DIFFERENT COLORED SUITS
A birddoes not always wear the same colored dress, as I said in the chapter on moulting. A goldfinch, who through the summer wears a gay yellow coat, comes out in the fall in plain olive and black; and the scarlet tanager, who flourishes in the most brilliant red, changes to a quiet green in winter. Besides these, some birds wear at one season a spotted coat, and come out afterwards in one of plain colors.
Most of them change by moulting, as I explained, the old feathers dropping out and new ones of another color coming in; or, to speak exactly, the new ones growing out and pushing the old ones off on their tips. But some change color without moulting. All birds moult completely in the autumn, many moult partially in the spring, and some, as I said, change without moulting.
This last change of color is made partly by fading, and partly by breaking off the tips of thefeathers, or what is called "abrasion." This is a curious process. I told you something about it in chapter vii. Certain feathers have edges different in color from the rest; as, for example, a black feather with tips of yellow. While the feathers are new and perfect, as they lie over each other like shingles on a roof, only the edges show, and these being yellow, the bird appears to be dressed in yellow. But the yellow tips are not so strong as the rest, and they break or wear off, or are pulled off in the spring. What is strange, they break exactly where the black begins. So as soon as the yellow is off, the black shows, and behold, the yellow bird suddenly becomes a black bird.
That is the way some birds manage to put on their spring dress in the fall. The solid color is the color of the spring, but it is hidden or veiled by tips of another color for winter.
The meadowlark changes in this way. In the winter his coat is brownish, or buff. In the spring these tips are worn or broken off, and he comes out in yellow and black.
Another change, even more curious, is made by some birds, who all winter wear white spots, or light scolloped edges to their feathers, and in spring the spots are gone.
In these, the white or light parts only breakoff, as sharply as if cut with scissors. They leave the edges of the feathers notched in queer ways, but as they lie over each other that does not show.
two birds in tree, one upside downBLACK AND WHITE WARBLERS (MALE AND FEMALE)
Birds in this way can change color without changing their feathers. While moulting but once a year, they can show two suits, and by partially moulting twice, can show three suits.
Another thing about the color of feathers is interesting. Some colors, such as black, and red, and brown, are caused by coloring matter in the feather. But other colors are only an effect of the way the feather is made, whether it has ridges on it, or certain minute specks under the surface, which seem to act as prisms (says Dr. Newton), and reflect the light in different colors.
For instance, green is always due to some shade of yellow coloring matter under a surface full of lengthwise ridges, and other colors are made in similar ways.
These curious facts have been found out by that tell-tale little instrument the microscope, and no doubt it will reveal many more secrets in time.
Color is useful to birds, as well as beautiful. Its great use is to conceal them from their enemies, and they show that they know this by their conduct.
When a bird is of the color of dead leaves, orthe sand, he has only to flatten himself and keep still, and he is hidden. Such a bird on the nest will often let one come close, and even stroke her, while relying on her color to be unseen. A sitting ruffed grouse will do so. But if snow falls, the same bird is very wild, for she knows she can be seen in the snow.
I have seen a striped bird,—black and white warbler,—when frightened, flatten himself on a branch, where he looked so much like the bark that he could not be seen.
Ground birds are mostly in mottled colors of the ground. The whip-poor-will, whose habit it is to rest on a log all day, wears colors that hide him as well as if he were under the log.
The striking colors on a bird are often bidden when he is at rest, but show plainly when he flies. When a flicker stands quietly on a fence he is all in rather dull colors, but when he flies he shows a large snow-white spot on his back, so that as far as one can see him he may be known.
A meadowlark on the ground looks not unlike a flicker, but when he flies he shows that the outside feathers of his tail are white. This is as striking a mark as the white spot on the flicker.
Many birds have such markings, and it is thought by men who study birds and look for a use in everything, that such marks serve thepurpose of "danger signals" or "recognition marks." That by these birds can know each other in the dusk, or that the flash of color will catch the eye, when the bird does not wish to give a call, but to slip away quietly to avoid danger, and at the same time to give notice to other birds to do the same.
HOW HE WORKS FOR US
Manytimes in this book I have spoken of the great value of the services of birds, in helping us destroy insects and weeds that injure our crops. But there is more to be said about it.
From morning till night, almost the whole of his life, nearly every bird is working for us. He does not know he is working for us, of course. He is simply hunting for the food he likes, and what is good for young birds to eat.
But what he chooses to eat himself, and to feed the young, consists mostly of creatures that destroy our fruit and vegetables, caterpillars that eat the leaves off our trees, worms that get into our apples and berries, beetles that spoil our roses and our potatoes, mice that eat our crops, and all the worms and grubs that gardeners and farmers are all the time fighting.
As I have already said, some of the birds like cherries and green peas, and other things we prefer to keep for ourselves. But we shouldnever forget that they have earned, by their work among the worms, all they can take.
bird in branchesCEDAR-BIRD
I say this, not merely because I love the birds, and want to have them live and be happy, but because it is true. It has been proved true by scientific men in the service of the United States government.
These men have had thousands of birds killed to see what they were eating, and have found out that nearly all the birds they have examined—blackbirds, cedar-birds, blue jays, hawks, owls, even crows—do us more good by the injurious creatures they destroy, than harm by the fruits and vegetables they eat. To this there is, among the small birds, but one exception, the English sparrow, and, of the large ones, only the two hawks and one owl, mentioned on page53.
Chickadees like to eat the eggs of cankerworms; and for a single meal, one of these tiny birds will eat two hundred and fifty eggs, and he will take several meals a day. Now cankerworms destroy our apples. When they get into an orchard in force, it looks, as Miss Merriam says, as if it had been burned over.
Robins, catbirds, and shrikes, and several others, like to eat cutworms, which destroy grass and other plants. As many as three hundred of them have been found in the stomach of onerobin, of course for one meal. Ants are very troublesome in many ways, and three thousand of them have been taken from the stomach of one flicker.
Rats and mice, ground squirrels and gophers, make great havoc in our crops, and farmers spend much time and labor trying to get rid of them; but these creatures are the favorite food of most hawks and owls.
If the farmer would stop shooting the birds, and protect them instead, they would do this work for him, and much better than he can. But because (as I said in a former chapter) one or two hawks and owls have a taste for chickens, he generally kills every hawk and owl he sees, and for this folly has to spend half his time trying to kill the little animals they would gladly have eaten.
A great deal of refuse, dead sea creatures, and other matter, is thrown up on the seashore, or floats on the water. On this feed the water birds,—herons, gulls, terns, and others. If this were not disposed of, it would make us sick. Indeed, on the shores where so many herons have been killed, to get their plumes for ladies' hats, the result has been sickness and death among the people, as Dr. Gaumer, of Yucatan, told Mr. Chapman.
Besides the work they do for us in destroying animal life, their seed-eating is almost as useful. As I said, they eat the seeds of weeds that farmers and gardeners are all the time laboring to keep down, so that useful plants may have a chance to grow.
The whole family of finches, sparrows, buntings, grosbeaks, and all birds with the high, thick bill, though they eat largely of insects through the summer, and feed their nestlings on them, when insects get scarce and weed seeds are ripe, turn to the latter for food. They eat the seeds of all kinds of troublesome weeds; and as each single seed might produce a plant, we cannot guess how much they destroy.
Professor Beal, who is at the head of this government inquiry into the food of birds, and who knows what he is talking about, says that one species of little bird—the tree sparrow—destroys every year in one of the Western States, many tons of the seeds of weeds.
There is a curious and interesting fact about this seed-eating. The regular seed-eaters, the finches, prefer the seeds of certain weeds, most of them harmful; these they break up, taking off the shells, and of course destroying the germ, making it impossible for them to grow.
But there are many birds who eat berries havingin them seeds, such as raspberries, blackberries, and all kinds of wild fruit. These birds do not crack the seeds; and, as they are hard, they do not digest in the stomach, but are dropped whole, and are ready to grow wherever they fall.
Thus, while seed-eating birds destroy the weeds which are hurtful, the fruit-eaters plant the seeds of berries and fruit which we like. That is why we find wild berry bushes all over the country. We have to thank the birds for it.
A great deal more could be said about the birds' work for us, not only of the robins and those I have spoken of, but cedar-birds, who are shot because they take part of our cherries, blackbirds, because they eat some grain, orioles, because they occasionally take green peas, and kingbirds, because they have the name of eating bees, though it has been proved that they eat only drones, which have no sting and make no honey.
Let me impress upon you two facts. First, the stories of the harm done by birds are often mere guesswork, from careless observation. For instance, a man seeing a bird going over his blossoming fruit-trees, at once concludes he is destroying the fruit, probably shoots him, and then writes to his favorite paper that a certainbird eats fruit buds. Other papers copy it, and a war against that bird begins in every orchard.
Whereas, the truth is, the bird was preserving the fruit by picking out the insects that would have spoiled it. This is no fancy picture; this very thing has happened more than once.
And again, whatever is said about the harm this or that bird does, never forget this second fact, which I repeat, and which may be relied upon as perfectly trustworthy. The officers of the government of the United States, who have carefully studied the matter and found out positively, without guesswork, what birds eat, have declared emphatically that every bird they have examined does more good by destroying pests, than harm to our crops, excepting only the bird we have imported,—the English or house sparrow.
HOW TO ATTRACT HIM ABOUT OUR HOMES
Becausebirds are so useful to us, as well as because they are so interesting and so beautiful, it is delightful to have them come about our homes. And it is not at all difficult, for they are easily taught to like us.
In countries where people are gentle, and try to make birds happy, instead of shooting them or throwing stones at them, they become very tame. Mr. Hearn, who has written about Japan, says that the fearlessness of wild creatures is one of the most charming things about the remote parts of Japan, "where tourists with shotguns have not yet come."
Travelers who visit Norway tell us that birds are never disturbed there, and they come freely about the houses. When it is very cold they even come into the houses for food and warmth, and no one thinks of frightening them or trying to catch them.
Even in our own country, Dr. Ridgway toldme of a bird-lover in Florida who would not let birds be annoyed on his place. As a result he had a great many there, and they became very tame. Cardinal grosbeaks, who are rather shy, were so tame they would take food from his hand.
A person living in the country, wishing to draw the birds about his place, should begin by protecting it. Cats should not be allowed to come near, English sparrows should be kept down, and boys who shoot or throw stones should be banished from the vicinity.
Next, trees and shrubs that birds like, for nesting and for food, should be set out. For nesting, a very attractive place for the smaller species is a thick hedge of bushes, the thicker and closer the better.
Nesting-boxes nailed up in trees please many, and evergreen trees will draw some that would not come otherwise. For food, various berry-bearing shrubs and trees should be provided, such as chokecherry, shadberry, mulberry, and others.
In a town or city, besides shrubs that birds like, a high fence, with a top that cats cannot walk on, is desirable, and a readiness to go to their assistance is soon appreciated.
A friend told me a few days ago of a familyof wood thrushes who nested last summer in the yard of her house in the city of Orange, N. J. The birds soon found out that some of the family would come to drive away strange cats which came in. After they learned that, when a cat appeared they would give a peculiar cry, unlike any other heard from them. On hearing this, one of the family always hurried out and drove the enemy away.
If the birds could not get any response from a call at the kitchen door, they would fly to the front of the house, perch on the piazza rail, and call till some one came out. All through nesting-time they thus called on their friends for protection, and the delight the family had over the nest and the friendly birds amply repaid them for their trouble.
The one great necessity, in both city and country, is water for drinking and bathing. It should be in a shallow dish. The rough saucer of a flower-pot is best, because the bird's feet do not slip on it, and the edge is broad and round and easy to perch on.
Next best is an earthen dish, with clean pebbles in the bottom, to prevent slipping, which frightens them. Water should never be more than two inches deep, but should always be clean, and fresh two or three times a day.
No food should be offered in summer, because we want them to get their natural food of worms and seeds.
In the winter it is different. They should have food regularly. But once used to having their wants supplied, they will depend upon it, and suffer and probably starve, if they are neglected or forgotten. So one should be very sure he will not get tired of it, before he teaches them to expect food.
To feed them safely, a shelf must be placed out of the reach of cats and bad boys. On the sill of a window is a good place, or the roof of a piazza, or a little balcony. Breakfast should be served to them at the same hour every day, and they will soon know when to come for it.
For food, they will eat any table scraps of meat, and vegetables, and bread, chopped fine, and most kinds of grain, broken up, or crushed, for the smaller birds.
But the thing they all like best of everything is raw suet, as it comes from the butcher. A large piece may be wired or nailed in place, so that it may be picked at and not displaced, or it may be chopped fine and scattered on the shelf, like other food. All birds are fond of this.
In winter they need water, and it should then, also, be fresh.
A lady living in southern Ohio, who has for several years given a breakfast to the birds every day in winter, told me that her daily guests last season were hairy and downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, white and red-breasted, one young kinglet, a pair of chickadees, tufted titmice, blue jays, juncos, cardinal grosbeaks, Carolina wrens, and sparrows.
This delightful company came regularly for breakfast, and to pay her, sang nearly through the season.
In the latitude of New York there are about forty birds who spend the winter, and of course there are more as one goes south. In the Southern States, many of our northern birds may be studied in the winter.
HOW TO STUDY HIM
Anattractive thing about bird study is the fact that there is still so much to be found out.
Men have been studying the dead bird for many years. All about the body is well known. The way he is made, the arrangement of his bones and his organs, are plainly set forth in the books, in words and pictures.
The shape and colors of his plumage, how many feathers belong to his wing and tail, his length, his extent, the shape of his beak and his foot,—all these facts are to be found in every Ornithology.
Some of his most easily noted habits, too, are familiar; where and when he nests, where he spends his time, and where he goes in the winter, what he eats, and when he changes his dress.
But really to know the living bird, to make acquaintance with the individual, to see his family life, his manners, his intelligence, his powers,—this kind of study has hardly begun.
This almost new and most attractive field is open to us to-day. It offers a charming study, with the added interest of discoveries to be made. Nor is it so hard as most persons think.
In the beginning there are two things to learn: first, how to study from life; and second, how to identify without killing. To study is simply to observe closely and carefully, and to report accurately.
Take a little lesson in observing: When you see a bird do not merely gaze idly at him, but take note of everything about him. What he is doing, how he is doing it, and all his points, his size and shape, his colors and markings.
If he is getting food, as he most often is, see whether he picks it from the tree trunk or gathers it from grass tops; whether he hunts it among leaves, bores the bark, drops to the ground, or sails out into the air for it.
Then try to discover what it is—insect or seed, beetle, grub, or worm—and what he does with it,—swallow it at once, beat it to death, or hold it in his mouth uneaten.
Then notice his manners,—if he stands still, or jerks his tail or body; if he flits about the branches, hovers before a flower, or hammers at the door of an unlucky grub behind the bark. Next, does he walk or hop? does he chatter orkeep silent? fly straight, or go bounding in great waves through the air? All these things you must learn to see, and to note down the moment you do so, so that you will not be uncertain or confused when you take your books to see who he is.
Then you must take note of his size, and to do this—as it is hard to judge of inches—it is well to have in mind a sort of index of size to which you can compare him. Take the most common and best-known birds for standards, the robin, the English sparrow, and one smaller,—the wren, or the "chebec" (least flycatcher). When you see a bird, if he is as big as a robin, enter in your note: "Size, robin." Should he be a little smaller, yet still larger than your measure,—the English sparrow,—you can note it, "Size, robin -," the minus sign meaning that it is less. If he were larger, you would put the plus sign: "Size, robin +."
Observe the shape, whether it is slim like an oriole, or chunky like a chickadee; also any peculiarity of plumage, as a crest, specially long or strangely formed tail feathers; the end of the tail, whether square, rounded, pointed, or notched.
Then notice the beak; its length compared to the head, its shape and color. If it is high andthick, like a canary's or sparrow's, the bird is a seed-eater; if long and straight, like a robin's, he is an insect-eater; if sharp and flat, opening very wide like a swallow's, he is a flycatcher.
drawing of warbler's headFig 18.Canadian Warbler.
Lastly, note the plumage, the general color, then special markings, such as bars on wings or tail, a ring around the eye (Fig 18), or a line over or through the eye (Fig 19), white or black throat (Fig 20or 19), speckled or striped breast (Fig 18), or any conspicuous blotch. Every point must be set down the moment you notice it. You cannot trust your memory.
Drawing of this warbler's headFig 19.Black-throated Green Warbler.
With these full notes, return to your study and take your manual to find out his name, or to identify.
Drawing of sparrow's headFig 20.White-throated Sparrow.
Many persons think that in order to know a bird, and especially to find out his name, one must have him in the hand,count his wing and tail feathers, and measure his length. Excepting for exact scientific purposes, this is not at all necessary. Almost any bird in America may be perfectly identified without touching him, indeed, while he is in the enjoyment of his liberty in a tree. For birds have marked external differences, which are carefully set down in the books.
The modern manuals, too, are usually furnished with a color key, the use of which is fully explained in them. With the help of this you will have little trouble in naming your bird.
Above all, be exact in your knowledge and do not jump at conclusions. If you see a bird on a fruit-tree picking about the blossoms, do not decide offhand that he is spoiling the fruit; look closely to see if he is not, instead, clearing it of worms that would destroy it all. When you notice a bird in a strawberry bed, do not instantly conclude that he is after strawberries; he doesn't care half so much for berries as he does for insects, and very often he is engaged in ridding the plants of pests, at the moment that he is scared off or shot by a careless person, who does not wait to see whether he is friend or foe.
Although patience and clear eyes alone will open many delightful secrets of bird life, a good opera glass will do still more. It will bring younearer to the bird without frightening him. You can see thus much better, not only his markings, but what he is doing. In a word, you can be more sure of your facts.
In deciding upon the actions of a bird, neverguessat anything. If you see a pair very busy about a shrub, you may be sure they have a nest there, but do not so record it till you have actually seen the nest. Even then you should not conclude at once that it belongs to them; I have seen birds sit a few moments in nests which did not belong to them—as if to try them. You may feel very sure what a bird means by an action, but you should set down only what hedoes. Without this care, your records will be worthless.
Do not discourage yourself by trying to find the name of every tiny atom in feathers that you see; indeed, little birds flitting about the tree-tops—mostly warblers—will be hard for you to identify, and almost impossible to watch. I advise you to confine your study at first to the larger and less lively birds,—kingbirds, robins, thrushes, phœbes, bluebirds, orioles, goldfinches, and others, all of which you will find near to houses and easy to study. Do not expect too much at once, nor give up in despair if you cannot identify the first bird you see.
black and white picture of two tanagers on branchSCARLET TANAGER
You may be sure that every hour you honestly give to the study will make it more interesting; every bird you learn to know will be like a new and delightful companion.
You will lose your desire to take life or even to steal eggs from them; the country will have new charms for you; in fact, a person blessed with a love of the study of birds or beasts or insects possesses a lifelong and inexhaustible source of interest and happiness.
In regard to a manual, there are now so many to be had, one hardly knows how to select. I will mention only two or three, which have particular points of value.
A good book to begin with, for residents of New England, New York, and the Eastern Middle States, is Professor Willcox's "Land Birds of New England" (Lothrop Lee & Shepard, Boston. Price 60 cts., by mail).
Although this little book treats of only ninety birds, they are the most common, and its value is its simplicity, and the ease with which its color key enables one to identify the birds it treats. It introduces a beginner to the larger works in a most pleasing way.
A good general work for Eastern North America, thoroughly trustworthy and not too technical in its use of terms, treating all thebirds of the locality, is Chapman's "Handbook of the Birds of Eastern North America" (Appleton, New York. Price $3.00). It has a color key and a color chart, by which one may see what is meant by colors named.
Especially attractive to ladies and amateurs, for its charming accounts of bird life, is Mrs. Wright's "Birdcraft" (Macmillan, New York. Price, $2.00). It treats but two hundred species, but that includes the birds usually seen in the New England and Northern Middle States. It has a color key.
The whole United States is covered by Dr. Coues's "Key to North American Birds," 2 volumes (The Page Company, Boston. Price $12.50). It is not quite so easy for the beginner, but it is untechnical in style, and fully illustrated.
One book deserving mention because of its value as an aid to teachers is Miss Merriam's "Birds of Village and Field" (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. Price $2.00). It is exceptionally rich in facts and statistics relating to the economic value of birds. It treats nearly two hundred of the most common birds.
A book intended for identification only is Professor Apgar's "Birds of the United States" (American Book Company, New York. Price $2.00). It is the result of his experience asteacher, and has several new features very helpful to beginners, such as small cuts at the bottom of pages to explain terms, thus showing exactly what is meant, for example, by "wing bars" or "rounded tail." It also gives hints about the usual locality of a bird, whether creeping over a tree trunk, on the wing, or elsewhere. It takes particular note of size, having one section for birds about the size of an English sparrow, and so on. The pronunciation of the Latin names is carefully indicated. There are several chapters giving descriptions of the external parts of a bird, and there is a glossary of scientific terms.
The following list of points to observe in watching birds has been used to advantage by classes in bird study. A little familiarity with this will help one to remember what to look for.
A similar, but fuller and more elaborate, list has been prepared, and bound up in tablets, to use in the field. It is for sale by Miss J. A. Clark, 1322 Twelfth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
1. Locality—tree: bush: ground.2. Size—compared to robin: English sparrow.3. Form—long: short: slender: plump.4. Beak—high: stout: wide: hooked: long: lobes: drawn down.5. Tail—length: shape at end.6. Legs—long: short: scales.7. Toes—webbed: how turned: hind claw long.8. Color—bright: striking: dull: plain.9. Markings—on head: breast: wing: tail: back.10. Manners—walk: hop: quiet: active: noisy: silent.11. Habits—eating seeds: berries: insects: from ground: tree trunk: leaves.12. Song—long: short: continuous: broken.13. Flight—direct: undulating: fluttering: labored.14. Nest—where placed: shape: materials: eggs.15. Young—plumage: behavior.
WHAT IS A BIRD FAMILY?
Inthe "First Book of Birds" I told you about the common life of a bird; what sort of a home he has, and how he is taken care of when little; then how he lives when grown up; what he eats; where he sleeps; and something about how he is made.
In this book, I want to help you a step further on in your study of birds. I shall tell you something about particular birds, about the families they belong to, and the different ways in which they live.
To begin with: What is a bird family? In life, a bird family is exactly like a human family. It consists of father, mother, and children. But in the books, a family means quite another thing.
Men who study the Science of Birds, or Ornithology,have placed the birds in groups which they call families, to make it easier to find out about them, and write about them. This way of arranging them in books is called classification—or forming them into classes.
Birds are classified, not by the way they look, but by the way they are made, or their structure, and this is found out by the study of Scientific Ornithology. Birds may look a good deal alike, and act alike, and yet be differently made.
There is first the grand classAves, which includes all creatures who wear feathers. This class is divided into orders.
Orders are made by putting together a large number of birds who are alike in one thing. For instance, all birds who have feet made to clasp a perch, and so are perchers, are put in an order together.
But many birds have feet for perching who are very different in other ways. So orders are divided into families, which I shall tell you about in this book.
In each family I shall tell you about one or more of the best known, or the ones you are most likely to see, and that will help you to know the rest of the family when you begin to study birds out of doors, and use the manual to learn the names.
I shall often speak of what has been found out about the food of birds, and I want to tell you here, once for all, how it was done, so that you may understand just what I mean when I speak of the work of the Department of Agriculture. The Government of the United States has in Washington a department with a head and many men under him, whose business it is to take charge of everything concerning agriculture, that is, farming, fruit-growing, etc. This is called the Department of Agriculture.
Farmers and fruit-growers made so much complaint of the damage done to crops by birds, that this department determined to find out just what birds do eat. The only way it could be done was by having the birds killed and seeing what food was in their stomachs, for it is almost impossible to tell by watching them. To know positively which birds do harm by eating more grain or fruit than insects, and which do good by eating more insects, would save the lives of many thousands. So the killing of those they studied was useful to the whole race.
When they wanted to find out what crows eat, they had crows killed all over the country—hundreds of them—and the stomachs, with the food in, sent to them in Washington. Then they went to work and examined every one. Theycould tell by the shells of seeds and the hard parts of insects, and bones and hair of mice, etc., just what had been eaten. And the contents of every stomach was written down and preserved in a book. Thus, you see, they could tell what crows were in the habit of feeding upon.
They did this with many other birds who are said to do harm,—hawks, owls, blackbirds, kingbirds, and others. That is how we come to know what birds eat, and can tell whether they do harm or good. There can be no mistake in this way of knowing, and so what comes from this department may be relied upon as true.
I want this little book to help the bird-lovers in the South and West of our big country, as well as in the East; and so, in each Family, I shall try to tell about a bird who may be seen in each part. A good many of our birds are found both East and West, with slight differences, but some that are in one part are not in the other.
THE THRUSH FAMILY
(Turdidæ)[2]
Thisfamily is named after the thrushes, but our familiar robin belongs to it, and also the sweet-voiced bluebird. The birds of this family are all rather good sized, and excepting the bluebird show no bright colors. Nearly all of them have spotted breasts when young, and many of them keep the spots all their lives. Young robins and bluebirds have spots on breasts and shoulders, but when they get their grown-up plumage there are none to be seen.
The thrush family get around by hopping, and do not walk, though some of them run, as you have seen the robin do on the lawn. Most of them live in the woods, and feed on the ground, and all of them eat insects. Because their feeding grounds freeze up in winter, most of these birds go to a warmer climate, or migrate. They are all good singers, and some of them among the best in America.
The best known of this family is the robin,American Robin, to give him his whole name. He is found all over the United States. In the summer he lives in the Eastern and Middle States, in the winter he lives in the Southern States, and he lives all the year round in California.
The California robin is called the Western Robin, and is a little lighter in color than his Eastern brother; but he is the same jolly fellow under his feathers, and robin song is about the same from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
I'm sure you all know how he looks, with black head, slate-colored back and wings, streaked throat, and dull red or chestnut breast. His mate is not quite so dark in color.
Robins start for their nesting-place, which is their real home, very early, almost the first of the birds. They make a nest, not very high, in a tree or about our houses, with a good deal of mud in it. Not all nests are alike. Sometimes a bird will show a fancy for a pretty-looking nest. I have seen one made of the white flowers of life-everlasting. The stems were woven together for the framework, and the little clusters of blossoms left outside for ornament.
The young robin just out of the nest is a pretty fellow, with spots all over his breast andshoulders. He spends most of his time calling for food, for he is always hungry. He is rather clumsy in getting about, and often falls to the ground. But if you pick him up and put him on a low branch out of the reach of cats, he will fly as soon as your hand leaves him, and generally come to the ground again. So it is of no use to try to help him that way. The only thing you can do is to keep cats and bad boys away from him, until he flies up into a tree.
The robin gets his food on the ground, or just under the surface. He eats many caterpillars and grubs that are harmful to us. One that he specially likes is the cutworm, which has a bad way of biting off young plants. In the East he eats many earthworms, which we see him pull out of the ground on the lawn, but in the West, where there are not so many earthworms, he picks up insects of various kinds.
All through spring, when insects are hard at work destroying our fruit and vegetables and young grains, the robin spends almost his whole time catching them; first for his own eating, but many more when his little ones get out of the shell, for young birds eat a great amount of food. Then, when he has spent months in our service killing insects, so that our fruit and vegetables can grow, do you not think he has earned part of the cherries he has saved?
Robins are very easily made tame, and, when well treated and not shut up in a cage, they become fond of people and like to live in our houses. I know of a robin who was picked up from the ground by a lady. He could not fly, and she took him into a house and brought him up. He was never wild or afraid of people, and he never wanted to be free. His mistress would sometimes put him on her hat, without fastening him in any way, and go out to walk with him there. He liked his ride, and never thought of leaving her. She often took him with her into a piece of woods where she went. He would play around on the ground and in the trees, but the moment she started for home he flew down, ready to go.
She thought perhaps he would like to be free, and she tried once or twice to leave him in this pleasant grove, but he always flew to her and refused to be left. He was so fond of his mistress that when she went away for a day or two he was very unhappy, hid himself in a closet, and would not eat till she came back.
This robin, too, liked the food of the family, and did not care for earthworms. In fact, he could hardly be coaxed to eat one of them, though he liked some kinds of grubs which he found on the ground. But he ate them in a differentway from his wild brothers. He did not swallow them whole, but beat them to a jelly before trying to eat.
This pet had a sweet, low song of his own. He never sang like his wild brothers until his second year, when he had been out and heard them sing.
A pair of robins that were blown from a nest in a high wind were reared and kept in a large cage by Mrs. Grinnell in California. The first year the singer did not sing, but in the second year a wild mockingbird came to teach him. He would alight on the cage, which hung out of doors, and sing softly a long time, till the robin began to do the same. When he could sing, it was more like a mockingbird than like a robin. The mocker was very fond of his pupil, and used to bring him berries and other wild dainties.
These robins made a nest of things the mistress gave them, and eggs began to appear in it. But as soon as one was laid, one of the birds would jump into the nest and kick and scratch till it was thrown out and broken. They seemed to think the pretty blue eggs were playthings. When the weather grew hot, Bobby, the singer, showed his sense by spending most of his time lying in his bathing-dish, covered with water up to his ears. He would lie there an hourat a time, too comfortable to get out even to eat.