There’s a far-away country, a wonderful land
That the twilight loves best, where the finger of God
Touched the land into shadows; unlighted they stand
As they stood at the first over-ocean and sod,
And the cloud and the mountain are one; all unheard
Is the murmur of traffic, the sigh of unrest,
And the King of the land is a golden-crowned bird
With a robe of plain brown and an ashy-gray vest.
Where the shadows are deepest a musical sound
Cleaves their darkness, the song of the golden-crowned King.
Never day is so dark but the sweet notes are heard,
Never forest so dense but the melodies ring.
Sing on, little King of the twilight land, sing,
Thy kingdom extend through the oncoming days,
Till the spaces between us with music shall ring,
And the world hush its breath but to listen and praise.
—Nelly Hart Woodworth.
[Illustration: ]
THE DOWITCHER.
(_Macrorhamphus griseus._)
The range of the Dowitcher is limited to the eastern part of North
America. It has been reported as far west as the Mississippi river. It
breeds in the far north, usually within the Arctic Circle. Its migration
is extensive for it winters in Florida, the West Indies and in the
northern portion of South America.
The Dowitcher is one of the best known of our coast birds. It bears many
popular names, such as Gray Snipe, Gray-back, Dowitch, Driver,
Brown-back and Bay Bird. The generic name Macrorhamphus is derived from
two Greek words, makros, meaning large, and rhamphos, meaning bill. The
specific name griseus means gray, and probably has reference to the
grayish color of the winter plumage.
The Dowitchers are the most numerous of the seaside snipes. Inland it is
replaced by the Long-billed Dowitcher (Macrorhamphus scolopaceus), which
has a longer bill and is a little larger. Mr. Wilson, in his
Ornithology, gives the following interesting account of their habits:
“They frequent the sandbars and mud of flats at low water in search of
food and, being less suspicious of a boat than of a person on shore,
they are easily approached by this medium and shot down in great
numbers. I have frequently amused myself with the various actions of
these birds. They fly rapidly, sometimes wheeling, coursing and doubling
along the surface of the marshes; then shooting high in the air, there
separating and forming in various bodies, uttering a kind of quivering
whistle.” At the retreat of the tide flocks will frequently settle on
the shore in such large numbers and so close together that several dozen
have been killed at a single shot.
Mr. Chapman tells us that “they migrate in compact flocks, which are
easily attracted to decoys by an imitation of their call. Mud-flats and
bars exposed by the falling tide are their chosen feeding grounds. On
the Gulf coast of Florida I have seen several hundred gathered in such
close rank that they entirely concealed the sandbar on which they were
resting.”
In summer the general color of these birds is dark-brown and the
feathers are more or less edged with a reddish tinge. Underneath, the
general color is light cinnamon, with white on the belly. In the winter
the plumage is more gray and the under parts are much lighter in color.
This bird usually lays four eggs of a buffy olive color, which are
marked by brown, especially near the larger end.
All the beautiful stars of the sky,
The silver doves of the forest of Night,
Over the dull earth swarm and fly,
Companions of our flight.
—James Thomson.