Various

“ The specks are Swallows, and the cloud has life; it moves, it rolls, it swells, it comes, it breaks and, like a torrent of wing-borne arrows, darts upon us, scattering and spreading out, as it descends for another wild dash low over the spartina.
The same wonderful maneuvers repeat themselves as long as the evening twilight lasts, and, though with each descent the cloud does shrink in size, it does not cease to rise again until black night has fully settled down, and even after dark small droves of bewildered birds rush madly by our side. ”

“ A snug, warm nest of rabbit's hair or fern down is quickly built, and in this softest of beds the five or six rosy white, finely speckled little eggs are laid. Before very many days, eight or ten at most, the old stump exhibits unmistakable signs of being animated within, and in a wonderfully short time the little nestlings are as large as their parents, and full, indeed, is this family domicile. Owing to the cleanly habits and care of the old birds, the dresses of the youngsters are cleaner and brighter than those of their hard-worked, food-carrying parents. ”

“ We owe it as a duty to both the birds and ourselves to learn the facts of bird life. We do not adequately know the life story of a single one of our most common species. Every fact that can be discovered as to the good or the harm that birds do ought to be found out. Every fact so discovered will act as just so much more motive force to bring about proper relations with our birds. A few birds have been killed, and the stomach contents analyzed, to obtain facts about bird foods which have changed our sentiments and even legislation. ”

“ With all my heart do I disapprove of caging wild birds. I never had, and never shall have, the liberty of one bird interfered with for my pleasure or study, and if I had the power to prevent it, not one should ever be caged. Especially do I regard it as cruel in the extreme to confine an adult bird, accustomed to freedom and able to take care of himself. ”

“ I would see humanity and science allied in this matter. If the Audubon Societies confess that this is impossible, they are taking the responsibility of harnessing humanity with ignorance,—a horse that will drag any companion into the ditch.
Let "For the Protection of Birds" be the banner motto under which the Audubon Society shall go out, as it is bound, to teach (not to preach) the 'bird in the bush,' but the teaching need be none the less humane, and will be far more effectual if, instead of 'dicky-bird' platitudes of uncertain sex and species, it deals out good, sound, popular ornithology. ”

“ So singular a combination of ornithologist and mythologist is the author of 'Bird Gods' that students of birds, as well as of myths, will find his pages of interest. "Why," he asks himself, "should certain birds have been allotted to certain gods and goddesses in the Greek and Roman mythology? Why should the Eagle go with Zeus, the Peacock with Hera, the Dove with Venus, the Swan with Apollo, the Woodpecker with Ares, the Owl with Pallas Athené?" ”

“ Let us break ourselves altogether of the feather wearing habit. We shall be more conspicuously consistent as bird protectionists, and we shall not be called upon to settle fine points and follow difficult boundaries. We need not know anything about plumage, and never have to decide whether the wings used by milliners are really those of food birds, or the pinions of song birds disguised with dye. Or if the fearfully manufactured confections are the heads of real Owls and Parrots twisted out of all semblance to nature, or merely compounds of Chicken feathers and celluloid. ”

“ When migration is well under way, the collecting of the Eaves and Whitebreasts begins early in the evening; in fact, large droves are met at all hours of the day, playfully gyrating in the blue heavens above, or describing endless curves upon the glittering marsh beneath. The Roughwings are seldom seen in the marsh in daytime. As soon as they leave the roost at early dawn, they hurry away to their accustomed haunts along the water courses in the timber, where they collect on the branches of a dead tree on the bank, if possible over water. ”

“ The majority are young fellows, all Eaves, in pale attire, some so small as if not fully grown; but there are also many adults in high dress among them. All are enjoying their rest, some are preening their feathers, others half close their eyes and puff up their plumage, as if going to sleep. There are still some high up in the ether enjoying their enviable wing power; others are hunting low over the marsh, in company with Whitebreasts.
Although the two species hunt, fly and roost together, they do not hold their meetings together. The Whitebreasts' assemblages are held over water. ”

“ Being limited as to time, and having already heard twenty-eight kinds of birds in the short space of about twenty minutes, and from one place, I started to depart, but even as I did so I heard the notes of another bird coming across the marsh, that of the Black-billed Cuckoo, and just as I was again taking down the bars to get out into the street, what should I hear, loud, clear and distinct, but the song of that plaguey little White-eyed Vireo, a song seemingly of thanksgiving that I was really going and that he had eluded me so well. ”

“ There is no department of nature-study in which the camera cannot be turned to excellent account, and while records of lasting and scientific value are being made, the devotee of amateur photography has at the same time full scope for the study of his art. What may, perhaps, be considered the greatest value, albeit an unrecognized one, of the present widespread camera craze, is the development of a love for the beautiful and artistic which may result, and along the line of study here suggested may surely be found abundant material to stimulate in the highest degree these qualities. ”

“ Close beside me were a Chestnut-sided and a Golden-winged Warbler, both seemingly much disturbed by my presence, while just as near was a Maryland Yellow-throat, an old friend of mine, who did not seem to care whether I was there or not. This same friend is rather a curiosity, for, although his species usually build in or about the marshes or swamps, he always prefers the hillside, and I last year found his nest within forty feet of where I sat, and several hundred feet away from and above the swamp. ”

“ If you could find a kind family fond of birds, don't you think it would be a good thing to build near them? Perhaps they would drive away the cats and help protect your brood. Then on hot summer days maybe some little girl would think to put out a pan of water for a drink and a cool bath. Some people, like Dick's friends, are so thoughtful they throw out crumbs to save a tired mother bird the trouble of having to hunt for every morsel she gets to give her brood. Just think what work it is to find worms enough for four children who want food from daylight to dark! ”

“ The Roughwings, too, have left their haunts and are appearing in the marsh.
The light of day is waning fast, and the smoky air gets dim and misty. The assembled Eaves are now seen to rise in clouds from their oasis, mix their forces with the invading army, and the grandest - 122 - spectacle ensues. At first it looks as if confusion reigned, but soon the hosts of fleet-winged birds no longer whirl aimlessly through space. All mass and muster, and perform strange evolutions with amazing swiftness and precision. ”

“ Certainly a most interesting sight for the naturalist to see so many of these lovely, lively, likely creatures passing over, about and around you, all governed by one idea, all driven by one common impulse, all eager to reach the same aim, the common roost! Where is the roost? Where do all these birds spend the night? How do they retire in the evening, and what is their conduct when they leave their night-quarters in the morning? ”

“ Supplemental to such portraits are the more easily taken photographs of the nests, eggs, young, and natural haunts of each species; the whole graphically depicting the most interesting epoch in the life-history of any bird. Words alone fail to tell the story so clearly, so beautifully, and so forcibly. And, best of all, this can be accomplished without carrying bloodshed and destruction into the ranks of our friends the birds; for we all love to call the birds our friends, yet some of us are not, I fear, always quite friendly in our dealings with them. ”

“ I feel that I have barely touched the fringe of my subject in this short article, but I have no doubt that to the man equipped with a decent camera and a genuine love of nature, the hints I have given will be sufficient to set him to work natural history picture-making, and, as an old farmer, I know enough of American ingenuity in tool-making to convince me that there is no bird or beast living in the western world that cannot be photographed, living, loving, and laboring in its free, open-air home. Any way, every reader of Bird-Lore has the best wishes of the brothers Kearton. ”

“ Let those who already have birds take good care of them, by all means; give them the right food and plenty of fresh water, and as much freedom as possible in the limits of the house; but let those who are true bird-lovers discourage the traffic in birds in every way possible, no matter how hopeless it may seem just now to endeavor to put a stop to it, for the influence of every individual counts. ”

“ I have so trained my cat, Zip, that she thinks it is as wicked to look at a bird as she does to climb on the table, and never does either. Peter and Phœbe seemed to know that they had nothing to fear from her; and, when sitting on the little white eggs, their bright eyes would peep over the nest at Zip, sitting or napping in the easy chair below. When the young birds arrived, the parents would fly back and forth feeding them, without showing any more fear of the cat than they did of me. ”

“ We are accustomed to associate the idea of youth with playfulness: we picture to ourselves the lamb frisking in the meadows, the frolicsome kitten playing upon the hearth, and we groan inwardly when we meditate upon the destructive propensities of our pet puppies, but we think of our young feathered friends as lying inert in their nests, gaping wide open their yellow-edged beaks incessantly for food, and apparently interested in nothing else. ”

“ To "humanize" the birds by ascribing to them human qualities which they do not and cannot possess, is only to misrepresent them, and stories which so humanize them are of no more value, as nature-study or bird-study, than so many fairy-tales. ”

“ Even a child can reason out for himself that a bird was created for freedom in the upper air, not for confinement in a cage, and that, even if it is bred in a cage, it is no more just or right to put it to such purposes than it would be to keep a dog chained all day, or a horse tied in a stable all his life, or a man confined within the narrow limits of prison walls. ”

“ One of the most dangerous enemies threatening our birds to-day is the man who, under the mask of 'science,' collects birds and their eggs in wholly unwarranted numbers. He is dangerous not alone because of the actual destruction of life he causes, but because his excesses have brought into disrepute the work of the collector who, animated by the spirit of true science, and appreciating the value of life, takes only those specimens which he needs to assist him in his studies. ”

“ When the leaves of the trees are just unfolding, or, as Tennyson says, "When all the woods stand in a mist of green, and nothing perfect," the tide of migrating Warblers is at its height. They come in the night, and in the morning the trees are alive with them. The apple trees are just showing the pink, and how closely the birds inspect them in their eager quest for insect food! One cold, rainy day at this season Wilson's Black-cap,—a bird that is said to go north nearly to the arctic circle,—explored an apple tree - 5 - in front of my window. ”

“ When the little birds first come out of the shell their eyes are shut tight, like those of little kittens when they are first born.
If you are very gentle you can stroke the backs of the little ones as they sit waiting for the old birds to feed them.
I remember one plum tree nest on a branch so low that a little girl could look into it. One day when the mother bird was brooding the eggs the little girl crept close up to the tree, so close she could look into Mother Chippy's eyes, and the trustful bird never stirred, but just sat and looked back at her. "Isn't she tame?" ”

“ The exact knowledge that we now possess of the coloration, etc., of North American birds, and the large collections available for study in the museums, render it entirely unnecessary for every bird student to form a collection. Those who undertake any special line of study will soon learn what specimens are required and collect accordingly, instead of amassing a large number of specimens with no particular object in view. ”

“ Pause a moment, well-meaning sisters of 'little knowledge.' Hold a Quill class and lay your outing hats on the dissecting table! Study out the things you have been wearing, and you will be wiser, and I hope sadder also, resolving either to join the total abstainers, or to devote enough time to bird study to be consistent in your actions.
"But," you may say, "We are consistent even now. The Eagle is neither a song bird, an insect eater, nor a game bird, and from an economic standpoint it can only be considered as a bird of prey and an eater of wastage." ”