The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-31

no mock modesty in his makeup He never
pleads a cold. nor dorgets his music in the
| long for his song. Knowing his powers and
that he was born to sing as well as work,
he puts our timid poets who. shrinking from
a coarse ignorance which they mistake for
public opinion, hesitate and seek excuses
for making themselves heard. to very
| shame by the boldness with which he pours
out his soul IN such liquid melodies as none
! equal.
With all his gifts the robin is a plain prac-
hcal fellow who never puts on airs nor
plays the supercilious dandy like Sir knight
Blue Jay, who seems to delight in shrielxIng
at you: Look, look at me, at me! Amt
| fine? Fine? Look at mei' Does he know
that scientific people speak of him as Cyan
acitta cristata? A Understanding title that
probably has no allusIon either to cities or
| crystals, but, in no event, can be more out
of place than the, slang colloquiaiism that
styles an awkward, ill-bred person Jay
Some recent writer has done the blue iay a
| decided injustice by averring that he never
gives US a musical note in this northern
latitude, while he sings delightfully."- in Flor
ida and the West Indies. AS a matter of
! fact, this pert ariStocrat" has in his roper
toire a few very mellow notes, which prove
that he is not wholly given over to treason
stratagem and spoils. | have often heard
ham, even on clear, cold winter mornings
| cheerfully piping forth his liquid ''to-roddle-
tol-lol from the bough of a naked tree or
| the sharp comb of a rcighboring roof and,
egotst as he is. he is 2 plucky fellow, who,
like some military martinets, can fight as
well as display his fine clothes; and in
stances are not wanting in which he has
| taken terrible vengeance on families Of
| those peStilent buSybodieS, the English
sparrows, for some real or fancied intrusion
into his private affairs. On such occasions
ne becomes relentlessiy furious. tears. down
| their nests, destroys their young and pur-
sues them with murderous intent until his
thirst for revenge is satiated and his anger
| cools off. In view of the sparroW's similar
disposition and especially his cruel treat
| ment of martins, chippies, song sparrows
blue birds and phoebes or pewees, all Of
h fnhI hne< 1~sx.
greatly to our disgust we, perhaps, a little
more than forgive Cyancitta cristata for
the i'll will he bears them.
Other early dodgers who are always most
| welcome are the little brown wren and his
tiny wife; They not only make love to and
that make the heart glad. but thev time
their tolls to their measures as we'll, and
cheer their everyday housekeeping by
them Out of the rose bush or the apple
! tree, or down from among the elm boughs
come such murmurs and ripples of song, so
loud, clear and penetrating that it seems
| impossible that they should flow from so
tiny throat as that of the little wren.
Peer into the leafy greenery with strained
| eyes and twisted neck as much as you may
| you cannot locate the melodious midget,
| until, apparently divining the purpose of
your quest, he flies from his hiding place
more in the open, he repeats his perform
| ance and then with a quick curtsey that
seems to say: 1T was me, thank your
| hurries off to some new task. One is sell
dom permitted to witness the outcome of
| the wren lovemaking and nesting or to
know what tragedies make the later days
| of their summers full of heartbreak and
sorrow.
Another family of much-cherished summer
sar6ed as aay q oua sRe be- comes
and soon begins TO sing out of the gladness
of his happy heart. When the nest is COM
eggs he pipes up merriiy, with repetitions
| of snatcheS of song from each and all of
| the feathered bards of his acquaintance.
|
| he ceases to sing, and gives utterance only
to soft chidings, brief notes of command or
| encouragement to his young, or querulous
cat calls. If he has been the inimitable
harlequin of muses. before. he IS now the
meekest of unassuming good fellows.
DR.. w. H. Venable has SO well pictured
him in his rare ''Capricio," that is scarcely
second to Shelly's "Skyiark'' or Maurice
Thompson's Mocking Bird" that cannot
refrain from introducing its first melodious
| gusheS as worthy of the bird in whose
| praise 1t is sung:
| Nightingale l never heard,
! Nor the skylark, poets bird,
| But there is another winger
| So surprising any singer
| CThOugh unknown to lyric fame)
| That at morning or at incoming,
When | hear his pipe a-tuning,
Down 1 fling Keats, Shelly, Wordsworth,
When my catbird-that's his name
| Begins a concert free
To entertain himself and me?
| Time cantante!
| Scherzo! Andante!
| Piano, pianissmo!
| Presto, prestissimo!
Hank! Are there nine birds or ninety-nine?
And>now miraculous gYrgling gushes
The laughter of tune from rapturous
| throttle!
| Such melody must be a hermit thrush.
| But that other caroler, nearer,
| Outrivaling rivalry with clearer
| Sweetness, incredibly fine
| Is it oriole redbird, or bluebird,
| Or some strange, un-Audubonned new bird?
| All one, sir, both this bird and that bird;
| The whole flight is all the same catbird.'
In truth our early summer has been often
| attuned to sweetness incredibly fine by
| our friend of the lead colored dress coat,
| and 1t has panied our hearts to witness the
| ones life has been threatened by the cat or
| house dog
In the early summer the Baltimore oriole
| or golden robin, is another of our friendly
| dodgers, whose genial but independent ways
make him as many admirers as his beautiful
| plumage. Sometimes he swings his ham
mock to a lofty Dough of our sheilbark, and
| in other seasons to a pendulous branch of
our neighbours stately elm. The orioe de-
| lights in gay colored twines and threads for
| his nest and if you put out a handful of
| such material for his use he will be sure to
make off with the reds, yellows, blues and
greens before giving attention to the plain
| browns, grayS and whites. He who once
grows familiar with the orioles note can
| never forget it. 1t is clear and resonant;
not long, nor subject to many modulations,
but, like the catbird's song, incredibly
sweet and fine" while even his trilllng
ners most perfectly
During the present summer that most
beautiful of birds, the scarlet tanager, has,
on sundry occasions, been represented by a
| loving pair that have fiittel about among
our shrubs and trees. So relentless has
been the warfare upon these delicate crea-
| lures to satisfy the demands of fashion that
| l had not seen a pair Of them for many
years until these visitors came to make us
glad by their presence. If the tanager ever
| sings l have never heard it's note, though
| one authority say that it has three notes
| "chp-cher-ree, which may be heard as
late as August The tanager'S mission to
| his human, but often inhuman, neighbors
seems like that of the flowers, to gladden.
| and purify their hearts with his delicate yet
| surprising beauty. Alasi that such rare
| gift should work him such unmerited i'll.
Others of our feather folks who visit us
| are the woodpeckers, especially our old ia
| vorite the redhead. There are few more
| pleasant and useful fellows among the
4 winged mnltitudes than he, but like the
4 ground squirrel, he seems to offer such a
thirsting for distinction that the latter
upon him, although he knows, or should
know, that mamma the woodpecker, .
| is one of his very best friends. In this re-
| spect many men continue to be boys all
| their lives. The woodpecker does not sing,
but his call is full of good cheer and en-
| enlargement, and the rattle and tur-r-r-r
| of his bill upon a loose single or hollow
limb or his plucky hammerng on the bole
| of dead tree would be pleasing If he didn'
| persist in getting to work so early in the
| morning. A near relation of his that does