The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-01-28

horned lark called from the sky, when
the earliest meadow lark uttered his
What do you think Of It, what do you
think Of it" from the top Of a mulledn
stalk, and the robin, blue bird and song
sparrow sang their first songs The
awakening Of nature is ushered In by the
songs Of birds. It Is a prelude soon fol-
lowed by a grand chorus of all our sum-
mer migrants and residents. Surely no
one can fail to enjoy the music of these
little children Of the air. No sooner do
they come than they begin their work
eggs and larvae, and the seeds Of noxious
weeds Ornamental they are as we'll as
useful. As you walk through tho groves
you WILL hear tapping or drumming
against some large tree. Following the
sound you soon get glimpse of the
beautiful red-headed woodpecker, one Of
the attractions Of the forest. If he Is
not drilling a hole for his nest he is
sounding the wood for decayed spots
where the insects hide and are doing
great injury to the tree. With his
horned-tipped tongue and powerful beak
ne soon finds them, getting a good din
ner we'll earned. When two Of these
two feet in depth, one carries off the
chips, SO that the whereabouts of the
nest may not be discovered. I know of
one grand old oak which has been in
habited for the last six years, presumably
by the same pair. At the bottom of the
hole q few chips are left, and upon these
the eggs are laid. It. is said that when
the woodpecker strikes a blow its eyes
close at the same instant, to protect them
from the flying chips. Several of the
longest feathers in the tail are stiff and
sharp at the end, whic hena,bles them t.
rest against a tree or other object with
out slipping down. A few days since
saw a fine specimen Of the pileated woon.
pecker, brought. down from the northern
part of the state. He is a glorious fel.
low in the woods, and out of them, too,
for that matter, his color being scarlet,
black and white, length. nearly eighteen
inches. Certainly one of the most strik-
ing birds in our state in more senses
than one, for of all the family he excels
in drumming. He Is more sociable than
the common red-headed. Like all birds
who see very little Of human beings, they
are exceedingly tame and confiding, not
yet having learned how great an enemy
is man. Our birds are fond of the So
ciety of human beings, and although
never as tame as those we find in the
wilds of the far north, yet come near
the habit tons of man for protection
from hawks and other feathered foes.
They change their, habits with their sur
roundings, and are much tanner at nest
ing time. than before or after 4 ...A
I noticed a very singular tragedy two
seasons since while sitting upon the bank
OF a lake. A rl1by-thcoated humming bird
was flying about me taking honey from
the impatiens pallida or jewel weed grow
ing on the shore. At times he would fly
over the surface of the lake and in one
Of these Journeys. he strllck the water
and was quickly seized by a fish and
drawn under. Whether he dipped to
wet his feathers Of struck the tip of a
branch which he passed under and was
knocked down I was not quick enough
to see. anyway it was case where the
bait was worth moro than the fish.
Birds choose queer places to nest in.
knight tells Of titmouse who built her
nest In letterbox in the country in Eng
land and she and her mate, indignant at
tho impudence Of those who put letters
in, carried them out and dropped them
over the hedge. They came very near
getting the old carrier into trouble, but
a detective discovered the real thieves.
Florence Merriam, in one Of her books,
says pair of wrens actually built inside
human skull which DR.. Fisher was
bleaching in an apple tree, and raised
their brood there untroubled by ghosts.
The chimney swift was always wonder
to me in my boyhood as I watched them
dart III and out of the cnimneytop. Such
strange place to build a home. Yet
they take all the chances of a summer
fire being built and of being smoked out
know now they can stand considerable
smoke. for an occasional fire does not
drive them away. They may make them
selves scarce while the smoke Is too
dense. I well remember how their noisy
work in the chimney at twilight before
the lights were lit, used to give me an
uncanny and peculiar feeling when alone.
They live on the wing mostly, destroying
countless thousands Of insects. They
fasten their nests against the walls with
gluey substance claimed by some OBJ
servers to be saliva from the birds
mouth, using clay, small twigs and straws
caught from the ground as they fly. A
pair Of catbirds raised g. late brood In q
Concord grape vine in my garden, sur.
rounded by large punches Of fruit, and 50
TAR as could observe did not eat any
of It. although they ate the wild grapes
freely. AS rule I find birds prefer
wild fruit to the cultivated.
Inc song sparrow Is with us early and
late. No visitor is more Welcome, for he
sings to us late at night and early In the
morning. wkile the sun is yet below the
horizon, and only a faint tinge in the east
tells of another day approaching. Charm
ing in his companionship, seeming to have
less fear OF man than the majority oil
birds, he is a friend worth cultivatine
| If he is frightened he plunges quickly into
thicket or brushpile and is out of sigh,
IN moment, only to reappear as sudden
see If there was really anything to be
afraid of, chirping as If nothing had dis
| turbed him. The female lays her blush
white eggs in well-hidden brush or thicket
usually, and often raises three broods a
| season. Very loving mates they are tc
to be honeymoon. While walking in
garden or grove you may have seen a
+ flash of red darling about among the
! green leaves, such brilliant scarlet thai
your curiosity is at once aroused. If yoU
| find the bird you have seen the most at
| tractive, as to plumage, of all the fe:ah
| cred wanderers in our state, the scarlet
tanager. Neither he nor his plain little
wife, clad in olive, brown and green, are
J fine singers, but for coloring the male is
unsurpassed. In winter he changes his
| suit for one the dull color of the female
| They are very shy. though they will fight
| for their young, even to giving their lives
| For some reason not certainly known t.
us a single bird migrant will be seen ir
the North very late in the season. Pos
sibly on account of injury to wing, or be
cause it has found a pleasant home with
/ an abundance Of food, or is attached t.
| locality or lost it's mate. A robin was
seen on Grand avenue last November
/ (29th), in the cold weather succeeding thu
severe blizzard He seemed very much a
| home as he ate tho crumbs thrown ou
| to him. l talked with a German gardener
last season and asked him if the bird:
| troubled him. He assured me in German
with his face full of smiles: "Oh, no
! some little birds (Which recognized a:
| field sparroWs from his description come
and eat the young potato bugs, the cur
rant and cabbage worms. will not le
/ my boys hurt them, for they save me
much trouble, for they work all day fol
me. II tell you, sir, love those little
| birds. 3 ~
| In the twilight, when the other birds arr
for the most part in the land of dreams