^useum ofjy

1869
THE LIBRARY

Gift

HER Tttle li-l

Grant

BIRDS IN LITERATURE

Do you ne'er think what wondrous beings these?

Do you ne'er think who made them, and who taught
The dialect they speak, where melodies

Alone are the interpreters of thought?
Whose household words are songs in many keys,

Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught!
Whose habitations in the tree-tops even

Are half-way houses on the road to heaven !

Think every morning when the sun peeps through

The dim, leaf-latticed windows of the grove.
How jubilant the happy birds renew

Their old, melodious madrigals of love!
And when you think of this, remember too

'Tis always morning somewhere, and above
The awakening continents, from shore to shore.

Somewhere the birds are singing evermore.

Longfellow. ''Birds of Killingworth.

\\

BIRDS IN LITERATURE^

ABBY P. CHURCHILL

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL
FITCHBURG, MASS.

WORCESTER, MASS.

The Davis Press, Inc.

Printers and Publishers

1911

Copyright, 1905
By Abby p. Churchill

Copyright, 1911
By The Davis Press, Inc.

SECOND EDITION

Introduction

\V|E see with what we are; and what we see is con-
uU stantly changing us for better or for worse. If we
look for ugHness, we see ugUness, and our spiritual growth
is abnormal and deformed. If we look for beauty, the
beautiful meets us everywhere and transforms our minds
and hearts.

The past decade has witnessed an almost unparal-
leled turning of men to Nature, seeking refreshment and
renewal through her beauty and her mystery. Men have
not always looked at Nature in this way, nor do all to-
day. To primitive man she brought fear and awe and
wonder. Many centuries must pass before a Words-
worth could declare '' that Nature never did betray the
heart that loved her." And yet from the very beginning
men must have thought of the birds— particularly of
those whose migrations were the most striking, and of the
eagle and others that seemed in their soaring to touch the
very heavens — as allied with clouds and winds and stars
very closely to the mysterious unseen and unknown. So
in the earUest attempts at literature we find the birds,
often in simple reference or figure, often in myth or leg-
end. In the literature of all races we find them and in the
literature of all times.

The compiler of this book, an enthusiastic, intelli-
gent lover and student of Nature, one who understands
the meaning of Nature as a resource in life, one who has
spent many years helping others to see, to feel, and to
know the beauty and the mystery of the flowers, the birds,
the woods and the fields, has brought together herein from
those who have entered into and understood bird hfe the
myths, legends and traditions; the pregnant thoughts from

poets' minds; the appreciative descriptions and interpre-
tations; that through these word pictures we all may see
our common birds in beauty and in truth,

"For, don't you mark? We're made so that we love
First when we see them painted, things we have passed
Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see."

This is just as true of the poet's word picture as it is
of the canvas of Fra Lippo Lippi, and the collector of these
bird pictures has rendered a service and met a need.
This book will arouse and create an interest in birds, it will
lighten the labor of all who attempt to lead others to appre-
ciate and love our wonderful bird hfe. It is a growth in
response to a need, and is pubhshed because of the con-
stant demand for copies.

JOHN G. THOMPSON.

State Normal School,

Fitehburg, Massachusetts.

January, 1905.

10

Pref

ace

The cordial reception given this volume has exhausted
the first edition. BeHeving that the work here recorded
should be perpetuated and its influence extended, a sec-
ond edition has been pubHshed. This edition has the
added attractiveness of sixteen full color plates, by which
the characteristics of as many birds may be observed. For
the use of these plates the publishers are indebted to Mr.
Charles K. Reed, Worcester, Mass., author and publisher
of ^' Water Birds,'' ''Land Birds,'' and other works.

The pubhcation of this compilation has been made possi-
ble by the courtesy of those authors and pubUshers who have
generously permitted the use of their copyrighted material.

The selections from the writings of Longfellow, Whit-
tier, Emerson, Lowell, Holmes, Burroughs, Aldrich, Thor-
eau, Stedman, CeUa Thaxter, Lucy Larcom, Frank Bolles,
Bradford Torrey, Olive Thome Miller, Florence Merriam,
Trowbridge and Minot are used by permissoin of and
special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company.

D. Appleton & Co., Doubleday, Page & Co., The Educa-
tional Publishing Co., Little, Brown & Co., The J. P. Lippin-
cott Co., Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, Charles Scribner's Sons,
Harper and Brothers, have allowed the use of extracts from
the books mentioned in connection with their names in the
bibliography, while Messrs. Eben E. Rexford and Ernest
Thompson Seton have kindly consented to the use of those
selections which bear their names. Such material of Dr.
Charles Conrad Abbott and Mr. John Burroughs as is not
controlled by pubhshers is used by the courtesy of these
gentlemen. The compiler is also indebted to Messrs. H. R.
Gibbs, John G. Thompson and Henry T. Bailey for valuable

assistance. , .^ ^

Abby p. Chuechill.

February, 1911.

11

The Origin of Birds

Long ago, even before the time of birds in the world,
say the Indians, God touched the earth wherever He wish-
ed a tree to appear, and there immediately a tree sprang up.

Then as now, when summer passed, autumn came. In
the early fall, the leaves of the trees changed their green
to colors of a brighter hue. The autumn winds came.
The leaves in their play waved in the wind, fluttered
about the branches, and at last fell to the ground.

God so loved the leaves He did not wish them to die, so
He changed them to bird)5, giving to them wings and
strength with which to fly. From the red-brown leaf of the
oak came the robin. Tl>6 leaves of the red maple changed
to cardinal birds, the yellow willow leaves became little
yellow birds, and the brown leaves flew away as sparrows
and larks.

Because these first birds were once leaves of the forest,
their descendants have always loved the trees and lived
among them, finding food and shelter in their foUage
and branches.

Adapted.

13

The Bloodless Sportsman

I go a-gunning, but take no gun;

I fish without a pole;
And I bag good game, and catch such fish

As suit a sportsman's soul;
For the choicest game that the forest holds

And the best fish of the brook
Are never brought down with a rifle shot,

And are never caught with a hook.

I bob for fish by the forest brook,

I hunt for game in the trees.
For bigger birds than wing in the air,

Or fish that swim the seas.
A rodless Walton of the brooks,

A bloodless sportsman, I —
I hunt for the thoughts that throng the woods,

The dreams that haunt the sky.

The woods were made for the hunters of dreams,

The brooks for the fishers of song;
To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game

The streams and the woods belong.
There are thoughts that moan from the soul of the pine,

And thoughts in a flower bell curled;
And the thoughts that are blown with the scent of the fern

Are as new and as old as the world.

So, away! for the hunt in the fern-scented wood,

Till the going down of the sun;
There is plenty of game still left in the woods

For the hunter who has no gun.
So, away! for the fish by the moss-bordered brook

That flows through the velvety sod;
There are plenty of fish still left in the streams

For the angler who has no rod. Sam Walter Foss.

14

Greetings

Darlings of children and of bard,

Perfect kinds by vice unmarred,

All of worth and beauty set

Gems in Nature's cabinet;

These the fables she esteems

Reality most like to dreams.

Welcome back, you little nations,

Far-travelled in the south plantations;

Bring your music and rhythmic flight,

Your colors for our eyes' delight:

Freely nestle in our roof.

Weave your chamber weatherproof;

And your enchanting manners bring

And your autumnal gathering.

Exchange in conclave general

Greetings kind to each and all,

Conscious each of duty done

And unstained as the sun. Emerson.

What are the voices of birds —
Ay, and of beasts, — but words, our words.
Only so much more sweet?

Browning.

The little Hiawatha
Learned of every bird its language.
Learned their names and all their secrets,
How they built their nests in summer.
Where they hid themselves in winter.
Talked with them whene'er he met them.
Called them Hiawatha's Chickens.

Longfellow.

15

0, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us !

Burns.

17

Birds in Literature

BITTERN, American

Like the other members of its family, it excels in stand-
ing still, and will hold its head erect and motionless amid
the tall grass till the watcher tires of looking and pro-
nounces the suspicious object nothing but a stick after
all. The bittern's fame rests upon its vocal performance,
or ''boom." This is sometimes exactly Hke the working
. of an old-fashioned wooden pump, and sometimes — even
with the same bird — like the driving of a stake in a bog.
.... The strange notes are delivered with equally
strange contortions, as if the bird were horribly nauseated,
and are preceded by a succession of quick snapping or
gulping sounds — "hiccoughs," one observer has called them.
No water is employed in the operation, in spite of the
circumstantial assertions of several persons who profess to
have seen the bird swallowing and then ejecting it.

ToRREY. Chapman's Handbook of Birds.^^

BLACKBIRD, Crow

He is one of the most brilliant of our bird beauties.
Watch him as he ambles over the branches, and when
the sunlight strikes him you will wonder who could have
been so bhnd as to dub him blackbird. Call him, rather,
the black opal. He is a bird of many accomplishments.
To begin with, he does not condescend to hop, like ordinary
birds, but imitates the crow in his stately walk; then he
has a steering apparatus that the small boy might well

19

Blackbird, Crow

study in coasting time. He can turn his tail into a rudder.
.... Moreover, he can pick beechnuts, catch crayfish
without getting nipped, and fish for minnows alongside
of any ten-year-old.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

As a songster it is a most dismal failure. All the ills
that ever attacked a singer's larynx seem concentrated in
its throat; yet, like many another supposititious and exe-
crable vocahst, it persists in trying to sing. When a large
number of them lift up their voices together, it certainly
makes what someone has aptly called a good wheelbarrow
chorus.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

There is evidently some music in the soul of this bird
.... though he makes a sad failure in getting it out.
His voice always sounds as if he were laboring under a
severe attack of influenza, though a large flock of them
heard at a distance on a bright afternoon of early spring
produce an effect not unpleasing. The air is filled with
crackling, splintering, spurting, semi-musical sounds, which
are like pepper and salt to the ear.

Burroughs. Wake Robin. ^

In consequence of these depredations [on the maize
crop], they are detested by the farmer as a pest to his
industry .... Up to the time of harvest I have uni-
formly, on dissection, found their food to consist of larva?,

20

Blackbird, Crow

caterpillars, moths, and beetles, of whicli they devour
such numbers that but for this providential economy the
whole crop of grain, in many places, would probably be
destroyed by the time it began to germinate.

NuttalPs Ornithology.

26

It is impossible to take this bird seriously, he is so irre-
sistibly ludicrous. His manners always suggest to me the
peculiar drollery of the negro, one of the old-fashioned
sort as we read of him.

Olive Thorne Miller. A Bird-Lover in the West.^

The crow blackbirds cackled and jingled.

Burroughs.

The blackbirds make the maples ring
With social cheer and jubilee.

The blackbirds clatt'rin' in tall trees.
An' settlin' things in windy congresses.

Emerson.

Lowell.

21

BLACKBIRD, Red-Winged

When early in March the Red-wings come, then we know
that the tide of the year has turned. With perennial
faith in the season they come in flocks of hundreds, sing-
ing their springtime chorus with a spirit that March winds
cannot subdue.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

In oozy pastures where a brook lazily finds its way
through the farm is the ideal pleasure-ground of this "bird
of society." His notes "h'-wa-ker-ee" or " con-quer-ee "
are liquid in quality, suggesting the sweet, moist, cool
retreats where he nests.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

Who is not conscious of a thrill of pleasure at sight of
one of the handsome birds saiHng down to a fence, with
scarlet epaulettes fairly standing out on his shoulders?
.... The o-ka-lee of the Red-wing stirs associations
whose richness is all their own.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

''The red-wing flutes his o-ka-lee," and, fluting it, blots
out all the disaster that winter has wrought. There is
no early spring-tide note so full of summer; none that
warms the landscape so much and tempers the March
winds till they are softened to a zephyr.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

22

Red- Winged Blackbird

O gurgle-ee-e, o-gurgle-ee-e, some of the most liquid
notes ever heard, as if produced by some of the water
of the Pierian spring, flowing through a kind of musical
water pipe, and at the same time setting in motion a
multitude of fine vibrating metallic springs. Like a shep-
herd merely meditating most enrapturing glees on such a

water pipe.

Thoreau. Spring.^^

The red-wing flutes his o-ka-lee.

Emerson.

BLACKBIRD, Rusty

They often indulge in a curious spluttering, squeaking,
musical concert that one listens to with pleasure.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

They begin, as it were, by disgorging or spitting it out
Hke so much tow, from a full throat, and conclude with
a clear, fine, shrill, ear-piercing whistle.

Thoreau. Spring. -^^

23

BLUEBIRD

Although the bluebird did not come over in the May-
flower, it is said that when the Pilgrim Fathers came to
New England this bird was one of the first whose gentle
warblings attracted their notice, and, from its resemblance
to the beloved Robin Redbreast of their native land, they
called it the Blue Robin.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

When Nature made the bluebird, she wished to propi-
tiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color
of one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast,
and ordained that his appearance in spring should denote
that the strife and war between these two elements was
at an end. He is the peace-harbinger; in him the celestial
and terrestrial strike hands and are fast friends.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

If the king-bird is one of the chief sinners, the bluebird
certainly ranks among the highest of the feathered saints —
a Nathaniel indeed, in whom is no guile. Its mellow,
coaxing love-note is one of the most affectionate sounds
in nature, and matches the delicate gentleness of its ways,
making it the favorite alike of poet and peasant.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

24

Bluebird

The bluebird comes, and with his warble drills the ice,
and sets free the rivers and ponds and frozen ground.

Thoreau. Spring.

12

Song: '^ The violet of sound."
The warble of this bird is innocent and celestial like
its color.

Thoreau.

Their short rich warble curls through the air.

Thoreau.

"Dear! dear! think of it, think of it."
Purity, purity.

Burroughs.

Tru-al-ly, tru-al-ly.

Blanchan.

''Far-away, far-away." (in autumn.)
"Drearily, drearily." (in autumn.)

A bit of heaven itself

Winging, springing, always flinging,
Flinging music all about him.

Harriet Prescott Spofford.
25

Bluebird

A welcome warm aw^aits thee

Bright herald of the spring.

Selected.

Sparrows far off, and nearer, April's bird,
Blue-coated,— flying before from tree to tree,
Courageous sing a dehcate overture
To lead the tardy concert of the year.

Emerson.

Hark! 'T is the bluebird's venturous strain
High on the old fringed elm at the gate —
Sweet-voiced, valiant on the swaying bough.

Alert, elate.
Dodging the fitful spits of snow,
New England's poet-laureate
Telling us Spring has come again.

T. B. Aldrich.

The bluebird, shifting his light load of song
From post to post along the cheerless fence.
Was as a rhymer ere the poet came.

Lowell,

Bluebird

This earliest May day herald,

This prophet of the spring,
Has brought celestial color

Upon his breezy wing.

Heaven loves to scatter earthward

Flakes of its own soft hue;
The first bird, the last blossom

Wear the same shade of blue.

Selected.

Bluebird

The Bluebird

Listen a moment I pray you; what was the sound that I

heard?
Wind in the budding branches, the ripple of brooks or a bird?
Hear it again, above us! and see! a flutter of wings!
The bluebird knows it is April, and soars toward the sun

and sings.

Never the song of the robin could make my heart so glad.
When I hear the bluebird singing in spring, I forget to be sad.
Hear it! a ripple of music! sunshine changed into song!
It sets me thinking of summer when the days and their dreams
are long.

Winged lute that we call a bluebird, you blend in a silver
strain

The sound of the laughing waters, the patter of spring's sweet
rain,

The voice of the winds, the sunshine, and fragrance of blos-
soming things.

Ah! you are an April poem, that God has dowered with

wings!

E. E. Rexford.

27

Bluebird

The Bluebird's Song to the Flowers

I know the song that the bluebird is singing,
Out in the apple tree where he is swinging;
Brave Uttle fellow! the skies may be dreary,
Nothing cares he while his heart is so cheery.

Hark! how the music leaps out from his throat!
Hark! was there ever so merry a note?
Listen awhile and you'll hear what he's saying,
Up in the apple tree swinging and swaying.

'' Dear little blossoms, down under the snow.
You must be weary of winter, I know;
Hark! while I sing you a message of cheer.
Summer is coming and springtime is here.

''Little white snowdrop, I pray you arise;
Bright yellow crocus, come open your eyes;
Sweet little violets, hid from the cold.
Put on your mantles of yellow and gold!
Daffodils, daffodils! say, do you hear?
Summer is coming, and springtime is here!"

Selected.

28

Bluebird

Bluebirds and Robins

AN INDIAN LEGEND.

Wenonah, the motherless daughter of an Indian chief,
loved nothing so well as the birds and beasts of the field.
She was happy only when she was with them. Even the
fiercest of the animals often carried their young to her that
she might caress them.

Of all the birds she loved the robins and the bluebirds
best, and, when, one spring morning just at day-dawn,
she received a message to join her mother in the spirit-land,
she asked these birds to accompany her part of the way
that her departure might be unseen.

Before they set out, she took some moist clay and rubbed
it on the breasts of the birds as a sign that they should re-
turn in safety to the earth. After a long flight the rays of
the rising sun shone upon their breasts and turned them to
a brick-red color. When Wenonah saw this she told them
that they must turn back. The tender-hearted bluebirds
began to weep. To comfort them, Wenonah stroked their
backs, and their feathers, with the touch of her fingers,
became as blue as the sky above them. The birds all begged
to go on with her to her journey's end, but she knew that
this would be impossible. So she bade them farewell and
requested them to wear forever on their breasts, in remem-
brance of her, the red color which had come upon them
while doing her this last loving service.

To this day both the robins and the bluebirds have
kept their red breasts, and the bluebirds still have their
blue backs and sad note, and if the young do at first wear
the old-time spots they quickly moult away.

Adapted.

29

BOBOLINK. REED BIRD. RICE BIRD

A handsome, gifted, and striking individual, renowned
in prose and poetry as a most dashing, happy-go-lucky
sort of fellow, a feathered extravaganza, an intoxicated
soloist, an artistic comedian.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar. ^^

I cannot look upon him as ever in a very serious humor.
He seems to be a lively, jocular little fellow, who is always
jesting and bantering; and when half a dozen different
individuals are sporting about in the same orchard, I can
imagine they might represent the persons dramatized in

some comic opera In the grand concert of Nature

it is the boboUnk that performs the recitative, which he
delivers with the utmost fluency and rapidity, and we
must listen carefully not to lose many of his words.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

The most exuberantly happy of all our birds, he seems
to contain the essence of summer joy and sunshine. '' Bobo-
linkum-linkum-deah-deah-deah " he warbles away, the
notes fairly tumbling over each other as they pour out
of his throat.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

It is as if he touched his harp within a vase of liquid
melody and when he lifted it out the notes fell Uke bubbles
from the trembling strings.

Thoreau. Walden.^^

30

Bobolink. Reed Bird. Rcei Bird

Instead of the light-colored shirt and vest and decorous
dark coat sanctioned by the Worth of conventional bird
circles for centuries, this radical decks himself out in a
jet-black shirt and vest, with not so much as a white collar
to redeem him; besides having all of four almost white
patches on the back of his coat!

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

When the boboHnks go south they stop on the way,
first in the marshes, where they are known as ''Reed-
birds," and then in the rice-fields of South Carolina and
Georgia, where they are known as ''Rice-birds."

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

He turns lightly about and breaks out with a song
precisely analogous to a burst of gay and self-satisfied
laughter, as much as to say, "Ha! ha! ha! I must have
my fun, Miss Silverthimble, thimble, thimble, if I break
every heart in the meadow, see, see, see ! ' '

Burroughs. Birds and Poets. -^^

From time to time during a long period of years I have
added an occasional note or two to my singular vocabulary
caught from this meadow doggerel. . . . Here is the

list copied from my random notes

*'Bob-o- link o' love o' lucky o' linkum o' linkum a
jingle a jingle a ditty bob for bonny Missus Linkum see
see keep an eye up here my sweet see see hear me tinkle

31

Bobolink. Reed Bird. Rice Bird

tinkle sprinkle such a liquid mellow glee wet your whistle
bob temperance O gush a gurgle scatter spatter such a
carol as she alone can follow follow pipe it pipe it bob 0
tintinnabulate for temperance temperance whink a seeble
seeble here I go across the clover sprink a j inkle sprinkle
treble burst a bubble purl a babble gabble glee shake it
out upon the meadow chink a link a wheedle see look'ee-
look'ee ninkum ninkum deacon yonder see yessir yessir
funny fellow he whew whew but I must seek a rest for
my cap is coming off and I can hardly keep my jacket
on whew temperance"

Gibson. Starlight and Sunshine.^

Gladness of woods, skies, waters, all in one,

The bobolink has come, and, Uke the soul

Of the sweet season vocal in a bird.

Gurgles in ecstasy we know not what

Save June! Dear June! Now God be praised for June.

Lowell.

June's bridesman, poet o' the year,

Gladness on wings, the bobolink, is here;

Half-hid in tip-top apple blooms he swings.

Or climbs aginst the breeze with quiver' in wings,

Or, givin' way to 't in a mock despair.

Runs down, a brook o' laughter, thru the air.

Why, I'd give more for one live bobolink
Than a square mile o' larks in printer's ink,

LOW^ELL.

Lowell.

32

Bobolink. Reed Bird. Rice Bird

The crack-brained bobolink courts his crazy mate

Poised on a bulrush tipsy with his weight. Holmes.

When Nature had made all her birds,

With no more cares to think on,
She gave a rippling laugh and out

There flew a Bobolinkon. C. P. Cranch.

One day in the bluest of summer weather,

Sketching under a whispering oak,
I heard five bobolinks laughing together

Over some ornithological joke. C. P. Cranch.

When little Teddy heard a merry bobolink.

He said, ''Mamma, that bird is laughing, I should think."

Still rang the wondrous song.

So varied, clear and strong,

And listening Teddy cried,
''Why, I should think he tied a lot of songs together."

Selected.

Out in the clover, blowing free.

As the white clouds roll away.
In a mad-cap ripple of ecstasy.

He's pouring his merry lay.
'Neath the blue of the peaceful summer skies.

Where the bees round the flowers throng.
His wake, as over the field he flies.

Is a bubbling trail of song.
O bobolinkum, by fancy led.

What a happy fate to wing
O'er the sea of clover, billowy red,

With nothing to do but sing. E. E. Rexford.

33

Bobolink. Reed Bird. Rice Bird

Robert of Lincoln

Merrily smnging on brier and weed,
Near to the nest of his little dame,
Over the mountain-side or mead,
Robert of Lincoln is telling his name :
Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link,
Spink, spank, spink;
Snug and safe is that nest of ours,
Hidden among the summer flowers.
Chee, chee, chee.

Robert of Lincoln is gaily drest.

Wearing a bright black wedding-coat;
White are his shoulders and white his crest.
Hear him call in his merry note :
Bob-o'-Unk, bob-o'-link,
Spink, spank, spink;
Look, what a nice new coat is mine,
Sure there was never a bird so fine.
Chee, chee, chee.

Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife,

Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings.
Passing at home a patient life,

Broods in the grass while her husband sings:
Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link,
Spink, spank, spink;
Brood, kind creature; you need not fear
Thieves and robbers while I am here.
Chee, chee, chee.

34

Bobolink. Reed Bird. Rice Bird

Modest and shy as a nun is she;

One weak chirp is her only note.
Braggart and prince of braggarts is he,
Pouring boasts from his Uttle throat:
Bob-o'-Unk, bob-o'-Unk,
Spink, spank, spink;
Never was I afraid of man;
Catch me, cowardly knaves, if you can!
Chee, chee, chee.

Six white eggs on a bed of hay,
Flecked with purple, a pretty sight!
There as the mother sits all day,
Robert is singing with all his might:
Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link,
Spink, spank, spink;
Nice good wife, that never goes out,
Keeping house while I frolic about.
Chee, chee, chee.

Soon as the little ones chip the shell,
Six wide mouths are open for food;
Robert of Lincoln bestirs him well.
Gathering seeds for the hungry brood.
Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link,
Spink, spank, spink;
This new life is likely to be
Hard for a gay young fellow like me.
Chee, chee, chee.

36

Bobolink. Reed Bird. Rice Bird

Robert of Lincoln at length is made

Sober with work, and silent with care;
Off is his holiday garment laid,
Half forgotten that merry air:
Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link,
Spink, spank, spink;
Nobody knows but my mate and I
Where our nest and our nestlings lie.
Chee, chee, chee.

Summer wanes; the children are grown;

Fun and froUc no more he knows;
Robert of Lincoln's a humdrum crone;
Off he flies, and we sing as he goes :
Bob-o'-Hnk, bob-o'-Unk,
Spink, spank, spink.
When you can pipe that merry old strain,
Robert of Lincoln, come back again.
Chee, chee, chee.

Bryant.

The O' Lincoln Family

A flock of singing birds were sporting in the grove;

Some were warbhng cheerily and some were making love.

There were Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble,

Conquedle —
A hvelier set were never led by tabor, pipe, or fiddle: —
Crying, ''Phew, shew, Wadolincon; see, see Bobolincon
Down among the tickle-tops, hiding in the buttercups;
I know the saucy chap; I see his shining cap
Bobbing in the clover there, — see, see, see!"

36

Bobolink. Reed Bird. Rice Bird

Up flies Bobolincon, perching on an apple tree;

Startled by his rival's song, quickened by his raillery.

Soon he spies the rogue afloat, curvetting in the air,

And merrily he turns about and warns him to beware!

'' 'Tis you that would a wooing go, down among the rushes O!

Wait a week, till flowers are cheery; wait a week, and ere

you marry.
Be sure of a house wherein to tarry;
Wadolink, Whiskodink, Tom Denny, wait, wait, wait!"

Every one's a funny fellow; every one's a little mellow;
Follow, follow, follow, follow, o'er the hill and in the hollow.
Merrily, merrily there they hie; now they rise and now they fly;
They cross and turn, and in and out, and down the middle

and wheel about.
With a ''Phew, shew, Wadolincon; listen to me, Bobolincon!
Happy's the wooing that's speedily doing,
That's merry and over with the bloom of the clover;
Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winsterseeble, follow, follow me!"

O what a happy life they lead, over the bill and in the mead!
How they sing, and how they play! See, they fly away, away!
Now they gambol o'er the clearing, — off again, and then

appearing : ;
Poised aloft on quivering wing, now they soar, and now they

sing,
"We must all be merry and moving; we must all be happy

and loving;
For when midsummer is come, and the grain has ripened its ear.
The haymakers scatter our young, and we mourn for the

rest of the year;
Then, Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, haste, haste

away!" Wilson Flagg.

37

BUNTING, SNOW. SNOWFLAKE

They are the true spirits of the snow-storm. They are
the animated beings that ride upon it and have their life
in it.

Thoreau. Winter.^^

These birds seem to be at their happiest in a storm,
and whenever one comes their way they join in its whirl
and scurry just for the fun of its fierce revelry, birds and
flakes mingUng in the same wild dance.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

With a uniformity of movement which would put to
shame the evolutions of the best-drilled troops, they whirl
over the snow-clad fields, wheeling to right or left, as
though governed by a single impulse. Suddenly they
swing downward into a weedy field, alighting on the snow
or ground, where they run — not hop about — Uke little
beach birds.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Their white forms seen against the intense blue give the
impression of large snowflakes drifting across the sky.

Burroughs. Pepacton.^

When they rise all together, their note is like the ratthng
of nuts in a bag, as if the whole bin-full were rolled from
side to side.

Thoreau. Autumn.^*

38

Bunting, Snow. Snowflake

In its plumage it reflects the winter landscape, — an
expanse of white surmounted or streaked with gray or
brown; a field of snow with a hne of woods or a tinge
of stubble.

Burroughs. Birds and Poets. ^^

These are the true winter birds for you, these winged
snowballs.

Thore Au . Winter. ^^

BUTCHER-BIRD. NORTHERN SHRIKE

Not even a hawk himself can produce the consternation
among a flock of sparrows that the harsh, rasping voice

of the butcher-bird creates Every shrike either

impales or else hangs up, as a butcher does his meat, more
Httle birds of many kinds, field-mice, grasshoppers, and
other large insects than it can hope to devour in a week
of bloody orgies. Field-mice are perhaps its favorite diet
but even snakes are not disdained.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors

23

The shrike has a hawk's bill but a sparrow's foot, and,
lacking the powerful talons that make so deadly a weapon,
he captures his prey with his strong mandibles. Possibly
it may be due to his comparatively weak feet that he
pursues the singular custom of impaling his prey on some
thorn or hanging it from a crotch where he can better
dissect it.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Butcher-Bird. Northern Shrike

Perched on a point of vantage on some tree-top or
weather-vane, his hawk-hke eye can detect a grasshopper
going through the grass fifty yards away.

Neltje Bl an CHAN. Bird Neighbors. ^^

My attention was first called to it by hearing a harsh,
uncouth noise, as unmusical as the creaking of a hinge,
which it somewhat resembled, but with a venomous touch
of animosity. I never heard anything more barbaric
from the throat of any bird.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

In Germany he is called the nine-killer, from the behef
that he kills and sticks upon thorns nine grasshoppers a
day.

Burroughs. Locusts and Wild Honey.^

CATBIRD

It is unfortunate that the catbird's name should have
originated in his call-note rather than in his song. The
former is a petulant, whining, nasal tchay, to me one of
the most disagreeable sounds in Nature, and so unlike
the bird's song that he seems possessed of a dual person-
ality. The catbird's song, from a musical standpoint, is
excelled by that of few of our birds. His voice is full
and rich, his execution and phrasing are faultless.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

40

Catbird

The catbird is unmistakably a Bohemian. He is ex-
quisitely formed, and has a beautiful slate-gray coat, set
off by his black head and tail. By nature he is peculiarly
graceful, and when he chooses can pass for the most pohshed
of the Philistine aristocracy. But he cares nothing for
all this. With lazy self-indulgence he sits by the hour
with relaxed muscles, and listlessly drooping wings and
tail. If he were a man you feel confident that he would
sit in shirt-sleeves at home and go on the street without
a collar.
Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass. ^

He is the veriest ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" of birds.
Exquisitely proportioned, with finely-poised black head
and satin-gray coat, which he bathes most carefully and
prunes and prinks by the hour, he appears from his toilet
a Beau Brummell, an aristocratic-looking, even dandified
neighbor. Suddenly, as if shot, he drops head and tail
and assumes the most hang-dog air, without the least
sign of self-respect; then crouches and lengthens into a
roll, head forward and tail straightened, till he looks like
a little, short gray snake, lank and Hmp. Anon, with a
jerk and a sprint, every muscle tense, tail erect, eyes snap-
ping, he darts into the air intent upon some well-planned
mischief. It is impossible to describe his various attitudes
and moods.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors .^^

The catbird mother is one of the most anxious and
devoted. If her nest is discovered, she exhibits so much
distress that one sympathetic to bird griefs has no heart
to pursue investigations.

41

Catbird

The catbird is generous and helpful to others of his
kind in trouble of any sort, feeding and caring for deserted
or orphaned young ones of any species, and always ready
to aid distracted parents in the defense of their homes
and little ones.

Olive Thorne Miller. Chapman's Handbook of Birds.^^

Ambitious of song, practising and rehearsing in private,
she yet seems the least sincere and genuine of the sylvan
minstrels, as if she had taken up music only to be in fashion,
or not to be outdone by the robins and thrushes. In
other words she seems to sing from some outward motive,
and not from inward joyousness. She is a good versifier
but not a great poet. Vigorous, rapid, copious, not with-
out fine touches, but destitute of any high, serene melody,

her performance always implies a spectator.

There is a certain air and polish about her strain, however,
.... that commands respect.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

The Pussy-Cat Bird

To-day when the sun shone just after the shower,
A song bubbled up from the lilac-tree bower.
That changed of a sudden to quavers so queer.
For a moment I thought something wrong in my ear,
Then I called little Dempster and asked if he heard.
"Oh, yes," he replied; ''it's the pussy-cat bird."

42

Catbird

The pussy-cat bird has the blackest of bills,
With which she makes all of her trebles and trills:
She can mimic a robin or sing like a wren,
And I truly believe she can cluck like a hen;
And sometimes you dream that her song is a word.
Then quickly again — she's a pussy-cat bird.

The pussy-cat bird wears a gown like a nun,

But she's chirk as a squirrel and chock-full of fun,

She lives in a house upon Evergreen Lane, —

A snug Uttle house, although modest and plain;

And never a puss that was happier purred

Than the feathered and winged little pussy-cat bird.

Clinton Scollard.

The Cat-Bird

Through the night and through the day
Runs a babbling brook away,
'Neath the hill and to the river
Through the pasture, on forever.
Shadowy plajnnates still I see.
Rivalling the brooklet's glee;
And the cat-bird's voice I hear,
That so piqued my childhood's ear.

Saucy, mocking cat-bird
On the alder spray,

Even now I hear thee.
Though so far away.

43

Catbird

Thou incarnate, wicked joy,
How I watched thee as a boy, —
Mocking with thy saucy call
Robin, jay, kingfisher, all, —
Picking up the varied notes
As they fell from feathery throats,
Screeching as in demon glee
Our astonishment to see !

Ashen-coated cat-bird
On the alder spray.

Mocking all thy fellows
Through the live-long day.

Thou highwayman of the wood,
Our New England Robin Hood,
Eating eggs thou did'st not lay,
Making other nests thy prey,
How wdth childish wrath we heard
Tales of thee, thou wicked bird, —
Of feathered maidens in distress, —
Longing still to make redress; —

But thou, saucy cat-bird,
On the alder spray.

All our maledictions

Mocked and jeered away!

Oft amid the leaves descried,
With thy pert head cocked one side,
Oddly jerking thy long tail,
How I've heard thee jeer and rail,
Scolding on through all the w^eathers^
Like a Carlyle dressed in feathers;

44

Catbird

Then to mock the mockery,
Thou would'st bubble o'er in glee.
O thou cynic cat-bird,
Mimicking mankind,
All our whims and fancies
Laughing down the wind.

Tragic, comic actor thou,
For thy stage an alder bough;
Now, some borrowed joyous note
Pouring from thy feigning throat;
Now, from waihng puss in sorrow
Her alarm cry thou dost borrow;
Till, to us bewildered, seems
Each but fancies of our dreams.
Mimic actor, cat-bird.

Thus thy betters do,
Till 'tween good and evil

Nothing seemeth true.

Cat-bird, but I love thee still.
By the brook-side, 'neath the hill,
Laughing, mocking in the trees.
Feathered Mephistopheles;
Playing out thy varied part.
Mirroring the human heart;
Fretting, scolding, scornful, then
Bursting out, in joy, again!

Good and evil cat-bird
On the alder spray,

Like thy contradictions

Run our lives away. M.J. Savage.

45

CHAT, YELLOW-BREASTED

If classification were based on character, the chat would

surely be placed in a family by itself If you

will conceal yourself near his home, you may see him
deliver part of his repertoire while on the wing, with legs
dangling, wings and tail flapping, and his whole appearance
suggesting that of a bird who has had an unfortunate
encounter with a charge of shot.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Now he barks Uke a puppy, then quacks Uke a duck,
then rattles like a kingfisher, then squalls like a fox, then
caws Uke a crow, then mews hke a cat . . . C-r-r-r-r-r —
whrr, — that's it, — chee, — quack, cluck — ,yit-yit-yit, — now
hit it, — tr-r-r-r, — when, caw, caw, — cut, cut, — tea-boy, —
who, who, — mew, mew.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

This is surely the clown among birds He has

the habit of singing .... on moonhght nights.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

CEDAR-BIRD. CEDAR WAXWING

"The prince of feathered beaux."
These birds are singularly gentle and refined; soft of
voice as they are of color, their plumage suggesting a fine
Japanese water-color painting on silk, with its beautiful
sheen and exquisitely blended tints.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^
46

Cedar-Bird. Cedar Waxwing

They are birds of remarkable affection and intelligence,
and their habits are peculiarly interesting. By lowering
and raising their crests they gain great variety of expres-
sion, and when about the nest often assume protective
attitudes, drawing themselves up to look like long-necked
bottles or sticks of wood, and sitting absolutely motionless
till one would imagine further endurance impossible.

Florence Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

These birds have even adopted the human symbol of
tenderness, and are often seen kissing each other.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

Dr. Brewer says of this species as proof of their devotion
to one another and their offspring: ''Once when one had
been taken in a net spread over strawberries, its mate
refused to leave it, suffered itself to be taken in the hand
in its anxiety to free its mate, and when set at liberty,
would not leave until its mate had also been released and
permitted to go with it."

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

He has no song or call, uttering only a fine bead-like
note on taking flight. This note is the cedar-berry rendered

back in sound But in lieu of music, what a

pretty compensation are those minute, almost artificial-
like plumes of orange and vermilion that tip the ends of
the primaries! Nature could not give him these and a
song too.

Burroughs. Locusts and Wild Honey .^

47

CHEBEC. LEAST FLYCATCHER

The diminutive olive-pated gray sprite.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.

He is a fearless httle warrior, snapping his bill ominously

as he charges full tilt at his enemy in coat and

habit a miniature of the phoebe and wood pewee, jerking
not only his tail but his whole body with his emphatic
call.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass. ^

Instead of the simple melody we might expect to hear
from this modest bird, he salutes us with a singularly
inappropriate, business-Uke chebec, chebec, varying the
performance by murderous sallies after passing insects.
In crescendo passages, he literally rises to the occasion,
and on trembling wings sings an absurd ''chebec, tooral-
ooral, chebec, tooral-ooral, " with an earnestness deserving
better results.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

CHEWINK. TOWHEE. GROUND ROBIN

There is a vigorousness about the towhee's notes and
actions which suggests both a bustling, energetic disposition
and a good constitution. He entirely dominates the
thicket or bushy undergrowth in which he makes his home.
The dead leaves fly before his attack. His white-tipped
tail-feathers flash in the gloom of his haunts. He greets

48

Chewink. Towhee. Ground Robin

all passers with a brisk inquiring chewink, towhee, and if
you pause to reply, with a fluff-fluff of his short, rounded
wings he flies to a near-by limb to better inspect you.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

Song: Whip your chr-r-r-r-r. Thoreau.

''Drink your te-he-he-he-he. "
''If you pl-e-a-se.''

CHICKADEE. BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE

What a blessing it would be if every one spoke his name
as plainly as does this animated bunch of black and white
feathers !

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

When you hear it, if you look carefully over the trees
you will see a fluffy little body dressed out in a black hood
whose sombre tone is relieved by whitish side pieces, a
vest to match the sides of the hood, and a dark gray coat
for contrast.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

Who can help loving a bird so courageous, "so frolic,
stout, and self-possest " ? Emerson did well to call him
a scrap of valor.

ToRREY. Every Day Birds.-^^

49

Chickadee. Black-Capped Titmouse

It fairly overflows with good spirits, and is never more
contagiously gay than in a snow-storm.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

His jollity is absolutely contagious. The man that can
listen to his rollicking outburst and not smile in sympathy,
mark my words, that man is a villain He pre-
sents a very practical claim upon our admiration in the
fact that, from a series of careful observations once made
at Paris, it has been estimated that a single specimen of
this species, at the lowest computation, destroys annually
two hundred thousand eggs alone of noxious insects.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

They are never silent. It is a matter of chick-a-dee-dee,
or tsee-deet, or phe-bee, all the day long, the last of the
three notes perhaps being a love-call.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

There is no sorrow in thy song,

No winter in thy year. Emerson.

The Titmouse

You shall not be overbold
When you deal with Arctic cold.
As late I found m}^ lukewarm blood
Chilled, wading in the snow-choked wood,
How should I fight? my foeman fine
Has million arms to one of mine :

50

The Titmouse

East, west, for aid I looked in vain,
East, west, north, south, are his domain.
Miles off, three dangerous miles, is home;
Must borrow his winds who there would come.
Up and away for life! be fleet! —
The frost-king ties my fumbling feet,
Sings in my ears, my hands are stones.
Curdles the blood to the marble bones,
Tugs at the heart-strings, numbs the sense,
And hems in life with narrowing fence.
Well, in this broad bed lie and sleep,—
The punctual stars will vigil keep.
Embalmed by purifying cold;
The winds shall sing their dead-march old.
The snow is no ignoble shroud,
The moon thy mourner, and the cloud.

Softly,— but this way Fate was pointing,
'Twas coming fast to such anointing.
When piped a tiny voice hard by,
Gay and polite, a cheerful cry,
Chic-chicadeedee! saucy note
Out of sound heart and merry throat.
As if it said, ''Good day, good sir!
Fine afternoon, old passenger!
Happy to meet you in these places.
Where January brings few faces. "

This poet, though he live apart,
Moved by his hospitable heart.
Sped, when I passed his sylvan fort.
To do the honors of his court,

51

The Titmouse

As fits a feathered lord of land;
Flew near, with soft wing grazed my hand,
Hopped on the bough, then, darting low.
Prints his small impress on the snow,
Shows feats of his gymnastic play
Head downward, chnging to the spray.

Here was this atom in full breath,

Hurhng defiance at vast death;

This scrap of valor just for play

Fronts the north-wind in waistcoat gray.

As if to shame my weak behavior;

I greeted loud my little savior,

''You pet! what dost here? and what for?

In these woods, thy small Labrador,

At this pinch, wee San Salvador!

What fire burns in that little chest

So frolic, stout and self-possest?

Henceforth I wear no stripe but thine ;

Ashes and jet all hues outshine.

Why are not diamonds black and gray,

To ape thy dare-devil array?

And I affirm, the spacious North

Exists to draw thy virtue forth.

I think no virtue goes with size;

The reason of all cowardice

Is, that men are overgrown.

And, to be valiant, must come down

To the titmouse dimension."

'Tis good-will makes intelligence,

And I began to catch the sense

52

The Titmouse

Of my bird's song: "Live out of doors
In the great woods, on prairie floors.
I dine in the sun; when he sinks in the sea,
I too have a hole in a hollow tree;
And I like less when Summer beats
With stifling beams on these retreats,
Than noontide twilights which snow makes
With tempest of the blinding flakes,
For well the soul, if stout within.
Can arm impregnably the skin;
And polar frost my frame defied,
Made of the air that blows outside. "

With glad remembrance of my debt,
I homeward turn; farewell, my pet!
When here again thy pilgrim comes.
He shall bring store of seeds and crumbs.
Doubt not, so long as earth has bread,
Thou first and foremost shalt be fed;
The Providence that is most large
Takes hearts like thine in special charge,
Helps who for their own need are strong.
And the sky doats on cheerful song.
Henceforth I prize thy wiry chant
O'er all that mass and minster vaunt;
For men mis-hear thy call in Spring,
As 'twould accost some frivolous wing.
Crying out of the hazel copse, Phe-be!
And, in winter, Chic-a-dee-dee !
I think old Caesar must have heard
In northern Gaul my dauntless bird
And, echoed in some frosty wold.

53

The Titmouse

Borrowed thy battle-numbers bold.
And I will write our annals new,
And thank thee for a better clew,
I, who dreamed not when I came here
To find the antidote of fear,
Now hear thee say in Roman key,
Paean! 'Teni, vidi, vici".

Emerson.

COWBIRD

The cowbird takes its name from its habit of walking
about among the cattle in the pasture, picking up the
small insects which the cattle disturb in their grazing.
The bird may often be seen within a foot or two of the
nose of a cow or heifer, walking briskly about like a minia-
ture hen, intently watching for its insect pray.

Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

The cowbird is an acknowledged villain, and has no
standing in'|the bird world. English sparrows, either
because they are not aware of the customs of New- Wo rid
bird life, or because of a possible and not unUkely affinity,
associate with him; but no self-respecting American bird

will be found in his company The females,

lacking every moral and maternal instinct, leave their
companions only long enough to deposit their eggs in the
nests of other and smaller birds.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

54

Cowbird

Some of the foster parents abandon their nests, or build
a second nest over the eggs, but usually the milk of human
kindness conquers, and the little bird does her best to
bring up the foundling.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

In the spring the male may be seen perched in an exposed
position on a treetop, caUing his long-drawn-out, glassy
Muck, tse-e-e. Later, when wooing the female, he utters
a curious, gurgling note, resembling the sound made by
pouring water rapidly from a bottle, and accompanying it
by motions which suggest extreme nausea.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

CREEPER, BROWN

The brown creeper's plumage is one of Nature's most
successful feats of mimicry — an exact counterfeit in feathers
of the brown-gray bark on which the bird lives.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

After watching him for several minutes one becomes
impressed with the thought that he has lost the only thing
in the world he ever cared for, and that his one object
in life is to find it. Ignoring you completely, with scarcely
a pause, he winds his way in a preoccupied, near-sighted
manner up a tree trunk. Having finally reached the top
of his spiral staircase, one might suppose he would rest
long enough to survey his surroundings, but like a bit

55 .

Creeper, Brown

of loosened bark he drops off to the base of the nearest
tree and resumes his never-ending task.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

If in the transmigration of souls, Sisyphus was ever
incarnated in bird-form, we certainly have him here,
neatly encased in feathers, for it is nothing but cHmb,
cHmb, cHmb, and never getting there.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

The nest of the creeper is one to be searched for diligently,
it is such an oddity in bird architecture. It is tucked
in under a bit of loose bark on the side of a tree trunk,
where it has a ready-made Mansard roof to keep off the
rain, and a cosy home in all respects.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

The song is described by Mr. Brewster as exquisitely
pure and tender, alternately rising and falUng and ''dying
away in an indescribably plaintive cadence, like the soft
sigh of the wind among the pine boughs. "

CROSSBILL, RED

As they swing about the pine trees, parrot-fashion, with
the help of their bill, calling out kimp, kimp, that sounds
like the snapping of the pine cones on a sunny day, it
often seems easily possible to catch them with the hand.
At first glance the birds would seem to be hampered by

56

Crossbill, Red

their crossed beaks in getting at the seeds in the pine
cones — a superficial criticism when the thoroughness and
admirable dexterity of their work are better understood.
.... They are said to be inordinately fond of salt.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^
The Legend of the Crossbill

FROM THE GERMAN OF JULIUS MOSEN, BY LONGFELLOW.

On the cross the dying Saviour
Heavenward lifts His eyelids calm,

Feels, but scarcely feels, a trembling
In His pierced and bleeding palm.

And by all the world forsaken,

Sees He how with zealous care
At the ruthless nail of iron

A little bird is striving there.

Stained with blood and never tiring.

With its beak it doth not cease.
From the cross t 'would free the Saviour,

Its Creator's Son release.

And the Saviour speaks in mildness :

'' Blest be thou of all the good!
Bear, as token of this moment,

Marks of blood and holy rood ! '*

And that bird is called the crossbill.

Covered all with blood so clear,
In the groves of pine it singeth

Songs, like legends, strange to hear.

57

CROW, AMERICAN

If we have an eye for the picturesque, we place a certain
value upon the broad strong dash of color in the land-
scape, given by a flock of crows flapping their course above
a corn-field, against an October sky.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

The crow is not without beauty. His coat of glossy
black with voilet reflections, his dark eyes and sagacious
expression of countenance, his stately and graceful gait,
and his steady and equable flight, all give him a proud
and dignified appearance.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

He is one of the drollest, most intelligent and individual
of birds. His sedate walk, his gestures and conversation,
proclaim him a bird of originality and reflection, who
will repay our closest study.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

In spite of the current opinion that the crow's calls
are restricted to caw, he has an extended vocabulary.
.... That he can converse fluently no one who has
listened to him will question. Of the variants of caw,
each with its own significance, there seems no end; but
if you would be impressed with the crow's eloquence you
must hear him when, in the fancied privacy of his own
flock or family, he discusses the affairs of the day. His
notes then are low, and so varied in tone that one cannot
doubt their conversational character.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^
58

Crow, American

That they do much damage in the corn-field is undeniable,
but after the examination of nine hundred crows' stomachs,
Dr. Merriam, of the Department of Agriculture, states
that the amount of good done by the crow in destroying
grasshoppers, May beetles, cut-worms, and other injurious
insects, exceeds the loss caused by the destruction of corn.
Moreover, if the corn be tarred before planting, the crows
will not touch either the kernel or young sprout.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Some farmers .... take the trouble to feed the
birds old corn during the time when they would be pulling
up the young sprouts, for they realize that the workman
is worthy of his hire, and would no more think of shooting
crows than horses and cows because they demand grain
in return for their work.

Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

There are times when I really believe they laugh. They
are great talkers, so why should they not have a sense
of humor?

Abbott. Birdland Echoes. ^^

The crow is a useful bird in spite of the mischief of
which it is guilty, and that is the sum and substance of
the whole matter.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^"

Happy, hardy outlaws, the crows, how I love them!
Alert, social, republican, always able to look out for them-
selves, not afraid of the cold and the snow, fishing when

59

Crow, American

flesh is scarce, and stealing when other resources fail, the
crow is a character I would not willingly miss from the
landscape. He is the dusky embodiment of worldly
wisdom and prudence.

Then he is one of Nature's self-appointed constables
and greatly magnifies his office. He would fain arrest
every hawk or owl or grimalkin that ventures abroad.
I have known a posse of them to beset the fox and cry
"Thief!" till Reynard hid himself for shame.

Burroughs. Winter Sunshine.^

Through the clear skies of March,

Blue to the topmost arch.

The crow, harsh-clamoring, sails.

Celia Thaxter.

Even the blackest of them all, the crow.
Renders good service as your man-at-arms.
Crushing the beetle in his coat-of-mail.
And crying havoc on the slug and snail.

LONGFELLOW\

Oh, say, Jim Crow,
Why is it you always go
With a gloomy coat of black
The year long on your back?
Why don't you change its hue.
At least for a day or two,
To red or green or blue?
And why do you always wear
Such a sober, sombre air,

60

Crow, American

As glum as the face of Care?

I wait for your reply,

And into the peaceful pause

There comes a curious, croaking cry —

''Oh, because! 'cause! 'cause!"

Clinton Scollard.

Iridescent is their plumage,

Loud their voices, bold their clamor,

In the pools and shallows wading;

Or in overflowing meadows

Searching for the waste of winter —

Scraps and berries freed by thawing.

Weird their notes, and hoarse their croaking;

Silent only when the night comes.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants.^^

When the goldenrod uplifted

As a wayside benediction

Cheers the traveler on his journey

Through the sultry hours of August,

Deep within the forest's reaches.

In the shadow of the ledges,

Gather crows in friendly concourse

All their notes are low and drowsy,
Muffled croaks, and guttural cawings,
All their motions speak contentment.
Tell of coolness, well-fed comfort.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants. ^^

61

Crow, American

Why the Crow is Black

In the days when the crow was as white as a swan, he
could sing more sweetly than the nightingale. Now all
the crows are black because of a malicious crow who made
great mischief by telling tales.

This crow, a beautiful snow-white bird, lived in a cage
in the house of his master Phoebus. Taught by Phoebus,
he could counterfeit the speech of any man, and he could
give an accurate account of anjiihing he chanced to see.

Phoebus had a young wife whom he dearly loved. One
day he went on a long journey. While he was away the
crow carefully watched his mistress and listened to all
that was said, so that he might have a long story for the ears
of his master. Indeed such strange stories did he tell
about the wife, that Phoebus, who had a very hot temper,
became so angry that he seized his bow and arrow and
killed the poor woman.

Immediately after doing this fearful deed, he began to
think how much he had always loved his wife, and, as he
wept over her, his rage turned against the crow. Spring-
ing to his feet he caught the gossiping bird by the neck
and shaking him until the snow-white feathers fell out,
he cried, '^O false thief, may you and your children for-
evermore be as black as the lies which you have told.
May you never, through all your life, speak again!
Instead of your sweet song, may you have naught but a
dismal croak, in token that wherever you may go, always
will follow the tempest and the rain!"

Then from the shelter of his house Phoebus threw the
black crow out into the wide, wide world.

Adapted from "Canterbury Tales."
62

CUCKOO, BLACK-BILLED

The cuckoos are among the first birds on Mr. Forbush's
list of those that eat the caterpillars of the gypsy moth.
Of the Black-billed 's stomachs examined by the
Biological Survey, sixteen contained three hundred and
twenty-eight caterpillars, and in addition fifteen grass-
hoppers and some spiders.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

Strange, reserved, unsocial bird,
Flitting, peering 'mid the leaves.

Thy lonely call a twofold word

Repeated Uke a soul that grieves, —
''Kou-kou," ''Kou-kou," a solemn plaint
Now loud and full, now far and faint.

"Kou-kou," "Kou-kou," repeated oft,
Like one who half recalls the chimes

Of ''Cuckoo," "Cuckoo," in wood and croft
Across the seas in Wordsworth's times.
''Kou-kou," ''Kou-kou," a cheerless strain
That to country folk forebodeth rain.

Burroughs.

CUCKOO, YELLOW-BILLED

Cuckoos have two toes directed forward and two back-
ward, but the cause or use of this character it is difficult

to understand Cuckoos are mysterious birds

well worth watching. I would not imply that their deeds
are evil; on the contrary, they are exceedingly beneficial

63

Cuckoo, Yellow-Billed

birds There is something about the cuckoo's

actions which always suggests to me that he either has
just done, or is about to do something he shouldn't.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

The cuckoos might well be called caterpillar birds, for
they are so given to a diet of the hairy caterpillars that
the walls of their stomachs are actually permeated with
the hairs, and a section of stomach looks like the smoothly
brushed top of a gentleman's beaver

Merriam, Birds of Village and Field.-^

Neither cuckoo knows how to build a proper home;
a bunch of sticks dropped carelessly into the bush, where
the hapless babies that emerge from the greenish eggs
will not have far to fall when they tumble out of bed, as
they must inevitably do, may by courtesy only be called
a nest.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors .^^

What do I hear?

Is it from far or near?

Is it upon the left or right,

From down below or from the height.

The sound of any living vocal thing?
Or is it only the vain conjuring

Of artist Fancy shaping large and clear

What dryads hear?

Selected.

64

DUCKS

They are, for the most part, northern breeding birds
and appear on our waters chiefly as migrants.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

Ducks are by far the most beautiful of all aquatic birds

in the colors of their plumage Their whistling

flocks that pass frequently over our heads at different
seasons always command our attention.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

EAGLE, BALD

Because immature birds reverse nature's order and are
larger than adults, and their plumage undergoes three
changes before they appear at the close of the third year
in white heads and tails, some early writers described
the black eagle, Washington's eagle, and the bald-headed

eagle as three distinct birds It is safe to say

that any eagle seen in the eastern United States is the
bald-head.

Emblem of the Republic, standing for freedom to enjoy
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it must be owned
that our national bird is a piratical parasite whenever
he gets the chance.
Neltje Blanchan. Birds That Hunt and Are Hunted.^'^

They subsist principally upon fish. As a last resort
they sometimes capture these themselves, but dead fish
cast upon the shore are eagerly taken, and their habit
of robbing the fish hawk of his well-earned booty is too
well known to be commented upon.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. *^^

65

FINCH, PURPLE. PURPLE LINNET

His color is peculiar, and looks as if it might have been
imparted by dipping a brown bird in diluted poke-berry
juice. Two or three more dippings would have made the
purple complete.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

His song is a sweet flowing warble; music as natural
as the rippling of a mountain brook.

Chapman. Bird Life.^

The caged linnet in the spring

Hearkens for the coral glee,
When his fellows on the mng

Migrate from the Southern Sea.

Emerson.

FLICKER. GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER

The golden-mnged is a woodpecker of thirty-six aliases,
among which pigeon-woodpecker, joicker, high-hole, high-
holder, clape, and yellow-hammer are locally familiar.

A very ardent and ridiculous-looking lover is this bird,
as, with tail stiffly spread, he sidles up to his desired mate
and bows and bobs before her, then retreats and advances,
bowing and bobbing again, very often with a rival lover
beside him trying to outdo him in grace and general at-
tractiveness.

Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

66

Flicker. Golden-Winged Woodpecker

A marked April note, proceeding sometimes from the
meadows, but more frequently from the rough pastures
and borders of the woods, is the call of the high-hole or

golden-shafted woodpecker It is a succession of

short notes rapidly uttered, as if the bird said, ''if-if-if-
if-if-if-if . " .... The high-hole is not so much a wood-
pecker as a ground-pecker. He subsists largely on ants
and crickets, and does not appear till they are to be found.

Burroughs. Birds and Poets. -^^

How that single sound peoples and enriches all the
woods and fields ! They are no longer the same fields and
woods that they were. This note really quickens what
was dead. It seems to put life into the withered grass
and bare twigs and henceforth the days shall not be as
they have been. It is like the note of an alarm clock
set last fall so as to wake nature up at exactly this date,
Up, up, up, up, up, up, up.

Thoreau. Spring. -^^

Audubon describes its song as " & prolonged jovial
laugh." Mrs. Wright gives it as ''Wick, wick, wick,
wick," and Dr. Abbott as "Wake-up, wake-up, wake-up."

His call-note is a vigorous nasal kee-yer.

FLYCATCHER, GREAT-CRESTED

The most dignified and handsomely dressed member
of his family, the crested flycatcher has, nevertheless, an
air of pensive melancholy about him when in repose that

67

Flycatcher, Great-Crested

can be accounted for only by the pain he must feel every
time he hears himself screech.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors. ^^

His call, like an exclamation rings out above all other
birds' notes. What! he seems to say, and, as though
hearing something which not only surprised but amused
him, follows this call with a chuckling whistle.

Chapman. Bird Life.^

An unexplained and not very winsome peculiarity of
this bird is, that almost invariably its nest is, in part,
composed of cast-off snake skins; doubtless for a good
reason.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Hardy and pugnacious. Colonel Goss says they fight
fiercely for their mates, and have a habit of plucking the
tail feathers of their rivals to disfigure them in the eyes
of their lady loves.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

Late in May he makes his nesting,
Seeks a deep and darksome hollow
In the orchard's oldest tree -trunk.
Lines it well with matted cow's hair
Grasses, feathers, bits of wasps' nest,
Slender roots, or silky fibres,
Here and there a scrap of paper,
Shred of bark, or seed of thistle.

68

Flycatcher, Great-Crested

Odder things than these he uses, —
Things for something else than comfort;
Sometimes to the general tangle
He will add a tail of chipmunk,
Sometimes fish scales, iridescent,
Mingle in the mystic chaos.
But his chiefly favored fetish
Is a piece of cast-off snake skin.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants.^^

FLYCATCHER, OLIVE-SIDED

The short necks of the flycatchers make their heads
appear large for their bodies, a pecuHarity slightly em-
phasized in this member of the family A

sharp, loud whistle, when-o-when-o-when-o, rings out from
the throat of this olive-sided tyrant, warning all intruders
off the premises; but however harshly he may treat the
rest of the feathered world, he has only gentle devotion
to offer his brooding mate.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors.^

GEESE, WILD

We cannot well afford not to see the geese go over a
single spring, and so commence our year regularly.

Thoreau. Spring. -^^

Geese, Wild

Geese sometimes fly in a straight line; but more fre-
quently make a triangular figure, that permits each one
.... to see its leader. Some naturalists say that
geese fly to a greater height than any other bird; others
say they are surpassed by herons. They are often, how-
ever, at so great height that they may be heard, when
nothing more of them than a black line can be seen.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^

I suspect it will be found there is really some advantage
in large birds of passage flying in the wedge form and
cleaving their way through the air, — that they really do
overcome its resistance best in this way, and perchance
the direction and strength of the wind determine the
comparative length of the two sides.

Thoreau. Spring.^^

Far and high the wild geese cry,

*' Spring! It is spring!" Celia Thaxter.

Cloud-clearing geese to the lakes are a-steering.

Selected.

GOLDFINCH. WILD CANARY. THISTLE-BIRD

As pretty a sight as any garden offers is when a family
of goldfinches aUghts on the top of a sunflower to feast
upon the oily seeds — a perfect harmony of brown and
gold.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

70

Goldfinch. Wild Canary. Thistle-Bird

His gentle ways and sweet disposition are never-failing
antidotes for discontent. One cannot be long near a
flock of these birds without being impressed by the refine-
ment which seems to mark their every note and action.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Among the commonest sounds in the country in late
summer are the clusters of notes from the goldfinch in
its wavy flight far overhead, one cluster in each undula-
tion, and — to be precise — synchronizing with its wing-
vibrations, which occur in the last or rising half of each
wave.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Just listen to him some day as he flies away from his
nest, singing over to himself in tones of exquisite love and
tenderness his sweet hay-hee, hay-ee-bee.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass. ^

Their flight is expressive of their joyous nature, and
as they bound through the air they hum a gay per-chic-o-
ree, per-chic-o-ree.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

Why this brief vision of golden fiUgree that seems
suddenly flung across my fancy? What is the talisman?
''I've cheated ye, per chick o pee, per chick o pee." What
but the tiny goldfinch that has passed overhead in its
looping flight, festooning the ether in glowing drapery of
black and gold, each embroidered loop pinned with a
wisp of song.

Gibson. Strolls by StarHght and Sunshine.^^

71

Goldfinch. Wild Canary. Thistle-Bird

These birds do not shed their feathers in the spring,
as careless observers are apt to think they do, but merely
shed the outer webs of their feathers and quills, which
peel off Hke a glove from the hand.

Burroughs. Riverby.^^

A sweet-voiced goldfinch singing his soul away.

Olive Thorne Miller.

The goldfinch round the linden winds his song.

Lucy Larcom.

GROSBEAK, PINE

At irregular intervals pine grosbeaks become abundant
during the winter in New England, when, because of their
size, they attract general attention. They usually resort
to coniferous trees upon the seeds of which they feed,
but they also eat berries and buds, and are said to be
especially fond of the fruit of the staghorn sumach.

Chapman. Bird Life.^

The sight of a flock of these handsome, rosy-coated
birds clustering around the cones of an evergreen is a

picture to brighten many a dull day They

are gentle birds, whose knowledge of man is so limited
that they have no fear of him, and will often let them-
selves be taken in the hand.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. -^

72

GROSBEAK, ROSE-BREASTED

His back is disproportionately large and heavy, like a
huge nose, which slightly mars his good looks; but Nature
has made it up to him in a blush rose upon his breast,
and the most delicate of pink linings to the under side
of his wings.

Burroughs. Wake Robin. ^

The farmers in Pennsylvania, who, with more truth
than poetry, call this the potato-bug bird, are taking
active measures to protect the neighbor that is more useful
to their crops than all the insecticides known.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

Listen to the overflowing measure of its melody! How
comparatively few the notes, and yet how telling! No
single tone lost, no superficial intricacies. Sensuous, and
suffused with color, it is Hke a rich, pulpy, luscious, pink-
cheeked tropic fruit rendered into sound.

Gibson. Strolls by Starhght and Sunshine.^^

There is an exquisite purity in the joyous carol of the
grosbeak; his song tells of all the gladness of a May morn-
ing; I have heard few happier strains of bird music. With
those who are deaf to its message of good cheer I can only
sympathize, pitying the man whose heart does not leap
with enthusiasm at the sight of rival males dashing through
the woods like winged meteors, leaving in their wake a
train of sparkUng notes.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

73

Grosbeak, Rose-Breasted

In addition to his song, the rose-breast has a short call-
note, which sounds very much like the squeak of a pair
of rusty shears.

Torre Y. Every Day Birds. ^^

GULL, AMERICAN HERRING

High in the air, their pure white pinions clearly outlined
against the deep blue, you can often see the gulls ....

that are found along the coast The pearly

mantle that covers the back can only be seen as it now
and then skims the surface of the water, or rests awhile
on the waves from which it gathers its food. But the
air seems their native element .... and in the grand
sweep of their wings and in their slow and majestic progress
they give to the beholder the sense of rest rather than
weariness.

Paekhurst. The Birds' Calendar. ^^

The gull is distinguished by its small and lean body
which is covered with a great quantity of feathers. Its
wings and head are very large, all uniting to give the bird
a false appearance of size. Hence, I suppose, originated
the word, when used to imply deception. The sportsman
who for the first time has shot one of these birds, expecting
to find it large and plump, .... is said to be gulled.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

HAWKS

The red-shouldered and the red-tailed hawks are the
birds to which the names chicken hawk and hen hawk

74

Hawks

are most frequently misapplied. Being both common
species whose habits render them easily observed, they
are often unjustly made to suffer for the sins of their bird-
killing relatives of the genus Accipiter [sharp-shinned and
Cooper's hawk].

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

It can be readily proved that it [the red-tailed hawk
is far more beneficial than otherwise, and really deserves
protection, instead of having a bounty placed on its head,

as has been the case in several states Of

two hundred and twenty stomachs of the red-shouldered
hawk examined .... only three contained remains of

poultry So long as there is a grasshopper or a

meadow mouse to eat, the sparrow hawk will let feathered
prey alone; but these failing, it is a past-master in dropping
like a thunder-bolt upon .... small birds found on
the ground in thickets and the borders of woods. But
it does not eat the farmer's broilers: the little sharp-
shinned and the Cooper's hawk attend to them.

Neltje Blanchan. Birds That Hunt and Are Hunted. ^^

Saw a large hawk circHng over a pine wood

Traveling ever by wider circles, what a symbol of the
thoughts; now soaring, now descending, taking larger and
larger circles, or smaller and smaller. It flies not directly
whither it is bound, but advances by circles, Uke a courtier

of the skies The poetry of motion, not as

preferring one place to another, but enjoying each as
long as possible, most gracefully thus surveying new scenes,
and revisiting the old.

Thoreau. Autunm.^^

75

Hawks

Silently overhead the hen-hawk sails

With watchful measuring eye, and for his quarry waits.

Lowell.

HERONS

The heron is the impersonation of gloom, silence and
solitude.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

No family of birds is possessed of more of those qualities
which are especially regarded as picturesque than the

herons Their flying attitude, however, is

uncouth, with their necks bent backwards, their heads
resting against their shoulders, and their long legs stretched
out behind them in the most awkward manner.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

HUMMING BIRD, RUBY-THROATED

The most exquisite gem in all the galaxy. An admirable
creation from almost every point of view — as delicate as
the cobweb that can cause its death, of such emotional
intensity that even terror alone may quench its life, of
ethereal mould and resplendent color, this tropical atom,
is, notwithstanding, lion-hearted to attack even a man
in defence of its nest. Valor and grace ne'er found a
more unique companionship.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^
76

Humming Bird, Ruby-Throated

It seems like the winged spirit of color .... its
body like green beryl and its throat glancing fire.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass. ^

The nest is the most exquisite of all the beautiful struc-
tures of winged architects.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

The nest contained two eggs about the size of a pea-bean.
Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

The ruby-throat feeds on insects as well as on the juices
of flowers, and when you see him probing a corolla he is
quite as likely to be after the one as the other.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

At evening one often hears of a '' humming bird" going
the rounds of the garden, but at this hour it is usually
the sphinx-moth hovering about the flower-beds — the one
other creature besides the bee for which the bird is ever
mistaken. The postures and preferences of this beautiful
large moth make the mistake a very natural one.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^

The humming bird, with busy wing,
In rainbow beauty moves.

Selected.

77

Humming Bird, Ruby-Throated

With dizzy wings and dainty craft,

In green and gold, the humming-bird
Dashed here and there, and touched and quaffed

The honey-dew, then flashed and whirred,
And vanished like a feathered shaft

That glitters from a random bow.

J. G. Holland.

Minutest of the feathered kind,
Possessing every charm combined,
Nature, in forming thee, design'd

That thou should'st be
A proof within how little space
She can confine such perfect grace.
Rendering thy lovely fairy race

Beauty's epitome.
Thy burnished colors to bestow.
Her pencil in the heavenly bow
She dipp'd and made thy plumes to glow

With every hue. Selected.

INDIGO BIRD. INDIGO BUNTING

I well remember watching one indigo-bird who, day
after day, used to fly to the lowest limb of a high tree and
sing his way up from branch to branch, bursting into
jubilant song when he reached the topmost bough. I
watched him chmb as high into the air as he could, when,
against a background of blue sky and rolling white clouds,
the blessed Httle songster broke out into the blithest round
that ever bubbled up from a glad heart.
Florence A. Merriam. Chapman's Handbook of Wuxh

21

IS.

78

Indigo Bird. Indigo Bunting

The '^ glowing indigo" of this tropical-looking visitor
often seems the more intense by comparison with the
blue sky, against which it stands out in relief as the bird

perches singing in a tree-top The noon-day heat

of an August day that silences nearly every other voice,
seems to give to the indigo-bird's only fresh animation.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

JAY, BLUE

No bird of finer color or presence sojourns with us the
year round than the blue jay. In a pecuHar sense his
is a case of '' beauty covering a multitude of sins." . . . .
Dishonest, cruel, inquisitive, murderous, voracious, villain-
ous, are some of the epithets appUed to this bird of exquisite
plumage. Emerson, however, has said in his defence he
does ''more good than harm," alluding, no doubt, to his
habit of burying nuts and hard seeds in the ground, so
that many a waste place is clothed with trees and shrubs,
thanks to his propensity and industry.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

What a handsome bird! .... Not a hint of winter
in his coloring! Note his purplish back as he bends over,
the exquisite cobalt blue, touched off with black and
white on his wings, and the black barring on the tightly
closed tail he is bracing himself by. How distinguished
his dark necklace and handsome blue crest make him
look!

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass. '^

79

Blue Jay

The blue jay is a true American. He is known through-
out the continent, and never visits any other country.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

The jay is a relative of the crow, and has much of the
crow's cleverness.

ToRREY. Every Day Birds. ^^

The blue jay is both a mimic and a ventriloquist. Be-
sides an inexhaustible stock of whistles and calls of his
own, he imitates the notes of other species, notably those
of the .... hawks.

The blue jay, I fear, is a reprobate, but .... there
is a dashing reckless air about him which makes us pardon
his faults and Uke him in spite of ourselves.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

I am always glad to hear his hearty call through the
autumn woods; and the occasional sweet flute-hke note
he utters is one of the richest of our bird-notes, — a whole
bird-concert squeezed into a single note that comes rolling
down the narrow pathway through the woods.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

At times I have heard this bird utter a few notes like
the tinkhng of a bell, and which, if syllabled, might form
such a word as dilly-lily.

Flagg. A Year With the Birds.^^

80

Blue Jay

His saucy crest seems to be kept in place by a band
of black velvet ribbon passing under the chin.

Selected.

The blue jay blows the trumpet of winter.

Thoreau. Spring.^

The noisy jay comes with its startling cry,
'Mid yellow leaves of maple takes its perch;

A bit of blue in gold, as if the sky
Were seen in patches through the faded birch.

Selected.

Clad in blue with snow-white trimmings,
Clean and smooth in every feather,
Plumed and crested like a dandy,
Keen of vision, strong of muscle,
Shrewd in mimicry and dodging,
Knowing every copse and thicket.
Warm in snow and cool in summer,
Is the blue jay still a villain?
Outlawed by all bird tribunals.
As a wretch disguised, he's branded.
Shunned by every feathered creature;
Yet he prospers, man admires him.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants. ^^

81

The Blue Jay

O Blue Jay, up in the maple tree,

Shaking your throat with such bursts of glee.

How did you happen to be so blue?
Did you steal a bit of the lake for your crest,
And fasten blue violets into your vest?

Tell me, I pray you, tell me true!

Did you dip your wings into azure dye.
When April began to paint the sky.

That was pale with the winter's stay?
Or were you hatched from a bluebell bright,
'Neath the warm gold breast of a sunbeam bright,

By the river, one blue spring day?

0 Blue Jay, up in the maple tree,
A-tossing your saucy head at me,

With ne'er a word at my questioning.
Pray cease for a moment your " tink-a-link, "
And hear when I tell you what I think,

You bonniest bit of spring.

1 think when the fairies made the flowers
To grow in these merry fields of ours.

Periwinkles and voilets rare,
There was left of the spring's own color, blue,
Plenty to fashion a flower whose hue

Would be richer than all and as fair.

So putting their wits together, they
Made one great blossom so bright and gay

The lily beside it seemed blurred.
And then they said, '^ We'll toss it in air.
So many blue blossoms grow everywhere,

Let this pretty one be a bird!"

Selected.

82

JUNCO. SLATE-COLORED SNOWBIRD

Modest in manner and attire, there is nothing of especial
interest in the junco's habits, and only bird-lovers can
understand what a difference his presence makes in
winter landscape. It brings a sense of companionship;
it is a link between us and Nature. The bird's cheery
twitter is as welcome as a ray of sunlight on a cloudy
day.

Chapman. Bird Life.^

His suit of slaty gray, with its low-cut vest of white,
is not worn by any other of our birds; and while some
species show white outer tail-feathers in flight, the junco's
seem to be more than usually conspicuous.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

Little gray-robed monks and nuns.
Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

R^eflecting the leaden skies above and the snow below.
Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

KINGBIRD. BEE-MARTIN

He is sometimes called the tyrant, but the name is a
libel. The kingbird is a fighter, but he is not a bully,
and gives battle only in a just cause. His particular
enemy is the crow, and during the nesting season each
kingbird evidently draws an imaginary circle about his
home within which no crow can venture unchallenged.

Chapman. Bird Life.*^^
83

Kingbird . Bee-Martin

It has an interesting and unusual method of bathing.
Instead of standing in shallow water and dipping itself
like other birds, it flies from its perch directly into the
stream, dashing the water over its back, returning to its
place and repeating the performance several times.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Every country boy has laughed to see the kingbird
chasing a crow. And a very lively and pleasing sight it
is; the crow making for the nearest wood as fast as his
wings will carry him, and one or two kingbirds in hot
pursuit. Their great aim is to get above him and swoop
down upon his back. Sometimes you see one actually
ahght upon a crow's back and, as boys say, ''give it to
him" in great style.

Another taking action of the kingbird is his trick of
flying straight up in the air, almost perpendicularly, as
if he were trying to see how near he could come to per-
forming that impossible feat, and then tumbling about
madly, with noisy outcries. Often it looks as if he actually
turned somersaults. He cannot sing and so has to let
his high spirits bubble over in these half-crazy gynmastics.

ToRREY. Every Day Birds. ^^

He will often be seen hovering over a weed in a meadow,
his fluttering wings supporting him so well that he seems
to be hanging in air.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ■^

84

Kingbird. Bee-Martin

Bee-keepers accuse the kingbird of a taste for honey-
bees, but examination shows that the charge is unfounded.
Only fourteen out of two hundred and eighteen stomachs
contained remains of bees, most of which were drones,
while sixty per cent, of the kingbird's food was found
to consist of injurious insects.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

KINGFISHER, BELTED

This bird is the celebrated Halcyon of the ancients,
who attributed to it supernatural powers. It was supposed
to construct its nest upon the waves, where it was made
to float like a vessel at anchor. But as the turbulence
of the storm would be likely to destroy it. Nature has
gifted the sitting birds with the power of stilling the motion
of the winds and waves during the period of incubation.
The serene weather that accompanies the summer solstice
was beheved to be the enchanted effect of the benign
influence of this family of birds. Hence the name Halcyon

days was applied to this period of tranquillity

Some of the Asiatic nations still wear the skin of the king-
fisher about their persons as a protection against moral
and physical evils. The feathers are used as love-charms;
and it is believed if the body of a kingfisher be evenly
fixed upon a pivot, it will turn its head to the north like
the magnetic needle.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

85

Kingfisher, Belted

He is the most marked of the trillers, having a loud,
rapid call that Wilson compares to a watchman's rattle,
and that, as Mr. Burroughs ingeniously suggests, reminds
you of an alarm clock.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

The kingfisher is singularly grotesque in his appearance,
though not without beauty of plumage.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

Though the king of fishermen, this sensible bird does
not restrict himself to a diet of fish. In the east, if oppor-
tunity offers, he eats crustaceans, grasshoppers, crickets,
and beetles of the June bug family.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

Among the negroes in the south it is believed that if, in
childhood, you go to the river at sunrise and see the min-
nows before the kingfisher does you will never die unless
you are drowned, and that if you are drowned the king-
fisher will carry your spirit directly to heaven.

Men say thy back received its coat of blue,

From skies unclouded when the Flood was done.

Then caught thy breast its gorgeous tawny hue
In that long flight toward the setting sun.

Selected.

KINGLET, GOLDEN-CROWNED

Muffled in its thick coat of feathers, the diminutive
goldcrest braves our severest winters, hving evidence that,
given an abundance of food, temperature is a secondary
factor in a bird's existence.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

He radiates an atmosphere of friendliness and good
cheer which must be evident to any attentive observer.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

The nest is said to be extraordinarily large for so small
a bird; but that need not surprise us when we learn that
as many as ten creamy-white eggs .... is no un-
common number for the pensile cradle to hold. How do
the tiny parents contrive to cover so many eggs and to
feed such a nestful of fledglings?

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

KINGLET, RUBY-CROWNED

They seem to be the feathered expression of perpetual
motion. And how dainty and charming these dainty
sprites are! They are not at all shy; you may approach
them quite close if you will, for the birds are simply too
intent on their business to be concerned with yours.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors. ^^

87

Kinglet, Ruby-Crowned

The May morning when first I heard this kinglet's song
is among the most memorable of my early ornithological

experiences The song was mellow and flute-like,

and loud enough to be heard several hundred yards; an
intricate warble past imitation or description, and rendered
so admirably that I never hear it now without an impulse
to applaud. The bird is so small, the song so rich and
full, that one is reminded of a chorister with the voice
of an adult soprano. To extend the comparison, one
watches this gifted but unconscious musician flitting about
the trees with somewhat the feeling that one observes
the choir-boy doffing his surplice and joining his com-
rades for a game of tag.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

He is fairly to be esteemed a musical prodigy.

Torre Y. Every Day Birds. ^^

LARK, HORNED

In America, the horned larks are alone in the family
of which the famous skylark is one of the European mem-
bers. While their song is wholly unpretentious, it is
quaint and attractive, and is often given as the bird springs
from the ground toward the sky, quite in the manner
of the skylark.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.-^

In Greenland and Labrador, its summer home, it is a
conspicuously handsome bird with its pinkish-gray and
chocolate feathers, that have greatly faded into dull-browns
when we see them in the late autumn.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

88

LOON, BLACK-THROATED

One of the most romantic of birds, the Hermit of our
northern lakes, and so exceedingly shy that it is rarely
seen except at a distance.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

Far out at sea in winter .... I have often heard
on a fine calm morning the sad and wolfish call of the
solitary loon, which hke a dismal echo seems slowly to
invade the ear and, rising as'^ it proceeds, dies away in
the air. This boding sound to the mariner, supposed to
be indicative of a storm, may be heard sometimes for two
or three miles, when the bird itself is invisible or reduced
almost to a speck in the distance. The aborigines,
almost as superstitious as sailors, dislike to hear the cry
of the loon, considering the bird, from its shy and extra-
ordinary habits as a sort of supernatural being. By the
Norwegians it is with more appearance of reason supposed

to portend rain.

NuttalFs Ornithology,

26

" He has also another rather soft and pleasing utterance,
sounding Hke who-who-who-who, the syllables being so
rapidly pronounced as to sound almost like a shake of
the voice— a sort of weird laughter." To this Longfellow
refers in his ''Birds of Passage."

The loon that laughs and flies

Down to those reflected skies.

89

Legend of the Loon

There is an old story, one which certainly has the appear-
ance of truth, to the effect that when Nature manufactured
the first loon she forgot to give him any legs at all, and that
he had started off on the wing before she noticed her mis-
take. Then she picked up the first pair that came to hand
and threw them after him. Unfortunately they were a
misfit; and, what was perhaps still worse, they struck his
body in the wrong place. They were not only too short,
but they were so far aft that, although he could stand al-
most as straight as a man, and could swim like a fish, it
was almost impossible for him to walk. When he had to
travel on land, which he always avoided as far as he could,
he generally shoved himself along on his breast, and often
used his wings and bill to help himself forward. All his
descendants are just like him.

William Davenport Hulbert.

MARTIN, PURPLE

The purple martin is very common throughout the
south In the northern states it is a compara-
tively rare bird of local distribution and is apparently
decreasing in numbers each year.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

The martin originally built in hollows of trees, as the
white-bellied swallow still does, but is now seldom if ever
known to nest except in artificial receptacles.

Stearns. New England Bird Life.^

90

Martin, Purple

The services of the martin in driving away hawks and
crows from the premises he claims are important induce-
ments for favor. He has even the courage to attack the
redoubtable kingbird, when his visits are too famihar
near the nest.

Nuttall's Ornithology.^^

Wasps, beetles, and all manner of injurious garden
insects constitute its diet — another reason for its universal
popularity.

It is simple enough to distinguish the martins from
the other swallows by their larger size and iridescent dark
coat, not to mention their song, which is very soft and
sweet, like musical laughter, rippling up through the
throat.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

Surpassed by no bird in swiftness, there is none that
equals him in the beauty of his movements on the wing,
uniting grace and vivacity in a remarkable degree. Often
skimming the surface of ponds, or ghding swiftly along
a public road a few feet from the ground, then soaring
above the height of the lower clouds, he sails about with
but little motion of the wings, till he is out of sight. These
flights seem to be made for his own amusement; for it
cannot be supposed that he finds the larger insects that
constitute his prey at so great a height.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^

91

MEADOWLARK

To many the meadowlark is '^only a voice." His back
is so nearly the color of the meadow, it takes a keen eye
indeed to discover him. His beauty — a golden-yellow
vest adorned with a necklace of richest jet — is reserved
for his mate.

The bobolink's mood is one of care-free happiness; the
meadow-lark's suggests the fervent joy that is akin to
pain.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.-^

I see a lark flashing his white tail and showing his hand-
some yellow breast with its black crescent like an Indian
locket.

Thoreau. Summer. ■^^

His flight is very characteristic, consisting of a few
rapid movements and then a long sail. Shelley's lines,
though written of another bird, fit him to perfection:

In the golden lightning

Of the sunken sun,
O'er which clouds are brightening

Thou dost float and run.

M. A. WiLLCox. The Common Land Birds of New England

29

What a twang there is about this bird and what vigor!
It smacks of the soil. It is the winged embodiment of
the spirit of our spring meadows. What emphasis in
its "z-d-t, z-d-t," and what character in its long piercing

92

Meadowlark

note! Its straight, tapering, sharp bill is typical of its

voice ''Spring o' the year! spring o' the

year!" it says, with a long-drawn breath, a little plaintive,
but not complaining or melancholy.

Burroughs. Birds and Poets. ^^

Great tenderness, almost pathos, is expressed in the
liquid sympathetic voice of these faithful creatures.

Stearns. New England Bird Life.^^

A piercing shaft of song which seems to cleave the air
straight from the hillside meadow beyond- 'I see; I see
you."

Gibson. Strolls by Starlight and Sunshine. '^'^

Nuttall gives it as ''et-se-dee-ah."

Oh meadow lark!
From dawn to dark

Your carol quaint is ringing.
And ne'er did float from thrush's throat,
Song sweeter than your simple note.

Of sunny summer singing.

Selected.

NIGHTHAWK

The only exceptions that can be taken to the name
are that it is not a ''night" bird, as it flies about mostly
at dusk, sometimes at midday, nor yet is it a hawk, being
called so only from a resemblance when on the wing, and
in its general appearance at a distance.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

93

Nighthawk

Anyone disliking the name, however, surely can not
complain of a limited choice of other names, by which,
in different sections of the country, it is quite as commonly
known, — night-jar, bull-bat, mosquito hawk, will-o'-the
wisp, pisk, piramidig, long-winged goatsucker.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

It has almost no bill at all, merely a hook and eye for
a wide gaping mouth.

Florence A. Meeriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

When flying, the white mark on their primaries is a
conspicuous character, and has the appearance of being
a hole in the bird's wing.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

The serial evolutions of the nighthawk are remarkable.
It soars and it flaps, it twists and it turns, it mounts per-
pendicularly into the air — all with graceful ease; and in
the nesting season its performances are a seven days'
wonder for all beholders. When high in the air, it shoots
down almost to the earth, and then, turning abruptly,
ascends to the same heights. In diving, the air is forced
through its wings, making a booming sound, which Nuttall
describes as "' resembling that produced by blowing strongly
into the bung of an empty hogshead."

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^
94

Nighthawk

This booming sound, coming from such a height that
the bird itself is often unseen, was said by the Indians
to be made by the shad spirits to warn the schools of
shad, about to ascend the rivers to spawn in the spring,
of their impending fate.

Netlje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. '^^

They roost upon a large and nearly horizontal branch
in a longitudinal direction. The design of nature in this
instinct is to afford the bird that concealment which is
needful for its protection in the daytime. When thus

placed he is entirely hidden from sight below

If his foe were looking down upon him, he would hardly
be distinguished, his mottled-brown plumage making no
contrast in color with the bark of the tree.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

Call-Note :

A sharp ^^eek" or ''peent."

Florence A. Merriam.

A shrill note that has been likened to the word Piramidig,

Flagg.

An indescribable squeak.

Parkhurst.

A single note, of a guttural-nasal quality, almost indis-
tinguishable from the so-called bleat of the woodcock.

Torre Y.

95

Nighthawk

In devious circles round and round,

The nighthawk coursed the twiUght sky,
Or shot Hke Hghtning the profound,
With breezy thunder in the cry
That marked his furious rebound.

J. G. Holland.

NUTHATCH, WHITE-BREASTED

The name nuthatch has been bestowed on this family
of birds from their supposed practice of breaking nuts by

repeated hatchings, or hammerings with their bills

It is said that they lay up a large store of nuts for winter,

but .... I am inclined to doubt the fact

I have every reason to beheve that ants, bugs, small seeds,
insects and their larvse form their chief subsistence.

Wilson.

A lady forgetting his name once aptly described him
to me as 'Hhat little upside-down bird," for he will run
along the under side of a branch with as much coolness
as a fly would cross a ceiling.

Audubon observes that he sleeps hanging head down.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

They have little fear, but a great deal of curiosity. In
a very pert and comical manner one will stretch out its
neck, cock its head on one side, and coolly examine a
person passing by. But the difference between impudent
boldness and artless inquisitiveness is as easily distinguish-
able in a bird as in a human being.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

96

Nuthatch, White-Breasted

When the trees are incased in ice, which, though not
impenetrable by their strong bills, prevents the discovery

of their food, they are in danger of starving

Driven by this necessity from their usual haunts, a piece
of suet fastened firmly to the branch of a tree, at any
time of the winter, would soon be discovered by them
and afford them a grateful repast.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

There is such a lack of sentiment in the nuthatch's
character, he seems so matter-of-fact in all his ways, that
it is difficult to imagine him indulging in anything like
song. But even he cannot withstand the all-conquering
influences of spring, and at that season he raises his voice
in a pecuhar monotone — a tenor hah-hah-hah-hah-hah —
sounding strangely like mirthless laughter.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

Call-Note :

Ick-ick-ick. — Stearns.

Kauk-kauk. — Nuttall.

A loud nasal yank, yank. — Chapman.

Yak, yak, yak, yak-ah, ak-ah. — Merriam.

Quah-quah. — Thoreau.

Up and down the maples rough and shaggy-coated.
Busy searching through the lichens all the day.

Shyly creeps the tiny nuthatch snowy-throated.
Sharply eyeing every crevice for its prey.

Selected.
97

Nuthatch, White-Breasted

To a Nuthatch

Shrewd little haunter of woods all gray,
Whom I meet on my walk of a winter day —
You're busy inspecting each cranny and hole
In the ragged bark of yon hickory bole;
You intent on your task, and I on the law
Of your wonderful head and gymnastic claw!

The woodpecker well may despair of this feat-
Only the fly with you can compete!
So much is clear; but I fain would know
How you can so reckless and fearless go,
Head upward, head downward, all one to you,
Zenith and nadir the same in your view.

Edith M. Thomas.

NUTHATCH, RED-BREASTED

This bird is smaller than the white-breasted nuthatch,
and can be recognized at a glance by the stripes on its
head, and the reddish brown of its breast.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. "^

The notes of this species, though similar to the white-
breasted, are sharper, resembling day day dait, and sound-
ing almost like a child's trumpet. Its motions are also
quicker.

Nuttall's Ornithology .2®

ORIOLE, BALTIMORE. GOLDEN ROBIN. FIRE
BIRD. ENGLISH ROBIN. HANG-NEST

A flash of fire through the air; a rich, high, whistled
song floating in the wake of the feathered meteor; the
Baltimore oriole cannot be mistaken.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors. ^^

I always look for the Baltimore oriole when the cherry
trees burst into blossom, and at no time does its beautiful
plumage appear to better advantage than when seen
against a background of white flowers.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Among all the designs of nests, in this country at least,
there is nothing more picturesque than the deep, pendulous
structure of the Baltimore oriole, hanging from near the
extremity of a drooping branch of an elm-tree, nearly
seven inches in depth, of cyUndrical shape, the outer part
a sort of coarsely woven cloth made of thread, sewing
silk, ravelKngs of any kind, strings of the flax of silk-weed,
tow, etc., with a lining of horse-hair, grass and similar
material.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Before the advent of civiHzation in this country, the
oriole probably built a much deeper nest than it usually
does at present. When now it builds in remote trees and
along the borders of the woods, its nest, I have noticed,
is long and gourd-shaped; but in orchards and near dwel-
lings it is only a deep cup or pouch.

Burroughs. Signs and Seasons.^
99

Oriole, Baltimore. Golden Robin. Firebird.
English Robin. Hang-Nest

Few birds like the hairy caterpillars, but Dr. Fisher
has seen the oriole go up before a caterpillar's nest and,
after puncturing it with his bill, stand and wait for the
caterpillars to come out. As each one appeared he seized
it and after sucking the juices of its body threw away
the hairy skin covering.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field."^

Until too much engrossed with family duties, the beauti-
ful birds sing a great deal There is a bright

vivacious song, an equally hearty scold, a high, shrill
whistle, and a richly modulated love song,

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

How falls it, oriole, thou hast come to fly

In tropic splendor through our Northern sky?

At some glad moment, was it Nature's choice

To dower a scrap of sunset with a voice?

Or did some orange tuHp flaked with black,

In some forgotten garden, ages back.

Yearning towards heaven, until its wish was heard,

Desire unspeakably to be a bird?

Edgar Fawcett.

How still the air is !

There an oriole flew;
What a jolly whistle!

He's a sailor, too.

100

Oriole, Baltimore.
English Robin.

Golden Robin.
Hang-Nest

Firebird.

Yonder is his hammock
In an elm-top high:

One more ballad, messmate!
Sing it as you fly!

The oriole with experienced quest
Twitches the fibrous bark away,
The cordage of his hammock-nest,
Cheering his labor with a note
Rich as the orange of his throat.

My Oriole, my glance of summer fire,
Is come at last, and ever on the watch.
Twitches the pack-thread I had lightly wound
About the bough to help his housekeeping, —
Twitches and scouts by turns, blessing his luck,
Yet fearing me who laid it in his way,
Nor, more than wiser we in our affairs.
Divines the providence that hides and helps.
Heave, ho! heave, ho! he whistles as the twine
Slackens its hold; once more, now! and a flash
Lightens across the sunlight to the elm
Where his mate dangles at her cup of felt.

Lucy Larcom.

Lowell.

Lowell.

''Come here! come here! Summer is on the way!"
The oriole is calling in the blossom-time of May.

Selected.

101

OVEN-BIRD. GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH

Early in May you may have the good fortune to see
this Uttle bird of the woods strutting in and out of tlie
garden shrubbery with a certain mock dignity Uke a child
wearing its father's boots. Few birds can walk without
appearing more or less ridiculous, and however gracefully
and pretty it steps, this amusing wagtail is no exception.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^

As an architect the oven-bird is distinguished. His
unique nest is built on the ground, of coarse grasses, weed-
stalks, leaves and rootlets, and is roofed over, the entrance
being at one side. It thus resembles an old-fashioned
Dutch oven, and its shape is the origin of its builders'
name.

Chapman. Bird Life.^'^

If there be such a thing as inspiration, I beheve the

oven-bird sings under its influence Flying up

from the ground, how cautiously he hops from branch
to branch, and with crest sHghtly erect, vxilks carefully
along a limb, when, suddenly overcome by the music in
his soul, he throws fear to the winds and lifts up his voice
in a crescendo chant which vibrates through the woods.
Teacher, teacher, teacher, TEACHER, Mr. Burroughs
writes it, and the description is difficult to improve upon.
The bird fairly quivers with the violence of his effort.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

He has a far rarer song which he reserves for some nymph
whom he meets in the air. Mounting by easy flights to

102

Oven-Bird. Golden-Crowned Thrush

the top of the tallest tree, he launches into the air with
a sort of suspended, hovering flight .... and bursts
into a perfect ecstasy of song, clear, ringing, copious,
rivalling the goldfinch's in vivacity, and the linnet's in
melody. This strain is one of the rarest bits of bird-melody

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

The Oven-Bird

In the days of spring migrations,

Days when warbler hosts move northward,

To the forests, to the leaf -beds.

Comes the tiny oven-builder.

Daintily the leaves he tiptoes;

Underneath them builds his oven,

Arched and framed with last year's oak leaves.

Roofed and walled against the rain-drops.

Hour by hour his voice he raises.
Mingling with the red-eye's snatches,
Answering to the hermit's anthem;
Rising — falUng, like a wind breath.

Strange, ventriloquous his music,
Far away when close beside one;
Near at hand when seeming distant;
Weird — ^his plaintive accrescendo.

Teach us ! teach us ! is his asking,
Uttered to the Omnipresent:
Teach us ! teach us ! comes responsive
From the solemn listening forest.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants. ^^

103

OWLS

Owls are nocturnal birds of prey, and for this reason
feed more largely on small mammals — most of which are
nocturnal— than the diurnal birds of prey. They are
therefore of even greater value to the agriculturist than
hawks.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

Owls have Uttle flaps of skin with which they can shut
up their ears when they wish to be quiet.

Olive Thorne Miller. First Book of Birds.^

Owls' eyes are so fixed in their sockets that they cannot
look from one point to another by simply ''rolling" the
eyeball, but are obhged to turn their head.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

The owl is the great bugaboo of the feathered tribes.
His appearance by day is hailed by shouts of alarm and
derision from nearly every bird that flies, from crows
down to sparrows. They swarm about him like flies, and
literally mob him back into his dusky retreat.

Burroughs. Birds and Poets.^^

His occupancy of deserted houses and ruins has invested
him with a romantic character .... He deserves in
a special degree to be classed among those animals which
we call picturesque.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

104

Owls

Bird of the silent wing and expansive eye, grimalkin
in feathers, feline, mousing, haunting ruins and towers^
and mocking the midnight stillness with thy uncanny cry!
Burroughs. Birds and Poets. ^^

I rejoice that there are owls. Let them do the idiotic
and maniacal hooting for men. It is a sound admirably
suited to swamps and twilight woods.

Thorp:au. Walden.^^

The Owl and the Echo

A FABLE

An owl puffed up with pride and vanity was repeating his
doleful cries at midnight from the hollow of an old oak.
''How is it," he said, 'Hhat silence prevails in this wood,
unless it be to allow my melodious voice to be heard with
effect? Surely the groves are charmed with my voice, and
when I sing all nature listens."

An echo repeated the words, ''AH nature listens." "The
nightingale has usurped my rights," continued the owl.
" His note is sweet, it is true, but mine is much more melo-
dious."

"Much more melodious, " repeated the echo. Excited by
approval, the owl, at the rising of the sun, instead of going
to sleep as usual, continued to join his hooting with the
matin songs of the other birds. But they were disgusted
by the sounds and with one consent attacked the owl and
drove him from their society, harassing him wherever he
appeared, so that to escape from them he was glad to avoid
the light and return to obscurity.

Vain people fancy that their imaginary perfections are the
cause of admiration in others and mistake their self-flattery
for the voice of fame. Selected.

105

RUFFED GROUSE. PARTRIDGE

The ruffed grouse, or partridge of the north and pheasant
of the south, is properly a true grouse, and cannot be
correctly called either partridge or pheasant.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Their way of scratching in the snow, resting their weight
on one foot and scratching with the other is like that of
the common hen, and their drumming is the finished per-
formance that is caricatured by chanticleer. Drumming
with the partridge is a joy.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

Who has seen the partridge drum? It is the next thing
to catching a weasel asleep, though by much caution and
tact it may be done. He selects not, as you would predict,
a dry and resinous log, but a decayed and crumbUng one,
seeming to give the preference to old oak logs that are partly
blended mth the soil .... He does not hug the log,
but stands very erect, expands his ruff, gives two intro-
ductory blows, pauses half a second, and then resumes,
striking faster and faster until the sound becomes a con-
tinuous, unbroken whir, the whole lasting less than half
a minute.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

To find a hen grouse with young is a memorable ex-
perience. While the parent is giving us a lesson in mother-
love and bird intelligence, her downy chicks are teaching
us facts in protective coloration and heredity. How the
old one limps and flutters! She can barely drag herself

106

Ruffed Grouse. Partridge

along the ground. But while we are watching her, what
has become of the ten or a dozen little yellow balls we
almost stepped upon. Not a feather do we see, until,
poking about in the leaves, we find one little chap hiding
here and another squatting there, all perfectly still, and
so like the leaves in color as to be nearly invisible.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

Nature has not asked this bird to walk the snows for
its living without providing it with proper means of loco-
motion. With its slender summer foot it would sink in
the soft drift at every step, while now it walks with perfect
ease on the lightest snow, for each foot is provided with
a snow-shoe. Every autumn the shoe begins to grow,
a stiff fringe of horny bristles spreading around the sole
and on both sides of each toe, until, by the time the blizzard
arrives, the bird is ready to walk on the highest drifts.
The intention of this bristly growth is perfectly plain,
for in April, when the snows have melted you may look
in vain for the snow-shoe; the grouse has kicked it off
as a thing that has served its purpose.

Gibson. Sharp Eyes.^^

Then it is the stately partridge
Spreads his ruff and mounts his rostrum,
Gazes proudly round the thicket.
Sounds his strange and muffled signal.
First with slow and heavy measure.
Then like eager, hurried heart-beats.
Ending in a nervous flutter
Faster than the ear can reckon.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants.^^

107

PEWEE, WOOD

The chances are that you will find it perched on a dead
twig of some tall tree projecting into open space. There
it will look down for insects that may pass beneath, and,
sighting one, it ghdes gracefully downward, seizes the
insect, and then returns to its perch with a graceful up-
ward curve that shows how beautiful a movement flight
may be.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

It is always hungry. I have seen it at sunrise darting
at flies in the chilly, dismal, fog-laden air, and until noon,
though the woods were as another Inferno, still at work,
instead of resting when other birds were taking a nap;
not even during the quiet of mid-afternoon, when the
sun seemed to have paused in his career; no, nor yet at
sundown, when even the last robin had chirped to the
world ''good night"; but at last, when, in the fading
light, its skill was no longer equal to the task, it, too, bade
me farewell, its mournful, tired-out pe-a-wee being the
last bird-sound of the day.

Abbott. Birdland Echoes.^^

The wood pewee's nest is essentially woodsy and distinc-
tive. It is an exquisite little structure, saddled on to a
Hchen-covered Umb. Made of fine roots and deUcate
stems of grass and seed pods, it is covered with bits of
lichen or moss glued on with saliva, so that like the hum-
ming bird's nest it seems to be a knob on the branch.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

108

Pewee, Wood

His pensive, gentle ways are voiced by his sad, sweet
call. The notes are as musical and restful, as much a
part of Nature's hymn, as the soft humming of a brook.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

He repeats his '' sweetly solemn thought" over and
over again, all day long and every day throughout the
summer.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

The Pewee

The Hstening Dryads hushed the woods;

The boughs were thick, and thin and few

The golden ribbons fluttering through;
Their sun-embroidered, leafy hoods

The lindens lifted to the blue;
Only a little forest-brook
The farthest hem of silence shook;
When in the hollow shades I heard —
What is it, a spirit or a bird?
Or, strayed from Eden, desolate.
Some Peri calling to her mate.
Whom nevermore her mate would cheer?
*'Peri! peri! peer!"

To trace it in its green retreat

I sought among the boughs in vain;

And followed still the wandering strain,
So melancholy and so sweet.

The dim-eyed violets yearned with pain.

109

The Pewee

'Twas now a sorrow in the air,
Some nymph's immortaUzed despair
Haunting the woods and waterfalls;
And now, at long, sad intervals,
Sitting unseen in dusky shade,
His plaintive pipe some fairy played.

With long-drawn cadence thin and clear, —

" Pe-wee ! pe-wee ! peer ! "

I quit the search, and set me down

Beside the brook, irresolute.

And watched the little bird in suit
Of sober olive, soft and brown.

Perched in the maple branches, mute;
With greenish gold its vest was fringed.
Its tiny cap was ebon-tinged,
With ivory pale its wings were barred,
And its dark eyes were tender-starred.
^'Dear bird," I said, ^^What is thy name?"
> And thrice the mournful answer came,
So faint and far, and yet so near, —

''Pe-wee! pee-wee! peer!"

John T. Trowbridge.

PHOEBE. WATER PEWEE

There he sits on a branch, in an attitude that would
shock the neat songsters. His wings droop at his sides,
and his tail hangs down in the most negligent fashion.
He seems the personification of listlessness; but, — focus
your glass on him, — his wings are vibrating, and his tail
jerks nervously at intervals. Suddenly he starts into

110

Phoebe. Water Pewee

the air, snaps his bill loudly over an unsuspecting insect
he has been lying in wait for, and, before you breathe,
settles back on the branch with a spasmodic jerk of the
tail.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

The note is a somewhat harsh and querulous one, re-
sembling the word phoebe. The first syllable is smooth,
the second rough and broken.

M. A. WiLLCOX. The Common Land Birds of New England. ''^^

In Florida the phoebe is said to hght on the backs of
cattle, taking a ride with the laudable excuse of catching
flies.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. -^

When not domesticated, as these birds are rapidly
becoming, the phoebes dearly love a cool, wet woodland
retreat. Here they hunt and bathe; here they also build
in a rocky bank or ledge of rocks, or underneath a bridge,
but always with clever adaptation of their nest to its
surroundings, out of which it seems a natural growth.
It is one of the most finished, beautiful nests ever found,
A pair of phoebes become attached to a spot where they
have once nested; they never stray far from it, and return
to it regularly (they are mated for life), though they do
not again occupy the old nest.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors. ^^
111

Phoebe. Water Pewee

Phoebe is a devoted parent, and is rarely found far
from home. His nest seems to be the favorite abode of
an innumerable swarm of parasites, which sometimes

cause the death of his offspring There is

something familiar, trustful and homeUke in the phoebe's
ways which has won him an undisputed place in our
affections.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

It is a wee, sad-colored thing.

As shy and secret as a maid.
That, ere in choir the robins ring.

Pipes its own name hke one afraid.

Lowell.

QUAIL. BOB-WHITE

He is neither a tme quail nor a partridge and those who
claim that but one of these names is correct may com-
promise on ''Bob-white."

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

As a weed-seed and insect destroyer it is of such economic
importance that in Wisconsin, where it has been practically
exterminated, attempts have recently been made to re-
establish it. It eats the potato beetle, and it is particu-
larly fond of the moth that lays the egg that produces
the injurious, omnivorous cutworm.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

112

Quail. Bob-White

There are few prettier sights than a family of old quail
with their young walking fearlessly about in a woodland
meadow. The bird's domestic life is particularly interesting
from the part the male plays in the family, helping to
build the nest, feeding his mate on the eggs, and, in case
of her death, brooding in her place.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

At night, for at least many days in succession, the quail
selects the same spot to sleep in, more usually on low ground,
where the long grass affords shelter and warmth. There
they encamp, not huddled together promiscuously and
unadvisedly, but shoulder to shoulder in a circle, with
their heads out, so that in the event of a sudden surprise
they escape rapidly, and in every direction, without diffi-
culty In winter, they He on the ground as

usual, always allowing the snow to accumulate until
morning, when they free themselves by united effort.
Should a crust be formed, they frequently find it impossible
to escape, and so perish.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds. ^^

The destruction of this useful and interesting species by
our winter snows is a public calamity; and nothing, it
seems to me, can mitigate the evil save the building of
artificial shelters, strewing around them some sort of
grain to prevent their wandering far away from them.
Our farmers have not sufficiently considered the advantages
they might derive from this semi-domestication of the
quail and some other species that winter with us.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^
113

Quail. Bob-White

Bob White

There's a plump little chap in a speckled coat,
And he sits on the zigzag rails remote,
Where he whistles at breezy, bracing morn,
Where the buckwheat is ripe, and stacked the com:
''Bob White! Bob White! Bob White!"

Is he hailing some comrade as bhthe as he?
Now I wonder where Robert White can be!
O'er the billows of gold and amber grain
There is no one in sight — but hark again:
''Bob White! Bob White! Bob White!"

Ah! I see why he calls; in the stubbles there
Hide his plump little wife and babies fair!
So contented is he, and so proud of the same,
That he wants all the world to know his name,
"Bob White! Bob White! Bob White!"

Selected.

REDPOLL. REDPOLL LINNET

Erelong, amid the cold powdery snow, as it were a fruit
of the season, will come twittering a flock of deUcate,
crimson-tinged birds, lesser redpolls, to sport and feed
on the seeds and buds just ripe for them on the sunny
side of a wood, shaking down the powdery snow there
in their cheerful feeding, as if it were high midsummer
to them.

Thoreau. Autumn. ^^

114

Redpoll. Redpoll Linnet

The redpolls are occasionally the most abundant of
our winter birds, but, on the other hand, several successive
winters often pass without their occurrence in Massachusetts.
.... They wander continually during their visits,
and hence are very irregular in appearance at different
localities. I have never observed them to feed from the
evergreens, but they have a marked fondness for the seeds
of white birches and alders.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds. ^*^

Famine, in all probability, or the scarcity of food, urges
them to advance toward the south. It is certain that
they do not forsake their natal regions to seek shelter
from the cold.

NuttalFs Ornithology.^^

In the birches, on the grasses
Stiffly rising through the snow crust.
On the slope of yonder sand-bank
Where the snow has slipped and wasted,
Rest a flock of trustful strangers,
Lisping words of gentle greeting.
Rest and find the sun's rays warming,
Rest and find their food abundant,
Resting, sing of weary journeys
From a Northland cold and distant.

Rose-touched are their brows, with tints like
Lights upon a winter's snow-field.

115

Redpoll. Redpoll Linnet

Rosy are their caps as morning
When the storm clouds gather eastward,
Happy are their hearts and voices,
Happy are the fields and forests,
When their merry notes come jingling,
Sleighbell like, from upper ether.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants.^^

REDSTART

The Germans call this Uttle bird roth Stert (red tail),
but, like so many popular names, this is a misnomer, as,
strictly speaking, the redstart is never red, though its
salmon-orange markings often border on to orange-flame.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

If the male redstart is a fiery coal, the female is a trail
of ashes in his wake.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

In Cuba most of our wood warblers are known simply
as ''Mariposas" — butterflies; but the redstart's bright
plumage has won for him the name '^Candelita" — the
little torch that flashes in the gloomy depths of tropical
forests.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

They show warbler blood by the mad way they career
about, opening and shutting their tails fan-fashion, turning
somersaults, flitting from branch to branch, stopping a

116

Redstart

second to give a little burst of song, and then fluttering
round again; chasing helter-skelter among the bushes;
and suddenly falling through the leaves as if they had
been shot, only to snap up their prey and dart off to begin
their gambols over again.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

The redstart folds and unfolds his twinkling tail in sport.

Olive Thorne Miller.

ROBIN, AMERICAN

The most native and democratic of all our birds.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

His red breast is a myth and belongs to his EngHsh
namesake, and it must be owned that his is a homely
reddish brown that looks red only when the sunhght falls

on it He has .... a calm, dignified air.

With time to meditate when he chooses, Hke other sturdy,
well-fed people, his reflections usually take a cheerful
turn; and when he lapses into a poetical mood, as he
often does at sunrise or sunset, sitting on a branch in the
softened light and whispering a little song to himself,
his sentiment is the wholesome, every-day sort ....
full of contented appreciation of the beautiful world he
lives in.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

117

Robin, American

Too much stress is laid on the mischief done by the
robins in the cherry trees and strawberry patches and
too Uttle upon the quantity of worms and insects they
devour.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors.^

His flight is rapid, clear-cut and straight. Unlike
many birds, he moves as if he were going somewhere.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

The robin is the Philomel of morning twilight in New
England and in all the northeastern states of this continent.
If his sweet notes were wanting, the mornings would be
like a landscape without the rose, or a summer-evening sky
without tints. He is the chief performer in the dehghtful

anthem that welcomes the rising day Remove

the robin from this woodland orchestra and it would be left
without a soprano.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

I know of no other bird that is able to give so many
shades of meaning to a single note, running through the
entire gamut of its possible feelings. From the soft and
mellow quality, almost as coaxing as a dove's note, with
which it encourages its young when just out of the nest,
the tone, with minute gradations, becomes more vehement
and then harsh and with quickened reiteration, until it
expresses the greatest intensity of a bird's emotions. Love,
contentment, anxiety, exultation, rage — what other animal
can throw such multifarious meaning into its tone? And

118

Robin, American

herein the robin seems more nearly human than any of
its kind.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

The sweetest sound the whole year round ;

'Tis the first robin of the spring!
The song of the full orchard choir

Is not so fine a thing. E. C. Stedman.

Robin

When the willows gleam along the brooks,
And the grass grows green in sunny nooks,
In the sunshine and the rain
I hear the robin in the lane

Singing, ''Cheerily,

Cheer up, cheer up;

Cheerily, cheerily,
Cheer up."

But the snow is still
Along the walls and on the hill.
The days are cold, the nights forlorn
For one is here and one is gone.

''Tut, tut, Cheerily,

Cheer up, cheer up;

Cheerily, cheerily,
Cheer up,"

When spring hopes seem to wane,

I hear the joyful strain —

A song at night, a song at morn,

119

Robin, American

A lesson deep to me is borne,
Hearing, ''Cheerily,
Cheer up, cheer up;
Cheerily, cheerily,
Cheer up.'^

Selected.

Robin's Return

Robin on the tilting bough.
Red-breast rover, tell me how
You the weary time have passed
Since we saw and heard you last.

'' In a green and pleasant land.
By a summer sea-breeze fanned.
Orange-trees with fruit are bent;
There the weary time I've spent. "

Robin rover, there, no doubt.
Your best music you poured out;
Piping to a stranger's ear.
You forgot your lovers here.

'' Little lady, on my word,
You do wrong a true-heart bird!
Not one ditty would I sing,
'Mong the leaves or on the wing.

" In the sun or in the rain,
Stranger's ear would list in vain.
If I ever tried a note.
Something rose within my throat.

120

Robin, American

" 'Twas because my heart was true
To the North and spring-time new;
My mind's eye a nest could see
In yon old, forked apple-tree. ''

Edith M. Thomas.

(Note.) It is said that the robin does not sing during
its winter stay in the South.

The Robin

My old Welsh neighbor over the way
Crept slowly out in the sun of Spring,

Pushed from her ears the locks of gray.
And hstened to hear the robin sing.

Her grandson, playing at marbles, stopped
And — cruel in sport, as boys will be —

Tossed a stone at the bird, who hopped
From bough to bough in the apple tree.

''Nay,'' said the grandmother, ''have you not heard,

My poor bad boy! of the fiery pit.
And how, drop by drop, this merciful bird

Carries the water that quenches it?

" He brings cool dew in his little bill,

And lets it fall on the souls of sin;
You can see the mark on his red breast still

Of fires that scorch as he drops it in.

121

Robin. American

''My poor Bronrhuddyn, my breast-burned bird,
Singing so sweetly from limb to limb,

Very dear to the heart of our Lord —
Is he who pities the lost like Him."

''Amen!" I said to the beautiful myth:
^'Sing, bird of God, in my heart as well;

Each good thought is a drop wherewith
To cool and lessen the fires of hell.

"Prayers of love like raindrops fall.

Tears of pity are cooling dew,
And dear to the heart of our Lord are all

Who suffer like Him in the good they do."

Whittier.

Sir Robin

Rollicking Robin is here again.
What does he care for the April rain?
Care for it? Glad of it. Doesn't he know
That the April rain carries off the snow,
And coaxes out leaves to shadow his nest.
And washes his pretty red Easter vest.
And makes the juice of the cherry sweet,
For his hungry little robins to eat?

"Ha! ha! ha!" hear the jolly bird laugh.

"That isn't the best of the story by half!"

Gentleman Robin, he walks up and down,
Dressed in orange-tawny and black and brown.
Though his eye is so proud and his step so firm.

122

Robin, American

He can always stoop to pick up a worm.

With a twist of his head, and a strut and a hop,

To his Robin-wife in the peach tree top,

Chirping her heart out, he calls: ''My dear,

You don't earn your Uving! Come here! Come here!

Ha! ha! ha! Life is lovely and sweet;

But what would it be if we'd nothing to eat?"

Robin, sir Robin, gay, red-vested knight,
Now you have come to us, summer's in sight.
You never dream of the wonders you bring, —
Visions that follow the flash of your wing;
How all the beautiful By-and-by
Around you and after you seems to fly !
Sing on, or eat on, as pleases your mind !
Well have you earned every morsel you find.
''Aye! Ha! ha! ha!" whistles Robin, "My dear,
Let us all take our own choice of good cheer!"

Lucy Larcom.

The Secret

We have a secret, just we three,
The robin and I and the sweet cherry-tree,
The bird told the tree, and the tree told me,
And nobody knows it but just we three.

But of course the robin knows it best,
Because he built it — I shan't tell the rest;
And laid the four little — somethings in it —
I am afraid I shall tell it every minute.

123

Robin, American

But if the tree and the robin don't peep,
I'll try my best the secret to keep;
Though I know when the little birds fly about,
Then the whole secret will be out.

Selected.

The Robin

In the tall ehn-tree sat the robin bright,

Through the rainy April day,
And he carolled clear with a pure delight.

In the face of the sky so gray.
And the silver rain through the blossoms dropped.

And fell on the robin's coat
And his brave red breast, but he never stopped

Piping his cheerful note.

For, oh, the fields were green and glad,

And the bhssful life that stirred
On the earth's wide breast, was full and warm

In the heart of the little bird.
The rain-cloud lifted, the sunset hght

Streamed wide over valley and hill;
As the plains of heaven the land grew bright,

And the warm south wind was still.

Then loud and clear called the happy bird.

And rapturously he sang,
Till wood and meadow and river side

With jubilant echoes rang.
But the sun dropped down in the quiet west.

And he hushed his song at last;
All nature softly sank to rest.

And the April day had passed. Celia Thaxter.

124

Robin, American

How the Robin Came

Long, long ago, in the time almost forgotten, the Indian
father called his tall son and said to him, " My boy, your time
to go to the forest has come. To the thickest part of the
forest, take the mat your mother has made for you. Lie
face downward upon it for twelve days and twelve nights.
Break not your fast until the twelfth morning, when I will
bring you food. These things do to prove your strength
sufficient for a warrior. When your days of fasting are
completed, the tribe will give a great feast for you. The
chief will say, 'Now you are a great warrior.'''

Sad at heart, the boy went to his lonely fast in the forest.
Though brave, he did not care to be a warrior, for he loved
not war. Neither did he wish to be a hunter for he loved
all animals and all birds.

The father went into the wood every morning to visit his
son. Until the tenth morning, the youth rose always from
his mat in sign of greeting. Much too weak to rise that
morning, he begged that he might go home. On the eleventh
morning he could but raise his hand in welcome. In the
dawn of the twelfth day again came the father, this time
with the promised food, for the days of fasting were accom-
plished.

Already was the tribe preparing a feast for its new warrior.

''Come, " called the father, " here are your bow and arrow!
The chief awaits you!"

No warrior answered the call. No boy was lying face
downward in the damp shade.

Then mourned the Indian father, calling, ''My son! my
son ! " The only reply was the song of a bird near by. Some
evil spirit has stolen my boy, thought the father. He raised

125

Robin, American

his bow to shoot the bird, but as he did so, the bird flew
down to him singing, '' O my father, a good spirit has changed
me into a bird! See my red breast! See how large and
strong I am!"

''0-pe-chee!" called the father, and the robin answered,
'^Chee! Chee! Chee! Do not grieve for me! Ask the chil-
dren not to shoot me! Tell them often how I love them!
Chee! Chee! Chee!"

Through all the years from that morning until this day,
the robin has loved all children and their homes, nesting
always near them, staying never in the forest where the red
boy lay and fasted. Adapted.

The North Story of How the Robin Got His Red Breast

Far away in the cold Northland, there was once but a single
fire to warm the whole country. An old man and his little
son kept it burning by day and by night. They knew that
were the fire to go out, all the people in the North country
would freeze, and their enemy, the white bear, have all the
region for himself.

One day, the old man became so very ill he could no longer
guard the fire. For many days and many nights, his Httle
son cared for him and faithfully worked over the fire. At
last, however, the bo}^ grew so tired he could not even move
about.

Now the white bear also constantly watched the fire, wait-
ing for the hour when the land should belong to him. Seeing
at length the great weariness of the boy, he drew near the
fire and laughed to himself. Soon he saw the son fall asleep
beside his father. Quickly he jumped upon the fire. He
beat it with his wet paws and rolled his great body upon it.

126

Robin, American

When he thought the fire quite out, he went happily into
his den.

A gray robin flying near had seen the white bear's work.
When she was quite certain he had gone away, she flew down
to the dying fire and examined it with her Httle sharp eyes
until she saw one clear spark. For a long time she fanned
this spark with her wings. Her soft gray breast was burned
to a deep red. Still she worked. Finally from the spark
she made a flame. Then to every hut in the Northland she
flew, and wherever for a moment she rested upon the ground,
a bright fire sprang up. Soon instead of one small fire,
many fires warmed the country.

The white bear, angry and disappointed, could do nothing
but move far back into his cave and growl, for now he knew
the Northland would never be his.

So do the people of the Northland love the robin and never
do they tire of telling the children how he obtained his red
breast.

Adapted.

SANDPIPER, SPOTTED

I always look forward with pleasure to their coming
for they are to the water what swallows are to the air.
They fill a place that no other bird can fill, and leave a
painful void when they depart.

Abbott. Birdland Echoes.^^

Their flight is quite peculiar. With one quick stroke
of the wings they can propel themselves a long distance,
and, by repeating at intervals the single vibration, they
appear to be floating in air, as with motionless wing they

127

Sandpiper, Spotted

speed along close to the water. When standing on the
ground they have a ludicrous trick of ducking the head
and jerking the body, the purpose of which is quite unac-
countable, a habit that has given them the expressive,
if not elegant, sobriquet of ''teetertail," or ''tip-up."

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

The birds of this species have been so wantonly and
mercilessly hunted by gunners of all ages, that they have
become extremely shy, and have lost all confidence in
man. Yet if they were harbored, and protected from
annoyance and danger, they would grow tame and confiding,
and our fields and gardens would be full of them. A brood
of them . . . would be indefatigable hunters of insects
in pastures and tilled lands. . . . These little birds
are incapable of doing any mischief, even if there were
fifty of them on every farm. They take no fruit; they
do not bite off the tops of tender herbs, Uke poultry; and
they are interesting in their ways.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

Call-Note:

A sharp '' weet-weet — weet-weet. " Chapman.
''Wet-feet— wet-feet." Van Dyke.

The Sandpiper

Across the narrow beach we flit,

One little sandpiper and I;
And fast I gather, bit by bit.

The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry.

128

Sandpiper, Spotted

The wild waves reach their hands for it,
The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,

As up and down the beach we flit, —
One little sandpiper and I.

Above our heads the sullen clouds

Scud black and swift across the sky;
Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds

Stand out the white Hght-houses high.
Almost as far as eye can reach

I see the close-reefed vessels fly,
As fast we flit along the beach, —

One little sandpiper and I.

I watch him as he skims along

Uttering his sweet and mournful cry;
He starts not at my fitful song.

Or flash of fluttering drapery.
He has no thought of any wrong;

He scans me with a fearless eye.
Staunch friends are we, well-tried and strong.

The little sandpiper and I.

Comrade, where wilt thou be to-night

When the loosed storm breaks furiously?
My driftwood fire will burn so bright !

To what warm shelter canst thou fly?
I do not fear for thee, though wroth

The tempest rushes through the sky :
For are we not God's children both.

Thou, little sandpiper, and I?

Celia Thaxter.

129

SAPSUCKER, YELLOW-BELLIED

Though the sapsucker has to be content with a mottled
black and white coat, he wears, besides a red cap, a crim-
son frontlet, a bib-shaped piece of crimson satin fastened
close under his chin, and bordering this a circlet of black
satin, below which, and falling to his feet, is his pale yellow
robe. ... He spends much of his time riddling live
trees with squarish holes, to which he returns to drink
the oozing sap and feast upon the insects that gather.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass. ^

SPARROW, CHIPPING. HAIR-BIRD

He is called ''hair-bird" because he lines his nest with
horse or cow hair, and when you think of the close observa-
tion and industry it takes to find this hair you will recognize
not only the power of inherited habit, but the fitness of
the name.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^

In this bird we have an instance of a creature winning
its way to our regard without any effort on its part other
than the general loveliness of its disposition. It performs
no great feats of flight like the swallow; it builds no con-
spicuous nest hke the oriole; it sings but the simplest
ditty of all our birds; but it does come to our doors; it
does salute us with a cheerful song; it offers to be friendly
and so wins our hearts.

Abbott. Birdland Echoes.^^

130

Sparrow, Chipping. Hair-Bird

The ordinary note is a single chip; besides this there
is a long, monotonous trill, somewhat like a watchman's
rattle.

M. A. WiLLCox. Common Land Birds of New England. ^^

His voice is no mean accompaniment to the general
chorus which may be heard on every still morning before
sunrise during May and June. His continued trilling
note is to this warbling band Hke the octave flute, as heard
in a grand chorus of artificial instruments. The voices
of numbers of his species, which are the first to be heard
and the last to become silent in the morning, serve to
fill up the pauses in this sylvan anthem like a running
accompaniment in certain musical compositions.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

Without a song, save in its heart, from twig and fence
the live-long summer, it has done its best with its one
note — its one talent — to bring cheer into the world; and
justice demands that it be judged by its effort rather than
by its accomplishment.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

SPARROW, FIELD

Its bright rufous color, the absence of spots on its breast,
and especially its flesh-colored bill, are the best field-marks
of this misnamed sparrow. He is not a true field sparrow,
but prefers old pastures dotted with clumps of bushes
or young cedars. There is something winning in his

131

Sparrow, Field

appearance; he seems such a gentle, innocent, dove-Hke
Uttle bird. His song is in keeping with his character,
being an unusually clear, plaintive whistle, sweeter to
the lover of birds' songs than the voice of the most gifted
songstress.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

Song:

Fe-o, fe-o, fe-o, few, few, few, fee, fee, fee.

Burroughs.

A fine strain, beginning with two or three high, sustained,
piercing notes, then running into a succession of similar,
more rapid notes, all in a minor key, and often running
down, or occasionally up the chromatic scale.

Selected.

The Field Sparrow

A bubble of music floats

The slope of the hillside over;
A little wandering sparrow's notes;

And the bloom of yarrow and clover.
And the smell of sweet-fern and the bayberry leaf,

On his ripple of song are stealing;
For he is a chartered thief.

The wealth of the fields revealing.

One syllable, clear and soft

As a raindrop's silvery patter.
Or a tinkling fairy bell, heard aloft.

In the midst of the merry chatter

132

Sparrow, Field

Of robin and linnet and wren and jay.—

One syllable, oft repeated :
He has but a word to say,

And of that he will not be cheated.

The singer I have not seen;

But the song I arise and follow
The brown hills over, the pastures green,

And into the sunht hollow.
With a joy that his life unto mine has lent,

I can feel my glad eyes glisten.
Though he hides in his happy tent.

While I stand outside and listen.

This way would I also sing.

My dear little hillside neighbor!
A tender carol of peace to bring

To the sunburnt fields of labor
Is better than making a loud ado;

Trill on, amid clover and yarrow!
There's a heart-beat echoing you,

And blessing you, bhthe little sparrow!

Lucy Larcom.
SPARROW, FOX

The first sight of the bird is surely a memorable expe-
rience. What with his large size, his striking fox-colored
back and tail, together with the remarkable combination
of slate-gray and fox on his head, he seems a new, strange
creature.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^
133

Sparrow, Fox

He has a peculiar method of scratching the ground,
not Uke a hen, with one foot at a time, but somehow with
both at once, in a httle spasm.

Pakkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

. . . . The russet groundbird bold
With both sUm feet at once will lightly rake the mold.

Sill.

Not the least important of its prepossessing features
is its conspicuous good-nature, a hail-fellow, well met,
fraternizing at once with chickadees, snow-birds, white-
throats, and any others of peaceable disposition

Its musical ability .... surpasses all other sparrows in
fine modulation and a peculiarly full, luscious and flute-
like quality of tone, tinged with a delicious plaintiveness.
It is Hke a wild spring flower. If its notes should fall
to the ground and take root, they would certainly spring
up as hepaticas or something of the sort.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

SPARROW, GRASSHOPPER

Its fine insect-like notes give it the name of grasshopper
sparrow. They may be written pit-tuck, zee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e.

Its usual perch, when singing, is a fence rail; and it
does not often seek an elevated position.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

134

SPARROW, SONG

Generally you will find him on or near the ground at
the border of some undergrowth, and if there be water
near by, preferably a meadow brook, his presence is assured.
When flushed, he will doubtless make for the nearest
thicket, ''pumping" his tail in describing his somewhat
jerky flight. Equally diagnostic is the bird's spotted
breast with the one larger spot in its center.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

The first sound of the song sparrow falls on the senses
like a bit of unexpected sunshine in a stormy day, and
raises the temperature of one's feelings many degrees,
for in a twinkling it breaks the spell of winter.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Some birds are poets and sing all summer. They are
the true singers. Any man can write verses in the love

season We are most interested in those birds

that sing for the love of music and not of their mates;
who meditate their strains and amuse themselves with
singing; the birds whose strains are of deeper sentiment.

Thoreau.

Their song bears the test of every day; for while it is
not brilliant, it has all the sweetness of the gentle bird's
own simple nature, and heard far from home stirs chords
that the more brilHant strangers do not touch. Further-
more the student who is interested in noting bird songs,
will find the song sparrow's well worth study, for it varies

135

Sparrow, Song

remarkably. Fifteen varieties of its song have been noted
in one week, and the same individual often has a number
of tunes in his repertoire.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

You will find that he repeats one strain for perhaps a
dozen times, without the change of a note; then suddenly
he comes out with a song entirely different. This second
song he will in turn drop for a third and so on. The bird
acts, for all the world, as if he were singing hymns, of so
many verses each, one after another.

ToRREY. Every Day Birds. ^^

The sparrow .... assured all the plain Quakers
within hearing that he was a good Pres-pi^es-pres-pres-
pres-hy-te-ri-an.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

The song sparrow is said to be imitated in New Bedford
thus: ''Maids, maids, maids, — hang on your tea-kettle
— ettle, ettle, ettle, ettle.

Thoreau.

I thought the sparrow's note from heaven,
Singing at dawn on the alder bough;
I brought him home, in his nest, at even;
He sings the song, but it cheers not now.
For I did not bring home the river and sky; —
He sang to my ear, — they sang to my eye.

Emerson.

136

Sparrow, Song

The Song Sparrow

Sunshine set to music!

Hear the sparrow sing!
In his note is freshness

Of the new-born Spring:
In his trill deUcious

Summer overflows —
Whiteness of the Hly,

Sweetness of the rose.

Splendor of the sunrise,

Fragrance of the breeze,
Crystal of the brooklet

Trickling under trees,
Over moss and pebbles —

Hark! you have them all
Prophesied and chanted

In the sparrow's call.

Song Sparrow

A few notes, three or four,
Repeated o'er and o'er

In low soft, hquid strains.
Make all thy hymn of praise,
Sing all love's tender lays.

Sing even love's sweet pains.

Thy fond mate sitting near
Is glad as I to hear

That triumph of thine art;

137

Selected.

Sparrow, Song

Just that same song of thine,
Sung over line by hne,

Won her grandmother's heart.

Selected.

The Song Sparrow

He does not wear a Joseph's coat
Of many colours, smart and gay;
His suit is Quaker brown and gray,

With darker patches at his throat.
And yet of all the well-dressed throng
Not one can sing so brave a song.

It makes the pride of looks appear

A vain and foolish thing to hear

His ''Sweet-sweet-sweet-very merry cheer."

I like the tune, I hke the words;

They seem so true, so free from art,

So friendly, and so full of heart,
That if but one of all the birds

Could be my comrade everywhere,

My little brother of the air,
This is the one I'd choose, my dear.
Because he'd bless me, every year,
With ''Sweet-sweet-sweet-very merry cheer."

Henry Van Dyke.
138

Sparrow, Song

The Myth of the Song Sparrow

His mother was the Brook, his sisters were the Reeds,
And they every one applauded when he sang about his

deeds.
His vest was white, his mantle brown, as clear as they could

be,
And his songs were fairly bubbling o'er with melody and

glee.
But an envious Neighbor splashed with mud our Brownie's

coat and vest.
And then a final handful threw that stuck upon his breast.
The Brook-bird's mother did her best to wash the stains

away,
But there they stuck, and, as it seems, are very like to

stay,
And so he wears the splashes and the mud blotch as you

see.
But his songs are bubbling over still with melody and glee.

Ernest Thompson Seton.

"Wood Myth and Fable. "—Century Company, 1905.
This poem is printed by special permission of the author.

SPARROW, TREE

Tree sparrows wear a small black dot on the center of
their otherwise unmarked breasts, a badge which will
aid in their identification.

I like to see them feasting on the seed stalks above
the crust, and to hear their chorus of merry, tinkling notes,
Uke sparkling frost crystals turned to music. Too-la-it,
too-la-it, each one calls.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

139

Sparrow, Tree

This bird has ever been a favorite of mine, not because
there is so much of him as so much of them. It is a case
where one is not as good as a hundred, but just the oppo-
site, and a hundred, fortunately, are easier found than
one. Nuttall speaks of two or three singing together.
I have heard a full chorus, and it is then music that makes
you forget the ^'deadness" of the season.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^"^

The tree sparrow is a striking illustration of the good
done by seed-eating birds, for Professor Beal has calculated
that in Iowa alone this little bird destroys eight hundred
and seventy-five tons of noxious weed-seeds every year.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

SPARROW, VESPER. BAY-WINGED BUNTING

There are few grassy fields, I imagine, where this bird
is not found, and you are not likely to mistake it, for it
shows two white feathers in its tail when flying. It is
a ground bird the greater part of each day, and chirps
when startled, Hke any other '^chippy"; but it is a master
musician for all that, and, singing at or after sundown,
has been aptly called the vesper-sparrow.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^'^

The vesper sparrow Ukes a drier field than the song
sparrow, and is especially noticeable for the trick of run-
ning along the path or the road directly in front of the
traveler.

Torrey. Every Day Birds.^^

140

Sparrow, Vesper. Bay- Winged Bunting

Sometimes when started from the nest, the female
simulates lameness with remarkable dexterity, so as very
readily to draw off the attention of her enemies or intruders.

Nuttall's Ornithology .2^

It is impossible to satisfactorily describe this song. It
resembles that of the song sparrow, but is finer and wilder.
It opens with one low note, followed by two higher ones,
while the song sparrow begins with three notes, all of
the same kind.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

On every side, near and remote, from out the short
grass which the herds are cropping, the strain rises. Two
or three long, silver notes of peace and rest, ending in some
subdued trills and quavers. . . . Such unambitious,
quiet, unconscious melody! It is one of the most charac-
teristic sounds in Nature. The grass, the stones, the stubble,
the furrow, the quiet herds, and the warm twilight among
the hills are all subtilely expressed in this song.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

How different from the ecstatic outburst of the song
sparrow! Pensive, but not sad, its long-drawn silvery
notes continue in quavers that float off unended like a
trail of mist. The song is suggestive of the thoughts
that must come at evening to some New England saint
of humble station after a well-spent, soul-uplifting day.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^
141

Sparrow, Vesper. Bay-Winged Bunting
The Vesper Sparrow

It comes from childhood's land,
Where summer days are long

And summer eves are bland, —
A lulling good-night song.

Upon a pasture stone,

Against the fading west,
A small bird sings alone.

Then dives and finds his nest.

The evening star has heard,

And flutters into sight;
O childhood's vesper-bird.

My heart calls back, good-night.

Edith M. Thomas

SPARROW, WHITE-CROWNED

Sometimes one of these distinguished-looking birds
will be discovered in a flock of white-throats. You can
tell him from his cousins at a glance, because he has not
theVhite patch under his chin. His crown serves still
further to distinguish him. It is as striking as a soldier's
cap. Moreover he attracts attention by his general bearing

which is unmistakably that of an aristocrat

Mr. Burroughs is enthusiastic over the white-crown. He
says: "He is the rarest and most beautiful of the sparrow
kind. He is crowned as some hero or victor in the games. "

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

142

SPARROW, WHITE-THROATED. PEABODY
BIRD

In a family not distinguished for good looks, the white-
throated sparrow is conspicuously handsome, especially
after the spring moult. The black, white and yellow
markings on his head are now clear and beautiful. His
figure is plump and aristocratic.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

His song consists of ''two long clear notes followed
by two or three triplets." It has been variously translated
as ''Old-Sam-Peabody-Peabody-Peabody"; ''Swe-e-et Can-
a-da, Can-a-da, Can-a-da"; ''All day, whit-tle-ing, whit-tle-
ing, whit-tle-ing"; and WiUiam Hamilton Gibson tells
of a perplexed husbandman, Beverly by name, who, hesita-
ting at his choice of crops, heard him advise, " Sow wheat,
Pev-er-ly, Pev-er-ly, Pev-er-ly."

The Sing- Away Bird

Have you ever heard of the Sing-away bird.

That sings where the Runaway river
Runs down with its rills from the bald-headed hills
That stand in the sunshine and shiver?

" Oh, sing ! sing-away ! sing-away ! ' '
How the pines and the birches are stirred
By the trill of the Sing-away bird !

And the bald-headed hills, with their rocks and their rills.

To the tune of his raptures are ringing;
And their faces grow young, all the gray mists among,

While the forests break forth into singing.
"Oh, sing! sing-away! sing-away!"

And the river runs singing along;

And the flying winds catch up the song.

143

Sparrow, White-Throated. Peabody Bird

'Twas a white-throated sparrow, that sped a hght arrow

Of song from his musical quiver,
And it pierced with its spell every valley and dell

On the banks of the Runaway river.
''Oh, sing! sing-away! sing-away!"

The song of the wild singer had

The sound of a soul that is glad.

And, beneath the glad sun, every glad -hearted one

Sets the world to the tune of his gladness :
The swift rivers sing it, the wild breezes wing it,

Till Earth loses thought of her sadness.
''Oh, sing! sing-away! sing-away!"

Oh, sing, happy soul, to joy's Giver, —

Sing on, by Time's Runaway River!

Lucy Larcom.

SWALLOW, BANK. SAND MARTIN

This swallow is the only one of the family which still
retains its old nesting habits, scorning the devices provided
by man which have proved so attractive to its brothers.

They fly much Uke other swallows, but never wander
far from their nesting-places. Their nests are placed at the
end of burrows dug out by the birds in sand-banks. The
vicinity of water is usually preferred, but railway and
road cuttings are sometimes chosen. The ground must be
such as will not cave in.

M. A. WiLLCox. Common Land Birds of New England. ^^

144

Swallow, Bank. Sand Martin

We draw an invidious distinction when we sa}^ that
the bank swallow is prettier than the cliff swallow . . .
or otherwise set one above another. They are all as pretty
as pictures, and those that are not brilliant in color possess
unequalled grace, for a swallow in the air is the purest
poetry of motion; it is as if it and the air were one. You
cannot take the bird from the sky without dimming all
its lustre. It is not strange that the Delaware Indians
called these birds ''feathered spirits."

Abbott. Birdland Echoes.^^

The Origin of Bank Swallows

AN ESKIMO STORY.

Once upon a time, some exceedingly wise children were
playing on the edge of a cliff near their native village. Sud-
denly while building mud houses, they were changed into
swallows. Yet with all their change of body and manner
of living, they remembered their last occupation as children
and still made houses on the cUff.

The memory of that last hour of childish play has been

given to all their descendants, for, even to this day they

come to a cHff to build their nests of mud. .

Adapted.

SWALLOW, BARN

Barn swallows take first rank among a family of birds
famous for their power of flight. While their relatives
are circling about feeding on insects in the air above,
they capture their prey nearer the ground, skimming
low over the fields, turning quickly to right or left, up
or down, and pursuing their erratic course with marvelous

^ ' Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

145

Swallow, Barn

As he sweeps near us, the rich metalHc sheen of his
back is well seen; and as he flies up to a telegraph wire,
his long forked tail and deep chocolate breast identify
him beyond question.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

None of the swallows have a song, but their feelings
effervesce in lively clinking notes that are not unmusical.
They are in less need of a song than most other birds,
for they can work off their feelings through their dashing
and tireless flight.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

The young often utter a series of twitters, which resemble
the laugh of a tickled child.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds.^^

Wheeling about our barns and houses, skimming over
the fields, its bright sides flashing in the sunlight, playing
^'cross-tag" with its friends at evening, when the insects
too are on the wing, gyrating, darting and gliding through
the air, it is no more possible to adequately describe the
exquisite grace of the swallow's flight, than the glistening
buff of his breast. This swallow is pecuharly American.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

146

Swallow, Barn

Swallows thicken through the air,
Curve and drift of plumy brown,
Wafting, showering everywhere,
Melody's hght seed-notes down.

Lucy Larcom.

The thin-winged swallow, skating on the air.

Gibson.

The Swallow

At play in April skies that spread
Their azure depths above my head
As onward to the woods I sped,

I heard the swallow twitter;
O skater in the fields of air
On steely wings that sweep and dare.
To gain these scenes thy only care,

Nor fear the winds are bitter.

Ah, well I know thy deep-dyed vest,
Thy burnished wing, thy feathered nest.
Thy lyric flight at love's behest,

And all thy ways so airy;
Thou art a nursling of the air,
No earthly food makes up thy fare
But soaring things both frail and rare.

Fit diet of a fairy.

John Burroughs.

147

SWALLOW, CLIFF or EAVE

The cliff swallows, as their name implies,

naturally fix their queer bottle-nosed nest to the perpen-
dicular faces of rocks and hard embankments; and have
latterly acquired the name of eave swallows from the
circumstance that they have readil}^ availed themselves of
the eligible nesting sites afforded by the walls of houses
under shelter of the eaves.

Stearns. New England Bird Life

30

They sometimes extend nearly across the whole side
of a roof, resembling in some degree a long row of hornets'
nests. They are made of clay and mud without inter-
mixture of other substances ('' bricks without straw"), and
lined with grass and feathers.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

The Hght rump and whitish forehead easily distinguish
it from the other swallows.

There is no evil blended with the many benefits swallows
confer upon man. They destroy the insects that annoy
his cattle, injure his fruit trees, sting his fruit or molest
his cattle.

Brewer.

. . . the swallow of the mud nest,
He with blue and chestnut breastplate,
He with snow upon his forehead.

BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants. ^^

148

Swallow, Cliff or Eave

The Swallows

Gallant and gay in their doublets gray,
All at a flash like the darting of flame,

Chattering Arabic, African, Indian —

Certain of springtime, the swallows came!

Doublets of gray silk and surcoats of purple.
And ruffs of russet round each little throat.

Wearing such garb they had crossed the waters,
Mariners sailing with never a boat.

Edwin Arnold.

SWALLOW, TREE or WHITE-BELLIED

These swallows usually announce spring to the people
of Boston and its vicinity in the first week of April; but
after their arrival they are sometimes obliged, when dis-
couraged by the cold, to retreat temporarily southward
to a warmer latitude. As our ancestors long since dis-
covered this fact in relation to their swallows, they have
handed down to us th^j wise proverb that ''One swallow
does not make a summer. "

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds. ^

Their predilection for the borders of lakes and ponds
led some of the ancient writers to believe that swallows
retired to the bottom of the water during the winter;
and some fishermen on the coast of the Baltic pretended
to have taken them up in their nets in large knots, cUng-
ing together by the bills and claws in a state of torpidity.

Nuttairs Ornithology.^^
149

Swallow, Tree or White-Bellied

Their white breasts flash in the sunlight, and it is only
when they dart near you, and skim close along the surface
of the water, that you discover their backs to be not black,
but rich dark green, glossy to iridescence.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

They are more quarrelsome and less sociable in the
breeding season than the barn swallow. In the spring
their protracted, angry contentions and rapid chatter are
often heard in the air.

NuttalPs Ornithology.^^

Unlike most swallows, they vary their insect diet with
berries, being especially fond of bay-berries.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

The tree swallows are passing through a transition
period in their history. Some accept the houses or boxes
erected by man as substitutes for the holes in trees or
stumps which others still use.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^
SWIFT, CHIMNEY

No one ever saw him sitting on a perch or walking on
the ground. In fact, his wings are so long, and his legs
so short and weak, that if he were to alight on the ground,
he would probably never be able to rise in the air again.

Torre Y. Every Day Birds. ^^
150

Swift, Chimney

One might infer that they had contracted their soot-
brown color by contact with chimneys for several genera-
tions, until it became ingrained.

They are well named ''swifts/' as they are not surpassed,
and are rarely equalled, by any other birds in their power
of flight, sometimes covering a thousand miles in tw^enty-
four hours.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Their wings are developed till they look Hke strips of

cardboard more than [bunches of feathers On

the other hand, their feet, like those of Chinese ladies,
are so little used that they are small and weak. They
serve merely as picture hooks, for the birds hook them
over the edge of the nest or into a crack in the chimney,
and proceed to go to sleep hanging hke pictures on a

wall The tail comes in to act as a prop, being

bent under the bird to brace against the wall. Doubtless,
by this habit, the end of the tail has gradually lost its
feathery character, the webbing being worn off, till now
only the stiff, bone-like quills of the feathers remain. These
they use Uke little awls, to stick into the bricks.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

Major Bendire says that few birds are more devoted to
their young than the chimney swift, a case being recorded
where the parent was seen to enter a chimney in a burning
house, even after the entire roof was a mass of flames,
preferring to perish with its offspring rather than forsake
them.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^
151

TANAGER, SCARLET

That bit of bright scarlet on yonder dead hemlock,
glowing like a live coal against the dark background,
seeming almost too brilliant for the severe northern cHmate,
is the scarlet tanager. I almost fear he will kindle the
dry limb on which he aUghts.

Burroughs. Wake Robin. ^

Seen against the leafy background, light seems to radiate
from his glowing feathers.

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

We are first guided to him by his call and song. They
are pecuhar and both have a rare woods flavor. The
call is a rapidly uttered chip-chirr. The song is a loud,
cheery, rhythmical carol, suggesting the song of the robin.

Florence A. Merriam. Chapman's Handbook of Birds. ^^

Mounting to the topmost branch, often of a dead or
partially dead tree, he sings, "Look-up, way-up, look-at-
me, tree-top."

Chapman. Bird Life.^^

The redbird spread his sable wing.

And showed his side of flame. Emerson.

THRASHER, BROWN. BROWN THRUSH

He may be recognized at a considerable distance, from
his habit of flirting his tail while perched, much after
the fashion of the catbird. And if one gets a nearer view,

152

Thrasher, Brown. Brown Thrush

he may be distinguished from all other thrush-like birds
by the two white wing-bars and the extraordinarily long
tail.

M. A. WiLLcox. Common Land Birds of New England

29

He is an active, suspicious bird, who does not Hke to
be watched, and expresses his annoyance with an unpleasant
kissing note or sharply whistled wheeu.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

His song is a sort of recitative, often resembling spoken
words rather than musical notes, many of which are short

and guttural An ingenious shoemaker ....

gave me the following words: ''Look up, look up, — Glory
to God, glory to God, — Hallelujah, Amen, Videhcet."

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

While you are planting the seed, he cries, "Drop it,
drop it, — cover it up, cover it up, — pull it up, pull it up
pull it up. "

Thoreau.

When he sings he takes the very top of a tree, although
usually it is not a tall one. There he stands by the half-
hour together, head up and tail down, pouring out a flood
of music; sounds of all sorts, high notes and low notes,
smooth notes and rough notes, all jumbled together in
the craziest fashion, as if the musician were really beside
himself. It is a performance worth buying a ticket for
and going miles to hear.

ToRREY. Every Day Birds.^^

153

Thrasher, Brown. Brown Thrush

The brown thrasher calls half furtively, half archly,
from the tree-top back in the bushy pastures: ''Croquet,
croquet, hit it, hit it, come to me, come to me, tight it,
tight it, you're out, you're out."

Burroughs. Pepacton.^

Cherruwit, cherruwit, go ahead, go ahead, give it to
him, give it to him, etc.

Thoreau. Excursions.^"^

As affording some Hght on the popular name of " thrasher, "
I might mention the remark of a certain matter-of-fact
rustic who answered my query for enlightenment upon
the subject — " Some fokes sez it's becuz he's ahz a-thrashin'
around so in the bushes, 'n 'others sez it's becuz he's ferever
teUin' uv 'em to 'thrash it, thrash it!' But thet's all
puppy cut; he sez enny thing you like."

Gibson. Strolls by Starlight and Sunshine.^^

The wise thrush, he sings each song twice over,

Lest you fear he never could recapture

That first fine careless rapture. Selected.

The Brown Thrush

''There's a merry brown thrush sitting up in the tree,
He's singing to me! He's singing to me!"
And what does he say, little girl, little boy?
"Oh, the world's running over with joy!
Don't you hear? don't you see?
Hush! Look! In my tree
I'm as happy, as happy can be!"

154

Thrasher, Brown. Brown Thrush

And the brown thrush keeps singing, " A nest do you see,

And five eggs, hid by me in the juniper tree?
Don't meddle! don't touch! Uttle girl, little boy,
Or the world will lose some of its joy!
Now I'm glad, now I'm free!
And I always shall be,
If you never bring sorrow to me."

So the merry brown thrush sings away in the tree.

To you and to me, to you and to me;
And he sings all the day, Httle girl, httle boy,
''Oh, the world's running over with joy!
But long it won't be.

Don't you know? don't you see?
Unless we are as good as can be!"

Lucy Larcom.

THRUSH, HERMIT

As the name implies, it is the most secretive of the
thrushes in its habits, and would be little known were
it not so abundant and so widely dispersed during the
migrations.

Stearns. New England Bird Life.^^

In the middle and eastern states, during the period of
song, it is found only in the deepest and most remote
forests, usually in damp and swampy localities. On this
account the people in the Adirondack region call it the
" Swamp Angel. "

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

155

Thrush, Hermit

The hermit has a distinguishing reddish tail, which it
raises and lowers as it gives its characteristic call oi chuck.

Its song is one for which many of nature's devotees
make long pilgrimages; and to my mind it excels that
of any bird I have ever heard, being, above all others,
serene and uplifting.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

In full song his voice is rich and sonorous; and a softer
tone, which I heard soon after his arrival, was like the
finest thread of pure gold.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

It is perhaps more of an evening than a morning hymn,
though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple,
and I can hardly tell the secret of its charm. " O spheral,
spheral!" he seems to say: ''O holy, holy! O clear away,
clear away! O clear up, clear up!" interspersed with

the finest trills and the most dehcate preludes

It suggests no passion or emotion, — nothing personal, —
but seems to be the voice of that calm, sweet solemnity
one attains to in his best moments.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

Unrivaled one, the hermit-thrush,

Solitary, singing in the west. Selected.

Then in that solemn hour I hear

A hymn that comes so sweet and clear,

So pure a tone, it seems to be

A bit of heaven's minstrelsy. Selected.

156

THRUSH, WOOD

Its large size, heavily spotted breast and the rich golden
brown of its back, brightest on its head, distinguish it
from the other thrushes.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

He is truly a royal minstrel, and considering his hberal
distribution throughout our Atlantic seaboard, perhaps
contributes more than any other bird to our sylvan melody.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

His calm, restful song rings through the woods like a
hymn of praise rising pure and clear from a thankful heart.
It is a message of hope and good cheer in the morning,
a benediction at the close of day.

The flute-like opening notes, 'Tome to me," are an
invitation to his haunts; a call from Nature to yield our-
selves to the ennobling influences of the forest.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

The wood thrush, having mounted to a perch so high
that his outbursts of heavenly music shall not be confined
to earth or lost in the surrounding shrubbery, pours out
such a melody that he seems at every utterance ''to be
endeavoring to recall his very soul, that fled to heaven
on the winged notes of his last Hquid melody."

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds.^^

There may be sweeter sounds the wide world over,
but he is blessed that has heard this one.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

157

Thrush, Wood

He willy willy— ha willy willy— 0 willy O.

The bell of the wood thrush.

Emerson.

Gibson.

Hush!

'Tis the first melting gush,

Then slowly —

In notes by all of earth untaught,

Each tone it seems a hquid thought,

He pours rich meanings all unsought,

Most holy. Selected.

VEERY. WILSON^S THRUSH. TAWNY
THRUSH

This is to be distinguished from the other thrushes by
the uniform color of the upper parts, the absence of an
eye-ring and the faintly spotted breast.

They can run over the ground with rapidity, but in
the woods they usually poke about quietly among the
pine needles and dead leaves, where they can find the

insects on which they feed When disturbed,

while thus busied, they generally fly to a bush near the
spot, and sit there quite motionless, occasionally uttering
their chirp, until it seems safe to return to their inter-
rupted occupation.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds.^^

158

Veery. Wilson's Thrush. Tawny Thrush

Until this little bird arrives, I feel as the audience do
at a concert before the chief singer appears, while the
other performers are vainly endeavoring to soothe them
by their inferior attempts.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^

The veery's usual call-note is a clearly whistled wheeu,
which can be closely imitated; his song is a weird, ringing
monotone of blended alto and soprano tones. Neither
notes nor letters can tell one of its peculiar quality; it
has neither break nor pause, and seems to emanate from no
one place. If you can imagine the syllable vee-r-r-hu
repeated eight or nine times around a series of intertwining
circles, the description might enable you to recognize
the veery 's song.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

Hold a stiff beech-leaf at right angles to your lips, and
whistle softly a series of descending whee-u, whee-u, whee-
whee-u's, and you will get a little of the reed-Uke quaUty
and phrasing of the veery 's song.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

It is one of the simplest strains to be heard — as simple
as the curves in form, delighting from the pure element
of harmony and beauty it contains, and not from any
novel or fantastic modulation of it, — thus contrasting
strongly with such rollicking, hilarious songsters as the
bobolink.

Burroughs. Wake Robin. ^

159

Veery. Wilson's Thrush. Tawny Thrush

The veery . . . .sings at night also, and its weird,
sweet strains floating through the woods at dusk, thrill
one like the mysterious voice of a disembodied spirit.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

No sweeter note gives out Apollo's lyre,

None sweeter gives the shell his brother plays;

This gift of tawny thrush transcends the fire

Of any mortal soul that would aspire

To sing — as now I sing — the Veery 's praise.

Selected.

The Wood Notes of the Veery

The moonbeams over Arno's vale in silver flood were
pouring,

When first I heard the nightingale a long-lost love deplor-
ing,

So passionate, so full of pain, it sounded strange and eerie;

I longed to hear a simpler strain, — the wood notes of the
veery.

The laverock sings a bonny lay above the Scottish heather,
It sprinkles down from far away like fight and love together;
He drops the golden notes to greet his brooding mate,

his dearie;
I only know one song more sweet, — the wood notes of the

veery.

In Engfish gardens, green and bright and full of fruity

treasure,
T heard the blackbird with delight repeat his merry measui-e;

160

Veery. Wilson's Thrush. Tawny Thrush

The ballad was a pleasant one, the tune was loud and

cheery,
And yet with every setting sun, I Hstened for the veery.

But far away, and far away, the tawny thrush is singing;
New England woods, at close of day, with that clear chant

are ringing;
And when my light of life is low, and heart and flesh are

weary,
I fain would hear, before I go, the wood notes of the veery.

Henry Van Dyke.

VIREO, RED-EYED ^^THE PREACHERS'

The easiest way to identify it, until it sings, is by the
dark stripe through the eye, which is not found in the
other vireos, while at short range and in good light the
iris has a reddish tinge.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Its back is olive, and its breast white, of such tints that
when the sunlight is on the leaves, our vireo is well disguised,
for its back looks like the upper side of the leaf, and its
breast like the under side with the sun on it.

Selected.

The cowbird carefully attends the red-eyes, and deposits
an egg in the nest; and the one ornithological wonder is
that the bird is fool enough to take care of it. This it

161

Vireo, Red-Eyed. ^^The Preacher''

does almost always, although evidence of rebellion is not
wanting.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

His style of preaching is not declamation. Though
constantly talking, he takes the part of a deliberative
orator, who explains his subject in a few words and then
makes a pause for his hearers to reflect upon it. We
might suppose him to be repeating moderately, with a
pause after each sentence, '^You see it, — you know it, —
do you hear me? — do you believe it?" All these strains
are delivered with a rising inflection at the close, and
with a pause, as if waiting for an answer.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

His song is a monotonous but cheerful monologue made
up of short broken sentences, in triplets, given as he hunts
over the branches for food. ''Where's a worm? Where's
a caterpillar? Where's a worm?" he queries as he goes,
answering his own question very comfortably to himself.
There is nothing ecstatic about his song. It seems merely
the accompaniment of his occupation. He sings as a
contented man whistles at his work.

Florence A. Merriam, Birds of Village and Field.'^

Rain or shine, before noon or after, in the deep forest
or in the village grove, — when it is too hot for the thrushes
or too cold and windy for the warblers, — it is never out
of time or place for this little minstrel to indulge his cheer-
ful strain.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

162

Vireo, Red-Eyed. ^^The Preacher"

What are the materials of this basket hanging here in
the fork of the maple! Let us unravel it. . . . Here
are strips of white and yellow birch bark, aster calyxes,
cobwebs, a blue-bottle fly, spider-egg silk tufts, slender
roots, bits of pith, skeletonized leaves, pine needles, old
cocoons of the tussock-moth, grass, caterpillar hairs, dande-
Uon seeds, moss, and feathers. A broad piece of mottled-
gray paper-like substance forms the outside base of the
nest. We might have been certain of finding this — a
fragment of hornet's nest, one of the favorite fabrics of
all the vireos. And what is this white weather-beaten
fragment which crops out beneath it? A bit of newspaper!
Further unravelling shows a number of similar pieces.
.... In most of them the print was worn and illegible,
and in others so fragmentary as to be without sense. But

at length I came upon the sentiment the

only perfect sentence to be found in all the print — my
''preacher's" text — ^^Jmve in view the will of God.'"

Gibson. Sharp Eyes.^^

No other .... speaks so clearly in our own tongue
or seems so much to imply a listener. ''Verily, verily:
you know it: you see it: cheery are we: we cheer you."
Such is the melodious witness that seems to descend from
heaven through the maple tree above us. "You are
weary: we see it; hsten to me: meekly: cheery are we:

O why is it: verily verily: there we owe it:

believe me: 'tis real] we know it: Selah!"

Mr. Beecher once remarked to me. . . . "That little
fellow has found a land of plenty up there, and he says
grace Hke a little Christian at every mouthful. "

Gibson. Starlight and Sunshine. ^^

163

Vireo, Red-Eyed. ^^ The Preacher"

Upon the elm tree sprays

The vireo rings the changes sweet,
During the trivial summer days,

Striving to lift our thoughts above the street.

Thoreau.

VlREO, WARBLING

The vireos, who live on measure-worms and similar
morsels, are so exclusively devoted to foliage that they
might well be called leaf -birds, and their tints harmonize
strikingly with their habits. They may well be known as
''greenlets."

Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass."

There is not a branch of any village maple, no drooping
limb of any church-yard elm, no clustered trees upon
the common, or stately rows of pines about our houses,
but the warbling vireo knows full well; and at home the
moment he reaches us, he goes forthwith upon his musical
rounds, and, gentle as a spirit though he seems, dealing
death to the insect hordes that Nature has here, too, given

a home The song is not interrupted and out

of tune like the red-eye's song, and if you hear both . . .
you will recognize them, the one as troubled water flow-
ing over rocks, the other the quiet ripple of the meadow
brooks.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^'

The song is a firm, rich, continuous warble with a singu-
lar alto undertone.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

164

Vireo, Warbling

Wilson Flagg represents it by the words, "Brigadier,
Brigadier, Brigate," and designates the bird as "The
Brigadier."

The nest is generally pendulous (with generally a free use
of moss), and ambitiously and securely suspended at
great elevations. In our elms I have seen one of these
airy cradles at the very summit of one of the most gigantic,
more than one hundred feet from the ground.

Nuttairs Ornithology.^^

VIREO, SOLITARY or BLUE-HEADED

The solitary vireo may be distinguished from other
vireos at a glance by its bluish head. It is to be sought
in the woodlands.

M. A. WiLLCox. Common Land Birds of New England. '^^

In form its music resembles the red-eye's .... and
the yellow-throat's. It has, too, .... a musical chat-
ter— suggestive of the Baltimore oriole's — and a prett}'
trilled whistle. Wood bird as it is, it will sometimes
permit the greatest familiarities. Two birds I have seen
which allowed themselves to be stroked in the freest manner
while sitting on the eggs, and which ate from my hand
as readily as any pet canary.

ToRREY. Chapman's Handbook of Birds."^^

The solitary vireo builds a pensile nest . . . not so
high from the ground as the 3Tllow-throated vireo 's, nor

165

Vireo, Solitary or Blue-Headed

so exquisitely finished, but still a beautiful little structure
of pine-needles, plant-fibre, dry leaves, and twigs, all
lichen-lined and bound and rebound with coarse spiders'
webs.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

VIREO, YELLOW-THROATED

This is undoubtedly the beauty of the vireo family.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

To distinguish it from both the warbling and the red-
eye, you have but to remember the yellow on its breast
and its two strongly marked wing bars.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

If the red-eye is a soprano, the yellow-throat is a con-
tralto. He sings much the same tune, but his notes are
deeper and richer, while they are uttered more deliberately
and with greater expression. . . . ''See me; I'm
here; where are you?" he calls, and at intervals repeats
his question in varying forms. Sometimes he astonishes
us by an intricate liquid trill.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

They [the red-eye and the yellow-throat], sing somewhat
alike and yet differently, the advantage being with the
yellow-throat, . . . .the red-eye . . . saying, ''Do

166

Vireo, Yellow-Throated

you hear me? Do you believe it?" and the yellow-throat,
away up in the tree-top .... ''Doubt it? 'deed 1
do!"

Abbott. Birdland Echoes.^^

They excel all their relations in architectural taste and
skill, and construct a beautiful nest, outwardly ornamented
with hchens, plant down and caterpillar's silk. It is
altogether one of the prettiest nests to be found among
our specimens of bird-architecture.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds.^^

WARBLER, BLACK AND WHITE. BLACK AND
WHITE CREEPER

This little warbler is so uniformly striped with black
and white that beginners often dub him ''the little zebra
bird."

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. -^

Nine times out of ten these active little warblers are
mistaken for downy woodpeckers, not because of their color-
ing alone but also on account of their common habit of
running up and down the trunks of trees and on the under
side of branches, looking for insects.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

167

Warbler, Black and White. Black and White
Creeper

His fine strain reminds me of hair-wire. It is unques-
tionably the finest bird -song to be heard. Few insect
strains will compare with it in this respect; while it has
none of the harsh, brassy character of the latter, being
very delicate and tender.

Burroughs. Wake Robin. ^

WARBLER, BLACKBURNIAN

In one's experience of warbler life, perhaps he touches
high-water mark when he sees for the first time a perfect
specimen of the Blackburnian warbler. To avoid the
appearance of exaggeration I must refrain from adequately
expressing the surprise and amazement elicited by this
glowing coal of fire. ... It might properly be named
the conflagration warbler.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

The orange-throated warbler would seem to be his

right name, his characteristic cognomen The

burn seems appropriate enough, for in these dark ever-
greens his throat and breast show like flame.

Burroughs. Wake Robin. ^

The redstart's name of ''candelita" might well be applied
to the Blackburnian, for it is not only one of the most
beautiful of the little warbler butterflies, but its flaming
orange-red throat might easily suggest a torch in the
forest.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.-^

168

WARBLER, BLACK-POLL

The black-poll at first glance suggests the black and
white creeper; but instead of a striped head, has a black
cap.

It is said to be one of the most beneficial of warblers,
fairly gorging itself on canker worms.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

A dainty little fellow, . . . . he is almost hidden by
the dense foliage on the trees by the time he returns to
us at the very end of spring. ... A faint ''screep,
screep" Uke ''the noise made by striking two pebbles
together," is often the only indication of the black-poll's
presence.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors. ^^

The song of the black-poll is weak, as if he had such
a cold as to be almost inaudible.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

It resembles the syllables, tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi, repeated in
a nearly unvarying tone.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds.^^

WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED BLUE

For a restful effect in pure white, blue and black, nothing
could be finer than the ''black-throated blue," as chaste
and elegant as one could imagine, and with ample compen-
sation for its colder tones in its grace of pose and motion.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

169

Warbler, Black-Throated Blue

It treats a tree as a staircase, hopping up a branch at
a time, often stopping on the landings to follow the limbs
out to their tips, and then, instead of vaulting into the
air or dropping off in somersaults as do many of its acro-
batic relatives, stops still, turns its head over and looks
up before going on up the next stair.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN

This is one of the most welcome birds to the would-be
ornithologist, because it is so easily recognized. The
black inverted V of its under parts (A), the yellow cheeks
and large areas of white on the tail, are unmistakable.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. -^

The "black-throated greens" are, to me, with perhaps
the exception of the pine warblers, the most attractive
members of their family, on account, I think, of their
pleasing, famihar, and oft-repeated songs, . . . which
form so fitting an accompaniment to the whispering of

the pines.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds.

Song

Trees, trees, murmuring trees. — Torre y.

^ Burroughs.

Cheese, cheese, a httle more cheese.
Sleep, sleep, pretty one, sleep.

170

WARBLER, CHESTNUT-SIDED

He is one of the rarest and handsomest of the warblers;
his white breast and throat, chestnut sides, and yellow

crown, show conspicuously A characteristic

attitude of the male . . . . is a slight drooping of the
wings, and tail a little elevated, which gives him a very
smart bantam-like appearance.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

Like the redstart, it plumes itself on the fact that it
does not need to rest. It is always on the lookout, always
moving from point to point, as if animated by an abiding
faith that there is merit in motion, even should nothing
come of it.

Abbott. Bird land Echoes. ^^

WARBLER, MAGNOLIA or BLACK AND
YELLOW

His beautiful yellow breast is adorned with "a, necklace
and long pendants of black."

The one point to note, though, if we could but know it
beforehand, is the white on the middle of the tail feathers,
as most warblers wear their polka dots at the tips of their
feathers.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. -^

The Magnolia has a shrill song, more than usually pro-
tracted on the approach of wet weather, so that the Indians
bestow upon it the name of rain bird.

NuttalPs Ornithology.^^
171

WARBLER, MYRTLE or YELLOW-RUMPED

The four yellow spots on crown, lower back, and sides
are its distinguishing marks; and in the autumn these
marks have dwindled to only one, that on the lower back

or rump.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^

In loose companies they forage in old fields and scrubby
growths among the bayberry or myrtle bushes, which
bear their favorite food [whence their name].

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

Yellow-rumped warblers are in place wherever you
find them, and are as much at ease in the depth of the
forest as about our garden fences.

Abbott. Birdland Echoes.^^

WARBLER, NASHVILLE

Its discoverer was first attracted to it by the singular
noise which it made, resembling the breaking of small
dry twigs, or the striking together of pebbles, for six or
seven times in succession, and loud enough to be heard
at a distance of thirty or forty yards.

Nuttairs Ornithology.^^

Minot compares the first half of the song to the pene-
trating notes of the black and white warbler, and the
last half to the twitter of the chipping sparrow.

172

Warbler, Nashville

Though he has no marks, it is after all, a satisfaction
to know that some warblers are plain. . . . His head
is bluish gray, which is a mercy, for that is unusual in
combination with the olive and yellow of his body.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

WARBLER, PARULA or BLUE YELLOW-
BACKED

It is one of the daintiest of the family, bound literally
in blue and gold and white and in form and coloring one
could hardly imagine anything more exquisite. A light
ashy-blue spreads over the upper part of the body and
wings, finely sprinkled with gold in the center of the back,
while beneath it is snow-white except for the yellow and
brownish band across the breast.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar

31

Years ago when rambling in the woods ... I caught
sight of a bird that paused a moment on a branch above
me, the Uke of which I had never before seen or heard
of. It was probably the blue yellow-backed warbler,
. . . . but to my young fancy it seemed Uke some fairy
bird, so curiously marked was it, and so new and unexpected.
.... How the thought of it clung to me afterward!
It was a revelation. It was the first intimation I had
had that the woods we know so well held birds that we
know not at all.

Burroughs. Wake Robin. ^

173

Warbler, Parula or Blue Yellow-Backed

The song comes to me from amid the top branches of
tall trees, — birch and poplar. It is an attractive song,
though it has little theme — merely a rapid trill of some
twenty sibilant notes deUvered with a rising inflection;
but the tones are sweet, and the effect is pleasing. The
song is clearly an outburst of joyous emotion.

Nuttall's Ornithology.^^

Hoffman likens the song to the winding up of a little
watch.

WARBLER, PINE. PINE CREEPER

Here is a warbler, let it be recorded, that is fittingly

named, for it is a denizen of pine woods only

Its song recalls that of the junco and the chippy.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors. ^^

Whoever has found it in its summer resorts will there-
after always associate its simple, sweet, and drowsy song
with the smell of pines in a sultry day.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

They have always seemed to me quiet and rather indo-
lent, and remarkably attentive to their dress. I have
sometimes seen them pause, for at least fifteen minutes,
to smooth their feathers or to rest, every minute '^drawling
out" their sweet note quite mechanically. At other times
they are very active, and it is then impossible to keep
sight of them for any great length of time.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds. ^^

174

WARBLER, YELLOW. SUMMER YELLOW-
BIRD

From much living in the sunshine through countless
generations, its feathers have finally become the color of
sunshine itself, and in disposition, as well, it is nothing
if not sunny and bright.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

The little warbler sings as he works, and his song seems
the natural out-pouring of happiness akin to the opening
of leaves and flowers.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. -^

It is amusing to watch the sagacity of this httle bird
in disposing of the eggs of the vagrant and parasitic cow-
bird. The egg . . . .too large for ejectment, is ingen-
iously incarcerated in the bottom of the nest, and a new
lining placed over it, so that it is never hatched to prove

the dragon of the brood I have heard of two

instances in which three of the yellowbird's own eggs
were covered along with that of the cowbird. In a third,
after a cowbird's egg had been thus concealed, a second
was laid, which was similarly treated, thus finally giving
rise to a three-storied nest.

Nuttall's Ornithology.^^

Song:

" Sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweeter. "

Yellow Bird

Yellow bird, where did you learn that song,
Perched on the trellis where grape vines clamber,
In and out fluttering, all day long.
With your golden breast bedropped with amber?

175

YeUow Bird

Where do you hide such a store of dehght,
O deUcate creature, tiny and slender,
Like a mellow morning sunbeam bright
And overflowing with music tender!

You never learned it at all, the song
Springs from your heart in rich completeness.
Beautiful, blissful, clear and strong,
Steeped in the summer's ripest sweetness.

To think we are neighbors of yours ! How fine !
Oh, what a pleasure to watch you together,
Bringing your fern-down and floss to reline
The nest worn thin by the winter weather !

Send up your full notes like worshipful prayers;
Yellow bird, sing while the summer's before you;
Little you dream that, in spite of their cares
Here's a whole family, proud to adore you!

Celia Thaxter.

WARBLER, YELLOW PALM. YELLOW RED-
POLL

They are much more terrestrial in their habits than any
of their immediate relations, and always are on or not
very far from the ground.

MiNOT. Land and Game Birds. ^

He has the same nervous pecuUarity which, irrespective
of family, seems to affect some birds, and, as though life
were a matter of beating time, never ceases to wag his

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^*
176

Warbler, Yellow Palm. Yellow Red-Poll

In the southern states the bird becomes particularly-
neighborly, and is said to enter the streets and gardens
of towns with a chippy's familiarity.

Neltje Blanchan. Bird Neighbors.^^

WHIP-POOR-WILL

Its habit, in common with the nighthawk, of perching
lengthwise of the branch, and the perfect blending of the
colors of its plumage with the bark and lichen patches
make it well-nigh impossible to see this bird, even when
there is no object to intercept the vision.

Adapted.

The whip-poor-will's day begins when the sun goes down.
Then he passes out into bushy fields near his home, and,
flying low, catches his supper on the wing.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

The Delaware Indians said it was not safe to plant
corn in the Delaware valley until these birds had arrived;
after that there would be no frost.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

Where deep and misty shadows float.
In forest depths is heard thy note.
Like a lost spirit, earth-bound still.
Art thou, mysterious whip-poor-will.

Selected.

177

WOODCOCK, AMERICAN

They keep secluded in the woods and thickets till the
approach of evening, when they sally forth .... in
quest of worms and other insects on which they feed.
. . . . They indicate their presence in all directions by
the marks of their boring bills. . . . The sensibiUty
possessed by the extremity of the bill is of such an exquisite
nature that they are enabled to collect their food by the
mere touch without using their eyes, which are set at
such a distance and elevation in the back part of the head
as to give the bird a remarkable aspect of stupidity.

Nuttairs Ornithology.^^

How many evenings have I tempted malaria germs
. . . . to watch the woodcock perform his strange sky
dance! He begins on the ground with a formal, periodic

peent, peent It is repeated several times before

he springs from the ground and on whistling wings sweeps
out on the first loop of a spiral which may take him three
hundred feet from the ground. Faster and faster he goes,
louder and shriller sounds his wing-song; then after a
moment's pause, with darting, headlong flight, he pitches
in zigzags to the earth, uttering as he falls a clear, twitter-
ing whistle. He generally returns to near the place from
which he arose, and the peent is at once resumed as a
prehminary to another round in the sky.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^

WOODPECKER, DOWNY

The little downy woodpecker is everywhere. There is
not a tree too small for it to consider, and when trees
fail altogether, it will climb over an old grape arbor and
be happy in so artificial a surrounding.

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

178

Woodpecker, Downy

How curious and exciting the blood-red spot on its
hind head! It looks as if it had a black cassock open
behind, showing a white under-garment between the
shoulders and down the back.

Thoreau. Winter.^^

In getting a living after their peculiar fashion, the wood-
peckers have flattened their bodies for so many generations
that it has become chronic in their physique, giving them
a high-shouldered, long-waisted appearance that is far
from beautiful.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

Seeing the birds about during snow storms, we wonder
what becomes of them in the still colder nights, but the

downy takes good care of himself At night he

is comfortably housed in a hole, which he digs expressly
for that purpose. Always ... so far as my experience
goes, he places the entrance to his burrow so as to face
the sunny south.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.-^

Like other woodpeckers, in the spring he beats a rolling
tattoo on a resonant limb, sounding a reveille which is
a credit to so small a drummer.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

How the Woodpecker's Crown Became Red

The woodpecker was of great service to Hiawatha in the
great struggle between that brave warrior and Pearl Feather,
the great magician, who sent disease and pestilence among

179

Woodpecker, Downy

the people. The conflict lasted for an entire day, and, at
sunset, Hiawatha, wounded, weary, and despondent, paused
to rest beneath a pine tree. Suddenly a woodpecker called
to him from the branches overhead, telling him to aim his
arrows at the roots of the tuft of hair upon his enemy's head,
that being his only vulnerable point. Hiawatha acting
upon this advice, with his three remaining arrows fatally
wounded his mighty foe.

Then the grateful Hiawatha called the woodpecker to
him, took a drop of the great Pearl Feather's blood and
stained the tuft of feathers on the head of the little bird as a
reward for his service.

*' Even to this day he wears it,

Wears the tuft of crimson feathers,

As a symbol of his service." Adapted.

WOODPECKER. HAIRY

It derives its name from the resemblance of some of
the feathers on its back to hairs.

Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^

The hairy woodpecker, like most of its relatives, is
an exceedingly beneficial and useful bird, which rids our
orchards and forests of innumerable injurious larvae, Uke
those of the boring beetles. Selected.

As the best of us can speak only in the tongue we know,
the woodpeckers announce their love on the drum. . . .
When playing his piano, ''the louder the noise produced the
more satisfactory it appears to be to the performer."

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

180

WREN, HOUSE

Early some morning .... there will go off under
your window that most delightful of all alarm clocks —

the tiny, friendly house wren Like some little

mountain spring that, having been imprisoned by winter
ice, now bubbles up in the spring sunshine, and goes rippling
along over the pebbles, tumbling over itself in merry cas-
cades, so this little wren's song bubbles, ripples, cascades
in a miniature torrent of ecstacy.

Neltje Blanch an. Bird Neighbors. ^^

The intense vitality which characterizes the life of birds
finds its highest expression in the wrens. Perpetual
motion alone describes the activity of these nervous,
excitable little creatures. Repose seems to be out of the
question; as well expect to catch a weasel asleep as to
find a wren at rest. Chapman. Bird Life.^^

His nest, from preference near the house, is placed
beneath the eaves . . . . or in a hollow orchard tree;
also in the deserted cell of a woodpecker, and, when provided
with the convenience, in a wooden box. ... He will
make it even in an old hat, nailed up, and perforated with
a hole for entrance, or the skull of an ox stuck upon a
pole; and Audubon saw one deposited in the pocket of
a broken-down carriage .... According to Wilson, an
instance once occurred where a nest was made in the sleeve
of a mower's coat, which was hung up . . . . in a shed

""^^^ ^ ^^™- Nuttall's Ornithology.^'^

It is well-known that the male wren frequently builds
what are called '^cock nests." It is simply so full of life

181

Wren, House

and 'joy and of the propagating instinct, that, after the
real nest is completed, and while the eggs are being laid,
it gives vent to itself in constructing these sham or cock
nests. . . . The gushing ecstatic nature of the bird
expresses itself in this way. Burroughs. Riverby.^'

WREN, WINTER

The tail of the winter wren is comically short, and
standing quite erect gives the little creature a peculiarly
pert and saucy air, which seemed to Shakespeare so salient
a feature when he alluded to

'' The wren with httle quill. "
It is a specimen of highly concentrated nervous energy,
bottled almost to bursting, explosively reheved in action
and song — a bit of champagne with wings.

Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^

It is such a friendly, jolly little bird that you are won
by its confidence; but when you come to hear it sing,
you are stirred by deeper emotions. The song is a marvel
from such a little bird.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field.^

His song unites in a remarkable degree brilliancy and
plaintiveness. I think of a tremulous vibrating tongue of

silver He is the least ostentatious singer I

know of. He does not strike an attitude, and lift up his
head in preparation, and, as it were, clear his throat:
but sits there on a log and pours out his music, looking
straight before him, or even down at the ground. As a
songster, he has but few superiors.

Burroughs. Wake Robin.^

182

YELLOW-THROAT, MARYLAND

Many a long year ago .... I asked about this little
bird, and was told that it was the ''black-checked wren/'
and for years, until Audubon's seven volumes came to
hand, I called it such. It is quite as good a name as the
one given in the books.

Why ''Maryland" should be tacked on to the popular
name is not evident. Abbott. Birdland Echoes.^^

The bright eyes of the male masquerader shine through
his black mask, where he intently watches you from the
tangle of syringa and snowball bushes; and as he flies
into the laburnum .... you are so impressed with
his grace and elegance that you follow too audaciously,
he thinks, and off he goes. And yet this is a bird that
seems to delight in being pursued. It never goes so far
away that you are not tempted to follow it ... . and
it always gives you just glimpse enough of its beauties
and graces before it flies ahead, to invite the hope of a
closer inspection next time.

Blanch AN. Bird Neighbors .^^

In domestic relations, few birds are more affectionate.
The male carries food most assiduously to his mate at
the nest, caressing her, singing for her diversion, and
guarding her from disturbance.

Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^

I have found several nests in skunk-cabbage plants,
and still wonder if they were placed there for protection,
for probably no animal is disposed to touch the plant if
it can avoid it; but what of the sense of smell in the birds?

Abbott. Birds About Us.^^

183

Yellow-Throat, Maryland

In August they add a flight song to their repertoire.
This is usually uttered toward evening, when the bird
springs several feet into the air, hovers for a second, and
then drops back to the bushes.

Chapman. Handbook of Birds.^^

The ordinary song is said to vary greatly with locality,
which may account for the quite different descriptions
given.

Which way, sir? Which way, sir? Burroughs.

''Wichity, wichity, wichity."

I beseech you, I beseech you, I beseech you. Chapman.

Where did you get it? Where did you get it? Abbott.

I see, I see you, I see, I see you, I see, I see you. Flagg.

Maryland Yellow-Throat

While May bedecks the naked trees
With tassels and embroideries,
And many blue-eyed violets beam
Along the edges of the stream,
I hear a voice that seems to say.
Now near at hand, now far away,
Witchery — witchery — witchery.

An incantation so serene,
So innocent befits the scene:
There's magic in that small bird's note —
See— there he flits— the Yellow-throat;
A living sunbeam, tipped with wings,
A spark of light that shines and sings
Witchery — witchery — witchery.

Henry Van Dyke.

184

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(The figures in the text refer to corresponding figures in this list.)

1. Birds OF Village AND Field Florence A. Merriam

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

2. Birds Through an Opera Glass Florence A. Merriam

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

3. First Book of Birds Ohve Thome Miller

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

4. A Bird-Lover in the West Ohve Thorne Miller

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

5. Wake Robin John Burroughs

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

6. Locusts and Wild Honey John Burroughs

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

7. Signs and Seasons John Burroughs

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

8. Winter Sunshine John Burroughs

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

9. Pepacton John Burroughs

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

10. Birds and Poets John Burroughs

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

11. RiVERBY John Burroughs

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

12. Spring Henry D. Thoreau

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

13. Summer Henry D. Thoreau

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

14. Autumn Henry D. Thoreau

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

185

15. Winter Henry D. Thoreau

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

16. Walden Henry D. Thoreau

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

17. Excursions Henry D. Thoreau

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

18. Every Day Birds Bradford Torrey

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

19. Chocorua's Tenants Frank Bolles

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

20. Minot's Land and Game Birds William Brewster

(Houghton-Mifflin & Co.)

21. Handbook of Birds Frank M. Chapman

(D. Appleton & Co.)

22. Bird Life Frank M. Chapman

(D. Appleton & Co.)

23. Bird Neighbors Neltje Blanchan

(Doubleday, Page & Co.)

24. Birds That Hunt and Are Hunted Wilson Flagg

(Educational Publishing Co.)

25. A Year With the Birds Wilson Flagg

(Educational Publishing Co.)

26. Nuttall's Ornithology Montague Chamberlain

(Little, Brown & Co.)

27. Birds About Us Charles Conrad Abbott

(J. B. Lippincott Co.)

28. BiRDLAND Echoes Charles Conrad Abbott

(J. B. Lippincott Co.)

29. Common Land Birds of New England M. A. Willcox

(Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.)

30. New England Bird Life Stearns and Cowes

(Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.)

31. The Birds' Calendar H. E. Parkhurst

(Chas. Scribner's Sons.)

32. Sharp Eyes Wm. Hamilton Gibson

(Harper & Bros.)

33. Starlight and Sunshine Wm. Hamilton Gibson

(Harper & Bros.)

186

INDEX OF BIRDS

PAGE

PAGE

Bay-Winged Bunting

140

Flycatcher, Least

48

Bee-Martin

83

Geese, Wild

69

Bittern

19

Goldfinch

70

Blackbird, Crow

19

Grosbeak, Pine

72

Red-winged

22

Rose-breasted

73

Rusty

23

Gull, American Herring

74

Black and White Creeper

167

Hair-Bird

130

Bluebird

24

Hang-Nest

99

BoboHnk

30

Hawks

74

Bob White

112

Herons

76

Bunting, Snow

38

Humming Bird, Ruby-throated

76

Butcher Bird

39

Indigo Bird

78

Catbird

40

Indigo Bunting

78

Chat, Yellow-breasted

46

Jay, Blue

79

Cedar Bird

46

Junco

83

Cedar Waxwing

46

Kingbird

83

Chebec

48

Kingfisher, Belted

85

Chewink

48

Kinglet, Golden-crowned

87

Chickadee

49

Ruby-crowned

87

Cowbird

54

Lark, Horned

88

Creeper, Brown

55

Linnet, Purple

66

Crossbill, Red

56

Red-poll

114

Crow, American

58

Loon, Black- throated

89

Cuckoo, Black-billed

63

Martin, Purple

90

Yellow-billed

63

Meadowlark

92

Ducks

65

Nighthawk

93

Eagle, Bald

65

Northern Shrike

39

Finch, Purple

66

Nuthatch, White-breasted

96

Firebird

99

Red-breasted

98

Fhcker

66

Oriole, Baltimore

99

Flycatcher, Great-crested

67

Oven-Bird

102

Ohve-sided

69

Owls

104

187

PAGE

PAGE

Partridge

106

Thrasher, Brown

152

Peabody Bird

143

Thrush, Hermit

155

Ruffed Grouse

106

Wilson's

158

Pewee, Water

110

Brown

152

Wood

108

Tawny

158

Phoebe

110

Wood

157

Pine Creeper

174

Titmouse, Blacked-capped

49

Quail

112

Towhee

48

Redstart

116

Veery

158

Reed Bird

30

Vireo,Red-eyed," The Preacher

"161

Rice Bird

30

Warbling

164

Robin, American

117

SoHtary or Blue-headed

165

English

99

Yellow-throated

166

Golden

99

Warbler, Black and White

167

Ground

48

Blackburnian

168

Sand Martin

144

Black-poll

169

Sandpiper, spotted

127

Black-throated Blue

169

Sapsucker, Yellow-belhed

130

" " Green

170

Snowbird, Slate-colored

83

Chestnut-sided

171

Snowflake

38

' Magnolia or Black

Sparrow, Chipping

130

and Yellow

171

Field

131

Myrtle or Yellow-rumped

172

Fox

133

Nashville

172

Grasshopper

134

Parula or Blue yellow-

Song

135

backed

173

Tree

139

Pine

174

Vesper

140

Yellow

175

White-crowned

142

Yellow Palm

176

White-throated

143

Whip-poor-Will

177

Summer Yellow Bird

175

Wild Canary

70

Swallow, Bank

144

Woodcock, American

178

Barn

145

Woodpecker, Downy

178

CHff or Eave

148

Hairy

180

Tree, White-bellied

149

Golden-winged

66

Swift, Chimney

150

Wren, House

181

Tanager, Scarlet

152

Winter

182

Thistle Bird

170

YeUow-Throat, Maryland

183

188

INDEX OF AUTHORS

Whose names are not included in the numbered list on the
preceding pages.

PAGE

Abbott, Charles C.

184

Aldrich, T. B.

26

Arnold, Edwin

149

Blanchan, Neltje

25

Brewer,

148

Browning,

15

Bryant,

36

Burns,

17

Burroughs, John 21, 25

, 63, 132,

147,

170, 184

Chapman, Frank M.

97,

128, 184

Cranch, C. P.

33

Emerson, 15, 21, 23, 26

50, 66,

136,

152, 158

Fawcett, Edgar

100

Flagg, Wilson

37, 184

Foss, Sam Walter

14

Gibson, Wm. H.

147, 158

HoUand, J. G.

78,96

Hohnes,

33

Hulbert, Wm. D.

90

Larcom, Lucy 72,

100,

122, 132,

143,

147, 154

PAGE

Longfellow, 15, 57, 60

Lowell, 21, 26, 32, 76, 101, 112

Merriam, Florence A. 95, 97

Miller, Ohve Thorne 72, 117

Nuttall, 97

Parkhurst, H. E. 95

Rexford, E. E. 27,35

Savage, M. J. 45

Scollard, Chnton 43, 60

Seton, Ernest Thompson 139

Sill, George I. 134

Spofford, Harriet Prescott 25

Stearns, 97

Stedman, E. C. 119

Thaxter, Ceha 60, 70, 124, 129, 175
Thomas, Edith M. 98, 120, 142

Thoreau, 25, 49, 97, 135, 136, 153,

164
Torrey, Bradford 95, 170

Trowbridge, J. T. 109

Van Dyke,Henry 128, 138, 160, 184
Whittier, 121

Wilson, 96

189

^ REED NATURE SERIES

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The companion book to the above, describing and illustrating in color
every Water Bird, Game Bird and Bird of Prey found in eastern North
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$1.00; flexible leather, $1.25.

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A juvenile bird book used largely in fourth and fifth grades. Has interest-
ing stories of forty birds and colored illustrations of each. Cloth bound;
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Designed to create an interest in Nature Study by calling attention to the
many wonderful creatures to be found and their exceedingly interesting
manners of living. Handsomely illustrated in color and black and white.
112 pages, 5 X 7i in. 60 cents net; postage 10 cents.

Camera Studies of Wild Birds. By Chester A. Reed.

The life stories of a great many of our native birds, beautifully illustrated
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