“Though a few of our common birds, like the Robin, Bluebird, Woodcock,
Crow, Grackle, and some of the Hawks and Owls, begin to nest in April,
May and June are the real nesting months.
“When the spring migration is over, we call those birds who have decided
to stay with us and build their homes Summer Residents, and it is from
these that we must learn of the home life of birds.
“The visitors who stop awhile on their way to other places we may learn
to call by name, but we can never really know them any more than we can
a chance visitor who boards a few weeks in our vicinity.
“The nesting habits of birds and the manner in which they build their
homes vary according to the necessity and skill of the species. (See
_Citizen Bird_.)
“In their house-building you will find that the birds know almost as
many trades as human beings, for among them are weavers, basket-makers,
masons, and carpenters, as well as workers in felt, hair, and feathers.
“Many water-birds merely make a hollow in the sand or gather a few bits
of grass together for a nest.
“The Grouse, Quail, and Woodcock scratch up a few leaves in a ground
hollow or between stumps, for, like domestic fowl, they always nest on
the ground and their colour, being dull, blends with it, and you may
almost step on one of these birds when it is on its nest and never know
it.
“The dull brown Sparrows build nests of grasses set in a low bush or
between its roots, but the flaming Oriole weaves himself a snug hammock
high out on a swaying elm bough, and the Scarlet Tanager builds high in
an oak. The Blue Jay weaves small roots into a firm nest set well above
reach, while the Bluebird lines a hollow in a tree or takes an abandoned
Woodpecker’s hole for his house. The Woodpeckers chisel out homes in
tree-trunks, and Robins and Cliff and Barn Swallows use more or less
mud, and plaster the inside of their homes. If you watch carefully now
when the birds are building, and associate the various nests with the
birds that build them, in autumn, when the young have flown, you can
collect many of these nests and study their beautiful workmanship. But
pray keep your hands off them while they are in use, for it is not being
either kind or polite to meddle.
“How do you think your mother would feel if somebody climbed in at the
window and tumbled up your baby brother’s crib, perhaps spilling him out
on the floor, or at least frightening him badly, in order to find out if
he slept on a mattress or a feather bed, or if the crib itself was made
of wood or metal?
“At the time of the spring migration the birds that have been living in
flocks all winter put on fresh feathers, and court and separate into
pairs just as people do when they marry and begin housekeeping.
Naturally they feel very happy, and have a great deal to say to each
other, and this is what makes birds break into song when the spring
comes to give them new life.
“Though some few females can sing, it is the males who make the
beautiful music that we hear in the spring mornings. The female is too
busy with her housekeeping to do more than answer, but her husband’s
song cheers her while she is brooding, and he probably tells her how
pretty her new feathers are, and how much he loves her, too.
“Among our gayly coloured birds, unlike people, it is the male who wears
the brightest clothes. You have heard of this all through our fall and
winter lessons, and you have seen the difference in pictures; now that
the birds themselves have come, you will have a chance to see how well
you remember, and if you can name the birds as they fly. The Scarlet
Tanager and the Goldfinch both have plain greenish olive-coloured wives.
The female Blue Jay is of a less bright hue than her mate, and the mate
of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak wears a buff, brownish streaked vest.
“Why? Because, as the mother bird spends more time about the nest than
the father, if she wore bright clothes she would attract too much
attention, and cruel Hawks, squirrels, and thieving people would find it
too easily; and Nature’s first thought is always of the care and
protection of young life, whether of plant, bird, or beast.
“Almost all of our birds feed the young nestlings with animal food, even
if they themselves are seed-eaters; for little birds must grow quickly,
and you would hardly believe the number of worms and flying things it
takes to turn one little Robin from the queer, helpless, featherless
thing that it is when it hatches from the egg, into the clumsy,
clamouring ball of feathers, with awkward wings and hardly a bit of tail
to balance it, that it is when it leaves the nest.
“No human father and mother work harder to feed their children than do
these feathered parents, who toil ceaselessly from sunrise until sunset
to bring food, and share by turns the protection of the nest.