Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-13
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THE LOCKWOOD AND ANNEX. HARPER,s
Ferry, w. Va. Open. SHADY grounds; tennts
SSqrf p ssns and service excellent A. ;, IA
The JEFFERsoN. Charles Town. ". Va,
s .,RYs.s:i. rnAsxs Pro-.
MISCELLANEOUS.
HEKIMIAN'S s saEFI KSus sEAcH
Foot l7th Ct. NV. Live bait on hand. Open nighs
and day all the year. te1e0otA
sANATORIUNS.
Wills
Mountain SanatOrium,
GENERAL GEO; n; sTERNBERo. DIRECTOR.
BIRDS DOMESTIC LIFE
FALSE NOTIONS ABOUT THEIR
WAYS IN THE NEST.
Reasons for Doubling That Old Birds
Teach Young to Fly and
Build Nests.
BIRDS DOMESTIC LIFE
FALSE NOTIONS ABOUT THEIR
WAYS IN THE NEST.

From the New York Sun.
At this time of year the domestic life of
the common birds offers an interesting field
of observation for the amateur naturalist.
Careful and patient use of the eyes is GER
tain to disclose many things not set down
between the covers of any of the bird
books.
Nor need one go far, or be at great pains.
to carry on such observations. The oppor-
tunities many and close at hand.
Wherever there trees and shrubbery
there are birds: and where there are birds
there are birds nests.
1t has been asserted that the parent birds
instruct their young in nest building. If
that were SO. what of hundreds of thou
sands of young game birds that are made
orphans as soon as the hunting season
opens. and before their mothers have had
q chance to give them lessons in building
nests? Would they never be able to raise
a brood Of young? With the bob white.
the ruffed grouse and other birds that have
large broods. the parents might be expected
to be so busy during the nesting season
teaching their children how to build nests
that they themselves would have no time
to raise a brood before cold weather set in.
Build Without Training.
Again If the statement were true, why
birds while they are being taught? Birds
captured and taken from their mothers be-
fore they are able to fly and placed in ZOO
logical parks will Often during the follow
Ing season, build nests for themselves
sometimes under trying circumstances. Who
taught them?
AS a rule it takes some time for young
birds to learn to build as neat and compact
nest as their parents The first nest Is
usually flimsy affair; but with each sue
cessive nest marked Improvement can be
noticed until the limit is reached.
Birds whose nests are built of coarse ma
terials can construct their homes in much
less time than those that build hanging
nests or delicate nests that call for COM
pactness and more or less weaving. A song
sparrow. for example, will build a nest in
two days, whereas an oriole will take two
or three times as long.
With some species of birds only the fe-
male builds the nest and raises the young:
with others. such as the house wren the
white-breasted nuthatch. the ue-hea ded
and warbling vireos and several of the diff
ferent species of swallows, both birds con-
struct the nest and take turns IN incubating
the eggs and caring for the young after the
eggs hatch.
Some birds rear only one brood of young
during a season. This is true of most of
the game birds. but their broods are large
often numbering as many as twelve. If a
nest of eggs Is destroyed early in the sea-
son the parents will usually select another
nesting site and try again.
Busy Birds.
o the common birds song sparrows,
chipping sparrows. bluebirds. catbirds
robins and many other species will rear
two, and sometimes as many as four broods
a season. And by season is meant the sum-
mer. for birds do not nest again in the
south. where they pass the winter.
1t is well-established fact that most
birds return season after season and nest
near the site they occupied the previous
year. A common sight In country villages
is the remains of two, three and sometimes
four oriole nests hanging a few feet from
each other amid the branches of an elm
tree. The one that was used during the
present year can easily be told from the
battered and torn remains of those that
have stood the test of two, three and four
years storms.
Catbirds, song sparrows, chipping SPAR
rows and usually robins build new nests
for each brood. sometimes placing them
In the same bush or tree and only few
inches from the old nest. Bluebirds. house
wrens and many of the other birds that
use the same nest for several broods tear
out the old lining and put clean one in
for each brood.
Preparations for the second and third
brood are begun within a few days after
the last brood has left the nest With
some birds. the game birds among Them
the young remain with their parents until
fall while with others they vanish within
a few days after leaving the nest and are
not again seen while the successive broods
are being raised.
Stay in Nests.
Probably the most critical period In the
early life of birds is the two or three days
before they are fully ready to leave the
nest. If they not frightened. perching
birds will remain in the nest until they are
feat hared and strong enough IN kaap IN tho
trees and out of harms way.
Almost without exception the young birds
| that are found helpless on the ground are
! birds that have nestled near buildings and
have been frightened from their homes by
cats or people or have been blown out by
storms. Observations will disclose that the
young birds found helpless are with but
few exceptions robins, song sparrows.
chipping sparrows and the young of other
birds who build close to houses near the
ground, where they are easily disturbed.
1t is often said that birds taught by
their parents to fly. Observation seems to
own way a bird will not leave its nest
until it is able to fly well and rise to a con-
siderable height From that time 1t is able
to fly between trees fifty or more feet apart
and 1t will rarely be found on the ground
until 1T is able to take perfect care of itself
During the nesting season much damage
Is done by innocent persons who think they
are assisting nature when they find help
less bird and try to care for it. One must
not conclude because he does not see the
parent bird anywhere about that the young
ster has been abandoned
So far not even those who have made a
special study of how to keep insectivorous
birds In confinement have been successful
He who takes young bird into the house.
stuffs 1t with angle worms and bread
crumbs and makes for 1t a nest OF cotton.
which soon gets tangled about the little
fellows beak and legs cannot hone to
bring it to an age when 1t can care for
itself