Chapter VII: Part THREE: Early Spring Birds (2)

Though rather shy birds, they often approach inhabited houses and frequently cause amusing situations because of their regular drumming on roof or wall. In Florida, a young woman whom I know was once aroused from her early morning's sleep by a flicker's knock, and drowsily responded with a "Come in." A friend and I, spending a week-end in an Ohio summer cottage that possessed no alarm-clock, asked to be called in time for a very early boat. We heard a knocking, arose, dressed quietly to avoid disturbing the household, and then found that our summons had come from flickers on the roof, and that we had lost about two hours of precious morning's sleep.

Flickers have more local names than almost any other bird. Over one hundred names have been recorded, of which "Yellowhammer," and "Golden-winged Woodpecker," are perhaps most common.

THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
_Woodpecker Family--Picidæ_

Length: About 9¾ inches; nearly as large as a robin.

General Appearance: A black and white bird _with entire head and neck
bright red_.

Male and Female: Head, neck, throat, and upper part of the breast
brilliant red; upper part of back and wings black; longer
wing-feathers or primaries also black; lower back and secondary
wing-feathers white; under parts white; tail pointed, black,
margined with white. In flight, the areas of red, black, and white
are very distinct.

Young: Brown heads and necks, mottled with black; upper parts of backs
barred with light brown. The other parts of their bodies resemble
those of their parents.

Note: No song, but a loud, cheerful _Quir-r-r-k? Quir-r-r-k?_ and a
drumming sound, similar to that made by other woodpeckers.

Habitat: Open woods, groves of beeches preferred.

Nest: In hollow tree-trunks or telegraph-poles.

Range: From southeastern British Columbia, to Ontario, south to the Gulf
Coast, and from central Montana, Colorado, and Texas east to the
valleys of the Hudson and Delaware; rare in New England. Irregularly
migratory in the northern parts of its range.

This conspicuous bird is one of the handsomest members of the Woodpecker family. He is the only one really entitled to the name of Red-Headed Woodpecker. His male relatives wear only small skull-caps placed on their crowns at various angles; he possesses a sort of toboggan-cap pulled down over his head and tucked into his black coat and white vest-front.

Many stories and legends are told of this woodpecker. He is the delight of children in localities where he is to be found. I remember how I used to look for the red hood and the black shawl worn over a white dress, especially noticeable in flight. I never tired of watching one of these birds approach his nest in a tall dead tree with food in his mouth. At a signal from him, his wife's red head would appear in the doorway. She would emerge; he would then enter and remain with the children until her return.

Redheads have not been popular with farmers, who have accused them of various crimes. They have been caught eating small fruit and corn on the ear, destroying both the eggs and young of other birds, and boring holes in telegraph-poles in which to build their nests. While individuals may be guilty of such misdemeanors, the redheads are probably neither so black nor so gory, except in plumage, as they are painted.

These woodpeckers are not such persistent destroyers of insects as others of their family. They have a decided preference for beetles, but eat fewer ants and larvæ than do the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers. They are exceptionally fond of vegetable food; their preference for beechnuts is very great. Dr. C. Hart Merriam states that in northern New York, where the redhead is one of the commonest woodpeckers, it subsists almost exclusively on beechnuts during the fall and winter, even pecking the green nuts before they are ripe and while the trees are still covered with leaves. He has shown that these woodpeckers invariably remain throughout the winter after good nut-yields and migrate whenever the nut-crop fails.[75]

"In central Indiana during a good beechnut year, from the time the nuts began to ripen, the redheads were almost constantly on the wing; passing from the beeches to some place of deposit. They hid the nuts in almost every conceivable situation. Many were placed in cavities in partly decayed trees; and the felling of an old beech was certain to provide a feast for the children. Large handfuls were taken from a single knot hole. They were often found under a patch of raised bark, and single nuts were driven into cracks in the bark. Others were thrust into cracks in gate-posts; and a favorite place of deposit was behind long slivers on fence-posts. In a few cases grains of corn were mixed with beechnuts. Nuts were often driven into cracks in the end of railroad ties, and the birds were often seen on the roofs of houses pounding nuts into crevices between the shingles. In several instances the space formed by a board springing away from a fence was nearly filled with nuts, and afterwards pieces of bark and wood were brought and driven over the nuts as if to hide them from poachers."[76]

In summer, Dr. Merriam has seen the redheads "make frequent sallies into the air after passing insects, which were almost invariably secured." He has also seen them catch grasshoppers on the ground in a pasture.

They are cheerful, active birds, with a call like that of a giant tree-toad. Their brilliant plumage has unfortunately made them a good target for sportsmen.

THE RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER
_Woodpecker Family--Picidæ_

Length: About 9½ inches.

Male: _Crown of head and back of neck bright red_, resembling slightly
that of the red-headed woodpecker, but _throat and cheeks gray_;
back and wings barred with white, the barring reminding one of the
flicker. _Under parts gray mashed with red_; tail black and white;
upper tail-coverts white, streaked with black.

Female: _Crown gray, nostrils and neck bright red._

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

THE VESPER SPARROW

When the meadows are brown or flushed with green
And the lark's glad note rings clear,--
When the field sparrow's voice like a silver bell
Chimes a melody sweet to hear,--
A small brown bird with bay-capped wings
And feathers white in his tail,
Flutters along by a roadside hedge
And alights on a zigzag rail,
And breathes forth a song entrancing,
Of a beauty surpassed by few--
A wistful, plaintive, minor strain--
"O Sweetheart, I love you!"

When a mist of green o'erspreads the trees,
And corals and rubies gay
Are hung on the maple and red-bud boughs,
And the brooks are babbling away,--
When the setting sun goes down in a glow
Of the purest primrose gold,
And the pearly east reflects a flush
From the glories the west doth hold,--
This brown bird then, with a soul in his voice,
Sings to his mate so true
The tenderest song of the April choir--
"O Sweetheart, I love you!"

THE CHIPPING SPARROW
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_

Length: A little over 5 inches; the smallest of our common sparrows.

Male and Female: _Crown reddish-brown, bill black; a black line
extending through the eye_; a _gray line above the eye_; back,
wings, and tail brown; tail forked; rump gray; _breast pale gray
without streaks or spots_. In the fall, the reddish crown becomes
brown, streaked with black.

Call-note: _Chip-chip._

Song: A monotonous trill,
_Chippy-chippy-chippy-chippy-chippy-chippy-chippy_, more like the
metallic sound made by a locust than the song of a bird.

Habitat: A "doorstep" bird that loves to spend the spring and summer
near man. It is found in gardens, orchards, and plowed fields.

Nest: An unusually dainty nest made of grass and fine root-fibers, lined
with horsehair, which has given to the chipping sparrow the name of
"hair-bird." The nest is built in trees or low bushes, sometimes
very near the ground.

Eggs: Four or five pale-green eggs, mottled with dark markings.

Range: North America, from central Canada to Central America; commonest
in the east.

This gentle, trustful sparrow is a general favorite. He is an unobtrusive little bird, seemingly contented to occupy his place in the world near to the haunts of man, unconsciously doing his important work without noisy demonstration. Like the brown creeper and the phoebe, he is of great economic value; like them, he is not particularly interesting, and he is without skill as a songster. But his monotonous trill is a pleasant part of the spring chorus, and his presence in our yards we should sorely miss.

Mr. Forbush speaks in high praise of this bird's usefulness. He claims that the chippy is "the most destructive of all birds to the injurious pea-louse, which caused a loss of three million dollars to the pea-crop of a single state in one year."[88] This sparrow eats the grubs that feed on beet-leaves, cabbages, and other vegetables; he devours cankerworms and currant worms, besides gypsy, brown-tail, and tent caterpillars, any one of which would entitle him to our protection. In the fall, with the decrease of life in the garden, he takes to the fields, where like other sparrows he feasts on seeds.

If it were more generally known how invaluable chipping sparrows are, people would guard them more carefully from marauding cats. I wish it might become as unlawful to let cats stalk abroad during the nesting season as it is to allow unmuzzled dogs to go about freely during dog-days. I know of a bird-lover near Painesville, Ohio, who never during nesting-time allowed her pet cat to stir outside of a good-sized enclosure without a weight attached to his collar. Some people have put bells on their cats' necks, but while that is efficacious in alarming parent-birds, it is of no value in preventing the slaughter of young birds that have just left the nest. Mr. Forbush has written an appeal, which I wish was more widely known and heeded. It is called "The Domestic Cat" and was published under the direction of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture.

Mr. Forbush wrote to such eminent experts and authorities on bird-life as Robert Ridgway, Dr. Frank M. Chapman, Dr. Witmer Stone, Dr. Henry W. Henshaw, Dr. William T. Hornaday, John Burroughs, William Dutcher, T. Gilbert Pearson, Dr. George W. Field, Dr. C. F. Hodge, Ernest Harold Baynes, Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright, and others, for their opinions regarding the relative destructiveness of cats to the bird-life of the country. They were unanimous in their denunciation of cats as the "greatest destructive agency to our smaller song and insectivorous birds."

Mrs. Wright says: "If the people of the country insist upon keeping cats in the same number as at present, all the splendid work of Federal and State legislation, all the labors of game- and song-bird protective associations, all the loving care of individuals in watching and feeding, will not be able to save our birds in many localities."

Young chipping sparrows are spoiled bird-babies. They "tag" their gentle little parents about with unusual persistence, knowing that they will get what they demand. They frequently look as if they might not turn out to be excellent bird-citizens like their ancestors. When a noted ornithologist first saw Mr. Horsfall's original drawing of the accompanying family of chipping sparrows he remarked, "That baby looks a million years old and steeped in sin!" But the duties of parenthood sober the youngsters, and the following year, they become in turn pleasant, docile, lovable little "Bird Neighbors."

THE WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_

Length: About 6¾ inches.

General Appearance: One of the larger sparrows, with a _black and white
striped crown_, a _white throat_, and a _yellow spot before the
eye_.

Male and Female: Striped crown, with a _narrow white line_ in the
_center_, a broad black stripe on each side of the white; a broad
white stripe _over_ the _eye_ edged with a narrow black line; _a
yellow spot in front of the eye_, and at the outer curve of the
wing. Back brown, streaked with black; rump and tail grayish-brown;
wings with two white bars; breast gray, becoming whitish on the
belly; sides brownish.

Notes: A sharp _chip_ for the alarm-note; low, pleasant twitterings.

Song: A sweet whistle, usually pitched high. It consists of two or three
notes that vary considerably. Sometimes the first note is an octave
below the second; at other times it is a few tones higher than the
second. I heard one recently that sang a perfect monotone as
follows: _Dee, dee, de'-de-de, de'-de-de, de'-de-de_. The song has
been interpreted in Massachusetts as

_Sam, Peabody, Peabody, Peabody_
/
_Old_

and the bird is known as the "Peabody Bird."

Habitat: Hedgerows and thickets along roadsides, in parks, on estates,
and in woods.

Range: Eastern and central North America. Breeds from north-central
Canada to southern Montana, central Minnesota and Wisconsin, and
mountains of northern Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts;
winters from Missouri, the Ohio Valley, southern Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, (casually in Maine), south to northeastern Mexico and
Florida.

THE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_

Length: Nearly 7 inches; a little larger than the white-throated
sparrow.

Male and Female: Crown _white_, bordered on each side by a broad black
stripe that extends from bill in front of the eye; a broad white
stripe borders each black stripe; a narrow line of black borders the
white. _No yellow on head or wing_ like that of the white-throated
sparrow. Cheeks, neck, throat, and under parts gray; belly white,
sides buff; back, wings, and tail brown; back streaked; wings with
two white bars.

Song: A sweet whistled strain.

Habitat: Thickets, woods, and fields.

Range: Breeds in Canada, the mountains of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming,
and Montana, and thence to the Pacific Coast; winters in the
southern half of the United States and in northern Mexico.

The White-crowned Sparrow is considered by some admirers to be the handsomest member of the sparrow tribe. It is not widely known in the East, and is sometimes confused with the white-throat. The gray throat of the white-crown and the absence of yellow on the wing and near the eye, distinguish it from the white-throat.

In Bulletin 513 of the Biological Survey occurs this description of the white-crown: "This beautiful sparrow is much more numerous in the western than in the eastern States, where indeed it is rather rare. In the East it is shy and retiring, but it is much bolder and more conspicuous in the far West and often frequents gardens and parks. Like most of its family it is a seed-eater by preference, and insects comprise very little more than 7 per cent. of its diet. Caterpillars are the largest item, with some beetles, a few ants and wasps, and some bugs, among which are black olive scales. The great bulk of food, however, consists of weed seeds, which amount to 74 per cent. of the whole. In California this bird is accused of eating the buds and blossoms of fruit trees, but buds or blossoms were found in only 30 out of 516 stomachs, and probably it is only under exceptional circumstances that it does any damage in this way. Evidently neither the farmer nor the fruit-grower has much to fear from the white-crowned sparrow. The little fruit it eats is mostly wild, and the grain eaten is waste."

THE PURPLE FINCH
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_

Length: About 6¼ inches; a little smaller than the English sparrow.

Adult Male: Body largely raspberry- or rose-red, streaked with brown.
For two seasons the male is a brown sparrowlike bird, with a
yellowish-olive chin and rump; the third season his body seems to
have been washed with a beautiful _red, not purple_, the color
richest on his head, breast, and rump. Head slightly crested; bill
thick, with bristles at nostrils; cheeks and back brownish; under
parts grayish-white; wings and tail brownish, edged with red; tail
forked.

Female: Decidedly sparrowlike; body grayish-brown, heavily streaked,
lighter underneath; patch of light gray extending from eye, another
from beak; wings dark grayish-brown, with indistinct gray bands. She
is not unlike the song sparrow, except for the absence of the three
black spots on breast and throat.

Call-note: A sharp, metallic _chip_.

Song: A clear, sweet, joyous warble.

Habitat: Woods, orchards, and gardens.

Range: Eastern North America. Breeds in central and southern Canada, and
northern United States, in North Dakota, central Minnesota, northern
Illinois, and New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts, the Pennsylvania
mountains, and Long Island; winters from considerably north of the
southern boundary of its breeding-range to the Gulf Coast, from
Texas to Florida.

None of our smaller finches, except the goldfinch and indigo bunting are more beautiful in color than the PURPLE FINCH which wears a Tyrian purple, rather than the shade we commonly know.

Few members of the family sing more sweetly and joyously than this songster of the treetops. His delightful warble resembles somewhat the song of the rose-breasted grosbeak, and attracts attention wherever the bird is to be found. Several purple finches singing from neighboring elm trees at once, makes a May or June concert not easily excelled. Mr. Forbush says: "The song of the male is a sudden, joyous burst of melody, vigorous, but clear and pure, which no mere words can do justice. When, filled with ecstasy, he mounts in air and hangs with fluttering wings above the trees where sits the one who holds his affections, his efforts far transcend his ordinary tones, and a continuous melody flows forth, until, exhausted with his vocal efforts, he sinks to the level of his spouse in the treetop. This is a musical species, for some females sing, though not so well as the males."[89]

The bird has been accused of eating the buds of fruit and shade trees, especially elms, and while he is at times guilty, he is not condemned by those who know his food-habits best, but commended for his fondness for weed seeds, especially ragweed, and for destroying plant-lice, cankerworms, cutworms, and ground beetles.[89]

His cousin, the HOUSE FINCH, or LINNET of California, who is brighter in color, is more beloved by tourists and more hated by fruit-growers than almost any bird in the state. Professor Beal writes: "This bird, like the other members of its family, is by nature a seed-eater, and before the beginning of fruit-growing in California probably subsisted upon the seeds of weeds, with an occasional wild berry. Now, however, when orchards have extended throughout the length and breadth of the state and every month from May to December sees some ripening fruit, the linnets take their share. As their name is legion, the sum total of the fruit that they destroy is more than the fruit-raiser can well spare. As the bird has a stout beak, it has no difficulty in breaking the skin of the hardest fruit and feasting upon the pulp, thereby spoiling the fruit and giving weaker-billed birds a chance to sample and acquire a taste for what they might not otherwise have molested. Complaints against this bird have been many and loud.... Whatever the linnet's sins may be, grain-eating is not one of them. In view of the great complaint made against their fruit-eating habit, the small quantity found in the stomachs taken is somewhat of a surprise. When a bird takes a single peck from a cherry or an apricot, it spoils the whole fruit, and in this way may ruin half a dozen in taking a single meal. That the damage is often serious no one will deny. It is noticeable, however, that the earliest varieties are the ones most affected; also, that in large orchards the damage is not perceptible, while in small plantations the whole crop is frequently destroyed."[90]

In spite of this troublesome habit, the linnet is a most engaging little bird. Its sweet bubbling song, not unlike that of the purple finch, adds much to the charm of California.

THE TOWHEE OR CHEWINK
CALLED ALSO GROUND ROBIN AND CHAREE
_Finch Family--Fringillidæ_

Length: About 8½ inches; smaller than the robin and larger than the
oriole.

General Appearance: A black bird with _reddish-brown sides_, _black
breast_, and _white belly_; outer tail-feathers _tipped_ with
_white_.

Male: Head, back, throat, and breast, a glossy black; wings black, outer
feathers edged with white; tail black, outer edge of outer feather
white; three other feathers partly white, decreasing in size toward
middle of tail; belly white; _eyes dark red_.

Female: Brownish, where male is black. The young are streaked with
black.

Call-note: A cheerful _cha-ree_, uttered with a rising inflection. The
note is also interpreted as _tow hee'? chewink'? jaree'?_ An
engaging trait of this bird is his almost invariable response to one
imitating his note.

Song: Two notes, followed by a trill. The song may be translated into
_chip-chur, pussy-pussy-willow_.

Habitat: Woodlands, where he is first found in April scratching among
old leaves like fox sparrows, white-throats, and other members of
his family.

Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from southern Canada and Maine to
central Kansas and northern Georgia; winters from southeastern
Nebraska, the Ohio and Potomac Valleys to central Texas, the Gulf
Coast, and southern Florida.

The WHITE-EYED TOWHEE is found on the Atlantic Coast region from
about Charleston, South Carolina, to southern Florida. He resembles
his northern cousin except that his _eyes_ are _white_, and that his
wings and tail have _less_ white on them. There are several species
of towhee in our western states.

Before the trees are in leaf, there appears in our April woods a lively, trim, and attractive bird who makes himself known in no uncertain manner. So bustling and energetic is he, so cheerful and self-confident, without unpleasant aggressiveness, that he always attracts attention. The uninitiated frequently call him an oriole, whom he does resemble in having a glossy black head, throat, back, and tail, and white markings on his wings, with reddish-brown like that of the orchard oriole on his sides; but there the resemblance ceases, for the oriole has in addition a reddish-brown breast, belly, and rump. Then, too, the towhee arrives early, before larvæ have hatched; the oriole arrives in May, when swarms of insects have begun their work of fertilizing blossoms of fruit trees.

Professor Beal writes of the towhee as follows: "After snow has disappeared in early spring, an investigation of the rustling so often heard among the leaves near a fence or in a thicket will frequently disclose a towhee at work scratching for his dinner after the manner of a hen; and in these places and along the sunny border of woods, old leaves will be found overturned where the bird has been searching for hibernating beetles and larvæ. The good which the towhee does in this way can hardly be overestimated, since the death of a single insect at this time, before it has had an opportunity to deposit its egg, is equivalent to the destruction of a host later in the year."[91]

While attending to business, this ground robin seems most materialistic and worldly-minded; but when satisfied with his quest for food, "a change comes over the spirit of his dreams." He perches upon a low bough; in a sweet and joyous song he reveals his passionate devotion to his mate, and brings pleasure to listeners whose ears are attuned to the sounds of Nature.

DESCRIPTIONS AND BIOGRAPHIES
OF
OUR LATER SPRING BIRDS