Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-05-31
AMONG WILD BIRDS.
DAYS ACQUAINTANCE WITH WEST
VA. FEATHERED MOuNTAINEERs
A RambIc I'm Rnvine-A New Must
cal TriIi-An Odd Prank-The Wing
Feat of YelIow-Breasted
Rogue.
Feat
Rogue.


| morning at the breakfast-table while ar
ranging for NY first jaunt among the
mountains OF West Virginia. A rambler
need not be looked upon as selfish be-
cause he seeks out-of-the-way places
where he may be free from human intrn-
| sion. There Is no pleasure In the feeiinS
that while you are ogling the birds curl
Gus people may be og.ing you. and per-
haps wondering what species Of mania
has taken you in its grip. In reply TO my
question the good landlady pointed 10
hollow that rived the green mountain on
| the other side OF the river. 1t looked soil
tary enough for the most devoted bird
student, and so at seven o'clock was
ferried to the other side, and began my
pilgrimage up the hollow towards the Top
| OF the emlnence. On either side the EN-
erald mountains sprang up towards tha
sky. and from activity to activity the
bird concert swung like the antiphonai
| choral OF vast outdoor cathedral. Low
ers of avain folk will wonder what birds
had part in the concert. The best songs
ters were the. wOO1thrushes. whlchsWers
quite abundant among the Virginia noun
tains Their sweet, chaste songs chimed
with the solemn grandeur Of the mountain
sOltudes, which. under the SPELL seeHleu
TO be haunted by some lorn spirit,
But ones mind could not long dwell on
pensive thoughts while the ndigo-blrds'
godhnches, redstarts, and catbTds were
making a musical din OF the liVehest sort
The dainty redstarts-exqulsites IN DIaCh
and gold-were very plentiful here, trlllng
alike in the darkling ravines and on tns
activities far up towards the summit
The modestly ROBBED females were as musl-
cal as their gorgeous spouses,
| had not gone far up the winding hol-
low before / heard a musicless trill that
was new to me. 1t came from the dense
woods n short distance up the mountain.
Had II been heard down in the village or
near a farmhouse I should have pro-
nounced IL chipping sparrow WITHOUT
taking the trouble to see the little
trilor itself: but surely no chippie would
dwell in sequestered place like this
1t required hard climbing and patient
peering before the elusive singer would
let himself he seen, for his voice seemed
to come from various points OF the com
pass. hut at last / spied him iuttcrng
among the leaves above me; then he
settled on a dead twig, threw back his
head. pried open his mandibles, and ut
tered his monotonOus trill. My gla-'
soon revealed a little stranger, one that
| had seen only once before and whose
song l had never heard
4 NOMINATING WARBLER.
1t was the worm-eating warbler. lie was
readily recognized 10y the four black bands.
alternating with white or bun, that orna-
menteI his crown and nape. There he
sat. now trillng and looking down into
the dark shadows for the human bugaboO
he had Just seen creeping In among the
bushes. II was amusing to see nm
stretch down his head. turn one eye
downward, and then the other, peerlng
for me. While trlling he sat quietly on
his perch or at least shifted his position
very little unlike the redstart, which
fits about and dives as he sings his can
ticles The song Of the worm-eating
warbler has no musical quality whatever,
being only straight, expressionless
triIl, lower on the scale than the chipping
sparrow's and lacking its ringing quality.
Yet he sat there and repeated his trill
steadily for over an hour. as II he were
| the first musical celebrity Of the noun
| tainside.
Coming out Of the shadows. 1 was
| witness Of an odd bird prank. a redstart
dashed from the woods down into a
bird about for a few moments in most
| reckless way. IT'S a female redstart,'
| | mused but soon discovered my error
| for the fugitive proved to be red-eyed
| viroe. holding a grass fibre IN her Dill.
| 4 glance at the bush showed her half
| finished pendent nest. As soon as she saw
| that / was watching her she had dropped
| the fibre, and pretended that she had
never thought of building a nest. Some
Col. Inc fVaAf flor
| ence even while their bosoms are palpi-
| tating with anxious fear. But why should
| the redstart dash after the vreo as she
| went to place the timber in her cottage?
| 4 little farther up the ravine three
| vireOs pursued one another pell-mel
| among the bushes, chnching, scufiilng
| nuttering. and sputtering. looking like
a tumble Of gray and olive as they
| rolled to the ground. Then one of them
| separated himself from the rest
| and flew across the brook directly
| towards me. and / verify believe b.
| would have struck me in the face II !
| had not lodged. Perhaps he was blinded
| by his recent scuiIle. or did he mean tc
| fly to me for protection from those brawl-
| ing ruffians who had been abusing him.
| The red-eyed vireos were very abundant
| on the mountains. singing their desultoE
| strains from the base 10 the summit.
| a discovery which was not ayain was
| made here. / had been following a clear
| beautiful mountain brook which went
| dancing and singing over the rocks. Mean
| ing to quench my thirst-a rambler
| learns to drink at odd places-I dipped
| my hand into the stream and slipped a
| mouthful OF water from my ralm. The
| LIQUID had a strong taste OF alum II fair
| ~ held my mouth in its grip. so astrin-
| gent was H. Farther ny two brooks met
| one coming down from the right and one
| from the left and forming the main
| stream. The one from the right was
| alum. the other was fresh. furnishing a
| grateful draught for my parched throat
| In the afternoon. while descending tbs
| mountain side | found strong spring Of
| clear water gushing from the mouth oil
| an old abandoned cOal-mine Being very
| thirsty | dipped up a little with my cup.
| and found IL almost ablaze. so TO speak
! with alum 4 quarter Of a mile around
| the activity / found another spring as
| astringent with alum as the first, and 50
| | was forced to wait until / reached the
| fresh-water brook of the morning before
| / could quench my burning thirst.
| learned in the village in the evening thai
| all these springs had been fresh in ar
| early day but since they flow through
the abandoned coal-mlne they become
| strongly impregnated with alum.
a HARD CLIMB.
To return 10 the birds-a very hart
| climb up the precipitous side of tn
| mountain brought me TO an old cOrdurO.
| road used over a quarter OF centur,
| ago. / followed its winding course, stop
| ping ever and anon to listen to the song
| OF the WoOdthrushes and scarlet tdnager
| in the woods far down in the ravine. BE
| low there had been no yellow-breaste'
| chats. but UP here among the briers an
| brambles they began 10 boot at me d
| their wonted way. How they did scot
| and sputter! What names they calle'
| me, such as swash-buckler and thief an
| brigandl Some Of their calls are the yer
| quintessence OF contempt. They were {
be found almost at the top OF the noun
| tain. In ore OF the blackberry copses
newly-built nest was found. No eggs hat
| yet been deposited.
| What a wing-feat one or these yellow
| breasted rogues performed! He flew on
| from a trce-tOp, balanced over the dee
gorge, rapidly fiutter!ng his wings. whio
| he seemed 10 hold straight up over hi
| back, while his body swung loosely as
| suspended i'm mid-air and then he begal
| 10 call Murder! murder! at the top o
| his voice, as he swept in terraced filgh
| down into the trees. My head grew dlzZ
| as | watched the performance. Mingfin
| with the chat racket could be heard tn
rolling trill Of the Maryland yellow-throat
| a bird which | found only far up tn
| mountains side. on the other hand, tn
| Kentucky warbler. which closely resem
bies the yellow-throat both in marking