ifi;jiiijiijiKjgE0Bnn ^"■ ' ^■^■'■UUMt.JXIAJJD.^.AXLLUJU i lll i JJdJJf^tXyiJI ' Xl PPLETONS' HOME READING BOOKS f'tatE (Ifnlbge of Agriculture At (JfncncU IniucraUH Utifuta. ^. $. Htbrarg Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240001 39307 Hppletons' Ibome IReaMng Boofts EDITED BY WILLIAM T. HARRIS, A. M., LL. D. UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION DIVISION 1 Natural History lutur vie wing the birds. APPLETONS' HOME HEADING BOOKS NEWS FROM THE BIRDS BY LEANDER S. KEYSER NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1898 LL. u Copyright, 189S, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. INTEODUOTION TO THE HOME EEADING BOOK SEEIES BY THE EDITOR. The new education takes two important direc- tions — one of these is toward original observation, requiring the pupil to test and verify what is taught him at school by his own experiments. The infor- mation that he learns from books or hears from his teacher's lips must be assimilated by incorporating it with his own experience. The other direction pointed out by the new edu- cation is systematic home reading. It forms a part of school extension of all kinds. The so-called " Univer- sity Extension " that originated at Cambridge and Ox- ford has as its chief feature the aid of home reading by lectures and round-table discussions, led or conducted by experts who also lay out the course of reading. The Chautauquan movement in this country prescribes a series of excellent books and furnishes for a goodly number of its readers annual courses of lectures. The teachers' reading circles that exist in many States pre- scribe the books to be read, and publish some analysis, commentary, or catechism to aid the members. Home reading, it seems, furnishes the essential basis of this great movement to extend education vi NEWS PEOM THE BIRDS. beyond the school and to make self -culture a habit of life. Looking more carefully at the difference between the two directions of the new education we can see what each accomplishes. There is first an effort to train the original powers of the individual and make him seK-active, quick at observation, and free in his thinking. Next, the new education endeavors, by the reading of books and the study of the wisdom of the race, to make the child or youth a participator in the results of experience of all mankind. These two movements may be made antagonistic by poor teaching. The book knowledge, containing as it does the precious lesson of human experience, may be so taught as to bring with it only dead rules of conduct, only dead scraps of information, and no stimulant to original thinking. Its contents may be memorized without being understood. On the other hand, the self -activity of the child may be stimulated at the expense of his social well-being — his originality may be cultivated at the expense of his rationality. If he is taught persistently to have his own way, to trust only his own senses, to cling to his own opinions heedless of the experience of his fellows, he is pre- paring for an unsuccessful, misanthropic career, and is likely enough to end his life in a madhouse. It is admitted that a too exclusive study of the knowledge found in books, the knowledge which is aggregated from the experience and thought of other people, may result in loading the mind of the pupil with material which he can not use to advantage. EDITOR'S- INTRODUCTION. y^ Some minds are so full of lumber that there is no space left to set up a workshop. The necessity of uniting both of these directions of intellectual activity in the schools is therefore obvious, but we must not, in this place, fall into the error of supposing that it is the oral instruction in school and the personal influ- ence of the teacher alone that excites the pupil to ac- tivity. Book instruction is not always dry and theo- retical. The very persons who declaim against the book, and praise in such strong terms the self -activity of the pupil and original research, are mostly persons who have received liieir practical impulse from read- ing the writings of educational reformers. Very few persons have received an impulse from personal con- tact with inspiring teachers compared with the num- ber that have been aroused by reading such books as Herbert Spencer's Treatise on Education, Rousseau's Emile, Pestalozzi's Leonard and Gertrude, Francis "W". Parker's Talks about Teaching, G. Stanley Hall's Pedagogical Seminary. Think in this connec- tion, too, of the impulse to observation in natural sci- ence produced by such books as those of Hugh Miller, Faraday, Tyndall, Huxley, Agassiz, and Darwin. The new scientific book is different from the old. The old style book of science gave dead results where the new one gives not only the results, but a minute account of the method employed in reaching those re- sults. An insight into the method employed in dis- covery trains the reader into a naturalist, an historian, a sociologist. The books of the writers above named have done more to stimulate original research on the viii NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. part of their readers than all other influences com- bined. It is therefore much more a matter of importance to get the right kind of book than to get a living teacher. The book which teaches results, and at the same time gives in an intelligible manner the steps of discovery and the methods employed, is a book which will stimulate the student to repeat the ex- periments described and get beyond them into fields of original research himself. Every one remem- bers the pubUshed lectures of Faraday on chemistry, which exercised a wide influence in changing the style of books on natural science, causing them to deal with method more than results, and thus train the reader's power of conducting original research. Robinson Crusoe for nearly two hundred years has aroused the spirit of adventure and prompted young men to resort to the border lands of civilization. A library of home reading should contain books that in- cite to self -activity and arouse the spirit of inquiry. The books should treat of methods of discovery and evolution. All nature is unified by the discovery of the law of evolution. Each and every being in the world is now explained by the process of development to which it belongs. Every fact now throws light on all the others by illustrating the process of growth in which each has its end and aim. The Home Reading Books are to be classed as follows : First Division. Natural history, including popular scientific treatises on plants and animals, and also de- EDITOR'S INTEODFCTION. ix seriptions of geographical localities. Tlie branch of study in the district school course which corresponds to this is geography. Travels and sojourns in distant lands; special writings which treat of this or that animal or plant, or family of animals or plants ; any- thing that relates to organic nature or to meteorol- ogy, or descriptive astronomy may be placed in this class. Second Di/oision. Whatever relates to physics or natural philosophy, to the statics or dynamics of air or water or hght or electricity, or to the properties of matter ; whatever relates to chemistry, either organic or inorganic — books on these subjects belong to the class that relates to what is inorganic. Even the so- called organic chemistry relates to the analysis of organic bodies into their inorganic compounds. Third Division. History, biography, and ethnol- ogy. Books relating to the lives of individuals; to the social life of the nation ; to the collisions of na- tions in war, as well as to the aid that one nation gives to another through commerce in times of peace ; books on ethnology relating to the modes of hfe of savage or civilized peoples ; on primitive manners and customs — ^books on these subjects belong to the third class, relating particularly to the human will, not merely the individiial will but the social will, the will of the tribe or nation ; and to this third class belong also books on ethics and morals, and on forms of government and laws, and what is iu- cluded under the term civics, or the duties of citi- zenship. X NEWS PROM THE BIRDS. Fourth Division. The fourtli class of books in- cludes more especially literature and works that make known the beautiful in such departments as sculpture, painting, architecture and music. Literature and art show human nature in the form of feelings, emotions, and aspirations, and they show how these feelings lead over to deeds and to clear thoughts. This de- partment of books is perhaps more important than any other in our home reading, inasmuch as it teaches a knowledge of human nature and enables us to un- derstand the motives that lead our fellow-men to action. Plan foe Use as Sttpplementaet Heading. The first work of the child in the school is to learn to recognize in a printed form the words that are familiar to him by ear. These words constitute what is called the colloquial vocabulary. They are words that he has come to know from having heard them used by the members of his family and by his playmates. He uses these words himself with con- siderable skill, but what he knows by ear he does not yet know by sight. It will require many weeks, many months even, of constant effort at reading the printed page to bring him to the point where the sight of the written word brings up as much to his mind as the sound of the spoken word. But patience and practice will by and by make the printed word far more suggestive than the spoken word, as every scholar may testify. In order to bring about this familiarity with the EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. ^j printed word it lias been found necessary to re-en- force the reading in the school by supplementary reading at home. Books of the same grade of diffi- culty with the reader used in school are to be pro- vided for the pupil. They must be so interesting to him that he will read them at home, using his time before and after school, and even his hohdays, for this purpose. But this matter of f amiharizing the child with the printed word is only one half of the object aimed at by the supplementary home reading. He should read that which interests him. He should read that which will increase his power in making deeper studies, and what he reads should tend to correct his habits of observation. Step by step he should be initiated into the scientific method. Too many ele- mentary books fail to teach the scientific method be- cause they point out in an unsystematic way only those features of the object which the untutored senses of the pupil would discover at first glance. It is not useful to tell the child to observe a piece of chalk and see that it is white, more or less friable, and that it makes a mark on a fence or a wall. Sci- entific observation goes immediately behind the facts which lie obvious to a superficial investigation. Above all, it directs attention to such features of the object as relate it to its environment. It directs at- tention to the features that have a causal influence in making the object what it is and in extending its effects to other objects. Science discovers the recip- rocal action of objects one upon another. xii NEWS PROM THE BIRDS. After the child has learned how to observe what is essentia] in one class of objects he is in a measure fitted to observe for himself all objects that resemble this class. After he has learned how to observe the seeds of the milkweed, he is partially prepared to observe the seeds of the dandelion, the burdock, and the thistle. After he has learned how to study the history of his native country, he has acquired some ability to study the history of England and Scotland or France or Germany. In the same way the daily preparation of his reading lesson at school aids him to read a story of Dickens or Walter Scott. The teacher of a school will know how to obtain a small sum to invest in supplementary reading. In a graded school of four hundred pupils ten books of each number are sufficient, one set of ten books to be loaned the first week to the best pupils in one of the rooms, the next week to the ten pupils next in ability. On Monday afternoon a discussion should be held over the topics of interest to the pupils who have read the book. The pupils who have not yet read the book will become interested, and await anxiously their turn for the loan of the desired volume. Another set of ten books of a higher grade may be used in the same way in a room containing more advanced pupils. The older pupils who have left school, and also the parents, should avail themselves of the opportunity to read the books brought home from school. Thus is begun that continuous education by means of the pub- lic library which is not limited to the school period, but lasts through life. W. T. Haeeis. Washington, D, C, Nov, 16, 1896. AUTHOE'S PREFACE. Thanks to a number of wide-awake observers and en- \ gaging writers, ornitliology is ^ fast becoming one of the most popular studies in our homes and schools. The birds are actually winning fame, and well they deserv.e all the laurels they have captured in recent" years. Yonder little black - capped chickadee will soon be more of a celebrity than the virtuoso on the human stage, and the hermit thrush will steal the bays from the brow of the most renowned prima donna. Well, let it be so. We shall xiv NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. not be Jealous of the plaudits given to the out- door choralists, even if we human performers are in a measure forgotten. Not only are books on birds in demand, but the ornithologist is often solicited to give talks and lectures in parlors, high schools, col- leges, and churches, and at popular summer assemblies. Even the stereopticon is being used to illustrate lectures on feathered folk, and young people, as well as their elders, seem to listen with spellbound interest to the por- trayal of bird life, and are as ready to break into applause over some avian exploit as if it were a tale of human achievance or heroism. All these are cheering signs of the times, indi- cating a healthy moral and mental growth. Yes, the ethical life, as well as the intel- lectual, is stimulated by the enthusiastic study of Nature. All of us are familiar with Thomas Chalmers's famous discourse on The Expul- sive Power of a New Affection. The best way to crowd out the evil is to crowd in the good. Darkness flees before the advent of light. If we harbor pure thoughts there will be no AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xv room left in tlie mind for impure ones. Let a young person become absorbed in some interesting brancli of natural history, and bis moral safety will be guaranteed. Yet all this will be effected without any dull preachment, without even the suggestion, to say nothing of the obtrusion, of a moral purpose; simply by the native power that such studies possess for expurgating the mind. Nor is the moral bene- fit solely negative ; positive good is derived from the contemplation of Nature, making the observer more humble, devout, and unselfish. This little book of tidings from birdland has been written with two purposes in mind. The first is, to furnish actual instruction, to tell some new facts about bird life that have not yet been recited — that is, to give a little bird " news." For the most part, it contains a record of my own observations, and is there- fore not a reiteration of what others have said. I have gone to the birds themselves for my facts, and have made very little use of books. The reader is taken into the actual outdoors. xvi NEWS PROM THE BIRDS. The second purpose of the book is inspira- tion. It is by no means a key. Perhaps a sufficient number of keys have already been issued. It would at least seem to me that the manuals of Dr. Coues, Mr. Eidgway, and Mr. Chapman leave little to be desired in the way of helps in the identification of species. In- stead of telling all that is or may be known about a particular bird, I have sought only to recite such incidents as will spur the reader to go out into the fields and woods and study the birds in their native haunts. Indeed, if he should lay the book aside and dash afield to see the birds themselves, I should not feel in the least slighted, but should regard it as the highest compliment that could be paid to my humble efforts. Even at the risk of dampening enthusiasm, it should be said that bird study is not all roseate. While in many respects it is like play, it also has in it the element of work. The birds will not often come to the observer ; he must usually go to the birds. He will often find them shy and elusive and hard to AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xvii approach. He will also suffer at times from heat, thirst, weariness, and mental depression. Mosquitoes and other insects will bite and sting him. Sometimes his efforts will be baf- fled and his hopes disappointed, and he will even be tempted more than once to doubt his "call" to the study of feathered creatures. But difficulties should not daunt him. He should rather feel a pride and an exhilaration in overcoming them, and should remember that faint heart never won anything that was worth winning. The delights of discovery and of commerce with Nature will more than compen- sate him for the few discouragements in the way. There is no royal road to natural his- tory, but it is, nevertheless, a most enchanting road. L. S. K. April 18, 1898. CONTEISTTS, Outdoor exercise . Seeing what you can see My winter companions . More winter exploits . Nests and nestlings Trials of a bird's life Our sweetest songsters The funny little owl . Birds at a summer resort The merry bobolink A lowland trillbr Talking birds a swift-winged tribe Marsh wrens . The viREOS a winged fisherman a jolly field bird Travels of the birds In the ice-clad woods A boys' BIRD evening Birds and battlefields PAGE 1 6 18 39 37 50 59 68 75 85 89 99 108 116 121 137 133 139 150 163 173 XX NEWS PROM THE BIEDS. PAGE Some curious nests 193 The American quail 199 A MERRY piper 208 The Carolina wren 214 If birds could talk 221 Index 227 NOTE, To the editors and publishers of the va- rious periodicals in which the articles com- prising this volume were first published, the author would desire to make grateful acknowl- edgment for the privilege of reprinting them in more permanent form. Most of them first appeared in wide-awake young people's papers, while several were published in journals for older readers, among which may be mentioned The Evening Post, New York, The Living Church, Chicago, and The Ohio Educational Journal, Columbus, Ohio. Ob, happy life, to soar and sway- Above tbe 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 Eussell Lowell. You must have the bird in your heart before you can find it in the bush ; and when once you have it in your heart, the finding of it in the bush is a secondary matter. John Btjreoughs. xxii NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. OUTDOOR EXEECISE. An active, healthy boy said to me the other day that he wanted to go downtown to a gym- nasium. Now, I haven't a word to say against gymnasiums for those who must have them ; let them swing the dumb-bells as much as they like, turn handspring and somersault, and per- form any other exploits that will develop brawn and muscle and manly strength. But the lad to whom I refer lives in the suburbs of the city, and so I pointed to the beckoning fields and woods, stretching away in the rear of the house, and said, with some energy : "There is your gymnasium, my boy — the great, unlimited out-of-doors ! There you can get j)lenty of exercise, plenty of fresh air, and at the same time gather treasures of knowledge from Nature's exhaustless storehouse. That will be better, far better, than dumb-bells, swings, clubs, and ladders." 2 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. And I repeat that advice to all wlio may deign to read this volume. Indoor calisthen- ics are for those who are cooped up in cities and can not go consorting with Nature. No ex- ercise is more healthful than walking, and if, in addition, you want to bring all the muscles of your body into play, why not climb a tree, or swing about in the saplings, as the chickadees do, or wrestle with a log as you roll it over the leaf-carpeted floor of the woods, or turn somer- sault and handspring on the soft sod of the meadow ? Let the sky witness your feats of skill and strength, and the birds chirp their ap- plause at some signal victory. Cultivate the outdoor spirit if you want to be healthy and wise, whether you ever become wealthy or not. Soundness of body is to be kept or won not so much by going after it in a self-conscious way as by becoming so absorbed in some pleasant and healthful pursuit that you forget all about your aches and pains, if you ever have any. In your outdoor recreations it is well enough to have some subject in which you are espe- cially interested — a hobby, if you choose to call it that. There are the rocks, the flowers, the insects, the mammals, the birds. You see, I mention the birds last to give my catalogue a kind of climax. Study whatever you like best, OUTDOOR EXERCISE. ' 3 and do not merely loll and dream ; but I ex- tend to you an earnest and cordial invitation to cultivate the friendship of oui- happy feathered commoners, believing that no branch of natural history will afford you quite so much delight. But let me say first, last, and always, don't carry a gun, don't rob nests, don't in any way molest or injure the birds. Be true bird lovers, not scientific brigands and butchers, and then the birds will return your kindness with usury, by letting you into many a pretty secret of their glad lives. All the tools you need are a good opera glass, a standard manual or key, an alert mind, and a sharp eye. One of the indications, to my mind, of the growing army of real bird lovers is the fact that I receive scores of letters from young people and their elders all over the country, from Maine to California, asking for the titles and prices of the best manuals on bird study. These letters are always answered with pleas- ure, my only regret being that more inquirers do not make use of Uncle Sam's postal clever- ness. Perhaps the readers of this volume would be thankful for a little information on the sub- ject of helps in bird study, although I can not here give a bibliography of the subject. If you are a beginner, you will want a key — that is, 4 NEWS PEOM THE BIRDS. a book which gives a clear and concise descrip- tion of the markings and habits of each species in your neighborhood. It might be a good plan to try to secure an official work on the birds of your State, if such a treatise has been published. I would suggest that you send in- quiries, inclosing a stamp, to Mr. L. S. Foster, publisher of The Auk, 33 Pine Street, New York, who is a most obliging gentleman. Meanwhile, I heartily recommend two man- uals covering the whole field of North Ameri- can ornithology, with the help of which you may be able to identify any bird, no matter in what part of the land you may live. The first is Dr. Coues's Key to North American Birds, published by Estes & Lauriat, Boston, Mass., price $7.50. The second is Robert Bidgway's Manual of North American Birds, published by J. B. Lip- pincott Company, Philadelphia, Pa., price $7.50. There are other cheaper works intended as aids in identifying the birds, but they are only frag- ments, and are therefore not of so much practi- cal service unless you have a complete manual besides. However, there is one recent work which I would especially commend to all bird students living in the eastern part of North America. Although of narrower range than Coues's or OUTDOOR EXERCISE. 5 Ridgway's works, it is, in my opinion, the most serviceable manual for beginners that has yet been issued. I refer to Frank M. Chap- man's Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America — library edition, $3 ; pocket edition, $3.50. Bird Life, by the same author, with seventy-five colored plates, $5. These valua- ble works contaia a description of every avian species found east of the Mississippi River from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and is embellished with over two hundred excellent and lifelike pictures of birds. The descriptions are written by a bird enthusiast, so that the work, scientific as it is, is far from being a dry treatise. Mr. Chapman's handbook has another de- cided advantage : it is of a convenient size to be carried with you in your jaunts afield. Strap a haversack about your shoulders, stow in it this manual, a good opera glass, and an appe- tizing luncheon, and then you may hie forth early in the morning, feeling that you are amply equipped for an all-day ramble in the choice- est haunts of your feathered favorites. With the book and the glass you will be able to identify the birds on the spot, while the lunch- eon — well, you will need no special lecture on its desirability. SEEING WHAT YOU CAN SEE. And now, young friends, having had some words of council together, let us take a number of Jaunts to the country, to see what we can see, to gain healthful exercise, and go to school to Nature, our loving mentor, all at the same time. Not for anything would I have missed the lessons I learned, one day of early spring, in one of my strolls. The farmer was plowing in a level field near the woods, and the robins and purple grackles were following in the moist furrows for worms and larvae. How the robin's breast blushed in the sunshine, showing almost crimson above the brown, newly turned- up soil ! And the grackles — never have I seen their glossy necks gleam so splendidly as when they caught the rays of the sun and flung them like purple spray to my eye. Looking as wise as Solomon and as stately as Caesar, they walked over the plowed ground, now and then stop- ping to pick up a billsome morsel, and then turning their white eyes to glance inquiringly Tled-winged blackbird. 8 NEWS PROM THE BIRDS. at me, as if they wondered what might be my opinion of them. After watching them a while, I made my way to my favorite marsh, where I learned something new about a very familiar friend. A red-winged blackbird sat upon a small tree and sang his gurgling melody, " 0-o-o-gl-e-e ! o-o-o-gl-e-e ! " and then, ipuch to my surprise, broke into a fine, high-pitched twitter that I had never heard before. At first I looked around for another bird, but soon proved be- yond a doubt that Mr. Redwing was the au- thor of the half-musical, half-squeaking ditty. It seemed to be a sort of complaint, as if the bird were saying, " I do wish that man would go away, and not disturb me while I am re- hearsing my solo." Let me describe another ramble taken on a delightful June day to what I may call " a birds' meadow." A ride on the electric car to a park beyond the outskirts of the town, a pleasant walk through the park, followed by a tramp through a large tract of timber, brought me to the charmed inclosure. It was a long, narrow strip of green running up into the woods, very quiet and secluded. Not a house was in sight, and at only one or two places could I catch a glimpse of a carriage SEEING "WHAT YOU CAN SEE. 9 passing along the road beyond the woodland. It was a kind of cloistered spot where my dear little friends, the birds, could sing their songs and rear their broods undisturbed. Coleridge says, in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, of the sea through which the ghost- like boat was sailing : So lonely 'twas that God himself Scarce seemed there to be. But I must hasten to tell you that my meadow was not a place like that. It was sequestered, but by no means lonely. Near the middle of the field purled a little brook. It was fringed on either bank with small willows, briers, and bushes of various kinds, and here many birds found a pleasant dwelling place. I could not help giving fancy the reins for a little while as I stood at the border of the meadow. Here the bobolinks, meadow larks, song sparrows, brown thrashers, and summer warblers could make the air dance with song all the long summer days. What concerts they must have given early in the mornings ! Here, too, they could build their nests and rear their young unmolested by human foes. What plans for nest building must have buzzed through their wise little 10 NEWS PROM THE BIRDS. heads ! If you could have witnessed all their doings and listened to all their sayings, you might have spun a story about them more charming than a fairy tale. But I must hurry along, or there will not be time to tell you about a pair of bobolinks which I watched for a long while. At first they were perched on the willows on the brook's bank. As I approached, they flew out and hovered over my head, calling in alarm that I should not go too near their nest. Do my young readers know the bobolink? He is that bird which lives in clover fields and meadows during the summer, and which wears a handsome suit of black, white, and yellowish. The white extends down his back, and the yellowish stains the back of his neck. He sings a sweet, prolonged strain while circling in the air. His mate is quite different in color, being clad in modest brown. When alarmed, the male bird cried " Chack ! chack ! " in tones almost as harsh as those of the blackbird. Strangely enough, his brown little wife uttered a call in a much higher and mel- lower tone, which told that she was very un- easy about something. In spite of Mr. Bobo- link's anxiety, he could not help darting out into the air every now and then and bursting SEEING WHAT YOU CAN SEE. H into song. His throat seemed to be a fountain of music, from which his clear, bell-like tones gurgled and bubbled and rippled, leaving a trail of song spray behind him as he floated through the air. It was evident, from the behavior of the two birds, that they had a nest somewhere in the grass. So I took my stand at some distance to watch them, hoping they would dart down to the nest and thus give me a chance to discover their secret. But they had their nimble wits about them. Mark how they managed to throw me off the track. Whenever I started toward the place where the female had alighted, her mate would give the alarm by loud chattering and singing, which would bring her up from the grass before I could get near. To mix matters still worse, she would always rise at a point some distance from the spot at which she had descended. This proved that she had been running about in the grass instead of sitting on the nest or feeding her young. Besides, she descended at so many dif- ferent places that I could form no idea where the nest might be. There could be no doubt that young birds were cuddled some where in the tall grass, for the mother bird often held an insect in her bill intended for her babies. 12 NEWS PROM THE BIEDS. The male was also shrewd and wary. He was not going to betray their secret, nor allow his mate to do so — no ! no ! Whenever she started to fly down from the bushes into the grass, evidently to feed her little ones, he would dart after her like a living arrow, and drive her around and around over the meadow, until she would drop into the grass or plunge into the thicket to escape him. All the while he would sing with might and main. No doubt he did this to prevent her from betraying the whereabouts of the nestlings. Don't you think he was a cunning bird ? He seemed to say : "There's no bobolink's nest within a mile of' here, sir. Why, can't you see ? Our courtship days are not over ! "■ Much as I wanted to find the nest, the birds outwitted me, and so I strolled farther down the stream. Presently a cuckoo flew out of a wild -rose copse. On pushing aside the bushes, I found her nest. It contained but one egg. Indeed, it was so loosely put together that I did not see how it could hold more. How it could sustain the weight of the sitting bird was a problem. I have seen cuckoo nests that were quite well built, but this bird could not have been much of a carpenter. If you could see an unfledged baby cuckoo I am sure you would SEEINa WHAT YOU CAN SEE. 13 laugh. His skin is as black as a crow's feath- ers, and is covered sparsely with thick, stiff bristles. But he feathers very rapidly, and leaves the nest much sooner than most perching birds. Near the lower end of the meadow another male bobolink was swinging on the top of a small willow tree. He began chirping uneasily. Surely there must be a nest near at hand. The female was nowhere to be seen. No doubt she was sitting on the nest. The fore- noon was ■ slipping away, and I could not wait for her to fly up and show me where her cot- tage was hidden. So I stalked about in the tall grass, hoping to be fortunate enough to stumble upon the nest. Suddenly the female flew up before me with a cry of alarm which meant that she had been driven from her cradle- Yes, there it was, deftly built in a grass tuft, the bottom resting on the ground. It con- tained six half-fledged baby birds, which, after the fashion of most nestlings, opened their carmine-lined mouths for food as the spectator bent over them. They looked warm and damp, lying there in the broiling sun, and acted as if they were almost suffocated. This was only the third bobolink's nest I had ever found. The other two were some- 14 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. what different. They were fixed in a small hollow scooped out of the ground by the birds themselves, and were snugly ensconced in the grass, one of them being daintily roofed over with plantain leaves. This one in the meadow, however, rested on the ground and grass roots, and was not sunk into the soil at all, nor was it protected above. Thus it will be seen that birds of the same species build after various designs. No two bird houses are precisely alike, and this gives charm and vari- ety to nest hunting. The parent birds were greatly alarmed when they saw that their little homestead had been found. What a pother they made ! They flew out from the willows and hovered over- head like the red-winged blackbirds, crying pitifully : " Don't steal 'em ! please don't ! We love 'em so ! " Of course, I wouldn't rob a pretty nest, and not one of my young readers will ever be heartless enough to do so. There were many other birds in this mead- ow, but the only other nest found was one of the brown thrasher, which was raising its sec- ond brood. On my way home in the park I happened to glance up and saw a flicker's head protruding from a hole in the trunk of a j'oung oak tree. She looked at me in a quizzical way, SEEING WHAT YOU CAN SEE. 15 turning her head from side to side, as if asking what my business was. I tapped the trunk of the tree with my cane, but she would not fly from the hole. Of course, it was her nest, and she was not going to desert it. The tree was not more than two rods from the end of the electric railway. Here, where hundreds of pic- nickers often came, this bird had chiseled out her nursery and was rearing her brood. One who has a mania for birds can scarcely take a ramble even to the adjacent field with- out witnessing some incident worth recording. More than that, the birds that one has studied for years are constantly performing new tricks, so that one can never become weary of the study of them. Here is an example. In one of my strolls my familiar little friend, the black-capped chickadee, was tilting about in the willows at the border of the swamp. It seemed scarcely worth while to spend any time with him, for I had studied him so much that surely none of his performances could surprise me. Still, I decided to tarry a few minutes and watch him. Good thing I did. The little fellow darted from the willow withes to the fence near at hand, and alighted on the upper side of the second rail from the top. The top rail was a 16 NEWS PROM THE BIKDS. little over a foot higher. Then what did chick- adee do but fling himself straight upward, turn- ing halfway around as he did so, and cling with his claws to the under side of the upper rail ! Picking a nit or a worm, he let himself drop, wheeled around like a cat, and alighted on his feet on the rail below. But that was not enough. Perhaps he thought I had not seen him, or might not believe my eyes if I witnessed the feat only once, and so he re- peated it, as much as to say : '' There ! You can be sure now you saw me perform that trick, if you want to write up any more of my ex- ploits for the entertainment of your friends." Think of a bird being able to wheel around in ascending only a foot, and catch himself with his claws on the flat under surface of a rail ! He ought to have a gold medal ! Another chickadee at the same place had found a dainty of some kind, which he was holding with his claws on a perch near the ground and nibbling greedily with his bill. I was anxious to know what his dinner was com- posed of, and so I slyly drew near. He was not very skittish, but allowed me to come within a few feet of him ; but when I stepped smartly forward, he seized the delicacy in his bill and scuttled off with it, so that my prob- SEEING WHAT YOU CAN SEE. fj lem went unsolved. How he scolded and chat- tered ! " You highwayman, bandit, brigand ! Do you want to rob a little bird of his dinner ? " he demanded. And thus, you see, if you will make the great outdoors your gymnasium and will keep your senses alert, you will discover many a quaint bird antic that escapes duller eyes, win- ning for yourselves at the same time robustness of body, keenness of observation, and tonic for the mind. Try it. Nature will charge you no admission fee to her exercise grounds, her con- certs, her menageries, and her aviaries. MY WINTEE COMPANIOlSrS. Nothing in outdoor study is more interest- ing than a comparison of the conduct of the birds in the same season of diiferent years, for it must not be thought that they always behave in the same way. The present winter — this was written in the winter of 1892-'93 — has been much colder than last, and so the feathered folk have changed their manners somewhat, to suit the changed conditions. Here are a few instances : Last winter the meadow larks remained in my neighborhood until the 30th of December, singing a dirge — although it was rather cheerful to be called that — to the dying year ; this winter they were off to the south before the first cold wave came in November. A year ago there Avere flickers and bluebirds in abundance all winter in my favorite -woodland, whereas this year none have been seen since the middle of De- cember. But, most unaccountable of all, last winter, no matter how stormy the Aveather, I 18 MY WINTER COMPANIONS. 19 found flocks of snowbirds and tree sparrows, and felt sure that they were the hardiest birds of my acquaintance ; but this winter only a single bird of these species is seen here and there. If it is the cold weather that has driven them away, one feels disappointed in their powers of endurance, for they can not bear as rigorous a season as some of our constant resi- dents — the nuthatches and song sparrows, for example. But here are some facts of a different na- ture : The brown creepers and kinglets disap- peared last winter when the weather became warm, while, during the present season, when we have snow and nipping, eager winds and sinking thermometers all the while, they are often found in the woods and seem to be as lively and care-free as children at their coast- ing or skating. The creepers, especially, revel in the cold weather, and perhaps take a jaunt to the north in the winter time, if old Sol grows too familiar. He — the creeper — does not wear that thick waistcoat of feathers for nothing, and he believes in winter, in the reality as well as the name. Never has he been more cheerful than this winter, when the mercury stood at six to ten degrees below zero. 20 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. But those pygmies in plumes, the golden- crowned kinglets — no larger than a man's thumb — how do they manage to keep Jack Frost at bay ? It may well be asked, indeed, how birds in general keep warm in winter, liv- ing, as they do, on cold branches or the frozen ground. During the day constantly in motion, flitting here and there and everywhere, in search of seeds and insects, their constant exercise generates warmth in their bodies. When night comes some of them, no doubt, creep into hollow limbs and tree trunks, and, if they cuddle close together, like children in bed, there is little danger of their freezing. But the song sparrows, which have been living along the small stream in the marsh, are not the kind of birds that plunge into holes in the trees. They find little, well-covered apart- ments beneath the overhanging sod of the banks, where the dead weeds, vines, and grasses are sufficiently thick to hold up the snow that forms a roof over them. Some of these little rooms are quite cozy, and well protected from the keen, biting winds. The sparrows often dart up from these hiding places as I walk about in the marsh. A friend living in northern Indiana — evi- dently a close observer of birds — writes an in- MY WINTER COMPANIONS. 21 teresting account of the behavior of certain woodpeckers of his neighborhood in the winter time. His description is graphic : " This woodpecker's home," he writes, " will be found in the hollow limb of a large tree, far above the reach of the mink or the weasel, and, should Mr. Raccoon apply for admission at the door, he will find it too small to enter. So, you see, the bird is safe from harm, and need have no fear of the four-footed animals. But the owl and hawk are his greatest enemies, and it is amusing to see him in the morning peep- ing out of his window to ascertain if the coast is clear before he flits over to a neighboring log or partially decayed tree, where, beneath the bark, lie numerous large, fat, white worms good enough for the daintiest feathered epicure, He is a warm-blooded fellow, and seems to rel ish being out of doors when the weather is cold est." It is almost romantic, not to say thrilling, to think of this hardy knight of the woods sit ting, warm and happy, in his castle in a tall tree while the wintry storm howls dismally around his abode. One seldom fails to witness some freak of bird behavior worth recording when one takes a tramp to the woods. There, for example, was the little crested titmouse which I watched on 22 NEWS PROM THE BIRDS. a winter day. He had pulled from its resting place the larva of a caterpillar wrapped in its thick, tough cocoon, and was holding it with his claws to a limb while he pecked away at it for dear life, trying to break through the tough, leatherlike covering. I went near him to see how he did it, when he attempted to pick up his morsel with his beak and fly farther away with it ; but it proved too large for him to handle* easily, and so it tumbled down into the deep snow. Down scampered the bird after it, almost immersing his little body in the snow. But I reached the spot before he could get a good hold on the larva, and so he flew reluctantly away. The chrysalis case was broken at one side, proving that the bird's efforts had not been unavailing. Not wishing to rob him of his dinner, I placed the larva on the fork of a limb, and stepped back some distance, when, after sundry fits and starts, which said, " No, I guess I won't," and then, " Yes, I guess I will," Master Tit flew back to his luncheon and finished it with much gusto. Another titmouse on the same day found a nest of spider's eggs in a clump of dead leaves, and forthwith dis- patched them without saying by your leave. The black-capped chickadees are also con- MY WINTER OOMPAXIONS. 23 stantly on the lookout for live or hibernating delicacies in the winter season, as are also the kinglets. How cunning and laughable it is to watch one of them thrusting his tiay beak and head into a cluster of leaves to see if there are eatables within ! If there are, the birds will work with might and main until the insects are stowed away in their craws. But how do the birds quench their thirst when all the streams and ponds are covered with ice and snow ? Oh, that does not puzzle them for a moment ! They simply eat snow, as you have probably seen farmyard fowls do. " When snow is melted, it is as wet as water," is evidently their way of expressing it. Why has not Nature, so thoughtful in many respects, made stockings for the birds ? Every other part of their bodies is quite well protect- ed, but their little feet are bare, and must often get frostbitten. You have no doubt seen the English sparrows squatting flat on their breasts pecking oifal or seeds from the snow, or per- haps holding up one foot, and then the other, in their feathery pockets to warm them. Yet it is remarkable how long some birds can continue to wade about in the snow. A flock of horned or shore larks remained in my neighborhood one winter, and in an adjacent 24 NEWS PEOM THE BIRDS. field they were often running about in the snow and picking up the fragments of corn left where a number of hogs were fed. Their dainty paths could often be traced for long distances. The feet of birds are evidently tough and compara- tively free from nerves of sensation. Charming creatures they are, these fellow, citizens with pinions, always developing some new trait of character that proves them any- thing but shallow and monotonous. There was some clearing being done one winter in a part of the woods, and the birds were fond of lin- gering near to gather such dainties as the wood- men's axes may have exposed. One day I stumbled upon a whole company of birds of various species, where several men had cut up a tree. The feathered banqueters examined the chips and pieces of bark strewn on the ground, the piles of cord wood, the brush heaps near by, and the low stump from which the tree had been cut, and they seemed to find many a grub and larva to their taste. No doubt these tidbits were forced out of their winter hiding places in the wood and bark by the axes of the choppers. A bird that has interested me greatly dur- ing the past ^^■inter was the red-breasted wood- pecker. He is a very handsome- fellow, with MY WINTER COMPANIONS. 25 his striped suit of black and white and his brilliant red cap — a genuine drum major. This has been the first winter I have seen him here in central Ohio, although he is a regular spring and fall migrant. But the curious thing about his conduct was that he was here in the early part of the winter, and then disappeared for fully a month during the extremely cold weather ; but by the last of January he returned, and was as pert and as much at home as if he had* not gone away at all. Then he went off on another jaunt — at least he could not be found in the woods, search as I would — and after a week or so of absence returned again. It is a puzzling question whither he had gone. Did he make a trip farther south to a more friendly climate ? or did he merely fly to some other woodland where food was more abundant ? or could it be that he had only concealed himself in my own woods, so that I could not find him ? You see how many problems bird study presents that it is impossible to solve. Among the many young people who have written to me about birds is a bright girl in southern Michigan. When I expressed sur- prise that the red-breasted woodpecker, or "zebra bird," as he is frequently called, was wintering in my neighborhood, she at once 26 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. wrote me that this species has remained in her latitude every winter since she has begun to observe the birds. " Scarcely a day passes, when I am out of doors, but I see one of these birds on our wal- nut trees," she writes. "This morning the thermometer was eight degrees below zero, with a strong wind blowing and snow falling fast. I put on my rubber boots and waded out to see how the birds were faring, and found the red-breasted woodpecker, as usual, scurrying up and down the walnut trees, ap- parently finding many a tasteful morsel. He is so tame that he doesn't mind being looked at when near the house. Having satisfied his appetite for insects, he flew over to a crack in the bui and regaled himself on corn." These facts are of deep interest to the lover of feathered folk, but no less interesting is the fact that this girl would wade out through the deep snow on a bitter winter morning to study them. What a legion of young bird students we shall have in the near future ! Their num- ber is increasing every day. I am minded to add a little more about birds from the pen of my interesting corre- spondent : "The constant companions of Mr. Zebra MY WINTER COMPANIONS. 2T Bird," she writes, "are the nuthatches, which are very tame, and stay about the premises all the while, both summer and winter. The like may be said of the chickadees." Her little sisters have their playhouse in the garret, which overlooks the woodshed, and, as they keep crumbs scattered over the roof of this shed, the birds are well fed, and become so tame that they even go inside the garret while the children are eating their luncheon. She keeps cracked walnuts for her pets in the shed, and one day, when she climbed into a walnut tree, she found many of the crannies of the bark crammed ^vith kernels. She also found a grain of corn in a crevice. Uncertain whether it was the work of squirrels or birds, she kept watch, and saw a nuthatch seize a kernel and hammer it into a gully of the bark, crying, " Quank ! quank ! " in a very knowing way. This vigilant, quick-witted girl will be a genuine naturahst by and by. Where I live, no less interesting bird ways have been observed. In the former part of this chapter I spoke with some surprise of the absence of the snowbirds and the tree spar- rows. A week or so after that was written I found rather large, scattering flocks of both species, although since then they have not 28 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. been seen so regularly as in other winters. Sometimes the snowbirds were missing, then the sparrows, and at other times both. One time the weather became so cold that the mercury sank to nineteen degrees below zero, in some places twenty-two ; but when I tramped out to the woods — I had to wrap up warm to keep from freezing — I found the hardy little tree sparrows flitting about on the snow as cheerily as you please, rifling the weeds of their seedy treasures. They really did not seem in the least to mind the bitter-cold winds, and I did not see them draw their little bare feet up into their feathers to keep them from becoming chilblained. MOKE WINTER EXPLOITS. No bird acquaintance of mine has proved more interesting than the little brown creeper. One February day I saw a creeper behave himself in an unheard-of way. He was flitting about the base of a large oat tree, covered in places with green moss and gray lichens. Sometimes he would march up a few feet, and then shuffle straight down, sidewise, though never headforemost. Presently he wheeled clear around twice, without moving out of his tracks. Was he converting himself into a vs^hirligig ? I felt almost like saying " Next ! " to the little performer. Some of these days I expect to see him stand on his head or turn a somersault. My neighbor, the farmer across the fields, has enabled me to identify a new bird this winter. He shot a hawk and handed it to me, saying : " Here is a hawk I've never seen before. I think it must be a new kind. I wish you'd find out what it is and let me know." 29 30 NEWS FROM THE BIRDS. Tlie rcd-shouldei'cd hawk. I l>()re it home to my study, ;ui