The Elbert County tribune., 1908-09-17
BIRDS WAR WITH MYRIAD MITES


above us-and In the hope of finding
It we eagerly examine bird after bird
until our enthusiasm yields to an ach-
ing neck"
Let the student, however. content
himself at first with the more common
OF the warblers. The black and white
warbler Is striped with the colors
which give him his name. In seek
ing its food 1t creeps over the limbs
and trunks of trees. 1t is easily iden-
tified. The myrtle warbler. more com
monty known perhaps as the yellow
rumped warbler. fingers late. It may
be known by its bright yellow crown
patch and the equally bright yellow
spot Just above the tail. The rest of
the upper parts are bluish-gray.
streaked with black. The throat Is
white. while the rest of the under
parts are black. yellow and white.
Don't get this bird confused with the
magnolia warbler. which has the same
general colors differently distributed.
In the fall and winter the more bril-
liant colors OF both birds are partly
concealed by a cold weather feather
growth OF somber hue.
Other easily identified warblers are
the black-throated green (Dendroica
virens). the black-throated blue (Den-
droica caerulescens). the cerulean war
bier (Dendroica caerulea), the red
start (Setophaga rutcilla). the yell
low warbler (Dendroica aestiva). and
the chestnut-sided warbler (Dendroica
pennsylvanica).
Students OF the warblers should go
to museum and there study the
specimens which are on exhibition
In the best collections the birds are
shown in all the variations of plu-
mage. This purpose of aiding in the
Identification of their fellows is the
only good service which a dead bird
performs He is much more useful in
life than In death, and let not the bird
observer get the desire to possess a
collection of dead birds of his own.
The instant that he does he knocks
much of the poetry out of the pur-
suit of bird knowledge.
The start of the swallows on their
southern trip is the sight OF a life
time. The birds will congregate in
myriads above some chosen meadow
In ranks formed in close order they
will circle about brushing the tops of
the meadow grasses with the tips of
their wings. Round and round they
go In dizzy flight until suddenly from
some point in the whirling column
there is an upward movement and like
a great cloud with a hurricane press
ing at its rear. the mass of birds
mounts upward. and then breaking in
to open order streams southwark
across the sky.
The warblers coming to us from the
north in September pass southward
and then follow the great congrega-
ton of native sparrows. the hawks,
the hermit thrushes and the rest of
the scurrying throng.
The golden-crowned kinglet Is a
notable species. If we treat him well
this little fellow may consent to re-
main with us all through the cold of
winter. The kinglet is the smallest
bird we have. with the sole exception
of the ruby-throated humming bird
The golden crowned kinglet is a
bird of particular interest. He bears
the distinction of having been named
by the philosopher Aristotle, who.
something like twenty-three hundred
years ago. met the little fellow and,
observing his golden crown, called him
Tyrannos. which in the Greek of that
day meant Kindly royalty" rather
than "tyrant." the Significance which
It holds to-day. The bird retains the
name in the form of kinglet, as 1t re-
tains the golden crown until this very
hour. The golden-crowned kinglet has
a cousin who wears a ruby crown
Every bush and tree in the great city
parks and along the residence streets
VIII bear burden of kinglets. They
drop down from their night flight by
the tens OF thousands. and taking sta.
tion In the foliage of shrub and tree
begin their work of insect eating. The
kinglets are 80 utterly fearless OF man
that they will perch upon his shout
der or his hand. A workman last year
who was helping to dig an excava-
ton for building on a crowded thor
oughfare had kinglet light upon his
hat and stay there for fully five min
utes while he kept up his measured
strokes with the pickax.
When the ducks, the geese and the
wading birds begin their southern
journey every wing stroke of
their way is punctuated by the report
of shotgun. The flight of some Of
the ducks is SO rapid that the eye
seemingly has difficulty in following
their course. Unfortunately for the
birds. however. they have not yet sue
seeded through centuries of training
in acquiring the rapidity of locomo-
tion sufficient to distance the projec-
tiles which man has designed to over
take them and to cut short both flight
and life.