Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-09-16
CHARMING BIRDS.
Habits and Nests of the Maryland Yellow
Throat and the Chickadee.


Throat and the Chickadee.
After all, it is the ground birds that
puzzle the human oologist. Crossing a
brook, saw what regarded as almost
infallible signs that a pair of Maryland
yellow-throats had begun to build beside
it. Unless I was entirely at fault, the
nest must be within certain two or
three square yards, and I devoted half
an hour, more or less, to ransacking the
grass and bushes. till l thought every
inch of the ground had been gone over;
but all to no purpose. Continuing my
walk, noticed after awhile that the
male warbler was accompanying me up
the hillside, apparently determined to
see me safely out of the way Coming
to the same brook again the next morn
ing, l halted for another search; and 10!
all in moment my eye fell upon the
coveted nest, not ON the ground, but
perhaps eight inches from it, in little
clump of young golden-rods, which
would soon overgrow it completely.
The female proprietor was present, and
manifested so much concern that I
would not tarry, but made rather as if
| had seen nothing, and passed on. 1t
was some time before I observed that
she was keeping along beside me, pre-
cisely as her mate had done the day be-
fore. The innocent creatures, sorely
pestered as they were, could hardly be
blamed for such precautions; yet it is
not pleasant to be .'shadowed'' as sus-
picious character, even by Maryland
yellow-throats.
This was my first nest of a very COM
mon warbler, and I felt particularly
solicitous for its safety: but alas. no
sooner was the first egg laid than some
thing or somebody carried it off, and the
afflicted couple deserted the house on
which they had expended so much labor
and anxiety.
Not far beyond the yellow Threats
brook, and almost directly under one of
the pewees' oaks, was nest which pref
ty certainly belonged to pair of che.
winks, but when was already forsaken
when I found it, though l had then no
mixing of the fact. 1t contained four
eggs, and every tn ng was in perfect or
der. The mother had gone away, and
never come back; having fallen vic
tim, probably to some collector, human
or inhuman. The tragedy was pecu-
liar; and the tragical effect of it was
heightened as day after day, for nearly
a fortnight at least q can not say for
how much longer), the beautiful eggs
lay there entirely uncovered, and yet no
skunk, squirrel or other devourer of
such dainties happened to spy them.
1t seemed doubly sad that so many
precious nests should be robbed, while
this set of worthless eggs was left to
spoil.
| have already mentioned the house
keeping of a couple of chickadees in a
low birch stump. Theirs was one of
three titmouse nests just then claiming
my attention. l visited it frequently,
from the time when the pair were hard
at work making the cavity up to the
time when the brood were nearly ready
to shift for themselves. Both birds took
their share of the digging, and on sew
eral occasions l saw one feeding the
other. After the eggs were deposited,
the mother Cor the sitter) displayed adj
mirabe courage, refusing again and
again to quit her post when [ peered in
upon her, and even when with my cane
raped smartly upon the stump. If I
put my fingers into the hole, however,
she followed them out in hot haste.
Even when most seriously disturbed by
my attentions the pair made use of no
other notes than the common cItackndee,
dee, but these they sometimes delivered
in an unnaturally sharp, fault-tinding
tone.
Ny two other titmouse nests were
both in apple-trees, and one of them
was in my own door-yard, though be-
vond convenient reach without the help
of ladder The owners of this last
were interesting for a very decided
change in their behavior after the young
were Matched, and especially as the time
for the little ones exodus drew near.
At first, Notwithstanding their door
opened right upon the street, as it were.
within a rod or two of passing horse
cars, the father and mother went in and
out without the least apparent concern as
to who might be watching them; but
when they came to be feeding their hum
CRY offspring, it was almost laughable to
witness the little craftiness to which
they resorted. They would perch on one
of the outer branches. call CHI ckadee. dee,
fly little near, then likely enough 90
further off, till finally, after a variety of
such 'sfalse motions, into the hole they
would duck, as if nobody for the world
must be allowed to know where they
had gone. 1t was really wonderful how
expert they grew at entering quickly. l
pondered a good deal over their con-
tinual calling on such occasions. 1t
seemed foolish and inconsistent; half
the time | should have failed to notice
their approach, had they only kept still.
Toward the end, however. when the
chicks inside the trunk could be heard
articulat ng chichddee. dee, with perfect
distinctness, it occurred to me that pos
sibly all this persistent REPETITION of the
phrase by the old birds had been only
or mainly in the way of tuition. At all
events. the Youngsters had this part of
the chickadese vocabulary right at their
tongues end, as we say, before making
their debut in the great world.-Brod-
ford Torrey, IN atlantic.