O Golden Robin! pipe again
That happy, hopeful, cheering strain!
A prisoner in my chamber, I
See neither grass, nor bough, nor sky;
Yet to my mind thy warblings bring,
In troops, all images of spring;
And every sense is satisfied
But what thy magic has supplied.
As by enchantment, now I see
On every bush and forest tree
The tender, downy leaf appear.—
The loveliest robe they wear.
The tulip and the hyacinth grace
The garden bed; each grassy place
With dandelions glowing bright,
Or king-cups, childhood’s pure delight,
Invite the passer-by to tread
Upon the soft, elastic bed,
And pluck again the simple flowers
Which charmed so oft his younger hours.
The apple orchards all in bloom—
I seem to smell their rare perfume.
And thou, gay whistler! to whose song
These powers of magic art belong,
On top of lofty elm I see
Thy black and orange livery;
Forgive that word! a freeman bold,
Of choice thou wearest jet and gold,
And no man’s livery dost bear,
Thou flying tulip! free as air!
Come, Golden Robin! once again
That magic, joy-inspiring strain!
—Thomas Hill.
“Of all our North American birds, the Tanager is the most gorgeous and
suggestive of the tropics. I do not understand how any one can fail to
name him. He is unlike any other. Entire body rich scarlet, wings and
tail black; that is all that there is to remember about him in spring
dress. In autumn he moults to a greenish yellow like his mate, but still
keeps his black wings and tail.
“This bird is commonly thought to be rare, but that is because he loves
groves of oaks, chestnuts, and beeches, and Nature has taught him to
keep in high deep shade, that his colour, far richer than the Cardinals,
may not make him a target for enemies, both feathered and human. But in
the migrations he is often to be seen. Half a dozen were feeding at one
time in the garden and about the lunch-counter this spring, and in May,
whenever I drove about or went to Fair Meadows village, some one was
sure to either ask me the name of the beautiful red birds that they had
seen about the yard, or, if they knew the bird, tell how plentiful
Tanagers had been this year.
“Protection has certainly helped this bird, and in some places it is
said to be increasing; and as it is distinctly a bird of high trees,
where its nest of loosely built sticks is placed, it is not so much
affected by the modern plague of cats as either Robin, Song Sparrow, or
the Thrushes. ‘The song resembles somewhat that of the Robin, but is
shorter and less varied, with a little apparent hoarseness or harshness
in the tone. Chi-chi-chi-char-ee, char-ee-chi represents it fairly
well.’ It also has a sharp ‘Chip-churr!’ alarm note.
“The Robin, Grosbeak, and Tanager all have certain notes in common, so
that when they all sing at once, it is often difficult to distinguish
the individual songs.
“The Tanager is the guardian of the forest trees and their insect pests.
As a caterpillar hunter, it is said ‘he has but few superiors.’ He finds
the leaf-rolling caterpillar in its snug retreat and destroys myriads of
weevils, click-beetles, and crane-flies. The Tanager also visits
orchards, and in early spring, during the migrations, he braves danger
and feeds in the furrows of ploughed land in the same way as the
Grackles and Robins.
“The Tanagers are unique little specimens when they first leave the
nest, for the male birds undergo as many changes of colour as Harlequin
in the pantomime. After the down of nestlings, they wear the dull colour
of the mother, and before they put on the full spring plumage, they go
through a stage of patchwork such as you see in this picture in my
portfolio. Then after being bright red all summer, they again go through
the patchwork state before leaving in fall.
“The coming of cold weather evidently warns this Tanager to go, for
being provided with a dull travelling cloak, he need no more fear being
seen in the leafless trees than the Thrushes or Sparrows.
“_Thistle-bird_, _Lettuce-bird_, and _Yellowbird_ are all names given to
this friendly little Sparrow of the stout bill, black cap, tail, wings,
and bright gamboge-yellow plumage, who lives with us all the year and is
almost always seen in flocks. In spring we find these birds and their
more sober wives feeding on dandelion seeds. In early summer they glean
grass seeds in the hayfields. In late summer and early autumn they
flutter about the seeding thistle in company with the rich red
butterflies, and after this, the male and female, garbed alike, then
live wherever the wild composite flowers like asters, sunflowers, or
garden marigolds and zinnias have gone to seed and in the great waste
fields of weeds.
“At all times its flight is noticeable for its dip, followed by an
upward jerk, and as they fly, they call ‘per-chic-o-ree-per-chic-o-ree’
(Chapman) in a jolly, gleeful manner.
“In May, June, and July they sing in a varied and canary-like manner
from tree-tops and as they swing on stalks of grass, having quite
powerful voices for their size, which is under five inches.
“A lover and close observer of these Goldfinches has written the summer
life of a pair of these birds in so interesting a fashion that I will
read it to you. Either the pair that she describes were very late in
nesting, or it was their second brood.
[Illustration: GOLDFINCH]
Order—Passeres Family—Fringillidæ
Genus—Astragalinus Species—Tristis