THE BOHEMIAN WAXWING
The Bohemian Waxwing is very similar to its cousin, the Cedar Waxwing, in color and markings, but may be distinguished by its larger size, (8 inches), by reddish-brown feathers under the tail, by the absence of yellow on the breast, by a crown that is reddish-brown in front, and by yellow and white markings on the wings. In note, feeding habits, and other characteristics, it resembles the Cedar-bird.
This larger species of waxwing is found in the colder regions of the whole Northern Hemisphere. In North America it breeds from northern Alaska and northern Canada to southern British Columbia and Alberta; winters east to Nova Scotia and south irregularly to eastern California, Colorado, Kansas, southern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. It is a rare winter visitor in Massachusetts.
TUFTED TITMOUSE
THE TUFTED TITMOUSE OR TOMTIT
Titmouse Family—Paridæ
Length: About 6 inches; a little smaller than the English sparrow.
General Appearance: A slender, active, gray and white bird, with a crest. Its reddish-brown sides are not visible at a distance. The titmouse need never be confused with the waxwing; it is much smaller, and lacks the yellow and red markings on tail and wings.
Male and Female: Head conspicuously crested; crest gray and pointed; forehead black; bill short, sharp, black; back, wings, and tail gray; under parts whitish, with a reddish-brown wash on the sides.
Call-note: De-de-de-de, similar to one of the chickadee’s notes, but louder.
Song: A loud, sweet, clear whistle: Pe’-to, pe’-to, pe’-to, pe’-to, pe’-to, frequently repeated five times. The titmouse is called locally the “Peter-bird.”
Habitat: Woodlands; open groves of hard-wood trees preferred.
Range: Rare in New England. From Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, south to central Texas, the Gulf Coast, and Florida; occasional in Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Connecticut. Common permanent resident near Washington, especially in winter.
No winter bird more truly exemplifies protective coloring than the lively crested Tomtit, unless it be his little cousin, the Black-capped Chickadee. This sober-hued titmouse is such a blending of the grays and blacks of tree-trunk and icy brook, of the dazzling white of snow and the soft gray shadows that lie across it, of reddish-brown shrubs and weeds, that he might escape notice except for his conspicuous crest. He can be distinguished from the cedar waxwing at a glance by his reddish sides, and because of the absence of a yellow band across the tail and of conspicuous black, white, and red patches or markings.
Few more active birds exist than titmice. They are at once the envy and the despair of aspiring small boys who know them, because of their extreme agility—their ability to perform acrobatic feats. They swing head downward from twigs in the search for their favorite food of insect-eggs; they seem strung on wires.
In the woodlands frequented by tufted titmice, they are as much in evidence as blue jays, because of their loud, clear peto-peto-peto-peto-peto, a welcome and pleasant sound during belated spring days or a bleak March “sugaring-off” season.
They are less friendly than chickadees, but are not shy, so they can be observed easily. They are very sociable with their kind, and are found, “playing around” with chickadees, nuthatches, and downy woodpeckers in the winter-time, and snuggling close together in old nest-holes during winter weather. In the spring, titmice use hollowed trees for their nesting sites and have been known to welcome a nesting-box.
These birds do enormous good, not only in eating insect-eggs, but in destroying caterpillars, cutworms, beetles, weevils, flies, wasps, plant-lice, and scale-insects in their season.[28] They will eat berries, nuts, and acorns during the winter and are extremely hardy.
CHICKADEE
THE CHICKADEE OR BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE
Titmouse Family—Paridæ
Length: About 5¼ inches.
General Appearance: A very active little gray and white bird, with a black cap and throat and dull yellowish sides.
Male and Female: Head and throat a glistening black; sides of head white; bill small, black, sharp-pointed; back a soft brownish-gray; wings and tail gray, edged with white; breast white, becoming yellowish at the sides below the wings.
Song: Chick-a-dee-dee-dee, uttered with gurgles and chuckles, and with variations.
Call-notes: Day’-day, and a whistle that resembles the word Pé-whee. The latter note is often called the “Phœbe note,” and sometimes the “Pewee note.” To me it resembles neither; it is not hoarse and wheezing like the phœbe’s, nor plaintive like the pewee’s. The last syllable has a descending inflection.
Flight: Very swift and jerky.
Habitat: Woodlands, orchards, and groves.
Range: Eastern North America, from the Hudson Bay region and N. F., south to central Missouri, Illinois, northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, and in the Alleghany Mts. to North Carolina; somewhat farther south in winter.
The CAROLINA CHICKADEE, a smaller species, breeds from central Missouri, Indiana, central Ohio, Pennsylvania (infrequently), and central New Jersey, south to southeastern Louisiana, the Gulf Coast and northern Florida. In southern Florida, are found the FLORIDA CHICKADEES, that are still smaller and browner.
In the White Mts., the Green Mts., the Adirondacks, and southeastern Canada live ACADIAN CHICKADEES, that differ from the preceding species in having brownish-gray crowns, and reddish-brown sides. A similarly marked species, slightly larger, is found from Ontario to Alaska.
During tiresome days of a winter convalescence, spent largely on a sleeping-porch that overlooked a beautiful hillside, my most constant and cheering companions were lively little chickadees. Their blending with the winter landscape was perfect. Whether they were seen against the black snow-laden trunks or smooth gray boles of beeches, or among yellowish willow-withes, they were bits of color harmony.
These active little gymnasts, performing unexpected feats in their swinging from horizontal bars, furnished pleasant diversion, while their friendly, confiding ways, their undaunted fearlessness, and their optimism cheered lonely hours.
An ice-storm necessitated the spreading of a table for our brave little all-kinds-of-weather friends. They came in pairs, grew very tame, and drew near to us like confiding children who knew that no harm would befall them. They acted as though our care of them was the most natural thing in the world. Chickadees have never seemed to me to “grow up,” but always to remain the trusting little ones of the bird-world, too small to be out alone, and yet, like children, to fare forth with confidence that their needs would be supplied.
They repay a thousand-fold any care bestowed upon them. Dr. Judd reported finding in the stomach of one black-capped chickadee between 200 and 300 eggs of the fall cankerworm moth, and 450 eggs of a plant louse in another. Mr. C. E. Bailey computed that one chickadee alone would destroy 138,750 eggs of the cankerworm moth in 25 days, while Prof. Sanderson estimated that 8,000,000,000 insects are destroyed yearly in Michigan by these invaluable little birds.[29]
“Much of the daylight life of the chickadee is spent in a busy, active pursuit of, or search for, insects and their eggs. This is particularly the case in winter, when hibernating insects or their eggs must be most diligently sought, for then starvation always threatens. But the chickadee is one of the few insectivorous birds that is keen-witted enough to find abundant food and safe shelter during the inclement northern winter. Nevertheless, its busy search for food is sometimes interrupted for so long a time during severe storms, when the trees are encased in ice, that it dies from cold and hunger. During a sleet storm Mr. C. E. Bailey saw two chickadees creep under the loose clapboards of an old building for shelter. Their tails were so weighted down with ice that they could hardly fly, and had he not cared for them they might have perished.
“The chickadee, notwithstanding its hardiness, requires protection from cold winds and storms at night. It finds such shelter either in some hollow tree or in some deserted bird nest. Late one cold and snowy afternoon Mr. Bailey detected a movement in a cavity under an old crow’s nest, and on climbing the tree he found two chickadees nestling there. They remained there until he had climbed to the nest and put his hand on one, when they flew out, only to return before he reached the ground. Minot speaks of a chickadee that slept alone in winter in a phoebe’s nest under his veranda. It retires to its refuge rather early at night, and does not come out until the Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Junco are abroad.”[30]
THE GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET
Old World Warbler Family—Sylviidæ
Length: About 4 inches; smaller than the chickadee.
Male: Olive-green above, grayish-white underneath; crown with a bright red center, bordered on each side by bright yellow, and by a black stripe that edges the yellow; a light line over the eye; wings and tail brown; tail forked.
Female: Like male, but without the red in the center of the yellow-and-black crown.
Call-note: A weak tzee, tzee, highly pitched.
Song: William Brewster, in the Auk for 1888, describes the song as follows: [It] “begins with a succession of five or six fine, shrill, high-pitched somewhat faltering notes, and ends with a short, rapid, rather explosive warble. The opening notes are given in a rising key, but the song falls rapidly at the end. The whole may be expressed as follows: tzee, tzee, tzee, tzee, ti, ti, ter, ti-ti-ti-ti.”
Habitat: Woodlands, where kinglets are usually found near the ends of branches, of coniferous trees especially.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds in the tree-regions of central Canada, south in the Rocky Mts. to northern Arizona, New Mexico, and to Michigan, New York, and mountains of Massachusetts, and in the higher Alleghanies south to North Carolina; winters from Iowa, Ontario, New Brunswick, to northern Florida and Mexico.
Though the Golden-crowned Kinglet is one of our smallest birds, it braves the rigors of winter in the United States. It may be seen from the latter part of September until April or early May, when it goes to its more northerly nesting ground.
Kinglets and chickadees are industrious searchers for insects’ eggs. Their value is almost inestimable. Mr. Forbush tells of watching the “Gold-crest” hunt for its food among the pines. He says: “The birds were fluttering about among the trees. Each one would hover for a moment before a tuft of pine ‘needles,’ and then either alight upon it and feed or pass on to another. I examined the ‘needles’ after the Kinglets had left them, and could find nothing on them; but when a bird was disturbed before it had finished feeding, the spray from which it had been driven was invariably found to be infested with numerous black specks, the eggs of plant lice. Evidently the birds were cleaning each spray thoroughly, as far as they went.”[31]
Mr. Forbush tells also of observing the work of seven kinglets in a grove of white pine which “must have been infested with countless thousands of these eggs, for the band of Kinglets remained there until March 25, almost three months later, apparently feeding most of the time on these eggs. When they had cleared the branches, the little birds fluttered about the trunks, hanging poised on busy wing, like Hummingbirds before a flower, meanwhile rapidly pecking the clinging eggs from the bark. In those three months they must have suppressed hosts of little tree pests, for I have never seen birds more industrious and assiduous in their attentions to the trees. One might expect such work of Creepers or of Woodpeckers; but the Kinglets seemed to have departed from their usual habits of gleaning among limbs and foliage, to take the place of the missing Creepers, not one of which was seen in the grove last winter.”[32]
THE CAROLINA WREN
Wren Family—Troglodytidæ
Length: About 5½ inches; the largest of the six more common eastern wrens.
Male and Female: Reddish-brown above; no bars or streaks, except on wings and tail, and occasionally underneath the body, near the tail; a long light line over the eye, extending to the shoulders; under parts buff with a brownish wash; throat white.
Notes: “Wren-like chucks of annoyance or interrogation,” and “a peculiar fluttering k-r-r-r-r-uck, which resembles the bleating call of a tree-toad.”[33]
Song: A loud clear whistle, consisting of three similar syllables, with variations.
Habitat: Thickets, vines, and undergrowth.
Range: Eastern United States. Breeds from southeastern Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, southern Pennsylvania, the lower Hudson and Connecticut valleys south to central Texas, Gulf States, and northern Florida; casual north to Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Professor Beal writes of this interesting wren as follows: “The Carolina wren is resident from the Gulf of Mexico north to the southern boundaries of Iowa, Illinois, and Connecticut in the breeding season, but in winter it withdraws somewhat farther south. It is a bird of the thicket and undergrowth, preferring to place its nest in holes and crannies, but when necessary, will build a bulky structure in a tangle of twigs and vines. Unlike the house wren it does not ordinarily use the structures of man for nesting sites.
“It is one of the few American birds that sing throughout the year. Most birds sing, or try to, in the mating season, but the Carolina wren may be heard pouring forth his melody of song every month. The writer’s first introduction to this bird was in the month of January when he heard gushing from a thicket a song which reminded him of June instead of midwinter.
“This wren keeps up the reputation of the family as an insect-eater, as over nine-tenths of its diet consists of insects and their allies.” Stomach analysis shows that the vegetable food of the Carolina wren is largely seeds of trees and shrubs and some wild berries. He concludes: “From this analysis of the food of the Carolina wren, it is evident that the farmer and fruit-grower have not the slightest cause for complaint against the bird. It eats neither cultivated fruit nor grain, and does not even nest in an orchard tree; but it does feed on numerous injurious insects and enlivens the tangled thickets with its cheerful songs for twelve months of the year.”[34]
Dr. Witmer Stone writes of the song of the Carolina wren as follows: “His most characteristic song has been likened by Mr. Chapman to tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, and to whee-udle, whee-udle, whee-udle. Wilson wrote it sweet-william, sweet-william, sweet-william; and to Audubon it seemed to say come-to-me, come-to-me, come-to-me. It has variations recalling forms in the Cardinal’s song, and also that of the Tufted Titmouse; and the Wren after repeating one form for some time, often changes suddenly to another producing a rather startling effect, as if another bird has taken its place.”[35]
THE WINTER WREN
Wren Family—Troglodytidæ
Length: About 4 inches; the same size as the golden-crowned kinglet.
Male and Female: Similar in appearance to the house wren, but smaller and with a shorter tail; body brown, mostly barred with fine, black lines; light line over the eye; under parts darker than those of the house wren, with a buff wash across throat and breast.
Song: A very beautiful song, unusually loud for so small a bird. Those fortunate enough to hear it are extravagant in their praise. Mr. Eaton calls it the sweetest melody that he and his associates heard in the Adirondacks, excelling even the thrushes.
Habitat: Brush heaps, thickets in woods, along streams, and in wild rocky places.
Range: Breeds from southern Canada to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts, through the Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters from about its southern breeding limit to Texas and northern Florida.
Eaton says: “During the migration, this little wren is commonly observed about the shrubbery of our lawns, parks, and the edges of woods, when disturbed retreating to the recesses of some brush pile or under the damp edges of the stream bank. A few remain throughout the winter in western and central New York, and it is fairly common as a winter resident in the southeastern portion of the State, but in the principal breeding range of the Adirondacks and Catskills it is only a summer resident.”[36] It is a rather common winter visitor near Washington, and rare in New England.
DOWNY AND HAIRY WOODPECKERS
THE DOWNY WOODPECKER
Woodpecker Family—Picidæ
Length: A little over 6½ inches; the smallest of our woodpeckers.
General Appearance: A small black and white bird, with a white stripe extending down the middle of its back; a red patch on back of male’s head. The tail is used for a prop as the woodpecker climbs tree-trunks.
Male: Upper parts black and white; crown of head black with red patch at nape; two broad white stripes above and below eye; a broad white stripe down the center of back; wings spotted and barred with white; tail sharply pointed; the long tail-feathers, black; the short outer tail-feathers, white barred with black; bill long, strong, with a tuft of feathers at its base.
Female: Like male, except for the absence of a red patch on the head.
Notes: A call-note Peek-peek. A metallic Tut-tut-tut’-tut-tut-tut-tut might be considered the Downy’s song, but he belongs really to the group of songless birds. He beats loud tattoos on the boughs of trees, especially at mating time.
Flight: Labored, jerky, with a characteristic shutting of the wings against the sides.
Habitat: Tree-trunks in woods and orchards, and on lawns. The Downy is our most common woodpecker, and a permanent resident.
Range: Northern and central parts of eastern North America, from Alberta, Manitoba, and Ungava, south to eastern Nebraska, Kansas, the Potomac Valley, and in the mountains to North Carolina.
The SOUTHERN DOWNY WOODPECKER of the South Atlantic and Gulf States is smaller and browner than its northern relative.
The Downy Woodpecker is a member of a family of birds that has attracted man’s attention since the old days of superstition. Various myths have grown up around these birds; those of the American Indians are possibly the most interesting. Until recently, woodpeckers have been persecuted by the white man, because of their habit of pecking at trees which they were thought to kill. Many have been unjustly slain.
While one branch of the family, the Sapsuckers, have done a great deal of harm to forests where they breed, and other woodpeckers have done occasional damage, it is now known that they are invaluable as preservers of our trees. Entomologists and foresters consider them the greatest enemies known of spruce-bark beetles and sap-wood borers. As borers are found near the surface in living trees, the holes made by woodpeckers while extracting them soon heals and leaves little mark.
An examination of the structure of woodpeckers shows the admirable way in which they are fitted for their work. They have short, stout legs; strong feet, usually with two toes in front and two in the back; large claws, and stiff tails tipped with sharp spines, to aid them in supporting themselves firmly against tree-trunks and branches. Mr. Forbush says: “The bird is thus more fully equipped for climbing than a telegraph lineman. The claws and tail take the place of the man’s hand and spurs.”[37]
Professor Beal writes the following: “As much of the food of woodpeckers is obtained from solid wood, Nature has provided most of them with a stout beak having a chisel-shaped point which forms an exceedingly effective instrument. But the most peculiar and interesting point in the anatomy of these birds is the tongue. This is more or less cylindrical in form and usually very long. At the anterior end it generally terminates in a hard point, with more or less barbs upon the sides. Posteriorly the typical woodpecker tongue is extended in two long, slender filaments of the hyoid bone which curl up around the back of the skull and, while they commonly stop between the eyes, in some species they pass around the eye, but in others enter the right nasal opening and extend to the end of the beak. In this last case the tongue is practically twice the length of the head. Posteriorly this organ is inclosed in a muscular sheath by means of which it can be extruded from the mouth to a considerable length, and used as a most effective instrument for dislodging grubs or ants from their burrows in wood or bark. Hence, while most birds have to be content with such insects as they find on the surface or in open crevices, the woodpeckers devote their energies to those larvæ or grubs which are beneath the bark or even in the heart of the tree. They locate their hidden prey with great accuracy, and often cut small holes directly to the burrows of the grubs.”[38]
Mr. Forbush calls attention to the wonderfully constructed head of a woodpecker “which is built so that it can withstand hard and continuous hammering. The skull is very thick and hard. Its connection with the beak is strong, but at the same time springy, and somewhat jar-deadening. The membrane which surrounds the brain is very thick and strong.”[39]
The Downy is the smallest member of the woodpecker family in North America, and is one of the most useful. He is especially fond of orchards and shade trees, and not only devours insects that infest them during the spring and summer, but eats the eggs they laid in the crevices of the bark during the winter. One Downy alone is of inestimable value in an orchard or a grove. Mr. Forbush writes as follows: “When the Metropolitan Park Commission first began to set out young trees along the parkways of Boston, some species of trees were attacked by borers; but the Downy Woodpeckers found them out and extracted the grubs, saving most of the trees.
“The untiring industry of this bird and the perfection of its perceptive powers may be shown by the experience of Mr. Bailey. On March 28, 1899, a Downy Woodpecker that he watched climbed over and inspected one hundred and eighty-one woodland trees between 9:40 A. M. and 12:15 P. M., and made twenty-six excavations for food. Most of these holes exposed galleries in the trunks in high branches where wood-boring ants were hiding.... These ants often gain an entrance at some unprotected spot on a living tree, and so excavate the wood of the trunk that the tree is blown down by the wind. This woodpecker acts as a continual check on the increase of such ants.”[39]
The Downy may easily be attracted to our yards by a piece of suet fastened securely to a tree. During the past winter, one has sought my suet-cage, in company with chickadees and nuthatches. This spring he brought his mate to a maple in front of the house. He has seemed excited and happy, and has drummed persistently on a certain broken limb of the tree. He has indulged in numerous rapid flights and his metallic, ringing call.
THE HAIRY WOODPECKER
Woodpecker Family—Picidæ
Length: About 9½ inches; nearly ⅓ larger than the Downy, whom he resembles almost identically as to general appearance, except in SIZE.
Male: Black and white above; white underneath; broad white stripe down the middle of the back; head with black and white stripes, a red patch at the back, and bristles at the bill; wings black, with white stripes and bars; tail black, with white outside feathers; the absence of black flecks on the tail-feathers and the larger size of the bird distinguishes the Hairy from the Downy.
Female: Like male, except for the absence of a red patch on the head.
Note: A loud, shrill call, difficult to imitate or to reproduce on paper for identification. The Hairy also “drums” on the boughs of trees; it has no real song.
Habitat: Tree-trunks in woodlands, rather than in orchards or gardens, though I have noticed these woodpeckers in winter frequenting the trees of village streets without shyness or fear. During the breeding season, they remain in secluded spots in the woods.
Range: Three species of the Hairy Woodpecker may be found in Canada and the United States; the NORTHERN HAIRY WOODPECKER, the HAIRY WOODPECKER, and the SOUTHERN HAIRY WOODPECKER. The northern species lives in the tree-zone of Canada, and is the largest of the three; the Hairy, next in size, may be found in the United States from Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, to the middle and northern parts of the Eastern States. The Southern Hairy, the smallest of the three, is a resident of our southern section.
The Hairy Woodpecker is so like his small Downy relative in appearance and habits that his characteristics are not usually dwelt upon; he is like an older neglected cousin of a baby upon whom much attention is lavished.
But he is very worth while attracting. He is as untiring as the Downy in his quest for beetles, his favorite kind of tree-food; he is also a lover of ants and other “borers.” His longer bill enables him to reach many that the Downy cannot. One Hairy Woodpecker alone saved an entire orchard that had become infested with “borers.” One tree had died before he began his rescue-work, but he saved all the others.[40]
He likes the caterpillars of the cecropia and gypsy moths. He eats much vegetable food, especially during the winter; he has been known to take an occasional bite of the soft inner bark of trees and a drink of sap which he has well earned. Like the Downy, he will eat suet in the winter season.
Mr. Forbush writes: “While this bird often excavates a hole for winter shelter, it sometimes sleeps exposed on a tree-trunk. Mr. Bailey and I once watched one that slept for many winter nights on the north side of a tree trunk in a thick grove. It attached its claws to the bark and went to sleep in much the same position in which it ordinarily climbed the tree. It invariably went to the same tree at night, and was found in the same place at daylight every morning.”[40]
THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
Nuthatch Family—Sittidæ
Length: About 6 inches.
General Appearance: A short, thickset bird, blue-gray, black, and white. Bill long; tail short and square.
Male: Mostly bluish-gray above; white underneath, shading to reddish-brown at sides and under tail; top of head and nape a shining blue-black; sides of head and throat white; wings gray shading to brown, edged and tipped with light gray or white; shoulders gray and black; bill large and strong, (¾ of an inch in length); tail short and square-cut; middle feathers bluish-gray; outer ones black, with large white patches near tips; legs short; feet large and strong; hind toe unusually long, with a long, sharp nail.
Female: Head a dull grayish-black; otherwise like male.
Notes: A nasal crank-crank, which, though not melodious, is not unpleasant to hear. Dr. Chapman says: “There is such a lack of sentiment in the Nuthatch’s character, he seems so matter-of-fact in all his ways, that it is difficult to imagine him indulging in anything like song. But even he cannot withstand the conquering influences of spring, and at that season he raises his voice in a peculiar monotone—a tenor hah-hah-hah-hah-hah—sounding strangely like mirthless laughter.”[41]
Flight: Undulating.
Habitat: Trunks of trees, which he ascends and descends. The other tree-trunk birds, except the black and white warbler, usually ascend trees.
NUTHATCH
Range: North America, east of the Plains. A permanent resident, though irregularly distributed. Breeds from central Canada to the northern parts of the Gulf States.
Of the so-called tree-trunk birds, none are easier to identify than nuthatches, because of their habit of descending trees. Woodpeckers jerk themselves up a tree somewhat as men might ascend telegraph-poles or smooth slippery palm trees. Creepers wind spirally about trunks in a gentle, unobtrusive manner. Both woodpeckers and creepers use their sharply-pointed tails as props. Not so the nuthatches. They care not how they go—“uphill or down dale”—all is one to them. They are as sure-footed as burros descending the Grand Canyon. If they depart from their trail, and decide to leap from crag to crag of their arboreal cliffs, they alight on their strong feet with something of the assurance of a cat. Their tails are not necessary to them as supports.
It is interesting to inquire into the reasons for curious habits of birds. In the economy of Nature one finds marvelous adaptations and harmonies. Mr. Francis H. Allen, in his delightful sketch written for the National Association of Audubon Societies, speaks of the nuthatch as “filling a gap in nature” by approaching his prey from an angle not possible to woodpeckers and creepers. Mr. Allen says: “He would not have adopted so unusual a method of feeding if it had not stood him in good stead. I suspect that by approaching his prey from above he detects insects and insect-eggs in the crevices of the bark which would be hidden from another point of view. The woodpeckers and the creepers can take care of the rest. Of course these other birds get something of a downward view as they bend their heads forward, but the Nuthatch has the advantage of seeing, before he gets to them, some insects which even a Brown Creeper’s gentle approach would scare into closer hiding in their holes and crannies.”[42]
In addition to beetles, moths, caterpillars, ants, and wasps, the nuthatch eats seeds, waste grain, and nuts such as acorns, beechnuts, and chestnuts.[43] His habit of wedging nuts into some crevice that will hold them securely, and then using his strong bill as a hatchet to “hatch” open the nuts is well-known. From that habit he derives his name, which Mr. Forbush says originated probably from nuthack or nuthacker. The bird does much good, and no harm that is known.
He is active and cheerful, inquisitive, and intelligent. He makes an interesting winter companion. During an ice-storm in Asheville, N. C., a nuthatch was attracted by fragments of bread scattered for the hungry winter birds during their famine time. This nuthatch pounced on large crumbs so greedily and purloined them so rapidly that my sisters feared he would die of acute indigestion! They finally discovered that he had wedged the crumbs into large crevices in the bark of a tree near by, and had stowed one good-sized crust in a hole in a telegraph-pole. When he had appropriated most of the bread, he spent the day feasting, going from one store house to another.
A nuthatch in Massachusetts frequently sought an improvised feeding-table made from a bluebird’s nesting-box. One cold morning the owner saw him emerging from the box, where he had evidently “spent the night sitting on his breakfast,” literally seated in the lap of luxury. He reminded me of that delicious tale I loved to read and contemplate during childhood,—of the children who lived in a candy house and ate their way out of it!
Another New England nuthatch, one that I watched at my feeding-table, at first made rapid inroads upon the suet-cage, storing pieces in the cracks of a tree near by. I saw him tuck one large crumb beneath a warped shingle of the chicken-house, evidently laying it up for an icy day, instead of the proverbial rainy one. When an unusually severe ice-storm occurred, he returned to his store house and the crumb disappeared. I had the satisfaction of having assisted him in his dire need.
THE RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH
Nuthatch Family—Sittidæ
The Red-breasted Nuthatch is very similar to its white-breasted cousin except that it is smaller, (4½ to 5 inches), and is yellowish or “rusty” underneath, (except for a white throat), has a white stripe on each side of its black crown, and a black stripe extending through the eye. The head of the female is gray, with white and gray stripes.
This species is not so well known as the white-breasted nuthatch, because it frequents coniferous forests or woods that contain evergreens. It breeds from the Upper Yukon Valley, central Canada, and northern United States, and winters as far south as lower California, New Mexico, Arizona, and the Gulf Coast.
Mr. Allen says of this bird: “To those who know it the Red-breasted Nuthatch is dear out of all proportion to its size and its musical attainments. It is livelier than its big cousin, and prettier in its markings, and there is something particularly fetching about its quaint little form. It is even less of a songster than the white-breasted species, for prolongations and repetitions of its call-note seem to be all it has that can pass for a song. This call-note can be rendered as äap. It is nasal, like that of the White-breasted Nuthatch, but much higher in pitch, more drawling, and lacks the r. It has been happily likened to the sound of a tiny trumpet or tin horn.
“The habits of the Red-breasted Nuthatch are so like those of the White-breasted that much that I have said about that species is applicable to this. The most striking difference is in the favorite haunts of the two birds, the Red-breasted preferring the coniferous woods, or mixed woods that contain a large proportion of evergreens. In those winters when they are found in southern New England, they come freely to the neighborhood of man’s dwellings and feed familiarly on the supplies provided for the winter birds, but even there they show their partiality for coniferous trees. They are particularly fond of the seeds of pines and spruces, so that they are much more vegetarian than their white-breasted cousins. They have the same habit of hiding their savings in cracks and crevices.”[44]
THE BROWN CREEPER
Creeper Family—Certhiidæ
Length: About 5½ inches.
Male and Female: Brown above, mottled with gray, buff, and white; under parts white. A whitish line over eye; bill long, curved; a bar of buff across wings; tail-feathers long, sharply pointed; upper tail-coverts bright reddish-brown.
Note: A faint, monotonous, skreek-skreek, skreek-skreek.
Song: According to Brewster, the brown creeper sings an unusually sweet song during the nesting season.
Habitat: Tree-trunks, which are carefully inspected by these industrious birds.
Range: Eastern North America. Breeds from Nebraska, Indiana, the mountains of North Carolina and Massachusetts north to southern Canada; also in the mountains of western North America from Alaska to Nicaragua; winters over most of its range.
The Brown Creeper should inherit the earth, for he is one of the most perfect examples of meekness that may be found. Small, slight, self-effacing, untiring in his work, he reminds one of a quiet industrious person who performs unremittingly small tasks that amount to a large total.
He is a searcher for insect-eggs, and for insects so small that they might escape the notice of eyes not peculiarly fitted to espy them. His long bill is slender enough to slip into crevices which neither nuthatches nor woodpeckers investigate. Possibly it is because he selects such tiny particles of food that he must work so industriously in order to get enough to eat. He seems always in a hurry. Mr. Frank Chapman has humorously described the brown creeper as follows:
BROWN CREEPER
“After watching him for several minutes, one becomes impressed with the fact that he has lost the only thing in the world he ever cared for, and that his one object in life is to find it. Ignoring you completely, with scarcely a pause, he winds his way in a preoccupied, near-sighted manner up a tree-trunk. Having finally reached the top of his spiral staircase, one might suppose he would rest long enough to survey his surroundings, but like a bit of loosened bark he drops off to the base of the nearest tree and resumes his never-ending task.”[45]
The creeper is not easy to find. He is so wonderfully protected by his dull brown feathers that he looks more like an animated lichen than a bird. His nest is a cleverly camouflaged affair, tucked behind loose bark and often containing eight whitish eggs about the size of beans.
We are surprised to learn that this patient, hard-working little creature has the soul of a poet. His sweet nesting song, reserved for his mate brooding in the woods, breathes exquisite tenderness and beauty.
THE STARLING
Starling Family—Sturnidæ
Length: About 8½ inches.
General Appearance: A short-tailed, long-billed black bird with flecks of brown that look like freckles.
Male and Female: Head purple, flecked with light brown spots; body purple and green, the purple predominating on back and sides, the green on the breast. In summer, the upper parts and sides are speckled, the breast and belly dark, and the bill yellow. In winter, the upper parts are spotted with light brown, the under parts with white; the bill is brown until January, when it begins to turn yellow.
Notes: Squeaks and gurgles, interspersed with pleasant musical notes. A flock of starlings make a great deal of noise.
Range: Numerous starlings live in the Eastern Hemisphere. A number of them were brought to America in 1890 and released in Central Park, New York City. They have increased in number and enlarged their range greatly. They have spread northward and southward; they are now reasonably common near Boston and Washington, as well as New York and other places in the East.
In the winter, starlings are easily identified, because they are the only black birds smaller than crows to be found in some localities. In the spring, they may be readily distinguished from grackles because they have yellow bills, dark eyes, and short, square tails, while grackles have dark bills, yellow eyes, and long tails. Both starlings and grackles are iridescent; a near view reveals the spotted plumage of the starlings and the iridescent bars on the backs of the purple grackles.
Major Bendire says that starlings possess unusual adaptability and can make their nests in a great variety of places. Accusations are brought against them for driving away bluebirds and even flickers. It remains to be seen how much harm is done to our native birds in this way.
There are different opinions regarding the economic value of Old World starlings. Mr. Forbush tells of an Australian locust invasion near Ballarat, Victoria, which made terrible havoc with crops. “It was feared that all the sheep would have to be sold for want of grass, when flocks of Starlings, Spoon-bills, and Cranes made their appearance and in a few days made so complete a destruction of the locusts that only about forty acres of grass were lost.” Mr. Forbush gives also “the experience of the forest authorities in Bavaria during the great and destructive outbreak of the nun moth which occurred there from 1889 to 1891. The flight of Starlings collected in one locality alone was creditably estimated at ten thousand, all busily feeding on the caterpillars, pupæ and moths. The attraction of Starlings to such centers became so great that market-gardeners at a distance felt their absence seriously.”[46]
In an article by E. R. Kalmbach of the Biological Survey, published in “The Auk” of April, 1922, and entitled “A Comparison of the Food Habits of British and American Starlings,” occur the following statements by Dr. Walter E. Collinge, the eminent Scotch biologist:
“The Starling offers a most serious menace to the production of home-grown food, and any further increase in its numbers can only be fraught with the most serious consequences.” He says also, “For many years past there has been taking place a sure but gradual change of opinion with reference to the economic status of the Starling, for from one of our most useful wild birds it has become one of the most injurious. Its alarming increase throughout the country threatens our cereal and fruit crops, and the magnitude of the plague is now fully realized.” He states further, “There is fairly reasonable evidence to show that in the past the bulk of the food consisted of insects and insect larvæ, slugs, snails, earthworms, millepedes, weed seeds, and wild fruits; in more recent years, this has been supplemented by cereals and cultivated fruits and roots.”
Mr. Kalmbach reports a better record for the starling in America, and refers to the decision made by the Department of Agriculture, reported in Bulletin 868:
“Most of the Starling’s food habits have been demonstrated to be either beneficial to man or of a neutral character. Furthermore, it has been found that the time the bird spends in destroying crops or in molesting other birds is extremely short compared with the endless hours it spends searching for insects or feeding on wild fruits. Nevertheless, no policy would be sound which would give the bird absolute protection and afford no relief to the farmer whose crops are threatened by a local overabundance of the species.... The individual farmer will be well rewarded by allowing a reasonable number of Starlings to conduct their nesting operations on the farm. Later in the season a little vigilance will prevent these easily frightened birds from exacting an unfair toll for services rendered.”
THE NORTHERN SHRIKE OR BUTCHER-BIRD
Shrike Family—Laniidæ
Length: A little over 10 inches.
Male and Female: Gray above, lighter underneath; forehead, rump, and upper tail-coverts white; wings black, irregularly marked with white; tail black, bordered with white; a heavy black streak extending from the bill beyond the eye; bill hooked and blackish.
Notes: A call-note and a sweet song.
Habitat: Fields or roadsides where it can find insects, small rodents, and little birds for its prey.
Range: Northern North America. Breeds from northwestern Alaska and northern Canada to the base of the Alaskan Peninsula, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec; winters south to central California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kentucky, and Virginia.
The LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, a resident of the Southern States, is similar to the Northern Shrike but smaller. It is found from southern Florida to North Carolina and west to Louisiana. Northward this species is represented by the MIGRANT SHRIKE, nesting locally from Virginia and eastern Kansas to the southern border of Canada.
Shrikes or Butcher-Birds are attractive to look at, but have a habit which renders them extremely unpopular. They pursue small rodents and little birds and impale them upon sharp twigs, thorns, or barbed wire fences. In excuse for these cruel acts, it must be said that they have not strong, sharp talons like hawks and owls; in order to tear their prey to pieces, there must be a way of holding it firmly.[47] One agrees with Mr. Forbush, however, in his estimate of the habit. He says:
“The Shrike or Butcher-Bird is regarded as beneficial; but our winter visitor, the Northern Shrike, kills many small birds. It pursues Tree Sparrows, Juncos, Song Sparrows, and Chickadees, overtakes and strikes them while they are in flight, sometimes eating them, but oftener leaving them to hang on trees, where they furnish food for other birds. When one sees the little Butcher killing Chickadees and hanging them up, his faith in its usefulness receives a great shock. Shrikes are probably of less value here than in their northern homes, where in summer they feed much on insects. Their chief utility while here [in Massachusetts] consists in their mouse-hunting proclivities.”[47]
Their habit of killing English sparrows and thus getting rid of a nuisance has been commended. Shrikes are likewise destroyers of grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and other insects.
“Like birds of prey and some other birds, the Butcher-Bird habitually disgorges the indigestible part of its food after digesting the nutritive portion. The bones and hair of mice are rolled into compact pellets in the stomach before being disgorged.”[48]