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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:29:23 -0700 |
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diff --git a/26516-h/26516-h.htm b/26516-h/26516-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3446cc --- /dev/null +++ b/26516-h/26516-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9322 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> +<title> +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Log of the Sun, by William Beebe. +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;} + body {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;} + a {text-decoration: none;} + .pncolor {color: silver;} + div.ce p {text-align: center; margin: auto 0;} + .figcenter {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center;} + .caption {font-size:.8em;} + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + hr.tb {width: 35%; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;} + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;} + hr.major {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;} + div.ra p {text-align: right; margin: auto 0;} + hr.minor {width: 35%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; clear:both;} + hr.silver {width: 100%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver;} + h2 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; font-size: 1.2em;} +// --> +/* XML end ]]>*/ +</style> + +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Log of the Sun, by William Beebe + +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: The Log of the Sun + A Chronicle of Nature's Year + +Author: William Beebe + +Release Date: September 3, 2008 [EBook #26516] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOG OF THE SUN *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' title='' style='width: 290px; height: 446px;' /><br /> +<p class='caption' style='margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;width: 290px;'> +Frontispiece<br /> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:;'>FRONTISPIECE BY</p> +<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:2em;'>WALTER KING STONE</p> +</div> + +<hr class='minor' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:2.2em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>THE LOG</p> +<p style=' font-size:2.2em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>OF THE SUN</p> +<div style='margin-top:1em'></div> +<p style=' font-size:1.2em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:1em; font-style:italic;'>A Chronicle of Nature’s Year</p> +<div style='margin-top:1em'></div> +<p style=' font-size:1.2; margin-top:; margin-bottom:2em;'>By WILLIAM BEEBE</p> +</div> + +<div class='figcenter'> +<img src='images/illus-emb.png' alt='' title='' /><br /> +</div> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:;'>GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING CO., INC.</p> +<p style=' font-size:0.8em; margin-top:; margin-bottom:;'>GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce' style=' font-size:0.8em;'> +<p>COPYRIGHT, 1906,</p> +<div style='margin-top:1em'></div> +<p>BY</p> +<p>HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY</p> +<div style='margin-top:1em'></div> +<p>PRINTED IN THE</p> +<p>UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce' style=' font-size:0.8em;'> +<p>TO MY</p> +<p>Mother and Father</p> +<p>WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT AND SYMPATHY</p> +<p>GAVE IMPETUS AND PURPOSE TO</p> +<p>A BOY’S LOVE OF NATURE</p> +<div style='margin-top:1em'></div> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.2em;'>PREFACE</p> +</div> + +<p>In the fifty-two short essays of this volume I +have presented familiar objects from unusual +points of view. Bird’s-eye glances and insect’s-eye +glances, at the nature of our woods and fields, +will reveal beauties which are wholly invisible +from the usual human view-point, five feet or +more above the ground.</p> +<p>Who follows the lines must expect to find +moods as varying as the seasons; to face storm +and night and cold, and all other delights of what +wildness still remains to us upon the earth.</p> +<p>Emphasis has been laid upon the weak points +in our knowledge of things about us, and the +principal desire of the author is to inspire enthusiasm +in those whose eyes are just opening to +the wild beauties of God’s out-of-doors, to gather +up and follow to the end some of these frayed-out +threads of mystery.</p> +<p>Portions of the text have been published at +various times in the pages of “Outing,” “Recreation,” +“The Golden Age,” “The New York +Evening Post,” and “The New York Tribune.”</p> +<div class='ra'> +<p>C. W. B.</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em; margin-bottom:1em;'>Contents</p> +</div> + +<table border='0' width='500' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'> +<tr> + <td align='left'><span style='font-size:small;'> </span></td> + <td align='right'><span style='font-size:small;'>PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>JANUARY</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Birds of the Snow</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#BIRDS_OF_THE_SNOW'>3</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Winter Marvels</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#WINTER_MARVELS'>10</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Cedar Birds and Berries</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CEDAR_BIRDS_AND_BERRIES'>16</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Dark Days of Insect Life</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_DARK_DAYS_OF_INSECT_LIFE'>20</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Chameleons in Fur and Feather</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAMELEONS_IN_FUR_AND_FEATHER'>25</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>FEBRUARY</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>February Feathers</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#FEBRUARY_FEATHERS'>31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Fish Life</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#FISH_LIFE'>37</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Tenants of Winter Birds’ Nests</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#TENANTS_OF_WINTER_BIRDS__NESTS'>44</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Winter Holes</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#WINTER_HOLES'>48</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>MARCH</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Feathered Pioneers</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#FEATHERED_PIONEERS'>55</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Ways of Meadow Mice</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_WAYS_OF_MEADOW_MICE'>61</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Problems of Bird Life</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#PROBLEMS_OF_BIRD_LIFE'>65</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Dwellers in the Dust</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#DWELLERS_IN_THE_DUST'>71</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>APRIL</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Spring Songsters</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#SPRING_SONGSTERS'>75</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Simple Art of Sapsucking</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_SIMPLE_ART_OF_SAPSUCKING'>81</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Wild Wings</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#WILD_WINGS'>85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Birds in the Moon</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_BIRDS_IN_THE_MOON'>88</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>MAY</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The High Tide of Bird Life</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_HIGH_TIDE_OF_BIRD_LIFE'>91</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Animal Fashions</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#ANIMAL_FASHIONS'>97</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Polliwog Problems</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#POLLIWOG_PROBLEMS'>102</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Insect Pirates And Submarines</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#INSECT_PIRATES_AND_SUBMARINES'>105</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Victory Of The Nighthawk</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_VICTORY_OF_THE_NIGHTHAWK'>109</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>JUNE</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Gala Days Of Birds</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_GALA_DAYS_OF_BIRDS'>113</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Turtle Traits</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#TURTLE_TRAITS'>118</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Half-Hour In A Marsh</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#A_HALFHOUR_IN_A_MARSH'>124</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Secrets Of The Ocean</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#SECRETS_OF_THE_OCEAN'>129</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>JULY</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Birds In A City</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#BIRDS_IN_A_CITY'>153</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Night Music Of The Swamp</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#NIGHT_MUSIC_OF_THE_SWAMP'>160</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Coming Of Man</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_COMING_OF_MAN'>167</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Silent Language Of Animals</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_SILENT_LANGUAGE_OF_ANIMALS'>170</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Insect Music</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#INSECT_MUSIC'>176</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>AUGUST</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Gray Days Of Birds</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_GRAY_DAYS_OF_BIRDS'>181</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lives Of The Lantern Bearers</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#LIVES_OF_THE_LANTERN_BEARERS'>188</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Starfish And A Daisy</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#A_STARFISH_AND_A_DAISY'>191</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Dream Of The Yellow-Throat</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_DREAM_OF_THE_YELLOWTHROAT'>195</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>SEPTEMBER</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Passing Of The Flocks</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_PASSING_OF_THE_FLOCKS'>199</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Ghosts Of The Earth</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#GHOSTS_OF_THE_EARTH'>204</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Muskrats</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#MUSKRATS'>207</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Nature’s Geometricians</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#NATURE_S_GEOMETRICIANS'>210</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>OCTOBER</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Autumn Hunting With A Field Glass</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#AUTUMN_HUNTING_WITH_A_FIELD_GLASS'>217</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Woodchuck And A Grebe</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#A_WOODCHUCK_AND_A_GREBE'>223</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Voice of Animals</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_VOICE_OF_ANIMALS'>227</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Names Of Animals, Frogs, and Fish</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_NAMES_OF_ANIMALS_FROGS_AND_FISH'>234</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Dying Year</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_DYING_YEAR'>246</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>NOVEMBER</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>November’s Birds of the Heavens</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#NOVEMBER_S_BIRDS_OF_THE_HEAVENS'>249</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A Plea for the Skunk</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#A_PLEA_FOR_THE_SKUNK'>255</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Lesson Of The Wave</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_LESSON_OF_THE_WAVE'>258</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>We Go A-Sponging</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#WE_GO_ASPONGING'>262</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td colspan='2' align='center'>DECEMBER</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>New Thoughts About Nests</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#NEW_THOUGHTS_ABOUT_NESTS'>269</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Lessons From An English Sparrow</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#LESSONS_FROM_AN_ENGLISH_SPARROW'>275</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>The Personality Of Trees</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_PERSONALITY_OF_TREES'>281</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:1em;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>An Owl Of The North</span></td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#AN_OWL_OF_THE_NORTH'>297</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>A fiery mist and a planet,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>A crystal and a cell;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>A jelly fish and a saurian,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And the caves where the cave men dwell;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Then a sense of law and beauty</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And a face turned from the clod,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Some call it evolution,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And others call it God.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>W. H. Carruth.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>JANUARY</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='BIRDS_OF_THE_SNOW' id='BIRDS_OF_THE_SNOW'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span> +<h2>BIRDS OF THE SNOW</h2> +</div> + +<p>No fact of natural history is more interesting, +or more significant of the poetry of evolution, +than the distribution of birds over the entire +surface of the world. They have overcome countless +obstacles, and adapted themselves to all conditions. +The last faltering glance which the Arctic +explorer sends toward his coveted goal, ere he +admits defeat, shows flocks of snow buntings +active with warm life; the storm-tossed mariner +in the midst of the sea, is followed, encircled, by +the steady, tireless flight of the albatross; the +fever-stricken wanderer in tropical jungles listens +to the sweet notes of birds amid the stagnant +pools; while the thirsty traveller in the desert is +ever watched by the distant buzzards. Finally +when the intrepid climber, at the risk of life and +limb, has painfully made his way to the summit +of the most lofty peak, far, far above him, in the +blue expanse of thin air, he can distinguish the +form of a majestic eagle or condor.</p> +<p>At the approach of winter the flowers and +insects about us die, but most of the birds take +wing and fly to a more temperate climate, while +their place is filled with others which have spent +the summer farther to the north. Thus without +stirring from our doorway we may become +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span> +acquainted with many species whose summer +homes are hundreds of miles away.</p> +<p>No time is more propitious or advisable for the +amateur bird lover to begin his studies than the +first of the year. Bird life is now reduced to its +simplest terms in numbers and species, and the +absence of concealing foliage, together with the +usual tameness of winter birds, makes identification +an easy matter.</p> +<p>In January and the succeeding month we have +with us birds which are called permanent residents, +which do not leave us throughout the entire +year; and, in addition, the winter visitors which +have come to us from the far north.</p> +<p>In the uplands we may flush ruffed grouse from +their snug retreats in the snow; while in the weedy +fields, many a fairy trail shows where bob-white +has passed, and often he will announce his own +name from the top of a rail fence. The grouse +at this season have a curious outgrowth of horny +scales along each side of the toes, which, acting +as a tiny snowshoe, enables them to walk on soft +snow with little danger of sinking through.</p> +<p>Few of our winter birds can boast of bright +colours; their garbs are chiefly grays and browns, +but all have some mark or habit or note by which +they can be at once named. For example, if you +see a mouse hitching spirally up a tree-trunk, a +closer look will show that it is a brown creeper, +seeking tiny insects and their eggs in the crevices +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span> +of the trunk. He looks like a small piece of the +roughened bark which has suddenly become animated. +His long tail props him up and his tiny +feet never fail to find a foothold. Our winter +birds go in flocks, and where we see a brown +creeper we are almost sure to find other birds.</p> +<p>Nuthatches are those blue-backed, white or +rufous breasted little climbers who spend their +lives defying the law of gravity. They need no +supporting tail, and have only the usual number +of eight toes, but they traverse the bark, up or +down, head often pointing toward the ground, +as if their feet were small vacuum cups. Their +note is an odd nasal <i>nyêh!</i> <i>nyêh!</i></p> +<p>In winter some one species of bird usually predominates, +most often, perhaps, it is the black-capped +chickadee. They seem to fill every grove, +and, if you take your stand in the woods, flock +after flock will pass in succession. What good +luck must have come to the chickadee race during +the preceding summer? Was some one of their +enemies stricken with a plague, or did they show +more than usual care in the selecting of their +nesting holes? Whatever it was, during such a +year, it seems certain that scores more of chickadee +babies manage to live to grow up than is +usually the case. These little fluffs are, in their +way, as remarkable acrobats as are the nuthatches, +and it is a marvel how the very thin legs, +with their tiny sliver of bone and thread of tendon, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span> +can hold the body of the bird in almost any position, +while the vainly hidden clusters of insect +eggs are pried into. Without ceasing a moment +in their busy search for food, the fluffy feathered +members of the flock call to each other, “<i>Chick-a-chick-a-dee-dee!</i>” +but now and then the heart of +some little fellow bubbles over, and he rests an +instant, sending out a sweet, tender, high call, a +“<i>Phœ-be!</i>” love note, which warms our ears in +the frosty air and makes us feel a real affection +for the brave little mites.</p> +<p>Our song sparrow is, like the poor, always with +us, at least near the coast, but we think none the +less of him for that, and besides, that fact is true +in only one sense. A ripple in a stream may be +seen day after day, and yet the water forming it +is never the same, it is continually flowing onward. +This is usually the case with song sparrows and +with most other birds which are present summer +and winter. The individual sparrows which flit +from bush to bush, or slip in and out of the brush +piles in January, have doubtless come from some +point north of us, while the song sparrows of our +summer walks are now miles to the southward. +Few birds remain the entire year in the locality +in which they breed, although the southward +movement may be a very limited one. When birds +migrate so short a distance, they are liable to be +affected in colour and size by the temperature +and dampness of their respective areas; and so +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span> +we find that in North America there are as many +as twenty-two races of song sparrows, to each of +which has been given a scientific name. When you +wish to speak of our northeastern song sparrow +in the latest scientific way, you must say +<i>Melospiza cinerea melodia</i>, which tells us that it +is a melodious song finch, ashy or brown in colour.</p> +<p>Our winter sparrows are easy to identify. The +song sparrow may, of course, be known by the +streaks of black and brown upon his breast and +sides, and by the blotch which these form in the +centre of the breast. The tree sparrow, which +comes to us from Hudson Bay and Labrador, +lacks the stripes, but has the centre spot. This is +one of our commonest field birds in winter, notwithstanding +his name.</p> +<p>The most omnipresent and abundant of all our +winter visitors from the north are the juncos, or +snowbirds. Slate coloured above and white below, +perfectly describes these birds, although their distinguishing +mark, visible a long way off, is the +white V in their tails, formed by several white +outer feathers on each side. The sharp chirps of +juncos are heard before the ice begins to form, +and they stay with us all winter.</p> +<p>We have called the junco a snowbird, but this +name should really be confined to a black and +white bunting which comes south only with a mid-winter’s +rush of snowflakes. Their warm little +bodies nestle close to the white crystals, and they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span> +seek cheerfully for the seeds which nature has +provided for them. Then a thaw comes, and they +disappear as silently and mysteriously as if they +had melted with the flakes; but doubtless they are +far to the northward, hanging on the outskirts of +the Arctic storms, and giving way only when every +particle of food is frozen tight, the ground covered +deep with snow, and the panicled seed clusters +locked in crystal frames of ice.</p> +<p>The feathers of these Arctic wanderers are +perfect non-conductors of heat and of cold, and +never a chill reaches their little frames until +hunger presses. Then they must find food and +quickly, or they die. When these snowflakes first +come to us they are tinged with gray and brown, +but gradually through the winter their colours +become more clear-cut and brilliant, until, when +spring comes, they are garbed in contrasting +black and white. With all this change, however, +they leave never a feather with us, but only the +minute brown tips of the feather vanes, which, by +wearing away, leave exposed the clean new +colours beneath.</p> +<p>Thus we find that there are problems innumerable +to verify and to solve, even when the tide of +the year’s life is at its lowest ebb.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>From out the white and pulsing storm</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>I hear the snowbirds calling;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The sheeted winds stalk o’er the hills,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And fast the snow is falling.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span></div> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>On twinkling wings they eddy past,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>At home amid the drifting,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Or seek the hills and weedy fields</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Where fast the snow is sifting.</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Their coats are dappled white and brown</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Like fields in winter weather,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>But on the azure sky they float</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Like snowflakes knit together.</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I’ve heard them on the spotless hills</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Where fox and hound were playing,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The while I stood with eager ear</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Bent on the distant baying.</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The unmown fields are their preserves,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Where weeds and grass are seeding;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>They know the lure of distant stacks</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Where houseless herds are feeding.</p> +<br /> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>John Burroughs.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='WINTER_MARVELS' id='WINTER_MARVELS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span> +<h2>WINTER MARVELS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Let us suppose that a heavy snow has fallen +and that we have been a-birding in vain. +For once it seems as if all the birds had gone the +way of the butterflies. But we are not true bird-lovers +unless we can substitute nature for bird +whenever the occasion demands; specialisation is +only for the ultra-scientist.</p> +<p>There is more to be learned in a snowy field +than volumes could tell. There is the tangle of +footprints to unravel, the history of the pastimes +and foragings and tragedies of the past night +writ large and unmistakable. Though the sun now +shines brightly, we can well imagine the cold darkness +of six hours ago; we can reconstruct the +whole scene from those tiny tracks, showing frantic +leaps, the indentation of two wing-tips,—a +speck of blood. But let us take a bird’s-eye view +of things, from a bird’s-head height; that is, lie +flat upon a board or upon the clean, dry crystals +and see what wonders we have passed by all our +lives.</p> +<p>Take twenty square feet of snow with a streamlet +through the centre, and we have an epitome of +geological processes and conditions. With chin +upon mittens and mittens upon the crust, the eye +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span> +opens upon a new world. The half-covered rivulet +becomes a monster glacier-fed stream, rushing +down through grand canyons and caves, hung with +icy stalactites. Bit by bit the walls are undermined +and massive icebergs become detached and +are whirled away. As for moraines, we have them +in plenty; only the windrows of thousands upon +thousands of tiny seeds of which they are composed, +are not permanent, but change their form +and position with every strong gust of wind. And +with every gust too their numbers increase, the +harvest of the weeds being garnered here, upon +barren ground. No wonder the stream will be +hidden from view next summer, when the myriad +seeds sprout and begin to fight upward for light +and air.</p> +<p>If we cannot hope for polar bears to complete +our Arctic scene, we may thrill at the sight of a +sinuous weasel, winding his way among the +weeds; and if we look in vain for swans, we at +least may rejoice in a whirling, white flock of snow +buntings.</p> +<p>A few flakes fall gently upon our sleeve and +another world opens before us. A small hand-lens +will be of service, although sharp eyes may +dispense with it. Gather a few recently fallen +flakes upon a piece of black cloth, and the lens will +reveal jewels more beautiful than any ever +fashioned by the hand of man. Six-pointed crystals, +always hexagonal, of a myriad patterns, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span> +leave us lost in wonderment when we look out over +the white landscape and think of the hidden beauty +of it all. The largest glacier of Greenland or +Alaska is composed wholly of just such crystals +whose points have melted and which have become +ice.</p> +<p>We may draw or photograph scores of these +beautiful crystals and never duplicate a figure. +Some are almost solid and tabular, others are +simple stars or fern-branched. Then we may +detect compound forms, crystals within crystals, +and, rarest of all, doubles, where two different +forms appear as joined together by a tiny pillar. +In all of these we have an epitome of the crystals +of the rocks beneath our feet, only in their case +the pressure has moulded them into straight columns, +while the snow, forming unhindered in midair, +resolves itself into these exquisite forms and +floral designs. Flowers and rocks are not so very +unlike after all.</p> +<p>Few of us can observe these wonderful forms +without feeling the poetry of it all. Thoreau on +the fifth day of January, 1856, writes as follows:... +“The thin snow now driving from the north +and lodging on my coat consists of those beautiful +star crystals, not cottony and chubby spokes +as on the 13th of December, but thin and partly +transparent crystals. They are about one tenth +of an inch in diameter, perfect little wheels with +six spokes, without a tire, or rather with six perfect +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span> +little leaflets, fern-like, with a distinct, +straight, slender midrib raying from the centre. +On each side of each midrib there is a transparent, +thin blade with a crenate edge. How full of the +creative genius is the air in which these are generated! +I should hardly admire more if real stars +fell and lodged on my coat. Nature is full of +genius, full of the divinity, so that not a snowflake +escapes its fashioning hand. Nothing is +cheap and coarse, neither dewdrops nor snowflakes. +Soon the storm increases (it was already +very severe to face), and the snow becomes finer, +more white and powdery.</p> +<p>“Who knows but this is the original form of all +snowflakes, but that, when I observe these crystal +stars falling around me, they are only just generated +in the low mist next the earth. I am nearer +to the source of the snow, its primal auroral, and +golden hour of infancy; commonly the flakes reach +us travel-worn and agglomerated, comparatively, +without order or beauty, far down in their fall, +like men in their advanced age. As for the circumstances +under which this occurs, it is quite +cold, and the driving storm is bitter to face, though +very little snow is falling. It comes almost horizontally +from the north.... A divinity must +have stirred within them, before the crystals did +thus shoot and set: wheels of the storm chariots. +The same law that shapes the earth and the stars +shapes the snowflake. Call it rather snow star. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span> +As surely as the petals of a flower are numbered, +each of these countless snow stars comes whirling +to earth, pronouncing thus with emphasis the +number six, order, +&kappa;&omicron;&sigma;&mu;&omicron;&sigmaf;. +This was the beginning +of a storm which reached far and wide, and +elsewhere was more severe than here. On the +Saskatchewan, where no man of science is present +to behold, still down they come, and not the less +fulfil their destiny, perchance melt at once on the +Indian’s face. What a world we live in, where +myriads of these little discs, so beautiful to the +most prying eye, are whirled down on every +traveller’s coat, the observant and the unobservant, +on the restless squirrel’s fur, on the far-stretching +fields and forests, the wooded dells and +the mountain tops. Far, far away from the haunts +of men, they roll down some little slope, fall over +and come to their bearings, and melt or lose their +beauty in the mass, ready anon to swell some little +rill with their contribution, and so, at last, the +universal ocean from which they came. There +they lie, like the wreck of chariot wheels after a +battle in the skies. Meanwhile the meadow mouse +shoves them aside in his gallery, the schoolboy +casts them in his ball, or the woodman’s sled +glides smoothly over them, these glorious +spangles, the sweepings of heaven’s floor. And +they all sing, melting as they sing, of the mysteries +of the number six; six, six, six. He takes up the +waters of the sea in his hand, leaving the salt; he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span> +disperses it in mist through the skies; he re-collects +and sprinkles it like grain in six-rayed snowy +stars over the earth, there to lie till he dissolves +its bonds again.”</p> +<p>But here is a bit of snow which seems less pure, +with grayish patches here and there. Down again +to sparrow-level and bring the glass to bear. +Your farmer friend will tell you that they are +snow-fleas which are snowed down with the flakes; +the entomologist will call them <i>Achorutes nivicola</i> +and he knows that they have prosaically wiggled +their way from the crevices of bark on the nearest +tree-trunk. One’s thrill of pleasure at this unexpected +discovery will lead one to adopt sparrow-views +whenever larger game is lacking.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I walked erstwhile upon thy frozen waves,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And heard the streams amid thy ice-locked caves;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I peered down thy crevasses blue and dim,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Standing in awe upon the dizzy rim.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Beyond me lay the inlet still and blue,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Behind, the mountains loomed upon the view</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Like storm-wraiths gathered from the low-hung sky.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>A gust of wind swept past with heavy sigh,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And lo! I listened to the ice-stream’s song</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Of winter when the nights grow dark and long,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And bright stars flash above thy fields of snow,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The cold waste sparkling in the pallid glow.</p> +<br /> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Charles Keeler.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='CEDAR_BIRDS_AND_BERRIES' id='CEDAR_BIRDS_AND_BERRIES'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span> +<h2>CEDAR BIRDS AND BERRIES</h2> +</div> + +<p>Keep sharp eyes upon the cedar groves in +mid-winter, and sooner or later you will see +the waxwings come, not singly or in pairs, but by +dozens, and sometimes in great flocks. They will +well repay all the watching one gives them. The +cedar waxwing is a strange bird, with a very pronounced +species-individuality, totally unlike any +other bird of our country. When feeding on their +favourite winter berries, these birds show to great +advantage; the warm rich brown of the upper +parts and of the crest contrasting with the black, +scarlet, and yellow, and these, in turn, with the +dark green of the cedar and the white of the snow.</p> +<p>The name waxwing is due to the scarlet ornaments +at the tips of the lesser flight feathers and +some of the tail feathers, which resemble bits of +red sealing wax, but which are really the bare, +flattened ends of the feather shafts. Cherry-bird +is another name which is appropriately applied to +the cedar waxwing.</p> +<p>These birds are never regular in their movements, +and they come and go without heed to +weather or date. They should never be lightly +passed by, but their flocks carefully examined, lest +among their ranks may be hidden a Bohemian +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span> +chatterer—a stately waxwing larger than common +and even more beautiful in hue, whose large +size and splashes of white upon its wings will +always mark it out.</p> +<p>This bird is one of our rarest of rare visitors, +breeding in the far north; and even in its nest and +eggs mystery enshrouds it. Up to fifty years ago, +absolutely nothing was known of its nesting +habits, although during migration Bohemian chatterers +are common all over Europe. At last Lapland +was found to be their home, and a nest has +been found in Alaska and several others in Labrador. +My only sight of these birds was of a pair +perched in an elm tree in East Orange, New Jersey; +but I will never forget it, and will never +cease to hope for another such red-letter day.</p> +<p>The movements of the cedar waxwings are as +uncertain in summer as they are in winter; they +may be common in one locality for a year or two, +and then, apparently without reason, desert it. At +this season they feed on insects instead of berries, +and may be looked for in small flocks in orchard +or wood. The period of nesting is usually late, +and, in company with the goldfinches, they do not +begin their housekeeping until July and August. +Unlike other birds, waxwings will build their nests +of almost anything near at hand, and apparently +in any growth which takes their fancy,—apple, +oak, or cedar. The nests are well constructed, +however, and often, with their contents, add +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span> +another background of a most pleasing harmony +of colours. A nest composed entirely of pale +green hanging moss, with eggs of bluish gray, +spotted and splashed with brown and black, +guarded by a pair of these exquisite birds, is a +sight to delight the eye.</p> +<p>When the young have left the nest, if alarmed +by an intruder, they will frequently, trusting to +their protective dress of streaky brown, freeze +into most unbird-like attitudes, drawing the +feathers close to the body and stretching the neck +stiffly upward,—almost bittern-like. Undoubtedly +other interesting habits which these strangely +picturesque birds may possess are still awaiting +discovery by some enthusiastic observer with a +pair of opera-glasses and a stock of that ever +important characteristic—patience.</p> +<p>Although, during the summer months, myriads +of insects are killed and eaten by the cedar waxwings, +yet these birds are preeminently berry +eaters,—choke-cherries, cedar berries, blueberries, +and raspberries being preferred. Watch a +flock of these birds in a cherry tree, and you will +see the pits fairly rain down. We need not place +our heads, <i>à la</i> Newton, in the path of these falling +stones to deduce some interesting facts,—indeed +to solve the very destiny of the fruit. Many whole +cherries are carried away by the birds to be devoured +elsewhere, or we may see parent waxwing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span> +filling their gullets with ten or a dozen berries and +carrying them to the eager nestlings.</p> +<p>Thus is made plain the why and the wherefore +of the coloured skin, the edible flesh, and the hidden +stone of the fruit. The conspicuous racemes +of the choke-cherries, or the shining scarlet globes +of the cultivated fruit, fairly shout aloud to the +birds—“Come and eat us, we’re as good as we +look!” But Mother Nature looks on and laughs +to herself. Thistle seeds are blown to the land’s +end by the wind; the heavier ticks and burrs are +carried far and wide upon the furry coats of passing +creatures; but the cherry could not spread its +progeny beyond a branch’s length, were it not for +the ministrations of birds. With birds, as with +some other bipeds, the shortest way to the heart +is through the stomach, and a choke-cherry tree +in full blaze of fruit is always a natural aviary. +Where a cedar bird has built its nest, there look +some day to see a group of cherry trees; where +convenient fence-perches along the roadside lead +past cedar groves, there hope before long to see +a bird-planted avenue of cedars. And so the marvels +of Nature go on evolving,—wheels within +wheels.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_DARK_DAYS_OF_INSECT_LIFE' id='THE_DARK_DAYS_OF_INSECT_LIFE'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span> +<h2>THE DARK DAYS OF INSECT LIFE</h2> +</div> + +<p>Sometimes by too close and confining study +of things pertaining to the genus <i>Homo</i>, we +perchance find ourselves complacently wondering +if we have not solved almost all the problems of +this little whirling sphere of water and earth. Our +minds turn to the ultra questions of atoms and +ions and rays and our eyes strain restlessly upward +toward our nearest planet neighbour, in +half admission that we must soon take up the +study of Mars from sheer lack of earthly conquest.</p> +<p>If so minded, hie you to the nearest grove and, +digging down through the mid-winter’s snow, +bring home a spadeful of leaf-mould. Examine +it carefully with hand-lens and microscope, and +then prophesy what warmth and light will bring +forth. “Watch the unfolding life of plant and animal, +and then come from your planet-yearning +back to earth, with a humbleness born of a realisation +of our vast ignorance of the commonest things +about us.”</p> +<p>Though the immediate mysteries of the seed and +the egg baffle us, yet the most casual lover of +God’s out-of-doors may hopefully attempt to solve +the question of some of the winter homes of +insects. Think of the thousands upon thousands +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span> +of eggs and pupæ which are hidden in every +grove; what catacombs of bug mummies yonder +log conceals,—mummies whose resurrection will +be brought about by the alchemy of thawing sunbeams. +Follow out the suggestion hinted at above +and place a handkerchief full of frozen mould or +decayed wood in a white dish, and the tiny universe +which will gradually unfold before you will +provide many hours of interest. But remember +your responsibilities in so doing, and do not let +the tiny plant germs languish and die for want +of water, or the feeble, newly-hatched insects +perish from cold or lack a bit of scraped meat.</p> +<p>Cocoons are another never-ending source of +delight. If you think that there are no unsolved +problems of the commonest insect life around us, +say why it is that the moths and millers pass the +winter wrapped in swaddling clothes of densest +textures, roll upon roll of silken coverlets; while +our delicate butterflies hang uncovered, suspended +only by a single loop of silk, exposed to the cold +blast of every northern gale? Why do the caterpillars +of our giant moths—the mythologically +named Cecropia, Polyphemus, Luna, and Prometheus—show +such individuality in the position +which they choose for their temporary shrouds? +Protection and concealment are the watchwords +held to in each case, but how differently they are +achieved!</p> +<p>Cecropia—that beauty whose wings, fully six +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span> +inches across, will flap gracefully through the +summer twilight—weaves about himself a half +oval mound, along some stem or tree-trunk, and +becomes a mere excrescence—the veriest unedible +thing a bird may spy. Polyphemus wraps +miles of finest silk about his green worm-form +(how, even though we watch him do it, we can only +guess); weaving in all the surrounding leaves he +can reach. This, of course, before the frosts come, +but when the leaves at last shrivel, loosen, and +their petioles break, it is merely a larger brown +nut than usual that falls to the ground, the kernel +of which will sprout next June and blossom into +the big moth of delicate fawn tints, feathery +horned, with those strange isinglass windows in +his hind wings.</p> +<p>Luna—the weird, beautiful moon-moth, whose +pale green hues and long graceful streamers make +us realise how much beauty we miss if we neglect +the night life of summer—when clad in her +temporary shroud of silk, sometimes falls to the +ground, or again the cocoon remains in the tree +or bush where it was spun.</p> +<p>But Prometheus, the smallest of the quartet, +has a way all his own. The elongated cocoon, +looking like a silken finger, is woven about a leaf +of sassafras. Even the long stem of the leaf is +silk-girdled, and a strong band is looped about the +twig to which the leaf is attached. Here, when +all the leaves fall, he hangs, the plaything of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span> +every breeze, attracting the attention of all the +hungry birds. But little does Prometheus care. +Sparrows may hover about him and peck in vain; +chickadees may clutch the dangling finger and +pound with all their tiny might. Prometheus is +“bound,” indeed, and merely swings the faster, +up and down, from side to side.</p> +<p>It is interesting to note that when two Prometheus +cocoons, fastened upon their twigs, were +suspended in a large cageful of native birds, it +took a healthy chickadee just three days of hard +pounding and unravelling to force a way through +the silken envelopes to the chrysalids within. +Such long continued and persistent labour for so +comparatively small a morsel of food would not +be profitable or even possible out-of-doors in winter. +The bird would starve to death while forcing +its way through the protecting silk.</p> +<p>These are only four of the many hundreds of +cocoons, from the silken shrouds on the topmost +branches to the jugnecked chrysalis of a sphinx +moth—offering us the riddle of a winter’s shelter +buried in the cold, dark earth.</p> +<p>Is everything frozen tight? Has Nature’s frost +mortar cemented every stone in its bed? Then +cut off the solid cups of the pitcher plants, and +see what insects formed the last meal of these +strange growths,—ants, flies, bugs, encased in +ice like the fossil insects caught in the amber sap +which flowed so many thousands of years ago. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span></p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>When the fierce northwestern blast</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Cools sea and land so far and fast,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Thou already slumberest deep;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Woe and want thou canst outsleep.</p> +<br /> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Emerson</span>.</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='CHAMELEONS_IN_FUR_AND_FEATHER' id='CHAMELEONS_IN_FUR_AND_FEATHER'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span> +<h2>CHAMELEONS IN FUR AND FEATHER</h2> +</div> + +<p>The colour of things in nature has been the +subject of many volumes and yet it may be +truthfully said that no two naturalists are wholly +agreed on the interpretation of the countless hues +of plants and animals. Some assert that all alleged +instances of protective colouring and mimicry are +merely the result of accident; while at the opposite +swing of the pendulum we find theories, protective +and mimetic, for the colours of even the +tiny one-celled green plants which cover the bark +of trees! Here is abundant opportunity for any +observer of living nature to help toward the solution +of these problems.</p> +<p>In a battle there are always two sides and at its +finish one side always runs away while the other +pursues. Thus it is in the wars of nature, only +here the timid ones are always ready to flee, while +the strong are equally prepared to pursue. It is +only by constant vigilance that the little mice can +save themselves from disappearing down the +throats of their enemies, as under cover of darkness +they snatch nervous mouthfuls of grain in +the fields,—and hence their gray colour and their +large, watchful eyes; but on the other hand, the +baby owls in their hollow tree would starve if the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span> +parents were never able to swoop down in the +darkness and surprise a mouse now and then,—hence +the gray plumage and great eyes of the +parent owls.</p> +<p>The most convincing proof of the reality of protective +coloration is in the change of plumage or +fur of some of the wild creatures to suit the season. +In the far north, the grouse or ptarmigan, +as they are called, do not keep feathers of the +same colour the year round, as does our ruffed +grouse; but change their dress no fewer than three +times. When rocks and moss are buried deep +beneath the snow, and a keen-eyed hawk appears, +the white-feathered ptarmigan crouches and becomes +an inanimate mound. Later in the year, +with the increasing warmth, patches of gray and +brown earth appear, and simultaneously, as if its +feathers were really snowflakes, splashes of brown +replace the pure white of the bird’s plumage, and +equally baffle the eye. Seeing one of these birds +by itself, we could readily tell, from the colour of +its plumage, the time of year and general aspect +of the country from which it came. Its plumage +is like a mirror which reflects the snow, the moss, +or the lichens in turn. It is, indeed, a feathered +chameleon, but with changes of colour taking place +more slowly than is the case in the reptile.</p> +<p>We may discover changes somewhat similar, +but furry instead of feathery, in the woods about +our home. The fiercest of all the animals of our +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span> +continent still evades the exterminating inroads +of man; indeed it often puts his traps to shame, +and wages destructive warfare in his very midst. +I speak of the weasel,—the least of all his family, +and yet, for his size, the most bloodthirsty and +widely dreaded little demon of all the countryside. +His is a name to conjure with among all the +lesser wood-folk; the scent of his passing brings +an almost helpless paralysis. And yet in some +way he must be handicapped, for his slightly +larger cousin, the mink, finds good hunting the +year round, clad in a suit of rich brown; while the +weasel, at the approach of winter, sheds his summer +dress of chocolate hue and dons a pure white +fur, a change which would seem to put the poor +mice and rabbits at a hopeless disadvantage. +Nevertheless the ermine, as he is now called +(although wrongly so), seems just able to hold his +own, with all his evil slinking motions and bloodthirsty +desires; for foxes, owls, and hawks take, +in their turn, heavy toll. Nature is ever a repetition +of the “House that Jack built”;—this is +the owl that ate the weasel that killed the mouse, +and so on.</p> +<p>The little tail-tips of milady’s ermine coat are +black; and herein lies an interesting fact in the +coloration of the weasel and one that, perhaps, +gives a clue to some other hitherto inexplicable +spots and markings on the fur, feathers, skin, and +scales of wild creatures. Whatever the season, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span> +and whatever the colour of the weasel’s coat,—brown +or white,—the tip of the tail remains +always black. This would seem, at first thought, +a very bad thing for the little animal. Knowing +so little of fear, he never tucks his tail between +his legs, and, when shooting across an open +expanse of snow, the black tip ever trailing after +him would seem to mark him out for destruction +by every observing hawk or fox.</p> +<p>But the very opposite is the case as Mr. Witmer +Stone so well relates. “If you place a weasel in +its winter white on new-fallen snow, in such a +position that it casts no shadow, you will find that +the black tip of the tail catches your eye and holds +it in spite of yourself, so that at a little distance +it is very difficult to follow the outline of the rest +of the animal. Cover the tip of the tail with snow +and you can see the rest of the weasel itself +much more clearly; but as long as the black +point is in sight, you see that, and that only.</p> +<p>“If a hawk or owl, or any other of the larger +hunters of the woodland, were to give chase to a +weasel and endeavour to pounce upon it, it would +in all probability be the black tip of the tail it +would see and strike at, while the weasel, darting +ahead, would escape. It may, morever, serve as +a guide, enabling the young weasels to follow their +parents more readily through grass and brambles.</p> +<p>“One would suppose that this beautiful white +fur of winter, literally as white as the snow, might +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span> +prove a disadvantage at times by making its owner +conspicuous when the ground is bare in winter, +as it frequently is even in the North; yet though +weasels are about more or less by day, you will +seldom catch so much as a glimpse of one at such +times, though you may hear their sharp chirrup +close at hand. Though bold and fearless, they +have the power of vanishing instantly, and the +slightest alarm sends them to cover. I have seen +one standing within reach of my hand in the sunshine +on the exposed root of a tree, and while I +was staring at it, it vanished like the flame of a +candle blown out, without leaving me the slightest +clue as to the direction it had taken. All the +weasels I have ever seen, either in the woods or +open meadows, disappeared in a similar manner.”</p> +<p>To add to the completeness of proof that the +change from brown to white is for protection,—in +the case of the weasel, both to enable it to +escape from the fox and to circumvent the rabbit,—the +weasels in Florida, where snow is unknown, +do not change colour, but remain brown throughout +the whole year.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>FEBRUARY</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='FEBRUARY_FEATHERS' id='FEBRUARY_FEATHERS'></a> +<h2>FEBRUARY FEATHERS</h2> +</div> + +<p>February holes are most interesting places +and one never knows what will be found in +the next one investigated. It is a good plan, in +one’s walks in the early fall, to make a mental +map of all the auspicious looking trees and holes, +and then go the rounds of these in winter—as a +hunter follows his line of traps. An old, neglected +orchard may seem perfectly barren of life; +insects dead, leaves fallen, and sap frozen; but +the warm hearts of these venerable trees may +shelter much beside the larvæ of boring beetles, +and we may reap a winter harvest of which the +farmer knows nothing.</p> +<p>Poke a stick into a knothole and stir up the +leaves at the bottom of the cavity, and then look +in. Two great yellow eyes may greet you, glaring +intermittently, and sharp clicks may assail your +ears. Reach in with your gloved hand and bring +the screech owl out. He will blink in the sunshine, +ruffling up his feathers until he is twice his +real size. The light partly blinds him, but toss +him into the air and he will fly without difficulty +and select with ease a secluded perch. The instant +he alights a wonderful transformation comes over +him. He stiffens, draws himself as high as possible, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span> +and compresses his feathers until he seems +naught but the slender, broken stump of +some bough,—ragged topped (thanks to his +“horns”), gray and lichened. It is little short +of a miracle how this spluttering, saucer-eyed, +feathered cat can melt away into woody fibre +before our very eyes.</p> +<p>We quickly understand why in the daytime the +little owl is so anxious to hide his form from public +view. Although he can see well enough to fly +and to perch, yet the bright sunlight on the snow +is too dazzling to permit of swift and sure action. +All the birds of the winter woods seem to know +this and instantly take advantage of it. Sparrows, +chickadees, and woodpeckers go nearly wild +with excitement when they discover the little owl, +hovering about him and occasionally making darts +almost in his very face. We can well believe that +as the sun sets, after an afternoon of such excitement, +they flee in terror, selecting for that night’s +perch the densest tangle of sweetbrier to be found.</p> +<p>One hollow tree may yield a little gray owl, +while from the next we may draw a red one; and +the odd thing about this is that this difference in +colour does not depend upon age, sex, or season, +and no ornithologist can say why it occurs. What +can these little fellows find to feed upon these cold +nights, when the birds seek the most hidden and +sheltered retreats? We might murder the next +owl we come across; but would any fact we might +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span> +discover in his poor stomach repay us for the +thought of having needlessly cut short his life, +with its pleasures and spring courtships, and the +delight he will take in the half a dozen pearls over +which he will soon watch?</p> +<p>A much better way is to examine the ground +around his favourite roosting place, where we will +find many pellets of fur and bones, with now and +then a tiny skull. These tell the tale, and if at +dusk we watch closely, we may see the screech owl +look out of his door, stretch every limb, purr his +shivering song, and silently launch out over the +fields, a feathery, shadowy death to all small mice +who scamper too far from their snow tunnels.</p> +<p>When you feel like making a new and charming +acquaintance, take your way to a dense clump of +snow-laden cedars, and look carefully over their +trunks. If you are lucky you will spy a tiny gray +form huddled close to the sheltered side of the +bark, and if you are careful you may approach and +catch in your hand the smallest of all our owls, +for the saw-whet is a dreadfully sleepy fellow in +the daytime. I knew of eleven of these little gray +gnomes dozing in a clump of five small cedars.</p> +<p>The cedars are treasure-houses in winter, and +many birds find shelter among the thick foliage, +and feast upon the plentiful supply of berries, +when elsewhere there seems little that could keep +a bird’s life in its body. When the tinkling of +breaking icicles is taken up by the wind and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span> +re-echoed from the tops of the cedars, you may +know that a flock of purple finches is near, and so +greedy and busy are they that you may approach +within a few feet. These birds are unfortunately +named, as there is nothing purple about their +plumage. The males are a delicate rose-red, while +the females look like commonplace sparrows, +streaked all over with black and brown.</p> +<p>There are other winter birds, whose home is in +the North, with a similar type of coloration. +Among the pines you may see a flock of birds, as +large as a sparrow, with strange-looking beaks. +The tips of the two mandibles are long, curved, +and pointed, crossing each other at their ends. +This looks like a deformity, but is in reality a +splendid cone-opener and seed-extracter. These +birds are the crossbills.</p> +<p>Even in the cold of a February day, we may, +on very rare occasions, be fortunate enough to +hear unexpected sounds, such as the rattle of a +belted kingfisher, or the croak of a night heron; +for these birds linger until every bit of pond or +lake is sealed with ice; and when a thaw comes, a +lonely bat may surprise us with a short flight +through the frosty air, before it returns to its +winter’s trance.</p> +<p>Of course, in the vicinity of our towns and cities, +the most noticeable birds at this season of the +year (as indeed at all seasons) are the English +sparrows and (at least near New York City) the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span> +starlings, those two foreigners which have +wrought such havoc among our native birds. +Their mingled flocks fly up, not only from garbage +piles and gutters, but from the thickets and fields +which should be filled with our sweet-voiced +American birds. It is no small matter for man +heedlessly to interfere with Nature. What may +be a harmless, or even useful, bird in its native +land may prove a terrible scourge when introduced +where there are no enemies to keep it in +check. Nature is doing her best to even matters +by letting albinism run riot among the sparrows, +and best of all by teaching sparrow hawks to nest +under our eaves and thus be on equal terms with +their sparrow prey. The starlings are turning +out to be worse than the sparrows. Already they +are invading the haunts of our grackles and redwings.</p> +<p>On some cold day, when the sun is shining, visit +all the orchards of which you know, and see if in +one or more you cannot find a good-sized, gray, +black, and white bird, which keeps to the topmost +branch of a certain tree. Look at him carefully +through your glasses, and if his beak is hooked, +like that of a hawk, you may know that you are +watching a northern shrike, or butcher bird. His +manner is that of a hawk, and his appearance +causes instant panic among small birds. If you +watch long enough you may see him pursue and +kill a goldfinch, or sparrow, and devour it. These +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span> +birds are not even distantly related to the hawks, +but have added a hawk’s characteristics and appetite +to the insect diet of their nearest relations. +If ever shrikes will learn to confine their attacks +to English sparrows, we should offer them every +encouragement.</p> +<p>All winter long the ebony forms of crows vibrate +back and forth across the cold sky. If we watch +them when very high up, we sometimes see them +sail a short distance, and without fail, a second +later, the clear “<i>Caw! caw!</i>” comes down to us, +the sound-waves unable to keep pace with those +of light, as the thunder of the storm lags behind +the flash. These sturdy birds seem able to stand +any severity of the weather, but, like Achilles, they +have one vulnerable point, the eyes,—which, during +the long winter nights, must be kept deep +buried among the warm feathers.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='FISH_LIFE' id='FISH_LIFE'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span> +<h2>FISH LIFE</h2> +</div> + +<p>We have all looked down through the clear +water of brook or pond and watched the +gracefully poised trout or pickerel; but have we +ever tried to imagine what the life of one of these +aquatic beings is really like? “Water Babies” +perhaps gives us the best idea of existence below +the water, but if we spend one day each month +for a year in trying to imagine ourselves in the +place of the fish, we will see that a fish-eye view +of life holds much of interest.</p> +<p>What a delightful sensation must it be to all +but escape the eternal downpull of gravity, to +float and turn and rise and fall at will, and all by +the least twitch of tail or limb,—for fish have +limbs, four of them, as truly as has a dog or horse, +only instead of fingers or toes there are many delicate +rays extending through the fin. These four +limb-fins are useful chiefly as balancers, while the +tail-fin is what sends the fish darting through the +water, or turns it to right or left, with incredible +swiftness.</p> +<p>If we were able to examine some inhabitant of +the planet Mars our first interest would be to +know with what senses they were endowed, and +these finny creatures living in their denser medium, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span> +which after a few seconds would mean death +to us, excite the same interest. They see, of +course, having eyes, but do they feel, hear, and +smell!</p> +<p>Probably the sense of taste is least developed. +When a trout leaps at and catches a fly he does +not stop to taste, otherwise the pheasant feather +concealing the cruel hook would be of little use. +When an animal catches its food in the water and +swallows it whole, taste plays but a small part. +Thus the tongue of a pelican is a tiny flap all but +lost to view in its great bill.</p> +<p>Water is an excellent medium for carrying minute +particles of matter and so the sense of smell +is well developed. A bit of meat dropped into the +sea will draw the fish from far and wide, and a +slice of liver will sometimes bring a score +of sharks and throw them into the greatest +excitement.</p> +<p>Fishes are probably very near-sighted, but that +they can distinguish details is apparent in the +choice which a trout exhibits in taking certain +coloured artificial flies. We may suppose from +what we know of physics that when we lean over +and look down into a pool, the fishy eyes which +peer up at us discern only a dark, irregular mass. +I have seen a pickerel dodge as quickly at a sudden +cloud-shadow as at the motion of a man wielding +a fish pole.</p> +<p>We can be less certain about the hearing of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span> +fishes. They have, however, very respectable +inner ears, built on much the same plan as in +higher animals. Indeed many fish, such as the +grunts, make various sounds which are plainly +audible even to our ears high above the water, and +we cannot suppose that this is a useless accomplishment. +But the ears of fishes and the line of +tiny tubes which extends along the side may be +more effective in recording the tremors of the +water transmitted by moving objects than actual +sound.</p> +<p>Watch a lazy catfish winding its way along near +the bottom, with its barbels extended, and you +will at once realise that fishes can feel, this function +being very useful to those kinds which search +for their food in the mud at the bottom.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>Not a breath of air stirs the surface of the woodland +pond, and the trees about the margin are +reflected unbroken in its surface. The lilies and +their pads lie motionless, and in and out through +the shadowy depths, around the long stems, float +a school of half a dozen little sunfish. They move +slowly, turning from side to side all at once as +if impelled by one idea. Now and then one will +dart aside and snap up a beetle or mosquito larva, +then swing back to its place among its fellows. +Their beautiful scales flash scarlet, blue, and gold, +and their little hand-and-foot fins are ever trembling +and waving. They drift upward nearer the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span> +surface, the wide round eyes turning and twisting +in their sockets, ever watchful for food and +danger. Without warning a terrific splash scatters +them, and when the ripples and bubbles cease, +five frightened sunfish cringe in terror among the +water plants of the bottom mud. Off to her nest +goes the kingfisher, bearing to her brood the +struggling sixth.</p> +<p>Later in the day, when danger seemed far off, +a double-pointed vise shot toward the little group +of “pumpkin seeds” and a great blue heron swallowed +one of their number. Another, venturing +too far beyond the protection of the lily stems and +grass tangle of the shallows, fell victim to a voracious +pickerel. But the most terrible fate befell +when one day a black sinuous body came swiftly +through the water. The fish had never seen its +like before and yet some instinct told them that +here was death indeed and they fled as fast as +their fins could send them. The young otter had +marked the trio and after it he sped, turning, +twisting, following every movement with never a +stop for breath until he had caught his prey.</p> +<p>But the life of a fish is not all tragedy, and the +two remaining sunfish may live in peace. In +spawning time they clear a little space close to +the water of the inlet, pulling up the young weeds +and pushing up the sandy bottom until a hollow, +bowl-like nest is prepared. Thoreau tells us that +here the fish “may be seen early in summer +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span> +assiduously brooding, and driving away minnows +and larger fishes, even its own species, which +would disturb its ova, pursuing them a few feet, +and circling round swiftly to its nest again; the +minnows, like young sharks, instantly entering the +empty nests, meanwhile, and swallowing the +spawn, which is attached to the weeds and to the +bottom, on the sunny side. The spawn is exposed +to so many dangers that a very small proportion +can ever become fishes, for beside being the constant +prey of birds and fishes, a great many nests +are made so near the shore, in shallow water, that +they are left dry in a few days, as the river goes +down. These and the lampreys are the only fishes’ +nests that I have observed, though the ova of some +species may be seen floating on the surface. The +sunfish are so careful of their charge that you may +stand close by in the water and examine them at +your leisure. I have thus stood over them half +an hour at a time, and stroked them familiarly +without frightening them, suffering them to nibble +my fingers harmlessly, and seen them erect their +dorsal fins in anger when my hand approached +their ova, and have even taken them gently out +of the water with my hand; though this cannot be +accomplished by a sudden movement, however +dexterous, for instant warning is conveyed to +them through their denser element, but only by +letting the fingers gradually close about them as +they are poised over the palm, and with the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span> +utmost gentleness raising them slowly to the surface. +Though stationary, they kept up a constant +sculling or waving motion with their fins, which is +exceedingly graceful, and expressive of their +humble happiness; for unlike ours, the element in +which they live is a stream which must be constantly +resisted. From time to time they nibble +the weeds at the bottom or overhanging their +nests, or dart after a fly or worm. The dorsal +fin, besides answering the purpose of a keel, with +the anal, serves to keep the fish upright, for in +shallow water, where this is not covered, they fall +on their sides. As you stand thus stooping over +the sunfish in its nest, the edges of the dorsal and +caudal fins have a singular dusty golden reflection, +and its eyes, which stand out from the head, +are transparent and colourless. Seen in its native +element, it is a very beautiful and compact fish, +perfect in all its parts, and looks like a brilliant +coin fresh from the mint. It is a perfect jewel of +the river, the green, red, coppery, and golden +reflections of its mottled sides being the concentration +of such rays as struggle through the floating +pads and flowers to the sandy bottom, and in +harmony with the sunlit brown and yellow +pebbles.”</p> +<p>When the cold days of winter come and the ice +begins to close over the pond, the sunfish become +sluggish and keep near the bottom, half-hibernating +but not unwilling to snap at any bit of food +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span> +which may drift near them. Lying prone on the +ice we may see them poising with slowly undulating +fins, waiting, in their strange wide-eyed sleep, +for the warmth which will bring food and active +life again.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>3rd. <i>Fish.</i> Master, I marvel how the fishes live in the sea.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>1st. <i>Fish.</i> Why, as men do a-land: the great ones eat up the little ones.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Shakespeare.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='TENANTS_OF_WINTER_BIRDS__NESTS' id='TENANTS_OF_WINTER_BIRDS__NESTS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span> +<h2>TENANTS OF WINTER BIRDS’ NESTS</h2> +</div> + +<p>When we realise how our lives are hedged +about by butchers, bakers, and luxury-makers, +we often envy the wild creatures their independence. +And yet, although each animal is +capable of finding its own food and shelter and of +avoiding all ordinary danger, there is much dependence, +one upon another, among the little +creatures of fur and feathers.</p> +<p>The first instinct of a gray squirrel, at the +approach of winter, is to seek out a deep, warm, +hollow limb, or trunk. Nowadays, however, these +are not to be found in every grove. The precepts +of modern forestry decree that all such unsightly +places must be filled with cement and creosote and +well sealed against the entrance of rain and snow. +When hollows are not available, these hardy squirrels +prepare their winter home in another way. +Before the leaves have begun to loosen on their +stalks, the little creatures set to work. The crows +have long since deserted their rough nest of sticks +in the top of some tall tree, and now the squirrels +come, investigate, and adopt the forsaken bird’s-nest +as the foundation of their home. The sticks +are pressed more tightly together, all interstices +filled up, and then a superstructure of leafy twigs +is woven overhead and all around. The leaves on +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span> +these twigs, killed before their time, do not fall; +and when the branches of the tree become bare, +there remains in one of the uppermost crotches a +big ball of leaves,—rain and snow proof, with a +tiny entrance at one side.</p> +<p>On a stormy mid-winter afternoon we stand +beneath the tree and, through the snowflakes +driven past by the howling gale, we catch glimpses +of the nest swaying high in air. Far over it +leans, as the branches are whipped and bent by +the wind, and yet so cunningly is it wrought that +never a twig or leaf loosens. We can imagine the +pair of little shadow-tails within, sleeping fearlessly +throughout all the coming night.</p> +<p>But the sleep of the gray squirrel is a healthy +and a natural one, not the half-dead trance of +hibernation; and early next morning their sharp +eyes appear at the entrance of their home and +they are out and off through the tree-top path +which only their feet can traverse. Down the +snowy trunks they come with a rush, and with +strong, clean bounds they head unerringly for +their little <i>caches</i> of nuts. Their provender is +hidden away among the dried leaves, and when +they want a nibble of nut or acorn they make their +way, by some mysterious sense, even through +three feet of snow, down to the bit of food which, +months before, they patted out of sight among the +moss and leaves.</p> +<p>It would seem that some exact sub-conscious +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span> +sense of locality would be a more probable solution +of this feat than the sense of smell, however +keenly developed, when we consider that dozens +of nuts may be hidden or buried in close proximity +to the one sought by the squirrel.</p> +<p>Even though the birds seem to have vanished +from the earth, and every mammal be deeply +buried in its long sleep, no winter’s walk need be +barren of interest. A suggestion worth trying +would be to choose a certain area of saplings and +underbrush and proceed systematically to fathom +every cause which has prevented the few stray +leaves still upon their stalks from falling with +their many brethren now buried beneath the snow.</p> +<p>The encircling silken bonds of Promethea and +Cynthia cocoons will account for some; others will +puzzle us until we have found the traces of some +insect foe, whose girdling has killed the twig and +thus prevented the leaf from falling at the usual +time; some may be simply mechanical causes, +where a broken twig crotch has fallen athwart +another stem in the course of its downward fall. +Then there is the pitiful remnant of a last summer’s +bird’s-nest, with a mere skeleton of a floor +all but disintegrated.</p> +<p>But occasionally a substantial ball of dead +leaves will be noticed, swung amid a tangle of +brier. No accident lodged these, nor did any +insect have aught to do with their position. +Examine carefully the mass of leaves and you +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span> +will find a replica of the gray squirrel’s nest, only, +of course, much smaller. This handiwork of the +white-footed or deer mouse can be found in almost +every field or tangle of undergrowth; the nest of +a field sparrow or catbird being used as a foundation +and thickly covered over and tightly thatched +with leaves. Now and then, even in mid-winter, +we may find the owner at home, and as the weasel +is the most bloodthirsty, so the deer mouse is the +most beautiful and gentle of all the fur-coated folk +of our woods. With his coat of white and pale +golden brown and his great black, lustrous eyes, +and his timid, trusting ways, he is altogether +lovable.</p> +<p>He spends the late summer and early autumn +in his tangle-hung home, but in winter he generally +selects a snug hollow log, or some cavity +in the earth. Here he makes a round nest of fine +grass and upon a couch of thistledown he sleeps +in peace, now and then waking to partake of the +little hoard of nuts which he has gathered, or he +may even dare to frolic about upon the snow in +the cold winter moonlight, leaving behind him no +trace, save the fairy tracery of his tiny footprints.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Wee, sleekit, cow’rin’, tim’rous beastie,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Thou need na start awa sae hasty,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 2.2075055187638em;'>Wi’ bickering brattle!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Wi’ murd’ring prattle!</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Robert Burns.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='WINTER_HOLES' id='WINTER_HOLES'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span> +<h2>WINTER HOLES</h2> +</div> + +<p>The decayed hollows which we have mentioned +as so often productive of little owls +have their possibilities by no means exhausted by +one visit. The disturbed owl may take himself +elsewhere, after being so unceremoniously disturbed; +but there are roving, tramp-like characters, +with dispositions taking them here and there +through the winter nights, to whom, at break of +day, a hole is ever a sought-for haven.</p> +<p>So do not put your hand too recklessly into an +owl hole, for a hiss and a sudden nip may show +that an opossum has taken up his quarters there. +If you must, pull him out by his squirming, naked +tail, but do not carry him home, as he makes a +poor pet, and between hen-house traps and irate +farmers, he has good reason, in this part of the +country at least, to be short tempered.</p> +<p>Of course the birds’-nests are all deserted now, +but do not be too sure of the woodpeckers’ holes. +The little downy and his larger cousin, the hairy +woodpecker, often spend the winter nights snug +within deep cavities which they have hollowed out, +each bird for itself. I have never known a pair +to share one of these shelters.</p> +<p>Sometimes, in pulling off the loose bark from a +decayed stump, several dry, flattened scales will +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span> +fall out upon the snow among the debris of wood +and dead leaves. Hold them close in the warm +palm of your hand for a time and the dried bits +will quiver, the sides partly separate, and behold! +you have brought back to life a beautiful +<i>Euvanessa</i>, or mourning-cloak butterfly. Lay it +upon the snow and soon the awakened life will +ebb away and it will again be stiff, as in death. If +you wish, take it home, and you may warm it into +activity, feed it upon a drop of syrup and freeze +it again at will. Sometimes six or eight of these +insects may be found sheltered under the bark of +a single stump, or in a hollow beneath a stone. +Several species share this habit of hibernating +throughout the winter.</p> +<p>Look carefully in old, deserted sheds, in half-sheltered +hollows of trees, or in deep crevice-caverns +in rocks, and you may some day spy one +of the strangest of our wood-folk. A poor little +shrivelled bundle of fur, tight-clasped in its own +skinny fingers, with no more appearance of life +in its frozen body than if it were a mummy from +an Egyptian tomb; such is the figure that will +meet your eye when you chance upon a bat in the +deep trance of its winter’s hibernation. Often +you will find six or a dozen of these stiffened +forms clinging close together, head downward.</p> +<p>As in the case of the sleeping butterfly, carry +one of the bats to your warm room and place him +in a bird-cage, hanging him up on the top wires +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span> +by his toes, with his head downward. The inverted +position of these strange little beings always +brings to mind some of the experiences of Gulliver, +and indeed the life of a bat is more wonderful +than any fairy tale.</p> +<p>Probably the knowledge of bats which most of +us possess is chiefly derived from the imaginations +of artists and poets, who, unlike the Chinese, +do not look upon these creatures with much +favour, generally symbolising them in connection +with passages and pictures which relate to the +infernal regions. All of which is entirely unjust. +Their nocturnal habits and our consequent ignorance +of their characteristics are the only causes +which can account for their being associated with +the realm of Satan. In some places bats are called +flittermice, but they are more nearly related to +moles, shrews, and other insect-eaters than they +are to mice. If we look at the skeleton of an animal +which walks or hops we will notice that its +hind limbs are much the stronger, and that the +girdle which connects these with the backbone is +composed of strong and heavy bones. In bats a +reverse condition is found; the breast girdle, or +bones corresponding to our collar bones and +shoulder blades, are greatly developed. This, as +in birds, is, of course, an adaptation to give surface +for the attachment of the great propelling +muscles of the wings.</p> +<p>Although the hand of a bat is so strangely +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span> +altered, yet, as we shall see if we look at our captive +specimen, it has five fingers, as we have, four +of which are very long and thin, and the webs, of +which we have a very noticeable trace in our own +hands, stretch from finger-tip to finger-tip, and to +the body and even down each leg, ending squarely +near the ankle, thus giving the creature the absurd +appearance of having on a very broad, baggy pair +of trousers.</p> +<p>When thoroughly warmed up, our bat will soon +start on a tour of inspection of his cage. He steps +rapidly from one wire to another, sometimes hooking +on with all five toes, but generally with four +or three. There seems to be little power in these +toes, except of remaining bent in a hooked position; +for when our bat stops and draws up one +foot to scratch the head, the claws are merely +jerked through the fur by motions of the whole +leg, not by individual movements of the separate +toes. In this motion we notice, for the first time, +that the legs and feet grow in a kind of “spread +eagle” position, making the knees point backward, +in the same direction as the elbows.</p> +<p>We must stop a moment to admire the beautiful +soft fur, a golden brown in colour, with part of +the back nearly black. The tiny inverted face is +full of expression, the bead-like eyes gleaming +brightly from out of their furry bed. The small +moist nostrils are constantly wrinkling and sniffling, +and the large size of the alert ears shows +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span> +how much their owner depends upon them for +information. If we suddenly move up closer to +the wires, the bat opens both wings owl-like, in a +most threatening manner; but if we make still +more hostile motions the creature retreats as +hastily as it can, changing its method of progress +to an all-fours, sloth-like gait, the long free thumb +of each hand grasping wire after wire and doing +most of the leverage, the hind legs following +passively.</p> +<p>When at what he judges a safe distance he again +hangs pendent, bending his head back to look +earnestly at us. Soon the half-opened wings are +closed and brought close to the shoulders, and in +this, the usual resting position, the large claws of +the thumbs rest on the breast in little furrows +which they have worn in the fur.</p> +<p>Soon drowsiness comes on and a long elaborate +yawn is given, showing the many small needle-like +teeth and the broad red tongue, which curls +outward to a surprising length. Then comes the +most curious process of all. Drawing up one leg, +the little creature deliberately wraps one hand +with its clinging web around the leg and under +the arms, and then draws the other wing straight +across the body, holds it there a moment, while it +takes a last look in all directions. Then lifting its +fingers slightly, it bends its head and wraps all in +the full-spread web. It is most ludicrously like a +tragedian, acting the death scene in “Julius +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span> +Cæsar,” and it loses nothing in repetition; for +each time the little animal thus draws its winding +sheet about its body, one is forced to smile as he +thinks of the absurd resemblance.</p> +<p>But all this and much more you will see for +yourself, if you are so fortunate as to discover the +hiding-place of the hibernating bat.</p> +<p>Our little brown bat is a most excellent mother, +and when in summer she starts out on her nocturnal +hunts she takes her tiny baby bat with +her. The weird little creature wraps his long +fingers about his mother’s neck and off they go. +When two young are born, the father bat is said +sometimes to assume entire control of one.</p> +<p>After we come to know more of the admirable +family traits of the <i>fledermaus</i>—its musical +German name—we shall willingly defend it from +the calumny which for thousands of years has been +heaped upon it.</p> +<p>Hibernation is a strange phenomenon, and one +which is but little understood. If we break into +the death-like trance for too long a time, or if we +do not supply the right kind of food, our captive +butterflies and bats will perish. So let us soon +freeze them up again and place them back in the +care of old Nature. Thus the pleasure is ours of +having made them yield up their secrets, without +any harm to them. Let us fancy that in the spring +they may remember us only as a strange dream +which has come to them during their long sleep.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>MARCH</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='FEATHERED_PIONEERS' id='FEATHERED_PIONEERS'></a> +<h2>FEATHERED PIONEERS</h2> +</div> + +<p>In the annual war of the seasons, March is the +time of the most bitterly contested battles. +But we—and very likely the birds—can look ahead +and realise what the final outcome will invariably +be, and, our sympathies being on the winning side, +every advance of spring’s outposts gladdens our +hearts. But winter is a stubborn foe, and sometimes +his snow and icicle battalions will not give +way a foot. Though by day the sun’s fierce +attack may drench the earth with the watery +blood of the ice legions, yet at night, silently +and grimly, new reserves of cold repair the +damage.</p> +<p>Our winter visitors are still in force. Amid the +stinging cold the wee brown form of a winter wren +will dodge round a brush pile—a tiny bundle of +energy which defies all chill winds and which +resolves bug chrysalides and frozen insects into +a marvellous activity. Other little birds, as small +as the wren, call to us from the pines and cedars—golden-crowned +kinglets, olive-green of body, +while on their heads burns a crest of orange and +gold.</p> +<p>When a good-sized brown bird flies up before +you, showing a flash of white on his rump, you +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span> +may know him for the flicker, the most unwoodpecker-like +of his family. He is more or less +deserting the tree-climbing method for ground +feeding, and if you watch him you will see many +habits which his new mode of life is teaching him.</p> +<p>Even in the most wintry of Marches some warm, +thawing days are sure to be thrown in between +storms, and nothing, not even pussy willows and +the skunk cabbage, yield more quickly to the mellowing +influence than do the birds—sympathetic +brethren of ours that they are. Hardly has the +sunniest icicle begun to drop tears, when a song +sparrow flits to the top of a bush, clears his throat +with sharp chirps and shouts as loud as he can: +“Hip! Hip! Hip! Hurrah—!” Even more boreal +visitors feel the new influence, and tree and fox +sparrows warble sweetly. But the bluebird’s note +will always be spring’s dearest herald. When this +soft, mellow sound floats from the nearest fence +post, it seems to thaw something out of our ears; +from this instant winter seems on the defensive; +the crisis has come and gone in an instant, in a +single vibration of the air.</p> +<p>Bright colours are still scarce among our birds, +but another blue form may occasionally pass us, +for blue jays are more noticeable now than at any +other time of the year. Although not by any +means a rare bird, with us jays are shy and wary. +In Florida their southern cousins are as familiar +as robins, without a trace of fear of mankind. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span> +What curious notes our blue jays have—a creaking, +wheedling, rasping medley of sounds coming +through the leafless branches. At this time of +year they love acorns and nuts, but in the spring +“their fancy turns to thoughts of” eggs and young +nestlings, and they are accordingly hated by the +small birds. Nevertheless no bird is quicker to +shout and scream “Thief! Robber!” at some +harmless little owl than are these blue and white +rascals.</p> +<p>You may seek in vain to discover the first sign +of nesting among the birds. Scarcely has winter +set in in earnest, you will think, when the tiger-eyed +one of the woods—the great horned owl—will +have drifted up to some old hawk’s nest, and +laid her white spheres fairly in the snow. When +you discover her “horns” above the nest lining of +dried leaves, you may find that her fuzzy young +owls are already hatched. But these owls are an +exception, and no other bird in our latitude cares +to risk the dangers of late February or early +March.</p> +<p>March is sometimes a woodpecker month, and +almost any day one is very likely to see, besides +the flicker, the hairy or downy woodpecker. The +latter two are almost counterparts of each other, +although the downy is the more common. They +hammer cheerfully upon the sounding boards +which Nature has provided for them, striking slow +or fast, soft or loud, as their humour dictates. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span></p> +<p>Near New York, a day in March—I have found +it varying from March 8 to March 12—is “crow +day.” Now the winter roosts apparently break +up, and all day flocks of crows, sometimes thousands +upon thousands of them, pass to the northward. +If the day is quiet and spring-like, they +fly very high, black motes silhouetted against the +blue,—but if the day is a “March day,” with +whistling, howling winds, then the black fellows +fly close to earth, rising just enough to clear +bushes and trees, and taking leeward advantage +of every protection. For days after, many crows +pass, but never so many as on the first day, when +crow law, or crow instinct, passes the word, we +know not how, which is obeyed by all.</p> +<p>For miles around not a drop of water may be +found; it seems as if every pool and lake were +solid to the bottom, and yet, when we see a large +bird, with goose-like body, long neck and long, +pointed beak, flying like a bullet of steel through +the sky, we may be sure that there is open water +to the northward, for a loon never makes a mistake. +When the first pioneer of these hardy birds +passes, he knows that somewhere beyond us fish +can be caught. If we wonder where he has spent +the long winter months, we should take a steamer +to Florida. Out on the ocean, sometimes a hundred +miles or more from land, many of these birds +make their winter home. When the bow of the +steamer bears down upon one, the bird half +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span> +spreads its wings, then closes them quickly, and +sinks out of sight in the green depths, not to reappear +until the steamer has passed, when he looks +after us and utters his mocking laugh. Here he +will float until the time comes for him to go north. +We love the brave fellow, remembering him in his +home among the lakes of Canada; but we tremble +for him when we think of the terrible storm waves +which he must outride, and the sneering sharks +which must sometimes spy him. What a story he +could tell of his life among the phalaropes and +jelly-fishes!</p> +<p>Meadow larks are in flocks in March, and as +their yellow breasts, with the central crescent of +black, rise from the snow-bent grass, their long, +clear, vocal “arrow” comes to us, piercing the air +like a veritable icicle of sound. When on the +ground they are walkers like the crow.</p> +<p>As the kingfisher and loon appear to know long +ahead when the first bit of clear water will appear, +so the first insect on the wing seems to be anticipated +by a feathered flycatcher. Early some +morning, when the wondrous Northern Lights are +still playing across the heavens, a small voice +may make all the surroundings seem incongruous. +Frosty air, rimmed tree-trunks, naked branches, +aurora—all seem as unreal as stage properties, +when <i>phœ-be!</i> comes to our ears. Yes, there is +the little dark-feathered, tail-wagging fellow, +hungry no doubt, but sure that when the sun +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span> +warms up, Mother Nature will strew his aerial +breakfast-table with tiny gnats,—precocious, but +none the less toothsome for all that.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Hark ’tis the bluebird’s venturous strain</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47167034584253em;'>High on the old fringed elm at the gate—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Sweet-voiced, valiant on the swaying bough,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47167034584253em;'>Alert, elate,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Dodging the fitful spits of snow,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47167034584253em;'>New England’s poet-laureate</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Telling us Spring has come again!</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Thomas Bailey Aldrich.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_WAYS_OF_MEADOW_MICE' id='THE_WAYS_OF_MEADOW_MICE'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span> +<h2>THE WAYS OF MEADOW MICE</h2> +</div> + +<p>Day after day we may walk through the +woods and fields, using our eyes as best we +can, searching out every moving thing, following +up every sound,—and yet we touch only the coarsest, +perceive only the grossest of the life about +us. Tramp the same way after a fall of snow and +we are astonished at the evidences of life of which +we knew nothing. Everywhere, in and out among +the reed stems, around the tree-trunks, and in +wavy lines and spirals all about, runs the delicate +tracery of the meadow mice trails. No leapers +these, as are the white-footed and jumping mice, +but short-legged and stout of body. Yet with all +their lack of size and swiftness, they are untiring +little folk, and probably make long journeys from +their individual nests.</p> +<p>As far north as Canada and west to the Plains +the meadow or field mice are found, and everywhere +they seem to be happy and content. Most +of all, however, they enjoy the vicinity of water, +and a damp, half-marshy meadow is a paradise +for them. No wonder their worst enemies are +known as marsh hawks and marsh owls; these +hunters of the daylight and the night well know +where the meadow mice love to play.</p> +<p>These mice are resourceful little beings and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span> +when danger threatens they will take to the water +without hesitation; and when the muskrat has +gone the way of the beaver, our ditches and ponds +will not be completely deserted, for the little +meadow mice will swim and dive for many years +thereafter.</p> +<p>Not only in the meadows about our inland +streams, but within sound of the breakers on the +seashore, these vigorous bits of fur find bountiful +living, and it is said that the mice folk inhabiting +these low salt marshes always know in some mysterious +way when a disastrous high tide is due, +and flee in time, so that when the remorseless +ripples lap higher and higher over the wide +stretches of salt grass, not a mouse will be +drowned. By some delicate means of perception +all have been notified in time, and these, among +the least of Nature’s children, have run and scurried +along their grassy paths to find safety on +the higher ground.</p> +<p>These paths seem an invention of the meadow +mice, and, affording them a unique escape from +danger, they doubtless, in a great measure, +account for the extreme abundance of the little +creatures. When a deer mouse or a chipmunk +emerges from its hollow log or underground tunnel, +it must take its chances in open air. It may +dart along close to the ground or amid an impenetrable +tangle of briers, but still it is always +visible from above. On the other hand, a mole, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span> +pushing blindly along beneath the sod, fears no +danger from the hawk soaring high overhead.</p> +<p>The method of the meadow mice is between +these two: its stratum of active life is above the +mole and beneath the chipmunk. Scores of sharp +little incisor teeth are forever busy gnawing and +cutting away the tender grass and sprouting +weeds in long meandering paths or trails through +the meadows. As these paths are only a mouse-breadth +in width, the grasses at each side lean +inward, forming a perfect shelter of interlocking +stems overhead. Two purposes are thus fulfilled: +a delicious succulent food is obtained and a way +of escape is kept ever open. These lines intersect +and cross at every conceivable angle, and as the +meadow mice clan are ever friendly toward one +another, any particular mouse seems at liberty +to traverse these miles of mouse alleys.</p> +<p>In winter, when the snow lies deep upon the +ground, these same mice drive tunnels beneath it, +leading to all their favourite feeding grounds, to +all the heavy-seeded weed heads, with which the +bounty of Nature supplies them. But at night +these tunnels are deserted and boldly out upon the +snow come the meadow mice, chasing each other +over its gleaming surface, nibbling the toothsome +seeds, dodging, or trying to dodge, the owl-shadows; +living the keen, strenuous, short, but +happy, life which is that of all the wild meadow +folk. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span></p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>That wee bit heap o’ leaves an’ stibble</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Thou saw the fields laid bare and waste,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>An’ weary winter comin’ fast,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>An’ cosey here, beneath the blast,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47167034584253em;'>Thou thought to dwell.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Robert Burns.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='PROBLEMS_OF_BIRD_LIFE' id='PROBLEMS_OF_BIRD_LIFE'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span> +<h2>PROBLEMS OF BIRD LIFE</h2> +</div> + +<p>The principal problems which birds, and +indeed all other creatures, have to solve, +have been well stated to be—Food, Safety, and +Reproduction. In regard to safety, or the art of +escaping danger, we are all familiar with the ravages +which hawks, owls, foxes, and even red squirrels +commit among the lesser feathered creatures, +but there are other dangers which few of us +suspect.</p> +<p>Of all creatures birds are perhaps the most +exempt from liability to accident, yet they not +infrequently lose their lives in most unexpected +ways. Once above trees and buildings, they have +the whole upper air free of every obstacle, and +though their flight sometimes equals the speed of +a railroad train, they have little to fear when well +above the ground. Collision with other birds +seems scarcely possible, although it sometimes +does occur. When a covey of quail is flushed, +occasionally two birds will collide, at times meeting +with such force that both are stunned. Flycatchers +darting at the same insect will now and +then come together, but not hard enough to injure +either bird.</p> +<p>Even the smallest and most wonderful of all +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span> +flyers, the hummingbird, may come to grief in accidental +ways. I have seen one entangled in a burdock +burr, its tiny feathers fast locked into the +countless hooks, and again I have found the body +of one of these little birds with its bill fastened in +a spiral tendril of a grapevine, trapped in some +unknown way.</p> +<p>Young phœbes sometimes become entangled in +the horsehairs which are used in the lining of +their nest. When they are old enough to fly and +attempt to leave, they are held prisoners or left +dangling from the nest. When mink traps are set +in the snow in winter, owls frequently fall victims, +mice being scarce and the bait tempting.</p> +<p>Lighthouses are perhaps the cause of more accidents +to birds than are any of the other obstacles +which they encounter on their nocturnal migrations +north and south. Many hundreds of birds +are sometimes found dead at the base of these +structures. The sudden bright glare is so confusing +and blinding, as they shoot from the intense +darkness into its circle of radiance, that they are +completely bewildered and dash headlong against +the thick panes of glass. Telegraph wires are +another menace to low-flying birds, especially +those which, like quail and woodcock, enjoy a +whirlwind flight, and attain great speed within a +few yards. Such birds have been found almost +cut in two by the force with which they struck the +wire. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span></p> +<p>The elements frequently catch birds unaware +and overpower them. A sudden wind or storm +will drive coast-flying birds hundreds of miles out +to sea, and oceanic birds may be blown as far +inland. Hurricanes in the West Indies are said to +cause the death of innumerable birds, as well as +of other creatures. From such a cause small +islands are known to have become completely depopulated +of their feathered inhabitants. Violent +hailstorms, coming in warm weather without +warning, are quite common agents in the destruction +of birds, and in a city thousands of English +sparrows have been stricken during such a storm. +After a violent storm of wet snow in the middle +West, myriads of Lapland longspurs were once +found dead in the streets and suburbs of several +villages. On the surface of two small lakes, a +conservative estimate of the dead birds was a million +and a half!</p> +<p>The routes which birds follow in migrating +north and south sometimes extend over considerable +stretches of water, as across the Caribbean +Sea, but the only birds which voluntarily brave +the dangers of the open ocean are those which, +from ability to swim, or great power of flight, can +trust themselves far away from land. Not infrequently +a storm will drive birds away from the +land and carry them over immense distances, and +this accounts for the occasional appearance of +land birds near vessels far out at sea. Overcome +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span> +with fatigue, they perch for hours in the rigging +before taking flight in the direction of the nearest +land, or, desperate from hunger, they fly fearlessly +down to the deck, where food and water are +seldom refused them.</p> +<p>Small events like these are welcome breaks in +the monotony of a long ocean voyage, but are soon +forgotten at the end of the trip.</p> +<p>Two of these ocean waifs were once brought to +me. One was a young European heron which flew +on board a vessel when it was about two hundred +and five miles southeast of the southern extremity +of India. A storm must have driven the bird seaward, +as there is no migration route near this +locality.</p> +<p>The second bird was a European turtle dove +which was captured not less than seven hundred +and fifty miles from the nearest land—Ireland. +When caught it was in an exhausted condition, +but it quickly recovered and soon lost all signs of +the buffeting of the storm. The turtle dove +migrates northward to the British Islands about +the first of May, but as this bird was captured on +May 17th, it was not migrating, but, caught by a +gust of wind, was probably blown away from the +land. The force of the storm would then drive it +mile after mile, allowing it no chance of controlling +the direction of its flight, but, from the very +velocity, making it easy for the bird to maintain +its equilibrium. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span></p> +<p>Hundreds of birds must perish when left by +storms far out at sea, and the infinitely small +chance of encountering a vessel or other resting-place +makes a bird which has passed through such +an experience and survived, interesting indeed.</p> +<p>In winter ruffed grouse have a habit of burrowing +deep beneath the snow and letting the storm +shut them in. In this warm, cosey retreat they +spend the night, their breath making its way out +through the loosely packed crystals. But when a +cold rain sets in during the night, this becomes a +fatal trap, an impenetrable crust cutting off their +means of escape.</p> +<p>Ducks, when collected about a small open place +in an ice-covered pond, diving for the tender roots +on which they feed, sometimes become confused +and drown before they find their way out. They +have been seen frozen into the ice by hundreds, +sitting there helplessly, and fortunate if the sun, +with its thawing power, releases them before they +are discovered by marauding hawks or foxes.</p> +<p>In connection with their food supply the +greatest enemy of birds is ice, and when a winter +rain ends with a cold snap, and every twig and +seed is encased in a transparent armour of ice, +then starvation stalks close to all the feathered +kindred. Then is the time to scatter crumbs and +grain broadcast, to nail bones and suet to the tree-trunks +and so awaken hope and life in the shivering +little forms. If a bird has food in abundance, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span> +it little fears the cold. I have kept parrakeets out +through the blizzards and storms of a severe winter, +seeing them play and frolic in the snow as if +their natural home were an arctic tundra, instead +of a tropical forest.</p> +<p>A friend of birds once planted many sprouts of +wild honeysuckle about his porch, and the following +summer two pairs of hummingbirds built their +nests in near-by apple trees; he transplanted +quantities of living woodbine to the garden fences, +and when the robins returned in the spring, after +having remained late the previous autumn feeding +on the succulent bunches of berries, no fewer than +ten pairs nested on and about the porch and yard.</p> +<p>So my text of this, as of many other weeks is,—study +the food habits of the birds and stock your +waste places with their favourite berry or vine. +Your labour will be repaid a hundredfold in song +and in the society of the little winged comrades.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Worn is the winter rug of white,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And in the snow-bare spots once more,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Glimpses of faint green grass in sight,—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Spring’s footprints on the floor.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Spring here—by what magician’s touch?</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>’Twas winter scarce an hour ago.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And yet I should have guessed as much,—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Those footprints in the snow!</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Frank Dempster Sherman.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='DWELLERS_IN_THE_DUST' id='DWELLERS_IN_THE_DUST'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span> +<h2>DWELLERS IN THE DUST</h2> +</div> + +<p>To many of us the differences between a reptile +and a batrachian are unknown. Even if +we have learned that these interesting creatures +are well worth studying and that they possess +few or none of the unpleasant characteristics +usually attributed to them, still we are apt to +speak of having seen a lizard in the water at the +pond’s edge, or of having heard a reptile croaking +near the marsh. To avoid such mistakes, one +need only remember that reptiles are covered with +scales and that batrachians have smooth skins.</p> +<p>Our walks will become more and more interesting +as we spread our interest over a wider field, +not confining our observations to birds and mammals +alone, but including members of the two +equally distinctive classes of animals mentioned +above. The batrachians, in the northeastern +part of our country, include the salamanders +and newts, the frogs and toads, while as reptiles +we number lizards, turtles, and snakes.</p> +<p>Lizards are creatures of the tropics and only +two small species are found in our vicinity, and +these occur but rarely. Snakes, however, are more +abundant, and, besides the rare poisonous copperhead +and rattlesnake, careful search will reveal a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span> +dozen harmless species, the commonest, of course, +being the garter snake and its near relative the +ribbon snake.</p> +<p>About this time of the year snakes begin to feel +the thawing effect of the sun’s rays and to stir in +their long winter hibernation. Sometimes we will +come upon a ball of six or eight intertwined +snakes, which, if they are still frozen up, will lie +motionless upon the ground. But when spring +finally unclasps the seal which has been put upon +tree and ground, these reptiles stretch themselves +full length upon some exposed stone, where they +lie basking in the sun.</p> +<p>The process of shedding the skin soon begins; +getting clear of the head part, eye-scales and all, +the serpent slowly wriggles its way forward, +escaping from the old skin as a finger is drawn +from a glove. At last it crawls away, bright and +shining in its new scaly coat, leaving behind it a +spectral likeness of itself, which slowly sinks and +disintegrates amid the dead leaves and moss, or, +later in the year, it may perhaps be discovered by +some crested flycatcher and carried off to be added +to its nesting material.</p> +<p>When the broods of twenty to thirty young +garter snakes start out in life to hunt for themselves, +then woe to the earthworms, for it is upon +them that the little serpents chiefly feed.</p> +<p>Six or seven of our native species of snakes lay +eggs, usually depositing them under the bark of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span> +rotten logs, or in similar places, where they are +left to hatch by the heat of the sun or by that of +the decaying vegetation. It is interesting to gather +these leathery shelled eggs and watch them hatch, +and it is surprising how similar to each other +some of the various species are when they emerge +from the shell.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>APRIL</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='SPRING_SONGSTERS' id='SPRING_SONGSTERS'></a> +<h2>SPRING SONGSTERS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Early April sees the last contest which winter +wages for supremacy, and often it is a +half-hearted attempt; but after the army of the +North has retreated, with its icicles and snowdrifts, +spring seems dazed for a while. Victory +has been dearly bought, and April is the season +when, for a time, the trees and insects hang fire—paralysed—while +the chill is thawing from their +marrow. Our northern visitors of the bird world +slip quietly away. There is no great gathering +of clans like that of the tree swallows in the fall, +but silently, one by one, they depart, following the +last moan of the north wind, covering winter’s +disordered retreat with warbles and songs.</p> +<p>One evening we notice the juncos and tree sparrows +in the tangled, frost-burned stubble, and the +next day, although our eye catches glints of white +from sparrow tails, it is from vesper finches, not +from juncos, and the weed spray which a few +hours before bent beneath a white-throat’s weight, +now vibrates with the energy which a field sparrow +puts into his song. Field and chipping sparrows, +which now come in numbers, are somewhat +alike, but by their beaks and songs you may know +them. The mandibles of the former are flesh-coloured, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span> +those of the latter black. The sharp +<i>chip!</i> <i>chip!</i> is characteristic of the “chippy,” but +the sweet, dripping song of the field sparrow is +charming. No elaborate performance this, but a +succession of sweet, high notes, accelerating toward +the end, like a coin of silver settling to rest +on a marble table—a simple, chaste vespers which +rises to the setting sun and endears the little +brown singer to us.</p> +<p>We may learn much by studying these homely +little frequenters of our orchards and pastures; +each has a hundred secrets which await patient +and careful watching by their human lovers. In +the chipping sparrow we may notice a hint of the +spring change of dress which warblers and tanagers +carry to such an extreme. When he left us +in the fall he wore a dull-streaked cap, but now +he comes from the South attired in a smart head-covering +of bright chestnut. Poor little fellow, +this is the very best he can do in the way of especial +ornament to bewitch his lady love, but it +suffices. Can the peacock’s train do more?</p> +<p>This is the time to watch for the lines of ducks +crossing the sky, and be ready to find black ducks +in the oddest places—even in insignificant rain +pools deep in the woods. In the early spring the +great flocks of grackles and redwings return, +among the first to arrive as they were the last to +leave for the South.</p> +<p>Before the last fox sparrow goes, the hermit +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span> +thrush comes, and these birds, alike in certain +superficialities, but so actually unrelated, for a +time seek their food in the same grove.</p> +<p>The hardier of the warblers pass us in April, +stopping a few days before continuing to the +northward. We should make haste to identify +them and to learn all we can of their notes and +habits, not only because of the short stay which +most of them make, but on account of the vast +assemblage of warbler species already on the +move in the Southern States, which soon, in panoply +of rainbow hues, will crowd our groves and +wear thin the warbler pages of our bird books.</p> +<p>These April days we are sure to see flocks of +myrtle, or yellow-rumped warblers, and yellow +palm warblers in their olive-green coats and chestnut +caps. The black-and-white creeper will always +show himself true to his name—a creeping bundle +of black and white streaks. When we hear of the +parula warbler or of the Cape May warbler we +get no idea of the appearance of the bird, but when +we know that the black-throated green warblers +begin to appear in April, the first good view of +one of this species will proclaim him as such.</p> +<p>We have marked the fox sparrow as being a +great scratcher among dead leaves. His habit is +continued in the spring by the towhee, or chewink, +who uses the same methods, throwing both +feet backward simultaneously. The ordinary call +note of this bird is a good example of how difficult +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span> +it is to translate bird songs into human words. +Listen to the quick, double note coming from the +underbrush. Now he says “<i>towhee’!</i>” the next +time “<i>chewink’!</i>” You may change about at will, +and the notes will always correspond. Whatever +is in our mind at the instant, that will seem to +be what the bird says. This should warn us of +the danger of reading our thoughts and theories +too much into the minds and actions of birds. +Their mental processes, in many ways, correspond +to ours. When a bird expresses fear, hate, +bravery, pain or pleasure, we can sympathise +thoroughly with it, but in studying their more +complex actions we should endeavour to exclude +the thousand and one human attributes with +which we are prone to colour the bird’s mental +environment.</p> +<p>John Burroughs has rendered the song of the +black-throated green warbler in an inimitable way, +as follows: “—— ——V——!” When we have +once heard the bird we will instantly recognise +the aptness of these symbolic lines. The least +flycatcher, called <i>minimus</i> by the scientists, well +deserves his name, for of all those members of +his family which make their home with us, he is +the smallest. These miniature flycatchers have a +way of hunting which is all their own. They sit +perched on some exposed twig or branch, motionless +until some small insect flies in sight. Then +they will launch out into the air, and, catching +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span> +the insect with a snap of their beaks, fly back to +the same perch. They are garbed in subdued +grays, olives, and yellows. The least flycatcher +has another name which at once distinguishes him—chebec’. +As he sits on a limb, his whole body +trembles when he jerks out these syllables, and his +tail snaps as if it played some important part in +the mechanism of his vocal effort.</p> +<p>When you are picking cowslips and hepaticas +early in the month, keep a lookout for the first +barn swallow. Nothing gives us such an impression +of the independence and individuality of +birds as when a solitary member of some species +arrives days before others of his kind. One fork-tailed +beauty of last year’s nest above the haymow +may hawk about for insects day after day +alone, before he is joined by other swallows. Did +he spend the winter by himself, or did the <i>heimweh</i> +smite his heart more sorely and bring him +irresistibly to the loved nest in the rafters? This +love of home, which is so striking an attribute of +birds, is a wonderfully beautiful thing. It brings +the oriole back to the branch where still swings +her exquisite purse-shaped home of last summer; +it leads each pair of fishhawks to their particular +cartload of sticks, to which a few more must be +added each year; it hastens the wing beats of the +sea-swallows northward to the beach which, ten +months ago, was flecked with their eggs—the +shifting grains of sand their only nest. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span></p> +<p>This love of home, of birthplace, bridges over a +thousand physical differences between these +feathered creatures and ourselves. We forget +their expressionless masks of horn, their feathered +fingers, their scaly toes, and looking deep +into their clear, bright eyes, we know and feel a +kinship, a sympathy of spirit, which binds us all +together, and we are glad.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Yet these sweet sounds of the early season,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And these fair sights of its sunny days,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Are only sweet when we fondly listen,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And only fair when we fondly gaze.</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>There is no glory in star or blossom</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Till looked upon by a loving eye;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>There is no fragrance in April breezes</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Till breathed with joy as they wander by.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>William Cullen Bryant.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_SIMPLE_ART_OF_SAPSUCKING' id='THE_SIMPLE_ART_OF_SAPSUCKING'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span> +<h2>THE SIMPLE ART OF SAPSUCKING</h2> +</div> + +<p>The yellow-bellied sapsucker is, at this time +of year, one of our most abundant woodpeckers, +and in its life we have an excellent +example of that individuality which is ever cropping +out in Nature—the trial and acceptance of +life under new conditions.</p> +<p>In the spring we tap the sugar maples, and +gather great pailfuls of the sap as it rises from its +winter resting-place in the roots, and the sapsucker +likes to steal from our pails or to tap the +trees for himself. But throughout part of the +year he is satisfied with an insect diet and chooses +the time when the sap begins to flow downward +in the autumn for committing his most serious +depredations upon the tree. It was formerly +thought that this bird, like its near relatives, the +downy and hairy woodpeckers, was forever boring +for insects; but when we examine the regularity +and symmetry of the arrangement of its holes, +we realise that they are for a very different purpose +than the exposing of an occasional grub.</p> +<p>Besides drinking the sap from the holes, this +bird extracts a quantity of the tender inner bark +of the tree, and when a tree has been encircled +for several feet up and down its trunk by these +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span> +numerous little sap wells, the effect becomes apparent +in the lessened circulation of the liquid +blood of the tree; and before long, death is certain +to ensue. So the work of the sapsucker is injurious, +while the grub-seeking woodpeckers confer +only good upon the trees they frequent.</p> +<p>And how pitiful is the downfall of a doomed +tree! Hardly has its vitality been lessened an +appreciable amount, when somehow the word is +passed to the insect hordes who hover about in +waiting, as wolves hang upon the outskirts of a +herd of buffalo. In the spring, when the topmost +branches have received a little less than their +wonted amount of wholesome sap and the leaves +are less vigorous, the caterpillars and twig-girdlers +attack at once. Ichneumen flies and boring +beetles seem to know by signs invisible to us +that here is opportunity. Then in the fall come +again the sapsuckers to the tree, remorselessly +driving hole after hole through the still untouched +segments of its circle of life. When the last sap-channel +is pierced and no more can pass to the +roots, the tree stands helpless, waiting for the +end. Swiftly come frost and rain, and when the +April suns again quicken all the surrounding +vegetation into vigorous life, the victim of the +sapsuckers stands lifeless, its branches reaching +hopelessly upward, a naked mockery amid the +warm green foliage around. Insects and fungi +and lightning now set to work unhindered, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span> +the tree falls at last,—dust to dust—ashes to +ashes.</p> +<p>A sapsucker has been seen in early morning to +sink forty or fifty wells into the bark of a mountain +ash tree, and then to spend the rest of the +day in sidling from one to another, taking a sip +here and a drink there, gradually becoming more +and more lethargic and drowsy, as if the sap +actually produced some narcotic or intoxicating +effect. Strong indeed is the contrast between such +a picture and the same bird in the early spring,—then +full of life and vigour, drawing musical reverberations +from some resonant hollow limb.</p> +<p>Like other idlers, the sapsucker in its deeds of +gluttony and harm brings, if anything, more injury +to others than to itself. The farmers well +know its depredations and detest it accordingly, +but unfortunately they are not ornithologists, and +a peckerwood is a peckerwood to them; and so +while the poor downy, the red-head, and the hairy +woodpeckers are seen busily at work cutting the +life threads of the injurious borer larvæ, the +farmer, thinking of his dying trees, slays them all +without mercy or distinction. The sapsucker is +never as confiding as the downy, and from a safe +distance sees others murdered for sins which are +his alone.</p> +<p>But we must give sapsucker his due and admit +that he devours many hundreds of insects +throughout the year, and though we mourn the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span> +death of an occasional tree, we cannot but admire +his new venture in life,—his cunning in choosing +only the dessert served at the woodpeckers’ +feasts,—the sweets which flow at the tap of a +beak, leaving to his fellows the labour of searching +and drilling deep for more substantial courses.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='WILD_WINGS' id='WILD_WINGS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span> +<h2>WILD WINGS</h2> +</div> + +<p>The ides of March see the woodcock back in +its northern home, and in early April it prepares +for nesting. The question of the nest itself +is a very simple matter, being only a cavity, +formed by the pressure of the mother’s body, +among the moss and dead leaves. The formalities +of courtship are, however, quite another thing, +and the execution of interesting aerial dances +entails much effort and time.</p> +<p>It is in the dusk of evening that the male woodcock +begins his song,—plaintive notes uttered at +regular intervals, and sounding like <i>peent!</i> <i>peent!</i> +Then without warning he launches himself on a +sharply ascending spiral, his wings whistling +through the gloom. Higher and higher he goes, +balances a moment, and finally descends abruptly, +with zigzag rushes, wings and voice both aiding +each other in producing the sounds, to which, let +us suppose, his prospective mate listens with +ecstasy. It is a weird performance, repeated +again and again during the same evening.</p> +<p>So pronounced and loud is the whistling of the +wings that we wonder how it can be produced by +ordinary feathers. The three outer primaries +of the wing, which in most birds are usually like +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span> +the others, in the woodcock are very stiff, and +the vanes are so narrow that when the wing is +spread there is a wide space between each one. +When the wing beats the air rapidly, the wind +rushes through these feather slits,—and we have +the accompaniment of the love-song explained.</p> +<p>The feather-covered arms and hands of birds +are full of interest; and after studying the wing +of a chicken which has been plucked for the table, +we shall realise how wonderful a transformation +has taken place through the millions of years past. +Only three stubby fingers are left and these are +stiff and almost immovable, but the rest of the +forearm is very like that of our own arm.</p> +<p>See how many facts we can accumulate about +wings, by giving special attention to them, when +watching birds fly across the sky. How easy it +is to identify the steady beats of a crow, or the +more rapid strokes of a duck; how distinctive is +the frequent looping flight of a goldfinch, or the +longer, more direct swings of a woodpecker!</p> +<p>Hardly any two birds have wings exactly +similar in shape, every wing being exquisitely +adapted to its owner’s needs. The gull soars or +flaps slowly on his long, narrow, tireless pinions, +while the quail rises suddenly before us on short, +rounded wings, which carry it like a rocket for a +short distance, when it settles quickly to earth +again. The gull would fare ill were it compelled +to traverse the ocean with such brief spurts of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span> +speed, while, on the other hand, the last bob-white +would shortly vanish, could it escape from fox +or weasel only with the slow flight of a gull. How +splendidly the sickle wings of a swift enable it +to turn and twist, bat-like, in its pursuit of +insects!</p> +<p>You may be able to identify any bird near your +home, you may know its nest and eggs, its song +and its young; but begin at the beginning again +and watch their wings and their feet and their +bills and you will find that there are new and +wonderful truths at your very doorstep. Try +bringing home from your walk a list of bill-uses +or feet-functions. Remember that a familiar +object, looked at from a new point of view, will +take to itself unthought-of significance.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Whither midst falling dew,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Thy solitary way?</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>William Cullen Bryant.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_BIRDS_IN_THE_MOON' id='THE_BIRDS_IN_THE_MOON'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span> +<h2>THE BIRDS IN THE MOON</h2> +</div> + +<p>The lover of birds who has spent the day in +the field puts away his glasses at nightfall, +looking forward to a walk after dark only as +a chance to hear the call of nocturnal birds or to +catch the whirr of a passing wing. But some +bright moonlight night in early May, or again in +mid September, unsheath your glasses and tie +them, telescope-fashion, to a window-ledge or railing. +Seat yourself in an easy position and focus +on the moon. Shut out all earthly scenes from +your mind and imagine yourself wandering amid +those arid wastes. What a scene of cosmic desolation! +What vast deserts, and gaping craters of +barren rock! The cold, steel-white planet seems +of all things most typical of death.</p> +<p>But those specks passing across its surface? +At first you imagine they are motes clogging the +delicate blood-vessels of the retina; then you +wonder if a distant host of falling meteors could +have passed. Soon a larger, nearer mote appears; +the moon and its craters are forgotten and +with a thrill of delight you realise that they are +birds—living, flying birds—of all earthly things +typical of the most vital life! Migration is at its +height, the chirps and twitters which come from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span> +the surrounding darkness are tantalising hints +telling of the passing legions. Thousands and +thousands of birds are every night pouring northward +in a swift, invisible, aerial stream.</p> +<p>As a projecting pebble in mid-stream blurs the +transparent water with a myriad bubbles, so the +narrow path of moon-rays, which our glass reveals, +cute a swath of visibility straight through +the host of birds to our eager eyes. How we hate +to lose an instant’s opportunity! Even a wink +may allow a familiar form to pass unseen. If we +can use a small telescope, the field of view is much +enlarged. Now and then we recognise the flight +of some particular species,—the swinging loop of +a woodpecker or goldfinch, or the flutter of a +sandpiper.</p> +<p>It has been computed that these birds sometimes +fly as much as a mile or more above the surface +of the earth, and when we think of the tiny, +fluttering things at this terrible height, it takes +our breath away. What a panorama of dark +earth and glistening river and ocean must be +spread out beneath them! How the big moon +must glow in that rarefied air! How diminutive +and puerile must seem the houses and cities of +human fashioning!</p> +<p>The instinct of migration is one of the most +wonderful in the world. A young bob-white and +a bobolink are hatched in the same New England +field. The former grows up and during the fall +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span> +and winter forms one of the covey which is content +to wander a mile or two, here and there, in +search of good feeding grounds. Hardly has the +bobolink donned his first full dress before an irresistible +impulse seizes him. One night he rises +up and up, ever higher on fluttering wings, sets +his course southward, gives you a glimpse of him +across the moon, and keeps on through Virginia +to Florida, across seas, over tropical islands, far +into South America, never content until he has +put the great Amazon between him and his far +distant birthplace.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>He who, from zone to zone,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>In the long way that I must tread alone,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Will lead my steps aright.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>William Cullen Bryant.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>MAY</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_HIGH_TIDE_OF_BIRD_LIFE' id='THE_HIGH_TIDE_OF_BIRD_LIFE'></a> +<h2>THE HIGH TIDE OF BIRD LIFE</h2> +</div> + +<p>For abundance and for perfection of song +and plumage, of the whole year, May is the +month of birds. Insects appear slowly in the +spring and are numerous all summer; squirrels +and mice are more or less in evidence during all +the twelve months; reptiles unearth themselves +at the approach of the warm weather, and may +be found living their slow, sluggish life until late +in the fall. In eggs, cocoons, discarded bird’s-nests, +in earthen burrows, or in the mud at the +bottom of pond or stream, all these creatures have +spent the winter near where we find them in the +spring. But birds are like creatures of another +world; and, although in every summer’s walk we +may see turtles, birds, butterflies, and chipmunks, +all interweaving their life paths across one another’s +haunts, yet the power of extended flight +and the wonderful habit of continental migration +set birds apart from all other living creatures. +A bird during its lifetime has almost twice the +conscious existence of, say, a snake or any hibernating +mammal. And now in early May, when +the creatures of the woods and fields have only +recently opened their sleepy eyes and stretched +their thin forms, there comes the great worldwide +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span> +army of the birds, whose bright eyes peer at +us from tree, thicket, and field, whose brilliant +feathers and sweet songs bring summer with a +leap—the height of the grand symphony, of which +the vernal peeping of the frogs and the squirrels’ +chatter were only the first notes of the prelude.</p> +<p>Tantalus-like is the condition of the amateur +bird-lover, who, book in hand, vainly endeavours +to identify the countless beautiful forms which +appear in such vast numbers, linger a few days +and then disappear, passing on to the northward, +but leaving behind a goodly assemblage which +spends the summer and gives abundant opportunity +for study during the succeeding months. In +May it is the migrants which we should watch, +and listen to, and “ogle” with our opera glasses. +Like many other evanescent things, those birds +which have made their winter home in Central +America—land yet beyond our travels—and +which use our groves merely as half-way houses +on their journey to the land of their birth, the +balsams of Quebec, or the unknown wastes of +Labrador, seem most precious, most worthy at +this time of our closest observation.</p> +<p>More confusing—albeit the more delightful—is +a season when continued cold weather and chilly +rains hold back all but the hardiest birds, until—like +the dammed-up piles of logs trembling with +the spring freshets—the tropic winds carry all +before them, and all at once winter birds which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span> +have sojourned only a few miles south of us, +summer residents which should have appeared +weeks ago, together with the great host of Canadian +and other nesters of the north, appear +within a few days’ time.</p> +<p>A backward season brings strangers into close +company for a while. A white-throat sings his +clear song of the North, and a moment later is +answered by an oriole’s melody, or the sweet +tones of a rose-breasted grosbeak—the latter one +of those rarely favoured birds, exquisite in both +plumage and song.</p> +<p>The glories of our May bird life are the wood +warblers, and innumerable they must seem to one +who is just beginning his studies; indeed, there +are over seventy species that find their way into +the United States. Many are named from the +distribution of colour upon their plumage—the +blue-winged yellow, the black-throated blue, chestnut-sided, +bay-breasted, and black poll. Perhaps +the two most beautiful—most reflective of bright +tropical skies and flowers—are the magnolia and +the blackburnian. The first fairly dazzles us with +its bluish crown, white and black face, black and +olive-green back, white marked wings and tail, +yellow throat and rump, and strongly streaked +breast. The blackburnian is an exquisite little +fellow, marked with white and black, but with the +crown, several patches on the face, the throat +and breast of a rich warm orange that glows +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span> +amid the green foliage like a living coal of fire. +The black poll warbler is an easy bird to identify; +but do not expect to recognise it when it returns +from the North in the fall. Its black crown has +disappeared, and in general it looks like a different +bird.</p> +<p>At the present time when the dogwood blossoms +are in their full perfection, and the branches and +twigs of the trees are not yet hidden, but their +outlines only softened by the light, feathery foliage, +the tanagers and orioles have their day. +Nesting cares have not yet made them fearful of +showing their bright plumage, and scores of the +scarlet and orange forms play among the +branches.</p> +<p>The flycatchers and vireos now appear in force—little +hunters of insects clad in leafy greens and +browns, with now and then a touch of brightness—as +in the yellow-throated vireo or in the crest +of the kingbird.</p> +<p>The lesser sandpipers, both the spotted and the +solitary, teeter along the brooks and ponds, and +probe the shallows for tiny worms. Near the +woody streams the so-called water thrushes +spring up before us. Strange birds these, in appearance +like thrushes, in their haunts and in +their teetering motion like sandpipers, but in +reality belonging to the same family as the tree-loving +wood warblers. A problem not yet solved +by ornithologists is: what was the mode of life of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span> +the ancestor of the many warblers? Did he cling +to and creep along the bark, as the black-and-white +warbler, or feed from the ground or the +thicket as does the worm-eating? Did he snatch +flies on the wing as the necklaced Canadian warbler, +or glean from the brook’s edge as our water +thrush? The struggle for existence has not been +absent from the lives of these light-hearted little +fellows, and they have had to be jack-of-all-trades +in their search for food.</p> +<p>The gnats and other flying insects have indeed +to take many chances when they slip from their +cocoons and dance up and down in the warm sunlight! +Lucky for their race that there are millions +instead of thousands of them; for now the swifts +and great numbers of tree and barn swallows +spend the livelong day in swooping after the +unfortunate gauzy-winged motes, which have +risen above the toad’s maw upon land, and beyond +the reach of the trout’s leap over the water.</p> +<p>It would take an article as long as this simply +to mention hardly more than the names of the +birds that we may observe during a walk in May; +and with bird book and glasses we must see for +ourselves the bobolinks in the broad meadows, +the cowbirds and rusty blackbirds, and, pushing +through the lady-slipper marshes, we may surprise +the solitary great blue and the little green +herons at their silent fishing.</p> +<p>No matter how late the spring may be, the great +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span> +migration host will reach its height from the +tenth to the fifteenth of the month. From this +until June first, migrants will be passing, but in +fewer and fewer numbers, until the balance comes +to rest again, and we may cease from the strenuous +labours of the last few weeks, confident that +those birds that remain will be the builders of +the nests near our homes—nests that they know +so well how to hide. Even before the last day of +May passes, we see many young birds on their +first weak-winged flights, such as bluebirds and +robins; but June is the great month of bird homes, +as to May belong the migrants.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Robins and mocking birds that all day long</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Athwart straight sunshine weave cross-threads of song.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Sidney Lanier.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='ANIMAL_FASHIONS' id='ANIMAL_FASHIONS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span> +<h2>ANIMAL FASHIONS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Warm spring days bring other changes than +thawing snowbanks and the swelling buds +and leaves, which seem to grow almost visibly. It +is surprising how many of the wild folk meet +the spring with changed appearance—beautiful, +fantastic or ugly to us; all, perhaps, beautiful to +them and to their mates.</p> +<p>As a rule we find the conditions which exist +among ourselves reversed among the animals; +the male “blossoms forth like the rose,” while +the female’s sombre winter fur or feathers are +reduplicated only by a thinner coat for summer. +The “spring opening” of the great classes of +birds and animals is none the less interesting because +its styles are not set by Parisian modistes.</p> +<p>The most gorgeous display of all is to be found +among the birds, the peacock leading in conspicuousness +and self-consciousness. What a contrast +to the dull earthy-hued little hen, for whose +slightest favour he neglects food to raise his Argus-eyed +fan, clattering his quill castanets and +screaming challenges to his rivals! He will even +fight bloody battles with invading suitors; and, +after all, failure may be the result. Imagine the +feelings of two superb birds fighting over a winsome +browny, to see her—as I have done—walk +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span> +off with a spurless, half-plumaged young cock!</p> +<p>The males of many birds, such as the scarlet +tanager and the indigo bunting, assume during +the winter the sombre green or brown hue of the +female, changing in spring to a glorious scarlet +and black, or to an exquisite indigo colour respectively. +Not only do most of the females of +the feathered world retain their dull coats +throughout the year, but some deface even this +to form feather beds for the precious eggs and +nestlings, to protect which bright colours must +be entirely foregone.</p> +<p>The spring is the time when decorations are +seen at their best. The snowy egret trails his +filmy cloud of plumes, putting to shame the stiff +millinery bunches of similar feathers torn from +his murdered brethren. Even the awkward and +querulous night heron exhibits a long curling +plume or two. And what a strange criterion of +beauty a female white pelican must have! To be +sure, the graceful crest which Sir Pelican erects +is beautiful, but that huge, horny “keel” or +“sight” on his bill! What use can it subserve, +æsthetic or otherwise? One would think that +such a structure growing so near his eyes, and +day by day becoming taller, must occupy much of +his attention.</p> +<p>The sheldrake ducks also have a fleshy growth +on the bill. A turkey gobbler, when his vernal +wedding dress is complete, is indeed a remarkable +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +sight. The mass of wattles, usually so gray and +shrunken, is now of most vivid hues—scarlet, blue, +vermilion, green,—the fleshy tassels and swollen +knobs making him a most extraordinary creature.</p> +<p>Birds are noted for taking exquisite care of +their plumage, and if the feathers become at all +dingy or unkempt, we know the bird is in bad +health.</p> +<p>What a time the deer and the bears, the squirrels +and the mice, have when changing their +dress! Rags and tatters; tatters and rags! One +can grasp a handful of hair on the flank of a +caribou or elk in a zoological park, and the whole +will come out like thistledown; while underneath +is seen the sleek, short summer coat. A bear will +sometimes carry a few locks of the long, brown +winter fur for months after the clean black hairs +of the summer’s coat are grown. What a boon to +human tailors such an opportunity would be—to +ordain that Mr. X. must wear the faded collar +or vest of his old suit until bills are paid!</p> +<p>It is a poor substance, indeed, which, when cast +aside, is not available for some secondary use in +Nature’s realm; and the hairs that fall from animals +are not all left to return unused to their +original elements. The sharp eyes of birds spy +them out, and thus the lining to many a nest is +furnished. I knew of one feathered seeker of +cast-off clothing which met disaster through trying +to get a supply at first hand—a sparrow was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span> +found dead, tangled in the hairs of a pony’s tail. +The chickadee often lights on the backs of domestic +cattle and plucks out hair with which to line +some snug cavity near by for his nest. Before +the cattle came his ancestors were undoubtedly +in the habit of helping themselves from the deer’s +stock of “ole clo’s,” as they have been observed +getting their building material from the deer in +zoological parks.</p> +<p>Of course the hair of deer and similar animals +falls out with the motions of the creatures, or +is brushed out by bushes and twigs; but we must +hope that the shedding place of a porcupine is at +a distance from his customary haunts; it would +be so uncomfortable to run across a shred of +one’s old clothes—if one were a porcupine!</p> +<p>The skin of birds and animals wears away in +small flakes, but when a reptile changes to a new +suit of clothes, the old is shed almost entire. A +frog after shedding its skin will very often turn +round and swallow it, establishing the frog maxim +“every frog his own old clothes bag!”</p> +<p>Birds, which exhibit so many idiosyncrasies, +appear again as utilizers of old clothes; although +when a crested flycatcher weaves a long snake-skin +into the fabric of its nest, it seems more from the +standpoint of a curio collector—as some people +delight in old worn brass and blue china! There +is another if less artistic theory for this peculiarity +of the crested flycatcher. The skin of a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span> +snake—a perfect ghost in its completeness—would +make a splendid “bogie.” We can see that +it might, indeed, be useful in such a way, as in +frightening marauding crows, who approach with +cannibalistic intentions upon eggs or young. +Thus the skin would correspond in function to +the rows of dummy wooden guns, which make a +weak fort appear all but invincible.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='POLLIWOG_PROBLEMS' id='POLLIWOG_PROBLEMS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span> +<h2>POLLIWOG PROBLEMS</h2> +</div> + +<p>The ancient Phœnicians, Egyptians, Hindus, +Japanese, and Greeks all shared the belief +that the whole world was hatched from an egg +made by the Creator. This idea of development +is at least true in the case of every living thing +upon the earth to-day; every plant springs from +its seed, every animal from its egg. And still +another sweeping, all-inclusive statement may be +made,—every seed or egg at first consists of but +one cell, and by the division of this into many +cells, the lichen, violet, tree, worm, crab, butterfly, +fish, frog, or other higher creature is formed. +A little embryology will give a new impetus to +our studies, whether we watch the unfolding +leaves of a sunflower, a caterpillar emerging from +its egg, or a chick breaking through its shell.</p> +<p>The very simplest and best way to begin this +study is to go to the nearest pond, where the +frogs have been croaking in the evenings. A +search among the dead leaves and water-soaked +sticks will reveal a long string of black beads. +These are the eggs of the toad; if, however, the +beads are not in strings, but in irregular masses, +then they are frogs’ eggs. In any case take home +a tumblerful, place a few, together with the thick, +transparent gelatine, in which they are encased, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span> +in a saucer, and examine them carefully under +a good magnifying glass, or, better still, through +a low-power microscope lens.</p> +<p>You will notice that the tiny spheres are not +uniformly coloured but that half is whitish. If +the eggs have been recently laid the surface will +be smooth and unmarked, but have patience and +watch them for as long a time as you can spare. +Whenever I can get a batch of such eggs, I never +grudge a whole day spent in observing them, for +it is seldom that the mysterious processes of life +are so readily watched and followed.</p> +<p>Keep your eye fixed on the little black and white +ball of jelly and before long, gradually and yet +with never a halt, a tiny furrow makes its way +across the surface, dividing the egg into equal +halves. When it completely encircles the sphere +you may know that you have seen one of the +greatest wonders of the world. The egg which +consisted of but one cell is now divided into two +exactly equal parts, of the deepest significance. +Of the latter truth we may judge from the fact +that if one of those cells should be injured, only +one-half a polliwog would result,—either a head +or a tail half.</p> +<p>Before long the unseen hand of life ploughs another +furrow across the egg, and we have now +four cells. These divide into eight, sixteen, and so +on far beyond human powers of numeration, until +the beginnings of all the organs of the tadpole +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span> +are formed. While we cannot, of course, follow +this development, we can look at our egg every +day and at last see the little <i>wiggle heads</i> or polliwogs +(from <i>pol</i> and <i>wiggle</i>) emerge.</p> +<p>In a few days they develop a fin around the tail, +and from now on it is an easy matter to watch +the daily growth. There is no greater miracle in +the world than to see one of these aquatic, water-breathing, +limbless creatures transform before +your eyes into a terrestrial, four-legged frog or +toad, breathing air like ourselves. The humble +polliwog in its development is significant of far +more marvellous facts than the caterpillar changing +into the butterfly, embodying as it does the +deepest poetry and romance of evolution.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Blue dusk, that brings the dewy hours,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Brings thee, of graceless form in sooth.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Edgar Fawcett.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='INSECT_PIRATES_AND_SUBMARINES' id='INSECT_PIRATES_AND_SUBMARINES'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span> +<h2>INSECT PIRATES AND SUBMARINES</h2> +</div> + +<p>Far out on the ocean, when the vessel is laboriously +making her way through the troughs +and over the crests of the great waves, little birds, +black save for a patch of white on the lower back, +are a common sight, flying with quick irregular +wing-beats, close to the surface of the troubled +waters. When they spy some edible bit floating +beneath them, down they drop until their tiny +webbed feet just rest upon the water. Then, +snatching up the titbit, half-flying, they patter +along the surface of the water, just missing being +engulfed by each oncoming wave. Thus they have +come to be named petrels—little Peters—because +they seem to walk upon the water. Without aid +from the wings, however, they would soon be immersed, +so the walking is only an illusion.</p> +<p>But in our smallest ponds and brooks we may +see this miracle taking place almost daily, the +feat being accomplished by a very interesting +little assemblage of insects, commonly called +water skaters or striders. Let us place our eyes +as near as possible to the surface of the water +and watch the little creatures darting here and +there.</p> +<p>We see that they progress securely on the top +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span> +of the water, resting upon it as if it were a sheet +of ice. Their feet are so adapted that the water +only dimples beneath their slight weight, the extent +of the depression not being visible to the eye, +but clearly outlined in the shadows upon the bottom. +In an eddy of air a tiny fly is caught and +whirled upon the water, where it struggles vigorously, +striving to lift its wings clear of the surface. +In an instant the water strider—pirate of the pond +that he is—reaches forward his crooked fore +legs, and here endeth the career of the unfortunate +fly.</p> +<p>In the air, in the earth, and below the surface +of the water are hundreds of living creatures, but +the water striders and their near relatives are +unique. No other group shares their power of +actually walking, or rather pushing themselves, +upon the surface of the water. They have a little +piece of the world all to themselves. Yet, although +three fifths of the earth’s surface consists +of water, this group of insects is a small one. A +very few, however, are found out upon the ocean, +where the tiny creatures row themselves cheerfully +along. It is thought that they attach their +eggs to the floating saragassum seaweed. If only +we knew the whole life of one of these ocean +water striders and all the strange sights it must +see, a fairy story indeed would be unfolded to us.</p> +<p>However, all the Lilliputian craft of our brooks +are not galleys; there are submarines, which, in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span> +excellence of action and control, put to shame all +human efforts along the same line. These are the +water boatmen, stout boat-shaped insects whose +hind legs are long, projecting outward like the +oars of a rowboat. They feather their oars, too, +or rather the oars are feathered for them, a fringe +of long hairs growing out on each side of the +blade. Some of the boatmen swim upside down, +and these have the back keeled instead of the +breast. Like real submarine boats, these insects +have to come up for air occasionally; and, again +like similar craft of human handiwork, their principal +mission in life seems to be warfare upon the +weaker creatures about them.</p> +<p>Upon their bodies are many short hairs that +have the power of enclosing and retaining a good-sized +bubble of air. Thus the little boatman is +well supplied for each submarine trip, and he does +not have to return to the surface until all this +storage air has been exhausted. In perfectly pure +water, however, these boatmen can remain almost +indefinitely below the surface, although it is not +known how they obtain from the water the oxygen +which they usually take from the air.</p> +<p>All of these skaters and boatmen thrive in small +aquariums, and if given pieces of scraped meat +will live in perfect health. Here is an alluring +opportunity for anyone to add to our knowledge +of insect life; for the most recent scientific books +admit that we do not yet know the complete life +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span> +history of even one of these little brothers of the +pond.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Clear and cool, clear and cool,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>By laughing shallow, and dreaming pool;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Cool and clear, cool and clear,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>By shining shingle, and foaming weir,</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Charles Kingsley.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_VICTORY_OF_THE_NIGHTHAWK' id='THE_VICTORY_OF_THE_NIGHTHAWK'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span> +<h2>THE VICTORY OF THE NIGHTHAWK</h2> +</div> + +<p>The time is not far distant when the bottom +of the sea will be the only place where +primeval wildness will not have been defiled or +destroyed by man. He may sail his ships above, +he may peer downward, even dare to descend a +few feet in a suit of rubber or a submarine boat, +or he may scratch a tiny furrow for a few yards +with a dredge: but that is all.</p> +<p>When that time comes, the animals and birds +which survive will be only those which have found +a way to adapt themselves to man’s encroaching, +all-pervading civilisation. The time was when +our far-distant ancestors had, year in and year +out, to fight for very existence against the wild +creatures about them. They then gained the +upper hand, and from that time to the present +the only question has been, how long the wild +creatures of the earth could hold out.</p> +<p>The wolf, the bison, the beaver fought the battle +out at once to all but the bitter end. The +crow, the muskrat, the fox have more than held +their own, by reason of cunning, hiding or quickness +of sight; but they cannot hope for this to +last. The English sparrow has won by sheer +audacity; but most to be admired are those creatures +which have so changed their habits that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span> +some product of man’s invention serves them as +well as did their former wilderness home. The +eave swallow and barn swallow and the chimney +swift all belie their names in the few wild haunts +still uninvaded by man. The first two were originally +cliff and bank haunters, and the latter’s +home was a lightning-hollowed tree.</p> +<p>But the nighthawks which soar and boom above +our city streets, whence come they? Do they +make daily pilgrimages from distant woods? The +city furnishes no forest floor on which they may +lay their eggs. Let us seek a wide expanse of flat +roof, high above the noisy, crowded streets. Let +it be one of those tar and pebble affairs, so unpleasant +to walk upon, but so efficient in shedding +water. If we are fortunate, as we walk slowly +across the roof, a something, like a brownish bit +of wind-blown rubbish, will roll and tumble ahead +of us. It is a bird with a broken wing, we say. +How did it ever get up here? We hasten forward +to pick it up, when, with a last desperate flutter, +it topples off the edge of the roof; but instead of +falling helplessly to the street, the bird swings +out above the house-tops, on the white-barred pinions +of a nighthawk. Now mark the place where +first we observed the bird, and approach it carefully, +crawling on hands and knees. Otherwise +we will very probably crush the two mottled bits +of shell, so exactly like pebbles in external appearance, +but sheltering two little warm, beating +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span> +hearts. Soon the shells will crack, and the young +nighthawks will emerge,—tiny fluffs,—in colour +the very essence of the scattered pebbles.</p> +<p>In the autumn they will all pass southward to +the far distant tropics, and when spring again +awakens, the instinct of migration will lead them, +not to some mottled carpet of moss and rocks deep +in the woods, but to the tarred roof of a house in +the very heart of a great city.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>JUNE</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_GALA_DAYS_OF_BIRDS' id='THE_GALA_DAYS_OF_BIRDS'></a> +<h2>THE GALA DAYS OF BIRDS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Migration is over, and the great influx of +birds which last month filled every tree and +bush is now distributed over field and wood, from +our dooryard and lintel vine to the furthermost +limits of northern exploration; birds, perhaps, +having discovered the pole long years ago. Now +every feather and plume is at its brightest and +full development; for must not the fastidious +females be sought and won?</p> +<p>And now the great struggle of the year is at +hand, the supreme moment for which thousands +of throats have been vibrating with whispered +rehearsals of trills and songs, and for which the +dangers that threaten the acquisition of bright +colours and long, inconvenient plumes and ornaments +have been patiently undergone. Now, if all +goes well and his song is clear, if his crest and +gorgeous splashes of tints and shades are fresh +and shining with the gloss of health, then the +feathered lover may hope, indeed, that the little +brown mate may look with favour upon dance, +song, or antic—and the home is become a reality. +In some instances this home is for only one short +season, when the two part, probably forever; but +in other cases the choice is for life. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span></p> +<p>But if his rival is stronger, handsomer, and—victorious, +what then? Alas, the song dies in his +throat, plumes hang crestfallen, and the disconsolate +creature must creep about through tangles +and brush, watching from a distance the nest-building, +the delights of home life which fate has +forbidden. But the poor bachelor need not by +any means lose hope; for on all sides dangers +threaten his happy rival—cats, snakes, jays, +hawks, owls, and boys. Hundreds of birds must +pay for their victory with their lives, and then the +once discarded suitors are quickly summoned by +the widows; and these step-fathers, no whit +chagrined at playing second fiddle, fill up the +ranks, and work for the young birds as if they +were their own offspring.</p> +<p>There is an unsolved mystery about the tragedies +and comedies that go on every spring. +Usually every female bird has several suitors, of +which one is accepted. When the death of this +mate occurs, within a day or two another is +found; and this may be repeated a dozen times in +succession. Not only this, but when a female bird +is killed, her mate is generally able at once somewhere, +somehow, to find another to take her place. +Why these unmated males and females remain +single until they are needed is something that has +never been explained.</p> +<p>The theme of the courtship of birds is marvellously +varied and comparatively little understood. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span> +Who would think that when our bald eagle, of +national fame, seeks to win his mate, his ardour +takes the form of an undignified galloping dance, +round and round her from branch to branch! +Hardly less ridiculous—to our eyes—is the +elaborate performance of our most common woodpecker, +the flicker, or high-hole. Two or three +male birds scrape and bow and pose and chatter +about the demure female, outrageously undignified +as compared with their usual behaviour. They +do everything save twirl their black moustaches!</p> +<p>In the mating season some birds have beauties +which are ordinarily concealed. Such is the male +ruby-crowned kinglet, garbed in gray and green, +the two sexes identical, except for the scarlet +touch on the crown of the male, which, at courting +time, he raises and expands. Even the iris of +some birds changes and brightens in colour at the +breeding season; while in others there appear +about the base of the bill horny parts, which in a +month or two fall off. The scarlet coat of the +tanager is perhaps solely for attracting and holding +the attention of the female, as before winter +every feather is shed, the new plumage being of +a dull green, like that of its mate and its young.</p> +<p>As mystery confronts us everywhere in nature, +so we confess ourselves baffled when we attempt +to explain the most wonderful of all the attributes +of bird courtship—song. Birds have notes to call +to one another, to warn of danger, to express +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span> +anger and fear; but the highest development of +their vocal efforts seems to be devoted to charming +the females. If birds have a love of music, +then there must be a marvellous diversity of taste +among them, ranging all the way from the shrieking, +strident screams of the parrots and macaws +to the tender pathos of the wood pewee and the +hermit thrush.</p> +<p>If birds have not some appreciation of sweet +sounds, then we must consider the many different +songs as mere by-products, excess of vitality +which expresses itself in results, in many cases, +strangely æsthetic and harmonious. A view midway +is indefinable as regards the boundaries +covered by each theory. How much of the peacock’s +train or of the thrush’s song is appreciated +by the female? How much is by-product merely?</p> +<p>In these directions a great field lies open to the +student and lover of birds; but however we decide +for ourselves in regard to the exact meaning and +evolution of song, and what use it subserves +among the birds, we all admit the effect and pleasure +it produces in ourselves. A world without the +song of birds is greatly lacking—such is a desert, +where even the harsh croak of a raven is melody.</p> +<p>Perhaps the reason why the songs of birds give +more lasting pleasure than many other things is +that sound is so wonderfully potent to recall days +and scenes of our past life. Like a sunset, the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span> +vision that a certain song brings is different to +each one of us.</p> +<p>To me, the lament of the wood pewee brings to +mind deep, moist places in the Pennsylvania backwoods; +the crescendo of the oven bird awakens +memories of the oaks of the Orange mountains; +when a loon or an olive-sided flycatcher or a white-throat +calls, the lakes and forests of Nova Scotia +come vividly to mind; the cry of a sea-swallow +makes real again the white beaches of Virginia; +to me a cardinal has in its song the feathery +lagoons of Florida’s Indian River, while the +shriek of a macaw and its antithesis, the silvery, +interlacing melodies of the solitaire, spell the +farthest <i>barrancas</i> of Mexico, with the vultures +ever circling overhead, and the smoke clouds of +the volcano in the distance.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>So sweet, so sweet the calling of the thrushes,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The calling, cooing, wooing, everywhere;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>So sweet the water’s song through reeds and rushes,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The plover’s piping note, now here, now there.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Nora Perry.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='TURTLE_TRAITS' id='TURTLE_TRAITS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span> +<h2>TURTLE TRAITS</h2> +</div> + +<p>A turtle, waddling his solitary way along +some watercourse, attracts little attention +apart from that aroused by his clumsy, grotesque +shape; yet few who look upon him are able to +give offhand even a bare half-dozen facts about +the humble creature. Could they give any information +at all, it would probably be limited to two +or three usages to which his body is put—such as +soup, mandolin picks, and combs.</p> +<p>In the northeastern part of our own country we +may look for no fewer than eight species of turtles +which are semi-aquatic, living in or near ponds +and streams, while another, the well-known box +tortoise, confines its travels to the uplands and +woods.</p> +<p>There are altogether about two hundred different +kinds of turtles, and they live in all except +the very cold countries of the world. Australia +has the fewest and North and Central America +the greatest number of species. Evolutionists +can tell us little or nothing of the origin of these +creatures, for as far back in geological ages as +they are found fossil (a matter of a little over ten +million years), all are true turtles, not half turtles +and half something else. Crocodiles and alligators, +with their hard leathery coats, come as near +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +to them as do any living creatures, and when we +see a huge snapping turtle come out of the water +and walk about on land, we cannot fail to be +reminded of the fellow with the armoured back.</p> +<p>Turtles are found on the sea and on land, the +marine forms more properly deserving the name +of turtles; tortoises being those living on land or +in fresh water. We shall use the name turtle as +significant of the whole group. The most natural +method of classifying these creatures is by the +way the head and neck are drawn back under the +shell; whether the head is turned to one side, or +drawn straight back, bending the neck into the +letter S shape.</p> +<p>The skull of a turtle is massive, and some have +thick, false roofs on top of the usual brain box.</p> +<p>The “house” or shell of a turtle is made up of +separate pieces of bone, a central row along the +back and others arranged around on both sides. +These are really pieces of the skin of the back +changed to bone. Our ribs are directly under the +skin of the back, and if this skin should harden +into a bone-like substance, the ribs would lie flat +against it, and this is the case with the ribs of +turtles. So when we marvel that the ribs of a +turtle are on the outside of its body, a second +thought will show us that this is just as true of +us as it is of these reptiles.</p> +<p>This hardening of the skin has brought about +some interesting changes in the body of the turtle. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span> +In all the higher animals, from fishes up to man, +a backbone is of the greatest importance not only +in carrying the nerves and blood-vessels, but in +supporting the entire body. In turtles alone, the +string of vertebræ is unnecessary, the shell giving +all the support needed. So, as Nature seldom +allows unused tissues or organs to remain, these +bones along the back become, in many species, +reduced to a mere thread.</p> +<p>The pieces of bone or horn which go to make up +the shell, although so different in appearance from +the skin, yet have the same life-processes. Occasionally +the shell moults or peels, the outer part +coming off in great flakes. Each piece grows by +the addition of rings of horn at the joints, and +(like the rings of a tree) the age of turtles, except +of very old ones, can be estimated by the number +of circles of horn on each piece. The rings are +very distinct in species which live in temperate +climates. Here they are compelled to hibernate +during the winter, and this cessation of growth +marks the intervals between each ring. In tropical +turtles the rings are either absent or indistinct. +It is to this mode of growth that the spreading +of the initials which are cut into the shell is +due, just as letters carved on the trunks of trees +in time broaden and bulge outward.</p> +<p>The shell has the power of regeneration, and +when a portion is crushed or torn away the injured +parts are gradually cast off, and from the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span> +surrounding edges a new covering of horn grows +out. One third of the entire shell has been known +to be thus replaced.</p> +<p>Although so slow in their locomotion and +actions, turtles have well-developed senses. They +can see very distinctly, and the power of smell is +especially acute, certain turtles being very discriminating +in the matter of food. They are also +very sensitive to touch, and will react to the least +tap on their shells. Their hearing, however, is +more imperfect, but as during the mating season +they have tiny, piping voices, this sense must be +of some use.</p> +<p>Water tortoises can remain beneath the surface +for hours and even days at a time. In addition +to the lungs there are two small sacs near the tail +which allow the animal to use the oxygen in the +water as an aid to breathing.</p> +<p>All turtles lay eggs, the shells of which are white +and generally of a parchment-like character. They +are deposited in the ground or in the sand, and +hatch either by the warmth of the decaying vegetation +or by the heat of the sun. In temperate +countries the eggs remain through the winter, and +the little turtles do not emerge until the spring. +The eggs of turtles are very good to eat, and the +oil contained in them is put to many uses. In all +the countries which they inhabit, young turtles +have a hard time of it; for thousands of them are +devoured by storks, alligators, and fishes. Even +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span> +old turtles have many enemies, not the least +strange being jaguars, which watch for them, turn +them on their backs with a flip of the paw, and +eat them at leisure—on the half shell, as it were!</p> +<p>Leathery turtles—which live in the sea—have +been reported weighing over a thousand pounds! +This species is very rare, and a curious circumstance +is that only very large adults and very +small baby individuals have been seen, the turtles +of all intermediate growths keeping in the deep +ocean out of view.</p> +<p>Snapping turtles are among the fiercest creatures +in the world. On leaving the egg their first +instinct is to open their mouths and bite at something. +They feed on almost anything, but when, +in captivity they sometimes refuse to eat, and +have been known to go a year without food, showing +no apparent ill effects. One method which +they employ in capturing their food is interesting. +A snapping turtle will lie quietly at the bottom of +a pond or lake, looking like an old water-soaked +log with a branch—its head and neck—at one end. +From the tip of the tongue the creature extrudes +two small filaments of a pinkish colour which +wriggle about, bearing a perfect resemblance to +the small round worms of which fishes are so fond. +Attracted by these, fishes swim up to grasp the +squirming objects and are engulfed by the cruel +mouth of the angler. Certain marine turtles have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span> +long-fringed appendages on the head and neck, +which, waving about, serve a similar purpose.</p> +<p>The edible terrapin has, in many places, become +very rare; so that thousands of them are kept and +bred in enclosed areas, or “crawls,” as they are +called. This species is noted for its curious disposition, +and it is often captured by being +attracted by some unusual sound.</p> +<p>The tortoise-shell of commerce is obtained from +the shell of the hawksbill turtle, the plates of +which, being very thin, are heated and welded together +until of the required thickness. The age to +which turtles live has often been exaggerated, but +they are certainly the longest lived of all living +creatures. Individuals from the Galapagos Island +are estimated to be over four hundred years +old. When, in a zoological garden, we see one of +these creatures and study his aged, aged look, as +he slowly and deliberately munches the cabbage +which composes his food, we can well believe that +such a being saw the light of day before Columbus +made his memorable voyage.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>He’s his own landlord, his own tenant; stay</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Long as he will, he dreads no Quarter Day.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Himself he boards and lodges; both invites</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And feasts himself; sleeps with himself o’nights.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>He spares the upholsterer trouble to procure</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Chattels; himself is his own furniture,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Knock when you will,—he’s sure to be at home.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Charles Lamb.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='A_HALFHOUR_IN_A_MARSH' id='A_HALFHOUR_IN_A_MARSH'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span> +<h2>A HALF-HOUR IN A MARSH</h2> +</div> + +<p>There are little realms all around of which +many of us know nothing. Take, for +example, some marsh within a half-hour’s trolley +ride of any of our cities or towns. Select one +where cat-tails and reeds abound. Mosquitoes +and fear of malaria keep these places free from +invasion by humankind; but if we select some +windy day we may laugh them both to scorn, and +we shall be well repaid for our trip. The birds +frequenting these places are so seldom disturbed +that they make only slight effort to conceal their +nests, and we shall find plenty of the beautiful +bird cradles rocking with every passing breeze.</p> +<p>A windy day will also reveal an interesting +feature of the marsh. The soft, velvety grass, +which abounds in such places, is so pliant and +yielding that it responds to every breath, and each +approaching wave of air is heralded by an advancing +curl of the grass. At our feet these grass-waves +intersect and recede, giving a weird sensation, +as if the ground were moving, or as if we +were walking on the water itself. Where the +grass is longer, the record of some furious gale is +permanently fixed—swaths and ripples seeming +to roll onward, or to break into green foam. The +simile of a “painted ocean” is perfectly carried +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +out. There is no other substance, not even sand, +which simulates more exactly the motions of water +than this grass.</p> +<p>In the nearest clump of reeds we notice several +red-winged blackbirds, chattering nervously. A +magnificent male bird, black as night, and with +scarlet epaulets burning on his shoulders, swoops +at us, while his inconspicuous brownish consorts +vibrate above the reeds, some with grubs, some +empty mouthed. They are invariable indexes of +what is below them. We may say with perfect +assurance that in that patch of rushes are two +nests, one with young; beyond are three others, +all with eggs.</p> +<p>We find beautiful structures, firm and round, +woven of coarse grasses inside and dried reeds +without, hung between two or three supporting +stalks, or, if it is a fresh-water marsh, sheltered +by long, green fern fronds. The eggs are worthy +of their cradles—pearly white in colour, with +scrawls and blotches of dark purple at the larger +end—hieroglyphics which only the blackbirds can +translate.</p> +<p>In another nest we find newly hatched young, +looking like large strawberries, their little naked +bodies of a vivid orange colour, with scanty gray +tufts of down here and there. Not far away is a +nest, overflowing with five young birds ready to +fly, which scramble out at our approach and start +boldly off; but as their weak wings give out, they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span> +soon come to grief. We catch one and find that +it has most delicate colours, resembling its mother +in being striped brown and black, although its +breast and under parts are of an unusually beautiful +tint—a kind of salmon pink. I never saw this +shade elsewhere in Nature.</p> +<p>Blackbirds are social creatures, and where we +find one nest, four or five others may be looked for +near by. The red-winged blackbird is a mormon +in very fact, and often a solitary male bird may +be seen guarding a colony of three or four nests, +each with an attending female. A sentiment of +altruism seems indeed not unknown, as I have +seen a female give a grub to one of a hungry nestful, +before passing on to brood her own eggs, yet +unhatched.</p> +<p>While looking for the blackbirds’ nests we shall +come across numerous round, or oval, masses of +dried weeds and grass—mice homes we may think +them; and the small, winding entrance concealed +on one side tends to confirm this opinion. Several +will be empty, but when in one our fingers touch +six or eight tiny eggs, our mistake will be apparent. +Long-billed marsh wrens are the architects, +and so fond are they of building that frequently +three or four unused nests are constructed before +the little chocolate jewels are deposited.</p> +<p>If we sit quietly for a few moments, one of the +owners, overcome by wren curiosity, will appear, +clinging to a reed stalk and twitching his pert, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span> +upturned tail, the badge of his family. Soon he +springs up into the air and, bubbling a jumble of +liquid notes, sinks back into the recesses of the +cat-tails. Another and another repeat this until +the marsh rings with their little melodies.</p> +<p>If we seat ourselves and watch quietly we may +possibly behold an episode that is not unusual. +The joyous songs of the little wrens suddenly give +place to cries of fear and anger; and this hubbub +increases until at last we see a sinister ripple +flowing through the reeds, marking the advancing +head of a water snake.</p> +<p>The evil eyes of the serpent are bent upon the +nearest nest, and toward it he makes his way, followed +and beset by all the wrens in the vicinity. +Slowly the scaly creature pushes himself up on +the reeds; and as they bend under his weight he +makes his way the more easily along them to the +nest. His head is pushed in at the entrance, but +an instant later the snake twines downward to the +water. The nest was empty. Again he seeks an +adjoining nest, and again is disappointed; and +now, a small fish attracting his attention, he goes +off in swift pursuit, leaving untouched the third +nest in sight, that containing the precious eggs. +Thus the apparently useless industry of the tiny +wrens has served an invaluable end, and the +tremulous chorus is again timidly taken up—little +hymns of thanksgiving we may imagine them now.</p> +<p>These and many others are sights which a half-hour’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span> +tramp, without even wetting our shoes, +may show us. Before we leave, hints of more +deeply hidden secrets of the marsh may perhaps +come to us. A swamp sparrow may show by its +actions that its nest is not far away; from the +depths of a ditch jungle the clatter of some rail +comes faintly to our ears, and the distant croak +of a night heron reaches us from its feeding-grounds, +guarded by the deeper waters.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And what if behind me to westward the wall of the woods stands high?</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The world lies east: how ample, the marsh and the sea and the sky!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>A league and a league of marsh-grass, waist-high, broad in the blade.</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Oh, what is abroad in the marsh and terminal sea?</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Somehow my soul seems suddenly free</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>From the weighing of fate and the sad discussion of sin.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Sidney Lanier.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='SECRETS_OF_THE_OCEAN' id='SECRETS_OF_THE_OCEAN'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span> +<h2>SECRETS OF THE OCEAN</h2> +</div> + +<p>We are often held spellbound by the majesty +of mountains, and indeed a lofty peak +forever capped with snow, or pouring forth smoke +and ashes, is impressive beyond all terrestrial +things. But the ocean yields to nothing in its +grandeur, in its age, in its ceaseless movement, +and the question remains forever unanswered, +“Who shall sound the mysteries of the sea?” +Before the most ancient of mountains rose from +the heart of the earth, the waves of the sea rolled +as now, and though the edges of the continents +shrink and expand, bend into bays or stretch out +into capes, always through all the ages the sea +follows and laps with ripples or booms with +breakers unceasingly upon the shore.</p> +<p>Whether considered from the standpoint of the +scientist, the mere curiosity of the tourist, or the +keen delight of the enthusiastic lover of Nature, +the shore of the sea—its sands and waters, its +ever-changing skies and moods—is one of the most +interesting spots in the world. The very bottom +of the deep bays near shore—dark and eternally +silent, prisoned under the restless waste of waters—is +thickly carpeted with strange and many-coloured +forms of animal and vegetable life. But +the beaches and tide-pools over which the moon-urged +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span> +tides hold sway in their ceaseless rise and +fall, teem with marvels of Nature’s handiwork, +and every day are restocked and replanted with +new living objects, both arctic and tropical offerings +of each heaving tidal pulse.</p> +<p>Here on the northeastern shores of our continent +one may spend days of leisure or delightful +study among the abundant and ever changing +variety of wonderful living creatures. It is not +unlikely that the enjoyment and absolute novelty +of this new world may enable one to look on these +as some of the most pleasant days of life. I write +from the edge of the restless waters of Fundy, but +any rock-strewn shore will duplicate the marvels.</p> +<p>At high tide the surface of the Bay is unbroken +by rock or shoal, and stretches glittering in the +sunlight from the beach at one’s feet to where the +New Brunswick shore is just visible, appearing +like a low bluish cloud on the horizon. At times +the opposite shore is apparently brought nearer +and made more distinct by a mirage, which inverts +it, together with any ships which are in sight. A +brig may be seen sailing along keel upward, in the +most matter-of-fact way. The surface may anon +be torn by those fearful squalls for which Fundy +is noted, or, calm as a mirror, reflect the blue sky +with an added greenish tinge, troubled only by +the gentle alighting of a gull, the splash of a kingfisher +or occasional osprey, as these dive for their +prey, or the ruffling which shows where a school +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span> +of mackerel is passing. This latter sign always +sends the little sailing dories hurrying out, where +they beat back and forth, like shuttles travelling +across a loom, and at each turn a silvery struggling +form is dragged into the boat.</p> +<p>A little distance along the shore the sandy beach +ends and is replaced by huge bare boulders, scattered +and piled in the utmost confusion. Back of +these are scraggly spruces, with branches which +have been so long blown landwards that they have +bent and grown altogether on that side,—permanent +weather-vanes of Fundy’s storms. The very +soil in which they began life was blown away, and +their gnarled weather-worn roots hug the rocks, +clutching every crevice as a drowning man would +grasp an oar. On the side away from the bay two +or three long, thick roots stretch far from each +tree to the nearest earth-filled gully, sucking what +scanty nourishment they can, for strength to withstand +the winter’s gales yet another year or decade. +Beach-pea and sweet marsh lavender tint +the sand, and stunted fringed orchids gleam in the +coarse grass farther inland. High up among the +rocks, where there is scarcely a handful of soil, +delicate harebells sway and defy the blasts, enduring +because of their very pliancy and weakness.</p> +<p>If we watch awhile we will see a line of blackish +seaweed and wet sand appearing along the edge of +the water, showing that the tide has turned and +begun to recede. In an hour it has ebbed a considerable +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span> +distance, and if we clamber down over +the great weather-worn rocks the hardy advance +guard of that wonderful world of life under the +water is seen. Barnacles whiten the top of every +rock which is reached by the tide, although the +water may cover them only a short time each day. +But they flourish here in myriads, and the shorter +the chance they have at the salt water the more +frantically their little feathery feet clutch at the +tiny food particles which float around them. These +thousands of tiny turreted castles are built so +closely together that many are pressed out of +shape, paralleling in shape as in substance the +inorganic crystals of the mineral kingdom. The +valved doors are continually opening and partly +closing, and if we listen quietly we can hear a perpetual +shuss! shuss! Is it the creaking of the tiny +hinges? As the last receding wave splashes them, +they shut their folding doors over a drop or two +and remain tightly closed, while perhaps ten hours +of sunlight bake them, or they glisten in the moonlight +for the same length of time, ready at the first +touch of the returning water to open wide and +welcome it.</p> +<p>The thought of their life history brings to mind +how sadly they retrogress as they grow, hatching +as minute free-swimming creatures like tiny lobsters, +and gradually changing to this plant-like +life, <i>sans</i> eyes, <i>sans</i> head, <i>sans</i> most everything +except a stomach and a few pairs of feathery feet +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span> +to kick food into it. A few pitiful traces of nerves +are left them. What if there were enough ganglia +to enable them to dream of their past higher +life, in the long intervals of patient waiting!</p> +<p>A little lower down we come to the zone of mussels,—hanging +in clusters like some strange sea-fruit. +Each is attached by strands of thin silky +cables, so tough that they often defy our utmost +efforts to tear a specimen away. How secure these +creatures seem, how safe from all harm, and yet +they have enemies which make havoc among them. +At high tide fishes come and crunch them, shells +and all, and multitudes of carnivorous snails are +waiting to set their file-like tongues at work, which +mercilessly drill through the lime shells, bringing +death in a more subtle but no less certain +form. Storms may tear away the support of these +poor mollusks, and the waves dash them far out of +the reach of the tides, while at low water, crows +and gulls use all their ingenuity to get at their +toothsome flesh.</p> +<p>There are no ant-hills in the sea, but when we +turn over a large stone and see scores upon scores +of small black shrimps scurrying around, the +resemblance to those insects is striking. These +little creatures quickly hitch away on their sides, +getting out of sight in a remarkably short time.</p> +<p>The tide is going down rapidly, and following it +step by step novel sights meet the eye at every +turn, and we begin to realise that in this narrow +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span> +strip, claimed alternately by sea and land, which +would be represented on a map by the finest of +hair-lines, there exists a complete world of animated +life, comparing in variety and numbers +with the life in that thinner medium, air. We +climb over enormous boulders, so different in appearance +that they would never be thought to consist +of the same material as those higher up on +the shore. These are masses of wave-worn rock, +twenty or thirty feet across, piled in every imaginable +position, and completely covered with a +thick padding of seaweed. Their drapery of algæ +hangs in festoons, and if we draw aside these submarine +curtains, scenes from a veritable fairyland +are disclosed. Deep pools of water, clear as +crystal and icy cold, contain creatures both hideous +and beautiful, sombre and iridescent, formless +and of exquisite shape.</p> +<p>The sea-anemones first attract attention, showing +as splashes of scarlet and salmon among the +olive-green seaweed, or in hundreds covering the +entire bottom of a pool with a delicately hued mist +of waving tentacles. As the water leaves these +exposed on the walls of the caves, they lose their +plump appearance and, drawing in their wreath +of tentacles, hang limp and shrivelled, resembling +pieces of water-soaked meat as much as anything. +Submerged in the icy water they are veritable +animal-flowers. Their beauty is indeed well +guarded, hidden by the overhanging seaweed in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span> +these caves twenty-five feet or more below high-water +mark.</p> +<p>Here in these beautiful caverns we may make +aquariums, and transplant as many animal-flowers +as we wish. Wherever we place them their fleshy, +snail-like foot spreads out, takes tight hold, and +the creature lives content, patiently waiting for +the Providence of the sea to send food to its many +wide-spread fingers.</p> +<p>Carpeted with pink algæ and dainty sponges, +draped with sea-lettuce like green tissue paper, +decorated with strange corallines, these natural +aquariums far surpass any of artificial make. Although +the tide drives us from them sooner or +later, we may return with the sure prospect of +finding them refreshed and perhaps replenished +with many new forms. For often some of the +deep-water creatures are held prisoners in the +lower tide-pools, as the water settles, somewhat as +when the glaciers receded northward after the Ice +Age there were left on isolated mountain peaks +traces of the boreal fauna and flora.</p> +<p>If we are interested enough to watch our +anemones we will find much entertainment. Let +us return to our shrimp colonies and bring a handful +to our pool. Drop one in the centre of an +anemone and see how quickly it contracts. The +tentacles bend over it exactly as the sticky hairs +of the sun-dew plant close over a fly. The shrimp +struggles for a moment and is then drawn downward +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span> +out of sight. The birth of an anemone is +well worth patient watching, and this may take +place in several different ways. We may see a +large individual with a number of tiny bunches +on the sides of the body, and if we keep this one +in a tumbler, before long these protuberances will +be seen to develop a few tentacles and at last +break off as perfect miniature anemones. Or +again, an anemone may draw in its tentacles without +apparent cause, and after a few minutes expand +more widely than ever. Suddenly a movement +of the mouth is seen, and it opens, and one, +two, or even a half-dozen tiny anemones shoot +forth. They turn and roll in the little spurt of +water and gradually settle to the rock alongside +of the mother. In a short time they turn right +side up, expand their absurd little heads, and +begin life for themselves. These animal “buds” +may be of all sizes; some minute ones will be much +less developed and look very unlike the parent. +These are able to swim about for a while, and +myriads of them may be born in an hour. Others, +as we have seen, have tentacles and settle down +at once.</p> +<p>Fishes, little and big, are abundant in the pools, +darting here and there among the leathery fronds +of “devils’ aprons,” cavernous-mouthed angler +fish, roly-poly young lump-suckers, lithe butterfish, +and many others.</p> +<p>Moving slowly through the pools are many +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span> +beautiful creatures, some so evanescent that they +are only discoverable by the faint shadows which +they cast on the bottom, others suggest animated +spheres of prismatic sunlight. These latter are +tiny jelly-fish, circular hyaline masses of jelly with +eight longitudinal bands, composed of many +comb-like plates, along which iridescent waves of +light continually play. The graceful appearance +of these exquisite creatures is increased by two +long, fringed tentacles streaming behind, drifting +at full length or contracting into numerous coils. +The fringe on these streamers is a series of living +hairs—an aquatic cobweb, each active with life, +and doing its share in ensnaring minute atoms of +food for its owner. When dozens of these +<i>ctenophores</i> (or comb-bearers) as they are called, +glide slowly to and fro through a pool, the sight is +not soon forgotten. To try to photograph them +is like attempting to portray the substance of a +sunbeam, but patience works wonders, and even a +slightly magnified image of a living jelly is +secured, which shows very distinctly all the details +of its wonderfully simple structure; the +pouch, suspended in the centre of the sphere, +which does duty as a stomach; the sheaths into +which the long tentacles may be so magically +packed, and the tiny organ at the top of this living +ball of spun glass, serving, with its minute weights +and springs, as compass, rudder, and pilot to this +little creature, which does not fear to pit its +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span> +muscles of jelly against the rush and might of +breaking waves.</p> +<p>Even the individual comb-plates or rows of oars +are plainly seen, although, owing to their rapid +motion, they appear to the naked eye as a single +band of scintillating light. This and other magnified +photographs were obtained by fastening the +lens of a discarded bicycle lantern in a cone of +paper blackened on the inside with shoe-blacking. +With this crude apparatus placed in front of the +lens of the camera, the evanescent beauties of +these most delicate creatures were preserved.</p> +<p>Other equally beautiful forms of jelly-fish are +balloon-shaped. These are <i>Beröe</i>, fitly named +after the daughter of the old god Oceanus. They, +like others of their family, pulsate through the +water, sweeping gracefully along, borne on currents +of their own making.</p> +<p>Passing to other inhabitants of the pools, we +find starfish and sea-urchins everywhere abundant. +Hunched-up groups of the former show +where they are dining in their unique way on unfortunate +sea-snails or anemones, protruding +their whole stomach and thus engulfing their victim. +The urchins strain and stretch with their +innumerable sucker-feet, feeling for something to +grasp, and in this laborious way pull themselves +along. The mouth, with the five so-called teeth, +is a conspicuous feature, visible at the centre of +the urchin and surrounded by the greenish spines. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span> +Some of the starfish are covered with long spines, +others are nearly smooth. The colours are wonderfully +varied,—red, purple, orange, yellow, etc.</p> +<p>The stages through which these prickly skinned +animals pass, before they reach the adult state, +are wonderfully curious, and only when they are +seen under the microscope can they be fully appreciated. +A bolting-cloth net drawn through +some of the pools will yield thousands in many +stages, and we can take eggs of the common starfish +and watch their growth in tumblers of water. +At first the egg seems nothing but a tiny round +globule of jelly, but soon a dent or depression +appears on one side, which becomes deeper and +deeper until it extends to the centre of the egg-mass. +It is as if we should take a round ball of +putty and gradually press our finger into it. This +pressed-in sac is a kind of primitive stomach and +the entrance is used as a mouth. After this follows +a marvellous succession of changes, form +giving place to form, differing more in appearance +and structure from the five-armed starfish +than a caterpillar differs from a butterfly.</p> +<p>For example, when about eight days old, +another mouth has formed and two series of delicate +cilia or swimming hairs wind around the +creature, by means of which it glides slowly +through the water. The photographs of a starfish +of this age show the stomach with its contents, a +dark rounded mass near the lower portion of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span> +organism. The vibrating bands which outline the +tiny animal are also visible. The delicacy of structure +and difficulty of preserving these young starfish +alive make these pictures of particular value, +especially as they were taken of the living forms +swimming in their natural element. Each day +and almost each hour adds to the complexity of +the little animal, lung tentacles grow out and +many other larval stages are passed through +before the starfish shape is discernible within this +curious “nurse” or living, changing egg. Then +the entire mass, so elaborately evolved through +so long a time, is absorbed and the little baby star +sinks to the bottom to start on its new life, crawling +around and over whatever happens in its path +and feeding to repletion on succulent oysters. It +can laugh at the rage of the oysterman, who +angrily tears it in pieces, for “time heals all +wounds” literally in the case of these creatures, +and even if the five arms are torn apart, five starfish, +small of arm but with healthy stomachs, will +soon be foraging on the oyster bed.</p> +<p>But to return to our tide-pools. In the skimming +net with the young starfish many other creatures +are found, some so delicate and fragile that +they disintegrate before microscope and camera +can be placed in position. I lie at full length on +a soft couch of seaweed with my face close to a +tiny pool no larger than my hand. A few armadillo +shells and limpets crawl on the bottom, but +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span> +a frequent troubling of the water baffles me. I +make sure my breath has nothing to do with it, +but still it continues. At last a beam of sunshine +lights up the pool, and as if a film had rolled from +my eyes I see the cause of the disturbance. A sea-worm—or +a ghost of one—is swimming about. Its +large, brilliant eyes, long tentacles, and innumerable +waving appendages are now as distinct as +before they had been invisible. A trifling change +in my position and all vanishes as if by magic. +There seems not an organ, not a single part of +the creature, which is not as transparent as the +water itself. The fine streamers into which the +paddles and gills are divided are too delicate to +have existence in any but a water creature, and +the least attempt to lift the animal from its element +would only tear and dismember it, so I leave +it in the pool to await the return of the tide.</p> +<p>Shrimps and prawns of many shapes and colours +inhabit every pool. One small species, +abundant on the algæ, combines the colour changes +of a chameleon with the form and manner of +travel of a measuring-worm, looping along the +fronds of seaweed or swimming with the same +motion. Another variety of shrimp resembles +the common wood-louse found under pieces of +bark, but is most beautifully iridescent, glowing +like an opal at the bottom of the pool. The curious +little sea-spiders keep me guessing for a long +time where their internal organs can be, as they +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span> +consist of legs with merely enough body to connect +these firmly together. The fact that the +thread-like stomach and other organs send a +branch into each of the eight legs explains the +mystery and shows how far economy of space may +go. Their skeleton-forms, having the appearance +of eight straggling filaments of seaweed, are thus, +doubtless, a great protection to these creatures +from their many enemies. Other hobgoblin forms +with huge probosces crawl slowly over the floors +of the anemone caves, or crouch as the shadow of +my hand or net falls upon them.</p> +<p>The larger gorgeously coloured and graceful +sea-worms contribute not a small share to the +beauty of Fundy tide-pools, swimming in iridescent +waves through the water or waving their +Medusa-head of crimson tentacles at the bottom +among the sea-lettuce. These worms form tubes +of mud for themselves, and the rows of hooks on +each side of the body enable them to climb up and +down in their dismal homes.</p> +<p>Much of the seaweed from deeper bottoms +seems to be covered with a dense fur, which under +a hand lens resolves into beautiful hydroids,—near +relatives of the anemones and corals. +Scientists have happily given these most euphonious +names—<i>Campanularia</i>, <i>Obelia</i>, and <i>Plumularia</i>. +Among the branches of certain of these, +numbers of round discs or spheres are visible. +These are young medusæ or jelly-fish, which grow +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span> +like bunches of currants, and later will break off +and swim around at pleasure in the water. Occasionally +one is fortunate enough to discover these +small jellies in a pool where they can be photographed +as they pulsate back and forth. When +these attain their full size they lay eggs which +sink to the bottom and grow up into the plant-like +hydroids. So each generation of these interesting +creatures is entirely unlike that which immediately +precedes or follows it. In other words, a +hydroid is exactly like its grandmother and granddaughter, +but as different from its parents and +children in appearance as a plant is from an animal. +Even in a fairy-story book this would be +wonderful, but here it is taking place under our +very eyes, as are scores of other transformations +and “miracles in miniature” in this marvellous +underworld.</p> +<p>Now let us deliberately pass by all the attractions +of the middle zone of tide-pools and on as +far as the lowest level of the water will admit. +We are far out from the shore and many feet +below the level of the barnacle-covered boulders +over which we first clambered. Now we may +indeed be prepared for strange sights, for we are +on the very borderland of the vast unknown. The +abyss in front of us is like planetary space, unknown +to the feet of man. While we know the latter +by scant glimpses through our telescopes, the +former has only been scratched by the hauls of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span> +the dredge, the mark of whose iron shoe is like the +tiny track of a snail on the leaf mould of a vast +forest.</p> +<p>The first plunge beneath the icy waters of +Fundy is likely to remain long in one’s memory, +and one’s first dive of short duration, but the +glimpse which is had and the hastily snatched +handfuls of specimens of the beauties which no +tide ever uncovers is potent to make one forget +his shivering and again and again seek to penetrate +as far as a good-sized stone and a lungful +of air will carry him. Strange sensations are experienced +in these aquatic scrambles. It takes a +long time to get used to pulling oneself <i>downward</i>, +or propping your knees against the <i>under</i> crevices +of rocks. To all intents and purposes, the law of +gravitation is partly suspended, and when stone +and wooden wedge accidentally slip from one’s +hand and disappear in <i>opposite</i> directions, it is +confusing, to say the least.</p> +<p>When working in one spot for some time the +fishes seem to become used to one, and approach +quite closely. Slick-looking pollock, bloated lump-fish, +and occasionally a sombre dog-fish rolls by, +giving one a start, as the memory of pictures of +battles between divers and sharks of tropical waters +comes to mind. One’s mental impressions +made thus are somewhat disconnected. With the +blood buzzing in the ears, it is only possible to +snatch general glimpses and superficial details. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span> +Then at the surface, notes can be made, and specimens +which have been overlooked, felt for during +the next trip beneath the surface. Fronds of +laminaria yards in length, like sheets of rubber, +offer convenient holds, and at their roots many +curious creatures make their home. Serpent starfish, +agile as insects and very brittle, are abundant, +and new forms of worms, like great slugs,—their +backs covered with gills in the form of tufted +branches.</p> +<p>In these outer, eternally submerged regions are +starfish of still other shapes, some with a dozen +or more arms. I took one with thirteen rays and +placed it temporarily in a pool aquarium with +some large anemones. On returning in an hour +or two I found the starfish trying to make a meal +of the largest anemone. Hundreds of dart-covered +strings had been pushed out by the latter in defence, +but they seemed to cause the starfish no +inconvenience whatever.</p> +<p>In my submarine glimpses I saw spaces free +from seaweed on which hundreds of tall polyps +were growing, some singly, others in small tufts. +The solitary individuals rise three or four inches +by a nearly straight stalk, surmounted by a many-tentacled +head. This droops gracefully to one +side and the general effect is that of a bed of +rose-coloured flowers. From the heads hang +grape-like masses, which on examination in a +tumbler are seen to be immature medusæ. Each +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span> +of these develop to the point where the four radiating +canals are discernible and then their growth +comes to a standstill, and they never attain the +freedom for which their structure fits them.</p> +<p>When the wind blew inshore, I would often find +the water fairly alive with large sun-jellies or +<i>Aurelia</i>,—their Latin name. Their great milky-white +bodies would come heaving along and bump +against me, giving a very “crawly” sensation. +The circle of short tentacles and the four horse-shoe-shaped +ovaries distinguish this jelly-fish +from all others. When I had gone down as far +as I dared, I would sometimes catch glimpses of +these strange beings far below me, passing and +repassing in the silence and icy coldness of the +watery depths. These large medusæ are often +very abundant after a favourable wind has blown +for a few days, and I have rowed through masses +of them so thick that it seemed like rowing through +thick jelly, two or three feet deep. In an area the +length of the boat and about a yard wide, I have +counted over one hundred and fifty <i>Aurelias</i> on +the surface alone.</p> +<p>When one of these “sunfish,” as the fishermen +call them, is lifted from the water, the clay-coloured +eggs may be seen to stream from it in +myriads. In many jellies, small bodies the size of +a pea are visible in the interior of the mass, and +when extracted they prove to be a species of small +shrimp. These are well adapted for their quasi-parasitic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span> +life, in colour being throughout of the +same milky semi-opaqueness as their host, but one +very curious thing about them is, that when taken +out and placed in some water in a vial or tumbler +they begin to turn darker almost immediately, and +in five minutes all will be of various shades, from +red to a dark brown.</p> +<p>I had no fear of <i>Aurelia</i>, but when another free-swimming +species of jelly-fish, <i>Cyanea</i>, or the +blue-jelly, appeared, I swam ashore with all speed. +This great jelly is usually more of a reddish liver-colour +than a purple, and is much to be dreaded. +Its tentacles are of enormous length. I have seen +specimens which measured two feet across the +disc, with streamers fully forty feet long, and one +has been recorded seven feet across and no less +than one hundred and twelve feet to the tip of the +cruel tentacles! These trail behind in eight +bunches and form a living, tangled labyrinth as +deadly as the hair of the fabled Medusa—whose +name indeed has been so appropriately applied to +this division of animals. The touch of each tentacle +to the skin is like a lash of nettle, and there +would be little hope for a diver whose path crossed +such a fiery tangle. The untold myriads of little +darts which are shot out secrete a poison which is +terribly irritating.</p> +<p>On the crevice bottoms a sight now and then +meets my eyes which brings the “devil-fish” of +Victor Hugo’s romance vividly to mind,—a misshapen +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span> +squid making its way snakily over the +shells and seaweed. Its large eyes gaze fixedly +around and the arms reach alternately forward, +the sucking cups lined with their cruel teeth closing +over the inequalities of the bottom. The creature +may suddenly change its mode of progression +and shoot like an arrow, backward and upward. +If we watch one in its passage over areas of seaweed +and sand, a wonderful adaptation becomes +apparent. Its colour changes continually; when +near sand it is of a sombre brown hue, then blushes +of colour pass over it and the tint changes, corresponding +to the seaweed or patches of pink sponge +over which it swims. The way in which this is +accomplished is very ingenious and loses nothing +by examination. Beneath the skin are numerous +cells filled with liquid pigment. When at rest +these contract until they are almost invisible, appearing +as very small specks or dots on the surface +of the body. When the animal wishes to +change its hue, certain muscles which radiate from +these colour cells are shortened, drawing the cells +out in all directions until they seem confluent. It +is as if the freckles on a person’s face should be +all joined together, when an ordinary tan would +result.</p> +<p>From bottoms ten to twenty fathoms below the +surface, deeper than mortal eye can probably ever +hope to reach, the dredge brings up all manner of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span> +curious things; basket starfish, with arms divided +and subdivided into many tendrils, on the tips of +which it walks, the remaining part converging upward +like the trellis of a vine-covered summer +house. Sponges of many hues must fairly carpet +large areas of the deep water, as the dredge is +often loaded with them. The small shore-loving +ones which I photographed are in perfect health, +but the camera cannot show the many tiny currents +of water pouring in food and oxygen at the +smaller openings, and returning in larger streams +from the tall funnels on the surface of the sponge, +which a pinch of carmine dust reveals so beautifully. +From the deeper aquatic gardens come up +great orange and yellow sponges, two and three +feet in length, and around the bases of these the +weird serpent stars are clinging, while crabs +scurry away as the mass reaches the surface of +the water.</p> +<p>Treasures from depths of forty and even fifty +fathoms can be obtained when a trip is taken with +the trawl-men. One can sit fascinated for hours, +watching the hundreds of yards of line reel in, +with some interesting creature on each of the +thirty-seven hundred odd hooks. At times a +glance down into the clear water will show a score +of fish in sight at once, hake, haddock, cod, halibut, +dog-fish, and perhaps an immense “barndoor” +skate, a yard or more square. This latter +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span> +hold back with frantic flaps of its great +“wings,” and tax all the strength of the sturdy +Acadian fishermen to pull it to the gunwale.</p> +<p>Now and then a huge “meat-rock,” the fishermen’s +apt name for an anemone, comes up, impaled +on a hook, and still clinging to a stone of five +to ten pounds weight. These gigantic scarlet ones +from full fifty fathoms far surpass any near shore. +Occasionally the head alone of a large fish will +appear, with the entire body bitten clean off, a +hint of the monsters which must haunt the lower +depths. The pressure of the air must be excessive, +for many of the fishes have their swimming +bladders fairly forced out of their mouths by the +lessening of atmospheric pressure as they are +drawn to the surface. When a basket starfish +finds one of the baits in that sunless void far beneath +our boat, he hugs it so tenaciously that the +upward jerks of the reel only make him hold the +more tightly.</p> +<p>Once in a great while the fishermen find what +they call a “knob-fish” on one of their hooks, and +I never knew what they meant until one day a +small colony of five was brought ashore. <i>Boltenia</i>, +the scientists call them, tall, queer-shaped things; +a stalk six to eight inches in length, with a knob +or oblong bulb-like body at the summit, looking +exactly like the flower of a lady-slipper orchid and +as delicately coloured. This is a member of that +curious family of Ascidians, which forever +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span> +trembles in the balance between the higher backboned +animals and the lower division, where are +classified the humbler insects, crabs, and snails. +The young of <i>Boltenia</i> promises everything in its +tiny backbone or notochord, but it all ends in +promise, for that shadow of a great ambition +withers away, and the creature is doomed to a +lowly and vegetative life. If we soften the hard +scientific facts which tell us of these dumb, blind +creatures, with the humane mellowing thought of +the oneness of all life, we will find much that is +pathetic and affecting in their humble biographies +from our point of view. And yet these cases of +degeneration are far from anything like actual +misfortunes, or mishaps of nature, as Buffon was +so fond of thinking. These creatures have found +their adult mode of life more free from competition +than any other, and hence their adoption of +it. It is only another instance of exquisite adaptation +to an unfilled niche in the life of the world.</p> +<p>Yet another phase of enjoying the life of these +northern waters; the one which comes after all +the work and play of collecting is over for the +day, after the last specimen is given a fresh supply +of water for the night, and the final note in our +journal is written. Then, as dusk falls, we make +our way to the beach, ship our rudder and oars +and push slowly along shore, or drift quietly with +the tide. The stars may come out in clear splendour +and the visual symphony of the northern +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span> +lights play over the dark vault above us, or all +may be obscured in lowering, leaden clouds. But +the lights of the sea are never obscured—they +always shine with a splendour which keeps one +entranced for hours.</p> +<p>At night the ripples and foam of the Fundy +shores seem transformed to molten silver and +gold, and after each receding wave the emerald +seaweed is left dripping with millions of sparkling +lights, shining with a living lustre which +would pale the brightest gem. Each of these +countless sparks is a tiny animal, as perfect in its +substance and as well adapted to its cycle of life +as the highest created being. The wonderful way +in which this phosphorescence permeates everything—the +jelly-fish seeming elfish fireworks as +they throb through the water with rhythmic beats—the +fish brilliantly lighted up and plainly visible +as they dart about far beneath the surface—makes +such a night on the Bay of Fundy an experience +to be always remembered.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Like the tints on a crescent sea beach</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>When the moon is new and thin,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Into our hearts high yearnings</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Come welling and surging in—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Come, from the mystic ocean,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Whose rim no foot has trod—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Some of us call it longing,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And others call it God.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>W. H. Carruth.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>JULY</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='BIRDS_IN_A_CITY' id='BIRDS_IN_A_CITY'></a> +<h2>BIRDS IN A CITY</h2> +</div> + +<p>We frequently hear people say that if only +they lived in the country they would take +up the study of birds with great interest, but that +a city life prevented any nature study. To show +how untrue this is, I once made a census of wild +birds which were nesting in the New York +Zoological Park, which is situated within the +limits of New York City. Part of the Park is +wooded, while much space is given up to the collections +of birds and animals. Throughout the +year thousands of people crowd the walks and +penetrate to every portion of the grounds; yet in +spite of this lack of seclusion no fewer than sixty-one +species build their nests here and successfully +rear their young. The list was made without +shooting a single bird and in each instance the +identification was absolute. This shows what a +little protection will accomplish, while many +places of equal area in the country which are harried +by boys and cats are tenanted by a bare +dozen species.</p> +<p>Let us see what a walk in late June, or especially +in July, will show of these bold invaders of +our very city. Wild wood ducks frequently decoy +to the flocks of pinioned birds and sometimes mate +with some of them. One year a wild bird chose as +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span> +its mate a little brown female, a pinioned bird, and +refused to desert her even when the brood of summer +ducklings was being caught and pinioned. +Such devotion is rare indeed.</p> +<p>In the top of one of the most inaccessible trees +in the Park a great rough nest of sticks shows +where a pair of black-crowned night herons have +made their home for years, and from the pale +green eggs hatch the most awkward of nestling +herons, which squawk and grow to their prime, on +a diet of small fish. When they are able to fly +they pay frequent visits to their relations in the +great flying cage, perching on the top and gazing +with longing eyes at the abundant feasts of fish +which are daily brought by the keepers to their +charges. This duck and heron are the only ones +of their orders thus to honour the Park by nesting, +although a number of other species are not uncommon +during the season of migration.</p> +<p>Of the waders which in the spring and fall +teeter along the bank of the Bronx River, only a +pair or two of spotted sandpipers remain throughout +the nesting period, content to lay their eggs +in some retired spot in the corner of a field, where +there is the least danger to them and to the fluffy +balls of long-legged down which later appear and +scurry about. The great horned owl and the red-tailed +hawk formerly nested in the park, but the +frequent noise of blasting and the building operations +have driven them to more isolated places, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span> +and of their relatives there remain only the little +screech owls and the sparrow hawks. The latter +feed chiefly upon English sparrows and hence are +worthy of the most careful protection.</p> +<p>These birds should be encouraged to build near +our homes, and if not killed or driven away sometimes +choose the eaves of our houses as their domiciles +and thus, by invading the very haunts of the +sparrows, they would speedily lessen their numbers. +A brood of five young hawks was recently +taken from a nest under the eaves of a school-house +in this city. I immediately took this as a +text addressed to the pupils, and the principal +was surprised to learn that these birds were so +valuable. In the Park the sparrow hawks nest in +a hollow tree, as do the screech owls.</p> +<p>Other most valuable birds which nest in the +Park are the black-billed and yellow-billed +cuckoos, whose depredations among the hairy and +spiny caterpillars should arouse our gratitude. +For these insects are refused by almost all other +birds, and were it not for these slim, graceful creatures +they would increase to prodigious numbers. +Their two or three light blue eggs are always laid +on the frailest of frail platforms made of a few +sticks. The belted kingfisher bores into the bank +of the river and rears his family of six or eight in +the dark, ill-odoured chamber at the end. Young +cuckoos and kingfishers are the quaintest of young +birds. Their plumage does not come out a little +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span> +at a time, as in other nestlings, but the sheaths +which surround the growing feathers remain until +they are an inch or more in length; then one day, +in the space of only an hour or so, the overlapping +armour of bluish tiles bursts and the plumage +assumes a normal appearance.</p> +<p>The little black-and-white downy and the flicker +are the two woodpeckers which make the Park +their home. Both nest in hollows bored out by +their strong beaks, but although full of splinters +and sawdust, such a habitation is far superior to +the sooty chimneys in which the young chimney +swifts break from their snow-white eggs and +twitter for food. How impatiently they must look +up at the blue sky, and one would think that they +must long for the time when they can spread their +sickle-shaped wings and dash about from dawn +to dark! Is it not wonderful that one of them +should live to grow up when we think of the fragile +little cup which is their home?—a mosaic of +delicate twigs held together only by the sticky +saliva of the parent birds.</p> +<p>A relation of theirs—though we should never +guess it—is sitting upon her tiny air castle high +up in an apple tree not far away,—a ruby-throated +hummingbird. If we take a peep into the nest +when the young hummingbirds are only partly +grown, we shall see that their bills are broad and +stubby, like those of the swifts. Their home, however, +is indeed a different affair,—a pinch of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span> +plant-down tied together with cobwebs and stuccoed +with lichens, like those which are growing all +about upon the tree. If we do not watch the female +when she settles to her young or eggs we +may search in vain for this tiniest of homes, so +closely does it resemble an ordinary knot on a +branch.</p> +<p>The flycatchers are well represented in the Park, +there being no fewer than five species; the least +flycatcher, wood pewee, phœbe, crested flycatcher, +and kingbird. The first two prefer the woods, the +phœbe generally selects a mossy rock or a bridge +beam, the fourth nests in a hollow tree and often +decorates its home with a snake-skin. The kingbird +builds an untidy nest in an apple tree. Our +American crow is, of course, a member of this +little community of birds, and that in spite of +persecution, for in the spring one or two are apt +to contract a taste for young ducklings and hence +have to be put out of the way. The fish crow, a +smaller cousin of the big black fellow, also nests +here, easily known by his shriller, higher caw. A +single pair of blue jays nest in the Park, but the +English starling occupies every box which is put +up and bids fair to be as great or a greater nuisance +than the sparrow. It is a handsome bird and +a fine whistler, but when we remember how this +foreigner is slowly but surely elbowing our native +birds out of their rightful haunts, we find ourselves +losing sight of its beauties. The cowbird, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span> +of course, imposes her eggs upon many of the +smaller species of birds, while our beautiful purple +grackle, meadow lark, red-winged blackbird, +and the Baltimore and orchard orioles rear their +young in safety. The cardinal, scarlet tanager, +indigo bunting, and rose-breasted grosbeak form +a quartet of which even a tropical land might well +be proud, and the two latter species have, in addition +to brilliant plumage, very pleasing songs. +Such wealth of æsthetic characteristics are unusual +in any one species, the wide-spread law of +compensation decreeing otherwise. More sombre +hued seed-eaters which live their lives in the Park +are towhees, swamp, song, field, and chipping +sparrows. The bank and barn swallows skim over +field and pond all through the summer, gleaning +their insect harvest from the air, and building +their nests in the places from which they have +taken their names. The rare rough-winged swallow +deigns to linger and nest in the Park as well +as do his more common brethren.</p> +<p>The dainty pensile nests which become visible +when the leaves fall in the autumn are swung by +four species of vireos, the white-eyed, red-eyed, +warbling, and yellow-throated. Of the interesting +and typically North American family of wood +warblers I have numbered no fewer than eight +which nest in the Park; these are the redstart, +the yellow-breasted chat, northern yellow-throat, +oven-bird, the yellow warbler, blue-winged, black-and-white +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span> +creeping warblers, and one other to be +mentioned later.</p> +<p>Injurious insects find their doom when the +young house and Carolina wrens are on the wing. +Catbirds and robins are among the most abundant +breeders, while chickadees and white-breasted +nuthatches are less often seen. The bluebird +haunts the hollow apple trees, and of the thrushes +proper the veery or Wilson’s and the splendid +wood thrush sing to their mates on the nests +among the saplings.</p> +<p>The rarest of all the birds which I have found +nesting in the Park is a little yellow and green +warbler, with a black throat and sides of the face, +known as the Lawrence warbler. Only a few of +his kind have ever been seen, and strange to say +his mate was none other than a demure blue-winged +warbler. His nest was on the ground and +from it six young birds flew to safety and not to +museum drawers.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='NIGHT_MUSIC_OF_THE_SWAMP' id='NIGHT_MUSIC_OF_THE_SWAMP'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span> +<h2>NIGHT MUSIC OF THE SWAMP</h2> +</div> + +<p>To many, a swamp or marsh brings only the +very practical thought of whether it can be +readily drained. Let us rejoice, however, that +many marshes cannot be thus easily wiped out of +existence, and hence they remain as isolated bits +of primeval wilderness, hedged about by farms +and furrows. The water is the life-blood of the +marsh,—drain it, and reed and rush, bird and +batrachian, perish or disappear. The marsh, to +him who enters it in a receptive mood, holds, +besides mosquitoes and stagnation,—melody, the +mystery of unknown waters, and the sweetness of +Nature undisturbed by man.</p> +<p>The ideal marsh is as far as one can go from +civilisation. The depths of a wood holds its undiscovered +secrets; the mysterious call of the veery +lends a wildness that even to-day has not ceased to +pervade the old wood. There are spots overgrown +with fern and carpeted with velvety wet moss; +here also the skunk cabbage and cowslip grow +rank among the alders. Surely man cannot live +near this place—but the tinkle of a cowbell comes +faintly on the gentle stirring breeze—and our +illusion is dispelled, the charm is broken.</p> +<p>But even to-day, when we push the punt through +the reeds from the clear river into the narrow, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span> +tortuous channel of the marsh, we have left civilisation +behind us. The great ranks of the cat-tails +shut out all view of the outside world; the +distant sounds of civilisation serve only to accentuate +the isolation. It is the land of the Indian, +as it was before the strange white man, brought +from afar in great white-sailed ships, came to +usurp the land of the wondering natives. At any +moment we fancy that we may see an Indian canoe +silently round a bend in the channel.</p> +<p>The marsh has remained unchanged since the +days when the Mohican Indians speared fish there. +We are living in a bygone time. A little green +heron flies across the water. How wild he is; +nothing has tamed him. He also is the same now +as always. He does not nest in orchard or +meadow, but holds himself aloof, making no concessions +to man and the ever increasing spread of +his civilisation. He does not come to his doors +for food. He can find food for himself and in +abundance; he asks only to be let alone. Nor does +he intrude himself. Occasionally we meet him +along our little meadow stream, but he makes no +advances. As we come suddenly upon him, how +indignant he seems at being disturbed in his +hunting. Like the Indian, he is jealous of his ancient +domain and resents intrusion. He retires, +however, throwing back to us a cry of disdain. +Here in the marsh is the last stand of primitive +nature in the settled country; here is the last +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span> +stronghold of the untamed. The bulrushes rise +in ranks, like the spears of a great army, surrounding +and guarding the colony of the marsh.</p> +<p>There seems to be a kinship between the voices +of the marsh dwellers. Most of them seem to have +a muddy, aquatic note. The boom of the frog +sounds like some great stone dropped into the +water; the little marsh wren’s song is the “babble +and tinkle of water running out of a silver flask.”</p> +<p>The blackbird seems to be the one connecting +link between the highlands and the lowlands. +Seldom does one see other citizens of the marsh +in the upland. How glorious is the flight of a +great blue heron from one feeding-ground to +another! He does not tarry over the foreign territory, +nor does he hurry. With neck and head +furled close and legs straight out behind, he pursues +his course, swerving neither to the right nor +the left.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>“Vainly the fowler’s eye</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>As darkly painted on the crimson sky</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Thy figure floats along.”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>The blackbirds, however, are more neighbourly. +They even forage in the foreign territory, returning +at night to sleep.</p> +<p>In nesting time the red-wing is indeed a citizen +of the lowland. His voice is as distinctive of the +marsh as is the croak of the frog, and from a +distance it is one of the first sounds to greet the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span> +ear. How beautiful is his clear whistle with its +liquid break! Indeed one may say that he is the +most conspicuous singer of the marshlands. His +is not a sustained song, but the exuberant expression +of a happy heart.</p> +<p>According to many writers the little marsh +wren is without song. No song! As well say that +the farmer boy’s whistling as he follows the +plough, or the sailor’s song as he hoists the sail, +is not music! All are the songs of the lowly, the +melody of those glad to be alive and out in the +free air.</p> +<p>When man goes into the marsh, the marsh retires +within itself, as a turtle retreats within his +shell. With the exception of a few blackbirds and +marsh wrens, babbling away the nest secret, and +an occasional frog’s croak, all the inhabitants +have stealthily retired. The spotted turtle has +slid from the decayed log as the boat pushed +through the reeds. At our approach the heron +has flown and the little Virginia rail has scuttled +away among the reeds.</p> +<p>Remain perfectly quiet, however, and give the +marsh time to regain its composure. One by one +the tenants of the swamp will take up the trend +of their business where it was interrupted.</p> +<p>All about, the frogs rest on the green carpet of +the lily pads, basking in the sun. The little rail +again runs among the reeds, searching for food in +the form of small snails. The blackbirds and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span> +wrens, most domestic in character, go busily about +their home business; the turtles again come up to +their positions, and a muskrat swims across the +channel. One hopes that the little colony of marsh +wren homes on stilts above the water, like the +ancient lake dwellers of Tenochtitlan, may have +no enemies. But the habit of building dummy +nests is suggestive that the wee birds are pitting +their wits against the cunning of some enemy,—and +suspicion rests upon the serpent.</p> +<p>As evening approaches and the shadows from +the bordering wood point long fingers across the +marsh, the blackbirds straggle back from their +feeding-grounds and settle, clattering, among the +reeds. Their clamour dies gradually away and +night settles down upon the marsh.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>All sounds have ceased save the booming of the +frogs, which but emphasises the loneliness of it +all. A distant whistle of a locomotive dispels the +idea that all the world is wilderness. The firefly +lamps glow along the margin of the rushes. The +frogs are now in full chorus, the great bulls beating +their tom-toms and the small fry filling in the +chinks with shriller cries. How remote the scene +and how melancholy the chorus!</p> +<p>To one mind there is a quality in the frogs’ +serenade that strikes the chord of sadness, to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span> +another the chord of contentment, to still another +it is the chant of the savage, just as the hoot of +an owl or the bark of a fox brings vividly to mind +the wilderness.</p> +<p>Out of the night comes softly the croon of a +little screech owl—that cry almost as ancient as +the hills. It belongs with the soil beneath our +towns. It is the spirit of the past crying to us. +So the dirge of the frog is the cry of the spirit of +river and marshland.</p> +<p>Our robins and bluebirds are of the orchard +and the home of man, but who can claim neighbourship +to the bittern or the bullfrog? There is +nothing of civilisation in the hoarse croak of the +great blue heron. These are all barbarians and +their songs are of the untamed wilderness.</p> +<p>The moon rises over the hills. The mosquitoes +have become savage. The marsh has tolerated us +as long as it cares to, and we beat our retreat. +The night hawks swoop down and boom as they +pass overhead. One feels thankful that the mosquitoes +are of some good in furnishing food to +so graceful a bird.</p> +<p>A water snake glides across the channel, leaving +a silver wake in the moonlight. The frogs +plunk into the water as we push past. A night +heron rises from the margin of the river and +slowly flops away. The bittern booms again as +we row down the peaceful river, and we leave the +marshland to its ancient and rightful owners. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span></p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And the marsh is meshed with a million veins,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>That like as with rosy and silvery essences flow</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>In the rose and silver evening glow.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 2.94334069168506em;'>Farewell, my lord Sun!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The creeks overflow; a thousand rivulets run</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>’Twixt the roots of the sod; the blades of the marsh grass stir;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Passeth a hurrying sound of wings that westward whirr.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Sidney Lanier.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_COMING_OF_MAN' id='THE_COMING_OF_MAN'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span> +<h2>THE COMING OF MAN</h2> +</div> + +<p>If we betake ourselves to the heart of the deepest +forests which are still left upon our northern +hills, and compare the bird life which we find +there with that in the woods and fields near our +homes, we shall at once notice a great difference. +Although the coming of mankind with his axe and +plough has driven many birds and animals far +away or actually exterminated them, there are +many others which have so thrived under the new +conditions that they are far more numerous than +when the tepees of the red men alone broke the +monotony of the forest.</p> +<p>We might walk all day in the primitive woods +and never see or hear a robin, while in an hour’s +stroll about a village we can count scores. Let +us observe how some of these quick-witted feathered +beings have taken advantage of the way in +which man is altering the whole face of the land.</p> +<p>A pioneer comes to a spot in the virgin forest +which pleases him and proceeds at once to cut +down the trees in order to make a clearing. The +hermit thrush soothes his labour with its wonderful +song; the pileated woodpecker pounds its disapproval +upon a near-by hollow tree; the deer and +wolf take a last look out through the trees and +flee from the spot forever. A house and barn +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span> +arise; fields become covered with waving grass +and grain; a neglected patch of burnt forest becomes +a tangle of blackberry and raspberry; an +orchard is set out.</p> +<p>When the migrating birds return, they are attracted +to this new scene. The decaying wood of +fallen trees is a paradise for ants, flies, and beetles; +offering to swallows, creepers, and flycatchers +feasts of abundance never dreamed of in the +primitive forests. Straightway, what must have +been a cave swallow becomes a barn swallow; the +haunter of rock ledges changes to an eave swallow; +the nest in the niche of the cliff is deserted +and phœbe becomes a bridgebird; cedarbirds are +renamed cherrybirds, and catbirds and other low-nesting +species find the blackberry patch safer +than the sweetbrier vine in the deep woods. The +swift leaves the lightning-struck hollow tree +where owl may harry or snake intrude, for the +chimney flue—sooty but impregnable.</p> +<p>When the great herds of ruminants disappear +from the western prairies, the buffalo birds without +hesitation become cowbirds, and when the +plough turns up the never-ending store of grubs +and worms the birds lose all fear and follow at +the very heels of the plough-boy: grackles, vesper +sparrows, and larks in the east, and flocks of gulls +farther to the westward.</p> +<p>The crow surpasses all in the keen wit which it +pits against human invasion and enmity. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span> +farmer declares war (all unjustly) against these +sable natives, but they jeer at his gun and traps +and scarecrows, and thrive on, killing the noxious +insects, devouring the diseased corn-sprouts,—doing +great good to the farmer in spite of himself.</p> +<p>The story of these sudden adaptations to conditions +which the birds could never have foreseen +is a story of great interest and it has been but half +told. Climb the nearest hill or mountain or even a +tall tree and look out upon the face of the country. +Keep in mind you are a bird and not a human,—you +neither know nor understand anything of +the reason for these strange sights,—these bipeds +who cover the earth with great square structures, +who scratch the ground for miles, who later gnaw +the vegetation with great shining teeth, and who +are only too often on the look out to bring sudden +death if one but show a feather. What would you +do?</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_SILENT_LANGUAGE_OF_ANIMALS' id='THE_SILENT_LANGUAGE_OF_ANIMALS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span> +<h2>THE SILENT LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS</h2> +</div> + +<p>What a great difference there is in brilliancy +of colouring between birds and the +furry creatures. How the plumage of a cardinal, +or indigo bunting, or hummingbird glows in the +sunlight, and reflects to our eyes the most intense +vermilion or indigo or an iridescence of the whole +gamut of colour. On the other hand, how sombrely +clad are the deer, the rabbits, and the mice; +gray and brown and white being the usual hue of +their fur.</p> +<p>This difference is by no means accidental, but +has for its cause a deep significance,—all-important +to the life of the bird or mammal. Scientists +have long known of it, and if we unlock it from +its hard sheathing of technical terms, we shall +find it as simple and as easy to understand as it +is interesting. When we once hold the key, it will +seem as if scales had fallen from our eyes, and +when we take our walks abroad through the fields +and woods, when we visit a zoological park, or +even see the animals in a circus, we shall feel as +though a new world were opened to us.</p> +<p>No post offices, or even addresses, exist for +birds and mammals; when the children of the +desert or the jungle are lost, no detective or +policeman hastens to find them, no telephone or +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span> +telegraph aids in the search. Yet, without any +of these accessories, the wild creatures have marvellous +systems of communication. The five +senses (and perhaps a mysterious sixth, at which +we can only guess) are the telephones and the +police, the automatic sentinels and alarms of our +wild kindred. Most inferior are our own abilities +in using eyes, nose, and ears, when compared +with the same functions in birds and animals.</p> +<p>Eyes and noses are important keys to the bright +colours of birds and comparative sombreness of +hairy-coated creatures. Take a dog and an oriole +as good examples of the two extremes. When a +dog has lost his master, he first looks about; then +he strains his eyes with the intense look of a near-sighted +person, and after a few moments of this +he usually yelps with disappointment, drops his +nose to the ground, and with unfailing accuracy +follows the track of his master. When the freshness +of the trail tells him that he is near its end +he again resorts to his eyes, and is soon near +enough to recognise the face he seeks. A fox +when running before a hound may double back, +and make a close reconnaissance near his trail, +sometimes passing in full view without the +hound’s seeing him or stopping in following out +the full curve of the trail, so completely does the +wonderful power of smell absorb the entire attention +of the dog.</p> +<p>Let us now turn to the oriole. As we might +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span> +infer, the nostrils incased in horn render the sense +of smell of but slight account. It is hard to tell +how much a bird can distinguish in this way—probably +only the odour of food near at hand. +However, when we examine the eye of our bird, +we see a sense organ of a very high order. +Bright, intelligent, full-circled, of great size compared +to the bulk of the skull, protected by three +complete eyelids; we realise that this must play +an important part in the life of the bird. There +are, of course, many exceptions to such a generalisation +as this. For instance, many species of +sparrows are dull-coloured. We must remember +that the voice—the calls and songs of birds—is +developed to a high degree, and in many instances +renders bright colouring needless in attracting +a mate or in locating a young bird.</p> +<p>As we have seen, the sense of smell is very +highly developed among four-footed animals, but +to make this efficient there must be something for +it to act upon; and in this connection we find some +interesting facts of which, outside of scientific +books, little has been written. On the entire body, +birds have only one gland—the oil gland above the +base of the tail, which supplies an unctuous dressing +for the feathers. Birds, therefore, have not +the power of perspiring, but compensate for this +by very rapid breathing. On the contrary, four-footed +animals have glands on many portions of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span> +the body. Nature is seldom contented with the +one primary function which an organ or tissue +performs, but adjusts and adapts it to others in +many ingenious ways. Hence, when an animal +perspires, the pores of the skin allow the contained +moisture to escape and moisten the surface +of the body; but in addition to this, in many +animals, collections of these pores in the shape +of large glands secrete various odours which serve +important uses. In the skunk such a gland is a +practically perfect protection against attacks +from his enemies. He never hurries and seems +not to know what fear is—a single wave of his +conspicuous danger signal is sufficient to clear +his path.</p> +<p>In certain species of the rhinoceros there are +large glands in the foot. These animals live +among grass and herbage which they brush +against as they walk, and thus “blaze” a plain +trail for the mate or young to follow. There are +few if any animals which care to face a rhinoceros, +so the scent is incidentally useful to other +creatures as a warning.</p> +<p>It is believed that the hard callosities on the +legs of horses are the remains of glands which +were once upon a time useful to their owners; and +it is said that if a paring from one of these hard, +horny structures be held to the nose of a horse, he +will follow it about, hinting, perhaps, that in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span> +former days the scent from the gland was an instinctive +guide which kept members of the herd +together.</p> +<p>“Civet,” which is obtained from the civet cat, +and “musk,” from the queer little hornless musk +deer, are secretions of glands. It has been suggested +that the defenceless musk deer escapes +many of its enemies by the similarity of its secretion +to the musky odour of crocodiles. In many +animals which live together in herds, such as the +antelope and deer, and which have neither bright +colours nor far-reaching calls to aid straying +members to regain the flock, there are large and +active scent glands. The next time you see a +live antelope in a zoological park, or even a +stuffed specimen, look closely at the head, and between +the eye and the nostril a large opening will +be seen on each, side, which, in the living animal, +closes now and then, a flap of skin shutting it +tight.</p> +<p>Among pigs the fierce peccary is a very social +animal, going in large packs; and on the back of +each of these creatures is found a large gland +from which a clear watery fluid is secreted. Dogs +and wolves also have their odour-secreting glands +on the back, and the “wolf-pack” is proverbial.</p> +<p>The gland of the elephant is on the temple, and +secretes only when the animal is in a dangerous +mood, a hint, therefore, of opposite significance +to that of the herding animals, as this says, “Let +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span> +me alone! stay away!” Certain low species of +monkeys, the lemurs, have a remarkable bare +patch on the forearm, which covers a gland serving +some use.</p> +<p>If we marvel at the keenness of scent among +animals, how incredible seems the similar sense +in insects—similar in function, however different +the medium of structure may be. Think of the +scent from a female moth, so delicate that we +cannot distinguish it, attracting a male of the +same species from a distance of a mile or more. +Entomologists sometimes confine a live female +moth or other insect in a small wire cage and +hang it outdoors in the evening, and in a short +time reap a harvest of gay-winged suitors which +often come in scores, instinctively following up +the trail of the delicate, diffused odour. It is +surely true that the greatest wonders are not +always associated with mere bulk.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='INSECT_MUSIC' id='INSECT_MUSIC'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span> +<h2>INSECT MUSIC</h2> +</div> + +<p>Among insects, sounds are produced in many +ways, and for various reasons. A species +of ant which makes its nest on the under side of +leaves produces a noise by striking the leaf with +its head in a series of spasmodic taps, and another +ant is also very interesting as regards +its sound-producing habit. “Individuals of this +species are sometimes spread over a surface of +two square yards, many out of sight of the others; +yet the tapping is set up at the same moment, continued +exactly the same space of time, and +stopped at the same instant. After the lapse of a +few seconds, all recommence simultaneously. The +interval is always approximately of the same +duration, and each ant does not beat synchronously +with every other ant, but only like those in +the same group, so the independent tappings play +a sort of tune, each group alike in time, but the +tapping of the whole mass beginning and ending +at the same instant. This is doubtless a means of +communication.”</p> +<p>The organ of hearing in insects is still to be discovered +in many forms, but in katydids it is +situated on the middle of the fore-legs; in butterflies +on the sides of the thorax, while the tip of +the horns or antennæ of many insects is considered +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span> +to be the seat of this function. In all it +is little more than a cavity, over which a skin is +stretched like a drum-head, which thus reacts to +the vibration. This seems to be very often +“tuned,” as it were, to the sounds made by the +particular species in which it is found. A cricket +will at times be unaffected by any sound, however +loud, while at the slightest “screek” or chirp +of its own species, no matter how faint, it will +start its own little tune in all excitement.</p> +<p>The songs of the cicadas are noted all over the +world. Darwin heard them while anchored half a +mile off the South American coast, and a giant +species of that country is said to produce a noise +as loud as the whistle of a locomotive. Only the +males sing, the females being dumb, thus giving +rise to the well-known Grecian couplet:</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>“Happy the cicadas’ lives,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>For they all have voiceless wives.”</p> +</td></tr></table> + +<p>Anyone who has entered a wood where thousands +of the seventeen-year cicadas were hatching +has never forgotten it. A threshing machine, +or a gigantic frog chorus, is a fair comparison, +and when a branch loaded with these insects is +shaken, the sound rises to a shrill screech or +scream. This noise is supposed—in fact is definitely +known—to attract the female insect, and +although there may be in it some tender notes +which we fail to distinguish, yet let us hope that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span> +the absence of any highly organised auditory +organ may result in reducing the effect of a steam-engine +whistle to an agreeable whisper! It is +thought that the vibrations are felt rather than +heard, in the sense that we use the word “hear”; +if one has ever had a cicada <i>zizz</i> in one’s hand, +the electrical shocks which seem to go up the arm +help the belief in this idea. To many of us the +song of the cicada—softened by distance—will +ever be pleasant on account of its associations. +When one attempts to picture a hot August day +in a hay-field or along a dusty road, the drowsy +<i>zee-ing</i> of this insect, growing louder and more +accelerated and then as gradually dying away, +is a focus for the mind’s eye, around which the +other details instantly group themselves.</p> +<p>The apparatus for producing this sound is one +of the most complex in all the animal kingdom. +In brief, it consists of two external doors, capable +of being partly opened, and three internal membranes, +to one of which is attached a vibrating +muscle, which, put in motion, sets all the others +vibrating in unison.</p> +<p>We attach a great deal of importance to the +fact of being educated to the appreciation of the +highest class of music. We applaud our Paderewski, +and year after year are awed and delighted +with wonderful operatic music, yet seldom is the +<i>limitation</i> of human perception of musical sounds +considered. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span></p> +<p>If we wish to appreciate the limits within which +the human ear is capable of distinguishing sounds, +we should sit down in a meadow, some hot midsummer +day, and listen to the subdued running +murmur of the myriads of insects. Many are +very distinct to our ears and we have little trouble +in tracing them to their source. Such are crickets +and grasshoppers, which fiddle and rasp their +roughened hind legs against their wings. Some +butterflies have the power of making a sharp +crackling sound by means of hooks on the wings. +The katydid, so annoying to some in its persistent +ditty, so full of reminiscences to others of us, is +a large, green, fiddling grasshopper.</p> +<p>Another sound which is typical of summer is +the hum of insects’ wings, sometimes, as near a +beehive, rising to a subdued roar. The higher, +thinner song of the mosquito’s wings is unfortunately +familiar to us, and we must remember that +the varying tone of the hum of each species may +be of the greatest importance to it as a means of +recognition. Many beetles have a projecting horn +on the under side of the body which they can +snap against another projection, and by this +means call their lady-loves, literally “playing the +bones” in their minstrel serenade.</p> +<p>Although we can readily distinguish the sounds +which these insects produce, yet there are hundreds +of small creatures, and even large ones, +which are provided with organs of hearing, but +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span> +whose language is too fine for our coarse perceptions. +The vibrations—chirps, hums, and clicks—can +be recorded on delicate instruments, but, just +as there are shades and colours at both ends of +the spectrum which our eyes cannot perceive, so +there are tones running we know not how far beyond +the scale limits which affect our ears. Some +creatures utter noises so shrill, so sharp, that it +pains our ears to listen to them, and these are +probably on the borderland of our sound-world.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Pipe, little minstrels of the waning year,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>In gentle concert pipe!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Pipe the warm noons; the mellow harvest near;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The apples dropping ripe;</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The sweet sad hush on Nature’s gladness laid;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The sounds through silence heard!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Pipe tenderly the passing of the year.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Harriet Mcewen Kimball.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I love to hear thine earnest voice,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Wherever thou art hid,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Thou testy little dogmatist,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Thou pretty Katydid!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Thou mindest me of gentlefolks,—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Old gentlefolks are they,—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Thou say’st an undisputed thing</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>In such a solemn way.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Oliver Wendell Holmes.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>AUGUST</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_GRAY_DAYS_OF_BIRDS' id='THE_GRAY_DAYS_OF_BIRDS'></a> +<h2>THE GRAY DAYS OF BIRDS</h2> +</div> + +<p>The temptation is great, if we love flowers, to +pass over the seed time, when stalks are +dried and leaves are shrivelled, no matter how +beautiful may be the adaptation for scattering or +preserving the seed or how wonderful the protective +coats guarding against cold or wet. Or if +insects attract us by their many varied interests, +we are more enthusiastic over the glories of the +full-winged image than the less conspicuous, +though no less interesting, eggs and chrysalides +hidden away in crevices throughout the long +winter.</p> +<p>Thus there seems always a time when we +hesitate to talk or write of our favourite theme, +especially if this be some class of life on the earth, +because, perchance, it is not at its best.</p> +<p>Even birds have their gray days, when in the +autumn the glory of their plumage and song has +diminished. At this time few of their human +admirers intrude upon them and the birds themselves +are only too glad to escape observation. +Collectors of skins disdain to ply their trade, as +the ragged, pin-feathery coats of the birds now +make sorry-looking specimens. But we can find +something of interest in birddom, even in this +interim. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span></p> +<p>Nesting is over, say you, when you start out on +your tramps in late summer or early autumn; but +do not be too sure. The gray purse of the oriole +has begun to ravel at the edges and the haircloth +cup of the chipping sparrow is already wind-distorted, +but we shall find some housekeeping +just begun.</p> +<p>The goldfinch is one of these late nesters. Long +after his northern cousins, the pine siskins and +snowflakes, have laid their eggs and reared their +young, the goldfinch begins to focus the aerial +loops of his flight about some selected spot and +to collect beakfuls of thistledown. And here, perhaps, +we have his fastidious reason for delaying. +Thistles seed with the goldenrod, and not until +this fleecy substance is gray and floating does he +consider that a suitable nesting material is available.</p> +<p>When the young birds are fully fledged one +would think the goldfinch a polygamist, as we see +him in shining yellow and black, leading his +family quintet, all sombre hued, his patient wife +being to our eyes indistinguishable from the +youngsters.</p> +<p>But in the case of most of the birds the cares +of nesting are past, and the woods abound with +full-sized but awkward young birds, blundering +through their first month of insect-hunting and fly-catching, +tumbling into the pools from which they +try to drink, and shrieking with the very joy of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span> +life, when it would be far safer for that very life +if they remained quiet.</p> +<p>It is a delightful period this, a transition as +interesting as evanescent. This is the time when +instinct begins to be aided by intelligence, when +every hour accumulates fact upon fact, all helping +to co-ordinate action and desire on the part of the +young birds.</p> +<p>No hint of migration has yet passed over the +land, and the quiet of summer still reigns; but +even as we say this a confused chuckling is heard; +this rises into a clatter of harsh voices, and a +small flock of blackbirds—two or three families—pass +overhead. The die is cast! No matter how +hot may be the sunshine during succeeding days, +or how contented and thoughtless of the future the +birds may appear, there is a something which has +gone, and which can never return until another +cycle of seasons has passed.</p> +<p>During this transition time some of our friends +are hardly recognisable; we may surprise the +scarlet tanager in a plumage which seems more +befitting a nonpareil bunting,—a regular “Joseph’s +coat.” The red of his head is half replaced +with a ring of green, and perhaps a splash of +the latter decorates the middle of his back. When +he flies the light shows through his wings in two +long narrow slits, where a pair of primaries are +lacking. It is a wise provision of Nature which +regulates the moulting sequence of his flight +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span> +feathers, so that only a pair shall fall out at one +time, and the adjoining pair not before the new +feathers are large and strong. A sparrow or +oriole hopping along the ground with angular, +half-naked wings would be indeed a pitiful sight, +except to marauding weasels and cats, who would +find meals in abundance on every hand.</p> +<p>Let us take our way to some pond or lake, thick +with duckweed and beloved of wild fowl, and we +shall find a different state of affairs. We surprise +a group of mallard ducks, which rush out from the +overhanging bank and dive for safety among the +sheltering green arrowheads. But their outspread +wings are a mockery, the flight feathers +showing as a mere fringe of quill sticks, which +beat the water helplessly.</p> +<p>Another thing we notice. Where are the resplendent +drakes? Have they flown elsewhere +and left their mates to endure the dangers of +moulting alone? Let us come here a week later +and see what a transformation is taking place. +When most birds moult it is for a period of +several months, but these ducks have a partial +fall moult which is of the greatest importance to +them. When the wing feathers begin to loosen +in their sockets an unfailing instinct leads these +birds to seek out some secluded pond, where they +patiently await the moult. The sprouting, blood-filled +quills force out the old feathers, and the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span> +bird becomes a thing of the water, to swim and to +dive, with no more power of flight than its pond +companions, the turtles.</p> +<p>If, however, the drake should retain his iridescent +head and snowy collar, some sharp-eyed +danger would spy out his helplessness and death +would swoop upon him. So for a time his bright +feathers fall out and a quick makeshift disguise +closes over him—the reed-hued browns and grays +of his mate—and for a time the pair are hardly +distinguishable. With the return of his power of +flight comes renewed brightness, and the wild +drake emerges from his seclusion on strong-feathered, +whistling wings. All this we should +miss, did we not seek him out at this season; +otherwise the few weeks would pass and we should +notice no change from summer to winter plumage, +and attribute his temporary absence to a whim +of wandering on distant feeding grounds.</p> +<p>Another glance at our goldfinch shows a curious +sight. Mottled with spots and streaks, yellow +alternating with greenish, he is an anomaly indeed, +and in fact all of our birds which undergo +a radical colour change will show remarkable combinations +during the actual process.</p> +<p>It is during the gray days that the secret to a +great problem may be looked for—the why of +migration.</p> +<p>A young duck of the year, whose wings are at +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span> +last strong and fit, waves them in ecstasy, vibrating +from side to side and end to end of his natal +pond. Then one day we follow his upward glances +to where a thin, black arrow is throbbing southward, +so high in the blue sky that the individual +ducks are merged into a single long thread. The +young bird, calling again and again, spurns the +water with feet and wings, finally rising in a +slowly ascending arc. Somewhere, miles to the +southward, another segment approaches—touches—merges.</p> +<p>But what of our smaller birds? When the gray +days begin to chill we may watch them hopping +among the branches all day in their search for +insects—a keener search now that so many of the +more delicate flies and bugs have fallen chilled to +the earth. Toward night the birds become more +restless, feed less, wander aimlessly about, but, +as we can tell by their chirps, remain near us until +night has settled down. Then the irresistible +maelstrom of migration instinct draws them upward,—upward,—climbing +on fluttering wings, a +mile or even higher into the thin air, and in company +with thousands and tens of thousands they +drift southward, sending vague notes down, but +themselves invisible to us, save when now and +then a tiny black mote floats across the face of +the moon—an army of feathered mites, passing +from tundra and spruce to bayou and palm.</p> +<p>In the morning, instead of the half-hearted +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span> +warble of an insect eater, there sounds in our ears, +like the ring of skates on ice, the metallic, whip-like +chirp of a snowbird, confident of his winter’s +seed feast.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='LIVES_OF_THE_LANTERN_BEARERS' id='LIVES_OF_THE_LANTERN_BEARERS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span> +<h2>LIVES OF THE LANTERN BEARERS</h2> +</div> + +<p>To all wild creatures fire is an unknown and +hated thing, although it is often so fascinating +to them that they will stand transfixed gazing +at its mysterious light, while a hunter, unnoticed, +creeps up behind and shoots them.</p> +<p>In the depth of the sea, where the sun is powerless +to send a single ray of light and warmth, +there live many strange beings, fish and worms, +which, by means of phosphorescent spots and +patches, may light their own way. Of these +strange sea folk we know nothing except from +the fragments which are brought to the surface +by the dredge; but over our fields and hedges, +throughout the summer nights, we may see and +study most interesting examples of creatures +which produce their own light. Heedless of +whether the moon shines brightly, or whether an +overcast sky cloaks the blackest of nights, the +fireflies blaze their sinuous path through life. +These little yellow and black beetles, which illumine +our way like a cloud of tiny meteors, have +indeed a wonderful power, for the light which +they produce within their own bodies is a cold +glow, totally different from any fire of human +agency.</p> +<p>In some species there seems to be a most romantic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span> +reason for their brilliance. Down among the +grass blades are lowly, wingless creatures—the +female fireflies, which, as twilight falls, leave their +earthen burrows in the turf and, crawling slowly +to the summit of some plant, they display the tiny +lanterns which Nature has kindled within their +bodies.</p> +<p>Far overhead shoot the strong-winged males, +searching for their minute insect food, weaving +glowing lines over all the shadowy landscape, +and apparently heedless of all beneath them. Yet +when the dim little beacon, hung out with the +hopefulness of instinct upon the grass blade, is +seen, all else is forgotten and the beetle descends +to pay court to the poor, worm-like creature, so +unlike him in appearance, but whose little illumination +is her badge of nobility. The gallant suitor +is as devoted as if the object of his affection were +clad in all the gay colours of a butterfly; and he +is fortunate if, when he has reached the signal +among the grasses, he does not find a half-dozen +firefly rivals before him.</p> +<p>When insects seek their mates by day, their +characteristic colours or forms may be confused +with surrounding objects; or those which by night +are able in that marvellous way to follow the +faintest scent up wind may have difficulties when +cross currents of air are encountered; but the +female firefly, waiting patiently upon her lowly +leaf, has unequalled opportunity for winning her +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span> +mate, for there is nothing to compare with or +eclipse her flame. Except—I wonder if ever a +firefly has hastened downward toward the strange +glow which we sometimes see in the heart of decayed +wood,—mistaking a patch of fox-fire for +the love-light of which he was in search!</p> +<p>In other species, including the common one +about our homes, the lady lightning-bug is more +fortunate in possessing wings and is able to fly +abroad like her mate.</p> +<p>Although this phosphorescence has been microscopically +examined, it is but slightly understood. +We know, however, that it is a wonderful +process of combustion,—by which a bright light is +produced without heat, smoke, or indeed fuel, +except that provided by the life processes in the +tiny body of the insect.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>So shines a good deed in a naughty world.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Shakespeare.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='A_STARFISH_AND_A_DAISY' id='A_STARFISH_AND_A_DAISY'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span> +<h2>A STARFISH AND A DAISY</h2> +</div> + +<p>Day after day the forms of horses, dogs, +birds, and other creatures pass before our +eyes. We look at them and call them by the +names which we have given them, and yet—we +see them not. That is to say, we say that they +have a head, a tail; they run or fly; they are of +one colour beneath, another above, but beyond +these bare meaningless facts most of us never go.</p> +<p>Let us think of the meaning of form. Take, +for example, a flower—a daisy. Now, if we could +imagine such an impossible thing as that a daisy +blossom should leave its place of growth, creep +down the stem and go wandering off through the +grass, soon something would probably happen to +its shape. It would perhaps get in the habit of +creeping with some one ray always in front, and +the friction of the grass stems on either side +would soon wear and fray the ends of the side +rays, while those behind might grow longer and +longer. If we further suppose that this strange +daisy flower did not like the water, the rays in +front might be of service in warning it to turn +aside. When their tips touched the surface and +were wet by the water of some pool, the ambulatory +blossom would draw back and start out in a +new direction. Thus a theoretical head (with the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span> +beginnings of the organs of sense), and a long-drawn-out +tail, would have their origin.</p> +<p>Such a remarkable simile is not as fanciful as +it might at first appear; for although we know +of no blossom which so sets at naught the sedentary +life of the vegetable kingdom, yet among certain +of the animals which live their lives beneath +the waves of the sea a very similar thing occurs.</p> +<p>Many miles inland, even on high mountains, we +may sometimes see thousands of little joints, or +bead-like forms, imbedded in great rocky cliffs. +They have been given the name of St. Cuthbert’s +beads. Occasionally in the vicinity of these fossils—for +such they are—are found impressions +of a graceful, flower-like head, with many delicately +divided petals, fixed forever in the hard relief +of stone. The name of stone lilies has been +applied to them. The beads were once strung together +in the form of a long stem, and at the top +the strangely beautiful animal-lily nodded its +head in the currents of some deep sea, which in +the long ago of the earth’s age covered the land—millions +of years before the first man or beast +or bird drew breath.</p> +<p>It was for a long time supposed that these wonderful +creatures were extinct, but dredges have +brought up from the dark depths of the sea actual +living stone lilies, or <i>crinoids</i>, this being their real +name. Few of us will probably ever have an opportunity +of studying a crinoid alive, although in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span> +our museums we may see them preserved in glass +jars. That, however, detracts nothing from the +marvel of their history and relationship. They +send root-like organs deep into the mud, where +they coil about some shell and there cling fast. +Then the stem grows tall and slender, and upon +the summit blooms or is developed the animal-flower. +Its nourishment is not drawn from the +roots and the air, as is that of the daisy, but is +provided by the tiny creatures which swim to its +tentacles, or are borne thither by the ocean currents. +Some of these crinoids, as if impatient of +their plant-like life and asserting their animal +kinship, at last tear themselves free from their +stem and float off, turn over, and thereafter live +happily upon the bottom of the sea, roaming +where they will, creeping slowly along and fulfilling +the destiny of our imaginary daisy.</p> +<p>And here a comparison comes suddenly to mind. +How like to a many-rayed starfish is our creeping +crinoid! Few of us, unless we had studies about +these creatures, could distinguish between a crinoid +and one of the frisky little dancing stars, or +serpent stars, which are so common in the rocky +caves along our coast. This relationship is no less +real than apparent. The hard-skinned “five +finger,” or common starfish, which we may pick +up on any beach, while it never grew upon a stem, +yet still preserves the radial symmetry of its +stalked ancestors. Pick up your starfish, carry +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span> +it to the nearest field, and pluck a daisy close to +the head. How interesting the comparison becomes, +now that the knowledge of its meaning is +plain. Anything which grows fast upon a single +immovable stem tends to grow equally in all directions. +We need not stop here, for we may include +sea anemones and corals, those most marvellously +coloured flowers of the sea, which grow upon a +short, thick stalk and send out their tentacles +equally in all directions. And many of the jelly-fish +which throb along close beneath the surface +swells were in their youth each a section of a pile +of saucer-like individuals, which were fastened +by a single stalk to some shell or piece of coral.</p> +<p>We will remember that it was suggested that +the theoretical daisy would soon alter its shape +after it entered upon active life. This is plainly +seen in the starfish, although at first glance the +creature seems as radially symmetrical as a +wheel. But at one side of the body, between two +of the arms, is a tiny perforated plate, serving +to strain the water which enters the body, and +thus the circular tendency is broken, and a beginning +made toward right and left handedness. In +certain sea-urchins, which are really starfishes +with the gaps between the arms filled up, the body +is elongated, and thus the head and tail conditions +of all animals higher in the scale of life are represented.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_DREAM_OF_THE_YELLOWTHROAT' id='THE_DREAM_OF_THE_YELLOWTHROAT'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span> +<h2>THE DREAM OF THE YELLOW-THROAT</h2> +</div> + +<p>Many of us look with longing to the days +of Columbus; we chafe at the thought of +no more continents to discover; no unknown seas +to encompass. But at our very doors is an “undiscovered +bourne,” from which, while the traveller +invariably returns, yet he will have penetrated +but slightly into its mysteries. This unexplored +region is night.</p> +<p>When the dusk settles down and the creatures +of sunlight seek their rest, a new realm of life +awakens into being. The flaring colours and loud +bustle of the day fade and are lost, and in their +place come soft, gray tones and silence. The +scarlet tanager seeks some hidden perch and soon +from the same tree slips a silent, ghostly owl; the +ruby of the hummingbird dies out as the gaudy +flowers of day close their petals, and the gray +wraiths of sphinx moths appear and sip nectar +from the spectral moonflowers.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>With feet shod with silence, let us creep near a +dense tangle of sweetbrier and woodbine late some +summer evening and listen to the sounds of the +night-folk. How few there are that our ears can +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span> +analyse! We huddle close to the ground and shut +our eyes. Then little by little we open them and +set our senses of sight and hearing at keenest +pitch. Even so, how handicapped are we compared +to the wild creatures. A tiny voice becomes +audible, then dies away,—entering for a moment +the narrow range of our coarse hearing,—and +finishing its message of invitation or challenge in +vibrations too fine for our ears.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>Were we crouched by a dense yew hedge, bordering +an English country lane, a nightingale +might delight us,—a melody of day, softened, +adapted, to the night. If the air about us was +heavy with the scent of orange blossoms of some +covert in our own southland, the glorious harmony +of a mockingbird might surge through the gloom,—assuaging +the ear as do the blossoms another +sense.</p> +<p>But sitting still in our own home tangle let us +listen,—listen. Our eyes have slipped the scales +of our listless civilised life and pierce the darkness +with the acuteness of our primeval forefathers; +our ears tingle and strain.</p> +<p>A slender tongue of sound arises from the bush +before us. Again and again it comes, muffled but +increasing in volume. A tiny ball of feathers is +perched in the centre of the tangle, with beak +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span> +hidden in the deep, soft plumage, but ever and +anon the little body throbs and the song falls +gently on the silence of the night: “I beseech you! +I beseech you! I beseech you!” A Maryland +yellow-throat is asleep and singing in its dreams.</p> +<p>As we look and listen, a shadowless something +hovers overhead, and, looking upward, we see a +gray screech owl silently hanging on beating +wings. His sharp ears have caught the muffled +sound; his eyes search out the tangle, but the +yellow-throat is out of reach. The little hunter +drifts away into the blackness, the song ends and +the sharp squeak of a mouse startles us. We rise +slowly from our cramped position and quietly +leave the mysteries of the night.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>SEPTEMBER</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_PASSING_OF_THE_FLOCKS' id='THE_PASSING_OF_THE_FLOCKS'></a> +<h2>THE PASSING OF THE FLOCKS</h2> +</div> + +<p>It is September. August—the month of gray +days for birds—has passed. The last pin-feather +of the new winter plumage has burst its +sheath, and is sleek and glistening from its thorough +oiling with waterproof dressing, which the +birds squeeze out with their bills from a special +gland, and which they rub into every part of their +plumage. The youngsters, now grown as large as +their parents, have become proficient in fly-catching +or berry-picking, as the case may be. Henceforth +they forage for themselves, although if we +watch carefully we may still see a parent’s love +prompting it to give a berry to its big offspring +(indistinguishable save for this attention), who +greedily devours it without so much as a wing +flutter of thanks.</p> +<p>Two courses are open to the young birds who +have been so fortunate as to escape the dangers +of nestlinghood. They may unite in neighbourly +flocks with others of their kind, as do the blackbirds +of the marshes; or they may wander off by +themselves, never going very far from their summer +home, but perching alone each night in the +thick foliage of some sheltering bush.</p> +<p>How wonderfully the little fellow adapts himself +to the radical and sudden change in his life! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span> +Before this, his world has been a warm, soft-lined +nest, with ever anxious parents to shelter +him from rain and cold, or to stand with half-spread +wings between him and the burning rays +of the sun. He has only to open his mouth and +call for food and a supply of the choicest morsels +appears and is shoved far down his throat. If +danger threatens, both parents are ready to fight +to the last, or even willing to give their lives to +protect him. Little wonder is it that the young +birds are loth to leave; we can sympathise heartily +with the last weaker brother, whose feet cling +convulsively to the nest, who begs piteously for +“just one more caterpillar!” But the mother +bird is inexorable and stands a little way out of +reach with the juiciest morsel she can find. Once +out, the young bird never returns. Even if we +catch the little chap before he finishes his first +flight and replace him, the magic spell of home is +broken, and he is out again the instant our hand +frees him.</p> +<p>What a change the first night brings! Yet with +unfailing instinct he squats on some twig, fluffs up +his feathers, tucks his wee head behind his wing, +and sleeps the sleep of his first adult birdhood +as soundly as if this position of rest had been +familiar to him since he broke through the shell.</p> +<p>We admire his aptitude for learning; how +quickly his wings gain strength and skill; how +soon he manages to catch his own dinner. But +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span> +how all this pales before the accomplishment of a +young brush turkey or moundbuilder of the antipodes. +Hatched six or eight feet under ground, +merely by the heat of decaying vegetation, no +fond parents minister to his wants. Not only +must he escape from the shell in the pressure +and darkness of his underground prison (how we +cannot tell), but he is then compelled to dig +through six feet of leaves and mould before he +reaches the sunlight. He finds himself well feathered, +and at once spreads his small but perfect +wings and goes humming off to seek his living +alone and unattended.</p> +<p>It is September—the month of restlessness for +the birds. Weeks ago the first migrants started +on their southward journey, the more delicate +insect-eaters going first, before the goldfinches +and other late nesters had half finished housekeeping. +The northern warblers drift past us +southward—the magnolia, blackburnian, Canadian +fly-catching, and others, bringing memories +of spruce and balsam to those of us who have +lived with them in the forests of the north.</p> +<p>“It’s getting too cold for the little fellows,” +says the wiseacre, who sees you watching the +smaller birds as they pass southward. Is it, +though? What of the tiny winter wren which +spends the zero weather with us? His coat is +no warmer than those birds which have gone to +the far tropics. And what of the flocks of birds +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span> +which we occasionally come across in mid-winter, +of species which generally migrate to Brazil? It +is not the cold which deprives us of our summer +friends, or at least the great majority of them; +it is the decrease in food supply. Insects disappear, +and only those birds which feed on seeds +and buds, or are able to glean an insect diet from +the crevices of fence and tree-trunk, can abide.</p> +<p>This is the month to climb out on the roof of +your house, lie on your back and listen. He is a +stolid person indeed who is not moved by the +chirps and twitters which come down through the +darkness. There is no better way to show what +a wonderful power sound has upon our memories. +There sounds a robin’s note, and spring seems +here again; through the night comes a white-throat’s +chirp, and we see again the fog-dimmed +fields of a Nova Scotian upland; a sandpiper +“peets” and the scene in our mind’s eye as instantly +changes, and so on. What a revelation +if we could see as in daylight for a few moments! +The sky would be pitted with thousands and +thousands of birds flying from a few hundred +yards to as high as one or two miles above the +earth.</p> +<p>It only adds to the interest of this phenomenon +when we turn to our learned books on birds for +an explanation of the origin of migration, the +whence and whither of the long journeys by day +and night, and find—no certain answer! This is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span> +one of the greatest of the many mysteries of the +natural world, of which little is known, although +much is guessed, and the bright September nights +may reveal to us—we know not what undiscovered +facts.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I see my way as birds their trackless way.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I shall arrive; what time, what circuit first,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>I ask not; but unless God sends his hail</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Of blinding fire-balls, sleet or driving snow,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>In sometime, his good time, I shall arrive;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>He guides me and the bird. In his good time.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Robert Browning.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='GHOSTS_OF_THE_EARTH' id='GHOSTS_OF_THE_EARTH'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span> +<h2>GHOSTS OF THE EARTH</h2> +</div> + +<p>We may know the name of every tree near +our home; we may recognise each blossom +in the field, every weed by the wayside; yet we +should be astonished to be told that there are +hundreds of plants—many of them of exquisite +beauty—which we have overlooked in very sight +of our doorstep. What of the green film which +is drawn over every moist tree-trunk or shaded +wall, or of the emerald film which coats the water +of the pond’s edge? Or the gray lichens painting +the rocks and logs, toning down the shingles; the +toadstools which, like pale vegetable ghosts, +spring up in a night from the turf; or the sombre +puff balls which seem dead from their birth?</p> +<p>The moulds which cover bread and cheese with +a delicate tracery of filaments and raise on high +their tiny balls of spores are as worthy to be +called a plant growth as are the great oaks which +shade our houses. The rusts and mildews and +blights which destroy our fruit all have their +beauty of growth and fruition when we examine +them through a lens, and the yeast by which flour +and water is made to rise into the porous, spongy +dough is just as truly a plant as is the geranium +blossoming at the kitchen window.</p> +<p>If we wonder at the fierce struggle for existence +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span> +which allows only a few out of the many seeds of +a maple or thistle to germinate and grow up, how +can we realise the obstacles with which these lowly +plants have to contend? A weed in the garden +may produce from one to ten thousand seeds, and +one of our rarest ferns scatters in a single season +over fifty millions spores; while from the larger +puff-balls come clouds of unnumbered millions of +spores, blowing to the ends of the earth; yet we +may search for days without finding one full-grown +individual.</p> +<p>All the assemblage of mushrooms and toadstools,—although +the most deadly may flaunt +bright hues of scarlet and yellow,—yet lack the +healthy green of ordinary plants. This is due to +the fact that they have become brown parasites or +scavengers, and instead of transmuting heat and +moisture and the salts of the earth into tissue by +means of the pleasant-hued chlorophyll, these +sylvan ghosts subsist upon the sap of roots or +the tissues of decaying wood. Emancipated from +the normal life of the higher plants, even flowers +have been denied them and their fruit is but a +cloud of brown dust,—each mote a simple cell.</p> +<p>But what of the delicate Indian pipe which +gleams out from the darkest aisles of the forest? +If we lift up its hanging head we will find a perfect +flower, and its secret is discovered. Traitor +to its kind, it has dropped from the ranks of the +laurels, the heather, and the jolly little wintergreens +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span> +to the colourless life of a parasite,—hobnobbing +with clammy toadstools and slimy lichens. +Its common names are all appropriate,—ice-plant, +ghost-flower, corpse-plant.</p> +<p>Nevertheless it is a delicately beautiful creation, +and we have no right to apply our human +standards of ethics to these children of the wild, +whose only chance of life is to seize every opportunity,—to +make use of each hint of easier existence.</p> +<p>We have excellent descriptions and classifications +of mushrooms and toadstools, but of the +actual life of these organisms, of the conditions +of their growth, little is known. Some of the +most hideous are delicious to our palate, some +of the most beautiful are certain death. The +splendid red and yellow amanita, which lights +up a dark spot in the woods like some flowering +orchid, is a veritable trap of death. Though +human beings have learned the fatal lesson and +leave it alone, the poor flies in the woods are +ever deceived by its brightness, or odour, and a +circle of their bodies upon the ground shows the +result of their ignorance.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='MUSKRATS' id='MUSKRATS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span> +<h2>MUSKRATS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Long before man began to inherit the earth, +giant beavers built their dams and swam in +the streams of long ago. For ages these creatures +have been extinct. Our forefathers, during historical +times, found smaller beavers abundant, +and with such zeal did they trap them that this +modern race is now well-nigh vanished. Nothing +is left to us but the humble muskrat,—which in +name and in facile adaptation to the encroachments +of civilization has little in common with his +more noble predecessor. Yet in many ways his +habits of life bring to mind the beaver.</p> +<p>Let us make the most of our heritage and watch +at the edge of a stream some evening in late +fall. If the muskrats have half finished their +mound of sticks and mud, which is to serve them +for a winter home, we will be sure to see some of +them at work. Two lines of ripples furrow the +surface outward from the farther bank, and a +small dark form clambers upon the pile of rubbish. +Suddenly a <i>spat!</i> sounds at our very feet, +and a muskrat dives headlong into the water, +followed by the one on the ground. Another <i>spat!</i> +and splash comes from farther down the stream, +and so the danger signal of the muskrat clan is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span> +passed along,—a single flap upon the water with +the flat of the tail.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>If we wait silent and patient, the work will be +taken up anew, and in the pale moonlight the +little labourers will fashion their house, lining +the upper chamber with soft grasses, and shaping +the steep passageway which will lead to the ever-unfrozen +stream-bed. Either here or in the snug +tunnel nest deep in the bank the young muskrats +are born, and here they are weaned upon toothsome +mussels and succulent lily roots.</p> +<p>Safe from all save mink and owl and trap, these +sturdy muskrats spend the summer in and about +the streams; and when winter shuts down hard +and fast, they live lives more interesting than any +of our other animals. The ground freezes their +tunnels into tubes of iron,—the ice seals the +surface, past all gnawing out; and yet, amid the +quietly flowing water, where snow and wind never +penetrate, these warm-blooded, air-breathing +muskrats live the winter through, with only the +trout and eels for company. Their food is the +bark and pith of certain plants; their air is what +leaks through the house of sticks, or what may +collect at the melting-place of ice and shore.</p> +<p>Stretched full length on the smooth ice, let us +look through into that strange nether world, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span> +where the stress of storm is unknown. Far beneath +us sinuous black forms undulate through +the water,—from tunnel to house and back again. +As we gaze down through the crystalline mass, +occasional fractures play pranks with the objects +below. The animate shapes seem to take unto +themselves greater bulk; their tails broaden, their +bodies become many times longer. For a moment +the illusion is perfect; thousands of centuries have +slipped back, and we are looking at the giant +beavers of old.</p> +<p>Let us give thanks that even the humble muskrat +still holds his own. A century or two hence +and posterity may look with wonder at his stuffed +skin in a museum!</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='NATURE_S_GEOMETRICIANS' id='NATURE_S_GEOMETRICIANS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span> +<h2>NATURE’S GEOMETRICIANS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Spiders form good subjects for a rainy-day +study, and two hours spent in a neglected +garret watching these clever little beings will +often arouse such interest that we shall be glad +to devote many days of sunshine to observing +those species which hunt and build, and live their +lives in the open fields. There is no insect in the +world with more than six legs, and as a spider +has eight he is therefore thrown out of the company +of butterflies, beetles, and wasps and finds +himself in a strange assemblage. Even to his +nearest relatives he bears little resemblance, for +when we realise that scorpions and horseshoe +crabs must call him cousin, we perceive that his is +indeed an aberrant bough on the tree of creation.</p> +<p>Leaving behind the old-fashioned horseshoe +crabs to feel their way slowly over the bottom of +the sea, the spiders have won for themselves on +land a place high above the mites, ticks, and +daddy-long-legs, and in their high development +and intricate powers of resource they yield not +even to the ants and bees.</p> +<p>Nature has provided spiders with an organ +filled always with liquid which, on being exposed +to the air, hardens, and can be drawn out into +the slender threads we know as cobweb. The silkworm +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span> +encases its body with a mile or more of +gleaming silk, but there its usefulness is ended +as far as the silkworm is concerned. But spiders +have found a hundred uses for their cordage, +some of which are startlingly similar to human +inventions.</p> +<p>Those spiders which burrow in the earth hang +their tunnels with silken tapestries impervious +to wet, which at the same time act as lining to the +tube. Then the entrance may be a trap-door of +soil and silk, hinged with strong silken threads; +or in the turret spiders which are found in our +fields there is reared a tiny tower of leaves or +twigs bound together with silk. Who of us has +not teased the inmate by pushing a bent straw +into his stronghold and awaiting his furious onslaught +upon the innocent stalk!</p> +<p>A list of all the uses of cobwebs would take +more space than we can spare; but of these the +most familiar is the snare set for unwary flies,—the +wonderfully ingenious webs which sparkle +with dew among the grasses or stretch from bush +to bush. The framework is of strong webbing and +upon this is closely woven the sticky spiral which +is so elastic, so ethereal, and yet strong enough to +entangle a good-sized insect. How knowing seems +the little worker, as when, the web and his den of +concealment being completed, he spins a strong +cable from the centre of the web to the entrance +of his watch-tower. Then, when a trembling of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span> +his aerial spans warns him of a capture, how +eagerly he seizes his master cable and jerks away +on it, thus vibrating the whole structure and +making more certain the confusion of his victim.</p> +<p>What is more interesting than to see a great +yellow garden-spider hanging head downward in +the centre of his web, when we approach too +closely, instead of deserting his snare, set it vibrating +back and forth so rapidly that he becomes +a mere blur; a more certain method of escaping +the onslaught of a bird than if he ran to the shelter +of a leaf.</p> +<p>Those spiders which leap upon their prey instead +of setting snares for it have still a use for +their threads of life, throwing out a cable as they +leap, to break their fall if they miss their foothold. +What a strange use of the cobweb is that of the +little flying spiders! Up they run to the top of +a post, elevate their abdomens and run out several +threads which lengthen and lengthen until the +breeze catches them and away go the wingless +aeronauts for yards or for miles as fortune and +wind and weather may dictate! We wonder if +they can cut loose or pull in their balloon cables +at will.</p> +<p>Many species of spiders spin a case for holding +their eggs, and some carry this about with them +until the young are hatched.</p> +<p>A most fascinating tale would unfold could we +discover all the uses of cobweb when the spiders +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +themselves are through with it. Certain it is that +our ruby-throated hummingbird robs many webs +to fasten together the plant down, wood pulp, +and lichens which compose her dainty nest.</p> +<p>Search the pond and you will find another member +of the spider family swimming about at ease +beneath the surface, thoroughly aquatic in habits, +but breathing a bubble of air which he carries +about with him. When his supply is low he swims +to a submarine castle of silk, so air-tight that he +can keep it filled with a large bubble of air, upon +which he draws from time to time.</p> +<p>And so we might go on enumerating almost endless +uses for the web which is Nature’s gift to +these little waifs, who ages ago left the sea and +have won a place for themselves in the sunshine +among the butterflies and flowers.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>In the balsam-perfumed shade of our northern +forests we may sometimes find growing in abundance +the tiny white dwarf cornel, or bunch-berry, +as its later cluster of scarlet fruit makes the more +appropriate name. These miniature dogwood +blossoms (or imitation blossoms, as the white divisions +are not real petals) are very conspicuous +against the dark moss, and many insects seem to +seek them out and to find it worth while to visit +them. If we look very carefully we may find that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span> +this discovery is not original with us, for a little +creature has long ago found out the fondness of +bees and other insects for these flowers and has +put his knowledge to good use.</p> +<p>One day I saw what I thought was a swelling +on one part of the flower, but a closer look showed +it was a living spider. Here was protective +colouring carried to a wonderful degree. The +body of the spider was white and glistening, like +the texture of the white flower on which he +rested. On his abdomen were two pink, oblong +spots of the same tint and shape as the pinkened +tips of the false petals. Only by an accident could +he be discovered by a bird, and when I focussed +my camera, I feared that the total lack of contrast +would make the little creature all but invisible.</p> +<p>Confident with the instinct handed down +through many generations, the spider trusted implicitly +to his colour for safety and never moved, +though I placed the lens so close that it threw a +life-sized image on the ground-glass. When all +was ready, and before I had pressed the bulb, +the thought came to me whether this wonderful +resemblance should be attributed to the need of +escaping from insectivorous birds, or to the increased +facility with which the spider would be +able to catch its prey. At the very instant of making +the exposure, before I could will the stopping +of the movement of my fingers, if I had so wished, +my question was answered. A small, iridescent, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span> +green bee flew down, like a spark of living light, +upon the flower, and, quick as thought, was caught +in the jaws of the spider. Six of his eight legs +were not brought into use, but were held far back +out of the way.</p> +<p>Here, on my lens, I had a little tragedy of the +forest preserved for all time.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>There was no bud, no bloom upon the bowers;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The spiders wove their thin shrouds night by night;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The thistledown, the only ghost of flowers,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Sailed slowly by—passed noiseless out of sight.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Thomas Buchanan Read.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>OCTOBER</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='AUTUMN_HUNTING_WITH_A_FIELD_GLASS' id='AUTUMN_HUNTING_WITH_A_FIELD_GLASS'></a> +<h2>AUTUMN HUNTING WITH A FIELD GLASS</h2> +</div> + +<p>One of the most uncertain of months is October, +and most difficult for the beginner in +bird study. If we are just learning to enjoy the +life of wood and field, we will find hard tangles +to unravel among the birds of this month. Many +of the smaller species which passed us on their +northward journey last spring are now returning +and will, perhaps, tarry a week or more before +starting on the next nocturnal stage of their passage +tropicward. Many are almost unrecognisable +in their new winter plumage. Male scarlet +tanagers are now green tanagers, goldfinches are +olive finches, while instead of the beautiful black, +white, and cream dress which made so easy the +identification of the meadow bobolinks in the +spring, search will now be rewarded only by some +plump, overgrown sparrows—reedbirds—which +are really bobolinks in disguise.</p> +<p>Orchard orioles and rose-breasted grosbeaks +come and are welcomed, but the multitude of +female birds of these species which appear may +astonish one, until he discovers that the young +birds, both male and female, are very similar to +their mother in colour. We have no difficulty in +distinguishing between adult bay-breasted and +black poll warblers, but he is indeed a keen observer +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span> +who can point out which is which when the +young birds of the year pass.</p> +<p>October is apt to be a month of extremes. One +day the woods are filled with scores of birds, and +on the next hardly one will be seen. Often a single +species or family will predominate, and one +will remember “thrush days” or “woodpecker +days.” Yellow-bellied sapsuckers cross the path, +flickers call and hammer in every grove, while in +the orchards, and along the old worm-eaten fences, +glimpses of red, white, and black show where redheaded +woodpeckers are looping from trunk to +post. When we listen to the warble of bluebirds, +watch the mock courtship of the high-holders, and +discover the fall violets under leaves and burrs, +for an instant a feeling of spring rushes over us; +but the yellow leaves blow against our face, the +wind sighs through the cedars, and we realise that +the black hand of the frost will soon end the brave +efforts of the wild pansies.</p> +<p>The thrushes, ranking in some ways at the head +of all our birds, drift through the woods, brown +and silent as the leaves around them. Splendid +opportunities they give us to test our powers of +woodcraft. A thrush passes like a streak of +brown light and perches on a tree some distance +away. We creep from tree to tree, darting nearer +when his head is turned. At last we think we are +within range, and raise our weapon. No, a leaf +is in the way, and the dancing spots of sunlight +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span> +make our aim uncertain. We move a little closer +and again take aim, and this time he cannot escape +us. Carefully our double-barrelled binoculars +cover him, and we get what powder and lead could +never give us—the quick glance of the hazel eye, +the trembling, half-raised feathers on his head, +and a long look at the beautifully rounded form +perched on the twig, which a wanton shot would +destroy forever. The rich rufous colouring of +the tail proclaims him a singer of singers—a hermit +thrush. We must be on the watch these days +for the beautiful wood thrush, the lesser spotted +veery, the well named olive-back and the rarer +gray-cheeked thrush. We may look in vain among +the thrushes in our bird books for the golden-crowned +and water thrush, for these walkers of +the woods are thrushes only in appearance, and +belong to the family of warblers. The long-tailed +brown thrashers, lovers of the undergrowth, are +still more thrush-like in look, but in our classifications +they hold the position of giant cousins to the +wrens. Even the finches contribute a mock thrush +to our list, the big, spotted-breasted fox sparrow, +but he rarely comes in number before mid October +or November. Of course we all know that our +robin is a true thrush, young robins having their +breasts thickly spotted with black, while even +the old birds retain a few spots and streaks on +the throat.</p> +<p>If we search behind the screen of leaves and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220' name='page_220'></a>220</span> +grass around us we may discover many tragedies. +One fall I picked up a dead olive-backed thrush +in the Zoological Park. There were no external +signs of violence, but I found that the food canal +was pretty well filled with blood. The next day +still another bird was found in the same condition, +and the day after two more. Within a week +I noted in my journal eight of these thrushes, all +young birds of the year, and all with the same +symptoms of disorder. I could only surmise that +some poisonous substance, some kind of berry, +perhaps some attractive but deadly exotic from +the Botanical Gardens, had tempted the inexperienced +birds and caused their deaths.</p> +<p>As we walk through the October woods a covey +of ruffed grouse springs up before us, overhead +a flock of robins dashes by, and the birds scatter +to feed among the wild grapes. The short round +wings of the grouse whirr noisily, while the quick +wing beats of the robins make little sound. Both +are suited to their uses. The robin may travel +league upon league to the south, while the grouse +will not go far except to find new bud or berry +pastures. His wings, as we have noticed before, +are fitted rather for sudden emergencies, to bound +up before the teeth of the fox close upon him, to +dodge into close cover when the nose of the hound +almost touches his trembling body. When he +scrambled out of his shell last May he at once +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221' name='page_221'></a>221</span> +began to run about and to try his tiny wings, and +little by little he taught himself to fly. But in the +efforts he got many a tumble and broke or lost +many a feather. Nature, however, has foreseen +this, and to her grouse children she gives several +changes of wing feathers to practise with, before +the last strong winter quills come in.</p> +<p>How different it is with the robin. Naked and +helpless he comes from his blue shell, and only +one set of wing quills falls to his share, so it behooves +him to be careful indeed of these. He +remains in the nest until they are strong enough +to bear him up, and his first attempts are carefully +supervised by his anxious parents. And so +the glimpse we had in the October woods of the +two pair of wings held more of interest than we +at first thought.</p> +<p>In many parts of the country, about October +fifteenth the crows begin to flock back and forth +to and from their winter roosts. In some years it +is the twelfth, or again the seventeenth, but the +constancy of the mean date is remarkable. Many +of our winter visitants have already slipped into +our fields and woods and taken the places of some +of the earlier southern migrants; but the daily +passing of the birds which delay their journey +until fairly pinched by the lack of food at the +first frosts extends well into November. It is +not until the foliage on the trees and bushes becomes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222' name='page_222'></a>222</span> +threadbare and the last migrants have +flown, that our northern visitors begin to take a +prominent place in our avifauna.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Close bosom friend of the maturing sun;</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they?</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Among the river-sallows, borne aloft</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47167034584253em;'>Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 1.47167034584253em;'>And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.</p> +<br /> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>John Keats.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='A_WOODCHUCK_AND_A_GREBE' id='A_WOODCHUCK_AND_A_GREBE'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223' name='page_223'></a>223</span> +<h2>A WOODCHUCK AND A GREBE</h2> +</div> + +<p>No fact comes to mind which is not more impressed +upon us by the valuable aid of +comparisons, and Nature is ever offering antitheses. +At this season we are generally given a +brief glimpse—the last for the year—of two creatures, +one a mammal, the other a bird, which are +as unlike in their activities as any two living creatures +could well be.</p> +<p>What a type of lazy contentment is the woodchuck, +as throughout the hot summer days he lies +on his warm earthen hillock at the entrance of his +burrow. His fat body seems almost to flow down +the slope, and when he waddles around for a +nibble of clover it is with such an effort that we +feel sure he would prefer a comfortable slow +starvation, were it not for the unpleasant feelings +involved in such a proceeding.</p> +<p>As far as I know there are but two things which, +can rouse a woodchuck to strenuous activity; +when a dog is in pursuit he can make his stumpy +feet fairly twinkle as he flies for his burrow, and +when a fox or a man is digging him out, he can +literally worm his way through the ground, frequently +escaping by means of his wonderful +digging power. But when September or October +days bring the first chill, he gives one last yawn +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224' name='page_224'></a>224</span> +upon the world and stows himself away at the +farthest end of his tunnel, there to sleep away +the winter. Little more does he know of the snows +and blizzards than the bird which has flown to the +tropics. Even storing up fruits or roots is too +great an effort for the indolent woodchuck, and in +his hibernation stupor he draws only upon the fat +which his lethargic summer life has accumulated +within his skin.</p> +<p>As we might expect from a liver of such a slothful +life, the family traits of the woodchuck are far +from admirable and there is said to be little affection +shown by the mother woodchuck toward her +young. The poor little fellows are pushed out of +the burrow and driven away to shift for themselves +as soon as possible. Many of them must +come to grief from hawks and foxes. Closely +related to the squirrels, these large marmots (for +they are first cousins to the prairie dogs) are as +unlike them in activity as they are in choice of a +haunt.</p> +<p>What a contrast to all this is the trim feathered +form which we may see on the mill pond some +clear morning. Alert and wary, the grebe paddles +slowly along, watchful of every movement. +If we approach too closely, it may settle little by +little, like a submarine opening its water compartments, +until nothing is visible except the head with +its sharp beak. Another step and the bird has +vanished, swallowed up by the lake, and the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225' name='page_225'></a>225</span> +chances are a hundred to one against our discovering +the motionless neck and the tiny eye +which rises again among the water weeds.</p> +<p>This little grebe comes of a splendid line of +ancestors, some of which were even more specialised +for an aquatic life. These paid the price +of existence along lines too narrow and vanished +from the earth. The grebe, however, has so far +stuck to a life which bids fair to allow his race +safety for many generations, but he is perilously +near the limit. Every fall he migrates far southward, +leaving his northern lakes, but if the water +upon which he floats should suddenly dry up, he +would be almost as helpless as the gasping fish; +for his wings are too weak to lift him from the +ground. He must needs have a long take-off, a +flying start, aided by vigorous paddling along the +surface of the water, before he can rise into the +air.</p> +<p>Millions of years ago there lived birds built on +the general grebe plan and who doubtless were +derived from the same original stock, but which +lived in the great seas of that time. Far from +being able to migrate, every external trace of +wing was gone and these great creatures, almost +as large as a man and with sharp teeth in their +beaks, must have hitched themselves like seals +along the edge of the beach, and perhaps laid their +eggs on the pebbles as do the terns to-day.</p> +<p>The grebe, denied the power to rise easily and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226' name='page_226'></a>226</span> +even, to ran about on land without considerable +effort, is, however, splendidly adapted to its water +life, and the rapidity of its motions places it near +the head of the higher active creatures,—with the +woodchuck near the opposite extreme.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_VOICE_OF_ANIMALS' id='THE_VOICE_OF_ANIMALS'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227' name='page_227'></a>227</span> +<h2>THE VOICE OF THE ANIMALS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Throughout the depths of the sea, silence, +as well as absolute darkness, prevails. The +sun penetrates only a short distance below the +surface, at most a few hundred feet, and all disturbance +from storms ceases far above that depth, +Where the pressure is a ton or more to the square +inch, it is very evident that no sound vibration +can exist. Near the surface it is otherwise. The +majority of fishes have no lungs and of course no +vocal chords, but certain species, such as the drumfish, +are able to distend special sacs with gas or +air, or in other ways to produce sounds. One +variety succeeds in producing a number of sounds +by gritting the teeth, and when the male fish is +attempting to charm the female by dashing round +her, spreading his fins to display his brilliant +colours, this gritting of the teeth holds a prominent +place in the performance, although whether +the fair finny one makes her choice because she +prefers a high-toned grit instead of a lower one +can only be imagined! But vibrations, whether +of sound or of water pressure, are easily carried +near the surface, and fishes are provided with +organs to receive and record them. One class of +such organs has little in common with ears, as we +speak of them; they are merely points on the head +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228' name='page_228'></a>228</span> +and body which are susceptible to the watery +vibrations. These points are minute cavities, surrounded +with tiny <i>cilia</i> or hairs, which connect +with the ends of the nerves.</p> +<p>The ears of the frogs and all higher animals +are, like the tongue-bone and the lower jaw, +derived originally from portions of gills, which +the aquatic ancestors of living animals used to +draw the oxygen from the water. This is one of +the most wonderful and interesting changes which +the study of evolution has unfolded to our +knowledge.</p> +<p>The disproportionate voices are produced by +means of an extra amount of skin on the throat, +which is distensible and acts as a drum to increase +the volume of sound. In certain bullfrogs which +grow to be as large as the head of a man, the bellowing +power is deafening and is audible for miles. +In Chile a small species of frog, measuring only +about an inch in length, has two internal vocal +sacs which are put to a unique use. Where these +frogs live, water is very scarce and the polliwogs +have no chance to live and develop in pools, as is +ordinarily the case. So when the eggs are laid, +they are immediately taken by the male frog and +placed in these capacious sacs, which serve as +nurseries for them all through their hatching and +growing period of life. Although there is no water +in these chambers, yet their gills grow out and +are reabsorbed, just as is the case in ordinary +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229' name='page_229'></a>229</span> +tadpoles. When their legs are fully developed, +they clamber up to their father’s broad mouth +and get their first glimpse of the great world from +his lower lip. When fifteen partly developed +polliwogs are found in the pouches of one little +frog, he looks as if he had gorged himself to bursting +with tadpoles. To such curious uses may vocal +organs be put.</p> +<p>Turtles are voiceless, except at the period of +laying eggs, when they acquire a voice, which even +in the largest is very tiny and piping, like some +very small insect rather than a two-hundred-pound +tortoise. Some of the lizards utter shrill, +insect-like squeaks.</p> +<p>A species of gecko, a small, brilliantly coloured +lizard, has the back of its tail armed with plates. +These it has a habit of rubbing together, and by +this means it produces a shrill, chirruping sound, +which actually attracts crickets and grasshoppers +toward the noise, so that they fall easy prey to +this reptilian trapper. So in colour, sound, motion, +and many other ways, animals act and react +upon each other, a useful and necessary habit +being perverted by an enemy, so that the death of +the creature results. Yet it would never be claimed +that the lizard thought out this mimicking. It +probably found that certain actions resulted in the +approach of good dinners, and in its offspring this +action might be partly instinctive, and each generation +would perpetuate it. If it had been an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230' name='page_230'></a>230</span> +intentional act, other nearly related species of +lizards would imitate it, as soon as they perceived +the success which attended it.</p> +<p>That many animals have a kind of language is +nowadays admitted to be a truism, but this is more +evident among mammals and birds, and, reviewing +the classes of the former, we find a more or +less defined ascending complexity and increased +number of varying sounds as we pass from the +lower forms—kangaroos and moles—to the higher +herb-and-flesh-eaters, and particularly monkeys.</p> +<p>Squeaks and grunts constitute the vocabulary, +if we dignify it by that name, of the mammals. +The sloths, those curious animals whose entire +life is spent clinging to the underside of branches, +on whose leaves they feed, may be said almost to +be voiceless, so seldom do they give utterance to +the nameless wail which constitutes their only +utterance. Even when being torn to pieces by an +enemy, they offer no resistance and emit no sound, +but fold their claws around their body and submit +to the inevitable as silently and as stoically +as did ever an ancient Spartan.</p> +<p>Great fear of death will often cause an animal +to utter sounds which are different from those +produced under any other conditions. When an +elephant is angry or excited, his trumpeting is +terribly loud and shrill; but when a mother elephant +is “talking” to her child, while the same +sonorous, metallic quality is present, yet it is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231' name='page_231'></a>231</span> +wonderfully softened and modulated. A horse is +a good example of what the fear of death will do. +The ordinary neigh of a horse is very familiar, +but in battle when mortally wounded, or having +lost its master and being terribly frightened, a +horse will scream, and those who have heard it, +say it is more awful than the cries of pain of a +human being.</p> +<p>Deer and elk often astonish one by the peculiar +sounds which they produce. An elk can bellow +loudly, especially when fighting; but when members +of a herd call to each other, or when surprised +by some unusual appearance, they whistle—a +sudden, sharp whistle, like the tin mouthpieces +with revolving discs, which were at one +time so much in evidence.</p> +<p>The growl of a bear differs greatly under varying +circumstances. There is the playful growl, +uttered when two individuals are wrestling, and +the terrible “sound”—no word expresses it—to +which a bear, cornered and driven to the last +extremity, gives utterance—fear, hate, dread, and +awful passion mingled and expressed in sound. +One can realise the fearful terror which this inspires +only when one has, as I have, stood up to a +mad bear, repelling charge after charge, with only +an iron pike between one’s self and those powerful +fangs and claws. The long-drawn moan of a +polar bear on a frosty night is another phase; this, +too, is expressive, but only of those wonderful +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232' name='page_232'></a>232</span> +Arctic scenes where night and day are as one to +this great seal-hunter.</p> +<p>The dog has made man his god,—giving up his +life for his master would be but part of his way +of showing his love if he had it in his power to do +more. So, too, the dog has attempted to adapt +his speech to his master’s, and the result is a bark. +No wild coyotes or wolves bark, but when bands +of dogs descended from domesticated animals run +wild, their howls are modulated and a certain unmistakable +barking quality imparted. The drawn-out +howl of a great gray wolf is an impressive +sound and one never to be forgotten. Only the +fox seems to possess the ability to bark in its +native tongue. The sounds which the cats, great +and small, reproduce are most varied. Nothing +can be much more intimidating than the roar of a +lion, or more demoniacal than the arguments +which our house-pets carry on at night on garden +fences.</p> +<p>What use the sounds peculiar to sea-lions subserve +in their life on the great ocean, or their +haunts along the shore, can only be imagined, but +surely such laudable perseverance, day after day, +to out-utter each other, must be for some good +reason!</p> +<p>Volumes have been written concerning the +voices of the two remaining groups of animals—monkeys +and birds. In the great family of the +four-handed folk, more varieties of sound are produced +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233' name='page_233'></a>233</span> +than would be thought possible. Some of +the large baboons are awful in their vocalisations. +Terrible agony or remorse is all that their moans +suggest to us, no matter what frame of mind on +the part of the baboon induces them. Of all vertebrates +the tiny marmosets reproduce most exactly +the chirps of crickets and similar insects, and to +watch one of these little human faces, see its mouth +open, and instead of, as seems natural, words issuing +forth, to hear these shrill squeaks is most surprising. +Young orang-utans, in their “talk,” as +well as in their actions, are counterparts of human +infants. The scream of frantic rage when a +banana is offered and jerked away, the wheedling +tone when the animal wishes to be comforted by +the keeper on account of pain or bruise, and the +sound of perfect contentment and happiness when +petted by the keeper whom it learns to love,—all +are almost indistinguishable from like utterances +of a human child.</p> +<p>But how pitiless is the inevitable change of the +next few years! Slowly the bones of the cranium +thicken, partly filling up the brain cavity, and +slowly but surely the ape loses all affection for +those who take care of it. More and more morose +and sullen it becomes until it reaches a stage of +unchangeable ferocity and must be doomed to +close confinement, never again to be handled or +caressed.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_NAMES_OF_ANIMALS_FROGS_AND_FISH' id='THE_NAMES_OF_ANIMALS_FROGS_AND_FISH'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234' name='page_234'></a>234</span> +<h2>THE NAMES OF ANIMALS, FROGS, AND FISH</h2> +</div> + +<p>When, during the lazy autumn days, the +living creatures seem for a time to have +taken themselves completely beyond our ken, it +may be interesting to delve among old records and +descriptions of animals and see how the names by +which we know them first came to be given. Many +of our English names have an unsuspected ancestry, +which, through past centuries, has been +handed down to us through many changes of +spelling and meaning, of romantic as well as historical +interest.</p> +<p>How many people regard the scientific Latin +and Greek names of animals with horror, as being +absolutely beyond their comprehension, and yet +how interesting these names become when we look +them squarely in the face, analyse them and find +the appropriateness of their application.</p> +<p>When you say “wolf” to a person, the image +of that wild creature comes instantly to his mind, +but if you ask him <i>why</i> it is called a wolf, a hundred +chances to one he will look blankly at you. +It is the old fault, so common among us human +beings, of ignoring the things which lie nearest +us. Or perhaps your friend shares the state of +mind of the puzzled old lady, who, after looking +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235' name='page_235'></a>235</span> +over a collection of fossil bones, said that she +could understand how these bones had been preserved, +and millions of years later had been discovered, +but it was a mystery to her how anyone +could know the names of these ancient animals +after such a lapse of time!</p> +<p>Some of the names of the commonest animals +are lost in the dimness of antiquity, such as fox, +weasel, sheep, dog, and baboon. Of the origin +of these we have forever lost the clew. With +camel we can go no farther back than the Latin +word <i>camelus</i>, and elephant balks us with the old +Hindoo word <i>eleph</i>, which means an ox. The old +root of the word wolf meant one who tears or +rends, and the application to this animal is obvious. +In several English and German names of +persons, we have handed down to us a relic of the +old fashion of applying wolf as a compliment to a +warrior or soldier. For example, Adolph means +noble-wolf, and Rudolph glory-wolf.</p> +<p>Lynx is from the same Latin word as the word +<i>lux</i> (light) and probably was given to these wildcats +on account of the brightness of their eyes. +Lion is, of course, from the Latin <i>leo</i>, which word, +in turn, is lost far back in the Egyptian tongue, +where the word for the king of beasts was <i>labu</i>. +The compound word leopard is first found in the +Persian language, where <i>pars</i> stands for panther. +Seal, very appropriately, was once a word meaning +“of the sea”; close to the Latin <i>sal</i>, the sea. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236' name='page_236'></a>236</span></p> +<p>Many names of animals are adapted from words +in the ancient language of the natives in whose +country the creatures were first discovered. +Puma, jaguar, tapir, and peccary (from <i>paquires</i>) +are all names from South American Indian languages. +The coyote and ocelot were called <i>coyotl</i> +and <i>ocelotl</i> by the Mexicans long before Cortes +landed on their shores. Zebra, gorilla, and chimpanzee +are native African words, and orang-utan +is Malay, meaning Man of the Woods. Cheetah +is from some East Indian tongue, as is tahr, the +name of the wild goat of the Himalayas. Gnu is +from the Hottentots, and giraffe from the Arabic +<i>zaraf</i>. Aoudad, the Barbary wild sheep, is the +French form of the Moorish name <i>audad</i>.</p> +<p>The native Indians of our own country are passing +rapidly, and before many years their race may +be extinct, but their musical, euphonious names +of the animals they knew so well, often pleased the +ear of the early settlers, and in many instances +will be a lasting memorial as long as these forest +creatures of our United States survive.</p> +<p>Thus, moose is from the Indian word <i>mouswah</i>, +meaning wood-eater; skunk from <i>seganku</i>, an +Algonquin term; <i>wapiti</i>, in the Cree language, +meant white deer, and was originally applied to +the Rocky Mountain goat, but the name is now +restricted to the American elk. Caribou is also +an Indian word; opossum is from <i>possowne</i>, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237' name='page_237'></a>237</span> +raccoon is from the Indian <i>arrathkune</i> (by further +apheresis, coon).</p> +<p>Rhinoceros is pure Greek, meaning nose-horned, +but beaver has indeed had a rough time of it in +its travels through various languages. It is hardly +recognisable as <i>bebrus</i>, <i>babbru</i>, and <i>bbru</i>. The +latter is the ultimate root of our word brown. +The original application was, doubtless, on account +of the colour of the creature’s fur. Otter +takes us back to Sanskrit, where we find it <i>udra</i>. +The significance of this word is in its close kinship +to <i>udan</i>, meaning water.</p> +<p>The little mouse hands his name down through +the years from the old, old Sanskrit, the root +meaning to steal. Many people who never heard +of Sanskrit have called him and his descendants +by terms of homologous significance! The word +muscle is from the same root, and was applied +from a fancied resemblance of the movement of +the muscle beneath the skin to a mouse in motion—not +a particularly quieting thought to certain +members of the fair sex! The origin of the word +rat is less certain, but it may have been derived +from the root of the Latin word <i>radere</i>, to scratch, +or <i>rodere</i>, to gnaw. Rodent is derived from the +latter term. Cat is also in doubt, but is first +recognised in <i>catalus</i>, a diminutive of <i>canis</i>, a dog. +It was applied to the young of almost any animal, +as we use the words pup, kitten, cub, and so forth. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238' name='page_238'></a>238</span> +Bear is the result of tongue-twisting from the +Latin <i>fera</i>, a wild beast.</p> +<p>Ape is from the Sanskrit <i>kapi</i>; <i>kap</i> in the same +language means tremble; but the connection is not +clear. Lemur, the name given to that low family +of monkeys, is from the plural Latin word +<i>lemures</i>, meaning ghost or spectre. This has +reference to the nocturnal habits, stealthy gait, +and weird expression of these large-eyed creatures. +Antelope is probably of Grecian origin, +and was originally applied to a half-mythical animal, +located on the banks of the Euphrates, and +described as “very savage and fleet, and having +long, saw-like horns with which it could cut down +trees. It figures largely in the peculiar fauna of +heraldry.”</p> +<p>Deer is of obscure origin, but may have been +an adjective meaning wild. Elk is derived from +the same root as eland, and the history of the latter +word is an interesting one. It meant a +sufferer, and was applied by the Teutons to the +elk of the Old World on account of the awkward +gait and stiff movements of this ungainly animal. +But in later years the Dutch carried the same +word, eland, to South Africa, and there gave it +to the largest of the tribe of antelopes, in which +sense it is used by zoologists to-day.</p> +<p>Porcupine has arisen from two Latin words, +<i>porcus</i>, a hog, and <i>spina</i>, a spine; hence, appropriately, +a spiny-hog. Buffalo may once have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239' name='page_239'></a>239</span> +been some native African name. In the vista of +time, our earliest glimpse of it is as <i>bubalus</i>, +which was applied both to the wild ox and to a +species of African antelope. Fallow deer is from +fallow, meaning pale, or yellowish, while axis, as +applied to the deer so common in zoological gardens, +was first mentioned by Pliny and is doubtless +of East Indian origin. The word bison is from +the Anglo-Saxon <i>wesend</i>, but beyond Pliny its +ultimate origin eludes all research.</p> +<p>Marmot, through various distortions, looms up +from Latin times as <i>mus montanus</i>, literally a +mountain mouse. Badger is from badge, in allusion +to the bands of white fur on its forehead. +The verb meaning to badger is derived from the +old cruel sport of baiting badgers with dogs.</p> +<p>Monkey is from the same root as <i>monna</i>, a +woman; more especially an old crone, in reference +to the fancied resemblance of the weazened face +of a monkey to that of a withered old woman. +Madam and madonna are other forms of words +from the same root, so wide and sweeping are the +changes in meaning which usage and time can give +to words.</p> +<p>Squirrel has a poetic origin in the Greek language; +its original meaning being shadow-tail. +Tiger is far more intricate. The old Persian word +<i>tir</i> meant arrow, while <i>tighra</i> signified sharp. The +application to this great animal was in allusion to +the swiftness with which the tiger leaps upon his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240' name='page_240'></a>240</span> +prey. The river Tigris, meaning literally the +river Arrow, is named thus from the swiftness +of its current.</p> +<p>As to the names of reptiles it is, of course, to +the Romans that we are chiefly indebted, as in the +case of reptile from <i>reptilus</i>, meaning creeping; +and crocodile from <i>dilus</i>, a lizard. Serpent is also +from the Latin <i>serpens</i>, creeping, and this from +the old Sanskrit root, <i>sarp</i>, with the same meaning. +This application of the idea of creeping is +again found in the word snake, which originally +came from the Sanskrit <i>naga</i>.</p> +<p>Tortoise harks back to the Latin <i>tortus</i>, meaning +twisted (hence our word tortuous) and came +to be applied to these slow creatures because of +their twisted legs. In its evolution through many +tongues it has suffered numbers of variations; one +of these being turtle, which we use to-day to designate +the smaller land tortoises. Terrapin and its +old forms <i>terrapene</i> and <i>turpin</i>, on the contrary, +originated in the New World, in the language of +the American Redskin.</p> +<p><i>Cobra-de-capello</i> is Portuguese for hooded +snake, while python is far older, the same word +being used by the Greeks to denote a spirit, demon, +or evil-soothsayer. This name was really given +to designate any species of large serpent. <i>Boa</i> is +Latin and was also applied to a large snake, while +the importance of the character of size is seen, +perhaps, in our words <i>bos</i> and <i>bovine</i>. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241' name='page_241'></a>241</span></p> +<p>The word viper is interesting; coming directly +from the Romans, who wrote it <i>vipera</i>. This in +turn is a contraction of the feminine form of the +adjective <i>vivipera</i>, in reference to the habit of +these snakes of bringing forth their young alive.</p> +<p>Lizard, through such forms as <i>lesarde</i>, <i>lezard</i>, +<i>lagarto</i>, <i>lacerto</i>, is from the Latin <i>lacertus</i>, a +lizard; while closely related is the word alligator +by way of <i>lagarto</i>, <i>aligarto</i>, to alligator. The +prefix may have arisen as a corruption of an article +and a noun, as in the modern Spanish <i>el +lagarto</i>,—a lizard.</p> +<p>Monitor is Latin for one who reminds, these +lizards being so called because they are supposed +to give warning of the approach of crocodiles. +Asp can be carried back to the <i>aspis</i> of the +Romans, no trace being found in the dim vistas of +preceding tongues.</p> +<p>Gecko, the name of certain wall-hunting lizards, +is derived from their croaking cry; while iguana +is a Spanish name taken from the old native +Haytian appellation <i>biuana</i>.</p> +<p>Of the word frog we know nothing, although +through the medium of many languages it has had +as thorough an evolution as in its physical life. +We must also admit our ignorance in regard to +toad, backward search revealing only <i>tade</i>, <i>tode</i>, +<i>ted</i>, <i>toode</i>, and <i>tadie</i>, the root baffling all study. +Polliwog and tadpole are delightfully easy. Old +forms of polliwog are <i>pollywig</i>, <i>polewiggle</i>, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242' name='page_242'></a>242</span> +<i>pollwiggle</i>. This last gives us the clew to our +spelling—<i>pollwiggle</i>, which, reversed and interpreted +in a modern way, is wigglehead, a most +appropriate name for these lively little black fellows. +Tadpole is somewhat similar; toad-pole, or +toad’s-head, also very apt when we think of these +small-bodied larval forms.</p> +<p>Salamander, which is a Greek word of Eastern +origin, was applied in the earliest times to a lizard +considered to have the power of extinguishing fire. +Newt has a strange history; originating in a +wrong division of two words, “<i>an ewte</i>,” the latter +being derived from <i>eft</i>, which is far more correct +than newt, though in use now in only a few +places. Few fishermen have ever thought of the +interesting derivation of the names which they +know so well. Of course there are a host of fishes +named from a fancied resemblance to familiar +terrestrial animals or other things; such as the +catfish, and those named after the dog, hog, horse, +cow, trunk, devil, angel, sun, and moon.</p> +<p>The word fish has passed through many varied +forms since it was <i>piscis</i> in the old Latin tongue, +and the same is true of shark and skate, which in +the same language were <i>carcharus</i> and <i>squatus</i>. +Trout was originally <i>tructa</i>, which in turn is lost +in a very old Greek word, meaning eat or gnaw. +Perch harks back to the Latin <i>perca</i>, and the +Romans had it from the Greeks, among whom it +meant spotted. The Romans said <i>minutus</i> when +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243' name='page_243'></a>243</span> +they meant small, and nowadays when we speak +of any very small fish we say minnow. Alewife +in old English was applied to the women, usually +very stout dames, who kept alehouses. The corpulency +of the fish to which the same term is given +explains its derivation.</p> +<p>The pike is so named from the sharp, pointed +snout and long, slim body, bringing to mind the +old-time weapon of that name; while pickerel +means doubly a little pike, the <i>er</i> and <i>el</i> (as in cock +and cockerel) both being diminutives. Smelt was +formerly applied to any small fish and comes, perhaps, +from the Anglo-Saxon <i>smeolt</i>, which meant +smooth—the smoothness and slipperiness of the +fish suggesting the name.</p> +<p>Salmon comes directly from the Latin <i>salmo</i>, a +salmon, which literally meant the leaper, from +<i>salire</i>—to leap. Sturgeon, from the Saxon was +<i>stiriga</i>, literally a stirrer, from the habit of the +fish of stirring up the mud at the bottom of the +water. Dace, through its mediæval forms <i>darce</i> +and <i>dars</i>, is from the same root as our word dart, +given on account of the swiftness of the fish.</p> +<p>Anchovy is interesting as perhaps from the +Basque word <i>antzua</i>, meaning dry; hence the dried +fish; and mullet is from the Latin <i>mullus</i>. Herring +is well worth following back to its origin. We +know that the most marked habit of fishes of this +type is their herding together in great schools or +masses or armies. In the very high German <i>heri</i> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244' name='page_244'></a>244</span> +meant an army or host; hence our word harry +and, with a suffix, herring.</p> +<p><i>Hake</i> in Norwegian means hook, and the term +hake or hook-fish was given because of the hooked +character of the under-jaw. Mackerel comes from +<i>macarellus</i> and originally the Latin <i>macula</i>—spotted, +from the dark spots on the body. Roach +and ray both come from the Latin <i>raria</i>, applied +then as in the latter case now to bottom-living +sharks.</p> +<p>Flounder comes from the verb, which in turn +is derived from flounce, a word which is lost in +antiquity. Tarpon (and the form <i>tarpum</i>) may +be an Indian word; while there is no doubt as to +grouper coming from <i>garrupa</i>, a native Mexican +name. Chubb (a form of cub) meant a chunky +mass or lump, referring to the body of the fish. +Shad is lost in <i>sceadda</i>, Anglo-Saxon for the same +fish.</p> +<p>Lamprey and halibut both have histories, which, +at first glance, we would never suspect, although +the forms have changed but little. The former +have a habit of fastening themselves for hours to +stones and rocks, by means of their strong, sucking +mouths. So the Latin form of the word <i>lampetra</i>, +or literally lick-rock, is very appropriate. +Halibut is equally so. <i>But</i> or <i>bot</i> in several languages +means a certain flounder-like fish, and in +olden times this fish was eaten only on holidays +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245' name='page_245'></a>245</span> +(<i>i.e.</i>, holy days). Hence the combination halibut +means really holy-flounder.</p> +<p>The meaning of these words and many others +are worth knowing, and it is well to be able to +answer with other than ignorance the question +“What’s in a name?”</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_DYING_YEAR' id='THE_DYING_YEAR'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246' name='page_246'></a>246</span> +<h2>THE DYING YEAR</h2> +</div> + +<p>When a radical change of habits occurs, as +in the sapsucker, deviating so sharply +from the ancient principles of its family, many +other forms of life about it are influenced, indirectly, +but in a most interesting way. In its +tippling operations it wastes quantities of sap +which exudes from the numerous holes and +trickles down the bark of the wounded tree. This +proves a veritable feast for the forlorn remnant +of wasps and butterflies,—the year’s end stragglers +whose flower calyces have fallen and given +place to swelling seeds.</p> +<p>Swiftly up wind they come on the scent, eager +as hounds on the trail, and they drink and drink +of the sweets until they become almost incapable +of flying. But, after all, the new lease of life is a +vain semblance of better things. Their eggs have +long since been laid and their mission in life ended, +and at the best their existence is but a matter of +days.</p> +<p>It is a sad thing this, and sometimes our heart +hardens against Nature for the seeming cruelty +of it all. Forever and always, year after year, +century upon century, the same tale unfolds itself,—the +sacrifice of the individual for the good of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247' name='page_247'></a>247</span> +race. A hundred drones are tended and reared, +all but one to die in vain; a thousand seeds are +sown to rot or to sprout and wither; a million little +codfish hatch and begin life hopefully, perhaps +all to succumb save one; a million million shrimp +and pteropods paddle themselves here and there +in the ocean, and every one is devoured by fish or +swept into the whalebone tangle from which none +ever return. And if a lucky one which survives +does so because it has some little advantage over +its fellows,—some added quality which gives just +the opportunity to escape at the critical moment,—then +the race will advance to the extent of that +trifle and so carry out the precept of evolution. +But even though we may owe every character of +body and mind to the fulfilment of some such inexorable +law in the past, yet the witnessing of the +operation brings ever a feeling of cruelty, of injustice +somewhere.</p> +<p>How pitiful the weak flight of the last yellow +butterfly of the year, as with tattered and battered +wings it vainly seeks for a final sip of +sweets! The fallen petals and the hard seeds are +black and odourless, the drops of sap are +hardened. Little by little the wings weaken, the +tiny feet clutch convulsively at a dried weed stalk, +and the four golden wings drift quietly down +among the yellow leaves, soon to merge into the +dark mould beneath. As the butterfly dies, a +stiffened Katydid scratches a last requiem on his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248' name='page_248'></a>248</span> +wing covers—“<i>katy-didn’t—katy-did—kate—y</i>”—and +the succeeding moment of silence is broken +by the sharp rattle of a woodpecker. We shake +off every dream of the summer and brace ourselves +to meet and enjoy the keen, invigorating +pleasures of winter. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249' name='page_249'></a>249</span></p> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>NOVEMBER</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='NOVEMBER_S_BIRDS_OF_THE_HEAVENS' id='NOVEMBER_S_BIRDS_OF_THE_HEAVENS'></a> +<h2>NOVEMBER’S BIRDS OF THE HEAVENS</h2> +</div> + +<p>As the whirling winds of winter’s edge strip +the trees bare of their last leaves, the leaden +sky of the eleventh month seems to push its cold +face closer to earth. Who can tell when the northern +sparrows first arrive? A whirl of brown +leaves scatters in front of us; some fall back to +earth; others rise and perch in the thick briers,—sombre +little white-throated and tree sparrows! +These brown-coated, low-voiced birds easily attract +our attention, the more now that the great +host of brilliant warblers has passed, just as our +hearts warm toward the humble poly-pody fronds +(passing them by unnoticed when flowers are +abundant) which now hold up their bright greenness +amid all the cold.</p> +<p>But all the migrants have not left us yet by any +means, and we had better leave our boreal visitors +until mid-winter’s blasts show us these +hardiest of the hardy at their best.</p> +<p>We know little of the ways of the gaunt herons +on their southward journey, but day after day, in +the marshes and along the streams, we may see +the great blues as they stop in their flight to rest +for a time.</p> +<p>The cold draws all the birds of a species +together. Dark hordes of clacking grackles pass +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250' name='page_250'></a>250</span> +by, scores of red-winged blackbirds and cowbirds +mingle amicably together, both of dark hue but +of such unlike matrimonial habits. A single male +red-wing, as we have seen, may assume the cares +of a harem of three, four, or five females, each of +which rears her brown-streaked offspring in her +own particular nest, while the valiant guardian +keeps faithful watch over his small colony among +the reeds and cat-tails. But little thought or care +does mother cowbird waste upon her offspring. +No home life is hers—merely a stealthy approach +to the nest of some unsuspecting yellow warbler, +or other small bird, a hastily deposited egg, and +the unnatural parent goes on her way, having +shouldered all her household cares on another. +Her young may be hatched and carefully reared +by the patient little warbler mother, or the egg +may spoil in the deserted nest, or be left in the +cold beneath another nest bottom built over it; +little cares the cowbird.</p> +<p>The ospreys or fish hawks seem to circle southward +in pairs or trios, but some clear, cold day +the sky will be alive with hawks of other kinds. +It is a strange fact that these birds which have +the power to rise so high that they fairly disappear +from our sight choose the trend of terrestrial +valleys whenever possible, in directing their +aerial routes. Even the series of New Jersey +hills, flattered by the name of the Orange Mountains, +seem to balk many hawks which elect to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251' name='page_251'></a>251</span> +change their direction and fly to the right or left +toward certain gaps or passes. Through these a +raptorial stream pours in such numbers during +the period of migration that a person with a foreknowledge +of their path in former years may lie +in wait and watch scores upon scores of these +birds pass close overhead within a few hours, +while a short distance to the right or left one may +watch all day without seeing a single raptor. The +whims of migrating birds are beyond our ken.</p> +<p>Sometimes, out in the broad fields, one’s eyes +will be drawn accidentally upward, and a great +flight of hawks will be seen—a compact flock of +intercircling forms, perhaps two or three hundred +in all, the whole number gradually passing +from view in a southerly direction, now and then +sending down a shrill cry. It is a beautiful sight, +not very often to be seen near a city—unless +watched for.</p> +<p>To a dweller in a city or its suburbs I heartily +commend at this season the forming of this habit,—to +look upward as often as possible on your +walks. An instant suffices to sweep the whole +heavens with your eye, and if the distant circling +forms, moving in so stately a manner, yet so +swiftly, and in their every movement personifying +the essence of wild and glorious freedom,—if this +sight does not send a thrill through the onlooker, +then he may at once pull his hat lower over his +eyes and concern himself only with his immediate +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252' name='page_252'></a>252</span> +business. The joys of Nature are not for such as +he; the love of the wild which exists in every one +of us is, in him, too thickly “sicklied o’er” with +the veneer of convention and civilisation.</p> +<p>Even as late as November, when the water +begins to freeze in the tiny cups of the pitcher +plants, and the frost brings into being a new kind +of foliage on glass and stone, a few insect-eaters +of the summer woods still linger on. A belated +red-eyed vireo may be chased by a snowbird, and +when we approach a flock of birds, mistaking them +at a distance for purple finches, we may discover +they are myrtle warblers, clad in the faded yellow +of their winter plumage. In favoured localities +these brave little birds may even spend the +entire winter with us.</p> +<p>One of the best of November’s surprises may +come when all hope of late migrants has been +given up. Walking near the river, our glance falls +on what might be a painter’s palate with blended +colours of all shades resting on the smooth surface +of the water. We look again and again, +hardly believing our eyes, until at last the gorgeous +creature takes to wing, and goes humming +down the stream, a bit of colour tropical in its +extravagance—and we know that we have seen +a male wood, or summer, duck in the full grandeur +of his white, purple, chestnut, black, blue, and +brown. Many other ducks have departed, but this +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253' name='page_253'></a>253</span> +one still swims among the floating leaves on secluded +waterways.</p> +<p>Now is the time when the woodcock rises from +his swampy summer home and zigzags his way to +a land where earthworms are still active. Sometimes +in our walks we may find the fresh body +of one of these birds, and an upward glance at the +roadside will show the cause—the cruel telegraph +wires against which the flight of the bird has carried +it with fatal velocity.</p> +<p>One of the greatest pleasures which November +has to give us is the joy of watching for the long +lines of wild geese from the Canada lakes. Who +can help being thrilled at the sight of these strong-winged +birds, as the V-shaped flock throbs into +view high in air, beating over land and water, +forest and city, as surely and steadily as the passing +of the day behind them. One of the finest of +November sounds is the “Honk! honk!” which +comes to our ears from such a company of geese,—musical +tones “like a clanking chain drawn +through the heavy air.”</p> +<p>At the stroke of midnight I have been halted in +my hurried walk by these notes. They are a bit +of the wild north which may even enter within a +city, and three years ago I trapped a fine gander +and a half a dozen of his flock in the New York +Zoological Park, where they have lived ever since +and reared their golden-hued goslings, which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254' name='page_254'></a>254</span> +otherwise would have broken their shells on some +Arctic waste, with only the snowbirds to admire, +and to be watched with greedy eyes by the Arctic +owls.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>A haze on the far horizon,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The infinite tender sky,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The ripe, rich tints of the cornfields,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And the wild geese sailing high;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>And ever on upland and lowland,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The charm of the goldenrod—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Some of us call it Autumn,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>And others call it God.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>W. H. Carruth.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='A_PLEA_FOR_THE_SKUNK' id='A_PLEA_FOR_THE_SKUNK'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255' name='page_255'></a>255</span> +<h2>A PLEA FOR THE SKUNK</h2> +</div> + +<p>In spite of constant persecution the skunk is +without doubt the tamest of all of our wild +animals, and shares with the weasel and mink +the honour of being one of the most abundant of +the carnivores, or flesh-eaters, near our homes. +This is a great achievement for the skunk,—to +have thus held its own in the face of ever advancing +and destroying civilisation. But the same +characteristics which enable it to hold its ground +are also those which emancipate it from its wild +kindred and give it a unique position among animals. +Its first cousins, the minks and weasels, +all secrete pungent odours, which are unpleasant +enough at close range, but in the skunk the great +development of these glands has caused a radical +change in its habits of life and even in its physical +make-up.</p> +<p>Watch a mink creeping on its sinuous way,—every +action and glance full of fierce wildness, +each step telling of insatiable seeking after living, +active prey. The boldest rat flees in frantic +terror at the hint of this animal’s presence; but +let man show himself, and with a demoniacal grin +of hatred the mink slinks into covert.</p> +<p>Now follow a skunk in its wanderings as it +comes out of its hole in early evening, slowly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256' name='page_256'></a>256</span> +stretches and yawns, and with hesitating, rolling +gait ambles along, now and then sniffing in the +grass and seizing some sluggish grasshopper or +cricket. Fearlessness and confidence are what its +gait and manner spell. The world is its debtor, +and all creatures in its path are left unmolested, +only on evidence of good behaviour. Far from +need of concealment, its furry coat is striped +with a broad band of white, signalling in the +dusk or the moonlight, “Give me room to pass +and go in peace! Trouble me and beware!”</p> +<p>Degenerate in muscles and vitality, the skunk +must forego all strenuous hunts and trust to craft +and sudden springs, or else content himself with +the humble fare of insects, helpless young birds, +and poor, easily confused mice. The flesh of the +skunk is said to be sweet and toothsome, but few +creatures there are who dare attempt to add it to +their bill of fare! A great horned owl or a puma +in the extremity of starvation, or a vulture in dire +stress of hunger,—probably no others.</p> +<p>Far from wilfully provoking an attack, the +skunk is usually content to go on his way peacefully, +and when one of these creatures becomes +accustomed to the sight of an observer, no more +interesting and, indeed, safer object of study can +be found.</p> +<p>Depart once from the conventional mode of +greeting a skunk,—and instead of hurling a stone +in its direction and fleeing, place, if the opportunity +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257' name='page_257'></a>257</span> +present itself, bits of meat in its way evening +after evening, and you will soon learn that +there is nothing vicious in the heart of the skunk. +The evening that the gentle animal appears leading +in her train a file of tiny infant skunks, you +will feel well repaid for the trouble you have +taken. Baby skunks, like their elders, soon learn +to know their friends, and are far from being at +hair-trigger poise, as is generally supposed.</p> +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_LESSON_OF_THE_WAVE' id='THE_LESSON_OF_THE_WAVE'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258' name='page_258'></a>258</span> +<h2>THE LESSON OF THE WAVE</h2> +</div> + +<p>The sea and the sky and the shore were at +perfect peace on the day when the young +gull first launched into the air, and flew outward +over the green, smooth ocean. Day after day his +parents had brought him fish and squid, until his +baby plumage fell from him and his beautiful +wing-feathers shot forth,—clean-webbed and elastic. +His strong feet had carried him for days over +the expanse of sand dunes and pebbles, and now +and then he had paddled into deep pools and +bathed in the cold salt water. Most creatures of +the earth are limited to one or the other of these +two elements, but now the gull was proving his +mastery over a third. The land, the sea, were left +below, and up into the air drifted the beautiful +bird, every motion confident with the instinct of +ages.</p> +<p>The usefulness of his mother’s immaculate +breast now becomes apparent. A school of small +fish basking near the surface rise and fall with +the gentle undulating swell, seeing dimly overhead +the blue sky, flecked with hosts of fleecy +white clouds. A nearer, swifter cloud approaches, +hesitates, splashes into their midst,—and the parent +gull has caught her first fish of the day. Instinctively +the young bird dives; in his joy of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259' name='page_259'></a>259</span> +very life he cries aloud,—the gull-cry which his +ancestors of long ago have handed down to him. +At night he seeks the shore and tucks his bill +into his plumage; and all because of something +within him, compelling him to do these things.</p> +<p>But far from being an automaton, his bright +eye and full-rounded head presage higher things. +Occasionally his mind breaks through the mist of +instinct and reaches upward to higher activity.</p> +<p>As with the other wild kindred of the ocean, +food was the chief object of the day’s search. +Fish were delicious, but were not always to be +had; crabs were a treat indeed, when caught unawares, +but for mile after mile along the coast +were hosts of mussels and clams,—sweet and +lucious, but incased in an armour of shell, through +which there was no penetrating. However swift +a dash was made upon one of these,—always the +clam closed a little quicker, sending a derisive +shower of drops over the head of the gull.</p> +<p>Once, after a week of rough weather, the storm +gods brought their battling to a climax. Great +green walls of foaming water crashed upon the +rocks, rending huge boulders and sucking them +down into the black depths. Over and through the +spray dashed the gull, answering the wind’s howl—shriek +for shriek, poising over the fearful battlefield +of sea and shore.</p> +<p>A wave mightier than all hung and curved, and +a myriad shell-fish were torn from their sheltered +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260' name='page_260'></a>260</span> +nooks and hurled high, in air, to fall broken and +helpless among the boulders. The quick eye of +the gull saw it all, and at that instant of intensest +chaos of the elements, the brain of the bird found +itself.</p> +<p>Shortly afterward came night and sleep, but the +new-found flash of knowledge was not lost.</p> +<p>The next day the bird walked at low tide into +the stronghold of the shell-fish, roughly tore one +from the silky strands of its moorings, and carrying +it far upward let it fall at random among the +rocks. The toothsome morsel was snatched from +its crushed shell and a triumphant scream told of +success,—a scream which, could it have been +interpreted, should have made a myriad, myriad +mussels shrink within their shells!</p> +<p>From gull to gull, and from flock to flock, the +new habit spread, imitation taking instant advantage +of this new source of food. When to-day +we walk along the shore and see flocks of gulls +playing ducks and drakes with the unfortunate +shell-fish, give them not too much credit, but think +of some bird which in the long ago first learned +the lesson, whether by chance or, as I have suggested, +by observing the victims of the waves.</p> +<hr class='tb' /> + +<p>No scientific facts are these, but merely a logical +reasoning deduced from the habits and traits +of the birds as we know them to-day; a theory to +hold in mind while we watch for its confirmation +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261' name='page_261'></a>261</span> +in the beginning of other new and analogous +habits.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>The world is too much with us; late and soon,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Little we see in Nature that is ours;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>This sea that bares her bosom to the moon,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The winds that will be howling at all hours,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.367917586460633em;'>And are up-gather’d now like sleeping flowers;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>For this, for everything, we are out of tune;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>William Wordsworth.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='WE_GO_ASPONGING' id='WE_GO_ASPONGING'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262' name='page_262'></a>262</span> +<h2>WE GO A-SPONGING</h2> +</div> + +<p>When a good compound microscope becomes +as common an object in our homes as is +a clock or a piano, we may be certain that the succeeding +generation will grow up with a much +broader view of life and a far greater realisation +of the beauties of the natural world. To most of +us a glance through a microscope is almost as +unusual a sight as the panorama from a balloon. +While many of the implements of a scientist +arouse enthusiasm only in himself, in the case of +the revelations of this instrument, the average +person, whatever his profession, cannot fail to +be interested.</p> +<p>Many volumes have been written on the microscopic +life of ponds and fields, and in a short essay +only a hint of the delights of this fascinating study +can be given.</p> +<p>Any primer of Natural History will tell us that +our bath sponges are the fibrous skeletons of +aquatic animals which inhabit tropical seas, but +few people know that in the nearest pond there +are real sponges, growing sometimes as large as +one’s head and which are not very dissimilar to +those taken from among the corals of the +Bahamas. We may bring home a twig covered +with a thick growth of this sponge; and by +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263' name='page_263'></a>263</span> +dropping a few grains of carmine into the water, +the currents which the little sponge animals set +up are plainly visible. In winter these all die, and +leave within their meshes numbers of tiny winter +buds, which survive the cold weather and in the +spring begin to found new colonies. If we examine +the sponges in the late fall we may find +innumerable of these statoblasts, as they are +called.</p> +<p>Scattered among them will sometimes be +crowds of little wheels, surrounded with double-ended +hooks. These have no motion and we shall +probably pass them by as minute burrs or seeds +of some water plant. But they, too, are winter +buds of a strange group of tiny animals. These +are known as Polyzoans or Bryozoans; and though +to the eye a large colony of them appears only as +a mass of thick jelly, yet when placed in water +and left quiet, a wonderful transformation comes +over the bit of gelatine.... “Perhaps while you +gaze at the reddish jelly a pink little projection +appears within the field of your lens, and slowly +lengthens and broadens, retreating and reappearing, +it may be, many times, but finally, after much +hesitation, it suddenly seems to burst into bloom. +A narrow body, so deeply red that it is often +almost crimson, lifts above the jelly a crescentic +disc ornamented with two rows of long tentacles +that seem as fine as hairs, and they glisten and +sparkle like lines of crystal as they wave and float +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264' name='page_264'></a>264</span> +and twist the delicate threads beneath your +wondering gaze. Then, while you scarcely +breathe, for fear the lovely vision will fade, +another and another spreads its disc and waves its +silvery tentacles, until the whole surface of that +ugly jelly mass blooms like a garden in Paradise—blooms +not with motionless perianths, but with +living animals, the most exquisite that God has +allowed to develop in our sweet waters.” At the +slightest jar every animal-flower vanishes +instantly.</p> +<p>A wonderful history is behind these little creatures +and very different from that of most members +of the animal kingdom. While crabs, butterflies, +and birds have evolved through many and +varied ancestral forms, the tiny Bryozoans, or, +being interpreted, moss-animals, seem throughout +all past ages to have found a niche for themselves +where strenuous and active competition is absent. +Year after year, century upon century, age upon +age, they have lived and died, almost unchanged +down to the present day. When you look at the +tiny animal, troubling the water and drawing its +inconceivably small bits of food toward it upon +the current made by its tentacles, think of the +earth changes which it has survived.</p> +<p>To the best of our knowledge the Age of Man +is but a paltry fifty thousand years. Behind this +the Age of Mammals may have numbered three +millions; then back of these came the Age of Reptiles +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265' name='page_265'></a>265</span> +with more than seven millions of years, during +all of which time the tentacles of unnumbered +generations of Bryozoans waved in the sea. Back, +back farther still we add another seven million +years, or thereabouts, of the Age of the Amphibians, +when the coal plants grew, and the Age of +the Fishes. And finally, beyond all exact human +calculation, but estimated at some five million, +we reach the Age of Invertebrates in the Silurian, +and in the lowest of these rocks we find beautifully +preserved fossils of Bryozoans, to all appearances +as perfect in detail of structure as these which we +have before us to-day in this twentieth century +of man’s brief reckoning.</p> +<p>These tiny bits of jelly are transfigured as well +by the grandeur of their unchanged lineage as by +the appearance of the little animals from within. +What heraldry can commemorate the beginning +of their race over twenty millions of years in the +past!</p> +<p>The student of mythology will feel at home +when identifying some of the commonest objects +of the pond. And most are well named, too, as +for instance the Hydra, a small tube-shaped creature +with a row of active tentacles at one end. +Death seems far from this organism, which is +closely related to the sea-anemones and corals, +for though a very brief drying will serve to kill +it, yet it can be sliced and cut as finely as possible +and each bit, true to its name, will at once proceed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266' name='page_266'></a>266</span> +to grow a new head and tentacles complete, becoming +a perfect animal.</p> +<p>Then we shall often come across a queer creature +with two oar-like feelers near the head and +a double tail tipped with long hairs, while in the +centre of the head is a large, shining eye,—Cyclops +he is rightly called. Although so small +that we can make out little of his structure without +the aid of the lens, yet Cyclops is far from +being related to the other still smaller beings +which swim about him, many of which consist of +but one cell and are popularly known as animalculæ, +more correctly as Protozoans. Cyclops has +a jointed body and in many other ways shows his +relationship to crabs and lobsters, even though +they are many times larger and live in salt water.</p> +<p>Another member of this group is Daphnia, +although the appropriateness of this name yet +remains to be discovered; Daphnia being a chunky-bodied +little being, with a double-branched pair of +oar-like appendages, with which he darts swiftly +through the water. Although covered with a hard +crust like a crab, this is so transparent that we +can see right through his body. The dark mass +of food in the stomach and the beating heart are +perfectly distinct. Often, near the upper part of +the body, several large eggs are seen in a sort of +pouch, where they are kept until hatched.</p> +<p>So if the sea is far away and time hangs heavy, +invite your friends to go sponging and crabbing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267' name='page_267'></a>267</span> +in the nearest pond, and you may be certain of +quieting their fears as to your sanity as well as +drawing exclamations of delight from them when +they see these beautiful creatures for the first +time.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269' name='page_269'></a>269</span></div> +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div class='ce'> +<p style=' font-size:1.4em;'>DECEMBER</p> +</div> + +<hr class='silver' /> + +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='NEW_THOUGHTS_ABOUT_NESTS' id='NEW_THOUGHTS_ABOUT_NESTS'></a> +<h2>NEW THOUGHTS ABOUT NESTS</h2> +</div> + +<p>Our sense of smell is not so keen as that of a +dog, who can detect the tiny quail while +they are still invisible; nor have we the piercing +sight of the eagle who spies the grouse crouching +hundreds of feet beneath his circling flight; but +when we walk through the bare December woods +there is unfolded at last to our eyes evidence of +the late presence of our summer’s feathered +friends—air castles and tree castles of varied patterns +and delicate workmanship.</p> +<p>Did it ever occur to you to think what the first +nest was like—what home the first reptile-like +scale flutterers chose? Far back before Jurassic +times, millions of years ago, before the coming of +bony fishes, when the only mammals were tiny +nameless creatures, hardly larger than mice; +when the great Altantosaurus dinosaurs browsed +on the quaint herbage, and Pterodactyls—those +ravenous bat-winged dragons of the air—hovered +above the surface of the earth,—in this epoch we +can imagine a pair of long-tailed, half-winged +creatures which skimmed from tree to tree, perhaps +giving an occasional flop—the beginning of +the marvellous flight motions. Is it not likely that +the Teleosaurs who watched hungrily from the +swamps saw them disappear at last in a hollowed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270' name='page_270'></a>270</span> +cavity beneath a rotten knothole? Here, perhaps, +the soft-shelled, lizard-like eggs were laid, and +when they gave forth the ugly creaturelings did +not Father Creature flop to the topmost branch +and utter a gurgling cough, a most unpleasant +grating sound, but grand in its significance, as +the opening chord in the symphony of the ages to +follow?—until now the mockingbird and the nightingale +hold us spellbound by the wonder of their +minstrelsy.</p> +<p>Turning from our imaginary picture of the ancient +days, we find that some of the birds of the +present time have found a primitive way of nesting +still the best. If we push over this rotten +stump we shall find that the cavity near the top, +where the wood is still sound, has been used the +past summer by the downy woodpecker—a front +door like an auger hole, ceiling of rough-hewn +wood, a bed of chips!</p> +<p>The chickadee goes a step further, and shows +his cleverness in sometimes choosing a cavity +already made, and instead of rough, bare chips, +the six or eight chickadee youngsters are happy +on a hair mattress of a closely woven felt-like +substance.</p> +<p>Perhaps we should consider the kingfisher the +most barbarous of all the birds which form a shelter +for their home. With bill for pick and shovel, +she bores straight into a sheer clay bank, and at +the end of a six-foot tunnel her young are reared, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271' name='page_271'></a>271</span> +their nest a mass of fish bones—the residue of +their dinners. Then there are the aerial masons +and brickmakers—the eave swallows, who carry +earth up into the air, bit by bit, and attach it to +the eaves, forming it into a globular, long-necked +flask. The barn swallows mix the clay with straw +and feathers and so form very firm structures on +the rafters above the haymows.</p> +<p>But what of the many nests of grasses and +twigs which we find in the woods? How closely +they were concealed while the leaves were on the +trees, and how firm and strong they were while in +use, the strongest wind and rain of summer only +rocking them to and fro! But now we must waste +no time or they will disappear. In a month or +more almost all will have dissolved into fragments +and fallen to earth—their mission accomplished.</p> +<p>Some look as if disintegration had already +begun, but if we had discovered them earlier in +the year, we should have seen that they were +never less fragile or loosely constructed than we +find them now. Such is a cuckoo’s nest, such a +mourning dove’s or a heron’s; merely a flat platform +of a few interlaced twigs, through which the +eggs are visible from below. Why, we ask, are +some birds so careless or so unskilful? The +European cuckoo, like our cowbird, is a parasite, +laying her eggs in the nests of other birds; so, +perhaps, neglect of household duties is in the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272' name='page_272'></a>272</span> +blood. But this style of architecture seems to +answer all the requirements of doves and herons, +and, although with one sweep of the hand we can +demolish one of these flimsy platforms, yet such +a nest seems somehow to resist wind and rain just +as long as the bird needs it.</p> +<p>Did you ever try to make a nest yourself? If +not, sometime take apart a discarded nest—even +the simplest in structure—and try to put it +together again. Use no string or cord, but fasten +it to a crotch, put some marbles in it and visit it +after the first storm. After you have picked up +all the marbles from the ground you will appreciate +more highly the skill which a bird shows in +the construction of its home. Whether a bird +excavates its nest in earth or wood, or weaves or +plasters it, the work is all done by means of two +straight pieces of horn—the bill.</p> +<p>There is, however, one useful substance which +aids the bird—the saliva which is formed in the +mucous glands of the mouth. Of course the first +and natural function of this fluid is to soften the +food before it passes into the crop; but in those +birds which make their nests by weaving together +pieces of twig, it must be of great assistance in +softening the wood and thus enabling the bird +readily to bend the twigs into any required position. +Thus the catbird and rose-breasted grosbeak +weave.</p> +<p>Given a hundred or more pieces of twigs, each +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273' name='page_273'></a>273</span> +an inch in length, even a bird would make but +little progress in forming a cup-shaped nest, were +it not that the sticky saliva provided cement +strong and ready at hand. So the chimney swift +finds no difficulty in forming and attaching her +mosaic of twigs to a chimney, using only very +short twigs which she breaks off with her feet +while she is on the wing.</p> +<p>How wonderfully varied are the ways which +birds adopt to conceal their nests. Some avoid +suspicion by their audacity, building near a frequented +path, in a spot which they would never +be suspected of choosing. The hummingbird studs +the outside of its nest with lichens, and the vireo +drapes a cobweb curtain around her fairy cup. +Few nests are more beautiful and at the same time +more durable than a vireo’s. I have seen the +nests of three successive years in the same tree, +all built, no doubt, by the same pair of birds, the +nest of the past summer perfect in shape and +quality, that of the preceding year threadbare, +while the home which sheltered the brood of three +summers ago is a mere flattened skeleton, reminding +one of the ribs and stern post of a wrecked +boat long pounded by the waves.</p> +<p>The subject of nests has been sadly neglected +by naturalists, most of whom have been chiefly +interested in the owners or the contents; but when +the whys and wherefores of the homes of birds +are made plain we shall know far more concerning +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274' name='page_274'></a>274</span> +the little carpenters, weavers, masons, and +basket-makers who hang our groves and decorate +our shrubbery with their skill. When on our winter’s +walk we see a distorted, wind-torn, grass cup, +think of the quartet of beautiful little creatures, +now flying beneath some tropical sun, which owe +their lives to the nest, and which, if they are +spared, will surely return to the vicinity next +summer.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>That time of year thou may’st in me behold,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,—</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Bare, ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>SHAKESPEARE.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='LESSONS_FROM_AN_ENGLISH_SPARROW' id='LESSONS_FROM_AN_ENGLISH_SPARROW'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275' name='page_275'></a>275</span> +<h2>LESSONS FROM AN ENGLISH SPARROW</h2> +</div> + +<p>Many people say they love Nature, but as +they have little time to go into the country +they have to depend on books for most of their +information concerning birds, flowers, and other +forms of life. There is, however, no reason why +one should not, even in the heart of a great city, +begin to cultivate his powers of observation. Let +us take, for example, the omnipresent English +sparrow. Most of us probably know the difference +between the male and female English sparrows, +but I venture to say that not one in ten persons +could give a satisfactory description of the colours +of either. How much we look and how little we +really see!</p> +<p>Little can be said in favour of the English sparrows’ +disposition, but let us not blame them for +their unfortunate increase in numbers. Man +brought them from England, where they are kept +in check by Nature’s wise laws. These birds were +deliberately introduced where Nature was not +prepared for them.</p> +<p>When we put aside prejudice we can see that +the male bird, especially when in his bright spring +colours, is really very attractive, with his ashy +gray head, his back streaked with black and bay, +the white bar on his wings and the jet black chin +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276' name='page_276'></a>276</span> +and throat contrasting strongly with the uniformly +light-coloured under parts. If this were +a rare bird the “black-throated sparrow” would +enjoy his share of admiration.</p> +<p>It is wonderful how he can adapt himself to new +conditions, nesting anywhere and everywhere, and +this very adaptation is a sign of a very high order +of intelligence. He has, however, many characteristics +which tell us of his former life. A few of +the habits of this bird may be misleading. His +thick, conical bill is made for crushing seeds, but +he now feeds on so many different substances that +its original use, as shown by its shape, is obscured. +If there were such a thing as vaudeville among +birds, the common sparrow would be a star imitator. +He clings to the bark of trees and picks out +grubs, supporting himself with his tail like a +woodpecker; he launches out into the air, taking +insects on the wing like a flycatcher; he clings like +a chickadee to the under side of twigs, or hovers +in front of a heap of insect eggs, presenting a +feeble imitation of a hummingbird. These modes +of feeding represent many different families of +birds.</p> +<p>Although his straw and feather nests are shapeless +affairs, and he often feeds on garbage, all +æsthetic feeling is not lost, as we see when he +swells out his black throat and white cravat, +spreads tail and wing and beseeches his lady-love +to admire him. Thus he woos her as long as he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277' name='page_277'></a>277</span> +is alone, but when several other eager suitors +arrive, his patience gives out, and the courting +turns into a football game. Rough and tumble is +the word, but somehow in the midst of it all, her +highness manages to make her mind known and +off she flies with the lucky one. Thus we have +represented, in the English sparrows, the two extremes +of courtship among birds.</p> +<p>It is worth noting that the male alone is ornamented, +the colours of the female being much +plainer. This dates from a time when it was +necessary for the female to be concealed while +sitting on the eggs. The young of both sexes are +coloured like their mother, the young males not +acquiring the black gorget until perfectly able to +take care of themselves. About the plumage there +are some interesting facts. The young bird moults +twice before the first winter. The second moult +brings out the mark on the throat, but it is rusty +now, not black in colour; his cravat is grayish and +the wing bar ashy. In the spring, however, a +noticeable change takes place, but neither by the +moulting nor the coming in of plumage. The +shaded edges of the feathers become brittle and +break off, bringing out the true colours and making +them clear and brilliant. The waistcoat is +brushed until it is black and glossy, the cravat +becomes immaculate, and the wristband or wing +bar clears up until it is pure white.</p> +<p>The homes of these sparrows are generally composed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278' name='page_278'></a>278</span> +of a great mass of straw and feathers, with +the nest in the centre; but the spotted eggs, perhaps, +show that these birds once built open nests, +the dots and marks on the eggs being of use in +concealing their conspicuous white ground. Something +seems already to have hinted to Nature that +this protection is no longer necessary, and we +often find eggs almost white, like those of woodpeckers +and owls, which nest in dark places.</p> +<p>We have all heard of birds flocking together for +some mutual benefit—the crows, for instance, +which travel every winter day across country to +favourite “roosts.” In the heart of a city we can +often study this same phenomenon of birds +gathering together in great flocks. In New York +City, on One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, +there stands a tree—a solitary reminder of the +forest which once covered all this paved land. +To this, all winter long, the sparrows begin to +flock about four or five o’clock in the afternoon. +They come singly and in twos and threes until +the bare limbs are black with them and there +seems not room for another bird; but still they +come, each new arrival diving into the mass of +birds and causing a local commotion. By seven +o’clock there are hundreds of English sparrows +perching in this one tree. At daylight they are +off again, whirring away by scores, and in a few +minutes the tree is silent and empty. The same +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279' name='page_279'></a>279</span> +habit is to be seen in many other cities and towns, +for thus the birds gain mutual warmth.</p> +<p>Nature will do her best to diminish the number +of sparrows and to regain the balance, but to do +this the sparrow must be brought face to face with +as many dangers as our wild birds, and although, +owing to the sparrows’ fearlessness of man, this +may never happen, yet at least the colour protections +and other former safeguards are slowly +being eliminated. On almost every street we may +see albino or partly albino birds, such as those +with white tails or wings. White birds exist in a +wild state only from some adaptation to their surroundings. +A bird which is white simply because +its need of protection has temporarily ceased, +would become the prey of the first stray hawk +which crossed its path. We cannot hope to +exterminate the English sparrow even by the most +wholesale slaughter, but if some species of small +hawk or butcher bird could ever become as fearless +an inhabitant of our cities as these birds, +their reduction to reasonable numbers would be a +matter of only a few months.</p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>So dainty in plumage and hue,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>A study in gray and brown,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>How little, how little we knew</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>The pest he would prove to the town!</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>From dawn until daylight grows dim,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Perpetual chatter and scold.</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>No winter migration for him,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Not even afraid of the cold!</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280' name='page_280'></a>280</span></div> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Scarce a song-bird he fails to molest,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Belligerent, meddlesome thing!</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Wherever he goes as a guest</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>He is sure to remain as a King.</p> +<p style='text-align: right;'><span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Mary Isabella Forsyth.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='THE_PERSONALITY_OF_TREES' id='THE_PERSONALITY_OF_TREES'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281' name='page_281'></a>281</span> +<h2>THE PERSONALITY OF TREES</h2> +</div> + +<p>How many of us think of trees almost as we +do of the rocks and stones about us,—as all +but inanimate objects, standing in the same relation +to our earth as does the furry covering of an +animal to its owner. The simile might be carried +out more in detail, the forests protecting the continents +from drought and flood, even as the coat +of fur protects its owner from extremes of heat +and cold.</p> +<p>When we come to consider the tree as a living +individual, a form of life contemporaneous with +our own, and to realise that it has its birth and +death, its struggles for life and its periods of +peace and abundance, we will soon feel for it a +keener sympathy and interest and withal a veneration +greater than it has ever aroused in us +before.</p> +<p>Of all living things on earth, a tree binds us +most closely to the past. Some of the giant tortoises +of the Galapagos Islands are thought to be +four hundred years old and are probably the +oldest animals on the earth. There is, however, +nothing to compare with the majesty and +grandeur of the Sequoias—the giant redwoods of +California—the largest of which, still living, +reach upward more than one hundred yards above +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282' name='page_282'></a>282</span> +the ground, and show, by the number of their +rings, that their life began from three to five +thousand years ago. Our deepest feelings of +reverence are aroused when we look at a tree +which was “one thousand years old when Homer +wrote the Iliad; fifteen hundred years of age when +Aristotle was foreshadowing his evolution theory +and writing his history of animals; two thousand +years of age when Christ walked upon earth; +nearly four thousand years of age when the +‘Origin of Species’ was written. Thus the life of +one of these trees spanned the whole period before +the birth of Aristotle (384 <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>B.C.</span>) and after the +death of Darwin (<span style='font-variant: small-caps'>A.D.</span> 1882), the two greatest natural +philosophers who have lived.”</p> +<p>Considered not only individually, but taken as a +group, the Sequoias are among the oldest of the +old. Geologically speaking, most of the forms of +life now in existence are of recent origin, but a +full ten million of years ago these giant trees were +developed almost as highly as they are to-day. At +the end of the coal period, when the birds and +mammals of to-day were as yet unevolved, existing +only potentially in the scaly, reptile-like creatures +of those days, the Sequoias waved their +needles high in air.</p> +<p>In those days these great trees were found over +the whole of Canada, Greenland, and Siberia, but +the relentless onslaught of the Ice Age wrought +terrible destruction and, like the giant tortoises +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283' name='page_283'></a>283</span> +among reptiles, the apteryx among birds, and the +bison among mammals, the forlorn hope of the +great redwoods, making a last stand in a few +small groves of California, awaits total extinction +at the hands of the most terrible of Nature’s +enemies—man. When the last venerable giant +trunk has fallen, the last axe-stroke which severs +the circle of vital sap will cut the only thread of +individual life which joins in time the beating of +our pulses to-day with the beginning of human +history and philosophy,—thousands of years in +the past.</p> +<p>Through all the millions of years during which +the evolution of modern forms of life has been +going on, then as now, trees must have entered +prominently into the environment and lives of the +terrestrial animals. Ages ago, long before snakes +and four-toed horses were even foreshadowed, +and before the first bird-like creatures had appeared, +winged reptile-dragons flew about, doubtless +roosting or perching on the Triassic and +Jurassic trees. Perhaps the very pieces of coal +which are burned in our furnaces once bent and +swayed under the weight of these bulky animals. +Something like six millions of years ago, long-tailed, +fluttering birds appeared, with lizard-like +claws at the bend of their wings and with jaws +filled with teeth. These creatures were certainly +arboreal, spending most of their time among the +branches of trees. So large were certain great +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284' name='page_284'></a>284</span> +sloth-like creatures that they uprooted the trees +bodily, in order to feed on their succulent leaves, +sometimes bending their trunks down until their +branches were within reach.</p> +<p>On a walk through the woods and fields to-day, +how seldom do we find a dead insect! When sick +and dying, nine out of ten are snapped up by frog, +lizard, or bird; the few which die a natural death +seeming to disintegrate into mould within a very +short space of time. There is, however, one way +in which, through the long, long thousands of centuries, +insects have been preserved. The spicy +resin which flowed from the ancient pines +attracted hosts of insects, which, tempted by their +hope of food, met their death—caught and slowly +but surely enclosed by the viscid sap, each antenna +and hair as perfect as when the insect was alive. +Thus, in this strangely fortunate way, we may +know and study the insects which, millions of +years ago, fed on the flowers or bored into the +bark of trees. We have found no way to improve +on Nature in this respect, for to-day when we +desire to mount a specimen permanently for +microscopical work, we imbed it in Canada +balsam.</p> +<p>If suddenly the earth should be bereft of all +trees, there would indeed be consternation and +despair among many classes of animals. Although +in the sea there are thousands of creatures, +which, by their manner of life, are prohibited +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285' name='page_285'></a>285</span> +from ever passing the boundary line between land +and water, yet many sea-worms, as for example +the teredo, or ship-worm, are especially fashioned +for living in and perhaps feeding on wood, +in the shape of stray floating trees and branches, +the bottoms of ships, and piles of wharves. Of +course the two latter are supplied by man, but +even before his time, floating trees at sea must +have been plentiful enough to supply homes for +the whole tribe of these creatures, unless they +made their burrows in coral or shells.</p> +<p>The insects whose very existence, in some cases, +depends upon trees, are innumerable. What, for +example, would become of the larvæ of the cicada, +or locust, which, in the cold and darkness of their +subterranean life, for seventeen years suck the +juicy roots of trees; or the caterpillars of the +moths, spinning high their webs among the leaves; +or the countless beetles whose grubs bore through +and through the trunk their sinuous, sawdusty +tunnels; or the ichneumon fly, which with an +instrument—surgical needle, file, augur, and scroll +saw all in one—deposits, deep below the bark, its +eggs in safety? If forced to compete with terrestrial +species, the tree spiders and scorpions would +quickly become exterminated; while especially +adapted arboreal ants would instantly disappear.</p> +<p>We cannot entirely exclude even fishes from our +list; as the absence of mangroves would incidentally +affect the climbing perch and catfishes! +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_286' name='page_286'></a>286</span> +The newts and common toads would be in no wise +dismayed by the passing of the trees, but not so +certain tadpoles. Those of our ditches, it is true, +would live and flourish, but there are, in the world, +many curious kinds which hatch and grow up into +frogs in curled-up leaves or in damp places in +the forks of branches, and which would find themselves +homeless without trees. Think, too, of the +poor green and brown tree frogs with their sucker +feet, compelled always to hop along the ground!</p> +<p>Lizards, from tiny swifts to sixty-inch iguanas, +would sorely miss the trees, while the lithe green +tree snakes and the tree boas would have to +change all their life habits in order to be able to +exist. But as for the cold, uncanny turtles and +alligators,—what are trees to them!</p> +<p>In the evolution of the birds and other animals, +the cry of “excelsior” has been followed literally +as well as theoretically and, with a few exceptions, +the highest in each class have not only risen above +their fellows in intelligence and structure, but +have left the earth and climbed or flown to the +tree-tops, making these their chief place of abode.</p> +<p>Many of the birds which find their food at sea, +or in the waters of stream and lake, repair to the +trees for the purpose of building their nests +among the branches. Such birds are the pelicans, +herons, ibises, and ospreys; while the wood ducks +lay their eggs high above the ground in the hollows +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287' name='page_287'></a>287</span> +of trees. Parrots, kingfishers, swifts, and +hummingbirds are almost helpless on the ground, +their feet being adapted for climbing about the +branches, perching on twigs, or clinging to the +hollows of trees. Taken as a whole, birds would +suffer more than any other class of creatures in a +deforested world. The woodpeckers would be +without home, food, and resting-place; except, +possibly, the flicker, or high-hole, who is either a +retrograde or a genius, whichever we may choose +to consider him, and could live well enough upon +ground ants. But as to his nest—he would have to +sharpen his wits still more to solve successfully +the question of the woodpecker motto, “What is +home without a hollow tree?”</p> +<p>Great gaps would be made in the ranks of the +furry creatures—the mammals. Opossums and +raccoons would find themselves in an embarrassing +position, and as for the sloths, which never +descend to earth, depending for protection on their +resemblance to leaves and mossy bark, they would +be wiped out with one fell swoop. The arboreal +squirrels might learn to burrow, as so many of +their near relations have done, but their muscles +would become cramped from inactivity and their +eyes would often strain upward for a glimpse of +the beloved branches. The bats might take to +caves and the vampires to outhouses and dark +crevices in the rocks, but most of the monkeys and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_288' name='page_288'></a>288</span> +apes would soon become extinct, while a chimpanzee +or orang-utan would become a cripple, +swinging ever painfully along between the +knuckles of crutch-like forearms, searching, +searching forever for the trees which gave him +his form and structure, and without which his life +and that of his race must abruptly end.</p> +<p>Leaving the relations which trees hold to the +animals about them and the part which they have +played in the evolution of life on the earth in past +epochs, let us consider some of the more humble +trees about us. Not, however, from the standpoint +of the technical botanist or the scientific forester, +but from the sympathetic point of view of a living +fellow form, sharing the same planet, both +owing their lives to the same great source of all +light and heat, and subject to the same extremes +of heat and cold, storm and drought. How +wonderful, when we come to think of it, is a tree, +to be able to withstand its enemies, elemental and +animate, year after year, decade after decade, +although fast-rooted to one patch of earth. An +animal flees to shelter at the approach of gale or +cyclone, or travels far in search of abundant food. +Like the giant algæ, ever waving upward from the +bed of the sea, which depend on the nourishment +of the surrounding waters, so the tree blindly +trusts to Nature to minister to its needs, filling its +leaves with the light-given greenness, and feeling +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_289' name='page_289'></a>289</span> +for nutritious salts with the sensitive tips of its +innumerable rootlets.</p> +<p>Darwin has taught us, and truly, that a relentless +struggle for existence is ever going on around +us, and although this is most evident to our eyes +in a terrible death battle between two great beasts +of prey, yet it is no less real and intense in the +case of the bird pouring forth a beautiful song, or +the delicate violet shedding abroad its perfume. +To realise the host of enemies ever shadowing the +feathered songster and its kind, we have only to +remember that though four young birds may be +hatched in each of fifty nests, yet of the two hundred +nestlings an average often of but one lives +to grow to maturity,—to migrate and to return to +the region of its birth.</p> +<p>And the violet, living, apparently, such a quiet +life of humble sweetness? Fortunate indeed is it +if its tiny treasure of seeds is fertilized, and then +the chances are a thousand to one that they will +grow and ripen only to fall by the wayside, or on +barren ground, or among the tares.</p> +<p>At first thought, a tree seems far removed from +all such struggles. How solemn and grand its +trunk stands, column-like against the sky! How +puny and weak we seem beside it! Its sturdy +roots, sound wood, and pliant branches all spell +power. Nevertheless, the old, old struggle is as +fierce, as unending, here as everywhere. A monarch +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_290' name='page_290'></a>290</span> +of the forest has gained its supremacy only +by a lifelong battle with its own kind and with a +horde of alien enemies.</p> +<p>From the heart of the tropics to the limit of +tree-growth in the northland we find the battle of +life waged fiercely, root contending with root for +earth-food, branch with branch for the light which +means life.</p> +<p>In a severe wrestling match, the moments of +supremest strain are those when the opponents +are fast-locked, motionless, when the advantage +comes, not with quickness, but with staying +power; and likewise in the struggle of tree with +tree the fact that one or two years, or even whole +decades, watch the efforts of the branches to lift +their leaves one above the other, detracts nothing +from the bitterness of the strife.</p> +<p>Far to the north we will sometimes find groves +of young balsam firs or spruce,—hundreds of the +same species of sapling growing so close together +that a rabbit may not pass between. The slender +trunks, almost touching each other, are bare of +branches. Only at the top is there light and air, +and the race is ever upward. One year some slight +advantage may come to one young tree,—some +delicate unbalancing of the scales of life, and that +fortunate individual instantly responds, reaching +several slender side branches over the heads of +his brethren. They as quickly show the effects of +the lessened light and forthwith the race is at an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_291' name='page_291'></a>291</span> +end. The victor shoots up tall and straight, +stamping and choking out the lives at his side, as +surely as if his weapons were teeth and claws +instead of delicate root-fibres and soughing +foliage.</p> +<p>The contest with its fellows is only the first of +many. The same elements which help to give it +being and life are ever ready to catch it unawares, +to rend it limb from limb, or by patient, long-continued +attack bring it crashing to the very +dust from which sprang the seed.</p> +<p>We see a mighty spruce whose black leafage has +waved above its fellows for a century or more, +paying for its supremacy by the distortion of +every branch. Such are to be seen clinging to the +rocky shores of Fundy, every branch and twig +curved toward the land; showing the years of +battling with constant gales and blizzards. Like +giant weather-vanes they stand, and, though there +is no elasticity in their limbs and they are gnarled +and scarred, yet our hearts warm in admiration +of their decades of patient watching beside the +troubled waters. For years to come they will +defy every blast the storm god can send against +them, until, one wild day, when the soil has grown +scanty around the roots of one of the weakest, it +will shiver and tremble at some terrific onslaught +of wind and sleet; it will fold its branches closer +about it and, like the Indian chieftains, who perhaps +in years past occasionally watched the waters +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_292' name='page_292'></a>292</span> +by the side of the young sapling, the conquered +tree will bow its head for the last time to +the storm.</p> +<p>Farther inland, sheltered in a narrow valley, +stands a sister tree, seeded from the same cone as +the storm-distorted spruce. The wind shrieks and +howls above the little valley and cannot enter; but +the law of compensation brings to bear another +element, silent, gentle, but as deadly as the howling +blast of the gale. All through the long winter +the snow sifts softly down, finding easy lodgment +on the dense-foliaged branches. From the surrounding +heights the white crystals pour down +until the tree groans with the massive weight. +Her sister above is battling with the storm, but +hardly a feather’s weight of snow clings to her +waving limbs.</p> +<p>The compressed, down-bent branches of the valley +spruce soon become permanently bent and the +strain on the trunk fibres is great. At last, with a +despairing crash, one great limb gives way and is +torn bodily from its place of growth. The very +vitals of the tree are exposed and instantly every +splintered cell is filled with the sifting snow. +Helpless the tree stands, and early in the spring, +at the first quickening of summer’s growth, a salve +of curative resin is poured upon the wound. But +it is too late. The invading water has done its +work and the elements have begun to rot the very +heart of the tree. How much more to be desired is +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293' name='page_293'></a>293</span> +the manner of life and death of the first spruce, +battling to the very last!</p> +<p>A beech seedling which takes root close to the +bank of a stream has a good chance of surviving, +since there will be no competitors on the water +side and moisture and air will never fail. But +look at some ancient beech growing thus, whose +smooth, whitened hole encloses a century of +growth rings. Offsetting its advantages, the +stream, little by little, has undermined the maze +of roots and the force of annual freshets has +trained them all in a down-stream direction. It +is an inverted reminder of the wind-moulded +spruce. Although the stout beech props itself by +great roots thrown landward, yet, sooner or later, +the ripples will filter in beyond the centre of +gravity and the mighty tree will topple and mingle +with its shadow-double which for so many years +the stream has reflected.</p> +<p>Thus we find that while without moisture no +tree could exist, yet the same element often brings +death. The amphibious mangroves which fringe +the coral islands of the southern seas hardly attain +to the dignity of trees, but in the mysterious +depths of our southern swamps we find the +strangely picturesque cypresses, which defy the +waters about them. One cannot say where trunk +ends and root begins, but up from the stagnant +slime rise great arched buttresses, so that the tree +seems to be supported on giant six- or eight-legged +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_294' name='page_294'></a>294</span> +stools, between the arches of which the water +flows and finds no chance to use its power. Here, +in these lonely solitudes,—heron-haunted, snake-infested,—the +hanging moss and orchids search +out every dead limb and cover it with an unnatural +greenness. Here, great lichens grow and +a myriad tropical insects bore and tunnel their +way from bark to heart of tree and back again. +Here, in the blackness of night, when the air is +heavy with hot, swampy odours, and only the +occasional squawk of a heron or cry of some animal +is heard, a rending, grinding, crashing, breaks +suddenly upon the stillness, a distant boom and +splash, awakening every creature. Then the +silence again closes down and we know that a +cypress, perhaps linking a trio of centuries, has +yielded up its life.</p> +<p>Leaving the hundred other mysteries which the +trees of the tropics might unfold, let us consider +for a moment the danger which the tall, successful +tree invites,—the penalty which it pays for +having surpassed all its other brethren. It preeminently +attracts the bolts of Jove and the lesser +trees see a blinding flash, hear a rending of heart +wood, and when the storm has passed, the tree, +before perfect in trunk, limbs, and foliage, is now +but a heap of charred splinters.</p> +<p>Many a great willow overhanging the banks of +a wide river could tell interesting tales of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295' name='page_295'></a>295</span> +scars on its trunk. That lower wound was a deep +gash cut by some Indian, perhaps to direct a war-party +making their way through the untrodden +wilderness; this bare, unsightly patch was burnt +out by the signal fire of one of our forefather +pioneers. And so on and on the story would unfold, +until the topmost, freshly sawed-off limb had +for its purpose only the desire of the present +owner for a clearer view of the water beyond.</p> +<p>Finally we come to the tree best beloved of us +in the north,—the carefully grafted descendant of +some sour little wild crab-apple. A faithful +servant indeed has the monarch of the old orchard +proved. It has fed us and our fathers before us, +and its gnarled trunk and low-hanging branches +tell the story of the rosy fruit which has weighed +down its limbs year after year. Old age has laid +a heavy hand upon it, but not until the outermost +twig has ceased to blossom, and its death, unlike +that of its wild kindred, has come silently and +peacefully, do we give the order to have the tree +felled. Even in its death it serves us, giving back +from the open hearth the light and heat which it +has stored up throughout the summers of many +years.</p> +<p>Let us give more thought to the trees about us, +and when possible succour them in distress, +straighten the bent sapling, remove the parasitic +lichen, and give them the best chance for a long, +patient, strong life. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296' name='page_296'></a>296</span></p> +<table summary='poetry' style='margin:0 auto'><tr><td> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>In the far North stands a Pine-tree, lone,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Upon a wintry height;</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>It sleeps; around it snows have thrown</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>A covering of white.</p> +<br /> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>It dreams forever of a Palm</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>That, far i’ the morning-land,</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.0em;'>Stands silent in a most sad calm</p> +<p style='margin: 0 0 0 0.735835172921266em;'>Midst of the burning sand.</p> +<br /> +<p style='text-align: right;'>(<i>From the German of Heine.</i>) <span style='font-variant: small-caps'>Sidney Lanier.</span></p> +</td></tr></table> + +<hr class='major' /> +<div style='margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='AN_OWL_OF_THE_NORTH' id='AN_OWL_OF_THE_NORTH'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297' name='page_297'></a>297</span> +<h2>AN OWL OF THE NORTH</h2> +</div> + +<p>It is mid-winter, and from the northland a blizzard +of icy winds and swirling snow crystals +is sweeping with fury southward over woods and +fields. We sit in our warm room before the crackling +log fire and listen to the shriek of the gale +and wonder how it fares with the little bundles of +feathers huddled among the cedar branches.</p> +<p>We picture to ourselves all the wild kindred +sheltered from the raging storm; the gray squirrels +rocking in their lofty nests of leaves; the +chipmunks snug underground; the screech owls +deep in the hollow apple trees, all warm and dry.</p> +<p>But there are those for whom the blizzard has +no terrors. Far to the north on the barren wastes +of Labrador, where the gale first comes in from +the sea and gathers strength as it comes, a great +owl flaps upward and on broad pinions, white as +the driving snowflakes, sweeps southward with +the storm. Now over ice-bound river or lake, or +rushing past a myriad dark spires of spruce, then +hovering wonderingly over a multitude of lights +from the streets of some town, the strong Arctic +bird forges southward, until one night, if we only +knew, we might open our window and, looking upward, +see two great yellow eyes apparently hanging +in space, the body and wings of the bird in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298' name='page_298'></a>298</span> +snow-white plumage lost amidst the flakes. We +thrill in admiration at the grand bird, so fearless +of the raging elements.</p> +<p>Only the coldest and fiercest storms will tempt +him from the north, and then not because he fears +snow or cold, but in order to keep within reach of +the snowbirds which form his food. He seeks for +places where a less severe cold encourages small +birds to be abroad, or where the snow’s crust is +less icy, through which the field mice may bore +their tunnels, and run hither and thither in the +moonlight, pulling down the weeds and cracking +their frames of ice. Heedless of passing clouds, +these little rodents scamper about, until a darker, +swifter shadow passes, and the feathered talons +of the snowy owl close over the tiny, shivering +bundle of fur.</p> +<p>Occasionally after such a storm, one may come +across this white owl in some snowy field, hunting +in broad daylight; and that must go down as +a red-letter day, to be remembered for years.</p> +<p>What would one not give to know of his adventures +since he left the far north. What stories he +could tell of hunts for the ptarmigan,—those +Arctic fowl, clad in plumage as white as his own; +or the little kit foxes, or the seals and polar bears +playing the great game of life and death among +the grinding icebergs!</p> +<p>His visit to us is a short one. Comes the first +hint of a thaw and he has vanished like a melting +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299' name='page_299'></a>299</span> +snowflake, back to his home and his mate. There +in a hollow in the half-frozen Iceland moss, in +February, as many as ten fuzzy little snowy +owlets may grow up in one nest,—all as hardy and +beautiful and brave as their great fierce-eyed +parents.</p> +<div class='ce'> +<p>THE END</p> +</div> + +<!-- generated by ppgen.rb version: 2.25 --> +<!-- timestamp: Wed Sep 03 04:34:18 -0400 2008 --> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Log of the Sun, by William Beebe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOG OF THE SUN *** + +***** This file should be named 26516-h.htm or 26516-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/5/1/26516/ + +Produced by Roger Frank 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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