zooelogy are necessary they can easily be given. It has been
estimated recently that the forests and streams of Maine are
worth more than its agricultural resources. If this is so,
is it not equally as important to teach the best means of
preserving the timber, the game, and the fish, as it is to
teach students how to develop the agricultural wealth of the
State? In 1885 Pennsylvania passed its famous "scalp act,"
and in less than two years expended between $75,000 and
$100,000 in an attempt to rid the State of animals and birds
supposed to be injurious. A large part of the money was
spent for killing hawks and owls, most of which belonged to
species which were afterwards shown to be actually
beneficial. Not only was money thrown away in a useless war
against noxious animals, but the State actually paid for the
destruction of birds of inestimable value to its farmers.
During the last five or six years two States have been
engaged in an unsuccessful attempt to exterminate English
sparrows by paying bounties for their heads. Michigan and
Illinois have each spent more than $50,000; but, although
millions of sparrows have been killed, the decrease in
numbers is hardly perceptible. A more general knowledge of
the habits of the English sparrow at the time the bird was
first introduced into the United States would not only have
saved this outlay of over $100,000, but would also have
saved many other States from loss due to depredations by
sparrows.
Is it not worth while to do something to protect the birds
and prevent their destruction before it is too late? A
powerful influence for good can be exerted by the schools if
the teachers will only interest themselves in the movement,
and the benefit that will result to the pupils could hardly
be attained in any other way at so small an expenditure of
time. If it is deemed unwise to establish another holiday,
or it may seem too much to devote one day in the year to the
study of birds, the exercises of Bird Day might be combined
with those of Arbor Day.
It is believed that Bird Day can be adopted with profit by
schools of all grades, and the subject is recommended to the
thoughtful attention of teachers and school superintendents
throughout the country, in the hope that they will cooeperate
with other agencies now at work to prevent the destruction
of our native birds.
T. S. PALMER,
_Acting Chief of Division_.
Approved:
CHAS. W. DABNEY, JR.,
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 2, 1896.
The results of Bird Day are noticeable in the schools in which it has
been observed. The spirit of the schools has become fresher and
brighter. There has been more marked improvement in the composition
work and in the language of the pupils. Most of the children know the
names of many of our birds and considerable of their ways of life, and
wish to know more, and are their warm friends and protectors. The old
relations between the small boy and the birds have been entirely
changed. The birds themselves have been affected. They have become
much more numerous. Many that were formerly rare visitants now nest
freely in the shade trees of the city; for example, the orioles, the
grosbeaks, the scarlet tanagers, and even the wood thrushes, and their
nests are about as safe as the other homes. The children say that the
birds know about Bird Day, and have come to help it along.
The correlation of the public library and the public schools is
assured in those towns where Bird Day has been introduced. If there
were no other result of this new day, the demand for healthful
literature would be enough. The call for Burroughs and Bradford
Torrey, Olive Thorne Miller, and the other writers of our out-of-doors
literature is so great as to attract attention in the libraries. In
fact, in one the writer knows well there is a constant and steady
demand, particularly from the boys. Frank Bolles is a great favorite
with them. The excursions to the woods have a new and aesthetic
interest. What would Emerson have thought when he wrote that matchless
bit--
Hast thou named all the birds, without a gun?
Loved the wood-rose and left it on its stalk?
if he had known that the boys of another generation would be able to
answer as he would have liked to have them!
The effect upon teachers is not less marked. The trip to the woods in
the early morning and at sunset, sometimes with the children and
sometimes in parties by themselves, has resulted in physical and
mental good. A new and charming relation has sprung up between
teachers and children. The tie of community of interests is a strong
one. A taste in common is always conducive to friendship.
The surprising thing about this new departure in nature study is that
once taken up it will never be abandoned. There is something
fascinating in it. One may love trees and flowers, but their processes
and habits of growth are in a way unrelated to us; but our "little
brothers in feathers" are kin to us in their hopes and fears.
"When I think," said a bright woman the other day, "that this summer I
have learned to know by plumage and by song twenty birds, and when I
realize the delight the knowledge has given me, I feel as if I ought
to go out as a missionary to the heathen women in my neighborhood."
She did not exaggerate the feeling of every bird lover. So much is
lost to life and good cheer by this ignorance.
Now that the Bird Day idea is being taken up and spread by the United
States Government in the interests of economy, it will do much to
sweeten the lives of the coming generation. The natural impulse to
love and watch the birds will be encouraged instead of being
disregarded.
Hast thou named all the birds, without a gun?
Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk?
O, be my friend, and teach me to be thine!
--EMERSON.
No longer now the winged inhabitants
That in the woods their sweet lives sing away,
Flee from the form of man, but gather round,
And prune their feathers on the hands
Which little children stretch in friendly sport
Towards these dreadless partners of their play.
--_Extract from_ SHELLEY'S _Queen Mab_.
PART II
NOTES ON REPRESENTATIVE BIRDS
KINGBIRD (_Tyrannus tyrannus_)
CALLED ALSO BEE BIRD, BEE MARTIN, AND TYRANT FLYCATCHER
Length, about eight and one-half inches; spread of wings, fourteen and
one-half inches. The upper parts of body are a blackish ash; top of
head, black; crown with a concealed patch of orange red; lower parts
pure white, tinged with pale bluish ash on the sides of the throat and
across the breast; sides of the breast and under the wings rather
lighter than the back; the wings dark brown, darkest towards the ends
of the quills; upper surface of the tail glossy black, the feathers
tipped with white.
This bird is a common summer resident of the Middle States, where it
usually arrives the last of April. The name _tyrannus_ given to it is
descriptive of the character of the male, since during the breeding
season he is anxious to attack everything wearing feathers. His
particular aversion is hawks and crows, which he assails by mounting
above his adversary and making repeated and violent assaults upon his
head. He will even drive the eagle from his vicinity.
The farmer could have no better protection for his corn fields than
the near-by nest of a pair of kingbirds. They eat some honeybees, but
for every bee thus taken they destroy ten noxious insects. They can be
easily frightened away from the vicinity of the hives without being
killed.
The kingbird's nest is made of slender twigs, weed stalks, and
grasses, and is placed among the branches of trees, fifteen to
twenty-five feet from the ground. There are usually four or five eggs,
white, spotted with brown. They have generally two broods a year.
[Illustration: KINGBIRD]
FLICKER (_Colaptes auratus_)
CALLED ALSO YELLOW-HAMMER, PIGEON WOODPECKER, HITTOCK, AND YUCKER
Length, twelve and one-half inches; extent, about twelve inches. The
back and wings above are of a dark umber, cross marked with streaks of
black; parts surrounding the eyes, a bright cinnamon color; upper part
of head, dark gray; strip of black on each side of the throat about
one inch long; a narrow crescent-shaped spot of a vivid red upon the
back of the head. The breast is ornamented with a broad crescent of
black; under parts of the body, white, tinged with yellow, and having
many round spots of black; the lower side of the wing and tail, a
beautiful golden yellow; the rump, white.
This bird may be easily distinguished by the white rump and the bright
yellow under the wings seen in flight.
Its food consists largely of wood lice, ants, of which it is very
fond, and of other insects which it finds upon the ground or upon
trees. The female differs from the male in appearance, the black
strips upon the sides of the throat being very indistinct or wanting
entirely.
The flicker's nest, like those of other woodpeckers, may be found in
maples, oaks, apple trees, and occasionally pines or birches. They are
more frequently built in clusters of trees than in exposed places, and
from ten to thirty feet from the ground. The male has been noticed
coming to the ground and throwing chips about, so that the
nest-building might not be observed. The eggs are plain white.
[Illustration: FLICKER]
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER (_Melanerpes erythrocephalus_)
Length, nine and one-half inches; extent, eighteen inches. The head
and neck are crimson; a narrow crescent of black on the upper part of
the breast; back, outer part of the wings, and tail, black glossed
with blue; rump, lower part of the back, inner part of the wings, and
the whole under parts, from the breast downwards, white; legs and
feet, bluish green; claws, light blue. Like all woodpeckers, the tail
feathers are sharp and stiff and help the bird to sustain itself upon
the tree. It can strike hard blows with its bill, and drill into the
hardest wood with rapidity and apparent ease. It will locate
accurately the position of a grub or an insect that is within the wood
of a tree, drill a hole to the inmate, and pull it out with its long,
sticky tongue. The female is like the male in appearance, except that
her colors are somewhat fainter. Woodpeckers as a class are
beneficial, and do much to preserve trees from destructive insects.
The red-headed woodpecker builds its nest at the bottom of a tunnel in
a tree, dug by other birds, or adapted to use from an already existing
cavity. The nest is a mere heap of soft, decaying wood, more attention
being paid by the bird to securing protection against rain than in
having the nest clean and nice. The eggs are white, speckled with
reddish brown, and are usually six in number.
[Illustration: RED-HEADED WOODPECKER]
BLUE JAY (_Cyanocitta cristata_)
Length, twelve inches; extent, seventeen inches. The head is crested;
crest and upper back are a light purplish blue; wings and tail, bright
blue; a collar of black proceeds from the hind part of the head,
gracefully curving down each side of the neck to the upper part of the
breast, where it forms a crescent; the chin, throat, and under parts
are white or slightly tinged with blue; the tail is long and composed
of twelve feathers marked with cross curves of black, each feather
being tipped with white, except the two middle ones, which are a dark
purple at the ends. The legs and bill are black.
The nest of the blue jay is large and clumsily made, and is placed
high in the branches of tall trees, the cedar being preferred. It is
lined with fine, fibrous roots. The eggs are four or five in number,
of a dull olive, spotted with brown.
[Illustration: BLUE JAY]
BOBOLINK (_Dolichonyx oryzivorus_)
CALLED ALSO RICEBIRD, REEDBIRD, AND BOBLINCOLN
Length, seven and one-fourth inches; extent, twelve and one-fourth
inches. The female is a little smaller than the male. The male has the
top and sides of the head and under parts black; large yellowish patch
on the back of the neck; middle of back is streaked with buff; lower
part of the back and upper tail feathers, grayish white; wings and
tail, black; the bill is short, conical, and is blue black. The tail
feathers are sharp-pointed and stiff like a woodpecker's. The female
has the upper parts olive buff streaked with black; yellowish beneath;
two stripes on the top of head; wings and tail, brownish; tail
feathers with pointed tips. In the autumn the male puts on a dress
similar to that of the female, the colors being a little more
pronounced.
The nest is built on the ground, of grasses. It contains from four to
seven grayish eggs, spotted with blotches of brown.
[Illustration: BOBOLINK]
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (_Agelaius phoeniceus_)
CALLED ALSO AMERICAN REDWING, MARSH BLACKBIRD, AND SWAMP BLACKBIRD
Length, nine and one-half inches; spread of wings, fifteen and
one-fourth inches. The male is of a uniform black, which glistens in
the sunshine; shoulders bright scarlet bordered with brownish yellow;
bill, legs, and feet black. The female is smaller than the male, and
differs greatly from him in appearance. She is dark brown above,
streaked with lighter and darker shades; below, gray streaked with
brown; throat and edge of wing tinged with pink or yellow, but mostly
pink in the summer. The young male at first resembles the female, but
may soon be recognized by black feathers appearing in patches.
The nests, which are composed chiefly of coarse grasses lined with
finer grass, are built upon the ground or in low bushes. Those built
in bushes are compact, the others are generally loosely made. The eggs
number four to six, spotted and lined with black and brown.
[Illustration: RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD]
MEADOW LARK (_Sturnella magna_)
CALLED ALSO FIELD LARK
Length of male, ten and one-half inches; spread of wings, sixteen
inches. The female is smaller. The feathers above are dark brown, with
transverse dark brown bars across the wings and tail; the outer tail
feathers, white; the throat, breast, under parts and edge of wing,
bright yellow. A yellow spot extends from the nostril to the eye. The
breast has a large black crescent, the points of which reach halfway
up the neck; hind toes long, its claws twice as long as the middle
one. The female is like the male, but duller in color.
Their food is various forms of insects, beetles, grasshoppers,
cutworms, larvae, sometimes varied by the seeds of grasses and weeds,
wild cherries, and berries.
The nest is built upon the ground, of dried grasses, carefully
concealed in tufts of grass. The eggs are oval, usually five in
number; they are white, dotted with reddish brown. Both sexes engage
in building the nest.
[Illustration: MEADOW LARK]
BALTIMORE ORIOLE (_Icterus galbula_)
CALLED ALSO GOLDEN ROBIN, FIREBIRD, AND HANGBIRD
Length, about eight inches; extent, twelve and one-half inches. The
head, throat, and upper part of the back are black; the lower part of
the back, the breast, and forward part of the wing are a brilliant
orange. The base of the middle tail feathers is orange, the ends
black; all the others are orange, with a black band in the middle. The
female is smaller, and colors are not so bright.
The nest is composed of various materials, such as grasses, plant
fibers, hairs, strings, which are capable of being interwoven. It is
suspended near the end of a limb. The eggs are commonly five in
number. They are whitish and variously marked with black and brown
spots and lines.
[Illustration: BALTIMORE ORIOLE]
SONG SPARROW (_Melospiza fasciata_)
Length, a little over six inches; extent, about eight and one-half
inches. General color of the upper parts brown streaked with black,
gray, and different shades of brown; no white wing bars; the crown
dull brown, with a faint grayish line in the middle; white line over
the eye; under parts whitish with numerous dark brown streaks on the
neck, breast, and sides; a conspicuous black spot in the middle of the
breast; bill, legs, and feet are brownish. The female is the same as
the male.
The nest is composed of grasses, lined with finer grass. It is built
in a low bush or on the ground. The eggs vary greatly both in size and
in markings. They are generally five in number, and are greenish or
bluish white, variously spotted with brown. These birds raise two and
sometimes three broods.
Not to know the song sparrow is to miss one of the delights of
summer.
[Illustration: SONG SPARROW]
GOLDFINCH (_Spinus tristis_)
CALLED ALSO YELLOWBIRD, THISTLE-BIRD, AND WILD CANARY
Length, five and one-fourth inches; extent, nearly nine inches. The
back and under parts are bright yellow; wings and crown cap, black;
tips of the wing and tail feathers, white on their inner webs. The
male in autumn loses his black cap, and his bright yellow parts change
to a dull brownish yellow similar to the female; the wings and tail,
however, remain darker and the white markings are more noticeable than
those of the female. The female has no black cap; the wings and tail
are dusky, marked with white as in the male; lower parts, yellowish
gray; upper parts inclining to olive.
The nest is cup-shaped, composed of plant fibers, lined with downy
substances. The eggs are usually five in number, white or faintly
bluish.
[Illustration: GOLDFINCH]
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK (_Habia Ludoviciana_)
Length, eight inches; extent, thirteen inches. Back, throat, and head
are black; breast and under wings, rose-red; wings, black; rump, white
tipped with black. The female is about the same size as the male. Her
upper parts are brown, margined with buff and pale brown, with whitish
line over the eye; wings and tail, dark gray; feathers of the fore
wing tipped with white; under parts yellowish, streaked with brown.
The nest is a thin, flat structure made of dried grasses and small
twigs. The eggs are greenish white with brown spots; they are usually
four in number. These birds are said to be great destroyers of potato
bugs.
[Illustration: ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK]
CEDAR BIRD (_Ampelis cedrorum_)
CALLED ALSO CHERRY BIRD, AMERICAN WAXWING, AND CANADIAN ROBIN
Length, seven and one-fourth inches; extent, about twelve inches. The
head is crested; general color, grayish brown; forehead, chin, and a
line through the eye, black; tail and wings, gray; tail tipped with
yellow; some of the shorter wing feathers are tipped with small oblong
beads of red, resembling sealing wax.
These birds are fond of cherries and berries. The fruit grower can
protect his interests by planting some choke cherries, mulberries, and
mountain ash trees at the edges of his orchard. Cedar birds destroy
great quantities of insects, and are entitled to a part of the fruit
which they have helped to save.
The nest is large and loosely made of strips of bark, leaves, grasses,
sometimes of mud, lined with finer materials. The eggs are usually
five in number, dull gray spotted with black and brown.
[Illustration: CEDAR BIRD]
BROWN THRUSH (_Harporhynchus rufus_)
CALLED ALSO BROWN THRASHER
Length, eleven and one-fourth inches; extent, thirteen inches; tail,
five and one-half inches long. The iris is yellow; upper parts,
reddish or cinnamon brown; lower parts, white; feathers of middle wing
edged with white; the breast and sides strongly spotted with dark
brown.
The nest is a carelessly made, bulky affair, composed of rootlets,
strips of bark, twigs, leaves, and other material. It is generally
poorly concealed in some low tree or even in the corner of a fence.
For this reason it is frequently broken up. The eggs, four or five in
number, are brownish mottled with darker brown. During the nesting
season the bird at morning and in the afternoon ascends to the tops of
trees and pours forth his wonderful song. He has even been thought to
be "showing off," for he will sing almost as long as any one will stay
to listen; but he is probably attracting attention to himself in order
to detract it from his nest, which is always somewhere within the
circle of his song.
[Illustration: BROWN THRUSH]
CHICKADEE (_Parus atricapillus_)
CALLED ALSO BLACKCAP TITMOUSE
Length, five and one-half inches; extent, eight inches. The general
color of back is ashy; the top of head, throat, and chin black; no
crest; under parts, whitish with buff on the sides; wing and tail
feathers edged with white; legs, bluish gray; bill, black. The song of
this bird is an oft-repeated _chick-a-dee_, from which it takes its
name. Its call consists of two high notes, the first one a third above
the second, which may be easily imitated, and the bird attracted to
the vicinity of the person answering his call.
Its nest is made of grasses and feathers, placed in a hole in a stump
or tree; frequently in the deserted cavity made by a woodpecker. The
eggs, six or seven, are white, spotted with brown about the larger
end.
[Illustration: CHICKADEE]
CATBIRD (_Galeoscoptes Carolinensis_)
Length, nine inches; extent, eleven and one-half inches. The general
color is dark slate, somewhat lighter beneath; top of the head and
tail, black; under side of tail near the base, chestnut; bill and
feet, black; eye, brown. The female is like the male, but smaller. As
a musician, this bird closely approaches the brown thrush. There are
great differences in individual singers.
The nest is bulky, composed of twigs, rootlets, dead leaves, strips of
bark, etc. Strips of grapevine bark are quite commonly used, some
nests being constructed almost wholly of this material. The eggs are
generally four in number and of a greenish blue, unmarked.
[Illustration: CATBIRD]
BLUEBIRD (_Sialia sialis_)
Length, six and one-half inches; extent, twelve and one-half inches.
The upper parts, wings, and tail are bright blue; sides of the head
and upper part of chin also blue; throat, breast, and sides, reddish
brown; abdomen and under side of tail, white; legs and bill, blackish;
eye, brown. The female is similarly marked, but the colors are duller.
The bluebird's song is a continued pleasing, rich warble.
The nest is loosely built of grasses, feathers, and soft material, in
holes of trees, in hollows of posts, or in bird boxes. The eggs are
light blue and are four or five in number.
[Illustration: BLUEBIRD]