New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-29
BIRD SOCIETY.
LATEST INTELLIGENCE FROM FEATHERED
CIRCLES.


; Lake City. Mimi. Oct. PA writer In a recent
, Harper laments the vanished birds. They have
| not vanished in parts of the country, what
| ever they may have done about Otsego Lake. There
| are more birds in Minnesota than there were
twenty years ago; at least. there are more varie-
ties and greater numbers Of the common birds
which make this latitude their breeding place.
| though when the birds which used to pass over
here for their breeding grounds farther north are
taken into consideration no doubt the number has
diminished here well as in Central New-York.
| This writer speaks of the passing away of the
wild pigeon In that neighborhood. The wild pigeon
has disappeared here also. Twenty thirty years
ago these pigeons passed this region each fall
and spring in great hocks. They aghted upon
newly sowed wheat fields and gathered up the seed,
| to the dlsmay of the farmer. Sometimes they set
tied on trees in such numbers to break down
| the limbs They nested somewhere In the North,
never here; but for a few days in the autumn and
| spring they swept about in clouds. Now s
never seen. SO it was and almost is with wild
geese and ducks; mighty focks of these journeyed
north each spring and returned each fall The
geese, great whteand-gray fellows, almost as
| large as swans though they lighted only In out
of-the-way places, never failed to attract much
attention to themselves with their peculiar creak-
| ing cry and the odd formation Of their focks. tr-
angular. with the leader at the apex. utterlng his
cry, which responded to by others In turn;
or in long row, moving at angle Of forty-fve
degrees TO the line of progression: but In either
case with the regularity OF the marching OF veter-
| ans. The ducks passed in greater hocks always
hurrying. and were somewhat less wild than the
| geese. An instance is remembered Of wild duck.
separated from its flock, which stopped on a neigh
boring pond and made friends with tame
ducks which it found there. retiring each night
with them to their coop. but not without an amount
OF understanding and eyerolllng at the evidences
Of civilization all about. But after a stay Of a week
or two it Joined passing flock of its kind. reapsed
into anserine barbarsm and never came back.
But Of the common birds. birds which like, or
at least do not object to, the society Of man. there
is great increase here. There are many birds
which might almost be called household birds and
which probably. long since ceased to exist except
In civilization. 1t scarcely seems possible that the
robin. for instance could be happy in the forest
primeva He demands society. Give him the we'll
kept lawn. the cultivated garden a row of naples
and plenty Of angle worms-say about ten yards of
worm a day for each Bird or. If he be young
robin. he may require fifteen yards. The robin has
not reached that point I'm love for urban life at
tanned by the English sparrow. that bird of the city,
but he loves houses and grounds and passing
people: suburban life satisfies the robin. But even
the robins reported disappearing from
Otsego. Here this season they have been extremely
numerous; the Prince reported score of nests.
The summer has been extremely dry; the
pond disappeared to the establishment of the
Oldest inhabit1nt. When 1t was gone a large tub
filled with water placed under a spreading
lilac and half screened by a large oak. Here the
birds have quenched their thirst with upturned
heads and revealed in baths innumerabe. 1t has
seldom happened that from to dozen have not
been around it. Scarcely a bird has disdalned the
Tub. except. perhaps. the mourning doves and the
owls: and the doves from being seen so often in
the road may prefer the dust bath. like the in
genOus domestic hen: and az for the owl. il may
not be doing him any injustice when it is sur
missed that possibly the cult of the bath has not
yet penetrated owlish circles. Only to the barn
swallows did the drying up of the pond prove
disastrous. II was in vain that the Prince. to the
great disadvantage Of his clothes. constructed an
artificial mud puddle in the middle of the dry bed
Of the pond: the swallows would none of Il. The
only pair which had got their nest started pre-
ferrcd TO 20 a mile after their mud: and then after
the nest completed they deserted H. and sought
their fellows In pleasanter and mudder localities.
So the barn caves. instead OF their usual busy
colony have been tenantless.
Indeed. the recklessness with which bird will
sacrifice labor to what like caprice il al
ways something to excite wonder. Early in the
summer a pair OF golden winged woodpeckers
seemed to decide that icehouse
ccllent place for their nest Il is not probable
that their intention TO put their eggs on ice,
with view to Matching them but 10 construct their
nest between the sawdust-nlled walls. They
corlingly pecked a hole through the front. and to
snow tner disregard OF MOrk selected a spot close
beside "A large knot. whore the wood must have
been considerably harder than elsewhere 1t
IN nch-board of solid pine. but they began
afternoon about O'Clock. and by the next dav at
the same hour they hal "A hole sufficiently large
to enter Then for two days they spent their time
tossing out the sawdust from between the walls
a blllful at time. till they must have thrown out
A half bushel. Then they calmly deserted it, only
coming back two three times to look at their
unr ri, sound their shorD Gathering
and ny away The Prince subsequently discovered
a nest perhaps of the same pair high up in
hollow branch of a wild poplar. with pure
white eggs in a soft bed of finely pcked-up rotten
wood.
other woodpcckers we have. but they are not
plentiful is the golden winged. The red-headed
rather affect the neighborng villages than
the country proper and may prefer the telegraph
pole to the tree. Perhaps the red-headed is al
ways Of a city bird than his cousins. 1t
a red-headed wcodpecker which. three or four years
ago one night futtered into the editorial rooms
of The Tribune. and after resting went his
way The woodpeckers handsome, independent
creatures. and stay with us longer than many less
hardy birds. a month ago a little black-and-white
downy woodpecker followed out deep chamber
for himself in rotten post of the pasture fence
and has passed every night there since. His bache
or retreat seems somewhat lonely but he has a
fine eye for his personal comfort. and while
Other birds may brave the night airs perched on
twig. he is snug and warm in his lodgings
But il is scarcely possible that our little downy
friend will pass the winter with despite his
Portable quarters. The only noticeable bird which
does this is the lordy blue jay. growing more
garr,ous the weather becomes colder. and
making free with corncrbs and mountain-ash ber-
ries The fine Of the blue jay for the other
tirls-fair weather friends-when they back
from their sybaritc existence in the South is some
thing beautiful to But the strilulous scoldng
hch they receive does not seem to have any effect
on them. every winter they leave the to
the possession OF the jays and "A few modest little
birds which pass Unfortunately among the un-
archaeological as snow-birls. Then. too there are
the game birds the prairie chicken and quai.s. and
among the bluffs along the river. partridges. The
hawks scarcely linger for the winter, though they
are here early in the spring; and this present sum-
mer they passed to the North for reason
and the familiar speck against the sky. furnished
tb.ir has hpan rha