LITTLE -B ROTH RS
OF-TH6-A1R
BIOLOGY
JJBRARY
G
JHiiitr*
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LITTLE BROTHERS OF THE AIR.
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HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
LITTLE BROTHERS OF
THE AIR
BY
OLIVE THORNE MILLER
filler, |VVs<
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
1893
Copyright, 1892,
BY H. M. MILLER.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company.
INTRODUCTORY.
SOME of the chapters of this little book were
written in 1888, on the shore of the Great South
Bay, Long Island ; others in the northern part
of New York State, known to its residents as
the " Black River Country," a year or two later.
Part of them have been published in The Atlan-
tic Monthly, Harper's Bazar, The Independent
and other papers.
The nomenclature in the Table of Contents is
that adopted by the American Ornithological
Society.
OLIVE THORNE MILLER.
5286*
CONTENTS.
ON THE GREAT SOUTH BAY.
PAGE
I. THE KINGBIRD'S NEST 1
Kingbird. Tyrannus tyrannus.
II. A CHRONICLE OF THREE LITTLE KINGS . , . 19
Kingbird. Tyrannus tyrannus.
III. THE BABES IN THE WOOD 34
Flicker. Colaptes auratus.
IV. HOME LIFE OF THE REDSTART 48
American Redstart. Sftophaga ruticilla.
V. WHEN NESTING is OVER 61
Thrasher. Harporhynchus rufus.
White-bellied Swallow. Tachycineta bicolor.
Wood Pewee. Contopus virens.
Bluebird. Sialia sialis.
VI. IN SEARCH OF THE BLUEJAY 76
Bluejay. Cyanocitta cristata.
VII. IN THE WCOD LOT 83
Bluejay. Cyanocitta cristata.
VIII. THE BLUEJAY BABY 89
Bluejay. Cyanocitta cristata.
yi CONTENTS.
IN THE BLACK RIVER COUNTRY.
IX. THAT WITCHING SONG . . 99
Wilson's Thrush. Turdus fuscescens.
X. THE VEEKY MOTHER 107
Wilson's Thrush. Turdus fuscescens.
XL THE TAWNY THRUSH'S BROOD 114
Wilson's Thrush. Turdus fuscescens.
XII. A MEADOW NEST 123
Wilson's Thrush. Turdus fuscescens.
XIII. A JUNE ROUND OF CALLS 130
Wood Pewee. Contopus virens.
Junco. Junco hyemalis.
Flicker. Colaptes auratus.
Redstart. Setophaga ruticilla.
Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varius.
XIV. A BOBOLINK RHAPSODY 138
Bobolink. Dolichonyx oryzivorus.
XV. THE BOBOLINK'S NEST 146
Bobolink. Dolichonyx oryzivorus.
XVI. THE TANAGER'S NEST 155
Scarlet Tanager. Piranga erythromelas.
XVII. THE WILES OF A WARBLER 163
Black-throated Blue. Dendroica ccerulescens.
XVIII. A RAINY-DAY TRAMP 173
Oven-bird. Seiurus aurocapillus.
XIX. THE VAGARIES OF A WARBLER . . . . .180
Redstart. Setophaga ruticilla.
Chestnut-sided W. Dendroica pensylvanica.
XX. A CLEVER CUCKOO . 190
Black-billed C. Coccyzus erythrojihthalmus.
CONTENTS. Vll
XXI. Two LITTLE DRUMMERS 201
Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus varius.
Red-headed Woodpecker. Melanerpes ery-
throcephalus.
XXII. FROM MY WINDOW 221
Phoebe. Sayornis phcebe.
Robin. Merula migratoria.
Great-crested Fly- catcher. Myiarchus crinitus.
Purple Grackle. Quiscalus quiscula.
Downy Woodpecker. Dryobates pubescens.
Chestnut-sided Warbler. Dendroica pensyl-
vanica.
Kingbird. Tyrannus tyrannus.
XXIII. THE COMICAL CROW BABY 236
Common Crow. Corvus americanus.
XXIV. A MIDSUMMER WOOING 244
American Goldfinch. Spinus tristis.
XXV. A PLUM-TREE ROMANCE 252
American Goldfinch. Spinus tristis.
XXVI. SOLITARY THE THRUSH 259
Hermit Thrush. Turdus aonalaschkcepallasii.
INDEX .269
ON THE GEEAT SOUTH BAY.
Precious qualities of silence haunt
Round these vast margins ministrant.
'T is here, 'tis here, thou canst unhand thy heart
And breathe it free, and breathe it free
By rangy marsh, in lone sea-liberty.
SIDNEY LANIEB.
LITTLE BROTHERS OF THE AIR.
THE KINGBIRD'S NEST.
To study a nest is to make an acquaintance.
However familiar the bird, unless the student
has watched its ways during the only domestic
period of its life, nesting time, he has still
something to learn. In fact, he has almost
everything to learn, for into those few weeks is
crowded a whole lifetime of emotions and ex-
periences which fully bring out the individuality
of the bird. Family life is a test of character,
no less in the nest than in the house. More-
over, to a devotee of the science that some one
has aptly called Ornithography, nothing is so
attractive. What hopes it holds out! Who
can guess what mysteries shall be disclosed,
what interesting episodes of life shall be seen
about that charmed spot?
To find a newly built nest is the first June
work of the bird-student, and this year on the
2 THE KINGBIKD'S NEST.
Great South Bay a particularly inviting one
presented itself, on the top branch of a tall oak-
tree near my 6 *km of rest." It was in plain
sight from the veranda. The builder evidently
cared nothing for concealment, and relied, with
reason, upon its inaccessible position for safety.
To be sure, as days went by and oak leaves
grew, a fair screen for the little dwelling was
not lacking ; but summer breezes were kind, and
often blew them aside, and, better still, from
other points of view the nest was never hidden.
To whom, then, did the nest belong ? I
hoped to the kingbird, who at that moment sat
demurely upon the picket fence below, appar-
ently interested only in passing insects; and
while I looked the question was answered by
Madame Tyrannis herself, who came with the
confidence of ownership, carrying a beakful of
building material, and arranging it with great
pains inside the structure. This was satisfac-
tory, for I did not know the kingbird in do-
mestic life.
For several days it seemed uncertain whether
the kingbirds would ever really occupy the nest,
so spasmodic was the work upon it. Now one of
the pair came with a bit of something, placed it,
tried its effect this way and that, and then dis-
appeared ; while for hours every day both might
be seen about the place, hunting insects and tak-
THE BANNER ON THE WALLS. 3
ing their ease on the fence as if no thought of
nesting ever stirred their wise little heads. The
last addition to the domicile was curious : a soft
white feather from the poultry yard, which was
fastened up on the edge, and stood there floating
in the breeze; a white banner of peace flung
out to the world from her castle walls.
Peace from a kingbird? Direful tales are
told of this bird: u he is pugnacious," says one
writer; "he fights everybody," adds another;
"he is a coward," remarks a third. Science
has dubbed him tyrant (Tyranms), and his char-
acter is supposed to be settled. But may there
not be two sides to the story? We shall see.
One kingbird, at least, shall be studied sympa-
thetically; we shall try to enter his life, to
judge him fairly, and shall above all
" bring not
The fancies found in books,
Leave author's eyes, and fetch our own."
Nearly two months that small dwelling on the
oak was watched, day after day, early and late,
in storm and in sunshine ; now I know at least
one family of kingbirds, and what I know I shall
honestly tell, "nothing extenuating."
The house was built, the season was passing,
yet housekeeping did not begin. The birds, in-
deed, appeared to have abandoned the tree, and
days went by in which I could not see that either
4 THE KINGBIRD'S NEST.
visited it. But the nest was not deserted, for
all that ; the curiosity and impertinence of the
neighbors were simply amazing. (Perhaps the
kingbird has some reason to be pugnacious !)
No sooner was that tenement finished than, as
promptly as if they had received cards to a
house-warming, visitors began to come. First
to show himself was an orchard oriole, who was
in the habit of passing over the yard every day
and stopping an hour or more in the neighbor-
hood, while he scrambled over the trees, varying
his lunches with a rich and graceful song. Ar-
rived this morning in the kingbird tree, he be-
gan his usual hunt over the top branch, when
suddenly his eye fell upon the kingbird cradle.
He paused, cast a wary glance about, then
dropped to a lower perch, his singing ended, his
manner guilty. Nearer and nearer he drew,
looking cautiously about and moving in perfect
silence. Still the owner did not come, and at
last the stranger stood upon the edge. What
joy ! He looked that mansion over from foun-
dation to banner fluttering in the wind ; he ex-
amined closely its construction; with head
turned over one side, he criticised its general
effect, and apparently did not think much of it ;
he gratified to the full his curiosity, and after
about one minute's study flew to the next tree,
and resumed his singing.
NEIGHBORHOOD INTEREST. 5
The next arrival was a pewee, whose own nest
was nearly built, in a wild-cherry tree not far
off. The fence under the oak was his usual
perch, and it was plain that he made his first
call with "malice aforethought;" for, disdain-
ing the smallest pretense of interest in it, he
flew directly to the nest, hovered beneath it, and
pulled out some part of the building material
that pleased his fancy, nothing less than pure
thievery.
Among the occasional visitors to the yard
were two American goldfinches, or thistle -birds,
in bright yellow and black plumage, both males.
They also went to the new homestead in the
oak, inspected it, chatted over it in their sweet
tones, and then passed on. It began to look as
though the nest were in the market for any one
to choose, and the string of company was not yet
ended.
Soon after the goldfinches had passed by,
there alighted a gay Baltimore oriole, who, not
content with looking at the new castle in the air,
must needs try it. He actually stepped into the
nest and settled down as if sitting. Who
knows but he was experimenting to see if this
simple, wide-open cradle wouldn't do as well
for oriole babies as for kingbirds? Certainly
it was a curious performance. It made an im-
pression on him too, for the next day he came
6 TIfE KINGBIB&S NEST.
again ; and this time he picked at it, and seemed
to be changing its interior arrangement, but
he carried nothing away when he flew. Even
after sitting began, this oriole paid two more
visits to the nest which so interested him. On
the first occasion, the owner was at home, and
gave him instant notice that the place was no
longer on view. He retired, but, being no cow-
ard, and not choosing to submit to dictation, he
came again. This time, a fly-up together, a
clinch in the air, with loud and offensive re-
marks, cured him of further desire to call.
More persistent than any yet mentioned was
a robin. Heretofore, strange to say, the guests
had ^all been males, but this caller was the mo-
ther of a young brood in the next yard. She
came in her usual way, alighted on a low branch,
ran out upon it, hopped to the next higher, and
so proceeded till she reached the nest. The
kingbird happened to be near it himself, and
drove her away in an indifferent manner, as if
this interloper were of small account. The
robin went, of course, but returned, and, perch-
ing close to the object of interest, leaned over
and looked at it as long as she chose, while the
owner stood calmly by on a twig and did not in-
terfere. I know he was not afraid of the robin,
as later events proved ; and it really looked as if
the pair deliberately delayed sitting to give the
MADAM TRIES THE NEST. 7
neighborhood a chance to satisfy its curiosity;
as if they thus proclaimed to whom it might con-
cern that there was to be a kingbird household,
that they might view it at their leisure before
it was occupied, but after that no guests were
desired. Whatever the cause, the fact is, that
once completed, the nest was almost entirely
abandoned by the builders for several days, dur-
ing which this neighborhood inspection went on.
They even deserted their usual hunting-ground,
and might generally be seen at the back of the
house, awaiting their prey in the most uncon-
cerned manner.
However, time was passing, and one day Ma-
dame Tyrannis herself began to call, but fitfully.
Sometimes she stayed about the nest one min-
ute, sometimes five minutes, but was restless;
picking at the walls, twitching the leaves that
hung too near, rearranging the lining, trying it
this way and that, as if to see how it fitted her
figure, and how she should like it when she was
settled. First she tried sitting with face look-
ing toward the bay; then she jerked herself
around, without rising, and looked awhile toward
the house. She had as much trouble to get mat-
ters adjusted to her mind as if she had a house-
ful of furniture to place, with carpets to lay,
curtains to hang, and the thousand and one
"things" with which we bigger housekeepers
8 THE KINGBIRD'S NEST.
cumber ourselves and make life a burden. This
spasmodic visitation went on for days, and finally
it was plain that sitting had begun. Still the
birds of the vicinity were interested callers,
and I began to think that one kingbird would
not even protect his nest, far less justify his rep-
utation by tyrannizing over the feathered world.
But when his mate had seriously established
herself, it was time for the head of the household
to assume her defense, and he did.
As usual, the kingbird united the characters
of brave defender and tender lover. To his
spouse his manners were charming. When he
came to relieve her of her care, to give her exer-
cise or a chance for luncheon, he greeted her with
a few low notes, and alighted on a small leafless
twig that curved up about a foot above the nest,
and made a perfect watch-tower. She slipped
off her seat and disappeared for about six min-
utes. During her absence he stayed at his post,
sometimes changing his perch to one or other of
half a dozen leafless branchlets in that part of
the tree, and there sitting, silent and watchful,
ready to interview any stranger who appeared.
Upon her return he again saluted her with a few
words, adding to them a lifting of wings and
spreading of his beautiful tail that most comi-
cally suggested the bowing and hat-lifting of
bigger gentlemen. In all their life together,
GEEETING HIS MATE. 9
even when the demands of three infants kept
them busy from morning till night, he never
forgot this little civility to his helpmate. If she
alighted beside him on the fence, he rose a few
inches above his perch, and flew around in a
small circle while greeting her; and sometimes,
on her return to the nest, he described a larger
circle, talking (as I must call it) all the time.
Occasionally, when she approached, he flew out
to meet and come back with her, as if to escort
her. Could this bird, to his mate so thoughtful
and polite, be to the rest of the world the bully
he is pictured? Did he, who for ten months of
the year shows less curiosity about others, and
attends more perfectly to his own business than
any bird I have noticed, suddenly, at this crisis
in his life, become aggressive, and during these
two months of love and paternity and hard work,
make war upon a peaceful neighborhood ?
I watched closely. There was not an hour of
the day, often from four A. M. to eight P. M.,
that I had not the kingbird and his nest directly
in sight, and hardly a movement of his life es-
caped me. There he stood, on the fence under
his tree, on a dead bush at the edge of the bay,
or on the lowest limb of a small pear-tree in the
yard. Sometimes he dashed into the air for his
prey; sometimes he dropped to the ground to
secure it; but oftenest, especially when baby
10 THE KINGBIRD'S NEST.
throats grew clamorous, he hovered over the
rank grass on the low land of the shore, wings
beating, tail wide spread, diving now and then
for an instant to snatch a morsel; and every
thirty minutes, as punctually as if he carried a
watch in his trim white vest, he took a direct
line for the home where his mate sat waiting.
A few days after the little dame took posses-
sion of the nest, the kingbird had succeeded,
without much trouble, in making most of his
fellow-creatures understand that he laid claim
to the upper branches of the oak, and was pre-
pared to defend them against all comers, and
they simply gave the tree a wide berth in pass-
ing.
Apparently deceived by his former indiffer-
ence, however, the robin above mentioned pre-
sumed to call somewhat later. This time she
was received in a manner that plainly showed
she was no longer welcome. She retired, but
she expressed her mind freely for some time, sit-
ting on the fence below. With true robin per-
sistence she did not give it up, and she selected
for her next call the dusk of evening, just before
going to bed.
This time both kingbirds flung themselves
after her, and she left, "laughing" as she went.
The kingbirds did not follow beyond their own
borders, and the robin soon returned to the near-
THE HOBIN SPEAKS HER MIND. 11
est tree, where she kept up the taunting "he!
he ! he ! " a long time, seemingly with deliberate
intention to insult or enrage her pursuers, but
without success ; for unless she came to their tree,
the kingbirds paid her not the slightest atten-
tion.
The last time the robin tried to be on friendly
terms with her neighbor, I noticed her stand-
ing near him on the picket fence under his tree.
There were not more than three pickets between
them, and she was expostulating earnestly, with
flirting tail and jerking wings, and with loud
"tut ! tut's," and u he ! he's ! " she managed to
be very eloquent. Had he driven her from his
nest? and was she complaining? I could only
guess. The kingbird did not reply to her, but
when she flew he followed, and she did not cease
telling him what she thought of him as she flew,
till out of sight.
Strangest of all was the fact that, during the
whole of this scene, her mate stood on the fence
within a dozen feet, and looked on! Did he
think her capable of managing her own affairs?
Did he prefer to be on good terms with his pep-
pery neighbor? or was it because with her it
would be a war of words, while if he entered the
arena it must be a fight? as we sometimes see,
when a man goes home fighting drunk, every
man of the neighborhood keeps out of sight,
12 THE KINGBIRD'S NEST.
while all the women go out and help his wife to
get him home. The most troublesome meddler
was, as might be expected, an English sparrow.
From the time when the first stick was laid till
the babies were grown and had left the tree, that
bird never ceased to intrude and annoy. He
visited the nest when empty ; he managed to have
frequent peeps at the young ; and notwithstand-
ing he was driven off every time, he still hung
around, with prying ways so exasperating that
he well deserved a thrashing, and I wonder he
did not get it. He was driven away repeat-
edly, and he was "picked off" from below, and
pounced upon from above, but he never failed to
return.
Another visitor of whom the kingbird seemed
suspicious was a purple crow blackbird, who
every day passed over. This bird and the com-
mon crow were the only ones he drove away
without waiting for them to alight ; and if half
that is told of them be true, he had reason to
do so.
With none of these intruders had the king-
bird any quarrel when away from his nest. The
blackbird, to whom he showed the most violence,
hunted peacefully beside him on the grass all
day; the robin alighted near him on the fence,
as usual; the orioles scrambled over the neigh-
boring trees, singing and eating, as was their
BAD-WEATHEE MANNERS. 13
custom; even the English sparrow carried on
his vulgar squabbles on his own branch of the
oak all day ; but to none of them did the king-
bird pay the slightest attention. He simply and
solely defended his own household.
In the beginning the little dame took sitting
very easy, fidgeting about in the nest, standing
up to dress her feathers, stretching her neck to
see what went on in the yard below, and step-
ping out upon a neighboring twig to rest herself.
After a few days she settled more seriously to
work, and became very quiet and patient. Her
mate never brought food to her, nor did he once
take her place in the nest ; not even during a
furious northeast gale that turned June into
November, and lasted thirty-six hours, most of
the time with heavy rain, when the top branch
bent and tossed, and threatened every moment a
catastrophe. In the house, fires were built and
books and work brought out ; but the bird-stu-
dent, wrapped in heavy shawls, kept close watch
from an open window, and noted well the bad-
weather manners of Tyrannis. Madame sat very
close, head to the northeast, and tail, narrowed
to the width of one feather, pressed against a
twig that grew up behind the nest. All through
the storm, I think the head of the family re-
mained in a sheltered part of the tree, but he
did not come to the usual twigs which were so
14 THE KINGBIRD'S NEST.
exposed. I know he was near, for I heard him,
and occasionally saw him standing with body
horizontal instead of upright, as usual, the bet-
ter to maintain his position against the wind.
At about the ordinary intervals the sitter left her
nest, without so much as a leaf to cover it, and
was absent perhaps half as long as common, but
not once did her mate assume her post.
How were this pair distinguished from each
other, since there is no difference in their dress?
First, by a fortunate peculiarity of marking ;
the male had one short tail feather, that, when
he was resting, showed its white tip above the
others, and made a perfectly distinct and (with a
glass) plainly visible mark. Later, when I had
become familiar with the very different manners
of the pair, I did not need this mark to distin-
guish the male, though it remained en evidence
all through the two months I had them under
observation.
During the period of sitting, life went on with
great regularity. The protector of the nest
perched every night in a poplar-tree across the
yard, and promptly at half past four o'clock
every morning began his matins. Surprised and
interested by an unfamiliar song, I rose one day
at that unnatural hour to trace it home. It
was in that enchanting time when men are still
asleep in their nests, and even "My Lord Sun "
SONG OF THE KINGBIRD. 15
has not arisen from his ; when the air is sweet
and fresh, and as free from the dust of man's
coming and going as if his tumults did not exist.
It was so still that the flit of a wing was almost
startling. The water lapped softly against the
shore; but who can
" Write in a book the morning's prime,
Or match with words that tender sky " ?
The song that had called me up was a sweet
though simple strain, and it was repeated every
morning while his mate was separated from him
by her nest duties. I can find no mention of it
in books, but I had many opportunities to study
it, and thus it was. It began with a low king-
bird u Kr-r-r" (or rolling sound impossible to
express by letters), without which I should not
have identified it at first, and it ended with a
very sweet call of two notes, five tones apart,
the lower first, after a manner suggestive of the
phoebe something like this: " Kr-r-r-r-r-ree-
be ! Kr-r-r-r-r-ree-be ! " In the outset, and I
think I heard the very first attempt, it resem-
bled the initial efforts of cage -birds, when
spring tunes their throats. The notes seemed
hard to get out; they were weak, uncertain,
fluttering, as if the singer were practicing some-
thing quite new. But as the days went by they
grew strong and assured, and at last were a joy-
ous and loud morning greeting. I don't know
16 THE KINGBIRD'S NEST.
why I should be so surprised to hear a kingbird
sing, for I believe that one of the things we shall
discover, when we begin to study birds alive in-
stead of dead, is that every one has a song, at
least in spring, when, in the words of an enthu-
siastic bird -lover, "the smallest become poets,
often sublime songsters." I have already heard
several sing that are set down as lacking in that
mode of expression.
To return to my kingbird, struggling with his
early song. After practicing perhaps fifteen or
twenty minutes, he left his perch, flew across
the yard, and circled around the top bough, with
his usual good-morning to his partner, who at
once slipped off and went for her breakfast,
while he stayed to watch the nest.
This magic dawn could not last. It grew
lighter ; the sun was bestirring himself. I heard
oars on the bay ; and now that the sounds of
men began, the robin mounted the fence and
sang his waking song. The rogue ! he had
been "laughing" and shouting for an hour.
"Awake! awake ! " he seemed to say; and on