with two great toes. You will say at once “that is a walking foot.”
It is not to be carried into the air. These great toes are not for
digging, but for walking or running.
Look at the soles of these toes. They are cushioned or padded thick.
That bird must live where the soil is soft, and these padded feet will
keep him from sinking. Yes, he lived on the desert sand. He is the
largest bird in the world. He can run faster than a horse. Such a bird
could not be lifted into the air on wings. He has short, stout wings,
which he flaps as he runs, and as they have large feathers on them,
they catch the air as sails do, and so help him along.
His bill is like a huge hen’s bill. He eats melons, grass, and grain.
These are some of the stories told by beaks and feet.
LESSON XXX.
TREE, GROUND, AND WATER BIRDS.
In old times they told fables of birds which had no feet, and lived
always on the wing. There are no such birds. All birds have feet, all
rest from flying. But the motion of flying is so beautiful and easy,
that it is no wonder that birds of strong flight are much upon the wing.
[Illustration: AT THE POND.]
The eagle and hawk families are very swift of flight, and spend most
of their time mounting and wheeling. They are keen of sight, and from
great heights will see their prey, and swoop down upon it.
The swallow family seems never tired of flying. They feed upon the
wing. The tiny humming-birds move their wings so quickly, you cannot
see them. They hover with this motion while they drink honey from
flowers. They are very seldom seen resting.
Pigeons are among our swiftest birds. Have you noticed how thirsty
pigeons are? That is because they are very hot blooded. They need much
hot blood to warm up in their lungs the air which they drive through
their hollow bones. Thus they make a kind of balloon of their bodies.
The pigeon’s body helps to keep it up in the air.
Many of the birds that live much on the wing build their nests on or
in trees. I shall tell you a little of nests in another lesson. Now we
will speak of one or two tree-living birds.
The butcher bird, or shrike, is about the size of a robin. It is a
pretty bird, gray or brown in color. Its food is living things, as
beetles, bees, mice, and young birds. It has a very curious habit. It
brings home part of its food, and hangs it on a thorn near its nest.
The butcher bird chooses trees with thorns or sharp twigs, and makes
its nest among them. Then on the thorns, all about the nest, it hangs
insects and little animals. I saw one of these nests once, about which
hung a young bluebird, a beetle, three bees, and a big spider.
I have thought it may hang up little dead animals partly as a trap for
big blue-bottle flies. For these flies cluster about the dead bodies,
and the shrike, keeping guard near his nest, picks them up at his ease.
A much nicer bird, one which I wish lived in our country, is the bower
bird. This bird makes its nest in a tree, but fashions a little arbor
for itself, among the grasses. Into its grass palace it brings all the
pretty things it can find. Shells, bright stones, bits of cloth, glass,
bones, flowers, are all brought to its little play-house. Would you not
love a bird which had such pretty ways?
Of all the birds in our own land, none is more splendid than the
cardinal bird of the South. He has a crimson beak and plumes. His song
is very sweet. He is a brave bird, and very kind and polite to his
mate. It is very cruel to kill such a creature for its feathers.
In the North, we have the blue jay, nearly as fine a bird as the
cardinal. He has a jet-black collar, a bright coat of shaded blue, and
a white neck-tie. Indeed, he is a fine, gay, saucy, cheerful bird. But
he has a very naughty way of breaking up the nests of other birds, and
stealing their eggs.
The jay likes to have his home near the water, and when you go near it,
he comes out and scolds loudly.
But now we will turn from birds which make their homes in trees, and
look a little at birds that live on the ground. You will at once think
of the barn-yard fowls, and their many cousins.
Have you seen a barn-yard full of these birds? It is a fine sight.
There are the spotted guinea fowls with their fretful cry, and the
great peacocks spreading their splendid trains. There are the black,
white, yellow, spotted, red, and green-breasted cocks and hens, and
there are pheasants which seem to be dressed in rainbows.
Among these fowls the turkey struts, spreading his tail like a wheel,
and scraping the tips of his wings on the ground, as he walks high on
his toes. Far out in the Western woods, you may see the wild turkey,
which is nearly as fine a bird as a pheasant or a peacock.
Turkey hens are very good mothers. They seem very fond of their little
ones, and are always on the watch to guard them. By nature they are shy
birds, and like to run away, and hide their nests. One will go off and
hide a nest, and seem very proud to come back with a train of fifteen
or more little ones.
Grouse, partridges, and quails, are ground-living birds, related to
our common fowls. So are the pretty prairie-hens of the West. The
quail is a dear little bird. Sometimes in the winter, when the snow is
deep, and it cannot find food, it will come to the barn-yard or the
door-step, and feed with the fowls. Once, in the woods, I came softly
to an opening, and there were about twenty quails feeding on a bed
of squaw-berries. They ran about picking up berries and making happy
little sounds, like a band of children enjoying a holiday.
One day I was going through a pine-wood path, when a mother quail and
ten little ones ran across the roadway. She hid in the brush, and began
to call, “Come! Come! Come!” and from the other side of the path,
little squeaks replied, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Soon three more brown, fluffy balls ran across the road. Then out ran
the little brown mother in great distress. Her neck feathers stood out
in a collar. “Come! come! come!” she called. “Wee! wee! wee!” said a
little faint voice, and tumbling along the foot path, went one more
small bird. “Now she has them all,” I thought.
But still, out of the brush, the anxious mother cried, “Come! come!”
and at last, dropping into ruts, rolling in the dust, too new and weak
even to say, “Wee,” hardly able to keep on his legs, went the tiniest
little bird! He followed his mother’s voice, and slipped in among the
brush and pine needles.
When the little brown mother had all her brood, she made a sweet, low,
glad note in her hiding place. “O Mrs. Quail!” I cried; “can you count?
Can you count fifteen?” She never told me whether she could or not. But
she had counted fifteen that time, that was sure.
Now, let us take a peep at the birds which live mostly on the water;
you will think first of the great, solemn white swans. Then of the
snowy geese and of the parti-colored ducks. What splendid colors ducks
have!
If you live by the sea, you will often watch the gulls and gannets with
their wide white wings. All these birds build their nests in reeds and
grass along the bank, or in ledges of rock in a cliff.
One day I was sitting behind some rocks on a little island. All at
once I heard a hearty laugh. I rose up softly, and looked over the
rocks. There on the water sat, all alone, a water-fowl. I hid my head
and gave a loud “ha! ha! ha!”
Then the bird threw back his head, and gave a laugh with all its might.
It made me think of what my grandfather used to say to the boys, if
they were too loud in their mirth for his taste. “Do not laugh like a
loon,” he would say.
Is it news to you that a bird can laugh? The water-fowl and I laughed
at each other for a long time. Then I rose and stood in plain sight.
Down he went under the water, and I saw him no more. I wish you would
read a lovely poem written by the poet Bryant, about “The Water-fowl.”
Once I was out on the sea in a boat. We saw lying on the water the
tail of a fish. We rowed near. Well! Here was a sight! A large duck,
called an alwife,[25] had tried to swallow a fish. But the fish was too
big for her throat. Having got part of it in, she could get the fish
neither in nor out. So she and the fish had both choked to death, and
were floating around in the water.
A very famous man once said, that he thought a gull must be the most
happy of birds. It can swim, fly, walk, almost equally well. It is at
home on earth, water, or air.
I have seen a bird called “The Diver.” It goes down under water for its
food. It uses its wings under water to swim with, and will stay there a
long time. Most ducks will dive, and come up a long way from where they
went down.
The water birds all have close, thick plumage. Most of the down which
we use, comes from the water birds of the far North. The down not only
keeps them warm, but keeps air in its meshes, and helps them to float.
It is like a cork jacket for them.
Water birds live chiefly on fish, crabs, and little water animals. But
many of them eat seeds and berries of plants growing along the coast.
They will readily pick up any kind of food thrown upon the water. Gulls
follow ships for days to get the scraps thrown overboard by the sailors.
FOOTNOTES:
[25] Alwife is probably a short form of “Old Wife.” This duck is often
called the “Old Squaw” on the Cape Cod coast.
LESSON XXXI.
ON THE WING.
[Illustration: ROBERT O’ LINCOLN.]
In the spring and summer, you go to field and garden, and you hear
and see many birds. As you walk about the woods, you may see a dozen
kinds of birds in a few minutes. There will go a yellow-bird, looking
like a canary. There, all splendid in black and gold, an oriole is
busy building his curious nest. There flies from the swamp a red-wing
blackbird. A big woodpecker drums on the nearest tree. A bluebird with
a russet breast sits singing on the top rail of a fence. Sparrows,
swallows, crows, are everywhere.
Out of the grass whirrs up a lark with his brown and yellow coat, and
black velvet collar. The thrush sings in a bush. The catbird, in the
shade, cheers his mate with a rich, mellow note, and then darts out
into the sunshine in his glossy drab dress.
But in late autumn, or in winter, you walk abroad, and where are all
the birds? A crow may sit, scolding, on a dead limb. A social robin may
flit down to your door. The velvet sparrows may be balls of noise and
feathers. But where are the other birds? Are they all dead?
Oh, no! They have flown off to sunny lands, where they will have mild
weather, and food in plenty, and green trees. The birds _migrate_. What
is it to migrate? It is to go from one place to another a long way off.
They migrate as the season changes.
Let us take that pretty bird, the bobolink, as an example of a bird
on his travels. In the winter months he is feasting and singing in the
warm West India Islands. There he finds grubs, insects, and seeds in
plenty. He grows so fat, that they call him the butter-bird.
About the first of April, he finds Jamaica too hot for him, and flies
over to Georgia, or South Carolina. He settles in the rice-fields, and
eats so much rice that he is a great trouble to the planters. They call
him the rice-bird. But they are soon rid of him. About the middle of
May, the rice-bird, with hundreds of his relations, goes up to Virginia
and Pennsylvania.
At this time, he eats May-flies, caterpillars, and various insects.
But his taste for seeds continues, and he devours the young wheat
and barley at a great rate. The farmers name him the reed-bird. Many
reed-birds are shot, and sent to market.
In spite of the guns, the bobolink seems now in the gayest hour of his
life. He sings with all his might, and his black and white coat, with
its touches of yellow, is at its best.
But again he starts northward. He goes up to New York, and New England,
and appears in the orchards and wheat-fields, at the end of May, or the
first of June. There he is called, from his song, the bobolink.
But Mr. and Mrs. Bobolink must now set themselves to the serious
business of making a nest, and rearing a family. They choose a good
nest place, and begin to build in a great hurry. Mrs. Bobolink is not
so gayly dressed as her mate. She is brown, with a little dull yellow
in her plumage.
Mr. Bobolink ends his wildest songs when the little birds come from
the shells. Their mouths are always wide open, crying for food. Mr.
Bobolink is very busy feeding his children. He flies back and forth all
day long, bringing insects to his nursery. The gay concerts are ended.
At this time, too, Mr. Bobolink changes his clothes. He puts on a
working suit, with more brown in it. His gay plumes do not come back
until the next spring.
After the little ones learn to fly, in August, if it is hot, the whole
family may go to Canada, for a trip. But as soon as the cool September
mornings come, all the bobolinks think of the South. They gather in
great companies, and turn their heads toward the West Indies.
Now and then, they may rest for a few hours, or a warm day or so, but
they fly pretty steadily southward. When cold weather has come, we see
no more bobolinks. They are all busy eating and singing in the sunny
tropic lands.
I wish you would all read, and perhaps learn to recite a charming poem
called “Robert o’ Lincoln.” It was written, by the great poet Bryant,
about this little bird of many names, and many homes.
Now from the story of the bobolink, you see the manner of this
migration of birds. You see _why_ birds migrate. It is to keep where
they find the food and the weather which they prefer. Its _cause_ is
the change of the season. As the season changes the food changes.
Some birds move away because it is growing too hot where they are, and
they like cooler places. Again, there are birds which stay near us in
the winter, and fly North in the summer, almost to the land of constant
snow.
Those birds which breed in the cold polar regions often find a winter
home in the Northern States. But some birds which breed in the coldest
climates fly to hot countries for their winter of rest and play.
When birds come in the spring, and leave in the fall, they rear their
young where they make their summer home. We call them our summer birds.
Our winter birds are those which come to us in the cold weather, do not
build nests near us, but fly away when the season grows warm. While
they stay near us, they take shelter at night in shrubs or evergreen
trees.
What we call birds of passage are birds that stop with us for only a
few days, as they are flying long distances, half round the world,
perhaps.
Then there are birds, as the robin, sparrow, thrush, which may stay all
the year round near one place. In the warm weather they build nests,
and rear their young. In cold weather, such birds are often driven near
houses and barns to get food.
Crows may stay all winter in one place if food is plenty. If they
cannot find enough to eat, they gather in great numbers, and fly to
places where they will get more food.
When I was a child, I read that swallows, cuckoos, corn-crakes, and
other birds, would lie torpid all winter. The book I read told me that
the birds would cluster in great masses, silent, nearly frozen, eating
nothing, and in the spring would wake up fresh and gay. That is not at
all true. They do not lie torpid. They fly away.
Birds gather in great numbers, with much noise and flurry, to get ready
for a trip. Crows, storks, cranes, swallows, and others, fly in great
flocks. By the sea-side you may hear a far-off cry and a rush of wings,
and looking up, you may see a flock of wild geese, or ducks, on their
journey, flying far out over the water.
When a vast flock moves in this way, they seem to have some few wise
old birds for guides, in advance, and some for guards on each side
of the band. Geese fly in a =V=-shaped line, for hours at a time.
When they need to stop for food, they break the =V= line and fly
in disorder. They seem to search the ground for a feeding place. A
cornfield suits them best, and they settle for a feast. If they cannot
find a cornfield they will try a swamp.
Hawks travel over half the world. The hawk, which summers on the Scotch
hills, may go to Egypt for winter, and perch on the pyramids. The
stork, which the little Dutch children in Holland feed and love, may
go to Africa for Christmas. The birds which you feed in July will be
singing in Hayti or Brazil in January.
What is very strange is, that birds will, year after year, come back to
the very place and nest that they left. The oriole, catbird, bluebird,
jay, titmouse, and others, will each summer return to the same vine or
tree, to build a new nest or repair the old one.
They come singing back, and we are glad to see them. But from their
songs we get no news of the fair tropic lands where they have been
happy amid rich fruits and flowers.
LESSON XXXII.
NEST BUILDING.
[Illustration: ON THE TREE TOP.]
I think nothing about birds is more interesting than their way of
building their nests. In this lesson we will look at a few curious
nest-builders.
First, let me tell you that that largest of birds, the ostrich, builds
no nest. She puts her eggs in the sand. The sun-heat is all they need
during the day, and the father-bird cares for them at night. A few
birds lay their eggs in heaps of dead leaves, and let the leaves keep
them warm.
The cuckoo,[26] and the cow-bird[27] lay their eggs in the nest of some
other bird. They choose a bird smaller than themselves, and put one egg
in its nest. Then they go to another nest, and so on, until their eggs
are laid.
A few birds lay their eggs right on the earth, or sand, and make no
nest at all. But they sit on the eggs, and brood them. Most birds make
nice, careful nests. They seem to take pride in building good homes.
A lady who has carefully studied the ways of birds, says that all birds
of a kind do not build equally good nests. For instance, some robins
build very strong, neat nests. Others build loose, untidy nests, which
will hardly hold the eggs.
This same lady says that birds, by practice, improve in nest building.
As a rule, she thinks the old birds, that have built for several years,
make better nests than robins building for their first brood. She
says she watched a robin, which had a home in her garden. That robin
improved in nest building, and built better and better each year.
Perhaps no bird builds a more firm, neat, and elegant nest, than that
smallest of all,--the humming-bird. This bird does not need a large
nest, she is so tiny, and her eggs, usually only two, are like small
beans. The nest is made in the shape of a cup. It is built of soft
moss, or the downy seeds of plants. These are pressed and moulded until
they are almost like felt.
The nest is made quite thick. All over the outside, the bird fastens
bits of moss, or lichens. These are stuck on with a kind of glue, from
the bird’s mouth. This is done, not so much for beauty, as to conceal
the nest. When thus pasted over with moss, it looks like a knot or bit
of tree branch.
This tiny bird is very shy, and wishes to hide its nest. It is so
cunningly built, that even when close by it you are little likely to
see it.
The bird does not fly straight to, or from, this nest. That might lead
enemies there. Instead, it rises high, straight up into the air, and
when up out of sight, takes its direction as it chooses. When it comes
back, it pursues a similar plan. From far up in the air, above the
nest, it drops straight down, like a little fiery star, into its home.
The goldfinch is another bird which glues mosses on the outside of its
nest to hide it. While this is done rather for use than beauty, I
think most birds like to have a pretty home. I have seen birds weave
bits of colored wool, or silk, in and out the nest, plainly for the
sake of the color, and not for strength.
All the finch family line their nest with down or feathers. The
wood-wren, on the contrary, lines its nest always with hair, and never
with feathers. She goes far and wide to find soft hairs for this use.
I think an oriole’s nest is one of the most beautiful of bird-homes.
The mother-oriole makes the nest, and her mate brings her wool, fine
root-fibres, hairs and threads, which she uses. If he brings her a bit
which she does not like, she throws it away, and seems to think him a
bird of very little sense.
If Mrs. Oriole is not suited with her work, as it goes on, she tears it
down, and goes to work again. She wants it just right.
The nest is in the shape of a long pocket, and is sewed firmly to some
twigs on the end of a branch. It is very curious to see the stitches
which are taken in and out, with string, or long horse-hairs. The nest
is tied firmly to the tree, and is woven very firmly together. It is
lined with downy seeds. The entrance is small and near the top, and
the nest is larger at the bottom, where the young birds will lie.
The tailor-bird sews even better than the oriole. She takes a large
leaf, bends the edges against those of a leaf near, and carefully sews
them together, with bits of fibre for thread, while her bill is the
needle. When this leaf-purse is made, the cunning little mother fills
it half full of cotton-like down, from plants, and her home is made.
Sometimes she chooses a large leaf, and sews its edges together.
The object of these nests is to have them hung far out, where snakes
cannot get at the eggs or young. For you must know that snakes are
cruel enemies of birds.
The house-sparrow likes to build her nest under overhanging eaves. If
she builds where she has not a roof of that kind, she makes a roof for
herself, of straw.
Many birds, as the woodpecker, titmouse, and others, find a hole in a
tree, and put in a soft lining. This makes a very nice, safe home.
The golden-crested wren makes a most lovely nest of mosses, woven
firmly together with spiders’ webs and cobwebs. It is very delicate and
pretty.
Just the opposite of this is a magpie’s nest. That is a large platform
of coarse twigs, and over it a roof, quite as large, of twigs, while
all around it the magpie sets up a thorn fence. You would hardly think
a bird could build such a house.
Once I found the nest of the song thrush. It was large, and made of
grass, straw, and such things, all firmly plastered with mud. It was
nearly as smooth inside as a china bowl. I wondered that this little
bird could build such a large, heavy nest.
Many birds which live near the water build their nests among the tall
reeds. They will bind three or four reeds together, with the nest hung
between them.
No doubt you have often found the neat little round nest of the
bluebirds, or yellow-birds, nicely woven of hairs, and made smooth and
soft inside. Sometimes their soft, smooth nests are woven of fine, soft
fibres. It is wonderful how fine and clean they are, after the little
busy bird has made them ready for her home.
Many birds build in clefts of rocks, or under large overhanging stones
by the water-side. Their chief thought seems to be, to have the nest
safely hidden. Other birds build right on the ground. Have you never
found a lark’s nest, low among daisies, grass and buttercups?
Last summer I found two nests of the meadow pipit, or peewee. They were
built of dry grass in a hollow, shaded by some bramble-berry bushes and
big dandelions. I had one of these nests drawn for the cover of this
Reader. It was a very pretty bower, and the little birds grew up safely.
Most birds build each one alone, but in Africa the weaver-bird lives in
colonies. The nests are built like very large wasps’ nests. Sometimes
one or two hundred birds will build in one place. They make a roof for
the nest.
I began by telling you of very little nests. I will end by telling
you of a very big nest. I saw the nest of a fishing eagle, in a great
pine-tree. The nest was built of large sticks. It was nearly as large
as a half barrel. The tree was dead. A tree always dies when an eagle
builds in it. This nest was more like a great rough platform than a
nest. It had a wall of sticks about it to keep the little eaglets from
falling out before their feathers grew.
FOOTNOTES:
[26] The cuckoo in England lays in the nests of _other birds. The
American cuckoo does not._
[27] The cow-bird is also called the cow-bunting.
LESSON XXXIII.
THE BIRD AT HOME.
[Illustration: THE KING OF THE TREE.]
You have now seen the bird building a nest, and you have seen the
finished nest. Let us take a little look at the bird at home. Let us
have a peep at the family life of birds.