New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-03-12
OF BIRDS And BEASTS.
Nth Some Chapters on Gardens

,r-r-rr Tar, BrRDs ~ MAINE By olixe AloI -
Miller. l6mo-. pp. ~. iie1s $500, nForaI ana
T0rdouitural. BY Ali Tea S u 5.5-
L i,-,o- rF ~ no ,,oRTH AMERICAN BIRDS
-, F7rank nj Chapman. Win ~ o57ees,-ti55,7e't,
chester A. Reed. l2mo- Up. OIL
-Fgr T2rRD BOOK. Ry A. ). r, Roberts Illus
trafed l6mo.. up. lSt John L@liie'
~ e,,s-n,s observations OF the ways Of BIRDS
ana of such small wild creatures as 49,
rabbits toads and nice have resuiueu in o''
.o.,,,,, ,t,-acious book He introduces US 70
tba .rous'rats" washing their calamus roo'S
~ q moonlight night until the muddy blades
a.. yl,te as celery and nt for dainty tooth
,-,.h him We watch little Hyla, the treetoao'
+.is,ir- and pulling himself out Of his OLD SUIT
,,t,cb 10 be rid OF it, he incontinently swallows
We share his amusement over the contents "a
a hollow Old apple tree. on which ne 1hUil'eu
one January morning: NO dodgers there lhat
d., A. seemed I mounted the rail fence ana
Looked IN Darkness. No: there at the bottom
was q patch o. gray and pulled ou1 d snap
-s,s, blinlxing screech owl Down went my
hand again. and a second owl came O"iiA-ii9
a ,ba uqbt-this one in rich. brown plunage.
when I turned him up his clinched claws heiU
astfuls OF 'possum hair once more / pushed my
hand down the hole gingerly. and up TO the
.ho.,laer No mistake. Mr.. 'Possum was IN
49,. and after a little manOeUvring seized
him nv the collar and out he came, grlnnlIle'
Missing and Winl1ing at the hard, WHITE winter
dav. And how exactly ike 'possuTn! Ihere
ss a time for 81 things comes near an near l@
ton IN him. There is time for eating Owls
AZ might OF course, II owls can then be hao-
BAT day Is the time to sleep: and II Owls want
10 share his bed and roOst upon him. al right
He win sleep on tin nightfan In spite OF Owls
Az no would sleep on here til dusk, in spite
i rr1E-n N
7 ar,,nped him back TO the bottom Of the hole
-, ~. tbe two owls back upon him. and went
80, v-sy knowing ] should find the three stlll
.aoo-,s,e- IN nv return And Il was so. Inc
,,.yls we're ,ust as surprised and just as sleepy
when I disturbed them the second time mat day.
I left them 10 finish their NAP. But me possull
was served for dinner the following evening
for this too Is strictly in accord with ms tlile
sor-al-things philosophy.
,-ba, ~ we would let the wild birds have their
,rav they would become entirely civilized Il
not domesticated is Mr.. Sharps belief. he tens
z,s that no tendency in wild life is more s'IlAlhB
than the resort Of the birds TO human nelghDoI-
HOOD. II IS fo- the food to be found IN lawn
49, ga orchard. II may be; the author thinks
that the winged things feel also the huO47
attraction OF the society Of mankind.
y ,,,s ~ his niouant sketches the Clerk OF
the Woods" otherwise Mr.. Bradford Torrey' re-
cites the pleasant story OF a pair OF hed-heao
,voodpeclxers. VINO were abundantly Justlheo III
This confidence in man. For the entire COM
rnunity OF Newton-yith goodly proportion OF
ne adjacent community OF Boston-toOk the 1T
tie family IN charge. The nest in a ROADSIDE
stump was visited by throngs Of sightseers'
some OF whom spent hours in watching the beau
tiful father and mother and looking for the occa-
sional bobbing Of a nestling's head. Every
school teacher in the city, one man told me- had
been there with his or her pupils TO see thenl'
He had seen thirty OF forty persons about
the place at once ne said. al on the same err
cand. Look at the bank there he added. They
have worn It smooth by sitting on it Even
The police were invoked TO guard the nest and
predatory boys had 10 respect the law. The
lovely birds were rare IN that part OF Mas
saohusetts-il was the first Of their nests TO be
recorded there-and II is safe TO say that this
narticular rei-fl5ad woodpecber family viii not
forget the welcome that testified TO the growing
Interest IN our native wild birds. Mr.. Torrey's
chronicles OF bird life. Of wild flowers. Of rustic
WAYS and rural happenings are vivid and sym
pathetic; this is one OF The most readable Of his
many books.
Mrs. Olive Thorne Aers studies OF American
birds are always as genial as they are careful,
and her new book is to be heartily commended.
She has enough scientific lore for practical pur-
poses and Joined with II is a wOmanly tenderness
for her songsters which finds expression in en-
Raging anec6ote and poetic detail DO birds
leave the shell with complete knowledge Of
what they have TO do in life. or must they
learn? IL" says Mrs. Miller, I'VE could clear
our minds OF the old notions OF instinct, il
would be a help TO rational understanding OF
rheir Ives"-and she mentions various Wild
captive English sparrow which learned the song
OF a canary, rendering TO perfection all its trlls
and auavers. A young chewink IN Brooklyn
learned from a European ortolan. whose cage
stood near HIS a song absolutely unlike that OF
his own species. A captive catbird which has
never had a chance to hear any other bird has
evolved a song Sin the tone and manner Of his
race but It is curiously original, reproducing
many OF the sounds about him. and even several
short sentences Of the human language. as plain
~ Rs any parrot:
Hello. little boyf" and Hello. sweetheart
common greetings Of his fond mistress. are pro-
nounced perfectly. The true American Hurry
up Hurry up" caught from the children on
the street as his cage hung near an open win
dow and Baby boy are other OF his articu-
late utterances. The interesting thing about all
these is that they form part OF his song and
are not spoken as separate sentences. though
he will often repeat after his mistress.
de Whistles the urSl line OF Coming
Through the Rye" very completely, and like all
birds he has various other utterances, a COM
planning "Qu! Oui' when he wants his cage
moved into another room, a charming whispered
chatter when his beloved mistress comes close
10 him and talks to him. which he viii keep
up as long as she VIII stay.
Mrs. Miller has an amusing note on the chebec
or least fly catcher il is a tiny creature. but
q is the most "bumptious" bird she knows
Not only she says. does he demand a whole