The Washington herald., 1907-10-06

Standing on a street corner one sum
mer day talking to a friend. called his
attention to the sweetness of a wren
singing overhead He could not hear the
wren, only sparrows. The popular idea
is that there are no other birds around
but sparroWs- This ObliviOusness TO 9TH
er birds is well illustrated by a story
said to have been told by the late Phil
lips Brooks. which has been transposed
kntO verse:
MY dear little girl, the old parson said.
As he stroked the golden and curly head;
''You use naughty words so I've been told
Who told yOg that:" as her eyes she uprolled-
"A little bird told me, darling, sweet pet.
1t was id English sparrow, III bet.
There. are many birds around US in cur
parks and on our streets. There is one
that has interested me, which is seldom
seen. but sometimes heard with its cow.
cow" repeated several times rapidly.
This is the rain crow or yellow-billed
cuckoo.
One Of these birds one September
stripped an ailanthus tree in the rear OF
my residence of all its leaves and car
ried them away in its bill Had it been
in the nesting season I could imagine it
was TO line its nest. The tree was too
young TO bear fruit. I often hear its
note late in the season as I walk the
streets. never early
The mocking bird has interested me-
II is not only a sweet singer, but per-
sistent one. II sings and fits and fits
and sings, perching rather low down on
the trees, seldom near the tops. Had
Pliny known the mOcker he doubtless
would have used IL as an emblem of un-
easiness instead Of a sheep. There is
one thing about it I do not like. It Is
an early riser and pecks out the crown
Of my figs before I get up. The fig is
different from most fruits in that it pre-
sents the crown upward and ripens there
first. so the bird can see 1t before l can.
Z is not content with one FIG, but goes
TO others before it finishes the first one
One OF the most interesting of birds is
the osprey or fish hawk. It's presence
is welcomed by the farmer because 1t
protects his poultry from the depTeda-
tions of the hen hawks, the latter retlr-
ing before the osprey. The OSpreys build
always on trees rather taller than the
surrounding ones, that they may have
q good lookout The same pair occupy
the same nest year by year, unless some
catastrophe befails. The trees upon
which the OspTeys build their nests seem
10 die much sooner than they otherwise
-vUuld. I have heard no reason given
for this, but am inclined 10 think that
il is because the deCaying bones add an
excess of lime or phOsphOTic oxide 10
the soil upon which the trees grow Per-
haps il is because the trees have lived
tleir allotted span-200 years for the long
leaf pine, Pinus AusrTalius. A multitude
of small birds are continually flying in
and out Of the OSpTeys nests, undis-
turbed by its owners They seem to be
picking out the debris and thus keep
the nests clean The young ospreys, two
or three, do not leave their nests until
the time of Southwark migration. which
about here is in September. The Os-
preys skim the waters for fish at great
er or ess height. If low when fishes are
sighted they soar, poise, and drop like
a shot and inclose their prey in their
talOns not in their bills. as some have
said Then the fish or bald-headed eagles
have their opportunity il they are around.
II is a rather interesting sight to see
two eagles-It always takes two eagles
r. one HaWk-make the osprey drop its
prey. The sympathy Of the onlOOkeT is
always with the osprey, but one hawk
has no chance against the two eagles
while IL darts hither and thither TO es-
cape its enemies. When the fish is
dropped it is almost always caught by
one Of the eagles before il reaches the
wafer