The morning times., 1896-09-20
SONG BIRDS OF THE PARKS
Some Noted WarblerS That
Are Growing Scarce.
GRADUALLY DRIVEN OUT
Man, Cats and the English
Sparrow Are Their
Enemies.

the song birds. \ 5 OcioDer draws near with
prepare 10 seek u warmer olihIaie By the
end Of September they Will all De winging
their way to the SoIth.
The varieties Of birds which In summer
frequent the parks OF Washington are
many. ANY bright SUMNER nIprning In pass
ing through d park one hears the Ilusic Of
their songs, and perhaps may wonder
vaguely what sorts o. birds they are. II
we could hear Mr.. RchmoaG, assistant
prni thoiog.st at the Smithsonian, talk about
these little songsters lie would soon find
the SUD sc, one y. the most Fascinating Iu-
terest
IL Is easy to see that Mr.. Riclmond's iH-
ter.st In birds is lot altogether confined
~ the sCicntIfIc, for his conversation show
ed the Kindly and almost affectionate in
tercst he takes III measures for their care
and preservation
one might spend hours pouring over a
scientific treatise on OrniJholOgy without
learning half as much as is gathered
from Il short talk OF a man whose science
: niellUwed by the real human interest he
takes IN the feathered sOngsters.
Although our song birds are far more
numerous thanin many other cities because
Of the number and size OF the parks, yet
they might be very much more abundantir
the cats and the small boy with his" bean
shooter could be suppressed The cats
are probably the more destructive, aud,
according to Mr.. Ridgway, the chief orni,h
oIoglst. they ought to be all. ll.chlort.ormedl
No doubt that suggestion would arouse the
ire OF the avera ge mistress OF pet puss,''
and she would ind gnantIy deny that her
cat was ever guilty of such a thing as
killing birds No respectable cat Of COR
rect habits should doit. bur. unfortunately
for the birds, they all 10. There is also
great destruction done by the wantOn shoot
Ing of birds by people in the suburbs
CATBIRD Is PREMIER.
The premier songster Of our parks is
the Cathlrd Indeed. be ranks Orly second
OF American song birds. the mocking bird
being nrst. II Is worth getting up early
on Il spring morning to hear him. Soon
after the dawn, when the first rays OF
the coming sun begin To reddeu the sky,
he commences his Caroing and continues 1t
uutll the sun is well up. But, like some
members OF the human family, his sweetest
song i uttered away from home When
his nest Is nlenaced by a too near ap-
proach OF sunie real or fdu,ied danger
he can utter the harShe>t and most dis
corIaut notes, sounding sometimes like
the snarI II cat, from which characteris-
tic his name Is derived
H.. "a. ttsA41lv- ltt1f FlTss uSlss
thorn bushes frequently, for he knows by
>traBcy lu>tinCtst Will he lees easily got
ten at. II usually comes tack to the same
spot each year Back OF the Smithsonian u
pair Of them built their nest some years
ago and each recurring spring brings the
same pair tack To- their old haunt.
The yellow bird, or summer warbler is
another ycungster, and although not equal
ing the catiird in its volume Of song, yet
It's note j. very sweet one. Like The cat
bird. he. or some Of his pre- geny, will
ueJrIy always return To the same place
year after year. He comes to u about the
18th Of April and leaves quite early in
September II would probably he hard to
find q single one Of them in the parks to-
DAY He is frequently confounded with the
guldnnch. though they are really quite
different.
The SuldfiECh is brighter yellow, with
black crest. wings and tail He likes To
fit around among the th.StiCs and among
Towering trees In fact, he does More
fitting around than work He puts off
building his nest until July. and frequently
the youuE sirds are not hatChed until
September, barely giving them time to
escape the cUld weather But If he is late
il LuilGiug his nest il is Il very pretty
one when completed II is lined with soft
thistle down and is most luxurious.
\ Iird with which We are not so well
acquainted. but which i one Of the regu-
lar snnsstcrs, is the vireO or EreeDlet
There axe four species ii this name: The
red eye, white eye warllinG and yellow
grecnict But the red eye is the best
songster of them all. He should really
have been named The warbler, because his
song is sweeter and his plumaGe brighter
than any Of the others. \ pcculiarity Of
his song is its snail range and the per
sistcncy with which he keeps it up. Never
thelcsS its slcwuesS and sweetness make
ttuo delicious To- ever become rnorotonous.
KEEP SENTRGEs OUT.
The crow biackb.rd is very interest
ing fellow. Some people may hc skeptical
about his singing powers, and with good
reason. vet lie really does sing occasion
ally. When the spirit OF song moves himh he
goes off by himself. usually III the top Of
a tall tree IL IS i most eNtrao rlinary per
formance with him. He initiates himself,
spreads his wings and tail. aud then gives
vent to his astonishing song. Fortunately
the spirit does not move him often.
lie builds his nest in pine or cedar tres.
the same colony usually return ug to th,.
spot occupied by them tie prev vious year.
They always put in their appearance as
early as February ID.
In the National Museum grounds their
nests are usual Y preycd upon by fish Gro ws.
which VIII eat tueir eggs or carry off the
Young. Experience has taught these black
birds the danger from this source, so they
have devised n systematic schrNc or de
fense. one bird stays aud keeps guard
all The time: and when the crow thinking
the nest unguarded. makes a descent upon
il, the sentry Will set up a noise which
speedily brings assistance from other black
birds and the marauder is driven off.
The chimney swift is bird which 4
great many people enormously speak OF
as the chimney "swaIlow." They arc d.
tinctly different 10 every way. swallow
has no music in him, for one thing, and,
then. a swallow can alght anywhere ami
then fly away readily, while a swift would
I've helpless if placed upon the ground, for
the reason that its wings are so long AMI
It's legs So short that 1t is unable to get
enough of II spring into the air TO get
started This is why it builds its nests on
the inside cf ch:mncys anti hollow trees
It may lie possible for our swirts to fly
from Tie crni,nd hui tic SnIlth America 4