the mellow song of the cardinal, which is a rare visitor in New York, but there was no mistaking the "tor-re-do, tor-re-do." I sprang from my bed and rushed to the window only to see a catbird singing the cardinal song, and thus telling me that he had come from the sunny South and the happy companionship of these brilliant birds. Often when the catbird is singing, he sits on the topmost spray of some shrub lifting his head and depressing his tail, like a brown thrasher; and again, he sings completely hidden in the thicket. In appearance the catbird is tailor-made, belonging to the same social class as the cedar-bird and the barn swallow. However, it affects quiet colors, and its well-fitting costume is all slate-gray except the top of the head and the tail which are black; the feathers beneath the base of the tail are brownish. The catbird is not so large as the robin, and is of very different shape; it is far more slender and has a long, emotional tail. The way the catbird twitches and tilts its tail, as it hops along the ground or alights in a bush, is very characteristic. It is a particularly alert and nervous bird, always on the watch for intruders, and the first to give warning to all other birds of their approach. It is a good fighter in defending its nest, and there are several observed instances where it has fought to defend the nest of other species of birds; and it has gone even further in its philanthropy, by feeding their orphaned nestlings. The catbird chooses a nesting site in a low tree or shrub or brier, where the nest is built usually about four feet from the ground. The nest looks untidy, but is strongly made of sticks, coarse grass, weeds, bark strips and occasionally paper; it is lined with soft roots and is almost always well hidden in dense foliage. The eggs are from three to five in number and are dark greenish blue. Both parents work hard feeding the young and for this purpose destroy many insects which we can well spare. Sixty-two per cent. of the food of the young has been found in one instance to be cutworms, showing what a splendid work the parents do in our gardens. In fact, during a large part of the summer, while these birds. are rearing their two broods, they benefit us greatly by destroying the insect pests; and although later they may attack our fruits and berries, it almost seems as if they had earned the right to their share. If we only had the wisdom to plant along the fences some elderberries or Russian mulberries, the catbirds as well as the robins would feed upon them instead of the cultivated fruits. The catbirds afford a striking example for impressing upon children that each species of birds haunts certain kinds of places. The catbirds are never found in deep woods nor in open fields, but always near low thickets along streams, and in shrubbery along fences, in tangles of vines, and especially do they like to build about our gardens, if we protect them. They are very fond of bathing, and if fresh water is given them for this purpose, we may have opportunity to witness the most thorough bath a bird can take.. A catbird takes a long time to bathe and preen its feathers and indulges in most luxurious sun baths and thus deservedly earns the epithet of "well-groomed;" it is one of the most intelligent of all our birds and soon learns "what is what," and repays in the most surprising way the trouble of careful observation. LESSON XXIII THE CATBIRD Leading thought-The catbird has a beautiful song as well as the harsh "miou," and can imitate other birds, although not so well as the mockingbird. It builds in low thickets and shrubbery and during the nesting season is of great benefit to our gardens. Methods-First, let the pupils study and report upon the songs, scoldings and other notes of this our northern mockingbird; then let them describe its appearance and habits. Of course, the study must be made outside of school hours in the field. Observations-1. Do you think the squall of the catbird sounds like the mew of a cat? When does the bird use this note and what for? What other notes have you heard it utter? 2. Describe as well as you can the catbird's true song. Are there any harsh notes in it? Where does he sit while singing? Describe his actions while singing. 3. Have you ever heard the catbird imitate the songs of other birds or other noises? 4. Describe the catbird as follows: its size and shape compared to the robin; the color and shape of head, beak, wings, tail, breast and under parts. 5. Describe its peculiar actions and its characteristic movements. 6. Where do catbirds build their nests? How high from the ground? What material is used? Is the nest compact and carefully finished? Is it hidden? 7. What is the color of the eggs? young? 8. What is the food of the catbird? have catbirds build in our gardens? Do both parents care for the Why is it an advantage to us to 9. Do you ever find catbirds in the deep woods or out in the open meadows? Where do you find them? IO. Put out a pan of water where the catbirds can use it and then watch them make their toilets and describe the process. Describe how they take sun baths. Supplementary reading "Monsieur Mischief," Nestlings of Forest and Marsh, Wheelock; Our Birds and Their Nestlings, Walker, pp. 167, 174; Second Book of Birds, Miller, p. 37; Songs of Nature, Burroughs, p. 172; Birds of Song and Story, Grinnell, p. 36. "He sits on c branch of yon blossoming bush, This madcap cousin of robin and thrush, And sings without ceasing the whole morning long; Now wild, now tender, the wayward song That flows from his soft, gray, fluttering throat; But often he stops in his sweetest note, And, shaking a flower from the blossoming bough, --"THE CATBIRD", EDITH M. THOMAS. THE BELTED KINGFISHER Teacher's Story HIS patrol of our streams and lake shores, in his cadet uniform, is indeed a military figure as well as a militant personality. As he sits upon his chosen branch overhanging some stream or lake shore, his crest abristle, his keen eye fixed on the water below, his whole bearing alert, one must acknowledge that this fellow puts "ginger" into his environment, and that the spirit which animates him is very far from the "dolce far niente" which permeates the ordinary fisherman. However, he does not fish for fun but for business; his keen eye catches the gleam of a moving fin and he darts from his perch, holds himself for a moment on steady wings above the surface of the water, to be sure of his quarry, and then there is a dash and a splash and he returns to his perch with the wriggling fish in his strong beak; he at once proceeds to beat its life out against a branch and then to swallow it sensibly, head first, so that the fins will not prick his throat nor the scales rasp it. He swallows the entire fish, trusting to his internal organs to select the nourishing part; and later he gulps up a ball of the indigestible scales and bones. The kingfisher is very different in form from an ordinary bird; he is larger than a robin, and his head and fore parts are much larger in proportion; this is the more noticeable because of the long feathers of the head which he lifts into a crest, and because of the shortness of the tail. The beak is very long and strong in order to seize the fish and hold it fast; but the legs are short and weak; the third and fourth toes are grown together for a part of their length; perhaps this is of use to the bird in pushing earth from the burrow, when excavating. The king- Kingfisher's foot. fisher has no need for running and hopping, like the robin and, therefore, does not need the robin's strong legs and feet. His colors are beautiful and harmonious; the upper parts are grayish blue, the throat and collar white, as is also the breast, which has a bluish gray band across the upper part, this giving the name of the Belted Kingfisher to the bird. The feathers of the wings are tipped with white and the tail feathers narrowly barred with white. The under side of the body is white in the males, while in the females it is somewhat chestnut in color. There is a striking white spot just in front of the eye. This shows the weak toes; the third and fourth are joined together, which undoubtedly assists the bird in pushing out soil when excavating. The kingfisher parents build their nest in a burrow which they tunnel horizontally in a bank; sometimes there is a vestibule of several feet before the nest is reached, and at other times it is built very close to the opening. Both parents are industrious in catching fish for their nestlings, but the burden of this duty falls heaviest upon the male. Many fish bones are found in the nest, and they seein so clean and white that they have been regarded as nest lining. Wonderful tales are told of the way the English kingfishers use fish bones to support the earth above their nests, and tributes have been paid to their architectural skill. But it is generally conceded that the lining of fish bones in nests of our kingfisher is incidental, since the food of the young is largely fish, although frogs, insects and other creatures are often eaten with relish. It is interesting to note the process by which the young kingfisher gets its skill in fishing. I have often seen one dive horizontally for a yard or two beneath the water and come up indignant and sputtering because the fish had escaped. It was fully two weeks after this before this one learned to drop like a bullet on its quarry. The note of the kingfisher is a loud rattle, not especially pleasant close at hand, but not unmusical at a little distance. It is a curious coincidence that it sounds very much like the clicking of the fisherman's reel; it is a sound that conjures visions of shade-dappled streams and the dancing, blue waters of tree-fringed lakes and ponds. There seems to be a division of fishing ground among the kingfishers, one bird never trespassing upon its neighbor's preserves. Unless it be the parent pair working near each other for the nestlings, or the nestlings still under their care, we never see two kingfishers in the same immediate locality. References-The Bird, p. 97; The Bird Book, pp. 154, 444. The belted kingfisher Drawn by L. A. Fuertes. LESSON XXIV THE KINGFISHER Leading thought-The kingfisher is fitted by form of body and beak to be a fisherman. Methods-If the school be near a stream or pond the following observations may be made by the pupils; otherwise let the boys who go fishing make a study of the bird and report to the school. Observations-1. Where have you seen the kingfisher? Have you often seen it on a certain branch which is its favorite perch? Is this perch near the water? What is the advantage of this position to the bird? 2. What does the kingfisher feed upon? How does it obtain its food? Describe the actions of one of these birds while fishing. 3. With what weapons does the kingfisher secure the fish? How long is its beak compared with the rest of its body? How does it kill the fish? Does it swallow the fish head or tail first? Why? Does it tear off the scales or fins before swallowing it? How does it get rid of these and the bones of the fish? 4. Which is the larger, the kingfisher or the robin? Describe the difference in shape of the bodies of these two birds; also in the size and shape of feet and beaks and explain why they are so different in form. What is there peculiar about the kingfisher's feet? Do you know which two toes are grown together? 5. What are the colors of the kingfisher in general? The colors of head, sides of head, collar, back, tail, wings, throat, breast and under parts? Is there a white spot near the eye? If so, where? Do you know the difference in colors between the parent birds? 6. Where is the nest built? How is it lined? 7. What is the note of the kingfisher? Does it give it while perching or while on the wing? Do you ever find more than one kingfisher on the same fishing grounds? Supplementary reading-The Second Book of Birds, Chapter XXX; "The Halycon Birds," Child's Study of the Classics; Audubon Leaflet No. 19; "Kooskosemus," Long; American Birds, Finley. THE KINGFISHER (OF ENGLAND) For the handsome Kingfisher, go not to the tree, In the dry river rock he did never abide, And not on the brown heath all barren and wide. He lives where the fresh, sparkling waters are flowing, He lives in a hole that is quite to his mind, With the green mossy Hazel roots firmly entwined; There busily, busily, all the day long, He seeks for small fishes the shallows among; For he builds his nest of the pearly fish-bone, Deep, deep, in the bank, far retired, and alone. Then the brown Water-Rat from his burrow looks out, O happy Kingfisher! What care should he know, -MARY HOWITT. |