Harry Merrill

“ The male is all attention, strutting around with spread tail and ruffled feathers, for all the world like a miniature turkey-cock; stopping now within a short distance of his charmer, he ducks his head and wags his body from side to side, uttering all the while a growling sound which seems to come from the very depths of his distended throat. ”

“ When all Nature is covered with her snowy mantle, and our feathered friends have deserted us for more congenial climes, we may still see the red-bellied nuthatch hopping about on our trees, peering into crannies in search of food, and uttering their short and ceaseless note ”

“ Audubon says that in the South the crow-blackbird frequently makes use of holes in trees, where a few dry weeds and feathers are collected on which the female deposits her eggs; Burroughs, also, notices that this bird, "seized with a fit of indolence, drops its eggs in the cavity of a decayed branch." In New England, however, this is not often the case, and in the instance mentioned indolence was clearly not the cause of their selecting this residence, for the nest was constructed exactly similar to those built in trees. ”

“ These ten tiny eggs in their mossy casket can hardly be excelled for simple beauty.
There are many persons who do not feel particularly interested in natural history in general, but who are nevertheless charmed by our beautiful birds and their sweet songs, and, being touched through the medium of their senses, they come by degrees to learn more and more of their habits, till the charm so grows upon them that without our feathered friends life would lose one of its greatest pleasures. ”

“ Some sea-birds, that in Labrador build nests and raise their young in the usual way, in the south abandon their eggs to the sand and sun, which perform the duties of a parent in the most acceptable manner. It is noticed that birds which usually build on the ground, particularly sparrows, frequently build in bushes or even in low trees. This is very often the case in pastures where the nest and eggs would be liable to be destroyed by being trodden on by cattle or sheep ”

“ The geographical range of different species of birds is not so definitely marked as might be supposed, for, although there are certain well defined boundaries which separate the birds of different parts of the world, and of different parts of the same country, yet these limits are being constantly broken over by accidental visitors from other countries, by the birds increasing their range, or by stragglers from other ornithological districts of the same country. ”

“ I recently had the pleasure of following up and reporting a most interesting case of the finding of birds beyond their supposed limits. In this instance the bird was the loggerhead shrike (Colluris ludovicianus) , which is a resident of the Southern States, and not supposed to breed in New England. As the case is one of considerable interest, I shall state the facts in full. On May 5, 1877, a nest, four eggs, and parent bird, were obtained near Bangor, Maine, which the finder believed to be the great northern shrike (C. corealis) , and it was described as such in "The Oölogist." ”

“ Yet, perhaps, no living creatures are so much abused, being a convenient target for every boy who is large enough to carry a gun or throw a stone. In some localities there is a constant robbery of their nests, carried on to an alarming extent, which the law is practically powerless to prevent. ”

“ The night-hawk builds no nest, but deposits her two speckled eggs on the ground, usually selecting some ledge for this purpose. Birds of this species are very numerous in New England, and in walking a few rods I have often seen numbers of them perched on the trees which border our streets. ”

“ This nest was built in low bushes about eighteen inches above the water, and was in structure like the redwing's nests among which it was placed, there being no mud used in the construction. This case, so far as I can learn, stands alone as a peculiar instance of adaptation to surroundings as exhibited by these birds.
Every one in New England probably knows the night-hawk, though persons generally are but little interested in it, and very few indeed become well acquainted with its habits. ”

“ These birds are quite common, and rule with undisputed sway over the groves in which they dwell. One of these nesting-places is situated on the banks of the Kenduskeag River in Maine, in a most beautiful spot, where steep ledges rise abruptly from the water's edge, and are covered with a rich growth of pine and cedar, together with wild flowers and climbing plants. Here these birds for many years have built their nests, a single tree often containing several of them ”

“ Brewer has been making extended inquiries into the breeding of the shrikes in New England, and it now appears that in several other cases, where great northern shrikes were reported as breeding, the birds have proved to be loggerheads. ”