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diff --git a/34294.txt b/34294.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a03f75 --- /dev/null +++ b/34294.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1743 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Birds Illustrated by Color Photography +[February, 1898], by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Birds Illustrated by Color Photography [February, 1898] + A Monthly Serial designed to Promote Knowledge of Bird-Life + +Author: Various + +Release Date: November 12, 2010 [EBook #34294] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIRDS ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Anne Storer, some +images courtesy of The Internet Archive and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + BIRDS. + ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY + ================================ + VOL. III. FEBRUARY, 1898. NO. 2. + ================================ + + + + +GILBERT WHITE AND "SELBORNE." + + +I suppose that a habit of minute observation of nature is one of the +most difficult things to acquire, as it is one which is less generally +pursued than any other study. In almost all departments of learning and +investigation there have been numberless works published to illustrate +them, and text books would fill the shelves of a large library. Thoreau +in his "Walden" has shown an extremely fine and close observation of the +scenes in which his all too short life was passed, but his object does +not seem at any time to have been the study of nature from an essential +love of it, or to add to his own or the world's knowledge. On the +contrary, nature was the one resource which enabled him to exemplify his +notions of independence, which were of such a sturdy and uncompromising +character that Mr. Emerson, who had suffered some inconvenience from his +experience of Thoreau as an inmate of his household, thought him fitter +to meet occasionally in the open air than as a guest at table and +fireside. There is a delicious harmony with nature in all that he has +written, but his descriptions of out-of-door life invite us rather to +indolent musing than to investigation or study. Who after reading Izaak +Walton ever went a-fishing with the vigor and enterprise of Piscator? +Washington Irving allowed his cork to drift with the current and lay +down in the shadow of a spreading oak to dream with the beloved old +author. + +In White's "Natural History of Selborne" we have a unique book indeed, +but of a far more general interest than its title would indicate. Pliny, +the elder, was the father of natural history but to many of us Gilbert +White is entitled to that honor. To an early edition of the book, +without engravings, and much abridged, as compared with Bohn's, +published in 1851, many owe their first interest in the subject. + +Mr. Ireland in his charming little "Book Lover's Enchiridion," tells us +that when a boy he was so delighted with it, that in order to possess a +copy of his own (books were not so cheap as now) he actually copied out +the whole work. In a list of one hundred books, Sir John Lubbock +mentions it as "an inestimable blessing." Edward Jesse, author of +"Gleanings in Natural History" attributes his own pursuits as an +out-door naturalist entirely to White's example. Much of the charm of +the book consists in the amiable character of the author, who + + "----lived in solitude, midst trees and flowers, + Life's sunshine mingling with its passing showers; + No storms to startle, and few clouds to shade + The even path his Christian virtues made." + +Very little is known of him beyond what he has chosen to mention in +his diaries, which were chiefly records of his daily studies and +observations, and in his correspondence, from which the "history" is in +fact made up. From these it is evident that his habits were secluded and +that he was strongly attached to the charms of rural life. He says the +greater part of his time was spent in literary occupations, and +especially in the study of nature. He was born July 18, 1720, in the +house in which he died. His father was his first instructor in natural +history, and to his brother Thomas, a fellow of the Royal Society, he +was indebted for many suggestions for his work. It is also to his +brother's influence that we owe the publication of the book, as it +required much persuasion to induce the philosopher to pass through the +ordeal of criticism, "having a great dread of Reviewers," those +incorrigible _betes noires_ of authors. His brother promising himself to +review the work in the "Gentleman's Magazine," White reluctantly +consented to its publication. The following short abstract from the +review will show its quality, as well as suggest a possible answer to +the current question propounded by students of the census. + +"Contemplative persons see with regret the country more and more +deserted every day, as they know that every well-regulated family of +property which quits a village to reside in a town, injures the place +that is forsaken in material circumstances. It is with pleasure, +therefore, we observe that so rational an employment of leisure hours as +the study of nature promises to become popular, since whatever adds to +the number of rural amusements, and consequently counteracts the +allurements of the metropolis is, on this consideration, of national +importance." + +It is to be feared, however, that many stronger influences than this of +the study of nature will be necessary to keep the young men of the +present day from the great cities. Indeed, modern naturalists +themselves spend the greater part of their lives at the centers of +knowledge and only make temporary sallies into the woods and fields to +gather data. White was a noble pioneer. The very minuteness--almost +painful--of his observation required him to occupy himself for days and +weeks and months with what to the average mind would seem of the +slightest importance. As an example of his patient investigation, his +famous study of the tortoise may be given. It was more than thirty years +old when it came into his possession, and for many years--perhaps +twenty--we find White watching the habits of the interesting old +reptile, until, we may assume, he knew all about him and his species. + +There are over three hundred and fifty different species of animals and +birds treated by White, most of them exhaustively; the beech tree, the +elm, and the oak are described and watched from year to year; and the +geology and fossil remains of Selborne district are presented. We have +daily accounts of the weather, information of the first tree in leaf, +the appearance of the first fungi and the plants first in blossom. He +tells us when mosses vegetate, when insects first appear and disappear, +when birds are first seen and when they migrate--and a thousand other +things; all in a style of such simplicity, united with rare scholarship, +that it is well worth the attention and imitation of students of the +English language. White was educated at Oxford. He had frequent +opportunities, 'tis said, of accepting college livings, but his fondness +for his native village made him decline all preferment. To this we owe +"Selborne" of which Dr. Beardmore, a distinguished scholar, made the +prophetic remark to a nephew of White's: "Your uncle has sent into the +world a publication with nothing to attract attention to it but an +advertisement or two in the newspapers; but depend upon it, the time will +come when very few who buy books will be without it." + +The village was far less attractive than our imaginations would depict +it to have been, and the traveler who would "view fair Selborne +aright," according to a contemporary writer, should humor the caprices +of the English climate and visit it only when its fields and foliage are +clothed in their summer verdure. + + --CHARLES C. MARBLE. + + + + +A FRIEND OF BIRDS + + +It is told of George H. Corliss, the famous engine builder of +Providence, R. I., that when building a foundry at the Corliss works, +some Blue Birds took the opportunity to build in some holes in the +interior framework into which horizontal timbers were to go. The +birds flew in and out--as Blue Birds will--and went on with their +housekeeping, until in the natural course of things the workmen would +have evicted them to put the apertures to their intended use of +receiving timbers. But Mr. Corliss interfered and showed how the +particular aperture the birds were occupying could be left undisturbed +until they were done with it, without any serious delay to the building. +So the pair came and went in the midst of the noise of building and +brought up their little family safely, and after they had flown away, +and not until then, that particular part of the framework was completed. + +At another time, Mr. Corliss was working on a contract with the city of +Providence to supply a steam pumping apparatus, power house and all, +at Sockonosset, and the time was short, and there were forfeitures +nominated in the bond for every day beyond a a specified date for its +completion. + +The power house was to be upon virgin soil where were rocks and +trees--little trees growing among rocks. In blasting and clearing the +necessary place for the foundations of the building, a Robin's nest was +discovered in a little tree within the space where the upheavals were to +be made. When Mr. Corliss knew this he had the work transferred to the +other side of the square or parallelogram around which the digging and +blasting were to go, saying that it was just as well to do the other +side first. + +But it proved that when the workmen had got clear around and back to the +Robin's tree, the young birds were still not quite ready to fly. This +called for a new exercise of an inventor's power of adapting means to a +worthy end. Looking at the little tree with its nest and little birds +high in the branches he bade the men support the tree carefully while it +was sawed through the trunk a little above the ground, and then carry it +in an upright position to a safe distance and stick it into the ground +with proper support. + +The Robin family continued to thrive after this novel house-moving and +all flew away together after a few more days. + + + + +QUEER DOINGS OF A CRANE. + + +A writer on "Animal Helpers and Servers" gives a remarkable account of a +tame Crane, communicated by Von Seyffert. Von Seyffert had a pair of +tame Cranes which soon lost all fear of man and of domestic animals, and +became strongly attached to the former. Their life in a German village, +in which agriculture was the sole employment and the communal system of +joint herding of cattle and swine and driving them together to the +common pasture prevailed, was very much to their taste. They soon knew +all the inhabitants in the place and used to call regularly at the +houses to be fed. Then the female died and the survivor at once took as +a new friend a bull. He stood by the bull in the stall and kept the +flies off him, screamed when he roared, danced before him and followed +him out with the herd. In this association the Crane learned the duties +of cowherd, so that one evening he brought home the whole of the village +herd of heifers unaided and drove them into the stable. From that time +the Crane undertook so many duties that he was busy from dawn till +night. He acted as policeman among the poultry, stopping all fights and +disorder. He stood by a horse when left in a cart and prevented it from +moving by pecking its nose and screaming. A Turkey and a Game Cock were +found fighting, whereon the Crane first fought the Turkey, then sought +out and thrashed the cock. Meantime it herded the cattle, not always +with complete success. The bovines were collected in the morning by the +sound of a horn and some would lag behind. On one occasion the Crane +went back, drove up some lagging heifers through the street and then +frightened them so much that they broke away and ran two miles in the +wrong direction. The bird could not bring them back, but drove them +into a field, where it guarded them until they were fetched. It would +drive out trespassing cattle as courageously as a dog and, unlike +most busybodies, was a universal favorite and pride of the +village.--_Cornhill Magazine._ + + + + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + LEAST BITTERN. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + +THE LEAST BITTERN. + + +Throughout the whole of temperate North America and tropical America to +Brazil, this, the smallest of the Bittern family, is a well-known bird, +but being a nocturnal species, inhabiting the almost inaccessible swamps +and boggy lands that are covered with a dense growth of canes, reeds, +and rushes, it is seldom met with. Mr. Davis calls it an extremely +interesting little bird, of quiet, retiring habits. In some places as +many as a dozen or twenty pairs breed along the grassy shores of a small +lake or pond. The nest is placed on the ground or in the midst of the +rankest grass, or in a bush. It is often placed on floating bog, and is +simply a platform of dead rushes. + +This bird has many odd habits. When standing on the edge of a stream, +with its neck drawn in, it is often taken for a Woodcock, the long bill +giving it this appearance. It is so stupid at times that it may be +caught with the hand. + +The Least Bittern is usually seen just before or after sunset. When +startled it utters a low _gua_, and in daylight flies but a short +distance, in a weak, uncertain manner, but at dusk it flaps along on +strong easy wing, with neck drawn in and legs extended. + +The eggs of this species are usually from two to six in number, and of a +pale bluish or greenish-white. If approached while on the nest, the +female generally steps quietly to one side, but if suddenly surprised, +takes to flight. + +The Least Bittern is known by many local names. In Jamaica it is called +Tortoise-shell Bird and Minute Bittern, and in many localities Little +Bittern. + + * * * * * + + "All Nature is a unit in herself, + Yet but a part of a far greater whole. + Little by little you may teach your child + To know her ways and live in harmony + With her; and then, in turn, help him through her + To find those verities within himself, + Of which all outward things are but the type. + So when he passes from your sheltering care + To walk the ways of men, his soul shall be + Knit to all things that are, and still most free; + And of him shall be writ at last this word-- + 'At peace with nature, with himself, and God.'" + + + + +THE BALDPATE DUCK. + + +"There seem to be as many Ducks as there are Owls," remarks Bobbie. +"This fellow is called Baldpate, but he's not bare on top of his head +like Gran'pa, at all." + +"No, his head is feathered as well as any Duck's head," replies mamma. +"I remember hearing him called the Widgeon, I think." + +"Yes, that's what it says here, the American Widgeon, a game bird, you +know, mamma." + +"Yes, its flesh is very delicious, almost as good as the Canvas-back." + +"Oh, but these Baldpates are cunning fellows," exclaims Bobbie, +continuing his reading, "It says they are fond of a certain grass plant +which grows deep in both salt and fresh water, but they don't dive for +it as the Canvas-back and other deep water Ducks do." + +"Well?" says mamma, as Bobbie stops, his lips moving, but uttering no +sound. + +"I stopped to spell a word," explains Bobbie. "It says they closely +follow and watch the Canvas-back and other Ducks, and when they rise to +the surface of the water with the roots of the plant in their bills, Mr. +Baldpate quickly snatches a part, or all of the catch, and hurries off +to eat it at his leisure." + +"A mean fellow, indeed," remarks mamma, "but he has no reason to guide +him, as you have, you know." + +"Indeed I _don't_ know," quickly says Bobbie. "You remember that story +about the imprisoned Duck that had its leg broken and was put under a +small crate, or coop, to keep it from running about? Well, some of the +other Ducks pitied the little prisoner and tried to release him by +forcing their necks under the crate and thus lifting it up. They found +they weren't strong enough to do that, and so they _quacked_, and +_quacked_, and _quacked_ among themselves, then marched away in a body. +Soon they came back with forty ducks, every one in the farm yard. They +surrounded the crate and tried to lift it as before, but again they +failed. Then they _quacked_ some more, and after a long talk the whole +of them went to one side of the crate. As many as could thrust their +necks underneath it, and the rest pushed them forward from behind. A +good push, a strong push, up went the crate a little way, and out +waddled the little prisoner. I want to know if they didn't reason that +out, mamma?" + + + + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + BALDPATE DUCK. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + +THE BALDPATE. + + We would have you to wit, that on eggs though we sit, + And are spiked on a spit, and are baked in a pan, + Birds are older by far than your ancestors are, + And made love and made war, ere the making of man! + --ANDREW LANG. + + +There is much variation in the plumage of adult males of this species +of Widgeon, but as Dr. Coues says: "The bird cannot be mistaken under +any condition; the extensive white of the under parts and wings is +recognizable at gun-range." The female is similar, but lacks the white +crown and iridescence on the head. + +The Baldpate ranges over the whole of North America. In winter it is +common in the Gulf states and lower part of the Mississippi Valley. +Cooke says it breeds chiefly in the north, but is known to nest in +Manitoba, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, and Texas. +Throughout the whole of British America, as far north as the Arctic +ocean, it is very abundant. In October and April it visits in large +numbers the rivers and marshes, as well as both sea coasts of the +northern United States, and is much sought by hunters, its flesh being +of the finest quality, as when in good condition it cannot easily be +distinguished from that of the Canvas-back. It is regarded by hunters as +a great nuisance. It is not only so shy that it avoids the points of +land, but by its whistling and confused manner of flight is said to +alarm the other species. During its stay in the waters of the +Chesapeake, it is the constant companion of the Canvas-backs, upon +whose superiority in diving it depends in a large degree for its food, +stealing from them, as they rise to the surface of the water, the tender +roots of the plant of which both are so fond--_vallisneria_ grass, or +wild celery. The Baldpate is said to visit the rice fields of the south +during the winter in considerable numbers. It winters in the Southern +states, Mexico, and the West Indies. In the north, the Widgeon exhibits +a greater preference for rivers and open lakes than most of the other +fresh-water Ducks. + +The favorite situation of the nest is remarkable, for while the other +Ducks--except, perhaps, the Teal, according to Mr. Kennicott--choose the +immediate vicinity of water, he found the Baldpate always breeding at a +considerable distance from it. Several of the nests observed on the +Yukon were fully half a mile from the nearest water. He invariably found +the nest among dry leaves, upon high, dry ground, either under large +trees or in thick groves of small ones--frequently among thick spruces. +The nest is small, simply a depression among the leaves, but thickly +lined with down, with which after setting is begun, the eggs are covered +when left by the parent. They are from eight to twelve in number, and +pale buff. The food of the Baldpate consists of aquatic insects, small +shells, and the seeds and roots of various plants. + +The call of this bird is a plaintive whistle of two and then three notes +of nearly equal duration. Col. N. S. Goss states that, as a rule, +Widgeons "are not shy, and their note, a sort of _whew, whew, whew_, +uttered while feeding and swimming, enables the hunter to locate them in +the thickest growth of water plants." + + + + +WOOING BIRDS' ODD WAYS. + + +Of all the interesting points on which Mr. Dixon touches in his +"Curiosities of Bird Life," perhaps none is more remarkable than the +strange antics in which some birds indulge, especially at the pairing +season. With what odd gestures will a smartly dressed Cock sparrow, for +instance, endeavor to cut a good figure in the eyes of his demure and +sober-tinted lady-love! + +To a similar performance, though with more of dignity and action about +it, the Blackcock treats his wives, for, unlike the better conducted +though often much calumniated sparrow, he is not satisfied with a single +mate. One of the most characteristic of spring sounds on Exmoor, as +evening darkens, or, still more, in the early hours of the morning, is +the challenge of the Blackcock. In the month of April he who is abroad +early enough may watch, upon the russet slopes of Dunkery, a little +party of Blackcock at one of their recognized and probably ancestral +meeting-places, by one of the little moorland streams, or on the wet +edge of some swampy hollow. Each bird crouches on a hillock, in the +oddest of attitudes--its head down, its wings a-droop, its beautiful +tail raised--and utters at intervals strange, almost weird notes, +sometimes suggestive of the purr of a Turtle-dove, and sometimes more +like the cry of chamois. + +Presently an old cock, grand in his new black coat, will get up and +march backward and forward with his neck stretched out and his wings +trailing on the ground. Now he leaps into the air, sometimes turning +right round before he alights, and now again he crouches close upon his +hillock. It is said that in places where black game are few a single +cock will go through all this by himself, or at least with only his +wives for witnesses. But if there are more cocks than one, the +proceedings generally end with a fight. Where the birds are numerous the +young cocks, who are not allowed to enter the arena with their elders, +hold unauthorized celebrations of their own. + +There are many birds which thus, like higher mortals, have their fits +of madness in the days of courtship. But there are some, such as the +spur-winged Lapwing of La Plata, which are, like the lady in the song, +so fond of dancing, especially of what the natives call their serious +dance, meaning a square one, that they indulge in such performances all +the year, not in the daytime only, but even on moonlight nights. "If," +says Mr. Hudson, who tells the story, "a person watches any two birds +for some time--for they live in pairs--he will see another Lapwing, one +of a neighboring couple, rise up and fly to them, leaving his own mate +to guard their chosen ground, and instead of resenting this visit as an +unwarranted intrusion on their domain, as they would certainly resent +the approach of almost any other bird, they welcome it with notes and +signs of pleasure. Advancing to the visitor, they place themselves +behind it; then all three keeping step, begin a rapid march, uttering +resonant drumming notes in time with their movements; the notes of the +pair behind them being emitted in a stream, like a drum roll, while the +leader utters loud single notes at regular intervals. The march ceases; +the leader elevates his wings and stands motionless and erect, still +uttering loud notes, while the other two with puffed-out plumage, and +standing exactly abreast, stoop forward and downward until the top of +their beaks touch the ground, and, sinking their rhythmical voices to a +murmur, remain for some time in this posture. The performance is then +over and the visitor goes back to his own ground and mate, to receive a +visitor himself later on."--_London Daily News._ + + + + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + PURPLE FINCH. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + +THE PURPLE FINCH. + + "The wind blows cold, the birds are still, + And skies are gray." + + +Purple Grosbeak, Crimson Finch, Strawberry Bird, and Linnet are some of +the common names by which this bird of bright colors, sweet song, and +sociable disposition is known. It is very numerous in New England, but +is found nesting regularly in the northern tier of states, North and +South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc., northward, and it is +said to breed in northern Illinois. In Nova Scotia it is exceeding +abundant. + +Robert Ridgway says he first made the acquaintance of the Purple Finch +at Mt. Carmel, in mid-winter, "under circumstances of delightful memory. +The ground was covered with snow,--the weather clear and bright, but +cold. Crossing a field in the outskirts of the town, and approaching the +line of tall, dead rag-weeds which grew thickly in the fence corners, a +straggling flock of birds was startled, flew a short distance, and again +alighted on the tall weed-stalks, uttering as they flew, a musical, +metallic _chink, chink_. The beautiful crimson color of the adult males, +heightened by contrast with the snow, was a great surprise to the +writer, then a boy of thirteen, and excited intense interest in this, to +him, new bird. On subsequent occasions during the same winter, they were +found under like circumstances, and also in 'sycamore' or buttonwood +trees, feeding on the small seeds contained within the balls of this +tree." + +Dr. Brewer says that the song of the Purple Finch resembles that of the +Canary, and though less varied and powerful, is softer, sweeter, and +more touching and pleasing. The notes may be heard from the last of May +until late in September, and in the long summer evening are often +continued until it is quite dark. Their song has all the beauty and +pathos of the Warbling Vireo, and greatly resembles it, but is more +powerful and full in tone. It is a very interesting sight to watch one +of these little performers in the midst of his song. He appears +perfectly absorbed in his work,--his form is dilated, his crest is +erected, his throat expands, and he seems to be utterly unconscious of +all around him. But let an intruder of his own race appear within a few +feet of the singer, the song instantly ceases, and in a violent fit of +indignation, he chases him away. S. P. Cheney says that a careful +observer told him that he had seen the Linnet fly from the side of his +mate directly upward fifteen or twenty feet, singing every instant in +the most excited manner till he dropped to the point of starting. The +Yellow-breasted Chat has a like performance. See Vol. II of BIRDS, p.238. + +The nest of the Finch is usually placed in evergreens or orchard trees, +at a moderate distance from the ground. It is composed of weed-stalks, +bark strips, rootlets, grasses, and vegetable fibres, and lined with +hair. The eggs are four or five in number, dull green, and spotted with +dark brown. + +Study his picture and habits and be prepared to welcome this charming +spring visitant. + + + + +THE RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. + + A little Woodpecker am I, + And you may always know + When I am searching for a worm, + For tap, tap, tap, I go. + + +Oh yes, I am proud of my appearance, but really I am not proud of my +name. Sometimes I am called the "Zebra Bird," on account of the bands of +white and black on my back and wings. That is a much prettier name, I +think, than the Red-bellied Woodpecker, don't you? Certainly it is more +genteel. + +I know a bird that is called the Red-eyed Vireo, because his eyes are +red. Well, my eyes are red, too. Then why not call me the Red-eyed +Woodpecker? Still the Woodpeckers are such a common family I don't much +care about that either. + +In the last February number of BIRDS that saucy red-headed cousin of +mine had his picture and a letter. Before very long the Red-cockaded +Woodpecker will have his picture taken too, I suppose. + +Dear, dear! If all the Woodpeckers are going to write to you, you will +have a merry time. Why, I can count twenty-four different species of +that family and I have only four fingers, or toes, to count on, and you +little folks have five. There may be more of them, Woodpeckers I mean, +for all I know. + +Speaking about toes! I have two in front and two behind. There are some +Woodpeckers that have only three, two in front and one behind. It's a +fact, I assure you. I thought I would tell you about it before one of +the three toed fellows got a chance to write to you about it himself. + +I am not so shy and wary a bird as some people think I am. When I want +an insect, or worm, I don't care how many eyes are watching me, but +up the tree I climb in my zigzag fashion, crying _chaw-chaw_, or +_chow-chow_ in a noisy sort of way. Sometimes I say _chuck, chuck, +chuck_! The first is Chinese, and the last English, you know. You might +think it sounded like the bark of a small dog, though. + +I am fond of flies and catch them on the wing. I like ripe apples, too; +and oh, what a _good_ time I have in winter raiding the farmer's corn +crib! I have only to hammer at the logs with my sharp bill, and soon I +can squeeze myself in between them and eat my fill. I understand the +farmer doesn't like it very much. + + + + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + +THE RED BELLIED WOODPECKER. + + +"Zebra Bird" is the name by which this handsome Woodpecker will be +recognized by many readers. Some regard it as the most beautiful of the +smaller species of its tribe. As may be seen, the whole crown and nape +are scarlet in the male. In the female they are only partly so, but +sufficiently to make the identification easy. A bird generally of +retired habits, seeking the deepest and most unfrequented forests to +breed, it is nevertheless often found in numbers in the vicinity of +villages where there are a few dead and partially decayed trees, in +which they drill their holes, high up on a limb, or in the bole of the +tree. When engaged in hammering for insects it frequently utters a +short, singular note, which Wilson likens to the bark of a small dog. We +could never liken it to anything, it is so characteristic, and must be +heard to be appreciated. _Chaw, chaw_, repeated twice, and with vigor, +somewhat resembles the hoarse utterance. + +Prof. D. E. Lantz states that this species in the vicinity of Manhattan, +Kansas, exhibits the same familiarity as the Flicker, the Red-headed and +Downy Woodpeckers. About a dozen nests were observed, the excavations +ranging usually less than twenty feet from the ground. One nest in a +burrow of a large dead limb of an elm tree was found May 12, and +contained five eggs. The birds are very much attached to their nests. If +the nest is destroyed by man or beast, the birds almost immediately +begin excavating another nest cavity for the second set, always in the +vicinity of the first nest, often in the same tree. + +In its search for food, the "Zebra Bird," regardless of the presence of +man, climbs in its usual spiral or zigzag manner the trees and their +branches boldly uttering now and then its familiar _chaw, chaw_, darting +off occasionally to catch a passing insect upon the wing. Its flight is +undulating, and its habits in many respects are like those of the +Red-headed, but it is not so much of an upland bird, or lover of berries +and fruits, and therefore more respected by the farmer. In contest with +the Red-head it is said to be invariably vanquished. + +The North American family of Woodpeckers--consisting of about +twenty-five species--is likely to be brought together in BIRDS for the +first time. We have already presented several species, and will figure +others as we may secure the finest specimens. Occasionally a foreign +Woodpecker will appear. About three hundred and fifty species are known, +and they are found in all the wooded parts of the world except Australia +and Madagascar. + + + + +A FORCED PARTNERSHIP. + + +A pair of Robins had made their nest on the horizontal branch of an +evergreen tree which stood near a dwelling house, and the four young had +hatched when a pair of English Sparrows selected the same branch for +their nest. When the Robins refused to vacate their nest, the Sparrows +proceeded to build theirs upon the outside of the Robin's nest. To this +the Robins made no objection, so both families lived and thrived +together on the same branch, with nests touching. The young of both +species developed normally, and in due time left their nests. The branch +bearing both nests is now preserved in the college museum.--_Oberlin +College Bulletin._ + + + + +WHAT IS AN EGG? + + +How many people crack an egg, swallow the meat, and give it no further +thought. Yet, to a reflective mind the egg constitutes, it has been +said, the greatest wonder of nature. The highest problems of organic +development, and even of the succession of animals on the earth, are +embraced here. "Every animal springs from an egg," is a dictum of Harvey +that has become an axiom. + +In an egg one would suppose the yolk to be the animal. This is not so. +It is merely food--the animal is the little whitish circle seen on the +membrane enveloping the yolk. + +We hope to group a number of eggs, to enable our readers to compare +their size and shape, from that of the Epyornis, six times the size of +an Ostrich egg, down to the tiny egg that is found in the soft nest of +the Humming-bird. This gigantic egg is a foot long and nine inches +across, and would hold as much as fifty thousand Humming-bird's eggs. + + + + +THE SAW-WHET OWL. + + "The Lark is but a bumpkin fowl; + He sleeps in his nest till morn; + But my blessing upon the jolly Owl + That all night blows his horn." + + +A curious name for a bird, we are inclined to say when we meet with it +for the first time, but when we hear its shrill, rasping call note, +uttered perhaps at midnight, we admit the appropriateness of "saw-whet." +It resembles the sound made when a large-toothed saw is being filed. + +Mr. Goss says that the natural home of this sprightly little Owl is +within the wild woodlands, though it is occasionally found about farm +houses and even cities. According to Mr. Nelson, it is of frequent +occurrence in Chicago, where, upon some of the most frequented streets +in the residence portion of the city, a dozen specimens have been taken +within two years. It is very shy and retiring in its habits, however, +rarely leaving its secluded retreats until late at eve, for which reason +it is doubtless much more common throughout its range than is generally +supposed. It is not migratory but is more or less of an irregular +wanderer in search of food during the autumn and winter. It may be quite +common in a locality and then not be seen again for several years. It is +nocturnal, seldom moving about in the day time, but passing the time in +sleeping in some dark retreat; and so soundly does it sleep that +ofttimes it may be captured alive. + +The flight of the Saw-whet so closely resembles that of the Woodcock +that it has been killed by sportsmen, when flying over the alders, +through being mistaken for the game bird. + +These birds nest in old deserted squirrel or Woodpecker holes and small +hollows in trees. The eggs--usually four--are laid on the rotten wood or +decayed material at the bottom. They are white and nearly round. + +In spite of the societies formed to prevent the killing of birds for +ornamenting millinery, and the thousands of signatures affixed to the +numerous petitions sent broadcast all over the country, in which women +pledged themselves not to wear birds or feathers of any kind on their +hats, this is essentially a bird killing year, and the favorite of all +the feathers is that of the Owl. There is an old superstition about him +too. He has always been considered an unlucky bird, and many persons +will not have one in the house. He may, says a recent writer, like the +Peacock, lose his unlucky prestige, now that Dame Fashion has stamped +him with her approval. Li Hung Chang rescued the Peacock feather from +the odium of ill luck, and hundreds of persons bought them after his +visit who would never permit them to be taken inside their homes prior +to it. So the Owl seems to have lost his ill luck since fair woman has +decided that the Owl hat is "the thing." + +The small size of the Saw-whet and absence of ears, at once distinguish +this species from any Owl of eastern North America, except Richardson's, +which has the head and back spotted with white, and legs barred with +grayish-brown. + + + + +THE SAW-WHET OWL. + + +"Whew!" exclaims Bobbie. "Here's another Owl. I never knew there were so +many different species, mamma." + +Mamma smiled at that word "species." It was a word Bobbie had learned in +his study of BIRDS. + +"The _Saw-whet Owl_," said she, looking at the picture. "A good looking +little fellow, but not handsome as the Snowy Owl in the June number of +BIRDS." + +"He _was_ a beauty," assented Bobbie, "such great yellow eyes looking at +you out of a snow bank of feathers. This little fellow's feet have on +black shoes with yellow soles, not white fur overshoes like the _Snowy +Owl's_." + +"His eyes glow like topaz, though, just as the others did," said mamma. +"Let us see what he says about himself. + +"As stupid as an Owl. That's the way some people talk about us. Then +again I've heard them say, 'tough as a b'iled owl.' B'iled Owls may be +tough, I don't know anything about that, for I have been too shy and +wary to be caught. + +"I had a neighbor once who was very fond of chickens. He was a Night Owl +and said he found it easy to catch them when roosting out at night. Well +he caught so many that Mr. Owl grew very fat, and the farmer whose +chickens he ate, caught, cooked, and ate him. His flesh, the farmer +said, was tender and sweet. So, my little friends, when you want to call +anything 'tough,' don't mention the Owl any more. + +"A foreigner? + +"Oh, my, no! I'm proud to say I am an American, and so are all my folks. +A branch of the family, however, lives way up north in a region where +they sing 'God save the Queen' instead of the 'Star Spangled Banner.' +They call themselves English Owls, I guess, because they live on British +soil. + +"Do I sing? + +"Well, not exactly. I can hoot though, and my _Ah-ee, ah-ee_, _ah-oo, +ah-oo_, has a pleasant sound, very much like filing a saw. That is the +reason they call me the Saw-whet Owl. My mate says it doesn't sound that +way to her, but then as she hasn't any ears maybe she doesn't hear very +well. + +"You never see me out in the day time, no indeed! I know when the mice +come out of their holes; I am very fond of mice, also insects. I like +small birds, too--to eat--but I find them very hard to catch. + +"Don't you?" + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + SAW-WHET OWL. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + + + + +THE BLACK SWAN. + + +I advise you little folks to take a good look at me. You don't often see +a Black Swan. White Swans are very common, common as white Geese. I only +wish I could have had my picture taken while gliding through the water. +I am so stately and handsome there. My feet wouldn't have shown either. + +Really I don't think my feet are pretty. They always remind me when I +look down at them of a windmill or the sails of a vessel. But if they +hadn't been made that way, webbed-like, I wouldn't be able to swim as I +do. They really are a pair of fine paddles, you know. + +There was a time when people in certain countries thought a Black Swan +was an impossibility. As long as there were black sheep in the world, I +don't see why there shouldn't have been Black Swans, do you? + +Well, one day, a Dutch captain exploring a river in Australia, saw and +captured four of the black fellows. That was way back in sixteen hundred +and something, so that one of those very Black Swans must have been my +great, great, great, _great_ grandfather. Indeed he may have been even +greater than that, but as I have never been to school, you know, I can't +very well count backward. I can move forward, however, when in the +water. I make good time there, too. + +Well, to go back to the Dutch captain. Two of the Swans he took alive to +Dutchland and everybody was greatly surprised. They said "Ach!" and +"Himmel," and many other things which I do not remember. Since that +time they say the Black Swans have greatly diminished in numbers in +Australia. You will find us all over the world now, because we are so +ornamental; people like to have a few of us in their ponds and lakes. + +They say that river in Australia which the captain explored was named +Swan river, and Australia took one of us for its armorial symbol. Well, +a Black Swan may look well on a shield, but no matter how hard you may +pull his tail-feathers, he'll never scream like the American Eagle. + + + + +THE BLACK SWAN. + + +Australia is the home of the Black Swan, and it is invested by an even +greater interest than attaches to the South American bird, which is +white. For many centuries it was considered to be an impossibility, but +by a singular stroke of fortune, says a celebrated naturalist, we are +able to name the precise day on which this unexpected discovery was +made. The Dutch navigator William de Vlaming, visiting the west coast of +Southland, sent two of his boats on the 6th of January, 1697, to explore +an estuary he had found. There their crews saw at first two and then +more Black Swans, of which they caught four, taking two of them alive to +Batavia; and Valentyn, who several years later recounted this voyage, +gives in his work a plate representing the ship, boats, and birds, at +the mouth of what is now known from this circumstance as the Swan River, +the most important stream of the thriving colony of West Australia, +which has adopted this Swan as its armorial symbol. Subsequent voyagers, +Cook and others, found that the range of the species extended over the +greater part of Australia, in many districts of which it was abundant. +It has since rapidly decreased in number there, and will most likely +soon cease to exist as a wild bird, but its singular and ornamental +appearance will probably preserve it as a modified captive in most +civilized countries, and it is said, perhaps even now there are more +Black Swans in a reclaimed condition in other lands than are at large +in their mother country. + +The erect and graceful carriage of the Swan always excites the +admiration of the beholder, but the gentle bird has other qualities not +commonly known, one of which is great power of wing. The _Zoologist_ +gives a curious incident relating to this subject. An American physician +writing to that journal, says that the first case of fracture with which +he had to deal was one of the forearm caused by the blows of a Swan's +wing. It was during the winter of 1870, at the Lake of Swans, in +Mississippi, that the patient was hunting at night, in a small boat and +by the light of torches. In the course of their maneuvers a flock of +Swans was suddenly encountered which took to flight without regard +to anything that might be in the way. As the man raised his arm +instinctively to ward off the swiftly rising birds, he was struck on his +forearm by the wing of one of the Swans in the act of getting under +motion, and as the action and labor of lifting itself were very great, +the arm was badly broken, both bones being fractured. + +When left to itself the nest of the Swan is a large mass of aquatic +plants, often piled to the height of a couple of feet and about six feet +in diameter. In the midst of this is a hollow which contains the eggs, +generally from five to ten in number. They sit upon the eggs between +five and six weeks. + +It is a curious coincidence that this biographical sketch should have +been written and a faithful portrait for the first time shown on the two +hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the Black Swan. + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + BLACK SWAN. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + + + + +LIFE IN THE NEST. + + + Blithely twitting, gayly flitting + Thro' the budding glen; + Golden-crested, sunny-breasted, + Goes the tiny Wren. + Peeping, musing, picking, choosing, + Nook is found at last; + Moss and feather, twined together-- + Home is shaped at last. + + Brisk as ever, quick and clever, + Brimming with delight-- + Six wee beauties, bring new duties, + Work from morn to night. + Peeping, musing, picking, choosing, + Nook is found at last; + Moss and feather, twined together-- + Home is shaped at last. + --J. L. H. + + + + +THE SNOWY PLOVER. + + +About one hundred species are comprised in the Plover family, which are +distributed throughout the world. Only eight species are found in North +America. Their habits in a general way resemble those of the true +Snipes, but their much shorter, stouter bills are not fitted for +probing, and they obtain their food from the surface of the ground. +Probably for this reason several species are so frequently found on the +uplands instead of wading about in shallow ponds or the margins of +streams. They frequent meadows and sandy tracts, where they run swiftly +along the ground in a peculiarly graceful manner. The Plovers are small +or medium-sized shore-birds. The Snowy Plover is found chiefly west of +the Rocky Mountains, and is a constant resident along the California +coast. It nests along the sandy beaches of the ocean. Mr. N. S. Goss +found it nesting on the salt plains along the Cimarron River in the +Indian Territory, the northern limits of which extend into southwestern +Kansas. The birds are described as being very much lighter in color than +those of California. Four eggs are usually laid, in ground color, pale +buff or clay color, with blackish-brown markings. Mr. Cory says the nest +is a mere depression in the sand. He says also that the Snowy Plover is +found in winter in many of the Gulf States, and is not uncommon in +Northwestern Florida. + +When the female Snowy Plover is disturbed on the nest she will run over +the sand with outstretched wings and distressing gait, and endeavor to +lead the trespasser away from it. It sometimes utters a peculiar cry, +but is usually silent. The food of these birds consists of various +minute forms of life. They are similar in actions to the Semi-palmated +(see July BIRDS), and fully as silent. Indeed they are rarely heard to +utter a note except as the young are approached--when they are very +demonstrative--or when suddenly flushed, which, in the nesting season, +is a very rare thing, as they prefer to escape by running, dodging, and +squatting the moment they think they are out of danger, in hopes you +will pass without seeing them as the sandy lands they inhabit closely +resemble their plumage in color, and says Mr. Goss, you will certainly +do so should you look away or fail to go directly to the spot. + +The first discovery of these interesting birds east of Great Salt Lake +was in June, 1886. A nest was found which contained three eggs, a full +set. It was a mere depression worked out in the sand to fit the body. It +was without lining, and had nothing near to shelter or hide it from +view. + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + SNOWY PLOVER. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + + + + +ONLY A BIRD. + + + Only a bird! and a vagrant boy + Fits a pebble with boyish skill + Into the folds of a supple sling. + "Watch me hit him. I can, an' I will." + Whirr! and a silence chill and sad + Falls like a pall on the vibrant air, + From a birchen tree, whence a shower of song + Has fallen in ripples everywhere. + + Only a bird! and the tiny throat + With quaver and trill and whistle of flute + Bruised and bleeding and silent lies + There at his feet. Its chords are mute. + And the boy with a loud and boisterous laugh, + Proud of his prowess and brutal skill, + Throws it aside with a careless toss. + "Only a bird! it was made to kill." + + Only a bird! yet far away + Little ones clamor and cry for food-- + Clamor and cry, and the chill of night + Settles over the orphan brood. + Weaker and fainter the moaning call + For a brooding breast that shall never come. + Morning breaks o'er a lonely nest, + Songless and lifeless; mute and dumb. + --MARY MORRISON. + + + + +THE LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. + + +Extending over the Great Plains from western and probably southern +Texas northward through Indian Territory to Kansas is said to be the +habitation of the Lesser Prairie Hen, though it is not fully known. It +inhabits the fertile prairies, seldom frequenting the timbered lands, +except during sleety storms, or when the ground is covered with snow. +Its flesh is dark and it is not very highly esteemed as a table bird. + +The habits of these birds are similar to those of the Prairie Hen. +During the early breeding season they feed upon grasshoppers, crickets, +and other forms of insect life, but afterwards upon cultivated grains, +gleaned from the stubble in autumn and the corn fields in winter. They +are also fond of tender buds, berries, and fruits. When flushed, these +birds rise from the ground with a less whirring sound than the Ruffed +Grouse or Bob White, and their flight is not as swift, but more +protracted, and with less apparent effort, flapping and sailing along, +often to the distance of a mile or more. In the fall the birds come +together, and remain in flocks until the warmth of spring awakes the +passions of love; then, in the language of Col. Goss, as with a view to +fairness and the survival of the fittest, they select a smooth, open +courtship ground, usually called a scratching ground, where the males +assemble at the early dawn, to vie with each other in carnage and +pompous display, uttering at the same time their love call, a loud, +booming noise. As soon as this is heard by the hen birds desirous of +mating, they quietly appear, squat upon the ground, apparently +indifferent observers, until claimed by victorious rivals, whom they +gladly accept, and whose caresses they receive. Audubon states that +the vanquished and victors alike leave the grounds to search for the +females, but he omits to state that many are present, and mate upon the +"scratching grounds." + +The nest of the Prairie Hen is placed on the ground in the thick prairie +grass and at the foot of bushes when the earth is barren; a hollow is +scratched in the soil, and sparingly lined with grasses and a few +feathers. There are from eight to twelve eggs, tawny brown, sometimes +with an olive hue and occasionally sprinkled with brown. + +During the years 1869 and 1870, while the writer was living in +southwestern Kansas, which was then the far west, Prairie Chickens as +they were called there, were so numerous that they were rarely used for +food by the inhabitants, and as there was then no readily accessible +market the birds were slaughtered for wanton sport. + + [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. + LESSER PRAIRIE HEN. + Copyright by + Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] + + + + +THE NEW TENANTS. + +BY ELANORA KINSLEY MARBLE. + + +The next day Mrs. Jenny retired into the tin pot, and later, when Mr. +Wren peeped in, lo! an egg, all spotted with red and brown, lay upon the +soft lining of the nest. + +"It's quite the prettiest thing in the world," proudly said Mr. Wren. +"Why, my dear, I don't believe your cousin, Mrs. John Wren, ever laid +one like it. It seems to me those spots upon the shell are very +remarkable. I shouldn't be surprised if the bird hatched from that shell +will make a name for himself in bird-land some day, I really shouldn't." + +"You foolish fellow," laughed Mrs. Wren, playfully pecking him with her +bill, "if you were a Goose your Goslings, in your eyes, would all be +Swans. That's what I heard our landlady say to her husband last night, +out on the porch, when he wondered which one of his boys would be +president of the United States." + +Mr. Wren chuckled in a truly papa-like manner and pecked her bill in +return, then fairly bubbling over with happiness flew to a neighboring +limb, and burst into such a merry roundelay, one note tumbling over +another in Wren fashion, that every member of the household came out to +hear and see. + +"There he is," cried Pierre, as Mrs. Wren left her nest and flew over +beside him, "with tail down and head up, singing as though he were mad +with joy." + +"Such a rapturous song," said mamma. "It reminds me of two almost +forgotten lines: + + 'Brown Wren, from out whose swelling throat + Unstinted joys of music float.' + +"How well we are repaid for the litter they made, are we not?" + +"And sure, mum," said Bridget, whose big heart had also been touched +by the sweet song, "it's glad I am, for sure, that I wasn't afther +dispossessin' your tinents. It's innocent craythurs they be, God bless +'em, a harmin' ov no wan. Sthill--" + +"Well," queried her mistress, as Bridget paused. + +"Sthill, mum, I do be afther wonderin' if the tin pot had been a hangin' +under the front porch instead of the back, would ye's been after takin' +the litter so philosophyky like as ye have, mum, to be sure." + +The mistress looked at Bridget and laughingly shook her head. + +"That's a pretty hard nut to crack, Bridget," said she. "Under those +conditions I am afraid I----" What ever admission she was going to make +was cut short by a burst of laughter from the children. + +"Look at him, mamma, just look at him," they cried, pointing to Mr. +Wren, who, too happy to keep still had flown to the gable at the +extremity of the ridge-pole of the house, and after a gush of song, to +express his happiness was jerking himself along the ridge-pole in a +truly funny fashion. From thence he flew into the lower branches of a +neighboring tree, singing and chattering, and whisking himself in and +out of the foliage: then back to the roof again, and from roof to tree. + +"I know what makes him so happy," announced Henry, who, standing upon a +chair, had peeped into the nest. "There's a dear little egg in here. +Hurrah for Mrs. Wren!" + +"Do not touch it," commanded mamma, "but each one of us will take a peep +in turn." + +Mrs. Wren's bead-like eyes had taken in the whole proceeding, and with +fluttering wings she stood on a shrub level with the porch and gave +voice to her motherly anxiety and anger. + +"_Dee, dee, dee_," she shrilly cried, fluttering her little wings, which +in bird language means, "oh dear, oh dear, what shall I do?" + +Her cries of distress were heard by Mr. Wren, and with all haste he flew +down beside her. + +"What is it?" cried he, very nearly out of breath from his late +exertions. "Has that rascally Mr. Jay----" + +"No, no!" she interrupted, wringing her sharp little toes, "It's not Mr. +Jay this time, Mr. Wren. It's the family over there, _our_ family, +robbing our nest of its one little egg." + +"Pooh! nonsense!" coolly said Mr. Wren, taking one long breath of +relief. "Why, my dear, you nearly frighten me to death. You know, or +_ought_ to know by this time, that our landlord's family have been +taught not to do such things. Besides you yourself admit them to be +exceptionally good children and good children never rob nests. Fie, I'm +ashamed of you. Really my heart flew to my bill when I heard your call +of distress." + +Mrs. Wren, whose fears were quite allayed by this time, looked at her +mate scornfully. + +"Oh!" said she, with fine sarcasm, "your heart flew into your bill +did it? Well, let me say, Mr. Wren, that if it had been my mother in +distress, father at the first note of warning, would have flown to her +assistance with his heart in his _claws_. He kept them well sharpened +for just such occasions, and woe to any enemy _he_ found prowling about +his premises." + +"Oh, indeed!" said Mr. Wren, "I presume he would have attacked Bridget +over there, and the whole family. To hear you talk, Mrs. Wren, one would +think your father was a whole host in himself." + +"And so he was," said she, loftily, "I have seen him attack a _Bluebird_ +and a _Martin_ at the same time and put them both to flight. An _Owl_ +had no terrors for him, and as for squirrels, why----" Mrs. Wren raised +her wings and shrugged her shoulders in a very Frenchy and wholly +contemptuous manner. + +"I'm a peace-loving sort of a fellow, that you know, Mrs. Wren, +deploring the reputation our tribe has so justly earned for fighting, +and scolding, and jeering at everything and everybody. Indeed they go so +far as to say we trust no one, not even our kindred. But mark me, Mrs. +Wren, mark me, I say! Should any rascally Jay, neighbor or not, ever +dare approach that tin pot over yonder, or ever alight on the roof of +the porch, I'll, I'll----" Mr. Wren fairly snorted in his anger, and +standing on one foot, doubled up the toes of the other and struck it +defiantly at the imaginary foe. + +"Oh, I dare say!" tauntingly said Mrs. Wren, "you are the sort of fellow +that I heard little Dorothy reading about the other day. You would fight +and run away, Mr. Wren, that you might live to fight another day." + +Mr. Wren lifted one foot and scratched himself meditatively behind the +ear. + +"Good, _very_ good, indeed, my dear! It must have been a pretty wise +chap that wrote that." And Mr. Wren, who seemed to find the idea very +amusing, laughed until the tears stood in his eyes. + +Mrs. Wren smoothed her ruffled feathers and smiled too. + +"Tut, tut, Jenny," said the good-natured fellow, "what is the use of us +newly married folk quarreling in this fashion. Think how joyous we were +less than one short hour ago. Come, my dear, the family have all left +the porch, save Emmett. Let us fly over there and take a look at our +treasure." And Mrs. Wren, entirely restored to good humor, flirted her +tail over her back, hopped about a little in a coquettish manner, then +spread her wings, and off they flew together. + +Mrs. Wren the next day deposited another egg, and the next, and the +next, till six little speckled beauties lay huddled together in the cosy +nest. + +"Exactly the number of our landlord's family," said she, fluffing her +feathers and gathering the eggs under her in that truly delightful +fashion common to all mother birds. "I am so glad. I was greatly puzzled +to know what names we should have given the babies had there been more +than six." + +"I hadn't thought of that," admitted Mr. Wren, who in his joy had been +treating his mate to one of his fine wooing songs, and at length coaxed +her from the nest, "but I dare say we would have named them after some +of our relatives." + +"Why, of course," assented Mrs. Wren, "I certainly would have named one +after my dear, brave papa. Mrs. John Wren says that boys named after a +great personage generally develop all the qualities of that person." + +"Oh, indeed!" sniffed Mr. Wren, "that was the reason she named one of +her numerous brood last year after our rascally neighbor, Mr. Jay, I +presume. Certainly the youngster turned out as great a rascal as the one +he was named after." + +Mrs. Wren's head feathers stood on end at once. + +"For the life of me," she said tartly, "I cannot see why you always fly +into a passion, Mr. Wren, whenever I mention dear papa, or Mrs. John, or +in fact _any_ of my relatives. Indeed--but sh-sh! There's one of our +neighbors coming this way. I verily believe it is, oh yes, it is, it +_is_----" and Mrs. Wren wrung her toes, and cried _cheet, cheet, cheet_, +and _dee, dee, dee_! in a truly anxious and alarming manner. + +[TO BE CONTINUED.] + + + + +SUMMARY. + + +Page 46. + +#LEAST BITTERN.#--_Botaurus exilis._ + +RANGE--Temperate North America, from the British Provinces to the West +Indies and South America. + +NEST--In the thick rushes, along the edge of the water, bending down the +tops of water grass and plaiting it into a snug little nest, about two +or three feet above the water. + +EGGS--Three or five, pale bluish or greenish-white. + + * * * * * + +Page 50. + +#BALDPATE.#--_Anas americana._ + +RANGE--North America from the Arctic ocean south to Guatemala and Cuba. + +NEST--On the ground in marshes, of grass and weeds, neatly arranged and +nicely hollowed; usually lined with the down and feathers from its own +breast. + +EGGS--Eight to twelve, of pale buff. + + * * * * * + +Page 54. + +#PURPLE FINCH.#--_Carpodacus purpureus._ Other names: "Purple Grosbeak," +"Crimson Finch," "Linnet." + +RANGE--Eastern North America, breeding from Northern United States +northward. + +NEST--In evergreens or orchard trees, at a moderate distance from the +ground. Composed of weed-stalks, bark-strips, rootlets, grasses, all +kinds of vegetable fibres, and lined with hairs. + +EGGS--Four or five, of a dull green, spotted with very dark brown, +chiefly about the larger end. + + * * * * * + +Page 58. + +#RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.#--_Melanerpes carolinus._ Other name: "Zebra +Bird." + +RANGE--Eastern United States, west to the Rocky Mountains, south to +Florida and Central Texas. + +NEST--In holes in decayed trees, twenty or thirty feet from the ground. + +EGGS--Four or six, glossy white. + + * * * * * + +Page 63. + +#SAW-WHET OWL.#--_Nyctale acadica._ Other name: "Acadian Owl." + +RANGE--Whole of North America; breeding from middle United States +northward. + +NEST--In holes, trees, or hollow trunks. + +EGGS--Four to seven, white. + + * * * * * + +Page 67. + +#BLACK SWAN.#--_Cygnus atratus._ + +RANGE--Australia. + +NEST--On a tussock entirely surrounded by water. + +EGGS--Two to five. + + * * * * * + +Page 71. + +#SNOWY PLOVER.#--_Aegialitis nivosa._ + +RANGE--Western North America, south to Mexico in winter, both coasts of +Central America, and in western South America to Chile. + +NEST--On the ground. + +EGGS--Three, ground color, pale buff or clay color, marked with +blackish-brown spots, small splashes and fine dots. + + * * * * * + +Page 75. + +#LESSER PRAIRIE HEN.#--_Tympanuchus pallidicinctus._ + +RANGE--Eastern edge of the Great Plains, from western and probably +southern Texas northward through Indian Territory to Kansas. + +NEST--On the ground in thick prairie grass, and at the foot of bushes on +the barren ground; a hollow scratched out in the soil, and sparingly +lined with grasses and a few feathers. + +EGGS--Eight to twelve, tawny brown. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Birds Illustrated by Color Photography +[February, 1898], by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIRDS ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR *** + +***** This file should be named 34294.txt or 34294.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/2/9/34294/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Anne Storer, some +images courtesy of The Internet Archive 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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