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Opposing pages with varying colouration or discolourations are filmed twice to ensure the best possible image / Les pages s'opposant ayant des colorations variables ou des decolorations sont film^es deux fois afin d'obtenir la meilleure image possible. n This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below / Ce document ett film4 su taux de reduction indiqu4 cl-dessous. 10x 14x 18x 22x 26x 30x / 12x 16x 20x 24x 28x 32x ■nKVF.'. ■"«w»''':4aL- I jt^^m ^4r>6>'«..;.J&S^^- CONTENTS. The Goldfinch The Phoe!)e » . Verses The Robin The Oriole Heralds of the Summer . . The Bluebird The Coming of the Birds . . The Indigo Bird The Story of a Grouse . . . , Bird Acquaintance Bills of Fare Gull Dick Verses The Owl . . . The Scarlet Tanager . . . . The Politest Bird A Family of Backwoodsmen . The Downy Woodpecker . The Flicker The Sapsucker A Second Sparrow Study The Song Sparrow and the Chipping Sparrow . . . . How Birds Pass the Night The Blue Jay Bird Homes THe Nest as ars Hvei-: TAGS I 3 6 7 II '3 '5 i8 >9 21 24 26 29 30 31 36 37 40 41 44 47 49 51 54 56 58 59 The Kingbird 5, The Warbler Family A Clever Wren ; , Audubon Wren The Wren . At the Bath . The Catbird Verses . Nest Builders The Swallows Verses . and the House 67 68 69 70 73 75 78 79 84 85 The Barn Swallow }J6 The Red- winged Blaokbird . About Birds' Toes Bob White Audubon and the Phoebes . . How Young Birds Get Fed . . Food of Birds When a Bird Changes his Clothes A Bird in the Hand 106 Bird Passports i , , The Bird of Many Names . The Bobolink Gypsy Birds ,2^ Foster- Mothers ,23 Two Father Birds 125 Bom in a Boat 128 89 9' 95 98 99 100 '03 "7 119 rjmi..m^M^. "i^irM?:J-m?K;?T2ss*: Vlll CONTENTS. PAGB How the Wood Duck Gets her Young to the Water . . .13° The Great Caravan Route • 13' Bird World in Winter . ■ ■ • I3S Bird Lodgings in Winter . . .138 Verses '39 The Eagle '40 The Chickadee U' A Bird- Paradise '42 Versea '43 The Sea-Gull '44 A Great Traveler '45 The Redstart '5° The Humming Bird '5' As Free as a Bird '55 PAGB To the Great and General Court of Massachusetts ' 5^ Thirds' Enemies '62 Families in Bird World .... 169 Feathers and Flight t72 Flight '78 The Snowy Egret »8o The Wood Thrush «83 The Brown Thrush '84 Hawks ., '86 Bird Language '9° Some Strange Bird Music . • .193 Bird Bills '95 Appendix '99 Index 212 ! FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS AND COLORED PICTURES. A Pair of Goldfinches . . . Robin colored Oriole Yellow Warbler . • Bluebird Owl " Scarlet Tanager . . " Cedar Bird . • • • " Downy Woodpecker . " Tl.e Song Sparrow . . . . A Pair of Kingbirds . . . . PAGB I • 9 12 • '3 . 16 •.3 • 36 • 37 • 40 • 5' . 64 Thrushes PAGB • 67 . 84 . 96 . 100 . 136 Louisiana Water A Happy Pair Part of a Quail Family . . . ■ Black-throated Green Warblers . Winter life Herring Gulls and their Nesting Places Thfe Redstart A Pair of Orioles « 5^ A Useful Hawk ....•• 188 The Wood Thrush »92 144 150 ?^«^S5^i^JSi?r^MPS* !t-';.. fwm^s^;^^m':i^^.wms- . A PAIR OF GOLDFINCHES. '^m^^mi^w^M^^' i^'m-'f^^^sr, ,^.>% r*^>. ..■M--J^^\.iiMSiM BIRD WORLD. ^t^K" THE GOLDFINCH. SINCE there must be a first bird for us to meet in this long visit we are to make together in Bird World, and some of us have to choose which one, sup- pose we let it be the pretty confiding Goldfinch, who with his mate shall stand upon the threshold to receive us. This old pasture where little grows but weeds and thistles is a favorite place with the Goldfinches. Thistlebird is one of the names by which they are known. There is no merrier bird than the Goldfinch. He spends the pleasantest part of the year, the spring months, when other birds are busiest, singing and enjoying the sunshine. When winter comes, instead of leaving us he sta- with a hapny company of friends, feeding on weeds t stand above the snow, twitter- ing and calling sweetly to his companions. It is not strange, then, that the Goldfinch has many friends and no enemies. 2 BIRD WORLD. The little Goldfinches are cradled in the softest of silk— nothing lf.>s than thistledown. With thi** the mother lines the nest, which is generally built late in June, when thistles have begun to ripen. The thistle is a good friend to the Goldfinch, for its seeds are a favorite food. When the little Goldfinches leave the nest, they are by no means as brightly colored as their father. No canary-colored vest or black cap is provided for them, but very sober brownish suits. When April comes again, you will see some of them looking a little brighter, and in a few weeks they will come into as bright plumage as their father. The others, the females, still keep the darker color, like their mother. The Goldfinch flies in great curves, and as he goes dov.nward he begins a pretty little twitter which he finishes on the upward curve. Through the wide air, over fields and farms, he swings along with his bright " De-rt'^^-de, de-rt^^-de, de-rt'^-^-de." Not the coldest or wettest weather can make him utter a complaining note. Perhaps you know some boy or girl who is cheerful and lively all the day and all the year. _ ..J^ THE PHCEBE. MEAR Boston there is a little stream celebrated by A ^ an American poet who loved birds. It is called Beaver Brook, and the scenery abc t it is so beautiful that, partly by gift and partly by pur- chase, a large tract of land has been set apart for a Park, or Reserva- tion as it is called, so that its beauty can be preserved and people be free to visit it whenever they wish. At the head of the brook are two ponds, and between the two is a little bridge under which the water all the ysar rushes foaming and splashing. When the poet Lowell used to visit the brook, there was a mill at this spot, and the foaming water used to turn a big mill wheel and help the dusty miller grind the grain which his neigh- bors brought. Fig. 1. — Phoebe. • '3 ■ t4/'ff-:s'.'4i'. BIRD WORLD. About the last of March every year a citizen of Massachusetts, who has spent the winter farther south, returns to the spot and calls out his name from the trees about the shore, " Phoe-bee ! Phoe-bee ! " stopping now and then to dart over the water for a gnat or fly, and snapping his tail when he returns to the tree. An old man who has lived in the neighborhood for many years says that when he was a boy, seventy years ago, the Phoebe came every year just as it does to-day, and he and his sister visited the mill every April to find the neat, well-built nest which the bird placed on the rafters of the mill. The buzzing and whirring of the wheel, and the grinding sound made by the heavy millstones did not disturb either the parent birds or their young. The miller knew them and gladly let them use his roof for shelter. The boy and his sister loved them too, and never stole the nest nor frightened them. To-day the mill is torn down, but on the very spot where it stood they find the bridge, and under it the strong beams that support it. Here they still build their nest ; the water foams and splashes below them ; people, and sometimes horses and wagons, tramp over them, but they have no fear. In spite of all the changes, they prefer their old home to any other. The old man and his sister nul^ soon pass away, THE rmEHE. 5 and even the younger people who now M'sit the spot will sometime die too, but if the state, which now owns the ponds, leaves the bridge and the trees and bushes on its banks, I feel sure that every springtime the Phoebe's note will be heard in the last days of March, and the pretty moss-covered nest will be built under the bridge. The young birds will learn to fly off and catch msects on the wing, and will snap their tails too, as their parents do ; and some day, when their parents die, they will come and build nests under the bridge. No one knows when they first came to this spot, nor how long they will continue to return. Note. _ It was my happy privilege to live for srven years in the cot- tage upon the estate to which the ponds belonged before Massachusetts made a present of them to all its nature-loving citizens. It must have been this same Phoebe who called to me from the pine grove across the street so often in its plaintive way. Once when I was .II I took turns in fancying, first, that Phcbe was lost and wished to be found ; and second, that some one was staying away too long and must be called home to ease an anxiou. heart. But the note is hardly Ike a call ; ,t sounds more like a sweet, loving memory that takes this way of expressing itself. How glad I should have been then to know that I was living at the ancestral home of this ancient family ! J. H. S. BIRD WORLD. WHY ROBIN DID NOT SING IN THE SOUTH. Ik I ever tried a note Something rose within my throat. 'T was because my heart was true To the north and sptingtime new ; My mind's eye a nest could see In yon old forked apple tree ! EijiTH Thomas JV-V. Fig. 2. — Robin. They 'll come again to the apple tree, — Robin and all the rest, — When the orchard branches are fair to see In the snow of blossoms dressed, And the prettiest thing in the world will be The building of the ne ^t. Mrs. M. E. Sangstek. W^MM THE ROBIN. [^ONG before you are awake, the Robins have had V > " "^°'""'"^' "^^'^^•^^^ -^ung a very jolly choT visited two or three cherry trees and hv thl\ have breaL-fn«f^^ j ^ ' ^^ ^"^ ^""^ you ta..-n/;:rrLTir u: " '"='^- '-^^ -^ twice . >ar«e; ';,:!•:; if Tongef'^r:;.-'::'^ br.ght orange in color '^ ' ""'' " Instead of squabbling and scratching in the midc ■ top elrand^t'^'T "^ '" ""^''^ 'o 'louses o'e^ -PS id thenSr^i^XT^ra;:- ' '- Fruit IS very dear to the RobJn A/ • Hun'ti^g forr;;sTn,;T r"^ "r- '- •- share with him hfn T \^ ^ "^"""'^ ^^''e to pulls and pulir'till tL "''' ^""'^'' °'^ ^''^ ^^^^ '-^nd pulls, till the poor worm he is seeking has 8 JilRD WORLD. i life to let go, and after some hard pounding by Robin's sharp bill, it is carried off to the nest for the little ones, or gulped df)vv i by Robin himself. Mr. James RusseJ Lowell calls the Robin's nest *' an adobe house." Perhaps some of you have read how people in Colorado build houses of dried clay, which bakes in the sun. This is called adobe, and both the Robin and the Swallow know how to build in this fashion. Four eggs of " robin's egg blue," laid early in May, hatch into very ugly and very hungry youngsters. Their b:g yellow mouths are opened wide whenever the mother or father comes near. These parents are kept busy all day and every day for a fortnight till the young birds grow big, till feathers cover their naked little bodies, and one of them steps to the edge of the mud nest and looks out. This is an anxious time for the parents. Soon the boldest youngster tries his wings and makes for a neighboring twig. If he misses it and flutters down to the ground, the parents fly back and forth, making a great outcry which collects many other bira^,. If no cat comes prowling about, th- little one tries again and perhaps gets safely off, but often a bunch of gray feathers tells the sad story of his short life. When the young birds who escape all the dangers from cats and hawks, are strong enough to find foou THE ROB IX. o for themselves, the parents build another nest and rear another brood. Meanwhile the first brood fly each night to some neighboring grove where they are joined by other young Robins from miles around. The birds assemble in such numbers that the pattering of their Robin. wmgs on the leaves, while they are arranging their places for the night, sounds like falling rain. Not only do the young birds come to these " roosts " as they are called, but father-Robins also, who cannot help their wives after sun--t, Jo'n their children, or perhaps show them the Wc y. lO BIRD WORLD. One eentleman, who watched a family of Robins near his house, writes : " The female came and took possession of the nest for the night I saw her brooding the young till it became so dark that I could distinguish nothing. On the following evening the male fed the young at about the same hour, then flew to the top of a spruce tree, and after singing a good- nicrht to wife and babies, took a direct flight for the roost. The female then fed the young and settled herself in the nest." By the time you have learned the birds names, and begun to watch their habits, you may wonder whether there is anything new for you to find out. You mav think, that if so many people have studied them for a hundred years, they will have found out all their interesting ways. But do not be discouraged Nothing could be more interesting than this habit ot the Robins of assembling every summer night in these .reat companies; and yet, though the Robin is every- where common, and has been studied by hundreds of bird students, it was only eight years ago that anything was written about " Robin roosts." THE ORIOLE. f T is in May when woodlands are green with swell- * ing buds and spreading leaves, and fragrant with the sweet wild flowers, that the brilliant Oriole appears among us. Very early one morning I heard his clear whistle and hastened to find him. He looked down upon me rather inquiringly, as if he wanted to say, " What do you think of me.?" and my heart answered, " I think you are beautiful ! " He was alone for a few days, busy as a bird could be, trying to select a house lot. He flew from tree to tree, in orchard, garden, and yard. A tall, stately elm seems to please him best, and when the shy little lady he is to make his wife is coaxed to the tallest branch, she demurs, as she knows the peril of building there,' and with a decision he does not quite relish she tells him a lower branch would suit her better. She begins very soon to collect materials for build- ing, singing as she works, making long journeys for the hair and twine necessary for her home. After nest come eggs, and after eggs baby birds. The proud and happy father shows his love as well by the care he takes, and the watchfulness, as by the songs 12 BIRD WORLD. he pours from his full throat. Often he seems to say to the mother, "Run out now and stretch a Oriole. little"; and she goes, but not for very long. Why is it that mothers think no one can be quite so con- tent and happy with their babies as themselves .? K'- ^^ 1 Summer Warbler, or Vellowbird. HERALDS OF THE SUMMEP. IF we make a residence in Bird World in such a place that our doors and windows open out upon hedges or shrubbery, or upon a garden, we shall not need to search for this little bird in the picture. He will come to us with his pretty yellow mate. J ■'■"f*r\, - ,^ BIRD WORLD. The gentleness of the summer Yellowbirds wins our love. They are as sunny in their temper as in their looks. " Pretty is that pretty does " never need put them to shame. , .. . j i:u« The Cowbirds have long since found it out and, like the naucrhty birds they are, have taken advantage o it; but gentle people, if they will not quarrel will not always suffer their own plans to be turned aside. The Cowbird sometimes f^nds his match, as we sha 1 see. The following little word-picture will show you how a Yellowbird's nest looked to Mr. Keyscr, and what the bird did when she found herself imposed upon. " The nest of the Summer Warbler was a dainty structure, composed of downy material, and deftly lod-ed among the twigs of a sapling at the foot of a cliff A cold spring gurgled from the rocks near by ; the willows and buttonwood trees bent to the balmy breeze, and the tinkling of the brook mingled with the songs of many birds. " Our little strategist comes home and finds a Low- bird's egg dropped ^nto her nest. She begins forih- with to add another story, and this leaves the interloper in the cellar, with a floor between it and her warm breast I have found several of these exquisite towers that were three stories high, in the top of which the little bird sat perched like a goddess on the summit of Olympia." ■^■--S- THE BLUEBIRD. DO you believe that a Bluebird would think of com- ing to New Engl-ind in February? One bright, crisp morning in the last month of winter, I heard a clear, lively, little song that I knew, and of course I hastened to find my friend, the Blue- bird. The " Blue Robin" little children sometimes call him, and indeed he is a cousin to the Robin family. He was very cunning at hiding in the old apj)lc tree, and very shy when I found him. Soon there was a nest, and a little later a family of five, one beinij a ffuest who had traveled north for the first time, perhaps, and was not in haste to have the care of a family. He never did any work, but flitted about as if made simply to enjoy himself and be admired. If you had seen him, you would have thought it very natural Such a putting together of heavenly blue, and warm, rich, yellowish red would be enough to turn any head that was not full of earnest purpose. The home was built by the bird mother in the orchard where I could easily watch it, and we became very good friends, these dear Bluebirds and I. They i6 BIRD WORLD. ate the crumbs I gave them, and my joy in them was complete when they came boldly to my door. Bluebird. Mother Bluebird, as perhaps you may know, is more quietly dressed than her gallant mate. It is not that THE BLUEBIRD. '7 she would not take good care of a bright costume, for birds are tidy in their persons ; but she thinks more of safety than of looks, and it might be inconvenient to have to fly out of harm's reach just when home could least spare her. A pair of Robins with very red breasts built a nest close by, and seemed to be good neighbors. How did I know, do you ask? Well, for one thing they formed a chorus, and before sunrise I would hear them singii together. ^ Pot rlirad The above diagram explains some names often used in describing a bird. THE COMING OF THE BIRDS. I N the lesson on the Oriole you read that he came I in May when buds were bursting into flowers. 1 wonder whether you asked yourself, as you read, where he had come from and why he had not come before. . These are questions that the very wisest men have found it hard to answer. Without hurrying to answer them now, — for if you read further there will be more about these things,— let us ask some country boy when the birds come back and which come first. If our friend has sharp eyes and ears, he will know that early in March he hears the first Robin, and with him' come the gentle Bluebird, the noisy Black- birds, and the cheery Song Sparrow. The Phoebe waits a fortnight till the flies and gnats begin to stir, for his food does not lie on the ground like that of the birds just mentioned. In April come many more birds, but May is the great month for the returning tribes. The names alone of all those that come in the warm days of early May would fill a page. Bird World in the north is like a seaside summer place, very empty in winter, but stirring with life in summer. Ib-'JL'*.^ THE INDIGO BIRD. \TOVV that we are on Bluebirds, let us give a A ^ thought to a smaller Bluebird without the bright breast. The Indigo bird seems to be all blue till, looking closely, we see a greenish cast in some lights, and a trace of brownish color on under parts and wings and tail. The Bluebird, as I told you, though smaller than the Robin, is a near relative ; the Indigo bird is perhaps as near a cousin to the Sparrow. Lady Indigo wears brown for the most part, only adding her husband's "colors," as a good wife should, on shoulders and outer tail webs. This is a wise precaution, for these birds do not carry on their family affairs high out of harm's way, but build a nest in a low bush or on tall, stiff grasses. They will build by the roadside sooner than close by our homes, and they do not respond with confidence to our friendly advances. But, while they nest and feed on or near the ground you will most often see one swinging from a topmost twig of a tall tree, when its song makes you search for the singer. JO JUKI! noKi.n. I )„ not look for them anK„.g the very earliest birds , ,h V n ake up to us for coming later to the b.rd con- erf of the year, by singing away on m August, «he„ many of the other birds are resting the.r voices. If YOU are walking or riding on a country road well lined vvi.h shrubs and trees, i should be surprised if you do not before sumn,er ends, looking up, see the male Indi-o bird -a little blue canary you will think _o^ the outer end of a high twig; or, once m a summer, you may come upon the ^^^-^f"'^^ mother dusting herself as mother-hens do and com- ing from her bath feeling as clean as you do coming from yours. What if the sky is clouded ? What if the rain comes down ? They are all dressed to meet it In waterproof suits of brown. BLUEBIRD. "So the Bluebirds have contracted, have they for a house? And a nest is under way for little Mr. Wren ? Hush, dear, hush : Be quiet, quiet as a mouse." THE STORY OF A GROUSE. j WAS born in the swamp at the foot of this hill, * under the laurel ; and as soon as I broke through the shell, I ran off over the dry leaves with my brothers and sisters. There were ten of us, and from June, when we were born, till August we kept close to our mother. The whole family wandered here and there through the swamp, and though we children sometimes ran off too far, we found each other again by peeping and by listening for our mother's cluck. Once a man and two children came upon us sud- denly and we all hurried off among the leaves, where we squatted down and kept as quiet as we could. Or mother, however, ran out in front of the man, trailing her wings close to the ground, and keeping his attention till she felt sure we were well hidden. Then she ran off through the bushes. Presently we heard her cluck and each of us answered with a faint peep and one after another we came out from our hid- ing places. Then our mother took us quickly off into the deep bushes to a place of safety. We found enough to eat all summer ; berries were plentiful and we became skilful in catching the spi- :V«rf 22 BIRD WORl.n. ,lers and beetles that ran over the K'™";"- ^he" we were verv little we spent the niyht under our ^.tJuVs wings, poking our heads out through the feathers when it grew light. Whit we disliked most was the cold ram that s.>metimer fell, chilling us through our feathers, and iin-ventini: us from finding food. '^ \l^ kept together till the fall and since then, though .hi are'man; Crouse in these woods, we have neve nd a family •reunion. By the fall, too, we had all 1 ,„ rtv orettv well ; we were strong of wing, earned to ny picuy "■-", , and at night we tiew into trees and roosted on th. branches. . , ^Up Nov, l.e.,.u> tlic season when men came mto the woods to shoot us, and though I escaped myself, I often saw the fallen feathers of less fortunate b.rds^ The sound of the guns, and an experience had with a fox who almost caught me because vvas ™«ting too near the ground, taught me a va uab e lesson, so that now, without boastmg, I may claim to l^i> T nrettv wary old bird. I v':ell remember the falling of the first snow m November, and yet 1 was not so surprised a^you m.gh imagine. It seemed natural to see the white masses "vering the vines and leaves ; and I found that feath- ers had grown on my toes so that ■'. was almost as it I walked on snowshoes. When I tound out that TJtE STORY 01' A GROUSE. 23 the buds of many of the bushes were fine eating, I felt no desire to leave the woods where I was born. So here I stay, year in and year out. In March I have a favorite log where I always drum. You can hear my strokes a mile away, and when I am drum- ming I spread out my tail and blow out my feath- ers, till there is no handsomer bird in the swamp. Each year I see and hear the Ovenbirds that come to rest on my log, and they tell me of their journeys southward in the fall, and the fine woods they find where there is never snow, but I think my own woods are best. I should be a foolish Grouse to fly so far into an unknown country when my feathers keep me so warm and buds are so easy to find. i 'i- .■I^M BIRD ACQUAINTANCE. HOW many birds are you sure you would kiKuv by si,bly neither statement is true. The owl can see as well, if not better, in the daytime than we can ; but if there is no light he cannot see at all. Why does he iiide 'by day, you will ask, in the barn or belfry, or in the hollow tree, and only come out at dusk ? If a pickpocket had a certain mark by which every one knew him the moment he appeared, it would be easy to avoid him, and he would probably have to get his living by honest work; the owl is known the mo- ment he is' seen, and the fuss the little birds make when he happens to appear in the daytime would warn his victims and keep him hungry till he starved. No one who has seen an owl surrounded by a crowd of furious birds, scolding and flying excitedly about, can forget the scene. It seems as if they were calling him " rascal," " thief," and " murderer." Sometimes a cheerful little Chickadee, looking over an apple tree, jnits its head into a hollow trunk, and instantly his feathers bristle, and he calls loudly to his friends, "There's an owl in here, there's an owl in here!" jwr •:^».-: THE OlFL. 33 Owl. They answer in the greatest excitement, and all the birds round about come to peer in at the villain. You can imagine, therefore, that the owl does a better business, and leads a more peaceful life, if he puts off his tour of the orchard till evening. '»' ■9':i -i^-V 34 filKI) WORLD. Hut what do owls find in the twilight when the birds are asleep? Have you ever heard a mouse at night running backward and forward in the walls? Besides the mice who share your house with you, there are many wild mice in the fields, and they are most active at night. In winter, if snow falls in the night, you may find their tracks all about in the morn- ing. Sometimes the track ends abruptly, there are signs of a scuffle, and i)erhaps a little blood mark may be seen in the white snow. This is where the poor mouse gave a pitiful shriek as the sharp claws of an owl pierced his back. Under the apple tree, in whose hollow trunk the owl spends the day, you will pick up curious little bunches — pellets they are called — of fur, and on opening one of them you will find the skull and other bones of a mouse or bird. Instead of picking the flesh off the bones as a hawk would, the owl crushes the skull and large bones, and swallows his victim head first ; then in his stomach the indigestible portions, the fur, feathers, or bones, are rolled into this curious pellet and cast forth. The commonest owl near cities is called the Screech Owl ; he is not larger than a small chicken, is reddish ijrav, with two tufts of feathers like ears. His note is a mournful but gentle wailing sound, and is often heard on moonlight nights in the autumn. THE OIVL. 35 One of these owls spent the winter once in the Washington Klni, and many j)eopIc saw the little tenant of this famous tree sitting at the edge of his home and sending out his mournful "who. hoo, hoc. hoo" over the Cambridge Common. The larger owls live in the deep woods, and their hooting is loud and often terrifying to those who first hear it. In the frozen north lives the Snowy Owl, whose brownish feathers turn almost white in winter! On the western plains lives a curious member of the family, the Burrowing Owl. His home is a burrow, often the deserted home of some prairie dog. The owl has long been much abused and attacked for its sinful manner of life. It is only lately that people have discovered how much good most owls do. Many owls have been shot and their stomachs opened,' but instead of small birds being the favorite food, the greater part was found to consist of mice and insects, both of which injure the farmer's crops. We are sorry that the owl occasionally kills a sonjr bn-d, but if he is really of such help to the farmer, ought we not to protect him, and when we hear his trembling voice in the still moonlight, think of him not so much as a midnight robber as a sort of police- man guarding the farms, gardens, and fields .? II ' Scarlet Tmager. THE SCARLET TANAGER. THE male Tanager gives up its scarlet color when nesting time is over, but wears the velvety jet black of his wings. A dull olive green is the color of the female, and of the male when the scarlet is drojiped. Its song resembles that of the Robin, but is not so free and clear. HFl The Cedar Bird THE POLITEST BIRD. \^E can all tell what would happen if we should ^ ' throw a piece of bread into the street, under the trees where the Sparrows are chattering. What I 38 BIRD WORLD. a noisy group there would soon be about the bread ; and if some lucky fellow should fly off with a large crumb, how the others would hurry after, and leave him no peaceful moment in which to eat it. Country boys and girls know, too, how very ill- mannered even motherly old hens will be, and how undignified they will look if you throw a handful of grain into their midst. You will therefore be surprised, I feel sure, at the story I am going to tell you about the politest bird I know. No princess in a fairy tale could be brought up by her anxious parents to have better manners than this handsome bird. His name and his picture you will find on the preceding page, and some of you who live among the hills where the red cedars stand covered all winter with spicy smelling berries, will know from his name what he eats in winter and early spring. When you hear that he is called Cherry Bird as well, you will all know what he eats in summer, and I think you will wish you could get your cherries as easily as he can his. One morning in August a gentleman saw several Cedar Birds fly into a small tree on which bunches of wild cherries were hanging. On one limb he saw two birds sitting side bv side, one of them with a cherry in his beak. ■^^^r^m^ THE POLITEST BIRD. 39 Did he gobble it down as fast as he could, or did the second bird rush at him and snatch it from him ? You will hardly guess what happened. The bird who had the cherry hopped along the limb with a motion which would almost do for a bow, and offered the cherry to the second bird. This one's manners, however, were just as good, and he, too, hopped back and returned the cherry to the first bird. The cherry was passed in this way from one to the other nearly half a dozen times, each bird making a hop and a bow, as if to say, " I cannot think of eating it; I would much rather that you took it." We must not expect to find such great politeness as these Cedar Birds showed common among birds; in fact, their food is often so hard to obtain that we cannot blame a hungry bird who has little ones to feed for snatching it as quickly as he can. If there are no tables set for the birds, where each can find his food at his own place, and no one to set them an example, we shall hardly expect them to have good table manners. We can remember the Cedar Birds, however, and when next we see the noisy Sparrows we will beg them to take a lesson from their politer relatives. ••l«m'i Downy Woodpeck A FAMILY OF BACKWOODSMEN. IN the great forests of Maine and northern New * York none of the sounds can be heard which are so familiar to us who live in busy towns — no factory whistles, no bells, no trains of cars with their noisy e^S^^S^^^S^^ •,^wmR/imf?si!:^Kn A FAMILY OF BACKWOODSMEN. 41 engines. The stillness is broken only by the distant ring of the wood-chopper's axe. If you follow the sound, you may come upon a strong, broad-shouldered man, swinging a bright axe and covering the ground around the foot of a tree with the clean, sweet-smelling chips. A little distance off is another wood-chopper, giving such blows that you may sometimes hear him half a mile away. He also strews chips far and wide. The tool of this second woodman is more like a chisel, and he never parts with it, for it is his long, powerful bill. His neck is tremendously strong, so that by drawing back his head he can strike a blow which tears off great sheets of decaying bark, or even large chips of sound wood. This wood-chopper, or woodpecker, as he is com- monly called, is the largest of his family, and is only found where there are tall trees and plenty cf them. Like the lumbermen, he is found only in the wild, unsettled parts of the country, and when the forests are cut down he moves on to fresh woods. THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. There are plenty of trees, as you know, among farms or even in the city parks, though they do not form dense forests. Here the smaller members of the ,:jjr-:y-'^f ^Br^'^r' iT, 42 BIRD WORLD. ;1 if .11 f Woodpecker Family, one of whom you may see in the colored picture, find wood enough to keep them well employed. They visit the orchards and the groves, rapping and chiseling the dead or dying limbs. But why are they so busy, these hewers of wood : With what purpose do they cut into the trees or tear off the bark .? If you see one cutting in spring, and watch closely, you will find it working day after day at the same limb, and cutting into it a round hole, which finally becomes so deep that the bird disappears inside, coming out now and then with chips, or flying for food and rest. This hole is a nest. When it is deep enough, the mother lays five or six pure white eggs, not on straw or hair, but on fine chips which have fallen to the bottom. Here the young are hatched and fed. In a day or two they find the chips a rather hard seat, and climb by their feet to the sides of the hole, till they are ready to peep out into the world outside. Sometimes in the autumn you will see a wood- pecker again drilling a hole, this time for his winter retreat ; for the most of these birds spend the winter where they were born. Now, however, the birds work alone, for they have lived in the lonely woods so much that they do not care for company, and each bird keeps pretty much by himself in the daytime, and sleeps in his own home by night. A FAMILY OF BACKWOODSMEN. 43 The woodpecker builds his house with his bill, just as Abraham Lincoln's father cut the logs for his house with his sharp axe. Besides this very important work, the woodpecker's bill is used in a way that is even more necessary. By its help he finds food for himself, his wife, and' his children. When we hear him tapping at the dead limb, he is searching for insects, grubs, and beetles, that live in the decayed wood ; he bores into the wood till he reaches them, but then his bill cannot open wide enough in the small hole to seize the grub. What shall he do } He has not gone as far as this to lose his prize. His tongue is as well suited for seizing the insect as his bill was for finding it. It is like a whaler's harpoon, and though ^==*=^=*^ he keeps it in his bill he can dart it Tongue onv„i,pecker out to twice the length of the bill; and not only is It barbed to seize the grub, but it is coated with slime so that any little flies or eggs will be sure to stick to it. Thus, when he has found his dinner he darts out his tongue, strikes it into the unlucky grub, and the next moment has despatched that, and thrust it out for another. 44 lilKD WORLD. THE FLICKER. The commonest woodpecker is in several ways so different from the rest of his family that he deserves special mention. He has a number of names, but perhaps is most commonly called the Flicker, from his note, and the Golden-winged Woodpecker, from the golden yellow of the under side of his wings. He is a gay bird if you see him near. He has a red band on his neck, black mustaches, and round, black dots over his gray breast. He lives more commonly among farms than in the deep woods, and in battle he would be no match for his cousins of the backwoods. Nor could the Flicker chop into the trees at such a rate as they, for his bill is more slender, slightly curved, and not so square at the tip. In fact, to get his favorite food he has no chopping to do. When he finds an ant-hill he stands on the ground and, darting out his tongue, with accurate aim glues one after another of the helpless victims to its tip. Fio. 4. — Flicker. ^S'.«'J5i WSHF •m iv-^--'i'/\,-. :■ ^^ET '■-.W,.>.*S' A FAMILY OF BACKWOODSMEN. 45 The little Downy Woodpecker is rarely or never seen on the ground, but the Flicker spends much of his time there. He sits differently, too, when he is on a tree; not along it, like his relatives, but across, as most birds do. If you were to consult the head of the family, the big, black woodpecker of the north, he might shake his head and say, " I am afraid Cousin Flicker is degenerating. If he does not look out and mend his ways, he won't be a woodpecker at all before long." But how is little Downv able to stand a.-^ vou see him in the picture, and how does he manage to dodge around the trunk of a trce, as I have often seen him do-f" In the first place, his tail feathers: are very stiff, and end in such sharp points that by pressing them cinse to the rough bark he can get a great deal of support from them. You will hear later of another bird, who uses his tail to climb chimneys with. Then, too, his claws are arranged, not like a sparrow's, three in front and one behind, but in pairs, two in front and two behind. One of the hind pair, however, can be moved off to the side, and with this, if he is suddenly pursued, he can pull himself so quickly to the other side of the tree that even a hawk cannot strike him. There are many other interesting things to learn ;ia- ' i i - 4J| KT ^"Ki ■' ■ i- ^"1 46 j^/iV/? WORLD. about this Woodpecker Family. The Flickers, for instance, bring up their babies on a strange diet and feed them in a remarkable way. First, they eat che food themselves and prepare it in the stomach for the tender stomachs of the little ones. Then, when they see the wide-yawning beaks of their little nestlings, they put their own far down inside them and pump uj) the soft food from their own stomachs to give it to their little ones. None of the woodpeckers, as I have said before, are sociable birds. They do not feed in flocks, though the Flickers do get together a little, and the little Downy is often found in winter with a company of Chickadees, or other small winter birds. Many of the larger woodpeckers are downright savages, preferring the wild forests, keeping far from men, and when caught, giving fierce blows with their powerful bills, and refusing to be tamed. A famous lover of American birds, Alexander Wil- son, caught a southern woodpecker once, called, from his pure white bill, the Ivory-billed. He took it home, and as he went throuijh the streets, the constant cries of the bird made people stop and stare at him. He left it in his room, but when he returned, after an hour, the brave bird had nearly cut a hole through the window-sash, and would in a few minutes have escaped from his prison. Wilson then tied the bird to his -■f^«p ^^«'5fBBSsgJ7myiii"-.i«« i3B''a)K:?jsTf^^''.~?««w;-.--w-! A FAMILY OF JiACKWOODSMKX, 47 table and went out again, only to find, on his return, that the table was ruined by the powerful blows of the bill. The bird refused to eat and at last died, brave and fierce to the end. THE SAPSUCKER, OR YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. This is the only one of the family that can justly be called the enemy of the farmer, and examination has proved thajt he does, on the ' %%?: v^-! ; 1 '■k whole, more good -^*7'|?.^ than harm. ^^ Figure 5 shows the little pits he drills, in regular lines, in the bark of forest trees and sometimes in apple trees; and when the pits fill with sap he drinks it as if it were nectar itself. Fig. yellow-bellied Woodpeckel". Harmful in.sects are attracted by 5^fi!7^viS' 48 HIKl) WON I. IK \\ !l I 1 1 \ this sap, when it runs, and the number that are destroyed by the birds is thought to balance the loss to the tree, though it sometimes happens that the tree dies in a year or two from being so bled by them. Those of you who have seen maple sugar made from the sap of the sugar maple will think the bird very cunning to find a sugar camp for his own. Another woodpecker does an equally curious thing. I was riding one day in a park in southern California, and a tree was pointed out to me that had holes as close as these of the Sapsucker filled with acorns. A woodpecker had bored the holes and filled them for a winter store. The nuts were wedged in so tightly it would not have been c-c^^y to get them out. In the same line, but showing even greater intelligence, is the use in Mexico of a hollow stalk. The birds make holes and press acorns through them in autumn, so that they drop one by one till the hollow tube is filled. When other food fails the woodpecker draws out his acorns, not from the place at which he put them in but from the floor of his storehouse. I \ A SECOND SPARROW STUDY. 'X'HIS time it is a little company of sparrows on * the ground. Here we have all the ages and varieties. We call them brown birds; but see the gray, slate, tan. and other browns almost to black. Trace the colors in wing and tail feathers; note the shapes and sizes of patches. Did you know that the wing feathers were bird finger nails numbered in different species according to their need .!* Pairs of tail feathers, too, have their convenient length, differ- ent in sparrows, swallows, and other species. Watch the sparrows as they rise into the air; some birds which fly well could not do it so easily. The tail helps to tell the story of rising and falling. Get the wing of a fowl and see from what bones the quills grow out — primary, secondary, and coverts; that is, quills of the hand, quills of the middle joint, and quills of the upper joint. The cut of the wings and tail would make a bird- study all by itself; we can begin it while we are learning to know the birds. The size of the bird is another point for study; we begin it when two or more birds are compared. By this time you have gained more than you can t ■ 50 B/A'J^ IVOK/.l' that have to "^^\\^^ \1\^ ^^,^,1 that yor .na cameras more 4"'^'\b- ^^ »^« ^"'^ ^^j',, ,„a .,.u hivf be«' '1 <*> be a naturalist l'U( u n. V^Z. sec- l.u. .mcc. and that ..1..,.^ ■ ■ on , seen but yourself. -,1 , U is.L fasluo. tu r.d .at,U with en Span—,; first, fo, com.nR , ; A"' '"^^ ' ' " , . . , Hill thi- lirsi 'H ' did I then lor thriving so. Bittheni.i „f thrir own accord. »,n.!.t is n... trfau. air iiKulc their voics more sha p tlian -^ fi^of the- have driven av it. s -, !™>, "^' 'VI -el ' . >-ven 'hat, the may - ot '"' " ,od. On. ,.,houl'knov as well as have mean, to d, U" _^^^ ,„. :e;/und;"n En- sh'..irro. ways, and soon r^^: them all b.u.U ,:un. "^^^ :Z:Z son who would n ,ss the act. ...cheev.n: ,t ..rowmes wito stay when .■ er birds ..re gone. iish come it our >. It ft~ r I ! !i THE SONG SPARROW. I! I THE SONG SPARROW AND THE CHIPPING SPARROW. SOME birds are like the shyest wild flowers, living far from people's homes and very hard to find. Others are like the buttercups and dandelions, which grow everywhere on our lawns and in city parks. I suppose by many people the jolly little dandelions are called weeds. One bird is almost like a weed. Though he, too, lives along the waysides and in the parks and gardens, no one would compare the Song Sparrow to a weed, for he gives much pleasure by singing a clear, merry song as soon as the February snows have melted. All summer he sings, and on into the fall. Even in the winter, on warm days, he sometimes shows that he remembers his little summer melody. Look at our beautiful representative opposite, as he rests on the big dock weed over the water and pours out his song. Would you know that he was a spar- row if you had no one to help you .'* In the first place, he is about the size of an English Sparrow, though more slender, and his colors are a plain gray-brown. But you have learned that a female English Sparrow is also gray and brown. That is true; many sparrows have these colors, but 52 BIRD WORLD. the gray and brown of the Song Sparrow is in streaks or lines, not in unbroken patches, as in the Enghsh Sparrow. ., i i The slender figure, the long tail, and a general neat look will help you to tell the American bird from the foreigner. The Song Sparrow is shy, and will hide in the nearest bush, while you all know we can hardly call the English Sparrow shy. i CHIPPING SPARROW. Another native sparrow is the Chipping Sparrow. He is still slimmer than the Song Sparro^N , and \years a cap of dull reddish brown. The Song Sparrow builds on the sT-ound, often hiding her nest under a tuft of grass or in a thicket. Chippy builds in bushes and always lines her nest with hairs from a horse's mane or tail. You do not see vvhere the bird gets them ? She hunts along the fence or posts, where a horse stands, and finds them caught on some crack in the wood. You learned when you read about the English Sparrow that the male and female diffx<. in looks, but the male Song Sparrows and Chipp -: Sparrows look just like the female. It is only whta the male flies to the top of a bush or to the limb of a tree, and raising his head pours out a song from his little throat. THE SPARROW. 53 that you know which is which. Both these birds are much the color of dry leaves, grass, and the ground on which they spend their lives. Can you tell why t The Chipping Sparrow's name refers to his song, which sounds like the syllable chip repeated quickly, — chip, chip, chip, etc. These two native sparrows have short, thick bills like that of the English Sparrow, but I think they make better use of them than he does. If you could examine the bill very closely, you would see that, though it is so short and thick, the tip is quite sharp and delicate. With this tip the sparrow picks up seeds so fine that you could hardly see them. Remember that their eyes are not only sharp, but are not so far from the ground as yours. These seeds are then crushed in their strong bills, the husk rolled out and the kernel eaten. All over the ground the little sparrows hunt, and many a weed which would grow up to plague the farmer is destroyed by them. Hun- dreds of insects, too, — moths, beetles, and grubs, — they find and eat. Let' us record in our notebooks what we have learned by comparing the three sparrows we have met, — the English Sparrow, the Song Sparrow, and the Chipping Sparrow. y II HOW BIRDS PASS THE NIGHT. YOU must <^ret up very early if you expect to find the birds still asleep; they go to bed as soon as it is dark, and have had their first breakfast long before vou are awake. No one need call them ; the first faint light m the east finds them up, ready for a long and active day. If you should happen to go out before the birds are awake, or should startle them in the evening afte.' they have gone to bed, where do you think you would find them, and how would their beds look ? Many of you, I have no doubt, think of them as sleepincrall ni'.,dit in their nests, cuddling close to each other, and warmed and protected by their mother. It is true that for two or three weeks of their lives young nestlings sleep in the nests or holes where they have%een hatched, and chicks which have no nests hide their downy bodies under their mother's wings; but this lasts but a short time, and after the young birds leave the nests, at the age of two or three weeks, they never again sleep in a bed. No stretching out of tired limbs on comfortable mattresses, no soft pillows for tired heads, no tucking in, and no one to say " Good night." All these com- HOW BIRDS PASS THE NIGHT. 55 forts you look forward to when bedtime comes, but how would you fe^^l to hear your mother say instead, " It is bedtime now, stand on one leg and go to sleep "; or if she expected you to hang all night from a crack in the wall; or, worst of all, if your bed con- sisted of a pool of water, on which you were peace- fully to float with your head tucked under your arm ? Almost all the singing birds, after they leave the nest, perch on a twig as your canary does, the hind toe bent around to meet the front toes, the feathers fluffed out, the head snugly hidden under the wing. Parrots hang themselves up at night by their beaks, and woodpeckers in their holes and Chimney Swifts in chimneys hold themselves up by their feet and their stiff tail feathers. Hawks and owls stand upright while they sleep, but hens and turkeys bend their feet so that their breasts rest on the perch. The wading birds, herons, storks, and also the geese draw up one foot, hide it in the soft feathers, and close their eyes. Their balance must be easier to keep than ours. There are many things besides standing on one foot, which are easier for birds than for us, and positions which they take easily when awake naturally suit them best for sleeping. If you or I coul( float as easily as a duck, and if we wore waterproof down quilts, a night on an icy lake might seem as pleasant to us as one in a bed. THE BLUE JAY. lent ! li Fig. e. — Blue Jay. iwiunardlyknow what he is. But if he is with two or three jolly friends, and the weather is pleasant, he fills the woods with his screams and calls. They are not sweet sounds, but are not unpleasant to hear, particularly in winter, when few birds are here. Some are like a hawk's cry, and some like an ungreased vvheel- barrow. , While the Jay is making these sounds, he otten hops up the tree, from one branch to the next, or accompanies his cries with an odd motion of his wings and tail. He is a good deal of a clown, and If! THE BL L E J A Y. 57 as a pet amusing. He learns to speak a few words, which is a great * in a bird. It is not safe t. > e valuables about where he can reach them, for he is a great collector. When he is free, he gathers acorns and chestnuts and stores them in hollow trees. The Jay has without doubt planted many trees where they would not otherwise have been found, for he drops the nuts as he flies off with them, and if they fall into good soil the Jay's children's children long after may gather fruit from the trees that will spring up. The Jay's neighbors do not like him particularly, for he has one very bad habit. He cannot resist egg hunting. But for this he might not be regarded with disfavor, for he sometimes renders good service. In fact, when an owl comes into the woods the Jay is often the first to discover him and announce his presence to the other birds. The Jay is closely related to the Crow in this coun- try, and in Europe to the jackdaw and magpi'- The whole family are talkative, bustling birds, very 'ight- fingered we should call them if they had fingers, but for all that they are amusing, and we should miss them if they were gone. li i I w BIRD HOMES. E pity any boy who has no home ; kind people give money to provide a place where he can have a bed at night, a roof over his head, fire and food. Animals rarely have homes, and yet no one pities them. They have their hair, fur, or shell covering to keep off rain; they sleep on the ground without catching cold, so that they really have no need of a home such as we are accustomed to. Certain animals, as you probably are already think ing, do have caves, dens, or burrows in which they spend the night, the cold or wet weather, or to which they flee for safety. Most of these animals, you will see, are intelb'gent ; in fact, the more wisdom the animal has learned in Nature's great school, the more likely he is to have a place which is his own, Ijirds, you will say, are intelligent, and yet they spend the night or rainy weather in thick trees and have no homes. This is true of m. st of them, during most of their lives, and from what you know of feathers, you can yourselves tell why they do not need roofs or warmth.. But imagine a bird without feathers. He would need warmth and shelter surely. Then think when it is BIRD HOMES. 59 that a bird lacks feathers. In the moulting season ? Hardly ; few fall at a time, so that he is never wholly without covering. When the bird leaves the shell "i That is the time, surely, when he needs protection, and the wise and loving bird-mother goes to work, long before even her eggs are laid, to build the home for her young. This we call a nest ; it is really a nursery, is it not, a home, not for the parents, but for the young birds ? THE NEST AS AN OVEN. The nest is first used as an oven. What does the bird bake in this oven? Where does she get the heat ? The last question is the easier and you can answer it yourself by holding your pussy cat against your cheek. Where does the warmth come from.!* Not all from the fur, but from the warm blood running through her veins. So the bird's little body is warm, warmer even than your cat's. To keep the warmth of the fire an oven is made with walls and a door ; so a nest is often built with walls ; the mother herself is the door. When she snuggles down on the eggs ,ery little warmth can escape. But what is she baking? The eggs themselves. As the little seeds grow or develop when the earth is 6o HIKD nOKI.D. Ill i 8 warm, so the little bodies of the birds grower develop in the warm eggs, till what looked like nothing but yellow and white liquid hatches out a little bird with claws, beak, and the beginnings of feathers. All this the bird feels, even if she does not think it as we think thoughts, so that when she is mated and her mate and she have chosen the best spot for their nest, she works very busily at building, or weaving, or Fig. 7. — Bird Homes. carpentering, whatever her nature tells her she can do best, and before the eggs are ready she has a nest in which to lay them. (The double nest in the pic- ture is quite a curiosity. It belonged to Chipping Sparrows.) I have spoken as if all birds felt alike and built nests which all served as ovens and as homes for ■^rgswismi^^w^:}!- BIND HOMES. 6l the young. No one, till he reads or learns a great deal about birds, can imagine what an extraordinary variety of nests there are. In the first place, a large number of the water birds, ducks, and divers, and all the family to which our hen belongs, do not need a nest in which the young shall stay. For their young come out of the shell warmly clothed in such thick down, that they can either paddle right off in the cool water or run about on the land ; we call them chicks, and the others, who are naked and helpless when hatched, we call nestlings. At night their mother's feathers are their beds; no need of a nursery for them. The eggs have to be baked, however, so that often the nests of such birds are warm and snug, especially if they are in damp or cold places. If the eggs are laid in sunnv places, on the hot sea sand or rocks, for instance, there is no need of walls, and in such places the nest hardly deserves the name; it is really noth- ing but a hollow in the sand or a shelf on th/i rocks. Many gulls lay their eggs in this careless way. There are certain cunning animals who like raw eggs very much, ad they come prowling about, break the shells, and later eat young birds as well. Certain birds, to escape these four-legged thieves, have moved up a story and built platforms in the trees. These had to be pretty strong, however, for Z«ai''K'-^'.V-M*3S5ar=lr 62 lURD WORLD. the mother bird may be large, as in the case of the heron, so that the platform must hold her as well as the eggs. Here is real building to be done ; sticks to be laid in a more or less clever fashion. In a lati i lesson we shall see more of the ways of bird builders. KiG. S. -„, Kgg of Canada Jay; ^ of Crow UUckb.r.l: ., "f W.kkI pecker. I >"'" THE KINGBIRD. I N Wilson's time, Tyrant Flycatcher was the name I by which this bird was commonly known, and this name, though clumsier, really tells more about his nature than Kingbird. A tyrant in Greece was a man who drove out the reigning king or rightful ruler. The eagle has long been called the King of Birds, though by this nothing more was meant than r'^^ he was am.:,: t' ih-'^ most Fig. 9. — Kingbird powerful and majestic birds. Even the eagle, however, is attacked and driven off by this Tyrant Flycatcher. Eagles are scarce to-day, and a battle between the two birds is a rare sight, but it is a common sight to see the Kingbird attack and drive off a Crow— a bird nearly three times as large as himself. Those of you that have read or heard about the 64 BIRD WORLD. \\ Spanish Armada remember how the little English ships outsailed the large, unwieldy Spanish vessels, ran close under their guns, fired, and were off again before the Spanish ships could return the fire ; so the Kip the box. Here he was met by the she-bird, and t.^gether they pulled one end mto ■ .*; «*1iita' ^ CLEVER WKEN. 69 the hole, and there they fa.^tened it, so that it blocked the entrance. When the swallows returned, they could not squeeze past it. They tried to pull it out, but it had evidently been secured inside. The little wrens could push past easily ; and having now the field to themselves, raised their brood in peace. All day long the wren mother goes backwards and forwards bringing flies and insects or whatever food she can find. A lover of birds once .vatchec' this bird, and saw her go 278 times in a day. A number of wrens' nests are ur t^r'* One wonders whether they are built to take . hige in during severe weather. AUDUBON AND THE HOUSE WREN. A Wren lived just outside Audubon's window, and amused him with his bright song. " Having procured some flies and spiders," says Audubon, " I now and then threw some of them towards him, when he would seize them with great alacrity, eat some himself, and carry the rest to his mate. In this manner he became daily more acquainted with u. , entered the room, and once or twice sang while there. One morning, sud- denly closing the window, I easily caught him an-^ held him in my hand, and finished his likencL-s, after wliich I restored him to liberty." ~»-iT^: ■ '^i5fl; ,*?««;-. '■■>•• hi ^1 !!1 Y THE WREN. ()U have all laughed at the old vv om an who lived - Tn a'shoe! but"to a House Wren this would not seem so strange a home. Let me tell you a few of the odd nesting places this bird has chosen. Generally she builds in a hole in a tree ( r m a bird box, but almost anything which is hollow inside seems to do. One nest tha- I saw was in the broken end of a waterspout. Instead of water coming out of it, the little wrens slipped in and out, carrymg sticks and straws for a nest. Another bird thought the inside of an awning would make a f^ne home, but when the middle of the day came, the awning had to come down to shade the windows, and all ihe rubbish rolled out. The next morning the bird was up early, and before noon had collected another mass of sticks. Day after day the wren kept up the attempt, declining to make use ot a box which was nailed up near by. Perhaps the strangest story comes from Washing- ton. A workman hung his coat up for a little while, and vhen he took it down and put his hand in the pocket be vvrs astonished to find sticks and feathers in it and r%cn more so when a wren appeared near ^kv- >i THE WREN. 71 by and scolded him furiously for presum- inir to wear his own coat. He was a kind- hearted man and would gladly have lent the wren his coat pocket if he had been able to do without it ; how- ever, it came out all right, for he hung up an old coat instead, and the happy birds laid their eggs and hatched them in the place of their own choosing. House Wrens and cats are great enemies. The moment the little bird spies the cat prowling about, she chatters and scolds, so that all the neighboring birds know what the trouble is about. I am afraid Pussy has s:iven the wren srood cause now and then to fear and dislike her. Kii;. 10. — Long-billed Marsh Wren. MICROCOPY RESOIUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1 45 3.6 4.0 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 ^ APPLIED \M/\GE Inc ^^ 1653 East Main Street S^^ Rochester. New York 14609 US* '■aa (716) «82 - 0300 - Phone ^= (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax 72 BIRD WORLD. Our wren is a cousin of Jenny Wren, the favorite of all English children. Jenny is a smaller bird, and she stays in England all the year, while our wren leaves us in the fall for the south, where she can find the insects which she eats. Like the swallow and the Bluebird, the wren seems glad to make his home near the homes of people, and no one has ever accused him of doing anything but good to the farmer or gardener. To find the birds of the picture, — the Long-billed Marsh Wrens, — we must go to some soft, wet place, which in early spring may require the use of high rubber boots. These birds are near cousins of the House Wren, but choose to live among the cat-tails. They have learned to weave, and instead of nesting in holes or boxes they make their homes of rushes. Regular basket-work it is, and the almost globular nests hung in the reeds may hold eight or nme chocolate eggs. |«pr™^r- AT THE BATH. If AVE you ever watched a canary going through * * its morning bath? The thoroughness of the cleansing is only matched by the bird's enjoyment of it. But there is as much more pleasure in seeing a free bird go through its daily wetting and drying and preening as there is in every other free act of a free bird. Our little street gamins, English Sparrows, choos- ing a mud puddle rather than go a little out of town for a clean pool, are not worthy to represent the birds of dainty ways. One of my pleasant bird memories is of a little stream, hardly more than a handbreadth wide, flowing down a hill slope, from a spring in the neighborhood of Saratoga, and making a little nest in the hollow of a rock. I could almost have enclosed the brooklet with my arms and measured its depth with my lead pencil ; but for pretty sentiment, and the pleasure it gave to the comers and goers at Elim, the summer cottage of my friend, it will "go on forever." I could fancy the birds saw from afar that single bright spot on the steep hill — a jewel, dropped by a princess of another world, with a ribbon on either side. Miii 74 BIRD WORLD. 1 The birds did not come to it as early in the morn- ing as I should have expected ; perhaps they liked to wait till the water should be wurmed a little, or per- haps in Bird World a bath after eating is not thought to be unhealthy. However that may be, from eight o'clock, in rapid turn, in ones, twos, seldom more than threes, they kept the 4ittle " Bath " in constant use till evening twilight. Such water lovers some of them were ! They made it a shower bath by sending the splashes high over their heads. They shook each feather in the water for wetness and out of it for dryness. So clear was the pure spring water, that it seemed like bathmg m a mirror. , . r Some of the birds would stop and preen their feath- ers before they left the spot, but others would go to the trees to complete their dainty toilets. Boys and girls who think it a burden to keep their hair m proper fashion should take a lesson from the birds. Feathers have their price in care^taking as well as other beautiful apparel. It is not probably true that birds are afraid of cold water. Tree Sparrows will spend from three to five minutes, it is said, in water that flows directly from melting snow, acting all the while as if the fluttering of their wings and tails was perfect glee. %^ia«f«?gKSiPBSsrffii4ifcjcr3\,x '^^r^j^ mmmm wmmmmmmmmm THE CATBIRD. • He sits on a bra'ich of yon blossoming tree, This mad-cnp cousin of Robin and Tlirush, And sings without ceasing the whole morning long ; Now wild, now tender, the wayward song That Hows from his soft, gray, fluttering throat ; • But often he stops in his sweetest note. And shaking a flower from the blossoming bough, Drawls out, " Mi-eu, mi-ow ! " Edith M. Thomas. LJOW often it happens that people are known by A * their least agreeable trait. The harsh catcall, "Mieu, miow! " is the least musical of the many notes the Catbird utters. By his own song he is worthy a place with singers of highest rank. It is this that exasperates us so; but is it so much more strange that he does not always employ his best powers than that we do not live up to our best all the time .'' The Catbird is the Mocking Bird of the north. May and June are the months when his song seems to come from the heart. Later in the season he amuses himself with a variety of vocal entertain- ments. If you can read into his little picture, — slate color for the upper parts, lighter slate and gray for under I ??:i^v ■ •^'-mm'.Mii"JA%i: ) w 76 BIRD WORLD. parts, and black for a crown, and a tail that the owner is continually jerking, — you may surprise yourself by discovering the bird some day, for he is by no means unfamiliar with the thickets around village homes. If you should ttiink you had done so, make quite sure by looking for a reddish patch on the under side of the tail, and a black bill. It is said that a cat is fonder of places than of persons. Not so c ar little Catbird, as a story told by Miss Merriam has shown us. It is of a gentle old lady, who lived in a cottage behind an old-fashioned garden, whose rose-covered trellises, lilacs, and other shrubs and tre' s made it a happy spot for a resting place or a summer home both for birds and people. The Catbird was the ''comrade and favorite " of the owner of the cottage, who loved all birds and flowers. The bird would call for her in the morning, till she came to answer him with a whistle ; then he would be satisfied, and would find a perch and pour out his morning song. This would be repeated many times a day in the little rests he took from his domestic duties. It was plain that the bird was fond of her society, for when it happened one summer that the lady was away from home when he came north, and the place looked deserted, he found another place in which to build his nest. When the old lady returned, she ■^^>^^:^m^''^^^'''^:mm-wfm^ i^ii'j. 1^^^^ THE CATBIRD. 77 missed her pet of many years, but as summer went on, was sure that it was he who sometimes appeared and sung to her in the garden at sunset. All the bird students agree that the Catbird loves to have a listener. " Come forth ! " my Catbird calls to me, " And hear me sing my cavatina " — Lowell writes, and there are evil-minded critics who, therefore, blame the bird for vanity ; but let us agree with those who love the merry song and the good- natured but capricious little singer. This is one of the birds who has been so often on trial for his life, because his ways have been so little f^^I 'm^'^"^ 78 BIRD WORLD. known. Such an individual should have cuo of the best of lawyers to plead his case. Several have volunteered their services, and Mr. Nehrling's testi- mony rests on special study. He says that the bird's usefulness as an insect destroyer is so great that the food it steals is of little * >iportance, and that "for every cherry it takes, it c a thousand insects." TO A SKYLARK. JOYOUS as the morning, Thou art laughing and scorning , Thou hast a nest for thy love and thy rest. Happy, happy liver. With a soul as strong as a mountain river, Pouring out praise to the Almighty Giver, Joy and jollity be with us both ! Alas ! my journey, rugged and uneven, Through prickly moors or dusty ways must wind ; But hearing thee, or others of thy kind, As full of gladness and as free of heaven, 1, with my fate contented, will plod on. And hope for higher raptures, when life's day is done. C. KoSSETTI. '^^^^mm^im NEST BUILDERS. AS we said in an earlier lesson, the building of a ^ nest is a matter requiring skill to plan and deft- ness to execute. We should do such work with hands, but a little thought will show you how unfit a bird's toes are for it. The bill is the bird's best tool, and is, as you have Fig. 12.— Osprey's Nest. Copyright, Osprey Co., i%