Everyday birds: Elementary studies — Reading Notes

FRIENDS ON THE SHELF. 12mo, $1.25, _net_. Postage extra.

NATURE’S INVITATION. 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.21.

THE CLERK OF THE WOODS. 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.20.

FOOTING IT IN FRANCONIA. 16mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.19.

EVERYDAY BIRDS. Elementary Studies. With twelve colored Illustrations reproduced from Audubon. Square 12mo, $1.00.

BIRDS IN THE BUSH. 16mo, $1.25.

A RAMBLER’S LEASE. 16mo, $1.25.

THE FOOT-PATH WAY. 16mo, gilt top, $1.25.

A FLORIDA SKETCH-BOOK. 16mo, $1.25.

SPRING NOTES FROM TENNESSEE. 16mo, $1.25.

A WORLD OF GREEN HILLS. 16mo, $1.25.

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK.

_WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLORS AFTER AUDUBON, AND TWO FROM PHOTOGRAPHS_

BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY The Riverside Press, Cambridge

COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY BRADFORD TORREY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I. TWO LITTLE KINGS 1

III. THE BROWN CREEPER 10

IV. THE BROWN THRASHER 15

V. THE BUTCHER-BIRD 19

VI. THE SCARLET TANAGER 22

VII. THE SONG SPARROW 26

VIII. THE FIELD SPARROW AND THE CHIPPER 30

IX. SOME APRIL SPARROWS 35

X. THE ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 40

XIII. THE HUMMINGBIRD 51

XIV. THE CHIMNEY SWIFT 56

XV. NIGHTHAWK AND WHIP-POOR-WILL 59

XVIII. BIRDS FOR EVERYBODY 82

XIX. WINTER PENSIONERS 87

XX. WATCHING THE PROCESSION 93

XXI. SOUTHWARD BOUND 99

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

BLUE JAY (page 43) _Frontispiece_

GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 2

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK 40

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD 52

_The illustrations entitled A Downy Woodpecker and A Branch Establishment, facing page 88, are from photographs by Mr. Frank M. Chapman and were first printed in Bird-Lore._

The largest bird in the United States is the California vulture, or condor, which measures from tip to tip of its wings nine feet and a half. At the other end of the scale are the hummingbirds, one kind of which, at least, has wings that are less than an inch and a half in length. Next to these insect-like midgets come the birds which have been well named in Latin “Regulus,” and in English “kinglets,”--that is to say, little kings. The fitness of the title comes first from their tiny size,--the chickadee is almost a giant in comparison,--and next from the fact that they wear patches of bright color (crowns) on their heads.

Two species of kinglets are found at one season or another in nearly all parts of the United States, and are known respectively as the golden-crown--or goldcrest--and the ruby-crown. The golden-crown has on the top of its head an orange or yellow patch (sometimes one, sometimes the other) bordered with black; the ruby-crown wears a very bright red patch, though you may look at many specimens without finding it. Only part of the birds have it,--the adult males, perhaps,--and even those that have it do not always display it. The orange or yellow of the goldcrest, on the other hand, is worn by all the birds, and is never concealed. If you are a beginner in bird study, uncertain of your species, look for the black stripes on the crown. If they are not there, and the bird is really a kinglet, it must be a ruby-crown. You may know it, also,--from the goldcrest, I mean,--by what looks like a light-colored ring round the eye. In fact, one of the ruby-crown’s most noticeable peculiarities is a certain bareheaded, large-eyed appearance.

Unless your home is near or beyond the northern boundary of the United States, you need not look for either kinglet in summer. The ruby-crown is to be seen during its migrations in spring and fall, the goldcrest in fall, winter, and spring.

At any time of the year they are well worth knowing. Nobody could look at them without admiration; so pretty, so tiny, and so exceedingly quick and graceful in their motions. Both species are of a prevailing greenish or olive shade, with noticeable light-colored wing-bars, and light, unstreaked, unspotted under parts.

The ruby-crown is famous as a singer. A genuine music-box, we may call him. In spring, especially, he is often bubbling over with melody; a rapid, wren-like tune, with sundry quirks and turns that are all his own; on the whole decidedly original, with plenty of what musical people call accent and a strongly marked rhythm or swing. Over and over he goes with it, as if he could never have enough; beginning with quick, separate, almost guttural notes, and winding up with a _twittity, twittity, twittity_, which, once heard, is not likely to be soon forgotten.