Introduction to our bird friends, volume 2 — Background and Themes

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Authors: Carson, L. B. (Lenwood Ballard), 1895-1968, Rice, Orville O. (Orville Owen), 1919-1986 [Illustrator] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2020 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Birds -- Kansas Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 15,727

Reading time 69 min

Text sections 3

For Introduction to our bird friends, volume 2 — Background and Themes, the stored edition analysis reports 15,727 words, 1 hr 9 min estimated reading time, and 3 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 17.9 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Birds -- Kansas,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #62490

This 1957 booklet by L. B. Carson, illustrated by Orville O. Rice, describes 50 bird species with field identification tips, behavioral notes, and original poems. The catalog subject 'Birds -- Kansas' is not explicitly confirmed in the excerpts, which instead cover a broader United States range.

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INTRODUCTION TO OUR BIRD FRIENDS VOLUME 2

Text by L. B. Carson Illustrations by Orville O. Rice

Printed in the United States of America

More and more people are turning to the outdoors and the enjoyment of nature. Many great Americans have been students of wild birds. This is not accidental, for few forms of outdoor recreation offer so much pleasure.

The _season_ of the year will in some cases determine what birds are in your area. _Color_ is important in identifying species. Look carefully at the _silhouette_ or _shape_; is it slender or chunky, is the tail short or long? Compare its _size_ with a bird with which you are more familiar. _Habitat_ is important, too. One learns to look for Red-winged Blackbirds in wet marshes; for a meadowlark in pastures and fields. _Behavior_ is a clue. Does it walk or hop; does it soar, does it walk headfirst down a tree, as is the habit of the nuthatch, or scratch among leaves like the towhee? Listen to the bird’s _song_ and _call note_. With a little experience, distinctive songs may be identified. Each bird has its characteristic song.

Bird study can be pursued with as much effort as the watcher cares to exert. Birds need food, water and protection from their natural enemies. You can provide these in your own yard. Some birds will be attracted and you can study them at your leisure. Other species, those which live in swamps, for example, must be searched for aggressively.

A bird guide is a splendid investment, considering the hours of pleasure it will bring you. Binoculars are a help, too, in studying the size, shape, beak, legs and color pattern.

Make written notes of what you see and hear, or a dated list of species and numbers of each. Records will add to your own pleasure and add to the sum of knowledge on birds in general.

This is the second booklet on common birds of the United States published by Capper Publications, Inc. Each of the two volumes illustrates and describes 50 different species. Additional copies (specify whether volume I or II is desired) may be ordered for 25 cents each as follows:

Bird Book Department 2 Capper Publications, Inc. 8th and Jackson Streets Topeka, Kansas

White Pelican _Pelecanus erythrorhynchos_

Soaring overhead during migration, a flock of White Pelicans is a magnificent sight. These great birds weigh as much as 15 pounds, have a wingspread of 9 feet and a total length of more than 5 feet. Their legs are sturdy but short, the toes fully webbed. The bill is long and flat with a pouch beneath the lower mandible. Three contrasting colors make this bird easily identified. The bird is white except for the outer two-thirds of the wings where the end and rear half is black. The bill, pouch and feet are yellow or reddish-yellow.

The head is carried well back, which rests the bill and pouch on the shoulders. They float high on the water and when surrounded by ducks and grebes, they look like aircraft carriers with a destroyer escort.

Unlike the smaller Brown Pelican, these birds do not dive for their food, but form a line, drive the fish to shallow water, where their built-in landing nets ladle the small fry out of the water. Many “crawdads” find that an open pouch is no place to hide when these birds wave their open beaks back and forth in shallow water.

Pelicans must have originated the game of “follow the leader,” for in flight, whatever the leader does, each bird follows in turn.

On mammoth wings They wend their way, On silent flight, Across the bay.

Snowy Egret _Leucophoyx thula_

Like ghosts from a bloody past, Snowy Egrets have returned to add their beauty to American bird life. Woman’s vanity and man’s desire for money once brought these beautiful herons almost to the point of extinction. The dainty recurved plumes, which formed a part of the breeding plumage of the birds, were known as “cross aigrettes,” when they were sold by milliners. Women bought, men slaughtered, and egrets died, not only for the plumes; but the nestlings starved after the adults were killed. Plume hunters have departed and the birds are now found in their favorite swamps.

This bird has a length of 20 to 25 inches, white with black bill and legs. The feet are yellow, giving it the nickname of “the bird with the golden slippers.” The young of the Little Blue Heron are also white but have greenish legs, while the bill is 2-tone, blue with black tip. The American Egret is much larger and shows a yellow bill.

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L. B. Carson’s Introduction to Our Bird Friends, Volume 2 (1957) opens with a foreword that frames bird study as a rewarding outdoor recreation, then proceeds to species accounts mixing physical description, habitat, behavior, and song. The excerpts cover White Pelican, Cedar Waxwing, Warbling Vireo, Black and White Warbler, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, each entry accompanied by a short, often whimsical poem. The catalog lists “Birds -- Kansas” as a subject, but the text itself references a wider geography—from Canada to Central America—and never singles out Kansas. This discrepancy between catalog metadata and actual content is a notable feature of the record.

Field Identification as a Core Method

The foreword lays out a systematic approach to identification: consider silhouette, size, habitat, behavior, and song. Carson advises comparing an unfamiliar bird to a known one (“compare its size with a bird with which you are more familiar”) and notes that “color is important.” The species accounts consistently apply this method. For the White Pelican, the text highlights three contrasting colors, a 9-foot wingspread, and the way the head is carried “well back, which rests the bill and pouch on the shoulders.” The Cedar Waxwing is described by its “soft, brownish-gray plumage,” yellow-tipped tail, crest, and black eye mask—details that match the foreword’s emphasis on color pattern and shape. The Warbling Vireo entry stresses that it is “not colorful” and directs attention to its “slow, deliberate vireo movement” and song. These examples show the book teaching identification through repeated, concrete observation cues.

Poems as Mnemonic Devices

Each species account ends with a short, rhyming poem. The poems are not ornamental; they often encapsulate a behavioral trait or a memorable impression. For the Cedar Waxwing: “You’re just a glutton, / That we know, / For you’re not one / To eat and go.” This reinforces the text’s note that waxwings “gorge themselves until they seem rather listless.” The Warbling Vireo poem says, “You cannot write it down. / But you are bound to hear it / If you walk ’round the town,” echoing the prose description of its song as “a pleasing series of notes, all connected but each note on a different pitch.” The Ruby-crowned Kinglet poem is not fully excerpted, but the pattern is consistent. These verses serve as memory aids, compressing key facts into a catchy form—a technique that distinguishes this guide from more clinical field manuals.

Behavioral Comparisons Across Species

Carson frequently compares one bird to another, building a relational understanding of bird families. The Black and White Warbler entry explains that warblers “act like flycatchers,” “join the vireos,” or “mingle with sandpipers,” and that this species “feeds on the trunk or larger limbs of trees, combining the upward movement of the Brown Creeper.” The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is contrasted with the Golden-crowned Kinglet: the latter is “similar in size and general markings” but shows “distinctive gold crown patches” and is “a little more rugged.” The Cedar Waxwing is compared to the Bohemian Waxwing, which is “slightly larger, grayer and shows more white on the wing.” These cross-references help readers distinguish look-alikes and understand ecological niches, making the guide useful for building broader ornithological knowledge beyond single-species identification.

Readers should note that the catalog subject “Birds -- Kansas” is not supported by the excerpts, which describe species across the United States and into Canada and Central America. The book’s value lies in its dual approach: prose identification tips paired with memorable poems. For best use, read the foreword first to understand Carson’s identification framework, then browse the species accounts, paying attention to the comparative notes and the poems as mnemonic summaries.

I often think of Mr. Carson’s little poems, how they caught a bird’s quiet habit mid-flight — and then I reach for the old Ornithological biography, Vol. 4 (of 5) — Themes and Context, whose patient prose feels like a gentler century’s hand resting on the same shelf. Both whisper the same secret: a bird is never merely listed, but remembered.