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IN BIRD LAND
IN BIRD LAND
BY LEANDER S. KEYSER Hast thou named all the birds without a gun? Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk? Ralph Waldo Emerson : Forbearance Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow The world should listen then, as I am listening now! Percy B. Shelley : To a Skylark CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 1894 CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG AND COMPANY 1894 Copyright By A. C. McClurg and Co. A.D. 1894...
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NOTE.
NOTE.
The articles comprising this volume having been previously published in various periodicals of the country, I would desire to tender my grateful acknowledgments to the several publishers and editors for their uniform courtesy in permitting me to reprint the papers. My observations on birds have been made, except when otherwise indicated, in various haunts in and about Springfield, Ohio,—a region well adapted for ornithological research or pastime. L. S. K. August , 1894....
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I. WAYSIDE RAMBLES.
I. WAYSIDE RAMBLES.
Looking out of my study window one fair spring morning, I noticed a friend—a professional man—walking along the street, evidently taking his “constitutional.” Having reached the end of the brick pavement, he paused, glanced around a moment undecidedly, and then, instead of walking out into the beckoning fields and woods, turned down another street which led into a thickly populated part of the city. Surely, I mused, we are not all cast in the same mould. While he carefully avoided going beyond t
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II. BIRD CURIOS.
II. BIRD CURIOS.
Every observer of birds and animals has doubtless amassed many facts of intense interest—at all events, of intense interest to himself—which he has not been able to adjust to any systematic arrangement he may have made of his material. That is true of the incidents described in this chapter. It will, therefore, necessarily partake of the nature of bric-à-brac. If it were not so self-complimentary, I should dub it bird mosaic, and have done. The reader will perhaps be more disposed to trace a res
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III. WINTER FROLICS.
III. WINTER FROLICS.
Had Mr. Lowell never written anything but “A Good Word for Winter,” he would still have deserved a place in the front rank of American writers. What a genuine appreciation of Nature, even in her sterner and more unfriendly moods, breathes in every line of his manfully written monograph! Blessed be the man whose love for Nature is so leal and deeply rooted that he can say, “Even though she slay me, yet will I trust in her!” When the storm howls dismally, and the icy gusts strike you rudely in the
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IV. FEBRUARY OUTINGS.
IV. FEBRUARY OUTINGS.
If I were not afraid of the ridicule of the cynic, I should begin this February chronicle with an exclamation of delight; but in these days, when so many of the so-called cultured class have taken for their motto, Nil admirari , one must try to repress one’s enthusiasm, or be scoffed at, or at least patronized, as young and inexperienced. Yet it would be out of the question for the genuine rambler to keep the valve constantly upon his buoyant feelings. If he did so, he would be wholly out of tun
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V. ARRIVAL OF THE BIRDS.
V. ARRIVAL OF THE BIRDS.
Have any of my readers kept a record of the arrival of the birds during the spring? The northward procession of the battalions in feathers is an interesting study. Why do some birds begin their pilgrimage from the south so much earlier than others? What is there in their physical and mental make-up that gives them the northward impulse even before fair weather has come? Do they become homesick for their summer haunts sooner than their fellows? These are questions that are much more easily asked
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VI. WINGED VOYAGERS.
VI. WINGED VOYAGERS.
The subject of bird migration is one of absorbing interest, presenting many a perplexing problem to the student who cares to go into the philosophy of things. Why do the birds make these wonderful semi-annual pilgrimages, and whence came the original impulse, are questions often asked. With my limited opportunities for observation I cannot hope to shed much, if any, new light on the subject; yet it seems to me that some persons are disposed to invest it with more of an air of mystery than is rea
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VII. PLUMAGE OF YOUNG BIRDS.
VII. PLUMAGE OF YOUNG BIRDS.
It is surprising what odd and variegated costumes are sometimes worn by the juvenile members of the bird community. Frequently their attire is so different from that of their elders that even the expert ornithologist may be sorely puzzled to determine the category to which they belong; yet there are usually some characteristic markings, however obscure, by which their places in the avian system may be fixed. As a rule, the plumage of young birds is more striped and mottled than that of mature sp
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VIII. NEST-HUNTING.
VIII. NEST-HUNTING.
Nothing in Nature is more pregnant with suggestion than the nest of a bird. The story of one of these deftly woven dwellings in the woods, if fully written, might prove almost as weird and romantic as the history of a castle on the Rhine. What madrigals, what pæans, have been sung, and what victories celebrated, from the time the first fibres were braided until the chirping nestlings were able to shift for themselves! And, alas, how many fond hopes have perished as well! No doubt the ruses and s
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IX. MIDSUMMER MELODIES.
IX. MIDSUMMER MELODIES.
Several times has the statement been made in print that it is scarcely worth one’s while to attempt to study the birds during the midsummer months, the reason alleged being that at that time they are silent and inactive, and their behavior devoid of special interest. Now, nothing ministers so gratefully to the pride of the original investigator as to prove untrue the theories that have been advanced in books and that are current among scientific men. During the summer of 1891 I resolved to disco
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X. WHERE BIRDS ROOST.
X. WHERE BIRDS ROOST.
One winter evening found me tramping through a swamp not far from my home, listening to the dulcet trills of the song-sparrows, which had recently returned from a brief visit to a more southern latitude. There was no snow on the ground, and the day had been pleasant; but, as evening approached, the west wind blew raw across the fields. For some reason which I cannot now recall, an impulse seized me to clamber over the fence into the adjacent meadow, where I stalked about somewhat aimlessly for a
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XI. THE WOOD-PEWEE. A MONOGRAPH.
XI. THE WOOD-PEWEE. A MONOGRAPH.
Almost every person living in the country or the suburbs of a town is familiar with the house-pewee, or phœbe-bird. It is usually looked upon as the sure harbinger of spring. In my boyhood days my parents and grandparents were wont to say, “Spring is here; the phœbe is singing.” And if blithesomeness of tone and good cheer have anything to do with the advent of the season of song and bursting blossoms, the pewit, as he is often called, must be a true herald and prophet. He seems to carry the “su
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XII. A PAIR OF NIGHT-HAWKS.
XII. A PAIR OF NIGHT-HAWKS.
The night-hawk and the whippoorwill are often confounded by persons of inaccurate habits of observation. It is true, both birds are members of the goatsucker family; but they belong to entirely different genera, and are therefore of much more distant kin than many people suppose. The whippoorwill is a forest bird, while the night-hawk prefers the open country. Besides, the whippoorwill is decidedly nocturnal in his habits, making the woods ring at night, as every one knows, with his weird, flute
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XIII. A BIRDS’ GALA-DAY.
XIII. A BIRDS’ GALA-DAY.
In Mr. Emerson’s poem entitled “May Morning” this stanza occurs:— “When the purple flame shoots up, And Love ascends the throne, I cannot hear your songs, O birds, For the witchery of my own.” It would seem, therefore, that to be a poet does not always give one the coign of vantage in observing Nature, but may, on the contrary, prove a positive disadvantage. Should the rambler go about “crooning rhymes” and making an over-sweet melody to himself, instead of keeping his ear alert to the music aro
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XIV. RIFE WITH BIRDS. A JAUNT TO A NEW FIELD.
XIV. RIFE WITH BIRDS. A JAUNT TO A NEW FIELD.
A four days’ outing along the Ohio River one spring brought me some “finds” that may be of interest to bird lovers. Everywhere there were the twinkle of wings, the twitter of voices, and the charm of song; indeed, so plentiful were the feathered folk that the title of this article is far less poetical than realistic and descriptive. It was the latter part of May, the time in that latitude when the birds were in full song, at least those which were not too busy with their family cares. Sixty-four
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I. BIRD COURTSHIP.
I. BIRD COURTSHIP.
No one who has studied the birds can deny that there is genuine sexual love among them. Many species act on the principle that “a pure life for two” is the only kind of life to live, and therefore a match once made is a match that lasts until death does them part. There may be fickleness, divorce, and downright unfaithfulness among birds sometimes, and there certainly is polygamy among some species; but such examples of irregularity are rather the exception than the rule. Monogamy largely prevai
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II. BIRD NURSERIES.
II. BIRD NURSERIES.
A bird’s nest is a bedroom, dining-room, sitting-room, parlor, and nursery all in one; for there the young birds sleep, eat, rest, entertain their guests (if they ever have any), and receive their earliest training. Yet there is no doubt that in treating the nest as a nursery we make use of the aptest simile that could be chosen. Those who have not given the matter special attention would scarcely suspect how many and varied are the interests that cluster around these dwellings of our little bro
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III. BIRD HIGH SCHOOLS.
III. BIRD HIGH SCHOOLS.
It is not to be supposed that there is a regularly graded system of instruction in the school-life of the birds. There may be method in their learning, but it would be difficult to state positively just where the primary, grammar, high-school, and college grades merge into one another, or when diplomas of efficiency are granted, if granted at all. But that there is something of a system of pedagogy among birds, and that the juniors do receive instruction from their seniors, no observer of feathe
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IV. BIRD WORK.
IV. BIRD WORK.
“Life is real, life is earnest,” might be just as truly said of “our little brothers of the air” as of us, their big brothers of the soil. If you think that their whole career consists of nothing but play and song and bounding joy, you have seen very little of the bird life around you. For the mother bird, at least, the whole period of nesting, sometimes extending over several months, is a time of drudgery, anxiety, and, far too often, of disappointed hopes. I have heard a bird mother’s wail tha
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V. BIRD PLAY.
V. BIRD PLAY.
How strange it is that animals never laugh! If you watch a group of monkeys playing their antics, you will find their faces as sedate as a judge’s, save, perhaps, a merry twinkle of the eye. Comical as their gambols are, one would think they would break into convulsions of merriment. True, animals have various ways of giving vent to their exuberant feelings, but this is done very slightly by means of facial expression. Their risibles must be meagrely developed. What has been said in regard to an
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VI. BIRD DEATHS.
VI. BIRD DEATHS.
If only some master dramatist could write the tragedies of bird land! They would be highly exciting, and would afford ample room for the play of genius; for there are adventures and disasters without number. Perhaps it is on account of the many reverses that there is so often a pensive strain in the songs of the birds,—a minor chord running like a shimmering silver line through the weft of the woodland music. Robert Burns, in his “Address to a Woodlark,” touched the very marrow of bird sadness,
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XVI. THE SECRET OF APPRECIATION.
XVI. THE SECRET OF APPRECIATION.
It is an open secret, and perhaps not a very profound one. I need not prolong the reader’s suspense, if mayhap he should feel any, by assuming a mysterious air, but may as well frankly divulge the secret at once. There are times when melodrama is sadly out of place—if, indeed, it is ever in place. What, then, is the secret of appreciation? It is simply being en rapport with the object or truth to be appreciated. No more patent fact was ever declared than that which Saint Paul wrote: “Spiritual t
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XVII. BROWSINGS IN OTHER FIELDS.
XVII. BROWSINGS IN OTHER FIELDS.
Even the most home-loving body may sometimes gain refreshment, and at the same time have his mental vision broadened, by a jaunt to another neighborhood; and if he has a hobby, he may beguile the days in riding it, and thus evade, for a time at least, that most harrowing of all maladies, homesickness. Well, to make a long story short, and a dull one a little brighter, let me say at once that I have, more or less recently, made several visits to various points of interest, and everywhere have fou
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XVIII. A BIRD ANTHOLOGY FROM LOWELL.[9]
XVIII. A BIRD ANTHOLOGY FROM LOWELL.[9]
In making a study of Lowell’s poetry for a special purpose, one cannot help admiring the genius with which he transmutes every theme he touches into gold. His Muse is exceedingly versatile, ranging at her own sweet will over a wide and varied field. There may be times when you are not in the mood for smiling at his humor or weeping at his pathos; but his delineations of Nature are always so true, so musical, so picturesque, that they seldom fail to strike a responsive chord in the breasts of tho
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APPENDIX. MY BIRD LIST.
APPENDIX. MY BIRD LIST.
The following is an alphabetical list of the birds which I have seen in my neighborhood, Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. It is given for the convenience of bird students, who are always interested in the locale of the feathered tribe. The small figure (1) indicates residents all the year round; (2), summer residents; (3), winter residents; (4), migrants....
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LAUREL-CROWNED LETTERS.
LAUREL-CROWNED LETTERS.
Best Letters of Lord Chesterfield. With an Introduction by Edward Gilpin Johnson . Best Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. With an Introduction by Octave Thanet . Best Letters of Horace Walpole. With an Introduction by Anna B. McMahan . Best Letters of Madame de Sévigné. With an Introduction by Edward Playfair Anderson . Best Letters of Charles Lamb. With an Introduction by Edward Gilpin Johnson . Best Letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley. With an Introduction by Shirley C. Hughson . Best Letters
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