THE TREE SPARROW
When lordly Winter stalks abroad
With trailing robes of snow,
That hide the lovely tender things
His icy breath lays low;
When grasses, shrubs, and hardy weeds
Hold high their heads, and mock
Their tyrant lord,—from Northland woods
There come a merry flock
Of feathered songsters, soft and brown
With a dark spot on each breast.
They sway on stalk of golden-rod
Above a snowdrift’s crest.
Their voices ring like tinkling bells
Beneath the wintry sky,
Till April, when with joyous songs
Back to the North they fly.
Such are the rollicking little Tree Sparrows, that whirl into our vision like an eddy of brown leaves. To the untrained observer, they are “just sparrows,” but to the “seeing eye” they are altogether more dainty and refined than English sparrows, and have different markings. Their little brown caps, the gray line over their bright eyes, their brown backs, white wing-bars, pale gray breasts and forked tails resemble those of their little cousins, the chipping sparrows. But the soft grayish-black spot on each tree sparrow’s breast is a difference. Careful comparison with the “Chippy” will show no straight black line extending from the eye, but a brown curve behind the eye that joins the one extending from the bill.
The voices of winter chippies are infinitely sweeter than those of the door yard chippies and their English relatives. Their note is sweet and joyous. Mr. Forbush writes of their song as follows: “Tree Sparrows are among the few birds that can ‘look our winters in the face and sing.’ They are occasionally heard singing in November and December and late in February, when deep snow covers the ground. The song is among the sweetest of sparrow notes, but not very strong. It slightly resembles that of the Fox Sparrow. Like other sparrows they chirp and twitter from time to time, but the full chorus of a flock in winter is a sound worth going far to hear.”[21]
Dr. Judd says: “The tree sparrow breeds in Labrador and the Hudson Bay region and westward to Alaska. In the fall the birds come down from the north in immense throngs and spread over the United States as far south as South Carolina, Kansas, and Arizona. During the winter, in company with juncos, white-throats, white-crowns, and fox sparrows, they give life to the hedgerows, tangled thickets, and weed patches.... The food of the tree sparrow during its stay in the United States is almost entirely made up of seeds. The bird shows an essential difference from its associates, however, in its large consumption of grass seed, fully half of its food consisting of this element.... Nearly two-thirds of the vegetable food that is not grass seed is derived from such plants as ragweed, amaranth, lamb’s quarters, ... and a variety of seeds such as wild sunflower, goldenrod, chickweed, purslane, wood sorrel, violet, and sheep sorrel.”[22]
Professor Beal says that the oily seeds of such plants as ragweed cause the little bodies of tree sparrows to be encased in “a layer of fat constituting a set of under-flannels from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch in thickness all over the bird’s body.” They are so warmly dressed that it is no wonder they are happy, cheerful, and active. A sight of them in a beautiful, snowy meadow is enough to repay one for the trouble of a quest.
Pine siskins, REDPOLLS, SONG SPARROWS, WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS, PURPLE FINCHES, and GOLDFINCHES are other species of the large Finch family, or Fringillidæ, that may be seen during the winter months.
The Pine siskin or PINE FINCH is a small brownish-gray bird streaked with black, and with buff edges to many of its feathers. The yellow in the wings and in the forked tail will distinguish it.
The REDPOLL is a little brownish-gray bird with a red forehead, reddish breast and rump, black chin and throat. It has distinct dark streaks on its head, back, and under parts, except the breast. There are several species varying slightly in size and markings.
The Song Sparrow is described on [page 106], the White-throat on [page 154], the Purple Finch on [Page 159], the Goldfinch on [page 216].
THE BOBWHITE OR QUAIL
American Partridge Family—Odontophoridæ
Length: About 10 inches; the same length as the robin, but the quail has a stouter body and a shorter tail.
General Appearance: A plump, mottled brown bird, with a small head, short bill, and short tail.
Male: Upper parts reddish-brown and chestnut-brown, mottled with black, gray, and buff; head slightly crested; forehead and line above eye white, line extending to neck; black patch below eye, that curves to enclose white throat and forms a band below it; under parts whitish, barred with black, except upper part of breast which is reddish-brown; tail short, gray, mottled with buff and a few black flecks.
Female: Similar to male, except for buff patch over eye and buff throat, and less black on head, neck, and across breast. In summer, the crown of both sexes is darker than in winter; the buff markings are lighter in color.
Note: Bob-white? Bob-bob-white? A very clear, sweet, musical whistle.
Habitat: Grassy meadows and cultivated fields; farmyards, thickets, and swamps during the winter.
Range: Eastern North America, from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast and northern Florida and west to eastern Colorado. Usually a resident.
In Florida, except in the north, is found the FLORIDA BOBWHITE, a smaller and darker species. A quail is called a partridge in the south. The CALIFORNIA QUAIL, one of several western species, is very different in appearance from the eastern quail. It has a nodding plume on its head and is largely black, white, and brownish-gray.
BOB-WHITE
No birds of my acquaintance, unless it be bluebirds, goldfinches, chickadees, and thrushes, seem so lovable, so interesting, and so altogether desirable as quail. Our summer meadows would lose much of their charm without the cheery “Bob White” ringing across them.
The character of human beings is shown in their voices; that of birds seems likewise revealed. The note of the quail breathes sweetness, tenderness, joy in life, and deep contentment. Unless need of food compels it, the killing of these nearly human creatures seems to me like the “Slaughter of the Innocents.”
Few birds are so devoted to their mates or to their young as the quail. Many human parents are less alive to parental responsibilities. It is a well-known fact that while Mother Quail is sitting upon her second nestful of a dozen or more eggs, Father Bob assumes the entire care of the large, restless, older brood.
Most birds love their mates and their young, but quail seem to have affection for their brothers and sisters, also. The parents and the two broods sometimes remain together during the winter. When one member of the family is lost, the others give their tender covey-call, to lure home the prodigal. There are few sweeter sounds in nature. Mr. Forbush says: “When the broods are scattered by the gunner, they are reassembled again by a whistled call of the old bird, which has been given, ‘ka-loi-kee, ka-loi-kee,’ and is answered by the whistled repeated response, ‘whoil-kee.’ The syllables almost run together. The first call is uttered with a rising and the other with a falling inflection. It is plainly the rallying call and the answering cry.”[23]
Dallas Lore Sharp, in his charming book “Wild Life Near Home,” refers to the covey-call as follows: “It was the sweetest bird-note I ever heard, being so low, so liquid, so mellow that I almost doubted if Bob White could make it. But there she stood in the snow with head high, listening anxiously. Again she whistled, louder this time; and from the woods below came a faint answering call, White! The answer seemed to break a spell; and on three sides of me sounded other calls. At this the little signaler repeated her efforts, and each time the answers came louder and nearer. Presently something dark hurried by me over the snow and joined the quail I was watching. It was one of the covey I had heard call from the woods.
“Again and again the signal was sent forth, until a third, fourth, and finally a fifth were grouped about the leader. There was just an audible twitter of welcome and gratitude exchanged as each new-comer made his appearance. Once more the whistle sounded; but this time there was no response across the silent field.”
Young quail are very precocious. They are able to run about soon after they are hatched. They early learn how to hide and “freeze.” A friend told me of coming suddenly upon a brood. The mother gave a call and all fled instantly, except one that turned into a little brown wooden image under a leaf at his feet. He picked it up and held it in his hand. Not a motion did it make until its mother gave a second call, when it shot out of his hand like a flash.
Another friend told me of her experience in finding a lost baby-quail. It was too little and too weak to keep up with the family—was probably the last born. It was so tired and distressed that when she knelt down and placed her cupped hand near it, the poor little thing ran to it, nestled down, and shut its eyes. She discovered the brood and carried the baby over to join its family, but it seemed loath to leave her. Three times it ran back to the warm shelter of her hand. She could hardly bear to abandon it to the life that seemed more than it could endure.
Dr. Judd made a careful study of the bobwhite. The following extracts are from his report: “It is the general opinion that with the on-coming of winter the bobwhite is found less often in the open fields, when withered herbaceous plants afford but scant protection from enemies, than in dense bushy, briery coverts and woods. In Maryland and Virginia, the scattered and depleted coveys after the shooting season evidently unite into large bevies. Their favorite resort is a bank with a southern exposure and suitable food-supply.
“Robert Ridgway found a clutch of freshly deposited eggs in southern Illinois on October 16, and H. C. Munger found another set in Missouri in January, the parent being afterwards found frozen on the nest. Authentic records show that bobwhite has been known to breed, at least occasionally, somewhere in its range every month in the year....
“In Maryland and Virginia large land-owners often feed their birds in severe weather. Wheat and corn are the best food and should be scattered, if possible, among the briers where the birds are safe from hawks. Bobwhites have been known to feed with chickens in barnyards. By a little forethought land-owners and sportsmen can easily make provision for their birds. Sumac bushes should be left along hedgerows and the edge of woodland to furnish food that is always above the snow and lasts well into spring.... The bayberry and wax-myrtle last until May, also.
“The food habits of the bobwhite are noteworthy in several respects. Vegetable matter has long been known to be an important element in the food of the bobwhite. Grain-eating birds are likely to do much harm to crops.... The bobwhite is a notable exception. Not a single sprouting kernel was found in the crops and stomachs of quail examined.”[24]
Dr. Judd enumerates eighty-eight varieties of weed seeds that are eaten by quail, and states an amazing number eaten at one time. “One bird shot at Marshall Hall had eaten 1000 ragweed akenes; another contained [quantities of] leguminous seeds, mainly tick-trefoil; a third had eaten 5000 seeds of green foxtail grass, while a fourth had taken about 10000 [infinitesimal] pigweed seeds.”[24]
As an insect-destroyer the bobwhite is of enormous value. During the summer, insects form more then one-third of its food. Over one hundred varieties had been discovered by examination of the stomachs of quail in 1905, an unusually large proportion of which were highly injurious to crops. Mr. Forbush thinks that no farmer in Massachusetts can afford to shoot a quail or allow it to be shot on his land, and that if the markets must be supplied, quail must be reared artificially.
Our bobwhite sleeps on the ground. The California quail roosts in bushes or trees. One summer evening in Santa Barbara it was my privilege to see a charming phase of quail family life. I was sitting quietly under a tree on a knoll that overlooked a flat shed-roof, when I heard a low call, and a whirring of wings. Mother Quail, accompanied by thirteen little balls of brown feathers, alighted on the roof near me. She talked to her adorable family, and, judging by their quick responses, she evidently gave them numerous commands. They finally ran to the edge of the roof and arranged themselves in a row, faces outward, until she gave another call. Then obediently they gathered around her in a true Kindergarten Circle, heads outward and tails toward her, all ready for bed. There they nestled, until a passer-by disturbed them and, to my great regret, they flew away. In a few minutes I heard a clear loud ku-ku-kow, and on the same roof alighted Father Bob with fifteen restless boys and girls—a veritable Primary Class. He had more trouble in controlling them than Mother had experienced with her docile little ones; they ran hither and thither in spite of his insistent, anxious calls. He succeeded in gathering them about him, however; but just as they were forming their circle, they, too, were frightened away.
THE RUFFED GROUSE
Grouse Family—Tetraonidæ
Length: About 17 inches.
Male: Upper parts reddish-brown, with black, yellowish, gray, and whitish markings; large tufts or “ruffs” of glossy black feathers at the sides of the neck. Tail long and broad, gray and reddish-brown, mottled and barred with black, and a broad blackish band near the end; when spread, the tail resembles a fan. Under parts buffy, becoming white, with black bars that are indistinct on breast and belly, and darker on the sides; a broken band on the breast.
Female: Similar to male, but with smaller ruffs on the sides of the neck.
“Love-song”: A loud tattoo or drumming that sounds like a thump on a large drum—a tum-tum-tum-tum-tum-tup-tup-whir-r-r-r-r-r. This tattoo is most common in late winter and early spring, but may be heard in the summer and fall. While heard most frequently during the day, it may be heard at any hour of the night. In making it, the bird usually stands very erect on a hollow log or stump, with head held high and ruffs erected and spread, and, raising its wings, strikes downward and forward. The sound produced is a muffled boom or thump. It begins with a few slow beats, gradually growing quicker, and ends in a rolling, accelerated “tattoo.”[25]
Habitat: A bird of the woods that nests on the ground.
Range: A resident in the northern two-thirds of the United States and in the forested parts of Canada.
The Ruffed Grouse, the finest and most famous game-bird of the northern woods, was formerly very abundant. Its numbers have greatly decreased. Like the bobwhite, it responds to protection and may be raised under artificial conditions. It eats nearly sixty kinds of wild fruit; beechnuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts, acorns, and weed seeds form a large part of its diet. It eats some insects, the most important being beetles of various kinds.
Mr. Forbush says: “The female alone undertakes the task of incubation and the care of the young.... All the young grouse in a nest hatch at nearly the same instant; their feathers dry very rapidly, and they are soon ready to run about.... They run about, stealing noiselessly along among the dead leaves, under the foliage of ferns and shrubbery.... Meanwhile, the mother marches slowly in the rear, perhaps to guard them against surprise from any keen-scented animal that may follow on the trail. She seems to be always on the alert, and a single warning note from her will cause the young birds to flatten themselves on the ground or to hide under leaves, where they will remain motionless until they are trodden upon, rather than run the risk of betraying themselves by attempting to escape.
“During the fall, the Grouse keep together in small flocks. Sometimes a dozen birds may be found around some favorite grape vine or apple tree, but they are usually so harried and scattered by gunners that toward winter the old birds may sometimes be found alone.
“As winter approaches, this hardy bird puts on its ‘snowshoes,’ which consist of a fringe of horny processes or pectinations that grow out along each toe, and help to distribute the weight of the bird over a larger surface, and so allow it to walk over snows into which a bird not so provided would sink deeply. Its digestion must resemble that of the famous Ostrich, as broken twigs and dry leaves are ground up in its mill. It is a hard winter that will starve the Grouse. A pair spent many winter nights in a little cave in the rocky wall of an old quarry. Sumacs grew there, and many rank weeds. The birds lived well on sumac berries, weed seeds, and buds.
“Sometimes, but perhaps rarely, these birds are imprisoned under the snow by the icy crust which forms in cold weather following a rain, but usually they are vigorous enough to find a way out somewhere. The Grouse is perfectly at home beneath the snow; it will dive into it to escape a Hawk, and can move rapidly about beneath the surface and burst out again in rapid flight at some unexpected place.
“The Ruffed Grouse is a bird of the woodland, and though useful in the woods, it sometimes does some injury in the orchard by removing too many buds from a single tree. In winter and early spring, when other food is buried by the snow and hard to obtain, the Grouse lives largely on the buds and green twigs of trees; but as spring advances, insects form a considerable part of the food. The young feed very largely on insects, including many very destructive species.”[26]
CEDAR WAXWING
THE CEDAR WAXWING OR CEDAR-BIRD
Called Locally the “Cherry Bird”
Waxwing Family or Bombycillidæ
Length: A little over 7 inches.
General Appearance: A grayish-brown bird, with a decided crest and a yellow band at end of tail. Plump and well-fed in appearance.
Male and Female: A beautiful, rich grayish-brown with a soft yellow breast. Head conspicuously crested; forehead glossy black; a black line above the bill is extended toward the top of the head, outlining the crest; crest elevated and lowered to express surprise, contentment, fear and other emotions; bill and chin black; throat blackish. Wings brown, becoming a soft gray; wing-feathers with small red tips that look like bits of sealing-wax—hence the name, Waxwing. Tail light gray, shading to a dark grey, rounded, fan-shaped in flight, and edged with a broad yellow band.
Young: Grayish-brown, streaked, and without red tips to their wings.
Note: A gentle lisping tseep, tseep, monotonous and uninteresting. Mr. Forbush says of the waxwing, “It moves about in silence, save as it utters a lisping ‘beading’ note or a ‘hushed whistle.’”
Habitat: During the nesting season, devoted pairs may be seen in orchards, in red cedars, or in shrubbery by roadsides, preferably near trees or bushes laden with berries. The birds are rovers, usually flying in large flocks.
Range: North America. Breeds from south-central Canada to southern Oregon, northern New Mexico, Kansas, northern Arkansas, and North Carolina; winters irregularly throughout nearly all the United States, and south to Cuba, Mexico, and Panama.
Cedar Waxwings are among our most exquisite birds in their delicate blending of color and in their dainty refinement. They seem to have been tinted by a water-color artist, or an expert in the use of pastels. Their proverbial good manners seem to preclude any disturbance of their well-preened feathers by undue haste of movement or quarrelsome ruffling.
My earliest recollections of these beautiful but rather uninteresting birds is of their frequent raids upon a great mulberry tree in my grandparents’ garden. They gorged upon the dead-ripe mulberries with the quiet enjoyment of epicures rather than the greedy haste of gourmands. I remember, also, my grandmother’s dismay at the inroads which the “cherry-birds” and robins made upon her cherry crop, and my bird-loving grandfather’s command that no bird should be molested.
Cedar, juniper, sumac, and mountain ash berries, form the winter diet of these frugivorous birds. As a larder is speedily exhausted by a flock of from twenty to sixty hungry fruit-eaters, they must fly to “pastures new.” During the spring and summer seasons, they supplement their diet of wild fruit, most of which is of no commercial value, with beetles that infest potato-patches and elm trees, and cankerworms that prey upon apple trees. They are very valuable to man, and earn their dessert of cultivated cherries. Mr. Forbush says that they deserve the name of “cankerworm birds.”
He writes as follows: “They frequent infested orchards in large flocks, and fill themselves with the worms until they can eat no more. Such little gluttons rarely can be found among birds. The Cedar-bird seems to have the most rapid digestion of any bird with which experiments have been made. Audubon said that Cedar-birds would gorge themselves with fruit until they could be taken by hand; and that he had seen wounded birds, confined in a cage, eat of apples until suffocated. They will stuff themselves to the very throat. So, wherever they feed, their appetites produce a visible effect. Professor Forbes estimates that thirty Cedar-birds will destroy ninety thousand cankerworms in a month. This calculation seems to be far within bounds.
“Cedar-birds are devoted to each other and to their young. Sometimes a row of six or eight may be seen, sitting close together on a limb, passing and repassing from beak to beak a fat caterpillar or juicy cherry. I have seen this touching courtesy but once, and believe it was done not so much from politeness as from the fact that most of the birds were so full that they had no room for more—a condition in which they could afford to be generous. Nevertheless, the manner in which it was done, and the simulation of tender regard and consideration for each other exhibited, rendered it a sight well worth seeing. They also have a habit of ‘billing’ or saluting one another with the bill.”[27]
A flock of cedar-birds “seep” and whisper to each other like over-fed children. Their note seems to be an expression of their gentle, affectionate, comfortable, ease-loving natures. There appears to be absence of aspiration or longing in their bird-hearts, which seems so poignant in thrushes and many other songsters.