Chapter II: English and American Literature -- Outline Charts of English and (16)

A Bat is provided with true wings, with which it is able not merely
to propel itself through the air for a longer or a shorter distance,
but to fly like a bird by beating the air with its anterior members.
The Colugo, in common with the Flying Squirrel and the Flying
Phalanger, has the skin of the flanks extended in a manner capable
of sustaining the animals, very much in the manner of a parachute,
in an extended leap through the air. But bats possess the power of
true flight. They move through the air with ease, and in pursuit of
their insect-prey wheel and double and circle about with a
nimbleness that the human eye can only follow with difficulty.

The bats are strange looking animals, being half mouse, half bird;
their fore limbs are very long, and between these and the hind
limbs, and also generally extending to the tail, there is a delicate
membrane, which enables them to fly. Their eyes are small; their
large ears erect; their teeth sharp. The flight of the bats is
swift and noiseless, but not enduring. They could not, like the
migratory birds, fly off in the autumn towards warmer countries.
Therefore in the winter they retire into clefts and crannies, where
they suspend themselves by the claws of their hind feet, and sleep
until the rays of the spring sun warm their benumbed limbs. Our
native bats feed upon insects, and are consequently useful. In the
warm summer evenings they can be seen flitting around the blossoming
trees in order to catch the honey-sucking moths. They do not build
any nest for their young, but the latter cling between the folds of
the wings of the parent animal, and are thus carried about by her on
her excursions.

The best known of the foreign kinds are the vampire bat of South
America and the colugo bat. In the flying lemur, or colugo, the
hairy fold of skin begins behind the throat, includes fore and hind
limbs as far as the claws, and extends along the tail to the tip.
The animal has been observed to swoop over a distance of seventy
yards. The flying lemurs are about twenty inches in length, are
natives of the Indian Archipelago, inhabit lofty trees in dense
forests, and feed chiefly on leaves and fruits, though said at times
to eat insects, eggs, and even small birds. They are nocturnal in
their habits, and very inoffensive, scarcely attempting to bite even
when seized. Their voice resembles the low cackling of a goose.

THE SEALS (_Pinnipedia_)

In the seals the five toes of the limbs have become palmate, being
joined together by a web; the hind feet have a backward, horizontal
direction. Their food consists of small marine animals and plants.

=Seal= (_Phoca vitulina_).--The habitat of the common seal is spread over a large area, but it is chiefly found in the northern seas. It is nearly six feet long, and its fur is yellowish grey, sprinkled above with dark-brown spots. It has no exterior ear. To the inhabitants of the north the seal is a most useful animal; its flesh and fat form their chief food, with its oil they illuminate the long winter nights, its sinews they use as thread, from its bones they make various domestic implements, and with its fur they cover their tents and sledges. Seals are gentle animals, and when tamed exhibit great attachment to man. When wounded they snap savagely in all directions. Seal-hunting forms one of the most important branches of commerce among seafaring nations. Over a thousand vessels leave America every year to take part in seal-hunting; and as one vessel will sometimes capture nearly two thousand seals, some idea may be obtained of the immense number of these animals which are slain annually.

=Walrus= (_Trichechus rosmarus_).--This animal is from eighteen to twenty-two feet long, and weighs from two thousand to three thousand pounds. It is easily recognized by the long tusks in its upper jaw, which attain a length of eighteen to twenty-four inches.

The walrus lives in the northern Polar seas, where it is sometimes met with in herds of a thousand to two thousand head. They either swim about in the water or lie basking in the sun upon ice-floes. When they are about to sleep one remains awake as sentinel. They attract whole herds to their assistance by their terrific roaring, which can be heard for several miles; in all directions their black heads, with red, dilated eyes, and gleaming tusks, emerge from the water. The walrus is hunted for its tusks, skin and oil.

=ANIMALS OTHER THAN BIRDS THAT HAVE LEARNED TO FLY=

It glides through air by means of the membranes uniting the toes, but is not capable of sustained flight.]

The bat is the only animal, outside of the birds, that can really fly in the true sense.]

=Sea Lion= (_Otaria stelleri_).--The home of the Sea Lion is Bering Sea, and as far South as the Kurile Islands on the one side of the north Pacific and California on the other. In the latter case a rookery of sea lions is strictly preserved by the American Government, or probably long ere this the animal would have been exterminated in those waters, as it has been in many other regions after a century and a half of constant persecution.

The male sea lion, of eleven or twelve feet in length and a thousand pounds in weight, is yellowish-brown in color with shaded darker patches. There is a distinct mane upon the neck, which, with its upright posture, combines to give the creature its supposed leonine appearance. The males are fierce in aspect, and if hard pressed will turn and show fight. Old animals bellow like bulls; the younger ones bleat like sheep. They bolt their fish without mastication. The female is only about half the dimensions of the male, and is considerably lighter in color. The animal is useful only for its hide, flesh, and fat.

THE WHALES (_Cetacea_)

Under the general name of Cetacea, _i.e._, the Whales, are classed
together a wonderful group of marine Mammalia, which includes not
only the true whales, but also the Dolphin, Narwhal, Porpoise, and
Grampus.

Notwithstanding their marked resemblance to fishes, the Cetacea
possess the most indubitable mammalian character.

In the cetacea the bodies are elongated, fish-like, devoid of hair,
and run out into a powerful caudal fin. The fore limbs are in the
form of fins; there are no hind limbs. The cetacea are marine
animals, and their food consists wholly of water animals and plants.

The whale is an astonishing animal, and in order that it may subsist
a number of apparently contradictory conditions must be reconciled.
It is a warm-blooded mammal, and yet spends its life wholly in cold
water. In order to dive to great depths it must be able to make its
body heavier than a corresponding bulk of water, and conversely at
will make it lighter in order to reach the surface. Though breathing
atmospheric air through nostrils, the animal can exist at a greater
depth than where the pressure of the water would force its particles
into solid oak, and yet no water can reach the whales’ lungs. It
must be able to exist without breathing at all for at least the
space of an hour. With the bones, ears, and eyes of a mammal it has
to move, hear, and see as though it were a fish.

The “spouting” or “blowing” of the whale is simply an operation of
purifying its blood. When the animal comes to the surface, it first
expels the air in its lungs as it takes its first deep breath.

=Dolphin= (_Delphinus delphis_).--The dolphin is grey or greenish black on its upper parts, and white beneath. It generally attains a length of six feet, and lives in herds in all the northern seas. Hundreds of these swift animals are often seen around vessels, and amuse the passengers by their playful gambols. They feed chiefly on fish.

=Greenland Whale= (_Balæna mysticetus_).--This whale is greyish black on its upper parts, and white beneath. It is from forty-eight to seventy-two feet long, and weighs upwards of twenty thousand pounds. It is the largest of all living animals; a boat with six persons could enter its jaws. Its tongue is nine feet broad, eighteen feet long, and weighs about eight hundred pounds.

The whale inhabits the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific. It has been hunted for the sake of its blubber since the ninth century. A whale forty-eight feet long, and fourteen thousand pounds in weight, will furnish six thousand pounds of blubber, from which four thousand eight hundred pounds of oil will be obtained; there will also be over three thousand pounds of whalebone, which lies in the upper jaw in the place of teeth.

=Narwhal,= or =Sea Unicorn= (_Monodon monoceros_), allied to the dolphins and porpoises. The male has one--almost invariably the left--of the teeth or tusks in the upper jaw extraordinarily developed into a spirally furrowed horn of pure ivory from six to ten feet long. This is the longest tooth found in the Mammalia. The adult animal is from ten to sixteen feet long. It has a grey back, mottled with black, the under parts being much lighter, but also spotted. It has a blunt, short head, no dorsal fin and very small flippers, but is very active and a rapid swimmer. It is peculiar to the Arctic Ocean, though it occasionally strays as far south as the British seas. The oil is valuable and the flesh edible. The ivory is very fine, and in the castle of Rosenborg at Copenhagen is a throne of the kings of Denmark made of this substance.

=Porpoise= (_Phocæna communis_).--The porpoise, five, six, or seven feet in length, is common in the North Atlantic. Often off the British coasts a shoal of porpoises may be seen frolicking quite near to the shore. Passengers on board ocean-going liners are always interested in watching the sportive “black pigs,” as sailors call them, race along the side of the ship. The animals are captured chiefly for their oil, and the skin can be converted into useful leather.

=Rorqual= (_Balænoptera musculus_).--The common Rorqual is a typical species of the “finners,” as sailors term them; the generic name means “Finned Whale,” in reference to the small back fin that lies near the region of the tail. It attains an enormous size; one caught in the North Sea was ninety-five feet in length, twenty-two feet in width, and weighed over two hundred and fifty tons. Rorquals are the most widely distributed of all the larger Cetaceans; they are found nearly everywhere outside the Antarctic regions.

WHALE FISHERIES.--With the older method of whale-fishing the chief products were oil and whalebone. Recently the industry has been revolutionized, principally by Norwegians, and practically every part of the animal is used. For the new method a suitable island is selected, a cutting-up station constructed, and all whales killed are towed to the station and there drawn upon land to be dealt with. The modern whaling-vessel is a small and powerful steamer with a heavy harpoon gun mounted in the bows. The harpoon is a special kind of barbed spear. No boats are used, the steamer following the whales when sighted. By dealing with the carcase on shore all parts are now used, including the bone, blubber (or fat), the soft parts after the oil has been expressed being prepared as fertilizers. The flesh is asserted to be palatable and may ultimately be sold for food.

These are perhaps the most beautiful of the heron family and are much persecuted by the plumage hunters for the sake of the spray-like plumes which grow on their backs in the breeding season.]

_THE BIRDS_

The birds have a hard, bony skeleton, and red, warm blood; they breathe by means of lungs, and lay eggs with hard shells. Their bodies are covered with feathers, their fore limbs are changed into wings.

HOW BIRDS COMPARE WITH MAMMALS

In some ways birds are the highest of the vertebrate animals. They represent the climax of that passage from water to land which the backboned series illustrates. Their skeleton is more modified from the general type than that of mammals; their arrangements for locomotion, breathing, and nutrition are certainly not less perfect; their body temperature, higher than that of any other animals, is an index to the intense activity of their general life; their habitual and adaptive intelligence is familiarly great, while in range of emotion and sense impressions they must be allowed the palm. It is, in fact, only when we emphasize the development of the nervous system and the closeness of connection between mother and offspring, that the mammals are seen to have a right to their pre-eminence over birds.

THE VOICE OF BIRDS

With few exceptions, birds have a vocal organ, and are able to produce more or less variable sounds. The organ is, however, wanting in the running birds, such as the ostrich, and in the American vultures. The sounds produced are almost as varied as the different kinds of birds, and an expert has little difficulty in identifying a great number of forms by their distinctive noises. It is among the so-called perchers, songsters, or Insessores, that we find song really developed and that for the most part in the males, and in highest degree at breeding-time.

HOW BIRDS ARE CLOTHED

The _integument_ differs markedly from that of other animals in being clad with feathers. Three distinct kinds of feathers are at once distinguishable--(_a_) the small hair-like downy rudimentary _filoplumes_; (_b_) the numerous smaller contour or covering _plumes_; and (_c_) the large strong quill-feathers or _pennæ_ on wings and tail. The ordinary feather consists of a quill at the base of a shaft up the center, and of the vane borne on the sides of the shaft. The vane consists of parallel barbs, which are linked together by small barbules. On the bare legs of many birds the feathers are replaced by horny scales, and the horny structures forming the beak and terminating the toes are very familiar.

THE BIRDS OF PREY

The birds of prey have a hooked, curved beak, at the base of which
are the nostrils, surrounded by cere skin. They live chiefly upon
warm-blooded animals, which they seize with their claws and tear in
pieces with their beak. There are more than five hundred varieties,
which are separated into day and night birds of prey.

Eagles, falcons, hawks, harriers, buzzards, and the like are adapted
for the pursuit of prey not only by possession of strong, hooked
beaks, powerful talons, and keen powers of vision, but also by the
swiftness of their flight. Many of them--for example, falcons--are
able to poise themselves, apparently motionless, in the air till
some such prey as a young rabbit or small bird is discovered, and
then swoop down upon the victim with almost incredible rapidity.

=Condor= (_Sarcorhamphus condor_).--Largest of vultures, averaging nine feet wing expanse, lives among the peaks of the Andes but descends for food. Its feet are not adapted for grasping, and it cannot truly perch nor carry objects when flying; it sleeps soundly, can be lassoed at night and kills small quadrupeds, besides feeding on carrion. The condor lays two white eggs four inches long, on bare rock, hatched in seven weeks. The young are brown and a year old before they can fly. The male is black with white ruff, has wing bars and tip of bill; wattles are present on the head and breast. The female lacks comb, wattles, and has less white. The young do not acquire full plumage for six years. The condor depends more on sight than smell in finding food.

=Eagle= (_Aquila_) is a name given to many birds of prey in the Falcon family. The golden eagle, the white-headed eagle, and the sea-eagles are characteristic examples. The falcon family includes over three hundred predacious birds, feeding for the most part on living animals, hunting by day, and living usually on exposed rocky places. The bill is powerful, but rather short, high at the root, and slightly curved; the partition between the nostrils is complete; the upper margin of the eye-socket projects; the head and neck are feathered; the soles of the feet bear large callosities.

Representatives of this noble genus are found in all parts of the world except the neotropical and Australian regions.

The GOLDEN EAGLE is a large and magnificent bird. The predominant color is dark, tawny brown, but the back of the head and neck are more tawny and look golden in the sunlight. The young birds have tails of a brighter color. The adult female measures about three feet in length; the male is rather less both in length of body and wing. The golden eagles have their homes in remote rocky regions, but often wander far in search of booty. They prey upon numerous mammals and birds, but are rarely willing to run any great risks in so doing. The nest, usually upon a rocky ledge, is large and roughly made. There are most commonly two eggs. Though a strong and majestic bird, it cannot be credited with much bravery. The occasional cry is loud and shrill, but with some hoarseness. The species is widely distributed in Europe, Asia and North America.

The crested eagles are found in parts of both hemispheres, and are in some species distinguished by tufts of feathers on the back of the head. The harrier-eagle is an Old-World bird represented in Europe, north Africa, and western Asia. The fishing eagle or fish-hawk is an almost cosmopolitan bird, with markedly piscivorous diet. The bald eagle has the tarsus feathered only halfway to toes; with white head and tail after third year. Its length is about 36 inches. The bald eagle is the emblem of the United States, feeds on fish, sometimes secured by robbing the osprey and sometimes found as carrion.

EAGLES AS EMBLEMS.--In the arms of the present German empire an eagle (with one head) sustains on its breast a shield containing the arms of Prussia. Austria has preserved the double-headed eagle of the earlier German empire. Russia assumed in 1472 the double-headed eagle under Ivan III. to signify that the czar sprang from the Greek emperors, who had borne it as a symbol since the partition of the Roman empire. A white crowned eagle in a red field was the shield of the kingdom of Poland. The arms adopted by the United States consist of a dark-brown eagle with outspread wings, having in one of its talons a bundle of arrows, in the other an olive branch, bearing on its breast a shield whose upper part is blue and under part silver, and crossed by six red vertical bars. In its beak it holds a band with the inscription _E. pluribus unum_, surmounted by thirteen stars, the original number of states.

=Falcons= (_Falco_) are birds of medium or small size, having short, strong beak, with a sharp hook at tip and a strong tooth on each side of upper mandible; legs short and strong, middle toe long, claws much curved and sharp, tail short and stiff, wings long and pointed. There are about fifty species, some known as hawks. True falcons, in hunting prey rise high in air above and swoop down. Hawks chase the prey near the ground. The most common falcon is dark-bluish above and white below with bars; the young are brownish above and streaked below. The largest falcon is found in the Scandinavian Mountains. Among small falcons are the sparrow-hawk of the United States and the kestrel of Europe. They feed on mice and insects. Most falcons prey upon birds, attacking some even larger than themselves. They, at one time, were trained for hunting the heron, sparrow, etc., in the sport known as falconry.

=Hawks= have the upper mandible not toothed, and the wings short, rounded, and concave below. They do not easily soar or glide.

HENHAWKS comprise chiefly the rough-legged hawk and the red-shouldered hawk. The first rarely, and the second never, takes chickens; they prey rather on noxious insects, mice, etc. The sharp-shinned hawk, length twelve inches, and Cooper’s hawk, eighteen inches, are rufous on breast and dusky above, with dark bars on the tail. These useful buzzards last mentioned should be protected.

GOSHAWKS (_Astur palumbarius_) is found in almost all parts of Europe. It generally inhabits thick woods in the neighborhood of fields and meadows, and builds its nest on the topmost boughs of a lofty tree.

This unsociable bird is as swift and wild as it is shy and cunning. It can be easily recognized at a distance by its long tail and short wings. When hunting for prey it flies, as a rule, along the edges of woods and thickets, and is active almost the whole of the day. Flying, resting, swimming, or running, it seizes its prey with equal dexterity. Its great swiftness and adroitness render the goshawk a formidable opponent. It appears suddenly among the unsuspecting birds, and, before they can escape, one lies bleeding under the claws of the bold robber. It follows its prey into inhabited houses, and sometimes flies through the windows.

The goshawk carries off poultry, and also steals game. It also destroys a great number of our most useful insect-devouring birds.

SPARROW HAWK (_Nisus communis_) resembles the goshawk both in form and habits, and is a true copy of its bigger cousin.

=Osprey= or FISHING HAWK (_Haliætus albicilla_) is often mistaken for the golden eagle. The latter, however, can be easily recognized by its feathered legs. The osprey is widely distributed in the United States along the Atlantic coast, and is found all over Europe. It has its nest on the summits of inaccessible rocks and cliffs along the coasts, or in the top of a high tree, and rarely among the reeds. The osprey is a lazy but obstinate and dangerous robber, attacking all animals which it is able to overcome. Like the bald eagle, it catches fish; but it also feeds upon carrion.

=Owls= (_Strigidæ_) include more than one hundred species, all of which belong to two families. The Java owl, which ranges from the eastern Himalayas to Burma, Ceylon, Java and Borneo in itself constitutes the second of these families. They have large eyes, looking forward, encircled by stiff feathers, and with vertical pupil. Most are nocturnal and see poorly by day, but the Hawk Owl, and Snowy Owl of arctic regions, feed by day. Their food consists of rodents, insects, birds, vermin, and fish. The Great Horned Owl (_Bubo virginianus_) attains a weight of eight pounds, and attacks poultry. Owls hear well; some have a well developed feathered external ear. The long ears by which the horned owl is known, refers to the horns of feathers, developed above the eyes. Owls fly noiselessly, owing to their soft plumage. The feet are usually feathered; the outer toe is reversible, and in the Fishing Owl the toes are osprey-like. The female is the larger. The size ranges from six inches in the Pygmy Owl of the tropical forests, to thirty inches in the Great Grey Owl of the northern regions. Reddish brown is predominant, but dark and light colors may be exhibited by a single brood. The eggs are spherical and pure white. Some species breed before the snow has gone, and their eggs hatch a few at a time. The Snowy Little Owl of Europe, is the symbol of learning. The Burrowing Owl lives in the burrows of prairie dogs in America, on whose young it feeds, in part while rattle-snakes associate with both as a common enemy.

The =White= or BARN OWL (_Strix flammea_) always lives in the neighborhood of man, building its nest in sheds, church-towers, old ruins, and also in pigeon-houses. It sleeps during the day. At night it flies through the gardens and fields, catching all kinds of mice, insects, and young birds. The nest is carelessly built, and in the spring contains from six to nine white, oval eggs.

=Vultures= (_Vulturinæ_) are large carrion-eating birds of prey. Those of the Old World differ from those in the New in several particulars; thus, the hind toe of the former is on the level with the other toes; the partition between the nostrils is not perforated as in American vultures; and they carry food to their young in their claws and not in their beaks. The chief of the American vultures are the Condor, Turkey Buzzard, Carrion-crow, or Black Vulture, and the King Vulture, which haunts jungles from Mexico to Paraguay, and is white, with the long tail and wing-feathers black, the head lemon and scarlet. Examples of the Old World vultures are the Bearded Vulture or Lammergeyer (_Gypaetus barbatus_), the largest bird of prey of Europe. It was formerly often seen in the Alps and Pyrenees; but is now, at least in the Swiss and Bavarian Alps, almost exterminated. It is a bold and dangerous robber, not only waylaying hares and roes, but also sheep and chamois; children even, have been attacked by this bird.

The Egyptian or White Vultures are known as Pharaoh’s Chickens. The crested Black Vulture ranges from China through North Africa. It builds large nests in trees on mountain-tops, where it rears a single young. The Griffon is black, with white tail and wing feathers. Vultures find their food by sight.

THE CLIMBING BIRDS

The toes of the climbing birds are arranged opposite each other in
pairs; one of the back toes is, in many of these birds, so flexible
that it can be easily turned forward. The claws are long, strong,
and hooked, thus these birds can easily hold on firmly, even in a
perpendicular position. Most of them frequent the woods, and live
upon insects and fruit.

=Cuckoo= (_Caculus canorus_) is as large as a pigeon. It has a gently-curved, deeply-cleft beak, long, pointed wings, and wedge-shaped, pointed tail. The outer toe can be directed forward as well as backward. American cuckoos hatch their own eggs. The Old World cuckoos are especially marked by the habit of leaving their eggs to be hatched by other birds. The spotted cuckoo of northern Europe lays four eggs in a nest, usually that of a crow. A small South African cuckoo, size of a sparrow is brilliantly colored. Australia has the large channel billed cuckoo, with its immense beak. The road-runner or chapparal cock of the desert plateaus of western United States feeds mainly on grasshoppers. In the West Indies and adjacent states is found the Ani, with high bill, and peculiar in that several females unite in building one nest, where all co-operate in hatching their eggs.

The cuckoo, with its never-wearied song, is the joyful harbinger of spring, and is heard with delight by old and young. It lives chiefly upon hairy caterpillars; and, as it is always feeding, we can justly include the cuckoo among the useful birds.

=Parrots= (_Psittaci_) are near relatives of the cockatoos, paroquets, macaws, lories, nestors, etc. The true parrots have the upper mandible toothed, and longer than high, and a short, rounded tail. These birds combine with the beauty of their plumage a nature of great docility, and have the faculty of imitating the human voice in a degree not possessed by other birds. They are found chiefly in Africa, from whence we get the gray parrot, the best talker. South America, which is particularly rich in species, furnishes the well-known green parrot; and North America is the home of a single species, the Carolina parrot. The parrots are forest birds, and are adepts at climbing, using for that purpose both the feet and the bill. Their food consists of seeds and fruits. They make their nests in holes, and lay white eggs, as is commonly the case where the eggs are concealed.

The parrots may be called the monkeys among the birds; for, like the monkeys, they seek their food while climbing, but are awkward and clumsy when on the ground. Their imitative qualities and docility, their obstinacy and slyness, and their disagreeable voice and gregarious habits, all serve to remind us of the monkeys.

=Toucan= (_Rhamphastus toco_), a bird of the American tropics, is related to the woodpeckers and parrots. It belongs to the most curious of the animal forms, as its immense beak is treble the length of its head. The tongue is horny, slender, and brush-like; the considerable tail is hinged next the pelvis, so that it can be thrown over the back when resting and where the bill lies also during sleep. Toucans are omnivorous, but prefer fruit, live in flocks in forests, and nest in hollow trees. There are over fifty species, in size from that of a robin to a crow, and colored from green to black, variegated with red, yellow and white. The largest is two feet long, with bill eight inches long and three inches high.

=Woodpecker= (_Picidæ_) includes any of three hundred birds which have climbing feet, stiff tail feathers and which bore into trees for grubs on which they feed, though some of them are fond of fruit and other vegetable food. Most of the species have barbed and pointed tongues with which they spear the larvæ, but in some the tongue is smeared with a sticky substance, secreted by glands in the throat. There are no woodpeckers in Australia or Madagascar, but they occur in all other parts of the world. The prevailing color of the plumage is green--dark olive on the upper, pale green on the under parts; the crown and back of the head are bright crimson.

Of the numerous American species the flickers, the South American ground-flickers, which live chiefly on termites, and the great ivory-billed woodpecker may be specially noted. The last-named species, which inhabits the dense forests of the southern States, is one of the handsomest of the group, and was once called the prince of woodpeckers.

The woodpeckers lead a solitary life. Their presence is generally known by the noise they make while pecking; holding fast to a tree, they hack at it with their long, sharp beaks, so that splinters and chips fly in all directions. The woodpecker excavates a hole in the rotten tree, in order therein to build its nest.

THE SINGING BIRDS

Not all the birds belonging to this class are veritable songsters;
but nearly all of them have in the throat an organ of song,
consisting of five or six pairs of muscles, by means of which they
can produce a variety of notes. They are mostly small, prettily
colored birds, which chiefly inhabit the Temperate Zones, and make
themselves very useful by devouring the insects, worms, and seeds of
weeds in the fields, gardens, and woods. They delight us with their
song; but their song is also the reason why some of them are kept in
captivity.

=Birds of Paradise= (_Paradisea apoda_), though song birds of some ability, are more particularly notable for their gorgeous plumage. They are natives of New Guinea and Australia, and are very closely allied to the crow family, both in their habits and voice. The Great Bird of Paradise is the largest of the species, measuring about one and one-half feet in length; the others are comparatively small. The adult males are in beauty unsurpassed even by humming-birds. Tufts of bright feathers spring from beneath the wings, from the tail, or from the head, back, or shoulders. Trains, fans, and exquisitely delicate tress-like decorations occur abundantly, and the gracefulness of the plumage is enhanced by the brilliant color and metallic luster. The females are plain, sober-colored birds, and it is only with maturity that the males acquire that brilliancy of plumage which they exhibit to such advantage in their courtships. The true birds of paradise feed on fruits and insects, and are practically omnivorous. Their mode of life is more or less gregarious. Their song consists of a series of loud, shrill notes.

=Blackbird= (_Turdus merula_), is a member of the thrush family. The plumage of the male is quite black, and the beak yellow; the female is dark brown above, and greyish brown on the under parts, with a brown beak. It is shy, solitary, nests in March, and has two broods during the season. The nest is plastered inside with mud; four or six blue eggs, speckled with black, are laid. The bird feeds mainly on insects. It is a mocking bird, but not so good a songster as the song-thrush. In confinement it can be taught.

The American Crow-blackbird or Purple Grackle is restricted to the region east of the Rockies, the Blue-headed Grackle is confined west of the Mississippi, while the Rusty Grackle pervades the whole continent.

The Red-winged Blackbird breeds in Mexico and North America south of the Barron Grounds; winters in southern half of United States and south to Costa Rica.

The blackbird is frequently an inhabitant of the woods; but in the winter it comes into the gardens of the villages and towns. It is very fond of fruit, and thus often ravages the orchards and strawberry gardens.

=Bobolink= (_Dolichonyx oryzivorus_), resembles a sparrow, but its tail feathers are acute. Length seven inches. It breeds from Ohio northeast to Nova Scotia, north to Manitoba, and northwest to British Columbia; winters in South America.

Few species show such striking contrasts in the color of the sexes, and few have songs more unique and whimsical. In its northern home the bird is loved for its beauty and its rich melody; in the South it earns deserved hatred by its destructiveness. Bobolinks reach the southeastern coast of the United States the last half of April just as rice is sprouting and at once begin to pull up and devour the sprouting kernels. Soon they move on to their northern breeding grounds, where they feed upon insects, weed seeds, and a little grain. When the young are well on the wing, they gather in flocks with the parent birds and gradually move southward, being then generally known as reed birds. They reach the rice fields of the Carolinas about August 20, when the rice is in the milk. Then until the birds depart for South America planters and birds fight for the crop, and in spite of constant watchfulness and innumerable devices for scaring the birds a loss of ten per cent of the rice is the usual result.

=Canary= (_Fringilla_) is a beautiful but very common cage-bird, much esteemed for its musical powers. It is native to the region about the Canary Islands. Its color is grayish brown and dusky green, but the numerous artificial breeds show varieties of yellow and black markings, crests, etc. Naturally monogamous, the male sings best to win the love of the female. She incubates the eggs, he feeds the young. Six eggs are produced four times a year. Canaries cross readily with allied species. They have been domesticated for nearly four centuries.

Distinct varieties have been produced by scientific selective breeding, and these reproduce their distinctive characteristics, and “like breeds like” so long as the varieties are not crossed. The hardiest are the Norwich; the largest are Lancashire Coppies; the most costly and delicate are Belgians. Lizards, London Fancies, Yorkshires, Scotch Fancies, and Cinnamons practically complete the list.

=Catbird= (_Mimus Carolinensis_) is a species of Thrush common in eastern United States, so called from its peculiar note. It is very dark colored, about nine inches long, and nests in low bushes early in May. It breeds throughout the United States west to New Mexico, Utah, Oregon and Washington, and in southern Canada; winters from the Gulf States to Panama. The bird has a fine song, unfortunately marred by occasional cat calls. With habits similar to those of the mocking bird and a song almost as varied, the catbird has never secured a similar place in popular favor. Half of its food consists of fruit, and the cultivated crops most often injured are cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Beetles, ants, crickets, and grasshoppers are the most important element of its animal food. The bird is known to attack a few pests, as cutworms, leaf beetles, clover-root curculio, and the periodical cicada, but the good it does in this way probably does not pay for the fruit it steals.

=Chickadee= (_Penthestes atricapillus_).--The Chickadees are among the most popular birds that we have, owing to their uniform good nature even in the coldest weather, and their confiding disposition. They are common about farms and even on the outskirts of large cities they will come to feasts prepared for them on the window sill with their clear “phe-be,” “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” or “dee-dee-dee,” and several scolding or chuckling notes. They nest in hollow stumps at any elevation from the ground but usually near the ground, and most often in birch stubs. Their eggs are white, sparingly speckled with reddish brown. They range and breed in the northern half of the United States and northward. The Carolina Chickadee (_Parus carolinensis_) is smaller and with no white edges to the wing feathers, and is found in southeastern United States, breeding north to Virginia and Ohio.

=Crossbills= (_Loxia_) are the most highly developed members of the Finch family, characterized by having the tips of the upper and lower bills crossing so as to facilitate extraction of seeds. Males are reddish, females brownish olive in general coloration. The crossbill lives chiefly in the pine plantations, where it feeds for the most part on the seeds of the pine, cleverly opening the cones with its pointed beak. It hatches in all seasons of the year.

=Finch= (_Fringilla_) is a name applied to many birds but generally used with some affix, as in the familiar names bullfinch, chaffinch, and goldfinch. A finch is usually small, has a hard, conical beak, and generally lives upon seeds. The distribution is almost world-wide, excepting Australia. The buntings and the weaver-finches of the Ethiopian and Australian regions are usually kept distinct.

Some, as Canary (see Canary) and Bullfinch make fine songsters in confinement. The Chaffinch is the typical Finch of Europe. In America the Purple Finch has a flush of red in male; the female is olive brown, streaked below, the tail feathers soft and rounded; length without tail, three and one-half inches. The Goldfinch has acute bill, yellow on bases and edges of quills, male rich yellow, length three inches without tail; also called Thistle-bird and Yellow-bird. The Lark-finch of the prairies has tail three inches long, and is much streaked with black, white, and chestnut. In the spring the males are usually seen on, or heard from, tree tops in orchards or parks, giving forth their glad carols. They are especially musical in spring when the snow is just leaving the ground and the air is bracing.

The nest consists of strips of bark, twigs, rootlets and grasses, placed at any height in evergreens or orchard trees. The eggs resemble, somewhat, large specimens of those of the Chipping Sparrow. They are three or four in number and are greenish blue with strong blackish specks.

=Grosbeaks= are finches with beaks extraordinarily stout, forming a continuous curve with the top of the head. The Cardinal Grosbeak is known as the Winter Redbird. In eastern United States are also the Blue, Rose-breasted, and Pine Grosbeaks, all beautifully colored and fine singers. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak breeds from Kansas, Ohio, Georgia (mountains), and New Jersey, north to southern Canada; winters from Mexico to South America. This beautiful grosbeak is noted for its clear, melodious notes, which are poured forth in generous measure. The rosebreast sings even at midday during summer, when the intense heat has silenced almost every other songster. Its beautiful plumage and sweet song are not its sole claim on our favor, for few birds are more beneficial to agriculture. The rosebreast eats some green peas and does some damage to fruit. But this mischief is much more than balanced by the destruction of insect pests. The bird is so fond of the Colorado potato beetle that it has earned the name of “potato-bug bird.” It vigorously attacks cucumber beetles, many of the scale insects, spring and fall cankerworms, orchard and forest tent caterpillars, tussock, gipsy, and brown-tail moths, plum curculio, army worm, and chinch bug. In fact, not one of our birds has a better record.

=Jays= (_Cyanocitta_) are brightly colored, noisy birds, near relatives of the crow and are represented by numerous species distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. Probably the best known is the Blue Jay, one of the most beautiful birds that we have, but, unfortunately, one with a very bad reputation. Blue Jays often rob other birds of their eggs and young as well as food and nesting material. They are very active birds and are always engaged in gathering food, usually acorns or other nuts, and hiding them away for future use.

These Green Jays are very beautiful, but, like all the other members of the family, they are merciless in their treatment of smaller birds. During the summer their diet consists of raw eggs with young birds “on the side,” or vice versa; later they live upon nuts, berries, insects; in fact, anything that is edible.

They are fairly common in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas.

=Lark= (_Alauda arvensis_).--This familiar songster, is well known as the symbol of poets and the victim of epicures. It is included among a type of birds which comprizes over one hundred species, widely distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa, with spreading stragglers in Australia and North America. The plumage is usually sandy brown, the color of the ground; the lower legs bear scales, behind and before; the hind claw is very long and straight; the bill is strong and conical. The skylark measures about seven inches in length; the males and females are alike in plumage; the food consists of insects, worms, and seeds. It nests in April, making a structure of dry grass in a hollow in the ground, usually among growing grass or cereals. The eggs (three to five) are dull gray, mottled with olive brown; two broods are usually reared in the season.

The MEADOWLARKS (_Sturnella magna_) our familiar friends of the hillside and meadow; their clear, fife-like whistle is often heard, while they are perched on a fence-post or tree-top, as well as their sputtering alarm note when they fly up before us as we cross the field. In North America they range east of the Plains and north to southern Canada; and winter from Massachusetts and Illinois southward.

The Western Meadowlark has the yellow on the throat extended on the sides; its song is much more brilliant and varied than the eastern bird. It is found from the Plains to the Pacific. The Florida Meadowlark is smaller and darker than the common HORNED LARK (_Otocoris alpestris_). This variety is only found in the United States in winter. During the mating season they have a sweet song that is uttered on the wing, like that of the Bobolink.

=Mockingbird= (_Mimus polyglottos_). This is the great vocalist of the South, and by many is considered to be the most versatile singer in America. It is found in gardens, pastures and open woods. All its habits are similar to our Catbird, and like that species, it is given to imitating the notes of other birds. Its song is an indescribable medley, sometimes very sweet and pleasing, at others, harsh and unmusical. Its general colors are gray and white.

Usually the nest is built in impenetrable thickets or hedges, or again in more open situation in the garden; made of twigs and rootlets, lined with black rootlets; the four or five eggs are bluish green with blotches of reddish brown.

It ranges throughout the southern United States, breeding north to New Jersey (and casually farther) and Ohio; and winters in the South Atlantic and Gulf States. The Western Mockingbird is found in southwestern United States, north to Oklahoma and California.

=Nightingale= (_Daulias luscinia_).--The common nightingale is well known as the finest of songsters. It is rather larger than the hedge-sparrow, with about the same proportionate length of wings and tail. It is of a rich russet-brown color above, shading into reddish chestnut on the tail-coverts and tail; the lower part grayish-white; bill, legs, and feet brown. The sexes are alike in plumage. It is a native of many parts of Europe and Asia, and of the north of Africa, and is a bird of passage, extending its summer migrations on the continent of Europe as far north as Sweden. It frequents thickets and hedges and damp meadows near streams, and feeds very much on worms, beetles, insects, ants’ eggs, caterpillars, and other insect larvæ. The male bird sings by day as well as by night, but at night its song is most noticeable and characteristic. The variety, loudness and richness of its notes are equally extraordinary; and its long, quivering strains are full of plaintiveness as well as of passionate ecstasy. The ancient Romans paid more for a nightingale than they paid for a slave.

=Orioles= (_Oriolidæ_) are confined entirely to the Old World and are characteristic of the Oriental and Ethiopian regions. The birds called “Orioles” in the United States belong to an entirely different family, the _Icteridae_. The members of the family are generally of a bright yellow or golden color, which is well set off by the black of the wings.

Twenty-four species are enumerated, the best known being the GOLDEN ORIOLE. The adult male is about nine inches long. Its general color is a rich, golden yellow; the bill is dull orange-red; a black streak reaches from its base to the eye; the iris is blood-red; the wings are black, marked here and there with yellow, and a patch of yellow forms a conspicuous wing-spot; the two middle feathers of the tail are black, inclining to olive at the base, the very tips yellow, the base half of the others black, the other half yellow; legs, feet and claws dark brown. The female is less yellow than the male, and the under parts are streaked with gray. In central and southern Europe it is common in summer in certain localities; it is abundant in Persia, and ranges through central Asia as far as to Irkutsk. It winters in South Africa. Its food consists of insects and their larvæ, especially green caterpillars, and fruits such as currants, cherries and mulberries. The song of the male is short, loud, clear, and flutelike; he has also a mewing call-note, and a harsh alarm-note. The nest is unlike that of any other European bird; it is placed in, and suspended from, a fork in a horizontal branch, sometimes of an oak, usually of a pine, in a shady grove or thick wood, and is made of bark, wool and grass.

The BALTIMORE ORIOLES (_Icterus galbula_) range in color through orange, black, yellow and gray. They are sociable birds and seem to like the company of mankind, for their nests are, from choice, built as near as possible to houses, often being where they can be reached from windows. As they use a great deal of string in the construction of their nests, children often get amusement by placing bright-colored pieces of yarn where the birds will get them, and watch them weave them into their homes. Their song is a clear, querulous, varied whistle or warble; the call, a plaintive whistle. The Baltimore Oriole is found east of the Rockies, breeding north to New Brunswick and Manitoba. They winter in Central America.

=Robin= (_Planesticus migratorius_).--These well-known birds are very abundant in the northern half of the United States, being found most commonly about farms and dwellings in the country, and also in cities if they are not persecuted too severely by English Sparrows.

The male has a black head and bright reddish brown breast; the female, a gray head and much paler breast; the young, intermediate between the two and with a reddish brown breast spotted with black.

The song of the Robin is a loud, cheery carol, “cheerily-cheerup, cheerily-cheerup,” often long continued. The nest is a coarse but substantial structure of mud and grass, placed on horizontal boughs or in forks at any height, or in any odd place about dwellings; the four or five eggs are bluish green. Robins range throughout eastern North America, breeding from the middle of the United States northward. They winter throughout the same region. The Southern Robin is a paler form found in the Carolinas and Georgia.

=Sparrows= (_Fringillidæ_) are small plain-colored birds, with narrow palates, small conical bills, and streaked plumage. The English Sparrow (_Passer domesticus_) was introduced into United States in 1853, and has since spread to a remarkable extent, in cities, driving off other birds. The white-throated sparrow, an American form, is really a bunting. Other American sparrows have little in common with the English Sparrow. All American sparrows wear the characteristic brown streaked plumage of the group, and include the small chestnut-capped chipping sparrow of gardens, the song sparrow, the little active seashore sparrow, and the large handsome fox sparrow.

SONG SPARROW (_Melospiza melodia_).--This is probably the best known, most abundant and most widely distributed of all our birds. They are quite hardy and many of them winter in the northern states, but the majority go farther south, returning to their summer homes about the first of March. They may be found anywhere where there are bushes, vines or hedges, and very often about houses, even in large cities.

Their song is very pleasing and musical, strongly resembling brilliant measures from that of the Canary.

The nest of grass is either on the ground or in bushes, and contains three to five bluish-white eggs, profusely spotted with brown. The Song Sparrow breeds from Virginia and Missouri north to southern Canada. It winters from Massachusetts and Ohio southward. Many local races are found west of the Rockies, but only one east of them. Dakota Song Sparrow is found in the vicinity of Turtle Mountains, North Dakota; it is lighter above and brighter below.

=Swallows= (_Hirundinidæ_) are birds with long pointed wings, small feet, short, broad bill, and ten tail feathers. About one hundred species are known, almost universal in distribution. They feed while flying, catching insects. Some build nests in crevices, some dig holes in banks, and others make mud nests plastered against walls. The Barn Swallow of the United States, much like that of Europe, is lustrous steel blue, pale chestnut below, tail deeply forked. It arrives early in May and remains until late August. The American Chimney Swallow is a Swift. The Purple Swallow, or Purple Martin is a North American species. The general color, both of the upper and under parts, is shining purplish blue; the wings and tail black. It is a universal favorite and is hailed as the harbinger of spring. The Republican Swallow or Cliff-swallow of North America, makes a nest of mud, in form somewhat like a Florence flask, which it attaches to a rock or to the wall of a house. Hundreds sometimes build their nests in close proximity.

=Thrasher= (_Toxostoma rufum_) an American mimic bird or mocking thrush, is common in the eastern United States, mainly rust red above and whitish below, the breast and sides marked with lines of elongated brown spots. It is called also the Brown, Red, or Ferruginous Thrush, the Corn-planter, and French or Sandy Mockingbird. The song of this Thrasher is most musical and pleasing. It has a similarity to that of the Catbird, but is rounder, fuller and has none of the grating qualities of the song of that species. They apparently have a song of their own and do not deign to copy that of others. They are one of the most useful and desirable birds that we have. The SAGE THRASHER (_Oroscoptes montanus_) is often known as the Mountain Mockingbird because of the brilliance of its song, a very varied performance, long continued and mocking that of many other species. They inhabit sage-brush regions and are partial to the lower portions of the country, although frequently met in open mountains. They are not shy and can readily be located by their voices.

They nest in bushes, especially the sage and cactus, and range through the sage-brush regions of western United States from the Plains to the Pacific.

=Thrush= (_Turdus_), belongs to a family including many of the most familiar song-birds of Europe and America. The best-known American Thrush is the Robin. (See Robin). The Wood-thrush has a most melodious evening song, and is nearly as large as the Robin; the Hermit Thrush, has an even more exquisite song, which, owing to the habits of the bird is less frequently heard; Wilson’s Tawny Thrush has a strange, bell-like song. Other American thrushes include the Olive-backed and the Gray-cheeked varieties. The largest known British species is the Missel Thrush, sometimes called the “Stormcock,” from its habit of singing before or during wind or rain.

The SONG THRUSH (_Turdus musicus_) is smaller in size, and possesses finer powers of song. It is olive grey on the upper parts, while the under parts are a lighter grey, with dark fleckings. It is a true inhabitant of the woods, and comes to us early in March, animating nature, then just waking, with its musical song. The Song Thrush lives upon insects, and also upon snails, which it strikes upon a stone in order to break their shells.