The Portland daily press., 1895-03-08

investigate my bedroom, one of the sashs
being open, and the bird, in the hurried
egress Incidental to some sudden move
ment on my part in the room below, hav-
ing flown against the glass. | went up
and found the little fellow perched in
pear tree a few feet frcm the house,
where he sat for several minutes motion
less, save for a n occasional slow twisting
OF his head, Illuminating, apparently, on
the translucent but impenetrable thing
which had spread itself between him and
the Dough he had lately left. and hurt
him when he dashed himself against it.
EWo other of our resident birds for
whom the rigor of the winter has little
terror are the greater and lesser spotted
wocdpecSers, known respectively as the
hairy and the downy villosus and L.
pubescens), which are seen upon the
NAPLES along the street and on the fruit
trees of the garden Immediately after
storm, their rapid, reiterateted tapping
sounding cheerfully upon the air. a crab
apple tree on the lawn on the south side
of the house is regularly visited by both
these birds, especially by r. pubescens,
the bark Of the trunk and Of all it's
larger branches being SO thoroughly per-
forated by their Investigations that it
looks as if riddled by shot. For years
the vitality of this tree has been sapped
by process of slow decay which rem
ders the inner bark peculiarly liable to
the attacks OF insects, hence the pegsls-
t fence of the birds. 1t may, perhaps,
be due to a subjective susceptibility on
my part to its presence appropriate to
the season; but for several years [ have
been increasingly conscious of the &C
tivity of the woodpeckers about my
premises on the morning OF Christmas
day. The country people have saying
hQf ;rIf tn he will Ir,f a rim
ter betoken an impending thaw.
Early in the season and during moder-
ate weather when there is little snow,
cartridges may be found about grassy
berry patches and in semi-open spaces
covered by cunning pine, this latter re-
gion being the habitat of the partridge
berry (Mitohe ella repens), upon which
they like to feed. Up to the time of
heavy snow | flush them regularly in
the latter situation, and come upon
mounds of ordure where they have been
squirting that bear witness of the enoT-
nifty of their gastronomic powers. All
birds, and especially all game birds, eat
prodlglously in proportion to their size
a snipe in captivity having been known
to dispose of worms to the extent OF
nearly twice its weight in period of II
hours-and the grouse or partridge is no
exception to this rule. Later in the
season, when the weather is more severe,
sedge seeds and the tips of vegetation
especially the buds of the birch-are
laid under contribution, and the birds
shield themselves from the cold by bur-
rowing beneath the snow, choosing fire.
quently some spot where stunted growth
or q heap of brush holds it lightly in
position. Grouse under ordinary condi-
tioDs feed regularly but once a day,
their meal being made in the afternoon
little before SHUTDOWN; and advantage
%,,1r oEt Il ,,o+ -L1
them upon, or while going to and from,
their feeding GROUNDS. Within a week
the writer has driven almost directly
underneath bevY of grouse perched on
a beech overhanging much travelled
road not a mile from populous village,
one bird-a magnificent male being
within 40 feet OF his head. The birds
were evidently about to begin their feed
upon the buds of some neig boring
birches, and appeared as little concerned
at my proximity as parcel of domestic
fowl.
Among such of our native sparrows as
winter it'll US, the tree or noun tain
sparrow Is. monicola may be found about
upon uplands in almost any weather, feed
ing actively in sheltered hollows and on
the sunny side of walls, and the song
sparrow wherever warm spring issuing
from some rocky assure spreads itself
out and trickles through short thick
grass Both birds keep near the ground
and are unobtrusive in their movements
at this time of the year, being found gen
orally in twos or threes, ard escaping all
but the alertest eyes. The junco haunts
the suAny edges of woods, and open pas
ture reaches dotted with thorn and fern,
when che Gays are mild, hut comes about
barns--and even the window sill ana the
threshold-with quiet confidence, during
periods of continued storm. / have seen
i'm elm bling up the sheltered foot of
maple Srunk like a woodpecker, and
foraging among the moss, on one of our
village streets. during a January biz
Yard, with the utmost unconcern, appar-
entity obiivious Of any inncongruity be-
tween his attitude and that for which
he was designed. To such shifts are
birds sometimes put by the lack Of food,
however that their normal characters are
temporarily suspended. On cold day
IN DeceHa Der [ watched a sparrow hawk
-one of the shiest and rarest of our local
falconide'-chase an English sparrow
three times round a neigh hor's house,
pursued and pursuer only about yard
apart, and both DIGGING in and out be-
tween the branches of some spruces that
overhunG the caves, and the upper tier of
windows as careless of my presence as it
was possible to be. Finding It's tactics
unavailiHg, the sparrow presently led
the way to some sheds by contiguous
church, disappearing among the rafters
in an obsburity Into which the hawks
did not infrude. I have known the same
rapacious little falcon-whose haunt is
normally che remoter woods and pastures
to maAig a dash at Gagged canary in a
village window on a hot day in July
when everything but himself seemed re-
duced by Che heat to condition of mac
tiyity.