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diff --git a/23029.txt b/23029.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9dad0d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/23029.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4691 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ohio Arbor Day 1913: Arbor and Bird Day +Manual, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Ohio Arbor Day 1913: Arbor and Bird Day Manual + Issued for the Benefit of the Schools of our State + +Author: Various + +Editor: Grace R. Clifton + +Release Date: October 13, 2007 [EBook #23029] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARBOR DAY *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: OHIO + ARBOR DAY + 1913] + + + + +DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION + +STATE OF OHIO + +In Accordance with Section 358 +of the General Code of Ohio this + + +Arbor and Bird Day Manual + + +is Issued for the Benefit of the + +SCHOOLS OF OUR STATE + + + + +Compiled by + +MRS. GRACE R. CLIFTON + + + +Issued by the + +STATE COMMISSIONER OF COMMON SCHOOLS + +APRIL 1913 + +Columbus, Ohio: +The F. J. Heer Printing Co. +1913 + + + + + +STATE OF OHIO + +Executive Department + +OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR. + + +PROCLAMATION. + +By authority of the law of the State of Ohio, Friday, April 4th, 1913, +is hereby named and set apart as + +ARBOR DAY. + +The statutes provide that those in charge of public schools and +institutions of learning are required to devote at least two hours to +giving information to the pupils and students concerning the value and +interest of forestry and the duty of the public to protect the birds +thereof and also for planting forest trees. + +It is well that our people have come to a full appreciation of the +commercial, as well as the sentimental value of these things. This +appreciation was arrived at through the proper inculcation into the +minds of the young of the importance of observing the matters of nature +upon which we are all so dependent. + +But let us not confine our observance of Arbor Day alone to the schools +and institutions of learning. Let us at least carry the spirit of the +day also into our homes as well. And above all, let us be mindful at +this time of the great scheme of nature wherein the humblest plant and +flower, as well as the lordliest of the animal creation, has its proper +place. + +[Illustration: Ohio State Seal] + +IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the +Great Seal of the State to be affixed at Columbus, this fifteenth day +of January, in the year of our Lord, One Thousand, Nine Hundred and +Thirteen. + +By the Governor: + +JAMES M. COX. + +CHAS. H. GRAVES +Secretary of State. + + +[Illustration: (signed) James M. Cox] + + +SECTION 358. The state commissioner of common schools shall issue each +year a manual for arbor day exercises. The manual shall contain matters +relating to forestry and birds, including a copy of such laws relating +to the protection of song and insectivorous birds as he deems proper. +He shall transmit copies of the manual to the superintendents of city, +village, special and township schools and to the clerks of boards of +education, who shall cause them to be distributed among the teachers of +the schools under their charge. On arbor day, and other days when +convenient, the teachers shall cause such laws to be read to the +scholars of their respective schools and shall encourage them to aid in +the protection of such birds. + +SECTION 7688. Not later than April the governor of the state shall +appoint and set apart one day in the spring season of each year, as a +day on which those in charge of the public schools and institutions of +learning under state control, or state patronage, for at least two +hours must give information to the pupils and students concerning the +value and interest of forests, the duty of the public to protect the +birds thereof, and also for planting forest trees. Such a day shall be +known as Arbor Day. + +SECTION 1409. No persons shall catch, kill, injure, pursue or have in +his possession either dead or alive, or purchase, expose for sale, +transport or ship to a port within or without the state a turtle or +mourning dove, sparrow, nuthatch, warbler, flicker, vireo, wren, +American robin, catbird, tanager, bobolink, blue jay, oriole, grosbeck +or redbird, creeper, redstart, waxwing, woodpecker, humming bird, +killdeer, swallow, blue bird, blackbird, meadow lark, bunting, +starling, redwing, purple martin, brown thresher, American goldfinch, +chewink or ground robin, pewee or phoebe bird, chickadee, fly catcher, +knat catcher, mouse hawk, whippoorwill, snow bird, titmouse, gull, +eagle, buzzard, or any wild bird other than a game bird. No part of the +plumage, skin or body of such bird shall be sold or had in possession +for sale. + +SECTION 1410. No person shall disturb or destroy the eggs, nests or +young of a bird named in the preceding section; but nothing of the +preceding section shall prohibit the killing of a chicken hawk, blue +hawk, cooper hawk, sharp skinned hawk, crow, great horned owl, or +English sparrow, or the destroying of their nests, or prohibit the +owner or duly authorized agent of the premises from killing blackbirds +at any time, except on Sunday, when they are found to be a nuisance or +are injuring grain or other property. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +This Arbor and Bird Day Annual has been compiled and published for the +benefit of the teachers of Ohio. It is our purpose to have this book +used from the time it is received until the close of the school term. +We find that but few books written about birds and their habits come +into the hands of the boys and girls; therefore, we have attempted to +include as much additional information as possible concerning the most +common birds of Ohio. You will find that the articles about birds are +but a continuation of bird study found in the 1912 Arbor and Bird Day +Annual. We are under obligations to "Nature and Life", a publication of +the Audubon Society, for their articles, for which credit is given +after each selection. Johnny Appleseed is a character with whom all the +boys and girls should become acquainted. C. L. Martzolf's article about +this peculiar man should be read carefully. F. B. Pearson contributed a +fine description and history of the "Logan Elm". Charles DeGarmo of +Cornell University generously contributed two poems that have not +appeared in print before this publication. + +G. R. C. + + +[Illustration: "THE OLD BEECH TREE," OHIO UNIVERSITY CAMPUS, ATHENS, +OHIO.] + + + + + THE CLASS TREE. + + (TUNE: AMERICA.) + + + Grow thou and flourish well + Ever the story tell, + Of this glad day; + Long may thy branches raise + To heaven our grateful praise + Waft them on sunlight rays + To God away. + + Deep in the earth to-day, + Safely thy roots we lay, + Tree of our love; + Grow thou and flourish long; + Ever our grateful song + Shall its glad notes prolong + To God above. + + "Let music swell the breeze, + And ring from all the trees," + On this glad day: + Bless Thou each student band + O'er all our happy land; + Teach them Thy love's command. + Great God, we pray. + + --_Emma S. Thomas, Schoharie, N.Y., in Teacher's Magazine._ + + + + + THIS IS ARBOR DAY. + + (TUNE: LIGHTLY ROW.) + + + Arbor Day, Arbor Day, + See, the fields are fresh and green, + All is bright, cheerful sight, + After winter's night. + Birds are flying in the air, + All we see is fresh and fair; + Bowers green now are seen, + Flowers peep between. + + Swaying trees, swaying trees, + Rocking gently in the breeze, + Dressed so gay, fine array, + For this is Arbor Day. + While we plant our trees so dear, + All the others list to hear + How we sing, in the spring, + And our voices ring. + + Here we stand, here we stand, + Round the tree, a royal band; + Music floats, cheering notes, + Sweetly, gaily floats. + March along with heads so high + While our tree is standing nigh; + Step away, light and gay, + On this Arbor Day. + + --_Selected._ + + +[Illustration: This school building is located at Pickerington, +Fairfield County. Violet township helped to build this building, and +the town and township have among the best of the centralized schools of +the state.] + + + + + WHY WE PLANT THE TREE. + + + FIRST PUPIL. + + We plant the tree for the shade it gives; + For the shade of a leafy tree + On a hot summer's day when the hot sun shines, + Is pleasant for all to see. + + SECOND PUPIL. + + We plant the tree for the dear birds' sakes, + For they can take their rest, + While the mate sings of love and cheer + To the mother on her nest. + + THIRD PUPIL. + + We plant the tree to please the eye, + For who does not like to see, + Whether on hill or plain or dale, + The beauty of a tree? + + FOURTH PUPIL. + + We plant the tree for the wood to use + In winter to keep us warm, + And for hall and church and store and house, + To have shelter from the storm. + + --_Primary Education._ + + + + + WHAT THE TREE TEACHES US. + + + FIRST PUPIL. + + I am taught by the oak + To be rugged and strong + In defence of the right; + In defiance of wrong. + + SECOND PUPIL. + + I have learned from the maple, + That beauty, to win + The love all hearts, + Must have sweetness within. + + THIRD PUPIL. + + The beech with its branches + Widespreading and low, + Awakes in my heart + Hospitality's glow. + + FOURTH PUPIL. + + The pine tells of constancy, + In its sweet voice; + It whispers of hope, + Till sad mortals rejoice. + + --_Selected._ + + + + + ARBOR DAY FETE. + + BY GRACE A. LUSK, MILWAUKEE. + + +(Stage, if possible, represents scene out-of-doors; raised throne to +right.) + +_Enter Chorus._ + + Every season hath its pleasures, + Which we sing in joyous measures; + In Summer's sunshine, rich and sweet, + Blossom flowers, ripens wheat; + Autumn puts the wood aflame, + Poets give her beauties fame; + Winter comes--a world of snow + And crisp, clear air make faces glow; + Spring awakens Nature dear, + Song birds chant 'neath skies so clear, + Every season hath its pleasures, + Which we sing with joyous measures. + +_Enter boy and girl_ (with flag and drum). + + _Boy_: + + In Summer comes the joyous Fourth, + I beat my drum for all I'm worth; + + _Girl_: + + Our crackers make a joyous noise, + For girls like fun as well as boys. + +(The holidays, after speaking, step to left and right of throne.) + +_Enter girl_ (in Puritan dress). + + After reaping harvest's gold + Thanks we render, for manifold + The blessings are each passing year, + Thanksgiving is a day of cheer. + +_Enter girl_ (in coat and furs, arms full of packages and holly). + + On the night before Christmas + There came to our house, + A right jolly old elf, as still as a mouse; + He filled all the stockings, + Trimmed each Christmas tree, + Made our Christmas merry--a good saint is he! + +_Enter very small boy_ (carrying a big book under his arm with +1913 printed on it). + + The wild bells rang across the snow, + The old year went--though loath to go; + The New Year came, while bells were ringing; + His days of joy and sorrow bringing. + +_Enter girl_ (in white trimmed with red hearts). + + Mine is a day of piercing darts, + Flowers sweet, and big red hearts, + Cupids tender, verses fine, + I'm the happy valentine. + +_Enter two boys_ (carrying flags). + + _Together_: + + Birthdays of patriots, brave and true, + In February drear, make cheer for you. + + _First boy_: + + Lincoln so kind, was everyone's friend; + + _Second boy_: + + Washington did a young nation defend. + + _Chorus_ (to Holidays). + + Once, each year, supreme you reign, + O'er the lads and lassies in your train, + Now comes our gentle springtime fay, + The gladsome, happy Arbor Day. + +_Enter Arbor Day_ (in white, crown of flowers, accompanied by two +small maids with flowers, accompanist softly plays Mendelssohn's Spring +Song). + + _Chorus continues._ + + Each holiday brings joy and gladness-- + Makes us banish thoughts of sadness, + Arbor Day, your reign is brief,-- + But every blossom, every leaf, + Every bird of wood or field + Its fullest homage now doth yield. + May you be a happy queen, + We, happy subjects are, I ween. + + _Arbor Day_ (while Chorus leads her to throne). + + Thank you for your greeting hearty, + This will be a merry party. + + _Chorus._ + + Our friends, the children, in meadows at play, + Are coming to join our glad holiday. + + _School children_ (with baskets and bouquets of flowers pass to + right of stage, salute in military fashion, saying): + + Dear Arbor Day, your subjects loyal, + Give you greetings, hearty, royal. + + _Queen._ + + Thank you, friends, greeting sweeter, + Never yet a queen had greet her. + +_Enter ten girls_ (in white with flowers in hands and in their +hair; they quickly and lightly run across stage and form in line; each +courtesies as she says her lines). + + _First girl_: + + I'm the queen, for I'm the Rose, + The proudest, sweetest flower that blows. + + _Second girl_: + + I'm shy Violet, from the wood, + You know me by my purple hood. + + _Third girl_: + + I'm the Dandelion yellow, + Some call me a saucy fellow. + + _Fourth girl_: + + I'm Anemone, shy and tender, + On my stalk so tall and slender. + + _Fifth girl_: + + I'm Morning Glory that climbs the wall, + My trumpet flowers softly call. + + _Sixth girl_: + + I'm Buttercup with a chalice to hold + The rich warm sunshine's yellow gold. + + _Seventh girl_: + + I'm Apple-blossom, my pink dresses + The bee admires, so he confesses. + + _Eighth girl_: + + I'm Waterlily, my golden heart + Keeps the sunbeam's glancing dart. + + _Ninth girl_: + + I'm shy Crocus, the first to show + My pretty head from beneath the snow. + + _Tenth girl_: + + I'm sleepy Poppy, from my home in the wheat, + I've come with the others our new queen to greet. + + _All in unison_: + + Dear Arbor Day, your subjects loyal, + Give you greeting, hearty royal. + + _Arbor Day._ + + Thank you, blossoms, sweet and tender, + I your kindness shall remember. + + _Rose_ (turning to flowers and holidays). + + Nature laughs in gleeful joy, + In songbirds trill, in flowerlets coy, + Shall we, also, voices raise, + Sing our gentle spring queen's praise? + +(School children, Holidays and Flowers sing while Flowers join hands +and dance about in circle.) + +(Tune: Campbells are coming.) + + Springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la, + Brooklets run clear, tra-la, tra-la, + Birds are winging, flowers springing, + For springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la. + +(Alternate girls step inside circle, face outward, other circle about.) + + The gentle May breeze, tra-la, tra-la, + Plays o'er the green leas, tra-la, tra-la, + Dandelions twinkle, violets sprinkle, + The sward 'neath the trees, tra-la, tra-la. + +(Each girl in inner circle gives her right hand to left hand of girl in +outer circle, thus in "wheel form" they circle singing.) + + The garden flowers gay, tra-la, tra-la, + Are here to stay, tra-la, tra-la, + The rich red roses, and all pretty posies, + Say springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la. + +(Dropping hands in single file they pass to back of stage singing.) + + Springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la, + Brooklets run clear, tra-la, tra-la, + Birds are winging, flowers springing, + For springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la. + + _Arbor Day._ + + Thank you, friends, greeting sweeter, + Never yet a queen had greet her. + But who comes now in trim array + So straight and proud,--tell me, pray? + +_Trees enter_ (carrying budded boughs of trees; they march and +countermarch in simple march figures, while piano plays "Campbells are +coming," or "Narcissus." They form in line, each saluting queen as he +speaks his line.) + + _First boy:_ + + The Maple gives us grateful shade; + + _Second boy:_ + + The Laurel's honors never fade; + + _Third boy:_ + + The Chestnut's flowers are fine to see; + + _Fourth boy:_ + + But the Apple's are better, thinks the bee; + + _Fifth boy:_ + + The Fir tree softly seems to sigh; + + _Sixth boy:_ + + The Spruce lifts up its head so high; + + _Seventh boy:_ + + The Elm tree's beauty you'll remark; + + _Eighth boy:_ + + The Birch is proud of its silver bark; + + _Ninth boy:_ + + The Cedar tree is stately and tall, + + _Tenth boy:_ + + But the hale old Oak is king of all. + + _Trees in unison:_ + + Arbor Day, your subjects loyal, + Give you greetings; hearty, royal. + + (March to music to back of stage behind Flowers.) + + _Arbor Day._ + + Thank you, trees, from lowland and hill, + I appreciate your hearty good will, + Are others still coming to our fete? + We welcome them, though they be late. + +_Enter ten small girls_ (run in on tiptoe lightly, waving arms while +the others sing.) + + The birds are flying, tra-la, tra-la, + Their strong wings a-trying, tra-la, tra-la, + From east and west, they come with the rest, + For Springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la. + + _First girl_ (courtesies): + + The Robin has a pretty vest, + + _Second girl:_ + + The Bluebird sweetly sings his best; + + _Third girl:_ + + The Bob-o-Link trills in its meadow home, + + _Fourth girl:_ + + The Bluejay calls in a shrill loud tone, + + _Fifth girl:_ + + The Blackbird sings in the tall marsh rushes, + + _Sixth girl:_ + + But sweeter, softer, call the Thrushes, + + _Seventh girl:_ + + The Oriole whistles from its swinging nest, + + _Eighth girl:_ + + But the Song Sparrow sings the sweetest and best. + + _Ninth girl:_ + + The Meadow Lark chants his mad, merry glee, + + _Tenth girl:_ + + Woodpecker just taps, so busy is he. + + _In Unison:_ + + Dear Arbor Day, your subjects loyal, + Give you greeting, hearty, royal. + + _Arbor Day:_ + + A queen whose welcomed by the birds, + Feels joy too deep for idle words. + Dear friends, my subjects, it is May; + Let us sing Spring's roundelay. + +(Here may be introduced groups of the charming flower songs by Mrs. +Gaynor, bird songs by Nevin, simple folk dances, and appropriate Spring +poems, etc., as part of the May Day fete.) + + _Arbor Day._ + + This day has been so full of pleasure, + I cannot yet my sadness measure. + And scatter our joyousness far and wide. + +(Exit, first the Birds, then the Trees, the flowers, the School +children, the Holidays, then Arbor Day and Chorus, singing.) + + The birds are trilling, tra-la, tra-la, + Their glad songs are filling, tra-la, tra-la, + The wood and dale, the meadow and vale, + The Springtime is come, tra-la, tra-la. + + The gentle May breeze, tra-la, tra-la, + Plays o'er the green leas, tra-la, tra-la, + Dandelions twinkle, violets sprinkle, + The sward 'neath the trees, tra-la, tra-la. + + The garden flowers gay, tra-la, tra-la, + Are here to stay, tra-la, tra-la, + The rich red rosies and all the posies, + Say Springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la. + + Springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la, + Brooklets run clear, tra-la, tra-la, + Birds are winging, flowers springing, + For Springtime is here, tra-la, tra-la. + +(Simple costumes make this more effective. All the girls wear white +gowns--Chorus has a simple Greek dress. Arbor Day a crown of flowers +and scepter, her maids baskets of flowers; the flower girls wear +chaplets of blossoms, artificial ones are best; The Holidays can wear +appropriate dress; the School-Children enter as if from play with their +baskets, dolls, flowers, fishing rods, etc.) + + + + + A BROKEN WING. + + + In front of my pew sits a maiden-- + A little brown wing in her hat, + With its touches of tropical azure, + And the sheen of the sun upon that. + + Through the colored pane shines a glory, + By which the vast shadows are stirred, + But I pine for the spirit and splendor, + That painted the wing of that bird. + + The organ rolls down its great anthem, + With the soul of a song it is blent; + But for me, I am sick for the singing, + Of one little song that is spent. + + The voice of the preacher is gentle; + "No sparrow shall fall to the ground;" + But the poor broken wing on the bonnet, + Is mocking the merciful sound. + + --_Selected._ + + + + +HUNTING THE WILD. + + +One Christmas, over forty years ago, my grandfather sent to me from +Colorado a real Indian bow and arrows. It was a beautiful bow with a +sinew string and wrapped in the middle and at the ends with sinews. The +arrow-heads were iron spikes, bound in place with wrapping of fine +sinews. The eagle feathers' tips were also bound with sinews. + +It was a beautiful, snow-clad Christmas morning, and I remember how I +yearned to go with this bow and arrows into the cedar grove to shoot +the birds feeding there. This yearning must have expressed itself in +some way, for I distinctly remember how a man with my bow and arrows +led the way, and I in restrained delight followed him to the cedar +grove. I remember how he maneuvered among the trees, and with keen eyes +watched for an opportunity to make a shot. + +He stopped, whispered to me, pointed to a bird in the trunk of a cedar. +Raising the bow, it bent taut under his firm, cautious pull. "Whiz," +went the arrow, and there, pinned to the tree with the iron spike, +fluttered a hairy woodpecker. To my wondering child-mind it was a great +feat--my inherent instinct for hunting the wild approved and applauded. + +That very phase of human nature is what we are now trying to eliminate +from the present and coming generation. + +--Eugene Swope. + + +[Illustration: "HUNGRY HOLLOW."] + + + + +WREN NOTES. + +FROM NATURE AND CULTURE. + + +We have grown to expect at least one wren's nest on our porch or +elsewhere in our yard each year; so, as usual, we put our boxes this +Spring with notices, figuratively: "For wrens only--no sparrows need +apply." + +Knowing Jenny's fastidious taste, we furnish several boxes, thus giving +her a choice. There is but little we would not do to induce her to live +in our neighborhood, and it would be a great disappointment to us if +she would not accept one of our houses, rent free. + +This year, 1912, she carried twigs to three different boxes before she +settled down to business. When this occurred, to our amusement, she +went to the other two boxes for twigs, bringing them to the chosen +site, instead of getting them from the ground, which for obvious +reasons would have been much easier. Mr. Wren is not so hard to suit. +Anything is good enough, in his estimation, much to the disgust of his +spouse. + +[Illustration: WE ARE SEVEN.] + +One day he made bold to select a box and carried in a few twigs to lay +the "cornerstone" of a structure. Soon Mrs. Wren came upon the scene +and in unmistakable language told him what she thought of him. Still +scolding, this Xantippe of birds threw out the material he had brought, +and, meekly submitting, he accepted her choice of a new location. + +We always have to reckon with the sparrows--"avian rats," as some one +has aptly called them. We do our best in helping Jenny drive them away +by emptying out the stuff they bring in, by shooting them away, and +even by use of the air gun. When absent one day for several hours we +found, upon our return, the following things in the box: a rusty nail, +an old safety pin, a hairpin, an elastic fixture, besides the usual +bits of grass, weeds, sticks, roots, etc. + +After emptying this out, it gave Mrs. Wren her inning once more, and +she improved the opportunity; for she built an unusually fine nest, +which is not altogether apparent in this illustration. The box +containing the nest was placed upon a ledge of the porch and so could +be easily taken down for inspection. + +The material first used in the nest was twigs found under a nearby plum +tree. Then it was lined with grass, horse hair, a blue jay's feather, +some hen's feathers, and some cottony material like lint. Jenny finally +completed her boudoir by festooning a snake skin about it. When the +nestlings began to walk about over the nest, this skin broke up into +bits; so does not show in the picture. + +This nest was begun May 4, and the first egg was laid May 12. One more +egg was added each day until eight were counted. They began to hatch +the 30th, thus celebrating Memorial Day. Seven eggs hatched and the +little ones kept the old birds more than busy, early and late, feeding +them. + +First the tiniest little spiders and bugs were brought. Then came +larger ones, and finally beetles, crickets, large spiders, etc., were +dropped into the yawning mouths. So fast they grew, one could almost +see the progress from day to day. They posed for this picture June 17, +leaving the nest the 18th, and on the 19th the parent birds began their +second nest in another box on the same porch. + +The first egg was laid the 23rd, thus taking but four days in the +construction of this nest, while the first required eight. As a matter +of fact it was not so carefully made. This time only five eggs were +laid, and at the present moment Mr. Wren is singing encouragement and +appreciation to his brooding mate; and, although the thermometer +registers 98 deg. in the shade, his notes joyously ripple out loud and +clear, not only to Jenny's delight, but to ours as well. + + + + + A COMPARISON. + + I'd ruther lay out here among the trees, + With the singing birds and the bumble bees, + A-knowing that I can do as I please, + Than to live what folks call a life of ease-- + Up thar in the city. + + For I don't 'xactly understan' + Where the comfort is for any man, + In walking hot bricks and using a fan, + And enjoying himself as he says he can-- + Up thar in the city. + + It's kinder lonesome, mebbe, you'll say, + A-livin' out here day after day, + In this kinder easy careless way, + But an hour out here's better'n a day-- + Up thar in the city. + + As for that, just look at the flowers aroun', + A-peepin' their heads up all over the groun,' + And the fruit a-bendin' the trees 'way down; + You don't find sech things as these in town-- + Or, ruther, in the city. + + As I said afore, sech things as these-- + The flowers, the birds, and the bumble bees, + And a-livin' out here among the trees, + Where you can take your ease and do 's you please-- + Make it better'n in the city. + + Now, all the talk don't 'mount to snuff + 'Bout this kinder life a-being rough, + And I'm sure it's plenty good enough, + And 'tween you and me, 'taint as tough-- + As livin' in the city. + + --_Selected._ + + * * * * * + + "The woods were made for hunters of dreams, + The streams for fishers of song; + To those who hunt thus, go gunless for game, + The woods and the streams belong." + + +[Illustration: A SOLITARY GIANT THAT WILL SOON DISAPPEAR.] + + + + + DAME NATURE'S RECIPE (APRIL). + + + Take a dozen little clouds + And a patch of blue; + Take a million raindrops, + As many sunbeams, too. + + Take a host of violets, + A wandering little breeze, + And myriads of little leaves + Dancing on the trees. + + Then mix them well together, + In the very quickest way, + Showers and sunshine, birds and flowers, + And you'll have an April day. + + --_Selected._ + + + + +THE GROUSE. + +HATTIE WASHBURN, GOODWIN, S.D. + + +"The grouse is a very fine bird." The sentence leaped out of the +conversation and caught my wandering attention. With a quick smile I +looked toward our rather corpulent guest across the table. I love +birds, and a word in their praise ever fills me with pleasure, not +alone because one delights in the praise of whatever he cherishes, but +because the expression of such a sentiment indicates that the speaker +is one who will befriend the birds or at least leave them unmolested. + +"Take them when they are properly prepared," our guest continued, and I +lowered my eyes to my plate in disgust. He appreciated their value only +as a palatable dish to feed his fat body or possibly as a target for +his gun. + +Such is the general attitude, it would seem, toward the grouse family, +from the ruffled grouse of the wooded portions of the Eastern States to +the prairie chicken of our vast plains, the dusky grouse of the +mountain regions of the West and all their related species. + +The drumming of the ruffled grouse so harmoniously breaking the +stillness of the woodland is dear to the nature-lover; no sound is more +characteristic of the prairies than the prairie chicken's melodious +booking that echoes afar like the low notes of a vast organ; the dusky +grouse's booming call, that may seem to come from a distance even when +the bird is near by, has its place in the great symphony of nature, yet +these musical sounds are being steadily and relentlessly silenced by +the gun of the sportsman. By this silencing that costs the lives of +countless hundreds of innocent and harmless birds, the agriculturist is +being robbed of one of his most powerful allies in the endless battle +against insects. + +Nature has given the grouse tribe large, palatable bodies and +characteristics which render them easy marks for the hunter, with only +zest enough to the quest to make these birds what sportsmen call "good +game." She has also endowed the grouse with food habits which should +cause them to live and multiply under the protection of man. The former +characteristics, however, seem most strongly to attract mankind in +general, and the grouse is known as game rather than the insect-eating +bird that it is. + +Laws have been made for the protection of the pinnated grouse, or +prairie chicken, and others of their tribe. These laws have been +enforced and have aided materially in the great work of +bird-protection. They have also, it is regrettable to state, been +violated and ignored. Too often the land owner is too lenient; being +blinded to his own interests or being keenly alive to the need of +protecting the grouse within his realm, is powerless to act because of +lack of evidence. + +The prairie hen nests upon the ground, choosing her own nesting site, +performing the duties of incubation, and rearing her young unaided by +the cock. There are few wooers in bird-life so ardent as the pinnated +grouse, yet he that joins in the mating ceremony of booming morning +after morning on some chosen booming-ground or fiercely contests with +other males for the favor of the chosen one deserts her soon after the +winning. + +Thus the eggs and young, having only one protector, are unduly exposed. +Since they are always on the ground until the young are able to fly +their loss is great. It is estimated that half of the prairie hens' +eggs are destroyed by fire, water and other causes. Wet seasons are +very injurious to the prairie chicks, and at all times they are in +danger from skunks and other prowlers, save through the cunning and +courageous protection of their devoted mother. + +These unavoidable dangers should appeal to the farmer to render the +prairie chicken his kindness and protection whenever he can. He has +few, if any, greater allies, for during the rearing of the young and +throughout the summer the food of the prairie chicken consists +principally of insects, chiefly of the destructive grasshopper. During +the winter they feed upon weed-seed and scattered grain. Of course, at +times the prairie chickens make slight inroads upon the crops, but +these are many times repaid by the noxious weed-seeds they destroy. + +The wild rose is one of the most beautiful flowers on the prairie. It +is also one of the most troublesome weeds, in the destruction of which +the prairie chicken has no superior, for one of their principal foods +in winter is the wild rose fruit. + +The beneficial characteristics of the prairie chicken, varied by +environment and ensuing tendencies of the birds, hold true of the +entire grouse family. Wherever found, the grouse are considered good +game birds. Were their good works in the destruction of weeds and +insects as well known as is their desirability for the table or for +targets for the sportsmen, they would be regarded as one of the most +valuable among the agriculturist's feathered friends. + +--_Reprint from Nature and Culture._ + + + +[Illustration] + + BUNNY. + + + There was once a little bunny, + In a little wooden hutch; + He'd a happy little master, + And he loved him very much. + + But that bunny wasn't happy, + Tho' he'd such a pleasant home, + For he thought 'twould be much nicer + In the world outside to roam. + + So he asked the pretty ponies, + And both answered with a neigh, + "Don't be silly; we should miss you, + If you were to run away." + + So that foolish little bunny + Whispered, "Thank you, very much," + And went back again, contented, + To his little wooden hutch. + + +[Illustration: A SUMMER SCENE IN MERCER COUNTY.] + +[Illustration: A BRANCH OF THE MAUMEE.] + + + + +OHIO'S PIONEER TREE-PLANTER. + +BY CLEMENT L. MARTZOLFF, OHIO UNIVERSITY, ATHENS, OHIO. + + +In the year 1806, a man living in Jefferson County, happened to look +out upon the Ohio River one day when he saw floating down with the tide +a strange looking craft. It consisted of two ordinary canoes lashed +together. The crew was one very oddly-dressed man and the cargo +comprised racks of appleseeds. This singular man was John Chapman, +better known as "Johnny Appleseed," from his penchant for gathering +apple-seeds at the cider-presses in western Pennsylvania, bringing them +to Ohio, planting them at suitable places, so when the pioneer came he +would find an abundance of young apple trees ready for planting. + +This was the mission of "Johnny Appleseed" who conscientiously believed +it had been heaven sent. He was deeply religious and his faith taught +him he could live as complete a life in thus serving his fellow-men, as +in perhaps some higher (?) sphere of usefulness. Certainly the result +of his labors proved a great blessing to the Ohio pioneer. + +Very little is known of Johnny Appleseed before he came to Ohio. He was +born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the opening of the Revolutionary +War, 1775. As a boy he loved to roam the woods, searching for plants +and flowers. He was a lover of nature in all its forms. He studied the +birds as well as the flowers. He loved the song of the brook as he did +that of the birds. At night he would lie upon his back and gaze into +the sky and whether he studied flowers or stars, brooks or birds, he +saw God's hand-writing in them all. It is thought he came westward with +his half-brother about the year 1801, and located somewhere about +Pittsburgh. His father, Nathaniel Chapman, shortly afterward became one +of the residents of Marietta and later moved to Duck Creek, in +Washington county, where he died. "Johnny" never spoke much about his +previous life. It was said by some that he had been once disappointed +in love and this accounted for his never marrying and for living the +life he did. This is not probable. Such stories are told about every +old bachelor and since they are so common, they lose their value. + +What educational advantages our tree-planter enjoyed, we do not know, +either. But it is certain he possessed a fair knowledge of the +rudiments of learning. He was a great reader for one of his time and +his mode of life, and moreover, he was a clear thinker. + +There are some who would call "Johnny Appleseed" "queer;" others, +"freakish;" again, "eccentric," etc. This peculiar, odd personage may +be described by all these terms. But the ruling passion of his life was +to plant apple-seeds, because he loved to see trees grow and because he +loved his fellow-men. The world has often been made better because +there was a man who possessed but one idea, and he worked it for all it +was worth. + +"Johnny's" methods were to keep up with the van of pioneerdom and move +along with it to the westward. So we find him in the early years of the +century in western Pennsylvania, then in Ohio, and after forty-five +years of service to mankind, he dies and is buried near Ft. Wayne in +Indiana. + +His nurseries were usually located in the moist land along some stream. +Here he would plant the seeds, surround the patch with a brush fence +and wander off to plant another one elsewhere. Returning at intervals +to prune and care for them, he would soon have thrifty trees growing +all over the country. + +He did not plant these trees for money, but the pioneer got them +oftentimes for old clothes, although his usual price for each tree was +"a fip-penny-bit." + +The first nursery Johnny planted in Ohio was on George's Run in +Jefferson county. Others he planted along the river front, when he +moved into the interior of the state. For years he lived in a little +rude hut in Richland county near the present town of Perrysville, from +where he operated his nurseries in the counties of Richland, Ashland, +Wayne, Knox, and Tuscarawas. + +On his journeys across the country he usually camped in the woods, +although the pioneer latch-string was always hanging out for +"Apple-seed John." He carried his cooking utensils with him. His +mush-pan serving him for a hat. When he would accept the hospitality of +a friend, he preferred making his bed on the floor. He wore few clothes +and went bare-footed the most of his time, even when the weather was +quite cold. For a coat a coffee sack with holes cut for neck and arms +was ample. + +There were plenty of Indians in those days and they were troublesome, +too, since several massacres occurred in that region. But they never +did any harm to our hero. No doubt they thought he was quite a +"Medicine Man." Once, during the War of 1812, when the red-men were at +their depredations and all the people were flocking to the Mansfield +block-house for protection, it was necessary to get a message to Mt. +Vernon, asking for the assistance of the militia. It was thirty miles +away and the trip had to be made in the night. Johnny volunteered his +services. Bare-footed and bare-headed he made his way along the forest +trails, where wild animals and probably wild Indians were lurking. The +next morning he had returned and with him was the needed help. + +He loved everything that lived. He harmed no animal, and if he found +any that were wounded or mis-treated, he would care for them as best he +could. Once when a snake had bitten him, he instinctively killed it. He +never quite forgave himself for this "ungodly passion." + +He, as has already been stated, was deeply religious. He was a disciple +of Emanuel Swedenborg, and he always carried some religious books about +with him, in the bosom of his shirt. These books he would give away. +Often he would divide a book into several pieces, so it would go +farther. When he visited the pioneers, he would always hold worship and +discuss religious subjects with them. + +But Johnny was getting old. The first trees he planted had for years +been bearing fruit. Still he kept planting and caring for new +nurseries. Once in Ft. Wayne he heard that some cattle had broken into +one of them and were destroying his trees. The distance was twenty +miles. He started at once to protect his property. It was in the early +spring of 1845. The weather was raw and the trip was too much for him. +He sought shelter at a pioneer home, partook of a bowl of bread and +milk for his supper, and before retiring for the night as usual held +worship. + +The family never forgot that evening. How the simple-minded old man +read from the Book, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see +God." Then he prayed and as he spoke with God, he grew eloquent. His +words made a deep impression on all who heard him. + +In the morning he was found to have a high fever. Pneumonia had +developed during the night. A physician was called, but the age of the +man and the exposure to which he had subjected himself for so many +years were against him. With the sunshine of joy and satisfaction upon +his countenance as though his dying eyes were already looking into the +new Jerusalem, "God's finger touched him and he slept." + + * * * * * * + + So he kept traveling, far and wide, + 'Till his old limbs failed him and he died. + He said, at last: "'Tis a comfort to feel + I've done some good in the world, though not a great deal." + + Weary travelers journeying West, + In the shade of his trees find pleasant rest, + And often they start with glad surprise + At the rosy fruit that around them lies. + + And if they inquire whence came such trees + Where not a bough once swayed in the breeze? + The reply still comes as they travel on, + "These trees were planted by Appleseed John." + + (_From "Appleseed John" by Maria Child._) + + * * * * * * + + Grandpa stopped, and from the grass at our feet, + Picked up an apple, large, juicy, and sweet; + Then took out his jack-knife, and, cutting a slice, + Said, as we ate it, "Isn't it nice + To have such apples to eat and enjoy? + Well, there weren't very many when I was a boy, + For the country was new--e'en food was scant; + We had hardly enough to keep us from want, + And this good man, as he rode around, + Oft eating and sleeping upon the ground, + Always carried and planted appleseeds-- + Not for himself, but for others' needs. + The appleseeds grew, and we, to-day, + Eat of the fruit planted by the way. + While Johnny--bless him--is under the sod-- + His body is--ah! he is with God; + For, child, though it seemed a trifling deed, + For a man just to plant an appleseed, + The apple-tree's shade, the flowers, the fruit, + Have proved a blessing to man and to brute. + Look at the orchards throughout the land, + All of them planted by old Johnny's hand. + He will forever remembered be; + I would wish to have all so think of me." + + * * * * * * + +_Bibliography of John Chapman._ + +_Howe's History of Ohio, Vol. II, p. 484._ + +_Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications, Vol. VI, p. +290. Vol. IX, p. 301._ + +_"Philip Seymour" or "Pioneer Life in Richland County" by Rev. James F. +McGraw._ + +_"The Quest of John Chapman" by Newell Dwight Hillis._ + + +[Illustration: JACKSON TOWNSHIP, PICKAWAY COUNTY, CENTRALIZED SCHOOL +BUILDING.] + + + + +WHY STUDY BIRDS? + + +A Cincinnati teacher in one of the big intermediate schools recently +discussed with her class the question of studying birds. She reminded +them that they are city children living in a densely populated +district, and that they could hardly expect to see the live birds +unless they went into the country, but agreed to forming a bird-study +class if the children could give good reasons for doing so. + +One child called attention to the fact that they read and studied about +many things all over the world that they never hoped to see, why not +about birds also? One boy thought it just as necessary for city +children to know what was to be seen in the country, as for country +children to know what could be seen in the city. There were other +reasons offered equally as good, but behind it all was a real live +desire, a natural desire, that need give no reasons for its existence, +to learn something about the wild birds. The teacher saw this, and +being one who realizes that schools are maintained for the benefit of +children rather than that children are born and reared to serve a +school system, consented to the organization of a Junior Audubon Class. + +Bird study in some measure should be given to every class in every +school, city and country. Not just because it is new, not just because +it is a branch of the now popular nature-study, not just because the +children are eager for it, all of which are good reasons, but because +of the great need of a national change of attitude toward the wild +birds if we are to succeed in preserving this absolutely essential part +of our natural resources. + +--_Eugene Swope._ + + + + +TROOP OF WINTER BIRDS LED BY CAPTAIN NUT-HATCH. + +H. W. WEISGERBER. + +_From Nature and Culture._ + + +How many of the boys that roam the winter woods appreciate the services +of the white-breasted nut-hatch? He is the captain of the small troop +of winter resident birds, and where his "yank", "yank", is heard there +are the other birds also. Sometimes he is far in advance of the troop, +but the small company of followers press on and go where he leads. + +In the winter birds are not as common as during the summer, and the +bird student sometimes tramps a long ways before he sees one of any +kind. Then, all of a sudden he hears the call-note of the nut-hatch, +and if he is wise, he will follow it up until he comes upon the +company, which will not be far away from where the nut-hatch is heard. + +Sometimes only three species are found, but generally four different +kinds of birds make up the small company that road the woods together. +These four are the white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, downy +woodpecker, and the merry little chickadee. What a happy, contented +quartet they are! + +One cold and cloudy November morning I thought I had caught a pair of +nuthatches that had betrayed their trust. I had followed an old rail +fence that bordered a weedy cornfield next to an open woods, and the +only birds seen were a few juncos and tree sparrows. After walking +about thirty rods, a pair of nuthatches were found; the next ten +minutes were spent listening and looking for the other birds that +should have been about. None were seen or heard. I was about to make a +note of the fact; but, it being a cold, windy morning, I deferred this +part, and moved on in order to get warm. I paralleled my first walk by +keeping in the woods along the fence, waiting for the troop to come. I +had not gone many rods until a note was heard, then a titmouse came in +sight, and in a few minutes I was surrounded by titmice, downy +woodpeckers, chickadees, and a number of golden-crowned kinglets. +Altogether there were twenty-five or more of the little fellows, and +they moved so fast that I did not get to see them all, so I followed +them to the place where I first saw the nuthatches. Here was where +white-breasted was christened "Captain Nuthatch." + + + + + FARMER JOHN. + + + Home from his journey Farmer John + Arrived this morning safe and sound; + His black coat off and his old clothes on, + "Now I'm myself," said Farmer John, + And he thinks, "I'll look around." + Up leaps the dog: "Get down, you pup! + Are you so glad you would eat me up?" + And the old cow lows at the gate to greet him, + The horses prick up their ears to meet him. + "Well, well, old Bay, + Ha, ha, old Gray, + Do you get good food when I'm away?" + + "You haven't a rib," says Farmer John; + "The cattle are looking round and sleek; + The colt is going to be a roan, + And a beauty, too; how he has grown! + We'll ween the calf in a week." + Says Farmer John, "When I've been off-- + To call you again about the trough, + And watch you and pat you while you drink, + Is a greater comfort than you can think;" + And he pats old Bay, + And he slaps old Gray, + "Ah, this is the comfort of going away!" + + "For, after all," says Farmer John, + "The best of a journey is getting home; + I've seen great sights but I would not give + This spot and the peaceful life I live + For all their Paris and Rome; + These hills for the city's stifled air + And big hotels and bustle and glare; + Lands all houses, and roads all stone + That deafen your ears and batter your bones! + Would you, old Bay? + Would you, old Gray? + That's what one gets by going away." + + "There Money is king," says Farmer John, + "And Fashion is queen, and it's very queer + To see how sometimes when the man + Is raking and scraping all he can, + The wife spends, every year, + Enough you would think for a score of wifes + To keep them in luxury all their lives! + The town is a perfect Babylon + To a quiet chat," said Farmer John. + "You see, old Bay, + You see, old Gray, + I'm wiser than when I went away. + + "I've found this out," said Farmer John, + "That happiness is not bought and sold, + And clutched in a life of waste and hurry, + In nights of pleasure and days of worry, + And wealth isn't all in gold, + Mortgages, stocks and ten per cent, + But in simple ways and sweet content, + Few wants, pure hopes and noble ends, + Some land to till and a few good friends, + Like you, old Bay, + And you, old Gray, + That's what I've learned by going away." + + And a happy man is Farmer John-- + Oh, a rich and happy man is he! + He sees the peas and pumpkins growing, + The corn in tassel, the buckwheat blowing, + And fruit on vine and tree; + The large, kind oxen look their thanks + As he rubs their foreheads and pats their flanks; + The doves light round him and strut and coo; + Says Farmer John, "I'll take you, too; + And you, old Bay, + And you, old Gray, + Next time I travel so far away." + + --_Trowbridge._ + + +[Illustration: THIS PICTURE REPRESENTS FIRST GRADE CHILDREN ENJOYING +THE BEST OF SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES.] + +[Illustration: A SCHOOL EXHIBIT.] + + + + +BIRD STUDY. + +W. H. WISMAN, NEW PARIS, OHIO. + + +In order to carry on the work of bird study with any degree of success, +experience has taught me that the subject must continually be kept +before the pupils in all of its phases. This means actual work among +the birds, with eyes sharpened for every movement and ears tuned to +every sound. + +The first essential, I think, is for the pupil to know the bird by +sight--that is, at close range--and to be able to give a minute +description, paying attention to details in markings, especially in +cases where distinctive markings determine the species. + +Our work in autumn consists in a sharp lookout for the warblers that +are returning toward the Southland at the beginning of the school term. +This requires careful observation, and pupils are encouraged to be +watchful at this time and report any small bird they may be able to +find on their way to or from school, or at home. A record is kept, and +pupils are urged to compete for the longest list of different species. + +Later in the season, when the leaves are well off the trees, we start a +nest-hunting contest, the object being to see who can find the greatest +number of nests in a specified time. Samples of nests are secured and +put up in the school room. + +[Illustration] + +When cold weather comes the question of food supply is considered. +Shelters for the birds are constructed, and feeding places are +prepared. One method is to place a feeding board outside a south +window, and fastening a good-sized branch of a tree outside the window, +upon which pieces of suet are fastened. The remains of the children's +lunches, together with seeds, kernels of nuts, etc., are placed upon +the board, and birds soon learn to come to the banquet prepared for +them. The pupils are urged to go home and do likewise. + +Monthly bird lists are kept, showing the kinds of birds that may be +seen each month, and pupils are required to keep note-books in which +anything of interest may be noted. + +In the spring the question of housing the birds is considered, and +pupils are taught to construct simple bird houses, and all are +interested in placing these boxes about their homes. + +In connection with this field work, attention is given to the +literature upon this subject. Scrap-books are kept, and any article +relating to birds found in papers or magazines is clipped and pasted in +this book. + +We have in the school room over one hundred and fifty pictures in +colors of the birds to be found in this section of the State, and using +these as a basis, I give frequent "lectures" on the habits or any other +points of interest concerning these birds. + +The pupils are very enthusiastic in the work, and the influence has not +only extended throughout the entire district, but other teachers and +pupils in the surrounding districts have caught the spirit and much is +being done along this line throughout the township. + +--_Reprint from Nature and Culture._ + + + + + THE WHITE BIRCH. + + BY CHARLES DEGARMO. + + + Have you seen the white birch in the spring, in the Spring? + When the sunlight gleams upon her branches in the spring? + When her green leaves, young and tender, + Through their soft concealment render + Glimpses of her outlines slender in the spring. + + Have you seen her wave her branches in the spring, in the spring? + Wave those airy, milk-white branches in the spring? + As they glisten in the light + Of a day divinely bright + When to see them is delight, in the spring. + + Have you seen the sunbeams glancing in the spring, in the spring? + Glancing on her leaflets glossy in the spring? + When the wind sets them in motion, + Like the ripples on the ocean, + And they stir our fond devotion, in the spring. + + If you have not, then you know not, in the spring, in the spring, + Half the beauty of the birches in the spring. + Past their tops of silver sheen + In the distance far are seen + Blue-tinged hills in living green, in the spring. + + --_After Wm. Martin._ + + +[Illustration: NOTICE THE SPREADING BRANCHES OF THIS TREE.] + + + + + BLUE. + + BY CHARLES DEGARMO. + + + There's plentiful blue in the midst of the green; + For blue are the joys that chatter and preen; + The blue bells all nod and sway with the breeze; + Blue-tinged are the hills that border the scene, + And blue birds sing low of nests in the trees. + In the land of the North + When the bird's on the wing, + Then the blue in the woods + Is a charm of the spring. + + On waters of blue where soft breezes blow, + With sunshine above and shadow below, + My boat sails the bay, with naught to annoy, + For two[1] that I love sit close as we go, + And laughing blue eyes that mirror with joy. + Far away to the South, + Where the warm tropics lie, + There the blue of the sea + Is the blue of the sky. + + --_From the Author's forthcoming book, "An Aesthetic View of the + World."_ + + [1] The Author's little granddaughters. + + + + + SUNRISE NEVER FAILS. + + + Upon the sadness of the sea + The sunset broods regretfully; + From the far spaces, slow + Withdraws the wistful afterglow. + + So out of life the splendor dies, + So darken all the happy skies, + So gathers twilight cold and stern; + But overhead the planets burn. + + And up the east another day + Shall chase the bitter dark away, + What though our eyes with tears be wet? + The sunrise never failed us yet. + + The blush of dawn may yet restore + Our light and hope and joys once more. + Sad soul, take comfort, nor forget + That sunrise never failed us yet. + + --_Celia Thaxter._ + + +[Illustration: NEW WASHINGTON, CRAWFORD COUNTY, HIGH SCHOOL.] + + + + + WHO-OO- + + + I wonder if you have ever heard + Of the queer, little, dismal Whiney-bird, + As black as a crow, as glum as an owl-- + A most peculiar kind of a fowl? + He is oftenest seen on rainy days, + When children are barred from outdoor plays; + When the weather is bright and the warm sun shines, + Then he flies far away to the gloomy pines, + Dreary-looking, indeed, is his old black cloak, + And his whiney cry makes the whole house blue-- + "There's nothing to do-oo! there's nothing to do-oo!" + Did you ever meet this doleful bird? + He's found where the children are, I've heard, + Now, who can he be? It can't be you. + But who is the Whiney-bird? Who-oo? Who-oo? + + --_Jean Halifax in St. Nicholas._ + + + + +THE BLUEBIRD. + +BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT. + +The National Association of Audubon Societies Educational Leaflet No. +24. + + +Who dares write of the Bluebird, thinking to add a fresher tint to his +plumage, a new tone to his melodious voice, or a word of praise to his +gentle life, that is as much a part of our human heritage and blended +with our memories as any other attribute of home? + +Not I, surely, for I know him too well and each year feel myself more +spellbound and mute by the memories he awakens. Yet I would repeat his +brief biography, lest there be any who, being absorbed by living +inward, have not yet looked outward and upward to this poet of the sky +and earth and the fullness and goodness thereof. + +[Sidenote: The Bluebird's Country.] + +For the Bluebird was the first of all poets,--even before man had +blazed a trail in the wilderness or set up the sign of his habitation +and tamed his thoughts to wear harness and travel to measure. And so he +came to inherit the earth before man, and this, our country, is all The +Bluebird's County, for at some time of the year he roves about it from +the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Mexico to Nova Scotia, though +westward, after he passes the range of the Rocky Mountains, he wears a +different dress and bears other longer names. + +[Sidenote: The Bluebird's Travels.] + +In spite of the fact that our eastern Bluebird is a home-body, loving +his nesting haunt and returning to it year after year, he is an +adventurous traveler. Ranging all over the eastern United States at +some time in the season, this bird has its nesting haunts at the very +edge of the Gulf States and upward, as far north as Manitoba and Nova +Scotia. + +When the breeding season is over, the birds travel sometimes in family +groups and sometimes in large flocks, moving southward little by +little, according to season and food-supply, some journeying as far as +Mexico, others lingering through the middle and southern states. The +Bluebirds that live in our orchards in summer are very unlikely to be +those that we see in the same place in winter days. Next to the +breeding impulse, the migrating instinct seems to be the strongest +factor of bird life. When the life of the home is over, Nature +whispers, "To wing, up and on!" So a few of the Bluebirds who have +nested in Massachusetts may be those who linger in New Jersey, while +those whose breeding haunts were in Nova Scotia, drift downward to fill +their places in Massachusetts. But the great mass of even those birds +we call winter residents go to the more southern parts of their range +every winter, those who do not being but a handful in comparison. + +"What does this great downward journey of autumn mean?" you ask. What +is the necessity for migration among a class of birds that are able to +find food in fully half of the annual range? Why do birds seek extremes +for nesting sites? This is a question about which the wise men have +many theories, but they are still groping. One theory is that once the +whole country had a more even climate and that many species of birds +lived all the year in places that are now unsuitable for a permanent +residence. Therefore, the home instinct being so strong, though they +were driven from their nesting sites by scarcity of food and stress of +weather, their instinct led them back as soon as the return of spring +made it possible. + +Thus the hereditary love of the place where they were given life may +underlie the great subject of migration in general and that of the +Bluebird's home in particular. + +[Sidenote: The Bluebird at Home.] + +Before more than the first notes of spring song have sounded in the +distance, Bluebirds are to be seen by twos and threes about the edge of +old orchards along open roads, where the skirting trees have crumbled +or decaying knot-holes have left tempting nooks for the tree-trunk +birds, with whom the Bluebird may be classed. For, though he takes +kindly to a bird-box, or a convenient hole in a fencepost, telegraph +pole or outbuilding, a tree hole must have been his first home and +consequently he has a strong feeling in its favor. + +As with many other species of migrant birds, the male is the first to +arrive; and he does not seem to be particularly interested in +house-hunting until the arrival of the female, when the courtship +begins without delay, and the delicate purling song with the refrain, +"Dear, dear, think of it, think of it," and the low, two-syllabled +answer of the female is heard in every orchard. The building of the +nest is not an important function,--merely gathering of a few wisps and +straws, with some chance feathers for lining. It seems to be shared by +both parents, as are the duties of hatching and feeding the young. The +eggs vary in number, six being the maximum, and they are not especially +attractive, being of so pale a blue that it is better to call them a +bluish white. Two broods are usually raised each year, though three are +said to be not uncommon; for Bluebirds are active during a long season, +and, while the first nest is made before the middle of April, last year +a brood left the box over my rose arbor September 12, though I do not +know whether this was a belated or a prolonged family arrangement. + +As parents the Bluebirds are tireless, both in supplying the nest with +insect food and attending to its sanitation; the wastage being taken +away and dropped at a distance from the nest at almost unbelievable +short intervals, proving the wonderful rapidity of digestion and the +immense amount of labor required to supply the mill inside the little +speckled throats with grist. + +The young Bluebirds are spotted thickly on throat and back, after the +manner of the throat of their cousin, the Robin, or, rather, the back +feathers are spotted, the breast feathers having dusky edges, giving a +speckled effect. + +The study of the graduations of plumage of almost any brightly colored +male bird from its first clothing until the perfectly matured feather +of its breeding season, is in itself, a science and a subject about +which there are many theories and differences of opinion by equally +distinguished men. + +[Sidenote: The Food of the Bluebird.] + +The food of the nestling Bluebird is insectivorous, or, rather to be +more exact, I should say animal; but the adult birds vary their diet at +all seasons by eating berries and small fruits. In autumn and early +winter, cedar and honeysuckle berries, the grape-like cluster of fruit +of the poison ivy, bittersweet and catbrier berries are all consumed +according to their needs. + +Professor Beal, of the Department of Agriculture, writes, after a +prolonged study, that 76 per cent. of the Bluebird's food "consists of +insects and their allies, while the other 24 per cent. is made up of +various vegetable substances, found mostly in stomachs taken in winter. +Beetles constitute 28 per cent. of the whole food, grasshoppers 22, +caterpillars 11, and various insects, including quite a number of +spiders, comprise the remainder of the insect diet. All these are more +or less harmful, except a few predaceous beetles, which amount to 8 per +cent., but in view of the large consumption of grasshoppers and +caterpillars, we can at least condone this offense, if such it may be +called. The destruction of grasshoppers is very noticeable in the +months of August and September, when these insects form more than 60 +per cent. of the diet." + +It is not easy to tempt Bluebirds to an artificial feeding-place, such +as I keep supplied with food for Juncos, Chickadees, Woodpeckers, +Nuthatches, Jays, etc.; though in winter they will eat dried currants +and make their own selection from mill sweepings if scattered about the +trees of their haunts. For, above all things, the Bluebird, though +friendly and seeking the borderland between the wild and the tame, +never becomes familiar, and never does he lose the half-remote +individuality that is one of his great charms. Though he lives with us +and gives no sign of pride of birth or race, he is not of us, as the +Song Sparrow, Chippy or even the easily alarmed Robin. The poet's +mantle envelopes him even as the apple blossoms throw a rosy mist about +his doorway, and it is best so. + + + + +THE BLUEBIRDS. + + +1. EASTERN BLUEBIRD (SIALIA SIALIS). + +_Adult male._--Length 7 inches. Upper parts, wings and tail bright +blue; breast and sides rusty, reddish brown, belly white. Adult +female.--Similar to the male, but upper parts except the upper tail +coverts, duller, gray or brownish blue, the breast and sides paler. +Nestling.--Wings and tail essentially like those of adult, upper parts +dark sooty brown, the back spotted with whitish; below, whitish, but +the feathers of the breast and sides widely margined with brown, +producing a spotted appearance. This plumage is soon followed by the +fall or winter plumage, in which the blue feathers of the back are +fringed with rusty, and young and old birds are then alike in color. + +_Range._--Eastern United States west to the Rocky Mountains; nests from +the Gulf States to Manitoba and Nova Scotia; winters from southern New +England southward. + + +1a. AZURE BLUEBIRD (SIALIA SIALIS AZUREA). + +Similar to the Eastern Bluebird, but breast paler, upper parts lighter, +more cerulean blue. + +_Range._--Mountains of eastern Mexico north to southern Arizona. + + +2. WESTERN BLUEBIRD (SIALIA MEXICANA OCCIDENTALIS). + +_Adult male._--Above deep blue, the foreback in part chestnut; throat +blue, breast and sides chestnut, the belly bluish grayish. + +_Adult Female._--Above grayish blue, chestnut of back faintly +indicated, throat grayish blue, breast rusty, paler than in male, belly +grayish. + +_Range._--Pacific coast region from northern Lower California north to +British Columbia, east to Nevada. + + +2a. CHESTNUT-BACKED BLUEBIRD (SIALIA MEXICANA ANABELAE). + +Similar to the Western Bluebird, but foreback wholly chestnut. + +_Range._--Rocky Mountain region from Mexico north to Wyoming. + + +2b. SAN PEDRO BLUEBIRD (SIALIA MEXICANA ANABELAE). + +Similar to the Western Bluebird, but back with less chestnut. + +_Range._--San Pedro Martir mountains, Lower California. + + +3. MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD (SIALIA ARCTICA). + +_Adult male._--Almost wholly blue, above beautiful cerulean, below +paler, belly whitish. Adult female.--Above brownish gray, upper tail +coverts, wings and tail bluish below pale fawn, belly whitish. + +_Range._--Western United States from Rocky Mountains to Sierras, and +from New Mexico north to the Great Slave Lake region. + + + + + TO CELIA. + + + Drink to me only with thine eyes, + And I will pledge with mine; + Or leave a kiss in the cup + And I'll not look for wine. + The thirst that from the soul doth rise + Doth ask a drink divine; + But might I of Jove's nectar sup, + I would not change for thine. + + I sent thee late a rosy wreath, + Not so much honoring thee + As giving it a hope that there + It could not withered be; + But thou thereon didst only breathe + And sen'st it back to me; + Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, + Not of itself but thee! + + --_Ben Johnson._ + + +[Illustration: A TREE THAT STANDS IN THE OPEN COUNTRY HAS A HARD +STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.] + + + + + DON'T FORGET THE TREE. + + (A POEM FOR ARBOR DAY.) + + + How beauteous is the lordly tree + That scatters cooling shade! + The landscape, O how fair and free + By loving Nature made; + The birds that build in leafy bough + Hail each returning spring, + And in the emerald forests now + They make the Welkin ring. + + The tree we plant in years becomes + A monarch old and gray, + And thousands from unbuilded homes + Will bless our Arbor Day; + We plant not for the present time, + But for the days in store. + And those who come from distant clime + Will bless us o'er and o'er. + + Hail Arbor Day! With busy hands + With cheerful hearts and free + We come in Nature; loving hands + To plant the bush or tree; + Unto the wide extending plain, + Or to the sun scorched way + We bring the cooling shade again + With joy this Arbor Day. + + + + + DON'T FORGET THE TREE. + + + Where halts the pilgrim for an hour + Let some tree rear its head, + Our work can greet him with a flower, + Or luscious fruit instead; + Plant for the dawning years a tree, + 'Twill not be labor lost; + You'll live to bless the day and see + How little was the cost. + + Plant trees upon the barren hill + And in the village street, + And shade the little sunny rill + Whose song is rich and sweet; + Where there's a will there is a way. + So let the children come + And plant a tree this Arbor Day-- + A tree that stands for Home. + + Methinks the rose will fairer bloom + Upon the bush we set, + And softer be its perfume + Above its coronet; + Let every child in Freedom's land + Hail Arbor Day with glee, + And plant with every busy hand + A shrub, a bush or tree. + + God made the many trees for shade, + So plant one on this day, + In field, in town, in glen and glade + They yield a gentle sway; + In troops let all the children come + With music, song and cheer; + For Arbor Day is near to Home, + And Home is always dear. + + Go plant a tree where none is found, + Make bright some treeless spot, + And as the ceaseless years go round + You will not be forgot; + From hill to hill, from shore to shore, + Let hands forget their play, + And men will bless forevermore + Our sacred Arbor Day. + + --_T. C. Harbaugh._ + + +[Illustration: ALONG THE MAUMEE.] + +[Illustration: THE THOUGHTLESS LUMBER-MAN LEAVES AN UNCANNY WAKE.] + + + + + TRAILING ARBUTUS. + + + Ere the latest snow of Springtime + Leaves the shelter of the woodlands; + While it still in every hollow + Waits with a wavering indecision, + Loath to vanish at the mandate + Of the swiftly conquering sunshine-- + Then the Spirit of the Springtime + Comes with gentle exorcism. + + 'Tis the arbutus, frail beauty, + Pale with fright, yet blushing rosy + At the simple joy of living, + And before her modest presence + Harsh winds calm their fiercest bluster, + And the last resisting armies + Of the Snow-king quickly vanish. + Then she sends her sweetest fragrance + Upward, like a breath of incense, + To the sun, who cheers and thanks her + With his warmest, grateful kisses. + + --_Mary Nowlan Wittwer, Adelphi, Ohio._ + + +[Illustration: MANY TIMES "THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN."] + + + + +THE LOGAN ELM. + + +The Logan Elm, about six miles from Circleville, with five acres of +park surrounding it, is now the property of the Ohio Historical and +Archaeological Society, having been transferred to that organization by +the Pickaway Historical Association on October 2, 1912. It is +altogether proper that this historic tree and ground should become the +property of Ohio so that every person in our commonwealth may feel a +proprietary interest in this spot and all that it means. + +We have traveled far on the pathway of civilization since the day when +the Chief of the Mingoes made this spot memorable by his native +eloquence, but we do well to look back, now and again, to these +landmarks so as to catch a view of the road over which we have come. +Such a view gives us courage and spirit for the journey that lies +before us for we are made to feel that since we have done this much we +shall be able to do even more and better. + +In his historical collections Howe says of the speech of Logan: "It was +repeated throughout the North American Colonies as a lesson of +eloquence in the schools, and copied upon the pages of literary +journals in Great Britain and the Continent. This brief effusion of +mingled pride, courage and sorrow, elevated the character of the native +American throughout the intelligent world; and the place where it was +delivered can never be forgotten so long as touching eloquence is +admired by men." + +This being true, it is quite fitting that the schools shall place this +speech in the category of eloquence and give the children to know that +real eloquence is the expression of deep and sincere emotion. The Logan +Elm remains to us the visible symbol of an example of this sort of +eloquence and our celebration of Arbor Day will be all the more +inspiring if all the children come to know the meaning of this tree and +feel the real eloquence of the speech. + +The version of the speech here given is found in Jefferson's Notes and +is as follows: + + "I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin + hungry and I gave him not meats; if ever he came cold or naked and + I gave him not clothing. During the course of the last long and + bloody war, Logan remained in his tent an advocate for peace. Nay, + such was my love for the whites, that those of my own country + pointed at me as they passed by and said, 'Logan is the friend of + white men.' I had even thought to live with you, but for the + injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold + blood, and unprovoked, cut off all the relatives of Logan; not + sparing even any women and children. There runs not a drop of my + blood in the veins of any human creature. This called on me for + revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted + my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. Yet, + do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never + felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is + there to mourn for Logan? Not one." + +--_F. B. Pearson._ + + + + + LITTLE DOG TRAY. + + + When at the close of a wearisome day + Homeward disheartened, you moodily stray, + What would you take for your little dog Tray? + Take for the wag of his tail? + + Sitting alone at the old picket gate, + Little dog Tray will patiently wait + Watching: No matter if early or late + Slow is the wag of his tail. + + Look! see him start as a form comes in view! + What has the dog with that vision to do? + How does he tell that he knows it is you? + Just by the wag of his tail. + + Oh, the wild glee in his rhythmical song + Sung in the motion that keeps him along! + Is it a love that he bears for the throng? + Judge by the wag of his tail. + + Swift as the wind he has run to your side, + Eager and happy to show you his pride; + Bounding aloft, then ahead as your guide + Merrily wagging his tail. + + No one may know why he loves you so well + Nor if your voice or your face weave the spell + But that he loves you his actions will tell, + Such as the wag of his tail. + + Loves you and shares in your hunger and thirst + Riches and poverty, landed or cursed, + Always the same, for the best or the worst + Proved by the wag of his tail. + + Love such as his will abide to the end, + Do what you will, distort your ways you may wend, + Hardships and knocks but insure him your friend + Shown by the wag of his tail. + + Curse him--he lies at your feet to adore! + Strike him--he loves you the same as before! + Violent blows--snap your finger! Once more + There is the wag of his tail. + + Watchful he sits at your side in repose + Loyal before you he stealthily goes + Eager to champion your cause with your foes + Told by the wag of his tail. + + Friendship may fade and earth's love may grow cold + Chains such as these oft are flimsiest mold, + Love of the dog for his master will hold + Long as the wag of his tail. + + Not as a peer, neither cringing like slave + One solemn boon, as the last he may crave, + Little dog Tray sits and moans on your grave + Sad is the way of his tail. + + When at the close of a wearisome day + Homeward, disheartened, you moodily stray, + What would you take for your little dog Tray? + Take for the wag of his tail? + +--_By Walter P. Neff._ + + +[Illustration: LADY BETTY.] + + + + + A KIPLING TRIBUTE. + + + "Buy a pup and your money will buy + Love unflinching that cannot lie + Perfect passion and worship fed, + By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head, + Nevertheless it is hardly fair + To risk your heart for a dog to tear. + + When the fourteen years which nature permits + Are closing in asthma, or tumor, or fits, + And the "Vet's" unspoken presentation runs + To lethal chambers or loaded guns, + Then you will find, its your own affair + That -- -- -- you've given your heart for a dog to tear." + + --_By Lee A. Dollinger._ + + + + +"MAN'S BEST FRIEND." + + +Senator Vest had been retained as the Attorney of a man whose dog had +been wantonly shot by a neighbor. The plaintiff demanded $200.00. + +When Vest finished speaking the jury awarded $500.00 without leaving +their seats. This is what he said: + +"_Gentlemen of the Jury:_ The best friend a man has in this world may +turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has +reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and +dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good +name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he +may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. + +"A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill considered +action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor +when success is with us, may be the first to throw the stone of malice +when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely +unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that +never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous +is his dog. + +"A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and +in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintry winds +blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's +side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer. He will lick the +wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the +world. He will guard the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a +prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. + +"When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces he is as +constant in his love, as the sun on its journey through the heavens. If +misfortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless +and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of +accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, +and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in his +embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all +other friends pursue their way, there by his grave side will the noble +dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert +watchfulness, faithful and true even in death." + + "There is but one drawback to a dog's friendship, + It does not last long enough." + + --_Van Dyke._ + + + + +THE REDSTARTS. + +CORDELIA J. STANWOOD, ELLSWORTH, ME. + + +Reprints from Nature and Culture. + +The redstart is one of the most beautiful of the warblers. It flutters +through the branches like the sunbeams through the dancing leaves; +again, it suggests a darting flame or a gorgeous autumn-leaf tossed +hither and thither by the wind. + +The redstart winters in the tropics--Mexico, South America, and the +West Indies--but nests in almost every part of North America east of +the Rockies. The female models an exquisite statant, increment nest, +well set down in the crotch of a tree, but the kind of a tree selected +and the materials used vary in different localities. + +The most beautiful nest I ever found was located sixteen feet from the +ground, in the crotch of a white birch. The support was formed by the +main trunk and several ascending, rudimentary branches. When I looked +up into the tree a tiny, fluffy mass of white birch curls attracted my +attention. On this cushion the nest was shaped of similar curls of +white birch bark and partially decomposed inner bark, fiber; the rim, +firm and well modeled, consisted of what looked like split culms of +hay, but I decided that it must be the outside of decayed goldenrod +stems. It was lined with horse hair, human hair, and the feathers of +the female. A daintier, warmer, safer, little cradle no bird could +desire. + +Another nest, located in a maple five feet high from the ground, was +placed on a foundation of dead leaves, coarse meadow grass, and white +birch bark. The cup was constructed of fine cedar bark fiber; the +outside was ornamented with the white egg cases of some insect. The +nest had a beautifully turned brim of the same material as was used in +the former nest. The lining, likewise, was of goldenrod fiber, and a +few of the green and yellow feathers of the female. As usual, more or +less spider's floss entered into the composition of this well-made +structure. The dwelling strikingly corresponded in color with the gray +maple crotch that supported it. Each house was well adapted to its +surroundings. + +The female builds the nest almost unassisted and appears, likewise to +incubate and brood the young. The male, however, sings from his varied +repertoire to cheer his mate at her task, and assists the female in +feeding the young and cleansing the domicile, but when disturbed by an +observer, the female is more assiduous than the male in her attentions +to their offspring. + +[Illustration] + +Usually when a person attempts to inspect a redstart's nest containing +young, the female drops from the nest a dead weight and falls from +branch to branch of any tree in the way, striking the ground with a +dull thud. Her next move is to trail a helpless wing along the ground. +At another time she flies from the nest and alights on the ground with +spread wings and tail. The yellow markings on the wing and tail show +conspicuously as the bird moves forward by the wings, as if her legs +were too weak to sustain her weight. At the same time the bird twitters +very softly, almost inaudibly; in other words, she feigns the +helplessness of a young bird. These pretty deceptions, the expression +of the mother instinct, always appeal to me very strongly. + +While studying a family of redstarts that lived in a gray birch some +twelve feet above the ground, the hen and one nestling disappeared. +Across the hayfield from the grove of the birds that I was observing +was a bit of woodland to which both redstarts resorted frequently, +presumably for feed. Here was the nest of a redstart containing four +fresh eggs. That day I arranged with a care to lower the nest a number +of feet. The birds deserted. On examining the nest I found that one egg +has been cracked. Whether this nest belonged to the redstarts of the +grove and the female left her young in the care of the cock while she +constructed a third nest, I cannot say. Exactly what became of the +mother remained a mystery. + +It was with grave concern that I watched the gayly dressed little +songster for an entire day to see if he would take upon himself the +duties of the mother-bird. Nothing could have been more touching than +to note the faithfulness with which he performed all the work of two +birds save brooding the young. The following morning the nest was +empty, but I found the father-bird in a coppice feeding the little +family. Evidently he had undertaken the entire care of his small flock. + +One nest of redstarts that I studied from the egg stage was on the wing +on the tenth day. As the nest was but five feet from the ground, within +reach, and as I called there nearly every day, it is not surprising +that the old bird tolled the young from the nest as soon as they were +able to fly. At this age redstart nestlings preen vigorously and fly +short distances. + +The nest of the redstarts, when vacated, was immaculate, save for the +quill and pin feather cases that filled the interstices. + +[Illustration] + +The bird seems to raise a second brood, at least some years, as nearly +all the dates at which I have discovered the bird nesting are later +than those I find recorded. Redstarts were completing a nest June 13, +1908; a male and female were feeding four young five or six days old +July 13, 1907; a bird was ready to incubate four fresh eggs the same +day, and still another redstart was incubating four eggs July 5, 1910; +these were not hatched until nine days later. + +If the birds feed two broods during the summer, then they are nearly +twice as useful as they have been generally supposed to be. The +redstart is the most active of the active warblers, and the number of +gnats, flies, caterpillars, moths, other insects and their eggs that +these birds consume or feed to their nestlings in one day is +incredible. While it does splendid work in the woods it frequently +comes to the orchard and is not unknown to paly its quest for food in +the village streets. While we admire the redstart for its beauty and +its charming little songs, we respect the bird for his utility. In this +case the proverbial "fine feathers" do cover fine little bird. + + + + + THE OLD TREE. + + + I. + + The old beech tree, so green and gray! + How oft I've heard thee, whispering say, + With beckoning branches waving low, + "Rest here, where cooling breezes blow!" + And in thy shadows deep and dark, + How oft I've touched thy cool gray bark; + And still I bless thee, old beech tree, + For old sweet memories dear to me. + Repeat the stories yet half told + Of those who carved their names so bold! + In whispers tell of them today, + O venerable beech, so green and gray! + + + II. + + The old beech tree, so green and gray, + The old-time welcome gives today, + With beckoning branches reaching down + To mother earth all garbed in brown. + Thy gnarled, bark-covered roots up-bend + A further welcome to extend. + Thy low-extending branches wave, + As though a green-robed prelate gave + A benediction, and had blessed + A people weary and oppressed. + And so I rest with thee today, + My old beech tree, so green and gray! + + --_Richard Nevin Pemberton._ + + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE HORSE'S PRAYER TO HIS MASTER. + + +To Thee, My master, I offer my prayer: Feed me, water and care for me, +and when the day's work is done, provide me with shelter, a clean dry +bed, and a stall wide enough for me to lie down in comfort. + +Always be kind to me. Talk to me. Your voice often means as much to me +as the reins. Pet me sometimes, that I may serve you the more gladly +and learn to love you. Do not jerk the reins, and do not whip me when +going up hill. Never strike, beat or kick me when I do not understand +what you want, but give me a chance to understand you. Watch me, and if +I fail to do your bidding, see if something is not wrong with my +harness or feet. + +Do not check me so that I cannot have the free use of my head. If you +insist that I wear blinders so that I cannot see behind me, as it was +intended I should, I pray you to be careful that the blinders stand +well out from my eyes. + +Do not overload me, or hitch me where water will drip on me. Keep me +well shod. Examine my teeth when I do not eat. I may have an ulcerated +tooth, and that, you know, is very painful. Do not fix my head in an +unnatural position, or take away my best defense against flies and +mosquitoes by cutting off my tail. + +I cannot tell you when I am thirsty, so give me clean cool water often. +I cannot tell you in words when I am sick, so watch me, and by signs +you may know my condition. Give me all possible shelter from the hot +sun, and put a blanket on me not when I am working but when I am +standing in the cold. Never put a frosty bit in my mouth. First warm it +by holding it a moment in your hands. + +And finally, O My Master, when my useful strength is gone, do not turn +me out to starve or freeze, or sell me to some human brute, to be +slowly tortured and starved to death; but do Thou, My Master, take my +life in the kindest way, and your God will reward you Here and +Hereafter. You will not consider me irreverent if I ask this in the +name of Him who was born in a stable. Amen. + + +[Illustration] + + + + + "ONE, TWO, THREE!" + + + 1. It was an old, old, old, old lady, + And a boy that was half past three; + And the way that they played together + Was beautiful to see. + + 2. She couldn't go running and jumping, + And the boy, no more could he; + For he was a thin little fellow, + With a thin little twisted knee. + + 3. They sat in the yellow twilight, + Out under the maple tree; + And the game that they played I'll tell you, + Just as it was told to me. + + 4. It was Hide and Go Seek they were playing, + Though you'd never have known it to be-- + With an old, old, old, old lady, + And a boy with a twisted knee. + + 5. The boy would bend his face down + On his one little sound right knee, + And he guessed where she was hiding, + In guesses One, Two, Three! + + 6. "You are in the china closet!" + He would cry, and laugh with glee-- + It wasn't the china closet; + But he still had Two and Three. + + 7. "You are up in Papa's big bedroom, + In the chest with the queer old key!" + And she said: "You are _warm_ and _warmer_; + But you're not quite right," said she. + + 8. "It can't be the little cupboard + Where Mamma's things used to be + So it must be the clothespress, Gran'ma!" + And he found her with his Three. + + 9. Then she covered her face with her fingers, + That were wrinkled and white and wee, + And she guessed where the boy was hiding, + With a One and a Two and a Three. + + 10. And they never had stirred from their places, + Right under the maple tree-- + This old, old, old, old lady, + And the boy with the lame little knee-- + This dear, dear, dear old lady, + And the boy who was half past three. + + --_From Poems of H. C. Bunner; copyrighted 1884, 1892, 1899 by + Chas. Scribner's Sons._ + + + + +BIRD-STUDY IN OHIO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. + +DR. EUGENE SWOPE. + +Audubon Field Agent for Ohio, 4 W. Seventh St., Cincinnati, O. + + +The national movement for the study and protection of our wild birds is +as well understood and supported by the teachers of Ohio as of any +other State. The number of Junior Audubon Classes formed in the schools +of Ohio last year was second only to New Jersey. That little State took +the lead. Ohio ought to take the lead this year. With our Commissioner +F. W. Miller giving his approval and encouragement, and our Supervisors +of Agriculture recommending bird study as a necessary feature of +elementary agriculture, Ohio ought to be able to report a large number +of Bird Classes by the middle of May. + +[Illustration: BIRDS AT HOME.] + +It is a rare thing to find a Superintendent or principal actually +unfriendly toward bird study, but a very large percent hesitate to +admit it into their schools because it is new and untried. + +The claims of bird study upon Superintendents and principals is one +that cannot much longer be overlooked. The National desire to know the +wild birds and to save the remnant now left, is yearly becoming +stronger. An ever-increasing number of homes are becoming active +centers and parents are looking to the public schools for help, and +children everywhere are eager for bird study. + +There is no risk in introducing Junior Audubon Classes in a school. +Some of our country's foremost educators have tried it with gratifying +results, for they find that there is no better subject to develope the +power of _attention_ in children, there is no better subject to train +children's _memories_, there is no better subject to awake _originality_ +of thought in young minds, and it is unquestionably the supreme subject +for composition work. Any teacher who cares to give bird study a trial +may correspond with me and receive gratis, the help now offered by the +Ohio Audubon Society. + + + + + THE BOY WITH THE HOE. + + + "Say, how do you hoe your row, young chap? + Say, how do you hoe your row? + Do you hoe it fair? + Do you hoe it square? + Do you hoe it the best you know? + Do you cut the weeds as you ought to do? + And leave what's worth while there? + The harvest you garner depends on you, + Are you working it on the square? + + "Are you killing the noxious weeds, young chap? + Are you making it straight and clean? + Are you going straight, + At a hustling gait, + Do you scatter all that's mean? + Do you laugh and sing and whistle shrill, + And dance a step or two? + The road you hoe leads up a hill; + The harvest is up to you." + + --_Selected._ + + +[Illustration: WHY DO BOYS LOVE SUCH A PLACE AS THIS?] + + + + + THE BEECH TREE'S PETITION. + + + O leave this barren spot to me! + Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree! + Though bush or floweret never grow + My dark unwarming shade below; + Nor summer bud perfume the dew + Of rosy blush, or yellow hue; + Nor fruits of Autumn, blossom born, + My green and glossy leaves adorn; + Nor murmuring tribes from me derive + The ambrosial amber of the hive; + Yet leave this barren spot to me; + Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree! + Trice twenty summers have I seen + The sky grow bright, the forest green; + And many a wintry wind have stood + In bloomless, fruitless solitude, + Since childhood in my pleasant bower + First spent its sweet and pensive hour; + Since youthful lovers in my shade + Their vows of truth and rapture made, + And on my trunk's surviving frame + Carved many a long-forgotten name. + Oh! by the sighs of gentle sound, + First breather upon this sacred ground; + By all that Love has whispered here, + Or Beauty heard with ravished ear; + As Love's own altar honor me; + Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree. + + --_Thomas Campbell._ + + +[Illustration: TURTLECREEK TOWNSHIP SCHOOL EXHIBIT AT WARREN COUNTY +FAIR.] + + + + +THE CARDINAL. + +BY WILLIAM DUTCHER, + +President of National Association of Audubon Societies. Educational +Leaflet No. 18. + + +The Cardinal is one of the most brilliant of American birds; the name +is derived from its color, which is a deep red, somewhat less vivid +than scarlet. This color is supposed to be named from the vestments of +a cardinal, an ecclesiastic of high rank in the Roman Church. The +female bird, while not so conspicuous as her mate, is clad in a rich +brown with just enough of red to light it up. They are indeed a +striking pair, and wherever they are found soon become favorites. They +are known as Cardinal Grosbeaks, Red-birds, Crested Red-birds, Virginia +Nightingales, and lately James Lane Allen has made familiar Kentucky +Cardinal. The illustration shows the Cardinal's most prominent +features--a very large strong bill, a conspicuous crest, which can be +erected or depressed at will, short rounded wings and a long tail. The +length of the Cardinal is a little over eight inches from tip of bill +to end of tail. + +Once seen, the Cardinal can never be mistaken for any other bird, +especially as its plumage virtually never changes but remains much the +same at all seasons of the year. Cardinals are resident wherever they +are found, and their center of abundance is in the southern portion of +the United States. The northern limit of its range is approximately a +line drawn from a point in the vicinity of New York City, westward to +southeastern Nebraska; thence southward to Texas, where it is found in +the greater part of the state. These lines are arbitrary, but are given +in order that a teacher may show scholars in a general way where +Cardinals can be found. Further, they give teachers and pupils who +reside outside these limits an opportunity to extend the Cardinal's +known range by proving that it lives in their locality. + +There have been records of the Cardinal made as far north as Nova +Scotia and Southern Ontario, but it is believed that these were escaped +cage birds, the Cardinal, probably owing to its beauty of plumage and +richness of song, having long been a favorite cage bird. Alexander +Wilson, in American Ornithology (Vol. II, page 145), which was +published in 1828, says, "This is one of our most common cage birds, +and is very generally known, not only in North America, but even in +Europe; numbers of them having been carried over both to France and +England, in which last country they are usually called Virginia +Nightingales." + +Dr. Russ, the great German aviculturist, says, "Beloved in its home by +both Americans and Germans, it is protected and caught only for the +cage bird fancy. Had been bred in Holland a century and a half ago and +later in England." It is true that until recently large numbers of +Cardinals were caught or taken from the nest while young, for shipment +to foreign countries by bird dealers. Owing to the efforts of the +National Association, this traffic is a thing of the past. The Model +Law, which is in force in all the States where the Cardinal is found, +prohibits all traffic in these birds and forbids their being shipped +from the State. + +The Cardinal is too beautiful and valuable a bird to be confined within +the narrow limits of a cage, where its splendid spirit is soon broken +by its unavailing attempts to escape. Mrs. Olive Thorne Miller, in one +of her charming pictures of bird life, says of a captive Cardinal, +that, "He is a cynic, morose and crusty." Such a character cannot be +attributed to the Cardinal when it is at liberty. Its wild, free song, +its restless activity and its boldness are the antithesis of a +depressed cage captive. Even when it receives the best care from its +human jailer it is still a prisoner confined in a space so small that +it never has an opportunity to stretch its wings in flight, nor can it +ever bathe in the bright sunshine or view the blue skies above it. The +whispering of the winds through the sylvan shades is lost to the +captive forever. Is it strange that the nature of this wild free spirit +changes? + +The writer has seen many hundreds of these beautiful birds in cages +ready to be shipped, each one doomed to a short existence, a prisoner +and an exile. Fortunately, this condition is now changed; and, had the +National Association accomplished no other good, the stopping of the +cage-bird traffic would be a sufficient reason for its organization. + +In the South, where the Cardinal is one of the most abundant birds, it +is a special favorite, rivaling the Mockingbird in the affections of +the people. It is commonly found in the towns as well as the rural +districts. The female bird builds the nest, which is loosely +constructed of leaves, bark, twigs, shreds of grape-vine, and is lined +with dry grasses. The nest is placed in bushes or vines from eight to +ten feet from the ground. Three or four white eggs, speckled with +brown, are laid, and it is probable that in the South two broods are +raised each season. The home life of Cardinals is a pattern of domestic +felicity, so true are the sexes to each other. Even in winter they seem +to be paired, for a male and a female are always seen together. +However, during the season of incubation the tender solicitude of the +male for his mate is best shown. In fact, his extreme anxiety that the +home and its inmates should not be discovered excites him so much that +he actually leads the visitor to the nest in the attempt to mislead. + +The song of the male Cardinal is loud and clear, with a melodious ring, +"What cheer! What cheer! What cheer!" winding up with a peculiar +long-drawn out e-e-e. Contrary to the usual custom in bird families, +the female Cardinal is an excellent singer, although her notes are in +an entirely different key from those of her gifted mate, being lower +and to some ears more sweet and musical. + +Audubon's "American Ornithological Biography" is so rare at the present +day, being found only in the largest libraries, and is consequently so +inaccessible to the ordinary reader, that his description of the song +of the Cardinal is quoted in full. + +"Its song is at first loud and clear, resembling the finest sounds +produced by the flageolet, and gradually descends into more marked and +continued cadences, until it dies away in the air around. During the +love season the song is emitted with increased emphasis by this proud +musician, who, as if aware of his powers, swells his throat, spreads +his rosy tail, droops his wings, and leans alternately to the right and +left, as if on the eve of expiring with delight at the delicious sounds +of his own voice. Again and again are those melodies repeated, the bird +resting only at intervals to breathe. They may be heard from long +before the sun gilds the eastern horizon, to the period when the +blazing orb pours down its noonday floods of heat and light, driving +the birds to the coverts to seek repose for a while. Nature again +invigorated, the musician recommences his song, when, as if he had +never strained his throat before, he makes the whole neighborhood +resound, nor ceases until the shades of evening close around him. Day +after day the song of the Red-bird beguiles the weariness of his mate +as she assiduously warmed her eggs; and at times she also assists with +the modesty of her gentler sex. Few individuals of our own race refuse +their homage and admiration to the sweet songster. How pleasing is it, +when, by a clouded sky, the woods are rendered so dark that, were it +not for an occasional glimpse of clearer light falling between the +trees, you might imagine night at hand, while you are yet far distant +from your home, how pleasing to have your ear suddenly saluted by the +well-known notes of this favorite bird, assuring you of peace around, +and of the full hour that still remains for you to pursue your walk in +security! How often have I enjoyed this pleasure and how often, in due +humbleness of hope, do I trust that I may enjoy it again." + +[Illustration: A SCHOOL GROUND WORTH MANY TIMES WHAT IT COSTS.] + +[Illustration: BIRD HOUSES.] + +In addition to its great esthetic value of song and plumage, the +Cardinal has another important character which should endear it to the +husbandman. Its food is various, consisting of wild fruits such as +grapes, berries, mulberries, cedar berries, seeds of grasses and of +many species of weeds, also large numbers of adult beetles, +grasshoppers, crickets, flies, ants and their larvae; it is especially +fond of rose-bugs. The Cardinal is from every point of view a bird of +great interest and value, and any person who makes its intimate +acquaintance will form a life-long friendship. + +--_Reprinted from Bird-lore._ + + + + + THE HERMIT THRUSH. + + + While walking through a lonely wood + I heard a lovely voice: + A voice so fresh and true and good + It made my heart rejoice. + + It sounded like a Sunday bell, + Rung softly in a town, + Or like a stream, that in a dell + Forever trickles down. + + It seemed to me a voice of love, + That always had loved me, + So softly it rang out above-- + So wild and wanderingly. + + O Voice, were you a golden dove, + Or just a plain gray bird? + O Voice, you are my wandering love, + Lost, yet forever heard. + + --_Arvia Mackaye, 9 years old._ + + + + + MY LITTLE BO-PEEP. + + + My little Bo-Peep does not cry for lost sheep-- + O no! She is sobbing for bread; + Her hands are so tired, so weary her feet, + That she sighs, "I wish I were dead." + + My little Bo-Peep does not wander away + O'er meadows so grassy and green; + 'Mid the factory din, face wan, white and thin, + My little Bo-Peep can be seen. + + My little Bo-Peep does not dream of white sheep-- + Her day's work reaches into the night; + On her pallet of straw, a few hours of rest-- + For her task she is up with the light. + + O let's find a day for my Bo-Peep to play-- + Let's give her a breath of fresh air; + Somehow we'll feel better when giving our thanks + To God for our blessings in prayer. + + Marion, Ohio. + + --_Isabella Virginia Freeland._ + + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE OAK TREE. + + + Long ago in changeful autumn, + When the leaves are turning brown, + From a tall oak's topmost branches + Fell a little acorn down. + + And it tumbled by the pathway, + And a chance foot trod it deep + In the ground, where all the winter + In its shell it lay asleep. + + With the white snow lying over, + And the frost to hold it fast, + Till there came the mild spring weather, + When it burst its shell at last. + + Many years kind Nature nursed it, + Summers hot and winters long; + Down the sun looked bright upon it, + While it grew up tall and strong. + + Now it stands up like a giant, + Casting shadows broad and high, + With huge trunk and leafy branches + Spreading up into the sky. + + Child, when haply you are resting, + 'Neath the great oak's monster shade, + Think how little was the acorn + Whence that mighty tree was made. + + Think how simple things and lowly + Have a part in Nature's plan; + How the great have small beginnings, + And the child becomes a man. + + Little efforts work great actions; + Lessons in our childhood taught + Mold the spirits to the temper + Whereby noblest deeds are wrought. + + Cherish then the gifts of childhood, + Use them gently, guard them well: + For their future growth and greatness + Who can measure, who can tell? + + --_Colorado Arbor and Bird Day._ + + + + + THE POPLAR FIELD. + + + The poplars are felled; farewell to the shade + And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade; + The winds play no longer and sing in the leaves, + Nor Ouse on his bosom their image receives. + + Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view + Of my favorite field, and the bank where they grew; + And now in the grass behold they are laid, + And the tree is my seat that once lent me their shade. + + The blackbird has fled to another retreat, + Where the hazel affords him a screen from the heat; + And the scene where his melody charmed me before + Resounds with his sweet-flowing ditty no more. + + My fugitive years are all hasting away, + And I must ere long lie as lowly as they, + With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head + Ere another such grove shall arise in its stead. + + To change both my heart and my fancy employs; + I reflect on the frailty of man and his joys; + Short-lived as we are, yet our pleasures, we see, + Have a still shorter date, and die sooner than we. + + --_Cowper._ + + + + + IN THE ORCHARD. + + + Far down in the orchard I found her, + Her earnest eyes gazing aloft. + A baby hand waved me a warning, + A baby voice called to me--soft. + + "Hush, mamma, don't frighten the birdies; + They're busy at work, don't you see? + A-picking the worms from the blossoms + A-growing on God's apple-tree!" + + Ah, child, when thy life work is given, + God may not have great things for thee. + Be content if He sets thee to guarding + The blossoms upon His fruit tree. + + Adelphi, Ohio. + + --_Mary Nowlan Wittwer._ + + + + + "THANK YOU" AND "AMEN". + + + When we were at Grandpa's house to dine, + He looked about with sober face; + Then clasps his hands and shuts his eyes, + And sister says he's saying grace. + + He says long words that I don't know; + I'm only six years old--but then + I know two words he always says, + And one is "thanks" and one's "Amen." + + While walking in my grandpa's woods + We saw a squirrel, big and gray; + He held a nut between his paws, + But did not eat it right away. + + He closed his little shining eyes, + His hands raised just like grandpa's--then + I said, "O sister, keep real still, + He's saying "Thank you" and "Amen."" + + * * * * * + + "He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, + He provideth a kindness for many generations, + And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him." + + * * * * * + + One impulse from a vernal wood + May teach you more of man, + Of moral evil and of good, + Than all the sages can. + + +[Illustration: A COUNTRY SCHOOL BUILDING.] + +[Illustration: SOUTH SALEM SCHOOL WITH HOUSE FOR SUPERINTENDENT, RENT +FREE.] + + + + + SPRINGTIME. + + AIR--"AULD LANG SYNE." + + + The Winter storms have passed away, + And Springtime now is here, + With sunshine smiling all around, + And heavens blue and clear. + The gifts of Nature brighten earth, + And Nature her garden gay; + They give a cheery greeting bright + On this, the Arbor Day. + + The birds with gladsome voices sing, + Each its melodious lay, + And music swells each little throat + On this, the Arbor Day. + The trees put forth their greenest leaves, + On this, the Arbor Day. + And welcome now the chosen tree + Which we shall plant today. + + _Ellen Beauchamp._ + + + + + DO APPLE SEEDS POINT UP OR DOWN? + + + When teacher called the apple class, they gathered round to see + What question deep in apple lore their task that day might be. + "Now tell me," said the teacher, to little Polly Brown, + "Do apple seeds grow pointing up, or are they pointing down?" + Poor Polly didn't know, for she had never thought to look + (And that's the kind of question you can't find in a book.) + And of the whole big Apple class not one small pupil knew + If apple seeds point up or down! But then, my dear, do you? + + --_Carolyn Wells in St. Nicholas._ + + +[Illustration] + + + + + If Mother Nature patches + The leaves of trees and vines, + I'm sure she does her darning + With the needles of the pines. + + They are so long and slender; + And sometimes in full view, + They have their thread of cobwebs + And thimbles made of dew. + + --_William H. Hayne._ + + + + + THE JOLLY OLD CROW. + + + On the limb of a tree sat a jolly old crow, + And chattered away with glee, with glee, + As he saw the old farmer go out to sow, + And he cried: "It's all for me, for me-- + Caw, caw, caw! + + I've learned all the tricks of this wonderful man, + Who has such a regard for the crow, the crow, + That he lays out his grounds in a regular plan, + And covers his corn in a row, a row-- + Caw, caw, caw!" + + + --_Selected._ + + + + + THEY'LL COME AGAIN. + + + They'll come again to the apple tree, + Robin and all the rest; + When the orchard branches are fair to see + In the snow of the blossoms dressed, + And the prettiest thing in the world will be + The building of the nest. + + + + + A PLUMP LITTLE GIRL AND A THIN LITTLE BIRD. + + + A plump little girl and a thin little bird + Were out in the meadow together. + "How cold that poor little bird must be + Without any clothes like mine," said she, + "Although it is sunshiny weather!" + + "A nice little girl is that," piped he, + "But, oh, how cold she must be! For, see, + She hasn't a single feather!" + So each shivered to think of the other poor thing, + "Although it is sunshiny weather!" + + --_M. M. Dodge._ + + + + + HOW THE WOODPECKER KNOWS. + + + How does he know where to dig his hole, + The woodpecker there on the elm tree hole? + How does he know what kind of a limb + To use for a drum, and to burrow in? + How does he find where the young grubs grow-- + I'd like to know? + + The woodpecker flew to a maple limb, + And drummed a tattoo that was fun for him, + "No breakfast here! It's too hard for that." + He said, as down on his tail he sat, + "Just listen to this: rrrr rat-rat-tat." + + + + + Do you know when you wound any dear little bird, + Or take from its home-nest another, + That the cries of their anguish in heaven are heard, + That God pities those birds and their mother? + + Do you know the same God made the birds and the boys, + And both for the very same reason, + That each life should be bright with its homes and its joys, + For each in its measure and season? + + Do you know if you hark to the song in the air, + So sweet in the freshness of morning, + That the birds seem to sing, "We will trust to your care + To keep us from danger and mourning?" + + Do you, if you'd listen with soul and with heart, + You never would ruffle a feather + Of the dear little birds that make our glad world a part, + For all are God's children together? + + + + + THE BOY'S PROTEST. + + + When a fellow knows every bird's nest + In the fields for miles around, + Where the squirrels play in the sunshine, + Where the prettiest flowers are found; + When he knows a pair of robins + That will fly to his hands for crumbs, + He hates to be penned in a school-room, + And he's glad when Saturday comes. + + There's a bee-tree on the hillside, + But I'll not tell any one where; + There's a school of trout in the mill-stream, + And I want to go fishing there. + + I know where an oriole's building, + And a log where a partridge drums, + And I'm going to the woods to see them, + As soon as Saturday comes. + + They shouldn't keep school in the springtime, + When the world is so fresh and bright, + When you want to be fishing and climbing, + And playing from morn till night. + It's a shame to be kept in the school-room, + Writing and working out sums; + All week it's like being in prison, + And I'm glad when Saturday comes. + + --_New York Independent._ + + +[Illustration: AN ANTWERP SCENE.] + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE ORIOLE'S SONG. + + + Tangled and green the orchard way, + Breath of blossoms, and waft of breeze; + Dew-wet vistas of breaking day, + Drifted snow on the drooping trees. + + Through branching bloom, and mist of green, + Now here, now there, upon the wing, + Flame of oriole faintly seen-- + Vision fair of the winsome spring. + + A low-drawn cadence, thrilling, low, + A call, a charm unto the ear; + A forest brook in golden flow, + A love song to the waking year. + + And all the gladness of a young May + Is touching with pathos at the strain; + The melting music of the lay + Our heart's deep secrets wakes again. + + --_Sheila._ + + + + +THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. + +BY FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY. + +The National Association of Audubon Societies Educational Leaflet No. +43. + + +The Woodpeckers are a band of foresters most of whom spend their lives +saving trees. Many of them do their work hidden in the dark forests, +but the Red-heads hunt largely out in plain sight of passers-by. Why? +Because, while they devour enough enemies of the trees to deserve the +name of foresters, they are particularly fond of vegetable foods and +large beetles found in the open. + +Watch one of the handsome Red-headed birds on a fence. Down he drops to +pick up an ant or a grasshopper from the ground; then up he shoots to +catch a wasp or beetle in the air. Nor does he stop with fly-catching. +Nutting--beech-nutting--is one of his favorite pastimes; while berries, +fruits and seeds are all to his taste. If, in his appreciation of the +good things that man offers, the Red-head on rare occasions takes a bit +more cultivated fruit or berries than his rightful share, his attention +should be diverted by planting some of his favorite wild fruits, such +as dogwood, mulberry, elderberry, chokecherry, or wild black cherry. + +But, in judging of what is a bird's fair share of man's crops, many +things should be considered. Food is bought for the Canary and other +house pets; and many people who do not care for caged pets buy food for +the wild birds summer and winter, to bring them to their houses. +Flowers cost something, too. But without birds and flowers, what would +the country be? Before raising his hand against a bird, a man should +think of many things. A man who is unfair to a bird is unfair to +himself. + +[Sidenote: Feeding Habits.] + +It would be a stingy man, indeed, who would begrudge the Woodpeckers +their acorns and beechnuts. While the leaves are still green on the +trees, the Redheads discover the beechnuts and go to work. "It is a +truly beautiful sight," Dr. Merriam says, "to watch these magnificent +birds creeping about after the manner of Warblers, among the small +branches and twigs, which bend low with their weight, while picking and +husking the tender nuts." + +The nuts are not always eaten on the spot, for, like their famous +California cousins, the Redheads store up food for winter use. All sorts +of odd nooks and crannies serve the Redheads for storehouses--knot-holes, +pockets under patches of raised bark, cracks between shingles and fences, +and even railroad ties. Sometimes, instead of nuts, grasshoppers and other +eatables are put away in storage. The wise birds at times make real caches, +concealing their stores by hammering down pieces of wood or bark over them. + +Beechnuts are such a large part of the fall and winter food of the +Redheads in some localities, that, like the gray squirrels, the birds +are common in good beechnut winters and absent in others. Cold and snow +do not trouble them, if they have plenty to eat, for, as Major Bendire +says, many of them "winter along our northern border, in certain years, +when they can find an abundant supply of food." In fact, in the greater +part of the eastern states the Redhead is "a rather regular resident," +but in the western part of its range "It appears to migrate pretty +regularly," so that it is rare to see one "North of latitude 40 deg., in +winter." The western boundary of the Redhead's range is the Rocky +Mountains, but east of the mountains it breeds from Manitoba and +northern New York south to the Gulf of Mexico; though it is a rare bird +in eastern New England. + +[Sidenote: Migration.] + +In sections where this erratic Woodpecker migrates, it leaves its +nesting-grounds early in October, and returns the latter part of April +or the beginning of May. Before too much taken up with the serious +business of life, the Redhead goes gaily about, as Major Bendire says, +"frolicking and playing hide-and-seek with its mate, and when not so +engaged, amusing itself by drumming on some resonant dead limb, or on +the roof and sides of houses, barns, etc." For though, like other +drummers, the Woodpeckers are not found in the front ranks of the +orchestra, they beat a royal tattoo that may well express many fine +feelings. + +When the musical spring holiday is over and the birds have chosen a +tree for the nest, they hew out a pocket in a trunk or branch, anywhere +from eight to eighty feet from the ground. When the young hatch, there +comes a happy day for the looker-on who, by kind intent and unobtrusive +way, has earned the right to watch the lovely birds flying back and +forth, caring for their brood. + +[Sidenote: Nest.] + +And then, at last, come the days when the gray-headed youngsters, from +hanging out of the window, boldly open their wings and launch into the +air. Anxious times these are for old birds,--times when the watcher's +admiration may be roused by heroic deeds of parental love; for many a +parent bird fairly flaunts in the face of the enemy, as if trying to +say, "Kill me; spare my young!" + +One family of Redheads once gave me a delightful three weeks. When the +old birds were first discovered, one was on a stub in a meadow. When +joined by its mate, as the farmer was coming with oxen and hayrack to +take up the rows of haycocks that led down the field, the pair flew +slowly ahead along a line of locusts, pecking quietly at the bark of +each tree before flying on. At the foot of the meadow they flew over to +a small grove in the adjoining pasture. + +As it was July, it was easy to draw conclusions. And when I went to the +grove to investigate, the pair were so much alarmed that they at once +corroborated my conclusions. Did I mean harm? Why had I come? One of +them leaned far down across a dead limb and inspected me, rattling and +bowing nervously; the other stationed itself on the back of a branch +over which it peered at me with one eye. Both of them cried +krit-tar-rah every time I ventured to take a step. As they positively +would not commit themselves as to which one of the many Woodpecker +holes in sight belonged to them I had to make a tour of the grove. + +[Illustration: A SCHOOL EXHIBIT.] + +[Illustration: WAYNE TOWNSHIP CENTRALIZED SCHOOL LOCATED AT LEES CREEK, +CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.] + +On its edge was a promising old stub with a number of big, round holes +and, picking up a stick, I rapped on the trunk. Both birds were over my +head in an instant, rattling and scolding till you would have thought I +had come to chop down the tree and carry off the young before their +eyes. I felt injured, but having found the nest could afford to watch +from a distance. + +It was not long before the old birds began feeding their young. They +would fly to the stub and stand under the nest while rousing the brood +by rattling into the hole, which had the odd effect of muffling their +voices. When, as they flew back and forth a Yellow-hammer stopped in +passing, they drove him off in a hurry. They wanted that grove to +themselves. + +On my next visits, if, in spite of many precautions, they discovered +me, they flew to dead tree tops to watch me, or startled me by an angry +quarr' quarr' quarr' over my head. When they found that I made no +attempt to go near the nest, however, they finally put up with me and +went about their business. + +After being at the nest together they would often fly off in opposite +directions, to hunt on different beats. If one hunted in the grove, the +other would go out to the rail fence. A high maple was a favorite +lookout and hunting-ground for the one who stayed in the grove, and +cracks in the bark afforded good places to wedge insects into. The bird +who hunted on the fence, if suspecting a grub in a rail, would stand +motionless as a Robin on the grass, apparently listening; but when the +right moment came would drill down rapidly and spear the grub. If an +insect passed that way the Redhead would make a sally into the air for +it, sometimes shooting straight up for fifteen or twenty feet and +coming down almost as straight; at others flying out and back in an +ellipse, horizontally or obliquely up in the air or down over the +ground. But oftener than all, perhaps, it flew down onto the ground to +pick up something which its sharp eyes had discovered there. Once it +brought up some insect, hit it against the rail, gave a business-like +hop and flew off to feed its young. + +The young left the nest between my visits, but when, chancing to focus +my glass on a passing Woodpecker I discovered that its head was gray +instead of red, I knew for a certainty what had happened. The fledgling +seemed already much at home on its wings. It flew out into the air, +caught a white miller and went back to the tree with it, shaking it and +then rapping it vigorously against a branch before venturing to swallow +it. When the youngster flew, I followed rousing a Robin who made such +an outcry that one of the old Redheads flew over in alarm. "Kik-a-rik, +kik-a-rik," it cried as it hurried from tree to tree, trying to keep an +eye on me while looking for the youngster. Neither of us could find it +for some time, but after looking in vain over the west side of a big +tree I rounded the trunk and found it calmly sitting on a branch on the +east side--which goes to prove that it is never safe to say a +Woodpecker isn't on a tree, till you have seen both sides! + +The old Redhead found the lost fledgling about the time that I did and +flew over to it with what looked like a big grub. At the delectable +sight, the youngster dropped all its airs of independence, and with +weak infantile cries turned and opened wide its bill! + +Two days later I found two birds that may have been father and son, on +the side of a gladpole, out in the big world together. The old bird's +head glowed crimson in the strong sunlight, and it was fortunate indeed +that only friends were by. + +The striking tricolor makes the Redheads such good targets that they +are in especial danger from human enemies and need loyal, valiant +defenders wherever they live. And what a privilege it is to have birds +of such interesting habits and beautiful plumage in your neighborhood! +How the long country roads are enlivened, how the green fields are lit +up, as one of the brilliant birds rises from a fence-post and flies +over them! In the city, it is rare good luck, indeed, to have a pair +nest in an oak where you can watch them and even a passing glimpse or +an occasional visit is something to be thankful for. + +"There's the Redhead!" you exclaim exultantly, when a loud tattoo beats +on your city roof in spring. And "There's the Redhead!" you cry with +delight, as a soft kikarik comes from a leafless oak you are passing in +winter; and the city street, so dull and uninteresting before, is +suddenly illumined by the sight. + +--_Reprinted from Bird-lore._ + + + + + FOUR LEAF CLOVERS. + + + I know a place where the sun is like gold, + And the cherry blooms burst with snow, + And down underneath is the loveliest nook, + Where the four-leaf clovers grow. + + One leaf is for hope, and one is for faith, + And one is for love, you know, + But God put another in for luck-- + If you search, you will find where they grow. + + But you must have hope, and you must have faith, + You must love and be strong, and so + If you work, if you wait, you will find the place + Where the four-leaf clovers grow. + + --_Ella Higginson._ + + + + + THE FLOWER FOLK. + + + Hope is like a harebell trembling from its birth, + Love is like a rose the joy of all the earth; + Faith is like a lily lifted high and white, + Love is like a lovely rose, the world's delight; + Harebells and sweet lilies show a thornless growth + But the rose with all its thorns excels them both. + + --_Christina G. Rossetti._ + + + + + ARBOR DAY MARCH. + + AIR--"MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA." + + + Celebrate the Arbor Day + With march and song and cheer, + For the season comes to us + But once in every year; + Should we not remember it, + And make the memory dear, + Memories sweet for this May day. + + CHORUS. + + Hurrah! Hurrah! The Arbor Day is here; + Hurrah! Hurrah! It gladdens every year, + So we plant a young tree on blithesome Arbor Day, + While we are singing for gladness. + + + + + ARBOR DAY SONG. + + (AIR: HOLD THE FORT.) + + + Friends and parents gather with us, + In our school today, + Thoughts of grove and tangled wildwoods, + In our minds hold sway. + + CHORUS. + + Spare the trees, Oh thoughtless woodman, + Hew but what you need, + They give balm to vagrant breezes, + For their lives we plead. + + Giant oaks in sunny pastures + Cast their pleasant shade + Maples clad in gold and crimson + Cheer the darkened glade. + + Lofty firs and murmuring pine trees + Shading mountain's crest, + Are the growth of weary ages; + For them we protest. + + Heralded in leafy banners, + Season's four we greet; + Every bough a sacred temple + For the song birds sweet. + + --_Iowa Special Days._ + + + + + WE LOVE THE TREES. + + (TUNE: "THERE'S MUSIC IN THE AIR.") + + + We love the grand old trees, + With the Oak, their royal king, + And the Maple, forest queen, + We to her homage bring; + And the Elm, with stately form, + Long withstanding wind and storm, + Pine, low whispering to the breeze, + O, we love the grand old trees! + + We love the grand old trees, + The Cedar, bright above the snow, + The Poplar, straight and tall, + And the Willow, weeping low, + Butternut and Walnut, too, + Hickory, so staunch and true, + Basswood, blooming for the bees, + O, we love the grand old trees! + + We love the grand old trees, + The Tulip, branching broad and high, + The Beech, with shining robe, + And the Birch, so sweet and shy, + Aged Chestnuts, fair to see, + Holly, bright with Christmas glee, + Laurel, crown for victories, + O, we love the grand old trees! + + --_Ada S. Sherwood, in Journal of Education._ + + + + + RECITATION. + + + Do you know the trees by name + When you see them growing + In the fields or in the woods? + They are well worth knowing. + + Watch them in the early spring, + When their buds are swelling; + Watch each tiny little leaf + Leave its little dwelling. + + Watch them later, when their leaves + Everywhere are showing; + Soon you'll know the different trees + When you see them growing. + + --_Selected._ + + + + + GOIN' BAREFOOTED. + + + It's more fun goin' barefoot than anythin' I know, + There ain't a single 'nother thing that helps your feelin's so. + Some days I stay in muvver's room, a-gettin' in her way, + An' when I've bothered her so much, she sez, "Oh, run and play!" + I say, "Kin I go barefoot?" En she sez, "If y' choose." + Nen I alwuz wanter holler when I'm pullin' off my shoes! + + It's fun a-going barefoot when yer playin' any game, + 'Cause robbers would be noisy, an' Indians awful tame + Unless they had their shoes off when they crep' up in the night, + An' folks can't know they're comin' till they get right close in sight. + An' I'm surely goin' barefoot every day when I get old, + An' haven't got a nurse to say I'll catch my death of cold. + + An' if you're goin' barefoot, yer want to go outdoors; + Y' can't stretch out an' dig yer heels in stupid, hardwood floors, + Like you can dig 'em in th' dirt. An' where th' long grass grows, + Th' blades feel kinder tickley and cool between yer toes. + So when I'm pullin' off my shoes I'm mighty 'fraid I'll cough, + 'Cause then I know Ma'd stop me 'fore I got my stockin's off. + + If y' often go 'round barefoot there's lots o' things to know-- + Of how to curl yer feet on stones, so they won't hurt y' so; + An' when th' grass is stickley, an' pricks y' at a touch, + Jes' plank yer feet down solid, an' it don't hurt half so much; + I lose my hat mos' every day--I wish I did my shoes; + Er else I wisht I was so poor I hadn't none to lose! + + --_Burges Johnson, in "Harper's Magazine."_ + + + + + The year's at the spring, + And day's at the morn; + Morning's at seven; + The hill-sides dew pearled: + The larks on the wing: + The snails on the thorn; + God's in his heaven-- + All's right with the world! + + --_Browning._ + + + + + In fact there is nothing that keeps its youth + So far as I know, but a tree and truth. + + --_O. W. Holmes._ + + + + + There's never a leaf or a blade too mean + To be some creature's palace. + + --_Lowell._ + + + + + TIME TO RISE. + + + A birdie with a yellow bill + Hopped upon the window sill. + Cocked his shining eye and said: + "Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head!" + + + + +Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul +into. + +--_Beecher._ + + + + +The best verses I have printed are the trees I have planted. + +--_Holmes._ + + + + There was never mystery + But 'tis figured in the flowers; + Was never secret history + But birds tell it in the bowers. + + --_Emerson._ + + +[Illustration: OUR SHY NEIGHBOR.] + + + + +THE WISEACRES OF THE FOREST. + +_From Nature and Culture._ + + +So many have an idea that bird-life does not blossom out until the +flowers do, and that our shy neighbors do not wake to life and joy and +song until the warm breezes of spring have chased to the realm of +memory winter's cold and snow. Several weeks of wandering through the +woods during the months of January and February taught me that to him +who has time to devote, and that amount of patience which enables a +hunter to rise at three in the morning, crawl through wet, tangled +swamp-grass in the cold and snow, and then sit shivering for hours in a +"hide" awaiting the ducks, there will be shots, camera shots, replete +with interest and full of instruction; revelations of a world's +population little known because of their unobtrusive life. They who +lead the "simple life" may not make as much stir in the world as some +others we know: but never make the mistake of thinking the life one +lacking in interest. These "little journeys" of mine were for the +purpose of prying into the secrets of our friends "the owls." As far +back as the uncovered picture-writing of the ancients, Mr. Owl has been +the synonym for wisdom. Does he deserve the title? + +As company lends interest, I was accompanied by a friend who took equal +delight in these jaunts; and off we started one fourteenth of January. +For some six miles we tramped along the Kaw Valley, in Kansas, ever on +the lookout for trees with large hollow trunks or broken limbs. Now, if +any one believes an owl is entirely a night-bird, let him follow in my +footsteps, and he will learn a thing or two. These are some of the +mysteries of "the wild." Entering a spot of the forest where the banks +of the stream were lined thickly on both sides with trees, both large +and small, we seated ourselves for a time to rest and to watch. Like +Egyptian darkness, the quiet was of a kind to be felt, but it did not +long remain this way. Suddenly the strange quiet was broken by a +fierce, angry call of a crow. Now, where did he come from, and why this +display of anger? Possibly at our intrusion; yet this could hardly be, +as it was far too early in the season for the crow to be nesting. +Before we had time to settle our question the stillness was further +broken by several shrill answers, and into the branchy arena came other +crows. These were followed by others, and still others. Surely we were +not the cause of all this disturbance. Finally there were no less than +two dozen crows flying around a large tree with a broken top, and +making a clatter that would have put a boiler factory to shame. One +could easily imagine it to be a congress of crows exorcised over an +insurgency move and demanding the previous question. Then came the +solution of the mystery. In dignified yet rapid flight a huge owl +dropped from a limb on the other side of the stump, and with a flight +as silent as the grave winged her way into the deeper woods followed by +that rabble of noisy, cawing crows. It seemed strange that the owl did +not turn upon her tormentors; she who had talons long, strong, and +sharp; a beak that could easily make its impression upon a pine stick; +but her reputed wisdom here led her to know that safety lay in flight, +as her size would be her undoing; that the crow would find many points +of attack ere she could turn around. Safety lay in flight and shelter +where the crows could not reach her, and would finally caw themselves +hoarse and tired, and at last depart. Many times have I watched these +actions on the part of the owls and crows, and always with the same +results. Not alone the larger, but also the smaller owls adopt the same +course of action to escape their tormentors. This leads me to believe +that this partly accounts for their foraging at night. + +[Illustration: NEST OF BARRED OWL.] + +We now turned our attention to the tree--truly a monarch of the "forest +primeval"--a huge sycamore, about five feet in diameter at the base, +with few limbs to aid in climbing. But we simply must get up to that +hollow, and after much effort success was ours; and there, deep down in +the hole, on a bed of warm chips and half-rotted punky wood, all nicely +cuddled up, lay two little fluffy white baby owls--young hoot owls. As +it takes about four weeks for incubation, and these babies were fully a +week old, nesting must have begun at least in the middle of December. +Much depends on the winter; this one having been very mild. In fact, I +have noticed that birds are quite accurate weather prophets, were we +only skilled enough to read their predictions. But it is always safe, I +find, to be early in the field. And now came our first disappointment. +It was impossible to secure a picture of the nest and baby owls, owing +to the unfavorable position of the tree and nest; so, taking a farewell +look at the place, we returned, hoping for better luck next time. + +[Illustration: NEST AND EGGS OF SCREECH OWL.] + +The following week we were out and at it again, and were more fortunate +in that we discovered the home of another owl, similar in shape, but +smaller, and differently marked. This was the barred owl, so called +because of its markings. Here, again, the nest was up quite a ways, and +difficult to get to. After much trouble we cut down a small tree and +hoisted it into the larger tree so that it came near the hole where the +nest was. This enabled me to get above the nest, so that I could swing +down to the hole by a rope and get a view of the nest and contents. +After many attempts I succeeded in snapping two or three negatives, one +of which turned out fairly good and accompanies this article. Every +move I made while taking the pictures was punctuated by hoots of anger +and disgust by the mother owl, who had flown to a nearby tree, until +she aroused the attention of some ever-observant crows; then she had +all she could do taking care of herself and getting rid of her +tormentors. If ever a free matinee in birdland was billed, it occurred +that afternoon. + +The weeks now slowly passed without further success. One must have +patience, much patience, in birdland. It may take years to secure what +will prove satisfactory views of some species. Many snaps, when taken, +prove undesirable after development, and each week adds to the +uncertainty of finding anything "at home" when next you come. While the +percentage of successful incubation is fairly large, yet the numerous +enemies of the feathered tribe make the uncertainty of life in birdland +quite noticeable. + +[Illustration: BABY SCREECH OWLS.] + +The time was now ripe for us to turn our attention to the little +screech owls; a small but interesting and valuable species. Here I +found a marked difference. Any small hole or cavity suits their fancy. +Generally speaking, it must be small enough to exclude larger birds or +animals that might prey upon them; but at times their boasted wisdom +seemingly forsakes them, and they take up with any habitation. I have +known them to nest in boxes in shade-trees and in bird-houses under the +eaves of the barn. On this trip I found a fresh set of eggs in an old +hollow stump formerly made by and used as the nesting-place of the +yellow-shafted woodpecker. Mrs. Owl was at home, and very much disliked +being disturbed. Unlike the larger owls, she refused to fly away, and I +had to lift her repeatedly from the eggs that I might take the picture. +As sometimes happens, the negative was a failure; and returning the +next week to try for better luck, I found safely curled up within the +cavity an opossum. The eggs and mother bird were not in evidence, and +the "possum" told no tales. Similar experiences have often occurred to +me when I have returned for better views or to follow up a certain line +of study. + +The next nest of this species I found in a large hollow limb, which in +falling had lodged crosswise in a tree. It was rather a queer place for +a screech owl, but, I presume, suited her fancy. However, it was +favorably located, and if successful I could at least follow up the +process of nature; and this is just what I did. The only change made +was in bringing the eggs, and later the young, forward from the recess +of the cavity to insure better light. I wished to also take the parent +bird upon the nest; but in this case they were perverse, and refused to +be taken. One of the birds decided that he did not wish to be taken, +and after repeated trials I concluded he knew best, and gave over the +attempt. I also took the most courageous one and posed him on the stump +of the tree. The result is not altogether satisfactory, but is +interesting. + +[Illustration: NEST AND EGGS OF LONG-EARED OWL.] + +My next acquisition was the long-eared owl. With camera and tripod +strapped upon the bicycle I started upon a ride of some fifteen miles, +which brought me to an old nursery, abandoned, overgrown, and wild. +Here, in a much-neglected fir grove I found the nests and eggs of this +variety. The first taken was in a pine. Climbing an adjacent tree, I +located myself about five feet from the nest, and after carefully +securing and focussing the camera, secured the view. My second I found +later in the day in an apple tree. The tree was in bloom, but not +leaved out, and offered but scant hide or protection for the nest. +Indeed I, at first, took it for an old crow's nest, and was about to +pass on, when up over the rim of the nest bobbed two long ear-like +tufts--whence the bird gets its name. Approaching the tree, the mother +quietly left, and as long as I was in that vicinity I saw nothing +further of her. The long-eared owl is not very particular in the choice +of her nesting-place. They will often build in a communal manner, +several pairs selecting a fir grove or other suitable place; and here +you will find the nests quite near together. Again, they will be +isolated in location; one here, and another quite a distance away, as +the notion strikes them. The nest also seems to vary with their state +of mind. At times they will build a very elaborate structure of their +own; then, again, they take up with an old crow's nest or the summer +nest of a squirrel, and with very little patching up make this answer +their purpose. Because of this variability on their part, it is not an +easy matter to locate an occupied nest. + +[Illustration: ELABORATE NEST OF LONG-EARED OWL.] + +One more, and I am done with the owls. The securing of this was of +great interest to me, not alone for the sake of the picture, but +because it settled two questions on which I had long been in doubt. At +the time of which I now write I was living in an Indian school, and +previous to this all my ideas of Indians and Indian life had been +gathered from Cooper. Near the school was a large village of prairie +dogs covering something like ten acres of ground. One day I saw a small +species of owl flying around and lighting on the different mounds. I +immediately knew it to be the burrowing owl; but where among all those +thousand and more holes to dig for her was a question I could not +answer. To assist me, I brought the supposed craft of the red man's +children to bear; but of no avail. Not one of over two hundred could +give me the least ray of light. Then I got down to principles and +discovered that there were some mounds around which were scattered +butterflies' and grasshoppers' legs and wings, parts of frogs and +toads, and the little pellets usually ejected by owls in the process of +digestion. I also found that these mounds were invariably covered by an +animal compost gathered from the surrounding prairie. I resolved to put +my theory to the test by digging into one of these holes. Here the +Indian boy was a great help, as he thoroughly knew his verb "to dig." I +followed the hole down through hardpan to a depth of three feet, and +back for over ten feet, where at last I found Mrs. Owl sitting on her +nest of fresh eggs. Here I took her picture while her large round eyes +followed my every move as I focused and snapped her. It was while +investigating this subject that I also exploded a somewhat common +belief that prairie dogs, owls, and rattlesnakes live together in the +same quarters in perfect amity. This is not the case. If they are ever +found together it is either an accident unknown to one or the other +party, or one of three has purposely crawled into the other's home for +deeds dark and evil. + +Altogether the experiences gained amply repaid me for the effort spent. +These visits to the silent ones were payments ample enough in +themselves, but my closer acquaintance with a very interesting family +made them doubly so. I find that the owl is one of our best and most +valuable friends, destroying during a season much of the troublesome +animal population that injures the agricultural interests of the land. +If careless boys and indifferent "others" could get this fact well +grounded and use some other mark in target practice, all parties would +be better off and much good gained. To take any life is ill, but to +take good life is crime. + + +[Illustration: BURROWING OWL AND HER EGGS.] + + + + + THE JAYS. + + + "I know an old man, + His name is Jay, + He wears a blue coat, + And a hat of gray. + + He has a nice nest + High up in a tree, + Where sits his dear mate + Content as can be. + + There are four blue eggs + In the little brown nest, + Which will soon be baby birds + Blue, like the rest." + + + + + ADDRESS OF THE BIRDS. + + AN EXERCISE FOR FIVE PUPILS. + + + _The Robin_-- + + "I am a robin, very brown + And big and plump and smooth and round. + My breast is pretty, bright and red + And see this top-knot on my head! + I heard the boys awhile ago + Shooting robins o'er the snow, + And flew away in trembling fear + And thought I'd hide from them in here. + + _The Blue Bird_-- + + I'm a blue bird. Don't you see + Me sitting on this apple-tree, + I left my nest an hour ago + To look for bugs and worms, you know; + And now I know the very thing-- + That while I'm waiting I will sing, + Oh! beautiful and balmy spring. + + _The Woodpecker_-- + + I'm a woodpecker--a bird + Whose sound through wood and dale is heard. + I tap, tap, tap, with noisy glee, + To test the bark of every tree. + I saw a rainbow stretching gay, + Across the sky, the other day; + And some one said, "Good-bye to rain, + The woodpecker has come again." + + _The Lark_-- + + I'm the lark and early rise + To greet the sun-god of the skies, + And upright cleave the freshening air, + To sail in regions still more fair. + Who could not soar on lusty wing, + His Maker's praises thus to sing? + + _The Nightingale_-- + + In music I excel the lark, + She comes at dawn, I come at dark, + And when the stars are shining bright, + I sing the praises of the night. + + _In Concert_-- + + Oh! in a chorus sweet we'll sing, + And wake the echoes of the spring." + + + + + LITTLE BY LITTLE. + + + "Little by little," the acorn said, + As it slowly sank in its mossy bed, + "I am improving every day, + Hidden deep in the earth away." + Little by little each day it grew; + Little by little it sipped the dew; + Downward it sent out a threadlike root; + Up in the air sprung a tiny shoot, + Day after day, and year after year, + Little by little the leaves appear; + And the slender branches spread far and wide, + Till the mighty oak is the forest's pride. + + "Little by little," said the thoughtful boy, + "Moment by moment, I'll well employ, + Learning a little every day, + And not misspending my time in play; + Whatever I do I will do it well. + Little by little, I'll learn to know + The treasured wisdom of long ago; + And one of these days, perhaps, will see + That the world will be the better for me." + + --_Selected._ + + + + + A LITTLE POLLYWOG. + + + "A tiny little pollywog, + And little brothers three, + Lived in the water near a log, + As happy as could be. + A-swimming, swimming all the day, + A-sleeping all the night, + And trying, though they were so gay, + To do just what was right; + A-growing, growing all the while, + Because they did their best; + But I am afraid that you will smile + When I tell you the rest. + + One morning, sitting on the log, + They looked in mute surprise; + Four legs had every pollywog, + Where two had met their eyes. + Their mother, letting fall a tear, + Said, "Oh, my pollywogs, + It can't be you that sitting here!" + For all of them were frogs. + And with their legs they've grown some lungs; + So you just wait and see. + In summer time their little tongues + Will sing 'Kachink' with glee." + + --_School Education._ + + + + + AN ARBOR DAY TREE. + + + Dear little tree that we plant today + What will you be when we're old and gray? + "The savings bank of the squirrel and mouse, + For robin and wren an apartment house, + The dressing-room of the butterfly's ball, + The locust's and katydid's concert hall, + The school-boy's ladder in pleasant June, + The school-girl's tent in the July noon. + And my leaves shall whisper them merrily, + A tale of the children who planted me." + + --_From The Intelligence._ + + + + + THE ROBIN AND THE FLOWER. + + + A Robin once sat in the bright winter's sun, + A foolish red robin was he, + For he sang a sweet song that springtime had come + When the day was as cold as could be. + + So gay was his song of the warmth of the hour, + So merrily babbled the sound, + That it stole through the dream of a dear little flower + Who was slumbering under the ground. + + The sleeper awakened, soft lifted the sod + And harkened the robin's sweet song, + Full glad was her heart and thankful to God + That winter so quickly had gone. + + The robin still sang and the dear little flower + Unfolded her petals of pink:-- + "I'll hold up my chalice," she said, "for a shower + That from me my robin may drink." + + The singer flew quickly to welcome his love,-- + His love that was faltering low:-- + Oh, where was the warmth from the heaven above? + Instead of a shower there was snow. + + Then robin quick covered her o'er with his wing, + "Don't leave me, I love you," he cried: + And he kissed her so tenderly, poor little thing, + But the blossom, his loved one, had died. + + Red robin still sits in the bright winter's sun, + But a sorrowing robin is he; + No longer he sings that the springtime has come + When the day is as cold as can be. + + --_Charles A. Myall._ + + + + + Give fools their gold and knaves their power; + Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; + Who sows a field, or trains a flower + Or plants a tree is more than all. + For he who blesses most is blest; + And God and man shall own his worth + Who toils to leave as his bequest + An added beauty to the earth. + + --_Whittier._ + + + + +BIRD PUZZLE. + + + 1. There's a bird whose name tells if he flies fast or slow, + + 2. One which boys use when with long strides they go, + + 3. There is one that tells tales, although he can't sing, + + 4. And one who flies high, but is held by a string. + + 5. By one a high rank in the army is held; + + 6. There's another whose name with one letter is spelled. + + 7. There is one that a farmer in harvest would use; + + 8. And one you can easily fool if you choose. + + 9. What bird, at dessert, is it useful to hold? + +10. And which in the chimney place oft hung of old? + +11. Which bird wears a bit of sky in its dress? + +12. Which one always stands in the corner at chess? + +13. There is one built a church, of London the pride; + +14. We have one when we talk with a friend by our side. + +15. What bird would its bill find useful at tea, + +16. And which would its tail use to steer with at sea? + +17. Which proudly a musical instrument wears? + +18. And which the same name as a small island bears? + +19. Which bird is called foolish and stupid and silly? + +20. And which always wanting to punish poor Billy? + +21. Which bird is an artisan, works at his trade? + +22. And which is the stuff of which flags are made? + +23. One, we're told by the poet, at Heaven's gate sings; + +24. There's one which in Holland the new baby brings. + +25. What bird have we with us in eating and drinking? + +26. One, used for a fence, you can say without thinking. + +27. What bird is a scoffer, a scorner, a jest? + +28. Which one is too lazy to build her own nest? + +29. From a high wind at evening one name is inferred. + +30. Guess these, and you're wise as Minerva's own bird. + + + + +ANSWERS TO BIRD PUZZLE. + + + 1. Swift + + 2. Stilt + + 3. Tatler + + 4. Kite + + 5. Adjutant + + 6. Jay + + 7. Thrasher + + 8. Gull + + 9. Nut-cracker + +10. Crane + +11. Blue Bird + +12. Rook + +13. Wren + +14. Chat + +15. Spoon-Bill + +16. Rudder-duck + +17. Lyre-bird + +18. Canary + +19. Loon + +20. Whippoorwill + +21. Weaver + +22. Bunting + +23. Lark + +24. Stork + +25. Swallow + +26. Rail + +27. Mocking bird + +28. Cuckoo + +29. Nightingale + +30. Owl + + + + + THE CATBIRD. + + + He sits on the branch of yon blossoming tree, + This mad-cap cousin of Robin and Thrush, + And sings without ceasing the whole morning long; + Now wild, now tender, the wayward song + That flows from his soft gray, fluttering throat; + But oft he stops in his sweetest note, + And shaking a flower from the blossoming bough, + Drawls out: "Mi-eu, mi-ow!" + + --_Edith M. Thomas._ + + + + + THE MOCKING BIRD. + + + He didn't know much music + When first he come along; + An' all the birds went wonderin' + Why he didn't sing a song. + + They primed their feathers in the sun, + An' sung their sweetest notes; + An' music jest come on the run + From all their purty throats! + + But still that bird was silent + In summer time an' fall; + He jest set still an' listened + An' he wouldn't sing at all! + + But one night when them songsters + Was tired out an' still, + An' the wind sighed down the valley + An' went creepin' up the hill; + + When the stars was all a-tremble + In the dreamin' fields o' blue, + An' the daisy in the darkness + Felt the fallin' o' the dew,-- + + There come a sound o' melody + No mortal ever heard, + An' all the birds seemed singin' + From the throat o' one sweet bird! + + Then the other birds went playin' + In a land too fur to call; + Fer there warn't no use in stayin' + When one bird could sing fer all! + + --_Frank L. Stanton._ + + +[Illustration: The Buckeye State] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ohio Arbor Day 1913: Arbor and Bird +Day Manual, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARBOR DAY *** + +***** This file should be named 23029.txt or 23029.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/0/2/23029/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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