Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-06
BIRD LIFE IN JULY
Written for The Evening star by Olive Thorns
Miller


soon will THEY follow the swift feet Of summer;
Edwin Arnold.
In this month Of July begins-for lovers
| OF bird song-''the melancholy days, the
saddest Of the year" for before II passes
/ the song-season is over. There are 1t is
! true. two or three faithful ones who do not
| desert us entirely. AS Thoreau says. Some
| birds are poets and sing all summer" Such
| are the happy song sparrow, the CHEEKY
| robin and the dainty indigo bird. But all
| the thrushes have fallen to silence: orioles
| and bobolilks have subsidized into demure
| heads OF families. devoting themselves ex-
| clusively 10 training the rising generation,
| with thoughts ALREADY beginning to turn
! toward the long journey before them.
Bird song has not been so thoroughly
| studied as i deserves, but enough is known
to make it deeply interesting. The old no.
! tions that birds limited to two or three
expressions and that all Of a species ox-
/ actly reproduce the notes Of one another,
! have long been exploded among those who
| have giver serious attention to our little
| brothers. Mr.. Cheney. who studied the
matter critically, and has given Us a book
| OF bird songs carefully reduced TO our
| musical scale. recognizes a great differ
| ence between individuals of the same sp.--
! cies Il mad more and more that birds
| eNtemporlze, he says. and those of the
same species do not sing alike" This must
| be the experience of every close student
who has "A musical ear.
Besides the fact that very rarely two birds
! OF a species sing the same song. Ii is inter-
estlng to note that many of them-most
indeed, that L have studied-have certain
oi1erent. well-deflned utterances which
| may be classed AS the love song the com
mon song tof great Variety, the whisper
| song. the flight song.
The love song is that which blesses us
on the arrival of the birds in wooing mood
| 1t Is ecstatic and III obably the best a bird
can do. To enjoy 1t one needs to be not
only up early in the morning, but in tn.
Eelds promptly with the opening of the
| season. For when the bride is won the
home established. and the singer settled
down to entertain his mate and await the
time when the cherished shells give up
their precious contents. and nests are
trimming over with the load of downy
! breasts and throbbing wings" the song be-
| comes the calmly happy. characteristic and
| greatly varied uttcrance which we may
call the common song. 1t is then that the
plrd mas leisure To vary, change and elabo-
| rate his theme, and it is particularly in
tcresting time to study him
Sometimes shall be so happy as 70
oNerhear what | have called the birds
whisper song. One must be very near and
| very unobstrusive. for it can he heard only
! at the distance of few yards. being deliv-
| cred with nearly or quite closed beak and
| by no means intended for the public ear
| There is a, dreamy. rapturouS quality in
! tins song, which differcntiates it from all
to the mate than 20 the world at large but
| To be simply a sohlOquy, an irrepressibIa
buDbilng over of his JOY of life and Il
gives emphatic denial to the opinion held
by some persons ilat a bird lives in constant
terror of his life. No one who has heard
| that song can resist the belief that it comes
from a serene and joyous spirit. Birds are
always alert, but il is unthinkable that
they are always in fear
The flight song is perhaps more rare.
ana certainly different. Not all birds are
known 10 indulge in that particular form
! OF expression, but discoveries are constant
! ly being made. and not infrequentIy another
! name is added to the list of birds known to
! have flight song. This utterance. while
! unlike the others. usually introduces strains
! from the common song. or the family call,
which readily identities the singer The
| oven bird, for example, while pouring out
| his Rhapsody, sailing about over ones
! head, often in the dusk of late afternoon,
| interpolateS an occasional teacher, teach
| er! teacher. which p-oclaimS him at once
| The bewitching little Maryland yellow
4 throat while delivering himself on wing,
cannot refrain from betraying wichita,
| wichita! wichita which is equivalent to
shouting his name.
| While songs differ with individuals with
season. with emotions and even with age,
| there is still always certain family quail
| ty by which one may recognize the species
! Rarely do two robins arrange their simple
notes In the same way, yet one never fails
/ to recognize the voice of a robin. Ii is the
same with orioles. thrushes and all others.
! There is sometimes a sort OF family re-
| SemblanCe in the songs of two or three
| robins Of q neighborhood which suggests
| the thought that they may be brothers, and
| have learned from one father l once knew
| two BaltimO ore orioles who were exceedingly
| friendly with one another, and nested near
! together, who sang exactly the same notes,
| but it was! the only case | ever met with.
1t is easier to learn to identify birds by
| their call notes, and their notes of alarm
| and warning, than by their songs. These
are about the same in all of a species. All
robins say Tut. TUT and all give the cry
| called a laugh as We'll as other common
| sounds; all phoebes shout the beloved
name from the barn roof, and all the fly
| catchers jerk out "chebec'' by the hour:
| the olive-sides fiycatcher tribe to bird
| drawl out their 'see-here' from the top Of
| tree. and so with many others. But one
| and all of these birds are capable of more
| elaborate and varied songs. l have heard
| them in the case of those mentioned, and
| perhaps most of the birds credit with
| having only the loud call notes with which
We are familiar have times and seasons Of
| indulging in different utterances.
| Though song is dropping off during July
and by the middle of the month life in the
tree-tops goes on nearly in silence. bird af-
| fairs have not lost their interest. The
| world Is still full of little family groups
under misunderstanding ''sky-science and
wings delight" and, what is of equal i'm
| portance TO them, becoming familiar with
the products of earth, and their respective
values frorn a gastronomic point of view.
Also at this time many birds still set
ting some on a second brood, some whose
| first attempts came to grief, and some who
are always late in setting up their homes
Among the latter two are especially note
| worthy-that model OF elegant manners
the cedar bird, or cedar waxwing. in daint-
i lest of silky plumage of Quaker hue. and
| the charming goldfnch, "all black and gold
a flame of fire swinging on his purple
| thistle"
| 1 know no bird who so fully expressed
! the joy of life this tiny fellow-creature.
| and his flight, he goes bounding through
| the air. uttering a joyous note with every
| wing beat, is pure ecstacy. Often, when
! he has apparently no desire to go any
| where he will fling himself upon the air
| with vehenence, make a wide circle and
! return to his perch, bound straight up
ten feet or more. and then drop back. pour
| ing out his delicious notes. evidently be-
cause he Is so brimful of bliss he cannot
| contain himself Then his songs, especially
his morning songs which come after other
birds have finished theirs have a quality
| Of rapture which cannot be expressed. The
| goldfinch has a wonderful variety of songs
| and calls, and he and his mate an appar-
emily endless number of conversational