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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64546f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62790 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62790) diff --git a/old/62790-8.txt b/old/62790-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 69abe0d..0000000 --- a/old/62790-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4961 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Young Folks' Nature Field Book, by John Alden Loring - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Young Folks' Nature Field Book - -Author: John Alden Loring - -Release Date: July 30, 2020 [EBook #62790] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOUNG FOLKS' NATURE FIELD BOOK *** - - - - -Produced by Tom Cosmas produced from files generously -provided on The Internet Archive and all resultant materials -are placed in the Public Domain. - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber Note - -Text emphasis is denoted as _Italics_ and =Old English Text=. - - - - -Young Folks' Nature Field Book - - - -[Illustration: Photograph by J. Alden Loring. - -WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH ON A BIRD-HOUSE.] - - - - =Young Folks'= - - =Nature Field Book= - - - _By_ - - _J. ALDEN LORING_ - -Formerly Field Naturalist to the United States Biological Survey and -the United States National Museum at Washington, D. C., Curator of -Mammals at the New York Zoological Park and Field Agent for the New -York Zoological Society; Member of the American Ornithologists' Union, -etc. - - -[Illustration] - - -_BOSTON_ - -=Dana Estes & Company= - -_PUBLISHERS_ - - -_Copyright, 1906_ - -By Dana Estes & Company - -All rights reserved - - - -_COLONIAL PRESS_ - -_Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co._ - -_Boston, U.S.A._ - - - - -Publishers' Preface - - -The plan of this work contemplates a short, timely nature story, or -seasonable hint for every calendar day in the year, telling the reader -just what time in the successive seasons to look for the different -birds, beasts, flowers, etc., how to recognize and study them when -taking observation walks for pleasure or instruction. Recognition -of different creatures, etc., is assisted by numerous excellent -illustrations, and alternate pages are left blank for reader's notes -or record of things seen. A yearly report so kept, either by a single -young person or a small group or club, cannot fail to be a source -of continuous interest, not only while being made but after its -completion. A club competing for the best and complete record so made -should produce pleasure and instruction throughout the year. - - - - -Dedication - - -_This book is dedicated to my first wild pet, who was the most -interesting and intelligent creature I have tamed. He chased the -children into their houses by pinching their legs; he awoke the dog by -pulling its tail, and he pecked the horse's feet, then jumped back and -crouched low to escape being kicked. Because of his thieving instinct -he kept me at war with the neighbors. His last mischievous act was to -pull the corks from the red and the black ink bottles, tip them over, -fly to the bed, and cover the counterpane with tracks. I found him dead -in the work-room the following morning, his black beak red and red -mouth black._ - - - - -Preface - - -This little book was written for the lover of outdoor life who has -neither the time nor the patience to study natural history. There are -many persons who are anxious to learn the common animals and flowers, -their haunts and their habits, that they may enjoy Nature when they -visit her. If they will take a minute each day to read the entry for -that date, or if they will carry the book with them on their strolls -into the country and while resting turn its pages, it may prove the -means of discovering in fur or feather or flowering bud something -before unknown to them. - -The subjects chosen are of common interest, and nearly all can be found -by any person who hunts for them assiduously. As the seasons vary in -different localities, it has been impossible to set a date for the -appearance or disappearance of an animal or a flower, that will apply -alike to all parts of the country for which this volume is intended. -Eastern United States. - - J. Alden Loring. - -_Oswego, N. Y._ - - - - -List of Illustrations - - - PAGE - White-breasted Nuthatch on a Bird-house _Frontispiece_ - - White-breasted Nuthatch 15 - English Sparrow 25 - Purple Martins 35 - Northern Shrike 39 - Prairie Horned Lark 47 - Loon 53 - Hibernating Woodchuck 57 - European Hedgehog 75 - Nest of a Meadow Mouse Exposed by Melting Snow 85 - Screech Owl 89 - Meadow Lark 99 - Downy Woodpecker 105 - Fox at Den 119 - Chimney Swift 125 - "One of your bird-houses should be tenanted by a wren" 129 - Male Bobolink 141 - Barn Swallow 153 - Belted Kingfisher 165 - Catbird 171 - Woodchuck 183 - Song Sparrow 191 - Yellow-billed Cuckoo 199 - Kingbird 207 - Red-winged Blackbirds 215 - Cedar Waxwing 221 - Yellow-breasted Chat 245 - Skunk Hunting Grasshoppers 255 - American Redstart 259 - Grebe 277 - Spotted Sandpiper 281 - Chickadees (Upper, Mountain; Lower, Hudsonian) 287 - "The great horned owl and the snowy owl can be tamed" 301 - Blue Jays 305 - A Four-storied Warbler's Nest. Each Story Represents - an Attempt by the Warbler to Avoid Becoming - Foster-parent of a Young Cowbird 311 - Snow Bunting 315 - Cotton-tail Rabbit Taking a Sun Bath 331 - Bonaparte Gull 337 - - -[Illustration: WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.] - - - - -=January= - - -January First - -The best New Year's resolution a lover of nature can make, is a promise -to provide the feathered waifs of winter with free lunches. This may -be done by fastening pieces of suet to limbs and trunks of trees, and -by placing sunflower seeds, bird seeds, or cracked nuts on the veranda -roof or on the window-sill of your room, where sharp eyes will soon spy -them. - - -January Second - -Your boarders will be the birds that either remain with you throughout -the year, or have come from the frozen North to spend the winter. These -are the birds that feed upon seeds of various kinds, or the feathered -carpenters that pry into the crevices of the bark, and dig into the -rotten wood in search of the insects and the insect larvę hidden there. - - -January Third - -The chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, and the downy woodpecker, -keep company during the long winter months. They will appreciate your -lunches most, and will call on you frequently throughout the day. - - -Notes - - - - -January Fourth - -Do not attempt to tame your visitors until they have made several calls -for lunches. Then put a crude "dummy," with a false face, near the -window, and raise the sash to let the birds enter. Within a few days -the chickadees will perch upon Dummy's shoulders and take nut meats -from his buttonholes. - - -January Fifth - -Having thus gained the chickadees' confidence, hurry to the window when -you hear them call, and quietly take the place of the dummy. Of course -they will be suspicious at first, and probably you will meet with many -disappointments, but when you have succeeded in taming them to alight -upon your hand or shoulder, you will find enjoyment in calling them to -you by the gentle whistle to which you should accustom them. - - -January Sixth - -Tempting food, and slow movements when in the presence of birds, are -the main secrets to successful bird taming. The chickadee, as you will -find, is the easiest of these birds to tame. He has several songs -and call notes, so do not expect always to hear him repeat his name, -"_chick-a-de-de-de-de_." - - -Notes - - -January Seventh - -Persons not familiar with birds often mistake the white-breasted -nuthatch for a woodpecker, for their actions are much alike. The -nuthatch creeps about the trees in all kinds of attitudes, while the -woodpecker assumes an upright position most of the time and moves in -spasmodic hops. The young and the female downy woodpecker do not have -the red crescent on the back of the head. The hairy woodpecker is -another "resident" that looks like his cousin, the downy, but he is -once again as large. - - -January Eighth - -Winter in the North is a season of hardship and hunger to wild -creatures. The otherwise wary and cunning crow often puts discretion -aside when in search of food, and fearlessly visits the village refuse -heaps, or the farmer's barn-yard. In the orchards you will find where -he has uncovered the decayed apples and pecked holes into them. - - -January Ninth - -Even the mink, after days of fasting, is driven by starvation to leave -his retreat in a burrow along a creek or river bank, and to forage upon -the farmer's poultry. Poor fellow, he does not hibernate, so he must -have food; fish is his choice, but when hard pressed, he will take -anything, "fish, flesh, or fowl." - - -Notes - - - - -January Tenth - -In the fields and lowlands, the scattered coveys of Bob-whites that -have escaped the hunter, huddle for shelter from a storm under a -stump or in a hollow log. Sometimes several days pass before they are -able to dig through the drifts that imprison them. Should a heavy -sleet-storm cover the snowy mantle with a crust too thick and hard -for them to break through, starvation is their fate. Sportsmen living -within convenient reach of quail coverts should watch over them in such -weather and provide food and shelter for the birds. - - -January Eleventh - -Even the flocks of horned (or shore) larks that feed on the wind-swept -hilltops, pause occasionally and squat close to the ground to keep from -being blown away. They have come from the North, and after passing the -winter with us, most of them will return to Canada to nest. - - -January Twelfth - -A long period of cold freezes the marshes to the bottom, and compels -the muskrats to seek the bushy banks, or to take shelter under the -corn-shacks or hay-stacks in the fields. Poor things, they of all -animals endure hardship; for one can often track them to where they -have scratched away the snow while searching for grass-blades, roots, -acorns or apples that have fallen and decayed. - - -Notes - - - - -January Thirteenth - -When the wind sweeps over the fields and the cold nips your ears, you -are apt to come suddenly upon a flock of snowflakes, or snow buntings. -Hastening back and forth among the weeds along the bank, they reach up -and pick the seeds and crack them in their strong bills. They, too, -like the horned larks, have come from the North, and in March will -return again. - - -January Fourteenth - -You cannot show your friendship for our native birds in any better way -than by being an enemy of the English sparrow. He is a quarrelsome -little pest and seems to be getting more pugnacious every year. He not -only fights the other birds, but he has been seen to throw their eggs -to the ground and to tear their nests to pieces. Be careful that he -does not steal the lunches that you have provided for other birds. - - -January Fifteenth - -How do the insects pass the winter? Much in the same way that our -plants and flowers do. As the cold weather kills or withers the plants, -leaving their seeds and roots to send forth shoots next summer, so most -of the insects die, leaving their eggs, their larvę, and their pupa to -be nourished into life by the warm days of spring. - -[Illustration: ENGLISH SPARROW.] - - -Notes - - - - -January Sixteenth - -Insects are more dependent on climatic conditions than are birds or -mammals. Nevertheless, even on the coldest days of winter, one may -tear away the bark of a forest tree and find spiders which show signs -of life, and if kept in a warm room for a few hours, they become quite -active. - - -January Seventeenth - -The life of an insect which undergoes what is termed a "complete -transformation," is divided into four stages: First, the egg; second, -the larva; third, the pupa or chrysalis, and fourth, the adult insect -or imago. Each of these changes is so complete and different from -any of the others, that the insect never appears twice in an easily -recognized form. - - -January Eighteenth - -Let us take the common house-fly for an example, and follow it through -the changes that it must undergo before becoming adult. The mother fly -deposits more than a hundred eggs at a time, in a dump at the back of -the stable. The eggs hatch in half a day. - - -Notes - - - - -January Nineteenth - -Now we have the larvę (maggots), as the second stage is called. These -little creatures are white and grow very fast, shedding their skin -several times before they take on a different form, which they do at -the end of three or four days. - -January Twentieth - -The third, or pupa, stage is reached when a tiny brown capsule-like -formation has taken the place of the maggot. In this stage no movement -is apparent, nor is any food taken; there is only a quiet waiting for -the final change, which comes in about five days, when, out from one -end of a chrysalis, a fully developed fly appears. - - -January Twenty-first - -The wonderful changes just described take place throughout most of the -insect world. The larvę of butterflies and moths are caterpillars; the -larvę of June bugs or May beetles are grubs. Some moth and butterfly -caterpillars weave silken cocoons about themselves; some make cocoons -from leaves or tiny chips of wood; some utilize the hair from their own -bodies, while others attach themselves to the under side of boards, -stones, and stumps, where, after shedding their skin, they hang like -mummies until spring calls them back to life. - - -Notes - - - - -January Twenty-second - -Bird lovers often make the mistake of putting out nesting-boxes too -late in the season. They forget that most of the birds begin to look -for nesting-sites as soon as they arrive in the spring, therefore the -boxes should be in place before the prospective tenants appear. March -first is none too early for many localities. - - -January Twenty-third - -A natural cavity in a root, cut from a rustic stump, or a short length -of hollow limb, with a two-inch augur hole bored near the top, and a -piece of board nailed over each end, makes an artistic nesting-place -for birds. Some persons prefer a miniature cottage with compartments -and doors; though birds will often nest in them, the simpler and more -natural the home, the more suited it is to their wants. - - -January Twenty-fourth - -A few minutes' work with hammer, saw, and knife, will convert any small -wooden box that is nailed (not glued) together, into a respectable -nesting-box. After it has been covered with two coats of dark green -paint it is ready to be put in place. A shelf placed in a cornice, -under a porch, or the eaves of a building, makes an excellent -resting-place for the nest of a robin or a phoebe. - - -Notes - - - - -January Twenty-fifth - -Nesting-boxes may be placed almost anywhere that there is shade and -shelter. They ought to be put beyond the reach of prowling cats and -meddlesome children, at least fifteen feet from the ground, and to reap -the benefit of your labor, they should be near your sitting-room window. - - -January Twenty-sixth - -It is better not to put an old nest or any nesting material in the -houses. Birds prefer to do their own nest building, and they have their -notions about house furnishing, which do not agree with our ideas. -Birds have often refused nesting-boxes simply because over-zealous -persons had stuffed them with hay or excelsior. - - -January Twenty-seventh - -The birds that nest in bird-houses are the ones which, if unprovided -with them, would naturally choose cavities in stumps, tree trunks, -hollow limbs and the like. Almost without exception this class of -nest-builders will return to the same nest year after year, so once a -pair has taken up its abode with you, you may expect to see the birds -for several summers. - -[Illustration: PURPLE MARTINS.] - - -Notes - - - - -January Twenty-eighth - -The following are common tenants of bird-houses: Purple martin, -bluebird, house wren, chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted -nuthatch, and tree or white-breasted swallow. These birds are great -insect destroyers, and most of them are sweet songsters, so they should -be encouraged to take up their abode about our grounds. - - -January Twenty-ninth - -After a deep fall of snow, the Northern shrike, or butcher-bird, is -forced into the villages and towns for his food. Dashing into a flock -of English sparrows, he snatches one and carries it back to the country -to be eaten at his leisure. He is the bird that impales small birds, -mice, and large insects on barbed-wire fences, or thorn bushes, after -his stomach has been filled, and hence his name. - - -January Thirtieth - -Next to the beaver, the porcupine is the largest rodent in the United -States; the largest porcupines live in Alaska. When on the ground, his -short, thick tail drags in the snow, leaving a zigzag trail. When the -snow is deep and the weather stormy, he spends much of his time in -pine, spruce, and hemlock trees, feeding on the bark and twigs. - -[Illustration: NORTHERN SHRIKE.] - - -Notes - - - - -January Thirty-first - -Hawks, before eating, tear away the skin and feathers from their prey; -but owls eat everything, unless the prey be large, even bolting small -birds and mammals entire. In the course of a few hours they disgorge -pellets of indigestible portions, the bones being encased in the -feathers or hair. The pellets may be found on the snow beneath the -owl's roost, and they often contain skulls of mice as white and perfect -as though they had been cleaned in a museum. - - -Notes - - - - - - -=February= - - -February First - -Mourning-cloak butterflies do not all die when winter comes. Those -that hibernate are usually found singly or in clusters, hanging from -the rafters in old buildings, or from the under side of stones, rails, -limbs of trees, or boards. Those that appear in the spring with -tattered wings, have probably been confined in buildings, and in their -efforts to escape have battered themselves against the windows. - - -February Second - -Does any one know how old the story is that tells us this is the day -on which the bear and the woodchuck rub their sleepy eyes and leave -their winter quarters for the first time? If they see their shadow they -return and sleep six weeks longer, but should the day be cloudy, they -are supposed to remain active the rest of the season. This of course is -only a myth. - - -February Third - -Frogs usually pass the winter in the mud at the bottom of a stream, -lake, or pond, or below frost-line in a woodchuck, rabbit, or chipmunk -burrow. However, it is not uncommon to find them active all winter in a -spring, or a roadside drinking-trough supplied from a spring. I wonder -if they know that spring-water seldom freezes, and that by choosing -such a place, they will not have to hibernate. - - -Notes - - - - -February Fourth - -The bloodthirsty weasel, which is reddish brown in summer (save the -tip of his tail, which is always black), is now colored to match his -surroundings, white. His tracks may be found in the woods and along -the stump fences in the fields, where he has been searching for mice. -He is one of the very few mammals that will shed blood simply for the -pleasure of killing. - - -February Fifth - -Students of nature will find it much easier to identify birds if they -take this opportunity before the migrating birds arrive, to study -carefully the haunts of the common species. Many birds, you know, are -not found beyond the bounds of a certain character of country chosen -for them by nature. So should you see in the deep woods a bird that you -at first take to be a Baltimore oriole or a bobolink, a second thought -will cause you to remember that these birds are not found in the woods, -consequently you must be wrong. - - -February Sixth - -The meadow lark, horned lark, bobolink, grasshopper sparrow, vesper -sparrow, and savannah sparrow, are all common birds of the fields -and meadows, and they are seldom seen in the dense woods or in the -villages. - -[Illustration: PRAIRIE HORNED LARK.] - - -Notes - - - - -February Seventh - -Among the birds that one may expect to see in the woods and groves are -the great-horned owl, hermit thrush, wood thrush, blue-headed vireo, -golden-crowned thrush, scarlet tanager, black-throated green warbler, -and the black-throated blue warbler. - - -February Eighth - -The swamp birds, and birds found along the banks of lakes, rivers, and -streams, and seldom seen far from them, are the belted kingfisher, -red-shouldered blackbird, spotted and solitary sandpipers, great blue, -night, and little green herons, and the osprey, or fish-hawk. - - -February Ninth - -Cleared woodlands overgrown with thick bushes, shrubs, and vines, -as well as the bushy thickets by the waysides, are the favorite -nesting-places for another class of birds. In this category the common -varieties are the yellow-breasted chat, yellow warbler, chestnut-sided -warbler, Maryland yellow-throat, catbird, brown thrasher, mocking-bird, -indigo bunting, and the black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoos. - - -Notes - - - - -February Tenth - -The swimming birds spend the greater part of their time in the water. -Most of them nest in the lake regions of Canada. They are the ducks, -geese, and swans, of which there are nearly fifty species; the grebes -and loons, eleven species; the gulls and terns, thirty-seven species; -and the cormorants and pelicans, beside many other water birds that we -seldom or never see in Eastern United States. - - -February Eleventh - -Then, of course, there is a miscellaneous lot that nest in the -woods, orchards, village shade trees, or any place where large trees -are found. The flicker, downy and hairy woodpeckers, screech owl, -white-breasted nuthatch, chickadee, robin, red-eyed vireo, warbling -vireo, and the yellow-throated vireo, comprise some of the birds in -this group. - - -February Twelfth - -About spring-holes the snow melts quickly and the grass remains green -all winter. It is here that you will find the runways of meadow mice, -or voles (not moles). They live on the roots and tender blades of -grass, but at this time of the year hunger often compels them to eat -the bark from fruit trees, vines, and berry bushes, and during severe -winters they do great damage to apple trees. - -[Illustration: LOON.] - - -Notes - - - - -February Thirteenth - -The whistle-wing duck, or American golden eye, attracts your attention -by the peculiar whistling sound that it makes with its wings while -flying. As it gets its food (small fish, and mussels), by diving, it -is able to remain in the Northern States all winter and feed in the -swift-running streams, in air-holes, or other open water. - - -February Fourteenth - -The skunk is one of the mammals who can hibernate or not, just as -he chooses. During prolonged periods of cold, he takes shelter in a -woodchuck's burrow, and "cuddling down," goes to sleep but a few inches -from the rightful owner, who, in turn, is also sleeping in a chamber -back of the thin partition of earth which he threw out in front of -himself when he retired in the fall. - - -February Fifteenth - -The first bird to actually voice the approach of spring, is the jolly -little chickadee. His spring song, "_spring's-com-ing_," sounds more -like "_phoebe_" than does the note of the phoebe itself, for -which it is often mistaken. It is a clear, plaintive whistle, easily -imitated, and when answered, the songster can often be called within a -few feet of one, where he will perch and repeat his song as long as he -receives a reply. - -[Illustration: Photograph by Silas Lottridge. - -HIBERNATING WOODCHUCK.] - - -Notes - - - - -February Sixteenth - -Even the coldest weather does not close the swift-running streams, -which gives the muskrats a chance to exercise their legs. It makes -you shudder to see one swim along the edge of the ice, then dive, and -come to the surface with a mouthful of food. Climbing upon the ice, he -eats it, then silently slips into the water again. His hair is so well -oiled, that an ordinary wetting does not penetrate to the skin. - - -February Seventeenth - -A crow's track can always be told from the tracks of other birds of -similar size, because there is a dash in the snow made by the claw -of his middle toe. Again, his toes are long and set rather closely -together, and he seldom walks in a straight line, but wanders about as -though looking for something, which is usually the case. - - -February Eighteenth - -Many persons believe that a porcupine has the power to throw his -quills, but it is not so. When alarmed, he hurries, in a lumbering -sort of way, for shelter. If you close in on him, he stops at once, -ducks his head, humps his back, raises his quill armor, and awaits your -attack. Approach closely, and he turns his back and tail toward you, -and the instant you touch him he strikes with his club-like tail, also -armed with quills, leaving souvenirs sticking into whatever they come -in contact with. - - -Notes - - - - -February Nineteenth - -As the migrating birds are beginning to arrive in the Southern States, -and will soon be North, let us consider the subject of migration. The -reason why birds migrate North in the spring is not definitely-known. -Of course they leave the North because cold and snow cut off their food -supply; but why in the spring do they abandon a country where food is -plentiful and make such long flights, apparently for no other object -than to bring forth their young in the North? - - -February Twentieth - -Is it not wonderful how birds find their way, over thousands of miles -of land and water, to the same locality and often to the same nest, -season after season? How do we know that this is true? The reappearance -of a bird with a crippled foot or wing, or one that has been tamed to -feed from one's hand, is unmistakable proof. - - -February Twenty-first - -Ducks and geese make longest flights of any of the migrating birds. -They have been known to cover three hundred miles without resting. The -smaller birds advance as the season advances, the early arrivals being -the ones that do not winter very far south. Storm-waves often check -their progress and compel them to turn back a few hundred miles and -wait for the weather to moderate. - - -Notes - - - - -February Twenty-second - -Most birds migrate at night; and a continued warm rain followed by a -clear warm night is sure to bring a host of new arrivals. If you listen -on moonlight nights, you can often hear their chirps and calls as they -pass over. During foggy weather many meet with accidents by getting -lost and being blown out to sea, or by flying against monuments, -buildings, or lighthouses. - - -February Twenty-third - -Mr. Chapman tells us that, when migrating, birds fly at a height of -from one to three miles, and that our Eastern birds leave the United -States by the way of the Florida peninsula. They are guided in their -flight by the coast-line and the river valleys. - - -February Twenty-fourth - -Some migrants fly in compact flocks of hundreds, like the ducks, for -example, while others, like the swallows, spread out. Then, again, -there are birds that arrive in pairs or singly. With still others, the -male precedes his mate by a week or ten days. Not infrequently a flock -of birds containing several different species will be seen. This is -particularly true of the blackbirds and grackles. - - -Notes - - - - -February Twenty-fifth - -You will notice that the birds are usually in full song when they -arrive from the South. Save for a few calls and scolding notes, most of -them are silent during the winter, but as spring approaches they begin -to find their voices and probably are as glad to sing as we are to hear -them. - - -February Twenty-sixth - -The snow-shoe rabbit, or Northern varying hare, changes its color twice -a year. In winter it is snow white, but at this season it is turning -reddish-brown. In the far Northwest these hares are so abundant that -they make deep trails through the snow, and the Indians and white -trappers and traders shoot and snare large numbers of them for food. - - -February Twenty-seventh - -It makes no difference to the "chickaree," or red squirrel, how much -snow falls or how cold it gets. He has laid by a stock of provisions -and he is not dependent on the food the season furnishes. He is as spry -and happy during the coldest blizzard as he is on a midsummer day, for -he knows well where the hollow limb or tree-trunk is that contains his -store of nuts or grain. - - -Notes - - - - -February Twenty-eighth - -The Carolina wren is the largest member of the wren family in the -Eastern United States. It breeds sparingly in Southern New York and New -England, but is common about Washington, D. C., where it is a resident. -It is found in the forests, thickets, and undergrowth along streams and -lakes. Mr. Hoffman says that its song "is so loud and clear that it can -be heard easily a quarter of a mile." - - -Notes - - - - - - -=March= - - -March First - -A lady once asked me how to destroy the "insect eggs" on the under -side of fern leaves. The ferns are flowerless plants, and they produce -spores instead of seeds. Usually the spores are arranged in dotted -lines, on the underside of the leaves (or fronds as they are called), -and these are the "insect eggs" the lady referred to. - - -March Second - -Even at this early date the female great-horned owl or hoot owl, in -some sections of the country, is searching for a place to build her -nest. She usually selects an abandoned hawk's or a crow's nest, and -after laying her four chalky-white eggs, she is often compelled to sit -on them most of the night to prevent them from freezing. - - -March Third - -A question that is often asked is, what do the early migrating birds -eat, when the ground is frozen and insect life is still slumbering. -If you knew where to look, you would find many of the fruit-trees -and vines filled with dried, or frozen fruit. Frozen apples and -mountain-ash berries constitute a large part of the robin's and -the cedar-bird's food early in the spring, and the bluebirds and -cedar-birds eat the shriveled barberry fruit. - - -Notes - - - - -March Fourth - -In Florida, the black bear can get food throughout the entire year, but -in the North he is compelled to hibernate during the winter. He is now -beginning to think of leaving his den (in a cave, crevice of the rocks, -or under the roots of a partially upturned tree) to begin his summer -vacation. We are apt to think that bears are poor when they leave the -den, but this is not always true, although their pelage does get very -much worn from coming in contact with protuberances in their winter -quarters. - - -March Fifth - -The first plant to thrust its head above ground and proclaim the coming -of spring is the skunk cabbage, or swamp cabbage. Even before the snow -has entirely left, the plant will melt a hole and by its own warmth -keep itself from freezing. In many localities at this date the leathery -hoods are several inches above the ground. - - -March Sixth - -In America the cowbird, like the European cuckoo, lays its eggs in the -nests of other birds. All of our American cuckoos build their nests and -raise their young in a manner creditable to parents. - - -Notes - - - - -March Seventh - -Clinging to the cliffs and rocks in the forests, the dark green -leathery leaves of the polypody fern are nearly as fresh and green -as when first snowed under. Hunt among the clusters until you find a -fertile frond, then examine the back of it and see how closely together -the spores are placed. - - -March Eighth - -We will awaken some morning to find that during the night the song -sparrows have arrived from the South; not all of them, to be sure, but -just a few that are anxious to push North and begin nesting. All winter -their merry song has been hushed, but now it gushes forth, not to stop -again until the molting season in August. - - - -March Ninth - -A porcupine should never be called a hedgehog. The hedgehog, an -insectivorous animal, inhabiting Europe, is not found in the Western -Hemisphere. It rolls itself into a ball when attacked, and the spines, -which _do not come out_, are shorter, duller, and less formidable than -those of the porcupine. - -[Illustration: Photograph by E. R. Sanborn. - -EUROPEAN HEDGEHOG] - - -Notes - - - - -March Tenth - -People, knowing that the robin is an early spring arrival, are always -alert to see or hear the first one. Consequently the first song that -catches their ear is supposed to be that of a robin, whereas often it -is the spring song of the white-breasted nuthatch, which really has no -resemblance to the robin's song. - - -March Eleventh - -When you see a bird with a crest (not one that simply raises its head -feathers) it must be one of the following species: A blue jay, tufted -titmouse, pileated woodpecker, cardinal grosbeak, (also called redbird -and cardinal), Bohemian waxwing, or a cedar-bird. These are the only -birds inhabiting the Eastern States that wear true crests. The belted -kingfisher and many of the ducks and herons have ruffs and plumes but -these can scarcely be considered crests. - - -March Twelfth - -Some scientists contend that, owing to their intelligence, ants should -rank next to man and before the anthropoid apes. They have soldiers -that raid other ant colonies and capture eggs, and when the eggs hatch, -the young are kept as slaves; they have nurses that watch and care for -the eggs and helpless larvę, and cows (_Aphids_) that are tended with -almost human intelligence. - - -Notes - - - - -March Thirteenth - -The Audubon Society has stopped the slaughter of grebes. Before the -enactment of the laws framed by the society, these duck-like birds were -killed for their snow-white breasts, which were used for decorating (?) -women's hats. Grebes are now migrating to the lakes of the North, where -they build floating nests of reeds. - - -March Fourteenth - -The only sure way to tell a venomous snake is to kill the reptile, open -its mouth with a stick, and look for the hollow, curved fangs. When -not in use they are compressed against the roof of the mouth, beneath -the reptile's eyes. They are hinged, as you can see if you pull them -forward with a pencil. The venom is contained in a sack hidden beneath -the skin at the base of each fang. - - -March Fifteenth - -As a mimic and a persistent songster, the mocking-bird has no rival, -but when quality is considered, I think we have several songsters that -are its equal. The bobolink and the winter wren both have rollicking -songs that are inspiring and wonderful, but to my ear there are no -songs that equal those of the hermit thrush and the wood thrush. Still, -the selection of a bird vocalist is a matter of choice which is often -influenced by one's association with the singer. - - -Notes - - - - -March Sixteenth - -If you will look into one of the large cone-shaped paper nests of the -bald-faced hornet, which hang to the limbs of the trees or under the -eaves of the house, you will be almost certain to find a few house -flies that have passed the winter between the folds of paper. They now -show signs of life, and are ready to make their appearance during the -first warm spell. - - -March Seventeenth - -Before the snow has left, you are likely to see dirt-stained spots on -the hillsides where the woodchuck or ground-hog has thrown out the -partition of dirt which kept the winter air from his bed-chamber. -Of course he has not come out for good, but on warm, sunny days he -will make short excursions from his burrow to see how the season is -progressing. In the early spring, before vegetation sprouts, he finds -it difficult to find good food in plenty. - - -March Eighteenth - -The herring gulls that have been about our harbors and bays all winter, -will not remain much longer. They are about to leave for their nesting -grounds, in the marshes and on the islands of New England and Canada. -In the fall they will return with their young, which wear a grayish -plumage. - - -Notes - - - - -March Nineteenth - -In winter meadow mice build neat little nests of dried grass on the -ground beneath the snow. They are hollow balls, about the size of a -hat crown, with a small opening in one or two sides. The outside is -made of coarse, rank grass, while the lining is of the finest material -obtainable. The heat from the little animals' bodies soon melts an air -chamber around the nest, into which lead many tunnels through the snow. -As soon as the snow has melted, you will find these nests scattered -about the fields and meadows, but they are empty now. - - -March Twentieth - -The fish crow is a small edition of the common crow. He is a resident -of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from South Carolina to Louisiana. His -note resembles the "caw" of the Northern crow, minus the _w_, being -more of a croak: "_cak, cak, cak, cak_." You will find him on the coast -and along the rivers. - - -March Twenty-first - -The white-tailed deer of the deep forests have dropped their antlers by -this time, and a new set has started to grow. (Elk, moose, caribou, and -deer have antlers; sheep, goats and cattle have horns, and retain them -throughout life.) Antlers are cast off annually, and a new set will -grow in about seven months. - -[Illustration: Photograph by Alden Lottridge. - -NEST OF A MEADOW MOUSE EXPOSED BY MELTING SNOW.] - - -Notes - - - - -March Twenty-second - -The purple grackle, or crow blackbird, should make his appearance in -Southern New York about this time. He is the large, handsome fellow -who lives in colonies and builds his nest in pine, hemlock, and spruce -groves near human habitations. As soon as his young are hatched, he -frequents the banks of rivers and lakes and walks along in quest of -insects. He is one of the few birds that _walks_. - - -March Twenty-third - -Screech owls are now nesting in natural cavities in apple-trees, but -they should not be disturbed, for they feed on mice, beetles and other -harmful animals. Owls are very interesting birds, but their wisdom is -only in their looks. Their eyes are stationary, so in order to look -sidewise, they must turn their head. Watch one and notice him dilate -and contract the pupil of his eyes, according to the light, and the -distance of the object at which he is gazing. - - -March Twenty-fourth - -The American goldfinch, thistlebird, or wild canary, often spends the -winter with us, but in his grayish-brown suit he is not recognized by -his friends who only know him in his summer garb of black and yellow. -The male and the female look alike now, but soon the male will don -gorgeous colors and wear them until after the nesting season. - -[Illustration: SCREECH OWL.] - - -Notes - - - - -March Twenty-fifth - -The scarlet heads of the velvet, or stag-horn sumach are very -conspicuous on the rocky hillsides and gravelly bottoms. The fruit -of the poison sumach hangs more like a bunch of grapes, while -the stag-horn fruit is in a massive cluster. Persons susceptible -to poisonous plants should never approach any poisonous shrub, -particularly when the body is overheated. - - -March Twenty-sixth - -From the swamps and river-banks comes the clatter of loud blackbird -voices. Flocks containing hundreds of these noisy fellows perch in the -tops of the trees, resting after their long migration flight. From -the babble, you recognize the "_konk-a-ree_" of the red-shouldered -blackbird, the harsh squeaky notes of the rusty grackle, and the purple -grackle. As you approach, the flock takes flight, and you discover that -all of the red-wing blackbirds are males; the females have not yet -arrived. - - -March Twenty-seventh - -In the dead of winter you may sometimes see a belted kingfisher along -some swift-running stream, but as a rule, north of Virginia, few stay -with us throughout the year. Most of them appear about this time, and -you see them perched on some low limb overhanging a pond or a stream. - - -Notes - - - - -March Twenty-eighth - -From bogs, shaded woods, and sheltered highways. Nature's -question-marks, the "fiddle-heads," appear above the loam. They are -baby ferns, preparing to expand and wave their graceful leaves in the -face of all beholders. These queer, woolly sprouts the Indians use for -food, and birds also eat them. - - -March Twenty-ninth - -The clear, sweet, and plaintive whistle "_pee-a-peabody, -peabody, peabody_," (which to the French Canadian is interpreted -"_la-belle-Canada, Canada, Canada_") of the white-throated sparrow, or -Canada bird, is a common, early spring song, now heard in the swamps -and thickets. This sparrow may be found about New York City all winter, -but it passes North to nest. - - -March Thirtieth - -Beneath hickory-nut. Walnut, and butternut trees, you are sure to find -large numbers of nut-shells that have been rifled of their contents by -red squirrels, chipmunks, meadow mice, and white-footed mice. In nearly -every instance, the intelligent little rodents have gnawed through -the flat sides of the shell, directly into the meat, and taken it out -as "clean as a whistle." But who "_taught_ them" to select the _flat_ -side? - - -Notes - - - - -March Thirty-first - -The noisy kildeer is rare in Pennsylvania and New York, but it is a -common plover in Ohio. Its note, "_kildeer, kildeer, kildeer_," is -emitted while the bird is on the ground or in the air. This plover is -very abundant in the far West, and when a hunter is stalking antelope, -it often flies about his head, calling loudly and warning the game of -danger. For this trait it is sometimes called "tell-tale plover." - - -Notes - - - - - - -=April= - - -April First - -A question which puzzles scientists, is how the turtles and frogs -(which have lungs) are able, at the close of summer, to bury themselves -in the mud at the bottom of a river or pond and remain there until the -following spring. The frogs appear a few days before the turtles are -seen. - - -April Second - -The meadowlark's song, "_spring-o-the-year_," is heard at its best -in this month and in May; but the note is one of the few that may be -frequently heard in southern New England, during the entire winter. As -its name implies, the meadowlark is a bird of the fields and meadows -only, but it will often alight in the top of a tall tree and send forth -its joyful song. Watch and listen for it now. - - -April Third - -As soon as spring arrives and the ice has left the streams, hordes -of May or shad fly nymphs can be found working their way against the -current a few inches from the shore. Catch a few of them and put them -in a tumbler of water and watch their external or "trachea" gills -working. The adult insects are abundant in summer, but at this time of -the year (even earlier), the stone flies which flit over the melting -snow are often mistaken for May, or shad flies. - -[Illustration: MEADOW LARK] - - -Notes - - - - -April Fourth - -The name "purple finch" is very misleading, for the head, neck, breast, -and throat of the bird are more crimson than purple. The female is -often mistaken for a sparrow, as her color is dull, and her breast -streaked. This finch often takes up its abode in the coniferous trees -in the villages. "Its song bursts forth as if from some uncontrollable -stress of gladness, and is repeated uninterruptedly over and over -again." (Bicknell.) - - -April Fifth - -If the season is not belated, you may expect to find the blood-root -peeping through the rocky soil, on exposed brushy hillsides, or along -the margins of the woods. You must look for it early, for its petals -drop soon after the flower blossoms. The Indians used the blood-red -juice which flows when the root is broken, to decorate their bodies. - - -April Sixth - -The brush lots, roadways, and open forests in the Northern States, are -now filled with juncoes on the way to their nesting grounds in Canada -and the mountainous portions of this country. They are with us but -a few weeks and will not be seen again until next fall. The pinkish -bill and the two white outer tail-feathers are of great assistance in -identifying this bird, for they are very conspicuous when it flies. - - -Notes - - - - -April Seventh - -While walking along the bank of a stream you are quite apt to surprise -a pair of pickerel lying side by side in shallow water. Save for the -vibration of their fins, and the movement of their gills, they do not -stir. As you approach they dart off, and you see a roily spot, where -they have taken shelter among the aquatic plants. - - -April Eighth - -The birds having white tail-feathers, or tail-feathers that are tipped -with white, which show conspicuously when the owners are on the -wing, are the meadowlark, vesper sparrow, chewink, snowflake, junco, -blue jay, white-breasted nuthatch, Northern shrike, kingbird, hairy -woodpecker, downy woodpecker, nighthawk, and whip-poor-will. - - -April Ninth - -The clustering liverwort, hepatica, or squirrel cup, with its fuzzy -stems and pretty flowers of various shades of blue, grow side by side -with the white wood anemone, or wind-flower. As soon as the wood -anemone blossoms, a slight breeze causes the petals to fall; that is -why it is called "wind-flower." - -[Illustration: DOWNY WOODPECKER] - - -Notes - - - - -April Tenth - -One of the birds that sportsmen have protected by prohibiting spring -shooting, is Wilson's snipe, or jacksnipe. Like many of the early -migrants it does not nest in the United States; consequently it is only -seen in the spring and fall. It is a bird of the marsh and bog, seldom -seen except by those who know where and how to find it. - - -April Eleventh - -The gall-flies, or gall-gnats, cut tiny incisions in the oak leaves and -golden-rod stems, and lay their eggs between the tissues. These wounds -produce large swellings which furnish the larval insects with food. -If broken into at this season, one discovers that the galls on the -golden-rod stems are pithy. Embedded in the pith is a white "worm," or -a small black capsule, but if the "gall" is empty, a hole will be found -where the fly emerged. - - -April Twelfth - -The red-shouldered hawk is one of our common birds of prey. Its loud, -somewhat cat-like cry, coming from the dense hardwood forests which -border swamps, lakes, and rivers, at once attracts attention. A pair -has been known to return to the same nesting locality for fifteen -consecutive years. This hawk has proved itself to be of inestimable -value to the farmer, and deserves his protection. - - -Notes - - - - -April Thirteenth - -For the past six weeks, chipmunks have occasionally come out from their -nests of dried grass and leaves, made in one of their several tunnels -beneath the line of frost under a stone pile, or a stump. Now they are -seen every day. It is only of recent years that we have discovered that -chipmunks destroy grubs and insects, thus rendering service for the -nuts and grain that they carry away in the fall. - - -April Fourteenth - -Have you noticed how the robins congregate in the evening and battle -with each other on the house-tops until dark? It is during the mating -season that these fights take place. Long after the other birds have -gone to bed. Cock Robin is awake, and shouting loud and defiant -challenges to whoever will accept them. - - -April Fifteenth - -Fungi are the lowest forms of plant life. They subsist on living and -dead organic matter, and not from the soil, as do most other plants. -The bread molds, downy mildew on decaying fruit and vegetables, and the -fungus that kills fish and insects, are all forms of fungi. Patches of -luxuriant grass are seen where decaying fungi have fertilized the soil. - - - -Notes - - - - -April Sixteenth - -The continuous "_chip-chip-chip-chip-chip-chip----_" of the chipping -sparrow, like a toy insect that must run down before it can stop, is -always a welcome sound at this time of the year. He can easily be tamed -to take food from one's hand. Although a neat nest-builder, "chippy" -selects poor nesting sites, and often the wind upsets his hair-lined -cup and destroys the eggs or young. - - -April Seventeenth - -At first the song of the spring peeper, which is really a _frog_, is -heard only in the evening, but as the days get warmer, a perfect chorus -of piping voices comes from swamps and stagnant pools. He strongly -objects to singing before an audience, but it is well worth one's -while to wait patiently and catch him in the act of inflating the skin -beneath his chin. - - -April Eighteenth - -On account of its tufted head, and clear, ringing song, "_peto, peto, -peto, peto_" or "_de, de, de, de_," much like a chickadee (Chapman) -the tufted titmouse is a well-known bird throughout its range: eastern -United States, from northern New Jersey, and southern Iowa to the -plains. - - -Notes - - - - -April Nineteenth - -Where is the country boy or girl who does not know the "woolly bear," -or "porcupine caterpillar," the chunky, hairy, rufous and black-banded -caterpillar, that curls up when touched and does not uncoil until -danger is over? They are the larvę of the Isabella moth, and the reason -for their appearance on the railroad tracks and wagon roads, is that -they have just finished hibernating and are now looking for a suitable -place to retire and change to chrysalides and then into moths. - - -April Twentieth - -In the Northern States, where the red-headed woodpecker is not very -common, it is apt to be confused with other species of woodpeckers. The -red-headed woodpecker is _scarlet down to its shoulders_. The eastern -woodpeckers that have the red crescent on the back of the head are -flicker, downy, and hairy woodpeckers. - - -April Twenty-first - -The gardener, while spading about the roots of a tree, will often throw -out a number of white, chunky grubs, about the size of the first joint -of one's little finger. These are the larvę of the June, or May beetle. -In the fall, they dig below frost line, where they remain until the -following spring. After three years of this life, they emerge from the -ground in May and June, perfect beetles. - - -Notes - - - - -April Twenty-second - -The myrtle, or yellow-rumped warbler, which spends the winter from -Massachusetts, south, into the West Indies and Central America, and -nests usually north of the United States, is very common now. It is -found in scattered flocks. If in doubt of its identity, look for the -yellow patch on the crown, and on the rump. - - -April Twenty-third - -The dainty little spring beauty, or claytonia, is another of the early -blooming flowers. "We look for the spring beauty in April or May, and -often find it in the same moist places--on a brook's edge or skirting -of wet woods--as the yellow adder's tongue." (Dana.) - - -April Twenty-fourth - -Toads are now beginning to leave their winter beds, in the leaves, -under stones and the like. Did you ever tie a piece of red cloth on a -string, dangle it over a toad's head, to see him follow and snap at it? -Toads exude a strong acid secretion from the pores of the skin, which -is distasteful to most predatory animals, excepting the snakes. - - -Notes - - - - -April Twenty-fifth - -The yellow-bellied sapsucker is the only member of the woodpecker -family whose presence is objectionable. His habit of puncturing the -bark of trees and then visiting the cups to catch the sap, is well -known. At any time of the year, row after row of these holes may be -seen on fruit-trees (usually apple and pear)--written evidence of his -guilt. See if you can catch him in the act. - - -April Twenty-sixth - -Turkey buzzards, or vultures, are repulsive and ungainly when on the -ground, but they are by far the most graceful of all our large birds -when in flight. They are rarely seen in New England, or in the Northern -States of the Middle Atlantic group, but in the South they are common -throughout the year. Mounting high in the air, they circle 'round and -'round with scarcely a flutter of the wings, but nervously tilting to -right or left, like a tight-rope walker with his balancing pole. - - -April Twenty-seventh - -This is about the time that young red foxes get their first sight of -the wide, wide world. In the Southern States they have been prowling -about with their parents for weeks; but north of New York City the -farmer's boy, as he now goes for the cows in the morning, will -frequently see a fox family playing about the entrance to their burrow. - - -[Illustration: FOX AT DEN.] - - -Notes - - - - -April Twenty-eighth - -So ruthlessly has the trailing arbutus, or "May-flower" as it is called -in New England, been destroyed, that in places where it was once -common, it is now almost extinct. Of its odor, Neltje Blanchan says: -"Can words describe the fragrancy of the very breath of spring--that -delicious commingling of the perfumes of arbutus, the odors of pines, -and the snow-soaked soil just warming into life?" - - -April Twenty-ninth - -Why are the robins so abundant? Because they are all pushing forward -to their Northern nesting grounds. Even in Alaska you would find a few -pairs that have made the long, perilous journey in safety, raising -their young in the balsam-poplars along some glacial stream, while in -Georgia and Florida, where large flocks of them winter, not one would -now be seen. - - -April Thirtieth - -If you will sow a few sunflower seeds in a corner of the garden and -let the plants go to seed, in the fall you are sure to have feathered -visitors in the shape of goldfinches, chickadees, and nuthatches. The -nuthatches (no doubt thinking of the hard times to come) will carry the -seeds away, and store them in the crevices of the bark of trees. - - -Notes - - - - - - -=May= - - -May First - -Of uniform grayish color, swift in flight, and shaped like cigars with -wings, the chimney swifts might well be called the torpedo boats of the -air. They never alight outside of chimneys or old buildings, and are -usually seen flying high above the house-tops. For hours they chase -each other through the air, keeping up a continuous "_chip, chip, chip, -chip, chip, chip_," whenever the participants of the game come near -each other. - - -May Second - -No sooner does the frost leave the ground, than the moles begin to -work close to the surface, making ridges where the earth is soft, and -throwing out small mounds, when it is packed firm. The star-nose mole -inhabits damp soil, while the common mole likes the dry highlands. -Although moles' eyes are small, he who thinks that they cannot see, -should hold his finger before one's nose and see how quickly it will be -bitten. - - -May Third - -The marsh marigold, which grows in thick clusters in the swamps and -along the streams, is now in full bloom. These flowers are often sold -on the streets for "cowslips," a name wholly incorrect. The leaves make -fine greens. - -[Illustration: CHIMNEY SWIFT.] - - -Notes - - - - -May Fourth - -By this time one of your bird houses should be tenanted by a pair of -house wrens. They migrate at night and the male arrives about a week -in advance of his mate. Both birds assist in building the nest and in -raising the young. As soon as the first brood has been reared, the -lining of the nest is removed, and a new one built before the second -set of six eggs is laid. Wrens may easily be tamed to take spiders and -caterpillars (not the hairy ones) from the end of a stick and even from -one's hand. - - -May Fifth - -How much easier would be the work of nest building if we provided the -birds with nesting material. Scatter strips of cloth, and pieces of -coarse twine on the ground for the robins; hair from the tail and mane -of horses for the chipping sparrows and wrens; twine and horse-hair for -the orioles; bits of "waste" for the yellow warblers, and grapevine -bark for the catbirds. None of these strands should be more than four -inches long. - - -May Sixth - -In some localities the shad-tree is now in full blossom. As -you pause to cut off a few twigs, your ears are greeted by a never -ceasing chorus of toad music. This is the toad's "love song"--a -high-pitched, somewhat tremulous, and rather monotonous note. - -[Illustration: Photograph by J. Alden Loring. - -ONE OF TOUR BIRD-HOUSES SHOULD BE TENANTED BY A WREN.] - - -Notes - - - - -May Seventh - -Perched upon a stump, fence post, or low limb of a tree, the Bob-white -sends forth his clear, far-reaching whistle "_Bob-white_." In the North -this bird is known to every boy as Bob-white, or quail, while in the -South he is called "partridge." The last two names are misnomers, for -we have no native quails or partridges in this country. - - -May Eighth - -The fronds of the sensitive fern resemble somewhat the leaves of the -oak-tree, and in some localities it is called the oak-leaf fern. It -is found in damp, shady spots, and is one of the common ferns of New -England. The delicate, light green leaves wither soon after being -picked, and it is the first of the ferns to fall under the touch of -Jack Frost. - - -May Ninth - -A low, squeaking sound made with the lips is understood by some birds -as a signal of distress. Orioles, wrens, catbirds, cuckoos, warblers, -vireos, robins, and many other birds may be called close to one, -particularly if the intruder is near their nest. You should learn this -trick, for often it is possible to coax a shy bird from a thicket in -order that it may be identified. - - -Notes - - - - -May Tenth - -In summer the most common of our Northern wood warblers, yet one of -the most difficult to see, on account of its liking for the tops of -the tall trees, is the black-throated green warbler. Its song is a -cheerful, interrogative, "_Will you co-ome, will you co-ome, will -you?_" (Wright), or "a droning zee, zee, ze-ee, zee." (Chapman and -Reed.) - - -May Eleventh - -Why is it that the usually frisky and noisy red squirrels have become -so quiet? If you could look into the nest of dried grass and bark, -in a hollow tree-trunk, or a deserted woodpecker's nest, you would -understand their reason for not wishing to make their presence known. -Keep close watch of the opening, and some day you will see several -little heads appear, and in a few days a family of squirrels will be -scrambling about the trees. Pretty and graceful as these squirrels are, -they do great damage by destroying the eggs and young of birds. - - -May Twelfth - -Wintering south of Central America, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, -should now appear in the vicinity of Albany. "A weird rhythm" is the -expression sometimes used to describe the song of this bird. Weird it -certainly is, and beautiful, as well, coming from the depths of some -sombre wood, growing more sombre still as the night falls. - - -Notes - - - - -May Thirteenth - -The wood thrush is much larger than the veery, and easily distinguished -from the six other species of true thrushes of North America, by the -_large black spots on the breast, and the bright cinnamon head_. As -you listened for the veery, you probably heard the wood thrush's pure -liquid song--so far away that you could not catch the low after-notes. -To me, the flute-like quality of the wood thrush's song makes it the -most enchanting of all bird music. - - -May Fourteenth - -At intervals during the day, a distinct booming sound is heard coming -from the forests. At first the beats are slow and measured, but as -they are repeated the time quickens, until they finally blend, and -then gradually die away. This is the "drumming" of the ruffed grouse, -produced by the cock bird beating with his wings against the sides of -his body. At this time of the year it is his love song, but you can -hear it at other seasons as well. - - -May Fifteenth - -Visit again the locality where a week ago you heard so many toads, and -what do you find? Long strings of gelatine-covered specks strewn on the -bottom of the pond. These black spots are the eggs of the toad, and the -gelatine is put around them to protect them and to furnish the first -meal for the young polywogs. - - -Notes - - - - -May Sixteenth - -To find a hummingbird's nest, snugly saddled on a branch of a maple -or apple tree, ten feet or more above the ground, requires patience -and keen eyesight. Unless you have seen one, you almost surely would -mistake it for a bunch of lichens. It is a neat little structure of -downy material covered with bits of lichens, fastened with spider and -caterpillar webs. - - -May Seventeenth - -It would interest you to visit a zoological park to -study the growing antlers of a deer or an elk. A pair of black antlers, -"in the velvet," as the hunters call it, have taken the place of the -bony-colored ones shed in March. Just now they are somewhat flexible, -and feverishly hot from the steady flow of blood that feeds them. If -they are injured at this time, the owner might bleed to death. - - -May Eighteenth - -"_Caw, caw, caw, ka, ka, ka, ka-k-k-k-r-r-r-r_." It sounds as though a -crow were being strangled. Looking in that direction you see a large -black bird fly from the woods to a meadow. After filling her beak with -food she returns. No sooner is she within sight of the young crows, -than they flap their wings, open their mouths and _caw_ until the -stifled, guttural sounds tell you that the morsel is being swallowed. - - -Notes - - - - -May Nineteenth - -When perched or flying the bobolink sends forth his jolly song in such -a flood of ecstasy that you would scarcely be surprised to see him -suddenly explode and vanish in a cloud of feathers. Would that we could -overlook the damage he does to Southern rice crops. - - -May Twentieth - -Before now you have noticed the dainty little -Jack-in-the-pulpit in the damp, shady woods and marshes. Would you -suppose that this innocent looking plant is really an insect trap? The -thick fleshy "corm" when boiled is quite palatable, but who would think -so after digging it from the ground, cutting into it, and feeling the -sharp prickly sensation it gives when touched with the tongue? - - -May Twenty-first - -The song of the brown thrasher can easily be mistaken for that of a -catbird, particularly as both birds inhabit roadways, thickets, and -open brush lots. The male, while singing to his mate, nearly always -perches _in the top_ of a tall bush or tree. His song is a disconnected -combination of pleasant musical tones, which might be arranged so as to -sound thrush-like in effect, but they are usually uttered in pairs or -trios, rather than in the modulated phrase of the hermit or the wood -thrush. - -[Illustration: Photograph by J. Alden Loring. - -MALE BOBOLINK IN SUMMER PLUMAGE.] - - -Notes - - - - -May Twenty-second - -Look intently at the bottom of shallow streams or ponds and you will -see what appear to be small twigs and sandy lumps moving about like -snails. These are the larvę of the caddis fly. Pick up one and poke the -creature with a straw. You now discover that it lives in a case made of -gravel, or sand, or tiny shells, or pieces of bark, all glued together -in a perfect mask. - - -May Twenty-third - -Keep watch of any brown bird about the size and shape of a female -English sparrow, that you see hopping about the trees and bushes, -peeping under bridges, and looking into hollow limbs of trees. She is -a cowbird, or cow bunting, looking for the nest of another bird who is -away for the moment. When she finds one, she will slip into it and drop -one of her eggs, which will be hatched and the birdling reared by the -foster mother, unless she can manage to get rid of it. - - -May Twenty-fourth - -The Greeks were persistent in their belief that the harmless red, or -fire salamander, found only in damp and shady places, was insensible -to heat. In reality the reverse is true. Its delicate skin cannot even -withstand the sun's rays. During sunny days it hides under leaves and -logs, coming forth only after storms, or at night. - - -Notes - - - - -May Twenty-fifth - -If there are currant or gooseberry bushes about your grounds, you -must know the yellow warbler, or summer yellowbird. He is the little -chap, almost pure yellow, who hunts carefully under each leaf for the -caterpillars that attack the bushes. The female lacks the reddish -streaks on the under parts, and her crown is not as bright as that of -the male. Do not confuse this bird with the male American goldfinch, -which just now has a yellow body, but black crown, wings, and tail. - - -May Twenty-sixth - -Quite unlike the strings of beady eggs of the toad, the eggs of the -frogs are attached in a bulky mass to sticks or to the limbs of -aquatic plants in sluggish or stagnant water. But there is the same -gelatine-like casing around each black egg. - - -May Twenty-seventh - -In the Northern States, where he nests, the redstart is often seen -in the shade-trees along our streets, as well as in the groves and -forests. "'_Ching, ching, chee; ser-wee, swee, swee-e-s_' he sings, and -with wings and tail outspread whirls about, dancing from limb to limb, -darts upward, floats downward, blows hither and thither like a leaf in -the breeze." (Chapman.) - - -Notes - - - - -May Twenty-eighth - -In the evening you often see a chimney swift (it is not a _swallow_) -flying back and forth over dead tree-tops. Each time it pauses as -though about to alight, but after what seems to be a momentary -hesitation, it passes on. With a field-glass you might detect it -snapping off the twigs and carrying them into an unused chimney, where -it fastens them to the bricks with a glutinous saliva. One after -another the twigs are glued together until a bracket-like basket is -made, and in this the four white eggs are laid. - - -May Twenty-ninth - -It is now time to look in the meadows for the dainty blue-eyed grass, -or blue star; in the marshes for the purple or water avens, and the -white hellebore, or Indian poke; and in the damp shady woods for the -blossoming mandrake, or Mayapple. - - -May Thirtieth - -Judging from the name, one might expect to find the pewee, or wood -pewee, in the woods only, but his high plaintive "_P-e-w-e-e, -p-e-w-e-e_," first rising, then falling, coming from the tops of the -village shade-trees, is one of the last notes heard at the close of the -day. Short as the song is, he frequently sings but half of it. - - -Notes - - - - -May Thirty-first - -Birds are often great sufferers from heat. The open bill, drooping -wings, and panting body, all testify to this fact. A bird sitting on -an unshaded nest during a hot day is an object for our pity. Fill -flower-pot saucers with fresh water, and place them in depressions -about the grounds. The birds will get great relief from these drinking -and bathing dishes, and your opportunity for observation will be -increased. - - -Notes - - - - - - -=June= - - -June First - -One night last summer, a moth laid a circular cluster of eggs at the -end of a limb. Not many days ago the eggs hatched and the caterpillars -have begun to spin a silk tent in the crotch of several branches. Every -time these tent caterpillars (for that is their name) go out to feed -upon the leaves, they spin a thread by which they find their way home. -After they have eaten their fill, they will drop to the ground to seek -a hiding-place and there turn into moths. - - -June Second - -The fertile fronds of the cinnamon fern break ground before the -sterile ones come up. They _appear_ to shoot from the centre of the -crown-shaped cluster, and are light cinnamon color when mature. By the -last of June the fertile fronds have withered, leaving only the sterile -ones which the amateur is quite sure to confuse with the interrupted -fern. - - -June Third - -While driving in the country your attention is often drawn to the -swallows that are flying about the barns. Two species are common, one -has _two long tail feathers that fork_. This is the _barn swallow_, and -his mate builds her nest _inside_ the barn, _on a rafter_ or _against -the planking_. It is always _open on top_ and lined with soft material. - - -[Illustration: BARN SWALLOW.] - - -Notes - - - - -June Fourth - -The eave swallow _lacks the forked tail_, and the rump is -cinnamon-buff. Usually the female builds her globular shaped mud nest -_under the eaves_ of an unpainted barn. Hundreds of mud pellets are -neatly welded together and an opening is left in the front. As these -swallows also build against cliffs, they are known as cliff swallows in -some localities. - - -June Fifth - -The nesting season is now at its height, and you will soon see young -birds about the grounds. The old birds may be away looking for food. -Let us remember that it is better to let Nature work out her own -problems. Instead of catching the birdlings and forcing them to eat -unnatural food (only to find them dead a few hours later), put them -back into the nest when it is possible, or if they are strong enough, -toss them into the air and let them flutter to the branches of a tree -beyond the reach of cats. - - -June Sixth - -This is about the time that turtles hunt for a sandy bank in which to -make a depression where they may deposit their eggs--that look so much -like ping-pong balls. The eggs are covered with sand and left for the -sun to hatch. The young dig through the shallow covering and take to -the water. - - -Notes - - - - -June Seventh - -If you wish to see one of the most gorgeous of wood birds, the scarlet -tanager, you must find him now, for, after the nesting season, he loses -his black wings and tail and bright red dress, and dons the sober -green hue of his mate. You will find him living in the maple groves, -and the heavy forests of maple, oak, beech, and chestnut. His song, -though not so loud as either, resembles both that of the robin and the -rose-breasted grosbeak. - - -June Eighth - -In the low-lying meadows, and in the marshes, the towering stems of -the blue flag, or blue iris, have already blossomed. Nature has so -constructed this handsome flower, that were it not for the visits of -bees, and other insects, its seeds would remain unfertilized. - - -June Ninth - -The orchard oriole is far from common north of the States parallel with -southern New York. It migrates to Central America in winter, as does -its cousin, the Baltimore oriole, who is named for Lord Baltimore. It -lives in orchards, and you should look in apple and pear trees for its -graceful pendent nest, built of the stems and blades of grass neatly -woven together, like the nest of a weaver bird. - - -Notes - - - - -June Tenth - -When by pure strategy you have outwitted a pair of bobolinks, and have -succeeded in finding their nest, you have indeed achieved a triumph. -To be successful, take your field-glasses, and secrete yourself near a -meadow where you can watch a pair of bobolinks without being seen. Wait -until one or both birds have made repeated trips to a certain spot, -then with eyes riveted on the place, hurry forward, and as the bird -rises, drop your hat on the spot and search carefully about it until -the nest is found. - - -June Eleventh - -The robin, song sparrow, vesper sparrow, chipping sparrow, phoebe, -and house wren by this time have their first fledglings out of the -nest. They usually raise two, and sometimes three broods in a season. -While the father bird is busy caring for the youngsters, the mother is -building another nest or laying a second set of eggs. - - -June Twelfth - -In damp low-lying fields at this season, beds of bog cotton decorate -the landscape. Its silken tassels sway gracefully in the breeze, and at -a distance one could easily mistake them for true flowers. - - -Notes - - - - -June Thirteenth - -Although the meadow lark and the flicker are about the same size, and -each has a black patch on its breast, they need never be confused. -The flight, as well as the difference in color, should help in their -identification. The flicker's flight is undulating; while the meadow -lark flies steadily, and the wings move rapidly between short periods -of sailing. Again, the meadow lark's _outer tail feathers_ are white, -while the flicker's _rump_ is white, both of which can be seen when the -birds fly. - - -June Fourteenth - -Visit the pool or waterway where you discovered the toad's eggs and -you will find that they have hatched. The little black polliwogs, or -tadpoles, have eaten their way out of the gelatine prison and are now -schooled at the edge of the water. They subsist upon the decaying -vegetation and minute animal life. - - -June Fifteenth - -Our lawns are now the feeding ground of the first brood of young -robins, great overgrown, gawky, mottle-breasted children, nearly as -large as their parents. What a ludicrous sight it is to see them -following their mother about, flapping their wings, opening their -mouths, and begging for food every time she approaches them. - - -Notes - - - - -June Sixteenth - -Leopard frogs and tiger frogs are often found in the tall grass a -mile or so from water. Food is abundant and more easily caught in -such places than along the streams. By the waterways the frog waits -patiently for insects to pass, then springs at one with open mouth and, -whether successful or not, he falls back into the water, swims ashore, -and awaits another morsel. - - -June Seventeenth - -A family of six young belted kingfishers perching on the edge of a -bank, preparatory to taking their first flight, is a laughable sight -indeed. Their immense helmet-like crests, their short legs, and their -steel blue backs, give them a "cocky" appearance, and remind one of a -squad of policemen on dress parade. - - -June Eighteenth - -If the bird observer upon his first birding trip could be introduced to -the song of a winter wren, there is scarcely a doubt that he would be a -bird enthusiast from that minute. Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey has come -nearest to describing its song; "Full of trills, runs, and grace notes, -it was a tinkling, rippling roundelay." - -[Illustration: BELTED KINGFISHER.] - - -Notes - - - - -June Nineteenth - -Throughout the mountainous region of the eastern States, the mountain -laurel (spoonwood, broad-leafed kalmia, or calico bush) is in full -blossom. It is a beautiful, sweet-scented, flowering shrub, and the -bushes are ruthlessly destroyed by those who have no regard for -Nature's future beauty. - - -June Twentieth - -The habits of wasps and bees differ widely. Both orders are very -intelligent. Wild bees live in hollow trees and make their cells of -wax. At first they feed their young on "bee bread," which is made from -the pollen of flowers, and afterward on honey. Wasps subsist on the -juices of fruits, and insects; but they will eat meat. They make their -homes in burrows in the ground, or in wood, or they construct nests of -paper or mud. - - -June Twenty-first - -The Maryland yellow-throat is more like a wren than a warbler, but it -belongs to the warbler family. As you pass a thicket or a swamp, he -shouts "_This way sir, this way sir, this way sir_;" or "_Witchety, -witchety, witchety_;" and you might watch for hours without seeing him. -But by placing the back of your hand against your lips, and making a -low squeaking noise, you are likely to bring him to the top of a reed -or bush. - - -Notes - - - - - -June Twenty-second - -It is quite easy to tell the difference between butterflies and moths. -Remember, first of all, that butterflies are _sunlight_ loving insects, -while moths stir about only on cloudy days, or after dark. Butterflies, -when at rest, hold their wings together over their backs; moths carry -them open and parallel with the body. Again, the antennę, or "feelers," -of butterflies are quite club-like in shape, while the "feelers" of -moths inhabiting the United States and Canada resemble tiny feathers. - - -June Twenty-third - -If you are so fortunate as to have a pair of catbirds nesting in a -_small tree_ or a _bush_ near your house, you have learned that the -male is an accomplished songster. Have you ever noticed the father -bird, when perched where he can overlook the nest, gently quivering his -wings as though delighted at the thought of a nest full of little ones? -After the eggs have hatched, these periods of delight are more frequent. - - -June Twenty-fourth - -The bracket fungi that are attached to the trunks of forest and shade -trees live to an old age. Some have been found over seventy-five years -old. They are the fruit of the fungous growth that is living on and -destroying the tissues of the tree. The puff-balls are edible fungi -before they have dried. - -[Illustration: CATBIRD] - - -Notes - - - - -June Twenty-fifth - -Some one has rightly called young Baltimore orioles the "cry-babies of -the bird world." The approach of their mother with food is the sign for -a general outcry, and even during her absence, they whimper softly, -like disconsolate children. For the next ten days you may hear them in -the shade-trees about our streets, particularly after a rain. - - -June Twenty-sixth - -The long-billed marsh wren is found in tall, rank vegetation bordering -rivers and lakes, and in the marshes at tide water. It nests in -colonies in the rushes, and the male will build several other nests -near the one his mate occupies. "While singing it is usually seen -clinging to the side of some tall swaying reed, with its tail bent -forward so far as almost to touch its head." (Chapman.) - - -June Twenty-seventh - -The kingbird, because of its pugnacity, is considered a ruler of other -birds, although it might rightly be called a watchman and protector of -the feathered world. It is a sober colored bird, save for the concealed -patch of orange on the crown of the head. It is always the first bird -to detect the presence of a feathered enemy. With loud, defiant cries -it sallies forth to attack, and is not content until it has driven the -intruder beyond range. - - -Notes - - - - -June Twenty-eighth - -The spittle insect, or spittle bug, _not a snake, frog, or -grasshopper_, is responsible for that bit of froth found on the stems -of weeds and grasses. Push away the foam, and you will find a small, -helpless insect apparently half-drowned. The liquid is a secretion from -the body, whipped into froth by the creature's struggles. These are -the larvę of the insects which, when full grown, fly up before you in -myriads as you walk through the fields. - - -June Twenty-ninth - -The swallows are noted for their strong and graceful flight. Watch one, -as he sails gracefully through the air, now swerving to the right, now -to the left, and then dipping down to take a drink or to pick an insect -from the water, scarcely making a ripple. The barn and eave swallows -feed their young in mid air. It would appear that they are fighting, -when the food is being passed from the old bird to the youngster. - - -June Thirtieth - -A common bird along the country roads is the indigo bunting, or indigo -bird. He perches on a wire, or on the topmost limb of a tall bush or -tree, and sings a song quite sparrow-like in quality. As you approach, -he drops gracefully into the foliage. His nest probably contains young -birds. - - -Notes - - - - - - -=July= - - -July First - -After a shower in early July, myriads of tiny toads swarm on the lawns -and walks. They have just abandoned their aquatic life as tadpoles, and -have taken up a terrestrial mode of living. Their skin is so delicate -that sunlight kills them, so they remain hidden until clouds have -obscured the sun. - - -July Second - -"_Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will._" From dusk until -daylight you hear its mournful song. The whip-poor-will spends the -day in the forest. At twilight it comes forth to catch its insect -prey, which it captures while flying. It makes hardly any pretence at -building a nest, but lays its eggs upon the ground among the leaves, -and so closely do both bird and eggs resemble their surroundings, that -one might easily step on them unknowingly. - - -July Third - -Attached to stones, stumps, and tree trunks along the fresh water ponds -and streams, are the cast-off jackets of the larval dragon-fly. These -larvę remain in the water for more than a year, feeding upon the larvę -of other insects. Finally they leave the water, and a long rent is seen -on the creature's back, and soon the dragon-fly appear. - - -Notes - - - - -July Fourth - -Similar to the whip-poor-will in shape, the nighthawk, or bullbat, -differs from it in song and habits,--though, oddly enough, it perches -lengthwise on a limb as the whip-poor-will does. _It is neither a hawk -nor a bat_, for it is classed close to the chimney swift, and like the -swift, it is of inestimable value as an insect destroyer. It is often -seen in the daytime and the large white spot on the under side of each -wing helps to identify it. - - -July Fifth - -The horned-tails are the large wasp-like insects that we see about -the elm, oak, and maple trees. They bore holes a quarter of an inch -in diameter in the tree trunk, and in these holes the eggs are -laid. Sometimes they get their augers wedged and are unable to free -themselves. The horned-tails are destructive, and should be killed -whenever found. They sometimes remain in the pupa state so long, that -the tree may be cut down and the wood made into furniture before they -finally emerge. - - -July Sixth - -Before now you have probably seen the ruby-throated hummingbird poising -over the flowers in your garden. Sometimes he goes through strange -antics. Mounting ten or fifteen feet into the air, he swoops down in a -graceful curve, then turns and repeats the performance time and time -again. - - -Notes - - - - -July Seventh - -In travelling from burrow to burrow, woodchucks often make roads a -quarter of a mile long through the grass. Occasionally you will get -a long distance view of the "'chuck" as he scuds to the mouth of his -hole, and rising on his hind legs, stands erect and watches you, then -bobs out of sight. He is the most alert and keen-eyed of all American -rodents, and his presence in such numbers, despite the war waged upon -him, proves his ability to take care of himself. - - -July Eighth - -"The interrupted fern is less a lover of moisture than its kindred. The -fertile fronds are usually taller than the sterile leaves, and they -remain green all summer. The spore-bearing organs are produced near the -middle of the frond" (Clute), thus "interrupting" the pinnę growth of -the leaf. It is also called Clayton's fern. - - -July Ninth - -The hind feet of a honey bee are provided with stiff fringes. With -these the bee scrapes from the rings of its body the oily substance -that is exuded, and passes it to the mouth. After chewing and working -it between the mandibles (for the bee has mouth-parts for biting, and -a proboscis for sucking the juices and honey from plants), it becomes -soft and is then built into comb. - -[Illustration: Photograph by Silas Lottridge. - -WOODCHUCK.] - - -Notes - - - - -July Tenth - -From the depths of the forest and thick underbrush, you will hear the -"_teacher_, teacher, TEACHER, _TEACHER_" (in a swift crescendo) of the -golden-crowned thrush, ovenbird, or teacher-bird. It is a note of such -volume that, instead of a bird the size of a robin, you are surprised -to find that the songster is no larger than a song sparrow. He is -called ovenbird because his nest is covered over and resembles somewhat -an old-fashion bake oven. - -July Eleventh - -Some "glow-worms" are female fire-flies or lightning-bugs. There are at -least a score of common insects that are luminous, besides some rare -ones. With some species of fire-flies (our common fire-fly included) -both sexes are winged, while with others the females lack wings and are -known as "glow-worms." - - -July Twelfth - -With most birds, the female only builds the nest and incubates the -eggs, after which both birds usually assist in bringing up the young. -Some of the exceptions to this rule are the male Bob-white, house wren, -catbird, blue-headed, yellow-throated, and warbling vireos, and the -barn and eave swallows, each of which does his share of the domestic -duties and takes care of the young birds. - - -Notes - - - - -July Thirteenth - -Through ignorance we often persecute our best friends. The ichneumon -fly is a parasitic insect that all should know. It lays its eggs in the -larvę of many injurious insects, and its larvę feeds upon them. A great -enemy to the horned-tails, it is invariably misjudged and killed, when -discovered with its ovipositor inserted in one of the borings of the -horned-tail fly. - - -July Fourteenth - -How beautiful is the awakening of the evening primrose. No sooner is -the sun beneath the horizon, than the calyx begins to swell and out -springs a yellow petal. Then another and another appear before your -very eyes, until the petals look like the blades of a screw propeller. -The blossom is often less then five minutes in opening, and is -immediately surrounded by tiny black insects. - - -July Fifteenth - -Young spotted sandpipers, or "tip-ups," are able to leave their nest -(in a slight depression in the ground) soon after the eggs hatch. It is -indeed interesting to watch a family of these animated woolly balls on -stilts, running along the shore with their parents. When pursued they -sometimes will take to the water and cling to the vegetation on the -bottom. - - -Notes - - - - -July Sixteenth - -The perfectly round white heads of the button bush are now conspicuous -along the streams, bogs, and lakes. The long slender styles project -from all sides like the quills on the back of a frightened hedgehog. -Although this shrub is a lover of water and damp soil, "it is sometimes -found on elevated ground, where it serves, it is claimed, as a good -sign of the presence of a hidden spring. The inner bark is sometimes -used as a cough medicine." (Newhall.) - - -July Seventeenth - -During the haying season the birds hold high carnival. Robins, song -and chipping sparrows, orioles, bobolinks, goldfinches, meadow larks, -and flickers, all feed upon the insects that are now so easy to catch. -A seat in the shade overlooking a new mown field is at present a good -point from which to study birds. - - -July Eighteenth - -Huckleberries, red raspberries, and shad or service-berries, when ripe, -are eaten by birds, squirrels, and chipmunks during the day, while -at night various species of mice harvest them. The choke-cherries, -elderberries, and blackberries are beginning to lose their bright red -color, and they, too, will soon be feeding Nature's people. - -[Illustration: SONG SPARROW.] - - -Notes - - - - -July Nineteenth - -The pickerel-weed and arrow-head are in full bloom side by side at the -water's edge of stream and pond. The blue flower-heads of the former -contrast strikingly with the round white blossoms of the latter. - - -July Twentieth - -The female flies and mosquitoes are the ones that bite, and it is the -female and the worker bees and wasps that sting. The males of the two -former groups are not provided with blood-sucking mouth parts, and the -males of the bees and wasps lack stingers. When a less offensive remedy -is not at hand, insect tormentors may be kept away by rubbing a piece -of fat pork or bacon on one's face and hands. - - -July Twenty-first - -The leaf-cutting bees resemble the bumblebees. Examine the bushes and -trees and you will find circular holes in the leaves from which pieces -have been cut. Hundreds of these tiny bits are used to line the rows of -cells that the bees make in the ground or in wood. The cells are filled -with pollen for the young bees to feed upon when they emerge from the -eggs that are laid on top of the supply of "bee-bread." - - -Notes - - - - -July Twenty-second - -Do you miss the rollicking song of the bobolink? Have you seen him -recently in his spring dress of black and white? No; he has sung -himself silent, and, as though in hope of escaping the guns of the -Southern rice planters, whose crops he will plunder on his way South, -he has disguised himself in a plumage of buff color, streaked with -brown, quite like that of his mate. - - -July Twenty-third - -"The summer is nearly over when the Joe-Pie weed (purple boneset) -begins to tinge with 'crushed raspberry' the lowlands through which -we pass. 'Joe Pie' is supposed to have been the name of an Indian who -cured typhus fever in New England by means of this plant." (Dana.) - - -July Twenty-fourth - -The ostrich fern is so named because the dark green fertile fronds -which appear about this time, and form the centre of the vase-shaped -leaf-cluster, resemble ostrich plumes. Mr. Clute says: "It is at its -best in wet, sandy soil of a half-shaded island or river shore. Its -development is rapid, often lengthening six inches in a day." - - -Notes - - - - -July Twenty-fifth - -A cuckoo pleading for her nest of young would soften a heart of stone. -With wings and tail spread, she flutters almost into one's face, -uttering pathetic and heartrending cries that beseech you not to touch -her treasures. In pinfeathers the young of this bird, as well as those -of the chimney swift, resemble baby European hedgehogs. - - -July Twenty-sixth - -Trees and flowers must sleep as well as animals. The dandelion closes -its petals late in the afternoon, and as night approaches the water -lily folds up tightly. Although summer in the North is shorter than the -summer in the South, the days are several hours longer, so vegetation -is growing here while their trees and flowers are sleeping. This -provision of Nature gives the northern Indian vegetables and flowers in -a country which we often call "a land of snow and ice." - - -July Twenty-seventh - -The common milkweed is another one of Nature's fly traps. Examine some -of the fragrant flower heads and you are almost sure to find a captive -held firmly by the foot. "The silky hairs of the seed-pods have been -used for stuffing pillows and mattresses, and can be mixed with flax or -wool and woven to advantage." (Dana.) - -[Illustration: YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.] - - -Notes - - - - -July Twenty-eighth - -One of the simplest duties of a spider's life, is the stretching of -a parallel web. Tiring of her location, the spider begins to spin -a thread, or tangle a mass of threads together, until they are of -sufficient buoyancy to support her weight. Then she fastens one end of -a strand to the point she is about to leave, and clinging to the under -side of her improvised balloon, floats away with the breeze. She pays -out silk until the thread parts, or she finally comes in contact with -some object, and so the cable is laid. - - -July Twenty-ninth - -Young song sparrows, chipping sparrows, field sparrows, cedar-birds, -bluebirds, and robins are streaked and mottled on the breast during the -first few months of their lives. Another noticeable fact is that young -birds fluff their feathers, and as the old birds are often thin from -care and worry, the youngsters seem larger than their parents. - - -July Thirtieth - -The dobson, or "hellgrammite," is honored with about sixteen other -names. Its chalky-white mass of eggs about the size of a dime are now -common objects along inland waterways. As soon as the eggs hatch, the -young dobsons drop into the water and hide beneath stones for three -years, feeding on aquatic larvę of insects. - - -Notes - - - - -July Thirty-first - -The river crab, or crawfish, has five pairs of walking legs and six -pairs of swimming legs. If a leg is lost, another will grow within a -year. The female lays a large number of eggs, which are attached to the -fringes of her body. These crabs have two pairs of antenna-like organs, -one to feel with and the other for hearing. The compound eyes are set -on two pegs that can be protruded or depressed at will. - - -Notes - - - - - - -=August= - - -August First - -The mid-air gyrations of the kingbird are not very often seen. Flying -some distance into the air, the bird utters a series of indescribable -notes, and as he does so, he dodges, twists, and zigzags through the -air as though trying to escape the talons of a hawk. After repeating -the performance several times, he sails gracefully to a perch on a -telegraph wire or the topmost twig of a tree or a bush. - - -August Second - -During the summer, gray squirrels leave their winter homes, in hollow -tree trunks and limbs, and construct summer nests. These nests are -simply balls of leaves placed in oak, chestnut, maple, or beech trees. -A squirrel will build several nests close to one another, from which he -never wanders far. - - -August Third - -The _aphides_, or plant lice, are known to every horticulturist and -lover of flowers. They cluster on the under side of leaves, causing -them to curl and wither. There are a great many species, and they are -the insects that the ants care for. They are sometimes called "ant's -cows," because they secrete a sweet substance of which ants are very -fond. - -[Illustration: KINGBIRD.] - - -Notes - - - - -August Fourth - -The clusters of white berries of the red-twigged osier, or kinnikinnik, -so common in damp localities, will turn blue later on. The northern -Indians remove the thin outer bark from the twigs, and after scraping -off the inner green bark with a knife, they dry it over a camp fire, -powder it between the palms of the hand, then mix it with tobacco and -smoke it. - - -August Fifth - -The ant lion is the peculiar larva of a fly. It forms small, -funnel-like depressions in the dry sand or dust, throwing out the -grains with its broad, flat head. You probably have seen an unfortunate -ant struggling desperately to gain the top of the death pit. Gradually -the drifting sand carries it nearer and nearer the jaws of the ant -lion, waiting at the bottom, and finally it falls a victim to Nature's -ingenuity. - - -August Sixth - -The moist and shaded highland where the thorn apple, willow, -red-twigged osier, and second-growth maples thrive, is the haunt of the -mild and timid woodcock. Tracks in the mud may be seen where one has -been walking about, and here and there clusters of holes smaller than -a lead pencil tell that it has been "boring" for worms with its long, -sensitive bill. - - -Notes - - - - -August Seventh - -The harvest fly (cicada, "lyre-man," or dog-day locust) is really not -a _locust_. Unlike its relative, the seventeen-year locust, which for -seventeen years remains in the ground, a larva, it produces young -yearly. In the woods and villages, its monotonous buzzing, sizzling -note is heard, and is taken as a sign of warm weather. - - -August Eighth - -As though ashamed of man's carelessness. Nature covers the fire-swept -forests with beds of purple flowers, called "fireweed." Sometimes -acre after acre of these tall flowers sway back and forth beneath the -charred or naked tree trunks, a pleasant relief to the eye of the -traveller. - - -August Ninth - -Look carefully among the leafy boughs and you may find the home of a -leaf-rolling caterpillar. "The little creature begins by spinning a -thread and fastening one end to some fixed point, and then attaches the -other end to the loose leaf. By means of powerful, muscular movements -of the front part of the body, ... it hauls away on the ropes, slowly -pulling it to the desired point, where it is held in place by a new and -stronger thread. In this tent it resides, eating out the interior, and -adding new stores of food, by sewing new leaves to the outside of the -tent." (Packard.) - - -Notes - - - - -August Tenth - -Families of barn and eave swallows now begin to congregate and to act -restlessly. Flocks of red-shouldered blackbirds, mixed with purple and -bronzed grackles, feed silently in the willows along the waterways, or -are flushed from the grain fields. In the woods the chickadees, vireos, -and warblers of many kinds keep company while they search among the -trees for food. These are the first real signs to make the bird lover -feel his feathered friends are soon to leave him. - - -August Eleventh - -The muskrats now begin to build their winter houses, mounds of leaves, -sticks, reeds, and aquatic vegetation, brought from the borders or the -bottom of the ponds and streams, and piled from two to four feet above -the surface of the water. The entrance to the _one large chamber_ is -always below the surface, and in this snug room a family of muskrats -will spend the winter, but they _do not hibernate_. - - -August Twelfth - -The Indian pipe, or corpse flower, is found only in heavily shaded -woods. Like the fungi, to which it is kin, it subsists on decaying -vegetation. Its ashy color and queer, fantastic shape make you hesitate -to pick it, and after you have overcome the feeling and snipped off the -stem, you find that it soon turns black, and is useless as an ornament. - - -[Illustration: RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS.] - - -Notes - - - - -August Thirteenth - -Queen Anne's lace, wild carrot, and bird's nest, are the names given to -the delicate, white lace-like flower which grows in such abundance in -the open countries throughout the eastern States. Several flat-topped -flower heads are arranged on stems along the stalk, and after the -flowers have bloomed the stems of each head contract and form a sort of -basket about the size of a hummingbird's nest. - - -August Fourteenth - -"Now comes the season of our insect instrumentalists.... I have called -them instrumentalists, for there are no insects, to my knowledge, that -make any sounds with their mouths; they seem to be entirely void of -vocal organs.... The song is produced by the rubbing or beating of some -portion of the body against some other portion, these portions being so -modified as to produce the rasping sound." (Brownell.) - - -August Fifteenth - -The small-mouthed black bass is one of the gamiest of our fresh water -fish. "The eggs are bound together in bands of ribbons by an adhesive -substance. They adhere to stones on which they are deposited. The -small-mouthed black bass ceases to take food on the approach of cold -weather, and remains nearly dormant throughout the winter." (Bean.) - - -Notes - - - - -August Sixteenth - -Often spending the entire winter in southern New York and New England, -the American goldfinch and the cedar waxwing are the latest birds to -begin nest building. The young have just now left the nest, while the -other birds have long since ceased their domestic duties, and the -white-breasted swallow will soon start on his southward journey. - - -August Seventeenth - -If you will visit the zoological park at this time, you will find that -since you last saw the buck deer, the antlers have hardened-like bone. -The velvet, too, is hanging from them in shreds, and the buck thrashes -his antlers against the bushes, and rubs them on the tree trunks, in an -effort to rid them of the velvet. Soon they will be in prime condition -for battle with his rivals or his enemies. - - -August Eighteenth - -Children believe that a hair from the tail or mane of a horse will -turn into a snake if left in water long enough. The so-called "hair -snake" lives in the bodies of insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, -and beetles. The eggs of the _worm_ are taken into the system when the -insect drinks. Once hatched, the worm gnaws at its victim's vitals -until the insect dies. They take to the water when full grown and lay -their eggs in a long chain. - -[Illustration: CEDAR WAXWING] - - -Notes - - - - -August Nineteenth - -There are more than eighty species of our national flower, the -golden-rod, in the United States. While a cluster of golden heads -swaying in the breeze is beautiful indeed, it is with regret that we -watch its ripening, for, like the harvesting of grain, and the flocking -of bluebirds, it tells us of the approaching autumn. - - -August Twentieth - -The female mosquito lays her eggs in a mass, that floats upon the -surface of the water. The larvę are the "wigglers" that swim about in a -jerky sort of way in the rain barrels or pools of stagnant water. They -float near the surface and breathe through a tube at the end of the -body. When ready to emerge from this larval stage, they crawl out on a -stick, stone, or bush, the skin on the back splits, and the mosquito -emerges. - - -August Twenty-first - -The narrow spear-pointed leaves of the walking fern cling to the -moss-covered rocks, and in graceful curves reach out until their tips -touch the ground and take root again. These fronds in turn take up -the march, and so they creep about the rocks wherever there is soil -sufficient for them to get a foothold. They are also reproduced by -spores in the regular fern-like way. - - -Notes - - - - -August Twenty-second - -The fresh-water clam furnishes us with a good quality of pearl, and -from the shells pearl buttons are made. Along the muddy bottom of our -inland lakes and rivers, you may see the clumsy writing in the mud -where they have crawled. During a clam's infancy it lives a parasitic -life, embedded in the body of a fish. It then emerges and drops to the -bottom of the lake or river, where it spends the remainder of its life. - - -August Twenty-third - -"Those horrid tomato worms are eating all my plants. They are -positively the most repulsive creatures I know." A few weeks later -a beautiful sphinx moth flutters into your chamber window. Do you -recognize it as your hated enemy? It is he,--a "wolf in sheep's -clothing." - - -August Twenty-fourth - -The cardinal flower, or red lobelia, lives in the marshes and along the -streams, where it often trespasses so near the brink, that a slight -freshet floods its roots. "We have no flower which can compare with -this in vivid coloring." (Dana.) In some localities it has been in -bloom for weeks. - - -Notes - - - - -August Twenty-fifth - -Some evening after a thunder-shower, take a light and stroll along the -garden path, or by the flower bed. Go slowly and step with caution, -and you will see large numbers of angle worms--"night walkers" the -fishermen call them--stretched out on the ground. Half of their length -is hidden in the hole, ready at the slightest jar or noise to pull the -remainder underground. - - -August Twenty-sixth - -Woodchucks, or "groundhogs," are very busy at this season of the year. -They work overtime even on moonlight nights, for they have a contract -with Nature to blanket themselves with layers of fat half an inch -thick. If the contract is not filled before winter sets in, death may -be the forfeit. Eat, eat, eat; they spend every minute digging up the -grass roots, and eating off the clover heads, and they often make -excursions into the farmer's garden. - - -August Twenty-seventh - -Butter-and-eggs prefers the unsheltered lands where the sun can beat -upon it. It came from Europe and "like nearly all common weeds this -plant has been utilized in various ways by the country people. It -yields what was considered at one time a valuable skin lotion, while -its juices mingled with milk constitutes a fly poison." (Dana.) - - -Notes - - - - -August Twenty-eighth - -Be sure to kill any bee-like insect that you see hovering about your -horse's fore legs, for it is a bot-fly. After the eggs have been -attached to the horse's leg-hairs, they hatch and the horse licks the -larvę and swallows them. Attaching themselves to the walls of the -stomach, they live there for some time, but finally pass through the -horse and fall to the ground, where they transform into bot-flies. - - -August Twenty-ninth - -The solitary sandpiper is one of the early migrating birds that is now -returning from its northern nesting grounds. It is always found near -water, singly or in twos and threes. It has a habit of holding its -wings over its head as it alights, showing conspicuously their dark -tips. Like all sandpipers, it is not supposed to perch in trees or -bushes; nevertheless it does so frequently when a person approaches its -young or its nest. - - -August Thirtieth - -Have you ever watched a spider making its web? The sticky fluid, which -becomes a silk strand upon coming in contact with the air, pours from -several holes, or spinnerets, at the end of the body. The threads are -guided by the feet, and when the spinnerets are held apart, several -strands are spun, but by contracting them one heavy rope is made. - - -Notes - - - - -August Thirty-first - -Most crickets die at the approach of winter, but some hibernate. It is -only the males that sing, and they do it by rubbing together the inner -edges of the outside wings. They live on the moisture from the roots of -various kinds of vegetables, and are not above eating insects. - - -Notes - - - - - - -=September= - - -September First - -In various localities the Oswego tea is known as "bee balm," "fragrant -balm," "Indian plume," and "mountain mint." "The bee balm especially -haunts those cool brooks, and its rounded flower-clusters touch with -warmth the shadows of the deep woods of midsummer. The Indians named -the flower, _o-gee-chee_, 'flaming flower,' and are said to have made a -tea-like decoction from the blossoms." (Dana.) - - -September Second - -Small mammals are abundant in the Adirondacks. Chipmunks and red -squirrels are very tame, and if one sits still in the woods they will -approach within a few feet. By watching at the base of logs and stumps, -you can often see a red-backed mouse or a long-tailed shrew. The latter -is the smallest of American mammals, its body being scarcely two inches -in length. - - -September Third - -Mr. Scudder says that katydids have a day and a night song. He has -watched one, and when a cloud obscured the sky, it, and all of those -within his hearing, stopped singing and began their night song, but as -soon as the sun came out, they again changed to their original song. - - -Notes - - - - -September Fourth - -What a fine time the robins, cedar-birds, catbirds, and flickers are -having in the choke-cherry bushes these days! Twenty or thirty of them -may fly from a bush of ripened fruit as you approach. The streaked and -speckled breasted young robins and cedar-birds are loath to leave their -feast. - - -September Fifth - -It is hard to believe that the yellow butterflies with the black tips -and spots on their wings, so common about moist spots in the road, were -once cabbage worms. Mr. Packard says that this species was introduced -from Europe to Quebec about 1857. It rapidly spread into New England -and has reached as far south as Washington, D. C. About Quebec it -annually destroys $250,000 worth of cabbages. - - -September Sixth - -The bottle, closed, or blind gentian loves the damp fields and somewhat -open road-sides. It resembles a cluster of bright blue buds about to -open, but they never do. Neltje Blanchan says that bumblebees have -hard work to rob it of its nectar and pollen. Climbing clumsily over -the corolla, it finds the space between the lips and forces its head -and trunk through the opening. Presently it backs out, and, with its -feet and velvety body covered with pollen, flies away to fertilize some -other gentian. - - -Notes - - - - -September Seventh - -Muskrats, like children, make "collections." A muskrat's "playhouse" -is usually placed on a partly submerged stump, log, boulder, or the -float of a boat-house. In some such place is piled all sorts of -rubbish,--sticks, stones, bones, iron, glass, clam shells, and what -not. Near by one may find a thick mat of aquatic grass, used by the -owner as a resting-place. When camped in the vicinity of a playhouse, -you will hear the clink of touching stones at night, and the splash of -water. - - -September Eighth - -Damp, shaded flats along streams or spring-holes, are where the -jewel-weed, or touch-me-not, clusters. The orange-colored blossoms have -gone to seed and hang in tiny pods upon the stems. Touch one, and if it -is ripe, it will burst with a suddenness that startles you. - - -September Ninth - -You must be unfamiliar with the country if you have never felt the -sting of the nettle. The rib of the nettle leaf is armed with tiny, -hollow spines, each of which is connected with a microscopic sack or -bulb filled with poison, called formic acid. When the skin is pierced -by the spines, the bulb is pressed, and the poison injected into the -wound. Every boy of outdoor life knows that mud will relieve the -irritation. - - -Notes - - - - -September Tenth - -The true locusts are the field insects commonly called "grasshoppers." -They belong to a class of insects whose metamorphosis is not -complete,--that is, they do not go through all of the several stages -of transformation. The young, on emerging from the ground where the -eggs were laid the summer previous, look like abnormal wingless -grasshoppers. Grasshoppers live but a single season. - - -September Eleventh - -The little green heron will steal cautiously along the water's edge, -with head drawn in, and beak pointed forward. Then he stops, and with a -sudden lunge catches a minnow or a polliwog in his bill, and swallows -it head foremost. When flushed, he laboriously wings his way across -the stream and, alighting in the shallow water or in a tree, flirts -his tail, stretches his long neck, and stands motionless a few minutes -before starting on another fishing trip. - - -September Twelfth - -At this season the banks of the rivers and streams shine with the -golden blossoms of the wild sunflower, artichoke, Canadian potato, or -earth apple. In late summer and early spring, freshets wash away the -earth, leaving the edible, tuberous roots exposed for the muskrats, -woodchucks, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits to feed upon. - - -Notes - - - - -September Thirteenth - -Patiently Madam Spider sits and holds the cords of her telegraph -system, waiting for some unfortunate to announce to her its capture. -When she receives this message, out she rushes, and while the victim -struggles she holds him with her legs, while other legs are busy -binding him with cords. - - -September Fourteenth - -The American goldfinch is very much in evidence these days. He sways -back and forth on the heads of the Canadian thistles, and clings to -the ripened sunflower heads, the fruit of which he is very fond. When -disturbed he flies away in graceful undulations, calling back to you, -"_Just-see-me-go; just-see-me-go; just-see-me-go._" - - -September Fifteenth - -When overburdened with honey and bee-bread, large numbers of honey bees -are drowned while attempting to cross wide stretches of water. Put your -hand in the water and let one crawl into the palm. It will not sting -so long as you do not squeeze or touch it. Note the two dots of golden -pollen adhering to the cups on the hind feet. Gradually the bee regains -strength and begins to dry itself. First fluttering its wings, then -combing its fuzzy head and trunk with its legs, finally it is off in -the direction of its hive. - - -Notes - - - - -September Sixteenth - -Clinging to the old stump fences, and covering the low bushes by the -roadside, the wild clematis, or traveller's joy, smiles at the wayfarer -and defies the efforts of the farmer to exterminate it. As the blossom -goes to seed, a charming, foamlike effect is produced by the appearance -of the many stamens and pistils. - - -September Seventeenth - -This week the rose-breasted grosbeak, kingbird, Baltimore oriole, -yellow warbler, ruby-throated hummingbird and yellow-breasted chat will -probably leave for the South. They all pass beyond the United States to -winter, and most of them go to Mexico, Central and South America. Good -luck to them on their long journey, and may they all live to return to -us again next summer. - - -September Eighteenth - -The dense forests strewn with moss-covered logs, stumps, and boulders, -and the rocky, fern-clad borders of woodland rivulets, are the home of -the winter wren. Quite like a mouse in actions, he works his way over -and under the fallen trees; in and out of the rocky crevices, until you -quite despair of guessing where he will next appear. - -[Illustration: YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.] - - -Notes - - - - -September Nineteenth - -The next time you go into the country, catch two or three locusts -(grasshoppers), and examine their bodies for locust mites. They are -tiny red mites usually clustered at the base of the grasshopper's -wings, and are easily found if you raise the wings slightly and look -under them. Often they are found on house flies. - - -September Twentieth - -Nature employs many ingenious devices for distributing the seed of her -plants. The downy seeds of the Canadian thistle, dandelion, prickly -lettuce, dogbane, and milkweed are cast over the land by the winds. -The common tare, the jewel-weed, and the wood sorrel have devices for -throwing their seeds. Seeds of many species of plants are contained in -burrs or "stickers" that adhere to the coats of animals and are carried -miles before they are finally planted. - - -September Twenty-first - -A belted kingfisher, when suddenly seized with a fit of playfulness, -will skim over the water and plunge beneath the surface, sending the -spray in all directions. Emerging, he continues his flight, repeating -the performance every fifty feet or more, at the same time "rattling" -loudly as though in great ecstasy. - - -Notes - - - - -September Twenty-second - -The thick, chunky purple heads of the Canadian thistle always attract -the bumblebees, and you find them as eager for its nectar as they were -for the Joe-Pie weed a month or so ago. It is wonderful how much abuse -a bumblebee will stand before he loses his temper. He is much more -tractable than his cousin, the honey bee, or any of the wasps. - - -September Twenty-third - -Some animals lay by a supply of fat for winter, which they absorb while -resting in comparative quiet in their burrows. Others are endowed with -a hoarding instinct, so they gather and store nuts, grain, seeds, and -fruit to last them until spring, while the remainder are forced to live -upon the food that the season affords them,--a life of privation, in -many instances. - - -September Twenty-fourth - -The monarch butterfly is one of the common butterflies seen in early -fall. It is something of a wanderer, going North in the spring and -migrating South in the fall. Have you ever watched them floating -through the air, high above your head and tried to estimate how high -they were? - - -Notes - - - - -September Twenty-fifth - -Fishermen often find piles of clam shells heaped under the exposed -roots of trees or stumps, at or near the water's edge. This is the work -of muskrats. After carrying the clams from the bed of the stream, the -rats take them to the bank and leave them for the sun to open. Then -they eat the clams, after which the shells are disposed of in little -heaps. - - -September Twenty-sixth - -Next to the red-shouldered hawk, the red-tailed hawk is the most common -of the large hawks in Eastern North America. Although the farmers shoot -it on sight, and the barn-yard fowls hurry to shelter at its cries, it -is one of the farmer's best friends, because of the great number of -grasshoppers and mice it captures. Its cry is a loud, high-pitched, -"long-drawn out squealing whistle which to my ear suggests the sound of -escaping steam." (Chapman.) - - -September Twenty-seventh - -You hear the mitchella-vine spoken of as "partridge berry," -"twin-berry," and "squaw-berry." It is a small-leaved vine, very common -in woods and shaded thickets. Winter does not harm its fruit, so it is -a welcome treat to many birds and mammals in early spring. The buds -appear in pairs, which form a double fruit with two eyes, or navels, -thus giving it the name of "twin-berry." - - -Notes - - - - -September Twenty-eighth - -The water skate, or water strider, resembles somewhat a "granddaddy -longlegs." It runs about over the surface of the water in search of -microscopic insects, casting grotesque shadows on the bottom. It does -not dive like the water boatman, but if it chooses it can take wing, -and is often seen to spring into the air and grasp its prey. - - -September Twenty-ninth - -Our common sunfish builds a nest of stones and gravel on the bottom of -a stream. "The male watches the nest and drives away all intruders. -The species is usually hardy in captivity, but is subject to fungus -attacks, which yield readily to a treatment with brackish water." -(Bean.) - - -September Thirtieth - -On moonlight nights skunks come out into the fields to feed upon -beetles and grasshoppers. They are keen scented, and you will sometimes -see where their claws have assisted in securing an insect that their -nose has detected in the ground. They will often approach a man -carrying a lantern, and after sniffing at it a few times will walk away -and resume their hunt. - -[Illustration: SKUNK HUNTING GRASSHOPPERS.] - - -Notes - - - - - - -=October= - - -October First - -This is the month when many of our birds depart for their southern -winter resorts. The common ones that leave this week are the scarlet -tanager, ovenbird, chimney swift, wood thrush, indigo bunting, and -redstart. - - -October Second - -The workers and drone bumblebees die at the approach of winter, but -the queen takes shelter under the bark of trees, in stone piles and -in other places which offer protection, where she remains all winter. -She then comes out and gathers moss and grass for a nest, or she may -appropriate the deserted nest of a meadow mouse. After making several -wax cells, she fills them with pollen and honey, deposits an egg in -each cell, and when the young hatch, they feed upon the sweets. - - -October Third - -"'Among the crimson and yellow hues of the falling leaves, there is no -more remarkable object than the witch-hazel in the moment parting with -its foliage, putting forth a profusion of showy yellow blossoms, and -giving to November the counterfeited appearance of spring.'" (Newhall.) - - -[Illustration: AMERICAN REDSTART.] - - -Notes - - - - -October Fourth - -When surprised while feeding, gray squirrels will resort to an -ingenious method of escape. As the hunter approaches, the squirrel -will scurry to the opposite side of the tree trunk, and as the hunter -changes his position, the squirrel does likewise, keeping the trunk of -the tree between itself and the enemy. - - -October Fifth - -It is not always the large winged birds with the light bodies that fly -the fastest. The swifts, grouse, pigeons, and ducks are the swiftest -of fliers, yet they have heavy bodies and short or narrow wings. The -eagles, hawks, owls, buzzards, and herons, on the other hand, have -large wings and comparatively light bodies, yet they are noted for -their slow and graceful flight, still they can fly long distances. - - -October Sixth - -The white-footed mouse, deer mouse, or wood mouse, usually makes his -home in a hollow stump, limb, or tree trunk. To prove that he can -scramble up rough bark, as well as run upon the ground, he frequently -builds a large, bulky nest of dried grass in a bush or low tree. These -nests have a tiny aperture in one or two sides, and they are nearly -always located in trees traversed by wild grape, or other vines. - - -Notes - - - - -October Seventh - -Insects "supply us with the sweetest of sweets, our very best inks and -dyes, and our finest robes and tapers, to say nothing of various acids, -lacs, and waxes; while few, who have not studied the subject, have any -idea of the importance of insects and their products as articles of -human diet." (Riley.) - - -October Eighth - -Many an amateur sportsman has mistaken the fall song of the peeper, -coming from the tall forest trees, for that of a game bird or mammal. -It is loud and clearer than the peeper's spring song, but the -resemblance is easily detected after one knows that both songs are sung -by the same frog. Now since the wood birds have ceased to sing, its -song is quickly noticed. - - -October Ninth - -In size, shape, and actions, the English robin is similar to our -bluebird, to which it is related. The English blackbird is a _thrush_, -and our robin is the largest of American thrushes. In the Bermuda -Islands the catbird is called "blackbird." - - -Notes - - - - -October Tenth - -"The flight of the flying fish is usually from four to six feet above -the water, and it is sustained for fifty to one hundred feet. The -general enlarged pectoral fins act as wings, and furnish the motive -power.... On all up grades it gives a stiff wing-stroke about every -three feet, rises to overtop each advancing wave, and drops as the wave -rolls on, like a stormy petrel." (Hornaday.) - - -October Eleventh - -Mushrooms and apples are often seen resting in the branches of trees. -Should you examine one, very likely you would find the marks of a -rodent's teeth in its sides. This is one of the ways a red squirrel has -of storing food. When he placed the mushrooms there, did he know that -they would dry and be preserved? If so, why did not instinct tell him -that the apples would decay before spring? - - -October Twelfth - -Once the alarm note of a crow is heard and its meaning understood, you -can always tell when those keen-eyed birds have discovered a hawk or -an owl. "_Hak, hak, hak, hak, hak_," they call, much louder, quicker, -and in a higher key than the regular "_caw, caw, caw_." Rarely do they -strike a hawk or owl, but they keep diving at it until it soars beyond -their reach, or takes shelter in a tree. - - -Notes - - - - -October Thirteenth - -If you can surprise a muskrat in a small pond, notice that he does not -use his front feet (which are not webbed) in swimming; but, like the -frog and the toad, holds them close against the sides of his body. -Ordinarily the tail is used as a rudder, but when he is hard pressed, -he whirls it round and round so that it acts like a screw propeller. - - -October Fourteenth - -The brook trout is another fish that builds a nest. It makes a hollow -in the bed of a brook or a spring, pushing the gravel aside with its -nose, and carrying the stones in its mouth. By using its tail the -cavity is shaped and then filled with pebbles, on which the eggs are -laid, and covered with gravel. These "spawning" beds can now be seen in -any spring-fed trout stream. - - -October Fifteenth - -As soon as the foliage falls from the trees it is easy to collect -birds' nests; and it is no sin to do so then, inasmuch as the birds -mentioned this week rarely use the same nest a second season. Take a -trip into the country with the sole object of hunting for nests, and -you will be surprised to see how many you can find. One hundred and -ninety-eight bird homes have been counted during a three hours' walk. -When it is possible to take a part of the limb to which a nest is -attached, it is best to do so. - - -Notes - - - - -October Sixteenth - -Besides the large pendent nest of the Baltimore and the orchard -orioles, skilfully suspended from the end of an elm, maple, apple, or -pear tree limb, you will find many smaller _hanging_ nests built by the -several species of vireos. They are about the size of a tennis-ball; -made of birch bark, paper, and pieces of dried leaves, fastened with -spider and caterpillar webs, and they are lined with dried pine needles -or dried grass. - - -October Seventeenth - -The American goldfinch, "thistlebird" or "wild canary," usually places -its nest in the angle of three twigs at the end of a slender branch -that is nearly or quite perpendicular. The nest is larger than a -base-ball, deeply hollowed and composed outwardly of pieces of cotton -waste, plant fibres and fine bark, with a thick lining of willow or -dandelion down, and other soft material. - - -October Eighteenth - -The chebec (least flycatcher), wood pewee, and blue-gray gnat-catcher -saddle their nests on the upper side of limbs, as the hummingbird does, -and they use the same variety of material. They are so delicate in -construction that a severe storm will send them to the ground. - - -Notes - - - - -October Nineteenth - -The bulky basket nests of the cedar-bird and kingbird are usually found -saddled on a horizontal limb in an orchard. The kingbird prefers to -be near water, and will often use an elm, willow, or thorn-tree for a -nesting site. From the ground, the nests resemble each other. They are -about eight inches across, are composed outwardly of sticks, leaves, -and moss, lined with fine roots and the like, and sometimes wood or -cotton is used. - - -October Twentieth - -Crows usually build in pine-trees, but where there are no pines, they -will choose an oak, chestnut, maple, or poplar, not always high ones -either. The nest is made of sticks, leaves, bark, and mud, lined with -dried grass or fine bark. Most of the large hawks make their nests in -oak, maple, chestnut, or beech trees, in the groves or forests. They -often occupy the same nest year after year. - - -October Twenty-first - -Of the birds that build in bushes or small trees, the following are -the common species: catbird (twigs, leaves, and grass, lined with -fine roots), black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoo (a sort of stick -platform with a few dried leaves for a lining), and yellow-breasted -chat (leaves, sticks, and bark, deeply hollowed and lined with soft -grasses). Song sparrows' nests are very common. - - -Notes - - - - -October Twenty-second - -If it becomes necessary to protect their young, most birds seem to lose -all fear. When surprised with her brood of chicks, the ruffed grouse -and nearly all ground-dwelling birds will feign injury and flutter -a few feet in front of the intruder, seemingly in great agony. The -cries and actions are intended to lure you from the young. During the -interval that you are watching or chasing her, the chicks have fairly -melted into the earth. - - -October Twenty-third - -The stickleback is a small fish that inhabits the brackish waters from -Cape Ann to New Jersey. Mr. Hornaday says that the abdomen of the male -has been provided with a gland filled with a clear secretion which -coagulates into threads when it comes in contact with the water. By -means of this, a hood-like nest large enough for the female to enter is -fastened to the vegetation at the bottom of the sea, and the eggs are -deposited in the nest. - - -October Twenty-fourth - -Birds seem to have a common language, so far, at least, as conveying -a warning of danger is concerned. The appearance of a hawk, or an -owl, will cause a catbird, robin, vireo, or song sparrow to give a -warning note which is at once heeded by every feathered neighbor within -hearing. Instantly all is quiet until danger has passed. - - -Notes - - - - -October Twenty-fifth - -Grebes are expert swimmers and divers. Before the invention of -smokeless powder, the adult birds could easily dive at the flash of a -gun and were beneath the surface of the water when the shot struck. On -land these duck-like birds push themselves over the ground on their -breasts, or waddle along in a very awkward manner. They cannot rise -from the ground, and even when rising from the water they must flutter -over its surface for a long distance before they are able actually to -take wing. - - -October Twenty-sixth - -A strong aversion for snakes prevails with many of us. Most people -think that the majority of snakes are poisonous. In reality the only -dangerously venomous snakes in the United States are the rattlesnakes -(fourteen species), the moccasin, and the copperhead, and they are not -so aggressive as is generally supposed. - - -October Twenty-seventh - -How often the osprey or American fish-hawk is mistaken for an eagle! -The fish-hawk is the only hawk that will poise in the air and then -plunge into the water for its prey. Unlike the kingfisher, of which of -course it is no kin, it carries its food in its talons instead of in -its beak. In captivity it may be confined in an aviary with pigeons, -quail, and other defenceless birds, and will not molest them. - -[Illustration: HORNED GREBE. - -Winter Plumage.] - - -Notes - - - - -October Twenty-eighth - -The bull-frog, whose legs are considered such a delicacy, often attains -a length of fifteen inches. Its food consists of insects, small frogs, -birds, mice, and young water-fowl, and one has been killed which had -eaten a bat. Birds have learned to look upon it as a foe. Bull-frogs -are fast becoming extinct because of the demand for their legs. - - -October Twenty-ninth - -The sharp-shinned hawk is smaller in body, but has -about the same expanse of wing, as a domesticated pigeon. It is one of -the few hawks that is destructive to birds and young poultry. Not only -in the country, but in the city parks and villages, it is seen in late -fall or in winter, skimming over the tops of the bushes ready to pounce -upon a sparrow of any species the instant one appears. - - -October Thirtieth - -Red squirrels and chipmunks differ in size, markings, -and habits. The red squirrel is nearly twice as large as the chipmunk, -it nests in trees, and is usually seen among the branches. It is red -on the back and whitish beneath, sometimes having one black line along -each side. Chipmunks live in the ground, hollow stumps, and roots. -They are poor tree climbers and will not jump from tree to tree unless -forced to do so. They have a black stripe down the back and two on each -side. - -[Illustration: SPOTTED SANDPIPER.] - - -Notes - - - - -October Thirty-first - -At dusk or early in the evening the weird, tremulous wail of the -screech owl may be heard. Sometimes one will visit a favorite tree -at the same hour evening after evening, and after sounding his cry -several times, will glide away into the country to hunt for a supper of -beetles, meadow mice or white-footed mice. - - -Notes - - - - - - -=November= - - -November First - -The chipping sparrow, field sparrow, vesper sparrow, mourning dove, -red-shouldered blackbird, and purple grackle stay with us as long as -the weather will permit. Mr. Chapman says: "Should the season be an -exceedingly mild one, many of these birds will remain [about New York] -until late in December." - - -November Second - -The brown creeper, another denizen of the forests, groves, and village -shade trees, is seldom noticed because of its small size and dull -coloring, which blends perfectly with the tree trunks. It is often -found in company with chickadees, nuthatches and kinglets. The creeper -flies to the base of a tree, and winds his way to the top, hunting in -the crevices of the bark for insects and insect larvę, occasionally -uttering a clear, feeble trill. - - -November Third - -Unlike the bears one meets in certain kinds of animal stories, the -real bear is the most easily frightened of all our large animals. His -eyesight is defective, and his hearing not particularly good, but his -keen nose more than compensates for those deficiencies. - -[Illustration: CHICKADEES. - - Upper, Mountain. Lower, Hudsonian.] - - -Notes - - - - -November Fourth - -Artists often make the mistake of drawing a flying bird with its feet -drawn up beneath its breast. Although some birds do hold their feet in -this position, the herons, gulls, buzzards, and most of the hawks and -eagles hold their feet and legs against the under side of the tail. The -legs of the many species of herons are very conspicuous when the birds -fly, for as the tail is short, they extend far beyond it. - - -November Fifth - -Some ants live in the ground, some make chambers in wood, while others -build mounds of small sticks, dirt, and gravel, and construct roadways -to and from them. They feed upon flesh, fruit, and plant substances. -Their hind legs are provided with a sort of brush for cleaning the dirt -from their bodies, and these legs in turn are cleaned by being drawn -through the mouth. - - -November Sixth - -The "'coon" (raccoon) is strictly a nocturnal animal, and spends the -day in hollow trees, crevices in the rocks, or in thick underbrush, -coming forth at night to hunt its food,--mice, birds, crabs, clams, -eggs, acorns, and green corn. On the Pacific Coast it makes a neat -round hole in the side of a pumpkin and takes out the seeds with its -hands. - - -Notes - - - - -November Seventh - -Hawks, owls, and eagles are bold defenders of their nests and young. -Circling overhead, they suddenly bow their wings and dash at the -intruder, turning quickly and swooping up again when only a few inches -from his head. Instances are known in which persons have been wounded -severely while meddling with the property of such birds of prey. - - -November Eighth - -The tail of the brown creeper, and of all of the thirty-five species -and sub-species of woodpeckers, is provided with stiff, pointed -feathers which curve in slightly. With the chimney swift, each feather -is armed with a spine. While woodpeckers cling to a tree trunk, and -the chimney swift to the side of a chimney, their stiff tails help to -support them. - - -November Ninth - -Although the darning-needle, dragon fly, snake feeder, or snake doctor -is perfectly harmless, Howard says, "Some believe that they will sew up -the ears of bad boys; others that they will sting horses; still others -that they act as feeders and physicians to snakes, especially to water -snakes." They are the beautiful lace-winged insects that frequently dip -down and pick up an insect from the surface of a pond or a river. - - -Notes - - - - -November Tenth - -Conspicuous in the withered grass of upland meadows are the white -flowers of the several species of everlasting. If picked before they -begin to fade, they will keep through winter nearly as fresh and white -as when the blossoming season was at its height. - - -November Eleventh - -In the mountains of the North, the black bear is beginning to look for -a suitable place in which to pass the winter. Many bears could wear -their skins much longer if they would only hibernate before the snow -begins to fly. Every hunter anxiously awaits the first fall of snow, -which makes the tracking of bears so easy. - - -November Twelfth - -Nine out of every ten persons call salamanders or newts, "lizards." -Lizards do not metamorphose; consequently they are never found in -the water. They are very swift; lovers of the sun, and in the East -are rarely seen north of a line parallel with southern New England. -Salamanders are found either _in the water or in damp places_. They -metamorphose, and when on the ground their efforts to escape are -feeble. - - -Notes - - - - -November Thirteenth - -Owls, woodpeckers, ducks, doves, pigeons, the ruffed grouse, Bob-white, -belted kingfisher, ruby-throated hummingbird, chimney swift, -short-billed marsh wren, and bush-tit lay eggs that are glossy white or -various shades of white or buff-color. The eggs of the herons, cuckoos, -robin, bluebird, catbird, Wilson's thrush, and hermit thrush are blue, -green, or various shades of those colors. - - -November Fourteenth - -Just at evening the white-throated sparrows, from the thickets, call -their sweet, clear good-night to one another. As the darkness falls, -the calls gradually cease, until only an occasional flutter is heard -as some restless bird, not satisfied with its perch, chooses a new -position for the night. - - -November Fifteenth - -It is now time to build winter shelters for Bob-white, and to begin -to feed the winter birds. Cut pine or evergreen boughs, and pile them -against the side of a log, leaving a _small_ opening at each end for -the quail to enter. Make the shelters on the south or east side of a -hill or bank, where it will be protected from the cold winter storms. -Now scatter buckwheat about your bird "wickey-up," as an Indian would -call it, and they will soon find it. You should feed grain to your -flock all winter. - - -Notes - - - - -November Sixteenth - -The sparrow hawk is a summer resident in New England, Pennsylvania, -New York, and Ohio. It nests in a cavity of a tree or in a deserted -woodpecker's nest, and it will return to the same locality year after -year. The bird is no larger than a robin, and instead of being a -sparrow killer, it lives chiefly upon insects. - - -November Seventeenth - -The opossum is the only North American member of the order Marsupialia -which has so many representatives in Australia and New Zealand. The -marsupials are the animals that have pouches over their abdomens in -which they _carry their young_. Some people wrongly include in this -order the pocket gopher, pocket mouse, and other mammals that have -cheek pouches in which they _carry food_. - - -November Eighteenth - -Accounts of the capture of "extremely rare and valuable monkey-faced -owls," are often published. These owls are nothing more than barn owls, -which are so common in the Southern States. They nest in holes in -banks, in cavities in trees, or in church belfries. A pair has occupied -one of the towers in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, for -several years. - - -Notes - - - - -November Nineteenth - -The common meadow mouse makes a docile and interesting pet, if captured -without frightening or exciting him. Within fifteen minutes from the -time of his capture he will often lose all fear, and while you hold him -he will wash his face with his paws. - - -November Twentieth - -The snowy, and the great-gray, owls, both inhabitants of the -North-land, are the largest American members of the owl family. They -are more frequently seen in the daytime and are much tamer than other -owls, often permitting one to approach very close to them. Except -in very severe weather they rarely come below the Canadian border. -In disposition the great-horned owl and the snow owl are considered -fierce, still they can be tamed, even if captured when adult. - - -November Twenty-first - -It is a general impression that bears hug their victims to death. When -enraged a bear will charge to within a few feet of a man, rise upon its -hind legs, and strike him down with its fore paws, or hold him with -them while it attacks his neck and shoulders with its teeth. After -inflicting several wounds a bear will often leave its victim without -further injuring him. - -[Illustration: Photograph by Jackson. - -THE GREAT HORNED OWL AND THE SNOWY OWL CAN BE TAMED.] - - -Notes - - - - -November Twenty-second - -The blue jay is one of the birds who remain with us throughout the -entire year. His habits are not the same in all parts of his range. In -some localities he is strictly a bird of the forests, while in others, -he is common in our city parks and shade-trees. A relative of the crow, -he is charged with robbing nests of their eggs and young birds. He is -fond of nuts also, and will eat any kind that his strong bill can open. - - -November Twenty-third - -Hawks and owls will respond quickly if you make a squeaking noise like -a mouse, and a fox will stop and prick up his ears, then turn and -proceed in the direction of the sound until he discovers its source. -A weasel will dash toward the hunter, and even after it sees him, its -curiosity keeps it from retreating at once. - - -November Twenty-fourth - -The Thanksgiving turkey that we eat about now "is derived from the wild -turkey of Mexico, which was introduced into Europe shortly after the -Conquest and was thence brought to eastern North America." (Chapman -and Reed.) The tips of the upper tail-coverts of the domestic and the -Mexican turkey are whitish, while those of the wild turkey of eastern -United States are rusty brown. - -[Illustration: BLUE JAYS.] - - -Notes - - - - -November Twenty-fifth - -A skunk knows every woodchuck and rabbit burrow in his neighborhood. In -the woods he will often visit hole after hole with great precision, but -in the meadows he is more apt to follow the fences, frequently cutting -across a corner in order to shorten the distance to a burrow. Probably -experience has taught him that rabbits are often found in woodchuck -holes and that meadow mice also take shelter in them during the winter. - - -November Twenty-sixth - -The tallest and heaviest of all birds is the African ostrich, but the -condor of South America has the widest expanse of wing. In the United -States, the California vulture, once very rare, but now steadily -increasing, is broadest across the wings. The whooping crane stands the -highest, and the swans are the heaviest of our birds. - - -November Twenty-seventh - -Do not kill the bats that you find passing the winter in your garret, -or those that fly into your house in the summer. They destroy large -numbers of gnats and mosquitoes, and do no harm. The belief that they -get into one's hair is ridiculous, and it is seldom that they are -infested with vermin. A South American species has been known to suck -the blood of horses and cattle. - - -Notes - - - - -November Twenty-eighth - -On returning to the nest and discovering that a cowbird has laid -an egg in it, some species of birds will roll the egg out. But the -phoebe, red-eyed vireo, chipping sparrow, and yellow warbler will -sometimes cover the eggs with nesting material and build up the sides -of the nest, thus burying its own and the cowbird's egg. Another set -of eggs is then laid and the bird begins to sit, but the buried eggs -are too deep to be affected by the warmth of the parent's body, so the -"lazy-bird's" purpose is defeated. - - -November Twenty-ninth - -In the abandoned birds' nests that are placed near the ground in shrubs -and small trees close to hazel-nut bushes and bitter-sweet vines, you -will often find a handful of hazel-nuts or bitter-sweet berries. They -were put there by the white-footed mice and the meadow mice who visit -these storehouses regularly. Very often a white-footed mouse will cover -a bird's nest with fine dried grass and inner bark, and make a nest for -itself. - - -November Thirtieth - -Between now and the first of March you may expect to see large flocks -of red-polls feeding on seeds among the weeds and low bushes, and -cross-bills in the pine and spruce trees shelling seeds from the cones. - -[Illustration: Reproduced by the courtesy of the Field Columbian Museum. - -A FOUR-STORIED WARBLER'S NEST. EACH STORY REPRESENTS AN ATTEMPT BY THE -WARBLER TO AVOID BECOMING FOSTER PARENT OF A YOUNG COWBIRD.] - - -Notes - - - - - - -=December= - - -December First - -Besides being the means by which they capture their prey, the talons -of an eagle, hawk, or owl are their weapons of defence. Their bill -can really inflict but little injury. When wounded one of these birds -will throw itself upon its back, and strike with its feet, burying its -talons deep in the flesh of its adversary. - - -December Second - -The gray or wood gray fox lives about the rocks and ledges. It is a -noted tree climber, and, being less fleet than the red fox, it often -eludes pursuing dogs by taking shelter in the rocks, or amid the -branches of a tree. Running a short distance, it will spring to the -side of a tree and scramble up the trunk. Sometimes it falls back and -is obliged to repeat the performance several times before it is able to -gain the first branches, from which it can easily climb from limb to -limb as high as it chooses. - - -December Third - -The junco and the horned lark in some localities are called "snowbird," -but the snow bunting, or snowflake, is the only bird correctly so -called. These birds do not look alike, but the appearance of the three -species in large numbers during the winter is confusing to one not -versed in bird-lore. - -[Illustration: SNOW BUNTING.] - - -Notes - - - - -December Fourth - -Why is it that most carnivorous animals, as well as most birds of prey, -refuse to eat shrews and moles? It may be due to the strong pungent -odor of their bodies. Cats will catch them and play with them, but owls -are the only creatures that seem to care for them for food. - - -December Fifth - -Mr. Newhall says that a lady told him that an Oneida Indian once cured -her grandfather of a severe illness. He afterward learned that the -medicine used was an extract of witch-hazel, and later prepared and -sold it widely. - - -December Sixth - -The great-horned owl, hoot owl, or cat owl, is the only bird that from -choice will feed upon skunks. Although rabbits are abundant and easy to -capture, his Owlship seems to prefer to battle against the long teeth -and disagreeable odor of the skunk in order to dine upon its flesh. -Nearly all owls of this species that are killed in winter are strongly -scented with the skunk's odor. - - -Notes - - - - -December Seventh - -The two glands that hold the skunk's vile-smelling fluid are about the -size and shape of a pecan nut. They are strictly _organs of protection_ -and are never used except in _extreme_ cases of defence. They are -situated between the skin and the flesh near the root of the tail. When -brought into use, a number of strong muscles encircling them contract, -and a fine spray of the fluid is thrown off; the tail taking no part in -its distribution. - - -December Eighth - -Snakes are not slimy and clammy; they do not cover their food with -saliva before swallowing it, and the forked flexible member which darts -in and out of their mouth is not a "stinger," but the tongue. They do -not swallow their young in cases of danger, and they have no power to -"charm," or hypnotize. - - -December Ninth - -The bald-faced hornet attaches his large, cone-shaped, paper nests -under the eaves of houses, in garrets, or to the limbs of trees. -Collecting the minute fibres that adhere to the weather-beaten fences -and buildings, the hornets mix it with saliva and make a crude quality -of paper. To enlarge a nest, the inside walls are torn away and the -material is used to add to the outside layer. Like bumblebees, the -workers and drones die in the fall, the queen hibernating. - - -Notes - - - - -December Tenth - -Beautiful as the deer are and innocent as they seem, they cannot be -trusted, as attendants in zoological parks can testify. A bear will -seldom attack a keeper without provocation, and when he does he will -usually give warning before he charges. Not so with a buck of the deer -family. Greeting his best friend in the most cordial manner, he may, -without warning, charge when the man's back is turned, and gore or -trample him to death. - - -December Eleventh - -The American eagle is more often spoken of as the "bald eagle," a name -which misleads many people since the bird is not "bald" at all. The -top of its head is as thickly feathered as the heads of most birds. -Probably some one thought that the white head and neck made the eagle -appear bald, hence the name. The birds reach the third year before the -head and tail begin to turn white. - - -December Twelfth - -The little striped skunk, or hydrophobia skunk of the South, West, and -Southwest, is about half the size of our common skunk. It frequently -goes mad and attacks people with great fury. Cowboys and other persons -compelled to sleep on the ground in the open have been bitten by it and -have died of hydrophobia. _It is the only_ North American animal that -will deliberately _attack a sleeping person_. - - -Notes - - - - -December Thirteenth - -"Till a comparatively recent date it was not certainly known that eels -have eggs which develop outside of the body. Even now the breeding -habits are scarcely known, but it is supposed that the spawning takes -place late in the fall or during the winter, near the mouth of rivers, -on muddy bottoms." (Bean.) - - -December Fourteenth - -The so-called glass snake is truly speaking not a snake, but a legless -lizard. It forms part of the food of the true snakes. Its body is very -brittle, a light blow with a stick being sufficient to break it in two. -Although it is true that another tail will grow (provided not more than -a fourth of the body is missing), it is not true that the broken pieces -will eventually unite, or that a head and body will grow on the tail -piece. - - -December Fifteenth - -How often you read of, or heard some one speak of, the whale as "the -largest of fish." A whale is a _mammal_, because it suckles its young. -It is not only the largest of _living_ mammals, but, according to Mr. -Lucas, the large ones are larger than any of the enormous reptiles that -inhabited the world before the advent of man, and whose fossil remains -may be seen in any of our large museums. - - -Notes - - - - -December Sixteenth - -The quiet little tree sparrows spend the winter with us feeding on the -seeds of weeds and grasses. You will find their tracks in the snow -where flocks have been eating ragweed seeds, and you are likely to see -some of them fluttering about in the bushes along the river banks, -or in the frozen swamps uttering a pleasing call note. They can be -identified by the distinct black spot on the breast and their pinkish -bills. - - -December Seventeenth - -There is no better time to study the tracks and nightly doings of -animals than after the first fall of snow. Start early in the morning -and see how many stories the tracks have written. - - -December Eighteenth - -Following the tracks of a white-footed mouse in the woods, they lead -you to a hollow log, at the entrance of which are a number of beech-nut -shells, remains of a midnight feast taken from a winter store-house. -From here the mouse went into the field, and then the tracks stop -abruptly, leaving you to guess the rest. Possibly one of the several -species of owls that inhabit your locality could explain the sudden -ending of the trail. - - -Notes - - - - -December Nineteenth - -Continuing through the woods, you soon discover the trail of two -birds whose feet are not quite the size of those of bantam chickens. -Following them a few hundred yards you come to a bedded spot in the -snow, beneath the drooping branches of a spruce. Not far from here, two -ruffed grouse rise, with a loud whirr of wings, and speed off before -your startled eyes. These are the birds whose tracks you have been -following. - - -December Twentieth - -Don't follow a fox track with the intention of overtaking the maker, -unless you have dogs. He may be ten miles away at that very moment, and -even if you should draw near to him, he is almost certain to elude your -sight by sneaking away. - - -December Twenty-first - -You may find where a muskrat has left the stream and started across -the meadow to a marsh near by. Suddenly a mink's track breaks into the -trail and follows in the same direction, and you soon come to a spot -where the snow is much disturbed, and the tracks mingle in confusion. -Blood-stains on the snow and matted places show where the two have -fought a battle for existence. A broad, deep trail leading to a stump -indicates that some object has been dragged across the snow, and there -you find the half-eaten remains of the muskrat. - - -Notes - - - - -December Twenty-second - -What tracks are these, trailing along the fence between a brush-lot -and a buckwheat field? At the corner of the fence human footprints and -those of a dog join them. All now travel in the same direction, first -on one side of the fence, then on the other. Finally the bird tracks -stop abruptly and the marks of wings on each side of them show that the -birds have taken flight. The dog has suddenly bolted, and where his -tracks turn back is a dash in the snow and a few quail feathers which -tell the story; a hunter has bagged his game. - - -December Twenty-third - -An open brush-lot bordering woods is the best place to find cotton-tail -rabbit tracks. Judging from the number of tracks and the spaces between -them, the rabbits have been playing tag, or attempting to break the -record for running and jumping. They did rest, however, for beneath a -bush, and by the side of a stump, we find impressions in the snow where -they sat down. If it is a warm day, you are apt to surprise one taking -a sun-bath. - - -December Twenty-fourth - -Save in the dome of the Capitol, could our national bird, the -bald eagle, select a more appropriate place for its nest than at -Washington's home? In a patch of heavy timber at Mt. Vernon, Va., a -pair of eagles have nested for several years. - -[Illustration: Photograph by J. Alden Loring. - -COTTONTAIL RABBIT TAKING A SUNBATH.] - - -Notes - - - - -December Twenty-fifth - -Mistletoe is a parasitic evergreen shrub that is abundant in the South. -It grows in thick clusters on limbs of various species of trees. Its -flowers are whitish, and after the flowering season, clusters of white -berries take the place of the blossoms. As the berries are ready to -fall, they become soft and sticky, and when they drop they adhere to -the bark of any limb they strike, and the seeds take root and are -nourished by the sap of the tree. - - -December Twenty-sixth - -You might take a Christmas walk over the ice and visit a muskrat's -house of sticks and other rubbish. If the occupants are at home, you -will notice a frosty spot on one side of the mound. A muskrat hunter -would thrust his spear through the thin wall and impale one or more of -the rats upon its tines. Many of the clods composing the house bear the -nose-print of the maker. - - -December Twenty-seventh - -While sleigh-riding you are likely to see a flock of trim, -sober-colored birds perched close together, feeding on the berries of -the mountain ash tree or on decayed apples. They have _crests_ and -_wax-like red dots_ on the inner feathers of their wings. These are -cedar-birds, or cedar waxwings. They often remain with us throughout -the year. - - -Notes - - - - -December Twenty-eighth - -"The name 'burl' is applied to all excrescent growths on trees, except -true knots. The origin of these wart-like swellings is imperfectly -known, but they can generally be attributed to injuries by woodpeckers, -gall insects, and to the irritating and continued growth of fungi in -the woody tissues at such points." (Adams.) - - -December Twenty-ninth - -A flock of pine grosbeaks feeding on buds in a maple or an apple tree -on a cold winter's day is a pleasing sight for any bird lover. They -are the size of a robin, and the male has a rose-colored head, neck, -breast, and back. They are quiet birds and very tame, even permitting -a person to climb the tree and approach within a few feet, before they -take flight. It is only during the severest weather that they migrate -south into southern New York, Pennsylvania, and New England. - - -December Thirtieth - -North America can boast of the largest deer in the world, the Alaskan -moose; as well as the largest of flesh-eating mammals, the Kodiak bear. -We also have more rodents and cats than any other country. - -[Illustration: BONAPARTE GULL.] - - -Notes - - - - -December Thirty-first - -Sometimes the lakes freeze over, and the gulls are compelled to seek -the large open rivers, and ask alms from the inhabitants along their -banks. At such times they become very tame, so if you will place food -within their reach, they will soon find it and call upon you from day -to day. - - -Notes - - - - - * * * * * - - -Transcriber Note - -Although the images were inserted before the "Notes" page which follows -each page of dates, the images were not moved due to the List of -Illustrations page numbering. 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Alden Loring, a Project Gutenberg eBook. - </title> - <link rel="cover" href="images/cover_epub.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} - -p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; text-indent: 1.5em;} - -hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; - margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em;} -hr.tb {width: 45%;} - -table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-collapse: collapse;} -.tblcont tr:hover {background-color: #f5f5f5;} - -.pagenum {position: absolute; right: 3.5%; font-style: normal; /* prevent italics, etc. */ - font-size: small; text-align: right; color: #808080;} /* page numbers */ -.bdb2 {border-bottom: double #000 8px;} -.bbox {border: solid #000 1px;} -.bbox2 {border: double #000 8px; width: 30em; margin: 24px auto; - padding: 12px;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} -.center {text-align: center; margin:0; text-indent: 0;} -.vsmall {font-size: 0.5em;} -.smaller {font-size: 0.8em;} -.tdl {text-align: left;} -.tdr {text-align: right;} -.tdr2 {text-align: right; padding-right:2em;} -h1, h2, .caption2 {font-weight: bold; text-align: center; text-indent:0;} -h1 {font-size:2.00em; margin-top: 1.5em;} -h2, .caption2 {font-size:1.50em; margin-top: 1.0em;} -h3 {font-weight: normal; font-size:1.25em; margin-top: 0.5em; font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center; text-indent:0;} -h4 {font-weight: normal; font-size:1.15em; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 6em; text-align: center; text-indent:0;} -.pmt2 {margin-top: 2em;} -.pmb2 {margin-bottom: 2em;} -.pmb4 {margin-bottom: 4em;} - -/* Images */ - -.fig_center {margin: 1em auto; text-align: center;} - -.fig_left {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; - margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; - margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} - -.fig_right {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; - margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} - -.fig_caption p {font-size: 0.8em; margin-bottom: 1em; - margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em; text-align: center;} - -.vbot {vertical-align: bottom;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.trans_notes {background-color: #e6e6fa; color: black; padding:1.5em; - margin-bottom:5em;} - -.antiqua {font-size: 1.5em; font-family: "Old English Text MT", "Germany", "Fraktur BT", "Cooper Black", "Lucida Calligraphy"} -.antiqua2 {font-size: 1.0em; font-family: "Old English Text MT", "Germany", "Fraktur BT", "Cooper Black", "Lucida Calligraphy"} - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Young Folks' Nature Field Book, by John Alden Loring - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Young Folks' Nature Field Book - -Author: John Alden Loring - -Release Date: July 30, 2020 [EBook #62790] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOUNG FOLKS' NATURE FIELD BOOK *** - - - - -Produced by Tom Cosmas produced from files generously -provided on The Internet Archive and all resultant materials -are placed in the Public Domain. - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - - - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 316px;"> -<img src="images/cover.png" width="316" height="501" alt="Young Folks' Nature Field Book, by J. Alden Loring" /> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">« 1 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h1>Young Folks'<br /> -Nature Field Book</h1> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">« 2 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">« 3 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">« 4 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 349px;"> -<img src="images/frontis.png" width="349" height="430" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by J. Alden Loring.</p> - -<p>WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH ON A BIRD-HOUSE.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">« 5 »</a></span></p> - - -<div class="bbox2"> - -<div class="fig_center bdb2" style="width: 100%;"> -<img src="images/title_flwr.png" width="284" height="171" alt="Young Folks' -Nature Field Book" /> -<p class="vsmall center">Young Folks' Nature Field Book</p> -</div> - - - - -<p class="center"><i>By</i></p> - -<h2><i>J. ALDEN LORING</i></h2> - -<p class="bdb2 pmb2" style="padding: 0 1em;">Formerly Field Naturalist to the United States Biological Survey and -the United States National Museum at Washington, D. C., Curator of -Mammals at the New York Zoological Park and Field Agent for the New -York Zoological Society; Member of the American Ornithologists' -Union, etc.</p> - - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 88px;"> -<img src="images/title_logo.png" width="88" height="106" alt="logo" /> -</div> - -<div class="bbox pmt2 pmb2"> - -<p class="center"><i><span class="smcap">BOSTON</span></i></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="antiqua2">Dana Estes & Company</span></p> - -<p class="center"><i>PUBLISHERS</i></p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">« 6 »</a></span></p> - -<p class="center"><i>Copyright, 1906</i></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By Dana Estes & Company</span></p> - -<p class="center pmb4">All rights reserved</p> - - - -<p class="center"><i>COLONIAL PRESS</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>Boston, U.S.A.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">« 7 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="Publishers_Preface" id="Publishers_Preface">Publishers' Preface</a></h2> - - -<p>The plan of this work contemplates a short, -timely nature story, or seasonable hint for every -calendar day in the year, telling the reader just -what time in the successive seasons to look for -the different birds, beasts, flowers, etc., how to -recognize and study them when taking observation -walks for pleasure or instruction. Recognition -of different creatures, etc., is assisted by numerous -excellent illustrations, and alternate pages -are left blank for reader's notes or record of -things seen. A yearly report so kept, either by -a single young person or a small group or club, -cannot fail to be a source of continuous interest, -not only while being made but after its completion. -A club competing for the best and complete -record so made should produce pleasure and instruction -throughout the year.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">« 8 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">« 9 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2>Dedication</h2> - - -<p><i>This book is dedicated to my first wild pet, who was -the most interesting and intelligent creature I have -tamed. He chased the children into their houses -by pinching their legs; he awoke the dog by pulling -its tail, and he pecked the horse's feet, then jumped -back and crouched low to escape being kicked. -Because of his thieving instinct he kept me at war -with the neighbors. His last mischievous act was -to pull the corks from the red and the black ink -bottles, tip them over, fly to the bed, and cover the -counterpane with tracks. I found him dead in the -work-room the following morning, his black beak -red and red mouth black.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">« 10 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">« 11 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2>Preface</h2> - - -<p>This little book was written for the lover of -outdoor life who has neither the time nor the -patience to study natural history. There are many -persons who are anxious to learn the common -animals and flowers, their haunts and their habits, -that they may enjoy Nature when they visit her. -If they will take a minute each day to read the -entry for that date, or if they will carry the book -with them on their strolls into the country and -while resting turn its pages, it may prove the means -of discovering in fur or feather or flowering bud -something before unknown to them.</p> - -<p>The subjects chosen are of common interest, and -nearly all can be found by any person who hunts -for them assiduously. As the seasons vary in -different localities, it has been impossible to set a -date for the appearance or disappearance of an -animal or a flower, that will apply alike to all parts -of the country for which this volume is intended. -Eastern United States.</p> - -<p class="tdr2"> -<span class="smcap">J. Alden Loring.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p><i>Oswego, N. Y.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">« 12 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">« 13 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="List_of_Illustrations" id="List_of_Illustrations">List of Illustrations</a></h2> - - -<table class="tblcont" summary="TOC"> -<tr> - <td></td> - <td class="smaller tdr">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">White-breasted Nuthatch on a Bird-house</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_4"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td colspan="2"> </td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">White-breasted Nuthatch</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">English Sparrow</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Purple Martins</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Northern Shrike</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Prairie Horned Lark</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Loon</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Hibernating Woodchuck</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">European Hedgehog</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Nest of a Meadow Mouse Exposed by Melting Snow</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Screech Owl</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Meadow Lark</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Downy Woodpecker</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Fox at Den</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Chimney Swift</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">"One of your bird-houses should be tenanted by a wren"</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Male Bobolink</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Barn Swallow</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Belted Kingfisher</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">« 14 »</a></span><span class="smcap">Catbird</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Woodchuck</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Song Sparrow</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Yellow-billed Cuckoo</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Kingbird</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Red-winged Blackbirds</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Cedar Waxwing</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Yellow-breasted Chat</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Skunk Hunting Grasshoppers</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">American Redstart</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Grebe</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Spotted Sandpiper</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Chickadees (Upper, Mountain; Lower, Hudsonian)</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">"The great horned owl and the snowy owl can be tamed"</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_301">301</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Blue Jays</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Four-storied Warbler's Nest. Each Story Represents an Attempt by the Warbler to Avoid Becoming - Foster-parent of a Young Cowbird</span></td> - <td class="tdr vbot"><a href="#Page_311">311</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Snow Bunting</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_315">315</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Cotton-tail Rabbit Taking a Sun Bath</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_331">331</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Bonaparte Gull</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">« 15 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 277px;"> -<img src="images/wbnu.png" width="277" height="291" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">« 16 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="January" id="January"><span class="antiqua">January</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>January First</h3> - -<p>The best New Year's resolution a lover of nature -can make, is a promise to provide the feathered -waifs of winter with free lunches. This may be -done by fastening pieces of suet to limbs and trunks -of trees, and by placing sunflower seeds, bird seeds, -or cracked nuts on the veranda roof or on the -window-sill of your room, where sharp eyes will -soon spy them.</p> - - -<h3>January Second</h3> - -<p>Your boarders will be the birds that either remain -with you throughout the year, or have come -from the frozen North to spend the winter. These -are the birds that feed upon seeds of various kinds, -or the feathered carpenters that pry into the crevices -of the bark, and dig into the rotten wood in search -of the insects and the insect larvę hidden there.</p> - - -<h3>January Third</h3> - -<p>The chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, and the -downy woodpecker, keep company during the long -winter months. They will appreciate your lunches -most, and will call on you frequently throughout -the day.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">« 17 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">« 18 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Fourth</h3> - -<p>Do not attempt to tame your visitors until they -have made several calls for lunches. Then put a -crude "dummy," with a false face, near the -window, and raise the sash to let the birds enter. -Within a few days the chickadees will perch upon -Dummy's shoulders and take nut meats from his -buttonholes.</p> - - -<h3>January Fifth</h3> - -<p>Having thus gained the chickadees' confidence, -hurry to the window when you hear them call, and -quietly take the place of the dummy. Of course -they will be suspicious at first, and probably you -will meet with many disappointments, but when -you have succeeded in taming them to alight upon -your hand or shoulder, you will find enjoyment in -calling them to you by the gentle whistle to which -you should accustom them.</p> - - -<h3>January Sixth</h3> - -<p>Tempting food, and slow movements when in -the presence of birds, are the main secrets to successful -bird taming. The chickadee, as you will -find, is the easiest of these birds to tame. He has -several songs and call notes, so do not expect -always to hear him repeat his name, "<i>chick-a-de-de-de-de</i>."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">« 19 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">« 20 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Seventh</h3> - -<p>Persons not familiar with birds often mistake the -white-breasted nuthatch for a woodpecker, for -their actions are much alike. The nuthatch creeps -about the trees in all kinds of attitudes, while the -woodpecker assumes an upright position most of -the time and moves in spasmodic hops. The -young and the female downy woodpecker do not -have the red crescent on the back of the head. The -hairy woodpecker is another "resident" that looks -like his cousin, the downy, but he is once again as -large.</p> - - -<h3>January Eighth</h3> - -<p>Winter in the North is a season of hardship and -hunger to wild creatures. The otherwise wary and -cunning crow often puts discretion aside when in -search of food, and fearlessly visits the village -refuse heaps, or the farmer's barn-yard. In the -orchards you will find where he has uncovered the -decayed apples and pecked holes into them.</p> - - -<h3>January Ninth</h3> - -<p>Even the mink, after days of fasting, is driven by -starvation to leave his retreat in a burrow along a -creek or river bank, and to forage upon the farmer's -poultry. Poor fellow, he does not hibernate, so -he must have food; fish is his choice, but when -hard pressed, he will take anything, "fish, flesh, or -fowl."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">« 21 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">« 22 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Tenth</h3> - -<p>In the fields and lowlands, the scattered coveys -of Bob-whites that have escaped the hunter, huddle -for shelter from a storm under a stump or in a -hollow log. Sometimes several days pass before -they are able to dig through the drifts that imprison -them. Should a heavy sleet-storm cover the snowy -mantle with a crust too thick and hard for them to -break through, starvation is their fate. Sportsmen -living within convenient reach of quail coverts -should watch over them in such weather and provide -food and shelter for the birds.</p> - -<h3>January Eleventh</h3> - -<p>Even the flocks of horned (or shore) larks that -feed on the wind-swept hilltops, pause occasionally -and squat close to the ground to keep from being -blown away. They have come from the North, and -after passing the winter with us, most of them will -return to Canada to nest.</p> - -<h3>January Twelfth</h3> - -<p>A long period of cold freezes the marshes to the -bottom, and compels the muskrats to seek the -bushy banks, or to take shelter under the corn-shacks -or hay-stacks in the fields. Poor things, -they of all animals endure hardship; for one can -often track them to where they have scratched -away the snow while searching for grass-blades, -roots, acorns or apples that have fallen and decayed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">« 23 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">« 24 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>When the wind sweeps over the fields and the -cold nips your ears, you are apt to come suddenly -upon a flock of snowflakes, or snow buntings. -Hastening back and forth among the weeds along -the bank, they reach up and pick the seeds and -crack them in their strong bills. They, too, like -the horned larks, have come from the North, and -in March will return again.</p> - - -<h3>January Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>You cannot show your friendship for our native -birds in any better way than by being an enemy -of the English sparrow. He is a quarrelsome little -pest and seems to be getting more pugnacious every -year. He not only fights the other birds, but he -has been seen to throw their eggs to the ground and -to tear their nests to pieces. Be careful that he -does not steal the lunches that you have provided -for other birds.</p> - - -<h3>January Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>How do the insects pass the winter? Much in -the same way that our plants and flowers do. As -the cold weather kills or withers the plants, leaving -their seeds and roots to send forth shoots next -summer, so most of the insects die, leaving their -eggs, their larvę, and their pupa to be nourished -into life by the warm days of spring.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">« 25 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 289px;"> -<img src="images/ensp.png" width="289" height="252" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>ENGLISH SPARROW.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">« 26 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">« 27 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">« 28 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>Insects are more dependent on climatic conditions -than are birds or mammals. Nevertheless, even on -the coldest days of winter, one may tear away the -bark of a forest tree and find spiders which show -signs of life, and if kept in a warm room for a few -hours, they become quite active.</p> - - -<h3>January Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>The life of an insect which undergoes what is -termed a "complete transformation," is divided -into four stages: First, the egg; second, the larva; -third, the pupa or chrysalis, and fourth, the adult -insect or imago. Each of these changes is so complete -and different from any of the others, that the -insect never appears twice in an easily recognized -form.</p> - - -<h3>January Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>Let us take the common house-fly for an example, -and follow it through the changes that it -must undergo before becoming adult. The mother -fly deposits more than a hundred eggs at a time, -in a dump at the back of the stable. The eggs -hatch in half a day.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">« 29 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">« 30 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>Now we have the larvę (maggots), as the second -stage is called. These little creatures are white and -grow very fast, shedding their skin several times -before they take on a different form, which they do -at the end of three or four days.</p> - -<h3>January Twentieth</h3> - -<p>The third, or pupa, stage is reached when a tiny -brown capsule-like formation has taken the place -of the maggot. In this stage no movement is -apparent, nor is any food taken; there is only a -quiet waiting for the final change, which comes in -about five days, when, out from one end of a -chrysalis, a fully developed fly appears.</p> - - -<h3>January Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>The wonderful changes just described take place -throughout most of the insect world. The larvę -of butterflies and moths are caterpillars; the larvę -of June bugs or May beetles are grubs. Some moth -and butterfly caterpillars weave silken cocoons -about themselves; some make cocoons from leaves -or tiny chips of wood; some utilize the hair from -their own bodies, while others attach themselves to -the under side of boards, stones, and stumps, where, -after shedding their skin, they hang like mummies -until spring calls them back to life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">« 31 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">« 32 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>Bird lovers often make the mistake of putting -out nesting-boxes too late in the season. They -forget that most of the birds begin to look for -nesting-sites as soon as they arrive in the spring, -therefore the boxes should be in place before the -prospective tenants appear. March first is none -too early for many localities.</p> - - -<h3>January Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>A natural cavity in a root, cut from a rustic -stump, or a short length of hollow limb, with a -two-inch augur hole bored near the top, and a -piece of board nailed over each end, makes an -artistic nesting-place for birds. Some persons prefer -a miniature cottage with compartments and -doors; though birds will often nest in them, the -simpler and more natural the home, the more -suited it is to their wants.</p> - - -<h3>January Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>A few minutes' work with hammer, saw, and -knife, will convert any small wooden box that is -nailed (not glued) together, into a respectable -nesting-box. After it has been covered with two -coats of dark green paint it is ready to be put in -place. A shelf placed in a cornice, under a porch, -or the eaves of a building, makes an excellent resting-place -for the nest of a robin or a phœbe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">« 33 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">« 34 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>Nesting-boxes may be placed almost anywhere -that there is shade and shelter. They ought to be -put beyond the reach of prowling cats and meddlesome -children, at least fifteen feet from the ground, -and to reap the benefit of your labor, they should -be near your sitting-room window.</p> - - -<h3>January Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>It is better not to put an old nest or any nesting -material in the houses. Birds prefer to do their -own nest building, and they have their notions about -house furnishing, which do not agree with our ideas. -Birds have often refused nesting-boxes simply because -over-zealous persons had stuffed them with -hay or excelsior.</p> - - -<h3>January Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>The birds that nest in bird-houses are the ones -which, if unprovided with them, would naturally -choose cavities in stumps, tree trunks, hollow limbs -and the like. Almost without exception this class -of nest-builders will return to the same nest year -after year, so once a pair has taken up its abode -with you, you may expect to see the birds for several -summers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">« 35 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 347px;"> -<img src="images/pumr.png" width="347" height="451" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>PURPLE MARTINS.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">« 36 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">« 37 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">« 38 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>The following are common tenants of bird-houses: -Purple martin, bluebird, house wren, -chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, -and tree or white-breasted swallow. These -birds are great insect destroyers, and most of them -are sweet songsters, so they should be encouraged -to take up their abode about our grounds.</p> - - -<h3>January Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>After a deep fall of snow, the Northern shrike, or -butcher-bird, is forced into the villages and towns -for his food. Dashing into a flock of English sparrows, -he snatches one and carries it back to the -country to be eaten at his leisure. He is the bird -that impales small birds, mice, and large insects -on barbed-wire fences, or thorn bushes, after his -stomach has been filled, and hence his name.</p> - - -<h3>January Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>Next to the beaver, the porcupine is the largest -rodent in the United States; the largest porcupines -live in Alaska. When on the ground, his short, -thick tail drags in the snow, leaving a zigzag trail. -When the snow is deep and the weather stormy, he -spends much of his time in pine, spruce, and hemlock -trees, feeding on the bark and twigs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">« 39 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 365px;"> -<img src="images/nosk.png" width="365" height="306" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>NORTHERN SHRIKE.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">« 40 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">« 41 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">« 42 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>January Thirty-first</h3> - -<p>Hawks, before eating, tear away the skin and -feathers from their prey; but owls eat everything, -unless the prey be large, even bolting small birds -and mammals entire. In the course of a few hours -they disgorge pellets of indigestible portions, the -bones being encased in the feathers or hair. The -pellets may be found on the snow beneath the owl's -roost, and they often contain skulls of mice as white -and perfect as though they had been cleaned in a -museum.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">« 43 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">« 44 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="February" id="February"><span class="antiqua">February</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>February First</h3> - -<p>Mourning-cloak butterflies do not all die when -winter comes. Those that hibernate are usually -found singly or in clusters, hanging from the rafters -in old buildings, or from the under side of stones, -rails, limbs of trees, or boards. Those that appear -in the spring with tattered wings, have probably been -confined in buildings, and in their efforts to escape -have battered themselves against the windows.</p> - - -<h3>February Second</h3> - -<p>Does any one know how old the story is that tells -us this is the day on which the bear and the woodchuck -rub their sleepy eyes and leave their winter -quarters for the first time? If they see their shadow -they return and sleep six weeks longer, but should -the day be cloudy, they are supposed to remain -active the rest of the season. This of course is only -a myth.</p> - - -<h3>February Third</h3> - -<p>Frogs usually pass the winter in the mud at the -bottom of a stream, lake, or pond, or below frost-line -in a woodchuck, rabbit, or chipmunk burrow. -However, it is not uncommon to find them active -all winter in a spring, or a roadside drinking-trough -supplied from a spring. I wonder if they know that -spring-water seldom freezes, and that by choosing -such a place, they will not have to hibernate.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">« 45 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">« 46 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Fourth</h3> - -<p>The bloodthirsty weasel, which is reddish brown -in summer (save the tip of his tail, which is always -black), is now colored to match his surroundings, -white. His tracks may be found in the woods and -along the stump fences in the fields, where he has -been searching for mice. He is one of the very few -mammals that will shed blood simply for the -pleasure of killing.</p> - - -<h3>February Fifth</h3> - -<p>Students of nature will find it much easier to -identify birds if they take this opportunity before -the migrating birds arrive, to study carefully the -haunts of the common species. Many birds, you -know, are not found beyond the bounds of a certain -character of country chosen for them by nature. -So should you see in the deep woods a bird that you -at first take to be a Baltimore oriole or a bobolink, -a second thought will cause you to remember that -these birds are not found in the woods, consequently -you must be wrong.</p> - - -<h3>February Sixth</h3> - -<p>The meadow lark, horned lark, bobolink, grasshopper -sparrow, vesper sparrow, and savannah -sparrow, are all common birds of the fields and -meadows, and they are seldom seen in the dense -woods or in the villages.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">« 47 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 326px;"> -<img src="images/holk.png" width="326" height="294" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>PRAIRIE HORNED LARK.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">« 48 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">« 49 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">« 50 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Seventh</h3> - -<p>Among the birds that one may expect to see in -the woods and groves are the great-horned owl, -hermit thrush, wood thrush, blue-headed vireo, -golden-crowned thrush, scarlet tanager, black-throated -green warbler, and the black-throated blue -warbler.</p> - - -<h3>February Eighth</h3> - -<p>The swamp birds, and birds found along the -banks of lakes, rivers, and streams, and seldom seen -far from them, are the belted kingfisher, red-shouldered -blackbird, spotted and solitary sandpipers, -great blue, night, and little green herons, -and the osprey, or fish-hawk.</p> - - -<h3>February Ninth</h3> - -<p>Cleared woodlands overgrown with thick bushes, -shrubs, and vines, as well as the bushy thickets by -the waysides, are the favorite nesting-places for -another class of birds. In this category the common -varieties are the yellow-breasted chat, yellow warbler, -chestnut-sided warbler, Maryland yellow-throat, -catbird, brown thrasher, mocking-bird, -indigo bunting, and the black-billed and yellow-billed -cuckoos.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">« 51 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">« 52 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Tenth</h3> - -<p>The swimming birds spend the greater part of -their time in the water. Most of them nest in the -lake regions of Canada. They are the ducks, geese, -and swans, of which there are nearly fifty species; -the grebes and loons, eleven species; the gulls and -terns, thirty-seven species; and the cormorants and -pelicans, beside many other water birds that we -seldom or never see in Eastern United States.</p> - - -<h3>February Eleventh</h3> - -<p>Then, of course, there is a miscellaneous lot that -nest in the woods, orchards, village shade trees, or -any place where large trees are found. The flicker, -downy and hairy woodpeckers, screech owl, white-breasted -nuthatch, chickadee, robin, red-eyed vireo, -warbling vireo, and the yellow-throated vireo, comprise -some of the birds in this group.</p> - - -<h3>February Twelfth</h3> - -<p>About spring-holes the snow melts quickly and -the grass remains green all winter. It is here that -you will find the runways of meadow mice, or voles -(not moles). They live on the roots and tender -blades of grass, but at this time of the year hunger -often compels them to eat the bark from fruit trees, -vines, and berry bushes, and during severe winters -they do great damage to apple trees.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">« 53 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 455px;"> -<img src="images/loon.png" width="455" height="285" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>LOON.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">« 54 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">« 55 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">« 56 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>The whistle-wing duck, or American golden eye, -attracts your attention by the peculiar whistling -sound that it makes with its wings while flying. -As it gets its food (small fish, and mussels), by -diving, it is able to remain in the Northern States all -winter and feed in the swift-running streams, in -air-holes, or other open water.</p> - - -<h3>February Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>The skunk is one of the mammals who can hibernate -or not, just as he chooses. During prolonged -periods of cold, he takes shelter in a woodchuck's -burrow, and "cuddling down," goes to sleep but a -few inches from the rightful owner, who, in turn, -is also sleeping in a chamber back of the thin partition -of earth which he threw out in front of himself -when he retired in the fall.</p> - - -<h3>February Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>The first bird to actually voice the approach -of spring, is the jolly little chickadee. His spring -song, "<i>spring's-com-ing</i>," sounds more like -"<i>phœbe</i>" than does the note of the phœbe itself, -for which it is often mistaken. It is a clear, plaintive -whistle, easily imitated, and when answered, the -songster can often be called within a few feet of one, -where he will perch and repeat his song as long as -he receives a reply.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">« 57 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 364px;"> -<img src="images/wdck.png" width="364" height="601" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by Silas Lottridge.</p> - -<p>HIBERNATING WOODCHUCK.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">« 58 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">« 59 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">« 60 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>Even the coldest weather does not close the swift-running -streams, which gives the muskrats a chance -to exercise their legs. It makes you shudder to see -one swim along the edge of the ice, then dive, and -come to the surface with a mouthful of food. Climbing -upon the ice, he eats it, then silently slips into -the water again. His hair is so well oiled, that an -ordinary wetting does not penetrate to the skin.</p> - - -<h3>February Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>A crow's track can always be told from the tracks -of other birds of similar size, because there is a dash -in the snow made by the claw of his middle toe. -Again, his toes are long and set rather closely together, -and he seldom walks in a straight line, but -wanders about as though looking for something, -which is usually the case.</p> - - -<h3>February Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>Many persons believe that a porcupine has the -power to throw his quills, but it is not so. When -alarmed, he hurries, in a lumbering sort of way, for -shelter. If you close in on him, he stops at once, -ducks his head, humps his back, raises his quill -armor, and awaits your attack. Approach closely, -and he turns his back and tail toward you, and the -instant you touch him he strikes with his club-like -tail, also armed with quills, leaving souvenirs sticking -into whatever they come in contact with.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">« 61 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">« 62 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>As the migrating birds are beginning to arrive in -the Southern States, and will soon be North, let us -consider the subject of migration. The reason why -birds migrate North in the spring is not definitely-known. -Of course they leave the North because -cold and snow cut off their food supply; but why -in the spring do they abandon a country where food -is plentiful and make such long flights, apparently -for no other object than to bring forth their young -in the North?</p> - - -<h3>February Twentieth</h3> - -<p>Is it not wonderful how birds find their way, over -thousands of miles of land and water, to the same -locality and often to the same nest, season after -season? How do we know that this is true? The -reappearance of a bird with a crippled foot or wing, -or one that has been tamed to feed from one's hand, -is unmistakable proof.</p> - - -<h3>February Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>Ducks and geese make longest flights of any of -the migrating birds. They have been known to -cover three hundred miles without resting. The -smaller birds advance as the season advances, the -early arrivals being the ones that do not winter very -far south. Storm-waves often check their progress -and compel them to turn back a few hundred miles -and wait for the weather to moderate.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">« 63 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">« 64 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>Most birds migrate at night; and a continued -warm rain followed by a clear warm night is sure to -bring a host of new arrivals. If you listen on moonlight -nights, you can often hear their chirps and -calls as they pass over. During foggy weather -many meet with accidents by getting lost and being -blown out to sea, or by flying against monuments, -buildings, or lighthouses.</p> - - -<h3>February Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>Mr. Chapman tells us that, when migrating, -birds fly at a height of from one to three miles, and -that our Eastern birds leave the United States by -the way of the Florida peninsula. They are guided -in their flight by the coast-line and the river valleys.</p> - - -<h3>February Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>Some migrants fly in compact flocks of hundreds, -like the ducks, for example, while others, like the -swallows, spread out. Then, again, there are birds -that arrive in pairs or singly. With still others, the -male precedes his mate by a week or ten days. Not -infrequently a flock of birds containing several -different species will be seen. This is particularly -true of the blackbirds and grackles.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">« 65 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">« 66 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>You will notice that the birds are usually in full -song when they arrive from the South. Save for a -few calls and scolding notes, most of them are silent -during the winter, but as spring approaches they -begin to find their voices and probably are as glad -to sing as we are to hear them.</p> - - -<h3>February Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>The snow-shoe rabbit, or Northern varying hare, -changes its color twice a year. In winter it is snow -white, but at this season it is turning reddish-brown. -In the far Northwest these hares are so abundant -that they make deep trails through the snow, and -the Indians and white trappers and traders shoot -and snare large numbers of them for food.</p> - - -<h3>February Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>It makes no difference to the "chickaree," or -red squirrel, how much snow falls or how cold it -gets. He has laid by a stock of provisions and he is -not dependent on the food the season furnishes. -He is as spry and happy during the coldest blizzard -as he is on a midsummer day, for he knows well -where the hollow limb or tree-trunk is that contains -his store of nuts or grain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">« 67 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">« 68 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>February Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>The Carolina wren is the largest member of the -wren family in the Eastern United States. It breeds -sparingly in Southern New York and New England, -but is common about Washington, D. C., where it -is a resident. It is found in the forests, thickets, -and undergrowth along streams and lakes. Mr. -Hoffman says that its song "is so loud and clear -that it can be heard easily a quarter of a mile."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">« 69 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">« 70 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="March" id="March"><span class="antiqua">March</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>March First</h3> - -<p>A lady once asked me how to destroy the "insect -eggs" on the under side of fern leaves. The ferns -are flowerless plants, and they produce spores -instead of seeds. Usually the spores are arranged -in dotted lines, on the underside of the leaves (or -fronds as they are called), and these are the "insect -eggs" the lady referred to.</p> - - -<h3>March Second</h3> - -<p>Even at this early date the female great-horned -owl or hoot owl, in some sections of the country, is -searching for a place to build her nest. She usually -selects an abandoned hawk's or a crow's nest, and -after laying her four chalky-white eggs, she is often -compelled to sit on them most of the night to prevent -them from freezing.</p> - - -<h3>March Third</h3> - -<p>A question that is often asked is, what do the -early migrating birds eat, when the ground is frozen -and insect life is still slumbering. If you knew -where to look, you would find many of the fruit-trees -and vines filled with dried, or frozen fruit. -Frozen apples and mountain-ash berries constitute -a large part of the robin's and the cedar-bird's food -early in the spring, and the bluebirds and cedar-birds -eat the shriveled barberry fruit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">« 71 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">« 72 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Fourth</h3> - -<p>In Florida, the black bear can get food throughout -the entire year, but in the North he is compelled -to hibernate during the winter. He is now beginning -to think of leaving his den (in a cave, crevice -of the rocks, or under the roots of a partially upturned -tree) to begin his summer vacation. We are -apt to think that bears are poor when they leave -the den, but this is not always true, although their -pelage does get very much worn from coming in -contact with protuberances in their winter quarters.</p> - - -<h3>March Fifth</h3> - -<p>The first plant to thrust its head above ground -and proclaim the coming of spring is the skunk -cabbage, or swamp cabbage. Even before the -snow has entirely left, the plant will melt a hole and -by its own warmth keep itself from freezing. In -many localities at this date the leathery hoods are -several inches above the ground.</p> - - -<h3>March Sixth</h3> - -<p>In America the cowbird, like the European -cuckoo, lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. All -of our American cuckoos build their nests and -raise their young in a manner creditable to parents.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">« 73 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">« 74 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Seventh</h3> - -<p>Clinging to the cliffs and rocks in the forests, the -dark green leathery leaves of the polypody fern are -nearly as fresh and green as when first snowed -under. Hunt among the clusters until you find a -fertile frond, then examine the back of it and see -how closely together the spores are placed.</p> - - -<h3>March Eighth</h3> - -<p>We will awaken some morning to find that during -the night the song sparrows have arrived from the -South; not all of them, to be sure, but just a few -that are anxious to push North and begin nesting. -All winter their merry song has been hushed, but -now it gushes forth, not to stop again until the -molting season in August.</p> - - - -<h3>March Ninth</h3> - -<p>A porcupine should never be called a hedgehog. -The hedgehog, an insectivorous animal, inhabiting -Europe, is not found in the Western Hemisphere. -It rolls itself into a ball when attacked, and the -spines, which <i>do not come out</i>, are shorter, duller, -and less formidable than those of the porcupine.</p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">« 75 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 481px;"> -<img src="images/hghg.png" width="481" height="363" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by E. R. Sanborn.</p> - -<p>EUROPEAN HEDGEHOG.</p></div> -</div> -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">« 76 »</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">« 77 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">« 78 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Tenth</h3> - -<p>People, knowing that the robin is an early spring -arrival, are always alert to see or hear the first one. -Consequently the first song that catches their ear -is supposed to be that of a robin, whereas often it -is the spring song of the white-breasted nuthatch, -which really has no resemblance to the robin's -song.</p> - - -<h3>March Eleventh</h3> - -<p>When you see a bird with a crest (not one that -simply raises its head feathers) it must be one of the -following species: A blue jay, tufted titmouse, -pileated woodpecker, cardinal grosbeak, (also -called redbird and cardinal), Bohemian waxwing, -or a cedar-bird. These are the only birds inhabiting -the Eastern States that wear true crests. The -belted kingfisher and many of the ducks and herons -have ruffs and plumes but these can scarcely be -considered crests.</p> - - -<h3>March Twelfth</h3> - -<p>Some scientists contend that, owing to their -intelligence, ants should rank next to man and -before the anthropoid apes. They have soldiers -that raid other ant colonies and capture eggs, and -when the eggs hatch, the young are kept as slaves; -they have nurses that watch and care for the eggs -and helpless larvę, and cows (<i>Aphids</i>) that are -tended with almost human intelligence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">« 79 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">« 80 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>The Audubon Society has stopped the slaughter -of grebes. Before the enactment of the laws framed -by the society, these duck-like birds were killed for -their snow-white breasts, which were used for decorating -(?) women's hats. Grebes are now migrating -to the lakes of the North, where they build floating -nests of reeds.</p> - - -<h3>March Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>The only sure way to tell a venomous snake is to -kill the reptile, open its mouth with a stick, and look -for the hollow, curved fangs. When not in use they -are compressed against the roof of the mouth, -beneath the reptile's eyes. They are hinged, as you -can see if you pull them forward with a pencil. -The venom is contained in a sack hidden beneath -the skin at the base of each fang.</p> - - -<h3>March Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>As a mimic and a persistent songster, the mocking-bird -has no rival, but when quality is considered, -I think we have several songsters that are its equal. -The bobolink and the winter wren both have -rollicking songs that are inspiring and wonderful, -but to my ear there are no songs that equal those -of the hermit thrush and the wood thrush. Still, -the selection of a bird vocalist is a matter of choice -which is often influenced by one's association with -the singer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">« 81 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">« 82 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>If you will look into one of the large cone-shaped -paper nests of the bald-faced hornet, which hang -to the limbs of the trees or under the eaves of the -house, you will be almost certain to find a few house -flies that have passed the winter between the folds -of paper. They now show signs of life, and are -ready to make their appearance during the first -warm spell.</p> - - -<h3>March Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>Before the snow has left, you are likely to see -dirt-stained spots on the hillsides where the woodchuck -or ground-hog has thrown out the partition -of dirt which kept the winter air from his bed-chamber. -Of course he has not come out for good, -but on warm, sunny days he will make short excursions -from his burrow to see how the season is -progressing. In the early spring, before vegetation -sprouts, he finds it difficult to find good food in -plenty.</p> - -<h3>March Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>The herring gulls that have been about our -harbors and bays all winter, will not remain much -longer. They are about to leave for their nesting -grounds, in the marshes and on the islands of New -England and Canada. In the fall they will return -with their young, which wear a grayish plumage.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">« 83 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">« 84 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>In winter meadow mice build neat little nests of -dried grass on the ground beneath the snow. They -are hollow balls, about the size of a hat crown, with -a small opening in one or two sides. The outside -is made of coarse, rank grass, while the lining is of -the finest material obtainable. The heat from the -little animals' bodies soon melts an air chamber -around the nest, into which lead many tunnels -through the snow. As soon as the snow has melted, -you will find these nests scattered about the fields -and meadows, but they are empty now.</p> - - -<h3>March Twentieth</h3> - -<p>The fish crow is a small edition of the common -crow. He is a resident of the Atlantic and Gulf -coasts from South Carolina to Louisiana. His note -resembles the "caw" of the Northern crow, minus -the <i>w</i>, being more of a croak: "<i>cak, cak, cak, cak</i>." -You will find him on the coast and along the rivers.</p> - - -<h3>March Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>The white-tailed deer of the deep forests have -dropped their antlers by this time, and a new set -has started to grow. (Elk, moose, caribou, and -deer have antlers; sheep, goats and cattle have -horns, and retain them throughout life.) Antlers -are cast off annually, and a new set will grow in -about seven months.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">« 85 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 452px;"> -<img src="images/mdms.png" width="452" height="359" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by Alden Lottridge.</p> - -<p>NEST OF A MEADOW MOUSE EXPOSED BY MELTING SNOW.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">« 86 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">« 87 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">« 88 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>The purple grackle, or crow blackbird, should -make his appearance in Southern New York about -this time. He is the large, handsome fellow who -lives in colonies and builds his nest in pine, hemlock, -and spruce groves near human habitations. -As soon as his young are hatched, he frequents the -banks of rivers and lakes and walks along in quest -of insects. He is one of the few birds that <i>walks</i>.</p> - - -<h3>March Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>Screech owls are now nesting in natural cavities -in apple-trees, but they should not be disturbed, -for they feed on mice, beetles and other harmful -animals. Owls are very interesting birds, but their -wisdom is only in their looks. Their eyes are -stationary, so in order to look sidewise, they must -turn their head. Watch one and notice him dilate -and contract the pupil of his eyes, according to -the light, and the distance of the object at which -he is gazing.</p> - - -<h3>March Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>The American goldfinch, thistlebird, or wild -canary, often spends the winter with us, but in his -grayish-brown suit he is not recognized by his -friends who only know him in his summer garb of -black and yellow. The male and the female look -alike now, but soon the male will don gorgeous -colors and wear them until after the nesting season.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">« 89 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 205px;"> -<img src="images/scow.png" width="205" height="331" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>SCREECH OWL.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">« 90 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">« 91 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">« 92 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>The scarlet heads of the velvet, or stag-horn -sumach are very conspicuous on the rocky hillsides -and gravelly bottoms. The fruit of the poison -sumach hangs more like a bunch of grapes, while -the stag-horn fruit is in a massive cluster. Persons -susceptible to poisonous plants should never -approach any poisonous shrub, particularly when -the body is overheated.</p> - - -<h3>March Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>From the swamps and river-banks comes the -clatter of loud blackbird voices. Flocks containing -hundreds of these noisy fellows perch in the tops -of the trees, resting after their long migration flight. -From the babble, you recognize the "<i>konk-a-ree</i>" -of the red-shouldered blackbird, the harsh squeaky -notes of the rusty grackle, and the purple grackle. -As you approach, the flock takes flight, and you -discover that all of the red-wing blackbirds are -males; the females have not yet arrived.</p> - - -<h3>March Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>In the dead of winter you may sometimes see a -belted kingfisher along some swift-running stream, -but as a rule, north of Virginia, few stay with us -throughout the year. Most of them appear about -this time, and you see them perched on some low -limb overhanging a pond or a stream.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">« 93 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">« 94 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>From bogs, shaded woods, and sheltered highways. -Nature's question-marks, the "fiddle-heads," -appear above the loam. They are baby ferns, -preparing to expand and wave their graceful leaves -in the face of all beholders. These queer, woolly -sprouts the Indians use for food, and birds also -eat them.</p> - - -<h3>March Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>The clear, sweet, and plaintive whistle "<i>pee-a-peabody, peabody, peabody</i>," -(which to the French -Canadian is interpreted "<i>la-belle-Canada, Canada, Canada</i>") -of the white-throated sparrow, or -Canada bird, is a common, early spring song, now -heard in the swamps and thickets. This sparrow -may be found about New York City all winter, but -it passes North to nest.</p> - - -<h3>March Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>Beneath hickory-nut. Walnut, and butternut -trees, you are sure to find large numbers of nut-shells -that have been rifled of their contents by red -squirrels, chipmunks, meadow mice, and white-footed -mice. In nearly every instance, the intelligent -little rodents have gnawed through the flat -sides of the shell, directly into the meat, and taken -it out as "clean as a whistle." But who "<i>taught</i> -them" to select the <i>flat</i> side?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">« 95 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">« 96 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>March Thirty-first</h3> - -<p>The noisy kildeer is rare in Pennsylvania and -New York, but it is a common plover in Ohio. -Its note, "<i>kildeer, kildeer, kildeer</i>," is emitted while -the bird is on the ground or in the air. This plover -is very abundant in the far West, and when a -hunter is stalking antelope, it often flies about his -head, calling loudly and warning the game of -danger. For this trait it is sometimes called "tell-tale -plover."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">« 97 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">« 98 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="April" id="April"><span class="antiqua">April</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>April First</h3> - -<p>A question which puzzles scientists, is how the -turtles and frogs (which have lungs) are able, at -the close of summer, to bury themselves in the mud -at the bottom of a river or pond and remain there -until the following spring. The frogs appear a few -days before the turtles are seen.</p> - - -<h3>April Second</h3> - -<p>The meadowlark's song, "<i>spring-o-the-year</i>," is -heard at its best in this month and in May; but the -note is one of the few that may be frequently heard -in southern New England, during the entire winter. -As its name implies, the meadowlark is a bird of the -fields and meadows only, but it will often alight in -the top of a tall tree and send forth its joyful song. -Watch and listen for it now.</p> - - -<h3>April Third</h3> - -<p>As soon as spring arrives and the ice has left the -streams, hordes of May or shad fly nymphs can be -found working their way against the current a few -inches from the shore. Catch a few of them and -put them in a tumbler of water and watch their -external or "trachea" gills working. The adult -insects are abundant in summer, but at this time -of the year (even earlier), the stone flies which -flit over the melting snow are often mistaken for -May, or shad flies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">« 99 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 408px;"> -<img src="images/mdlk.png" width="408" height="506" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>MEADOW LARK</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">« 100 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">« 101 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">« 102 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Fourth</h3> - -<p>The name "purple finch" is very misleading, for -the head, neck, breast, and throat of the bird are -more crimson than purple. The female is often -mistaken for a sparrow, as her color is dull, and -her breast streaked. This finch often takes up its -abode in the coniferous trees in the villages. "Its -song bursts forth as if from some uncontrollable -stress of gladness, and is repeated uninterruptedly -over and over again." (Bicknell.)</p> - - -<h3>April Fifth</h3> - -<p>If the season is not belated, you may expect to -find the blood-root peeping through the rocky soil, -on exposed brushy hillsides, or along the margins of -the woods. You must look for it early, for its petals -drop soon after the flower blossoms. The Indians -used the blood-red juice which flows when the root -is broken, to decorate their bodies.</p> - - -<h3>April Sixth</h3> - -<p>The brush lots, roadways, and open forests in -the Northern States, are now filled with juncoes on -the way to their nesting grounds in Canada and -the mountainous portions of this country. They -are with us but a few weeks and will not be seen -again until next fall. The pinkish bill and the -two white outer tail-feathers are of great assistance -in identifying this bird, for they are very conspicuous -when it flies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">« 103 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">« 104 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Seventh</h3> - -<p>While walking along the bank of a stream you -are quite apt to surprise a pair of pickerel lying -side by side in shallow water. Save for the vibration -of their fins, and the movement of their gills, they -do not stir. As you approach they dart off, and -you see a roily spot, where they have taken shelter -among the aquatic plants.</p> - - -<h3>April Eighth</h3> - -<p>The birds having white tail-feathers, or tail-feathers -that are tipped with white, which show -conspicuously when the owners are on the wing, are -the meadowlark, vesper sparrow, chewink, snowflake, -junco, blue jay, white-breasted nuthatch, -Northern shrike, kingbird, hairy woodpecker, -downy woodpecker, nighthawk, and whip-poor-will.</p> - - -<h3>April Ninth</h3> - -<p>The clustering liverwort, hepatica, or squirrel -cup, with its fuzzy stems and pretty flowers of -various shades of blue, grow side by side with the -white wood anemone, or wind-flower. As soon as -the wood anemone blossoms, a slight breeze causes -the petals to fall; that is why it is called "wind-flower."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">« 105 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 226px;"> -<img src="images/dowp.png" width="226" height="341" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>DOWNY WOODPECKER.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">« 106 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">« 107 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">« 108 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Tenth</h3> - -<p>One of the birds that sportsmen have protected -by prohibiting spring shooting, is Wilson's snipe, -or jacksnipe. Like many of the early migrants it -does not nest in the United States; consequently it -is only seen in the spring and fall. It is a bird of -the marsh and bog, seldom seen except by those -who know where and how to find it.</p> - - -<h3>April Eleventh</h3> - -<p>The gall-flies, or gall-gnats, cut tiny incisions in -the oak leaves and golden-rod stems, and lay their -eggs between the tissues. These wounds produce -large swellings which furnish the larval insects with -food. If broken into at this season, one discovers -that the galls on the golden-rod stems are pithy. -Embedded in the pith is a white "worm," or a -small black capsule, but if the "gall" is empty, a -hole will be found where the fly emerged.</p> - - -<h3>April Twelfth</h3> - -<p>The red-shouldered hawk is one of our common -birds of prey. Its loud, somewhat cat-like cry, -coming from the dense hardwood forests which -border swamps, lakes, and rivers, at once attracts -attention. A pair has been known to return to the -same nesting locality for fifteen consecutive years. -This hawk has proved itself to be of inestimable -value to the farmer, and deserves his protection.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">« 109 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">« 110 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>For the past six weeks, chipmunks have occasionally -come out from their nests of dried grass -and leaves, made in one of their several tunnels beneath -the line of frost under a stone pile, or a -stump. Now they are seen every day. It is only -of recent years that we have discovered that chipmunks -destroy grubs and insects, thus rendering -service for the nuts and grain that they carry away -in the fall.</p> - - -<h3>April Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>Have you noticed how the robins congregate in -the evening and battle with each other on the house-tops -until dark? It is during the mating season -that these fights take place. Long after the other -birds have gone to bed. Cock Robin is awake, and -shouting loud and defiant challenges to whoever -will accept them.</p> - - -<h3>April Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>Fungi are the lowest forms of plant life. They -subsist on living and dead organic matter, and not -from the soil, as do most other plants. The bread -molds, downy mildew on decaying fruit and vegetables, -and the fungus that kills fish and insects, are -all forms of fungi. Patches of luxuriant grass are -seen where decaying fungi have fertilized the soil.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">« 111 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">« 112 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>The continuous "<i>chip-chip-chip-chip-chip-chip——</i>" -of the chipping sparrow, like a toy insect -that must run down before it can stop, is always a -welcome sound at this time of the year. He can -easily be tamed to take food from one's hand. -Although a neat nest-builder, "chippy" selects -poor nesting sites, and often the wind upsets his -hair-lined cup and destroys the eggs or young.</p> - - -<h3>April Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>At first the song of the spring peeper, which is -really a <i>frog</i>, is heard only in the evening, but as the -days get warmer, a perfect chorus of piping voices -comes from swamps and stagnant pools. He -strongly objects to singing before an audience, but -it is well worth one's while to wait patiently and -catch him in the act of inflating the skin beneath his -chin.</p> - - -<h3>April Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>On account of its tufted head, and clear, ringing -song, "<i>peto, peto, peto, peto</i>" or "<i>de, de, de, de</i>," -much like a chickadee (Chapman) the tufted -titmouse is a well-known bird throughout its range: -eastern United States, from northern New Jersey, -and southern Iowa to the plains.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">« 113 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">« 114 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>Where is the country boy or girl who does not -know the "woolly bear," or "porcupine caterpillar," -the chunky, hairy, rufous and black-banded -caterpillar, that curls up when touched and does -not uncoil until danger is over? They are the larvę -of the Isabella moth, and the reason for their -appearance on the railroad tracks and wagon roads, -is that they have just finished hibernating and are -now looking for a suitable place to retire and change -to chrysalides and then into moths.</p> - - -<h3>April Twentieth</h3> - -<p>In the Northern States, where the red-headed -woodpecker is not very common, it is apt to be -confused with other species of woodpeckers. The -red-headed woodpecker is <i>scarlet down to its shoulders</i>. -The eastern woodpeckers that have the red -crescent on the back of the head are flicker, downy, -and hairy woodpeckers.</p> - - -<h3>April Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>The gardener, while spading about the roots of a -tree, will often throw out a number of white, chunky -grubs, about the size of the first joint of one's little -finger. These are the larvę of the June, or May -beetle. In the fall, they dig below frost line, where -they remain until the following spring. After -three years of this life, they emerge from the ground -in May and June, perfect beetles.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">« 115 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">« 116 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>The myrtle, or yellow-rumped warbler, which -spends the winter from Massachusetts, south, into -the West Indies and Central America, and nests -usually north of the United States, is very common -now. It is found in scattered flocks. If in doubt -of its identity, look for the yellow patch on the -crown, and on the rump.</p> - - -<h3>April Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>The dainty little spring beauty, or claytonia, is -another of the early blooming flowers. "We look -for the spring beauty in April or May, and often -find it in the same moist places—on a brook's -edge or skirting of wet woods—as the yellow -adder's tongue." (Dana.)</p> - - -<h3>April Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>Toads are now beginning to leave their winter -beds, in the leaves, under stones and the like. Did -you ever tie a piece of red cloth on a string, dangle -it over a toad's head, to see him follow and snap at -it? Toads exude a strong acid secretion from the -pores of the skin, which is distasteful to most -predatory animals, excepting the snakes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">« 117 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">« 118 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>The yellow-bellied sapsucker is the only member -of the woodpecker family whose presence is objectionable. -His habit of puncturing the bark of -trees and then visiting the cups to catch the sap, is -well known. At any time of the year, row after -row of these holes may be seen on fruit-trees (usually -apple and pear)—written evidence of his guilt. -See if you can catch him in the act.</p> - - -<h3>April Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>Turkey buzzards, or vultures, are repulsive and -ungainly when on the ground, but they are by far -the most graceful of all our large birds when in -flight. They are rarely seen in New England, or -in the Northern States of the Middle Atlantic group, -but in the South they are common throughout the -year. Mounting high in the air, they circle 'round -and 'round with scarcely a flutter of the wings, but -nervously tilting to right or left, like a tight-rope -walker with his balancing pole.</p> - - -<h3>April Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>This is about the time that young red foxes get -their first sight of the wide, wide world. In the -Southern States they have been prowling about -with their parents for weeks; but north of New -York City the farmer's boy, as he now goes for the -cows in the morning, will frequently see a fox family -playing about the entrance to their burrow.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">« 119 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 487px;"> -<img src="images/fox.png" width="487" height="332" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>FOX AT DEN.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">« 120 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">« 121 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">« 122 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>April Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>So ruthlessly has the trailing arbutus, or "May-flower" -as it is called in New England, been destroyed, -that in places where it was once common, -it is now almost extinct. Of its odor, Neltje Blanchan -says: "Can words describe the fragrancy of -the very breath of spring—that delicious commingling -of the perfumes of arbutus, the odors of pines, -and the snow-soaked soil just warming into life?"</p> - - -<h3>April Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>Why are the robins so abundant? Because they -are all pushing forward to their Northern nesting -grounds. Even in Alaska you would find a few -pairs that have made the long, perilous journey in -safety, raising their young in the balsam-poplars -along some glacial stream, while in Georgia and -Florida, where large flocks of them winter, not one -would now be seen.</p> - - -<h3>April Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>If you will sow a few sunflower seeds in a corner -of the garden and let the plants go to seed, in the -fall you are sure to have feathered visitors in the -shape of goldfinches, chickadees, and nuthatches. -The nuthatches (no doubt thinking of the hard -times to come) will carry the seeds away, and store -them in the crevices of the bark of trees.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">« 123 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">« 124 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="May" id="May"><span class="antiqua">May</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>May First</h3> - -<p>Of uniform grayish color, swift in flight, and -shaped like cigars with wings, the chimney swifts -might well be called the torpedo boats of the air. -They never alight outside of chimneys or old buildings, -and are usually seen flying high above the -house-tops. For hours they chase each other -through the air, keeping up a continuous "<i>chip, -chip, chip, chip, chip, chip</i>," whenever the participants -of the game come near each other.</p> - - -<h3>May Second</h3> - -<p>No sooner does the frost leave the ground, than -the moles begin to work close to the surface, making -ridges where the earth is soft, and throwing out -small mounds, when it is packed firm. The star-nose -mole inhabits damp soil, while the common -mole likes the dry highlands. Although moles' -eyes are small, he who thinks that they cannot see, -should hold his finger before one's nose and see -how quickly it will be bitten.</p> - - -<h3>May Third</h3> - -<p>The marsh marigold, which grows in thick -clusters in the swamps and along the streams, is -now in full bloom. These flowers are often sold on -the streets for "cowslips," a name wholly incorrect. -The leaves make fine greens.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">« 125 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 329px;"> -<img src="images/chsw.png" width="329" height="439" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>CHIMNEY SWIFT.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">« 126 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">« 127 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">« 128 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Fourth</h3> - -<p>By this time one of your bird houses should be -tenanted by a pair of house wrens. They migrate -at night and the male arrives about a week in -advance of his mate. Both birds assist in building -the nest and in raising the young. As soon as the -first brood has been reared, the lining of the nest is -removed, and a new one built before the second set -of six eggs is laid. Wrens may easily be tamed -to take spiders and caterpillars (not the hairy ones) -from the end of a stick and even from one's hand.</p> - - -<h3>May Fifth</h3> - -<p>How much easier would be the work of nest -building if we provided the birds with nesting -material. Scatter strips of cloth, and pieces of -coarse twine on the ground for the robins; hair -from the tail and mane of horses for the chipping -sparrows and wrens; twine and horse-hair for the -orioles; bits of "waste" for the yellow warblers, -and grapevine bark for the catbirds. None of -these strands should be more than four inches long.</p> - -<h3>May Sixth</h3> - -<p>In some localities the shad-tree is now in full -blossom. As you pause to cut off a few twigs, -your ears are greeted by a never ceasing chorus of -toad music. This is the toad's "love song"—a -high-pitched, somewhat tremulous, and rather -monotonous note.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">« 129 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 340px;"> -<img src="images/wren.png" width="340" height="437" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by J. Alden Loring.</p> - -<p>ONE OF TOUR BIRD-HOUSES SHOULD BE TENANTED BY A WREN.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">« 130 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">« 131 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">« 132 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Seventh</h3> - -<p>Perched upon a stump, fence post, or low limb -of a tree, the Bob-white sends forth his clear, far-reaching -whistle "<i>Bob-white</i>." In the North this -bird is known to every boy as Bob-white, or quail, -while in the South he is called "partridge." The -last two names are misnomers, for we have no -native quails or partridges in this country.</p> - - -<h3>May Eighth</h3> - -<p>The fronds of the sensitive fern resemble somewhat -the leaves of the oak-tree, and in some localities -it is called the oak-leaf fern. It is found in -damp, shady spots, and is one of the common ferns -of New England. The delicate, light green leaves -wither soon after being picked, and it is the first of -the ferns to fall under the touch of Jack Frost.</p> - - -<h3>May Ninth</h3> - -<p>A low, squeaking sound made with the lips is -understood by some birds as a signal of distress. -Orioles, wrens, catbirds, cuckoos, warblers, vireos, -robins, and many other birds may be called close -to one, particularly if the intruder is near their -nest. You should learn this trick, for often it is -possible to coax a shy bird from a thicket in order -that it may be identified.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">« 133 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">« 134 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Tenth</h3> - -<p>In summer the most common of our Northern -wood warblers, yet one of the most difficult to see, -on account of its liking for the tops of the tall trees, -is the black-throated green warbler. Its song is a -cheerful, interrogative, "<i>Will you co-ome, will you -co-ome, will you?</i>" (Wright), or "a droning zee, -zee, ze-ee, zee." (Chapman and Reed.)</p> - - -<h3>May Eleventh</h3> - -<p>Why is it that the usually frisky and noisy red -squirrels have become so quiet? If you could look -into the nest of dried grass and bark, in a hollow -tree-trunk, or a deserted woodpecker's nest, you -would understand their reason for not wishing to -make their presence known. Keep close watch of -the opening, and some day you will see several little -heads appear, and in a few days a family of squirrels -will be scrambling about the trees. Pretty and -graceful as these squirrels are, they do great damage -by destroying the eggs and young of birds.</p> - - -<h3>May Twelfth</h3> - -<p>Wintering south of Central America, the veery, -or Wilson's thrush, should now appear in the -vicinity of Albany. "A weird rhythm" is the -expression sometimes used to describe the song of -this bird. Weird it certainly is, and beautiful, as -well, coming from the depths of some sombre wood, -growing more sombre still as the night falls.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">« 135 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">« 136 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>The wood thrush is much larger than the veery, -and easily distinguished from the six other species -of true thrushes of North America, by the <i>large -black spots on the breast, and the bright cinnamon -head</i>. As you listened for the veery, you probably -heard the wood thrush's pure liquid song—so far -away that you could not catch the low after-notes. -To me, the flute-like quality of the wood thrush's -song makes it the most enchanting of all bird -music.</p> - - -<h3>May Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>At intervals during the day, a distinct booming -sound is heard coming from the forests. At first -the beats are slow and measured, but as they are -repeated the time quickens, until they finally blend, -and then gradually die away. This is the "drumming" -of the ruffed grouse, produced by the cock -bird beating with his wings against the sides of his -body. At this time of the year it is his love song, -but you can hear it at other seasons as well.</p> - - -<h3>May Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>Visit again the locality where a week ago you -heard so many toads, and what do you find? Long -strings of gelatine-covered specks strewn on the -bottom of the pond. These black spots are the -eggs of the toad, and the gelatine is put around -them to protect them and to furnish the first meal -for the young polywogs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">« 137 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">« 138 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>To find a hummingbird's nest, snugly saddled -on a branch of a maple or apple tree, ten feet or -more above the ground, requires patience and keen -eyesight. Unless you have seen one, you almost -surely would mistake it for a bunch of lichens. -It is a neat little structure of downy material -covered with bits of lichens, fastened with spider -and caterpillar webs.</p> - -<h3>May Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>It would interest you to visit a zoological park to -study the growing antlers of a deer or an elk. A -pair of black antlers, "in the velvet," as the hunters -call it, have taken the place of the bony-colored -ones shed in March. Just now they are somewhat -flexible, and feverishly hot from the steady flow of -blood that feeds them. If they are injured at this -time, the owner might bleed to death.</p> - - -<h3>May Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>"<i>Caw, caw, caw, ka, ka, ka, ka-k-k-k-r-r-r-r</i>." -It sounds as though a crow were being strangled. -Looking in that direction you see a large black -bird fly from the woods to a meadow. After filling -her beak with food she returns. No sooner is she -within sight of the young crows, than they flap -their wings, open their mouths and <i>caw</i> until the -stifled, guttural sounds tell you that the morsel is -being swallowed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">« 139 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">« 140 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>When perched or flying the bobolink sends forth -his jolly song in such a flood of ecstasy that you -would scarcely be surprised to see him suddenly -explode and vanish in a cloud of feathers. Would -that we could overlook the damage he does to -Southern rice crops.</p> - -<h3>May Twentieth</h3> - -<p>Before now you have noticed the dainty little -Jack-in-the-pulpit in the damp, shady woods and -marshes. Would you suppose that this innocent -looking plant is really an insect trap? The thick -fleshy "corm" when boiled is quite palatable, -but who would think so after digging it from the -ground, cutting into it, and feeling the sharp -prickly sensation it gives when touched with the -tongue?</p> - - -<h3>May Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>The song of the brown thrasher can easily be -mistaken for that of a catbird, particularly as both -birds inhabit roadways, thickets, and open brush -lots. The male, while singing to his mate, nearly -always perches <i>in the top</i> of a tall bush or tree. His -song is a disconnected combination of pleasant musical -tones, which might be arranged so as to sound -thrush-like in effect, but they are usually uttered in -pairs or trios, rather than in the modulated phrase -of the hermit or the wood thrush.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">« 141 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 368px;"> -<img src="images/bobo.png" width="368" height="463" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by J. Alden Loring.</p> - -<p>MALE BOBOLINK IN SUMMER PLUMAGE.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">« 142 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">« 143 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">« 144 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>Look intently at the bottom of shallow streams -or ponds and you will see what appear to be small -twigs and sandy lumps moving about like snails. -These are the larvę of the caddis fly. Pick up one -and poke the creature with a straw. You now -discover that it lives in a case made of gravel, or -sand, or tiny shells, or pieces of bark, all glued -together in a perfect mask.</p> - - -<h3>May Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>Keep watch of any brown bird about the size -and shape of a female English sparrow, that you -see hopping about the trees and bushes, peeping -under bridges, and looking into hollow limbs of -trees. She is a cowbird, or cow bunting, looking -for the nest of another bird who is away for the -moment. When she finds one, she will slip into it -and drop one of her eggs, which will be hatched -and the birdling reared by the foster mother, unless -she can manage to get rid of it.</p> - - -<h3>May Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>The Greeks were persistent in their belief that -the harmless red, or fire salamander, found only -in damp and shady places, was insensible to heat. -In reality the reverse is true. Its delicate skin -cannot even withstand the sun's rays. During -sunny days it hides under leaves and logs, coming -forth only after storms, or at night.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">« 145 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">« 146 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>If there are currant or gooseberry bushes about -your grounds, you must know the yellow warbler, -or summer yellowbird. He is the little chap, -almost pure yellow, who hunts carefully under -each leaf for the caterpillars that attack the bushes. -The female lacks the reddish streaks on the under -parts, and her crown is not as bright as that of the -male. Do not confuse this bird with the male -American goldfinch, which just now has a yellow -body, but black crown, wings, and tail.</p> - - -<h3>May Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>Quite unlike the strings of beady eggs of the -toad, the eggs of the frogs are attached in a bulky -mass to sticks or to the limbs of aquatic plants in -sluggish or stagnant water. But there is the same -gelatine-like casing around each black egg.</p> - - -<h3>May Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>In the Northern States, where he nests, the redstart -is often seen in the shade-trees along our -streets, as well as in the groves and forests. "'<i>Ching, -ching, chee; ser-wee, swee, swee-e-s</i>' he sings, and -with wings and tail outspread whirls about, dancing -from limb to limb, darts upward, floats downward, -blows hither and thither like a leaf in the breeze." -(Chapman.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">« 147 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">« 148 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>In the evening you often see a chimney swift (it -is not a <i>swallow</i>) flying back and forth over dead -tree-tops. Each time it pauses as though about to -alight, but after what seems to be a momentary -hesitation, it passes on. With a field-glass you -might detect it snapping off the twigs and carrying -them into an unused chimney, where it fastens -them to the bricks with a glutinous saliva. One -after another the twigs are glued together until a -bracket-like basket is made, and in this the four -white eggs are laid.</p> - - -<h3>May Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>It is now time to look in the meadows for the -dainty blue-eyed grass, or blue star; in the marshes -for the purple or water avens, and the white hellebore, -or Indian poke; and in the damp shady -woods for the blossoming mandrake, or Mayapple.</p> - - -<h3>May Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>Judging from the name, one might expect to -find the pewee, or wood pewee, in the woods only, -but his high plaintive "<i>P-e-w-e-e, p-e-w-e-e</i>," first -rising, then falling, coming from the tops of the -village shade-trees, is one of the last notes heard -at the close of the day. Short as the song is, he -frequently sings but half of it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">« 149 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">« 150 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>May Thirty-first</h3> - -<p>Birds are often great sufferers from heat. The -open bill, drooping wings, and panting body, all -testify to this fact. A bird sitting on an unshaded -nest during a hot day is an object for our pity. -Fill flower-pot saucers with fresh water, and place -them in depressions about the grounds. The birds -will get great relief from these drinking and bathing -dishes, and your opportunity for observation will -be increased.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">« 151 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">« 152 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="June" id="June"><span class="antiqua">June</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>June First</h3> - -<p>One night last summer, a moth laid a circular -cluster of eggs at the end of a limb. Not many days -ago the eggs hatched and the caterpillars have -begun to spin a silk tent in the crotch of several -branches. Every time these tent caterpillars (for -that is their name) go out to feed upon the -leaves, they spin a thread by which they find their -way home. After they have eaten their fill, they -will drop to the ground to seek a hiding-place -and there turn into moths.</p> - - -<h3>June Second</h3> - -<p>The fertile fronds of the cinnamon fern break -ground before the sterile ones come up. They -<i>appear</i> to shoot from the centre of the crown-shaped -cluster, and are light cinnamon color when mature. -By the last of June the fertile fronds have withered, -leaving only the sterile ones which the amateur is -quite sure to confuse with the interrupted fern.</p> - - -<h3>June Third</h3> - -<p>While driving in the country your attention is -often drawn to the swallows that are flying about -the barns. Two species are common, one has <i>two -long tail feathers that fork</i>. This is the <i>barn -swallow</i>, and his mate builds her nest <i>inside</i> the -barn, <i>on a rafter</i> or <i>against the planking</i>. It is -always <i>open on top</i> and lined with soft material.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">« 153 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 331px;"> -<img src="images/brsw.png" width="331" height="282" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>BARN SWALLOW.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">« 154 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">« 155 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">« 156 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Fourth</h3> - -<p>The eave swallow <i>lacks the forked tail</i>, and the -rump is cinnamon-buff. Usually the female builds -her globular shaped mud nest <i>under the eaves</i> of -an unpainted barn. Hundreds of mud pellets are -neatly welded together and an opening is left in -the front. As these swallows also build against -cliffs, they are known as cliff swallows in some -localities.</p> - - -<h3>June Fifth</h3> - -<p>The nesting season is now at its height, and you -will soon see young birds about the grounds. -The old birds may be away looking for food. -Let us remember that it is better to let Nature -work out her own problems. Instead of catching -the birdlings and forcing them to eat unnatural -food (only to find them dead a few hours -later), put them back into the nest when it is -possible, or if they are strong enough, toss them -into the air and let them flutter to the branches of -a tree beyond the reach of cats.</p> - - -<h3>June Sixth</h3> - -<p>This is about the time that turtles hunt for a -sandy bank in which to make a depression where -they may deposit their eggs—that look so much -like ping-pong balls. The eggs are covered with -sand and left for the sun to hatch. The young dig -through the shallow covering and take to the water.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">« 157 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">« 158 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Seventh</h3> - -<p>If you wish to see one of the most gorgeous of -wood birds, the scarlet tanager, you must find him -now, for, after the nesting season, he loses his black -wings and tail and bright red dress, and dons the -sober green hue of his mate. You will find him -living in the maple groves, and the heavy forests -of maple, oak, beech, and chestnut. His song, -though not so loud as either, resembles both that -of the robin and the rose-breasted grosbeak.</p> - - -<h3>June Eighth</h3> - -<p>In the low-lying meadows, and in the marshes, -the towering stems of the blue flag, or blue iris, -have already blossomed. Nature has so constructed -this handsome flower, that were it not for -the visits of bees, and other insects, its seeds would -remain unfertilized.</p> - - -<h3>June Ninth</h3> - -<p>The orchard oriole is far from common north of -the States parallel with southern New York. It -migrates to Central America in winter, as does its -cousin, the Baltimore oriole, who is named for -Lord Baltimore. It lives in orchards, and you -should look in apple and pear trees for its graceful -pendent nest, built of the stems and blades of grass -neatly woven together, like the nest of a weaver -bird.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">« 159 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">« 160 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Tenth</h3> - -<p>When by pure strategy you have outwitted a pair -of bobolinks, and have succeeded in finding their -nest, you have indeed achieved a triumph. To be -successful, take your field-glasses, and secrete yourself -near a meadow where you can watch a pair of -bobolinks without being seen. Wait until one or -both birds have made repeated trips to a certain -spot, then with eyes riveted on the place, hurry -forward, and as the bird rises, drop your hat on the -spot and search carefully about it until the nest is -found.</p> - - -<h3>June Eleventh</h3> - -<p>The robin, song sparrow, vesper sparrow, chipping -sparrow, phœbe, and house wren by this time -have their first fledglings out of the nest. They -usually raise two, and sometimes three broods in a -season. While the father bird is busy caring for -the youngsters, the mother is building another nest -or laying a second set of eggs.</p> - - -<h3>June Twelfth</h3> - -<p>In damp low-lying fields at this season, beds of -bog cotton decorate the landscape. Its silken -tassels sway gracefully in the breeze, and at a -distance one could easily mistake them for true -flowers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">« 161 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">« 162 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>Although the meadow lark and the flicker are -about the same size, and each has a black patch on -its breast, they need never be confused. The flight, -as well as the difference in color, should help in -their identification. The flicker's flight is undulating; -while the meadow lark flies steadily, and -the wings move rapidly between short periods -of sailing. Again, the meadow lark's <i>outer tail -feathers</i> are white, while the flicker's <i>rump</i> is white, -both of which can be seen when the birds fly.</p> - - -<h3>June Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>Visit the pool or waterway where you discovered -the toad's eggs and you will find that they have -hatched. The little black polliwogs, or tadpoles, -have eaten their way out of the gelatine prison and -are now schooled at the edge of the water. They -subsist upon the decaying vegetation and minute -animal life.</p> - - -<h3>June Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>Our lawns are now the feeding ground of the -first brood of young robins, great overgrown, -gawky, mottle-breasted children, nearly as large -as their parents. What a ludicrous sight it is to see -them following their mother about, flapping their -wings, opening their mouths, and begging for food -every time she approaches them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">« 163 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">« 164 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>Leopard frogs and tiger frogs are often found in -the tall grass a mile or so from water. Food is -abundant and more easily caught in such places -than along the streams. By the waterways the -frog waits patiently for insects to pass, then springs -at one with open mouth and, whether successful or -not, he falls back into the water, swims ashore, -and awaits another morsel.</p> - - -<h3>June Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>A family of six young belted kingfishers perching -on the edge of a bank, preparatory to taking their -first flight, is a laughable sight indeed. Their -immense helmet-like crests, their short legs, and -their steel blue backs, give them a "cocky" appearance, -and remind one of a squad of policemen on -dress parade.</p> - - -<h3>June Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>If the bird observer upon his first birding trip -could be introduced to the song of a winter wren, -there is scarcely a doubt that he would be a bird -enthusiast from that minute. Mrs. Florence Merriam -Bailey has come nearest to describing its -song; "Full of trills, runs, and grace notes, it was -a tinkling, rippling roundelay."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">« 165 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 364px;"> -<img src="images/bkfs.png" width="364" height="349" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>BELTED KINGFISHER.</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">« 166 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">« 167 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">« 168 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>Throughout the mountainous region of the -eastern States, the mountain laurel (spoonwood, -broad-leafed kalmia, or calico bush) is in full -blossom. It is a beautiful, sweet-scented, flowering -shrub, and the bushes are ruthlessly destroyed by -those who have no regard for Nature's future -beauty.</p> - - -<h3>June Twentieth</h3> - -<p>The habits of wasps and bees differ widely. -Both orders are very intelligent. Wild bees live -in hollow trees and make their cells of wax. At -first they feed their young on "bee bread," which -is made from the pollen of flowers, and afterward -on honey. Wasps subsist on the juices of fruits, -and insects; but they will eat meat. They make -their homes in burrows in the ground, or in wood, -or they construct nests of paper or mud.</p> - - -<h3>June Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>The Maryland yellow-throat is more like a wren -than a warbler, but it belongs to the warbler family. -As you pass a thicket or a swamp, he shouts -"<i>This way sir, this way sir, this way sir</i>;" or -"<i>Witchety, witchety, witchety</i>;" and you might watch -for hours without seeing him. But by placing the -back of your hand against your lips, and making -a low squeaking noise, you are likely to bring him -to the top of a reed or bush.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">« 169 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">« 170 »</a></span></p> - - -<h3>June Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>It is quite easy to tell the difference between -butterflies and moths. Remember, first of all, that -butterflies are <i>sunlight</i> loving insects, while moths -stir about only on cloudy days, or after dark. -Butterflies, when at rest, hold their wings together -over their backs; moths carry them open and -parallel with the body. Again, the antennę, or -"feelers," of butterflies are quite club-like in shape, -while the "feelers" of moths inhabiting the United -States and Canada resemble tiny feathers.</p> - - -<h3>June Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>If you are so fortunate as to have a pair of catbirds -nesting in a <i>small tree</i> or a <i>bush</i> near your -house, you have learned that the male is an accomplished -songster. Have you ever noticed the father -bird, when perched where he can overlook the nest, -gently quivering his wings as though delighted at -the thought of a nest full of little ones? After the -eggs have hatched, these periods of delight are -more frequent.</p> - - -<h3>June Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>The bracket fungi that are attached to the trunks -of forest and shade trees live to an old age. Some -have been found over seventy-five years old. They -are the fruit of the fungous growth that is living on -and destroying the tissues of the tree. The puff-balls -are edible fungi before they have dried.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">« 171 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 169px;"> -<img src="images/ctbr.png" width="169" height="430" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>CATBIRD</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">« 172 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">« 173 »</a></span></p> - - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">« 174 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>Some one has rightly called young Baltimore -orioles the "cry-babies of the bird world." The -approach of their mother with food is the sign for -a general outcry, and even during her absence, they -whimper softly, like disconsolate children. For the -next ten days you may hear them in the shade-trees -about our streets, particularly after a rain.</p> - - -<h3>June Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>The long-billed marsh wren is found in tall, rank -vegetation bordering rivers and lakes, and in the -marshes at tide water. It nests in colonies in the -rushes, and the male will build several other nests -near the one his mate occupies. "While singing -it is usually seen clinging to the side of some tall -swaying reed, with its tail bent forward so far as -almost to touch its head." (Chapman.)</p> - - -<h3>June Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>The kingbird, because of its pugnacity, is considered -a ruler of other birds, although it might -rightly be called a watchman and protector of the -feathered world. It is a sober colored bird, save -for the concealed patch of orange on the crown of -the head. It is always the first bird to detect the -presence of a feathered enemy. With loud, defiant -cries it sallies forth to attack, and is not content -until it has driven the intruder beyond range.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">« 175 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">« 176 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>June Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>The spittle insect, or spittle bug, <i>not a snake, -frog, or grasshopper</i>, is responsible for that bit of -froth found on the stems of weeds and grasses. -Push away the foam, and you will find a small, -helpless insect apparently half-drowned. The liquid -is a secretion from the body, whipped into froth by -the creature's struggles. These are the larvę of the -insects which, when full grown, fly up before you -in myriads as you walk through the fields.</p> - - -<h3>June Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>The swallows are noted for their strong and -graceful flight. Watch one, as he sails gracefully -through the air, now swerving to the right, now to -the left, and then dipping down to take a drink or -to pick an insect from the water, scarcely making a -ripple. The barn and eave swallows feed their -young in mid air. It would appear that they are -fighting, when the food is being passed from the old -bird to the youngster.</p> - - -<h3>June Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>A common bird along the country roads is the -indigo bunting, or indigo bird. He perches on a -wire, or on the topmost limb of a tall bush or tree, -and sings a song quite sparrow-like in quality. -As you approach, he drops gracefully into the -foliage. His nest probably contains young birds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">« 177 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">« 178 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="July" id="July"><span class="antiqua">July</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>July First</h3> - -<p>After a shower in early July, myriads of tiny -toads swarm on the lawns and walks. They have -just abandoned their aquatic life as tadpoles, and -have taken up a terrestrial mode of living. Their -skin is so delicate that sunlight kills them, so they -remain hidden until clouds have obscured the sun.</p> - - -<h3>July Second</h3> - -<p>"<i>Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will.</i>" -From dusk until daylight you hear its -mournful song. The whip-poor-will spends the -day in the forest. At twilight it comes forth to -catch its insect prey, which it captures while flying. -It makes hardly any pretence at building a nest, -but lays its eggs upon the ground among the leaves, -and so closely do both bird and eggs resemble their -surroundings, that one might easily step on them -unknowingly.</p> - - -<h3>July Third</h3> - -<p>Attached to stones, stumps, and tree trunks along -the fresh water ponds and streams, are the cast-off -jackets of the larval dragon-fly. These larvę -remain in the water for more than a year, feeding -upon the larvę of other insects. Finally they leave -the water, and a long rent is seen on the creature's -back, and soon the dragon-fly appear.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">« 179 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">« 180 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Fourth</h3> - -<p>Similar to the whip-poor-will in shape, the -nighthawk, or bullbat, differs from it in song and -habits,—though, oddly enough, it perches lengthwise -on a limb as the whip-poor-will does. <i>It is -neither a hawk nor a bat</i>, for it is classed close to -the chimney swift, and like the swift, it is of inestimable -value as an insect destroyer. It is often -seen in the daytime and the large white spot on -the under side of each wing helps to identify it.</p> - - -<h3>July Fifth</h3> - -<p>The horned-tails are the large wasp-like insects -that we see about the elm, oak, and maple trees. -They bore holes a quarter of an inch in diameter in -the tree trunk, and in these holes the eggs are laid. -Sometimes they get their augers wedged and are -unable to free themselves. The horned-tails are -destructive, and should be killed whenever found. -They sometimes remain in the pupa state so long, -that the tree may be cut down and the wood made -into furniture before they finally emerge.</p> - - -<h3>July Sixth</h3> - -<p>Before now you have probably seen the ruby-throated -hummingbird poising over the flowers -in your garden. Sometimes he goes through strange -antics. Mounting ten or fifteen feet into the air, -he swoops down in a graceful curve, then turns and -repeats the performance time and time again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">« 181 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">« 182 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Seventh</h3> - -<p>In travelling from burrow to burrow, woodchucks -often make roads a quarter of a mile long through -the grass. Occasionally you will get a long distance -view of the "'chuck" as he scuds to the mouth of his -hole, and rising on his hind legs, stands erect and -watches you, then bobs out of sight. He is the -most alert and keen-eyed of all American rodents, -and his presence in such numbers, despite the war -waged upon him, proves his ability to take care -of himself.</p> - - -<h3>July Eighth</h3> - -<p>"The interrupted fern is less a lover of moisture -than its kindred. The fertile fronds are usually -taller than the sterile leaves, and they remain green -all summer. The spore-bearing organs are produced -near the middle of the frond" (Clute), thus -"interrupting" the pinnę growth of the leaf. It -is also called Clayton's fern.</p> - - -<h3>July Ninth</h3> - -<p>The hind feet of a honey bee are provided with -stiff fringes. With these the bee scrapes from the -rings of its body the oily substance that is exuded, -and passes it to the mouth. After chewing and -working it between the mandibles (for the bee has -mouth-parts for biting, and a proboscis for sucking -the juices and honey from plants), it becomes soft -and is then built into comb.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">« 183 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 371px;"> -<img src="images/wdch.png" width="371" height="518" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by Silas Lottridge.</p> - -<p>WOODCHUCK.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">« 184 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">« 185 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">« 186 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Tenth</h3> - -<p>From the depths of the forest and thick underbrush, -you will hear the "<i>teacher</i>, <span class="smcap">teacher</span>, -TEACHER, <i>TEACHER</i>" (in a swift crescendo) -of the golden-crowned thrush, ovenbird, or teacher-bird. -It is a note of such volume that, instead of a -bird the size of a robin, you are surprised to find -that the songster is no larger than a song sparrow. -He is called ovenbird because his nest is covered -over and resembles somewhat an old-fashion bake -oven.</p> - -<h3>July Eleventh</h3> - -<p>Some "glow-worms" are female fire-flies or -lightning-bugs. There are at least a score of common -insects that are luminous, besides some rare -ones. With some species of fire-flies (our common -fire-fly included) both sexes are winged, while -with others the females lack wings and are known -as "glow-worms."</p> - - -<h3>July Twelfth</h3> - -<p>With most birds, the female only builds the nest -and incubates the eggs, after which both birds -usually assist in bringing up the young. Some of -the exceptions to this rule are the male Bob-white, -house wren, catbird, blue-headed, yellow-throated, -and warbling vireos, and the barn and eave swallows, -each of which does his share of the domestic -duties and takes care of the young birds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">« 187 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">« 188 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>Through ignorance we often persecute our best -friends. The ichneumon fly is a parasitic insect -that all should know. It lays its eggs in the larvę -of many injurious insects, and its larvę feeds upon -them. A great enemy to the horned-tails, it is -invariably misjudged and killed, when discovered -with its ovipositor inserted in one of the borings of -the horned-tail fly.</p> - - -<h3>July Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>How beautiful is the awakening of the evening -primrose. No sooner is the sun beneath the horizon, -than the calyx begins to swell and out springs a -yellow petal. Then another and another appear -before your very eyes, until the petals look like the -blades of a screw propeller. The blossom is often -less then five minutes in opening, and is immediately -surrounded by tiny black insects.</p> - - -<h3>July Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>Young spotted sandpipers, or "tip-ups," are -able to leave their nest (in a slight depression in -the ground) soon after the eggs hatch. It is indeed -interesting to watch a family of these animated -woolly balls on stilts, running along the shore with -their parents. When pursued they sometimes will -take to the water and cling to the vegetation on the -bottom.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">« 189 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">« 190 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>The perfectly round white heads of the button -bush are now conspicuous along the streams, bogs, -and lakes. The long slender styles project from -all sides like the quills on the back of a frightened -hedgehog. Although this shrub is a lover of water -and damp soil, "it is sometimes found on elevated -ground, where it serves, it is claimed, as a good -sign of the presence of a hidden spring. The inner -bark is sometimes used as a cough medicine." -(Newhall.)</p> - - -<h3>July Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>During the haying season the birds hold high -carnival. Robins, song and chipping sparrows, -orioles, bobolinks, goldfinches, meadow larks, and -flickers, all feed upon the insects that are now so -easy to catch. A seat in the shade overlooking a -new mown field is at present a good point from -which to study birds.</p> - - -<h3>July Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>Huckleberries, red raspberries, and shad or -service-berries, when ripe, are eaten by birds, -squirrels, and chipmunks during the day, while at -night various species of mice harvest them. The -choke-cherries, elderberries, and blackberries are -beginning to lose their bright red color, and they, -too, will soon be feeding Nature's people.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">« 191 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 286px;"> -<img src="images/song.png" width="286" height="236" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>SONG SPARROW.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">« 192 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">« 193 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">« 194 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>The pickerel-weed and arrow-head are in full -bloom side by side at the water's edge of stream -and pond. The blue flower-heads of the former -contrast strikingly with the round white blossoms -of the latter.</p> - - -<h3>July Twentieth</h3> - -<p>The female flies and mosquitoes are the ones -that bite, and it is the female and the worker bees -and wasps that sting. The males of the two former -groups are not provided with blood-sucking mouth -parts, and the males of the bees and wasps lack -stingers. When a less offensive remedy is not at -hand, insect tormentors may be kept away by -rubbing a piece of fat pork or bacon on one's face -and hands.</p> - - -<h3>July Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>The leaf-cutting bees resemble the bumblebees. -Examine the bushes and trees and you will find -circular holes in the leaves from which pieces have -been cut. Hundreds of these tiny bits are used to -line the rows of cells that the bees make in the -ground or in wood. The cells are filled with pollen -for the young bees to feed upon when they emerge -from the eggs that are laid on top of the supply -of "bee-bread."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">« 195 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">« 196 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>Do you miss the rollicking song of the bobolink? -Have you seen him recently in his spring dress of -black and white? No; he has sung himself silent, -and, as though in hope of escaping the guns of the -Southern rice planters, whose crops he will plunder -on his way South, he has disguised himself in a -plumage of buff color, streaked with brown, quite -like that of his mate.</p> - - -<h3>July Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>"The summer is nearly over when the Joe-Pie -weed (purple boneset) begins to tinge with 'crushed -raspberry' the lowlands through which we pass. -'Joe Pie' is supposed to have been the name of -an Indian who cured typhus fever in New England -by means of this plant." (Dana.)</p> - - -<h3>July Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>The ostrich fern is so named because the dark -green fertile fronds which appear about this time, -and form the centre of the vase-shaped leaf-cluster, -resemble ostrich plumes. Mr. Clute says: "It -is at its best in wet, sandy soil of a half-shaded -island or river shore. Its development is rapid, -often lengthening six inches in a day."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">« 197 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">« 198 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>A cuckoo pleading for her nest of young would -soften a heart of stone. With wings and tail spread, -she flutters almost into one's face, uttering pathetic -and heartrending cries that beseech you not to -touch her treasures. In pinfeathers the young of -this bird, as well as those of the chimney swift, -resemble baby European hedgehogs.</p> - - -<h3>July Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>Trees and flowers must sleep as well as animals. -The dandelion closes its petals late in the afternoon, -and as night approaches the water lily folds up -tightly. Although summer in the North is shorter -than the summer in the South, the days are several -hours longer, so vegetation is growing here while -their trees and flowers are sleeping. This provision -of Nature gives the northern Indian vegetables and -flowers in a country which we often call "a land -of snow and ice."</p> - - -<h3>July Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>The common milkweed is another one of Nature's -fly traps. Examine some of the fragrant flower -heads and you are almost sure to find a captive held -firmly by the foot. "The silky hairs of the seed-pods -have been used for stuffing pillows and mattresses, -and can be mixed with flax or wool and -woven to advantage." (Dana.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">« 199 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 281px;"> -<img src="images/cuckoo.png" width="281" height="382" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">« 200 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">« 201 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">« 202 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>One of the simplest duties of a spider's life, is -the stretching of a parallel web. Tiring of her -location, the spider begins to spin a thread, or -tangle a mass of threads together, until they are of -sufficient buoyancy to support her weight. Then -she fastens one end of a strand to the point she is -about to leave, and clinging to the under side of -her improvised balloon, floats away with the breeze. -She pays out silk until the thread parts, or she -finally comes in contact with some object, and so -the cable is laid.</p> - - -<h3>July Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>Young song sparrows, chipping sparrows, field -sparrows, cedar-birds, bluebirds, and robins are -streaked and mottled on the breast during the -first few months of their lives. Another noticeable -fact is that young birds fluff their feathers, and as -the old birds are often thin from care and worry, -the youngsters seem larger than their parents.</p> - - -<h3>July Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>The dobson, or "hellgrammite," is honored -with about sixteen other names. Its chalky-white -mass of eggs about the size of a dime are now -common objects along inland waterways. As soon -as the eggs hatch, the young dobsons drop into the -water and hide beneath stones for three years, -feeding on aquatic larvę of insects.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">« 203 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">« 204 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>July Thirty-first</h3> - -<p>The river crab, or crawfish, has five pairs of -walking legs and six pairs of swimming legs. If -a leg is lost, another will grow within a year. The -female lays a large number of eggs, which are -attached to the fringes of her body. These crabs -have two pairs of antenna-like organs, one to feel -with and the other for hearing. The compound -eyes are set on two pegs that can be protruded or -depressed at will.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">« 205 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">« 206 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="August" id="August"><span class="antiqua">August</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>August First</h3> - -<p>The mid-air gyrations of the kingbird are not -very often seen. Flying some distance into the air, -the bird utters a series of indescribable notes, and -as he does so, he dodges, twists, and zigzags through -the air as though trying to escape the talons of a -hawk. After repeating the performance several -times, he sails gracefully to a perch on a telegraph -wire or the topmost twig of a tree or a bush.</p> - - -<h3>August Second</h3> - -<p>During the summer, gray squirrels leave their -winter homes, in hollow tree trunks and limbs, and -construct summer nests. These nests are simply -balls of leaves placed in oak, chestnut, maple, or -beech trees. A squirrel will build several nests -close to one another, from which he never wanders -far.</p> - - -<h3>August Third</h3> - -<p>The <i>aphides</i>, or plant lice, are known to every -horticulturist and lover of flowers. They cluster -on the under side of leaves, causing them to curl -and wither. There are a great many species, and -they are the insects that the ants care for. They -are sometimes called "ant's cows," because they -secrete a sweet substance of which ants are very -fond.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">« 207 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 391px;"> -<img src="images/knbr.png" width="391" height="402" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>KINGBIRD.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">« 208 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">« 209 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">« 210 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Fourth</h3> - -<p>The clusters of white berries of the red-twigged -osier, or kinnikinnik, so common in damp localities, -will turn blue later on. The northern Indians -remove the thin outer bark from the twigs, and -after scraping off the inner green bark with a knife, -they dry it over a camp fire, powder it between the -palms of the hand, then mix it with tobacco and -smoke it.</p> - - -<h3>August Fifth</h3> - -<p>The ant lion is the peculiar larva of a fly. It -forms small, funnel-like depressions in the dry -sand or dust, throwing out the grains with its broad, -flat head. You probably have seen an unfortunate -ant struggling desperately to gain the top of the -death pit. Gradually the drifting sand carries it -nearer and nearer the jaws of the ant lion, waiting -at the bottom, and finally it falls a victim to Nature's -ingenuity.</p> - - -<h3>August Sixth</h3> - -<p>The moist and shaded highland where the -thorn apple, willow, red-twigged osier, and second-growth -maples thrive, is the haunt of the mild and -timid woodcock. Tracks in the mud may be seen -where one has been walking about, and here and -there clusters of holes smaller than a lead pencil -tell that it has been "boring" for worms with its -long, sensitive bill.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">« 211 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">« 212 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Seventh</h3> - -<p>The harvest fly (cicada, "lyre-man," or dog-day -locust) is really not a <i>locust</i>. Unlike its relative, -the seventeen-year locust, which for seventeen -years remains in the ground, a larva, it produces -young yearly. In the woods and villages, its -monotonous buzzing, sizzling note is heard, and is -taken as a sign of warm weather.</p> - - -<h3>August Eighth</h3> - -<p>As though ashamed of man's carelessness. -Nature covers the fire-swept forests with beds of -purple flowers, called "fireweed." Sometimes acre -after acre of these tall flowers sway back and forth -beneath the charred or naked tree trunks, a -pleasant relief to the eye of the traveller.</p> - - -<h3>August Ninth</h3> - -<p>Look carefully among the leafy boughs and you -may find the home of a leaf-rolling caterpillar. -"The little creature begins by spinning a thread -and fastening one end to some fixed point, and -then attaches the other end to the loose leaf. By -means of powerful, muscular movements of the -front part of the body, ... it hauls away on -the ropes, slowly pulling it to the desired point, -where it is held in place by a new and stronger -thread. In this tent it resides, eating out the -interior, and adding new stores of food, by sewing -new leaves to the outside of the tent." (Packard.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">« 213 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">« 214 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Tenth</h3> - -<p>Families of barn and eave swallows now begin -to congregate and to act restlessly. Flocks of -red-shouldered blackbirds, mixed with purple and -bronzed grackles, feed silently in the willows along -the waterways, or are flushed from the grain fields. -In the woods the chickadees, vireos, and warblers -of many kinds keep company while they search -among the trees for food. These are the first real -signs to make the bird lover feel his feathered -friends are soon to leave him.</p> - - -<h3>August Eleventh</h3> - -<p>The muskrats now begin to build their winter -houses, mounds of leaves, sticks, reeds, and aquatic -vegetation, brought from the borders or the bottom -of the ponds and streams, and piled from two to -four feet above the surface of the water. The -entrance to the <i>one large chamber</i> is always below -the surface, and in this snug room a family of muskrats -will spend the winter, but they <i>do not hibernate</i>.</p> - - -<h3>August Twelfth</h3> - -<p>The Indian pipe, or corpse flower, is found only -in heavily shaded woods. Like the fungi, to which -it is kin, it subsists on decaying vegetation. Its -ashy color and queer, fantastic shape make you -hesitate to pick it, and after you have overcome the -feeling and snipped off the stem, you find that it -soon turns black, and is useless as an ornament.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">« 215 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 365px;"> -<img src="images/rwbb.png" width="365" height="527" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">« 216 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">« 217 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">« 218 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>Queen Anne's lace, wild carrot, and bird's nest, -are the names given to the delicate, white lace-like -flower which grows in such abundance in the open -countries throughout the eastern States. Several -flat-topped flower heads are arranged on stems -along the stalk, and after the flowers have bloomed -the stems of each head contract and form a sort of -basket about the size of a hummingbird's nest.</p> - - -<h3>August Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>"Now comes the season of our insect instrumentalists.... -I have called them instrumentalists, -for there are no insects, to my knowledge, -that make any sounds with their mouths; they -seem to be entirely void of vocal organs.... -The song is produced by the rubbing or beating -of some portion of the body against some other -portion, these portions being so modified as to -produce the rasping sound." (Brownell.)</p> - - -<h3>August Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>The small-mouthed black bass is one of the -gamiest of our fresh water fish. "The eggs are -bound together in bands of ribbons by an adhesive -substance. They adhere to stones on which they -are deposited. The small-mouthed black bass -ceases to take food on the approach of cold weather, -and remains nearly dormant throughout the winter." (Bean.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">« 219 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">« 220 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>Often spending the entire winter in southern -New York and New England, the American goldfinch -and the cedar waxwing are the latest birds -to begin nest building. The young have just now -left the nest, while the other birds have long since -ceased their domestic duties, and the white-breasted -swallow will soon start on his southward journey.</p> - - -<h3>August Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>If you will visit the zoological park at this time, -you will find that since you last saw the buck -deer, the antlers have hardened-like bone. The -velvet, too, is hanging from them in shreds, and -the buck thrashes his antlers against the bushes, -and rubs them on the tree trunks, in an effort to -rid them of the velvet. Soon they will be in prime -condition for battle with his rivals or his enemies.</p> - - -<h3>August Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>Children believe that a hair from the tail or mane -of a horse will turn into a snake if left in water -long enough. The so-called "hair snake" lives -in the bodies of insects, such as grasshoppers, -crickets, and beetles. The eggs of the <i>worm</i> are -taken into the system when the insect drinks. Once -hatched, the worm gnaws at its victim's vitals until -the insect dies. They take to the water when full -grown and lay their eggs in a long chain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">« 221 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 312px;"> -<img src="images/cdww.png" width="312" height="367" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>CEDAR WAXWING.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">« 222 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">« 223 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">« 224 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>There are more than eighty species of our -national flower, the golden-rod, in the United States. -While a cluster of golden heads swaying in the -breeze is beautiful indeed, it is with regret that we -watch its ripening, for, like the harvesting of grain, -and the flocking of bluebirds, it tells us of the -approaching autumn.</p> - - -<h3>August Twentieth</h3> - -<p>The female mosquito lays her eggs in a mass, -that floats upon the surface of the water. The -larvę are the "wigglers" that swim about in a -jerky sort of way in the rain barrels or pools of -stagnant water. They float near the surface and -breathe through a tube at the end of the body. -When ready to emerge from this larval stage, they -crawl out on a stick, stone, or bush, the skin on the -back splits, and the mosquito emerges.</p> - - -<h3>August Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>The narrow spear-pointed leaves of the walking -fern cling to the moss-covered rocks, and in graceful -curves reach out until their tips touch the -ground and take root again. These fronds in turn -take up the march, and so they creep about the -rocks wherever there is soil sufficient for them to -get a foothold. They are also reproduced by spores -in the regular fern-like way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">« 225 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">« 226 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>The fresh-water clam furnishes us with a good -quality of pearl, and from the shells pearl buttons -are made. Along the muddy bottom of our inland -lakes and rivers, you may see the clumsy writing -in the mud where they have crawled. During a -clam's infancy it lives a parasitic life, embedded -in the body of a fish. It then emerges and drops to -the bottom of the lake or river, where it spends the -remainder of its life.</p> - - -<h3>August Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>"Those horrid tomato worms are eating all my -plants. They are positively the most repulsive -creatures I know." A few weeks later a beautiful -sphinx moth flutters into your chamber window. -Do you recognize it as your hated enemy? It is -he,—a "wolf in sheep's clothing."</p> - - -<h3>August Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>The cardinal flower, or red lobelia, lives in the -marshes and along the streams, where it often -trespasses so near the brink, that a slight freshet -floods its roots. "We have no flower which can -compare with this in vivid coloring." (Dana.) -In some localities it has been in bloom for weeks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">« 227 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">« 228 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>Some evening after a thunder-shower, take a -light and stroll along the garden path, or by the -flower bed. Go slowly and step with caution, and -you will see large numbers of angle worms—"night -walkers" the fishermen call them—stretched -out on the ground. Half of their length is -hidden in the hole, ready at the slightest jar or -noise to pull the remainder underground.</p> - - -<h3>August Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>Woodchucks, or "groundhogs," are very busy -at this season of the year. They work overtime -even on moonlight nights, for they have a contract -with Nature to blanket themselves with layers of -fat half an inch thick. If the contract is not filled -before winter sets in, death may be the forfeit. -Eat, eat, eat; they spend every minute digging up -the grass roots, and eating off the clover heads, and -they often make excursions into the farmer's -garden.</p> - - -<h3>August Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>Butter-and-eggs prefers the unsheltered lands -where the sun can beat upon it. It came from -Europe and "like nearly all common weeds this -plant has been utilized in various ways by the -country people. It yields what was considered at -one time a valuable skin lotion, while its juices -mingled with milk constitutes a fly poison." (Dana.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">« 229 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">« 230 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>Be sure to kill any bee-like insect that you see -hovering about your horse's fore legs, for it is a -bot-fly. After the eggs have been attached to the -horse's leg-hairs, they hatch and the horse licks the -larvę and swallows them. Attaching themselves -to the walls of the stomach, they live there for -some time, but finally pass through the horse and -fall to the ground, where they transform into bot-flies.</p> - - -<h3>August Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>The solitary sandpiper is one of the early migrating -birds that is now returning from its northern -nesting grounds. It is always found near water, -singly or in twos and threes. It has a habit of -holding its wings over its head as it alights, showing -conspicuously their dark tips. Like all sandpipers, -it is not supposed to perch in trees or bushes; -nevertheless it does so frequently when a person -approaches its young or its nest.</p> - - -<h3>August Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>Have you ever watched a spider making its web? -The sticky fluid, which becomes a silk strand upon -coming in contact with the air, pours from several -holes, or spinnerets, at the end of the body. The -threads are guided by the feet, and when the spinnerets -are held apart, several strands are spun, but -by contracting them one heavy rope is made.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">« 231 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">« 232 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>August Thirty-first</h3> - -<p>Most crickets die at the approach of winter, but -some hibernate. It is only the males that sing, and -they do it by rubbing together the inner edges of the -outside wings. They live on the moisture from -the roots of various kinds of vegetables, and are not -above eating insects.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">« 233 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">« 234 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="September" id="September"><span class="antiqua">September</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>September First</h3> - -<p>In various localities the Oswego tea is known as -"bee balm," "fragrant balm," "Indian plume," -and "mountain mint." "The bee balm especially -haunts those cool brooks, and its rounded flower-clusters -touch with warmth the shadows of the deep -woods of midsummer. The Indians named the -flower, <i>o-gee-chee</i>, 'flaming flower,' and are said -to have made a tea-like decoction from the -blossoms." (Dana.)</p> - - -<h3>September Second</h3> - -<p>Small mammals are abundant in the Adirondacks. -Chipmunks and red squirrels are very tame, and if -one sits still in the woods they will approach within -a few feet. By watching at the base of logs and -stumps, you can often see a red-backed mouse or a -long-tailed shrew. The latter is the smallest of -American mammals, its body being scarcely two -inches in length.</p> - - -<h3>September Third</h3> - -<p>Mr. Scudder says that katydids have a day and -a night song. He has watched one, and when a -cloud obscured the sky, it, and all of those within -his hearing, stopped singing and began their night -song, but as soon as the sun came out, they again -changed to their original song.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">« 235 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">« 236 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Fourth</h3> - -<p>What a fine time the robins, cedar-birds, catbirds, -and flickers are having in the choke-cherry bushes -these days! Twenty or thirty of them may fly from -a bush of ripened fruit as you approach. The -streaked and speckled breasted young robins and -cedar-birds are loath to leave their feast.</p> - - -<h3>September Fifth</h3> - -<p>It is hard to believe that the yellow butterflies with -the black tips and spots on their wings, so common -about moist spots in the road, were once cabbage -worms. Mr. Packard says that this species was -introduced from Europe to Quebec about 1857. -It rapidly spread into New England and has reached -as far south as Washington, D. C. About Quebec it -annually destroys $250,000 worth of cabbages.</p> - - -<h3>September Sixth</h3> - -<p>The bottle, closed, or blind gentian loves the -damp fields and somewhat open road-sides. It -resembles a cluster of bright blue buds about to -open, but they never do. Neltje Blanchan says -that bumblebees have hard work to rob it of its -nectar and pollen. Climbing clumsily over the -corolla, it finds the space between the lips and -forces its head and trunk through the opening. -Presently it backs out, and, with its feet and velvety -body covered with pollen, flies away to fertilize -some other gentian.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">« 237 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">« 238 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Seventh</h3> - -<p>Muskrats, like children, make "collections." -A muskrat's "playhouse" is usually placed on a -partly submerged stump, log, boulder, or the float -of a boat-house. In some such place is piled all -sorts of rubbish,—sticks, stones, bones, iron, glass, -clam shells, and what not. Near by one may find -a thick mat of aquatic grass, used by the owner as -a resting-place. When camped in the vicinity of a -playhouse, you will hear the clink of touching -stones at night, and the splash of water.</p> - - -<h3>September Eighth</h3> - -<p>Damp, shaded flats along streams or spring-holes, -are where the jewel-weed, or touch-me-not, clusters. -The orange-colored blossoms have gone to seed -and hang in tiny pods upon the stems. Touch one, -and if it is ripe, it will burst with a suddenness that -startles you.</p> - - -<h3>September Ninth</h3> - -<p>You must be unfamiliar with the country if you -have never felt the sting of the nettle. The rib of -the nettle leaf is armed with tiny, hollow spines, -each of which is connected with a microscopic sack -or bulb filled with poison, called formic acid. -When the skin is pierced by the spines, the bulb is -pressed, and the poison injected into the wound. -Every boy of outdoor life knows that mud will -relieve the irritation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">« 239 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">« 240 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Tenth</h3> - -<p>The true locusts are the field insects commonly -called "grasshoppers." They belong to a class of -insects whose metamorphosis is not complete,—that -is, they do not go through all of the several -stages of transformation. The young, on emerging -from the ground where the eggs were laid the summer -previous, look like abnormal wingless grasshoppers. -Grasshoppers live but a single season.</p> - - -<h3>September Eleventh</h3> - -<p>The little green heron will steal cautiously along -the water's edge, with head drawn in, and beak -pointed forward. Then he stops, and with a -sudden lunge catches a minnow or a polliwog in his -bill, and swallows it head foremost. When flushed, -he laboriously wings his way across the stream and, -alighting in the shallow water or in a tree, flirts his -tail, stretches his long neck, and stands motionless -a few minutes before starting on another fishing -trip.</p> - - -<h3>September Twelfth</h3> - -<p>At this season the banks of the rivers and streams -shine with the golden blossoms of the wild sunflower, -artichoke, Canadian potato, or earth apple. -In late summer and early spring, freshets wash -away the earth, leaving the edible, tuberous roots -exposed for the muskrats, woodchucks, mice, -squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits to feed upon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">« 241 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">« 242 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>Patiently Madam Spider sits and holds the cords -of her telegraph system, waiting for some unfortunate -to announce to her its capture. When she -receives this message, out she rushes, and while the -victim struggles she holds him with her legs, while -other legs are busy binding him with cords.</p> - - -<h3>September Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>The American goldfinch is very much in evidence -these days. He sways back and forth on the heads -of the Canadian thistles, and clings to the ripened -sunflower heads, the fruit of which he is very fond. -When disturbed he flies away in graceful undulations, -calling back to you, "<i>Just-see-me-go; -just-see-me-go; just-see-me-go.</i>"</p> - - -<h3>September Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>When overburdened with honey and bee-bread, -large numbers of honey bees are drowned while -attempting to cross wide stretches of water. Put -your hand in the water and let one crawl into the -palm. It will not sting so long as you do not -squeeze or touch it. Note the two dots of golden -pollen adhering to the cups on the hind feet. Gradually -the bee regains strength and begins to dry -itself. First fluttering its wings, then combing its -fuzzy head and trunk with its legs, finally it -is off in the direction of its hive.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">« 243 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">« 244 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>Clinging to the old stump fences, and covering -the low bushes by the roadside, the wild clematis, -or traveller's joy, smiles at the wayfarer and defies -the efforts of the farmer to exterminate it. As the -blossom goes to seed, a charming, foamlike effect -is produced by the appearance of the many stamens -and pistils.</p> - - -<h3>September Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>This week the rose-breasted grosbeak, kingbird, -Baltimore oriole, yellow warbler, ruby-throated -hummingbird and yellow-breasted chat will probably -leave for the South. They all pass beyond the -United States to winter, and most of them go to -Mexico, Central and South America. Good luck -to them on their long journey, and may they all -live to return to us again next summer.</p> - - -<h3>September Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>The dense forests strewn with moss-covered logs, -stumps, and boulders, and the rocky, fern-clad -borders of woodland rivulets, are the home of the -winter wren. Quite like a mouse in actions, he -works his way over and under the fallen trees; in -and out of the rocky crevices, until you quite -despair of guessing where he will next appear.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">« 245 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 398px;"> -<img src="images/ybch.png" width="398" height="359" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">« 246 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">« 247 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">« 248 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>The next time you go into the country, catch -two or three locusts (grasshoppers), and examine -their bodies for locust mites. They are tiny -red mites usually clustered at the base of the grasshopper's -wings, and are easily found if you raise -the wings slightly and look under them. Often -they are found on house flies.</p> - - -<h3>September Twentieth</h3> - -<p>Nature employs many ingenious devices for -distributing the seed of her plants. The downy -seeds of the Canadian thistle, dandelion, prickly -lettuce, dogbane, and milkweed are cast over the -land by the winds. The common tare, the jewel-weed, -and the wood sorrel have devices for throwing -their seeds. Seeds of many species of plants are -contained in burrs or "stickers" that adhere to the -coats of animals and are carried miles before they -are finally planted.</p> - - -<h3>September Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>A belted kingfisher, when suddenly seized with -a fit of playfulness, will skim over the water and -plunge beneath the surface, sending the spray in -all directions. Emerging, he continues his flight, -repeating the performance every fifty feet or more, -at the same time "rattling" loudly as though in -great ecstasy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">« 249 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">« 250 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>The thick, chunky purple heads of the Canadian -thistle always attract the bumblebees, and you -find them as eager for its nectar as they were for -the Joe-Pie weed a month or so ago. It is wonderful -how much abuse a bumblebee will stand before -he loses his temper. He is much more tractable -than his cousin, the honey bee, or any of the wasps.</p> - - -<h3>September Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>Some animals lay by a supply of fat for winter, -which they absorb while resting in comparative -quiet in their burrows. Others are endowed with -a hoarding instinct, so they gather and store nuts, -grain, seeds, and fruit to last them until spring, -while the remainder are forced to live upon the food -that the season affords them,—a life of privation, -in many instances.</p> - - -<h3>September Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>The monarch butterfly is one of the common -butterflies seen in early fall. It is something of a -wanderer, going North in the spring and migrating -South in the fall. Have you ever watched them -floating through the air, high above your head and -tried to estimate how high they were?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">« 251 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">« 252 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>Fishermen often find piles of clam shells heaped -under the exposed roots of trees or stumps, at or -near the water's edge. This is the work of muskrats. -After carrying the clams from the bed of the -stream, the rats take them to the bank and leave -them for the sun to open. Then they eat the clams, -after which the shells are disposed of in little heaps.</p> - - -<h3>September Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>Next to the red-shouldered hawk, the red-tailed -hawk is the most common of the large hawks in -Eastern North America. Although the farmers -shoot it on sight, and the barn-yard fowls hurry to -shelter at its cries, it is one of the farmer's best -friends, because of the great number of grasshoppers -and mice it captures. Its cry is a loud, high-pitched, -"long-drawn out squealing whistle which to my -ear suggests the sound of escaping steam." (Chapman.)</p> - - -<h3>September Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>You hear the mitchella-vine spoken of as "partridge berry," -"twin-berry," and "squaw-berry." -It is a small-leaved vine, very common in woods and -shaded thickets. Winter does not harm its fruit, -so it is a welcome treat to many birds and mammals -in early spring. The buds appear in pairs, which -form a double fruit with two eyes, or navels, thus -giving it the name of "twin-berry."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">« 253 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">« 254 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>September Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>The water skate, or water strider, resembles -somewhat a "granddaddy longlegs." It runs about -over the surface of the water in search of microscopic -insects, casting grotesque shadows on the -bottom. It does not dive like the water boatman, -but if it chooses it can take wing, and is often seen -to spring into the air and grasp its prey.</p> - - -<h3>September Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>Our common sunfish builds a nest of stones and -gravel on the bottom of a stream. "The male -watches the nest and drives away all intruders. -The species is usually hardy in captivity, but is -subject to fungus attacks, which yield readily to a -treatment with brackish water." (Bean.)</p> - - -<h3>September Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>On moonlight nights skunks come out into the -fields to feed upon beetles and grasshoppers. They -are keen scented, and you will sometimes see where -their claws have assisted in securing an insect that -their nose has detected in the ground. They will -often approach a man carrying a lantern, and after -sniffing at it a few times will walk away and -resume their hunt.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">« 255 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 415px;"> -<img src="images/skunk.png" width="415" height="327" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>SKUNK HUNTING GRASSHOPPERS.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">« 256 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">« 257 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">« 258 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="October" id="October"><span class="antiqua">October</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>October First</h3> - -<p>This is the month when many of our birds depart -for their southern winter resorts. The common -ones that leave this week are the scarlet tanager, -ovenbird, chimney swift, wood thrush, indigo -bunting, and redstart.</p> - - -<h3>October Second</h3> - -<p>The workers and drone bumblebees die at the -approach of winter, but the queen takes shelter -under the bark of trees, in stone piles and in other -places which offer protection, where she remains -all winter. She then comes out and gathers moss -and grass for a nest, or she may appropriate the -deserted nest of a meadow mouse. After making -several wax cells, she fills them with pollen and -honey, deposits an egg in each cell, and when the -young hatch, they feed upon the sweets.</p> - - -<h3>October Third</h3> - -<p>"'Among the crimson and yellow hues of the -falling leaves, there is no more remarkable object -than the witch-hazel in the moment parting with -its foliage, putting forth a profusion of showy -yellow blossoms, and giving to November the -counterfeited appearance of spring.'" (Newhall.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">« 259 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 264px;"> -<img src="images/amrd.png" width="264" height="298" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>AMERICAN REDSTART.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">« 260 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">« 261 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">« 262 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Fourth</h3> - -<p>When surprised while feeding, gray squirrels -will resort to an ingenious method of escape. As -the hunter approaches, the squirrel will scurry to -the opposite side of the tree trunk, and as the -hunter changes his position, the squirrel does likewise, -keeping the trunk of the tree between itself -and the enemy.</p> - - -<h3>October Fifth</h3> - -<p>It is not always the large winged birds with the -light bodies that fly the fastest. The swifts, grouse, -pigeons, and ducks are the swiftest of fliers, yet -they have heavy bodies and short or narrow wings. -The eagles, hawks, owls, buzzards, and herons, -on the other hand, have large wings and comparatively -light bodies, yet they are noted for -their slow and graceful flight, still they can fly long -distances.</p> - - -<h3>October Sixth</h3> - -<p>The white-footed mouse, deer mouse, or wood -mouse, usually makes his home in a hollow stump, -limb, or tree trunk. To prove that he can scramble -up rough bark, as well as run upon the ground, he -frequently builds a large, bulky nest of dried grass -in a bush or low tree. These nests have a tiny -aperture in one or two sides, and they are nearly -always located in trees traversed by wild grape, or -other vines.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">« 263 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">« 264 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Seventh</h3> - -<p>Insects "supply us with the sweetest of sweets, -our very best inks and dyes, and our finest robes -and tapers, to say nothing of various acids, lacs, -and waxes; while few, who have not studied the -subject, have any idea of the importance of insects -and their products as articles of human diet." -(Riley.)</p> - - -<h3>October Eighth</h3> - -<p>Many an amateur sportsman has mistaken the -fall song of the peeper, coming from the tall forest -trees, for that of a game bird or mammal. It is -loud and clearer than the peeper's spring song, -but the resemblance is easily detected after one -knows that both songs are sung by the same frog. -Now since the wood birds have ceased to sing, its -song is quickly noticed.</p> - - -<h3>October Ninth</h3> - -<p>In size, shape, and actions, the English robin is -similar to our bluebird, to which it is related. The -English blackbird is a <i>thrush</i>, and our robin is the -largest of American thrushes. In the Bermuda -Islands the catbird is called "blackbird."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">« 265 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">« 266 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Tenth</h3> - -<p>"The flight of the flying fish is usually from -four to six feet above the water, and it is sustained -for fifty to one hundred feet. The general enlarged -pectoral fins act as wings, and furnish the motive -power.... On all up grades it gives a stiff wing-stroke -about every three feet, rises to overtop each -advancing wave, and drops as the wave rolls on, -like a stormy petrel." (Hornaday.)</p> - - -<h3>October Eleventh</h3> - -<p>Mushrooms and apples are often seen resting in -the branches of trees. Should you examine one, -very likely you would find the marks of a rodent's -teeth in its sides. This is one of the ways a red -squirrel has of storing food. When he placed the -mushrooms there, did he know that they would dry -and be preserved? If so, why did not instinct tell -him that the apples would decay before spring?</p> - - -<h3>October Twelfth</h3> - -<p>Once the alarm note of a crow is heard and its -meaning understood, you can always tell when -those keen-eyed birds have discovered a hawk or an -owl. "<i>Hak, hak, hak, hak, hak</i>," they call, -much louder, quicker, and in a higher key than the -regular "<i>caw, caw, caw</i>." Rarely do they strike a -hawk or owl, but they keep diving at it until it soars -beyond their reach, or takes shelter in a tree.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">« 267 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">« 268 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>If you can surprise a muskrat in a small pond, -notice that he does not use his front feet (which are -not webbed) in swimming; but, like the frog and -the toad, holds them close against the sides of his -body. Ordinarily the tail is used as a rudder, but -when he is hard pressed, he whirls it round and -round so that it acts like a screw propeller.</p> - - -<h3>October Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>The brook trout is another fish that builds a nest. -It makes a hollow in the bed of a brook or a spring, -pushing the gravel aside with its nose, and carrying -the stones in its mouth. By using its tail the -cavity is shaped and then filled with pebbles, on -which the eggs are laid, and covered with gravel. -These "spawning" beds can now be seen in any -spring-fed trout stream.</p> - - -<h3>October Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>As soon as the foliage falls from the trees it is -easy to collect birds' nests; and it is no sin to do so -then, inasmuch as the birds mentioned this week -rarely use the same nest a second season. Take a -trip into the country with the sole object of hunting -for nests, and you will be surprised to see how many -you can find. One hundred and ninety-eight bird -homes have been counted during a three hours' -walk. When it is possible to take a part of the -limb to which a nest is attached, it is best to do so.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">« 269 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">« 270 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>Besides the large pendent nest of the Baltimore -and the orchard orioles, skilfully suspended from -the end of an elm, maple, apple, or pear tree limb, -you will find many smaller <i>hanging</i> nests built by -the several species of vireos. They are about the -size of a tennis-ball; made of birch bark, paper, -and pieces of dried leaves, fastened with spider and -caterpillar webs, and they are lined with dried pine -needles or dried grass.</p> - - -<h3>October Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>The American goldfinch, "thistlebird" or -"wild canary," usually places its nest in the angle -of three twigs at the end of a slender branch that -is nearly or quite perpendicular. The nest is larger -than a base-ball, deeply hollowed and composed -outwardly of pieces of cotton waste, plant fibres -and fine bark, with a thick lining of willow or dandelion -down, and other soft material.</p> - - -<h3>October Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>The chebec (least flycatcher), wood pewee, and -blue-gray gnat-catcher saddle their nests on the -upper side of limbs, as the hummingbird does, and -they use the same variety of material. They are so -delicate in construction that a severe storm will -send them to the ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">« 271 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">« 272 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>The bulky basket nests of the cedar-bird and -kingbird are usually found saddled on a horizontal -limb in an orchard. The kingbird prefers to be -near water, and will often use an elm, willow, or -thorn-tree for a nesting site. From the ground, the -nests resemble each other. They are about eight -inches across, are composed outwardly of sticks, -leaves, and moss, lined with fine roots and the like, -and sometimes wood or cotton is used.</p> - - -<h3>October Twentieth</h3> - -<p>Crows usually build in pine-trees, but where -there are no pines, they will choose an oak, chestnut, -maple, or poplar, not always high ones either. The -nest is made of sticks, leaves, bark, and mud, lined -with dried grass or fine bark. Most of the large -hawks make their nests in oak, maple, chestnut, or -beech trees, in the groves or forests. They often -occupy the same nest year after year.</p> - - -<h3>October Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>Of the birds that build in bushes or small trees, -the following are the common species: catbird -(twigs, leaves, and grass, lined with fine roots), -black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoo (a sort of -stick platform with a few dried leaves for a lining), -and yellow-breasted chat (leaves, sticks, and bark, -deeply hollowed and lined with soft grasses). Song -sparrows' nests are very common.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">« 273 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">« 274 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>If it becomes necessary to protect their young, -most birds seem to lose all fear. When surprised -with her brood of chicks, the ruffed grouse and -nearly all ground-dwelling birds will feign injury -and flutter a few feet in front of the intruder, -seemingly in great agony. The cries and actions -are intended to lure you from the young. During -the interval that you are watching or chasing her, -the chicks have fairly melted into the earth.</p> - - -<h3>October Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>The stickleback is a small fish that inhabits the -brackish waters from Cape Ann to New Jersey. -Mr. Hornaday says that the abdomen of the male -has been provided with a gland filled with a clear -secretion which coagulates into threads when it -comes in contact with the water. By means of this, -a hood-like nest large enough for the female to enter -is fastened to the vegetation at the bottom of the -sea, and the eggs are deposited in the nest.</p> - - -<h3>October Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>Birds seem to have a common language, so far, -at least, as conveying a warning of danger is -concerned. The appearance of a hawk, or an owl, -will cause a catbird, robin, vireo, or song sparrow -to give a warning note which is at once heeded by -every feathered neighbor within hearing. Instantly -all is quiet until danger has passed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">« 275 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">« 276 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>Grebes are expert swimmers and divers. Before -the invention of smokeless powder, the adult birds -could easily dive at the flash of a gun and were -beneath the surface of the water when the shot -struck. On land these duck-like birds push themselves -over the ground on their breasts, or waddle -along in a very awkward manner. They cannot rise -from the ground, and even when rising from the -water they must flutter over its surface for a long -distance before they are able actually to take wing.</p> - - -<h3>October Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>A strong aversion for snakes prevails with many -of us. Most people think that the majority of -snakes are poisonous. In reality the only dangerously -venomous snakes in the United States are the -rattlesnakes (fourteen species), the moccasin, and -the copperhead, and they are not so aggressive as is -generally supposed.</p> - - -<h3>October Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>How often the osprey or American fish-hawk is -mistaken for an eagle! The fish-hawk is the only -hawk that will poise in the air and then plunge into -the water for its prey. Unlike the kingfisher, of -which of course it is no kin, it carries its food in -its talons instead of in its beak. In captivity it may -be confined in an aviary with pigeons, quail, and -other defenceless birds, and will not molest them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">« 277 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 444px;"> -<img src="images/hngr.png" width="444" height="229" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>HORNED GREBE.</p> - -<p>Winter Plumage.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">« 278 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">« 279 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">« 280 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>The bull-frog, whose legs are considered such a -delicacy, often attains a length of fifteen inches. -Its food consists of insects, small frogs, birds, mice, -and young water-fowl, and one has been killed -which had eaten a bat. Birds have learned to look -upon it as a foe. Bull-frogs are fast becoming -extinct because of the demand for their legs.</p> - -<h3>October Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>The sharp-shinned hawk is smaller in body, but -has about the same expanse of wing, as a domesticated -pigeon. It is one of the few hawks that is -destructive to birds and young poultry. Not only -in the country, but in the city parks and villages, -it is seen in late fall or in winter, skimming over -the tops of the bushes ready to pounce upon a -sparrow of any species the instant one appears.</p> - -<h3>October Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>Red squirrels and chipmunks differ in size, -markings, and habits. The red squirrel is nearly -twice as large as the chipmunk, it nests in trees, and -is usually seen among the branches. It is red on -the back and whitish beneath, sometimes having -one black line along each side. Chipmunks live -in the ground, hollow stumps, and roots. They -are poor tree climbers and will not jump from tree -to tree unless forced to do so. They have a black -stripe down the back and two on each side.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">« 281 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 357px;"> -<img src="images/spsn.png" width="357" height="279" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>SPOTTED SANDPIPER.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">« 282 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">« 283 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">« 284 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>October Thirty-first</h3> - -<p>At dusk or early in the evening the weird, tremulous -wail of the screech owl may be heard. Sometimes -one will visit a favorite tree at the same hour -evening after evening, and after sounding his cry -several times, will glide away into the country to -hunt for a supper of beetles, meadow mice or -white-footed mice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">« 285 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">« 286 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="November" id="November"><span class="antiqua">November</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>November First</h3> - -<p>The chipping sparrow, field sparrow, vesper -sparrow, mourning dove, red-shouldered blackbird, -and purple grackle stay with us as long as -the weather will permit. Mr. Chapman says: -"Should the season be an exceedingly mild one, -many of these birds will remain [about New York] -until late in December."</p> - - -<h3>November Second</h3> - -<p>The brown creeper, another denizen of the -forests, groves, and village shade trees, is seldom -noticed because of its small size and dull coloring, -which blends perfectly with the tree trunks. It -is often found in company with chickadees, nuthatches -and kinglets. The creeper flies to the base -of a tree, and winds his way to the top, hunting -in the crevices of the bark for insects and insect -larvę, occasionally uttering a clear, feeble trill.</p> - - -<h3>November Third</h3> - -<p>Unlike the bears one meets in certain kinds of -animal stories, the real bear is the most easily -frightened of all our large animals. His eyesight -is defective, and his hearing not particularly good, -but his keen nose more than compensates for those -deficiencies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">« 287 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 331px;"> -<img src="images/chde.png" width="331" height="534" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>CHICKADEES.</p> - -<div class="fig_left">Upper, Mountain.</div> - -<div class="fig_right">Lower, Hudsonian.</div></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">« 288 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">« 289 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">« 290 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Fourth</h3> - -<p>Artists often make the mistake of drawing a -flying bird with its feet drawn up beneath its breast. -Although some birds do hold their feet in this -position, the herons, gulls, buzzards, and most -of the hawks and eagles hold their feet and legs -against the under side of the tail. The legs of the -many species of herons are very conspicuous when -the birds fly, for as the tail is short, they extend -far beyond it.</p> - - -<h3>November Fifth</h3> - -<p>Some ants live in the ground, some make chambers -in wood, while others build mounds of small -sticks, dirt, and gravel, and construct roadways to -and from them. They feed upon flesh, fruit, -and plant substances. Their hind legs are provided -with a sort of brush for cleaning the dirt -from their bodies, and these legs in turn are cleaned -by being drawn through the mouth.</p> - - -<h3>November Sixth</h3> - -<p>The "'coon" (raccoon) is strictly a nocturnal -animal, and spends the day in hollow trees, crevices -in the rocks, or in thick underbrush, coming forth -at night to hunt its food,—mice, birds, crabs, -clams, eggs, acorns, and green corn. On the Pacific -Coast it makes a neat round hole in the side of a -pumpkin and takes out the seeds with its hands.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">« 291 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">« 292 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Seventh</h3> - -<p>Hawks, owls, and eagles are bold defenders of -their nests and young. Circling overhead, they -suddenly bow their wings and dash at the intruder, -turning quickly and swooping up again when only -a few inches from his head. Instances are known -in which persons have been wounded severely while -meddling with the property of such birds of prey.</p> - - -<h3>November Eighth</h3> - -<p>The tail of the brown creeper, and of all of the -thirty-five species and sub-species of woodpeckers, -is provided with stiff, pointed feathers which curve -in slightly. With the chimney swift, each feather -is armed with a spine. While woodpeckers cling -to a tree trunk, and the chimney swift to the side -of a chimney, their stiff tails help to support them.</p> - - -<h3>November Ninth</h3> - -<p>Although the darning-needle, dragon fly, snake -feeder, or snake doctor is perfectly harmless, -Howard says, "Some believe that they will sew up -the ears of bad boys; others that they will sting -horses; still others that they act as feeders and -physicians to snakes, especially to water snakes." -They are the beautiful lace-winged insects that -frequently dip down and pick up an insect from the -surface of a pond or a river.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">« 293 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">« 294 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Tenth</h3> - -<p>Conspicuous in the withered grass of upland -meadows are the white flowers of the several -species of everlasting. If picked before they begin -to fade, they will keep through winter nearly as -fresh and white as when the blossoming season -was at its height.</p> - - -<h3>November Eleventh</h3> - -<p>In the mountains of the North, the black bear -is beginning to look for a suitable place in which to -pass the winter. Many bears could wear their -skins much longer if they would only hibernate -before the snow begins to fly. Every hunter anxiously -awaits the first fall of snow, which makes -the tracking of bears so easy.</p> - - -<h3>November Twelfth</h3> - -<p>Nine out of every ten persons call salamanders or -newts, "lizards." Lizards do not metamorphose; -consequently they are never found in the water. -They are very swift; lovers of the sun, and in the -East are rarely seen north of a line parallel with -southern New England. Salamanders are found -either <i>in the water or in damp places</i>. They metamorphose, -and when on the ground their efforts to -escape are feeble.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">« 295 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">« 296 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>Owls, woodpeckers, ducks, doves, pigeons, the -ruffed grouse, Bob-white, belted kingfisher, ruby-throated -hummingbird, chimney swift, short-billed -marsh wren, and bush-tit lay eggs that are glossy -white or various shades of white or buff-color. The -eggs of the herons, cuckoos, robin, bluebird, catbird, -Wilson's thrush, and hermit thrush are blue, -green, or various shades of those colors.</p> - - -<h3>November Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>Just at evening the white-throated sparrows, -from the thickets, call their sweet, clear good-night -to one another. As the darkness falls, the calls -gradually cease, until only an occasional flutter is -heard as some restless bird, not satisfied with its -perch, chooses a new position for the night.</p> - - -<h3>November Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>It is now time to build winter shelters for Bob-white, -and to begin to feed the winter birds. Cut -pine or evergreen boughs, and pile them against the -side of a log, leaving a <i>small</i> opening at each end -for the quail to enter. Make the shelters on the -south or east side of a hill or bank, where it will be -protected from the cold winter storms. Now scatter -buckwheat about your bird "wickey-up," as an -Indian would call it, and they will soon find it. -You should feed grain to your flock all winter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">« 297 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">« 298 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>The sparrow hawk is a summer resident in New -England, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. It -nests in a cavity of a tree or in a deserted woodpecker's -nest, and it will return to the same locality -year after year. The bird is no larger than a robin, -and instead of being a sparrow killer, it lives chiefly -upon insects.</p> - - -<h3>November Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>The opossum is the only North American member -of the order Marsupialia which has so many representatives -in Australia and New Zealand. The -marsupials are the animals that have pouches -over their abdomens in which they <i>carry their -young</i>. Some people wrongly include in this order -the pocket gopher, pocket mouse, and other mammals -that have cheek pouches in which they <i>carry -food</i>.</p> - - -<h3>November Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>Accounts of the capture of "extremely rare and -valuable monkey-faced owls," are often published. -These owls are nothing more than barn owls, which -are so common in the Southern States. They nest -in holes in banks, in cavities in trees, or in church -belfries. A pair has occupied one of the towers -in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, for -several years.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">« 299 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">« 300 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>The common meadow mouse makes a docile and -interesting pet, if captured without frightening or -exciting him. Within fifteen minutes from the time -of his capture he will often lose all fear, and while -you hold him he will wash his face with his paws.</p> - - -<h3>November Twentieth</h3> - -<p>The snowy, and the great-gray, owls, both inhabitants -of the North-land, are the largest American -members of the owl family. They are more frequently -seen in the daytime and are much tamer -than other owls, often permitting one to approach -very close to them. Except in very severe weather -they rarely come below the Canadian border. In -disposition the great-horned owl and the snow owl -are considered fierce, still they can be tamed, even if -captured when adult.</p> - - -<h3>November Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>It is a general impression that bears hug their -victims to death. When enraged a bear will charge -to within a few feet of a man, rise upon its hind legs, -and strike him down with its fore paws, or hold -him with them while it attacks his neck and shoulders -with its teeth. After inflicting several wounds -a bear will often leave its victim without further -injuring him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">« 301 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 367px;"> -<img src="images/owls.png" width="367" height="522" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by Jackson.</p> - -<p>THE GREAT HORNED OWL AND THE SNOWY OWL CAN BE TAMED.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">« 302 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">« 303 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">« 304 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>The blue jay is one of the birds who remain -with us throughout the entire year. His habits are -not the same in all parts of his range. In some -localities he is strictly a bird of the forests, while -in others, he is common in our city parks and shade-trees. -A relative of the crow, he is charged with -robbing nests of their eggs and young birds. He -is fond of nuts also, and will eat any kind that his -strong bill can open.</p> - - -<h3>November Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>Hawks and owls will respond quickly if you make -a squeaking noise like a mouse, and a fox will stop -and prick up his ears, then turn and proceed in the -direction of the sound until he discovers its source. -A weasel will dash toward the hunter, and even -after it sees him, its curiosity keeps it from retreating -at once.</p> - - -<h3>November Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>The Thanksgiving turkey that we eat about now -"is derived from the wild turkey of Mexico, which -was introduced into Europe shortly after the Conquest -and was thence brought to eastern North -America." (Chapman and Reed.) The tips of -the upper tail-coverts of the domestic and the -Mexican turkey are whitish, while those of the -wild turkey of eastern United States are rusty -brown.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">« 305 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 375px;"> -<img src="images/jays.png" width="375" height="531" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>BLUE JAYS.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">« 306 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">« 307 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">« 308 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>A skunk knows every woodchuck and rabbit -burrow in his neighborhood. In the woods he will -often visit hole after hole with great precision, but -in the meadows he is more apt to follow the fences, -frequently cutting across a corner in order to -shorten the distance to a burrow. Probably experience -has taught him that rabbits are often -found in woodchuck holes and that meadow mice -also take shelter in them during the winter.</p> - - -<h3>November Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>The tallest and heaviest of all birds is the African -ostrich, but the condor of South America has the -widest expanse of wing. In the United States, the -California vulture, once very rare, but now steadily -increasing, is broadest across the wings. The -whooping crane stands the highest, and the swans -are the heaviest of our birds.</p> - - -<h3>November Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>Do not kill the bats that you find passing the -winter in your garret, or those that fly into your -house in the summer. They destroy large numbers -of gnats and mosquitoes, and do no harm. The -belief that they get into one's hair is ridiculous, and -it is seldom that they are infested with vermin. -A South American species has been known to suck -the blood of horses and cattle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">« 309 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">« 310 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>November Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>On returning to the nest and discovering that -a cowbird has laid an egg in it, some species of -birds will roll the egg out. But the phœbe, red-eyed -vireo, chipping sparrow, and yellow warbler -will sometimes cover the eggs with nesting material -and build up the sides of the nest, thus burying its -own and the cowbird's egg. Another set of eggs -is then laid and the bird begins to sit, but the -buried eggs are too deep to be affected by the -warmth of the parent's body, so the "lazy-bird's" -purpose is defeated.</p> - - -<h3>November Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>In the abandoned birds' nests that are placed -near the ground in shrubs and small trees close to -hazel-nut bushes and bitter-sweet vines, you will -often find a handful of hazel-nuts or bitter-sweet -berries. They were put there by the white-footed -mice and the meadow mice who visit these storehouses -regularly. Very often a white-footed mouse -will cover a bird's nest with fine dried grass and -inner bark, and make a nest for itself.</p> - - -<h3>November Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>Between now and the first of March you may -expect to see large flocks of red-polls feeding on -seeds among the weeds and low bushes, and cross-bills -in the pine and spruce trees shelling seeds -from the cones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">« 311 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 371px;"> -<img src="images/nest.png" width="371" height="446" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Reproduced by the courtesy of the Field Columbian Museum.</p> - -<p>A FOUR-STORIED WARBLER'S NEST. EACH STORY REPRESENTS AN -ATTEMPT BY THE WARBLER TO AVOID BECOMING FOSTER PARENT OF -A YOUNG COWBIRD.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">« 312 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">« 313 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">« 314 »</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="December" id="December"><span class="antiqua">December</span></a></h2> - - -<h3>December First</h3> - -<p>Besides being the means by which they capture -their prey, the talons of an eagle, hawk, or owl -are their weapons of defence. Their bill can -really inflict but little injury. When wounded -one of these birds will throw itself upon its back, -and strike with its feet, burying its talons deep in -the flesh of its adversary.</p> - - -<h3>December Second</h3> - -<p>The gray or wood gray fox lives about the rocks -and ledges. It is a noted tree climber, and, being -less fleet than the red fox, it often eludes pursuing -dogs by taking shelter in the rocks, or amid the -branches of a tree. Running a short distance, it -will spring to the side of a tree and scramble up the -trunk. Sometimes it falls back and is obliged to -repeat the performance several times before it is -able to gain the first branches, from which it can -easily climb from limb to limb as high as it chooses.</p> - - -<h3>December Third</h3> - -<p>The junco and the horned lark in some localities -are called "snowbird," but the snow bunting, or -snowflake, is the only bird correctly so called. These -birds do not look alike, but the appearance of the -three species in large numbers during the winter -is confusing to one not versed in bird-lore.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">« 315 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 355px;"> -<img src="images/snbu.png" width="355" height="308" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>SNOW BUNTING.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">« 316 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">« 317 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">« 318 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Fourth</h3> - -<p>Why is it that most carnivorous animals, as well -as most birds of prey, refuse to eat shrews and -moles? It may be due to the strong pungent odor -of their bodies. Cats will catch them and play with -them, but owls are the only creatures that seem to -care for them for food.</p> - - -<h3>December Fifth</h3> - -<p>Mr. Newhall says that a lady told him that an -Oneida Indian once cured her grandfather of a -severe illness. He afterward learned that the -medicine used was an extract of witch-hazel, and -later prepared and sold it widely.</p> - - -<h3>December Sixth</h3> - -<p>The great-horned owl, hoot owl, or cat owl, is the -only bird that from choice will feed upon skunks. -Although rabbits are abundant and easy to capture, -his Owlship seems to prefer to battle against the -long teeth and disagreeable odor of the skunk in -order to dine upon its flesh. Nearly all owls of this -species that are killed in winter are strongly scented -with the skunk's odor.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">« 319 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">« 320 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Seventh</h3> - -<p>The two glands that hold the skunk's vile-smelling -fluid are about the size and shape of a pecan -nut. They are strictly <i>organs of protection</i> and are -never used except in <i>extreme</i> cases of defence. They -are situated between the skin and the flesh near the -root of the tail. When brought into use, a number -of strong muscles encircling them contract, and a -fine spray of the fluid is thrown off; the tail taking -no part in its distribution.</p> - - -<h3>December Eighth</h3> - -<p>Snakes are not slimy and clammy; they do not -cover their food with saliva before swallowing it, -and the forked flexible member which darts in and -out of their mouth is not a "stinger," but the tongue. -They do not swallow their young in cases of danger, -and they have no power to "charm," or hypnotize.</p> - - -<h3>December Ninth</h3> - -<p>The bald-faced hornet attaches his large, cone-shaped, -paper nests under the eaves of houses, in -garrets, or to the limbs of trees. Collecting the -minute fibres that adhere to the weather-beaten -fences and buildings, the hornets mix it with saliva -and make a crude quality of paper. To enlarge a -nest, the inside walls are torn away and the material -is used to add to the outside layer. Like bumblebees, -the workers and drones die in the fall, the -queen hibernating.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">« 321 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">« 322 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Tenth</h3> - -<p>Beautiful as the deer are and innocent as they -seem, they cannot be trusted, as attendants in -zoological parks can testify. A bear will seldom -attack a keeper without provocation, and when he -does he will usually give warning before he charges. -Not so with a buck of the deer family. Greeting -his best friend in the most cordial manner, he may, -without warning, charge when the man's back is -turned, and gore or trample him to death.</p> - - -<h3>December Eleventh</h3> - -<p>The American eagle is more often spoken of as -the "bald eagle," a name which misleads many -people since the bird is not "bald" at all. The top -of its head is as thickly feathered as the heads of -most birds. Probably some one thought that the -white head and neck made the eagle appear bald, -hence the name. The birds reach the third year -before the head and tail begin to turn white.</p> - - -<h3>December Twelfth</h3> - -<p>The little striped skunk, or hydrophobia skunk -of the South, West, and Southwest, is about half -the size of our common skunk. It frequently goes -mad and attacks people with great fury. Cowboys -and other persons compelled to sleep on the -ground in the open have been bitten by it and have -died of hydrophobia. <i>It is the only</i> North American -animal that will deliberately <i>attack a sleeping person</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">« 323 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">« 324 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Thirteenth</h3> - -<p>"Till a comparatively recent date it was not -certainly known that eels have eggs which develop -outside of the body. Even now the breeding habits -are scarcely known, but it is supposed that the -spawning takes place late in the fall or during the -winter, near the mouth of rivers, on muddy bottoms." (Bean.)</p> - - -<h3>December Fourteenth</h3> - -<p>The so-called glass snake is truly speaking not a -snake, but a legless lizard. It forms part of the food -of the true snakes. Its body is very brittle, a light -blow with a stick being sufficient to break it in two. -Although it is true that another tail will grow -(provided not more than a fourth of the body is -missing), it is not true that the broken pieces will -eventually unite, or that a head and body will grow -on the tail piece.</p> - - -<h3>December Fifteenth</h3> - -<p>How often you read of, or heard some one speak -of, the whale as "the largest of fish." A whale is -a <i>mammal</i>, because it suckles its young. It is not -only the largest of <i>living</i> mammals, but, according -to Mr. Lucas, the large ones are larger than any of -the enormous reptiles that inhabited the world -before the advent of man, and whose fossil remains -may be seen in any of our large museums.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">« 325 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">« 326 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Sixteenth</h3> - -<p>The quiet little tree sparrows spend the winter -with us feeding on the seeds of weeds and grasses. -You will find their tracks in the snow where flocks -have been eating ragweed seeds, and you are likely -to see some of them fluttering about in the bushes -along the river banks, or in the frozen swamps -uttering a pleasing call note. They can be identified -by the distinct black spot on the breast and their -pinkish bills.</p> - - -<h3>December Seventeenth</h3> - -<p>There is no better time to study the tracks and -nightly doings of animals than after the first fall -of snow. Start early in the morning and see how -many stories the tracks have written.</p> - - -<h3>December Eighteenth</h3> - -<p>Following the tracks of a white-footed mouse in -the woods, they lead you to a hollow log, at the -entrance of which are a number of beech-nut shells, -remains of a midnight feast taken from a winter -store-house. From here the mouse went into the -field, and then the tracks stop abruptly, leaving you -to guess the rest. Possibly one of the several -species of owls that inhabit your locality could -explain the sudden ending of the trail.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">« 327 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">« 328 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Nineteenth</h3> - -<p>Continuing through the woods, you soon discover -the trail of two birds whose feet are not quite -the size of those of bantam chickens. Following -them a few hundred yards you come to a bedded -spot in the snow, beneath the drooping branches -of a spruce. Not far from here, two ruffed grouse -rise, with a loud whirr of wings, and speed off before -your startled eyes. These are the birds whose -tracks you have been following.</p> - - -<h3>December Twentieth</h3> - -<p>Don't follow a fox track with the intention of -overtaking the maker, unless you have dogs. He -may be ten miles away at that very moment, and -even if you should draw near to him, he is almost -certain to elude your sight by sneaking away.</p> - - -<h3>December Twenty-first</h3> - -<p>You may find where a muskrat has left the stream -and started across the meadow to a marsh near by. -Suddenly a mink's track breaks into the trail and -follows in the same direction, and you soon come to -a spot where the snow is much disturbed, and the -tracks mingle in confusion. Blood-stains on the -snow and matted places show where the two have -fought a battle for existence. A broad, deep trail -leading to a stump indicates that some object has -been dragged across the snow, and there you find -the half-eaten remains of the muskrat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">« 329 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">« 330 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Twenty-second</h3> - -<p>What tracks are these, trailing along the fence -between a brush-lot and a buckwheat field? At -the corner of the fence human footprints and those -of a dog join them. All now travel in the same -direction, first on one side of the fence, then on the -other. Finally the bird tracks stop abruptly and -the marks of wings on each side of them show that -the birds have taken flight. The dog has suddenly -bolted, and where his tracks turn back is a dash in -the snow and a few quail feathers which tell the -story; a hunter has bagged his game.</p> - - -<h3>December Twenty-third</h3> - -<p>An open brush-lot bordering woods is the best -place to find cotton-tail rabbit tracks. Judging -from the number of tracks and the spaces between -them, the rabbits have been playing tag, or attempting -to break the record for running and jumping. -They did rest, however, for beneath a bush, -and by the side of a stump, we find impressions in -the snow where they sat down. If it is a warm -day, you are apt to surprise one taking a sun-bath.</p> - - -<h3>December Twenty-fourth</h3> - -<p>Save in the dome of the Capitol, could our -national bird, the bald eagle, select a more appropriate -place for its nest than at Washington's home? -In a patch of heavy timber at Mt. Vernon, Va., a -pair of eagles have nested for several years.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">« 331 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 343px;"> -<img src="images/rabbit.png" width="343" height="429" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption"><p>Photograph by J. Alden Loring.</p> - -<p>COTTONTAIL RABBIT TAKING A SUNBATH.</p></div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">« 332 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">« 333 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">« 334 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Twenty-fifth</h3> - -<p>Mistletoe is a parasitic evergreen shrub that is -abundant in the South. It grows in thick clusters -on limbs of various species of trees. Its flowers are -whitish, and after the flowering season, clusters -of white berries take the place of the blossoms. As -the berries are ready to fall, they become soft and -sticky, and when they drop they adhere to the bark -of any limb they strike, and the seeds take root and -are nourished by the sap of the tree.</p> - - -<h3>December Twenty-sixth</h3> - -<p>You might take a Christmas walk over the ice -and visit a muskrat's house of sticks and other -rubbish. If the occupants are at home, you will -notice a frosty spot on one side of the mound. A -muskrat hunter would thrust his spear through the -thin wall and impale one or more of the rats upon -its tines. Many of the clods composing the house -bear the nose-print of the maker.</p> - - -<h3>December Twenty-seventh</h3> - -<p>While sleigh-riding you are likely to see a flock -of trim, sober-colored birds perched close together, -feeding on the berries of the mountain ash tree or -on decayed apples. They have <i>crests</i> and <i>wax-like -red dots</i> on the inner feathers of their wings. -These are cedar-birds, or cedar waxwings. They -often remain with us throughout the year.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">« 335 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">« 336 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Twenty-eighth</h3> - -<p>"The name 'burl' is applied to all excrescent -growths on trees, except true knots. The origin -of these wart-like swellings is imperfectly known, -but they can generally be attributed to injuries by -woodpeckers, gall insects, and to the irritating and -continued growth of fungi in the woody tissues at -such points." (Adams.)</p> - - -<h3>December Twenty-ninth</h3> - -<p>A flock of pine grosbeaks feeding on buds in a -maple or an apple tree on a cold winter's day is a -pleasing sight for any bird lover. They are the size of -a robin, and the male has a rose-colored head, neck, -breast, and back. They are quiet birds and very -tame, even permitting a person to climb the tree and -approach within a few feet, before they take flight. -It is only during the severest weather that they -migrate south into southern New York, Pennsylvania, -and New England.</p> - - -<h3>December Thirtieth</h3> - -<p>North America can boast of the largest deer in -the world, the Alaskan moose; as well as the -largest of flesh-eating mammals, the Kodiak bear. -We also have more rodents and cats than any other -country.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">« 337 »</a></span></p> - -<div class="fig_center" style="width: 460px;"> -<img src="images/bngu.png" width="460" height="328" alt="" /> -<div class="fig_caption">BONAPARTE GULL.</div> -</div> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">« 338 »</a></span></p> - -<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">« 339 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">« 340 »</a></span></p> - -<h3>December Thirty-first</h3> - -<p>Sometimes the lakes freeze over, and the gulls -are compelled to seek the large open rivers, and ask -alms from the inhabitants along their banks. At -such times they become very tame, so if you will -place food within their reach, they will soon find it -and call upon you from day to day.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">« 341 »</a></span></p> - -<h4>Notes</h4> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - - -<div class="trans_notes"> -<p class="caption2">Transcriber Note</p> - -<p>Although the images were inserted before the "Notes" page which follows -each page of dates, the images were not moved due to the List of -Illustrations page numbering. Produced from images generously provided -on The Internet Archive and all resultant materials are placed in the -Public Domain.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Young Folks' Nature Field Book, by -John Alden Loring - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOUNG FOLKS' NATURE FIELD BOOK *** - -***** This file should be named 62790-h.htm or 62790-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/7/9/62790/ - -Produced by Tom Cosmas produced from files generously -provided on The Internet Archive and all resultant materials -are placed in the Public Domain. - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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