Evening star., 1901-05-04
BIRD LIFE IN MAY
Written for The Evening Star BY Olive Thorne
Miller
Robin redbreast builds his nest
Singing a song of the Jpy to come
And the oriole trims his golden vest
Glad to be back in his last years home


"Robin redbreast builds his nest
And the oriole trims his GOLDEN vest
Giao to De back in his last years home"
In this month, the sweetest month of all
the year, the world-o{ft world-suddenly
blossoms out with little new homes mil
lions of them. Trees and bushes, hooks
and crevices, barns and sheds, banks and
fields are minutely Inspected by sharp little
eyes, much lively chatter goes on, desir-
able sites are taken, ana the first timbers
laid of innumerable homes which shall fill
our June with joy. i''
May is under ban for human marriages.
as there is prejudice which declares it un-
lucky. But no such feeling prevails in the
bird world, and all through the middle
states it Is the favorite wedding month.
The birds are just arriving in numbers, all
in bridal array, with thoughts bent on
home making, and little time is lost in Sc
lecting partners and proceeding to the great
business of the season. The fashion of
special wedding dress. common among
birds among us, is one of great interest.
In birddom. however. 1t is only the bride
groom who can afford to don fine garments
for the occasion. The nest-mother must
be in fnconspicuouS work-a-day costume for
the safety of the family. For, alas! the
one Indispensable thing about most of
must be hidden-not only from the world
of birds and beasts and reptiles, the lower
orders of creation, which hunt but to eat
and to live, but, most pitlful OF all, from
the human race who should be their pro-
tectors. We are prone to regard the con-
spicuous dress as the ordinary costume of
our common birds. We think Of the scar
let tanager as always clad IN his gor-
geous plumage, but soon after nesting is
over he doffs his fine feathers and comes
out in the modest olive green of his mate
his family dress The bobolink, in his
striking suit Of black and white and buff,
is on dress parade. When he starts for
the south with his family on their perilous
trip to South America he is in travelling
suit of olive buff, streaked with black.
The lemon yellow of the gay little gold
finch and the rich blue of the indigo bird
give place in the fall to the dull, sparrow
like hues of their respective mates. Many
birds, instead of assuming complete
bridal suit, content themselves with add
ing special decorations for the festive oc-
casion. One of this sort is the snowy egret,
whose sad fate it has been, as we know. to
be almost or quite eXterminated, that his
wedding ornaments might decorate our
hats. The most eccentric bridal ornaments
are worn by some Of our northern birds of
the coast, auks, puffins and others. These
are masks, horns and gay-coIored beak
coverings, with rosettes at the corner of
the mouth When nesting is over all this
frivolity disappears. Plumes drop Off
masks change color, the beak covering
splits and falls off, and the bird departs
with his family somber-dressed person.
age in everyday black and white On
the interesting, curious and groteSque man
ners Of these dayS-eyen so far as they
have been observed-volumes might be
written
This is the month of the greatest number
Of arrivals.
All the north-bound sprites of gay colors
and bewitching ways, whom we call war
blers, have come. and most Of them gone.
A few linger, not to leave us altogether
desolate. The familiar yellow warbler
whose exquisite nest often decorates our
orchards and door-yards: the fussy red
start, with pretty cup braced against
stout stem, or a sapling in the woods, the
Maryland yellow throat hiding hers In the
shrubbery. where her lack-masked mate
shouts his sweet triplets all the summer
through.
1t is delightful to see these restless.
fitting atoms sober down into discreet
heads of families and nest guardians.
redstart who appointed himself special po-
liceman over me last summer when I had
placed myself near his tree to watch an
other birds nest, was most charming His
preternatural gravity was SO comical In
bird scarcely ever an instant quiet. He
would stand by the half hour on low
branch quite near me, in silence, his gaze
bent upon me till J felt reproached for
causing him such anxiety and making him
keep still. j should have taken myself
away to relieve him but for the fact that
l was greatly interested in a nest on that
tree, which his conduct seemed to claim as
his. although neither nest nor sitting bird
was of redstart fashion.
A bird pair usually agree in the selection
of site for the little home, but occasion
ally there is a difference of opinion which,
though perfectly well-bred SO far as I have
seen, leads to the building Of two nests,
one by each of them. Some writer tells of
pair Of phoebes who selected opposite
corners of a piazza. Each one went to
work in the spot it had chosen, bringing
its own material and arranging it alone,
while carrying on an animated conversa-
ton with its mate. For some time the
female refused even to look at the nest her
mate was building, though he often came
and inspected hers. expressing his opinion
volubly, whether in praise or blame our
dull senses could not discover. But when
both were finished she was persuaded to
inspect the mansion provided for her. and
after carefully looking 1t over and trying
1t. she magnanimously- gave up her own
and accepted it. Another case reported
ended exactly the other way. The little
bride occupied her own. and her mate
cheerfully acquiesced in her decision. In
neither case was there a quarrel,
L once watched a similar disagreement
between a pair of robins which so
serious that feared 1t would end in divorce
or worse. Indeed, the female was so &c
centric in her behavior that I suspected
her reason was unsettled by her troubles.
The trouble began by their not being al
lowed to nest under a piazza roof where
they had reared the first brood. They
wandered disconsolately about for several
days and seemed unable to agree upon
spot. He chose a suitable tree branch but
she would not look at it, nor make a selec-
tion herself, while she laboriously collected
materials and then dropped them indiffer
emily to the ground. Night came on while
affairs were in this state, but evidently the
morning brought saner council, for when
we got out they had compromised and were
hard at work.
When the nest is completed most birds
will stay by it through many vicisstudes.
Some, however. are so sensitive that they
will desert it If it is touched, sometimes IL
it is only looked at. One of these touchy
individuals is the cardinal grosbeak, who
will often desert the home she has made
with such trouble, even after the eggs are
in, If she finds herself an object Of atten-
ton; and the yellow-breasted chat needs
only to know or suspect that human eye
has looked upon her nest and eggs to de-
sert them forever. On the other hand, a
vireo will come back after she has been
removed by a human hand, and a tiny
chickadee will actually return to her home
in a hole in the face OF the enemy. and
sit in the doorway and defy him. A Balti-
more oriole has been known to cling to her
nest while the branch which held it was
sawed off and taken into house. Many