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diff --git a/old/62793-0.txt b/old/62793-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0c0b74f..0000000 --- a/old/62793-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14260 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Gray Lady and the Birds, by Mabel Osgood Wright - -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: Gray Lady and the Birds - Stories of the Bird Year for Home and School - -Author: Mabel Osgood Wright - -Illustrator: Allan Brooks - Louis Agassiz Fuertes - Joseph Michael Gleeson - Robert Bruce Horsfall - -Release Date: July 31, 2020 [EBook #62793] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS *** - - - - -Produced by Mardi Desjardins & the online Distributed -Proofreaders Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net - - - - - - GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS -[Illustration] - - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO - ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO - - MACMILLAN & CO., Limited - LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA - MELBOURNE - - THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. - TORONTO - - - - -[Illustration: BALTIMORE ORIOLE - -(Upper Figure, Male; Lower Figure, Female)] - - Order—Passeres Family—Icteridæ - Genus—Icterus Species—Galbula - - - - - GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS - - STORIES OF THE BIRD YEAR - FOR HOME AND SCHOOL - - - - BY - MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT - - PRESIDENT AUDUBON SOCIETY, STATE OF CONNECTICUT - AUTHOR OF “CITIZEN BIRD,” “TOMMY ANNE,” ETC. - - - _TWELVE COLOURED PLATES AND THIRTY-SIX FULL-PAGE_ - _ILLUSTRATIONS IN HALF-TONE_ - - - New York - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 1914 - - _All rights reserved_ - - - - - Copyright, 1907, - By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. - - Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1907. Reprinted - March, 1909; April, 1910; April, 1914. - - - Norwood Press - J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co. - Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. - - - - - To - - WILLIAM DUTCHER - - PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION - - OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES - - IN RECOGNITION OF HIS UNSELFISH DEVOTION - - TO THE CAUSE OF - - AMERICAN BIRD PROTECTION - - - - -[Illustration: FEEDING THE ORPHANS] - - - - - TO THE CHILDREN - - Greeting! - - Oh, sweet is the whitethroat’s lay, - As the banners of dawn unfold! - The lovable, quarrelsome wrens all day - Peep and prattle and scold: - Skulks a blue jay hiding his grain; - Blinks an owl with the crows in train— - Courtship merry and combat vain - The eyes of the wise behold. - - * * * * * * - - And Nature spreads wide her book, - In a temple fair and free,— - To all who may listen she cries, “Come, look! - Come and learn at my knee. - Watch the change of the finch’s vest, - Note how the highhole carves his nest,— - Come with light foot and loving breast, - And bury your ills with me!” - - —Dora Read Goodale. - - - - - BE SURE THAT YOU SEE ARIGHT! - - -The preservation of the useful and beautiful animal and bird-life of the -country depends largely upon creating in the young an interest in the -life of the woods and fields. - -If the child mind is fed with stories that are false to nature, the -children will go to the haunts of the animal only to meet -disappointment. The result will be disbelief, and the death of interest. -The men who misinterpret nature and replace fact with fiction, undo the -work of those who in the love of nature interpret it aright. - - —Theodore Roosevelt. - - - - - RECOGNITION - - -The author desires to thank Mr. William Dutcher for permission to -reproduce the Drawings of Birds prepared under his supervision for the -Educational Leaflets of the National Association of Audubon Societies; -Mr. Frank M. Chapman for the quotation of material that has appeared in -_Bird-Lore_, also for photographs from his negatives; the American -Museum of Natural History of New York City for photographs of its groups -representing Bird-Life at Cobbs Island, Virginia, and Birds of the St. -Joaquin Valley; to Dr. T. S. Roberts, Dr. C. F. Hodge, R. H. Beebe, and -E. van Alterna, for use of valuable photographs; Houghton, Mifflin & Co. -for their courtesy in allowing quotations from the poems of Celia -Thaxter, Maurice Thompson, Frank Bolles, Lowell, and others; Charles -Scribner’s Sons for like permission to use the poems of G. P. Lathrop -and Henry van Dyke. - -Also to Dr. Henry van Dyke, Edmund C. Stedman, Edith M. Thomas, Oliver -Herford, Dora Reed Goodale, George Parsons Lathrop, Dr. Garrett Newkirk, -Faith C. Lee, Ella Gilbert Ives, Florence A. Van Zant, Lynn Tew Sprague, -Richard Burton, W. B. Blake, and others for the use of their poems, etc. - - - - - TO THE GROWN-UP—LEND A HAND! - - -The training of the eye to correct seeing is one of the great advantages -of bird study to the average child, quite aside from the value of the -information gained, for this accurate gauge of the eye will always be a -benefit in whatever calling may be followed, adding alike to the -pleasure and profit of life. - -In every town or country village there is some one who takes more than -passing interest in the life outdoors, who has a keener eye and more -responsive ear than his neighbour, coupled with a heart that has a bit -of Eden still lodged in it, so that it keeps tender and yearning toward -the simple, direct affections of life, as expressed in childhood and the -lives of the timid wild brotherhood, whether of foot or wing. Are you -one of these? If so, do you not realize that from your very make-up you -draw more freely from nature’s bounty than do your neighbours, and are -you not bound to share your pleasure with them? Not alone because it is -pleasure, but that through the knowledge that comes with all real joy, -the wild bird or beast may be more fully understood, and therefore -protected. All the more is this just and right, because we ourselves in -our advancement are the main cause of their need of this protection, for -as man increases, possesses, builds, and overflows the earth, so do -these “kindred of the wild” dwindle and silently disappear. - -The lesser beasts keep more aloof than do the birds. These still gather -freely in our gardens, fields, and woods if we permit, and if we offer -food and shelter, many quickly become responsive. - -Will not you who enjoy this friendship share it with others to whom it -is perhaps entirely unknown and unguessed, and to whom even the names of -birds, beyond a familiar few such as Hawk, Owl, Robin, and Sparrow, are -an unknown language? - -The bird lectures are many, but there are those who cannot reach them. -The bird protective societies are tireless, but the ground must be -prepared for the message they send forth, and there is no better way for -doing this than by the influence of a personality working quietly and -unconsciously that infects all with whom it comes in contact with its -wholesome enthusiasm. - -If you are a parent or teacher, well and good; your field is ready at -hand. If not, you may still become the equivalent of both in your -community even though you lack some of Gray Lady’s attributes and -resources. - -If you have the right faculty and books at hand, you do not need my aid; -but if the work of holding youth is as yet an untried experiment, tuck -this little volume into the corner of your school desk, the magazine -rack, or your work-basket at home, for rainy days or the between times -when lack of occupation breeds mischief. - -Much that is told in the following pages was thought out, in another -form, especially for the use of teachers of the rural schools of -Connecticut, but it is applicable to the needs of children in any of the -eastern states, and whether the knowledge passes from the school to the -home or the home to the school, the process is the same. The walk -between the rural school and home along bushy lanes and tree-bordered -highways, however, is an important link in the chain. - -For children so placed the birds and every possible motive for wanting -to know them lie at hand, but for this very reason the public library -wherein the books to answer questions may be found is perhaps many miles -away and it is not possible for every school or home to own the -necessary bird books or charts. - -It must not for a moment be thought that any attempt is made to say -anything new or add to the information given in the many excellent and -complete books now in circulation, but merely to condense in a simple -form things that have been said. Not detailed descriptions and tabulated -facts—for these repel the beginner and seem but the spelling-book or -multiplication table in a new form—but to record the doings of some -children who were eager to know; together with a few hints upon the -migrations, winter feeding, and protection of some of our common birds, -and the stories of their lives, that may lead both teacher and pupil to -more detailed study when opportunity offers. - -When a strange child comes to school, the first desire of his mates is -to know his name and nationality, from whence he came, where he lives, -whether he is merely a visitor or to be a permanent resident in the -community. All this must be weighed and well considered before the -newcomer is admitted to the friendship of his mates, and it may be that -there will be some prejudices against him that the teacher must either -remove by explanation or overcome by reason and example. - -It is very much the same with a bird. After being attracted to him and -fixing upon his name as an individual his identity should be still -further established by finding to what family he belongs and then later -on placing this family in one of the great orders of the bird world. -These two last should not be dwelt upon, however, until the identity as -an individual is established, but in the end it will help to keep the -name in the memory to know the kinship of families as well. - -There are many little points of comparison, of scientific but not -general value that cannot be seen unless the dead bird is held in the -hand, and then only a wise man, perhaps, would be able to point them -out. It is with the living bird, on the wing or in its nest in the -bushes, that we are concerned; not with the poor little dead thing with -its limp neck and bloody, rumpled feathers. - -We should not learn enough from such a bird to in any way make up for -taking its life; it would be both wasteful and against the law. So we -must be content to believe what the Wise Men say, who must study the -dead birds in order to preserve the scientific knowledge of their -structure and keep them in public museums, that they may teach the world -how wonderful a thing bird-life is, and show us that we must do all we -can to protect it. For the Wise Men know very well that— - - You cannot with a scalpel find the poet’s soul, - Nor yet the wild bird’s song! - - M. O. W. - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - I - Gray Lady Appears 1 - - II - A Rainy Day—The school at Foxes Corners at 9 - the beginning of the fall term. - - III - Gray Lady at School—The bird. What is it? To 18 - whom does it belong? The bird year—The - migrations, the moulting, etc. - - IV - The Orchard Party—The children’s luncheon and 38 - the bird’s lunch-counter. Gray Lady makes a - plan. - - V - Reasons Why—Why birds need protection. The 51 - uses of birds. What they do for us and what - we should do for them—housing, feeding, - etc. - - VI - Feathers and Hats—Egrets and Ostrich 67 - plumes—The wrong and the right of it. - - VII - The Kind Hearts’ Club—The work that kept the 81 - Fingers busy so that the Ears might listen. - - VIII - The Procession Passes—The fall journey—Five 89 - Swallows and a changeling. - - IX - Two Birds that came Back—The Tame Crow and 102 - the English Starling. - - X - Some Mischief-Makers—The American Crow, Blue 114 - Jay, and Purple Grackle. - - XI - The Flight of the Bird—The wonders of flight. 136 - Some new facts about the migrations of - birds. - - XII - Some Suspicious Characters—Hawks and Owls—Two 154 - sides of the question. - - XIII - Tree-trunk Birds—The Woodpeckers—Sapsucker, 175 - Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, etc. - - XIV - Four Notables—Game-birds at home—The Ruffed 197 - Grouse, Bob-white, Woodcock, and the Wood - Duck. - - XV - Game-Birds?—The plea of the Meadowlark, 217 - Mourning Dove, Sandpiper, Plovers, and - Bobolink, the Masquerader. “Spare us, - please! We are too small for food.” - - XVI - Treasure-trove at the Shore—The Herring or 229 - Harbour Gull. - - XVII - The Birds’ Christmas Tree—The preparation and 242 - a surprise. The Winter Wren, Tree-sparrow, - Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Crossbills. - - XVIII - How they spent their Money—The result of the 254 - Xmas sale and the Letter Carrier’s horse. - - XIX - Behind the Bars—American birds that have been 270 - prisoners.—The Mockingbird, Cardinal, - Nonpareil, and Indigo-bird. - - XX - Midwinter Birds—Cedar-Bird, Redpoll, Junco, 293 - Shrike, Whitethroat, Chickadee, etc. - - XXI - Jacob Hughes’ Opinion of Cats—The trail in 303 - the snow and the bandits that lived in the - barn. - - XXII - February, “The Long-Short Month”—Stories and 310 - poems of the Bluebird, Song Sparrow, and - Robin. - - XXIII - March—Red-wing, Kingfisher, and Phœbe. 333 - - XXIV - The Tide has Turned—Wild Geese, 355 - Nest-Building, Vesper-Sparrow, Purple - Finch, Chippy, Whip-poor-will, Towhee, - Ovenbird, House Wren, Thrasher, Catbird, - Wood Thrush, Veery, Nighthawk, Chimney - Swift, etc. - - XXV - Bird and Arbour Day at Foxes Corners—In doors 385 - and out—Working and talking. - - XXVI - Some Birds that come in May—In apple-blossom 403 - time look for the brightly coloured - birds—Oriole, Tanager, Rose-breasted - Grosbeak, Indigo-bird, Yellowthroat, Chat, - Humming-bird, Redstart, etc. - - XXVII - Flag Day—Gray Lady receives and gives a 431 - surprise. - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - COLOURED PLATES - - Baltimore Oriole _Frontispiece_ - FACING PAGE - Scarlet Tanager 34 - Blue Jay 129 - Wood Duck 214 - Killdeer 224 - Indigo Bunting 280 - Cardinal 286 - Bluebird 314 - Red-winged Blackbird 334 - Belted Kingfisher 340 - American Goldfinch 422 - Rose-breasted Grosbeak 426 - - FULL-PAGE HALF-TONES - - Feeding the Orphans vi - Chickadee 26 - Snowy Heron 66 - Clipping Ostrich Plumes 74 - Purple Martin 96 - Bird-houses and Nesting-boxes 106 - Terns and Skimmers on the Wing 142 - Golden Plover 148 - The Wings in Flight 152 - Red-shouldered Hawk 154 - Screech Owl 158 - Barn Owl 166 - Short-eared Owl 168 - Marsh Hawk 170 - Sparrow Hawk 174 - White-breasted Nuthatch 178 - Flicker 190 - Downy Woodpecker 194 - Ruffed Grouse 198 - Just Out 200 - Domesticated Bob-white Calling 202 - Grouse showing Ruff and Tail 206 - Woodcock on Nest 212 - Meadowlark 218 - Mourning Doves 220 - Spotted Sandpiper 222 - Least Sandpiper 224 - Herring Gulls 232 - Tree-Sparrow 248 - Shelter for Bird Food 250 - Robin 326 - Nighthawks 370 - Chimney Swift Resting 374 - Wood Thrush and Nest 378 - Catbird on Nest 384 - Yellow-billed Cuckoo 404 - Red-eyed Vireo on Nest 406 - - - - - GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS - - - - - I - GRAY LADY APPEARS - - -Sarah Barnes hurried up the hill road so fast that by the time she -reached the short bit of lane that turned in at her own gate she was -quite out of breath, and oh, so warm! Fanning vigorously with her -sun-hat did not help her much, for its wide rim had a rent in it, made -by Jack, the family puppy, so that when she reached the steps of the -porch, she sank down in a heap, only having breath enough to exclaim, -“Oh, grandma, what _do_ you think?” - -Old lady Barnes with a sigh dropped the checked shirt that she was -patching into the big work-basket that rested on the bench beside her. -This basket was already overflowing with other garments for both boys -and girls, that needed everything in the way of repair from a button to -a knee patch, or even to a whole sleeve, for with a slim purse and six -children to keep covered neither Grandma Barnes’ work-basket nor her -fingers knew many empty moments. - -Taking off her spectacles and rubbing her eyes, as if to see the news as -well as to hear it, she said: “Don’t tell me Tommy has got hurt in that -reaping-machine, down at Weatherby’s. I told your pa he was too young to -handle such a job!” - -“No, Tommy’s all right—they were gathering in the last stack as I came -by.” - -“Lammy _hasn’t_ gone in swimming again down to the crick with the Connor -boys?” - -“Nope, he’s stopped behind at the Centre to tend store for Mr. Sims, -’cause his horse got loose in Deacon Mason’s orchard and ate himself -into the colic!” - -“Billy hasn’t fell off the fish-market roof, has he? Your pa took him -there this mornin’ to help hand up shingles, though ’twas against my -wishes.” - -“No, grandma, Billy’s all right, too,” said Sarah, who had recovered her -breath by this time and was beginning to laugh. “What makes you always -think worry? Pa is all right, and Mary and Ruth are helping the -minister’s wife get the hall ready for the cake sale, and I’m here, so -you see there’s nothing the matter with _us_.” - -“Think worry!” exclaimed grandma, now settling her glasses again and -preparing to hear the news comfortably so long as neither her son nor -his children, to whom she was both grandmother and mother, were in -danger, “wait until your only son’s wife dies and leaves you to keep -track of six children, with as mixed tempers and complexions as ducks, -chickens, and turkeys all in one brood, and I guess you’ll think worry -too. But why don’t you fetch out your news?—Not but what you are all -good and promising enough in your way,” she added hastily, lest she -should be found belittling her own flesh and blood, which she considered -next to breaking the whole ten commandments. - -“Well, granny,” began Sarah, bringing out her words slowly, and -satisfied that the old lady’s expectations were sufficiently raised and -that she would have an attentive listener, “the General Wentworth place -is open and they’re putting new fences all around the back of it, and a -lovely Gray Lady and a little girl with golden hair have come to live -there. They have been there since spring too, and I didn’t know it. The -girl is as old as me, but she’s smaller, for she isn’t strong and sits -in a wheel-chair, and they’ve asked me to come in again.” - -Off came the glasses, and the old hands that folded them away in their -case trembled with excitement. “The General Wentworth place open after -all these years, since his only daughter Elizabeth married her cousin -John, whom we all expected to die a bachelor, and then he fell into poor -health! You don’t remember him, Sarah Barnes, ’cause you wasn’t born, -but he was a mighty strange fellow, handsome and likely; he wouldn’t be -a soldier as his uncle wished, but he was great for readin’ books, and -he used to wander all over the country here watching birds and things -and drawin’ pictures of them. I heard John died a couple of years ago -away in foreign parts,—it can’t be Elizabeth that’s come back,—she -wouldn’t be a gray-haired old woman, as you say. I knew her when she was -a girl. She was full of life and rode a pony everywhere; her father used -to bring her over to our mill, and many a ginger cooky of my baking has -she ate. No, it can’t be little Miss Elizabeth,—it’s more likely some -one that has hired or bought the place and goin’ to upset and change it -all.” - -“I didn’t say the lady was old, grandma; she has lots of soft, silvery, -wavy hair with big gray eyes to match, and such a pretty colour in her -cheeks, and her dress was soft and fluffy too and the colour as if -purple and white violets and silver popple leaves were all mixed -together,” said Sarah, moving her hands before her, a little way she had -when talking, as if in describing what she had seen she was touching the -real object, for Sarah, though only a little girl from a bare hillside -farm and taught at the school below at Foxes Corners, had a keen eye for -colour and loved beautiful things, so that ugliness or unkindness of any -sort really hurt her if she could have explained her feelings. - -“My Gray Lady’s first name is Elizabeth, though, and she knows you and -your molasses cakes,” continued Sarah, after a moment’s pause, “for she -said, ‘When you go home say to your grandmother that Elizabeth who rode -the black pony sends her love, and that she will go to see her soon, and -that she hopes that she will give the little Elizabeth some of the -cookies of which she has often heard.’ Elizabeth is the little girl, but -I’m going to call her Goldilocks, because the name matches her hair and -she looks as if she was meant to— - - “‘Sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam - And feast upon strawberries, sugar, and cream.’” - -“Elizabeth Wentworth and her daughter back here and I never knew it!” -cried Grandma Barnes, rising as if to take immediate action. “Your Aunt -Jane might well say, as she did on her last visit, that this hill farm -is as far out o’ the world as livin’ in a lighthouse that had no stairs -or boat to it, and the only way to get anywhere was to take a dive and -swim. But see here, Sarah Barnes, how did you come to meet the General’s -folks? It’s near a mile from the road up from the Centre to their front -gate; mebbe you ran across them in the village, and if so, how came you -to speak?” - -Sarah opened her lips to answer and then stammered and grew red under -her grandmother’s keen gaze. “I didn’t pass their gate and I didn’t meet -them in the village. I was—I was just taking a bunch of field flowers, -that I got along the road, up to the cemetery to mother, and then when I -go there, I usually take some to the General’s mound too, ’cause nobody -took anything, except a little flag Memorial Day, and it’s usually all -faded by now. This year, though, the lot was planted with flowers, and I -was wondering why. I was sittin’ there watching a gray squirrel that -lives in one of the old cannons that stand at the plot corners. You see -the squirrel knows me because I’ve taken him nuts two winters whenever -we’ve gone to Pine Hill coasting, and he comes up real close. To-day -when he came up, I only had some cracker crumbs in my pocket, but he -acted real pleased to see me, and I was so busy talking to him that I -didn’t hear anybody coming up until somebody said, ‘Who is this little -girl that brings flowers to an old soldier’s grave, and has a squirrel -for a friend?’” - -“A nice way of wasting your time, I must say, of a week-day afternoon, -and so much to be done at home,” broke in Mrs. Barnes, rather crossly. - -But Sarah, not minding the interruption, continued: “Then I jumped up, -and there was Gray Lady and Goldilocks sitting in a nice big straw -chair, like those on Judge Jones’ porch, only it had wheels and a handle -behind like a baby wagon, and a fattish woman with a pleasant face was -pushing it.” - -“Well, what happened next?” asked grandma. “I wonder she didn’t tell you -not to trespass and feed animals in a cemetery!” - -“Oh, no, she liked it, and we got acquainted right away. She asked me -what put it in my head to bring the flowers, and told her that it was -because nobody else did and that I loved the General because my mother -told me that though he lived through a lot of battles, he got the wound -that made him die long after, in trying to get back a little black child -that had been sold away from its mother, for it’s an awful thing to take -children away from their mothers, and only God should do it, and I know -He must be always sorry when He has to. And I said I knew how it hurt -because He took my mother away from me. - -“Goldilocks said she wished that she had a tame squirrel down in her -garden, and I said there were plenty of squirrels there, and she could -begin to tame ’em as soon as food gets scarce. Then she asked how I -knew, and then it all came out that Dave and Tommy Todd, Mary, and I -often take a cross-cut through the General’s orchard, when we go over to -Aunt Jane’s. Then they asked me to walk down home with them. - -“There was a new high fence all round the orchard, with a gate by the -old house in the corner that has the big stone chimney, where the -Swallows live, so we can’t cut across any more, and before I thought, I -said so; but Gray Lady said, ‘I think, Sarah, it will be quite as -pleasant for you to come in at the front gate, and go out at the back, -as to crawl through a hole in the brush like a fox or a woodchuck,’ and -I guess it will, for she doesn’t want us to stop coming. - -“Then I asked her if the house had lovely pictures in it and birds with -real eyes sitting on perches, and more books than the Sunday-school -library, and she laughed and asked who told me that, and I said it was -Jake Gorham that went up there to set new glass in the roof light after -the hail-storm last summer.” - -“Sarah Barnes! such gall as to make free and talk to General Wentworth’s -daughter like that! I just wonder what she thinks of you!” - -“She didn’t tell me, grandma; but, oh, what do you suppose, she said -that if I came down some afternoon, she’d show me all the pictures and -then I could tell Goldilocks how to begin to make friends with the -squirrels, and that she would show me their tree with a lunch-counter on -it for birds, where there is something for every kind to eat. Do you -suppose she will ask me for this Saturday, grandma, and may I wear my -pink lawn, if it stays warm? My Sunday dress for fall shows where the -hem was let down.” - -“She may and then again mayhap ’twill be the last you’ll ever hear of -it. Come to think of it, in those days my ginger cookies were mixed with -butter instead of lard, and they had currants in them. I guess I’ll risk -it to make a batch to-morrow, lest Mrs. John should come up—that is if -I finish all this mending, for there is only one more Saturday and Labor -Day, and then school opens, and all you girls and boys will be making -excuses for shirking your chores. Five o’clock already! Sarah Barnes, do -you go straight out and feed the chickens and then rinse those -milk-pans,—that comes first before all the fine talk of seein’ pictures -and making pies and cakes for birds.” - -Sarah went slowly toward the barnyard and fed the greedy fowls in an -absent-minded sort of way, all the while looking across the field where -the birds were beginning to gather in flocks, wishing she knew them all -by name and thinking of Gray Lady and Goldilocks. Would they remember -the invitation or would she never perhaps see them again? School would -soon begin, and that meant no spare time until after four, and it is so -often rainy on Saturday. - -Rain did not wait for Saturday this time, for a heavy drizzle set in -that night, and Sarah went to sleep wondering exactly what a bird -lunch-counter was and what became of it when it rained. - -Then school began, and her new friend made no sign, and Sarah began to -wonder if her meeting with Gray Lady had been one of the dreams she so -often had when she sat on the orchard fence in June watching the -bobolinks fly over the clover and waiting for things to happen. - - - - - II - A RAINY DAY - - -It was the first Friday of the fall term and there were only fifteen -scholars at the weather-beaten shingled schoolhouse at Foxes Corners. -The usual number in winter was twenty-five, but some of the older pupils -did not return until late in October, for these boys and girls helped -their fathers and mothers either about the farm work or in the house, -and as this school district was located in pretty rolling hill country, -with woods and a river close by, city people came to board at the -farm-houses and often did not go away until they had seen the leaves -redden and fall. - -Miss Wilde, the teacher, was very glad to begin with only fifteen -scholars. She was not very strong; the children were always restless -during the first month after their vacation. Then, too, it is more -difficult for a teacher to interest scholars that range from five to -fifteen than where she has children all of an age. - -Miss Wilde was very patient, for she loved outdoors and liberty herself, -and she knew just how hard it was in these first shut-in days for the -children to look out the open windows and see the broad fields -stretching out to the woods, and hear the water rushing over the dam at -Hull’s Mill, and then take any interest in bounding the Philippine -Islands and remembering why they are of special value to the United -States. - -Tommy Todd was what is usually called the “bad boy” of the school. He -was thirteen, keen-witted and restless. He learned his lessons quickly, -and then when Miss Wilde was hearing the little ones drone out their -“twice one is two,” “twice two is four,” he often sat idle in his seat -devising mischief that he sometimes put in motion before school was -over. - -Then there were some days when it seemed as if Tommy would leave his -desk and fly out of the window in spite of himself. Poor Miss Wilde had -been obliged to make him change desks twice already. From his first -place he could look at a pasture, where a family of woodchucks had their -burrows, and he had caused several stampedes, not only among the boys, -but girls also, by calling out: “Hi! there goes a buster! I bet its -hide’s worth more’n a quarter! Now Jones’ yaller dog is after him! Hi! -there! good work! he’s headin’ of it off! Gee, Hog’s reared and give him -a bite! There they go round the hill! If the hole back t’other side I -stuffed Saturday’s got loosed out, I bet on the hog!” (Ground-hog being -the familiar name for the woodchuck in this region.) - -Order being restored, Tommy was moved to the east side of the room. Here -the view was downhill over the lowlands, ending at a great corn-field -that belonged to Tommy’s grandfather. The corn was yellow in the ear, -but still standing. A flock of crows that had a roost in the swampy -millwoods knew all about this corn-field and considered it as their own -property, for had they not superintended its planting, helped thin out -the seed lest it should grow too thick, and croaked and quavered -directions to old man Todd and his horses every time they ploughed and -hoed? Now, guided by a careful old leader who sat on a dead sycamore top -and gave warning (for all crow flocks have such a chief), they were -beginning to attack the ripened ears, the scarecrows placed at intervals -that had been of some use in the early season having now lost the little -influence they possessed and fallen into limp heaps, like unfortunate -tramps asleep by the wayside. - -So every time the crows came over, Tommy would stretch up in his seat -and finally slip out of it entirely and, hanging half out of the window, -shake his fist at them, all the time uttering dire threats of what he -would do if he only had his father’s shot-gun. - -For these reasons, Friday morning saw him seated in the middle of the -room with the older girls and sharing the double desk with Sarah Barnes. -Now Sarah thought that Tommy was the cleverest boy she had ever seen, -and Sarah had visited in Centre Village in Hattertown, and Bridgeton, -been twice to the Oldtown County Fair, and would have gone to New York -once with her Aunt Jane if measles had not prevented; so that her -friends thought, for thirteen, she was quite a travelled lady. - -Tommy also considered her favourably and had been heard to say that she -was not bad for a girl; yet, to be put in the middle seats with the -girls he considered an insult to his years, and he was sulky and brooded -mischief all the morning. - -In reality Tommy was not a bad boy in any way. What he wanted was plenty -of occupation for his mind and body to work at. Miss Wilde knew this and -tried to give him as many little things to do as possible. It was Tommy -who had charge of the new cage rat-trap of shiny copper wire, in which -it was hoped the field rats might be caught, that, as soon as cool -weather came, gnawed their way in through the loose floor boards and -sometimes destroyed the books, and, as Sarah Barnes declared (whose duty -it was to keep the wells filled), drank the ink. Tommy also kept the -water-pail full and tended the big wood-stove in winter; but none of -these tasks seemed to touch the restless spot and he could think out -more puzzling questions in a day than the whole school board could have -answered in a week, and then, as Sarah Barnes once said, “Tommy Todd’s -questions never seem to stay answered.” - -Miss Wilde had taught, at first, in the school of a large town where -there were plenty of pictures and maps on the walls, and charts of -different kinds and reference books for the children to use, and where -people who loved children would often drop in and tell them about birds -and flowers or their journeys to interesting places. She had taken the -country school because the doctor thought it would be better for her -health, and oh, how she wished that she could have brought some of the -pictures and books with her, or that some of the summer boarders who -stayed until almost winter would come in and talk to her pupils. She -told the children stories or read to them on Friday afternoons. She also -knew that there were some travelling libraries of books that she might -borrow that the children could have themselves, but reading is a habit; -the children needed to be interested first. So it came about that, when -the second year of her school life on the hillside began, Miss Wilde -felt rather discouraged. - -On this particular rainy Friday she was feeling worried about her -mother, who boarded at the Centre Village and with whom she spent every -week-end, going down with the mail-carrier on his return trip Friday -evening and usually walking back on Sunday afternoon if no one chanced -to be driving that way. Mrs. Wilde had been ill the Sunday before and -Miss Wilde had not heard a word all the week. Everything had gone awry -that morning, and when the last child had filed out for the dinner-hour -and gone splish-splashing up the muddy road, before straightening out -the room as usual, Miss Wilde sat down at the desk, her head in her -hands, and two big tears splashed down on the inky blotting-paper before -her. Presently she wiped her eyes, opened all the windows that the rain -did not enter, took her box of luncheon from her desk, and walked slowly -down the side aisle to the little porch, which also acted as the -cloak-room, the place where she usually ate her luncheon when it was too -cool or wet to go outdoors. - -As she passed Tommy Todd’s desk she thought she heard a noise, and -glanced sideways, half expecting to see him crouching under it, bent -upon some prank. No one was there, and still there was a scratching -sound in that vicinity. Opening the desk lid, Miss Wilde gave a scream, -for inside was the new trap and inside the trap two wicked-looking old -rats whose whiskers had evidently grown gray with experience. - -“I wonder what he would have done with them if I had not found him out?” -she said to herself, as she lifted the cage, by hooking the crook of her -umbrella into the handle on the top, and carrying it with the greatest -care, put it into the empty wood-box in the porch. Then she seated -herself on the bench by the outer door and unstrapped her box. But it -evidently was not intended that the poor teacher should lunch that day, -for suddenly the door flew open and the weather-beaten face of Joel -Hanks, the carrier who had the forenoon mail-route, peered anxiously in. - -“You here, Miss Wilde?” he called anxiously. “I’m glad yer hain’t gone -up to the house for your nooning, cause I clean fergot when I come by -up, but yer Ma’s feelin’ extra poorly and uneasy, and she thought mebbe -you could come back along with me instead of waiting till night. I’m -goin’ to eat over to Todd’s and I can stop back for you close to one if -you can arrange to go.” - -“Oh, I wish I had known it before the children went to dinner,” she -cried, clasping her hands together nervously and dropping the box, out -of which her lunch rolled to the floor, amid the damp that had been made -by wet coats, overshoes, and dripping umbrellas. “As it is, when the -children come back, I cannot send them right home again, for some have a -long walk. If it wasn’t for Tommy Todd, I could leave Sarah Barnes for -monitor; but there are those rats, and the school board does not like me -to shorten hours so soon after vacation. It’s too late for me to go over -for Mrs. Bradford, or I know that she would help me by coming as she did -several times last spring.” - -“Sorry I couldn’t stop this morning, but I come by the lower road. Wall, -mebbe you’ll think out some way and I’ll stop back a bit a’ter one,” -Joel said cheerfully, going back to his covered cart and chirping to his -wise old horse, who, though he was gaunt and had only one good eye, knew -every letter-box on the route and solemnly zig-zagged across the road -from one to the other on his way up to Foxes Corners, but as surely -passed them by without notice on the return trip. - -Miss Wilde had barely swept away the scattered lunch through the open -door when again she heard wheels, and looking up saw that which made her -stand stock-still in surprise, broom in hand,—a trim, glass-windowed -depot wagon, such as she had seldom seen out of Bridgeton, drawn by a -handsome pair of gray horses, whose long, flowing tails were neatly -braided and fastened up from the mud with leather bands, instead of -being cruelly docked short as sometimes happens. The driver, a -pleasant-looking, rosy-cheeked man, was well protected by coat and boot -of rubber; but before Miss Wilde could more than glance at the outfit -the door opened and a lady stepped lightly out, reaching the school -porch so quickly that she had no need of an umbrella. - -Spying Miss Wilde, she said in a voice clear as a bell, and yet so well -modulated and sweet that no one who heard her speak ever forgot its -sound—“Are you the teacher here?” - -“Yes.” - -“And your name?” - -“Rosamond Wilde,” replied the astonished girl, hastily hanging up the -broom, unconsciously leading the way into the stuffy schoolroom and -placing the best chair by the side of her desk, as she did when the -minister, Dr. Gibbs, from Centre Village, who was president of the -school board, came to hold a spelling-match. - -“Thank you,” said the silvery voice, as its owner took the proffered -seat, turning so that she could look out of the window. - -“I have heard from Dr. Gibbs that you sometimes use part of Friday -afternoon for telling the children stories, or reading something that -may amuse as well as teach them, and I thought that perhaps, as the -board does not object, you might sometimes be willing to have me come in -and talk to them. I am very fond of children, and have one little girl -of my own, so that I know very well what they enjoy. I’ve travelled for -several years, and I have a great many interesting pictures I could show -them. Then, too, I have always loved birds and flowers, and with my -father I used to tramp about and learned to know all those of this -neighbourhood. I well remember that when I was a child and studied at -home, rainy Friday afternoons were always pleasant, because mother, my -cousins, and I had fancy-work or some other sewing and stories; so I -thought to-day perhaps would be a good time for a beginning.” - -If the sky had opened and an angel come directly to her aid, Miss Wilde -could not have been more overcome. She pulled herself together and began -to frame a polite answer, when looking at the guest, who had thrown off -her light raincoat, she caught the sympathetic glance that shot from a -lovely pair of gray eyes with black lashes, and saw that the fluffy gray -hair belonged to a really young woman, but a little older than herself. -Forgetting that a teacher is supposed never to lose control of herself, -before she realized that she had said a word she had told this friend in -need about her school, Tommy Todd, her mother’s sickness, and all. - -In less time than it takes to tell of it, the coachman had been told to -go down to the blacksmith’s shop and wait under cover until three -o’clock, and Miss Wilde was helped to make her preparation for leaving. - -When the children came trooping back, they found the door between -cloak-room and schoolroom closed, and teacher waiting for them in the -outer room with very rosy cheeks and a happier expression than her face -usually wore. - -Tommy Todd looked relieved, for, he reasoned, if teacher knew there were -two rats in his desk, she would not have looked pleased. In a few words -Miss Wilde explained the happenings, cautioned them to be very good, and -saying, “Right, left, right, left,” was about to open the door for the -children to march in, when Sarah Barnes asked, “Teacher, what is her -name, so we can call her by it?” Then teacher realized that she didn’t -know. But as the door opened Sarah said, in a very loud whisper, as -whispers are apt to sound louder than the natural voice, “Why, it’s my -Gray Lady!” and so in truth it was. - -Teacher watched them until they took their seats, and then gently closed -the door behind her. For a moment no one spoke. Tommy Todd peeped -cautiously into his desk to be sure the rats were safe, and found to his -dismay that they were gone. Inwardly he hoped they wouldn’t get loose, -for Gray Lady didn’t look as if she would like rats, which showed that -after only one glance he wished to please her, while at the same time -the name by which they first knew her became fixed in the mind of every -child. - - - - - III - GRAY LADY AT SCHOOL - - -The silence inside the school continued a full minute, that seemed like -an hour, and the dripping of the rain from the gutter was so plain that -Sarah found herself counting the drops—“One—two—three—four—splash!” - -Fifteen pairs of eyes were fastened upon the newcomer, and, as she -caught the various questions in them, the colour in her cheeks deepened. -Suddenly she recognized her little friend whom she had met on the -hillside the week before. “Sarah Barnes,” said Gray Lady, “will you not -tell me the names of your schoolmates and introduce me to them? It is -always so much more pleasant when we are looking at people, places, or -things to know what they are called.” - -Then Sarah, delighted at being remembered when she had begun to be quite -sure that all her hopes were in vain, guided by an inborn instinct of -politeness that told her it would not be civil to stand at her desk and -call out the various names, marched solemnly up to the teacher’s desk -and, beginning in the front row with her own little sister Mary, -repeated the fifteen names in full, with the greatest care and -distinctness, and each child, not knowing what else to do, bobbed up and -answered, “Present,” the same as if teacher had been calling the roll. -When Sarah had finished, she was quite out of breath, for some of the -names were very long; the last, that of the one little Slav in the -school, Zella Francesca Mowralski, being also hard to pronounce. - -“Thank you,” said Gray Lady; “I think that I can remember the first -names at least. But now that you have presented your friends to me, -won’t you kindly present me to them? You know who I am and where I live, -do you not?” - -“Of course I do!” cried Sarah, glad to be in smooth water again. “You -are Goldilocks’ mother, Gray Lady, and you are our General’s daughter -and you live in his house!” Then, realizing that she had given play to -her own fancy rather than stated the facts expected, she fled to her -desk and hid her face behind its lid. - -No reproof followed her as she expected, but instead the pleasant voice -again said: “Thank you, Sarah; I like the name you have given me better -than my very own, and if you all know where to find the General’s house, -you know where to find me,” and when Sarah, gaining courage, looked up -again, she saw, what the others did not notice, that the gray eyes were -brimming, though there was a smile on her lips. - -“Now, children, what would you like to hear about this afternoon? Miss -Wilde told me that she had intended giving you a spelling review and -writing exercise of some kind, but that we might finish the day as we -choose. Shall I read you a story, or would you like to ask questions and -talk best?—one at a time, of course!” - -“Talk—you talk,” shouted a vigorous chorus. - -“By the way, Tommy Todd,” said Gray Lady, “why do you sit in the middle -with the girls instead of on the outer row with the boys, where there is -more room?” - -Tommy, placed between Sarah Barnes and his own sister, started half up -in his seat and looked all round the room as if seeking a way of escape, -and finding none, dropped his gaze to his desk and sat mute with a very -red face. - -The question was repeated—still no answer. A hand flew up. “I know,” -piped the voice of one of the little ones in front; “it’s ’cause Tommy -can’t keep his eyes inside the winder if he’s by it; he’s always spying -out at ground-hogs and crows and askin’ teacher questions about the -birds setting on the wires, so he don’t mind his books and teacher don’t -know the answers to all he asks, an’ it gives her the headache!” - -“Well, Tommy,” said Gray Lady, who had learned that at least one of the -children before her cared for out-of-doors, which was precisely what she -wanted to know, “as long as this is a sort of holiday, suppose you take -that empty seat by the east window and tell us what you see. You may -open the window and the others on that side also, for I think the rain -is over; yes, the clouds are breaking away.” - -How fresh and sweet the air was that rushed into the close room! Tommy -stuck his head out and took a great breath as he looked down over the -corn-fields,—his enemies the crows were not there. - -“There isn’t much to see now, it’s too wet yet,” he said; “but pretty -soon there will be, for most birds and things get hungry right after a -rain!” - -“Olit—olit—olit—che-wiss-ch-wiss-war,” sang a little bird in a low -bush by the roadside. - -“What bird is that,” asked Gray Lady; “do any of you know?” - -“It’s just the usually little brown bird that stays around here most all -the time, but I love the tune it sings,” said Sarah Barnes. “Teacher -says it’s some kind of a sparrow.” - -“It is a Song Sparrow,” said Gray Lady, “and you are right in saying it -stays with us almost all the year.” - -“Now,” called Tommy, “the birds are beginning to come out; some Barn -Swallows are flying over the low meadow and there’s a lot of ’em, and -another kind strung along the wires on the turnpike. They always sit -close and act that way all this month and some fly away, and ’long the -first part of next month, when the corn’s all husked, they’ll be gone! -Please, ma’am, why do some birds never go away, and some do, and what -makes ’em come back?” Then Tommy began one of the volley of questions -that Miss Wilde so dreaded. - -“Yes, an’ please, ma’am,” asked Dave, “why are some birds that mate -together such different colours?” “An’ what becomes of Bobolinks after -Fourth of July?” asked another. “An’ what makes birds have so many kind -of feet?” queried a third. - -Then questions flew so thick and fast that Gray Lady could not even hear -herself think, and presently, when every one had laughed at the -confusion, order was restored. - -“I asked you a moment ago what you would like to hear about. I think I -know. You would like to hear about birds! Are there any other boys here -besides Tommy and Dave who care about birds?” asked Gray Lady, who -wished to have each child feel that he or she had a part in what was -going on. - -“I know about birds’ eggs!” cried Bobby Bates, a boy who, from being -undersized, looked much younger than he really was; “I’ve got a pint -fruit-jar of robins’ eggs.” - -“But I’ve got a quart jar of mixed eggs,” said Dave, “and they’re mostly -little ones, Wrens and Chippy birds and such like, so’s I’ve really got -more’n Bobby!” he added boastfully. - -Gray Lady opened her lips to speak sharply and her eyes flashed, for -nest-robbing was one of the things she most detested. Then she -remembered that perhaps these children had not only never even dreamed -that there was any harm in it, but had never heard of the laws that wise -people had made to protect the eggs of wild birds, as well as the birds -themselves, from harm. So she hesitated a moment while she thought how -she might best make the matter understood. - -“Why do you like to collect eggs?” she asked. “Because they are pretty?” - -“Yes’m, partly,” drawled Dave, “and then to see how many I can get in a -spring.” - -“But do you never think how you worry the mother birds by stealing their -eggs, and how many more birds there would be if you let the eggs hatch -out? What the rhyme says is true,— - - “‘The blue eggs in the Robin’s nest - Will soon have beak and wings and breast, - And flutter and fly away!’ - -Only think, if all those robins’ eggs of yours, Bobby, and all your -little eggs, Dave, should suddenly turn into birds and fly about the -room, how many there would be! But now they will never have wings and -swell their throats to sing to us and use their beaks to eat up insects -that make the apples wormy and curl up the leaves of the great shade -trees.” - -“Robins don’t do any good; they just spoil our berries and grapes; dad -says so, and he shoots ’em whenever he can, and he likes me to take the -eggs,” said Dave, stubbornly, while Sarah Barnes exclaimed, “Yes, an’ -_my_ father says he ought to be ashamed of himself!” almost out loud. - -“I know that Robins sometimes eat fruit,” said Gray Lady, firmly, “but -they do so much more good by destroying bugs that the Wise Men say that -neither they nor their eggs shall be taken or destroyed, and what they -say is now a law. So that it is not for any one to do as he pleases in -the matter. To kill song-birds or destroy their eggs is as much breaking -the law as if you stole a man’s horse or cow, for these birds are not -yours; they belong to the state in which you live.” - -Bobby and Dave looked surprised, but Tommy and Sarah nodded to one -another, as much as to say, “We knew that, didn’t we?” - -“Some day, if you are clever with your lessons so that Miss Wilde can -spare the time for it, I will tell you all about the reasons for these -laws, and what the wild birds do for us, and what we should do for them. -But first you must learn to know the names of some of the birds that -live and visit hereabout, as I am now learning yours, and make friends -of some of them as I hope to make friends of you.” - -“Yes, yes, oh, yes!” - -“You can’t make friends of birds; they won’t let you,” said Dave Drake, -who was a sickly, lanky boy of fourteen with a whining voice; “they -always fly away. That is, I mean tree birds, not chickens nor pigeons.” - -“Chickens aren’t birds, they’re only young hens,” put in Eliza Clausen, -with an expression of withering contempt. She was one of the big -fourteen-year-old girls, and not being a good scholar was apt to use -opposition in the place of information. - -“We can make friends of at least some birds,” said Gray Lady, “if we are -kind to them. When we have human visitors come to stay with us, what do -we do for them?” - -“We let them sleep in the best bedroom, and we get out the best china -and have awful good things to eat, and give ’em a good time,” said Ruth -Barnes, all in one breath. - -“Yes, and we should do much the same with our bird friends. They do not -need to have a bedroom prepared; they can generally find that for -themselves, though even this is sometimes necessary in bad weather; but -they often need food, and in order that they should have what Ruth calls -‘a good time,’ we must let them alone and not interfere with their -comings and goings. - -“Go softly to the west window and look out,” continued Gray Lady, -raising a finger to caution silence, for from her seat on the little -platform she could see over the children’s heads and out both door and -windows, “and see the hungry visitors that a little food has brought to -the very door.” - -The children tiptoed to one side of the room, and there, lo and behold, -was a great Blue Jay, a Robin, a Downy Woodpecker with his clean -black-and-white-striped coat and red neck bow, and a saucy Chickadee, -with his jaunty black cap and white tie, all feasting on the broken bits -of Miss Wilde’s ham sandwich, while a pair of Robins were industriously -picking the fruit from a remnant of huckleberry pie. Unfortunately, -before the children had taken more than a good look, the door banged to -and the birds flew away, the Woodpecker giving his wild sort of laugh, -the Robins crying, “Quick! quick!” in great alarm, while the Jay and -Chickadee told their own names plainly as they flew. - -“As we have agreed to talk and ask questions, I will ask the first one,” -said Gray Lady, as they all settled down, feeling very good-natured and -eager to listen. - -“Eliza said a few minutes ago that a chicken isn’t a bird. Now a chicken -is a bird, though of course all birds are not chickens. - - - _The Bird_ - -“Who can tell me exactly what a bird is? You all may think you know, but -can you put it in words?” - -“A bird isn’t a plant; it is an animal,” said Tommy Todd. - -“Yes, but a cat is an animal, and a snake, and a horse; and we are -animals ourselves.” - -“A bird is a flying animal,” returned Sarah. - -“Very true, but so is a bat, and, as you know, a bat has fur and looks -very like a mouse, and a bird does not. - -“Ah, you give it up. Very well, listen and remember. _A bird is the only -animal which has feathers!_ With his hollow bones filled with buoyant, -warm air, and covered with these strong pinions, he rows through the -air, as we row a boat through the water with the oars, balancing himself -with these wings, also steering himself with them and with his tail made -of stiff feathers and shaped to his particular need, while with small -feathers laid close, overlapping each other like shingles, and bedded on -an under-coat of down, he is clothed and protected from heat, cold, and -wet. - -“The eye of the bird is different from ours, for it magnifies and makes -objects appear much larger to it than they do to us. Also, while with -other animals each group has practically the same kind of feet or beaks, -birds have these two features built on widely different plans, so that -when you have learned to know the common birds by name and are really -studying bird-life, you will find that you must be guided to the orders -in which they belong often by their beaks and feet. - -“Barnyard Ducks, as you know, have webbed toes for swimming, and flat -bills to aid them in shovelling their natural food from the mud. - -“Birds of prey, like the Hawks and Owls, have strong hooked beaks and -powerful talons or claws, for seizing and tearing the small animals upon -which they feed. - -“The Woodpeckers (all but one) have two front and two hind toes; these -help them grasp the tree bark firmly as they rest, while they have -strong-cutting, chisel-like beaks, which they also use for tapping or -drumming their rolling love-songs. - -[Illustration: CHICKADEE] - -“While the insect-eating song-birds have more or less slender bills and -four toes, three in front and one behind, for perching crosswise on -small branches, the seed-eating songsters, such as Sparrows, have -similar feet, but short, stout, cone-shaped bills for cracking seeds and -small nuts. - -“By this you can see that in spite of the fact that all birds wear -feathers, and have wings, a tail, beak, and a pair of legs, they may -still be very different from each other. - -“A Turkey Gobbler doesn’t look much like a Robin, nor a Goose like a -Swallow, yet they are all four birds! They all four bring forth their -young from eggs; but the little Turkeys and Goslings are covered with -feathers when they peep out of the shell and are able to walk, while the -young Robins and Swallows are at first blind, naked, and helpless; so -here again you can see that there is something special to be learned -about every bird that flies or swims.” - -“Chickadee-dee-dee! Can’t you tell them something about me?” said this -dear little bird, flitting about one of the open windows and clinging -upside down to the blind slats that were bare of paint, like either a -Woodpecker, or, as Tommy Todd remarked, “the man in the circus.” - -“The little bird peeping in the window and calling his name reminds me -of a pretty poem about him,” said Gray Lady. “I will repeat it to you -and write it on the board so that you can copy it in your books, and -then some of you may like to learn it to surprise Miss Wilde on another -rainy Friday.” - - - A LITTLE MINISTER - - I know a little minister who has a big degree; - Just like a long-tailed kite he flies his D.D.D.D.D. - His pulpit is old-fashioned, though made out of growing pine; - His great-grandfather preached in it, in days of Auld lang syne. - - Sometimes this little minister forgets his parson’s airs: - I saw him turn a somersault right on the pulpit stairs; - And once, in his old meeting-house, he flew into the steeple, - And rang a merry chime of bells, to call the feathered people. - - He has a tiny helpmeet, too, who wears a gown and cap, - And is so very wide-awake, she seldom takes a nap. - She preaches, also, sermonettes, with headlets one, two, three, - In singing monosyllables beginning each with D. - - But O her little minister, she does almost adore: - I’ve heard her call her sweet D.D. full twenty times or more. - And his pet polysyllable—why, did you hear it never? - He calls her Phe-be B, so dear, I’d listen on forever. - - Now if there is a Bright Eyes small who’d like to go with me, - And on his cautious tiptoes ten, creep softly to a tree, - I’ll coax this little minister to quit his leafy perch, - And show this little boy or girl the way to go to church; - - And where his cosy parsonage is hidden in the trees, - And how in summer it is full of little D.D.D.’s. - And if Bright Eyes will prick his ears, he’ll hear the titmice say, - “Good morning,” which, in Chickadese is always “Day, day, day.” - - —Ella Gilbert Ives. - -“Now that I have answered my own question, there was another that one of -you asked, or rather a pair of questions. Why do some birds go away in -autumn, and why do they come back? It is very important to know the -answers to these, if we want to really understand about the lives of -birds and the trials and dangers they undergo. - - - _The Bird Year and the Migration_ - -“People who think of birds at all know that they are not equally -plentiful at all times of the year, but that they have their seasons of -coming and disappearing, as the flowers have, though not for exactly the -same reason. - -“We are accustomed to see the plants send up shoots through the bare -ground every spring, unfold their leaves and blossoms, and, finally, -after perfecting seed, wither away again at the touch of frost. - -“Of these plants, as well as some large trees, a few are more hardy than -others, like the ground-pine, laurel, and wintergreen, and are able to -hold their leaves through very cold weather, and we call them -evergreens. - -“You notice that the birds appear in spring even before the -pussy-willows bud out, and that every morning when you wake, the music -outside the window and down among the alders on the meadow border is -growing louder, until by the time the apple trees are in bloom there -seems to be a bird for every tree, bush, and tuft of sedgegrass. - -“By the time the timothy is cut and rye harvested, you do not hear so -great a variety of song. The Robin, Song Sparrow, House Wren, and -Meadowlark are still in good voice, and an occasional Catbird, but the -Bobolink has dropped out, and the Brown Thrasher no longer tells the -farmer how to plant his corn: ‘Drop it, drop it, cover it up, hoe it, -hoe it;’ and very wise he is, too, for the corn is all planted. - -“Later still, when the stacked cornstalks fill the fields with their -wigwams, like Indian encampments, the pumpkins are gathered in golden -heaps, and the smoke of burning leaves and brush pervades the air, you -hear very few bird songs, for many birds have either dropped silently -out of sight or collected in huge flocks, like the Swallow, swept by, -and disappeared in the clouds, while others, like the Purple Grackle or -Common Crow-Blackbird,—walk over the stubble and cover the trees, -making such a creaking, crackling noise that one would surely think that -their wings as well as voices were rusty and needed oiling. - -“What has become of the birds? Where do they go when they disappear? - -“Being warm-blooded animals they cannot dive into the mud and hide, like -fishes, or crawl into cracks of tree bark and wrap themselves up in -cocoons, like insects. Neither do they drop their feathers and die away -as tender plants drop their leaves and disappear. - -“People once believed that Swallows dived through the water into the -mud, where they rolled themselves into balls and slept all winter. They -thought this because Swallows are seen in early autumn in flocks about -ponds and marshes, where they feed upon the insects that abound in such -places. People thought that as Swallows were last seen in these places -before they disappeared they must have gone under the water; but this -was merely guessing, which is a very dangerous thing to do when trying -to find out the plans that Nature makes for her great family. - -“Later yet, when the snow begins to fall, there is little or no bird -music, only the hoot of an Owl, the shrill cry of the Hawks, the ‘quank, -quank’ of the Nuthatch, that runs up and down the tree-trunks like a -mouse in gray-and-white feathers, the jeer of the Jay, and the soft -voice of the Chickadee that, as you have just heard, tells you his name -so prettily as he peers at you from beneath his little black cap. - -“But the Catbird, Wren, Bobolink, Oriole, the Cuckoo that helped clear -the tent caterpillars from the orchard, the Chat that puzzled the dogs -by whistling like their master, the beautiful Barn Swallow, with the -swift wings, that had his plaster nest in the hayloft, the Phœbe that -built in the cowshed, and the dainty Humming-bird that haunted the -honeysuckle on the porch and hummed an ancient spinning-song to us with -his wings,—where are they all? - -“And why is it that while those have disappeared, some few birds still -remain with us in spite of cold and snow?” - - THE FLIGHT OF THE BIRDS - - Whither away, Robin, - Whither away? - Is it through envy of the maple leaf, - Whose blushes mock the crimson of thy breast, - Thou wilt not stay? - The summer days were long, yet all too brief - The happy season thou hast been our guest. - Whither away? - - Wither away, Bluebird, - Whither away? - The blast is chill, yet in the upper sky - Thou still canst find the colour of thy wing, - The hue of May. - Warbler, why speed thy southern flight? Ah, why, - Thou, too, whose song first told us of the spring, - Whither away? - - Whither away, Swallow, - Whither away? - Canst thou no longer tarry in the North, - Here where our roof so well hath screened thy nest? - Not one short day? - Wilt thou—as if thou human wert—go forth - And wander far from them who love thee best? - Whither away? - - —Edmund Clarence Stedman. - - - _The Fall Migration_ - -“If you watch the birds, you will soon notice that some eat only animal -food, in the shape of various bugs, worms, and lice, while others eat -seeds of various weeds, and grasses, and also berries. There are many -birds that, like ourselves, eat a little of everything, both animal and -vegetable. - -“For instance, the Swallows live on insects of the air, except sometimes -in the autumn flocking they feed for a short time on bayberries. The -Phœbe is an insect eater; also the Catbird, though he is fond of -strawberries and cherries for dessert. You saw just now that the -Chickadee, Woodpecker, and Jay preferred the meat from the sandwich and -the Robins the berries from the pie, though the Jay also likes nuts and -seeds. - -“You know that when frost comes, the air-flying insects are killed, and -the gnats, mosquitoes, and flies that have worried the horses and cattle -disappear. For this reason the birds that depend upon these bugs must -follow their food supply, and move off farther southward where frost has -not yet come. - -“This is the reason why so many birds who feed on winged insects leave -us in early autumn, before it is cold enough to make them uncomfortable; -they must follow their food. - -“There are other birds that, when they no longer have nestlings to feed, -can pick up a living from berries and seeds, like the Robin, or live the -greater part of the season upon seeds, like the Sparrows. These birds -are not driven away by the first frost, but many stay about until the -weather is uncomfortably cold, and some few remain all winter, like the -Meadowlarks, Nuthatches, Jays, and Woodpeckers, who, having stout beaks, -can dig out grubs and insects from among the roots of grass and from -tough tree bark; but these too must move on if ice coats the trees or -snow buries their ground feeding-places. - -“As a great many birds spend the nesting season north of New England, -they pass by on their way southward, and, if the feeding is good, stay -with us sometimes several weeks, so that the flocks of Robins seen here -in October are likely to be those that nested in the north, while our -own birds are gradually drifting down to the extreme south, where they -winter. - -“This great southward journey of the birds, that begins as early as -August and lasts at some seasons, if the winter is open, almost until -Christmas, is called the fall migration, and when it is over, the birds -remaining with us are classed as Winter Residents. - -“There is another thing to be seen at this time of year, and if you have -not already noticed it, watch and you will see that many of the birds -that wore bright feathers in May and June have changed their gay coats -for duller feathers. - - - _The Moulting_ - -“After the nesting season is over, and a pair of birds have raised one, -two, and, as with the Wrens, sometimes three broods, the feathers of the -parents become worn and broken, and not fit for winter covering, nor are -the wing quills strong enough for the fall flight. - -“At this time, when the young birds are able to care for themselves, the -pairs no longer keep alone together, but, leaving their nesting-haunts, -travel about either in a family party or in larger friendly flocks, and, -although some birds, like the Song Sparrow and Meadowlark, sing -throughout the season, the general morning chorus and the nesting season -end together, in early or middle July. - -“It is quite difficult to name the birds when young and old travel in -flocks, for when a male is bright-coloured and the female dull, the -first coat of the young is often such a mixture of both that it is -easily mistaken for a wholly different and strange bird. - -“In August or September almost all of our birds change their spring -feathers. This is called moulting. And the brightly coloured birds often -drop their wedding finery for dull-coloured travelling cloaks, so that -they may not be seen when they fly southward through the falling leaves. - -“After this season Father Tanager, of the scarlet wedding coat with -black sleeves, appears in yellowish-green, like his wife, and the little -Tanagers sometimes have mixed green, yellow, and red garments, for all -the world like patchwork bedquilts pieced without regard to pattern. - -[Illustration: SCARLET TANAGER -1. Adult Male., 2. Adult Male, Changing to Winter Plumage., 3. Adult - Female.] - - Order—Passeres Family—Tanagridæ - Genus—Firanga Species—Erythromelas - -“The jolly Bobolink, also, who in May was the prize singer of the -meadows, and disported in a coat of black, white, and buff, now wears -dull brown stripes, and, having forgotten his song, he mixes with the -young of the year and becomes merely the Reed Bird of the gunners. But -in early spring he will change again, and, before the nesting time, -reappear among us with every black feather polished free from rusty -edges and glistening as of old. - -“When Father Tanager comes back, he is brave and red again, though it -takes little Tommy Tanager two moultings to grow an equally red coat. - -“Even with the more quietly marked birds their colours are less distinct -after the summer moult, so that what is known as the bird’s perfect or -typical plumage is in many species that of the nesting season alone.” - -“I didn’t think that there was so much to know about birds; they seem to -have ways of doing things just like people. I’d love to know all about -them every Friday, but I suppose that’s too nice to happen,” said Sarah -Barnes, as Gray Lady paused and moved her chair back from the bright -light that was now shining through the door directly in her face, for -the clouds had rolled away down behind the hills, leaving one of the -clear, bright, early September afternoons when the sun lends its colour -to the field of early goldenrod, until sunset seems to reach to one’s -very feet. - -“No, it isn’t _too_ nice to happen,” said Gray Lady, laughing; “but it -would certainly be very pleasant for me, also, if Miss Wilde could give -you to me for an hour or so every other Friday, then perhaps some other -day you could come to the General’s house and return my call, and see -all the birds and pictures and books that belonged to my Goldilocks’ -father. How would you like that?” - -“Bully!” cried Tommy Todd, “and there’s more kinds of birds in the -General’s old orchard than anywhere else hereabout. I haven’t ever taken -any eggs from there,” he added hastily, “only jest peeked and watched, -an’ once I got a three-story nest from there, along late in the fall -when the birds were done with it. If I brought it along, ma’am, could -you tell me what sort of a bird it belongs to? I can’t find out!” he -added eagerly. - -“Yes, I think I can tell you,” Gray Lady answered, “and I’m very glad if -you know about my orchard and its tenants, because very likely you may -be able to introduce me to some that I do not know. - -“Now, children, before next week is over I will see Miss Wilde and tell -her my plans, but one thing I will tell you now—I have a little -daughter Elizabeth, whom Sarah Barnes calls Goldilocks. She is twelve -years old, but because of an accident her back is not strong, and -instead of running about as you do she has had to be wheeled about in a -chair. I have taken her to the best doctors, and they say that she is -getting well slowly, and that now all that she needs is to live -out-of-doors and be with children of her own age, who will be kind and -gentle to her, yet treat her as one of themselves. She cannot bear to -hear of anything being killed or hurt, and she has been loved so well -all her life that she loves everything in return. - -“Will you come to the General’s house and help Goldilocks to grow strong -and forget all the pain she has suffered?” - -“Yes, _ma’am_,” came the reply as with one voice. - -Sarah Barnes had the honour of taking Gray Lady’s hand as she went to -the carriage, and Tommy Todd closed the door without any one giving him -a hint. - -Then, before closing the schoolhouse for the night, his special duty, he -began a hunt for the rat-trap, which he soon found in the wood-box, but -instead of taking the rats home as usual for Mike, his father’s terrier, -to “have fun” with, he drowned them as quickly as possible in the brook -that ran below the hill, for he thought to himself as they were things -that must be killed Goldilocks would think this the kindest way. - - - - - IV - THE ORCHARD PARTY - - -Not only did Miss Wilde hear every detail of Gray Lady’s visit from her -scholars, but the middle of the following week she received a letter -from Gray Lady herself as well as one from the president of the school -board. - -Gray Lady wrote that if she could succeed in interesting the children of -the school at Foxes Corners in the birds and little animals about, then -she meant to arrange another season so that the other four schools in -the scattered district might have the same opportunity. For this reason -she had asked and obtained leave of the school committee to have two -Friday afternoons of each month given to the purpose. She also promised -to send some bird books and pictures to the school and a large wall map -of North America, so that after the children had learned to know a bird -by sight and name they might trace its journeys the year through, and -thus realize to what perils it is exposed. - -Then followed the most interesting part of the letter to Miss Wilde and -her children, and this is what it said:— - - “It is all very well to show children pictures and read them - stories about the birds and tell them that it is their duty to - be kind to them, but I wish them also to see and judge for - themselves and learn to love their bird neighbours because they - can’t help themselves. This is best done outdoors and under the - trees, and there is no such charming place to meet the birds and - be introduced to them as in an old apple orchard such as ours. - - “Of course at this season birds are growing fewer every day, but - this makes it all the easier to name those that remain, with - less chance of confusion than in spring. - - “I propose to have an Orchard Party next Saturday, and I should - be happy to have you bring as many of your pupils as possible to - spend the day here. We will have luncheon in the orchard and the - children will find there many bird-homes that the tenants have - left, that will show them that man is not the only housebuilder - and thoughtful parent. - - “If there are any children who do not care to come, pray do not - force them in any way, but if possible let me know by Friday - morning how many I may expect.” - -It was Wednesday when Miss Wilde told the children of the invitation, -just before she rang the bell for noon recess. Then she asked all those -who wished to go to the Orchard Party to stand up, and instantly -thirteen of the fifteen present were on their feet, the two exceptions -being Eliza and Dave. - -Miss Wilde of course noticed this. However, she said nothing about it, -knowing that with these two discontented ones the reason would be told -before long and that very plainly. But when they returned from dinner -she gave each one a sheet of clean paper and told them to write answers -either of acceptance or regret, as they felt inclined, to Gray Lady, -first writing a short note upon the blackboard herself so that they -might see how to begin and end, and where to put the date, because some -children who can spell separate words do not know how to put them -together so as to express clearly and concisely what they wish to say in -a note. - -Soon thirteen pens were scratching away industriously, while Eliza and -Dave fingered theirs, fidgeted with the paper, and wriggled in their -seats as if uncertain what to say or whether they would write at all. - -Finally the teacher said, “If any one of you is needed at home on -Saturday or cannot for any other reason go to the party, you may write -that, but each child must send a reply; and be very careful, for I shall -send the notes as they are written without corrections.” - -Sarah Barnes was deputed to collect the papers, and after school was -dismissed Miss Wilde glanced over the notes before enclosing them in one -large envelope. Eliza’s read:— - - “I would like to go to the party but my ma says to look at birds - is silly and that when folks looks much at birds they get afraid - to trim their hats with them, and my ma and me has birds on our - Sunday hats and they look tastie, and we don’t want to get - afraid so there’s no use in my going to the party ’xcept to eat - the lunch, which wouldn’t be fare.” - -Miss Wilde’s first impulse was to leave out this curiously worded and -badly spelled letter; then, as she read it a second time she smiled and -said to herself, “Who knows but what this note will give Gray Lady a -good idea of the other side of the question and of the objections she -will meet?” - -Dave’s note was no more agreeable, though expressed rather more -clearly:— - - “I’d like to go up to your house, but when I told father bout - the other day and you wanting us not to get birds’ eggs, he says - he knows what some people want, and next thing will be to get me - to sign that I won’t go trappin or shootin nothin, and spoiling - my fun, and birds are only knuisances, except the kinds we can - eat.” - -This note also went with the others, but by Friday morning the two -children, who had heard nothing talked of for two days but the party, -began to wish that they were going, Eliza especially, for her mother -said that morning, “You weren’t smart to refuse; you could have had a -peep inside the General’s house, maybe, and I don’t believe she’d dassed -said a word about birds on hats, with one of the company wearing ’em!” - -On Friday afternoon, when Miss Wilde asked the children to meet her at -the hedge half a mile above the schoolhouse at ten o’clock the following -morning, so that they might take a short cut across the fields, she -noticed that Eliza and Dave hung behind the others, who as usual raced -off in different directions toward home, and then Eliza, who was walking -beside her, mumbled something about “wishing she hadn’t refused and -supposing that it was too late now,” etc. - -“Of course, it is not very polite to change one’s mind about an -invitation,” said the teacher, “but Gray Lady wrote me last night that -if you and Dave should feel differently about wishing to come, I might -bring you, but that after to-morrow it would be too late.” - -At ten o’clock this bright September morning Gray Lady came out on the -porch of the big white house, with the row of columns in front, that was -known the country-side over as “the General’s.” There was a wide lawn in -front of the house and on either side, arched by old elms, the leaves of -which were now turning yellow, but there had been no frost and the -flowers in the buds were still bright. - -Back of the house was a flower garden, with grape and rose arbours on -either side, under which chairs and little tables were placed -invitingly. Beyond this garden was a maze of fruit bushes and the young -orchard, and beyond this the old orchard, now running half wild, -stretched downhill toward the river woods. - -A lovelier place could not have been planned for either children or -birds, or the people who love both, nor a more perfect place for all -three to live together in peace and comfort. - -Goldilocks was already out, and her faithful Ann Hughes was pushing her -chair to and fro, for when one is eager and impatient it is very hard to -have to sit still. Goldilocks was growing stronger every day and could -walk a few yards all alone, but it tired her, and her mother thought the -excitement of seeing so many children would be enough for one day. - -Presently a head, with a cap on it, bobbed up over the last hump in the -road below the house, and then another with a ribbon-trimmed hat upon -it, the pair belonging to Tommy Todd and Sarah Barnes, who led the -procession; and in a few minutes more the entire group had reached the -porch and Sarah Barnes was repeating their names to Goldilocks. The five -boys rather hung back, but that was to be expected of them. - -As a little later Gray Lady led the way down to the garden, she turned -to Ann and gave her some directions for the house and was going to push -the chair herself when Tommy Todd came forward and seized the handle, -saying earnestly, “I can do that first-rate. When dad fell out of the -haymow and broke his leg, I used to tote him all round the farm, and -never bumped him a bit,—only in ploughed land and off roads you’ve got -to go jest so easy.” And to illustrate he raised the front wheels of the -chair and bearing on the handles lowered them again as they left the -garden path for the rough grass-grown track that led to the orchard. -Goldilocks looked up and smiled at him, and then at Sarah and Miss -Wilde, who walked one on each side, neither of the four dreaming at that -moment how much happier their lives would be because they had met. - -“Why, the bars are gone and there is a brand new gate!” exclaimed Sarah -Barnes, as they reached the opening in the stone fence that had been -spanned by rough-hewn bars ever since she could remember. There, between -strong cedar posts, hung a rustic gate, and above it was a double arch -of the same material, into which the word BIRDLAND was interwoven in -small sticks of the same wood. - -“That is a surprise that Jacob Hughes made for to-day, for this is my -birthday party, you see, and some day mother is going to have a flagpole -for Birdland with an eagle on top. Jacob is Ann’s brother,” she -continued by way of explanation. “He used to be a sailor once, but now -he’s come to live with us always. He is a carpenter, too, and he can -whittle almost anything with his knife, and he makes the most beautiful -bird-houses. I should really like to live in one myself—that is, of -course, if I were a bird!” - -“If you were a bird you’d be a bluebird, I guess,” said Sarah Barnes, as -she glanced at the deep blue sailor suit, with the crimson shield in -front, that Goldilocks wore. - -“I’d rather be a big owl,” said Tommy Todd, “and sit up in a tree in the -woods and call out ‘Woo-oo-oo’ when people go by in the dark and scare -’em.” And he gave such a good imitation of an owl’s hoot that Bruce, the -Collie dog, who always either walked or sat beside Goldilocks’ chair, -began to bark and circle wildly about, nose in air. - -“I’m very sure I shouldn’t care to be an owl, for then I should have to -eat meadow-mice and moles, and swallow them, fur and all, and that would -taste so mussy,” said Goldilocks. - -So it came about that all the children were in very good humour when -they entered Birdland on Goldilocks’ birthday, and Gray Lady smiled -happily as she looked at the group with her precious daughter in the -midst and thought that her experiment had begun with a happy omen. - -Though many of the apples that grew on the trees of the old orchard -would not have taken prizes at the country fair, they looked very -tempting to the youngsters,—Baldwins, Spitzenburghs, and russets of two -sorts, the green and the golden, were still on the trees, but there were -great heaps of earlier varieties on the ground, and Jacob and another -man were busy sorting them over. - -Reading in the children’s eager faces what they would like to do, Gray -Lady said, “You may run off now and have all the apples you want, and an -hour for playing ‘hide-and-seek,’ ‘red lion,’ or ‘Indians,’ in all the -orchard and meadows and woodland yonder, and then when you hear a horn -blow come back and you will find us over in the corner where the table -and seats are placed.” Then, seeing that some of the girls had brought -wraps or jackets with them, and also that the Sunday-best hats that they -wore would be in the way of romping, Gray Lady told them to hang them on -the tree nearest where she and Miss Wilde were seated. - -At first Sarah and Tommy were not going with the others, but Goldilocks -insisted that they should leave her in a gap where the rows of trees -formed a long lane through which she could see across the meadows to the -woods. - -These two children were quite at home in this neighbourhood, for had -there not been a particular gap in the old fence through which they had -taken a “short cut” down to the village ever since they could remember? - -“I wonder if Goldilocks knows that Quail nest in this brush and scratch -around here like chickens,” said Tommy, as they left the orchard for the -meadow. - -“Yes, and you got that three-story nest of yours last fall in the -bough-apple tree,” said Sarah. - -Eliza and Dave soon forgot all about their reasons for having at first -refused to go to the party, and when they heard the horn tooting it -seemed so soon that they could hardly believe that it was noon and -luncheon time. And such a luncheon as it was! Around the trunk of the -largest tree in the orchard, four tables were so placed that when -covered they looked like one big table, with the tree growing through -the centre. - -The white cloth was bordered with russet and gold beech leaves, bleached -ferns, and the deep red leaves of maples and oaks; grapes and oranges -were piled high in baskets made of hollowed-out watermelons. Hard-boiled -eggs were arranged in nests built of narrow, dainty sandwiches, little -iced cakes rested upon plates of braided corn-husks, and Goldilocks’ -birthday cake, with its twelve candles, was ornamented with little doves -made of white sugar. When, last and best of all, the ice-cream appeared, -without which no party is complete, it was in the form of a large white -hen with a very red comb, while from beneath her peeped ice-cream eggs -of many colours, chocolate-brown, pistachio-green, lemon-yellow, and -strawberry-red, the nest being woven of spun sugar that so closely -resembled fine straw that it was not until the children had tasted it -that they were convinced that it really was candy. - -Country children are usually very silent when on their good behaviour, -but such ice-cream had never been heard of either at Foxes Corners, the -Centre, or the near-by manufacturing town, and muffled “ohs” and “ahs” -of satisfaction would break out until, Miss Wilde having given no -rebuking glance, a perfect babble of enthusiasm arose that lasted until -the meal was ended. - -“Why, what _is_ that?” asked Ruth Banks, glancing as she spoke toward a -very old tree that, having partly blown over, was resting on four of its -branches that served as legs and made it appear like some strange goblin -animal. On the upper side of this fallen tree, built around an upright -branch, was a platform made of old wood with the bark on, and on the -different sections of this were peanuts, shelled corn, pounded up dog -crackers and buckwheat, while on a series of blunt spikes driven into -the branch, were some lumps of suet and bits of bacon rind. As Ruth -spoke a little black-and-white bird, with short tail and legs, was -picking vigorously at the suet, using his stout bill with the quick -sharp blows of a hammer. - -“That? Oh—” said Goldilocks, “that is another birthday surprise that -mother and Jake made for me. That is, mother planned it, and Jake did -the work. It is a birds’ lunch-counter, and this winter we are going to -keep all the different kinds of food on it that the birds like, so that -they need never leave us because they are hungry.” - -“There’s lots of things all around now that they can eat,” said Tommy -Todd. - -“Yes, of course, but we want them to become accustomed to the table, to -know where the food is before they need it and think about going away, -and wild birds are always suspicious of new things,” said Gray Lady. - -There was one more feature of the luncheon, but, as it was something -that could not be put upon the table, it was hung in the tree overhead. -This thing looked like a great bunch of gayly coloured autumn leaves -tied tight together, and from it hung a number of red strings, as many -in fact as there were people at the party. - -Gray Lady explained that each child in turn was to pull a string and, as -they held back as if in doubt as to the result, she herself pulled the -first cord and out dropped from the ball a long motto in yellow-fringed -paper that, on being unrolled, contained beside the snapper a little -paper roll on which was printed, “I am Mazulm, the Night Owl,” and when -Gray Lady carefully unfolded the paper it proved to be a cap with -strings, shaped like an owl’s head, which seemed to the children to wink -its yellow tinsel eyes as Gray Lady placed it upon her fluffy hair. - -Then everybody pulled a string, and soon there hopped about a startling -array of birds with human legs and arms, for every one entered fully -into the fun of the thing, even quiet Miss Wilde wearing her Blue Jay -cap and calling the bird’s note with good effect. - -“Now run about and see all that you can before playtime is over, and we -go into the study for our first bird lesson,” said Gray Lady. - -“I wish we could have a lunch-counter for birds at our school,” said -Sarah, “but we haven’t any near-by tree.” - -“Perhaps you may be able to have one—a tree is not always necessary. I -have several ideas for lunch-counters in my scrap-book,” said Gray Lady. - -As the children walked along, some swung their hats by the elastics in -rhythm with their steps. The elastic of Eliza Clausen’s hat was new and -strong and all of a sudden it gave a snap, and the hat flew into -Goldilocks’ lap. She had stretched out her hand to return it to its -owner when she glanced at the hat, and her whole face changed and the -smile faded from her lips. “Oh, Eliza!” she exclaimed appealingly, “you -don’t know that those feathers on your hat are wings of dear, lovely -Barn Swallows, or you wouldn’t wear it, would you?” - -“’Course I do,” said Eliza, taken off her guard and at heart now -provoked and ashamed at having her hat seen, “and I’ve got lots more -kinds at home. Ma’s got feathers on her hat, too—tasty feathers. Miss -Barker from New York that boarded with us gave ’em to her; they cost a -lot and stick right up in a nice stiff long bunch. They’re called -regrets, and they don’t grow round here, but they’re ever so stylish.” -And Eliza held her nose in the air with a sniff of scorn, a vulgar -travesty that the pounding of her heart belied. - -“I don’t think those stiff regret feathers in your mother’s hat are -stylish,” said Sarah Barnes, quickly taking up the cudgels; “I think -they look like fish bones!” Then Eliza began to cry, and both Goldilocks -and Sarah looked distressed. - -Gray Lady hesitated a moment and then said, “Eliza, dear, I’m sorry that -this has happened just now. It is not generally a good plan for us to -criticise one another’s clothing or habits, but there are times when it -is necessary. Sooner or later I should have told you the reasons why -people who stop to think and have kind hearts are no longer willing to -wear the feathers of wild birds, and I’m sure that presently, when you -stop and think, you will see that it is so.” - -Then they all walked very quietly up to the library that had belonged to -Goldilocks’ father, and when they were seated and had time to look about -they saw that the walls above the book-cases were covered by pictures of -birds in their natural colours. - -On the table at one end of the room were piled some books, and by this -Gray Lady seated herself, her scrap-book by her elbow,—a book, by the -way, with which, before another season, they were to become as well -acquainted as with their friend herself. - -Tommy Todd could not take his eyes from a picture of a tall white bird, -with long neck and legs and a graceful sweep of slender feathers that -drooped from its back over the tail. Holding up his hand, which at -school always means that you wish to ask a question, Tommy said, -“Please, what is that bird’s name? There’s a big, dark, gray one, shaped -something like it, that I’ve seen by the mill-pond, but it’s not half so -pretty. I’ve never seen one like this, here.” - -“That bird,” said Gray Lady, “is the Snowy Heron, Egret, or _Re_gret -Bird, as Eliza called it a few minutes ago, and I think that you will -agree that the name is a very suitable one when I tell you the bird’s -story.” - - - - - V - REASONS WHY - - -When the children had satisfied their curiosity by looking about the -room at the pictures and stuffed birds in cases as much as they wished -and were comfortably seated, Gray Lady drew a chair into the midst of -the group and began to talk, not a bit like a teacher in school, but as -if she had dropped in among them to have a little chat. - -“When one has looked at something from one side all one’s life it is -hard to realize that there is another,” she said, smiling brightly at -Eliza and Dave, who chanced to be sitting together and who looked not -only unhappy but very sullen. - -“I have always happened to be with people who love everything that lives -and grows. They have always been kind to birds because it never occurred -to them to be otherwise. In watching them and learning their ways, they -also learned that these winged beings had another value beside that of -beauty of colour and song, that by fulfilling their destiny and eating -many destructive bugs and animals they not only earn their own -livelihood but help keep us all alive by protecting the farmers’ crops. - -“Thus, when I went down to the school at Foxes Corners, I took it too -much for granted that you all cared for birds and would naturally wish -to protect them. I thought that all I had to do was to try to tell you -interesting stories that would help you to remember the names and habits -of the various birds. But Eliza’s hat, and a little note that I received -from one of the boys which showed that he and his family considered all -birds that are not good to eat as worse than useless, show me that some -of you look at birds from another side. Those that do certainly have a -right to, as a lawyer would say, have the case argued before them so -that they may see for themselves why they are on the wrong side of the -tree. - -“The birds were on the earth before man came, and in those far-back -times they were able to look after and protect themselves, because the -warfare they waged was only with animals often less intelligent than -themselves. Do you remember the beautiful allegory of the creation of -this earth written in Genesis which is also written and proven in the -records the geologists find buried in the earth, and quarry from the -rocks themselves? - -“When man came, in order that he might live comfortably and safely, many -of his improvements brought death to his feathered friends. Take, for -example, two objects that you all know,—the lighthouse at the end of -the bar by the harbour head, and the telegraph and telephone wires that -follow the highway near your schoolhouse. Men have need of both these -things, and yet, in their travels on dark nights, thousands of birds, by -flying toward the bright tower light that seems to promise them safety, -or coming against the innumerable wires, are dashed to death. - -“Of all the mounted birds that you see in the cases there, not one was -deliberately killed by my husband, but they were picked up and sent to -him by various lighthouse keepers along the coast who knew his interest -and that he would gladly pay them for their trouble. By and by, when we -come to the stories of the flight of some of those birds, you will be -amazed to see what frail little things have ventured miles away in their -travels; even tiny Humming-birds came to my husband in this way. This -danger grows greater every day because of the many tall buildings in the -cities that are almost always located by rivers, for to follow these -waterways seems to be the birds’ favourite way of travelling. - - - THE USES OF BIRDS - - _What the Birds do for us_ - -“Perhaps even those of you who love birds have never thought very much -about their ways of life. You are so accustomed to seeing them fly -about, and to hearing them sing, that you do not realize what a strange, -unnatural, silent thing springtime would be if the birds should all -suddenly disappear. - -“Yes, indeed, the world would be sad and lonely without these beautiful -winged voices. But something even more dreadful would happen should they -leave us: the people of the world would be in danger of starving, -because the birds would not be here to feed on the myriad worms and -insects that eat the wheat and corn and fruits upon which we, together -with other animals, depend for food. - -“The insects gnawing at the roots of the pasture grasses would destroy -both the summer grazing for the cattle and the hay for winter fodder; if -worms destroyed the forests, there would be no trees for firewood, and -also the lack of shade would make the sources of our rivers dry up and -we should soon suffer for water. - -“Girls and boys might never think of this, but the Wise Men who live in -Washington, and form the association known as the Biological Survey, as -well as those of the Departments of Agriculture in each state, thought -of this long ago. - -“They have worked hard and proved the truth of this whole matter, and -now know exactly upon what each kind of bird feeds; and laws are -everywhere being made to protect the useful birds from people who are -either so stupid or so vicious that they think a bird is something to be -shot or stoned, and that the robbing of nests of eggs is a clever thing -to do. - -“Any child who stops to think must realize one thing: As almost all -birds live on animal food during the nesting season, and feed their -young with it, and many kinds eat it all the year, it follows that the -more birds we have the fewer bugs there will be. - -“Also those birds who feed on seeds and wild fruits destroy in the -winter season quantities of weed seeds that would spring up and choke -the crops, while they sow the seeds of wild fruits and berries, because -the pits in these seeds, being hard, are dropped undigested. - -“‘But,’ says some one, ‘the Robins and Catbirds came in our garden and -bit the ripe side of the strawberries and cherries that father was -growing for market, and we had to shoot them to make them stay away.’ - -“This is all true: some birds will steal a few berries, but for this -mischief they do good all the rest of the long season; so pray ask your -father to put only powder, a ‘blank cartridge,’ as it is called, in the -gun, that it may give the birds warning to keep off, but not kill them; -and let him save all the bullets and shot for the Coward Crow, himself a -nest robber, the Great Horned Owl, the Hen and Chicken Hawks, and the -English Sparrow. - -“In the short stories that I am going to read or tell you of the birds, -I will try to speak of the chief food of each, so that you may put a -good mark beside its name in your memory, and try to realize that these -birds, beautiful as many are, still have a deeper claim upon you. I wish -you to see that they, as well as you, are citizens of this great -Republic and do their part for the public good, which, next to the care -and love of home, should be the chief ambition of us all, men or women. - -“The wise men know this and they have made laws to protect the birds and -other animals from cruelty and destruction, just as they have made laws -to protect all other citizens. Listen to what your state forbids you to -do,—to the laws that if you break you must and should be punished:— - - - WARNING! WHAT THE LAW OF YOUR STATE SAYS ABOUT SONG-BIRDS - -“_No person shall kill_, catch, or have in possession, living or dead, -at any time, any wild bird other than a game-bird, nor any part thereof, -except the English Sparrow, Crow, Great Horned Owl, or the Hawks, other -than the Osprey or Fish Hawk. No person shall take, destroy, or disturb, -or have in possession the nest or eggs of any wild bird, and the sale of -these birds or shipment out of the state is forbidden. - -_Hunting or shooting on Sunday is forbidden._ - -“It is _unlawful_ to kill Fish Hawks, Eagles, Gulls, Terns, Loons, -Divers, Grebes, Doves, Wild Pigeons, Yellowhammers, Meadowlarks, or -Herons at any time. (These are not game-birds in the reading of the -law.) - -“We are living in the state of Connecticut, but this is the substance of -the law concerning the taking of eggs or birds other than game-birds -(except when the Wise Men need them for Museums and have special -permission) in the greater number of states. - -“Tommy Todd, will you kindly go to the coloured map hanging on the door -yonder and point out as I read, those few states that allow the killing -of song-birds. This will be much easier than for you to learn the names -of those wise states that, like our own, give citizen birds full -protection. - -“The east and middle west stand solid for protection, so you must begin -on the Canadian boundary with North Dakota, then follow Nebraska, -Kansas, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory, a bad blot in the centre of the -map, but perhaps some day soon, if all the school children there learn -about the birds, they will beg their fathers and uncles who go to the -legislature to make laws to protect their birds also. For if they wait -until they themselves grow up, some kinds of birds may have gone forever -and it will be too late. - -“Fortunately, you see, there are states next that form a sort of bird -bridge of refuge; and then comes New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, -Idaho, and Montana, without good laws; but fortunately for the coast -birds, Washington, Oregon, and California are on our side, and it is the -duty of every boy and girl as well as every man and woman to learn the -laws of the state where they live, and keep them. - - - CRUELTY TO WILD ANIMALS - -“There are many children of foreign birth who perhaps would not break -the laws of this country if they knew of them, but do so innocently -because they either do not know, or do not speak English well enough to -understand them fully, and think that in this country, where they have -so much liberty, they are free to do as they like about everything. - -“There are also Americans, I am sorry to say, as well as foreign-born, -who have a heartless streak in them, and first show it by cruelty to -helpless, harmless animals. This should be stopped, as much for their -good as future citizens as for the welfare of the wild animals -themselves, for the child who will kill or torture a dumb beast has the -germs of murder in him that may later, in a fit of passion, break out -toward a fellow-being. - -“What do you think of boys—yes, and girls, for I saw one last -spring—who would spend an afternoon in stoning the hanging nest of an -Oriole until the nestlings, dying, stopped their pitiful cries and fell -to the ground in the rags of their wonderful home, while their parents -circled about in agony? Sad to say, these were American-born children, -too, who live not far from Foxes Corners, who very well knew right from -wrong. - -“When children have this evil mind, the laws of the state must be used -to cleanse,—just as the law may enter the house and do away with -contagious disease. Cruelty is often as infectious as sickness; and it -is, in fact, a sickness of the mind. It is quite as necessary sometimes -that the heart should go to school and be taught kindness as that we -should learn to read. - - - HOW WE CAN PROTECT BIRDS - -“We can help birds simply by not hurting them and leaving them as free -as possible to live out their joyous lives; but we can do much more if -we will leave some little bushy nooks about the farm or garden, where -they may nest in private, place food in convenient places during the -long, cold winter months for those birds that remain with us, and _make -it a rule never to raise more kittens than we need_ to keep barn and -house free of rats or than we can feed and care for. - -“Silly people, who shirk responsibility, often say, ‘Oh, I couldn’t -think of drowning a kitten,’ and yet they will let dozens of them grow -up unfed and uncared for, or leave a litter by the roadside, until in -many places a breed of gaunt, half-wild cats roam about destroying the -eggs and young of song-birds, game-birds, and domestic fowls alike. - -“A nice, comfortable house or barn cat is one thing, but the savage -outcast is quite another, and should no more be let live than a weasel -or a skunk. - - - HOUSING AND FEEDING - -“When places become thickly settled, and villages grow into towns and -towns into cities, one of the first things that troubles the father and -mother of a family is to find house-room, a suitable place to live, that -shall be healthful for the children, and yet not be too far from the -father’s work, and many and many a family have had to move to -inconvenient places because such a home could not be found near by. - -“Strange as it may at first seem, our little fellow-citizens, the birds, -have this same trouble. - -“In an open, half-wooded farming country there are plenty of nesting -haunts, and running brooks and ponds for the birds who need water by -their homestead. But presently perhaps a railway comes by; the land is -bought up and the woods cut down for railway ties, the brush is cleared -from old pastures and they are turned into house-lots. Old orchards, -like ours here, are done away with, and everything is ‘cleaned up.’ - -“This is as it should be, and a sign of progress; but where are the -birds that Nature has told to nest in tree hollows, like the Bluebird, -Chickadee, the Tree Swallow, Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, and the jolly -Yellowhammer, to find homes? - -“You will often hear people say, ‘It is too bad the Bluebirds are dying -out;’ but if somewhere about the place you will fasten a hollow log or a -square bird-box with a single round opening in it to a high fence-post -or to a pole set up on purpose, you will soon see that the Bluebirds -have not died out, but that they have been discouraged in their -house-hunting. - -“It is a mistake to make bird-houses too large, or to have many rooms in -them, unless you are hoping to attract Purple Martins, who like to live -in colonies. Birds like a whole building to themselves quite as well as -people, and they do not like people to come too close and peep in at -their windows and doors, either. - -“Autumn and winter are the best seasons for making and placing -bird-boxes; it gives time for them to become ‘weathered’ before nesting -time, and birds are apt to be suspicious of anything that looks too new -and fine, and I have a plan that I think you will like by which you boys -can not only make bird-houses for your own yards and farms, but make -them to sell to others as well. - -“It is also a kind act for those who live on farms to leave a few stacks -of cornstalks or a sheaf of rye standing in a fence corner as a shelter -for the game-birds, who are often driven by cold to burrow in the snow -for cover, and, frequently, when the crust freezes above them, die of -starvation. - -“Doing this is wise as well as kind, for it helps to keep alive and -increase these valuable food-birds, and makes better sport for the -farmers in the time when the law says they may go a-hunting. - -“Of course, in every country school even, there are children who do not -live on farms, but these can club together and do what they can to feed -and shelter the birds that come about the schoolhouse. You have all seen -Goldilocks’ lunch-table for feeding the winter birds, and though Sarah -Barnes would like to have such a one down at the school, others perhaps -may think it foolish. - -“As you already know, some birds eat insects and others seed foods, or, -to put it another way, some birds prefer meat and some bread; so if you -wish to suit all kinds you must feed them with sandwiches, made of both -bread and meat. - -“‘Sandwiches for birds!—how foolish!’ I hear some one say. Stop and -think a moment, and you will see that it is merely a way of expression, -a figure of speech, as it is called. - -“Give the birds the material, crumbs, cracked corn, hayloft sweepings, -bits of fat bacon, suet, or bones that have some rags of meat attached, -and they will make their own sandwiches, each one to its taste. - -“If this food is merely scattered upon the ground, it will attract mice, -rats, and other rodents, but if a regular lunch-counter is prepared for -the food you will find that the birds will appreciate the courtesy, -become liberal customers, and run up a long bill; this, however, they -will pay with music when spring comes. - - - A SUGGESTION FOR THE LUNCH-COUNTER - -“Almost every school has a flagpole, and, while some are fastened to the -building itself, like the one at Foxes Corners, many stand free and are -planted in the yard. However, there is one old tree at your school and I -will ask Jacob to build you a lunch-counter, if you will promise to see -that it is kept well filled with provisions. - -“This is the way it should be made: Around the pole a square or circular -shelf about eight inches wide can be fastened, four feet from the -ground, and edged with a strip of beading, barrel hoops, or the like. A -dozen tenpenny nails should be driven on the outside edge at intervals, -like the spokes to a wheel, and the whole neatly painted to match the -pole. - -“Then each week we will ask Miss Wilde to appoint a child as _Bird -Steward_, his or her duties being to collect the scraps after the noon -dinner-hour and place them neatly on the counter, the crusts and crumbs -on the shelf and the meat to be hung on the spikes. - -“Nothing will come amiss—pine cones, beechnuts, the shells of -hard-boiled eggs broken fine, apple cores, half-cleaned nuts; and if the -children will tell their parents of the counter, they will often put an -extra scrap or so in the dinner pail to help the feast. Or the fortunate -children whose fathers keep the market, the grocery store, or the mill, -may be able to obtain enough of the wastage to leave an extra supply on -Friday, so that the pensioners need not go hungry over Sunday. - -“All the while the flag will wave gayly above little Citizen Bird, as -under its protection he feeds upon his human brothers’ bounty. - -“Here is the story of one of these lunch-counters that proved a success. -It was written to encourage others, and I will read it so that you may -know that bird lunch-counters belong to real and not to fairy-tales.” - - - AN ADIRONDACK LUNCH-COUNTER - -In the Adirondacks in March, 1900, the snow fell over four feet deep, -and wild birds were driven from the deep woods to seek for food near the -habitation of man. It occurred to me that a lunch-counter with “meals at -all hours” might suit the convenience of some of the visitors to my -orchard, so I fixed a plank out in front of the house, nailed pieces of -raw and cooked meat to it, sprinkled bread-crumbs and seeds around, and -awaited results. - -The first caller was a Chickadee. He tasted the meat, seemed to enjoy -it, and went off for his mate. They did not seem in the least afraid -when I stood on the veranda and watched them, and after a time paid but -little attention to the noises in the house; but only one would eat at a -time. The other one seemed to keep watch. I set my camera and secured a -picture of one alone. While focussing for the meat one Chickadee came -and commenced eating in front of the camera, and a second later its mate -perched on my hand as I turned the focussing screw. - -I saw the Chickadees tear off pieces of meat and suet and hide them in -the woodpile. This they did repeatedly, and later in the day would come -back and eat them if the lunch-counter was empty. - -My observation in this respect is confirmed by a lumber-man, who noticed -that when eating his lunch, back in the woods, the Chickadees were very -friendly and would carry off scraps of meat and hide them, coming back -for more, time and time again. - -The next day another pair of Chickadees and a pair of White-breasted -Nuthatches came. The Nuthatches had a presumptuous way of taking -possession, and came first one and then both together. The Chickadees -flew back and forth in an impatient manner, but every time they went -near the meat the Nuthatches would fly or hop toward them, uttering what -sounded to me like a nasal, French _no, no, no_, and the Chickadees -would retire to await their turn when the Nuthatches were away. - -The news of the free lunch must have travelled as rapidly in the bird -world as gossip in a country town usually does, for before long a -beautiful male Hairy Woodpecker made his appearance, and came regularly -night and morning for a number of days. Hunger made him bold, and he -would allow me to walk to within a few feet of him when changing plates -in the camera. It was interesting to note his position on the plank. -When he was eating, his tail was braced to steady his body. He did not -stand on his feet, except when I attracted his attention by tapping on -the window, but when eating put his feet out in front of him in a most -peculiar manner. This position enabled him to draw his head far back and -gave more power to the stroke of his bill, and shows that Woodpeckers -are not adapted for board-walking. - -Of course, the smaller Downy Woodpeckers were around; they always are in -the orchard toward spring. I also had a flock of Redpolls come a number -of times after a little bare spot of ground began to show, but, although -they ate seeds I put on the ground, they would not come up on the -lunch-counter and did not stay very long. Beautiful Pine Grosbeaks came, -too, but they preferred picking up the seeds they found under the maple -trees. The American Goldfinches, in their Quaker winter dresses, called, -but the seeds on some weeds in the garden just peeping above the snow -pleased them better than a more elaborate lunch, and saying -“per-chic-o-ree” they would leave.—F. A. Van Sant, Jay, N.Y., in _Bird -Lore_. - -“Now, while you move about and rest yourselves a few moments, I will ask -Dave and Tommy to bring that picture of the great white bird from the -easel and place it by the table here, while I look in this portfolio for -another to put with it. See—here is a bird that is much taller than the -men beside it and wears bunches of plumes on tail and wings. These two -birds represent the wrong and right side of feather wearing! - -“What are their real names? The Snowy Heron and the Ostrich, both birds -of warm climate. I’m always glad when children wish to know the _real_ -names of birds and try to remember them. No one can become actually a -friend of a person or an animal whose name is merely general. Has Miss -Wilde ever read you a little poem there is about the pleasure of -learning _real_ names? No? I will repeat it and perhaps she will let you -learn it next Friday.” - - - MATILDA ANN - - I knew a charming little girl, - Who’d say, “Oh, see that flower!” - Whenever in the garden - Or woods she spent an hour. - And sometimes she would listen, - And say, “Oh, hear that bird!” - Whenever in the forest - Its clear, sweet note was heard. - - But then I knew another— - Much wiser, don’t you think? - Who never called a bird a “bird”; - But said “the bobolink” - Or “oriole” or “robin” - Or “wren,” as it might be; - She called them all by their first names, - So intimate was she. - - And in the woods or garden - She never picked a “flower”; - But “anemones,” “hepaticas,” - Or “pansies,” by the hour. - Both little girls loved birds and flowers, - But one love was the best: - I need not point the moral; - I’m sure you see the rest. - - For would it not be very queer, - If when, perhaps, you came, - Your parents had not thought worth while - To give you any name? - I think you would be quite upset, - And feel your brain a-whirl, - If you were not “Matilda Ann,” - But just “a little girl”! - - —Alice W. Rollins, in the _Independent_. - -[Illustration: SNOWY HERON] - - - - - VI - FEATHERS AND HATS - - - _The White Heron_ - -“Perhaps the boys may not be interested in hearing about feathers and -hats,” said Gray Lady, “but the two birds whose pictures you see here -are very interesting in themselves; and it is well that both boys and -girls should realize all the different reasons why some kinds of birds -have been growing fewer and fewer, until it is necessary to take active -measures for their protection. - -“Boys have robbed nests and thoughtless men have shot and caged -song-birds, and have often killed many more food-birds than they could -eat, merely for what they call the ‘sport’ of killing. - -“Girls who seldom rob nests, unless they are following the examples of -their brothers, and women who would shrink from touching firearms or -killing a bird, will still, as far as the law allows and sometimes -further, wear birds’ feathers on their hats. - -“Not many years ago we often saw whole birds, such as Humming-birds, -Swallows,—like those on Eliza’s hat,—Bluebirds, and many of the pretty -little warblers used as hat trimming. To-day, this is against the law in -all of the really civilized of the United States, and any one offering -the feathers of these birds for sale may be arrested and fined.” - -“Please, is it any harm to wear roosters’ feathers or Guinea hens’ and -ducks’ wings?” asked Ruth Banks. “’Cause I’ve got two real nice duck -wings and a lovely spangled rooster tail—home-made ducks, you know, -that we hatch under hens,” she added. - -“No, it is no harm to use the feathers of domestic fowls, or other -food-birds,” said Gray Lady; “only, unless we have raised the fowls from -which they come ourselves, it is not easy to be sure about the matter, -unless the feathers are left in their natural colours. They may tell you -in a shop that the wing or breast you see is made of dyed chicken or -pigeon feathers. You must take their word that this is so, and many -times they may have been misled in the matter themselves. - -“Birds’ feathers, it cannot be denied, are very beautiful and -ornamental, but to my mind it is very bad taste to wear anything dead -merely for ornament,—furs, of course, keep the wearer warm as -well,—but I myself do not care for any hat trimming that can only be -had by taking life. - -“There is one kind of feather,—the Heron or Egret plume,—that I am not -only sorry, but ashamed, to say is still in use, because it comes from -birds that live in other countries, and these birds we cannot yet -protect. Not only must these birds be killed to obtain the coveted -plumes, but the killing is done in a brutal way, and at a time of -year—the nesting season—when, according to the wise law of nature, -every bird should be cherished and its privacy respected. - -“Look at this great White Heron in the picture beside me here. He -measures two feet from the tip of his bill up over his head to his tail, -though you cannot really see the tail as he is pictured on account of -the beautiful sweeping cloak of fine feathers that cover it. This bird -has yellow eyes and feet, beak and legs partly yellow and partly black, -but is everywhere else white of an almost dazzling brilliancy. - -“Many birds wear more beautiful and highly coloured feathers in the -nesting season than at any other. These Herons, both male and female, -are pure white all the year through, but as the nesting season -approaches a change comes,—a number of slender plumes grow out from -between the shoulders and curve gracefully over the tail, forming a -complete mantle, and it is these feathers that are sought by the -professional plume hunters to be made into the feathery tufts sold as -egrets, though the word Eliza used by a slip of the tongue, _re_grets, I -think much more suitable, for surely any one with a warm woman’s heart -would _regret_ ever having worn them if she realized how they are -obtained.” - -“Miss Barker gave my mother hers,” put in Eliza, “’cause she’d just -found out where they came from and dassn’t wear it to church ’cause her -minister belongs to a society that wouldn’t like it. She didn’t tell us -why, though; she only said regrets was counted stylish in N’ York.” - -“Yes,” said Gray Lady, “that is all the idea some people, who think -themselves very clever, have of honour. To give away a feather that one -cannot wear, for fear of what some one will say, is like giving stolen -goods to some one who does not know that they are stolen. - -“Not many years ago this Snowy Heron and his cousin, the American Egret, -almost twice his size, might be found everywhere in the swampy groves of -temperate and tropical America, from New Jersey across to Minnesota and -Oregon, and as far south as Patagonia in South America. Within a few -years I have seen one or two in autumn in the marshes back of our bay -below, for like many birds they wander about after the nesting season. -Their food consists of small fish,—shrimps, water-beetles, etc.,—so -that they never make their homes far from moist places. Now, in this -country at least, the race is nearly gone, and it will be only by the -strictest laws and most complete protection that it will be possible for -the tribe to increase. To regain its old footing cannot be hoped for. - -“The beginning of the tragedy came by woman’s love of finery, and only -by her resolutely giving it up can the trouble be ended. - -“Through some happening it was discovered that this mantle of feathers -could be made into ornaments for hats and hair that were not only widely -sought, but brought a high price. This was enough; bands of hunters were -organized to search the swamps for the Herons and obtain the plumes -_when they were in the best condition_. How it was to be done did not -matter, and indeed it has taken the world many years to realize the -horror of it all. - -“These Herons breed in colonies. The nest, a stoutly built, slightly -hollowed platform of small sticks, reeds, etc., is placed either in a -tree or tall bush, care being always taken to keep it safely above the -water-line. As the birds are very sociable, a single bush or tree would -often contain many nests. - -“When the nesting season was well under way and the feather cloaks in -their first perfection, through the lagoons and sluggish waterways came -noiseless flat-bottomed boats, low on the water, and poled by the -guiding Indian or half-breed. Astern sat the plume hunters, guns at rest -and eyes eagerly scanning the foliage above their heads. ‘Ah! here is a -rookery at last!’ (rookery being the name given to colonies of many -birds beside the Rook). The parent birds are sailing gracefully to and -fro, their long legs trailing behind, while they feed the newly hatched -nestlings. For with the most crafty calculation the plume hunters wait -for the time when the birds are hatched because they know that the -parents are then less likely to take alarm and fly beyond reach. - -“The boat is stopped by the guide, who grasps an overhanging branch -close to where an opening in the under-brush gives a good view of the -colony. - -“Bang! bang! Bodies crashing through the branches and pitiful cries of -alarm mingle for several minutes, as the confused birds rise, remember -their young, and return to die! When the smoke has lifted, the hunters -clear the ground of the dead and dying and piling them in the boat begin -to tear off that portion of the back, the ‘scalp,’ that holds the -precious plumes. If all the birds were dead, the horror would be less, -but time is precious; there are other rookeries to be visited that day, -and so the still breathing and fluttering birds are also torn and -mutilated. - -“Then the boat glides on, leaving death behind. Yes, but not the silence -that usually goes with death, for there in a hundred nests are the -clamouring hungry broods that will die slowly of hunger, or be victims -of snakes or birds of prey,—the happier ending of the two. - -“After a day’s work the plume hunters find ground dry enough for a camp, -where they pass the night, and at dawn they again glide forth on their -ghastly errand. - -“Sometimes storm, pestilence, and famine may nearly exterminate a -species of bird or beast, but Nature in some way, if she still needs the -type, always manages to restore and undo her own mischief; but, as a -lover of these birds has said, ‘When man comes, slaughters, and -exterminates, Nature does not restore!’ It is only the men and women who -have done the evil that may be allowed to undo it, and sometimes it is -too late. - -“Now you see why no one should wear egret plumes, the feathers of the -bird that has been called ‘The Bonnet Martyr.’ Girls and boys, whoever -you may be, who hear or read this story of the vanishing Snowy Heron, be -courageous, and wherever or whenever you see one of these regret plumes -ask the wearer if she knows how it was obtained and tell her its story, -for whether the bird who bore it lived in this or another country the -manner of taking is the same. - -“There have been foolish stories told of raising these birds in -captivity and gathering the plumes after they are shed. This is not -true. They would, when shed naturally, be worn and useless, and the -egret will always be what one of the Wise Men has called it, the ‘White -Badge of Cruelty.’” - - * * * * * - -“Now, Tommy Todd,” said Gray Lady, “you may take down the Heron and put -the other picture in its place. The bird in it is not graceful and -beautiful like the Heron; in fact, it looks more like some sort of a -camel than a bird, but its story is much more cheerful. Its feathers may -be worn by every one, for it is not necessary to kill or hurt the bird -in order to get them. Some of you have guessed its name already, I am -sure. - - - _The Ostrich_ - -“Ostriches live in warm countries as well as Herons, but here the -comparison begins and ends, for the Ostrich loves the open sandy desert -and was originally found wild in Africa, Arabia, and also in Persia. The -Ostrich, the largest bird now alive, is most peculiar both in appearance -and habits. Standing sometimes eight feet in height, it has a long, -almost bare neck, and small stupid-looking head; its wings are so small -that it cannot fly, but its strong legs, ending in two-toed feet, give -it the power of running as fast as a horse, and it can kick like a horse -also, with this difference,—an Ostrich kicks forward so if you wish to -be perfectly safe you must stand _behind_ it! At the base of the wings -and tail grow tufts of long and substantial feathers, the wing tufts -being the longer and best. In truth, but for the fact of the feathers -that cover its body, no one would guess that it was a bird, and even -with these it looks like some strange beast that has put on a borrowed -coat to go, perhaps, to the great Elephant Dance that little Toomai saw -once upon a time in the Jungle, about which Rudyard Kipling tells so -well that sometimes we wake up in the morning and really believe that we -ourselves have ridden to the dance upon the great Elephant instead of -Toomai. - -“In wild life birds have always been hunted for their plumage as well as -for food. It is thought that the savage at first killed solely for food, -and then used the hides of beasts and feathers of birds for clothing and -decoration as an afterthought, some of the royal garments of kings and -chiefs of tribes being woven of countless rare feathers. - -“When man as we know him, white or civilized man as he is called, -explored wild countries, he introduced two things that wrought great -harm to wild creatures and savages alike,—the money-trading instinct -and strong drink. In order to buy this drink, which always proved his -ruin, the savage looked about for something to offer in exchange, and -what was there for him but to kill beast or bird and offer some part of -it in trade? - -“In this way the elephants’ tusks, of which ivory is made, rare furs, -alligator hides, and Ostrich eggs and plumes, as well as rough uncut -gems, became known to the people of Europe. - -“The savages hunted the wild Ostrich with bow and arrows that were -sometimes poisoned, and the bird being killed, of course, yielded but -one crop of feathers. - -“As the Ostrich cannot fly and is a very stupid bird, living in open -deserts where there were few places to hide, it was very easily -destroyed—its only means of escape being to outrun its pursuers, who -were on foot. But presently when firearms were used to hunt him, the -Ostrich seemed as utterly doomed as the White Heron. - -[Illustration: CLIPPING OSTRICH PLUMES] - -“But the day came when men who realized the great demand there was for -these feathers and the profit to be made by selling them, tried the -experiment of raising the birds in captivity, just as we do our barnyard -fowl, treating them kindly, and feeding them well, so that they might -yield not only one but many crops of plumes, because they knew that the -Ostrich is not only long-lived but, like the smaller birds, changes its -feathers every year. - -“The Ostrich was a difficult bird to catch and tame when full grown, for -at that time they weigh several hundred pounds and their habit of -kicking has to be remembered, the same as with a wild horse. So the plan -was tried of collecting the eggs and hatching them out, and even this -was not as easy as it seems. - -“Though Ostriches are so foolish that, when chased, they will often -stand still and hide their heads in the sand, evidently thinking that if -they cannot see their pursuers, they themselves cannot be seen, they -make devoted parents. And this plan was so successful that Ostriches are -now raised like domestic fowls, not only in Africa but in this country, -where the birds were introduced in 1882, and there are now many -successful Ostrich farms in Arizona, California, and Florida, where -alfalfa can be raised all the year, for this is the best food for them. - -“The breeding habits of the Ostrich in captivity are different from -those of the wild birds of the desert who live half a dozen hens to a -family like our barnyard fowls. The nest is merely a hollow in the sand -a foot or so deep, and several broad, made by the pressure of the great -breast-bone and sides. Eggs are laid, one every other day, until a -‘clutch’ of a dozen or more has accumulated, and these must be kept warm -for nearly a month and a half before the chicks will be hatched. - -“When you realize that one of these eggs would make an omelet as large -as two dozen and a half hens’ eggs, and weighs three or four pounds, so -that the omelet would feed an entire family, you will understand that it -takes both patience on the part of the parents and a great deal of heat -to hatch these eggs. Sometimes the owners prefer to hatch the eggs in an -incubator. - -“You have some of you seen a Robin stand up in the nest and shuffle her -feet; when she does this she is turning her eggs, and the great Ostrich -eggs are also turned every day. When domesticated, the mother Ostrich -tends the eggs during the daylight hours, but the father takes her place -in the later afternoon and remains until morning. This is evidently the -result of the instinct for colour protection. The gray female shows the -least plainly in daylight on the sand, while the black-and-white male -can scarcely be seen at night. In fact, the domesticated bird is a -creature of such regular habits that, according to reliable accounts, -the male takes his place on the nest promptly at 5 P.M. and does not -move until 9 A.M. This account does not say whether Mrs. O. lets her -husband have an evening out once in a while to go to his club or lodge, -but perhaps, as he has the rest of the year to himself, he does not -expect a vacation in the important nesting season. But one thing is -known to be true, that Ostriches are very devoted to each other and that -the pairs when once mated remain together for life, an attribute of many -birds, especially the very long-lived species. It is said that the wild -Ostrich lives to be 100 years old. This may be true, for Ostriches who -have been captives 40 years are still alive and healthy. In the deserts -Ostriches are supposed to be able to go without water for days at a -time, but in captivity they drink freely every day. This either proves -that the habits alter very much, or else, that those who reported their -wild life did not see correctly. - -“When the young Ostriches are hatched, they are about the size of a -Plymouth Rock hen and are mottled and fuzzy. They grow very rapidly, so -that at nine months old the bird will be nearly six feet tall, and after -this the plumes are plucked at intervals of nine months; the feathers do -not reach perfection, however, until the third year, and the birds do -not reach maturity and mate until they are four years old,—and a fine -male Ostrich of six or seven years of age is worth $1000 and will yield -from $50 to $80 worth of feathers yearly. - -“When a little over a year old, the mottled plumage that the young birds -wear slowly changes, the female becomes a dusky gray, and the male -glossy black, though they both grow long white wing-plumes. By this you -may learn that all the gayly coloured plumes that you see are dyed, and -even those that remain black or white go through many processes of -cleansing and curling before they are sold in the shops.” - -“How do they get the feathers off?” asked Sarah Barnes; “do they wait -until they moult or pull ’em like they do geese?—only that hurts some -’cause the geese squawk something dreadful.” - -“I’m glad that you asked that question,” said Gray Lady, “because it is -one of the special points about Ostrich feathers that should be made -known to every one. If they waited for the feathers to be shed, they -would be worn and broken. You all know how very shabby the long -tail-feathers of a rooster become before the summer moulting time. When -Ostriches were first raised in confinement, their owners used to pluck -out the plumes. But they soon found that not only was this troublesome, -for the pain of it made the birds struggle, but the next crop of -feathers suffered in consequence. Nature has reasons for everything she -plans and there is evidently some substance in the butt of the old quill -that, by keeping the skin soft and open, prepares the way for the new -one that is to follow and causes it to be of better quality. - -“Now the plumes are clipped off, and later on the stubs, which are then -dry, come out easily. The feathers of these birds are much fuller and -finer than those that came from the wild Ostriches. - -“The picture shows an Ostrich in the little three-cornered pen with the -men holding up the tufts and preparing to snip off the feathers. The pen -is made in this shape so that there will be standing-room for the men, -but not room enough for the Ostrich to turn round and kick forward. A -hood shaped like a stocking is drawn over his head, and he is perfectly -quiet, for he feels no pain and no blood is drawn. - -“Now you can judge for yourselves that Ostrich feathers may be safely -worn by every one who likes beautiful things, for certainly there are no -feathers so graceful as a sweeping Ostrich plume with the ends slightly -curled. - -“In addition to the fact that the growing and taking of these feathers -is perfectly humane, their use encourages a large industry which gives -employment to many people here in _our own country_.” - -“I wish my ma had an Ostrich plume in her Sunday hat instead of that -mean egret,” sighed Eliza Clausen, half to herself. “I can take the -smaller wings out of mine and leave the ribbon, but the feather’s the -whole topknot of ma’s.” - -Softly as Eliza had spoken, her words could be heard in the silence that -came when the reader closed her scrap-book. - -“Bravo! bravo! little girl,” said Gray Lady, smiling so brightly that -Eliza forgot to be embarrassed. “You see that your mother was right when -she said, ‘When people get to hearing about birds they stop caring to -wear them in their hats,’ even though she did not mean it quite in this -way. Very few people would wear the cruel kind of feathers if they only -understood. I will give you a pretty little Ostrich tuft to take to your -mother in exchange for the egret, when you explain to her about it, and -I’m sure Anne can find something among Goldilocks’ boxes to replace your -Swallow’s wings.” - -Eliza’s eyes sparkled, and all signs of resentment left her face. - -“But,” asked Gray Lady, “what will you do with the poor little wings and -the egret? You surely will not give them to any one else.” - -“No, ma’am, I’ll have a funeral, and bury them down in the meadow, where -my kitten is that fell in the water barrel and sister’s canary!” - -Then all the children laughed, including Eliza herself, and Gray Lady -joined. - -“School is over for this afternoon,” said Gray Lady, “but before you go -we must arrange for our next meeting. I, myself, belong to the Humane -Society. How would you like to organize a little school society of your -own to help one another remember to be kind to everything that lives, -and also to see and learn all you can about our little brothers of the -air, whose life and happiness depends as much upon our mercy as our food -and shade, beautiful flowers, and luscious fruit depend upon their -industry? - -“Let us call it ‘The Kind Hearts’ Club.’ Who will join it? Goldilocks -and Jacob Hughes are the first two members—how many more are there -here? Oh! Tommy Todd! one hand is enough to raise, unless you expect to -work for two people!” - - - - - VII - THE KIND HEARTS’ CLUB - - -“While you were playing hide-and-seek in the orchard this morning, Miss -Wilde and I had a long talk about the Friday afternoons at school,” said -Gray Lady, “and what do you suppose? She has given every other Friday -afternoon to us, to you and to me, not only that we may all learn about -birds and animals and how to be kind to them, but other things as well.” - -“That will be lovely!” exclaimed Sarah Barnes, but suddenly her face -clouded and she added; “that will only be twice a month, though, and if, -when it comes winter, it’s such bad weather that school has to be closed -up of a Friday, then it would be once a month, and that would be _very_ -long to wait!” - -“Ah! but you have not heard all of the plan yet,” said Gray Lady. “Two -Fridays of each month I will go to your school, and two Saturday -mornings in every month you are to come to my house, that is, if you -wish to,—of course you are not _obliged_ to come. And it will only be a -very bad snow-storm, deeper than horses’ legs are long, that will keep -me away from Foxes Corners, for did not you and I become friends on a -very dreary, rainy afternoon? - -“On the Friday afternoon at school I will either tell or read you -stories of the birds of the particular season, and I shall give you -every chance to ask questions and tell anything that you have noticed -about birds or such little wild beasts as we have hereabouts, for you -know it is a very one-sided sort of meeting where one person does all -the talking. - -“I may be a sober-minded Gray Lady, but I very well know how tiresome it -is to sit still for a couple of hours, even if one is listening to -something interesting. I think that one can hear so very much better if -the fingers are busy. So, with Ann Hughes’ help, I am going to give the -girls some plain, useful sewing to do, patchwork, gingham -cooking-aprons, and the like. This plain sewing will be Friday work. On -the Saturday mornings that you come to me you shall have something more -interesting to work upon,—that is, as many of you as prove that they -know a little about handling a needle. You shall learn to dress dolls -and make any number of pretty things besides.” - -“I haven’t got any thimble,” said little Clara Hinks, called “Clary” for -short, in a quavering voice. “Grandma is going to give me a real silver -one when I’m eight, but that won’t be until next spring, and now I have -to borrow my big sister Livvie’s when I sew my patchwork, and it’s too -big, and it wiggles, and the needle often goes sideways into my finger. -Besides, she wouldn’t let me bring it to school, ’cause it’s got her -’nitials inside a heart on one side of it, and George Parsons gave it to -her, an’ anyways she’s using it all the time, ’cause she’s sewing her -weddin’ things terrible fast.” - -Gray Lady had great difficulty to keep from laughing outright at this -burst of confidence, but she never hurt any one’s feelings, and her lips -merely curved into a quizzical smile, as she said, “What Clara says -about her thimble reminds me to tell you that Ann has a large work-box -with plain thimbles of all sizes, scissors, needles, and thread. This I -used last winter in the city in teaching some little girls to sew, who -were about your ages. I will lend you these things, and then later on, -if you do well, you will have a chance to earn work-boxes of your own.” - -“Have we boys got to sew, too?” asked Tommy Todd, with a very -mischievous expression on his freckled face; “’cause I know how to sew -buttons on my overalls, and I can do it tighter’n ma can, so’s they -don’t yank off for ever so long!” - -“No, I had thought of something quite different for you boys, though it -would not be amiss for you all to know how to take a few stitches for -yourselves, for you are all liable at some time in your lives to travel -in far-away places, and even when you go down to the shore and camp out -in summer, buttons will come off and stitches rip. - -“It seemed to me that hammers and saws and chisels and nails and -jack-knives would be more interesting to you boys than dolls and -patchwork!” As Gray Lady pronounced the names of the tools slowly, so -that she might watch the effect of her words, she saw five pairs of eyes -sparkle, and when the magic word “jack-knives” was reached, they were -leaning forward so eagerly that Dave slipped quite off his chair and for -a moment knelt on the floor at Gray Lady’s feet. - -“But what could we do with all those carpenters’ tools down at school?” -asked Dave, when he had regained his chair and the laugh at his downfall -had subsided. “Dad says it’s a wonder Foxes Corners’ schoolhouse don’t -fall down every time teacher bangs on the desk to call ’tention,—we -couldn’t hammer things up there.” - -“No, that is very true,” said Gray Lady, “but the tools are to be used -at the ‘General’s house’ on Saturdays, and the jack-knives at school on -Fridays! I see that you cannot guess this part of the plan, so I will -not tease you by making you wait as I had first intended. - -“As you may remember, Goldilocks told you this morning that Jacob -Hughes, who now lives with us since he has left the sea, and keeps -everything in repair about the place, besides being a good carpenter can -whittle almost anything that can be made from wood with a knife. - -“In the attic of this house are two large rooms. One of these Jacob is -fitting up for a playroom for my little daughter, now that she will soon -be able to enjoy it. The other room was the workroom where her father -had his tools and workbench when he was a lad like you, for the General -had him taught the use of all the tools and he used to make bird-houses -and boats and garden seats and even chairs and such things for the -house. He grew to be so skilful that he learned to carve them -beautifully. - -“Since he went away to his father and mother in heaven no one has used -the room; but it is not right to let things be useless when others need -them, and now Jacob is putting that room in order also. Then for half of -the time on Saturday morning he will take you up there, teach you the -use of the tools, and show you how to make bird-houses and many other -things, while on the Friday afternoons, when the girls are sewing, he -will bring some pieces of soft wood to school, and something that he has -carved as a model, and each boy must strive to make the best copy that -he can!” - -“That’ll be bully!” cried Tommy Todd, adding, “and I think it is just -fine of you to let us use those tools that belonged to—to—” And here -Tommy faltered for the right word. - -“To my husband,” said Gray Lady, very gently, and the children saw the -little mist that veiled her eyes, and understood better than words could -tell them why gray hair framed the face that was still young and why -there were no gay colours in her dress,—in short, it came to them why -their Gray Lady earned her name, and yet was never sad nor wished to -sadden others. - -“S’pose we haven’t all got jack-knives—that is, ones that’ll cut?” -piped little Jared Hill, blushing red at having dared to speak. He was -the smallest boy in the school and lived with his grandparents, who, -though well-to-do, evidently believed it sinful to spend money for -anything but food and clothing, for the only Christmas presents Jared -ever had were those from the Sunday-school tree, and though he was seven -years old he had never owned a knife. - -“If I lend the girls thimbles and scissors, I must, of course, lend the -boys jack-knives, and give them an equal chance of earning them for -their very own!” And from that moment Jared Hill firmly believed that -angels and good fairies had fluffy gray hair and wore shimmering gray -garments that smelled of fresh violets, like Gray Lady. - -“Let me see,” said she, glancing at a little calendar in a silver frame -that stood upon her desk, “two weeks from to-day will be the 27th; then -you come here again. I should like every boy who can, to bring some bits -of old weathered wood with him. Either a few mossy shingles, the hollow -branch of a tree, a bundle of bark,—anything, in short, that will make -the bird-houses that you build look natural to the birds, who dislike -new boards and fresh paint so much that they will not use such houses -until they are old and weathered.” - -Again Gray Lady consulted her calendar. “There will be eight Saturday -meetings before the Christmas holidays, and we must all be very -industrious so as to be ready for our fair.” - -“Where? what?” cried Sarah Barnes and three or four other girls -together, for to these children on this remote hillside the word “fair” -meant visions of the County Agricultural Fair, and this stood for the -very gayest of times that they knew. - -“A little fair of our own to be held in Goldilocks’ playroom and the -workroom where the ‘Kind Hearts’ Club’ will offer its friends -bird-houses, dolls, button-bags, cooking-aprons, and home-made cake and -candy. Then, with the money thus earned, the Club will have a little -fund for its winter work, and each member will, of course, have a vote -as to how the money is to be spent.” - -Gray Lady opened a small drawer in her desk, and took from it two -packages of picture cards. The picture on the cards of the first pack -was of a little boy releasing a rabbit that had been caught in a trap. -The picture of the other cards was of a little girl standing in a -doorway, and scattering grain sweepings to the hungry birds on the -snow-covered ground. - -“Now, who wishes to join the ‘Kind Hearts’ Club’? We must have some -members before we can elect our officers and begin. The promise you make -is very simple.” On the cards they read only these words: “I promise to -be kind to every living thing.” Under this was a place to write the name -of the member. - -“How can we always tell what it is kind to do? Some folks think -different ways,” asked Eliza Clausen, the hat feathers still fresh in -her mind. - -“Our hearts must tell us that, Eliza,” said Gray Lady, very gently. “We -cannot carry rules about with us, but, if we have kind hearts always in -our breasts, we shall not make mistakes. And even if our hearts do not -feel for others in the beginning, they may be taught by example, just as -our heads may learn from books. That is what I wish our Kind Hearts’ -Club to stand for—to be a reminder that there is nothing better to work -for in this world than that our hearts may be kind and true to -ourselves, each other, and to God’s dumb animals that he has given for -our service and has trusted to our mercy, for this is true worship and -doing His will.” - -Each one of the children present signed silently and Gray Lady copied -the names in a book, but let the children keep the cards, both as a -reminder and to show their parents. - -Miss Wilde came forward at this moment and she and their hostess -explained the manner of electing officers. Before they trooped out on to -the lawn, even then reluctant to go, Goldilocks had been made president, -Miss Wilde, vice-president, Sarah Barnes, treasurer, and Tommy Todd, who -wrote a very clear, round hand, secretary, Dave, Jared Hill, and the two -Shelton boys, a committee to collect old wood, and Eliza Clausen, Ruth -Banks, and Mary Barnes, a committee to collect odd patterns for -patchwork, something in which the older country folks showed great -ingenuity and took no little pride. - - * * * * * - -“Oh my, do look at the Swallows—there’s hundreds of them on the wires,” -said Tommy, as Goldilocks was wheeled out on to the front walk to tell -the party “Good-by,” her mother following. - -“I wish I knew what really truly becomes of them,” said Sarah Barnes; -“father says nobody knows, though some people say that they go down in -pond mud and bury themselves all winter like frogs, and though you see -them last right by water, I don’t believe it’s likely, do you, Gray -Lady? Though at the end they disappear all of a sudden.” - -“It is not only unlikely, but impossible. I think next Friday we will -begin our real lessons with these fleet-winged birds of passage that are -passing now every day and night.” - -After the good-bys were said again and again, the children scattered -down the road, talking all together, very much like a twittering flock -of Swallows themselves, and like the birds they were neither still nor -silent until darkness fell. Miss Wilde followed, smiling and happy, for -she had found a friend who not only did not belittle her work in the -hillside school, but showed her undreamed-of possibilities in it. - - - - - VIII - THE PROCESSION PASSES - - -Time—September 20th. Place—The School at Foxes Corners. - -These are the stories that Gray Lady told or read from her scrap-book -between September and Flag Day. She allowed them to be copied at Miss -Wilde’s request for the pleasure of the other children in the township. - - - THE SWALLOWS - - _Five Swallows and a Changeling_ - -“I wonder if there is a child living in the real country who does not -know a Swallow by sight the moment its eyes rest upon the bird? I think -not, and a great many people who are only in the country at midsummer -and in early autumn also know the Swallows, even though they cannot tell -the different kinds apart, for during the nesting time, as well as the -flocking period that follows, Swallows are conspicuous birds of the air -and leaders of the birds that might be grouped as “The Fleetwings.” For -not only do Swallows get their food while on the wing, now pursuing it -through the upper air if the day is fair, now sweeping low over meadow, -pond, and river if the clouds hang heavy and insect life keeps near to -the ground, but during the flocking season, when the separate families -join in the community life that they live through the winter, the -Swallows are constantly on the wing. - -“The day that we had the orchard party you all noticed the Swallows -flying over the pond between the orchard and river woods, sometimes -alighting so close together on the bushes as to be as thick as the -leaves, and then again stringing along the telegraph wires, above the -highway, some heading one way and some another until, evidently at a -signal, they flew off again and disappeared in the distance, until they -seemed but a cloud of smoke. - -“We agreed, I think, some time ago, that it is much better to learn the -real names of people, animals, and flowers than to simply give general -names. It is more definite to say, “I saw a Swallow” flying over the -moor or meadow, than to say, “I saw a bird” flying over the meadow; but -it would be more interesting still if we tell the name of the particular -kind of Swallow that was seen, for among the many kinds that exist at -least five are quite common, according to the part of the United States -in which one lives. - -“Can any of you tell me the names of these Swallows, how they differ in -plumage, and where they live? I can see by Dave’s face that he knows -something about them and I think Sarah Barnes does also, while as for -Tommy Todd, both hands are up in spite of jack-knife and the windmill he -is making and he can hardly wait for me to stop. - -“Now, Tommy, how many kinds of Swallows do you know?” - -“Three!” he replied promptly. “Barn Swallows, and Chimney Swallows, and -Dirt Swallows!” - -“I have heard of Barn and Chimney Swallows, but never of a Dirt Swallow. -Please describe it to me,” said Gray Lady, looking interested. - -Tommy hesitated for a minute, for it is one thing to know a bird by -sight, but quite another to carry a correct picture of it in your mind’s -eye and then put it into words. - -“A Dirt Swallow is pretty small and a kind of a dirty colour on top and -a stripe across his chest, the rest white, and his tail hasn’t sharp -points, and he isn’t blue and shiny like a Barn Swallow. He doesn’t -build a nice nest like the others, but bores a hole right into a dirt -bank, ever so far in, like a Kingfisher does, just like he was a -ground-hog, and puts feathers in at the end for a nest. That’s why we -call ’em Dirt Swallows. There’s a bank above Uncle Hill’s gravel-pit -that’s full of the holes, and another bank full right at Farm’s End -above the sand beach where we camped a week last summer. The way I found -out about the holes was by diggin’ down a piece back of the edge of the -bank, for sometimes they bore as much as four feet. The eggs are real -white, not spotted like Barn Swallows’, ’cause we found a couple of bad -ones, that hadn’t hatched, among the feathers.” Here Tommy paused for -breath, his face all aglow with eagerness. - -“That,” said Gray Lady, “is a very good and clear description of the -Bank Swallow, which is the English name that the Wise Men have given the -little bird that you call the Dirt Swallow. As the bird always burrows -its nesting-hole in a bank and never in field earth or the flat ground -as a woodchuck does, Bank Swallow is decidedly the better name.” - -Meanwhile Tommy had glanced hastily out of the window to where birds -were constantly leaving and settling on the long-distance telephone -wires that strung together the long poles that walked by the door, and -up the hillside, striding across lots where they chose, regardless of -the road. Slipping from his seat to the window, he took a second look -and then said in a harsh whisper, as if afraid that the birds would hear -him and take fright, “Gray Lady, there’s Bank Swallows mixed in with the -Barn Swallows on the wires, and I’m sure there’s another kind besides, -with a shiny back and all white in the breast. Wouldn’t you please come -out and look? If we go around the schoolhouse, they won’t notice us from -the other side, but we can see them.” - -Gray Lady gave a signal and the girls and boys dropped the sewing and -whittling quickly on their desks and, following her lead, stole out on -tiptoe, one after the other, like the little pickaninnies when they -sing, “The bogey man’ll ketch yer if yer doant watch out!” - -There, to be sure, were the Swallows, hundreds of them, all twittering -cheerfully and none of them sitting still even though they were -perching, but pluming themselves, and stretching their wings, the -feathers of which they seemed to comb with a peculiar backward movement -of one claw. - -As Gray Lady scanned the rows she saw brilliant Barn Swallows in little -groups alternating with the sober-cloaked Bank Swallows, and then half a -dozen each of two other species that were not so familiar. - -“Bring me the opera-glasses from the little bag that is with my hat and -gloves,” she said softly to Sarah Barnes. Then, motioning the children -to keep still, she crossed the road to a point where, the sunlight -falling behind her, she could look up at the wires without becoming -dazzled, but as she did so the entire flock left the wires, and wheeling -went down over the corn-field toward the reeds and low woods that -bordered the mill-pond. - -“You were quite right, Tommy,” said Gray Lady, as they still stood -looking at the wires in the hope that the birds might return; “there -were not only three but four kinds of Swallows in that flock. The birds -with the slightly forked tails, beautiful shining steel-blue and green -cloaks, and satiny white underparts are Tree Swallows that do not nest -near here, but stop with us on their spring and fall journeys, and the -others that you did not notice, because in the distance they look -somewhat like Barn Swallows, except that they lack the forked tail, are -Cliff or Eaves Swallows, as they are called in this part of the country, -where they are rather uncommon. - -“Now we will go in and I will ask Tommy Todd, who writes very clearly, -to put on the board the names of these four Swallows, and the particular -thing about them that will help you to tell them apart. - -“No, I am afraid that they are not coming back,” said Gray Lady, after -they had waited a couple of minutes more, “and they may all leave us -suddenly any day now, though the Barn Swallow often stays into October -and the White-Breasted almost to November.” - -A wagon loaded with rye straw and drawn by a yoke of oxen came creaking -up the hill and paused on the level place in front of the school. The -teamster was Jared Hill’s grandfather,—the man who did not believe in -play or playthings. As his far-sight was rather poor, he did not notice -that the lady with the children was not Miss Wilde. - -“Wal, teacher,” he called, as he leaned against his load, and tried in -vain to discover the object at which the group was gazing, “what’s up -thet there pole, a possum or a runaway hand-orgin monkey, or mebbe it’s -the balloon got loose from Newbury Fair grounds?” - -“No, nothing so unusual as that; we have been watching the flocking of -the Swallows,” said Gray Lady, her silvery voice sounding clearly even -in these deaf ears. - -“Swallers!—out er school watchin’ Swallers?” exclaimed old Mr. Hill, -taking the long straw that he was chewing from between his teeth in -questioning amazement. “Shucks! what’s Swallers good fer, anyhow? -Gee—haw, Cain! Shish, Abel! We’d best move on; I reckon this isn’t any -place fer folks with something to do!” And thus addressing his oxen, the -load went slowly on. - -With the mischievous twinkle still lingering in her eyes, Gray Lady -asked Tommy Todd to go to the blackboard as soon as the children settled -down to their work again, and this is what he wrote at Gray Lady’s -dictation:— - - Barn Swallow. You will know it by its glistening steel-blue and - chestnut feathers and _forked tail_. Builds mud nests in barns - and outbuildings. Comes in middle April; leaves in September and - early October. Nests all through North America up to Arctic - regions. Winters in tropics as far south as Brazil. - - Tree Swallow. Glistening cloak—_pure white breast_. Nests in - hollow trees or, lacking these, in bird-boxes. Comes in April; - leaves in October. Nests in places up to Alaska and Labrador and - winters in our southern states south to the tropics. - - Bank Swallow. _Dull brown cloak with band across chest._ Nests - in deep horizontal holes in banks. Comes in April; leaves in - September and October. Nests like White Breast up to Alaska and - Labrador. Winters in the tropics. The smallest Swallow. - - Cliff or Eaves Swallow. _Pure white band on forehead._ Otherwise - brightly coloured with steel-blue, chestnut, gray, rusty, and - white. Where there are no rocky cliffs for its nesting colonies, - they build under the eaves of barns, etc. Nests in North America - to Arctic regions. Winters in the tropics. - -“Here you have a short description of four Swallows we have seen this -afternoon,” said Gray Lady, as Tommy came to the end of the board and -only finished by squeezing up the letters. “There is another Swallow, -the big cousin of these, called the Purple Martin, with shiny bluish -black cloak and light underparts. This beautiful Martin has a soft, -musical voice, and is very sociable and affectionate, and even in -spring, when the birds have mated, they still like to live in colonies -and are very good neighbours among themselves. They were once plentiful -and nested in tree holes or houses made purposely for them, but, since -the English Sparrow has come, it has pushed its way into their homes and -turned them out, so now they are rare, and perhaps you children may -never have seen one. - -“There was always a high post with a Martin box holding a couple of -dozen families up at ‘the General’s’ as far back as I first remember, -but during our absence no one watched to keep the Sparrows out, the -Martins left, and the house went to decay. Jacob has made a new house, -and we will not set it up until next Saturday, so that you can see how -it is divided—a room for each family and too high from the ground for -cats to reach. We shall keep the house covered with a cloth all winter, -so that the Sparrows cannot move in before the Martins return, and in -this way we may coax them to come back again and live with us. Then, who -knows, perhaps some one of the Kind Hearts’ Club may have patience and -take the trouble to build a house and then Purple Martins may become -plentiful in Fair Meadow township. - -“You heard what Farmer Hill asked a few minutes ago,—‘What’s Swallers -good fer, anyhow?’ I want you all to be able to answer this question -whenever you hear it asked. - -“In the first place Swallows do no manner of harm; they neither eat -fruits nor useful berries, nor do they disturb the nests and eggs of -other birds. They are beautiful objects in the air, and their laughing -twitter when on the wing is a sound that we should miss as much as many -real bird songs. - -“‘These are pleasant qualities,’ some may say, ‘but not exactly useful.’ -Listen! As these Swallows are Fleetwings and always birds of the air, so -they are sky sweepers, living upon flying insects that few other birds -may take, and the large amount of these that they consume is almost -beyond belief; so watch when they come back next spring on their return -as they fly over the cattle in the pasture, or over the pond surface -teeming with insect life. If they do nothing else, they earn their -living one and all by _mosquito-killing_, and the Wise Men of to-day -know that the sting of one sort of mosquito is not merely an annoyance, -but that it pushes the germ of malaria and other bad diseases straight -into the blood. - -[Illustration: THE PURPLE MARTIN] - -“Not only are Swallows harmless and useful in the places where they -nest, but are equally useful in all their journeyings through the south. -Some birds, like the Bobolink, are both useful and harmless where they -nest, but do harm as they travel, for when the Bobolink leaves for the -south he goes into the rice-fields, eating the rice grains in late -summer and plucking up the young rice in the spring. This, of course, -gives him a bad name in the rice-growing regions through which he -passes. - -“But the Swallow only destroys the evil insects as it journeys through -the south, and yet in spite of this, cruel, or at best thoughtless, -people kill them for the mere sport of killing, for no white man could -pretend to eat Swallow pie, and the great flocks are tempting marks for -‘sportsmen’ of this class. Then, too, the noise made at the places where -these birds roost, especially the Martins, has served as an excuse for -shooting them in numbers. - -“If the people in the southern states would only fully understand that -Swallows destroy the boll-weevil that damages the cotton in the pod, -they surely would not allow a feather of these little workers to be -injured. - -“How I wish we could have a Kind Hearts’ Club in every district school -in the south, so that the children there might help us to protect the -birds during the time that they are beyond our reach.” - -Gray Lady paused and turned the leaves of her scrap-book, as if she was -searching for something. “Ah! here it is!” she said at last, half to -herself. “The Wise Men at Washington who find out for us all the facts -about the useful birds have been writing about these Swallows, and say -that everything should be done not only to protect them but in every way -to aid their increase by providing homes for them. Let us hear what more -they say about these five that I have just described to you.” - - Tree Swallow. The Tree Swallow, as is well known, has been - persecuted by the English Sparrow until it has entirely - abandoned many districts where formerly it abounded. An - energetic war on the English Sparrow, and the careful protection - of the Swallow domiciles, in a few years would result in a - complete change of the situation, so far as this, one of the - most beneficial of the Swallow tribe, is concerned. - - Barn Swallow. The Barn Swallow formerly was abundant throughout - the northern states, especially in New England. The tightly - built modern barn, however, no longer invites the presence of - the Barn Swallow by affording it friendly shelter, and the birds - are becoming scarcer and scarcer. To provide openings in modern - barns, and to encourage the presence in them of colonies by - providing convenient nesting sites are easy and effective - methods by which this beautiful species may be greatly increased - in numbers. This bird also requires protection from the English - Sparrow, which in one foray has been known to kill the young and - destroy the eggs of a large colony. - - Bank Swallow. The well known Bank Swallow, as its name implies, - nests in sand-banks in holes of its own digging. Some farmers in - the northern states take special pains to protect their colonies - of Bank Swallows from the marauding of the prowling cat. Some - even take pains to excavate suitable banks on their farms and - devote them to the exclusive use of the Swallows. Gravel and - sand-banks are so numerous throughout the north, especially in - New England, that at trifling expense the number of colonies of - Bank Swallows may be vastly increased, to the advantage of every - farmer north and south, and to that of every nature lover as - well. - - Cliff Swallow. The curious pouch-shaped mud structures of the - Cliff Swallow, attached under eaves or to the face of cliffs, - are a sight familiar enough in the northern and western states, - but in the cotton states, save Texas alone, they are wanting, - the bird that makes them being exclusively a migrant. The - English Sparrow persecutes also the Cliff Swallow; hence, in the - north, the bird is much less common than formerly. In Germany - the presence of Swallows around houses is so much desired that - artificial nests made of clay or other material are put up in - order to attract birds by saving them the labour of constructing - their own domiciles. No doubt our own Cliff Swallows would be - quick to respond to a similar offer of ready-made dwellings, - rent free, and in this way the range of this extremely useful - species might be materially increased. The Cliff Swallow is one - of the most indefatigable insect destroyers extant, and every - motive of patriotism and humanity should prompt communities - among which they live to protect and foster them in every - possible way. - - Purple Martin. This, the largest and in many respects the most - beautiful of all our Swallow tribe, is the most local and the - least numerous. In New England and, perhaps, in most of the - northern states generally, this fine bird is steadily - diminishing in numbers. The English Sparrow often takes - possession of its boxes, ruthlessly kills the young Martins or - throws out the eggs, and usually succeeds in routing the colony - and appropriating the boxes. When measures are not taken to - abate the Sparrow nuisance in the immediate vicinity of Martin - colonies, the usual result is that the Martins are forced to - abandon their houses. The habit of putting up houses for the - accommodation of Martin colonies is not as common in the north - as it formerly was, and to this indifference to the Martins’ - presence, to persecution by the Sparrow, and to losses due to - the prevalence of cold storms during the nesting season, no - doubt, is due the present scarcity of the bird. - - From the standpoint of the farmer and the fruit grower, perhaps, - no birds more useful than the Swallows exist. They have been - described as the light cavalry of the avian army. Specially - adapted for flight and unexcelled in aërial evolutions, they - have few rivals in the art of capturing insects in mid-air. They - eat nothing of value to man except a few predaceous wasps and - bugs, and, in return for their services in destroying vast - numbers of noxious insects, ask only for harbourage and - protection. It is to the fact that they capture their prey on - the wing that their peculiar value to the cotton grower is due. - Orioles do royal service in catching weevils on the bolls; and - Blackbirds, Wrens, Flycatchers, and others contribute to the - good work; but when Swallows are migrating over the - cotton-fields they find the weevils flying in the open and wage - active war against them. - - —H. W. Henshaw, B.B.S., in _Value of Swallows as Insect - Destroyers_. - -“That Wise Man didn’t say anything about Chimney Swallows, and, please, -Gray Lady, you left them out, too,” said Sarah Barnes, the moment the -scrap-book closed, “and I know they catch lots of flying bugs.” - -“Ah, Sarah!” exclaimed Gray Lady, laughing, “I did not precisely forget, -but I was waiting for some one of you to ask the question. The bird that -is called the Chimney Swallow even exceeds the others in being forever -on the wing and never perching or ‘sitting down,’ as Sarah calls it, and -it is a brave insect destroyer. In fact, it never perches even for one -moment, but when it does rest makes a sort of bracket of its sharply -pointed tail-feathers and rests against a tree or inside the chimney, -somewhat as a Woodpecker does when resting on an upright tree-trunk. The -Woodpeckers, however, have very strong feet, and the feet of the Chimney -Swallow are very weak. But here comes the funny part—this chimney bird -isn’t a Swallow, and the Swallows would call him a changeling. He is a -Swift, first cousin to the tiny Humming-bird and the mysterious Night -Hawk and Whip-poor-Will, so we must leave his story until we come to -that of the family where he belongs, for after we have learned the names -of individual birds, it is well to know their family and kin. You cannot -always tell by the plumage of birds if they are related. Louise Stone, -Fannie White, and Esther Gray here are cousins, and all live in one -house, but as their last names are different, and they do not look -alike, a stranger would have to be told, for he could not guess that -they belong to one household. - -“It is three o’clock already, and I see that Tommy and Dave have quite -finished their windmills and Ruth’s apron is waiting for the pocket, so -in spite of Farmer Hill’s remarks about ‘not working,’ every one has -something to show for this Friday afternoon. - -“Before we go, let me see if you can tell the ‘_Things to remember_’ -about the five swallows. - -“Sarah—the Barn Swallow?” - -“Shiny, steel-blue back and forked tail.” - -“Dave—the Bank Swallow?” - -“Dusty cloak fastened across the front.” - -“Ruth—the Tree Swallow?” - -“White satin breast.” - -“Roger—the Eaves Swallow?” - -“White on its forehead and all over mixed colours.” - -“And the Purple Martin? Who knows it?” - -“It’s the biggest of all and doesn’t fly quite so sudden. I’ve seen ’em -up at Grandpa Miles’s in New York State,” said little Clary Hinks, and -then blushing because she had dared to speak. - -“Next week in the playroom!” said Gray Lady, smiling over her shoulder -at them as they filed out the door to the time beaten by Tommy’s drum. - - - - - IX - TWO BIRDS THAT CAME BACK - - - (Birdland, September 27th.) - -The rain had poured steadily all Thursday and Friday, until Friday -evening, and the wind blew so hard that many a little window-pane in the -older farm-houses fell in with a crash and the owner, jumping up quickly -to snatch the lamp out of the draught, would exclaim, “I do declare, we -haven’t hed sech a genuine old-fashioned line-storm for years!” - -The “line” being the short for equinox, the imaginary line crossing the -sun’s path over which, on March 21st, old Sol is supposed to step from -winter into spring. Again, on September 21st, he steps from summer into -autumn, takes off his summer hat, with its crown of burning rays, and -tells his wife to ask North Star for the key to the iceberg, where his -winter flannels are kept in cold storage, so that they may be ready for -any emergency. The fact that these storms seldom come upon the days when -they are due, simply proves that the solar system prefers to measure -time to suit itself. - -A little before dawn, on Saturday morning, the rain stopped; the heavy -clouds in the east broke up into bars of blue steel, through which the -sun peered cautiously, as if uncertain whether or not to break them -away. Then, suddenly deciding that it would, it signalled to the clear, -cool, northwest wind to blow and chase away the vapours that made the -clouds too heavy. - -By the time Tommy Todd’s father came in, carrying two milk-pails, Tommy -following with a third, there was promise of a fine crisp autumn day, -and Grandpa Todd, who had decided a week before, on his eightieth -birthday, that he would give up milking, at least for the winter, came -into the well-porch, and scanning the sky carefully, with an air of -authority, said: “To-night we’ll have hard frost if the wind drops. We’d -better get in those cheese pumpkins jest as soon’s they’re dried off. -Robins and Blackbirds flockin’ powerful strong, and old Chief Crow has -brung his flock clear down to the ten-acre lot already.” - -Old Chief was the name that Grandpa Todd had given to a particularly -wise bird, whom he insisted was twenty-five years old at the least, who -was master of the roost in the cedar woods and, by his wise guidance, -kept his flock the largest in the township, in spite of all the efforts -of the farmers, hired men, and boys in the vicinity to drive them out. - -There, also, on the slope south of the house, were fully half a hundred -Robins pluming themselves, shaking their feathers out to dry, and acting -in every way like travellers pausing on a journey, rather than residents -going out for a stroll. - -Tommy had paused to look at them, balancing the pail carefully as he did -so, and then the sight of the birds reminded him that it was the day to -go up to “the General’s,” and he hurried in to eat his breakfast and -finish the Saturday morning “chores” that he always did for his mother. -Then he went to the shed to look over the collection of bits of old wood -that he had both begged and gathered far and near for the making of -bird-houses. - -A neighbour, who was re-covering his cowshed roof with galvanized iron, -had let Tommy pick up as many mossy shingles as he could carry, and some -of these were really beautiful with tufts of gray lichens, some with -bright red tips, blending with mosses of many soft shades of green. - -Tommy selected from the assortment as large a bundle as he could carry, -and, after cording it securely, went to the house to tidy up, for Gray -Lady had asked the children of the Kind Hearts’ Club to come at nine -o’clock this first Saturday, for it would take them some time to look at -the play and work rooms before settling down to doll-dressing and -bird-house making. As he crossed the kitchen, his mother, who was -kneading bread, pointed a floury finger toward a garment that hung over -the back of a chair. Tommy picked it up, and then his usual boyish -indifference, which he kept up at home even when he was pleased, broke -down and he gave an exclamation of delight, for there was a new -carpenter’s apron with a pocket for nails in front, the whole being made -of substantial blue jean, precisely like the one worn by Jacob Hughes -himself. - -Gray Lady had asked as many of the boys as owned overalls to bring them. -Tommy’s were very old and had many patches, besides being smeared with -paint, and he hated to have dainty Goldilocks see them, so it seemed to -the boy that his mother must have seen straight into his mind (as -mothers have a way of doing) and read what he most needed. - -Slipping his head through the yoke and fastening the waist-band in -place, Tommy suddenly grabbed his mother, flour, bread, and all, in a -rough embrace, and then clattered up the backstairs, laughing at the two -white hand-marks that she had printed on his shoulder in her surprise. - - * * * * * - -Up at “the General’s” house Gray Lady, Goldilocks, Ann, and Jacob Hughes -were as busy as possible making preparations for the first regular -meeting of the Club. To the children, the whole performance in -anticipation seemed like the most delightful sort of play, but every one -who thinks will realize how much pains Gray Lady was taking to have -everything in order for the children’s first view of the place. After -this, like the wise friend that she was, she had planned that the -children themselves would in turn take out the work, put it away, and -clear up threads or shavings as the case might be. - -The playroom was on the southeast corner of the attic, and had three -dormer-windows with wide seats underneath. Being an attic, the windows -were set rather high in the slanting room, but, if one stood on the -wooden seats, there was a beautiful view toward the river valley on the -south, while the east window looked down over the orchard, and it seemed -as if one might almost step out and walk upon the tree-tops. - -On the chimney side was a small-sized cooking-stove, and between this -and the chimney-corner ran shelves with a cupboard beneath, whereon and -in a set of blue-and-white dishes and various pots and pans were ranged. -At either end of the room was a stout table surrounded by chairs, one -being a kitchen table with a drawer, and the other a plain dining table -with a polished top, suitable for playing games, or holding books or -work. It was upon this table that the work-boxes and dolls were ranged, -twelve in all, and by each a little pile of clothes, all cut and -ready-basted, the whole being covered by a cloth. Gray Lady and Ann had -agreed between themselves that lessons in sewing had better come first -and garment-cutting follow later on. - -All the garments were to be made to put on and take off like real -clothes, and though they were very simple, each doll when dressed would -personate a different character, for there was clothing for a baby doll, -a schoolgirl, a young lady, a trained nurse, little Red Riding-Hood, and -so on. - -The workshop faced north and east, and was on the opposite side of the -stairs. This was of the same shape as the playroom, but a small -wood-stove, that could be used for heating glue-pots, and to keep the -room from freezing in winter, took the place of the cooking-stove, and -there was a long workbench, with vise, lathe, and mitre-box attachment -under two of the windows where the best light fell. Across one side of -the room, various tools were hung in racks, while at the end opposite -the windows was tacked a great sheet of paper upon which many styles of -bird homes were pictured. Below this was a space painted black like a -school blackboard, and upon this Jacob had redrawn in rough chalk -several of the pictures to a working-scale. - -Gray Lady and Goldilocks were already upstairs when the party arrived, -for though Goldilocks could walk very nicely when on a level, going up -and down stairs was a matter that took time. - -[Illustration] - - BIRD-HOUSES AND NESTING-BOXES. Fig. 1. hollow-limb - nesting-box; Fig. 2, birch-bark bird-house; Fig. 3, slab - bird-box; Fig. 4, cat-proof box; Fig. 5, old-shingle box; Fig. - 6, chestnut-bark nesting-box; Figs. 7 and 9, boxes with slide - fronts; Fig. 8, house for Tree Swallow. - - From _Useful Birds and their Protection_ by G. H. Forbush. - -Tramp, tramp, came the feet up the stairs to the second hall, with the -rhythm of a marching regiment. Then there was a pause and evidently some -discussion, for, as Gray Lady went forward and opened the door at the -head of the attic stairs, she heard Sarah Barnes’ voice say, “Why, it’s -a big Crow and a little one; but how did they come in here? Don’t touch -him, Tommy, he’ll bite you. Crows bite like everything when they get -mad.” - -Then Tommy’s voice said, “The big one’s a Crow, sure enough, but the -little one couldn’t be any more’n mice’s little rats. It’s one of those -queer new birds that had nests down in the Methodist Church steeple last -spring; I went up with Eb Holcomb one day when he was fixing the -bell-rope and I saw them, but nobody ’round here knows what they’re -called—unless Gray Lady may.” - -Looking down, Gray Lady saw the odd pair in question and said to -Goldilocks, “Your two pets have managed to get in and are trapped -between the top and bottom of the stairs. Whistle for them, dearie, for -the children are waiting to come up.” - -Goldilocks gave two very good imitations of the quavering call of a -Crow, and then, using a little oddly shaped silver whistle that hung -about her neck on a ribbon, gave a series of melodious whistles, when, -to the surprise and delight of the children below, Crow and Starling -(for this was the name of the smaller bird) immediately turned about and -went upstairs, the Crow hopping and flopping, for one of its wings was -deformed, and the Starling, as soon as it had room enough for a start, -flying straight and true. When the children followed, they found the -Crow perched on the back of Goldilocks’ chair and the Starling flitting -about the open rafters until he found a perch that suited him upon a -hook that had once held a hammock, where he seemed quite at home. The -Crow, however, was anxious and uneasy when he saw the children trooping -up, and flopping from the chair-bar with a sidewise motion, he scuttled -across to the stove, under which he disappeared, occasionally peering -out with his head on one side like a very inquisitive human being. - -“I don’t wonder that you look astonished,” said Gray Lady, “at seeing -birds in this house that are apparently captive, but the truth is that -they will not go away, and come back through every open window. So, as -we have not the heart to drive them away, we let them live here in the -playroom and about the barns, where they find plenty to eat, and at any -moment they wish to go, freedom is close at hand for the taking.” - -“But what made them come to begin with?” asked Dave. “Crows are mostly -the scariest things going.” - -“Jacob found the Crow up in the cedar woods in May,” said Goldilocks. -“All the others were able to fly and take care of themselves, but this -one stayed in the low bushes and its parents were feeding it. One -morning, when Jacob was up there cutting cedar posts for the gate he -made to Birdland, he heard a great commotion; the old Crows and the -young ones were cawing and screaming and flying about in distress, while -crouching in the bushes, and just ready to spring upon the Crow, was a -big half-wild cat. It used to belong to the people up at the lumber -camp, but when they went away they left it, and all last winter and -spring it has lived by hunting.” - -“I know about that cat,” said Tommy. “The Selectmen have offered five -dollars’ reward for it, and it kills more chickens, even big roosters, -than all the Hawks this side of Bald Hill.” - -“After Jacob had driven the cat away,” continued Goldilocks, “he picked -up the young Crow to try to find out why it had not flown away like its -brothers. At first it was afraid and fought and pecked his fingers, but -by and by it let him handle it, and he found that one wing was twisted, -so that it was of no use. The point where the long quill feathers grow -was turned under, Jake said, just the way it is in a roast chicken, and -it must have happened when the bird was little and had no feathers, -because those on that point of the wing were stunted and twisted where -they had tried to grow after it was hurt. Jake straightened the wing as -well as he could, and clipped the feathers on the other one so that he -shouldn’t be so lopsided. The wing is stiff and doesn’t work rightly -yet, but Jake thinks that after next summer’s moult the feathers may -come in better; meanwhile I’ve called him Jim, because that is the usual -name for tame crows. - -“Jim likes to live about here and he does such a lot of funny things. -Why, the other day, out in the arbour, he dropped the little -afternoon-tea sugar-tongs into the cream jug and took all the lumps of -sugar in the bowl and hid them in the empty robin’s nest overhead, and -we should never have dreamed that he had done it if Anne hadn’t come in -with fresh cakes and startled him so that he dropped the last lump. He -moves very quickly, for he can fly a little and he uses his wings and -beak to help him climb, something like a parrot. Jacob has put him over -in the woods by the Crow’s roost, time and time again, but he always -comes hopping back.” - -Sarah Barnes was going to ask what else the Crow had done, when the -Starling flew across the room and out through one of the windows that -was opened from the top. - -“He’s gone!” she cried; “I’m dreadfully sorry, ’cause I wanted to look -at him so’s I’d know Starlings if I see them again. Please, how did you -get him? His wings seem very strong, and he flew as straight as -anything.” - -“Larry has only gone out for a little fly,” laughed Goldilocks; “he will -be back before long, and if the window should happen to be closed, he -will rap on the glass with his beak. No, his wings are well and strong, -and he is perfectly able to go away to his friends in the church tower, -for it was from one of those nests, that Tommy saw up between the slats, -that he fell. - -“Eben brought him up for mother to see, because a good many people down -at the Centre Village had been watching these strange birds, and wanted -to know their name and where they came from. He was too little to be -turned out all alone, and Eben said that the nest had been upset and the -others that fell out were dead, so, as he ate soaked dog-biscuit -(because you know that there’s meat in it that makes up for bugs to -young birds), I thought I would bring him up and then let him go; but -you see the joke is that he won’t go, and he acts as much afraid of -being out-of-doors after dark as a usual wild bird would if you put him -in a cage.” - -“Who brought Starlings here, and do they belong to the same family as -Blackbirds? They look a lot like them, only they’ve got shorter tails,” -said Tommy Todd. - -“I think I have a description of the bird, as well as the date of his -coming, in the scrap-book,” said Gray Lady, “for he is an English bird -and the only one of its family in this country, so you can see why they -may be lonely, and like to flock in company with the Blackbirds. - - The Common Starling: _Sturnus magnus_. - - _Length_: 8.5 inches. - - _Male and Female_: Black plumage shot with metallic green and - blue lights. In full plumage upper feathers edged with buff, - giving a speckled appearance, which disappears as the feathers - are worn down, leaving the winter plumage plain and dull. Yellow - bill in summer; in winter, brown. - - _Note_: A sharp flock-call and a clear, rather musical, - two-syllable, falling whistle. - - _Nest_: Behind blinds in unoccupied buildings, in vine-covered - nooks in church towers; also in bushes. - - _Eggs_: 4-7, greenish blue. - - This bird is a foreigner, imported to New York City some - fourteen years ago, some people are beginning to fear not too - wisely, for the birds are rather quarrelsome, and, being larger - than the English Sparrow, though not so hardy, are able to wage - war upon birds like Robins, and seize the nesting-places of - natives. - - The first birds, less than a hundred in number, were set free in - Central Park, New York City. Now these have increased to - numerous flocks that in Connecticut have gone as far east as New - Haven, and here in Fairfield and several villages near by are - acclimated and quite at home, though the bitter and lasting cold - of the winter of 1903-1904 thinned them out considerably. - - Whether they prove a nuisance or not, they are very noticeable - birds, looking to the first sight, as they walk sedately across - a field, like Grackles with rumpled plumage. A second glance - will show that this is but the effect of the buff specks that - tip all the upper feathers, while the distinct yellow bill at - once spells Starling! - - In England they may be seen on the great open plains following - the sheep as they feed, very much as the Cowbird follows our - cattle, and in that country are very beneficial as insect - destroyers. - -“They are birds that will feed at the lunch-counter in winter, for their -food supply is cut off by snow, and, as strangers, they have not yet the -resources of the Crows and Jays, neither are they as hardy. - -“Boys, Jacob is ready for you in the workroom, and he may keep you till -quarter-past ten. I do not think that you will really accomplish much -to-day, except to choose the kind of house you wish to make, and plan -out your work. Then you may all take a fifteen-minutes’ recess in the -orchard before you come up for the bird lesson.” - -“What birds are you going to tell about to-day? I hope that they won’t -be hat birds and Martyrs,” said Eliza Clausen, with a sigh. - -“No, not ‘hat birds’ this morning, although there are plenty more of -them, and always will be so long as people insist upon wearing the -feathers in their hats. I had not quite decided what birds to take up -next, but the recess in the orchard gives me a new idea. Instead of -taking the birds in any set order, when you come in you shall tell me -what birds you have noticed this morning. By this means we shall be able -to take the birds as they come with the seasons, and they will never -grow tiresome. Then, too, if, between times, you see any birds that you -cannot name, or about which you wish to know, remember to tell me, and -we will try to learn something about the bird while it is fresh in your -memory. - -“Now,” as the boys went to the workroom, “the girl members of the Kind -Hearts’ Club will please thread needles and begin. If any one of you has -sticky fingers, Ann will show you where to wash them, because the very -beginning of good sewing lies in clean hands, for they mean nice white -thread and bright, shining needles.” - -When the cover was lifted from the table, and the girls saw the dolls, -and the little stack of clothes, they exclaimed in delight,—even those -like Katie Lee, who really did not belong at school, for she had stopped -playing with dolls and was ready for the eighth grade. Only, -unfortunately, there was no eighth grade class at Foxes Corners, and as -it was too far for them to walk to the Centre every day, they stayed on -at school, and Miss Wilde helped them as far as her time allowed so that -they might make up the required lessons at home. - - - ENGLISH STARLING - - Here’s to the stranger, so lately a ranger, - Who came from far over seas;— - Whatever the weather, still in high feather, - At top of the windy trees! - - Here’s to the darling,—brave English Starling, - Stays the long winter through; - He would not leave us, would not bereave us,— - Not he, though our own birds do! - - Cold weather pinches—flown are the finches, - Thrushes and warblers too! - Here’s to the darling, here’s to the Starling,— - English Starling true! - - —Edith M. Thomas, in _Bird-Lore_. - - - - - X - SOME MISCHIEF-MAKERS - - - _Crows and Jays, Starlings and Grackles_ - -The children came back very promptly after the mid-morning recess, -considering the attraction offered outside. Though cheeks and all -available pockets fairly bulged with apples, they had sufficient -appetite to enjoy the crisp cookies, plates of which were set at -intervals on the plain-topped table in the playroom, together with -pitchers of milk or a delicious drink of Ann’s invention compounded of -oranges and lemons and sweetened with honey. - -Gray Lady breakfasted at eight, but she knew very well that most of the -folk of the Hill Country had their first meal at six, except perhaps in -the dead of winter, so that a bit of luncheon between that time and noon -was what Goldilocks called “a comfy necessity.” - -“Now tell me what birds you saw this morning, and what they were doing,” -said Gray Lady, as soon as the children had settled down. “Sarah Barnes, -you may begin.” - -“We didn’t see anything new, that is nothing much; but, oh, such a lot -of common birds in flocks, Crows and Blue Jays and Blackbirds; why, -there were enough Blackbirds to make it dark for a minute when they -picked up and flew over the tumble-down old house over there in the -corner. Of course, those birds aren’t very interesting, ’cause we all -know about them, and I guess even Zella, who hasn’t lived here long, can -tell a Crow or a Jay and Blackbird when she sees one.” - -“Yes, ma’am, Lady, I know him Crow,” cried Zella, in delight at having -some information to impart, “for my papa he plant corn seed in the lot. -Crows they come push it out vit de nose and eat him. Then my papa and my -brudder shoot bang! bang! but they not get him, ’cause him too wise. My -Grossmutter say von time Crows was people, bad thief people, and they -was made in birds to shame dem, but dey made bad thief birds, too, and -dey kept wise like dey was people yet, so dey is hard catching. Den papa -he made of ole clothes a man, and sat him the fence on, and the Crows -dey comes on trees near away, and dey looks so at the mans and dey -laughs together, but dey not come no more very near yet.” - -“Yes; I see that Zella knows and sees the Crow as almost every one who -owns a bit of land sees and knows him, but there are sides to these -birds that are so common hereabouts that perhaps you do not know, for I -did not at your age, and it is only of late years that the wise men have -been trying to find good points in some birds that have been always -called bad. What they have discovered goes to prove what an unfortunate -thing it is for any one, bird or person, to get a bad name.” - -“My Grandma says a bad name sticks just like fly-paper,” said Ruth -Barnes, eagerly, “’cause even if you can peel it off you, it always -somehow feels as if it was there.” - -At this every one laughed, because almost every child at one time or -another had been through some sort of an experience with sticky -fly-paper, and little Bobbie chuckled so long that Gray Lady asked him -what he knew about fly-paper, and thus drew forth the explanation that -his father had sat on a sheet of fly-paper in the dark best parlor one -Sunday morning when he was waiting for the family to get ready to drive -to church, and nobody noticed until he, being a deacon, got up _to pass -the plate_! - -“What were the Crows and Jays and Blackbirds in the orchard doing, -Tommy; did you notice?” asked Gray Lady, as she arranged some papers -between the leaves of her scrap-book. - -“The Jays were hanging around your lunch-counter in the old apple tree, -that is, most of them; some seemed to be bringing acorns or some sort of -big seeds from the river-woods way, and taking them into the attic of -the old Swallow Chimney house. I never saw so many Jays at once; I -counted sixteen of them,” said Tommy. - -“The Crows and Grackles were walking on the ground, some in the grass -meadow, and some in the open ploughed field, and they were all searching -about as if they had lost something, and they kept picking and eating -all the time.” - -“Were they eating corn that had dropped, or rye?” asked Gray Lady. - -“Oh, no, there wasn’t any corn there, and the rye isn’t sown yet. They -were eating bugs and things like that, I guess,” said Tommy, to whom a -new idea had come as he spoke. - -“That is precisely what I hoped that one of you would see for -yourself—the fact that both of these birds eat many things besides corn -and grain. - -“By the way, what kind of Blackbirds were they?—for we have three sorts -that are very common here. The Red-winged, those with red shoulders that -come in such numbers about the swampy meadows early in spring. The -Cowbird of the pastures who is smaller than the Red-wing, with a brown -head, neck, and breast, the rest of him being gloomy black, with what -Goldilocks calls all the ‘soap-bubble colours’ glistening over it, -though the Wise Men call this ‘iridescence.’ - -“Then there is the Crow-Blackbird or Purple Grackle, the largest of the -three, who is quite a foot in length from tail-tip to point of beak. -This Blackbird has glistening jet feathers, with all the beautiful -rainbow colours on his back and wings, that almost form bars of metallic -hue, and he is a really beautiful bird that we should certainly -appreciate better if it were not so common. Now, of course, it is one -step on the way to bird knowledge if you can say surely this is a -Blackbird, but it is necessary to go on then and say _which_ Blackbird.” - -“They were the Purple Grackle kind,” said Tommy, immediately, “for they -were bigger than Cowbirds, and they had handsome shiny feathers, and -they did just creak and grackle like everything while they walked -around.” - -“Very good,” said Gray Lady; “now I think that there are several things -that you do not know about these birds, whom it is perfectly safe to -call ‘mischief-makers’ and undesirable garden friends, though our best -knowledge will not allow us to condemn them altogether as criminals, as -was once the custom.” - -At this moment Jim Crow, who had been on an excursion first to the room, -then, by way of the branches of an overhanging sugar-maple, quite down -to the orchard lunch-counter and back, had crept in at the window -unobserved, walked across the floor to the work-table, about which the -girls sat, and, going under it, was concealed by the cloth. At this -moment Eliza Clausen dropped her thimble. It rolled under the table, and -as she stooped to get it she was just in time to see Jim seize it in his -beak and half fly, half scramble to the back of Goldilocks’ chair, with -his prize held fast. - -“Oh, my thimble! Jim’ll swallow it!” she wailed, and the boys, with one -impulse, started in pursuit. They could not have done a worse thing, -for, seeing himself cornered, Jim’s hiding instinct came to his aid, and -sidling along to the unceiled side of the attic, he quickly dropped the -thimble between the studs, and you could hear it rattle down to the next -story. Then he took refuge behind his mistress’ chair, from which he -peeped inquisitively, with the sidewise look peculiar to Crows, so that -it was impossible not to laugh at his quizzical expression. - -“Do not worry about the thimble, Eliza,” said Gray Lady, “for those you -are wearing for the sewing lessons are not prize thimbles, but merely -penny affairs. This gives you a chance to see some of the little bits of -mischief that a tame young Crow can do in his first season, so that you -can imagine what a wild, old, wise, leader Crow can plot and plan in -other ways. You all know the Crow, or rather, to be exact, the American -Crow, for there is the Fish Crow and a southern relation, the Florida -Crow, and in all there are twenty-five different kinds in North America -alone. This Common Crow is very plentiful here, as he is in almost all -parts of the United States, where he makes his home from the Mexican -border up to the fur countries. - -“But do you know that this Crow is cousin to the Blue Jay?” - -“How funny! What makes them cousins?—for they don’t look a bit alike, -and they’re not the same colour or anything,” said Sarah, Tommy, and -Dave, almost together. - -“Yes, that is true, but colour and feathers have nothing to do with bird -relationship any more than coloured hair has to do with human families, -and you can see that here among yourselves. The Baltimore Oriole, -Meadowlark, Bobolink, and Purple Grackle all belong in one family, and -yet how unlike they seem. It is the construction of the bird’s body and -its habits and traits that serve the Wise Men as guides to their -grouping, and in these traits the two are much alike, for Mr. Chapman, -who knows all about these birds, whether as museum specimens, where he -can study their bones, or as wild birds in the trees, where he watches -them day in and day out, says, ‘Our Crows and Jays inhabit wooded -regions, and, although they shift about to a limited extent, they are -resident throughout the year, except at the northern limits of their -range. They are omnivorous feeders, taking fruits, seeds, insects, eggs, -nestlings, etc. Crows and Jays exhibit marked traits of character and -are possessed of unusual intelligence. Some scientists place them at the -top of the tree of bird-life, and if their mental development be taken -into consideration they have undoubted claim to high rank.’ - -“You see, also, that here is a Wise Man who believes that birds have -intelligence that implies thinking, and this is different from the mere -inherited instinct that teaches animals how to obtain food, -self-protection, etc. There are people who believe that they are the -only wise animals, and deny that birds and beasts can think; while there -are others who try to make these birds and beasts think on the same -lines as ourselves rather than in their own way. Both these are wrong; -both are like blind men that lead others into a ditch and leave them -there. The only way for you and me to do is to watch out for ourselves, -look carefully, and be very sure that we see what is, and not merely -what we would like to see. - -“Now I will tell you what I, myself, have seen and know, and what -others, whose word is guaranteed by the Wise Men, have seen concerning -Crows and Jays. When I was a child, twenty-five years ago, riding my -pony, I wandered all over the country-side with my father, and I knew -every Crow roost and Hawk’s nest for miles, and for many years after I -watched their comings and goings. Late last winter, when I came back to -the dear home to live, I went out to the nearest of the old Crow roosts -in the cedar woods yonder across the river (you can see the tree-tops -plainly from this window), and, in spite of time and changes, a flock of -Crows was still there. - -“To be sure, the flock was smaller, and there were fewer Cedars, many -having been turned into fence and gate posts. But the Crows, big, black, -solemn things as they are, seemed to give me a welcome. - -“The life of the Crow is dull if judged, perhaps, from the standpoint of -the birds that make long journeys, such as the Swallows, Humming-birds, -and the Night Hawk (that isn’t a Hawk at all), who nest in the far North -and go back to spend the winter in Central or South America. - -“Yet all we stay-at-home people know how much can happen even here in -Fair Meadows township, and, if we extend our territory from salt water, -or the southeast, to the hickory woods beyond the Grist-Mill on the -northwest, there is room enough for happenings that would make an -exciting life for any pair of Crows. For in considering Crows, we must -take the life of a pair, one of their good traits being their personal -and race fidelity, and when they mate, it is usually for life. - -“It is middle autumn now; what are the Crows doing? All through August -and early fall they have been feeding good on grasshoppers, -caterpillars, locusts, and cutworms. This flock that roost in the cedar -woods are doing that which occupies most of a bird’s time in season and -out, working for a living, and in doing this they are searching the -grass meadows and ploughed fields for insects of every sort and -description. - -“Their time of mischief is over for the year. The corn is cut and -stacked; they may if they please tear the husks from the cobs and then -reach the corn, but they are not fond of tough, dry corn, though, of -course, they eat it when really hungry. But just now there is plenty to -be gleaned from the field, and when the winter hungry time comes, the -good corn will be stored safe in the granaries. - -“Every night, before sunset, the Crows of the flock leave the various -feeding-places in twos and threes, and flap across country in a -leisurely fashion toward the roost, where they spend their nights all -the year except during the nesting season. They return thus in little -parties, if there is no cause for fear, but should a man with a gun, a -large Owl, or other suspicious object appear, either the Crow on the -watch, for there is always one of these who guards the destiny of the -flock, gives a signal by a sharp quavering Ca-ca-w or, if this seems too -rash, the leader will simply take to wing and slip away silently, and, -no matter how quietly the leader slips away, the rest of the flock know -it and rise at once. How do they know this?” - -“Maybe they smell, just as our rabbit hounds do when they start out -after things that no one else sees or knows about,” said Tommy Todd. - -“No, birds are not guided by scent as animals are,” said Gray Lady; -“scent is held to the ground by moisture; it would be difficult to -follow when it is blown about by air. Birds are led by their sight, -which is many times keener than that of man or the lower animals. Then, -too, they have another sense more fully developed than other animals, -and that is what is called the ‘sense of direction.’ Knowing the spot to -which they would go, they are able to reach it in the quickest, most -direct manner, so that ‘as the Crow flies’ has come to mean the most -direct way of reaching a place. - -“When morning comes they leave the roost, and, breaking up into parties, -begin the search for food again. As the supply near home gives out, they -go farther and farther afield, sometimes going down to the shore, where -they pick up clams, mussels, and any scraps of sea-food that they can -find. - -“After the corn has been taken in, they find scattered kernels of that -and other grain left in the field, but at the first snowfall hard times -set in for the Crow. He cannot search the bark crevices for insects like -the small tree-trunk birds with slender bills; people do not welcome him -to their farm-yards and scatter grain for him, or leave him free to -glean, as they do the other winter birds. It is at this time, when the -hand of man is turned against him, that the Crow really works in man’s -interest by catching meadow-mice and many other small destructive -animals. - -“At this time, the Crow eats frozen apples, poison-ivy berries, acorns, -beech and chestnuts, and the like. But now he grows poor and thin and -his voice is querulous, and from November to March the Crow is put to it -for a living. ‘Poor as a Crow’ is an apt saying. - - - THE CROW - - Then it is a distant cawing, - Growing louder—coming nearer, - Tells of crows returning inland - From their winter on the marshes. - - Iridescent is their plumage, - Loud their voices, bold their clamour. - In the pools and shallows wading, - Or in overflowing meadows - Searching for the waste of winter— - Scraps and berries freed by thawing. - Weird their notes and hoarse their croaking - Silent only when the night comes. - - —Frank Bolles. - -“With the thawing out of the ground in spring, the Crow begins to view -the world differently. The search for insects still continues, and the -corn now gleaned is more palatable, for it has been well soaked, and -though a corn-eater by nature, the Crow does not like his too hard and -dry. - -“The flock life of the roost now ends. Every Jack chooses his Jill, and -mingled with the harsh warning cries of the older birds are sounds that -sometimes have a suggestion that their makers are trying to sing. The -funniest thing in birdland is to see a Crow or a Purple Grackle making -love, standing on tiptoe on a branch, raising their wings by jerks, like -pump-handles that are stiff, while the sounds they make stick in the -throat in a manner that suggests Crow croup. - -“Once in a long time, however, I have heard a Crow begin with a high -Caw, and then followed a series of soft, almost musical, notes, though -without tune or finish, but this is the exception. But what, in his -courting days, a Crow lacks in song, he makes up by wonderful feats of -flight. For his size, the Crow is always a graceful bird on the wing. -When he flaps slowly up against the wind, there is nothing laboured in -his motions, but in the spring, in company with a desired mate, his -swift dives into the air, wheels to right and left, circlings often -finished by a series of somersaults across the sky, are really -marvellous. - -“Now the pair of Crows that we will call Jack and Jill, to save time, -leave the cedar woods and begin hunting for a nesting-site. At first -they looked through the hickory woods for an old Hawk’s nest for a -foundation upon which to build, but this year there were two Red-tailed -Hawks already in possession, and so they hurried away as quickly as -possible, for Hawks do not like Crows, and tell them so very plainly. - -“Next day they spied the great white pine back of Farmer Boardman’s -barn. They liked the looks of the tree, for it had a bunch of closely -knit branches near the top, and the neighbourhood in all respects -promised good feeding, but before they had carried more than a few -coarse sticks and put them in place, the farmer’s man saw them, and not -only fired his gun at them to drive them away, but climbed the tree and -threw the sticks away in order to be sure that they should not rest -there. - -“What did Jack and Jill do next? They came flying over here. The place -was attractive, and it was easy to slip from the pine woods to the -hickories, then across to the orchard, and up to the spruce trees -outside the window here. Goldilocks was too ill to come up into the -playroom then, and so the windows on this side of the attic were shut. - -“The nest-building began in earnest, both birds working at it. First, a -foundation of stout sticks, some of them being half-dead twigs from -these same spruces; then, old weed stalks and vine tendrils, mixed with -corn husks, until a heap was collected that would fill a half-bushel -basket. - -“This was the outside of the house; the nursery itself was hollowed in -the centre of the moss and was about a foot across and quite deep. This -hollow was well lined and soft; it had in it moss, soft grasses, and -some horsehair. In due time the nest was finished and held six very -handsome eggs, dull green with purplish brown markings, two being more -thickly spattered with them than the other four. At this time I began to -take an interest in the household affairs of Jack and Jill Crow.” - -“How could you?—can you climb trees?” asked Eliza Clausen, evidently -much surprised. - -“No, I couldn’t climb as far as this Crow’s nest, Eliza, though I could -have once,” laughed Gray Lady. “Stand up on that seat by the corner -window and look straight down into the spruce with a crooked top and -tell me what you see.” - -Eliza jumped up on the seat, and, after gazing a minute, cried, “Why, -it’s a big ’normous nest, and I can see every stick as plain as print.” - -“Take this opera-glass, hold it to your eyes and move the screw to and -fro until everything is very clear, and then tell me what you see,” said -Gray Lady. - -It took Eliza some time to manage the glass, but when she at last -succeeded she cried, “Oh, I can see the moss and the grass and the hair; -it comes as near as if I could touch it.” And one after another the -children learned to adjust the focus and look, and it was the first, but -not the last, time that glasses would open a new world to them. - -“It was a little less than three weeks that the birds sat upon the eggs, -sharing the work between them, before the little birds were hatched. -Such ugly, queer little things as they were, both blind and featherless. -In three weeks more they were well grown and able to fly, but their -tails were still shorter than their parents’, and they were inclined to -return to the nest on the slightest alarm. - -“About this time Jacob Hughes told me that either Crows or Hawks were -taking little chickens early every morning, for they could not get them -during the daytime without being seen. - -“I looked at the runs for the little chicks and saw that they stood in -the open, not close to woods where Crows and Hawks could spy them out -and sneak up or dash down according to their habits. - -“I well knew the bad name that Crows and Hawks have among -poultry-raisers, so Jacob roofed the chicken-runs with wire, for, even -if he had seen Crows there, I would not allow shooting on the place -during the nesting season. - -“Still the chickens disappeared, and for several nights Jacob sat up and -watched, and what do you suppose—cats and weasels were the guilty ones, -not the Hawks and Crows! - -“But late in May the Crows prepared to raise their second brood, mending -their old nest, and Jacob said, ‘Something is robbing the nests in the -orchard; I think surely it is the Crows and Jays, for when they come -around all the song-birds chase them and say right out as plain as -possible, “They’re thieves—they’re thieves!”’ So I watched from behind -the blinds yonder, and in every spot where I could see into the -tree-tops and be unobserved—and then I knew it was true that the Crows -and Jays were detestable cannibals. - -“One single morning I saw the Crow take three robin’s eggs and bring a -tiny little robin squab to his mate on the nest, and one day, as a Crow -flew high over my head, I thought I saw something strange in its beak, -and clapped my hands sharply, when—what do you think? A poor little -half-dead Wood Thrush, big enough to have its eyes open and some -feathers, dropped almost on my upturned face, and thus the Crow was -caught in the very act of killing. So, then, I said to myself, we can -put tar on the seed-corn and protect our young chickens with wire, but -we cannot make up for the death of young nestlings and the loss of eggs. -I will not have the Crows shot, because they do good in the far meadows -and hayfields, but the lonely woods, where few small birds nest, is the -place for them. I shall see that they never again build in my garden -orchard or woods, and if every one will do this, the danger to -song-birds will be less, and in the winter, when they come about, there -are no nestlings to be eaten. - -“It was not long after that, owing to the evidence of my own eyes, I was -obliged to say the same thing to the Blue Jay. - -“The Wise Men say that, take it all in all, the Crow should have a -chance, and that part of his faults come from our own shiftlessness. -This is true, but if he feeds upon song-birds the Crow must go. - - - _The Blue Jay_ - -“That the Blue Jay is a handsome fellow goes without saying, as well as -that he has plenty of assurance and is somewhat of a bully. We may -imagine that he knows that his uniform of blue, gray, and white, with -black bands and markings, is very becoming, and if any one of you should -tell me that he had seen a Jay admiring his reflection in a pond or -little pool, I should be ready to believe him. Certain it is that not -one of our birds, not even the glowing Scarlet Tanager, presents a more -neat and military appearance. - -[Illustration: BLUE JAY] - - Order—Passeres Family—Corvidæ - Genus—Cyanocitta Species—Cristata - -“The only awkward thing about the Blue Jay is his flight. Although alert -and agile in slipping through the trees, when he takes to wing his -progress seems laboured, as if either his body was too heavy for his -wings, or that the wings were stiff. - -“Like the Crow, his cousin, this Jay belongs to all north-eastern -America, making its home from Florida to Newfoundland, and, like the -Crow, we have some members of its family with us in New England all the -winter, when it is certainly a pleasure to see them flying through the -bare trees or gathering food on the pure white snow. - -“The Jay does not annoy the farmer by pulling corn, nor trouble the -chicken yard; for eight or nine months he earns an honest living, -largely of vegetable food and harmful insects, snails, tree frogs, mice, -small fish, and lizards, but in the breeding season, alas! he is a nest -robber, and here in my own garden and orchard I have seen him this -summer dodging and trying to avoid the angry birds that were pursuing -him. - -“Twice I heard nestling Robins twittering as they do when their parents -come with food, but, like the wolf disguised as Red Riding-Hood’s -Grandmother, it was a Jay who came to the nest and seized a squab, as my -eyes saw and the cries of the parent birds told. - -“Then I said to Jacob, ‘We will not let the Jays build in Birdland; they -must be outcasts and go out and live in the far-away woods with the -Crows, where there are few small birds.’ - -“How can we keep them out, you ask? It does take a little time and -patience, to be sure, but if we watch when they begin to build and take -away the sticks, you may be very sure that they will take the hint and -go elsewhere, for they are quick-witted birds. So, perhaps, in time they -would learn, at least in some regions, to inhabit places where mice and -other harmful rodents and bugs are more plentiful than song-birds. - -“Then in the winter we of the Kind Hearts’ Club can make up for this -seeming unkindness, and pay them for the real good they do by feeding -them through the hungry time, when nuts, berries, and even frozen apples -are not to be found.” - -“What is a Blue Jay’s nest like? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one,” -asked Tommy Todd. - -“It is not very easy to find, for they usually build rather high up, in -a place where the limb is crotched and has many small branches. The nest -itself is well made of fibres and roots, and is usually quite cleverly -hidden, and the eggs are dull green, very thickly spotted. - -“Aside from the Jay’s unaccountable cannibal habit of egg and squab -hunting, he has many good qualities, both as a parent and a friend to -those of his own kind, and though his call is harsh, and, like the -creaking of the Grackles, a reminder of coming frosts and bare trees, in -spring he has some pretty melodious notes and another call totally -different from the harsh jay, jay. This cry is like the resonant -striking of two bits of metal, a clink without exactly the ring that a -bell has,—yet I call it the ‘bell note,’ though perhaps the double -sound produced by hammer and anvil is a better comparison. - -“In the fall, however, the Jay’s voice is certainly harsh, and not only -lacks anything like musical quality, but is so harsh that when there are -many about the noise is really annoying. The poet Lathrop describes the -change so well that I will read it to you. - - - O JAY! - - O Jay! - Blue Jay! - What are you trying to say? - I remember, in the spring - You pretended you could sing; - But your voice is now still queerer, - And as yet you’ve come no nearer - To a song. - In fact, to sum the matter, - I never heard a flatter - Failure than your doleful clatter. - Don’t you think it’s wrong? - It was sweet to hear your note, - I’ll not deny, - When April set pale clouds afloat - O’er the blue tides of sky. - And ’mid the wind’s triumphant drums - You in your white and azure coat, - A herald proud, came forth to cry, - “The royal summer comes!” - - * * * * * * - - Sometimes your piping is delicious, - And then again it’s simply vicious; - Though on the whole the varying jangle - Weaves round me an entrancing tangle - Of memories grave or joyous: - Things to weep or laugh at; - Love that lived at a hint, or - Days so sweet they’d cloy us. - Nights I have spent with friends:— - Glistening groves of winter, - And the sound of vanished feet - That walked by the ripening wheat: - - * * * * * * - - Such mixed-up things your voice recalls, - With its peculiar quirks and falls. - Well, I’ll admit - There’s merit in a voice that’s truthful; - Yours is not honey sweet nor youthful, - But querulously fit. - And if we cannot sing, we’ll say - Something to the purpose, Jay! - - —George Parsons Lathrop. - -“The Blue Jay makes as good a forest watchman as the Crow. Steal along -ever so quietly, and if he chances to spy you, good-by to seclusion; his -cry of alarm rouses every bird within ear-shot. But it is in their -family life the Jays show to the best advantage, for they will stay by -the nest and fight to the death, if necessary, while big cousin Crow, -though he makes a precious racket, takes good care to keep himself well -out of harm’s way. - -“One trait belongs to this bird that I have never seen recorded of any -other, though, of course, it may be common to all, and that is the care -of the aged. - -“To care for the young, even among people, is an instinct as strong as -self-protection. To care for the aged implies a good heart and a certain -amount of unselfishness. This story is written down by Major Bendire, in -his book on the _Life Histories of American Birds_. He lived much with -the birds, and saw so truly that the Wise Men believe what he records. - - _Mr. Firth to Major Bendire_,— - - I made some observations last summer on the habits of the Blue - Jay, which certainly show a degree of sympathy and kindness - worthy of imitation of animals of a higher order. Last August - (1887), on an old farm in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, my - attention was attracted by the notes of a Blue Jay, not the - ordinary cry, but a series of regular calls, followed by answers - from a neighbouring tree. There was something so peculiarly like - a communication of thought about the sound that I went to the - place, and saw an old Blue Jay perched on a fence some distance - from the tree where there were others. - - On my nearing the bird, the calls from the others became more - frequent and loud, changing from a low, pleasant communicative - tone to shrill alarm. Thinking that he was injured in some way, - I went up to him and found that at least he was partially blind. - The eyes were blurred and dim, the beautiful blue feathers were - faded; in fact, the general appearance of the bird was so - different as to be seen at a glance; the claws were worn, the - bill dulled, and the wings and tail ragged. Every feature - suggested old age and feebleness. Yet he was watched and cared - for as tenderly as ever a growing bird in the nest. - - No sooner had I caught him than there were at least a dozen Jays - close at hand whose sympathy and interest were manifest as - clearly as could be with words. - - After a thorough examination I let him go, when he flew in the - direction of the sound of the others, but did not succeed in - alighting among the smaller branches of the tree, and finally - settled on a large limb near the ground. I saw him, after that, - every day for a week, and never did his companions desert him, - some one of them being always near and warning him of danger, - when he would fly toward the sound of their voices. - - They guided him regularly to a spring near by, where I saw him - bathe daily, always, however, with some of his companions close - by. - - They not only watched and guided him, but they fed him. I had - noticed, some days before, Jays carrying food and thought it - strange at that season, as there were no young to feed, but - found afterwards, to my surprise and pleasure, that the poor, - blind bird was being fed by those he could no longer see. - -“So you see the Jay, with all his bad tricks and nest-robbing, has his -good points, and we will not shoot him, but hint very strongly, if -necessary, that he had better nest away from the temptation that garden -and orchards offer in the shape of eggs and fresh meat.” - -As Gray Lady ended, a great commotion arose in the neighbourhood of the -orchard. Jays screamed and Crows cawed, as if, Goldilocks said, they -knew that they were being talked about, and didn’t like it. - -Gray Lady opened one of the windows and looked out. Below stood Jacob, -waving his hat to attract attention, saying through his hands, “There -are some Screech Owls on a branch of the old willow back of the orchard, -and the other birds have found it out. The Crows are mixing in and -there’s a great how-de-do. I thought maybe you would all like to see -them, only I couldn’t go up for fear they might shift away.” - -Of course they wished to see, and it was quite remarkable how fifteen -usually noisy children managed to tiptoe through the orchard and avoid -sticks and dry leaves. - - - THE WISE OLD CROW - - Not all the people know - The wisdom of the Crow: - As they see him come and go, - With verdict brief, - They say, “You thief!” - And wish him only woe. - - That he’s selfish we admit, - But he has a lot of grit, - And on favour not a bit - Does he depend; - Without a friend, - He must live by mother-wit. - - The Crow is rather shy, - With a very watchful eye - For danger coming nigh, - And any one - Who bears a gun - He’s pretty sure to spy. - - The clever farmer’s plan - Is to make a sort of ban, - By stuffing clothes with bran, - Topped with a tile - Of ancient style, - —A funny old scarecrow man. - - The Crow looks on with scorn, - And early in the morn - Pulls up the farmer’s corn: - He laughs at that, - The queer old hat, - Of the scarecrow man forlorn. - - —Garrett Newkirk, in _Bird-Lore_. - - - - - XI - THE FLIGHT OF THE BIRD - - - _How do Birds find their Way?_[1] - - (Told at Foxes Corners School) - -“I was telling Grand’ther about how far away the birds go in the winter, -and how they fly against the lighthouses and get killed,” said Tommy -Todd, “and he said I couldn’t tell him anything about their going away -and coming back, ’cause he’d seen that going on, boy and man, these -seventy years. Grand’ther knows how the same kind of birds come back to -the place every spring, ’cause he says there were Phœbe Birds had a nest -on the end beam of the cowshed over where the last cow stands,—way back -when he was learning to milk. Then when that old shed blew down, and -they built a new one like it, back the birds came, and they are coming -yet; first nest over Black Bess, and second nest way out over the -box-pen where the little calves live. - -“What Grand’ther wants to know is how they find the way to go so far, -and how they know where to stop and find something to eat, and if they -get hungry, ’cause he says nobody seems to know just what they do -between times, and what people do tell seems like Jack-and-the-Beanstalk -fairy-stories, and he said maybe you had some book that told about it -so’s you could explain.” - -Gray Lady smiled in a half-puzzled way, as Tommy spoke, for the -questions that the children asked often gave her as much cause for study -and wonder as the stories that she told them. She was finding out that -there were three or four members of the Kind Hearts’ Club who had been -seeing correctly and trying to think out things for themselves before -they had a chance to ask questions, or had any books to consult. - -“Your grandfather’s question cannot be answered in a few words,” she -said, “neither is there any one book that tells everything about these -wonderful journeys, because, as yet, not the very wisest of the Wise Men -know it all, though they wait and watch, and every spring and fall many -of them are scattered through the country upon the course of the flying -birds to watch them as they pass. - -“All the information that they collect is printed and kept as evidence -of what is known, a little here and a little there, until we hope some -day that the history will be complete, when it will be one of the most -wonderful stories in the world, for even the little we know sounds like -a fairy-tale. - -“Of course,” continued Gray Lady, “I know very little from my own sight, -but I will tell you what I have learned of the Wise Men, who believe it -to be the truth. I had intended telling you about Owls and Hawks to-day, -as I promised you last week, when we saw the Screech Owl up in the -orchard, but that story can wait until the next time you visit Birdland, -for the Owls are still about; there are pictures of them in the library, -and others that are stuffed and mounted in the glass case in the hall. - -“All that we need, or that can help us with the story of the bird on its -travels, is that large map of North and South America, for this will be -a geography, as well as a bird, lesson. - -(A fine map of the western hemisphere having been the first thing that -Gray Lady had given Miss Wilde for the use of the school at Foxes -Corners, the little old one being out of date and indistinct.) - -“Clary, you may take charge of the pointer to-day and sit here by me, -for this will be a rather long lesson, and you will need help with the -binding of your iron-holder, for I’m afraid if you draw the stitches so -very tight it will pucker and not lie flat and smooth like the model -that Ann Hughes made. - -“And what work has Jacob given you boys for your penknives to do?” - -“Wooden spoons out of white wood,” answered Dave, “big strong ones such -as’ll beat up cake and apple-sauce, and, when they’re shaped, we are to -smooth them down fine with sandpaper. I’m going to give mine to my -mother; she broke hers yesterday, the handle snapped right in two. She -says the bought spoons are sawn out crossgrain, any which way. There was -an old man who used to come down from the charcoal camp with wooden -spoons and butter-scoops and hickory baskets, and he sold lots of ’em -all through the town, but he died last winter.” - -“Then surely wooden spoons and butter-scoops will be very good things -for the Kind Hearts’ Club to make for its Christmas sale, and we shall -be interfering with nobody, for that is one of the things that we must -remember when we are working for charity, not to make articles for sale -that shall interfere with others who make them to get an honest living, -for that sort of thing is a species of robbery in disguise. - - * * * * * - - - _The Travels of Birds_ - -“What becomes of the birds that are with us in summer? Where and how do -they spend the winter? By what roadways do they travel to their winter -haunts? Do they prefer to journey by land or by water, and how do they -find the way? - -“We need not think that we, or anybody else of our day, are the first to -ask these questions, for it is many hundreds of years since they first -began to puzzle thinking people. At first, lacking any real knowledge of -the simplest facts of nature, and not having as yet trained the eye to -correct seeing, the people did as the ignorant do to this day,—they -imagined fabulous reasons. The more impossible and wonderful or -unnatural, the better, for it takes a trained mind oftentimes to realize -that the most natural way is the best, and that the simplest way is the -most natural. - -“It was in these far-back times that the foolish idea was started that -the Swallows dived into the mud and there spent the winter, like the -frogs. - -“Another stranger idea was that small birds crossed large bodies of -water as passengers on the backs of large birds, such as Cranes, Ducks, -and Geese, for people did not know enough of the structure of birds to -realize that the machinery of the tiny Humming-bird is as fit for flying -long distances as that of the biggest birds that grow. Ideas like this -have been believed until a comparatively short time ago, and it is only -within the last fifty years that there has been much real progress -toward the truth of it all. And this is the way it has been brought -about. In our country the band of Wise Men at Washington, forming the -United States Biological Survey, have for twenty years been gathering -facts about the migration of birds. This body has sent out naturalists -to travel through the North American continent from Guatemala to the -Arctic Circle, to meet with other scientific men on their way, and keep -careful notes of what they see, so that reports are had in the spring -and fall each year from hundreds of observers. - -“These reports give the date upon which each particular kind (or -species, as they call it) of bird is seen, when it becomes plenty, and -when it moves on again. The lighthouse keepers also give much -information by noting the times at which they find the birds that are -dashed to death against the lanterns in the tower. In short, the Wise -Men have more material at hand than ever before from which to shape the -story that day by day increases in wonder. - - - _Causes of the Migrations_ - -“It is more than two thousand years since the wonders of bird travel -have been noted; and while the distances and routes of travel are better -known, we cannot yet give a positive answer to the question, ‘Why do -birds migrate?’” - -“Please, Gray Lady,” said Sarah Barnes, “I thought you said it was -because in fall the insect food begins to freeze and give out, and they -go south after it and in spring they want to go back home.” - -“Yes, Sarah, that is one of the reasons, and yet birds start off -oftentimes when food is still plenty, and every naturalist knows of the -rush of the water-fowl northward so early every spring that they are -often turned back by storms and have to retrace their flight, and they -have all seen that Robins, Bluebirds, and Swallows, following too -closely in the wake of the water-fowl, sometimes lose hundreds out of -their flocks by cold and starvation. - -“If the fall journey is caused by lack of food, why does it begin when -food is most plenty? At some of the Florida lighthouses the Wise Men -have seen that the southward trip with some birds begins between the -first and middle of July, at the time when the crop of insects and ripe -seeds and berries is at its height. So the best answer that can be made -is that ages ago, when the migrations began, they were connected with a -food supply that changed more suddenly than at the present time, and -that, even when the direct motive is lost, the habit remains fixed.” - -“That’s it; that’s a bully reason!” cried Tommy Todd, excitedly. -“They’ve got the notion that they’re going travelling just so often and -they can’t calculate the time right and so they get ready too soon; -likely they haven’t got very good heads for planning. That’s the reason, -Pop says, that every fall, when Ma and Aunt Hannah go up to Kent to -visit Grandma Tuck, they are all ready on the stoop by half-past seven, -when there’s never been a train from here to there before ’leven. If -they were birds, they’d probably fly off as soon as it was light, and -get to Grandma’s for breakfast, when they’d written on a picture postal, -with tea-cups and a cat on it, that she might expect them for supper.” - -When the laugh at Tommy’s comparison had subsided, Gray Lady said, “Your -idea is by no means a foolish one, and it may be that a boy like you, -who watches and thinks, will some day piece the facts together that will -finally settle the question.” - - - _How do Birds find their Way?_ - -“How do the birds find their way over the hundreds or thousands of miles -between the winter and summer homes? Sight is probably the chief guide -of those who fly by day, and it is known that these day travellers -seldom make the long single flights that are so common with the birds -that journey at night. Sight, undoubtedly, also guides them, to a large -extent, in the night journeys, when the moon is bright. Migrating birds -fly high, so that one can hardly hear their faint twittering. But if the -sky is obscured and the clouds hang low, the flocks keep nearer to the -earth, and their calls are more distinctly heard; while on very dark -nights, the vibration of their wings can be heard close overhead. - -[Illustration: TERNS AND SKIMMERS ON THE WING -(Summer Bird-Life, Cobbs Island, Va. Am. Museum Nat. Hist., N.Y.)] - -“Notwithstanding this, something besides sight guides these travellers -in the upper air. (Here is a route for you to trace on the map.) In -Alaska, a few years ago, members of the Biological Survey on the -Harriman expedition went by steamer from the island of Unalaska to -Bogoslof Island, a distance of about sixty miles. A dense fog had shut -out every object beyond a hundred yards. When the steamer was halfway -across, flocks of Murres, returning to Bogoslof after long quests for -food, began to break through the fog wall astern, fly side by side with -the vessels, and disappear in the mists ahead. By chart and compass, the -ship was heading straight for the island; but its course was no more -exact than that taken by the birds. The power which carried them -unerringly home over the ocean wastes, whatever its nature, may be -called ‘a sense of direction.’ We recognize in ourselves the possession -of some such sense, though imperfect and easily at fault. Doubtless a -similar, but vastly more acute, sense enabled the Murres, flying from -home and circling wide over the water, to keep in mind the direction of -their nests and return to them without the aid of sight. It is probable -that this faculty is exercised during migration. - -“Reports from lighthouses in southern Florida show that birds leave Cuba -on cloudy nights when they cannot possibly see the Florida shores, and -safely reach their destination, provided no change occurs in the -weather. But if meantime the wind changes or a storm arises to throw -them out of their reckoning, they become bewildered, lose their way, and -fly toward the lighthouse beacon. Unless killed by striking the lantern, -they hover near or alight on the balcony, to continue their flight when -morning breaks, or, the storm ceasing, a clear sky allows them once more -to determine the proper course. - -“Birds flying over the Gulf of Mexico to Louisiana, even if they -ascended to the height of five miles, would still be unable to see a -third of the way across. Nevertheless this trip is successfully made -twice each year by countless thousands of the warblers of the -Mississippi Valley. - -“Probably there are many short zigzags from one favoured feeding-spot to -another, but the general course between the summer and winter homes is -as straight as the birds can find without missing the usual -stopping-places. - - - _Accidents during Migration_ - -“Migration is a season full of peril for myriads of winged travellers, -especially for those that cross large bodies of water. Some of the -shore-birds, such as Plover and Curlew, which take long ocean voyages, -can rest on the waves if overtaken by storms, but woe to the luckless -warbler whose feathers once became water-soaked,—a grave in the ocean -or a burial in the sand of the beach is the inevitable result. Nor are -such accidents infrequent. A few years ago on Lake Michigan a storm -during spring migration piled many birds along the shore. - -“If such a disaster could occur on a lake less than a hundred miles -wide, how much greater might it not be during a flight across the Gulf -of Mexico. Such a catastrophe was once witnessed from the deck of a -vessel, thirty miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River. Large -numbers of migrating birds, mostly warblers, had accomplished -nine-tenths of their long flight, and were nearing land, when they were -caught by a ‘norther’ with which most of them were unable to contend, -and, falling into the Gulf, were drowned by hundreds. - -“Then, as I have told you before, birds are peculiarly liable to -destruction by striking high objects. A new tower in a city kills many -before the survivors learn to avoid it. The Washington Monument has -caused the death of many little migrants; and though the number of its -victims has decreased of late years, yet on a single morning in the -spring of 1902 nearly 150 lifeless bodies were strewn around its base. - -“Bright lights attract birds from great distances. While the torch in -the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor was kept lighted, the -sacrifice of life it caused was enormous, even reaching a maximum of 700 -birds in a month. A flashing light frightens birds away, and a red light -is avoided by them as if it were a danger signal, but a steady white -light looming out of mist or darkness seems to act like a magnet and -draws the wanderers to destruction. Coming from any direction, they veer -around to the leeward side, and then, flying against the wind, dash -themselves against the pitiless glass. - - - _Distance of Migration_ - -“The length of the migration journey varies enormously. Some birds do -not migrate at all. Many a Cardinal, Carolina Wren, and Bob-white rounds -out its whole contented life within ten miles of its birthplace. Other -birds, for instance, the Pine Warbler and the Black-headed Grosbeak, do -not venture in winter south of the breeding range, so that with them -fall migration is only a withdrawal from the northern and a -concentration in the southern part of the summer home—the Warbler in -about a fourth and the Grosbeak in less than an eighth of the summer -area. - -“The next variation is illustrated by the Robin, which occurs as a -species in the middle districts of the United States throughout the -year, in Canada only in summer, and along the Gulf of Mexico only in -winter. Probably no individual Robin is a continuous resident in any -section; but the Robin that nests, let us say, in southern Missouri will -spend the winter near the Gulf, while his hardy Canada-bred cousin will -be the winter tenant of the abandoned summer home of the southern bird. - -“Most migrants entirely change their abode twice a year, and some of -them travel immense distances. Of the land-birds, the common eastern -Night Hawk seems to deserve the first place among those whose winter -homes are widely distant from their breeding-grounds. Alaska and -Patagonia, separated by 115 degrees of latitude, are the extremes of the -summer and winter homes of the bird, and each spring many a Night Hawk -travels the 5000 miles that lie between. But some of the shore-birds are -still more inveterate voyagers. These cover from 6000 to 8000 miles each -way, and appear to make travelling their chief occupation. - - - _Routes of Migration_ - -“Birds often seem eccentric in choice of route, and many land-birds do -not take the shortest line. The fifty species from New England that -winter in South America, instead of making the direct trip over the -Atlantic, involving a flight of 2000 miles, take a slightly longer route -which follows the coast of Florida, and passes thence, by island or -mainland, to South America. What would seem, at first sight, to be a -natural and convenient migratory highway extends from Florida through -the Bahamas or Cuba to Haiti, Porto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles, and -thence to South America. - - - _The Bobolink Route_ - -“Chief among these dauntless voyagers is the Bobolink, fresh from -despoiling the Carolina rice-fields, waxed fat from his gormandizing, -and so surcharged with energy that the 500-mile flight to South America -on the way to the waving pampas of southern Brazil seems a small -hardship. Indeed, many Bobolinks appear to scorn the Jamaican -resting-point and to compass in a single flight the 700 miles from Cuba -to South America. With the Bobolink is an incongruous company of -travelling companions—a Vireo, a King Bird, and a Night Hawk that -summer in Florida; the queer Chuck-will’s-widow of the Gulf States; the -two New England Cuckoos; the trim Alice’s Thrush from Quebec; the -cosmopolitan Bank Swallow from frozen Labrador, and the Black-poll -Warbler from far-off Alaska. But the Bobolinks so far outnumber all the -rest of the motley crew that the passage across the Caribbean Sea from -Cuba to South America may with propriety be called the ‘Bobolink route.’ -Occasionally a mellow-voiced Wood Thrush joins the assemblage, or a -green-gold Tanager, which will prepare in its winter home its next -summer livery of flaming scarlet. But the ‘Bobolink route,’ as a whole, -is not popular with other birds, and the many that traverse it are but a -fraction of the thousands of North American birds that spend the winter -holiday in South America. - - * * * * * - -“Have you patience to follow the history of the flight of one bird? The -longest migration route is taken by some of the wading-birds, especially -the American Golden Plover, the Eskimo Curlew, and the Turnstone. The -journey of the Plover, in itself like a fable, is wonderful enough to be -told in detail. - -“In the first week of June, they arrive at their breeding-grounds in the -bleak, wind-swept ‘barren grounds’ above the Arctic Circle, far beyond -the tree line. Some even venture 1000 miles farther north (Greely found -them at latitude 81 degrees). While the lakes are still ice-bound, they -hurriedly fashion shabby little nests in the moss only a few inches -above the frozen ground. By August, they have hastened to Labrador, -where, in company with Curlews and Turnstones, they enjoy a feast. -Growing over the rocks and treeless slopes of this inhospitable coast is -a kind of heather, the crowberry, bearing in profusion a juicy black -fruit. The extravagant fondness shown for the berry by the birds, among -which the Curlew, owing to its greater numbers, is most conspicuous, -causes it to be known to the natives as the ‘curlewberry.’ The whole -body of the Curlew becomes so saturated with the dark-purple juice that -birds whose flesh was still stained with the colour have been shot 1000 -miles south of Labrador. - -[Illustration: GOLDEN PLOVER] - -“After a few weeks of such feasting, the Plovers become excessively fat, -and ready for their great flight. They have reared their young under the -midnight sun, and now they seek the southern hemisphere. After gaining -the coast of Nova Scotia, they strike straight out to sea, and take a -direct course for the easternmost islands of the West Indies. Eighteen -hundred miles of ocean waste lie between the last land of Nova Scotia -and the first of the Antilles, and yet 600 more to the eastern mainland -of South America, their objective point. The only land along the route -is the Bermuda Islands, 800 miles from Nova Scotia. In fair weather, the -birds fly past the Bermudas without stopping; indeed, they are often -seen by vessels 400 miles or more east of these islands. - -“When they sight the first land of the Antilles, the flocks often do not -pause, but keep on to the larger islands and sometimes even to the -mainland of South America. Sometimes a storm drives them off the main -track, when they seek the nearest land, appearing not infrequently at -Cape Cod and Long Island. - -“A few short stops may be made in the main flight, for the Plover swims -lightly, and easily, and has been seen resting on the surface of the -ocean; and shore-birds have been found busily feeding 500 miles south of -Bermuda and 1000 miles east of Florida, in the Atlantic, in that area -known as the Sargasso Sea, where thousands of square miles of seaweed -teem with marine life. - -“Though feathered balls of fat when they leave Labrador and still plump -when they pass the Bermudas, the Plovers alight lean and hungry in the -Antilles. Only the first, though the hardest, half of the journey is -over. How many days it has occupied may never be known. Most migrants -either fly at night and rest in the day or vice versa, but the Plover -flies both night and day. - -“After a short stop of three or four weeks in the Antilles and on the -north-eastern coast of South America, the flocks disappear, and later -their arrival is noted at the same time in southern Brazil and the whole -prairie region of Argentina and Patagonia. Here they remain from -September to March (the summer of the southern hemisphere), free from -the responsibilities of the northern summer they have left. The native -birds of Argentina are at the time engrossed in family cares; but, -_remember this well, no wayfarer from the north nests in the south; he -has a second summer free from care!_ - -“After a six months’ vacation the Plovers resume the serious affairs of -life and start back toward the Arctic zone, but not by the same course. -Their full northward route is a problem still unsolved. They disappear -from Argentina and shun the whole Atlantic coast from Brazil to -Labrador. In March they appear in Guatemala and Texas; April finds their -long lines trailing across the prairies of the Mississippi valleys; the -first of May sees them crossing our northern boundary; and by the first -week in June they reappear at their breeding-grounds in the frozen -North. What a journey! Eight thousand miles of latitude separates the -extremes of their course, and 3000 miles of longitude constitutes the -shorter diameter, and all for the sake of spending ten weeks on an -Arctic coast! Do you realize this endurance when you see birds passing -that window? - - * * * * * - -“As to the fatigue of the bird from travel, this is now thought to be -very slight, as bird flocks that have crossed great bodies of water do -not stop to rest, but usually continue many miles inland. It is, -undoubtedly, accident or illness that sometimes causes birds to stop for -rest on the rigging of vessels or offshore islands. - - - _The Unknown_ - -“Interest in bird migration goes back to a far distant period. -Marvellous tales of the spring and fall movements of birds were spun by -early observers, yet hardly less incredible are the ascertained facts. -Much remains to be learned, and it may be of interest to note a few of -the mysteries which still occupy attention. Even the daily flight of a -bird is a wonderful thing apart from the endurance required in the long -migrations. Though the wings of birds are built on very much the same -plan, few species use them in precisely the same manner; while on a -windy day the wings assume a dozen different positions in as many -seconds, and to watch the flight of a sea-bird, as it rises and trims -itself to the wind and then shapes its course, is to be awe-struck by -this mysterious power of flight. - -“Snap shot pictures of birds on the wing will show you this better than -many words. Some birds, like the Hawks and Eagles, can sustain -themselves in the air for hours, sailing against the wind without any -visible motion of the wings. Others fly both by swift beating and -sailing, like the Terns in one of these pictures. - -“In short, the differences are so great that the Wise Men can often -identify a bird by the sharp outline of its shadow in flight. - -“This power of flight has been a subject of wonder for many thousand -years; we think and we speculate, but no one has yet learned the secret -in its fulness. - -“‘The way of an eagle in the air! This is too wonderful for me!’ is an -expression of this feeling of mystery, recorded in the book of Proverbs. -One thing seems quite certain, however—if man ever succeeds in -conquering the air and sailing through it, it will not be by the power -of any invention of his own, but because he has at least in some degree -mastered the knowledge of the flight of the bird and adapted it to his -own use. - -“The Chimney Swift, that you all know as the Chimney Swallow, is one of -the most abundant and best-known birds of the eastern part of the United -States. With troops of fledglings, catching their winged prey as they -go, and lodging by night in some tall chimney, the flocks drift slowly -south, joining with other bands until, on the northern coast of the Gulf -of Mexico, they become an innumerable host. Then they disappear. Did -they drop into the water and hibernate in the mud, as was believed of -old, their obliteration could not be more complete. In the last week in -March a joyful twittering far overhead announces their return to the -Gulf coast, but the intervening five months is still the Swifts’ secret. - -[Illustration: THE WINGS IN FLIGHT -(Birds of the San Joaquin Valley, Cal. Am. Museum Nat. Hist., N.Y.)] - -“The mouse-coloured Bank Swallows, that we saw here in flocks a few -weeks ago, are almost cosmopolitan, and enliven even the shores of the -Arctic Ocean with their graceful aerial evolutions. Those that nest in -Labrador allow a scant two months for building a nest and raising a -brood, and by the first of August are headed southward. Six weeks later -they are swarming in the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay, and then they, too, -pass out of the range of our knowledge. In April they appear in northern -South America, moving north, but not a hint do they give of how they -came there. The rest of the species, those that nest to the south or -west, may be traced farther south, but they, too, fail to give any clew -as to where they spend the five winter months. - -“Which one of the Wise Men can tell us? No one. Look out the window now; -there are two Night Hawks, first flying high and then dropping suddenly -through the air. Is it not hard to realize that, while you are going to -and fro every day between your homes and school, and by and by having to -dig paths through the snow in order to get there, those two slender -birds will have flown 5000 miles to find a new summer, and will be -having a vacation absolutely free from family cares?” - ------ - -[1] Condensed and adapted from _Some New Facts about the Migration of -Birds_, by Wells W. Cooke, United States Biological Survey. - - - - - XII - SOME SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS - - - _Owls and Hawks_ - -Frost had come. Real frost, with black, nipping fingers. White frost, at -its first appearance, is a decorator who casts a silver spell upon the -meadows, turning them into shimmering lakes and touching the ripe leaves -until each one becomes a banner of scarlet, gold, or russet. - -Chrysanthemums and tufts of self-sown pansies, huddling in warm nooks, -were the only flowers left about the farm-houses or in Gray Lady’s -garden, and both of these would hold their own until Thanksgiving Day -gave praise for the year’s growth and bade growing things sleep the long -sleep of winter. - -Birdland showed the change less than either the hickory or the river -woods, for the old orchard held its leaves as apple trees usually do, -and the belt of spruces and pines, that ran from the north side of it -quite up to the house, made a cheerful green barrier and wind-break as -well; but the Swallows and Night Hawks were no longer skimming the air, -and high above, a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks were sailing -majestically, occasionally giving their cry Kee-o—Kee-o! - -[Illustration: RED-SHOULDERED HAWK] - -Jacob had finished the Martin house the week previous, and a stout -smooth pole like a flagstaff had been planted, not in Birdland itself -but on a slight rise in the ground that overlooked both the barns and -the orchard. The setting up of the house itself had been reserved for -this special Saturday, so that the children might take part in the -ceremony. - -The top of the pole, on which there were fastened crosspieces to make a -foundation for the house, was thirty feet above the ground. In this pole -stout spikes were driven at intervals. This not only would prevent cats -from climbing up to the house, but made a sort of ladder by which a man -or boy could go up and pull out the nesting material of English sparrows -if they tried to take possession. For, if we are to keep the useful -insect-eating birds about our houses, we must try our best to keep this -Sparrow from living amongst us. - -Hard as it seems, he must be classed with animals that the kindest heart -knows must be destroyed. But no one wishes to hurt nestlings, so the -best way to do is to prevent the old birds from building in the haunts -of the useful song-birds, and then in winter, when the old Sparrows -gather in flocks about the barnyard, have some grown man, with good -judgment and aim, shoot them. Children should never be let do this for -amusement, for it is not well to allow a painful necessity to become a -sport. - -Tommy Todd was quite late on this Saturday morning, so that it was -thought that he was not coming, and when he did arrive he found the -others gathered about the pole,—Dave, who had a steady head for -climbing, having been allowed to go up with Jacob, after the house had -been raised with a block and falls, to hold hammer and nails while it -was securely fastened to the braces. - -They were all so busy that it was not until Jacob and Dave had come -down, that Gray Lady noticed the box that Tommy had brought and which -stood beside him, the slats on top telling that it contained some live -thing. - -As she turned to ask Tommy what he had brought, Goldilocks came down the -path in her chair, for though she could walk quite well by this time, -she was obliged to be very careful, and Ann would not allow her to be on -her feet for more than an hour or two each day. - -“The little Owls are back again and all sitting in a row on a branch of -the old russet beyond the lunch-counter. There is a hollow in the trunk -of the tree that I never noticed before, and do you know, mother, I -shouldn’t be surprised if the nest had been in there, so, perhaps, if we -have something that they like on the lunch-counter, they’ll come back -next year.” - -“Come back? Aren’t you going to shoot them before they get away?” asked -Dave. “Because they might not come back.” - -“We don’t want them to come back to be shot, but to make more nests and -live here,” said Goldilocks. - -“Live! why, folks _always_ shoot Owls and Hawks! They are very bad -things, though I guess Hawks are the worst; anyhow, there’s more of ’em. -Just look at those big Hen-hawks flying up yonder now; maybe you’d like -them to come and live in the orchard. If they did, they’d eat the lunch -off’n your counter, other birds and all.” - -Gray Lady, seeing by the expression of Dave’s face that he could not -quite understand any other view of the matter, said: “Yes, Dave, you are -right; people usually shoot Hawks and Owls on sight—and have been doing -so for years. In fact, my own husband used to shoot them as a matter of -course, and he was one who never killed a song-bird and who greatly -preferred to hear the Grouse drumming in the forest, the Woodcock -singing and dancing in the spring woods (yes, they both dance and sing -and I will tell you of them some day), and Bob-white telling his name -from the fence-rail, than to have them come on the table ever so -deliciously cooked. - -“But within the last ten or fifteen years the Wise Men have found out a -great deal more about these Owls and Hawks—or Birds of Prey, as they -are called, and they know exactly what the work of these birds is in the -great plan of nature. Many of the facts they tell us of we can see for -ourselves if we have the patience to watch. Before the country was -settled by white men, and became what we call ‘civilized,’ all of these -birds of prey had their place, but even now many of them are not only -not hurtful to us, but of distinct benefit. The difficulty is that we do -not stop to sift the facts and separate the good from the bad. To the -farmer, and particularly the poultry-raiser, the cry of Hawk brings him -out, quick as a flash, shot-gun in hand. - -“But if he will only realize that for every chicken or pigeon one of -these Hawks destroys, it in all probability takes fifty rats, -field-mice, short-tailed meadow-mice, weasels, and red squirrels, he -will see that he owes the Hawk a debt of gratitude; for it is easier by -far to protect a poultry-yard from conspicuous things that fly -above—like Hawks and Owls—than to keep out the things that crawl and -creep. - -“Now, before we go down to the orchard to see Goldilocks’ little Screech -Owls, let us see what Tommy Todd has in this box.” - -“It’s only a Screech Owl that I found up in the pigeon-coop this -morning, but it’s such a different colour from the gray ones we have -here, that I brought it up for you to see if it was a rare kind. I -daren’t take it out because it claws and bites so.” And Tommy took away -the cloth that partly covered the box, and there sat the bird with open, -yellow-rimmed eyes, with which he seemed to see with difficulty. - -The Owl was no taller than a Robin, but his large, round head and -thickset body made him appear to be a much larger bird. He had two ear -tufts (or horns) of feathers, a strong, curved beak, and powerful toes, -lightly feathered, ending in the hooked talons that mark the birds of -prey, that is, birds that prey, or feed, upon forms of animal life other -than defenceless insects, worms, etc. Its feathers were a bright rusty -red colour, streaked with black; its underparts being more or less -white, mixed with red and black. - -“The Owls in the orchard are like this one, only they are all gray and -black,” said Goldilocks, after taking a long look. - -“Perhaps this is the father bird; you told us that if one bird is a -gayer colour than the other, it is generally the father,” said Sarah -Barnes. - -“Yes, that is often the case, as I am glad to find that you remember, -but not with the Screech Owl, the most common of American Owls, and one -that is known under many names—Mottled Owl, Gray Owl, and Red Owl. - -[Illustration: SCREECH OWL] - -“There may be some gray birds and some red ones in the same brood, but -this does not depend upon sex, season, or age. The strange difference is -called by a long name, ‘dichromatism’ or two-colour phase, and this is -one of the things for which the Wise Men can give no positive reason; so -it is another question like those about the flight and travels of the -birds for one of you to find out in future. - -“Bring the box up to the orchard, Tommy, and, after we have seen the -gray Screech Owls, you can open the door and put the box in the tree and -see what will happen.” - -Before they reached the gate of Birdland, they heard a commotion inside; -Jays were screaming in a great state of rage and alarm, and, as they -drew nearer, another sound blended with the screaming, a hissing sound -like “shay—shay—shay,” and the snapping of beaks. - -“The Jays have found the Owls out, and they’re hopping mad,” said Jacob, -who was standing in the shelter of a tree-trunk, enjoying the scene. -“The Jays daren’t really touch the Owls, only jeer, and the Owls only -snap their beaks and hiss in return because they don’t like to fly out -in bright light; all you get back by the fence and watch out.” - -The children did as Jacob suggested and Tommy put his box on top of the -wall and, at a signal from Gray Lady, unfastened the slats. At first the -little Red Owl stretched his neck and snapped his beak; then, as he -heard the voices of the Jays, he backed into the corner of the box and -drew himself up thin and long, so that he did not look like the same -bird that had been so plump and fluffy a few seconds before. - -“That’s just the way he did this morning when I found him in the -pigeon-house,” said Tommy; “in the dark he didn’t look a bit like a -bird, but more like a corn-cob on end. - -“There! look there, Gray Lady.” And Tommy pointed at a tree behind that -in which the five Owls were roosting. “There is another Owl all by -itself that the Jays haven’t found out, and it’s all drawn up thin just -like my red one.” And, following the direction of his finger, the Owl -was plainly to be seen, but so rigid and motionless that it might have -been a moss-covered branch stump. - -“We would better go in now,” said Gray Lady, after they had watched for -a few moments. “The Owls are beginning to notice us, and I do not wish -them to be driven away until I have had a chance to photograph them. -Leave the box there, Tommy; with all this noise your Owl cannot be -expected to come out before night.” - -“But if they are good birds, what was the red one doing in Tommy’s -pigeon-house?” asked Dave. - -“Probably looking for mice or other vermin, or perhaps shelter,” said -Gray Lady, “for though they sometimes eat large game, mice or smaller -animals are easier food for a tribe of Owls that sometimes grow only six -inches high and never to a foot in length. I will tell you a way to -convince yourselves and make sure of what Owls feed upon without killing -the Owls,” said Gray Lady, as, on their way up to the play and work -rooms, they went into the library to look at some of the mounted birds -in one of the cases. - -“As Owls usually swallow their food whole, they take in bones, fur, -feathers, etc., that they cannot digest; these portions are made up into -little pellets called ‘Owl balls,’ and these are spit up before the real -process of digestion is begun, and if you search under the trees where -owls roost, you may often find these pellets for yourselves.” - -“Maybe that is what these things are that I’ve found, for ever so many -days, below the porch of the pigeon-house,” said Tommy, pulling a bunch -of paper from his pocket; “I guess the Red Owl meant to live there this -winter.” He spread out the paper before Gray Lady, who was now sitting -at the table turning over the pages of a large book in red covers. It -was a reference book, in two volumes, that she often used to look up -stories of the birds about which the children asked. The name of the -book was _Life Histories of North American Birds_, and they were written -and collected by Major Bendire, who was both one of the Wise Men and an -officer in our army. Putting in a mark at the page where Screech Owl -began, she closed the book and looked at the contents of the paper. - -“Yes, Tommy,” she said presently, “these are not only Owl balls, but -there is the fur and bones of a mouse in each.” And deftly separating -the wads with the point of a pair of scissors and taking out a tiny -skull, she motioned the children to look at it through a reading-glass, -each one in turn. - -“Does the Screech Owl live everywhere in the United States?” asked Dave, -after he and Tommy had picked out enough of the tiny bones from the fur -to piece out the entire skeleton of a mouse. - -“This same species of Screech Owl that we have here is found all through -the eastern part of North America, but there is a Screech Owl, of some -sort, to be found in the other parts of the country; thus, there is a -Florida Screech Owl; one for California; another for the Rocky -Mountains; one for Mexico, and one for Puget Sound, besides several -others, and, of them all, the Rocky Mountain Owl is said to be the -handsomest. - -“We have several other owls that live hereabouts and do good work by -killing rats, mice, snakes, lizards, etc. Of course, they also eat some -birds, but they are so valuable to the farmer that he can ill spare -them, and if he cannot, neither can we. Do you realize that it is really -the farmer that holds the life of the country in his hand? What good -would money and houses and clothes do us if we had no food?—and it is -the farmer who, by carrying out the workings of nature, makes food -possible. - -“These birds of prey divide time between them, the Hawk works by day and -the Owls at night and in the early dawn; thus, ‘Nature, in her wisdom, -puts a continuous check upon the four-footed vermin of the ground.’ - -“Our little Screech Owls love old orchards and the hollow trees to be -found there, and they are well suited to be guardians of the fruit -trees. In hard winters, mice and rabbits will often eat the bark of -young peach, pear, plum, and apple trees in such a way as to ruin them. -Who can keep a constant watch upon them by day and night so well as the -Hawks and Owls?—and if they do take an occasional chicken or pigeon, -these are more easily replaced than fruit trees. - -“Then, too, our little Screech Owl is a destroyer of cutworms, those -dreadful worms that do their work by night. For this alone, should the -farmer call this Owl his friend, and let him nest in any little hollow -under the barn eaves, or in the old willow or sycamore, as he chooses. -That is, if the few sticks and feathers that line the hollow can be -called a nest. - -“The courtship of the Owl begins late in March, for Owls, living, as -they do, permanently in their homes, nest early; the Great Horned Owl, -of deservedly savage reputation, beginning in February, and the -round-faced Barred Owl in March. I have only seen the young Owls on -their first coming from the nest—queer, fuzzy little balls, awkward in -flight and noisy, who perch on a branch like a row of clothes-pins all -day, and then spend their nights being fed, and in awkward attempts at -learning to fly. Once, in my girlhood, I kept an Owl with a sprained -wing in an outdoor cage for a couple of months, and he grew quite tame -and was very clever and clean apparently, from the evidence of spilled -water, taking a bath in his pan every night and keeping his feathers in -good condition. - -“Major Bendire tells of the courtship of these songless birds in a way -that proves that where voice is lacking, gesture takes the place of -speech, as with Grackles and Crows. ‘The female was perched in a dark, -leafy tree, apparently oblivious of the presence of her mate, who made -frantic efforts to attract her attention through a series of bowings, -wing-raisings, and snapping of the beak. These antics were continued for -some time, varied by hops from branch to branch near her, accompanied by -that forlorn, almost despairing, wink peculiar to this bird. Once or -twice I thought that I detected sounds of inward groanings as he, beside -himself at lack of success, sat in utter dejection. At last the lady -lowered her haughty head, looked at and approached him.’ - -“The young Owls when first hatched are blind and featherless, and are so -ravenous that not only do their parents feed them at night but also put -away enough food in the nest to last through the day as well, so you can -easily see how useful a family of these Owls would be the neighbourhood -of any farm. - - - THE SCREECH OWL’S VALENTINE - - A Screech Owl once set out to find - A comely mate of his own kind; - Through wooded haunts and shadows dense - He pressed his search with diligence; - As a reward - He soon espied - A feathered figure, - Golden-eyed. - - “Good-night! my lady owl,” said he; - “Will you accept my company?” - He bowed and snapped, and hopped about, - He wildly screamed, then looked devout. - But no word came, - His heart to cheer, - From lady owl, - That perched so near. - - The suitor thought her hearing dull, - And for her felt quite sorrowful. - Again by frantic efforts he - Did try to woo her from her tree; - “Pray, loveliest owl, - The forest’s pride, - Descend and be - My beauteous bride. - - “A wedding feast of mice we’ll keep, - When cats and gunners are asleep; - We’ll sail like shadows cast at noon, - Each night will be a honeymoon.” - To this she answered - Not one breath; - But sat unmoved - And still as death. - - Said he, “I guess that she’s the kind - That people in museums find; - Some taxidermist by his skill - Has stuffed the bird, she sits so still. - Ah me! that eyes - Once made to see - Should naught - But ghostly spectres be.” - - At this she dropped her haughty head - And cried, “I’m neither stuffed nor dead. - Oh! weird and melancholy owl, - Thou rival of the wolf’s dread howl, - Since fate so planned, - I’ll not decline - To be for life - Your valentine.” - - —Florence A. Van Sant, in _Bird-Lore_. - -“Are any of these other Owls here useful?” asked Sarah, who had been -looking at the birds in the glass case while Gray Lady talked. “This -great big one with feather horns looks as if he could eat a little lamb -or a big rooster if he tried.” - -“That is the Great Horned Owl,” said Gray Lady, “and fortunately he is -very uncommon here in New England, for he is a cruel and wasteful bird, -unsociable and sulky, killing chickens, and even turkeys and geese, and -often merely eating the head of its victim and then killing again; it is -the worst of all the birds of prey, and no excuse can be found for its -behaviour. - -“The Barred Owl on the shelf beside the Great Horned, though having a -smooth head, is sometimes mistaken for the fierce Owl and shot for its -sins. Aside from sometimes killing birds, it is a useful Owl, eating -mice, rabbits, red squirrels, etc. This is a remote, lonely sort of an -Owl, with a dismal hoot, as one man described it: -‘Hoo-ooo-ooo-ho-ho-ho-too-too-to-to!’ sometimes interspersed by a laugh -and then a wail. I disturbed a young bird once, causing one of its -parents great uneasiness. It is impossible to describe all the notes -uttered by it at this time; they were rendered in a subdued muttering -and complaining strain, parts of which sounded exactly like ‘old-fool, -old-fool, don’t do it, don’t do it!’ - -“There are two other owls that are very useful; one is found all through -the United States, and the other is a more southern species, found -usually south of New England. The first is the Short-eared or Marsh Owl, -and the other is the Barn Owl. - -“All Owls, in a way, look very much alike, in spite of difference in -colour and size. They have round, feathered heads, which they are -obliged to turn around when they wish to look, as their eyes are so -fixed in their sockets that they cannot roll them as other birds and -animals do; some have feather horns and some do not. They all have -talons, either covered by scales or feathers, with which they seize -their food, which they swallow whole. But between the Barn Owl and his -kin, the Horned, Hoot, and Screech Owls, there is a striking contrast. - -[Illustration: BARN OWL] - -“Look at those two in the case; they have round faces and circles of -feathers about the eyes. The Barn Owl has a heart-shaped face-disk, -about which the head-feathers cluster, making the bird look like a funny -old lady in a cap. This is the Owl that is usually described in -poetry—the Church Tower Owl, the Monkey-faced Owl, etc. - -“While you look at this bird listen to some of the things that the Wise -Men say of it. - -“The Barn Owl, strictly speaking, makes no nest. If occupying a natural -cavity of a tree, the eggs are placed on the rubbish that may have -accumulated at the bottom; if in a bank, they are laid on the bare -ground and among the pellets of fur and small bones ejected by the -parents. Frequently, quite a lot of such material is found in their -burrows, the eggs lying on, and among, the refuse. Incubation usually -commences with the first egg laid, and lasts about three weeks. The eggs -are almost invariably found in different stages of development, and -downy young may be found in the same nest with fresh eggs. Both sexes -assist in incubation. One of the best methods of studying the food -habits of Owls is to gather the pellets which they disgorge. These -consist of the undigested refuse of their food, hair, bones, feathers, -etc. Sometimes enormous quantities of this refuse are found in the -nesting-place of the Barn Owl, one recorded instance being two or three -cubic feet. When the tired farmer is buried deep in slumber, and nature -is repairing the waste of wearied muscles, this night-flying bird -commences its beneficial work, which ceases only at the rising of the -sun. All that has been written regarding the food of the Barn Owl shows -it to be of inestimable value to agriculture. Major Bendire says: -‘Looked at from an economic standpoint, it would be difficult to point -out a more useful bird than this Owl, and it deserves the fullest -protection; but, as is too often the case, man, who should be its best -friend, is generally the worst enemy it has to contend with, and it is -ruthlessly destroyed by him, partly on account of its odd appearance and -finely coloured plumage, but oftener from the erroneous belief that it -destroys the farmer’s poultry.’ - -“In the West, the food of the Barn Owl consists very largely of pouched -gophers, a specially destructive mammal, also ground-squirrels, rabbits, -and insects. In the southern states large numbers of cotton rats are -destroyed, a fact which should be appreciated by every planter. - -“So you see, children, that those farmers who live within the range of -the Barn Owl can not only safely let it nest under their roofs, but give -the barn mice into its keeping, for it will do more good and less harm -than the usual prowling cat. - -“The Short-eared Owl is unlike his brethren in that his nest, lined with -a few feathers or grass, is in a hollow in the ground or in a bunch of -tall weeds or grasses. He is also what is called a cosmopolitan Owl, -which means that he is equally at home in all parts of the country, and, -during the migrations and in the winter, these Owls sometimes live in -flocks of one hundred or more, which, considering the usual solitary -habits of Owls, is something to remember particularly. - -[Illustration: SHORT-EARED OWL] - -“As its nest is in moist, grassy meadows, so also does it spend much of -its time in the open, shunning the deep woods beloved of other Owls, -while it flies freely by day, except in the brightest weather. On cloudy -days it flies low over the meadows, in which it searches carefully for -its food. On the wing, it is easy and graceful, its flight being more -like that of a Hawk than the heavy swoop of the Owl. Its wings are long -in proportion to its body, which makes it appear very large when in -flight. - -“The Short-eared Owls delight in carrying their food to a hayrick or -some such object, where they eat it at leisure. This same food of the -Short-eared Owl, in itself, is a letter of recommendation,—for it -consists of meadow-mice, gophers, and shrews (that are such a nuisance -in the West), grasshoppers, insects, and occasionally a bird,—so that, -like the Barn Owl and the Long-eared or Cat Owl, his brother, this bird -deserves full protection. - -“Another cause has done many an owl to death,—not his ‘fatal gift of -beauty,’ that has made so many birds become bonnet martyrs, but the fact -that the Owl looks so wise that he was supposed to be the favourite bird -of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. For this reason, people like to have -stuffed Owls in their libraries to sit and look wise on a bookcase top. - -“Thus many of the birds that have escaped the farmers have been shot by -collectors for the taxidermists or bird-store folk. Now the Wise Men are -making laws which will, we hope, protect the useful birds of prey from -this fate as they do the beautiful songsters; but it is not enough to -make laws, it is the business of each one of us to see that they are -carried out. - -“I have a very amusing poem about an Owl in my scrap-book. When you have -read it, you may guess, if you can, to which Owl the author refers.” - - - THE EARLY OWL - - An Owl once lived in a hollow tree, - And he was as wise as wise could be. - The branch of learning he didn’t know - Could scarce on the tree of knowledge grow; - He knew the tree from branch to root, - And an Owl like that can afford to hoot. - - And he hooted until, alas! one day - He chanced to hear in a casual way - An insignificant little bird - Make use of a term he had never heard. - He was flying to bed in the dawning light, - When he heard her singing with all her might: - “Hurray! hurray! for the early worm!” - “Dear me,” said the Owl, “what a singular term! - I would look it up if it weren’t so late. - I must rise at dusk to investigate. - Early to bed and early to rise - Makes an Owl healthy, and stealthy, and wise!” - - So he slept like an honest Owl all day, - And rose in the early twilight gray, - And went to work in the dusky light - To look for the early worm at night. - He searched the country for miles around, - But the early worm was not to be found; - So he went to bed in the dawning light - And looked for the “worm” again next night. - And again and again, and again and again, - He sought and he sought, but all in vain, - Till he must have looked for a year and a day - For the early worm in the twilight gray. - - At last in despair he gave up the search, - And was heard to remark as he sat on his perch, - By the side of his nest in the hollow tree: - “The thing is as plain as the night to me— - Nothing can shake my conviction firm; - There’s no such thing as the early worm.” - - —Oliver Herford. - -[Illustration: MARSH HAWK] - -“I can’t tell exactly which it was,” said Tommy Todd, when he was -through laughing; “but I know which it wasn’t—it wasn’t the Short-eared -Owl, for he doesn’t get up to breakfast at night, and so if he had -looked for the early worm he would have found him.” - - - THREE USEFUL HAWKS - - _The Marsh Hawk, Harrier, Blue Hawk._ - - _Length_: 17-19 inches; female averaging two inches longer. - - _Male_: Above, bluish gray; below, white mottled with brown; - wings brownish, long, and pointed; tail long; upper tail-coverts - white. - -The Marsh Hawk is the most harmless and beneficial of its family; it -feeds upon reptiles, locusts, grasshoppers, and small mammals, and never -disturbs domestic poultry. - -In this locality it is more plentiful in the bogs near fresh ponds, and -in the vicinity of rivers, than in the salt-marshes. - -It is the summer-day Hawk, and the species most frequently seen in the -warmest months. It flies by night as well as day, however, and is often -a companion of the Screech Owl in its nocturnal rambles. - - _The Red-shouldered Hawk_ - - _Length_: 18-19 inches. Also miscalled “Hen-hawk.” The - Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper’s Hawk are the real “Hen-hawks.” - - _Male_: Grayish brown above; feathers edged with rusty brown; - wings barred black and white; “shoulder” rusty red; tail black, - and barred and tipped with slate; black streaks on throat; - underparts buff. - -One of the large Hawks; to be distinguished by a rust-red shoulder -patch; is the most common of the long, broad-winged Buzzard Hawks that -are seen flying in circles in the days of autumn and early spring. It -kills field-mice and other gnawers. - - _The American Sparrow Hawk_ - - _Length_: 10 inches. - - _Male_: Reddish back barred with black; reddish tail, with black - band and white tip; head with reddish spot on crown, slaty blue, - as are also wings, the latter having white bars; a black mark - back and front of ear; underparts varying from cream to buff. - -A very handsome bird, though somewhat of a cannibal; the Wise Men wish -him protected for the following reasons:— - -“When in doubt regarding the identity of a small Hawk, give the benefit -of the doubt to the Hawk, and refrain from killing it, for you may thus -spare a valuable bird, belonging to a species that during every twelve -months renders service to the agricultural industry of the country that -is far beyond computation, but if measured in dollars and cents would -reach to very high figures. - -“This appeal for protection of the Sparrow Hawks, and the statements as -to their value, would be worthless if they could not be supported by -_facts_. - -“Dr. Fisher summarizes as follows: ‘The subject of this Hawk is one of -great interest, and, considered in its economic bearings, is one that -should be carefully studied. The Sparrow Hawk is almost exclusively -insectivorous, except when insect food is difficult to obtain. In -localities where grasshoppers and crickets are abundant, these Hawks -congregate, often in moderate-sized flocks, and gorge themselves -continuously. Rarely do they touch any other form of food until, either -by advancing season or other natural causes, the grasshopper crop is so -lessened that their hunger cannot be appeased without undue exertion. -Then other kinds of insects and other forms of life contribute to their -fare, and beetles, spiders, mice, shrews, small snakes, lizards, or even -birds may be required to bring up the balance. - -“‘In some places in the West and South, telegraph poles pass for miles -through treeless plains and savannas. For lack of better perches, the -Sparrow Hawks often use these poles for resting-places, from which they -make short trips to pick up a grasshopper or mouse, which they carry -back to their perch. At times, when grasshoppers are abundant, such a -line of poles is pretty well occupied by these Hawks. In the vicinity of -Washington, D.C., remarkable as it may appear to those who have not -interested themselves specially in the matter, it is the exception not -to find grasshoppers or crickets in the stomachs of the Sparrow hawks, -even when killed during the months of January and February, unless the -ground is covered with snow. It is wonderful how the birds can discover -the half-concealed, semi-dormant insects, which in colour so closely -resemble the ground or dry grass. Whether they are attracted by a slight -movement, or distinguish the form of their prey as it sits motionless, -is difficult to prove, but, in any case, the acuteness of their vision -is of a character which we are unable to appreciate. - -“‘In the spring, when new ground or meadow is broken by the plough, they -often become very tame if not molested. They fly down, even alighting -under the very horses, for an instant, in their endeavour to capture an -unearthed mouse or insect.’” - -“Aren’t there any _bad_ Hawks, then?” asked little Bobby, incredulously, -for to him the cry of “Hawk!” and the sight of the hired man with the -gun came together. - -“Yes, Bobby, plenty of them, even hereabouts; the Sharp-shinned and the -Chicken or Cooper’s Hawk, both of them flash out of the sky and pounce -cruelly on both game- and song-birds. And, let me tell you all -something, though I do not wish to kill any birds needlessly, yet I -would not let any of these Hawks, useful or otherwise, nest or feed near -Birdland, and I should have Jacob frighten them away with blank -cartridges, because the very sight of them terrifies the beautiful -song-birds that we love, and that trust us and confide in our -protection. - -“The little Screech Owls may play about if they will, but neither Crows, -Jays, Hawks, nor English Sparrows can ever be welcome garden guests.” - -Something to remember about Hawks and Owls.—_The female is always -larger than the male!_ - -[Illustration: SPARROW HAWK] - - - - - XIII - TREE-TRUNK BIRDS - - -_Woodpeckers—Nuthatches and the Brown Creepers_ - -By the time November came in but few birds were to be seen about the -schoolhouse at Foxes Corners. For until Gray Lady came, no one had taken -an interest either in the appearance of the schoolbuilding itself or the -ragged bit of ground upon which it stood. Now four sugar-maples had been -transplanted from the near-by woods, and set where they would shade the -windows in the warm days of early summer and fall and yet not interfere -with winter sunshine; and Gray Lady had promised that by spring there -should be some benches along the north fence, where there was shade from -the white birches in the wood-lot beyond. That is, she had promised the -wood for the benches and Jacob’s aid in their planning; for the rest, -the boys were to do the work themselves, for after Thanksgiving four or -five large boys would come to school,—Tommy Todd’s brother Everett, who -was sixteen, and the two Judds, his cousins,—Walter, also sixteen, and -Irving, fourteen,—being among them. - -All of these boys knew something about the handling of tools, and, if -they chose to join the Kind Hearts’ Club, would be valuable allies. -Sometimes, however, big boys, even though they are not cruel, laugh at -such societies, and so Gray Lady had made up her mind to let them ask to -come to the class in the workroom as if it was a privilege they desired -rather than as a favour to herself. - -One bit of carpentry she asked Jacob to undertake, that no time should -be lost, and that was the bird lunch-counter for the school grounds. As -the flagpole was fastened to the schoolhouse, Jacob had utilized the -gnarled stump of a half-dead wild-apple tree, the bark of which was -seamed and scarred by the initials cut on it by many generations of -scholars. Above the platform, to hold the crumbs and grain, he had -fastened, between the two remaining branches, a slanting roof made of -some old mossy shingles, and at the edge of this he had stuck half a -dozen crooked spikes to hold bacon rind or suet or anything, like -chicken bones, that might be left from the dinner-pails, as many of the -children, owing to distance from home, always brought their lunch to -school during the winter and spring terms. - -This lunch-counter was in place when Gray Lady went to the school the -first Friday afternoon in November, and she brought an additional -surprise with her,—two pictures or charts that could be unrolled and -hung on the wall like the great map.[2] Each of these charts held the -pictures of some twenty-five birds done in colours and of natural size, -and with each there was a little book telling about the birds. - -The charts were to be lent to the five other schools in the township in -turn, but the children at Foxes Corners were so delighted with them that -they resolved that the first money that the Kind Hearts’ Club earned -should go to buy other pairs of the charts, so that they could not only -have some for their very own, but that the other schools, who had no -Gray Lady for their fairy god-mother, could have them also. - -After the first few weeks, Gray Lady found that it would be best, on the -Fridays when she visited the school, simply to read to the children -stories of the birds that they had either seen at Birdland or that they -already knew by sight, from various books and magazines; as she had at -her house so many books, pictures of birds, and the mounted birds -themselves, that it was much easier for them to name unknown birds there -than at school. - - * * * * * - -“The singing-birds have all gone,” said Sarah Barnes, the second -Saturday of November, as she went to work upon the last piece of her -doll’s outfit—the cloak for the Red Riding-Hood that she was dressing. - -“We still have a Song Sparrow down in the meadow,” said Goldilocks, “and -there are plenty of Bluebirds and Robins about, and Grackles and -Cowbirds, but the Song Sparrow is the only one that pretends to sing a -nice little song.” - -“I guess we’ll have to go ahead to the spring birds or there won’t be -anything to learn about until they come back,” chimed in Eliza Clausen, -who was at work on a doll baby, and as her fingers were long and -slender, she succeeded in hemming the fine lawn, of which the dress was -made, very nicely. - -“No birds?” said Gray Lady, raising her eyebrows. “Open the window -nearest you, Sarah, and do both you and Eliza look out and listen.” - -“I don’t see anything, and I only hear different kinds of squeaks,” said -Eliza. - -“I hear the squeaks,” said Sarah, “but I see a gray bird out here on the -roof, with black on top of his head and white underneath, and he’s got a -long beak and a short tail. Why, he’s just stuffed something that he had -in his beak in between the shingles. Now he’s crying ‘quank-quank’ and -flying toward the orchard.” - -“That,” said Gray Lady, “is the White-breasted Nuthatch, one of our best -winter friends, for though he summers with us, like the Chickadee and -the Woodpeckers, it is not until the other birds have gone, and the -trees are bare of leaves, that we really seem to see and appreciate him. - -“This Nuthatch is one of the tree-trunk birds that you will learn to -know so well, before winter is over, that you will never forget them; -for, though they have no song to speak of, their cleverness and the good -they do when other birds have gone more than make up for lack of music.” - -“What do you mean by tree-trunk birds?” asked Clary; “I thought that -birds liked leafy branches the best.” - -“Most birds do prefer the leafy branches,” said Gray Lady; “that is why -I call this little group, who do not, ‘tree-trunk birds,’ for all their -little lives are spent so close to the heart of the wood that they seem -almost to be parts of the tree. - -[Illustration: R. H. Beebe, Photo. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH] - -“These birds not only make their nests in the wood itself by hollowing -out partly decayed places in branch and trunk, but they gain the greater -part of their food by searching the cracks in the tree bark for insects -that live there, and which other birds, that spend their lives among the -leafy twigs, cannot find. - -“This quarrying food from the bark makes it possible for them to stay -about the vicinity of their nesting-haunts all winter; for many forms of -insect life winter in the bark crevices of forest as well as fruit trees -where the eggs hatch out, and the larvae undergo transformation early in -the season and begin to do mischief before the migrant birds return. - -“If it were not for sleet storms, that cover the tree with a coating of -ice for days at a time, these hardy, sociable little birds would be sure -of a good living in a neighbourhood like this, with many orchards and -strips of woodland. But when ice puts a lock on the pantry doors, what -can the poor birds do? - -“Owing to their frail structure and warm blood, they require more -constant fuel to keep the life-fire alive than the four-footed animals, -so that when hunger and cold travel hand in hand, they have to make a -brave fight for life. For generations this freezing up has happened to -them, and so, by experience, they have learned when food is plenty to -try and save it up. - -“The Nuthatch, that Sarah has just seen stowing something away under the -shingles, is living very well at present. In spite of hard frost, wild -food is plentiful; then, too, the lunch-counter is amply supplied with -suet. The birds do not really need help as yet, but we put the food -there so that they may know where to find it when hard times come.” - -“I should think the lunch-counter, with lots of easy food, would make -the birds lazy so’s they wouldn’t work for a living,” said Dave. “Pop -says, feeding tramps everywhere only makes more folks turn tramp, so now -he can’t get anybody to work at haying or wood-cutting for food and fair -pay.” - -“Ah, but that shows the difference between wild birds and what is called -‘civilized’ man,” said Gray Lady. “The Nuthatches do not sit still and -gorge themselves, but are busy providing for the future. Yesterday, I -saw one of these same birds packing away little bits of suet in a -crevice under the roof of the side porch, and another using the thatch -on the summer-house for a larder. So it would seem that they distribute -the food in different places. If one cupboard is frozen up, one of the -others may be in the sun. - -“A pair of Nuthatches found that the cornice of the main roof, under the -tin gutter, was in poor shape, and kindly called my attention to it by -boring into the wood and nesting in the space within. Five little birds -were hatched, and I believe that the party of seven, that are so tame -and come about the house so freely, are the birds hatched in the cornice -and their parents.” - -“I shouldn’t think that you would like them to make holes in the house,” -said Tommy, “for the water might get in and do lots of harm, just the -same as Woodpeckers that make holes in the trees and spoil them.” - -“That is where people make a mistake about these tree-trunk birds that -bore holes, and think that they are mischievous and destructive, whereas -they never pierce bark unless an insect lurks beneath, and when they -bore a nest-hole in a tree, it is the same as saying to its owner, ‘See, -this wood is dead; I am making use of what is otherwise useless to you -and I will pay you rent by protecting your other trees from harm. If you -watch well, you will see how many hairy caterpillars, birch-lice, and -wood-boring beetles I will kill in the year.’” - -“The gutter is all mended and painted now, so the Nuthatches can’t nest -there next season, and I guess they will be very sorry,” said Clary, who -had taken her turn at looking out the window. - -“Yes, the cornice has been mended, but Jacob has hollowed out a bit of -hickory branch with the bark on it, and has fastened it firmly under the -cornice with screws, so that when the birds look up their home in -spring, they will find a new one so close to the old place that I hope -they will move into it. In fact, those pictures in the workroom, of -bird-homes made of hollowed-out logs, were designed especially to -attract these tree-trunk birds and their little companions, the -Chickadees, who, though they search the twigs for food, love the trunk -also, and nest in a wood hollow like the Woodpeckers, themselves.” - -“He’s come back again, but he hasn’t brought suet this time; it’s some -kind of a big seed that won’t stay in the shingle crack, so he’s -pounding it in,” said Sarah, looking over Clary’s shoulder and dropping -her sewing, so interested was she in the movements of the bird. “There, -he’s going away and walking down the roof head first; I don’t see why he -doesn’t slip and fall, the same as I did once when I tried to walk down -the back stairs on my hands and knees head first, ’cause brother dared -me.” - -Gray Lady hurried to the window in time to see the Nuthatch give a final -pound to the object that was wedged between the shingles. With her -opera-glasses, she discovered that it was the empty shell of a beechnut. - -“This little bird has been kind enough to write the meaning of its -singular name here on the roof, evidently for the benefit of the Kind -Hearts’ Club, for I have been expecting that some of you would ask from -what the term ‘Nuthatch’ came.” - -“I thought it was a funny name, but then lots of birds’ names seem -queer, until you hear about them,” said Eliza Clausen. - -“This bird is very fond of nuts,” continued Gray Lady, “not the very -hard ones like butternuts, but the smaller acorns, chestnuts, and -especially the little three-cornered beechnuts, with the sweet meat. -Having no teeth to crack them like a squirrel, and not being able to use -his beak for a nutcracker, he wedges the nut fast and then uses his -sharp, strong bill for a hatchet and hatches the nut open; by this he -has earned his name, ‘Nuthatch.’ - -“There is another name that Goldilocks once gave him that is quite as -good, and that would remind you of him wherever you hear it,—the -‘Upside-down’ bird!—for what other bird that you know can climb about -as he does?” - -“Woodpeckers do,” cried Tommy and Dave, together. - -“Yes, and there’s another bird, little and brown and striped, that’s -only here in winter and goes up and down all over the tree-trunks. I saw -one this morning when I was coming up,” said Sarah, “and I guess -Chickadees can go upside down, too, for I saw one hanging on to a fir -cone yesterday, and it was head down.” - -Gray Lady laughed. “You all doubtless _think_ that all these other birds -climb like the Nuthatch, but this is a case of wrong seeing, which is -simply another form of not really paying attention; for not one of them -walks upside down in the same way. Hear what one of our poets says of -this:— - - - TO A NUTHATCH - - Shrewd little hunter of woods all gray, - Whom I meet on my walk of a winter day, - You’re busy inspecting each cranny and hole - In the ragged bark of yon hickory bole; - You, intent on your task, and I, on the law - Of your wonderful head and gymnastic claw! - - The Woodpecker well may despair of this feat— - Only the fly with you can compete. - So much is clear; but I fain would know - How you can so reckless and fearless go, - Head upward, head downward, all one to you, - Zenith and nadir the same to your view. - - —Edith M. Thomas, in _Bird-Lore_. - - Even the woodpeckers, supplied, as they are, with a reversed toe - and a stiff, supporting tail, cannot compete with the Nuthatches - in descending head first. The Woodpecker, in going down the - trunk, finds itself in the same predicament as the bear,—its - climbing tools work only one way. It is dependent on its stiff - tail for support, and so must needs hop down backwards. The - Creeper is still more hidebound in its habits, and its motto - seems to be “Excelsior.” It begins at the foot of its ladder, - and climbs ever upwards. But the climbing ability of the - Nuthatch is unlimited. It circles round the branches, or moves - up, down, and around the trunks, apparently oblivious to the law - of gravitation. Its readiness in descending topsyturvy is due, - in part, to the fact that, as the quills of its tail are not - stiff enough to afford support, it is obliged to depend upon its - legs and feet. As it has on each foot three toes in front and - only one behind, it reverses the position of one foot in going - head downward, throwing it out sidewise and backward, so that - the three long claws on the three front toes grip the bark and - keep the bird from falling forward. The other foot is thrown - forward, and thus, with feet far apart, the “little gymnast has - a wide base beneath him.” The Nuthatch not only straddles in - going down the tree, but spreads its legs widely in going around - the trunk, but bird artists generally seem to have overlooked - this habit. The slightly upturned bill of the Nuthatch, and its - habit of hanging upside down, give it an advantage when in the - act of prying off scales of bark, under which many noxious - insects are secreted. - - —E. H. Forbush. - -“The little, brown-striped bird that Sarah saw this morning, that -somewhat resembles a Wren, is the Brown Creeper, for it creeps like a -veritable feathered mouse. Though it is a true tree-trunk bird, in that -it lives and nests as close to the heart of wood as possible, it has a -slender needle-like bill for picking out insects; but it cannot bore -wood with it, so it has to be content to make its home between the wood -and the bark. - -“This bird comes to us in middle New England only as a winter visitor, -and well does it pay its way by eating grubs and insect eggs. It does -not seem very shy, hereabouts, but in the nesting time it loves deep, -silent forests and the cedar swamps of the North, and it is only in -these places that its strange, sweet song may be heard, which is -something that I have never heard successfully imitated or put into -syllables, but Mr. Brewster, who is one of the Wise Men who knows, says -it is like the soft sigh of the wind among the pine boughs. - -“It is in these deep woods, also, that it nests. Discovering a tree -where the bark is loose and yet does not strip off too easily, this -little Creeper finds a nook of the right size, which he lines with soft -bark, moss, or bits of wood so thoroughly decayed that it is like -sponge, and in this bed are laid six or eight pretty little lavender -eggs with brown spots wreathed about the larger end. - -“When the Creeper comes to us, he has evidently forgotten home and -family cares as well as his beautiful song, for he only favours us with -a very scratchy squeak, as if a file at work on a wire and a couple of -crossed tree branches were striving to see which could sing the better. -But he is as busy as busy can be, and acts as if he were practising for -a race in climbing the stairs of a lighthouse tower. - -“At the bottom of the tree, he starts and goes up and around without a -pause until he is two-thirds of the way up and the more frequent -branches bother him. Then he stops a moment to rest, bracketing himself -against the tree by the sharp point of his tail-feathers, which -arrangement he possesses in common with the Chimney Swift and the -Woodpeckers. Next, without warning, he flits with a backward tilt either -to the base of another tree, or to the same one, and again begins to -climb; so for him the Stair-climber would be a good name. - -“He, also, when the trees are ice-plated, will come gladly to the -lunch-counter, I know, for as a girl, long before I left home, this -Creeper used to feed upon the scraps that I put upon my window-ledge; -for, though people here have been feeding birds in winter this long -while, it has only been since the Wise Men have told us of the -particular needs of each bird family that we have been able to do it -intelligently, and to the best advantage. - -“There are some verses in my scrap-book about this tree-trunk bird, -also, and it seems as if our poets were very fond of these songless -birds who inspire them as much by their friendliness as the others do by -melody. I hope that a couple of you will learn this to recite at -Christmas. As there are four verses, each can learn two, and then -alternate in repeating them. - - - THE LITTLE BROWN CREEPER - - “Although I’m a bird, I give you my word - That seldom you’ll know me to fly; - For I have a notion about locomotion, - The little Brown Creeper am I, - Dear little Brown Creeper am I. - - “Beginning below, I search as I go - The trunk and the limbs of a tree, - For a fly or a slug, a beetle or bug; - They’re better than candy for me, - Far better than candy for me. - - “When people are nigh I’m apt to be shy, - And say to myself, ‘I will hide,’ - Continue my creeping, but carefully keeping - Away on the opposite side, - Well around on the opposite side. - - “Yet sometimes I peek while I play hide-and-seek - If you’re nice I shall wish to see you; - I’ll make a faint sound and come quite around - And creep like a mouse in full view, - Very much like a mouse to your view.” - - —Garrett Newkirk, in _Bird-Lore_. - -“I guess I know what the other tree-trunk birds are, Gray Lady; they’re -Woodpeckers,” said little Bobby, who seemed to have grown taller and -broader ever since the day that Jacob had put a jack-knife in his hand -and taught him to carve a wooden spoon, and he felt himself to be a -full-fledged boy. - -“Some Woodpeckers are pretty bad, though, ’cause grandpa caught a whole -bunch of ’em early last spring sucking the juice out of the apple trees -in the young orchard, and Uncle Bill, over the mountain, said they did -the same to his sugar-maples. I saw what they did, myself, and you can -see, too, if you stop up at our house some time when you are passing, -for the marks are there,—little round holes, all in rows so as they -make squares like the peppery holey plasters grandma wears for a lame -back. They were awfully pretty birds, too—all red on the head and neck, -and black and white speckled on top, and yellow underneath, and black -across the front. I had a good chance to see it, ’cause grandpop was -hoppin’ mad and tried to shoot them, and he did get one of the prettiest -of them all. Some of them that were on the apple tree didn’t have so -many colours in their feathers.” - -“Perhaps those were females,” said Sarah Barnes. - -“Yes, the paler ones are the females and lack the red throat and -sometimes the red head-feathers, also,” said Gray Lady, “for this bird -is called the Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, because it has, as -Bobby has told us, the bad habit of not only boring into trees for -insects, but sucking the sap as well, and when a number of them are -found together, of course, they are likely to do harm. Still, to my -mind, the very worst that they do is to give a bad name to the family of -the most industrious insect-eating birds that we have. - -“Even though this Sapsucker takes enough sap to have earned his title, -he keeps up the family record as an insect eater, for he has a form of -the pointed tongue with hooked bristles on the end, like all -Woodpeckers, and this weapon acts both as a spear and trap to catch -insects. Then, too, the Sapsucker is not a permanent resident, like many -of his family, but nests early in the most northerly states and travels -about during a great part of the year. As he can only suck sap during -the growing season, and eats insects the year around, besides many wild -berries—such as those of poison ivy, dogwood, etc.—that are of no use -to us, I think he should be forgiven his sip of fresh spring sap, except -where, as in the case of Bobby’s grandfather, he is caught in the act of -hurting valuable trees. - - - THE SAPSUCKER - - A bacchant for sweets is the Sapsucker free! - “The spring is here, and I’m thirsty!” quoth he: - “There’s good drink, and plenty stored up in this cave; - ’Tis ready to broach!” quoth the Sapsucker brave. - - A bacchant for sweets! “’Tis nectar I seek!” - And he raps on the tree with his sharp-whetted beak; - And he drinks, in the wild March wind and the sun, - The coveted drops, as they start and run. - - He girdles the maple round and round— - ’Tis heart-blood he drinks at each sweet wound; - And his bacchanal song is the tap-tap-tap, - That brings from the bark the clear-flowing sap. - - —Edith M. Thomas, in _Bird-Lore_. - -“How many kinds of Woodpeckers are there around here?” asked Eliza -Clausen. “I didn’t know there was but one, the great big one, thick like -a Pigeon, all speckled black and brown on top, with a red spot on his -head and a big white spot over his tail. We had two down at our farm -this summer, and they lived in a hole in the old wild cherry, and they -laid real nice white eggs, just as white as our Leghorns.” - -“How’d you know they had white eggs?” asked Clary. “You can’t see into a -Woodpecker’s hole.” - -“No; I could reach in, though. I didn’t keep the egg, and only looked at -it, and one of the old birds bit me something fierce. They’re real -plucky birds, anyway, whatever they are called, for nobody seems to give -them the same name. Mother says they are Pigeon Woodpeckers, and Dad -calls them Yallerhammers, and both names fit pretty well.” - -“There are half a dozen Woodpeckers to be found here, but the one that -Eliza has described and the little black-and-white streaked Downy -Woodpecker are the most familiar as well as the most useful of them all. -As to Eliza’s Pigeon Woodpecker or Yellowhammer, the poor bird is -weighed down by over thirty popular names,—Northern Flicker, -Golden-winged Woodpecker, Wake-up, Gaffer, and Partridge Woodpecker -being among them, though the Wise Men who settle these things for us -have decided to call him merely ‘the Flicker.’ - -“In spite of the fact that, owing to his size and plumpness, the Flicker -has been until recently allowed to be shot as a game-bird, he is our -commonest Woodpecker, and spring would not be the same in this woodland -region if we did not hear the roll of the drum, as he beats on a branch, -that announces the coming of the feathered procession of migrants. - -“Then, too, it is such a jolly bird, it calls out ‘wick, wick, wick,’ as -soon as the ponds are free of ice, and this call he changes to -‘wicker-wicker’ as soon as the courting begins; at this time the birds -show to the best advantage. The rival birds are perfectly friendly, but -‘they play curious antics, each trying to outdo the other in the display -of his golden beauty, that he may thus attract and hold the attention of -the female. There is no fighting, but, in its place, an exhibition of -all the airs and graces that rival dandies can muster. Their -extravagant, comical gestures, rapidly changing attitudes, and exuberant -cries, all seem laughable to the onlooker, but evidently give pleasure -to the birds.’—Forbush. - -[Illustration: FLICKER] - -“The Flicker spends more time on the ground, itself, than the others of -its family; and it has a slightly curved beak, but its tongue is very -long, and the fine points on the end are set backward like the barbs of -a fish-hook. Its most valuable work is as an ant-eater, and as one of -the Wise Men says: ‘This bird is more of an ant-eater than a Woodpecker. -It may be seen in fields and open spaces, in woods and orchards, where -it strikes its long bill into ant-hills, and then thrusts out its still -longer tongue coated with sticky saliva and licks up the out-rushing -ants by the dozen. Many kinds of ants are decidedly harmful, as they -attend, protect, and help to spread plant-root, or bark-lice, which are -among the greatest enemies of garden plants, also shrubs and trees. -These lice the ants keep as cows to nourish their young with green, -sappy milk. Ants also infest houses and destroy timber.’ - -“Some people complain that the Flicker bores holes in the attics of -houses, and also under eaves when searching for nesting-places, and also -for winter shelter. This is true, doubtless, but as the Nuthatch told me -that my cornice was decayed and needed mending, so the working of a -Flicker about any building should be a warning to the owner to look and -see if repairs are not needed. - -“Our neighbour, Mr. Burwood, the florist, on the next hill, who, in -spite of the fact that he must keep his eyes indoors on the splendid -carnations and roses he grows, still has a glance or two to spare for -the birds, told me, not long ago, this story of a Flicker. It was in -early spring, and he was thinking of turning the water into a great -covered tank, mounted on high trestles, that supplies water for the -houses, that had been empty all winter; in fact, he had given the men -orders so to do. Early in the morning he heard a vigorous tapping high -up in the air, and tried in vain to locate it. The next morning, the -same sound came, when he traced it to a Flicker, hammering away at one -of the stout oaken staves of which the tank was made. - -“Thinking that the bird was trying an impossible task, he continued -about his work, but, after the hammering had continued for several days, -his suspicions were aroused, the tank was examined, and two holes were -found, drilled entirely through the stave, which, in spite of -appearances, was unsound and would, probably, have given out without -warning at some inconvenient season when repairs would have cut off the -water supply. - -“Always deal kindly with the Flicker, and never make the mistake of -confusing it with the Sapsucker; look for the _white spot on the rump_ -and the _yellow wing-linings_, and you will know it, and, though the -young of the year lack these marks at first, they have no yellow upon -their breasts that can excuse you for making a mistake. - - - MR. FLICKER WRITES A LETTER - - _People_: - - Tell me where you scare up - Names for me like “Flicker,” “Yarup,” - “High-hole,” “Yucker,” “Yellowhammer”— - None of these are in my grammar— - “Piquebois jaune” (Woodpick yellow), - So the Creoles name a fellow. - Others call me “Golden-wings,” - “Clape,” and twenty other things - That I never half remember, - Any summer till September. - - Many names and frequent mention - Show that I receive attention, - And the honour that is due me; - But if you would interview me - Call me any name you please, - I’m “at home” among the trees. - Yet I never cease my labours - To receive my nearest neighbours, - And ’twill be your best enjoyment - Just to view me at employment. - - I’m the friend of every sower, - Useful to the orchard grower, - Helping many a plant and tree - From its enemies to free— - They are always food for me. - And I like dessert in reason, - Just a bit of fruit in season, - But my _delicacy_ is _ants_, - Stump or hill inhabitants; - Thrusting in my sticky tongue, - So I take them, old and young. - - Surely, we have found the best - Place wherein to make our nest - Tunnel bored within a tree, - Smooth and clean as it can be, - Smallest at the door, - Curving wider toward the floor, - Every year we make a new one, - Freshly bore another true one; - Other birds, you understand, - Use our old ones, second-hand— - Occupying free of rent, - They are very well content. - - To my wife I quite defer, - I am most polite to her, - Bowing while I say, “kee-cher.” - Eggs we number five to nine, - Pearly white with finish fine. - On our nest we sit by turns, - So each one a living earns; - Though I think I sit the better, - When she wishes to, I let ’er! - Flicker. - - —Garrett Newkirk, in _Bird-Lore_. - -“Then, last and least in size, but chief in importance among the -tree-trunk birds, come the little Downy Woodpeckers, only as big as the -Tree-sparrow or Winter Chippy, as it is called, plump, all neatly -patterned in black and white, a scarlet band on the back of the neck, -while Mrs. Downy and the children lack even this bit of colour. You -cannot mistake this Woodpecker for any other, for his big brother the -Hairy Woodpecker, who has somewhat similar markings, is almost as big as -a Robin, besides being a more timid bird of the woods that does not come -about houses like the confiding and cheerful Downy. The Hairy Woodpecker -has a more harsh and screaming call-note than the clear, sharp cry of -the Downy. In watching birds, you should remember to keep the ears open -and trained to hearing as well as the eye to seeing, as a bird that -keeps too far away for the sight may oftentimes be recognized by its -note. - -[Illustration: F. M. Chapman, Photo. DOWNY WOODPECKER] - -“The Downy’s life is spent in the tree-trunks and hollow limbs, where he -merely chisels his doorway large enough, but with not a bit to spare, -and the hole within is nicely finished with a few soft chips by way of a -bed for the eggs; nice white eggs like all the Woodpeckers, and this -would seem to prove that thrifty Nature, knowing that the eggs would be -hidden in the dark nesting-hole, did not think it necessary to decorate -them for their better protection as she does the eggs laid in open -nests. - -“To name the injurious insects, moths, and caterpillars our little Downy -eats would require a long list, but, as he is a lover of orchards in -spring and summer, we may mention the apple-tree borer as one against -whom he wages war, and here, by his delicate sense of touch, he locates -the larvæ of the codling-moth. ‘Every stroke with which he knocks at the -door of an insect’s retreat sounds the crack of doom. He pierces the -bark with his beak, then with his barbed tongue drags forth an insect, -and moves on to tap a last summons on the door of the next in line.’ - -“Boring beetles, bark beetles, weevils, caterpillars, ants, and -plant-lice, the imagoes of night-moths, as well as the eggs of many -insects, are also on his bill of fare. Sometimes he has been accused of -boring holes for sap-sucking, but this is disproven; where a hole exists -it is because insect prey, in one of its many forms, hide beneath. - -“Fortunately, we have many families of the little Downy in the old -orchard, and the fact that they are good patrons of Goldilocks’ -lunch-counter does not seem to make them relax their vigilance about the -apple trees, so that I wonder if it may not be their care, together with -the other tree-trunk birds, to which we owe the keeping of the trees, -during the ten long years they have been neglected by man. For, though -the trees in Birdland are old, gnarled, and vine-draped, yet they are -neither worm-eaten nor unsightly, but merely picturesque, and from the -birds’ point of view cosy and homelike. - -“Now, boys, back into the workroom, and if any one of you has not made a -house for a tree-trunk bird, I am sure that he will begin one to-day.” - ------ - -[2] These fine charts may be purchased from the Audubon Society, State -of Massachusetts. - - - - - XIV - FOUR NOTABLES - - - _Grouse, Quail, Woodcock, and the Wood Duck_ - -The Saturday before Thanksgiving Tommy Todd came trudging up the road -toward “the General’s,” with an extremely contented expression on a face -that was usually more than cheerful, while he kept turning his head to -admire something that he carried in his right hand, twisting and -swinging it as he walked. The something was a beautiful male Ruffed -Grouse, or Partridge, as it is commonly called, in all the bravery of -its glossy neck-ruff and tail that when spread looks like that of a -miniature Wild Turkey. - -Together with the Grouse was a pair of Quail in rich, brown autumn coats -and snowy throats that excel those of the White-throated Sparrow itself. -Tommy’s father and his elder brother Joe, the Fair Meadows blacksmith, -had taken two “days off,” and gone a-hunting up to the upland -brush-country beyond the river woods, and these birds, a part of the -result, were a gift for Gray Lady and Goldilocks. Not only were the -birds in fine condition, but they were nicely tied together with some -sprays of trailing ground-pine and a little tuft of pungent wintergreen -with its coral berries. - -Gray Lady took the birds, and as she thanked Tommy for them, glanced -toward Goldilocks, who sat in the library window watching for the -children to come. When the young girl saw the birds, she gave an -exclamation, half of pleasure at their plumage, half of sorrow that they -were dead, for to keep everything alive and as happy as possible was her -inherent nature. But she knew that these were game- or “chicken-birds,” -as she had once called them when a mere baby, whose fate was to be -eaten, and that Tommy’s father had only followed a legitimate desire for -outdoor life and its sports when he had tramped more than thirty miles -for the hunting. So she merely said, as she smoothed the beautifully -shaded feathers, “I wish the Kind Hearts’ Club could do something to -make game-birds have a _very_ comfortable, good time, the part of the -year when they are not hunted; do you think we could, mother? For I -don’t think that this shy kind of bird will come to the lunch-counter, -and I’ve been wondering lately what they find to eat in such cold -winters as the last. Miss Wilde has told me that for weeks last winter -the snow was so deep that in going, from where she lived, a mile to -school, she never even saw a fence top, so if game-birds ‘feed chiefly -on the ground after the manner of barnyard fowls, roosting in low trees -and bushes,’ as one of my books says, I do not see why they do not -freeze and starve.” - -“That’s what Pop and Grand’ther and Joe were talking about last night,” -said Tommy; “they said that they travelled over miles of stubble-fields -and brush-lots where there used to be lots of birds, and now, in spite -of the laws in our place that are down on pot-hunters and won’t let game -be sold or carried away, and our having a keen county warden, the birds -seem to be melting away just the same.” - -[Illustration: Dr. C. K. Hodge, Photo. RUFFED GROUSE] - -“What did your father think was the reason?” asked Gray Lady, for she -remembered as a young girl that the General used to say, “Get a farmer -interested in a subject enough to make him really think, and you cannot -get better advice.” - -“Pop said all these new stiff-edged stone roads that are pushing out the -dirt and grass lanes may be mighty fine for automobiles and all the -other dust-raisers, but they’re poor trash for horses’ feet and -game-birds, ’cause the brush along the old roads both sides of the -fences made good cover and kept the snow, when it drifted, sort of -loose, so that the birds could get in and out to look for food. But when -everything is trimmed smooth, the snow lies flat and hard and crusty, -and the birds can’t get under to grub for food, and if they’re under and -it freezes on top of ’em, they can’t get out. - -“Grand’ther said that was so, but he reckoned there wasn’t so much for -the game-birds to eat, anyhow, because folks that used to raise just so -many acres of rye and wheat and oats and buckwheat had mostly given it -up and put their land down to meadows for hay, because that is the only -crop that there is a sure market for everywhere. Then Grand’ther said -that, between freezing and starving, and what was left being shot down -close, it’s a wonder there’s any Grouse left, or Bob-whites either.” - -“There, Goldilocks, you have your answer as to what the Kind Hearts’ -Club can do to make these food-birds comfortable during the ten months -of the year (in this state, Connecticut), when they may roam without -fear of hunting by honest sportsmen. The dishonest hunters and -pot-hunters, who do not care for law and order, we must watch and bring -to justice, just as we do any other class of criminals. - -“Some very good people are extremely careless about this, and would -arrest a hungry man for stealing a bottle of milk from a doorstep, and -yet even buy game from poachers whom they knew had taken it against the -law; doing this is a far more serious offence, for one of our Wise Men -has said that wild birds are not the property of the individual, but of -the Commonwealth.” - -“I wish these birds need never be shot; don’t you?” said Sarah Barnes. -“They are much prettier than some song-birds, and I’m sure that -Bob-white’s call is just as pleasant to hear as a song.” - -“Yes, Sarah, I should like to protect the game-birds also, unless in -cases where people, living away from places where other food can be had, -are really hungry. But there are two sides to this question, and the -Kind Hearts’ Club must always try to look at both, so as to be sure that -in being just to one, the other may not be misjudged. All over the -country there are hundreds of men who, for nearly all the year, are tied -to desks in offices, and their heads are weary and their bodies cramped. -The love of hunting is born in man, probably an inheritance from his -ancestors, who hunted for their living, just as the bird inherits the -instincts of migration from its parents and performs the journeys even -when there is no need. - -“This love of hunting leads the men out into the woods for a few weeks, -or even days, each year, and, besides the hunting, they meet Nature face -to face, and, whether they know it or not, come back better able to take -up the work of life, which is a harder struggle as the world gets older -and older. - -[Illustration: Dr. C. K. Hodge, Photo. JUST OUT -(Chicks of Domesticated Ruffed Grouse)] - -“Some people may not agree with me, but I had a good warm-hearted -father, who gave his life in the cause of humanity; yet he loved fair -hunting, and Goldilocks’ father did, also. So I think that the Kind -Hearts’ Club will not only be doing the game-bird a service, but man -also, if it can make and carry out a plan to feed and shelter these -birds, even in the space of Fair Meadows township. - -“I have been talking this over with some men who know the haunts of -these birds, and next month, if the big boys join us, I will tell you my -plan; for it will need sturdy fellows to carry it out, though you can -all help.” - -“Where do the Grouse nest, in bushes or on the ground?” asked Dave; -“I’ve never seen one, though I’ve found a Woodcock’s nest, and touched -the bird on it, she was so tame.” - -“They make their nest on the ground, Dave,” said Gray Lady; “not much of -a nest, merely a few leaves scratched together in a tree hollow. Now we -have these real birds here (for later I know that Tommy will let me -share them with Miss Wilde’s mother, who has been so ill, and her -appetite needs tempting), let us spend the morning with the game-birds; -Dave shall tell us of his Woodcock’s nest, and I have many little bits -in the scrap-book about the others, besides remembrances of my own. - -“Children, can you realize that when I was a girl of twelve, I could -stand of a May morn, by the old orchard bars, where the Birdland gate is -now, and hear twenty or thirty Bob-whites calling all the way across the -fields and brush-lots, until the Ridge shut off the sound? - - - BOB-WHITE - - “I own the country hereabout,” says Bob-white; - “At early morn I gayly shout, ‘I’m Bob-white!’ - From stubble-field and stake-rail fence - You hear me call without offence, - ‘I’m Bob-white! Bob-white!’ - Sometimes I think I’ll nevermore say Bob-white; - It often gives me quite away, does Bob-white; - And mate and I, and our young brood, - When separate, wandering through the wood, - Are killed by sportsmen I invite - By my clear voice—‘Bob-white! Bob-white!’ - Still, don’t you find I’m out of sight - While I am saying ‘Bob-white, Bob-white’?” - - —Charles C. Marble. - -“They rested in the orchard bushes and the edge of brush-lots, so that I -was as sure of seeing broods of little Quail as of our own little -barnyard chicks. In the autumn they seemed to know about the hunting as -soon as a gun was fired in the distance; then they grew shy, but by -Christmas the survivors, and they were many, would come about the -hay-barns for food as familiarly as the tree-trunk birds come to the -lunch-counter, and I have seen them eating cracked corn with the fowls -in the barnyard. - -[Illustration: Dr. C. K. Hodge, Photo. DOMESTICATED BOB-WHITE CALLING] - -“Not only is Bob-white a beautiful object in the landscape, when he sits -on a fence top overlooking the fields, but his voice is a delight to the -ear, when he either tells his own name, or gives the beseeching ‘covey -call,’ in autumn, to gather his scattered flock for the night. Then, on -the more useful or material side of the question, not only is his flesh -good for food, but, all through the year, he is one of the farmer’s good -friends, gleaning, day in and day out, besides the waste grain that he -loves, weed seeds, harmful beetles, such as the cucumber beetle, potato -and squash bugs, leaf beetles, the dreaded weevils, and the click -beetles, that are wire worms in a further stage of their development. - -“Ah me, but poor Bob-white, as he calls himself (bringing out the words -with peculiar jerks of the head), works for his living, and when you -think of the dangers he braves from foxes and snakes, rats and weasels, -birds of prey with wings, and the two-legged birds of prey,—the -poachers,—does it not seem that where his tribe is growing swiftly -less, he should not only be fed and sheltered, but, for a term of years, -there should be no open season, until this fertile and vigorous bird -should again increase and be able to hold its own against even fair -hunting? If the Quail needs this protection, doubly so does the Ruffed -Grouse, who is larger and can with greater difficulty conceal himself. - - - PARTRIDGES - (Ruffed Grouse) - - Under the alders, along the brooks, - Under the hemlocks, along the hill, - Spreading their plumage with furtive looks, - Daintily pecking the leaves at will; - Whir! and they float from the startled sight— - And the forest is silent, the air is still. - - Crushing the leaves ’neath our careless feet, - Snapping the twigs with a heavy tread, - Dreamy October is late and sweet, - And stooping we gather a blossom dead; - Boom! and our heart has a thunderous beat - As the gray apparition flits overhead. - - —Alonzo Teall Worden. - -“I will read you his story, written by a Wise Man of Massachusetts who -knows the game-birds from all sides.” - - “The Ruffed Grouse, the ‘King of American game-birds,’ was - abundant in all our woods, and was often seen in fields and - orchards, until its numbers were decimated by the gunner and the - survivors driven to the cover of the pines. The characteristic - startling roar of its wings, with which it starts away when - flushed from the ground, and its habit of drumming on a log, - have been often described. The speed with which the wings are - beaten in drumming makes it impossible for the human eye to - follow them and make sure whether they strike anything or not. - Naturalists, after long discussion, had come to believe that the - so-called ‘drumming,’ of the Ruffed Grouse was caused by the - bird beating the air with its wings, as described by Mr. William - Brewster; but now comes Dr. C. F. Hodge and reopens the - controversy by exhibiting a series of photographs, which seem to - show that the bird, in drumming, strikes the contour feathers of - the body. Strange as it may seem, there are many people who - often take outings in the country, yet have never heard the - drumming of this bird. This tattoo is most common in late winter - and early spring, but may be heard occasionally in summer and - not uncommonly in fall. While sounded oftenest during the day, - it may fall on the ear at any hour of the night. In making it, - the bird usually stands very erect on a hollow log or stump, - with head held high and ruffs erected and spread, and, raising - its wings, strikes downward and forward. The sound produced is a - muffled boom or thump. It begins with a few slow beats, growing - gradually quicker, and ends in a rolling, accelerated tattoo. It - has a ventriloquial property. Sometimes, when one is very close - to the bird, the drumming seems almost soundless; at other times - it sounds much louder at a distance, as if, through some - principle of acoustics, it were most distinctly audible at a - certain radius from the bird. It is the bird’s best expression - of its abounding vigour and virility, and signifies that the - drummer is ready for love or war. - - “The female alone understands the task of incubation and the - care of the young. Once, however, when I came upon a young - brood, the agonized cry of the distressed mother attracted a - fine cock bird. He raised all his feathers and, with ruffs and - tail spread, strutted up to within a rod of my position, - seemingly almost as much concerned as the female, but not coming - quite so near. The hen sometimes struts forward toward the - intruder in a similar manner, when surprised while with her - young. She can raise her ruffs and strut exactly like the cock. - - “The Grouse has so many enemies that it seems remarkable how it - can escape them, nesting as it does on the ground. Instances are - on record, however, where birds, that probably have been much - persecuted, have learned to deposit their eggs in old nests of - Hawks or Crows, in tall trees. Whenever the mother bird leaves - the nest, the eggs are easily seen, and, while she sits, it - would seem impossible for her whereabouts to remain a secret to - the keen-scented prowlers of the woods. But her colours blend so - perfectly with those of the dead leaves on the forest floor, and - she sits so closely, and remains so motionless among the - shadows, that she escapes the sharp-eyed Hawk. She gives out so - little scent that the dog, skunk, or fox passes quite near, - unnoticing. - - “The Grouse does not naturally fear man; more than once, in the - wilderness of the northwest, a single bird has walked up to - within a few feet of me. They will sit on limbs just above one’s - head, almost within reach, and regard one curiously, but without - much alarm. Usually, in Massachusetts, when a human being comes - near the nest, the mother bird whirs loudly away. She has well - learned the fear of man; but, in a place where no shooting was - permitted, a large gang of men were cutting under-brush, while a - Partridge, sitting there, remained quietly on her nest as the - men worked noisily all about her. Another bird, that nested - beside a woods road, along which I walked daily, at first would - fly before I had come within a rod of her; but later she became - confiding enough to sit on her nest while six persons passed - close beside her. Evidently the bird’s facility in concealing - her nest consists in sitting close and keeping her eggs well - covered. Her apparent faith in her invisibility is overcome only - by her fear of man or her dread of the fox. When the fox is seen - approaching directly toward her, she bristles up and flies at - him, in the attempt to frighten him with the sudden roar of her - wings and the impetuosity of her attack; but Reynard, although - at first taken aback, cannot always be deceived by such tricks; - and the poor bird, in her anxiety to defend her nest, only - betrays its whereabouts. Probably, however, the fox rarely finds - her nest, unless he happens to blunder directly into it. - -[Illustration: Dr. C. K. Hodge, Photo. GROUSE, SHOWING RUFF AND TAIL] - - * * * * * - - “During the fall the Grouse keep together in small flocks. - Sometimes a dozen birds may be found around some favourite - grape-vine or apple tree, but they are usually so harried and - scattered by gunners that toward winter the old birds may - sometimes be found alone. - - “As winter approaches, this hardy bird puts on its ‘snow-shoes,’ - which consist of a fringe of horny processes or pectinations - that grow out along each toe, and help to distribute the weight - of the bird over a larger surface, and so allow it to walk over - snows into which a bird not so provided would sink deeply. Its - digestion must resemble that of the famous Ostrich, as broken - twigs and dry leaves are ground up in its mill. It is a hard - winter that will starve the Grouse. A pair spent many winter - nights in a little cave in the rocky walls of an old quarry. - Sumacs grew there and many rank weeds. The birds lived well on - sumac berries, weed seeds, and buds. - - “Sometimes, but perhaps rarely, these birds are imprisoned under - the snow by the icy crust which forms in cold weather following - a rain, but usually they are vigorous enough to find a way out, - somewhere. The Grouse is perfectly at home beneath the snow; it - will dive into it to escape a Hawk, and can move rapidly about - beneath the surface and burst out again in rapid flight at some - unexpected place. - - “The Ruffed Grouse is a bird of the woodland, and though useful - in the woods, it sometimes does some injury in the orchard, by - removing too many buds from a single tree. In winter and early - spring, when other food is buried by the snow, and hard to - obtain, the Grouse lives largely on the buds and green twigs of - trees; but, as spring advances, insects form a considerable part - of the food. The young feed very largely on insects, including - many very destructive species.” - - —E. H. Forbush, in _Useful Birds and Their Protection_. - - - THE RUFFED GROUSE - - When the pallid sun has vanished - Under Osceola’s ledges, - When the lengthening shadows mingle - In a sombre sea of twilight, - From the hemlocks in the hollow - Swift emerging comes the Partridge; - Not a sound betrays her starting, - Not a sound betrays her lighting - In the birches by the wayside, - In her favoured place for budding. - When the twilight turns to darkness, - When the fox’s bark is sounding, - From her buds the Partridge hastens, - Seeks the soft snow by the hazels, - Burrows in its sheltering masses, - Burrows where no Owl can find her. - - —Frank Bolles. - -“You all know the path that runs by the grist-mill and up through the -river woods. In spring, I could almost count upon seeing a Grouse or two -when I took that walk, and very early, of September and October -mornings, I have seen the Woodcock probing, with their long, sensitive, -pointed bills, with which they can feel like fingers, in the muddy -ground back of the river woods for the worms, and such like, upon which -they feed. It was my father, himself, who took me one evening, even -though it was bedtime, to these same woods to hear the Woodcock’s -courting dance and song.” - -“I didn’t know any game-birds could sing,” said Tommy. - -“They are not classed with song-birds, and yet in courting time, most -birds have some sort of musical speech in addition to their call-notes; -you know that even Crows sometimes succeed in singing. But this -love-song varies with the individual bird more than it does with the -birds that are real vocalists. - -“The Woodcock feed chiefly at dawn and twilight, and it is easy to tell -where they have been by the little holes in the mud left by the bill. -This spring night father took me to the wood edge, and drew me to him, -to keep me still while we waited—for what? I was soon to know. - -“Presently a half-musical cry came out of the gathering darkness, and -was repeated and echoed by several others. Then a rush, as if a bird had -flung himself into the air and opened his wings at the same time; next, -a whirring sound as the bird circled skyward and vanished, his notes -falling behind him, but before I realized what was going on, the bird -dropped straight as a Hawk, balanced on his toes, gave a low, musical -cry, and began again; for thus it is that the Woodcock tries to please -and win his mate. - - - THE WOODCOCK’S WOOING - - Peent, -peent, -peent, -peent, - From the thick grass on the hill; - Peent, -peent, -peent, -peent, - At eve when the world is still. - - Then a sudden whistle of whirring wings,— - A rush to the upper air,— - And a rain of maddening music falls - From the whole sky,—everywhere! - - —Winifred Ballard Blake in _Bird-Lore_. - -“Dave, please tell us about the bird that you saw on the nest,” said -Gray Lady, “and how you came to find it.” - -“Half a dozen of us went out to hunt for May-flowers (Trailing Arbutus) -one Wednesday along the first part of April last year. Miss Wilde -thought Zella had measles, and school was closed two days, but doctor -found it was only a cold and eating too much sausage meat and sweet -pickles, and so they broke out, and he gave her rhubarb.” (Dave, having -been asked to tell all about it, was bound to omit no detail.) - -“The others of our crowd stayed along by the path that runs through the -wood, where you saw the birds dance, because there are black snakes -through the brush there that begin to crawl out to sun in April, and the -girls were scared of them. - -“I went on ahead a little piece, and turned up a side hill where there -was an old rail fence that divides our woods from the Cobbs’ piece. -Right in front of me I found a bully patch of May-flowers, and I sat -down and began cutting them with my knife (’cause they have wiry sort of -stems) and made them in a nice even bunch, when something ahead sort of -made me keep my eyes glued to it. It was under the slant of the lowest -fence rail. I thought it was a striped snake curled up round, at first, -because I felt eyes were looking at me, though it was too dark to see -them, at first. Did you ever have that feeling, Gray Lady?” - -“Yes, I have had it, Dave, and I know what a strange sensation it is. -The last time I had it I felt no better when I saw the eyes; in fact, -little cold shivers went all over, for I was far away from here, and the -eyes were those of a rattlesnake that was coiled up, amid the stones of -a ledge, where I was gathering some rare wild flowers.” - -“Oh, what _did_ you do?” cried all the children, together. - -“I backed away as fast as I could, keeping my eyes upon the snake, until -I was at a safe distance, where he could not spring at me, and then I -very foolishly ran! What did you do, Dave?” - -“I crept up nearer until I got a good look, and then I saw that it was a -bird. It was sitting ever so still, with its head well down on its -shoulders and its long beak close to its breast. It had queer, big eyes -set up on top of its head, and round like a frog’s, not like any other -bird that I know of.” - -“The eyes of the Woodcock and its cousins, the Snipe, are set in this -way, so that, when they are boring in the mud for food, they can keep -watch behind them as well as in front,” said Gray Lady. - -“First, I thought the bird was dead, it kept so still,” continued Dave, -“but I could see its breast raised a little with its breathing.” - -“If it had been dead, its eyes would have been closed,” said Gray Lady. -“It is one of the many mysterious and unaccountable facts about a bird, -that it is the only animal that closes its own eyes when death touches -it.” - -“It wasn’t afraid, so I thought that I would just smooth its feathers,” -said Dave. “I did, and it didn’t fly, only just puffed up a little, so I -thought I would lift it very carefully to see if there were any eggs -under it, and there were four nice, sort of round, light, brown eggs, -the colour that our Plymouth Rocks lay, only mottled. But the bird -didn’t like to be lifted, and she sort of growled inside, the way a hen -does, so I set her down and went away.” - -“That was a very pleasant experience of yours, Dave, and shows how tame -game-birds will become if they are kindly treated. This Woodcock has an -advantage over the Grouse and Bob-white, his cousin, because it travels -South in winter and constantly shifts its feeding-places, but it suffers -from other dangers: it is hunted in all the states through which it -passes, and the eggs are large enough to be very attractive, not only to -foxes and all the gnawing creatures of the woods, but to people as well. -If that nest and eggs had been seen by one of those foreign-born -poachers who come here thinking that everything they find out-of-doors, -and they can pocket, belongs to them, the poor Woodcock would have lost -her entire brood and perhaps her own life as well. - -[Illustration: E. Van Alterna, Photo. WOODCOCK ON NEST] - - * * * * * - -“These three land-birds, together with a number of wild ducks, that live -some on fresh and some near salt water, travelling North and South -according to season, are the legitimate game-birds of the country. Of -the wild ducks, the most of these breed in the far North, and are hunted -in their migrations. If this hunting is done fairly, as the law -prescribes, and the birds are not chased and shot at from moving boats, -or with repeating guns, or when startled from their sleep with flashing -lights, they seem able to hold their own. Humanity, however, demands -that they should not be hunted on their spring journeys on the way to -their nesting-haunts and when they may have already chosen mates. - -“One Duck there is, however, of exquisite plumage, gentle disposition, -and quiet, domestic habits, nesting about inland ponds and streams, in -the inhabited parts of the United States, from Florida up to Hudson Bay, -that is in danger of swift extinction if the protection given song-birds -is not extended to it. This is the Wood Duck, called in Latin ‘_Aix -Sponsa_’—‘Bridal Duck’—from the fact that the beauty of his plumage -was fit for a bridal garment. - -“Look at that bird, mounted on a mossy stump, in that case by the -window. When I was a girl, I have seen a half-dozen pairs in the pond -above the grist-mill, and I knew as surely where I could always find a -pair nesting as where I could find a Robin or Song Sparrow, but now it -is fast becoming a bird of the past, only to be seen in pictures. Why is -this? The reasons are many, and some, such as the settlement of the -country, and the draining of ponds and waterways, and the cutting down -of river brush, cannot be helped. - -“The Wood Duck nests in a tree hole, and, when the young are able to -leave the nest, the parents hold them in their bills and carry them to -the ground in somewhat the way in which cats remove their kittens from -place to place. Consequently, if the lumber is cleared, and no suitable -trees are left, what is this Duck to do? He cannot take to the chimneys -as the Swifts have. Still, this Duck, whose beauty alone is a sufficient -and patriotic reason for saving him to his country, might adapt his -nesting to other conditions if it could be protected as the Grouse, -Quail, and Woodcock are in New England, or, better yet, not be hunted in -any way for a number of years, so that the Wood Ducks, wherever located, -should have, a chance to increase once more and reëstablish themselves. - -[Illustration: National Association of Audubon Societies WOOD DUCK] - - Order—Anseres Family—Anatidæ - Genus—Aix Species—Sponsa - -“For, when we come to look closely at the matter, there is really no -fair hunting, for the killing inventions of man—the magazine guns, -etc.,—are on the increase, while the power of poor game-birds to -protect themselves lessens both on land and water. Think of it, in some -states there are no laws to protect this bird, even in summer, and, as -Wood Ducks are fond of their nesting-places, and are very unsuspicious -birds, it often happens that an entire family is killed the moment the -young are large enough to furnish the pitiful thing, in this case, that -is called ‘sport.’ - -“As it happens, the woods on this side of the river from above the pond -to the sawmill belong to the General’s farm, and, Tommy and Dave, the -water right on the other side belongs to your fathers. - -“Will you not ask them if they will help me to protect their birds, if I -can get half a dozen pairs from one of the Wise Men who is trying to -reëstablish them in their old haunts? - -“The Grouse and Quail are growing friendly again under protection, and I -am in hopes that we may have a drummer, as well as a fifer and his -family, in the orchard and near-by woods next spring. - -“There are many hollow willows near the upper pond like the ones in -which the Wood Ducks used to nest. If these are left, the ducks will -soon become attached to them, and, if they escape peril elsewhere, for -this Duck’s greatest danger is in the vicinity of home, then we shall -all have a chance, possibly, some day to see a sight that ever the Wise -Men argue about,—the parent Duck bringing her young from the tree hole -to take their first swim!” - -The boys promised to ask the question, and Tommy reported at the -schoolhouse, the next Friday, that “grandpa thinks it would be just -bully to have Wood Ducks again, and he’ll sit round the pond, with a -shot-gun, all he’s able, to keep folks away. He says he’s seen the old -ones yank the young, one by one, right out of the nest by the wing, and -set ’em on the ground, and when they were all down, lead ’em to the -water. And once, when the tree was close over the pond, the old bird -flew down and set ’em right on the water. He says weasels and water-rats -and snakes and snapping-turtles help kill off the ducklings, because -until they get big enough to fly they’ve got no way of lighting-out.” -All of which goes to prove that Tommy Todd had inherited some of his -keenness of eye in “watching out” for the doings of wild things. - -“There are others that are classed with game-birds that will surely -everywhere be stricken from the list some day, and put with those birds -that we wish to cherish at all seasons, and for whom there should be no -hunting, either fair or foul. - -“These birds, even though a couple of them are cousins to the Woodcock, -are so small of body (their long wing in flight giving a deceptive idea -of their size) that their flesh is of no account, save to either the -starving, who are bound by no laws, or the glutton seeking for an -article of food to whet a jaded palate, like the old emperors of Rome -who ate nightingale’s tongues, forsooth! We do not wish to breed or -encourage such barbarians in our America. At the same time, these birds -have great value in their insect-eating capacity.” - -“Pop says they always used to shoot Meadowlarks when he was a boy, and -up to not very long ago,” said Tommy, “and Yellowhammers and Pigeons and -Doves and Robins, too, but now nobody dares, except on the sly. Anyway, -the Wild Pigeons grandfather tells of are all gone, and I’ve only seen a -couple of Doves this year.” - -“The birds you speak of are now protected by law, here in Connecticut,” -said Gray Lady, “though in some states they are not, but the game-birds -I mean are the little Killdeer Plover, and the Upland and other small -Plovers, together with the Sandpipers, both of fresh and salt water.” - - - - - XV - GAME-BIRDS? - - - _The plea of the Meadowlark, Mourning Dove, Sandpiper, Plovers, and - Bobolink, the Masquerader_ - - “Spare us, please! We are too small for food.” - -“You, children, who live with green fields about you, all know the -Meadowlark by sight and sound, even if you never have had the curiosity -to learn its name. It is the bird seen walking in old fields and -lowlands. In size it is a little larger than a Robin, with a rather flat -head and long, stout bill, its back speckled and streaked with brown and -black, and a beautiful yellow throat and breast crossed by a crescent of -black. When the bird is on the ground, if you came behind it, at a -distance, you might think it a Flicker, but the moment it takes to the -air with a whirring flight, the white feathers at the outside of the -tail show plainly, and name it Meadowlark, just as the white rump names -the Flicker. - -“Then, you know its voice, that sometimes drops from a tree, sometimes -rises from the grass, that Mr. Burroughs says calls, ‘Spring o’ the -year—Spring o’ the year.’ The notes are clear as a flute, and, -beautiful as our Meadowlark’s song is, that of his brother, the Prairie -Lark, is still more melodious, and I shall never forget the first spring -morning that I heard it from the border of one of those endless -grain-fields that roll on to meet the sky like a glistening green sea -with its waters stirred by the breeze. - -“The Meadowlark is certainly a thing of beauty, but, at the same time, -its greater service to man is its usefulness; not as a bit of meat, no -matter how plump it may grow, but as the untiring guardian of the -fields, where it spends its life and makes its nest home in a grass -tussock. For this bird, of the eastern United States, is with us here in -Southern New England, and southward, all the year, and those flocks that -migrate do not leave until late fall, and are back again by the middle -of March, while the Prairie Lark covers the western part of the country, -as permanent warden of the meadow and hayfields. All the year they keep -at work; from March to December insect food is the chief part of the -diet; insects that are the farmer’s bane,—grasshoppers, cutworms, -sow-bugs, ticks, weevils, plant-lice, and the click-beetle (the grown-up -wire worm) being but a few of them. The remaining months, December, -January, and February, insects failing, waste grain is eaten, and weed -seeds, as pigeon grass, rag and smart weed, and black mustard. - -[Illustration: MEADOWLARK] - -“Happily for us, this beautiful bird is protected in all the New England -and Middle States, but, if we have friends who live in Florida, North -Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee, Missouri and Idaho, -where the Larks are only considered as food, let us beg them to tell -every one of this and the Prairie Lark’s merits, so that they may be -placed on the list of the protected. And when you hear any one say that -the Meadowlark is by rights a game-bird, say as politely as may be, but -very firmly, ‘No; it is _not_! At least, not in staunch, common-sensed -New England!’ - - - _The Mourning Dove_ - -“Soft of plumage, gentle, and almost sad of voice is the Mourning Dove, -the grayish brown bird with metallic lustres, whose name is taken from -its plaintive accents. Its comings and goings are silent, and, in spite -of its size, for it is as large as the Meadowlark, if it was not for its -cooing, heard early in the morning, we should seldom know of its -presence, for its flight is noiseless, and it chooses trees in secluded -places for the little loose bunch of sticks that forms its nest. - -“Formerly, this Dove, together with its cousin, the Passenger Pigeon, -were everywhere to be found, while the Passenger Pigeon, a bird of fine -flesh, was so plentiful as to be almost a staple article of food, and -wagons loaded with birds were peddled through city streets. With the -wastefulness of a people coming to a new and liberal country, the birds -were often shot down in their roosts, from pure wantonness, and left to -decay upon the ground, so that now the Passenger Pigeon and the wild -buffalo have gone to the happy animal-country, where there is no -hunting, together,—two valuable animals practically extinct,—and North -America is the poorer for its thoughtlessness. - -“With this warning before us, the Kind Hearts’, of which there are -plenty everywhere, whether they are banded into clubs or not, should -strive to have this gentle, harmless life protected. - -“‘Why?’ says the farmer, in the states that refuse protection. ‘Maybe it -doesn’t do any harm, but what good can it do that can make up to me for -not eating it?’ To such a man say this: The Mourning Dove is a consumer -of evil weeds, and its presence in flocks will lessen his labour and -give his hoe arm a rest; that the crop of a dove, examined by the -Department of Agriculture in Washington, was found to hold 9200 seeds of -noxious weeds! _Not to have these weeds grow_ would give the farmer, or -his boy, time for a half holiday, wherein to go clamming or berry -picking! - -[Illustration: MOURNING DOVES] - - * * * * * - -“Now we have some little birds whose names are still on the list of -food- or game-birds, and I should like to see them wiped from it -forever, or, at least, until they are once more plentiful in their -haunts. These are the two cousins of the Woodcock,—Sandpipers, the -Spotted and the Least, and two Plovers, also water-loving birds, the -Killdeer and the Upland Plover. - -“Most of you children, at some part of the season, go down to the shore -of the bay yonder, perhaps it may be when your fathers gather seaweed in -the spring and fall, in late summer for the snapper fishing, or all -through the autumn and early winter for long-necked clams. Some of you, -I know, like Tommy and Dave, have camped out there for several weeks. -Have you not noticed the little prints of birds’ feet just above the -edge of tide-water? Or have you not seen the little birds themselves, no -bigger than Sparrows, with streaked, brown-gray backs and soft white -feathers underneath, running to and fro, balancing when they feed, as if -making a courtesy, all the while whispering softly among themselves? - -“Or, again, others slightly larger, with ash and brown backs, and -underparts spotted with round, black marks like a thrush, white spotted -wings, and the outer tail-feathers white barred, showing in flight? - -“These two gracious, confiding little birds are the Least and the -Spotted Sandpiper. Their small size should keep them off the food list, -for what are their dead bodies but a single mouthful? And what are they -alive? Things of joy and mystery combined. For what is a more perfect -picture of grace and happiness than these birds with a background of -sand, seaweed, and shells, and all the sparkling water before? - -“Of a gray day, their pleasant prattle is shut down by the fog, and -sounds strange and mysterious, and when they spread their pointed wings, -and vanish into the mist, that seems to pick them up as it rolls in, the -picture is complete. - -“The Least Sandpiper, the smallest of his tribe, is found in greater -numbers on our beach than the Spotted. He comes to us in the migrations, -as he nests only in the far North. I can remember, when as a girl I was -fond of swiming in the bay until late in autumn, that a flock of these -little birds flew over me so close that I could feel the beating of -their wings. His use is to give interest to the landscape, and his plea -for life his harmless littleness, his confidence, and his obedience in -filling the place in nature which the great Plan has given him. Perhaps -you may have heard the poem that he inspired in the heart of one woman, -who lived on a sea-girt island, and, oftentimes, had only the birds for -company; even if you have heard it, the verses are among those of which -we never tire. - - - THE SANDPIPER - - Across the narrow beach we flit, - One little Sandpiper and I; - And fast I gather, bit by bit, - The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry. - The wild waves reach their hands for it, - The wild wind raves, the tide runs high, - As up and down the beach we flit,— - One little Sandpiper and I. - - Above our heads the sullen clouds - Scud black and swift across the sky; - Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds - Stand out the white lighthouses high. - Almost as far as eye can reach - I see the close-reefed vessels fly, - As fast we flit along the beach,— - One little Sandpiper and I. - - I watch him as he skims along, - Uttering his sweet and mournful cry; - He starts not at my fitful song, - Or flash of fluttering drapery. - He has no thought of any wrong; - He scans me with a fearless eye. - Staunch friends are we, well tried and strong, - The little Sandpiper and I. - - Comrade, where wilt thou be to-night, - When the loosed storm breaks furiously? - My driftwood fire will burn so bright! - To what warm shelter canst thou fly? - I do not fear for thee, though wroth - The tempest rushes through the sky; - For are we not God’s children both, - Thou, little Sandpiper, and I? - - —Celia Thaxter. - -[Illustration: SPOTTED SANDPIPER] - -[Illustration: LEAST SANDPIPER] - -“The spotted Sandpiper, in my girlhood, was here, with us, a familiar -bird of moist meadows and pond edges, and every season I used to see -them stepping about the stones in the little brook that flows through -the river woods, across the meadow above the orchard. They frequently -nested there, also, and I have often seen the buff, chocolate, spotted -eggs. I have seen the birds wading in the stream quite up to their -bodies, sometimes dragging their legs after them as children do in play; -they can also swim, when they wish to cross a stream without taking to -wing, and it is said, when hard pressed or wounded, can dive deep and -swim, or rather, fly under water very swiftly, for they use the wings as -the Loon does. Teeter and Tip-up are two of its common names, because it -seems to be always balancing in order not to tumble over. If you startle -it, it gives a frightened cry like ‘peet-weet-weet,’ as it rises, but -soon drops again. - -“This bird has a list of good deeds as an insect eater to plead for its -removal from the list of game-birds. Birds consume the most insects in -the nesting season when the quick-growing young require constant -feeding, and, as it breeds all over North America as far as Hudson Bay, -you can see that the Spotted Sandpiper’s field of usefulness is very -wide, and wherever he goes, following the sun as he does throughout the -seasons, his value, aside from his dainty beauty, does not lie in the -morsel of food he would make for those short sighted enough to shoot -him, but in the insects of all sorts, including grasshoppers and -locusts, he kills in the simple process of getting a living. - -“Another bird of the moist meadows of rivers and salt creeks is the -Killdeer or Little Ring-necked Plover. It is about the size of the -Spotted Sandpiper, equally beautiful, and with a certain dignity all its -own. We always used to have them in the river meadows, but, since my -return this year, I have not seen a single one. - -“I have found the curious, creamy, pear-shaped eggs, with brown spots, -in a grassy hollow, with no other bed than the turf itself. Strange eggs -they are, seemingly so much too large for their owners, and an -apparently careless arrangement to leave them with no protecting nest. -But the shape of the egg prevents accident, for, if disturbed, they -simply turn round and round on the pointed end, but do not roll away. - -[Illustration: National Association of Audubon Societies KILLDEER] - - Order—Limicolæ Family—Charadriidæ - Genus—Ægialitis Species—Vocifera - -“The young chicks are the prettiest little creatures; even when first -hatched, they are well covered with down, and have strong, useful legs, -with which they can follow their parents all day long until their -pinions have developed to let them fly. It is a peculiarity of the -game-bird that, like our domestic poultry, the chick comes from the egg -open-eyed, well covered, and able, in a measure, to care for itself from -the moment that it is hatched. The song-birds, birds of prey, and others -are hatched blind and naked, and require several weeks’ time before they -are fit for independent life. - -“No prettier scene of young bird-life can be drawn than that of Mother -Killdeer, walking through the dewy meadows, with stately gait, followed -by her four chicks, now brooding them with a warning cry, if the shadow -of a hawk appears; now turning over leaves and bits of dead wood in -search of their insect food. When danger is near, the young squat, and -the blending of their colours with those of the ground gives them the -benefit of what is known as ‘colour protection,’ a wise plan of Heart of -Nature for the benefit of the weaker species. If threatened danger does -not pass by, then the old birds become aggressive, and sometimes fly at -the intruder, be he man or animal. The peculiar call of the bird, -‘Killdee-Killde-e-e-Killdeer,’ has given it its name, though it has -several other cries when brooding and protecting its young. - -“The desire to protect this charming bird, that the National Association -of the Audubon Societies is endeavouring to have made a law, state by -state, is, after all, nothing new. Listen to what Audubon himself wrote -about the Killdeer, beginning with the nesting time: ‘At this period the -parents, who sit alternately on the eggs, never leaving them to the heat -of the sun, are extremely clamorous at the sight of an enemy. The female -droops her wings, emits her plaintive notes, and endeavours, by every -means she can devise, to draw you from her nest or young. The male -dashes over you in the air and vociferates all the remonstrances of an -angry parent whose family is endangered. If you cannot find pity for the -poor birds at such a time, you may take up their eggs and see their -distress, but if you be at all so tender hearted as I would wish you to -be, it will be quite unnecessary for me to recommend mercy.’ - -“So, children of the Kind Hearts’ Club, ask all those you meet to help -put the little Killdeer upon the protected list; say that it is too -small to be counted as food, and, in addition, whisper to every farmer -you meet (and farmers north, south, east, and west should be interested, -for the bird inhabits the whole of temperate North America), ‘The -Killdeer is an insect eater, taking grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, -boll weevils, and the dreaded Rocky Mountain locust.’ If this is not -enough, add that the Kind Hearts wish to protect all these gentle little -birds, that are out of place on the list of food-birds, and we all know -that when a kind heart _wishes_ to do a thing, it usually finds the -way!” - -“Somebody told Dad at the last Farmers’ Institute that the Reed birds, -that the big boys go gunning for down in the marsh meadows along in -August, are changed Bobolinks,” said Tommy, “and that we mustn’t shoot -them any more, because Bobolinks are singing-birds, and I just guess -they are. My! can’t they sing, and fly right up at the same time, as if -going so fast shook the song out of them, and they couldn’t help it!” - -Gray Lady laughed at Tommy’s description, which was certainly very true, -and expressed in vigorous boy language. - -“Yes, Tommy, the black-white-and-buff Bobolink of May, after the -midsummer moult, becomes a dull, brown-striped bird like his wife, and, -shedding his lovely voice and glowing feathers together, he keeps only a -call note. In this masquerade he leads a double, and somewhat vagabond, -life, travelling by slow degrees toward his winter home and then back -again in the spring, all the while eating many things which the owners -do not wish him to have, one being rice,—rice in the ear and the -sprouting rice in spring. - -“Let others do as they must, but we, who have no rice to be hurt, insist -that this bit of ardent, flying melody shall receive the treatment that -his music deserves, and be taken forever off the list of semigame-birds. -What if this singer of the opera does choose to don a sober travelling -cloak and journey silently? The musician is only waiting for the pink -blossoms to come on the apple trees, and the grass to grow long enough -to sway to the wind, to again let his music float from the one and give -his nest to the care of the other, where no human eye, at least, may spy -it. If we destroy Robert of Lincoln, called Bobolink for short, we kill -not one but many qualities and songs. Did you never hear the rhyme of -his merry family?” - - - THE O’LINCOLN FAMILY - - A flock of merry singing-birds were sporting in a grove; - Some were warbling cheerily and some were making love. - There were Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, Conquedle,— - A livelier set were never led by tabor, pipe, or fiddle:— - Crying “Whew, shew, Wadolincon; see, see, Bobolincon - Down among the tickle tops, hiding in the buttercups; - I know the saucy chap; I see his shining cap - Bobbing there in the clover,—see, see, see!” - - Up flies Bobolincon perching on an apple tree; - Startled by his rival’s song, quickened by his raillery. - Soon he spies the rogue afloat, curvetting in the air, - And merrily he turns about and warns him to beware! - “’Tis you that would a-wooing go, down among the rushes O! - Wait a week, till flowers are cheery; wait a week ere you marry, - Be sure of a house wherein to tarry; - Wadolink, Whiskodink, Tom Denny, wait, wait, wait!” - - Every one’s a funny fellow; every one’s a little mellow; - Follow, follow, follow, follow, o’er the hill and in the hollow. - Merrily, merrily, there they hie; now they rise and now they fly; - They cross and turn, and in and out, down the middle, and wheel about, - With a “Phew, shew, Wadolincon; listen to me, Bobolincon! - Happy’s the wooing that’s speedily doing, that’s speedily doing, - That’s merry and over with the bloom of the clover; - Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, follow, follow me!” - - O what a happy life they lead, over hill and in the mead! - How they sing and how they play! See, that fly away, away! - Now they gambol o’er the clearing—off again, and then appearing; - Poised aloft on quivering wing, now they soar and now they sing, - “We must all be merry and moving, we all must be happy and loving; - For when the midsummer has come and the grain has ripened its ear, - The haymakers scatter our young and we mourn for the rest of the year; - Then, Bobolincon, Wadolincon, Winterseeble, haste, haste away!” - - —Wilson Flagg, in _Birds and Seasons in New England_. - - - - - XVI - TREASURE-TROVE AT THE SHORE - - - _The Herring or Harbour Gull_ - -The autumn had been clear and fine, and the hillside farmers of Fair -Meadows township had their out-of-door work well in hand by -Thanksgiving. The fall-sown rye was well up, and the fields that were to -lie fallow and be sweetened by the frost were ploughed and in good -shape. Ice-cutting, on the chain of large ponds that lay in the valley -between the hills north of the river woods, was an important industry of -the region, so that every one was anxious to have the ice form clear and -firm before snowfall. As yet, however, there had been no signs of -either, except the thin ice with which Black Frost always covers the -roof, gutters, water-pails, and shallow pools when he prowls round in -the early morning, as if merely to let the good folks know of his -presence, and to prepare them for his gentler mediating brother, Snow. - -The day after Thanksgiving the wind began to blow, not in mere passing -gusts, but steadily and systematically. Then, too, it came from a -strange quarter for that season—the extreme southeast. This was the -wind to drive the sea into the bay and force the water high on shore. -Such winds, at this season, piled the elastic brown seaweed in long -lines high above tide-water, and many a farmer, and market-gardener, as -he ate his supper, laid plans to drive down to the beach next morning, -with a double team, and secure a full load of the weed for covering his -strawberry or asparagus beds. - -Before morning, however, a driving rain set in that lasted for two days -and kept everybody house-bound. The roadways ran water like rivers, and, -by the time the storm lessened at sunset Sunday evening, there was -barely a leaf left on the apple trees of the Birdland orchard, and -Goldilocks was well-nigh heartbroken over the state of the -lunch-counter, for, in spite of the protecting roof, the broken biscuits -turned to paste, the suet hung in rags, and as for the kernels of -cracked corn and the buckwheat, they had swelled as if they thought it -was a spring rain and it was their duty to grow. So that Goldilocks was -worried lest some Juncos and Goldfinches that made a hearty meal upon -the grains, in spite of the rain, should suffer from a fit of -indigestion. - -Early Monday morning, when he returned to milk, the hired man at Tommy -Todd’s, who had been spending the night with his brother at one of the -little huts four miles below on the shore road, brought word that the -great storm had, as he expressed it, “heaved” the deep-water oyster-beds -that extended out through the bay and that in addition to the seaweed, -the beach was completely covered with fine large oysters, bushels and -bushels of them. - -How the news spread, nobody knew, but by half-past eight every available -team within a mile of Foxes Corners school was “hooked up” and entire -families were hurrying toward the beach in every sort of vehicle, to -gather up this unexpected treasure-trove of the sea. - -The parents seemed to have entirely forgotten that school began at nine, -and it was not to be expected that the children should remind them. And, -truth be told, when Jared Barnes gathered his flock, grandma included, -into the hay wagon, Sarah and Ruth, conscientious as they usually were -about their lessons, entirely forgot the day of the week, so eager were -they for the fray; for the prospect, not only of oysters to roast and -stew, but of oysters to pickle and keep, was too great a temptation to -resist. - -Miss Wilde, who arrived at the schoolhouse rather earlier than usual, -found the door locked, and no fire in the stove. It was Dave’s week to -tend the fire, and, as Miss Wilde stood in the open doorway pondering on -the matter, one of the most exacting of the school committee men came -bumping along in a lumber cart. Pulling up his horses so suddenly that a -neighbour who was with him tipped backward off the seat, he called to -the astonished teacher: “You had best close up and go home; you won’t -have any pupils to-day. Or else come down, and hold school on the shore! -The rest of the committee will probably meet together in a few minutes, -and we’ll vote to extend Thanksgiving holidays over to-day.” So saying, -he cracked his whip and rattled downhill, leaving Miss Wilde to wonder -if he was losing his mind, or the world was turning topsyturvy, or if -she was still asleep, for it was beginning to be hard to wake up as the -mornings shortened. - -Miss Wilde locked the door and started to walk toward Eliza Clausen’s -house, that being the nearest place where she could possibly find out -what was happening. As she reached the cross-road that met the turnpike -a little above the school, she heard the sharp trot of hoofs, and, -turning in that direction, saw Jacob Hughes driving the depot rockaway, -Goldilocks being beside him and Gray Lady seated behind. Goldilocks -waved her hand on seeing Miss Wilde, and in another minute “teacher” was -seated beside Gray Lady, and not only knew of the avalanche of oysters, -but was herself on the way to the shore with her friends, who were -going, not for the sake of the oysters, but to enjoy what was sure to be -a picturesque scene, with the shell-strewn beach, the sharp bluff on the -left, and the long sand-bar, with its lighthouse on the right, for a -setting. Nor were they disappointed. - -For once tell-tale news did not exaggerate, and, though there were many -cut and scratched fingers from the sharp shells, before noon there was -no one who had not gathered all the oysters he could carry. The more -thrifty among the men also began to gather the seaweed into heaps safe -from the incoming tide, so that they might be sure of finding it the -next day, while the women and children gathered driftwood and, making -fireplaces of a few stones, heated the coffee they had brought. For, -though the sun was now shining clear, and the wind had dropped to a -little breeze that scarcely moved the surface of the tide pools, there -was a growing keenness in the air that named the month “December,” and -promised the wind would be in the northwest by night. - -[Illustration: HERRING GULLS] - -In spite of the unusual human picture before them, that which interested -Gray Lady, Miss Wilde, and Goldilocks the most were the Gulls that -covered the bare sand-bar, waded in the shallow pools, and clambered -among the stones in search of food, which they picked out with their -stout, hooked bills, then flew swiftly overhead toward the creek, across -the salt meadows, with a shrill cry, such as the creaking windlass of a -well gives when the rope plays out quickly and the bucket -drops—“quake-wake-wake.” - -Further out, in the arm of the bar, where there was no current, and the -water was deep and smooth, many Gulls were resting motionless as white -skiffs at anchor, or flying and diving for food in the wake of some -boats that were evidently grappling to discover the extent of the damage -to the oyster-beds. - -“How many kinds of Gulls are there?” asked Goldilocks. “Three, I should -think, unless the males and the females were different.” - -“The Gulls here are all Herring, or, as the Wise Men now wish them -called, ‘Harbour Gulls.’ The old birds have the pure white breasts and -pearly gray, or what is sometimes called ‘Gull-blue,’ upper parts and -the black-and-white wing-markings. The mixed and streaked ash, buff, and -brown birds are the young of the year, while the black-and-white patched -birds are not Gulls, but Old Squaw Ducks. These have spent the winter -about the bay and bar ever since I can remember, and, strangely enough, -both Gulls and Ducks seem to be no less in number than they were twenty -years ago. That is probably because the Gulls are protected, and the -Ducks’ flesh is so tough that even a hungry dog could hardly tear it -apart. I hope your children are noticing these birds while they are -gathering driftwood for the fires,” Gray Lady said to Miss Wilde. “It is -very seldom that they come to the shore as late as this, or see the -Gulls in such numbers. It seems to-day as though the storm must have -driven all that belong to many miles of coast to take shelter in this -bay.” - -“Yes, they are looking,” said Goldilocks, “for Sarah and Tommy and Dave -and Clary, who are all together by the nearest fire, are watching and -pointing to the Gulls that are over by the boats, and I think that Bobby -has found a dead Gull tangled in seaweed and he is showing it to the -others.” - -“Then I foresee that the Harbour Gull will be the bird of next Friday -afternoon,” said Gray Lady, as they turned homeward, taking Miss Wilde -with them for lunch, so that Gray Lady might talk over a new plan -concerning the old farm-house in the corner of the orchard, with its -great stone chimney where the Swifts loved to build. - - * * * * * - -As Gray Lady had expected, the next Friday afternoon, when she went to -Foxes Corners schoolhouse, she was greeted by many enthusiastic accounts -of the stolen holiday at the shore, but a perfect chorus of questions -arose about the “big birds that fly and swim and yet aren’t quite like -Ducks”; while Bobby proudly produced his treasured Gull, wrapped in a -newspaper, at the same time assuring Gray Lady, as became a member of -the Kind Hearts’ Club, that he hadn’t thrown a stone at it, or anything, -and that it was “drowned dead in the seaweed.” All of which she already -knew to be true. - -“Why aren’t the Gulls there in the summer when we go down camping and -clamming?” asked Tommy. - -“Because,” said Gray Lady, “they do not like very warm weather, and -nowadays at least, though they live all through North America, they do -not nest on the Atlantic coast south of Maine. For this reason, we -seldom see them between May and October, and that is the very time that -you children and people in general visit the shore.” - -“It must take a pretty big tree to hold a Gull’s nest,” said Dave, -picking up the bird and weighing it in his hand; “it’s lots bigger than -a Crow.” - -“Yes; a Gull measures two feet in length (that is, from the tip of its -beak over its back to the tail, which is the way the length of a bird is -reckoned), and is quite three feet across the spread of its open wings, -while the body of the Crow is five inches shorter and the wings only -spread a little over two feet. - -“You probably noticed, the other day, what very long, pointed wings the -Gulls have. But though these Gulls do sometimes nest in fairly high -trees and in bushes, it is not common, and their favourite place is on -the gray shingle, and among the stones of rocky beaches well above -tide-water, or else between tussocks of beach grass or sheltering pieces -of driftwood. - -“As a Gull’s chief food is gleaned from the sea, it must nest as close -as possible to its source of supply. You can easily see that so large a -bird could never be free from annoyance on our bathing beaches or -offshore islands that are used as summer resorts; so, as people flocked -to the shore, more and more, the places where Gulls might nest in -comfort grew fewer and fewer, and they were driven to the remote islands -like those off the Maine coast, Great Duck Island, No Man’s Land, and -others, and it is at Great Duck Island that is to be found the largest -colony of Gulls within the United States. - -“But even here and on many lesser islands, with only lighthouses and -their keepers for company, where there were no summer cottages or -pleasure-seekers, until a few years ago, the Gulls were not safe, for -they, like the White Herons of the South, were bonnet martyrs.” - -“Bonnet martyrs!” exclaimed Eliza Clausen, jumping as if some one had -stuck a pin in her. “I don’t think they would look one bit nice on hats; -why, they are so big that there wouldn’t be any hat, but all bird.” - -“You are quite right,” said Gray Lady, “but the whole Gull was not used. -These beautiful white breast-feathers were made into turbans. Perhaps, -on one side of these, a smaller cousin of the Gull, the Tern, or Sea -Swallow, with its coral-red beak, would be perched by way of finish. Or -else, soft bands made of the breast, and some of the handsomest wing -quills were used for trimming. - -“Not only were these feathers sold wholesale to the plume merchants and -milliners, but people who went to the coast resorts would buy them of -the sailors simply because they were pretty, without giving a thought to -the lives they cost, or of how desolate and lonely the shores would be -when there were no more Gulls. - -“There are comparatively few people, I earnestly believe, who would wear -feathers for ornament if they realized the waste of life that the habit -causes. It is largely because people do not stop to think, and they do -not associate the happy living bird with the lifeless feathers in the -milliner’s window. But now that the Wise Men—yes, and wise women, -too—have explained the matter, the protection of these beautiful -sea-birds is an established fact. - -“This bird was called ‘Herring Gull,’ because by hovering over the -schools of Herring where they swam, and diving to get them for food, -they told the fishermen, who spend their lives upon the ocean on the -lookout, where the fish were to be found. Now, though the Gulls still do -this, they do better work, also, for they spend the time that they are -away from their nesting-homes about the harbours of the large cities, -making daily trips up the rivers and cleansing the water of refuse, upon -which they feed. For this reason, ‘Harbour Gull’ seems to be a better -name for them. - -“They are very sociable birds at all times of the year, keeping in -colonies even in the breeding season, a time when song- and other -land-birds pair, and prefer to be alone. The nests, when on the ground -or upon flat rocks, are built of grass, mosses, seaweed, and bits of -soft driftwood formed into a shallow bowl. If the edges of this crumble -or flatten while the birds are sitting, they use bunches of fresh grass -or seaweed to keep it in repair, with the result that the nest is not -only a very tasteful object, but it blends perfectly with its -surroundings. - -“The eggs are very interesting because no two seem to be of the same -colour, being of every shade of blue and gray, from the colour of summer -sky and sand to the tint of the many-coloured, water-soaked rocks -themselves. The markings vary also in shape and size, and are in every -shade of brown, through lilac and purple, to black. The parents are very -devoted to their nests, and take turns in sitting, though the eggs are -often left to the care of the sun on days when it is sufficiently warm. -When the young are first hatched, though covered with down, they are -very weak in the neck and helpless; but in the course of a few hours the -little Gulls are strong enough to walk, and the instinct to hide at the -approach of anything strange comes to them very suddenly, so that a Gull -only three or four hours old will slip out of the nest and either hide -beneath a few grass blades or flatten itself in the sand, where, owing -to its spotted, colour-protective down, it is almost invisible, so well -does Nature care for her children—provided that man does not interfere. -When a Gull nests in a tree, however, the little birds, not feeling the -same necessity for hiding, do not try to leave the nest until the growth -of their wings will let them fly. - -“On the sea beaches squids and marine refuse are fed to the young Gulls, -but where they have nested near fresh, instead of salt, water many -insects gleaned from the fields are eaten. - -“It was in the Gulls’ nesting season that the plunderers chose to go to -their island haunts, steal the eggs, and kill the parent birds, whose -devotion, like that of the White Heron, left the birds at the mercy of -the plume hunters. - -“At the end of summer the young, wearing their speckled suits, are able -to join the old in flocks, and it is then that they scatter along the -coast, some going from the northern borders down to the Great Lakes. In -and about New York City they are one of the features of the winter -scenery; they fly to and fro under the arches of the great bridge, and -follow the ships the entire length of the harbour and out to sea. At -night they bed down so close together that in places they make a -continuous coverlid of feathers on the waters of the reservoirs and in -the sheltered coves of the Hudson. From the banks of Riverside Park, any -autumn or winter afternoon, so long as the channel is free from ice, -they may be seen flying about as fearless as a flock of domestic -Pigeons.” - -“Here on our beach they are scary enough,” said Tommy. “Why, the other -day I tried every way to creep up close to some of them, but I never -could; they were always up and off, sometimes without saying a word, and -sometimes screeching, ‘Yuka-yuka-yuka,’ enough to frighten any one. Pop -says that, way back when he was a boy, and there weren’t any laws to -prevent shooting anything except the game-birds out of season, that -these birds were just as scary, so that the best shots used to go down -on the bar and try to hit a Gull, not to eat, but for the sake of being -called a good shot, because Gulls were harder to get than old leader -Crows.” - -“That is the very reason why Gulls alongshore are afraid now. For so -many years they have served as targets for Duck hunters, and people who -did not realize what they were destroying, that fear has become an -instinct. Now in the nesting-haunts, where they are protected, they are -gradually becoming more and more tame. About the harbours of cities and -parks, where shooting has never been allowed for other reasons than bird -protection, they fly about unconcernedly and exhibit little alarm.” - -“Are Gulls any real use, except that they are nice to look at and watch -fly?” asked Dave, presently, as Bobbie’s bird was being passed from desk -to desk. - -“Yes, the Harbour Gulls are useful in many ways, and would be more so if -man would protect them fully everywhere, as they do in some countries -and in some of the western parts of our own country; but, in general, -they have been so persistently hunted that they shun the land-bound -fresh water, where they would help the farmers by feeding on large -insects, and prefer the freedom of the open water.” - - “The true Gull of the sea, the spirit of the salt, is a sort of - feathered bell-buoy, and thus is of use to the sailors, as there - is ample testimony to prove. - - “In summer, in thick weather, the appearance of Gulls and Terns - in numbers, or the sound of their clamorous voices, gives - warning to the mariner that he is near the rocks on which they - breed. Shore fishermen, enshrouded in fog, can tell the - direction of the islands on which the birds live by watching - their undeviating flight homeward with food for their young. The - keen senses of sea-birds enable them to head direct for their - nests, even in dense mist. - - “Navigators approaching their home ports during the seasons of - bird migration welcome the appearance of familiar birds from the - land. . . . - - “Sea-birds must be reckoned among the chief agencies which have - made many rocky or sandy islands fit for human habitation. The - service performed by birds in fertilizing, soil-building, and - seed-sowing on many barren islands entitles our feathered - friends to the gratitude of many a shipwrecked sailor, who must - else have lost his life on barren, storm-beaten shores.” - - —E. H. Forbush. - -“Is mine a good grown-up Gull?” asked Bobbie, who had been waiting -anxiously for its safe return to his hands, “because grandpa says if it -is, he’ll take it over to town, and get it stuffed, and fixed up on a -perch, to remember Oyster Day by; but I’ll bury it if you’d rather I -would.” - -“It is a fully grown bird, Bobbie,” said Gray Lady, “and it is wearing -its winter dress. In summer the head and neck that are now streaked with -gray would be a dazzling white, and as accident killed it, and wind and -tide gave it to you, there is no reason why you may not keep it with a -clear conscience.” - - - - - XVII - THE BIRDS’ CHRISTMAS TREE - - - _Preparation_ - -The Christmas sale was over. It had been held in the play and work rooms -the Saturday before Christmas, and was a great success. The dressed -dolls, iron-holders, aprons, bird-houses, wooden spoons, racks for -clothes, and little knickknacks had been ranged on the work-table and -carpenter’s bench, and all the people of the neighbouring towns, as well -as from Fair Meadows village itself, had been asked to come and see. -When they came and saw, they stayed to buy. - -The bird-houses proved the greatest novelty, and Tommy Todd and Dave, -their cheeks red with excitement, were kept busy taking orders for more, -to be finished by May or June, one customer said. She, however, was very -much amused when Tommy told her that if she expected to have birds in -the house (it was a box for Tree Swallows) the first season, she must -have the house in place before April, so that it might “be weathered a -little, and the birds find it when they first came, and not think it was -a trap put up to catch them.” - -Gray Lady donated some delicious cake of Ann’s make, and hot chocolate, -and while the visitors enjoyed it, they asked many questions about the -bird class, the school at Foxes Corners, and the motives of the Kind -Hearts’ Club itself; for this name had been printed on the posters -advertising the sale. - -The result that concerned the public good was that other men and women -resolved, even if they could not do it as thoroughly as Gray Lady, to -supply the teachers in their various districts with charts and books, -and before night settled down, Sarah Barnes, the treasurer of the Club, -was hugging tight in her arms a small iron box, with a lock and key, -wherein were fifty precious dollars, while orders that meant an equal -sum before the close of the school year were being copied from a rather -mussy paper into a blank-book, by Tommy Todd, the secretary, whose -usually clear upright letters were made crooked by his excitement. - -The next question was, How should the money be spent? Each child was -asked to write his or her idea on a slip of paper and bring it to the -birds’ Christmas festival that was to be held, as seemed fitting, in -Birdland, the afternoon before Christmas, from two o’clock until four. - -“Supposin’ it’s cold and snowy?—that’s a long time to be outdoors,” -said Eliza Clausen, as she walked home between Sarah and Ruth Barnes. - -“It may not be out-of-doors,” said Sarah, looking very wise. - -“Then it can’t be in Birdland, as Gray Lady said,” persisted Eliza, who, -though she was less critical since she had come under the older woman’s -influence, could not resist once in a while, “hoping for the worst,” as -Gray Lady called borrowing trouble. - -“Yes; the party can be indoors, and yet in Birdland,” answered Sarah. - -“Oh, you’re trying to catch me with a riddle or something.” - -“If I am, I’ll tell you the answer at the birds’ Christmas tree next -Tuesday,” called Sarah, as she turned in at her own gate. - - * * * * * - -A two-inch fall of soft, clinging snow fell during the night before -Christmas eve, so that the next morning “everything looked as pretty as -the pictures on a calendar,” as Sarah Barnes said, when she arrived at -Gray Lady’s door, bright and early, to help decorate the birds’ tree. - -Sarah did not enter the door, however, for she was joined on the porch -by Goldilocks and Ann, and together they walked through the garden to -Birdland. - -Jacob Hughes had swept paths from the house in and out among the trees -through the garden. In Birdland he had used the single-horse snow-plough -to scrape a track running from the bird lunch-counter, about the edge of -the orchard, and then through the centre down to the old farm-house of -the Swallow Chimney, that stood in the lower corner facing on what had -been a cross-road, but was now a pretty grass-grown lane, with the snow -wreathing the bushes of black alder, with its red, glistening berries, -giving out a real Christmas feeling. - -What had happened to the old house of the Swallow Chimney, where the -General’s father had lived, but which had now remained closed for so -many years, merely a storage-place for old furniture? - -Smoke was coming from the great stone chimney, new shingles stained to -look old replaced the broken ones, new paint glistened on the -window-sashes, and the quaint old panes of glass, bearing the rainbow -tints of years, shone like mirrors. The front door was painted dark -green, and the spread-eagle knocker of brass was as bright as polishing -could make it; while around the deep front porch was a little fence of -cedar bushes in boxes, all garlanded with vines of coral, bittersweet -berries. - -Goldilocks and Sarah went to the front door of the old house, while Ann -disappeared in the woodshed that joined the side porch and well-house. - -The girls had not touched the knocker when the door flew open, and who -should stand there but Miss Rose Wilde, while beyond her, sitting by the -blazing log-fire in the long, low living-room, that had once been the -kitchen, was her mother, looking better and younger than she had for at -least ten years! - -This was the secret. Gray Lady had repaired the old house and -established the faithful little teacher and her mother in it, so that -instead of mother and daughter only meeting once a week, or less often -in winter, and each having a good bit of heartache between, they had a -real home once more. What was also a bit of good luck, Mrs. Wilde’s -furniture, that had been stored away, was of the kind that seemed as if -it had been made for the old homestead and had never been anywhere else. - -Once inside, Rose Wilde led them into the kitchen, where everything was -as neat as wax, and there, spread upon tables and half-covering the -floor, were the decorations for the birds’ Christmas tree. - -Where was the tree itself? Where trees are the best and healthiest, -out-of-doors back of the house, a stout, young spruce, some twenty odd -feet high, growing in the orchard corner where no one had planted it, -the child of one of the spruces near the great house,—a half-wild tree, -sprung from the seed of a cone dropped by a Crossbill, perhaps, or left -by a squirrel who was making a winter store-house in the attic of the -farm-house. - -The dainties for the tree were selected to suit all the various needs -and appetites of the winter birds likely to come to the orchard. - -Gray Lady, Goldilocks, Rose Wilde, and Ann had strung quantities of -popcorn upon the chance of the Jays and Crows liking it. They had used -strong thread, but had only strung the corn by the very edge, so that it -would detach easily. There were lumps of suet, and marrow-bones, -securely bound with wire, ears of red and yellow corn, bunches of -unthreshed rye, wheat, and oats, little open boxes filled with -beechnuts, and various wild berries. Last of all, something that -Goldilocks had suggested, the heads of a couple of dozen sunflowers, -filled with the ripe, nutritious seeds, for she had noticed that all the -autumn the Goldfinches and various Sparrows had stayed about the beds -where the composite flowers like asters, marigolds, cornflowers, -zinnias, and sunflowers grew, and that also the wild sunflowers and -black-eyed Susans of waste fields were always surrounded by birds. - -Jacob Hughes had his ladders all ready, but it was no small task to keep -him supplied with material, and there were many mishaps before all the -articles were in place, but to Goldilocks’ great joy, before Jacob had -fairly finished and taken the ladder away, a Chickadee and a Goldfinch -were both clinging to the same sunflower head, and a little Downy -Woodpecker had discovered one of the bones fastened to a branch and was -revelling, “up to his neck,” as Sarah expressed it, in the marrow. - -Underneath the tree a place had been cleared for the gifts Gray Lady had -in store for what she called “the featherless two-legged birds of the -Kind Hearts’ Club.” - -After they had rested a few minutes, and were thoroughly warmed, Gray -Lady, Rose Wilde, Goldilocks, and Sarah Barnes set out for a stroll -through the orchard, and the lane that ran back of it, up to the -farm-barns, to see what feathered guests were in the neighbourhood, the -walk taking them past a great pile of unhewn wood and a tent-shaped -brush-heap at the end of the lane. - -Gray Lady used her opera-glasses, but the others trusted to their eyes -alone. These are the birds they saw and named easily: A flock of -Goldfinches in their dull winter coats feeding on weed seeds in the -lane; their old friends the Chickadees, three Blue Jays, two Flickers, -and several Downy Woodpeckers; Gray Lady thought possibly from their -markings, a whole Downy family,—Mr., Mrs., and four children. - -As they neared the woodpile Goldilocks stopped, her hand on Gray Lady’s -sleeve and a finger raised in caution. “I do believe there is a Jenny -Wren that has not gone away or is lost, it is such a little bit of a -thing.” - -As they stood looking, the little, neat, brown bird, about four inches -long, ran up and down among the logs like a mouse, then flew with a -little short flapping of the wings to the bush, where it clung to a -spray, bobbing to and fro, its comical bit of a tail pointing as close -to its head as possible. Then it appeared to pick something very -deliberately from the twigs and flew back again to the woodpile with a -sharp, warning note. - -“That is not a belated House Wren,” said Gray Lady, “but the Winter -Wren, his cousin, who nests from the northern boundaries of the states -northward, but comes down in winter to visit us in southern New England -and travels as far south as Florida. A brave little fellow he is to -weather storms and cold here, and one of our three smallest birds, the -Golden-crowned Kinglet and the Humming-bird being the other two. In his -nesting-haunts he has a beautiful song; I have never heard it, but one -of his admirers who has says that it is ‘full of trills, runs, and grace -notes, a tinkling, rippling roundelay.’” - -A few minutes later it was Sarah’s turn to exclaim, as she pointed to a -small, sparrow-like bird, perched on a giant stalk of seeded ragweed at -the side of the lane. “It’s a Chippy or else a Song Sparrow,” she said, -hesitatingly. “It’s bigger than a Chippy, and it’s got a spot on its -breast like the Song Sparrow, only it isn’t as big. O dear me! I don’t -think that I shall ever be sure of telling Sparrows apart,” she sighed. - -“To be sure a bird _is_ a Sparrow is a step in the right direction,” -said Gray Lady. “I have known some one older than you call me to see a -big Sparrow which turned out to be a Wood Thrush. If you will remember -one thing, it will help you in placing the smaller birds. Look at a -bird’s beak; if it is thick, short, and cone-shaped, the bird is most -likely to be a Sparrow, for this family are all seed-eaters except in -the nesting season, while insect-eating birds, of all families, have -longer and more slender bills. - -[Illustration: TREE-SPARROW] - -“As for this little fellow, it is another of our winter visitors, the -_Tree-sparrow_ or _Winter Chippy_, and there is probably quite a flock -of his kin at this moment distributed over the wild fields below, doing -the work of seed-destroying that the farmers have neglected; for, aside -from the cheerful companionship of all these winter birds, the Sparrow -tribe is working for us all winter as Weed Warriors,[3] just as the -tree-trunk birds are Tree Trappers, the birds who take insects while on -the wing, Sky Sweepers, and the silent birds of prey, who sit in wait -for the field-mice and other vermin, Wise Watchers. - -“Ah, it is my turn now to make discoveries,” said Gray Lady, as they -turned into the orchard at the end opposite the lunch-counter tree. -“Keep very quiet, and look at the mossy branch of that half-dead tree to -which some frozen apples still hang; what do you see, Goldilocks? Take -my glasses and look carefully before you answer.” - -“Where?” said Goldilocks; “yes; I see. One is a little, fluffy, greenish -gray bird with a dirty white breast. Oh! he has a red stripe edged with -yellow on top of his head! He moves so quickly that I can’t seem to see -the whole of him with one look, though he is small. The other bird is a -little bigger, and not so fat; he has a yellow spot on his head, and a -brighter one over the tail, and a yellow spot on each side; he is -striped gray and black all over, except some white on his wings and -underneath. How he flits about, just like that bird that looked like a -red-and-black butterfly that we saw last summer that you said was a -Redstart.” - -“You have very sharp eyes,” said her mother, “for you saw at once the -identifying marks of two birds that were new to you. The merry fellow of -the flaming crown is the Golden-crowned Kinglet, another sturdy winter -visitor, who breeds in the North, and finds our climate quite warm -enough for him if the food holds out; for he is a tree trapper, giving -his attention, like the Chickadee, to the smaller branches and twigs too -slender to bear the weight of the heavier tree-trunk birds. - -“His companion is the Myrtle or Yellow-rumped Warbler, a hardy cousin of -the Redstart and Summer Yellowbird that Sarah, perhaps, does not yet -know by name, though she has doubtless seen them. When you have once -seen the male bird, you will never forget him, because of the four -yellow spots. These warblers are great insect eaters, but lacking these, -they will eat berries, the bayberries being their favourite, and I -believe that we have to thank the bayberry bushes, in the rocky hill -pastures hereabouts, for the numbers of the Myrtle Warblers that stay -all winter, myrtle being a common title for the bay, giving them their -name.” - -[Illustration: F. M. Chapman, Photo. SHELTER FOR BIRD FOOD] - -At the garden end of Birdland, just inside the rustic gate, a flock of -Juncoes or Gray Snowbirds were feeding, plump, cheerful, and contented, -and giving vent to their satisfaction in their pleasant “tchip, tchip, -tchip” call. Those who only know one winter bird know the Junco, for he -belongs to city parks, village yards, and remote farms alike, anywhere -that a frugal meal of grain or weed seeds may be found, with a piazza -vine or brush-heap or haystack to creep into for shelter. His flesh-pink -bill, slate-coloured coat, and neat white vest, together with the _two -conspicuous white tail-feathers_, tell his name to any one who wishes to -know it. - -The Junco is an autumn and winter visitor only, being away from May -until late September, as he nests northward from New York and -Connecticut. When the flocks first return, you will be puzzled by many -birds of the shape and build of Juncoes, but who are wearing more or -less striped clothes; these are the young of the year. - -“Five new birds in one morning! I wish Tommy had been here,” said Sarah; -“but perhaps he knows them already; Tommy knows a lot you can’t see -because it’s down so deep.” - -“You must find us a new bird, too, before we go in to lunch, Miss -Wilde,” said Goldilocks. - -“I have been looking at, not one, but a dozen, while you have been -watching the Kinglet and Myrtle Warbler. Look over the gate-arch across -toward the house. Do you see something moving among the bunches of ripe -spruce cones?” - -“I see birds moving, but I want to go nearer.” So the party managed, by -walking quietly, to reach the trees where the birds were feeding without -disturbing them in the least. - -“There are two kinds of birds up there,” said Sarah, presently, for it -was her turn to use the opera-glasses. “They are both rather red. One is -darker than the other and has no white on him. The other is lighter red -and has some white on the wings and tail. Why, Gray Lady! their beaks -are out of joint at the end and don’t shut tight. I wonder what can have -happened to the poor things. I thought at first they might be wild -parrots.” - -Gray Lady and Miss Wilde both laughed, Sarah’s concern for the birds was -so real. - -“You are right about the bills not closing at the tip, but it is not -owing to an accident. Nature developed this bill so that the bird, who -is a lover of evergreen forests, might be able to wrench open the cones, -the only winter food that is oftentimes to be found. - -“The bird belongs to the Finch and Sparrow family, though you would -never guess it, and is called the ‘Crossbill.’ The plain red one is the -Red-winged Crossbill, and the lighter-coloured one, with white markings, -the White-winged Crossbill. Both birds nest north of New England, but -travel about the country in little flocks, sometimes going as far south -as Virginia and the Gulf States.” - -“Listen, I think I can hear the crackling as they tear the scales from -the cones,” said Goldilocks. - -“Yes, and you can see those that they have dropped lying on the fresh -snow under the trees,” added Sarah. - -At that moment an old-fashioned dinner-bell sounded from the direction -of the farm-house in the orchard. It was Mrs. Wilde letting them know -that luncheon was ready, for Gray Lady, Goldilocks, and Sarah were to -lunch at “Swallow Chimney,” as Goldilocks had christened the restored -home, by way of a house-warming. - -As they left, the Crossbills, who had been climbing up and down, with -all the adroitness of the Chickadees or the Upside-down birds -themselves, suddenly took to wing, giving short, metallic-sounding -cries, flew rapidly over the orchard, to alight—where do you suppose? -On the birds’ Christmas tree. Here, after some inspection, they began to -tear at the popcorn, their twisted beaks doing the work so well that -they seemed fashioned for that purpose alone. - -“Well,” said Goldilocks, her hands clasped in amazement, as they reached -the farm-house, and saw what had happened, “I never knew anything _quite -so quick_ to happen outside of a story-book!” - ------ - -[3] See _Citizen Bird_. - - - - - XVIII - HOW THEY SPENT THEIR MONEY - - -At two o’clock a procession of the pupils of Foxes Corners school filed -through the hall at “the General’s,” wondering what new surprise was in -store. The big boys, who would not begin school until the mid-winter -term, had come under the strong persuasion of Tommy and Dave. They -looked rather uneasy, however, as if they were not quite sure whether -the performances that the younger boys considered “bully” might not be -undignified for men of their age. - -As the children went through the garden, Jim Crow lurched out of a bush -and walked along after them with an air of great importance, as if he -were the master of ceremonies. Larry, the Starling, was not particularly -fond of cold weather, and kept inside the shelter of the south porch, -making little excursions here and there, prompted by curiosity, and the -desire to use his wings, which were now quite strong, as food was to be -had from the dish that he and Jim shared, merely for the eating. - -The lunch-counter was well patronized that afternoon, for, in addition -to the birds that had been in the vicinity during the morning, several -Bluebirds came, together with three Robins, who simply gorged themselves -upon some dried currants that Goldilocks had put out as an extra dainty. -Gray Lady was trying experiments with all sorts of odds and ends at the -lunch-counter, that she might see exactly what sort of food was the most -acceptable, and she was very much surprised to find that though wild -birds, like human beings, can adapt themselves to circumstances, a great -number have such a craving for animal food that it explained why Crows, -Jays, and some others become nest-robbers in the midst of summer plenty. - -After they had called upon Miss Wilde at Swallow Chimney, where Eliza -Clausen discovered the meaning of Sarah Barnes’ mysterious remarks about -the party being held in the orchard, and yet being indoors, they went to -see the birds’ Christmas tree. - -Since morning many things had been added to it that were not intended -for birds. Bundles, strange of shape, wrapped in green tissue-paper tied -up with red ribbon and little sprigs of southern holly, hung to the -lower branches, while Jacob, dressed as Father Christmas, stood by armed -with a hooked stick, with which he loosened the bundles and dropped them -into the waiting hands. - -As it was impossible to tell from the shape of the parcels what they -contained, there was a good deal of pinching and squeezing done, but -beyond the feeling of sharp corners that might belong to either books or -boxes, nothing could be discovered. - -“It is too cold for you to stand out here to open your parcels,” said -Gray Lady. “Suppose you take them in the living-room at the cottage, and -while the girls open theirs you boys come for a little walk with me, for -I have some work planned particularly for the boys of the Kind Hearts’ -Club. - -“Oh, do not look worried, I shall not keep you more than half an hour,” -she said, as she saw the boys were quite as curious about untying their -parcels as the girls. - -So, following her lead, they trudged off up the lane, past the barn and -woodpile, to where the brush on either side narrowed it to a mere path. -Then, where another lane crossed it, the way grew broader again, and -while one side was screened by woods, from the other you could look out -upon a stretch of waste meadows and fallow fields. - -There was only enough snow to crunch underfoot, and as Gray Lady walked -ahead, a sprig of holly fastened at the neck of her gray chinchilla -collar, and another in the close fitting hat of the same fur, her arms -buried to the elbows in a great muff, her eyes sparkling with pleasure, -and a rosy spot on each cheek made by the keen air, the boys cast many -glances of genuine admiration at her. The big boys, especially, felt -that she understood the situation exactly, by taking them to walk -without the girls, giving them her confidence, and planning something -for them to do that would be different from girls’ work, or, at least, -apart from it. - -“Perhaps some of the others have told you,” Gray Lady said to the big -boys as they walked, “that I am very anxious not only to feed the small -tree birds, that they may stay with us in winter, but to try and help -the Grouse and Quail, so that, instead of those that have escaped the -dangers of the hunting season being driven out by hunger and cold, they -shall live on and increase, and become again the friends to the farmers -that they were in the old days. - -“You big boys all know how much complaint there is of all kinds of new -bugs and worms and blights that discourage the farmers and leave but -little profit in their crops? As you learn to watch wild birds and their -habits, and realize the way in which they work for their living the year -round, you will see that it is largely the lack of these old residents, -these birds who were here before man came, that allows all the -new-fangled bugs to gain such headway. - -“Now, while it is quite easy for all of us to have some sort of a -lunch-counter, either on a window-ledge, tree-trunk, or shed -roof,—anywhere, in short, where cats will not venture,—feeding the -larger game-birds is not such a simple matter, for until they thoroughly -understand our motives, they will not come to us; we must take food to -them. - -“Birds that are hunted everywhere, for at least two months in a year, -cannot be expected the day after the season closes to come boldly to our -houses for food, as if they could consult a calendar, and say to one -another, ‘To-day is December first, we may go and take a walk in the -open road in safety.’ - -“Neither would they be safe, for there are always, I am sorry to say, -cowards in every township who will set snares, and get by stealth what -they dare not take openly. And, of the two, I think the snare a greater -danger to the poor birds than the gun.” - -“The trouble with feeding game-birds away from houses would be that, -even if you knew their runs, and I think I know some pretty well, the -feed would most likely blow away or be snowed under unless they ate it -right away,” said Jack Todd, Tommy’s second eldest brother. - -“Yes, that is one of the difficulties, but I think an idea that I have -borrowed, and am trying now for myself, may partly solve the trouble. -Look ahead of you, close to the rail fence. What do you see? No; don’t -rush to the fence and trample the snow; keep on the lane side.” - -“It’s some sort of a tent,” said Tommy; “I thought at first it was just -a corn-stack with snow on it.” - -“No; it isn’t a tent,” said Everett Judd, going closer; “it’s only bean -poles stacked with the vines left hanging, two rows of them, so’s the -snow won’t all drift in at one spot.” - -“And what else?” asked Gray Lady. “Don’t you see cracked corn and mill -sweepings scattered in between the poles? This is a feeding-station for -our friends, the game-birds, if we can only make them understand that it -is not a form of trap and does not hold a snare in disguise.” - -Jack Todd, who had gone close to the tepee on one side, stepping on -stones that he might avoid tracking the snow, and was examining the -ground intently, suddenly cried out, “There _have_ been mill sweepings -here, because I can see some dust, but the grain is all gone, and I -guess—no; I’m _sure_—there have been Grouse about, and they have fed -here since snow fell, for there are tracks coming out from under the -fence and going back the same way!” - -“But how can you tell that they belong to Grouse?” asked Gray Lady, -coming close to look at the prints and thinking in her excitement they -might have been made by chickens. - -“No, they are real Grouse tracks, for they’ve got their spiked -snow-shoes on, and here’s the marks of the prickers!” And Jack pointed -to the footprints of the brushed claws in triumph. - -“This proves two points,” said Gray Lady, “that there are Grouse in the -neighbourhood, and that they will take food if it is offered to them in -the right way. I should like to put up a dozen of these -feeding-stations, if you boys will help; you know the woods and -brush-lots better than I do now, and you can select the places that will -be suitable for these shelters and find what material there is close at -hand of which they can be built. - -“When this is done, I shall again have to depend upon you for keeping -them supplied with food. If we find that the grain is eaten, I think -that it should be renewed three times a week, so if six of you boys will -volunteer for the service, two can go together, and it will only make -one trip a week for each pair. If the snow is deep, you might possibly -arrange to fit some boxes to your sleds to hold food, or, if the -shelters are in rough ground, a bag fastened to the shoulders like a -pedler’s pack might work well; for, in doing this work on a large scale, -merely a pocketful of food will not suffice.” - -“I will help,” said Jack Todd, after thinking a moment. “Me, too,” said -Everett, and Irving Todd, together; then of course the others followed, -Dave and Tommy anxious lest they should be left out, while Bobby and -little Jared Hill, though too small to undertake to care for a station -alone, were acceptable as companions for the big boys. - -“We have the rest of this week, and all of next for a holiday,” said -Jack Todd, “so suppose we take a tramp about the hill country on each -side of the river valley to Centreville, that’s about five miles, and -fetch axes with us. I know most of the people on the way, and, if we put -the shelters somewhere near houses, we could distribute the food along, -and they would let us keep it in one of the outbuildings, so that it -would be handy in stormy weather. I’m pretty sure we can collect stuff -enough as we go for the shelters. My uncle, who lives at Hilltop Farm, -would give me corn-stacks for three or four. There’s a heap of -slab-sides (the outside strip, with the bark, when a log is to be sawn -into boards) left to go to pieces up by where the sawmill was last year; -they will make fine wigwams, and there are plenty of cedars and birches, -with brushy tops, for the rest. Then perhaps the folks along the line -might be interested and rig a few up on their own account.” - -“Thank you, Jack,” said Gray Lady, warmly; “you have caught the spirit -of the idea and improved it already, for if we are to do the game-birds -any real good, and establish the feeding plan permanently, the people -all ‘along the line,’ as you call it, must be interested until not only -Fair Meadows township, and the county, but all the counties in the -state, are linked together in the work of restoration. - -“Meanwhile, though, of course, everything that is done regularly is -work, I really envy you boys some of the fun you will have in your -winter tramps; sometimes you will be able to skate nearly all the way -upon the river, and sometimes, if the snow is as deep as people are -predicting, you may be able to go on snow-shoes.” - -“Only I don’t think any of the fellows hereabouts own a pair of -snow-shoes,” said Everett. - -“Then they are the very things for Jacob to help you make if you come to -any of our Saturday meetings,” said Gray Lady. “Jacob was born in -Canada, and worked with fur trappers for several years, and though, -perhaps, he may not be able to make them as well as when he was a young -man, they would surely be better than nothing, and who knows but what -one of the many things that the Kind Hearts will organize may be a -Snow-shoe Club.” - -Thus the big boys of Foxes Corner school found themselves interested and -pledged in Gray Lady’s work without a suspicion of the “playing baby” of -which they had such dread. - - * * * * * - -By the time Gray Lady and the boys returned to Swallow Chimney, the -girls had opened their bundles, and besides little work-boxes, each with -a silver thimble of the right size for the owner, and a pair of scissors -that would “cut clean and not haggle,” as Eliza Clausen expressed it, -there were books for all. Some were about birds, and others about -flowers, trees, butterflies, and the real life out-of-doors that is more -wonderful than any fairy-tale. Having disposed of their own presents, -with many little shrieks of delight, the girls stood by, waiting for the -boys to open their bundles. These were all long and flat, with a bunch -in the centre, as if two objects of different shapes were fastened -together. - -Tommy succeeded in untying his first, skeining up the string so that he -might have it for the re-wrapping. A strong, well-made knife, with two -blades fell out, and under it was a hammer, a chisel, a half-inch auger, -and a medium-sized cross-cut saw. Seeing Tommy’s gifts made the others -pull open their packages hastily, with less regard for string and paper, -to find that they also had the coveted tools. - -“Now,” said Gray Lady, “you boys will be independent of your fathers’ -tools when you take a bird-house home to finish, or wish to do a little -bit of work for yourselves, as the girls will also be independent of -their mothers’ work-boxes and thimbles; because, if the grown-up people -are always having their tools borrowed or mislaid, they are apt to have -a sort of grudge against both the work and the workers.” - -Some of the boys looked at each other rather sheepishly, and wondered -how Gray Lady knew that their fathers had said that “since the boys took -to carpentering there hadn’t been a hammer or nail to be found nor a saw -with the sign of an edge left on it.” - -“By and by,” continued Gray Lady, “if you have the desire, you will all -have a chance to earn other tools, and also make boxes in which to keep -them. - -“You may wonder why the Christmas tree bore no candy by way of fruit; -that was because part of the fun for this afternoon will be making -candy,—caramels, chocolate creams, nut taffy, and old-fashioned pulled -molasses rope-candy,—so that, besides the making and tasting, you will -all have something that you have made yourselves to give the people at -home to-morrow, or put in their stockings if they are hung up. See! here -are the boxes that Goldilocks has made to hold the candy!” There upon a -tray were two dozen square boxes covered with green-and-white paper, and -a row of red-paper hearts pasted across the top of each, with the words, -“The Kind Hearts wish you a Merry Christmas,” printed in red. - -“Did you make all those boxes yourself, Goldilocks?” asked Sarah Barnes, -in amazement; “I don’t see how you could turn the corners so nice.” - -“Not the boxes; you can buy them for very little at the factory. I -covered them and put the hearts on, but Mother did the printing. It is -easy enough if you take time. You see the two years that my feet -wouldn’t go, I learned to make my fingers work for both.” - -“The fire and pans, sugar, molasses, and nuts are all ready, but, before -we become Miss Wilde’s guests and begin, for the candy-making and supper -belong to her party, we must hold a short business meeting of the Kind -Hearts’ Club, that we may decide how the Christmas money is to be -spent.” - -Gray Lady then sat down at the end of the room with Mrs. Wilde, while -Goldilocks, the president, took her place at the head of the long table, -with the vice-president, Miss Wilde, close at hand to prompt. Sarah, the -treasurer, and Tommy, the secretary, were on opposite sides of the table -facing each other, and all the others sat up very straight, wearing -various expressions of importance that were quite amusing. - -Goldilocks rapped on the table with her pencil, and said in a rather -shaky voice, blushing rosy red as she spoke, “The meeting will please -come to order and listen to the reading of the minutes of the last -meeting.” - -There had been but one previous meeting, that to arrange for the -Christmas sale, and it had been informal, so that this was really the -president’s first appearance in the chair, and, as she spoke, she kept -her eyes fastened to the paper upon which Miss Wilde had written the -order to be followed. - -“Secretary will please read the minutes of the last meeting,” she said, -after a pause. - -The secretary looked around in a hunted sort of way, as if to find an -open door through which he could escape, and, seeing none, got rather -unsteadily upon his feet, opened the square blank-book that Gray Lady -had given him for his records, fumbled with the pages, and then said, -rather than read,—“We were all there. We all agreed to sell the things -we’ve been making so as to get some money to feed birds, and buy things; -and Gray Lady said we could do it in her house; the Saturday before -Christmas was duly appointed, and Dave was to get the bills, to tell -folks it was going to be printed down at the Chronicle Office, because -it is his uncle runs it, and Gray Lady promised to give cakes and -chocolate, in case folks were hungry. - - “Respectfully submitted, - “Thomas Todd, Jr., Secretary, Amen!” - - * * * * * - -Gray Lady did not dare look at Miss Wilde during the reading of this -report, but the children took it in perfect earnestness, and Goldilocks, -having put the report to vote, as she had been told, proceeded to the -next item before her and called, “Report of the secretary.” - -Again Tommy fumbled, and, after looking in every page of the book but -the ones that were written upon, suddenly burst forth,—“We had it, and -we sold everything, besides some things we haven’t made yet. The people -ate all there was, and took the other things home. It was a big cinch! -Sarah Barnes has got the money in a box, and her father’s put it in the -clock-case, except some of it that’s in dimes and nickels, and they’re -in a bag in the dresser with the rye meal so’s no one’ll know. Gray Lady -said that to-day we must each bring a paper, with written on it the way -we wanted the money spent. We have. It was hard to write because some -things we would like to have wouldn’t be nice to everybody all around, -and that’s what it means to have a Kind Heart, grandma says. - - “Yours truly, - “T. Todd.” - - * * * * * - -Action having been taken upon this, and the report accepted without a -dissenting voice, the treasurer was called upon, and Sarah arose. - -“The result of the sale of the Kind Hearts’ Club, which was held in the -spacious residence of Mrs. Gray Lady Wentworth on Saturday, December -18th, was very gratifying to all concerned, and the proceeds, fifty -dollars, are now in the hands of the treasurer awaiting the orders of -this august body. - - “Respectfully reported by - “Sarah Barnes.” - - * * * * * - -“How did you get yours together so slick and short, and full of nice -words?” whispered Tommy to Sarah, across the table, his usual admiration -for her now tinged with new respect. - -“I didn’t,” she signalled back, not speaking audibly, but making the -words with her lips. “I just told grandma how much money we had, and she -worded it; they always talked reports that way at the missionary -meetings and sewing societies when she was a girl, and she thinks folks -are getting to be real slack talkers now.” - -“A dis—cussion is now in order as to the spending of the money. Will -Mr. Todd collect the papers and the vice-president kindly read them?” -said Goldilocks, after looking at her paper again. And as Tommy passed a -little box for the slips, Gray Lady came from the corner, so eager was -she to hear what the children had in view. - -Rose Wilde opened the papers, and the ideas on the first few, though -good, presented nothing original: food for birds; books for the school; -bird charts for the Bridgeton Hospital. Sarah’s paper suggested -sleigh-rides and charts for the children in the Bridgeton Orphan Asylum, -“because they don’t know any birds but English Sparrows.” - -Tommy’s paper read:—“To fix the spring that used to come down Sugar -Loaf Hill into a trough, before Bill Evans got mad with the Selectmen, -and blocked it from coming through his pasture. There’s no water for -drivers along the road above the Centre until you get to Beaver Brook, -and that’s four miles, unless they get it from our well, which isn’t -handy. My father could fix a big stone trough, ’cause he’s a mason, and -birds and dogs and horses could drink. Birds need water to mix mud for -their nests, too, especially Robins and Wood Thrushes. What is wanting, -is to pipe the spring across Evans’ field,—his widow’d be pleased to -have us; it’s her land. It’s two hundred feet, father says.” - -“That is a very good, practical idea, Tommy,” said Gray Lady, earnestly; -“we must consider this.” - -Rose Wilde had now come to the last paper without discovering anything -else of special novelty; this was written in little Clary’s stiff -letters, and filled a whole sheet of paper. - -“It isn’t for birds, it’s a blanket for Joel Hanks, the mail-man’s -horse. It’s blind in one eye, and it’s a kind horse, and knows where all -the boxes are. It’s got a cough now. Mr. Hanks was going to buy a new -one (a blanket), and get shingles on that end of the barn where the -horse stands, so’s the snow won’t drift in, but his wife got sick last -summer, and had doctors and nurses, and that costs more money than a new -horse, and a whole barn, my mother says. Mother says it isn’t Joel’s -fault he’s poor; he isn’t slack, only some folks are marked for trouble. -Last summer, lightning struck his haystack, and burned it and only his -cornstalks were left. His horse is thin, too. Cornstalks aren’t filling -for uphill work, my father says, and the mail-route is all either up or -down, and in winter downhill is slippery, and just as bad. A horse is a -lovely animal, and useful; I would like us to help this horse. He isn’t -a bird, to be sure, but birds have feathers, and don’t have to drag a -wagon uphill, against the wind, with bent axles. It will take three -bundles of shingles for that barn-end and three lights of window-glass.” - -There was silence for a moment, and Miss Wilde, looking at Gray Lady, -while she waited for her to speak, saw tears in her eyes. - -“Tommy’s idea about the fountain is excellent, and I think we can build -it before spring, but the blind old horse and his patient master cannot -wait, and they both serve us, each and all, in fair weather and foul. - -“How is it, children? Shall we set aside ten dollars for the bird food -for the winter, and then buy Mr. Hanks a ton of good hay, a -horse-blanket, the three bundles of shingles, and the window-glass? And -do you think that you big boys could put on the shingles if Jacob Hughes -helped you?” - -“You can just bet we will!” cried Jack Todd, and the others nodded -approval. - -This matter also was put to vote, and then a committee appointed, -consisting of Miss Wilde and Jack Todd, to purchase blanket, hay, etc., -while to Clary fell the inexpressible bliss of stopping at Mr. Hanks’ on -her way home, telling him the news, and taking a blanket, warm but not -new, that Gray Lady loaned until the new one could be had. - -“Now for the candy!” shouted Tommy, whose spirits could keep in no -longer. - -“The meeting isn’t adjourned, yet,” said Goldilocks, reprovingly, -clutching her paper and pounding on the table. “A motion is in order.” - -“I move that we adjourn,” said Miss Wilde. - -“Now somebody say, ‘I second it,’” insisted Goldilocks. - -“I second it,” came a chorus. And any further remarks were lost in a -shout that arose at the sight of Jim Crow, climbing along a shelf of the -kitchen dresser, with one of the new pairs of scissors in his beak, that -he had managed to take unobserved from nobody-knew-whose work-basket. - - - - - XIX - BEHIND THE BARS - - - _Mockingbird, Cardinal, Indigo-bird, and Nonpareil_ - -One gray Saturday in January, when the wind rushed through the trees, -making the frozen branches clash with the sound of metal rather than -wood, and it was too cold to snow, Tommy Todd came to the kitchen door -at “the General’s” carrying a large and unwieldy bundle carefully wrapt -in an old quilt. - -The door was opened by Matilda, the old coloured woman, who had been -“the General’s” cook in her youth, staying on as caretaker during the -years when the house had been closed. “What you got dere, sonny? Sumpin’ -live, ’cause I kin hear hit scratchin’. Don’t say yer bringin’ in a trap -o’ rats, ’cause if dere’s anythink I mislike ’ticular, it is dem.” - -“No, mammy; it isn’t rats, it’s a bird,” said Tommy, beginning to unwind -the quilt which covered a long cage made of wood and stout wires. When -he had succeeded in freeing it from the cover, which, being ragged, -caught on the wires, he lifted the cage to the kitchen table, where the -light came full upon it. There, hopping nervously to and fro between the -perches, was a gray bird about the size of a Robin. Its wings and tail -had a browner wash than the rest of its back, while some of its -tail-feathers and its underparts were white, though now soiled and -rather ragged from chafing against the bars. As it moved about, it -whisked its tail to and fro, in very much the same way as our Catbirds -and Brown Thrashers. - -Matilda adjusted her big spectacles, grumbling as she did so, “Doan you -know, chile, dat Missy doan like birds to be shet up in cages, and be -prisoners, and sole away from home no mor’n de General would ’low folks -to be shet from liberty an’ traded away? I ’spect she’ll be powerful mad -when she sees dis yere. Whar yeh done git hit?” Then, as she drew near -the cage and saw the bird plainly, which for a moment stopped its -fluttering, she cried, “For de love ob Heaven, honey! it’s a Mocker, and -my ole eyes ain’t seen one since de ole cabin hit burn down, and we was -all scattered out’en, and left Lou’siana for to git Norf! - -“My! but what birds dem Mockers were. I kin just year ’em now.” And -Matilda seated herself by the table, pushed back her glasses, and closed -her eyes. - -“Winter wa’n’t well ober ’fore dey began to sing up, and come peepin’ -around de cabins and in de road bushes lookin’ fer a nest-place. -Sometimes dey put it in de thick bush ober top de swamp, but more times -dey put it close in de rose vines, like as if dey t’ought snakes -wouldn’t likely git ’em dere, ’cause snakes is as set to git Mockers as -de ole one in de garden ob Eden was bound ter git Ebe. - -“Dat nest, hit was kinder throwed together ob sticks, but de beddin’ in -hit was good an soft, for de Mockers knew mighty well whar ter find ole -cotton fluff to make a linin’. An’, while all this was doin’, how dey -did sing! Day wasn’t long ’nough fer him, ’cause ’long towards noon his -froat hit git dry and he’d go way down de orange grove an’ rest him jest -a li’l bit, and den come out again an’ git nearer and nearer to de -cabin, an’ when de sun hit role away to bed an’ de moon-up come, he’d -git from de rose vine to de roof, an’ den up to de chimley edge an’ sing -straight down at yer. Laws, honey, yer couldn’t never tell in daylight -what birds was singin’, de real ones or him a-mockin’ ob dem. De Red -Bird with de topknot, de Blue Jay, de li’l Wren wif de sassy tail, de -Hangnest (Oriole), or de Blue Sparrow might all be singin’, for all I -know’d, or hit might be only he a-mockin’ of ’em better than dey knew -how demselves. - -“But when hit come night, and eb’ry one was home at de quarters, an’ -some was singin’, an’ some playin’ de banjo, an’ de smell from de orange -groves risin’ up powerful on de wind, and sun-down t’ree four hours -gone, den when we heard all dem birds a-singin’, we knew it was de -Mocker, an’ sometimes he wouldn’t stop all the night until de light hit -slip right from silber to gold, an’ den copper, an’ ’twas sun-up again; -an’ in dose days most eb’ry one had a Mocker in a cage. But here I be -runnin’ on ’bout de times when de Lord he let folks an’ wild birds both -be bought an’ sold. Tell me, honey, whar ye done git him? Shore he neber -was flyin’ round about up yere in de cold an’ snow—him what lubs de -sun-up ’way down Lou’siana way.” - -“I didn’t put him in a cage, Aunt Tilda,” said Tommy, earnestly; “it is -this way. He belonged to old Ned that works of summers for my Uncle Eph -over at Bridgeton, and then goes home every year down South at -Christmas, to spend the cold weather. This year he has hurt his leg, and -is sick and can’t go, and has to stay in Bridgeton Hospital. So, as he -used to know ‘the General,’ and he’s heard that Gray Lady loves birds, -he told me to bring his Mocker over here, and ask her if she’d keep it -safe and feed it until real warm spring weather, and then hang the cage -outside, and open the door, and let it fly away if it would. ’Cause he -thinks somehow it would find the way home if it wants to. - -“He fed it well, and cared for it, and never thought about its being -unhappy in a cage until he had to go to the hospital, and be shut in, -and couldn’t go home South, perhaps, any more. Then I guess he knew how -his Mocker might feel, too. I think Gray Lady will keep him, even though -it says on the Bird Law posters that _you mustn’t keep a wild bird dead -or alive or have its nest or eggs_. Because if Sheriff Blake arrested -her, he knows old Ned and Gray Lady could explain it all so’s she -wouldn’t be fined.” - -“What is it that Gray Lady can explain so that she need not be fined?” -said a voice from the store-room on the other side of the entry way, and -“sheself” walked in; “sheself” being Matilda’s name for her mistress -when she wished to use a term that she considered more dignified than -the homely one of “Missy.” - -Then Tommy repeated his explanation, while Matilda stood looking at the -Mockingbird and muttering to herself of the many happenings of her slave -days, happy as well as sad, that the sight of him recalled. - -“Of course I will keep the Mockingbird until spring,” said Gray Lady, -“and then I will hang the cage in the porch, open the door, but still -keep it well supplied with food, so that he may come and go, and if his -heart leads him back towards his southern birthplace, be sure that he -will join the flock of some of his northern kindred and in their company -reach home.” - -“Do we have any kind of Mockingbird up here?” asked Tommy, his eyes -opening in wonder. - -“Not real brothers of the Mockingbird, though he has half a dozen in the -southwestern part of the country, but two first cousins, and half a -dozen second cousins. Let us take the Mocker up to the playroom and hang -his cage in the warm window by the chimney, where the sun will shine on -him whenever the clouds let it peep through. Then I will tell you all -who his cousins are, and about three other American birds that for many -years were caught and kept prisoners in cages and sold out of their -native land.” - - * * * * * - -The children were all gathered upstairs by the time Gray Lady arrived, -followed by Tommy, carrying the cage. - -“I had a Robin in a cage, once, and a Catbird, and grandma and Aunt Mary -always have Canaries. Why is it against the law to keep wild birds in -cages? That Mockingbird doesn’t seem to mind it a bit; now that he’s -smoothed down his feathers, and has begun to eat, he acts real happy,” -said Eliza Clausen, after they had looked at the newcomer and heard the -story of his being sent to Gray Lady. - -“There are two reasons why wild birds should never be kept in cages -except for really scientific study, or to help them when they are -exposed to cold, or are ill and maimed in some way. The first reason is -that when Nature placed birds in certain localities provided with the -best sorts of beaks, feet, etc., to make them able to earn their living, -it was done because there was work there for them to do that they could -perform better than anything else. They were a part of the Great Plan -for preventing insect life (which also has its uses) from increasing too -much and doing damage. This is the practical way of considering birds -for what the Wise Men call their ‘economic value.’ These birds may be -able to hold their own against the birds of prey, that in the beginning -were doubtless made to keep the smaller birds from becoming too numerous -and upsetting the balance of the Plan, but when man came in, and not -only destroyed them for some fancied damage to his crops, but took the -young from the nest, or trapped the old birds, and sold them into -captivity where they could no longer follow the creative law, to -‘increase and multiply,’ the danger became grave. - -“The second reason, however, is one that our own kind hearts can -understand the best, and that is the misery of the bird born wild when -he feels himself a captive. If he outlives the first misery, and seems -to become resigned, he may become content in a way, but he can never -forget the liberty he has lost, nor can we, in any way, make up to him, -by mere food and creature-comforts, the ecstasy of the wild life. The -very fact that the healthful joy of flight and choice in mating is -denied him is enough. - -“I did not realize this when I was a girl, and I also kept cage birds -like every one else; it was not because I was cruel, simply that I had -never thought of the matter any more than my friends, until one day, -being ill and shut in my room, like poor old Ned in the hospital, I -watched the fluttering of a Painted Bunting or Nonpareil that my father -had bought me. - -“This bird is one of the southern Sparrows, in size no larger than a -Chippy. Its plumage is tropical in its beauty, deep blue head and neck, -red underparts, glistening green back, green-and-red wings, with a -reddish tail; in short, a glittering opal copied in feathers. Its cage -was roomy, and it had the best of food, and fresh water for bathing and -drinking, while the shelf in the window, on which it stood, was filled -with flowering plants, up through the branches of which it could look. -But, oh, the expression of that bird’s body! I watched its every motion; -the head thrown backward, searching in vain for a loophole of escape -between the bars, the quivering of its wings as the impulse for freedom, -and the company of its kind, swept over it! Sometimes, late in the -night, when I awoke and looked toward it, I could see that it was awake -and its wings trembling with the thought of dawn that it could not fly -to meet. Then I knew, even if it became cowed, and forgot its natural -instincts so far as to be dumbly content as a prisoner, that the real -life of the bird would be as dead as if a bullet had ended it, and -though it was late winter, February, I felt that I must give it liberty. - -“I told my father, and he sympathized with me as usual, listened to my -story, and then, packing the cage safely, had it sent by special express -to a family friend, who was wintering in Florida, with the request that -she liberate the prisoner. For, as we could not get it to its winter -haunt in the tropics, this seemed next best, and it would soon meet the -flocks of its kin on the return trip. - -“So the bird was freed, and once more felt the joy of being lifted on -his wings whither he would go, and whatever loneliness he may have -suffered after that, he had gained liberty, which is the right of the -least of God’s creatures. - -“Of the four American birds that were most commonly caged, the -Mockingbird and Cardinal have always been the most popular, and this is -what some of the writers have said about taking them into captivity. - - - _The Mockingbird_ - - “The Mockingbird ranges from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and - from middle Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, southward to - the Gulf of Mexico. Usually the bird-hunters take the young from - the nest as soon as they open their beaks for food. These are - sold in Southern cities by negro boys for from fifteen to - twenty-five cents apiece. . . . Thousands of Mockingbirds find - their way across the Atlantic.”—Henry Nehrling. - - - _The Cardinal_ - - “This is one of our most common cage-birds and is very generally - known, not only in North America, but even in Europe, numbers of - them having been carried over both to France and England, in - which last country they are called ‘Virginia - Nightingales.’”—Alexander Wilson. - - - _The Indigo-bird_ - - “The combination of musical ability, lovely plumage, and its - seed-eating qualities long since has made the Indigo Bunting in - danger of extermination, through the fact of its being - universally captured throughout the South and sold as a - cage-bird, both for home use and for export.” - - - _Painted Bunting or Nonpareil_ - - “This splendid, gay, and docile bird, known to Americans as the - Nonpareil (the unequalled), and to the French Louisianans as _le - pape_, inhabits the woods of the low countries of the Southern - states. - - “For the sake of their song as well as beauty of plumage they - are commonly domesticated in the houses of the French - inhabitants of New Orleans and its vicinity. . . . - - “They are commonly caught in trap-cages, to which they are - sometimes allured by a stuffed bird, which they descend to - attack; and they have been known to live in captivity for - upwards of ten years.”—Thomas Nuttall. - -“The Mockingbird, as you see, has sombre gray plumage like his cousin, -the Catbird, that we all know so well that I think he should drop a name -that belies his wonderful musical ability, and be called the ‘Northern -Mockingbird.’ Even though the Mocker is caged, you can see the -resemblance, in the way in which he twitches his tail, and first throws -back his beak and then looks sideways, to our merry singer of the garden -who often makes us think that half a dozen birds are perching in the -drying-yard when he sits upon the top of a clothes-pole and lets his -imagination float away with his voice. - -“The Brown Thrasher, too, with the long, curved beak, brown back, and -speckled breast, is also a first cousin and has the Mockingbird habit of -mounting high up when he sings and looking straight up at the sky; while -the Wrens, one and all, belong to this famous family group and come in, -we may say, as second cousins, and like the Mockingbird, aside from the -beauty of song, are very valuable insect eaters. The other three birds -have the conical beak that stamps them as members of the family of -Finches and Sparrows. - -“Rich colour is the chief attribute that sets the Indigo Bunting apart -from its kin of the tribe of Sparrows and Finches. - -“Blue that is decided in tone, and not a bluish gray, is one of the -rarest hues among the birds of temperate zones; for one may count the -really blue birds of the eastern United States upon the fingers of one -hand. - -“This Bunting belongs to the tree-loving and tree-nesting part of his -tribe, in company with the Grosbeaks, and the brilliant yellow American -Goldfinch, whose black cap, wings, and tail-feathers only enhance his -beauty. The Sparrows, of sober stripes, nest on or near the ground, and -their plumage blends with brown grass, twigs, and the general -earth-colouring, illustrating very directly the theory of colour -protection, while the birds of brilliant plumage invariably keep more -closely to the trees. - -“In size the Indigo Bunting ranks with the small Sparrows, coming in -grade between the Field- and the Song Sparrows, and being only slightly -larger than the Chippy. The female wears a modification of the Sparrow -garb, the upper parts being ashy brown without stripes, the underparts -grayish white, washed and very faintly streaked with dull brown, the -wings and tail-feathers having some darker edges and markings. - -“When it comes to painting the plumage of the male in words, the task -becomes difficult; for to use simply the term indigo-blue is as -inadequate as to say that a bit of water that looks blue while in -shadow, is of the same colour when it ripples out into full sunlight and -catches a dozen reflections from foliage and sky. A merely technical -description would read: Front of head and chin rich indigo-blue, growing -lighter and greener on back and underparts; wings dusky brown, with blue -edges to coverts; tail-feathers also blue edged; bill and feet dark; -general shape rounded and canary-like, resembling the Goldfinch. - -“The last of May one of these Buntings came to a low bush, outside my -window, and, after resting awhile, for the night before had been stormy, -dropped to the closely cut turf to feed upon the crumbs left where the -hounds had been munching their biscuits. I have never seen a more -beautiful specimen, and the contrast with the vivid grass seemed to -develop the colour of malachite that ran along one edge of the feathers, -shifting as the bird moved like the sheen of changeable silk. - -“The nest, in no wise typical, is a loose and rather careless structure -of grass, twigs, horsehairs, roots, or bits of bark placed in a low, -scrubby tree or bush at no great distance from the ground, and the eggs -are a very pale blue or bluish white, and only three or four in number. - -[Illustration: National Association of Audubon Societies INDIGO BUNTING -(Upper figure, Male; Lower figure, Female)] - - Order—Passeres Family—Fringillidæ - Genus—Passerina Species—Cyanea - -“Being a seed-eater, it is undoubtedly this Bunting’s love of warmth -that gives him so short a season with us: for he does not come to the -New England states until the first week in May, and, after the August -moult, when he dons the sober clothing of his mate, he begins to work -southward by the middle of September,—those from the most northerly -portions of the breeding range, which extends northward to Minnesota and -Nova Scotia, having passed by the tenth of October. He winters in -Central America and southward. - -“Although of the insect-eating fraternity of the conical beak, the -Indigo Bunting consumes many noxious insects in the nesting season, when -the rapid growth of the young demands animal food, no matter to what -race they belong. Being an inhabitant of the overgrown edges of old -pastures, or the brushy fences of clearings and pent roads, he is in a -position where he can do a great deal of good. Mr. Forbush, in his -valuable book on _Useful Birds and Their Protection_, credits the Indigo -Bunting with being a consumer of the larvæ of the mischievous brown-tail -moth; but whatever service it may do as an insect destroyer, its service -the year through as a consumer of weed seeds, in common with the rest of -its tribe, is beyond dispute. - -“The voice of the Indigo Bunting is pretty rather than impressive, and -varies much in individuals. It consists of a series of hurried, -canary-like notes repeated constantly and rising in key, but, to my -mind, never reaching the dignity of being called impressive song. - -“Nuttall, one of the early American Wise Men, writes that, though -usually shy, the Indigo-bird, during the season, is more frequently seen -near habitations than in remote thickets: ‘Their favourite resort is the -garden, where, from the topmost branch of some tall tree that commands -the whole wide landscape, the male regularly pours out his lively chant -and continues it for a considerable length of time. Nor is this song -confined to the cool and animating dawn of morning, but it is renewed, -and still more vigorous, during the noonday heat of summer. This lively -strain is composed of a repetition of short notes, which, commencing -loud and rapid, and then slowly falling, descend almost to a whisper, -succeeded by a silence of almost half a minute, when the song is again -continued as before. - -“‘In the village of Cambridge (Massachusetts), I have seen one of these -azure, almost celestial musicians, regularly chant to the inmates of a -tall dwelling-house from the summit of the chimney or the tall fork of -the lightning-rod. I have also heard a Canary repeat and imitate the low -lisping trill of the Indigo-bird, whose warble, indeed, often resembles -that of this species.’ - -“This combination of musical ability, lovely plumage, and its -seed-eating qualities long since has made the Indigo Bunting in danger -of extermination, through the fact of its being universally, throughout -the South, captured and sold as a cage-bird, both for home use and for -export. In that section the bird is called the ‘blue pop,’ a corruption -of ‘bleu pape,’ or ‘pope,’ of the French. - -“The Cardinal, called ‘Grosbeak’ from the thickness and size of its -bill, is of course a very conspicuous bird wherever seen, and therefore -has always been a mark for the ‘arrow of death,’ as Mr. Allen, who knows -this bird in its native haunts, and its every mood, puts it. Some day -when you are older you will read his story of it as it lives in the deep -recesses of the evergreen woods, called _The Kentucky Cardinal_. For -though this bird is found nesting as far north as Central Park, New -York, and it has once or twice come to my garden here, and gone into -Massachusetts even, in the fall roving-time, we must always associate -him with a long outdoor season and sunny skies, as we do the -Mockingbird. - -“If the Mocker suffered for his voice, the Cardinal was made a prisoner -for his song and gorgeous colour combined, and though, as is bird law in -such cases, the female is dull in colour, she has a very attractive song -also, even in confinement. But I hope that these prison days are over. -Whoever now confines the Cardinal is a law-breaker as well as a -heart-breaker, and yet, but ten years ago, every bird-store window was -aglow with the colour of the Cardinal’s mantle. I have here in the -scrap-book a charming story that you will like to hear, of a Cardinal in -Boston, made a temporary captive for its own preservation, and of its -release when the right time came.” - - - THE CARDINAL AT THE HUB - -His range being southern, Cardinal Grosbeak seldom travels through New -England; and, to my knowledge, has never established a home and reared a -family north of Connecticut until in the instance here recorded. -Kentuckians claim him, and with some show of right, since James Lane -Allen built his monument in imperishable prose. But, soon or late, all -notables come to Boston, and among them may now be registered the -“Kentucky Cardinal.” - -Shy by nature, conspicuous in plumage, he shuns publicity; and avoiding -the main lines of travel, he puts up at a quiet country house in a -Boston suburb—Brookline. - -Here, one October day in 1897, among the migrants stopping at this -halfway house, appeared a distinguished guest, clad in red, with a black -mask, a light red bill, and a striking crest; with him a bird so like -him that they might have been called the two Dromios. After a few days -the double passed on, and left our hero the only red-coat in the field. -A White-throated Sparrow now arrived from the mountains, and a -Damon-and-Pythias friendship sprang up between the birds. Having decided -to winter at the North, they took lodgings in a spruce tree, and came -regularly to the _table d’hôte_ on the porch. My lord Cardinal, being -the more distinguished guest, met with particular favour, and soon -became welcome at the homes of the neighbourhood. With truly catholic -taste, he refused creature-comforts from none, but showed preference for -his first abode. - -It was March 5, 1898, when we kept our first appointment with the -Cardinal. A light snow had fallen during the night, and the air was -keen, without premonition of spring. It was a day for home-keeping -birds, the earth larder being closed. The most delicate tact was -required in presenting strangers. A loud, clear summons—the Cardinal’s -own whistle echoed by human lips—soon brought a response. Into the -syringa bush near the porch flew, with a whir and a sharp _tsip_, a -bird. How gorgeous he looked in the snow-laden shrub! For an instant the -syringa blossoms loaded the air with fragrance as a dream of summer -floated by. Then a call to the porch was met by several sallies and -quick retreats, while the wary bird studied the newcomers. Reassuring -tones from his gentle hostess, accompanied by the rattle of nuts and -seeds, at last prevailed, and the Cardinal flew to the railing, and -looked us over with keen, inquiring eye. Convinced that no hostilities -were intended, he gave a long, trustful look into the face of his -benefactress and flew to her feet. - -A gray squirrel, frisking by, stopped at the lunch-counter and seized an -“Educator” cracker. - -The novel sensation of an uncaged bird within touch, where one might -notice the lovely shading of his plumage as one notes a flower, was -memorable; but a sweeter surprise was in store. As we left the house, -having made obeisance to his eminence, the Cardinal, the bird flew into -a spruce tree and saluted us with a melodious “Mizpah.” Then, as if -reading the longing of our hearts, he opened his bright bill, and a song -came forth such as never before enraptured the air of a New England -March,—a song so copious, so free, so full of heavenly hope, that it -seemed as if forever obliterated were the “tragic memories of his race.” - -As March advanced, several changes in the Cardinal were noted by his -ever-watchful friends. He made longer trips abroad, returning tired and -hungry. The restlessness of the unsatisfied heart was plainly his. His -long, sweet, interpolating whistle, variously rendering “Peace . . . -peace . . . peace!” “Three cheers, three cheers,” etc., to these -sympathetic northern ears became “Louise, Louise, Louise!” Thenceforth -he was Louis, the Cardinal, calling for his mate. - -On March 26, a kind friend took pity on the lonely bachelor, and a caged -bird, “Louise,” was introduced to him. In the lovely dove-coloured bird, -with faint washings of red, and the family mask and crest, the Cardinal -at once recognized his kind. His joy was unbounded, and the acquaintance -progressed rapidly, a mutual understanding being plainly reached during -the seventeen days of cage courtship. Louis brought food to Louise, and -they had all things in common, except liberty. - -April 12, in the early morning, the cage was taken out-of-doors, and -Louise was set free. She was quick to embrace her chance, and flew into -the neighbouring shrubbery. For six days she revelled in her new-found -freedom, Louis, meanwhile, coming and going as of old, and often -carrying away seeds from the house to share with his mate. - -April 16, he lured her into the house, and after that they came often -for food, flying fearlessly in at the window, and delighting their -friends with their songs and charming ways. Louis invariably gave the -choicest morsels to his mate, and the course of true love seemed to -cross the adage; but, alas! Death was already adjusting an arrow for -that shining mark. - -April 25, Louise stayed in the house all day, going out at nightfall. -Again the following day she remained indoors, Louis feeding her; but her -excellent appetite disarmed suspicion, and it was thought that she had -taken refuge from the cold and rain, especially as she spent the night -within. The third morning, April 27, she died. An examination of her -body showed three dreadful wounds. - -Louis came twittering to the window, but was not let in until a day or -two later, when a new bird, “Louisa,” had been put in the cage. When he -saw the familiar form, he evidently thought his lost love restored, for -he burst into glorious song; but, soon discovering his mistake, he -stopped short in his hallelujahs, and walked around the cage inspecting -the occupant. - -[Illustration: National Association of Audubon Societies CARDINAL -Upper Figure, Female; Lower Figure, Male.] - -Louisa’s admiration for the Cardinal was marked; but for some days he -took little notice of her, and his friends began to fear that their -second attempt at match-making would prove a failure. April 30, however, -some responsive interest was shown, and the next day Louis brought to -the cage a brown bug, half an inch long, and gave Louisa his first -meat-offering. - -The second wooing progressed rapidly, and May 7, when Louisa was set -free, the pair flew away together with unrestrained delight. After three -days of liberty, Louisa flew back to the house with her mate, and -thenceforth was a frequent visitor. - -May 21, Louisa was seen carrying straws, and on June 6 her nest was -discovered low down in a dense evergreen thorn. Four speckled eggs lay -in the nest. These were hatched June 9, the parent birds, meantime and -afterward, going regularly to market, and keeping up social relations -with their friends. - -In nine days after their exit from the shell, the little Cardinals left -the nest and faced life’s sterner realities. A black cat was their worst -foe, and more than once, during their youth, Louis flew to his devoted -commissary and made known his anxiety. Each time, on following him to -the nest, she found the black prowler, or one of his kind, watching for -prey. On June 28, the black cat outwitted the allied forces, Señor -Cardinal and his friends, and a little one was slain. The other three -grew up, and enjoyed all the privileges of their parents, flying in at -the window, and frequenting the bountiful porch. - -July 25, Louisa disappeared from the scene, presumably on a southern -trip, leaving the Cardinal sole protector, provider, and peacemaker for -their lively and quarrelsome triplet. A fight is apparently as needful -for the development of a young Cardinal as of an English schoolboy, -possibly due in both cases to a meat diet. - -Overfeeding was but temporary with our birds. On the 8th of August the -migratory instinct prevailed over ease, indulgence, friendship, and the -Cardinal with his brood left the house, where he had been so well -entertained, to return no more. No more? Who shall say of any novel that -it can have no sequel? Massachusetts may yet become the permanent home -of the Kentucky Cardinal, the descendant to the third and fourth -generation of Louis and his mate. - - —Ella Gilbert Ives, in _Bird-Lore_. - - * * * * * - -As Gray Lady read the story of the Cardinal, the children, between -listening to it and being intent on their work, forgot the Mockingbird -in the window, upon whom the rays of the sun, that had gradually managed -to pierce the clouds, were resting. - -As her mother finished and paused, Goldilocks, with a very slight -gesture, directed their glance toward the window, where the Mockingbird, -having completed his toilet and meal, perched, wings slightly raised and -quivering, with half-closed eyes, murmuring a few broken snatches of -song, half to himself and half as if in a dream, his head thrown back -and, oh, such a human expression of longing in his attitude, that Gray -Lady, without speaking, turned the leaves of her scrap-book slowly until -she came to a place where the long line of prose shortened to verse, and -then in a low but distinct voice she read:— - - - IN CAPTIVITY - - You ask me why - I long to fly - Out from your palace to the dreamy woods, - And the summer solitude, - Why I pine - In this cage of mine; - Why I fret, - Why I set - All manner of querulous echoes fluttering forth - From the cold North - And wandering southward with beseeching pain - In every strain. - Ask me not, - Task me not - With such vain questions, but fling wide the door - And hinder me no more; - Give back my wings to me, - And the wild current of my liberty. - - * * * * * * - - Oh if you please - Give me release! - Open the gate - Of this cage of Fate - And let me mount the South wind and go down - To Bay St. Louis town, - Where the brown bees hum - In amber mists of pollen and perfume; - And the roses gush a-bloom! - - * * * * * * - - Fainter, fainter—so - My life-stream sinks—runs low. - Ah! - Oh! - Open the cage and let me go. - Floating, dreaming, revelling, dying, down - To my mate, my queen, my love - In the fragrant drowsy grove - Beyond the flowery closes of Bay St. Louis town. - - * * * * * - -It was very still for a moment, and something fell on Sarah Barnes’ work -that was bright, but it wasn’t a needle! Then, looking across at the -cage, but addressing Gray Lady, she said, “We’ve paid for the shingles, -and the hay, and the horse-blanket, and a chest-protector, besides, for -the horse to wear all the time, to keep the uphill wind off his lungs. -We’ve bought the bags of sweepings for the feeding-places, and there’s -three dollars and eighty-five cents left. - -“Couldn’t the Kind Hearts’ Club have a meeting _right away_, and vote to -send Old Ned’s Mocker back down South by express, _now_, before he, -maybe, dies, so’s he’d be there to meet spring, even if old Ned can’t? -Then he’d have time to look up a mate in case his old one has got tired -of waiting for him,” she added in a more cheerful tone. - -Gray Lady said that, as all the members were present, a special meeting -would be in order; and two days later the Mockingbird started for the -southern home of one of Gray Lady’s school friends, with a “special” tag -on his well-wrapped cage and a bottle of extra food fastened outside. - -Oh, the untold misery and waste of this caging and selling of free-born -birds! It is only one grade less direct a slaughter than killing them to -trim a bonnet. While the sufferings of the bonnet-bird end at once, with -its life, those of the caged bird have only begun as the door closes -behind him. - -A few exceptional cases, where birds in care of those who are both able -and willing to make their surroundings endurable, count as nothing -against the general condemnation of the practice of caging birds born -wild. - -Those of us who have known, by experience, in caring for wounded or sick -birds, exactly what incessant watchfulness is necessary to keep them -alive, realize how impossible it is that this care should be given them -by the average purchaser. - -Birds born and reared in captivity, like the Canary, are the only ones -that real humanity should keep behind bars. There is no more condemnable -habit than taking nestlings of any kind, and trying to rear them, unless -disaster overtakes the parents. - -Nominally, the traffic in caged wild birds has ceased; actually, it has -not; nor will it until every bird-lover feels himself responsible for -staying the hand that would rob the nest, whether it is that of the -ignorant little pickaninny of the South, who climbs up the vine outside -the window where you are wintering, and sees, in the four young Mockers, -in the nest just under the sill, a prospective dollar; the child at -home, who likes to experiment for a few days with pets, and then forgets -them; or the wily dealer, who sells secretly what he dares not exhibit. -No quarter to any class who make prisoners of the wild, outside of the -zoölogical gardens or the few private outdoor aviaries, where the proper -conditions exist. - -Any free citizen prefers death to loss of liberty, and even the most -material mind will, at least, allow this human quality to Citizen Bird, -while it proves that he or she who either cages or buys the captive -wholly lacks the spiritual quality. - -Should we make prisoners of - - “The ballad-singers and the Troubadours, - The street musicians of the heavenly city, - The birds, who make sweet music for us all - In our dark hours, as David did for Saul”? - - - - - XX - MIDWINTER BIRDS - - - WINTER COMRADES - - Plume and go, ye summer folk - Fly from Winter’s killing stroke, - Bluebird, Sparrow, Thrush, and Swallow, - Wild Geese from the marshes follow, - Wood-dove from the lonesome hollow - Rise and follow South—all follow! - - Now I greet ye, hardy tribes, - Snowy Owl, and night-black Crow, - Starling with your wild halloo; - Blue Jay screaming like the wind, - In the tree-tops gaunt and thinned; - You in summer called “Bob-white” - (Voice of far-off fields’ delight). - Now among the barnyard brood - Fearless, searching for your food; - Nuthatch, Snowbird, Chickadee, - Downy tapper on the tree; - And you twittering Goldfinch drove - (Masked in gray) that blithely rove - Where the herby pastures show - Tables set above the snow: - And ye other flocks that ramble, - Where the red hop trims the bramble, - Or the rowan-berry bright - And the scarlet haw invite— - Winter comrades, well betide ye, - Friendly trunk and hollow hide ye, - Hemlock branches interlace, - When the Northern Blast gives chase. - - —Edith M. Thomas. - -These were the hard days for birds and people both, days of sleet and -ice, when the snow seemed to chill and bind the trees down, instead of -winding lovely draperies about them as it did at first. - -Toward the end of January the cedar-berries gave out, and the juicy -blackberries of the honeysuckle, that clings to everything that will -hold the vines, became watery and poor; most of the seed-stalks of weeds -were beaten down, and it was “mighty poor picking for birds,” as Sarah -Barnes expressed the matter. - -The lunch-counter in Birdland received a fresh supply of food every -morning, and yet, sometimes before dark, every grain had been eaten, and -the generous lumps of suet picked to shreds. The feeding-stations for -the game-birds all had visitors, and the boys, who kept them supplied, -saw, in their walks, many winter birds that they never before knew came -so near to the cultivated farmland. - -Acting on the general idea of feeding and sheltering birds that now -seemed to pervade the air of Fair Meadows township, many people -scattered food on the roofs of their sheds, and made openings in their -corn-stacks, or left a window of the hay-barn ajar, where birds might -seek a shelter. - -All through the month the resident winter birds were seen at intervals. -Of course, there would be many days when no birds would appear, and it -would seem as if they had all gone, but let the sun shine, and the least -breath of wind blow from the southeast, and they would come out of the -near-by shelter where they had been hiding. - -The orchard lunch-counter was the one place where, at least, a single -bird was always to be found, and, at times, as many as half a dozen -different kinds would be seen feeding peaceably together. - -Gray Lady kept a list of all the birds that the children reported, and -sometimes it was quite a puzzle for her to name a bird, unknown to the -discoverer, from the description that was brought of it. For to see the -chief points of a bird at a glance is difficult enough in itself, but to -put them into exact words seemed sometimes impossible. - -When Dave, on his return from a sleigh-ride to the shore, said that he’d -seen a “big round-headed Owl sitting on a stump in the salt meadows, and -it looked as if it had sat out all night in a snow-squall,” Gray Lady -knew at once that he had seen one of the Arctic or Snowy Owls that -occasionally drift down from the North on a short visit, and that it was -on the lookout for a meal of meadow-mice or other little gnawers. - -But when Bobbie, who went to the same location, reported that he had -seen “a flock of birds that were sort of Sparrows with a yellow breast, -and a black mark on it, and long ears,” it took a little time and many -questions before she found that the birds were visiting Horned Larks, -with pinkish brown backs, a black crescent on the breast, and a black -bar across the forehead, that, extending around the sides of the head, -forms two little tufts, or feather horns. For the rest, the throat and -neck were dull yellow, and the underparts white streaked with black. -These birds were little known. They only made flying visits, and gave -merely a call-note, keeping their beautiful song, during which they soar -in the air like the Sky-lark, for their nesting-haunts in the far North. - -Gray Lady’s ingenuity was taxed to its utmost, however, when one -Saturday morning little Clary came to the playroom, her face aglow, and -said that she had seen “a brown Blue Jay with a yellow tail and red -wings; not just one, but a whole family.” - -For a moment Gray Lady was quite at a loss how to proceed; yellow tail -and red wings were surely startling; then she saw that there must be -some point about the bird that reminded the child of a Jay other than -its colour. - -“How did this bird look like a Jay, Clary?” she asked. - -“In the head,” came the prompt reply; “it had feathers on top that moved -up and down, the way a Jay’s does, and it was dark in the nose.” - -On thinking over the winter birds that had a crest of feathers that -could be raised or lowered, she realized that the Cedar-bird had such a -one, also a black beak, and a black eye-stripe that made it look “dark -in the nose,” but yellow tail and red wings it certainly did not have, -merely a narrow yellow band on the tail and small, waxen, coral-red tips -to some of the wing quills. However, taking half a dozen coloured -pictures from one of the portfolios that she kept at hand to settle -disputed points, she spread them in front of the little girl, who, -without a moment’s hesitation, picked out the Cedar-bird, or Cedar -Waxwing, as it is properly called from its coral wings-tips. - -These are the resident birds on the list that Gray Lady kept of those -the children saw during that winter:— - -Bob-white -Ruffed Grouse -Red-shouldered Hawk -Meadowlark -Long-eared Owl -Screech Owl -Downy Woodpecker -Robin -Bluebird -Song Sparrow -White-breasted Nuthatch -Red-tailed Hawk -Sharp-shinned Hawk -Barred Owl -Cedar Waxwing -Hairy Woodpecker -Flicker -Blue Jay -Crow -American Goldfinch -Chickadee -Herring Gull - -This is a list of the visiting birds, that nest in the far North and -drift southward, either in search of food or driven on the course of the -storm clouds; and before February came, with its longer afternoons, the -children could name them all, either from sight or from the pictures in -Gray Lady’s portfolio. - - _Horned Lark._ (See above.) - - _Snowflake._ A bird of the Sparrow tribe, winter plumage soft - brown and white, colour of dead leaves and snow, black feet and - bill. Comes in flocks to feed on weed seeds, especially of snowy - winters. - - _Redpoll._ Of the Sparrow tribe and the size of the Chippy. - Dusky gray and brown, with long, pointed wings and short, forked - tail. _Head, neck, and rump washed with crimson!_ A canary-like - call-note. - - _The Two Crossbills._ (See page 252.) - - _Snowy Owl._ (See page 295.) - - _Tree-sparrow._ (See page 249.) - - _White-throated Sparrow._ The most beautiful of all our - Sparrows; a plump handsome bird. _White throat and crown - stripes._ Back striped with black, bay, and whitish. Rump light - olive-brown. Bay edgings to wings, and two white cross-bars; - underparts gray. _Yellow spot before eye._ Female, crown brown, - markings less distinct. Song, sweet and plaintive - “Pee-a-peabody, peabody, peabody!” - - Abundant migrant; also a winter resident from September to May. - - _Junco._ (See page 250.) - - _Myrtle Warbler._ (See page 250.) - - _Winter Wren._ (See page 247.) - - _Golden-crowned Kinglet._ (See page 249.) - - _Brown Creeper._ (See page 184.) - - _Northern Shrike._ A roving winter resident with Hawklike - habits, Hawklike in flight: called “Butcher-bird,” from its - meat-eating habits. - - Length: 9-10.50 inches. - - Male and Female: Powerful head, neck, and blackish beak - with hooked point. Above bluish ash, lighter on the rump - and shoulders. Wide black bar on each side of the head - from the eye backward. Below, light gray with a brownish - cast, broken on breast and sides by waved lines of - darker gray. Wings and tail black, edged and tipped with - white. Large white spot on wings, white tips and edges - to outer quills of tail. Legs bluish black. - - A call-note, and in its breeding-haunts a sweet, - warbling song. - -In common with all winter birds, its movements are guided by the food -supply, and if severe cold and heavy snows drive away the small birds, -and bury the mice upon which it feeds, the Shrike must necessarily rove. - -Grasshoppers, beetles, other large insects, and field-mice are staple -articles of its food in seasons when they are obtainable; in fact, next -to insects, mice constitute the staple article of its diet; and -protection should be accorded it on this account, even though we know -the Shrike chiefly as the killer of small birds. The victims are caught -by two methods: sneaking,—after the fashion of Crows,—and dropping -upon them suddenly from a height, like the small Hawks. In the former -case the Shrikes frequent clumps of bushes, either in open meadows or -gardens, lure the little birds by imitating their call-notes, and then -seize them as soon as they come within range. They often kill many more -birds than they can possibly eat at a meal, and hang them on the spikes -of a thorn or on the hooks of a cat-brier in some convenient spot, until -they are needed, in the same manner as a butcher hangs his meat; and -from this trait the name “Butcher-bird” was given them. - - * * * * * - -During some of these wintry days of meeting, questions and answers about -the birds seen filled the time, and then Gray Lady read to them from -some of her many books what people living in other places had said and -thought of these same familiar birds. Besides the stories, she told them -many things about the building of a bird, its bones, its feathers, the -reasons why of the various kinds of feet and bills, the grouping of -race, tribe, and family that both divide the bird world and at the same -time bind it together; for she very well knew that when spring came with -its procession of songsters, the children would be so eager to listen, -see, follow, and learn the names of the living birds that they would not -have patience to listen to the dry details. - - - THE SNOWBIRD - - When the leaves are shed - And the branches bare, - When the snows are deep - And the flowers asleep, - And the autumn dead; - And the skies are o’er us bent - Gray and gloomy since she went, - And the sifting snow is drifting - Through the air; - - Then mid snowdrifts white, - Though the trees are bare, - Comes the Snowbird bold - In the winter’s cold. - Quick and round and bright, - Light he steps across the snow. - Cares he not for winds that blow, - Though the sifting snow be drifting - Through the air. - - —Dora R. Goodale. - - - ON HEARING A WINTER WREN SING IN WINTER - - When wintry winds through woodlands blow - And naked tree-tops shake and shiver; - While all the paths were bound in snow, - And thick ice chains the merry river, - - One little feathered denizen, - A plump and nut-brown winter wren, - Sings of springtime even there— - “Tsip-twis-ch-e-e-e cheerily-cheerily-dare”— - Who could listen and despair? - - Charmed with the sweetness of his strain, - My heart found cheer in winter’s bluster; - The leafless wood was fair again, - Its ice-gems sparkled with new lustre. - The tiny, trembling, tinkling throat - Poured forth despair’s sure antidote, - No leafy June hears sweeter note— - “Tsip-twis-ch-e-e-e cheerily-cheerily-dare”— - The essence of unspoken prayer. - - —Lynn Tew Sprague, in _Bird-Lore_. - - - THE CHICKADEE - - When piped a tiny voice hard by, - Gay and polite, a cheerful cry, - Chic-chickadee-dee! saucy note - Out of sound heart and merry throat, - As if it said, “Good day, good sir! - Fine afternoon, old passenger! - Happy to meet you in these places - Where January brings few faces.” - - —R. W. Emerson. - - * * * * * - -These are a few of the many bits of verse and poems that Gray Lady read -or recited to the children in these days, some of which they learned by -heart. Once learned, she knew they would never be forgotten, but that -years afterward, when they saw the birds that the lines described, the -words and the days in the schoolhouse and playroom, and the faces of -their companions, would all come back to them. - - - BIRD SONGS OF MEMORY - - Oh, surpassing all expression by the rhythmic use of words, - Are the memories that gather of the singing of the birds: - When as a child I listened to the Whip-poor-will at dark, - And with the dawn awakened to the music of the Lark. - - Then what a chorus wonderful when morning had begun,— - The very leaves, it seemed to me, were singing to the sun, - And calling on the world asleep to waken and behold - The king in glory coming forth along his path of gold. - - The crimson-fronted Linnet sang above the river’s edge, - The Finches in the evergreens, the Thrasher in the hedge; - Each one as if a dozen songs were chorused in his own, - And all the world were listening to him and him alone. - - In gladness sang the Bobolink upon ascending wing, - With cheery voice the bird of blue, the pioneer of spring, - The Oriole upon the elm, with martial note and clear, - While Martins twittered gayly by the cottage window near. - - Among the orchard trees were heard the Robin and the Wren, - And the army of the Blackbirds along the marshy fen; - The songster in the meadow and the Quail upon the wheat, - And the warbler’s minor music made the symphony complete. - - Beyond the tow’ring chimney’d walls that daily meet my eyes, - I hold a vision beautiful beneath the summer skies; - Within the city’s grim confines, above the roaring street, - The Happy Birds of Memory are singing clear and sweet. - - —Garrett Newkirk. - - - - - XXI - JACOB HUGHES’ OPINION OF CATS - - -One morning after a light snow-storm, followed by sparkling sunshine, -Gray Lady took the younger children out for a walk through Birdland and -the lane. Not but what even the younger children knew the way! But often -as they had trodden it, there were many things that they noticed for the -first time: the wonderful shapes of the snow crystals, the snow flowers -that blossomed on the old weed stalks, the snow filling that brought -many hidden nests into view, and all the other wonders that are so often -wrought in the winter night, while we sleep soundly. - -Tommy and Dave, who had walked on ahead, halted suddenly and picked up a -handful of feathers from the snow and stood looking at them as Gray Lady -came up. - -“A bad Hawk or a Crow or Owl or something big has been here,” said Dave, -with a quaver in his voice, “and it’s killed a banty rooster that looks -just like mine, that is, this bunch of feathers does; but then, -Goldilocks has banties, too, so perhaps it is one of hers,” and he held -the feathers up. - -Gray Lady took them; yes, they were banty feathers, and from a bird that -had not been long dead, for the quill ends were still moist. Then she -looked at the ground: “Something that did not fly has killed the bantam, -and dragged its body along the ground, and it had feet with padded -claws, look!” she said, and there was a blood-stained trail that skirted -the bushes and then ran across the lane toward a hay-barn that now held -only bedding and cornstalks. - -“You children amuse yourselves here while Tommy, Dave, and I follow this -up.” - -Nothing could have been more simple than this following, as the -footprints of the large cat, for that is what it was, showed plainly in -the new snow, and, here and there, a few drops of blood also marked the -way. Straight to the barn ran the trail, and then through a small door -that had been left open at Gray Lady’s request, that birds might take -shelter inside. - -So they had, poor things, and so had the cat also. On the floor were -other feathers of many kinds, among which Gray Lady recognized the -white-spotted tail-feathers of a Robin, the pointed shafts of the -Flicker, and gray-and-white down that might have come from a Junco’s -breast; while half hidden by loose cornstalks was the foot of a Grouse, -also yellow legs that had belonged to a good-sized chicken. - -The boys stood still in amazement, and Dave said, “I knew foxes and dogs -carried things home or buried them, but I didn’t know cats did unless -they have kittens hidden. I wonder if there are kittens in the -cornstalks, and if this cat stole all the chickens we’ve been losing -every day almost along since fall? Because it couldn’t be any kind of -birds that stole them, they couldn’t get in; and father said it lay -between cats, rats, and weasels.” - -“We will soon find out,” said Gray Lady. “Will you boys go down to the -stable and ask Jacob to come up? I will watch here.” As soon as they had -gone, Gray Lady went into a corner and seated herself upon a box. -Presently she heard a rustle among the cornstalks and out stalked a -great tiger-striped cat, licking her whiskers. After snuffing the -footsteps of the boys, she began to lash her tail to and fro, which in a -cat means anger, and quite the reverse of the dog’s sociable, “I’m glad -to see you” tail-wag. Then, looking back at the hole in the corn stack -through which she had come, she made a strange sound, half purr, half -growl, that Gray Lady thought was evidently intended as a note of -warning, and then the cat slunk off through the snow, keeping as close -to the fence as possible and dropping her body low as she hurried away. - -When Jacob came, he took a hayfork and began to shift the cornstalks -from the corner to the empty floor opposite. The feathers, he said, had -all been gathered during the two past weeks, for when he had last taken -the wood-sled from the barn, no feathers were to be seen. - -“Here they are!” he exclaimed, as the last stack was reached, but even -as he spoke, six half-grown kittens, brindled like their parent, sprang -in different directions, some going up on the beams and others diving -into the hay, only one remaining, with arched back and flashing eyes, to -hiss a protest at the disturbing of their comfortable home. - -“What’s the use of making bird laws and feeding birds and all that, and -letting wild beasts like these multiply about the country?” said Jacob, -resting on the handle of the fork. “_No, ma’am_, if I had my way, I’d -get up a Kind Heart Club of men to help the birds and rid the township -of homeless cats, red squirrels, and English Sparrows—yes, I would, -ma’am! - -“I have eyes and I use them, and I know cats are worse enemies to birds, -counting wild birds and poultry together, than everything else that -walks or flies humped together. Tame house cats are bad enough, for -they’ll kill for pleasure when they’re not hungry. My sister over at -Hill’s farm says she’s taken over fifty dead or half-dead birds away -from her pet cat this summer, until it sickened her of the idea of -keeping cats. - -“But when it comes to the half-breeds that some folks let grow up -because they’re too slack to kill ’em, it’s just a crime! Look at this -piece of work here; the cat that has done all this is one of the -outcasts of the lot down at the grist-mill. Cats are only half tamed at -best; let them get a taste of hunting and back they go and are savages. - -“They don’t belong to this country; we folks brought ’em, like we did -English Sparrows, and we made a mistake, and we ought to undo it when we -can. Transplanted animals, like pauper foreigners, always get the upper -hand. Traps can catch up the rats and mice, only we’re too lazy to set -them. Cats are no good, even for pets, for they’re tricky, and they -aren’t healthy for children to have because they carry skin diseases and -such in their fur. They claim that Jessie Lyons that died in Bridgeton -’long in the fall got the diphtheria from her cat’s trampin’ all over -creation, and then her huggin’ it. - -“If it’s right and proper to license dogs, and if one kills fowls or -sheep, for the town to pay damages, then, say I, the least we can do is -to license cats and hold the owners for their mischief. - -“Next to cats I’m most put out with red squirrels and English Sparrows. -The first are sneaks; they take eggs, little birds, and all. They make -free with young gray squirrels, too, and don’t spare their next-door -neighbours even, while Sparrows hustle and do much likewise, taking the -nesting-places of Swallows and Bluebirds and Jenny Wrens, and fighting -and wrastling with anything smaller than themselves, breaking up nests -and pitching out young ones until I just can’t stand it! Now it’s woe to -any of these three that comes across my path. Maybe some folks will say -I’m cruel. Will those folks let mice and rats eat their groceries and -not kill them? and by themselves rats and mice are decent, clean -animals. - -“Not they; and to us that love our tree birds, cats and red squirrels -and English Sparrows are hateful as are rats and mice, and I warrant -you’ll not think I’m going too far when I say it, ma’am!” - -“No, Jacob, you are right, though I’m sorry to say so,” answered Gray -Lady, still looking at the feathers. “The cat tribe is by nature cruel. -All animals kill for food, but the cat tortures before she kills. I used -to defend the keeping of pet cats until one that I had trusted bit me -through the hand at a moment when I was petting her, without the -slightest provocation. I never knew a dog to bite his master -unprovoked—unless he was ill—and even if we love our cats, we should -be unselfish, for birds are of value to the country at large and cats -are not. Only, I insist upon this, that the killing, even of vermin, is -a matter for the grown-up, and some one with authority should be -appointed to do it. It should not be left to the young and -irresponsible, just as the punishing of human criminals is not a matter -for the people in general to decide and put in execution. - -“Yes, boys,” Gray Lady continued, “I wish every one would feel -responsible in this matter. No farmer will raise more poultry or calves -or colts than he can feed and then turn them loose to either starve or -prey upon his neighbours. Why, then, should he allow his cats to -straggle about and kill the song-birds that even much money cannot buy -or replace? But come, we must go on; the others will be wondering where -we are. - -“I want you all to look at something at the lane end,—that great beech -tree with the gray streaked trunk. Do you see the sunbeams playing -checkers on the bark, this side? Do you know what this means? I will -tell you. It means that the tide of winter is turning toward spring, -that February is here. We should not know it unless we looked at the day -in the calendar. It is quite as cold as it has been all through the -winter, but the days are growing longer, and now, once more, the sun -slips by the barn in the morning and lies upon the beech trunk that has -been in shadow all winter long. - -“My father showed me this when I was a child; and whenever I grew tired -of winter, the earth seemed dead, and it seemed as if spring would never -come back, he would say, ‘Go up the lane and see if the sun’s message is -written on the beech tree.’ So, while it is still winter here, down in -the South the flocks of Robins and Song Sparrows and Bluebirds are -reading the sun’s message, and, far away as spring seems, they are -planning their return. Meanwhile we have the brave winter birds to keep -us cheerful. See the flock of Juncoes alighting yonder. They are as -plump and freshly plumed as new arrivals in spring dress. This Snowbird -is no sloven, he always wears a trim dress-suit.” - - Better far, ah yes! than no bird - Is the ever-present snowbird; - Gayly tripping, dainty creature, - When the snow hides every feature; - Covers fences, field, and tree, - Clothes in white all things but thee. - Restless, twittering, trusty snowbird - Lighter heart than thine hath no bird. - - —C. C. Abbott, _Snowbird_. - - - - - XXII - FEBRUARY, “THE LONG-SHORT MONTH” - - - _Bluebird, Song Sparrow, Robin_ - -“I wonder why February is so long, when it is the very shortest month in -the year?” said Goldilocks one Saturday, as she and Miss Wilde were -walking from Swallow Chimney, up through Birdland, to the big house for -the bird class. - -“I have often thought the same thing myself,” answered Rose Wilde, “and -I think it must be because, knowing that it is a short month, we think -spring is hurrying to us because we are trying to hurry toward it. -Spring, however, never hurries to return to New England, even when -nature faces her this way she seems to take pleasure in walking -backward!” - -Miss Wilde and Goldilocks had become fast friends since the little -teacher had come to live on the hill. With the interest Gray Lady had -shown in the children and school, the dreary, lonely days had passed -away, and she no longer looked pale and nervous, but was bright-eyed, -with a lovely soft colour in her cheeks, so that, as Goldilocks told her -one day, her name could be written in two ways, Rose Wilde, and Wild -Rose, which, of course, made her blush with pleasure, and look all the -more like that radiant June flower. - -Goldilocks would have liked to go to school at Foxes Corners with the -others, but the doctor shook his head and said something to her mother -about “unwholesome stove heat, fresh air but not draughts,” but Gray -Lady smiled at Goldilocks with a mysterious sort of glance that always -hid a surprise and said, “Be content to grow strong this winter and wait -and see what will happen.” - -“Yes, but Miss Wilde may go to a better school next year, if she is -well, for you know that Sarah Barnes’ grandmother heard that she had two -chances, one at the Bridgeton High School and one to teach the eighth -grade at the Centre. Besides, the children I like best—Sarah, and -Tommy, and Dave, and Eliza—won’t be at Foxes Corners next year. If -their parents can take turns in lending them a horse, they will have to -go to the Centre School for the eighth grade, because no one can go from -Foxes Corners straight into the High School, and they do _so_ want to -learn.” - -“Of course it is quite possible that Rose Wilde may go to another -school, and we would not wish to keep her back, I’m sure, little -daughter.” Something in Gray Lady’s voice made Goldilocks look at her -quickly. - -“I can’t guess what it is, motherkin, but I simply _know_ that you have -a secret and a plan in your head that I may not know until summer.” Then -Goldilocks smiled to herself, as she remembered that she also had, or -rather was a part of, a secret of Miss Wilde’s that her mother could not -know until summer; and this secret had many things in it,—girls and -boys, needles and thread and bits of coloured cloth, long walks into the -far-away hemlock woods, axes, and many other things! - - * * * * * - -It was now the last week in February. Every one was on the lookout for -the first spring migrants, and the children were beginning to bring news -of birds that they had seen imperfectly and yet were sure were new -arrivals from the South. It was impossible that most of these birds -should have been in the vicinity, but the pictures on the charts, mixed -with equal portions of imagination and hope, caused the children to -_think_ they saw the bird that they wished to be the first to report, -rather than the one that was actually there. - -Aside from the birds that are represented by a few individuals all the -year the only newcomers to hope for are a few adventurous Blackbirds, -the Purple Grackle, and the Red-wing, and they are not usually seen in -any numbers before the beginning of March. There are three birds, -however, that, unless the month is very stormy, may be expected at any -time to show their fresh plumage and bring the latest news of travel to -their stay-at-home brothers who have remained behind. These are the -Bluebird, the Song Sparrow, and the Robin. - -“We all know those. Even little brother Ebby knows _those_ birds,” said -Clary, when Gray Lady proposed to spend the morning in the company of -the most homelike and familiar birds of New England. “That is, Ebby -knows the Bluebird and Robin, and the Song Sparrow if it is singing; but -I do think Sparrows are dreadful hard to tell by sight. If a Song -Sparrow doesn’t sing, and turns his back so’s I can’t see the big spot -and the little one on his breast, I don’t always know him myself.” - -“I hope that we all know these three birds,” said Gray Lady, “but, like -old friends, we are even more glad to see them when they come than if -they were the most brilliant of strangers. Old friends also may bring -news, and as for birds, no one can ever be sure that there is nothing -new to learn of them. And as for what we do know, it becomes fresh and -new each spring with his return. One thing about this bird is worthy of -notice, and that is the wonderful way in which Nature uses colour, both -as an ornament and a protection to her children. The majority of the -brightly coloured birds do not arrive until there are at least a few -leaves to screen them; the Oriole, Tanager, Rose-breast, and Indigo-bird -perching on leafless branches. Yet the Bluebird and the Blue Jay, both -of brilliant and striking plumage, are with us when the trees are -entirely bare, and when evergreens are lacking they have only sky or -earth for a background. - -“What does this mean? Look out of the window, Sarah, as you are the -nearest to it, and perhaps you will discover. Do you see two Bluebirds -in the branches of the old Bell pear tree in the garden? No? Look again; -they are in the top, where the blue sky shows through the smaller -limbs.” - -“No, ma’am; that is, I see something moving, but I can’t see any colour. -Oh, yes! now I do; it was because the blue of their backs came right -against the sky and matched it.” - -“Yes,” said Gray Lady, “and the light underparts match the snow and the -ruddy breast the fresh earth, so that the Bluebird’s beauty is his -protection also; for as our dear old friend John Burroughs says, ‘When -Nature made the Bluebird, she wished to gain for him the protection of -both earth and sky, so she gave him the colour of one on his back and -the other on his breast; yes, and we might also add a touch beneath of -the snow that falls from sky to earth.’ - -“For the rest, who dares write of the Bluebird, thinking to add a -fresher tint to his plumage, a new tone to his melodious voice, or a -word of praise to his gentle life, that is as much a part of our human -heritage and blended with our memories as any other attribute of home? - -“Not I, surely, for I know him too well, and each year feel myself more -spellbound and mute by memories he awakens. Yet I would repeat his brief -biography, lest there be any who, being absorbed by living inward, have -not yet looked outward and upward to this poet of the sky and the earth -and the fulness and goodness thereof. - -“For the Bluebird was the first of all poets,—even before man had -blazed a trail in the wilderness or set up the sign of his habitation -and tamed his thoughts to wear harness and travel to measure. And so he -came to inherit the earth before man, and this, our country, is all the -Bluebird’s country, for at some time of the year he roves about it from -the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Mexico to Nova Scotia, though -westward, after he passes the range of the Rocky Mountains, he wears a -different dress and bears other longer names. - -“In spite of the fact that our eastern Bluebird is a home-body, loving -his nesting-haunt and returning to it year after year, he is an -adventurous traveller. Ranging all over the eastern United States at -some time in the season, this bird has its nesting-haunts at the very -edge of the Gulf States and upward, as far north as Manitoba and Nova -Scotia. - - - - -[Illustration: National Association of Audubon Societies] - - Upper Figures—CHESTNUT-BACKED BLUEBIRD - Order—Passeres Family—Turdidæ - Genus—Sialia Species—Mexicana - Subspecies—Bairdi - - Lower Figures—BLUEBIRDS - Order—Passeres Family—Turdidæ - Genus—Sialia Species—Sialis - -“When the breeding season is over, the birds travel sometimes in family -groups and sometimes in large flocks, moving southward little by little, -according to season and food supply, some journeying as far as Mexico, -others lingering through the middle and southern states. The Bluebirds -that live in our orchards in summer are very unlikely to be those that -we see in the same place in winter days. Next to breeding impulse, the -migrating instinct seems to be the strongest factor in bird-life. When -the life of the home is over, Nature whispers, ‘To wing, up and on!’ So -a few of the Bluebirds who have nested in Massachusetts may be those who -linger in New Jersey, while those whose breeding-haunts were in Nova -Scotia drift downward to fill their places in Massachusetts. But the -great mass of even those birds we call winter residents go to the more -southern parts of their range every winter; those who do not being but a -handful in comparison. - -“Before more than the first notes of the spring have sounded in the -distance, Bluebirds are to be seen by twos and threes about the edge of -old orchards along open roads, where the skirting trees have crumbled or -decaying knot-holes have left tempting nooks for the tree-trunk birds, -with which the Bluebird may be classed. For, though he takes kindly to a -bird-box, or a convenient hole in fence-post, telegraph pole, or -outbuilding, a tree hole must have been his first home, and consequently -he has a strong feeling in its favour. - -“As with many other species of migrant birds, the male is the first to -arrive; and he does not seem to be particularly interested in -house-hunting until the arrival of the female, when the courtship begins -without delay, and the delicate purling song, with the refrain, ‘Dear, -dear, think of it, think of it,’ and the low two-syllabled answer of the -female is heard in every orchard. The building of the nest is not an -important function,—merely the gathering of a few wisps and straws, -with some chance feathers for lining. It seems to be shared by both -parents, as are the duties of hatching, and feeding the young. The eggs -vary in number, six being the maximum, and they are not especially -attractive, being of so pale a blue that it is better to call them -bluish white. Two broods are usually raised each year, though three are -said to be not uncommon; for Bluebirds are active during a long season, -and, while the first nest is made before the middle of April, last year -a brood left the box over my rose arbour September 12, though I do not -know whether this was a belated or a prolonged family arrangement. - -“As parents the Bluebirds are tireless, both in supplying the nest with -insect food and attending to its sanitation; the wastage being taken -away and dropped at a distance from the nest at almost unbelievably -short intervals, proving the wonderful rapidity of digestion and the -immense amount of labour required to supply the mill inside the little -speckled throats with grist. - -“The young Bluebirds are spotted thickly on throat and back, after the -manner of the throat of their cousin, the Robin; or rather, the back -feathers are spotted, the breast-feathers having dusky edges, giving a -speckled effect. - -“The study of the graduations of plumage of almost any brightly coloured -male bird, from its first clothing until the perfectly matured feather -of its breeding season, is in itself a science and a subject about which -there are many theories and differences of opinion by equally -distinguished men. - -“The food of the nestling Bluebird is insectivorous, or, rather, to be -more exact, I should say animal; but the adult birds vary their diet at -all seasons by eating berries and small fruits. In autumn and early -winter cedar and honeysuckle berries, the grapelike cluster of fruit of -the poison ivy, bittersweet and cat-brier berries, are all consumed -according to their needs. - -“Professor Beal, of the Department of Agriculture, writes, after a -prolonged study, that 76 per cent of the Bluebird’s food ‘consists of -insects and their allies, while the other 24 per cent is made up of -various vegetable substances, found mostly in stomachs taken in winter. -Beetles constitute 28 per cent of the whole food, grasshoppers 22 per -cent, caterpillars 11 per cent, and various insects, including quite a -number of spiders, comprise the remainder of the insect diet. All these -are more or less harmful, except a few predaceous beetles, which amount -to 8 per cent, but in view of the large consumption of grasshoppers and -caterpillars, we can at least condone this offence, if such it may be -called. The destruction of grasshoppers is very noticeable in the months -of August and September, when these insects form more than 60 per cent -of the diet.’ - -“It is not easy to tempt Bluebirds to an artificial feeding-place, such -as I keep supplied with food for Juncoes, Chickadees, Woodpeckers, -Nuthatches, Jays, etc.; yet it has been done, and they have been coaxed -to nest close to houses and feed on window-sills like the Chickadees. In -winter they will eat dried currants, and make their own selection from -mill sweepings if scattered about the trees of their haunts. For, above -all things, the Bluebird, though friendly, and seeking the borderland -between the wild and the tame, never becomes familiar, and never does he -lose the half-remote individuality that is one of his great charms. -Though he lives with us, and gives no sign of pride of birth or race, he -is not one of us, as the Song Sparrow, Chippy, or even the easily -alarmed Robin. The poet’s mantle envelops him as the apple blossoms -throw a rosy mist about his doorway, and it is best so. - - - BLUEBIRDS’ GREETING - - Over the mossy walls, - Above the slumbering fields, - Where yet the ground no vintage yields, - Save as the sunlight falls - In dreams of harvest yellow, - What voice remembered calls— - So bubbling fresh, so soft and mellow? - - A darting, azure-feathered arrow - From some lithe sapling’s low curve fleet - The Bluebird, springing light and narrow, - Sings in flight, with gurglings sweet. - - —George P. Lathrop. - -“We become attached to some birds for one reason, and to others for -totally different qualities. We admire the Oriole and Tanager first -through the eye, because of their rich colouring. The Robin we like -because he is always with us, and he was probably the very first bird -that we knew by name and we could watch from the moment the nest was -built until the young left it; so he awakens the general interest first, -and then the ear is won by his cheerful and sometimes remarkable song. - -“The Catbird stirs one’s curiosity. We wonder what he will say and do -next; and when he throws back his head to sing, we never can tell -whether a dreamy melody or a series of jeers will be the result. But the -Song Sparrow we love for himself alone, from the very beginning of our -acquaintance. - -“In personal appearance he bears nearly all the markings of his -characteristic family, but the few exceptions, if remembered, will tell -you his name: his brown crown-feathers have a gray parting-line, _his -wings have no white bars or yellow markings_, while the breast and sides -are streaked; one large spot in the centre, with sometimes a smaller one -close to it, tell the Song Sparrow’s identity. - -“He is seldom seen feeding on the ground like the Chippy, but loves the -shelter of low bushes, from which he gives his warning cry of -‘Dick-Dick!’ and then flies out with a jerking motion of the tail and, -never going high into the air, perches on another bush. If he wishes to -sing, he climbs from the dense lower branches to a spray well above the -others, as if he needed plenty of air and light for the effort, and -bubbles into song. - -“As to the nest, well made of roots and bedded soft with fine grass and -hairs, the Song Sparrow uses his own taste, as all birds do, and though -the favourite place is within the crown of a small bush not far above -the ground, or even in a grass tuft close to the earth itself, yet I -have found them in very different places. - -“Down in the garden a Song Sparrow once insisted on building, not only -in a flower-bed, but among the stalks of perishable plants that would -wither long before the young left the nest. To prevent disaster, we -drove stakes on each side of the nest, fastened a fruit-box underneath, -and a shelter overhead, so that, when the overhanging blossoms faded, -the sun might not make broiled squabs of the little ones. This brood was -raised successfully, but to our surprise the Sparrows began a second -nest directly opposite the first in the brush of the line of sweet-peas. -The location was chosen with more judgment, but in picking the pea -blossoms I passed within a foot of the nest every morning during the -whole time of building, hatching, and feeding of the young. - -“This did not trouble the parents in the least; they seemed to know that -I would neither hurt them nor intrude upon their privacy, by watching -their movements too closely, and the father of the family repaid me by -such music as I never before believed could come from the throat of even -a Song Sparrow. - -“At first I wondered why they should have chosen a garden border, when -there were so many near-by bushes about the orchard edge, and tufted -grasses and scrubs in a waste meadow over the way. For, familiar as the -Song Sparrow is, and fearless, too, yet he is a reserved bird even among -his kin, not even travelling in great flocks, and does not care, even -when in the full spring ecstasy of song, to be very near another singer. - -“Presently I discovered the reason. Song Sparrows love water, both for -drinking and bathing: and, possibly from close association with it, -these bubblings of the little wayside brooks have had an influence upon -their song. This particular year was a time of severe drought; the -near-by streams were dried up early in June, and the ‘birds’ bath,’ made -of a hollowed-out log, and put in the shelter of some vines at the far -end of the garden, was the nearest available water within half a mile. -This trough was filled every night, and as the hollow sloped gently at -one end, small birds could either walk in it to bathe, or perch on the -edge to drink; and it was the sight of the first brood all bathing -there, a few days after they left the nest, that made me sure that it -was this little watering trough to which I owed their presence. - -“Many other birds besides the Sparrows came as well, and Robins and Wood -Thrushes, who use wet clay in the shaping of their nests, found it -particularly useful. Now I have a stone basin for the water, because the -old wooden one was decayed on our return, but I’m sure the birds liked -the mossy log the best, and Jacob Hughes is on the lookout for another.” - -Gray Lady paused and looked up quickly, as though a new idea had come to -her; then, glancing at the older boys who had that morning been working -on a large Martin house which had been ordered, and which made it -certain that the wayside drinking-fountain would be built as soon as -frost left the ground, she said, “This suggests something more to be -made for the spring sale. I saw some fine oak and beech logs with the -bark still on at the lumber camp last week. If you are willing to -undertake hollowing them out, it will be a good investment for the Kind -Hearts’ Club to buy a half a dozen of them. When sawn into lengths of -three feet, and the ends covered with bark securely nailed, as all the -bark covering must be, to prevent splitting, the logs will be attractive -both as drinking-troughs for the birds and as features of the gardens -where they are placed, and I am sure that we shall have no difficulty in -selling them. Many people would establish drinking-places for the birds -if they had something suitable to hold the water, but tin pans glisten, -heat quickly, and even earthenware dishes are slippery, while the hollow -log, that soon mosses over, must seem to the wild bird like a natural -bit of the woods. Only one thing must be remembered: the log must not be -allowed to become dry at any season, or it will warp and split. - -“It would be worth the trouble of keeping such a fountain filled, I am -sure, if only to lure a single pair of Song Sparrows about the garden or -yard. For this Sparrow is the only bird whose song I have heard in every -month of the year. Not the full spring song, of course, though I have -heard a very perfect melody in December; but in dreary winter, when the -scatter-brained Robin has forgotten his alarm cry of -‘Quick-Quick-Quick!’ the dear little bird will find a warm spot in which -to sun himself after a hard-earned meal of gleaned weed seeds,—for like -all of his tribe he is a valiant Weed Warrior, working in the -home-fields when other birds have followed the sun for richer -fare,—and, after swelling his throat vainly for a few moments, begin to -whisper a song, as if in a dream, that finally grows strong and clear. - -“Yes, neither winter nor the darkness of night dishearten the Song -Sparrow. Last season, in the darkest of summer nights, when some slight -sound had awakened the feathered sleepers, I have heard a few subdued -bars of his song from almost under my window, and I have thought, ‘Yes, -there you are, dear little companion, cheerful by day and night, in -summer and in winter; how much we, who are called the “higher animals,” -have yet to learn from you.’ - -“Another thing of interest about the Song Sparrow: like the Bluebird, he -belongs not alone to us of the East, but to the whole United States as -well. To be sure, he changes his size, dress, and name slightly -according to location, as does the Bluebird; another proof of the -adaptability of the bird to circumstances. - - - THE SONG SPARROW - - By the road in early spring - Always hopefully you sing; - It may rain or it may snow, - Sun may shine or wind may blow, - Still your dainty strain we hear— - “Cheer—Cheer— - Never, never fear, - May will soon be here.” - Darling little prophet that you are! - - When at last the leaves are out - And wild flowers all about, - Songs of other birds are fraught - With the spirit that you taught. - Still you sing on, sweet and clear— - “Hear—Hear— - Happy, happy cheer, - Singing all the year.” - Jocund little brother of the air. - - —Lynn Tew Sprague. - -“Many birds that inhabit parts of the country having different climates -vary thus in colour. In the hot, dry desert regions the bird will be -found smaller and paler; in the cool, well-watered North, larger and of -deeper hue. - -“Bob-white comes under this law, and our birds in New England are larger -and of more brilliant hue than their southern brothers. - -“Now is a chance for you to look at the map. The Song Sparrow as we know -him lives east of the Rockies. Start at the extreme northern portion of -Alaska. Here is found the largest of the race, the Aleutian Song -Sparrow. Next come down to the coast of British Columbia and Southern -Alaska, where the rainfall is one hundred and twenty-five inches in a -year, and you see the home of the Sooty Song Sparrow, the darkest in -colour of all. - -“If you then travel farther to the desert regions of Nevada and Arizona, -where the rainfall is only six inches, you will find the palest of all, -the Desert Song Sparrow; and, finally, on the border between Mexico and -Central America, lives the Mexican Song Sparrow, the smallest of the -tribe.[4] - -“So, wherever we wander our country over, we find this bird to be a -reminder of home, which, after all, is the best thing that can happen to -us, wherever we go or whatever we see; for the proof that journeys are -healthful for body and mind lies in the joy with which, like the bird -wanderers, we turn homeward at the end. - -“You children may not think of this now. You may think, possibly, that -home is dull and full of work, that the birds and flowers of other -places are better. Wait a few years and see. Wait until you have been so -far away that you could not get home, or have been filled with dread -that a day was near when there would be no home there. Then return, and -stand under the sky at evening, and listen to the voice of the Song -Sparrow down in the alders, and you will not only know that God is very -near, but that He is very good, and a part of your home itself. - - - THE SONG SPARROW - - There is a bird I know so well, - It seems as if he must have sung - Beside my crib when I was young; - Before I knew the way to spell - The name of even the smallest bird, - His gentle, joyful song I heard. - Now see if you can tell, my dear, - What bird it is that every year, - Sings “Sweet-sweet-sweet, very merry cheer.” - - He comes in March when winds are strong, - And snow returns to hide the earth; - But still he warms his heart with mirth, - And waits for May. He lingers long - While flowers fade; and every day - Repeats his small contented lay, - As if to say, we need not fear - The season’s change, if love is here, - With “Sweet-sweet-sweet, very merry cheer.” - - He does not wear a Joseph’s coat - Of many colours, smart and gay: - His suit is Quaker brown and gray, - With darker patches at his throat. - And yet of all the well-dressed throng - Not one can sing so brave a song. - It makes the pride of looks appear - A vain and foolish thing, to hear - His “Sweet-sweet-sweet, very merry cheer.” - - —Henry Van Dyke, from _The Builders and Other Poems_. - - * * * * * - - - ROBIN REJOICE - - Among the first of the spring, - The notes of the Robin ring; - With flute-like voice, - He calls, “Rejoice, - For I am coming to sing!” - - To any one gloomy or sad, - He says, “Be glad! be glad! - Look on the bright side, - ’Tis aye the right side; - The world is good, not bad.” - - At daybreak in June we hear - His melody, strong and clear: - “Cheer up, be merry, - I’ve found a cherry; - ’Tis a glorious time of the year!” - - —Garrett Newkirk, in _Bird-Lore_. - -[Illustration: ROBIN] - -“Our Robin is a big-bodied Thrush, whereas the Robin-redbreast, the Cock -Robin of story, is more nearly akin in size and build to our Bluebird. -If you want to see the family marks that yoke the Robin to his Thrush -cousin, look carefully at the youngsters as they are leaving the nest, -and you will see that instead of wearing plain brick-coloured breasts -like the parents, they are striped like the Thrushes; this marking -disappears after their first moult. As for Robin himself, you know him -well, but can any of you tell exactly the colour of his clothing?” - -Sarah and Tommy raised their hands at the same time, but as ladies come -first, Sarah began: “He is gray on top, and red underneath, and he’s got -white spots outside of his wings.” - -“Very good, indeed,” said Gray Lady; “but can you add anything to that, -Tommy?” - -“Yes, ma’am; he’s black on top of his head, and he’s got a white chin -and eye spot and a yellow beak.” - -“Why, Tommy, that is really very good; I didn’t know that any of you -children had learned to look so carefully and remember.” - -“I saw all that yesterday,” said Tommy, in a state of glee. “There came -a flock of bran’-new fresh birds, and sat in the cedar bushes back of -the barn, but they didn’t find many berries, because the winter birds -have eaten them. Ma gave me some old cake to crumble up, and I put some -on the top of the stone fence, and some right on the shed, and this -morning when I first looked out, a couple of them were out there eating -it, and I got a good square look at them. They liked that cake because -it had currants in it.” - -“So Tommy is the first to report a ‘bran’-new’ Robin flock,” said Gray -Lady. “Now that they have really come, will any of the others tell me -what they know about Robins? Begin at Sarah’s end of the table.” - -“Robins build mud nests before there are any leaves to hide them, and -cats often get them when they are sitting,” said Sarah; “and then by and -by, when they build another nest, maybe they’ll put it out on a branch -that’s weak, and when it storms and the nest gets wet and heavy, it -falls down all of a lump. They seem to get along best when they come -under the porch or get in a high up crotch.” - -“I like Robins,” said Eliza, who sat next, “because they stay around and -let you look at them; but I think that they aren’t very clever birds, -for instead of keeping quiet when anything comes near the nest, they -holler like everything, so that you can tell just where it is. We had a -nest in the grape-vine outside the kitchen window, and you couldn’t -believe what those little birds ate in one day. I had the mumps and had -to stay inside, so I watched them. They ate all the time, that is, in -turn, for the old birds seemed to know just which one had food last. -Sometimes, if they had a little worm or a bug, they gave it all to one, -but if it was one of those long, rubberneck earthworms, they would twist -it and bite pieces off and ram one down each throat. - -“My Ma said it made her dreadful tired to see how much those four little -birds ate, and that if children were as hungry as that, nobody would -have the patience to cook food and raise any. When they grew too big for -the nest, they sort of fell out into the vine and stayed in that for a -few days, and their father and mother fed them just the same. They -couldn’t fly well at first, because their tails were so short that they -upset.” - -“You watched them quite carefully,” said Gray Lady, “but can you tell me -what happened after they were able to fly?” - -“Yes, ma’am, they acted real mean. They went right down in the cedar -trees beyond the garden to sleep, and every morning before father or my -brothers were up they went into the strawberry bed, and even before any -were ripe, they bit the red side of the green ones and spoiled them. -Father was pretty mad, because our land has run out for onions and we’ve -got to raise berries for a few years—all kinds, raspberries, currants, -blackberries—to even up. - -“Father dassent shoot the Robins, ’cause of the law, and besides, we -like ’em real well after berry time, so brother John he made a plan, and -it worked splendid. He fixed up a nice little house like a chicken-coop -and put it on a stump in the middle of the bed, and then he put our cat -in the house. She was comfortable and had good eating and plenty of air, -but of course she couldn’t get out, so she just sat there and growled -and switched her tail at the birds, and they stayed away.” - -Gray Lady laughed heartily at this scheme, which certainly was very -ingenious. - -“That was truly a new sort of scarecrow, and much better than firing off -blank cartridges in the nesting season, when other birds might be -frightened. However, it proves one thing without a doubt, that cats are -the worst enemies that wild birds have to fear, and shows us how careful -we should be about turning them out at large, outside of the cities -where there are no birds, or keeping more than one under any -circumstances. - -“What I meant to ask was, do you know what the young Robins do after -they leave the nest and the mother bird is perhaps busy with some -younger brothers and sisters? - -“The father birds choose some tall trees with plenty of leaves, or if -evergreens are at hand, they prefer them, and go there in parties of -from half a dozen to a hundred every night, leaving the mother birds to -tend the nest. When the first brood is able to fly, they go with papa to -this roost, where his warning ‘Quick! Quick!’ tells them of dangers they -do not yet understand. - -“Then, when the nesting is over, all the Robins unite in a flock, but -wherever they go, or however far they range in the day, night sees them -collected at some favourite roosting-place. I know about this habit very -well, because ever since I can remember these spruces outside the window -have been used as roosts by many generations of Robins all through the -season, except in the dead of winter, when they prefer to nestle into -the heart of the young cedars. - -“Of course it is not to be denied that Robin likes berries and eats them -without asking leave or waiting for sugar and cream, but we must think -of this: the farmers are of more importance than any other class of -people, for they give the world food. Therefore, the bird laws are made -for their benefit, even when at first it might seem otherwise. - -“The Robin only troubles berries in June, July, and August, and grapes -in September, while all the rest of the year he does valiant work as a -gleaner of insects that cannot easily be destroyed by man,—many beetles -that destroy foliage and their white grubs that eat the roots of hay, -grass, and strawberry plants, grasshoppers, crickets, ants, moths, -army-worms, and the larvæ of the owlet moths, better known as -army-worms. - -“So you can see that if the Robin helps the farmers in this way, the -fruit grower should be willing to protect his crops in other ways than -by shooting his friend and his children’s friend, the Robin. - -“One other reason there is, also, why we of the North should protect the -Robin at home; in many southern states he is a legal mark for all who -wish to kill him. Not only is the Robin to be found in the markets, but -shooting him merely for competition, to see who can bag the most, is a -common form of—sport, I was going to say, but game of chance is better. - -“Let the Kind Hearts of the North be kind to dear blundering brother -Robin, that by the very force of example the hearts of others may be -warmed to show mercy and their heads be given the intelligence to see -that, in shooting the migrant Robins by the hundreds, the loss is to -their country and themselves.” - -“Look! Oh, look, Gray Lady!” cried little Clary, climbing to the -window-seat; “here are some bright, fresh Robins lighting on the -spruces. Let’s play they are some that roosted there last summer; or -maybe were hatched right in the orchard, and that they are real glad to -get home again.” - - - ROBIN’S MATE - - Everybody praises Robin, - Singing early, singing late; - But who ever thinks of saying - A good word for Robin’s mate? - - Yet she’s everything to Robin, - Silent partner though she be; - Source and theme and inspiration - Of each madrigal and glee. - - For as she, with mute devotion, - Shapes and curves the plastic nest, - Fashioning a tiny cradle - With the pressure of her breast, - - So the love in that soft bosom - Moulds his being as ’twere clay, - Prints upon his breast the music - Of his most impassioned lay. - - And when next you praise the Robin, - Flinging wide with tuneful gate - To his eager brood of love-notes, - Don’t forget the Robin’s mate. - - —Eliza Gilbert Ives. - ------ - -[4] See _Climatic Variations in Colour and Size of Song Sparrow_, F. M. -Chapman. - - - - - XXIII - MARCH - - - _Red-wings and Pussy-willows_ - - - MARCH - - March! March! March! They are coming - In troops to the tune of the wind; - Red-headed Woodpeckers drumming, - Gold-crested Thrushes behind. - Sparrows in brown jackets hopping - Past every gateway and door. - Finches with crimson caps stopping - Just where they stopped years before. - - —Lucy Larcom. - -“How do the birds know when spring has come? How can they tell the -difference between a warm day in December and a warm day in March when -the ground is still snow covered? We ourselves might be puzzled to tell -the difference if we had not kept record of the days and weeks by the -almanac. - -“But the birds know. The Red-wings, Grackles, and Cowbirds will not -return for the warmest December sun, but let the sun of early March but -blink, and they are up and away, oftentimes stealing a march on shy -Pussy-willow herself. - -“Unless the season is very stormy, as we have seen for ourselves this -year, a few Robins, Bluebirds, and Blackbirds are added to the winter -residents in February. These, however, belong to a sort of roving -advance-guard; the real procession comes in March, the exact time -depending upon the weather, for the insect-eating birds cannot stay if -their larder of field and air is ice locked. - -“So we may look for larger flocks of the birds that drifted along in -February, and in addition to these the Woodcock, the Great Fox Sparrow -as big as the Hermit Thrush, Phœbe, Kingfisher, Mourning Dove, and Field -Sparrow of the flesh-pink bill, rusty head and back, and buff breast, -who sings his little strain, ‘cherwee-cher-wee-cherwee-iddle-iddle-iddle -ee,’ as the sun goes down. - -“The three birds that are the most noticeable in the latter part of -March, that has made up its mind to go out like a lamb and let -Pussy-willow wave in peace in moist pasture and the delicate -blue-and-white hepaticas star the edges of dry woods, are the Red-winged -Blackbirds, the Kingfishers, and the cheerful little Phœbe. All love the -vicinity of water, but the Red-wing locates often in merely marshy -ground, while the bird who is a fisherman by trade locates near a pond -or stream of considerable size and the Phœbe comes to house or woodshed. - -“‘Among all the birds that return to us in late March or April, which is -the most striking and most compels attention?’ asked a bird-lover of a -group of kindred spirits. - -“‘The Fox Sparrow,’ said one, who lived on the edge of a village where -sheltered wild fields stretched uphill to the woodlands. ‘Every morning -when I open my window I can hear them almost without listening.’ - -[Illustration: RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD -(Upper Figure, Male; Lower Figure, Female)] - - Order—Passeres Family—Icteridæ - Genus—Agelaius Species—Phœniceus - -“‘The Phœbe,’ said another, who was the owner of a pretty home, where -many rambling sheds broke the way from cow-barn to pasture. - -“‘The Whip-poor-will, but that does not come until late in the month,’ -answered a third, a dweller in a remote colony of artists in a -picturesque spot of cleared woodland, where the ground dropped quickly -to a stream. - -“‘No, the Woodcock,’ said her nearest neighbour, a man whose cottage was -upon the upper edge of these same woods, where they were margined by -moist meadows and soft bottom-lands,—a man who spent much time -out-of-doors at dawn and twilight studying sky effects. - -“‘And I think it’s Red-winged Blackbirds,’ cried the ten-year-old son of -the latter; ‘for when I go out up back of the trout brook by the little -path along the alders near the squashy place where the cat-tails grow in -summer, you’ve just got to hear them. You can’t listen to them as you do -to real singing-birds, for they make too much noise, and when you listen -for a bird it’s got to be still, at least in the beginning. Sometimes -they go it all together down in the bushes out of sight, then a few will -walk out up to the dry Meadowlark’s field with Cowbirds, or maybe it’s -their wives, and then one or two will lift up and shoot over the marsh -back again, calling out just like juicy sky-rockets. Ah, they’re in it -before the leaves come out to hide them even the least bit.’ And, in -spite of difference of viewpoint, the group finally acknowledged that -the boy was right. - -“In point of colouring, the Red-wing is faultlessly plumed,—glossy -black with epaulets of scarlet edged with gold, the uniform of a -soldier,—and this, coupled with the three martial notes that serve him -as a song, would make one expect to find in him all the manly and -military virtues. But aside from the superficial matter of personal -appearance, the Red-wing is lacking in many of the qualities that endear -the feathered tribe to us and make us judge them, perhaps, too much by -human standards. - -“When Red-wings live in colonies it is often difficult to estimate the -exact relationship existing between the members, though it is apparent -that the sober brown-striped females outnumber the males; but in places -where the birds are uncommon and only one or two male birds can be -found, it is easily seen that the household of the male consists of from -three to five nests, each presided over by a watchful female, and when -danger arises, this feathered Mormon shows equal anxiety for each nest, -and circles screaming about the general location. In colony life the -males ofttimes act in concert as a general guard, being diverted -oftentimes from the main issue, it must be confessed, to indulge in -duels and pitched battles among themselves. - -“The Red-wing belongs to a notable family,—that of the Blackbirds and -Orioles,—and in spite of the structural semblances that group them -together, the differences of plumage, voice, and breeding habits are -very great. - -“The Cowbird, the Red-wing’s next of kin, even lacks the rich liquid -call-note of the latter, and the lack of marital fidelity, on the part -of the male, is met in a truly progressive spirit by the female, who, -shirking all domestic responsibility, drops her eggs craftily in the -nests of other and usually smaller birds, who cannot easily resent the -imposition; though a strong proof of the unconscious affinity of race -lies in the fact that these young foundling Cowbirds invariably join the -parent flocks in autumn instead of continuing with their foster-mothers. - -“The Meadowlark, with the true spring song, who hides his nest in the -dry grass of old fields, is also kin to the Red-wing, and the Bobolink, -too, the vocal harlequin of the meadows and hillside pastures. The -Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, also next of kin, are skilled musicians -and model husbands. - -“Still another plane is to be found in the Red-wing’s dismal cousins, -the Grackles,—Purple, Rusty, Bronzed, and Boat-tailed,—all harsh of -voice and furtive in action, as if a Crow fairy had been present at -their creating and, endowing them with ready wits, had, at the same -time, deprived them of all sense of humour and cast a shadow upon their -happiness. For a Grackle is gloomy even during the absurd gyrations of -his courtship, and when, in autumn, the great flocks settle on lawns and -fields, and solemnly walk about, as they forage they seem like a party -of feathered mutes waiting to attend the funeral of the year; and this -trait somewhat tinctures the disposition of the Red-wing before and -after the breeding season. - -“The Red-wing in one of his many subspecific forms, and masquerading -under many names,—Red-shouldered Blackbird, American Starling, and -Swamp Blackbird,—lives in North America from Nova Scotia and the Great -Slave Lake southward to Costa Rica. The Red-wing, as known to us of -middle and eastern North America, breeds in all parts of its United -States and Canadian range, though it is more numerous by far in the -great prairies of the upper Mississippi Valley, with their countless -back-water sloughs, than anywhere else. It is in regions of this sort -that the great flocks turn both to the fall-sown grain, as well as that -of the crop in the ear, causing the farmers the loss that puts a black -mark against the Red-wings. Yet those that dwell east of this area, -owing to the draining and ditching of their swampy haunts being in much -reduced numbers, are comparatively harmless. - -“During the winter months the Red-wings are distributed throughout the -South, though stragglers may be occasionally seen in many parts of their -summer range. Exactly why they begin the southward migration in -September and end it with the falling of the leaves in late October, it -is not easy to guess; for the food supply is not at an end, and they do -not dread moderate cold, else why should they be in the front rank of -spring migrants? - -“The last of February will bring a few individuals of the advance-guard -of males. In early March their calls are heard often before the ice has -melted and the hylas found voice; yet in spite of this hurried return, -the nesting season does not begin until the middle of May; and so for -two months and more the flock life continues, and foraging, fighting, -and general courting serve to kill time until the remote marshes show -enough green drapery to hide the nests. - -“As a nest-builder the Red-wing shows much of the weaver’s skill of its -Oriole cousins, though the material they work with is of coarser -texture, being fastened firmly to low bushes or reeds and woven of grass -and the split leaves of reeds and flags, all nicely lined with soft -grasses and various vegetable fibres. Often, like that of the Marsh -Wren, the nest will be suspended between three or four reeds, and so -firmly knit that it resembles one of the four-legged work-baskets that -belonged to the ‘mother’s room’ of our youth. The pale blue eggs of the -Red-wing are particularly noticeable from the character of the markings -that thickly cover the larger end, for they seem the work of a sharp -scratching pen dipped in purplish black ink and held by an aimless human -hand, rather than the distribution of natural pigment. - -“An eater of grain though the Red-wing is, and a menace to the farmer in -certain regions, Professor Beal concedes to him a liberal diet of weed -seeds and animal food, itself injurious to vegetation. Dr. B. H. Warren, -who has made a wide study of the food habits of this Blackbird, says: -‘The Red-wing destroys large numbers of cutworms. I have taken from the -stomach of a single Swamp Blackbird as many as twenty-eight cutworms. In -addition to the insects, etc., mentioned above, these birds also, during -their residence with us, feed on earthworms, grasshoppers, crickets, -plant-lice, and various larvæ, so destructive at times in field and -garden. During the summer season fruits of the blackberry, raspberry, -wild strawberry, and wild cherry are eaten to a more or less extent. The -young, while under parental care, are fed exclusively on an insect -diet.’ - -“Mr. Forbush also tells us that Kalm states in his _Travels in America_, -that in 1749, ‘after a great destruction among the Crows and Blackbirds -for a legal reward of three pence per dozen, the northern states -experienced a complete loss of their grass and grain crops. The -colonists were obliged to import hay from England to feed their cattle. -The greatest losses from the ravages of the Rocky Mountain Locust were -coincident with, or followed soon after, the destruction by the people -of countless thousands of Blackbirds, Prairie Chickens, Quail, Upland -Plover, Curlew, and other birds. This coincidence seems significant, at -least. A farmer from Wisconsin informed me that, the Blackbirds in his -vicinity having been killed off, the white grubs increased in number and -destroyed the grass roots, so that he lost four hundred dollars from -this cause.’ - -“These facts should make us of the East welcome rather than discourage -the Red-wing; for this is one of the species of familiar birds that must -become extinct in many localities, owing to the circumstance, so -desirable in itself, of reducing the waste marshlands, and though, later -in the year, other birds replace him acceptably, March and April would -seem lonely without the Red-wing, for then, as the child said, ‘you’ve -just got to look at him.’ - - * * * * * - -“The Kingfisher is certainly one of the most dashing birds that we have; -without having the cruel and ferocious expression of some of the smaller -Hawks, he has the swagger and dash of a feathered brigand. - -[Illustration: National Association of Audubon Societies BELTED KINGFISHER -(Upper Figure, Female; Lower Figure, Male)] - - Order—Coccyges Family—Alcedinidæ - Genus—Ceryle Species—Alcyon - -“His plumage is beautiful in texture and soft in colour; bluish gray -that sometimes looks quite blue in the bright light; wings and -tail-feathers spotted with white, a white collar deep in front and -narrow at the back, and a broad belt of the gray crossing the white -breast and seeming to keep the gray mantle from slipping from his -shoulders. The long head-feathers, also of the bluish gray, form a crest -that the bird can raise at will and thus put on an expression of -combined alertness and defiance. - -“The Kingfisher’s plumage is more perfect than his form, his head, with -its beak two inches in length, being out of proportion to his short -tail, and his small, weak feet seeming too small to support a body more -than a foot long. - -“In disposition the Kingfisher seems to be rather remote and unfriendly; -they never seem to travel in flocks, and even in the nesting season, the -only time in which they associate in pairs, they seem to be quarrelling -and wrangling, so very harsh are their notes. Hereabouts we have very -few Kingfishers. Last summer a pair tunnelled a hole in the loamy bank -of the river fifty feet below the grist-mill; for the Kingfisher does -not build a tree nest, or, in fact, any nest, but, like the Bank -Swallow, burrows sidewise into a bank of sufficiently stiff soil not to -cave in for the depth of anywhere from three to fifteen feet. This -burrow may be only a few feet below the surface, or if the bluff rises -above the stream, the hole may be twenty feet from the top and close to -high-water mark. - -“Sometimes the hole runs straight, and then again it may have several -turns before the nesting-chamber is reached, the turns probably being -made to avoid stones or tough roots; though one[5] careful observer, -whose account of this bird is so novel and charming (I will read it to -you from the scrap-book), thought for a time that these turns might be -for the purpose of keeping light from the nesting-chamber. - - * * * * * - -“A hole in a bank seems a strange place in which to build a nest, but -although one may know it to be the home of a Kingfisher, he little -imagines the singular course of the passage leading to the room at the -other end, and is hardly aware of the six long weeks of faithful care -bestowed by the parent birds upon their eggs and family. - -“Early in April we may hear the Kingfisher’s voice, sounding like a -policeman’s rattle, as he patrols the stream, and we often see him -leaving a favourite limb, where he has been keeping watch for some -innocent minnow in the water below. Off he goes in his slaty blue coat, -shaking his rattle and showing his top-heavy crest, his abnormal bill, -and pure white collar. - -“The mother bird, as usual with the sex, does most of the work at home. -The hole is generally located high upon the bank, is somewhat less than -four inches in diameter, and varies from at least five to eight feet in -length. It slightly ascends to the dark, mysterious den at the other -end,—dark because the passage generally bends once or twice, thereby -entirely excluding the light. The roof of the passage is vaulted from -end to end, merging into a domed ceiling almost as shapely as that of -the Pantheon. Such a home is built to stay, and if undisturbed would -endure for years. Two little tracks are worn by the female’s feet the -full length of the tunnel as she passes in and out. - -“The Kingfisher’s knowledge of construction, her ingenious manner of -hiding her eggs from molestation, and her constancy to her young arouse -our interest and admiration. We must also appreciate the difficulty with -which the digging is attended, the meeting of frequent stones to block -the work, which, by the way, may be the cause of the change in direction -of the hole, but which I was inclined to believe intentional until I -found a perfectly straight passage, in which a brood was successfully -raised. - -“To get photographs of a series of the eggs and young was almost as -difficult a task, I believe, as the Kingfisher had in making the hole. -It was necessary to walk at least four miles and dig down to the back of -the nest, through the bank above, and fill it in again four times, -without deranging the nest or frightening away the parent birds. But we -were well repaid for the trouble, for the pictures accurately record -what could not be described. - -“A photograph of the seven eggs was taken before they had even been -touched, and numerous disgorgements of fish bones and scales show about -the roomy apartment. The shapely domed ceiling, as well as the arch of -the passage, is constructionally necessary for the safety of the -occupants, the former being even more perfect than the pictures show. -What is generally called instinct in birds has long since been to me a -term used to explain what in reality is intelligence. - -“Some writer has mentioned that as soon as the young Kingfishers are -able, they wander about their little homes until they are able to fly, -but evidently his experience was limited. My four pictures of the young -birds were taken by lifting them out of their nests and placing them in -a proper place to be photographed in the light, but the first two -pictures were taken in the positions in which they were naturally found -in the nest. The first, when they were about two days old, was obtained -on the 21st of May, 1899, and the young were not only found wrapped -together in the nest, but the moment they were put on the ground, one at -a time, though their eyes were still sealed, they immediately covered -one another with their wings and wide bills, making such a tight ball -that when any one shifted a leg, the whole mass would move like a single -bird. This is a most sensible method of keeping warm, since the mother -bird’s legs are so short that she could not stand over them, but, as -they are protected from the wind and weather, they have no need of her. -Their appearance is comical in the extreme, and all out of proportion. -This clinging to one another is apparently kept up for at least ten -days, for a week later, when nine days old, they were found in exactly a -similar position. - -“When the young were first observed, they were absolutely naked, without -the suggestion of a feather, and, unlike most young birds, showed no -plumage of any kind until the regular final feathering, which was the -same as that of the adult, began to appear. The growth of the birds was -remarkably slow, and even when nine days old the feathers were just -beginning to push through their tiny sheaths, but so distinctly showed -their markings that I was able to distinguish the sexes by the colouring -of the bands on the chest. They did not open their mouths in the usual -manner for food, but tried to pick up small objects from the ground, and -one got another by his foot, as the picture shows. I took two other -photographs the same day, showing several birds searching on the ground -with their bills, as if they were already used to this manner of -feeding. - -“When the birds were sixteen days old, they had begun to look like -formidable Kingfishers, with more shapely bills and crests, but as yet -they evidently knew no use for their wings. They showed little temper, -though they appeared to be somewhat surprised at being disturbed. - -“My next visit to the hole in the bank was when the birds were -twenty-three days old, and, to ascertain whether they were still at -home, I poked into the entrance of the hole a long, thin twig, which was -quickly accepted by quite a strong bite. Taking the precaution to stop -the hole with a good-sized stone, I proceeded to my digging for the last -time on the top of the bank. This time I found the chamber had been -moved, and I had some difficulty in locating it about a foot higher up -and about the same distance to one side. The old birds had evidently -discovered my imperfectly closed back door, and either mistrusted its -security, or else a heavy rain had soaked down into the loosened earth -and caused them to make alterations. They had completely closed up the -old chamber and packed it tightly with earth and disgorged fish bones. - -“The skill with which they met this emergency was of unusual interest, -showing again the ingenuity and general intelligence which so often -surprises us in the study of birds. Their home was kept perfectly clean -by its constant caretaker. One of the full-grown birds, with every -feather, as far as I could see, entirely developed, sat just long enough -for me to photograph him, and then flew from the branch where I had -placed him, down the stream, and out of sight, loudly chattering like an -old bird. One more bird performed the same feat, but before I was able -to get him on my plate. The rest I left in the nest, and no doubt they -were all in the open air that warm, sunny day, before nightfall. - - * * * * * - -“It happens that but few of us may look into a Kingfisher’s home as Mr. -Baily did, but it is very pleasant to know where this dashing bird goes -when, on securing a fish, instead of swallowing it, he seems to dive, -drop into the water, and disappear, when in reality he is taking his -prey home to the nest. - -“We must be content to enjoy the Kingfisher as a feature in the -landscape, as the centre of a picture of woods, pond, or river, to which -he gives the needful touch of life. The river scenery of March is -lifeless and dreary, for, if the snow has melted and the ice broken up, -the bushes alongshore are beaten down by the storms of winter or partly -submerged by the spring freshets. Here and there, in sunny spots on the -low shore, we may see the purple-pointed hood and bright green leaves of -the skunk-cabbage, but if a Kingfisher is perching on a dead branch -overhanging the water, crest erect, gazing into the water and on the -alert for a fish to pass, the scene at once becomes full of interest. Of -course the Kingfisher, as his name implies, is above all a fisherman, -and complaints come sometimes from those who are stocking ponds and -rivers with fish, and who object to his taking his tithe, but when -pressed by hunger through the sudden skimming of their hunting ponds -with ice in early winter, he has been known to eat berries of many -kinds, and in time of drought when streams run low or dry up entirely, -the Kingfisher will feed upon beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, frogs, -lizards, etc. But here in the East, at any rate, the bird is not -plentiful enough to be a danger to the fishing industry.” - -“I’ve seen a Kingfisher fishing in the salt-water creek that goes into -the bay. We camped right there on the point last summer,” said Tommy. -“He must have lived up the river somewhere, for he used to come down -early in the morning, and stay about all day, and I suppose he must have -got through feeding his children, for it was along in August. I never -saw but one,—the male, I guess, because it didn’t have any brown on its -breast like what there is in the picture of the female. - -“It was great fun to watch him. One day the rest all went off fishing to -Middle Ground Light, and I stayed at home because I’d cut my finger with -a fish-hook, and it hurt a lot, and the Doctor made me keep it soaking -in medicine, so I just lay in the sand under the shady side of the tent, -only moving enough to keep out of the sun, and watched out. - -“When the Kingfisher first came, the tide was just turned and beginning -to rush out of the creek like everything. Mr. Fisherman sat on a tall -post that we tie the boats up to at night. It was close to the water, -not where the strong current was, but a little to one side, where it was -more still. He did pretty well for a while; the fish looked small, and -he swallowed ’em without wriggling his throat so very much. - -“One thing he did was very funny; he didn’t dive right down from the -post after the fish, but he took a little fly up first and then folded -his wings to his sides and dropped right in beak first, same as we -fellows do when we jump off the spring board dad rigged to a raft and -then dive. I couldn’t make out whether he always did it, or if it was -because the post was too near the water. - -“After a little, the water went down so that the post wasn’t near enough -to the water; then what did he do but shift over to the bowsprit of an -old oyster boat that was wrecked and half buried in the sand, right in -the bank just inside the creek; this gave him a fine perch right over -the channel. When he saw that there was no one about, he sort of settled -down, and looking at him so long made me lazy, and I guess I fell asleep -and didn’t see him dive, because the next thing I knew, there was the -Kingfisher back on the perch, but he had an eel in his beak instead of a -fish. - -“Say, Gray Lady, did you ever try to hold an eel in your fingers, -without rubbing wet sand on them first? Well, you should have seen that -bird twist and flop about. It was only a little eel, not any bigger than -a pencil, but, oh my!” And Tommy laughed heartily at the very memory of -the fray. - -“Kingfisher couldn’t stick to the perch, so he dropped right on to a -piece of the deck of the boat that wasn’t buried, and began to beat the -eel on the wood and dance about. The eel squirmed so, it didn’t hit -often, and it acted as if it had legs and was dancing too. When the fun -began, the bird had the eel about in the middle, but it pulled away -until one end was longer than the other, and that made it harder to -hold.” - -“Which was the head end, the one that hung down?” asked Eliza, who -always insisted on precise details. - -“I didn’t know then,” said Tommy; “I couldn’t see, and it didn’t keep -still long enough for me to ask! - -“At last Kingfisher gave the eel a good bang, and it didn’t squirm so -much (then I knew the head must have been on the long piece because it -wouldn’t have hurt its tail), and the bird began to swallow and work his -throat, just like when a snake begins to work a toad down. Once or twice -he stopped, and I thought that he was going to choke and keel over. He -didn’t, though, but after it was all down, he looked real sorry and -uncomfortable and his feathers laid down almost flat to his head, and he -crouched there on the boat quite a while before he flew up creek and -didn’t fish any more that day. - -“Maybe he’d never caught a salt-water eel before, and didn’t know how -lively they are; you can’t measure them by mud eels out of still water -any more’n you can match snakes with ground-worms.” - - - THE KINGFISHER - - He laughs by the summer stream - Where the lilies nod and dream, - As through the sheen of water cool and clear - He sees the chub and sunfish cutting shear. - - His are resplendent eyes; - His mien is kingliwise; - And down the March wind rides he like a king - With more than royal purple on his wing. - - His palace is the brake - Where the rushes shine and shake; - His music is the murmur of the stream, - And the leaf-rustle where the lilies dream. - - Such life as his would be - A more than heaven to me; - All sun, all bloom, all happy weather, - All joys bound in a sheaf together. - - No wonder he laughs so loud! - No wonder he looks so proud! - There are great kings would give their royalty - To have one day of his felicity! - - —Maurice Thompson. - -“The very name of Phœbe calls us from the Red-wing in the marsh meadows -and the Kingfisher by the waterways and brings us home again. Not only -within the home acres, but close to the house, barns, and woodshed, for -has she not been living in and about them quite as long as we have, or -even longer? There was a Phœbe who always built her first nest on the -deep sill of the dormer-window of the store-closet, and her second in -the bracket that supports the hood of the north window in the -guest-room. - -“She was not very tidy about her work of nest-building (it seems more -natural to call the Phœbe _she_ than _he_), but then, it must be very -difficult to make a nest with a high foundation of crumbling moss and -mud, with hairs and grass for a lining, without spilling some of the -nesting material. My mother used to grumble about having the store-room -window-sill remain in such a litter for so long, but she never disturbed -the nest, even by brushing away the loose moss, and almost every day she -would look through the window to see how the eggs or young were faring, -and I thought it a great privilege to be allowed to go to the store-room -and sit quite still inside the closed window and watch the Phœbe’s -housekeeping. - -“It was in this way that I first learned how the bird stands up in the -nest and turns the white eggs over with its feet so that they may be -evenly warmed through; how the young are fed and the droppings removed -from the nest so that it need not become foul. - -“In spite of great care and constant bathing, for Phœbe is very fond of -a bath and was always a great patron of the log water-trough, the -puddles that gathered in the gutter after rain, and upon occasion would -dash into the bucket that always stood under the well-spout, the poor -bird suffers greatly from insect parasites. The reason for this I cannot -tell, unless it is that the foundation of the nest is so light and -spongy on account of the moss, that the air does not pass through and -the lice breed freely. One thing I remember, however, is that as soon as -the birds had flown, mother always removed the empty nest and had its -resting-place thoroughly cleansed. - -“This is not so apt to happen when the bird chooses a fresh location and -makes a new nest for a second brood, but upon the only occasion that the -window-sill nest was used twice in a season, the lice crawled through -the window-frame into the house, and of the second brood, only one lived -to fly, and he was a miserable, emaciated little thing, so badly did the -lice beset the young birds. After that, mother always gave them a hint -that a new nest was best by making it impossible for them to use the old -one.” - -“I should think the Phœbes might have got mad and gone away for good,” -said Sarah Barnes. - -“No; they either understood that mother’s intentions were good, or else -they appreciated the comfort and cleanliness of the new nest, for their -children and grandchildren have occupied the two sites ever since, and -this summer when I stood inside the store-room window showing the nest -to Goldilocks, bird and nest were just the same as when my mother stood -there by me. - -“That is why the everyday birds that live about our homes are so -precious and should be so carefully guarded. We never see them grow old, -and so they help us to keep young in heart. - -“Phœbe belongs to a very important family, that of the Flycatchers, -songless birds with call-notes that are distinctive; these take their -food upon the wing, diving from a perch into the air for it as the -Kingfisher dives into the water for his. In this way the flycatchers are -among the most valuable of the Sky Sweepers. - -“Among Phœbe’s cousins you will find the _Kingbird_, who wears a -slate-coloured coat and white vest, a crest on his head, and a white -band on the end of his tail by which you may know him, as he sits on a -fence rail, stump, or even on a tall mullen stalk and sallies out into -the air, crying a shrill ‘Kyrie-Kyrie!’ The Great Crested Flycatcher, -with an olive-brown coat, gray throat, and yellow belly, who builds in a -tree hole well above the ground, and uses dried snake skins among his -materials when he can get them, is another relative, and the largest of -the family; while a third is the little Wood-pewee, of the dark -olive-brown coat and two whitish wing-bars, who saddles his -lichen-covered nest, as dainty as that of a Humming-bird high up on a -limb, and calls his plaintive note, Pee-wee-pee-a-wee peer,’ through the -aisles of the deep woods, as constantly as Phœbe lets her name be known -in a more shrill and rasping voice to the barnyard flock. - -“These and several other flycatchers do not come to us until May, but -the Phœbe of all his tribes trusts his livelihood to the care of gusty -March. Perhaps it is the early return that makes the Phœbe so friendly -and causes it to choose either a site by the water or near a house. -Insect life awakes much more quickly in gardens and about the -farm-yards, or near open running water, than in the remote woods; for -certain it is that no other member of the family is so easily -domesticated. - -“The Phœbe not only eats the earliest insects that appear, but it has -peculiarly constructed eyes, like the Whip-poor-will and Night Hawk; it -can catch its food until the end of twilight, so that it kills many bugs -that hide all day. Among the hurtful insects that it catches are the -click-beetle, brown-tail moth, canker-worm moth, and the elm beetle. As -a berry-eater no one can find fault with it, as when late in a dry -season it takes a little fruit, wild berries supply the need. - -“All this should be a hint to us to leave a few nooks about the place -for a pair of Phœbes to appropriate for a homestead; a little shelf -under suitable shelter is all they ask, or, better yet, nail a few wide -braces under the roof of a wagon, cattle, or wood shed, even if it does -not need supporting. Then, before the first Robin or Chipping-sparrow -awakens, when the first flush of light penetrates the darkness of night, -you will have a home sentinel at hand to cry, ‘Phœbe! I see, all’s -well!’ to the morning, and at evening she will blend her voice with the -Whip-poor-will’s in wishing you good night, for though Phœbe is early to -come in the spring and early to rise in the morning, she goes late to -bed and meets the bats in the sky during her evening excursions.” - -“Maybe Phœbes don’t really sing, but they think they do,” said Tommy, as -Gray Lady looked in vain in her scrap-book for a poem that should do the -bird justice and be catching in rhythm. - -“Sometimes in May they get up on the roof or the telephone wire or -something like that, and tumble somersaults into the air and cry -‘phœbe-phœbe-phœbe-phœbe,’ on and on and on and over again, like the -Katydids and Katydidn’ts in the maples at night, only the Phœbe is so -worked up she can only think of her own name.” - -“Then this verse of Lowell’s at least is true,” said Gray Lady, closing -the scrap-book. - - “Phœbe is all it has to say - In plaintive cadence o’er and o’er, - Like children that have lost their way - And know their names, but nothing more.” - ------ - -[5] _The Kingfishers’ Home Life_, W. L. Baily in _Bird-Lore_. - - - - - XXIV - THE TIDE HAS TURNED - - - THE MASQUERADING CHICKADEE - - I came to the woods in the dead of the year, - I saw the wing’d sprite thro’ the green-brier peeping: - “Darling of Winter, you’ve nothing to fear, - Though the branches are bare and the cold earth is sleeping!” - - With a _dee, dee, dee_! the sprite seemed to say, - “I’m friends with the Maytime as well as December, - And I’ll meet you here on a fair-weather day; - Here, in the green-brier thicket,—remember!” - - * * * * * * - - I came to the woods in the spring of the year, - And I followed a voice that was most entreating: - _Phebe! Phebe!_ (and yet more near), - _Phebe! Phebe!_ it kept repeating! - - I gave up the search, when, not far away, - I saw the wing’d sprite thro’ the green-brier peeping, - With a _Phebe! Phebe!_ that seemed to say, - “I told you so! and my promise I’m keeping.” - - “You’ll know me again, when you meet me here, - Whether you come in December or Maytime: - I’ve a _dee, dee, dee!_ for the Winter’s ear, - And a _Phebe! Phebe!_ for Spring and Playtime!” - - —Edith M. Thomas. - - * * * * * - -“When the Chickadee, who has persistently told us his name all winter, -and has assured us also in the darkest weather that it was -‘day-day-day,’ changes his call for the flute-like spring song of -‘Phewe-Phe-wee,’ clear as the wind blowing through a reed, we know that -at last the springtide has really turned. Chickadee occasionally gives -this note in autumn as if in anticipation, but it is really a love-song -of tender accent. - -“Another spring sign comes to us in April, a sign to be seen. It comes -out of a clear sky and has all the mystery about it that still shrouds -the bird migrations. Spring and fall I see it, but it always fills me -with awe. This morning I stood out in the open meadow below the orchard, -looking at the sky to see if the clouds were going to break away, or if -it was to be a day of April showers. To the southwest a curious fine -black bar appeared high up against the clouds. Quickly it drew nearer, -and I saw what seemed to be a great letter that moved rapidly and yet -kept its shape printed on the sky,—a letter V coming toward me, point -on. In another minute the line proved to be made of separate marks, then -each mark developed a long neck and rapidly moving wings.” - -Tommy Todd could stand it no longer; without giving the usual school -“hand up” warning he cried out, “The V was Wild Geese, with the wise old -gander that leads them for the point, and maybe if he wanted them to -shift and change their way, he gave a big honk, honk, like the -automobiles when they turn the sharp corner at the foot of our hill. - -“We saw Wild Geese yesterday, grandpa and I; they were flying so low -over the mill-pond that grandpa said maybe they had been resting -somewhere. They do stop in fall sometimes, but in spring they generally -go right over in a big hurry. This time I could see their feathers -pretty well, black, gray, and light underneath, and a white mark around -the neck as if it was tied up for a sore throat. Grandpa says he shot -one once that was a yard long, but their necks looked all of that. How -far away do they have to go before they can stop to nest, please, Gray -Lady?” - -“They nest only in our most northern states, and from there up through -British America; but as the country is settled they have to shift their -haunts very often, for you can well imagine that a colony, even in the -nesting season, would have but little peace if hunters could reach it -easily. These great birds on their journeys are one of the most -thrilling sights that everyday people can see, for they travel the -thousands of miles that separate their summer and winter homes, straight -through the night as well as the day, without chart or compass, but with -the same lack of fear and unfailing directness as a train would follow -the rails upon the road-bed. - -“We hear and read stories of Nature that are inventions, and could not -have happened because they are not according to the plan of -creation,—so the people who tell these instead of being clever are -really very stupid,—but not one of these is as wonderful as the simple -truth, or as awe-inspiring as the flight of Wild Geese that goes on -before our sight year after year in the April sky, or that we know by -their cries and the rush of wings is passing overhead in the gloom of a -wild and stormy night. - - - WILD GEESE - - A far, strange sound through the night, - A dauntless and resolute cry, - Clear in the tempest’s despite, - Ringing so wild and so high. - - Darkness and tumult and dread, - Rain and the battling of gales, - Yet cleaving the storm overhead, - The wedge of the Wild Geese sails. - - Pushing their perilous way, - Buffeted, beaten, and vexed; - Steadfast by night and by day, - Weary, but never perplexed; - - Sure that the land of their hope - Waits beyond tempest and dread, - Sure that the dark where they grope - Shall glow with the morning red! - - O birds in the wild, wild sky! - Would I could so follow God’s way - Through darkness, unquestioning why, - With only one thought to obey! - - —Celia Thaxter. - - - Nest-Building - -“Though a few of our common birds, like the Robin, Bluebird, Woodcock, -Crow, Grackle, and some of the Hawks and Owls, begin to nest in April, -May and June are the real nesting months. - -“When the spring migration is over, we call those birds who have decided -to stay with us and build their homes Summer Residents, and it is from -these that we must learn of the home life of birds. - -“The visitors who stop awhile on their way to other places we may learn -to call by name, but we can never really know them any more than we can -a chance visitor who boards a few weeks in our vicinity. - -“The nesting habits of birds and the manner in which they build their -homes vary according to the necessity and skill of the species. (See -_Citizen Bird_.) - -“In their house-building you will find that the birds know almost as -many trades as human beings, for among them are weavers, basket-makers, -masons, and carpenters, as well as workers in felt, hair, and feathers. - -“Many water-birds merely make a hollow in the sand or gather a few bits -of grass together for a nest. - -“The Grouse, Quail, and Woodcock scratch up a few leaves in a ground -hollow or between stumps, for, like domestic fowl, they always nest on -the ground and their colour, being dull, blends with it, and you may -almost step on one of these birds when it is on its nest and never know -it. - -“The dull brown Sparrows build nests of grasses set in a low bush or -between its roots, but the flaming Oriole weaves himself a snug hammock -high out on a swaying elm bough, and the Scarlet Tanager builds high in -an oak. The Blue Jay weaves small roots into a firm nest set well above -reach, while the Bluebird lines a hollow in a tree or takes an abandoned -Woodpecker’s hole for his house. The Woodpeckers chisel out homes in -tree-trunks, and Robins and Cliff and Barn Swallows use more or less -mud, and plaster the inside of their homes. If you watch carefully now -when the birds are building, and associate the various nests with the -birds that build them, in autumn, when the young have flown, you can -collect many of these nests and study their beautiful workmanship. But -pray keep your hands off them while they are in use, for it is not being -either kind or polite to meddle. - -“How do you think your mother would feel if somebody climbed in at the -window and tumbled up your baby brother’s crib, perhaps spilling him out -on the floor, or at least frightening him badly, in order to find out if -he slept on a mattress or a feather bed, or if the crib itself was made -of wood or metal? - -“At the time of the spring migration the birds that have been living in -flocks all winter put on fresh feathers, and court and separate into -pairs just as people do when they marry and begin housekeeping. -Naturally they feel very happy, and have a great deal to say to each -other, and this is what makes birds break into song when the spring -comes to give them new life. - -“Though some few females can sing, it is the males who make the -beautiful music that we hear in the spring mornings. The female is too -busy with her housekeeping to do more than answer, but her husband’s -song cheers her while she is brooding, and he probably tells her how -pretty her new feathers are, and how much he loves her, too. - -“Among our gayly coloured birds, unlike people, it is the male who wears -the brightest clothes. You have heard of this all through our fall and -winter lessons, and you have seen the difference in pictures; now that -the birds themselves have come, you will have a chance to see how well -you remember, and if you can name the birds as they fly. The Scarlet -Tanager and the Goldfinch both have plain greenish olive-coloured wives. -The female Blue Jay is of a less bright hue than her mate, and the mate -of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak wears a buff, brownish streaked vest. - -“Why? Because, as the mother bird spends more time about the nest than -the father, if she wore bright clothes she would attract too much -attention, and cruel Hawks, squirrels, and thieving people would find it -too easily; and Nature’s first thought is always of the care and -protection of young life, whether of plant, bird, or beast. - -“Almost all of our birds feed the young nestlings with animal food, even -if they themselves are seed-eaters; for little birds must grow quickly, -and you would hardly believe the number of worms and flying things it -takes to turn one little Robin from the queer, helpless, featherless -thing that it is when it hatches from the egg, into the clumsy, -clamouring ball of feathers, with awkward wings and hardly a bit of tail -to balance it, that it is when it leaves the nest. - -“No human father and mother work harder to feed their children than do -these feathered parents, who toil ceaselessly from sunrise until sunset -to bring food, and share by turns the protection of the nest. - - - THE NEST - - When oaken woods with buds are pink, - And new-come birds each morning sing, - When fickle May on summer’s brink - Pauses, and knows not which to fling, - Whether fresh bud and bloom again, - Or hoar-frost silvering hill and plain, - - Then from the honeysuckle gray - The Oriole with experienced quest - Twitches the fibrous bark away, - The cordage of his hammock-nest, - Cheering his labour with a note - Rich as the orange of his throat. - - High o’er the loud and dusty road - The soft gray cup in safety swings, - To brim ere August with its load - Of downy breasts and throbbing wings, - O’er which the friendly elm tree heaves - An emerald roof with sculptured eaves. - - Below, the noisy world drags by - In the old way, because it must; - The bride with heartbreak in her eye, - The mourner following hated dust; - Thy duty, winged flame of spring, - Is but to love, and fly, and sing. - - O happy life, to soar and sway - Above the life by mortals led, - Singing the merry months away, - Master, not slave of daily bread, - And, when the autumn comes, to flee - Wherever sunshine beckons thee! - - —James Russell Lowell. - - - OUT OF THE SOUTH - - A migrant song-bird I, - Out of the blue, between the sea and the sky, - Landward blown on bright, untiring wings; - Out of the South I fly, - Urged by some vague, strange force of destiny, - To where the young wheat springs, - - And the maize begins to grow, - And the clover fields to blow. - I have sought - In far wild groves below the tropic line - To lose old memories of this land of mine; - I have fought - This vague, mysterious power that flings me forth - Into the North; - But all in vain. When flutes of April blow, - The immemorial longing lures me, and I go. - - —Maurice Thompson. - - - WHAT TO EXPECT - -“In April we may look for the coming of a score or more of different -birds. How quickly they come and in what numbers depends upon the -season. If it is mild, they come gradually; if stormy, by fits and -starts, and sometimes in strangely mixed flocks. - -“These belong to the first half of the month:— - -_The Great Blue Heron._ Cousin to the white Egret; we always used to -have a pair of them by the upper mill-pond. - -_The Purple Finch._ A large sparrow with a beautiful voice; the fully -grown male having a rosy flush to his feathers as if, it has been said, -the juice of crimson berries had been squeezed over him. - -_The Vesper-sparrow._ The wayside Sparrow of our afternoon walk that we -have known as long as the Song Sparrow and Bluebird; famous for his -clear, ringing song at twilight and dawn. Rather light in color, with -_rust-red wing-markings and white outside tail-feathers_ that show -conspicuously as he flits along and tells his name. - - - THE VESPER-SPARROW - - It comes from childhood land, - Where summer days are long - And summer eves are bland— - A lulling good-night song. - - Upon a pasture stone, - Against the fading west, - A small bird sings alone, - Then dives and finds its nest. - - The evening star has heard - And flutters into sight. - Oh, childhood’s vesper bird, - My heart calls back good night. - - —Edith M. Thomas. - -_The Chipping-sparrow._ Our least Sparrow, who wears a little chestnut -velvet cap, gray back, and black bill, and has a mild, innocent -expression in keeping with his friendly ways. He puts his dainty -hair-lined nest (from which he is sometimes called Hair-bird) in a -near-by shrub or rose-bush in the garden, and then hops about the door, -picking up almost invisible bits of food, calling “chip-chip-chip.” His -courting song is a long trill that begins at dawn almost with the Phœbe, -and the dear little bird often sings as he sits on the ground. - -_The Tree Swallow._ This we saw last fall in the migration, and we may -hope that it will take lodging in some of the new bird-boxes. - -“In the second half of the month:— - -_The Barn Swallow._ - -_Spotted Sandpiper._ - -_Bank Swallow._ - -_Purple Martin._ - -_Whip-poor-will._ One of the birds of the air that, together with its -brother the Nighthawk and its cousins the Chimney Swift and -Humming-bird, may well be called winged mysteries. - -_Towhee-Chewink, or Ground-robin_, of the tribe of Sparrows and Finches, -but, like the Cardinal, without stripes, and having a stout beak. Head, -throat, back, and breast black; white belly and rust-red sides. Black -tail with white outer feathers. A handsome, vigorous bird and a lover of -bushes and thickets, where he scratches among the leaves. Call-note, -“Tow-hee-tow-hee.” - -_Black-and-white Warbler._ This you will at first take to be a small -Woodpecker from its black-and-white stripes and tree-creeping habits -that remind one of the Brown Creeper of winter, but its slender bill -names it a warbler; one of the “lispers,” who, though they have musical -names, whisper or lisp a few notes as if to themselves. - -_Ovenbird._ Also a warbler, but, though it sings high among the trees, -nests on the ground among the leaves, the nest being closed at the top -and open on the sides like an oven. A shy bird with a _golden brown -crown edged by a black line_. Plain olive above, white beneath, with -thrush-like black streaks on breast and sides. - -_House Wren._ Dear little Jenny Wren, of several nests and a large -family, who lives in our bird-boxes, outbuildings, and garden trellises. -Gowned in reddish brown, with fine black bars and a pert little tail -that she jerks nervously as she flies. Johnny Wren is the singing -partner, for Jenny has no voice left of a morning after she has -spluttered and scolded her bird neighbours and attended to her -housekeeping. - -_Brown Thrasher._ - -_Catbird._ - -_Wood Thrush._ - -_Veery._—No matter how familiar with them we may be, we must always -pause to look and listen when we meet one of this wonderful quartette of -vocalists, whose voices belong with the gorgeously apparelled singers of -the opera; but the quiet plumage and demeanour of three of the four mark -them for peaceful home life and seclusion. - - - WINGED MYSTERIES - -“Four birds there are that live under one roof, so to speak, for they -belong to one order divided into three different families. They are -perfectly familiar to most of us who have lived in the real country, and -yet they awaken our curiosity anew every season when they return. These -birds are the Whip-poor-will, Chimney Swift, Nighthawk, and -Humming-bird. The two first return to New England late in April; the two -last during the first part of May, but it is better for us to take them -all together now in April so as to be ready to recognize the first one -that comes. - -“The _Whip-poor-will_ comes first. It is a bird of the woods; in size a -little less than the Robin, but of a build peculiar to its own family, -long and low, a contrast heightened by its short legs and its habit of -sitting length-wise on a limb and close to it. In short, it does not -perch, it ‘squats.’ Its general colour is black, white, and buff, much -streaked and mottled. Its tail is _round_, half of the three outer -feathers white, giving the effect of a white spot. - -“All of you children of this wooded hill country know this bird that -flies about the house and across the fields to the woods before dawn or -soon after dark, making no more noise than the bats, until, stopping to -rest, he mechanically jerks out his name, -‘Whip-poor-will-Whip-poor-will-Chuck!’ So lonely and mournful does the -cry sound in the distance that many weird stories have been told about -the bird. But when the call comes close at hand, it is more cheerful, -though always startling. - -“This bird builds no nest, but lays its pair of dull white eggs, so -marked that they blend with the earth like lichens and mosses, on the -bare ground, or at best among a few leaves. But rash as this seems, the -protective colour that nature has given to the parents, eggs, and young -serves to keep them as safe as many another bird in a well-woven tree -nest. - -“Then, too, aside from its picturesque qualities, the Whip-poor-will, as -Mr. Forbush says of it, ‘is an animated insect trap. Its enormous mouth -is surrounded by long bristles which form a wide fringe about a yawning -cavity, and the bird flies rather low among the trees and over the -undergrowth, snapping up nocturnal insects in flight. It is, perhaps, -the greatest enemy of night-moths, but is quite as destructive to May -beetles and other leaf-eating beetles.’ - - - THE WOOD THRUSH AND THE WHIP-POOR-WILL - - When the faintest flush of morning - Overtints the distant hill, - _If you waken, if you listen_, - You may hear the Whip-poor-will. - Like an echo from the darkness, - Strangely wild across the glen, - Sound the notes of his finale, - And the woods are still again. - - Soon upon the dreamy silence - There will come a gentle trill, - Like the whisper of an organ, - Or the murmur of a rill, - And then a burst of music, - Swelling forth upon the air, - Till the melody of morning - Seems to come from everywhere. - A Thrush, as if awakened by - The parting voice of night, - Gives forth a joyous welcome to - The coming of the light. - - In early evening twilight - Again the Wood Thrush sings, - Like a voice of inspiration - With the melody of strings; - A song of joy ecstatic, - And a vesper hymn of praise, - For the glory of the summer - And the promise of the days. - - * * * * * * - - And when his song is ended, - And all the world grows still, - As if but just awakened, - Calls again the Whip-poor-will. - - —Garrett Newkirk, in _Bird-Lore_. - -“_The Nighthawk_, when perching, bears a general resemblance to the -Whip-poor-will. The white band on its throat is wider, the tail is _not_ -round, and it has white band near the end. There is a white bar across -the quills of the wings that in flight looks like a round white spot or -a hole. - -“These four white patches, throat, wings, and tail tell you his name -plainly, so when he is on the wing the Nighthawk should never be -mistaken for a Whip-poor-will. Then, too, their habits are unlike. The -Nighthawk does not belong to the night, neither is he a Hawk, which is a -Bird of Prey with talons and a hooked beak. Early morning and late -afternoon are his favourite times for hunting the sky for insects, for -he also is one of our most valuable sky sweepers. - -“Having no song, the cry of Skirk-skirk! given when on the wing, has a -wild and eerie sound which is often followed by a booming noise of the -quality that can be imitated by placing tissue-paper over a long, coarse -comb and then blowing rapidly across it from one end to the other. This -noise is made by the rush of the wind through the wing quills as the -bird drops through the air after its winged food. - -“The Nighthawk builds no nest, but lays its eggs on a bare rock in a -field, amid the stones of rocky ground, on roofs even of city houses. -Again does colour protection aid a bird, for the arrangements of its -markings blend the Nighthawk with granite as perfectly as those of the -Whip-poor-will conceal it in the woods. - -“The Nighthawk, whose erratic flight makes it a target that piques the -skill of a certain class of sportsmen, has frequently been shot at for -prowess, the excuse being that it ‘wasn’t any good, anyway.’ Aside from -the list of insects harmful to agriculture and domestic animals that it -destroys, let us remember its crowning virtue, and cry ‘Hands off!’ It -kills mosquitoes, and has thus earned the local name of Mosquito-hawk. - -“It is hard to believe that any one should insist that the Nighthawk and -the Whip-poor-will are one and the same bird, but such has been the -case, and among intelligent people also, though the mistake has been -definitely settled by one of the Wise Men. - - - A NIGHTHAWK INCIDENT - -A discussion of the specific distinctness of the Whip-poor-will and -Nighthawk, following an address to Connecticut agriculturists some years -ago, led to my receipt, in July, 1900, of an invitation from a gentleman -who was present, to come and see a bird then nesting on his farm that he -believed combined the characters of both the Whip-poor-will and -Nighthawk; in short, was the bird to which both these names applied. - -[Illustration: NIGHTHAWKS] - -Here was an opportunity to secure a much-desired photograph, and armed -with the needed apparatus, as well as specimens of both the Nighthawk -and Whip-poor-will, I boarded an early train for Stevenson, Connecticut, -prepared to gain my point with bird as well as with man. - -The latter accepted the specimens as incontrovertible facts, and -readjusted his views as to the status of the birds they represented, and -we may therefore at once turn our attention to the Nighthawk, who was -waiting so patiently on a bit of granite out in the hayfields. The sun -was setting when we reached the flat rock on which her eggs had been -laid and young hatched, and where she had last been seen; but a fragment -of egg-shell was the only evidence that the bare-looking spot had once -been a bird’s home. The grass had lately been mowed, and there was no -immediately surrounding cover in which the bird might have hidden. It is -eloquent testimony of the value of her protective colouring, therefore, -that we should almost have stepped on the bird, who had moved to a -near-by flat rock as we approached the place in which we had expected to -find her. - -Far more convincing, however, was her faith in her own invisibility. -Even the presence of a dog did not tempt her to flight, and when the -camera was erected on its tripod within three feet of her body, -squatting so closely to its rocky background, her only movement was -occasioned by her rapid breathing. - -There was other cause, however, besides the belief in her own -inconspicuousness to hold her to the rock: one little downy chick -nestled at her side, and with instinctive obedience was as motionless as -its parent. - -So they sat while picture after picture was made from various points of -view, and still no movement, until the parent was lightly touched, when, -starting quickly, she spread her long wings and sailed out over the -fields. Perhaps she was startled, and deserted her young on the impulse -of sudden fear. But in a few seconds she recovered herself, and -circling, returned and spread herself out on the grass at my feet. Then -followed the evolutions common to so many birds but wonderful in all. -With surprising skill in mimicry, the bird fluttered painfully along, -ever just beyond my reach, until it had led me a hundred feet or more -from its young, and then, the feat evidently successful, it sailed away -again, to perch first on a fence and later on a limb in characteristic -(length-wise) Nighthawk attitude. - -How are we to account for the development in so many birds of what is -now a common habit? Ducks, Snipe, Grouse, Doves, some ground-nesting -Sparrows and Warblers, and many other species also feign lameness, with -the object of drawing a supposed enemy from the vicinity of their nest -or young. Are we to believe that each individual who in this most -reasonable manner opposes strategy to force, does so intelligently? Or -are we to believe that the habit has been acquired through the agency of -natural selection, and is now purely instinctive? Probably neither -question can be answered until we know beyond question whether this -mimetic or deceptive power is inherited.—Frank M. Chapman, in -_Bird-Lore_. - - * * * * * - -“Now comes the _Chimney Swift_, universally called the Chimney Swallow; -with small, compact body, only a little larger than a Bank Swallow, and -long, strong wings, it dominates the air in which it lives and feeds, -and so little does it use its feet that it does not perch on them, but -brackets itself against post, wall, or chimney, Woodpecker fashion, the -sharp, pointed quills of its short tail acting as a brace. - -“In colour the Chimney Swift is sooty gray, and as it darts about the -sky it looks like a winged spruce cone, the wings being held further -forward in flight than those of the average bird. - -“Like their cousins the Nighthawks, they feed chiefly in early morning -and late afternoon, though in the nesting season this work continues all -day. In the old wild days, like many another bird, this Swift built its -basket nest of twigs and bird glue on the inside wall of hollow trees, -but when man came, hollow trees went, and so, with the happy -adaptability of Heart of Nature himself, the bird moved to the hollow -chimneys of man’s own invention, and so, unwittingly, descended from his -sky parlour and became the one real fireside bird that we have. And for -this companionship he is willing to brave the risk of being smoked out -and having sparks scorch his nest. - -“Now that wide-mouthed stone chimneys are also disappearing, what -remains for this Swift? We do not know, unless he changes his home to -the open air and builds his bracket nests on outside walls. - -“The Swift folds his wings and dives down the chimney to his nest -silently as a bird cleaves the water, but when he rises, a roar of -rapidly whirring wings marks the ascent, so that sometimes it annoys the -people in whose rooms the chimney opens. Last summer, in the old -orchard-house where Miss Wilde lives, we used to sit before the wide -fireplace and listen to the Swifts twittering and whirling in and out of -the chimney, and by looking up on a bright day their nests could be seen -plainly. Once in a while an accident would happen, and Goldilocks will -show you a beautiful bracket nest and five white eggs that became -loosened after a storm and fell out on to the hearth.” - -“But now that there is a fire all the time and a coal stove at Swallow -Chimney, won’t the birds choke if they live there?” asked Sarah Barnes. -“Grandma says they can stand wood smoke, but that coal-gas ‘spixiates’ -’em; ’cause we’ve never had any at our house since we’ve been burning -coal.” - -“I believe that your grandmother is right,” said Gray Lady, “and for -this reason I have planned to have a new outside chimney for the cooking -stove, so that the real ‘Swallow Chimney’ may be only used for the wood -hearth fires, and so continue to be their home for as long as I live or -the birds wish to rent it. - -[Illustration: R. H. Beebe, Photo. CHIMNEY SWIFT RESTING] - - - TO A CHIMNEY SWIFT - - Uncumbered neighbour of our race! - Thou only of thy clan - Hast made thy haunt and dwelling-place - Within the walls of man. - - Thy haughty wing, which rides the storm, - Hath stooped to Earth’s desires, - And round thy eery rises warm - The smoke of human fires. - - Still didst thou come from lands afar - In childhood days as now,— - Yet alien as the planets are, - And elfin-strange art thou. - - Thy little realm of quick delights, - Fierce instincts, untaught powers— - What unimagined days and nights - Cut off that realm from ours! - - Thy soul is of the dawn of Earth, - And thine the secrets be - Of sentient being’s far-off birth - And round-eyed infancy. - - With thee, beneath our sheltering roof, - The starry Sphinx doth dwell, - Untamed, eternally aloof - And inaccessible! - - —Dora Read Goodale. - - - THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD - -“The last and least of the four-winged mysteries is also the smallest of -our birds, lacking a quarter of being four inches long. But it does not -need size to proclaim its beauty any more than a glowing ruby or -emerald; and indeed it wears both of these gems, the one on its throat -and the other on its back. Its world is the garden where everything is -brightest, its food nectar, and such little aphis as gather in it, and -its home lashed by cobwebs to a slender branch, a fairy nest of plant, -wool, and lichens, soft as feather down, wherein lie two eggs, white and -opaque and glistening like some fresh-water pearls. - -“When on the wing it either darts about like a ray of feathered light, -or else, poised before a deep-throated flower, remains apparently -motionless, though its wings vibrate with the mechanical hum of a -fly-wheel of perfect workmanship. - -“In spite of the fact that Father Humming-bird takes himself to parts -unknown and leaves his mate to tend both eggs and birds, the mother is -neither put out nor discouraged, and makes a model parent, who gathers -and swallows the food for her tiny offspring and then, by a pumping -process called regurgitation, brings it up and, taking no chances of -spilling a drop, literally rams it into the little throat! This bird is -to me the greatest mystery of all. It comes and it goes, but how does it -endure the stress of weather and travel? Many a moth outspans it in -breadth of wings. If the flight of the Wild Goose is wonderful in its -courage, what of the Humming-bird? Is Puck of Pook’s Hill still alive, -and has he feathered playfellows? - - - THE HUMMING-BIRD - - Is it a monster bee, - Or is it a midget bird, - Or yet an air-born mystery - That now yon marigold has stirred, - And now on vocal wing - To a neighbour bloom has whirred - In an aëry ecstasy, in a passion of pilfering? - - Ah! ’tis the Humming-bird, - Rich-coated one, - Ruby-throated one, - That is not chosen for song, - - But throws its whole rapt sprite - Into the secrets of flowers - The summer days along, - Into most odorous hours - It’s a murmurous sound of wings too swift for sight. - - —Richard Burton. - - - THE WOOD THRUSH - - He has a coat of cinnamon brown, - The brightest on his head and crown, - A very low-cut vest of white - That shines like satin in the light, - And on his breast a hundred spots, - As if he wore a veil with dots; - With movement quick and full of grace, - The highbred manner of his race; - A very prince of birds is he - Whose form it is a joy to see. - - And _music_—was there ever heard - A sweeter song from any bird? - Now clarion-like, so loud and clear, - Now like a whisper low and near, - And now, again, with rhythmic swells - And tinkling harmony of bells, - He seems to play accompaniment - Upon some harp-like instrument. - - —Garrett Newkirk, in _Bird-Lore_. - - - MOCKERS AND THRUSHES - -“How many of you know the _Wood Thrush_, or, if you do not know his -name, can recognize him by aid of these verses?” - -“I know it,” answered little Clary; “I know his colour and the way his -song tinkles, but up at our house we call him Song Thrush. Why, Gray -Lady, he doesn’t live in the woods; we haven’t any woods. He stays right -around the garden and orchard, and last summer they made a nest in the -crotch of a sugar-maple so low that I could see into it by standing on -the fence. It looked just like Robin’s nest, and it had some rags woven -into it, and the eggs are like the Robin’s, too. - -“Mother said that I mustn’t watch too long, or they might not come back -next year, but that if we didn’t bother them, they might come back, and -the children, too, and bring their wives. - -“This pair seemed real tame; they used to hop all round on the grass -where the clothes dry, and they drank out of Roy’s dish. He’s a Collie -dog, you know, and they don’t bother birds at all the way bird-dogs will -sometimes. - -“The Thrushes did eat some strawberries and currants, but mother said to -credit those to company, for they pleasured her when she sat sewing on -the porch of afternoons more than all the company she ever had to tea, -for they had to have sugar and cream on their berries, and left plates -and spoons to wash up, and the Thrushes cleared up after themselves and -gave a concert every night. - -“You know, Gray Lady, it isn’t nice to have company and not give them -any lunch, so mother says if you have nice garden birds, why should you -expect more of them than of folks?” - -[Illustration: E. Van Alterna, Photo. WOOD THRUSH AND NEST] - -“Why, indeed,” said Gray Lady. “I will go and see your mother and ask -her to come to Birdland. A mother in a community who thinks as she does -is better than half a dozen bird wardens.” - -“I know that bird, too,” said Dave, “but on the hill where I live he -stays in the river woods and only comes out to the lane edge to get wild -cherries and blackcaps and shadberries. We call it Wood Robin, ’cause -it’s shaped like a Robin and runs on the ground like one, only it’s -different in colour. Do you suppose they are the same bird? Or are there -two that seem alike, like the Nighthawk and Whip-poor-will?” - -“Wood Thrush, Song Thrush, Wood Robin, are all one; the shy bird of -river woods or the lovely musician of gardens and home grounds, where -they are protected and dogs reign instead of cats. This place is vocal -with them all through May, June, and well into July. Not only Birdland -and the orchard, but the garden and trees on the lawn. - -“One afternoon last June, when Goldilocks lay in her hammock under the -spruces, four were singing where I could see all at once,—and oh, that -song! As the bird sits in a tree-top with head thrown back and pours it -forth, - - ‘the song of the Wood Thrush is one of the finest specimens of - bird music that America can produce. Among all the bird songs I - have ever heard, it is second only in quality to that of the - Hermit Thrush. Its tones are solemn and serene. They seem to - harmonize with the sounds of the forest, the whispering breeze, - the purling water, or the falling of raindrops in the summer - woods.’ - - —E. H. Forbush. - - * * * * * - -“This Thrush has a sharp alarm note, ‘Pit! Pit!’ and a sort of whistle -that he seems to use as a signal. Fruit he does eat at times, but he has -as long a list of evil insects to his credit as the Robin himself. -Unfortunately, owing to his size and plumpness, southern vandals shoot -him in the fall and winter. Fancy silencing his heavenly voice for a -pitiful mouthful of meat. - -“There is another Thrush that lives in your river woods, Dave, smaller -than the Wood Thrushes, tawny of back, and a buffy breast with faint -arrow-shaped spots upon it, the Wilson’s Thrush, or Veery. It has not so -long and varied a song as either the Wood Thrush or the more northern -Hermit Thrush, is really but an echo song, wonderfully pure and -spiritual in quality. One of the Wise Men gives in syllables this -‘Ta-weel-ah-ta-weel-ah,’ pronounced in whispering head tones, and then -repeated a third lower, ending with the twang of a stringed instrument. - -“At evening and until quite late into the night these birds echo -themselves and each other. It is not a song to hear amid laughter and -talking, but for the heart that is alone, even if not lonely. To at -least one of our poets, he who best interprets the song-life of birds, -it rivals the famous English Nightingale. - -“Aside from its musical value, the Veery, feeding as it does almost -altogether on insects, has a practical side as a neighbour. It also has -a most penetrating call-note, a ‘Whew! Whew!’ heard after the song is -over, that is at once resentful, critical, and challenging, as if -questioning your right to be in its woodland retreat in the nesting -time, and condemning your persistence. Many people, who do not know the -bird by sight, know both its echo song and its note of alarm and -challenge. - - - THE INCREDULOUS VEERY - - Two hunters chanced one day to meet - Near by a thicket wood; - They paused each other there to greet, - Both in a playful mood. - Said one, “I had to wade a stream, - Now, this you must not doubt, - And when I reached the other shore - My boots were full of trout.” - - _Whew!_ cried a Veery perched in view - To hear if what they said were true. _Whew!_ - - The other’s wit was now well whet. - Said he, “Let me narrate: - I bought three hundred traps and set - For fur both small and great; - Now, when next morning came, behold, - Each trap contained a skin; - And other disappointed game - Stood waiting to get in.” - - The astonished Veery whistled, _Whew!_ - I hardly think that story true. _Whew!!!_ - - —Florence A. Van Sant, in _Bird-Lore_. - - * * * * * - - - THE BROWN THRASHER - -“Also called _Brown Thrush_, _Red Mavis_, _Planting Bird_. Brown of -back, with his white throat and belly speckled with black arrow marks, a -long, curved bill, and long, restless tail, whose thrashing gives the -bird his name, this bird combines the markings of the Thrush with the -general build of a true Mockingbird, while in varied and rich song it -rivals the Catbird, its shorter song season, however, leaving its -gray-backed neighbour in the lead. - -“This spring Brown Thrasher came to the bushy end of the orchard the -last of April, and scratched about in the leaves like a Grouse. In a few -days I saw him in the back of the garden, where Jacob had a great pile -of pea-brush. This the bird looked at favourably. Birds know how to get -in and out of pea-brush, but cats are afraid of the sharp twigs. - -“For a couple of weeks or more I heard him singing every day in the -tree-tops, and I wondered where he would locate. - -“Jacob, one morning, told me that he wished to use the pea-brush, but -that a ‘pair of great brown birds that beat their tails and “sassed” him -when he came near’ had built a nest of twigs in the back of the heap. -‘My friends, the Thrashers,’ said I, ‘will need that brush for a couple -of months. Have you no more in the lot?’ Jacob had plenty with only the -trouble of carting. - -“Now hardy vines have grown over the brush and tangled into what -Goldilocks calls a lovely ‘Thrashery’ that will last for several years.” - -“I know them,” said Jack Todd; “they are mockers and jeerers for -certain; when Dad and I plant the big south field with corn every -spring, they come in the berry-bushes by the fence and tell us how to do -it, and that if we’re smart and take their advice, we won’t cut the -fence brush until they are done with nesting. - -“But can’t they pick cherries to beat the band? Last summer I was up in -the ox-heart tree and they came in the top and picked ’em off, just as -they grew in pairs, and flew away with them as pleased and satisfied as -if they were picking them for market and were a week ahead of the -season. Dad was awfully down on them once, but one morning about two -years ago he got up at daylight to try and get the cutworms that were -spoiling his early cauliflowers, and there were Thrashers and Catbirds -doing the work for him, watching out for the worms to move ground just -as clever as a man could. - -“As for the _Catbird_ or _New England Mockingbird_, trim of shape, and -shrewd of eye, what should we do without him? He is a graphophone in -feathers, that gives us selections from all the popular bird songs of -the day, with this addition—there is no mechanical twang to mar the -melody, and when the repertoire is ended he improvises by the hour. - -“Ah, the merry, mischievous Mocker, all dressed in a parson’s suit of -gray, with a solemn black cap on his head that is as full of tricks as -his throat is of music. - -“You say, ‘Yes, I know that he is a jolly musician, but my father says -that he bites the best strawberries and cherries, and always on the -ripest cheek!’ - -“Well, so he does _sometimes_; but his ancestors lived on that spot -where your garden stands before yours did, and you have more ways of -earning a living than he has. Give him something else to eat. Plant a -little wild fruit along your fences. - -“Some people think that he likes to live in seclusion, but he doesn’t; -he likes to be near people and perch on a clothes-pole to plume and -sing. Yes, indeed, and he shall nest in the syringa nearest my garden, -where he gets his fresh fruit for breakfast, and be the only thing with -anything catlike about it on my premises!” - - - THE CATBIRD - - He sits on a branch of yon blossoming bush, - This madcap cousin of Robin and Thrush, - And sings without ceasing the whole morning long - Now wild, now tender, the wayward song - That flows from his soft, gray, fluttering throat. - But often he stops in his sweetest note, - And, shaking a flower from the blossoming bough, - Drawls out, “Mi-ew, mi-ou!” - -[Illustration: Dr. T. S. Roberts, Photo. CATBIRD ON NEST] - - - - - XXV - BIRD AND ARBOUR DAY AT FOXES CORNERS - - -It was the first Friday of May, the day that was set apart for Arbour -and Bird Day in the schools. Gray Lady and Miss Wilde had thought of -having the celebration in Birdland, but for a good reason decided to -hold it in the schoolhouse. - -The reason was this: One day after the schoolhouse had been put in -order,—for Gray Lady had persuaded the town fathers to have the walls -painted, and had then given a band of soft green burlap that covered the -wall just above the chair board, and made a fine background against -which pictures might be pinned and then changed at will,—little Clary -said with a sigh, “I wish we could have a bird party here in school some -day, so’s mother could _see_ how we learn about the birds; it would be -much realer than my telling her about it.” - -So a very simple programme was arranged for the forenoon, and the -parents invited. It is a great mistake to hold celebrations that are too -long when it is spring, and the weather is so bright and the bird music -so fine that people can learn much more by being out-of-doors than in -poring over books. - -The first part of the programme was under the charge of Jacob Hughes and -the older boys. It consisted in the planting of some strong young -sugar-maples to complete the row between the schoolhouse and the highway -that had been begun last autumn. The holes had been dug the day -previous, and Mr. Todd brought the trees from his grove in the hay-cart, -with plenty of earth about their roots, and after they were set straight -and true, the boys filled in the holes and tramped the earth down -firmly. After this the little boys brought water, four pails being -considered a sufficient drink for each tree. - -Next, a dozen shrubs were planted in the eastern corner of the bit of -ground where it rolled up toward the brush-lot and the earth was deep -and good. They were varieties that would flower in May and June, before -the closing of school. Syringa, Weigela, Yellow Forsythia, Purple and -White Lilac, Snowballs, Spireas, Scarlet Flowering Quince, Strawberry -Shrub, and Deutzia. Between this shrubbery a little strip along the -north fence had been made into a long bed of about thirty feet, and the -girls had been asked to collect enough hardy plants from about the farm -gardens to fill it; for there is little use in planting bedding or -annual flowers in school yards, for these are later in starting and are -killed by early frost. - -The girls had been very successful in their task, and a goodly -assortment of old-fashioned, hardy plants, that many a gardener would -envy, was the result: Iris of several shades, Peonies, Sweet Williams, -Larkspur, Foxgloves, Honesty, May Pinks, Lemon Lilies, Johnny-jumpers, -and several good roots of Cinnamon and Damask Roses were among the -collection, while Sarah Barnes’ grandmother sent a basket of the roots -of hardy button Chrysanthemums—pink, white, crimson, yellow, and -tawny—that she said would hold out from October to Thanksgiving if they -had “bushes between them and the north.” It was quite eleven o’clock -when, the planting over and the benches that the boys had made during -the winter set in place, the children, whose hands were washed under -very difficult conditions, gathered in the school. - -But those parents who cared to come had meanwhile had a chance to go -into the little building, see the pictures, charts, and books on the -shelf behind the desk, and chat with Miss Wilde in a friendly, informal -way that was helpful to all concerned. - -Goldilocks had been there all the morning, but when Gray Lady arrived -she brought with her a friend of “the General’s,” who was also a _Wise -Man_ in one of the chief agricultural colleges of the country, who had -promised to talk to the children. Gray Lady herself was to read them -some bird poetry, and Miss Wilde a little story of her own invention, -while as a finale the children themselves were to recite some verses -where ten familiar birds were represented each by a child who wore a cap -and shoulder cape, cleverly made of crêpe paper, that would give a clew, -at least, to the bird he or she represented. - -These costumes had been made at the last Saturday meeting of the Kind -Hearts’ Club, in the playroom at “the General’s,” and had caused no -little fun, the idea of them having come from the caps in the mottoes at -that orchard party, in September, eight months before, when the children -first entered Birdland. - -This is the poem that Gray Lady read. She had a voice that sang even in -speaking, and as Goldilocks often said, “When mother reads bird poetry -you don’t hear the words, but the birds themselves.” - - - BIRDS IN SPRING - - What time the rose of dawn is laid across the lips of night, - And all the drowsy little stars have fallen asleep in light, - ’Tis then a wandering wind awakes, and runs from tree to tree, - And borrows words from all the birds to sound the reveille. - - This is the carol the Robin throws - Over the edge of the valley; - Listen how boldly it flows, - Sally on sally: - - _Tirra-lirra, down the river,_ - _Laughing water all a-quiver._ - _Day is near, clear, clear._ - _Fish are breaking,_ - _Time for waking._ - _Tup, tup, tup!_ - _Do you hear? All clear._ - _Wake up!_ - - The phantom flood of dreams has ebbed and vanished with the dark, - And like a dove the heart forsakes the prison of the ark; - Now forth she fares through friendly woods and diamond-fields of dew, - While every voice cries out “Rejoice!” as if the world were new. - - This is the ballad the Bluebird sings, - Unto his mate replying, - Shaking the tune from his wings - While he is flying: - - _Surely, surely, surely,_ - _Life is dear_ - _Even here._ - _Blue above,_ - _You to love,_ - _Purely, purely, purely._ - - There’s wild azalea on the hill, and roses down the dell, - And just a spray of lilac still a-bloom beside the well; - The columbine adorns the rocks, the laurel buds grow pink, - Along the stream white arums gleam, and violets bend to drink. - - This is the song of the Yellowthroat, - Fluttering gayly beside you; - Hear how each voluble note - Offers to guide you: - - _Which way, sir?_ - _I say, sir,_ - _Let me teach you,_ - _I beseech you!_ - _Are you wishing_ - _Jolly fishing?_ - _This way, sir!_ - _Let me teach you._ - - Oh come, forget your foes and fears, and leave your cares behind, - And wander forth to try your luck, with cheerful, quiet mind; - For be your fortune great or small, you’ll take what God may give, - And all the day your heart will say, “’Tis luck enough to live.” - - This is the song the Brown Thrush flings - Out of his thicket of roses; - Hark how it warbles and rings, - Mark how it closes: - - _Luck, luck,_ - _What luck?_ - _Good enough for me!_ - _I’m alive, you see._ - _Sun shining, no repining;_ - _Never borrow idle sorrow;_ - _Drop it! Cover it up!_ - _Hold your cup!_ - _Joy will fill it,_ - _Don’t spill it!_ - _Steady, be ready,_ - _Love your luck!_ - - —Henry van Dyke, in _Bird-Lore_. - -“I do declare!” exclaimed Tommy Todd’s grandfather, speaking out loud, -much to the boy’s embarrassment. “I reckon I’ll get out a pole and go -a-trout-fishing to-morrow dawn. I haven’t thought of a yallerthroat, not -since I used to go casting in the brook that ran through Ogden’s meadows -among the bush willows, and them birds kept hollerin’ on ahead.” - -This is what the Wise Man told the children, standing in front of Miss -Wilde’s desk and speaking as if he knew them all by name. - - - THE BIRDS AND I - -The springtime belongs to the birds and me. We own it. We know when the -May-flowers and the buttercups bloom. We know when the first frogs peep. -We watch the awakening of the woods. We are wet by the warm April -showers. We go where we will, and we are companions. Every tree and -brook and blade of grass is ours; and our hearts are full of song. - -There are boys who kill the birds, and girls who want to catch them and -put them in cages; and there are others who steal their eggs. The birds -are not partners with them; they are only servants. Birds, like people, -sing for their friends, not for their masters. I am sure that one cannot -think much of the springtime and the flowers if his heart is always set -upon killing or catching something. We are happy when we are free; and -so are the birds. - -The birds and I get acquainted all over again every spring. They have -seen strange lands in the winter, and all the brooks and woods have been -covered with snow. So we run and romp together, and find all the nooks -and crannies which we had half forgotten since October. The birds -remember the old places. The Wrens pull the sticks from the old hollow -rail and seem to be wild with joy to see the place again. They must be -the same Wrens that were here last year and the year before, for -strangers could not make so much fuss over an old rail. The Bluebirds -and Wrens look into every crack and corner for a place in which to -build, and the Robins and Chipping-sparrows explore every tree in the -old orchard. - -If the birds want to live with us, we should encourage them. The first -thing to do is to let them alone. Let them be as free from danger and -fear as you or I. Take the hammer off the old gun, give pussy so much to -eat that she will not care to hunt for birds, and keep away the boys who -steal eggs and who carry sling-shots and throw stones. Plant trees and -bushes about the borders of the place, and let some of them, at least, -grow into tangles; then, even in the back yard, the wary Catbird may -make its home. - -For some kinds of birds we can build houses. You have been doing this -all through the winter, I hear. Some of the many forms which can be used -are shown in the pictures, but any ingenious boy can suggest a dozen -other patterns. Although birds may not appreciate architecture, it is -well to make the houses neat and tasty by taking pains to have the -proportions right. The floor space in each compartment should be not -less than five by six inches, and six by six or six by eight may be -better. By cutting the boards in multiples of these numbers, one can -easily make a house with several compartments; for there are some birds, -as Martins, Tree Swallows, and Pigeons that like to live in families or -colonies. The size of the doorway is important. It should be just large -enough to admit the bird. A larger opening not only looks bad, but it -exposes the inhabitants to dangers of cats and other enemies. Birds -which build in houses, aside from Doves and Pigeons, are Bluebirds, -Wrens, Tree Swallows, Martins, and sometimes the Chickadee. For the Wren -and Chickadee the opening should be an inch-and-a-half augur-hole, and -for the others it should be two inches. Only one opening should be -provided for each house or compartment. A perch or doorstep should be -provided just below each door. It is here that the birds often stop to -arrange their toilets; and when the mistress is busy with domestic -affairs indoors, the male bird often sits outside and entertains her -with the latest neighbourhood gossip. These houses should be placed on -poles or on buildings in somewhat secluded places. Martins and Tree -Swallows like to build their nests twenty-five feet or more above the -ground, but the other birds usually prefer an elevation less than twelve -feet. Newly made houses, and particularly newly painted ones, do not -often attract the birds. - -But if the birds and I are companions, I must know them more intimately. -Merely building houses for them is not enough. I want to know live and -happy birds, not dead ones. We are not to know them, then, by catching -them, nor stuffing them, nor collecting their eggs. Persons who make a -business of studying birds may shoot birds now and then, and collect -their eggs. But these persons are scientists and they are grown-up -people. They are trying to add to the sum of human knowledge, but we -want to know birds just because we want to. But even scientists do not -take specimens recklessly. They do not rob nests. They do not kill -brooding birds. They do not make collections merely for the sake of -making them; and even their collections are less valuable than a -knowledge of the bird as it lives and flies and sings. - -Boys and girls should not make collections of eggs, for these -collections are mere curiosities, as collections of spools and marbles -are. They may afford some entertainment, to be sure, but one can find -amusement in harmless ways. Some people think that making collections -makes one a naturalist, but it does not. The naturalist cares more for -things as they really are in their own homes than for museum specimens. -One does not love the birds when he steals their eggs and breaks up -their homes; and he is depriving the farmer of one of his best friends, -for birds keep insects in check! - -Stuffed birds do not sing and empty eggs do not hatch. Then let us go to -the fields and watch the birds. Sit down on the soft grass and try to -make out what the Robin is doing on yonder fence or why the Wren is -bursting with song in the thicket. An opera-glass or spy-glass will -bring them close to you. Try to find out not only what the colours and -shapes and sizes are, but what their habits are. What does the bird eat? -How much does it eat? Where is its nest? How many eggs does it lay? What -colour are they? How long does the mother bird sit? Does the father bird -care for her when she is sitting? For how long do the young birds remain -in the nest? Who feeds them? What are they fed? Is there more than one -brood in the season? Where do the birds go after breeding? Do they -change their plumage? Are the mother birds and father birds unlike in -size or colour? How many kinds of birds do you know? - -These are some of the things which every boy or girl wants to know; and -we can find out by watching the birds! There is no harm in visiting the -nests, if one does it in the right way. I have visited hundreds of them -and have kept many records of the number of eggs and the dates when they -were laid, how long before they hatched, and when the birds flew away; -and the birds took no offence at my inquisitiveness. These are some of -the cautions to be observed: Watch only those nests which can be seen -without climbing, for if you have to climb the tree, the birds will -resent it. Make the visit when the birds are absent if possible; at -least, never scare the bird from the nest. Do not touch the eggs or the -nest. Make your visit very short. Make up your mind just what you want -to see, then look in quickly and pass on. Do not go too often, once or -twice a day will be sufficient. Do not take the other children with you, -for you are then apt to stay too long and to offend the birds. - -Now let us see how intimately you can become acquainted with some bird -this summer. - - —L. H. Bailey. - - * * * * * - -This is the little story that Miss Wilde read them, and they were very -anxious as to what schoolhouse and children she really meant, but she -said that was a secret. - - - THE BIRDS AND THE TREES - -It was May Day. Half a dozen birds had collected in an old apple tree, -which stood in a pasture close by the road that passed the schoolhouse; -some of them had not met for many months, consequently a wave of -conversation rippled through the branches. - -“You were in a great hurry, the last time I saw you,” said the little -black-and-white Downy Woodpecker to the Brown Thrasher, who was pluming -his long tail, exclaiming now and then because the feathers would not -lie straight. - -“Indeed! When? I do not remember. What was I doing?” - -“It was the last of October; a cold storm was blowing up, and you were -starting on your southern trip in such a haste that you did not hear me -call ‘good-by’ from this same tree, where I was picking insect eggs that -expected to hide safely in the bark all winter, only to hatch into all -kinds of mischief in the spring. But I was too quick for them; my keen -eyes spied them and my beak chiselled them out. Winter and summer I’m -always at work, yet some house-people do not understand that I work for -my living. They seem to think that a bird who does not sing is good for -nothing but a target for them to shoot at.” - -“That is true,” said the dust-coloured Phœbe, dashing out to swallow a -May beetle, which stuck in her throat, causing her to choke and cough. -“I can only call, yet I worked with the best for the farmer where I -lodged last year. I made a nest on his cowshed rafters and laid two sets -of lovely white eggs, but his boys stole them and that was all my thanks -for a season’s toil.” - -“Singing birds do not fare much better,” said the Thrasher. “I may say -frankly that I have a fine voice and I can sing as many tunes as any -wild bird, but children rob my nest, when they can find it, and -house-people drive me from their gardens, thinking I’m stealing -berries.” - -“They treat me even worse,” said the Robin, bolting a cutworm he had -brought from a piece of ploughed land. “In spring, when I lead the Bird -Chorus night and morning, they rob my nest. In summer they drive me from -the gardens, where I work peacefully, and in autumn, when I linger -through the gloomy days, long after your travelling brothers have -disappeared, they shoot me for pot-pie!” - -“It is a shame!” blustered Jennie Wren. “Not that I suffer much myself, -for I’m not good to eat, and I’m a most ticklish mark to shoot at. -Though I lose some eggs, I usually give a piece of my mind to any one -who disturbs me, and immediately go and lay another nest full. Yet I say -it is a shame, the way we poor birds are treated, more like tramps than -citizens, though we are citizens, every one of us who pays rent and -works for the family.” - -“Hear, hear!” croaked the Cuckoo, with the yellow bill. He is always -hoarse, probably because he eats so many caterpillars that his throat is -rough with their hairs. “Something ought to be done, but can Jennie Wren -tell us what it shall be?” - -“I’ve noticed that most of the boys and girls who rob our nests and -whose parents drive us from their gardens go every day to that square -house down the road yonder,” said Mrs. Wren. “Now if some bird with a -fine voice that would _make_ them listen could only fly in the window -and sing a song, telling them how useful even the songless bird brothers -are, they might treat us better and tell their parents about us when -they go home.” - -“Well spoken,” said the Robin; “but who would venture into that house -with all those boys? There is one boy in there who, last year, killed my -mate with a stone in a bean-shooter, and also shot my cousin, a -Bluebird. Then the boy’s sister cut off the wings of these dead brothers -and wore them in her hat. I think it would be dangerous to go in that -schoolhouse.” - -“The windows are open,” said the Song Sparrow, who had listened in -silence. “I hear the children singing, so they must be happy. I will go -down and speak to them, for though I have no grand voice, they all know -me and perhaps they will understand my homely wayside song.” - -So the Sparrow flew down the road, but as he paused in the lilac hedge -before going in the window, he heard that the voices were singing about -birds, telling of their music, beauty, and good deeds. While he -hesitated in great wonder at the sounds, the children trooped out, the -girls carrying pots of geraniums which they began to plant in some beds -by the walk. Then two boys brought a fine young maple tree to set in the -place of an old tree that had died. A woman with a bright, pleasant face -came to the door to watch the children at their planting, saying to the -boys, “This is Arbour Day, the day of planting trees, but pray remember -that it is Bird Day also. You may dig a deep hole for your tree and -water it well; but if you wish it to grow and flourish, beg the birds to -help you. The old tree died because insects gnawed it, for you were -rough and cruel, driving all the birds away from hereabouts and robbing -their nests.” - -“Please, ma’am,” said a little girl, “our orchard was full of spinning -caterpillars last season and we had no apples. Then father read in a -book the government sent him that Cuckoos would eat the caterpillars all -up, so he let the Cuckoos stay, and this year the trees are nice and -clean and all set full of buds!” - - * * * * * - -The Song Sparrow did not wait to hear any more, but flew back to his -companions with the news. - -“I shall put my nest under the lilac hedge to show the children that I -trust them,” said he, after the birds had recovered from their surprise. - -“I will lodge in the bushes near the old apple tree,” said the Cuckoo; -“it needs me sadly.” - -“I will build over the schoolhouse door,” said the Phoebe; “there is a -peafield near by that will need me to keep the weevils away.” - -“I think I will take the nice little nook under the gable,” said Jennie -Wren, “though I need not build for two weeks yet, and I have not even -chosen my mate.” - -“I shall go to the sill of that upper window where the blind is half -closed,” said the Robin. “They have planted early cauliflowers in the -great field and I must help the farmer catch the cutworms.” - -“I will stay by also,” said the Woodpecker. “I know of a charming hole -in an old telegraph pole and I can see to the bark of all the trees that -shade the schoolhouse.” - -Just then a gust of wind blew through the branches, reminding the birds -that they must go to work, and May passed by whispering with Heart of -Nature, her companion, about the work that must be done before June -should come,—June, with her gown all embroidered with roses and a -circle of young birds fluttering about her head for a hat. - -“Dear Master,” May said, “why am I always hurried and always working? I -do more than all other months. July basks in the sun and August sits -with her hands folded while the people gather in her crops. Each year -March quarrels with Winter and does no work; then April cries her eyes -out over her task, leaving it dim and colourless. Even the willow wears -only pale yellow wands until I touch them. The leaf buds only half -unfold, and the birds hold aloof from the undraped trees; see, nothing -thrives without me.” And May shook the branches of a cherry tree and it -was powdered with white blossoms. - -“Nothing grows by or for itself,” said Heart of Nature, tenderly. “The -tree is for bird and the bird for the tree, while both working together -are for the house-people if they will only understand me and use them -wisely. Never complain of work, sweet daughter May. Be thankful that you -have the quickening touch, for to work in my garden is to be happy.” - -Then the Song Sparrow caught up the words and wove them in his song and -carolled it in May’s ear as she swept up the hillside to set the -red-bells chiming for a holiday. - - * * * * * - -These are the verses that the children recited. Goldilocks asked the -question in the first line of each verse, and the child who represented -the bird answered. Little Clary was the first,—the Chippy,—and as she -said the words she raised her arms and flapped them like wings; the -parents all applauded with delight. - - - THE BIRDS AND THE HOURS - - 4 A.M. - Who is the bird of the early dawn? - The brown-capped Chippy, who from the lawn - Raises his wings and with rapture thrills, - While his simple ditty he softly trills. - - 5 A.M. - Who is the bird of the risen sun? - The Robin’s chorus is well-nigh done - When Bobolink swings from the clover high, - And scatters his love-notes across the sky. - - 9 A.M. - Who is the bird of the calm forenoon? - The Catbird gay with his jeering tune, - Who scolds and mimics and waves his wings - And jerks his tail as he wildly sings. - - Noon - Who is the bird of the middle day? - The green-winged, red-eyed Vireo gay, - Who talks and preaches, yet keeps an eye - On every stranger who passes by. - - 5 P.M. - Who is the bird of the afternoon? - The Wood Thrush shy, with his silvery tune - Of flute and zither and flageolet; - His rippling song you will never forget. - - 7 P.M. - Who is the bird of the coming night? - The tawny Veery, who out of sight - In cool dim green o’er the waterway - The lullaby echoes of sleeping day. - - 9 P.M. - Who is the bird that when all is still - Like a banshee calls? The Whip-poor-will; - Who greets the Nighthawk in upper air - Where they take their supper of insect fare. - - Midnight - Who are the birds that at midnight’s stroke - Play hide-and-seek in the half-dead oak? - And laugh and scream ’till the watch-dog howls? - The wise-looking, mouse-hunting young Screech Owls. - - All in chorus - Good Night! Good Day! - Be kind to the birds and help repay - The songs they sing you the livelong day, - The bugs they gobble and put to flight— - Without birds, orchards would perish quite! - Good Day! Good Night! - - —M. O. W. - -Tommy and Dave, who represented the Screech Owls, followed up the last -“good night” by a very realistic imitation of the mewing call-note and -the cry of the little Screech Owl, that not only brought down the house, -but caused the guests to go home in a state of laughing good humour. - - - - - XXVI - SOME BIRDS THAT COME IN MAY - - - _In Apple-blossom Time look for Orioles and All the Brightly Coloured - Birds._ - -“In May you must get up early and keep both eyes and ears wide open if -you would name this month’s share of the birds. All that have not come -must do so now or never, though sick and crippled birds may straggle -along at any time. - -“These are the birds you may expect during the month. Some you already -know from both pictures and stories, and these will seem like old -friends:— - -Yellow-billed Cuckoo -Nighthawk -Humming-bird -Kingbird -Baltimore Oriole -Bobolink -Indigo-bird -Scarlet Tanager -Red-eyed Vireo -Yellow Warbler -Maryland Yellowthroat -Yellow-breasted Chat -Redstart -Veery -Rose-breasted Grosbeak - -“Some cloudy morning early in the month, you will hear a new call. At -first it may suggest the coo-oo-oo of the Mourning Dove, then the -drumming of the Flicker, but after waiting for a moment you realize that -it is neither. The first sound is like that made by clicking the tongue -rapidly against the roof of the mouth; the second sounds like -cow-cow-cow-cow-cow repeated in quick succession. By this you will know -that the _Yellow-billed Cuckoo_ has come. - -“You will be disappointed when first you see the bird itself, for it -does not in the least resemble the bird of the English poets, who lives -in Cuckoo clocks and bobs out to tell the hours. Neither is it a lazy -bird who refuses to build a nest and leaves its eggs to the care of -others like the Cowbird. - -“This Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a slender bird cloaked in brownish gray, -of a soft hue and with a light belly. The tail-feathers are tipped with -white, so that, as you look at the bird from below, it shows large white -spots. This Cuckoo takes its name because the lower part of its bill is -yellow, but you will scarcely notice this when he is in the trees, where -he spends the greater part of his time in searching for insects and -caterpillars, which are his favourite food. - -[Illustration: YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO] - -“The nest is a shallow, rather shiftless sort of an affair, and very -often has so little lining that if the vine or bush in which it is -placed tips a little, the pale blue eggs are in danger of rolling out. -What the Cuckoos lack in housekeeping thrift they make up as destroyers -of harmful insects, and here it has helped to keep the old orchard alive -by tearing apart the nests of the tent-caterpillar and eating the -inhabitants. These mischievous caterpillars used to be content to live -in the wild cherry trees that line the roads and old pastures. People -cut these down in consequence, so after a time the caterpillar found -that apple trees were quite as much to his taste and seized upon the -orchards. Then comes Master Cuckoo, and wherever the tent worms are, -there we find him also. So many has he been known to devour that one of -the Wise Men, upon examining the stomach of a Cuckoo that had been -killed, found it lined with a sort of felt made from the hairs of the -caterpillars. - -“So, if you hear the harsh call near by, be very glad; the sound may not -please the ear, but the bird is a pleasure to the sight as he slips away -silently through the trees to do work for us that we cannot do as well. - -“The _Red-eyed Vireo_, excepting the Catbird, is the most talkative bird -that we have; in fact, so fond is he of the sound of his own voice that -he is rarely silent during the daylight hours. Then, too, his eloquence -has a questioning and arguing quality that made Wilson Flagg give him -the nickname of ‘The Preacher,’ by which he will always be known. ‘You -see it—you know it—do you hear me? Do you believe it?’ he hears this -voice say, and if you keep these words in your mind, you will recognize -the bird the first time that you hear his song. You may hear the Vireo’s -words twenty times for every peep that you may get of his person; not -that he is at all shy, but he is restlessness in feathers, while unlike -many talkers he both talks and works at the same time. Now he is at the -end of a branch close to you, then on the opposite side of the tree, -from whence he works his way to the very top, clearing the small limbs -and twigs of insects as he goes. - -“After trying in vain to see him, one day when you are not thinking of -this or any other bird, you will pass a familiar tree, one of the -apples, perhaps, whose branches nearly sweep the ground. Your eye in -going idly over the leaves halts at an object that is partly suspended -between the forked twigs of a branch almost under your eye. You look -again; it is a nest, pocket-shaped, and fastened between the twigs as -the heel of a stocking is held between knitting needles. The nest itself -is finely woven of plant-down, soft bark, and perhaps a few shreds of -paper. - -“You step nearer; a little head with a long, curved beak rises slightly -above the nest,—Madam is at home. An eye holds your own,—a red eye -with a long, clear, white mark over it by way of an eyebrow. Then you -notice the head wears a gray cap bordered with black. The bird perhaps -breathes a little faster, and the prettily shaded olive-green back -heaves and the wings twitch as if to make ready to fly, otherwise the -bird does not budge, but simply sits and waits for you to go; this, if -you are really one of the Kind Hearts, you will do very soon. - -“True, you may come back the next day and the next, and from a -comfortable distance watch the Vireo’s housekeeping and the progress of -her brood, only please do not touch either the nest or its contents. -After she has done with it and autumn comes, you may have it for your -own and see for yourself how wonderfully it is made. - -“All sorts of amusing bits of printing from newspapers have been found -woven into these nests, and there is one in Goldilocks’ cabinet, that I -will show you later, that says upon the shred of paper,—‘an eight-room -flat,—electric light and —— —— improvements,’ the missing words -being concealed where the paper was woven under the plant fibres. - -[Illustration: F. M. Chapman, Photo. RED-EYED VIREO ON NEST] - -“There are several other Vireos with richer, more melodious voices that -you will learn to name after you have made your first bowing and -speaking acquaintances in Birdland. The Red-eyed, however, is the -largest and most easily named of them all if you remember his love of -preaching, his white eyebrow, and gray, black-edged cap. He will be with -us all summer, leaving in early October with the last flocks of Barn -Swallows. - - - RED-EYED VIREO - - When overhead you hear a bird - Who talks, or rather, chatters, - Of all the latest woodland news, - And other trivial matters, - Who is so kind, so very kind, - She never can say no, - And so the nasty Cowbird - Drops an egg among her row - Of neat white eggs. Behold her then, - The Red-eyed Vireo! - - —Faith C. Lee, in _Bird-Lore_. - - - THREE LISPERS AND A VENTRILOQUIST - -“When the trees are putting on their best and greenest leaves, many new -sounds mingle with the hum of insects among the branches. You pause and -look up in the confusing mass of fluttering green and sunbeams to find, -if possible, the origin of these sounds. - -“Many feathered shapes are fluttering about, some flying after the -manner of birds, while others flit and move in the irregular fashion of -butterflies, while the notes they utter, instead of being full-throated, -have a sort of childish lisp. - -“These birds belong to the tribe of _Warblers_; a few do really warble, -but for the majority the _Lispers_ would be a more appropriate title. -Listen! there comes a little call now, as if the bird had kept his beak -half closed, ‘Sweet-sweetie-sweazy!’ and a bird of light build and no -larger than a Chippy flits backward from the twig where he was perching -and alights on one below, following in his flight one of the insects of -which he is a valiant destroyer, as he belongs really to both the order -of Tree Trappers and Sky Sweepers. - -“Now is your chance; he is at rest for a moment; look at him,—black of -back, head, and breast, some salmon-red feathers on wings and tail, and -the sides of breast rich, pure salmon, and the belly white. What a brave -little uniform, almost the Oriole colours. One of the Wise Men who has -met the Redstart in his winter home in Cuba says that there he is called -‘_Candelita_, the little torch that flashes in the gloomy depth of -tropical forests.’ - -“There is nothing secluded about him, however, except the depths of -shade where he feeds and weaves his nest, in texture much like the -Vireo’s. His mate is also a very dainty bird, but his flame colour and -black is replaced by pale yellow and gray. - -“The Redstart is a bird to know in May and June, though it does not -leave until early in October. - - - _The Summer Yellowbird_ - -“From the apple trees or shrubs near the house comes a cheerful lisping -song that constantly declares that life up among the leaves is -‘Sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet-sweeter,’ ending this remark by a warble full -of melody. Then a little bird smaller than a Chippy flits out with a bit -of green worm hanging from his beak and disappears in another tree. -Brief as the glimpse is, you see that the bird is rich olive-yellow, -with cinnamon streaks on the breast. If he pauses a moment, you will -notice that the underparts are almost the colour of gold. This is the -_Yellow Warbler_ of many names,—_Wild Canary_, _Summer Yellowbird_, or -simply _Yellowbird_; though this name is also commonly given to the -seed-eating Goldfinch of the Sparrow tribe who wears a jaunty black cap, -and stays with us all the year, while the Yellow Warbler goes southward -before leaf-fall in September. - -“The Yellow Warbler’s nest is one of the most beautiful and interesting -bird-homes, and shares the fame of that of the Baltimore Oriole, Wood -Pewee, Humming-bird, and Vireo. It is cup-shaped and deep, woven of -fibres and plant-down, and is placed in the fork of a bush or in a fruit -tree, where it is as firmly lashed by cords of vegetable fibre and -cobwebs. The female is the builder and a very rapid workwoman. This nest -is often used by the Cowbird, but little Mrs. Yellow Warbler is more -clever than many other small birds and refuses to be imposed upon. She -is evidently afraid to push out the alien egg, so she swiftly walls it -in by building a second nest on top of the first. If this does not check -the Cowbird, a third nest is sometimes added, like the one that Tommy -brought me last fall, and there is a two-story nest in Goldilocks’ -cabinet. - -“This Warbler is not only beautiful to look at and pleasant to hear, but -he is a very valuable tree trapper, for he eats the spinning cankerworms -and also tent-caterpillars, pulling apart webs of the latter and using -them ‘for cordage’ to bind the nest. He is also a destroyer of -plant-lice and something of a flycatcher as well. - - - _Maryland Yellowthroat_ - -“Here is a merry bird that you cannot miss seeing or fail to name if you -have eyes and ears. Olive on head and back, this bird certainly has a -yellow throat, also much yellow on tail, wings, and underparts, but if I -had the naming of it I should call him the ‘Yellow, Black-masked -Warbler,’ for he wears a narrow mask of black across his face, through -which his keen eyes peer provokingly as he flits ahead calling for you -to follow, ‘Follow me—follow me—follow!’ When you see the bird, of two -points you may be sure at once; it is yellow, and it wears a black mask, -but whether it is yellowest on back, throat, or breast will require a -second look. - -“This bird is here about the garden and lane from May to September, and -last June we found its long, bulky nest, partly covered like an Indian -cradle, in the bushes between the garden and orchard, but it usually is -so clever at going into the bushes and then darting along close to the -ground to its nest, that we had known of this nest for several days -before we discovered that it belonged to Black Mask, for his wife, who -kept the nearest to the nest, wears no mask, and we thought her some -other kind of Warbler. - - - THE MARYLAND YELLOWTHROAT - - While May bedecks the naked trees - With tassels and embroideries, - And many blue-eyed violets beam - Along the edges of the stream, - - I hear a voice that seems to say, - Now near at hand, now far away, - “Witchery-witchery-witchery!” - - * * * * * * - - An incantation so serene, - So innocent, befits the scene; - There’s magic in that small bird’s note. - See! there he flits—the Yellowthroat; - A living sunbeam, tipped with wings, - A spark of light that shines and sings, - “Witchery-witchery-witchery!” - - —Henry van Dyke, in _The Builders and Other Poems_. - -“A whistle comes out of the bushes that line the wood lane perhaps when -you are gathering the pink Wild Azalea. If you have a dog with you, he -will get up and sniff about. The whistle is repeated, and you yourself -think it is one of your companions who has rounded the turn calling you. -No; then it is merely a Catbird mocking half a dozen other songsters and -then jeering at them. - -“By mere chance, glancing at a tree close above, you see a bird of good -size with brilliant yellow throat, breast, and wing-linings, and a -strong curved beak that appears almost hooked. Perching there is a -Yellow-breasted Chat. He it is who is doing the mocking and jeering, but -throws his voice in such a way that it seems to come from the opposite -bushes. It is this power that gives him the name of ‘Ventriloquist.’ -Being observed, he slips quickly out of sight, and then you notice the -olive-green colour on his back. He has a song of his own as well as the -power of imitating others and in the nesting season floats out upon the -air, with spread wings and legs trailing behind, in a wild ecstasy of -singing, looking to us humans very foolish, but is doubtless very -fascinating to his mate on her nest hidden amid briers and bushes and -thoroughly protected by vines. - - - _Singers in Costume_ - -“Among the birds many of the best vocalists are choir singers, as it -were. We hear their voices first, and from hearing them desire to know -and name the singers. The Thrushes belong to the first group. Others -there are who come on the stage in brilliant costume; we see them first, -then desire to hear them sing, and afterward remember them as pleasing -both to eye and ear. These are the gentlemen of the Opera, and four of -them made the garden and orchard their music-hall last summer and I do -not doubt will do so again. In fact the Goldfinches have never left, but -a flock in sober winter suits have fed at the lunch-counter on the -sunflower heads and fluttered over the weed seeds in the fields all -winter. - -“The _Baltimore Oriole_ is the first of the quartet to settle down to -family life late in May. The _Rose-breast_ follows him closely. But the -_Tanager_ waits for the heavy leafage of June to cover his brilliant -colours while, for some reason not yet understood, the _American -Goldfinch_ keeps his bachelor freedom longer than any bird except the -Cedar Waxwing. And though he wears his handsome yellow wedding-clothes -from late April, he waits until he has feasted well on dandelion-down -and the best grass seeds before he ceases to rove and takes to a bush, -high maple, or other tree, to locate his soft nest made of moss and -grasses and lined with thistle-down. - - - THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE - - How falls it, Oriole, thou hast come to fly - In tropic splendour through our northern sky? - - At some glad moment was it Nature’s choice - To dower a scrap of sunset with a voice? - - Or did an orange tulip flaked with black, - In some forgotten ages back, - - Yearning toward Heaven until its wish was heard, - Desire unspeakably to be a bird? - - —Edgar Fawcett. - -“The Baltimore Oriole should be first mentioned, for his voice is that -of the bugler that heralds actual spring, the long-expected, -long-delayed mellow period, distinct from the almanac spring, that, when -it once comes to us of the middle and north country, is quickly absorbed -by the ardour of summer herself. Also is this Oriole the gloriously -illuminated initial letter wrought in ruddy gold and black pigments -heading the chapter that records the season; and when we see him high in -a tree against a light tracery of fresh foliage, we know in very truth -that not only is winter over, that the treacherous snow-squalls of April -are past, but that May is working day and night to complete the task -allotted. - -“For as the Indian waited for the blooming of the dogwood, _Cornus -florida_, before planting his maize, so does the prudent gardener wait -for the first call of the Oriole before she trusts her cellar-wintered -geraniums and lemon balms once more to the care of Mother Earth. - -“This Oriole has history blended with his name; for it is said that -George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, tired and discouraged by many -of the troubles of his Newfoundland colony, in visiting the Virginia -settlement in 1628, explored the waters of the Chesapeake, where he -found the shores and woods alive with birds, and conspicuous among them, -vast flocks of Orioles. These so pleased him that he took their colours -for his own and they ever afterward bore his name—a fair exchange. - -“The _Baltimore Oriole_ comes of a party-coloured American -family—_Icteridæ_—that to the eye of the uninitiated at least would -appear to be a hybrid clan drawn from all quarters of the bird world. -Yet it is typically American, even in this variety; for what other race -would have the temerity to harbour the Bobolink, Orchard and Baltimore -Orioles, Red-wing, Meadowlark, various Grackles, together with the -vagrant Cowbird, in the branches of the same family tree? - -“One of the many welcome facts concerning the Oriole is the ease with -which he is identified; and I say _he_ advisedly, for his more -industrious half, who is the expert weaver of the pair, is much the more -sombre of hue. In early May, or even as late as the middle of the month -in backward seasons, you will hear a half-militant, half-complaining -note from the high tree branches. As you go out to find its origin, it -will be repeated, and then a flash of flame and black will shoot across -the range of vision toward another tree, and the bird, chiding and -complaining, begins a minute search along the smaller twigs for insects. -This is the Oriole, _Icterus galbula_, as he first appears in full -spring array,—his head, throat, and top of back and wings black, except -a few margins and quills that are white edged. The breast and -underparts, lower part of back, and lesser wing-coverts are orange -flame, while his tail is partly black and partly orange. - -“Two other tree-top birds that arrive at about the same time, one to -remain and one to pass on, wear somewhat the same combination of red and -black,—the Redstart and the Blackburnian Warbler. But, besides being -much smaller birds, they both belong to the pretty tribe of Warblers -that, with a few notable exceptions, such as the Chat and -Water-thrushes, should be more properly called ‘lispers’ and not be -confused with the clear-toned Oriole. - -“Once the female Oriole arrives, usually several days after the male, -his complaining call, ‘Will you? Will you really, truly?’ gradually -lessens: and after a few weeks, when nest-building begins, it quite -disappears, or rather, is appropriated by the songless female, who, -while she weaves the nest, is encouraged by the clarion song of her -mate. The plumage of the female is brown and gray blended with orange -above, the head, back, and throat being mottled with black, while the -underparts are a dull orange, with little of the flaming tints of the -male. - -“Though the Oriole exposes himself more freely to view than most of our -highly coloured birds and in fact seems to regard his gift of beauty -anything but seriously, he takes no chances, however, in the locating of -his nest, which is not only from twenty feet above the ground upward, -but is suspended from a forked branch that is at once tough yet so -slender that no marauding cat would dare venture to it. This pensile -nest is diligently woven of grasses, twine, vegetable fibres, horsehair, -bits of worsted, or anything manageable and varies much in size and -shape, as if the matter of individual taste entered somewhat into the -matter. It has been fairly well proven that location enters largely into -this matter, and that nests in wild regions, where birds of prey, etc., -abound, are smaller at the top and have a more decided neck than those -in the trees of home lawns and orchard. Of the many nests that I have -found and handled or else observed closely with a glass, the majority -have been quite open at the top like the one pictured, and the only one -with a narrow and funnel-like opening came from a wayside elm on the -edge of a dense wood. - -“The female seems to be weaver-in-chief, using both claw and bill, -though I have seen the male carry her material. It is asserted that -Orioles will weave gayly coloured worsteds into their nests. This I very -much doubt, or if they do, I believe it is for lack of something more -suitable. I have repeatedly fastened varicoloured bunches of soft linen -twine, carpet-thread, flosses, and the like under the bark of trees -frequented by Orioles, and with one exception, it has been the more -sombre tints that were selected, though I am told that nests are found -made of very bright colours. - -“In the exceptional case a long thread of scarlet linen floss was taken -and woven into the nest for about half its length, the remainder hanging -down; but on resuming my watch the next day, I found that the weaver had -left the half-finished task and crossed the lawn to another tree. -Whether it was owing to the presence of red squirrels close by, or that -the red thread had been a subject for domestic criticism and dissension, -we may not know. - -“Be this as it may, in spite of the bright hues of the parent birds and -the hanging shape of the nest that is never concealed by a branch upon -which it is saddled, like the home of so many birds, an Oriole’s nest is -exceedingly difficult to locate unless one has noticed the trips to and -fro in the building process; but once the half-dozen white, darkly -etched and spotted eggs it contains hatch out, the vociferous youngsters -at once call attention to the spot and make their whereabouts known, in -spite of sky cradle and carefully adjusted leaf umbrellas. - -“If their parents bring them food, they squeal (yes, that is the only -word for it); if they are left alone, they do likewise. Their baby -voices can be heard above the wind, and it is only either at night or -during a heavy shower, when a parent would naturally be supposed to be -upon the nest, that they are silent. - -“As an adult, the Oriole lives on rather mixed diet and has a great love -of honey; but of course as a parent he is, with his sharp beak, a great -provider of animal food for his home, and to his credit must be placed a -vast number of injurious tree-top insects that escape the notice of less -agile birds. - -“Complaints are frequently heard of his propensity for opening pods and -eating young peas, piercing the throats of trumpet-shaped flowers for -the honey, and in the autumn, before the southward migration, siphoning -grape and plum juice by means of this same slender, pointed bill. - -“Personally, I have never lost peas through his appetite for green -vegetables, though I have had the entire floral output of an old -trumpet-vine riddled bud and blossom; and I have often stood and scolded -them from under the boughs of a Spitzenburgh apple tree, amid the -blossoms of which they were rummaging,—perhaps for insects, but also -scattering the rosy blossoms right and left with torn and bruised -petals. Powell, in _The Independent_, writes feelingly of this trait of -the Oriole, thus:— - -“‘An Oriole is like a golden shuttle in the foliage of the trees, but he -is the incarnation of mischief. That is just the word for it. If there -is anything possible to be destroyed, the Oriole likes to tear it up. - -“‘He wastes a lot of string in building his nest. He is pulling off -apple blossoms now, possibly eating a few petals. By and by he will pick -holes in bushels of grapes, and in plum season he will let the wasps and -hornets into the heart of every Golden Abundance plum on your favourite -tree. . . . Yet the saucy scamp is so beautiful that he is -tolerated—and he does kill an enormous lot of insects. There is a -swinging nest just over there above the blackberry bushes. It is -wonderfully woven and is a cradle as well as a house. I should like to -have been brought up in such a homestead.’ - -“It seems as if the Oriole must be a descendant of one of the brilliant -birds that inhabited North America in by-gone days of tropic heat and -that has stayed on from a matter of hereditary association; for in the -nesting season it is to be found from Florida and Texas up to New -Brunswick and the Saskatchewan country and westward to the Rockies, -beyond which this type is replaced by Bullock’s Oriole, of much similar -colouring save that it has more orange on the sides of the head, and the -white wing-patch is larger. - -“But however much the Baltimore Oriole loves his native land, the -climate and the exigencies of travel make his stay in it brief; for he -does not appear until there is some protection of foliage and he starts -southward toward his winter home in Central and South America often -before a single leaf has fallen. - - - THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE - - O Golden Robin! pipe again - That happy, hopeful, cheering strain! - - A prisoner in my chamber, I - See neither grass, nor bough, nor sky; - Yet to my mind thy warblings bring, - In troops, all images of spring; - And every sense is satisfied - But what thy magic has supplied. - As by enchantment, now I see - On every bush and forest tree - The tender, downy leaf appear.— - The loveliest robe they wear. - - The tulip and the hyacinth grace - The garden bed; each grassy place - With dandelions glowing bright, - Or king-cups, childhood’s pure delight, - Invite the passer-by to tread - Upon the soft, elastic bed, - And pluck again the simple flowers - Which charmed so oft his younger hours. - The apple orchards all in bloom— - I seem to smell their rare perfume. - And thou, gay whistler! to whose song - These powers of magic art belong, - On top of lofty elm I see - Thy black and orange livery; - Forgive that word! a freeman bold, - Of choice thou wearest jet and gold, - And no man’s livery dost bear, - Thou flying tulip! free as air! - - Come, Golden Robin! once again - That magic, joy-inspiring strain! - - —Thomas Hill. - -“Of all our North American birds, the Tanager is the most gorgeous and -suggestive of the tropics. I do not understand how any one can fail to -name him. He is unlike any other. Entire body rich scarlet, wings and -tail black; that is all that there is to remember about him in spring -dress. In autumn he moults to a greenish yellow like his mate, but still -keeps his black wings and tail. - -“This bird is commonly thought to be rare, but that is because he loves -groves of oaks, chestnuts, and beeches, and Nature has taught him to -keep in high deep shade, that his colour, far richer than the Cardinals, -may not make him a target for enemies, both feathered and human. But in -the migrations he is often to be seen. Half a dozen were feeding at one -time in the garden and about the lunch-counter this spring, and in May, -whenever I drove about or went to Fair Meadows village, some one was -sure to either ask me the name of the beautiful red birds that they had -seen about the yard, or, if they knew the bird, tell how plentiful -Tanagers had been this year. - -“Protection has certainly helped this bird, and in some places it is -said to be increasing; and as it is distinctly a bird of high trees, -where its nest of loosely built sticks is placed, it is not so much -affected by the modern plague of cats as either Robin, Song Sparrow, or -the Thrushes. ‘The song resembles somewhat that of the Robin, but is -shorter and less varied, with a little apparent hoarseness or harshness -in the tone. Chi-chi-chi-char-ee, char-ee-chi represents it fairly -well.’ It also has a sharp ‘Chip-churr!’ alarm note. - -“The Robin, Grosbeak, and Tanager all have certain notes in common, so -that when they all sing at once, it is often difficult to distinguish -the individual songs. - -“The Tanager is the guardian of the forest trees and their insect pests. -As a caterpillar hunter, it is said ‘he has but few superiors.’ He finds -the leaf-rolling caterpillar in its snug retreat and destroys myriads of -weevils, click-beetles, and crane-flies. The Tanager also visits -orchards, and in early spring, during the migrations, he braves danger -and feeds in the furrows of ploughed land in the same way as the -Grackles and Robins. - -“The Tanagers are unique little specimens when they first leave the -nest, for the male birds undergo as many changes of colour as Harlequin -in the pantomime. After the down of nestlings, they wear the dull colour -of the mother, and before they put on the full spring plumage, they go -through a stage of patchwork such as you see in this picture in my -portfolio. Then after being bright red all summer, they again go through -the patchwork state before leaving in fall. - -“The coming of cold weather evidently warns this Tanager to go, for -being provided with a dull travelling cloak, he need no more fear being -seen in the leafless trees than the Thrushes or Sparrows. - -“_Thistle-bird_, _Lettuce-bird_, and _Yellowbird_ are all names given to -this friendly little Sparrow of the stout bill, black cap, tail, wings, -and bright gamboge-yellow plumage, who lives with us all the year and is -almost always seen in flocks. In spring we find these birds and their -more sober wives feeding on dandelion seeds. In early summer they glean -grass seeds in the hayfields. In late summer and early autumn they -flutter about the seeding thistle in company with the rich red -butterflies, and after this, the male and female, garbed alike, then -live wherever the wild composite flowers like asters, sunflowers, or -garden marigolds and zinnias have gone to seed and in the great waste -fields of weeds. - -“At all times its flight is noticeable for its dip, followed by an -upward jerk, and as they fly, they call ‘per-chic-o-ree-per-chic-o-ree’ -(Chapman) in a jolly, gleeful manner. - -“In May, June, and July they sing in a varied and canary-like manner -from tree-tops and as they swing on stalks of grass, having quite -powerful voices for their size, which is under five inches. - -“A lover and close observer of these Goldfinches has written the summer -life of a pair of these birds in so interesting a fashion that I will -read it to you. Either the pair that she describes were very late in -nesting, or it was their second brood. - -[Illustration: GOLDFINCH] - - Order—Passeres Family—Fringillidæ - Genus—Astragalinus Species—Tristis - - - A GOLDFINCH IDYL - -Do you know of any far-away pasture where, in blueberry time, Sparrows -play hide-and-seek in the bushes, and Finches are like little golden -balls tossed on the breeze? It was in such a field that my Goldfinch -found the thistle-down for her soft couch—_her_ couch, observe, for it -was the dull mate in greenish olive that made the bed. - -I was there when the maple twig was chosen for the nest—as good luck -would have it—close by our cottage door and in plain sight from my -window. The choice was announced by a shower of golden notes from the -male bird and a responsive twitter from his mate. She began building at -once, quickly outlining the nest with grasses and bark. Her approach was -always heralded by a burst of song from her mate, who hovered near while -she deftly wove the pretty fabric and then flew away with him to the -base of supply. - -It was August 2 when the nest began. I quote from my note-book:— - -“August 3. I observed the work closely for an hour. The working partner -made eighteen trips, the first eleven in twenty-two minutes, grass and -thistle-down being brought; the last nine trips only down, more time -being taken to weave it into the walls. The male warbled near by and -twice flew into the tree and cheered his industrious mate with song. - -“August 5. The home growing. The female tarries much longer at the nest, -fashioning the lining. - -“August 6. Both birds sing while flying to and from the nest. - -“August 7. Nest completed. The mother bird has a little ‘song of the -nest’—a very happy song. Think an egg was laid to-day. - -“August 11. The male Goldfinch feeds his mate on the nest. Flies to her -with a jubilant twitter, his mouth full of seeds. She eagerly takes from -twelve to twenty morsels. They always meet and part with song. Once the -brooding mate grew impatient, flew to the next tree to meet her -provider, took eight or ten morsels, then flew with him to the nest and -took twelve more. A generous commissary! - -“August 17. Breakfast on the nest; twenty-three morsels from one -mouthful. How is it possible for song to escape from that bill before -the unloading? Yet it never fails.” - -Here the record comes to an untimely stop, the reporter being suddenly -called home. But the following year Nature’s serial opened at the same -leaf. - -Toward the last of July, a steady increase in Goldfinch music, and a -subtle change in its meaning marked the approach of nesting time. Again -I quote from my journal:— - -“August 8. My careful search was rewarded by the discovery of a -Goldfinch’s nest, barely outlined, in the rock maple near the former -site, but on the road side of the tree. That my bird friends had -returned to the old treestead I could not doubt, as they bore my -scrutiny with unconcern. In six days the nest was completed. The builder -flew to the brook and drank with her mate, but rarely stayed away long -enough for food supply; that was carried to her and received on the -nest. - -“August 18. An episode: a rival male flew to the home tree with the male -Goldfinch, both singing delightfully and circling about the nest. The -mate, much excited, several times flew from the nest and joined in the -discussion. Two bouts between the males ended in the discomfiture of -number two and the return of my Goldfinch with a victor’s song. - -“August 20. The course of true love now ran smooth, and Goldfinch, sure -of his intrenched affection, sang less volubly. The female, delicately -sensitive of ear, apparently recognizes the voice of her mate and never -fails to respond. Other Goldfinches flew by in song, calling and -singing, but only one appealed to her. - -“August 25 was a red-letter day in Goldfinch annals; then, and only -then, I saw the male on the nest fed by his mate. The male then shares -incubation? He certainly gave it a trial, but so far as my observation -goes, found it too confining to be repeated. - -“August 29. ‘Out to-day,’ as the newsboy cries—the female’s elevation -on the nest determined that. Her eagerness now overcame caution, and she -flew straight to the nest instead of in a roundabout course. Both -parents fed the young. - -“August 30. In a single trip the male Goldfinch brought forty morsels to -the family, his mate eager to get her ‘thirds,’ but as soon as he had -gone she slipped off the nest and fed the young. This method was pursued -for three days. - -“Sept. 1. The female very active at the nest, making toilets of young, -reassuring them with tender syllables when a red squirrel ran up the -tree with alarming sounds. I saw three open mouths. The brooding bird -went for food and returned stealthily to the nest. The male came once, -but brought nothing, and henceforth was an idle partner. - -“Sept. 6. Young birds, having found their voices, announced meal time -with joyous twitter. They were fed, on an average, once in forty-five -minutes and were now forming cleanly habits, like young Swallows, -voiding excrement over the rim of the nest. - -“Sept. 8. The old bird no longer perching at the nest to feed her young, -but on the branch, to lure them from their cradle. They shook their -wings vigorously and preened their tiny feathers. - -“Sept. 11. Young Finches ventured to the edge of the nest and peered -curiously into the unknown. - -“Sept. 11. An empty nest.” - - —Ella Gilbert Ives, in _Bird-Lore_. - - * * * * * - -“In spite of the rosy wing-linings and shield set above his white -breast, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is the least conspicuous of the -Singers in Costume. The reason for this is, that unless you are either -directly under or before him, the richly coloured breast may escape -notice and only the dark back appear. Yet to one who knows birds, even -the back will serve to name him, for no other familiar songster has so -much black and white about him—black head and back, a white rump, -black-and-white wings, and black-and-white tail. - -[Illustration: National Association of Audubon Societies ROSE-BREASTED - GROSBEAK -(Upper Figure, Male; Lower Figure, Female)] - - Order—Passeres Family—Fringillidæ - Genus—Zamelodia Species—Ludoviciana - -“This Grosbeak delights in young woodlands where the trees are small and -well branched, and the big, rather loosely woven nest of weeds, twigs, -and various wood fibres is seldom placed as high as even the Robin’s or -Tanager’s, and yet, in spite of the fact that female birds are supposed -to have dull feathers because they will be less seen when on the nest, I -have seen a gorgeous male brooding the eggs in bright daylight, the nest -being on a low sapling in a rather thickly wooded brush-lot. - -“The Rose-breast is very useful as a killer of large beetles and -insects, and from his prowess with the striped potato-beetle has been -called locally the ‘Potato Bird’; but it is for its song that we love -and prize him as one of the birds that to miss from the garden, means -that one of the best features of the season has been lost. - -“Listen to what Audubon said of this song, that great pioneer -naturalist, whose pure nature and spiritual kinship with the birds never -forsook him in hours of adversity. - -“‘One year, in the month of August, I was trudging along the shores of -the Mohawk River, when night overtook me. Being little acquainted with -that part of the country, I resolved to camp where I was. The evening -was calm and beautiful, the sky sparkled with stars, which were -reflected by the smooth waters, and the deep shade of the rocks and -trees of the opposite shore fell on the bosom of the stream, while -gently from afar came on the ear the muttering sound of the cataract. My -little fire was soon lighted under a rock, and, spreading out my scanty -stock of provisions, I reclined on my grassy couch. As I looked around -on the fading features of the beautiful landscape, my heart turned -toward my distant home, where my friends were doubtless wishing me, as I -wished them, a happy night and peaceful slumbers. Then were heard the -barkings of the watch-dog and I tapped my faithful companion to prevent -his answering them. The thoughts of my worldly mission then came over my -mind, and having thanked the Creator of all for His never-failing mercy, -I closed my eyes and was passing away into the world of dreaming -existence, when suddenly there burst on my soul the serenade of the -Rose-breasted Bird, so rich, so mellow, so loud in the stillness of the -night, that sleep fled from my eyelids. Never did I enjoy music more: it -thrilled through my heart and surrounded me with an atmosphere of bliss. -One might easily have imagined that even the Owl, charmed by such -delightful music, remained reverently silent. Long after the sounds -ceased did I enjoy them, and when all had again become still, I -stretched out my wearied limbs and gave myself up to the luxury of -repose.’ - -“As a near-by garden neighbour, the Rose-breast, though shy by nature, -may become as intimate as the Wood Thrush, and if you are near his -feeding-haunts you will notice, aside from his song, he has a way of -talking when he feeds and that, with a little imagination, you can -translate his words to suit yourself. I had once thought this an idea of -my own, but this clipping in my scrap-book proves the contrary, and that -others have made his notes into words.” - - - A TALKING ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. - -Early last summer, while standing on my back steps, I heard a cheerful -voice say, “You’re a pretty bird. Where are you?” I supposed it to be -the voice of a Parrot, but wondered how any Parrot could talk loud -enough to be heard at that distance, for the houses on the street back -of us are quite a way off. - -Almost before I had done laughing, the voice came again, clear, musical, -and strong—“You’re a pretty bird. Where are you?” - -For several days I endured the suspense of waiting for time to -investigate. Then I chased him up. There he was in the top of a walnut -tree, his gorgeous attire telling me immediately that he was a -Rose-breasted Grosbeak. - -At the end of a week he varied his compliment to, “Pretty, pretty bird, -where are you? Where are you?” with a kind of impatient jerk on the last -“you.” - -He and his mate stayed near us all last summer, and though I heard him -talk a hundred times, yet he always brought a feeling of gladness and a -laugh. - -Our friend has come back again this spring. About May 1st I heard the -same endearing compliment as before. - -Several of my friends whom I have told about him have asked, “Does he -say the words plainly? Do you mean that he really talks?” My reply is, -“He says them just as plainly as a bird ever says anything, so plainly, -that even now I laugh whenever I hear him.” - -He is not very easily frightened, and sometimes talks quite a while when -I am standing under the tree where he is. - - —Emily B. Pellet, Worcester, Mass., in _Bird-Lore_. - - - A SONG OF THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK - - Hark! Hark! - From the elm tree’s topmost spray, - As the sun’s first spark - O’erleaps the dark - - He sings to the dawning day. - Over and over and over, the thrilling strain: - Never more clear - On love-tuned ear - Burst forth love’s charmed refrain. - - Hark, hark, listen and hear! - The robin’s whistle, the oriole’s note, - Both are drowned - In the golden sound - That pours from the perfect throat. - - Sing, spirit of might, - Bird of beauty and tune,— - Sable-winged as a summer’s night, - With the red-rose breast as soft, as bright - As a rose-red dawn in June! - - Sing, sing to the rippling light, - Sing to the paling moon! - Sing, sing, sing - Of a joy beyond our ken, - Till the burdens of manhood loose their hold, - And the heart grows young, and the Age of Gold - Rolls back on the souls of men. - - —Dora Read Goodale, in _Youth’s Companion_. - - - - - XXVII - FLAG DAY - - -The Spring Sale of the work of the Kind Hearts’ Club was held the -Saturday after Arbour and Bird Day. People who had seen the bird-houses -that their friends had bought at Christmas drove over from towns many -miles away, while those who had been before came again and seemed -perfectly fascinated by the birds’ baths and drinking-troughs made from -the hollowed logs. - -The money thus being secure, the wayside drinking-fountain for man, -beast, and bird was begun at once and before Memorial Day was completed -and the water turned on, to Tommy’s great pride. - -Nor were the children obliged to spend all their pennies upon the work, -for besides the actual money, they had earned something of more -value—the confidence and co-operation of their own parents and of the -neighbourhood. - -At first the work that Gray Lady had begun at Foxes Corners school was -thought to be merely a passing fancy or a matter of sentiment only, but -day by day many of those who were not only indifferent, but perhaps -aggressive, saw that common sense went hand in hand with the common -humanity that the Kind Hearts’ Club expressed. - -Flag Day, that year falling upon a Friday, was to be the last regular -bird lesson for the Foxes Corners school. Now that the planting season -had come, and the summer vacation was near, the Friday afternoons were -needed for making up back work on the part of those who had been absent -and in preparing for examinations. - -In some way it seemed to be an understood fact that Rose Wilde would go -to Bridgeton to teach in the High School, and it was a subject about -which her pupils were very unhappy. - -There were to be some patriotic exercises at the school in the morning -as usual; then Miss Wilde asked Gray Lady, who had been away for several -days, if the children might not have their afternoon talk at Swallow -Chimney instead of at the school, as the air in the low room was quite -heavy and uncomfortable in the warm June afternoons. - -Luncheon was hardly over on that day before Goldilocks began to show -unusual signs of hurry. In answer to her mother’s question as to what -made her so restless, she replied, “I’m so afraid we may be late. I -promised Miss Wilde we would be over by half-past one,” and then stopped -and looked confused. - -“I do not see how we can be late when the class cannot begin by itself,” -said Gray Lady, smiling, for she was well aware that there was something -unusual in the air, but exactly what, she had purposely kept herself -from guessing. - -However, she did not aggravate Goldilocks by any unnecessary delay, and -half-past one saw mother and daughter going through the garden toward -the gate of Birdland. Goldilocks, for some mysterious reason, kept her -eyes upon the ground, while it seemed to her as if her mother stopped an -endlessly long time to admire every shrub and to gather a bunch of -delicately pencilled pansies of lilac, mauve, and royal purple to fasten -in the belt of her soft gray muslin gown. - -As the pair came out from the shadow of the overhanging vines of the -garden walk, a low murmur and the distinct words “here she comes” made -Gray Lady pause and look toward the rustic gate of Birdland. As she did -so, the gate opened, and inside she saw the school children drawn up in -line on either side of the grass path that formed a natural aisle to the -middle of the orchard, where several of the old trees had crumbled away, -leaving an open space. - -“We must walk right on,” whispered Goldilocks, clutching her mother’s -hand and almost pulling her along. So, wishing every one good day right -and left as she went, Gray Lady allowed herself to be led, the children -closing in and following. - -At first the bright light in the open space blinded Gray Lady, and then -she saw that a tall flagpole was planted in the centre of the open,—a -slender pole, flawless from bottom to top, polished and smooth as glass. -On the top was perched a gilded eagle with wings wide-spread; in the -halyards on the pole a loosely folded bundle was caught, and the end of -the line was in the hands of Jack Todd. - -Gray Lady stood quite still looking from one to the other, her breath -coming fast. Then Jack jerked the line, and out of the bundle, fold on -fold, fell a large flag; slowly it rose to the top of the pole and -floated in the breeze, while at the little click of Miss Wilde’s -tuning-fork twenty-five fresh young voices broke into song. - - - HYMN OF THE FLAG - - (Dedicated to the Army and Navy) - - North, South, East, and West - Rise and join your hands. - Native born and Brothers drawn - From many Fatherlands. - Rise ye Nation of the morn, - Land where Liberty was born; - Ye who fear no ruler’s nod, - Ye who only kneel to God— - Rise—Salute your Flag! - - Stars upon its azure throng, - Stars for states that stride along, - Stars of hope that make men strong. - Blood-red bars for battle done, - Steel-white stars for peace well won. - Rise—Salute this Flag! - - North, South, East, and West - Bring your tribute then. - Gold ye have and grain enough - To feed earth’s starving men. - Ye who tent on distant shores, - Ye whose name the ocean roars, - Ye who toil in mine and field, - Ye who pluck the cotton’s yield, - Rise—Salute your flag! - - North, South, East, and West - Rise and join your hands; - Native born and brothers drawn - From many Fatherlands. - One ye stand in common cause, - One to break oppression’s laws, - One to open Freedom’s gate, - One! Ye re-United States! - Rise—Salute your Flag! - - Stars upon its azure throng, - Stars for states that stride along, - Stars of hope that make men strong. - Blood-red bars for battles done, - Steel-white stars for peace well won. - Rise—Salute this Flag! - - * * * * * - -The singing ceased, and Gray Lady stood with bent head, a smile upon her -lips and tears in her eyes, for often when one is happiest, the two go -together. - -The words of the hymn had been written by a dear friend on one of the -anniversaries of the day that the General gave his life for his flag’s -honour, and forgetting that Goldilocks knew, Gray Lady had thought that -no one remembered the verses but herself. - -Tommy and Sarah, to whom it had fallen to explain the occasion in a -little speech of Miss Wilde’s wording, stepped forward, then looked at -each other and seemed struck dumb. Sarah found her tongue first and also -her own wording for the speech; clasping her hands nervously, she began: -“Last fall when we had the orchard party, you said ‘some day Birdland -must have a flagpole of its own,’ so we thought we would all do it and -Miss Wilde said, ‘yes.’ The big boys cut the pole in Haines’ woods (he -let them), and they shaped it out and polished it all themselves, and -Jacob helped set it yesterday. We were awfully afraid you wouldn’t go to -New York so’s they could do it without being seen. - -“Miss Wilde fitted the music to the words, and Mrs. Wilde cut out the -flag, and the rest of us all sewed on it, the little boys too. The -stripes were easy, but some of the stars wiggled in the points, because -it’s hard turning sharp corners. - -“We all bought the eagle, not in a store,—they cost too much,—but of -the junk pedler, and it’s been done over. It’s a good strong one, better -than they make nowadays, grandma says.” Then, as Sarah realized that she -had forgotten all the expressions of thanks for the happiness that had -come to them at “the General’s” which Miss Wilde had so carefully worded -and drilled them to pronounce correctly, she gave a despairing look at -their friend and, seeing something in her face that invited her, cast -herself into Gray Lady’s arms. - - * * * * * - -After the flag had been lowered, duly examined, and praised, and the -crooked stars declared to be quite natural, because, as Goldilocks -truthfully remarked, “real stars twinkle and always look crooked, you -know,” Gray Lady said: “Now that I know the beautiful surprise you had -for me, I will tell you a little secret of my own. It is true, as rumour -says, that Miss Wilde is going to leave Foxes Corners school at the term -end, but _not_ to go to Bridgeton. - -“She is going to have a little school all of her own in the big room at -Swallow Chimney, with Goldilocks and as many of you for pupils as wish -to go to the High School by and by and are ready for the eighth grade. -Yes, I have arranged it with the school committee, and it is perfectly -satisfactory to them. Oh! children, do not smother me!” - -Then Tommy Todd suddenly realized that he had not only thought of -following Sarah’s example and hugging Gray Lady, but that he had -actually done so! - - - THE END - - - - - INDEX - - -Birds, Travels of, 136-153. -Blackbird, Red-winged, 333-340. -Bluebird, 313-317. -Bobolink, 21, 34, 147, 226-228, 403. -Bob-white (Quail), 145, 199-202. - -Cardinal, 145, 277, 282-288. -Catbird, 32, 366, 382, 383. -Chat, Yellow-breasted, 403, 411. -Chickadee, 25-27, 181, 246, 355-356. -Chippy, Winter, see Tree-Sparrow. -Cowbird, 333, 336. -Creeper, Brown, 184-186. -Crossbill, Red-winged, 252. -Crossbill, White-winged, 252. -Crow, 10-11, 107-109, 114-128. -Cuckoo, Yellow-billed, 403, 404. -Curlew, Eskimo, 148. - -Dove, Mourning, 219-220. -Duck, Wood, 213-215. - -Finch, Purple, 363. -Flicker, 189-194. - -Goldfinch, American, 247, 422-426. -Goose, Wild, 356-358. -Grackle, Purple, 117, 337. -Grackle, Rusty, 337. -Grosbeak, Rose-breasted, 403, 426-430. -Grouse, Ruffed (Partridge), 197-199, 203-208. -Gull, Herring or Harbour, 229, 232-241. - -Hawks, 157, etc. -Hawk, American Sparrow, 172-174. -Hawk, Harrier, 171. -Hawk, Marsh, 171. -Hawk, Red-shouldered, 154, 171. -Heron, Great Blue, 363. -Heron, Snowy Egret, 50, 65-72. -Humming-bird, Ruby-throated, 366, 375-376, 403. - -Indigo-bird, 279-281, 403. - -Jay, Blue, 25, 116, 128-135. -Junco, 250, 308. - -Killdeer, 220, 223-225. -Kingbird, 403. -Kingfisher, 340-350. -Kinglet, Golden-crowned, 250, 251. - -Lark, Horned, 297. - -Martin, Purple, 95, 96, 99, 101, 365. -Meadowlark, 217-218, 337. -Migration of Birds, 136-153. -Mockingbird, 271-274, 277, 289, 290. -Murres, 143. - -Nest-Building, 358. -Nighthawk, 147-153, 366, 369-372, 403. -Nonpareil, 276, 278. -Nuthatch, White-breasted, 178-180, 183. - -Oriole, Baltimore, 403, 412-420. -Ostrich, 65, 73-79. -Ovenbird, 365. -Owls, 157, etc. -Owl, Barn, 166-167. -Owl, Barred, 163, 166. -Owl, Great Horned, 163, 165. -Owl, Gray, see Screech Owl. -Owl, Mottled, see Screech Owl. -Owl, Red, see Screech Owl. -Owl, Screech, 158-162. -Owl, Short-eared, 166-169. -Owl, Snowy, 295. - -Partridge, see Ruffed Grouse. -Phœbe, 32, 335, 350-354. -Plover, Upland, 220. -Plover, Golden, 148-150. - -Quail, see Bob-White. - -Redpoll, 297. -Redstart, 249, 403, 408. -Robin, 23, 322, 326-332. - -Sandpiper, Least, 220-222. -Sandpiper, Spotted, 220-223, 365. -Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied, 188-189. -Shrike, Northern, 298-299. -Snowbird, Gray, see Junco. -Sparrow, Chipping, 364. -Sparrow, Fox, 334. -Sparrow, Song, 21, 318-325. -Sparrow, Tree, 249. -Sparrow, Vesper, 363. -Sparrow, White-throated, 298. -Starling, English, 110-113. -Swallows, 89. -Swallow, Bank, 91-95, 98, 101, 365. -Swallow, Barn, 21, 91-94, 98, 101, 365. -Swallow, Chimney, see Chimney Swift. -Swallow, Cliff, or Eave, 93, 95, 98-99. -Swallow, Tree, 94, 98, 101, 364. -Swallow, White-breasted, 93. -Swift, Chimney, 90, 152, 366, 372-375. - -Tanager, Scarlet, 34, 403, 420-422. -Thistle-bird, see Goldfinch. -Thrasher, Brown, 366, 381-383. -Thrush, Golden-crowned, see Ovenbird. -Thrush, Wood, 366, 377-379. -Thrush, Brown, see Thrasher. -Turnstone, 148. - -Veery, 366, 380-381, 403. -Vireo, Red-eyed, 403, 405-407. - -Wake-up, see Flicker. -Warbler, Black-and-white, 365. -Warbler, Myrtle, 250, 251. -Warbler, Yellow, 403. -Warbler, Yellow-rumped, see Myrtle Warbler. - -Whip-poor-will, 335, 365-367. -Wilson’s Thrush, see Veery. -Woodcock, 201, 209-212. -Woodpeckers, 187. -Woodpecker, Downy, 194-196. -Woodpecker, Golden-winged, see Flicker. -Woodpecker, Partridge, see Flicker. -Woodpecker, Pigeon, see Flicker. -Wren, House, 366. -Wren, Winter, 248. - - -Yellowbird, Summer, 408-409. -Yellowhammer, see Flicker. -Yellowthroat, Maryland, 403, 410. - - - - - OUT-DOOR BOOKS BY “BARBARA” - (_MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT_) - _Each_, $1.50 - - * * * * * - -The Garden of a Commuter’s Wife - -_Recorded by the Gardener, with eight photogravure illustrations_ - - “‘The Garden of a Commuter’s Wife’ is a legend which gives no - hint of the wit and wisdom and graceful phrase within its - covers. The Commuter’s charming woman writes of her suburban - garden, her original servants, and various other incidents which - come in the course of living in a thoroughly human way. She - reminds one of Elizabeth of ‘German Garden’ fame in more ways - than one, but being American she is broader, more versatile and - humorous, if not also more poetic. It breathes an air of cheery - companionship, of flowers, birds, all nature, and the warm - affection of human friendship. Its philosophy is wholesome, - unselfish, and kindly, and the Commuter’s Wife, who writes her - own memoirs, is one we would be glad to number among our - friends.”—_The Evening Post_, Chicago. - - * * * * * - -People of the Whirlpool - -_From the Experience Book of a Commuter’s Wife_ - -_With eight illustrations_ - - “They who have read ‘The Garden of a Commuter’s Wife’ know what - to expect in this, ‘The Experience Book’ of the same delightful - Barbara; but to the uninitiated, who light upon the book without - preconceived ‘notions’ of what it is, it will come with a double - note of delight.”—_New York Times’ Saturday Review_. - - “The whole book is delicious, with wise and kindly humor, its - just perspectives of the true values of things, its clever pen - pictures of people and customs, and its healthy optimism for the - great world in general.”—_The Evening Telegraph_, Philadelphia. - - * * * * * - -The Garden, You and I - -_With a Frontispiece in Colors and Other Illustrations_ - - “The garden and its flowers are the dominant interest, of - course, but it is so managed that they shall serve as a setting - for the human activities that engage a good share of the - reader’s attention. There runs through the book that strong and - hearty nature which is characteristic of all this author’s work. - Before everything else, it is an outdoor book. It tells for the - most part the tale of the open-air seasons.”—_Brooklyn Eagle_. - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -A few obvious typesetting errors have been corrected without note. Some -illustrations have been moved slightly to keep paragraphs intact. - - -[End of _Gray Lady and the Birds_ by Mabel Osgood Wright] - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Gray Lady and the Birds, by Mabel Osgood Wright - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS *** - -***** This file should be named 62793-0.txt or 62793-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/7/9/62793/ - -Produced by Mardi Desjardins & the online Distributed -Proofreaders Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net - -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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