Notes: Mr. Frank Chapman writes of this woodpecker: "It ascends a tree
in a curious, jerky fashion, accompanying each upward move by a
hoarse _chu-chu_. It also utters _k-r-r-r-ring_ roll and, when
mating, a _whicker_ call like that of the Flicker."[77]
Habitat: Open woods of deciduous trees and conifers; also groves of
live-oak, palmettoes, and other southern trees, where these birds
may be seen in company with flickers.
Range: From southern Canada and eastern United States southward;
abundant in the Southern States; rare in New England; is found in
western New York and south-western Pennsylvania, and Delaware, south
to central Texas and the Gulf States.
[Illustration: YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER]
Professor Beal made the following report regarding this woodpecker: "The
red-bellied woodpecker ranges over the eastern United States as far west
as central Texas and eastern Colorado and as far north as New York,
southern Ontario, Michigan, and southern Minnesota. It breeds throughout
this range and appears to be irregularly migratory. It appears to go
north of its breeding range sometimes to spend the winter. Four
stomachs, collected in November and December, were received from Canada,
and in eight years' residence in central Iowa the writer found the
species abundant every winter, but never saw one in the breeding season.
It is rather more of a forest bird than some of the other woodpeckers,
but is frequently seen in open or thinly timbered country. In the
northern part of its range it appears to prefer deciduous growth, but in
the South is very common in pine forests.
"Ants are a fairly constant article of diet. The most are taken during
the warmer months. Evidently this bird does not dig all the ants which
it eats from decaying wood, like the downy woodpecker, but, like the
flickers, collects them from the ground and the bark of trees.
"In Florida, the bird has been observed to eat oranges to an injurious
extent. It attacks the over-ripe fruit and pecks holes in it and
sometimes completely devours it. The fruit selected is that which is
dead ripe or partly decayed, so it is not often that the damage is
serious. The bird sometimes attacks the trunks of the orange trees as
well as others and does some harm. The contents of the stomachs,
however, show that wild fruits are preferred, and probably only when
these have been replaced by cultivated varieties is any mischief
done."[78]
THE YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER
_Woodpecker Family--Picidæ_
Length: About 8½ inches, larger than the Downy, and smaller than the
Red-headed woodpecker.
General Appearance: A medium-sized bird, with _bars_, _stripes_, and
_patches_ of black and white. The _scarlet crown_, the _black band
across_ the _breast_, and the _scarlet throat_ of the males are
distinguishing marks.
Male: Crown and throat bright red; bill long; head with broad black and
white stripes, extending to neck. The black stripe beginning at bill
unites with a _black crescent that encloses red throat_. _Breast_
and _belly light yellow_; sides gray, streaked with black; back
black, barred with white; wings black, with _large white patches_,
white bars, and spots; _middle_ tail-feathers, white and black;
outer tail-feathers mostly black.
Female: Resembles male, but throat is usually white instead of scarlet.
Young: Similar to parents, but with dull blackish crowns, whitish
throats, and brownish-gray breasts.
Notes: A faint call-note; a ringing call, consisting of several similar
notes.
Habitat: Tree-trunks, into which these birds drill holes and thus kill
the trees.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from the tree-belt of Canada to
northern Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, mountains of Massachusetts and
North Carolina; winters from Pennsylvania and Ohio Valley to the
Gulf Coast, Bahamas, Cuba, and Costa Rica.
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is the renegade of the woodpecker
family--the transgressor that has called down anathemas upon all his
tribe. He does more damage in some localities than others. Mr. Forbush
reports that while the sapsucker has undoubtedly killed trees in
northern New England where he breeds, yet in thirty years he has done no
appreciable harm in Massachusetts.
Dr. Henry Henshaw, formerly Chief of the Biological Survey, writes: "The
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, unlike other woodpeckers, does comparatively
little good and much harm." Mr. Henshaw reports 250 kinds of trees known
to have been attacked by sapsuckers and left with "girdles of holes" or
"blemishes known as bird-pecks, especially numerous in hickory, oak,
cypress, and yellow poplar."[79]
The experience of Dr. Sylvester Judd at Marshall Hall, Maryland, was as
follows: "In the summer of 1895 there was on the Bryan farm a little
orchard of nine apple trees, about twelve years old, that appeared
perfectly healthy. In the fall sapsuckers tapped them in many places,
and during spring and fall of the next four years they resorted to them
regularly for supplies of sap. Observations were made (October 15, 1896)
of two sapsuckers in adjoining trees of the orchard. From a point twenty
feet distant they were watched for three hours with powerful glasses to
see whether they fed to any considerable extent on ants or other insects
that were running over the tree-trunks. In that time one bird seized an
ant and the other snapped at some flying insect. One drank sap from the
holes thirty and the other forty-one times. Later in the day, one
drilled two new holes and the other five. The holes were made in more or
less regular rings about the trunk, one ring close above another, for a
distance of six to eight inches. The drills were about a quarter of an
inch deep, and penetrated the bark and the outer part of the wood.
"In November, 1900, seven of the nine trees were dead and the others
were dying. The loss of sap must have been an exhausting drain, but it
was not the sole cause of death. Beetles of the flat-headed apple-borer,
attracted by the exuding sap, had oviposited in the holes, and the next
generation, having thus gained an entrance, had finished the deadly work
begun by the sapsuckers."[80]
Mr. W. L. McAtee, of the Biological Survey, made the following report on
sapsuckers: "These birds have short, brushy tongues not adapted to the
capture of insects, while the other woodpeckers have tongues with barbed
tips which can be extended to spear luckless borers or other insects
whose burrows in the wood have been reached by their powerful beaks. The
sapsuckers practically do not feed on wood-borers or other forest
enemies. Their chief insect food is ants. About 15 per cent. of their
diet consists of cambium and the inner bark of trees, and they drink a
great deal of sap.
"The parts of the tree injured by sapsuckers are those that carry the
rich sap which nourishes the growing wood and bark. Sapsucker pecking
disfigures ornamental trees, giving rise to pitch streams, gummy
excrescences, and deformities of the trunks. Small fruit trees,
especially the apple, are often killed, and whole young orchards have
been destroyed.
"These birds inflict much greater financial loss by producing defects in
the wood of the far larger number of trees which they work upon but do
not kill. Blemishes frequently render the trees unfit for anything
except coarse construction and fuel.
"Hickory trees are favorites of sapsuckers. It is estimated that about
10 per cent. of the merchantable material is left in the woods on
account of bird pecks. On this basis the annual loss on hickory is about
$600,000. To this must be added the loss on timber by the
manufacturer."[81]
It is no wonder that war has been declared upon sapsuckers; but it is
very sad that because of a lack of careful observation of the
distinctive markings of tree-trunk birds, many useful woodpeckers,
especially the Downy and Hairy, have been sacrificed.
Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers may be readily identified by a _broad white
stripe_ extending down the _center_ of the _back_, a _small patch_ of
_red_ on the _back_ of the head, _pure white throats_ and _breasts_, and
wings _barred_ with white. A _red forehead_ and _crown_ (and red throat
of males), a _black crescent across_ the _breast_, _large white patches_
on the _wings_, a _back_ with _black_ and _white bars instead of a white
streak_, differentiate this sapsucker from the Downy and Hairy
woodpeckers. The yellow belly is not a conspicuous "field-mark."
There are several species of sapsucker in the West. The YELLOW-BELLIED
is found in western Texas; the RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER in the Rocky Mt.
region, from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico, and from Colorado
and Montana to the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mts.; the RED-BREASTED
SAPSUCKER in the Canadian forests of the _Pacific Coast region_, from
Alaska to Lower California, east to the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas; and
the WILLIAMSON SAPSUCKER, from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mts.
westward to the Pacific, and from Arizona and New Mexico to British
Columbia.[82] The last-named species is a great devourer of ants.
[Illustration: MOURNING DOVE]
THE MOURNING DOVE
_Pigeon Family--Columbidæ_
Length: Nearly 12 inches; tail 5½ inches.
General Appearance: A large, plump, grayish-brown bird, with a small
head, a _black mark below the ear_, and a _long pointed tail_, in
contrast to the round, fan-shaped tail of tame pigeons.
Male: Upper parts a soft grayish-brown, except the head, which is
bluish-gray on the crown, with a pinkish-buff forehead, and the
wings, which have long, gray primaries. _Sides of neck beautifully
iridescent_, with a _small black spot below_ the _ear_, an
identification-mark; black spots on the lower part of breast and
wings; breast with a pinkish tinge, and underneath the tail pale
yellow; tail long and sharply pointed when the bird is at rest. In
flight, it resembles the jay's in shape; the middle feathers are
brown, like the back; outer feathers largely white; others brown,
tipped with white and banded with black; feet and legs red.
Female: Duller than male, with less iridescence on neck.
Note: A soft, monotonous _coo-oo-a-coo-o-o_, uttered mournfully and with
great tenderness. The sound is pleasing to some people, but
unendurable to others.
Habitat: Open woodlands, or fields bordered with trees.
Range: North America. Breeds chiefly from southern Canada throughout the
United States and Mexico; winters from southern Oregon, Colorado,
the Ohio Valley, and North Carolina to Panama; casual in winter in
the Middle States.
Mourning doves, whose "billing and cooing" have become proverbial, are
as devoted pairs of lovers as may be found in the bird-world. The ardent
male appears to seek the society of none except his loving mate. She
seems perfectly satisfied with his attentions and evidently gives him
her whole heart.
Madame Dove is a very inefficient housekeeper. Her nest, built of rough
sticks, and notoriously ill-constructed--is a sort of platform on which
two white eggs are laid. It is a wonder that they remain in safety long
enough to be hatched, for the nests are often not more than ten feet
from the ground. Were not her twin-babies as phlegmatic as their
parents, they might roll out of bed and come to an untimely end.
It is fortunate that the easy-going mother does not need to prepare the
bountiful repasts her family demand. She and her husband select a
home-site near fields where weeds abound and where grain is raised. The
family gorge themselves upon seeds until they almost burst. Mr. Charles
Nash says that "these birds are often so full of seeds that, if a bird
is shot, the crop bursts open when it strikes the ground."[83]
They are of enormous economic value. Their food is almost entirely
vegetable, and consists largely of the seeds of weeds that a farmer must
pay to have destroyed or work hard to eradicate. Doves frequent fields
of wheat, corn, buckwheat, rye, oats, and barley, but the grain they
destroy is only a third of their food, and consists largely of waste
kernels, according to the reports of the Department of Agriculture.[84]
They like many varieties of infinitesimal seeds that are eschewed by
other birds; as many as 9200 seeds have been found in the stomach of one
dove.
These birds have an unerring instinct for fresh water. With a peculiar,
whistling sound, they fly at nightfall to a spring or pool for a cool
drink before retiring. Hunters are said to have watched them and thus
found springs for their needs.[85]
Doves eat quantities of gravel to aid in the digestion of their
epicurean feasts. They are fond of dust-baths. They also indulge in
queer, senseless-looking acrobatic performances, which appear like
attempts at gymnastics.
THE BELTED KINGFISHER
_Kingfisher Family--Alcedinidæ_
Length: About 13 inches--a rather large, stocky bird.
General Appearance: A large bluish-gray and white bird, with a _very
large crested head_, a _long bill_, and a short tail.
Male: Bluish-gray above, becoming darker on the wings; a ragged-looking
crest on an unusually large head; a white spot in front of each
large dark eye; small flecks on the wings; tail bluish-gray, flecked
and barred with white; _throat white_, a _band_ of _white extending
nearly around the_ neck; a _broad band_ of _bluish-gray extending
across the breast_; under parts white, except the sides, which are
bluish-gray; feet relatively small, but with long, strong nails.
Female: Similar to the male, except for a _band_ of _reddish-brown
across the breast_, extending to the sides, and forming a fourth
belt; a white belt at the throat, then gray, white, and
reddish-brown belts. Unlike most birds, the female kingfisher is
more highly colored than the male.
Note: A long harsh rattle, similar to the sound made by two bones or
smooth sticks in the hands of a boy, or to the noise of a
policeman's rattle.
Habitat:
"By a wooded stream or a clear cool pond,
Or the shores of a shining lake."
Range: North America, and northern South America. Breeds from Alaska and
northern Canada to the southern border of the United States; winters
from British Columbia, central United States to the West Indies,
Colombia, and Guiana, irregularly to Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
and Ontario.
[Illustration: KINGFISHER]
This self-appointed guardian of our streams and lakes is clad in a suit
of gendarme blue. He wears a sharp two-edged sword in his cap, and
carries a rattle in his throat.
He is a perfect example of "Watchful Waiting," as he sits motionless on
a bough overhanging a stream, with his fierce eyes fixed intently upon
the waters beneath him. When an unwary fish swims by, this blue-coat
plunges after it and spears it with deadly accuracy. If small, the fish
is swallowed whole; if large, it is beaten to death against a tree, and
devoured with difficulty. When fish are not obtainable, the kingfisher
will eat frogs and crustaceans, and sometimes grasshoppers, crickets,
and beetles. Fish, however, are his favorite food.[86]
The nest is as unusual and interesting as the bird himself. It consists
of a tunnel excavated in a bank by the long knife-shaped bills of the
kingfisher and his mate. A cavity of good size must be hollowed out to
accommodate so large a bird and a family of from five to eight lusty
youngsters. They are lively and quarrelsome; they set up a great clamor
when Father or Mother arrives with an already-prepared fish-dinner. Dr.
Francis H. Herrick, in his delightful book, "The Home Life of Wild
Birds," tells of his observations of a kingfisher's nest and nesting
habits as follows: "The nest had a 4 inch bore; 4 feet from the opening
was a vaulted chamber 6 inches high and 10 inches across...."
A series of rattles announced the approach of the parent bird "who came
at full tilt with a fish in her bill, making the earth resound." In
response came "muffled rattles of five young kingfishers, who issued
from their subterranean abode.... With a rattle in shrillest crescendo,
she bolted right into the hole, delivered the fish, remained for half a
minute, then came out backwards, turning in the air as she dropped from
the entrance, and with a parting rattle was off to the river."
There were five babies in what Dr. Herrick called the "King Row." They
were amusing to look at as they sat back on their legs; the bill of one
nestling protruded above the shoulder of the bird in front of it. They
never seized their food (fish) of their own accord. "It was necessary to
open their bills and press the food well down into the distensible
throats." Raw meat was rejected, but they throve on fish. "Kingfishers'
throats are lined with inwardly projecting papillae so that when a fish
is once taken in its throat, it is impossible for it to escape."[87]
The young kingfishers that Dr. Herrick observed became very tame. He is
pictured with them on his hand, his shoulder, and on both knees.
While kingfishers do less good than most of our feathered benefactors,
they do not destroy enough fish to be a detriment to the fishing
interests of lakes and streams. They are true sportsmen, whose presence
we should miss when we followed the rod and creel. We are forced to
respect their prowess, and we may apostrophize them in the words of
Izaac Walton: "Angling is an Art, and you know that Art better than
others; and that this is the truth is demonstrated by the fruits of that
pleasant labor which you enjoy."
[Illustration: FIELD SPARROW]
THE FIELD SPARROW
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_
Length: About 5½ inches.
General Appearance: A small brown bird with a _reddish back_ and _bill_,
and a _buff breast without spots_ or _streaks_.
Male and Female: Top of head reddish-brown; sides of head, nape of neck,
and line over eye gray; bill reddish-brown; back reddish-brown,
streaked with black and gray; rump brownish-gray; wings and tail
brown, some wing-feathers edged with gray; _sides_ and _breast
washed with buff_.
Song: A sweet trill, consisting of the syllable _dee_ repeated a number
of times. It varies with different individuals, but is phrased
somewhat as follows: _Dee'-dee'-dee', de'-de, de'-de, de'-de,
de'-de, de'-de, de'-de._
Habitat: Old overgrown pastures containing clumps of bushes, preferred
to cultivated fields. This sparrow is not accurately named, for it
is not strictly a bird of the fields.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from southern Minnesota, Michigan,
Quebec, and Maine to central Texas, Louisiana, and northern Florida;
winters from Missouri, Illinois, southern Pennsylvania, and New
Jersey to the Gulf Coast.
Some gorgeous but noisy birds, like blue jays, peacocks, and parrots,
please only the eye; many quietly-dressed but sweet-voiced songsters are
a delight to the ear. To the latter class belongs the Field Sparrow, a
gentle little bird, so rarely seen as to recall to our minds the lines:
"Shall I call thee Bird
Or but a wandering Voice?
· · · · · ·
Even yet thou art to me
No bird, but an invisible thing,
A voice, a mystery."
It was several years after I had learned to love the sweet, tender song
of the field sparrow that I had my first glimpse of the singer. He is a
very real and delightful part of our April meadows, where he lives his
serene life.
[Illustration: VESPER SPARROW]
THE VESPER SPARROW
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_
Length: A little over 6 inches; slightly larger than the field sparrow.
Male and Female: Brownish-gray above, with faint streaks of black and
buff; wings brownish, with _bright reddish-brown shoulders_, giving
this sparrow the name of _Bay-Winged Bunting_. Under parts white,
the sides and breast streaked with black and buff; tail brownish,
with _outer tail-feathers mostly white, and conspicuous in flight_.
Song: A plaintive minor strain, usually consisting of two notes followed
by a trill. The syllables sound like _Sweet'-heart, I love
you-you-you-you-you_.
Habitat: Grassy pastures and plowed fields, usually in the open, away
from farmhouses and out-buildings.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from central Canada south to
eastern Nebraska, central Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, and North
Carolina, west to western Minnesota; winters from the southern part
of its breeding range to the Gulf Coast, west to central Texas.
The Vesper Sparrow is very easy to identify because of its white
tail-feathers. They show conspicuously as the bird flutters beside
hedges that border fields, frequently keeping just ahead of the
observer.
The bird is less attractive in appearance than the other familiar
sparrows, but has to my mind the sweetest voice of all the sparrows that
I know except the fox sparrow. Its song is pensive and tender, with a
spiritual quality that gives it a high rank. The song sparrow's lay
usually consists of three similar notes sung in a major key with a
rising inflection, and followed by a cheerful trill; the vesper
sparrow's song generally has two plaintive notes preceding a trill, sung
in a minor key. It is particularly beautiful and uplifting when several
vesper sparrows are singing at sunset.