The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-10-30
THE LOVES OF THE BIRDS.


of the birds would form as fruitful a theme
as those of the poets themselves. Tn their
attachments, they are generally faithful and
aficctionate-a it must be confessed they
are, like men, little jealous sometimes
Audubon gives beautiful description of
the loves of the humming birds. lie says
that i'll their courtsl,ip, the male, dancing
airily upon the wing, swells his plumage
and throat, and whirls lightly around the
female; then diving towards Il flower, he
returns with loaded bill, which lie proff;ers
to her. lie seems full of ccstacy when his
carcsses are kindly received. Ills little
wings fam her as they fan the flowers and
he transfers to her bill the insect and the
honey which he has procured. If his adj
dresses are received with favor, his courage
, and care are rcdoublcd. lie dares even to
chase the tyrant tly-catcher, and hurries the
blue bird and martin to their nests and
then, on sounding pinions, he joyously re-
turns to his lovely mate. Who would not
be humming bird9 Audubon says:
"Could you, kind reader cast Il moment
AIRY glance at the nest of Il h,lmming bird,
and see, as have seen, the newly hatchcd
pair of young. little larger than humble
, bees, naked, blind, and so feeble as scarcely
TO be able to raise their little bills to receive
food from their parents, full Of anxiety and
fear, passing and requesting within Il few
inches of your face, alighting OH a twig not
more than Il yard from your body, awaiting
the result Of your unwclcomc visit in Il
state of the utmost desl'air-you could not
fail to be impressed with the deepest panys
which parental affection feels on The unex-
pcctcd death of I; cherished chill Then
how pleasing is it, on your leaving the spot,
to sec the returning hope of the parents,
when, after examining the nest, they find
their nurslings untoucled!"
We lave remarked above that birds, AS
we'll rs men, are sometimes jealous in love.
An exception, however, may he found to
this general rule in the goiicn-winyed wood
pccker, a frequent and well known in!,ali-
tant Of our American forests. Among the
bright l'caux and bellies Of this interesting
tribe, 10 jcaouscs seem to exist, and no
quarrcls ever occur. Cilcerily they hop
through life, attend Ly the good wishes OF
all their acquaintanccs, and of each other.
No sooner does spring call them to the
pleasant duty Of selecting mates AMI la'r-
ing off, than their voices may Le heard
from the tops Of high, dccaycL trees, pro-
claiming with delight the opening of the
welcome season. Their note ut this period
is merrimcnt itself, and when heard ut a
little distance resembles prolonged aud
jovial laugh. These golden-winged wood
peckers are the darlings of Audubon. In
describing their manner Of mating, he says
that several males surround female, and to
the prove truth and carncstncss Of their love
bow their heads, spread their tails and move
sideways, backwards and forwards, perform
ing such antics as would induce any one
Witnessing them to join his laugh to theirs.
The female j"yfuly flies to another tree,
where she is closely followed by her suitors,
and where again the same ceremonies are
gone through with until marked prefer
encc is indicated for some individual
In this way, all the golden-winged wood
peckers are soon happily mated, and each
pair proceeds to cXcavaie hole in tree
for Il nest. They work alternately, with
industry and apparent pleasure. When The
nest is finished they caress each other On
the tree top, rattle their bills against the
dead branches, chase their cousins, the re.l-
head, defy the purple grakles to enter their
nest. and feed plcntifully on ants, beetles,
and larve. BY and by the female lays
four or six eggs, the whilcness and transpa-
rency of which are doubtless the delight Of
her heart. These woodpeckcrs raise nu-
merous progeny, having two broods every
season.
The loves Of the turtle dove and mock.
ing-bird are graphically described by Audu-
bon, as are also those of the wild turkey,
who is said to be even more ridiculous in
his motions, and more absurd in his demon
strations Of affection, than is our common
tame gander. The curious evolutions in
the air of the great horned owl, or his mo-
tions when lie has alighted near his beloved
Audubon confesses himself unable to dc.
scribe. lie says the bowings md snap.
pings of lis bill are extremely ludicrous
and no sooner is the female assured that
the attentions paid her by her lover are the
result Of sincere affection, than she joins in
the motions of her future mate.
So much for the love of birds. In many
respects they resemble those of men. We
have among US in society, our hummipg
bird lovers, our golden winged woodpeckers
our turtle doves, our turkeys, and gauders
n