Mason Augustus Walton

“ When he was old enough to fly, or, at least, was completely feathered, his foster-parents coaxed him out of the nest after the manner of all bird-kind. Birds know when their young are old enough to leave the nest, and withhold food until the little ones are downright hungry, and then tempt them out with a dainty morsel. While tempting the young cowbird from the nest, the yellowbirds made as much effort and appeared as joyous when successful as if the labor had been performed for their own bright-eyed, pretty birdlings. ”

“ That spring the sparrows lingered about my dooryard three weeks or more, and then dispersed to the neighboring fields and pastures, for the song-sparrow does not nest in the woods. Wabbles did not leave with the rest, and when spring merged into summer and he yet remained, I understood the reason. The male song-sparrow is obliged to do battle for the possession of a mate, and Wabbles, with his tender wing, wisely forbore to enter the lists. He preferred the cool woods and free food to the sun-scorched fields and a mate-less life. ”

“ The back is boldly streaked with black, bay, and light gray. There is much white edging to the feathers of the tail and wings in winter. A few of these birds stopped about the cabin all winter; but a flock numbering hundreds wintered on Bond's Hill. On warm days they roamed over the hill, far and near, always flying low and keeping well down in the shrubby growth. But when the weather was cold I would find them in a sheltered spot, where meadowsweet, bayberry, hardhack, blueberry, huckleberry, and sweet-fern shrubs crowded each other until their interwoven branches held a mantle of snow. ”

“ To the wild creatures of the pasture, the oak woods, and the swamps he is no longer a man, but a faun; he is one of their own kind,—shy, alert, silent. They, having learned to trust him, have come a little nearer to men. I once went to his hut when he was absent, and stretched myself in the sunlight by his tiny doorstep. Presently, two chickadees came to a box of bird-seed, swinging from the pine-limb overhead, and fed there, cracking the seeds one by one with their bills. Then from the swamp, a pair of catbirds appeared, and fed upon crumbs scattered over the ground just at my feet. ”

“ There is something I do not understand. Something beyond me, a shadowy mystery. After I have listened to - 281 - the strain, and while its memory still lingers, I find myself longing to know the whole secret of its charm. However, years ago I settled the matter in my mind and note-book, as the following entry will show: 'The song of the hermit-thrush is the Spirit of Nature chanting the mystery of life. When the mystery is solved we shall understand the song.'
"Day faded into twilight, and twilight into night, and still that exalted anthem solemnly pealed through the forest. ”

“ We can readily understand how the old birds, that have made several journeys and - 270 - must be familiar with all the landmarks, may make the journey without the aid of a supernatural power.
We must remember that the sense of sight in birds is developed to a degree unknown to mankind. It often happens that I startle a ruffed grouse from its perch in the night. In such case it hurls itself through the shrubbery with amazing speed. When I think of the keenness of sight that enables this bird to avoid twigs and limbs, I know that my sight is nothing but blindness in comparison. ”

“ Watch a red squirrel while gathering acorns and note carefully his intelligent acts. If there is a clear spot beneath the oak he drops the acorns on to it, even if he has to carry each nut from one side to the other of the tree. Note how carefully he selects the fruit: no wormy nuts are wanted. In fact, he exercises the same thoughtful care that a human being would exercise under like conditions. Does he do the work blindly?
Instinct, as applied to the lives of wild animals, is such an elusive and meaningless term, that it is a pity it should be used so often by writers on natural history. ”

“ I seldom see a small weasel, but the stoat is common in this vicinity.
While a stoat is rearing its young, the life of the white-footed mouse is made miserable. By day and by night its bloodthirsty foe is on the trail. It is no unusual thing to see a stoat running along the wall back of the cabin with a mouse in its mouth. It carries its victim by the middle, and always reminds me of the picture of a tiger carrying off a Hottentot. Some of the old mice are quick-witted and full of resource, and escape danger, otherwise the species would soon be exterminated. ”

“ I once investigated a nest in the top of a pine-tree, when the thermometer registered zero, and found the entrance packed with soft material. The squirrels - 252 - knew all about cold weather, and had made arrangements to keep the nest warm, by laying one side material to close the entrance when necessary.
When I see an unfinished dwelling-house and know that the family therein must suffer in cold weather, I think of the cozy dwelling that the red squirrel provides for his little ones, and I ask myself if the human being is the only intelligent animal in nature's catalogue? ”

“ If he falls to the ground, it does not harm or disconcert him. He is up the tree in a jiffy, spitefully saying things that sound to the listener very much like swearing.
From the middle of April to the first of September the male squirrel leads a jolly, rollicking life. He is as restless and noisy as a schoolboy, and as full of fun. ”

“ Human beings climb trees, when lost, to look for landmarks. Why should we deny to bees and birds the very methods we make use of whenever the occasion requires?
As to bees, I do know that they circle to find landmarks. After years spent in hunting, or "lining bees," as we call the sport in Maine, I can speak with no uncertain knowledge. The power to circle in search of landmarks is limited. If a bee is carried too far from its hive, beyond its power to circle and find landmarks, it is lost and never returns to the hive. ”

“ Triplefoot's life was one of worry and care, to say nothing about the danger from mankind and the hounds. She had to find food for her hungry cubs, and whichever way she turned, danger lurked on her trail. If she hunted for wood-mice, the hounds were there to pick up her trail. Then she had to seek water to throw them off. It would not do to go to the den, where the hounds would soon dig out her little cubs, and shake the life from their tender bodies. If she turned to some poultry-yard, the chances were that she would find herself looking into the muzzle of the farmer's shotgun. ”

“ While the jays were scratching the pine-needles right and left, in a useless search, Bismarck would hide the bit of bread, and return to the dooryard for more. He was not so particular if the food was wheat bread, but if it was his favorite food—doughnut—the jays were fooled every time.
Every spring Bismarck taps the trees around the cabin. He begins on the maples and ends later on the birches. If the tree is small, he taps the trunk; if large, he works on the limbs. He gnaws through the bark and into the wood, then clings to the limb or trunk, below the wound, while he laps the sweet sap. ”

“ During my eighteen years of hermit life, I claim to have discovered several new features in natural history, namely:
That the cow-bunting watches over its young, assists the foster parents in providing food, and gradually assumes full care of the young bird, and takes it to the pasture to associate with its kind; that the white-footed mouse is dumb, and communicates with its species by drumming with its toes; that the wood-thrush conducts a singing-school for the purpose of teaching its young how to sing ”

“ I saw only a boulder-covered region of pasture-land, choked by huckleberry and blueberry bushes, with here and there large tangles of catbrier.
Some of the sunsets seen from the Eyrie were beautiful beyond description. Whenever a massive bank of clouds hung above the western horizon, the setting sun illuminated the city from Riverdale to Eastern Point, and every window in sight glowed like burnished gold. ”

“ I do not deny that the art is hereditary, and that a young bird confined might essay to build something for a nest, but I do deny that the selection of straws is under the influence of instinct. I believe young birds examine the nest in which they are reared intelligently, and are educated by their parents in part in the selection of material. I once saw an old catbird give her young daughter a lesson in nest building. The young catbird had carried a large quantity of rootlets from my garden to a patch of catbrier. ”

“ One deadly variety—the "Destroying Angel"—possesses a form most pleasing to the eye. Its symmetrical shape and pearly white color give it a look of innocence that has lured many a human being to an early grave. I have never seen a tooth-mark by a squirrel, mouse, or mole in one of these deadly mushrooms, which goes to prove that the wild things know more than some human beings.
A few years ago, while out on a walk with the Appalachian Mountain Club, I told a professor, who was an expert on mushrooms, that I used the mushrooms which were approved by the squirrels, and no others. ”

“ Before the winter months had passed, chickadees, black snow-birds, and tree-sparrows found their way into the cabin dooryard. I fed lard to the chickadees on a chip, and the birds would eat this clear fat, at short intervals, all day, and come around the next morning none the worse for the strange diet. Certainly such food would kill any other bird. The snow-birds and sparrows were fed on different kinds of bird-seed. When I mention sparrows I do not refer to the English sparrow. I am pleased to state that this undesirable alien does not come to my dooryard. ”

“ The box-cover was heavy enough to severely pinch a mouse's tail, but the cunning mice had provided for this danger. A hole about the size of a lead-pencil had been gnawed in the side of the box, just below the cover, and afforded a channel for the tail, while it was too small to attract the attention of a stoat.
A more cunningly contrived retreat from an enemy could not be invented. It shows that this wild mouse of the woods possesses intelligence which passes far beyond the powers of instinct. ”

“ As applied to the wild things, we often stumble on to the terms, instinct of direction, instinct of migration, instinct of song, instinct of nest building, and so on. Webster gives several definitions as to the meaning of instinct. The following covers the ground:
"An instinct is an agent which performs blindly and ignorantly a work of intelligence and knowledge."
To gather acorns in the balmy days of October and store them for the cold of winter, is a work of intelligence and knowledge. Can we believe that the blue jays and squirrels perform this work blindly and ignorantly? ”

“ Chickadees have adopted cotton-batting, and call for it if I neglect to keep it in the dooryard. It often happens that birds select new material, if handy, instead of hunting the usual nest building material. If birds were guided by instinct and did not exercise reason, they would select the same nesting material year after year. The habit would be so securely fixed that the bird would not be tempted to use new material, no matter how plentiful or handy it might be. The fact that birds readily accommodate themselves to new surroundings, is proof positive that they possess the power to reason. ”

“ The Wabbles family enjoyed life in the woods. Through the summer and fall months, Wabbles set up a singing-school and trained - 62 - his boys to sing the mating-song of his species.
Late in the fall death entered the family circle. A boy from the city mistook poor Mrs. Wabbles for an English sparrow and shot her to death. Wabbles mourned for his little wife, and he was not the only mourner. I had become attached to the gentle bird, and I was grievously pained by her tragic death. ”

“ When the gray has had several narrow escapes, he drops the food and retreats unmolested. The red picks up the food and takes it to a favorite limb, where he devours it, talking to himself, meanwhile, about "that gray thief." ”

“ The red squirrel is one of the wild things which I have thoroughly studied because I have had the opportunity to do so. When a writer asserts that the red squirrel is a poor provider, and without family ties, I know that his observations have been haphazard, and that he does not understand the life history of the little animal of which he writes. ”

“ For keen intelligence mouse number two takes the lead. All through the summer months she makes a nest on a high shelf in the cabin. When there is a fire in the stove the heat becomes oppressive in the top of the cabin, and the young mice would perish if it were not for the intelligence of the old mouse.
When I fill the stove with wood the old mouse understands just what will take place. She knows that I am about to kindle a fire, and she rushes to a shelf near the stove and frantically drums the danger-signal. She also does a lot of drumming which I do not understand. ”

“ It is Nature's plan, engineered on a grand scale, to supply the wants of the greatest number of her wild children, the mice, rabbits, grouse, robins, quail, squirrels, and woodchucks.
Where cattle are pastured in the woods, the evolution of an apple-tree, as described by Thoreau, is going on now as it did in his day. During the eighteen years of my hermit life some of the trees have emancipated themselves, - 171 - and now toss their branches above their old enemies. ”

“ He will fight to the death. He whips his great cousin, the gray squirrel, without effort, and is a match for the large stoat.
When pursued by a dog he makes a dash for the nearest tree, which he mounts, calling out "chickaree" as soon as he is out of danger. He does not, like the gray squirrel, seek a hiding-place in the top of the tree. No, he is far too bold to hide from a dog. He stops on a low limb, just out of reach, and fairly boils over with rage and fury. ”

“ Let a hawk, an owl, a weasel, a cat, a snake, or any of the animals known to prey on birds, enter my dooryard while birds were rearing their young, and the wildest alarm would prevail so long as the intruder was in sight. The red squirrel can come and go without a protest, which proves that the birds do not regard him as an enemy. ”

“ A daily and nightly knowledge of these little mice for more than fifteen years has led me to believe that they are completely dumb. They talk with their toes just as deaf and dumb people talk with their fingers, only they are guided by the ear instead of the eye. Proof that they are talking together is found in the fact that they go on with the drumming when in full view of each other. When calling to attract attention, they drum a long roll which corresponds to the halloo of the telephone. ”

“ A sweet acorn-tree near my cabin was loaded with nuts. Beneath the limbs on the south side was a carpet of pine-needles, while under the limbs on the north side grew a dense mass of brambles and catbriers. Bismarck did not drop a nut into the mass of briers, but carried - 87 - each nut—one at a time—to the clear side before dropping it. Could human intelligence do more?
When Bismarck and his mate had stowed away food enough for winter, they made a winter nest in the pine-tree that grew above the storehouse. In the new nest the whole family passed the winter after the manner of red squirrels. ”

“ Young squirrels remain with their parents through the first winter, but in April the female turns the family over to the male, and makes another nest of moss, leaves, and dry grass in the top of a tall pine or hemlock-tree. While she is engaged by new duties, the male looks after the young squirrels that are now full grown. He finishes their education, and locates the young males on territory which - 77 - they ever after hold. The young females, later on, are mated, and remove to the locality inhabited by their mates. ”

“ When the birds returned in April and May, I found that I was a trespasser on the nesting-ground of many a woodland bird. Catbirds, towhee-buntings, robins, thrushes, and numerous warblers nested around my cabin.
By this time I had settled down to hermit-life - 29 - in earnest. I had tried the experiment of "Nature versus Medicine," and Nature had triumphed. With good health, with strange birds and flowers to study and identify, I was content to spend a portion of my rescued life in Dame Nature's company. ”

“ When I came in sight of the nest I saw a snake drop to the ground. One of the young catbirds was missing. A hurried search beneath the bushes in the dim light was unsuccessful. The snake had silently and swiftly disappeared with his victim.
The old catbirds were pets of mine of several years' standing, and the tragic fate of the baby-bird caused me to try to save the other three. I removed the nest and placed it in a covered box in the cabin. The catbirds followed me to the cabin door, but made no protest. The next morning before sunrise the birds awoke me by their cries. ”

“ On Sunday, May 30, 1897, while the church bells were calling saint and sinner to worship in the city of Gloucester, and a catbird's blithe music, supplemented by the silvery bells of a veery, was calling me to worship in my cabin dooryard, I turned to the path that leads to Magnolia Swamp. ”

“ There is no divorce in the bird family, from eagles down to humming-birds. It is a rare treat to watch a pair of chickadees in the nesting season. I was walking along the old highway last season, when I heard one of my chickadees calling to me. This bird had a way of - 283 - calling "Dee, dee, dee" whenever she met me in the woods. I usually carry food along, and she would come to my hand and help herself. After she had satisfied her appetite, she flew down the side-hill to Magnolia Swamp. I followed her, and found her mate excavating a nest in a small dead paper-birch. ”

“ It would be impossible for robins enough to gather around a red squirrel to kill him. In my cabin dooryard, while I have been writing this article, a desperate fight has taken place. Ten crows, made bold by hunger, attacked Tiny and tried to take possession of a loaf of bread. The squirrel never flinched, but stood over the bread, and whenever a crow got over the dead-line, filled the dooryard with feathers. I did not interfere, but saw the fight from the cabin window. The black rogues were obliged to retreat when Tiny got downright mad. When the fight began Tiny did not try to hurt the crows. ”