LESSON XXXVII.
THE BIRDS IN THE WOODS.
UNDER THE TREES.
UNDER THE TREES.
I have told you how the crows chased a cat. That was not the only cat chase I have seen. One summer I had a house near a wood. Through the wood ran a brook, and near it was a marshy place. This is just such a spot as birds love.
In that township no one was allowed to shoot birds, so birds of many kinds were plentiful.
One day, as I stood on my porch, I heard a queer noise. Then around the corner of the house rushed a cat. After him, screaming, and flying low, came about twenty birds. They were headed by a blue jay. The jay flew down on the cat, and gave him a sharp peck. He pulled out some of the cat’s fur.
Among these birds I saw the robin, oriole, wren, catbird, yellow-bird, yellow-hammer, blackbird, and several sparrows. They may have their little quarrels among themselves, but they all make common cause when the cat prowls in the woods to kill them.
Once, when I lived in the southwest, I had many forest trees on my lawn. In these trees lived such birds as I have just named, also the peewee, the titmouse, and the bluebird. I had a tame squirrel that went up the trees and frightened the birds.
After that they kept a sentinel always on a bough. If the squirrel left the grass for any tree, the alarm was sounded at once. Then all the birds near came in haste, and attacked the squirrel. They pecked and screamed at him, until he was glad to keep out of the trees. Soon he did not dare to touch a tree trunk.
Among the wood birds the woodpecker is one of my favorites. He is a very fine fellow. There are many kinds of woodpeckers. We have the red-headed, the yellow-breasted, the gold-winged, the hairy, the downy, and others.
They are very intelligent, diligent, and merry birds. They make their nests in holes in trees. It is wonderful how they know where to find a decayed spot in a tree that looks quite sound. The woodpecker will eat fruit and grain, but prefers insects. He, no doubt, saves many forest trees by eating up grubs and worms, which would destroy them.
The woodpecker is a noisy bird. He is full of chatter to his mate. He talks to himself constantly when alone. His “drum” can be heard over all the wood.
It is a fine sight to see him on a brown tree trunk. His plumage, black, white, green, scarlet, gold, can be seen from far. He whirls about, looking for grubs. He holds fast with his strong claws, and gives blow after blow with his great bill upon the tree.
When he tears off a large piece of bark, and lays bare a fine fat grub, he throws back his head, and laughs with joy. He laughs almost as well as the loon, of which I told you.
It seems a great shame to kill such a handsome and happy bird. He really does very little harm, and much good. Now and then, he carries off a pear or an apple to eat, but he saves the lives of many trees.
Among the joyous birds of the wood, let us now take a look at the bird which is every one’s friend. There is a bird that every one loves, and no one says an ill word of. Can you guess that this is the cheerful robin? He is our friend the year round. His red vest shines against the summer green and the winter snow.
The robin is a large bird, with black and brown head and wings; most of the rest of the body is of a dull, yellowish red. Of all our birds this is the least shy. He is brave and merry, and goes and comes as he pleases. Scarcely a month of the year passes without bringing the robin.
Robins seem equally happy in wood, field, garden or orchard. If they cannot find insects to eat, they will take fruit, berries, crumbs or seeds. If food grows scarce, they hop down to the door, and feed with the chicks, or expect a fine breakfast thrown out to them alone.
Some people think that robins eat fruit rather as drink than as food. They take the fruit because theyare thirsty. It is said that if a pail of water is set near the fruit trees, the birds will drink from that and not rob the trees. You might try it sometime, and find out if this is so.
The robin builds a large nest of straw and fibres. She plasters it with mud, and lines it with fine grass. She will come back to the same nest year after year. In this nest she lays five eggs of a bright blue-green color.
If the robin has taken a winter trip, he comes back early in March to settle in the Northern and Middle States. Sometimes he does not leave his home in winter. Sometimes he goes and comes a number of times, as if he wanted to keep an eye on his house.
In March and April you see these birds in pairs. They will be running about the short grass, hunting for leaves, or sitting in the bare branches, trying a song. The robin cannot sing so well as the thrush; but he is fond of singing, and his note is merry if not rich.
As soon as day breaks, you will hear the robin chorus. All day long robin rests himself from work by singing. In the wood he quarrels with no other bird, and no other bird quarrels with him. The robin can be seen in the autumn, feasting whereverthere are poke or elder berries. He is a long-lived bird, and, if he meets with no accident, may live fifteen or eighteen years.
A larger and gayer bird than the robin, and living often in the same wood, is the blue jay. I have told you of some of this fine fellow’s naughty ways. Did you ever see him? Did you notice his big black bill, his great keen eyes, his saucy crest, standing up like a helmet, his fine blue back, his blue and white wings and tail, with black bars? Oh, he is a kingly bird! And he knows it!
Of all our birds none is more pert and saucy than the jay. His voice is loud, and he likes to hear it. He is the trumpeter in the bird band. He has a varied note, and can mock the songs of other birds. He chatters like a duck; he screams like an angry catbird; he whistles; he laughs; and then he goes into the shade, and talks to his mate in a soft musical tone.
He seems to be vain of his fine clothes. Sometimes he stands on a branch, and makes such wild noises that all the birds in the wood fly to see what is the matter. Then, when he has a number of birds to gaze at him, he bows, nods, jerks, flirts, whirls, and makes all manner of the queerest motions. He seems to be giving some sort of a show.
One of the jay’s family names is “the gabbler.” It is said that, like the crow and some other birds, he is a weather prophet, and most noisy before a rain-storm.
The jay will eat almost any kind of food. He eats the eggs and young of smaller birds. He eats chestnuts, acorns, corn, cherries, insects. When very hungry, he will take a small potato, or go to the barn for corn and oats.
Of all the bird partners of the plant in seed-carrying, the jay is chief. One man, who studied this bird very carefully, said, “The jays are able, in a few years’ time, to replant all our waste lands.” No bird is more useful in carrying about nuts and hard seeds.
The jay is especially the bird of North America. He is not a very great traveller. Usually each pair lives alone, and then with their young brood. But sometimes in the autumn forty or fifty will go together to look for acorns.
The jay likes to build in a quiet wood, near a stream. He builds a large nest in a tree, and watches over it, but does not often go very near it. The mother jay lays five eggs of olive color, with brown spots. When the young birds come from the shell, both parents take great care of them.
One day I saw in a wood five new-fledged jays, sitting on a branch. They were not at all afraid of me. But the old birds came near, and seemed in such distress at seeing me, that I went away. A few weeks after I saw the whole family, carrying stores of chestnuts, acorns, and seeds to hide, for they are given to laying up a hoard of food.
The jay is the great enemy of the owl. As soon as he finds an owl hidden in the shade, he calls all the other birds to the battle. Then, headed by the jay, they scold and scream, and fly at the owl, until they drive him off.
He quarrels also with the small sparrow-hawk. But in that quarrel poor Mr. Jay sometimes is killed. When he fights the hawk, he calls other jays to his help. If one of them is killed by the hawk, they all give loud, wild cries. Then they fly off and, hidden in the wood, complain of their disaster.