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10c a copy, $4 year.
JANUARY, 1902.
S14 1 9) ree
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Vol. 2, No. 1.
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WAY
AN
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AYEESS)
Me AM, Z A.
Entered at the Post Office at Worcester, Mass. as second-class matter, Jan, 16, rgor.
Polished Gem Stones
12 Fine Ones for 50c, postpaid.
Wood Agate, Tiger Eye, Moss Agate, Carnelian,
Garnet, Turquoise, Amethyst, Malachite, Bloodstone,
Ribbon Agate, Gold Stone, Quartz Diamond.
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America’s Magazine for Sportsmen by Sportsmen
Field and Stream
Is trulv in touch with Nature, It brings Sunshine to
the Home and Rest to the Mind. One enjoys it likea
breath of pure Air. Published Monthly.
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Address John P. Burkhard, Publisher,
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— DEALER IN —
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BIRDS of NORTH AMERICA
Over eight hundred birds
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Who, some years since, did the largest
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Other lists are to follow as time will per-
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today
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Vol. Il. January, 1902. No. 1
These young Red-shouldered Hawks extend, for us, a New Year’s Greeting to you all.
Their appealing attitudes, and especially their lusty voices, suggest the thought that
they are calling for more subscribers to AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. Would it not be
well for all, not now enrolled, to begin the new year aright and accept the invitation
at once.
2 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
BALD EAGLE.
A. O. U. No. 352. (Haliaeetus leucocephalus.)
RANGE.
Distributed rather locally throughout the whole of North America.
It breeds throughout its range, and in the winter migrates southwards,
especially from the northern portions of its range.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about 3 feet; extent, from 6 to 8 feet; tail, about 1 foot.
Adults:—The female is generally larger than the male. Eye, bill and
feet, yellow. Head and tail, white. The remainder of the upper and
under parts, together with the wings, are dark brown. This plumage is
acquired during their third year. Young (Ist year):—Eye and bill,
brown. Feet, Yellow. Color, a uniform dark brown all over. (2nd
year):—Uniform brown, with the feathers edged with lighter and feath-
ers about the rump and base of neck light in places.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Bald Eagle nest in the tops of the tallest trees. The nest is nat-
urally a very large structure composed of large sticks and lined with
roots. As the birds use the same nest year after year, andrepair it each
time, it becomes an enormous structure, often six or seven feet across.
EGG OF BALD EAGLE.
On rocky coasts where suitable trees are scarce, they will build their nests
upon the high cliffs. -In Florida they commence nesting early in Janu-
ary, and the period varies from that time until the latter part of April in
the northern parts of its range. The eggs are commonly two in num-
ber, sometimes three. They have a granulated surface and are white
in color, although nearly always they are somewhat nest stained.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photograph by E. W, Campbell.
BALD EAGLE.
4 AMERICAN. ORNITHOLOGY.
HABITS.
What pulse does not beat more rapidly at the sight of an Eagle, asin
his majestic flight, he executes circle after circle and finally vanishes
from view without an apparent beat of his immense wings. From child-
hood, we have had related to us, stories of the strength and daring of
these grand birds, and although some of them are probably rudely shat-
tered, still we always retain a wholesome respect for the bird that has
gained so great renown.
The variety best known to the American people, especially those near
the coast, is the Bald Eagle. It must not be supposed that this magni-
ficent bird of prey is in reality bald. This name was given him as, at
a distance, it appears as if he might be in that unfortunate predicament.
In reality his head is covered with snow white feathers, and “‘White-
headed Eagle,’’ a name that is often given to him, is much more appro-
priate. The young birds of this species are of a uniform dark brown
color, but after the third year of their existence, their head and tail be-
come pure white, a change that comes remarkably early considering
that their natural life is nearly a hundred years. It seems strange at
first thought that the young birds should be larger than the old ones, but
such is the case. As they grow older, the muscles become hardened by
usage and gradually contract so that the adult bird will measure several
inches less in extent than he did in his youth. This fact, together with
the great change in coloration, gave rise to the former impression that
the old and young were two distinct species.
This proud monarch of the air is also our national bird and his por-
trait adorns several of our coins. He was selected because of his im-
posing aspect, size, strength and daring. Some have accused him of
cowardice, because often crows or smaller birds will apparently drive
him away, but it is a mistake on their part. In all probability, he acts
on the same principle as the man who is hectored by small boys. Until
they become too impudent, he disdains to notice them.
Many a neighborhood boasts of its pair of Eagles, and so attached to
them do the country folks become, that they would as soon think of
making war upon each other as to harm them. It is well that popular
sentiment protects them thus or they would soon all be destroyed.
In their home life, Eagles are much devoted to each other and remain
mated for life, using the same nest year after year, unless robbed. Their
food consists of flesh, either fresh or decomposed. They are found much
more commonly near the sea coast than in the interior, and they have
the requisite speed and strength to capture many species of ducks and
water birds. Their chief food, however, is fish. This they get in sev-
eral ways. They sometimes dive for them in the manner of the Osprey,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 5
catching them in their talons; again they will stand in shallow water and
strike at them with their bills, heron fashion; often they will rob the
Fish Hawk of his skillfully gotten prey. The pursuit of an Osprey has
been told, times innumerable. Suffice it is to say that the Eagle from
his outlook watches the Osprey catch his fish, then pursues him; by
superior speed and strength, he at length overtakes his victim, and the
latter to save himself, drops the fish which is caught in mid air by the
Eagle.
Because of being shot at so persistently, they are very wary, and will
not, knowingly, allow any one to approach near. They are very cour-
ageous and if wounded will put up a plucky fight for their life. They
have been known to attack human beings without provocation, but such
instances are very rare, and must be occasioned by extreme hunger.
These birds are frequently seen in captivity, and-are often kept for
years. It must be hard though for a bird of their wild disposition, used
to soaring through unlimited space, to be chained down or confined to
the narrow boundaries of a cage. I hope soon to see them protected by
law, in addition to sentiment, in all states. While the real good they
do is limited to what carrion they destroy, the harm they do is limited
also, and I think that we all will forgive the “‘emblem of our republic”’
if occasionally he makes a meal on some of the other birds, especially
as the ones chosen by him have really no value tothe community greater
than that possessed by the Eagle.
LONG-BILLED CURLEW,
A. O. U. No. 264. (Numenius longirostris.)
RANGE.
With the exception of the extreme northern part, this Curlew is found
over the whole of North America. It is very irregularly distributed,
and breeds along the South Atlantic coast and in the interior of its
range.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about 25 in.; extent, 39 in.; tail, 4 in.; bill, from 6 to 8 in.,
and greatly curved. Eye, bill.and feet, brown. General color above
and below, dull yellowish red, lightest on the throat. The top of head,
neck, breast and back are streaked and the wings and tail barred with
dark brown.
NEST AND EGGS.
The nest of this bird is simply a hollow in the ground. They line it
sparingly with a few grasses and during May and June lay three of four
eggs. These are of a greenish yellow color, and heavily blotched with
brown.
6 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
HABITS.
This is the largest of the American Curlews, and also of that class des-
ignated as wading birds. He has no disagreeable traits whatever, still
he is very unfortunate in several particulars. He has the misfortune to
be classed by the sporting fraternity as a game bird, a misfortune that
costs all birds, of whatever species, dearly, and that hits this bird rather
more severly than some others. Another characteristic that often proves
disastrous to the safety of the bird is its sympathetic nature. <A sports-
man, who enjoys his annual vacation, shooting shore birds on the South
Atlantic coast has given a few notes on these birds from his point of
view.
These long-billed waders feed principally upon worms and small shell
fish. These latter they obtain at low water on the mud flats that are
laid bare at this time. When the returning waters cover these feeding
grounds they retire to the meadows further inland and search for worms.
Just above high water mark on one of these flats, the sportsmen had
constructed a blind of driftwood and seaweed. For several days these
men could be found in close proximity to this refuge. One morning as
they were waiting for the flight of birds to commence, they saw coming
a flock of about twenty large birds of the Plover family. They were fly-
ing in the form of a letter V, with the point forwards, and as they pass-
ed by just out of gun shot, they were able to identify them, by means of
their extremely long curved bills, as the Long-billed or as the sports-
men know them, “‘Sickle-billed’’ or ““Spanish’’ Curlews.
As they passed they were uttering a whistle, something like “‘ker-lee’’;
an imitation of this call, caused the entire flock to wheel about and cir-
cle over the blind, and several fell as the four shots, fired by the two
men, rang out. Instead of being frightened away, as most birds would
have been, the remainder of the flock circled back time after time as
though to encourage the wounded birds that lay, calling, on the beach,
to rise and follow them. Of course each time as they went within gun-
shot of the blind, several shots would be fired, and the result was that
the men came home well satisfied with their score, and without giving a
thought as to how long any of the birds would be left under this whole-
sale destruction. They got fourteen out of the twenty.
In considering this matter strictly in accordance with the law, this
wholesale slaughter is justifiable, but as a lover of birds said to me only
the other day, in speaking of the scarcity of game birds: “‘Well, if the
birds had the power to talk, they would put up quite an argument as to
why they should be allowed to live.”’
LONG-BILLED CURLEW.
© 2)
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Pri
ot EZhpoe:
It hangs in the branch of a pear tree,
Lonely and tenantless now,
‘Mid Winter winds whistling and wailing
It clings to the leafless bough.
It hangs with its hay scented grasses
Tattered and torn by the rain,
A bit of sweet Nature’s old story
Left now at the Summer’s wane.
The Chickadees hop in the branches,
Nuthatches pound on the tree,
Where once in the sunshine of Summer
The Vireo sang tome.
He preaches a sermon of friendship,
Over.and over again,
And tells in his own winning language,
Of love and goodwill to all men.
| wait till the Summer returning
Laden with sunshine and rest,
Shall bring back my Vireo preacher
To build near the empty nest.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Fig. r. Photo from life by [r. R. W, Shufeldt.
TEXAS BOB-WHITE.
10 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
In the course of my experiences in the photography of birds, the Am-
erican partridges have always been favorites of mine. A year or so
ago the opportunity was offered me to experiment in this way with a
number of our western species and subspecies of the Perdicine, no-
tably the Texan Bob-White (Colinus v. fexanus) Figure 1, 4, the Plumed
partridge ( Oreortyx p. plumiteterus,) the Chestnut-bellied Scaled Part-
ridge ( Callipepla s. castanogastris) Figure 3, 4, and the California Part-
ridge ( Callipepla californica) Fig. 2,4. I have also successfully photo-
graphed in life the common quail of Europe, both the male and the
female birds,—adult specimens.
All of the live American partridges I photographed were kindly loaned
me by Mr. Edward S. Schmid, who keeps an Animal Emporium at No.
712 12th street, N. W., Washington, D. C., he having received them
from his collectors in the west.
At that time I was living in Washington, and Mr. Schmid permitted
me to take his birds to my home, and keep them in large cages until
such times as I had been successful in securing negatives of them. As
a rule I selected only the best plumaged and the strongest male birds,
though in the case of the little common quail of Europe, I obtained fine
results, both of the male as well as the female.
These last named have been published in a number of places, but be-
ing birds of another country they are not suitable subjects to reproduce
here, that is, in a journal so strictly devoted to the ornithology of the
United States.
In the case of the Texan Bob-white, I secured my specimen in one
instance almost life-size when standing; I also obtained it when perched
up in the limbs of a tree. It was a fine male individual and after he had
been in my possession about a week, he became very docile, and gave
me but litte trouble in securing his photograph.
“ADGINLYVd VINYOSAITVD
2 Big
“YPIEINYS “AA A “A Aq ajt] wosy oyoyq
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
RE
2 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
To get him on the ground, I simply had a big piece of an old rough
log put up in a favorable light in my studio. Then selecting a suitable
part of this, I focussed upon it as sharp as possible with an open lens.
My Partridge was then induced to walk up and down upon this log until
he became thoroughly accustomed to the novelty of the procedure. Final-
ly, in the course of these short promenades, he happened to stop on the
very spot on the old log, where I had focussed. In the meantime, how-
ever, I had inserted a very small ‘‘stop’’ and a very quick plate, and the
light being exceptionally good, I risked what practically almost amount-
ed to an instantaneous exposure. As a result of this operation, I se-
cured a beautiful negative, and some day later on I hope to be able to
publish a reproduction of it in the AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
The second time I attempted this Texan Bob-white was on the same
day and in the same place. Removing the log, I replaced it with the
small limb of a tree, and by a little gentle persuasion, I was not long in
inducing this very amiable Partridge to walk up along it. I had focus-
sed on a point where the branches forked, and as he reached there he
took a notion to squat down. He appeared so charming in this attitude
and the high light rendered him and his deep tinted plumage so hand-
some that I could not resist the temptation, so by a gradual, though,
rapid pressure of the pneumatic bulb, I fortunately made a fine result,
and a reproduction of this is here shown in figure 1, of the present
paper.
I found Bob-whites far easier to photograph than any of the western
Partridges, except, perhaps, the Chestnut-bellied Scaled Partridge, a
form I was particularly successful with, both on the ground as well as
on the limbs of trees.
In figure 3, for example, we have this bird absolutely as he ap-
pears in nature. Under the proper course of training he had become
very gentle indeed, and would walk up and down my extended arm
without any apparent fear or concern whatever. He was extremely
alert, however, and the very slightest sound attracted his attention, and
in expressing his state of incessant awareness he would keep raising
and lowering his very pretty crest, and in the same gradual manner that
some of the larger butterflies open and close their wings. Atlast, how-
ever, when I felt pretty sure that his ruffled spirits were down to their
normal ebb, I allowed him to walk off of my arm and hand or to the
limb of an oak, which I had prepared for him in the same manner as I
had previously arranged the limb of a tree for my Texan Bob-white. It
was not long before I had made three or four successful exposures on
him in this situation, and one of the best of these is here reproduced in
figure 3.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 1s
elcuete Photo from life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt.
CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED PARTRIDGE.
14 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
He had turned about and faced the camera, which was not over a yard
removed from him. Next, with great deliberation, he squatted down
upon the limb. I then came over well to his left. side, and he slowly
turned his head to regard me and my movements. Waiting quietly a
moment, I then attracted his attention with an almost inaudible squeak-
ing note, made with my teeth and lips. This caused him to raise his
crest to the full height, and this was exactly what.I desired. By cau-
tiously varying the note, I powerfully held his attention, and induced
him to keep his crest up for at least two seconds. During this very val-
uable and important interval, I made the exposure, the plate being a
very sensitive one, and 5 x 8 in the matter of size. In a few moments
in the dark-room, I soon appreciated the fact that I had been successful
in photographically bagging as handsome a specimen of this interesting
little Partridge as ever was seen.
On the same day, and by similar methods, I obtained several fine
negatives of the California Partridge, both perched up on limbs as well
as in other attitudes. One of these was nearly life size, and this one is re-
produced here in figure 2, and it gives a very excellent representation
of this bird as he appears perched up on the limb of a low shrub, at a
foot or so above the ground.
Photographs from negatives of this bird have been published by
me before, both in this country and in Europe, and up to the present
time, always as a specimen of Gambel’s Partridge. I am now con-
vinced that the bird is a California Partridge (Callipepla californica),
and that I have never made a photograph of Gambels. Mr. C. A
Reed, the editor of the present journal, brought me about to this opin-
ion and my thanks are due to him for his having kindly loaned me skins
of the two different species for comparison. Primarily I was deceived
in the premises by Mr. Schmid having told me that the birds were
captured in Texas, and an authority on-game birds, who saw this lot
alive, remarked off-hand that they were Gambel’s Partridges, and the
mistake, inadvertedly having started in this manner, is here, now cor-
rected for the first time.
The reproductions of the figures in the present article are from plati-
num prints and therefore are not quite as strong or as sharp as had they
been made from an albumen paper. Still they possess a softness anda
charm that the plate made from the latter paper seems to be unable to
render.
In making pictures of this class one can only succeed with them by
employing, in the case of his material and apparatus, the best of every-
thing to be had in the market. The purest chemicals, the finest and
quickest plates, not less in size thana5Sx 8, the most expensive len-
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 15
ses, and, finally, good taste and judgment, and a constant exercise of all
the wits and patience one has at command are all required. It is only
by such means and procedures that the naturalist photographer can ever
hope for even partial success and mediocre achievement in this truly in-
teresting field.
SWAMP SPARROW,
A. O. U. No. 584. (Mclospiza georgiana.)
RANGE.
Eastern North America from the Atlantic to the Plains and from
southern Canada and New Foundland to the Gulf States, the latter lo-
cality being its winter quarters. Breeds from the Northern United
States northwards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 5.75 in.; tail, 2.25 in. Bill, feet and eye, brown. Adult in
spring:—Forehead, black. Top of head, chestnut, edged with blackish.
Back, dull yellowish, broadly streaked with black. Primaries and tail,
reddish brown. Line over the eye and band extending across the
breast and to the back of the neck, gray. Sides of the head and flanks,
yellowish brown. In the fall the chestnut on the head is nearly ob-
scured by black streaks; this is also the case with the young birds.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Swamp Sparrow constructs its nest on the ground, in low
swampy localities. It is generally concealed in some thicket by over-
hanging clumps of grass. The eggs are three or four in number, pale
blue, and quite heavily blotched with various shades of brown. They
breed in the northern parts of the United States and in southern Cana-
da about the latter part of May.
HABITS.
All day long, and growing in intensity as dusk approaches, comes
from the bog, the shrill calls of numerous young frogs, interspersed
now and then with the deep bass voice of some of their elders; here the
turtle basks in the sunshine on some half sunken log, and the muskrat
leaves a widening trail of ripples as he wends his way up the stream:
numerous unstable clumps of grass dot the edges of the creek, and be-
neath the arch of overhanging alders is a tangled mass of weeds and
blackberry vines.
16
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 17
ar Nee
}
qe ; , a <a
SS rs ———? Aber
Ye D4
4 ¥ : “4
| ib mu \
Photo by C. H. Morrell.
NEST OF SWAMP SPARROW.
Amid surroundings such as these, you will find the Swamp Sparrows.
These dark colored, handsome members of the Finch family are much
more intimately acquainted with neighbors such as these, than with
mankind, for whom they have a wholesome fear and respect.
Although there might be a large number of them in some low thick-
et, unless you were purposely looking for them, in all probability you
would pass by without being aware of their presence. Happy and ac-
tive, when no one is around, the instant an enemy appears, all song
ceases and with the exception of a few warning chirps, all are silent un-
til you have passed.
I have cautiously approached a flock, early in the morning when they
are singing at their best, and seated myself in their very midst. Every
--once in a while, above the rustling of the leaves, caused by them in
their search for food, I could hear a beautiful little song consisting of
several trills given in a low sweet tone so as to appear to be at quite
a distance from me. Another song frequently heard was a very rapid-
ly repeated chirp, forming nearly a continuous note and not unlike that
of the Chipping Sparrow. I had been there but a few minutes before
one of them hopped to a twig within arm’s reach from me. He had no
idea there was anybody near and looked at me for an instant as if he
could hardly believe his eyes, then with one loud, deep chirp, dropped
out of sight. At once all the birds about me, who had been quite noisy,
became silent. Evidently my discoverer told them all what was the
18 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
matter, for one after another flew to a location from which they could
see me. It is quite difficult to make them take wing, as they are very
agile and will dodge in and out among the clumps of grass and escape
observation., and when they do fly, it is only for a few feet. I have re-
peatedly seen them do apparently impossible feats of walking upon the
water. They would run rapidly across the creek, taking advantage of
every floating twig or leaf, without allowing their unsecure footing the
necessary time to sink beneath their. weight.
A WOODLAND SONGSTER,
In nearly all New England woodlands, particularly those slightly in-
clined to be marshy, the Veery will be found. He is frequently classed
as the sweetest American songster, but although it is very pleasing to
the ear to hear his clear, tremulous, whistling solo, early in the morn-
ing and towards dusk, I hardly think that he has earned this high dis-
tinction. I had the fortune to observe the home life of a pair of them
this past summer. The illustrations with this article, I prize more
highly than any others that I have secured, because of difficulties and
other incidents connected with their taking. That I only secured two
good photographs of the bird in as many weeks, does not signify that
that this is all the plates that I exposed. On the contrary, at least
a dozen were transformed into worthless pieces of glass, some from
faults of my own and others from unavoidable circumstances. Before
discovering the nest shown here, I had attempted to photograph two
others, but could not as the patience of the birds exceeded my own,
and neither of them would return while I was ‘near.
As I was walking through a certain small marshy bit of woods, I
was startled by the flushing of a bird at my feet. Her alarm note as
she disappeared through the underbrush announced that it was a Wil
son’s Thrush or Veery. Glancing downwards, from whence she had
started, my eyes at once rested on four bright blue eggs snugly nestled
in a handsome cradle of grapevine. It hardly seems possible after
finding the nest of this bird that one can go by and not notice such a
conspicuous object; yet I have spent more than an hour looking for
one, and been unable to find it, although I was certain that it was but a
few feet away. These birds almost always nest in places which are
well covered with brush or weeds, and a single fern or leaf over the
nest conceals it effectively.
The day following my discovery, I returned to see what success I
might have with this nest. I first watched and saw that the bird al-
ways entered the nest from the rear, and then I placed the camera in
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
iPhoto from life by C. A. Reed.
INSPECTING HER TREASURES.
19
20 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
front of the nest and with the lens about two feet from it. The whole
outfit was then covered with a green cloth and plentifully sprinkled
with leaves and branches, so as to attract as little attention as possible,
although probably the bird thought that it was very conspicuous. I
have often wondered that they dared to return to their nest when any
such contrivance was placed before it. They prove that they have a
large amocnt of courage and I doubt, were we placed in the same po-
sition, if we would ever return to our homes. After having affairs ar-
ranged to my satisfaction, I retired as far as the tubing would allow
and, concealing myself as best I could, waited.
The trees about me were very tall and the sun came through the
dense foliage in only one large patch, from an opening nearly over the
nest and a little to the southward, thus allowing the sun to shine direct-
ly on the nest from about nine o’clock in the morning until two. After
waiting about an hour without seeing a sign of either of the birds, I
began to fear that unless they returned very soon the eggs would be
baked by the extreme heat of the sun, so I arranged a blackberry
branch, that had previously shaded the nest, so that with a thread I
could very gradually draw it to one side when the birds returned, and
allow it to furnish shelter to the eggs, when they were absent. Both
birds would come at times, and after much calling to each other, depart
although frequently during these intermittent visits, my hand would
grasp the bulb more firmly, in anticipation of seeing one of them hop
to the nest. During their periods of absence, the silence was oppres-
sive, the only notes heard being an occasional lisp from the Redstart,
who had a nest in a tree a short distance away, a sharp chirp from the
little Chestnut-sided Warbler, whose nest was in the blackberry vines
within plain view from where I sat, and the buzzing of numerous
mosquitos. And by the way, if these last mentioned had confined their
attentions to merely buzzing, their presence would have been more wel-
come but as it was I can testify that, although they may not equal the
famous Jersey mosquitos in size, their bites were of good quality.
Just twice during the three days that I was present, while the nest
contained eggs, did the owner visit the nest, that is to actually stand
upon the edge. On the first negative that I exposed I was unable to
find a trace of the bird, but on the next was the one shown here. The
day after obtaining this picture, I found that the nest contained young,
and the parents were much more anxious than formerly. Not wishing
to expose the young to the sun even for a short space of time, I did not
attempt to photograph the birds again until the little ones were a week
old and commencing to look like feathered birds instead of the naked,
helpless mites that they first were.
21
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
C. A. Reed
Photo from life by
ALWAYS HUNGRY.
22 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
From this time forth the parents remained in the vicinity of the nest
when I was about. Several incidents occurred to relieve the monotony
of waiting, although probably the birds would have returned to the nest
sooner if the interruptions had been omitted. I had just settled down
to business, and the Thrush was showing signs of returning for her
portrait, when a fusilade of shots came from the edge of the wood.
Soon a twenty-five year old boy appeared, armed with a small repeat-
ing rifle. He passed by, about twenty yards from me, and showed his
sporting proclivities by firing at everything animate that appeared, and,
when he could see no living thing to try his skill upon, he would fire at
the surrounding trees, just for excitement. I kept close watch of him
to see that he did not notice the camera, for he certainly would have
tried to hit it, although his enthusiasm far exceeded his skill, for he
missed everything that he fired at while he was within my view.
After the temporary excitement had subsided, the mother bird, with
her beak filled with grubs, began her maneuvers about the nest. After
inspecting the camera closely, from several points of view, she descend-
ed to the ground and walked completely around the nest several times,
each circuit bringing her nearer to the goal, and raising my hopes of
obtaining her photopraph. Each time when she came to the small tube
which connected the camera shutter with my place of concealment, she
would stop and look it over carefully, then cautiously step over and in-
spect it from the other side, before continuing her tramp. Finally she
hopped on the edge of the nest to deliver her load to the expectant
young, and my longed for chance had come.
We went through this same operation several times during the next
few days, but with the exception of the one shown here the results were
a failure from my point of view. This photograph shows but three
birds whereas there were four. One of them did not see the parent
bird returning and the others in their eagerness to be fed, walked all
over him.
On one other occasion, after the shooting episode, my solicitude in
regard to the safety of the camera was aroused. This little piece of
woods was used as shelter from the heat by anumber of cows. On one
of the days when I was present, one of them noticed the camera, and
having an inquisitive disposition, she proceeded to investigate. Al-
though there were leaves of the same kind on every hand, she persist-
ed in eating those on the branch that shielded the camera, and seemed
to take it unkindly when I was forced to drive her away.
And now we come to the closing chapter of my observations, and a
sad one it is. On nearly every day that I was in the woods, I either
saw or heard two dogs prowling through the underbrush. One of these
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 23
was a light colored hound, and he was the author of the following deed.
I was not more than forty feet from the Veery’s nest, and was trying
to photograph the Chestnut-side, which has been mentioned before.
The gray hound was beating about the bush, throughout the woods
and occasionally I would catch sight of him as he stopped and sniffed
the air. Soon he uttered a short joyful bark, and then all was still once
more. Evidently he left the woods at once, for I soon heard him bay-
ing farther off. I understood the meaning of his bark, when I left the
woods about ten minutes later. When I passed the Thrush’s nest it
was upside down and every little one had disappeared. Why the old
birds had created no noticable disturbance, I cannot say, but before me
was the evidence firmly fastening the guilt upon the dog. The parent
birds must have left the locality at once, for they were neither seen nor
heard there again. Let this be a warning to those who own a dog of
any variety. Do not allow him to roam the woods alone, under the
impression that he is only following the scent of some squirrel or rab-
bit. CHESTER A. REED.
THE OVEN BIRD,
A. O. U. No. 674. (Seiurus aurocapillus.)
RANGE.
Eastern North America generally, from the gulf to the arctic regions,
apparently common and breeding everywhere throughout its range,
wintering sparingly along the gulf coast, but mostly in the sub-tropical
regions beyond.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 6 to 6.5 inches; extent, 9.5 in.; tail,-2.5 in.” Eye, brown.
General color above, brownish or yellowish olive, with an ochreous yel-
low crown margined with black. The under parts and a line over the
eye, white. The breast is streaked with arrow shaped spots of black,
thus resembling very especially the thrushes in color, in which group, it
was formally classed merely from anology, but it is now regarded as a
sort of a wagtail Warbler.
NEST AND EGGS.
The nest, which is on the ground in the woods, is a very marked
structure, generally substantial and roofed over, with an entrance on
the side. This bears such a striking resemblance in miniature to the
old fashioned out-door oven, that the builder has been quite generally,
in fact almost universally christened, the ‘Oven Bird.’? The nest is
mainly built of leaves compounded with dried grasses, shreds of bark,
24
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 25
¥ . aa
Photo by C. H. Morrell.
NEST OF OVEN BIRD.
fine twigs and'often ornamented with mosses and skeleton leaves. Often
itis a thing of beauty. I have found it, however, quite scantily built
almost wholly of pine needles, when located in apine forest. Theeggs
are four or five in number, unusually rounded, and are white as porce-
lain, finely spotted and specked with red, brown and lilac, the marks be-
ing mostly around the larger end in the form of a wreath. In a neatly
built nest finely lined with skeleton leaves and horse hair, they are truly
objects for admiration, and always seem to say to the beholder, ‘*Hands
off.”’
HABITS.
One of the most constant and noticeable habits of this bird is its keep-
ing so persistantly to the ground. Here it walks about, keeping time
aud balance with a motion of the head, in the most dainty dove-like
manner.
It is pre-eminently a walking bird. Here, too, like the strictly ground
Warblers, it must find its food. Never describing curves in the manner
of the Flycatchers, nor flitting among the branches, like the Dendroica,
(or Silviadae formerly), it scratches among the leaves after the manne,
of a Chewink. Here its sharp chipping alarm note is often heard,
especially in the breeding season, which is generally late in May or
early in June. Nothing is more characteristic, of our beautiful forests
than its unique chant, “‘Ke-chee, ke-chee, ke-chee, ke-chee, ke-cheer
.’ Often beginning so softly that you might imagine the bird
26 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
some distance away, but increasing in force noticeably to the end, per-
haps becoming almost shrill and disclosing the ventriloquist near by on
a lower limb, head up, motionless at first but finally shaking himself
from head to tail in emphatic utterances of his last syllables. The per-
formance is greatly enhanced in effect by a full woodland echo. This
was formally supposed to be the full extent of the Oven birds’ full capac-
ity, even Wilson, Audubon and Nuttall discovering nothing more; but
when Mr. Burroughs, a sort of delightful dramatic observer, came into
the field, he called attention to this bird’s extatic song flight.
He says: ‘“‘Mounting by easy flights to the top of the tallest tree, he
launches into the air with a sort of suspended, hovering flight, like cer-
tain of the Finches, and bursts into a perfect ecstacy of song,clear,ring-
ing, copious, rivalling the Goldfinches in vivacity, and the Linnets in
melody. ‘This strain is one of the rarest bits of bird melody to be heard,
and is oftenest indulged in, late in the afternoon or after sundown.’’
This description is very accurate. I seldom heard this song, however,
while in the north, but on coming to Maryland I found it to be a com-
mon ornithological entertainment. In the forest around my field, there
is a pair located every few rods, and the beautiful song flight is a com-
mon occurance about sunset or even on cloudy days, in fact I have heard
it at about all hours of the night, and a beautiful song in the night is
enough to endear any bird to the heart of the insomnist.
REV. J. H. LANGILLE, Kensington, Md.
THE ASIATIC MERLE,
In loooking for old acquaintances among the feathered neighbors
of China, it at first seemed that we had found Merula migratoria (Amer-
ican Robin) masquerading in a suit of black, so perfectly did actions
and voice agree with our old friend, but upon closer inspection this new
bird was found to be the Asiatic Merle, or Black Thrush.
The Merle is about the size of the American Robin, and of a uniform
black color, with a bright yellow bill, and the tail somewhat fished.
The female is the same as the male except that the front parts have
a tinge of rust color showing through the black, as though the trans-
formation from the American Robin had not been quite complete.
Among the many sweet singers of the land of bird song, this bird is
among the first. Though he may seem to be dressed in deep mourn-
ing, his rich clear voice will soon convince you that he has nothing to
be sad about. Just at that uncertain time of the morning, when the
watcher is unable to tell whether night is fading into day, and ere the
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 27,
sun has been able to shoot his first finger of light into the sky above,
the Merle awakens from his slumbers with a perfect flood of melody.
Perched in some near by tree, he prefaces his song with a few sharp
shrill whistles as if to command silence from the other feathered song-
sters and then, as a master leader, he pours forth his sweet strains,
awakening the stillness into life. His hours of song are not confined
to the morning, but all through the day and late into the night his voice
may be heard as he sits hidden somewhere in the densest foliage of the
tree, trying to outdo himself in an ecstacy of song.
The habits of this specie are very similar to the American Robin.
The food consists largely of worms and larvae which are taken from
the ground. With drooping wings this bird may be seen stealthily
creeping along or at other times imitating our old friend the robin, as
he will run a little way and straighten himself up, but all the time he is
intently listening for the unsuspecting larva or insect which is to make
his meal. As is common with most birds of this class, he also feeds
on berries and fruits in their season and seems to enjoy them immensely.
The nest of the Merle is placed in a vertical fork or perhaps, on a
horizontal limb at a distance of from ten to forty feet from the ground
and is composed of grass, leaves and vegetable fibres, lined with root-
lets. This nest is very deeply cupped. The eggs are a pale olive
green spotted, marked and blotched with various shades of brown,
blue and burnt umber.
ERNEST B. CALDWELL.
' [Although this magazine is especially devoted to our own birds, we
are glad to have received the above article on the Asiatic form of our
Robin, coming as it does from an American who is well acquainted
with our birds, especially those of Tenessee, where he formerly re-
sided. He has also favored us with an article comparing the bird life
in far off China to that of this country. This we shall use a little later.
Mr. Harry R. Caldwell, well known to ornithologists in the U. S.,
and who has been in China the past year writes:—I am very much in-
terested in China and find it one of the most beautiful countries in
the world. The southern portion of it is a little Eden, a land of fruit
and flowers. I doubt that God and Nature ever joined hands in the
production of a drama more beautiful, or a country more “‘in tune with
”
the Infinite’? than this great country. During the fifteen or more
years spent by Mr.'Caldwell with the birds of Tenessee, he has made
many notes on their habits and we hope-to draw from these from time
to time. Ep.]
28 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, et
To the boys and girls who read AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY,— greeting:
This magazine opens the new year with a special corner for the young
folks. You have enjoyed its pages with the older people, but now we
have a room by ourselves, we hope to become better acquainted with
each other, and with our little brothers of the air. We hope that this
department will help you to know the dress of the birds you meet in
your everyday walks, their songs, and their habits, and thus to love
more the beautiful things which God has given us to make us happier
and better. So bring your questions and birding adventures, and talk
them over with, Your friend, MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
A JANUARY PICNIC.
Hurrah, boys and girls. Who is ready for a picnic this bracing win-
ter morning? A picnic in January? I hear you say. I never heard of a
picnic with the mercury at zero. Who is to be there? Is it to be held
around a blazing fireplace?
Nay, it is to be held under the great oak just beyond the house; there
is a dashing brook, which Jack Frost has failed to chain, rushing down
the hill in a field near by, and on its banks are still left some berries
and seeds which our guests will enjoy. Of course the food is an im-
portant part of every picnic. Our bill of fare includes a large piece
of suet tied to a branch of the oak, a head of ripened sunflower seeds,
hung from the trunk. A meaty bone swung from another bough, well
out of reach of the cat, and some crumbs and seeds scattered about on
the ground beneath, while the clear waters of the brook ripple an invi-
taticn to all who are thirsty. Listen and you shall hear all about the
party that gathered here yesterday, indeed there is hardly a day
throughout the winter, but some of our little friends feast in the oak
peeec.
ANE RPCAN ORNITHOLOGY 29
Photo from life ty Everett E. Johnsor.
*“CHICKADEE-DEE.”’
First of all came a flock of Chickadees, warm as could be in their
gray and white feather coats and black hoods, and singing: “‘Chickadee-
dee-dee. Look under this tree. My thanks, friend, to thee.”’ A
Brown Creeper slipped around the trunk of the oak, and decided that a
few bites of the suet would make a fine desert for his dinner of grubs.
A downy woodpecker and his cousin hairy woodpecker, each in red
caps, followed his example. There were sparrows galors running over
the frozen crust; an occasional white-throated sparrow wearing a hand-
some hood with black, white, and yellow stripes, and pure white ties-
Of course the English sparrows were there too, tho’ they were not in-
vited, nor were they wanted, and one dear little song sparrow flew
down and called: ‘“‘Maids, maids, maids, hang on your tea-kettle.”’
Then a company of juncos in trim slate colored coats and gray white
vests, appeared, seeming to rejoice in the frosty air; you will find them
ready for a picnic every day. Those polite quakers, the cedar birds, the
welcome nuthatch, blue jays, crows, goldfinches, and even a few belat
ed robins and blue birds came, glad of a chance to supplement a scanty
breakfast. These and many others daily enjoy the feast of good things
spread out for them. If you cannot come to our January picnic under
the oak, spread a similar table for the winter birds near your own home,
and I am sure you will be more than repaid for your trouble.
SNOW BIRDS.
There is a disease called aphasia, in which a person is unable to
speak the word he wishes. In giving an account of the Junco, I must
have had a touch of that malady, for I find many important words have
been left out, so I ask the help of the boys and girls to supply the miss-
ing words.
30 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Take your pencils and see how well you can do. As I passed along
one of the city streets not long ago, I found a dear little Junco lying
dead upon the pavement. Perhaps in flying swiftly to escape a———-—,
it had flown against atelephone wire. The bird was about ——— inches
long, its upper parts a —————— ————— color, darkest
———— neck, its lower —————— and: -——---—— Stayish witte,
forming a clear cut vest. The two outer tail feathers ——-——-— 5. and:
a ———— also of creamy whiteness. :
Almost any winter day you may see flocks of these cheery fellows
swinging on the twigs above the snow drifts, and often plunging into
the snow, for the seeds still left on many a weed stalk, with many
whispered rippling twitterings. The Juncos are called chuck birds by
the Swedes and snow birds by the English. They usually come to us
the latter part of ————————— , and remain until late in
——— . As you see this lively little winter friend, try to remem-
ber his whole name, junco hyemalis.
GLEANINGS,
The busy brown tree creeper traced the crannies of the grizzled oaks,
the nuthaches followed, and their complaining squeaks seemed expres-
sive of disappointment that so little food was found.—Abbott.
Not to have so much as a bowing acquaintance with the birds that
nest in our gardens or under the very eaves of our house; that haunt
our wood piles; keep our fruit trees free
from slugs; waken us with their songs, and
enliven our walks along the roadside and
through the woods, seems to be, at least a
breach of etiquette towards some of our most
kindly disposed neighbors.—Neltje Blanchan.
THE CHICKADEE.
Dear little mite of woodland gray,
Whistling “‘phcebe”’ throughout the day.
Busily swinging from tree to tree
Calling so saucily, Chickadee-dee.
When wintry blasts doth blow on high
Chickadee-dee is right close by,
Cheerfully searching the trees with care,
For all of the insects hidden there.
EARLE STAFFORD (Age 14.) Photo from life by Ev. E. Johnson.
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Photo from life by C. A. Reed..
THE-EIPRLE AGROBAT:
Jennie Wren is as fussy as a house wren can be,
Keeping Jack on the go, with no rest,
He has looked high and low for the right kind of a tree
In which they can locate their nest.
He has shown her the very best sites, in his search,
In boxes, in sheds and nooks near the ground;
A nice hole in an oak, beech, chestnut and birch,
But nothing to suit can be found.
At last to the orchard with its fragrance so sweet
The trees laden with blossoms so fine,
He finds just what Jennie says is so neat
And she knew where it was all the time.”’
—SELRAHC.
32 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
EATHERED ACROBATS.
One bright sunny morning,
during the latter part of May,
I started out with the camera,
intending to spend the day
with the birds. As I was
passing an old orchard, I
heard the clear, unmistake-
able, rollicking song of the
House Wren. Following this
welcome guide, I soon found
him, perched on a dead twig, head up, and warbling as though his cup
of happiness was bubbling over. There has always seemed to me to
be something unusually attractive in the wren’s song. It is no mere
grandstand performance, but is expressive of his real feelings.
‘ nt \
ji
AW)
IN TR |
|
ZZ
Photo from life.
As soon as he saw me approaching, his song stopped short and he
uttered a sharp warning note. As if by some magic power, there ap-
peared at his side, his exact counterpart. I stepped to the other side of
the tree to see from where she came, and noticed a small hole in the
end of a dead limb. Matters were getting interesting for me as wellas
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 33
the little birds, who seemed very much excited and doubtless wished
me anywhere except there. Despite their angry expostulations, I
grasped the limb, drew myself up, and peered within the opening.
There, upon a bed composed of twigs, and lined with hair and fine gras-
ses, were nine small, finely speckled, pinkish eggs. Here was the cause
of their present anxiety, as well as the male bird’s previous jollity, which
had betrayed his presence.
During the next two months, I visited this charming couple frequent-
ly, and when I came to know them better, designated her as “Jenny,”’
and for want of a better name, called him “‘Jack.’’ She soon became
quite tame, and would enter or leave the nest, even when I was standing
beside it. I think Jack must have been jealous, for he was always shy
and scolded me when I came.
Photo from life.
The nest hole was barely above my head, and well lighted by the sun,
in fact, it could not have been better situated for photographic purposes.
While I was placing the camera in position, both birds were scolding in-
cessantly. Jenny hopped to a twig about three-feet from me and, with
her bill wide open, uttered continually a peculiar chattering sound, not
unlike the buzzing of a swarm of bees. As soon as I withdrew a few
34 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
feet, all noise ceased, and Jenny immediately began to investigate.
Jack, valiant bird, perched at a safe distance, and gave all manner of
encouraging notes, and even scolded her for not going at once to the
nest, but he himself showed no inclination todo so. Of course it would
not do for him to get into danger, for if anything should happen to him,
what would become of Mrs. Wren? Jenny approached nearer and nearer
the hole, and at last suddenly dashed in. Seeing that nothing unusual
happened, Jack took courage and came slipping and sliding down the
tree trunk in a ludicrous fashion until finally he stood on top of the nest
hole. Peeking in, he gave a querulous call that was immediately an-
swered from within. Evidently the response pleased Jack, for he at
once launched himself into the air and sailed proudly to the next tree,
singing the sweetest melody that he could compose.
This day I secured six exposures, but the verdict of the dark room al-
lowed me but one good negative, that of the male bird standing head
downwards, just looking into the nest. The chief difficulty in securing
pictures of these birds was not that they were afraid to return to the
nest, as is often the case with other birds, but that they were too active.
When several of the exposures were made, the birds were moving at
such speed that, although the exposure was only one one-hundredth part
of a second, the bird showed only as a streak extending across the
plate.
Photo from life.
On my next visit, several days later, I was surprised to see that"they
were apparently repairing the nest. I looked in and—there was not, an
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 35
egg there. Someone had found the nest and robbed it of its treasures,
but evidently the wrens had ceased mourning their loss and were pre-
paring to try again. When next I saw the nest, about two weeks later,
I was delighted to find that it contained eight eggs, and once more Jack
was the proudest of birds.
Business now kept me away from their home for a number of days,
but when I called again, their happy thrills assured me, before I reached
the orchard, that they had not been molested a secondtime. It seemed
to me that they were unustally busy, tor they were continually flitting
from the tree to the ground and back, and did not notice me until I
reached the nest. When I looked in the cause of their activity was ap-
parent, for the eight eggs had been transformed into eight little baby
wrens, each with an appetite all out of proportion to its size. They
were not fastidious in the least, as their bill of fare included spiders,
ants, small wasps, caterpillars and many otherinsects. During the next
few days, Mrs. Wren caused me considerable trouble by flying directly
into the nest, instead of alighting outside so that I might photograph
her.
Photo from life.
36 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
From now on, affairs progressed rapidly at the nest and soon the lit-
tle ones were feathered out and were very noisy. Their chattering,
coming from the depths of the tree, had a peculiar sound and it would
have puzzled anyone, not knowing where they were, to have located
them. They were also becoming quite active, and when they heard
their parents coming, would all rush to the entrance to get the first bit
of food.
Two days later, I tapped on the limb and out flew eight young wrens.
It was their maiden attempt at flying; some landed on the ground, some
on the trunks of neighboring trees, and one or two managed to alight
on twigs, where they swayed to and fro in the endeavor to maintain
their balance.
The next day Jack was very busy going the rounds to feed his num-
erous children. To my surprise, however, Jenny was at work renovat-
ing the old nest, and before another month had passed, had successfully
reared another brood of eight. These wrens proved to be a very thrifty
pair, having reared sixteen young besides having nine eggs stolen.
I passed many very pleasant hours watching them and was sorry to see
them leave in the fall, but I shall look for a large wren population in the
same orchard, next year.
CHESTER A. REED.
Photo from life.
“GOODBYE:
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 37
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.
A. O. U. No. 522. (Loxia leucoptera.)
RANGE.
Found in the northern parts of North America; south in winter to the
middle portions of the United States. They breed from the northern
parts of the United States northwards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about'6 in.; extent, 11.5 in.; tail; 2.5 in. Eye, brown. “Bill
and feet brown. Both mandibles are rather large at the base, but rap-
idly become slender towards the point, the upper being curved down-
wards and to one side, while the lower mandible is curved upwards and
to the opposite side. Male, general color a bright rosy red, somewhat
obscured by brownish on the back and changing to whitish onthe belly.
Wings and tail, black, the outer webs of the feathers of each being
edged with rosy. The secondaries and wing coverts are broadly tipped
with white; these two wing bars sometimes overlap and form one large
wing patch.
The tail is somewhat forked. Female:—General color a yellowish
olive, changing to a bright yellow ochre on the rump. Both above and
below, with the exception of the rump, they are streaked with dull
brownish. Both sexes vary greatly in the coloration, some being very
bright, while others show little color.
NEST AND EGGS.
It cannot be stated with certainty just what localities the White-wing-
ed Crossbills will nest in each year. Their movements are very unreli-
able and places where they nest one year may not see a single individ-
ual the next. They may be met with breeding throughout any of the
northern tier of states and the whole of Canada and Alaska. They are
very early breeders and their nests have been found with sets from the
middle of January to June. They build their nest at heights varying from
ten feet to the tops of the tallest trees. It is generally placed on a hor-
izontal branch at its junction with the main trunk, and is a good sized,
flat structure made of small twigs, straw, moss and lichens, generally
with some attempt to imitate the coloration of the bark on the tree in
which it is placed. They lay three or four pale bluish eggs sparsely
spotted at the larger end with black and lilac.
38
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 39
HABITS.
HE most striking feature about this
interesting species of birds is the odd
shape of their bills, from which their
name is taken. It would seem that a bill
of such peculiar design would prove very
inconvenient to the owner at feeding
time, but, however, strange it may appear
to us, they are very skillful in opening pine
apples and other articles that form their diet,
and to them it is probably as useful as it appears odd
to us. During the winter quite large flocks of Cross-
bills come from Canada and-rove about the country as far south as the
middle portions of the United States. They are as irregular in their
occurance in any one locality as they are erratic in their flight. With
most birds you can depend upon finding them in some particular section
of the country at a certain season of the year, but not so with the Cross-
bills. One season they may be very abundant in a certain locality and
then not be seen there again for several years.
When present in a place they are continually wandering aimlessly
about, and their destination seems to be as little known to themselves
as it is to the observer. Frequently I have watched a flock flying swift-
ly overhead with their characteristic undulatory flight, apparently bound
for the next county or even farther. Suddenly, as if the entire flock
were controlled by one mind, they all speed-downward and alight in the
top of a nearby pine. Whether they fly under the leadership of one in-
dividual or each one for himself, they are exceedingly well drilled, for
no military organization could execute the manouvers through which they
go with equal speed and precision.
They respond very readily to a crude imitiation of the continuous
chattering whistle that they utter while in flight, but are ever restless
when in the tree tops, and at some fancied danger the whole flock will
rise as one bird, and, after a very round about course will, in all likeli-
hood, alight in the same tree from which they started. Unless some
sudden move is made to startle them they are very tame and pay little
attention to observers. A small clump of pine not far from home is a
favorite locality for them to occupy if any are in the neighborhood. In
late fall and winter, they are often found here in company with the
American Red Crossbills. Probably a small pond-hole in the midst of
the grove has much to do with the popularity of the place, for these
birds often like to quench their thirst while feeding.
Often have I called, by imitation, a passing flock of these strange bil-
40 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
led creatures, and had the satisfaction of seeing them alight in the tops
of the pines. After a few minutes they commence to move about, and
soon a snapping sound, accompanied by a shower of pieces and even
whole cones, announces that they are busily engaged. While feeding
they do not utter the loud peculiar notes which mark their flight, but
often a strange humming or chattering sound comes from the tops of
the trees, as though they were holding a conversation among themselves
in alow tone. Standing on, or hanging from one of the cones they in-
sert their crossed mandibles and with a single twist of the head force
the cone apart. It makes little difference to them as regards their pos-
ition when eating their meals. As often as not they will be seen head
down, hanging from the branches. Their movements are slow and de-
liberate and they use their bills in conjunction with their feet for hang-
ing to the branches as they clamber about. Gradually, as I have watch-
ed, they have been working their way towards the ground, and soon one
flies down beside the pool. Others follow and soon the carpet of brown
pine needles presents a handsome appearance, being dotted here and
there with the reddish colored forms of the males and the yellow ones
of the females, the wing bars of the white-winged varieties showing, in
marked contrast, against the dark surroundings. At such times I have
quietly approached them and their little fear of man is shown by the fact
that often I have had my hand within a few inches of them before they
hopped a few feet farther away. As long as a person’s movements are
quiet and deliberate, they exhibit no concern, but let a single quick
motion be made and the whole flock will take wing instantly.
NORTHERN SHRIKE.
A. O. U. No. 621. ; (Lanius borealis.)
RANGE.
Northern North America, breeding north of the United States. In
winter it migrates south to the middle portions of the United States,
from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 9.5 in.; extent, about 14 in.; tail, 5.5 in. Eye, dark brown.
Bill and feet, blue black. Upper parts a bluish gray, lightening in the
crown, rump and sides of the back. Below light gray, the breast and
belly being crossed with wavy, darker gray lines. Wings and tail,black,
the former with a large white spot near the base of the primaries, and
tips of most of the secondaries white, the latter with outer web of outer
feather and tips of the remaining outer ones, white. A broad black bar
extends from bill along the side of the head. A small white crescent on
the under eyelid. Young birds of the year lack the wavy lines on the
under parts; the upper parts are a uniform gray, and the wings and tail
are of a brownish color.
AVUERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 4I
NEST AND EGGS.
The lower portion of this Shrike’s nest is mainly of sticks thrown
loosely together. The remainder is a combination of twigs, grasses,
strips of bark and feathers. This nest is placed in hedges or thickets,
often near dwellings or in isolated bushes in a field bordering some
piece of woodland. During May, they lay from four to six grayish or
pale greenish colored eggs, thickly spotted with brownish and greenish
markings.
HABITS.
IRDS are subject to as great differ-
ences in disposition as are human be-
ings. Some are shy and retiring,
others bold and aggressive; some
quiet and unobtrusive, others loud
¥ and boisterous. The subject of this
sketch is one of the oddities of the
bird world. A casual observer, at a
glance, would remark that from appearance the
Shrike was a peaceable, law-abiding bird. <A
closer inspection reveals a hooked beak seeming-
ly out of place, when the sparrowlike feet with
“Wy Jae the bird is equipped, are considered. Beneath their
“7 coat of soft gray feathers, lies a nature, cruel and cunning
in the extreme, and I have seen their sharp brown eyes
take on a look of sullen determination, comparable only to
that of an ill-tempered bulldog.
W hile in their summer home in Canada, their food consists almost
wholly of mice, grasshoppers and beetles, and the good they do is in-
estimable. Unfortunately for the good of their reputation, they are only
seen in the United States during the cold of winter, when lack of food
causes them to fall into line and come south with the other migrating
birds. At this season of the year, their diet is mostly made up of what
small birds they can capture, and their manner of serving them for din-
ner has given them the unenviable name of © Butcher-bird.”’
Owing to the character of their feet, they are unable to hold their
prey firmly, when tearing it to pieces. To take the place of the talons,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
42
NORTHERN SHRIKE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 43
which they lack, the Shrikes make use of broken off twigs, thorns or any
projection that will assist them in holding the bird they are about to
““‘butcher.’’ I once watched one for some time, while he was making a
meal from a sparrow that he had recently captured. He was evidently
one of the smart members of the family, and had appropriated for his
own use, one of man’s important inventions. He was perched on the
top of a fence post and had tried to catch the sparrow on the barbs of a
barb-wire fence. The spikes were not long enough to serve his pur-
pose very effectually, and the bird continually fell off, sometimes on one
side of the fence and again on the other. Each time he would hop to
the ground and carry it back, until finally after much manouvering, noth-
ing remained but a few scattering feathers.
Although there is much left to be desired in their manner of living,
especially during the winter, they are not nearly as black as frequently
painted and the tales often seen in print to the effect that the Shrike
slaughters numerous birds and leaves their remains impaled upon thorn
bushes, merely for sport, may be read doubtfully.
It is a strange fact that few of the birds that subsist to any extent
upon flesh, are gifted with the power of singing. The Northern Shrike
is an exception and many a so-called song bird cannot successfully com-
pete with him in vocal ability. His song is very varied and he has the
power of imitating many of the common birds, a power that he uses to
good advantage in luring his victims to within his reach. He has a re-
markably clear whistle and if placed under the instruction of a skillful
teacher would make a wonderful musician. In the uneducated state
that he must remain, his song is frequently broken by creakings, croak-
ings, cat-calls, and squawks as though he was unable to control his wild
nature in the ecstacy of song.
Whatever may be said against the Shrike, it will be admitted by all
who know him, that no more courageous or audacious bird is to be found
in the whole country, than he. Many instances have been recorded, in
which they have entered houses, through-an open window, and attempt-
ed to attack a canary whose cage hung in sight. A number of times
I have had Shrikes brought to me that were captured alive. They had
pounced upon some English sparrow in the street and rather than relin-
quish their prize, have suffered themselves to be picked up, together
with their quarry. Even after being captured they will continue to fin-
ish their meal if permitted to do so, paying no apparent regard to their
captors.
Often times they secure their prey by darting froma lookout after the
passing bird in the manner of the small hawks. More frequently they
will conceal themselves in some convenient shrubbery, even in the vines
that cover some of the city houses, and by imitating the cry of a birdin
distress, cause other birds to come to the rescue and thus become the
victims. I think we will all admire this bold fearless individual, and
doubtless if we knew him in his summer quarters, we would be ready to
condone with him for his winter depredations.
44 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
WHICH IS WHICH?
The above illustration is from a photograph of two pigeon hawks.
One of them is a live bird and the other is a mounted specimen.
Can you pick out the live bird? This picture is one of a series taken
of this little hawk, and we have been considerably amused by the at-
tempts of those who have seen them, to locate the one that is alive. As
the score now stands, about nine out of every ten have decided that the
mounted bird is the live one, and we concluded that possibly many of
our subscribers might like to judge for themselves before we announce
which is the real bird. The story of this hawk in captivity will be giv-
en in the next number.
We should like to have all those who think that they can tell, to mail
us a card stating which of the two birds, the right or left hand one, is
alive.
+
he
v
:
Ee
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wre”
46 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Color Chart No. 1,
Birds conspicuously marked with y ellow about the head, Black Throats.
A. O. U. No. 666, Golden-cheeked Warbler,
(‘Dendroica chrysoparia).
Range in the U. S. limited to southern Texas. Rare.
Length, 4.5 in. Entire back, wings, and tail, black. Yel-
low only on cheek and line on top of head. White wing
bars. Inner webs of outer tail feathers, white. Below
white. Nest in cedar trees.
A. O. U. No. 667, Black-throated Green Warb-
ler, (Dendroica virens)
N. A. east of the Plains and south of Hudson Bay.
Common. Found most often in fir trees where it nests.
Length, 4.5 in. Top of head and back, greenish yellow.
White wing bars and outer tail feathers. Female has the
black of the throat indistinct and mixed with yellow.
A. O. U. No. 668, Townsend’s Warbler. (Den-
droica townsendi.)
N. A. chiefly west of the Rocky Mountains. Quite
common. Breeds in coniferous trees. Length, 4.5 inches.
Top of head and cheek, black. Back, greenish marked
with black spots. Breast and sides yellow. White wing
bars and tail feathers. Female paler and black indistinct.
A. O. U. No. 669, Hermit Warbler, (‘Dendroica
occidentals )
U. S. west of the Rockies and south of Canada. Not
common. Length, 4.5 indhes. Breeds in pinetrees. En-
tire head, yellow. Back, gray spotted with black. Under
parts white. White wing bars and outer tail feathers.
Black throat on the female partly replaced with yellow,
and head blotched with dusky.
A. O. U. No. 684, Hooded Warbler, (Svy/vania
mitrata.)
U. S. east of the Plains and south of the Great Lakes.
Common. Length 5 inches. A ground warbler and nests
on the ground. Very active. Catches insects on the
wing, like flycatchers. Cheek, forehead, and under parts,
yellow. Black of throat meets that on top of head. Back,
wings, and tail, greenish. No wing bars, but outer tail
feathers are white.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 47
Birds with unmarked Yellow Throats.
A. O. U. No. 663, Yellow-throated Warbler.
(Dendroica domiuica.)
Common in the Atlantic States, chiefly south of New
England. Length, 5 inches. Nests in pine trees. Top
of head and back, gray. Black of forehead separated from
black cheek by white line over eye. Under parts white.
White wing bars and outer tail feathers. Sub-species:—
No. 663a. Sycamore Warbler. (D. dominica albilora).
A lighter form of above, found in the Mississippi valley
and west to lhe Plains.
A. O. U. No. 664, Grace’s Warbler, (‘Dendroica
graciae)
Southern New Mexico and Arizona. Rare. Nests in
pines. Length, 4.5 inches. Yellow of throat extends
around eye. Gray crown edged with black. Black spots
a middle of gray back. White wing bars and outer tail
eathers.
A. O. U. No. 677, Kentucky Warbler, (Geotb-
lypis formosa.)
Middle and southern parts of U. S. east of the Plains.
Common. A ground warbler, nesting on ground in
woods. Length, 5.5 inches. Yellow stripe over eye
separates black crown from black cheek. Back, wings,
and tail, greenish unmarked. Below yellow.
A. O. U. No. 681, Maryland Yellow-throat, (Geo-
thylpis trichas).
Eastern U. S. and southeastern Canada. Very com-
mon. Neston ground. Length, 5 inches. Black mask
around eye extending across forehead. Greenish back
and tail, unmarked. Female without black mask. Sub-
species;—No. 681a,—West Yellowthroat (G. t. occiden-
talis) U. S. west of Mississippi valley. No. 68rb. Fla.
Yellow-throat (G. t. ignota) Fla. and southern Ga. No.
682 Belding’s Yellow-throat (G. beldingi) Lower Calif.
No. 682, 1 Rio Grande Yellow-throat. (G. poliocephala
ralphi) Rio Grande Valley.
A. O. U. No. 683, Yellow-breasted Chat, (/cferia
virens.)
U. S. east of the Plains. Very common, noisy and
mimical. Nest on ground in thicket. Length, 7.5 inches.
Black spot below and in front of eye. Crown and
cheek, gray. Back, greenish unmarked. Sub-species;—
No. 683a. Long-tailed Chat. (I. V. longi:auda) U. S.
west of Plains and south of British Columbia.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 49
“Me HANDSOME SCISSOR-TAIL,
BY LEANDER S. KEYSER.
In order to study the scissor-tailed fly-
catcher (A/7lvulus forticatus,) of which some
friends had told me again and again ina glow
of enthusiasm, I made a trip to southern
Kansas and northern Oklahoma. Several
days passed before an individual of this
species’ put in appearance, as the scissor-
tails, which are migrants, were just returning from their
winter quarters. in a more southern clime, and so I had to
wait for their arrival.
One day a friend and I were driving along a country
road over the broad prairie, when he exclaimed, ‘‘See
there! what bird is that?’’ Sure enough, a quaint bird
form went swinging from the wire fence by the road-side
toward a clump of willows in a shallow dip of the prairie.
Dashing after him, I heard a clear, musical call that pro-
claimed a bird with which I had not yet made acquaintance.
In a few moments he flew from the tree. My binocular
was fixed upon him as he went flitting across the field and
presently alighted on the ground. It was the scissor-
tailed flycatcher, one of the most unique and handsome
birds belonging to our American avi-fauna, one that mer-
its more than a passing notice. To see him perched on a
fence or swinging gracefully through the air, and hear his
bell-like calls and whistles, makes you feel as if you were
suddenly transported to a forejgn land, like Australia or
Borneo, where so many feathered curios are to be found.
In a fever of excitement I followed the beautiful bird,
which presently flew back to the fence by the roadside.
He flitted from point to point as my friend and I slowly
pursued him, giving us an exhibition of his scissoring pro-
cess. Sometimes he would alight on a post, and then on
the barbed wire, usually sitting flat on his breast, when open the tail
is bi-colored, the outer border all around being white and the inner
black. The effect is quite picturesque. His general color is hoary ash,
paler or almost white below, giving out a slightirridescence in the sun-
shine; his wings are blackish, with white trimmings; while his flanks are
washed with salmon-red, and when his wings are spread, there appears
Ss
SSNS
SSS
SSS
ow
——
50 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
a large blotch of scarlet at the inner angle of intersection with the body.
One individual afterward seen wore a scarlet epaulet, which was almost
concealed by the other plumes when the wing was closed, but was clear-
ly visible when it was extended. An orange or scarlet gem adorns the
crown, but is so well hidden by the other crest feathers that it is seldom
noticed.
My friend and I were privileged to witness a rare and attractive scis-
sor-tail show, more gratifying than any human trapeze performance. A
loggerhead shrike suddenly appeared on the scene, and made an assault
on the flycatcher, and then the two birds went gyrating, zigzaging, see-
sawing through the air in a perfect jumble of white and black and ash.
It must be remembered that the shrike himself makes a handsome pic-
ture on the wing, and when you come to mix up a scissor-tail and a
shrike in an inextricable confusion of colors, you have a feathery dis-
play worth seeing,
Nor was that the end of the performance, for in a moment a second-
scissor-tail, the precise fac-szmz/e of the first; appeared from somewhere,
and then the two flycatchers combined against their enemy, and for a
few minutes there was such a chaos of shrike and scissor-tail that the
excited spectators could hardly distinguish between them. By and by
the shrike wheeled away, when, as if to bring the gladiatorial show toa
climax, the scissor-tails engaged in a setto that was really wonderful,
coming together in the air, whirling around and around, rising in a
spiral course, opening and closing their beautiful forked tails in quick
succession, the black and white trimmings flashing momentarily and
then disappearing, until the contestants: finally descended, parted in the
most graceful manner, and alighted on separate fence-posts, none the
worse for their exciting me/ee.
In the evening I returned to the enchanted spot, but the scissor-tails
had disappeared. Not having had my fill of these charmers, I stopped,
on my return home, for a day at Wellington, Kansas, where I was so
fortunate as to find three birds of this species, who permitted me to
watch them to my heart’s content. They are not shy birds, but fly in a
eraceful, leisurely way from post to post along the fence as you walk
or drive, sometimes sitting quiet to let you pass by. In this respect
their habits are much like those of their cousin, the bee martin.
As his name indicates, our bird is the proud possessor of a genuine
scissor-tail. That appendage is divided into two long, slender prongs,
which are spread far apart under certain conditions of flight. Let me
describe the process minutely, for it is unique, especially here in North
America where fork-tailed birds are rare.
When the bird starts from a perch, he spreads apart the prongs of his
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 51
tail for a moment, as if to give himself a spring; then he closes them in-
to a single slender pole, tapering outward to a point, keeping them
closed during prolonged flight, and then, just as he sweeps down to an-
other perch, he opens his ornamental scissors again, shutting them up
as soon as he has settled upon his resting place. He does not open
and close his tail at regular intervals, as might be supposed, during
flight, but keeps it closed until he descends to a perch, when it is open-
ed for a moment in the act of alighting. However, if he has occasion
to wheel or make a sudden turn in the air, either for an insect or for
some other cause, his scissors fly open, one might almost say spon-
taneously, no doubt serving the double purpose of a rudder and a two-
part balancing-pole. When closed, the tail is very narrow, looking al-
most like a single plume. On the perch (except when he desires to
shift his position, when he also makes use of his wings) his tail is
closed. Therefore the picture of this bird in Dr. Coue’s ‘‘Key to North
American Birds”’ is not accurate, for it represents our bird as sitting on
a perch with the tines of his fork spread apart. If the wings were out-
stretched, representing the bird in the act of alighting or shifting his
position, the picture would be true to life.
The range of these birds is somewhat restricted, and for that reason,
doubtless, so little is known about their habits. According to Ridg-
way, their proper home is in eastern Mexico and the south-western
prairie districts of the United States, though many of them come north
as far as southern Kansas and south-western Missouri to spend the sum-
mer and rear their families. In winter they go as far south as Costa
Rico. Restricted as their habitat is, it is curious to note that they are
“‘accidental’’ in a few unexpected places, such as Key West, Fla., Nor-
folk, Va., and also in several localities in New England, Manitoba and
Hudson’s Bay Territory. Prof. W. W. Cooke, of Colorado, says they
are ‘rare, if not accidental’’ in that state. To show that our birds are
unique, it is relevant to say that there are only two species of scissor-
tailed flycatchers in North America, constituting the Genus J/7/vulus all
to themselves. The other member of the genus is the fork-tailed fly-
catcher (A/ilvulus tyrannus.) which is a resident of tropical America,
migrating north normally as far as southern Mexico. He is a sort of
southern twin of our scissor-tail.
The nests of the scissor-tails are set in the crotches of trees in the
neighborhood of country homes on the prairie. Considering the size
of the birds, their nests are quite small, not as large as the brown
thrasher’s, although the cup is deeper and the architecture more com-
pact and elaborate. A friend describes a nest which he found on a lo-
cust tree about sixteen feet from the ground. It was made mostly of
52 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
dry grass and locust blossoms, with here and there a piece of twine
braided into the structure. It had no special lining, but the grass was
more evenly woven on the inside of the cup than elsewhere.
From three to five eggs are deposited. The ground color is white,
either pure or creamy, sparingly mottled with rich madder-brown and
lilac-gray, the spots being thicker and larger on the larger end. While
the nest is undergoing examination, the owners circle and hover over-
head, much after the fashion of the red-winged blackbirds, and express
their disapproval in loud and musicals calls, displaying their rich scar-
let decorations.
My descriptions have all related only to the male bird, whose beauti-
ful forked tail is nine to ten inches long, and whose colors are clear and
more or less intense. His spouse resembles him, but is slightly smal-
ler, while her tail, though forked like her mate’s, is from two and a half
to three inches shorter. The salmon and scarlet ornaments on the sides
flanks and axillars are paler than those of her lord, and the crown-spot
shows very indistinctly on her occiput. ‘Fhe young don the dress of the
mother bird, save that they fail to adorn themselves with a scarlet gem
on the crown.
Like all the members of the flycatcher group, the scissor-tails cap-
ture insects on the wing, making many an elegant picture as they per-
form their evolutions in the air.
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER.
A. O. U. No. 641. : (Helminthophila pinus
RANGE.
Eastern United States, from southern News England, Southern New
York and Minnesota, southwards and west to Nebraska and Texas.
DESCRIPTION.
Length 4.5 in.; extent, 7.5 in.; tail 2 in.; eye brown; lids, yellow; bill
and feet black. Above olive green, brightest on the rump. Fore part
of crown and the under parts, a bright yellow. wings and tail bluish-
gray. There are two white bands on the wing and the inner webs of
the three outer tail feathers are mostly white, as are the under tail co-
verts. A black line extends from the base of the bill through the eye
and to the cheek. The female differs but little in plumage, chiefly in
the crown which is a dull yellow.
NEST AND EGGS.
They generally select an open place in a clump of brush, or on the
edge of woods that contain a growth of rank grass or golden rod; some-
times at the foot of a single sprout, but more often hidden in the rank
f 53
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER.
54 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
grass or golden rod. I have found them beside cart paths, roads in
fields near woods, in the woods on tussocks of grass, and in low, damp
but not wet places; in fact most everywhere, but only where those fa-
miliar would look for them.
The nest is composed of dried oak Or chestnut leaves as a foundation.
placed in such a way that they point up, forming a cup shaped affair,
This contains the nest proper, which’is made of long strips of grape
vine bark and grass, running up and down and forming the letter U.
The lining is composed of very fine strips of the same, fine grass, and
sometimes a few hairs. This is not always the rule, as I have found
them made entirely of ribbon-like grass, finer grasses and green bark,
and lined with fine grasses, resembling a nest of the yellow throat. I
have found nests measuring 6 in. high and 4 in. wide; again, only 3 in.
high and 3 in. wide, and with leaves covering the top, so that nothing
but the birds head could be seen.
The eggs vary greatly in size and markings. Some of the markings
are of a black tint, others of a brown, some few have no markings,
some are well covered, and others have bold splashes. I have found
one set so heavily marked, that it resembles a set of Magnolia Warb-
lers.
HABITS.
Here in Fairfield county, Connecticut, the blue-wing Warblers, though
not abundant, may be called common.
About the first week in May you will hear the insect like song of the
male, while feeding with the female; the second week you will find them
busily engaged in building.
Soon after they arrive here, they will be found about the orchards
that are in full bloom, but later they are rarely seen about dwellings.
June first you will find complete sets, though dates will change ac-
cording to seasons, the average set being five, very often four and rare-
ly six. The largest set I have ever seen was found by Mr. Beer of this
city, contained six eggs, and one of the cowbird. ‘The cowbirds destroy
a great many nests by laying in them before the rightful owner, who
will then leave it and build another nest. In these cases they seldom
lay more than four eggs. When the cowbirds lay after the blue-wing
has laid two or more eggs, they seldom leave the nest, but if only one
egg has been laid, they desert at once. You will seldom find a nest
containing a cowbird, and more than four eggs of the owner. This
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 55
year we found several nests containing two and three eggs, andJin all
cases it was all the birds had laid, as we had found the nest without
eggs.
A nest should never be touched unless the set is complete, and above
all a new nest, for they are very peculiar and will desert at the least
disturbance.
To those unable to find the nest, a point; the male has a route from
tree to tree that he follows, singing his love song in each; along this
route the female is sitting, and when he flies over, you will see him dip
down and sometimes alight; uow is your opportunity; go directly to
the spot and begin your search. The female is a close setter and will
let you almost touch her before she will leave, and then slides off of
the nest. When you have found the nest, you will wonder howitis'you
have never found them before, they are so large.
J, B. CANFIELD, Bridgeport, Conn.
Photo by F. L. Rawson.
NEST OF BLUE-WING WARBLER.
56 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.
A. O. U. No. 270. (Charadrius squatarola.)
RANGE.
This Plover breeds in the extreme northern portions of North Amer-
ica. It migrates in winter south of the United States.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 11.5 in.; extent, 24.in:; tail, 3 in. ° Eye, brown. ~ Bill and
feet, black. Has four toes, the hind one being very small, but serving
to distinguish it from the similar Golden Plover, which has but three
toes. Adult in summer:—Chin, throat, breast, under parts and sides of
the head, black. Top of the head and sides of the neck, white, the
feathers on the hind part of the crown being centered with black. Back,
wings and tail, black, the feathers of the back being edged with white
and the secondaries, coverts and tail feathers barred with the same.
Under tail coverts, white. Auxillary feathers (those under the wing
and nearest the body), black. These feathers also serve to distinguish
these birds in the winter plumage from the Golden Plover, these same
feathers on the latter bird being white.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Black-bellied Plover nests in the extreme northern parts of N.A.
The nest is simply a depression in the ground, and is lined with a few
grasses. The three or four eggs are laid during the latter part of June
or early in July. The ground color varies from a light to a deep olive
buff, thickly spotted and blotched with umber and black of varying pat-
terns.
HABITS.
The Black-bellied Plover is decidedly more a bird of the sea shore and
mud-flats than one of the interior, and with the exception of along the
Mississippi valley, the greater part of them during migrations follow
along down the coast lines. When in their spring dress, few of the
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.
57
58 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
plover family can compare with them in point of beauty. Their form is
quite stout and the head is larger compared to the size of the body than
that of other plovers.
Few naturalists have observed the domestic life of this species in
America, owing to their extreme range. The same plover is found in
Europe and there is known as the Grey Plover. According to Mr.
Seebohm, who has made careful observations of their breeding habits,
their nests are very difficult to find and it is necessary to watch the birds
closely for a long time before they reveal its location. The female
seldom takes wing when she approaches the nest and is very cautious,
and if she is not entirely satisfied that all is safe, will pass and repass
the nest before finally settling upon it. She is very restless and con-
tinually moves from one post of observation to another, while the male
quietly stands upon the tussock of a ridge and watches her.
After the old birds have moulted, they, accompanied by their young, -
leave for the south. The old birds have now lost their beautiful black
under parts and look similar to the young. After their summer in the
uninhabited north, and their long tiresome flight, both the old and young
birds have lost the wariness, and at every feeding place at which they
stop, as they pass through the civilized country, they are made the tar-
gets of the hunters. These latter consider the plovers only as so much
flesh, and at the close of the day’s shooting, their score records the fact
that they shot so many “‘Beetleheads”’ or ‘‘Bullheads”’ as they call them.
These birds are remarkable travellers, many of them traversing the
entire length of the two continents and wintering in southern South
America. During March and April they don their black suits again and
start on their long journey towards the north. Remembering their fall
reception, they are very shy now and are much more difficult to call to
the decoys than the Golden plovers. They fly most frequently insmall
flocks of perhaps six to ten individuals, although occasionally as many
as forty are reported.
Their call note is quite difficult to imitate, which fact, perhaps, partly
accounts for their aversion of being decoyed. It consists of a peculiar
whistle, and possibly may be expressed by the three syllables “‘Cl--ee
up.’’ Their food consists of marine insects and shells, which they find
on the flats left bare by the receding tide, and various beetles, which
they obtain in the adjacent meadows. Their flight is very strong and
swift. Upon alighting upon the shore they have the same graceful habit
as many of the other plovers, that of raising their wings over the back
and disclosing the beautiful markings.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 59
=, B IRD CHAT Swit
; BROUR YOUNG
Address communic.itions for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
DEAR LITTLE FRIENDS:
Again, good morning to you all. How many of you can tell the
length of the English sparrow? Read in our Gleanings this month
what Dr. Van Dyke says of him. I wonder if you can tell why he has
such a bad name. Iam sure some of youcan tell something good about
him. I should like to hear from you on both sides of the question.
Well, good or bad, he is such a well known little scamp that he is a
good standard of measurement; so when you meet an unknown bird,
think how much longer or shorter he is than the English sparrow, (five
inches) and it may help you to name him. This is a fine time to begin
to learn the birds, there are so few that you can fix their names firmly
in your mind before spring fills the woods with gay visitors.
The first necessity in making the acquaintance of our bird neighbors
is patience, the second is more patience. Begin your quest witha large
stock of patience, with a real love for the birds, note carefully the col-
ors, the size, shape, the manner of flight, of perching, of feeding, etc.,
and you will soon make many friends which will fill every walk with
pleasure. Who can tell the name of the bird, which, when disturbed,
carries its little ones by the nape of the neck, just as puss carries her
kittens? Hoping that little February will bring you new friends in the
fields, I will bid you good bye till March. Your friend,
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
SOME WINTER NESTS,
Do you know how many nice things there are in the woods in Febru-
ary, waiting for us? Now that the trees are bare, each one showing its
outline so clearly against the blue sky, we shall find disclosed many a
nest which was so carefully woven and tightly wound to the branches
that the fierce winter winds failed to loosen it. Now we can see how
60 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
and of what these homes are built, without fear of disturbing the own-
ers. Doubtless we shall find more of the little gray cups in which the
baby vireos have been rocked than of any other nests at this time. I
have one before me that a red-eyed vireo swung last summer between
the forked branches of a young oak, beneath a green leaf umbrella.
It is a wonderful little cradle. You or I, with ten fingers and a heap
full of gray matter to direct them, could not form the like.
How many miles the old birds must have gone in their search for the
fibres and down to build it! We find in it plant fibres, cobwebs, bits of
roots, leaves, cocoons, decayed wood, scraps from hornets’ nests, and,
as usual, some bits of news paper; for the vireos usually place good
reading within reach of their little ones.
No doubt we shall find many mud huts of the robins, and the similar
homes of the Wood Thrush, nearer the ground. The wonderfully woven
pockets of the Orioles still swing from many an elm, and you may finda
deserted bird tenement which has been rented for a winter nursery by a
family of field mice. If we put our hands in the deserted home of the
woodpecker we may find a lining of snake skins. The Great-crested
Flycatcher is said to always use a snake skin to upholster its nest.
It is too late to find the dainty flat nest of the Pewee, shingled with
gray lichens, or the Dutch oven of the Oven-bird, and the rough struc:
ture of twigs thrown together by the crows, the Cuckoos, and the Green
Herons have long ago fallen apart. Nor would a search earlier in the
season have shown you the nests of the Nighthawk or the Whip-poor-
will, for they simply camp out on a gray rock ormossy hollow. I think
you could make a long list of the materials used in the nests you might
find in a winter’s walk—moss, wool, seed pods, feathers, gum, rags, cat-
kins, the hair of various animals—but you may complete the list, I know
you can add many to it. But we speak of the “‘bird homes.’”’ They
were but the homes of the baby birds. Do not think of the nest of a
bird as a home where it returns to sleep at night. O, no; you will find
the full grown bird at night fall, holding tightly by one foot to a branch
in some high tree top, with its feathers fluffed out like a great puff ball,
and its head snugly tucked beneath its wing, motionless until reminded
by the caress of the glowing fingers of the morning sunlight, that a
new day is at hand.
POLLY'S ADVENTURE,
(In this account of Polly’s mishaps, the sharp eyes of our readers may
find concealed, the names of twenty common birds.)
Many years ago, in a little brown house on a hillside, lived a little
maiden named Polly Robinson. Besides Polly, there were her big
brother Martin, four-year-old Bob, and baby Phebe, who was yet a tod-
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 61
dler and creeper about the floor. Polly, I must confess, was what her
big brother called a ‘‘fraid cat,’’ and this caused her many unhappy
hours.
One morning Mrs. Robinson went to see a sick neighbor, half a mile
distant, leaving Polly in charge of her little brother and sister.
Father and brother Martin had started at daybreak for Mr. Shrike’s
woods to spend the day chopping down trees to make rails for a new
fence.
‘Be mother’s brave little daughter, there’s nothing to harm you,” said
her mother as she kissed her goodbye. Slipping the bolt Polly turned
back into the kitchen determined to prove worthy of her great grand-
father, whose picture hung in the front room, draped with blue bunting
in honor of his daring deeds in the wars of long ago.
For a while she was so busy, that all fears were forgotten. She
brushed up the floor, rocked the baby to sleep in the little wooden cradle,
then hung the iron kettle on the crane inthe old fashioned fire place, and
trotting back and forth with the tin dipper, soon had it filled with water,
ready to make the mush which was to form the mid-day meal.
Deftly she arranged a pile of shavings and wood on the hearth, and
soon a blazing fire was roaring upthe chimney. Swiftly she sped to the
woodshed and filled a basket from the sweet smelling cedar chips which
were protected by a piece of old duck, and soon had Bobby happily en-
gaged in building wonderful block houses, while she herself drew a lit-
tle wooden rocker before the fire and built as wonderful air castles, by its
flickering dancing flames. But soon there came to her mind, the stories
she had heard Sam Plover telling the day before, of the immense flat-
headed adder he had killed last summer, but a few feet away from the
front gate. It was too bad that Polly should have thought of this now,
for a snake was what she feared the most. Even a harmless striped
snake slipping across her pathway would make flashes of red start into
her cheeks, and bring such a lump into her throat that she could hardly
swallow. Sam had said that when one snake was killed, its mate was
sure to be found not far away, and she thought that although cooler fall
days had come, that other adder might still be about.
Hark! What was that noise? Oh, that was but the crowing of acock.
Hark! again. Could it possibly be that othersnake? There it was again.
““S-s-s-s.’” Louder yet. What should she do. She must be mother’s
brave girl. It took all her courage to go to the cellar door and lift the
latch. She opened it the tiniest crack. “‘Hiss-s-s.’’ Yes it surely was
the hiss of a snake. Bob, white with fear, clung to herdress. She did
not linger to listen, ‘“Slam,’’ the door was tightly closed and father’s
arm chair was pushed against it, as if fearful that Sir Snake might find
62 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. -
some way to openit. She could still hear it hissing as if very angry. a
Polly lifted Phebe from the cradle and placed her on the high bed inthe
next room, with Bob to stand guard, then returned to the kitchen, and
armed with the poker, stood ready to face any danger.
You may think Polly a very foolish little girl, but this danger seemed ~
real to her, and to be brave, even though afraid, is the test of courage.
Now came a welcome voice—‘‘let me in Polly.’’’ She fell sobbing int
her mother’s arms, and even as she told her story, a loud noise, as of-a
falling body, came from the cellarway. Her mother opened the door
and found—what do you think? An adder coiled for a spring? No, a ~
jug of yeast, which had fermented, (“‘worked’”’ she called it,) and after®
a great amount of hissing and sputtering, had forced the cork and most
of the contents from the jug. Of course when Martin was told the tale,
he made a great deal of fun of his sister, and it was a long time before
he ceased to tease her about snakes. But her father said she had shown
herself a brave girl, and when Christmas came, she found in the top _of
her stocking, a bright half eagle marked, “For a Little Heroine, from
Uncle Jack Larkin.’’ Polly is a young lady now, but I doubt if she ever
forgets her experience with flat-headed adders.
GLEANINGS,
To THE CHICKADEE:—
As if it said, “‘Good day, good sir;
Fine afternoon, old passenger.
Happy to meet you in these places,
Where January brings few faces..”’
— EMERSON.
The kingdom of ornithology is divided into two departments—real
birds and English sparrows. English sparrows are not real birds, they
are little beasts. VAN DYKE.
The missing words in last month’s account of the snow bird have
been found, and you shall have the list to compare with those with which
you filled the blank spaces. Hawk, six inches, bluish slate, head,
breast, belly, white, bill, September, April.
American &
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Photo from life by
Dr. J. B. Pardoe
YOUNG SONG SPARROWS.
A FULL HOUSE.
64 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
SONG SPARROW,
A. O. U. No. 581. (Melospiza melodia.)
RANGE.
Eastern North America. West to the plains and breeding from Vir-
ginia and the southern portion of the lake states, northward to the fur
countries. The Song Sparrow is represented in nearly every section of
the country by a very similar sub-specie, the chief difference from the
eastern variety being that the plumage is darker or lighter aC COIS to
the nature of the country that they frequent.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about 6 in.; extent, 9 in.; tail; nearly 3 in. “Bill “and eyes
dark brown. Feet, paler.
General color above,brownish. The crown is brown streaked with black
and containing a stripe of dull ash color through the middle. The cheek
and a line above the eye are also of this same ashy color. The feathers
comprising the coverts and those on the back, have a black stripe in the
center and are edged with dull reddish brown and light ash. The prim-
aries and tail feathers are plain brown, the former with a dull reddish
edging. A brown stripe extends from the eye to the ear and another
from the base of the lower mandible down the side of the throat. The
under parts are white, changing to a dull brownish color on the flanks.
There are numerous brown streaks along the breast and sides, those on
the breast generally uniting so as to form one large brown patch in the
middle.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Song Sparrow, by nature, is a ground bird and nests on the
ground. Owing to numerous mishaps that they have been subjected to
from small mammals and snakes, many of them now place their nests
in small bushes. They may be found either in marshy localities or on
high dry land. When located on the ground, the nest is generally fair-
ly well concealed by the clump of grass in which it is placed. The nest
is formed of dried grasses and lined with finer ones. Their completed
set numbers from three to five eggs. The ground color of. these varies
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 65
from a greenish to a grayish white. The markings on these vary in al-
most endless pattern. On some the ground color is entirely obscured
by the numerous spots and blotches of reddish brown andchestnut. On
others the dots are minute and mostly scattered around the larger end.
There are few eggs that show the diversity of markings that may be
found among these. These Sparrows generally rear two broods of
young each year and under favorable circumstances often three.
HABITS.
Only Sparrows; plain little brown ground Sparrows. How many
would pass them unnoticed and look only for some more gaudily attired
bird. Yet those brown coats cover some of the sweetest and most at-
tractive birds found in this country. In New England the Song Spar-
rows come with the first signs of approaching spring, and the snow and
ice seem literally to melt away under the warmth and fervedness of their
songs. From the time of their arrival till their departure late in the fall,
they are one continual outburst of melody.
NEST AND EGGS OF SONG SPARROW.
66 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
SONG SPARROW
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 67
They sing as the sun first shows its face aud they sing a farewell when
the reddening sky warns us that night is near. The wind that whistles
mournfully through the leafless trees, and the biting cold that penetrates
the heaviest garments, seem not to detract one whit from their joy.
As the first showers of April burst the swelling buds, their cheery
voices welcome the coming leaves and bid them hasten. During the
sultry days of summer, when even the farmer is forced to leave his toil
because of the extreme heat, their carols are the sweetest, for then they
are singing to nests full of little birds and patient mates. In the fall,
their summer’s work completed, they while away the days in an ecstacy
song as they prepare to leave for the south at the first severe snow
storm. Is it any wonder that they have endeared themselves to all who
know them?
If you reside in the country or on the outskirts of the city and have a
few vines or shrubs about the yard, you can easily attract a pair of the
songsters to your home. If fed a few crumbs occasionally and treated
kindly, they will remain, raise their young and return to the same place
year after year. Even leaving out of account their numerous vocal en-
tertainments, they would pay their rental hundreds of times over by the
numerous insects they would destroy, either directly or in the form of
eggs or larvae.
Song Sparrows are mainly ground birds, and are extensively known,
locally, as Ground Sparrows. Except when migrating at night, they are
not commonly seen at a greater height than the summit of some small
tree, upon which one may sit for many minutes at atime and exhibit his
musical abilities in competition with those of his rival, who, perhaps, is
perched not a great ways off on a fence-post or rock.
They like the open country and are never found in the woods. For
nesting sites, little preference is shown between low swampy land
and the high dry pasture land, provided that the latter are well supplied
with low shrubbery, bushes or clumps of grass.
The tall rank tufts of grass bordering the streams that cross the
meadow, furnish excellent breeding grounds, and in following the course
of such a stream, one knows not at which step one of these little brown
birds will scurry away. ‘They sit very closely and so sudden is their
rush when they do fly, that unless you were on the alert, it is sometimes
very difficult to find the treasure.
They watch over their nests very closely and anxiously, a habit that
very often causes a nest to be discovered, that would otherwise never
be sought for. Unless the female is sitting on the nest, both birds will
commence chirping with great vigor when anyone approaches, and the
nearness to the nest may be judged by the intensity of their protests,
68 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
and when it is found their alternate angry and appealing entreaties would
touch the heart of anyone who cared aught for the welfare of the
birds.
Their anxiety is not limited by any means to the safety of their own
young, but their sympathy is extended to all other afflicted or distressed
friends. They will protest with just as much vim against the invasion
of any of their neighbors’ homes as against their own. From all points
of view, our Song Sparrows are very desirable birds and should be en-
couraged to come in greater numbers. Nota single disagreeable trait
can be charged against them and their many and varied songs have,and
will continue to bring delight to the hearts of those who roam the fields
for pleasure or study. ’Tis only those who, themselves, are the slaves
of fashion, who will call any member of this specie ‘‘only a Sparrow’”’
because of his lack of bright colors. You may clothe a bird in all the
colors of the rainbow and you cannot obtain the neat, attractive and well
groomed bird that our Sparrow is.
NEST BUILDING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
Last summer I was much interested in watching a pair of kingbirds,
who were building their nest in a large burr-oak tree. They had the
nest about half finished when a pair of English sparrows appeared, and
after much noisy discussion, decided that was the exact spot for
them to set up housekeeping in. So away they went, and with the in-
dustry which is the sparrows one good quality, were soon busy carry-
ing the larger part of a straw pile and putting it on top of the kingbird’s
nest. When Mr. and Mrs. Kingbird returned, you may be sure there
was a lively time. They chased the sparrows around and around until
they retired apparently conquered, but no sooner were the kingbirds
away for a minute than the sparrows were back busier thanever. After
a time Mr. Kingbird stayed at home to guard the house while she went
on with the building. Soon the sparrows returned again and he started
in pursuit of one, but no sooner was he out of sight than the other spar-
row was at the nest with its beak full of straws. This was kept up for
two days when the kingbirds retired in disgust leaving the sparrows in
possession.
Think of it. The kingbird, a very tyrant among birds, who will
scream with delight at the sight of a hawk or crow to torment, defeated
by a pair of English sparrows. LESLIE L. HASKIN.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 69
In the northern part of Rock County, Wis., one mile east of the vil-
lage of Milton, is a small but interesting lake. It is usually spoken of
as a mud hole,’’ but to one who has spent many-happy hours tramping
about its grassy banks, gliding over its stagnant waters, or wading
through its turbid marshes, the applied name becomes a bane. It is not
picturesque to the casual observer. It is not noted for its magnificent
hotels, its steamboats and picnic parties. But to the man of nature it is
a perfect paradise.
Let us leave the daily routine of our office, den or studio and take an
afternoon tramp ’round its marshy shores. The day, which of the many
shall it be? Let us select the tenth of August. Yonder, in the west, a
great bank of clouds meets “Old Sol,’’ now on his course downward,
with a golden blush.
A gentle zephyr waves the yellow grain, waiting for the binder. We
wend our way onward. ‘The land birds are all quiet, for it is not the
time of year when they are apt to sing at mid-day. But we will be amply
repaid before evening.
Down the dusty lane we tramp, through the woods, across the corn-
field, and we are greeted by a sudden “‘peet-weet’’ as a wary Spotted
Sandpiper leaves his feeding ground for places on the mud banks,where
human feet can ne’er approach. Let us wallow in the marsh grass.
Here is a Sora, there a Least Bittern, yonder a Swamp Sparrow. Soar-
ing in the zenith, a Cooper’s Hawk, his eager eye on some young Rail,
plans his afternoon lunch.
Blackbirds innumerable (mostly the young of the year) restlessly fly
from one’patch of flags to another, apparently for no other purpose than
to while away the time, yet ever ready to grasp such grain as may ap-
pear in their course, or to relish some unfortunate worm. Across the
lake we hear the “‘plunck-a-la-plunk’’ of an American Bittern. Yes, the
bird itself has been honored with more names than Lafayette, and has
been accredited with as many vocal discords as the English language is
capable of expressing.
Among the names applied to this bird, which come to”"my memory
70 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
are Bittern, Barrelmaker, Shypoke, Plum Pudding, Bog Trotter, Bog
Bull, Heron, Stake-driver, Thunder Pump and others. The vocal noises
I will not mention, for who can imitate the sounds or sougs of any
bird?
We cease to listen to the cries of Botaurus and continue to rove, when,
lo! we have a chilly sensation in our feet, and find ourselves buried to the
hips in the mire. Master Muskrat is responsible for this mishap. After
extracting ourselves, we continue, and come to a place where there is a
break in the rushes. A “‘Coo-coo-coo-coo,”’ and a streak of disturbed
water tell of a badly frightened Coot.
A Killdeer flying over the lake, utters his loud “‘kill-dee, kill-dee’’ and
cautions all his feathered friends that danger is near.
Out on the water, a mother Wood Duck sports with her flock of downy
children. Now she ducks her head for a tender tadpole to feed her
sprightly young; now filled with pride over her flock she rises up and
flaps her wings. How obedient her ducklings are! How they scamper
to her call! I think human children could take profitable lessons from
any of our birds.
GREEN HERON. Photo from life.
We watch them with delight, when from a grapevine, nearby, comes
the “‘chow-chow-chow”’ of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, warning us that we
must hurry on or be left in the dark. We heed the warning and leave
the marsh for dry ground.
Song Sparrows fly from under our feet and a Meadow Mole scuds
away to hide in denser grass.
We come to a pile of logs on the bank. What recollections are some-
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 7
times associated with things! And it is none the less true of this log-
pile. What a happy evening I had spent with a friend there, but a few
weeks before (May 26th), trying to bring two young Screech Owl to a
sociable disposition. But the Owls were indisposed, for turning their
heads on one side, and snapping their beaks with a saucy, harsh, ‘‘ka-
kaa’’ they would remind one of some cranky person, who thought he
was supreme, but, who was afraid to venture an opinion on any sub-
ject.
But another friend is there to-day. No sooner are we seated on the
pile than a Gray Chipmunk comes and perches on the end of a log. We
throw an acorn to him. He grasps it in his paws, then drops it and
cocks his head on one side with an air of “thank you, sir, but it was no
good,’ then scampers away to hide in the leaves.
YOUNG NIGHT HERON. Photo from life.
Twilight settles upon us. All is still, save the dismal croak of the
frogs, the occasional cackle of the Gallinules, and the weird, sympathe-
tic whinny of the Screech Owl in the woods. Motionlesswe think. We
wonder at the past with its causes and events, the present with its ac-
tualities, the future with its probabilities. A hoarse “‘qua’’ overhead
suddenly awakens us from our dreams, and we realize that a Black-
crowned Night Heron passing by has brought us, as it were, back to
life.
We recall the fact that we have had no supper, and, taking a farewell
glance at our recent pleasure ground, we depart for home, truly able to
say to Mother Nature:
An hour with thee! When sun is set,
O, what can teach me to forget,
Oh, what can frame my mind to bear
The toil and turmoil, cark and care,
New friends, which coming hours unfold,
And sad remembrance of the old?
One hour with thee!
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
ROAD-RUNNER.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. vis:
ROAD-RUNNER,.
A. O. U. No. 385. (Geococeyx californianus.)
RANGE.
Southwestern United States, including the southern portion of Cali-
fornia, southern Utah and Colorado, southwestern Kansas and western
Texas. They are quite abundant throughout the greater part of their
range.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about 24 in.; tail, 11 in.; extent about 20 in.; eye, dark brown;
bill and feet, dark horn color, the latter rather lighter and sometimes
more yellowish then the former.
Adults. The entire plumage has a somewhat coarse and scrawny ap-
pearance, and the feathers on the head and neck have a wiry texture.
The crown has a crest of black. General color above is a dark lustrous
greenish black changing to a dark steel blue on the head and neck.
The edges of the feathers on the wings and tail have the appearance of
being badly worn, leaving a whitish fringe-like edge. Breast, throat
and sides mixed with tawny-white and black. Under parts a dull white.
The outer tail feathers are broadly tipped with white, as are the pri-
maries and secondaries.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Road-runner places his rude domicile in low trees, in the branch-
es of a cactus or other thorny tree. The nest is clumsy and nearly flat.
The eggs are deposited at intervais of several days and may be found
in all stages of incubation, from fresh eggs to newly hatched chicks. A
complete set of their eggs varies in number from five to eight or some-
times more and they are laid from the first part of April till the latter
part of May. They are white or buffy white and nearly smooth.
HABITS.
This bird, called by the Mexicans ~ Paisano,’’ ~Snake-killer’’ and
“Chaparral Cock’’ is certainly one of the most comical of birds, both in
looks and actions, with its extraordinarily long tail and legs.
Its inquisitiveness, habit of flirting its long tail and wings, and ap-
74 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
parent ability to move each individual feather on its whole body, in any
direction it wishes, are enough to make one laugh, and the way it can
get over the ground, when so inclined, is certainly astonishing. Itisa
combination of flying machine, aero-plane and kangaroo.
They seldom fly, but when alarmed, spread their wings, start their
feet in motion, and a gray streak through the underbrush and across
country, shows their course. They will run ahead of a galloping horse
and the best efforts of the rider cannot bring him abreast of the fleeing
bird, until the latter, tired of the race, turns off into the underbrush.
Their food consists of lizards, insects, snakes, etc. They are said to
be deadly enemies of the rattle-snakes, capturing them in a peculiar
manner. When they find one asleep, they quietly gather up a quantity
of cactus leaves and with them, build a fence around the snake. When
they consider that they have a sufficient barrier, they give the snake a
sharp peck and jump back to await developments. When the snake be-
comes entangled among the cactus leaves, these long tailed jokers are”
unable to contain their joy and execute a war dance about their trap, go-
ing through all the grotesque antics that they are capable of, and call-
ing his snakeship all the pet names in their vocabulary. When the
rattler finds that he is unable to extricate himself, it is said that he de- ©
liberately turns his fangs upon himself and dies of his own venom.
Having witnessed the last struggles of its victim, this queer bird
dances a few more fancy steps on the body of its enemy, croaks awhile
over its victory, and then goes off to search for more fun. Ihave never
witnessed this performance, but have been told by those who have
actually seen it, that it really does occur as described. I did see one,
that did not get a little green lizard for dinner.
I had been out since daybreak, feasting my soul as only a bird lover
can. I had travelled many miles and the sun was high, and it certainly
was hot. I had picked out a soft, grassy seat on the shady side of a
mesquit bush and had just seated myself to eat my lunch, when I got
right up. Wrth an outlay of some time, patience, and rather ill-feeling,
I succeeded in separating myself from a large balloon cactus. Not
wanting to run any risks, and feeling a little sore over the matter, I
sought a bare spot on the bank of a small stream, where I could see
what I was going to siton. As soon as I got settled, I saw a little
green lizard coming up the bank, and looking under every leaf and twig
with his bright little eyes, for grubs, etc. All at once he stopped and
looked up—in an instant he was off like a flash and a Road-runner came
jumping down the bank, squawking with anger and disgust at losing
a tidbit.
After a hearty laugh I too left for home well satisfied with my days
outing, that is not taking the balloon cactus into consideration.
CHAS. E. HOYLE
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 75
Wy HE LEAST FLYCATCHER.
Among the most lively and interesting of our
summer visitors, is the Least Flycatcher. It is
with the deepest sense of enjoyment that I listen
to and watch this little tyrant when he makes his
first appearance in the spring. As you go out in
the orchard some morning in May, watching for
new comers, you will see him perched on a dead
twig in the top of some old apple tree, and he will be uttering his sharp
spoken notes with an emphatic snap of his head and tail at each note,
stopping now and then to catch an unfortunate fly that should come
within a few feet of him, or to drive away some sparrow that should
dare to stop in his presence.
Ah! Very little has he changed since last year. He is the same
to-day, to-morrow and forever. I well remember a pair that took
possession of a large willow tree quite near our house, a few years ago,
and after guarding it properly a weekor two,they decided to build there.
Slowly the nest progressed, but day by day it grew larger. In a week
or so it was finished, and finished it was, inside, and out. It was the
most perfectly made nest that I have ever seen. Each hair was placed
just so and each piece of bark, fibre and lichen on the outside was woven
together tightly making it nearly as firm as the foundation of a house.
It was placed in the fork of a branch overhanging the road and about
twenty feet above it. So well was it concealed that only sharp eyes
could detect it from the branches.
In a few days more I made an examination and found four creamy
white eggs in the nest. They were very beautiful and I decided at the
time that I had never seen a more handsome set of unmarked eggs and
I still think so. As the days passed by the eggs
were hatehed, and the young birds soon began
to show their feathers. In a short time they be-
gan to be crowded in the small nest, and I could
see them peeping over the edge as though long-
ing for the time when they would be
able to leave their crowded home.
They, as myself, little dreamed of the
fate that awaited them. One rainy day
while passing the willow, I heard a cry
of ‘distress, and upon looking up, I was
much astonished to see a large
adder coiled around the branches,
with his gluttonous eyes peering
into the little flycatcher’s nest.
He had been there sometime, as I
76 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
found afterwards, and all this time the old birds had been fluttering
about him, doing their best to drive him away, but it was of no use as
long as his appetite held good. I did not wait long to see him proceed,
but ran as quickly as possible to the house and got a long spear.
After arguing several minutes with the spotted demon, | brought
him to the ground, and having seen his finish, I hastened to the nest.
What a horrible sight. Three of the little birds were gone, and the re-
maining one’was so badly bitten that he died in a few minutes. It was
truly a sad day for the parent birds, and they seemed to show their sor-
row.
They stayed around the willow for a few days as if mourning their
loss. Not once during these gloomy days did I hear their cheerful,
“‘che-bec.’’ But as the sunshiny days came their spirits seemed to re-
vive, and they decided to try and rear another family. They were wise
enough this time, however, not to make their home in the same place.
So they moved their nest, piece by piece, across the road to the top of
a large butternut tree, and were doubtless as happy when migration time
came as though they had not met with their sad misfortune.
WM. H. SANDERS.
Photo from life by Geo. C. Embody,
YOUNG KINGBIRDS.
78 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Color Chart No. 2.
GAUDY RED BIRDS.
A. ©. U. No.’ 595... “Rose-breasted “Grosbeale
(Habia ludoviciana).
Eastern U. S. and southern Canada. Common _ Nest
of twigs in trees, bordering woods or streams. Sony a
very brilliant and melodious whistle, always preluded with
a sharp chip. White wing and tail bars very conspicuous
during flight. Female, a brownish bird with white mark-
ings and yellowish or rosy tint under the wings. Young
like the female. Length 8 in.
A. O. U. No. 593, Cardinal. (Cardinals card-
inalis).
U. S. east of the Plains and south of New England and
New York. Common. Nest of sticks in thickets and
bushes. Crested. Black mask around the bill. Length
8.5 inches. Female, yellowish brown, reddening on the
wings, tail, and crest. Subspecies. 593a. Arizona Card-
inal (C. c. superbas) Southern Arizona and Mexico. 593b;
St. Lucas Cardinal (C. c. igneus) Lower Calif. —_593C¢;
Gray-tailed Cardinal. Southwestern Texas. 594; Texas
Cardinal (Pyrrhuloxia sinuata) Bill stouter and more
hooked than the Cardinal. Southwestern U. S. 5944;
Arizona Pyrrhuloxia (P. s. beckham?) Southern Ariz. and
western Texas. 594b; St. Lucas Pyrrhuloxia (P. s.
peninsulae) Lower Calif.
A. O. U. No. 471, Vermillion Flycatcher (Pyro-
cephalus rubineus mexicanus)
Southwestern U.S. Female has a brownish back and
whitish underparts, streaked with dusky and tinged with
red. Quite common. Length 6 inches.
A. O. U. No. 610, Summer manager, (Piranga
rubra).
Eastern U.S. south of Mass. and New York and west
to the Plains. Color varies from rose red to vermillion.
The wings and tail inclined to be brownish. Female,
brownish yellow above and brighter below. Length 7 in.
Subspecies. 609 Hepatic Tanager (P. hepatica) Upper
parts brownish ashy tinged with red. Below, bright red.
Female yellowish. No. 610a, Cooper’s Tanager (Piranga
rubra cooper) A western form of the Summer Tanager.
New Mexico and Arizona.
A. O. U. No. 608, Scarlet Tanager (Piranga
erythromelas).
Eastern U. S. and southern Canada. Entirely ver-
million except the black wings and tail. Female olive
above and yellow below. Length 7 inches.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Woodpeckers very prominently marked witb red.
79
Characteristics: Climbtrees clinging to them with feet assisted by their sharp
pointed tail feathers. Two toes in front and two behind.
A, ©. U. No. 403, Red-breasted Sapsucker
(Sphvrapicus ruber).
Pacific coast, from British Columbia to Lower Calif.
Whole head, neck and breast red. Primaries barred with
white, middle tail feathers barred with white.
A. O. U. No. 406, Red-headed Woodpecker (Me-
lanerpes ervthrocepbalus).
Central portion of the U.S. West to the Rocky Mts. @
and east to New England. Very common. Head and
neck intense red. Large white wing patches. Back,
blue black. Length 9 inches.
A. O. U. No. 407, California Woodpecker, (M.
formicivorus baird1).
Pacific coast from Oregon to Lower Calif. Common.
Black on breast extends on belly and flanks in streaks.
Back, glossy black. Lengthginches. Subspecies. 4074,
Narrow fronted Woodpecker (M. f. angustifrons' Lower |
Calif. White band on forehead narrower than the former.
A. O. U. No. 408, Lewis’ Woodpecker (M.
torquatus).
Pacific coast, west of the Rockies and south of British
Columbia, upper part irridescent greenish black. Face
dark red. Gray collar and breast. Belly and sides streak-
ed with rose red and white. Length 1o.5 inches.
A. O. U. No. 409, Red-bellied Woodpecker (M.
carolinus).
U. S. east of the Mississippi and from southern New
England southwards. Common. Length 9.5 inches.
, eae ohte pei
ba eer: $
hai ge
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 81
AN INTERESTING CAPTIVE,
Free as the wind, that gently sways the tree tops; wild as the torrent
that dashes madly down the mountain side; proud as the monarch at
whose commands, thousand of subjects tremble; and brave as the gen-
eral, who leads his army to victory, a diminutive hawk gracefully, yet
swiftly wends his solitary way across the meadow. Not a movement
in the grass below escapes his keen sight, and not a rustle of a fright-
ened bird in the bordering shrubbery, but what his sensitive ear catches.
A field mouse that has inadvertantly exposed itself in scurrying from
one retreat to another attracts his attention. A sudden swoop, a spas-
modic squeak, and our hero, perched on a low stump, is greedily en-
gaged in an anatomical examination of the smallest of rodents. Such
escapades, the catching of numerous beetles and an occasional exciting
chase after some small bird, formed the every day events in ‘‘Pidgy’s”’
life before I knew him.
From life.
THe CHALLENGE:
One day in early fall, his adventurous spirit carried him too far, anda
watchful farmer shot him as he sailed over the hen house. His misfor-
tune befell him purely upon circumstantial evidence, as probably he had
no designs on the inmates, but he was a hawk and had to pay the pen-
alty. Fortunately he was disabled in but one wing and was retained as
a prisoner of war, instead of being promptly dispatched as is the usual
custom in such cases. More likely though he was kept for mercenary
reasons, as the following day he came into my possession.
82 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Fig. 2. From life.
THE COMBAT.
Perhaps those who guessed wrong as to the live bird in Fig. I, may like to try again
and make up their minds before reading farther, which of the above is alive. It is pos-
sible, too, that a few who were right before may make a mistake this time.
Pidgy, and by the way, this name became associated with him instead
of his whole name of Pigeon Hawk, was a beautiful bird, a trifle larger
than the Sparrow Hawk. He hadthe brightest of bright brown eyes, and
his yellow legs, though slender, contained sinews of steel. Woe to the
creature that fell into the grasp of those sharp, black, needle-like claws.
His back was just changing from the brownish color that denotes youth
in these birds, to the blue gray of maturity.
From life.
What’s that noise?
A small cord attached to his leg with a piece of chamois, served to
keep him within reasonable distance of an old stump that we keep on
hand for transient visitors. At first he was bashful about accepting the
piece of meat that I tendered him, but a few hours later he concluded
that he would satisfy his hunger even in the presence of spectators.
The way having now been paved, our friendship grew apace. How his
eyes would glisten when he saw me cutting up his meat, and how eag-
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 83
erly he would cause it to disappear.
He was very impatient and at last con-
cluded that I was too slow in preparing
his meals and thought that some help
on his part would expediate matters.
He would hop to my knee, then to my
fingers and assist me by pulling at the
piece that I held. He was very fastid-
ious even when hungry, a condition that
he always appeared to be in, and would
not under any circumstances eat a piece
of meat with any fat on it. Time after
time I tried to fool him by concealing the
fat part in my fingers, but to no avail,
for as soon as he had it in his beak, a
sudden flip of his head, and the obnox-
ious piece would be thrown across the
room.
I soon concluded that it would be
much better for Pidgy to prepare his
own meals and it surely was more inter-
esting to me. Immediately upon re-
ceiving a generous portion of steak,
he would seize it in his bill, hop to his favorite end of the stump, grasp
it in his claws, and “‘go for it.’’ Pull, why at times it seemed as
though he would lift himself bodily, together with the stump, and at
times, when a particulary stubborn piece gave way, you would almost
imagine that the whole building trembled, such was the violence of
the reaction.
Pidgy was also a good guardian of his property, and having become
the possessor of a choice morsel, nothing could persuade him to relin-
quish it, and he gave evidence that he would fight until death before
giving up his booty. An unusually savage looking mounted Red-tailed
Hawk, a bird about four times the size of Pidgy, was the cause of much
anxiety on the part of our pet. At the mere sight of this fancied rival,
he would raise his feathers till they stood on end, in the endeavor to
make his small body appear as large as possible.
As the larger bird was brought nearer, Pidgy would squat down and
completely cover the piece of meat that was tightly clenched in one foot,
while his sharp snapping eyes were on the alert for every possible move
of his enemy. If perchance the larger hawk were brought too near,
quick as a flash of lightning, out would dart one of our brave pet’s feet,
Meditation. From Life.
84 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
armed with its sharp little talons, and it required skillful action on the
part of the manipulator of the dummy to avoid a catastrophe.
Pidgy’s wounded wing healed rapidly and every day he raised and
lowered it for exercise and that it might set properly. Inabout a month
it was as gqgod as ever. We now found that he possessed much ability
at weaving, or rather unweaving, for at least once a day he succeeded
in untying the knot that held him. These escapes were always herald-
ed by a peculiar rapidly uttered whistle as though he were laughing at
his success. After a diligent search we would generally find him per-
ched motionless in some exposed position. At first the sight of a tempt-
ing morsel was sufficient to cause him to hasten to get it, but as soonas
he found that it was but a lure he tried to keep out of reach, and it be-
came necessary to resort to a buttefly net to bring him back to earth.
This undignified termination of his escapades humiliated and likewise
angered him and he always tried to bite the fingers of his captor.
‘A Portrait. I rom life.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 85
Before allowing him to leave us, we secured a number of photographs
of him in various attitudes. Two of these, those showing the two birds,
have created considerable interest among others and amusement to us.
I am pleased to see that our subscribers are unusually observant. Of
the replies as to which of these birds is alive, that have arrivedup to the
time of going to press, eighty-eight have guessed wrong and one hun-
dred and twenty-four have chosen the correct bird. The Hawk on-the
left is Pidgy. We were very fortunate in securing the photo shown in
ig a ce
It was taken in a dimly lighted room for fast work and the lighting
was assisted by means of several mirrors. Fortunately, just at the in-
stant of exposure, Pidgy’s wings were at the upper end of their stroke,
and so are fairly sharp on the negative. To obtain this picture, the
mounted bird was placed an the stump, with a piece of meat under it.
Pidgy was brought in and placed on the other end of the stump. His
anger was aroused immediately at sight of the other Hawk apparently
feasting, while he had nothing. He uttered his challenging cry, made
one jump, seized the meat in one foot and with the other was preparing
to demolish the enemy, when the exposure was made. The other pic-
ture containg the two birds represents Pidgy as he looked after being
separated from his antagonist, and about to return to the attack.
CHESTER A. REED.
Good Steak—but tough. From life.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
86
Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
PIGEON HAWK.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 87
PIGEON HAWK,
A. O. U. No. 357%. (Faleo Columbarius.)
RANGE.
The whole of North America. Breeds chiefly north of the United
States and is found in the latter, except in the northern parts, only dur-
ing the winter migrations.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, from 11 to 12 in.; extent, 24 to 26 in.; tail, about 5.5in. The
larger of these dimensions applies to the female, which is quite a little
larger than the male bird. Eye, brown. Feet, yellow. Cere and base
of the bill, yellow, the remainder being blue-black.
Male.—Entire upper parts a bluish gray, each feather on the back und
coverts, having a black shaft line. The primaries are black, with light-
er tips. The tail is like the back in color and is crossed by three black
bands and tipped with one of white. The under parts are whitish,
streaked longitudinally with dark brown, these streaks being bold on
the breast and sides, while on the throat they are narrow pencil lines.
A superciliary stripe of gray shows prominently above the eye.
Female.—Young, and male in autumn plumage. The back and tail
are dark brown instead of the blue-gray color, and the tail is crossed by
three bands of dull yellowish white and tipped with band of white.
Otherwise they are similar to the spring plumage of the male, except
that young birds are apt to have far less numerous markings on the
breast and throat. The bird shown in the illustration is an adult male
in the fall dress.
NEST AND EGGS.
This Hawk:shows little partiality in the choice of a nesting site. It
may be placed in the crevices of a cliff, in hollow limbs of trees, or on
the branches. *.. The eggs are laid during May and are generally three or
four in number. The ground color varies from a creamy to a cinnamon
color'and they are heavily blotched with various shades ot brown.
88 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
HABITS.
This is one of the smallest, most handsome and graceful of all the
Falcons. One of his most striking personalities is his courage, indeed,
if his body were directly in proportion to that quality he would perhaps
be the largest of all birds. He will attack and capture birds of more
than twice his size and is very persistent in his pursuit of any creature
that may have attracted his fancy. One of these small hunters has been
known to enter a house in pursuit of a Flicker, which had flown through
the open window in the hope of escaping certain destruction, which
would otherwise have befallen him.
Contrary to the usual custom of other Hawks, they do not confine
their attacks upon other birds to making sudden dashes at them in the
hope of catching them unawares. If the object of their attack sees and
avoids them at the first swoop, they will at once give chase, and follow
every motion of their quarry through its devious course, and rarely will
they fall short of success in their endeavor. Their swiftness and agility
are phenomenal and no sudden or unexpected move of the pursued can
throw this little harrier off the track.
As is nearly always the case, no matter how brave a bird may be in
the presence of others of the feathered tribe, he will have a wholesome
fear of a human being. In this respect, the Pigeon Hawk does not dif-
fer from others, but is very wild and shy, except where the safety of its
nest is concerned. The actions of different individuals of this species
vary in regard to the reception they accord to molesters of their domes-
tic life. One may immediately, apparently, leave the vicinity, while
another may attempt to defend his home and make fearless swoops at
the head of the invader.
Although naturally shy, if captured they can easily be tamed, and
doubtlessly in the day of falconry they could have been used in the chase,
as was the Merlin, a very similar Hawk. Besides small birds, and large
ones, too, his food is made up largely of mice, crickets and grasshop-
pers.
Pigeon Hawks are rarely met with in the United States during the
summer, except in northern New England and in the mountainous lo-
calities of the northwest. By far the greater number of them nest in
the interior of Canada. They are quite plentiful in Alaska and here
nest on the cliffs or in the tops of pine trees. Their nests when placed
in the latter situation are very large for the bird and resemble Crow’s
nests. The adult male in summer is an unusually attractive bird and as
with all the Hawks, is much smaller than the female or young.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
HAWK OWL.
go AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
AMERICAN HAWK OWL,
A. O. U. No. 37%a. (Surnia ulula ecaparoch.)
RANGE.
Northern North America, migrating in winter to the northern bound-
ary of the U. 8.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 15 in.; extent, 33 in.; tail, 7 im. Eye, Yellow. Peet, feath-
ered to the toes. Upper parts brownish, nearly black on the head, which
is finely spotted with white. Back and wing coverts also spotted with
white, and the tail is narrowly barred and tipped with light gray. Under
parts white, closely barred with reddish brown. Face and throat white,
bounded by a black crescent behind the ears and across the breast.
NEST AND EGGS.
Nests either in the tops of pine trees or in the hollow of astump. It
is lined with fine grasses and feathers. The eggs are laid during April,
the time varying with the locality. The white eggs range in number
from four to six.
HABITS.
These birds might well be regarded as the connecting link between
the hawks and owls. They have features that are common to both,
though the owl like ones predominate. They hunt as freely by day-
light as by night. They have the long tail of the hawk, and thus are
able to more closely follow their prey through the brush. They often
sail as the hawk does in circles, and their note resembles that of the
small hawks. On the other hand they have the feet and soft plumage
of the owl and can almost float through the air. Their food consists of
rats, mice, insects and birds up to the size of a partridge. They fre-
quent small woods and do their hunting chiefly in the mornings around
the meadows. They are very bold, daring, and very savage in the
defence of their homes. They are frequently caught in traps that are
set for other creatures. In winter they create great havoc among the
flocks of ptarmigan. But few of them cross the border to the U. S. in
the winter.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. gi
R YOUN NG
FRIENDS
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
My DEAR Younc FOLKs:
As I sat by the window one of the bright days in February, there
flew down half a score of dear little birds with backs of blue and breasts
of brick red, and softly twittering, alighted on a tree close by. They
staid about all the morning, and I think they wished me to send you
their greetings and tell you that spring is surely coming.
The Bluebirds are dear friends of mine. Our hammock was swung
when I was a child, from the corner of the house to a spruce tree; a lit-
tle higher up on the tree trunk was fastened a box with a round hole in
it, where a pair of Bluebirds made their summer homes for many years
without seeming to resent the interest shown by several little lads and
lassies in the training of the young birds. Indeed, they occasionally
swung on the rope while the hammock was occupied by two or some-
times three children, and seemed to know that naught but good will was
felt toward them. Then, too, there was Sir Robin Redbreast, who
would come'daily to the window sill for his breakfast of crumbs, and if
the window was closed, would tap the pane of glass with his bill to in-
form us that he was quite ready for his regular rations.
One of our young folks, Charles H. Rogers, of New York City, has
sent a correct account of the Junco. If Roxana Hevy has access to a
good ‘library, she will find more satisfactory answers to her long list of
questions, in any good book on birds, than my space would permit me
to give. Do not expect that your letters can be answered in the next
month’s magazine, for oftentimes it is already in press when your let-
ters reach me.
Your friend,
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
SAW-WHET OWL.
A TRUE INCIDENT,
Such an adventure came to me,
Methought, to our young friends I’ll write
No Sinbad sailing o’er the sea
Has ever seen so strange a sight.
Upon a bright and balmy day,
When Bluebirds whispered “‘Spring is here,’
And smiling nature seemed to say
“Sweet flowers and birds will soon appear.”’
>
A sheltered sunny bank I found
And resting there wrapped deep in thought
I soon was roused by whirring sound—
There in my haira bird was caught.
The bird was dressed in plumage gray
Flecked ’cross the back with spots of brown,
I raised my hands, and then straightway
Folded the stranger in my gown.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
To finger tips thrilled with surprise,
I quickly hastened back to town;
And to some wise friends bore my prize—
A captive worthy of renown.
With bated breath, all nearer drew,
There cuddled in a soft brown ball—
Exposed to our astonished view,
Lay—a black cat—and that was all.
I started back with looks aghast,
_All stared—but no one said a word,
Till some one cried—‘‘T know at last,
The mystery’s solved, it’s a cat bird.”’
The kitten mewed,—Then I awoke,
(Things are not always what they seem)
Oh, no, my dears! This was no joke.
It all was true. But ’twas a dream.
GLEANINGS,
“Beloved of children, bards and spring,
O, birds, your perfect virtues bring—.
Your song, your forms, your rhythmic flight,
Your manners for the heart’s delight;
Nestle in hedge, in barn, or roof,
Here weave your chamber weather proof.
Forgive our harms, and condescend
To man, as to a lubber friend.
And generous, teach his awkward race
Courage, and probity, and grace.”
—EMERSON.
93
94 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
MISS LIBERTY AS BIRD KILLER.
‘The electric light in the torch of the Goddess of Liberty Statute on
Bedloe’s Island in the harbor of New York kills many thousands of birds
annually, much in the same way that a lamp does the moths.
‘There have come mornings after a stiff wind had been blowing, when
several hundred of the poor little winged victims were picked up dead.
There have been as many as twenty-seven varieties found at one time;
thus showing that all kinds are at times attracted by glare.”’
The birds which were concealed in the account of “‘Polly’s Adventure’”’
last month are as follows: Robin, Martin, Phoebe,Creeper, Shrike, Rail,
Blue Bunting, Crane, Dipper,Chimney Swift,Cedar (bird) , Duck, Flicker,
Plover, Redstart, Swallow, Crow, Bob-white, Eagle, Lark.
We would like to have our young folks have a finger in the “‘pi’’ this
month. ‘This printer’s ‘‘pi’’ may not appeal to you as mother’s pie does,
but we rely on you to help us to dispose of it. Can you straighten out
the type in this account of a bird in
As WAPIOMe Pie
Iam a &zlcerf. Many of you doubtless have nicknames, but I have
over fytor. Golden-winged odwo kercep, Yellow-hammer, High Hole,
ecukry and clape are some of my common names. You may know me
by the black crescent on my sfvead, the dve band on the back of my adhe,
my ¢whze rump and /o/wey wing linings. I have black seekch and dorun
black spots on my belly; my back is dol/neg-nowrb with black streakings.
Unlike other members of my family, I spend much time on the dogrun
eating sect7ns, especiallv zats. My home is in a high hole in an old tree,
where I feed my young with softened odof from my own forc. Perhaps
you have heard my loud voice in the woods, and the vigorous sfffooa,
which I beat upon a hollow mz/é to amuse myself and my mate.
THE BROWN CREEPER,
The little Brown Creeper climbs up the tree,
Not stopping to talk with the Chickadee-dee
And clinging on with his dear little feet,
He looks unexpressibly cunning and sweet,
We listen with joy to his cheerful note
Coming from such a tiny clear throat.
PEIRCE H. LEAVITT, age 14,
Cambridge, Mass.
Can You Talk
On Your Feet.
In Either Case You Need
Ghe
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The Bonanza Collection Of Curios,
Contents:—Resurrection Plant, Mexico; Horn Nut,
China; Tarpon Scale, Gulf Mexico; Skate Egg,
Martha's Vineyard; ‘‘Electric Stone,’’ Jefferson Co.,
N. Y.; Branch Coral, Singapore; Clay Police Whistle,
Mexico; Black-mouth Tree Snail, Pavilion Key, Fla.;
Alligator Tooth, Indian River, Fla.; Precious Coral
Twigs, Med. Sea; Fossil Shark Tooth, Va., Dove
Shells, (at World’s Fair) Jamaica.
Gem Stones:—Tiger Eye, South Africa; Sard In-
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box only $1.00. ‘‘Clearance Sale’’ Price only 34 cts.
prepaid. Address, DR. F. H. LATTIN, Albion, N.Y.
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everything for the Naturalist. Complete list for stamp
ERNEST H. SHORT, Box 173, ROCHESTER, N. Y.
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It is a Curious Fact
that a large number of our noted botanists
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_DeDEEDEDRESSLOBSE!
Fig. 1, Phcto from life
MOTHER BLUEBIRD.
96 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
THE INS AND OUTS OF BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY,
It is only within the past few years that hunting birds with the came-
ra has been attempted, and wonderful results are now being obtained.
Nearly all that can be learned from the dead bird is now known, and
many of those who were formerly devotees of the gun have now dis-
carded it and adopted the camera in order to study the habits of the liv-
ing bird. Nature photography in as much as it pertains to birds, may
be separated into three classes based on the difficulty of securing good
results and the value of the pictures obtained. Class IJ. relates to the
Fig 2. Photo from life.
LOOKING AT THE FIVE BLUE EGGS.
photographing of nests and eggs. After having found a nest the rest
is simple photography. However one must be careful not to frighten the
bird and cause it to leave the nest. If proper care is taken to see that
the nest is well lighted, and a small stop used to secure good defini-
tion, satisfactory results may be obtained in all cases. In class 2 may
be placed young birds and captives. Asa general thing young birds,
especially when they think they are about capable of flying, seem to
think it is their duty to cause as much trouble to the photographer as
possible.
The professional photographer, in his'studio with all facilities at hand,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 97
knows nothing of the difficulties incurred in trying to persuade a nest
full of little birds to look pleasant. I might mention one case as an ex-
ample of some of the trying situations encountered. After occupying
about an hour’s time and with much exertion, having got the camera up
a particularly difficult tree, lashed it firmly in position, and focused
sharply on a nest full of small bits of bird life, it is anything but en-
couraging to have them suddenly decide that their presence is no long-
er necessary, and see them scatter in all directions. One does not real-
ize the labor spent in preparation until, his object defeated and enthusi-
asm allayed, he makes the journey back to mother earth. After some
such annoying failure I have often had to laugh as I realized the simi-
larity between my situation and that of the cat, who having quickly and
gracefully run up a tree, hoping to catch some unwary bird, her ambi-
tion defeated, is obliged to clumsily and laboriously shin down back-
wards. Pictures of captive birds always prove interesting and some-
times amusing, but they present little of real value as to the habits or
actions of the wild bird. The recently acquired captive nearly always
has a frightened, unnatur-
al expression, while the
one that? has” been “con:
fined long enough to ac-
custom himself to the life,
has at the same time lost
his natural traits. Class 3
includes only photographs
of free, adult wild birds.
Pictures obtained under
these conditions are im-
measurably more valuable
than any that can be taken
of captives, and by the way
many of the bird photos
that are appearing in pop-
ular magazines are from
birds in confinement and
the articles shouldso state.
There are many ways to
obtain camera shots at wild
birds and new ones are
being constantly devised.
The one that offers the Fig. 3. Photo from life.
mest advises aid also. 4 BRAVE CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER.
93 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
shows the birds at the most interesting period is that of catching them
caring for their young. The nest furnishes a center of attraction to
which they are certain to return, and if arrangements are properly made
the desired results may be had without any injury whatever to any of
the parties concerned. Occasional snap shots may he had of birds as
they hop from twig to twig. I do not wish any one to infer that it is
possible to march about the country and snap shot every bird they see.
You must bear in mind that all birds are shy, particularly so, if for any
reason one wishes to approach closely, as it is necessary todo to secure
a picture of any size suitable to show the bird. Another necessity, if
this method is to be followed is a reflex camera, that is one in which a
mirror is arranged to show the image up to the instant of exposure.
One of the latest schemes to secure negatives of the elusive bird is a
camera trap devised by Mr. Chapman. A perch is arranged so that the
weight of the bird that alights upon it will make an electric connection
and release the camera shutter. Doubtless many valuable photos will
be secured in this way.
Fig. 4. : Photo from life.
A WOODCHOPPER
I might have provided one more class for bird photos. That is the
fraudulent class, birds that are said to be alive, but are not. There
seems to be much need for such a class now, judging from the number
of photographs that are being forced upon some of the popular month-
lies and claimed to be from wild living birds when really they are from
mounted ones and some very poorly done at that. In nearly all cases
the makers of such photographs will allow some small detail to escape
their notice, which to a close observer of birds, would expose the fraud.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 99
If only the editors of some of the magazines could be persuaded to sub-
mit all Nature photos to some expert in the subject, it would not only
prevent their being the ignorant deceivers of their readers but would
drive such fraudulent schemers out of business by closing the market
for their wares.
The only qualifications necessary to
successfully photograph wild birds are:
A love for birds, (not a collective sort of
love, but for their welfare;) an abundance
of time; and an unlimited abundance of
patience. There seems to be a general
mistaken impression among those who
have not tried, that good pictures can only
be obtained with the most expensive appar-
atus. This is not so and any one armed
with a rectilinear lens and a wooden box
for a camera, can do just as good work in
this line as he who has a finely polished
camera, brass trimmed and with all the
latest improvements and an anastigmat
lens. All of the pictures of live birds I
secured the past year were made with the
ordinary trade lens supplied by the Man-
hattan Optical Co., on their 5x7 Wizard
camera. With the subjects that I worked
upon I could not have improved upon what
I obtained if I had used any other lens of
like focus, no matter how expensive. This
year I have several other lenses to use,
y See but they were selected solely because of
Fig. 5. Photo from life. their greater speed and not because they
pee enero ChE. will take better pictures.
A number of our subscribers have asked what equipment is necessary
for nature photography. To anyone about to purchase an outfit I
would suggest that they obtain a lens of between ten and twelve inches
focus. This will be best adapted for all classes of work. The camera
may be home made or a stock camera but for a lens of this focal length
the bellows should not be less than eighteen inches long in order to se-
cure good sized images of the birds. A good substantial tripod should
be included and always carry some strong twine with your outfit. This
will prove useful for tying back branches that would be out of focus or
100 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
obscure the view, and also for tying the tripod legs to the branches
when it is necessary to do aerial photography. For work about the
nests a long rubber tube is a necessity to set off the camera shutter.
About forty feet of this tubing will generally answer. A good mirror,
not less than a foot square will often enable you to throw the sun light
on nests that it would otherwise be difficult to photograph. Of course
you will need a good pair of field glasses, both to find the nests and to
watch the birds so as to know at just what instant to make the exposure. In
selecting these youshould get a pair that has a wide field or angle of view.
Fign6: Photo from life.
INDIGO BUNTING.
A glass that will magnify three diameters is plenty strong enough for
all work, and anything more powerful will have a narrower angle of
view.
The photographs shown with this were taken at various times during
the past summer and furnished subjects for several interesting rambles.
The Bluebird shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is the female who is just about to
enter the hole in front of her, at the bottom of which are five light
blue eggs. This nest is about twelve feet from the ground in a large
apple tree. The only possible location for the camera was a single hor-
izontal bough just below the nest. The camera was strapped firmly to
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. IOI
this, with the lens about twenty-four inches from the nest hole. Owing
to the location of the branch I was wholly unable to focus the camera
from in front, as I was in my own light. I was thankful that there was
no one to see or possibly photograph my maneuvers before I finally got
to the rear end of the camera where I could see the image on the ground
glass. As the camera was so close to the object, I stopped it down to
32 and took the pictures with an exposure of a hundredth part of sec-
ond. This short exposure under the conditions was only possible be-
cause I had the bright sunlight reinforced by the reflection from the mir-
TOK.
In a previous number I have mentioned the little Chestnut-sided
Warbler shown in Fig. 3. She was very tame and I had the camera set
up in front of her home and focused on her before she left the nest.
,
he
Fig.7. Photo from life.
MADAM GROSBEAK.
I doubt if she would have left the nest then, but the tripod leg slp-
ped and she thought that the whole outfit was coming over onher. As
she seemed so little afraid I did not hitch on the long tube, but waited
until she had returned to the nest and then carefully walked up to the
camera. As I approached, she became very nervous and several times
rose to her feet and spread her wings as though going to leave. Her
courage was good, however, and she allowed me to reach the bulb and
make the exposure, after which I removed the camera and left her in
peace still sitting on her four small eggs. As the lens was only about
twenty inches from her and to reach the bulb my hand had to come to
within about the same distance, you can imagine that she was a brave
little bird.
102 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
The two views of the Hairy Woodpecker, represent my only success-
ful attempt to snap-shot a bird by walking up to him and guessing at
the distance without the aid of a reflex camera. I followed this same
bird as he flew from tree to tree until I had made six exposures of him;
with the exception of these two all the attempts were flat failures, as!
were many others that I have tried to get by this means. i
The Indigo Bunting and the Rose-breasted Grosbeak are examples of
waiting, the former proving an exceptional trying subject, and requiring
several visits before I could get the picture shown here.
No. 8, the Kingbird, might well be used as an example of photograph-
ing under difficulties. Before I had reached the location of this nest the
wind, which had been blowing gently when I had started, had been
steadily increasing in force until it had almost reached the proportions
of a hurricane. But for the fact that I did not expect to be ableto make
another trip to this place I should never have attempted to take any pic-
tures on this occasion. Placing a camera in positionm when you are some |
distance from terra-firma is at best a rather delicate operation, but with
all the branches swaying and creaking, I thought I never would succeed.
During the several hours’ wait that followed before Mrs. Kingbird
deigned to return, I was in suspense all the time for fear that even if the
tree did not blow down, at least the camera or the nest might fall to
the ground at any instant. CHESTER A. REED.
Fig. 8. Photo from life.
KINGBIRD WITH GRASSHOPPER.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 103
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER.
A. O. U. No. 636. (Mniotilta varia.)
RANGE.
Very abundant in the United States east of the plains. They breed
from Virginia and Kansas northwards throughout their range and in
winter may be found from the gulf states southwards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 5 in.;°extent, 8.5 in.; tail, 2.25 in. Bill and feet, black. Eye,
dark brown. Male:—Upper parts, black, streaked with white. Median
line, Supercillary line, tips of middle and greater wing coverts, edge of
secondaries and spots on inner webs of outer tail feathers, white. The
under parts are white, heavily striped with black. Female:—The upper
parts are similar to those of the male bird, but the under parts are
mostly without the black markings.
NEST AND EGGS.
An overhanging stone, fallen tree trunk, decayed stump or a loose
piece of bark is generally made use of to furnish a shelter for these
nests. They are compactly made by twisting grass, leaves and strips
of bark together and lined with hair or fine roots. Four or five creamy-
white eggs speckled with chestnut will occupy such a nest about the lat-
ter part of May.
HABITS.
A musical dreamy note breaks upon our ears. A succession of hiss-
ing whistles in a very high key. A Black and White Warbler is near us,
but just how near remains to be seen, for their notes are very deceiv-
ing when you try to find'them. We will not find his habits to be like
those of the other Warblers. Neither are they the same as the Creep-
ers, although he is as frequently called the Black and White Creeper, as
a Warbler. He creeps about the limbs and trunks of trees to be sure,
but the true creepers always assist themselves with their tail in clinging
to the limb, while this Warbler does not. Again, unlike the creepers,
who commence at the bottom of a tree and work their way by a series
of hitches, upwards, this subject will traverse a tree in any position more
after the manner of the Nuthatches. The'strongly contrasting markings
of the full plumaged male make a combination that is very dazzling to
the eyes and gives the impression that his colors are a blue and black,
whereas they are not. The height of diligence is shown by these gaud-
104 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. : 105
ily marked creatures as they pick their way over the trunks and branch-
es of the trees. They examine every nook and cranny in the bark, hop-
ing to find some stray insect that had escaped the sharp eyes of the num-
erous other birds that had searched the same territory. When thus oc-
cupied they seem unmindful of any one watching them and only hop out
of the way when one thinks he is close enough to catch them in the
hand.
I know of no other Warbler, or in fact any of the smaller birds, in
which the instinct of home preservation is so welldeveloped. Last sum-
mer as I was walking through a small swampy piece of woods, a small
black and white bird fluttered ina most helpless manner across my path.
If I had been unacquainted with the ways of this bird I should have
thought that the poor bird had been the victim of some boy with an air
gun or perhaps had barely escaped some of the eats that delight in roam-
ing in the woods. As is my usual custom in such cases, after noting the
exact place at which I had first seen the bird I followed it to see its ac-
tions. It appeared to be in very bad shape and even the smallest twig
was sufficient to cause it to stumble or fall. One wing was trailing be-
hind and the bird really appeared to be wholly unable to use it. The
mouth was open as though she was gasping for breath and it looked as
though at any instant she might fall over and expire. Still she manag-
ed to have vitality enough to keep herself always a few inches beyond
reach of my outstretched arm. After she had led me by a very devious
course to a distance of about twenty feet through the underbrush, she
chirped in a gay manner and flew to the trunk ofatree, where she start-
ed looking for food as innocently as though she had never seen me. If
anyone had not noticed just where the bird started from, even if they
had thought of a nest as being the cause of the strange actions, they
would never have been able to find it again. I went back and in anold
stump. the inside of which and one side, had rotted away, I found five
eggs laying in a nest made of grapevine. After I had found the nest,
the bird, though very angry, still had hopes of being able to deceive me
and would again and again throw herself at my feet and try to lead me
away. Why she had left the stump in the first place is a mystery, as
several times afterwards, when I passed that way, I made a point of
going by her home. Although she watched me veryclosely, even when
I placed my hand on the stump she remained in position on the nest,
crouched down so closely that the only visible portions were the sharp
eyes and the tail that stuck upright against the side of the dead wood.
Nature’s provisions for the protection of her feathered children are
truly wonderful, and are little realized by those who are content to spend
their spare time in loitering about the city streets.
106 AIMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo from life by E. E. Johnson.
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER ON NEST.
A VOICE FROM CHINA
Being somewhat familiar with most of our American birds and their
habits, I have been greatly interested in the study of the Chinese birds
since I came to Foochow two years ago. This is certainly a land of
birds and that too of a great variety. Though I have not personally
met so many species, I am told on good authority, that from this one
province of Fukkien there have been sent to England the skins of about
six hundred varieties, and when one remembers that in almost every
case these birds are strangers to an American, you can imagine the
pleasure in making their acquaintance and watching their habits. To
begin with, the birds of this land are all very highly colored, on an ave-
rage very much more so than their American friends, and almost to a
bird they are songsters. We have only been able to recognize thus
far, such friends as the White-necked Raven, the Black-billed Magpie,
the Lark Sparrow and the English Sparrow and Barn Swallow. In the
case of the friends whom we are able to recognize, there are some
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY: 107
marked differences in appearance and habits from what we would ex-
pect. The representative of the English Sparrow in this land is much
smaller than his American relative, and the male and female are marked
very much alike, each having a black spot under the throat. Their call
note and habits are very similar to those we are acquainted with at
home. The White-necked Raven is also much smaller than those at
home, while they seem to confine their nest building to the trees in-
stead of sometimes building on the cliffs as the American bird does.
The Barn Swallow not having a barn to build in has taken up his abode
in the house with man and goes about his business there as unconcerned
as though he owned the place.
It seems to me that I never saw so many Flycatchers elsewhere, and
they are very highly colored and strangest of all, almost to a bird are
songsters, in many cases having a very sweet note. Vireos are also
plentiful, though their eggs in every case I have thus far noticed are
either a bluish white or a clear white—nest is pendent and of about the
same construction as the American birds. The most common variety
of this little friend is a very rich olive on back with a yellow throat
with breast shading to white—bird about size of White-eyed Vireo or
smaller. Among all the different flitters, we have failed to seea single
warbler of any kind. ‘To us this seems strange, for in most cases every
family is represented in some way. In this connection I want to speak
of what seems inexplicable to me and that is that, though this is the
land of most lovely flowers, there are absolutely no Humming birds so
far as I can learn. Why this should be I cannot tell. We miss their
merry hum among the flowers. The representative of the Screech Owl
is quite different from anything I have seen at home, though about the
same size and of about the same habits. His note is more of a laugh
though quite as weird, but the egg instead of being white is very much
spotted with blood spots in most cases. These spots will wash off up-
on applying hot water, but when taken from the nest the eggs look very
much fly spotted, indeed these spots almost hide the color of the egg.
The size is about the same as the Screech Owl’s egg.
Kingfishers are numerous and of every size and color, but all are
very highly colored, but they are by no means as noisy a lot as their
relative, the Belted.
Among the most interesting of the birds is the little Grassquit which
is numerous here. This bird begins to build in early April and I have
seenthem at work building as late as October 10, though we have never
found eggs later than the middle of August, hence I believe that the
October work was play, or perhaps the birds were building just to keep
in practice. , Of all birds I have ever seen, this one is the most partic-
108 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
ular about its nest, and is the easiest to break up. To put the hand
in the nest is certain, and generally if the bird is sure that you have seen
her carrying a straw to the nest which is a large round ball, composed
of grass, with an opening on the side, she will leave it and destroy any
egg that she may have laid.
Our representative of the Chickadee is a very beautiful little fellow,
a little larger than the American bird, and very highly colored, with a
broad metallic black stripe running from the bill, down the breast to the
tail. A peculiar thing which we have noticed about this bird is that, it
not only uses natural cavities in trees for its nesting place but very often
makes use of holes in the ground, where we have found a genuine Tit-
mouse nest with its young but thus far we have seen no eggs.
ERNEST B. CALDWELL, Foochow, China.
ODD NESTS IN KANSAS,
I will describe a few of the odd nests that I have seen here in Kansas.
The most out of place one was that of a pair of King birds. On the
board fence of a cattle gap at a railroad crossing. Several trains
passed each day not more than eight feet from the nest. For an Eng-
lish Sparrow this would not seem strange, but Sir Tyrannus is not gen-
erally friendly even with a freight train. The hottest of all nesting
places that I have found was in the tool box of a mowing machine. A
pair of Wrens built their nest in this cast iron house and raised a large
family init. I did not take the temperature of the box, but a thermom-
eter placed in the dry sand in our yard went up to one hundred and forty
six degrees, and any piece of iron laid in the sun soon got too hot to
hold in one’s hand. The tool box was not over four inches deep and
had an iron cover. ‘The Wrens came and went through a hole in the
end of the box. The most perfect bit of bird skill was the nest of a
Baltimore Oriole, made almost entirely of black and white horse hair.
A colony of Crow-blackbirds got a bad habit of using binder twine
picked out of straw stacks. It made very strong nests, but they did
not have the skill of the Oriole, so the nests were rather fuzzy looking
affairs. A. K. BoyLeEs, Kansas.
IIO AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Color Chart No. 3.
Chestnut-colored Sparrows.
No. 559, Tree Sparrow, (Spizella monticola).
Eastern North America. Breeds from the Arctic Ocean
south through Canada and in winter migrates in large
numbers through eastern U.S. to about the middle por-
tion. 6 in. in length. Subspecies;—s5s59a. West Tree
Sparrow, (S. m. ochracea). Western North America.
Breeds in Alaska and the Arctic Regions. South in win-
ve to New Mexico and Arizona. Paler than the eastern
orm.
No. 560, Chipping Sparrow, (Sptzedla socialis).
North America east of the Rocky Mts. and south of the
Great Slave Lake in Canada. Breeds from the Gulf
states northwards. Very common. Length, 5.25 in.
Subspecies;—560a. West. Chipping Sparrow, (S. s.
anecuae). Western U. S. from the Rocky Mts. to the
acific.
No. 563, Field Sparrew, (Sptzella pusilla).
The U. S. and southern Canada east of the Plains and
south to the Gulf States. Very common. Length, 5.5
Sub-species;—563a. West. Field Sparrow, (S. p. aren-
acea). Found in the Plains from Texas to Montana
and Dakota. Wings and tail longer than the eastern bird
and colors grayer. 564. Worthen’s Sparrow, (Spizella
wortheni). New Mexico.
No. 561, Clay-colored Sparrow, (Sprzella pallida.)
Interior of N. A. from the Mississippi valley to the
Rocky Mts. Length, 5.5 in. 562. Brewer’s Sparrow,
(Spizella breweri). Western U.S. from British Colum-
bia southwards. Similar to the Clay-colored, but upper
parts are more narrowly streaked with black and it lacks
the median line.
No. 584, Swamp Sparrow, (Melospiza georgiana.)
Eastern North America. Breeds from the northern
U. S. into southern Canada and in winter migrates to the
Gulf States. Very common. Length, about 6 in.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. III
Partridge, (commonly called quail.)
No. 292, Mountain Partridge, (Oreortvx pictus.)
Pacific Coast Region, from central California north—
wards to Canada. Very common. Length, 11.5 in.
Subspecies;—292a, Plumed Partridge. (C. P. plumiferus).
Southern portions of California and the mountainous parts
to the eastward. 292b, San Pedro Partridge (O. p. con-
finis) Lower California. Differs from the two former in
the grayer back and thicker bill.
No. 294, California Partridge, (Callipepla cali-
fornica.
Coast region of California and north to British Colum-
bia. Very common. Length, 10.5 in. Subspecies;—
2944, Valley Partridge. (C.c. Vallicola). Interior valley gag
of California and the foot hills of the Sierra Nevadas.
No. 295, Gambel’s Partridge, (Callipepla gam-
belit.)
Southwestern United States. Very common. Length,
10.5 in.
No. 296, Massena Partridge, (Cyrtonyx monte-
zumae).
Southwestern Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Length, g in.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 113
HOODED MERGANSER.
A. O. U. No. 131. (Lophodytes cucullatus.)
RANGE.
This Merganser is distributed throughout North America, although
in certain localities it is rather uncommon.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 17%n.; extent, 25 in.; tail, 4 in. Bill,- black. Eyes, yellow.
Feet, brown and webbed. Male:—Head with a beautiful, semicircular,
thin, disk-like crest, this crest being black and enclosing a large white
patch. Head, neck, back, wings and tail, black. Under parts, white.
Sides, reddish-brown, crossed by wavy black lines. Secondaries, len-
gthened and with a white stripe in the center. White patch on the cov-
erts.
Female:—Crest, small and brown. Head, neck, back, wings, tail and
sides, brown, lightest on the head and neck. Small white bar on the
wing. Under parts, white.
NEST AND EGGS.
They nest in woody localities in the vicinity of water. A hollow ina
tree or stump is lined with grasses, leaves and down, and from nine to
fifteen eggs of a pearly white color are laid. The eggs are laid during
the latter part of May or June and the young when hatched are said to
be carried to the water in the bill of the female.
HABITS.
Mr. James Kk. Thibault, Jr., has sent the following observations on
the Hooded Merganser in Arkansas: The beautiful Hooded Merganser
breeds in this locality, occasionally, but as a rule goes farther north to
nest. It begins its nesting earlier than most of the Ducks and is one
of the only two that breed here, the other being the Wood Duck. Like
the latter species it nests in trees, but seldom alights upon them. It
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Tig
HOODED MERGANSER.
AMERICAN ORNITIOLOG ¥. I15
does not eat fish to nearly as great an extent as the larger Mergansers,
confining his diet more to shell-fish and tadpoles. On this account his
qualities as a table Duck are much better than many others and conse-
quently he is much sought after for that purpose.
To my mind this is second in beauty only to the Wood Duck, with
which it is frequently confounded because of its tree-nesting habits.
This Merganser is an expert diver and secures most of his food in that
manner. It seems as if it must have advanced a stage beyond the ex-
pert in the matter of diving, for it can dodge shot as well as any Grebe
ever could. They are exceedingly hard to approach after they have
once seen you. I have walked around a pond five or six times in trying:
to get on the same side with them, but to no avail, for every time I saw
them there was the same amount of water between us.
They are also endowed with a knowledge of fire arms that is aston-
ishing. ‘They appear to be able to tell whether a hunter carries a rifle
or a shotgun and also just what distance either of them will kill. When
happened upon unexpectedly, they will immediately dive and swim un-
der water until they are at a safe distance or behind some friendly log,
when they will come to the surface aud swim away, always keeping some
tree or log between themselves and the watcher after the same fashion
as the Wild Turkey. I have waited for half an hour for a pair to come
out from behind a tree and then to my great surprise noticed them clear
across the pond. If they are in the least doubtful as to whether they
are out of range, they will sink low down in the water, leaving but their
bills and crests above the surface and in this way swim off.
An acquaintance of mine shot one of these birds as he was flying from
one pond to another. He was only slightly winged and I secured him.
I had always known that these Ducks had a way of “playing possum,”’
when wounded, but as I had never had the opportunity to see this won-
derful feat, I watched him closely. It was certainly astonishing to see
how closely it would imitate a dead bird. Wishing that my brothers
might observe this I hastened homewards with the bird.
When near the house my dog came out to meet me and my Duck be-
gan fluttering as though nothing had ever happened to him. On enter-
ing the house the Duck ‘died again,’’ and I called the whole family to
view this wonderful mimic of death. They came and I am sorry to say
that my own ruin caine with them, for on being asked to make the Duck
come to life again, I could not to save myself. He did not appear to
have been injured seriously, but he never came to life again.
My diagnosis of his case was that he either died either from thinking
so hard that he was dead, or in order to make me out to be a story tel-
116 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
ler. Whichever was the cause, the latter was the result, for I never was
believed about his playing possum.
The female is always the first to perceive danger and is the first to
dive or take flight. They are known here by the local names of Crap-
pie-crown, Fish Duck and Tow-head.
HOODED MERGANSER, FEMALE.
THE CROW,
No bird is more generally known and less appreciated than the Crow,
Corvus amerieanus. His tribal family is very widely distributed, and it
has been given distinguished prominence in sacred and profane history,
and in the legends, folk-lore, and literature of many lands.
While the Magpies and Blue Jays, like many of the human family,
are more distinguished by their dress than by their manners, they and
their cousins, the Ravens, Rooks, and Jack Daws, are all held in higher
esteem than is their congenor, the Crow, which is by common consent
called the bird of ill omen. The peculiarities and eccentricities of the
former, their freaks and foibles, their pertinacity and mischief, are
known only to be explained, apologized for, and condoned; but no one
cares to be known as the friend or champion of the Crow.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 117
No other offense in his long catalogue of misdemeanors and crimes
has earned him more deserved enmity or stimulated more relentless
persecution than his warfare upon game birds. Sportsmen may truth-
fully be called his enemies of the superlative degree.
Whose blood would not boil at the sight, and who would not long for
a weapon to reek summary vengeance upon the clamoring Crows
that pounce upon, tear asunder, and beat the life out of an unoffending
victim, and especially when the unoffending victim is the highly prized
game bird? Such were my thoughts and such my sentiments while out
trout fishing during the past season, when I witnessed such a tragedy,
which I will briefly relate that it may throw additional light upon the
true character of the Crow; and I shall regard it with complacency if the
relation of what came under my personal observation serves to stimu-
late recruits to join the army which makes successful warfare upon these
black marauders.
Journeying beside the brook through a piece of woodland a great
commotion was heard among some crows a little distance away, and I
concluded that some of their young had fallen out of their nest, or that
the young brood had for the first time used their wings in flight, which
is always a time of great concern to parent birds. As I proceeded their
clamor grew in intensity and volume, out of all proportion to their num-
bers.
Arriving at a road in the woods, which was used for hauling out tim-
ber and lumber, I saw at a little distance away a great commotion
among some half dozen or more crows; some darting hither and thither,
—some flying upwards, then wheeling around and darting down again,
—all intent upon attacking a seeming enemy, and all doing their utmost
to add to the general din.
I approached quite near to them before they heeded my presence,
when the more timid took flight to the nearest tree tops and became in-
terested spectators. One, more brave than the rest, was not to be
driven away, but kept striking with his beak and tearing feathers and
flesh from his victim; nor did he desist and take flight until my hand
was within three feet of him, when he reluctantly beat an unwilling re-
treat.
There before me lay gasping in the death struggle, a Ruffed Grouse
hen, from the neck and back of which nearly all the feathers and flesh
were stripped and torn away. Death came as a relief in a few minutes
and ended the tragedy, unless perchance a brood of young were left to
die of starvation or otherwise. Dr. GEORGE MCALEER.
118
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
BOHEMIAN WAXWING.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 11g
BOHEMIAN WAXWING,
A. O. U. No. 618. (Ampelis garrulus.)
RANGE.
This specie is found in the northern parts of North America. It
breeds north of the United States and is found in winter in the two
northern tiers of states. Its occurrence is irregular wherever found in
the Republic.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 7.5 inches; extent, about 12 inches; tail, 2.5 inches. Feet
black; eye and bill brownish, the latter shading into black at the tip.
General color, grayish brown, the forehead and sides of -head, and un-
der tail coverts being brighter, almost a reddish brown and the breast a
trifle paler than the general color. Wings and tail towards the end
blackish. The primaries and secondaries are tipped with white, also
the primary coverts in very high plumaged birds. Often the primaries
are broadly tipped with yellow forming a continuous line when the
wings are closed. The throat and a narrow line crossing at the base of
the bill and extending through the eye,*black. The tail is tipped witha
broad band of yellow and in the best of plumage, each of the tail feath-
ers and also the secondaries, terminate with a red wax-like tip.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Bohemian Waxwing constructs a large, well built nest of leaves
and bark and lined with grasses. It is generally located in a cedar or
other coniferous tree. They lay four light blue eggs that are specked
with dark brown.
HABITS.
This bird, the larger of the two Waxwings that we have in this coun-
try is a more brightly attired bird than the common Cedar Waxwing or
Cherry bird. The Waxwings are very trim appearing birds and their
feathers have such a soft texture that they look like silk.
They are strong flyers but very erratic and no definite localities can
they be stated positively to visit during migrations. Their note is the
same well known lisp or hiss of the common Cedar Bird but is louder
in proportion to the greater size of the Bohemian. Their food is said
to consist of berries, or insects taken upon the wing. They generally
go in flocks of about a dozen individuals and appear to take pleasure in
sitting upright upon the tops of trees from whence they utter their sim-
ple and hardly noticeable ditty.
120 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
AMERICAN MAGPIE,
A. O. U. No. 475. (Pica pica hudsonica. }
RANGE.
Northern and western North America, from the Plains to the Cas-
cade Mountains and north to Alaska. South in the Rocky Mountains
to New Mexico and Arizona.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about 16 inches varying in different specimens in accordance
with the difference in the length of tail. Extent, about 24 inches; tail,
nearly 12 inches. Bill and feet black. Eye, very dark brown. Entire
head and neck intense velvety black. Back, wings, and tail, black with
metallic reflections of green and purple. A large patch on the wing
coverts and the under parts from the breast are white. as are also the
inner webs of the primary quills.
NEST AND EGGS.
During April and early May, American Magpies may be found breed-
ing throughout their range except in the more southern parts.
Among the mountains and hills of Colorado they nest very abund-
antly. Several nests may sometimes be found in the same tree, that is
in some of the large pines. Nests may be found at varying heights
from the ground, some not more than six or eight feet while others
may be sixty feet. The nest is a huge pile of sticks and refuse and is
arched over to form a roof, the entrance being on the side. They lay
from five to eight or nine eggs, the ground color of which is grayish,
yellowish or greenish white, thickly spotted and dotted with varying
shades of brown.
HABITS
This near relative of the Jay is in many respects among the most in-
teresting of all our birds. His striking plumage would immediately at-
tract notice even if he were backwards about bringing himself to our
attention. Asa matter of fact, though, even if his plumage was of the
plainest order and his actions were to remain unchanged, he would not
allow you to remain in his vicinity for a minute without impertinently
calling attention to the fact that you were transgressing upon his rights.
The Jays are rightly given credit for being daring robbers, but for
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 121
AMERICAN MAGPIE.
122 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
general thieving propensities and rascality they must bow to the su-
perior abilities of the Magpie. ‘They are very noisy, artful and crafty,
and set up a discordant chatter at the sight of almost anycreature. At
all times they appear to be hostile to all forms of life, either bird or
animal.
If captured when they are young they. can easily be tamed, can be
taught to perform many tricks, and it is said can be also taught to imi-
tate many words. One thing they will not learn is to let alone what
does not belong to them. Like a certain political party, they do not
believe in the private ownership of property, unless it belongs to them-
selves, and will go to no end of trouble to purloin any object that takes
their fancy because of its brightness or color.
Their mode of flight is by short rapid wing beats as though with con-
siderable exertion, and their long, broad, tapering tail appears to great-
ly impede their progress. When an ordinary breeze is blowing it is
quite difficult for them to steer a straight course and their evolutions
are sometimes of a laughable character as they try to keep themselves
right side up. On the ground they either hop or walk as their fancy
strikes them. If suddenly startled when feeding on the ground, they
will make the most frantic efforts to get out of the way as quickly as
possible. It makes little difference to them as to their manner of re-
treat, as they appear to hop forwards, backwards, or sideways with
equal ease.
If they are not hunted they become very friendly and impertinent,
and numbers of them may be found around some farm houses. They
will appropriate anything that they can pick up, edible or not, and in
some cases become very much of a nuisance. They will eat with equal
readiness, grain, fruit, insects, shell fish, fish, carrion, birds eggs, and
even young birds. They are said to hunt for insects on the backs of
sheep or cattle, and according to Bendire, there is some evidence that
they will even peck into the backs of some of these animals at the flesh.
If it were not for their laziness where actual work is needed, they
would make very good housekeepers. They have rather advanced
ideas of building their nests but do not have the patience to carry them
out. They realize that on many occasions a roof to their dwelling
would be a very great convenience, and so put one over it. It is built
in such a shiftless manner, however, that it would be full as well with-
out this improvement. The Magpies remain mated for life and add to
the same home each year until it becomes of such proportions that the
winds of winter blow it from its situation.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 123
BARD Ere AT S witr
Bae cies
FRIENDS
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
My DEAR YouncG FOLKs:
My Rose-breasted Grosbeak has been singing a soft sweet song all
the morning, and I think is trying to give me a message to you, so I
have translated the bird notes as best I could, into English, and asked
Mr. Reed to print them. I can assure you that her tale is strictly true
for Peggy at this moment is sitting on my shoulder, pulling my ear,
none too gentle, to demand attention, and occasionally hopping down
on to the desk and seizing the pen with her bill, or trying to pull away
the paper on which I am writing. She would like to sample the ink,
and pecks at my hand when I drive her away. In spite of many lovable
qualities, I must admit she is a saucy bird. I should like to makea list
of your favorite birds for the June ORNITHOLOGY. Will the boys and
girls write me which bird they like best, giving the reason for their
choice. Perhaps we shall find room to print one or two of the best let-
ters. Please send your votes before May first.
Cordially yours,
Merc MERRYTHOUGHT.
A MESSAGE FROM PEGGY,
My name is Peggoty Zamelodia Ludoviciana, and my home is a cage
in a sunny window of Meg Merrythought’s dining room. Every day I
have a grand splash in a large dish upon the floor. I go in and out two
or three times, and take a good ducking, flirting the water over my
back, and over everything else for several feet. After this it takes a
long time to comb every feather with my bill. I have two new gowns
each year, one in the fall, the other I am putting on now, and so shall
have a new smooth coat before Eastertime, though the color and trim-
mings will be exactly like my old one. Each day the old feathers are
dropping out, and each day the tiny new pinfeathers grow a little longer.
My only bright color is beneath my wing, a little yellow. My coat isa
I24 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
soft brown, with a vest of whitish buff, with brown markings, light
stripes pass over and beneath my eyes, and my wings show two light
wing bars.
My brother who lives not far away, is clothed now in the same soft
brown, but when he dons his spring plumage he will be quite a gay fel-
low, with black cap, black and white coat, pure white vest, and a bright
rose-colored tie. This, again, will be changed next fall for the dull
winter dress, and it is interesting to see the brown feathers gradually
replacing the black and white ones.
Do not think of me as an unhappy captive. No, indeed! I have the
freedom of the house a part of each day, and have such delightful rides
on my mistress’s shoulder or head. At the dinner table I have the post
of honor on her hand or shoulder, and enjoy many a choice morsel. I
am especially fond of oysters, of peanuts, celery and butter. One day
when I was left alone in the dining room a few minutes, I made a row
of pretty marks all around the cake of butter with my bill. Then they
shut me in my cage, but I did not care; there are nice seeds and play-
things init. I am very fond of a fern that stands on the table, but they
will not let me prune it as I wish. .
I like to seize grandma’s glasses, I like to eat sunflower seeds from
the hands of the children, I like to pull my master’s hair and mustache,
I like to pull the pins from the cushion, I like to dart across the room
and catch a fly for lunch, I like to throw the matches on the floor. Oh!
there are many things that I enjoy doing, but better than all else I en-
joy music, and sing (in harmony, too,) whenever I hear it. I would
tell you more of my good times, but it is time for a nap, and I can only
add a little about a trip I took one January morning. The outside door
was left open, so I flew out to see what the wide, wide world that I had
seen from my window was like. I slipped around the house into some
trees a little distance away. Soon I heard them calling, “‘Peggoty,
Peggoty.’’ But I made not a sound, and after a long time they gave
up the search. I found the new world I had entered was coldand bleak
and after three hours was glad to fly around to the other side of the
house, where my mistress sat near a window,
I flew down onto the sill and cried “‘peepk, peepk,’’ as loudly as I
could several times before I attracted her attention, for she never ex-
pected to see me again. She quickly opened the window and I gladly
entered, and after a warm red pepper pill, fluffed out my feathers and
had a retreshing nap in my own cosy cage.
Now, little friends, I must sing to you no longer, but next summer,
when all the woods are green again, and you hear the Grosbeaks mak-
ing melody in the trees, do not forget Peggoty Zamelodia Ludoviciana
in her snug home.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 125
Here are the plums which Tommy Tucker found in the March “‘pi’”:
1, Flicker; 2, forty; 3, Woodpecker; 4, Yucker; 5, breast; 6, red; 7, head;
8, white; 9, yellow; 10, cheeks; 11, round; 12, golden;- 13, brown; 14,
eround;, Js, insects: 16, ants* 17, food; 18, crop; 19, tattoos; 20, limb.
There is an opportunity for sharp eyes to discover ten birds in these
pictures. Who will discover every one?
GLEANINGS,
So the Bluebirds have contracted, have they, for a house?
And a nest is under way for little Mr. Wren?
Hush, dear, hush! Be quiet, dear! MQOuiet as a mouse.
These are weighty secrets, and we must whisper them.
—SUSAN COOLIDGE.
All ready, close by our summer dwelling,
The Easter Sparrow repeats her song.
A merry Warbler, she chides the blossoms,
The idle blossoms that sleep so long.
—BRYANT.
JIMMIE THE JAY,
Possible some of the readers of the A. O. would like to hear about
Jim, the Blue-fronted Jay, which I have had some months and which
proves to be a most interesting bird. If you wish to know how he ap-
pears, just look at the picture on the cover of A. O. for April, 1901.
That is a good picture of Jimmie as he will look when he gets his new
feathers; just now he has a somewhat ragged appearance. He is chang-
ing his coat and the process is a slow one. I got him from aboy whose
126 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
cat caught him and brought him to the house. I keep him in a cage
about nine feet square. On the south side of the roof I lefta large open
space to admit the sunshine on wintery days and also to allow a sprin-
kle of rain now and then. I gave him every comfort a captive bird can
have, for I do not want him to rise up in the “limitless hereafter’’ and
charge me with ill-treatment. So far as I can judge he has no thought
of work beyond the preparation or preservation of his food. He will
hide his acorns or prune pits in various parts of his house or in the
ground, to be recovered when required or when softened by the mois-
Lune :
I think a prune pit is too hard for him, but you should see him open
acorns. Taking one to a perch, he will hold it in both feet and hammer
it with great vigor. When he has opened it he pecks it lightly, extract-
ing the kernal and looking up, he seems to say, ‘It’s mighty fine.”’
Jimmie is of a very cheerful disposition and spends much of his time
at play. I gave him a new perch one day, which, as he alighted upon
it, would squeak loudly. That was just what he wanted. He just jump-
ed up and down upon that perch for about two hours, until he had jump-
ed all the squeak out of it.
Each time I make an improvement in his house, he notices it immed-
iately and proceeds to get all the fun he can out of it. A swing is too
puerile a thing for him and he scorns to sit upon it. The only notice he
gives it as far as I have seen, is to give it a kick as he flies by.
Recently I put a Cal. Jay, three House Finches and a Golden-crowned
Sparrow in with Jimmie. I put the smaller birds in first and for several
weeks all went well and perfect harmony seemed to prevail. Later I
put the Cal. Jay into the cage, and then the trouble began. One by one
the small birds were found dead, headless and featherless, until only one
House Finch remained. I gave him his liberty and now have only the
two Jays, and the California one is the master of the house.
Can You Talk
On Your Feet.
In Either Case You Need
Ghe
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SHORT-EARED OWL.
128 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
NIGHTHAWK,
A. O. U. No. 420. (Chordeiles virginianus.)
RANGE.
In summer the common Nighthawk may be found in North America,
east of the Plains and south of the middle portions of Canada. The
Western Nighthawk, (Chordeiles virginianus henryi), is found west of
the Mississippi River and south from British Columbia. In winter both
varieties leave the United States.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about 9.5 in,; extent, 24 in.; tail 4.5 in. Eye, brown. Bill
and feet very small in comparison to the size of the bird, the former
being scarcely a quarter of an inch in length, although the gape is fully
an inch and a half, thus forming an extremely large mouth in connec-
tion with a very small bill. Mottled above with black, gray and tawny.
Below, barred with black and dull white. A large white bar across the
throat; also one across the primaries formed by a single large white
spot about midway on each of the five outer primaries. A white band
across the tail near the end. The female differs from the male in
appearance in that the white of the throat and tail is replaced by tawny
and on the latter may sometimes be lacking. The western form differs
from the eastern very slightly if at all. The general average is sup-
posed to be a trifle lighter in color than the eastern. The young birds
have all the characteristic markings of the old but the under parts are
more closely and distinctly barred.
NEST AND EGGS.
The nighthawks make no attempt at nest building. Their two eggs
are laid upon the bare rocks or upon the rock lichens and moss that are
common in localities where large boulders just peeping up above the
surface of the ground are common. The eggs are mottled with vary-
ing shades of white, gray and black, and are laid late in May or during
June. About large cities itis not an uncommon occurrence for these
birds to nest unon the gravel roofs of large buildings. The eggs re-
semble very closei:y the rocks upon which they are laid and are difficult
to distinguish. The eggs of the western bird average a trifle lighter
than the eastern.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 129
HABITS.
Throughout the United States and the southern portions of Canada,
the Nighthawk is a familiar object of interest to nearly everyone who
is at all interested in bird life. If he is not known by his legitimate
name of Nighthawk, he is apt to be familiar under the cognomen of
“Bull-bat,’’ or ““Mosquito Hawk.’”’ Not infrequently, too, he is con-
fused with the entirely different but somewhat similar appearing bird,
the Whip-poor-will, and innocently goes under the assumed name of
this bird.
Woods, open fields, prairies, or even city life are acceptable to this
species. During the summer months, large numbers of them may be
seen about the larger cities, as at nightfall they start out on their daily
trip after food. From all directions come the answering cries, given in
a peevish, unmusical tone, ““Spee-ek, spee-ek,’’ a harsh, monotonous
note that from long familiarity is apt to grow wearisome. Grace and
skill are evident in their every movement as they wend their tortuous
way across the sky, pursuing the course that is most thickly strewn with
insect life. Imagine the horror of the winged insects when they see
that gaping mouth following relentlessly in their wake. There is no
escape for them, but they can perhaps console themselves with the
unsatisfactory thought that they are furnishing renewed energy that the
swift winged hawkers may more vigorously pursue their career of
devastation, that results so beneficiently for mankind.
The name Nighthawk does not imply that.these birds fly only in the
night, in fact more of them are on the wing in the day time than at
night. Inorder that the name might have a literal meaning they might
more appropriately be called dusk-fliers. Early in the morning, just
after sun-down, and on cloudy days, you will see nighthawks in action
oftheir own accord. At other times if one is seen, it is generally some
belated traveller returning to his home or one that has been disturbed
from his chosen retreat and obliged to seek his safety in flight.
They are sociable birds when on the wing and nearly always do their
hunting in small bands. From their activity and the number of times
the band will circle about a field or near some pond any one would
imagine that few insects could be left within their precincts. Now one
will scale across our view with all the ease and grace of a swallow;
another pursues the same course with rapid wing beats after the man-
ner of the small hawks. Just before the nesting season is when their
activity is most apparent. It is at this time that the often related
“downward rush of the Nighthawk”’ takes place. From time to time
as a band of these long-winged hunters are diligently pursuing their
search, one of their number having secured a position somewhat more
130 AMERICAN ORNITHOLGY.
ce:
eerie
fr
NIGHTHAWKS,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 131
elevated than the rest, half closes his wings and makes a mighty plunge
towards the earth. Down he comes with the speed of an arrow, the air
hissing through his outspread primaries with a booming noise audible
at a considerable distance. Just before he reaches the ground in his
apparently suicidal effort, an upward fling of the tail and a change in
the position of his wings and what a moment before looked like a sure
death is transformed into a marvelous exhibition of skill, and the per-
former is again tranquilly following the rest of the band while another
goes through the same performance. As this occurs just at the mating
time it is generally supposed that this is one of the tests of skill that
the males are made to undergo before being accepted by the fair dam-
sels of the flock.
As an example of protective coloration, no better example can be
found. So firm is the belief of the bird itself in its invisibility that
nearly always they will not believe they are discovered until one actual-
ly puts out the hand to seize them. I have been all about a sitting bird
without pretending to notice it often putting my foot within perhaps
twenty-fourinches of where the mottled ball of feathers rested. I could
see the feathers on the breast rise and fall as she breathed heavily in
her subdued excitement. At the first sign that I had discovered her
she flew away with a low purring note. A little later when the two
stone colored eggs had been superceded by two downy little chicks, she
was even more loath to leave the nest. Still hoping against hope that
she might be able to lead me away from her small charges she practiced
all the arts the most skillful bird is capable of. Owing to her short
legs and extremely long wings, her deceitful manouvers undoubtedly
would prove more successful than many of the other birds that resort
to such tricks. The way she would trip and fall over her own wings
did appear very natural. It is claimed by some that the Nighthawk
will remove the eggs or young if discovered, though I have never had
any such experience.
When not in flight the birds are reposing quietly upon a rock, stone
wall, roof-top, or upon a fence rail or horizontal branch of a tree; in the
later cases they always sit lengthwise of the limb or rail.
Their dislike for cold weather is shown by the fact that they are
among the last of the arrivals in the spring and the first to leave.
In their endeavor to get as far as possible from the severe winter
weather of North America, at this time they are found distributed
through South America, even to Patagonia.
132 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
YELLOW WARBLERS.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 133
YELLOW WARBLER.
A. O. U. No. 652. (Dendroica aestiva.)
RANGE.
Found throughout North America except in the southwestern parts.
In winter they migrate to Central America. In Arizona and western
‘Texas, the Yellow Warbler is replaced by the Sonora Yellow Warbler.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 5 in,; extent, 7.5 in.; tail, 2 in. Eye, bill and feet brownish.
Entirely golden yellow with the back tinged with greenish. Numerous
chestnut streaks on the under parts. ‘These streaks are lacking on the
female and the head is also tinged with greenish on the crown. ‘The
yellow of the under parts is also paler.
The Sonora Yellow Warbler (D. a. sonorana) is practically indistin-
guishable from the common variety. In the comparison of a large
number of specimens the chestnut streaks on the sides were found to
be more faintly defined and somewhat fewer in number. The habits of
‘both varieties are the same and may practically be considered as the
same birds.
NEST AND EGGS.
Yellow Warblers begin their nest building about the first week in
May. The nests are generally placed in fruit trees or low bushes and
shrubbery. They are most often found at heights varying from two to
ten feet, while occasionally one may be found at a greater elevation.
The nest is firmly bound in the crotch formed by the union of two or
more branches. It is a neat and artistic structure made of fibres and
leaves and lined with plant down, feathers and horse-hair. The eggs
have a greenish white ground color and are prominently marked in the
form of a wreath around the larger end, with spots of varying shades
of brownand gray. Three or four eggs commonly make the completed
Set.
HABITS.
These bright golden gems come to us from their winter retreat about
the first of May, and are the forerunner of the countless numbers of
jewels that are soon to follow. They are the most sprightly, sociable,
and entertaining of all the beautiful warblers, to me the most interest-
ing of all birds. Soon after the trees have commenced ‘to take on a
134 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
green hue these spirited creatures come to add their gleams of sunshine
to the beautiful mantle that is unfolding over the country.
Almost without exception every garden or orchard will be selected -
for the home of one or two pairs of Yellow Warblers or Summer Yel-
lowbirds as perhaps they are fully as well known. Golden Warbler is
another name often aptly applied to these sprightly and talkative little
warblers. They are architects of no mean ability, and their handiwork
cannot be duplicated by human hands. I think that the most artistic
nest of this species that I ever met with was one built,by a pair of the
birds near Warren, R. I.
It was in the neighbor-
hood of a large cotton
factory and was com-
posed entirely of cotton
and lined with horse-
hair. This was situated
in an exposed position
in a small birch and
must have attracted the
attention of any one who.
chanced to go near there.
My observations have
been that the Cowbird
imposes upon the Yel-
low Warbler more often
than upon any other
bird in the matter of
forcing them to hatch
their eggs and rear their
young. As the nest is
small and the contra-
band egg of consider-
able size comparatively,
the rightful owner of the
nest cannot lay more
than three eggs at the
most. ‘The chances are
that even if these are
not broken before hatch-
ing by the clumsy young
cowbird, the young are
Photo by J. B. Pardoe.
NEST OF THE YELLOW WARBLER. apt to be smothered by
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 135
their larger and stronger foster brother. Yellow Warblers are among
the most active of the family, being continually on the lookout for every
passing insect as well as those that they glean regularly from the leaves
and branches. When flitting spiritedly about in the bright sunlight
they furnish one of the brightest spectacles in the bird world. Through-
out the spring and summer months, their sharp business like chirping
‘“Che-chee-chee-chee’’ may be heard at all hours of the day, provided
that the weather is encouraging. They are also endowed with their
share of courage and manage to keep all birds of their size under con-
trol until a Least Flycatcher appears on the scene. This pugnacious
little fellow has no superior in the ring and always puts his adversary
to flight.
FEBRUARY BIRDS.
Although February is the shortest month in the year, it seems by far
the longest to bird lovers. But among the birds there are, even as
early as Februarv, unmistakable signs that they know that spring is
coming.
On February 16th a friend and myself spent the day with the birds
and saw many interesting things. When we first went out, the east
had scarcely began to brighten. As yet no bird was up; and so we had
to content ourselves with walking about and wondering which one
would arise first.
At a little after six we heard the first note; it was a street sparrow
singing; and a half an hour later some crows called. Soon after a Blue
Jay sang his peculiar song, five Golden-crowned Kinglets flew about us
in some low bushes, and our bird neighbors had begun the day in earn-
est. As we were watching the kinglets, a Brown Creeper and Chicka-
dee joined them and together they started on their daily rounds. As
we stood watching them busily at work, we heard a drumming a short
distance away, followed by a familiar call, and in a large oak tree we
saw three Flickers, chasing each other, calling, and having a good time
generally. After we had watched them some time, we went into a
grove near by, and were immediately interested in a note which was
new to us, although it had something strangely familiar in it. In the
middle of the grove, ona tall elm we found a White-breasted Nut-hatch,
the one which has been in these same woods since October. He was
perched crosswise on the limb, uttering the laughing ‘‘Hah-hah-hah’”’
which is his song. We then left this place and went across Charles
river, on which we saw Black Ducks, Herring Gulls and Golden-eye
Ducks. After we had crossed the river we visited a picturesque little
136 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
wood not far from Harvard, and here we saw five Downys, a Flicker,
and a Blue Jay all in one tree. It seemed very lively there for a few
minutes. A little farther on we saw two juncos. Up to this time we
had been practically inthe city. We had never been out of sight of rail-
roads or electric cars, and yet we had seen twelve species of birds.
But now we boarded a car and began rapidly to leave the city behind.
We stopped when about half way to our final destination and wandered
through the swamps and low lands, everywhere meeting little bands of
Tree Sparrows. Often we saw Song Sparrows, and in one place, on
hearing a familiar sound, we realized that one of them was singing to
us. This was a very welcome sound, and indeed, as that handsome
little bird sat singing on the topmost branch of a low bush, he must
have been trying to tell us of spring.
We left the song sparrow reluctantly, and soon after I was startled,
as I always am, when a Ruffed Grouse flew up ten feet in front of me.
We took another car from here and went into the genuine country. We
passed farms and pastures, and began to see real chickens here and
there. Ina favorable place we ate our lunch, on a bench set up under
a great oak tree, evidently for our special benefit. While we were eat-
ing some crows flew around, betraying great curiosity, so we left as
much lunch for them as we could spare, and started off to see some
more birds. Out here, there were more signs of approaching spring
than in the city. In one small wooded swamp, we saw several ‘‘skunk
cabbages,’’ some actually growing up through the snow. We had
scarcely left these plants when we saw on the ground some gray furry
pellets. There was about ten of them, and in vain we wondered what
they were. At last my friend broke one open, and found two little
skulls and some bones tightly packed inside; and, it dawned on us that
this was an owls home. So putting a few of these in our bag for a
more careful investigation, we passed on. By the side of an old road,
we saw some juucos which we watched for some time. They flew up
as we approached uttering the twitter which they make in flight, and all
disappeared behind some rocks ina meadow. We followed slowly and
found that they were eating seeds. Soon they flew up to a friendly
apple tree where we left them. This ended an unusually delightful day.
We had seen fifteen species, three of which sang, and as we were near-
ing home, we noted that the moon had a golden ring, and we were
thankful for having had such fine weather all day. When I awoke next
moruing everything was white with snow.
Guy EMERSON, Brookline, Mass.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 137
CANADA GOOSE.
A. O. U. No. 172. (Branta canadensis.)
RANGE.
Throughout temperate North America, breeding in the Northern
United States and the British Provinces. Migrates south of the
United States in winter.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about:3 feet; extent, 5 feet; tail, 7 in. Eye, browns Bill
and feet, black. The general color above and below is a brownish gray,
rather lighter on the under parts and changing to white on the belly.
Head and neck, intense black. A broad patch of white extends across
the chin and upon the sides of the head, back of the eyes. A small
white spot is generally on each eyelid. The rump is whitish and the
tail black.
NEST AND EGGS.
According to the nature of the localities or the individual dispositions
of the birds, Canada Geese build their nests upon the sand, among the
taller grass away from the water or on brush heaps or low trees.
When placed upon the ground it is only a hollow scooped out of
sufficient size to hold the three to eight eggs that are laid. A few
sticks are sometimes added around the circumference of this hollow,
probably more from force of habit than from any advantages to be
derived therefrom. When they build in trees they either use a deserted
heron’s or osprey’s nest, merely adding material enough to make it
tenantable. The nests are always softly lined with quantities of down.
The eggs are of a dull, brownish, green color.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOG).
CANADA GEESE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 139
HABITS
The Canada Goose is universally conceded to be the king of Amer-
ican game water fowl, and twice a year, during the spring and fall, mi-
grations has to run the gauntlet of all the sportsmen from one extreme
of the country to the other. So great a prize are they considered by
the sporting fraternity that many who would object strenuously at being
compelled to do a few hours work, will labor uncomplainingly in the
hot sun for several days and expend much money, time and patience,
that they may be the cause of the early and violent demise of a number
of these grand birds. Thus during both migrations the life of the wild
goose is a hard and dangerous one and so many of them fail in the
attempt to run the gauntlet that unless new game laws are made within
a short time, few flocks will be left to announce the coming of spring.
Even if it is absolutely necessary that man should be allowed to grati-
fy his desire to kill, the geese and all ducks should at least enjoy the
privileges of being protected during either the spring or fall migration,
and given a fair chance to preserve their race.
The migratory flight of the Canada Geese is one of the most inter-
esting and spectacular sights in the ornithological world, and has been
the theme of much literature, both verse and prose.
“Honk, honk,’’ the sound comes faintly from a great distance, grad-
ually drawing nearer and nearer, sounding not unlike the baying of a
pack of hounds in full cry. You drop your work and hasten out of
doors. You are not alone; from every house and shop in the neighbor-
hood, men, women and children come rushing to witness the coming
spectacle. You can imagine the astonishment of one not initiated in
the ways of birdology to see this vast throng all gazing, open mouthed,
towards the southern horizon, in which direction he looks in vain to
discern the cause of gathering. Soon his eye perceives a thin black
line faintly outlined against the sky and close to the horizon. ‘The line
grows larger and in a few moments he learns that it is composed of
birds, large birds, and that they are flying in the shape of a wedge.
As they sweep by overhead, added to the noisy honking is the beating
of a hundred or more wings, and the long converging lines, headed by
an old gander, appear smaller and smaller as they draw away and at
last the vision fades from view in the distance.
The goose is an affectionate parent and is very fierce in the defence
of its young. ‘They are believed to remain mated for life. They sub-
140 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
sist mainly upon berries and grain. When migrating, they assemble
in flocks, which, uniting, form vast columns, each section being headed
by a leader. When about to alight, pioneers descend from the flock
to select’ favorable and safe feeding grounds. Having decided upon
the proper place they swoop rapidly down upon it with the wind, pass
over to see if the coast is clear, and then return against the wind to
alight. While on the ground the flock is guarded by sentinels with a
zeal that renders a close approach impossible. The fact that they are
so easily decoyed seals the fate of many of them. Gunners take ad-
vantage of their well known feeding habits, and early in the morning
set their decoys in some popular grain field. These decoys are made
of wood, pasteboard, or sheet iron, and bear more or less resemblance
to geese. Having concealed himself behind a brush heap or blind of
cornstalks, the gunner awaits the coming of his victims. It doesn’t
take an expert to kill a goose by this method.
ACCIDENTS,
Birds are victims of accidents fully as often as are members of the
human race. Most of them are simply minor ones, such as broken
wings or legs, and with a little careful nursing on the part of the bird,
are as good as new in a few days. Besides the lesser accidents, the
number of fatalities that occur among the feathered population (from
purely accidental causes) is appalling. Thousands upon thousands of
birds are killed yearly by flying into telegraph wires or against light-
houses. I make mention of the following that were actually observed
by human eyes.
My nearest neighbor, early in April, was poking about among the
weeds in a neglected flower bed. This bed was found to be by meas-
urement twelve feet from the house. Suddenly from almost under his
hands, flew a Bob-White. In its excitement and fear it took no notice
of direction and struck against the side of the house, which by the way
was painted white. He was picked up dead.
Dr. M. of Monticello, while making a professional call seven or eight
years ago, saw two large flocks of prairie chickens flying in opposite
directions, about to cross the road in front of him. There was a collis-
ion high in the air and one chicken came down dead. No wire. Sim-
ply a collision in mid air. The doctor showed me the chicken and
remarked at the time that I never could guess how it had met its death.
It was a cloudy day and snowing at the time, which probably will
account for this casualty. re
tow tS
ain hdl
142 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No. 4.
Warblers prominently marked with Yellow.
No. 655, Myrtle Warbler, (Dendroica coro-
nata).
Length, 5.5 in. Very common in eastern North
America, becoming less so as you approach the Pacific.
They breed chiefly north of the United States and win-
ter in the southern portions. Frequently called the
Yellow-rumped Warbler. Large white patches near
the end of all the outer tail feathers. Two bars on
wing.
No. 656, Audubon’s Warbler, (‘Dendroica au-
dubont.)
Length, 5.5 in. The United States west of the
Plains and north to British Columbia. Differs from
the Myrtle chiefly in the yellow throat in place of white,
and in the gray ear coverts where the Myrtle’s are
black. Known as the Western Yellow-rump. Large
white spots near end of all outer tail feathers. Large
white patch on wing.
No. 657, Magnolia Warbler, (Dendroica mac-
ulosa.)
Length, 5 in. North America east of the Rocky
Mts. Breeds from the northern tier of states to the
Hudson Bay territory. In winter chiefly south of the
U.S. Top of head gray, back, black; rump yellow;
tail, black; each feather except the middle pair having
a large square spot about midway. Called often the
Black and Yellow Warbler.
No. 685, Wilson’s Warbler, (Sy/vania pusilla.)
Length, 4.75 in. North America from the Rocky
Mountains to the Atlantic and north to the Hudson
Bay and Alaska. Breeds north of the United States.
Wings and tail unmarked. Often designated as Wil-
son’s Black-cap. Subspecies;—No. 685a Pilevlated
Warbler, (S. p. pileolata.) The Pacific coast from
Alaska southwards. The yellow on this variety is
somewhat brighter than in the Wilson's.
No. 686, Canadian Warbler, (Sy/vauia cana-
densts.)
Length, 5.5 in. From the Plains to the Atlantic
and from Newfoundland and Labrador southwards.
Breeds from New England northwards. Wings and
tail unmarked.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 143
Yellow and Chestnut Warblers.
No. 650, Cape May Warbler, (‘Dendroica tig-
rina,
Length, 5.25 in Northern North America east of
the Plains. Breeds from the United States northwards.
Winter south of the United States. Ear coverts,
chestnut. A large white patch on the wing, and three
outer tail feathers with white spots near end. The fe-
male lacks the chestnut ear coverts and the under parts
are pale yellow. White patch on the wing is smaller
and less distinct.
No. 652, Yellow Warbler, (Dendroica aestiva.)
Length, 5 in. Very common throughout North
America except in the southwestern part. Breeds
throughout its range. Subspecies;—No. 652a. Sonora
Warbler, (D. a. sonorana). Replaces the Yellow
Warbler in southern Arizona and western Texas. The
female of both birds is similar to the male, lacking the
chestnut streaks below.
No. 659, Chestnut-sided Warbler, (‘Dendroica
pensylvanica.)
Length, 5 in. Very common and breeds in eastern
United States and southern Canada. Migrates in the
fall chiefly south of the United States Female has
much less chestnut on the sides. The young are plain
olive green above and white below, with faint yellow-
ish wing bars.
No. 672a. Yellow Palm Warbler, (D. pa/marum
hypochrysea.)
Length, 5 in. The Atlantic States to Hudson Bay.
Breeds from Maine northwards. Winters in the Gulf
States. No. 672, Palm Warbler, (D. palmarum).
Interior North America to the Great Slave Lake. The
vellow of the under parts paler than in the Yellow Palm,
and the streaks dusky instead of chestnut. Both var-
ieties have white spots at the tip of the two outer tail
feathers.
No. 673, Prairie Warbler, (‘Dendroica dis-
color).
Length, 4.75 in. The United States east of the
Plains. Breeds from southern New England south-
wards. Back with a patch of chestnut spots in the
middle. Large white blotches on the outer tail feathers.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 145
TERN
ET Ree
‘a CIN QS SS ‘
“*The beautiful is as useful as the useful’ —VICTOR HUGO.
S arule I suppose that the artistic is not always con-
sidered quite practical, but for the sake of the birds:
(yee &= andthe beautiful in nature, I wish that farmers in gen-
eral were less devoid of it, also less addicted to that too all-prevailing
propensity that impels them to desecrate every fence corner by trim-
ming it to the extremities of neatness. The everlasting pruning hook
and scythe strikes terror to bird and flower as well as to the hearts of
their human devotees. If there were advantages to be gained by this
devastation, well and good, for a farmer’s lot is none too easy at the
best, and one can not blame him for utilizing every inch of his tillable
area, but will no artistic sense teach him to leave in nature’s hands the
inaccessible hillside and corners, the steep ravines and wood-lot bound-
aries that are such delights to the feathered folk. The Department of
Agriculture has given us convincing evidence of the usefulness of bird
neighbors in their economic relations to us, so why not show them a
little gratitude in return by leaving to them such undergrowth that is
needed for the security of their young. In many sections of the old
world, the farmers plant common cherries and lower grades of small
fruits in order to induce the birds to locate near their farms, appreciat-
ing the benefit they will derive from the destruction of the enemies of
their cultivated fruits. Since we are, as a nation becoming so conspic-
uous as defenders of the oppressed, why not exhibit a little of our ben-
eficent charity to the natives of the soil?
An incident occurred last summer that is illustrative of the attitude
of the farmers in general. I chanced upon one of the workmen on a
neighboring farm who was cutting down a great tangle of bitter sweet,
that overhung a steep hill side overgrown with underbrush, and which
had encroached upon the cultivated land for perhaps ten feet. The
146 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
only reply that I could get in answer to my expostulation was:
“He wants beans!”’
“But he can not raise beans under the shade of those oak trees,’’ I
answered, but he only reiterated:
‘““He wants beans.”’
So I tried to incite him with a little compassion for the noble vine
that is none too plentiful in this section, owing to other provident
mortals who “‘want beans.”
- “Ts yer bitter-sweet good fer anything? What can ye do with it,’’ he
finally interrogated, and of course I was nonplussed, for the vine is
neither “‘fish, flesh, fowl, or good herring,’”’ and I knew that my argu-
ments in favor of the beautiful and artistic would not appeal to him in
the least, so I went on my way while he continued to lay waste without
let or hindrance.
In this tangle was growing the young shoots of sassafras, so dear to
the vireo family, for underneath their leaves dwell countless cater-
pillars of the papilio astereas, which in the early stages are beloved of
the red-eye, and also there was an abundance of the lesser fly, dear to
the heart of the warbler family. Here too I saw my first chestnut-
sided warbler, a veritable Joseph in his coat of many colors, yet very
neat and dapper, notwithstanding his crazy quilt like combination of the
different shades. Here again I saw the dandy of the same family, the
black-throated blue, who is really the Beau Brummel of the birds. All
of the warblers have a characteristically “‘pointed’’ appearance, all their
corners being rounded to a V as it were, beak, wing points and tail,
furled trim and ship shape, but the black-throated blue’s the most so of
all. To this same bitter-sweet comes the earliest blue bird bringing
on his back our first glimpse of the summer sky. Underneath its
shelter were born, bred and bullied by a little brown mother, six tiny
representatives of the wren family, who were early cut adrift from the
parental nest to become the blacks and tans of feathered society, and
by the way, only a short distance from here, a sagacious little house
wren allowed the limb in which she had built her nest, to be cut off
and carried to a distant tree, and fastened to one of its branches, with-
out disturbing her equanimity or household arrangements in the least,
and continued with her business of incubation as unconcernedly as
though she were an old stager at spring moving.
In a great oak above the tangle a pair of crows nested, and were a
continuous source of annoyance to three king birds, who must have
made life something of a burden to them, for I seldom ever see a crow
returning nestward without a kingbird in front of him distracting his
attention, while the other two kept up a series of petty attacks in the
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 147
rear. But I never saw any evidence of retaliation on his part, only an
assumption of serene and dignified indifference to his assailants.
Aut alas, what was once the abode of winged happiness and dissen-
sion is now but a patch of brown stalks and stunted pigeon-grass, but
I am glad to record that the crop that thrived so well under the tillage
of Thoreau, did not “‘yield’’ in this instance, and the industrious farm-
er who ‘“‘wants beans’’ in return for the bitter-sweet, will have to seek
them elsewhere.
ALBERTA FIELD.
TRIALS AND TROUBLES OF BIRDS,
Birds generally are rightly credited with having a good stock of
common sense, but occasionally we come across one who is sadly de-
ficient in this respect. A pair of Flickers spent a good deal of time
and as much more hard work on the shaft box of an old wind mill that
had had all the machinery blown off. The box was in the top of the
tower about twenty feet from the ground. The birds sounded it and
found it was hollow so they decided that they had found an unusually
good location for their nest. By going to the top of the box they
could have seen clear through it, but they began work about eighteen
inches from the top, and hammered away until they had made a hole
large enough for them to enter. Poor birds, they must have been
considerably surprised and humiliated to find that their intended house
had neither roof nor floor.
I have always felt sorry for the little Screech Owl when the wood-
peckers returned in the spring and found that their old nesting sites
were occupied and that the present owners were engaged in the quiet
occupation of setting. The poor little owls had to get out and hunt
mice every night and then be bothered all day by a pack of woodpeck-
ers who scratched and clawed up and down the tree. How poor Asios
ears must ring when they pound on the hollow place just above the
nest, and then every once in a while, one of them will poke his head
into that hole and say mean things to the occupant. And when sey-
eral came at once they would talk so harsh to each other, bobbing their
heads and uttering that rasping call, just like the whetting of a scythe.
But the owls had possession and did not leave until after the Flickers
had gone to bed at night, and they always got back before the
woodpeckers got around in the morning.
A. K. BOYLEs,
148 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
THE
WAKENING,
As I cross the fields, climbing a wall here and
a fence there, pausing to watch a muskrat slip
into the water from a river bank, and tou exam-
ine a cocoon that is waiting on a bare twig for
the warm sunshine to change it from an inanimate
thing to an airy, gorgeous creature of wings, I
am conscious of the wonderful transformation
going on around me, the awakening of the world
8 from its winter lethargy. Its throb is in the grass
blades under my feet, in the swelling branch tips,
in the new tinge which is daily, hourly, changing
the earth’s surface, in the very brook whose wat-
ers have a quickened, freer flow. It is whisper-
Ying, rustling, buzzing, singing, calling from all
sides, around and above. The very sky has a new
color, the earth a warmer glow, as though there were veins through
the soil which were quickening into life.
From a hole in a fence post a bee has crawled dully into the sun.
He is weak, attenuated, dull of color from his long winter in the dark-
ness of the past, but even as I look, with the warm sunlight resting
upon him, he visibly enlarges, and his colors grow brighter and more
life like. Presently he quivers his wings, weakly at first, but with
more and more strength until he has raised them erect. Then he tests
one leg after another, thrusting them out doubtfully, as though they
might be numb with cramp, but apparently gaining confidence with
each new effort. Already he seems like a new creature, and I know
that before my return he will have flown away in search of food or
others of his kind.
Along the way are curious little finger-size plants, which rise from
the ground and curl their fuzzy yellow-green tips into tight balls. The
country folk call them “‘brakes,’’ perhaps because they break at the
slightest touch, and they gather and eat them as “greens.”’? A few
more warm days and the tightly closed balls will unwind and straighten
out into delicate, feathery fronds of graceful ferns. They are scatter-
ed thickly along the way, especially in places that have been burned
over the year before, waiting with bowed shoulders and coldly clasped
hands for the warm days, which the blue birds have told them will
soon come.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 149
One of these blue birds is
watching me now, almost with
afellow feeling and understand-
ing it seems, for he is first on
one side and then on the other,
hopping from the swelling tip
of an alder bush to the ground,
running across the path behind
me, and then flying on with a
well modulated “‘I, I say, look
at this,’’ to a decayed log a rod
or so in advance. Surely he
knows that I am out to greet the newcomers for
whom he has been watching these weeks past, and
just as surely he realizes that he is able to give me
an abundance of interesting information. What a
companionable little fellow he is, and how plainly de-
sirous of congenial company. I wonder if he has a mate, or if he has
not yet begun his courting. Perhaps he has daringly come on ahead
of all the rest, and is lonely and glad even for a human being to com-
panion with. Or perhaps this warm, wondrous thrill of the awaken-
ing is in his heart, as it is in mine, and he feels nothing but love and
fellowship for all things around.
As I approach nearer, his head cocks on one side and his tail bobs up
genially, and only when I am within a few feet does he hop to a low
branch, scarcely an arm’s length away. Nor does this seem a move-
ment of fear or distrust, but rather as a stepping aside for me to look
at something which he has to show.
One end of the log rests across a heap of stones, and upon the stones
the sun is lying warm. At first I see only a small green lizard which
has partially crawled from beneath the bark and is now lying in the
sunshine, its eyes blinking in the very ecstacy of contentment. It is
another of the creatures which the sun is awakening.
But plainly it is not the lizard that attracts my friend’s attention. He
is raising and lowering his wings with ill-suppressed eagerness, and
hopping from one end of the branch to the other. And he is not look-
ing at the log at all, but at the stones beyond. “There it is,’’ he
plainly chirps, “there, there, there.”’
Over the warm stones a dozen or more tiny forms are twisting about
joyously. At first they appear to be worms, though unusually active;
but a closer inspection reveals them as snakes. They are not more
than three or four inches in length, and too small to determine the
150 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
species. The mother is not in sight; doubtless she is off foraging,
with the little ones left to play among the warm stones.
Here on a south sloping bank is a small colony of plants, some of
them already beginning to show flower. A chump of dogwood has
only a deeper tinge of red to its bark, as some of the birches have a
deeper yellow. But over there a pussy willow is clothed with a halo
of fully developed catkins. No wonder it raises its head proudly above
the bare limbs of its fellows, for is it not a pioneer in this tide of spring
stirring and longing?
A little farther and a brook crosses the path, spanned by a well worn
log. I pause on the bank to watch the water as it gurgles and rushes
on its way, scarce able to contain its joy within the narrow banks.
There is the pure water of bubbling springs in its tide, the melting of
mountain snow, the elusive fragrance of arbutus and wood violets.
A pussy willow bends its tips to the surface as though to be kissed,
and from the opposite bank a green robed damsel lifts eyes that are
glistening with liquid pearls.
At first there seems to be no foreign life within the dancing waters,
but as the stillness is prolonged, a speckled trout flashes from some
covert and poises in mid stream, apparently without motion in the
swift, fowing current. Perhaps he has been awake all winter, some-
where down there under the ice,
or perhaps he has been dozing at
times: in Some safe retreat. .But
now he is alert and eager, watchful
for any unfortunate insect that the
warmth may entice too near the
brook’s surface.
There is a slight stirring of the
grass near the water’s edge a few
yards below; then a short space of
almost unnatural
stillness, and the
stirring is repeat-
ed. Some water
animal, perhaps
out “for his: frst
spring reconnoiter-
ino -1sestryine: to AWG
es cone ] —— Wiis se
escape unobservec = : iy o
But he has not LS
yet ‘reckoned: on
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. I51
the keenness of spring eyes. Suddenly, from above my head, comes
an eager, There he is; there, there, there,’’ and looking up I see my
friend the bluebird swaying excitedly upon a slender branch, again
almost within arm’s length. Evidently he has followed me, either to
observe what I might discover, or to give assistance, as in this case.
But whether he wishes to call my
attention to the trout, or to the
stirring in the grass, or to some-
thing which I have not yet seen, is
uncertain, for he promptly flies to
another branch a little farther off, '
and continues to sway and sing, 3
“There, there, there, he—is; tru- *
Soh Baul
ally, pu-ri-ty, pu-ri-ty, I—oh, pu-ri-ty.”’
I continue to watch the grass for sometime, but there is no further
stirring. Probably the unknown animal has slipped into the brook and
is swimming beneath the surface. When I turn back to the bluebird
he is industriously pecking ata rough piece of bark. Presently he draws
out a long white grub which the sun has not yet awakened, and swal-
lows it. The grub is thus cut off from the great spring awakening, but
perhaps his loss is the bluebird’s gain, and through the bluebird the
world’s, who knows?
SSO ORE
Ly
Bas
= 944
Real
,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
152
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 153
LEAST TERN,
A. O. U. No. 74. (Sterna antillarum.)
RANGE.
The Least Tern may be found breeding in favorable localities from
California, Minnesota, and New England southwards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 9 in.; extent, 20 in.; tail, 3.5 in., forked for about half of its
length. Eye, brown. Bill and feet, yellowish, the former tipped with
black. Back, wings and tail, pearl gray. Two outer primaries, black.
Top of head black, separated from a black line that extends from the
bill through the eye by a white crescent across the forehead and con-
tinuing up to the eye. Sides of head and under parts pure white. In
winter the bill is black and the black of the crown is broken up into a
few streaks. The mantle of the back is much darker than in summer.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Least Tern builds no nest whatever, and often even does not
take the few moments necessary to scoop a small hollow in the sand,
but will lay her eggs upon the beach among stones and pieces of shell.
The color of the eggs harmonizes remarkably well with that of the
sandy beach and it is very difficult to see them even at a short distance.
Their breeding range is now limited to the few localities where they
have not always been harassed to death, and islands along the Atlantic
coast where they formerly nested by hundreds are now desolate.
The eggs most commonly have a buff ground color and are specked
evenly over the surface with black, brown and lilac markings. The
two or three eggs which they lay are deposited early in June.
HABITS.
Although this species is the smallest of the American Terns, it is
none the less dexterous upon the wing. Its much shorter and less
deeply forked tail, rather serve to detract from its grace of movement,
when compared to some of the larger varieties.
While this diminutive member of the tern family can with equal fa-
cility perform all the intricate manouvers common to the terns, it seems
to lack the strength and power of endurance of many of its relatives
154 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
among the family. In stormy weather they appear to be unable to stand
the buffeting of the gale and often are obliged to alight on the land
where resting with their heads facing the winds they await the coming
of more agreeable weather. They may be considered rather more a
bird of the interior than of the sea coast. Vast numbers of them are
found about the lakes of the Mississippi Valley, while most of the other
varieties of terns spend the greater part of their lives around the salt
water, some of them even venturing to a great distance upon the ocean.
Photo by Wm. H. Fisher.
EGGS OF LEAST TERN.
They reach the northern limits of their range during the first part of
May and leave again early in Sept. They migrate either in pairs or
small flocks, generally at a great elevation, and either by day or night.
They are sociable among themselves and not generally timid. They
will probably never again be as abundant as formerly before the ladies
conceived the unfortunate idea of using them as hat adornments.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 155
BIRD CHAT S with
OUR | YOu NG
RIEN
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, CE.
My DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS:
Our feathered friends are coming thick and fast; how glad we all are
to see them again. Many of them make us but a little social call on
their way north where they make their summer homes, but they are
now wearing their best clothes, and singing their sweetest songs.
On looking over my note books, I find there were about fifty birds
which greeted me in my May wanderings last year. No wonder that
the birding fever is easily caught during this fair month.
Charles Rogers of New York City was the first to successfully
straighten out the March “‘pi’’. He reports the arrival of the Crow
Blackbird on March first, and the presence of Robins, Fox Sparrows,
anda Hermit Thrush, all winter. The latter must have found an attrac-
tive spot and kind friends to have lingered thus behind their mates.
We print an account of a pair of Clapper Rails given by one of our
young folks in R. I.
Have you put up the box-homes for the Wrens and Bluebirds?
Goodbye till we meet in the month of roses, and decide which bird
we like the best. Your friend,
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
The birds represented in the puzzle pictures in the April Ornithology
were: 1, Black and White Creeper; 2, Ovenbird; 3, Flicker; 4, King-
fisher; 5,- Chickadee; 6, Catbird; 7, Crane; 8, Chimney Swift; 9,
Grosbeak ; 10, Nuthatch.
NUMERICAL ENIGMA,
Iam composed of 11 letters. Alas, you will find my 11-7-9-5 in South
Africa and South America at the present time, always accompanied by
156 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
my 4-8-10-7-3-1. My 11-7-5-6-1 you may find to your sorrow in grand-
mother’s attic. My 1-6-2-10-3-1 you will find on the breakfast table.
My 8-7-4-5 are often worn by beggars. My 4-8-2-11-5 is what your lit-
tle sister does. My 1-6-7-9-5 are parts of a vessel. My 6-8-10-3-4 is
part of a fork. My whole is a bird beloved by us all.
A SUMMER ACQUAINTANCE,
“What is that noise I hear every morning when I am getting break-
fast?’’ asked mama one morning in May. ‘‘What is it like?’ I asked.
“Oh, itis a clucking, screeching sound, like a man clucking to his horse,
only louder and more prolonged, and seems to come from directly up
the marsh.”’
“T think,’’ said I, “‘that it is one of our summer neighbors, Mrs. Clap-
per Rail, just moved into the marsh.’’ About two hundred yards back
of our house is a salt water marsh which is a favorite feeding ground
of the herons, spotted sandpipers and rails. I had heard these sounds
myself and I made up my mind that a pair of Clapper Rails were nest-
ing close by, and determined to find the nest.
At high tide I took my boat and rowed around awhile, but asta find
no sigu of them. When the tide had gone down, I took off my shoes
and stockings and waded out to search more closely and again failed to
find the nest, though I saw the birds skulking about among the grass
tufts on the other side of the marsh. After I gave up the search, I
could hear them chuckling and cackling as if they were rejoicing over
my defeat. I kept a pretty close watch over them, aided by my field
glasses, but though I could see them feeding, and hear their note, I
could not locate the nest.
One day in June I asked my father to take me to the Islands so that
I might study Herring Gulls. He said that I had a good subject nearer
home, so I determined to try again. I went straight for the highest
tuft of grassonthe marsh, when suddenly, up flew Mrs. Rail with a sort
of startled cry, about four or five feet in front of me. She flew to a
fallen cedar tree, and it was not many minutes before I was looking
into her pretty home.
The nest was made of grass a little above the water, and was arched
over with thatch. It contained eleven eggs of a creamy color spotted
with reddish brown about the larger end. The bird was dark in color,
with long legs and neck. The next time I visited the nest, it was
abandoned, and I suppose a brood of young rails were following their
mother about the feeding ground.
This is probably their permanent summer home, for I remember
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 157
hearing them there the year before and no doubt they reared a brood
then. They have never been disturbed and I anticipate their return
this spring with much pleasure. BONNIE BuckHAm (aged 15).
THE WARBLERS,
With the first May flowers come the Warblers. Most of them tiny
sprites in gay plumage, who dart about as if to make the most of their
short sojourn with us. Why they are called warblers has always been
a puzzle to me, for surely the name is not suggested by the half whisp-
ered, lisping notes, or the shrill insect like sounds which constitute the
song of this class of birds. We may except the song of the Ovenbird,
for the hour when you first hear the liquid melody of the ovenbird as
he sings to his mate at twilight will never be forgotten.
The Summer Yellowbird which spends the summer with us repeats
“sweet”? seven times over; the Redstart has a like story to tell but tells
it in three syllables; look for him among the snowy blossoms of the
cherry trees, and note the charming contrast he makes in his vivid
orange and black, as he opens and closes his fan-like tail.
The Maryland Yellowthroat cries ‘“‘witchery, witchery, witchery”’
from the tangles all summer long, and the way that he succeeds in con-
cealing his nest in the depths of the tangle, seems indeed to savor of
witchery.
These and half a score more of the warblers stay with us, while their
companions hie away to our Canadian borders to nest, passing our way
again in the Fall, on their return journey, hundreds of miles, to the
sunny South, with their increased families.
Always in motion, with many resemblances in size and color, the
warblers are the most difficult of all our bird friends to learn.
I am sure you will miss a great amount of pleasure if you fail to put
some of these dainty folks on your calling list this summer.
GLEANINGS,
They’ll come again to the apple tree
Robin and all the rest,
When the orchard branches are fair to see
In the snow of the blossoms dressed.
And the prettiest thing in the world will be
The building of the nest.
—From “The Building of the Nest.”’
By MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
158 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
THE MYTH OF THE SONG SPARROW,
His mother was the Brook, his sisters were the Reeds
And they every one applauded when he sang about his deeds.
His vest was white, his mantle brown, as clear as they could be,
And his songs were fairly bubbling o’er with melody and glee.
But an envious Neighbor splashed with mud our Brownie’s coat and vest.
And then a final handful threw that stuck upon his breast.
The Brook-bird’s mother did her best to wash the stains away,
But there they stuck, and, as it seems, are very like to stay.
And so he wears the splashes and the mud blotch as you see,
But his songs are bubbling over still with melody and glee.
—ERNEST THOMPSON-SETON, in ‘‘Bird Lore.’’
THE BIRDLESS WOOD,
I stood in woods ’mong leafless trees
One noisy winter’s day:
The winds were not like summer’s breeze,
I thought my hands and feet would freeze
Before I went away.
But long I looked with eager eye
For some little happy bird;
And ne’er was heard the Blue Jay’s cry,
Nor busy Woodpecker pounding nigh,
But only winds were heard.
‘““O, where, my darling, friends of glee,”’
I broken hearted cried:
‘They fly no more from tree to tree
To warble songs that gladden me—
Oh, whither, do they hide?”’
I almost wept for spring again,
For sunshine, warm and sweet;
For the cherry songsters’ mellow strain
That calms me in the hour of pain,
Or makes my joy complete.
BENJ. PHILLIPS,
Seiad, Calif.
Nests and Eggs of
North American Birds,
By Oliver Davie.
The Best Book on Eggs Published.
bei Finely Illustrated. *
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THE BIRDS’ PICNIC,
The birds gave a picnic, the morning was fine,
They all came in couples to chat and to dine;
Miss Robin, Miss Wren, and the two Misses Jay,
Were dressed in a manner decidedly gay.
And Bluebird, who looks like a handful of sky,
Dropped in with his spouse as the morning wore by;
The Yellowbirds, too, wee bundles of sun,
With the brave Chickadees came along to the fun.
Miss Phoebe was there, in her prim suit of brown,
In fact all the birds in the fair leafy town.
The neighbors, of course, were politely invited,
Not even the Ants and Crickets were slighted.
The Grasshoppers came, some in gray, some in green,
And covered with dust, hardly fit to be seen.
Miss Miller flew in with her gown white as milk,
And Ladybug flourished a new crimson silk.
The bees turned out lively, the young and the old,
Aud proud as could be, in their spencers of gold,
But Miss Caterpillar, how funny of her,
She hurried along in her mantle of fur.
There were big bugs in plenty, and gnats great and small,
A very hard matter to mention them all.
And what did they do? Why they sported and sang
Till all the green woods with their melody rang.
Who e’er gave a picnic so grand and so gay?
They hadn’t a shower, I’m happy to say;
And when the sun fell, like a cherry ripe red,
The Fireflies lighted them all home to bed.
‘“Home Songs”
,
.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGS
160
PURPLE GRACKLE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 161
GRACKLES,
We will include the Purple Grackle and the two sub-species under
this heading. The habits of the three varieties are very similar and
the same illustrations will answer for either. The only differences are
in the matter of size of the Florida Grackle and in the different color
reflections of the other two, matters that can not be shown in the
illustration. They are all commonly known in their several localities
as Crow Blackbirds.
PURPLE GRACKLE,
A. O. U. No. 511. (Quiscalus quiscula.)
RANGE.
Chiefly east of the Alleghanies along the Atlantic coast from Florida
to Massachusetts.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, from 12 to 13 inches; extent, about 18 inches; tail, from 5 to
6 inches. The tail is very much rounded, the outer feathers being
about an inch and a half shorter than the middle ones. Bill and feet,
black. Eye very pale yellow almost white. Entire plumage, black.
The iridescence is very variable but is most intense during the breed-
ing season. The entire head and neck have brilliant purple and blue
reflections. The wings and tail are steel blue, and the back and under
parts have a duller and rather greenish iridescence.
BRONZED GRACKLE,
A. O. U. No. 511b. (Quiscalus quiscula aeneus.)
<8 RANGE.
This variety has by far the greater range and is found throughout
the U. S. east of the Rocky Mts. and in southeastern Canada.
DESCRIPTION.
This bird is precisely like the former in size and form. The only
difference being in the iridescence, which appears to be nearly the re-
verse. The head is steel blue and the wings and tail purple, while the
back and under parts have a very brassy reflection (from which the
name aeneus is given to it) that is always lacking in'the Purple Grackle.
FLORIDA GRACKLE,
A. O. U. No. 511a. er eg (Quisealus quiscula aglaeus.)
RANGE AND DESCRIPTION.
Found along the south Atlantic and southern Gulf coasts. This va-
riety is from an inch to an inch and a half shorter than the preceeding.
Otherwise it is almost exactly like the Purple Grackle.
162 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Grackles build large bulky nests of twigs, grasses and mud.
They are generally placed on horizontal bough preferably especially
where only a number are nesting, on coniferous trees. In some locali-
ties large colonies of them breed together, but scattered throughout
their range will be small bands of perhaps a dozen individuals which
nest in some small clump of trees. They are not afraid of man’s do-
mains and will very often build their nests in trees in the yard. They
lay from four to six eggs, the markings of which vary very greatly.
The ground color is bluish white and is blotched and streaked with
dark brown and fainter patches of lilac.
Photo by Ross Nicholas.
YOUNG PURPLE GRACKLES.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLGY. 163
HABITS.
Although the Bronzed Grackles appear to winter in Arkansas, they
are much more abundant during spring and summer, especially about
corn planting time. At the time when they are most abundant here,
they may be seen at late evening or early morning in vast numbers
flying to or from the roosting ground. I have watched them for
hours at a time without seeing any decrease in their numbers. Often
one massive flock two or three hundred yards in width and over two
miles long were in sight. Asa general thing two or three such flocks
would lead the procession, followed by numerous smaller flocks of
several hundred individuals, until as darkness fell only a few belated
stragglers would be be left in sight.
It is quite an experience to visit the roosting place of these huge
flocks of blackbirds. Just as the sun becomes a dull red and appears
to pause a few feet above the horizon before taking its departure for
the night, one standing near the roosting place casts his eye eagerly in
all directions to catch the first sight of the coming hordes.
Suddenly as if from behind the clouds the black and moving mass
sweeps onwards to within perhaps two hundred yards of the roost,
when suddenly as if obeying some order not heard by the observer, the
whole flock breaks up into smaller flocks of three to fifty individuals
and darts into the bushes with a whizzing noise not unlike that made
by the escape of steam from a leaky valve. After the first rush the
bystander is a fixture unable to move, unable to withdraw his gaze
although his eyes fairly ache with the strain. Fixed to the spot, with
senses lulled to slumber by the incessant chirping and the intoxicating
whizzing of the tens of thousands of wings above his head, the weary
gazer is asleep to all sounds and conditions,save the ones in which he is
engulfed and long after the last straggier has found a resting place this
would be naturalist gazes up at the vacant dome above, but a few
moments before filled with countless numbers of animate creatures.
Then as if aroused from his stupid slumber by some sound or move-
ment, he suddenly starts, rubs his eyes and slowly feels his way out of
the tangle of the thicket, for darkness has crept upon him ere he is
aware of it.
This roosting place is generally some impenetrable thicket and also
serves as their breeding place. I call to mind one of these roosts
which as far back as I can remember has been very popular with black-
birds, both the Grackles and Red-wings. It is a thicket of young
cotton wood and willows on a sand bar of the Arkansas River. It isso
thick that a rabbitt must have some difficulty in traversing it, and I
have seen this place litterally dotted with the nests of these two species.
164 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
This grackle is also omnivorous to a great extent, eating flesh, grain,
fruit and insects alike. In summer when the ponds are drying up one
may see numerous blackbirds diligently fishing for crawfish, which
now constitute nearly their whole diet. In time of wild cherries I
have often caught these birds, they being intoxicated from eating too
many. I have kept one in captivity for two or three weeks feeding it
large grasshoppers alone, it taking them with an eagerness that showed
a liking for this peculiar diet. True the blackbird does great injury
to young corn and no longer ago than last spring I was forced to stand
guard over a corn field on their account. The birds had caused my
father to have to plant over twenty acres a second time. I did not kill
many however, for it was only necessary to shoot at them a few times
morning and evening to prevent them doing much mischief.
If they do harm in the spring it is entirely counterbalanced in the
late summer if cotton worms happen to invade the fields. On these
occasions one may see the blackbirds rolling over a field much in the
same way as wild pigeons, the tail end birds always rising and alight-
ing in front. Thus the birds are ever on the move. They seem some
scarcer in this locality than a few years back, probably from the fact
that the breeding places on the sand bars are being cleared off for cul-
tivation. They feed the young birds on insects entirely when very
young. J. K THIBAULT.
A COWBIRD'S NEST,
As ornithologists and all bird students think and believe that the
Cowbird will build no nest but always lays in the nests of other birds, I
am glad to give the results of my experiments. In order to get the de-
sired results, in the spring of 1899, I secured a pair of Cowbirds and
placed them in a large cage, cared well for them, and supplied them
with plenty of nesting material. To my surprise the female built a
nest, layed four eggs, hatched them and reared the young, and on July
28th young and old all were given their freedom. This will show that
the Cowbird will build a nest and care for its young in captivity, while
in its wild life it has never been known to.
Another queer incident that came to my notice was on June 2, 1901.
While strolling through a pasture, I observed a bird flying to the
ground and disappear. I recognized it as the Chimney Swift, and be-
ing anxious to know what had become of it I at once went to the spot
and found an old well about fifteen or eighteen feet deep above water.
About ten feet from the ground was the bird resting on anest with four
eggs. I have never heard of a similar situation before.
Jos. F. HONECKER.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 165
THE CASTLE.
Come with me into our garden where you can see the bird houses,
nesting boxes and the real nests not made with hands. ‘The largest
house which we call the castle is occupied in summer by Martins, and
if it has never been your good pleasure to hear their strange songs and
observe their maneuvers I am sure you could spend an hour or two
with them and not weary with their entertainment.
The ‘“Progne subis’’ or Purple Martin belongs to the family “‘Hir-
undinidae’’ or Swallows. It is their largest representative and meas-
ures eight inches in length. The adult males are shining blue-black,
but in the sunshine look decidedly purple. The females are grayish,
tinged with steel blue above, lighter below. They are eminently in-
sectivorous, consequently highly migratory. Their long pointed wings
afford them wonderful aerial ability, enabling them to take their food
while on the wing with wondrous ease and grace. Their song is very
humble, little more than deep toned love talk, but is expressive of ten-
der emotions.
To some observers the song seems quite ridiculous and indeed is
rather amusing when an old male tries to give expression to his ecsta-
sies by a low, hoarse trill. The charm of the. Martins is not in their
song, but in the tender devotion of the mated pairs, the parental love
and care displayed to the little ones in the nests, the sociability of large
flocks, and their wonderful homing instinct. My notes tell me that they
arrive in scattered flocks from April 16th to 28th and leave from Au-
gust 12th to 20th, seldom varying three days from the first named date
of arrival. They seem so glad and happy to get back to their pleasant
summer home, the dear old home of their birth, that they announce
their presence by loud demonstrations of joy and it is many days be-
fore they become settled down like well regulated families. As each
colony arrives and their numbers are being perceptibly augmented, dif-
ficulties arise between them concerning the choice of rooms, as there
are twenty-eight apartments and thirty-two windows in the house, and
they all prefer the rooms on the north and east as these are nearest the
water and meadows, and on the opposite side from our house. For
many days there is a perfect babel of noises, harsh, strong, scolding
notes are uttered to all intruders, and gentle little love notes from the
same old veterans to the favored ones they have chosen for their mates.
The nests are made by a few sticks pasted down by a bit of mud, just
enough to keep the little ones from falling out of the house. As each
brood is hatched the curiosity of the adult members of the colony is
greatly incited, and for several hours they stand in flocks at the doors
gazing either in admiration or wonderment at the new little babies;
166 AVMVERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
THE CASTLE.
presently the irate father forgets that they are all one great family and
exponents of sociability and intimacy and spreads his wings, ducks his
head, and with open mouth forcibly and vociferously ejects them from
his private domain.
Twenty or thirty usually return in the spring and when they are
ready to start for their southern home we can easily count seventy-five
or more. We have the only flock of Martins in the town, although
there are many attractive Martin houses. ‘The secret lies in forcing out
the House or English Sparrow. Most of the other houses are occu-
pied by the Sparrows which have completely driven out the Martins. I
have not observed that the Sparrows make open warfare against the
Martins, but by their filthy habits about the boxes, and by robbing and
mobbing they completely dishearten them and drive them from their
abodes.
At another time I will tell you about our Bluebirds and Tree Swal-
lows and hosts of other beautiful little winged creatures that find refuge
near by home. FRANCIS, B. HORTON, Brattleboro, Vt.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 167
A HOUSE WITH TWO STORIES.
Last May a little Maryland Yellow-throat built her nest in a rasp-
berry patch by the roadside. It was made of bits of bark, tendrils and
grass, and lined with finer grasses and horsehair. Just as it was com-
pleted and the little birds off for a nice breakfast, Mrs. Cowbird, who
has a bad reputation, gained by her lazy habit of building no home for her
offspring, but slying depositing her eggs in the nests of smaller birds,
came stealthily through the bushes from the top of a tall tree from
which she had been watching the construction of the little nest with a
great deal of interest. After a hasty inspection she decided that it was
a safe home for her future offspring. The egg was left and Mrs. Cow-
bird hastened away as slyly as she had come. On her return the
Maryland Yellow-throat was much disturbed to find the large egg in
her little home, but she was wiser than many of her small neighbors
for most of them do not seem to mind the intrusive egg but go right
on about their housekeeping, and of course, the young Cowbird, being
so much larger than the rightful occupants soon crowds them out of
their home and keeps the poor tired little mother on the move to
supply it with food. So for every cowbird a whole nestful of insect
eating birds are sacrificed. But of course nature planned the Cowbird
for some purpose and we are learning that its food consists of injurious
spiders and insects, and seeds of obnoxious weeds. These little Yel-
low-throats after much scolding decided to outwit the Cowbird, so very
soon they were very busy building a platform over the large egg, and
in a short time had a very imposing two story mansion. They worked
very steadily indeed, until it was finished, and then flew off for a short
outing before beginning the real cares of housekeeping. No sooner
were they gone than back came Mrs. Cowbird and laid another egg in
the top story. When the owners returned and found that all their labor
had been fruitless they were furious and left the nest never to return.
I do not know where they made their next home, but trust that they
may have reared their family in peace. Rest H. METCALF.
168 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
FOX SPARROW,
A. O. U. No. 585. (Passerella iliaca.)
RANGE.
In the United States this sparrow is found east of the plains, but in
Canada it is found distributed irregularly from the Atlantic to the Pa-
cific and from Alaska and the Arctic coast southwards. It winters in
the southern part of the United States and breeds north of our border.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Fox Sparrow nests either in small trees or on the ground, most
often in the latter location. The nest is made of grasses and moss
and lined with finer grasses and feathers. The eggs are laid during
the latter part of June. They are pale greenish blue blotched and
speckled with reddish brown. They lay four or five eggs. Size .90x.65 in.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 7 in.; extent, 11 in.; tail, 3 in. Feet, pale brown. Upper
mandible dark; lower yellowish. Eye brown. The general color of
the upper parts is a rusty red, this color being strongest on the rump,
wings and tail, and the remainder of the upper parts being mixed
somewhat with gray. Under parts white, thickly covered except on the
belly with spots of reddish brown, these being mostly in the form of
arrow points. The wing coverts are edged with whitish forming two
narrow wing bars.
HABITS
The Fox Sparrow is the largest and is by many considered to be the
handsomest of the whole family. Considered strictly in accordance
to their inches in length, one or two others may be considered his
equal in size, but this variety has a larger body, and his shorter tail
accounts for his shortness in length.
During the latter part of April flocks containing hundreds of these
bright fox colored birds are scattered over the northern parts of the
United States. These flocks do not tarry in one place more than a day
but continue their journey northwards. For about a week, however,
there does not appear to be any diminution in their numbers, for when
one flock leaves there is another to take its place. When on these
migratory journeys they are very sociable with one another and I have
never seen one of them quarreling with another. They take their food
entirely from the ground and only leave it to hop to a low twig or a
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
FOX SPARROW.
170 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
stone to see who is coming, and then return to their gleaning. Save
for the rustling of the leaves, and by the way one would think that a
whole army of men were the cause of this noise instead of a few score
of little birds, they are very quiet during their travels. An occa-
sional sweet thrill from some unusually happy individual is the only
specific warning of their presence until they are disturbed by the un-
desirable presence of strangers when the whole flock will unite in loud
chirpings. How little we can tell of the real home life of a bird from
the scant observations that we are able to make as they hasten past us
on their way north. The Fox Sparrow during the nesting season is
said to rival the thrushes in the brilliancy of his song. His song is
more varied and the tones sweeter and purer than any of the thrushes
and in addition his sociable ways with mankind have placed him high
in the esteem of all bird lovers.
THE LODGING OF THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH IN WINTER.
This annual resident is one of the most industrious little fellows that
I know, and always inspires me with an ambition to be up and doing
myself. He is out all sorts of weather, for no matter how it blows,
storms and snows he can find a sheltered side on the tree where his
work is, and in the midst of all his busy searchings for food he forgets
not to utter his cheery work-a-day ditty, so helpful to the observer in
locating his presence and position. Many a time in a blinding, driving
snow storm have I observed this little ball of feathered assiduity, dili-
gently searching the sheltered side of the great pines and firs of the
forest as sprightly and cheerily as though all nature were at peace and
the warm sun beaming down. At such times his presence is a real in-
spiration and a delight, especially if the observer chance to be snow
bound in some log cabin in the wilderness.
He is not a gregarious bird in either his nesting or working habits,
and I had always supposed that he were a solitary householder in his
lodging habits, at least that no more than himself and wife occupied
the same apartments, unless it be occasionally with some friendly
neighbor, or through misfortune. I never even supposed that he oc-
cupied the same lodging twice in succession except it be in the nesting
season.
So little do we sometimes know of the habits of our most common
bird neighbors that it was nothing short of a revelation to me one even-
ing when coming home late from a winter gunning expedition, to learn
that this whilom friend of mine had a regularly appointed lodgings of
aristocratic proportions, done in natural wood, where all the birds of
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 17I
the order in that vicinity spent their nights in social and mutual warmth
and comfort. Their palatial lodging was a great yellow pine that had
been dead so long that its bark had disappeared. There was a weather
or wind crack in its trunk just by the side of a knot, about ten feet from
the ground, which served as the front door to the lodgings, and as it
opened to the east by a quarter south it would get the first rays of dawn
as they lighted the woods in that vicinity.
By some chance I stopped near this tree, and while standing there a
lone Nuthatch alighted upon the knot, went into the crack and out of
sight. He had hardly disappeared before a second one alighted in the
same place and vanished within the same doorway. Number two had
scarcely gone before number three appeared upon the scene and fol-
lowed the other two. I became interested at once and determined to
see the end of this ornithological procession and stood attentively
watching.
They continued to arrive, singly, as if by predetermined appointment,
one after another until twenty-nine had come and disappeared within
the spacious apartments of this one coniferous aviarian domicile, and at
no time during all the lodgment of these twenty-nine birds, did two ar-
rive at the same time, nor was there a variation in the time of the ap-
pearance of any two birds of more than thirty seconds. Such clock
like punctuality seemed marvelous to me, and is but another instance of
the remarkable development of the faculty, if I may so term it, of time
in birds.
Unfortunately I never had an opportunity to follow up my observa-
tions in this matter, and cannot say whether this gregarious habit of
lodging with the White-breasted Nuthatch, is a local or a national trait,
neither can I tell you whether these birds were all of one family or
many; whether they got up in the orderly and chronological manner in
which they went to bed, nor yet if they occupied the same lodgings the
following winter together with their summer’s posterity, and least of
all whether when the tree became unsafe from the decay of its roots,
they sought out some other and safer habitation for their winter ren-
dezvous. G. V. HaRvEY, M. D. Watsonville, Cal.
It should be noted that one of the best methods of attracting birds is
to have sunflowers planted near the house. In the fall these will fur-
nish abundant food and quite a variety of birds will be observed im-
proving the opportunity thus afforded them. Ina small garden plot a
few feet from my study windows, I have a considerable number of sun-
flowers. Last fall long after they had lost their brightness, they con-
tinued to draw large numbers of birds. I was particularly interested
E72 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
in the Goldfinches, to whom large seeded plants of this sort are a great
delight. They had lost their black caps and their golden yellow had
faded to a much duller hue, but their cheery notes, and their evident de-
light in the toothsome dainties helped to make a charming scene.
With them came flocks of Bluebirds with their gentle twitterings, spar-
rows of different sorts, and individuals of other species. These few
flowers furnished a feeding ground until well into the winter and served
to brighten many a dreary day with glimpses of animated bird life.
F. L. GRANT.
AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR,
On February 11th I was walking in a marshy strip of land near Bos-
ton, when a Kingfisher flew from some low trees nearby. Alighting in
a tall oak, he looked around for a few minutes, then flew away towards
a larger stretch of marsh land. I wondered where he found food as all
the ponds near there were frozen; but his loud rattle as he flew away
did not sound as if it were uttered by a starving bird. Guy Emersont
Robert of Lincoln is gaily drest
Wearing a bright black wedding coat,
White are his shoulders and white his crest.
Robert of Lincoln’s Quaker wife
Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings,
Passing at home a patient life,
Broods in the grass while her husband sings
Bob-o-link, bob-o-link,
Spink, spank spink.
Brood kind creature, you need not fear
Thieves and robbers while I am here.
Chee-chee-chee! BRYANT.
174 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No. 5.
Brilliantly Colored Shore Birds.
A; O. U. No. 222, sRed ‘Phalarepe, GG
mophilus fudicarius.)
Length, 7.5 inches. Breeds in the Arctic regions
and migrates in winter to the middle portions of the
United States, along the coast. Head and around bill
sooty. Rump, white. Bill, quite stout. (In winter.)
Head all around and entire under parts white. Toes
edged with a scalloped membrane which is united at
the base making them semipalmate.
A. O. U. No. 223, Northern Phalarope, (Phal-
aropus lobatus.)
Length, 7 inches. Breeds in the Arctic regions and
winters in the tropics. Bill slender, but notlong. The
rusty red of the neck almost meets in the back Rump,
gray like the back. The sides, spotted with gray. A
very broad white bar on the wing.
A. O. U. No. 224, Wilson’s Phalarope,
(Phalai opus tricolor.)
Length, about ginches. Inhabits temperate North
America, breeding from middle United States north-
ward chiefly on the interior. Migrates to South Amer-
ica in winter. Bill very long and slender. The rich
chestnut of the sides of the neck extends in a faint
shade across the breast. Rump, white. (In winter.)
Black stripe on the side of head and neck is very faint
and the chestnut almost lacking. The lobes’ on the
feet of this variety are much less pronounced than on
the two previous ones. All three varieties are good
swimmers and the two former are frequently found in
large flocks far out at sea.
A. O. U. No. 283, Turnstone, (Arenaria in-
terpres.)
Length, 8.5 inches. Throughout North America.
Breeds in the extreme north. Tail, rump and tail
coverts, white, the former with a black band near the
tip, and the latter with a black patch in the center.
Secondaries and coverts very broadly tipped with
white. In winter these birds almost entirely lack the
chestnut and the black is broken and grayish.
A. O. U. No. 288, Mexican Jacana, (Jacana
spinosa.)
Length, about 8.5 inches. Mexico and southern
Texas. Head and neck, greenish black. Secondaries
and inner webs of the primaries, greenish yellow. Re-
mainder of body, a rich purplish chestnut. Bill, front-
al leaf and spur on the shoulder, yellow. Tail, very
short, not as long as the coverts. Legs long and
greenish black. ‘Toe nails extremely long.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 175
Ring-necked Plovers With Only Three Toes.
A. O. U. No. 273, Killdeer, (Aegialitis voc-
tfera.
Length, 9.5 inches. Temperate North America, ~
breeding north to southern Canada. Bill, quite long
and black. Upper parts, brownish gray. Two black
bands across the breast. Rump and tail coverts chest-
nut.
A. O. U. No. 274, Semipalmated Plover,
(Aegialitis semipalmata.)
Length, 7 inches. Breeds in the arctic regions and
migrates to tropical America. Bill, short and black
tipped. A single black band encircles the neck. Foot
webbed between the outer and middle toe, to the first
joint.
A. O. U. No. 277, Piping Plover, (Aegialitis
meloda.)
Length, 6.5 inches. Eastern North America, breed-
ing from Virginia to New Foundland. Very broad
white band across the forehead. Bill, short and stout
black tipped. Black crescent on each side of the neck,
not meeting on the breast or back of neck. Tail,
white with a black tip.
A. O. U. No. 278, Snowy Plover, (4egialitis
N1VOSA.)
Length, 6.5 inches. From the Mississippi Valley
westwards and from northern California southwards.
Bill, quite long and slender, black.- Small black cres-
cent on each side of the neck. A narrow black stripe
back from the eye. Back, very light gray.
A. O. U. No. 280, Wilson’s Plover, (¢4egial-
itis wilsonia.)
Length, 7.5 inches. Both coasts of the United
States. Bill, quite long and stout. A broad black
band across the breast.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. Lg
BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER,
A. O. U. No. 261. (Bartramia longicauda.)
RANGE.
Quite abundant throughout North America. North to Alaska and
Nova Scotia. Breeds throughout its range, but chiefly in the northern
parts. Migrates south of the United States and into South America.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 12 in.; extent, 23 in.; tail, 3.5 in. Bill and feet, dull yellow-
ish. Above, black, all the feathers having tawny edges. The second-
aries are barred regularly with black and brownish. Therump and tail
are brownish, the latter shading through orange brown to white on the
outer feathers and being barred regularly with black. The tawny color
of the upper parts extends across the breast. The rest of the under
parts are white. The breast and sides are marked with arrow shaped
spots.
NEST AND EGGS.
This Sandpiper breeds abundantly on the western prairies and
throughout Canada. Its nest is a hollow on the ground in which four
eggs are laid. These are of a more or less bright buffy color and are
heavily spotted and blotched with brown, particularly about the larger
end. They breed frequently in pastures and on hillsides.
HABITS.
There are exceptions to nearly every rule. We generally think of a
Sandpiper or Plover as a bird of the marsh or beach. Most of them
are, but the present species is one of the few that prefer a: different
mode of life. The broad prairie or hillsides and pastures are their
favorite abiding places. There may be water within easy access, but if
so, the locality is not chosen because of it as they are just as often
found breeding miles away from any supply. Unlike the shore Sand-
pipers their food consists almost entirely of insects and seeds.
On the prairies in their breeding grounds they are very fearless and
178 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 179
do not appear to realize the danger of too great an intimacy with man-
kind, at least the greater part.
These Sandpipers are much sought for by gunners during those sea-
sons of the year when they are allowed to slaughter shore birds. Dur-
ing migration the birds have a peculiar liking for some particular hill-
side. Although there may be many other localities close by that to all
appearances are equally suited to their needs, they will never be found
on these. One pasture within the city limits is a favorite stopping
place for them and every night during the migration period a number
of them will drop in here towards morning and spend the day in feeding
preparatory to taking up their journey the following night. Every one
that puts in an appearance has to take his chances with the dozen or so,
more or less marksmen that frequent this pasture from the time that
the first bird arrives till the last one departs.
Their note is a two syllabled drawn out whistle and may be frequent-
ly recognized during the fall migrations, at night, along with the chirps
of the many smaller birds that are passing over at thesametime. The
names Upland or Grass Plover, or Prairie Snipe are probably more
familiar to the majority than that of Bartramian Sandpiper. The birds
however are the same.
OOLOGY,
To me the study of the eggs of birds is next to the study of the birds
themselves. Darwin’s theory shows that related species are descend-
ants from a common ancestor. Therefore the eggs of these descend-
ants would naturally show a common likeness unless they were pow-
erfully influenced by environment or by other circumstances. Thus
the eggs of the Robin and the Thrushes are similar; also the eggs of the
Kingbird and the Wood Pewee, the Thrasher andthe Wrens, the Bobo-
link and the Cowbird, etc., while the eggs of the Catbird and Thrasher,
the Bank and Barn Swallows, and the Meadowlark and Oriole are much
different from each other. These differences are caused mainly, I think,
by the necessity of protection. An egg which from itssituation has no
need of protection is usually white, as the fowl and the Owls. The
Bluebird, unlike the other Thrushes, builds in the holes of trees. Its
eggs need no protection and are gradually becoming white instead of
light blue. I found many nests containing white eggs last year and
have heard of others in distant localities. The Phoebe’s eggs have
been through the change once already and are now turning back to
their original color. Before the discovery of America the Phoebe built
in holes of cliffs and rocks and the eggs were white. Now they build
in sheds, under bridges, etc., and their eggs are gradually speckled
with brown. C. W. PARKER.
180 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
PHOEBE:
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 181
PHOEBE.
A. O. U. No. 456 (Savornis phoebe.)
RANGE.
The Phoebe is found from the Rocky Mountains eastward and from
the British provinces southward. They winter along the Gulf coast
and breed throughout their range in the upper half of the United States.
DESCRIPTION.
Leneth, 7 ine extent, 11 in.; tail, 3 in. Bill and feet, black. Eye
brown. Upper parts brownish gray, very dark on the head, almost
black. Under parts dull white, the sides grayish, this color sometimes
extending across the breast. The outer tail feather, secondaries and
coverts edged with white.
NEST AND EGGS.
Early in May the Phoebe builds its nest of mud, twigs and moss.
The nests are located on the rafters of buildings, under bridges, or on
narrow shelves of ledges. Four or five plain white eggs are laid
although frequently a set will be found that has more or less numerous
specks of black, mostly towards the larger end.
aT
HABITS.
A plain colored, demure looking bird. He shares with the Robin,
Bluebird, and Blackbird, the honor of being the first arrival from the
winter quarters. Were it not for his energetic voice he would pass
unnoticed among the numerous other birds that are found in the same
haunts. Heis a very interesting bird and after having watched him
for some time and listened to his emphatic “phoebe, phoebe’’, each
syllable being accompanied by a flirt of the tail, and accented now on
the first syllable, now on the last, we begin to wonder why Phoebe
does not answer his entreaties or as he seems so anxious to see her,
why he does not look her up. This is not Phoebe’s only note for I
have heard a low sweet, affectionate trill as he hovered for an instant
before the ledge where Mrs. Phoebe was silently sitting.
The Phoebes are devoted to old associations and will make their
home in the same place year after year. I know of more than a dozen
locations within two miles of home where I can depend upon finding a
182 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo by C. A. Reed.
NEST OF PHOEBE UNDER BRIDGE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 183
nest of the phoebe, pewit or pewee, all of which names are applied to
the same bird. Early in May I started out with my trusty friend, the
camera, in order to photograph a Phoebe’s nest. I had in mind one of
the most beautiful and picturesque spots in the country. A brook, one
that has long been the Mecca of many local anglers, winds its circuitous
way across fields, through woods, under roadways, until just before it
empties into the lake it passes through a ravine and under several
rustic bridges. This is one of the richest localities for bird products
in this vicinity and within sight of its banks may be found breeding
nearly all the perching birds known to inhabit here.
Phoebe did not disappoint me and some time before I came in sight
of the old bridge I heard amid the babble of the early arrivals, his
familiar call. I found that the birds had already completed a.new
rustic moss covered nest, fastened securely to the third cross log under
the bridge. These birds or others have had nests under this bridge
for years. They vary its location from: year to year and the old one
nearly all falls down during the winter. What strange situations
birds will choose in which to rear their families. Numbers of teams
pass over the bridge daily and one would not think that a bird would
enjoy having a horse’s hoof pounding the boards not more than an
inch above its head, especially as the bridge is old and somewhat shaky.
The accompanying photo of the Phoebe’s nest was taken with the
tripod standing in the middle of the brook, (the operator incidently
having an insecure, single-footed position on the sharp edge of a pro-
jecting rock). The detail in the picture was obtained in the darkness
under the bridge by a small stop and a minute’s exposure.
That those who are from any cause unable to take outings, might
see one of Nature’s beauty spots, I decided to photograph the bridge,
as this is a typical spot for a Phoebe’s home. One of the birds was in
sight all the time, busily engaged in the dexterous pastime of captur-
ing all insects that flew by. He was continually changing his position
and when I was prepared to take my picture, he was occupying a look-
out that was within range of the lens, and can be seen in the illustra-
tion, just above the roadway and about half an inch from the left of the
picture. I should like but have never had the opportunity to witness
the young phoebes first flight. Unless they are more dexterous than
the young of most birds on the maiden attempt, they must be very wet
and bedraggled looking specimens when they reach the shore.
184
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
WHERE THE PHOEBE BUILDS.
Photo by_C. A. Reed.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 185
WITH THE BIRDS AT DAWN,
The glorious month of May is again with us; the month of beautiful
awakening; of blossoms, birds and song; the month of inspiration and
rejoicing. Only those who have the opportunity to go and see for
themselves can fully realize and appreciate the scenes and sounds
which one cannot express or describe.
An hour with the birds at dawn; how much it means at this season of
the year, when all is activity and bustle among Nature’s creatures. Out
with the rise of the sun, when nature is donning her gayest robes of the
year, and when the dew of Heaven is glittering like thousands of
precious gems. At no time can one better enjoy an hour with the birds;
just fresh from their night’s rest, they all break forth in a volume of
combined and harmonious song that is beyond description; it is well
worth going miles to hear, yet it is free to all.
The observations recorded in this article cover a series of walks tak-
en by the writer in the early morning during the first two weeks of
May. A few minutes stroll brings one within the borders of a rich
meadow; and what a landscape! Stretching away in the distance is a
line of rolling hills, some of them crowned with apple orchards in their
prime of bloom; on another side one could see the delicate tints and
harmonious blending of the young leaves on the forest trees, while un-
der your feet was a soft carpet of fresh, young meadow grass, profuse-
ly sprinkled on every hand with the pale blue and rich purple of thous-
ands of violets, while here and there the golden chalice of an early but-
tercup was nodding in the breeze.
Passing along the edge of a grove, I observed a number of Towhees.
Some were busily engaged in scratching among the dead leaves, now
and again uttering their pleasant ““Chewink, Chewink;’’ others would
mount the tall trees aud indulge in a more elaborate song. They were
very tame and I[ had an excellent opportunity of observing them. I al-
so heard the shrill whistle of the Great-crested Flycatcher and the harsh
cry of a Blue Jay. While passing some brush piles in this grove, I
counted five White-throated Sparrows; Song Sparrows were also abund-
ant and added their sweet notes to the general concert. A pair of
Chipping Sparrows were taking a drink from a little brook and they
raised their tiny heads as if in thanktulness that they had such clear,
sparkling water with which to allay their thirst. The Field Sparrows
too, appreciating the beauty of these mornings and the happy life
around them, sang out “‘Oh see-see-see,’’ with a pretty trill to the last
of each syllable.
Coming to a swampy region, I found the Red-wing Black Birds numer-
ous, and they continued to call “‘Kon-ker-ee’’ from tussocks and sway-
186 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
ing branches. The Meadow Larks also were flying to and fro and
occasionally one would mount the tip of a tall tree and pour out the
fullness of his joy in sweet song. Leaving the swamp and passing on
to another portion of the meadow where there were two or three large
oak trees and considerable undergrowth, I observed a number of Gold
Finches in a bunch of alders and they were calling to each other
‘“‘dearie dearie,’’ in most loving terms; what a pretty contrast—their
rich black and bright yellow mingling with the vivid green of the young
leaves. Ona fence post near by, sat a little House Wren, and he was
fairly bubbling over with song and motion, while Mr. Chat up in the
oak tree would feign have you believe there were a dozen or more vo-
calists there instead of one. It is truly amusing to watch the droll
actions of these birds and to liste1 to their wonderful mimicry. The
Brown Thrasher was also in evidence and endeavored to rival the Chat
in the variation of his song. I next heard ““Chebeck, Chebeck’’ com-
ing from a tree near by, and while I could not catch a sight of the bird,
I knew it to be one of the smaller Flycatchers. Barn Swallows and
Chimney Swallows were circling in the air, and a pair of Flickers raised
serious objections as the writer came near to an old maple tree in which
they had their nest—the top being decayed and broken away.
The cheery call of the Maryland Yellow-throats resounded on every
hand and the low bushes and sedges along the run were fairly alive
with flitting bits of bright color. While engaged in gathering some
wild flowers, the writer tried imitating their note and soon had a goodly
number of them near at hand, their curiosity getting the better of them.
A Cat Bird also came to say “good morning”’ and to announce that he
had but recently arrived from the South.
From a woodland at some distance off, the sweet strains of the Wood
Thrush’s morning hymn was wafted across the vale, and the clear,
rollicking song of the Carolina Wren came from the same source. I
also heard one single note of an Oriole but did not succeed in locating
it. Thus in about an hour’s time during each of the morning walks in
question, I had the pleasure of meeting and listening to from twenty to
twenty-five different birds. All these feathered people will soon be se-
lecting their nest sites and engaged in building their little homes ac-
cording to their respective habits. Oh that everyone finding these
little homes—which are just as dear to the birds as our homes are to us
—would bear in mind that within each pretty egg are the possibilities
of a happy life and a cheering song; that each one taken or destroyed,
means a corresponding decrease in the number of wild birds which
should inhabit our woods, fields any waysides. BERTON MERCIER
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 137
CHAT Sw
ROUR YOUNG
FRIENDS
Address communications for this department to
=>
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
S—5 =SH
——— > ae 'y
My DEAR YOUNG FOLKs:
I know that you have been having a good time since I wrote last.
Who could help being glad as he watches the changes creeping over
the brown earth; the bright flowers peeping from every nook; the won-
derful cloaks of white, pink, red, and soft green which are thrown
around the trees which have been bare so long. And as a crowning
joy to this delightful season, a host of gay birds warbling their songs
of love, have appeared during the last month.
We have been greatly interested in the affairs of a family who have
moved into a tenement next to us (they are true blue.) Ere they had
completed their house-furnishing a pair of thievish English Sparrows
who had rented a cottage near by, decided that the sticks selected by
Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird were just what they would like, so went in and
helped themselves when the pair were out marketing. Our little friends
in blue would not stand that. No, indeed. As soonas Mr. and Mrs.
English had their backs turned they marched boldly in and carried the
sticks home again. For a week the sticks were carried back and forth
from nest to nest, in this manner, till at last the perseverence of the
Bluebirds won the day, and they were left in peaceful possession of
their own house, while Mr. English was content to sit on his own
veranda and saucily chirp, “I don’t want to play in your yard.’ Mr.
Blue did very little of the work in fitting up the new home—perhaps he
could not do it to suit his wife—but kept close by her, singing a soft,
sweet accompaniment as she worked. As I write he is busy carrying
delicious morsels to the little mother who is patiently guarding four
blue eggs.
We have a long list of questions to puzzle you this month and if you
can answer them all you are certainly entitled to a place on our Roll of
Honor. Who will be the first to send me answers to them all?
Cordially your friend, MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
The answer to the numerical enigma of last month is “Song
Sparrow.”
188 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
I think the little folks know the Brown Thrasher so well that they
will have little trouble in supplying the missing words in this account
of the Brown Thrasher.
The Brown Thrasher(also called —-- --- ------ , brown mocking
bird,- - -- -------- , and mavis, (is -----—-— inches in length,and
has; a.very long: === =, wlevissreddish ===> = above, with darerk
ace aoe , which have two ----—-—-—-bands. Beneath he is yellowish
SSS with very dark — — — — — arrow-shaped spots on his ~=====
ane . Gets -usually found. on or near’ the = =—— , and
he has a habit of twitching and thrashing his --—- when feeding.
During — — — and- —-—- you may hear him by the half hour, pouring
forth a flood: of melody froma === —" === head = =and tail ——=Se
—-—-, but he never sings near his--—--. Thoreau says, ‘““While you
are planting seeds he cries, ‘drop it, drop it,—cover it up, cover it up,
—pull it up, pull it up.’’’ Wilson Flagg quotes a shoemaker’s trans-
lation of the song thus: ‘“‘Look up, look up. Glory to God! Glory to
God! Hallelujah! Amen. Videlicet.”’
The nest of the Thrasheris a rude structure of —-——, twigs, —— —=—=—=
AG on or nearthe ground. In this she lays four —- - —-= eggs
thickly speckled with — — —- -— ;
NUTS FOR THE BOYS AND GIRLS TO CRACK.
Name five birds which walk.
Name five birds which sing on the wing.
Name five birds which sing in the night.
Name five birds which nest in holes.
Name five birds which nest in bird houses.
Name five birds that repair and use last year’s nest.
Name five birds which creep upon the trunks of trees.
Name five birds which have blue plumage.
Name two birds that carry their young as a cat does kittens.
0. What is a “Merry thought?’’
KOON AAP YE
THE FAVORITE BIRDS,
‘“My vote is for the Downy Woodpecker. I have no particular rea-
sons for liking him except that he makes one feel that he has no cares
and is free from all vices.’’—Pierce H. Leavitt, Cambridge, Mass.
““T enjoy the little folks department very much. The bird I like best
is the Bluebird. I like it because it comes so early in the spring, and
its song is so pretty. I like the colors of the Bluebird too. I have
seen some Bluebirds this spring. I like the birds very much.’’—Helen
Tinkham, N. Middleboro, Mass.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 189
“Of all the birds of song, the Meadowlark is my favorite. When one
hears his song a feeling steals over him that is indescribable. As the
sun is sinking behind the hill and the woods echo with the songs of
birds, one can hear in the distance, the sweet notes of the Meadowlark,
as he calls his loved mate. He is so happy and cheerful, his song is so
sweet, and he must know it for he keeps singing all the long summer
day and stays with us from early spring until winter approaches.’’—
Marietta Washburn, Goodwin, S. Dak.
“T like Robin Redbreast best. He is so social, so pretty, so cheer-
ful, has a pleasing song, and is a help to the farmer.”’
“Among so many charming friends it is hard to choose; I am
especially fond of the Wood Thrush. There is something in its song
that appeals to me even more than the song of the Veery. There al-
ways seems to be a personal element in it and when I meet the bird it
seems like meeting a dear friend. The most delightful concert that I
ever heard was at twilight, when a score of Woodthrushes made the
wooded valley echo and re-echo with their soft flute like notes.”’
‘““Here’s my vote for the Song Sparrow. He is one of us. He is
afraid of nothing, and even in-cold and storm he pipes up and says,
‘Good, good times are surely coming.’ ”’
“IT say, hurrah for the jolly Bobolink, who is bubbling over with fun,
and has a rollicking, tinkling, broken up, crushed glass kind of
melody.”’
GLEANINGS,
That if but one of all the birds
Could be my comrade everywhere,
My little brother of the air,
I’d choose the song sparrow, my dear,
Because he’d bless me every year
With “sweet, sweet, sweet, very merry cheer.”’
Dr. VAN DYKE.
JACK MY TAME CROW,
One morning, our Uncle Eb. took us to a wood lot to get as he
claimed, something very interesting. At an early hour a small pro-
cession might have been seen, wending its way across a field towards
some large trees, and carrying a shot gun, a long pole. some grain
sacks, a basket, and clothes line. After silently pushing our way
through underbrush and fallen tree tops we came to our destination, a
tall beech tree which had a crow’s nest well toward the top. After ty-
ing one end of the clothes line to the pole and the other about his body,
Uncle Eb. began to climb a tree near the one with a nest in. When he
1go AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
got to the top, he pulled up the pole, telling us to be ready to catch the
young crows as he was about to push the nest from the tree top. Down
came the nest and young crows, but two of them were killed by the
fall. The third remained in the nest, falling the fifty feet in safety.
Will and I put the live one in the basket and covered it with the grain
sack. We then started with our captive for home, Uncle Eb. remain-
ing without success to try a shot at the old birds. When first caught,
he was anything but pretty to. look at, being mostly mouth, legs, and
stubby pinfeathers, but it was not long before his feathers grew out
nice, black, and shiny and he learned to fly. The tiresome hours we
spent getting him food will never be forgotten. One morning Will
took “‘Jack’’ on his shoulder and started off to get pollywogs for our
pet’s dinner. He put Mr. Crow down in a convenient place, but when
he was ready to go home Jack was gone. Imagine his surprise when
he saw the rogue catching pollys for himself. This was good luck for
now we could let Jack get his own dinners. The Robins and Bluebirds
used to torment him until he was afraid to go to the orchard alone, and
frequently when they chased him he would flee to the house for pro-
tection. He was as curious as a Magpie, examining everything that
came in his way until he was chased by a dog and nearly caught. For
a while after that he stayed in the trees, but soon began his mischiev-
ous habits again. He would steal all bright things, hiding them away
anywhere. One day when we had forgotten to feed him we found him
in the house helping himself from the table. As he got older he would
go to the woods and visit the wild crows, but he never failed to come
when we called him. We had heard of crows talking so we tried to
teach Jack to say his name. When we called ‘Jack’? he would always
caw, but with all our trying we never succeeded in teaching him to say
any words. Jack came to avery sad end. We were accustomed to
giving him a drink of milk every night but one time we forgot him, so
he attempted te help himself from the forty gallon milk can. He fell
in and when we pulled him out he gasped a few times and died. Uncle
Eb. was glad to be rid of the ‘‘black nuisance’’ as he called Jack. That
made our loss all the harder to bear, so we shed some tears both of
sorrow and indignation and secretly threw chips at our uncle for
revenge, and clapped our hands in delight when he heard that the
accidental drowning spoiled half a can of milk.
We dug a grave for Jack in the garden under a nice peach tree, and
made him a casket of a shoe box, fixing it all nice inside with soft paper
and leaves. We next had the funeral and planted choice flowers on his
grave. I want to go back to Pennsylvania next summer to see if I can
find his grave. Had Jack been as wise as the crow that put pebbles in
the pitcher to raise the water high enough to drink from, he might have
lived longer. . FrED T. Morison, Age 11.
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THE VEERY.,
Just as the stin is sinking
Over the western hill,
I wait for a tone that seems all my own,
When the hum of the day is still.
O, exquisite voice of the woodland!
My heart throbs with bliss and with pain
When your sweet notes I hear from the treetops anear,
Echoing again and again.
Hark to the song of the Veery
Here on the edge of the town,
“List to me, list to me, dearie, dearie,”’
Just as the sun goes down.
I love well the song of the Thrasher,
Delivered in rollicking style;
I wonder what mirth to his solo gave birth,
*T would make even an anchorite smile;
And sweetly the voice of the Wood Thrush
Is borne to the listening ear,
O! tenderly, faintly, like joy that is saintly,
Float over the liquid notes clear.
But sweeter the song of the Veery,
Enclosing my sense like a ring,
“Here are we, here are we, dearie, dearie,”’
So might a bird spirit sing.
Now die the sweet sounds of the dingle,
All nature is pensive and still,
In the blue deeps, see, a single star peeps,
There’s the plaint of a sad Whip-poor-will;
The good nights of the forest are ended,
And the world seems a vast solitude,
But no, for my Veery sings ‘“‘dearie, dearie,”’
From the edge of the darkening wood.
And like tender harp-tones anear me,
Or echoes of heavenly things;
‘List to me, list to me, Veery, Veery,”’
Soft through the dying day rings.
192 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
WILSON’S THRUSH.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 193
Reluctant the feet must turn homeward,
Could we but in the woodland abide!
Yet floating along comes the beautiful song,
In a swelling and cadencing tide,
Like angels of eventide singing
Of heavenly blessings and peace;
O bird of my heart, tho’ too soon you depart,
Yet your song in my soul shall not cease.
Tho’ you leave me my songster, my Veery,
Your music abides with me aye,
Your “‘list to me, list to me, dearie, dearie,”’
To lighten my lonliest day.
BERTHA A. JOSLYN.
WILSON'S THRUSH.
A. O. U. No. 756. (Turdus fuscescens.)
RANGE.
Eastern United States and Southern Canada. Breeds from the mid-
dle portions of the U. S. northwards, and is found west to the Plains.
Winters chiefly south of our borders.
DESCRIPTION.
Length 7.5 in.; extent, 12 in.; tail, 3in. Bill above.dark brown, be-
low paler like the feet. Eye brown. Upper parts including tail, red-
dish brown. No distinct ring around the eye as in the Hermit or Olive-
backed Thrushes. Under parts white, the breast and sides shaded with
buffy and marked with a few small spots of brown. The throat is
white shading into the buffy of the breast.
WILLOW THRUSH,
A. O. U. No. 756a. (Turdus F, salicicola.)
This sub-species is the western form of the Wilson’s Thrush. It is
a somewhat larger and less tawny bird, but the difference is slight and
could not be shown by a photograph. The range of the Willow Thrush
is given as the Rocky Mountain region of the U. S.
NEST AND EGGS.
194 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
The Wilson’s Thrush nests abundantly in nearly all low or swampy
woodland. The nest is nearly always placed on a small elevation,
either a grass tussock, in a clump of weeds, or at the base of a clump
of young trees. It is made up of grapevine and leaves chiefly. and is
lined with small rootlets. Of course, occasionally nests made of
unusual material will be found, but they are always exceptions. In-
stances have been reported of finding these nests in the holes of trees
and placed on branches several feet from the ground but they are rari-
ties. The eggs are laid according to the locality from the middle of
May till the middle of June, or if the first clutch has been taken they
may nest even later than this. They lay from three to five plain,
unspotted, blue eggs.
WILSON THRUSH’S NEST.
HABITS.
Why is it that the Veery or Wilson’s Thrush is such a universal
favorite? Is it because he has a sweeter song than other birds? I
think not, for surely his song can not compare with that of the Gold-
finch, Grosbeak, Bobolink or scores of others that I might mention.
Is it that he is gifted with greater personal beauty than others of the
bird family? Surely not, for he would scarcely be noticed among such
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 195
company as the Blue Jay, Scarlet Tanager and others of our noted bird
beauties. I think that there is a peculiar magnetism about this bird
and its song that attracts everyone. His is a song that is beyond the
powers of description or imitation. It is rich, sonorous, and metallic,
and above all it is so mysterious; it seems to come from here, there,
and everywhere at the same time. Now faint as though the performer
were at a great distance, and now it rings out loudly and sweetly as if
the bird were at the listeners feet. I remember when I was a boy that
I used to liken it to someone whistling the scale through a drain pipe,
a sort of spiral song commencing with the high notes and sounding as
you might imagine that it would if the bird was being whirled about in
a circle by the heels. Nearly every New England woodland seems to
be invisibly divided into sections and on each dwells a pair of these
Thrushes. They seem always to live at peace with one another as I
have never seen a quarrel such as generally occurs when a bird of any
other variety trespasses upon his neighbors grounds. The nest of the
Wilson’s Thrush that is shown here was built in a tangled clump of
broken down and dried sweet fern. I was a witness to the operation
when the bird was constructing it. Although leaves and grapevine
bark were scattered about in great profusion it seemed to require a
great deal of study and forethought on the part of the little mother
before she could find just what she wanted. With each bit that she
brought she would settle down in the growing nest and by twisting
herself about in it, shape it with her body so that when sompleted had
a very deep cup shaped interior, so deep in fact that but two of the
eggs are in sight in the photograph, although there were four in the
nest. I had serious misgivings when first I saw her at work on it for
it was near a path and right out in the open without a shrub of any kind
to help conceal it. But in a few days it appeared that Mrs. Thrush
knew more about such matters than I, for on each side a luxurious
growth of ferns appeared completely hiding the nest from inquisitive
eyes. Four little Thrushes have just appeared in the nest and I hope
to show them to our readers at a later date if a certain black cat that I
have seen prowling through the brush near there, does not find them
also. I have often wondered whether or not it be unusual shrewdness
on the part of these birds when they leave their nest upon your approach.
You have probably many times seen birds suddenly appear as if from
nowhere, and excitedly scold you from a short distance. Of course you
at once know that they have a nest within a very short distance. <A
Veery will pursue just the opposite course She will glide off through
the underbrush without a sound and will not intentionally by any act of
hers indicate that she is anxious about her home. A low metallic
whistle is her only signal of distress and it is uttered at some distance
from the nest.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
OVEN BIRD’S NEST.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 197
“Ee PRET TY PEDESTRIAN,”
Above the sweet melodies of the numerous other songsters that echo
through the woods is the “teacher, teacher, teacher,’’ of the Oven Bird.
Ere the last notes of his rapidiy uttered ditty have died away they are
picked up by and repeated by others in distant parts of the woods.
At almost the same instant we notice a slight elevation among the
leaves ahead of us. Instinctively we know that it.is.the little oven of
the so-called Golden-crowned Thrush. Walking quietly up from be-
hind, we carefully stoop over and look under the arched roof. Greatly
disturbed by this undesirable curiosity, a brownish bird with a spotted
white breast hastily dashed out and with many a flirt of her tail objects
to our familiarity from a small twig a few feet away.
Within the oven which by the way was an unusually handsome one
even for this artistic bird to construct, were five eggs. Remembering
the ease with which we had discovered the nest and thinking that others
might do the same we decided to photograph it then, although the
light was not very bright in the shaded woods, Having exposed one
plate on the nest, we moved the camera back and prepared to get one
of the bird herself. She had been watching the operation with a great
deal of interest but when we had retired to a little distance, she
appeared to lose all interest in the nest or its surroundings. Descend-
ing to the ground, she started on a tour of the immediate neighborhood
of the nest, and during the next few minutes she reminded me of the
name that E. T. Seton has aptly given the Oven Bird, “‘A Pretty Pedes-
trian.’’ It will be noticed in all her wanderings that the nest is the
center of attraction although she appears to pay no attention toit. She
gradually drew nearer until finally she was perched upon the arched
roof and within the scope of the lens. A sharp click, aud one more
bird had been photographically shot. Owing to the very insufficient
light the resulting negative was quite thin but with intensification,
yielded a passable fair print.
It was fortunate that we secured it when we did for two days later
not a sign of the nest remained except the hollow where it had rested.
Whether its disappearance was due to a two or four footed animal will
remain a mystery, as both red squirrels and members of the human
family roam about the woods in equal numbers.
198
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
OVEN BIRD AND NEST.
Photo from life.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 199
COWBIRD,
A. O. U. No. 495. (Molothrus ater)
RANGE.
The whole of the United States and southern Canada. South in win-
ter into Mexico.
DESCRIPTION.
Veneth. 7-0 im: extent, 13.5 in.; tail, about 3 in.
Adult male. Entire body, above and below, wings and tail, lustrous
greenish black with blue and purple reflections. Head and neck all
around a smoky brown with few reflections. Bill and feet black. Eyes
brown.
Female. A plain grayish bird nearly uniform in color but a trifle
lighter below and the feathers have darker shafts, thus giving it the
appearance of being streaked. Bill and feet brownish. The young
are similar to the female except that the feathers have light edgings,
thus giving them a mottled appearance. The female is somewhat
smaller than the male.
DWARF COWBIRD,
A. O. U. No. 495a. (Molothrus ater obscurus.)
This variety is identical with the common Cowbird except in the mat-
ter of size, it being somewhat smaller. The two varieties spend the
winter in Mexico together but when migration time comes the common
Cowbird is supposed to come north while the dwarf variety spends the
summer in Texas and Arizona. Their habits are precisely alike and
the eggs are similar with the exception that the dwarf variety will aver-
age smaller.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Cowbird builds no nest of its own but lays single eggs in the
nests of other birds generally choosing those that are smaller than itself.
Just how many eggs each bird lays is not known but they probably lay
four or five in as many nests. Frequently more than one egg of this
specie is found in a nest of some other bird. They are probably in this
case laid by a number of Cowbirds, as it is generally believed that they
will lay but one egg ina single nest.
200
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
COWRIBD (Male and Female.)
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 201
HABITS.
The cowbirds form one of the most interesting groups of birds
found in our country. Interesting, not because of any particular value
but because of their peculiar and unusual mode of life. They stand
alone among American birds as the only ones who construct no nest
of their own. They are literally a band of roving freebooters claim-
ing the whole country as their home and having at no time any one
place in which their affections are centered.
NEST OF CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER
CONTAINING ONE EGG OF THE COWBIRD.
Why this bird, and by the way the male Cowbird is surpassed in
beauty by no other blackbird, should select this manner of life is a
mystery. If it were not for their nesting habits and the fact that they
are polygamus to the last degree, they would find many friends, but
their unique habits have brought upofi them the condemnation of near-
ly every man, woman and child in the country. On the ranches in the
west Cowbirds are the most numerous. There they literally swarm
about the cattle and feed on the grubs that are dislodged by the latter
as they feed. It is no uncommon sight to see them perched on the
backs of some of these animals, where they will sit for a long time in
apparent contentment. In New England they are not so common, yet
I rarely spend a day in the woods without meeting with several of
them.
202 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
They appear to be ashamed of their conduct and are always skulking
about the underbrush as if fearing to meet anyone. They display a
great deal of cunning in watching their opportunity when the owner of
a nest is away when they will sneak up and deposit a surreptitious egg
and hastily retire. It does not seem possible that they can do this
without the knowledge of the owner of the nest that they employ, and
still more improbable does it seem that many of the birds in whose
homes we find these superfluous eggs would knowingly submit to their
being placed there. I have found these eggs in the nest of the King-
bird, a feathered pugilist, who will allow no other bird in the vicinity
RED-EYED VIREOS NEST WITH COWBIRD’S EGG.
of his own home. It is to be noted that in nearly every instance the
Cowbird will choose the nest of a bird smaller than itself on which to
thrust its offspring. There are two reasons given for this choice. It
may be because they fear the wrath of a larger bird in case they are
discovered, or it may be in order that their young will have a better
chance of thriving. It is true that their young do always thrive much
to the detriment of the legitimate ones. They being larger and strong-
er get a great deal more than their share of the food that is served.
Warblers, Sparrows, and Vireos suffer to the greatest extent,from
their./visits, and many young of these species are undoubtedly killed
yearly because of the Cowbird.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 203
Photo from life by J. E. Sherman.
ROBIN ON NEST.
204 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
A BROKEN SERIES.
The photographs from which the illustrations with this were made, I
think are equal to if not superior to any that have ever been secured
of this bird, the American Robin. The nest is a very attractive one
and the location is ideal for an artistic photograph as well as very con-
venient one for the photographer, Mr. J. E. Sherman of thiscity. The
nest was situated in an elm between fifty and sixty feet from the ground
and about six feet from a window of a city block. It was therefore
safe from the attacks of the small boy, and even puss would have a hard
climb before she reached the nestlings, and Mr. Sherman confidently
expected to obtain a series of photos illustrative of their home life.
Unfortunately, as is the case with many nests in close proximity to a
large city, there are dangers even more grave than those to be antici-
pated from boys or cats. The nest was completed and occupied by
four blue eggs without mishap, but as soon as Madam Robin had
settled down to the peaceful occupation of setting, trouble began. The
English Sparrows of Worcester are not one whit better than those of
other parts of the country, indeed sometimes I think they are even
more barborous. Although nesting material was abundant on every
hand, out of pure deviltry they chose to steal it from the Robin rather
than pick up that which was not already appropriated. One after an-
other would slyly sneak up to the nest, grasp the end of a straw or
string, pull it from its fastenings and with a gleeful chuckle fly away
with it. These depredations continued unceasingly until the bottom of
the nest was torn out and the eggs rolled to the paving below. This is
but one instance among the thousands of like occurances that take place
in every large city each year, and yet many will undertake to defend
the English Sparrow.
The only argument that can be advanced against their extermination
is that they serve to enliven the long days of winter when other birds
are absent. Those who make this plea never stop to consider why the
other winter birds do not stay about the cities. Given a free field with
no rowdies to contend and in any locality in which English Sparrows
could thrive during the winter, would be found numbers of Chickadees,
Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers. When the legislatures of each state can
be induced to offer a bounty on the heads of the House Sparrow, then,
and only then can there be hope of peace and happiness in the city bird
population. May the day soon come.
~e
oe
4
a
Patio ay
206 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No. 6.
A. O U. No. 75, Sooty Tern, (Sterna fuligi-
Mw nosda.)
A tropical species found in North America along the
Gulf coast and south Atlantic. Length about 16.5 in.
Back, sooty black. Billandfeet black. Irisred. Very
common.
A. O. U. No. 77, Black Tern, (Hydrochelidon
nigra surinamensts.)
Length about 9.25 in. Found in abundance through-
out North America, both along the coast and in the
interior. Breeds from the middle U. S. northwards.
Head, neck and under parts, black. Back, wings and
tail, lead gray. Under tail coverts, white. In winter:
Forehead, sides of head, neck and under parts, white.
Back and tail, grayish. Eggs laid on broken weeds and
>debris often on a floating mass.
A. O. U. No. 79, Noddy, (-4nous stolidus).
Length, 16 in. A tropical bird found in North Amer-
79 ica, along the Gulf Coast and the South Atlantic.
Bill and feet, blackish. The entire body is of a dark
brownish color, shading through a blue gray on the
back of head to white on the forehead and chin. The
Wtail is long and very much rounded. They breed by
Wthousands along the Gulf coast placing the bulky nests
fof sticks in the mangroves and other bushes.
A. O. U. No. 80, Black Skimmer, (Aynchops
nigra).
Length about 18 in. This is strictly a coast bird
and is found in large numbers on the South Atlantic
and Gulf coasts. Mandibles long and very thin, the
lower mandible being about 3 inches in length. Basal
half of bill, red, the remainder being black. Feet,
go Carmine. Forehead, entire under parts and tail, white.
Secondaries broadly tipped with white. Top of head,
wings and back, glossy black. Nests in large colonies,
the eggs being laid on the bare sand.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 207
Aen We NG. oo, Foster's. Tern, » (Sterna
fostert).
Length, 15 in. Found throughout North America
and breeds through the United States and southern
Canada. Bill and feet. orange red, the former having
the terminal half black. Back and wings, light pearl
gray. The under parts and tail, white. The outer
primaries are the same color as the back. Tail longer
and more deeply forked than the others of this group.
In winter the bill and feet become dusky and the black
eae on the fore part of the head becomes mottled with
white.
Aeon We NG... 70;.;Common. Tern, ¢Sierna
birundo.
Length, 14.5 in. Found in North America chiefly
east of the Plains. Breeds from the Arctic coast to the
Gulf States. Upper parts of a pearl gray, a shade
darker than that of Foster’s. Under parts a still
lighter pearl gray, changing to white on the throat and
under coverts. Outer web of the first primary is
black, the remaining outer ones are grayish black with
a silvery hoariness. The outer web of the outer tail
feather is also dark. Bill and feet, coral red, the
former with the terminal half black.
AeO. Ua iNos 71, Arctic Tern, (Sterna para-
, datsaea).
Length about 15 in. Breeds from Massachusetts to
the Arctic circle and winters from Virginia and Cali-
fornia northwards. Bill and feet entirely lake red.
Feet are very small, the tarsus being much shorter than
that of the proceeding. Outer web of first primary,
black, the remaining ones being silvery. Upper and
under parts pearly gray, the latter being of a lighter
shade. In winter they show the usual white on the
crown and forehead.
AO We wNo. 72, Roseate:: Tern: (Sierna
dougali.
Length, 14.5 in. Found on the Atlantic coast from \j\\
Massachusetts southwards. The greater part of the
bill is black, it being red only at base. Feet, bright ay)
red. Neck and entire under parts snowy white, tinted Wy
with a delicate rosy blush. Upper parts a pale pearly
gray. Outer web of outer primary black, the others
silver. In winter the bill is black and the feet dull.
The rosy tint is wanting and the black cap has chang- gets
ed to white on the forehead.
AVERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 209
Photo from life by J. E. Sherman.
ROBIN ON NEST.
210 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
HUDSONIAN GODWIT,
A. O. U. No. 251. (Limosa haemastica. )
RANGE.
Entire North America, including Alaska, east of the Rocky Mount-
ains. Breeds in the extreme north and winters south of the United
States.
DESCRIPTION.
Length; 16 in; extent, 26 in.; tail, 3 in. Bill and~feet, lighti gray,
except the terminal third of the former which is black. Eye brown.
Adult in summer. Back wings, and tail black, the feathers of the
back and wings having buffy white spots on the outer edges. The
rump and bases of the black tail feathers are white, this occupying
about two-thirds of the outer tail feather and decreasing on each con-
secutive one until the middle feather has barely a trace of white at its
base. The tail feathers are also narrowly terminated with white.: The
whole head and back of neck are grayish white streaked with black.
The under parts are a rich, reddish chestnut, barred with black, this
barring being heaviest on the sides and flanks. This chestnut color
extends up on the throat and neck in front to the chin, which is white,
finely: streaked with grayish. The under tail coverts are white or
buffy and are broadly banded with black. The primaries are black
with white quills and the secondaries are grayish or grayish brown, the
feathers being darkest in the centers. In winter. General color all
over is a grayish, this being rather darker and a grayish brown on the
back. The wings and tail are the same as in Summer. They have no
distinct reddish coloration. ‘The young are similar to the winter birds.
NEST AND EGGS. <
This species breeds quite abundantly on the Barren Lands of the
Arctic Ocean. Like most of the other varieties of Plover, their nest
is merely a depression in the earth and is lined with a few grasses.
211
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
HUDSONIAN GODWIT.
212 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
The eggs are laid during June and are four in number, of a dark olive
brown.color and are blotched with darker brown. Very frequently the
ground color is so dark as to obscure the markings of the eggs.
HABITS
The Hudsonian Godwit, Ring-tail Marlin, or American Black-tail
Godwit appears to be about evenly distributed over the country ex-
cept that portion west of the Rocky Mountains. It associates frequent-
ly with the Marbled Godwit, but can always be told from the latter by
its smaller size. (Godwits are much esteemed as table birds and arecon-
tinually sought by gunners. They are very shy and when alarmed
will fly at a great altitude. Their flight is strong but not unusually
rapid. On alighting they will nearly always elevate their wings above
the back just before touching the ground, and then carefully fold them
in place. They may be decoyed at times by an imitation of the call
which is a gutteral two syllabled whistle. Wooden decoys also some-
times cause them to descend to investigate. When necessity compels
they can run remarkably fast although their usual walk is very stately
and dignified. They are usually found in small flocks either composed
only of their own kind or they may be with other birds-of the same
family. They frequent the muddy banks of inlets, rivers, ponds and
marshes from which they get their supply of food. This consists
mainly of minute shell fish, worms and aquaticinsects. They get these
by probing in the soft mud with their long bill. Frequently they will
feed in water of such a depth that they are obliged to immerse their
whole head and neck in order to reach the food they seek. They rare-
ly swim however unless necessity forces them to save their lives. The
little downy covered young take after their parents in athletic ability
for they are remarkably adept at running and hiding in the grass.
During their migrations they fly chiefly at night and in flocks of forty
or fifty individuals.
TOWHEE.
A. O. U. No. 587 (Pipilo erythropthalmus.)
RANGE.
The United States and southern Canada east of the Plains. Breed-
ing throughout its range and wintering in the southern half of the
United States.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 8 in.; extent, 11.5 1n.; tail, 3.5 inches. Bill, black. _ Feet,
brown. Eye, red. Adult male. Head, neck, breast, back, wings and
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
TOWHEE.
?
214 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
tail, black. A white band across the primaries formed by white patch-
es on the outer webs. White spots on the outer webs of the inner
secondaries. Outer web of the outer tail feather and about half of the
inner web, white. The next two or three feathers with gradually de-
creasing spots of white. Belly white and sides chestnut. The under
tail coverts are pale brownish. Female. Similar to the male except
that the black of the latter has been replaced with brown. The young
birds and the adults in winter have white irides.
WHITE-EYED TOWHEE,
A. O. U. No. 587a. (P e alleni.)
Very similar to the northern Towhee. Less white on the wings and
tail and the eye is always white. Also averages a trifle smaller. <A
resident of Florida and found on the south Atlantfe coast to South Car-
olina.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Towhee nearly always builds its nest on the ground, placing it
under the shade of some bush. It is made of leaves, grasses, bark, and
lined with fine rootlets. Occasionally a nest of this species will be
found placed in a bush, but in this case it is due to some eccentricity
of the bird and is a rare occurance. Side hills and valleys covered with
a small growth of trees seem to be the most favored localities in which
to find their nests. Their set is completed the latter part of May and
consists of three or four white eggs with a pinkish tint. These are
very finely specked over the whole surface with reddish brown and
lilac.
HABITS.
Towhee, Chewink, or Ground Robin are the names generally applied
to this bunting. The first two names are the ones chosen by himself
as he frequently repeats them, while the latter one is given because of
the Robin color on his sides and because he is a ground bird.
These are one of the most common most inquisitive and noisiest of
our birds throughout the summer. As long as you are in the wooded
section they will follow you about, now scolding and now treating you
to their peculiar but pleasing song. It has always seemed to me that
their note sounds a great deal more like ‘“‘Cherink’’ than the ‘“‘Chewink”’
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 215
by which they are called. They are very industrious birds and when
not either singing, scolding or engaged in the incubating of their eggs
they are sure to be heard scratching away in the leaves as though their
lives depended on the speed with which they could turn them over.
They dislike very much to be disturbed when they are busy and upon
catching sight of you will hop up to the farther side of a bush aad excit-
edly chirp and ‘‘Cherink’”’ at you. If you remain quiet they will gradu-
ally come nearer aud nearer until at last you may catch a glimpse of a
C27 X
Photo by C. A. Reed.
NEST OF TOWHEE.
pair of bright red eyes peeping out from between the leaves. If you
do not move he will soon get over his anger and will mount to the top
of a bush or small tree and pour forth a series of ‘‘Hip-to-hee’s, inter-
spersed frequently with the other rendition of his name.
216 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
The temale is very tame while sitting upon the nest. She has a firm
belief that owing to the dried leaf color of her plumage she is invisible,
and no doubt their nests are much less often found than would be the
case if they left it every time anyone came within sight. When you
get so near that she is afraid to remain on the nest any longer she will —
quietly glide out the back way where she will be protected from view
by the bush under which their nests are nearly always placed.
Towhees are very quick actioned birds and they have a habit when
flying through the brush of flirting their tail and spreading it at the,
same time so that the white tail feathers always attract attention as they
disappear and will serve to identify them.
HOW BIRDS BATHE.
Near the north door in plain sight of two windows, I keep a large,
shallow pan filled with water for the chickens. It was not long before I
found out that the birds came here frequently to bathe and drink.
A pair of Catbirds came often and were the boldest of allmy feathered
visitors. Madam Catbird would fly gracefully down.-to the pan, tip her
head from side to side, take a sip, then another; then step lightly in and
splash till every feather-was dripping. If the water was mostly gone
or she spied the cat, she would say “‘quit, quit,’’ with a whispering
sound, and if very much disturbed would cry “‘Ka-a-ah, ka-a-ah’’ in such
a harsh, discordant tone that you would never expect to hear that sweet
melodious song so much like the Brown Thrashers from her mate.
And he can scold as well as she for I’ve heard him. Matronly Robin
Redbreast was more cautious than the Catbird, and would fly down to
the ground near the pan, run the rest of the way, step on the edge of
the pan, drink, hop off, run around to the other side and in fact inspect
it from all sides before she would risk getting in. One day she had
been more deliberate than usual with her inspection, and had just nicely
begun to bathe when Mr. Robin came for a bath. He wanted to begin
at once, but she wanted to finish her bath first and drove him away
several times. I looked for a family quarrel, and was sorry to see her
get so angry, when all at once she seemed to change her mind, and
stepped to one side of the pan, and they finished their bath together.
My! How the water flew. I did not wonder then that the pan needed
filling so often. I had to be very careful to keep out of the way when
Mrs. Song Sparrow came. Her home was in the garden some distance
away, and I suppose she did not feel as much acquainted as the others
did. If she did not see me she would run to the pan, get in and flutter
about until she was as wet as could be. One day mother and I were
AAMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 217
walking quietly along by the rose bushes when we heard an angry little
chip. Looking closely we saw Mrs. Sparrow fly to the peachtree. At
first we wondered what made her so angry for we were not near her
nest. Then I noticed how wet she was. It seems that we had inter-
rupted My Lady at her bath and she was telling us how rude we were.
I wanted to see if she would come back, so we went on a little farther
and kept quiet. Ina few minuted she did come back and finished her
bath in peace. Hark! Oh that is a Kingbird. He is perched ona wire
that is stretched about ten or twelve feet above the ground, between
the maple and the wild cherry. If you watch closely you will see that
he is continually folding and unfolding his wings, turning his head from
side to side and at the same time keeping up a continual chirping in a
very noisy andrestless manner. Watch, for he means to take a bath
in that pan. He looks down and with a graceful swoop flies down to
the pan, through the water, out at the other side, and with the same
graceful curve rises until he can alight on the shed roof or maple. He
never alights on the pan except to drink, but repeatedly flies through
the water until he is as wet as the other birds are with all their splash-
ing. I never tired of watching him, his ways were so different from
the others. In the latter part of the summer I was out one morning
when a heavy dew had fallen, and noticed a pair of birds flying so close
to the tips of the branches of the dew laden trees that the tiny drops
fell off in showers. Beautiful birds they were, but I do not know their
names, although I have watched them nearly all summer.
MAUDE L. MILLER.
A NOTE ON THE NIGHT HAWK.
While looking for a nest of the Night Hawk one bright sunny morn-
ing, I was suddenly startled by a bellowing noise directly overhead.
Jumping to one side and glancing up, I beheld a male bird rising in
the air. I stood where I was watching the bird fly about, uttering his
rasping-like call; after getting well up in the air, he suddenly paused
and came soaring toward me like an arrow. About fifty feet in front
of me his wings were lowered below his body, throwing them forward
with the flight feathers spread wide apart. After travelling this way
for ten feet or more, the bellowing-like noise to be heard. He would
then rise to repeat the performance. His speed was so great that the
flight feathers vibrated like a large loosely stretched rubber band when
snapped with the fingers. This performance was repeated in front, back
and beside me twelve times in all, never more than fifty feet away, and
as near as fifteen. In all cases the wings were in the same position,
and his mouth never open.
As there is some dispute in regard to when, where, and how the
Night Hawk makes this noise, I offer this as a possible solution.
J. B CANFIELD, Bridgeport, Conn.
218 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
ol 1B YOuNG |
FRIENDS
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
DEAR Boys AND GIRLS:
Now School is out and the long vacation begun; those of you who
are so fortunate as to spend it in green country fields, on mountain
slopes, or by the great waters, will no doubt have a jolly time getting
better acquainted with Dame Nature, who “‘with a smile on her face,
and a sprig in her cap calls you to feast from her bountiful lap.’’ And
what a feast she sets before us, a menu of many courses, from birds,
trees, flowers, ferns, and insects, to frogs, lizards, and snakes; each one
can find something to suit his taste. There will be some rainy days so
the pages of the AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY will not remain uncut, and
we hope you will write to us of your good times with your neighbors
in feathers.
We print part of a letter from one of our readers in New Hampshire,
who evidently makes good use of his eyes and ears. We also give you
another numerical enigma sent by a friend over the Canada line.
You will notice that we have added a Roll of Honor, where there will
appear each month the names of the boys and girls who send correct
answers to the puzzles and questions. Now we must say good bye for
another month. MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
EXETER, N. H., May 2, 1902.
DEAR MEG MERRYTHOUGHT:
I got my May number of the A. O. this afternoon, I think it isa good
paper and the pictures are fine. Enclosed please find answer to the
numerical enigma. I think it was quite a hard one, it took me an hour
to get it out. I could get what the beggars wore, but the rest of it I
couldn’t make out. So I tried to find a common bird with eleven let-
ters in its name, after awhile I got Song Sparrow. This is a very
early year for birds, I have seen quite a number of them. I saw a
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 219
belated Robin two days after Christmas. I heard and saw what I was
quite sure was a Cuckoo on the 20th of March. I was quite a ways off
so I couldn’t tell, but it was going cu cu cuk, cu cu cuk, just the way I
have always heard them. Heard a Hermit Thrush on the 22nd of April.
I think their song is beautiful; it sounds like a flute, yet it tinkles like a
bell. I saw a Brown Thrasher on the 27th of April and I crept up with-
in ten feet of it before it flew. I saw some Blackbirds on March 18th
and a Purple Finch and Red-winged Blackbird on April 17th.
I never saw the Bluebirds so plentiful around here as they have been
this year. Iam not sure but the other morning I thought I heard an
Ovenbird. Last year I knew where an Ovenbird had her nest. It was
a little dome shaped structure made of pine needles and oak leaves,
laying flat on the ground in some underbrush. You wouldn’t see it un-
less you knew where it was, and you had to go by some trees that it
was near. ‘There were two eggs in it. Whenever I approached she
would run along the ground, like a Ruffed Grouse, trying to head you
from her young ones, with her wings trailing and uttering a distressed
ery, and walking as awkardly as she could. When I got to the nest
she would fly back and light on some brush near by and scold me. One
time a Ruffed Grouse fooled me; I was out with one of my neighbors,
Constance Fuller, picking lady slippers, when I heard the funniest
noise, at first I thought it was a boy getting a whipping and I ran to
see, and there was a Ruffed Grouse running along the ground. I ran
after it; I thought it couldn’t fly, when all of a sudden I heard Con-
stance holler to me tocome quick and see some baby Ruffed Grouse.
I ran back but when I got there all had disappeared but one, and that
one was just crawling under some leaves. I lifted him out and took
him home to show. He looked just like a little chicken. The feathers
were of a light brownish yellow and very downy. I had his picture
taken and then took him back. That was a pretty good puzzle in your
paper last month; I guessed all but that turkey.
Yours truly,
STAFFORD FRANCIS.
Answers to Puzzles in June number: Missing words in account of
Brown Thrasher. 1, Brown Thrush; 2, Election Bird; 3, Eleven; 4,
Tail; 5. Brown; 6, Wings; 7, Whitish; 8, White; 9, Brown; 10, Breast;
11, sides; 12. Ground; 13, Tail; 14,. May; 15, Jutie; 16, ‘Treetop;- 17,
Up; 18, Drooping; 19, Nest; 20, Bark; 21, Grasses; 22, Roots; 21, Green;
24, Brown.
Answers for Nuts to Crack:
1. Cowbird, Ovenbird, Meadowlark, Titlark, Partridge.
2. Bobolink, Bluebird, Goldfinch, Indigo Bunting, Purple Finch.
220 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
3. Chat, Vesper, Sparrow, Carolina Wren, Rose-breasted Grosbeak,
Mocking bird.
4. Woodpeckers, Bluebirds, Swallows, Great-crested Flycatcher,
Wren.
5. Martins, Bluebirds, Wrens, Sparrows, White-bellied Swallows.
6. Owls, Eagles, Fish Hawks, Bluebirds, Great-crested Flycatchers.
7. Brown Creepers, Black and White Warblers, White and Red-
breasted Nuthatches, Woodpeckers.
8. Bluebird, Indigo Bunting, Kingfisher, Blue Jay, Black-throated
Blue Warbler.
9. Whip-poor-will, Wood Duck.
10. A Merrythought is the forked bone of a fowls breast, often
called a wishbone.
ROLL OF HONOR,
Leroy S. Noble, William U. Elliott, Stanley Drake, Stafford Francis.
WHAT WERE THEIR NAMES,
Willie Parmelee was lost. You would suppose that a boy who had
just had a birthday, and was five years old would know better, but
to tell the truth, he had run away. His mother told him not to go out-
side the yard, but an organ grinder with just the cutest little monkey
went up the street, and what small boy could resist following just a little
way to see the queer antics of the little fellow in the cap and scarlet
coat. Then, before he was fairly started for home again he heard a
clear whistle which seemed to say to him, “look up, way up, look at
me, Willie!’’ He looked up and there in the maple boughs sat another
scarlet coated fellow, not a wizened faced monkey this time but a gay
ae Ve with bright coat and black wings. Will’s
sister had often read the AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY to him; wouldn’t
she be pleased when he told her about this beautiful bird; so as the
SEE flew away towards the woods, the small boy trudged along
after him, through bushes and briers, over stones and fallen logs, for
another glimpse. Out of breath, he soon sat down under an old chest-
nut tree. His little friend in scarlet had disappeared, but here were
other birds all about him. He would use eyes and ears and learn what
they were. A pair of jaunty little fellows with black velvety caps
above gray and white coats, hopped fearlessly about from limb to limb.
‘“Who are you?”’ whispered the boy softly, quick as a flash came back
the. replys — =e ee . A tiny olive brown bird with breast of
yellowish white sat near by on a dead branch, and jerking head and tail,
with great emphasis, clearly told him over and over that its name was
AMERICAN ORNITHOLGY. 225
aimatter passing insects that it was a ——— —— . Other birds came about
and in a most confiding manner gave their names in clear tones to the
little chap sitting so quietly on the green moss.
A black bird with white feathers in its wings and tail, with chestnut
colored sides and white beneath, ceased scratching among the leaves
and answered — — — — — — then flew to a high limb and laughed “‘Ho, he-
he-he;’’ even the large blue and white bird which flew from the big pine,
said in harsh tones that he was a--—~-. Here were some brown mottled
birds slipping about among the leaves, could it be that grandpa’s
chickens had strayed so far from home; no, this was denied at once by
one of the flock who mounted a fence and whistled his name -— - —
From far over the meadows tinkled the bubbling notes of a black
bird with white and yellow on back and wings. He seemed to say “‘I,
He caught a glimpse of a long-billed drummer with a crescent on its
yellowish breast and a large patch of white on its lower back, who gave
his iame: iehasal tones, —— = —— — — . An irridescent dove-like bird
in soft greyish brown with long tail tipped with white and a white
breast slipped quietly past him, but from a tree not far distant answered
the roll call with “--—---- .’ Suddenly an olive green — — — — with
yellow breast and white line over the eye darted through the thicket,
and with twitching, jerking motions seemed to say to the little lad,
“Tut-tut, what’s this, why, why, ho, who, who are you, cluck, tut, boy
go home.”’
A white-eyed —- - --- peered out at him and cried, “I say, who are
you, eh?” Well, that was but fair after so many of the feathered folks
had told him their names, so politely bowing he replied ‘‘William
Theron Parmelee.’’ ‘ A voice from the woods startled him, it plainly
said, ‘*Whip-poor-will! Whip-poor-will!’? How did that bird know he
(ZIM) VV E ave) s\e as as swooped through the air for its supper
and called “‘beef, pork,’’ and all at once Willie realized that he was
tired and hungry, darkness was closing about him, and home was a
long way off. His shoes were coated with mud, his clothes torn, and
his hands and face scratched. Which way should he turn? Hark!
What was that? — liwas. buted, Wood —————— serenely caroling its ves-
pers, but it sounded like mothers voice, ‘““Come to me.’’ Will hurried
through the undergrowth towards the songster, and hurrah, here was
the grassy cart path which led directly to the meadows back of neigh-
bor Clarks barn. He reached home just as his sister was starting out
222 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
to look for him. After he had eaten his supper he told his sister how
the birds had talked to him and told their names, and asked her to write
- them down for him to send to Meg Merrythought for her boys and girls.
She did so, and that is the reason I have given you this story of lost
Willie.
NUMERICAL ENIGMA,
I am composed of 9 letters. My 8-2-5-3-9-4 is a place for keeping
odds andends. My 1-6-3-2-4-9 isa danger of the seas in olden times.
My 4-3-6-1 is what everyone ought to take sometime during the year.
My 1-3-6-7-9 is that which no one should have too much of. My 8-5-6-
4 is what everyone should have, and my 1-6-8 is what nobody likes to
be thought (or an animal.) My 8-2-5-4-9-3 is what every proper young
lady blushes to mention. My 1-9-5-4 is an adjective sometimes applied
to school girls. My 1-6-9 is something a boy always wishes more of,
and my whole is a bird whose greatest enemy is a gun
Mrs. F. H. LinGwoopn, Kingston, Ont.
QUOTATIONS.
THE REDBREAST.
Bearing the cross while Christ passed forth forlorn
His Godlike forehead by the mock crown torn,
A little bird took from that crown one thorn
To soothe the dear Redeemers throbbing head.
Thus helping what she could: The blood, ’tis said,
Down dripping, dyed her tender bosom red.
Since then no wanton boy disturbs her nest,
Weasel nor wild cat will her young molest,
All, sacred deem the bird of ruddy breast.
(A Breton Legend.)
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THE ORIOLE'S NEST,
Just over the road, where the world may see,
A swinging nest hangs from a locust tree.
The branch droops, a frail one, with leaf and flower,
A fragrant place, truly, for birdies’ bower.
The white blossoms flutter, the cradle swings;
The oriole mother’s sweet love-call rings
As, flying she darts in her open door
And nestles, at dusk, by her treasures four.
All carefully built in a hairy ball,
Gray-painted, soft lined, with a close knit wall,
The oriole nest is a work of art,
A thought of the Master’s own tender heart.
The black and gold wings flicker bright about,
And ever the clear, liquid notes pipe out
As true to their lesson, the whole bird clan
Gives praise, working aye to their Maker’s plan.
Oh, rough winds, when tempest-tossed trees bend low,
When gloomy clouds gather and wild storms blow,
Brush not in your swift flight this swaying nest
Where timid birds huddle to mother’s breast!
Oh, hands rude and thoughtless, for this nest wait,
Until, with a satisfied song, each mate
And fluttering birdlings fly forth to seek
Another fair haven for breast and beak!
HARRIET L. GrROovE, Delaware, Ohio.
224
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
LOUISIANA WATER-THRUSH.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLGY. 225
LOUISIANA WATER THRUSH,
A. O. U. No. 676. (Seiurus motacilla.)
RANGE.
Eastern United States, north to southern New England and Michi-
gan and east of the plains. Breeds from the Gulf States northwards
and winters in the West Indies, Mexico and Central America.
DESCRIPTION. -
Length, over 6 inches; extent, 10.5 inches; tail, 2.5 inches; Bill
and eye dark brown; the lower mandible being rather lighter than the
upper. Feet pale brown. Upper parts, including the wings and tail,
which are unmarked, are a dark olive brown. Under parts white and
except the throat and belly streaked with olive brown. This bird is
quite similar to the common Water Thrush except that it is larger,
the streaks are less numerous and the throat of the common variety is
also finely streaked or spotted. The bill is also noticably larger in
the Louisiana variety.
NEST AND EGGS.
The nest of the Louisiana Water Thrush is made of leaves and
grasses and generally situated under the edge of an overhanging bank
or the roots of a tree. They lay from four to six white eggs these be-
ing spotted and specked with reddish brown more conspicuously in the
form of a wreath around the larger end, although the entire surface
may be sprinkled with them.
HABITS
Any of our New England brooks flowing through a fair size open
piece of timber, will be a great inducement for one or two pair of
Louisiana Water Thrushes to use the banks or roots of overturned
trees along its course as their summer residence.
This bird is of a retiring disposition, yet not averse to making its
presence known but not often seen, and arrives in this locality about
the middle of April. The male arrives first, but is soon followed by
the female. At this time it will be seen feeding along the banks of the
stream, flying just ahead of you, and when on the ground, bobbing its
body up and down resembling in many ways the Tipup or Spotted
Sandpiper. When suddenly disturbed while feeding, it will utter a
226 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
scolding chip and fly into a bush ahead of you, scolding at you as long
as you are near their chosen haunts. Later when the nest is completed
and the female is setting, the male will perch on the top of a tree and
sing as though he were trying to burst his throat, not near the nest,
but within hearing distance of the female on it.
Photo by J. B. Canfield.
NEST AND EGGS OF LA. WATER-THRUSH.
The last week of April or the first day of May the birds begin the
mating, and the woods then seem alive with them, as it is evident that
the male who can sing the loudest or longest, is chosen by the female.
Their love-making over, their first duty is the finding of a nesting site,
which, as in most cases of this kind, seems a most vexing problem.
Here is an upturned tree with a nice hollow in the dirt at the roots
where some of it has fallen out or where a stone once rested; close
beside the stream there is a bank with the sod hanging over form-
ing a roof; just beyond this is a bank sparingly covered with grasses
and ferns hanging down; under the ferns is a nice hollow that with a
little work may be suitable.
We will suppose they have selected the hollow in the root, after
much chirping and many examinations. It may need some slight alter-
ations, such as removing the loose dirt or enlarging; this being finished
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 227
Photo by J. B. Canfield.
NEST OF LA. WATER-THRUSH SHOWING SITUATION.
both birds will fly up and down the stream until they have found some
dead leaves resting in a little surface water, and.often partially covered
with mud. A leaf will be picked up here and there and carefully exam-
ined, and if to their liking, will be taken to the site and laid down.
The birds seem to select wet leaves, as they are not so apt to be
blown away or misplaced. This operation will be gone through with
until a large number of leaves have been placed in the cavity. The
conformity of the hollow has been followed, and on the bed of leaves
the nest proper is placed, made of grasses, skeleton leaves, etc. The
lining is made of skeleton leaves, fine grasses, hair-like roots and horse
hair. One or two days elapse before the female begins to lay, then laying
one egg every day until the set is completed, five being the usual num-
ber but often six. Incubation then begins and is continued twelve or
fourteen days, depending on the weather. The female does most of
the incubating, for I have never seen a male on the nest. She is a
very close setter, often allowing you to almost touch her before leav-
ing the nest, then sliding off like a mouse, stopping a few feet away
chirping and scolding at you with great vehemence, and watching to
see that you do not get too near.
The young birds when hatched are brooded for a few hours before
being fed. Both birds are ardent providers, and the young grow rap-
idly leaving the nest in a week or ten days. After the young have left
the nest, the old birds will often build and raise another brood, if the
season is favorable. If robbed of their eggs they will lay a second
and even a third set, returning year after year to the same locality.
J.B. CANFIELD, Bridgeport, Conn.
228 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
FIELD SPARROW.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 229
FIELD SPARROW,
A. O. U. No. 563. (Spizella pusilla.)
RANGE.
The United States and southern California east of the Plains. Win-
ters along the Gulf Coast and breeds from middle United States north-
wards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 5.5 inches; extent, 8 inches; tail, 2.5 inches. Eye brown.
Bill pale reddish and feet pale brown. Crown dull chestnut, some-
times showing traces of a median stripe. Ear coverts and postocular
stripe also pale chestnut. Under parts white washed with pale brown
on the breast and sides. Back rusty brown narrowly streaked with
blackish. Two more or less distinct wing bars formed by the grayish
tips to the middle and greater wing coverts. Rump and tail brown,
the latter rather darker than the former and having the feathers edged
with grayish.
WESTERN FIELD SPARROW.
- No. 563a. (S. p. arenacea.)
Very similar to the eastern variety but having a longer tail and
broad’ gray median stripe on the crown. Found in the Great Plains
from Texas to the Dakotas.
WORTHEN’S SPARROW.
No. 564. (Spizella wortheni.)
Like the Western Field Sparrow except that the tail is shorter, the
wing bars much paler, and the postocular stripe lacking. Locality,
New Mexico.
NEST AND EGGS.
These three varieties of the Field Sparrow nest equally often on the
ground or in small bushes. The nest is made of fine grasses and roots
and nearly always lined with horse hair. They lay from three to five
delicate bluish white eggs which are specked over the entire surface,
but more particularly about the larger end with lilac and reddish brown.
About the latter part of May, nests containing full sets of eggs may
be found. Very frequently two broods of young are raised in one
season.
The accompaning photograph by Mr. Embody illustrates a very typ-
ical nest located on the ground.
HABITS.
As their name implies, Field Sparrows are inhabitants entirely of
fields, not those that are carpeted with fresh green grass, but rather
high and dry ones, dotted here and there with low bushes or shrubbery.
230 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
JUST AFTER FEEDING.
Throughout the East the high pitched piping melody that constitutes
their song is one of the most familiar sounds of rural life. Beginning
with a single drawn out whistle of a varying intermediate pitch, it con-
tinues through a succession of three or four high keyed ones into’a
pleasing trill. It is a little song that once heard and identified will not
likely be forgotten or confused with that of any other bird.
I have lately seen their song compared to that of the Prairie War-
bler. Both of these birds breed in the same fields about Worcester
and I have never seen resemblance enough to warrant considering
them together. One is the clear flute-like whistle of the Sparrow,
while the other is composed of the peculiar, hesitating, squeaky notes
common to many of the warblers. Both birds share equally the task
of constructing their nest and in feeding the young. Both are equally
emphatic in their objections when the home is threatened. Like all
other species of birds different individuals show great differences in
their temperaments. If you approach the nest of one pair they may
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 231
perch on the top of some bush and keep up a regular and energetic
chirping until you have left the neighborhood; another may be more
confiding and if you remain quiet even near the nest, return to take up
the household duties at the point where you interrupted them. I was
fortunate in finding a nest of a bird of the latter nature. The nest, or
what later was to be the nest, was discovered almost with the laying of
the first straw. During the two hours following, observations were
continued and in this time the nest grew wonderfully. She was the
carpenter, Mr. Sparrow’s part in the work being to gather his share of
the material. Both birds would depart together, but she invariably re-
turned first and had her grass carefully and mathematically deposited
before he arrived.
From life by C. A. Reed.
CLEANING THE NEST:
In the course of three weeks, three of the four eggs that she had laid
in the completed nest were hatched. When the young were six days
old the photographs shown with this were taken. The camera was
first placed about four feet from the nest, but was later moved to with-
232 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
Photo by C. A. Reed.
YOUNG FIELD SPARROW.
(Two days after leaving nest.)
in three feet. Although it was not concealed in the least, the Sparrows
paid not the slightest attention to it and after I had been there a half
hour returned freely to feed the young even when I was seated beside
the camera and within four feet of them. Ants, spiders and plant lice
seem to be the food most frequently brought, and small caterpillars
also supplied a good portion of the bill of fare. Frequently when
either bird returned with a load of provisions they would also have a
number of small pieces of dried grass in their bills. I could not make
out why this happened, but it looked as though in catching the insects
YOUNG FIELD SPARROW.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 233
they also freqently got pieces of grass with them and did not bother to
separate the two. On the twelfth day after the eggs had hatched, I
again visited the nest and found it empty. The adult birds were pres-
ent and considerably excited, so I was certain that the young were
close by. By carefully watching, two of the little ones were found and
captured. The camera was now carefully focussed on a branch and we
were ready to take their pictures. They were not ready however, and
for the next half hour we had a very busy session. Both adult birds
were all the time fluttering about in the grass at our feet and calling
for their little ones to fly from the branch whenever we placed them
upon it. They were very obedient children and prompt!y minded their
parents. Sometimes they would fly off, sometimes hop off and again
fall off, but get off the branch they would and did, and as they had had
a day’s practice they could make quite extended flights. We did finally
succeed in inducing them to pose for a fractional part of a second and
the results were satisfactory to all parties as we had the pictures and
they had their liberty.
Photo by Geo. C. Embody.
NEST OF FIELD SPARROW.
234 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
A BIRD-LAND TRAGEDY.
NE beautiful Sunday afternoon in
the month of March, 1900, I was
sitting with a friend on the piazza of
his home in the state of Florida.
The day was an ideally perfect one,
the lower south springtide was at its
flood, and earth and air seemed
vocal with rejoicing. In a close by
date-palm a Mockingbird was indus-
triously constructing her nest, se-
renely oblivious to the command:
“Six days shalt thou labor and do
all thy work,’’ while from the top-
most. twig of a live oak tree er
mate poured forth his soul in the
rhapsody of an impassioned love song; the Martins twittered and
scolded from every window of their house, while a gorgeous Redbird,
like a living flame, slipped in and out of the plumy depths of a clump
of bamboo to the accompaniment of his clear, flute-like whistles; and
everywhere the Blue Jays were living up to their well deserved repu-
tation for noisiness and “‘as a disturber of the general peace.”’
In the top of a tall black jack oak growing on the lower edge of a
small field lying directly opposite the piazza on which we were sitting,
two Jays in particular were strenuously endeavoring to outdo each
other in clamor. Suddenly a dark streak cut athwart our line of vision
and disappeared like a flash into the top of the oak, to almost instant-
ly reappear and make off into the nearby hammock growth, and at the
same time one of the Jays filled the air with cries of terror and pain,
while its mate winged its way up across the narrow field with all the
speed that mortal fear could inspire, and disappeared into the friendly
shelter of the afore mentioned clump of bamboo.
It all happened so suddenly and in so brief.a space of time that we
hardly realized what it meant. But as the terrorized cries of the Jay
continued to arise from the hammock I exclaimed to my companion,
““Something must have caught one of the Jays!’ ““Yes,”’ said he, “‘it
was a Blue Darter.’’ And involuntarily we both sprang up and ran
down across the field to the hammock, guided by the unceasing cries of
the captured bird. I took a lane which ran along the edge of the wood,
but my friend, more familiar with the location, turned into a by-path
and the Hawk, hearing the noise of his approach, flew up and abandoned
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 235
its prey. The Jay immediately ceased its cries and, although apparent-
ly badly injured, managed to escape into the thick undergrowth.
After we had returned and resumed our seats on the piazza we sud-
denly discovered that something was missing which had helped to
make up the beauty and glory of the day, it was the song and the
sight of the birds. Where only a few moments before had been a
scene of animation and the air aquiver with melody, not a bird was to
be seen and an almost oppressive silence reigned; and those conditions
continued throughout the balance of that day.
Death was stalking abroad in Bird-Land and the terror stricken in-
habitants were endeavoring to escape the grim specter.
WALTER NATHAN PIKE, N. Y.
THE COTTAGE BY THE WOOD,
T was the writer’s good fortune to
spend the summer months of the year
1900 in a cozy little cottage in a subur-
ban district, the natural surroundings
of which were such as to at once appeal
to a naturalist, aside from furnishing
ample opportunity for rest and quiet.
The large lawn belonging to the prop-
erty, with its abundance of shade trees,
fronted on the main avenue of a popu-
lous corporate town, while in the rear,
as the title implies, was a strip of wood-
land, which in turn, was bordered by
a clearing, covered its whole length
mainly by briars and low thick bushes,
being intersected by a winding brook.
Birds in the locality were quite numerous and some of them showed
remarkable tameness. During the hours of night time, giving voice
as it were to the weird lights and shadows around the house, we could
hear the mournful ditty of a Screech Owl whose home was in a nearby
hickory tree, while the first grey streak of each returning dawn was
heralded by the sweet songs of the Robins. Flickers were frequently
seen hopping around in the grass near the roots of various trees.
Notes of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo were also heard in the thick foliage
of the maples. Red-eye Vireos kept up a continual warbling all day
long, and doubtless had a nest in the vicinity, as we observed the
mother bird feeding two very young ones; the latter being perched in
236 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
a low bush in the yard. The happy song of the House Wren was
always in evidence and three nests were built under the porch roof.
The writer personally observed one of the broods leaving the nest, and
was surprised to see two of their number climb up the straight trunk
of a wild cherry tree—genuine woodpecker fashion—for a distance of
twelve or fifteen feet, where the limbs began to branch out. However,
they arrived at the top safely and remained there for the balance of the
day.
Humming Birds often came and hovered over the many beautiful
flowers in the yard and sometimes consented to alight for a few
minutes for our benefit. On one of these occasions a party of five (in-
cluding the writer’s baby daughter) approached to within three feet of
the tall flower stock upon which our little visitor was perched; still it
sat there, turning its wee head this way and that, looking at us with
fearless unconcern. At last it gave a sharp chirp, flew and was soon
lost to sight. On one occasion in the early morning, we were greeted
with the familiar call ‘“Bob White’’, which seemed to come from the
woods in the rear yard. The call was repeated several times but we
were unable to discover the author of it. A tree of fine red cherries
proved a great attraction for Cat birds and other feathered fruit lovers.
But what we considered the greatest privilege, and one which we ex-
ceedingly enjoyed, was the daily greeting of the Wood Thrushes dur-
ing the breakfast hour and at twilight. What could be more charming
than to sit leisurely eating the morning meal and all the while listening
to the sweet clear strains of the loveliest bird songs, pouring from the
throats of the russet-brown vocalists just outside the kitchen window
peal after peal, in endless volume and variation. In addition
to the birds already mentioned, we sometimes heard the shrill scream
of the Blue Jay, also the notes of King Birds and Crested Flycatchers,
while from the distance, floating to us from across some field or mead-
ow came the morning song of a Meadow Lark or the well known call
of the Killdeer. The crows also added their deep caw, caw, caw, to
the chorus of woodland voices. The clearing above referred to
proved to be the home of two or three species of the Warbler family
and a walk through the vicinity the following winter revealed a number
of nests. They were all-placed low and one of them showed every indi-
cation of having been built and occupied by an Oven Bird. A tame
Chipmunk who resided under a board walk also proved of interest to
us.
The usual wild flowers of the season were abundant and the surround-
ing country at large was admirably suited for exploration and research,
hence our sojourn at the ‘‘Cottage” was one of pleasure and instruction.
BERTON MERCER.
Sete gis
discs ag
bersigt eth
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238 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No. 7.
Diving Birds—Grebes.
No. 2, Holboell’s Grebe, (Colymbus holboellii.)
Length, 19 in. Crown, back of neck, and upper
parts black with a greenish gloss. Secondaries white,
forming a conspicuous white patch on the wing. A
broad patch of silvery ash on the throat extending on
the sides of the head and changing to white as it meets
the black of the head. Front and sides of neck brown-
ish red spreading well on the breast in a fainter shade.
Under parts silvery white. Found throughout North
America. Young birds and winter adults have the en-
tire under parts, including the neck and throat, white,
and the crests are entirely lacking.
No. 3, Horned Grebe, (Colymbus auritus.)
Bill tipped with yellow. A brownish yellow stripe
over the eye and widening so as to take in the whole
of the long crests. Crown, chin and the sides of the
face, the feathers of which stand out making a full ruff,
area glossy, greenish black. Entire upper parts a
brownish tlack. Front and sides of neck rich brown-
ish red, this extending on the sides and flanks. In
winter the crests are very small and the neck is a dull
white. Length about 14in. Entire North America.
No. 4, Am. Eared Grebe, (C. nigricollis cali-
fornicus.)
Length, 13 in. Bill short, stout and black. Long
golden brown ear tufts. Head and neck all around
black. Other upper parts brownish. Sides reddish
brown, this extending across the breast. Under parts
white. No ear tufts in winter and the neck is sooty
brown. North America west of the Mississippi.
No. 5, St. Domingo Grebe, (Colymbus domin-
icus.)
Length, 9.5 in. Bill very short. Uppér parts
brownish black with blue reflections on the head and
neck. Entire under parts white mottled.
No. 6, Pied-billed Grebe, (Podilymbus podt-
ceps.)
Length, 13 in. Bill bluish white encircled by a
broad black band. Entire upper parts brownish or
grayish black, most of the feathers having lighter
edges. A broad black patch on the throat. Other
under parts silvery gray mottled with dusky. In win-
ter the bill lacks the black band and the throat is uni-
form with the other under parts. Throughout the
United States and Southern Canada.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 239
Crowned Sparrows.
No. 553, Harris’s Sparrow, (Zonotrichia quer-
ula.)
Length, about 7.5 inches. Crown, face and throat,
black, this extending on the chest and along the sides
in broad streaks. Under parts pure white, except
along the flanks which are dusky. Middle and greater
wing coverts tipped with white forming two white
wing bars. The young birds have the black feathers
of the crown edged with grayish and the throat is gen-
erally white edged more or less with black. Found
from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi.
No. 554, White-crowned Sparrow, (Z. /euco-
phrys.)
Length, 6.5 in. Crown black enclosing a very
broad white medium stripe. The black of the crown
extends in front of the eye thus cutting off the white
superciliary stripe. A narrow stripe of black extends
back from the eye over the ears. Back and coverts
grayish streaked broadly with brown. Under parts
grayish fading into white on the throat and brownish
on the flanks. Young birds have the black of the
crown replaced with brown and the white dusky.
pound throughout the United States and Southern
anada.
No. 554 4., Intermediate Sparrow, (Z. J. inter-
media).
Exactly like the last with the exception that the
black on the forehead does not extend in front of the
eye. From the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific.
No. 554 b., Gambel’s Sparrow, (Z./. gambelli)
Head just like the last, but the back is more brown-
ish and the streakings are sooty black.
No. 557, Golden-crowned Sparrow, (Z. Coron-
ata.)
Length, 6.5 in. Crown black enclosing a median
patch of yellow. The black extends in front of the
eres Back rather olive brown streaked with brownish
black. Edge of wing yellow.
No. 558, White-throated Sparrow, (Z. alhicol-
lis.)
Top of head black enclosing a narrow white stripe.
A broad white stripe extends over the eye, that part
between the eye and nostril being yellow. Edge of
wing yellow. A black line from the bill through the
eye, and another from the lower mandible downwards
separating the white throat from the gray breast and
under parts. Back striped with black, chestnut and
dull white. Females and young are duller colored and
the white throat is not always perceptible, but the yel-
low before the eye is always present.
Diaper
SBE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 241
BOBOLINK.,
A. O. U. No. 494. (Dolichonyx oryzivorus.)
RANGE.
United States and southern Canada east of the Rocky Mountains.
South in winter to Cuba and South America. Breeds from the Middle
States northwards.
DESCRIPTION,
Length, 7 ims-extent, 12 in.; tail, 3 in. bill, black. Feet: and eyes
brown. Adult male in breeding plumage.—Head, chin, throat and
under parts black. Back of head yellowish white. Scapulars, rump,
and upper tail coverts, dull white. Tail feathers stiffened and pointed
like those of the woodpeckers. Female and young, and male in the
fall:—General color all over, a brownish yellow, this being a little
lighter below. Top of head and back prominently streaked with black.
Wings and tail blackish brown. Both the young birds, and male and
female adults are somewhat more yellowish in the fall than is the
female in the spring and summer.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Bobolink breeds abundantly throughout the northern portions of
its United States range, placing its nest on the ground in large fields.
The nest is made of dried grasses and is artfully concealed in a tuft of
grass or weeds. The latter part of May or during June they lay from
four to six grayish eggs that are heavily blotched, clouded and mottled
with various shades of brown.
HABITS.
In nearly all respects the Bobolinks are our most peculiar birds.
They come to their northern breeding grounds during the first half of
May and for the remainder of the spring and summer their sweet
music and comical ways endear them to the hearts of all their northern
friends. The male bird is decked out in a fantastically arranged suit
of black and white, that seems to put to naught all theories as to the
protective coloration of birds. His black under parts and the contrast-
ing white on the upper make him a mark that can not be overlooked as
you scan a meadow. As far as the eye can see you can detect him
perched upon the top of a weed or blade of grass.
His partner on the other hand, is dressed in the regulation garb of a
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
242
BOBOLINK.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 243
ground bird, mottled brown and yellowish upper parts and lighter
beneath so that she is but little noticed as she slips in and out among
the grass looking after her affairs. From the time of their arrival un-
til after the young have left the nest, the male Bobolinks are bubbling
over with song, a rollicking jingle that has been immortalized by many
literary geniuses both in verse and prose. These pen pictures of Bob-
olink music do but scant justice however to what the bird is capable of.
Possibly an expert player on the mandolin might with a great deal of
practice be able to give a fair imitation of the song, but I have never
heard it.
Photo by C. H. Morrell.
NEST OF BOBOLINK.
Their nest, concealed in the long grass of the meadow is hard to find
both from the fact that it is well concealed and also because the male Bob-
olink isa good guardian and always warns his mate when you are coming,
so that she may glide away through the grass unseen. The highest
point of an apple tree or the top of some particularly imposing stone on
the wall are his chosen spots from which to look for danger and to serve
244 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
as the starting points for his melodious aerial excursions. Between
songs he will often give voice to a deep ‘‘chee’’ as if to inform you
that he belongs to the blackbird family. Even when it is evident that
he is very much alarmed and that you are very close to the nest that
he treasures so much, he cannot remain quiet, but in spite of sorrow
will continually take short flights into the air and sing as though his
throat would burst, always returning quickly to continue his harsh
FEMALE BOBOLINK.
scolding. A number of Bobolinks frequently build in the same field.
On one day this summer I counted six male bobolinks in the same
apple tree, all of whom had nests within a short distance. In the same
field, there were nesting several pairs of Meadowlarks, a pair of Grass-
hopper Sparrows and two Bay-winged Sparrows or Grassfinches.
Soon after the young are ready to fly, during the middle of July the
Bobolinks commence to moult and in» another month the male bird
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 245
would not be recognized. He, his wife, and their young now all have
the same dress of yellowish brown and are ready to begin their migra-
tion. The male has not only lost his brilliant clothes but his voice as
well. His tongue will give voice to no more of the thrilling melodies
until the coming of another spring. As soon as they leave their breed-
ing grounds, they cease to be known as Bobolinks, and are called
‘Rice Birds.’”’ They now feed almost exclusively among the rice fields
of the south, and from this they get their latin name of oryzvorus,
which means “‘to eat rice’’.
A few weeks feeding on this diet nearly doubles their ordinary
weight and they are regarded as a great delicacy for the table. Hun-
dreds of thousands of them are killed every fall and served in the ho-
tels of the south. Those that are left of them continue their way
southwards into South America, there to stay until our climate again
becomes to their liking, when once more they will return in their festal
dress to gladden the heart of the farmers, who by the way, from a sim-
ilarity in colors to a certain obnoxious animal have generally come to
know them as “Skunk Blackbirds’’.
BOBOLINK.
Soaring high o’er meadows wide,
Skimming low at streamlets brink;
Gay and careless, free as air,
Happy bobolink.
Glad his song at break of day,
Gladsome when the sun does sink;
Maddest, merriest, melodies,
Blithesome bobolink.
What great happiness is yours,
What the joyous thoughts you think,
That your heart should be so glad,
Merry bobolink?
MABEL CORNELIA MATSON.
246 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
AMERICAN MERGANSER.
A. O. U. No. 129. (Merganser americanus.)
RANGE.
Found throughout North America. Breeds from the middle of the
United States northwards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length from 24 to 27 in. The female generally measuring an inch
or two shorter than the male. Adult male;—Bill and feet. vermillion,
the former with a black tip. Eye carmine. Entire head and upper
part of neck, a beautiful glossy green. Entire under parts white with
a delicate salmon blush. Flanks washed with gray and waved slight-
ly with dark gray. Back and scapulars black, shading to an ashy
gray on the rump and tail. Primaries black. Most of the secondaries
white, the inner ones having black edges. Wing coverts white, the
greater ones having black bases, which form a black bar across the
large white surface of the wing. Female;—Bill, red; Eye, yellow; Feet,
orange. Fully as imposing and handsome bird as the male. Head
with a long crest while the male has practically none. Head and neck
reddish brown, leaving a white patch on the throat, and terminating
abruptly against the white of the under parts as does the green neck
of the male. The salmon color is present, but less distinct than in the
male. Back, rump, tail, scapulars, and lesser wing coverts gray, most
of the feathers having black shafts. Primaries and outer secondaries
black. Middle secondaries and greater coverts white, the latter hav-
ing black bases and gray tips forming an indistinct narrow bar across
the white patch. Male and female have both mandibles serrated or
toothed and the upper one with a very decided hook at its tip.
NEST AND EGGS.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 247
AMERICAN MERGANSER,
248 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
During June Mergansers breed throughout Canada and the northern
tier of the United States. Like the Wood Duck they sometimes breed
in hollow trees. They have been found at distances varying from
fifty to five feet from the ground. The bottom of the hollow in the
tree is covered with leaves and grasses, and this is lined with soft
down from the breast of the old birds. At other times they conceal
their nests in the grass under an overhanging bush. They lay from
six to ten eggs which are of a buffy color.
HABITS.
This duck and the other two Mergansers which constitute the saw-
bill group of duck, are called fish ducks because these form a large
part of their diet, and thus render their flesh unpalatable. Although
they are absolutely worthless as articles of food, thousands of them are
shot yearly by sportsmen who will shoot anything that swims or in fact
that flies. In the spring and fall ‘“‘“Goosanders’’ or “‘Sheldrakes’’ as
they are popularly called are very abundant both in the interior and on
the coast, as they are partial to both fresh and salt water.
In the autumn and winter they assemble in small bands of up to a
dozen individuals. Although they appear to be quite social among
themselves they do not so often mingle with other species of ducks.
They are also quite shy in the presence of man, the male birds rather
more so than the females. On the land they are quite awkward in
their manners, although they can travel at a good rate when forced to.
The water is their natural element and they are equally at home either
above or below surface. It has been said that when their nest is at a
distance from the water they will carry their young in the bill after the
fashion of the Wood Duck.
BIRD ENEMIES,
When one thinks of all the enemies our birds have to contend with
in raising a family it seems really a wonder that we have so many of
them to sing, eat insects that would destroy our flowers and grain, and
in every way make the world brighter. Think of a small delicate bit
of creation like the warblers, trying to sit on the eggs during a wind
storm, or worse a hail storm. In the woods there is some protection,
but on the prairies where the Horned Lark makes its perfect little cup
of grass, lined with grass roots there is no protection from hail, water,
skunks, badgers, snakes or the feet of grazing cattle.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 249
It cannot be estimated how many eggs are laid to give us a flock of
one hundred of these cheery little friends that stay with us through the
year. And when the Kansas blizzard comes where are they? As the
sky begins to show sigus of a storm they are more restless as if search-
ing for a good location where the snow cannot cover all the weeds that
furnish them with food. Snow storms often begin in the forenoon and
by night the ground is well covered and the wind begins to drift it in
long ridges. By morning a foot of snow has fallen, the storm has
passed and the sun is dazzling bright reflected from the clean white
snow.
But here are the larks, called snowbirds, busy at some weed that
still has its top above the drifts. Did the birds keep moving all night
to keep on top, or let it drift over them and burrow out in the morning?
I consider snakes of all kinds the worst and most common of all
enemies to birds, either song or game birds. They also kill many
toads that catch the nocturnal worms and bugs, such as the cutworms
and June beetles, that birds do not get. The snake is generally cred-
ited with destroying many mice and gophers, but of the large numbers.
that I have killed and opened only in very rare instances have I found
anything but birds eggs, toads and young rabbits or young birds. I
once found a bull snake that had gone after a gopher and seemed to
have found it, for he could not get out of the hole again farther than
where the gopher was in his stomach. The sun soon put him out of
his misery, as snakes cannot stand direct sun heat as is often supposed.
The dust around the hole showed how the snake had worked to free
himself. When a bull snake of three or four feet in length finds the
nest of a quail or prairie chicken every egg is sure to go down his cold
disgusting throat. The blue-racer, the harmless (?) garter snake are
all just as fond of eggnog without the nog as the bull snake.
One nest of a game bird is worth more than all the mice any lazy
sneaking reptile could get up the energy to catch during his life
time.
Often I have found snakes quite a distance up in the trees after eggs.
It isa mystery to me how they can locate a nest, and find the right tree
to climb. I pulled a large bull snake out of a Yellow Hammer’s hole,
that had swallowed several great squabs or young ones while the old
birds were making a good fight for them. A. K. BOYLES, Salina, Kan.
250 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
“FRIE ENDS
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
My DEAR YOUNG FOLKS:
Perhaps some of you who sent answers to “Nuts to Crack in the
June Bird Chats’’ were disappointed when you found the answers
given last month were unlike yours. But your answers were correct
too, as most of the nuts contained more than one kernal. Two defini-
tions of a Merrythought were especially good, so I pass them on to
you. One writes “If you mean a bird, I think it is a Purple Finch,
because his song sounds like ‘““Be cheery, Oh!’’ Another defines it as
“any thought relating to birds.’’ Stafford Francis has been successful
in finding nests of large birds this year. He writes of finding the nest
of a Bittern, containing two eggs, two Partridges’ nests with eleven
and twelve eggs, a Marsh Hawk’s nest and the nest of a Great Horned
Owl, as well as the nest of a Nighthawk and others. To the questions
of our little Ohio friend, Lillian Weeks, I would reply that the first
bird she describes is doubtless a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, the second a
Great crested Flycatcher, the other bird I am unable to name without a
more minute description. If she can secure the Gnatcatcher’s dainty
nest when they are through with it she will be fortunate, and if she puts
her hand into the hole in the apple tree, she will find the nest of the
Flycatcher is lined with the skin of a snake. During August, Birdland
is very quiet, but I am sure your sharp eyes will find something of
interest even in this month, among the feathered gentry, and that you
will write about it to your friend,
MrG MERRYTHOUGHT.
‘The answer to the Enigma in the July number is Partridge.
‘These were the birds which told their names in the story of last
month. 1, Scarlet Tanager; 2, Chickadee; 3, Chebec; 4, Pewee; 5,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 251
Phebe; 6, Towhee; 7, Jay; 8, Bob White; 9, Bobolink; 10, Flicker;
11, Cuckoo; 12, Chat; 13, Vireo; 14, Nighthawk; 15, Thrush.
ROLL OF HONOR:—Edgar Easton, Age 7, Charleston, Tite; @has:
H. Rogers, Brandon, Vt.; Stafford A. Francis, Age 14, Exeter, N. H,;
Hubert Dodds, Charleston, I11.
JENNIE WREN,
A little brown mite is Jenny Wren,
Who once, never thought of rest,
But busily worked from morn till night,
When lo! A beautiful nest.
Six tiny eggs it held one day.
As pretty as they could be.
They were the pride of Jenny Wren,
And a happy bird was she.
In a short time six baby wrens
Were occupants of the nest,
And the mother bird thought that they
Were better than all the rest.
The little wrens with feathers fine,
One morning late in May
Heard the call that the father bird gave,
Then all of them flew away.
CLAUDE A. BARR, St. Louis, Mo.
DAISY,
On a bright May morning when everything was its brightest and the
grove rang with the voices of many birds, a dear little yellow bird lit
under our kitchen window. He was not timid in the least, for he kept
screeching for dinner while we had our faces near the window watch-
ing him, as he was a stranger in our grove. By the identification chart
in the May number of the American Ornithology we found him to be
the Yellow Warbler. In the evening he and his mate came back to
visit us. Now and then they would fly against the window trying hard
to catch the millers that fluttered upon the inside of the pane. We
placed freshly killed millers upon the outside window sill which they
willingly took.
A day does not pass but our little bird ““Daisy’’ as we named her,
comes to our window and takes the millers she finds waiting for her.
In a plum tree a rod from the house, these little friends built their
252 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
nest of cotton batting and straws. The male does not come to the
window now, so Daisy often carries the food to him as he guards the
nest while she is gone. Daisy is our little friend now, and as she sits
on the window sill looking for her millers, which are gone, she chirps
asking for more, which we quickly bring.
MARIETTA WASHBURN, South Dakota.
PI coutaining fifteen different parts ofa bird: 1, worcn. 2, rafdeceho.
3, deanbilm. 4; pean. 5,.attroh. 6, streab.: 7, teso. 8, mapriries:
9, gwin-crevsot. 10, slapscaru. 11, gwin. 12, atli. 13, roles. 14,
15, prum.
What common birds are suggested by 1, A high official in the
Roman Catholic Church? 2, A goat? 3, A common household pet?
4, An animal of great use to man? 5, A piece of money? 6, A crown-
edruler? 7, A part ofa mountain range? 8, A girl’s name? Q, Part
of a country fence? 10, The act of drinking? 11 and 12, A flogging.
THE BABES IN THE WOODS,
How many of our young folks can give the names of these ten
babies which I found in my little journeys in the woods in June? I am
sure you would be able to name very few of them unless the parent
birds were seen, for these woodland infants seem to consist chiefly of
a gaping mouth attached to a limited amount of gray skin and bones.
As I was walking along a shady road, my attention was called by a
constant ‘‘chirp, chirp,’’ to a little fellow clad in a gray downy coat,
holding on for dear life to a short branch far above my head. His
voice was hushed for an instant only, by a worm brought by the
mother, a bird a little less than six inches long, with beautiful yellow
throat and breast, upper parts an olive green, two wing-bars of white,
and a yellow ring about her eye. From a higher branch hung a dainty
cup, covered with grey lichens, which the little fellow had but recent-
ly left.
Near by was a mud plastered home, to which two olive-grey parents
with breasts of red, traveled constantly with worms, berries, millers
and all sorts of goodies to satisy four greedy mouths.
Turning into a path through the woods, I followed a voice which
seemed to say “Drink your tea’? and through the leaves caught a
glimpse of a black and white bird with chestnut colored sides. <A short
search revealed a home on the ground, beneath the shelter of a black-
ened log.
A brown bird, with a long tail and a spotted breast hopped along the
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 253
path ahead of me, with a worm in her mouth. She was going away
from her home not towards it. She knew from sad experience that
mankind was not to be trusted, and hoped to lead me away from her
home in the undergrowth.
Turning from the beaten path, I almost stepped upon a dear little
fellow which had but recently left its arched cave like home among the
dead leaves, faint stripes showed upon its crown, and the tiny olive-
green wing feathers had appeared; but the rest of its body was still
covered with a soft downy coat, which in a few weeks would change to
the thrush-like plumage of the mature birds.
Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
YOUNG FIELD SPARROWS.
Then I noticed a slight movement in some indigo weeds at my right,
as a cautious mother slipped away through the bushes, and parting the
green sprays, there was a dainty structure of grasses and fibre, its rim
encircling four wide opened yellow mouths. From a distant tree a
little fellow in olive green with a bright yellow breast streaked on the
sides with black, cried in an ascending scale: “‘see, see, see, see.’’ We
saundered on, past a black and white bird wearing a red cap, who
with his long straight bill was patiently hammering grubs from a dead
tree trunk for his children, who looked well able to care for themselves.
We past a scarlet and black beauty, who, with his green mate, was
training up his plainly clad young in the way they should go. Past a
dainty sprite clad in an entire suit of rich plain blue, who caroled to us
of the bulky nest of grass which was swung between the tall stalks of
254 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
some cinnamon ferns in yonder field, where even now the little spar-
rowy mother was busily engaged in supplying food to the hungry
occupants. On, past many a cradle rocked by murmuring breezes,
until we came upon the prettiest sight of all, a dwelling of twigs,
leaves and grass, about four feet trom the ground, shaded by glossy,
green laurel leaves. On the farther edge of the nest sat the mother
bird, seemingly very proud, (as well she might be) of her four little
ones which the nest would hardly contain. The youthful members of
the family were nearly ready to go out and seek their fortune in the
great world, for they had donned their brown coats and white vests
with trimmings of dark brown spots, and their bright eyes looked out
fearlessly upon a world of untried adventure. When next I passed
that way they were gone, but from the slopes beyond came sweet bell
like notes telling me that at least part of the family was safe and happy.
GLEANINGS,
A bird’s nest, mark it well, within, without,
No tool had he that wrought, no knife to cut,
No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert.
No glue to join; his little beak was all.
And yet how neatly finished! What nice hand
With every implement and means of art,
And twenty years of apprenticeship, to boot,
Could make one such another?—HurRDIS.
Do you never think what wondrous beings these?
Do you never think who made them, and who taught
The dialect they speak, where melodies
Alone are the interpreters of thought?
Whose household words are songs in many keys
Sweeter than instrument of man e’er caught.—LONGFELLOW.
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Vol.2, No. 9. SEPTEMBER, 1902. “t0ea copy, 8 a year.
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256 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
THE BLUE JAY THEN AND NOW,
ONG years agone a wandering inquisi-
tive blue bird in search of a nesting site,
found an opening in a rainwater con-
ductor, which led him to a full hogshead
—and suicide. This unfortunate drown-
ed bird was stuffed and mounted on a
rustic perch by an ancient hermit taxi-
dermist. Thisbird, the work of Nature
and Art combined, was long the delight
of the wondering juveniles of the fam-
ily which was so fortunate as to possess
it; but one evening little sister unwit-
tingly placed alamp in such juxtaposition
to the specimen that its tail went up in
fragrant (?) incense, and great were the
lamentations thereat. Nevertheless this seeming calamity proved a
blessing in disguise to one member of the family. Little brother,
who had the budding instincts of a naturalist, who kept the house
littered with last year’s bird’s and hornet’s nests, rocks, snake skins,
tortoise shells, bones, lichens, etc., who had constructed a large case,
the compartments of which he had filled with birds eggs of many
kinds, saw in this unfortunate accident a golden opportunity. He had
spent the early morning hours of Spring and Summer, in watching the
common birds of field, orchard and woodland, He had learned their
names and notes, and, boylike, he now longed to “‘collect’’ them.
The stuffed blue bird had awakened taxidermic ambitions and the
ruin of the specimen furnished him with opportunities for the acquire-
ment of useful knowledge, which till then had seemed unattainable.
The stuffed bird and its rustic perch were both dissected. A book on
taxidermy was obtained from the library and the mystery of bird stuff-
ing was solved. Next came a thirst for the blood of the innocents.
A deadly weapon was sought and found in the possession of another
boy in the neighborhood. A trade was made. Seventy-five cents
changed hands, and an old musket with a loosened sawed off barrel
and broken lock changed owners. Boyish ingenuity was brought to
bear on the loosened barrel and broken lock and for many moons that
crude weapon carried on its work of destruction among the furred and
feathered inhabitants of the woods; while under the midnight oil the
collection of skins and mounted specimens grew apace.
During allthis time there was one crafty bird that always kept beyond
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 257
Photo from life.
CHE -FIRSTSHOT.
(Just after feeding.)
the reach of a charge from the cut-off barrel. Morning after morning
the harsh incisive alarm notes of the Blue Jay warned all creatures to
beware of the hunter. Day by day while the boy was busied with his
tasks at school this cry of the Jay rang in his ears. Early and late he
sought the crafty creature throughthe glens, but Spring departed, Sum-
mer waxed and waned, and the Autumn leaves were rustling down, ere
his patience was rewarded. He had learned by this, time ‘‘as he be-
lieved’’ to know the peculiar significance of each different call and to
imitate some of them. Behold him seated on a rocky eminence one
258 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
chilly Autumn morning, hoping for the appearance of the bird he longs
to possess. He gives a few shrill decoy calls which deceive an incau-
tious Jay whose answering cries announce its near approach. A glim-
mer of blue, black and white flashes across the bright autumnal foliage.
Instantly the gun is at the shoulder. As the echo of the report rattles
through the woods something is seen to fall faster than the falling
leaves. The Jay is gathered to his father’s. The boy has won his long
coveted prize at last. Who can describe the ecstacy which follows that
fatal shot—the delight of that misguided boy as he gloats over his fallen
victim. There it lies in beauty between two moss grown rocks. The
barred tail and wings broadly spread, the dark eyes open, moist and slow-
ly glazing. The benighted assassin whoops and dances with delight in
the exuberance of youth and hugs his miserable apology for a gun.
Then the method of the naturalist asserts itself and he draws forth note
book and pencil, but not content with merely making the usual entries he
attempts to transfer his feelings to paper, and here is what we may yet
read in the old note book. ‘‘Aha old robber! Destroyer of young
birds, thy race is run. Never again wilt steal the farmers corn. Thou
hast died as a bold robber should with thy boots on.’’ Here a long
pause ensues for the silence of the woods is broken by the mournful
cry of the slain Jays mate. At her call charity, pity and mercy have
come as tardy guests. The written page goes on ‘‘Still although thou
art an outlaw, proscribed by man, perhaps thou hadst as good right to
life as I. Alas all is done. Regrets are vain. Farewell to earth, thou
forest planter. Farewell now to the wooded hillside, to summer’s sun
and winter’s snow. In the evening shades thy mate shall call among
the falling leaves like a mournful spirit, searching long through the
darkling woods which shall never know thee more.’
So it was in those days. Those of us who studied the living bird at
all studied it first over-the sights of a gun and then measured and dis-
sected the bleeding corpse, prepared the skin, duly labelled it and called
our duty done. Consideration of the rights of the bird came afterward,
if at all. Today allis changed. The few collectors” are in the sad
minority, the work of the systematist is largely done. Now we look
at the living birds through an opera glass and study their habits
afield, and our most trusted weapon is the camera. The Blue Jay
skin shot so long ago still rests in a glass case, and the boy,
now the father of other boys, teaches them to use more modern
weapons of his craft. Now instead of luring the Jay to its death,
we disarm its apprehensions by acting the part of protector, ben-
factor, and friend. We assume that attitude toward it which makes it
an associate in our daily walks and occupations. Render the bird un-
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 259
Photo from life.
SHOT NG: 2%
(About to clean the nest.)
suspicious, tame it, or domesticate it and you experience all the ad-
vantages of possession, without taking its life or abridging its liberty.
In this way only, can one associate so intimately with the living bird,
that he can study its character, emotions, language and food under-
standingly. For years I have looked forward to the time when oppor-
tunity could be afforded to study the nesting and food habits of birds
by such intimate association with them. This hope seems at last
about to be realized. Two years ago sufficient leisure was assured to
admit of a search being made for a promising locality. A bicycle trip
along the Massachusetts coast from New Hampshire to the Rhode
260 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Island line resulted in the choice of a small farm in Wareham, near the
head of Buzzards Bay. ‘This place situated near the confluence of two
tidal rivers, appears to be in the direct line of bird migration on this
coast. Surrounded by open meadows, fields and diversified woods,
watered by brooks, flowing from living springs, within easy reach of
Plymouth woods, where the deer still roam, it offers unlimited oppor-
tunities for bird study. On the bay and the adjacent waters, seabirds
breed or migrate. Along the small streams, shore birds and herons
come and go. Here the Fish Hawk and Bald Eagle are commonly
seen. Waterfowl find sheltered resorts in many ponds in the great
woods. Hawks and owls also find in these woods secure nesting
places. The immediate surroundings of the farm are such that the
birds of field, orchard, wood, meadow and marsh, are always near at
hand.
The first problem to be solved was how to attract them about
the farm and garden. We found here a grove of white pines about
four acres in extent, directly south of the house, which seemed to be
calculated for a natural retreat for Blue Jays. The first summer prov-
ed also that it was a great Robin roost. Hundreds of Robins roosting
there nightly when the berries with which the country teems, have
well ripened. Our first attempt at taming the Jays consisted of fast-
ening bones, meat and suet upon the trees near the house. The birds
were very wary for the first two or three months, but at last, one cold
morning in winter, they were seen busily engaged in securing food
from a ‘baited tree’ near the house.
Small branches were next fastened up to the kitchen and dining
room windows, and there the most tempting food was exposed. The
wary rascals watched from afar until the Chickadees and Nuthatches
had frequented these windows for about two months. They made
stealthy approaches, first coming to the thicket beyond the garden,
next to the old pear tree on the hither side, then to a small heap of
cinders thrown out to them to assist their digestion, and finally one snowy
morning in January a loud hammering began on the window sill at day-
break and there was Blue Jay helping himself. After that the Chickadees
got very little food at that window for a time, for the Jays would tear away
and carry off everything in the way of meat or suet that was put out.
Bones with shreds of flesh and cartilage on them were then nailed fast,
and the Jays soon became so tame that one could sit at the window and
watch their feeding, their antics, and their quarrels going on just out-
side the glass. It is indeed a novel sight to find three or four great
handsome Blue Jays about your window on a cold morning in Febru-
ary. By feeding the Jays a little all winter and putting out food
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 201
about the door in the Spring, their shyness was so far overcome that
they became accustomed to our presence. In the Spring one came in to
the shed where it was easily caught, handled gently and released. This
seemed not to alarm it for it remained near, and two pairs of these
birds built their nests and reared their young near the house. One of
the old birds finally became so fearless that she allowed a boy to
climb to the nest aud take her in his hand. On being released she did
not fly away but quietly returned to the nest and settled on it. The
Jays were not molested during the Summer and were given refuse
grain and meat during the Fall and Winter.
They had, by this time, so increased in number that six nests were
built in the Robin roost last spring. Here they would have little diffi-
culty in rearing their young were it not for the gray and red squirrels
which have also increased in number. These animals have a well
known fondness for the brains of young birds. Three pairs of gray
squirrels and a larger number of the red species now inhabit the robin
roost to the great worriment of both Jays and Robins. The Jays are
fond of Robin’s eggs. So fond indeed that although some thirty nests
of Robins have been built near the house each year, less than twenty
young birds have reached maturity.
All through the season the shells of Robin’s eggs could be found
about the place with holes showing where the sharp bills of the Jays
had perforated them. Very often indeed the “‘stop thief’’ of the Robins
Photo from life.
SEARCHING THE HEAVENS FOR FOOD.
was heard as they chased the dashing intruder, who strove to make
good his escape with an egg on his beak. Although the Jays, and
Robins had many fierce battles they always joined forces against the
common enemy. Thus six or eight of them might often be seen mak-
ing desperate efforts to drive a squirrel away from a nest. Although
262 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
the squirrel by dodging round the tree could easily avoid the rushes
of a single bird, he was unable to escape the combined attack of sev-
eral, for while avoiding one he would be pounced upon by another.
The birds would dive upon the squirrel in turn, each giving one peck
and getting away until the poor squirrel was forced to retreat precipi-
tately. This season several young Jays were stolen by a Marsh
Hawk. This bird is too strong for the parents. He gives them no
time to concentrate their forces but swoops down to the nest snatches
a young bird and bears it away to his home on the marsh followed by
the screaming parents. The Jays feed their young largely on soft
bodied caterpillars. Some of the birds begin their nesting operations
the latter part of June, so there is an opportunity for observing their
nesting habits for about two months.
Early in June of the present year, the editor of this magazine hon-
ored us by a visit. He appeared with camera and photographic out-
fit. At the time of his visit there was but one easily accessible nest
with young Jays in it. The others were mostly high in the trees.
This nest was situated about nine feet from the ground on the south
side of a tree on the sunny side of the grove, and well out toward the
end of the branches. Here the light was good, and as the birds had—
frequently fed the young when we were near the nest, we assured Mr.
Reed he would have no difficulty in catching one of them in the act.
The first picture shows how the camera was raised into position. The
apparatus used may appear like “‘heavy artillery’’ to the casual reader.
But the log truck with its long wagon box proved to be exactly adapt-
ed to the purpose in this particular spot. It was backed up under the
tree so that its hinder part was directly beneath the nest. The camera
was then mounted on loug stilts, a few branches were tied out of the
way,and it was focussed.
The birds being very unsuspicious came and went often, feeding
their young about as usual, although doing it very quietly and in a
more stealthy manner than common. To one who has heard much
about the difficulty of photographing the Blue Jay at the nest this seems
rather unusual. Probably much more difficulty would have been ex-
perienced had not the birds learned that they were safe from harm at
our hands.
The second and third pictures show the parent bird at the nest. In
the second the camera was snapped while the bird was in the act of feed-
ing, but as seen in the picture she has gotten a little ahead of the
camera, for she has already fed the young and raising her head, is now
looking directly at it. The typical loose construction of the nest and
its position on the bough of the pine can be plainly seen. It was plac-
ed well out toward the end of the bough where it was normally con-
cealed by the foliage of the limb above, which hung low over it and
had to be temporarily pulled aside for the purpose of the photographer.
The bird usually enters the nest by flying into the lower part of the
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 263
Photo from life.
OUT IN THE WIDE WIDE WORLD.
tree, and then hopping spirally upward from bough to bough around
the trunk, creeps out along the branch, reaching the nest usually from
the rear, as it were, thus avoiding the observation of her enemies.
These birds are almost constantly busy in feeding their young and
cleaning the nest, and to one who will watch them for a few days,
Dr. Brewers statement that a family of Jays consumes a million cater-
pillars in a season will not seem incredible. The four young in this
nest were not quite fledged at the time they were visited by the artist
(June 10) and they were always hungry. In the picture of the nest
three of them have their heads up and their open mouths turned toward
their devoted parent. The other no doubt, is swallowing the food
that has just been given him. The next picture gives a slightly
closer view of the same young birds on a branch, apparently searching
the blue arch of the heavens for more food. In their callow youth
they will bite greedily at anything, and there is little that comes amiss
to them in their more mature years. These little fellows were taken
from the nest and perched on the limb where they remained without
manifesting any fear and what was still more remarkable, the parents
on their perches in the near by trees evinced no alarm and uttered no
complaint. They conversed quietly with each other aside, as if they
should say ‘These are some of our people from the farmhouse. Let’s
not say a word. Perhaps they will take the job of feeding the children
off our hands for the rest of the day.’’ As we replaced the young in
the nest the old birds immediately bestirred themselves and began
feeding them. The young grew rapidly, and on June 15th they went
out into the wide, wide world. Owing to lack of time and space we
must defer the remainder of this chronicle to another issue.
EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH.
264 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
THE BLUE JAY SURGEON.
Someone aptly says;—
“Our crested Jay with all his beauty
Has neither sense of right nor duty.”’
And farther on;—
‘“Wherever he assumes his station
He is master of the situation.’’
The writer was evidently acquainted with the Blue Jay in all his
moods and variations. Some years ago a young student of Blackstone
had in his possession a beautiful Blue Jay. During the day time Jack,
for that was his name, had free range of the office, and amused many
callers with his cute, saucy tricks. At one time his master was the pos-
sesser of a fine carbuncle, located on the back of his neck, that gave him
great pain, so that he was forced to discard collar andtie, wearing only a
silk handkerchief about his neck. One morning even that became un-
bearable, and doffing coat, vest and “‘kerchief’’ he sat down at his desk
and was soon deeply engrossed in his reading.
Jack had been fed and let out from his cage and was now busily en-
gaged in looking about for some mischief. As was often his custom
when flying about the room, he alighted on the back of his master’s
chair, and began to call, hoping to arrest his attention; but the student
was so busily engaged in his reading, that either he did not hear Jack
or did not want to. Finally Jack spied the fine carbuncle on the
back of his master’s neck, and hopping on his shoulder, began a tour
of inspection.
He viewed it from first one side, then the other, then from the back
of the chair, but seemed to arrive at no definite conclusion. Finally,
cocking his head on one side, he communed with himself thusly: “‘I
think it’s a carbuncle. It’s just in prime condition, why don’t he have
it lanced? Ah, I know. It’s because he can’t see it. No man has
eyes in the back of his head. I guess I will do the job myself.’’ Hop-
ping around to the other shoulder, he carefully wiped his bill on his
master’s shirt, then giving him one keen glance, he drew back, took
aim, and with one blow drove his beak to the bottom of the carbuncle.
With a shout, the embryo senator leaped half way to the ceiling, the
persperation oozing from every pore. His threats to “‘kill that bird”
were of no avail and Jack from his perch over a picture only screamed
back defiance as he carefully wiped his lancet on his glossy feathers.
Mrs. L. May DEAN.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 265
RED-TAILED HAWK.
A. O. U. No. 337. (Buteo borealis.)
RANGE.
Found through southern Canada and the United States east of the
Plains. Breeds throughout its range except in the extreme southern
portions. This species is subdivided into the following varieties:—
337a. Krider’s Hawk (B.b. kriderii). Found in the Plains in the
middle portions of the U.S. 337b, Western Red-tail (B. b. calurus).
North America west of the Rockies. 337c, St. Lucas Red-tail (B. b.
lucasanus.) Peninsula of Lower California. 337d, Harlan’s Hawk
(B. b. harlani.) The lower Mississippi valley along the Gulf coast
north casually to the middle portions Of the U. S.
DESCRIPTION.
Length about 22 inches; extent about 50 inches; tail 9.5 inches.
Eyes, brown. Cere and feet, yellow. Upper parts, brownish black, the
feathers being generally edged with lighter. Under parts white tinged
with buffy. A broad zone of dark markings crosses the abdomen and
the color of the upper parts is continued around the throat. The tail
is a rich reddish chestnut with a narrow white tip and a broader sub-
terminal bar of black. The young birds are similar in plumage ex-
cept that the tail is gray and is crossed by eight or ten black bars.
Krider’s Hawk is a light form of the above and is entirely white below.
The Western Red-tail varies from about the typical form of the eastern
to a uniform dark sooty brown, and the tail is generally banded. Har-
lan’s Hawk varies from the typical Red-tail to nearly black and the
tail is mottled with rusty, white and dusky.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Red-tail places its bulky nest well up in the high trees of dense
266 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
RED-TAILED HAWK.
woods. It is arather shallow platform of sticks and lined with twigs,
grasses, moss or anything that it may happen to pick up. The eggs
are laid according to the locality from the latter part of March until the
end of May. The eggs are a bluish-white in color and vary greatly in
markings. Some are unmarked, and others faintly, while still others
will be heavily dashed, blotched and spotted with varying shades of
brown. They lay from two to four eggs, the former number being
much more common than the latter.
HABITS.
A bold, powerful and handsome hawk, this species is capable of
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 267
Photo by C. A. Smith.
NEST OF RED-TAIL.
creating great havoc among others of the feathered tribe, both wild and
domestic. He is also capable of being of immense value to all who are
interested in tilling the soil, and the trend of investigations have es-
tablished the fact that he is to be considered as a valuable bird.
Doubtless many of these hawks will from choice prefer a dinner of
poultry, but then who among us humans does not like the same diet;
but even if I were a poultry raiser, I doubt that I would declare war
on everything that bore resemblance to a hawk because one of them
now and then carried off a chicken. As for the chicken I doubt if he
has any preference between being guillotined with an ax and strangled
in a hawk’s talons.
The Red-tails’ piercing, but pleasant whistle may be frequently heard
as they soar at astonishing heights. Without a visible tremor to their
wings they will describe circle after circle, each above the other till the
aching eyes of the watcher can no longer make out their form in the
heights above. Surely such sights as this are worth the occasional
loss of a chicken. At least half of the food of the Red-tails consists of
the destructive meadow mice. Other elements that enter into their
diet are small animals, reptiles, frogs, insects, etc., and less than ten
per cent. of their food is made up of poultry or game birds. In fact it
268 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
is only when the supply of the former is exhausted that they will turn
to the latter. The numbers of Red-tails in Massachusetts have de-
creased amazingly in the last few years both from the cutting off of the
heavy timber and through the destructive agencies of mankind. In the
Fall they frequently band together into flocks and migrate to the
southern parts of the U. S.
I live in hopes of seeing the day when the word “‘Hen Hawk’’ will be
unheard, and this hawk, as well as others of the family may enjoy the
peace and prosperity that they deserve. When we come right down to
the fine points of the game, and are judging the right of a bird to
enjoy life solely by his usefulness in serving the ends of mankind, who
is to judge us, who kill beast, bird and fish merely to satisfy the de-
mands of a greedy appetite, or worse still “‘just for sport.”’
—
Photo from life by C. A. Smith.
WESTERN-RED TAIL.
“pig eee hem
Men |
270 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No. 8.
Hawks.
No. 335, Harris’s Hawk, (Parabuteo unicinc-
tus harrist.
Length about 21 inches. General color blackish or
dark brown. Shoulders, lining of wings and tibia,
rich chocolate brown. Tail coverts and base of tail,
white. Tip of tail also white. Found throughout the
southwestern states from the Mississippi to the Pacific.
This hawk is sluggish in movement and feeds exten-
sively upon carrion and associates with the vultures.
The plumage of the young is more brownish and the
tibia are whitish, barred with chestnut.
No. 342, Swainson’s Hawk, (Buteo swatnsont.)
Length, 20 inches. Upper parts brownish gray.
Chin and throat white. Breast pale chestnut, the
feathers having black shaft lines. Rest of under parts
whitish, more or less barred with light brown. Tail
the same color as back and crossed by a number of
dusky bands. This hawk varies greatly in plumage
at different seasons and ages and may be found from
the above description to nearly a uniform blackish
brown. Western portions of North America from the
ie region to Mexico. Rarely east of the Mississippi
valley.
No. 347a, American Rough-legged Hawk,
(Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis.)
Length about 21 inches. Legs thickly feathered
‘ita down to the base of the toes. Head and neck, dull
white, streaked with dusky. Rest of upper parts dark
brown. A broad band of dusky across the belly. Base
and tip of tail, white. From this plumage it varies to
black but may be known by the feathered legs. Found
throughout North America.
No. 348, Ferruginous Rough-legged Hawk,
(-Archibuteo ferrugineus.)
Length about 24 inches. Legs feathered to the toes.
Upper parts rust brown, brightest on the shoulders.
Under parts whitish, faintly barred with reddish.
Thighs rusty and barred with dusky. Tail, white,
washed more or less with brownish. Found in the
United States west of the Mississippi, and in southern
Canada.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 271
Owls having elongated ear tufts.
No. 367, Short-eared Owl, (Asio accipitrinus.)
Length about 17 in. Entire plumage varying from a
bright tawny to a buffy white, streaked above and
below with dark brown. A broad black stripe entire-
ly encircles the eyes. Ear tufts small. Found through-
out North America. Breeds from the middle section
northwards.
No. 366, American Long-eared Owl, (-4sio
wilsomianus.)
Length about 15 inches. Ear tutts very con-
spicuous. Above dusky, mottled with tawny, gray
and black. The facial disc is inclined to a bright
chestnut color. Under parts grayish white, streaked,
mottled and barred with black and tawny. Found
throughout temperate North America. Breeds where-
ever found.
No. 375, Great Horned Owl, (Bubo virginia-
nus.
Length from 20 to 25 inches. This owl is very
large, strong and heavy. The ear tufts are very con-
spicuous. Plumage of the upper parts irregularly
variegated with zigzag lines of black, tawny and
whitish. Tail mottled grayish white, and crossed by a
number of dusky bands. Under parts whitish, washed
with tawny and barred closely with black. Facial disc
tawny and edged with black. A large white patch on
upper breast and throat. The typical species is found
in North America east of the Mississippi. The same
bird is found in different phases throughout the coun-
try and is subdivided as follows:—375a Western (Bubo
virginianus subarcticus.) This is a somewhat paler
bird and is found from the Great Plains westwards
and south to Mexico. 375b Arctic (Bubo virginianus
arcticus) is found in the interior of Canada and in the
middle of the northern tier of states. It lacks the
tawny color entirely and is marked with black and
white. 375c Dusky (Bubo virginianus saturatus) is
found along the Pacific coast from Alaska to the Mexi-
can border and is the darkest variety and shows little
tawny.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 273
THE WESTERN MEADOW-LARK.
One of the most common birds of our eastern lowlands and hillside
pastures is the lyrical meadow-lark. Every person who uses his eyes
has seen this bird’s golden breast flashing in the sun as he sits ona
fence stake and pipes his blithe, wavering melody.
You are doubtless aware that the familiar lark has a cousin which
chooses our western prairies and plains and mountain parks for his
dwelling place? He is known as the western meadow-lark, and has the
Latin adjective zeglecta affixed to his name to distinguish him from his
his eastern relative.
There is slight difference in the appearance of the two birds. Indeed,
unless you had them in hand, or were very close to them in the open
field with a good glass, you could not be absolutely sure whether any
given birds were easterners or westerners.
However, they are not precise copies of each other. For instance, in
the eastern form the yellow of the throat does not reach out laterally
over the malar region—that is, the region of the cheek—whereas in the
western form it does. In general the upper parts of the western bird
are paler and grayer and the black markings less distinct and confluent
than are those of our eastern piper. The flanks and lower tail-coverts
of the eastern lark are more or less heavily washed with buff, while
these parts of the western type are white, only faintly tinged with buff,
if at alli
Thus it will be seen that there are three clear external markings
whereby you may tell the two species apart.
But, much as it might puzzle you at times to distinguish between them
by their outward appearance, you would experience no such difficulty
the moment the minstrel of the west opened his mandibles to sing you
an aria. One spring I went down into Oklahoma to study the birds,
and found both kinds of meadow-larks in great abundance on the broad
prairies, and again and again I heard them singing—or, rather, whist-
ling—at the same time. The following paragraph is quoted from my
notes taken on the ground:
‘“ Sitting on a weed-stalk, or a fence post, or the grassy prairie, the
easterner whistles or flutes his clear, two-part melody, which seems to
fly like an undulating shaft across the fields; his cousin, the westerner,
274 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
WESTERN MEADOWLARK.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 275
pours forth a quaint, varied run, containing some gurgling notes which
sound as if there was water in his larynx, or as if the palpitating air
were thrown back upon itself and churned into music by some peculiar
muscular movement of the windpipe. The eastern bird seldom varies
his song, and even when he does, the change does not amount toa great
deal ; not so with his gifted relative of the west, which rolls one distinct
tune after another from his wonderful throat, sometimes chanting three
or four different tunes in as many minutes, although his usual habit is
to repeat one strain several times and then suddenly take up another.’’
It must be admitted—for even the most ardent lover of the birds
should be honest—that some of the western lark’s airs are odd rather
than musical; but others are exceedingly sweet and melodious, almost
bringing a shout of delighted surprise from an auditor. Some run very
high in the scale, while others are tuned to a much lower key.
One evening in June I was rambling among the foothills near Colo-
rado Springs, Colorado, when a western lark piped five different tunes
of rare beauty and power in as many minutes, all of them delivered with
an air which seemed to say, ‘‘There ! I want you to know what I can do
in the way of vocal gymnastics.’’ If our bird is a little self-conscious,
it does not in the least detract from his minstrelsy.
In another respect he differs from our eastern fluter. You are
doubtless familiar with the eastern lark’s sputtering alarm-call, which
you may hear almost any time that you enter his precincts, especially
if there are nests with eggs or young hidden somewhere in the grass.
The tenant of the western plains does not “ sputter ;’’ instead, he utters
a harsh chack very much like the protest of the crow blackbird. On
several occasions I have heard one of these birds utter a loud, pro-
longed call which sounded almost like a wail.
The nesting habits of the two species are similar, the pretty crib
being set on the ground, more or less carefully concealed in the grass,
and often skillfully arched over from the rear.
One of the questions that has puzzled the scientists and caused some
dispute among them is, whether the eastern and western forms are dis-
tinct species or only varieties. My own opinion is that they are en-
titled to the honor of being called distinct species, and that they do not
mingle together in the marriage relation. Here are some reasons for
this view :
First, as has been said, there is a striking difference in their songs.
Much as I have listened to them, I am forced to say that the eastern
larks almost always pipe the same tune, whether on a Kansas prairie or
in an Ohio meadow. This is true even where the two species are des-
canting in the same field and at the same moment. On the other hand,
276 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo by J. T. Little.
NEST AND EGGS OF WESTERN MEADOWLARK.
I have never known the western lark to steal or mimic the tune of his
fellow-piper.
To the statement just made, honesty compels me to admit one appa-
rent exception, which will appear from the following quotation from my
Oklahoma notes: ‘‘The next morning shortly after daybreak a meadow
lark burst into an aria that was new to me, neither the song of the
eastern or the western type, but a kind of combination of the two; this
for a few minutes, and then the merry piper glided into the piercing
melody of a genuine down easterner.’ Does this incident prove that
the species sometimes get their songs confused, or that they purpose-
ly mimic each other? That problem remains to be solved by the future
student.’’
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 277
However, with this one exception, I have never known the two
species to borrow one another’s music sheet.
In Oklahoma I made some effort to find out whether the two forms
mingle together in the family relation. A dip in the prairie through
which a small stream flowed was the haunt of a brilliant lyrist of the
western variety. On my first ramble, both going and returning, I
found him there piping his marvelous tunes. Afterwards I visited the
spot four times, and on every occasion this bird announced his presence
by singing his bright lays, proving—so it seemed to me—that he was
the same individual and that this place was his special precinct. Other
larks of the eastern kind were tenants of the same large field, but they
seemed to avoid this particular locality, as if they recognized the fact
that their cousin had established a prior claim.
Nor was this the only experiment of the kind I tried, and in every
case conclusive proof was furnished that in the breeding season the
two species keep well to their haunts, and do-not often poach upon
each other’s presence.
That eminent authority on birds, Robert Ridgway, says that the
western lark is ‘““‘without much doubt a distinct species.’’ He also
speaks of the “excessive rarity of intermediate specimens’’—that is,
the peculiar forms which some bird students have thought were the
offspring of the crossing of the two species.
It is interesting to note the ranges of these birds. On our western
prairies both the eastern and western types dwell together in apparent
harmony. As you go eastward, you will find the western form dwind-
ling in numbers and becoming very rare in Illinois and Wisconsin, the
eastern limits of their range. The precise reverse of this is true as
you journey westward from the prairies to the arid plains. I have
never seen or heard the eastern lark on the plains or among the foot-
hills or in the mountain parks of Colorado, but in all these localities
the westerners were found in great abundance.
Far out on the arid plains, in regions where rain seldom falls and
where living streams are unknown, many of the lyrical western larks
find breeding and feeding grounds. One cannot help wondering how
they solve the problem of drinking and bathing, but they must solve it
in some way.
However, the western larks are also found in goodly numbers on the
irrigated portions of the plains and in the meadows that border the
streams. Some of them make their summer homes on the parched
mesas and among the rolling foothills. Do they also ascend into the
mountains? Yes, in broad, open valleys, like the one in which Buena
Vista is located, they rear their happy families and sing their loud
278 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
choruses all summer long. In July I found them quite plentiful in
South Park, whose elevation above sea level is about 9,500 feet.
During the summer and autumn, after the breeding season is over,
some of them move up to the regions above timber-line, an altitude of
11,000 feet and over, where they range about on the grassy, flower-
decked slopes and acclivities and find insects to their taste. Then, as
winter approaches, they descend to the plains, and, after tarrying there
a while, most of them retire to a blander climate than Colorado affords,
although a few remain to spend the winter on the plains and among
the sheltering foothills. No birds lead a freer or more jubilant life
than the meadow-larks, whether they dwell in an eastern pasture
field, or on the stretching plains of the west, or in an elevated Rocky
Mountain park.
LEANDER S. KEYSER.
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER,
A. O. U. No. 751. (Polioptila caerulea. )
RANGE.
Southern to middle portions of the Eastern U. S., south in winter to
Cuba and the Bahamas; rarely found north to southern New England
and west to California. Migration in Tennessee—April and September.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, about 4.5 inches.
Male.—Grayish blue on upper parts, gray shading into white below.
Wings tipped with darker shade of gray. Outer tail quills white, grad-
ually changing darker to black quills in centre. Slight band of black
over eyes. ;
Female.—Same as male with colors less distinct, and without black
marking on head.
NEST AND EGGS.
The nest of the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher is placed on a horizontal limb
or in a vertical fork at a distance ranging from 10 to 60 feet from the
ground, and often appears to be a mere mossy knot. The typical nest
is saddled to the limb with grace. The nest is a compact structure and
a thing of beauty. Itis three or four inches high, and with well defined
walls and deeply cupped, being constructed of small grasses, hair, leaf-
down and hempen fiber woven and interwoven into a compact mass.
The exterior walls are beautifully decorated with lichens overlaid with
spider and caterpillarwebs. The favorite nesting site is in the hickory,
pine, oak or elm tree.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 279
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
280 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo by C. A. Smith.
NEST OF BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
The eggs are commonly four or five in number, though in two cases
in the year 1890 I found sets near Athens, McMinn county, Tennessee,
consisting of eight eggs each, and during the same year found a nest of
seven young. The ground color of the egg is a pale blueish or green-
ish white, thickly speckled and spotted with brown and lilac, often form-
ing a wreath around larger end. I found on May 3rd, near Chattanoga,
Tennessee a set which were devoid of spots. The average size of eggs
is about .56 x .43 inches.
HABITS.
The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, sometimes (erroneously) called Long-
tailed Titmouse, is an abundant summer resident of the southern and
middle states. In early spring, ere the swollen buds of the maple and
poplar have well begun to burst, the woodland and orchards are well
populated with this graceful little friend. The peculiar little note ‘‘chee-
e-e chee chee-chee”’ interspersed with the low but sweet warble from the
tree top and even low shrubbery announce the arrival from winter
quarters. Soon after their arrival the happy pair will diligently set to
work erecting theirsummerhome. Their diligence often betrays them,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 281
Photo by C. A. Smith.
NEST OF BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.
for they are as busy as bees until the nest is completed. During the
monthof April, 1899 I found a great many nests of these birds near my
home in Hamilton county, Tenn. On one day I found some twenty-nine
pairs of this specie breeding.
The movements of this specie are quick and spirited. It will be seen
whirling and darting in mid-air or among the branches of the trees in
pursuit of the little insect which forms his daily diet. The long grace-
ful tail adds much to the beauty of the bird and is no impediment, for
wings and tail seem lost in one, as the little fellow is whirling in quest
of its prey. The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher suffers as perhaps no other
bird of its section by the ravages of the Blue Jay, which devastate its
little home devouring either eggs or well fledged young.
H. R. CALDWELL.
282 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
OUR YOUNG
IENDS
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
My Drar Younc FOLKS:
Our Roll of Honor this month shows that you have spent some of
your time with our magazine during your vacation. I am afraid I con-
fused some of you because I spelled phebe with five letters instead
of six in the missing word puzzle for July. Though “‘phebe’’ and
‘““‘phoebe’’ are both given in the Century dictionary, the latter seems to
be the most familiar to our readers. Several gave pewit as the missing
word which is another name for the same bird. Would you like a
glimpse into our mail bag this month? It contained many nice letters
from our little friends. Here is one from Kansas, in which Marjory
Lester tells of the Blue Grosbeak, “which has a nest!in a tree in our
yard, it is made of wool and paper, lined with fine root fibers, the eggs
are white tinted with blue, and are very pretty.’’ Stanley Cobb has a
tip-top record, which I doubt if many of you can beat. He writes “‘I
have had very good luck this year in seeing birds, having seen in all
about ninety-three different kinds, and found several nests which |
have photographed, the rarest of which is a Scarlet Tanager’s nest.”’
Have any of our readers identified a hundred different birds this year?
Stafford Francis has been watching the Chewinks upon the ground.
‘“They jump on the leaves with both feet, then they kick out with both
feet at once, and send them flying, then they look around for bugs and
worms, and then scratch again.’’ ‘This month the wonderful migration
to the Southland takes place, keep a sharp lookout, boys and girls, and
you may see a part of the procession.
Your Friend,
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 283
HISTORY OF TIM.
Tim was a little helpless Crow when he was taken from the nest and
brought home. We kept him in a little box and fed him on bread and
milk. At first he would not open his mouth, but we would swing a
‘cloth over his head, and he, thinking the mother had come, would open
his mouth wide and we would drop in the bread. Soon he would eat
all the bread and milk we would give him. After awhile he was able
to walk, then we would take him from the box, and take him to walk.
It would have made you laugh to-see the funny little hops he took to
keep up with us. We used to dig worms for him, and these he liked very
much. Soon he became a strong handsome crow, and would take
short flights through the orchard, always coming back when we called
“Tim,’’ but not always to be caught for he was shy and liked his liber-
ty. In order to catch him, we would call him to a big rock that had a
hollow in it, in which we would place an egg, then stand ready to put
our hands on him.
One day we went to the flower garden and Tim came and perched
on the fence close by. There was a lovely flower that we said was too
pretty to pick, so we left it, and had only got into the house when Tim
lit on the window sill with the flower in his bill, and looking very
proud and wise. He was often busy turning over chips. One day I
saw him rolling quite a large stick of wood, and watched him to see
how he could doit. He would put his bill down to the ground under the
stick and then open his mouth wide and over the stick would go. Tim
had a trick of filling his mouth as full of corn as it would hold, then he
would hide it and cover it over with a chip. One day he had dropped
his mouthful and was off hunting for a chip. When he came back he
found the old duck just gobbling the last of the corn. He dropped the
chip, walked up to her and yanked two or three feathers out of her
neck. Oh he was mad!
The first winter I kept him in a big box in the open chamber, and
fed him on corn and bread, and fresh meat. He was active all the
time. Nights he would busy himself carrying sticks and paper from
one end of his box to the other. The next summer Tim was a lovely
bird, so black and with such long wings. He did not fear the dog or
hens then, but he loved to annoy the old duck, and when she would
run for him he would fly on the fence and chatter at her. He could not
talk, but he would mock the hens and was a noisy fellow. I would
toss papers at him and he would dodge them, then take them and fly
away. Well, Tim was a dear bird and we all liked him, and if I had
cut his wings we should have him now, but I could not bear to do that
so one day in December I let him out, and he flew over the barn then
284 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
came over my head and flew off through the orchard, and I never saw
him afterwards that I know of. The next spring a crow came early in
orchard close to the house, and it may have been Tim. And so I lost
my dear, tame crow, but perhaps he is happier flying round with his
mates. Hore ELLINGWOOD.
ROLL OF HONOR.—Henri Behotegny, Wooster, O.; Geneva May
Bierly, N. Pittston, Pa.; Marjory Lester, Kingsley, Kans.; Chas. H.
Rogers, Chesham, N. H.; Stafford Francis, Exeter, N. H.; Stanley
Cobb, Milton, Mass.; Frank B. Clark, Jr. Glastonburg, Conn.
ANSWERS TO AUGUST PUZZLES,
PI, Parts of a Bird. 1, Crown. 2, Forehead. 3, Mandible. 4, Nape. ~
5, Throat. 6, Breast. _7, Primaries. 9, Wing Coverts: 10, Scapulags:
11, Wing. 12, Tail. 13, Lores. 15, Rump. (The printer thought he
could improve this PI by the addition of the letter (c) in number two,
and also omitting number 14.)
SUGGESTED BIRDS.
J. Cardinal’ 2): Buntine:. 3, °Catbird> 4, Cowbird:“~ 5,7 Hasles 1G:
Kingbird. 7, Partridge, 8; Phoebe, 9; Railbird: ~10,-Swallow.. Si
Whip-poor-will. 12, Thrasher.
NAMES OF BABES IN THE WOODS.
1, Yellow-throated Vireo. 2, Robin. 3, Chewink. 4, Thrasher.
5, Ovenbird. 6, Prairie Warbler. 7, Downy Woodpecker. 8, Scarlet
Tanager. 9, Indigo Bunting. 10, Wood Thrush.
CHARADE.
My lst grows long for three months hence. My 2nd is a preposi-
tion. My 3rd is unwelcome to sailors and bicyclists. My whole is one
of the sweetest songsters.
CHARADE.
My Ist is a girl’s name. My 2nd Columbus rejoiced at the sight of.
My 3rd is not uncommon where there are boys. My 4th is a vowel.
My 5th is used in producing my 3rd. My whole is a common bird.
THE ENGLISH SPARROW,
Although the English Sparrows are pretty little fellows, sociable and
intelligent, they have few champions; there is a long black list against
them. They drive away more desirable bird neighbors, take possession
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 285
of the houses provided for other birds, are untidy, quarrelsome, thiev-
ish, and even murderers.
A pair of English Sparrows in this neighborhood lost a good friend
a few weeks ago, when they were seen to enter a Bluebird’s box and
bring out and kill the four young Bluebirds.
However, we are sorry to see the boys with air rifles destroying the
little scamps, for oftentimes they are maimed, and the broken wing or
leg causes suffering for a long time. Then too, many a bright hued
bird has lost its mate through the carelessness, which mistook her for
“only a sparrow.’’ It is possible too, that all the little folks may not
be familiar with a score of others of the sparrow tribe, whose habits
and songs make them most desirable friends. We give a list of some
birds in brown plumage which might be mistaken for this little Eng-
lish Sparrow. You will have to supply the vowels, as in some mys-
terious manner they have disappeared from the type. Sparrows:—
Chppng. Fid. Fx. Grsshppr. pswch. Svnn. Ssd. Shrptid. Sng.
Swmp Tr. Vspr. Whtcrwnd. Wht-thrtd. Also the Gldfnch in winter
dress, the females of the Bblnk, the Rd-wngd-Blckbrd, the Rd-pll, Prpl-
fnch, ndg bntng, and the Grsbks.
A WALK IN JULY,
What a beautiful day! Now that Old Mother Nature (but in her gay
attire she looks quite young and girlish) is arrayed in her prettiest
garments, let us take a walk and admire them. Hush! what a beautiful
‘Blue Jay just flew down to the walk in front of us, took a step and in a
minute he was gone. Who would think that that bird with such
gorgeous plumage could be so treacherous to his bird neighbors, but
who are mostly all his enemies. See those dainty little asters, just the
least bit tinted with blue. I will pick a few of them, while you pluck
for your bouquet some of that—now what is the real name of this pretty
yellow and orange flower—well call it the old fashioned name of butter
and eggs. Iam going to break off some of this tansy and pink and
white clover,—why what makes you laugh? You think it is too com-
mon to pick? Ah! no, they are just as beautiful to me even though
they are so common. Well, well, see that bold little English Sparrow
bathing in the pool of water; now see him trying to dry himself in the
dust. ;
It seems rather queer to me to go and dirty oneself just after
getting clean. Torn your stocking in the blackberry vine. No.
Thats good. Hark! Do you hear that Catbird imitating our pussy at
home? I’d like to have him come out of his hiding place, but as he is
286 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
bound not to, we wont say a word but go away and see what more we
can find. Hear the Robin singing his song of cheerily, cheerily, cheer-
ily, cheer up, cheerily. Who could be lonesome even if left alone with
just this one bird friend. Not I at least. See the timothy grass in
yonder field waving to and fro in the gentle breeze. Come run, there
is a little snake, O, it is running away from us, it won’t hurt you. You
say you_wouldn’t like to be left with that small wriggling creature,
well, I quite agree with you there. Chip, chip, hear that Chipping
Sparrow overhead and see that swallow flying up and then down. He
seems to be always on the wing. I should really think he would be
tired. I’m just beginning to feel tired myself, aren’t you? Well let us
sit under this birch tree and enjoy the shade it gives. Do you feel the
gentle breeze? How refreshing it is. See those two swallow-tailed
butterflies. Be still and they may come near. Yes they are right
at my feet. See how perfect each marking of black is. What is the
use of these pretty flitting things? They have a use or our Heavenly
Father would not have put them here. Their use may be just to make
us think of Him. Do you hear Bob White telling us his name and the
crow above saying caw, caw, caw? Let us be up and off. Just listen
one minute and hear all the different sounds that come from the birds,
the tree toad, and the rustling of the leaves foranaccompaniment. See
that Chickadee in the pine tree yonder, and Oh, see that beautiful Blue-
bird. It is the most beautiful one I have seen this year?
How kind Mother Nature is to show us all these things, and how
kind of our own Heavenly Father to put them on earth so that all who
would, could see them.
Mary F. W. AnvErRsON, (age 14,) Wollaston, Mass.
GLEANINGS,
’Tis always morning somewhere; and above
The awakening continents, from shore to shore,
Somewhere the birds are singing ever more.
—LONGFELLOW.
KINGFISHER.
She rears. her young on yonder tree,
She leaves her faithful mate to mind ’em,
Like us, for fish she sails to sea,
And plunging, shows us where to find ’em.
— ALEX GILSON.
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Photo from life by Dr. J. B. Pardoe.
YOUNG BLUE JAYS.
288 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
BELTED KINGFISHER.
A. O. U. No. 390. (Ceryle aleyon.)
RANGE.
Found commonly throughout North America, from the Arctic Ocean
to Central America. Breeds from the southern parts of the United
States, northwards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length about 12 in.; extent, 22 in.; tail4 in. Bill and feet, blackish.
Eye, dark brown. Top of head, upper parts and band across the fore
part of the breast a bluish slate color. Spot in front of, and crescent
below the eye are white. A broad band around the upper part of the
neck, including the chin is white, as are also the remainder of the under
parts except the band of slate already mentioned. Primaries black,
the outer ones being irregularly barred or mottled with white. Sec-
ondaries black, barred with white and with the outer webs for the
greater part blue gray, these edges completely concealing the black when
the wings are folded. Middle tail feathers gray; the next with the
inner web black barred with white, these latter colors gradually replac-
ing the gray until the outer feathers are entirely black and white. The
female is similar to the male except that below the gray band across
the chest is another one of chestnut which color extends along the sides
also. The young of both sexes resemble the female.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Kingfisher builds its nest at the end of a tunnelinabank. This
tunnel varies in length from two to eight feet; the eggs are laid on the
bare sand at the end of the burrow. The tunnel is dug by the bird and
is used year after year. They lay from six to eight glossy white eggs.
HABITS.
A harsh, dismal rattling cry comes to our ears from some point up
the lake. We listen and again it is repeated. We have ominous
thoughts of riots, the officer’s rattle and the death cry of some animal
or human being, which are dispelled as an odd but handsome bird
perches on a branch overhanging the water and utters the same peculiar
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 289
BELTED KINGFISHER.
290 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
rattle that had caused the misgivings. We watch him with much inter-
est as his bright bead-like eyes keenly scan the depths of the lake be-
low. Without an instants warning we see a flash of gray and white
darting downwards and the quiet surface of the water is ruffled as this
king of fishers disappears beneath. Only an instant is he out of our
sight and then with much splashing of water he emerges with a
struggling fish held firmly in the grasp of his stout beak.
Photo by C. A. Reed.
HOME OF THE KINGFISHER.
Proceeding directly to his original perch, after shaking himself, he
calmly turns the fish half way around; a convulsive movement of the
head and the fish is seen no more, while the fisherman uttering another
rasping rattle, his only attempt at a song, starts off for another hunting
ground. The Kingfisher does not by any means confine his hunting to
the comparatively inactive fish of the lakes and ponds but wanders up
and down brooks where fishing is more difficult.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 291
Photo by C.A Reed.
A FAVORITE FISHING POOL.
The larger trout are fairly successful in avoiding the hooks of human
anglers, but the smaller ones are not so fortunate in escaping the beak
of this more adept feathered angler and he rarely misses his aim. For
a good many years a pair of Kingfishers have made their home along
the banks of a certain small stream within the limits of the city of
Worcester. Here in the solitude of the woods through which the
stream flows, they have regaled themselves on trout, dace, sunfish, etc.
Now and again, amid the babel of the numerous smaller birds, the
warning rattle of one of them will ring out either for conversation with
his mate or as acry of exultation over the capture of another finny crea-
ture. Their nest is in the bank under the roots of an overhanging oak.
Doubtless if we could see the nest at the end of the tunnel we would
292 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
find, as is generally the case where the nest has been used for a num-
ber of years that it would be lined with the bones of fishes that the
young had been fed upon.
Photo from life by J. B. Pardoe.
“LET GO MY WING.”’
Salt water rivers and bays prove just as attractive to these crested
fishers as do inland waters and they are commonly found along the
coast, where they fish for the smaller fry near shore, leaving to the Os-
preys the duty of catching the larger ones. Their vision is so keen
that though the surface of the water may be ruffled so that a person can
Photo from life by J. B. Pardoe.
YOUNG KINGFISHERS.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 293
see nothing in it, they will catch their fish every time. Along the sea
coast they are often seen perched on the masts or shrouds of schooners
or smaller craft that may be at anchor near shore. Another familiar
spectacle is that of a Kingfisher hovering in mid air over the water,
motionless except for the rapidly vibrating wings, watching for a
fish below to get in the proper position for him to make a successful
plunge.
Owing to their non-economic value and the small damage they do by
the killing of young trout, sportsmen and fishermen are advocating the
removal of the law that now gives them protection and favor killing
them all off. Anyone that will advocate such a method shows that he
has little appreciation of the beautiful and no ingenuity of his own or he
would find an original method by which he could keep them away from
hatcheries without injury to the birds.
Photo from life by J. B. Pardoe.
ON GUARD.
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.
A. O. U. No. 595. (Habia ludoviciana.)
RANGE.
Eastern North America, breeding from the middle states northwards
to Labrador and the Saskatchewan. Winters in Mexico and Central
America. It has also been found in Ecuador and Cuba.
DESCRIPTION.
About 8 inches long; the male has the head, neck and upper parts
black; bill, rump, under parts, and markings on the wings and tail,
294 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 295
white; breast, rose-carmine; lining of the under wing, delicate rose.
The female has the upper parts a light brown streaked with darker; a
line over the eye, a slight one below it and one of the middle of the
crown, tips of the wing coverts, and under parts, white; breast and sides
streaked and spotted with brown; bright yellow under the wings, and
sometimes a tinge of the same on the upper part of the breast. I have
also seen a rose tint mixed with the yellow under the wings, and also a
male with the most delicate tint of pink on the rump.
NEST AND EGGS.
The nest of this species, built late in May, is a frail and loosely
woven affair, placed in the top of a bush or on the lower horizontal
limb of a tree.
It is composed outside of small sticks, twigs, or coarse
Photo by J. P. Pardoe.
strawy material, ornamented
with a few skeleton leaves,and is
lined with very fine dry twigs of
some evergreen tree, or with fine
rootlets,and is sometimes finish-
ed with horsehair. The whole
structure is so loosely put to-
gether that one can see through
itfrom below. The eggs which
number four or five, are light
greenish blue,speckled and spot-
ted with brown and lilac, the
markings often thickened or
wreathed about the larger end.
The nest and eggs strongly re-
semble those of the Scarlet
Tanager, both being a sort of
rude log cabin sort of affair for
birds of such “‘distant and high
bred ways.”
296 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
HABITS.
The stranger to our beautiful forests and sylvan retreats will scarcely
know this charming bird, for its favorite haunts are the swampy woods
where the shadows are deep from tangled vines and rank undergrowth;
where blossoms are large and deeply tinted from vegetable molds, and
where the fragrant atmosphere is cooland moist. It delights in thick-
ets forming a border line between field and forest, and startles the
echoes in the lofty arcades of the densest and darkest woodlands. In
such places and rather local in its distribution, the male makes his ap-
pearance in western New York from the first to the tenth of May, and
stretching himself on tiptoe, delivers, in a hurried and spirited manner,
his rare and delightful melody, which strongly resembles the finest per-
formance of the Robin—only the warble is much more copious, con-
tinuously prolonged and finely modulated with a peculiar richness, pur-
ity, and sweet pathos in the tones.
FEMALE GROSBEAK.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 297
All his movements are stately and graceful, and his jet black with
snow-white markings and rose on the breast render him a strikingly
beautiful object among the bright young foliage of early spring; but so
shy and retiring is he at nearly all times, as to be much more frequent-
ly heard than seen. Indeed it often requires careful observation to ob-
tain a glimpse of him. He has been in favor as a cage bird and is said
by some to sing freely in the night. The male seems quite attentive
to the duties of incubation. I have seen him more frequently on the
nest than the female.
In early autumn as the young males go south, they resemble the fe-
males in color and markings, only they are much darker and richer in
tints and are tinged with rose on the throat, crown and under the wings.
A family well represented at this time of year would make a truly
beautiful group. Though closely related to the Sparrows and Finches,
and therefore a seed eating bird in structure, he nevertheless devours
multitudes of insects. Rev. J. H. LANGILLE.
A FEW OF MY FRIENDS,
OW pleasant it is to recall the delight-
ful experiences of our summer ramble!
While walking through a pine forest
one morning in the latter part of June,
it was my fortune to come upon the
nest of an Ovenbird, placed in a hollow
stump. There it was most deftly con-
cealed and I never should have found it
had the little mother remained in the
nest. When one comes upon this bird
by surprise as she is sitting in her little
home, she will suddenly dart out and
try to lead you away from the treasures
that she loves so well. This nest con-
tained four eggs and a few days later,
four young birds that were as helpless as any living creatures could be.
It was not long before they began to feather and I must say that I
never saw so good a case of what ornithologists call protective color-
ation.
But alas. This nest as well as too many others that I found came to
asadend. One day I went to pay them my usual visit and found noth-
ing there, neither nest or birds. Something had torn the nest to atoms,
298 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
and what became of the birds I cannot say. What or who the robber
was, I do not know, but I do know that these tragedies occur all too
frequently in my locality.
I must say something about that noted songster of the south, the
Mocking Bird. Only today I found a nest of this member of the thrush
family. They often build their homes near my residence and here they
sing throughout the nesting season. This bird seems to me to be the
most graceful of all our songsters. He mounts upwards to some tree
top with an ease and grace that is all his own, all the while imitating
the notes of some nearby bird who, I should think would feel ashamed
to be outdone by this winner of the laurel—the Mocking Bird. I have
often heard them singing in the quiet night. Then it seems that he
sings with a sweetness that is rarely equalled by any other bird.
There are many other birds that I frequently see in my rambles; among
them I might mention the Red-headed Woodpecker, Cardinal, Summer
Redbird, various sparrows, Thrushes and the like.
My favorite of all the birds is the Wood Thrush. Last season a pair
of them built their nest near a country homestead where I was stop-
ping and I had ample opportunity for observing their winning ways.
Very frequently the male would sing in the locusts and oaks near the
door. What a thrilling musical tone he has. Every time I hear his
song it has some new attraction. CLEMENT S. BRYAN.
GLEANINGS,
Then the little Hiawatha
Learned of every bird its language.
Learned their names and all their secrets,
How they built their nests in summer,
Where they hid themselves in winter.
And the birds sang round him, o’er him,
“Do not shoot us, Hiawatha.”’
Sang the Opechee, the Robin,
Sang the Bluebird, the Owaissa,
“Do not shoot us, Hiawatha.”’
— LONGFELLOW.
So the struck eagle, stretched upon the plain
No more through rolling clouds to soar again,
Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart
And winged the shaft that quivered in his heart.
—Byron,
300 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No. 9.
; Rails.
No. 208. King Rail, (Radlus elegans.)
Found in the fresh water marshes of. eastern U. S.
North to the border of the U. S. Length 18 inches.
Above, streaked with black and tawny brown, the
central portions of each feather being the darkest.
Back of head and neck brown. Wing coverts. rich
chestnut. Throat and chin white. Sides of head,
neck, breast and below, a rich reddish brown. Flanks
and lining of wings blackish brown, barred with white.
Eye, bill, and feet, brownish.
No. 212. Virginia Rail, (Rad/us virginianus).
North America to the British Provinces. Length,
10 inches. Very similar in coloration ‘to .the last
species except in the matter of size, averaging perhaps
a trifle darker
No. 214. Sora Rail, (Porgana carolina.)
Found in temperate North America, but less common-
ly on the Pacific coast. Length, 9 in. Above, olive
brown, streaked with black and white, the latter also
in specks. Face and middle of throat, black. Re-
mainder of throat, breast, and a line over the eye, gray.
. Sides and flanks faintly barred with black. Young
birds lack the black face, the throat is white and the
breast brownish.
No. 215. Yellow Rail, (Porzana novebora-
censis.)
North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
North to Hudson Bay and Nova Scotia. Length, 6
inches. Above streaked with black and yellowish
brown and marked with numerous curved bars of
white. Under parts pale brownish yellow. Flanks
barred with white and black.
No. 216. Black Rail, (Porzana jamaicensis.)
Found in temperate North America from the Atlan-
tic to the Pacific, south of the Canadian border. Length,
5-5 inches. Above, black finely spotted and barred
with white. Hind, neck and upper part of back
dark chestnut. Head and under parts, dark slate
color. Flanks and under tail coverts barred with
white. The female is paler below and quite whitish on
the throat
No 216, 1. Farallone Black Rail (Porzana
coturniculus.)
Is much like the last, perhaps a trifle smaller and
with few specks of white on the back. It is limited to
the Farallone Islands off the coast of California.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 301
Ducks.
No. 146. Redhead, (Ayvthva americana.)
Entire North America breeding from the northern
tier of states northwards. Length, about 19.5 inches.
Male;—Bill, legs, and feet, grayish blue, the former
with a black band across the tip. Iris orange. Lower
neck, upper parts of the back, chest, rump, upper and
lower tail coverts, black. Back, scapulars, and sides
grayish white, finely barred with black. Wing coverts
and speculum ash gray, the latter bordered above with
* black and below with white. Bill, broadest at the tip
and at the base taking an abrupt upward turn forming
a very different angle to that of the Canvas-back.
Female;—Head and neck, brownish, shading to whitish
on the chin and throat. Back, grayish brown. Wing
coverts and secondaries pearly gray. Chest and flanks
grayish brown.
No. 147. Canvas-back, (Aythya vailisneria).
Whole of North America, breeding north of U. S.
except in the west. Length, 20 inches. Bill, black.
Eye, red. Legs and feet, dark brownish. Top of
head and chin, black. Rest of head and neck reddish
brown. Upper back, chest, rump, upper and lower
tail coverts, black. Rest of upper and lower parts
white, finely waved on the back and sides with black.
Bill slopes very gradually from the top of head. Fe-
male;—Head, neck, chest and upper back, brownish.
Rest Of upper parts dark brown slightly barred with
ashy white. Wing coverts ashy. Under parts white.
No. 148. American Scaup Duck, (Aythya
marita nearctica).
Length, t9 inches. Head and neck (with green re-
flection), forepart of back, chest, rump, upper and
lower tail coverts, black. Back, sides and flanks,
white, finely waved with black. Wing coverts black-
ish. Speculum, white. Primaries, dark brown. Un-
der parts white. Bill, blue gray. Eye, yellow. Legs
and feet, brown. Female;—With the exception of a
whitish forehead, the entire head, neck, breast, and
upper parts are brown. Feathers on the back slightly
barred with white. Wings brown with a white specu-
lum. Belly white.
No. 149. Lesser Scaup, (Aythya affinis).
Whole of North America. Length, about 16 inches.
The male differs from the former in being smaller and
having purple reflections on his black head. Practical-
ly no difference except in size between this and the
last female.
No. 150. Ring-necked Duck, (Aythya collaris).
Entire N. A. Length, 17 inches. Somewhat simi-
lar to the last two varieties. A triangular patch of
white on the throat, and a reddish brown collar around
the neck. Head glossed with purple, and back, black,
glossed with green. Speculum, gray. Under parts
white. Bill, black, with the edges, base, and band
near the tip, bluish white. Female;—Top of head.
back of neck, back and wings, dark brown. Forehead,
eyelids, chin, throat and neck in front yellowish white,
Speculum, gray. Rump, black. Tail and upper cov-
erts and breast brown, the feathers tipped with yellow-
ish. Under parts white.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 303
AMERICAN REDSTART,
A. O. U. No. 687. (Setophaga ruticilia.)
RANGE.
Entire North America south of middle Canada. It is more abund-
ant in the middle and eastern portions and is only found casually in
California. Breeds from the middle United States northwards, and
winters in Cuba, Mexico and Central America.
DESCRIPTION.
engi, 5.5, iis. extent, O in; tail, 2-5 ins, Bill and feet, black: Eye,
brown. Male:—Entire head, neck, and upper parts, a rich glossy blue-
black. Remainder of under parts, white except the sides and under
lining of the wings, which are a bright orange flame color. <A band
across the outer tail feathers and another across the wing formed by
the basal portions of the quill feathers are of the same color.
Female:—The black of the upper parts of the male is replaced with
an olive gray rather more ashy on the crown, and the white of the
under parts includes also the chin, throat and breast. The bright
orange of the male is on the female a rich yellow. Eye lids and a
stripe in front of the eye, are whitish. Young males resemble the
female and do not gain their fullest plumage until the third year, the
black gradually appearing upon them in patches.
NEST AND EGGS.
Redstarts build a beautiful and substantial nest of shreds of plants
and spiders webs and line it skillfully with fine grasses and hair. This
they sometimes saddle on a limb but much more often secure in a
crotch of some bush or small tree at heights varying from four to
twenty feet. They lay four or five pinkish white eggs which are rather
more elongated than those of the Yellow Warbler. These are marked
more thickly about the larger end with spots and specks of different
shades of brown and gray.
HABITS
This warbler is small but he is very much in evidence wherever found
because of his striking coloration, vivacious manners, and often repeat-
ed high-pitched song, if the rapid repetition of a single syllable may be
designated as such. Although uncommon on the Pacific coast, this
warbler is to be noted as one of the very few whose range extends
across the Continent. Their more common habits may be found in the
following account:
304 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
FEMALE REDSTART.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 305
A FAMILY OF REDSTARTS.
HE morning of June second found
me threading my way along a nar-
row foot path that wound its way in
and out through one of the most
delightful pieces of woodland that
ever a bird sang within. As. I
walked slowly along, I was separat-
ing, by their voices, the many varie-
ties of birds whose babble was filling
the woods with melody. A ‘brisk,
familiar ‘““Chee-chee-chee’’ close be-
side me is evidence that a Redstart
is busily engaged at his work. I
instinctively part the bushes and
catch a glimpse of him in the act of
tearing fragments from a caterpil-
lar’s nest. This material he carried
across the path to a small maple
about twenty feet from me, and wound it about the framework of a nest
that the two birds were just building. Before he left, his less gaudy
mate appeared with a like load, which she carefully and skillfully wove
in the growing home. Seated under the shade of a young tree not
more than six or eight feet distant, I watched the nest building opera-
tion for the following two hours, and learned a great deal about the
temperaments of these particular birds.
The male was one of the brightest of Redstarts that I have ever seen.
He was very proud and conceited too. His mate too was fully as beau-
tiful.
Undoubtedly she knew more about house-building than he, although
she could not convince him, and whenever she objected to his manner
of doing the work, he promptly drove her away with seemingly savage,
yet playful snapping of his beak. They were exceedingly active in all
their movements, and the way they would dodge around trees, over
and under the brush, taxed my eyes to follow their movements. Inthe
end, as is generally the case, she had her way about everything, for as
soon as his back was turned to go on another journey after building
material, she would set to work to arrange everything as she wished.
Naturally, with so much play, the nest grew very slowly and it was
over a week from the time I first saw them before the first egg was
laid.
A week later the nest contained four possibilities of future Redstarts
306
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
MALE REDSTART FEEDING HIS YOUNG.
| This is the same nest as shown in the previous photos, but is taken from another quarter. ],
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 307
and I decided it was time for me to act if I wished any record of this
nest, as I knew from experience the sad results that are very apt to
occur should a nest be found by certain beasts, birds, or boys. With
little difficulty I secured a good likeness of the female as she was about
to descend to the eggs. The male bird at this time was literally ‘“‘out
of a job’’ for I never saw him assist her in the duties of incubation and
only once did I see him feed her while she was on the nest. Most of
his time appeared to be spent in the tops of the taller trees catching
insects and driving away all other small‘birds that came anywhere near
him.
With the advent of the young birds came an end to his period of loaf-
ing and he did his duty manfully and with a great deal of enthusiasm.
On an average of about once in every five minutes, one or the other of
the parent birds came to the nest with a load of provisions with which
to fill four gaping yellow mouths.
The actions of the two adult'birds proved'to be entirely different in
the presence of the camera. The male showed a disdain for it that was
amusing. I placed the outfit in position while he was off foraging and
had my head under the focussing cloth, when I felt a rush of air, a
e
a Al oF
J
q
[a
Ke
Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
« BROODING HER YOUNG.
308 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
bright streak flashed across the ground glass, and the next instant the
male Redstart was bending over his eager children. How I longed to
reproduce the picture that I saw on the glass as he fed them in turn,
his wings quivering in his enthusiasm and his tail opening and shutting
like afan. At no time did he appear afraid but he never became fa-
miliar. The female was rather timid at first and approached the nest
cautiously until we had been acquainted several days. Then she be-
came very confiding and was continually searching for food close by, a
number of times perching on my shoe while she carefully scrutinized
me to see if I meant harm. They had a very bright quartet of young-
sters and when they were a week old their curiosity was fully developed.
They had the faintest suspicion of feathers on them, and when their
parents were foraging, their bald heads would be hanging over the
edges of the nest in a seemingly lifeless manner, but by watching
closely it could be seen that their half open eyes took in everything
that was going on about them. That young birds are sometimes
naughty is shown by the illustration of the female attempting to brood
her young. She kept turning this way and that in the endeavorto keep
them all under her, but they would persist in poking their heads up to
see what was going on. The one on the right really looks as though
he were laughing at her vain attempts to control him.
The nest which is plenty large enough for the full set of eggs and
the young in the early stage, is shown by the last photograph in this
series to be far too small for them as they grow older. We cannot but
pity the poor little fellow that is vainly trying to push his way up from
the bottom of the heap, but we can rest assured that when it comes his
turn to dine, even if he has not succeeded in forcing his way to a more
comfortable position, he will not be forgotten. At no time while I was
watching them, did I see the old birds feed them large insects and
moths such as many of the smaller birds frequently do. Their food
was made up entirely of small insects and various worms.
PRAIRIE HEN,
A. O.U. No. 305. (Tympanuchus americanus.)
RANGE.
Common on the prairies throughout the Mississippi Valley. Form-
erly they ranged throughout eastern United States but they have been
gradually forced back to their present habitat. Their range is limited
on the north to Wisconsin and on the south to Texas and Louisiana.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 309
DESCRIPTION.
Length from 16 to 18 in.; the males being the largest; extent, about
28 in.; tail, 4.5 in. | Eye, bill, and feet, brownish. Upper parts varie-
gated with black, tawny, brown and white. Under parts regularly
barred with brown and white. Throat and legs, which are feathered to
the toes, tawny. Tail, blackish-brown and terminating in a narrow
edge of white. A lengthened tuft of feathers varying from two to
three and a half in. long, project from either side of the neck. These
are black, mottled towards the tips with brown and tawny. These
feathers on the female are much shorter and sometimes hardly notic-
able.
NEST AND EGGS.
The nest is placed on the ground under a bush or at the foot of a
thick clump of prairie grass. It is only a slight hollow in the earth,
lined with a few dead leaves and feathers. They commenee laying
about the last of April. A full set may contain from eight to sixteen
eggs, although they rarely exceed twelve in number. These are of a
buff or pale olive green color and are sometimes sprinkled with brown.
HABITS.
A good many years ago, Prairie Chickens or Pinnated Grouse were
found in abundance from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky Mountains,
but from various causes they have been gradually forced to limit their
range till they have made a final stand on the prairies of the Mississippi
Valley. To all appearances now, they will be able to hold their own in
this section. Even now during the winter months large numbers of
them come east to visit the homes of their ancestors. They come not
as living birds but as inanimate bits of frozen flesh covered with feath-
ers, and are displayed by hundreds in all the markets. They form a
carpet for the windows, and strings of them decorate the store fronts.
It does seem wonderful, with the thousands upon thousands of them
that are shot every fall, that there should be a single bird left alive.
When hunted with a dog, they are said to lie close and flush two or
three at a time, giving the hunter an opportunity toload between times,
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
310
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PRAIRIE HEN.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. ee
so that he can secure the whole flock and then lament that there were
not more that he could kill.
In the spring, Prairie Hens are found in large flocks preparatory to
breaking up into pairs for the summer. At this season the booming of
the males may be heard every morning. Underneath the tufts of feath-
ers or pinnates that adorn the sides of their neck, is a small sack which
the bird inflates to about the size, and this appendage is about the
color of a small orange. When the air is forced out of this sac it pro-
duces a booming sound not unlike the low notes of a powerful organ.
Mr. A. Kk. Boyles writes that he has seen them when they were in the
midst of their mating performances. He constructed a blind of grass
mounted on two wheels, which contrivance he pushed into a flock of
booming chickens. Some forty birds took part in this ceremony. The
hens were grouped on both sides and watched the exhibition with great
iuterest and admiration. Two of the male birds would take their posi-
tions at about twenty feet apart, and suddenly, with pinnates extended
and the sacs filled to their limit, would rush towards each other, at the
same time giving their booming note.
Just at the instant that you would expect to see them crash into each
other, one of them would leap into the air and the other pass safely
under him. The strangest part of the proceeding was that they seemed
to have some understanding before the rush so that each would know
which was to jump and thus avoid the collision that would be inevitable
should any mistake occur. All the males in turn would go through the
same performance and rush between the lines of their admirers.
Every morning for about a week this exhibition is given. By this
time all the females have selected their partners. Now comes the time
when these contests, which up to now have been mere exhibitions, be-
come areality. There are generally a few of the males that are left
without mates. These attempt to purloin those of some of the successful
ones and the fight is on in earnest. Generally no harm is done other
than the loss of a few feathers and possibly, injury to the feeling of the
vanquished one. Having settled down to a peaceable domestic life,
they select a suitable clump of grass under which to build their home.
The young chicks, like those of all the game birds are very lively and
as soon as hatched it is a difficult matter to catch them.
As soon as the young are able to fly, all the broods in the vicinity
together with the old birds form into a large band, sometimes number-
ing three or four hundred individuals. In this way they pass the win-
ter and if the weather is too cold the greater part of the young and
females migrate to the southwards.
312 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
OUR YOUNG
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
DEAR YOUNG FOLKS:
Probably some of you have seen persons or animals that are called
albinos, because of the lack of certain coloring matter beneath the skin;
one of Waterbury’s bird-lovers made the acquaintance of an albino
robin last summer. The bird’s breast was red, but there were large
patches of white upon the back and outer tail feathers, while its bill and
eyes were pink, When the robin moulted in the fall it donned the nat-
ural colors worn by its mates. The same lady told of another robin
which wore an overcoat of glossy black instead of rusty gray.
A number of years ago we were visited by a white robin for two
summers. Perhaps some of our little readers can tell us of some such
ghostly visitors which they have had.
It was great fun to watch some birds taking their bath the other
morning, they seemed to enjoy the cold plunge, and splashing, and then
what a long time it took to get every feather smoothed and cared for.
You,—Madge Curlylocks—think it takes a long time to get the tangles
from your hair, but these little fellows have a greatertask. You have
often seen puss wash her face and comb her hair with her paw, but
what do the birds do for a comb and brush? It has only its tiny bill,
and did you know that each one of these little feathered folk uses hair
oil; and carries a supply in a little gland at the root of the tail, with
which he dresses his feathers? °
Our Roll of Honor has but three names this month. Perhaps the
puzzles have grown a little harder, or was it because August was the
last vacation month, and time was too precious to spend on puzzles?
The September puzzles were still harder, but I am sure you will suc-
ceed in finding the answers to some of them.
Your Friend,
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 213
ANSWERS TO SEPTEMBER PUZZLES,
Charade 1. Nightingale. Charade 2. Maryland Yellow-throat.
Birds resembling English Sparrows incoloring. Sparrows, Chipping,
Field, Fox, Grasshopper, Ipswich, Savanna, Seaside, Sharp-tailed,
Song, Swamp, Tree, Vesper, White-crowned, White-throated, the
Goldfinch in winter plumage, also the females of the Bobolink, the
Red-winged Blackbird, the Red-poll, Purple Finch, Indigo Bunting,
and the Grosbeaks,
ROLL OF HONOR.—Irene Williams, Platteville, Wis.; N. Pearl
Heath, Grand Forks, N. D.; Stafford Francis, Exeter, N. H.
PREACHER OR YELLOW JOURNALIST, WHICH?
Have you ever been to a corn roast? If you have not, you have
missed a deal of fun. First, you find a grassy slope where the sun-
shine sifts down between the quivering leaves of tall trees upon the
gay flowers and feathery ferns which nod by the brook, for of course
there must be a brook, to furnish music as it- ripples along over the
Photo from Life.
REDEYED VIREO.
(Preacher Bird)
314 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
treacherous stones which roll you splash, into the water as you essay
to cross on them. Then within a circle of stones you build a fire of
charcoal, (if you can build it within the fairy’s mushroom, ’twill bring
you good luck.) Over the glowing coals hold the milky ears of corn,
pierced to the heart by sharp-pointed wooden bayonet toasters. | What
an appetizing odor! If you never cared for corn before you will enjoy
it now, and the striped chipmunks and chattering squirrels will enjoy
their share too, while the birds overhead fly back and forth, and wonder
what the stir in their woods is all about.
This is what we did on one delightful August day. When the feast
was over we buried a bag of charcoal which had not been needed,
among the leaves at the base of a birch sapling, to use at some other
outing should it remain undisturbed. But this is not the story I start-
ed to tell you. What I want to tell you is of the notice which a little
olive green bird posted in our picnic grounds of a year ago. Jack
Frost visited the green wood, Winter wrapped soft white blankets about
it, and the earth was newly dressed in fresh green robes, ere we passed
that way again. We stopped at our old camp. The coal was gone.
But what do you suppose we found. From a slende: forked branch of
the tiny birch which stood guard over our buried treasure, swung the
deserted gray nest of a ‘‘preacher’’ bird—the Red-eyed Vireo, with its
fibers of bark, cobwebs, moss, leaves and grass, and with the usual lit-
erary instincts of the Vireo family, bits of newspaper were daintily
interwoven with.the fabric of the swaying cup. However the bird had
not gone without leaving a message for us. Ona bit of paper securely
fastened into the bottom of the nest was printed in large letters,
—‘NONE IN -FIRST CLASS’’—and turning the nest over, this is
what we read upon a piece which decorated the’ side—that—Harbor—
that on May 27th supply of coal was taken—there were about forty tons.
NUMERICAL ENIGMA.
Boys take a 5-2-3 and get some 7, 6, 5, 7, 6, 3, 1, from the orchard,
for your 4, 8, 2, 9, mother to 7, 2, 9, 8, for some 5, 6, 8, 1, then when
the mail 2, 7, 5, 8, 2, 9, 1, you can go down by the brook and perhaps
you will see al, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, getting its breakfast.
My Ist is in drowned, and also in rain.
My 2nd is found in every green lane,
My 3rd is in wave, but never in flag.
My 4th is in brave, but not once in brag.
My 5th is in snake. Now place them aright,
These five letters spell a bird black as night.
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Entered at the Post Office at Worcester, Mass. as second-class matter, Jan, 16, rgor
The New Nature Library
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34 Union Square, East, New York.
Photo by C. A. Smith.
NEST AND EGGS OF RED-EYED VIREO.
316 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
RED-EYED VIREO.
A. O. U. No. 624. (Vireo olivaceus. )
RANGE.
Found throughout North America, east of the Rockies and from the
arctic regions south. Breeds throughout its range.
DESCRIPTION,
Length, 6 in.; extent, 10 in.; tail, 2.5 in. Eyes reddish brown. Bill
dark above and lighter below. Feet grayish. Upper parts olive green.
Crown grayish with a blackish stripe on either side. A white stripe
extends over the eye and a dusky one from the bill through the eye.
The under parts are white, tinged with yellowish green on the sides and
under tail coverts. Wings and tail dusky, the outer edges of the feath-
ers being olive.
NEST AND EGGS.
The Red-eyed builds a beautiful substantial basket like nest, which
is suspended from the fork of a tree or bush and is generally located
from one to ten feet from the ground. The outside of the nest is skill-
fully woven with vegetable fibres, bark, and sometimes bits of paper
and twine. It is lined with fine grasses and horsehair. The three or
four eggs are laid during May or June and are white with a few specks
of reddish-brown around the larger end.
THE HOME LIFE OF A VIREO.
RINGING with them the
good cheer of the South,
the Red-eyed Vireos reach
the northern boundary of
the United States about
the middle of May. From
morning till night, regard-
less of the weather, they
pour forth song after song,
and seem to be the most
independent, happy-go-
lucky fellows of the bird
world. Business seems a
pleasure to them and all
day long they clamber
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 317
Fig. 1. Photo from life by C. A. Reed
A COMFORTABLE HOME.
[June 18, Cloudy. 1-25 Sec. f. 4.]
318 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
about among the leaves freeing the trees from vermin and singing all
the while. Very painstaking about their work they are, and every
portion of the leaves is carefully searched both above and below, and
the attitudes they assume are ridiculous in the extreme. Woodland
composed of large trees rather than the smaller growths seems to be
preferred, probably because of the greater abundance of their desired
food. They are not in the least afraid of mankind or modern improve-
ments, and are frequently heard about the houses even in large cities
wherever there are large trees. Their song might be likened to a
whistling interpretation of the word “‘Vireo,”’ this being continually re-
peated with countless variations as to accent and syllables. For hours
at a time this music is heard with only short pauses when the bird stops
to take breath or to swallow a morsel that he has found. I know ofno
other bird than the Vireos who are such persistent songsters. What-
ever they are doing has to be done in time to the music. I have often
seen one of them hanging head down from the under side of a branch
and looking over the under surfaces of the leaves, but still singing as
sweetly as though in a normal position.
- However welcome their song may be in some gloomy piece of woods,
deserted by all the other birds, it becomes quite monotonous at times,
and often upsets the equanimity of the observer who is earnestly try-
ing to locate or identify some unknown species of bird by his song.
‘Aside from their noise, Red-eyed Vireos are rather quiet mannered
birds and seem to be slow to anger, but when they do get aroused they
go at their opponent with a vim, and utter a harsh screech which gen-
erally puts him to flight at the first onslaught.
During the two weeks following June 10th of this year, I had a very
pleasant acquaintance with an unusually bright pair of Vireos. It was
on that date that I first saw their nest. It then contained four eggs.
This nest was discovered by seeing one of the birds fly past with a
piece of paper inits bill. I followed and was just in time to see the
Vireo carefully weaving it into the outside structure to repair some
point that did not just suit them.
They had chosen for their summer residence, one of the prettiest
places ever selected by a pair of Vireos. It was in a pleasant piece of
woods overlooking Lake Quinsagamond. Not only were their natural
surroundings pleasant, but they had congenial neighbors too. This
latter fact added a great deal to my pleasure in the scene. Sitting
under the shade of a giant chestnut tree within ten feet of the Vireos
nest, I could plainly see with my glass all that transpired at the nest of
the Redstart that was shown last month. Within about six feet of and
behind me was the nest of an Ovenbird, and the owner of that domicile
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 319
Fig. 2. Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
ALWAYS HUNGRY.
{June 18, Cloudy. 1-100 sec. f 4.]
320 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
chattered and scolded a great deal over my presence. Undoubtedly
you would also be interested in a number of other neighbors who had
taken up their homes within one hundred yards of that of these Vireos.
In a tangle of blackberry vines just beside the path where it enters the
woods was a Catbirds nest occupied by four greenisheggs. These birds
were always the first to greet me when I came. Their notes of warn-
ing were generally followed by a resonant thrilling whistle and I knew
that the Wood Thrush was still there. His nest was located in the
alders overhanging the bed of a small brook.
Fig. 3. Photo from life.
THIS OUGHT TO KEEP THEM QUIET.
[Taken Junerg. Bright sunlight. 1-100 Sec, f. 8.|
A few yards farther on was the nest of a pretty Chestnut-sided Warb-
ler. It was artfully hidden in the top of a small oak bush about three
feet from the ground. She was not timid in the least and nearly al-
ways as I went by I would lift the leaf that hid her from view to catch
a glimpse of the bright little eyes watching me from under a crown of
gold. Sometimes she would even allow me to stroke her back. Half
a dozen White-breasted Nuthatches were playfully chasing one another
up and down and around the tree trunks. They were mostly young
birds who had recently graduated from their nest, which was in a hol-
low branch of the chestnut tree directly over the Vireo. Down in the
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 321
hollow on the other side of the hill were the nests of a Towhee, Brown
Thrasher, Wilson’s Thrush, Indigo Bunting, and Prairie Warbler,' all
within a square of not more than twenty-five feet.
Fig. 4. Photo from life.
FOOLED THE CAMERA THIS TIME.
Amid these surroundings you can imagine that I was not lonesome
at any time. But to get back to our Vireo. The eggs were well incu-
bated and she sat very closely to them. From time to time the male
bird brought her food so that she did not have to leave. I have said
that these were a very bright pair of Vireos. An examination of the
illustration willshow why. In Fig. 1, you will notice the easy com-
fortable position that the bird has assumed. Fig. 2 shows the contour
of the rim of the nest to better advantage; notice the sag in the rim be-
tween the points where it is joined to the branch. This allows her tail
to project over the rim and the long V shape of the opposite end of
the nest gives ample room for her to sit in a perfectly natural position.
Compare her position with that of the bird in Fig. 6. This one was
obliged to sit with her head thrown back and tail in an upright position.
She does not look nearly as comfortable as her neighbor, for these
birds are neighbors too, their homes being not more than four hundred
feet apart.
Three days after I found the nest, the eggs hatched and when the
young were five days old I first used the camera in connection with
these Vireos. When I placed the camera in position, the female was
brooding her young and the male was standing on the back edge of the
322 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
nest. Whata picture they would make if I could but get in readiness
before they flew off. But, no. It was not to be. Just as I was draw-
ing the slide, off they went and not another opportunity did I get to
take them at the nest together. On this day, June 18th, I had the nest
under observation from 10 a. m., until 1 o’clock, and during that time
the young were fed with clock like precision, beginning within less
than ten minutes after I had placed the camera and retired. The long-
est period during which the adults were absent was seven minutes and
Fig. 5. Photo from life by C. A. Reed.
ENTERING BY THE BACK DOOR.
the shortest two minutes. However their time of absence generally
varied but a few seconds from five minutes, and the two birds either
arrived together or within a minute of each other. One would always
wait'on the nest branch just out of the field of view of the camera,
while the other fed the young, and immediately hop to the nest when
the other flew away. They fed them chiefly on various worms and
caterpillars, varied occasionally with dragon flies and small moths.
During the three hours I made four exposures to illustrate various atti-
tudes, but only two of them were good owing to rapid movement of
the young. Fig. 2 shows a number of interesting points. Notice how
the male has his bill thrust down the young bird’s throat. This is the
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 323
manner in which nearly all birds feed their young, but it is a difficult
situation to photograph as both the old and young are generally rapid-
ly moving at this instant. We see too that the fortunate young Vireo
that is being fed also has his head raised higher than his companions.
It is a fact that I have noticed in nearly all cases that I have observed,
that the young whose turn it is to be fed next will have his head the
highest.
See the little fellow in front. What a supplicant expression he has.
I should judge that he was two or three days younger than the others,
but when it came his turn to partake of food, someway or other he
always managed to climb up over them so as to be ready. I know that
the egg from which this little fellow emerged had not hatched on the
day when the other two did, and one of the eggs did not hatch at all.
This one remained in the nest unbroken until all the young had flown.
One other interesting feature is shown by the young bird on the
right. Notice the double impression of his lower mandible and the
sweep between them, while the upper mandible is sharp. This shows
that his head was rapidly oscillating about the upper bill as an axis.
This movement peculiar to all young birds is one of the chief causes of
failure when taking this class of photographs. The motion is usually
Fig. 6. PLoto fio a life.
324 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
a swaying one rather than a rotary, and the result is generally to blur
the picture.
The next day I caught the male bird (photographically) as he was
bringing a dragon fly (Fig. 3.) This insect had been specially pre-
pared for young birds and was divested of wings and all but one of its
legs. To my astonishment, the male Vireo stepped up and cooly
thrust this large insect headfirst down the throat of his smallest little
one. About two inches of the flies body was left projecting from the
young birds mouth and his contortions as he slowly but surely swal-
lowed it were painful to watch. It was fully four minutes before the
last of the dragon fly disappeared and the diner settled down in the
nest to rest. For about fifteen minutes the head of this particular bird
was invisible but at the end of that time it bobbed up as earnestly and
wide open as before. The effect of motion on a dry plate is shown in
Fig. 4. Here the movement of the adults head is clearly indicated by
the streaks which extend from the breast to the bill showing the sweep
of the bird’s head during the early part of the exposure. One hundredth
part of a second, which is the quickest exposure obtainable on most
lens shutters, seems to be aremarkably short time to non-camerausers,
but it is entirely too long in which to photograph a moving object at
short range even though the motion be slight.
The odd appearance of a Vireo face too, is well shown in Fig. 5.
This is the nest mentioned previously in this article. The bird is just
returning to sit upon the eggs which are in the nest although it is so
deep that it conceals them. After she had settled down as comfortable
as she could owing to the limited quarters, I walked up, changed the
plate and made the photo for Fig. 6 without disturbing her. She
showed a decided lack of judgment in the choosing of the place for her
nest. It was swung from a young oak and was built nearer the ground
than I have ever before seen one of this species. When I first saw the
nest it held one egg and at that time the bottom of the nest was within
six inches of the ground. When the photograph No. 6 was taken, the
weight of the four eggs, bird, and increased growth of leaves had
caused the bottom to touch the ground, While the nest was perfectly
concealed from above, the eggs had been there less than a week before
they formed a meal for one of the numerous red squirrels or chipmunks,
both of which fairly abounded throughout the woods.
ete” SS
a
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 325
THE WARBLING VIREO,
““Dear me, dear me; hear me, hear me.’”’
What’s the matter pray?
Clatter, clatter; chatter, chatter,
All the livelong day.
Up among the bloom and leaf,
Peeping out from underneath,
Little bird so pretty, O,
Don’t you ever stop to breathe,
Darling little Vireo?
Trees that screen it, dainty greenlet,
Never screen its song.
‘What so happy, O, as the Vireo?”
Ringeth loud and long.
What so cheery, O, as the Vireo,
What so jolly, O, sweet,
‘“‘What so merry, O, as the Vireo?”
All the leaves repeat.
If rain doth spatter, thunder clatter,
Still for a bit I’ll be.
But the sun’s behind it, I never mind it,
Safe up in my tree.
It doesn’t matter, the clouds will scatter,
So I rest myself a wee,
Then clatter, clatter, chatter, chatter,
Over lawn and lee.
“Hear me, the Vireo, all so merry, O.”’
Bubbling in my tree.
My mate, you’ve heard, is a lovely bird,
Looks just like me, so neat,
In our home on the limb, all snug and trim,
Is my little wife, so sweet.
Greenish brown is her quiet gown,
White is her downy breast.
Sweet, have no fear for I’m very near.
To the place I love the best.
When the nestlings come to our little home,
326
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
My joy will be complete.
Then what so happy, O, as the Vireo,
What so merry, O, sweet?
I’ve the gift of tongues. I can make a speech.
I can give a sharp little Cat-bird screech.
Me-a. Me-a.
All the little bugs they try to flee
And hide themselves in the bark of the tree,
But they’re not spry enough for me.
Me-a. Me-a.
I turn a somersault with perfect ease.
I swing from twig to twig of the trees.
I work so hard and I try to please.
Me-a. Me-a.
I cock my quick little roguish eye
When you stand so near and whistle'and spy.
My little gray cap’s almost awry,
My tail’s spread out like a V;
But you’d never harm a Vireo,
Merry little Vireo, pretty little Vireo, see.
What so cheery, O, as the Vireo,
What so jolly, O, tweet.
What so happy, O, as the Vireo,
What so merry, O, sweet?
BERTHA A. JOSLIN.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 327
A PATCH OF SUNSHINE,
HAD been searching all the morning
for a luna moth, but so far had been un-
successful; and yet I knew that this was
a good hunting ground. I had often
found their cocoons among the dry
leaves or attached to a slender branch
of some low-growing shrub. Andmore
than once, during my evening rambles,
I had caught brief glimpses of green
wings floating indistinctly among the
shadows. Even by daylight it was dim
and cool in these woods, and the leafy
recesses were full of mysterious whis-
pers. Overhead the branches were
thickly interlocked, and from behind the
Swaying lattices came the rich notes of
unseen choristers. I walked onas softly
as possible, and tried to separate my
favorites from the multitude of voices.
Occasionally squirrels chattered to me
from neighboring branches, and once
a rabbit scurried across my path and
paused for a moment to give mea timid
glance of inquiry ere he disappeared
under a dense mass of laurel.
Small white moths fluttered among the undergrowth, and now and
then made blundering excursions about my face. Presently I came to
a small open space where a stream of sunshine came glancing down
through the trees. A large chestnut had been overthrown by some
recent gale, and its upturned roots, and the irregular fringe of low blue
huckleberries which surrounded them were bathed in the golden shower;
and all the chirping and twittering birds of the neighborhood, and all
the butterflies and bugs and small insects, seemed to have gathered in
the sunshine to holda carnival of joy. An Oriole held possession of
the highest root, and from this point of vantage was pouring down an
uninterrupted medley of brilliant notes. A pair of Wrens were hop-
ping from one point to another, or making swift circles about the trunk,
darting in here and there among the roots after some insect which the
warm sunshine had lured into danger. As I sat down as softly as pos-
sible, upon a mossy stone a few yards away, subdued twitters of satis-
faction came to me from a space under the roots. I could not see the
328 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
owner of the cheery voice, but I knew that my friend the Sparrow was
pleasantly engaged in some private enterprise of his own. But I was
most interested in a small warbler who was taking a sun bath. Hehad
selected a spot a little apart from the others, and was in the height of
luxurious enjoyment when I appeared. As I sat down upon the stone
I was careful not to disturb him by the crackling of a twig or the rust-
ling of aleaf. But I need not have feared. The bird was evidently
too far gone in ecstacy to be conscious of his surroundings. Appar-
ently he was oblivious of everything but his own enjoyment. Each
particular feather stood on end, even to the small ones of his head, and
he was constantly putting himself into grotesque attitudes. Now he
stood up very tall, with neck stretched and tail flirted out to its fullest
extent; again he leaned far over on one side and lifted his wings, one
after the other, so that the sunshine could penetrate every part.. And
after his bath was finished, he spent fully half an hour preening himself.
Each feather was carefully dressed many times over, and his head
combed with his claws again and again. And not until each individual
feather was atranged to his complete satisfaction, did he seek the roots
and join the Wrens in their search after delicate morsels.
In the opposite side of the open space was a large oak, and far up
among its branches I had seen frequent gleams of red. Feeling sure
that a cardinal bird’s nest was somewhere in the vicinity, I half rose,
intending to examine the tree more closely. But at that moment the
tender opening notes of a serenade fell upon my ear, and, glancing up,
I saw a gay troubadour of a bird balancing himself on a slender twig,
and evidently trying to attract the attention of some sylvan beauty hid-
den behind the network of branches. Resuming my seat upon the
stone, I arranged myself for an hour’s rare entertainment. And I was
not disappointed.
When I again arose, the patch of sunshine had shifted from the roots
of the fallen chestnut, and was creeping back under the large oak.
Most of the birds had disappeared, and the music of the insects had
dwindled to the dull hum of a solitary bumble bee and the strident
whirr of a pair of dragon flies that had wandered up from a neighbor-
ing swamp.
One of the small white moths fluttered past me, and I idly watched
him as he settled down among the leaves of a laurel thicket.
Then I noticed the peculiar movement of what appeared to be one otf
the leaves, and I stepped forward for a closer examination. As I part-
ed the branches, a large green moth, with purple-bordered wings and
yellow antennae rose sleepily into the air. But I was too quick for
him, and a moment later I had a fine specimen of Actias luna in my
possession. FRANK H. SWEET.
330 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No, 10,
No. 475. American Magpie, (Pica pica hud-
sonica.)
Found from Alaska to Arizona and New Mexico and
from the Plains to the Cascade Mountains. Length,
about 18 inches. Eyes, bill and feet, black. General
plumage an intense black, glossed with purple and
green.
No. 476. Yellow-billed Magpie, (Pica nuttal-
i)
Found in California west of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. Except that the bill is yellow this species
is exactly like the last. This bird is not regarded as a
separate species by some, yet for some unaccountable
cause the majority of the birds found in this compar-
itively restricted locality have the yellow bill, while
those outside have a black one.
No. 497. Yellow-headed Blackbird, (Xan-
thocephalus xanthocephalus.)
Found from the Mississippi River to the Pacific
coast, and from British Columbia to Mexico, Length,
to inches. Whole head, neck and breast, a rich yel-
low. Space around eye and bill, black as is the rest of
the plumage. A large white patch on the wing is
formed by the greater and middle coverts. Female,
mostly dark brown. A line over the eye, the throat
and breast area dull yellow. They have no white
patch on the wing. These birds sometimes stray from
their regular, range and are found east.
No. 501. Meadowlark, (Sturnella magna.)
Eastern United States and southern Canada.
Length, ro inches. Feathers of the back and neck,
varigated with black, reddish brown and_ yellowish.
Wings and tail, brownish and grayish and barred with
black. <A pale median stripe and line over the eye
A short black stripe behind the eye and broad crescent
‘ across the breast. Throat and breast, bright yellow.
Under parts pale, the sides washed with brown and
streaked with black. Outer tail feathers white.
No. 501 a. Mexican Meadowlark, (S. m. mex-
icana.)
Smaller and darker than the eastern bird. South—
western United States.
No. 501b. Western Meadowlark, (S. m. neg-
lecta.)
Western United States from the Plains to the coast,
and from British Columbia to Mexico. Differs from
the eastern form in having the yellow’ extend over on
the cheek.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
No. 635. Bahama Honey Creeper, (Coereba
bahamensis.)
Found in the Bahamas and on the keys off the coast
of Florida. Length, 4.5 inches. Dark brown above
and yellow below and on the rump. White spot on
wings formed by the bases of the primaries.
No. 636. Black and White Warbler, (Mniot-
ita varia.)
Eastern United States and Canada. Length, 5
inches. Streaked above’ and below with black and
white. White spots on the inner webs of the outer
tail feathers. The female has less black than the male
and is mostly white below.
No. 654. Black-throated Blue Warbler, (Den-
drotca caerulescens.)
Eastern North America, from Labrador to the West
Indies and Central America in winter. Length, 5
inches. Male: Above, slaty blue, the back being more
or less streaked with black. Large white spot at the
base of primaries. Female: Upper parts, olive gray.
Below, yellowish white. Known by the small white
spot at the base of the primaries.
No. 661. Black-poll Warbler, (‘Dendroica
striata.)
Whole of North America east of the Rocky Mount-
ains. Length, 5.5 inches. Upper parts, grayish olive
streaked with black. Whole crown, jet black. Up-
per mandible, dark. Lower mandible and feet, flesh
colored. Female: Entire upper parts, including the
crown, greenish olive streaked with dusky. Under
parts, white washed with yellowish and faintly streak-
ed with dusky. Young more like the female, but pal-
er and the streaks_barely showing.
No. 665. Black-throated Gray Warbler,
(‘Dendroica nigrescens.)
Western United States, from British Columbia to
Mexico. Length, 4.5 inches. Above, bluish-ash
streaked with black. Below, white with: the sides
streaked. A bright yellow spot in front of the eye.
Female like the male except that the black of the
crown is mixed with the ashy of the back and the
black of the throat is broken by white tips to the
feathers,
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AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 333
WOOD THRUSH.
A. O. U. No. 755. (Turdus mustelinus.)
RANGE.
United States east of the Plains. North to the southern boundary of
Canada and south in winter to Guatemala and Cuba. Breeds from the
middle states northwards.
DESCRIPTION.
Length. 8 in.; extent, 13 in.; tail,3in. Bill brownish witha yellowish
base. Eye brown. Feet yellowish or flesh colored. Upper parts a
tawny brown, shading gradually from a bright reddish brown on the
head and neck to an olive brown on the tail. The under parts are pure
white, abundantly spotted on the breast and sides with dark brown.
NEST AND EGGS. ;
The nest is situated not far from the ground in bushes or low trees.
It is made of leaves, grasses, fibres, etc., held together with mud. The
nest is usually more artistic viewed from without than is the Robin’s,
as the cement is concealed by the other materials with which it is com-
posed. ‘They lay from three to five plain greenish blue eggs. These
are very similar to the Robin’s except that they are a little smaller.
HABITS.
In all respects the Wood Thrush is the king of thrushes. He is the
largest of the family and is the most beautiful. He is the only one
having the spots on the breast and sides bold and distinct so that there
is never any cause to doubt his identity. He is the only one other
than the Hermit Thrushes that has both tawny and olive on his upper
parts. As the Hermit Thrush has a tawny tail and the remainder of
the upper. parts olive, and the Wood Thrush has a.tawny head while his
back and tail are olive, this only further tends to distinguish the two.
Among all the sweet voiced members of the Thrush family, the song of
the Wood Thrush is the sweetest. From early May until late in July
they daily add their voices to the general chorus and the woods are
filled with wonderous melody.
They love the solitudes of the deeper woods and it is there that their
voices are raised in fervent song. Just before dusk when the other
birds have retired for the night, the oppressive stillness of the woods is
334 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
WOOD THRUSH.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 335
Photo by C. A. Smith.
YOUNG WOOD THRUSH.
broken by a song—a song so clear, simple, and flute like as to touch
the very soul of mankind. Slowly and deliberately, the musician de-
livers each note of his entrancing song, and as the last sounds fade
away into silence, they are caught as if by an echo and repeated by a
second chorister on the other side of the woods. To and fro, the
thrilling notes are wafted until night turns all things to a uniform color,
when each, tucking his head under his wing, seeks well earned rest.
Like all gifted artists they are quite self-conscious. Even a noted
prima donna can not walk with a more satisfied air then they as they
daintily step along the fallen tree trunks and through the tangled under-
brush. It is an event worthy of note to steal upon and watch one
while he is in the ecstacy of song. I have seen one perch upon one
foot for not less than half an hour and without changing his position
in the least, mock the other fellow on the opposite side of the woods,
who perhaps was in the same position. There he stood with eyes half
closed and head thrown back while the only visible movement was the
swelling throat. Apparently lost in the rapture of his own melody and
oblivious to everything about him, I doubt not but what I might have
336 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo from life by C. A. Smith.
WOOD THRUSH ON HER NEST.
quietly approached to within reaching distance before he discovered me.
The lack of fear shown by these birds while upon the nest seems to
be one of their characteristics throughout their range. The accom-
panying excellent photograph of a “Wood Thrush on her Nest’’ taken
by Mr. Clinton A. Smith shows the position that they commonly assume
upon the approach of anyone. Their lack of fear may be seen from
the following quotation from him, although this bird I think, must have
been an exception as I have never seen or heard of one quite as tame.
“This photograph was made after having already exposed two plates
upon the same bird. The first one was taken at what I considered a
safe distance; then as she did not fly I moved up closer and exposed
another plate. The third one and the one shown was taken at a dis-
tance of only three feet and then to my surprise the bird did not leave
the nest, but allowed me to walk up and lift her off. I supposed that
she had young but found that there were three blue eggs in the nest.
These all hatched and were flying the next time I visited the nest.
The photograph was taken with the back combination of the Rapid
Rectilinear Lens.”’
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 337
A SCHOOL OUTING,
It had been my custom for several years to take my school and go to
the woods at least once during the term, for the purpose of studying
nature and gleaning some truth from her varied pages. I believe this
is the only practical way to impress upon the child’s mind, the wonder-
ful and beautiful lessons contained in the great book of Nature.
It was on the afternoon of May 17th that we left the schoolroom,
about fifty in number, bent on making this one of the best of our annu-
al outings, and to say the least we did not overestimate ourselves.
We had gone but a short distance when we came to a dilapidated
coal ripple, and to our great delight some of the boys announced ‘“‘a
robin’s nest,’’ and as birds were to be the special lesson for this trip,
we were much pleased to find that Mr. and Mrs. Robin had utilized one
of the horizontal timbers of this relic of a once flourishing industry,
over which the black diamonds had for years tumbled, tumbled into
cars to be borne to the iron mills or perchance to the happy home of
the cottager. This nest was built strictly in accordance to the regular
Robin style of architecture and contained three greenish-blue eggs.
Leaving Robin we sauntered leisurely up the valley and presently came
to an abandoned coal mine, evidently one that had furnished part of
the coal just referred to. In went some of the boys and to our pleas-
ure stated that Pewee (Phoebe) had a nest in the mine. Upon investi-
gation we found that the beautiful moss covered nest contained four
pearly-white eggs of this wise bird that “‘buildeth her house upon a
rock.’’ On leaving Phoebe to the quiet of her abode, we strolled along
with our eyes closely watching bush, tree and fence lest we might skip
some nest or bird. As we came to a thorn bush we found that feline im-
jtator, the Catbird, had a nest here containing three bluish-green eggs.
Our next discovery was the house of a genial farmer who generously
treated us to the draughts of the crystal fluid brought from far down in
the earth in a veritable ‘‘oaken bucket.”’
After resting for awhile under the broad trees that shaded his spaci-
ous lawn, we again took up our search and were rewarded by finding a
Barn Swallow’s nest with four eggs. Some of the boys having separ-
ated from us returned to report that they had found a Phoebe’s nest
with five young, and a ground bird’s (one of the sparrows that nest
on the ground) containing four eggs. This was truly a delightful and
beneficial outing, and I would say to teachers, after years of experience
that I find this the only practical way of teaching Nature.
C. A. WHITE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo from life by Geo. E. Mculthrope.
PHOEBE ON NEST.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 339
THE CAMERA AGAINST A PHOEBE,
EDITOR OF AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Dear Sivr:—I was much pleased to learn that my Phoebe photo had
been successful in your contest. It was through the medium of your
magazine that I was induced to try this form of photography, and the
past summer I[ have spent some of the pleasantest hours of my life
attempting to lure some wily bird within range of my lens.
The first subject upon which my attention was fixed was a Phoebe
who had built her nest on a beam under the roofofashed. She proved
to be a very difficult subject to manage.~ It was very dark in the shed
and of course photographing a live bird under that condition was out of
the question. The first thing to do was to find a means of lighting the
nest sufficiently to admit of a snap shot. Obviously mirrors and re-
flected sunlight were the solution of this. I secured two large, heavy
mirrors and placed one of them outside at the correct angle to throw
the light in the desired place. But what a change this made. The nest
and the woodwork surrounding it were in the brightest of sunlight
while the rest of the interior was even more dark by the comparison.
What bird would have the hardihood to return under these changed cir-
cumstances.
Before trying the old bird I thought it would be a good idea to get a
good picture of the nest andeggs. But here again was another diffi-
culty. The nest was situated above my head and close to the roof of
the shed so that the eggs could not be seen. I could easily photograph
the nest but I wanted to show the eggs too. The second mirror helped
me out of this trouble and after I had it in position above the nest I
made an exposure and got the nest as shown here. Besides showing
the structure of a Phoebe’s nest, this photograph has furnished no little
amusement. The picture as printed here is right side up, but immedi-
ately upon handing the photograph to anyone, they invariably quickly
turn it around as though afraid that the eggs might fall out, and it takes
some explanation on my part to show them that they are not looking at
the eggs but only an image of them.
Now to get the old bird. The second mirror was removed and after
attaching a long rubber tube to the shutter I hid myself. She wanted
to go back to the nest but every time that she went under the shed the
brilliant state of affairs there caused her to make a hasty exit. Time
after time she would almost touch the nest and then dash out as fast as
possible. The shifting sun made it necessary to adjust the mirrors
about every five minutes and undoubtedly this action delayed the
Phoebe in her decision to return to the nest. After about an hour’s
340 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Photo by Geo. E. Moulthrope
NEST OF PHOEBE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 341
waiting and many false alarms she finally did settle on the nest for the
smallest fractional part of time. That instant was the one I had been
looking for and the click of the shutter was the signal that I had won in
my contest with the Phoebe. It was only in the dark room though
that the extent of my victory could be ascertained. Another shorter
wait and another shot was obtained of her facing the other way. Iwas
a little afraid that the eggs might become chilled during the operation
but later found out that they hatched all right and in due course of time
the young were flying about with the old.
Before I found this nest, I had found several under bridges and one
in particular that interested me, while trout fishing. I passed under a
bridge, and looking up noticed a Phoebe’s nest built on a beam similar
to the one shown in a previous number of your magazine, and on the
next beam to it was another nest. I thought of course that one must
be a last year’s nest, but as two birds were there and it was a very
warm day and I had had poor luck trouting, I sat down on the bank and
watched the birds for about an hour. I found that there was only one
pair and that they were constructing the two nests, as the same bird
would build awhile on the one nest then work on the other. As they
only made short trips after material and were in sight all the time, I
saw the same bird go repeatedly from one nest to the other and con-
cluded that they were confused and did not know which nest to work
upon.
I think that camera hunting is one of the most fascinating of sports,
and I think that a trial would convert a great many old-time hunters
and also save the lives of thousands of birds. As for myself I know
that one good negative of a bird as they actually live would give more
satisfaction to me than would the killing of thousands with a gun even
if I cared for such slaughter.
I have quite a number of interesting photos and would be pleased to
hear from any of your readers who might care to exchange photo-
graphs with me. GEO. E. MOULTHROPE, Bristol Conn.
342 AMERICAN ‘ORNITHOLOGY.
FRIENDS
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
My DEAR Younc Fo.ks:
Now comes the Thanksgiving month when our boys and girls will be
flocking to the old homestead to help grandfather and grandmother
“count up their marcies,’’ and I am sure there is no one who begins to
count who will find the month long enough to sum them all up.
We give you a new game to try on Thanksgiving day, and if you
like this one you shall have an out-of-door game later on. J. Lewis
Clay gives such an excellent description of one of our most cheery,
confiding birds, that, I will print it and see how many of our little
readers can name it. Stafford Francis reports a lawn-party of twenty-
four Robins. I surprised a large party of Robins in the woods the
othea day, but a great many Flickers were also invited. They were
plaving very quiet games, flying about from tree to tree, and back and
forth to the ground with soft chirpings.
Edward Graves of Clearmont, Mo., sends a good description of an
Alder Flycatcher, with accounts of three of their nests that he has
found; among other bird-homes he visited last summer were those of
the Scarlet Tanager, the Yellow-throated Vireo, and the Yellow-breast-
ed Chat. Iam sure his name is worthy of a place at the very head of
the list of bird observers, for he saw last season no less than one hun-
dred and ten birds, which exceeds Stanley Cobb’s good record by
seventeen. Can any one send a longer list?
When our next letter reaches you, you will be enjoying the Winter
birds. I hope when you pull the wishbones on the twenty-seventh you
will think of me. Your Friend,
MrG MERRYTHOUGHT.
“ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN OCTOBER NUMBER.
Numerical Enigma. Sandpiper. Numerical Puzzle. Raven.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
FASHION'S FANCIES,
Last June there gathered in a glen
Not many miles away,
A host of birds from every clime.
Who chirped and sang all day.
Was it a Guild? A Womans Club?
A Mother’s Meeting? No.
Nor did they meet to arbitrate
Nor grand degrees bestow.
The Father-birds in Council met,
For what, you’d never guess.
They met—the fashions to discuss,
And latest styles of dress.
For Scribe, there came from Africa,
A Secretary bird.
The Chairman was a Snowy Owl,
Serene, what e’er occurred.
A pert young Wren made the first speech,
He talked so fast and bold,
You would ne’er think to hear him speak
His wife was such a scold.
“T think,’’ said he, “‘for all round wear,
For country, or for town,
For concert, feast, or common use,
There’s naught so good as brown.’
A Partridge, Sparrow, and a Hawk,
Wood-thrush, and Robert White,
With one accord, loudly exclaimed,
‘Sir Christopher is right.”
‘Our colors are more cheerful though,
Made of condensed sunshine,”’
Sang Yellow Warbler from a bush
“Your sentiments are mine.”’
Sang Goldfinch, who was eating seeds,
“But velvet trimmings add,”’
‘‘Ves,’’ echoed back a Chickade
“Black velvet is not bad.”’
A Blue Jay screamed till he was hoarse,
‘‘All gowns should be of due,
I, with Bluebird, in azure robes,
Reflect the heaven’s bright hue.”’
343
344 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
‘“The color matters not so much,”’
Declared a stately Stork,
‘But gowns should always be made short,
Its easy then to walk.”’
Then Tanager blushed rosy red,
For awkward Penguin cried,
“Pray add full ruffled pantalets,
Your bony legs to hide.”’
““Such a garb as that, may do for you,”’
Spake Peacock, in disdain,
“But I, who royal courts attend,
Shall wear a gorgeous train!”’
‘“A wide neck-ruff, gives much more style,”
Said Partridge. ‘Better yet,
A noble crest,’’ cried Cockatoo,
Kingfisher and Egret.
Just at this point, a small gray owl,
Who dozed upon a beech,
Rose, blinked his eyes, looked very wise,
And gave a dreadful screech.
At once, a score of tiny birds
Flew way back to the rear,
While Sir Owl spoke for two long hours,
Mid frequent cries of ‘‘Hear.”’
Each argued long, but like mankind,
Convinced against his will,
When all was said, each bird maintained,
The same opinion still.
And when the night, around the glen
Drew shadows soft and gray,
There were as many diverse minds
As at the break of day.
So, to this day, these feathered folk
Slight fashions stern mandate,
The Grosbeaks wear black velvet hoods,
And Catbirds gowns of slate.
The Crows still wear black glossy coats,
The Buntings still wear blue,
The Blue Jays dress in blue and white,
I’m glad they do. Aren’t you?
ROLL OF HONOR:—Marietta Washburn, Goodwin,S.D. Geoffrey
J. Giles, Comfort, Texas. Ralph M. Hodnett, St. Paul, Minn. Eliza-
beth J. Hill, Cheshire, Conn. Stafford Francis, Exeter, N. H. Hart
Irvine, Mercersburg, Pa. Howard A. Houston, Wooster, O.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 345
NUMERICAL ENIGMA,
(TWO WORDS.)
I am composed of 18 letters. 1, 14, 15, 11, 5, 17, 18, is one who has
charge of the keys of a prison. 7, 15, 17, 17, 11, is one of Nature’s
restful colors. 2, 3, 11, 5, is several skeins of yarn fastened together.
dio ly. Oo, lo iG anvunistial pleasure, > 123,05,.17,3,-13, 2,. 17,3, 15,
1, is the name of a character in Pilgrim’s Progress who conducted
Christiana and her company to the House Beautiful. 9,17, 17, 15, 18,
13, 2, 15, 14, 6, 2, is a bird that sings sweetly at evening. 9, 8, 5, 10,
4, 7, 6, were pirate chiefs from Scandinavia in the eighth Century. 6,
13, 15, 10, 9, 10, 11, 12, is what you are now doing. My whole is a
bird dear to all American boys and girls.
WHAT IS ITS NAME?
The male bird is yellow all over except its wings, tail and his fore-
head, which are black. It is about five inches long, the tail being two
inches. The female is like the male, except the yellow is a yellowish
gray. They lay four or five eggs. The eggs are about a half inch in
length, and are pale blue. The nest I found was in an apple tree about
six feet from the ground. It was made of soft down of the thistle,
cotton and fine horsehair. I found the nest about the middle of last
month, (August.) When the birds fly they sing. They nearly always
fly with a wavy motion, singing as they go up.
J. Lewis Cray, Chicago, II.
STILL HUNT,
(A GAME FOR THE CHILDREN.)
One corner of the room is the Cage; the opposite corner is the /Ves/;
a row of chairs equal distant from the Vest and Cage, is the 7hicket;
this row should contain one less chair than the number playing.
One child is chosen as the Hunter; the other children stand in a line
and each one (mentally) gives himself the name of some bird. Num-
ber one in the row describes the bird which he represents, and the
Flunter tries to guess what the bird is. If unable to guess from the
description he has the privilege of asking ten questions. When he
guesses the name of the bird correctly, (that is caf/uves him) the bird
takes his place in the Cage. The hunter then proceeds to number two
and tries to capfuve him in a similar manner, and so on down the line,
asking but ten questions of each one. Should the Hunter be unable to
346 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
identify a bird he sends it to the Vest. When all the birds are either in
the Cage or Nes/, that is, when the Hunter has received descriptions
and asked questions of every child in the line, he sits down in the
Thicket, (in one of the chairs in the row at the center,) and begins to
spell very slowly, the words American Ornithology, stopping suddenly
wherever he chooses before reaching the last letter and saying “Bang!”
As the Hunter begins to spell, all the Birds leave the est and the Cage
and march around the chairs, as he says Lang, each one tries to sit on
a chair in the 7hicket. (If desired, each bird sent to the Ves‘ may be
required to pay a forfeit, when the AYwzter shall act as judge.) The
one who fails to secure a seat is the AYunzfer in the next game.
GLEANINGS,
Have you ever seen two cock Blue Jays fighting in mid-air? There
is a joust of brilliancy. They whirl over and over so fast that they
look like a blur of amethyst smoke, shot with gleams of white fire;
how their wings clash and their bills clack. Not much harm is done,
but I venture to predict that no two human prize fighters (but are they
ever human ?) can give and take blows so rapidly.
MAURICE THOMPSON.
THE HUMAN BIRDS,
A facetious man who rejoices in the name of BIRD, conceived the
idea of calling aconvention of all the people in Philadelphia who be-
long to his tribe. Of course it was a joke, but a glance through the
pages of the directory convinced him that such a gathering would be a
big one. He discovered there were an even hundred plain Birds, but
the variety of those who specified their kinds was appalling. The list
as far as he went, was as follows: Doves, 15; Eagles, 8; Larks, 6;
Peacocks, 29; Pigeons, 1; Parrots, 40; Nightingales, 9; Partridges, 30;
Sparrows, 7; Sparrow hawks, 7; Wrens, 10; Robins, 15; Flickers, 5;
Thrushes, 4: Canaries, 3; Geese, 2; and Turkey, 1. There were two
Chippies and Philip Ducks upheld the dignity of his branch of the fam-
ily.—Philadelphia Record.
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New York: Wholesale and Retail, 93 Chambers St,; Retail only, 573 Fifth Ave.
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Philadelphia: r609 Chestnut St. Pittsburg: 615 Penn Ave. Paris: 34 Boulevard des Trallenss
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ALONE WITH THE BIRDS AT DAWN,
Just as the soft light was breaking
O’er the hill tops far away
And the happy birds were waking
To welcome the coming day.
When the soft grass was gemmed with dew
O’er the gentle sloping lawn,
I strolled the peaceful woodlands through,
Alone with the birds at dawn.
The Lark’s song from the meadow land,
Came in cadence sweet and clear,
It fell like some old anthem grand
Upon my listening ear.
The Catbird from his perch on high
Sang love’s story sweet and old,
The Yellow Warbler flitted by
Like a sudden gleam of gold.
The Kingbird passed in graceful flight
To catch his prey upon the wing,
And from the elm tree’s giddy height
I heard the loved Robin sing.
From swaying branches overhead,
The Blackbird orchestra sang,
Where Aurora, her radience shed,
Until all the wild woods rang.
O’er the woodlands there comes a hush
As on ears attentive fall
The varying notes of the Thrush,
Sweetest singer of them all.
An ecstacy my bosom stirred,
Slumb’ring dreams awoke once more
As that sweet melody I heard,
With a joy unfelt before.
If sorrow lurks within your breast,
If from you some joy has gone,
Seek once again sweet peace and rest
Alone with the birds at dawn.
HATTIE WASHBURN.
348
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Chick-chickadee,’’ I saucily say;
My heart it is sound, my throat it is gay!
Every one that I meet I merrily greet
With a chickadeedee, chickadeedee!
To cheer and to cherish, on roadside and street,
My cap was made jaunty, my note was made sweet.
YOUNG CHICKADEES.
First Day Out of Nest.
I ‘‘chickadeedee”’ in forest and glade,
“Day, day, day!”’ to the sweet country maid,
From autumn to springtime I utter my song
Of chickadeedee all the day long!
The silence of winter my note breaks in twain,
And I “‘chickadeedee’”’ in sunshine and rain.
=C"'G. As
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 349
DOMESTICATING THE CHICKADEE.
N the September number of this magazine,
some of the results of our attempts to tame
wild Blue Jays were related. The aim
in that case was merely to allay the abnor-
mal suspicions, as to human intentions, which
séem to have become a part of the Jay
nature, and to teach the birds to come to our
windows to be fed.
Incidentally an attempt was made to do
still more with the Chickadee, which being
naturally unsuspicious, can be tamed by any
one who has a little spare time and some
patience.
It is now well known that, in forest or or-
chard, the Chickadee is one of the most use-
ful birds, and that, so far as known, it has no
habit of destroying any of the products of husbandry.
If such birds as this can be brought to put their confidence in man,
to leave the woods where they. now. breed in hollow trees, and
to take up their abode in dwellings prepared for them about our build-
ings, no doubt their numbers can be so increased under our protection,
that the good they now do will be multiplied many fold. It is well known
that in Europe many kinds of birds which once regularly bred in hol-
low trees, in caves, or under overhanging banks or rocks have so
changed their habits that for hundreds of years they have nested in, or
about, buildings, chimneys, walls, or in bird boxes put up for their
accommodation.
It is also well known that our newer American civilization has in-
duced similar changes in bird habits and even in bird distribution.
The Chimney Swift, Tree Swallow, Purple Martin, Bluebird, and House
Wren have found nesting places provided for them in or near our dwell-
ings, and in many cases they have occupied these from choice, even
before their former homes, the dead and hollow trees of the forest, had
been cut down.
The Phoebe and Barn Swallow, finding that the dwellings of man afford-
ed more secure retreats than cliffs or caves, have become widely distribut-
ed along the lines of human emigration. The Night Hawksnow breed,
to some extent, on the flat roofs of large city blocks. In Europe cer-
tain Woodpeckers and Titmice are among the birds which have now be-
~ come semi-domesticated, and occupy dwellings put up for them by the
350 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
WATCHING THE HOUSEKEEPING.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 351
householders. Here the Flicker has already begun to inhabit build-
ings, using them chiefly as a winter protection and making a doorway
of its own. The Chickadee, our only common titmouse, sometimes
finds shelter about buildings during severe winter storms, but does not
yet breed in buildings or bird boxes, except in rare cases.
Thirty years ago, before the English Sparrow became common and
widely distributed here, the Chickadee was a familiar bird about the
farm, both in Winter and Summer. Its nest was built in some hollow
fruit tree in the orchard, yard, or garden. Where Sparrows are scarce
it still seeks such situations. Last Summer a pair of Chickadees reared
their young in a hollow pear tree near the doorway of a neighbor, but
wherever the ubiquitous sparrow has come to stay, the Chickadee is
driven to the woods, returning to the farm yard chiefly in Winter when
Sparrows do most resort to the village streets. There seemed to beno
reason why the Chickadee could not be induced to breed in bird boxes
if first the Sparrows could be banished from the premises.
Bird boxes were put up on our buildings and trees quite largely in
the Spring of 1901, and the Sparrows immediately took possession.
They were pursued with the shot gun until the few survivors fled in
dismay, but not until they had managed to prevent most other birds
from breeding in the boxes for that season. However, the lesson the
Sparrows received was so effectively given that they have not appeared
since, though they still occupy a neighboring farm, having destroyed
the nests of a colony of Eave Swallows and taken possession of the
premises, by force.
The Sparrows having been disposed of, other interlopers appeared.
Squirrels and White-footed Mice occupied boxes put up in the woods,
while the Jays manifested considerable curiosity as to the contents of
the bird boxes. The Chickadees made no attempt to use them, merely
looking one over now and then as if to see what new creature would
pop its head out of the entrance. In the Fall of 1901 food for the birds
was put out as usual about the house windows. The window over the
wood shed was provided with what we might call an observation box.
This box was made of old weather-beaten lumber and fastened to the
window sill by a board support a foot long. A projecting piece of
board protected the entrance from the driving rain. So far it appeared
like any ordinary bird box, but the side next the window had the edge
rabbited for glass like a windowsash. A pane of glass was fitted into
this side and secured with glaziers points. The glass was covered
from view externally by a shingle which was fitted into the rabbiting
_ over the glass, and hinged at the bottom, so that it could be opened
downward and laid flat on the supporting board. When this had been
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
352
e 7 - cui
part a Oo Oe
Zot
Sith BP ME AIRE ITE TESS
sel POD T NIS T ne RT S
oe RE Ae RIEL
a .
ORK O SES OT
MOTHER COMES.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 393
done all that went on inside could be viewed from the window. This
box is similar to one I invented, whena boy, to watch the nesting habits
of Swallows and Bluebirds. The glass is necessary only to prevent the
entrance of bird enemies or the premature egress of young birds when
the box is open. The box was so located that the direct rays of the
sun could not strike the young birds when the door was opened. The
photographer might prefer to have the sunlight strike directly upon
them, but when the principal object is to watch and preserve them, this
is a danger that must be avoided. The picture of the young birds in
the nest shows how readily they may be observed or photographed in
this manner.
As the weather became severe some of the Chickadees evinced con-
siderable interest in this box, and toward Spring one or more of them
probably passed the night there. When Spring opened and the birds
began to pair and retire to the woods to breed, one pair remained be-
hind and began carrying nesting material into the box. Care was
observed that they might be left undisturbed in this laudable enter-
prise, and the members of the family were enjoined not to open the
box. An excellent opportunity of observing the nest building was
thus lost for fear that otherwise they would be driven away and the
main object, the raising of the young in the box would be frustrated.
‘This excessive caution was perhaps not necessary, but nevertheless the
Chickadees were allowed to go on with their household arrangements
undisturbed, until at last one of our children, overcome by impatient
curiosity, opened the cover and stole a look into the box. It was
soon noised abroad that there were four or five “‘cunning little birds’”’
in the box. Investigation revealed seven. The birds were now
watched while feeding their young. The second picture shows how
anyone at the window could look directly into the nest, and see the old
birds feeding and caring for their young. When this picture was taken
the male bird was in the nest feeding the young while the female was
clinging to the outside of the box, just beneath the entrance hole, with
a beak full of plant lice and spiders for the next feed. It is by such
methods of observation as this that we are able to learn much of the
character of the food birds feed to their young. The great value ofthe
Chickadee as a destroyer of hibernating insects and their eggs in Win-
ter has been shown by Dr. Weed’s investigations. It is also, in the
warmer months, a great destroyer of injurious insects. We were there-
fore, prepared to find it feeding great quantities of insect food to the
young. During the greater part of the day the young were visited by
_oue or the other of the parent birds as often as once in three to five
minutes, and sometimes oftener.. The old birds nearly always brought
354 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
food. Caterpillars, plant lice and ants, formed the greater portion of
the food brought, while the birds were under observation. Grasshop-
pers and spiders were occasional-
ly noted. The birds made fre-
quent trips to two young apple
trees, which were much infested
by plant lice and in a short time
they practically cleaned the trees,
which have since done finely,
while two young cherry trees, at a
distance from the house, and not
visited by the birds, have since
died, apparently from the effects
of injuries to the twigs and foli-
age by another, but similar, species
of plant louse. An apple tree
near by contained a nest of the
tent caterpillar, but the young
caterpillars never grew large
enough to do any material injury
to the foliage, so closely were
they pursued by the Chickadees
and a pair of Bluebirds that occu-
pied a box on the apple tree.
Canker worms and other geomet-
rid larvae were cleaned from the
near-by trees, most of them going
the same road, down the throats
of the eager and expectant young-
sters in the bird boxes.
The young birds grew in grace,
beauty, and strength, until on
June 7th the stronger ones be-
gan to manifest signs of a dis-
position to explore the outer
world. One in particular stood
up, fluttered its wings and leaped
repeatedly upward toward the
entrance.
FATHER COMES. On the 8th the editor of this
magazine was notified that the subjects were ready to ‘have their pictures
taken’’ and could not wait. Mr. Reed replied promptly and was at
hand with his camera on the morning of the 10th.
a
id ’
rep : 6
1 ee e
{
A
*)
a}
:
'
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 355
The pictures which illustrate this article are the results of his skill
and care. Hecame just in time. The young birds were evidently
about to fly. The old birds were calling them from the trees, and they
answered, tried their wings and, now and then, sprang upwards. The
box was opened and the camera placed in position at the window in the
loft at 9:50 a.m. The old birds visited the young and fed them twelve
times before 10:22. They brought either caterpillars or bunches of
ants and plant lice in their beaks and distributed them to the open
mouths of the eager seven inthe nest. During this time the accom-
panying snap shots of the old birds at the entrance of the box were
taken. A close inspection will reveal the mass of minute insects held
in the beak of each bird.
At 10:22 the largest
and most active young
bird suddenly made a
dash (the glass having
been removed for con-
venience in taking the
picture) and flew direct-
ly three or four rods in-
to a maple tree, then
failing to maintain his
hold on the limbs in the
face of a strong breeze
he fluttered still farther
and alighted at last in a
stone heap near by.
This seemed rather a
remarkable feat for the
| first flight, and perhaps,
~ could not have been ac-
| complished without the
i e -_ aid of the strong breeze
- then blowing. This
Ee : Ce ae youngster was captured
THE HOME AT THE WINDOW. and replaced in thenest,
but again insisted on leaving and this time took two flights, reaching a
pine tree some six rods away. The old birds now ceased feeding the
young and began to call them. Another sprang out flying nearly as
well as the first, going with the wind. Now one of the old birds came
to the roof overhead and the other alighted at the entrance of the box.
I was then at the window with my face close to the young, when, as
er
356 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
if by a signal, all sprang out and alighted upon my head, shoulders, and
arms much to the delight of the children, who, watching from below, de-
clared that I was ‘‘covered with birds.’’ As I remained motionless the
old birds came and piloted the five young to the branches of a pear tree
near by, which they reached in the face of the strong breeze. The
one at the end of the branch, he of the bristling crest, is the ambitious
youngster who made the first long flight. If he lives no doubt we shall
hear from him. We left the old birds happily feeding their reunited
family in the pear tree. These experiments with the Chickadee have
accomplished three results. We have induced two individuals of a
species to change or modify their nesting habits. We have shown that
it is possible to induce another most useful species to accept man’s
shelter and protection. We have demonstrated that the Chickadee can
be so domesticated by this method that its food and nesting habits may
be readily studied. What further results may come the future must
determine. EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH.
The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear.
Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the Autumn leaves lie dead;
They rustle to. the eddying gust, and to the rabbits tread.
The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,
And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 357
WHITE-THROATED SWIFT.
A. O. U. No. 425. (Aeronautes melanoleucus.)
RANGE.
Western United States, from Wyoming and Montana to the
Pacific, and south to Guatemala.
DESCRIPTION.
eneth,. 7 anches;: extent, 14 inches; tail;-2:5.inehes: Bill sand
feet, black. Eye, brown. Top of head and neck, brownish. Rest
of upper parts, sooty black, tinged with greenish reflections on the
wings and tail. Tips of the secondaries and edge of the outer
primaries and tail feathers, white. A white patch on each side of
the rump and concealed white spots on the inner webs.of all tail
feathers near their base. Chin, throat, breast, and line down the
middle of the belly, white. Rest of the under-parts as well as the
under surfaces of the wings and tail are brownish black.
NEST AND EGGS.
The White-throated Swifts breed in large numbers in the lime-
stone cliffs so common throughout the West. Fortunately they dig
their tunnels at such a height up on the face of the cliff that they
are rarely secured by the inveterate egg hunters and consequently
are very rarely seen in collections. Their eggs are long, pure
white, and probably most often five in number.
HABITS
By Dr. R. W. Shufeldt.
The only opportunity I ever had of studying the habits and nest-
ing of the White-throated Swift occurred early in the spring of
1886, at which time I was Post Surgeon at Fort Wingate, New
Mexico. I had never seen them in life but once before and that
was in 1878 on the Chugwater Creek in Wyoming. There I found
them breeding in the highest and most inaccessible cliffs near the
old military road between Cheyenne and Fort Laramie. Thousands
of them swarmed about their nesting places at the high bluffs.
In some parts of New Mexico they are quite abundant, but by
no means easy to collect, from the fact that in that region, too,
they resort to the walls of the deepest canyons ‘to breed and only
in certain kinds of weather fly low over the ground. Most of these
canyons are from three hundred to four hundred feet in depth, and
358 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
their sides more or less perpendicular, and the Swifts invariably
select their homes in cracks and fissures up near their summit.
This accounts for the small number of eggs of these species that
are seen in collections.
This Swift is a powerful flier and a handsome bird upon the
wing, it’s white throat, flanks and secondaries being strongly con-
trasted with the otherwise dark brown plumage. I have never seen
this bird alight anywhere except at the entrance to it’s nest, in the
places above described, and even then in some instances, it almost
seemed to shoot into the cavity without condescending to even touch
the sides or the doorstep with his feet. On one occasion I saw a
pair of them commence to quarrel when high up in the air, and
continue the closely contested claw and wing contest until they
reached the ground, where the dust they raised, prevented me
from clearly seeing their movements; but in a second they arose
and were both in the air and off like two darts in opposite direc-
tions.
During cloudy and rainy weather are about.the only times when
they descend from the heights, and fly like a lot of black and white
meteors close over the surface of the ground and low growth of
sage brush that grows on the prairie. In clear weather they appear
like little specks shooting about against the clear blue sky, fully
half a mile above the earth. These birds are always infested with
a large species of louse, as well as an extraordinarly big species of
tick. Many years ago I sent specimens of these to the British Mu-
seum, where they were described as new to science and published
in various journals abroad.
The Swift as a rule is quite quiet during flight, but sometimes
when flying up and down the canyons where they breed, they
give vent to a series of twittering notes, that are uttered with still
greater emphasis when they are disturbed by a gunshot or other-
wise alarmed when within their nest holes. I believe that their
mating is done entirely upon the wing and it is certain that they
feed in no other way.
That the intelligence shown by these birds in the selection of
their nesting sites, is universal throughout their range, is shown by
the following from Bendire’s: ‘“‘At San Diego, Cal., they winter in
abundance, and are frequently seen feeding along the beach north
of Point Loma. A colony was found nesting on Coronado Island
on May 20, but the nests were inaccessible; they were~ placed be-
hind loose slabs of rock which had become detatched from the face
of the cliffs, and from 20 to 30 feet above the water level. At
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 359
Oe ge
Reig pooner <
a
ane:
From a colored drawing by Dr. Shufeldt-
WHITE-THROATED SWIFT.
360 AMERICAN ORNITHCLOGY.
Guadulupe Island, this Swift was very abundant; the ragged,
precipitous slides of the island, composed of lava and_ perforated
with thousands of holes and crevices, furnish an abundance of nest-
ing sites, and it is quite probable that this species is resident there
throughout the year. At the time of my visit, in May, I found
White-throated Swifts everywhere, from the top of the island at
4000 feet elevation, to the beach, and birds were constantly seen to
enter holes in the crags; but in each case the nest was as inacces-
sible as it is possible for a nest to be. On May 18th a Swift was
seen to enter a hole in the face of a bluff, within eight feet of it’s
base; even this proved to be as safe as the rest, as the nest was
found to be out of sight and several feet back, in a narrow crack
imine lava:
Photo by Clinton A. Smith.
ORCHARD ORIOLE.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 361
CHICK ADEE,
A. O. U. No. 735. (Parus atricapillus.)
RANGE.
Eastern North America, north of the Potomac and Ohio Valleys. A
resident and breeds wherever found.
DESCRIPTION.
Length 5.25 in.; extent 8 in.; tail 2.5 in. Whole top of head, chin
and throat, black. Rest of upper parts brownish gray. Sides of head
white; under parts dull whitish, shading into brownish on the flanks.
Feathers of the wings and tail edged with whitish. Subspecies;—735a.
Long-tailed Chickadee (P. a. septentrionalis.) Found in the Rocky
Mountain region and east to the Plains. Slightly larger than the east-
ern Chickadee and the tail averages from a quarter to a half inch
longer. The black of the throat extends down on the breast and the
white of the head is purer than in the eartern bird. No. 735b. Oregon
Chickadee (P. a. occidentalis.) Northwest coast region from Cali-
fornia to Alaska. Similar to the common Chickadee except that the
whites are duller and the sides heavily washed with brownish.
NEST AND EGGS.
Chickadees nest
in holes in trees,
posts or fences,
These may be
either dug by the
birds or natural
excavations. ‘The
bottom of the nest
is from three to
eight inches from
the opening and is
thickly covered
with downy feath-
ers, hair, mosses,
etc. They lay
from five to eight
white eggs that
are finely specked
LEAVING THE NEST. with reddish
brown. Sets are generally comp!ete about the latter part of May.
362 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Y the majority perhaps of
those who take any inter-
est in bird life, the Chick-
adee is as well known as
any other bird. They are
bright eyed inquisitive lit-
tle acrobats and no little
amusement can be had by
watching their movements
among the branches. With
the ease and grace of the
most skilled performer
they swing from twig to
twig conversing freely with one another in their pleasing language of
‘“‘de-dee-dee’’ interspersed frequently with a remarkable shrill clear
whistle composed of two notes, the first being of the higher pitch.
They are very companionable and if you remain quiet, they will grad-
ually approach even to within reaching distance of your hand. Do not
attempt to catch one when he thus puts his trust in you for you will not
only fail but will also lose the confidence of a valuable and interesting:
bird.
Ba
I’M A GYMNAST.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 363
If you have never found the home of a Chickadee, you can easily do
so. Next Spring before the leaves have come, go out armed with a
jack-knife. Perhaps you know of some place where birch trees are
abundant. If you do, see if you cannot find some among them that are
decayed and only a stump is left. Dig a hole about an inch in diame-
ter into these on the least exposed side, remember where they are and
about the end of May visit all of them and see how many of your par-
tially prepared homes are occupied. Last summer I found that four
pairs of Chickadees had decided that the locations selected by me were
satisfactory to them and all reared their families there. Chickadees
are contented in very small quarters and a stump three inches or more
in diameter is plenty large enough. They will successfully raise a
brood of six or eight little ones in a nest that you would not think one
bird could get into.. The young seem to be piled in in layers and only
one or two at the top can be seen at atime. In spite of their limited
quarters, they are very neat birds and their nest is always clean. The
bed of feathers and moss that it is made of, is so soft that the young
sink way down out of sight in it, and it would seem as if those at the
Photo from life by Geo. C. Embody.
THIS IS MY HOME.
364 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
bottom could not possibly breathe. For a few days preceding their
departure from the nest, the young take turns in scrambling up to the
entrance as if to get a peep into the future that is about to open to
them. The young Chickadees are even prettier than their parents, if
that is possible; fluffy little bunches of black and white down, sujelele-
mented with two bright bead like eyes anda short tail. ATG,
The first few days following the egress of the young Chickadees are
ones of anxiety and labor for the old birds. There are numerous chil-
dren to feed and to keep from the clutches of various maurauders such
as hawks, owls, crows, jays, etc. As the young are scattered about it
would seem as though it would tax the mental faculties of the parents
to remember their locations.
When cold weather begins to come in the fall, several families form
in one band and pass the winter together; a lonesome winter it must be
with the ground coy-
ered with snow and
the woods deserted
by, all except aver
few of the most hardy
of the winter birds.
In the fall they asso-
ciate freely with the
warblers as they mi-
erate anditis strange
that they do not con-
tinue on with them,
to share their pleas-
ures in the south.
The reason for their
strange. choice of
winter quarters is yet
to be discovered, un-
less it) bé: that they.
have an unusual at-
tachment for the old
homestead and would
rather brave our se-
vere winters than to
leave it even tempo-
rarily.
MY MATE IS INSIDE. At this season of
the year, they live on the larvae and eggs of the smaller insects, while
some of the more fortunate ones find a welcome lunch counter provid-°
ed for them by some kind hearted member of the human race who takes
more than a passing interest in the welfare of his feathered friends.
366 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Identification Chart No, 1,
597. Blue Grosbeak (Guiraca caerulea).
Eastern United States from New Jersey, Illinois and
Nebraska southwards. Male: Length 6.5 in. Near-
ly a uniform rich dark blue. Tail, wings, and feathers
at the base of the bill, black, the former being edged
with blue. Shoulder bright chestnut and edges of sec-
ondaries and coverts pale chestnut. Bill, light horn
color. Female: Brown above and paler below, with
faint streaks on the under parts. Wings and tail gray,
the former with whitish cross bars and the latter edged
with bluish. 597a. Western Blue Grosbeak, (G. c.
eurhynca) Southwestern U.S. from S. Dakota, Col-
orado and California to Mexico. Male and female like
the eastern form.
598. Indigo Bunting, (Passerina cyanea).
North America east of the Plains and south of south-
ern Canada. Male: Length 5.5 inches. Intense blue
on the head shading into a rather greenish blue on the
rest of body. Wings and tail blackish glossed with
greenish blue. Female: Above brown and below
brownish white. Wings and tail slightly edged with
greenish, but the former are not distinctly barred.
766. Bluebird, (Siaia sialis).
America east of the Rocky Mts. and south of Mani-
toba and Nova Scotia. South in winter to the Gulf
States and Cuba. Male: Length, 6.5 inches. Entire
upper parts a rich azure blue. Chin, throat, and
breast, chestnut. Rest of under parts, white. Female:
Blue of the upper parts mixed with dull, reddish brown,
except on the wings, rump and tail, where it is bright.
Under parts paler than in the male. 766a, Azure Blue-
bird, (S. s. agurea) Southern Arizona and eastern Mex-
» ico. Very similar to the eastern Bluebird.
7607. Western Bluebird, (Sia/ia mexicana oc-
cidentalis).
West of the Rockies from British Columbia south.
Male: Length, 6.5 inches. Whole head and neck,
rump, wings and tail, mch blue, Middle of back,
breast and sides, bright chestnut. Belly and under
tail coverts pale, bluish white. Female: Duller than
the male; about the same as the eastern Bluebird.
767a. Chestnut-backed Bluebird, (S. m. bairdi) Rocky
Mts. from northern U.S. to Mexico. Chestnut on
the back, rather brighter than the Western. 767b.
San Pedro Bluebird, (S. m. anabelae) Lower California.
Like the Chestnut-backed.
768. Mountain Bluebird, (Sialia arctica).
America west of the Plains and from Great Slave Lake
to Mexico. Length, 6.5 in. Above, light azure blue. Be-
low, pale and more greenish and shading gradually into
white on the abdomen. ence Nearly tee
gray, lighter on the belly and brightening into blue on
~GAREED. the rump, wings and tail. 4
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 367
139. Green-winged Teal, (Anas carolinensis).
North America, breeding north of the U. S. and mi-
grating south of U. S. Length 14 inches. Head,
chestnut. Green patch back of the eye. Chin, black
and rather lengthened crest of purplish black feathers
on the back of the head. Upper parts and flanks
barred with black. Wings gray with a green specu-
lum. Female: Wings like the male; head, pale buff,
streaked with dark brown. Upper parts brown with
buffy edged feathers. Breast buffy and spotted; rest
of under parts white.
140. Blue-winged Teal, (Anas discors).
Whole of North America, but more common in the
East. Breeds from middle U. S. northwards. Length,
15.5 inches. Top of head and chin, black; rest of head
dark gray. A large white crescent on each side of the
forepart of the head. Back dusky with U shaped bars
of buff. Entire under parts reddish buff and spotted
with dark brown. Lesser wing coverts, pale blue. A
white patch formed by the tips of the greater coverts
is in front of the green speculum. Under tail coverts,
black. White patch on either side of the tail. Fe-
male: Top of head, black; chin and throat, white; rest
of head brownish white streaked with dusky. Other-
wise similar to the male except that the green specu-
lum is wanting.
141. Cinnamon Teal, (Anas cyanoptera).
America west of the Rocky Mts. from British Co-
lumbia southwards. Length. 17 inches. Top of head,
black. ‘Rest of head, neck and entire under parts, dark
chestnut. Back, wings and tail similar to No. 140.
Female: Similar to the female of No. 140, but more
reddish and the green speculum is slightly defined.
142. Shoveller. (Spatula clypeata).
Found throughout North America, but not common
on the North Atlantic coast. Length, 19 inches. Head
and neck, dark green. Upper back, neck and breast,
white. Wing coverts pale blue with white tips. Wings
brownish witha green speculum. Under parts rich
chestnut. Black under tail covers and white patch on
each side of tail. Female: Head, brownish white
streaked with dusky. Chin and throat buffy shading
into reddish buff below and spotted with brown. Up-
per parts and wings similar to the male but paler.
144. Wood Duck, (4e sponsa).
Whole of temporate North America, breeding
throughout its range. Length, 18 inches. Lengthened
crest and sides of head, metallic purple and green.
Breast purplish with white arrow shaped spots. Fe-
male: Head and short crest gray; throat, line around
eye and space back of it white, as are the under parts.
Breast reddish buff, spotted with dark brown. Back,
brownish green. Wings like those of the male.
y
Hf /
CAREER Vip
| tates (enal
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 369
HOW A RUFFED GROUSE WAS PHOTOGRAPHED,
Ruffed Grouse are very wary birds, especially in localities where
they are extensively hunted, and that includes nearly their whole range.
They rely to a great extent upon their color protection, but neverthe-
less let them think that you see them, and they are very acute observers,
and they will be off like a flash, followed by the rumbling whirr of their
wings in their haste to get out of sight.
Very few even passably good photographs are seen of Ruffed Grouse
outside of captivity, and I doubt if they can be secured without great
difficulty, except perhaps in Maine, where the hunters in their eager-
ness to slay deer, rarely trouble the grouse. A few months ago one of
the leading magazines of out door sports published two excellent pic-
tures of a Ruffed Grouse on her nest. The maker of the photographs
however did not effectively conceal his-work and they plainly show
that they are frauds. The photograph on the opposite page is the
best bona-fide photograph of a live Ruffed Grouse that I have ever
seen. The manner in which it was secured is described by Mr. Em-
body:
One afternoon, May 14, 1902, I was summoned by a friend to inspect
a nest of a Ruffed Grouse on the top of a hill a little north ot the
beautiful village of Franklin, N. Y. At the base of a chestnut tree,
only a few paces from a wood road along which I had often wandered,
there greeted my eyes a bunch of leaves hollowed out slightly. A few
leaves had been carelessly thrown over, but did not completely conceal
the buff-tinted eggs. Later on several occasions when the female was
flushed, the leaves were seen to fly back over the eggs as a result of
the action, both of the feet and wings. By actual count after the re-
moval of a few of the leaves, there were twenty eggs, a surprisingly
large number.
The nest, eggs and surroundings were easily recorded, but to phot-
ograph the bird was quite a different matter. A semi-circular hide of
bark was made and placed within five feet of the nest. Behind this
the camera was so set that the lens projected slightly through a small
opening towards the nest. Lack of light made it necessary to give an
exposure of two seconds. Experience had taught that this could be
done with a noiseless and well concealed shutter, only. <A slight move-
ment as well as the sharp click have spoiled results only too. often
previously. A paste board hood was drawn over the lens tube and the
shutter was rendered noiseless by padding with rubber. Concealing
myself forty or fifty feet away, I awaited the return of the parent bird.
Over my head, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker sounded his roll on a
-hollow oak, louder than I had ever heard before, while a chipmunk
AMERICAN ORN/THOLOGY.
Photo from life by Geo. C. Embody.
RUFFED GROUSE ON NEST.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 372
scampered over to my carrying case to have a taste of my focussing
cloth. An hour had passed and no grouse had yet shown up, so I de-
cided to try another day. At the suggestion of my friend the hide
was removed to a distance and was to be placed a few feet nearer each
day until a favorable position had been reached.
A week later, I had the opportunity to visit the nest again and found
that so well had my friend aided me that the hide was within four feet
of the nest and the old bird was still sitting. The bird left the nest
while the camera was being adjusted and another hour of waiting did
not see her return. The outfit was then left to the mercy of the
Photo by Geo. C. Embody
NEST OF RUFFED GROUSE (20 eggs)
squirrels and wandering cattle, while I took a stroll to watch a couple
of Red-tailed Hawks-feeding their young in the top of a giant Hemlock
tree. This proved to be-very interesting but the light began to fail
after a half hour of watching, so I hastened back to note developments
at the base of the chestnut tree. Dame Partridge was settled on her
eggs and a few minutes later I was returning to my room with a sat-
isfied yet somewhat doubtful feeling. No time was lost in developing
the picture which is reproduced here. A week and a half later as the
nest was visited, three addled eggs and seventeen empty shells testified
to the success of the faithful Ruffed Grouse.
372
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
THE HERRING GULL,
Coursing swiftly o’er the waters,
Watching for his prey below him,
Flies great Larus argentatus,
Flies the Herring Gull so proudly.
Now he settles on the wave-tops,
Calling oft’ to his companions,
Calling softly to himself now,
Calling loudly to the swift wind.
On the bay and rivers living,
Neither fears he man nor powder;
Soars he now, nor moves his great wings;
Stained their tips with dark cold water,
Where they touched it in their beating.
In the winter, still undaunted,
Gathers he with all his kinsman,
Into crowds on frozen river,
On the ponds and on the great lakes.
Braving gale and coldest blizzard,
Scorning cold and wind with brave heart,
True child he of storm and winter,
Going north when first the spring comes;
North among the cliffs and icebergs,
“There to raise his young in safety.
All admiring do we see him,
Flying high above man’s kingdom,
_ Free to roam among the great clouds;
The one sphere by man unconquered.
May he e’er fly, unmolested,
O’er our ice clad ponds and rivers,
O’er our lakes and frozen waters.
—Guy EMERSON.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 373
GREEN-WINGED TEAL,
A. O. U. No. 139. (Anas carolinensis.)
RANGE.
Found throughout North America, and breeds from the boundary of
the United States northwards. ‘In winter they migrate south of the
borders of the United States.
DESCRIPTION.
Length, 14 in.; extent 23 in.; tail3 in. Eye, brown; bill, black; feet
grayish. Head and the upper part of the neck, a rich chestnut; a black
patch on the chin; a broad metallic green band back of the eye, shading
into black and surrounding the eye, and margined below with a narrow
line of white. Upper parts waved with fine black and white bars.
Under parts buffy white, changing to a deep buff on the breast which is
plentifully spotted with black. A white crescent in front of the wing.
Primaries and wing coverts gray; speculum green on the inner half and
velvety black on the outer, bordered in front with the chestnut tips of
the coverts and edged behind with the white tips of the secondaries.
Rump and tail coverts blackish, mottled with gray; the black extends
below forming a band in front of the lower tail coverts, which are
white below and rich cream color on the sides. Female—Upper parts
light brownish streaked on the head and neck with dark brown and the
feathers on the back having dark centers. Under parts white tinged
with buffy on the neck and breast, and spotted with dark brown. Wings
about the same as on the male.
NEST AND EGGS.
Breeds from the northern border of the United States to Alaska and
Greenland. The nest is placed on the ground in a-clump of grass, in
swampy places along the borders of streams or ponds. _It is made of
grass and weeds and lined with feathers from the breast of the bird.
They lay from five to eight eggs of a plain buffy color.
HABITS.
Green-winged Teal are a close second to the Wood Duck in point of
beauty. According to sportsmen they have other good points besides
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
374
GREEN-WINGED IEAL.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 375
their beauty, for they are considered to be the best table bird among
the entire duck family. Although every fall and spring they are hunt-
ed with great vigor in localities where they most frequent, they are
still one of the most abundant ducks that we have. That so many of
them are left is probably due to their activity and swiftness of flight,
they being so speedy on the wing that it tests the skill of the best of
marksmen to bring them down.
Besides being very swift and powerful fliers, they are extremely
active and graceful when on land. They have none of the waddling
manner common to most of the ducks, but run about with an ease and
agility that is not surpassed by the Snipe family. They are essentially
fresh water ducks and few of them are found along the sea coast.
‘Watery meadows, lakes, ponds, and rivers are their favorite grounds,
especially those where flags and rushes are abundant to serve bothasa
natural screen from the observation of enemies and as good feeding
grounds. They live for the greater part upon various grains, duck-
weed and other water plants, grass, seeds and water insects. They
obtain most of their food at night, especially when the weather is fair
and the moon is present. In the day time large flocks of them assem-
ble upou some quiet body of water and pass the time sleeping, where
with heads laid on their backs, and the bill tucked beneath the feathers
they float about like so many corks. In localities where they are much
hunted they do not often take such quiet naps, but are upon the move
nearly all day long, only stopping to rest when they find a natural hid-
ing place where hunters rarely stray.
They commence to come from the North about the end of Septem-
ber, and some time during March pass through the United States again
.on the way to their breeding grounds. Their migrations for the most
part are performed at night although flocks that have not succeeded in
finding a favorable stopping place may be still seen upon the wing by
day. When migrating either by day or night, they fly at a high ele-
vation.
When startled while upon the water, they immediately spring up-
wards, using both their feet and wings and are in full and speedy flight
atonce. They never rise by running along the water a few paces as
most ducks do, but clear it at the first jump. When moving from one
locality to another they fly in a straight line, but at other times they are
very erratic in their flight. A flock feeding peacefully, may suddenly
start up, wheel about in zigzag flight, then as suddenly return to their
starting point.
376 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
ONE OF MY FAVORITES,
Even when the woods have given place to cultivated fields, and its
first nesting places have been destroyed by the progress of improve-
ment, the House Wren does not, like some other species, forsake its
haunts, but continues to dwell near the habitation of man, even though
a town orcity has sprung up where once the forest stood. In some
cases men have been thoughtful enough to provide this untiring friend
with a habitation by putting up boxes on posts; but where this has not
been done, the Wren will soon find a satisfactory nesting place for
himself, for no hole or corner is left unexplored, and if no other place
can be found it will take possession in a crevice of a wall or even the
pockets of an old coat if hung outside. On some occasions pumps have
been so persistently filled up with grass and weeds that the owners
were glad to provide their determined little tenants with suitable
houses.
Few birds can drive away this Wren from a box or Woodpecker hole
to which it has taken a fancy; even though it does not require it for
immediate use. Though repeatedly expelled by superior force the
cunning bird will bide his time, and in the absence of his opponent, fill
up the entrance to the cavity so that the other party cannot enter, and
will even destroy the eggs of the other bird if they have beenlaid. At
times he will not hesitate to face in open combat birds many times his
size, and such is the fierceness of his attack that he nearly always con-
quers.
On one occasion a pair of Wrens nested near a dwelling house. and
soon after she began to set, was caught and killed by a cat. Themale
bird who had witnessed the affair and tried at the risk of his own life
to prevent it, ceased his song and disappeared from the premises.
The next day he returned with a companion and incubation proceeded
as though nothing had happened.
Wrens feed almost wholly on insects and their eggs, and they de-
stroy such iminense quantities of these that they are one of the most
useful birds that the farmer can encourage to settle on his premises.
If the weather is favorable they come to us in the spring about the
middle of May and remain until during October. House Wrens have
always been favorites of mine and one of the clearest recollections of
my childhood days, is that of a pair of Wrens who took up their abode
in a hollow stump in the garden. What a pleasure it was when first I
viewed the bramble built nest and the six reddish dotted eggs.
Jos. F. HONECKER.
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 377
a ts ig ATS with
mA, R YOUNG
FRIE ENDS
Address communications for this department to
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT, Box 772, Waterbury, Ct.
My DEAR YouncG FOLKs:
With this number closes the first year of our bird chats. How do
you like our corner, and what part do you like the best? Write and
tell me, and also tell me what you would like added to the department.
We have enjoyed the letters from the young folks which Uncle Sam
has brought from all over the country; from New York, Pennsylvania,
Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, Dakota, Califor-
nia, and even Texas, as well as from all the New England States.
First comes one of our boys from Massachusetts, with his list of 93
birds seen this year; then a Missouri lad goes to the head with his list
of 110; and now a New York reader exceeds even this, with a list of
114; we give you his letter on another page.
I wish you could have seen an Indigo bunting and his wife getting
their daily rations in our garden last fall. They were very fond of
some stray heads of Hungarian grass, but the slender stalks would not
bear the weight of even this tiny bird. How do you think he managed
to get his dinner? Standing on the wire fence he pulled the seed-
spikes towards him with his bill, held it there with his foot, and cracked
seed at his leisure. Do not forget as you gather around your Christ-
mas trees at the happy holiday time, that you have some little feath-
ered friends outside, who will appreciate decorated trees as wellas you.
not however with candles and bright tinsel (though I doubt not they
would enjoy pop-corn festoons,) but with berries, bits of suet, and nuts.
We hope to meet every one of you in our corner of the magazine dur-
ing the months of 1903, with many new friends.
_ May Christmas be a very merry one to you all is the wish of
MEG MERRYTHOUGHT.
378 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE NOVEMBER NUMBER.
Numerical. Enigma. Thanksgiving Turkey. What is its name.
American Goldfinch.
ROLL OF HONOR:—Julia H. Watts, Lexington, Texas; Dora
Shirrefs Elizabeth, New Jersey; Chas. H. Rodgers, New York City;
Marietta Washburn, Goodwin, S. D.; Ellora B. Mix, Stafford Springs,
Conn.
FROM OUR MAIL BAG.
The principal places where I have studied birds this year are Central
Park, New York City; Leonia, N. J.; Brandon, Vt.; and Harrisville,
N.H. My list since January lst, is 114 species, representing 29 fami-
lies, as follows: Warblers, 26; Finches, 19; Blackbirds, Orioles. etc., 7;
Flycatchers and Thrushes, 6 each; Hawks, Vireos and Swallows, 5
each; Woodpeckers and Wrens, 4 each; Herons, Titmice and Kinglets,
3 each; Goatsuckers, Crows and Jays, 2 each; and Gulls, Ducks, Vul-
tures, Swifts, Hummingbirds, Kingfishers, Cuckoos, Rails, Sandpipers,
Grouse, Starlings, Tanagers, Waxwings and Creepers, one each. I
have seen a number of partial albino English Sparrows in New York.
If only a few feathers are white they are generally in the wings or
tail. I have also seen a robin with a white feather in its wing, and
several times a male Black-throated Blue Warbler with a white edge
to the shoulder. Among the many gray squirrels in Central Park is a
pure black one. CHAS H. RonGErs, Age 14.
A GRUMBLER'S FATE.
Ducky Sponsa lived with his mother and eleven little sisters and
brothers near a beautiful clear lake. Their house was of oak and al-
though there was but one room, there was ample space for Mrs. Wood
Duck and her children. The Wood Duck preferred to spend all his
time out of doors, seeking food, or standing guard on a limb not far
away from the snug home.
The one room of the cottage was ceiled with oak, the carpet was of
weeds and grass, and there was a feather bed for the babies, of the
softest down, which the mother had taken from her own white vest.
From the round doorway could be seen the blue waters of the lake,
and wooded slopes now charming in the tender greens of early Spring.
In spite of the beautiful surroundings, Ducky Sponsa was not happy,
for with birds, as well with boys and girls, it is not what we have that
makes us happy, but what we are, and I am sorry to say that a very
discontented little heart beat beneath the downy breast of this little bird.
Though he was not yet twenty-four hours old, he grumbled because
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 379
his brothers crowded him and stepped on his toes, he grumbled be-
cause he could not go out and sail upon the water, how should he ever
reach it so far away. He cried because the doorway was so far from
the ground. What if he should fall, he would surely break his neck.
He cried for a gorgeous coat like the one his father wore; he cried
because he was too warm; he cried because he was too cold; in short
he cried for everything and he cried for nothing. As soon as the last
fluffy duckling had left its shell, Mrs. Wood Duck decided that
life in the open air was better for her children, and that once upon the
waters of the lake, they could get plenty of food. But how do you
suppose she was to get these twelve young ducklings from a hole in a
tree, eight feet from the ground, to the waterside, twenty yards away.
This is what she did.
First she lifted squalling Ducky Sponsa in her bill, by the nape of
the neck, and landed him safely at the foot of the tree; then back she
flew and took Daffy Duckling by the wing and bore her to the ground
to her brother’s side; back again she flew for another, then another and
another until in less time than I can tell it, there were twelve fluffy
balls on the grass ready to follow mother to the water’s edge.
Here, all through the bright summer months, the little family sailed
upon the placid bosom of the lake, or played among the grasses at its
edge, making trips into the forest for insects and other dainties for
frequent lunches. Thus summer passed. The children grew, as
children have a way of doing, and the twelve little ducklings were now
twelve handsome full grown ducks. It was a pretty sight to see Ducky
and his brothers floating on the water, proudly raising their golden-
green crests, with their spotted ruddy breasts, white vests and ties,
and with their irridescent backs throwing bright sprays of color into
the sunlight, while Daffy followed seemingly as happy as they, though
her gown was of sooty brown with white feather trimmings.
But alas. Although Ducky Sponsa had donned the splendid plumage
of the mature bird, he still kept his ill-temper, and was as cross and
hard to suit as when he first saw the sunlight in the hollow oak.
‘“Peet-peet, oe-eek, oe-eek,’’ you might have heard him scold all day
long and I am not sure but that he scolded in his dreams.
When October came with its cool days, Madam Wood Duck called
her children to join their hands to take the trip to the warmer South-
land. ‘‘Peet-peet’’ called Ducky Sponsa, “I shall not go. Who knows
what dreadful things we might meet on that long journey?’’ So he
slipped away and hid in a quiet inlet among the shadows of the forest,
until his mates should be gone.
_ Here on the very day after his comrades had taken their flight, he
380 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
was seen and shot by a hunter, who stroked his feathers and admired
the rich colors, and wished that his sister at home was not so particular
about wearing birds on her hat.
ENIGMA,
You'll find my Ist in swear words,
My 2nd is in pray.
My 3rd’s not found in milk curds
But always found in whey.
My fourth and final letter
Is in the word contend.
There’s no bird you know better
Than this pugnacious friend.
QUERIES,
1. What bird sews leaves together to make a nest?
What birds build and live in a tenement house of many apart-
ments?
3. What bird always uses snake skin to line her nest ?
What three birds cover the outside of their nests with lichens ?
5. What ones build a globe of coarse grasses with an entrance
in the side?
6. Which nest in burrows made by themselves?
What two tunnel in banks?
8. Which one lines her nest with down plucked from her own
breast ?
Which one walls up his wife and feeds her through a small
opening during incubation ?
10. Name three which build no nest at all?
bo
-
ap
ido)
GLEANINGS,
THE CHICKADEE.
“There is no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year.’’
‘“As I stood looking, I heard a smart “Tche-day-day-day’ close to
my ear, and looking up, saw four or five chickadees which had
come to scrape acquaintance with me, hopping amid the alders
within three or four feet of me. I had heard them farther off at
first, and they had followed me along the hedge. They day-day’d
and lisped their faint notes alternately, and then, as if to make me
think they had some other errand than to peer at me, they pecked
the dead twigs, the little, topheavy, black-crowned, volatile fellows.
(Thorea.)
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
INDEX.
Accidents -
Acrobats, The Dittle: Meo
Alone With the Birds At Dawn
An Interesting Captive: - PAT soe
An Unexpected Visitor----
Asiatic Merle, The:----
Awakening, The.--
Babes in the Woods.
Beans or Birds.
Bird Chats With ‘Our Young Friends ee
im oe ce ce ce ce
6 ce ce ce ce ce
ce 6 66 ce 6 ce
Bird Enemies --::- Baral eh Gite ldysuenonsice
Bird Land teed ae Etta
Bird Photography, Ins Bae Onis of.-
Binds: Pienic, Phe. Barats
Birdless Wood, The:
Blackbird, nelleachended (color-chart) Boa ecbroe
Blue Jay Then and See The:
se im
Spa The.
Bobolink. . .
(Poem) -.
Broken Series, me 2%
Brown Creeper, A, ieoean ies
Camera Against a Phoebe, aes .
Castle, The. Bt oy PRP ee Oa TE ERE one Ore cacao
Chat, Meliowpieasted (eater Cia ty) ye ea cleaners
Chickadee, Domesticating the oe slotetaiae
Cottage by the Wood, The. sees
Cowbird. - : cia
o Swart.
Cowbird’ s Nest, oe
Crossbill, White- paca.
382 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Crow (History of Tim).-. SBM
“(Jack me Tame Crow) oa
SO Abietex et et
Curlew, Done: tee
Daisy--
' Decerted ries: The.
Domesticating the @hiceaase:
Duck, Am. Scaup (color nae ye
Blue-winged Teal (color hare) Ale base aed
ce
Canvas-back (color chart)-.
: Cinnamon Teal(color chart)).¢-22.:..-
Messer Scaup (colar chart) <-c = .ete acces
= . (Redhead Weolor chart)e. ieee 2 at se soe
Shoveller (color chart) - af
Wood (color chart).--..+ -.;
Eagle, Bald.
English SS arrowh Thee
Fashion's: Fancies.«-- <-'.-'.
Favorite Birds, The....
Feathered Acrobats.
February Birds.
Few of My Petende) A.
Flycatcher, Least. . ae
Flycacher, Scissor- fail, A eenceons soiaclog Do dn as
Flycatcher, Wespnien ((rcvotowee oi ayaim 2) )Whaseis A aloes eer
Gnatcatcher, Blue-gray--------
Godwit, Hudsonian.-.-.-.
Goose, Canada.- -
Grackle, Purple. -
Bronze.
eee SE APR ea
Grebe, Aan ee gael pened (color chart) ----
Holboell’s (color chart) -- -
Horned (eolor hart ie 2 +a se © ose sted:
- Pied-billed (color ‘chart)=- -- ~<=: ae
¢ St. Domingo: (color ehart)=.:-=-'-: <:
Grosbeak, Cardinal (color chart) -
Grosbeak, Blue (color chart) - -
Rose-breasted - ‘ba os
Rose- breasted featan ese
ce
ce
im
Grouse, Ruffed (How a Ruffed Grouse was : photographed) - :
Gull Herring (poem).-.
Handsome Scissor-tail, A------++-+++e+e+e ees
Hawk, American Rough-leg enon chart)... ;
““ Harris’ (color chart) --
Pigeon. -
ec
ce
(An bnienccuee (apace:
Green-wine Teal (color chart) .~:<--+:2- 2o--0.
Ferruginous Rough- ee upolor Chart). 25 «cies.
-
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Hawk, Red-tailed. Duala: @
Swainson’s (ecibr econ :
History of Tim.
Honey Creeper, Peuetae (eolor icnarty
House With Two Stories:
How a Ruffed Grouse was ‘Photographed:
How Birds Bathe -
Ins and Outs of Bird Photography.-- -
Jacana, Mexican Bue chart) ashe
January Picnic, A- see
Jay, Blue, Then Sai Now: .
“the Blue Jay Surgeon.
Jenny Wren supeay) ae
Jimmie the Jay-.
Kingfisher, Belted..-
Lodging of the White-breasted Nuthatch...-........ .
Magpie American (color chart)...-....
‘“ Yellow-billed Fas chart). <<.
“American. -
Martin, Purple, the Caste ei eMeystiee hiss oes Maadegsh cts ohonane: Sickepe ete sto
Meadowlark, Western.
(color ghee) re
western ole chart) Sc
Mergansers, American - Sacer
Hooded -
Merle, Asiatic: -
Message from Beco.
Nest-building Under Difficulties. -
Nighthawk. .
A Notes on nie.
Nuthatch, White-breasted, ideas: Of:
«6
Wddae Nests -- Bchesve¢
One of My Boones:
Oology:-
Oriole’s Nest, ‘The-
Oven Bird. p PB Spe Oe RT ane cas pe Ree
SoRrOA: Pretty Poaceae fe ae err eae ety Sie
Owl, American MAaorile cera uate accion er aestey ater a aisle ratte dusted alc leletiand leven
Long-eared (color chart) -
Arctic Horned (color chart) -- - ;
Dusky Horned (color chart) ---
Great Horned (color chart) ------
Short-eared (color chart)----.-----
Western Horned (color chart).-----
384 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Partridge, California (color chart) -- -
Gambel’s (color chart) ------
Massena (color chart) ----
ce
ce
Mountain (color chart) -
Plumed (color chart)-----
Patch of Sunshine.“ Aw.> 262256 ss 252 oe
Phalarope, Northern (colormchart) <2. -h.-> 25%
Red (color chart)
Phoebe. -
“ The Gatiecs Against : a:
Photographing Game Birds.
Picnic, A January------
Plover, Black-bellied...-.--.-... +.
Plover, Killdeer (eolor chart) =s.2.25 2.4.5 PLN Aegan Meta
Piping’ (color chart) «++ = =:
Semi-palnrated. (Color -chart) = 2/42. sla. er yeneie eee
Smow vy Colar chi © ester ine eaten as eee tree nee
Wilson's: GeolarGhart):<s.s.he ns aos he ea ets, Uae eee
ce
as
ce
POEMS.
Acrobat, The Little.
Alone with the ciate at Baoan:
Birdless Wood, The.
Birds’ Picnic, The-
Bobolink .-
Brown Creeper:
Chickadee.
Chickadee -
Deserted Bene. ‘hie *
Fashion’s Fancies.-
Herring Gull.
Jenny Wren.
Myth of the Sane Sparrow: Berets aera eee
Oriole’s Nest, The.
Redbreast, The.-- -
True Incident, A-
Veery, che: see
Vireo, the Warbling:
Polly’s Adventure: -
Prairie Hen.
Preacher or Vito Toiaalict Rien?
Pretty Pedestrian, A.-
Rail, Black (color chart) -
Farralone (color chart) --
King (color chart) - -
Sora (color chart) -
Virginia (color chart)..--
Yellow (color chart).-..--
Wilson’s (color PEE) eee
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY.
Ramble in the Marsh....
Redstart, American-..---
Roadrunner - :
Robin (A Broken, Geries). -
Sandpiper, Bartramian-.----
School Outing, A-
Shrike, Northern. ;
Skimmer, Black leclor ohare
Some Winter Nests. .-
Sparrow, Chipping (ester eta
Clay-colored pcolbs chart):
os English - sian, Hate aes
= Field - eae :
i Field (color chee
Fox - Oss
Gatiber Ss fcolbe Nir Bis
Song -----
Swamp -- yea aeps
Swamp (antce eae
Tree (color chart) - -
Siwilt,) WW Wste-taroatedo. <a. ais ecu c ae
Tanager, Scarlet (color chart)-------
Tanager, Summer (color chart) ---
Teal, Green-winged------------
Tern, Arctic - :
Black (coloe hati)
Common (color hart).
Foster’s (color foe Peete cai:
Least -
‘* Noddy ‘aloe aes
Roseate (color chart)
Sooty ceptor cleat) :<
Thrush, Willow - 2
o Wilsons -.-
i Wilsons ae Woodland dSongster)
: Wood -
Towhee ----
‘* White- eyed:
Trials and Troubles ci Birds:
Turnstone (color chart) --
Veery
= fe er oadiand Songster)
Veeyr, The (Poem)
Golden-crowned (color chart).--7% 22.2. 44% «.
Harris Veolot Chart). ivcse'icm ssitlesias oes aia e Bece
Intermediate (colorchart).--.-.
White-crowned (Sole chara ede) Marea ace eM aha te ch toms Ta
Winite-throated (color chart) "as fe oh a
Seine A Neca MeaCe, els een tris see eas ola ebath allele comaaieds @ fel tis Gee ws
386 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY
Vireo, Red-eyed ----
a Warbling --
Voice from China --
Walk in July, A--
Warbler, Wadubon’ S outed hares
¥ Black and white. :
Black and white (alae carey
Black-poll (color chart) - - gee
Warbler, Black-throated Blue Cason pest ness
ce
ce
Black-throated Green (color ogi “i's
Blue-winged - tee .
Canadian (Calor Spar).
Cape May (color charts
Chestnut-sided (color oe
+ Golden-cheeked (color chart)
Grace’s (color chart) - .
Hermit (color chart) -
+ Hooded (color iS Ree geese
Kentucky (color chart) -
Magnolia (color chart)-
Myrtle (color chart) -
Palm (color chart) -
Pileolated (color chart) a
Prairie (color chart) =. 525.42
Sonoca Ccolorenart m= -+ 26 2s 5545
Townsend’s (color chart) --
Wilson’s (color ce) 5497
NGEINGIIA oa Go es Beive
Yellow (color cea. Soe oS
Yellow Palm (color bnatD Bytes Ort
Yellow-throated (color chart) ------
Water Thrush, Louisiana... ee ty ae
Waxwing, Bohemian...-.
With the Birds at Dawn.
Woodland Songster, A-
Woodpecker, Calif. (Golbn eharie
Lewis (color charhie
Red-bellied (color Races
ia
ce
ce
Red-headed (color chart) -
Wren, House (The Little Acrobat) -
House (Feathered Aecobat.
Black-throated Gray (color chart)..-.---+++-:
Maryland Yellow-throat Color chart) Sores a4
Red-breasted Sapsucker gotar chart) eee
Like almost anything else are of various grades of excellence and
also like other things it does not pay to buy the cheap kind.
Better spend a little more at first and get the
Bausch & Lomb Zeiss
MD Sn
STEREO BINOCULAR.
The new prism glasses giving the largest field, clearest brightest
and only true stereoscopic image. This glass is used by the
Armies and Navies of the great nations and by expert ornitholo-
gists everywhere.
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.
ROCHESTER, N.Y.
CHICAGO.
WY
\~.
SS
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