warblers (yellow-rumps), though the advance guards of that host (two
birds were all that fell under my eye) were seen on the 18th of April.
The great host is still to come; for the myrtles _are_ a host,--a
multitude that no man can number. As I listen to their soft, dreamy
trill on these fair spring mornings, when the tall valley willows
are all in their earliest green,--a sight worth living for,--I seem
sometimes to be for the moment on the heights of the White Mountains.
Well I remember how much I enjoyed their quiet breath of song on the
snowy upper slopes of Mt. Moosilauke in May a year ago. For the myrtle,
notwithstanding his name, is a great lover of knee-high spruces.
He is a lovely bird, wherever he lives, and it is good to see him
flourish, though by so doing he forfeits the peculiar charm of novelty.
Everything considered, I am bound to say, that is not so regrettable a
loss. If he were as scarce as some of his relatives, every collector’s
hand would be against him. Czars and rare birds must pay the price.
The first member of the family to make his appearance with me this
spring was the pine warbler. He was trilling in a pine grove (his name
is one of the few that fit) on April 17. “The warblers are coming,” he
said. Not so pronounced a beauty as many of his tribe, he is one of the
most welcome. He braves the season, and with his lack of distinguishing
marks and his preference for pine-tops, he offers an instructive deal
of puzzlement to beginners in ornithology. His song is simplicity
itself, and, rightly or wrongly, always impresses me as the coolest of
the cool.
I stood the other day between a pine warbler and a thrasher. The
thrasher sang like one possessed. He might have been crazy, beside
himself with passion. Operatic composers, aiming at something new and
brilliant in the way of a “mad scene,” should borrow a leaf out of
the planting bird’s repertory. The house would “come down,” I could
warrant. The pine warbler sang as one hums a tune at his work. Among
birds, as among humans, it takes all kinds to make a world.
After the advent of the myrtle warblers, on April 18, eleven days
elapsed with no new arrivals, so far as I discovered, except a few
chipping sparrows, first seen on the 23d! The weather was doing its
worst. Then, on the 29th, I saw three yellow palm warblers. They were
singing, as they usually are at this season--singing and wagging their
tails, and incidentally putting me in mind of Florida, where in winter
they are seen of every one. It is noticeable that these three earliest
of the warblers all have, by way of song, a brief trill. Very much
alike the three efforts are, yet clearly enough distinguished, if one
hears them often enough. The best and least of them is the myrtle’s, I
being judge.
The yellow palm warbler ought to be a Southerner of the Southerners,
one would say, from his tropical appellation; but the truth is that he
makes his home from Nova Scotia northward, and visits the land of palms
only in the cold season. He is a low-keeping bird (for a warbler), much
on the ground, very bright in color, and well marked by a red crown,
from which he is often called the yellow redpoll. If he could only
keep his tail still!
Next in order was the black-throated green (May 4), which, take him for
all in all, is perhaps my favorite of the whole family. He is the bird
of the white pine, as the pine warbler is the bird of the pitch-pine.
And now we have a real song; no longer a simple trill, but a highly
characteristic, sweetly modulated tune--or two tunes, rather, perfectly
distinguished one from the other, and equally charming. If the voice is
rough, it is sweetly and musically rough. I would not for anything have
it different.
What a vexatiously pleasant time I had, years ago, in tracing the voice
home to its author! How vividly I remember the day when I lay flat on
my face in a woodland path, opera-glass in hand, a manual open before
me, and the bird singing at intervals from a pine tree opposite; and a
neighbor, who had known me from boyhood, coming suddenly down the path.
I may err in my recollection (it was long ago), but I think I heard the
music for weeks before I satisfied myself as to the identity of the
singer. “Trees, trees, murmuring trees:” so I once translated the first
of the two songs; and to this day I do not see how to improve upon the
version. He is talking of the Weymouth pine, I like to believe.
Black-and-white creeping warblers have been common since the 4th (under
normal weather conditions they should have been here a fortnight
sooner), and on the 6th the oven-bird took possession of the drier
woods. He looks very little like a warbler, but those who ought to know
whereof they speak class him with that family. I have not yet heard
his flight song, but he has no idea of keeping silence. As is true of
every real artist, he is in love with his part. With what a daintily
self-conscious grace he walks the boards! It is a kind of music to
watch him. He makes me think continually of the little ghost in Mrs.
Slosson’s story. Like that insubstantial reality he is always saying:
“Don’t you want to hear me speak my piece?” And whether the answer is
yes or no, it is no matter--over he goes with it.
Yesterday my first blue yellow-back was singing, and to-day (May 8)
the first chestnut-sides are with me. And there are numbers to follow.
From now till the end of the month they will be coming and going--a
procession of beauty. In my mind I can already see them: the gorgeous
redstart, the lovely blue golden-wing, the splendid magnolia, and the
more splendid Blackburnian, the Cape May (a “seldom pleasure”), and the
multitudinous blackpoll--these and many others that are no less worthy.
At this time of the year a man should have nothing to do but to live in
the sun and look at the passing show.
INDEX
INDEX
Alder, 159.
black, 135.
Anemone, 3.
Apple, 51.
Arbutus, trailing, 4, 143.
Asters, 59, 120.
Azalea, swamp, 22.
Barberry, 111, 172.
Bayberry, 136.
Beech, 163.
Bees, 58.
Birch, sweet, 119, 160.
Bittern, 31.
least, 30.
Bitternut, 113.
Blackbird, crow, 120, 240.
red-winged, 39, 240, 241, 254.
rusty, 155.
Blackberry, 172.
Bladderwort, 22.
Blueberry, 123, 136, 166.
Bluebird, 16, 52, 83, 120, 217, 230, 231, 234.
Bobolink, 19, 52, 83.
Butter-and-eggs, 114.
Butterflies, 57, 85, 108.
Canna, 62, 115.
Catbird, 6, 7.
Catnip, 54.
Cat-tail, 28.
Cedar, red, 39, 172.
Checkerberry, 161, 174, 176
Cherry, rum, 123.
Chestnut, 34.
Chewink, 24.
Chickadee, black-capped, 22, 60, 64, 66, 67, 73, 134, 150, 153, 154,
182, 205, 206, 234, 239.
Chicory, 27.
Chipmunk, 182, 226, 227.
Chokecherry, 41.
Clethra, 122.
Clover, rabbit-foot, 23.
Coffee-tree, 125.
Columbine, 3.
Corn, 52.
Cornel, dwarf, 4.
Cowbird, 235.
Cowslip, 3.
Creeper, brown, 155.
Crickets, 65.
Crossbill, red, 154.
white-winged, 154.
Crow, 24, 39, 42, 65, 154.
Dahlia, 115.
Dangleberry, 123, 174.
Desmodium nudiflorum, 36.
Duck, dusky, 102.
Finch, Lincoln, 70.
pine, 155.
purple, 8, 155, 203, 219, 225, 231.
Flicker, 64, 155, 231.
Flycatcher, least, 6.
Forsythia, 2.
Fox, 183, 258.
Frog, spade-foot, 262.
wood, 257.
Frost grape, 111.
Galium, yellow, 21.
Gallinule, Florida, 32.
Gerardia, 36.
Goldenrod, 59, 121.
Goldfinch, 8, 27, 63, 134, 136, 155, 234.
Goose, Canada, 198.
Grass, 50, 76.
Grosbeak, rose-breasted, 5, 47, 72.
Grouse, ruffed, 83, 133, 143, 155.
Gull, black-backed, 108.
herring, 95, 108, 111, 156, 238.
Hardhack, 21, 37, 38, 39.
Hawk, red-shouldered, 239.
marsh, 108, 254.
Heron, great blue, 94.
green, 31.
night, 31.
Holly, 150, 175.
Huckleberry, 123, 172.
Hummingbird, 58, 61, 88.
Indigo-bird, 47, 70.
Jay, blue, 38, 120, 125, 154, 204, 221.
Jewel-weed, 26, 58, 62.
Joe Pye weed, 57.
Kingbird, 6, 24, 40, 52.
Kingfisher, 253.
Kinglet, golden-crowned, 134, 155, 182.
Lady’s-slipper, 4.
Lark, shore, 107.
meadow, 19, 132, 234, 236.
Leucothoë, 164.
Loosestrife, swamp, 57.
Lucky-bug, 57.
Maple, red, 122, 124.
striped, 124.
Maryland yellow-throat, 6, 60.
Mayweed, 54, 114.
Meadow-beauty, 37.
Meadow-sweet, 21.
Morning-glory, 26.
Mullein, 21.
Muskrat, 136, 259.
Nuthatch, red-breasted, 154.
white-breasted, 35, 154, 205, 209, 225, 235.
Old-maid’s pinks, 54.
Old Squaw, 156.
Oriole, Baltimore, 5, 7, 39, 60.
Otter, 259.
Oven-bird, 7, 273.
Owl, screech, 248.
Partridge-berry, 150.
Pennyroyal, 38.
Phœbe, 22, 40, 60, 233, 240.
Pickerel-weed, 29.
Pine, pitch, 35.
Plover, black-bellied, 92, 97, 99.
Quail, 41, 155.
Quince, 115.
Rail, Carolina, 31, 33.
Virginia, 31.
Raspberry, 21.
Redpoll, 153, 154.
Redstart, 7, 12, 55, 274.
Robin, 60, 67, 155, 232, 255.
Rose, swamp, 26.
Sandpiper, pectoral, 98.
red-backed, 99, 109.
white-rumped, 93, 94, 96, 97, 100, 109.
Sassafras, 3, 124, 166.
Saxifrage, 3.
Shadbush, 3.
Shrike, 155, 240.
Snipe, 25, 254.
Snowbird, 134, 154, 155, 234, 252.
Sparrow, chipping, 19, 70, 271.
English, 14, 16, 52, 156.
field, 24, 39.
fox, 235, 244, 250, 255.
grasshopper, 17.
Ipswich, 102.
savanna, 18, 107.
song, 19, 38, 60, 68, 234, 235, 253.
swamp, 13, 22.
tree, 134, 136, 154, 155.
vesper, 19, 24, 253.
white-throated, 6, 69.
Spatter-dock, 29.
Spice-bush, 3, 123, 162.
Squirrel, gray, 118, 227, 259.
flying, 177, 259.
red, 227, 259.
Swallow, barn, 38.
tree, 15, 16, 237.
Swift, 38.
Tanager, scarlet, 36, 47, 60, 72.
Thimbleberry, 21.
Thorn, 111.
Thoroughwort, 38.
Thrasher, brown, 23, 270.
Thrush, northern water, 13, 61, 71.
Swainson, 7, 69.
wood, 7.
Titlark, 93, 94, 102, 107, 108.
Veery, 6, 23.
Vireo, Philadelphia, 71.
red-eyed, 7, 55, 73.
solitary, 23.
warbling, 6, 60, 67.
yellow-throated, 6, 60, 67.
Warbler, black-and-white, 273.
Blackburnian, 274.
blackpoll, 68, 73, 274.
black-throated blue, 10.
black-throated green, 23, 73, 272.
blue golden-winged, 274.
Canadian, 22.
Cape May, 274.
chestnut-sided, 7, 274.
golden, 6, 267.
magnolia, 274.
myrtle, 73, 136, 269.
Nashville, 7, 268.
parula (blue yellow-backed), 6, 274.
pine, 68, 270.
prairie, 7.
yellow palm, 271.
Waxwing, cedar, 8.
Waxwork, Roxbury, 111, 124.
Woodchuck, 182.
Woodcock, 242, 255.
Woodpecker, downy, 114, 154, 205.
hairy, 155.
red-headed, 42.
Wood pewee, 60, 67.
Wren, long-billed marsh, 30.
Yellow-legs, greater, 96, 101.
The Riverside Press
_Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] 1900.
[2] The formal record will be found in the _Auk_, vol. xviii. p. 394.
[3] How fallible a thing is a man’s memory! The wrapper was not
yellow, but green. Yellow was for lemon. So more than one friendly
correspondent has made haste to inform me, and the venerable shopkeeper
himself has sent me a roll of the “lossengers” to prove it. My
compliments to him.
* * * * * *
Transcriber’s note:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.