[i]

[ii]

WHAT BIRD IS THAT?

[iv]

'Map' of a Bird (Bluebird not quite life size).

    The student should learn to name the parts of a bird's plumage in order that he may write,
as well as understand, descriptions of a bird's color and markings.

[v]

WHAT BIRD IS THAT?

A POCKET MUSEUM

OF THE LAND BIRDS OF

THE EASTERN UNITED STATES

ARRANGED ACCORDING TO SEASON

BY

FRANK M. CHAPMAN

[vi]

[vii]

INTRODUCTION

As Curator of the Department of Birds of the American
Museum of Natural History I have had exceptional
facilities for the arrangement of collections designed to
give students a comprehensive view of local bird-life without
confusing them with unnecessary details.

Among other aids to this end a collection of 'Birds
Found within 50 Miles of New York' has been placed in a
special hall and so grouped that the visitor who wishes
to identify some bird seen within these limits may do so
with the least possible difficulty. In addition to the
'General Systematic Collection,' containing specimens of
the 350-odd species of birds which have been recorded
from the New York City region, there is also a 'Seasonal
Collection.' This Seasonal Collection contains only the
birds of the month. Its base is the 'Permanent Resident
Birds,' or those which, like the Crow, are with us throughout
the year. To these, the migratory species are added or
subtracted, as they come or go. The collection of migratory
species is therefore revised the first of each month.
Birds which are due to arrive during the month are added,
those which have left us are withdrawn. The Seasonal
Collection thus gives us, at a glance, a picture of the bird-life
of the month and correspondingly limits the field of
our inquiry when we go to it to learn the name of some
strange bird recently observed. In January, therefore,
we have not to consider the birds of June, nor need we be
concerned with winter birds in summer. The season of
occurrence thus gives us an important clue to a bird's
identity.[viii]

For somewhat more than a quarter of a century this
small collection has achieved its object so effectively that
I have attempted to embody the idea it demonstrates in a
series of drawings which have been admirably executed by
Mr. Edmund Sawyer. As foundation plates or 'collections,'
we have first two 'cases' of the winter land birds of
the Northeastern States, or from about Maryland northward,
containing the Permanent Residents, which form
part of the bird-life of every month of the year, and the
Winter Visitants, or those birds which come from the
North in the fall to remain with us until the following
spring.

Cases 3 and 4 contain the Permanent Resident and
Winter Visitant land birds of the Southern States.
Whether the student is in the North or in the South he has,
therefore, a 'collection' of the land birds which he may
expect to find during the winter months.

Cases 5 to 8 contain the migrants arranged according to
the order of their arrival from the South in the vicinity of
New York City. Since it is not practicable to have cases
containing collections of migrants for other latitudes, data
are given showing what changes in dates should be made
to adapt the schedule presented to other localities, including
Washington, D.C., Ossining, N.Y., Cambridge, Mass.,
northern Ohio, Glen Ellyn, near Chicago, and southeastern
Minnesota. The records for these localities are
quoted from the author's 'Handbook of Birds of Eastern
North America' to which they were contributed respectively
by Dr. C.W. Richmond, Dr. A.K. Fisher, William
Brewster, Lynds Jones, B.T. Gault, and Dr. Thos. S.
Roberts.

With these facts, the cases in a large measure tell their
own story, just as does our Museum Seasonal Collection;
but further to assist the student I have added what may
be termed a 'label' for each of the 'specimens' they[ix]
contain. These labels include comments on each bird's
distinctive characters, a statement of its nesting and
winter range, the notes on its status at various localities,
to which I have just referred, and brief remarks on its
habits.

It is the specimens, however, not the labels, which
warrant the publication of this little volume, for I hope
that, like their prototypes in the American Museum, they
will be a means of acquainting us with "the most eloquent
expressions of Nature's beauty, joy and freedom," and
thereby add to our lives a resource of incalculable value.

While the birds in the cases are small, they are drawn
and reproduced with such accuracy that no essential detail
of color or form is lost. Above all, they have the rare
merit of being all drawn to nearly the same scale. One
will soon learn therefore to measure the proportions of
unknown birds by comparison with those with which one
is familiar, and since relative size is the most obvious
character in naming birds in nature, this is a feature of
the first importance.

The student is strongly urged first, to become thoroughly
familiar with the 'map' of a bird given in the frontispiece:
second, to use an opera- or field-glass when observing
birds: third, to write descriptions of unknown birds
while they are in view stating their length, shape, and as
many details of their color and markings as can be seen:
fourth, to remember that one is not likely to find birds
except in their regular seasons: and, fifth, to take this
book afield with him and make direct comparison of the
living bird with its colored figure. The wide margins
are designed for use in recording field-notes.

[x]

CONTENTS

[xi]

BIRDS AND SEASONS

Before a leaf unfolds or a flower spreads its petals,
even before the buds swell, and while yet there is snow
on the ground, the birds tell us that spring is at hand.
The Song Sparrow sings "Spring, spring, spring, sunny
days are here"; the Meadowlark blows his fife, the
Downy rattles his drum, and company after company of
Grackles in glistening black coats, and of Red-wings with
scarlet epaulets, go trooping by. For the succeeding
three months, in orderly array, the feathered army files
by, each member of it at his appointed time whether he
comes from the adjoining State or from below the equator.

Besides the Blackbirds, March brings the Robin and
Bluebird, Woodcock, Phœbe, Meadowlark, Cowbird,
Kingfisher, Mourning Dove, Fox, Swamp, White-throated
and Field Sparrows.

Near New York City the New Year of the birds has now
passed its infancy and in April each day adds perceptibly
to its strength. 'Pussy' willows "creep out along
each bough," skunk cabbage rears its head in low, wet
woods, and in sun-warmed places early wild flowers peep
from beneath the sodden leaves. With swelling ranks
the migratory army moves more steadily northward.
Species which arrived late in March become more numerous,
and to them are soon added the Vesper, Savannah, and
Chipping Sparrows, and other seed-eaters; and when,
with increasing warmth, insects appear, the pioneer Phœbe
is followed by other insect-eating birds, like the Swallows,
Pipit, Hermit Thrush, Myrtle and Palm Warblers,
Louisiana Water-thrush and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

The true bird student will now pass every available
moment afield, eagerly watching for the return of old[xii]
friends and more eagerly still for possible new ones.
But enjoyment of this yearly miracle should not be left
only to the initiated. We need not be ornithologists to be
thrilled when the Robin's song in March awakes long silent
echoes, or the Thrasher's solo rings loud and clear on an
April morning. The Catbird singing from near his last
year's home in the thickening shrubbery, the House Wren
whose music bubbles over between bustling visits to an
oft-used bird-box, the Chimney Swift twittering cheerily
from an evening sky, may be heard without even the
effort of listening and each one, with a hundred others,
brings us a message if we will but accept it. And I make
no fanciful statement when I say that it is a message we
can ill afford to lose.

"RED-WINGS WITH SCARLET EPAULETS GO TROOPING BY"

[xiii]

With May come the Thrushes—Wood Thrush, Veery,
Olive-back and Gray-cheek, the last two en route to the
north—the Orioles, Cuckoos, Vireos, and the Bobolink
who began his four thousand mile journey from northern
Argentina in March. But May is preëminently the
Month of Warblers, "most beautiful, most abundant, and
least known" of our birds. To the eight species which
have already arrived, there may be added over twenty
more, represented by a number of individuals beyond
our power to estimate. We may hear the Robin, Thrasher,
and Wren, without listening, but we will see few Warblers
without looking; and this, in a measure, accounts for the
fascination which attends their study.

After May 15 there is an evident thinning in the
ranks of the migrating army, and by June 1 we shall
see only a few stragglers. The Transient Visitors will
have gone to their more northern homes and our bird
population will then consist only of the ever present
Permanent Residents and the Summer Residents which
the great northward march of the birds has brought us
from the South.

Although June may be called the Month of Nests,
nest-building begins long before the migration ends.
Some Owls and Hawks lay in March, and the Bluebird,
White-breasted Nuthatch and Robin have eggs by April
20, while most of our birds go to housekeeping during
the latter half of May. Nevertheless, it is in June that
their domestic life is at its height; and to the student of
birds' habits this is by far the most interesting month in
the year.

TREE SWALLOWS . . . RESTING IN ROWS ON WAYSIDE WIRES

Birds that raise two or even three broods will still be
occupied with household affairs in July, but one-brooded
birds, having launched their families, will seek retirement
to undergo the trying ordeal of molt, whereby they will
get a complete new costume. Often this will be quite[xiv]
unlike the one in which they arrived from the South—as
the student will discover, sometimes to his confusion!
In August, the Month of Molt, the seclusion sought by
many of our summer birds induces the belief that they
have left us, but toward the latter part of the month they
reappear. The first week in August virtually marks the
end of the song season. The Wood Pewee and Red-eyed
Vireo remain in voice throughout the month, but the
great chorus which has made May, June and most of
July vocal, we shall not hear before another spring—so[xv]
short is the time when we are blessed by the songs of
birds.

Meanwhile the feathered army has begun its retreat
to winter quarters. As early as July 15, Tree Swallows
will arrive and by the end of the month will be seen resting
in rows on wayside telegraph wires, or en route to their
roosts in the marshes. In the now heavily leaved forests
the returning Warblers and Flycatchers will not be so
easily observed as they were in May, but in September
they become too abundant to be overlooked. The southward
movement grows in strength until late September,
when the greater part of the insect-eating birds have left
us, and it is terminated by the frosts, and consequent
falling leaves, of October.

But just as in the spring some of the northbound
migrants drop from the ranks to spend the summer with
us, so in the fall some of the southbound travelers will
remain with us for the winter. The Junco, which we are
wont to think of as only a winter bird, arrives the latter
part of September to remain until April, and with him
come the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper and
Winter Wren—all to stay until spring. October will
bring the Horned Lark, Pine Finch, Snow Bunting, Tree
Sparrow and Northern Shrike and these birds with the
ones just mentioned, and the ever faithful Permanent
Residents, give us a goodly winter company.

But the possibilities do not end here; there may be
Redpolls, American and also White-winged Crossbills,
perhaps Pine Grosbeaks, and, best of all, Evening Grosbeaks,
who of recent years have been coming to us more
or less regularly from no man knows where.

So from one year's end to the other, there is not a month,
a week or day which has not interests of its own. The
bird student may pass his life in one place, but he can
never say "I have finished" for the morrow may bring[xvi]
some new bird or new fact. How immeasurably this
association with the birds adds to the joy of life! What
new meanings their comings and goings give to the
changing seasons; the very air is made eloquent by their
calls and songs. Why should we not all "come at these
enchantments"?

IN OCTOBER, WHEN MIGRATING HAWKS DOT THE SKY, THE GREAT SOUTHWARD MARCH OF THE BIRDS IS NEARING ITS END.

[xvii]

[xviii]

[xix]

[xx]

[xxi]

[xxii]

[xxiii]

Permanent Resident species, or those which are present
throughout the year, are marked "R." Winter Visitant
species, or those which come from the North in the Fall and
remain until Spring, are marked "W."

[xxiv]

[xxv]

Permanent Resident species, or those which are present
throughout the year, are marked "R." Winter Visitant
species, or those which come from the North in the Fall and
remain until Spring, are marked "W."

[xxvi]

[xxvii]

The birds are arranged in the order of their arrival from the
South in the vicinity of New York City. Nos. 1-19, 22-24, 26,
27, 30, 31, 36-38 winter in the Southern (chiefly Gulf) States.
The remainder winter in the tropics and reach the Southern
States a month or more before they arrive at New York.
Compared with the dates here given for New York City,
Washington dates are from ten to fifteen days earlier; Boston,
about a week later; northern Ohio, eight to twelve days
earlier; northern Illinois, six to ten days earlier; southeastern
Minnesota, about the same as those for New York.

[xxviii]

[xxix]

The birds are arranged in the order of their arrival from the
South in the vicinity of New York City. Nos. 43, 46, 47, 51,
57, 60-64, 67, 68, 70-72 winter in the Southern (chiefly Gulf)
States. The remainder winter in the tropics and reach the
Southern States a month or more before they arrive at New
York. Compared with the dates here given for New York
City, Washington dates are from ten to fifteen days earlier;
Boston, about a week later; northern Ohio, eight to twelve
days earlier; northern Illinois, six to ten days earlier; southeastern
Minnesota, about the same as those for New York.

[xxx]

[xxxi]

[xxxii]

[xxxiii]

[xxxiv]

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Note. Measurements are in inches.

[1]

Land Birds of the Eastern United States

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. ORDER GALLINÆ

AMERICAN QUAIL. FAMILY ODONTOPHORIDÆ

Except when nesting Bob-whites live in flocks or
"coveys" usually composed of the members of one family.
Their song, heard in spring and summer, is the clear,
ringing two- or three-noted whistle which gives them
their common name. Their fall and winter notes, which
sportsmen term "scatter calls" are signals by which the
members of a flock keep within speaking distance of one
another. "Where are you?" "Where are you?" they
seem to say. As with other protectively colored, ground-inhabiting
birds, Bob-whites do not take wing until one[2]
almost steps upon them. Then, like a bursting bomb,
the covey seems to explode, its brown pieces flying in
every direction. The nest is on the ground and the
10-18 white, pear-shaped eggs are laid in May or June.

The Florida Bob-white (C. v. floridanus, Case 3, Figs.
1, 2), a smaller darker race is resident in Florida, except
in the northern part of the state. It begins to nest in
April.

GROUSE. FAMILY TETRAONIDÆ

An unsuspicious inhabitant of swampy coniferous forests.
Now rare in the United States. It nests on the
ground in June, laying 9-16 eggs, buff, lightly speckled
with brown.

On our western plains and prairies there is a Grouse
which we call Prairie Hen and we might well apply the[3]
name Wood Hen to this Grouse of our forests. To flush
a Grouse in the quiet of the woods always makes the
"heart jump." His whirring wings not only produce the
roar which accompanies his flight, but they are also
responsible for the "drumming" which constitutes the
Grouse's song as sitting upright on some favorite log, he
rapidly beats the air with his wings.

The horny fringes which in winter border the toes of
the Grouse, or Partridge, as he is also called, form in
effect snow-shoes which help to support the bird on soft
snow. At this season they also feed in trees on buds and
catkins, and they may roost in trees or seek a bed by
plunging into a snow-bank.

The nest, lined with leaves, is placed at the base of a tree
or stump; the 8-14 buffy eggs are laid in May.

The Canada Ruffed Grouse (B. u. togata), of northern
New England and northwards is grayer above and more
distinctly barred below.

The Ruffed Grouse sounds his rolling, muffled drum-call
in the seclusion of the forest, but the Prairie Hen beats
his loud boom-ah-boom in the open freedom of the plains.
Hardy and strong of wing, he can cope with winter storms
and natural enemies, but against the combined assault of
man, dog, and gun, he cannot successfully contend.

About a dozen buff-olive eggs are laid on the ground in
April or early May.[4]

This is a close relative of the Prairie Hen, having the
black neck-tuft of less than ten feathers with pointed,
not rounded, ends. It is now found only on the Island of
Martha's Vineyard, but formerly inhabited plains or
barrens, locally, from New Jersey to Massachusetts. It
nests in June.

TURKEYS. FAMILY MELEAGRIDÆ

Our domestic Turkey is descended from the Mexican
Wild Turkey and like that race has the upper tail-coverts
and tail tipped with whitish, whereas in our eastern
Wild Turkey these tips are chestnut. The nest is on the
ground and 10-14 eggs, pale cream-color finely speckled
with brownish, are laid in April.

The Florida Wild Turkey (M. g. osceola), of southern
Florida, is smaller and the white bars on the primaries
are narrower and more broken.[5]

PIGEONS AND DOVES. ORDER COLUMBÆ

PIGEONS AND DOVES. FAMILY COLUMBIDÆ

Doves are particularly common in the southern states
where, ranked as game-birds, they are shot in large numbers.
The Wild Pigeon's note was an explosive squawk;
the Dove's is a soft, mournful coo-oo-ah, coo-o-o-coo-o-o-coo-o-o-.
During the winter, Doves are usually found in
small flocks but, unlike the Wild Pigeon, they nest in
scattered pairs. The nest is in a tree or on the ground.
Two white eggs are laid in April.

This dainty, miniature Pigeon is common in southern
gardens and old fields. It runs gracefully before one, and
when flushed rises with a whirring flight but soon alights,
usually on the ground. Its call is a crooning coo. The
nest is placed on the ground and in low trees and bushes.
Two white eggs are laid in March.

BIRDS OF PREY. ORDER RAPTORES

AMERICAN VULTURES. FAMILY CATHARTIDÆ

The 'Turkey Buzzard' has a wider wing-stretch and is
a better aviator than the Black Vulture. It is more a
bird of the country than the last-named species which is
the common Vulture of the streets in many southern
cities. Extremely graceful in the air, it is far from pleasing
when at rest. The two dull white, brown-marked
eggs are laid on the ground under logs, in crevices in rocks,
etc., in March in Florida, in April in Virginia.[7]

The Vulture of southern cities; a frequenter of slaughter
houses and markets. In flight the under surfaces of the
wing look silvery. It is by no means so impressive a
figure in the air as the Turkey Vulture. Two pale bluish
white eggs, generally with brown markings, are laid on
the ground under logs, bushes, palmettoes, etc., in March
and April.

HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES, ETC. FAMILY BUTEONIDÆ

Color, form, grace, and power of motion combine to
make the flight of the Swallow-tail an impressive demonstration
of the bird's mastery of the air. It feeds on lizards
and small snakes which it captures when on the wing
from the branches of trees. The nest is placed in the
upper branches of tall trees, 2-3 eggs heavily marked with
brown being laid in Florida in April; in Iowa in June.[8]

This is a rare bird east of the Mississippi. It frequents
open marshy places and feeds upon small snakes, lizards,
grasshoppers, etc., which it captures on the ground. The
nest is built in trees, and the 3-5 eggs, heavily marked
with brown, are laid in May.

A low-flying hunter of insects, snakes and frogs. It
migrates in loose flocks sometimes near the earth, at others
far above it. The nest is placed in tall trees. The eggs
are laid in May; they number 1-3, and are dull white,
occasionally with a bluish tinge.

The Everglade Kite is found in marshes and about
lakes and ponds hunting for its favorite food of large snails,
which it extracts from their shells by means of its hooked[9]
bill. It is rarely seen north of southern Florida. The
nest is placed in bushes or among reeds. The 2-3 eggs,
which are heavily marked with brown, are laid in March.

The Marsh Hawk quarters low over the fields turning
sharply here and there to follow the course of a meadow
mouse in the grass forest below. As a rule the bird is
silent but in the mating season he repeats a 'screeching'
note. The nest is made on the ground in the marshes;
the 4-6 white eggs are laid in May.

This small, bird-killing Hawk dashes recklessly after
its victims, following them through thick cover. It is[10]
less often seen in the open than the Sparrow Hawk, which
it resembles in size, but from which it may be known by its
different color, longer tail, and much shorter wings. It
nests in trees 15-40 feet from the ground. The eggs,
3-6 in number, are bluish white or cream, marked with
brown and are laid in May.

Sharp-Shinned Hawk.

Note the Long Tail.

This is the real 'Chicken Hawk,' but it is less often seen
and heard than the soaring, screaming Buteos to which
the name is usually applied. It resembles the Sharp-shinned
in habits but being larger may prey on larger
birds. The female may be easily distinguished from the[11]
Sharp-shinned by her larger size, but the male is not
appreciably larger than a female Sharp-shin.

The nest is built in a tree 25-50 feet up. The bluish
white, rarely spotted eggs are laid in late April or early
May.

Like its smaller relatives the Sharp-shin and Cooper's
Hawks, this powerful raptor is a relentless hunter of birds.
It is particularly destructive to Ruffed Grouse. Fortunately
it does not often visit us in numbers. It nests in
trees, laying 2-5 white eggs, rarely marked with brownish,
in April.

[12]

The Red-tail resembles the Red-shoulder in general
habits, but it is more a bird of the fields, where it may be
seen perched on the limb of a dead tree or similar exposed
situation. Its note, a long-drawn, squealing whistle, is
quite unlike that of the Red-shoulder. The Red-tail
feeds chiefly on mice and other small mammals. With
the Red-shoulder it is often called 'Chicken Hawk,' but
does not deserve the name. It nests in trees 30-70 feet
up and in April lays 2-4 eggs, dull white sparingly marked
with brown.

Red-shouldered Hawk. Adult.

Note the Barred Tail.

A medium-sized, heavy-bodied Hawk with wings which,
when closed, reach well toward the tip of the tail. It
lives both in the woods and open places, and may be flushed
from the border of a brook or seen soaring high in the air.
Its note, frequently uttered, as it swings in wide circles,
is a distinctive Kèe-you, Kèe-you, quite unlike the call
of any of our other Hawks. It is often well imitated by the
Blue Jay. The Red-shoulder feeds chiefly on mice and
frogs. It nests in trees 30-60 feet up and, in April, lays
3-5 eggs, white marked with brown.

The Florida Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus
alleni), a smaller form with grayer head and paler underparts,
is a resident in Florida and along the coast from
South Carolina to Mexico. It nests in February.

A rather retiring, unwary Hawk which nests in thick
woods and is less often seen in the open than the Red-shoulder,
but, when migrating, hundreds pass high in the
air, with other Hawks. Its call is a high, thin, penetrating[14]
whistle. It nests in late April and early May, laying
2-4 whitish eggs marked with brown.

Frequents fields and marshes, where it hunts to and fro
after mice, which form its principal fare.

The Golden Eagle is so rare in the eastern United States
and its general resemblance to a young Bald Eagle is so
close, that only an experienced ornithologist could convince
me that he had seen a Golden Eagle east of the Mississippi.

An adult Bald Eagle will at once be recognized by its
white head and tail; the immature birds by their large size.
Eagles are usually found near the water where fish may
be obtained either on the shore or from the Osprey. The
call of the male is a human-like, loud, clear cac-cac-cac;
that of the female is said to be more harsh and often
broken. Eagles nest in tall trees and on cliffs, and lay
two or three dull white eggs, in Florida, in November
and December; in Maine, in April.

FALCONS, CARACARAS, ETC. FAMILY FALCONIDÆ

These great Falcons are so rare in the United States
that unless they are seen by an experienced observer,
under exceptionally favorable conditions, authentic records
of their visits can be based only on the actual capture of
specimens.[16]

As the Peregrine of falconry we know of the Duck Hawk
as a fearless, dashing hunter of greater power of wing and
talon. It nests in rocky cliffs in April and from its eyrie
darts upon passing Pigeons and other birds. It is most
often seen following the coast-line during migrations where
it takes toll of Ducks and shore-birds. Three to four
heavily marked, brownish eggs are laid in April.

We know this Hawk as a not common migrant generally
seen in open places and along the shores. It feeds chiefly
on small birds.[17]

Sparrow Hawk Hovering above its Prey.

The Sparrow Hawk is one of our commonest and most
familiar Hawks. He is a handsome little Falcon, and
though his prey is chiefly humble grasshoppers, he captures
them in a sportsmanlike manner by "waiting on" or hovering
on rapidly beating wings over his game and dropping
on it with deadly aim. His call is a high, rapidly repeated
Killy-killy-killy. The three to seven eggs, finely marked
with reddish brown, are laid in a hollow limb or similar
situation in April.[18]

In the eastern United States the Caracara is found
only in the Kissimmee prairie region of southern Florida
where its presence, so far from others of its kind, furnishes
one of the problems in distribution which stimulate the
imagination of the faunal naturalist.

OSPREYS. FAMILY PANDIONIDÆ

The Osprey, or Fish Hawk, feeds on fish and nothing
but fish. He is, therefore, never found far from his fishing
grounds, where no one who has seen him plunge for his
prey and rise with it from the water will doubt his ability
to supply his wants. Ospreys usually nest in trees at varying
distances from the ground, but sometimes on cliffs
or even on the ground itself, and return year after year to
the same nest. The Osprey's alarm note is a high, loud,
complaining whistle, frequently repeated. The eggs are[19]
laid in late April and early May. They are usually four
in number, buffy white, heavily marked with chocolate.

BARN OWLS. FAMILY ALUCONIDÆ

This is the 'Monkey-faced Owl' of towers and steeples.
Few who hear its loud, sudden scream or rapidly repeated
crree-crree-crree know their author, who may live for years
in the heart of a village a stranger to its human inhabitants.
The mice, however, have tragic evidence of his
presence in the nightly raids he makes upon their ranks.
The nest is made in the diurnal retreat, 5-9 white eggs
being laid in April.

HORNED OWLS, HOOT OWLS, ETC. FAMILY STRIGIDÆ

An Owl of evergreen clumps and dense growths, where
its presence is often betrayed by the litter below of undigested[20]
pellets of hair and bones which Owls eject at the
mouth. It is not a "hoot" Owl, and even many ornithologists
have not heard its notes, which are described as a
"soft-toned, slow wu-hunk, wu-hunk, and a low twittering,
whistling dicky, dicky, dicky." It is not a hole-inhabiting
Owl and like the Great Horned nests in an old Hawk,
Crow, or Squirrel nest. Three to six white eggs are laid in
April.

This is a marsh Owl and we are therefore not likely
to find it associated with other members of its family.
Its notes are said to resemble the ki-yi of a small dog.
Four to seven white eggs are laid in an open nest in the
grasses in April.

[21]

An Owl of the woods, common in the less thickly settled
parts of its range. Its loud, sonorous notes, whoo, whoo-whoo
who-whoo, to-whoo-ah, are often uttered. When two
birds come together their united calls produce some of the
most startling sounds to be heard in nature. The Barred
Owl feeds chiefly on mice. It nests in hollow trees in
March, laying 2-4 white eggs.

A tame little Owl which sometimes may be caught in
one's hand. It passes the day in dense growth, usually[22]
evergreens. Its note resembles the "sound made when a
large-tooth saw is being filed."

This, the smallest of our 'horned' Owls, is also the commonest.
It lives near and sometimes in our homes even
when they are situated in towns. Its tremulous, wailing
whistle (in no sense a 'screech') is therefore one of our
most characteristic twilight bird-notes. Mice and insects
form the greater part of the Screech Owl's fare. Four to
six white eggs are laid in a hollow tree, bird-box, or similar
site in April.

The Great Horned Owl retreats before the civilization
that destroys the forests in which it lives. In thinly[23]
settled regions its deep-toned, monotone, whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo,
whooo, whooo is still a characteristic bird voice, but
most of us hear it only when we camp in the wilderness.
The bird's fierce nature has won for it the name of "tiger
among birds." Rabbits, skunks, game birds and smaller
prey form its fare. The 2-3 white eggs are laid in an
abandoned Hawk, Crow, or squirrel nest in February;
it is the first of our northern birds to nest.

A rare winter visitant which is more often seen along
the seashore. Unlike most Owls it hunts by day, feeding
chiefly on mice but also on birds.

"The Hawk Owl is strictly diurnal, as much so as any
of the Hawks, and like some of them often selects a tall
shrub or dead-topped tree in a comparatively open place
for a perch, where it sits in the bright sunlight watching
for its prey" (Fisher).[24]

This is a representative of our western Burrowing Owl,
which, in some way unknown to man, has established itself
far from others of its kind in central southern Florida,
where it is locally common. It nests in a hole in the
ground, excavated by itself, and lays 5-7 white eggs in
March.

PARROTS, MACAWS, PAROQUETS, COCKATOOS. ORDER PSITTACI

PARROTS AND PAROQUETS. FAMILY PSITTACIDÆ

The Paroquet has paid the penalty of wearing bright
plumes, of making a desirable cage-bird, of being destructive
to fruit, and of having little fear of man. Once abundant
and wide-spread, for nearly the past half a century
it has been restricted to Florida, where the species will[25]
soon go out of existence, if it has not already done so. Its
nesting habits are unknown.

CUCKOOS, KINGFISHERS, ETC. ORDER COCCYGES

CUCKOOS, ANIS, ETC. FAMILY CUCULIDÆ

Cuckoos are common birds, but are more often heard
than seen. Their notes are not like those of the cuckoo
clock, which exactly imitates the voice of the European
Cuckoo, but a series of cuck-cuck-cucks and cow-cows
repeated a varying number of times. The Cuckoo rarely
makes long flights but slips from one tree to another, seeking
at once the inner branches and avoiding an exposed
perch. The nest, a platform of sticks, thinly covered,
is placed in low trees or bushes. The 3-5 greenish blue
eggs are laid in May.

The day after penning the foregoing notes on the Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, I saw a Black-bill make a prolonged, dashing
flight through the open, alight on the limb of a dead,
leafless tree, directly over a young girl who was calling
loudly to an active dog near her, and from this conspicuous
perch utter its low coo-coo notes, both looking and sounding
more like a Dove than a conventional Cuckoo. So while
we may say that the Cuckoos are much alike in habits
one must not accept generalized statements too literally.
There is much individuality among birds, a fact that makes
their study far more interesting than if all were cast in the
same mold.

The notes of this species are softer than those of the
Yellow-bill, but the difference between the calls of the two
species must be learned from the birds, not from books.
The nest of the Black-bill is the more compactly built of
the two, and its eggs are of a deeper shade.

KINGFISHERS. FAMILY ALCEDINIDÆ

The Belted Kingfisher is a watchman of the waterways
who sounds his loud rattle when we trespass on his territory,
a gallant fisherman, who, like a Falcon 'waits on'
with fluttering wing, and the moment his aim is taken
plunges headlong with a splash on some fish that has
ventured too near the surface.

The nest is made at the end of a burrow in a bank;
5-8 white eggs are laid in May.

WOODPECKERS, WRYNECKS, ETC. ORDER PICI

WOODPECKERS. FAMILY PICIDÆ

When man appears, the Ivory-bill disappears. This
is not alone due to the destruction of the birds' haunts
but to the bird's shy, retiring nature. Its days are numbered
even more surely than are those of the forests it
inhabits.

The nesting cavity is usually made in a cypress some
forty feet from the ground, and 3-5 white eggs are laid in
March.[28]

The Hairy is not so common as his small cousin the
Downy, and does not so readily make friends. He prefers
the woods to our orchards and is for these reasons less often
seen at our feeding-stands. The Hairy's notes are
noticeably louder than the Downy's. The nest-hole is
usually in a dead tree. The 2-4 white eggs are laid
the last half of April.

Our commonest Woodpecker; an alert, active little
driller for insects and their eggs and larvæ, and frequent[29]
visitor to our lunch-counters, particularly if we supply
them with suet. His sharp peek, peek, running at times
into a diminishing string of peeks, and his rolling tatoo, as
he pounds a limb with amazing rapidity, are prominent
parts of every-day bird language, the tatoo being a 'song'
of the breeding season.

Four to six white eggs are laid in a hole, usually in a dead
tree, the first week in May. The Southern Downy nests
in April.

An inhabitant of the pine woods, who utters a coarse
yank-yank note and may at times be seen feeding from the
terminal tufts of pine 'needles' in the higher branches.
The nest is usually in a living pine; the 2-5 white eggs
are laid in April.

An inhabitant of the spruce and balsam forests of our
northern states, occasionally straggling southward in
winter. Nests in May.[30]

Not so common as the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker,
and less often found south of its breeding range. Nests in
early June.

This is the mysterious maker of the rows of little holes
drilled in even lines, like hieroglyphics, on the trunks of
apple and other trees. Using his brush-tipped tongue as a
swab, he drinks the sap that oozes from these punctures.

As a migrant the Yellow-belly is not conspicuous. His
business takes him into the heart of living trees and he is
usually seen only when flying from one to another. His
low 'snarling' note attracts the attention of only the
observant.

The nest-hole is 25-40 feet up; the 5-7 white eggs are
laid in May.[31]

In the south the Pileated is by no means rare and seems
not averse to the presence of man; but in the north he
retires to the wilder forested areas and we are apt to see
him only when we go a-camping. And he is well worth
seeing with his flaming crest and powerful bill which,
used either as a chisel or drum-stick, produces impressive
results. Strangely enough the Pileated's notes
resemble those of the Flicker but are louder.

The nest is usually well up; the 3-5 white eggs are laid
in April in the south, in May in the north.

Adding to the normal habits of a Woodpecker marked
skill as a flycatcher, the Red-head stops his grub-hunting[32]
and swings out after a passing insect with a dazzling display
of red, white and blue-black. Noisy as he is conspicuous,
he beats his log-drum, rolls a tree toad-like
krrring, or, with tireless persistency utters a whistled
croak. In the northeastern states Red-heads are distributed
irregularly. They are rarely common in the
summer, but in the fall they sometimes appear in numbers.
Whenever they come we are soon aware of their
presence.

The nest is generally in a dead tree; the 4-6 white eggs
are laid in May.

A common, hoarse-voiced resident of orange groves
and gardens who with a chuh-chuh, jerkily hitches himself
upward in the routine of the daily grub hunt. It is rare
at the northern part of its range, but resident wherever
found. The nest is in dead or living trees; the 4-6 white
eggs are laid in late April or early May.

Thirty years ago the Flicker, High-hole or Yellow-hammer,
was prey of any boy with a gun and was correspondingly
wild and little known; now, thanks to the
Audubon Society, he is almost as domestic as the Robin.
In search of ants and their eggs, he hunts our lawns and
even accepts the hospitality of our nest-logs. A great
acquisition to our dooryard life is this bird of beautiful
colors, quaint habits, and strange notes. His loud,
strongly accented call, kée-yer, his rapidly repeated mellow
weéchew, weéchew, possess character even if they lack
musical quality.

The Flicker nests in holes and lays from 5-9 white eggs
in late April or early May.

GOATSUCKERS, SWIFTS, HUMMINGBIRDS. ORDER MACROCHIRES

NIGHTHAWKS, WHIP-POOR-WILLS, ETC. FAMILY CAPRIMULGIDÆ

What the Whip-poor-will is to the north the Chuckwill
is to the south. The difference in their names expresses[34]
the syllabic difference in their calls, but the Chuckwill's
notes are uttered more evenly and lack the marked accent
on the first "Whip" of its northern cousin's song.

The Chuckwill lays its two eggs in April on the ground
in the woods, where it lives. They are white with delicate
lilac markings and a few brownish spots.

A mysterious, silent, flitting shadow, should we chance
to arouse it from its sleep in the forest by day, at dusk the
Whip-poor-will takes the center of the stage and announces
his presence to the world. Whiṕ-poor-will, whiṕ-poor-will
he calls with a snap and a swinging rhythm that makes
the twilight ring with the oft-repeated notes.

Two eggs are laid on the ground in the woods in May.
They are dull white with delicate obscure lilac markings,
and a few brownish gray spots.

Doubtless because we see the Nighthawk and only hear
the Whip-poor-will the notes of the latter have been often
attributed to the former, with the result that many people
think there is but one species. While it is true that there
is a general resemblance in form, in details of color and
markings, the two birds are quite unlike, while so far as
notes and habits are concerned, few members of the
same family differ more. The Whip-poor-will haunts the
shadows of the woods and rarely flies far above the ground,
the Nighthawk, like a Swift, courses high in the open, even
over city house-tops, where anyone who looks may see
him. The Whip-poor-will's notes have made him famous,
the Nighthawk calls only a nasal peent, peent, and, diving
earthward on set wings, produces a hollow, booming
sound. Both nest on the ground, but the Nighthawk
lays in the fields or on pebbly roofs, and its two finely
marked eggs (laid in May or June) are quite unlike those
of the Whip-poor-will.

SWIFTS. FAMILY MICROPODIDÆ

A twittering courser of evening skies who makes his
home in our chimneys. Here the bracket-like nest of
dead twigs is attached to the bricks by the bird's saliva,
to be loosened, at times, after heavy rains and fall to
the fire-place below. In the fall great flocks roost in
chimneys, generally large ones, returning night after
night.

The 4-6 white eggs are laid in May.

HUMMINGBIRDS. FAMILY TROCHILIDÆ

Any Hummingbird seen east of the Mississippi may, with
confidence, be called a Ruby-throat; exceptions will probably
prove to be sphinx moths, which, it must be confessed,
look singularly hummingbird-like as they hover
before flowers. When the eggs are laid the male deserts
the female, leaving to her the task of incubation and care
of the young.

The nest, most exquisite of bird homes, is saddled to a
limb usually 15 or more feet up. The two bean-like
white eggs are laid in May.[37]

PERCHING BIRDS. ORDER PASSERES

FLYCATCHERS. FAMILY TYRANNIDÆ

A valiant defender of his home who, at the approach of
Crow or Hawk, utters his steely, chattering, battle-cry
and sallies forth to attack. Fearlessly he plunges down on
an enemy many times his size who dodging this way and
that beats a hasty retreat before his active, aggressive
assailant. In the fall migration Kingbirds gather in
loose flocks.

The nest is placed near the end of a branch about 20 feet
up; the 3-5 white eggs spotted with dark brown, are laid
in May.

A not uncommon summer resident in parts of Florida
and the coastal region of Georgia and South Carolina,
with the general habits and appearance of our Kingbird,[38]
but with a quite different call which suggests the words
pitírri-pitírri. It nests in May, laying four salmon-colored
eggs, marked with dark brown and lilac.

A character of the woods distinguished alike by appearance,
voice and habits. His crested head seems too big
for his body; his exclamatory whistle, which sounds like
a shout above a monotone of conversation, his habit of
always lining his nest with a cast-off snake skin, all mark
him as an odd genius. Even his wife's eggs, with their
long chocolate streaks, are quite unlike any other birds'
eggs. They are laid in a hole in a tree in May or June.

[39]

The Phœbe is the best known member of a group of small
Flycatchers which the beginner, and not infrequently the
advanced student, names with more or less uncertainty.
Fortunately for the field student, and as if to compensate
for their close resemblance in plumage, they all possess
distinctive, quite unlike, and easily recognizable calls, and
consequently can readily be identified by their voices if
not by their colors.

The Phœbe shows so marked a fondness for our society,
nesting under our piazzas, in barns or outbuildings, and
calls his pewit-phœbe so plainly, wagging his tail the while
in a friendly, sociable kind of a way, that there is never
any doubt about his identity; but we will not make the
acquaintance of his less common, less confiding relatives
so readily.

The Phœbe's 4-6 white eggs (rarely with a few brown
spots) are laid the latter half of April.

To most of us the Olive-sided is known as a rare migrant
passing northward in May, among the later transients, and
southward in September. When traveling the bird retains
the fondness of its kind for perching on tall tree-tops, but
its loud, unmistakable, whistled "come right here, come
right here" is usually heard only on the nesting ground.[40]

The nest is placed in coniferous trees about 25 feet up,
and 3-5 white, brown-spotted eggs are laid in June.

In color Phœbe and Pewee are much alike and both are
Flycatchers, but the resemblance ends there. Pewee
loves the solitude of the forest rather than the sociability
of the barnyard, and his pensive pee-a-wee does not even
suggest the business-like pewit-phœbe of his better-known
cousin. Nor does his dainty lichen-covered nest saddled
so skillfully on the limb of a forest tree, recall the Phœbe's
bulky moss and mud dwelling. Finally, the Pewee's
eggs, laid in May, are wreathed with brown.

[41]

Known chiefly as a not common migrant who visits
our woods on his journey to and from his northern home.
He is a silent traveler and gives no clue to his identity
by calling or singing, but his underparts are so much
yellower than those of any other of our small Flycatchers
that they make a definite field character. Nests in
coniferous forests on the ground, laying 4 white, lightly
spotted eggs in June.

On the low-sweeping limb of a beech over a stream is an
ideal site for the frail nest of the Acadian. The bird is
never found far from it and its low-ranging habits permit
us to see its characteristic markings and hear its peculiar
sudden, explosive little pee-e-yúk and more commonly
uttered spee or peet.

The creamy white, brown-spotted eggs are laid the latter
part of May.

A rare recluse of the alders who, traveling silently
between his summer and his winter homes, makes few
friends among men. Dwight describes its call note as
"a single pep," and its song as ee-zee-e-up, resembling
that of the Acadian. The bird places the nest low down
in the crotch of one of the bushes among which it lives
and lays 3-4 white, brown-spotted eggs in June.

A Flycatcher of lawns and orchard, seldom going far
from the tree in which its nest with its white eggs is
placed. A dry-voiced little bird whose unmusical, but
distinctly uttered chebéc, chebéc makes up in character
what it lacks in sweetness. Between whiles he swings
out for a passing insect only to call chebéc, chebéc, chebéc
when he returns to his perch.[43]

LARKS. FAMILY ALAUDIDÆ

A bird of open places—shores, plains, and prairies,
and roadways—who runs (not hops) nimbly ahead of one,
or, with a short note, rises, and on its long, pointed wings,
flies on ahead. He usually returns to the ground, but
may alight on a fence; his long hind toe-nail not being
suited to grasping a small perch. The weak, twittering
song is uttered on the wing, when the bird, like its relative
the Skylark, mounts into the air. It also sings from a
perch near the ground.

The Prairie Horned Lark is the first of our small birds to
nest, making its home on the ground and laying four
finely speckled eggs early in March. After the nesting
season the birds gather in flocks.[44]

CROWS, JAYS, ETC. FAMILY CORVIDÆ

If the Blue Jay were as good as he is beautiful he would
be our most popular bird. But fine feathers do not always
make fine birds, and to those who judge birds by human
standards the Blue Jay's loud, harsh voice, overbearing
manners, and nest-robbing habits are unpardonable.
With all his faults, however, the true bird enthusiast loves
him still. His bright colors, dashing ways and intelligence
win our admiration and we feel honored when he
makes his home near ours, building in early May a well-made
nest in a tree-crotch, for the reception of the 4-6
olive-green, thickly speckled eggs.

This is the 'Scrub-Jay' of Florida and is not to be
confused with the Florida Blue Jay. It lives in districts[45]
where scrub palmetto grows, but also comes into
gardens and grows where it soon responds to proper treatment
and becomes semi-domesticated. It nests early in
April.

It is singular that the Canada Jay at the north and
the Florida Jay in the south should show exceptional
confidence in man, while the Blue Jay always seems to
regard him with suspicion. The very day we make camp
in the north woods the Canada Jay or Whiskey Jack
becomes our guest. As though assured of a welcome he
fearlessly joins our party, helping himself to such supplies
as please his fancy. Long before our arrival, when snow
still covered the ground, he has reared his family and for
the rest of the year has only his own wants to fill.

Crows caw, while Ravens croak; but to be sure that you
have actually seen a Raven he should be with Crows, when
the Raven's much larger size is evident. Unless, however,
you should visit the few localities in the eastern States
where Ravens live you are not likely to make the bird's
acquaintance. Ravens nest on cliffs as well as in trees.[46]
Their eggs, which resemble those of the Crow in color,
are laid in April.

The Crow and the Robin are probably the best known
of all our birds. The former we treat as an enemy and the
latter as a friend, and one therefore is as wild as the other
is tame. Whether the Crow deserves to be outlawed has
not as yet been decided. But we should not condemn him
out of court and let us remember that as an intelligent,
self-respecting citizen, who animates wintry wastes with
his shining sable form and clarion call, he has other than
economic claims to our consideration. The nest is placed
in a tree about 30 feet up, and 4-6 eggs, green thickly
marked with brownish are laid in April.

The Florida Crow (C. b. pascuus) is very near the
northern bird, but has the wings and tail smaller, the bill
and feet larger. It lives chiefly in the pine barrens of
Florida and is much less common in the state than the
Fish Crow.

In life the Fish Crow may be distinguished from the
common Crow by its smaller size and hoarser voice. The
difference in size, however, is evident only when the two
are together, but once the cracked, reedy car (not caw) of
the Fish Crow has been learned the species may always
be identified when heard. It is somewhat like the note
of a young Crow, but less immature. The nest and eggs
are much like those of the common Crow. The eggs are
laid in May.

STARLINGS. FAMILY STURNIDÆ

A long-drawn whistle, such as one calls to a dog, is the
Starling's most common note, but it has many others.
It nests in April, often after quarreling with Flickers for
possession of a nest-hole in which to lay its pale bluish
eggs. The young appear in mid-May and their harsh,
rasping food-call is a common note for several weeks;
then the birds begin to gather in companies which, later,
form flocks of thousands.[48]

BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. FAMILY ICTERIDÆ

A bird with a dual personality; welcome minstrel of
the meadows when nesting, dread scourge of the rice-fields
when traveling. With the loss of his trim suit of
black, white, and buff, Bob loses also his merry tinkling,
rippling song, and acquires with his streaked Reedbird
suit a single watchword. Tink, tink he calls from somewhere
overhead, and tink, tink his comrades answer as they
follow a trackless path through the sky on their 5000-mile
journey.

The nest is placed on the ground and 4-7 grayish,
blotched eggs are laid late in May or early in June.

Outlaws among birds, they pair not neither do they
build. Without moral standards or maternal instincts the
female accepts the attention of any male that chances to
win her fancy and deposits her eggs in the nests of other
birds. She is a slacker and a shirker, who keeps much
in the background during the breeding season. Color,
habit, his sliding, glassy whistle, and guttural gurgling,
make the male conspicuous. Leaving the care of their
foster parents the young join others of their kind and
flock in the grainfields or about cattle in the pastures.

Hanging their cradle nest in the quill-reeds or rushes,
the Yellow-heads are not found far from it until the young
take wing. The male entertains his mate with a variety
of strange calls and whistles, but leaves to her the hatching
of the brown speckled eggs and care of the young while
they are in the nest. Like other Blackbirds they migrate
and winter in flocks.

The Red-wing's mellow kong-quer-reee is as certain an
indication of the presence of water as is the piping of frogs
in the spring. It may be only a bit of boggy marshland,
it may be a reedy lakeside, but water there will surely be.
On a frequented perch he half spreads his wings, fluffs
out his scarlet epaulets, bursting into bloom, as it were,
when he utters his notes—a singing flower! The nest
is in the alders, button-bushes, or reeds, or even on the
ground, and although the birds come in March, their
pale blue, spotted, blotched, and scrawled eggs are not
laid until May. Except when nesting, Red-wings live in
flocks.

The Meadowlark is a fifer of the fields, whose high, clear
whistle is one of the most welcome bird songs of early
spring. In May, when nesting, it often sings an ecstatic
twittering warble on the wing. The alarm calls are an
unmusical dzit or yert and a string of beady, metallic notes.

The nest is placed on the ground. The 4-6 eggs are
white, speckled with brown.

With the general appearance and habits of the Eastern
Meadowlark, but differing in its call-notes and song.
Instead of the sharp dzit or yert and metallic twitter of the
eastern bird, the western species calls chuck, chuck, followed
by a rolling b-r-r-r-. The eastern bird plays the
fife but the western uses the flute, and its bubbling grace-notes
are easily distinguishable from the straight whistling
of its eastern cousin.

In the northern part of its range, the Orchard Oriole is
somewhat less common, and more local than the Baltimore
Oriole, while its duller colors and more retiring habits make
is more difficult to see. The voice is richer, more cultured—if
one may use the term—than that of its brilliant
orange-plumed cousin; indeed, in my opinion, this species
deserves a place in the first rank of our songsters. The
nest of finely woven grasses is not so deep as that of
the Baltimore. Three to five bluish white eggs, spotted
and scrawled with black, are laid the latter part of May.

This is the orange-and-black whistler of our fruit and
shade trees, whose wife skillfully weaves a pendant cradle at
the end of some drooping branch, therein to lay her white
eggs curiously marked with fine lines and blotches of
black. The young, after leaving the nest in June, have a
loud, babyish food-call, dee-dee-dee-dee, repeated time
after time until their wants are satisfied.

This is the least conspicuous of our Blackbirds. It nests
chiefly north of the United States, migrates in small flocks,
and is less noisy than the Red-wing or Grackle and not
so much in evidence as the Cowbird. Dwight describes
its notes as "a confused medley of whistles, sweeter and
higher-pitched than those of the Red-wing." It nests
in May, building in coniferous trees or near the ground,
and laying 4-7 greenish eggs, heavily marked with brown
and purple.

The Florida Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula aglæus, Case 4, Fig. 74) is smaller than the Purple Grackle and has
the head and neck violet-purple, the back bottle-green.
It is resident in Florida and the Gulf States north to South
Carolina.

The Bronzed Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula œneus, Case 5, Fig. 2) is the same size as the Purple Grackle, but has[54]
the body bronzy without iridescent markings. It nests
from Texas up the Mississippi Valley and eastward through
central New York and Massachusetts to New Brunswick,
north to Canada; and in migration is found in the range
of the Purple Grackle. It winters from the Ohio Valley
southward.

The Grackle is the largest of our northern Blackbirds.
In the south it is exceeded in size only by the Boat-tailed
Grackle. It migrates in flocks and nests in colonies,
often in parks and cemeteries. It feeds chiefly on the
ground and is frequently seen upon our lawns when it
may be known by its rather waddling, walking gait, and
its long tail. Its notes are harsh, cracked and discordant,
but when heard in chorus make a pleasing medley. The
nest is sometimes placed in pines about 30 feet up,
but also in bushes and even in holes in trees. The 3-7
eggs are usually pale bluish, heavily blotched and scrawled
with brown and black.

This giant Grackle frequents lakes, lagoons and bays,
where it feeds along the shore or among aquatic plants.
The male, a poseur among birds, strikes strange attitudes
with bill pointing skyward, and with apparent effort
forces out hoarse whistles. The female is quiet and[55]
unassuming. They nest in colonies, building in bushes and
laying in April 3-5 bluish white eggs, strikingly blotched
and scrawled with blackish.

FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. FAMILY FRINGILLIDÆ

Evening Grosbeak.

Male and Female.

The Evening Grosbeak is a notable traveler from the
far northwest whose rare, irregular, and unheralded visits[56]
and striking appearance make him always a welcome and
distinguished guest. Of recent years these birds have come
to the east with greater frequency, arriving in November
and remaining as late as May. They feed largely on the
buds and seeds of trees—maple and box-elder—and can
often be attracted to our feeding-stations by the offer of
sunflower seeds. They are usually associated in flocks
of from six to eight to ten birds, and their notes when
perching, have been described as resembling the jingle of
small sleigh-bells, while their song is said to be a "wandering
jerky warble."

In the summer the Pines Grosbeak lives in coniferous
forests, but on its irregular wanderings southward, like
the Evening Grosbeak, it feeds upon the seeds of deciduous
trees and bushes. The Grosbeak's call-note is a clear
whistle of three or four notes which may be easily imitated;
its song is said to be prolonged and melodious.

The Pine and Evening Grosbeaks would be notable
figures in any gathering of birds, but coming at the most
barren time of the year when our bird population is at the
minimum and the trees are leafless, they are as welcome as
they are conspicuous.[57]

Erratic wanderers which travel on no fixed schedule
but seem to feel at home wherever they find themselves.
Except when nesting, they usually live in small
flocks which, if the fare of our feeding-stands please
them, will sometimes live with us for weeks. The call-note
is creak-creak, the song a flowing, musical warble
often uttered in detached fragments. Four to six bluish,
spotted eggs are laid in May; the nest being generally
built in a coniferous tree.

Hardy, pugnacious and adaptable, the Sparrow is a
notable success in the bird world. We could overlook his
objectionable traits if he possessed a pleasant voice, but
his harsh, discordant notes and incessant chatter are
unfortunately in harmony with his character. After all
he gives a welcome touch of life to city streets and yards.[58]
Sparrows' nests are made of almost anything the birds
can carry and built in any place that will hold them.
The 4-7 finely speckled eggs are laid as early as March,
and several broods are raised.

Crossbills and Grosbeaks are among winter's chief
attractions. While the latter, as I have said above, will
leave their summer homes in coniferous forests to feed in
winter on the seeds of deciduous trees, the Crossbills
are less adaptable. They are specialists in cone-dissecting.
Their singularly shaped bills prevent them from eating
many kinds of food available to other birds, but no other
birds can compete with them in extracting the seeds from
cones. Having had too limited an experience with man
to have learned to fear him, they are so surprisingly tame
that I have known birds to be plucked from trees as one
would pick off the cones on which they were feeding. In
March, while the ground is still snow-covered, they lay
3-4 pale greenish, spotted eggs in a well-formed nest,
15-30 feet up in a coniferous tree.

A rarer bird than the American Crossbill which, however,
it resembles in habits. Both climb about the branches of
cone-bearing trees like little Parrots, while feeding keep
up a low conversational chatter, and take wing with a
clicking note. They have been found nesting in Nova
Scotia as early as February 6.

A winter visitor from the far North whose coming
never can be foretold. Years may pass without seeing
them, then late some fall, they may appear in numbers.
They are usually in flocks and feed upon seeds as well as
birch and alder catkins. In notes and general habits the
Redpoll resembles the Goldfinch.

Holbœll's Redpoll (A. holbœlli) is a slightly larger race,
with a longer, more slender bill. It is a more northern
form than the preceding, and rarely visits the United
States. The Greater Redpoll (A. l. rostrata ) is also larger
than the common Redpoll, but has a shorter, stouter
bill. It nests in Greenland and is of casual occurrence in
the northern United States. The Hoary Redpoll (A.
hornemanni exilipes) is a whiter bird than the preceding[60]
with no streaks on the rump and comparatively few on the
underparts. It nests within the Arctic Circle and rarely
visits the northern United States in winter.

Satisfactory identification of these races of the Redpoll
can be made only by expert examination of specimens.
The field student, however, may call any Redpoll he sees
the Common Redpoll with the chances of being right
largely in his favor.

A beautiful, musical, cheerful bird, as sweet of disposition
as he is of voice. To hear a merry troop of Goldfinches
singing their spring chorus is to hear the very
spirit of the season set to music. Their call-note is a
questioning dearie, dearie, their flight-call per-chié-o-ree,
per-chié-o-ree, as in long undulations they swing through
the air. Their song is suggestive of a Canary's. They
are late housekeepers, not nesting before the latter half
of June, when 3-6 pale bluish white eggs are laid in a nest
warmly lined with plant down.

The Siskin belongs in the group of winter visitants
whose coming cannot be foretold. Some years it is rare
or wanting, others abundant, a flock sometimes, containing
several hundred birds. In general habits it resembles
the Goldfinch, feeding on weed seeds and catkins, particularly
of the alder, and on the seeds of conifers. The
call-note is a high e-eep; its song like that of the Goldfinch
but less musical.

Snow Buntings live in flocks and love open places, such
as Horned Larks frequent, and are often found with them
in fields or along the shore. Like the Horned Larks they
are walkers, not hoppers, and like most walkers, it is
exceptional for them to perch in trees. Hoffman described
their notes as "a high, sweet, though slightly
mournful tee, or tee-oo, a sweet rolling whistle, and a harsh
bzz."[62]

Lapland Longspur.

Adult male in summer. In winter the throat and breast are mixed black
and white.

A rare visitor from the far North who, if we see it at all
will probably be found in the company of Horned Larks
or Snow Buntings. It is a browner bird than either of
them, so while this is not a case of 'birds of a feather'
it is a case of birds of a long hind toe-nail, since all three
are distinguished by having a toe-nail actually longer than
its toe. All three are walkers, which means also that
they are ground-birds rather than tree-birds, and the
tracks they leave in the snow, or on the beach, distinguish
them from other birds if not from each other.[63]

A Sparrow of broad fields and plains whose song voices
the spirit of open places. Neither words nor musical
notation can describe it recognizably. It has somewhat
the form of the Song Sparrow's song, just as the two birds
resemble each other in form but are unlike in detail.
One must, therefore, first learn to know the bird—an
easy matter, since it is common and can be readily identified
by its white outer tail-feathers—and thereafter you
will be the richer for a knowledge of this rarely appealing
bit of bird music.

The nest, as one might suppose, is built on the ground,
and the 4-5 whitish spotted eggs are laid early in May.

Few migratory birds have a more restricted breeding
range than the Ipswich Sparrow. Confined to a sandbar
island during the summer where it is never out of
sight or sound of the sea, it seeks similar haunts during[64]
the winter when it is rarely found far from the immediate
vicinity of the ocean. In general habits and nesting,
it resembles the Savannah Sparrow, of which indeed,
it is doubtless an island representative.

An abundant Sparrow known only to bird students. It
prefers fields to door-yards; lives much on the ground,
and its darting flight, followed by a sudden dive to cover,
and insignificant song all combine to make it rather difficult
of identification. It nests in May, laying 4-5 white,
speckled eggs in a nest on the ground.

[65]

Grasshopper, he is called, because his unmusical little
song, pit-túck, zee-e-e-e-e, sung from a low perch, resembles
the sound produced by that insect. He is a common
inhabitant of old fields, where sorrel and daisies grow,
and when flushed at one's feet darts away to drop suddenly
to the ground beyond. The 4-5, white, spotted
eggs are laid in a ground nest in late May or early June.

Henslow's Sparrow lives in isolated and sometimes
widely separated communities, frequenting wet meadows
in summer, but visiting, also, dry fields in winter. It
has the general habits of the Grasshopper Sparrow and its
notes are equally unmusical. The 4-5 grayish white,
thickly speckled eggs are laid in a ground nest the latter
half of May.

This is the third and rarest member of the trio of small,
retiring Sparrows of which the Grasshopper Sparrow is the[66]
commonest. It is found east of the Mississippi only in the
winter when it may be associated with the Grasshopper
and Henslow's Sparrows.

An abundant inhabitant of salt marshes. There is, or
was, a colony on the Hudson River immediately south of
the long pier from which Piermont takes its name, but
with this exception I have never seen this Sparrow beyond
the sound of the surf. It runs about through the thick
marsh grasses taking wing only when hard pressed. Its
song is short and insignificant. It nests on the ground,
the 3-4 grayish white, finely speckled eggs being laid
in late May or early June.

This is a fresh-water representative of the Sharp-tail
which nests in the prairie sloughs of the interior and reaches
the Atlantic coast during its migrations and in the winter.[67]
It resembles the Sharp-tail in habits and when on the coast,
may be found associated with it.

The Acadian Sharp-tailed Sparrow (P. n. subvirgatus)
is similar to the Sharp-tailed Sparrow but is paler above;
the throat, breast and sides are washed with cream-buff
and indistinctly streaked with ashy. It nests on the
salt marshes of the Atlantic coast from Maine to Cape
Breton and in Prince Edward Island; and winters from
South Carolina to Florida. In general habits it resembles
the two preceding.

The three Sharp-tails may be distinguished chiefly by
the color and markings of the breast. In the Sharp-tail
these are pale buff distinctly streaked with blackish. In
Nelson's they are deep buff lightly if at all streaked. In
the Acadian they are cream-buff indistinctly streaked
with grayish. The Sharp-tail may be known from the
other two by its distinct black marks below, but the other
two cannot certainly be distinguished from each other in
life where both may be expected to occur.

In the Piermont marsh, referred to under the Sharp-tailed
Sparrow, there are Seasides as well as Sharp-tails,
but this is the only place in which I have seen Seasides
away from the sea. There they are abundant in the
grassy marshes. Their song is weak and unattractive.
Like the Sharp-tail they nest on the ground, laying 3-4
white or bluish white eggs, clouded or finely speckled
with cinnamon-brown, the latter part of May.[68]

This northern Seaside Finch is migratory, coming the
latter part of April and remaining until the latter half
of October, but in the South there are several races which
for the most part are resident in the same locality throughout
the year. Thus we have:

Macgillivray's Seaside Sparrow (P. m. macgillivraii).—Atlantic
Coast from North Carolina south to Matanzas
Islet, Florida. Dusky Seaside Sparrow (P. nigrescens),
an almost black species from Merritt's Island, at the head
of Indian River, Florida. Cape Sable Sparrow (P. m.
mirabilis), Cape Sable, Florida. Scott's Seaside Sparrow
(P. m. peninsulæ), Gulf Coast of Florida from Tampa to
St. Marks; Northwest Florida Sparrow (P. m. juncicola)
Coast of Florida west of St. Marks; Alabama Seaside
Sparrow (P. m. howelli), Coast of Alabama and Mississippi.
Louisiana Seaside Sparrow (P. m. fisheri),
Coast of Louisiana to Northeast Texas; and Sennett's
Seaside Sparrow (P. m. sennetti), Coast of Texas from
Galveston at least to Corpus Christi.

Few field experiences have given me more pleasure than
the discovery near my home at Englewood one November
2, many years ago, of a Lark Finch—one of the 'casuals'
which had presumably been carried far from its course
by a severe storm of the preceding days. The bird's
strongly marked face and conspicuously white-tipped[69]
tail-feathers made an impression which testifies to their
value as field-characters. In its own range this beautiful
Sparrow is a sweet-voiced inhabitant of the fields, nesting
on the ground or in low trees and bushes, and laying 3-5
white eggs, spotted and blotched with blackish, in May.

When migrating this Sparrow reminds one of a White-throat.
It has a sharp clink note and frequents brier
patches and bushy places.

This distinguished-looking cousin of our White-throated
Sparrow is rare enough in the Eastern States, always to
command our attention when we are so fortunate as to
meet him. He resembles the White-throat in habits
and choice of haunts but his song has a tender, appealing[70]
quality, lacking in the White-throat's more cheerful lay,
charming as that is.

This clear-voiced whistler is known to many persons
who have never seen it. When anyone returning from the
bird's summer range tells me "I heard a bird sing like
this," I know before he whistles a note that he will
probably imitate the White-throat. Fortunately the song
has so much character and its intervals conform so closely
to those of our musical scale, that a recognizable imitation
of it is within the power of everyone. There is much
variation in the arrangement of the notes and migrants
never seem to sing with the power of nesting birds, nor
do fall songs compare in volume or execution with those
of spring. The call-note is a characteristic sharp clink.

The White-throat is abundant, migrating and wintering
in companies which frequent bushy places, hedgerows
and undergrowth generally. The nest is placed on
the ground or in bushes in late May or early June. The
eggs. 4-5 in number, are bluish white, speckled or blotched
with brown.[71]

From October to April companies of Tree Sparrows
harvest the season's crop of weed seeds, feeding usually
near woods or hedge-rows to which they go to rest and
roost. Their merry chatter is one of the season's most
cheerful notes, and in the spring we may hear their
canary-like song.

The friendly Chippy is the most familiar and domestic
of any of our native Sparrows. He makes tentative
visits to our piazzas and, cats permitting, will take up
his residence there, building a neat, hair-lined nest in the
vines or a nearby bush. Unassuming in voice as he is in[72]
manner, his Chippy-chippy-chippy, many times repeated,
expresses contentment, even if it does not attain high
musical rank. Madame Chippy has fine taste in eggs,
laying, in early May, little blue gems, beautifully marked
with brown or black.

A Chipping Sparrow of the Plains which nests on the
ground and in low bushes. It is not common east of the
Mississippi.

'Bush Sparrow,' Mr. Roosevelt always called this bird,
and the name gives a better conception of its haunts
than that of Field Sparrow, since it is found in bush-grown
fields. From a bush-top it sings its clearly whistled,
sweet, appealing song, varying the relation of notes and
trills, but never their musical quality. In a bush also
it nests, laying 3-5 white eggs, marked with reddish brown,
in May.[73]

Gray skies and a snow-covered earth are the Junco
colors, and when he flashes them along the hedgerows and
wood borders we know that although it is only late
September, winter will soon be with us. From that time
until April the Junco is of our commonest birds. He
visits our food-shelf and roosts in our evergreens, becoming
almost as domestic as the Chipping Sparrow. The
Junco's call-notes are a sharp tsip, a contented chew-chew-chew,
and a sharp kissing call. Its modest, musical little
trill we shall not hear until spring. The nest is built
on the ground, and the 4-5 white, speckled, or spotted,
eggs are laid late in May.

[74]

Where 'scrub' oaks grow beneath the pines, or post,
or white oaks form open woods, there one may look for this
rather retiring, sweet-voiced Sparrow. If one can imagine
a Hermit Thrush singing the Field Sparrow's chant, he
will have some conception of the rare quality of Bachman's
Sparrow's song. The nest is built on the ground, the
white unmarked eggs being laid early in May.

The Pine Woods Sparrow (P. æ. æstivalis), is a darker
race, more streaked above with black. It is resident in
Florida (except the northwestern part) and southern
Georgia where it frequents pine forests undergrown with
scrub palmetto.

If the so-called 'English' Sparrow is the European Sparrow,
the Song Sparrow is the American Sparrow. He is
found in every State and from the Valley of Mexico to
Alaska. He is abundant, musical, and familiar and
probably better known than any other member of his
family native to this country. His is one of the first
birds' songs to be heard in the spring, and the last in the
fall, and when in midsummer, the adults, while molting,
are silent, the rambling, formless song of the young may
be heard.

Usually the Song Sparrow is found near water and not
far from bushes into which he flies when alarmed. Then[75]
we hear his characteristic call-note, an impatient chimp,
chimp, unlike that of any other of our Sparrows. The
nest is built on the ground and the 4-5 bluish white
brown-marked eggs are laid late in April.

We know the species only as a rare, retiring migrant,
frequenting hedgerows, and undergrowth. I have never
heard its song while migrating.

The Swamp Sparrow is a Sparrow of the marshes whose
tweet-tweet-tweet many times repeated, is associated with
the music of Marsh Wrens. It nests on the ground in
May, laying eggs not unlike those of the Song Sparrow.[76]

A vigorous scratcher in the undergrowth who, using
both feet at once, kicks the leaves out behind him;
a master musician among our Sparrows whose loud,
clear, joyous notes form one of our most notable bird
songs. We hear it only for a brief time in spring and
fall as the birds pass us on their migration.

Chewińk, towheé, the clear, emphatic, strongly accented
call announces the presence of a bird whose colors are as
distinctive as its notes. The Towhee feeds on the ground
in and near bushy places, but when the desire to sing
comes upon him he leaves his lowly haunts and taking
a more or less exposed perch, fifteen to twenty feet from[77]
the ground, utters his sweet-bird-sin-n-n-g, with an earnestness
which goes far to atone for his lack of striking musical
ability. The nest is built on the ground and the 4-5
white, finely speckled eggs are laid during the first half of
May.

The White-eyed Towhee (P. e. alleni) of Florida and
the coast region north to Charleston, South Carolina,
has the eye yellowish instead of red and the white markings
are more restricted. Its call is higher than that of the
northern bird and its song shorter.

Next to the Mockingbird's medley, the rich, mellow
whistle of the Cardinal is the most prominent bird voice
in the choir of southern songsters. Passing most of the
time in the undergrowth, where, in spite of his brilliant
colors, he readily conceals himself, he makes no
attempt, when singing, to hide his fiery plumes, but selecting
a conspicuous perch, challenges the attention of the
world.

The female Cardinal also sings, but her song has much
less volume than that of her mate, and is more rarely
heard. The call-note of both sexes is a minute; sharp,
cheep, which one would attribute to a bird half their size.
The Cardinal nests in bushes, laying 3-4 whitish eggs
speckled and spotted with brown, in April.[78]

The Florida Cardinal (C. c. floridanus), a slightly smaller,
deeper colored (especially in the female) race of the preceding,
inhabits the peninsula of Florida.

The Blue Grosbeak is an unfamiliar bird to most eastern
students. Ridgway states that its haunts resemble those
of the Field Sparrow or Indigo Bunting. Its call is a
strong, harsh ptchick, its song a beautiful, but rather feeble
warble. The nest is usually built in bushes and the 3-4
pale bluish white eggs are laid in May.

Distinguished alike by plumage and song, the Rose-breast
is one of our most notable bird citizens. His
song resembles in form that of the Robin, but has a more
lyrical, flowing, joyous quality, and, unlike the Robin,[79]
he often sings while flying. The call-note of both sexes
is a sharp peek which, like the Cardinal's cheep, seems too
small for the bird.

The Rose-breast lives and nests in woodland, particularly
second-growths, building a frail nest ten to twenty feet
from the ground. The 4-5 blue, brown-marked eggs are
laid the latter half of May.

"July, July, summer-summer's here; morning, noontide,
evening, list to me" the Indigo sings in rather hard
but brilliant little voice. To me the words express the
rhythm as well as the spirit of the song. We hear them
most often in bushy fields and open second-growths,
along hedge-rows or from briery clumps in which the
bird's nest may be hidden. The pale, bluish white eggs
are laid the latter half of May.

"Painted" Bunting he is called, but the brilliancy and
luster of his plumage were not painted by human hands.[80]
'Nonpareil' he has also been named, and, in the eastern
United States, at least, he is without equal in the brightness
of his colors. The bird's haunts are not unlike those
of the Indigo Bunting, and its song is said to resemble the
Indigo's but to be more feeble. It builds in bushes and low
trees, laying 3-4 bluish white, brown-spotted eggs in May.

The Dickcissel is a bird of the fields who, from a weed-stalk
or fence by the wayside, sings his unmusical dick-dick
cissel, cissel, cissel. The nest is built on the ground
or in a bush and the 4-5 pale blue eggs are laid the latter
half of May.

TANAGERS. FAMILY TANGARIDÆ

As a family Tanagers are the most strikingly colored
of American birds, but among the nearly 400 species none
appears more brilliant in life than the male Scarlet Tanager.
The leaf-colored female is as difficult to see as the
male is conspicuous. Both have the same characteristic
call—chip-chúrr, chip-chúrr. The song suggests a Robin's
but is more forced and has a hoarse undertone. They live
and nest in the woods, building on a horizontal limb
10-20 feet up. The 3-4 greenish blue, brown-marked
eggs are laid late in May.

The "Summer Redbird's" chicky-tucky-tuck, is as clearly
pronounced and unmistakable as the Scarlet Tanager's
chip-chúrr. Its song is somewhat sweeter than that of
its scarlet cousin, but bears a general resemblance to it.
Both pine and deciduous woods are inhabited by this bird.
Its nesting habits resemble those of the Scarlet Tanager.[82]

SWALLOWS. FAMILY HIRUNDINIDÆ

Fortunate is the man whose hospitality the Martins
accept. Their cheery notes and sociability make them the
best kind of guests. The Audubon Society will send one
plans for a Martin house, and tell one where to place it.
Martins nest in May and lay white eggs.

Cliff Swallow it is in the West, but "Eave" Swallow
it should be in the East where the rows of flask-shaped
mud nests cluster thick beneath projecting roofs. They
prefer unpainted buildings and the modern barn rarely
knows them. The white, brown-spotted eggs are laid in
the latter half of May.[83]

Barn Swallows are far more beautiful, more graceful and
more companionable than Purple Martins. But while
we are erecting special dwellings for the Martins we are
making our barns Swallow-proof. A pair of Barn Swallows
are not only cheerful neighbors but good investments.
Let us make it possible for them to enter the hay-mow.
We may even supply shelves as foundations for their
open mud nests. The white, spotted eggs are laid in the
latter half of May.

We see comparatively few Tree Swallows during the
spring, but from July to October, as they journey slowly
southward, they are the most abundant members of their
family. In countless thousands long ropes of Swallows[84]
crowd the wayside wires from pole to pole. At night,
with others of their tribe, they roost in the marshes.

Tree Swallows they are called because they nest in
hollow trees and, like some other hole-nesting birds, they
may be induced to occupy nesting-boxes, making a
welcome addition to our list of bird tenants. The 4-7
white eggs are laid in May.

The Bank Swallow is a bird of the air who tunnels the
earth for a nesting-place. Where river or road has left a
bank, its face may be dotted with the entrances to the
Bank Swallow's dwellings. At the end of two or three
feet the nest of grass and feathers is placed, fit receptacle
for the pearl-white eggs, which are usually laid the latter
half of May.

During the migrations the Bank Swallow travels with
other members of its family, sharing their roost in the
marshes by night and their wayside perch by day.

Least common of our Swallows. It nests in small colonies
of about half a dozen pairs, sometimes in holes, at others
under bridges, crevices in cliffs and similar situations.
In the fall, it flocks with other species of its family. Its
4-8 white eggs are laid the latter half of May.

WAXWINGS. FAMILY BOMBYCILLIDÆ

There are comparatively few authentic records of this
beautiful bird east of the Alleghanies. Enthusiastic
bird-students are, I fear, apt to give Waxwings, seen in
winter, the benefit of the doubt and call them 'Bohemians.'
Look especially for the white marks on the Bohemian's
wings. Its large size might not be apparent unless the two
species were seen together.

A Waxwing's crest is as expressive as a horse's ears.
One moment it points skyward the next it flattens and disappears.
They are as sociable as "Love Birds," traveling
in small flocks which, like one bird, dive into a tree and
perch so close together that often several will be almost
touching, and with common accord they take wing. They
feed mainly on small fruit both wild and cultivated but are
also expert flycatchers. They nest in June, usually in
shade or fruit trees, building a well-made nest for the
beautiful, clay-colored, black-spotted eggs.

SHRIKES. FAMILY LANIIDÆ

A grim, gray bird that comes out of the far North in the
fall. His mission is death to birds and mice and he makes
no attempt to disguise it but boldly advertises his presence
by perching where he may be seen as well as see. Mice he
can plunge on, but Sparrows, Siskins or Redpolls he may
have to pursue on the wing, following every twist and turn
until he reaches striking distance. Slowly he bears his
victim, in his feet, to some tree there to hang it on thorn
or in crotch from which it may be devoured at leisure.
An executioner by birth, the Shrike or "Butcher Bird"[87]
evidently pursues his calling with no regrets and when
spring time approaches adds his voice to the chorus of bird
song.

The Loggerhead has the general habits of his larger
northern cousin the "Butcher-bird," but he feeds, as a rule,
on smaller game. Grasshoppers and lizards form the
larger part of his fare and the barbed wire fences not
infrequently are his shambles. A flight is ended by an
upward swing to the chosen perch which may be a tree-top,
a telegraph wire, or lightning-rod tip. From such
a lookout he keeps a sharp watch for his prey, which he
detects at surprisingly long distances; meanwhile uttering
the gurgles, squeaks and pipes which constitute his
song. The nest is built in hedges or low trees in early
March. The 3-5 eggs are dull white thickly marked with
brown and lavender.

The Migrant Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus migrans) is
a northern race of the Loggerhead from which it differs
only in being somewhat paler above and grayer below.
It is a Summer Resident from Kansas and western North
Carolina to Minnesota and Maine and winters from the
Middle States southward.

Generally speaking, it may be said that any Shrike found
north of Maryland in the winter is a Northern Shrike;
that any Shrike found north of Virginia in the summer is
a Migrant Shrike, and that any Shrike found south of
that state in the summer is a Loggerhead.[88]

VIREOS. FAMILY VIREONIDÆ

This is a tropical species which reaches southern Florida
early in May and returns to its winter home after nesting.
In general habits and notes it resembles the Red-eye.

A tireless soliloquist, the Red-eyed Vireo repeats from
our shade and fruit trees in endless succession the broken
phrases of his monotonous, rambling recitation. He sings
all day and he sings throughout the summer, pausing only
to sleep or to swallow the caterpillar he hunts while
singing. Patient, persistent mediocrity is expressed by
the Red-eye's song, and only his nasal, petulant call-note,
whang, suggests that he is not altogether satisfied with life
as he finds it.

The nest, like that of our other Vireos, is a deep cup
hung from between a crotch from 5 to about 40 feet above
the ground. The 3-4 eggs, which are laid in late May, are
white spotted with reddish brown.[89]

While the Red-eye's song lasts the greater part of the
day, the Warbling Vireo's continues for only about four
seconds, then, after an interval, it is repeated. It is an
unbroken strain running up and down the middle of the
scale and has it in a reminder of the Purple Finch's lay.
This species is less generally distributed than the Red-eye.
It may be common in one locality and absent from
another. Its nesting habits and eggs are much like those
of the Red-eye, but the male has the singular custom of
singing while it sits upon the nest.

Rarest of our Vireos; but few students know it as a
migrant and fewer still as a nesting bird. Its song and
nesting habits resemble those of the Red-eye.[90]

A less common bird than the Red-eye, but like it generally
distributed through woodland, garden and orchard.
It's song resembles the Red-eye's in form but is richer
in tone, more deliberately uttered, and not continuous.
"See me—I'm here—where are you?" he seems to say,
and after a pause repeats the query.

The nest has the deep cup-shape of our other Vireo's
but is externally covered with lichens. The eggs, laid the
latter part of May, are white with a few specks of black
or brown.

We know this Vireo chiefly as a migrant, one of the
earliest of the group of small arboreal wood-haunting
birds (Vireos and Warblers) to reach us in the spring.[91]
Its song, as well as its movements, are deliberate. Vireo-like
it peers beneath the leaves or inspects the blossoms,
removing a caterpillar here or an insect's egg there, the
while singing leisurely a rich-toned rendering of the Red-eye's
theme.

It nests late in May, hanging its cup-shaped basket to a
crotch usually five to ten feet above the ground. The
eggs are white with a few black or brown spots.

The Mountain Solitary Vireo (L. s. alticola) has a slightly
larger bill and bluer back. It nests in the mountains from
Maryland to Georgia and winters southward to Florida.

An inhabitant of bushy undergrowths whose snappy
calls possess almost the character of human speech, so
clearly and emphatically are the syllables enunciated.
One's presence seems to excite both his curiosity and his
disapproval, for he looks one over from this side and that
all the while giving expression to remarks which sound
far from complimentary. The nest is hung from a
crotch, rarely more than 6 feet from the ground. The
eggs laid in April, in the South, in May in the North, are
white with a few blackish spots.

The Key West Vireo (V. g. maynardi) has a longer bill
and is somewhat paler below than the White-eye. It is
resident in southern Florida and the Keys.[92]

Resembles the White-eye in habits, notes, and choice of
haunts, but, according to Goss, its notes are not so harsh
and emphatic.

WOOD WARBLERS. FAMILY MNIOTILTIDÆ

This species and the three Nuthatches are our only
birds that creep down as well as up; but the Nuthatches
wear no body stripes and are otherwise too unlike the
Creeper to be confused with him. The Downy Woodpecker
'hitches' himself upward advancing by jerks;
the Brown Creeper, true to its name, creeps. The nest
is built on the ground and the white, brown-marked eggs
are laid in April in the South, in May in the North.[93]

No description or illustration prepares one for the gleaming
beauty of the Golden Swamp Warbler. Cypress
swamps or willow-bordered sloughs, where it may nest
in the opening in old stubs, are its chosen haunts, and in
such places it is sometimes found in numbers. The
white eggs, thickly marked with brown, are laid in May.

Comparatively few bird students have seen this retiring
Warbler in its haunts. "Water, tangled thickets, patches
of cane, and a rank growth of semi-aquatic plants,"
Brewster states, seem indispensable to its existence. Its
song in general effect, the same writer says, recalls that of
the Northern Water-Thrush. The nest is built in bushes,
canes, etc., and the white eggs are laid in May.

Comparatively few bird students can claim close acquaintance
with this slow-moving, dull-colored bird who
lives on or near the ground, usually in dry woodlands. Its
song, resembling that of the Chipping Sparrow, will attract
only an attentive ear, while its local distribution further prevents
it from being more commonly known. It nests on
the ground, the white, brown-marked eggs being laid in
May.

When migrating, this little-known species associates with
other bird travelers and may be found high or low. When
nesting, it frequents swampy woods and, although it
usually sings from the tree-tops, it builds in bushes within
a few feet of the ground, laying 3-4 white eggs in the latter
half of April or in May. Its song has been compared to
that of both the Parula Warbler and the Chipping Sparrow.

In second growths, among birches, and at the border
of the woods one may hear the wheezy, lazy, swee-chee
of the Blue-wing. I make it a rule to see the singer
always with the hope that he may prove to be the rare
Brewster's Warbler, which usually sings like the Blue-wing,
but in color is nearer the Golden-wing, being, in
fact, like the Golden-wing but with the underparts and
cheeks white unmarked with black. It appears to be a
hybrid between the Blue-wing and Golden-wing. (Case
7, Fig. 38.)

A much rarer supposed hybrid between these two
Warblers is known as Lawrence's Warbler. It is yellow
below, like the Blue-wing, but has the black throat and
cheeks of the Golden-wing. Some individuals sing like
the Blue-wing, others like the Golden-wing, and this is
true also of Brewster's Warbler. (Case 7, Fig. 37.)

The Blue-wing nests on the ground, laying 4-5 white
delicately speckled eggs the latter part of May.

The Golden-wing's zee-zee-zee-zee resembles the Blue-wing's
song in tone but the syllables are all on one note.
When nesting, the Golden-wing prefers second growths,
and birches, but when migrating it may be found in the[96]
woods with others of its family. The nest is made on the
ground, and the eggs, which resemble those of the Blue-wing,
but are more heavily marked, are laid in May or
early June.

Thayer in "Warblers of North America" says that the
Nashville is one of the most agile and restless of the
gleaning Warblers. It prefers birches, but is found
in rather open growths of other trees. Its commoner
song consists of a string of six or eight or more lively rapid
notes, running into a rolling twitter. It has also a flight-song.

The nest is placed on the ground; the eggs, which are
laid in May or early June, are white, spotted with reddish
brown.

The Orange-crown is a rare fall migrant in the North
Atlantic States, but common in Florida and southern
Georgia in the winter. It frequents the upper branches
of trees though, as with most members of its genus, it nests
on the ground. Its call-note is a sharp, characteristic
chip; its song is said to resemble that of the Chipping
Sparrow.

A dull-colored little Warbler which we know as a rather
rare migrant, associated with the traveling companies
of its family on their northward and southward journeys.
The song is described by Mrs. Farwell as noticeable but
not musical and resembling that of the Chipping Sparrow.

A common migrant, traveling with other Wood Warblers,
but in summer usually restricted to swampy localities
where usnea moss flourishes. Of, or rather in this, it
makes its nest, laying 4-5 white, brown-marked eggs
the latter half of May. To describe its song as several
wheezy notes running into a little trill, conveys no idea of
pleasing character. It is easily recognized and, in time,
acquires associations with what, to bird-lovers, is the
most delightful season of the year.

The Southern Parula Warbler (C. a. americana) is a
slightly smaller race with less black about the lores and
on the breast in the male. It summers in the Southeastern
States north to Virginia, and winters in the
tropics. Its habits resemble those of the northern race,
but it nests in the hanging, gray tillandsia or Spanish
'moss' instead of in usnea.

This beautiful Warbler was formerly considered one of
our rarer migrants, but of recent years it appears to be
increasing in numbers. On its nesting ground the bird
is said to frequent the upper branches of tall evergreens
(though one of the few nests which has been found was[99]
within three feet of the ground), but when migrating it
may be found in the trees of lawns, orchards, and woodland
and I have seen it among poke-berries. The Cape
May's song is a thin squeak which is compared to the
songs of the Black and White and also Blackpoll Warblers.

Show me willows over water and any day in May or
June I'll show you a Yellow Warbler. Shade and fruit
trees also attract him and he may build his cotton-padded
nest in their branches or in the shrubbery below. The
song is a simple we-chee, chee, chee, chee, cher-wee, resembling
that of the Chestnut-side, but has its own distinctive
tone which permits of ready identification, once it has been
learned. The bluish white eggs, thickly marked with
shades of brown, are laid the latter half of May.

A true Wood Warbler, traveling through the trees with
the scattered bands of other members of his family as he
journeys to and from his summer home. This, in the
northern part of his nesting range, is in coniferous forests,
in the southern part, deciduous forests. In both, however,
the birds require heavy undergrowth in which their
bark-covered nest is built within a foot or two of the
ground. The grayish white, brown-marked eggs are laid
in late May or early June. Miss Paddock in "Warblers
of North America" describes the Black-throated Blue's
song as "an insect-like buzzing note repeated three or
four times with a rising inflection."

Cairn's Warbler (D. c. cairnsi) is a nearly related race
having, in the male, black centers to the feathers of the
back. It nests in the upper parts of the Alleghanies, from
Maryland to Georgia, and winters in the West Indies.

A hardy Warbler which, like the Tree Swallow, can
substitute bayberries for insects. When the former are
available some individuals remain in the North, enduring
our winters without apparent discomfort. Its call-note,[101]
tchep, is as distinctive as its markings, and this fact connected
with its general distribution and abundance,
makes it one of the best known members of this little-known
family.

Thayer in "Warblers of North America" describes its
common song as "a loud silvery 'sleigh-bell' trill, a vivid,
sprightly utterance."

It nests in coniferous forests, building from four to
twenty feet from the ground and laying 3-5 white eggs
marked with shades of brown, in late May or early June.

A common migrant distinguished by the beauty of his
costume even in this family of gayly clad birds. When
traveling, the Magnolia may be found in woods and
woody growth of varied character, but when nesting, it
shows a fondness for spruce forests, building in small
spruces usually within six feet of the ground.

The Magnolia's song resembles the Yellow Warbler's
in tone. Thayer in "Warblers of North America"
describes it as "peculiar and easily remembered; weeto:
weeto-weeeéte-eet, or witchi, witchi, witchi tit, the first four
notes deliberate and even and comparatively low in tone,[102]
the last three hurried and higher pitched, with decided
emphasis on the antepenult weet or witch."

The eggs, laid in the first half of June, are white marked
with brown.

A tree-top Warbler of deciduous forests, nesting from
25 to 60 feet above the ground. Its song bears a marked
resemblance to that of the Parula and its call-note is said
to be like the tchep of the Myrtle Warbler. The white
eggs, heavily blotched with brown, are laid in May.

Scrubby second growths undergrown with bushes, roadside
borders of trees and bushes, and the brushy margins
of woods are all resorts of the Chestnut-side. Here
he attracts our attention by his rather loud, frequently[103]
uttered song, which strongly suggests that of the Yellow
Warbler. The nest is built within a few feet of the
ground and the white, brown-marked eggs are laid the
latter part of May.

The Bay-breast is one of the rarer members of its family.
Most of us know it only as a migrant passing northward
in May and southward in September, when it may be
found in woodlands associated with other migrating
Warblers. Its song resembles that of the Black and White
Warbler. Mrs. Farwell describes it as "a poor, weak,
monotonous saw-filing note." The nest has been found
in hemlocks 15-20 feet from the ground. The white
eggs, finely marked with shades of brown, are laid in
June.

Toward the end of the May Warbler 'waves' the Blackpolls
come in force. They are excessively fat and, perhaps
for this reason, move rather slowly for a Warbler. They
are Wood Warblers, but at this season may overflow into
the trees of our lawns and orchards. Mrs. Farwell
describes the Blackpoll's song as "a succession of hesitating,
staccato, unmusical notes varying greatly in volume.
The notes separated, not combined in twos, as in
the Black and White Warbler's song." When nesting
this Warbler frequents stunted spruce forests, placing
its nest in these trees a few feet above the ground, and
laying 4-5 white, brown-marked eggs the latter part of
June.

The remoteness of their homes prevents us from making
the acquaintance of the brilliantly plumaged birds of the
tropics, but among them all we will find none more
beautiful than this flame-breasted Warbler, which each[105]
spring comes from his tropical winter home almost to our
doors. In the summer he seeks the seclusion of coniferous
forests and the higher branches of spruce or hemlock.
There his nest is made sometimes 80 or more feet above
the ground, and in late May or early June the white eggs,
spotted, speckled and blotched with brown, are laid. The
Blackburnian's song is described by Miss Paddock in
"Warblers of North America" as "very shrill and fine,
growing even more shrill and wiry as it rises toward
the end."