The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-04
BIRDS IN THE WINTER.
Provision Made by Kind Nature for
Their Sustenance.

When the summer is past and the young
birds have been safely reared to maturity,
the great tide of bird migration begins to
set backward from the Northern woods.
This is the time of year when frugal ma
ture forgets her economies and is in a
bounteous mood. Through the long sum-
mer days and sunny autumn. while insects
and caterpillars furnished ample repasts
for her feathered children, she was accu-
mulating treasures of seeds, grain and
berries against the return of the wander
ers, to whom she gave such stinted largess
in the spring. Nearly every tree, shrub and
vine holds store of food All the gay
meadow possessions of the past season
grass, sedge and Haunting flowers, even
coarse and unsightly weeds-are heavy
with harvest. This is the season when
birds need a generous diet. They are thin
and worn with the care of young and the
moulting and renewal of their plumage.
Why wonder then If they give themselves
up TO banqueting?
At this time families are broken up. The
various tribes gather in focks, forgetting
their song. and proceed leisurely to liter
ally eat their way through TO the South.
The insect eaters pass through at a COM
paratively early date. but the seed and
berry eaters remain until driven south
ward by the cold. Numerous as these are.
1t is impossible for them TO exhaust the
seeds, but by the time the last travellers
have departed most of the berries are con-
Sumed. All the ow-growing varieties of
cornus-white, black and blue berries-are
swept clean. One morning you may find a
tree of cornus florida literally alive with
robins and golden-winged woodpeckerS,
and an hour later not berry of its shining
red coral will be left
The ash trees bear a wealth of winged
seeds fashioned like tiny Indian paddles.
These hold out for perhaps a month, but
even they gradually disappear. until
naught is left of summers garnering but
shower of empty seed cases beneath the
trees. Successive f1ocks of hungry birds
hold high revels here. One day 1t will be
the pine fnches, on another the chattering
thistle birds, and again the redpoll linnets,
their rosy plumage cleaning like satin in
Out i'm the open fields and roadways nu-
merous fiocks of the sparrow family find
rich harvesting. Great patches of pigweed
and climbing false buckwheat form tangled
coverts where security and plenty are as
sured. quiet approach to one of these
spots will afford a surprise. Not a feather
is in sight, but beneath you can hear the
birds feeding, the cracking of seeds and the
clicking of innumerable little bills swelling
TO quite a volume of sound. Shake the
thicket and out rush the birds with great
whirring of wings. Tree sparrows, white
finches and juscos are there, the twinkling
white feathers of the latter showing con-
spicuously as they pitch about In their pc
culiar flight. For moment they appear
like a torrent of leaves swept before No
vember gale, and then disappear in the
next tangle of weeds.
For the most part the birds feed silently,
but the tree sparrows always sing light
little notes, sweet and tinkling. When No
vember has passed most of the summer
visitors and birds of passage have depart
Cd for fIaa SnTrrh hot Ion of lnfafr nsrA
perpetual summer. Were it not for this wise
provision of nature the food supply. great as
1T Is, would not hold out until the coming
of another warm season.
Under the working of this migratory
impulse there is comparatively plenty left
for the winter residents. Pines and hem
locks hold within each scale of their cones
the tiny nuts which the hooked mandibles
of those erratic wanderers, the crossbills.
will open later. The waxwing likewise has
his own especial preserves. There are the
blue green berries of the cedar and the
frozen fruits of orchards and wild apple
trees, which grow in thickets and hedge
rows. The waxwing is the cultured gentle
man of his tribe. quiet of tone gentle and
refined in manners, never quarreling over
his food.
A friend assures me he has seen row of
these birds sitting on bough and system
atically passing a frozen crabapple up and
down the line, each one taking a bite and
passing Ii on to the next, just as con-
vivial souls would send around a bottle
too. when the instinct of self-preservation
might we'll engender selfiShneSS.
The fruit OF the sun,ac and bittersweet
seem to be reserved for necessity. for only
late in the spring, when food is scarce.
have / seen any birds attempt to eat IL;
but the white berries of the poison ivy are
acceptable 10 many of the finches. AL
crows. They are omnverous. taking any
thing they can get but the grubs and
larvae imbedded in the trunks and limbs
Of trees furnish food for the woodpeckers.
Their stout bills are able to chisel through
almost any intervening bark and wood TO
reach them. Some species eat ants and
crickets, and often disappoint the entomolo-
gist by opening the cases of chrysalids and
drawing out their contents. Many a time
have | struggled through a tangled mass
of osier or cat brier for a promising CO.
coon. only to find that the enterprising
woodpecker had been ahead of me.
The white wax-coated fruit of the bay
berry, or Myrica cerifera, is the favorite
food of the yellowrump. or myrtle bird.
and wherever there is an abundant crop
Of those berries there the myrtle birds
may be found in great abundance. The
myrtle bird is the only one of the large
tribe of warbers than can endure the cold
Of our winters
The Others of this numerous family wend
their fight Southwark early in the season.
and many cross the gulf, going as far be-
yond the equator as the Argentine Repub-
lie With the exception of kinglets and
hummingbirds these are the. smallest OF
cur DlfuS. lIiHk VI thoSc eiiiy, Sichucf
wings crossing that vast extent of coun-
try twice a year,
The myrtle bird, however, defieS the cold
Of a Northern winter. trusting to the bay
berries, which furnish another hardy set
of adventures on these harsh shores with
n light to cheer the cold gloom of a New
England winter. In the days of the Puri-
was gathered and boiled in water. The
wax was then skinned off and run into
candles These must have burned like in
cense as every part OF the bush is aro-
matte.
When the SHOWS lie deep and heavy on
the fields the weeds and grasses hold above
them an abundance OF food for the seed
eaters. One of the pleasant sights In win
ter is the imprint of many little feet among
the scattered seeds beneath these clumps.
The bird lover feels glad when he sees
these signs that for one more morning at
least the hunger of the birds has been sat
isfied Few things are more appealing
than the trust of a bird for the continuance
of its food. One winter during a cold and
driving storm. the hunger-driven birds
overcamo their timidity sufficiently to come
I'm at the open kitchen door for the food
which we scattered near the threshold. and
after satisfying their need they few away
10 some unknown shelter The next morn
ing we arose considerably later and on
the freshly fallen snow of the porch was
evidence that the birds had come again
seeking food They had alighted on the
steps. hopped along half the length of the
porch. and the trampled footmarks at the
Kitchen door showed they had waited pa
tient1v for some time expecting Ii to open.
III has been my custom for several winters
10 hang up bones and bits of grisly meat
in some trees before nv window to attract
the birds. I am rewarded by the sight of
- 4 n. IL -