Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-08-03
NOTES ON THE FAUNA or vER-
MONT-NII.
Bird-EIig1its.


/ the course of animals that walk the earth, o
of the flnny tribes which occupy the middl
element. To him, in fact, the flight of tn
5 bird, as the gait of the quadrupcd, is char
| aclerstc and hence diagnostc trait.
, A beast or bird, silent and motioncss ii
its cover in the wood or field is often mcr,
sphinx to the hunter, but let ii once take t
its legs or wings, or utter its CALL and ht
recognizes the game at once. OF course t
glimpse of the animal may aid him much
provided he be sufficiently near to observe
the form and color But who would mistake
the whi-r-r.ing flight of the partridge, or not
know, without ganc.ng up, when night
hawk was abroad in The air? Does the
sportsman need fair sight to know when
he has disturbed the woodcock? The mere
iutter of n wing is often sufficient to tell the
student of ornithology what company he is
keeping
Ii is interesting to watch the shaky tum-
bling flight of the Bat, as he goes reclng
through the air ut evening, but no observant
person could mistake him for bird
There is the heavy fap.tlap of the crow,
the laborlous, gant-stride. OF the eagle, as he
flies low over the landscape or rises from the
rver-bank, the leisurcly sailing OF the
hawks, the reckless, screaming course of the
gus in storm, the waving lines and har-
rows of ducks and geese beating northward
in spring
Then among our smaller birds, we
note the decided, energetic course of the
robins, the quiverlng flight of the king-bird,
the smooth, unduating line of the gold
| finch tho furtivp movement pf tho pnt -birb
the zg-zag path of the king fisher as he
courses the shoals or river, the insect-hum
and manners of the ruby-throated humming-
Bird and the more characteristic and we'll
nigh ceaseless flight Of those waits Of the
air, who seem endowed with a perpetual
youth, the inscct-hawking swallows and
chmncy-swifts.
| The sailing flight of the Martin, IN.
bicolor) is hardly surpassed for its wonder
full grace and ease, and the variety of its
motion. Their insect-prcy calls them forth at
| all hours to that indetcrminate course which
know no bounds save earth and heaven.
You often see them check this prccipitatc
| flight, and, gently sailing, poise themselves
apparently in mid-air as good swimmers can,
| at will, lie motionless upon the bosom of
| the denser element. But how docs the mar
| tin, when soaring thus, make those graceful
turns without the least visible movement
of the wing? This is probably done by aid
of the neck and tail. A turn of the former
gives direction, while every quill of the latter
is an oar, which the bird employs with
skill and effect.
You may observe these tactics in many
other birds as well. Did you ever see
crow go straight TO his nest9 believe
they never intend TO grant favors of this
kind, but prefer to take roundabout course,
TO elbow" their way IN on the lower side
Of the wood. AS they fly from you it is
| easy TO see them crane their nccks to one
side TO assist in accomplishing the wheel.
was particularly struck with this pho
| nomenon while watching on June evening,
II large party of night-hawks, enjoying
grand take" of insects over fall in the
Winnepiseogec river. The air was swarm
ing with the winged hosts who seemed 10
have taken refuge here from the super
heated, oppressive air OF the day. Among
the night-hawks all was hustle and activity.
They shot through the air with the speed of
arrows but with the irrcsuarity Of thunder
bolts, rising, falling, vccring, losing
Roadway at short angles, then regaining it
and increasing it at longer turn, redoubling,
wheeling at the shortest notice, now ris-
ing for this fly, now diving for that, andwell
nigh performing somersaut in the air, ever
grazing but never retarding one another in
their reckless zig.zag course. Such heller
skclter flight | never saw. They evidently
considered this too good an opportunity to
be lost, and they worked like hard pressed
tiremcn.
All this variety of motion was chiefly
gained by aid of the tail-quills, which they
managed with as much address as musician
the keys of his instrument. Now the tail is
spread like n fan and acts as a propeller,
with vertical movement then it is twisted or
folded in hundred different ways, just
enough each time to give the proper turn or
direction, rudder of perfect order. And
all this commotion aud display of energy
was for the sole purpose of gratifying the
| inncr-bird
The Swallows.
Few birds we could so i'll afford to lose as
the social, vivacious swallows. Aside from
the untold benefit they confer to agriculture,
they form feature in the landscape
which none Of the fcathered tribe could
supply.
| Those trim, modern barns, so securely
glazed and sealed, look well, and may bear
close inspection, hut throw open the windows
and perforatc the gables, aud let the birds
come IN, and what change you inaugurate!
Where the swallows are, there you feel at
home. That feeling of isolation dissolves
us they appear, and when they depart, it
seems as if the old clock had run down.
Need farmer Brown be lonesome, though
his house be us old and gray apparently as
the great boulder by his door, with the
swallows nesting under his caves, on the
beams and raftcrs of his barn, and swarming
all about him, filling the air with their
conversational twttcr, expressive of their
content and happiness! Then there are
the dusky, swifts dashing in and out the old
square chimney and gyrating in the air
above in endless curves and circles, dealing
out their pleasant, lively notes, as from a
| tisherman's reel.
| That old superstition, current at the be-
ginning of the century, that swallows
descended to the bottom of ponds and boys,
and there passed the winter in torpid
state, in the Shiny company of frogs and
turtles or else crawed into some cave and
sucked their claws with the bats, until the
herald of spring routed them forth, is inter-
esting to recur to in these days of cnlghten-
mcnt, and reminds us of the celebrated fish
experiment of the Royal Society But
science of to-day can i'll afford to look down
on the past The Swans of the future will
doubtless split their sides over many 10Th
century hobby.
Five species of the swallow family,
| (iiirundinidae), visit Vermont and possibly
some good observer will one day dis cover II
sixth, the Rough-winged swallow, (Stelgid.
opterir serripennis), as has been already done
in Connecticut.
The Martin. tIIirundO bicOIer, yicilI.l,
called in the books the White-bellied
Swallow, is among the early arrivals in
spring. You might expect such master
fiers would outstrip every traveller and
appear in our midst on the very heel of
winter. They could doubtless do this, and
taking flying trip round the world, still