Ovenbird

“ Thus it appears that the intrusion of the cowbird's eggs does not always mean disaster to the real offspring of the brooding family, but of course it always, prevents the laying of the full complement of eggs by the builders themselves.
Even after the youngsters have left the nest the mother cowbird does not assume the care of them, but still leaves them in charge of the foster parents. It is laughable, almost pathetic, to see a tiny ovenbird or redstart feeding a strapping young cowbird which is several times as large as herself. She looks like a pygmy feeding a giant. ”

“ All about the Ovenbird's nest and the four eggs in it, and how the Ovenbirds spent their nights in sleeping and their days in work and play.
"I wonder if the little Ovenbirds will be scared when they have to stay alone in the daytime?" said the smallest sister.
"They would be more scared if they had to stay alone at night," said their mother.
"At night!" exclaimed all the young [Pg 54] Ground Hogs. "Why, it is dark then!"
"They might be afraid of the darkness," said their mother. Then the children laughed and thought she was making fun of them. ”

“ In spite of the great potential of this kind of material, the majority of ornithologists with access to such data have contented themselves with listing the species and sometimes the numbers of birds killed. A few have gone further. James T. Tanner (unpublished) attempted to compute the longevity of the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) by analysis of ceilometer-killed birds at Knoxville, Tennessee (see below) . ”

“ Olive; white below, buff-tinged posteriorly and streaked, but not thickly, with dusky; throat and middle of belly, unmarked; white line over eye; loud, ringing song. Grinnell Water-Thrush. Ovenbird. Palm Warbler.
63. LEAST FLYCATCHER. 5-1/4 in. (Empidonax minimus. 467.)
Olive-gray; wings, tail and head, darker; two narrow wing-bars; decidedly grayish below, whiter on throat; jerks its tail and utters a sharp, energetic call, “che-bec ́.” Wood Pewee. ”

“ On the way, as the water thrushes and Maryland yellow-throats sing from the thickets near the water, so the oven-bird sends his aggressive staccato from the middle distances of the higher trees. I never knew an oven-bird to sing from either a treetop or a low thicket. Always he sits on a limb well up the trunk yet well beneath the shade also, and sends forth that aggressive, eager call for knowledge. “Teach us, teach us, teach us,” he cries to the wood gods, nor is he ever satisfied with his schooling, but applies persistently for more. ”

“ The early singing of the oven-bird fledgling is important, owing to the fact that the group it belongs to comprises the least specialized forms in the family. They are strong-legged, square-tailed, terrestrial birds, generally able to perch, have probing beaks, and build the most perfect mud or stick nests, or burrow in the ground. In the numerous tree-creeping groups, which, seem as unrelated to the oven-bird as the woodpecker is to the hoopoe, we find a score of wonderfully different forms of beak ”

“ As the need for a receptacle for the eggs becomes more urgent they grow bolder, and in the absence of the owners flit about the oven, alight on it, and even enter it. The Oven-bird appears to drive them off with screams of indignation, but the moment he retires they are about it again, and, even when it contains eggs or young birds, begin impudently carrying in feathers, straws, and other materials for a nest, as if they were already in undisputed possession. ”

“ When disturbed, the Oven-bird has a loud, monotonous note of alarm or curiosity, which never fails to bring all its fellows within hearing-distance to the spot. The movements of a fox, weasel, or cat in a plantation can always be known from the noisy turmoil among the Oven-birds. At frequent intervals during the day the male and female meet and express their joy in clear, resonant notes sung in concert—a habit common to a very large number of Dendrocolaptine birds, including, I think, all those species which pair for life. ”

“ Of dead weed stalks, grasses and brown leaves it is not only built but roofed, and with an entrance on one side that to the uninitiated might be an entrance to the nest of a field mouse, indeed, but never that to a bird’s nest. It is not for greater knowledge of nest hiding that the oven-bird need pray to the wood gods, nor may we know what further wisdom he seeks, but all summer long he asks for it in no uncertain tones.
Out of the very treetops while the oven-bird shouts his prayer below comes the voice of the red-eyed vireo, uttering moral platitudes from dawn till dusk. ”

“ Darwin, speaking of the Oven-bird’s habit of always placing its oven in the most conspicuous and (to man) accessible places, predicts, and truly I believe, that this habit will eventually cause the extinction of the species; for when the country becomes more thickly settled, the bird-nesting boys will destroy all the ovens. Probably when the Oven-birds were more abundant the Sparrows could always find vacant ovens to breed in, until a habit of breeding almost exclusively in these safe and convenient bird-built houses was acquired ”

“ On one of these pine islands on the edge of the swamp an oven bird had built her nest, and on this particular night in June she was in much distress because she could not get into it. The oven bird builds a nest on the ground among low bushes and vines, choosing often a spot where pine needles are scattered among the dead leaves. She roofs this nest with care—and dried grass—and builds a tunnel-like entrance to it so that you may see neither the eggs nor the bird sitting on them. ”

“ In favourable seasons the Oven-birds begin building in the autumn, and the work is resumed during the winter whenever there is a spell of mild wet weather. Some of their structures are finished early in winter, others not until spring, everything depending on the weather and the condition of the birds. In cold dry weather, and when food is scarce, they do not work at all. ”

“ The Red Oven-bird is an extremely well-known species in Argentina, and, where found, a great favourite on account of its familiarity with man, its loud, ringing, cheerful voice, and its wonderful mud nest, which it prefers to build near a human habitation, often on a cornice, a projecting beam, or on the roof of the house itself.
It is a stout little bird, about 81⁄2 to 9 inches long, with a slender, slightly-curved beak nearly an inch in length, and strong legs suited to its terrestrial habits. The upper plumage is uniform rufous-brown in colour, brightest on the tail ”

“ Its curious domed-over grass nest is placed on the ground and is not hard to find. The food of the oven-bird does not differ greatly from that of other warblers, notwithstanding the fact that the bird is strictly terrestrial in habits. ”

“ Sometimes they make choice of the large fabric of the Anumbius acuticaudatus, called Leñatero in the vernacular; but their claim to this nest (even when the Leñateros are out of it) is frequently disputed by other species which possess the same habit as this Sparrow, but are more powerful than he. Their favourite breeding-place is, however, the solid earthen structure of the Oven-bird; and it is wonderful to see how persistently and systematically they labour to drive out the lawful owners—birds so much larger and more powerful than themselves. ”

“ Victory at last declares itself for the aggressors, and they busy themselves carrying in materials for their nest, screaming their jubilant notes all the time as if in token of triumph. The brave and industrious Oven-birds, dispossessed of their home, retire to spend their childless summer together, for the male and female never separate ”

“ This manner of singing is perhaps most perfect in the oven-bird (Furnarius) , and it is very curious that the young birds, when only partially fledged, are constantly heard in the nest or oven apparently practising these duets in the intervals when the parents are absent; single measured notes, triplets, and long concluding trills are all repeated with wonderful fidelity, and in character these notes are utterly unlike the hunger cry, which is like that of other fledglings. ”

“ On a bank not far off we sat down to wait, talking in hushed tones of the veery, of the oven-bird whose rattling call was now just beginning, of the mysterious "see-here" bird whose plaintive call was sounding from the upper twig of another dead-topped tree, of the hermit himself, when, to our amazement, a small bird soared out of the woods, a few feet above our heads, flew around in a circle of perhaps fifteen feet in the air, and plunged again into the trees, singing all the time a rapturous, thrilling song, bewitching both in manner and in tone. ”

“ Oliver turned his head to see, with surprise and some amusement, that now the imminent danger had passed, the naturalist had re-asserted itself, and their companion was eagerly collecting specimens of the wonderful parasitic plants which clustered over a decaying tree-trunk. Then his own instincts were aroused by the beauty of at least a dozen tiny sun-birds, perfect gems of colour and brilliancy, which were flitting and buzzing almost like insects about the same blossoms, to probe the deep richly-tinted throats with their long curved beaks. ”

“ Like the nest of the Grallina, it is placed upon some horizontal{311} bough, and fixed so firmly that it cannot fall except by being broken to pieces. Not being afraid of man, the Oven-bird often chooses a beam in some outhouse for a resting-place, and has been known to build even on the top of palings. As may be seen by reference to the illustration, the nest is a very conspicuous one, and concealment is almost impossible. ”

“ It is monotonous as a frog chorus, but there is a merry thrill in the notes of the amphibian which are entirely wanting in the song. If it were not for the light-hearted tremolo of the chewink thrown in now and then, and the loud, cheery ditty of the summer yellow-bird, who begins soon after the pewee, one would be almost superstitious about so unnatural a greeting to the new day. The evening call of the bird is different. ”

“ The plumage of the Barn Owl is remarkable for its softness, its delicacy of pencilling on the upper parts and its snowy whiteness below. Its face is perfectly heart-shaped during life, but when the animal is dead becomes circular. The female is slightly larger than her mate, and her colours are somewhat darker. The nest of the Barn Owl is a rude structure placed in the bird's daily haunt. The eggs vary in number, and the bird lays them at different periods, each egg after the first being hatched (partially at least) by the heat of the young birds already in being. ”

“ But we secured the birds we had shot, and going back my uncle and I set to and skinned them, handing over the bodies to Ebo to cook, while we carefully preserved the skins, admiring them all the while.
For they were of a rich warm slate colour, and each bird bore a delicate grey crest upon his head, which gave him a noble look, making each bird seem a very prince among pigeons.
Handsome as was the appearance of the birds, they were none the less delicious in the eating. No doubt our open-air life had a good deal to do with the keen enjoyment we had in eating the birds we shot ”

“ It is pleasing to listen to the sound produced by their labour, which in a calm day may be heard at the distance of twenty or thirty yards. If a nut or an acorn is accidentally dropped, the bird flies to the ground, picks it up, and again returns to a branch. They also alight on the ground or on dry leaves, to look for food, after the trees become bare, and hop about with great nimbleness, going to the margins of the brooks to drink, and when unable to do so, obtaining water by stooping from the extremity of a twig hanging over the stream. ”

“ Bolles could hardly see him. And another owl that I heard of, when he was on the ground, would flatten himself and spread his plumage around, so that the eye could scarcely separate him from the dead leaves about him.
No one takes better care of his dress than a bird, and that is why it looks well for a year. Every day, with most birds, it is washed and carefully dried, each feather being passed through the bill, and the whole thoroughly shaken out. At night one may often see robins and catbirds before going to bed, dressing their plumage and shaking off the day's dust. ”

“ Now can any reader of O. and O. tell me what bird it belongs to? It was not a case of a Catbird laying in an old nest, for I had been through that same 88 thicket several times before, and would have seen it. If any one can cite an instance of a Catbird building a mud nest, that may solve the question, and the slight differences in size, shape and color might be passed over as accidental. In visiting a colony of Purple Grackles I found another curious set. There is no doubt of their identity for I saw the female on the nest, which was a common P. G’s nest. There were four eggs ”

“ It is a well-known fact that the female cowbird always selects the nest of a bird smaller and weaker than herself in which to deposit her egg. Major Bendire lists ninety-one varieties of birds that have been thus outraged, frequent victims being the song sparrow, indigo bunting, parula warbler, yellow warbler, vireo, chipping sparrow, towhee, oven-bird, yellow-breasted chat, and even the tiny blue-gray gnatcatcher. From one to seven cowbirds’ eggs have been found at a time in other birds’ nests, often in the warm center of the nest. ”