old and young alike, as if they owned the place. If a grocer’s -wagon happens to stop under the tree they wax indignant, and remain so -till it drives away. Even the black cat, Satan, has come to acknowledge -their rights in the case, and no longer so much as thinks of them as -possible game. - -I have spoken, I see, as if these three species were all; but, not to -mention the blue jays, whose continual visits are rather ineffectively -frowned upon (they carry off too much at once), we had last winter, -for all the latter half of it, a pair of red-bellied nuthatches. They -dined with us daily (pretty creatures they are), and stayed so late -in the spring that I began to hope the handy food-supply would induce -them to tarry for the summer. They were mates, I think. At any rate, -they preferred to eat from the same bit of fat, one on each side, in -great contrast with all the rest of our company. Frequently, too, a -brown creeper would be seen hitching up the trunk or over the larger -limbs. He likes pleasant society, though he has little to say, and -perhaps found scraps of suet in the crevices of the bark, where the -chickadees, who are given to this kind of providence, may have packed -it in store. Somewhat less frequently a goldcrest would come with the -others, fluttering amid the branches like a sprite. One bird draws -another, especially in hard times. And so it happened that our tree, -or rather trees,--an elm and a maple,--were something like an aviary -the whole winter through. It was worth more than all the trouble which -the experiment cost us to lie in bed before sunrise, with the mercury -below zero, and hear a chickadee just outside singing as sweetly as any -thrush could sing in June. If he had been trying to thank us, he could -not have done it more gracefully. - -The worse the weather, the better we enjoyed the birds’ society; and -the better, in general, they seemed to appreciate our efforts on their -behalf. It was noticeable, however, that chickadees were with us -comparatively little during high, cold winds. On the 18th of February, -for example, we had a blizzard, with driving snow, the most inclement -day of the winter. At seven o’clock, when I looked out, four downy -woodpeckers were in the elm, all trying their best to eat, though the -branches shook till it was hard work to hold on. They stayed much of -the forenoon. At ten o’clock, when the storm showed signs of abating, -though it was still wild enough, a chickadee made his appearance and -whistled _Phœbe_ again and again--“a long time,” my note says--in his -cheeriest manner. Who can help loving a bird so courageous, “so frolic, -stout, and self-possest”? Emerson did well to call him a “scrap of -valor.” Yet I find from a later note that “there were nothing like -the usual number of chickadees so long as the fury lasted.” Doubtless -most of them stayed among the evergreens. It is an old saying of the -chickadee’s, frequently quoted, “Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.” -On the same day I saw a member of the household snowballing an English -sparrow away from one branch, while a downy woodpecker continued to -feed upon the next one. The woodpecker had got the right idea of -things. Honest folk need not fear the constable. - - - - -XX - -WATCHING THE PROCESSION - - -It begins to go by my door about the first of March, and is three full -months in passing. The participants are all in uniform, each after -his kind, some in the brightest of colors, some in Quakerish grays -and browns. They seem not to stand very strictly upon the order of -their coming; red-coats and blue-coats travel side by side. Like the -flowers, they have a calendar of their own, and in their own way are -punctual, but their movements are not to be predicted with anything -like mathematical nicety. Of some companies of them I am never certain -which will precede the other, just as I can never tell whether, in a -particular season, the anemone or the five-finger will come first into -bloom. They need no bands of music, no drum-corps nor fifers. The whole -procession, indeed, is itself a band of music, a grand army of singers -and players on instruments. They sing many tunes; each uniform has a -tune of its own, but, unlike what happens in military and masonic -parades, there is never any jangling, no matter how near together the -different bands may be marching. - -As I said, the pageant lasts for three months. It is fortunate for -me, perhaps, that it lasts no longer; for the truth is, I have grown -so fond of watching it that I find it hard to attend to my daily work -so long as the show continues. If I go inside for half a day, to read -or to write, I am all the time thinking of what is going on outside. -Who knows what I may be missing at this very minute? I keep by me a -prospectus of the festival, a list of all who are expected to take part -in it, and, like most watchers of such parades, I have my personal -favorites for whom I am always on the lookout. One thing troubles me: -there is never a year that I do not miss a good many (a _bad_ many, I -feel like saying) of those whose names appear in the announcements. -Some of them, indeed, I have _never_ seen. If they are really in the -ranks, it must be that their numbers are very small; for the printed -programme tells exactly how they will be dressed, and I am sure I -should recognize them if they came within sight. Some of them, I fancy, -do not keep their engagements. - -I spoke, to begin with, of their passing my door. But I spoke -figuratively. Some, it is true, do pass my door, and even tarry for a -day or two under my windows, but to see others I have to go into the -woods. Some I find only in deep, almost impenetrable swamps, dodging in -and out among thick bushes and cat-tails. A good many follow the coast. -I watch them running along the sea-beach on the edge of the surf, or -walking sedately over muddy flats where I need rubber boots in which to -follow them. Some are silent during the day, but as darkness comes on -indulge in music and queer aerial dancing. - -Many travel altogether by night, resting and feeding in the daytime. -It is pleasant to stand out of doors in the evening, and hear them -calling to each other overhead as they hasten northward; for at this -time of the year, I have forgotten to say, they are always traveling in -a northerly direction. - -The procession, as such, has no definite terminus. It breaks up -gradually by the dropping out of its members here and there. Each of -them knows pretty well where he is going. This one, who came perhaps -from Cuba, means to stop in Massachusetts; that one, after a winter -in Central America, has in view a certain swamp or meadow, or, it may -be, some mountain-top, in New Hampshire; another will not be at home -till he reaches the furthermost coast of Labrador or the banks of -the Saskatchewan. The prospectus of which I spoke, and of which every -reader ought to have a copy, tells, in a general way, whither each -company is bound, but the members of the same company often scatter -themselves over several degrees of latitude. - -Some of the companies move compactly, and are only two or three days, -more or less, in passing a given point. You must be in the woods, for -example, on the 12th or 13th of May, or you will miss them altogether. -Others straggle along for a whole month. You begin to think, perhaps, -that they mean to stay with you all summer, but some morning you wake -up to the fact that the last one has gone. - -It is curious how few people see this army of travelers. They pass by -thousands and hundreds of thousands. More than a hundred different -companies go through every town in Massachusetts between March 1 and -June 1. They dress gayly--not a few of them seem to have borrowed -Joseph’s coat--and are full of music, yet somehow their advent excites -little remark. Perhaps it is because, for the most part, they flit -from bush to bush and from tree to tree, here one and there one. If -some year they should form in line, and move in close order along the -public streets, what a stir they would excite! For a day or two the -newspapers would be full of the sensation, and possibly the baseball -reporters would be compelled for once to shorten their accounts of -Battum’s “wonderful left-hand catch” and Ketchum’s “phenomenal slide to -the second base.” It is just as well, I dare say, that nothing of this -kind should ever happen, for it is hard to see how the great reading -public could bear even the temporary loss of such interesting and -instructive narratives. - -Meantime, though the greater part of the people pay no heed to these -“birds of passage,” some of us are never tired of watching them. I -myself used to be fond of gazing at military and political parades. -In my time I have seen a good many real soldiers and a good many -make-believes. But as age comes on, I find myself, rightly or wrongly, -caring less and less for such spectacles. It will never be so, I think, -with the procession of which I am now writing. I have never watched it -with more enthusiasm than this very year. It is only just over, but -I am already beginning to count upon its autumnal return, and by the -middle of August shall be looking every day for its advance couriers. - -Till then I shall please myself with observing the ways of such of the -host as have happened to drop out of the procession in my immediate -neighborhood. One of them I can hear singing at this very moment. He -and his wife spent the winter in Mexico, as well as I can determine, -and have been back with us since the 11th of May. They have pitched -their tent for the summer in the top of a tall elm directly in front -of my door, and just now are much occupied with household cares. The -little husband (_Vireo gilvus_ he is called in the official programme, -but I have heard him spoken of, not inappropriately, as the warbling -vireo) takes upon himself his full share of the family drudgery, and it -is very pretty indeed to see him sitting in the tent and singing at his -work. He sets us all, as I think, an excellent example. - - - - -XXI - -SOUTHWARD BOUND - - -While walking through a piece of pine wood, three or four days ago, I -was delighted to put my eye unexpectedly upon a hummingbird’s nest. The -fairy structure was placed squarely upon the upper surface of a naked, -horizontal branch, and looked so fresh, trimmed outwardly with bits -of gray lichen, that I felt sure it must have been built this year. -But where now were the birds that built it, and the nestlings that -were hatched in it? Who could tell? In imagination I saw the mother -sitting upon the tiny, snow-white eggs, and then upon the two little -ones--little ones, indeed, no bigger than bumble-bees at first. I saw -her feeding them day by day, as they grew larger and larger, till at -last the cradle was getting too narrow for them, and they were ready -to make a trial of their wings. But where were they now? Not here, -certainly. For a fortnight I had been passing down this path almost -daily, and not once had I seen a hummingbird. - -No, they are not here, and even as I write I seem to see the little -family on their way to the far south. They are making the journey by -easy stages, I hope--flitting from flower-bed to flower-bed, now in -Connecticut, now in New Jersey, and so on through Pennsylvania and the -Southern States. Will they cross the water to the West Indies, as some -of their kind are said to do? or, less adventurous, will they keep -straight on to some mountain-side in Costa Rica, or even in Brazil? I -should be sorry to believe that the parent birds took their departure -first, leaving the twin children to find their way after them as best -they could--as those who have paid most attention to such matters -assure us that many of our birds are in the habit of doing. But however -they go, and wherever they end their long journey, may wind and weather -be favorable, and old and young alike return, after the winter is over, -to build other nests here in their native New England. - -This passing of birds back and forth, a grand semi-annual tide, is to -me a thing of wonder. I think of the millions of sandpipers and plovers -which for two months (it is now late in September) have been pouring -southward along the sea-coast. Some of them passed here on their way -north no longer ago than the last days of May. They went far up toward -the Arctic circle, but before the end of July they were back again, -hastening to the equator. The golden plover, we are told, travels from -Greenland to Patagonia. - -All summer the golden warblers were singing within sound of my windows. -As I walked I saw them flitting in and out of the roadside bushes, -beautiful and delicate creatures. But before the first of September the -last of them disappeared. I did not see them depart. They took wing in -the night, and almost before I suspected it they were gone. They will -winter in Central or South America, and, within a week of May-day, we -shall have them here again, as much at home as if they had never left -us. - -They were gone before the first of September, I said. But I was -thinking of those which had summered in Massachusetts. In point of -fact, I saw a golden warbler only ten days ago. He was with a mixed -flock of travelers, and, in all likelihood, had come from the extreme -north; for this dainty, blue-eyed warbler is common in summer, not -only throughout the greater part of the United States, but on the -very shores of the Arctic Ocean. So he voyages back and forth, living -his life from land to land, as Tennyson says, led by who knows what -impulse? - - “Sweet bird, thy bower is ever green, - Thy sky is ever clear; - Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, - No winter in thy year.” - -It is worth giving a little time daily to what is called ornithology to -be able to greet such wanderers as they come and go. For some days now -a few Western palm warblers have been paying us a visit, and, though -the town has never commissioned me to that office, I have taken it upon -myself to do them the honors. They have met me halfway, at least, as -the everyday expression is; yielding readily to my enticements, and -more than once coming near enough to show me their white lower eyelids, -so that I might be quite sure of their identity. A little later the -_Eastern_ palm warbler will be due, and I hope to find him equally -complaisant; for I wish to see his lower eyelid, also, which is yellow -instead of white. - -At this time of the year, indeed, there is no lack of such interesting -and well-dressed strangers, no matter where we may go. The woods are -alive with them by day, and the air by night. There are few evenings -when you may not hear them calling overhead as they hasten southward. -Men who have watched them through telescopes, pointed at the full moon, -have calculated their height at one or two miles. One observer saw -more than two hundred cross the moon’s disk in two hours. The greater -part passed so swiftly as to make it impossible to say more than -that they were birds; but others, flying at a greater altitude, and -therefore traversing the field of vision less rapidly, were identified -as blackbirds, rails, snipe, and ducks. Another observer plainly -recognized swallows, warblers, goldfinches, and woodpeckers. - -All over the northern hemisphere to-night, in America, Europe, and -Asia, countless multitudes of these wayfarers will be coursing the -regions of the upper air; and to-morrow, if we go out with our eyes -open, we shall find, here and there, busy little flocks of stragglers -that have stopped by the way to rest and feed: sparrows, snowbirds, -kinglets, nuthatches, chickadees, thrushes, warblers, wrens, and what -not, a few of them singing, and every one of them evidently in love -with life, and full of happy expectations. - - - - -INDEX - - - Bittern:-- - American, 68. - least, 78. - - Blackbird, red-winged, 86. - - Bluebird, 44, 59, 83. - - Bob White, 85. - - Bobolink, 86. - - Butcher-bird, 19, 86. - - - Catbird, 86. - - Cedar-bird, 84. - - Chickadee, 7, 12, 83, 88, 91, 92. - - Chimney swift, 56, 63. - - Creeper, brown, 10, 91. - - Crossbill, white-winged, 87. - - Crow, 44, 49, 83. - - - Flicker, 64, 84. - - - Goldfinch, 84. - - Grosbeak:-- - cardinal, 25. - rose-breasted, 36, 40. - - Grouse, 85. - - - Hummingbird, ruby-throated, 51, 63, 84, 99. - - - Indigo-bird, 86. - - - Jay, blue, 43, 83, 90. - - - Kingbird, 47, 85. - - Kinglet:-- - golden-crowned, 1, 91. - ruby-crowned, 1. - - - Migration, 93, 99. - - Mockingbird, 16. - - - Nighthawk, 60. - - Nuthatch:-- - red-breasted, 90. - white-breasted, 88, 89. - - - Oriole, Baltimore, 83. - - - Partridge, 85. - - Plover, golden, 101. - - Plovers, 100. - - Purple finch, 36, 37. - - - Redpoll linnet, 37. - - Robin, 83. - - - Sandpipers, 100. - - Shrike:-- - great northern, 19, 86. - loggerhead, 21. - - Snipe, 61. - - Snowbird (junco), 36, 59, 86. - - Sparrow:-- - chipping, 30, 31. - English, 30, 92. - field, 30, 32, 36, 37. - fox, 36, 37. - Ipswich, 38. - savanna, 26, 38. - song, 26, 36, 37, 39, 83. - tree, 36, 37, 38. - vesper, 26, 36, 37, 39. - white-throated, 36, 37, 38. - - Swift, chimney, 56, 63. - - - Tanager:-- - scarlet, 22, 85. - southern, 25. - - Thrasher, brown, 15, 86. - - - Vireo, warbling, 98. - - Vireos, 84. - - Vulture, California, 1, 4. - - - Warbler:-- - golden, 101. - palm, 102. - - Warblers, 84. - - Waxwing, cedar, 84. - - Whip-poor-will, 60. - - Woodcock, 61. - - Woodpecker:-- - downy, 89, 92. - golden-winged, 64, 84. - - - - - The Riverside Press - _Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co._ - _Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._ - - - - -FOOTNOTE: - - [1] To which this article was originally contributed. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVERYDAY BIRDS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Everyday birds</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Elementary studies</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Bradford Torrey</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: John James Audubon</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 17, 2022 [eBook #69563]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Emmanuel Ackerman, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVERYDAY BIRDS ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter hide"><img src="images/coversmall.jpg" width="450" alt="cover"></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="bbox"> - -<p class="ph1"><span class="antiqua">Books by Mr. Torrey.</span></p> - -<hr class="tiny"> -<div class="hangingindent"> - -<p>FRIENDS ON THE SHELF. 12mo, $1.25,<br> -<i>net</i>. Postage extra.</p> - -<p>NATURE’S INVITATION. 16mo, $1.10, <i>net</i>.<br> -Postpaid, $1.21.</p> - -<p>THE CLERK OF THE WOODS. 16mo,<br> -$1.10, <i>net</i>. Postpaid, $1.20.</p> - -<p>FOOTING IT IN FRANCONIA. 16mo, $1.10,<br> -<i>net</i>. Postpaid, $1.19.</p> - -<p>EVERYDAY BIRDS. Elementary Studies.<br> -With twelve colored Illustrations reproduced<br> -from Audubon. Square 12mo, $1.00.</p> - -<p>BIRDS IN THE BUSH. 16mo, $1.25.</p> - -<p>A RAMBLER’S LEASE. 16mo, $1.25.</p> - -<p>THE FOOT-PATH WAY. 16mo, gilt top,<br> -$1.25.</p> - -<p>A FLORIDA SKETCH-BOOK. 16mo, $1.25.</p> - -<p>SPRING NOTES FROM TENNESSEE.<br> -16mo, $1.25.</p> - -<p>A WORLD OF GREEN HILLS. 16mo, $1.25.</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="tiny"> - -<p class="center">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.<br> -<span class="smcap">Boston and New York.</span></p> -</div></div></div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_0"></span> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="BLUE JAY"></div> -<p class="caption"> BLUE JAY<br> - -<i>1. Male.</i> <i>2, 3. Females</i></p> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/title_page.jpg" alt="title page"></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>EVERYDAY BIRDS</h1> - -<p><span class="xlarge">ELEMENTARY STUDIES</span></p> - -<p>BY<br> - -<span class="xlarge">BRADFORD TORREY</span></p> - -<p><i>WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS IN<br> -COLORS AFTER AUDUBON, AND<br> -TWO FROM PHOTOGRAPHS</i></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/title_logo.jpg" alt="publisher logo"></div> - -<p>BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br> -HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY<br> -<span class="antiqua">The Riverside Press, Cambridge</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"> -COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY BRADFORD TORREY<br> -ALL RIGHTS RESERVED<br> -<br> -<br> -FIFTH IMPRESSION</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table> - -<tr><td class="tdr" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">I.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Two Little Kings</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1"> 1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Chickadee</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7"> 7</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Brown Creeper</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_10"> 10</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Brown Thrasher</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15"> 15</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Butcher-bird</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_19"> 19</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Scarlet Tanager</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22"> 22</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Song Sparrow</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_26"> 26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Field Sparrow and the Chipper</span>    </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_30"> 30</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Some April Sparrows</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_35"> 35</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">X.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Rose-breasted Grosbeak</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40"> 40</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Blue Jay</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43"> 43</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Kingbird</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47"> 47</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Hummingbird</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51"> 51</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Chimney Swift</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_56"> 56</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Nighthawk and Whip-poor-will</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_59"> 59</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Flicker</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_64"> 64</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Bittern</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68"> 68</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Birds for Everybody</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_82"> 82</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Winter Pensioners</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_87"> 87</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Watching the Procession</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_93"> 93</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Southward Bound</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_99"> 99</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td> </td><td><span class="smcap">Index</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_105"> 105</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table> -<tr><td class="tdr" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Blue Jay</span></td><td> (page <a href="#Page_43">43</a>) <a href="#Page_0"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Golden-crowned Kinglet</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_2"> 2</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Chickadee</span></td><td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_8"> 8</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Brown Creeper</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_12"> 12</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Brown Thrasher</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16"> 16</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Scarlet Tanager</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_22"> 22</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Song Sparrow</span></td><td class="tdr"> <a href="#Page_26"> 26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Rose-breasted Grosbeak</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40"> 40</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Ruby-throated Hummingbird</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_52"> 52</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Nighthawk</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_60"> 60</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Whip-poor-will</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_62"> 62</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td><span class="smcap">Flicker</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_66"> 66</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p><i>The illustrations entitled A Downy Woodpecker and A Branch Establishment, -facing page <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, are from photographs by Mr. Frank M. Chapman -and were first printed in Bird-Lore.</i></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span> - -<p class="ph2">EVERYDAY BIRDS</p> - -<hr class="tiny"> - -<h2 class="nobreak">I<br> - -<small>TWO LITTLE KINGS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> largest bird in the United States is the -California vulture, or condor, which measures -from tip to tip of its wings nine feet and a half. -At the other end of the scale are the hummingbirds, -one kind of which, at least, has wings that -are less than an inch and a half in length. Next -to these insect-like midgets come the birds which -have been well named in Latin “Regulus,” and -in English “kinglets,”—that is to say, little -kings. The fitness of the title comes first from -their tiny size,—the chickadee is almost a giant -in comparison,—and next from the fact that -they wear patches of bright color (crowns) on -their heads.</p> - -<p>Two species of kinglets are found at one season -or another in nearly all parts of the United -States, and are known respectively as the golden-crown—or -goldcrest—and the ruby-crown.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> -The golden-crown has on the top of its head an -orange or yellow patch (sometimes one, sometimes -the other) bordered with black; the ruby-crown -wears a very bright red patch, though you -may look at many specimens without finding it. -Only part of the birds have it,—the adult males, -perhaps,—and even those that have it do not -always display it. The orange or yellow of the -goldcrest, on the other hand, is worn by all the -birds, and is never concealed. If you are a beginner -in bird study, uncertain of your species, -look for the black stripes on the crown. If they -are not there, and the bird is really a kinglet, it -must be a ruby-crown. You may know it, also,—from -the goldcrest, I mean,—by what looks -like a light-colored ring round the eye. In -fact, one of the ruby-crown’s most noticeable -peculiarities is a certain bareheaded, large-eyed -appearance.</p> - -<p>Unless your home is near or beyond the -northern boundary of the United States, you -need not look for either kinglet in summer. -The ruby-crown is to be seen during its migrations -in spring and fall, the goldcrest in fall, -winter, and spring.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i002.jpg" alt="GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET"></div> -<p class="caption">GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET<br> - -<i>1. Male.</i> <i>2. Female</i></p> - -<p>At any time of the year they are well worth -knowing. Nobody could look at them without -admiration; so pretty, so tiny, and so exceedingly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span> -quick and graceful in their motions. Both -species are of a prevailing greenish or olive shade, -with noticeable light-colored wing-bars, and light, -unstreaked, unspotted under parts.</p> - -<p>The ruby-crown is famous as a singer. A -genuine music-box, we may call him. In spring, -especially, he is often bubbling over with melody; -a rapid, wren-like tune, with sundry quirks and -turns that are all his own; on the whole decidedly -original, with plenty of what musical -people call accent and a strongly marked rhythm -or swing. Over and over he goes with it, as if -he could never have enough; beginning with -quick, separate, almost guttural notes, and winding -up with a <i>twittity, twittity, twittity</i>, which, -once heard, is not likely to be soon forgotten.</p> - -<p>A very pleasing vocalist he surely is; and -when his extreme smallness is taken into account -he is fairly to be esteemed a musical prodigy. -Every one who has written about the song, from -Audubon down, has found it hard to say enough -about it. Audubon goes so far as to say that it -is as powerful as a canary’s, and much more -varied and pleasing. That I must think an exaggeration; -natural enough, no doubt, under the -circumstances (romantic surroundings count for -a good deal in all questions of this kind), but -still a stretching of the truth. However, I give<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span> -but my own opinion. Let my readers hear the -bird, and judge for themselves. They will enjoy -him, whether or no. Every such new acquaintance -that a man makes is a new source of lifelong -happiness.</p> - -<p>The enormous California vulture is said to be -almost dumb, having “no vocal apparatus” and -“emitting only a weak hissing sound.” What -a contrast between him and the ruby-crown,—a -mere speck of a bird, but with a musical nature -and the voice of an artist. Precious stuff, they -say, comes in small packages. Even the youngest -of us may have noticed that it is always the -smaller birds that sing.</p> - -<p>But if all the singers are small birds, it is not -true that all small birds are singers. The golden-crowned -kinglet, for example, is hardly to be -classed under that head. The gifts of Providence -are various, and are somewhat sparingly dealt -out. One creature receives one gift, another -creature another,—just as is true of men, women, -and children. This boy “has an ear,” as the -saying goes. He is naturally musical. Give him -a chance, and let him not be too much in love -with something else, and he will make a singer, -or a player on instruments, or possibly a composer. -His brother has no ear; he can hardly -tell Old Hundred from Yankee Doodle. It is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span> -useless for him to “take lessons.” He can paint, -perhaps, or invent a machine, or make money, or -edit a paper, or teach school, or preach sermons, -or practice medicine; but he will never win a -name in the concert room.</p> - -<p>The case of the golden-crown is hardly so -hopeless as that, I am glad to believe; for if he -is not much of a musician now, as he surely is -not, he is not without some signs of an undeveloped -musical capacity. The root of the matter -seems to be in him. He tries to sing, at any rate, -and not unlikely, as time goes on,—say in a -million or two of years,—he may become as -capable a performer as the ruby-crown is at present. -There is no telling what a creature may -make of himself if his will is good, and he has -astronomical time in which to work. The dullest -of us might learn something with a thousand -years of schooling.</p> - -<p>What you will mostly hear from the goldcrest -is no tune, but a hurried <i>zee, zee, zee</i>, repeated at -intervals as he flits about the branches of a tree, -or, less often, through the mazes of a piece of -shrubbery. His activity is wonderful, and his -motions are really as good as music. No dancing -could be prettier to look at. All you need is -eyes to see him. But you will have to “look -sharp.” Now he is there for an instant, snatching<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> -a morsel or letting out a <i>zee, zee, zee</i>. Now -he is yonder, resting upon the air, hovering -against a tuft of pine needles, his wings all in a -mist, they beat so swiftly. So through the tree -he goes, and from one tree to another, till presently -he is gone for good.</p> - -<p>Once in a great while you may find him feeding -among the dry leaves on the ground. Then -you can really watch him, and had better make -the most of your opportunity. Or you may -catch him exploring bushes or low savins, which -is a chance almost as favorable. The great thing -is to become familiar with his voice. With that -help you will find him ten times as often as without -it. He is mostly a bird of the woods, and -prefers evergreens, though he does not confine -himself to them.</p> - -<p>If you do not know him already, it will be a -bright and memorable day—though it be the -dead of winter—when you first see him and -are able to call him by his regal name, <i>Regulus -satrapa</i>. It is a great pity that so common -and lovely a creature, one of the beauties of the -world, should be unseen by so many good people. -It is true, as we say so often about other -things, that they do not know what they miss; -but they miss a good deal, notwithstanding.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">II<br> - -<small>THE CHICKADEE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> chickadee, like many other birds, takes -his name from his notes; from some of his notes, -that is to say, for he has many others besides his -best-known <i>chick-a-dee-dee-dee</i>. His most musical -effort, regarded by many observers as his -true song, sounds to most ears like the name -Phœbe,—a clear, sweet whistle of two or three -notes, with what musical people call a minor interval -between them. It is so strictly a whistle -that any boy can imitate it well enough to deceive -not only another boy, but the bird himself.</p> - -<p>In late winter and early spring, especially, -when the chickadee is in a peculiarly cheerful -frame of mind, it is very easy to draw him out -by whistling these notes in his hearing. Sometimes, -however, the sound seems to fret or anger -him, and instead of answering in kind, he will -fly near the intruder, scolding <i>dee-dee-dee</i>.</p> - -<p>He remains with us both summer and winter, -and wears the same colors at all seasons.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>Perhaps no wild bird is more confiding. If a -man is at work in the woods in cold weather, and -at luncheon will take a little pains to feed the -chickadees that are sure to be more or less about -him, he will soon have them tame enough to pick -up crumbs at his feet, and even to take them -from his hand.</p> - -<p>Better even than crumbs is a bit of mince pie, -or a piece of suet. I have myself held out a -piece of suet to a chickadee as I walked through -the woods, and have had him fly down at once, -perch on my finger like a tame canary, and fall -to eating. But he was a bird that another man, -a woodcutter of my acquaintance, had tamed in -the manner above described.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i008.jpg" alt="CHICKADEE"></div> -<p class="caption">CHICKADEE<br> - -<i>1. Male.</i> <i>2. Female</i></p> - -<p>The chickadee’s nest is built in a hole, generally -in a decayed stump or branch. It is very -pretty to watch the pair when they are digging -out the hole. All the chips are carried away and -dropped at a little distance from the tree, so that -the sight of them littering the ground may not -reveal the birds’ secret to an enemy.</p> - -<p>Male and female dress alike. The top of the -head is black—for which reason they are called -black-capped chickadees, or black-capped titmice—and -the chin is of the same color, while -the cheeks are clear white. If you are not sure -that you know the bird, stay near him till he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> -pronounces his own name. He will be pretty -certain to do it, sooner or later, especially if you -excite him a little by squeaking or chirping to -him.</p> - -<p>Although the chickadee is small and delicate-looking, -he seems not to mind the very coldest -of weather. Give him enough to eat, and the -wind may whistle. He picks his food, tiny insects, -insects’ eggs, and the like, out of crevices -in the bark of trees and about the ends of twigs, -and so is seldom or never without resources. The -deepest snows do not cover up his dinner-table. -His worst days, no doubt, are those in which -everything is covered with sleet.</p> - -<p>One of his prettiest traits is his skill in hanging -back downward from the tip of a swinging -branch or from the under side of a leaf while in -search of provender. As a small boy, who had -probably been to the circus, once said, the chickadee -is a “first-rate performer on the flying -trapeze.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">III<br> - -<small>THE BROWN CREEPER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the midst of a Massachusetts winter, when -a man with his eyes open may walk five miles -over favorable country roads and see only ten or -twelve kinds of birds, the brown creeper’s faint -<i>zeep</i> is a truly welcome sound. He is a very -little fellow, very modestly dressed, without a -bright feather on him, his lower parts being -white and his upper parts a mottling of brown -and white, such as a tailor might call a “pepper -and salt mixture.”</p> - -<p>The creeper’s life seems as quiet as his colors. -You will find him by overhearing his note somewhere -on one side of you as you pass. Now -watch him. He is traveling rather quickly, with -an alert, business-like air, up the trunk of a tree -in a spiral course, hitching along inch by inch, -hugging the bark, and every little while stopping -to probe a crevice of it with his long, -curved, sharply pointed bill. He is in search -of food,—insects’ eggs, grubs, and what not; -morsels so tiny that it need not surprise us to see<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> -him spending the whole day in satisfying his -hunger.</p> - -<p>There is one thing to be said for such a life: -the bird is never without something to take up -his mind. In fact, if he enjoys the pleasures of -the table half as well as some human beings seem -to do, his life ought to be one of the happiest -imaginable.</p> - -<p>How flat and thin he looks, and how perfectly -his colors blend with the grays and browns of -the mossy bark! No wonder it is easy for us to -pass near him without knowing it. We understand -now what learned people mean when they -talk about the “protective coloration” of animals. -A hawk flying overhead, on the lookout -for game, must have hard work to see this bit -of a bird clinging so closely to the bark as to be -almost a part of it.</p> - -<p>And if a hawk does pass, you may be pretty -sure the creeper will see him, and will flatten -himself still more tightly against the tree and -stay as motionless as the bark itself. He needs -neither to fight nor to run away. His strength, -as the prophet said, is to sit still.</p> - -<p>But look! As the creeper comes to the upper -part of the tree, where the bark is less furrowed -than it is below, and therefore less likely to conceal -the scraps of provender that he is in search<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> -of, he suddenly lets go his hold and flies down -to the foot of another tree, and begins again to -creep upward. If you keep track of him, you -will see him do this hour after hour. He never -walks down. Up, up, he goes, and if you look -sharply enough, you will see that whenever he -pauses he makes use of his sharp, stiff tail-feathers -as a rest—a kind of camp-stool, as it -were, or, better still, a bracket. He is built for -his work; color, bill, feet, tail-feathers—all -were made on purpose for him.</p> - -<p>He is a native of the northern country, and -therefore to most readers of this book he is a -winter bird only. If you know his voice, you -will hear him twenty times for once that you see -him. If you know neither him nor his voice, it -will be worth your while to make his acquaintance.</p> - -<p>When you come upon a little bunch of chickadees -flitting through the woods, listen for a -quick, lisping note that is something like theirs, -but different. It may be the creeper’s, for although -he seems an unsocial fellow, seldom flocking -with birds of his own kind, he is fond of the -chickadee’s cheerful companionship.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i012.jpg" alt="BROWN CREEPER"></div> -<p class="caption">BROWN CREEPER<br> - -<i>1. Male.</i> <i>2. Female</i></p> - -<p>To see him and hear his <i>zeep</i>, you would never -take him for a songster; but there is no telling -by the looks of a bird how well he can sing. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> -fact, plainly dressed birds are, as a rule, the best -musicians. The very handsome ones have no -need to charm with the voice. And our modest -little creeper has a song, and a fairly good one; -one that answers his purpose, at all events, although -it may never make him famous. In -springtime it may be heard now and then even -in a place like Boston Common; but of course -you must go where the birds pair and nest if you -would hear them at their finest; for birds, like -other people, sing best when they feel happiest.</p> - -<p>The brown creeper’s nest used to be something -of a mystery. It was sought for in woodpeckers’ -holes. Now it is known that as a general -thing it is built behind a scale of loose bark on -a dead tree, between the bark and the trunk. -Ordinarily, if not always, it will be found under a -flake that is loose at the bottom instead of at the -top. Into such a place the female bird packs -tightly a mass of twigs and strips of the soft inner -bark of trees, and on the top of this prepares -her nest and lays her eggs. Her mate flits to -and fro, keeping her company, and once in a -while cheering her with a song, but so far as has -yet been discovered he takes no hand in the work -itself. It is quite possible that the female, who -is to occupy the nest, prefers to have her own -way in the construction of it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>After the young ones are hatched, at all events, -the father bird’s behavior leaves nothing to be -complained of. He “comes to time,” as we say, -in the most loyal manner. In and out of the -nest he and the mother go, feeding their hungry -charges, making their entry and exit always at -the same point, through the merest crack of a -door, between the overhanging bark and the tree, -just above the nest. It is a very pretty bit of -family life.</p> - -<p>It would be hard to imagine a nest better concealed -from a bird’s natural enemies, especially -when, as is often the case, the tree stands in -water on the edge of a stream or lake. And -not only is the nest wonderfully well hidden, but -it is perfectly sheltered from rain, as it would not -be if it were built under a strip of bark that was -peeled from above. All in all, we must respect -the simple, demure-looking creeper as a very -clever architect.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">IV<br> - -<small>THE BROWN THRASHER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> brown thrasher—called also the brown -thrush—is a bird considerably longer than a -robin, with a noticeably long tail and a long, -curved bill. His upper parts are reddish brown -or cinnamon color, and his lower parts white or -whitish, boldly streaked with black. You will -find him in hedgerows, in scrub-lands, and about -the edges of woods, where he keeps mostly on or -near the ground. His general manner is that of -a creature who wishes nothing else so much as to -escape notice. “Only let me alone,” he seems -to say. If he sees you coming, as he pretty certainly -will, he dodges into the nearest thicket or -barberry-bush, and waits for you to pass.</p> - -<p>Farmers know him as the “planting-bird.” -In New England he makes his appearance with -commendable punctuality between the twentieth -of April and the first of May; and while the -farmer is planting his garden, the thrasher encourages -him with song. One man, who was -planting beans, imagined that the bird said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -“Drop it, drop it! Cover it up, cover it up!” -Perhaps he did. It was good advice, anyhow.</p> - -<p>In his own way the thrasher is one of the -great singers of the world. He is own cousin to -the famous mockingbird, and at the South, where -he and the mocker may be heard singing side by -side,—and so much alike that it is hard to tell -one from the other,—he is known as the “brown -mockingbird.” He would deserve the title but -for one thing—he does not mock. In that respect -he falls far short of his gray cousin, who not -only has all the thrasher’s gift of original song, -but a most amazing faculty of imitation, as every -one knows who has heard even a caged mockingbird -running over the medley of notes he has -picked up here and there and carefully rehearsed -and remembered. The thrasher’s song is a medley, -but not a medley of imitations.</p> - -<p>I have said that the thrasher keeps near the -ground. Such is his habit; but there is one -exception. When he sings he takes the very -top of a tree, although usually it is not a tall -one. There he stands by the half-hour together, -head up and tail down, pouring out a flood of -music; sounds of all sorts, high notes and low -notes, smooth notes and rough notes, all jumbled -together in the craziest fashion, as if the -musician were really beside himself.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i016.jpg" alt="BROWN THRASHER"></div> -<p class="caption">BROWN THRASHER<br> - -<i>1, 2, 3. Males.</i> <i>4. Female</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>It is a performance worth buying a ticket for -and going miles to hear; but it is to be heard -without price on the outskirts of almost any village -in the United States east of the Rocky -Mountains and south of Maine. You must go -out at the right time, however, for the bird sings -but a few weeks in the year, although he remains -in New England almost six months, or till the -middle of October. He is one of the birds that -every one should know, since it is perfectly easy -to identify him; and once known, he is never to -be forgotten, or to be confounded with anything -else.</p> - -<p>The thrasher’s nest is a rude, careless-looking -structure, made of twigs, roots, and dry leaves, -and is to be looked for on the ground, or in a -bush not far above it. Often it has so much the -appearance of a last year’s affair that one is -tempted to pass it as unworthy of notice. I have -been fooled in that way more than once.</p> - -<p>The bird sits close, as the saying is, and as -she stares at you with her yellow eyes, full at -once of courage and fear, you will need a hard -heart to disturb her. Sometimes she will really -show fight, and she has been known to drive a -small boy off the field. Her whistle after she -has been frightened from her eggs or nestlings -is one of the most pathetic sounds in nature. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> -should feel sorry for the boy who could hear it -without pity.</p> - -<p>Besides this mournful whistle, the thrasher -has a note almost exactly like a smacking kiss,—very -realistic,—and sometimes, especially at -dusk, an uncanny, ghostly whisper, that seems -meant expressly to suggest the presence of something -unearthly and awful. So far as I am -aware, there is no other bird-note like it. I have -no doubt that many a superstitious person has -taken to his heels on hearing it from the bushes -along a lonesome roadside after nightfall.</p> - -<p>Except in the spring, indeed, there is little -about the thrasher’s appearance or behavior to -suggest pleasant thoughts. To me, at any rate, -he seems a creature of chronic low spirits. The -world has used him badly, and he cannot get -over it. He is almost the only bird I ever see -without a little inspiration of cheerfulness. Perhaps -I misjudge him.</p> - -<p>Let my young readers make his acquaintance -on their own account, if they have not already -done so, and find him a livelier creature than I -have described him, if they can.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">V<br> - -<small>THE BUTCHER-BIRD</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Butcher-bird</span>” is not a very pretty name, -but it is expressive and appropriate, and so is -likely to stick quite as long as the more bookish -word “shrike,” which is the bird’s other title. -It comes from its owner’s habit of impaling the -carcasses of its prey upon thorns, as a butcher -hangs upon a hook the body of a pig or other -animal that he has slaughtered.</p> - -<p>In a place like the Public Garden of Boston, -if a shrike happens to make it his hunting-ground -for a week or two, you may find here and there -in the hawthorn-trees the body of a mouse or the -headless trunk of an English sparrow spitted upon -a thorn. Grasshoppers are said to be treated -in a similar manner, but I have never met with -the bird’s work in the grasshopper season.</p> - -<p>The shrike commonly seen in the Northern -States is a native of the far north, and comes -down to our latitude only in cold weather. He -travels singly, and if he finds a place to suit him, -a place where the living is good, he will often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -remain almost in the same spot for weeks -together.</p> - -<p>In size and appearance he resembles the mockingbird. -His colors are gray, black, and white, -his tail is long, and his bill is hooked like a -hawk’s.</p> - -<p>He likes a perch from which he can see a good -distance about him. A telegraph wire answers -his purpose very well, but his commonest seat is -the very tip of a tallish tree. If you look across -a field in winter and descry a medium-sized bird -swaying on the topmost twig of a lonesome tree, -balancing himself by continual tiltings of his -long tail, you may set him down as most likely -a butcher-bird.</p> - -<p>His flight is generally not far from the ground, -but as he draws near the tree in which he means -to alight, he turns suddenly upward. It would -be surprising to see him alight on one of the -lower branches, or anywhere, indeed, except at -the topmost point.</p> - -<p>Small birds are all at once scarce and silent -when the shrike appears. Sometimes in his -hunger he will attack a bird heavier than himself. -I had once stopped to look at a flicker in a -roadside apple-tree, when I suddenly noticed a -butcher-bird not far off. At the same moment, -as it seemed, the butcher-bird caught sight of the -flicker, and made a swoop toward him. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> -flicker, somewhat to my surprise, showed no sign -of panic, or even of fear. He simply moved -aside, as much as to say, “Oh, stop that! Don’t -bother me!” How the affair would have resulted, -I cannot tell. To my regret, the shrike at -that moment seemed to become aware of a man’s -presence, and flew away, leaving the woodpecker -to pursue his exploration of the apple-tree at his -leisure.</p> - -<p>The shrike has a very curious habit of singing, -or of trying to sing, in the disjointed manner of -a catbird. I have many times heard him thus -engaged, and can bear witness that some of his -tones are really musical. Some people have supposed -that at such times he is trying to decoy -small birds, but to me the performance has always -seemed like music, or an attempt at music, -rather than strategy.</p> - -<p>Southern readers may be presumed to be familiar -with another shrike, known as the loggerhead. -As I have seen him in Florida he is a very -tame, unsuspicious creature, nesting in the shade-trees -of towns. The “French mockingbird,” a -planter told me he was called. Mr. Chapman -has seen one fly fifty yards to catch a grasshopper -which, to all appearance, he had sighted -before quitting his perch. The power of flight -is not the only point as to which birds have the -advantage of human beings.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">VI<br> - -<small>THE SCARLET TANAGER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> I began to learn the birds, I was living -in a large city. One of the first things I did, -after buying a book, was to visit a cabinet of -mounted specimens—“stuffed birds,” as we -often call them. Such a wonderful and confusing -variety as there was to my ignorant eyes! -Among them I remarked especially a gorgeous -scarlet creature with black wings and a black tail. -It was labeled the scarlet tanager. So far as I -was concerned, it could not have looked more -foreign if it had come from Borneo. My book -told me that it was common in Massachusetts. It -<i>might</i> be, I thought, but I had never seen it -there. And a bird so splendid as that! Bright -enough to set the woods on fire! How could I -have missed it?</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i022.jpg" alt="SCARLET TANAGER"></div> -<p class="caption">SCARLET TANAGER<br> - -<i>1. Male.</i> <i>2. Female</i></p> - -<p>Well, there came a Saturday, with its half-holiday -for clerks, and I went into the country, -where I betook myself to the woods of my native -village, the woods wherein I had rambled all the -years of my boyhood. And that afternoon, before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> -I came out of them, I put my opera-glass on -two of those wonderful scarlet and black birds. -It was a day to be remembered.</p> - -<p>Since that time, of course, I have seen many -like them. In one sense, their beauty has become -to me an old story; but I hope that I have set -here and there a reader on a hunt that has been -as happily rewarded as mine was on that bright -summer afternoon. In one respect, the beginner -has a great advantage over an old hand. He has -the pleasure of more excitement and surprise.</p> - -<p>The bird to be looked for is a little longer than -a bluebird, of a superb scarlet color except for -its wings and tail, which, as I have said, are jet black. -I speak of the male in full spring costume. -His mate does not show so much as a red feather, -but is greenish yellow, or yellowish green, with -dark—not black—wings and tail.</p> - -<p>You may see the tanager once in a while in -the neighborhood of your house, if the grounds -are set with shade-trees, but for the most part -he lives in woods, especially in hard woods of a -fairly old growth.</p> - -<p>One of the first things for you to do, with him -as with all birds, is to acquaint yourself with his -call-notes and his song. The call is of two syllables, -and sounds like <i>chip-chirr</i>. It is easily -remembered after you have once seen the bird in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> -the act of uttering it. The song is much in the -manner of the robin’s, but less smooth and flowing. -I have often thought, and sometimes said, -that it is just such a song as the robin might -give us if he were afflicted with what people call -a “hoarse cold.” The bird sings as if his whole -heart were engaged, but at the same time in a -noticeably broken and short-winded style.</p> - -<p>The oftener you hear him, the easier you will -find it to distinguish him from a robin, although -at first you may find yourself badly at a loss. -A boy that can tell any one of twenty playmates -by the tones of his voice alone will need nothing -but practice and attention to do the same for a -great part of the sixty or seventy kinds of common -birds living in the woods and fields about -him.</p> - -<p>The tanager’s nest is built in a tree, on the -flat of a level branch, so to speak, generally -toward the end. Sometimes, at any rate, it is a -surprisingly loose, carelessly constructed thing, -through the bottom of which one can see the -blue or bluish eggs while standing on the ground -underneath.</p> - -<p>It must be plain to any one that the mother -bird, in her dull greenish dress, is much less -easily seen, and therefore much less in danger, as -she sits brooding, than she would be if she wore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> -the flaming scarlet feathers that render her mate -so handsome.</p> - -<p>Southern readers will know also another kind -of tanager, not red and black, but red all over. -He, too, is a great beauty, although if the question -were left to me, I could not give him the -palm over his more northern relative. The red -of the southern bird is of a different shade—“rose-red” -or “vermilion,” the books call -it. He sings like the scarlet tanager, but in a -smoother voice. Although he is a red <i>bird</i>, he -is not to be confounded with the southern <i>red</i>-bird. -The latter, better known as the cardinal -grosbeak, is a thick-billed bird of the sparrow and -finch family. He is frequently seen in cages, -and is a royal whistler.</p> - -<p>The scarlet tanager—the male in red and -black plumage—is not to be mistaken for anything -else in the Eastern States. Once see him, -and you will always know him. For that reason -he is an excellent subject for the beginner. He -passes the winter in Central or South America, -and returns to New England in the second week -of May. He makes his appearance in full dress, -but later in the season changes it for one resembling -pretty closely the duller plumage of his -mate.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">VII<br> - -<small>THE SONG SPARROW</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sparrows</span> are of many kinds, and in a general -way the different kinds look so much alike -that the beginner in bird study is apt to find -them confusing, if not discouraging. They will -try his patience, no matter how sharp and clever -he may think himself, and unless he is much -cleverer than the common run of humanity, he -will make a good many mistakes before he gets -to the end of them.</p> - -<p>One of the best and commonest of them all is -the song sparrow. His upper parts are mottled, -of course, since he is a sparrow. His light-colored -breast is sharply streaked, and in the -middle of it the streaks usually run together and -form a blotch. His outer tail-feathers are not -white, and there is no yellow on the wings or -about the head. These last points are mentioned -in order to distinguish him from two other sparrows -with streaked breasts—the vesper sparrow -and the savanna.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i026.jpg" alt="SONG SPARROW"></div> -<p class="caption">SONG SPARROW<br> - -<i>1. Male.</i> <i>2. Female</i></p> - -<p>By the middle of March song sparrows reach<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> -New England in crowds,—along with robins -and red-winged blackbirds,—and are to be -heard singing on all hands, especially in the -neighborhood of water. They remain until late -autumn, and here and there one will be found -even in midwinter.</p> - -<p>The song, for which this sparrow is particularly -distinguished, is a bright and lively strain, -nothing very great in itself, perhaps, but thrice -welcome for being heard so early in the season, -when the ear is hungry after the long winter -silence. Its chief distinction, however, is its -amazing variety. Not only do no two birds sing -precisely alike, but the same bird sings many -tunes.</p> - -<p>Of this latter fact, which I have known some -excellent people to be skeptical about, you can -readily satisfy yourself,—and there is nothing -like knowing a thing at first hand,—if you will -take the pains to keep a singer under your eye -at the height of the musical season. You will -find that he repeats one strain for perhaps a -dozen times, without the change of a note; then -suddenly he comes out with a song entirely different. -This second song he will in turn drop -for a third, and so on. The bird acts, for all the -world, as if he were singing hymns, of so many -verses each, one after another.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>It is really a wonderful performance. There -are very few kinds of birds that do anything like -it. Of itself it is enough to make the song sparrow -famous, and it is well worth any one’s while -to hear it and see it done. Nobody can see it -without believing that birds have a true appreciation -of music. They are better off than some -human beings, at all events. They know one -tune from another.</p> - -<p>A lady correspondent was good enough to -send me, not long ago, a pleasing account of the -doings of a pair of song sparrows, which, as she -says, came to her for six seasons.</p> - -<p>“One year,” she writes, “they happened to -build where I could watch them from the window, -and they did a very curious thing. They -fed the little birds with all sorts of worms of different -colors until they were ready to leave the -nest; then the male brought a pure white moth -and held it near the nest, which was in some -stems of a rosebush a few inches from the -ground, on a level with the lower rail of a picket -fence.</p> - -<p>“One of the little birds came out of the nest -at once and followed its parent, who went sidewise, -always holding the dazzling white morsel -just out of the youngster’s reach. In this manner -they crossed the lane, climbed the inclined<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span> -plane of a woodpile, and passed through a fence -and across a vegetable garden into an asparagus -bed, in which miniature forest the little traveler -received and ate the moth.</p> - -<p>“Another nest was built on the bank of a -brook on the farther side of a road. Out of -this nest I saw two little fellows coaxed with -these snow-white moths, and led across the dusty -road into a hedge.”</p> - -<p>One or two experiences of this kind are sufficient -reward for a good deal of patient observation. -The singer of this pair of birds, my -correspondent says, had ten distinct songs, one -of them exceedingly beautiful and peculiar.</p> - -<p>The song sparrow’s nest is usually built on -the ground, and the bird is one of several kinds -that are known indiscriminately by country -people as ground sparrows.</p> - -<p>Song sparrows seem to be of a pretty nervous -disposition, to judge from their behavior. One -of their noticeable characteristics is a twitching, -up-and-down, “pumping” motion of the tail, as -they dash into cover on being disturbed.</p> - -<p>People who live in the Southern States see -these birds only in the cooler part of the year, -but must have abundant opportunity to hear -them sing as spring approaches.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">VIII<br> - -<small>THE FIELD SPARROW AND THE CHIPPER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">All</span> beginners in bird study find the sparrow -family a hard one. There are so many kinds -of sparrows, and the different kinds look so confusingly -alike. How shall I ever be able to tell -them apart? the novice says to himself.</p> - -<p>Well, there is no royal road to such learning, -it may as well be confessed. But there is a road, -for all that, and a pretty good one,—the road -of patience; and there is much pleasure to be -had in following it. If you know one sparrow, -be it only the so-called “English,” you have -made a beginning.</p> - -<p><i>If</i> you know the English sparrow, I say; for, -strange as it may seem, I find numbers of people -who do not. Take the average inhabitant -of any of our large cities into the country, and -let him come upon an English sparrow in a wayside -hedge, and there are three chances to one -that he will not know with certainty what to -call it. Quite as likely as not he has never -noticed that there are two kinds of English sparrows,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> -very differently feathered—the male and -the female.</p> - -<p>In a short chapter like this I am not going to -attempt a miracle. If you read it to the end, -never so carefully, you will not be prepared to -name all the sparrows at sight. As I said before, -they are a hard set. My wish now is to -speak of two of the smallest and commonest.</p> - -<p>One of these is called sometimes the chipping -sparrow, sometimes the chipper, and sometimes—much -less often—the doorstep sparrow. Personally, -I like the last name best,—perhaps because -I invented it. Scientific men, who prefer -for excellent reasons to have their own names -for things, call him <i>Spizella socialis</i>—that is to -say, the familiar or social little spiza, or sparrow. -The idea of littleness, some young readers may -not know, is contained in the termination <i>ella</i>, -which is what grammarians call a diminutive. -Umbrella, for instance, is literally a small <i>umbra</i>, -or shade.</p> - -<p>With most readers of this book the chipping -sparrow is a bird of spring, summer, and autumn. -For the winter he retires to our extreme Southern -States and to Mexico. If you live in Massachusetts, -you may begin to be on the watch for -him by the 5th of April. If your home is farther -south, you should see him somewhat earlier.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>Perhaps you will know him by this brief description: -a very small, slender sparrow, with a -dark chestnut-red crown, a black forehead, a -black bill, and plain—unstreaked and unspotted—under -parts.</p> - -<p>His ordinary note, or call, is a <i>chip</i> (whence -his name), and his song is a very dry, tuneless, -monotonous, long-drawn <i>chippy-chippy-chippy</i>, -uttered so fast as to sound almost like a trill. -You may like the bird never so well, but if you -have any idea of music, you will never call him a -fine singer. What he and his mate think about -the matter there is, of course, no telling. He -seems to be very much in earnest, at all events.</p> - -<p>He is a social bird, I say. You will not have -to go far afield or into the woods in search of -him. If you live in any sort of country place, -with a bit of garden and a few shrubs and fruit -trees, a pair of chippers will be likely to find you -out. Their nest will be built in a tree or bush, -a small structure neatly lined with hair, and in -due time it will contain four or five eggs, blue -or greenish blue, with brown spots.</p> - -<p>Our other bird is of the chipper’s size, and, -like him, has unstreaked and unspotted lower -parts. His bill is of a light color, “reddish -brown,” one book says, “pale reddish,” says another. -This is one of the principal marks for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> -the beginner to notice. Another is a wash of -buff, or yellowish brown, on the sides of the -breast. The upper parts, too, are in general -much lighter than the chipper’s.</p> - -<p>You will not be likely often to find this bird -in your garden or about the lawn. He is called -the field sparrow, but he lives mostly in dry old -pastures, partly overgrown with bushes and trees. -His nest is placed on the ground, or in a low -bush, and is often lined wholly or in part with -hair. He and the chipper belong to what is -called the same genus. That is to say, the two -are so nearly related that they have the same -surname. The chipper is <i>Spizella socialis</i>, the -field sparrow is <i>Spizella pusilla</i>; just as two -brothers will have one name in common, say, -Jones, William, and Jones, Andrew.</p> - -<p>The chipper is a favorite on account of his -familiar, friendly ways. The field sparrow deserves -to be known and loved for his music. -Few birds sing better, in my opinion, though -many make more display and are more talked -about. The beauty of the song is in its sweetness, -simplicity, and perfect taste. It begins -with three or four longer notes, which run at -once into quicker and shorter ones, either on the -same pitch or a little higher. Really the strain -is almost too simple to make a description of: a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> -simple line of pure melody, one may say. You -must hear it for yourself. Sometimes the bird -gives it out double, so to speak, catching it up -again just as he seems ready to finish. The tone -is the clearest of whistles, and the whole effect is -most delightful and soothing. It is worth anybody’s -while to spend a season or two in bird -study, if only to learn this and half a dozen more -pieces of our common wild-bird music.</p> - -<p>The field sparrow’s times of arrival and departure -are practically the same as the chipper’s. -Neither bird is hard to see, or very hard to distinguish; -a bit of patience and an opera-glass -will do the business; though you may have to -puzzle awhile over either of them before making -quite sure of your knowledge. In bird study, as -in any other, we learn by correcting our own -mistakes.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">IX<br> - -<small>SOME APRIL SPARROWS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">For</span> the first three weeks of April the ornithologist -goes comparatively seldom into the woods. -Millions of birds have come up from the South, -but the forest is still almost deserted. May, with -its hosts of warblers, will bring a grand change -in this respect; meanwhile the sparrows are in -the ascendant, and we shall do well to follow the -road for the most part, though with frequent -excursions across fields and into gardens and orchards. -Of eighty-four species of birds seen by -me in April, a year ago, twenty-one were water -birds, and of the remaining sixty-three, twenty, -or almost one third, were members of the sparrow -family, while only five were warblers. In -May, on the other hand, out of one hundred and -twenty-five species seen twenty-three were warblers, -and only eighteen were sparrows. To represent -the case fairly, however, the comparison -should be by individuals rather than by species, -and for such a comparison I have no adequate -data. My own opinion is that of all the birds<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> -commonly seen in April, more than half, perhaps -as many as four fifths, are members of the sparrow -family. There are days, indeed, when the -song sparrows alone seem to outnumber all other -birds, and other days when the same is true of -the snowbirds.</p> - -<p>The large and noble sparrow family, which -includes not only the sparrows, commonly so -called, but finches, grosbeaks, crossbills, snowbirds, -buntings, and the like, is represented in -North America by more than ninety species, and -in Massachusetts by about forty. It is preëminently -a musical family, and, with us at least, -April is the best month of the twelve in which -to appreciate its lyrical efforts, notwithstanding -the fact that one of its most distinguished songsters, -the rose-breasted grosbeak, is still absent.</p> - -<p>Among the more gifted of its April representatives -are the fox sparrow,—so named from his -color,—the purple finch, the song sparrow, the -vesper sparrow, the tree sparrow, the field sparrow, -and the white-throated sparrow—seven -common birds, every one of them deserving to -be known by any who care for sweet sounds.</p> - -<p>One of the seven, the purple finch, also called -the linnet, is unlike all the others, and easily -excels them all in the fluency and copiousness -of his music. He is readily distinguishable—in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> -adult male plumage—as a sparrow whose head -and neck appear to have been dipped in carmine -ink, or perhaps in pokeberry juice. His song is -a prolonged, rapid, unbroken warble, which he -is much given to delivering while on the wing, -hovering ecstatically and singing as if he would -pour out his very soul. He is a familiar bird, a -lover of orchards and roadside trees, but is not -so universally distributed, probably, as most of -the other species I have named.</p> - -<p>In contrast with the purple finch, all the six -sparrows here mentioned with him have brief and -rather formal songs. Those of the fox sparrow -and the tree sparrow bear a pretty strong resemblance -to each other, especially as to cadence or -inflection; the song sparrow’s and the vesper -sparrow’s are still more closely alike, and will -almost certainly confuse the novice, while those -of the field sparrow and the white-throat are each -quite unique.</p> - -<p>The fox sparrow visits Massachusetts as a -migrant only, and the same might be said of the -white-throat, only that it breeds in Berkshire -County and single birds are often seen in the -eastern part of the State during the winter. The -tree sparrow is a winter resident, going far north -to rear its young, and the remaining four species -are with us for the summer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>The fox sparrow is to be heard from the 20th -of March (I speak roughly) to the middle of April. -In respect to voice and cadence, he is to me the -finest of our sparrows proper, though I do not -think him so finished an artist as the song and -vesper sparrows. He may be recognized by his -superior size and his bright rusty-red (reddish -brown) color. Indeed, these two features give -him at first sight the appearance of a thrush. He -is one of the sparrows—like the song, the vesper, -the savanna, and the Ipswich—which are thickly -streaked upon the breast.</p> - -<p>The tree sparrow passes the winter with us, as -I have said, but abounds only during the two -migrations. He is in full song for the greater -part of April. His distinctive marks are a bright -reddish (“chestnut”) crown, conspicuous white -wing-bars, and an obscure round blotch in the -middle of his unstreaked breast.</p> - -<p>The white-throat, commonly a very abundant -migrant, arrives about the 20th of April and remains -till about the middle of May. His loud, -clear song is remarkable for its peculiar and -strongly marked rhythm. It consists of two comparatively -long introductory notes, followed by -three sets of triplets in monotone—like <i>see, see, -peabody, peabody, peabody</i>. This bird, too, -perplexing as the sparrows are usually thought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span> -to be, is perfectly well marked, with a white -throat (not merely a white chin, as in the swamp -sparrow) and a broad white stripe on each side -of the crown, turning to yellow in front of the -eyes. The crown itself is dark, with a white line -through the middle, and each wing is adorned -with two white bars. In size the white-throat -comes next to the fox sparrow.</p> - -<p>The song sparrow and the vesper sparrow not -only sing alike, but look alike. The latter may -be told at once, however, by his white outer tail-feathers, -which show as he flies. These are two -of our commonest and worthiest birds. The vesper -sparrow, more generally known, perhaps, as -the bay-winged bunting, likes a drier field than -the song sparrow, and is especially noticeable for -his trick of running along the path or the road -directly in front of the traveler.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">X<br> - -<small>THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is never a May passes, of recent years, -but some one comes to me, or writes to me, to -inquire about a wonderfully beautiful bird that -he has just seen for the first time. He does -hope I can tell him what it is. It is a pretty -large bird, he goes on to say,—but not so long -as a robin, he thinks, if I question him,—mostly -black and white, but with such a splendid rosy -patch on his breast or throat! What can it be? -He had no idea that anything so handsome was -ever to be seen in these parts.</p> - -<p>If all the questions that people ask about -birds were as easily answered as this one, I should -be thankful. It is a rose-breasted grosbeak, I -tell the inquirer. Perhaps he noticed that its bill -was uncommonly stout. If he did, the fact is -exceptional, for somehow the shape of the bill is -a point which the average person seems very seldom -to notice, although it is highly important. -Anyhow, the rosebreast’s beak is most decidedly -“gross.” And he is every whit as beautiful as -my inquirer represents him to be. In that respect -he ranks with the oriole and the scarlet -tanager.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i040.jpg" alt="ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK"></div> -<p class="caption">ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK<br> - -<i>1. Males.</i> <i>2. Female.</i> <i>3. Young Male</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>He is distinguished also for his song, which is -a flowing warble, wonderfully smooth and sweet. -To most ears it bears a likeness to the robin’s -song, but it is beyond comparison more fluent and -delicious, although not more hearty. Keep your -ear open for such a voice,—by the middle of -May if you live in New England, a little earlier -if your home is farther south,—and you will be -likely to hear it; for at that time the bird is not -only common, but a very free singer.</p> - -<p>In addition to his song, the rosebreast has -a short call-note, which sounds very much like -the squeak of a pair of rusty shears—a kind -of <i>hic</i>, which you will find no difficulty about -remembering if you have once learned it. His -nest is generally built in a bush, often within -reach of the hand, but I have seen it well up in -a rather tall tree. The two birds spell each -other in brooding, and are not only mutually -affectionate, but very brave. I have known the -mother bird to keep her seat even when I took -hold of the bush below the nest and drew her -almost against my face. She, by the way, is -a very modestly dressed body, being not only -without the rose-color, but without the clear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> -contrast of black and white. To look at her, -you might take her for a large sparrow.</p> - -<p>The rose-color of the male, it should be said, -is not confined to the patch on the breast, but is -found also on the lining of the wings, where it -is mostly unnoticed by the world, but where his -mate, of course, cannot help admiring it as he -flutters about her; for it is certain that female -birds have a good eye for color, and believe that -fine feathers help, at least, to make fine birds. -The shade is of the brightest and most exquisite, -and the total effect of the male’s plumage—jet -black, pure white, and vivid rose-red—is quite -beyond praise.</p> - -<p>The birds, happily, are not shy, and prefer -a fairly open or broken country rather than a -dense wood. Last season one sang day after -day directly under my windows, and undoubtedly -had a mate and a nest somewhere close by. -The male, it should be added, has the very -pretty though dangerous-seeming habit of singing -as he sits upon the eggs.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XI<br> - -<small>THE BLUE JAY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> years ago, as the story comes to me, two -collectors of birds met by accident in South -America, one of them from Europe, the other -from the United States. “There is one bird that -I would rather see than any other in the world,” -said the European. “It is the handsomest of -all the birds that fly, to my thinking, although -I know it only in the cabinet. You have it in -North America, but I suppose you do not often -see it. I mean the blue jay.”</p> - -<p>What the American answered in words, I do -not know; but I am pretty confident that he -smiled. The European might almost as well -have said that he supposed Boston people did -not often see an English sparrow. Not that the -blue jay swarms everywhere as the foreign sparrow -swarms in our American cities; but it is so -common, so noisy, so conspicuous, and so unmistakable, -that it is, or ought to be, almost an -everyday sight to all country dwellers.</p> - -<p>Strange as it seems, however, I find many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -people who do not know the jay when they see -it. In late winter, say toward the end of February, -when I begin to be on the lookout for the -first bluebird of the year, I am all but certain to -have word brought to me by some one of the -village school-teachers that bluebirds have already -come. Johnny This or Jimmy That saw -one near his house several weeks ago! That -“several weeks ago” makes me suspicious, and -on following up the matter I discover that John -and James have seen a large blue bird, larger -than a robin, with some black and white on him—<i>all</i> -white underneath—<i>and</i> wearing a tall -crest or topknot. Then I know that they have -mistaken a blue <i>bird</i> for a <i>blue</i>bird. They have -seen a blue jay, a bird of a very different feather. -He has been with us all winter, as he always is, -and has been in sight from my windows daily. -So easy is it for boys and men to guess at things, -and guess wrong.</p> - -<p>The jay is a relative of the crow, and has -much of the crow’s cleverness, with more than -the crow’s beauty. Like the crow, if he has an -errand near houses, he makes a point of doing it -in the early morning before the folks who live -in the houses have begun to stir about. In fact, -he knows us, in some respects at least, better -than we know him, and habitually takes advantage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> -of what no doubt seems to him a custom of -very late rising on the part of human beings.</p> - -<p>Among small birds of all sorts he bears a decidedly -bad name. In nesting time you may -hear them uttering a chorus of loud and bitter -laments as often as he appears among them. -Their eggs and young are in danger, and they -join forces to worry him and drive him away. -One bird sounds the alarm, another hears him -and hastens to see what is going on, and in a -few minutes the whole neighborhood is awake. -And it stays awake till the jay moves off. After -that piece of evidence, you do not need to <i>see</i> -him doing mischief. The little birds’ behavior -is sufficiently convincing. As Thoreau said, the -presence of a trout in the milk is something like -proof.</p> - -<p>And jays, in their turn, club together against -enemies larger than themselves. Last autumn -I was walking through the woods with a friend,—a -city schoolmaster eager for knowledge, as -every schoolmaster ought to be,—when we heard -a great screaming of blue jays from a swampy -thicket on our right hand.</p> - -<p>“Now what do you suppose the birds mean -by all that outcry?” said my friend.</p> - -<p>I answered that very likely there was a hawk -or an owl there.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>“Let’s go and see,” said the master, and we -turned in that direction. Sure enough, we soon -came face to face with a large hen-hawk perched -in one of the trees, while the jays, one after -another, were dashing as near him as they dared, -yelling at him as they passed.</p> - -<p>At our nearer approach the hawk took wing; -then the jays disappeared, and silence fell upon -the woods. And I dare say the schoolmaster -gave me credit for being a wondrously wise man!</p> - -<p>The jay has many notes, and once in a great -while may even be heard indulging in something -like a warble. One of his most musical calls -sounds to my ears a little like the word “lily.”</p> - -<p>He seems to be very fond of acorns, and is -frequently to be seen standing upon a limb, -holding an acorn under his claw and hammering -it to pieces with all the force of his stout bill. -When angered, he scolds violently, bobbing up -and down in a most ridiculous manner. In fact, -he is of a highly nervous temperament, and as -full of gesticulations as a Frenchman.</p> - -<p>To me he is especially a bird of autumn. At -that season the woods are loud with his clarion, -and as I listen to it I can often feel myself a -boy again, rambling in the woods that knew me -in my school-days. With all his faults—his ill -treatment of small birds, I mean—I should be -sorry to have his numbers greatly diminished.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XII<br> - -<small>THE KINGBIRD</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">As</span> a very small boy I spent much time in a -certain piece of rather low ground partly grown -up to bushes. Here in early spring I picked -bunches of pretty pink and white flowers, which -I now know to have been anemones. In the -same place, a month or two later, I gathered -splendid red lilies, and admired, without gathering -it, a tiny blue flower with a yellow centre. -This would not bear taking home, but was always -an attraction to me. I should have liked -it better still, I am sure, if some one had been -kind enough to tell me its pretty name—blue-eyed -grass.</p> - -<p>Here, also, I picked the first strawberries of -the season and the first blueberries. They were -luxuries indeed. A “gill-cup” full of either of -them was good pay for an hour’s search.</p> - -<p>In one corner of the place there were half a -dozen or so of apple-trees, and on the topmost -branches of these there used to perch continually -two or three birds of a kind which some older<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> -boy told me were kingbirds. At these my brother -and I—both of us small enough to be excusable -for such mischief—were in the habit of -throwing green apples; partly to see how near -we could come to hitting them, partly for the -fun of watching them rise into the air, circle -about with sharp cries, and then settle back upon -the perches they had left. Sometimes we stuck -the half-grown apple on the end of a stick, swung -the stick round our heads, and sent the apple -flying to a tremendous distance. Stick or no -stick, however, we were in no danger of killing -anything, as I am glad now to remember.</p> - -<p>What amazed us was that the birds did not go -away. No matter how long we “appled” them, -they were certain to be on hand the next day in -the same place. We must have been very young -and very green,—greener even than the apples,—for -it never occurred to us that the birds had -nests in the trees, and for that reason were not -to be driven away by our petty persecutions.</p> - -<p>Even then I noticed the peculiar flight of the -birds—the short, quick strokes of their wings, -and their habit of hovering. These are among -the signs by which the kingbird can be recognized -a long way off. He is dark-colored above,—almost -black,—pure white underneath, and -his tail, when outspread, shows a broad white<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -border at the tip. On his crown is an orange-red -patch, but you will probably never see it -unless you have the bird in your hand and brush -apart the feathers in search of it.</p> - -<p>The kingbird’s Latin name has much the same -meaning as his common English one. <i>Tyrannus -tyrannus</i> he is called by scientific people. He -belongs to a family known as flycatchers, birds -that catch insects on the wing. That is the reason -why the kingbird likes a perch at the tip of -something, so that he can dart out after a passing -insect, catch it, and return to his perch to -wait for another. <i>I</i> should call him the “apple-tree -flycatcher,” if the matter were referred to -me.</p> - -<p>He is not large,—little bigger than an English -sparrow,—but he has plenty of courage and -a strong disposition to “rule the roost,” as the -saying goes. Every country boy has laughed to -see the kingbird chasing a crow. And a very -lively and pleasing sight it is: the crow making -for the nearest wood as fast as his wings will -carry him, and one or two kingbirds in hot pursuit. -Their great aim is to get above him and -swoop down upon his back. Sometimes you will -see one actually alight on a crow’s back and, as -boys say, “give it to him” in great style.</p> - -<p>Another taking action of the kingbird is his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> -trick of flying straight up in the air, almost perpendicularly, -as if he were trying to see how near -he could come to performing that impossible feat, -and then tumbling about madly, with noisy outcries. -Often it looks as if he actually turned -somersaults. He cannot sing, and so has to let -his high spirits bubble over in these half-crazy -gymnastics. All in all, he is a very lively and -entertaining customer.</p> - -<p>His nest is built in a tree, often in an orchard, -and is comparatively easy to find. The birds -arrive in New England in the first week of May, -having passed the winter in Central or South -America, and remain till the end of August.</p> - -<p>Like most birds, they are very punctual in -their coming and going. No doubt they have -an almanac of their own. You will do well to -find one of them in Massachusetts after the first -two or three days of September.</p> - -<p>Toward the end of their stay, flycatchers -though they are, they feed largely upon berries. -I have seen a dozen in one small dogwood bush, -all eating greedily.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XIII<br> - -<small>THE HUMMINGBIRD</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Hummingbirds</span> are found only in America -and on the islands near it. They are of many -kinds, but only one kind is ever seen in the eastern -United States. This is known as the ruby-throated -hummingbird, because of a splendid red -throat-patch worn by the male. To speak more -exactly, the patch is red only in some lights. -You see it one instant as black as a coal, and the -next instant it flashes like a coal on fire. This -ornament,—a real jewel,—with the lovely -shining green of the bird’s back, makes him an -object of great beauty.</p> - -<p>Every one knows him, or would do so only -that some people confuse him with bright-colored, -long-tongued hummingbird moths that are seen -hovering, mostly in the early evening, over the -flowers of the garden.</p> - -<p>The ruby-throat spends the winter south of -the United States. He arrives in Florida in -March, but does not reach New England till near -the middle of May.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>Many persons seem to imagine that the hummer -lives on the wing. They have never seen -one sitting still, they say. But the truth is that -hummingbirds pass but a small part of the time -in the air. They are so very small, however, -that they are easily overlooked on a branch of a -tree, and the average person never notices them -except when the hum of their wings attracts his -attention.</p> - -<p>One of the prettiest sights in the world is a -hummingbird hovering before a blossom, his -wings vibrating so fast as to make a mist about -him, and his long needle of a bill probing the -flower with quick, eager thrusts. All his movements -are of lightning-like rapidity, and even -while your eyes are on him he is gone like a -flash, you cannot say whither.</p> - -<p>The hummingbird’s nest is built on a branch -of a tree,—saddled on it,—and is not very -hard to find after you have once seen one, and -so have learned precisely what to look for. -Generally it is placed well out towards the end of -the limb. I have found it on pitch-pines in the -woods, on roadside maples,—shade-trees,—and -especially in apple and pear orchards. The mother -bird is very apt to betray its whereabouts -by buzzing about the head of any one who -comes near it.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i052.jpg" alt="RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD"></div> -<p class="caption">RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD<br> - -<i>1, 2. Males. 3. Female. 4. Young</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>Last May, for example, I stopped in the middle -of the road to listen for the voice of a house -wren, when I caught instead the buzz and squeak -of a hummer. Turning my gaze upward, I saw -her fly to a half-built nest on a maple branch -directly over my head.</p> - -<p>The nest is a tiny thing, looking for size and -shape like a cup out of a child’s toy tea-set. Its -walls are thick, and on the outside are covered—shingled, -we may say—with bits of gray -lichen, which help to make the nest look like -nothing more than a knot. Whether they are -put on for that purpose, or by way of ornament, -is more than I can tell.</p> - -<p>The bird always lays two white eggs, about -as large as peas. The young ones stay in the -nest for three weeks, more or less, till they are -fully grown and fledged, and perfectly well able -to fly. I once saw one take his first flight, and -a great venture it seemed. All these three -weeks, and for another week afterward, the -mother—no father is present—has her hands -full to supply the little things with food, which -she gives them from her crop, thrusting her -long, sharp bill clean down their throats in the -process, in a way to make a looker-on shiver. -The only note I have ever heard from the ruby-throat -is a squeak, which seems to be an expression<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> -of nervousness or annoyance, and is uttered -whenever an intruder—a man, a cat, or a -strange bird—comes near the tree in which her -treasures are hidden.</p> - -<p>Hummingbirds sometimes fly into open windows -and are caught. At such times they become -tame almost at once, but it is difficult, if -not impossible, to keep them alive in captivity, -and it is cruel to attempt it, except when the -little creature is injured and plainly unable to -look out for itself.</p> - -<p>A lady of my acquaintance discovered a hummingbird -under her piazza. It had flown in by -accident, probably, and now was darting to and -fro in a frantic attempt to get out. The piazza -was open on three sides, to be sure, but the -frightened bird kept up against the ceiling, and -of course found itself walled in.</p> - -<p>Fearful that it would injure itself, the lady -brought a broom and tried to force it to come -down and so discover its way out; but it was -only the more scared. Then a happy thought -came to her. She went to the garden, plucked -a few flowers, and going back to the piazza, set -them down for the bird to see. Instantly it flew -toward them, and as it did so it saw the open -world without, and away it went.</p> - -<p>Another lady wrote me once a very pretty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -story of a hummer that came and probed a nasturtium -which she held in her hand.</p> - -<p>It is wonderful to think that so tiny a bird, -born in New England or in Canada in June, -should travel to Cuba or Central America in the -autumn, and the next spring find its way back -again to its birthplace.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XIV<br> - -<small>THE CHIMNEY SWIFT</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Every</span> kind of bird is adapted to get its living -in a particular way. It is strong in some respects, -and weak in others. Some birds have -powerful legs, but can hardly fly; others live on -the wing, and can hardly walk. Of these flying -birds none is more common than the chimney -swift, or, as he is improperly called, the chimney -swallow. No one ever saw him sitting on a -perch or walking on the ground. In fact, his -wings are so long, and his legs so short and weak, -that if he were to alight on the ground, he would -probably never be able to rise into the air -again.</p> - -<p>He hardly seems to need a description, and -yet I suppose that many persons, not to say -people in general, do not know him from a swallow. -His color is sooty brown, turning to gray -on the throat. His body, as he is seen in the -air, is shaped like a bobbin, bluntly pointed at -both ends. If he is carefully watched, however,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> -it will be noticed that he spreads his tail for an -instant whenever he changes suddenly the direction -of his flight. In other words, he uses his -tail as a rudder.</p> - -<p>He shoots about the sky at a tremendous -speed, much of the time sailing, with his long, narrow -wings firmly set, and is especially lively and -noisy toward nightfall. Very commonly two or -three of the birds fly side by side, cackling -merrily and acting very much as if they were -amusing themselves with some kind of game.</p> - -<p>They feed on the wing, and have wide, gaping -mouths perfectly adapted to that purpose.</p> - -<p>As their name implies, they build their nests -and pass the night mostly in chimneys, although -in the wilder parts of the country they still -inhabit hollow trees. Numbers of pairs live -together in a colony.</p> - -<p>One of the chimneys of a certain house near -the Charles River, in Newton, Massachusetts, has -for many years been a favorite resort of swifts. -I have many times visited the place to watch the -birds go to roost. Little by little they gather in -a flock, as twilight comes on, and then for an -hour or more the whole company, hundreds in -number, go sweeping over the valley in broad -circles, having the chimney for a centre. Gradually -the circles become narrower, and at the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span> -same time the excitement of the flock increases. -Again and again the birds approach the chimney, -as if they meant to descend into it. Then -away they shoot for another round.</p> - -<p>At length the going to roost actually begins. -Half a dozen or a dozen of the birds drop one -by one into the chimney. The rest sweep away, -and when they come back, a second detachment -drops in. And so the lively performance goes -on till the last straggler folds his wings above -the big black cavity and tumbles headlong out -of sight.</p> - -<p>The swift makes his nest of twigs, and as he -cannot alight on the ground in search of them, -he is compelled to gather them from the dead -limbs of trees. Over and over again you will -see the bird dart against such a limb, catching -at a twig as he pauses for the merest instant before -it. It is difficult to be sure whether he succeeds -or not, his movements are so rapid, but it -is certain that he must often fail. However, he -acts upon the old motto, “Try, try again,” and -in course of time the nest is built. And an -extremely pretty nest it is, with the white eggs -in it, the black twigs glued firmly together with -the bird’s own saliva.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XV<br> - -<small>NIGHTHAWK AND WHIP-POOR-WILL</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Rustic</span> people are a little shy of theories and -“book-learning.” Not long ago—it was early -in March—I met an old man who lives by himself -in a kind of hermitage in the woods, and -who knows me in a general way as a bird student. -We greeted each other, and I inquired -whether he had seen any bluebirds yet. No, he -said, it wasn’t time.</p> - -<p>“Oh, but they are here,” I answered. “I saw -a flock of ten on the 26th of February.” Good-natured -incredulity came out all over his face.</p> - -<p>“Did you hear them sing?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said I; “and, furthermore, I saw -some this forenoon very near your house.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” he remarked, “according to my experience, -it is too early for bluebirds. Besides, -they never go in flocks; and when anybody tells -me at this time of the year that he has seen a -flock of bluebirds, I always know that he has seen -some blue snowbirds.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>He spoke with an air of finality which left me -nothing to do but to smile and pass on.</p> - -<p>This little incident called to mind another, and -that put it into my head to write this article.</p> - -<p>A farmer, who had seen me passing his house -and loitering about his lanes and fields for several -years, often with an opera-glass in my hand, -one day hailed me to ask whether the nighthawk -and the whip-poor-will were the same bird, as he -had heard people say. I assured him (or rather -I told him—it turned out that I had not made -him sure) that they were quite distinct, and proceeded -to remark upon some of the more obvious -points of difference between the two, especially -as to their habits and manner of life. He listened -with all deference to what I had to offer, -but as I concluded and turned to leave him, he -said: “Well, some folks <i>say</i> they’re the same. -They say one’s the he one and t’ other’s the she -one; but I guess they ain’t.”</p> - -<p>Verily, thought I, popular science lectures are -sometimes a failure. Not long afterward I was -telling the story to a Massachusetts man, a man who -had made a collection of birds’ eggs in his time.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said he, “aren’t they the same? I -always understood that they were the male and -female of the same species. That was the common -belief where I was brought up.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i060.jpg" alt="NIGHTHAWK"></div> -<p class="caption">NIGHTHAWK</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>The confusion of the two birds is widespread, -in spite of Audubon’s testimony that he had seldom -seen a farmer or even a boy in the United -States who did not know the difference between -them. But, while they resemble each other -closely, they are sufficiently unlike to be classified -not only as separate species, but as species -of different genera. As for the difference in -their habits, it is such as any one may see and -appreciate. The nighthawk, for all its name, is -not a night bird. It is most active at twilight,—in -other words, it is crepuscular instead of -nocturnal,—but is often to be seen flying abroad -at midday. The whip-poor-will, on the contrary, -is quiet till after dark. Then it starts into fullness -of life, singing with the utmost enthusiasm, -till the listener wonders where it can find breath -for such rapid and long-continued efforts. The -nighthawk is not a musician. While flying it -frequently utters a single note, of a guttural-nasal -quality, almost indistinguishable from the -so-called bleat of the woodcock; but, in place of -singing, it indulges in a fine aerial tumbling performance, -much in the manner of the snipe. -This performance I have many times observed -in early summer from the Public Garden in Boston. -I have seen it also in September, though -it is doubtless much less common at that season.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> -The bird rises gradually to a considerable height, -and presently drops like a stone almost to the -ground. At the last moment it arrests itself suddenly, -and then is heard a very peculiar “booming” -noise, whether produced by the wings or -by the voice, I will not presume to say.</p> - -<p>The most attractive feature of the nighthawk, -to my eye, is its beautiful and peculiar flight—a -marvel of ease and grace, and sufficient to distinguish -it at a glance from every other New -England bird. It is a creature of the upper air, -never skimming the ground, so far as I know, -and as it passes overhead you may easily see the -large white patch in the middle of each long -wing—a beauty spot, by the way, which is -common to both sexes, and is wanting in the -whip-poor-will.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i062.jpg" alt="WHIP-POOR-WILL"></div> -<p class="caption">WHIP-POOR-WILL</p> - -<p>The whip-poor-will’s chief distinction is its -song—a song by itself, and familiar to every -one. Some people call it mournful, and I fear -there are still a few superstitious souls who listen -to it with a kind of trembling. I have heard of -the bird’s being shot because the inhabitants of a -house could not bear its doleful and boding cry, -as they were pleased to consider it. To my ears -it is sweet music. I take many an evening stroll -on purpose to enjoy it, and am perennially thankful -to Audubon for saying that he found the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span> -whip-poor-will’s “cheering voice” more interesting -than the song of the nightingale.</p> - -<p>It will surprise unscientific readers to be told -that the nearest relatives of whip-poor-wills and -nighthawks are the swifts and the hummingbirds. -As if a chimney swift were more like a -whip-poor-will than like a swallow! and, still -more absurd, as if there were any close relationship -between whip-poor-wills and hummingbirds! -Put a whip-poor-will and a ruby-throated hummer -side by side and they certainly do look very -little alike—the big whip-poor-will, with its -mottled plumage and its short, gaping beak, and -the tiny hummingbird with its burnished feathers -and its long needle of a bill. Evidently there -is no great reliance to be placed upon outside -show, or what scientific men call “external -characters.” We might as well say that the -strawberry vine and the apple-tree were own -cousins. Yes, so we might, for the apple-tree -and the strawberry vine <i>are</i> cousins—at least -they are members of the same great and noble -family, the family of the roses! We shall never -get far, in science or in anything else, until we -learn to look below the surface.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XVI<br> - -<small>THE FLICKER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> flicker is the largest of our common -American woodpeckers, being somewhat longer -and stouter than the robin. It is known, by -sight at least, to almost every one who notices -birds at all, and perhaps for this reason it has -received an unusual number of popular names. -“Golden-winged woodpecker,” which is probably -the best known of these, comes from the fact -that the bird’s wings are yellow on the under -side. “Harry Wicket,” “Highhole,”—because -its nest is sometimes pretty far above the ground,—“Yellowhammer,” -and “Pigeon-woodpecker” -are also among its more familiar nicknames.</p> - -<p>Unlike other birds of its family, the flicker -passes much of its time on the ground, where -it hops awkwardly about, feeding upon insects, -especially upon ants. As you come near it, -while it is thus engaged, it rises with a peculiar -purring sound, and as it flies from you it shows -a broad white patch on its rump—the lower<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> -back, above the root of the tail. Every one who -has ever walked much over grassy fields must -have seen the bird and been struck by this conspicuous -light mark. He must have noticed, -too, the bird’s peculiar up-and-down, “jumping” -manner of flight, by which it goes swooping -across the country in long undulations or -waves.</p> - -<p>The flicker’s general color is brown, with spottings -and streakings of black, and more or less -of violet or lilac shading. On the back of its -neck it wears a band of bright scarlet, and across -its breast is a conspicuous black crescent.</p> - -<p>It is fond of old apple orchards, and often -makes its nest in a decaying trunk. In some -places, near the seashore, especially,—where it -is commoner than elsewhere in winter, and where -large trees are scarce,—it makes enemies by its -habit of drilling holes in barns and even in -churches. I remember a meeting-house on Cape -Cod which had a good number of such holes in -its front wall—or rather it had the scars of -such holes, for they had been covered with -patches of tin. That was a case where going to -church might be called a bad habit.</p> - -<p>In fall and winter, if not at other seasons, the -flicker feeds largely upon berries. In years -when the poison ivy bears a good crop, I am<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> -pretty sure to find two or three flickers all winter -long about a certain farm, the stone walls of -which are overrun with this handsome but unwholesome -vine, although it is hard to imagine -that the dry, stony fruit should yield much in -the way of nourishment, even to a woodpecker.</p> - -<p>As spring comes on, the flicker becomes -numerous and very noisy. His best-known vocal -effort is a prolonged <i>hi-hi-hi</i>, very loud and ringing, -and kept up until the listener wonders where -the author of it gets his wind. This, I think, is -the bird’s substitute for a song. He has at all -times a loud, unmusical <i>yawp</i>,—a signal, I suppose,—and -in the mating season especially he -utters a very affectionate, conversational <i>wicker</i> -or <i>flicker</i>. Every country boy should be familiar -with these three notes.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i066.jpg" alt="FLICKER"></div> -<p class="caption">FLICKER<br> - -<i>1. Male. 2. Females</i></p> - -<p>But besides being a vocalist,—we can hardly -call him a singer,—the flicker is a player upon -instruments. He is a great drummer; and if -any one imagines that woodpeckers do not enjoy -the sound of their own music, he should watch -a flicker drumming with his long bill on a battered -tin pan in the middle of a pasture. Morning -after morning I have seen one thus engaged, -drumming lustily, and then cocking his head to -listen for an answer; and Paderewski at his -daily practice upon the piano could not have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> -looked more in earnest. At other times the -flicker contents himself with a piece of resonant -loose bark or a dry limb.</p> - -<p>One proof that this drumming—which is -indulged in by woodpeckers generally—is a -true musical performance, and not a mere drilling -for grubs, is the fact that we never hear it -in winter. It begins as the weather grows mild, -and is as much a sign of spring as the peeping -of the little tree-frogs—hylas—in the meadow.</p> - -<p>The flicker’s nest, as I have said, is built in a -hole in a tree, often an apple-tree. Very noisy -in his natural disposition, he keeps a wise silence -while near the spot where his mate is sitting, and -will rear a brood under the orchard-owner’s nose -without betraying himself. The young birds -are fed from the parent’s crop, as young pigeons -and young hummingbirds are. The old bird -thrusts its bill down the throat of the nestling -and gives it a meal of partially digested food by -what scientific people call a process of regurgitation. -Farmers’ boys, who have watched pigeons -feeding their squabs, will know precisely what is -meant.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XVII<br> - -<small>THE BITTERN</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was a great day for me when I first heard -the so-called booming of the bittern. For more -than ten years I had devoted the principal part -of my spare hours to the study of birds, but -though I had taken many an evening walk near -the most promising meadows in my neighborhood, -I could never hear those mysterious pumping -or stake-driving noises of which I had read -with so much interest, especially in the writings -of Thoreau.</p> - -<p>The truth was, as I have since assured myself, -that this representative of the heron family was -not a resident within the limits of my everyday -rambles, none of the meadows thereabout being -extensive and secluded enough to suit his whim.</p> - -<p>There came a day, however, when with a -friend I made an afternoon excursion to Wayland, -Massachusetts, on purpose to form the -stake-driver’s acquaintance. We walked up the -railway track across the river toward Sudbury,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> -and were hardly seated on the edge of the -meadow, facing the beautiful Nobscot Hill, before -my comrade said, “Hark! There he is!”</p> - -<p>Yes, that certainly was the very sound—an -old-fashioned wooden pump at work in the -meadow.</p> - -<p>We listened intently for perhaps half a dozen -times; then I proposed going further up the -track to get the notes at shorter range, and possibly—who -could tell what unheard-of thing -might happen?—to obtain a sight of the bird. -We advanced cautiously, though as we were on -the track, six feet or more above the level of the -meadow, there was no chance of concealment, -and the bittern went on with his performance.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile we maintained a sharp lookout, and -presently I descried a narrow brown object standing -upright amidst the grass—a stick, perhaps. -I lifted my opera-glass and spoke quickly to my -friend: “I see him!”</p> - -<p>“Where?” he asked; and when I lowered -my glass and gave him the bird’s bearings as -related to the remains of an old hayrick not far -off, he said, “Why, I saw that, but took it for a -stick.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but see the eye,” I answered.</p> - -<p>Within half a minute the bird suddenly threw -his head forward and commenced pumping.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span> -This was good luck indeed,—that I should -surprise my very first bittern in his famous act, -a thing which better men than I, after years of -familiarity with the bird, had never once succeeded -in accomplishing. Who says that Fortune -does not sometimes favor the fresh hand?</p> - -<p>The fellow repeated the operation three times, -and between whiles moved stealthily through -the grass toward the leavings of the haycock -before mentioned.</p> - -<p>When he reached the hay, we held our breath. -Would he actually mount it? Yes, that was -undoubtedly his intention; but he meant to do -it in such a way that no mortal eye should see -him. All the time glancing furtively to left and -right, as if the grass were full of enemies, he put -one foot before the other with almost inconceivable -slowness,—as the hour hand turns on the -clock’s face. It was an admirable display of an -art which this race of frog, mouse, and insect -catchers has cultivated for untold generations—an -art on which its livelihood depends, the art -of invisible motion.</p> - -<p>There was no resisting the ludicrousness of -his manner. He was in full view, but so long -as he kept still he seemed to think himself quite -safe from detection. Like the hand of the clock, -however, if he was slow he was sure, and in time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> -he was fairly out of the grass, standing in plain -sight upon his hay platform.</p> - -<p>Once in position he fell to pumping in earnest, -and kept it up for more than an hour, while two -enthusiasts sat upon the railway embankment, -twelve or thirteen rods distant, with opera-glasses -and note-books, scrutinizing his every motion, -and felicitating themselves again and again on -seeing thus plainly what so few had ever seen at -all. What would Thoreau have given for such -an opportunity?</p> - -<p>“The stake-driver is at it in his favorite -meadow,” he writes in his journal, in 1852. “I -followed the sound, and at last got within two -rods, it seeming always to recede, and drawing -you, like a will-o’-the-wisp, farther away into the -meadows. When thus near, I heard some lower -sounds at the beginning like striking on a stump -or a stake, a dry, hard sound, and then followed -the gurgling, pumping notes fit to come from a -meadow.</p> - -<p>“This was just within the blueberry and other -bushes, and when the bird flew up, alarmed, I -went to the place, but could see no water, which -makes me doubt if water is necessary to it in -making the sound. Perhaps it thrusts its bill so -deep as to reach water where it is dry on the -surface.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>This notion that water is employed in the production -of the bittern’s notes has been generally -entertained. The notes themselves are of a character -to suggest such an hypothesis, and at least -one witness has borne circumstantial testimony -to its truth. In Thoreau’s essay on the “Natural -History of Massachusetts,” he says:—</p> - -<p>“On one occasion, the bird has been seen by -one of my neighbors to thrust its bill into the -water, and suck up as much as it could hold; -then, raising its head, it pumped it out again -with four or five heaves of the neck, throwing it -two or three feet, and making the sound each -time.”</p> - -<p>Similar statements have been made as to the -corresponding notes of the European bittern. -None of our systematic writers upon American -ornithology have ever witnessed the performance, -as far as appears, and being too honest to draw -upon their imaginations, they have left the matter -a mystery. Now, on this auspicious May afternoon, -if we learned nothing else, we could at all -events make quite sure whether or not the bittern -did really spout water from his beak.</p> - -<p>My readers will have guessed already that our -bird, at least, did nothing of the sort. His bill -was never within reach of water. The operation -is a queer one, hard to describe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>The bittern has been standing motionless, perhaps -in the humpbacked attitude in which the -artists, following Audubon’s plate, have commonly -represented him; or quite as likely, he -has been making a stick or a soldier of himself, -standing bolt upright at full stretch, his long -neck and bill pointed straight at the zenith.</p> - -<p>Suddenly he lowers his head, and instantly -raises it again and throws it forward with a -quick, convulsive jerk. This movement is attended -by an opening and shutting of the bill, -which in turn is accompanied by a sound which -has been well compared to a violent hiccough. -The hiccough—with which, I think, the click of -the big mandibles may sometimes be heard—is -repeated a few times, each time a little louder -than before; and then succeed the real pumping -or stake-driving noises.</p> - -<p>These are in sets of three syllables each, of -which the first syllable is the longest, and somewhat -separated from the others. The accent is -strongly upon the middle syllable, and the whole, -as oftenest heard, is an exact reproduction of the -sound of a wooden pump, as I have already said, -the voice having that peculiar hollow quality -which is produced, not by the flow of the water, -but by the suction of the air in the tube when -the pump begins to work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>But the looker-on is likely to be quite as much -impressed by what he sees as by what he hears. -During the whole performance, but especially -during the latter part of it, the bird is engaged -in the most violent contortions, suggestive of -nothing but a patient suffering from uncontrollable -nausea. Moreover, as soon as the preliminary -hiccoughs begin, the lower throat or breast -is seen to be swelling; the dilatation grows -larger and larger till the pumping is well under -way, and so far as my companion and I could -detect, does not subside in the least until the -noises have ceased altogether.</p> - -<p>How are the unique, outlandish notes produced? -I cannot profess to know. Our opinion -was that the bird swallowed air into his gullet, -gulping it down with each snap of the beak. To -all appearance it was necessary for him to inflate -the crop in this way before he could pump, or -boom. As to how much of the grand booming -was connected with the swallowing of the air, -and how much, if any, with the expulsion of it, -my friend and I did not agree, and of course -neither of us could do more than guess.</p> - -<p>I made some experiments afterwards, by way -of imitating the noises; and these experiments, -together with the fact that the grand booming -seemed to be really nothing more than a development<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> -of the preliminary hiccoughs, and the further -fact that the swelling of the breast did not -go down gradually during the course of the performance, -but suddenly at the close,—all these -incline me to believe that the notes are mainly if -not entirely caused by the inhalation or swallowing -of the air; and I am somewhat strengthened -in this opinion by perceiving that when a man -takes air into his stomach the act is attended by -a sound not altogether unlike the bittern’s note -in quality, while the expulsion of it gives rise to -noises of an entirely dissimilar character.</p> - -<p>That the sounds in question were not made -entirely by any ordinary action of the vocal organs -was the decided opinion of both my friend -and myself.</p> - -<p>As I have said, we watched the performance -for more than an hour. We were sitting squarely -upon the track, and once were compelled to get -up to let a train pass; but the bittern evidently -paid no attention to matters on the railway, being -well used to thunder in that direction, and stood -his ground without wincing.</p> - -<p>When he had pumped long enough,—and the -operation surely looked like pretty hard work,—he -suddenly took wing and flew a little distance -down the meadow. The moment he dropped into -the grass he pumped, and on making another<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -flight he again pumped immediately upon coming -to the ground. This trick, which surprised me -not a little in view of the severe exertion required, -is perhaps akin to the habit of smaller birds, who -in seasons of excitement will very often break -into song at the moment of striking a perch.</p> - -<p>As we came down the track on our way back -to the station, three bitterns were in the air at -once, while a fourth was booming on the opposite -side of the road. One of the flying birds persistently -dangled his legs instead of drawing -them up in the usual fashion and letting the feet -stick out behind, parallel with the tail. Probably -he was “showing off,” as is the custom of many -birds during the season of mating.</p> - -<p>Our bird across the road, by the bye, was not -pumping, but driving a stake. The middle syllable -was truly a mighty whack with a mallet on -the head of a post, so that I could easily enough -credit Mr. Samuels’s statement that he once followed -the sound for half a mile, expecting to -find a farmer setting a fence.</p> - -<p>In the midst of the hurly-burly we saw a boy -coming toward us on the track.</p> - -<p>“Let’s ask him about it,” said my companion.</p> - -<p>So, with an air of inquisitive ignorance, he -stopped the fellow, and inquired, “Do you know -what it is we hear making that curious noise off -there in the meadow?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>The boy evidently took us for a pair of ignoramuses -from the city.</p> - -<p>“I guess it’s a frog,” he answered. But when -the sounds were repeated he shook his head and -confessed honestly that he didn’t know what -made them.</p> - -<p>It was too bad, I thought, that he did not -stick to his frog theory. It would have made so -much better a story! He appeared to feel no -curiosity about the matter, and we allowed him -to pass on unenlightened.</p> - -<p>Not all Wayland people are thus poorly informed, -however, and we shortly learned, to our -considerable satisfaction, that they have a most -felicitous local name for the bird. They call -him “plum-pudd’n’,” which is exactly what he -himself says, only that his <i>u</i> is in both words -somewhat long, like the vowel in “full.” To -get the true effect of the words they should be -spoken with the lips nearly closed, and in a deep -voice.</p> - -<p>A few days after this excursion I found a bittern -in a large wet meadow somewhat nearer -home. At the nearest he was a long way off, -and as I went farther and farther away from -him, I remarked the very unexpected fact that -the last syllable to be lost was not the second, -which bears so sharp an accent, but the long<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> -first syllable. It seemed contrary to reason, but -such was unquestionably the truth, and later -experiments confirmed it.</p> - -<p>This was in the spring of 1888. In May of -the next year, if all went well, we would see the -show again. So we said to each other; but a -veteran ornithologist remarked that we should -probably be a good many years older before we -had another such piece of good fortune.</p> - -<p>It is a fact familiar to all naturalists, however, -that when you have once found a new plant, or -a new bird, or a new nest, the experience is -likely to be soon repeated. You may have spent -a dozen years in a vain search, but now, for -some reason, the difficult has all at once become -easy, and almost before you can believe your -eyes the rarity has grown to be a drug in the -market. Something like this proved to be true -of the bittern’s boom.</p> - -<p>On the afternoon of the 2d of May, 1889, I -went to one of my favorite resorts, a large cat-tail -swamp surrounded by woods. My particular -errand was to see whether the least bittern -had arrived,—a much smaller, and in this part -of the country, at least, a much less common -bird than his relative of whose vocal accomplishments -I am here treating.</p> - -<p>I threw myself down upon the cliff overhanging<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> -the edge of the swamp, to listen for the -desired <i>coo-coo-coo-coo</i>, and had barely made myself -comfortable when I heard the <i>plum-pudd’n’</i> -of the bittern himself, proceeding, as it seemed, -from the reeds directly at my feet. Further listening -satisfied me that the fellow was not far -from the end of a rocky peninsula which juts -into the swamp just at this point.</p> - -<p>I slipped down the cliff as quietly as possible, -picked my way across the narrow neck leading to -the main peninsula, and by keeping behind rocks -and trees managed to reach the very tip without -disturbing the bird. Here I posted myself among -the thick trees, and awaited a repetition of the -boom. It was not long in coming, and plainly -proceeded from a bunch of flags just across a -little stretch of clear water.</p> - -<p>I looked and looked, while the bittern continued -to pump at rather protracted intervals; -but I could see nothing whatever, till presto! -there the creature stood in plain sight.</p> - -<p>Whether he had moved into view, or had all -the time been visible, I cannot tell. He soon -pumped again, and then again, for perhaps six -times. Then he stalked away out of sight, and -I heard nothing more. He was much nearer -than last year’s bird had been, but was still a -pumper, not a stake-driver, and his action was in -all respects the same as I had before witnessed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>There had been no bittern in this swamp the -season previous, nor did any breed here this -summer. I visited the place too often for him -to have escaped my notice, had he been present. -This bird, then, was a migrant, and his booming -was of interest as showing that the bittern, like -the song-birds, does not wait to get into summer -quarters before beginning to rehearse his love -music.</p> - -<p>Two days after this my companion of the year -before went with me again to Wayland, and, not -to prolong a long story, we sat again upon the -railway and watched a bittern pump for more -than an hour. This time, to be sure, he was -partially concealed by the grass, besides being -farther away than we could have wished.</p> - -<p>It was curious, and illustrated strikingly the -utility of the bird’s habit of standing motionless, -that my friend, who is certainly as sharp-eyed an -observer as I have ever known, was once more -completely taken in. As luck would have it, I -caught sight of the bird first, and when I pointed -him out to the other man he replied, “Why, of -course I saw that, but it never occurred to me -but that it was a stake.”</p> - -<p>We returned from this excursion fairly well -convinced that in the early part of the season, -while the grass is still short, one may hope to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> -see a bittern pump almost any day, if he will go -to a suitable meadow which has a railroad running -through it. The track answers a double -purpose: it gives the observer an outlook, such -as cannot be obtained from a boat, and furthermore, -the birds are quite unsuspicious of things -on the track, while the presence of a man in the -grass or on the river would almost inevitably -attract their attention.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XVIII<br> - -<small>BIRDS FOR EVERYBODY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> birds belong exclusively to specialists. -They are so rare, or their manner of life is so -seclusive, that people in general can never be -expected to know them except from books. The -latest list of the birds of Massachusetts includes -about three hundred and fifty species and sub-species. -Of these, seventy-five or more are so -foreign to this part of the country as to have appeared -here only by accident, while many others -are so excessively rare that no individual observer -can count upon seeing them, however close a -lookout he may keep. Other species are present -in goodly numbers, but only in certain portions -of the State; and still others, though generally -distributed and fairly numerous, live habitually -in almost impenetrable swamps or in deep forests, -and of necessity are seen only by those who make -it their business to look for them.</p> - -<p>It is something for which busy men and women -may well be thankful, therefore, that so many of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span> -the most pleasing, or otherwise interesting, of all -our birds are among those which may be called -birds for everybody. Such are the robin, the -bluebird, the Baltimore oriole,—or golden robin,—the -blue jay, the crow, and the chickadee. Of -all these we may say that they are common; they -come in every one’s way, and, what is still more -to the point, they cannot be mistaken for anything -else. Others are equally common, and are -easily enough seen, but their identity is not so -much a matter of course.</p> - -<p>The song sparrow, for example, is abundant in -Massachusetts from the middle of March to the -end of October. Outside of the forest it is almost -ubiquitous; it sings beautifully and with the -utmost freedom; it ought, one would say, to be -universally known. But it is <i>a</i> sparrow, not <i>the</i> -sparrow. In other words, it is only one of many, -and so, common as it is, and freely as it sings (it -is to be heard in every garden and by every roadside -in the latter half of March, when few other -birds are in tune), it passes unrecognized by the -generality of people. They read in books of song -sparrows, chipping sparrows, field sparrows, tree -sparrows, swamp sparrows, vesper sparrows, white-throated -sparrows, fox sparrows, yellow-winged -sparrows, savanna sparrows, and the like, and -when they see any little mottled brown bird,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> -they say, “Oh, it’s a sparrow,” and seek to know -nothing more.</p> - -<p>The family of warblers—among the loveliest -of all birds—are in a still worse case, and much -the same may be said of swallows and blackbirds, -thrushes and vireos. The number of species and -their perplexing similarity, which are such an attraction -to the student, prove an effectual bar to -those who have time and money for newspapers -and novels, but can spare neither for a manual -of local ornithology.</p> - -<p>I have named six birds which every one knows, -or may know, but of course I do not mean that -these are all. Why should not everybody know -the goldfinch—a small, stout-billed, bright yellow, -canary-like bird, with black wings and tail -and a black cap? And the flicker—or golden-winged -woodpecker—a little larger than the -robin, with gold-lined wings, a black crescent on -the breast, a red patch on the back of the head, -and a white rump, conspicuous as the bird takes -wing? The hummingbird, too—our only one; -I should say that everybody ought to recognize -it, only that I have found some who confuse -it with sphinx moths, and will hardly believe -me when I tell them of their mistake. The -cedar-bird, likewise, known also as the cherry-bird -and the waxwing, is a bird by itself; remarkably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> -trim and sleek, its upper parts of a -peculiarly warm cinnamon brown, its lower parts -yellowish, its tail tipped handsomely with yellow, -its head marked with black and adorned with a -truly magnificent topknot; as great a lover of -cherries as any schoolboy, and one of the first -birds upon which the youthful taxidermist tries -his hand. Just now—in early March—the -waxwings are hereabout in great flocks (I saw -more than a hundred, surely, three days ago), -stuffing themselves, literally, with savin berries. -These large flocks will after a while disappear, -and some time later, in May, smaller companies -will arrive from the South and settle with us for -the summer, helping themselves to our cherries -in return for the swarms of insects of whose presence -they have relieved us. If we see them thus -engaged, we shall do well to remember the Scripture -text, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.”</p> - -<p>This enumeration of birds, so strongly marked -that even a wayfaring man may easily name them, -might be extended indefinitely. It would be a -strange Massachusetts boy who did not know the -ruffed grouse (though he would probably call -him the partridge) and the Bob White; the kingbird, -with his black and white plumage, his aerial -tumblings, and his dashing pursuit of the crow; -the splendid scarlet tanager, fiery red, with black<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> -tail and wings; the bobolink; the red-winged -blackbird, whose watery <i>conkaree</i> is so welcome -a sound about the meadows in March; the slate-colored -snowbird; the indigo-bird, small, deep blue -throughout, and with a thick bill; the butcher-bird, -a constant though not numerous winter visitor, -sometimes flying against windows in which -canaries are hung, as one did at our house only -this winter—these surely may be known by any -who will take even slight pains to form their -acquaintance. And, beside these, there are two -birds whom everybody <i>does</i> know, but whom I -forgot to include with the six first mentioned,—the -catbird and the brown thrasher, two overgrown, -long-tailed wrens, near relatives of the -mockingbird, both of them great singers in their -way, and one of them—the catbird—decidedly -familiar and a fairly good mimic.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XIX<br> - -<small>WINTER PENSIONERS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Our</span> northern winter is a lean time, ornithologically, -though it brings us some choice birds -of its own, and is not without many alleviations. -When the redpolls come in crowds and the white-winged -crossbills in good numbers, both of which -things happened last year, the world is not half -so bad with us as it might be. Still, winter is -winter, a season to be tided over rather than -doted upon, and anything which helps to make -the time pass agreeably is matter for thankfulness. -So I am asked to write something about -the habit we are in at our house of feeding birds -in cold weather, and thus keeping them under -the windows. Really we have done nothing peculiar, -nor has our success been beyond that of many -of our neighbors; but such as it is, the work has -given us much enjoyment, and the readers of -“Bird-Lore”<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> are welcome to the story.</p> - -<p>Our method is to put out pieces of raw suet, -mostly the trimmings of beefsteak. These we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> -attach to branches of trees and to the veranda -trellis, taking pains, of course, to have them -beyond the cat’s reach (that the birds may feed -safely), and at the same time well disposed for -our own convenience as spectators. For myself, -in addition, I generally nail pieces of the bait -upon one or two of the outer sills of my study -windows. I like, as I sit reading or writing, to -hear now and then a nuthatch or a chickadee -hammering just outside the pane. Often I rise -to have a look at the visitor. There is nothing -but the glass between us, and I can stand near -enough to see his beady eyes, and, so to speak, -the expression of his face. Sometimes two birds -are there at once, one waiting for the other. -Sometimes they have a bit of a set-to. Then, -certainly, they are not without facial expression.</p> - -<p>Once in a while, in severe weather, I have -sprinkled crumbs (sweet or fatty crumbs are best—say -bits of doughnut) on the inside ledge, and -then, with the window raised a few inches, have -awaited callers. If the weather is bad enough -they are not long in coming. A chickadee -alights on the outer sill, notices the open window, -scolds a little (the thing looks like a trap—at -all events it is something new, and birds are -conservative), catches sight of the crumbs (well, -now, that’s another story), ceases his <i>dee, dee, -dee</i>, and the next minute hops inside.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i088a.jpg" alt="A DOWNY WOODPECKER"></div> -<p class="caption">A DOWNY WOODPECKER</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i088b.jpg" alt="A BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT"></div> -<p class="caption">A BRANCH ESTABLISHMENT</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>The crumbs prove to be appetizing, and by -the time he has swallowed a few of them he -seems to forget how he came in, and instead of -backing out, as a reasonable being like a chickadee -might be expected to do, he flies to another -light of the bay window. Then, lest he should -injure himself, I must get up and catch him and -show him to the door. By the time I have done -this two or three times within half an hour, I -begin to find it an interruption to other work, -and put down the window. White-breasted nuthatches -and downies come often to the outer sill, -but only the chickadees ever venture inside.</p> - -<p>These three are our daily pensioners. If they -are all in the tree together, as they very often -are, they take precedence at the larder according -to their size. No nuthatch presumes to hurry -a woodpecker, and no chickadee ever thinks of -disturbing a nuthatch. He may fret audibly, -calling the other fellow greedy, for aught I know, -and asking him if he wants the earth; but he -maintains a respectful distance. Birds, like wild -things in general, have a natural reverence for -size and weight.</p> - -<p>The chickadees are much the most numerous -with us, but taking the year together, the woodpeckers -are the most constant. My notes record -them as present in the middle of October, 1899,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> -and now, in the middle of October, 1900, they -are still in daily attendance. Perhaps there were -a few weeks of midsummer when they stayed -away, but I think not. One pair built a nest -somewhere in the neighborhood and depended -on us largely for supplies, much to their convenience -and our pleasure. As soon as the red-capped -young ones were able to fly, the parents -brought them to the tree and fed them with the -suet (it was a wonder how much of it they could -eat), till they were old enough to help themselves. -And they act, old and young alike, as if -they owned the place. If a grocer’s wagon happens -to stop under the tree they wax indignant, -and remain so till it drives away. Even the -black cat, Satan, has come to acknowledge their -rights in the case, and no longer so much as -thinks of them as possible game.</p> - -<p>I have spoken, I see, as if these three species -were all; but, not to mention the blue jays, -whose continual visits are rather ineffectively -frowned upon (they carry off too much at once), -we had last winter, for all the latter half of it, a -pair of red-bellied nuthatches. They dined with -us daily (pretty creatures they are), and stayed so -late in the spring that I began to hope the handy -food-supply would induce them to tarry for the -summer. They were mates, I think. At any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> -rate, they preferred to eat from the same bit of -fat, one on each side, in great contrast with all -the rest of our company. Frequently, too, a -brown creeper would be seen hitching up the -trunk or over the larger limbs. He likes pleasant -society, though he has little to say, and -perhaps found scraps of suet in the crevices of -the bark, where the chickadees, who are given -to this kind of providence, may have packed it -in store. Somewhat less frequently a goldcrest -would come with the others, fluttering amid the -branches like a sprite. One bird draws another, -especially in hard times. And so it happened -that our tree, or rather trees,—an elm and a -maple,—were something like an aviary the -whole winter through. It was worth more than -all the trouble which the experiment cost us to -lie in bed before sunrise, with the mercury below -zero, and hear a chickadee just outside singing -as sweetly as any thrush could sing in June. If -he had been trying to thank us, he could not -have done it more gracefully.</p> - -<p>The worse the weather, the better we enjoyed -the birds’ society; and the better, in general, -they seemed to appreciate our efforts on their -behalf. It was noticeable, however, that chickadees -were with us comparatively little during -high, cold winds. On the 18th of February, for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> -example, we had a blizzard, with driving snow, -the most inclement day of the winter. At seven -o’clock, when I looked out, four downy woodpeckers -were in the elm, all trying their best to -eat, though the branches shook till it was hard -work to hold on. They stayed much of the -forenoon. At ten o’clock, when the storm -showed signs of abating, though it was still wild -enough, a chickadee made his appearance and -whistled <i>Phœbe</i> again and again—“a long -time,” my note says—in his cheeriest manner. -Who can help loving a bird so courageous, “so -frolic, stout, and self-possest”? Emerson did -well to call him a “scrap of valor.” Yet I find -from a later note that “there were nothing like -the usual number of chickadees so long as the -fury lasted.” Doubtless most of them stayed -among the evergreens. It is an old saying of -the chickadee’s, frequently quoted, “Be bold, -be bold, but not too bold.” On the same day I -saw a member of the household snowballing an -English sparrow away from one branch, while -a downy woodpecker continued to feed upon the -next one. The woodpecker had got the right -idea of things. Honest folk need not fear the -constable.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XX<br> - -<small>WATCHING THE PROCESSION</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> begins to go by my door about the first of -March, and is three full months in passing. The -participants are all in uniform, each after his -kind, some in the brightest of colors, some in -Quakerish grays and browns. They seem not to -stand very strictly upon the order of their coming; -red-coats and blue-coats travel side by side. -Like the flowers, they have a calendar of their -own, and in their own way are punctual, but -their movements are not to be predicted with -anything like mathematical nicety. Of some -companies of them I am never certain which will -precede the other, just as I can never tell -whether, in a particular season, the anemone or -the five-finger will come first into bloom. They -need no bands of music, no drum-corps nor fifers. -The whole procession, indeed, is itself a band of -music, a grand army of singers and players on -instruments. They sing many tunes; each uniform -has a tune of its own, but, unlike what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> -happens in military and masonic parades, there -is never any jangling, no matter how near together -the different bands may be marching.</p> - -<p>As I said, the pageant lasts for three months. -It is fortunate for me, perhaps, that it lasts no -longer; for the truth is, I have grown so fond -of watching it that I find it hard to attend to -my daily work so long as the show continues. -If I go inside for half a day, to read or to write, -I am all the time thinking of what is going on -outside. Who knows what I may be missing at -this very minute? I keep by me a prospectus -of the festival, a list of all who are expected to -take part in it, and, like most watchers of such -parades, I have my personal favorites for whom -I am always on the lookout. One thing troubles -me: there is never a year that I do not miss a -good many (a <i>bad</i> many, I feel like saying) of -those whose names appear in the announcements. -Some of them, indeed, I have <i>never</i> seen. If -they are really in the ranks, it must be that their -numbers are very small; for the printed programme -tells exactly how they will be dressed, -and I am sure I should recognize them if they -came within sight. Some of them, I fancy, do -not keep their engagements.</p> - -<p>I spoke, to begin with, of their passing my -door. But I spoke figuratively. Some, it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> -true, do pass my door, and even tarry for a day -or two under my windows, but to see others I -have to go into the woods. Some I find only in -deep, almost impenetrable swamps, dodging in -and out among thick bushes and cat-tails. A -good many follow the coast. I watch them running -along the sea-beach on the edge of the surf, -or walking sedately over muddy flats where I -need rubber boots in which to follow them. -Some are silent during the day, but as darkness -comes on indulge in music and queer aerial -dancing.</p> - -<p>Many travel altogether by night, resting and -feeding in the daytime. It is pleasant to stand -out of doors in the evening, and hear them calling -to each other overhead as they hasten northward; -for at this time of the year, I have forgotten -to say, they are always traveling in a northerly -direction.</p> - -<p>The procession, as such, has no definite terminus. -It breaks up gradually by the dropping -out of its members here and there. Each of -them knows pretty well where he is going. This -one, who came perhaps from Cuba, means to stop -in Massachusetts; that one, after a winter in -Central America, has in view a certain swamp or -meadow, or, it may be, some mountain-top, in -New Hampshire; another will not be at home till<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> -he reaches the furthermost coast of Labrador or -the banks of the Saskatchewan. The prospectus -of which I spoke, and of which every reader -ought to have a copy, tells, in a general way, -whither each company is bound, but the members -of the same company often scatter themselves -over several degrees of latitude.</p> - -<p>Some of the companies move compactly, and -are only two or three days, more or less, in passing -a given point. You must be in the woods, -for example, on the 12th or 13th of May, or you -will miss them altogether. Others straggle along -for a whole month. You begin to think, perhaps, -that they mean to stay with you all summer, but -some morning you wake up to the fact that the -last one has gone.</p> - -<p>It is curious how few people see this army of -travelers. They pass by thousands and hundreds -of thousands. More than a hundred different -companies go through every town in Massachusetts -between March 1 and June 1. They -dress gayly—not a few of them seem to have -borrowed Joseph’s coat—and are full of music, -yet somehow their advent excites little remark. -Perhaps it is because, for the most part, they flit -from bush to bush and from tree to tree, here -one and there one. If some year they should -form in line, and move in close order along the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span> -public streets, what a stir they would excite! For -a day or two the newspapers would be full of -the sensation, and possibly the baseball reporters -would be compelled for once to shorten their accounts -of Battum’s “wonderful left-hand catch” -and Ketchum’s “phenomenal slide to the second -base.” It is just as well, I dare say, that nothing -of this kind should ever happen, for it is hard to -see how the great reading public could bear even -the temporary loss of such interesting and instructive -narratives.</p> - -<p>Meantime, though the greater part of the people -pay no heed to these “birds of passage,” -some of us are never tired of watching them. I -myself used to be fond of gazing at military and -political parades. In my time I have seen a good -many real soldiers and a good many make-believes. -But as age comes on, I find myself, rightly or -wrongly, caring less and less for such spectacles. -It will never be so, I think, with the procession -of which I am now writing. I have never watched -it with more enthusiasm than this very year. It -is only just over, but I am already beginning -to count upon its autumnal return, and by the -middle of August shall be looking every day for -its advance couriers.</p> - -<p>Till then I shall please myself with observing -the ways of such of the host as have happened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> -to drop out of the procession in my immediate -neighborhood. One of them I can hear singing -at this very moment. He and his wife spent the -winter in Mexico, as well as I can determine, and -have been back with us since the 11th of May. -They have pitched their tent for the summer in -the top of a tall elm directly in front of my door, -and just now are much occupied with household -cares. The little husband (<i>Vireo gilvus</i> he is -called in the official programme, but I have heard -him spoken of, not inappropriately, as the warbling -vireo) takes upon himself his full share of -the family drudgery, and it is very pretty indeed -to see him sitting in the tent and singing at his -work. He sets us all, as I think, an excellent -example.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">XXI<br> - -<small>SOUTHWARD BOUND</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> walking through a piece of pine wood, -three or four days ago, I was delighted to put -my eye unexpectedly upon a hummingbird’s nest. -The fairy structure was placed squarely upon the -upper surface of a naked, horizontal branch, and -looked so fresh, trimmed outwardly with bits of -gray lichen, that I felt sure it must have been -built this year. But where now were the birds -that built it, and the nestlings that were hatched -in it? Who could tell? In imagination I saw the -mother sitting upon the tiny, snow-white eggs, -and then upon the two little ones—little ones, -indeed, no bigger than bumble-bees at first. I -saw her feeding them day by day, as they grew -larger and larger, till at last the cradle was getting -too narrow for them, and they were ready to -make a trial of their wings. But where were they -now? Not here, certainly. For a fortnight I had -been passing down this path almost daily, and -not once had I seen a hummingbird.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>No, they are not here, and even as I write I -seem to see the little family on their way to the -far south. They are making the journey by easy -stages, I hope—flitting from flower-bed to flower-bed, -now in Connecticut, now in New Jersey, and -so on through Pennsylvania and the Southern -States. Will they cross the water to the West -Indies, as some of their kind are said to do? or, -less adventurous, will they keep straight on to -some mountain-side in Costa Rica, or even in -Brazil? I should be sorry to believe that the -parent birds took their departure first, leaving -the twin children to find their way after them as -best they could—as those who have paid most -attention to such matters assure us that many of -our birds are in the habit of doing. But however -they go, and wherever they end their long -journey, may wind and weather be favorable, and -old and young alike return, after the winter is -over, to build other nests here in their native -New England.</p> - -<p>This passing of birds back and forth, a grand -semi-annual tide, is to me a thing of wonder. I -think of the millions of sandpipers and plovers -which for two months (it is now late in September) -have been pouring southward along the sea-coast. -Some of them passed here on their way -north no longer ago than the last days of May.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> -They went far up toward the Arctic circle, but -before the end of July they were back again, -hastening to the equator. The golden plover, -we are told, travels from Greenland to Patagonia.</p> - -<p>All summer the golden warblers were singing -within sound of my windows. As I walked I saw -them flitting in and out of the roadside bushes, -beautiful and delicate creatures. But before the -first of September the last of them disappeared. -I did not see them depart. They took wing in -the night, and almost before I suspected it they -were gone. They will winter in Central or South -America, and, within a week of May-day, we shall -have them here again, as much at home as if they -had never left us.</p> - -<p>They were gone before the first of September, -I said. But I was thinking of those which had -summered in Massachusetts. In point of fact, I -saw a golden warbler only ten days ago. He was -with a mixed flock of travelers, and, in all likelihood, -had come from the extreme north; for -this dainty, blue-eyed warbler is common in summer, -not only throughout the greater part of the -United States, but on the very shores of the Arctic -Ocean. So he voyages back and forth, living -his life from land to land, as Tennyson says, led -by who knows what impulse?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Sweet bird, thy bower is ever green,</div> -<div class="ind">Thy sky is ever clear;</div> -<div class="verse">Thou hast no sorrow in thy song,</div> -<div class="ind">No winter in thy year.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>It is worth giving a little time daily to what is -called ornithology to be able to greet such wanderers -as they come and go. For some days now -a few Western palm warblers have been paying -us a visit, and, though the town has never commissioned -me to that office, I have taken it upon -myself to do them the honors. They have met -me halfway, at least, as the everyday expression -is; yielding readily to my enticements, and more -than once coming near enough to show me their -white lower eyelids, so that I might be quite sure -of their identity. A little later the <i>Eastern</i> palm -warbler will be due, and I hope to find him equally -complaisant; for I wish to see his lower eyelid, -also, which is yellow instead of white.</p> - -<p>At this time of the year, indeed, there is no -lack of such interesting and well-dressed strangers, -no matter where we may go. The woods -are alive with them by day, and the air by night. -There are few evenings when you may not hear -them calling overhead as they hasten southward. -Men who have watched them through telescopes, -pointed at the full moon, have calculated their -height at one or two miles. One observer saw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -more than two hundred cross the moon’s disk in -two hours. The greater part passed so swiftly as -to make it impossible to say more than that they -were birds; but others, flying at a greater altitude, -and therefore traversing the field of vision -less rapidly, were identified as blackbirds, rails, -snipe, and ducks. Another observer plainly -recognized swallows, warblers, goldfinches, and -woodpeckers.</p> - -<p>All over the northern hemisphere to-night, in -America, Europe, and Asia, countless multitudes -of these wayfarers will be coursing the regions of -the upper air; and to-morrow, if we go out with -our eyes open, we shall find, here and there, busy -little flocks of stragglers that have stopped by -the way to rest and feed: sparrows, snowbirds, -kinglets, nuthatches, chickadees, thrushes, warblers, -wrens, and what not, a few of them singing, -and every one of them evidently in love with life, -and full of happy expectations.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p> -Bittern:—<br> -<span class="indent">American, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">least, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</span><br> -<br> -Blackbird, red-winged, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br> -<br> -Bluebird, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br> -<br> -Bob White, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.<br> -<br> -Bobolink, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br> -<br> -Butcher-bird, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Catbird, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br> -<br> -Cedar-bird, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br> -<br> -Chickadee, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.<br> -<br> -Chimney swift, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.<br> -<br> -Creeper, brown, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br> -<br> -Crossbill, white-winged, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br> -<br> -Crow, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Flicker, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Goldfinch, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br> -<br> -Grosbeak:—<br> -<span class="indent">cardinal, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">rose-breasted, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</span><br> -<br> -Grouse, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Hummingbird, ruby-throated, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Indigo-bird, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Jay, blue, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Kingbird, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.<br> -<br> -Kinglet:—<br> -<span class="indent">golden-crowned, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">ruby-crowned, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</span><br> -<br> -<br> -Migration, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br> -<br> -Mockingbird, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Nighthawk, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.<br> -<br> -Nuthatch:—<br> -<span class="indent">red-breasted, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">white-breasted, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</span><br> -<br> -<br> -Oriole, Baltimore, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Partridge, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.<br> -<br> -Plover, golden, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.<br> -<br> -Plovers, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br> -<br> -Purple finch, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Redpoll linnet, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.<br> -<br> -Robin, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Sandpipers, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br> -<br> -Shrike:—<br> -<span class="indent">great northern, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">loggerhead, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</span><br> -<br> -Snipe, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br> -<br> -Snowbird (junco), <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br> -<br> -Sparrow:—<br> -<span class="indent">chipping, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">English, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">field, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">fox, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">Ipswich, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">savanna, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">song, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">tree, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">vesper, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">white-throated, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</span><br> -<br> -Swift, chimney, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Tanager:—<br> -<span class="indent">scarlet, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">southern, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</span><br> -<br> -Thrasher, brown, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Vireo, warbling, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br> -<br> -Vireos, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br> -<br> -Vulture, California, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.<br> -<br> -<br> -Warbler:—<br> -<span class="indent">golden, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">palm, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</span><br> -<br> -Warblers, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br> -<br> -Waxwing, cedar, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br> -<br> -Whip-poor-will, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.<br> -<br> -Woodcock, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.<br> -<br> -Woodpecker:—<br> -<span class="indent">downy, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</span><br> -<span class="indent">golden-winged, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</span><br> -</p> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><span class="antiqua">The Riverside Press</span><br> -<i>Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.</i><br> -<i>Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.</i></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="ph1">FOOTNOTE:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> To which this article was originally contributed.</p> - -</div> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> -</div></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVERYDAY BIRDS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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