_Leucosticte australis_,' the Brown-capped Rosy Finch, in the Colorado
mountains and shows us a half-tone of the site and one of the nest and
eggs, the latter pure white. Messrs. B. S. Bowdish and P. B. Philipp
record the finding of several nests of 'The Tennessee Warbler in New
Brunswick,' and also show us half-tones of the rare nest and eggs.
A pleasing study of the courtship of several species of ducks is
presented by Dr. C. W. Townsend, who uses binoculars to good advantage,
and Mr. J. C. Phillips raises 'Two Problems in the Migration of Water
Fowl,' one, regarding the occurrence of certain North American Ducks in
the Marshall Islands, the other dealing with the behavior of Canada
Geese when migrating.
Mr. W. A. Bryan declares that there is 'An Undescribed Species of
_Drepanididae_ on Nihoa, Hawaiian Group,' but wisely refrains from
preliminarily tagging it with a name (as has sometimes been done in
similar cases) because no specimens have been obtained. Messrs. J. E.
Thayer and O. Bangs list 'A Collection of Birds from Saghalin Island,'
Mr. F. H. Allen describes 'A Nesting of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak,' and
Mr. H. Mousley contributes the first part of 'Five Years' Personal Notes
and Observations on the Birds of Hatley, Stanstead Co., Quebec,
1911-1915.' There is much of interest in Mr. Mousley's well annotated
list which is to be continued.--J. D.
[Illustration: Bird-Lore]
A Bi-Monthly Magazine
Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES
Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN
Contributing Editor, MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
Published by D. APPLETON & CO.
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Vol. XVIII Published April 1, 1916 No. 2
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SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Price in the United States, Canada and Mexico, twenty cents
a number, one dollar a year, postage paid.
===========================================================
COPYRIGHTED, 1916, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN
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Bird-Lore's Motto:
_A Bird in the Bush Is Worth Two in the Hand_
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It is a long time since BIRD-LORE has published a more valuable and
significant article than the one contributed by Mr. Gilbert H. Grosvenor
to this issue. Its chief value does not lie in its important bearing on
what may be termed avian sociology or on its surprising demonstration of
the close connection existing between available nesting-sites and
bird-population. Rather is it to be found in the relations which it
reveals between human-life and bird-life as the result of the best type
of what we have before called 'bird gardening.'
The birds which Mr. Grosvenor has brought about him are unquestionably
more his birds than if he had shot them and placed their skins in a
cabinet. With their death his responsibility for their welfare would
cease. But a living bird, to which we feel we owe protection, is exposed
to so many dangers that our fears for its safety are correspondingly
aroused. These birds of our garden are our guests. Through the erection
of bird-houses and by other means we have invited them to live with us
and when they accept as readily as they have with Mr. Grosvenor, they
make us realize not only our responsibility but they awaken the
strongest sense of hospitality.
In a former number of BIRD-LORE we had something to say about what we
believe to be the difference between ornithologists and bird-lovers.
That is, between the bird student eager to devote his life to research
work some of which may be so dry and technical that it would repel
anyone but a born enthusiast; and the person whose interest in birds,
while keen and genuine, does not beget that hunger for knowledge
concerning them which is the birthright of the true naturalist.
The first type of interest we feel distinguishes the born
ornithologists, the second is an almost universal heritage of mankind.
Usually, however, it is dormant. We may be in possession of this
priceless gift and still be unaware of its existence. Herein lies the
value of nature-study, and particularly of the kind of educational work
the National Association of Audubon Societies accomplishes through its
Junior Classes. It is _not_ to be expected that the one hundred and
fifty odd thousand children included in these classes during the past
year will become ornithologists. But if their inherent love of birds is
quickened and they become acquainted with the more common species and
are taught to realize the beauty and value of bird-life we shall have
added immeasurably to their resources.
Mr. Grosvenor tells us that in April, 1913, when he moved to his country
home near Washington, neither he nor any member of his family could name
more than three species of birds. Opportunity so quickly added to this
number that within two years, as his statistics show, he had succeeded
in inducing to nest on his home acre more than twice as many birds as
had been before reported from the same area and under similar
conditions.
So much we learn from the figures given. But no figures can express the
pleasure derived from the friendships which have been established
between landlord and tenant, and between landlord's family and tenants'
families. Mr. Grosvenor may regret that his own childhood lacked that
association with the commoner birds which gives them an enduring place
in our affection. But his pictures show that he does not propose to have
his children denied this privilege.
=The Audubon Societies=
=SCHOOL DEPARTMENT=
=Edited by ALICE HALL WALTER=
Address all communications relative to the work of this department to
the Editor, 67 Oriole Avenue, Providence, R. I.
"Nature has no human inhabitant who appreciates her. The birds with
their plumage and their notes are in harmony with the flowers, but what
youth or maiden conspires with the wild, luxuriant beauty of nature? She
flourishes most alone, far from the towns where they reside. Talk of
heaven! ye disgrace earth.
"Sometimes I rambled to pine groves, standing like temples, or like
fleets at sea, full-rigged, with wavy boughs, and rippling with light,
so soft and green and shady that the Druids would have forsaken their
oaks to worship in them; or to the cedar wood beyond Flint's Pond, where
the trees, covered with hoary blue berries, spiring higher and higher,
are fit to stand before Valhalla, and the creeping juniper covers the
ground with wreaths full of fruit; or to swamps where the usnea lichen
hangs in festoons from the white-spruce trees, and toadstools, round
tables of the swamp gods, cover the ground, and more beautiful fungi
adorn the stumps, like butterflies or shells, vegetable winkles; where
the swamp-pink and dogwood grow, the red alder-berry glows like eyes of
imps, the waxwork grooves and crushes the hardest woods in its folds,
and the wild-holly berries make the beholder forget his home with their
beauty, and he is dazzled and tempted by nameless other wild forbidden
fruits, too fair for mortal taste.
"Instead of calling on some scholar, I paid many a visit to particular
trees, of kinds which are rare in this neighborhood, standing far away
in the middle of some pasture, or in the depths of a wood or swamp, or
on a hill top: such as the black-birch of which we have some handsome
specimens two feet in diameter; its cousin the yellow-birch, with its
loose golden vest, perfumed like the first; the beech, which has so neat
a bole and beautifully lichen-painted, perfect in all its details, of
which, excepting scattered specimens, I know but one small grove of
sizable trees left in the township, supposed by some to have been
planted by the pigeons that were once baited with beech nuts near by; it
is worth the while to see the silver grain sparkle when you split this
wood; the bass; the hornbeam; the _celtis occidentalis_, or false elm,
of which we have but one well-grown; some taller mast of a pine, a
shingle tree, or a more perfect hemlock than usual, standing like a
pagoda in the midst of the woods; and many others I could mention. These
were the shrines I visited both summer and winter."--Excerpt from
_Walden_, HENRY D. THOREAU.
"He saw with a clear and kindred eye, he understood with his heart, the
life of field and wood and water about him. The open sky, the solitudes
of the windy hill-top, the sweep of the storm, the spacious changes of
dark and dawn, these, it seems to me, spoke to him more clearly than to
others."--C. G. D. ROBERTS, in Introduction to _Walden_.
=BIRD AND ARBOR DAY=
=AN AWAKENING=
In most of the talks we listen to on Bird and Arbor Day, in most of the
poems and prose selections we recite or read to celebrate this occasion,
we hear about the awakening of spring, when birds return and trees and
early plants blossom, and insects and hibernating animals emerge from a
winter's sleep. All Nature is pictured as rousing from the lethargy of
cold December and colder January and February, under the influence of
the sun, now early with its morning greeting, and of soft breezes which
begin to take the place of chilling gales. But what part has man in all
of this glad festival of activity and growth! Does he awaken too, and
take his part in the general re-creation of Nature?
No, man is glad when spring comes, he welcomes birds and flowers and
budding trees, but he has learned to build shelters for himself against
storms, to fight the uneven cold with steady fire, and to raise and
store food to nourish his body throughout the season when the ground is
frozen and vegetation dead. He does not come to life and activity again
with the changing seasons, and, much as he may enjoy spring with its
multiform beauties, he seldom rouses out of the routine of his ordinary
life, except now and then, perhaps, for a fitful instant. Well-fed,
well-clothed and well-housed, he still fears the elements and dreads
exposure and hunger. He is not a part of nature, but the ambitious
master of nature. Only now and then does a man partly awaken from his
civilized life and turn to Nature as to a mother. But when he does, when
his eyes are fairly open, when his hand can write or his lips speak the
truth, what a revelation comes not only to him but to those who
understand his message!
It is of man's awakening that I wish to tell you this lovely Bird and
Arbor Day season, an awakening which you must try to feel if you are not
so choked and stifled in towns and cities by ideas of things to wear and
eat and amuse yourself with that you cannot understand the truth.
In all ages, a few men have awakened to the touch of Nature. It would be
worth our while to know even their names, but, better yet, to know their
message. Some have lived as you and I live, others have lived only in
books, through the imagination of other men. There was once a lad who
was afraid, afraid of the dark, afraid of horses, afraid of many things.
As he grew older, he began to feel that there was much he did not enjoy
because of fear, and he resolved to conquer fear. He ran through a
pasture where a bull was loose, and outwitted the charging creature,
escaping to a place of safety. This was rash. He attempted to drive a
horse of some spirit through crowded city streets, with no knowledge of
driving or sympathy with horses. This was rash, too. He left his
companions and guides asleep at night on the edge of the jungle, and
wandered alone into the forest, unarmed and almost breathless with fear.
It was a rash thing to do, but as he wandered or stood rooted to the
ground, while deer, monkeys, frogs, owls, flying squirrels, and at last
a tiger, crossed his path, he began to feel a new sense of security and
serenity. He found it very wonderful and beautiful. "A warm,
faintly-scented breeze just stirred the dead grass and leaves. The trees
and bushes stood in pools of darkness, and beyond were pale stretches of
misty moonshine and big rocks shining with an unearthly luster. Ahead
was darkness, but not so dense, when he came to it, that the track was
invisible ... the moon was like a great shield of light spread out above
him. All the world seemed swimming in its radiance.... He wished he
could walk as a spirit walks--." ... "Of course, the day jungle is the
jungle asleep. This was its waking hour. Now the deer were arising from
their forms, the tigers and panthers and jungle cats stalking
noiselessly from their lairs in the grass. Countless creatures that had
hidden from the heat and pitiless exposure of the day stood now awake
and alertly intent upon their purposes, grazed or sought water, flitting
delicately through the moonlight and shadows. The jungle was awakening.
This was the real life of the jungle, this night life, into which man
did not go. Here he was on the verge of a world that, for all the
stuffed trophies of the sportsman and the specimens of the naturalist,
is still almost as unknown as if it were upon another planet."
"He became less and less timorous as beast and bird evaded him or fled
at his approach, and when the moon sank suddenly, and darkness settled
down, 'a great stillness came over the world, a velvet silence that
wrapped about him, as the velvet shadows wrapped about him. The
corncrakes had ceased, all the sounds and stir of animal life had died
away, the breeze had fallen,' and thus, calm and full of placid joy, he
waited for the dawn, for he had conquered fear."
This is an imaginary picture, based no doubt on some actual experience.
It is worth reading because it puts one _into sympathy_ with Nature,
even with one of its wildest and most uninhabitable parts. There are
girls, and boys too, living in secure houses in village or town, _who
are afraid_, afraid of the dark, afraid of the deep woods, afraid of
wild, lonely places where snakes may be lurking, or some imagined beast.
There are many grown-up people who are more fearful than children, to
whom a storm is terrifying, who see little beauty in rough places, who
take no enjoyment in fog, rain or snow. It is natural to be afraid, but
it is not wholesome, and it betrays ignorance. This kind of fear
deprives most people of much that makes up the very best of life. One
need not be rash or daring to conquer fear. It is only needful to
_awaken_, to get into sympathy with Nature, to see the world as it
really is, and not as our shrinking bodies lead us to imagine.
A man died not long ago who for many years had lived perhaps as close to
Nature as anyone in this generation. His name was John Muir. He loved
the mountains with their vast silences and wide outlooks; the storms and
winds, searching every hidden corner and ruling all Nature in their
passing; the giant trees of his home country, majestic sentinels of
tranquillity, and age-long growth; he loved the clouds and stars, birds,
beasts and flowers; he loved mighty waters, whose power man's hand might
never check. This man wrote at times modestly and reverently of what he
saw and felt. You can learn truth from him. Many other men have seen
deeply into Nature, and written with sincerity, pages which we do well
to study. There comes to mind the poet Lanier, who, struck by the fatal
hand of disease, sought to prolong his life by living with Nature in the
open. How delicately and clearly he translated beauty into terms of
music and rhythm! How intimately he _sensed_ the world about him! He
wrote,
"I am not overbold.
I hold
Full powers from Nature manifold.
I speak for each no-tongued tree
That, spring by spring, doth nobler be,
And dumbly and most wistfully
His mighty prayerful arms outspreads
Above men's oft-unheeding heads,
And his big blessing downward sheds.
I speak for all-shaped blooms and leaves,
Lichens on stones and moss on eaves,
Grasses and grains in ranks and sheaves;
Broad-fronded ferns and keen-leaved canes,
And briery mazes bounding lanes,
And marsh-plants, thirsty-cupped for rains,
And milky stems and sugary veins;
. . . . . .
"All purities of shady springs,
All shynesses of film-winged things
That fly from tree-trunks and bark-rings;
All modesties of mountain-fawns,
That leap to covert from wild lawns,
And tremble if the day but dawns;
All sparklings of small beady eyes
Of birds, and sidelong glances wise
Wherewith the jay hints tragedies;
All piquancies of prickly burs,
And smoothnesses of downs and furs
Of eiders and of minevers;
All limpid honeys that do lie
At stamen-bases, nor deny
The hummingbirds' fine roguery,
Bee-thighs, nor any butterfly;
All gracious curves of slender wings,
Bark-mottlings, fiber-spiralings,
Fern-wavings and leaf-flickerings;
Each dial-marked leaf and flower-bell,
Wherewith in every lonesome dell
Time to himself his hours doth tell;
All tree-sounds, rustlings of pine-cones,
Wind-sighings, doves' melodious moans,
And night's unearthly under-tones;
All placid lakes and waveless deeps,
All cool reposing mountain-steeps,
Vale-calms and tranquil lotos-sleeps;--
Yea, all fair forms, and sounds, and lights,
And warmths, and mysteries, and nights,
Of Nature's utmost depths and heights,
--These doth my timid tongue present,
Their mouthpiece and leal instrument
And servant, all love-eloquent.
I heard, when 'All for love' the violins cried;
So, Nature calls through all her system wide,
'_Give me thy love, O man, so long denied_.'"
--From _The Symphony_, SIDNEY LANIER.
No message could be more beautiful or more welcome than this. Not poets
and artists, but birds, streams, and the pure encircling air should call
us into the open. We may not have the opportunity to wander in the
jungle by night, or to climb lonely mountains or penetrate into the
glooms of giant forests, but we can get outdoors by day into parks or
country, and we can learn to sleep outdoors and feel the health-giving
air with every breath we draw, and to awaken every morning with gladness
that we are looking out upon the sky and rising sun, with no barriers of
blinds and storm-windows between us and Nature. When we realize every
day that to live, to simply be alive, is joy, then work will never mean
drudgery or idleness and luxury seem things worth while.
If Bird and Arbor Day can make you understand and feel this message, it
will be the happiest day of the year for you.--A. H. W.
=JUNIOR AUDUBON WORK=
=For Teachers and Pupils=
=Exercise XXVI. Correlated Studies: School Gardening and Reading=
In view of the fact that valuable suggestions are being received from
time to time, as to practical methods of conducting and encouraging
bird- and nature-study, it is perhaps a wise and timely interruption of
the ordinary Junior Audubon exercise to submit the following five
methods for the consideration of teachers and pupils. Each of these
methods contains at least one idea which can be worked out along local
lines by any teacher with the aid of willing pupils. Some of these
methods are particularly applicable to Bird and Arbor Day, for we have
now somewhat outgrown the necessity of simply having "exercises" to mark
that day. When _all days_ are Bird and Arbor Days, we shall have gained
a strong point in bird- and nature-study, and let it be hoped no school
will omit some sincere recognition of the day, this spring.
=Ways of Keeping Up Interest in Bird-Study=
=I. A BIRD-GAME FOR THE SCHOOLROOM=
During the years of 1914 and 1915, I have learned a great deal about
birds. We have an Audubon Society in our room which I think is very
interesting. We have about sixteen members, and we watch and study the
birds very carefully. Our teacher read us a story out of BIRD-LORE that
one of her pupils wrote last year for the magazine. It certainly is
interesting.
One day we went into Miss W----'s room, to have our society together.
After we finished the program, we played a game called 'Guessing Birds.'
Some one would go to the front of the room with a bird pinned on her
back and one of the teachers would ask some one in the room a question
about the bird. Then they would have to guess the name of the bird. We
had lots of fun playing this game. Some of the children could not guess
the bird that they had on their backs. Then the teacher would take if
off and put her hand over the name of the bird and ask if they knew what
it was.
There has not been much snow in Herndon, so the birds can find a good
deal of food without anyone feeding them. With our fines we bought some
wire and suet. One day we went to the woods not far from the schoolhouse
to feed the birds. We tacked the wire on the trees and then put the suet
under the wire. It will soon be time to go and put more suet under the
wire for the birds.--GERALDINE SAGER (Aged 11), Herndon, Va.
[Very often the best way of fostering and keeping up interest in
bird-study has to be considered, especially in Junior Audubon Societies
or bird clubs. The idea suggested above seems to be an attractive one,
for anything in the nature of a game usually appeals to young people.
Several bird-games similar to "Avelude" are for sale, but these are
played with cards, and are not suitable for use in the schoolroom. They
make agreeable recreations for the home, however, and their use may well
be encouraged.--A. H. W.]
=II. A BIRD CONTEST FOR BIRD CLUBS=
Place............ Time........ Date............
1. A crowned head (answer) Kingbird
2. An unsteady light (answer) Flicker
3. An Eastern city visitor (answer) Baltimore Oriole
4. A yellow conversationalist (answer) Yellow-breasted Chat
5. The pride of the farm (answer) Quail
6. A peace mourner (answer) Mourning Dove
* * * * *
21. Ruler of the fisheries (answer) Kingfisher
Name of contestant........................
[Space is too limited to print this contest in full, but enough has been
given to show how it was carried out. The Nature-Study Club of Indiana
engaged in the contest, which was gotten up by one of its leaders, "to
afford some amusement for the members while they were enjoying the
beauties of nature. It was given under a large, spreading beech, and
during the time the members were racking their brains to find the proper
name of each feathered creature listed, the calls and notes of many of
the birds could be heard all around, seemingly trying to assist the
members to recall their names. The trip was a most successful one from a
nature-study point of view, as the club traversed beautiful streams,
lowlands and hills, and found a variety of trees and plants and many
beautiful birds."
The approximate age of those taking part in the contest was about
thirteen (ten to sixteen years). A prize was offered, and a little girl
aged twelve who had thirteen correct answers out of the twenty-one
puzzles given, won it.
This form of diversion in connection with bird-study has considerable to
commend it as an occasional method to use to stimulate interest and
start competition.--A. H. W.]
=III. METHOD OF STUDY=
Miss Mc---- has read your interesting letter to her class. And as I am
one of the twenty-eight, or twenty-nine girls in her class I have
decided to write, and give you an idea of what we are doing. I think
that we (that is the class) are all interested in the Audubon Society
for the protection of birds. On April 7 the class had their picture
taken to send to you. On Friday afternoon we always try to read at least
one of the leaflets of the lives of the birds. Each girl reads a
paragraph, and as we read the teacher explains it to us. This summer we
are going to have some bird-houses in the playgrounds of the school.
I live out in the suburbs of the city, and generally there are a great
many birds that come to our door in the morning. Hoping to hear from
your Society quite often; I remain one of the interested pupils.--ISABEL
ACORN.
* * * * *
Miss Mc---- read your letter to the class the other day, and we were
very much interested in it. I like the Society, and every Friday in
school we read a leaflet. The birds often come into the yard in summer,
and we scatter crumbs.
We are making bird-boxes, and when the leaves come on the trees we are
going to have shelves put up and put crumbs on them. It is nice to paint
pictures of the birds and read about them.