^
f p
p, ••si:: -v- -,— -'i ^--^'" ^
■3
'»6Mt
'S;f
-^;::-;
CORNELL LAB ,./ ORNITHOLOGY
LIBRARY
At SArsLiL:KER Woods
lllustrjtu.n ol Snnwy 0«'l hy L.nm Ae.i-i: Fij,
DATE
DUE
GAYLORD
PRINTEOINUS A
Cornell University
Library
The original of tiiis book is in
tine Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022528552
THE CHILDEEN'S BOOK OP BIRDS
THE CHILDREN'S
BOOK OF BIRDS
BY
OLIVE THOENE MILLER
WITH SIXTEEN COLORED PLATES AND
MANY OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
BOSTON AND NEW YOKK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
COPYRIGHTj 1S99 AND I901, BY H. M, MILLER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PREFACE
The Children's Book of Birds combines
under a single cover the First and Second Books
of Birds, originally published in 1899 and 1901
respectively and still popular with children in
and out of school and with other beginners in
the study of birds.
The book is intended to interest young peo-
ple in the ways and habits of birds and to stim-
ulate them to further study. It has grown out
of my experience in talking to schools. From
the youngest kindergarten scholar to boys and
girls of sixteen and eighteen, I have never failed
to find young people intensely interested so long
as I would tell them about how the birds live.
Some of the results of these talks that have
come to my knowledge have been astonishing
and far-reaching, such as that of one boy of
seven or eight, who persuaded the village boys
around his summer home to give up taking eggs
vi PREFACE
and killing birds, and watch them instead, and
who was dubbed "Professor" by his eager fol-
lowers. The effect has always been to make
children love and respect the living bird.
It has therefore seemed to me that what is
needed at first is not the science of ornithology,
— however diluted, — but some account of the
life and habits, to arouse sympathy and interest
in the living bird, neither as a target nor as a
producer of eggs, but as a fellow-creature whose
acquaintance it would be pleasant to make.
Naturally I have drawn on my own observa-
tions for much of the matter contained in this
book, but these have been supplemented by con-
sultation of recognized authorities in the various
fields of ornithology.
In each bird family treated of in the Second
Book I have given accounts of species to be
found in the South and West as well as in the
Eastern States, and I have selected the most
common or typical species of each family. In
cases where it was possible, I have chosen species
represented in the different sections of the coun-
try, not only because the family traits are better
shown, but because it is more encouraging to a
PREFACE
beginner to become acquainted with birds he can
see almost anywhere. When familiar with these,
he will be able to identify and study the rarer
species.
OLIVE THORNE MILLER.
CONTENTS
FIEST BOOK
I. What tou want to know 1
II. When they come in the Speino ... 3
THE NESTLING
III. The Bikd's Home 9
IV. The Baby Bibd 13
V. How HE IS FED 17
VI. His Fibst Suit 21
VII. How HE changes his Clothes . . . .25
VIII. His First Flight 29
IX. His Education 33
X. Some of his Lessons .... 37
THE BIRD GROWN UP
XI. The Bird's Language ... . . 43
XII. What he eats ....... 48
XIII. More about his Food 52
XIV. Where he sleeps 57
XV. His Travels .61
XVI. His Winter Home 66
XVII. His Family and Friends 70
XVIII. His Kindness to others 74
XIX. His Affections 78
XX. His Intelligence 83
HOW HE IS MADE
XXI. His Body ... 91
XXII. His Beak and Tongue 95
XXIII. His Eyes and Ears ... . . 100
XXIV. His Feet and Legs 105
XXV. Hia Wings and Tail 109
X CONTENTS
XXVI. His Dress " 114
XXVII Different colored Suits . . . .118
HIS RELATIONS WITH US
XXVIII. How HE -WORKS FOR US 125
XXIX. How TO ATTRACT HIM ABOUT OUR HoMES . 131
XXX. How TO STUDY HIM 136
SECOND BOOK
I. What is a Bird Family ? 1
II. The Thrush Family 5
American Robin ....... 6
Hermit Thrush ... ... 11
III. The Kinglet and Gnatcatcher Family . . .14
Ruby-crowned Kinglet ...... 14
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ...... 16
IV. The Nuthatch and Chickadee Family . . 18
White-breasted Nuthatch 18
Red-breasted Nuthatch 20
Chickadee 22
Tufted Titmouse 24
V. The Creeper Family 27
Brown Creeper ...... 27
VI. The Cave-dwelling Family (First Branch) . . 30
House Wren ........ 31
VII. The Cave-dwelling Family (Second Branch) . . 34
Mockingbird 34
Catbird 37
Thrasher ........ 40
VIII. The Dipper Family 42
American Dipper ....... 42
IX. The Wagtail Family 46
Sprague's Pipit ....... 46
X. The Warblee Family ...... 49
Yellow Warbler 50
Oven-bird ........ 52
Yellow-breasted Chat 53
XI. The Vireo Family 55
CONTENTS
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
XII. The Shbikb Famllt
Loggerhead Shrike .
XIII. The Waxwing Family .
Cedar-bird ....
Phainopepla
XIV. The S-wallow Family
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow, or Eave Swallow
Purple Martin
, XV. The Tanageb Family
Scarlet Tanager .
Summer Tanager .
Louisiana Tanager
XVI. The Spaekow and Finch Family
Spabrows
Song Sparrow
Finches
Goldfinch ....
Towhee, or Chewink
XVII. The Grosbeak Branch .
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Black-headed Grosbeak .
Cardinal Grosbeak, or Cardinal
XVIII. The Crossbill Branch .
American Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill .
XIX. The Blackbird Family
Marsh Blackbirds
Red-winged Blackbird
Cowbird
XX. The Meadow Starlings .
Meadowlark .
Western Meadowlark .
XXI. The Oriole Branch
Baltimore Oriole
Orchard Oriole
Arizona Hooded Oriole
XXII. The Crow-Blackeied Branch
Purple Grackle .
56
57
59
59
63
63
67
69
69
72
72
75
75
78
78
80
81
82
84
86
86
88
88
91
91
92
94
94
98
100
100
102
104
104
107
108
110
112
CONTENTS
Bronzed Grackle
Brewer's Blackbird
XXIII. The Ckow Family
American Crow .
Blue Jay .
Steller's Jay
American Magpie
XXIV. The Lahk Family
Horned Lark .
Prairie Horned Lark
XXV. The Flycatchinq Family
Kingbird ....
Arkansas Kingbird .
Wood Pewee
Western Wood Pewee
XXVI. The Humming Family .
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird .
XXVII. The Swift Family .
Chimney Swift
XXVIII. The Goatsucker Family .
Whip-poor-will
Chuck-will's-widow .
Poor-will ....
Nighthawk
XXIX. The WoodPeckeb Family
Northern Flicker
Red-shafted Flicker
Red-headed Woodpecker .
Californian Woodpecker
XXX. The Kingfisher Family .
Belted Kingfisher .
XXXI. The Cuckoo Family
Yellow-billed Cuckoo .
XXXII. The Owl Family
Screech Owl
Burrowing Owl
XXXIII. The Barn Owl Family .
American Barn Owl
XXXIV. The Hawk and Eagle Family
American Sparrow Hawk
112
. 113
117
. 117
121
. 126
126
. 131
131
, 131
135
, 136
140
, 140
142
. 143
144
, 149
150
, 150
155
155
157
157
158
160
161
162
165
167
170
170
174
174
178
180
182
185
185
188
189
CONTENTS xiii
American Osprey, or Fish Hawk . . . 190
Bald Eagle 192
XXXV. The Scavengek Family 194
Turkey Vulture 194
Appendix
Characters of the North American Representatives of the
Families mentioned in this Book ..... 197
Index , . . 205
ILLUSTRATIONS
Bahn Swallow (colored) Frontispiece
I
FIRST BOOK
Baltimore Ohiole and Nest (colored) . . . .10
Redstarts (Female on Nest) (colored) .... 14
E.UBT-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD MALE, FeMALE, AND NeST
WITH Young 18
Young Wood Thhush 22
American Goldfinch (colored) 26
Bluebird (colored) 38
Indigo-bird .......... 46
American Robin (colored) 60
Chewink . . 76
House Ween ... 80
Flicker . . 86
White-breasted Nuthatch ...... 96
Lesser Yellowlegs ........ 106
Brown Thrasher 112
Black and White Warbler ... . . 120
Cedar-bird (colored) 126
Scarlet Tanager — Male and Female .... 142
SECOND BOOK
Hermit Thrush 10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet . 14
Chickadee .......... 22
Brown Creeper (colored) 28
Catbird ........... 36
American Dipper 42
Sprague's Pipit 46
Yellow-breasted Chat (colored) ..... 52
ILLUSTRATIONS
Yellow-theoated Vireo and Nest
. 56
LOGGEKHEAD ShEIKE
60
ScAELET Tanagek (colored)
. 76
Rose-beeasted Geosbeak (colored)
86
Caedinal ... ...
. 90
Red-winged Blackbied . ...
94
Meadowlark (colored) . ...
. 100
Blue Jay .
122
American Magpie (colored)
. 126
Deseet Horned Lark
132
Kingbird (colored)
. 136
Nighthawk
158
Downy Woodpecker
. 166
Belted Kingfisher (colored) ....
170
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
. 174
Screech Owl
180
Sparrow Hawk ... . .
. 188
American Ospeby, or Fish Hawk (colored) .
192
Eight of the sixteen colored plates are from drawings by Louis
Agassiz Fuertes, and these are signed with his name. The other
colored plates and the twenty-eight plain halt-tones are from
photographs of mounted specimens, many of which are in the
collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and are reproduced by permission.
The First Book also contains twenty outs in the text.
FIRST BOOK
THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW
Birds seem to be the happiest creatures on
earth, yet they have none of what we call the
comforts of life.
They have no houses to live in, no beds to
sleep on, no breakfast and dinner provided for
them.
This book is to tell something about them ;
where they live and what they eat, where they
sleep, how they get their beautiful dress, and
many other things. But no one can tell all
about their lives and habits, for no one knows
all their ways.
Men who study dead birds can tell how they
are made, how their bones are put together, and
how many feathers there are in the wings and tail.
Of course it is well to know these things. But
2 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
to see how birds live is much more interesting
than to look at dead ones.
It is pleasant to see how mother birds build
their nests, and how they take care of their
nestlings. It is charming to see the young ones
when they begin to fly, and to know how they
are taught to find their food, and to keep out
of danger, and to sing, and everything young
birds need to know.
Then when they are grown up, it is interest
ing to find out where they go in winter, and
why they do not stay with us all the year round.
One who goes into the field to watch and
study their ways will be surprised to find how
much like people they act. And after studying
living birds, he will never want to kill them.
It will seem to him almost like murder.
II
WHEN THEY COMB IK THE SPRING
In the long, cold winter of the New England
and Middle States, not many birds are usually
seen. In the cities there is always the EngHsh
sparrow, and in the country, now and then a
chickadee, or a woodpecker, or a small flock of
goldfinches.
But very early in the spring, long before grass
is green, even while snow is on the ground, the
birds begin to come.
Some morning a robin will appear, standing
up very straight on a fence or tree, showing his
bright red breast and black cap, flirting his tail,
and looking as if he were glad to be back in his
old home.
Then perhaps the same day will come the
hoarse chack of a blackbird, and two or three will
fly over and alight in a big bare tree, looking, it
may be, for a good place to build a bird city.
Soon will be heard the sweet little song of the
song sparrow or the bluebird, and then we shall
4 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
know that summer is coming, for these are the
■first birds of spring.
Day after day, as the snow melts away and
the sunshine grows hotter, more birds will come.
One day a catbird or two, another day an oriole
in black and gold, and another day a pert little
wren. So it will go on, till by the time June
comes in, all our birds will be back with us, very
busy, hopping around in our bushes and trees,
making their nests all about, and singing the
whole day long.
Almost the first thing every bird thinks of,
when he comes to us, is making the nest. Eor
summer is the only time in his life that a bird
has a home.
He does not need a house to live in. He
cares nothing for a roof to cover him, because
when the sun is hot, he has the broad green
leaves on the trees to shade him. And when it
rains his neat feather coat is like a waterproof
that lets the drops run off, leaving him warm
and dry under it.
He does not need a dining-room, because he
eats wherever he finds his food, and he wants no
kitchen, because he prefers his food raw.
He has no use for a bedroom, because he can
sleep on any twig ; the whole world is his bed-
room.
WHEN THEY COME IN THE SPRING S
He cares nothing for closets and bureaus,
because he has only one suit of clothes at a
time, and he washes and dries that without tak-
ing it off.
He wants no fire to keep him warm, for when
it is too cold he spreads his wings and flies to a
warmer place. A bird has really no need of
a house, — excepting when he is a baby, be-
fore his eyes are open, or his feathers have
come, or his wings have grown. While he is
blind, naked, and hungry, he must have a warm,
snug cradle.
So when the bird fathers and mothers come
in the spring the first thing they do is to find
good places and build nice cradles, for they are
very fond of their little ones. They spend the
spring and summer in working for them, keep-
ing them warm, feeding them till they are
grown up, and then teaching them to fly and to
take care of themselves, so that when summer is
gone they will be ready to go with the other
birds to their winter home.
THE NESTLING
Ill
THE bird's home
Each bird mother has her own way of mak-
ing the nest, but there is one thing almost all of
them try to do, and that is to hide it.
They cannot put their little homes out in
plain sight, as we do our houses, because so
many creatures want to rob them. Squirrels
and snakes and rats, and some big birds, and
cats and many others, like to eat eggs and young
birds.
So most birds try, first of all, to find good
hiding-places. Some tiny warblers go to the
tops of the tallest trees, and hide the nest among
the leaves. Orioles hang the swinging cradle at
the end of a branch, where cats and snakes an(3
naughty boys cannot come. Song sparrows
tuck the little home in a tuft of weeds, on the
ground, and bobolinks hide it in the deep grass.
After a safe place is found, they have to get
something to build of. They hunt all about
and gather small twigs, or grass stems, or fine
10 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
rootlets, and pull narrow strips of bark off the
grapevines and the birch-trees, or they pick up
strings and horsehairs, and many other things.
Robins and swallows use mud.
As they go on building, the mother bird gets
inside and turns around and around to make it
fit her form, and be smooth and comfortable for
her to sit in.
When a nest is made, it must be lined. Then
some birds go to the chicken yard, and pick up
feathers, and others find horsehairs. Some of
them pull off the soft down that grows on
plants, or get bits of wool from the sheep pas-
ture, or old leaves from the woods, and make it
soft and warm inside.
Some bird homes are only platforms, where
it seems as if the eggs must roll off, and others
are deep burrows, or holes in the ground, where
no one can get in. Some are dainty baskets
hung between two twigs, and others are tiny
cups of felt with lichens outside.
Each species of bird builds in its own way.
There are as many different ways to make nests
as there are kinds of birds to make them.
Then after all the trouble birds have taken to
build a nest, they seldom use it a second time.
If a pair have two broods in a season, they
almost always build a new one for each family.
v^a
BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND NLST
THE BIRD'S HOME 1\
A few birds, such as eagles, owls, and some-
times orioles, and others, repair the home and
use it again, and woodpeckers sometimes nest in
the old holes. But generally, after the young
birds have flown, we may be sure the nest will
not be wanted again.
When the nest is finished, the eggs are laid
in it, one by one. We all know how pretty
birdk* eggs are. Some are snowy white, some
are dehcate pink, and some blue. Many have
tiny dots and specks on them, and a few are
covered with queer -looking streaks and lines.
But pretty as they are, I think no one would be
so cruel as to take them away from the poor
little mother, if he remembered that her young
ones are inside them, and that she loves them as
his own mother loves him.
I have heard people say that birds do not
care for their eggs. Let me tell you what a
little chickadee mother did when a man tried to
steal the eggs out of her nest.
The nest was in a hole in an old stump, and
the man could not get his hand in, so he had to
take them out one at a time with a little scoop.
At first the mother flew at him and tried to
drive him away. Then chickadees and other
birds who lived near came to help her. All
flew about his face with cries, so that he had to
12 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
use one hand to keep them away from his eyes.
But still he went on taking out the eggs.
At last the little mother was so wild with
grief that she dashed into the hole and sat there
in the doorway, right before his face. He could
not get another egg without hurting her, and he
was ashamed to do that.
This was as brave in the tiny creature as it
would be for a human mother to throw herself
before a fierce, hungry tiger. Do you think
she did not care for her eggs ?
IV-
THE BA3Y BIRD
A BABY bird, as you know, always comes out
of an egg. And beautiful as these eggs are,
they are most interesting when you think that
each one holds a tiny bird.
Eggs are not all alike, of course. One the
size of a bean is large enough to hold a hum-
mingbird baby, till it is old enough to come
out. But the young ostrich needs a shell nearly
as big as your head. So there are all sizes of
eggs to fit the different sizes of birds.
If you should break a fresh egg you would
not see a bird, for it would not be formed at
that time. After the egg is laid in its soft bed,
it has to be kept warm for many days, and tha,t
is why the mother bird sits on her nejst so
quietly. She is keeping the eggs warm, so that
the little ones will form and grow, till they are
as big as the shells can hold.
While the mother is sitting her mate does aU
he can to help, though each species has its owq
14 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
way. The blue jay brings food to his mate, so
that she need not leave the nest at all, and many
others do so. But the kingbird father simply
■watches the nest to protect it while the mother
goes for food. A redstart gets into the nest
himself, to keep the eggs warm while his mate is
gone, and a goldfinch coaxes his mate to go o£B
with him for a lunch, leaving nest and eggs to
take care of themselves.
Another thing the father birds do is to sing.
This is the time when we hear so much bird
song. The singers have little to do but to wait,
and so they please themselves, and their mates,
and us too, by singing a great deal.
When the little birds begin to be cramped,
and find their cradle too tight, they peck at the
shell with a sort of tooth that grows on the end
of the beak, and is called the " egg tooth."
This soon breaks the shell, and they come out.
Then the mother or father carefully picks up
the pieces of shell, carries them off, and throws
them away, leaving only the little ones in the
nest. Perhaps you have found these broken
shells on the ground sometimes, and could not
guess how they came there. When the bird-
lings break out of their prison they do not all
look the same. Ducks and geese and chickens
and quails, and other birds who live on the
REDSTARTS (FEJIALE ON NEST)
THE BABY BIRD 15
ground, as well as hawks and owls, are dressed
in pretty suits of down. They have their eyes
open, and the ground birds are ready to run
about at once.
A man who studied, birds, once saw a young
duck get its first suit of down. He picked up
the egg just as the little bird inside was trying
to get out. In a few minutes the shell fell
apart, and out stepped the duckHng on his hand.
It seemed to be covered with coarse black hairs,
which in a moment began to burst open, one by
one, and out of each came a soft fluff of down.
So in a few minutes, while the man stood there
and held him, the little duck was all covered
with his pretty dress.
But most birds hatched in nests in trees and
bushes, like robins and bluebirds, are very dif-
ferent. When they come out of their shells
they are naked, have their eyes shut, and look
as if they were nearly all mouth. A young
hummingbird looks about as big as a honey
bee, and a robin baby not much bigger than the
eggshell he came out of.
They lie flat down in the nest, seeming to be
asleep most of the time. All they want is to be
warm and to be fed.
To keep them warm, the mother sits on them
a great part of the time, and for the first few
16 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIKDS
days o£ their lives, the father often brings most
of the food. Sometimes he gives it to the
mother, and she feeds the little ones. But
sometimes she gets off the nest, and flies away
to rest, and get something to eat for herself,
while he feeds the nestlings.
There is one bird father who — it is thought
— never comes to the nest, either to watch the
eggs or to help feed the nestlings. That is our
hummingbird, the ruby throat.
We do not know the reason for this, and it
is not fair to say hard things about him until
we do. It may be that he thinks his shining
ruby would show the hiding-place of the nest,
or it may be that the little mother is not willing
to have any help. I think this last is the real
reason, for she has a great deal of spirit, and
always drives away others from her feeding-
places.
Young birds grow very fast, and soon feathers
begin to come out all over them. They are not
very pretty at this time.
HOW HE IS FED
Soon after the young bird comes out of the
egg, he begins to be hungry. All day long,
whenever the father or mother comes near, he
opens his great mouth as wide as he can, to have
it filled, and the moment he gets his voice he
cries for food.
Then the old birds have to work hard. Three
or four hungry nestlings can keep both father
and mother busy from morning till night, hunting
for caterpillars and beetles and grubs and other
things to feed them. It seems as if the little
fellows never could get enough to eat. Each
swallow baby wants seven or eight hundred small
flies every day, and a baby robin needs more
earthworms in a day than you can hold in your
hand at once.
At this time you will see robins hunting over
the lawn, and carrying great beakfuls of worms
up to the nest. Bluebirds you wiU find looking
in the grass, and sparrows hopping about on the
18 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
ground, all seeking soft worms and grubs and
insects for the nestlings ; and they are so busy
they do not get much time for singing.
At this time the orioles go all over the or-
chard trees looking for tiny worms, and little
warblers seek them under every leaf.
Woodpeckers find the insects hidden behind
the bark of trees, by cutting holes through it.
Chickadees and nuthatches pick the tiniest insect
eggs out of the crevices, and flickers hunt every-
where for ants.
As soon as one of the old birds has his mouth
full, he flies to the nest to feed the young.
But not all birds feed in the same way. A
robin just drops a big earthworm, or a part of
one, into the gaping baby mouth. Many other
birds do so also. Sometimes, when an insect is
too big or too hard, they beat it till it is soft,
or break it up, before giving it to a little one.
But hummingbird mothers and flicker mo-
thers have a different way. When they collect
the food they swallow it, as if they wanted it for
themselves. Then they go to the nest, and jerk
it up again in mouthfuls, and feed the nestlings.
This is called feeding by "regurgitation," or
" throwing up."
The way they give the food is very curious.
They push their long beaks into the nestling's
3
o
s
g
p
K
P
W
H
<!
O
Si
a:
H
>■
pa
D
HOW HE IS FED 19
throat, and poke the food far down; so the
young one does not even have the trouble of
swallowing.
This looks as if it must hurt, but the nestHng
seems to like it, and is always ready for more.
The pigeon mother lets the young one poke his
beak down her throat, and get the food for
himself.
If the food is hard, like corn, birds who feed
in this way let it stay in the crop till it is soft
and better fitted for tender throats, before they
give it out.
It is comical to see a nest full of little birds
when the father or mother comes with food.
All stretch up and open their big mouths as
wide as they can, and if they are old enough,
they cry as if they were starving.
Some birds bring food enough for all in the
nest, every time they come. A cedar-bird, feed-
ing wild cherries, brought five of them every
time, one for each of the five nestlings. One
cherrj'^ was held in his mouth, but the other
four were down his throat, and had to be jerked
up one by one.
Other birds bring only one mouthful at a
time, and when there are five or six in the
nest, they have to make as many journeys before
all are fed.
20 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
Some persons who have studied birds thin"k
that each nestling is fed in its turn ; but they
look so much alike, and are so close together,
that it is hard to tell, and I am not sure that
it is so.
I will tell you a story I have heard about
feeding little birds. A child picked up a young
goldfinch who had fallen out of the nest. He
took him home and put him into the canary's
cage, which was hanging on the front porch.
Soon the family heard a great noise among
the birds, and went out to see what was the
matter. The baby goldfinch had hopped on to
a perch in the cage, and seemed to be afraid to
come down, though the old birds had brought
food for him, and were calling him to take it.
The canary looked on a while, and then all at
once he flew to the wires and took the food from
the birds outside ; then he went back to the
perch beside the little one and gave it to him.
This he did many times.
The next day another young goldfinch was
picked up and put in the cage, and the canary
took food from the parents and fed both.
After a few days the old birds came with a
third little one, and as all were now old enough
to fly, the cage door was opened, and they all
flew away.
VI
HIS FIRST SUIT
Some birds that live on the ground — as I
told you — have dresses of down to begin with.
These little fellows have no warm nest to stay
m, but run around almost as soon as they come
out of the egg. Young ducks and geese wear
this baby suit for weeks, before they begin to put
on their feather coats.
Young birds that spend most of their time in
the water, like grebes, and others that live in a
cold country, have the down very thick and fine,
like heavy underclothes, to keep them dry and
warm.
Birds whose home is underground, like the
kingfisher, or in the trunk of a tree, like the
woodpecker, have hardly any down at all. They
need no baby clothes in their warm cradles.
Robins and most other song birds have only
a little down on them, and very soon the feathers
begin to grow.
When the tiny quills push themselves up, they
22 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
look like little white pins sticking out all over.
Each bit of down grows out of a little raised
place on the skin that looks like a pimple, and
■^;he feather comes out of the same.
As tbe feather grows, the bit of down clings
to it till it is broken off. Sometimes it holds
on till the feather is well out. We can often
see down sticking to a young bird's feathers.
The little feathers grow very fast, and before
he is ready to fly a young bird is well covered.
Birds hatched with their eyes open, and already
dressed, who have to run and fly very soon, get
their wing feathers early ; but birds who live
many days in the nest, like robins and bluebirds,
do not get theirs till they are nearly grown.
The tail feathers are the last to come to full
length, and you will notice that most birds just
out of the nest have very dumpy tails.
A bird's first suit of feathers is called his nest-
ling plumage. In some families it is just like
the dress of the grown-up birds, but in others it
is not at all Hke that. It is usually worn only
a few weeks, for the young one outgrows it,
and needs a new and bigger one before winter.
When a bird is fully dressed, his body is en-
tirely covered, and it looks as if the feathers
grew close to each other all over him. But it is
not so. The feathers grow in patterns, called
YOUNG WOOD THRUSH
HIS FIRST SUIT 23
*' feather tracts," with spaces o£ bare skin be-
tween them. These bare places do not show,
because the feathers lap over each other and
cover them.
The pattern of the fet.iher tracts is not the
same in all birds. A few birds of the Ostrich
family have feathers all over the body.
There is another curious thing about the nest-
ling plumage. You would expect a young bird
to look like his father or mother ; and some of
them do. Many nestlings are dressed exactly
like their mothers ; and not until they are a
year old do the young males get a coat like their
father's. Some of them, indeed, do not have
their grown-up suits for two or three years.
Then, again, many young birds have dresses
different from both parents. Young robins have
speckled breasts, and spots on the shoulders,
which the old birds have not.
When the father and mother are dressed alike,
as the song sparrows are, the young birds gen-
erally differ from both of them. When the father
and mother are different, like orioles or blue-
birds, the young are usually like the mother the
first season. In some cases the father, mother,
and young are almost exactly alike.
Birds who live on the ground need dresses of
dull colors, or they would not be very safe. The
24 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
ostrich mother, who makes her nest in plain sight
on the sand, is dressed in grayish brown. When
she sits on the eggs, she lays her long neck flat
on the ground before her ; then she looks like
one of the ant-hills that are common on the
plains of Africa, where she lives.
The South American ostrich, or rhea, fluffs
out her feathers and looks like a heap of dry
grass. The male ostrich is dressed in showy
black and white, and he stays away all day, but
takes care of the nest at night, when his striking
colors cannot be seen.
VII
HOW HE CHAKGES HIS CLOTHES
It takes a bird weeks to put on a new suit of
clothes. He has nothing but his feathers to
protect him from cold and wet, and as feathers
cannot grow out in a minute, he would be left
naked, and suffer, if he lost them all at once. So
he changes his dress one or two feathers at a
time.
Some day a feather will drop from each wing.
If you could look, you would see that new ones
had started out in the same place, and pushed
the old ones off. When the new ones are pretty
well grown another pair will fall out.
If all dropped out at once, besides suffering
with cold he would not be able to fly, and he
could not get his living, and anybody covld
catch him. But losing only one from each side
at a time, he always has enough to fly with.
It is the same way with his tail feathers. He
loses them in pairs, one from each side at the
same time.
26 THE FIRST BOOK OP BIRDS
The soft feathers that cover his body drop
out one by one. Thus all the time he is putting
on a new suit he still wears part of the old one.
In this way he is never left without clothes for a
moment.
Most birds put on their new suits just after
the young ones are grown up, and before they
all start for the South to spend the winter, — that
is, with many of our common birds, in August.
At that time they are rather shy, and stop sing-
ing. If you did not see one now and then, you
might think they were all gone.
Sometimes the new fall suit is not at all like
the old one. There is the goldfinch, all summer
in bright yellow. When he comes out in his
new suit in August, it is dull-colored, much like
the one his mate wears all the year, and in win-
ter, when goldfinches fly around in little flocks,
they look nearly all alike.
In the spring, the male goldfinch comes out
again in yellow. He has two suits a year, — a
bright yellow one in the spring, and a dull olive-
green for the winter. But his new spring dress
is not a full suit. The yellow of the body is all
fresh, but the black wings are the same the year
round.
Some birds have two, different colored dresses
in a year J one they get without changing a
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
HOW HE CHANGES HIS CLOTHES 27
feather. Suppose they have feathers of black,
with gray on the outside edges. All winter the
gray shows and the birds seem to have gray
coats. But in spring the gray edges wear or fall
off, and the black shows, and then they look as
if they had come out in new black suits. It is
as if you should take off a gray overcoat and
show a black coat under it.
There is another interesting thing about birds'
dress. Some of them look like their mates, the
father and mother birds so nearly alike that it is
hard, sometimes impossible, to tell them apart.
But when that is the case, you will notice that
the color is not very gay. If the father wears a
bright-colored suit, the mother does not look like
him.
For this reason the little mother is not too easily
seen when she is on her nest. If the goldfinch
mother were as bright as her mate, everybody
who came near would see her on the nest, and
some animal might take her, and leave the young
birds to starve to death. That is probably why
mother birds dress in such dull colors.
When birds live on the ground, or very near
it, in most cases both of the pair wear the dull
colors, so they will not easily be seen. Wrens
and sparrows and many others are so. But birds
who make their nests in holes, or under ground,
28 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
are often as bright as their mates, because they
cannot be seen while sitting, and do not need to
wear dull colors.
A curious thing about a bird's color is that
the same species, or kind of bird, is darker in
one place than another. Where there is much
dampness or wet weather, the colors are darker.
For instance, a bob-white who lives in Florida,
or one who lives in Oregon, will be much darker
than his cousin living in New England.
VIII
HIS FIE.ST FLIGHT
When young birds are in the nest they are
not very pretty. But when they are nearly
feathered, and sit up on the edge, exercising
their wings, and getting ready to fly, they are
lovely to look at. Their feathers are more fluffy
and fresh than those of the old birds.
At that time they have not learned to be afraid
of us, and if we do not frighten them by rough-
ness, loud talking, or quick movements, we can
often get near enough to see them well. They
will sit up and look at us without fear.
Then some day, all at once, a young bird will
begin to flap his wings, and off he will go, flut-
tering very hard, beating his wings, and trying
to reach the next tree.
Sometimes he will reach it, and perch on a
twig, and sit quite still a long time, tired with
his first flight. Then the parents will come and
feed him, and after a while he will fly again.
This time he will go farther.
30 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
So he will go on, till in a few days he can fly
"very well, and follow his parents about, and begin
to learn where to get food.
Sometimes when a young bird leaves the nest
he does not reach the tree he starts for, but falls
to the ground. Then there is trouble among
the birds. He is in danger of being picked up
by a cat or a boy, or of getting tangled in the
grass or weeds.
The poor parents are half wild with fear. They
coax him to try again, and they follow him about
in the grass, in great distress. I have many
times picked up a little bird, and set him on a
branch of a tree, or stood guard over him, driv-
ing away cats and keeping off people, till he
reached a place where he would be safe.
When young birds are out, but cannot yet
fly very well, there is much anxiety about them.
Then, if any one comes around to disturb them,
what can the poor little mother do ? Sometimes
she makes her young ones hide. Some of the
birds who live on the ground will give a certain
cry, when in a second every Uttle one will crouch
on the ground, or creep under a leaf, and be per-
fectly still. And their dark colors look so like
the earth one can hardly see them.
Then the mother tries to make one look at
her by queer antics. She pretends to be hurt.
HIS FIRST FLIGHT 31
and tumbles about as if she could not fly. If it
is a man or an animal who has frightened her,
he will usually think he can easily catch her ;
so he will forget about the young ones, and fol-
low her as she goes fluttering over the ground.
She will go on playing that she is hurt, and
moving away, till she leads him far from her
brood. Then she will start up and fly away,
and he cannot find his way back to where the
little ones are still crouching.
Sometimes when a mother is frightened, she
wiU snatch up her young one between her feet,
and fly away with it. Sometimes a mother will
fight, actually fly into the face of the one she
fears. Often, too, other birds come to her aid ;
birds of many kinds, — catbirds, robins, thrash-
ers, and others, — all come to help her drive
away the enemy, for birds are almost always
ready to help each other.
I once found a young blue jay who had come
to the ground while trying his first flight. I
thought I would pick him up and put him on a
branch. But the old birds did not know what I
meant to do, and perhaps they were afraid T
would carry him ofE.
They flew at me with loud cries to drive me
away, and I thought it best to go, for I did not
want to make them any more unhappy than they
were already.
32 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
I did not go far, because I wanted to see
that no one caught' the little one. He hopped
about in the grass a long time, while his parents
flew around him in great distress. Many times
he tried to fly, but he eould not rise more than
two feet from the ground.
At last he seemed to make up his mind to
climb a tree, for when he came to one M'ith a
rough bark he began to go up. He would fly
up a few inches, then hold on with his claws to
rest. And so, half flying and half climbing, he
went on till he reached the lowest limb. On
that he perched and was quiet, glad to rest after
iiis hard work. The old birds were happy, too,
and brought food to him, and so I left them.
IX
HIS EDUCATION
The young bird has to be educated, or trained
for his life, just as we do, though not exactly
in the same way.
He does not have to know arithmetic and
history ; and what he needs of geography is
only the road to the South, where he spends his
winters.
I suppose the first thing he learns is to fly.
You have heard, perhaps, that the old birds
drive their young out of the nest. But do not
believe any such thing, for it is not true. I
have seen many little birds leave the nest, and
almost every one flew when the parents were
away after food.
The parents sometimes try to coax a nestling
who is afraid to try his wings, like an oriole I
knew of. All the young orioles had flown
except this one, and he seemed to be too timid
to try. He stood on the edge of the nest, and
called and cried, but did not use his wings.
34 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
The father came to see him now and then, and
at last he made him fly in this way. He caught
a fine, large moth, and brought it to the nest in
his beak. The young bird was veiy hungry,
and when he saw the food, he opened his mouth
and fluttered his wings, so eager to get it he
iBOuld hardly wait.
But the parent did not feed him. He let him
see the moth, and then, with a loud call, he
flew to the next tree. When the little oriole
saw the food going away, he forgot he was
afraid, and with a cry of horror he sprang after
it ; and so, before he knew it, he had flown.
After the young bird can fly, he needs to be
taught to get his own living, or to find his own
food, and also where to sleep. Then he must
learn what to be afraid of, and how to protect
himself from his enemies.
He needs to know the different calls and cries
of his family, and what they all mean. He has
to learn to fly in a flock with other birds, and
he must learn to sing. No doubt there are many
more lessons for him that we do not know
about.
If you watch little birds just out of the nest,
you may see them being taught the most useful
and important lesson, how to find their food.
The robin mother takes her little one to the
HIS EDUCATION 35
ground, and shows him where the worms liv®
and how to get them. The owl mother finds a
mouse creeping about in the grass, and teaches
the owlets how to pounce upon it, by doing it
herself before them.
The old swallow takes her youngsters into the
air, and shows them how to catch little flies on
the wing ; while mother phrjebe teaches hers to
sit still and watch till a fly comes near, and then
fly out and catch it.
If you watch long enough, after a while you
may see the old bird, who is training a young
one, fly away. She may leave the young one
alone on a tree or the ground, and be gone a
long time.
Before many minutes the little one will get
hungry, and begin to call for food. But by
and by, if nobody comes to feed him, he will
think to look around for something to eat.
Thus he will get his lesson in helping himself.
Once I saw a woodpecker father bring his
little one to a fence, close by some raspberry
bushes that were full of berries. He fed him
two or three berries, to teach him what they
were and where they grew, and then quietly
slipped away.
When the young bird began to feel hungry
be cried out ; but nobody came. Then he looked
86 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
over at the raspberries, and reached out and
tried to get hold of one. After trying three or
four times, and nearly pitching off his perch, he
did reach one. Then how proud he Avas !
The father stayed away an hour or more, and
before he came back that young woodpecker
had learned to help himself very well ; though
the minute his father came, he began to flutter
his wings and beg to be fed, as if he were half
starved.
A lady, who fed the wild birds on her window
sill for many years, and watched their ways, says
she often saw the old birds teaching their little
ones. They showed them where the food was
to be found, and, she says, regularly taught
them the art of eating.
Then she saw them taught to be afraid of
people, not to come too near her. And once she
saw an old bird showing a young one how to
gather twigs for nest-building. The young one
looked on a while, and then tried hard to do it
himself, but could not get off a single twig.
Best of all, the same lady heard an old robin
giving a music lesson. The teacher would sing
a few notes and then stop, while the pupil tried
to copy them. He had a weak, babyish sort of
voice, and did not succeed very well at first.
I have heard several birds at their music les'
sons.
SOME OF HIS LESSONS
It is very easy to catch the birds teaching
their little ones to exercise their wings and to
fly together. You will see the young birds
sitting quietly on fences or trees, when all at
once the parents begin to fly around, with
strange loud calls. In a minute every young-
ster will fly out and join them. Around and
around they all go, hard as they can, tiU their
little wings are tired, and then they come down
and alight again.
Once I saw a young bird who did not go
when his parents called. All the others flew
around many times, and I suppose that young
one thought he would not be noticed.
But mothers' eyes are sharp, and his mother
saw him. So when she came back, she flew
right at her naughty son, and knocked him off
his perch. The next time she called, he flew
with the rest. This was a crow mother.
I have seen a bluebird just out of the nest,
38 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
taught to follow his father in this way. He
stood on a small tree, crying for something to
eat, when his father came in sight with a beak-
ful of food. He did not feed him, but flew
past him, so close that he almost touched him,
and alighted on the next tree, a httle beyond
him.
The httle bluebird saw the food, and at once
flew after it, perched beside his father, and was
fed. Then the old bird left him, and in a few
minutes he felt hungry, and began to call
again.
I kept close watch, and soon the father came
and did the same thing over. He flew past the
young one with an insect in plain sight in his
beak, and perched on another tree still farther
along in the way he wanted the little one to go.
The hungry baby followed, and was fed as
before. In this way he was led to a big tree
the other side of the yard, where the rest of
the family were, and where they all spent the
night.
An old robin wanted to teach her young one
to bathe. She brought him to a dish of water
kept for their use by some people who were
fond of birds. The little one stood on the edge
• and watched his mother go in, and splash and
scatter the water. He fluttered his wings, and
SOME OF HIS LESSONS 39
was eager to try it for himself, but seemed afraid
to plunge in.
At last the mother flew away and left him
standing there, and in a moment came back
with a worm in her mouth. The young robin
was hungry, as young birds always are, and
when he saw the worm, he began to flutter his
wings, and cry for it.
But the mother jumped into the middle of
the water dish, and stood there, holding the
worm in his sight. The youngster wanted the
worm so much that he seemed to forgfet his fear
of the water, and hopped right in beside her.
She fed him, and then began to splash about,
and he liked it so well that he stayed and took
a good bath.
Birds, as these stories show, teach their little
ones by coaxing, and not by driving them.
An Englishman, Mr. Lloyd Morgan, once
had some ducks and chickens hatched away from
their mother, to see how much their parents had
to teach them.
He found that these . little orphans had to be
taught to pick up their food, and to know what
is good to eat. He had to show the young
ducks how to dive, and teach all of them that
water is good to drink.
To see if chickens had to be taught the heu
40 THE FIRST BOOK OF BIRDS
language, he put them out by their mother
when they were a few days old.
The hen was going about with her brood, all
brothers and sisters of Mr. Morgan's chicks,
and she was quite ready to adopt the new ones.
She clucked and called to them with all her
might, but they did not come. They acted as
if they did not hear her. When the others ran
and crept under her wings to be brooded, the
strangers looked on, but did not think of going
too. ,
They did not understand the calls or the
ways of their own mother. They had not been
taught.
A careful watcher will see the birds teach
these things, and many others as interesting.
But no one will see anything unless he is quiet,
and does not frighten them.
THE BIRD GROWN UP
XI
THE bird's language
When the bird is grown up, there are many
other interesting things to know about him, —
one is, whether he can talk.
It is plain to those who have studied the ways
of birds, that they are able to tell things to each
other, and many writers have said plainly that
birds have a language.
If you notice birds in cages, you will find that
when two or more of a kind are in the same
room, you will hear little chirps and twitters
and other notes, not at all like their song. But
if one is alone in a room, he hardly makes a
sound except when singing.
Then see a robin out of doors. He is less
afraid of us than most birds, and easiest to
watch. If something comes up on him sud-
denly, he gives a sharp note of surprise. If a
cat appears, he has another cry which every one
can understand, a word of warning to all. If
everything is quiet and his mate is hear, he will
greet her with some low, sweet notes.
44 THE BIRD GROWN UP
When a partridge mother sees danger, she
gives one call, which all her brood know, and at
once run and hide. When the hen speaks to
her chicks, they know well whether it means to
come to her, or to run away.
Of course birds do not use our words. When
it is said that the quail says " Bob White," it is
meant that his call sounds like those words.
To some the notes sound like " more wet." One
may call it almost anything, like " all right " or
" too hot."
You will read in books about birds, that a
certain warbler says " Witches here," or that
the white-throated sparrow says " Old Sam Pea-
body," and other birds say still different things.
The writer means that the words remind one o£
the bird's notes, and so it is useful to know
them, because it helps you to know the bird
when you hear him.
I have many times seen birds act as if they
were talking to each other. You can often see
the city sparrows do so.
There is nothing in a bird's ways that we hke
so well as his singing. And in all the many
species of birds in the world, no two sing exactly
alike, so far as I can find out. You may always
know a bird by his song. A robin does not
sing like a thrush or a catbird. And what is
THE BIRD'S LANGUAGE 45
more, not one of the sounds he utters is like
those made by any other bird. If you know
him well, whatever noise he makes, you will
know at once that it is a robin.
But there is something still more curious
about it. No robin sings exactly like another
robin. When you come to know one bird well,
you can tell his song from any other bird's. Of
course, all robins sing enough alike for one to
know that it is a robin song, but if you listen
closely, you will see that it is really different
from all others.
Persons who have kept birds in cages have
noticed the same thing.
There is still another point to know. One
bird does not always sing the same song. I
have heard a song sparrow sing five or six differ-
ent songs, standing all the time in plain sight on
a fence. In the same way I have known a mea-
dowlark to make six changes in his few notes.
Besides their own natural songs, many birds
like to copy the notes of others. Our mocking-
bird is very fond of learning new things, and he
does not always choose songs either.
He will imitate the noise of filing a saw, or the
pop of a cork, as readily as the sweetest song.
I have heard one sing the canary's song better
than the canary himself.
46 THE BIRD GROWN UP
Other birds can do the same. A common
English sparrow picked up in the streets of a
big city, hurt, and not able to fly, was put into
a room with a canary.
No doubt the wild bird found his life in a
cage rather dull, after having been used to the
streets, and he soon began to amuse himself try-
ing to do as the canary did, to sing. In a few
weeks he learned the whole song, and he could
sing it even better than his roommate, for his
voice was full and rich, and not so shrill as the
canary's.
Most people think that birds sing all summer.
They think so because they have not taken
notice. We who are very fond of bird song
know it is not so.
Singing begins when the birds first come in
the spring. It goes on while the nest is being
built, and the mother bird is sitting. The
father has little to do at that time, and so he
sings. And besides, he seems to be so happy
that he cannot help it.
But when little ones begin to call for food,
he has to be very busy, and does not have so
much time for music. Some birds stop singing
as soon as they go to feeding.
But not aU do so. Many go on singing till
they begin to change their clothes, or to moult.
INDIGO-BIRD
IHE BIRD'S LANGUAGE 47
as it is called. This happens in August or
September, and when it begins, a bird seems to
lose his voice.
One of the first to stop singing is the bobo-
link. He is rarely heard after June is past.
The veery is another whose singing days are
over early. You may hear his call in the woods,
if you know it, but not a song will you hear
after the middle of July.
By the time August comes in, almost every
bird is silent, except for his calls or "talk."
The birds to be heard then are the red-eyed
vireo, who seems never to tire, and now and
then the indigo-bird, or the wood pewee, and
best of all, the dear little song sparrow, who
keeps up his cheery songs till the very last.
Then you will know that all the birds are
busy putting on their new suits for their long
journey.
XII
WHAT HE EATS
What the bird eats and where he gets his
food are useful things for us to know. It has
only lately been found out that birds are the
most valuable of helpers to us.
What we cannot eat ourselves, they are happy
to live on, and things that make us a great deal
of trouble are their daily food.
Some of the things they are fond of are
little animals, like mice and ground squirrels,
that eat our crops. Others are insects which
spoil our fruit and eat up our vegetables, canker-
worms and cutworms, and a hundred more.
Besides these, many birds eat the seeds of cer-
tain weeds that farmers have to fight all the
time.
One reason this helps us so greatly is that
birds eat much more for their size than we do.
A boy of six or eight years could not possibly
eat a whole sheep in one day, but a young bird
can easily eat more than his own weight every
day.
WHAT HE EATS 49
They want more than three meals too. They
need to eat very often. One catbird will take
thirty grasshoppers for his breakfast, and in a
few hours he will want thirty more. So he de-
stroys a great many in a day.
Birds begin eating long before we are out of
bed, and keep it up till night comes again, or as
long as they can see.
You must not think the birds are greedy, as
a person would be if he ate every few minutes
all day. They are made to do so. It is their
business to destroy insects, small animals, and
weeds that trouble us so much, and the more
they eat the better for us.
Let us see where they go for food. Each
bird has his own place to work.
The catbird watches the fruit-trees, and all
day long eats insects that are spoiling our fruit
or kilHng the trees. When the cherries are
ripe, we should not forget that he has saved the
fruit from insects, and has well earned a share
for himself.
If you spent days and weeks picking ofE in-
sects, would you not think you had earned part
of the fruit ? " For every cherry he eats " (says
a man who has watched him), " he has eaten at
Iteast one thousand insects."
The robin eats great numbers of canker*
50 THE BIRD GROWN UP
worms, which destroy our apples, and cutworms,
which kill the corn.
The bluebird sits on the fence keeping sharp
watch, and every few minutes flies down and
picks up a grasshopper or a cricket, or some
such grass-eating insect.
Woodpeckers hunt over the trunks and limbs
of trees. They tap on the bark and listen, and
if they hear a grub stir inside, they cut a hole
in the bark and drag it out. The downy is
fond of insects that infest our apple-trees, and
he makes many holes in the trunks. But it
does not hurt the trees. It is good for them,
for it takes away the creatures that were eating
them.
Orioles go over the fruit-trees, and pick out
tiny insects under the leaves, and when they
find great nests on the branches, they tear them
open and kill the caterpillars that made them.
Little warblers, such as the pretty summer
yellow-bird, help to keep our trees clear, doing
most of their work in the tops, where we can
hardly see them.
Swallows fly about in the air, catching mos-
quitoes and tiny flies that trouble us.
Very useful to us are the birds who feed
upon dead animals, such as the turkey buzzards,
who may be seen any day in our Southern
WHAT HE EATS 51
States, soaring about high in the air, looking
for their food.
What they eat is so very unpleasant to us
that we are apt to despise the birds. But we
should cherish and feel grateful to them in-
stead. For they are doing us the greatest kind-
ness. In many of the hot countries people
could not live, r£ these most useful birds were
killed.
Some persons think buzzards find their food
by seeing it, and others are just as sure that
they smell it. Perhaps they use both senses.
XIII
MOKE ABOUT HIS FOOD
Some of the big birds work all the time for
us. When you see a hawk sitting very still on
a dead limb, what do you suppose he is doing ?
A good deal of the time he is looking on the
ground for a mouse, or a ground squirrel, or a
rat, or some creature that he likes to eat.
When he sees one of them move in the grass,
he flies down and pounces upon it. Thus he
helps the farmer greatly, for all of these little
animals destroy crops.
When it grows dark, hawks stop work and go
to sleep. Then the owls, who can see better in
the dusk, come out of the holes where they have
been half sleeping all day. They hunt the same
little creatures, most of all rats and mice, which
like best to run about in the night.
Perhaps you have heard that hawks and owls
carry off chickens. Many people who keep
chickens shoot every hawk and owl they see.
But if they knew more about them they would
MORE ABOUT HIS FOOD 53
not do so. Only two of the common hawks
and one owl ^ disturb chickens. All the others
kill thousands of the little animals that give the
farmers so much trouble.
Owls have a curious way of eating mice.
They swallow them whole, and after a while
they throw up a queer-looking little ball made
of the bones and fur of the mouse.
You may some time have seen a long-legged
heron walking about on the seashore or in the
salt marsh. Now and then he would thrust his
long, sharp bill into something, and lift up his
head and swallow. Or you have noticed a
little sandpiper running along on the beach or
the bank of a river.
The heron was probably eating frogs or fish,
and the sandpiper some of the small sea crea-
tures thrown up by the waves. If these were
not taken away they would be very bad for us,
and perhaps make us sick.
Not less useful to us than these birds are the
whole family of finches. The goldfinch in
bright yellow coat, the purple finch in red, and
the sparrows in plain brown. All of these are
fond of seeds as well as insects, and most ot all
they like the seeds of some weeds that are hard
to get rid of.
' Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks, and great horned oi
hoot owl.
54 THE BIRD GROWN UP
The goldfinch is called the thistle -bird, be-
cause he likes best the seeds of thistles, though
he eats the beggar's-ticks too.
The chipping sparrow, the little red-headed
bird who comes about our doors, eats the seeds
of fox-tail and crab grasses, that spoil our lawns.
The white-throated sparrow, a large and very
pretty bird, eats the seeds of smartweed and
ragweed. Other finches like bittersweet, sorrel,
and amaranth, all of which we are glad to have
them eat.
The seed-eating birds can find their food in
winter, even when snow covers the ground, be-
cause the dead weeds hold on to their seeds, and
the snow is not often deep enough to cover
them.
Some birds gather their food in the fall, and
hide it away where they can find it in winter.
Blue jays collect acorns and beech-nuts, and
store them in a hole in a tree, or some other
safe place, to eat when food is scarce. A wood-
pecker who lives in the West picks holes in the
bark of a tree, and puts an acorn into each one.
The oddest store I know of was made by a
woodpecker. He found a long crack in a post,
and stuffed it full of live grasshoppers. He did
not like dead grasshoppers. He wedged them
into the crack so tightly that they could not get
MORE ABOUT HIS FOOD 55
out, and I do not know that they wanted to.
"When grasshoppers were scarce in the fields, he
came day after day to his queer storehouse, till
he had eaten every one.
One of the woodpecker family who lives in
Mexico stores nuts and acorns in the stems of
plants. These stems are hollow and made in
joints like bamboo. The bird cuts a hole at the
upper end of a joint, and stufEs it full. When
he wants his nuts, he cuts a hole at the lower
end of the joint and pulls them out.
I once had a tame blue jay, who was fond of
saving what he could not eat, and putting it
safely away. The place he seemed to think
most secure was somewhere about me, and he
would come slyly around me as I sat at work,
and try to hide his treasure about my clothes.
When it was a dried currant or bit of bread,
I did not care ; but when he came on to my
shoulder, and tried to tuck a dead meal worm
into my hair or between my lips, or a piece of
raw beef under a ruffle or in my ear, I had to
decline to be used as a storehouse, much to his
grief.
He liked to put away other things as well as
jpood. Matches he seemed to think were made
for him to hide. His chosen place for them was
between the breadths of matting on the floor.
56 THE BIRD GKOWN UP
Once he found a parlor match, hunted up a
good opening, and put it in. Then he went on,
as he always did, to hammer it down so tightly
that it would stay. One of the blows of his
hard beak struck the lighting end of the match,
and it went off with a sharp crack. The noise
and the flame which burst out made the bird
jump three feet, and scared him nearly out of
his senses.
After that I took care to keep the matches
out of the way of a bird so fond of hiding
things.
XIV
■WHERE HE SLEEPS
Most birds sleep on their feet.
You know how a canary goes to sleep, all
puffed out like a ball, with his head buried in
the feathers of his shoulder. He may stick his
bill over behind the top of the wing, but he
never "puts his head under his wing," as you
have heard.
Sometimes he stands straight up on one leg,
with the other drawn up out of sight in his fea-
thers, but more often he sits down on the perch,
still resting on his feet. Most wild birds of the
perching kind sleep in the same way.
It is only lately that we have begun to find
out where birds sleep, because it is dark when
they go to bed, and they get up before it is
light enough for us to see them.
The only way to catch them in bed is to go
out in the evening, and start them up after they
have gone to sleep. And this is not very kind
to the poor little birds. Some men who are try
58 THE BIRD GROWN UP
ing to learn about the habits of birds have tried
this way, and so have found out some of their
sleeping-places.
One thing they have learned is that the nest
is not often used for a bed, except for the
mother, while she is sitting and keeping her
little ones warm.
Eobins and orioles, and others, creep into the
thick branches of an evergreen tree, close up to
the trunk. Some crawl under the edge of a
haystack, others into thick vines or thorny
bushes. All these are meant for hiding-places,
so that beasts which prowl about at night, and
like to eat birds, will not find them.
Tree sparrows like to sleep in holes in the
ground like little caves. The men who found
these cosy little bedrooms think they are places
dug out by field mice, and other small animals,
for their own use. And when they are left, the
birds are glad to take them.
When the weather is cold, some birds sleep
under the snow. You may think that would
not be very warm, and it is not so warm as a
bed in the house with plenty of blankets. But
it is much warmer than a perch in a tree, with
nothing but leaves to keep ofE the wind.
While the snow is falling, some birds find it
as good as blankets for their use. Grouse, who
WHERE HE SLEEPS 59
live on the ground, dive into a snow-bank, and
snuggle down quietly, while the snow falls and
covers them all over, and keeps the cold wind off.
Air comes through the snow, so they do not
smother.
Some birds creep into a pile of brush that is
covered with snow, and find under the twigs
little places like tents, where the snow has been
kept out by the twigs, and they sleep there,
away from the wind and storm outside.
Water birds find the best sleeping-places on
the water, where they float all night like tiny
boats. Some of them leave one foot hangfinsr
down and paddling a little, while they sleep, to
keep from being washed to the shore.
Bob-white and his family sleep in a close
circle on the ground, all with their heads turned
outward, so that they can see or hear an enemy,
whichever way he comes.
Hawks and eagles are said to sleep standing,
never sitting on the feet like a canary. Some
ducks and geese do even more : they sleep stand-
ing on one foot. Woodpeckers and chimney
swifts hang themselves up by their claws, using
their stiff tail for a brace, as if it were a third
leg.
Some birds, like the crows, sleep in great
flocks. They agree upon a piece of woods, and
60 THE BIRD GROWN UP
all the crows for miles around come there every
night. Sometimes thousands sleep in this one
bedroom, called a crow roost. Robins do the
same, after the young are big enough to fly so
far.
Audubon, who has told us so much about
birds, once found a hollow tree which was the
sleeping - room of chimney swifts. The noise
they made going out in the morning was like the
roar of a great mill-wheel.
He wanted to see the birds asleep. So in the
daytime, Avhen they were away, he had a piece
cut out at the foot of the tree, big enough to let
him in, and then put back, so the birds would
not notice anything unusual.
At night, after the swifts were abed, he took
a dark lantern and went in. He turned the
light upon them little by little, so as not to startle
them. Then he saw the whole inside of the
tree full of birds. They were hanging by their
claws, side by side, as thick as they could hang.
He thought there were as many as twelve thoif
sand in that one bedroom.
XV
HIS TRAVELS
Most of our birds take two long journeys
every year, one in the fall to the south, and the
other in the spring back to the north. These
journeys are called " migrations."
The birds do not go all at once, but in many
cases those of a kind who live near each other
collect in a flock and travel together. Each
species or kind has its own time to go.
It might be thought that it is because of the
cold that so many birds move to a warmer cli-
mate. But it is not so ; they are very well
dressed to endure cold. Their feather suits are
so warm that some of our smallest and weakest
birds are able to stay with us, like the chickadee
and the golden-crowned kinglet. It is simply
because they cannot get food in winter, that they
have to go.
The fall travel begins soon after the first of
July. The bobolink is one of the first to leave
us, though he does not start at once on his long
62 THE BIRD GROWN UP
journey. By that time his little folk are full
grown, and can take care of themselves, and he
is getting on his winter suit, or moulting.
Then some morning all the bobolinks in the
country are turned out of their homes in the
meadows, by men and horses and mowing-ma^
chines, for at that time the long grass is ready
to cut.
Then he begins to think about the wild rice
which is getting just right to eat. Besides, he
likes to take his long journey to South America
in an easy way, stopping here and there as he
goes. So some morning we miss his cheerful
call, and if we go to the meadow we shall not be
able to see a single bobolink.
There, too, are the swallows, who eat only
small flying insects. As the weather grows
cooler, these tiny flies are no longer to be found.
So the swallows begin to flock, as it is called.
For a few days they will be seen on fences and
telegraph wires, chattering and making a great
noise, and then some morning they will all be
gone.
They spend some time in marshes, and other
lonely places, before they at last set out for the
south.
As the days grow shorter and cooler, the war-
blers go. These are the bright-colored little
HIS TRAVELS 63
fellows, who live mostly in the tops of trees.
Then the orioles and the thrushes and the cuckoos
leave us, and most birds who live on insects.
By the time that November comes in, few of
them will be left. Birds who can live on seeds
and winter berries, such as cedar -berries and
partridge-berries, and others, often stay with us,
— bluebirds, finches, and sometimes robins.
Many birds take their journey by night.
Think of it ! Tiny creatures, that all summer
go to bed at dark, start ofE some night, when it
seems as if they ought to be asleep, and fly all
night in the dark.
When it grows light, they stop in some place
where they can feed and rest. And the next
night, or two or three nights later, they go on
again. So they do till they reach their winter
home, hundreds or thousands of miles away.
These night flyers are the timid birds, and
those who live in the woods, and do not like to
be seen, — thrushes, wrens, vireos, and others.
Birds with strong wings, who are used to fly-
ing hours every day, and bolder birds, who do
not mind being seen, take their journey by day-
light.
Most of them stop now and then, a day or
two at a time, to feed and rest. They fly very
high, and faster than our railroad trains can go.
64 THE BIRD GROWN UP
In the spring the hirds take their second long
journey, back to their last year's home.
How they know their way on these journeys,
men have been for many years trying to find out.
They have found that birds travel on regular
roads, or routes, that follow the rivers and the
shore of the ocean. They can see much better
than we can, and even in the night they can see
water.
One such road, or highway, is over the har-
bor of New York. When the statue of Liberty
was set up on an island in the harbor a few
years ago, it was put in the birds' path.
Usually they fly too high to mind it ; but when
there is a rain or fog they come much lower,
and, sad to say, many of them fly against it and
are killed.
We often see strange birds in our city streets
and parks, while they are passing through on
their migrations, for they sometimes spend sev-
eral days with us.
A sparrow, who was hurt and unable to fly,
was picked up one fall and kept in a house all
winter. He was not caged, and he chose for
his headquarters and sleeping-place a vase that
stood on a shelf.
He went with the family to the table, and
made himself very much at home there. He
HIS TRAVELS C5
picked out what he wanted to eat and drink, and
scolded well if he did not have it.
The thing he liked best was butter, and when
he was ready to wipe his bill after eating, as
birds do, he found the coat-sleeve of the master
soft and nice for the purpose. This pleased the
bird better than it did the owner of the sleeve,
but he tried in vain to keep the saucy fellow
off. If he forgot for an instant to watch the
bird, he would dash up, wipe ofE the butter, and
fly away out of the reach of everybody.
In the spring the sparrow left the family, and
lived out of doors. But, with the first cold
weather of fall, he came back, went to his old
vase, and settled himself for the winter again.
This he did for several years.
XVI
HIS WINTER HOME
Nearly every bird has two homes, one foi
winter and one for summer.
We can see why birds leave us and go to a
warmer and better place for the winter ; but why
they do not stay in that country where there is
always plenty of food, but choose to come back
in the spring to their old home, we do not
know.
It may be because they want more room to
build nests, and bring up their little ones. Or
it may be that they want to come back because
they love their old home.
Whatever may be the reason, it is well for us
that they do so, for if we had no more birds in
the summer than we have in the winter, we
should suffer very much from insects. We
could not raise fruit, or vegetables, or grain, for
insects would eat it all. That is one reason we
are so glad that birds come back to us in the
HIS WINTER HOME 67
Though so many birds leave us in the fall,
they do not all go. A few come to us who have
nested farther north, and some who have been
with us all summer stay over winter too. These
last are called " permanent residents," that is,
they stay all the year round.
In the Middle States of the East — New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio — there are
twenty or twenty-five who stay all the year.
There are several hawks and owls and wood-
peckers, the crow, bob-white, the blue jay, and
the meadowlark, and, of the little ones, the gold-
finch, in his sober winter coat, his cousin the
purple finch, the song sparrow, the nuthatch,
and the chickadee.
Besides these " permanent residents," there
are ten or twelve who come from the north.
The funny little saw-whet owl is one, and the
snowflake, who loves to frolic in the snow, is
another.
Many of our summer birds stay in the South-
ern States all winter. Those who can eat seeds
and winter berries — for instance, robins and
bluebirds, catbirds and sparrows — need not go
very far south ; and some of them even stay
in the State of New York.
Most of our birds who do not eat berries, but
must have insects, go farther, some to Florida
68 THE BIRD GROWN UP
or the West Indies, others to Central America,
and a few even into South America, — except
the woodpecker, who gets his insects under the
bark of trees.
The summer birds of the Western States nearly
all go to Mexico for the winter.
The little birds who stay with us are only
those who can eat seeds, as I said, or the eggs
and insects to be found in the crevices of the
bark on trees. These birds do a great deal of
good, for each one destroys thousands of insects
before they have come out of the egg. One
small chickadee will eat several hundred insect
eggs in a day.
These little fellows can almost always find
their food, for the snow seldom covers the trunks
of the trees ; but now and then in the winter
we have an ice storm ; then the trunks and
branches are buried under ice, so that the birds
suffer, and perhaps will starve to death.
In such a time it will be kind of you who
live in the country to put out food for them.
You can give them any table scraps of meat or
vegetables, or bread, chopped fine for their tinji
mouths, with corn or grain for bigger birds.
What they all like best to eat is suet, — which
the butcher will give you, — chopped fine, or,
better still, nailed or tied to a branch or a fence,
HIS WINTER HOME 69
SO that they can pick off morsels for them-
selves. This will make them all very happy ;
but you must see that the English sparrow does
not drive them away, or eat it all himself.
Some persons who live in the country or
small towns spread a table every day through
the winter for the birds. Many come for food,
and they have great pleasure in watching them
and studying their ways.
One lady I know who is an invalid, and her
greatest happiness in the long cold months, when
she cannot go out, is to set her breakfast-table,
and watch the guests who come to it.
She lives in the southern part of Ohio, and
she has all winter cardinal grosbeaks, or red-
birds as she calls them, blue jays, tufted titmice,
and others. The cardinals are fine singers, and
they sing to her every month in the year.
XVII
HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Many people think that as soon as the young
birds of a nest are full grown, and know how to
take care of themselves, the family separate, and
have no more to do with each other. Some have
even said that the old birds push the little ones
out of the nest to get rid of them.
All this is a great mistake, and any one who
has watched them carefully will say so.
In many cases, when the brood is grown and
all have left the nest, the whole family keep to-
gether. One who has eyes sharp to see will find
everywhere little groups of parents with their
young. If the old birds rear more than one
brood in a summer, the young ones of the first
nest keep together.
I have often seen little parties of young blue-
birds or sparrows going about after food on the
grass, or on the newly cut hay. Now and then
one of the parents would come around as if to
see that all was well, and then leave them alone
HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS 71
again. When the second brood is ready to go
-out, the whole family often unite in a small flock.
In some cases, where they could be watched, they
have been known to stay so all winter. All
through July and August, in the New England
and Middle States, one may see these pretty little
family groups.
Some birds who live and nest by themselves,
each pair in its own tree, or bush, or field, come
together in larger parties after the young are
grown, in a social way. A few do this only at
night, in what are called roosts, which I spoke
of in a former chapter.
Other birds, when nestlings are out, unite in
flocks, and stay so all the time, or through the
winter. Our pretty little goldfinch does this.
Most of the birds we see about our homes like
to have a tree or bush to themselves for their
nest. But there are many birds that live close
together all the time. Some, you may say, in
small villages, — swallows, for instance. We
generally see several swallows flying about to-
gether. They make their nests near each other.
The barn swallow chooses the beams inside the
barn, and there are often three or four or more
nests in the same barn.
The eave swallows put their mud cottages in
a row, under the eaves outside the barn. One
72 THE BIRD GROWN UP
would think they needed to have numbers on
their doors, to know which was their own.
There, too, are the common crow blackbirds.
They come in the spring in crowds, and when it
is time to make nests, they find some grove or
clump of trees that suits them, and all of them
build their nests close together. Often there are
two or three on one tree, like a bird city. There
they live and rear their little ones, and it is said
they never quarrel.
Then there are the birds who get their food
from the sea, such as penguins. These birds live
in big cities, of many thousand nests. They go
to an island where no people live, and build on
the ground, or on rocks, or anywhere.
Sometimes they are so near together one can
hardly walk without stepping on them. How
each mother can tell her own, it is hard to see.
They live very happily together, and if a mother
is killed, so that her little ones are left orphans,
one of the neighbors will adopt them all, and
feed and bring them up with her own.
Some of these birds do not even take the
trouble to make a nest. They put the eggs any-
where on the sand or earth.
Some one, Mr. Brehm, I think, tells a pretty
story about a certain kind of duck who rears two
broods every season. After the ducklings of the
HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS 73
first brood have learned to take care of them-
selves, they go about together, getting their food
and sailing on the water in a little party, while
their parents are hatching the second brood.
But when the younger ones are big enough,
they are led to the water, and at once their elder
brothers and sisters join them. They all swim
around together, the youngest in the middle of
the group, where they are protected and fed by
the elder brood as well as by the parents, a lovely
and united little family.
xvm
HIS KINDNESS TO OTHERS
Birds are helpful to each other when in
trouble. If a robin is in distress, other robins
will come to see what is the matter, and to help
if they can. And not only robins, but catbirds,
and orioles, and chickadees, and others, wHl
come, too.
Sometimes when a person tries to rob a nest,
all the birds near will come in a crowd, to drive
away the thief. They will cry and scream at
him, and sometimes fly at his face, and try to
peck his eyes.
Birds are so little they cannot fight a man,
but if they can peck at his face, they can hurt
him, and if they really get at his eyes, they can
put them out. We cannot blame the birds for
trying to protect themselves and their yoiing,
and it is well for boys to be careful how they
disturb a nest.
One proof that birds really do help each
other is the fact that when a man wants to know
HIS KINDNESS TO OTHERS 75
what birds live in a place, he can bring them all
around him by making a sound like a young
bird in distress. All who hear it will come to
see what is the matter.
Let me tell you a story of some young swal-
lows. They were able to fly a little, and were
sitting together on a roof, when a lady who
was watching them noticed that one of them
seemed to be weak, and not able to stand up.
When the parents came with food, the others
stood up and opened their mouths, and so were
fed, but this little one hardly ever got a morsel.
If birds had no love for each other, as many
people think, these strong little ones would not
have cared if their brother did starve; but what
did the lady see? She says that two of the
strong young swallows came close up to their
weak brother, one on each side. They put their
beaks under his breast and lifted him up on to
his legs, and then crowded so close against him
that their little bodies propped him up, and held
him there; so that he had his chance of being
fed as well as they.
Many times birds have been seen who were
blind or old, or who had a wing or a leg broken,
or were in some way hurt so that they could not
take care of themselves, and who were being
waited upon by other birds, fed, and led to the
water to drink and bathe.
76 THE BIRD GROWN UP
Birds have been found caught in the lining of
a nest, so that they were held there and could
not go for food. They had been there for
weeks, and would have starved to death if they
had not been fed. Yet they were so well taken
care of by other birds that they were strong and
able to fly.
In one case, where the nest was in a tree trunk,
the hole in the trunk had grown up, so that
when big enough to fly, they could not get out,
and they had been there for months. Yet when
a man cut open the trunk and let them out, they
were well and lively, proving that they had been
fed by friends outside all that time.
I could tell you many true stories of the kind
care of birds for each other, and for baby birds
who had lost their parents, or been stolen away
from them.
A gentleman in Massachusetts told me that
when he was a boy he saw a small flock of che-
winks who came about a house where food was
put out for birds. They came every day, and he
soon saw that one was bigger than the rest, and
that he never tried to pick up anything for him-
self, but all the others fed him.
One day he was cruel enough to throw a stone
at the bird who was so well taken care of, and
when he took up his victim, he found that the
CHEWINK, OR TOWHEE
HIS KINDNESS TO OTHERS 77
upper and lower parts of his bill were crossed,
so that he could not pick up anything from the
ground, where chewinks find their food. He
had been born thus deformed, and if he had not
been fed every day by his friends he must have
starved to death. Yet so well had he been cared
for that he was better grown than any of the
otherso
XIX
HIS AFFBCTIOKS
I AM sure I need not say that father and
mother birds love their little ones. ,
So much does the mother love her nestlings
that she is often willing to die for them. Orioles
and chickadees will let themselves be caught in
the hand of one who has taken their young,
rather than desert them.
Some birds live in our chimneys, generally in
a flue that is not in use, and are called chimney
swifts. If a chimney takes fire the mother swift
tries hard to get her little ones out, but if they
cannot fly, she has been seen to fly into the fire
herself, and die with them.
Kobins have been found frozen to death on
their nest. They could easily have saved them-
selves, but they would not leave their young ones
to perish. A ground bird has been known to sit
on her nest during a freezing storm, till she died,
rather than go and leave her little ones to suffer.
Once when a young cedar-bird was caught
HIS AFFECTIONS 79
and carried off, the father followed it for miles,
crying and showing so much distress that the
man who had stolen it was sorry for him, and
let the httle one go.
Every one who has watched them knows that
birds love their mates. A man once shot a sea
bird, when her mate came about him, crying
and showing his grief as well as if he could
speak.
I could easily fill a book with stories to prove
that birds are loving to their mates and young,
and all of them true.
It does nbt seem strange that birds are fond
of their own, but they love others also. And
not only other birds, but even animals like cats,
dogs, and horses sometimes.
I once had an English goldfinch in the house.
He was ^ little fellow, not so big as a canary,
and he was very fond of another bird in the
room. This was a scarlet tanager, who was
much larger than himself.
The small bird showed his love for his red
friend, just as people show love, by staying
close to him, singing to him, and driving away
any bird who came too near.
A lady once told me this story showing the
love of a pigeon for a cat. The cat was fond
of lying on the broad window sill. When the
80 THE BIRD GROWN UP
pigeon saw her there, he would fly down, and
alight beside her. Then he would press up
close to her, and rub against her fur, as if glad
to see her, and the cat seemed to enjoy it as
much as the bird.
Often a bird who is tamed loves his human
friends. A man had a crow who was very. fond
of him. He had reared the bird from the nest
and never shut him up, but let him fly about
wherever he chose.
One day he was out in a sudden rain, and his
feathers got wet, so that he could not fly well.
Then a boy caught him, and carried him seven
miles away. He clipped one wing, so that the
crow could not fly, and kept him shut in the
house all winter. In the spring, the first time he
could get out, the bird started for his old home.
He could not fly, but he walked the seven
miles, through mud and wet, and came home so
tired that he was almost dead. When his mas-
ter saw him coming he went to meet him, tools
him up and petted him, and talked to him.
The poor fellow was so happy it seemed as il
he could not live. But he was taken care of,
and got well, and lived many years. But never
after that would he leave the place, though
when his new feathers came in he could fly as
well as ever.
HOUSE WREN
HIS AFFECTIONS 81
Canary birds often love their mistresses. I
have heard of one who was so grieved by a harsh
word, that in a few minutes he fell ofE his perch
dead.
These true stories show us how tender and
loving these little creatures are, and how careful
we should be to treat them gently and kindly.
An interesting and true story is told by a
clergyman in Ohio. It is a habit of wrens to
find a good nesting-place, and then look for a
mate to occupy it. One spring a wren chose a
nice bird-box on his place, and held it ready for
the expected bride. But she did not come, and
a pair of English sparrows took a fancy to the
same house.
Sparrows expect to get what they want, and
are always ready to fight for it, so they gave
battle to the wren. But wrens also will fight
for their own, and this wren held his house
against the enemy for two weeks. Still the
mate did not appear, and finally the lonely bird
lost heart, and let the sparrows set up house-
keeping in his box, though he did not go away.
When the young sparrows were hatched, and
feeding began, the wren suddenly became
friendly. He hunted up small green worms,
probably such as are good for wrenlings, and
offered them to the young sparrows.
82 THE BIRD GROWN UP
Nestlings are never known to refuse anything
to eat, and wren food seemed to suit the sparrows,
for they soon outgrew the nursery.
All summer this queer thing went on. The
sparrows reared three or four broods, and the
wren did his full share of the work, — and not
only of feeding the young, but of repairing and
rebuilding the nest for each fresh brood.
XX
HIS INTELLIGENCE
Bbfokb people knew very much about the
ways of birds, it was thought that they did not
have to be taught anything, but that they knew
everything they needed to know, as soon as they
were born. That is, they were said to act from
instinct alone, and not at all from reason, as we
do.
Another notion that people had was that birds
of a hind were just alike ; that they looked ex-
actly like each other, all acted in the same way,
and all sang the same song.
But since we have begun to study birds more
closely, we find these things are not true. We
find that birds learn things by being taught, as
we do. Also, they find out how to do things
themselves, and they are not all alike, as so many
machines.
More than this, we see that they do not look
nor act exactly like each other. For when we
know one robin or one oriole well, we can tell
84 THE BIRD GROWN UP
him from any other robin or oriole. And, as 1
said before, no two of a kind sing precisely the
same song.
A bird shows his intelligence in many ways.
One is by the way he acts when he cannot do as
he is used to doing. A robin I know of wished
to build a nest, but could not find mud to put
into it, for it was a very dry time, and there
were no streams near. Now a robin's nest must
have mud, and the bird seemed puzzled for
a while. But at last she thought of a way to
get it.
She went to a bathing-dish that the people of
the house kept filled with water for the birds,
jumped into it, and got her legs very wet.
Then she flew to the road, and tramped around
in the dust and dirt.
In a short time her legs had a good coating
of mud, which she carefully picked off with her
bill, and took to the nest she was building.
This she did a great many times, and the
lady who told me of it watched her till she had
as much mud as she needed.
A bird often shows sense by the way she
repairs a nest that has been thrown out of place.
Sometimes she will add a new stay, tying the
nest to a stronger limb. One sparrow, whose
nest broke loose, put so many stays to the
HIS INTELLIGENCE 85
branch above that they made a little roof like a
tent over it.
Another way a bird shows reason is in seeing
the advantage of a new place. A pair of swal-
lows lived far out in the West, hundreds of
miles from any house. They had no doubt
always nested in a cave, or a hole in a tree. But
one day they found a house put up. It was a
mere shed, to be used as a blacksmith shop, by a
party of men who were looking over the country.
At once the birds saw how nice it would be
to have a roof over their heads. And although
there was a big fire, and the noise of men at
work, they built the nest over the anvil, and
reared the family in safety.
Woodpeckers have shown that they can learn.
Some of them have found an easier way to get
food than to dig through the bark of trees
for it.
The flicker, or golden-winged woodpecker,
has learned that ants and other insects are good
to eat, and now he does not think of digging
into bark any more.
The red-headed woodpecker has learned to
catch flies like a common flycatcher. The yellow-
bellied, or sapsucker, cuts holes in the trees, and
eats the insects that come to feed on the sweet
Bap that drips from them.
86 THE BIRD GROWN UP
Woodpeckers have also learned to cut a hole
through a board and nest inside a building, in-
stead of drilling a deep hole in the trunk of a
tree for a nest.
Birds show intelligence when they draw us
away from their young ones, by acting as if
they were hurt and not able to fly. I have al-
ready spoken about that.
Sometimes when a bird is caught he will lie
quiet and pretend to be dead. But all the time
he is looking out for a chance to fly away.
A man who watched birds very closely once
saw an interesting instance of their intelligence.
They were two of the birds who get their food
on the seashore by turning over stones and eat-
ing the creatures hidden under them. They
had found a big dead fish thrown up on the
beach and half buried in sand. Under such a
fish they were sure they should find food, so
they went to work to turn it over. The fish
was three and a half feet long, and the birds
were about as big as our sandpipers. So it was
a hard thing to do.
First they pushed against it with their beaks
and breast, but it did not move. Then they
went around the other side and scratched away
a. good deal of sand from under the fish, and
went back and tried again to turn it over. Still
it was too heavy to stir.
rw
FLICKER
HIS INTELLIGENCE 87
Again they ran around the other side, scraped
away more sand, and tried it once more. They
kept up this work for half an hour, but did not
succeed in stirring the great fish.
At this time the man, who had hidden himself
to watch them, saw another bird coming. The
two little workers greeted him with joyful cries,
to which he replied in the same tones. Then
all three set to work on the heavy fish. They
dug more sand out from- the lower side, and
then pushed against the upper side with all their
strength. They lifted it a few inches, but it
fell back.
At last, after resting a few minutes, without
moving from their places, they worked it in this
way. They rested their breasts on the sand,
put their beaks under, and lifted. When the
fish was raised several inches, they held it with
their beaks and pushed their breasts against it,
when over it went, down the little pitch they
had made.
They could not stop, and they went with it,
but at once came back and found enough to pay
them for their hard work.
One who really watches birds to see what
they are doing will see many actions that show
intelligence and reason.
HOW HE IS MADE
XXI
HIS BODY
Did you ever think how well the bird is made
to suit his life ? Look at him.
To fit him to move through the air \n flying,
his shape is the same that men make their boats
to move through water. It is sharp in front to
cut his way as he goes through, for even the air
needs to be cut.
It is narrower toward the back, and as he
flies, the feet are drawn up or trail behind, and
even the feathers lie backward. All this is so he
can go swiftly through the air, and nothing, not
even a feather, will hold him back.
To keep his body upright, so that he will not
be top-heavy and tip over as he flies, his weight
is mostly below the wings.
If we should try to go through the air as fast
as a bird goes, we should find it very hard to
breathe. But the bird is made for it. When
you come to study his anatomy, you wiU see
what a wonderful- little creature he is.
92 HOW HE IS MADE
He can sing while he is working very hard to
fly upward. If you will try to sing while run-
ning up a hill, you will see how hard it is to do
that.
A bird's head is joined to his neck at one place,
something like a hinge. Other animals, like dogs
and cats, have two hinges, or places of joining.
That is why a bird is able to turn his head
around so far that he can look down his own
back. No other creature can do so.
Because of this, he is able to dress every
feather on his body, and to sleep with his head
laid back on his shoulder.
Nearly all birds have some of their bones hol-
low, and air - sacs, or pockets, under the skin
These sacs they can fill with air and make them-
selves light, so that those who live in the water
cannot sink, but float like a cork.
Men who study the way birds are made dc
not yet know all the uses of the hollow bones
and air-sacs. That is one of the things left for
you young folk to find out.
Birds who get their food in marshes, or the
edge of the water, have long legs • for wading.
They have also long necks, so they can pick up
food from the ground.
Birds who swim have webs between the toes,
that turn their feet into paddles.
HIS BODY 93
Birds have very large gullets. In many cases
the gullet leads into a place called the crop, where
food is kept before it goes into the stomach.
Sometimes the food is made soft in the crop, and'
then fed to the young ones, as I told you.
Birds have no teeth, yet they eat hard seeds,
like acorns and grains of corn. To break these
up, and get them ready for the stomach, they
have a gizzard, which is a sort of grinding-mill.
And to help in the work of grinding they swal-
low small stones.
One of the wonderful things about birds is the
height at which they can live, and not only live,
but fly. A man cannot go higher than twenty-
two or twenty-three thousand feet, while moving
about or exercising, because the air is so rare he
cannot breathe. The highest a man was ever
known to go and live, it is said, was less than
thirty thousand feet, and that was in a balloon,
where he did not move.
But birds go a good deal higher than this,
and can fly — which is violent exercise — at
that height. It is thought by some that the
thinness of the air may be the cause of the great
speed with which birds fly in that region. But
there is still much to be found out about this.
Besides the marvels of flight, birds have other
powers almost as strange. Many of them can fly
94 HOW HE IS MADE
under water with perfect ease, and, more than
that, they can, when they wish, sink slowly till
nothing is left above water but their beaks, to
breathe. And they can stay so as long as they
choose, keeping stiU in one spot, without moving.
A cormorant in a zoological garden, who
wanted to catch some of the swallows skim-
ming over the pond, sank his body tiU only his
head was out, and held himself there perfectly
still.
Birds who are hunted, as geese, have been
known to save their lives in that way, by sink-
ing their body .under water, leaving in sight only
the tip of the bill, which is so small it is not
readily seen.
To do such things, birds must be able to make
their bodies heavy when they choose, as well as
light, which we know they are able to do by fill-
ing their air-sacs with air.
There are many things still to be found out
about the powers of birds.
XXII
HIS BEAK AISTD TONGUE
How does a bird get along without a hand?
He has to prepare food ; to keep his feathers in
order ; to build the nest ; to
feed and take care of the young;
and sometimes to fight other
birds. How can all this be
done without a hand ? ^^°" ^'
The beak is the only thing
most birds have in place of a hand, and it is
wonderful to see how many things they can do
with it.
Orioles use it as a needle, in making the nest.
With it they weave strips of soft bark or strings,
back and forth, in and out, to make the firm
pocket they hang on the
elm-tree (see Fig. 1).
A woodpecker's beak is
a chisel or pick, to cut a
Pjq 2. deep hole in a tree trunk
Bill of Woodpecker. for a nest (Fig. 2). With
96
HOW HE IS MADE
low.
a nuthatch it is a hammer, to crack the nut he
has wedged into a crevice in the bark so tightly
it cannot slip.
Some birds use the beak to dig in the ground,
as the bank swallows, while the barn
swallows make it a trowel, to carry
and plaster mud (Fig. 3). All of
them use it as a hand to feed them-
selves, and a brush and comb to dress
their feathers.
Birds need to use the beak a sood
deal, because in most cases it grows like our
finger-nails. If they did not keep it worn off,
it would grow so long as to trouble them.
Sometimes when a bird lives in a caofe and does
not use his bill, it grows so long that he can
hardly pick up his
food.
The woodcock's
long beak is sensitive,
so that he can feel the
worms, deep in the
mud where they live.
Many waders and
swimmers have beaks
soft like leather.
You can tell by the shape of the beak how a
bird lives, and what he eats. The strong, hooked
Fio. 4.
BUI of Hawk.
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
HIS BEAK AND TONGUE
97
O
Fig. 5.
Bill of Sparrow.
beak of a hawk shows that he catches live ani«
mals to eat (Fig. 4). The long, narrow, sharp
bill of a heron shows that he spears his prey,
often under water.
The sharp-pointed bill of a warbler is to pick
tiny insects and eggs out of blos-
soms, and from under leaves. The
sharp-edged bill of a sparrow (Fig.
5) is to break open the hard shells
of seeds.
The curious beak of a crossbill
(Fig. 6) is to pick seeds out of pine
cones.
A duck's wide beak, with a
strainer at the edge, is to let water
out while keeping food in. A
spoon-shaped bill is to scoop up food, and a thin,
flat one is to poke into narrow cracks.
Both parts of the beak, which take the place
of our jaws, are called mandibles, upper and
lower. Both of them can be moved, while we
can move only our lower jaw.
Birds' tongues are as curious as their beaks.
To all birds they take the place of a finger, as
the beak takes the place of a hand, and they
differ as much as the beaks from each other.
Insect eggs are very small, and often packed
snugly into cracks and corners, and the birds
Fig. 6.
Bill of Crosstill.
98 HOW HE IS MADE
who eat them have a brush on the tip of the
tongue, which brushes an egg out of its hiding-
place very easily.
The nuthatch picks his small grubs out of
crevices in bark with the four-tined fork at the
end of his tongue.
A hummingbird's tongue can be used as a
tube, to draw up the honey of flowers,
or perhaps as a pair of tweezers, to pick
out the tiny spiders that live there.
A woodpecker has barbs on his
tongue, to spear insects hidden under
the bark, as shown by Mr. Lucas (Fig.
7). It is said to be sticky also, to hold
small ones, like ants.
The tongues of birds are of many
shapes, but each one is fitted to its
owner's way of getting a living.
Fig. 7. Because the tongue is often horny,
rp '** °* and they eat strange things, it is some-
of Downy timcs thought that birds have little sense
■f " of taste. But we cannot be sure of this,
pecker. '
and we know they all have notions
about their food.
Dr. Ward tells a story of some geese, which
shows that they do not lack that sense. While
sailing upon a river he noticed on the bank
some geese, feeding on the rinds of watermelon,
HIS BEAK AND TONGUE 99
which they picked out of the garbage dumped
there.
The rind, when taken out of the mass, was
none too clean, being covered with mud and
other dirt. When a goose found a piece to suit
him, he took it up, carried it to the edge, and
dropped it into the shallow water. Then he
stood and watched it tiU the running stream
washed it clean, when he stepped into the water
and quickly ate off the part he wanted.
XXIII
HIS EYES AND BARS
Birds' eyes are very different from ours. To
begin with, they are round. Then they are
placed one on each side of the head, so that
they can look two ways at once. Owls are the
only birds who have eyes turned forward like
ours
Birds' eyes also are of many colors. Besides
our common black, brown, blue, and gray, birds
have light and dark green, bright red, pale and
deep yellow and orange, even white.
They have, like us, two eyelids. But while
we use the upper one to close our eyes, most
birds use the lower one. They have also a third
eyelid, inside the others, a thin, white sort of
skin, that moves across the eye from side to side,
and is called the " nictitating membrane."
There are other ways in which birds' eyes
differ from ours. The men who try to know
exactly how birds are made have found out that
birds' eyes make everything look much larger
HIS EYES AND EARS 101
than it is, in other words, they are like magni-
fying glasses, or microscopes, so that a tiny in-
sect egg, that we can hardly see, looks very big
to a warbler.
Stranger still, when a bird is far off, his eyes
are like telescopes. That is, when a hawk is
soaring about far above the earth, he can see a
mouse on the ground as well as if he had a tele-
scope to look through. And the gulls who sail
about over the shore, and follow steamers on sea
voyages, can see small fish and tiny bits of
bread thrown out by the passengers, even when
they are lost to us in the foam made by the
vessel.
Mr. Frank BoUes had a pet barred owl, and
used to take him out with him. He says that
the bird's sight was wonderful, better than hia
own aided by a strong glass. Many times the
bird would see and watch a hawk so far off that
Mr. BoUes with his glass could not see him until
he came nearer, and then he looked no bigger
than a dot against the sky.
There is a story told of some small birds mi-
grating over the island of Heligoland, suddenly
coming down in a flock on to a man's garden,
and beginning at once to work among the
leaves as if they were feeding.
The owner of the garden knew they did not
102 HOW HE IS MADE
eat leaves, so he shot a few and found them
stuffed with small caterpillars. Then he looked
at the plants and found many more caterpillars,
each in the curled-up end of a leaf. The in-
sects could not be seen, yet the birds, while fly-
ing over, no doubt saw the curled leaves and
knew they were there.
Such eyes must be of great use in helping
birds to find their food, and to avoid their ene-
mies. But think what giants we must look to
them ! It is no wonder they are afraid of us.
Perhaps even more useful to a bird than his
eyes are his ears, thoiigh they are so nicely cov-
ered up by the feathers that we cannot see
them. The tufts of feathers that stand up on
some owls' heads, and are called ears, are not
ears at all, but merely decorations, like the
crests of some birds and the long tail feathers of
others.
But because they cannot be seen, we must not
think birds have no ears ; they have very good
ones indeed. They can hear much better thau
we can.
Every one has seen a robin run over the grass
and turn his head one side to listen. It is sup-
posed that he hears the earthworm move under
the sod, and if he is watched, he will often be
seen to pull the worm from that very spot.
HIS EYES AND EARS 103
When a woodpecker taps on a tree trunk and
turns his head to listen, it is thought that he
hears the grub stir under the bark, for when he
begins to cut the bark away, he is pretty sure to
find and draw it out.
Birds that are much hunted by men, like
ducks and geese, get to be very knowing, and
show how wonderful is their hearing. They
can tell the difference between a noise made by
an animal and that made by a man. A deer or
any animal may crash through the bushes, and
they pay no attention to it, but if a man makes
the least sound they are off in an instant.
A bird's ears are behind the eyes, and a little
below them. They are covered by delicate fea-
thers that hide them from sight. When the
bird raises these feathers — perhaps to hear bet-
ter — they look like tiny ear muffs.
Owls have little flaps of skin with which they
can shut up their ears when they wish to be
quiet. This must be very useful to birds who
prefer to sleep during the day, when nearly
everybody else is awake and making a noise.
Many of us who Uve in cities would like to be
able to close our ears sometimes.
Mr. BoUes tells a story about the sharp hear-
ing of a heron. The bird was on a tree dress-
ing his plumage, and he was hidden in some
bushes and could not be seen.
104 HOW HE IS MADE
Mr. Bolles made all sorts of noises to start up
the heron and make him fly. First he imitated
animal sounds. He quacked, and barked, and
mewed, and brayed, and the bird looked inter-
ested, but not at all alarmed. Then he whistled
and sang, and at last talked plainly, but the
bird only looked over his way, as if to see what
new sort of beast was hidden there.
No noise that he could make startled the
heron in the least, until a twig snapped under
his foot, when the bird was off like a shot.
That sound he well knew was made by hi?, most
feared enemy, man.
XXIV
HIS FEET AND LEGS
A BIRD always stands on his toes, not on his
whole foot, as we do. The long slim part that
we call the leg is really the foot, and the joint
we see nearly up to the bird's body is the bird's
heel. But in this book we will
speak of it in the common way,
calling the toes the foot, and the
part up to the joint the leg.
People all over the world have
the same kind of feet
and the same number
of toes ; but with birds
it is not so. Most of
them have four toes
(Fig. 8), but some
have only three, and a few have no more than
two.
In the use of the feet there is still more
variety. There are, as Dr. Coues divides them,
three kinds of feet among birds : —
Fig. 8.
Foot of Blackbird.
106
HOW HE IS MADE
First, a foot that can be used like a hand to
clasp a perch, a " perching foot."
Second, one that is good to use as a foot, but
not at all like a hand, called a "scratching
foot."
Third, one that is like neither hand nor foot,
but a ^saddle, called a " swimming foot."
The birds who have the first kind, the " perch-
ing foot," have usually three toes
turned forward and one turned
back. They can grasp a branch
or a twig as tightly as if with a
hand, as all our common little
birds do. And the large birds
of prey, such as hawks and owls
(Fig. 9), hold in them live mice
and squirrels and the other little
animals they eat.
Some birds with perching feet have the toes
placed another way. Woodpeckers
have two turned forward and two'
turned back, so that they can hold bet-
ter to a tree trunk (Fig. 10).
A strange thing about the perching
toes is the way they are made to hold
on, so that the birds can sleep on a
perch, and not fall. Inside the toes are tendons,
something like cords, which act like elastic rub*
Fig. 9.
Foot of Hawk.
'"I
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
HIS FEET AND LEGS 107
ber. When a bird bends his leg, the toes are
drawn up and held so. When he is sitting on a
perch, he could not fall off if he wanted to.
Birds who have the ''scratching foot," the
second kind, mostly go about on the ground, or
wade in the water. They do not usually sleep
on perches, but sleep standing, or crouch on the
ground. In the arctic regions, where there is a
great deal of snow, some birds with scratching
feet, who have to go about in it, have in winter
what has been called " snowshoes," because it
enables them to walk on the snow with ease.
It is a web-like growth on the side of each toe,
which serves the same purpose with birds that
snowshoes do with men, keeps them from sink"
ing into the snow.
Birds who have the " swimming foot," the
third kind, have the toes made into a paddle
by webs stretched between them. They are the
water birds, — ducks, geese, gulls, and others.
The toes of all birds have long, sharp claws,
not at all like our toe-nails. In the whip-poor-
will and the nighthawk, one edge of the middle
claw has teeth like a comb.
The long slim part above the toes, what we
call the leg, is named in the books the " tarsus."
The tarsus is generally bare, with a leathery
skin ; but in some hawks and owls it is covered
108 HOW HE IS MADE
with feathers. Birds who live away up in the
cold have feathers down on to the toes.
On looking carefully at one of these bare
legs, it will be seen that it is not smooth like a
lead pencil. It is marked in a sort of pattern.
Different species of birds show different patterns.
Some look like the shingles on a roof ; others
Uke little squares or plates ; and some are finer,
hke scales on a tiny fish.
These marks help in arranging birds in the
books. That is, all who have the same pattern
are said to be related.
The legs of birds are not all of the same
length for their size. Some who never go about
on the ground, like hummingbirds, swallows,
and swifts, have very short legs. Birds who
walk and hop on the ground have them longer,
and birds who wade in the water have the long-
est of all.
XXV
HIS WINGS AND TAIL
A bird's wing does not look much like our
arm and hand, yet the bones show that they are
the same. The bird has a shoulder, elbow, and
wrist, as we have. He even has fingers, though
they are so covered up by feathers that one would
never know it. He has not so many fingers as
we have, and they are not movable like ours.
A bird's wing is a wonderful flying-machine,
which men have been trying to imitate these
many years. It is made of long stiff feathers,
which fold down smoothly over one another at
his side when he is resting, but can spread in an
instant into a broad fan, to beat the air and
carry him away.
One would not think that feathers could have
so much power ; but when the wing is spread, the
barbs of the feathers hook together with tiny
hooks, so small a microscope is needed to see
them ; and that, together with the edges lapping
over each other, makes them almost like one
Bolid surface.
110
HOW HE IS MADE
Wings are not alike in shape. The wing of
a swallow is long and narrow, while that of a
tell
can
hen or grouse is short and round. We
by the shape of a wing how a bird flies.
A long, narrow, pointed wing shows that the
Fig. 11.
Wing of Swift.
bird has an easy, skimming flight, — either he
flies great distances, or spends hours at a time
on wing (Kg. 11).
The short round wing (Fig. 12) shows that
a bird has a strong flight for short distances.
These wings are
found mostly on
rather heavy birds,
like grouse.
The longest wings
are seen on water
birds, such as thr
petrel and the frigate-bird. The shortest, also.
are found among water birds, those who swim
more than they fly, as the auks.
All the feathers of the wing are named, and
Fig. 12.
Wing of Sparrow.
HIS WINGS AND TAIL
111
it "vvill be well to remember that the long stiff
quills are called rem.iges or "rowers." These are
firmly rooted in the flesh, and are the hardest
to pull out. They are the most important to
the safety of the bird.
Birds have also another use for their wings.
They are a strong weapon to defend themselves,
or to fight others. A
large bird can give a
severe blow with his
wing, and when pi-
geons fight, it is said
they hold up one wing
to protect themselves
while they strike at the
enemy with the other.
Sometimes wings
serve as musical instru-
ments. Woodcocks
make whistling sounds
with their wings as they
fly, and mourning doves
softly murmuring ones. Ruffed grouse produce
with theirs a rolling drum-like effect, and other?
rattle theirs like castanets.
If wings are not used, they slowly get to be
smaller and weaker, each generation having them
more and more useless, till after a while they are
Fig. 13.
Tail of Ruffed Grouse.
112
HOW HE IS MADE
of no use whatever, and the birds cannot fly
at all. This has happened, it is supposed, to
the ostrich family and to some
birds living in the sea.
The tail of a bird is formed of
an equal number of feathers in
pairs, most often twelve. When
spread they are the shape of a
fan (Fig. 13), and when closed they lie over
each other with the middle pair on top.
The tail feathers are not always of the same
length, and that makes a difference in the shape
of the end. Sometimes they are even (like Fig.
Fig. 14.
TaU of Vireo.
Fig. 15.
Tail of Swallow-tailed Kite.
" square."
14), when the tail is said to be
Sometimes the middle feathers are a little longer
than the outside ones, and then it is " rounded "
BROWN THRASHER
HIS WINGS AND TAIL 113
or " pointed." If the outside feathers are long-
est, the tail is " forked " (Fig. 15).
The feathers of the tail are called rectrices,
or " rudders," because they are supposed to be
used to steer, or direct the bird's course in fly-
ing. But the tail is used also as a brake to
check the speed in alighting.
The tail is used more than any other organ
to express the emotions.
Some birds, like the cat-
bird and thrasher, keep it
movinsr nearly all the time,
"Prr* 1 fi
ierkinff it this way and that, ^ ., „ „ ,
■''='. . •' ' Tail of Sapsucker.
and tossing it upward.
In woodpeckers and swifts the tail feathers
are not soft at the end like others, but the stems
or shafts project beyond the feathery part, and
are stiff like the tail of a sapsucker (Fig. 16)
or sharp like this of the chimney swift (Fig.
17). These birds use the tail as
a prop to hold them against the
tree trunk or chimney wall, and
„ _ to help them in climbing.
Swift Tail. '^^^ feathers are not so
strongly rooted as wing feathers,
and are easily pulled out. Sometimes, when a
man or boy tries to catch a bird by the tail, the
bird will escape, leaving the tail in his hand.
XXVI
HIS DRESS
A bird's whole dress is made of feathers, but
the feathers are not all alike. There are, indeed,
several kinds of feathers, and four of them are
found on every bird. There are flight feathers,
clothing feathers, downy feathers, thread feathers,
and powder-down feathers.
Feathers of all kinds are made in the same
way. All have, first, a quill, the horny part next
to the body ; second, a shaft, the white part on
which the barbs grow ; third, the barbs, which
grow out on each side of the shaft, and together
are called the vane ; fourth, the barbules, or little
barbs, growing out of the barbs ; and last, the
barbicels, which grow on the barbules, and on
the wings have the tiny hooks which hold them
together.
But though feathers are made on the same
pattern, they look very different. The wing and
tail feathers are stiff and strong, and are called
flight feathers, but those on the breast and body
HIS DRESS 115
ate called soft, and cling closely to keep the bird
warm and dry. These are called the clothing
feathers, because they clothe the bird.
Down feathers, which are almost always hid-
den under the clothing feathers, are, like their
name, downy, and answer to our under-clothes.
Thread feathers grow among the clothing
feathers, and are almost like hairs. It is these
that the cook singes ofE the fowls.
Kingfishers who dive, and ducks who spend
much time on the water, have very thick down
under the feathers — like suits of very warm
under-clothes — which keeps the water away
from their bodies. Thus they can dive, or sit on
the water hours at a time, and not feel wet at all.
Powder-down feathers grow on some herons
and cockatoos. They are called by that name
because the tip ends are continually breaking off
like white dust. Nobody knows their use.
Different from all these are the feathers called
plumes, like the long, soft ostrich plumes we all
know ; the dainty little ones that stand straight
up, and look as if the wind would blow them
away ; the long, showy feathers that the peacock
spreads with so much pride, or even the pretty,
drooping ones in the cock's tail.
These feathers are of no use for flight or for
warmth, they rather hinder than help. They are
116 HOW HE IS MADE
for ornament, and there are many kinds among
birds, all exquisitely beautiful. Nature has given
to birds a more wonderful dress than to any
other living creature.
It is with his feathers that a bird expresses his
feelings. In anger he fluffs them out till he
looks twice as big as usual ; we have all seen a
hen bristle up when a dog comes near her brood.
Nervousness or excitement is shown by jerk-
ing the wings and tail, and if a bird wishes to
escape notice, he can make his plumage a perfect
disguise. Mr. BoUes's pet owl would stretch
himself up long and slim, with feathers hugging
his body, when he looked so much like a broken
branch of a tree that Mr. BoUes could hardly
see him. And another owl that I heard of, when
he was on the ground, would flatten himself and
spread his plumage around, so that the eye could
scarcely separate him from the dead leaves about
him.
No one takes better care of his dress than a
bird, and that is why it looks well for a year.
Every day, with most birds, it is washed and care-
fully dried, each feather being passed through
the bill, and the whole thoroughly shaken out.
At night one may often see robins and catbirds
before going to bed, dressing their plumage
and shaking off the day's dust.
HIS DRESS 117
Besides washing and drying the feathers, birds
need oil to keep them in best condition. For
this purpose they have a Httle " oil jug," a small
gland over the tail, out of which, with the bill,
they can squeeze a drop of oil. We often see
ducks and geese oiling their feathers before a
rain.
Water birds, who need a great deal of oil to
keep out the wet, have the oil jug very large.
Birds seem to know perfectly well the beauty
of their plumage. Not only do they try to show
it off, as the peacock when he spreads his tail,
but they seem to feel shame when their feathers
are injured or soiled. One white feather coming
in where it does not belong will make a bird
very unhappy. He will work and tug at it to
pull it out, and often make himself actually ill
over the trouble. I had a captive bird who
died, I think, from worry and work over a wing
feather which persisted in coming in white, and
which he insisted on pulling out every time.
xxvn
DIFFEEBNT COLOBED SUITS
A BIRD does not always wear the same colored
dress, as I said in the chapter on moulting. A
goldfinch, who through the summer wears a gay
yellow coat, comes out in the fall in plain olive
and black; and the scarlet tanager, who flour-
ishes in the most brilliant red, changes to a quiet
green in winter. Besides these, some birds wear
at one season a spotted coat, and come out after-
wards in one of plain colors.
Most of them change by moulting, as I ex-
plained, the old feathers dropping out and new
ones of another color coming in ; or, to speak
exactly, the new ones growing out and pushing
the old ones off on their tips. But some change
color without moulting. All birds moult com-
pletely in the autumn, many moult partially in
the spring, and some, as I said, change without
moulting.
This last change of color is made partly by
fading, and partly by breaking off the tips of the
DIFFERENT COLORED SUITS 119
feathers, or what is called " abrasion." This is a
curious process. I told you something about it
in chapter vii. Certain feathers have edges dif-
ferent in color from the rest ; as, for example,
a black feather with tips of yellow. While the
feathers are new and perfect, as they lie over
each other like shingles on a roof, only the edges
show, and these being yellow, the bird appears
to be dressed in yellow. But the yellow tips are
not so strong as the rest, and they break or wear
off, or are pulled off in the spring. What is
strange, they break exactly where the black
begins. So as soon as the yellow is off, the black
shows, and behold, the yellow bird suddenly
becomes a black bird.
That is the way some birds manage to put on
their spring dress in the fall. The solid color is
the color of the spring, but it is hidden or veiled
by tips of another color for winter.
The meadowlark changes in this way. In the
winter his coat is brownish, or buff. In the
spring these tips are worn or broken off, and he
comes out in yellow and black.
Another change, even more curious, is made
by some birds, who all winter wear white spots,
or light scolloped edges to their feathers, and
in spring the spots are gone.
In these, the white or light parts only break
120 HOW HE IS MADE
off, as sharply as if cut with scissors. They leave
the edges of the feathers notched in queer ways,
but as they lie over each other that does not
show.
Birds in this way can change color without
changing their feathers. While moulting but
once a year, they can show two suits, and 'by
partially moulting twice, can show three suits.
Another tiling about the color of feathers is
interesting. Some colors, such as black, and red,
and brown, are caused by coloring matter in the
feather. But other colors are only an effect of
the way the feather is made, whether it has
ridges on it, or certain minute specks under the
surface, which seem to act as prisms (says Dr.
Newton), and reflect the light in different colors.
For instance, green is always due to some
shade of yellow coloring matter under a surface
full of lengthwise ridges, and other colors are
made in similar ways.
These curious facts have been found out by
that tell-tale little instrument the microscope, and
no doubt it will reveal many more secrets in time.
Color is useful to birds, as well as beautiful.
Its great use is to conceal them from their ene-
^ mies, and they show that they know this by their
conduct.
When a bird is of the color of dead leaves, or
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLERS (MALE AND FEMALE)
DIFFERENT COLORED SUITS 121
the sand, he has only to flatten himself and keep
still, and he is hidden. Such a bird on the nest
will often let one come close, and even stroke
her, while relying on her color to be unseen. A
sitting ruffed grouse will do so. But if snow
falls, the same bird is very wild, for she knows
she can be seen in the snow.
I have seen a striped bird, — black and white
warbler, — when frightened, flatten himself on a
branch, where he looked so much like the bark
that he could not be seen.
Ground birds are mostly in mottled colors of
the ground. The whip-poor-will, whose habit it
is to rest on a log all day, wears colors that hide
him as well as if he were under the log.
The striking colors on a bird are often hidden
when he is at rest, but show plainly when he
flies. When a flicker stands quietly on a fence
he is all in rather dull colors, but when he flies
he shows a large snow-white spot on his back, so
that as far as one can see him he may be known.
A meadowlark on the ground looks not unlike
a flicker, but when he flies he shows that the
outside feathers of his tail are white. This is as
striking a mark as the white spot on the flicker.
Many birds have such markings, and it is
thought by men who study birds and look for
a use in everything, that such marks serve the
122 HOW HE IS MADE
purpose of " danger signals "or " recognition
marks." That by these birds can know each
other in the dusk, or that the flash of color will
catch the eye, when the bird does not wish to
give a call, but to slip away quietly to avoid
danger, and at the same time to give notice to
other birds to do the same.
HIS RELATIONS WITH US
XXVIII
HOW HE WOKKS FOE US
Many times in this book I have spoken of the
great value of the services of birds, in helping us
destroy insects and weeds that injure our crops.
But there is more to be said about it.
Prom morning till night, almost the whole of
his life, nearly every bird is working for us. He
does not know he is working for us, of course.
He is simply hunting for the food he Hkes, and
what is good for young birds to eat.
But what he chooses to eat himself, and to
feed the young, consists mostly of creatures that
destroy our fruit and vegetables, caterpillars that
eat the leaves off our trees, worms that get into
our apples and berries, beetles that spoil our
roses and our potatoes, mice that eat our crops,
and all the worms and grubs that gardeners and
farmers are all the time fighting.
As I have already said, some of the birds like
cherries and green peas, and other things we
prefer to keep for ourselves. But we should
126 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
never forget that they have earned, by their
work among the worms, all they can take.
I say this, not merely because I love the birds,
and want to have them live and be happy, but
because it is true. It has been proved true by
scientific men in the service of the United States
government.
These men have had thousands of birds killed
to see what they were eating, and have found
out that nearly aU the birds they have exam-
ined — blackbirds, cedar-birds, blue jays, hawks,
owls, even crows — do us more good by the in-
jurious creatures they destroy, than harm by the
fruits and vegetables they eat. To this there,
is, among the small birds, but one exception, the
English sparrow, and, of the large ones, only the
two hawks and one owl, mentioned on page 53.
Chickadees like to eat the eggs of canker-
worms ; and for a single meal, one of these tiny
birds will eat two hundred and fifty eggs, and
he will take several meals a day. Now canker-
worms destroy our apples. When they get into
an orchard in force, it looks, as Miss Merriam
says, as if it had been burned over.
Robins, catbirds, and shrikes, and several oth-
ers, like to eat cutworms, which destroy grass
and other plants. As many as three hundred of
them have been found in the stomach of one
CEDAR-BIRD
HOW HE WORKS FOR US 127
robin, of course for one meal. Ants are very
troublesome in many ways, and three thousand
of them have been taken from the stomach of
one flicker.
Rats and mice, ground squirrels and gophers,
make great havoc in our crops, and farmers
spend much time and labor trying to get rid of
them ; but these creatures are the favorite food
of most hawks and owls.
If the farmer would stop shooting the birds,
and protect them instead, they would do this
work for him, and much better than he can.
But because (as I said in a former chapter) one
or two hawks and owls have a taste for chickens,
he generally kills every hawk and owl he sees,
and for this folly has to spend half his time try-
ing to kill the little animals they would gladly
have eaten.
A great deal of refuse, dead sea creatures,
and other matter, is thrown up on the seashore,
or floats on the water. On this feed the water
birds, — herons, gulls, terns, and others. If this
were not disposed of, it would make us sick.
Indeed, on the shores where so many herons have
been killed, to get their plumes for ladies' hats,
the result has been sickness and death among
the people, as Dr. Gaumer, of Yucatan, told Mr,
Chapman.
128 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
Besides the work they do for us in destroying
animal life, their seed-eating is almost as useful.
As I said, they eat the seeds of weeds that
farmers and gardeners are all the time laboring
to keep down, so that useful plants may have
a chance to grow.
The whole family of finches, sparrows, bunt-
ings, grosbeaks, and all birds with the high,
thick bill, though they eat largely of insects
through the summer, and feed their nestlings on
them, when insects get scarce and weed seeds
are ripe, turn to the latter for food. They eat
the seeds of all kinds of troublesome weeds ; and
as each single seed might produce a plant, we
cannot guess how much they destroy.
Professor Beal, who is at the head of this gov-
ernment inquiry into the food of birds, and who
knows what he is talking about, says that one
species of little bird — the tree sparrow — de-
stroys every year in one of the Western States,
many tons of the seeds of weeds.
There is a curious and interesting fact about
this seed-earting. The regular seed-eaters, the
finches, prefer the seeds of certain weeds, most
of them harmful ; these they break up, taking
ofE the shells, and of course destroying the germ,
making it impossible for them to grow.
But there are many birds who eat berries hav-
HOW HE WORKS FOR US 129
ing in them seeds, such as raspberries, blackber-
ries, and all kinds of wild fruit. These birds do
not crack the seeds ; and, as they are hard, they
do not digest in the stomach, but are dropped
whole, and are ready to grow wherever they
fall.
Thus, while seed-eating birds destroy the weeds
which are hurtful, the fruit-eaters plant the seeds
of berries and fruit which we like. That is why
we find wild berry bushes all over the country.
We have to thank the birds for it.
A great deal more could be said about the
birds' work for us, not only of the robins and
those I have spoken of, but cedar-birds, who
are shot because they take part of our cherries,
blackbirds, because they eat some grain, ori-
oles, because they occasionally take green peas,
and kingbirds, because they have the name of
eating bees, though it has been proved that they
eat only drones, which have no sting and make
no honey.
Let me impress upon you two facts. First,
the stories of the harm done by birds are often
mere guesswork, from careless observation. For
instance, a man seeing a bird going over his
blossoming fruit-trees, at once concludes he is
destroying the fruit, probably shoots him, and
then writes to his favorite paper that a certain
130 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
bird eats fruit buds. Other papers copy it, and
a war against that bird begins in every orchard.
Whereas, the truth is, the bird was preserving
the fruit by picking out the insects that would
have spoiled it. This is no fancy picture ; this
very thing has happened more than once.
And again, whatever is said about the harm
this or that bird does, never forget this second
fact, which I repeat, and which may be relied
upon as perfectly trustworthy. The officers of
the government of the United States, who have
carefully studied the matter and found out posi-
tively, without guesswork, what birds eat, have
declared emphatically that every bird they have
examined does more good by destroying pests,
than harm to our crops, excepting only the bird
we have imported, — the English or house spar
row
XXIX
HOW TO ATTRACT HIM ABOUT OUR HOMES
Because birds are so useful to us, as well as
because they are so interesting and so beautiful,
it is delightful to have them come about our
homes. And it is not at all difficult, for they
are easily taught to like us.
In countries where people are gentle, and try
to make birds happy, instead of shooting them
or throwing stones at them, they become very
tame. Mr. Hearn, who has written about Japan,
says that the fearlessness of wild creatures is one
of the most charming things about the remote
parts of Japan, " where tourists with shotguns
have not yet come."
Travelers who visit Norway tell us that birds
are never disturbed there, and they come freely
about the houses. When it is very cold they
even come into the houses for food and warmth,
and no one thinks of frightening them or trying
to catch them.
Even in our own country. Dr. Ridgway told
132 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
me of a bird-lover in Florida who would not let
birds be annoyed on his place. As a result he
had a great many there, and they became very
tame. Cardinal grosbeaks, who are rather shy,
were so tame they would take food from his
hand.
A person living in the country, wishing to
draw the birds about his place, should begin by
protecting it. Cats should not be allowed to
come near, English sparrows should be kept
down, and boys who shoot or throw stones should
be banished from the vicinity.
Next, trees and shrubs that birds like, for
nesting and for food, should be set out. For
nesting, a very attractive place for the smaller
species is a thick hedge of bushes, the thicker
and closer the better.
Nesting-boxes nailed up in trees please many,
and evergreen trees will draw some that would
not come otherwise. For food, various berry-
bearing shrubs and trees should be provided,
such as chokecherry, shadberry, mulberry, and
others.
In a town or city, besides shrubs that birds
like, a high fence, with a top that cats cannot
walk on, is desirable, and a readiness to go to
their assistance is soon appreciated.
A friend told me a few days ago of a family
HOW TO ATTRACT HIM ABOUT OUR HOMES 133
of wood thrushes who nested last summer in the
yard of her house in the city of Orange, N. J.
The birds soon found out that some of the fam-
ily would come to drive away strange cats which
came in. After they learned that, when a cat
appeared they would give a peculiar cry, unlike
any other heard from them. On hearing this,
one of the family always hurried out and drove
the enemy away.
If the birds could not get any response from
a call at the kitchen door, they would fly to the
front of the house, perch on the piazza rail, and
call till some one came out. All through nesting-
time they thus called on their friends for protec-
tion, and the delight the family had over the
nest and the friendly birds amply repaid them
for their trouble.
The one great necessity, in both city and
country, is water for drinking and bathing. It
should be in a shallow dish. The rough saucer
of a flower-pot is best, because the bird's feet
do not slip on it, and the edge is broad and round
and easy to perch on.
Next best is an earthen dish, with cleai
pebbles in the bottom, to prevent sHpping, whicL
friffhtens them. Water should never be more
than two inches deep, but should always be clean,
and fresh two or three times a day.
134 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
No food should be offered in summer, be*
cause we want them to get their natural food of
worms and seeds.
In the winter it is different. They should
have food regularly. But once used to having
their wants supplied, they will depend upon it,
and suffer and probably starve, if they are neg-
lected or forgotten. So one should be very
sure he will not get tired of it, before he teaches
them to expect food.
To feed them safely, a shelf must be placed
out of the reach of cats and bad boys. On the
sill of a window is a good place, or the roof of
a piazza, or a little balcony. Breakfast should
be served to them at the same hour every day,
and they will soon know when to come for it.
For food, they will eat any table scraps of
meat, and vegetables, and bread, chopped fine,
and most kinds of grain, broken up, or crushed,
for the smaller birds.
But the thing they all like best of everything
is raw suet, as it comes from the butcher. A
large piece may be wired or nailed in place, so
that it may be picked at and not displaced, or it
may be chopped fine and scattered on the shelf,
like other food. All birds are fond of this.
In winter they need water, and it should then,
also, be fresh.
HOW TO ATTRACT HIM ABOUT OUR HOMES 135
A lady living in southern Ohio, who has for
several years given a breakfast to the birds
every day in winter, told me that her daily
guests last season were hairy and downy wood-
peckers, nuthatches, white and red-breasted, one
young kinglet, a pair o£ chickadees, tufted tit-
mice, blue jays, j uncos, cardinal grosbeaks, Caro-
lina wrens, and sparrows.
This delightful company came regularly for
breakfast, and to pay her, sang nearly through
the season.
In the latitude of New York there are about
forty birds who spend the winter, and of course
there are more as one goes south. In the
Southern States, many of our northern birds
may be studied in the winter.
XXX
HOW TO STUDY HIM
An attractive thing about bird study is the
fact that there is still so much to be found out.
Men have been studying the dead bird for
many years. All about the body is well known.
The way he is made, the arrangement of his
bones and his organs, are plainly set forth in
the books, in words and pictures.
The shape and colors of his plumage, how
many feathers belong to his wing and tail, his
length, his extent, the shape of his beak and
his foot, — all these facts are to be found in
every Ornithology.
Some of his most easily noted habits, too, are
familiar; where and when he nests, where he
spends his time, and where he goes in the winter,
what lie eats, and when he changes his dress.
But really to know the living bird, to make
acquaintance with the individual, to see his fam'
ily life, his manners, his intelligence, his powers,
— this kind of study has hardly begun.
HOW TO STUDY HIM 137
This almost new and most attractive field is
open to us to-day. It offers a charming study,
with the added interest of discoveries to be
made. Nor is it so hard as most persons think.
In the beginning there are two things to
learn : first, how to study from life ; and second,
how to identify without killing. To study is
simply to observe closely and carefully, and to
report accurately.
Take a little lesson in observing : When you
see a bird do not merely gaze idly at him, but
take note of everything about him. What he
is doing, how he is doing it, and all his points,
his size and shape, his colors and markings.
If he is getting food, as he most often is,
see whether he picks it from the tree trunk or
gathers it from grass tops ; whether he hunts it
among leaves, bores the bark, drops to the
ground, or sails out into the air for it.
Then try to discover what it is — insect or
seed, beetle, grub, or worm — and what he does
with it, — swallow it at once, beat it to death, or
hold it in his mouth uneaten.
Then notice his manners, — if he stands still,
or jerks his tail or body ; if he flits about the
branches, hovers before a flower, or hammers at
the door of an unlucky grub behind the bark.
Next, does he walk or hop ? does he chatter of
138 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
keep silent? fly straight, or go bounding in
great waves through the air ? All these things
you must learn to see, and to note down the mo-
ment you do so, so that you will not he uncer-
tain or confused when you take your books to
see who he is.
Then you must take note of his size, and to
do this — as it is hard to judge of inches — it is
well to have in mind a sort of index of size
to which you can compare him. Take the most
common and best-known birds for standards, the
robin, the English sparrow, and one smaller, —
the wren, or the " chebec " (least flycatcher).
When you see a bird, if he is as big as a robin,
enter in your note : " Size, robin." Should he
be a little smaller, yet still larger than your
measure, — the English sparrow, — you can
note it, " Size, robin — ," the minus sign mean-
ing that it is less. If he were larger, you would
put the plus sign : "Size, robin +."
Observe the shape, whether it is slim like an
oriole, or chunky like a chickadee ; also any
peculiarity of plumage, as a crest, specially long
or strangely formed tail feathers ; the end of
the tail, whether square, rounded, pointed, or
notched.
Then notice the beak ; its length compared to
the head, its shape and color. If it is high and
HOW TO STUDY HIM
139
Fig. 18.
Canadian Warbler.
thick, like a canary's or spar-
row's, the bird is a seed-
eater ; if long and straight,
like a robin's, he is an in-
sect-eater ; if sharp and flat,
opening very wide like a
swallow's, he is a flycatcher.
Lastly, note the plumage,
the general color, then spe-
cial markings, such as bars
on wings or tail, a ring
around the eye (Fig. 18), or
a line over or through the
eye (Fig. 19), white or black
throat (Fig. 20 or 19),
speckled or striped breast
(Fig. 18), or any conspicu-
ous blotch. Every point
must be set down the mo-
ment you notice it. You
cannot trust your memory.
With these full notes, re-
turn to your study and take
your manual to find out his
name, or to identify.
Many persons think that
in order to know a bird, and especially to find
out his name, one must have him in the hand,
Fig. 19.
Black-throated Green
Warbler.
Fig. 20.
White-throated Sparrow.
140 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
count his wing and tail feathers, and measure
his length. Excepting for exact scientific pur-
poses, this is not at all necessary. Almost any
bird in America may be perfectly identified with-
out touching him, indeed, while he is in the
enjoyment of his liberty in a tree. For birds
have marked external differences, which are
carefully set down in the books.
The modern manuals, too, are usually fur-
nished with a color key, the use of which is fully
explained in them. With the help of this you
will have little trouble in naming your bird-
Above all, be exact in your knowledge and
do not jump at conclusions. If you see a bird
on a fruit-tree picking about the blossoms, do
not decide ofEhand that he is spoiling the fruit ;
look closely to see if he is not, instead, clearing
it of worms that would destroy it all. When
you notice a bird in a strawberry bed, do not
instantly conclude that he is after strawberries ;
he does n't care half so much for berries as he
does for insects, and very often he is engaged in
ridding the plants of pests, at the moment that
he is scared off or shot by a careless person, who
does not wait to see whether he is friend or foe.
Although patience and clear eyes alone will
open many delightful secrets of bird life, a good
ppera glass will do still more. It will bring you
HOW TO STUDY HIM 141
nearer to the bird without frightening him.
You can see thus much better, not only his
markings, but what he is doing. In a word,
you can be more sure of your facts.
In deciding upon the actions of a bird, never
guess at anything. If you see a pair very busy
about a shrub, you may be sure they have a
nest there, but do not so record it till you have
actually seen the nest. Even then you should
not conclude at once that it belongs to them ;
I have seen birds sit a few moments in nests
which did not belong to them — as if to try
them. You may feel very sure what a bird
means by an action, but you should set down
only what he does. Without this care, your
records will be worthless.
Do not discourage yourself by trying to find
the name of every tiny atom in feathers that you
see ; indeed, little birds flitting about the tree-
tops — mostly warblers — will be hard for you
to identify, and almost impossible to watch. I
advise you to confine your study at first to the
larger and less lively birds, — kingbirds, robins,
thrushes, phcebes, bluebirds, orioles, goldfinches,
and others, all of which you will find near to
houses and easy to study. Do not expect too
much at once, nor give up in despair if you can-
not identify the first bird you see.
142 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
You may be sure that every hour you hon-
estly give to the study will make it more inter-
esting; every bird you learn to know will be
like a new and delightful companion.
You will lose your desire to take life or even
to steal eggs from them ; the country will have
new charms for you ; in fact, a person blessed
with a love of the study of birds or beasts or
insects possesses a lifelong and inexhaustible
source of interest and happiness.
In regard to a manual, there are now so many
to be had, one hardly knows how to select. I
will mention only two or three, which have par-
ticular points of value.
A good book to begin with, for residents of
New England, New York, and the Eastern
Middle States, is Professor Willcox's " Land
Birds of New England" (Lothrop Lee & Shepard,
Boston. Price 60 cts., by mail).
Although this little book treats of only
ninety birds, they are the most common, and its
value is its simplicity, and the ease with which
its color key enables one to identify the birds it
treats. It introduces a beginner to the larger
works in a most pleasing way.
A good general work for Eastern North
America, thoroughly trustworthy and not too
technical in its use of terms, treating all the
'>^K
SCARLET TANAGER
HOW TO STUDY HIM 143
birds of the locality, is Chapman's " Handbook
of the Birds of Eastern North America " (Ap-
pleton, New York. Price |3.00), It has a
color key and a color chart, by which one may
see what is meant by colors named.
Especially attractive to ladies and amateurs,
for its charming accounts of bird life, is Mrs.
Wright's " Birdcraft " (Macmillan, New York.
Price, $2.00). It treats but two hundred spe-
cies, but that includes the birds usually seen in
the New England and Northern Middle States.
It has a color key.
The whole United States is covered by Dr.
Coues's "Key to North American Birds," 2 vol-
umes (The Page Company, Boston. Price $12.50).
It is not quite so easy for the beginner, but it
is untechnical in style, and fully illustrated.
One book deserving mention because of its
value as an aid to teachers is Miss Merriam's
" Birds of Village and Field " (Houghton Mif-
flin Co., Boston. Price $2.00). It is exception-
ally rich in facts and statistics relating to the
economic value of birds. It treats nearly two
hundred of the most common birds.
A book intended for identification only is
Professor Apgar's " Birds of the United States "
(American Book Company, New York. Price
$2.00). It is the result of his experience as
144 HIS RELATIONS WITH US
teacher, and has several new features very help>
ful to beginners, such as small cuts at the bot-
tom of pages to explain terms, thus showing
exactly what is meant, for example, by " wing
bars " or " rounded tail." It also gives hints
about the usual locality of a bird, whether creep-
ing over a tree trunk, on the wing, or elsewhere.
It takes particular note of size, having one sec-
tion for birds about the size of an English spar-
row, and so on. The pronunciation of the Latin
names is carefully indicated. There are several
chapters giving descriptions of the external parts
of a bird, and there is a glossary of scientific
terms.
The following list of points to observe in
watching birds has been used to advantage by
classes in bird study. A little familiarity with
this will help one to remember what to look for.
A similar, but fuller and more elaborate, list
has been prepared, and bound up in tablets, to
use in the field. It is for sale by Miss J. A.
Clark, 1322 Twelfth Street, N. W., Washing-
ton, D. C.
POINTS TO OBSERVE
1. Locality — tree : bush : ground.
2. Size — compared to robin : English sparrow.
3. Form — long : short : slender : plump.
4. Beak — high : stout : wide : hooked : long : lobes ;
drawn down.
5. Tail — length : shape at end.
6. Legs — long : short : scales.
7. Toes — webbed : how turned : hind claw long.
8. Color — bright : striking : dull : plain.
9. Markings — on head : breast : wing : tail : back.
10. Manners — walk : hop : quiet : active : noisy : silent.
11. Habits — eating seeds : berries : insects : from
ground : tree trunk : leaves.
12. Song — long : short : continuous : broken.
13. Flight — direct : undulating : fluttering : labored.
14. Nest — where placed : shape : materials : eggs,
15. Young — plumage : behavior.
SECOND BOOK
THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
WHAT IS A BIED FAMILY?
In the " First Book of Birds " I told you about
the common H£e o£ a bird ; what sort of a home
he has, and how he is taken care of when httle ;
then how he lives when grown up ; what he eats ;
where he sleeps ; and something about how he is
made.
In this book, I want to help you a step further
on in your study of birds. I shall tell you some-
thing about particular birds, about the families
they belong to, and the different ways in which
they live.
To begin with : What is a bird family ? In
life, a bird family is exactly like a human family.
It consists of father, mother, and children. But
in the books, a family means quite another thing.
Men who study the Science of Birds, or Orni-
2 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
thology, have placed the birds in groups which
they call families, to make it easier to find out
about them, and write about them. This way of
arranging them in books is called classification
— or forming them into classes.
Birds are classified, not by the way they look,
but by the way they are made, or their structure,
and this is found out by the study of Scientific
Ornithology. Birds may look a good deal alike,
and act alike, and yet be difEerently made.
There is first the grand class Aves, which
includes all creatures who wear feathers. This
class is divided into orders.
Orders are made by putting together a large
number of birds who are alike in one thing. For
instance, all birds who have feet made to clasp a
perch, and so are perchers, are put in an order
together.
But many birds have feet for perching who
are very difi:erent in other ways. So orders are
divided into families, which I shall tell you about
in this book.
In each family I shall tell you about one or
more of the best known, or the ones you are most
likely to see, and that will help you to know the
rest of the family when you begin to study birds
out of doors, and use the manual to learn the
names.
WHAT IS A BIRD FAMILY 3
I shall often speak of what has been found out
about the food of birds, and I want to tell you
here, once for all, how it was done, so that you
may understand just what I mean when I speak
of the work of the Department of Agriculture.
The Government of the United States has in
Washington a department with a head and many
men under him, whose business it is to take
charge of everything concerning agriculture,
that is, farming, fruit-growing, etc. This is
called the Department of Agriculture.
Farmers and fruit-growers made so much com-
plaint of the damage done to crops by birds,
that this department determined to find out just
what birds do eat. The only way it could be
done was by having the birds killed and seeing
what food was in their stomachs, for it is almost
impossible to tell by watching them. To know
positively which birds do harm by eating more
grain or fruit than insects, and which do good
by eating more insects, would save the lives of
many thousands. So the killing of those they
studied was useful to the whole race.
When they wanted to find out what crows eat,
they had crows killed all over the country —
hundreds of them — and the stomachs, with the
food in, sent to them in Washington. Then they
went to work and examined every one. They
i THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
could tell by the shells of seeds and the hard
parts of insects, and bones and hair of mice, etc.,
just what had been eaten. And the contents of
every stomach was written down and preserved
in a book. Thus, you see, they could tell what
crows were in the habit of feeding upon.
They did this with many other birds who are
said to do harm, — hawks, owls, blackbirds, king-
birds, and others. That is how we come to know
what birds eat, and can tell whether they do harm
or good. There can be no mistake in this way
of knowing, and so what comes from this depart-
ment may be relied upon as true.
I want this little book to help the bird-lovers
in the South and West of our big country, as
well as in the East ; and so, in each Family, I
shall try to tell about a bird who may be seen
in each part. A good many of our birds are
found both East and West, with slight differ-
ences, but some that are in one part are not
in the other.
n
THE THRUSH FAMILY
(Turdidce) *
This family is named after the thrushes, but
our familiar robin belongs to it, and also the
sweet-voiced bluebird. The birds of this family
are all rather good sized, and excepting the blue-
bird show no bright colors. Nearly all of them
have spotted breasts when young, and many of
them keep the spots all their lives. Young rob-
ins and bluebirds have spots on breasts and shoul-
ders, but when they get their grown-up plumage
there are none to be seen.
The thrush family get around by hopping, and
do not walk, though some of them run, as you
have seen the robin do on the lawn. Most of
them live in the woods, and feed on the ground,
and all of them eat insects. Because their feed-
ing grounds freeze up in winter, most of these
birds go to a warmer climate, or migrate. They
are all good singers, and some of them among
the best in America.
1 See Appendix, 1.
6 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
The best known of this family is the robin,
Ameeioan Robin, to give him his whole name.
He is found all over the United States. In the
summer he lives in the Eastern and Middle
States, in the winter he lives in the Southern
States, and he lives all the year round in Cali-
fornia.
The California robin is called the Western
Eobin, and is a little lighter in color than his
Eastern brother ; but he is the same jolly fellow
under his feathers, and robin song is about the
same from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
I 'm sure you all know how he looks, with
black head, slate-colored back and wings, streaked
throat, and dull red or chestnut breast. His
mate is not quite so dark in color.
Robins start for their nesting-place, which is
their real home, very early, almost the first of
the birds. They make a nest, not very high, in
a tree or about our houses, with a good deal of
mud in it. Not all nests are alike. Sometimes
a bird will show a fancy for a pretty-looking
nest. I have seen one made of the white flowers
of life-everlasting. The stems were woven to-
gether for the framework, and the little clusters
of blossoms left outside for ornament.
The young robin just out of the nest is a
pretty fellow, with spots all over his breast and
THE THRUSH FAMILY 7
shoulders. He spends most of his time calling
for food, for he is always hungry. He is rather
clumsy in getting about, and often falls to the
ground. But if you pick him up and put him
on a low branch out of the reach of cats, he will
fly as soon as your hand leaves him, and gener-
ally come to the ground again. So it is of no
use to try to help him that way. The only thing
you can do is to keep cats and bad boys away
from him, until he flies up into a tree.
The robin gets his food on the ground, or
just under the surface. He eats many caterpil-
lars and grubs that are harmful to us. One that
he specially likes is the cutworm, which has a
bad way of biting off young plants. In the East
he eats many earthworms, which we see him pull
out of the ground on the lawn, but in the West,
where there are not so many earthworms, he picks
up insects of various kinds.
All through spring, when insects are hard at
work destroying our fruit and vegetables and
young grains, the robin spends almost his whole
time catching them ; first for his own eating, but
many more when his little ones get out of the
shell, for young birds eat a great amount of food.
Then, when he has spent months in our service
killing insects, so that our fruit and vegetables
can grow, do you not think he has earned part
of the cherries he has saved?
8 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
Robins are very easily made tame, and, when
■well treated and not shut up in a cage, they be-
come fond of people and like to live in our
houses. I know of a robin who was picked up
from the ground by a lady. He could not fly,
and she took him into a house and brought him
up. He was never wild or afraid of people, and
he never wanted to be free. His mistress would
sometimes put him on her hat, without fastening
him in any way, and go out to walk with him
there. He liked his ride, and never thought of
leaving her. She often took him with her into
a piece of woods where she went. He would
play around on the ground and in the trees, but
the moment she started for home he flew down,
ready to go.
She thought perhaps he would like to be free,
and she tried once or twice to leave him in this
pleasant grove, but he always flew to her and re-
fused to be left. He was so fond of his mistress
that when she went away for a day or two he
was very unhappy, hid himself in a closet, and
would not eat till she came back.
This robin, too, liked the food of the family,
and did not care for earthworms. In fact, he
could hardly be coaxed to eat one of them,
though he liked some kinds of grubs which he
found on the ground. But he ate them in a di£-
THE THRUSH FAMILY 9
ferent way from his wild brothers. He did not
swallow them whole, but beat them to a jelly
before trying to eat.
This pet had a sweet, low song of his own.
He never sang like his wild brothers until his
second year, when he had been out and heard
them sing.
A pair of robins that were blown from a nest
in a high wind were reared and kept in a large
cage by Mrs. GrinneU in California. The first
year the singer did not sing, but in the second
year a wild mockingbird came to teach him. He
would alight on the cage, which hung out of
doors, and sing softly a long time, till the robin
began to do the same. When he could sing, it
was more like a mockingbird than like a robin.
The mocker was very fond of his pupil, and used
to bring him berries and other wild dainties.
These robins made a nest of things the mis-
tress gave them, and eggs began to appear in it.
But as soon as one was laid, one of the birds
would jump into the nest and kick and scratch
till it was thrown out and broken. They seemed
to think the pretty blue eggs were playthings.
When the weather grew hot, Bobby, the singer,
showed his sense by spending most of his time
lying in his bathing-dish, covered with water
up to his ears. He would lie there an hour
10 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
at a time, too comfortable to get out even to
eat.
Birds who are not brought into the house
often become tame when well treated. One
family in Michigan had a pair of robins who
nested close to the house for fourteen years.
It was plain that the birds were the same pair,
for they became so friendly that they let any of
the family pick up a nestling, and showed no
fear. But with other people they were as wild
as any robins.
One day a man passing by picked up one of
the young birds, who was scrambling about on
the ground. At once the parents began loud
cries of distress, and all the robins in the neigh-
borhood came to help. They scolded and cried,
and flew at the thief who wanted to carry off
the baby. One of the family heard the row,
and went out and claimed the robin, and the
man gave it up. The moment the little one was
in the hands of a person they knew, the cries
ceased. Not only the parents but the neigh-
bors seemed to understand that the nestling was
safe.
The way birds act when brought up by us and
not by their parents shows that young birds are
taught many things before they are grown up.
When living in a house, they are not afraid of
HERMIT THRUSH
THE THRUSH FAMILY 11
cats or people, as wild ones are. They do not
usually sing the robin song, nor care for the
robin food, and they do not seem to know how
to manage a nest. I could tell you many things
to prove this.
Another charming member of the Thrush
Family is the Hermit Thkush. He is a beauti-
ful bird, smaller than the robin. He is reddish
brown on the back, with a white breast spotted
with dark brown or black. He has large, full,
dark eyes, which look straight at you.
The hermit thrush spends his winters in the
Southern States, and his summers in the North-
ern. But in the far West, where are no cold
winters, the hermit does not have to move back
and forth. In that part of the country the bird
is the Western Hermit Thrush.
This bird is one of our finest singers, and a
very shy bird. His home is in the woods, and
from there we hear his loud, clear song, morning
and evening. Many people think his song is the
finest bird-song we have. His ordinary call as
he goes about is a kind of " chuck." The West-
ern hermit differs hardly at all. He may be a
little smaller, but he is the same delightful singer
and lovely character.
The mother hermit makes her nest on the
12 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
ground, and hides it so well that it is hard t^
find, — though I 'm afraid snakes, and squirrels^
and other woods creatures who like eggs to eat
find it more often than we do.
Shy as the hermit is, he is an intelHgent bird.
A mother hermit a few years ago strayed into
the grounds of a gentleman in Massachusetts
and built a nest under a pine-tree. When she
was found, she was at first very much frightened,
But the owner of the place was a bird-lover, and
gentle and quiet in his ways, and she got so used
to him that she let him photograph her many
times.
A gentleman, Mr. Owen, once captured a
young hermit thrush so lately, out of the nest
that he could not fly much. He kept him in the
house several weeks, and found out many inter-
esting things about young thrushes. One thing
he discovered was that the bird has his own
notions about food. He ate raw meat and earth-
worms. But when worms were fed to him that
came from a dirty place, he threw them out of
his mouth, wiped his beak, and showed great
disgust. The worms brought from clean garden
earth he ate greedily.
The , little captive had his own way of eating
a worm. He began by worrying it awhile, and
then swallowed it tail first.
THE THRUSH FAMILY 13
He showed his instinct for sleeping high by
being very restless at night, till let out of his
cage. Then he ilew to the highest perch he
could find in the room, and roosted for the
night.
The bird showed himself friendly and not at
all afraid of people. Mr. Owen got so attached
to him that when he let him go in the woods he
felt as if he had parted with a dear friend.
In the picture you see two hermit thrushes.
The upper one is singing, and the lower one
looking calmly at you, in the way of these beau-
tiful birds.
m
THE KINGLET AND GNATCATCHER FAMILY
(Sylviidoe) ^
This family is small in our country. There
are only three members of it that we are likely
to see. But they are most dainty and lovely
birds. They are the two kinglets or little kings,
not much bigger than hummingbirds, and the
blue-gray gnatcatcher, about as small. They are
all fond of living in the tops of tall trees, and
they generally get their food and make their
pretty nests away out of our reach. So we
have to look sharp to see them. It is easier to
hear them, for they are fine singers.
The RuBY-CBOWNED Kinglet is a plump little
bird in olive-green feathers. Below he is yellow-
ish white, and he has two whitish wing bars.
On top of his head is a narrow stripe of bright
ruby color. But we see him usually from below,
so that is not often noticed. He flits about the
* See Appendix, 2.
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET
THE KINGLET AND GNATCATCHER FAMILY 15
upper branches, picking out the smallest insects
and insect eggs, and eating them. So he is very
useful to us.
Although this bird is found all over our coun-
try, he does not nest with us, except sometimes
in the mountains. He goes farther north, be-
yond the United States. The nests that have
been found in the mountains of Colorado and
Montana were partly hanging, and very large
for such a tiny bird. They were made of soft,
fine bark strips, and green moss, and hung to
the end of a spruce or pine branch.
But the ruby-crown passes his winters in the
Southern States and Mexico, and when he starts
for his nesting-home, he begins to sing. As he
goes north, he stops a few days or a week in a
place, and then is the time to hear his sweet
voice. When he sings, you would hardly know
him. He raises the red feathers on top of his
head so that they stand up like a crown, and
change his looks very much. In the picture you
can see a little of the ruby stripe.
Not much is known of the habits of these
little birds, they are so hard to study. They are
found all over the United States, in the South-
ern States and California in winter, and in the
Northern States in spring and fall, when migrat-
ing.
16 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
The Blue-gbay Gnatcatcher is a slim little
bird, with a rather long tail. He is bluish gray,
with some white and black on head, wings, and
tail, and he is grayish white below.
He has a sweet song, but it is so low you have
to be very near and very quiet to hear it. He
is such a talkative, restless fellow, however, that
you often see him when you might not hear the
song.
The gnatcatcher is one of the most lively of
birds. He bustles about in an eager way that
shows everybody where to look for the nest.
And when there is no nest, he flits over the tree-
tops, catching tiny flying insects, and uttering a
queer call that sounds something like the mew
of a cat. He does not need to be so quiet as
birds who build on the ground or near it, be-
cause few can get at the nest. It is too high
for snakes and boys, and on branches too light
for squirrels or big birds. So he can afford to
be as chatty as he pleases.
The nest of this bird is one of the prettiest
that is made. It is a little cup, upright on a
branch, usually near the end so that it is tossed
by the wind. Miss Merriam found a pair of
gnatcatchers in California, and watched them
through many troubles. Their way of building
was by felting. That is, they took fine, soft
THE KINGLET AND GNATCATCHER FAMILY 17
materials like plant down, and packed it all
closely together by poking with the beak and
prodding it with the feet.
A gnatcatcher's nest is large for the size of
the bird. It must be deep for safety, so that
eggs and nestlings will not be thrown out by the
wind. Three times, Miss Merriam thinks, the
little family she watched had to build their nest.
Each time it took more than ten days of hard
work.
This pretty little fellow has a long tail, and
he keeps it in motion all the time. He jerks it
up or down, or twitches it to one side, or the
other ; or he flirts it open and shut like a fan,
which shows the white edges and looks very
gay-
Dogs and cats, as you know, show how they
feel by the way they move the tail. Birds do
the same, some much more than others. If you
watch the way in which they move their tails,
you can learn to tell how a bird feels almost as
well as if he could speak to you.
IV
THE NUTHATCH AND CHICKADEE FAMILY
(Paridce) ^
This is another family of small birds. The
nuthatches are lively, restless little creatures.
You generally see them scrambling over the
trunks of trees, head up or head down, as it hap-
pens. They are dressed in sober colors, and
spend their lives picking tiny insects out of the
crevices of the bark.
The White-breasted Nuthatch is the best
known in the East. In California the slender-
billed takes his place, being about the same in
dress and manners. Both of them, East and
West, go about calHng " quank, quank." The
dress is slate-blue and white, with a white breast,
a black cap, and black on wings and tail.
Nuthatches nest in holes, either deserted wood-
pecker nests or natural holes in trees. If such
a place is not to be found, the pair will some-
^ See Appendix, 3.
THE NUTHATCH AND CHICKADEE FAMILY 19
times dig out a home in a decayed stump for
themselves.
It is wonderful to see how easily and quickly
a nuthatch will run over the trunk and large
branches of a tree. Woodpeckers usually go
upward, and brace themselves with their stiff
tails. If they want to go down, they back down
rather awkwardly. Creepers, who also go over
tree trunks, go up only, and they also use their
stiff tails for a brace. But the nuthatch goes
head up, or down, or sideways, and never uses
the short, square tail in the business. He can
do this because his claws are very curving, al-
most like hooks, and they grasp tight hold of
the httle rough places in the bark.
It is a funny sight to see a mother nuthatch
going about with four or five hungry little ones
after her, like chickens after a hen, all calling
their droll little " quanks."
The nuthatch gets his name, it is said, from
the habit of fixing a nut into a crack and ham-
mering or " hacking " it till it breaks. In sum-
mer, when insects are to be had, this bird, like
many others, eats nothing else, and he eats
thousands of them. But he can live on other
food, so he is not forced to migrate.
To provide for winter, when insects will be
gone and snow cover the seeds, he lays up a
20 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
store of food. He takes kernels of corn, if he
can get them, or sunflower seeds, or nuts of
various kinds. This keeps him very busy all the
fall, and he has often been seen at the work.
He will carry a nut to a tree and find a crack in
the bark just big enough to hold it. He tries
one after another till he finds one to fit. Then
he hammers it in till it is secure, and leaves it
there. Then in winter the same bird has been
seen, when everything was covered with snow,
to dig the hidden nuts out of their hiding-places
and eat them.
Many birds who do not migrate, but live in the
same place the year round, provide for winter in
the same way. So do squirrels and other ani-
mals. It is pleasant to think that rough-barked
trees, and knotholes, and hollows, are filled with
food for the hungry birds. And if they had
not that supply, they might starve, or be obliged
to leave us.
The Red-beeasted Nuthatch is a little
smaller than the white-breasted, and has a red-
dish breast. His home is more toward the north,
both East and West. He nests in Maine and
other Northern States. His call note is different
too. It sounds like the squawk of a toy trumpet.
His habits are much like those of his biggei
relative.
THE NUTHATCH AND CHICKADEE FAMILY 21
The nuthatch is fond of his mate, and takes
good care of her in nesting time. He feeds her
and the young till they leave the nest.
Mr. Fowler tells a story of an English nut-
hatch who is almost the same as one of ours.
Some bird-lovers were in the habit of putting
nuts on a window-sill for these birds to carry
away. One day, to see what they would do,
somebody put one in a glass tumbler. The birds
saw the nut and tried to get it through the glass,
pecking and hammering at it a long time.
Finally, one got tired or discouraged and flew
xip to a perch over the tumbler. Then he hap-
pened to look down, and saw the nut inside the
glass. Instantly he came down. He alighted
on the edge of the tumbler and held on tightly,
while he leaned far over inside, almost standing
on his head, till he picked up the nut and carried
it off.
These birds are easily made tame in winter
by feeding them every day when food is hard to
get ; and at a time when they are forced to live
on seeds and nuts, they greatly enjoy scraps of
meat, and most of all, suet. Many people put
out food for the birds every day in winter, in
some safe place where cats cannot come. They
have great pleasure in watching their little
guests.
22 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
Chickadees, or Titmice, as they are named in
the books, belong to another branch of this Fam-
ily. There are a good many titmice in the world,
seventy-five kinds or species, but we in America
have only thirteen. Best known in the Eastern
and Middle States is the common chickadee. In
California, the mountain chickadee has habits
about the same, and the Southern States have
the tufted titmouse.
All these little fellows are pretty birds in gray,
set ofE with black and white, with lovely soft and
fluffy plumage.
The common Chickadee and his brother of
the West have black on top of the head and
on the throat, and white at the side of the head.
They nest in holes in a tree or stump. If they
can find the old home of a woodpecker, they are
glad to get it, but if they cannot find one, they
are able to cut one out for themselves, though it
is a hard, long job for them.
These birds have very large families, sometimes
as many as eight or nine little chickadees in one
of those dark nurseries. How so many can live
there it is hard to see. They must be all in a
heap.
Everybody knows the common call of the
chickadee, — " chick-a-dee-dee ; " but he has a
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES
THE NUTHATCH AND CHICKADEE FAMILY 23
song, too. It is slow, sad-sounding, and of two
notes, almost like the common cry of the phcebe.
But you must not think they have no more than
these few notes. They have odd little songs,
and they make queer sounds that seem much like
talking. Almost all birds have many notes and.
calls and little chatty noises of different sorts,
besides their regular song and the common call
note. To hear these, and learn to know a bird
whatever he says, is one of the delights of bird
study. I hope you will some day enjoy it. The
Chippewa Indians named the chickadee " kitch-
kitch-ga-ne-shi. ' '
A chickadee is a friendly little fellow. Many
times one has come down on to a man's hand
or knee. Mr. Torrey once found a pair making
their nest, and he climbed up on to a branch of
the tree, close by where they were working, so as
to watch them. Many birds would have been
frightened to have a man so near, but not the
brave little chickadees. They stared at him a
little, but went right on with their building.
These birds, though so tiny, are among the
most useful to us, because they spy out and de-
stroy the insect eggs hidden in crevices of bark,
or under leaves. Bigger birds might not care to
pick up such small things, or their beaks might
be too clumsy to get at them.
24 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
When you see a chickadee scrambling over a
tree, hanging head down with all sorts of antics,
he is no doubt hunting out the eggs. These
eggs, if left, would hatch out into hungry in-
sects, to eat the leaves or fruit, or to injure and
perhaps kill the tree. The nuthatch clears up
the trunk and large limbs, and the chickadee
does the same for the small branches and around
the leaves.
It has been found out that one pair of chicka-
dees with their young will destroy five hundred
pests, such as caterpillars, flies, and grubs, every
day. No man could do so much, if he gave his
whole time to it. Besides, he could not go over
the whole tree as a bird does, without doing harm
to it. A chickadee hops along the small branches
and twigs, looking under every leaf, sometimes
hanging head down to see the under side, and
picks up every insect or egg. Among his dain-
ties are the eggs of the leaf-rolling caterpillar,
the canker-worm, and the apple-tree moth, — all
very troublesome creatures.
The Tufted Titmouse is more common in the
South and West than his cousin, the chickadee,
and he is one of the prettiest of the family. He
is dressed in soft gray, with a fine, showy, pointed
crest. His ways are something like the chicka-
THE NUTHATCH AND CHICKADEE FAMILY 25
dee's, but he is, perhaps, even bolder and more
pert, and he is easily tamed. All his notes are
loud and clear, and he is never for a moment
still.
In winter, this bird is found in little flocks of
a dozen or more. These are probably all of one
family, the parents and their two broods of the
year. He is one of the birds who stores up food
for a time when food is scarce. In summer, he
eats only insects.
The tufted titmouse, like others of his race,
has a great deal of curiosity. I have heard of
one who came into a house through an open win-
dow. It was a female titmouse in search of a
good place for a nest. After she had been in
all the rooms, and helped herself to whatever she
found that was good to eat, she seemed to de-
cide that it wap a land of plenty and she would
stay.
The stranger settled upon a hanging basket as
nice to build in. The family did not disturb her,
and she brought in her materials and made her
nest. She had even laid two or three eggs, when
the people began to take too much interest in her
afPairs, and the bird thought it best to move to
a safer place.
Another of these birds in Ohio, looking about
for something nice and soft to line her nest,
26 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
pitched upon a gentleman's hair. Unfortunately,
he had need of the hair himself ; but the saucy
Uttle titmouse did n't mind that. She alighted
on his head, seized a beakful, and then bracing
herself on her stout little legs, she actually jerked
out the lock, and flew away with it. So well did
she like it that she came back for more. The
gentleman was a bird-lover, and was pleased to
give some of his hair to such a brave little crea-
ture.
V
THE CREEPER FAMILY
(Certhiidce)^
This is a family of birds who creep ; that is,
they appear not to hop up a tree trunk hke a
■woodpecker, or walk up like a nuthatch, but
they hug close to the bark with claws and tail,
and seem really to creep.
The one member of the family in this country
is called the Brown Creeper. He is a little
fellow in streaks and stripes of brown, and he
looks so much like the tree trunks that one can
hardly see him. He has a slender, curved bill,
just the thing to poke into cracks in the bark,
and pull out the insects and eggs hidden there.
His tail feathers are curious. They have sharp
points on the ends, so that he can press them
against the bark, and help support himself.
The creeper's way of getting up a trunk is to
begin near the ground, and go round and round
1 See Appendix, 4.
28 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
the trunk till he reaches the lowest branch.
Then he flings himself off, and flies to the roots
of another tree, and goes up that in the same
way. A brown creeper once came into a house,
and found it so comfortable, and food so plenti-
ful, and people so kind, that he stayed. He was
very tame, and his great pleasure was to climb
up a man's leg or a woman's skirt, exactly as he
climbs a tree trunk, going round and round.
Quiet and demure as he looks, this little bird
sometimes plays rather funny pranks. He has
been seen to whirl around like a top, and' again
to fly up and down close to a tree trunk, appar-
ently just for fun. He has a sweet little song,
which we do not often hear, for his voice is not
strong.
The brown creeper mother takes a droll place
for a nest. It is behind the loose bark of an old
tree. She makes a snug little home under the
bark roof, and lines it with feathers, and there
she brings up her three or four little creepers.
She is as well protected from sun and rain as if
she had an umbrella, and it is such an odd place
that it was not for a long time known where her
cunning little nest was made.
This bird nests in the Eastern States, in
northern New York and New England, and in
California he nests in the mountains, but he goes
TiKOWN CREEPKR
THE CREEPER FAMILY 29
South in winter. When he wants to hide, he
makes use of a clever trick, which shows that he
knows how much he looks like the trunk of a
tree. He simply flattens himself against the
bark, and keeps perfectly still. Then you can
hardly see him, though you look right at him.
•You can see in the picture how he looks.
VI
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY
(Troglodytidce) ^
First Brakch
This is a family of singers, who dress in plain
colors. There is not a red or blue stripe, and
not a yellow or purple feather, among them.
The family has two branches, or subfamilies
as the books call them. The first branch,
which gives the name to the family, is made of
birds who are really a sort of cave-dwellers, —
the wrens.
Wrens are lively little birds, excitable and
afraid of nothing. They are in plain browns,
barred off with another shade of the same color.
They are so near the color of the ground, where
they spend most of their time, that they are not
easily seen. They have a way of holding their
tails up, some of them much more than others,
by which one may know a wren wherever he
sees it.
1 See Appendix, 5.
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY 31
The most common one o£ the family is the
House Wren. He is found all over the Eastern
States. In the Western States the same bird,
except in the shade of his coat, is called the
Western House Wren.
The house wren is fond of a snug place for a
nest. If a wren box is to be had, he will take
that ; but if not, he will seek some cozy nook,
which he will furnish, mostly with fine twigs,
and then wait for his mate to appear.
Sometimes the bird takes queer places to live
in. I once found a wren family inside a hollow
iron hitching-post in a city street. The birds
went in through the hole for the hitching-strap.
I wondered how the wrenlings would get out
through the long, dark passage. Another nest
was made in an oriole's hanging cradle, after the
young orioles had flown. It was filled up with
sticks to make it suitable for baby wrens. One
that I found last summer was in a hole in a gate-
post.
The place is usually chosen by the male, who
stuffs it full of fine twigs, and then sings and
calls for his mate to come. He will sing hour
after hour his sweet little song, stopping every
few minutes to bring another stick to add to his
store.
The wren is a droll fellow about one thing, —
32 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
he never knows when he has enough furniture
for his house. He will bring twigs and stuff
them into the box or hole, till he can't get
another one in. Sometimes even till his mate
can't get in herself. A pair began to build in
a shed room, and apparently set out to fill the
whole room with twigs. They brought in so
much stuff that the owner had to stop up the hole
they used for a door and make them go some-
where else. He was willing to share the room
with them, but he could n't spare the whole.
The house wren is a plucky little fellow, and
as he likes the same kind of places the English
sparrow wants, they often quarrel over a box or
a nice snug hole. Small as he is, the wren often
succeeds in keeping the place he wants, and
driving the sparrow away.
English sparrows can be kept out of wren
houses by making the opening too small for the
bigger bird. An auger hole one. inch in diame-
ter will be large enough for wrens, but too small
for sparrows. A sparrow has sometimes been
seen trying to get into one of these wren boxes,
and very droll he looks, when he sticks his head
in, and struggles and kicks violently to push
himself in.
I found a pair of house wrens in Colorado one
summer. The singer spent most of his time
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY 33
scrambling about a pile of brush, apparently try-
ing to make me think that was where he lived.
But I was sure he had a mate and a nest some-
where else, and I kept watch for them.
One day I happened to see a little brown bird
fly up under the eaves of a summer cottage not
much bigger than a tent. On looking closely, I
found that there were openings under the eaves.
The birds had taken one of these for a door,
and built a nest inside, in the box frame over a
window. After that I looked at them through
another window. Everything went well till the
wrenlings left the nest and began to fly around.
Then they seemed to lose their wits, or not to
mind their parents. They flew wildly about in
the cottage, bumping against the glass, and seem-
ing not able to find the door to get out.
I had not the key to open the big door, so I
could not help them in their trouble. And the
old birds were so frantic when I looked in at the
window, while they were trying to get their
family out, that I went away and left them. In
an hour or two I went back, and found every-
thing quiet, and the wren babies all out on the
trees.
vn
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY
Second Branch
The second branch of this family is very dif-
ferent from the first ; it is composed of mock-
ingbirds, catbirds, and thrashers. These birds
were once placed with the thrushes, and by hab-
its and manners they seem to belong there.
But, as I told you, families in the bird world are
made by structure, — by the way the bird is
made. These birds have scales on the leg, and
some other things like the wrens, so now they
belong to the cave-dwelling family, though they
never dwell in caves. They live in shrubbery
and low trees. They are larger than any wren,
but they are like those birds in being good
singers and dressed in plain colors. Wherever
they are placed in the books, they are interesting
and delightful birds to know.
The most famous of this branch is the Mock-
ingbird, found in the Southern States and Cali-
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY 35
fornia. He is a beautiful and graceful fellow in
gray, with large white patches in his wings.
The nest of the mockingbird is a rather rough
afPair, built in a low tree or a bush. One that I
saw was in a tree about as high as an apple-tree.
The bird gets his food on the ground, and has a
curious habit of lifting his wings as he is about
to attack a beetle.
The mockingbird is a celebrated singer. Many-
persons think him the finest in America. He
is especially famous for repeating the notes of
other birds ; but he can imitate other sounds,
such as a policeman's rattle, a postman's whistle,
and almost anything else. Sometimes a caged
one makes mischief by this accomplishment. He
has no need to borrow, for he has a fine song of
his own.
Besides being famous in this way, he is a very
knowing bird, and a most interesting one to
study. The young mocker is a spirited fellow,
who can't endure to stay in the nest till his wings
are strong enough to bear him. He usually tries
to fly too soon, and so comes to the ground.
Coming to the ground is a great misfortune to
the bird, for he is easily caught and put in a
cage.
Being fine singers, mockingbirds are often
kept in cages. In the late summer, the bird
36 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
stores in New York have hundreds o£ them for
sale, birds so young that they still wear the
speckled bibs of baby-days. Many of them die,
and so every year they are growing more rare.
A lady wrote me the story of a young mock-
ingbird, whose mother saved it from a cage. The
little fellow was just out of the nest, and could
not fly far, and a young man thought he would
catch him and take him to his sister ; but the
mother bird wished to save him from such a
fate.
When the man went toward the youngster on
the ground, the mother flew down, seized him,
lifted him up, and flew away with him. She
carried him a little way and then let go. He
flew as far as he could, but soon came to the
ground again. Then the man started for him.
Again the anxious mother flew down and lifted
him into the air, and again he flew a little and fell
to the ground. So it went on for some time, till
the young man began to feel ashamed of himself.
Then he took up the cage and went away, leav-
ing the little one to his mother's care.
The mockingbird is one of our most knowing
birds, and when one is tamed and free in a house,
he is very amusing. He is as full of fun as a
catbird, and as funny to watch. A true story
was told in one of the papers, of a captive who
CATBIRD
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY 37
had some queer tricks. One was hunting in a
■workbox for a paper of needles, taking it down
to the floor, and working it open, then suddenly
giving it a jerk that sent the needles in a shower
all over the floor.
This bird was once shut up in a room alone,
while the family were at table. He did not like
it, for he wanted to be with them ; so he amused
himself unwinding all the spools of thread in the
workbox. He took one end of the thread and
carried it all about the room, around everything
and over everything — vases on the shelf, pic-
tures on the wall, chair-legs, sofas, and lamps.
Everything in the room was tied together, so
that no one could go in lest something should
be thrown down. The naughty bird was de-
lighted with his mischief. He sat there singing
at the top of his voice. The only way the
family could get into the room was to get scis-
sors and cut their way in. They found empty
spools all over the floor, and hundreds of yards
of thread used.
The Catbird is dressed in plain slate-color.
He is a near relative of the mockingbird, and
better known in the Eastern States. He is also
a fine singer, though he is not so famous. This
is partly because he sings usually from the mid-
38 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
die of a thick bush and so is not seen, and partly
because he does not sing so loud. There is a
great charm in the catbird's song.
The catbird is a charming fellow aside from
his music. He is as knowing as the mocking-
bird, and not much afraid of people. He will
come near to houses to nest, and if not fright-
ened or disturbed, he will be very familiar.
Like many other birds, the catbird is kind to
others in trouble. A pair had a nest near that
of a pair of robins. One day the robins disap-
peared — killed, no doubt — and the young in the
nest began to cry. When one of the catbirds
came with food for its own nestUngs, the robin
babies would cry to be fed too. Pretty soon the
catbirds began to feed them. And at night,
when bird babies need to be covered up by the
warm feather-bed of their mother's breast, one
of tbe friendly catbirds filled her place, and
kept them warm all night. So it went on till
both families were grown up and could fly.
One writer says : " All day long the catbird
watches over the fruit-trees, and kills the insects
that would destroy them or the fruit. Of course
he takes his share, especially of cherries, but for
every one he takes, he eats thousands of insects.
Where there are no small birds, there will be no
fruit." Thirty grasshoppers have been found in
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY 39
one small catbird's stomach by the Department
of Agriculture.
A story showing how much the catbird knows
and understands is of one in Iowa who had a
nest in some vines over a porch. A tornado tore
the vines so as to uncover the nest, and the lady
of the house feared some one would disturb it.
So she began to draw the vines together around it
to hide it. While she was doing this, one of the
old birds came and began to shriek, and cry, and
fly round her head, threatening to dash at her eyes.
The mate came too, and acted in the same way,
supposing, no doubt, that she was doing some
harm to their nest. She shielded her head and
finished the work, and went into the house.
The next morning she was sitting on the bal-
cony the other side of the house. All at once
a catbird flew down and perched on the railing
within six feet of her, which no catbird had ever
done before. She kept still, and he began jerk-
ing his body and uttering sweet little calls and
twitters, turning his head this side and that, with
eyes fixed on her. He acted exactly as if he were
talking to her, and after a while he broke out
with a song, low and very sweet. She sat still,
and after the song he began his twittering again,
then sang once more. She had never heard
anything so beautiful, and she was sure that he
40 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
was trying to express his thanks to her, and his
regrets at the way he had treated her the day
before. At least, that was the way it seemed to
her.
A catbird is as full of fun and pranks as a
mockingbird. He may sometimes be seen to do
what looks like playing jokes on others. A lady
told me she saw a catbird drive a crow nearly
wild by mocking his " caw." He cawed as well
as the crow himself, and the crow was furious,
dashing down at his small tormentor, and in
every way showing anger at what no doubt
seemed a great insult.
The Thrasher, or Brown Thrush, is also of
this family. He is reddish brown on the back,
and heavily spotted on the breast, and he has a
long tail which he jerks about a good deal.
He is known all over the Eastern and Southern
States, and his California brother is almost ex-
actly like him. He is a fine singer, and has been
called the French mockingbird. Sometimes it is
hard to tell his song from the mockingbird's.
The thrasher's nest is usually made in a bush,
the thickest and thorniest that can be found,
and the brave little parents will make a great
fight to keep their nestlings from harm. At
one time, when a boy went to carry ofE some
THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY 41
young thrashers, the old hirds called together
quite an army of birds to help defend them.
There were at least fifty birds of many kinds,
all flying around his head, screaming at him
and trying to pick at his eyes. The boy was
ashamed, and put back the little ones, glad to
get away with his eyes safe.
A Western bird, the Arizona thrasher, builds
a nest in the middle of' a cactus so full of sharp
thorns like fine needles that it is a wonder how
the birds can get into it. They pull off the
thorns to make a passage, but the nestlings do
sometimes get caught and die there. They must,
however, be safe from most enemies. One pair
that Mr. Palmer tells about built a regular hall-
way of sticks six or eight inches long.
All the birds of this family have great indi-
viduality ; that is, no two are alike. The better
you know birds, the more you will see that they
do not act, or sing, or even look exactly alike.
That is one reason why they are so interesting
to study.
vm
THE DIPPER FAMILY
(Cinclidm) *
There is only one member of this family in
the United States, and that one Uves in the
Rocky Mountains and the mountains of Califor-
nia. It is the Americajst Dipper, or Water
Ouzel.
The body of the ouzel is about as big as a
robin's, but looks much smaller, because his very
short tail gives him a " chunky " look. His
wings are short and rounded, and his plumage is
very soft and so thick that he can go under
water without getting wet. He is slate-color all
over, a little paler on the breast, and his mate is
exactly like him, but the young ouzel has all
the under feathers tipped with white, and usually
a white throat. Both old and young have shin-
ing white eyelids which show very plainly among
their dark feathers.
The dipper is a water lover. The nest is
' See Appendix, 6.
* ^,IfD m AM TlTPPF/R
THE DIPPER FAMILY 43
placed close to it, generally near a waterfall,
sometimes even behind a waterfall, where he has
to go through a curtain of falling water to reach
it. It is on a shelf of rock, and shaped like a
little hut, with a hole on one side for a door. It
is made of soft green moss, which is kept alive
and growing by constant sprinkling. Sometimes
the waterfall itself keeps it wet, but the birds
have been seen to sprinkle it themselves. They
do it by diving into the water, then going to the
top of the nest and shaking themselves vio-
lently.
This bird is a curious fellow. His food is the
small insects which live under water, and he is
as much at home there as other birds are in the
air. He can walk on the bottom with swift run-
ning water over his head, and he can really fly
under water, using his wings as he does in the
air. I have seen him do it.
The water ouzel cares nothing for the cold.
On cold mornings when all other birds sit
humped up with feathers puffed out over their
feet to keep warm, he is as jolly and lively as
ever. He flies about in the snow, dives under
the ice, and comes out at an airhole, and sings
as if it were summer weather.
Mr. John Muir, who knows so well the West-
ern mountains and the creatures who live there,
44 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
has told us most of what we know about this
bird. He says the ouzel sings all winter, and
never minds the weather ; also that he never
goes far from the stream. If he flies away, he
flies close over the brook, and follows all its
windings and never goes " across lots."
When the young ouzel is out of the nest and
wants to be fed, he stands on a rock and " dips,"
that is, bends his knees and drops, then stands
up straight again. He looks very droll.
Dr. Merriam tells a story which shows how
fond the dipper is of water, especially of a
sprinkle, and explains why he always chooses
to live by a waterfall. The doctor was camping
out on the bank of a stream where one of these
birds lived, and one morning he threw some
water out of a cup. Instantly the bird flew into
the little shower as if he liked it. To see if he
really wanted to get into the water, the doctor
threw out some more. Again the bird flew into
it, and as long as he would throw out water,
the ouzel would dash in for his sprinkle.
Besides showing that the water ouzel likes
water, this little story shows another thing, —
that birds are not naturally afraid of us. On
far-off islands where men have seldom been,
birds do not run away from people. They have
not learned to fear them. They will come up to
THE DIPPER FAMILY 45
men, perch on their shoulders, and ride with
them on their boats. I have read that in Nor-
way, where everybody is kind to birds, they are
not at all afraid. They will come into a barn or
a house when the weather is cold, or they are
hungry, and no man or boy thinks of frighten-
«ing or hurting them.
Mr. C. Lloyd Morgan has reared many birds
by hatching the eggs in an incubator, so that
they cannot be taught by their parents. He
says that the birds of the wildest parents
hatched in that way are never afraid of people
who move quietly, or of a cat, or a quiet dog.
Any sudden movement startles a young bird, but
they are as much afraid of a dead leaf blown
by the wind as they are of a hawk. It is the
suddenness that alarms them. Some of them
stop instantly on a sudden noise, like a sneeze or
a cough. If one foot happens to be raised to
step, they will hold it so, and if the head is one
side, it will stay so, exactly as if they were all
turned to stone.
IX
THE WAGTAIL FAMILY
{Motacillidm) ^
It does not seem very polite to call a family
of birds wagtails, just because they have the
habit of jerking their tails as they go about.
But that is the name they go by in the books,
and we have two of them in the United States.
We call them pipits or titlarks.
The best known is SPBAGtJE's Pipit, called
the Missouri skylark, or sometimes the prairie
skylark. This bird gets the name of skylark
because he sings while soaring about in the air
far over our heads. He could not sing on a
tree if he wanted to, for he lives on the plains
between the Mississippi River and the Rocky
Mountains, where are few or no trees.
The pipits live on the ground, and walk and
run, not hop. As they go, they bob their heads,
and jerk their tails. They are a little larger
^ See Appeadix, 7.
•i'
SPRAGUE'S PIPIT
THE WAGTAIL FAMILY 47
than an English sparrow, and they go in flocks.
They are never seen in the woods, but in open
pastures or plains, or beside a road.
Sprague's Pipit is all in streaks of brown and
gray, and lighter below. He has a large foot,
which shows that he lives on the ground, and
a very long claw on the hind toe.
The nest of the pipit is made by hollowing
out a little place in the ground and lining it with
fine grasses. Though on the ground, it is one
of the hardest to find, because it is lightly cov-
ered with the dry grasses, and when the bird
is sitting, she matches the grasses so well that
one can hardly see her, even when looking right
at her.
The birds eat insects and weed seeds, and go
about in flocks. Even then they are hard to
see, because when they are startled they do not
flutter or fly, but crouch or squat at once, and
stay perfectly still.
This bird is noted, as I said, for his song. It
is said to be as fine as that of the English sky-
lark of which we hear so much. Perhaps his
way of singing makes it still more interesting.
He starts up on wing, flies a little one way, then
the other, all the time going higher and higher.
So he climbs on up, up, up, in a zigzag way, till
he is fairly out of sight, all the time giving a
48 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
wonderfully sweet song. It is not very loud,
but of such a kind that it is heard when the bird
is far out of sight. When he can no longer be
seen, one may still follow him with a good field-
glass. He will sing without stopping for fifteen
or twenty minutes.
Then suddenly he stops, closes his wings, and
comes head first towards the ground. It seems
as if he would dash his brains out against the
earth, but just before he touches, he opens his
wings and alights like a feather, almost where
he started from. He should be as famous as the
English bird, and will be, no doubt, when he is
better known.
One of the things which make bird-study so
interesting to us is that there is so much to be
found out about our birds. European birds
have been studied much longer, but we have still
many beautiful ones whose manners and ways
of living are almost unknown. These things are
left for you young folk to find out when you are
grown up.
X
THE WARBLER FAMILY
(Mniotiltidce) ^
The gayest, the liveliest, and almost the small-
est of our birds are the warblers. Some of
them are not over five inches long from the tip
of the beak to the end of the tail. Almost all
wear bright colors, and the pair are never alike,
while the youngsters are different from both.
But few of them warble. Then why are they
named so ? Well, I have n't found out ; but we
must call them warblers because that iz their
name in the books. Most of them have funny
little songs of a few notes, which they jerk out
every minute as they scramble about on the trees.
We have seventy species of these little birds
in the United States, and every one is working
as hard as he can from morning till night, for our
benefit. For every one eats insects, and enor-
mous numbers of them. Some scramble over
trees and pick them out from bud and blossom
1 See Appendix, 8.
50 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
and under leaves, others go over the bark, and
others fly out like flycatchers.
Some of them work in the tops of tall trees,
others work in the orchards, some in bushes, and
some on the ground. But wherever they live,
they are beautiful to look at, and bewitching to
study.
Though they are little, they have plenty of
spirit. I know of one kept in a room with sev-
eral other birds, all bigger than himself. You
might think he would be treated as big boys
would treat a little one. But no, indeed ! the
tiny fellow made himself ruler of the whole
party. He took the biggest bathing-dish, the
best seed-cup, and the most* desirable perch, and
drove away any big bird who dared to claim
either.
The Yellow Warblbe, found all over the
country, is often called the wild canary, for, as
you see him fly, he appears to be entirely yellow,
but when you get nearer, you will see that on
his breast are fine stripes of reddish brown. His
mate is all in yellow-olive color.
They are very sweet little creatures, and make
one of the prettiest nests in America. It is
usually in an upright fork of a tree, or bush.
It is made of fine material, among the rest a
THE WARBLER FAMILY 51
good deal of a gray silky stuff which gives it a
beautiful look.
This bird is one of the few who will not bring
up a cowbird baby. When the tiny mother finds
a cowbird's egg in her nest, she builds another
story on top of the nest, leaving the egg to spoil.
Sometimes a cowbird finds the second nest, and
then the warbler adds a third story. Nests have
been found three stories high, with a dried-up
cowbird egg in each of the two lower stories.
A strange thing happened once to a pair of
yellow warblers. When the nest was done and
the eggs laid, a storm threw it out of place, and
tipped it over to one side, so that the little
mother did not dare trust it for a cradle. So she
built another nest in the same bush, and went to
sitting on that.
One day a bird-lover chanced to see the two
nests, one with the bird sitting, the other tipped
partly over and left with the eggs still in it.
To see what the birds would do, he put the
fallen nest back in place, and made it firm, and
then went away. The little pair looked at the
nest, and had a great deal of chatter over it.
It was their own nest and their own eggs, but
the mother could not sit in two places.
Finally, the singer took his place on the re-
stored nest. After that it was watched, and the
62 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
two birds sat on the two nests till all the young
were hatched, and then fed and reared them.
When they were ready to fly, the happy 'birds
had a big family to take care of.
Besides these tiny fellows that we call war-
blers, there are four bigger birds classed with the
family, who do not look or act like warblers.
They are the golden-crowned thrush or oven-
bird, the water-thrush, the Louisiana water-
thrush, and the yellow-breasted chat.
The Oven-bird gets his name from the nest,
which is shaped like an old-fashioned oven. It
is on the ground in the woods, often on the side
of a httle slope. It has a roof over it covered
with sticks and leaves like the ground around it,
so that it is hard to see.
If you were to see this bird walking about on
the ground, as he does, you would think him a
thrush. He is something the same color, and he
has a speckled breast like a thrush. His mate is
dressed in the same way, and they have a dull
yellowish stripe over the crown.
He is the fellow you hear in the woods, calling
" Teacher ! teacher ! teacher ! " He is found all
over the United States east of the Rocky Moun-
tains.
THE WARBLER FAMILY 53
The Yellow-breasted Chat is perhaps the
drollest bird in North America. He is a beauti-
ful bird, nearly as large as an oriole, olive green
above and brilliant yellow below, and his mate
is the same. He is found all over the country
south of the latitude of Massachusetts. In the
West and California, the chat is a little more
gray in color, and has a longer tail. He is called
the long-tailed chat, but a chat is the same
funny fellow, wherever he is found.
He reminds one of a clown, he plays so many
antics, and makes such queer sounds, hardly in
the least like a song. He will whistle, bark like
a puppy, mew like a cat, or laugh like an old
man, all in a loud, strange voice.
Besides this, the chat is a ventriloquist, that
is, can make his voice appear to come from some
place far ofB, when he is near, and so fool us.
The chat has a way of flying up into the air with
wings fluttering and legs dangling as if they
were not well fastened on, and looking as if he
would fall to pieces himself. He does not like
to be seen, either. He prefers to hide in a thick
bush, and make all sorts of strange noises to
deceive one.
The one thing a chat hates more than any-
thing else is to have his nest found. I have
known a chat to desert a nest with three lovely
54 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
eggs in it, just because it was looked at, though
neither nest nor eggs were touched.
I found that nest myself, and I wanted very
much to see how the birds live and bring up the
little ones, so I was careful not to disturb any-
thing. I hid myself a long way ofE, where I
could see the nest with a field-glass, and where
I thought the birds would not notice me. I sat
there perfectly still for hours, till the eggs had
time to get cold, and I saw another bird carry
them off. No doubt they saw me, however, for
they never came back to the nest.
XI
THE VIKBO FAMILY
(VireonidoB) ^
The vireos are a small family, fifty species,
found only in America. They are very quietly
dressed in greenish olive hues, with hardly a
bright color among them. They were once
called greenlets.
They all live in trees and catch insects, going
about over the twigs. They sing as they go,
like the warblers, combining work and play.
Some of them sing almost without stopping, and
it gets to be rather tiresome after a while. One
or two of them even sing on the nest, which
hardly another bird does.
The vireos make the prettiest nests. They
are swinging baskets, hung between the forks
of a twig, and usually near the end, where they
rock in every breeze. They are not often very
high. The birds are easily tamed by one who is
quiet, and careful not to frighten them.
1 See Appendix, 9.
66 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
Mr. Torrey found a vireo on her nest, and by
gentle ways got her to let him stroke her. Next
day he took some rose leaves with aphides on
them, and holding one of the insects on his finger,
he offered it to the bird on the nest. She took
it, and then another and another, till finally she
began to be very eager for them, and he could
hardly feed her fast enough. Then he took a
teaspoon full of water up to her, and she drank.
Another gentleman — Mr. Hoffmann — did
still more. He coaxed a Yellow-theoatbd
ViEEO till she took food out of his lips. Black
ants and cankerworms were the things he fed
her. She preferred the ants, and would scold
him a little at first when he offered the worms,
though she took them at last. This bird was so
tame she would let a man lift her off her nest
and put her on his shoulder while he looked at
the eggs. She would stay there till he put her
back.
The yellow-throat, besides making a pretty
hanging basket, covers the outside with lichens
of different colors, green, dark and light, yellow,
and almost black. It is said that these pretty
things are put on by the male while his mate is
sitting.
A pair was once watched at their building.
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO AND NEST
THE VIREO FAMILY 57
The female was lining and shaping the inside,
and her mate working silky-looking strips from
plants into the framework, and then covering
the whole with lichens. He was so happy, he
sang as he worked.
The one of this family most widely spread over
the country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is
the Warbling Virbo. His song is the most
agreeable of the vireo songs, being truly a war-
ble of six or eight notes, of which one does not
get tired. The dress of the Western warbling
vireo is a little paler, but the habits and man-
ners are about the same as those of his Eastern
brother.
Vireos were once common in the shade-trees
of our city streets, and are still in some places
where English sparrows have not taken every-
thing, and boys are not allowed to throw stones
or shoot. I know one city in Massachusetts
where trees are very lovely and musical with yel-
low-throats.
We can still have these and other birds in our
yards — we who do not live in the middle of a
big city — by protecting them from cats and bad
boys, and furnishing good places to nest. Mr.
Lloyd Morgan tells of a garden near his own
where there were fifty-three nests, besides swal-
58 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
lows'. The owner planted thick bushes, and
some cone-bearing trees. He put bird-boxes and
old flower-pots and other things suitable to build
in, in convenient places in the trees. The birds
appreciated all this and came and stayed with
him.
XII
THE SHRIKE FAMILY
(Laniidce) ^
A SHRIKE is a pretty gray bird with white and
black trimmings. He is nearly as large as a
robin, and has a bill shghtly hooked on the end.
This is to help catch living prey, for he eats mice
and other little mammals, besides grasshoppers,
crickets, and sometimes small birds.
This family have a curious habit of sticking
dead grasshoppers, or mice, or other food, on a
thorn, to keep till they are wanted. Because of
this habit they have been called butcher-birds.
The Loggerhead Shrike, who is perhaps the
most widely known, builds a bulky nest in a tree,
and is very attentive to his mate whUe she is
sitting. She looks exactly like him.
He is a very quiet bird, and three or four or
more of them may often be seen in a little party
together, flying and hopping about in a tree, or
' See Appendix, 10.
60 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
on the ground, in the most amiable way. This
shrike is a sweet singer, too. The song is not
loud, but very pleasing.
A great deal that is not true has been said
about this bird. Some people seem to think he
is in the habit of tormenting and killing' little
birds for fun, and he is called many hard names.
But he does not deserve them. His way of keep-
ing his food has been spoken of as if it were a
crime. He lives generally on crickets, grasshop-
pers, meadow mice, and small snakes, besides
cut-worms, cankerworms, and many others. He
is extremely useful to farmers and cultivators on
that account.
Sometimes, when other food is scarce, he eats
small birds, but they are by no means his usual
food. I have watched a family of shrikes sev-
eral times, and always looked very sharply to
see if they touched birds. I have seen them eat
many sorts of insects and grubs, and meadow
mice, but never saw one disturb a bird. Other
people who have watched them closely have
told that their experience was the same. And
writers about birds who study for themselveSj
and do not merely repeat what others have said,
generally agree that the bird kills his prey be-
fore he impales it. More than that, the number
of birds he kills is very small compared to the
t»lS!!!*6^
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE
THE SHRIKE FAMILY 61
hosts of troublesome insects and small animals
he eats.
The conclusion of the Agricultural Depart-
meijt as to the food of shrikes all over the coun-
try is that it consists mainly of grasshoppers, and
that the good they do is much greater than the
harm, and therefore they should be protected.
Mr. Keyser once saw a shrike catch a meadow
mouse, and carry it up into a tree. First he
killed it, and then tried to wedge it into a crotch
so that he could eat it. But finally he found
the sharp end of a broken snag, on which he
fastened it.
There is no doubt that the shrike impales his
prey so that he can pull it to pieces to eat, for
his feet are too small to hold it. I have seen a
shrike throw a dead meadow mouse over a fence
wire that had sagged to the ground, in order to
get bits oflE to eat.
A lady in New Hampshire who had a captive
shrike tells in " Bird-Lore " that he was unable
to eat a piece of meat until he could find a place to
fasten it. He hopped around the room, looking
for something, till she guessed what he wanted.
Then she brought a kitchen fork with two tines.
The moment he saw it he ran to her, hopped up
on her hand, jerked his meat over the tines, and
at once began to eat.
62 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
An interesting little action of one of these
birds was seen by a gentleman traveling in
Florida last winter. Wishing to have one of
the birds to add to a collection, he shot one (I 'm
sorry to say). The bird was not killed, but
wounded so that he could not fly. As the man
came near to pick it up, the poor fellow gave a
cry of distress, and fluttered away on his broken
wing with great difficulty.
His call for help was heard. Another shrike
at once flew down from a tree, and went to his
aid. He flew close around him and under him,
in some way holding him up as he was about to
fall. He helped him so well that the two began
to rise in the air, and before the eyes of the
surprised hunter, at last got safely into the top
of a tall tree, where he left them.
If you ever happen to find a shrike nesting, I
hope you will watch the birds for yourself, and
see how they act, and not take the word of any
one about them. Then you will really know
them. The picture shows a shrike as I have
often seen one, sitting on the top twig of the
tree that holds his nest, watching to see that no
harm comes to it.
XIII
THE WAXWING FAMILY
{Am/pelidce) ^
The waxwings are a family of beautiful birds,
with elegant pointed crests, and wonderfully
silky plumage. Excepting one species they are in
soft grayish or reddish brown colors, with yellow
tips to their tails and black lines on the head
that look like spectacles, and give them a wise
appearance.
Best known is the Cedar Waxwing, or Cedar-
bird. He is a citizen at large, you may say, for
he is known from sea to sea, and from Canada
i:o Mexico. He nests all over the northern parts,
and winters in the southern parts.
This bird gets his name of cedar-bird from
the fact that he is fond of cedar berries. He is
often called cherry-bird also, because he likes
cherries. His name waxwing comes from the
little tips like red sealing-wax which are on some
1 See Appendix, 11.
64 THE SECOND BOOK OP BIRDS
of his wing feathers. In Maine he is called the
bonnet-bird because of his crest, and in some
places he is called silk-tail from his silky plum-
age. You see he has plenty of names.
Among the strange things about him is that
he has almost no voice. The loudest sound he
is known to make is a sort of whistle, so low it
is like a whisper.
The cedar-bird builds a very neat nest in a
tree, and feeds his mate while she is sitting, as
well as helps her feed the little folk. The young
cedar-bird is a winsome youngster, gentle in his
ways, and pretty in his soft gray suit and spotted
breast.
One day last summer, a man walking down a
quiet road was surprised by a young bird alight-
ing on his shoulder. He walked on home with
it, and when he took it off found it was a baby
cedar-bird. No doubt he had tried to fly too
far and got tired.
The family kept the bird a day or two, and
then brought him to me. He was not afraid of
anybody, and was perfectly happy so long as
some one would keep him warm between two
hands.
It was hard to get him to eat, and there were
plenty of his grown-up relatives about, probably
his own family among them. So I thought it
THE WAXWING FAMILY 65
would be safe to put him. out. I took him to
the woods where I had seen a little family of
young cedar-birds, and placed him on a low
tree. He brightened up at once, and began to
call, and flew to another tree. Fearing that my
being there might prevent his mother coming
to him, I left him. When I went out again I
could not find him, so I hope he was safe with
his friends.
I was more certain of it, because I know that
these birds are kind to all birds in distress. A
lady was once watching a nest of robins when
the parents disappeared, no doubt killed. She
was much troubled to know how she should get
at the high nest to feed the young ones who
were calling for their dinner, when she saw a
cedar-bird go to them and feed them.
After that she kept close watch, and saw the
cedar-bird feed them every day, and take care of
the nestlings till they could fly. He no doubt
taught them to take care of themselves, but this
she could not see, for they flew away.
The ordinary food of this bird is insects that
are found on trees, especially among fruit. But
they have taken to fly-catching also. A party of
them may often be seen busily at work catching
flies. This is a very good thing for them as
well as for us. The birds or beasts who can eat
66 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
only one sort of food are called " single-food "
animals, and they are growing scarcer every day.
They need a change of diet to flourish. We
should be sorry to have cedar-birds become
scarce.
Cedar-birds are fond of cherries, — as I said,
— but they eat hundreds of cankerworms to one
cherry. So they earn aU they have. Besides, if
they can get wild cherries, they prefer them.
They have been proved to be among our most
useful birds. In one hundred and fifty-two
stomachs that were examined, only nine had cul-
tivated cherries.
Cedar-birds eat caterpillars and grubs, and are
very fond of the elm-leaf beetle. They have
been known to clear the elm-trees of a whole
town, where the trees had been stripped for sev-
eral years before they came. Besides insects,
they eat the berries of many wild bushes and
trees, such as wild cherry, dogwood, June-berry,
elder, and others. They always prefer wild to
cultivated berries.
One spring I saw a little flock of cedar-birds
in an orchard full of blossoming apple-trees.
They spent nearly all their time going over
the trees, and working among the blossoms.
One who was careless about it might have
thought they were destroying apple buds, for they
THE WAXWING FAMILY 67
did eat many of the white petals of the flowers.
But I wanted to be sure, so I watched carefully
with my glass. Then I stayed by that orchard
till October, and I never saw trees so loaded with
apples as they were. Many branches lay on thd
ground with their weight of fruit, and in the
whole orchard there was but one insect nest.
That showed not only that the cedar-birds had
done no harm, but that probably they had de-
stroyed thousands of insects that would have
done harm.
A bird classed with the waxwings is a Califor-
nia bird, the Phainopepla, or Shining Crested
Flycatcher. He is glossy bluish black in
color, with large white spots in the wings, which
show only when flying. His mate is brownish
gray. They are rather slim birds, nearly as big
as a catbird.
The phainopepla is a beautiful fellow, with an
elegant pointed crest, and plumage shining like
satin. He sits up very straight on his perch, but
he is a rather shy bird, and so not much is known
about his ways. He is a real mountain lover, liv-
ing on mountains, or in cafions, or the borders of
small streams of California, Arizona, and Texas.
As you see by one of his names, he is a fly-
catcher. Sometimes thirty or forty of them may
68 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
be seen in a flock, all engaged in catching flies.
But like the cedar-bird, he is also fond of berries.
When berries are ripe on the pepper-trees, he
comes nearer to houses to feast on the beautiful
red clusters.
The song of this bird is said to be fine, and
like many other birds, he sometimes utters a
sweet whisper song.
The nest is placed on a branch, not very high
up in a tree, and is often, perhaps always, made
of flower stems with the flowers on, with fine
strips of bark, grasses, and plant down.
What is curious, and rare among birds, the male
phainopepla insists on making the nest himself.
He generally allows his mate to come and look
on, and greets her with joyous song, but he will
not let her touch it till all is done. Sometimes
he even drives her away. When all is ready for
sitting, he lets her take her share of the work,
but even then he appears to sit as much as she.
Miss Merriam found a party of these birds on
some pepper-trees, and to her we owe most of
what we know of their habits.
XIV
THE SWALLOW FAMILY
(Hirundinidce) ^
It is very easy to know this family. They are
small birds with long pointed wings, always sail-
ing around in the air as if they could never tire.
Their beaks are short, but very wide at the head,
and the mouth opens as far back as the eyes.
They have small and weak feet, so when they
alight, it is usually on a small twig or telegraph
wire, or on the flat top of a fence or roof.
Swallows wear no gay colors. Nearly all of
them look black and white as they sail about in
the air. But when you see them closely, you see
they are glossy dark blue or green, sometimes
with changeable colors, but all dark, on the
back.
The Barn Swallow has a dull reddish breast,
and his back is rich blue, almost black. He has
a deeply forked tail, and a row of white spots on
1 See Appendix, 12.
70 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
the shorter tail feathers. When he spreads his
tail, it is very beautiful.
He is called barn swallow because he prefers
a barn for a nesting-place. Up on the beams,
close under the roof, the pair build their mud
cradle. It is interesting to see them at work.
When they have chosen a place, they go to some
puddle in the road. They stand around it on
their tiny feet, holding their wings straight up
like a butterfly's. Then they take up some of
the wet earth in their beaks, and work it around
till it is made into a little pill. With this pill
they fly to the place they have selected, and
stick it on to the beam. Then they go back for
more. So they go on, till they have built up
the walls of the nest, an inch thick, and three
or four inches high. Sometimes they put layers
of fine grass in, but often they use nothing but
mud. Then they line it with feathers which
they pick up in the chicken yard.
Some swallows build a platform beside the
nest, where one of the pair can rest at night ;-
and when the little ones get big enough to fill
up the nest, both parents can sleep there.
When the swallows are flying about low over
the grass, looking as if they were at play, they
are really catching tiny insects as they go. And
when they have nestlings to feed, they collect a
THE SWALLOW FAMILY 71
mouthful which they make up into a sort of
little ball. Then they fly to the nest and feed
it to one of the little ones.
Thus they keep the air clear and free from
insects, and they do not a bit of harm, for they
never touch our fruit or vegetables.
Barn swallows are social, and always go in
flocks. They sing, too, — a sweet little song, but
not very loud. It is charming to hear them in
a barn when five or six of them sing together.
But one may often hear the little song from a
single bird flying over.
They are friendly among themselves, and they
like to alight on a roof and chatter away a long
time. In one place where I was staying, they
liked to gather on a piazza roof right under my
window. They often woke me in the morning
with their sweet little voices.
One morning the sound was so near, it seemed
as if they must be in the room, and I opened
my eyes to see. There on the sill close to the
screen was one of the pretty fellows. He was
looking in at the open window, and evidently
keeping watch of me. When I moved a little,
he gave the alarm, and the whole party flew
away.
The chatter of barn swallows always seems to
me like talk, and men who study bird ways agree
72 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
that birds have some sort of language. The
swallows have many different notes. One is a
general warning of danger, but there is another
note for a man, another for a cat, and a still
different one when they find something good to
eat, which they call the others to share.
" The variety of bird speech," says a man who
has studied birds a long time, " is very great."
And of all bird voices, swallows' are the most
like human speech. If you lie on the hay in the
barn very quiet, and listen to them when they
come in and fly about, you will see that this is
true. It seems sometimes as if you could almost
make out words.
Swallows more than any other birds like to
make use of our buildings for their own homes.
Barn swallows take the beams inside the barns,
Eavb Swallows settle under the eaves outside,
and Purple Mabtins, the largest of the family,
choose bird-houses which we put up for them.
It is said that purple martins will not stay
anywhere that men have not made houses for
them. But I have seen them living in a place
not put up for them, though perhaps they
thought it was. It was under a terra-cotta cover-
ing to a cornice on a business block in the mid-
dle of a busy city. The terra-cotta was shaped
THE SWALLOW FAMILY 73
like a large pipe cut in half, the long way. This
half cylinder was laid on top of the brick cor-
nice, and that made a little roof, you see. The
whole length of that cornice was thus made into
one long room, with a brick floor and terra-cotta
roof, and an entrance at the end. That room
must have had a dozen martin nests, for a flock
was all the time sailing about in the air, above
the roofs of the houses.
As these birds eat only flying insects, they
cannot stay with us when it is too cool for in-
sects to fly abroad. So they leave us very early.
When the little ones are out of the nest and can
fly well, swallows from all the country around
collect in great flocks, and go to some swamp,
or lonely place where people do not go much.
There the young ones are taught and exercised
every day in flying. And some day we shall go
out and find them all gone, not a swallow to be
seen. They have started for their winter home,
which is far south, in tropical countries, where
insects never fail ; but it is a comfort to think
that next summer we shall 'have them back with
us again.
The swallows I have mentioned, barn swallow,
eave swallow, and purple martin, are found all
over our country.
Let me tell you a story that shows the purple
74 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
martin has a good deal of sense. One of these
birds built in a box under a window, fixed so
that the owner could open it and take out eggs.
He took out several, one at a time, and at last he
took out one of the birds.
The mate of the stolen bird went o£E and in
a few days came back with another mate. The
box was too good to give up, so both the birds
went to work to make it safe against the nest
robber. They built up a wall of mud before the
too handy back door. The egg thief could not
get in without breaking down the wall, and he
was ashamed to do that. So the birds kept their
pleasant home, and reared their family there.
XV
THE TANAGER FAMILY
{Tanagridce) ^
This is a large family of between three and
four hundred species, all dressed in gay colors.
But we have only three of them in our country.
Their home is in the warmer parts of the world.
We have the scarlet tanager in the East, the
Louisiana tanager in the West, and the summer
tanager in the South. Tanagers are a little
larger than sparrows, and live in the trees.
They feed on insects and fruit ; sometimes, it is
said, on flowers.
The Scarlet Tanagbk is the brilliant red
bird with black wings and tail, common all over
the Eastern and Middle States. His mate is
dressed in modest oUve green, and the nestlings
are like her the first year.
The tanager himself wears his gay dress only
during the nesting season, that is, spring and
* See Appendix, 13.
76 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
summer. Towards fall he turQs from scarlet
to green like his mate, and he is a droll-look-
ing object while he does it. He seems to break
out into green patches or streaks. One that I
watched began by showing a httle green feather
among the red on each side of his breast. I
have seen one with a green ring around the
neck, and all the rest of the plumage scarlet ;
and another with a green stripe down the back.
Some show no regularity about it, but are cov-
ered with green patches all over, and look like
bunches of colored rags.
It is no wonder that a bird hides in the woods,
as many do, when changing his coat, if he looks
such an object. In spring he gets back his bril-
liant coat, and comes to our Northern woods
again, to nest.
The nest of this bird is not very high in a
tree. It is a rather shabby affair, that looks as
if it would fall to pieces, and the birds are madly
shy about being looked at.
I once saw in the woods a tanager building
her nest. I hoped to watch her through nest-
ing, and see how she brought up her little folk.
Both of the pair were there, but were too shy to
come to the nest while my friend and I were
there. We kept very still, and even hid in some
bushes, hoping she would not see us. We were
I ;<
SCARI.KT TANACKR
THE TANAGER FAMILY 77
SO quiet that she was gradually getting over her
fright, and coming nearer the nest, when sud-
denly the hig dog we had with us gave a loud
sneeze. In an instant both birds were off, as
if shot out of a gun. And I think they never
came back, for the nest was not finished.
The song of the tanager is much like the robin
song, but having once learned it, a sharp ear
can easily tell them apart, for it is of a differ-
ent tone. It is rather hoarse, not so smooth as
a robin's voice. The common call is a hoarse
and very distinct " chip, chur," given by both of
the pair.
Several years ago I saw a scarlet tanager in a
bird store. It was winter, and I brought him
home to keep till it was safe to set him free in
the spring. He was very timid, and did not like
to have any one look at him, especially when he
went to eat.
If I happened to look at him when he was at
his food-dish, he would instantly fly to his top
perch, and look as if he would never eat again.
So I partitioned off one corner of his cage for
a private dining-room, by a strip of stiff paper
woven between the wires. After that it was very
droll to see him retire behind the screen and eat,
now and then sticking up his head to glance over
the top, and see if I were looking.
78 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
I found it hard to please him with food. He
liked living insects, but he wanted to catch them
for himself. So I got some sticky fly-paper, and
hung it up outside the kitchen door. When I
had caught half a dozen flies, I took it up to him.
He was not in a cage, and the minute he saw the
flies he flew across the room and hovered before
me hke a big hummingbird, whfle he daintily
picked off every fly. He forgot that he did n't
hke to have me see him eat. After that I was
fly-catcher every day tiU he learned to hke mock-
ingbird food.
In the spring he began to sing — a sweet, low
song, different from the common tanager song.
Then I took him out to the country, away from
the English sparrows, and set him free.
The Summer Tanager nests in the Southern
States from New Jersey to Florida. He is all
red, but otherwise looks like the scarlet tanager,
and his habits are about the same.
The Louisiana Takager nests in the Western
States from the Plains to the Pacific. He is
brighter, with a variety of colors. He is mostly
bright yeUow, with brilliant red head, and black
wings and tail, and his mate — hke other female
tanagers — is in oHve green. He is a shy bird,
THE TANAGER FAMILY 79
and lives in the woods, and his habits have been
very little studied.
I once saw a pair of these birds in Utah, get-
ting their breakfast. At least, the gay singer
himself was at that business, though his sharp-
eyed mate was too busy watching me to see that
I did not mean any harm, to care for food.
They were on a long fence, catching flies. One
would fly out a Httle way, his bill snapping as he
seized the fly, and then return to the fence a lit-
tle farther ofE. Every time he came back he
alighted farther away, though he did not seem
even to see me. His mate kept between him and
me, and never took her eyes from me. I feared
she would go hungry, so I came away and left
them.
XVI
THE SPAEKOW AND FINCH FAMILY
(Fringillidm) '
This is the largest bird family, more than five
hundred species, and they are found nearly all
over the world. It is divided into sparrows,
finches, grosbeaks, and crossbills. All of them
are smaller than a robin, and have short, high
beaks, with the back corners turned down. The
beaks show that they are seed eaters, though all
of them eat insects too.
An interesting thing about birds who eat
seeds is the grinding machine they have inside
to break up the hard seeds. For of course, hav-
ing no teeth, they are obhged to swallow them
nearly whole. What I have called a machine is
the gizzard, and you have seen it on the table
from a chicken. It is well fitted to grind up the
food, and birds often swaUow small stones to
help in the work.
The first group of this family, the sparrows,
1 See Appendix, 14.
THE SPARROW AND FINCH FAMILY Si
are all small, about the size of an English spar-
row. They are dressed in dull, brownish colors,
more or less streaked, and they live and get their
food very largely on or near the ground. Their
colors keep them from being easily seen on the-
ground.
All of this group sing, and some of them are
noted songsters, as the song sparrow, the white-
throated sparrow, and the fox sparrow. The
best known is the little song sparrow, who is
found almost everywhere, and is dear to nearly
every one.
The Song Sparrow is streaked all over in
shades of brown. The breast is white, with
the dark brown streaks coming together in an
irregular-shaped spot, or sometimes two spots, in
front.
The nest of the song sparrow is on the ground
or very near it. Sometimes it is in a tuft of
grass, sometimes in a low bush a few inches up.
One I found at the roots of a little clump of
golden-rod, before it bloomed, of course. It
was a slight affair, right among the stems, so
that it could not be taken up without tearing
the plant.
This bird is one of the first to come in the
spring, and his song and the robin's are the first
82 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
we hear. He also stays very late in the fall, and
about New York some of them stay aU winter.
Their food being the seeds of weeds, which are
always to be found, they do not need to migrate.
The song sparrow has a sweet and cheery
voice, and a variety of songs, and he sings a
great deal. I have heard one bird sing six dif-
ferent songs, standing on a fence in plain sight
all the time. Some of the songs are charming,
and aU are pleasant to hear. One never tires of
song-sparrow music.
The second branch of this family — the
Finches — have some brighter colored members,
the goldfinch in briUiant lemon-yellow, and the
purple finch in crimson and white.
The Goldfinch, called also the thistle-bird,
lettuce-bird, and wild canary, is a charming fel-
low, dressed, as I said, in lemon color, with black
wings and tail and cap. His mate is in olive
brown. He is the most delightful of singers,
with a sweet voice, and is a common bird all over
the country. He flies in great waves, uttering
a cheery little warble as he goes over each airy
wave.
The nest is one of the prettiest we have, in
an upright crotch, and furnished with a bed of
thistledown an inch thick for the baby gold-
THE SPARROW AND. FINCH FAMILY 83
finches to rest upon. It is made late in the
season, in July and sometimes in August.
One o£ the most lovely bird-studies I ever had
was of a pair of these birds nesting in a low plum-
tree. While his mate was sitting, the gay little
fellow hung around, doing nothing but watch-
ing the tree that held his family. Every little
while the sitting bird would begin to call her
sweet-voiced " s-w-e-e-t," which sounds so much
like a canary's call. On hearing this he would
answer her, and at once fly over to see if she
was all right, or wanted anything. When he
thought it time to eat, he would come and call
her off. Both would then go to a patch of
weeds, where they cracked and ate the seeds till
they had had enough, and then go back to the
nursery.
These little birds eat mostly the seeds of
weeds, — thistle, ragweed, and beggar' s-ticks, —
as well as the larvae of the wheat-midge and
other pests, and they feed great quantities to
their young.
Goldfinches do not leave us in winter. The
male puts off his bright coat and comes out in
dull colors like his mate, except that he keeps
his black wings and tail. All of a neighborhood
collect in small flocks and stay about all winter,
looking more like sparrows than goldfinches.
84 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
The Western goldfinch which corresponds to
this bird is called in California the Willow
Goldfinch, but in looks and in habits of life
he seems to be the same as the Eastern bird.
He is a confiding little creature, and by a person
of quiet ways may be made very tame.
Among the finches will be found the Chewink,
or TowHEB Bunting, a bird nearly of the size of
a catbird, who is sometimes called ground robin.
He is black and white, with reddish sides and red
eyes, and his mate is brown where he is black.
He is usually found on the ground, where he gets
his food, and where the nest is placed.
There are several species in California, and
the Western variety of the common chewink
of the East is called the spurred towhee, with
habits the same, so far as known.
The chewink has at the best an exquisite song,
though there is a great difference in singers, as
there is in all bird families. The finest song is
like a peal of silver-toned bells.
A bird-lover whom I know found one day a
nestling chewink who could not fly much, and
seemed to be deserted, or lost, in a barren place
on Long Island. Fearing that some cat would
get him, he brought the bird home and put
him in a cage. The little fellow was not at all
THE SPARROW AND FINCH FAMILY 85
frightened at his new surroundings, and became
very tame.
The cage o£ the young bird was near that of
an ortolan, a European bird noted as a singer,
and a common cage-bird. The baby chewink
seemed to take a great liking to the stranger,
and tried to do everything he did. Perhaps he
felt the need of some education, since he had
been deprived of his parents. At any rate, he
evidently adopted the ortolan as his model.
When the little one began to sing, he did not
sing chewink but ortolan, and he did it so well
that one could hardly tell which bird was sing-
ing. The gentleman wanted to see if the little
fellow would recognize the song of his own
family. So he bought a full-grown chewink who
was singing, and put him close to his young
relative. The new bird was full of music, and
^ng a great deal. But the youngster paid no
attention to him, and kept up his ortolan notes.
This story shows that a bird does not always,
if ever, know his native song by instinct, but has
to learn it. It is supposed by those who have
studied bird ways that he learns it from the old
bird before he leaves the nest.
XVII
THE GROSBEAK BEANCH
(Fringillidce) — Continued
The third division of this family is of gros-
beaks. These are the largest of the group, and
nearly the size of a robin, with very big beaks.
They live in trees and wear some bright colors.
They are also fine singers.
In the Eastern States, and west to Missouri, is
found the Rose-bkeastbd Grosbeak. He is a
beautiful bird, black and white, with a gorgeous
rose-colored patch on his white breast, and the
same color on the inside of his wings. You can
see him in the picture. His mate is modest in
stripes of brown and huffy white.
A lady whom I know in New England has had
three of these birds hving tame in her house,
hardly at all confined to a cage. Each one was
picked up when just out of the nest and so injured
that it could not care for itself. It was carefully
fed and reared in the house, and thus saved from
death.
kOSE-KR K ASTEL) (^ROSH tAK
THE GROSBEAK BRANCH 87
One o£ the three was a female, who was as
tame as a domestic cat, and Hved in the house
four or five years. She was a fine singer,
though never a loud one. She kept the family
cats in their place by pecking at their toes when
they came near, so they had respect for her.
Another was a young singer who had his bill
crossed, so that he could not feed himself. He
was nearly dead for want of food when he was
found. She fed him carefully and brought him
up, though she had always to feed him herself.
That is a good deal to do, for birds want to be
fed very often.
These birds who lived in a house, and were
not taught by their parents, never gave the com-
mon song of the species, but made up songs of
their own. They lived several years with their
friend, who was very fond of them.
The rose-breasted grosbeak is one who puts
on his gay colors only for the nesting season.
When that is over, and he moults, and gets his
new winter suit, it is mostly streaked brown like
his mate's. The rosy patch is very small, and
mixed with brown, so the effect is dull. In the
spring he moults the body feathers, and comes
out again with his brilliant rose colors.
The bird who takes the place of the rose-
88 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
breast in the West is the Black-headed Gros-
beak. He is reddish brown and black, with the
same color and lemon yellow on the under parts,
and yellow under the wings, instead of rose Uke
the Eastern bird. He is a loud, enthusiastic
singer. Miss Merriam says of him that his song
to his mate is finer than that of any other bird
she has heard.
The Cabdinal Grosbeak, cardinal redbird,
Virginia nightingale, or redbird, as he is called
in different places, is of the third group of this
family. He is found all over the Southern States,
and as far north as Southern New England and
New York. He is a brilliant red to the tip of
his beak, with a beautiful crest and black throat
and face. His mate is in soft dove colors, with
red beak, and reddish tints on her quiet robe.
Both of the pair are singers. He is much the
louder, but she has the sweeter song. He is
famous as a singer, and is therefore trapped and
caught in great numbers for cages. In Europe,
where he is a favorite cage-bird, he is thought
by many to be equal to the famous nightingale
as a singer.
In Ohio, a few years ago, a law was made that
no cardinal should be caged, and those in cages
should be set free. In one small village were
THE GROSBEAK BRANCH 89
more than forty freed. This shows how many
are caged.
While nesting, the cardinal is rather savage,
ready to fight any one who disturbs the nest.
If a snake comes about, all the birds within
hearing, from cardinals to kinglets, will come to
help defend the nest and punish the enemy.
They fly at him with loud cries, and even attack
him if he does not leave.
The nest of these birds is not very high, in a
tree or bush, and they are very shy about it. A
cardinal will desert her nest if it is touched,
especially if eggs are not yet laid. But they
have reason to be afraid ; they cannot be blamed
for that.
I saw a nest built on a trellis beside a kitchen
door, and the birds were so used to the people
that they were not afraid. One who lived in
that house was a boy fourteen years old. But
he was so gentle with birds that they did not
fear him at all. They would feed the nestlings
freely, while he stood not three feet from them.
So they can be made tame, if people will be
gentle and not disturb them.
The cardinal grosbeak stays as far north as
New Jersey and Ohio all winter, and a little
flock have lived in Central Park, New York, for
several years. That is most delightful for those
90 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
who live near, for they sing all winter, when few
bird-notes are to be heard. They can stay be-
cause they are seed eaters, and they find many
weed seeds, and wild berries like cedar berries,
that stay on all winter.
A lady once had a cardinal in a cage with a
pair of the tiny green parrots called love-birds.
These little birds, you know, are always putting
the bills together and caressing each other, as if
kissing. The cardinal seemed to think this very
silly ; at any rate, he did not like it. After look-
ing on awhile, he would lose patience and dash
right down between them. Of course this drove
them apart. Then he seemed to feel better, and
went back to his perch. But when they began
it again, down he would come between them
again. He did not disturb them at any other
time, but that sort of thing he plainly could n't
endure.
CARDINAL
XVIII
THE CROSSBILL BRANCH
{Fringillidce) — Continued
The fourth branch of this family is of cross-
bills. Of these we have two. They are smaller
than grosbeaks, and, as their name shows, have
the two points of the bill crossed. It looks as
if they could not feed themselves. But a beak
like this is just fitted to pick seeds out of cones.
And crossbills live mostly on cone-seeds.
These queer beaks are used for another thing,
too. They help the birds climb around on the
trees. They are almost as good as a hand. You
have seen a parrot use his beak in the same way.
The American, or Red, Crossbill is the
more common of our two. He travels about all
over the Northern States and California. But
he 's very particular about a place to nest, and is
suited only in the northern parts, or in the
mountains.
The red crossbill seems to be a whimsical fel-
92 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIKDS
low ; one never knows where to find him. One
year he will come with all his friends to a place,
and the next year there will not be one there.
The male is dull red, more or less streaked all
over with brown. His mate is olive green, mot-
tled and mixed with blackish.
Crossbills go in flocks. They are usually seen
among the evergreens, where they find their
food. They are much attached to one another.
I had a chance one summer to get well ac-
quainted with a flock of American crossbills. I
found them very odd in their manners. They
had the queerest songs and calls of any bird I
know. These were not musical, but sounded like
such things as the squeaking of a wagon wheel
or the sawing of wood.
The birds were very fond of calling and sing-
ing, and they kept up a constant chattering,
as they flew from spruce to spruce. They spent
most of their time on these trees, eating the
seeds of the cones.
The white-winged crossbill lives about as the
red one does. But he has a really fine song. It
is full of trills, something like a canary's song.
One of the odd things about these birds is
their habit of nesting in winter. A Maine
hunter was once shooting moose in the middle
of January, when he came upon the nest of a
THE CROSSBILL BRANCH 93
crossbill, with the bird sitting. The weather
was cold, of course, and there was deep snow on
the ground. The nest was in the woods, and
made of twigs, with long gray moss outside. It
looked so like a bunch of moss that it was hard
to see. Other nests have been found in winter
also.
Mr. Nehrling says that if one of these birds
is caught, the rest of the flock will not leave him.
They stay around him, crying and showing their
distress in every way, and if one is put alone
into a cage, he will die.
XIX
THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY
(IcteridcB) ^
Thbeb are more than one hundred species of
the Blackbird Family in America. So we will
divide them into four^ branches : Marsh Black-
birds, Meadow Starlings, Orioles, and Crow
Blackbirds.
Blackbirds are walkers. They dress mostly in ■
black, and they are of medium size. Some of
them will generally be found on the ground in
a marsh or a meadow. They are social birds,
that is, they go in flocks. Fond as they are of
society, however, there is one time when they
are willing to be a httle apart from the black-
bird world. That is when they are nesting and
rearing a young family. Two interesting birds
of this family are the red-winged blackbird and
the cow-blackbird or cowbird.
The EBD-wuiTGED Blackbird is found all
' See Appendix, 15.
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY 95
over the country. He is not so large as a robin,
and is black all over, excepting one place on the
wings. On these are bright stripes of red and
orange, which seem to be on the shoulders when
the wings are closed. They make the bird very
gay, when he spreads them out in flying.
The red-wing's mate is a modest-looking bird
in stripes of brown and black. She is a plodding
sort of a creature, too. She walks about on the
ground, looking for grubs or insects so busily
that she hardly seems to see anything else.
The nest is usually in a marsh. At any rate,
it must be near the water, for red-wings are as
fond of the water as any old sailor. It is hung
between reeds, or in the branches of a low bush.
It is a comfortable, bag-like affair, deep enough
and big enough to hold the restless blackbird
babies.
While the mother red-wing is sitting, her mate
stays near her and sings a great deal. His song
is a loud, sweet " hwa-ker-ee," which may be
heard a long way off. When nestlings are out,
he is one of the most busy and fussy of birds.
He helps in the feeding, and seems to be a good
and careful father. But when the young ones
are grown up and able to feed themselves, a curi-
ous thing happens. AU the gay red-wings in a
neighborhood come together in a flock again.
96 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
And all the young ones and the mothers stay in
another flock.
The red-wing is a very nervous and uneasy
fellow. While his mate is sitting he is always
on guard to see that no harm comes to her.
In the picture you can see he looks much con-
cerned, as if he had discovered something.
Then he makes a great row if any one comes
near. He will give such cries of distress that
one would think he was hurt, or that his nestlings
were being stolen away. If the enemy is a crow,
come to feed quietly on the meadow, he will fly
at him, try to peck his head, and annoy him till
he goes away. If it is a person who alarms him,
he will circle about over his head with loud cries,
and now and then swoop down as if he meant to
attack him. In fact, he shows so much distress
that it is not very pleasant to stay near him.
The young red-wing is just as uneasy and
fussy as his papa. As soon as he is able to get
out of the nest, he scrambles about in the bushes.
He never stays two minutes in one place, and
every time his mother comes with food she has
to hunt him up before she can give it to him.
The red-wing is fond of green corn, and is
often shot by farmers, but he is also a famous
insect eater, and earns all the corn he gets. He
eats numbers of cut-worms, and other insects,
THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY 97
and in some of the prairie States he does great
good by eating locusts and their eggs. Besides
these, he likes variety, and is fond of the seeds
of weeds. Ragweed and smartweed seeds are
dainties to him as some nuts are to you, and he
eats a great many. So unless a large flock comes
to one place to disturb the crops, you may be
sure they do more good than harm. So says the
Department I told you about.
The young red-winged blackbird is a droll
fellow, and has decided notions of his own. Mr.
Keyser tells a story of one he picked up. He
was put in with some other young birds, —
meadowlarks and catbirds. They were all babies
together, and all used to being fed. So when
the little red-wing got something to eat, they
would open their mouths and beg for it, in the
pretty bird-baby way. At first he fed them,
though he was n't much more than a baby him-
self ; but they liked it so well that they coaxed
everything away from him. He soon got tired
of that, and at last refused to feed them at all.
This Httle bird liked to play jokes on the
sober young meadowlarks. His way was to
seize one by the wing or tail and dance around
the floor, dragging his victim after him. The
young larks scolded and held back, and at last
they learned to stop his pranks. They did it by
98 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
throwing themselves over on their backs, and
holding up their claws ready to fight.
In spite of this naughty fun, the young
blackbird was really fond of them. The larks
slept on the ground, and at night, when the little
fellows settled down on the floor, the red-wing
would often leave his perch and cuddle down by
them. This must have been for company only,
for it was his way to sleep on a perch.
The Cow-Blackbird, or Cowbied, is another
one of this branch of the Blackbird Family who
is found all over the United States. He is shin-
ing blue-black all over, except his head, which is
brown. His mate is entirely brown. He is not
quite so large as a red-wing, and he too is a
walker.
This bird is called cowbird because he is fond
of flying about the cows, — not to trouble them,
but to eat the insects that torment them, — which
is very pleasant for the cows, I am sure.
There is one queer way that cowbirds have,
which no one is able to explain. The cowbird
mother does not build a nest for her little
family. Yet she wants them well cared for. So
she goes slyly about and lays her eggs in other
birds' nests. She generally chooses the nest of
a smaller bird, though she often uses one belong-
ing to a wood thrush.
THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY 99
Most little birds — warblers and finches — ac-
cept the charge. They hatch out the strange
egg and bring up the young cowbird, who is
bigger than themselves. He is so big that he
usually smothers the young ones that belong in
the nest. So he receives the whole attention of
the little mother bird.
Sometimes other birds come to help one who
has a young cowbird to feed, and he grows big
and strong. "When he is full grown he joins
a party of other cowbirds, and they go off in a
flock by themselves.
Some small birds will not submit to this.
When they find a cowbird's egg in their nest,
they go away and leave it there, and make a new
nest. Or they make a new story, as I told you
the yellow warbler does.
The cowbird has a queer httle song. It is
something like " cluck-see ! " and he seems to
squeeze it out as if it were hard work to say it.
XX
THE MEADOW STARLINGS
(Icteridce) — Continued
The meadow starlings are short-tailed birds
who live on the ground. They have long bills
and mixed sort of plumage, of browns and
yellows.
Our common one, called the Meadowlark or
Old-Field Lark, though he is not really a lark,
is a beautiful bird. He is larger than a robin,
and his mottled feathers are set off by a bright
yellow breast, with a black crescent under the
throat.
This bird lives in the meadows or pastures,
and walks about on the ground, where he gets
his food. When he wants to sing, he flies up on
to a fence, or stands up very straight on a bit of
turf, or a stone, and sings away a long time. It
is a sweet song, or rather several sweet songs,
for he does not always sing the same one.
The mother lark looks like her mate. She
makes her nest on the ground, and a snug and
MEADOWr.ARK
THE MEADOW STARLINGS 101
cozy home it is. It is none of the open, cup-hke
nests that anybody can see into. It has a roof,
if you please, and sometimes a covered way —
like a hall — leading to it. The roof of the
nest is made by drawing the grass stems over it
and weaving them together. So it is very hard
to find. And it is hidden in the long meadow
grass besides.
You might think the little family would get
hurt when the haymakers came to cut the grass.
So they would, if they happened to be there.
But lark babies are out of the egg before that
time, and they run about as soon as they can
stand. Sometimes when a nest has been dis-
turbed, and the birds have had to make a second
one, the little ones are not out when the mowers
come on. Then there are apt to be sad times in
the family. But I have known mowers who
carefully cut around a nest, and did not hurt
the nestlings. That is a good thing to do,
for the birds are so useful and such fine singers
thatwe want as many as we can have.
The meadowlark is a shy bird, and so is more
often heard than seen. His song is charming,
and he has besides a strange call, a sort of harsh
sputter, or chatter, sometimes as he flies over.
No doubt he has many more ways of expressing
102 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
himself, but these are the ones we most often
hear.
The Western Meadowlakk looks like the
Eastern, except that he is a little paler and grayer
in color. He has the same general habits, but
he is a much finer singer.^ The song is wilder
and has more variety, and sometimes it is very
brilliant. It is different in every way from the
quiet, rather sad notes that make the Eastern
bird so winning.
The Western bird Is not so timid as his Eastern
brother. He often comes into the towns and
sings from the tops of houses. The finest singer
I ever heard sang every day from the peak of a
low roof. His song to his mate is most charm-
ing. It is so low and tender one can hardly
hear it.
I once saw a pair of the Western birds nest-
making. The Httle builder was busy filling her
beak with dried grasses and such things. For
these she had to fly across the road where I sat.
Her mate went with her every time. He perched
on the fence while she gathered her beakful,
watching that no harm came to her. When she
went back, he flew across with her and perched
on a tree on that side.
THE MEADOW STARLINGS 103
All the time he was singing the sweetest low
warble, and all the time he was keeping a sharp
watch on me. In the West this bird eats
beetles, grasshoppers, and the disgusting big
black crickets that do so much damage.
XXI
THE OBIOLE BRANCH
{IcteridoB) — Continued
It seems odd to put the gay orioles into the
Blackbird Family, especially as they don't live
on the ground either ; but that 's where they be-
long in the books. Orioles live in the trees, and
are fine singers. They have sharp-pointed bills,
suitable for picking tiny insects out of fruit
blossoms. They have some of the family color,
black, but more orange color, or chestnut red, or
yellow. They all make beautiful nests.
The Baltimore oriole is all over the East, the
orchard oriole in the South, and the Arizona
hooded oriole in the West.
The Baltimore Oriole, who has several
other names, such as fire-bird, golden robin, and
hang-nest, is a very showy bird, in bright orange
and black. He has a fine though short song.
His mate is yellow, and brown instead of black,
and has a sweet song of her own. Both of them
can scold as well as any birds I know.
THE ORIOLE BRANCH 105
The nest of this oriole is one of the prettiest
we have. It is hung high up in a tall tree,
an elm or willow usually, and near the end of
a branch, where it swings in the wind. It is
a deep bag made of plant fibres, bits of string,
and other things. The whole has a gray tint
and a silky look, which make it very attractive.
While the mother bird is sitting, her mate
stays near and sings a good deal; but when
feeding time comes, he works as hard as she in
stuffing the hungry little mouths.
As soon as the nestlings are off, they go away
in a little party. Then one who looks sharp
may often see an oriole papa going quietly about
on the ground, with two or three little ones after
him, still calling to be fed. He does n't sing any
in these busy days. But sometimes, after the
young have learned to feed themselves, he will
sing again a little before they all start for their
warm winter home in Central America.
It is an anxious time in the bird world when
the young are leaving the nest. Orioles are so
nervous and make such an outcry over their
troubles that we often hear them. The most
common accident is the falling of a nestling to
the ground. The old birds make so much fuss
over it that one would think the baby had fallen
into the claws of the cat, at the very least.
106 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
They fly around as if they were crazy, shriek-
ing and calling, for they are very fond of their
little folk. The youngsters are plucky Httle
fellows. One will hop along till he comes to a
tree, and then try to climb the trunk. If he
happens to hit on a tree with rough bark, he can
do pretty well. He flutters a little way up, and
then holds on by the claws till rested. Then he
flies a little farther, and so he goes till he reaches
a branch.
If it is a smooth trunk he tries, his troubles
are great. Sometimes one will scramble up till
he comes to a leaf that grows out from the
trunk, and hang on to that till he is able to go.
on. But often one is unable to keep his hold,
and falls back into the grass. I have several
times picked up a hot and frightened birdling
and put him on a branch.
A lady told me an interesting little story,
showing how helpful birds are to one another. A
Baltimore oriole was picked up from the ground
with his wing broken so that he could not fly.
The kind-hearted people fixed him comfortably
in an attic. They intended to feed him and care
for him till he got well and could fly.
They left him there with a window open, so
that his wild friends could bring food if they
wished. A little while afterward one of them
THE ORIOLE BRANCH 107
went up to see about the invalid. Behold, he
was gone !
They looked for him everywhere, for they
knew he could not fly. Suddenly they noticed
a great deal of oriole chatter out in the yard.
Then they looked carefully over a tree near the
window, and there they saw the broken-winged
bird in the midst of quite a flock of others.
Of course the outside birds were called by the
captive, and they must have carried him out in
some way. Birds have been seen to carry off
one who was wounded, in two ways. One way
was by two birds each taking in his beak a
wing of the helpless bird and so flying away with
him. This has been seen, and more than once,
by men who tell the truth.
The second way birds have been seen to help
another was by one getting under the helpless one
and so holding him up on the back. This also
has been seen by men whose word can be trusted.
You remember I told you such a story about the
shrike.
So many untrue stories are told about the
birds that I am very careful not to tell you any-
thing that is not strictly true.
If you live in the South, you more often see
the Obohabd Okiolb. He is not quite so gay
108 THE SECOND BOOK OP BIRDS
in his dress as the Baltimore. He has chestnut
color with his black. His mate is different. She
is olive on the back, and yellow below, and she
has bright blue legs and feet, which look as if
they were covered with kid.
The nest is a hanging one, of course, but it
does not usually swing like other oriole nests. It
is a little supported at the bottom. It is very
beautiful, for it is made of one kind of fine
grass. When it is first made, its green color
makes it hard to see among the leaves. And as
it dries, it turns a rich yellow, like bright clean
straw. It is not so high as the Baltimore's, and
not hung to the end of a branch. It is often in
an apple-tree, for this bird likes to be near people.
The song of the orchard oriole is different
from the Baltimore's. It is longer, and has more
variety. His mate sings also. Her voice is
sweeter than his and not so loud.
If you live in California, the oriole you know
will be the Arizona Hqoded Oriole. Some-
times he is called the palm-leaf oriole for a
reason you will soon see. He is a beautiful,
slender bird, having bright orange color with his
black. He wears more black than some of the
family. His face and throat and tail and wings
are of that color, though the wings have two
THE ORIOLE BRANCH 109
■white bars. His mate is yellowish below and
olive brown above.
This bird makes the regular oriole family
cradle. Sometimes it swings free like the Balti-
more's, but not always. It is made of slender,
wiry grass, which is green, so that it is hard to
see. Sometimes a sort of thread from the edge
of palm leaves is used.
This bird sometimes selects a droll place for
her nest. She swings it from the under side of a
palm or banana leaf. You know a banana leaf
is long and wide, and makes a comfortable shade
in a hot day ; and it does just as well for an um-
brella when it rains. It is hard to see how a bird
can fasten a nest to a smooth leaf. But Mrs.
Grinnell has seen it done in her own yard, and
she tells us how the little builder goes to work.
First she takes a thread in her beak and
pushes it through the leaf, making a hole, of
course. Then she flies around to the other side
of the broad leaf, and standing there a minute
she pulls the thread through, and pushes it back,
making another hole. Thus she goes on, flying
from one side to the other till she has sewed her
bag to the strong leaf.
Except in the place they choose for their nest,
these orioles are about the same as their Eastern
cousins, and oriole Httle folk are the same the
world over, I think.
XXII
THE CKOW-BLACKBIBD BRANCH
(Icteridce) — Continued
The fourth branch of this family is of crow-
blackbirds and grackles. They have a right to
the name of blackbird, for they are quite black.
At least they look so a little way off, but if one
gets near and sees the sunshine on them, he will
see that they reflect blue or green or purple,
from their feathers.
Then, too, like others of their family, they go
in flocks, and they have a dignified walk on the
ground. Some birds who are so social that they
like to live in a crowd prefer to go a little apart
to nest. But these birds make their rude, clumsy
nests all close together.
Blackbirds are fond of corn ; who can blame
them for that ? Thousands of them have been
shot because they eat it. But farmers who shoot
them forget, or perhaps they do not know, that
corn is not the only thing they eat.
Insects as well as birds are fond of corn, and
THE CROW-BLACKBIRD BRANCH 111
it is n't so easy to keep them away. The birds
eat great numbers of them, such as grasshoppers,
caterpillars, beetles, and cut-worms, besides mice.
All these creatures eat the fanners' crops. So
when birds destroy them, they earn some of the
corn. They do more than clear the fields of trou-
blesome insects, they eat great quantities of the
seeds of weeds that the farmer is always fighting.
Blackbirds are most often seen on the ground,
walking around with great dignity. They are
looking for food in the grass, or in the field in
ploughing time. When they are closely watched,
it is often found that they are not in mischief.
Mr. Warren, State Ornithologist of Pennsyl-
vania, tells a story which shows how easy it is
to be mistaken. He was with a friend who had
thirty acres of corn growing, and was much
vexed to see blackbirds walking about among the
young plants. They seemed very busy about
something, and he was sure they were pulling
up his crop. So he got out his guns, and Mr.
Warren went with him to punish the birds.
They shot thirty-one of them. Then they be-
gan to see what they had been eating. In all the
thirty-one, only seven had the least bit of corn,
and even they were mostly filled with insects.
The rest were stuffed full of insects which do
much harm to young corn, mostly cut-worms.
112 THE SECOND BOOK OP BIRDS
The farmer had killed thirty-one birds who
were working for him as hard as they could. No
money could hire help that would do so much
good as they were doing.
In the Eastern States we have the Crow
Blackbird, or Purple Gracklb, and the
Bronzed Grackle, whose habits are the same.
The purple grackle is a handsome bird, larger
than a robin, with very light eyes. His plumage
looks black in the shade, but when the sun is
on it, shows rich green and blue, and it shines
Uke satin. The bronzed grackle shows purple,
and blue, and green, with metallic bronze on the
back.
The purple grackle is said to eat corn, and
also the eggs and young of other birds. But
what he eats has been found out by the Agri-
cultural Department, in the way I told you of.
It is given out by them that he does not do so
much harm to nests as has been said, and among
the crops he does good enough to pay for all the
corn he eats.
It is very hard to see just what a bird is eating.
It is not even safe to believe all we think we see.
The only time the purple grackle can do more
harm than good is when he comes with a big
crowd of his friends, and settles down to spend
THE CROW-BLACKBIRD BRANCH 113
the winter. Then he should be driven away
from crops.
I want you to understand me about this. I
do not say that these birds never eat the eggs
and young of others. What I do say is, that
there is plenty of evidence to show that they do
it not half so much as people say. I have watched
birds for twenty years, as closely, I believe, as
any one ever watched them, and I never saw
any of the bad deeds that are laid to the blue
jay, or the shrike, or the kingbird, or the purple
grackle. They may be guilty occasionally, but
they are not the villains they are often said to be.
Besides, however bad we may call a few birds,
we are ourselves worse. Birds kill only to eat.
Many of them are made to feed upon each other,
and cannot live in any other way. They kill
quickly, and do not generally — if they ever do
— torture their prey.
How is it with us ? We kill for sport, or for
useless show, and we kill in a way that often
wounds and leaves our victim to suffer tortures
before he dies. Do you think it is fair for us to
say hard things about the birds ?
In the Rocky Mountains and west of them
the common blackbird is Breweb's Blackbird,
sometimes called blue-headed grackle. He is not
114 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
SO shy as his brother of the East. He is amiabk
and friendly with people, and as familiar as the
robin in New England. He is often seen in the
streets of towns. He will come into yards, and
even take food from a doorstep.
Brewer's blackbird is a restless, uneasy fellow,
Hke most of his family. He is always bustling
about, and flying hither and thither with rus-
tling wings.
In summer, these birds feed mostly upon in-
sects, which they find on the ground. They
have an amusing way of being fair in their feed-
ing. As they walk about in little social parties
looking for food, those who come last in the
string find the insects nearly all picked up before
they get a chance. So they take this clever way
of getting, their turn at the good things. Every
few minutes those in the rear rise and fly over
the heads of their friends and alight just before
them. So they have the first pick for a while.
Then, in a few minutes, those left behind fly
over their heads, and take the lead for a time.
So, without any quarreling, each one has a fair
chance with all the rest. Other birds have found
out this way of playing fair. I have seen great
blue herons three feet tall do the same thing.
In winter, when insects are scarce, the black-
bird turns to grain and the seeds of weeds. But
THE CROW-BLACKBIRD BRANCH 115
it has been found that he does more good by the
weeds he keeps down than harm by the grain
he eats.
Brewer's blackbird usually nests in trees, not
very high. One time a naturalist going about in
Arizona, where are few or no trees, found a curi'
ous thing, — a good many blackbird nests, a little
settlement one might call it, on the ground, and
all strung along close to the edge of a steep
bank. At first he could not see why the birds
had chosen to be on the edge of a precipice.
Then he remembered that horses and cattle
roamed over the country, and these animals are
careful never to graze close to an edge which
might crumble and give them a fall. He con-
cluded that the birds had wit enough to know
that. If their nests were out on the plains, they
would be likely to be stepped on, but near the
edge, they were safe from hoofs.
The common call of Brewer's blackbird is a
harsh " chack ; " but in the spring he turns
musical, and serenades his mate with what we
must call songs, because songs are what he in-
tends. They are droll enough to listen to, and
not very sweet.
This bird is about the size of a robin, with
violet-colored head in the sunlight. His mate is
slate-colored.
116 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
Birds who live in a crowd learn to be fair in
their treatment of one another. An interesting
story is told of the way a flock of blackbirds go
to bed at night. They come to the roosting-
place in little parties from all the country around.
One would suppose the first one to get there
would choose his place to sleep, and let the last
one take what was left.
But no ! as they arrive, they alight in some big
old tree outside the roosting-place. When all
are in, they fly up together, circle around for
a while, then all settle at the same time in the
plaee where they are to sleep.
XXIII
THE CROW FAMILY
(Corvidce) ■^
This is a large family. Some of our most
intelligent birds belong to it. There are first
the crows, much larger than a robin and dressed
in black. They have long, pointed wings, and
tails square at the end. They live in a crowd,
and walk on the ground.
Then there are the jays, about the size of a
robin, all bright-colored birds. They have short,
rounded wings, and long tails which come down
almost to a point in the middle.
And then the magpies, between the other two
in size. They have tails longer and more pointed
than the jays, and are dressed in black with
showy white markings.
The common Ameeican Crow is a bird that
everybody knows. He lives all over our country,
and seems to like one part as well as another.
* See Appendix, 16.
118 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
There is enough to be said about this bird to fill
this whole book. So I shall not try to tell all
about him.
The crow is thought by many people to be the
most knowing bird in America, and he is the
one who has been most abused. He does some
mischief, it is true, but he does a great deal more
good. So say the officers of the Department
who have looked into his food. They have found
that he does pull up some corn ; but he stuffs
himself and his family with thousands, and even
millions, of grubs, and insects, and mice, and
other small creatures, that would have done far
more damage to the crops than he.
Farmers have often killed or driven away the
crows, because they thought they were hurting
their crops. But sometimes they have found
out their mistake, and have been glad to get
them back again.
A story comes from the West which shows
what I mean. One year the farmers were
alarmed to see a great many crows around their
fields. They had never seen so many there. Of
course they thought they had come to eat the
corn, so they began to kill them. I won't tell
you the ugly story of the war against the birds.
After it had gone on awhile, the farmers began
to notice that crows were not the only ones who
THE CROW FAMILY 119
had come. A new grub that they had never seen
before was on hand. There were milUons of
them, and they were always hungry. Young
corn plants seemed to suit them, and when corn
was gone, they began eating the grass.
It never came into the farmers' heads that the
birds had anything to do with the grubs. So
they kept up their war on the crows till few were
left.
It 's easier to drive away birds than insects, so
the grubs went on eating. There were no crows
left to trouble, and yet the crops got smaller
every year. At last some one had sense enough
to see that the crows had come on purpose to eat
the grubs, and that they had driven away their
best friends, the most useful helpers they could
possibly have.
When they saw how stupid they had been,
they began to coax the birds back. They sent
out and had crows caught and brought to their
fields to work for them. The birds took hold of
the business, and made short work of the corn-
eating grub, and the farmers learned a good
lesson.
You may think it strange that the crows
should know where the grubs were, but birds
are very sharp to find their food. It is well
known that when there gets to be an unusual
120 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
number of insects in one place, more birds will
come to feed on them. Some time when you are
in the country when grass is cut, notice how
many birds will come to eat the grasshoppers and
other creatures that are uncovered when the hay
is taken away.
The crows take the same fair way of going to
roost that the Brewer's blackbirds do.
I could tell you stories — true ones, too — all
day about this bird, and his services to the
farmer. We all know how wise he is, and how
hard it is to trap him.
I will give ypu one little story, to show his
kindness to his fellows. Then, when you have
a chance to watch one, I hope you will take pains
to see for yourself what he does and what he
eats. Do not believe all you hear or read about
him, for I 'm sorry to say there are some persons
who like so well to tell a sensational story that
they do not take any trouble to find out if it is
true.
The stoi'y is this. Two crows were caught and
kept in a large cage out of doors. It happened
to be a time when food for birds was rather
scarce. Some one noticed that the birds seemed
to eat a good deal, and he set himself to watch
them. He found that the prisoners in the cage
were giving some of their food through the bars
THE CROW FAMILY 121
to their hungry friends outside. Could men be
more unselfish ?
There is no end to the funny pranks that are
told of crows who have been tamed and lived
with people. One that I heard of liked to get
out in the yard when clothes from the wash were
hung out. He would walk along on the clothes-
line and pull out every clothespin, carrying each
one to the roof and laying it safely away. Of
course this let the wet garments fall in the dirt,
and he was scolded well for his mischief. Then
he would fly up to the roof and throw every pin
down to the ground, as if he said, " Well, take
your old clothespins ! "
Another tame crow was very fond of pulling
over a work-basket, and scattering the spools and
thimbles and other things in it. One day he got
hold of a paper of needles. This he opened, and
then went on to hide them, which crows always
Uke to do with everything. He took each needle
and pushed it into the bed, as if it were a cushion,
and hammered each one in out of sight.
I hope you know the Blub Jay. He is a
beautiful bird in different shades of blue, set off
with white and black, and with a fine crest. His
mate is the same. This is the jay we know in
the East and South.
122 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
He is a noisy bird, full of fun and antics. He
makes himself heard wherever he goes. This has
given him the name of being quarrelsome. It is
often said that he is always fighting. But that
is a mistake, made because people do not look
closely enough. He is boisterous and jolly, but
he rarely quarrels.
There is one time in his life when he is as still
as a mouse. Then he comes to his tree so quietly
that you cannot hear him. That is when there
is a nest to look after.
The nest of a blue jay is usually not very high,
in a tree. While his mate is sitting, he takes the
best care of her. He brings food to her, and
often sings to her. This song is very low ; one
can hardly hear it ; but it is one of the sweetest
of bird songs.
No bird is more loving to his little folk than
the blue jay, and not one is more frantic when
anything happens to them. James Russell Lowell,
the poet, loved the birds, and has written delight-
ful things about them. He once found a family
of young blue jays who seemed to be in trouble.
He had a ladder brought, and went up to the nest
to see if he could help them. He found that
they had got caught in the nest lining, and could
not get away. They were full grown, and the old
birds had worked hard from morningf till nigfht to
keep them fed.
BLUE JAY
THE CROW FAMILY 123
As soon as Mr. Lowell saw what was the matter,
he took out his knife to cut the strings that held
them. At first when he came near, the old birds
were very much frightened. They flew around
his head and cried, and were going to fight him.
But jays are wise birds, and in a moment they
saw that he did not mean to hurt them. So they
perched close by him, so near he could put his
hand on them. Then they watched him while
he cut the little ones loose. All of them could
fly, and they did, at once.
One of the nestlings had been so tightly held
that one leg was withered and dead, but the next
day Mr. Lowell saw him hopping about the gar-
den path, on one leg, while his parents brought
him food, and took great care of him.
The blue jay, like most birds, is kind to others.
One man found a little flock taking care of an
old, blind jay. They fed him, and led him to
water to bathe. They warned him of danger,
and in every way looked out for his comfort as
if he were a nestling.
Besides being a singer, this bird is a mimic.
He can imitate the songs of other birds, as well
as many other sounds. A lady once had a blue
•jay who had fallen from the nest. She brought
him up, and he was very tame. She told me that
he learned to sing like a mockingbird, and did
124 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
it almost as well. This bird was very fond of
her. When she tried to give him his freedom,
he would n't have it. If she slipped away from
him, he would sit up in a tree and scream like a
lost child. Then, when she came into his sight,
he would fly down to her shoulder and rub his
head against her cheek like a kitten, he was so
happy to be back with her.
The blue jay is a useful bird. Dr. Brewer
says that one pair of jays will feed their young
in one season five hundred thousand caterpillars ;
also that one pair of jays will destroy one million
insect eggs in a winter.
Many hard things have been said about this
bird, — for one thing, that he eats eggs and
young birds. You will notice, however, that
many who repeat these stories about him say, " I
have not seen the bird do so, but some one else
has." Testimony like this is worth nothing.
Such things are copied from one book to an-
other because it is much easier to take what is
set down in the books than to go out and see
for one's self. Often a story which has no truth
in it is said over and over till people beheve it
because they have heard it so often.
Believe me, the blue jay is not half so bad as
he is painted, and he has many lovable traits to
make up for what he does do.
THE CROW FAMILY 125
Mr. Keyser brought up a young blue jay from
the nest. He put him for a while into a cage
with two young orioles. Like all young birds,
all three of the youngsters were hungry, and
expected everybody to feed them. So the young
jay opened wide his mouth, and waited for some-
thing good to drop into it. He was met by the
two orioles with their mouths wide open. There
they stood, face to face, all asking to be fed. It
was a funny sight.
Then the blue jay baby was put into another
cage, where were two young catbirds. To these
he was very loving. He wordd sidle up to them
and caress them, stroking their backs and wings
with his bill. He insisted on sleeping between
the two on the perch. He looked very droll
with a small bird on each side of him, all snug-
gled up together.
After a while the blue jay had a whole cage to
himself. Then the other cages were moved to
the front porch, and he was left alone on the
back porch. This did not please him at all ; he
was lonely. He called and cried and fretted
about till he was placed beside the others. Then
he gave a cry of joy, and really squealed with
dehght.
The West is richer than the East in jays,
126 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
There are several in the Rocky Mountains and
California. Stbllee's Jay is said to represent
the Eastern bird I have been telling about. He
is different in looks and larger. He is darker
blue, with some sooty brown, and he has a fine
crest. But he is the same noisy, jolly fellow as
his cousin on the Atlantic side of the country.
If your home is in the West, beyond the Mis-
sissippi River, of course you know the Ambeican
Magpie. He is a large, splendid fellow, who
looks especially fine when he is flying over your
head.
The magpie is all in black and white : white
below and in shoulder patches, and black on the
breast and above. In the sunlight he shows pur-
ple and blue and green shades over the black.
He has a very long tail, which is wide in the mid-
dle and runs down almost to a point at the end.
This is very showy, when he spreads it wide in
flying.
In California the magpie shows a curious varia-
tion. On one side of the mountains the magpie
has a yellow biU, but the magpie on the other
side has a black one, though in every other way
they seem to be the same.
The magpie is a social bird. Even in nesting
time he likes plenty of neighbors. A party of
AMERICAN M'VCPIK
THE CROW FAMILY 127
them will settle in a little grove and build several
nests in it. The nests of this bird are the
queerest bird homes you ever saw. They look
like big covered baskets. They are half the size
of a bushel basket, and made of sticks outside.
There is an opening on each side for the bird to
go in and out. Those I have seen were in the
tops of low trees.
The beautiful tail of the magpie seems to be a
great care to him. When he flies, — as I said, —
he spreads it wide and makes a great show with
it. When he is going about on a tree, he jerks
and twitches it all the time. No doubt every
jerk means something, if we could only under-
stand. When on the ground, he holds the pre-
cious tail up carefully, so that it shall not touch
the earth. He is a very dignified bird when
walking about in this way, looking for the grubs,
grasshoppers, crickets, and other creatures on
which he feeds. But sometimes he has no dig-
nity at all. He scolds, and screams, and acts
like a bad child. He is n't particular about his
food. He will eat almost anything, even scraps
from a kitchen.
Major Bendire tells a comical story of the
cunning of some magpie& in getting food away
from a dog. The dog carried his bone with
some meat on it to the lawn in front of the
128 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
major's tent, and lay down to enjoy it, dog-fash-
ion. In a minute or two, a little party of six
magpies came around, probably hoping to be
invited to dinner. The dog did not take the
hint, but went on gnawing.
Then the birds seemed to consider, and after
a few minutes they placed themselves around the
dog. One stood right in front of his nose about
two feet away. Another one took his place close
to the dog's tail, while two stood on each side.
When all the birds were ready, the one by the
tail gave it a sharp peck. No dog could stand
that insult. The victim forgot his bone, wheeled
around, and dashed after that bird. He did not
catch him with the first grab, and the wily bird
fluttered away. He did not go fast enough to
show the dog he could not catch him, but he
led him on and kept him eager to get at him as
long as he could.
But what happened to the dog's dinner all
this time ? Of course you have guessed that the
instant the dog left, the five hungry magpies
pounced upon the bone. They did n't mind eat-
ing at the second table. They knew their time
was short, and they made good use of it. I 'm
afraid they "gobbled."
When the dog saw that he could n't catch the
magpie, he thought of his dinner, and came
THE CROW FAMILY 129
back. The birds stepped one side, and he took
his place again.
Of course the birds were not half satisfied, and
besides, one of them had not had even a taste.
So they made ready to play the little trick again.
Now see their fair play with one another ! The
bird who had coaxed the dog away had his
turn at the head of the table, while another
one did the teasing. They repeated this several
times, and each time a different bird led the dog
away.
The major was a trained observer, and he
could tell the birds apart. One had a longer
tail, another had a broken feather, and another
was smaller. So he could easily see that each
time a different bird had the best chance. He
was sure they had planned the whole thing out.
I once had a chance to study the ways of
some magpies. The birds were busy in their
nests, and I was well hidden and quiet, so they
did not see me. I heard much soft, gentle talk
from them, and at last a sweet song. I was
much surprised at this, and hoped to know a
good deal more about them, but the next time
I called on them, they saw me. Such a row as
they made ! They flew around my head, shout-
ing and screaming at me, till I was glad to get
out of the grove. I could not blame the birds,
130 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
for magpies are much prized as cage-birds.
They readily learn to talk, and are intelligent
and interesting pets, so that the nests are robbed
all the time. Of course they are ready to fight
for their little oneSo
XXIV
THE LARK FAMILY
(Alaudidce) ^
There are a good many kinds of larks in the
■world, but only one comes to us, the Horned
Lark, or shore lark. He differs a little in color
in the various places he is found over our broad
country, but not enough to call him another
species.
In places where there is a great deal of rain,
birds take on a slightly different shade from their
brothers who live in dry places. So there are
several varieties of the horned lark. But dress
is n't everything, and, after all, he is the same
bird in habits and manners wherever we find
him in the United States. He is streaked brown
on the back, and white below, with yellow throat
and black and white markings.
The way you may always know a Prairie
Horned Lark, of whom I will speak, is by the
' See Appendix, 17.
132 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
pretty Kttle tufts of feathers that stand up on
his head Hke horns, and the very long nail on
his hind toe.
Another way you may know this bird is that
he lives on the ground, and never perches in a
tree. Sometimes he gets up on a fence to sing,
but he likes best to run along the road, or in a
field, and he never — never hops. The place to
look for him is a field or pasture, or on a country
road.
When insects are abroad, he eats the more
dainty small ones, young grasshoppers and lo-
custs before they get big and tough, small
beetles and larvae ; and baby larks are fed on
them. But he does n't starve when they are
gone ; he is fond of seeds of weeds and grasses.
The nest of the horned lark is on the ground,
and the little mother is very clever in hiding it,
and not showing people where it is. Many birds,
you know, will stay on the nest till one almost
steps on them, and then fly up with a great fuss,
thus telling their secret. When the wise Httle
lark sees one coming, she quietly slips off her
nest. Then she crouches to the ground, and
creeps away. When she thinks she is far enough,
she rises to her full height, and begins to eat, or
to walk around as if she had nothing on her
mind, and there were no such thins: as a nest
DESERT HORNED LARK
THE LARK FAMILY 133
anywhere about. No matter how long one may
stay there hoping to find the nest, she will not
go back, not even to see if it is safe, so long as
any one is near. If all birds were so wily, there
would be fewer nests robbed, and we should
have more birds.
The little home so carefully guarded is well
made. The bird scratches out a little hollow
and lines it with grass or thistledown, that is,
if she can't get what she likes best. Her choice
is for nice soft mullein leaves, which she pulls to
pieces. These, you know, are thick and smooth,
and must make a warm, dry bed for the little
larks.
The brave little mother nests so early that she
is often caught in a snowstorm. Nests have
been found with the bird on them, when the
snow had to be brushed away to get at her,
actually sitting under the snow.
When the young larks can run about, and be-
fore they can fly, the father takes them in charge.
Then the mother sits again, and hatches out
another brood.
The horned lark sings on the wing, as does
the skylark of Europe that we 've heard so much
about. It is supposed that he cannot equal that
famous bird, but so few have heard him, it is
hardly safe to say so. I once heard a horned
134 THE SECOND BOOK OP BIRDS
lark sing. He ran across the road in front of
the carriage, flew to a fence, and gave an ex-
quisite Httle song. If it had come down to us
while the singer was soaring about over our
heads, I think few bird songs could have ex-
celled it.
The feather tufts which are called horns stand
up when the bird is excited. Usually they lie
back nearly flat on the head.
In the picture you can see one of these birds
in his usual attitude, walking.
XXV
THE FLYCATCHING FAMILY
{TyrannidoB) ^
Larks may be scarce, but we have plenty of
flycatchers, and they all look very much alike.
They are mostly in dull colors, and they have a
way of raising the head feathers which gives
them a little crest. Then they have rather thick
necks, and they sit up very straight on the perch.
They catch Hving flies, as you see by the
name, and they have their own way of doing it.
No flycatcher ever scrambles around like a fussy
little warbler, snatching a fly here and there.
Far from it ! It is a dignified family, and none
of them ever seems to be in a hurry.
The true flycatcher way to get a dinner is to
sit still and wait. The very babies in the nest
are patient little fellows. They never make half
the row over their dinner that young robins do.
They could give lessons in table manners to some
young folks I have seen. And waiting seems to
•• See Appendix, 18.
136 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
be a good way, for nobody is better fed than a
flycatcher.
On his perch the waiting bird sits perfectly
still, but keeps a sharp lookout all around him.
When a fly or other insect comes near that he
thinks he wiU like, he dashes out and catches it
as it flies. Then he goes back to his perch and
waits for another.
Some of the family have the habit of singing
as they wait. The wood pewee drawls out his
sweet " pee-u-ee," the phoebe sings his sharp
" phoe-be " by the hour, and the least flycatcher
snaps out his " chebec " till we are tired of hear-
ing' him.
Flycatchers are classed among birds who do
not sing, but several of them do sing, — not
loud, like a robin, but low, quiet songs to the
mate or the nestlings.
One of the best known of the flycatchers all
over the country is the Kingbird. He is a little
smaller than a robin, and all in brownish black,
with white breast. He has also white tips to his
tail feathers, which look very fine when he
spreads it out wide in flying.
Among the head feathers of the kingbird is a
small spot of orange color. This is called in the
books a " concealed patch " because it is seldom
seen, it is so hidden by the dark feathers.
THE FLYCATCHING FAMILY 137
This bird does much good by eating many
insects. It is often said that he eats bees. But
a curious thing has been found out about this
habit. It seems he has a choice in bees. He is
fond of the drones which make no honey, and so
are not useful in a hive. He will hunt drones all
day, but he is shy of a honey bee. Do you know
why? The bird has not told us, but we can
guess that it is because the honey bee is armed
with a sting, and can make it very uncomfortable
for any bird who catches her.
There is another reason too why the bird may
prefer the drone. The honey bee usually flies
low, where the flowers are, while the drone is n't
after flowers and flies higher in the air. The
kingbird sits higher than the honey bee flies,
and the drones are the ones that come near him.
Another insect that the kingbird is fond of is
the robber fly, which destroys hundreds of honey
bees. That should make every bee-keeper his
friend.
These things have been found out in the way
I told you, by shooting the birds to see what they
had been eating.
Mr. Bryant, who knows birds well, tells of a
bee-keeper in California who saw a great many
kingbirds among his bees. Of course he thought
they were eating them, and he killed one hun-
138 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
dred of them. On looking into their stomachs
to see i£ they had eaten honey bees, he found
them filled with drones. They had been working
for him all the time, for every bee-keeper likes to
have drones killed.
It has been said that the kingbird is annoying
to other birds, and he is called a tyrant. I
wanted to know if this was true. I did not go to
books to find out, for many people — as I have
told you — do not study for themselves, but
repeat what some one else has said. The way I
took to find out was to notice the ways of every
kingbird I could see. For many years I have
watched them hours at a time, for weeks to-
gether. I spend every summer among the birds,
and almost everywhere I go I find kingbirds.
In this way I have found out that the king-
bird is one of the most peaceable of birds. He
drives strangers away from the tree where his
nest is, and so does every other bird. The crow
he seems to consider his enemy, and often flies
after him, but excepting that, I have never
seen a kingbird disturb any bird who was mind-
ing his own business. He is not half so much
of a tyrant as the robin or the hummingbird.
The kingbird is quiet and devoted to his
family. He seems never to tire of catching in-
sects. While young ones are in the nest, he may
THE FLYCATCHING FAMILY 139
usually be seen from morning till night, sitting
very straight upon a low perch, looking for flies
of many kinds.
T/et me tell you a little story of a kingbird
•which I can assure you is true, for a gentleman
whose word may be relied upon saw it near
enough to be perfectly sure of the facts.
A big bird, he did not notice what kind, was
flying o£E with a nestling robin in his claws. All
at once a kingbird flew at him so fiercely that
he had to drop the young one to defend him-
self. The youngster could not fly, and of course
began to fall. When the kingbird saw that, he
left the thief and flew under the little bird. He
held it up on his back, and flew carefully to the
ground, where it slipped ofE safely.
When a kingbird has been tamed and kept in
a house, he has been found to be a very knowing
fellow. One that I heard of saw that the people
were friendly, and he lost all fear of them. His
greatest pleasure seemed to be to keep warm. He
would cuddle up to a lighted lamp, and dearly
liked to crawl under the bedclothes. This pet
was quiet and dignified, never a chatterbox. The
only sounds he made were a few low notes like
thanks, when he was fed.
The nest of the kingbird is usually placed in
a low tree like the apple-tree. It is made of any-
140 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
thing that comes handy. I have seen one of white
wool where sheep were kept, and one of gray
moss on the seashore where it is found in plenty.
The Western kingbird differs in color from the
Eastern. He is more gray, with under parts
bright yellow. He is said to be more social and
more noisy than the sober Eastern bird. But in
other respects they are much alike.
This bird has been called quarrelsome, but
persons who look closely at birds have said that
what careless observers have called quarrels are
really play. For the Western kingbird, the
Arkansas Kingbird of the books, is a rather
jolly fellow, says Major Bendire.
All flycatchers are useful and should be care-
fully protected, says the same well-informed
writer.
The Wood Pewee is another common fly-
catcher. He is not generally seen about houses like
the phcebe, who calls from the peak of the barn.
He may be found in the orchard or the edge of the
woods. There he will stand on a fence or low
branch and sing or call by the hour, every few
minutes flying out to catch a passing insect.
This bird is in dark colors, with whitish breast
and two white wing-bars. His common calJ, is a
THE FLYCATCHING FAMILY 141
plaintive, long-drawn-out " pee-n-ee " and some-
times "pee-ay," but he can sing a droll little
song. One lady who watched a wood pewee
build her nest heard her sing to herself as she
worked what sounded hke " 0-wee-wee-wee."
The nest made by this little mother is very
pretty. It is most often on a dead limb where
a branch starts out, making a broad foundation.
For this reason the bird is called in the South,
the dead-limb bird. The nests are not all alike.
I have seen many closely covered with lichen,
and some made of gray moss so thin that the
eggs could be seen through it. Whatever it is
made of, it is low and flat like a saucer, and so
much like the branch it is on that it is not easy
to see.
Like other bird mothers, the wood pewee is
devoted to her nestlings. She will shield them
from the rain by sitting close on the nest and
making an umbrella of herself. And when the
sun comes down very hot on them, she has been
seen to perch on the edge of the nest and spread
her wings to act as a shade for them. It is
pretty to see this bird with her little family when
they have left the nest and are being taught to
take care of themselves. She makes many sweet
little noises which sound like talk, or a sort of
whispering.
142 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
The Western Wood Pbweb looks like his
Eastern brother, but he is a very different bird.
His dress is about the same, and he catches his
flies in pewee fashion, but his voice is not in
the least like that we hear on the Atlantic side
of the country.
The Eastern wood pewee has a low, sweet
voice, of which one cannot get tired. But the
bird of the West has loud, harsh notes, so dis-
mal in tone that they are painful to listen to.
His song is almost the only really unpleasant
bird song I know.
The nest of this bird is a rather deep cup sad-
dled on to a large limb. When it is in a cotton-
wood grove, it is covered with the sticky white
cotton from the trees. It is very pretty when
fresh, but it soon gets soiled, and then it is not
nice to look at or to handle.
XXVI
THE HUMMING FAMILY
(^TrochilidceY
This is an American family, and no country in
the world can show a more beautiful one. There
are more than four hundred species, and some of
them hardly bigger than a bee. All of these
birds have brilliant colors that are called metal-
lic. That is, they glitter like metal, and they
show different colors when they are turned dif-
ferent ways.
All hummingbirds fly very swiftly. You know
how they go, — not straight like most birds, but
darting one way and another so quickly they can
hardly be seen. As they fly, their wings move
so fast they look almost like little clouds, and we
hear the low noise we call humming.
Hummingbirds eat nothing but tiny insects,
and the honey of flowers, which they suck up
through their long bill. They take their food
without alighting, for they can hold themselves
1 See Appendix, 19. ,
144 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
still before a flower, with the wonderful wings,
as long as they choose.
The bill of a hummingbird is much longer
than his head. It is something like a pair of
tubes through which he can draw up the sweet
juices he likes. The tongue is long too, and it
can be pushed out far beyond the end of the
bill. It looks like a stiff white thread.
We have in the Eastern States but one species,
the ruby-throat, but there are several in Califor-
nia.
No bird is more charming than our common
Ruby-throated Hummingbird. He is most
often seen flitting about among the flowers.
But now and then one may catch him sitting
demurely on a dead twig, dressing his tiny
feathers.
This bird is all in green, with a brilliant ruby-
colored throat, which looks like a gem as he
darts about. His mate is in green also, but her
throat is white.
You would not think this pretty midget could
be a fighter, but he is. When a hummingbird
finds a vine full of sweet blossoms, or a bed of
bright nasturtiums, or any good place to feed in,
he claims the whole of it for himself. He tries to
drive away every other hummingbird who comes
THE HUMMING FAMILY 145
near it. Sometimes two of them will carry on a
quarrel over a honeysuckle vine for days.
The hummingbird is the most pugnacious bird
in America. If he were as big as a crow, he
would be a terror to man and be^st, for he is
afraid of nothing. This spirited mite of a bird
will even attack an eagle, who is big enough to
eat him at a mouthful. He beats him too, for
he comes down on top of his head, where the big,
clumsy fellow cannot get at him. There he pecks
and pulls out feathers till the eagle is glad to get
out of his clutches.
A hummingbird's nest is one of the prettiest
things in the world. It is not much bigger than
a walnut, and is made of soft plant down, usually
of a yellowish gray color.
Perhaps you don't see how plant down can be
made to keep in shape, without twigs or grasses
to hold it. If you could see the bird make it,
you would understand at once. She brings her
stuff in small mouthfuls, and works it into a
solid mass by strong efforts with beak and feet.
She pokes and prods each tiny bunch as she
brings it, till she makes it all hold together. It
is a sort of felt.
Then the little worker covers the outside with
bits of lichen picked off the trees, and held on,
it is said, by cobwebs. This makes the nest look
146 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
exactly like the branch it is on. So it is very
hard to see.
It takes a hummingbird several days of hard
work to make a nest, because she can bring only
a little at a time. She does it alone too ; her
mate has not been seen to help her at all.
I think the male ruby-throat does not help in
the nest-building because the little mother will not
let him. She knows just how the cradle is to be
made, and she does n't want him to bother her.
She likes to have her nest to herself just as she
likes to have her honeysuckle to herself. I don't
say positively that is the reason, you know ; I
only guess it is.
After the nest is made, and two eggs about as
big as small beans are laid, the hummingbird
begins to sit. When the nestlings come out of
the egg, they are about the size of honey bees,
with bills no larger than the head of a common
pin. Twenty-one days they stay in the nest and
are fed by their hard-working little mother.
When the twins get their feathers, and their
bills are growing longer and longer, they sit up
across the top of the nest, side by side. Then
they are very pretty, and not at all afraid of
people. They will let one gently stroke their
backs. They will even answer in a soft murmur
one who talks to them.
THE HUMMING FAMILY 147
Hummingbirds are never so afraid of people
as other birds. They are easily tamed. But
they should never be caged, for they will not
live long in a house. They need food that we
cannot give them.
A man had a hummingbird whom he kept
alive a long time by letting him go free when he
seemed to need change of food. He would fly
off, but always came back. After the bird got
to be very tame, the man brought two young
hummingbirds and put them in the cage with
him. He did not notice them much till they
began to droop. Then the man opened the
door to let them out.
At once the elder bird took the little ones in
charge, and coaxed them to fly out with him. He
led them to a place where he had found the tiny
spiders these birds like, and showed them how to
get what they wanted. They all ate their fill
and then came back to the house, where they
were well contented to be.
The way the mother hummingbird feeds her
babies is curious. When she comes with food,
she alights on the edge of the nest, and pulls a
little one up so that she can get at it. Then she
runs her long, slim bill down its throat, and
pokes the food in with little jerks. It looks as
if it would kill the youngster, but he seems to
148 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
like it. Anyway, he grows very fast, and — >
as I said — in three weeks he is beautifully
feathered, with a bill as long as his mother's,
and ready to fly.
A lady who had two young hummingbirds
told me that they slept so soundly they were like
dead birds. One could take them up and carry
them about, and they would not wake. In cold
weather she often wrapped one up in a piece of
flannel and laid him in a soft, warm place, and
he never stirred till morning.
The way she got this pair of birds was inter-
esting. She was walking in the woods and broke
a dead branch from a tree, to use for something.
On turning it over she saw a nest, and strange
to say two little birds in it. She had been hold-
ing it upside down, but they had held on so
tightly that they did not fall out.
The lady did not know what to do. She did
not want baby hummingbirds, but she could n't
put the branch back, and she was afraid their
mother would not find them if she left them. So
she took them home. She had no trouble to
feed them, and they lived with her six weeks,
and died by accident at last.
It is thought that the male ruby-throat does
not come to the nest at all, but he must have
some way of knowing how things are going on.
THE HUMMING FAMILY 149
At Mrs. Wright's summer home a mother hum-
mingbird was killed in a hailstorm, while young
were in the nest. At once the father, or at least
a male bird, came and fed and took care of the
nestlings till they flew.
In California one of the most common of this
family is Anna's Hummingbird. He is green,
with a throat and crown of changeable colors,
lilac and red.
The nest of this bird is usually, like the ruby-
throat's, of plant down covered with lichens. But
some have been found made of the blossoms of
the eucalyptus, or gum-tree. This bird is as
easily tamed as the ruby-throat, and seems to act
a good deal like him.
Mrs. Grinnell found a nest in her yard in Cali-
fornia. The mother allowed herself to be pho-
tographed in many positions. The young ones
were never afraid, and did not mind the camera
in the least. Hummingbirds never seem to have
any fear of people.
XXVII
THE SWIFT FAMILY
{Micropodidce) ^
Swifts are curious birds, with strange habits.
The one we know by sight in the East is the
chimney swift. Most like him in the West is
Vaux's swift. His ways are like the common
chimney swift's, and his looks nearly the same.
The Chimney Swift is often called the
chimney swallow, but it is very easy to tell one
from a swallow. One way is, that when a swift
is flying about over our heads, he looks as if
he had no tail. The tail is very short, not half
so long as the wing. He looks more like a bat
than a bird.
Then the swift flies in a different way. A
swallow soars a good deal, that is, moves without
beating the wings, a sort of gliding through the
air. But a swift beats the wings much more fre-
quently. A swallow will often alight on a tele-
* See Appendix, 20.
THE SWIFT FAMILY 151
graph-wire or a roof. A swift is said never to
alight except to sleep.
This bird is so much at home on wing that he
even gets the twigs to make the nest while flying.
These twigs are the smallest ones on the ends of
dead branches, and are easily snapped off. The
bird flies at them, snatches one in beak or feet,
breaks it off, and goes right on, without stopping.
When he gets his twig, he carries it to a dark,
sooty cliimney. A queer place for a home, surely.
They used to choose a hollow tree or a cave to
live in, and that seems much nicer. But chimneys
are now more plentiful than hollow trees. And
besides, they are nearer the bird's food. So
chimney homes are now the fashion in the swift
family.
To make a swift nest, the twigs are glued to the
chimney in the shape of a little bracket. The
glue is the saliva of the bird, which is gummy,
and gets hard as it dries, and looks like isinglass.
The mouth of a chimney swift is very odd. You
have heard of " stretching a mouth from ear to
ear." That's just what the swift does every time
he opens his. It needs to be big, for he gathers
up his food in it. While he is flying around in
the air, he is busy catching tiny flying creatures,
such as flies and beetles, and thus keeping the
air clear for us.
162 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
The tail of this bird is another queer thing.
It has no soft feathery tips like most birds' tails.
It ends in sharp spines, like needles. These are
most useful to brace him against the rough chim-
ney where he sleeps. These spines are really the
stiff shafts or stems of the feathers, sticking out
beyond the plumey part.
The chimney swift hangs himself up to sleep.
He fastens his sharp claws into the rough bricks,
and props himself firmly with his spiny tail.
Even when the young swift is but two weeks old,
he crawls out of the nest and hangs himself up
under it. He seems to like that for a change
from forever lying in a narrow bracket.
Chimney swifts are social birds. They can't
bear to be alone. They are almost always seen
flying about in small parties, and calling to each
other as they go, a strange, chattering cry.
They are of a sooty color suitable to their sooty
home, and the pair are alike. Vaux's swift is a
little smaller and paler than the common chimney
swift.
The young swift is longer in his nursery than
any bird of his size in the United States. He
is four weeks old before he ventures out of his
grimy home, though before that he will come
up to the door to be fed.
A late writer in a newspaper tells a Httle story
THE SWIFT FAMILY 153
showing the affection of a chimney swift for her
little one. The writer had watched all summer
a party of swifts who hved in one of his chimneys.
A month or more after he supposed that all had
flown away to the South heyond our southern
boundary, where they spend the winter, he heard
the twittering of one in the chimney. He took
out the fireboard and found there a young bird.
He was full grown and able to fly, but he was
fastened by a horsehair to the nest. This had
been pulled off by his weight, and lay on the
hearth, holding him prisoner.
The little fellow seemed to know he was to be
helped, for he lay still while the man looked to
see what was the matter. His mother soon came
into the chimney with food. She took her place
beside the man and waited, while he cut the
strong hair and set the nestling free.
Then the old bird went to work to teach him
to fly. It was an hour or more before he learned
to use his wings. As soon as he did, the two
started off on their lonely journey to the far
South, to join their friends who had been gone
so long. How I wish we could know that they
reached them.
Insects were about gone when this happened,
and this swift mother would have died if she had
stayed, but she would not leave her little one
to starve.
154 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
It is a beautiful thing to see a large flock of
swifts go to bed. If they all rushed in pell-mell,
they might hurt one another. They begin by
flying around high above the chimney in great
circles. As they go around they sink lower, and
the circles get smaller till it looks like an im-
mense whirling funnel. When the birds form-
ing the lower part of the funnel reach the top of
the chimney, they plunge in. So in a short time
the whole flock is in and no one hurt.
XXVIIl
THE GOATSUCKER FAMILY
{Caprimulgidce) *
These are queer-looking birds, having their
front toes tied together by a kind of webbing,
and almost no hind toe at all. The mouth, too,
is almost as odd as the toes. It has a short beak,
but is very wide, and it opens from ear to ear
like the swift's. The plumage is so soft that the
birds can fly without making the least sound.
The two most common goatsuckers are the
whip-poor-will and the nighthawk. They are
both as large as a robin, and stouter. They are
dressed in dull brown, and black and white, mot-
tled all over. If you just glanced at the two,
you might think them alike. But they are not
marked ^.like, and all their ways are so different
that there is no trouble in telhng them apart.
The Whip-poob-will has broad white tail-
marks, with stripes on the back, and a narrow
> See Appendix, 21.
156 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
white band across the breast. He comes out only
in the evening, and he flies low, without making
a sound. He rests lengthwise of a log or fence,
not across it as most birds do. His feet are too
short to clasp a perch.
On his log or fence the whip-poor-will sits and
sings while he waits for his supper. You all
know his song, his lively " whip-poor-will " over
and over many times. It is a delightful evening
sound, which I love to hear. It is said that his
notes have been counted, and he has been found
to repeat them several hundred times without
stopping.
When moths or other creatures which fly in
the night come along, he catches them in his
big mouth. But he is not obliged always to wait.
Sometimes he flies near the ground like a shadow,
looking for prey, and he often hops awkwardly
along the road, for the same purpose. He picks
up straggling insects, and in the West locusts.
The whip-poor-will mother makes no nest.
She finds a little hollow in the ground, among
leaves or near bushes in the woods, and that's
good enough for her nestlings. She lays two
eggs, speckled and mottled so that they look like
the ground and leaves around them. She looks
almost the same herself. You might walk close
to her and not see her.
THE GOATSUCKER FAMILY 167
When young whip-poor-wills come out of the
egg, they are dressed in speckled gray down.
They cuddle down quietly by their mother, and
the whole family is hard to see. When their
eyes are shut, they look almost exactly like the
earth and leaves among which they lie.
If a whip-poor-will nest is disturbed, the
mother will pretend to be badly hurt. She will
tumble about on the ground and cry like the
whine of a young puppy, trying to coax away
the one she fears. If she is too much alarmed,
she will clasp her young one between her feet
and fly away with it.
Instead of the common whip-poor-will of the
Northern and Middle States, the South has the
Chuck-will's-widow, who is somewhat larger.
The West has the Pook-will, or the Nuttall's
Whip-poor-will, who is rather smaller and
paler than either. The habits of all are about
the same. They are called solitary birds. That
is, they are not found in parties like swallows or
crows. They do not sing or call when flying.
These birds are hard to watch because they
come out in the dark, and can then see so much
better than we can. So we know little about
their ways.
158 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
The Nighthawk's looks, and all his ways, are
different. He wears the same colors that the
whip-poor-will does, but they are arranged in an-
other way. They are put in bars running across
the back and tail, and there is a great deal of
white on his upper breast. On the wing is a
large white spot that looks like a hole across it,
when you see him flying away up in the air.
You can always know him by this.
Then he does not act like the whip-poor-will.
He is a high flyer, sailing about over our heads
in the afternoon or evening. He is not silent
on the wing. Now and then he gives a strange
sharp cry like " peent." He is busy catching
flies and mosquitoes as he goes. Sometimes you
will see him dive head first toward the earth as
if he would dash himself against it, At the
same time he makes a loud sound, like blowing
into the bunghole of an empty barrel. But be-
fore he touches, he turns and skims along just
above the ground.
The mother nighthawk, like the whip-poor-
will, makes no nest. She chooses a sunny spot
in a pasture or on a hillside to put her eggs.
Sometimes in the cities, where flies and other
things to eat are so plentiful, she takes a flat
house-roof for her nursery. Many pairs of down-
/*"*'% ( 1
NIGHTHAWK
THE GOATSUCKER FAMILY 159
covered baby nighthawks are brought up over
our heads, and we do not know it.
The family name of Goatsuckers was given
to the birds from the foolish notion that they
took mUk from the goats. By watching them,
it has been found that when they are so busy
around the goats or cattle, they are really catch-
ing the insects which torment them. So they
are doing a kindness to the beasts, instead of an
injury.
XXIX
THE WOODPECKER FAMILY
{Picidce) ^
You may generally know a woodpecker the
moment you see him on a tree. He will — if
he follows woodpecker fashions — be clinging to
the trunk, or a big branch, propped up by his
stiff tail, and not perched crosswise like most
other birds.
There are a good many of this family in the
world. We have twenty-four species in North
America. They differ from other birds in two
or three ways. First their toes are always in
pairs, two turned forward and two turned back-
ward, except in one genus, which has but three
toes. So they can hold on better than anybody
else.
Then again the tails of woodpeckers are not
like most birds' tails. They are strong and stiff,
so that they can be used as props to hold the
bird in the queer position he likes so well.
^ See Appendix, 22.
THE WOODPECKER FAMILY 161
Oddest of all are the woodpecker tongues.
They are round, worm-shaped it is called, and ex-
cept in the genus of sapsuckers, very long. They
can be pushed out far beyond the end of the beak.
That is so that they can reach into a deep hole
for the insects they eat. They have little barbs ot
sharp points on the tip, to catch their prey, and
they are sticky besides. The tongue of the sap-
sucker has a brush at the end and is not barbed.
One of the most notable things about a wood-
pecker is his bill, which he uses as a drill and
also to drum with.
Woodpeckers are made to take care of the
large limbs and trunks of trees, to get out from
under the bark the grubs which would kill them.
They are perfectly fitted for the work.
As you learn more about birds and beasts, you
will see that every one is exactly fitted for his
work in life. A worm is as well fitted to be a
worm as a bird is to be a bird. How this came
to be so has long been a study of the wise men,
and they have not found out all about it yet.
The largest of this family that is common is
the Golden-winged Woodpecker, or Flicker.
He is as large as a pigeon. In the Eastern States
is the golden-wing, in the West and California
the red-shafted, who differs merely in the dress.
162 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
The gold-winged woodpecker has a bi-own
back with black bars, and a light breast with
heavy black spots. His wings and tail are yellow
on the inside. He has a bright red collar on the
back of his neck, a heavy black crescent on his
breast, and black cheek patches or bars running
down from the corners of his mouth.
The Red-shafted Flicker has red cheek
patches instead of black, and omits the red collar
altogether. His breast is a little grayer, and the
wing and tail linings are scarlet. Both flickers
have large white spots on the back, above the
tail, which show very plainly when they fly.
These two varieties of the flicker are found
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Their ways of
living are the same, and what is said of one will
do as well for the other.
A flicker hangs himself up to sleep. He takes
a good hold of a tree trunk, or upright limb,
with his grapnel-shaped toes, presses his stiff tail
against the bark, and hangs there all night.
When he flies, he g'oes in great waves, as if he
were galloping through the air.
The nest of this woodpecker is a snug little
room in a tree trunk, or sometimes a telegraph-
pole. He usually selects a tree that is dead, or
partly so, but sometimes he takes a solid one.
The little room is cut out by the strong, sharp
THE WOODPECKER FAMILY 163
beaks of the pair. The door of this home is just
a round hole rather high up on the trunk. A pas-
sage is cut straight in for a little way and then
turns down, and there the room is made. It has
to be of pretty good size, for the bird is fond of
a large family. Five or six and occasionally
more young flickers have been found in a nest.
Fashions change in the bird world as well as
in the human. Woodpeckers more than any
others are changing their habits, and improving
their condition. They have found an easier way
to get a home than to chisel it out of wood.
Nowadays woodpeckers often cut a hole through
a board which admits them into a garret, a church
tower, or the walls of an unused building, and
make the nest there. Thus they save themselves
much labor. One even cut out a home in a
haystack.
These birds have changed too, it is said, in
their notions about eating. They do not think
it necessary to dig out every mouthful from
under tree bark. The flicker feeds on the
ground. He eats many insects, but mostly ants.
When insects are scarce, he eats many wild
berries — dogwood, black alder, poke-berries,
and others — and the seeds of weeds.
Young woodpeckers in the nest are fed mostly
upon insects. When they get big enough to climb
164 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
up to the door of their snug home, they stick their
heads out and call for something to eat. Then
one can hardly pass through the woods without
hearing them, for they have good loud voices.
And of course they are always hungry.
The way they are fed is by regurgitation.
That is, the old bird swallows the food she gets,
and when she wants to feed, she jerks it up
again. She thrusts her bill far down the little
one's throat, as I told you the hummingbird
does. Then she gives three or four pokes as if
she were hammering it down. A young flicker
does not seem to know how to swallow. A lady
once picked up a nestling who was hurt, and to
get him to eat anything she had to poke it down
his throat herself.
The gold-winged woodpecker is a lively bird,
most interesting to know. He makes so many
strange noises that I can't tell you half of them,
and his ways are as queer as his notes. He does
not sing much, but he is a great drummer.
When he finds a tin roof, or eaves gutter that
pleases him, he will drum on it till he drives the
family nearly crazy. He seems particularly to
delight in waking them all up in the morning.
He can sing, too. I have heard a flicker sing
a droll Httle song, not very loud, swinging his
body from side to side as he did it.
THE WOODPECKER FAMILY 165
Another thing this bird can do is dance. Two
flickers ■will stand opposite one another and take
funny little steps, forward and back, and side-
ways. Then they will touch their bills together
and go through several graceful figures. This
has been seen several times by persons whose
truthfulness can be relied upon.
The Eed-headed Woodpecker is another
common one of the family, especially in the Mid-
dle States. He is a little smaller than the flicker.
No one can mistake this bird, he is so plainly
marked. His whole head is bright red. The
rest of him is black, or bluish black, with a large
mass of white on the body and wings.
This woodpecker, too, has partly given up
getting food from under the bark. He takes a
good deal on the wing, like a flycatcher. Some-
times he goes to the ground for a large insect like
a cricket or grasshopper, and he is fond of nuts,
especially the little three-cornered beech-nut.
The red-head is beginning to store food for
winter use, for most woodpeckers do not migrate.
When beech-nuts are ripe, he gets great quanti-
ties of them, and packs them away in queer
places, where he can find them when he wants
them.
Some of his nuts the red-head puts in cavities
166 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
in trees, others in knot-holes or under bark that
is loose. Many he fits into cracks in the bark,
and hammers in tight. He has been known to
fill the cracks in a gate-post, and in railroad ties,
and even to poke his nuts between the shingles
on a roof. Any place where he can wedge a
nut in he seems to think is a good one.
A woodpecker can eat almost anything. Be-
sides insects and nuts, he likes wUd berries o£ all
kinds — dogwood, cedar, and others that he
finds in the woods.
The nest of the red-headed woodpecker is
usually cut out in the dead top or limb of a
tree. In prairie lands, where trees are scarce, he
contents himself with telegraph-poles and fence-
posts.
This bird is rather a dainty feeder. He does
not swallow his food wherever he finds it, as
many birds do. He likes a regular dining-table.
So he takes it to some place on top of a fence-
post or an old stump, where he has found or
made a little hollow. There he puts his nut or
acorn, picks it to pieces, and eats it in bits.
The young red-head is a good deal like his
father, only his head is brown instead of red.
A queer thing happened to a baby red-head in
Indiana one summer. He was found on the
ground, hopping about in a pitiful way, unable
DOWNY WOODPECKER
THE WOODPECKER FAMILY 167
to fly. The parents and others of the ■wood-
pecker tribe were flying about him, much
troubled, and trying to help him. But this
young one had been hurt, or was not yet strong
enough to get about. He acted as if he were
half paralyzed, and he was wholly helpless.
Once while the little bird was hobbling about
and calling for something to eat, and no one
was there to feed him, a robin happened to
notice him. He took pity on the hungry baby,
and brought him a nice worm, which he took
very gladly.
But still more strange was the way the family
cat acted toward the little stranger. When she
saw him on the ground, she started for him.
No doubt she meant to catch him, for she was
a great bird hunter. When she got almost up
to the little fellow, she seemed suddenly to
notice that he was a baby, and helpless. At
once her manner changed. She went up to
him, and actually played with him in the gentlest
way, not hurting him in the least. She did this
several times before the bird got strong enough
to fly. This is a true story.
The Califobnian Woodpecker takes the
place of the red-head in California. He is most
interesting because of one habit which gives him
168 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
the common name of " carpenter woodpecker."
This habit is of storing sweet acorns for winter
use.
Other birds store acorns, but this bird has
found out a new way. He drills a hole in the
bark of a tree for each acorn by itself. It is
generally a soft pine or cedar, and sometimes
thousands of acorns are put in one tree. Often
a trunk will be filled from near the ground up
forty feet. The acorns are driven in point first,
and so tightly that they have to be cut out with
a knife. When a tree is filled, it is carefully
guarded till they are needed.
Many people think they lay up these acorns
for the worms that sometimes come into them.
But Mr. John Muir, who lives right there, and
knows them as well as anybody in the world,
says the birds eat the sound acorns themselves.
Sometimes, when food is scarce, Indians go to
these trees and steal the poor birds' store. They
have to chop the acorns out with hatchets. They
often take a bushel from one tree.
These birds are more social than most wood-
peckers. Often a party of them will be seen to-
gether. In his flight and his ways of eating this
bird is like the red-headed woodpecker. Like
him also, he is fond of clinging to a dead limb,
and drumming, hours at a time.
THE WOODPECKER FAMILY 169
But in looks the Californian and the red-headed
woodpeckers are very different. The Western
bird has only a cap of bright red. His back is
glossy blue-black, and he has the same color on
the breast. His other under parts are white, and
he has a white patch on the wings, and another
just above the tail.
The smallest of our woodpeckers is the Downy
Woodpecker, who is not much bigger than an
English sparrow. The picture shows two of
these birds. In "The First Book of Birds"
there is a picture of a flicker at his nest-hole.
XXX
THE KINGFISHEB FAMILY
(Alcedinidce) ■^
Most of the Kingfisher family belong to the
tropics, but we have one who is found all over
the United States. This is the Belted King-
fisher.
The belted kingfisher is large and rather
chunky. He is dark blue above and white be-
low, with a bluish band across the breast. He
has a fine crest and a big head, and he sits up
straight as a hawk.
The tail of the kingfisher is short, and square
at the end. His plumage is thick and oily, so
that it does not hold wet. This is very impor-
tant to him in the way he gets his food, for he
is an expert fisherman. He lives alone, or with
his mate, near the water, — a lake, or pond, or
small stream.
This bird's way of getting fish is to dive for
them. You may have seen him splash into the
1 See Appendix, 23.
-iF.LI'El) KINGFiSHEl-
THE KINGFISHER FAMILY 171
water out of sight, and in a moment come up
with a small fish in his beak. Then he goes
back to his perch and beats the fish to death,
before he swallows it. He swallows it whole and
head first, because the fins might stick in his
throat if he took it tail first. After a while he
throws up a little ball of the bones, scales, and
skin of the fish he has eaten. It is said that the
kingfisher can take a very large fish. One was
shot who had swallowed a fish so long that the
tail stuck out of his mouth, and could not get
down.
The nest of the kingfisher is in the bank of a
river or lake. The birds first cut a passage or
hallway. Sometimes this is only four feet long,
and straight. But when stones or roots are in
the way, it will be much longer and have many
turns. At the end of this passage is the king-
fisher nursery. This is a round room nearly a
foot across, with a roof rounded up over it. It
is a Httle higher than the passageway so that
water will not run into it.
Sometimes it takes the birds two or three weeks
to make one of these nests, as we might expect
when we think they have only beaks and feet to
work with. Usually it does not take so long.
If the pair are not disturbed, they will use the
same nest year after year. Sometimes the bed
172 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
for the nestlings is of dry grass. One was found
in which the bed was entirely of the bones and
scales of fish.
Mr. Baily has told us about a family of king-
fisher little folk whom he studied and photo-
graphed. He dug down to the nest from above,
and was careful not to hurt them and to put
them back safely. First Mr. Baily took a pic-
ture of them when two days old. They were
queer-looking objects, with eyes not open, and
not a feather to their backs. They were not so
young but that they had one notion in their
little round heads. That was to cuddle up close
together. They were not used to much room in
their dark cradle.
When Mr. Baily laid them out on the ground,
they at once crawled up together and made
themselves into a sort of ball. They put their
bare wings and their bills over one another, and
held on so that one could not be moved without
the others. After they had sat for their picture
they were carefully put back, and the nest was
covered up again.
When the nestlings were nine days old, the
nest was opened again, and another picture
taken. The little ones had grown a good deal in
these few days. Their eyes were open, and they
were fast getting their feather coats on. But
THE KINGFISHER FAMILY 173
they were just as fond of being close together as
before.
After this the birds were left in their home
till they were twenty-three days old, and it
seemed about time for them to come out. When
the nest was opened this time, it was found that
the family had moved. The old room was filled
up with earth, and a new one made farther up.
No doubt the old birds thought the man too
curious about their babies. The young birds
were ready to fly, and two of them did take to
their wings when they came to dayhght.
There is a very old fable about the kingfisher,
who was called the halcyon. It is told in the
first book that was ever written about birds (so far
as I know). The author was Aristotle, a Greek
who lived three hundred years before Christ. The
story is, that the bird builds a nest that floats
on the sea, and for seven days before and seven
days after the shortest winter day, the sea stays
calm, so that the nest may not be hurt. During
the first seven days she builds her nest, and in
the second seven she hatches out the young.
These fourteen days were called halycon days.
You may find more about this curious story in
the encyclopaedias.
XXXI
THE CUCKOO FAMILY
{Cuoulidoe) ^
Most of the cuckoo family live in a hotter
climate than ours, hut we have a few of them.
They are beautiful birds, with some peculiar
ways.
Cuckoos are rather slim in form, with very long
tails, and bills a little curved. Their toes are
divided like woodpeckers' toes, two turned for-
ward and two back. In the Eastern States we have
but two, the yellow-billed and the black-billed.
Best known in the East is the Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, and in California the Western Yellow-
billed, or California, Cuckoo.
This bird has several names. In some places
he is called the rain crow, and in Other places the
wood pigeon ; but of course he is neither a
crow nor a pigeon. He is a graceful bird, with
plumage like satin. He is a soft brown above
and white below, but he is so shy that he is not
' See Appendix, 24.
VELLOVV-EILLED CUCKOO
THE CUCKOO FAMILY 175
SO often seen as heard. His call or song is a
loud, yet not harsh " kuk-kuk-kuk " many times
repeated. Sometimes it begins slow and grows
faster till the notes run into each other, and then
grows slow again, ending in a sort of " cow-cow-
cow ; " but it does not always do so.
The cuckoo does not manage her nursery
affairs as other birds do. Most birds lay an egg
a day, or every other day, so that they hatch
about the same time ; but this bird does n't
mind if several days come between. Thus it
happens that one or more little cuckoos hatch out
before the rest are ready, and it is common to
find httle ones of several ages in the same nest.
There may be one nearly grown, another just
beginning to get feathers, and a third one not
yet out of the egg.
There is another droll thing that may be found
in a cuckoo's nest. When the feathers begin to
grow out on young birds, they come wrapped in
little sheaths. In most cases these sheaths burst
open and the feathers show, when they are a
little way out. But in this family it is different.
The sheath does not open, says Mr. Dugmore, till
the feathers have grown their full length. Till
that happens, the youngster looks as if he were
stuck all over with white pins on his black body.
You have heard, or read, that the cuckoo
176 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
lays eggs in other birds' nests, and leaves her
young to be brought up by others. Do not for-
get that the bird who does that is the European
cuckoo — not ours. Our cuckoos build nests,
though very poor ones, sometimes hardly more
than a platform of sticks.
This bird is useful to us, for he eats some of
our most troublesome insects, — such as tent
caterpillars, which few birds like to eat because
they are so hairy, and other insects with spines
that are poisonous, and so generally avoided.
The cuckoo is graceful in flight. He goes
swiftly, without noise, and seems to glide through
the thickest foliage with ease.
I once found a young bird tumbling about on
the ground. He was trying to fly, but was not
able to go much more than a foot at a time.
He was giving strange calls, which were an-
SAivered from the woods beside the road by a low
tapping sound. I thought of course the little
one was a woodpecker and his mother was doing
the knocking. It was so dark I could not see
him well. After some trouble I caught him and
was going to take a good look at him to see who
he was before I let him go. As I grasped him
he gave a shriek, and out from the thick trees
popped a cuckoo. She alighted on a low branch
outside and gave such a cry of distress that I
THE CUCKOO FAMILY 177
knew at once it was her baby I held in my
hand.
I suppose the poor mother thought I wanted
to carry the youngster off. I could n't bear
to have a bird think that for a minute ; so I
opened my hands and away he went, half flying,
half scrambling up the road, while the mother
slipped back into the woods. In a moment she
began again her hollow-sounding calls, which I
had thought were woodpecker tappings.
xxxn
THE OWL FAMILY
(Bubonidce) ^
Owls differ from all other birds in having eyes
that look forward Hke ours. They have also a
broad face, which is made to look even wider by
the feathers which stand out around the eyes.
Owls cannot turn their eyes in the sockets, so
they have to turn the whole head to see to one
side. Many of them have tufts of feathers like
horns, which they can stand up or lay down as
they choose. These are called horned owls. An
owl's legs are covered with feathers, sometimes
down to the toes. The whole plumage of this
bird is soft and fluffy, so that he can fly with-
out making any noise. This is important to him,
for he lives mostly on mice, and he never could
catch one if he made much noise getting about.
The owl's mate looks like him, and — what
is unusual among birds — she is larger than he.
Because they come out in the evening, when we
^ See Appendix, 25.
THE OWL FAMILY 179
cannot see them well, we know very little of their
ways. They are more often heard than seen.
Their voices are generally mournful, but that is
no reason why they should be feared.
All birds have control over some of their
feathers, that is, they can make them stand
up or lie down as they choose. But owls have
more than any other bird. An owl can alter his
shape or size so that he will look like another
bird.
Mr. BoUes says that a large owl can change
from a mass of bristling feathers a yard wide, to
a slim, sleek brown post only a few inches wide.
When he does this, one cannot see him, though
he may be in plain sight. His colors blend with
a tree trunk, or stump, and he can stand without
stirring for an hour, and likes to do it.
Mr. BoUes had owls in the house, and watched
them closely. He has told us some curious
things about their ways. He says that when one
steps daintily across the floor, his feathers tuck
themselves up as a lady holds up her gown.
This moving of the feathers sometimes looks
very droll. When eating, the feathers around
the mouth, which might get soiled, draw back
out of the way. And when an owl wants to hide
his food, he stands over it, and the feathers
droop down like a curtain to screen it from view.
180 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
When Mrs. BoUes wanted to sketch an owl, he
kept changing his shape all the time, though he
did not seem to move at all.
Another man who had a pet owl says that the
bird would stand before him and throw back his
breast feathers each side, just as a man throws
open his coat.
The owlets come out of the egg dressed in soft,
fluffy down. In some of the family it is gray,
in others it is snowy white. They are carefully
fed and reared by their loving parents.
A funny story is told by a man who wanted to
see what was in an owl's nest. He lifted the
mother bird out, and to his surprise the whole
family came out with her. She held on to one
little one, and each one held on to the next, and
so he had the whole owl family in a cluster, like
a bunch of grapes.
The Screech Owl is the best known of this
family. He is found, under slightly different
forms, all over our country. In Florida he is
smaller and darker than in the Middle States. In
California he is larger and grayer, and in the
Rocky Mountains somewhat lighter. But he acts
in about the same way, wherever he lives.
In the East the screech owl is found in two
colors. Some have reddish feathers, others have
THE OWL FAMILY 181
gray. The wise men have not yet found any
reason for this difference.
The screech owl is badly named, for his song
is not a screech. It is a sort of trembhng sound,
and in some places he is called the " shivering
owl," which is a much better name for him than
screech owl. If one does not know who makes
it, it is rather a weird song in the dark ; but if
one knows the pretty gray bird, it is sweet and
pleasing.
The bird comes out before it is quite pitch
dark. He may often be seen against the sky,
standing on a branch, bowing and swaying back
and forth, while he utters strange notes of many
kinds. He has plenty to say for himself. But
you must keep as still as a mouse if you want to
see him. If he can see to catch a mouse in the
dark, you may be sure he can see you.
Generally the screech owl makes a nest in a
hollow tree or a deserted woodpecker nest, and
comes out only at night. What he likes best to
eat is mice, and mice too come out at night.
The way he eats is curious, as I told you in
" The First Book of Birds."
A few years ago a screech owl went through
a broken window into the attic of a house in New
Jersey, and lived there all winter. The family
were bird-lovers, so they let her stay. She liked
182 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
it SO well that the next spring she made her nest
there and hatched out three little owls. The lit-
tle ones were not at all afraid of people, and a son
of the family made many photographs of them.
After the owlets were grown, the whole family
disappeared, and lived out of doors the rest of
the summer. But when cold weather came, th^-
old birds came back and stayed all winter again.
They have made their home in that attic, and
reared a brood every spring since. They are al-
ways very social among themselves. They talk
and sing, and make many sorts of noises.
One of the queerest of the owl family is the
little Burrowing Owl of the West. The Flor-
ida Burrowing Owl, found in Florida, differs only
a little from the Western bird. The burrowing
owl is a comical-looking fellow, only about as
large as a robin. He has very long legs for an
owl, and is dressed in grayish brown.
This bird is said to have very polite manners.
In some places he is called the "■ how-do-you-do
owl." He is always bowing, and turning from
side to side, and seems to be greeting you as you
come near him.
The burrowing owl likes a comfortable home
underground, out of the way of eneipies. In
the West, where he Uves, prairie dogs are plenti-
THE OWL FAMILY 183
ful, and they are always digging out passages
and rooms, more than they can use. So the
owl has no trouble in finding empty quarters to
live in.
But in California, and places where are none
of the digging dogs, the little owl rooms with
some of the ground squirrels that burrow there.
He must have an underground home in that land
where trees are scarce, and he has no fancy for
digging. Even if he wanted to dig, hig feet are
not fitted for it like the feet of the little beasts.
The burrowing owl has no trouble in taking a
house where he finds one to suit him, for he 's
a savage little fellow. He can kill squirrels and
prairie dogs much bigger than himself, and even
rattlesnakes, which take lodgings in the prairie
dog houses also. He feeds upon all these crea-
tures. He eats also crickets, scorpions, and many
troublesome insects. This makes him valuable
to farmers, for nearly all these creatures destroy
his crops.
Remember, too, that birds have great appetites;
as I have told you, they eat more than their own
weight every day. In that way they dispose of
enormous numbers of pests. It almost seems as
if a bird were a sort of eating machine, made on
purpose to work for us. We should never forget
this.
184 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
This bird, like most others, makes many dif-
ferent sounds. His song is a soft " coo-oo,"
something like that of a mourning dove. When
a stranger comes to his home and he is there, he
gives a rattle which sounds like a rattlesnake.
This scares people, and perhaps animals, away,
for no one wants to meet a rattlesnake in a dark
hole. I wonder if the bird learned this trick
living in the same house with the snake.
The department of Agriculture has proved
owls to be among the most useful of birds. Their
food is almost entirely of hurtful creatures, and
they come out at night when other birds are
asleep and are ready to hunt the pests which do
the same.
XXXIII
THE BAEN OWL FAMILY
(^Strigidoe) ^
Tms is a small family of which we have but
one member in America, the American Barn
Owl. He is found all over the country, as far
north as southern New England, but he is one of
the shyest of birds. He comes out only at night,
and hides so well in the day that he is not often
seen, even where he is common. So very little
is known of his ways.
When he does happen to come out, and any
one sees him, a great deal is said about him.
For he is a very odd-looking fellow indeed. He
is all in gray and white, clouded and speckled
and barred, and his face is the strangest of bird
faces. It is three-cornered, and looks more like
a monkey's than a bird's. If he shows this face
in the daylight, he is generally caught or shot,
and the newspapers make a great fuss about him.
Some one says he looks like a toothless little old
woman, with a hooked nose.
1 See Appendix, 26.
186 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
Happily for the barn owl, he does not often
come out. He loves quiet more than anything.
He seeks a hidden, safe place, not only for a nest,
but to spend his days in. He is almost the only
bird who may be said to live in a home.
When house hunting, this bird will take a snug
cavity in a tree, or an empty building. He does
not despise an old mining shaft, or a burrow in
the ground. He delights in a church steeple or
a barn. Almost any place that is quiet and out
of sight of the world will suit him.
All day the barn owl stays at home. But in
the evening he comes out for his dinner, and
then there is havoc among the small animals.
Rats, ground squirrels, mice, bats, small snakes,
grasshoppers, and almost anything else that is
eatable are welcome to him. He should be pro-
tected because he is so useful.
This bird is an amiable fellow too. He has
been known to live pleasantly in a church tower
with pigeons, whom he could easily kill to eat if
he wished. He is a hearty eater himself, besides
feeding a family of five or six little fuzzy white
owlets great quantities of food.
One of these owls has lived for years in a
tower of the Smithsonian Institution in Wash-
ington. In the Zoological Collection of that city,
there was, not long ago, another of the family
THE BARN OWL FAMILY 187
alive. Wishing to have more of them in the
Zoo, some one watched the nest of the tower
bird. When her little family of seven was about
ready to fly, he took them away, and gave them
to their caged relative. She promptly adopted the
whole party, and reared them with the greatest
care. No doubt she was glad to have something
to do. Life in a cage must be very tiresome for
wild birds and beasts.
Mr. Eeed of Philadelphia has told us how a
pet barn owl threw up the castings. These, you
know, are the bones and skin of mice and other
creatures which are thrown up awhile after eat-
ing. He would bow his head and shake it very
hard. Then raise it and jerk out the little ball.
This bird was very tame. The place where
he liked best to sit was on the arm or shoulder
of his master. If the man wanted to do any-
thing except play with him, he had to get a
stufEed bird to amuse the living one. It was
like a doll for a baby girl. When the owl was
not perfectly comfortable, he kept up a constant
cry, so his master had to keep him well enter-
tained and fed.
The note of the barn owl is a wild screech.
One is sometimes heard making this sound, but
he is never heard flying, for, like other owls, he
is dressed in soft feathers that make no rustle.
XXXIV
THE HAWK AND EAGLE FAMILY
{Falconidce) ^
This is a family of birds of prey. That is.
birds who live entirely on living animals, which
they hunt and catch for themselves. Owls are
also birds of prey, but they do their hunting by
night, while this family work by day.
Like all birds, hawks are well fitted for what
they have to d^. They have long wings, so that
they can fly swiftly and long at a time, to follow
up the prey. They have sharp, curved claws,
made for grasping and holding things. Their
hooked beak is the best kind for cutting and
tearing meat.
Most of these birds work for us the whole
time, as do the owls. For they eat the same de"
structive animals, and they eat an enormous
number. Yet we have a foolish prejudice against
them, because two or three of them sometimes
take poultry and game birds. Even when these
* See Appendix, 27.
SPARROW HAWK
THE HAWK AND EAGLE FAMILY 189
birds do take our poultry and game birds, some
good is done. For they naturally catch the weak
ones who are not able to get out of their way.
And it is better for the whole race of these birds
that the weak ones should not live. It leaves
the rest stronger, and better able to make their
way in the world.
This family is found all over the world. It
includes birds of all sizes, from one as small as a
sparrow to one who spreads his wings ten feet.
In our country we have neither the smallest nor
the largest. Of those you are likely to see, the
least is the American Sparrow Hawk, who is not
much larger than a robin, and the greatest is the
Bald Eagle, who is sometimes a yard from the
tip of his beak to the end of his tail.
Hawks have wonderful eyes like a telescope
and microscope in one, as I have told you in
" The First Book of Birds." In eating without
knife and fork, they often swallow food whole
and throw up castings like the owls.
In catching their prey these birds use their
feet instead of their beaks. Even those who
hunt grasshoppers and crickets seize them in
their claws. Their feet are quite as useful as
hands. In them they carry material for the nest
as well as food for the little ones. The claws
are powerful weapons of war, too. A hawk
190 THE SECOND BOOK OP BIRDS
who is ready to fight throws himself on his back
and presents his claws to the enemy. Few peo-
ple would like to be grappled by those terrible
claws.
Hawks and eagles have wonderful wing power.
Some of them can stay far up in the air an hour
at a time. They go up in great circles with
wings held stiffly out and not beating, till out
of sight. Men have not yet been able to see
quite how it is done. It is probably by using
the wings as sailors use their sails, and making
the wind carry them.
The one of this family I shall tell you about
is the Fish Hawk, or American Osprey, be-
cause he is found all over the United States.
He is one of those which you will be most likely
to see, and want to know about.
The osprey is a large bird, about two feet
long. He is dressed in chocolate brown, with
white breast and white tips to many of his
feathers. His head feathers are long, and lie
back on his neck, giving a peculiar shape to the
head, by which you may know him at once.
These feathers too are white, so that as he flies
over he looks as if he were bald. He has feet
marvelously fitted to hold slippery fish. The
talons are sharp, and the toes long, and rough
THE HAWK AND EAGLE FAMILY 191
on the under side, so that nothing can get away
from them.
The fish hawk is a social bird and fond of his
home. Though he migrates, he comes back to
the old place, year after year. He likes the top
of a stout tree to build in. It needs to be stout,
for he makes' a very big nest, and adds to it every
season. It generally kills the tree, if it is not
dead when he begins. If there are no trees to
be had, or if there are too many birds for the
trees at hand, some of them will nest on the
ground, for they like to keep near their friends.
The nest is made of sticks and all the rubbish
the birds can collect. Such things are found as
an old broom, a boy's sail-boat, a rag doll, and
others as absurd.
The young fish hawk is a pretty little fellow
in white down. He is three or four weeks in
the egg, and a long time in the nest, and is help-
less a good deal longer. He is fed on fish like
his parents. For this bird deserves his name ; he
is a fisherman, and always takes his food from
the water. Fortunately he usually selects the
poorer kinds of fish, which men do not care to
eat, and so he is not called an enemy by the
fishermen.
But the hard-working osprey has an enemy,
who makes it his business to rob him. The way
192 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
the fish hawk gets his food is to dive for it. He
hovers over the water t^l he sees a fish near the
surface that suits him. Then he closes his wings
and dives like a shot. He plunges in often
over his head, and seizes the fish in his claws
or talons. Then he rises, and shaking off the
water flies toward his family, with their dinner.
But then appears the robber, the bald eagle,
I 'm sorry to say, who prefers stealing his food
to hunting for himself. He rushes furiously at
the fish hawk, who is obliged to drop his load to
defend himself. Then the eagle seizes it, often
before it reaches the ground, and flies off, while
the osprey goes back to his fishing.
But the osprey is learning something, like the
rest of the birds. On the shore of New Jersey
there is a place where men fish with great nets,
and bring in hundreds of fish every day. The
birds have noted how much better men are at
their trade of fishing than they are. So they
have thought out an easier way to get food than
to dive for it. Perhaps they got the hint from
the eagle.
Wherever the fish hawks got the idea, it is
now the common custom for them to sit on the
poles that hold the net and wait. When it is
drawn up filled with flopping fish, each bird dives
down and secures one for himself. And he takes
THE HAWK AND EAGLE FAMILY 193
time to choose, too. I£ there is one of a kind he
particularly likes, he goes for that one.
Fish hawks, like other birds, are very fond of
their little ones. A gentleman who had been
traveling in the West told me this little story.
He, with a party who were wandering over a
wild part of the country, accidentally set fire to
a bit of woods on the shore of Lake Superior.
On one of the trees was a fish hawk's nest with
young birds. As soon as the smoke began to
spread, the old birds grew uneasy, and circled
about their tree, going often to the nest.
The men who had done the mischief, and
who had then taken to their boat, were noting
the spread of the fire. They watched the birds
to see what they would do. When the fire at
last reached their tree, the loving parents turned
with one accord, plunged down into the nest,
and all perished together. They could easily
have saved themselves, but they could not desert
their nestlings.
XXXV
THE SCAVENGER FAMILY
(CathartidcB) ^
This is one of the most useful of bird families.
But it is not very pleasant to meet, for the work
it has to do makes it rather repulsive to us.
The vultures are scavengers. They dispose of
vast quantities of carrion and other • offensive
matter. In doing this they make it possible for
people to live in places where they could not live
without the service of these birds.
The common vulture in the United States is
the Turkey Vulture, or Turkey Buzzard.
He is a large bird, with head and neck bare of
feathers. In shape and size he is a good deal
like a turkey. He is a familiar bird all over
the country, except in New England and other
northern parts, and is usually seen soaring about
in the air, looking for food. Beautiful and
graceful he looks away up against the sky. He
* See Appendix, 28.
THE SCAVENGER FAMILY 195
sails around as if he weighed nothing, with wing
feathers spread at the tip like fingers. But he is
not so pretty when he comes to the ground, for
he is very clumsy and awkward in getting about.
The turkey buzzard nests almost anywhere ;
he is not at all particular — on the ground, in a
hollow stump, or tree. The young are comfort-
ably dressed in white down, but they are not
pretty. They are as awkward as their parents,
and have a way of hanging their heads as if
they were ashamed of themselves. That is not
the reason, however; their work is something
we could not do without. It is because they are
too weak to hold themselves up.
I once saw a funny sight. A party of eighteen
or twenty great buzzards had come to the ground
to get their dinner. They were all very busily
engaged just the other side of a fence, so that I
could not see them at their feast.
Suddenly a mockingbird that I was watching
flew over and alighted on the fence. He stood
there a minute, looking sharply down at them,
and flirting his tail in a saucy way. All at once,
to my great surprise, he gave a loud cry and
flung himself down right among the great birds.
I was frightened. I thought one peck from
one of their strong beaks would kill the little
fellow. But instead of that, the whole party of
196 THE SECOND BOOK OF BIRDS
buzzards flew up in a panic, as if they were
afraid of him. Then the mockingbird, who
looked like a midget beside them, hopped back
upon the fence, and burst into a loud song of
victory. He knew the turkey buzzard better
than I did. No one likes to get very near this
bird, so very little is known about his ways.
APPENDIX
CHARACTERS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN REPRE-
SENTATIVES OF THE FAMILIES MENTIONED
IN THIS BOOK
Note. — These characters, though correct, are untechnically given, and
are such as may be observed on the " bird in the 6wsA," while the added hints
on habits, etc., will be found helpful in identification.
1. Turdidee : Thkushks.
Medium size ; bill shorter than head, straight or nearly
so ; bristles (hair-Uke feathers) at corner of mouth ; wings
rather pointed, and longer than tail ; tail-feathers wider
towards the end, the whole somewhat fan-shaped. Young
in first feathers speckled and streaked, very different from
the adults. Sexes nearly ahke (except robin, varied
thrush, and bluebird). (Ridgway.)
Food : insects, earthworms, and sometimes fruit.
These birds are all singers and build rude nests. Found
usually on the lower part of trees in the woods (except
robin and bluebird) or on the ground, where they get
most of their food.
2. Sylviidse ; Kinglets and Gnatcatchees.
This family is divided into two subfamilies.
Kinglets : Very small ; bUl slender, much shorter than
head, straight to near tip, then slightly curved ; bristles at
corner of mouth ; wings longer than tail ; tail slightly
forked, feathers pointed ; legs long ; claws much curved.
Young without markings on head. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects.
198 APPENDIX
Very small, active, musical birds, usually found flitting
about in trees.
Gnatcatchbes : Very small and slim ; biU slender and
short, nearly as long as head, notcbed at tip ; bristles at
corner of mouth ; wings shorter than tail and rounded ;
tail long and moderately graduated, feathers rounded;
legs rather long ; toes small. (Ridgway.)
Active, beautiful nest builders, found in the tops of
trees. Insectivorous.
3. ParidsB : Nuthatches, Titmice, etc.
This family is divided into three subfamilies.
Nuthatches : Smaller than English sparrow ; bUl
sharp, pointed, higher than wide, about as long as head ;
bristles over nostrils ; wings pointed ; tail very short,
nearly even, feathers soft ; legs stout. (Ridgway.)
Parents nearly aUke ; food, insects.
Found on the trunks and large limbs of trees.
Titmice : Usually smaller than English sparrow ;
bill stout, conical, shorter than head ; nasal feathers
turned forward ; tail longer than vring. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects. Parents ahke, and young the same.
No noticeable change of plumage with season.
"Wren-Tits and Bush-Tits : Very small ; bill short and
conical ; tail rounded. Sexes alike.
4. Certhiidse : Ceeepbes.
Smaller than English sparrow ; biU slender and curved
downward ; wings rather pointed, long as tail ; tail gradu-
ated, stiff, with long, sharp-pointed feathers ; claws long
and strongly curved. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects. Sexes alike, and young the same.
Found circling tree trunks.
APPENDIX 199
5. Troglodytidse : "Wkens and Mocking Thrushes.
This family is divided into two subfamilies.
Weens : Smaller than English sparrow ; bill slender,
sometimes long and arched ; no bristles at corner of
mouth; wings rounded; tail usually held up. (Ridg-
way.)
Parents and young alike. Food : insects. Singers.
Found near the ground.
Mocking Thrushes : Larger than English sparrow ;
bill slender, mostly rather long ; bristles at corner of
mouth ; wings rounded ; tail longer than wings ; appear
like thrushes ; fine singers. (Ridgway.)
Sexes nearly alike. Food, insects and fruit. Some
of them found in bushy borders of woods, some about
gardens and houses, and others in various places.
6. CinclidsB : Dippers.
Larger than English sparrow ; bill slender, shorter
than head ; wings short, stiff and rounded ; tail shorter
than wings, soft and square ; claws strongly curved ;
plumage soft and compact ; body stout, thickset. Sexes
alike. (Coues.)
Food : water insects and larvae. Found in and about
the brooks of the Rocky Mountains and other mountains
of the West.
7. Motacillidse : Wagtails and Pipits.
Larger than English sparrow ; biU slender, cone
shaped, nearly as high as wide, at base ; short bristles at
corner of mouth ; wings rather long and pointed ; tail
narrow and slightly forked ; legs rather long ; hind claw
very long, sharp and slightly curved. (Ridgway.)
Sexes alike. Food : insects. Found on the ground,
where they walk, and wag their tails.
200 APPENDIX
8. Mniotiltidse : Wakblebs.
It is almost impossible to characterize this family, there
are so many varieties. With few exceptions they are
very small and beautifully colored birds, sexes unlike, and
changes of plumage with age and season. Some are
found in the tops of trees, some on bushes, and some on
the ground. Food : insects. (Coues.)
9. Vireonidse : Vireos.
Generally smaller than an English sparrow, and more
slender ; biU notched in both mandibles ; tail rather
short, nearly even, of narrow feathers ; front toes more
or less united. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects. Constant singers. Sexes alike and
young the same, without spots or streaks. Some found
in trees in the woods, and others about towns where
English sparrows are not too numerous.
10. Laniidse : Sheikes.
Larger than an English sparrow; biU powerful, tip
hooked and notched ; wings short, rounded ; tail long and
much graduated. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects, smaU mammals, and sometimes birds.
Sexes alike, and young the same. Found on outside of
low trees, fences, telegraph wires, and peaks of roofs.
11. Ampelidse : Waxwings, etc.
Somewhat larger than an English sparrow ; bill short,
broad and rather flat ; head with pointed crest ; wings
long and pointed ; tail short, narrow, even ; legs of mod-
erate length. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects and fruit. Sexes usually alike. Found
in trees in woods and in shade and orchard trees.
APPENDIX 201
12. Hirundinidse : Swallows.
About tlie size of an English sparrow ; bill short, flat,
and very broad at the head ; mouth opens back nearly to
the eyes ; wings long and scythe shaped ; tail forked ;
legs short ; feet weak ; plumage compact and usually
lustrous. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects. Sexes usually alike, and young a
little different. Found in flocks, in the air, on roofs or
fences or telegraph wires, sometimes on trees.
13. Tanagridae : Tanagees.
Larger than an English sparrow ; biU conical, notched^
bristles ; wings longer than tail ; tail of moderate length,
somewhat notched ; legs rather short. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects. Sexes unlike. Found on trees in the
woods.
14. Pringillidee : Finches.
Mostly about the size of an English sparrow, some
smaller, some larger ; bill short, high, and strong, turned
down at the back corner ; wings and tail variable.
(Ridgway.)
Seed and insect eaters. Found everywhere — on trees,
bushes, on ground, in woods, fields, and about houses.
15. loteridsB : Blackbirds, Orioles, etc.
Larger than an English sparrow ; biU straight or
gently curved ; mouth turned down at corners ; tail
rather long and rounded ; legs rather short. Includes
birds of very different habits. (Ridgway.)
Food : seeds and insects. Sexes generally unlike.
Found everywhere, on trees, in marshes, in woods.
Many gregarious, found in flocks, some except in nesting
season, and others all the year round.
202 APPENDIX
16. Corvidse : Cbows and Jays.
Larger than a robin. There are two subfamilies.
Ceows : Bill longer than head ; wings long and
pointed ; tail rather short and even.
Jays : Bill shorter than head ; wings short and
rounded. (Ridgway.)
Food : almost everything — seeds, fruit, sometimes
eggs and young birds. Found in woody places.
17. Alaudidee : Laeks.
Larger than an English sparrow ; biU short, conical,
frontal feathers extend along the side ; wings pointed ;
claw on hind toe very long and nearly straight. (Ridg-
way.)
Food : insects. Sexes nearly alike. Found on ground
in fields and roads.
18. Tyrannidae : Flycatchees.
Mostly larger than an English sparrow ; bill broad,
flattened, curved downward at end, and notched at tip ;
bristles along the gape ; wings and tail variable. (Ridg-
way.)
Entirely insectivorous. Found in woods and fields and
about houses.
19. Trochilidee : Hummingbieds.
Our smallest birds ; bill slender, sharp, and straight,
usually longer than head ; wings long and pointed ; legs
short ; feet small and weak ; claws curved and sharp.
(Ridgway.)
Food : tiny insects and the honey of flowers. Sexes
unhke. Found about flowers.
20. MicropodidsB : Svtifts.
About the size of an English sparrow ; bill very small,
APPENDIX 203
triangular, much broader than high, without bristles ;
wings long and pointed ; legs short ; feet weak ; taU very-
short, ending in stiff spines; plumage compact. (Ridg-
way.)
Food : entirely insects. Sexes aUke. Found in the air
or inside chimneys or hollow trees.
21. Caprimulgidse : Goatsuokeks.
Larger than a robin ; bill very short ; gape enormously
long and wide ; mouth open to behind the eyes ; wings
long ; plumage soft. (Ridgway.)
Food : insects. Sexes nearly alike. One species
found in the edge of woods, and another species about
towns.
22. Pioidee : Woodpeckers.
Larger than an Enghsh sparrow ; biU usually straight,
pointed or chisel-shaped at tip; tongue extensile and
except in one species barbed at point ; tail stiff and
feathers pointed at tip for a prop ; toes, except in three-
toed species, two forward and two backward for climbing.
(Ridgway.)
Insectivorous. Sexes unlike. Found on trees (except
one species) in woods or orchards.
23. Aloedinidse : Kingfishers.
Usually larger than a robin ; biU long and straight ;
tongue small ; head large, crested ; wings short ; legs
small ; outer and middle toe united half their length.
(Ridgway.)
Food : fishes. Sexes slightly unlike. Found by water.
24. Cuculidse : Cuckoos.
Larger than a robin ; biU narrow and high, rather long
204 APPENDIX
and curved downward ; wings long ; tail long, soft, and
rounded ; toes in pairs. (Ridgway.)
Insectivorous. Sexes alike. Found on trees.
25. Bubonidse : Owls.
Mostly larger than a robin, a few smaller ; bill hooked ;
eyes directed forward and surrounded by radiating fea-
thers ; plumage soft and lax ; feathers beside forehead
often stand up like ear tufts ; legs usually feathered ;
feet sometimes feathered. (Ridgway.)
Sexes aKke. Flesh eaters. Usually nocturnal. Most
species found in holes in trees or old buildings.
26. Strigidse : Barn Owls.
Much larger than a robin ; bill hooked ; eyes very
small ; triangular-shaped eye disk ; tail emarginate ; claws
sharp and strong ; very downy plumage. (Ridgway).
Food : mice and other small mammals. Sexes alike.
Exclusively nocturnal. Found in barns and deserted
buildings.
27. Falconidse : Hawks and Eagles.
(There are several subfamiilies.)
Mostly very large birds ; bill strongly hooked ; eyes
directed sideways ; eyelids with lashes ; toes never fea-
thered. (Ridgway.)
Carnivorous and insectivorous. Sexes usually, alike,
but female larger.
28. CatliartidsB : Amebicas: Vultures.
Large as a turkey, one species much larger ; whole
head and sometimes neck bare of feathers ; eyes promi-
nent ; tail rounded. (Ridgway.)
Food : carrion. Found sailing about in the air.
INDEX
INDEX
References to the First Book are indicated by i ; those to the
Second Book by 2.
Affections, i, 78-82.
Air-sacs, I, 92, 94.
Alaudidse, 2, 131, 202.
Alcedinidse, 2, 170, 203.
Ampelidae, 2, 63, 200.
Arriral in spring, I, 3, 4.
Attraction and Protection of
Birds, I, 131-135.
Audubon, John James, I, 60.
Auks, I, 110.
Barn Owl Family, 2, 185, 204.
Beak, I, 95-97.
Blackbird, Brewer's, 2, 113.
Blackbird, Crow, i, 72; 2, 110.
Blackbird, Red-winged, 2, 94;
portrait, 2, 94.
Blackbird Family, 2, 94, 201.
Blackbirds, i, 3, 126, 129.
Bluebird, arrival, i, 3; getting
food for young, 17; teaching
young to fly, 37, 38; feeding,
50; 2, 5; portrait, I, 38.
Bobolink, nest of, I, 9; one of the
first birds to stop singing in
summer, 47; the fall migration,
61, 62.
Bob- white (quail), i, 44, 59.
Body, shape of, i, 91.
Bolles, Frank, his pet owl, 1, 101,
116; his story of a heron, 103,
104.
Bones, i, 92, 94.
Books about birds, I, 142-144.
Brooding, i, 13-16.
Bubonidse, 2, 178, 204.
Bunting, Towhee, or Chewink, i,
76, 77; 2, 84; portrait, i, 76.
Bush-Tits, 2, 198.
Butcher-birds, 2, 59.
Buzzard, Turkey, i, 50, 51; 2,
194.
Canary, i, 20, 57, 81.
Caprimulgidae, 2, 155, 203.
Cardinal, i, 69, 132; 2, 88; por-
trait, 2, 90.
Catbird, food of, i, 49, 126; jerk-
ing the tail, 113; 2, 37, 125;
portrait, 2, 36.
Cathartidse, 2, 194, 204.
Cave - dwelling Family, 2, 30,
199.
Cedar-bird, feeding young, i, 19;
story of affection for young,
78; usefulness to man, 126, 129;
2, 63; portrait, i, 126.
Certhiidse, 2, 27, 198.
Chat, Long-tailed, 2, 53.
Chat, Yellow-breasted, 2, 52;
portrait, 2, 52.
Chewink, i, 76, 77; 2, 84; por-
trait, I, 76.
Chickadee, defending eggs, i, 11,
208
INDEX
12; getting food for young, 18;
as an eater of insects' eggs, 68,
126; affection for young, 78;
2, 22; portrait, 2, 22.
Chickadee, Mountain, 2, 22.
Chickadees, 2, 22.
Chuck-will's-widow, 2, 157.
Cinclidfe, 2, 42, 199.
Color in feathers, i, 120. See also
Plumage.
Cormorant, I, 94.
Corvidse, 2, 117, 202.
Cowbird, 2, 51, 98.
Creeper, Brown, 2, 27; portrait,
2,28.
Creeper Family, 2, 27, 198.
Creepers, 2, 19.
Crop, I, 93.
Crossbill, American or Red, 2,
91.
Crossbill, White-winged, 2, 92.
Crossbills, i, 97; 2, 91.
Crow, American, punishing a
young one, I, 37; sleeping in
flocks, 59, 60; story of an affec-
tionate, 80; usefulness to men,
126; 2, 40, 117.
Crow Family, 2, 117, 202.
Cuckoo, Black-billed, 2, 174.
Cuckoo, California, 2, 174.
Cuckoo, Yellow-billed, 2, 174;
portrait, 2, 174.
Cuckoo Family, 2, 174, 203.
Cuculidas, 2, 174, 203.
Dipper, American, 2, 42; portrait,
2, 42,
Dipper Family, 2, 42, 199.
Down, the first plumage, I, 15,
21, 22, 115.
Ducks, I, 97, 115.
Eagle, Bald, 2, 189, 192.
Ears, I, 102-104.
Eggs, beauty of, l, 11; the moth-
er's care, 11, 12; incubation
and hatching of, 13-15.
Eyes, 1, 100-102.
Falconidse, 2, 188, 204.
Feathers, first appearance on the
young bird, I, 22; of the wing,
109-111; of the tail, 112, 113
the various kinds of, 114, 115
expression of emotions by, 116
the birds' care of, 116, 117.
See also Plumage.
Feet, 1, 92, 105-108.
Finches, 2, 82, 201.
Fish, birds and dead, i, 86, 87.
Flicker, method of feeding young,
I, 18; food of, 85, 127; color
markings, 121; 2, 161; por-
trait, I, 86.
Flicker, Red-shafted, 2, 161, 162.
Flycatcher, Least, 2, 136.
Flycatcher, Shining Crested, 2,
67.
Flycatching Family, 2, 135, 202.
Flying, I, 93.
Food, 1, 48-55; in winter, 67-69,
134; in its relation to the wel-
fare of man, 125-130.
Frigate-bird, I, 110.
Fringillidse, 2, 80, 201.
Geese, i, 98, 99.
Gizzard, i, 93.
Gnatcatcher, Blue-gray, 2, 16.
Gnatcatchers, 2, 198.
Goatsucker Family, 2, 155, 203.
Goldfinch, American, 1, 14; story
of canary and, 20; change of
INDEX
209
color, 26; food, 54; flocking, 71;
2, 82; portrait, i, 26.
Goldfinch, European, I, 79.
Goldfinch, Willow, 2, 84.
Grackle, Bronzed, 2, 112.
Grackle, Purple, 2, 112.
Grackles, 2, 110.
Grosbeak, Black-headed, 2, 88.
Grosbeak, Cardinal, i, 69, 132;
2, 88; portrait, 2, 90.
Grosbeak, Rose-breasted, 2, 86;
portrait, 2, 86.
Grosbeaks, 2, 86.
Grouse, i, 58, 59, 110.
Grouse, Ruffed, i, 111.
Gullet, I, 93.
Gulls, I, 101.
Hawk, American Sparrow, 2,
189; portrait, 2, 188. '
Hawk, Fish, 2, 190; portrait, 2,
192.
Hawk and Eagle Family, 2, 188,
204.
Hawks, food of, i, 52, 53, 126,
127; asleep, 59; beaks of, 97;
eyesight of, 101 ; feet of, 106.
Heligoland, i, 101.
Heron, Great Blue, 2, 114.
Herons, food of, i, 53, 127; bills
of, 97; story of the hearing of a
heron, 103; 104; usefulness to
man, 127.
HirundiuidiE, 2, 69, 201.
Humming Family, 2, 143, 202.
Hummingbird, Anna's, 2, 149.
Hummingbird, Ruby-throated,
absence of male from nest, i,
16; method of feeding young,
18; 2, 144; portrait, 1, 18.
Hummingbirds, i, 15, 98.
Icteridse, 2, 94, 201.
Identification, i, 137-141.
Indigo-bird, I, 47; portrait, 1, 46.
Instinct, i, 83.
Intelligence, i, 83-87.
Japan, i, 131.
Jay, Blue, learning to fly, I, 31,
32; storing food, 54; story of a
mischievous, 55, 56; usefulness
to man, 126; 2, 113, 121; por-
trait, 2, 122.
Jay, Steller's, 2, 126.
Jays, 2, 117, 202.
Kindness of birds to one another,
1, 74-77.
Kingbird, I, 14, 129; 2, 113, 136;
portrait, 2, 136.
Kingbird, Arkansas, 2, 140.
Kingfisher, Belted, 2, 170; por-
trait, 2, 170.
Kingfisher Family, 2, 170, 203.
Kingfishers, i, 21, 115.
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned, 2, 14;
portrait, 2, 14.
Kinglet and Gnatcatcher Family,
2, 14, 197.
Language, I, 43^7.
Laniidfe, 2, 59, 200.
Lark, Desert Horned, portrait, 2,
132.
Lark, Homed, 2, 131.
Lark, Old-Field. See Meadowlark.
Lark, Prairie Horned, 2, 131.
Lark, Shore, 2, 131.
Lark PamUy, 2, 131, 202.
Legs, I, 92, 105, 107, 108.
Magpie, American, 2, 126; por-
trait, 2, 126.
210
INDEX
Magpie, Yellow-billed, 2, 126.
Magpies, 2, 117.
Martin, Purple, 2, 72.
Meadowlark, i, 45, 119, 121; 2,
97, 100; portrait, 2, 100.
Meadowlark, Western, 2, 102.
Meadow Starlings, 2, 100.
Mieropodidse, 2, 150, 202.
Migration, i, 61-68.
Mniotiltida;, 2, 49, 200.
Mocking Thrashes, 2, 34, 199.
Mockingbird, i, 45; 2, 9, 34, 195.
Motacillidse, 2, 46, 199.
Moulting, I, 25, 26, 118.
Neck, I, 92.
Nests, situations of, I, 9; materi-
als of, 9, 10; building of, 10;
seldom used more than once,
10, 11.
Nighthawk, l, 107; 2, 158; por-
trait, 2, 158.
Norway, i, 131.
Nuthatch, European, 2, 21.
Nuthatch, Red-breasted, 2, 20.
Nuthatch, Slender-billed, 2, 18.
Nuthatch, White-breasted, 2, 18;
portrait, i, 96.
Nuthatch and Chickadee Fam-
ily, 2, 18, 198.
Nuthatches, i, 18, 96, 98.
Observation, i, 137-141, 145.
OU, I, 117.
Oriole, Arizona Hooded, 2, 108.
Oriole, Baltimore, nest of, i, 9,
95; 2, 104; portrait, i, 10.
Oriole, Orchard, 2, 107.
Orioles, getting food for young, I,
18; teaching young to fly, 33,
34; food of, 50; affection for
young, 78; usefulness to man,
129; 2, 104.
Osprey, American, 2, 190; por-
trait, 2, 192.
Ostrich, I, 24.
Ostrich, South American, I, 24.
Ouzel, Water, 2, 42; portrait, 2, 42.
Oven-bird, 2, 52.
Owl, American Barn, 2, 185.
Owl, Barred, i, 101.
Owl, Burrowing, 2, 182.
Owl, Florida Burrowing, 2, 182.
Owl, Screech, 2, 180; portrait,
2, 180.
Owl Family, 2, 178, 204.
Owls, I, 35; food of, 52, 53, 127;
ears of, 103; feet of, 106; use-
fulness to man, 126, 127.
Paridoe, 2, 18, 198.
Penguin, i, 72.
Petrel, I, 110.
Pewee, Western Wood, 2, 142.
Pewee, Wood, i, 47; 2, 136, 140.
Phaiuopepla, 2, 67.
Phoebe, I, 35; 2, 136.
Picida;, 2, 160, 203.
Pigeons, i, 79, 80.
Pipit, Sprague's, 2, 46; portrait,
2, 46.
Pipits, 2, 46, 199.
Plumage, the nestling, I, 22, 23;
coloration of, 23, 24, 27, 28;
moulting, 25, 26, 118; change
of color without moulting, 26,
27, 118-120; protective colora-
tion of, 120, 121; recognition
marks in, 121, 122.
Poor-will, 2, 157.
Protection and attraction of
birds, 1, 131-135.
mcEx
211
Quail (bob-white), i, 44, 59.
Redbird, 2, 88.
Redstart, American, i, 14; por-
trait, I, 14.
Regurgitation, i, 18, 19.
Rhea, i, 24.
Robin, American, arrival, i, 3,
10, 15, 17, 18, 21; plumage of
young, 23, 34; teaching young
to bathe, 38, 39; notes of, 44,
45; food of, 49, 126, 127; roost-
ing in flocks, 60; devotion to
young, 78; story of the intelli-
gence of a, 84, 102; usefulness
to men, 126, 127, 129; 2, 5, 6,
38, 65, 167; portrait, 2, 60.
Robin, Western, 2, 6.
Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied, i, 85.
Sapsuckers, tail of, i, 113; 2,
161.
Scavenger Family, 2, 194, 204.
Shrike, Loggerhead, 2, 59; por-
trait, 2, 60.
Shrike Family, 2, 59, 200.
Shrikes, 1, 126.
Skylark, Missouri, 2, 46.
Skylark, Prairie, 2, 46.
Sleeping, I, 57-60.
Song, I, 14, 44-47.
Sparrow, Chipping, I, 54.
Sparrow, English, learning ca-
nary's song, I, 46; young fed
by a wren, 81, 82; harmfulness
of, 126, 130, 132; 2, 32.
Sparrow, Song, arrival, i, 3; nest,
9; individuality in songs, 45,
47; 2, 81.
Sparrow, Tree, i, 58, 128.
Sparrov/, White-throated, i, 54.
Sparrow and Finch Family, 2,
80, 201.
Sparrows, i, 84, 97; 2, 80.
Starlings, Meadow, 2, 100.
Stomach, l, 93.
Strigidae, 2, 185, 204.
Swallow, Bank, i, 96.
Swallow, Barn, i, 71, 96; 2, 69;
portrait, frontispiece.
Swallow, Chff or Eave, I, 71; 2,
72, 73.
Swallow Family, 2, 69, 201.
Swallows, food of, i, 17, 35, 50;
flocking, 62, 71 ; story of young,
75; story showing intelligence,
85; wings of, 110.
Swift, Chimney, sleeping, i, 59,
60; devotion to young, 78; tail
of, 113; 2, 150.
Swift, Vaux's, 2, 150, 152.
Swift Family, 2, 150, 202.
Sylviidffi, 2, 14, 197.
Tail, I, 112, 113.
Tanager, Louisiana, 2, 78.
Tanager, Scarlet, I, 79; 2, 75;
portraits, i, 142; 2, 76.
Tanager, Summer, 2, 78.
Tanager Family, 2, 75, 201.
Tanagridse, 2, 75, 201.
Thrasher, Arizona, 2, 41.
Thrasher, Brown, i, 113; 2, 40;
portrait, 112.
Thrush, Brown. See Thrasher,
Brown.
Thrush, Golden-crowned, 2, 52.
Thrush, Hermit, 2, 11; portrait,
2, 10.
Thrush, Western Hermit, 2, 11.
Thrush, Wood, i, 133.
Thrush Family, 2, 5, 197.
212
INDEX
Thrushes, Mocking, 2, 34, 199.
Titlarks, 2, 46.
Titmice, 2, 22, 198.
Titmouse, Tufted, 2, 24.
Tongue, i, 97, 98.
Towhee, or Chewink, i, 76, 77;
2, 84; portrait, 1, 76.
Towhee, Spurred, 2, 84.
Trochilidie, 2, 143, 202.
Troglodytidie, 2, 30, 199.
Turdidae, 2, 5, 197.
Tyrannidas, 2, 135, 202.
Usefulness of birds to man, i,
125-130.
Veery, i, 47.
Vireo, Red-eyed, i, 47.
Vireo, Warbling, 2, 57.
Vireo, Western Warbling, 2, 67.
Vireo, Yellow-throated, 2, 66, 57;
portrait, 2, 56.
Vireo Family, 2, 65, 200.
Vireonidae, 2, 55, 200.
Vulture, Turkey, or Turkey Buz-
zard, I, 50, 51; 2, 194.
Vultures, American, 2, 194, 204.
Wagtail Family, 2, 46, 199.
Warbler, Black and White, I,
121; portrait, i, 120.
Warbler, Yellow, i, 50; 2, 50.
Warbler Family, 2, 49, 200.
Warblers, i, 62, 97.
Water, birds in, i, 94; for drink-
ing and bathing, 133, 134.
Water-Thrush, 2, 62.
Water-Thrush, Louisiana, 2, 52.
Waxwing, Cedar. See Cedar-bird.
Waxwing Family, 2, 63, 200.
Whip-poor-will, i, 107, 121; 2,
155.
Whip-poor-will, Nuttall's, 2, 167.
Wings, I, 109-112.
Winter, birds in, i, 66-69.
Woodcock, beak of, 96; whistling
sound of wings. 111.
Woodpecker, Californian, 2, 167.
Woodpecker, Downy, I, 60; 2,
169; portrait, 2, 166.
Woodpecker, Golden-winged. See
Flicker.
Woodpecker, Red-headed, I, 85;
2, 166.
Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied, i,86.
Woodpecker Family, 2, 160, 203.
Woodpeckers, j., 18, 21; teaching
young to feed itself, 36, 36;
food of, 60; storing food, 64,
65; sleeping, 59, 85, 86; beaks
of, 95; tongues of, 98; 103;
feet of, 106; tails of, 113; 2, 19.'
Wren, House, i, 81, 82; 2, 31;
portrait, i, 80.
Wren, Western House, 2, 31.
Wrens, 2, 30, 199.
Wren-Tits, 2, 198.
Young birds, hatching of, i, 13-
15; feeding of, 16-20; first plu-
mage of, 21-23; learning to fly,
29-34, 37-39; the mother's
anxiety about, 30-32; learning
to feed themselves, 34-36, 39;
learning to sing, 36; after leav-
ing the nest, 70-73.
CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS
U . S . A
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11