The NORTHERN RAVEN so resembles the crow that it is often difficult to
distinguish them. The chief differences are the raven's much greater
size (from 22 to 26½ inches), and its note, which sounds more like
_Croak_ than _Caw_. This is the raven found in Alaska, northern Canada,
and Greenland,--the bird especially revered by Alaskan Indians. It is
found also in the northern United States,--in the state of Washington,
in Minnesota, the Adirondacks, and elsewhere.
Major Charles Bendire, in his "Life Histories of North American Birds,"
makes the following statements about the northern raven:
"It lives to a great extent on offal and refuse of any kind, and is
generally most abundant in the immediate vicinity of Indian camps and
settlements, which are mostly located on the seashore, or on the banks
of the larger rivers in the interior where these birds act as
scavengers. Hundreds of ravens may frequently be seen in the vicinity of
the salmon-canning stations. Clams also form a part of their food; these
are said to be carried some distance in the air and dropped on the rocks
to break their shells. They also prey to no small extent on the young
and eggs of different water-fowl."
[Illustration: CARDINAL]
THE CARDINAL
Cardinal Grosbeak, Redbird, Virginia Nightingale
(_Cardinals belong to the Grosbeak group of the large Finch or Sparrow
Family, or the Fringillidæ._)
Length: About 8¼ inches; slightly smaller than the robin.
General Appearance: Brilliant rose-red plumage; crested head and thick
beak.
Male: A soft cardinal red, except for a black throat, a black band
encircling bill, and, in winter, a grayish tinge to wings. Bill
large, heavy, and light red. Red crest conspicuous; it may be raised
and lowered at will. Tail long and slender; it is twitched nervously
and frequently.
Female: Brownish-gray above, yellowish underneath. Crest, wings, and
tail reddish--the color especially noticeable in flight. Throat and
band about bill grayish-black.
Call-note: A sharp, insistent _tsip, tsip_.
Song: A loud and clear, yet sweet and mellow whistle, _cheer, cheer,
he-u, he-u, he-u_, repeatedly rapidly with descending inflection,
and with nearly an octave in range. The female, unlike most of her
sex in the bird-world, is also a fine singer; her soft melodious
warble is considered by many listeners to be superior to the song of
her mate.
Habitat: "Shrubbery is its chosen haunt, the more tangled the better.
Here the nest is built and here they spend most of their days.
Higher trees are usually sought only under the inspiration of
song."[10]
Range: From southeastern South Dakota, Iowa, northern Indiana and Ohio,
southeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania, southern Hudson Valley,
south to the Gulf States; a resident of Bermuda. Cardinals are not
migratory.
Cardinals are especially numerous in our Southern States. They abound in
Florida and Bermuda, where their brilliant coloring contrasts
wonderfully with the light sands and the coral limestone. A cardinal
singing in an hibiscus bush, laden with gorgeous red blooms, makes a
never-to-be-forgotten memory; while a sight of one in a blossoming
Virginia dog-wood tree or against a northern snow-scene is equally
memorable. These birds are great favorites in the South, rivaling the
mockingbirds in the affections of many people. In the North, a glimpse
of a cardinal marks a red-letter day; and bird-lovers whose kind hands
spread bountiful tables for winter residents, count themselves highly
favored to have a pair of cardinals for their guests. Aside from the joy
which their beauty and their song bring, they possess great practical
value.
Mr. W. L. McAtee, of the Biological Survey, writes that about one-fourth
of the cardinal's food consists of destructive pests such as the worms
which infest cotton plants, and numerous other caterpillars, besides
grasshoppers, scale insects, beetles, and others. A large part of their
food consists of the seeds of troublesome weeds and of wild fruits. "The
bird has a record for feeding on many of the worst agricultural
pests."[11] No sins are laid at his door. "Cardinals are usually seen in
pairs, but in winter they often collect in southern swamps and thickets,
and flock to feeding-places near the haunts of man when food is
scarce."[12]
They were formerly trapped for cage-birds. They were so highly esteemed
that they were in great demand even in Europe, where they received the
name of the "Virginia Nightingale." But trapping is now nearly
abolished, and the wild, liberty-loving cardinal may roam as he will
with the wife of his heart. Few birds are more ardent, jealous lovers,
more tenderly devoted husbands, or more anxious, solicitous fathers than
these beautiful, sweet-voiced redbirds.[12]
THE PINE GROSBEAK
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_
Length: A little over 9 inches; slightly larger than his cousin, the
cardinal, and nearly an inch smaller than the robin.
General Appearance: A _red bird_ with _brown and white wings, a brown
tail, and a heavy beak_.
Male: A bright raspberry-red, deepest on the _head_, _breast_, _rump_,
and _upper tail-coverts_; the rest of the body a slaty gray, lighter
underneath, with a _soft red breast_; wings dark brown, edged with
white, forming two broad wing-bars; tail forked; beak large and
strong, with a small hook at the end.
Female: Slaty gray, with head, rump, and upper tail-coverts
_olive-yellow_ where the male's are red; under parts washed with
yellow: wings and tail brown; wings edged with white; two wing-bars.
Young: Similar to female.
Song: A loud, clear whistle, given while on the wing. In spring, a
melodious nesting song.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds in the tree-regions of Canada, in
the White Mts., and Maine; winters south to Iowa, Indiana,
Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, (and occasionally to the District
of Columbia and Kentucky), westward to Manitoba, Minnesota, and
Kansas.
This brilliant, handsome Pine Grosbeak is comparatively unknown in the
United States, but wherever he appears as a rare visitor, he is hailed
with enthusiasm or excitement because of his beautiful color. He
resembles his cousin, the purple finch, in color and markings, but is
much larger.
Thoreau says, "When some rare northern bird like the pine grosbeak is
seen thus far south in the winter, he does not suggest poverty, but
dazzles us with his beauty. There is in them a warmth akin to the warmth
that melts the icicle. Think of these brilliant, warm-colored, and
richly-warbling birds, birds of paradise, dainty-footed, downy-clad, in
the midst of a New England, a Canadian winter."[13]
The Pine Grosbeak "is of gentle, unobtrusive manner, almost entirely
fearless of man's approach, and always seems to be perfectly contented
with its situation wherever encountered. A whole tree full of these
birds may be seen feeding on the seeds of mountain ash berries, apples,
or the buds of beeches. One may stand within a few feet of them for a
long time without their taking any notice of one's presence. They are
slow and deliberate in manner. Their flight, however, is rather rapid
and aggressive, slightly undulating."[14]
They are silent, uninteresting birds, awkward in their movements. They
are very hardy, and roam southward when the severe Canadian winters send
them forth in search of food. Seeds of cone-bearing trees, sumac and
mountain ash berries are their favorite winter diet. They return to
their northern nesting places when few birds would consider it seemly to
set up housekeeping.
THE AMERICAN OR RED CROSSBILL
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_
Length: A little over 6 inches; slightly larger than the English
sparrow.
General Appearance: A small, plump red bird, with brown wings, brown
forked tail, and a _bill crossed at the tip_.
Male: Head and body a dull red, brownish on the back, and bright red
above tail; wings brown, _without white bars_; tail brown and
notched; bill with long strong mandibles that are crossed somewhat
like a parrot's.
Female: Head and body dull olive, with a yellowish wash--brightest on
rump; head, back, and under parts mottled with black.
Call-note: A short, clear, metallic whistle.
Song: A gentle warble, varied, and agreeable to hear.
Flight: Undulating.
Habitat: Coniferous forests, preferably.
Range: Northern North America. Breeds from central Alaska, and northern
Canada south to the mountains of California, to Colorado, Michigan,
and in the Alleghanies of Georgia, occasionally in Massachusetts,
Maryland, and Virginia.
Red Crossbills are truly the "Wandering Jews" of the bird-world. They
are erratic nomads, living in flocks, and roaming where fancy leads or
necessity impels them. They pitch their tents and raise their broods
wherever they may happen to be sojourning in late winter or early
spring, even though many miles south of their natural breeding places.
Dr. Elliot Coues writes: "Their most remarkable habit is that of
breeding in the winter, or very early in the spring, when one would
think it impossible that their callow young could endure the rigors of
the season." He mentions a nest taken in Maine in February, and another
in Vermont so early in March that the ground was covered with snow and
the weather was very severe.[15]
[Illustration: CROSSBILL]
They make no regular migrations, spring or fall, but like
will-o'-the-wisps appear and vanish, affording one of the most
delightful surprises to be found in nature. To see one of them,
accompanied by his olive-green mate, swinging from a spruce bough
against a flaming sunset sky or a snowy landscape, is an event in one's
life.
Crossbills are denizens of coniferous forests. Their twisted or crossed
bills are peculiarly adapted to extracting seeds from pine and spruce
cones, though they eat berries, fruit, grass seeds, and cankerworms in
season. Because of their curiously twisted beaks, these birds have
always been regarded with peculiar interest, even with superstition.
Longfellow has preserved for us the German legend regarding this bird in
his poem: