Transcriber's Note: Text emphasis is denoted by _Italics_.
[Illustration: THE WAX-WING]
OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS
BY
ELIZABETH GRINNELL
AND
JOSEPH GRINNELL
[Illustration]
BOSTON, U.S.A.
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
1899
Copyright, 1898,
By D. C. HEATH & CO.
TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., NORWOOD, MASS.
PRESSWORK BY ROCKWELL & CHURCHILL, BOSTON.
INTRODUCTION.
This volume really needs little by way of introduction. No one can
mistake the evident love for our feathered friends, the kindly
assistance that has been given them, and the success of the authors
in imparting to others much of that pleasure which they have
undoubtedly derived from their studies.
The same recreation lies within the power of all who through
inattention and thoughtlessness neglect the almost priceless relief
from daily burdens afforded by such pursuits. Every one can learn
something of the ways and doings of our little friends, even though
he may never write a book or put a pen to paper concerning them.
Knowledge thus acquired is not wasted; it elevates the mind and
trains the senses, so that in after life the habits of observing and
noting frequently become of great use, and are never a detriment.
Our authors have set forth the wanton destruction of bird life
consequent upon the use of feathers and parts of birds to ornament
hats. They have in no way misstated; for tens of thousands of birds
are annually offered on the altar of fashion to gratify a cruel
and barbarous survival of savage adornment. Yet the male friend of
the lady who wears upon her head a gorgeous array of mutilated,
misshapen, and dyed birdskins may have done something to assist in
a similar destruction of bird life. As a boy perhaps he wantonly
deprived some bird of her eggs; and later, when possessed of a gun,
he may have shown little discretion or thought when depriving the
nestling of a mother or father who alone could feed and protect it.
And as a man, too often it may be, he has allowed savage instincts to
dominate his acts instead of the knowledge derived from experience
and thought.
It lies within the power of many who will read these pages to assist
in the distribution of evidence and in the enlightenment of others,
to the end that the useless slaughter of birds and the destruction of
their eggs may be prevented, or at least greatly mitigated.
Within a few years past efforts have been made to have one day a year
in the schools set aside to study and consider the ways and interests
of our feathered friends. The matter is of national importance, and
deserves the interest that has been taken in it; but without the
hearty cooperation of teachers and their efforts to interest and
instruct their charges, there is little likelihood of accomplishing
the end desired.
Each farmer or occupier of a tract of land has it within his power
to set aside some portion of otherwise non-usable land to afford
shelter and concealment for many birds, and to protect those useful
species that select and require special locations in which to rear
their young. The presence of birds in a locality lends a charm to
the landscape which nothing else can lend. An abundance of useful
and attractive species may be encouraged to remain and breed if heed
is paid to their requirements, and efforts to disturb them in their
orderly pursuits be prevented. With slight care such species as are
not a detriment or nuisance can be assisted, and thus the value of
birds as a feature of the landscape, as insect destroyers, and as
vocalists can be more and more demonstrated and appreciated.
There is a book, large and bulky, yet within the reach of every one;
little work is required to handle it, for its pages are always open,
and it is written in the universal language. It costs nothing to read
many chapters, yet, as in all good things, a little patience and some
experience will assist greatly in acquiring a fair understanding
of its contents. In this great Book of Nature will be found much
concerning that rich and varied division of animal life to which has
been given the name of Birds, and its relation to the welfare and
enjoyment of humanity.
Certain helps have been invented by the experiences and intelligence
of man to assist those who through inattention, unfavorable
environment, or otherwise, have been unable to acquire that knowledge
of this book essential to a correct understanding of their relation
to animated nature.
Such a help is this little volume, which it is hoped may prove
useful and instructive to many whose knowledge of bird life is
small, and also be well worth a reading by those whose more extended
opportunities have permitted a wider knowledge of ornithology.
WILLIAM PALMER.
National Museum, Washington, D.C.
Seek the children, little book:
Bid them love the bird's retreat,
By the brook and woodland nook,
In the garden, in the street,
In the tree above the shed,
Underneath the old barn eaves,
In their bed high overhead,
Where their crazy-quilts are leaves.
Bid them find their secrets out,
How to understand their words.
Play the scout in woods about.
Listen slyly for the birds.
Hark! I hear a child-bird say,
Piping softly in the dell,
"You may stay and see us play,
If you only love us well."
_Pasadena, Cal._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
Introduction iii
I. The Message of a Mocking-bird 1
II. Some People we like to Know 5
III. Civilized Birds 9
IV. How Birds Dress 13
V. How Madam Bird combs her Hair 18
VI. What Birds carry in their Pockets 22
VII. Child Birds 28
VIII. How Baby Birds are Fed 33
IX. At Meal-time 39
X. Seed-eaters and Meat-eaters 45
XI. Some Birds with a Bad Name 50
XII. Before Breakfast 57
XIII. Our Birds' Restaurant--Meals at All Hours 62
XIV. Umbrellas and Other Things 68
XV. Cradle Making 73
XVI. Our Screech Owl 78
XVII. Birds at Work and Play 83
XVIII. Some Other Birds at Work 89
XIX. A Pet Humming-bird 97
XX. How we took the Humming-birds' Pictures 100
XXI. Our Robin Redbreast 107
XXII. More about Our Robin 111
XXIII. Going to Bed and getting up 116
XXIV. Mrs. Towhee proposes a Garden Party 123
XXV. At the Garden Party 129
XXVI. Our Bird Hospital 137
XXVII. A Splendid Collection 141
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
PAGE
Mocking-bird 2
The Young Mocking-bird that lost its Tail in the Door 4
Crow Blackbird 11
Turkey Buzzard 15
Mountain Quail 20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 28
Short-eared Owl 24
Nest full of Young Birds 27
Linnet 30
Humming-bird feeding her Young 35
Blue Jay 38
Downy Woodpecker 42
Chimney Swift 46
Arkansas Goldfinch 47
King-bird 51
Loggerhead Shrike 53
English Sparrow 55
Brown Towhee 58
Song Sparrow 64
Baltimore Oriole 75
Ground Owl 77
Screech Owl 79
Barn Swallow 87
Marsh Owl 88
Costa's Humming-bird 89
Cat-bird 94
Brown Thrush 95
Anna's Humming-birds 105
Robin 108
Western Bluebird 117
Whip-poor-will 121
Phœbe 121
Flicker 127
California Bush-tit and Nest 132
Meadow Lark 135
Wax-wing 139
Snowy Heron 143
OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
THE MESSAGE OF A MOCKING-BIRD.
It was in the year 1877, before any of the children who read this
book were born. We were living on one of the great reservations in
the Indian Territory. Some one knocked at the door. When the door
was opened, there stood a little Indian girl, her head all covered
up in a bright shawl. She was shy, as Indian girls were before they
had seen many white people. Very timidly she drew her hand from under
her shawl and gave to us a baby mocking-bird. Then she turned and ran
down the prairie toward her buffalo-skin lodge not far away.
We understood. The little girl's name was Kitty-ka-tat. She had been
to our house often. She knew that we liked pets of all kinds, and
birds most of all, so she had captured this one for us by a kind of
snare or trap. Of course we kept it, for we did not know where its
nest was. We allowed it to use the whole house for a cage. It ate
wherever we ate, and slept at night on the curtain pole above the
window.
[Illustration: Mocking-bird.]
But the perch it liked best by day was the top of its master's head.
As soon as this gentleman came in and sat down in the rocking-chair
and put on his skullcap, the bird would fly to his shoulder.
Sometimes it would take a nip at his ear or his hair. Then it would
give a hop and a flutter, and land in the middle of the black
skullcap, where it would sit for an hour if no one disturbed it.
It liked to take crumbs from our hands, or bits of apple from our
lips, standing on our shoulders. It bathed every day in a large pan
of water placed in the middle of the carpet. Then, too wet to fly
farther, it would flutter all dripping to a low stool, where it would
dry its clothes after the wash. If a door chanced to be left open,
the bird would fly to the top of it and preen its feathers and look
about at us below in a very pretty way. So you see the little thing
really washed and dried and ironed its clothes.
One day when it was perched on the top of the hall door, as happy
as could be, a gust of wind quickly blew the door shut, with a loud
noise. The bird gave a sharp scream and flew to the window. We looked
and saw a strange sight,--a mocking-bird without a tail.
The little bundle of feathers had been shut in at the top of the door
when the wind closed it; and there sat poor birdie, a mere chunk of a
darling, turning its head from side to side and looking sadly back at
the place where its tail had once been.
We opened the door, and down fluttered every one of the beautiful
feathers. Birdie eyed them with a puzzled look, canting its head, as
though it were saying, "I don't understand it at all." Then it looked
backward again in a very pitiful way. We couldn't help laughing,
though we were so sorry for the bird. In a short time the feathers
grew again, and the little fellow showed great care in preening them
and placing them just as it thought they ought to grow.
After a while there came to be a little baby in the house, and the
mocking-bird seemed to understand. Two grown-up people had been its
only friends before, but it was never afraid of the stranger baby
from the first time it saw him. It would fly from any perch to where
the baby lay and peep into the baby's face in the sweetest way, as
if saying, "Glad to see you, little man." Then it would twitter a
low song, which sounded very much as if it were singing, "Little one,
when you grow up, be kind to the birds and love them."
[Illustration: The Young Mocking-Bird that lost its Tail in the Door.]
"Be kind to the birds and love them" was the little mocking-bird's
message, or so it seemed to us.
The baby and his mother never forgot the message of the mocking-bird.
They have loved birds ever since. That is why they are writing this
book about birds for the children.
[Illustration]