Spencer Fullerton Baird

“ Throughout the Western wilds they hang on the footsteps of man, needy adventurers, claiming their share of his spoils, disputing with the wolves and vultures for the refuse of his camp, and polishing the skeletons of the buffalo, with which he sometimes strews the plain. The more desolate the land, the closer the Raven follows in the trail of the emigrant, till its dismal croaking sounds ominous of hardship, and its plumage seems to foreshadow days as dark. ”

“ Ridgway describes the Dipper as remarkably quick, as well as odd, in its movements,—whether walking in the shallow bed of the stream, or standing on a stone along the edge, continually tilting up and down, now chattering as it flies rapidly along the stream, again alighting into the water, in which it wades with the greatest facility. Its flight is remarkably swift and well sustained, and in manner is very unusual, the bird propelling itself by a rapid buzzing of the wings, following in its flight every undulation in the course of the stream into which it drops suddenly. ”

“ The Baltimore Oriole is one of the most common birds nearly throughout New England. Gay and brilliant in plumage, interesting and lively in manners and habits, and a vocalist of rare power, with pathos, beauty, and variety in his notes, this bird has been, and would still be, a great favorite, but for its transgressions among the pea-vines of our gardens. He makes his appearance with exemplary punctuality, seeming regardless of the prematureness or tardiness of the season. Rarely does the 10th of May pass without the sound of his welcome notes, and rarely, if ever, does he come sooner. ”

“ In the daytime they keep secluded, appear sleepy or stupid, with half-closed eyes, but, as night approaches, become quite lively and eager for their food. They utter their nocturnal cries in confinement, the doleful sounds of which are in singular contrast with the lively and excited air of the birds as they utter them. Their flight is noiseless and gliding, and they move in a manner so nearly silent as to be hardly perceptible. They are excellent mousers, and swallow their food whole, ejecting the indigestible parts, such as hair, bones, feathers, etc. ”

“ They come like a flash of light, assume a vertical position without any support, throw their tail forward, expanding it like a fan, vibrating their wings with such rapidity that they become absolutely invisible, plunging, at the same time, their thread-like tongues to the bottom of some long corolla, and then they have gone as suddenly as they came. They are never known to rest on a branch in order more at their leisure to plunge their tongue into the flower. ”

“ When sitting on her eggs or on her young, the female rarely moved from them except when an attempt was made to catch her, which she always evaded with great dexterity, gliding with great quickness to a short distance, and watching the movements of the intruder with drooping wings and an air of deep sorrow, her whole frame trembling as if with intense cold. ”

“ Like all the birds of this family, the Wagtail is much admired for the elegance of its form, its activity, and the airy lightness of its motions. It seems ever on the move, runs with great rapidity a quick succession of steps in pursuit of its food, and goes from place to place in short undulating flights. ”

“ In enumerating the prominent characteristics of this remarkable family, we should not omit to refer to the lavish profusion of colors of every tint and shade, excelling in lustre and brilliancy even the costliest gems, with which Nature has adorned their plumage. And not only are nearly all the birds of this group thus decked out with hues of the most dazzling brightness and splendor, when alive and resplendent in the tropical sun, but many also display the most wonderfully varying shades and colors, according to the position in which they are presented to the eye. ”

“ They frequently attacked one another, fighting with their claws and striking with their open wings, fixing their claws in each other’s head. They made a hissing sound with open mouths, resembling that produced by thrusting a red-hot poker into water, and occasionally a snuffling noise, as if clearing their nostrils. At times one would emerge with a large fragment, and in a moment would be surrounded by several others, who would tear it in pieces and soon cause it to disappear. ”

“ In several instances I have known the Summer Yellow-Bird utterly refuse to act the part of a foster-parent, and, rather than do so, sacrifice her own eggs. So far as I know, this Warbler will never sit upon or hatch out the egg of the Cowbird, under any circumstances. Some powerful instinct, bordering closely upon reason, seems to teach these intelligent Warblers the character of the intruder, and they sacrifice their own eggs rather than rear the parasite. In this dilemma they will always, so far as I know, incarcerate their own eggs with the Cowbird’s and reconstruct the nest above them. ”

“ I have even known the eggs carelessly dropped on the bare ground in a corner of a potato-field, and have found the female sitting on her eggs in all the bright glare of a noonday sun in June, and to all appearance undisturbed by its brilliance. A more common situation for the eggs is a slight hollow of a bare rock, the dark weather-beaten shades of which, with its brown and slate-colored mosses and lichens, resembling both the parent and the egg in their coloring, are well adapted to screen them from observation or detection. ”

“ It first tries to lead the intruder off, by alighting in the grass near by, and screeching loudly as if something was greatly the matter; you approach him, and with much seeming difficulty it makes out to move off a little farther, still screeching louder than before, and this piece of deception it will repeat time after time, improving a little in its powers of locomotion as it gets you farther from the nest, until it judges it is far enough,—that you have lost the place in the unmarked sea of grass,—when it seems to fly as well as ever ”

“ It is the first bird in spring to open and one of the last to close the great concert of Nature. Their song is earnest, simple, and thrilling, and is said by Audubon to resemble that of the European Blackbird, Turdus merula.
The Robin, when taken young, may be readily tamed, and soon becomes contented and accustomed to confinement. They are devoted to their young, watchful, attentive, and provident. They begin to construct their nest in early spring before the trees put forth their leaves, and often in very exposed positions. The size of the nest, in fact, makes concealment impossible. ”

“ He describes the habits of this species as resembling, in some respects, those of the Song Sparrow. It mounts, like that bird, on the topmost twig of some tall shrub to chant for whole hours at a time, or dives into the thickets and hops from branch to branch until it reaches the ground in search of those insects or berries on which it feeds. It moves swiftly away when it discovers an enemy, and, if forced to take to flight, flies low and rapidly to a considerable distance, jerking its tail as it proceeds, and throwing itself into the thickest bush it meets. ”

“ The males meet in this place, and engage in furious battle with one another. At this season they are especially conspicuous for their great pomposity of bearing; with tails outspread and inclined forward to meet the expanded feathers of their neck, and with the globular, orange-colored, bladder-like receptacles of air on their necks distended to their utmost capacity, and issuing a peculiar sound, spoken of as booming, these birds strut about in the presence of one another with various manifestations of jealous dislike and animosity, soon ending in furious contests. ”

“ When disturbed from the grass, its usual haunt, it utters a single chirp, and immediately mounts in the air by a circuitous course, with a very undulating flight, to a great height, where with outstretched wings it soars in a peculiar manner, and utters a very striking song. ”

“ The common Valley Quail of California inhabits the prairies and the grain-fields of the cultivated districts, and frequents the thickets which border the streams, usually in coveys of from a dozen to a hundred individuals, except during the breeding-season, when it is found only in pairs. Like the eastern Quail, the male bird is very fond of sitting on some stump or log projecting above the grass and weeds which conceal his mate and nest or brood, and, especially in the early morning, uttering his peculiar cry,—whistle it can hardly be called. ”

“ The young in due time assume the development of mature birds, and all wear the sober plumage of the mother. And now there also appears a surprising change in the appearance of our gayly attired musician. His showy plumage of contrasting white and black, so conspicuous and striking, changes with almost instant rapidity into brown and drab, until he is no longer distinguishable, either by plumage or note, from his mate or young. ”

“ And no one is more universally or more deservedly a favorite. Found throughout North America from Florida to Greenland and from ocean to ocean, and breeding nearly throughout the same wide extent, its distribution is universal. Venturing with a confiding trust into our crowded cities, and building their elaborate nests in the porches of the dwellings, as well as entering in greater numbers the barns and farm-buildings of the agriculturists and placing themselves under the protection of man, they rarely fail to win for themselves the interest and good-will they so well deserve. ”

“ The love-season of the Partridge commences early in March, and is indicated by the drumming of male birds. This sound is produced by the male bird only, who, standing on a fallen log or on an elevated rock in the most retired portion of the woods, lowers his wings, expands his tail, contracts his neck, and seems to inflate his whole body. The tufts of feathers on either side of the neck are elevated, and the bird struts and wheels about in the most pompous manner possible to imagine. ”

“ Nevertheless, like the rest of its tribe, the Raven is a sagacious bird, not likely to be twice deceived, and very ready to take a hint; he always has his wits about him, and keeps a bright lookout when anything stranger than a coyote is near. This wariness is something altogether different from the childlike timidity of little birds like Sparrows, that scurry away in terror from any unusual sight or sound, and unquestionably implies keen powers of observation coupled with no small degree of reasoning faculty. ”

“ The Catbird’s power of mimicry, though limited and imperfectly exercised, is frequently very amusing. The more difficult notes it rarely attempts to copy, and signally fails whenever it does so. The whistle of the Quail, the cluck of a hen calling her brood, the answer of the young chicks, the note of the Pewit Flycatcher, and the refrain of Towhee, the Catbird will imitate with so much exactness as not to be distinguished from the original. ”

“ Their flight was short, quick, and jerking, similar to that of the Sparrow Hawk, but wholly unlike the muffled, noiseless flap of the Night Owls. Their food was found to be entirely insectivorous, chiefly grasshoppers and field-crickets, with an occasional beetle or butterfly. When in pursuit of food, they perch on a small branch near the ground, and sit bolt upright in an indolent drowsy manner until their quick eye detects an insect, when they suddenly pounce upon it, hold it down with their small but powerful claws, and with their sharp beaks tear it to pieces. ”